Mormonopia» General Religion and Spirituality

Strange sign to have in your house

Graham — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Look at this bizarre sign I saw at a “dollar store” not too far from my house. What a strange thing to have up on your wall!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

2011: The year Mormonism went mainstream

Graham — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:00:08 +0000

The National Post (in Canada) has a relatively positive article about the Church that was in the paper on December 26, 2011, and is also on their web site:

Something happened to Mormons in 2011: They got popular, gained cachet and became, well, cool.

Long thought of as outsiders, followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are enjoying a newfound acceptability and their church’s profile has risen in politics, theatre and sports.

“This is really a wonderful American story,” says Jon Butler, a professor of religious history at Yale University. “Mormons were always seen as very different. Now they’ve become just other Christians. They’ve become as interesting as Presbyterians.

“[In 2011] people began to say, ‘We have something to learn from these Mormons.’ ”

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Christmas Subway Art

Graham — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:00:34 +0000

My wife is really into “subway” art right now. To me, that sounds like graffiti, but to her it means signs where there are a bunch of words that take up an entire page. It’s hard to describe, but if you don’t know what it looks like, do a Google Image Search for subway art and you’ll see what I mean.

My kids love Star Wars (original trilogy, prequel trilogy, Clone Wars, etc), and I recently came across a blog that happened to be Mormon where the creator has made all sorts of crafts that are Star Wars related. I looked around the site, and she had also posted a beautiful subway art print that is of Isaiah 9: 6. You know… the scripture that goes:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Anyway, you can see the subway art of that scripture here.

181st Semiannual General Conference – Pre-conference notes I can’t believe 6 months have gone by already. I...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“Fires of Faith” on BYUtv

Graham — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:50:20 +0000

Has anyone seen the Fires of Faith series that BYUtv has been showing about the coming forth of the bible? I haven’t seen it yet, but the trailer looks good. I hope to have some time soon where I can see this.

The description from the web site is as follows:

If the martyrs who brought the King James Bible into existence could still talk to us today, they would most certainly tell the tales of international politics, intrigue, subversion, bloodshed, fire, and the runaway libido of King Henry VIII that were the backdrop of its creation. These stories, along with a modern, scholarly perspective of the 16th century book, are presented in BYUtv’s Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of The King James Bible – a series of films which celebrate the 400th anniversary of one of the most enduring pieces of writing in the history of humanity.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

What do you do with a bishop, when he stops being a bishop?

Graham — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:00:39 +0000

I’m sure almost everyone has seen White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen. In short, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are in the army serving under General Tom Waverly. General Waverly retires. After the war, Bing and Danny become a top song-and-dance act. At one point they find out that the General needs help and they put on a show for him with all their army buddies from before. One of the songs that is sung starts with:

What can you do with a general
When he stops being a general?
Oh, what can you do with a general who retires?

It may sound strange, but that is the song that kept playing over and over in my head the week I was released as bishop. Yes, after serving as bishop of my ward for 6 years, 2 months, 16 days, I was released. It happened a year ago today, but I’m just getting around to writing about it. I figured I’d share some of my thoughts and feelings about my time as bishop.

First off, let me tell you that I am still active, and I still love the Church. Hopefully no one is disappointed by this. There was nothing that I faced that made me question my faith. The ward is generally intact, and if anything might be a bit stronger than it was. I would have served for years less or years more if that is what was needed of me. However, with that being said, it was still very hard to be released. It had nothing to do with losing the authority and everything to do with losing the privilege of helping people one-on-one. Yes, I’m still a husband, father, friend and home teacher, but this is not what I’m talking about. Members generally love and respect their bishop. I felt this from week one. The week before I was just some guy was serving as the Elders Quorum President. The following week I was the bishop and the members immediately trusted me. They came in and confided some of their most difficult problems. They looked for counsel. They cried tears of sorrow and tears of joy. I felt like a better man literally every week I went to church. That’s what I miss. I’m now just a guy again. I help when I can, but now another man has that privilege of those experiences. I have righteous envy.

I also miss how serving as bishop helped my family. It seems counter-intuitive, but during my time as bishop we had more order in our family, and possibly more time together. I know, I know… it seems backwards. However, when I was bishop our life seemed to have more structure, which allowed us to have more time together. I was busy for 9 hours or so each Sunday, every Wednesday night, and often another evening or two each week. Yet somehow through all of that, I don’t feel that my time with my family suffered. Now that I am no longer bishop, my wife is the YW President, my responsibilities at work have increased, and the kids are getting busier. It seems that time is flying by way too quickly. We don’t have the same structure and our time together is suffering. I know that we were blessed when I was bishop so that our time together didn’t suffer. In a way, I think this is part of the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood where it says that when priesthood holders are faithful in the priesthood and magnify our callings, they “are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies”(D&C 84: 33).

Lastly, I miss just being involved. It isn’t that no one cares about me, but things are happening and I don’t know about it. It seems funny to write that. It sounds like I’m gossipy or nosey. That, of course, isn’t it. When you are bishop, you’d get to see the big picture. You have a vision of what needs to be done, and you can plan for it. I’m the type of person that thinks the more you know, the more you can do. In a way, this ties in with my first point. If you don’t know things, it is hard to help.

With all of these things (and more) that I miss, there are obviously things I don’t miss. I’m quite happy to go to church at 9 am (instead of 6 am). I’m quite happy to attend limited meetings. There were obviously hard things to deal with, and in a way it is a relief to be free from some of those burdens.

