Tag Archives: Mormon Church Manuals

The temple: The carrot for Mormon obedience

Over the past few years I have noticed a correlation between the content given in LDS Church magazines and the assigned readings in the church manual series Teachings of Presidents of the Church. Although it is brought up regularly in … Continue reading

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LDS Church on the Marriage(s) of Jesus

It’s Throwback Thursday! The following blog article originally posted at Mormon Coffee on May 19, 2006. Though The Da Vinci Code is now old news, being nine years after the movie’s release, I just received an email last week that addressed … Continue reading

Posted in Jesus Christ, Marriage and Singlehood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

How “official” is the Mormon First Presidency?

In 1973, five years before the Mormon Church lifted its ban on Blacks holding the LDS priesthood and participating in Mormon temple ordinances, Wendell J. Ashton, the Mormon Church’s director of Public Affairs, appeared on “1973 Special News Report: When … Continue reading

Posted in Authority and Doctrine, LDS Church, Mormon History, Mormon Leaders, Mormon Scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

The Continuing Call to Follow the Prophet

It was 35 years ago today that then-LDS apostle Ezra Taft Benson (President of the Quorum of the Twelve) delivered his now-famous speech, “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet,” to a devotional assembly at Brigham Young University. According to historian … Continue reading

Posted in Authority and Doctrine, General Conference, LDS Church, Mormon Culture, Mormon History, Mormon Leaders, Prophets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Mormons Study a New Testament in 2015

On Monday (January 12, 2015) I wrote, The Mormon Church’s Sunday School course of study for 2015 is the New Testament. Accordingly, Gig Harbor, WA newspaper columnist Alfred Gunn (LDS) wrote a column for The Peninsula Gateway titled, “The Bible … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Jesus Christ, LDS Church, Mormon Scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

“The sweet dream of a pure minded boy”

In the spring of 1820 Joseph Smith went into the woods to pray. “Humbly kneeling, sweet appealing–‘Twas the boy’s first uttered prayer” says the Mormon hymn (“Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”). Joseph sought to know “Who of all these parties [Presbyterians, … Continue reading

Posted in Joseph Smith, LDS Church, Mormon History, Polygamy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Reading between the lines on the issue of perfection (Part 2)

In Monday’s post, I quoted from an article found in the July 2014 Ensign magazine titled “Becoming Perfect in Christ” that was written by Seventy Gerrit W. Gong. When Gong’s words are put next to the teachings of the LDS … Continue reading

Posted in Authority and Doctrine, Salvation, Worthiness | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Reading between the lines on the issue of perfection (Part 1)

A recent article in the July 2014 Ensign magazine titled “Becoming Perfect in Christ,” written by Seventy Gerrit W. Gong, caught my eye. I’m not one to make many predictions, but when I saw the title, my immediate response was … Continue reading

Posted in Authority and Doctrine, Salvation, Worthiness | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

A Simple Correlation: The Apostle Paul and Mormon General Conference

As defined at Wikipedia, the Mormon Church’s priesthood correlation program is “a program designed to provide a systematic approach to maintain consistency in its ordinances, doctrines, organizations, meetings, materials, and other programs and activities.” The Church began its correlation efforts … Continue reading

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Going After Historical Issues

In an article found in an LDS Church manual (The Pearl of Great Price Teacher Manual Religion 327, pp. 54-55) that gives instructions to the LDS instructors comes this amazing statement: Joseph Smith—History. Overview Have students read the five italicized … Continue reading

Posted in Authority and Doctrine, Joseph Smith, Mormon History | Tagged , , , , , , | 30 Comments