What does it mean to be a Christian? We talk a lot about how to become a Christian, but how to be a good Christian often gets lost in the debate. This article and its sequel are designed exactly to address the question of what it means to be a Christian by looking at what Christ and His Apostles taught about who we are, what our relationships to God and each other are, and how we are supposed to treat everyone in our life. This article is about what it means to be a good Christian and how being one transforms not only you but the entirely world around you.
Category: Religion
This Is What It Is Like After You Die
People have been asking the question of what happens after you die for tens of thousands of years, for millions of years. As long as humans have existed. It has been said that if you could bring someone back from the dead and ask them about what, if anything, happens next it would be the most important thing any of us ever could learn.
Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore. It has happened. People have died. They have had intimate visions of what happens after death. And they have returned to life to explain what they experienced and what we need to do to prepare in this life for the next. This is just such an account, a vision of the next world as shown by God to Elder Jedidiah M. Grant, Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revealed here is what a modern-day Prophet, Seer, and Revelator saw when he looked beyond the veil of death and into the world of spirits.
This is what happens after you die.
This is what the afterlife is like.
This is what comes next.
What Is A Christian’s Duty To The Government?
What did Jesus Christ teach about the duty that Christians owe to the governments of the nations they live in? What did the Apostles teach about what the duty of a Christian is to the governments of the nations that Christians live in? What do Christ and His Apostles teach about the relationship between Christians and the governments of the world? What did Christ and His Apostles teach about the government of God and the Christian’s loyalty to it? IN this article I use the New testament to answer all these questions and explain exactly what the Bible teaches about the relationship of the true disciple of Jesus Christ and the governments of the world.
The Place of Politics in the Church
This Lost LDS Classic looks at the role of partisan politics (loyalty to political parties) and nationalism play in the role of Latter-day Saint culture and religious practice. The political divisions in the church are both bothersome and poisonous. The Body of Christ, the Kingdom of God, should not be divided by the political ideologies of the world. The more we allow ourselves to be defined by our politics – as “liberal” Mormons, “conservative” Mormons, etc. – the more we weaken ourselves, disrupt our Christian unity, and weaken our ability to establish Zion and do the work that God has given us. Nationalism and political partisanship have no place in the Kingdom of God and the sooner we drive them from our hearts and minds the more we become Saints of the Most High God and true Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
The Patient Faith of the Three Wise Men
There is much to learn from the Christmas story. In this article I explore the identities of the shepherds and the Wise Men – who they were, where they were form, what made them different and special, why they were chosen, what their experiences were, and what we can learn from them. These two groups are powerful examples of the different ways people gain testimonies of Christ and what it means to be a witness of Christ in the world. There stories and their examples have a great deal to teach us about what it means to be Christians in the world today.
Total War: Exposing The Vicious Nature of the State/Government
These past few weeks I’ve been playing the most anarchist game ever made, one that reveals the absolute truth of exactly how the State/government functions, why it functions that way, the true motives of those in power, and the impact this has on the societies over which it rules. Honestly, it is quite shocking just how revealing it is of the tyranny and violence at the heart of modern politics and statism. In this article, I not only explain what the game is but how it completely exposes how the state functions, how the state corrupts society, how the state is founded upon violence and theft, and why we should utterly reject it.
Halloween, Human Sacrifice, and The Revolution of Jesus Christ
Human sacrifice has been at the heart of human worship for as far back as humanity history stretches – and beyond. And it hasn’t went away. Many of our modern stories – of monsters and heroes – centers around human sacrifice and the sacrificing of humans. Whether you’re talking about Halloween or American Sniper, you’re still talking about the sacrifice of human lives to accomplish some higher goal and in service to some higher power. In this article, I look at human sacrifice in modern human storytelling, human sacrifice in human history, and at how the work of Jesus Christ has been to replace the sacrifice of men with the sacrifice of Himself and, in doing so, to totally transform human society at every level. Only through Christ can we hope to bring an end to the brutality of human sacrifice.
The Great Blessings of A Modern Prophet
This article is a talk I was asked to give in church as our ward prepares for the coming General Conference. In it I talk about how the importance of the modern prophets, how they actively receive revelation from God for us right now, the blessings and truth to be gained by following the Prophets and Apostles, and exactly what so many in the world are so threatened by the existence of modern prophets. (Hint: It has to do with their money and power.) I end by sharing a tool that we can use to get the most out of General Conference and the talks of Prophets and Apostles. Come, brothers and sisters, let us listen to the Prophet’s voice and hear the Word of God!
Accusations About Racism At A BYU Game Proven False
One of the players at a BYU vs. Duke University volleyball game on August 26, 2022, claims that she was the target of racist verbal harassment by someone in the BYU student section during the game. This claim has ignited a firestorm against BYU, including from many members themselves. But what is the evidence that the accused events happened? This article looks at the details, uses the evidence to draw the strongest, fact-based conclusion about what happened. This article also explores what this whole fiasco has to say about the condition of the modern American media, the acceptability of anti-Mormonism, and the problems with present day “Mormon” culture. None of it is pretty, but it is important.
Correcting The Liahona on the U.S. Constitution
The Liahona, the official magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published an article on the United States Constitution in its September 2022 issue. And boy is it terrible, for numerous reasons. For example, despite having degrees in the subject the author doesn’t even have a basic understanding of human rights or the history of the Constitution and actively tries to justify government tyranny.
This article is a step by step dismantling of the Liahona article and its problems, not only in order to provide Latter-day Saints with a necessary correction for something published in a church magazine, but because such a work will serve as a solid foundation for discarding much of the same kind of dreck (from both academic and amateur sources) that the reader will encounter endlessly elsewhere whenever discussing the Constitution.