The Grumpy Mormon – A faithful perspective on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other stuff. Bah.

Faith Crossing – Part Two

In part one I describe a tension between the church and those in faith crisis and post-deconstruction stages. Assuming that we want to retain these people, the question is:

How can the church, as an institution, help people through a faith crisis or reconstruction?

I have a few ideas.

In several previous posts (Stages of Faith Part 1, 2, 3, 4), I discuss faith stages and ask how the church can meet the needs of those in different stages of their individual journey. However, we may actually need to address a different question first:

God on a Leash

“If you do what God wants, you will receive a reward. In fact, God wants to give you stuff.” This is known as prosperity gospel or prosperity theology and there is a uniquely Mormon flavor of it.

Wrong Question

We are still behaving as though “Which church is true?” is the question most people are asking.
But it no longer speaks to the questions young adults (in this culture, at least) are actually asking.

Seems Like Revelation

This is a topic that I have wanted to address for a long time. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we often speak of inspiration, revelation, or feeling. Of these, “revelation” carries the most weight. But, there are often unintended consequences.

Weeping Souls

As a child I remember listening to a particular sermon about the evils of depression, a tool of Satan, evil ingratitude. I don’t know why it struck me so strongly, maybe because I recognized a dark sadness within myself that convicted me.

Velvet Elvis

There is deep wisdom among thought leaders from other Christian traditions that can be beneficial to us. Not so much because it is different, but because it is the same.

Visitors Welcome – Δύο (Two)

I just attended one of the most intriguing church services ever.

The New Mormons – Part Two

Part One

In the spirit of the ever-popular Top Ten List of ________, I will start with some brief statements describing the results of the New Mormon Survey. You can then decide if you want to read more.

The New Mormons – Part One

This is a preamble to part two, an article on “The Next Mormons” by Jana Reiss.

The essentials of the Good News are that Christ was born into mortality, lived an exemplary life, and liberated all nature through His atonement, death, and resurrection. The Christian church, speaking generally, takes the Gospel message and asks the corporate question: Okay, now what?