So, it’s been a year now. Shortly after being released I was called to be a Stake Institute Teacher. I teach a weekly Institute class to the college-aged young adults (18-30). The class is held every Wednesday in my home and we usually have 15-20 people attend. I love it! I haven’t studied the scriptures so thoroughly in a long time. Hopefully I’m helping these young adults appreciate the scriptures more. I’m definitely learning a lot.

My wife was an unbelievable support while I was bishop. Due to my responsibilities and our young family, her church callings were a little “easier” that what she is capable of having. Now she’s the YW President, and doing a great job with the small group of girls she has to work with.

All three of my kids are under 10. It seems that they’ve survived some of my absences. Now that I am no longer bishop, I can be more involved as they grow into pre-teen and teen years.

As I said in the beginning, I love the Church. There is a woman in our ward who likes to say, “It’s a good life” I totally agree. With all of the frustrations I may have had wit the bureaucracy and other things. I still firmly believe that the church is led by good men and women who are trying to serve “with full purpose of heart” (2 Nephi 31: 13). I’ve found that any failings we may experiences are usually because we are not united. If we sustain one another and accept each other in our weaknesses, we’ll be much better off. I was by no means perfect in my service, but I hope that I did something to help the work of the Lord move forward.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Going Home

Graham — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:22:06 +0000

A week ago a member of our ward passed away. He was in his 70s, and had been sick for a couple of years. Although sad, it was a relief for his family. He had been a professional in his career, so there was quite a large turnout for the funeral. The family wanted to give more than a few people a chance to offer some remarks, so it was also longer than most that I’ve attended. After the closing prayer, but before the casket was taken out, there was a short video shown. It was of the Libera boys choir singing Going Home. I had never heard of them before, but they are fantastic. It was very touching to here their angelic voices singing these beautiful lyrics:

Going home going home
I am going home
Quiet like, some still day
I am going home

It’s not far, just close by,
through an open door
Work all done, care laid by
never fear no more

Mother’s there expecting me
Father’s waiting too
Lots of faces gathered there
All the friends I knew

I’m just going home

No more fear No more pain
No more stumbling by the way
No more longing for the day
Going to run no more

Morning star lights the way
Restless dreams all gone
Shadows gone, break of day
real life has begun

There’s no break, there’s no end
Just living on
Wide awake, with a smile
going on and on

Going home Going home
I am going home
shadows gone break of day
real life has begun

I’m just going home

I’m pretty sure the video they showed from this YouTube video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Infographic of the Day: What The Bible Got Wrong

Graham — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:47:21 +0000

This fascinating chart I read about at FactoDesign shows contradictions between verses in the Bible. It is from Project Reason (“a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society”). The red lines are drawn between the verses that contradict each other.

My favourite part of the article I linked to is this line, “So to anyone who thinks the Bible’s the last word on anything, remember this: It isn’t even the last word on itself.”

I suppose that the source of the chart would make you think that they are trying to discredit the Bible. However, we Mormons might have a different view than most. We’ve always accepted the fact that the Bible is not perfect. After all, We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. So seeing something like this doesn’t bother me at all.

A few other thoughts/questions:

It would be interesting to see the chart without links between the Old and New Testament (separating the old and new laws)
Can the contradictions be ranked or categorized? A contradiction of an age by a few years, or a location by the next city over doesn’t seem like much of a contradiction.
Do all the contradictions exist in all the “standard” (or popular) version of the Bible?
It’d be neat to see this done for the Book of Mormon as well. Does it “hold up” better?

Ultimately, does this really matter at all? Sure, it is interesting to look at and think about, but does it really affect anyone’s faith or how they perceive the Bible? I suspect not. If you believe the Bible, you’ll still believe the Bible. If you don’t, then you still won’t.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A great quote…

Graham — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:18:02 +0000

I’m not really into motivational speaking, but I’ve recently come across Jim Fannin, and like his style. Each week I download a podcast he does called The Success Zone through WebTalkRadio.net. A week or so ago the show (Week 1016 posted on April 11, 2010) featured George Dans, the “Worlds Greatest Closer”, and they were obviously talking about the keys to success for people in sales. This topic didn’t interest me at all, but I listened anyway. I’m glad I did. Jim gave a great line:

The man who has the most constants in a world of variables will prevail.

I’ve heard things similar to this, but this is just short and sweet. It has made me think about how God is an unchanging God, and if we align ourselves with him, we to will be unchanging (at least in our obedience). Going along with my post from yesterday, if we are constant in our faithfulness even amidst the lower standards of the world, we will prevail. Nice!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“Not necessarily in that order”

Graham — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:17:48 +0000

This is an advertisement for a current movie that I saw at the mall the other day. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’m appalled by the little slogan. I know it is trying to be a nice little romantic movie, but the advertising really bothers me. Not necessarily in that order?? Yes, definitely in that order!!

This is just a small example, but it is still an example of the world that our youth are growing up in. In the eyes of many, this is perfectly acceptable. No wonder it is such a challenge to get the youth to understand and live by the standards in For the Strength of Youth. I guess we have to work that much harder!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Transparency: America’s Wealthiest Religions

Graham — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:48:00 +0000

The GOOD web site (“a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward) had a posting the other day about America’s Wealthiest Religions.

I’m not sure where they got their information from, and I’m not totally clear on what exactly the point of it is, but they have an interesting chart that compares a church’s income distribution with that of the national average. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Historic Black Churches seem to be the “poorest”. The Mormons seem to be fairly close to the national average.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.