It’s Halloween today, and in the spirit of scariness and goblins and ghouls, we thought we would do a quick post to remind us something about the original ghoul: the devil.
Archive for the ‘Agency’ Category
Mr. Satan—You’re Not That Scary
Sunday, October 31st, 2010We Are All Human, and We All Have Temptations
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010As some of you know, these past few weeks President Boyd K. Packer’s general conference talk has been criticized by some who feel that he was insensitive to those who struggle with homosexual temptations. While we sympathize with those who struggle with same gender attraction, we also sympathize with those who struggle with opposite gender attraction for intimacy before (or outside of) marriage, and those who struggle with powerful urges to view pornography, and those who can’t seem to control their anger, or those who seem to be prone to laziness, lying, selfishness, self-hurting, and an innumerable number of temptations that can be part of our natural man. If we carefully read President Packer’s talk, we quickly see that he is not just speaking to those struggling with same gender attraction–he is speaking to all of us who struggle with temptations that are not in harmony with the plan of salvation, teaching us that through the atonement we can resist those temptations. He wasn’t speaking to just one group of people–President Packer was speaking to ALL OF US.
We are all HUMAN
He Makes Me Mad! (?)
Thursday, January 28th, 2010In this video, John Hilton III talks about why we shouldn’t get angry. Hint: It involves a tall guy wearing a black leather jacket with spikes–running up and down it. He spoke with a Scottish accent…
I know the difference between right and wrong, but what if it’s a gray area?
Saturday, May 30th, 2009“Should I be kind to my little sister, or should I kick a kitten?”
That’s an easy choice (be kind—in case you weren’t sure).
Why Do I have to be a Member of the Church? Isn’t Being a Good Person Enough?
Monday, April 13th, 2009
The answer to this question is simple: Yes. Being a good person is good enough. It is good enough to keep us out of the Telestial kingdom (the bottom) and earn us a spot right in the Terrestrial (middle) kingdom for eternity. The Lord said that those who will inherit the Terrestrial kingdom “are honorable men of the earth” (D&C 76:75). But are we really aiming for the Terrestrial Kingdom? No. And that is the real answer to the question about just being a good person—it isn’t enough. Being a good person is not good enough if we want to make it to the celestial kingdom. Let us explain WHY through some math:
How can we have Agency if God Already Knows what will Happen?
Saturday, March 7th, 2009Although this isn’t a “WHY” question connected to LDS standards, it is an important one none-the-less and a common question youth ask, so we feel we should answer it. God does know everything, and sees the end from the beginning. However, just because he knows what will happen, doesn’t mean he caused it to happen. There is a big difference. A good analogy of this is a news weatherman. Just because most weatherman can tell us what the weather will be like tomorrow—rain or shine, usually down to the degree (well, as long as it isn’t the 7 day forecast J. But they usually are spot on for the next day), doesn’t mean that the weatherman caused the weather. Can he take credit that is was a nice sunny day? Did the weatherman make that happen? No, he simply looked at the tools at his disposal, and said, based on these factors, this is what will happen. But he didn’t make the weather.
Why do People Make Wrong Choices?
Saturday, March 7th, 2009We wish none of us did make any mistakes. However, we all do, and we all will simply because we have agency. The Book of Mormon teaches:“Wherefore, men … are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death” (2 Nephi 2:27).
The For the Strength of Youth teaches “Your Heavenly Father has given you agency, the ability to choose right from wrong and to act for yourself. You have been given the Holy Ghost to help you know good from evil. While you are here on earth, you are being proven to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His commandments” (p. 4).
