At our last testimony meeting we had a gentleman in his 80s share his experiences on living the Gospel over the past 60 odd years from the time he was converted. He recently had a thorough medical checkup and the doctor told him his body had the health and strength of a 65 year old rather than in his 80s. He attributed it in large part to living the word of wisdom. . At the end of the day we have an intellect to use to gain knowledge and understanding but it's also being taught by the Holy Ghost which makes it all come spiritually alive. I was in an institute class and the teacher was teaching from the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith and mentioned that Heavenly Father had a father. This was totally new to my understanding of God and l was well confused. However the Holy Ghost was so strong as he spoke that l knew what he was saying was true and sanctioned by Spirit. The Lord does say in BOM a time will come and all things will be revealed. Thank you so much for putting this presentation together. Great job. God bless.
Steven Harper brings spiritual insights like no one else! Truly unique and inspiring! Thank you for your inspired questions to him! Such a great interview!
Thank you, I really love this discussion! My only trouble is I have a hard time understanding why people would leave the church over strange teachings or practices or events in church history. It is hard because none of that has ever bothered me. I just trust that God has all of this in his hands. He is the ultimate judge, He is the Father. There are no perfect people in any religion or organization. I think about Peter’s response to Jesus when Jesus asked him “will you also go away?”. Peter said to whom would I go Lord, thou hast the words of eternal life. This church is the only place I have found true peace and power to deal with the difficulties of life. Eternal life is too big for me to even really comprehend, but I know my life here and now is better because of my activity in this church.
The more I have come to deeply understand, empathize and have space in my heart for people who do things that, at first, make no sense to me (such as stepping back from full activity in the church), it has deepened my relationship with the Savior. When I went to a prison for the first time to visit faithful men there, I began to graps the Savior's words, "Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?" (Matthew 25:39)
That is the very letter that sparked me to have a conversation with G Lund and to begin the journey to study the gospel. It sparked a conversation between my convert dad and nonmember family that broke my heart. I had to know. Lund did something amazing -took time to teach a young woman from his ward to seek, study, and find the truth. Never heard anyone talk about it before.
Today I listened to an anti-Mormon Minister define differences between the Jesus we believe in and the Lord of the Bible as he interrupts it. His outlines on how to judge & know truth rang so hollow compared to the rich heritage of all we have in the restored gospel. Only we fill in the holes between divided Christianity by means of priesthood covenants and endowments of power as detailed in discussions such as this. His whole focus was to get people to not open their minds to receiving inspiration and revelation for themselves such as we so much enjoy. That said, I hope people do open their minds as our gospel continues to expand because we all need to learn more of our Lord and it will bring about more love and unity if we can do it together. Only by continuing discussions and sharing what each of us know can the unity the Lord promises His followers ever happen.
05:50 - Discussion of Epistemology 08:24 - Example: White Salamander Letter 15:01 - Word of Wisdom: Joseph Smith and drinking wine at Carthage 20:05 - Why follow policies today? 25:42 - Misconceptions about Plural Marriage and Polygamy 30:20 - Useful Resources for study and understanding 35:19 - Temple, Priesthood and Heavenly Mother 40:50 - How does studying history affect your outlook for the church? 44:30 - Sacred grove experiences and personal revelation
And if we are COMMANDED to treat our bodies as temples, then isn't it understood that anything we do that goes against this commandment, or any commandment, would be a....sin?
I could be wrong, but I think he was meaning that it wasn't a sin for his neighbor to smoke because they didn't understand it was a commandment or make covenants to obey it. It is a sin for those who do understand and have made covenants.
Just wonderful!
At our last testimony meeting we had a gentleman in his 80s share his experiences on living the Gospel over the past 60 odd years from the time he was converted. He recently had a thorough medical checkup and the doctor told him his body had the health and strength of a 65 year old rather than in his 80s. He attributed it in large part to living the word of wisdom. .
At the end of the day we have an intellect to use to gain knowledge and understanding but it's also being taught by the Holy Ghost which makes it all come spiritually alive.
I was in an institute class and the teacher was teaching from the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith and mentioned that Heavenly Father had a father. This was totally new to my understanding of God and l was well confused. However the Holy Ghost was so strong as he spoke that l knew what he was saying was true and sanctioned by Spirit. The Lord does say in BOM a time will come and all things will be revealed. Thank you so much for putting this presentation together. Great job. God bless.
Steven Harper brings spiritual insights like no one else! Truly unique and inspiring! Thank you for your inspired questions to him! Such a great interview!
Thank you for all your hard work.
I’m going to watch this again and again. Such wisdom. We need to get the insight he had about moderation/the word of wisdom!
I just listened to this for the third time. Thank you so much! This discussion has relieved my heart so much!
Thank you, I really love this discussion! My only trouble is I have a hard time understanding why people would leave the church over strange teachings or practices or events in church history. It is hard because none of that has ever bothered me. I just trust that God has all of this in his hands. He is the ultimate judge, He is the Father. There are no perfect people in any religion or organization. I think about Peter’s response to Jesus when Jesus asked him “will you also go away?”. Peter said to whom would I go Lord, thou hast the words of eternal life. This church is the only place I have found true peace and power to deal with the difficulties of life. Eternal life is too big for me to even really comprehend, but I know my life here and now is better because of my activity in this church.
The more I have come to deeply understand, empathize and have space in my heart for people who do things that, at first, make no sense to me (such as stepping back from full activity in the church), it has deepened my relationship with the Savior.
When I went to a prison for the first time to visit faithful men there, I began to graps the Savior's words, "Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?" (Matthew 25:39)
That is the very letter that sparked me to have a conversation with G Lund and to begin the journey to study the gospel. It sparked a conversation between my convert dad and nonmember family that broke my heart. I had to know. Lund did something amazing -took time to teach a young woman from his ward to seek, study, and find the truth. Never heard anyone talk about it before.
I am a huge Steven Harper fan and listen to him every chance I get. I loved this episode! Thank you, thank you!
Amazing. Thank you!!!
Thank you. It was just what I needed today and answered some personal questions.
Beautiful, powerful, insightful! 😀
Today I listened to an anti-Mormon Minister define differences between the Jesus we believe in and the Lord of the Bible as he interrupts it. His outlines on how to judge & know truth rang so hollow compared to the rich heritage of all we have in the restored gospel. Only we fill in the holes between divided Christianity by means of priesthood covenants and endowments of power as detailed in discussions such as this. His whole focus was to get people to not open their minds to receiving inspiration and revelation for themselves such as we so much enjoy.
That said, I hope people do open their minds as our gospel continues to expand because we all need to learn more of our Lord and it will bring about more love and unity if we can do it together. Only by continuing discussions and sharing what each of us know can the unity the Lord promises His followers ever happen.
So good! Thank you!
05:50 - Discussion of Epistemology
08:24 - Example: White Salamander Letter
15:01 - Word of Wisdom: Joseph Smith and drinking wine at Carthage
20:05 - Why follow policies today?
25:42 - Misconceptions about Plural Marriage and Polygamy
30:20 - Useful Resources for study and understanding
35:19 - Temple, Priesthood and Heavenly Mother
40:50 - How does studying history affect your outlook for the church?
44:30 - Sacred grove experiences and personal revelation
I saw Steven on another site. He said he believes Joseph. I like that, I started to believe Joseph's words and writings denouncing polygamy.
Loved this 🙏
And if we are COMMANDED to treat our bodies as temples, then isn't it understood that anything we do that goes against this commandment, or any commandment, would be a....sin?
So if drinking and smoking aren't sins, we don't need to repent for them or go to the bishop to confess our "sins"??
I could be wrong, but I think he was meaning that it wasn't a sin for his neighbor to smoke because they didn't understand it was a commandment or make covenants to obey it. It is a sin for those who do understand and have made covenants.
Your SOCKS match Ganalyn's DRESS!