We are blessed as children of God to have the gift of agency for ourselves. One of the hardest realizations in life is that we don’t get to make decisions for others because they are given that same agency. Growing up, my brother Chantz has always struggled with attending church and accepting the gospel standards by which we live. This has been a hard trial for my parents, my siblings, and me as we want the best for him. After moving to college, where the ultimate test of our agency exists, he became inactive and started researching difficult gospel topics, doctrine, and principles. Most recently, he feels the need to retaliate against the Church, which has sparked long family conversations and arguments. With spiritual inspiration from recent …show more content…
I loved my ability to attentively listen to what the Spirit was revealing to me about my brother and this situation based on Christ’s example, and he has been on my mind ever since. I first began my study by praying, reading Luke 15, and reviewing my notes from that specific lecture. I then thought there must be a general conference talk on this topic, so I checked lds.org for answers to my question. I came upon many primary lessons and videos that were designed to teach about the three parables. Additionally, I found a few general conference talks that gave me hope on this very issue. I trusted the scriptures and the words of the apostles I read because I believe in them. Even talks that were given 30 years ago still apply to my concerns today. I have a strong testimony of the scriptures and the words of the apostles and general authorities because I know they are ordained by God to help us through our trials with their words. With this knowledge and testimony, I was easily trusting as I searched for …show more content…
I searched lds.org and found Lesson 19 in the Primary Handbook that asked multiple questions about the prodigal son parable. This source, along with a video titled “The Prodigal Son,” helped me better understand the story behind the parable. Additionally, Joseph B. Wirthlin of the First Quorum of the Seventy highlighted the way to approach inactive members by saying, “We must use kindness, patience, long-suffering, love, faith, and diligence. They must feel our genuine concern and untiring love.” The phrase “untiring love” has stuck with me because that has been my own realization through thoughtful prayer. I must love my brother no matter what. Likewise, President Boyd K. Packer’s comforting words in his talk “Strengthening the Less Active” helped my perspective of my role as Chantz’s sister. He encouraged us to keep our standards but not block the way for inactive members to come back by saying, “More lost sheep will respond quicker to high standards than they will to low ones. There is therapeutic value in spiritual discipline… All of us who lead in the wards and stakes must open the door to the lost sheep; stand aside to let them through. We must learn not to block the entrance.” It is important for me to live the gospel to the
I have not experienced anything quite so disillusioning as a crisis of faith. It is a gut-wrenching, world-warping realization that sets in slowly with increasing pain. But like an ice cube thawing in your hand, the agony yields to absolute numbness. For me, this tribulation set in after leaving my Christian community of ten years. When I started attending an out-of-state, Christian liberal arts school, Wheaton College, I was surprised to discover—in place of the diverse body of competing doctrines and life experiences that I had anticipated—a homogenous student body composed of two-thousand teenagers who were also nondenominational, also raised in megachurches, and also floundering to find a “church home” in the city with America's greatest number of churches per capita (Tully and Roberts 2008). In the three years since, I have sought to better understand the factors that impacted my drifting, and the search has led me to evaluate the megachurch in which I grew up. What I have discovered is a critical oversight in the “new paradigm” game plan—an evangelical church strategy designed as a response to secularization—that may be rendering evangelical Protestantism less relevant than ever for my generation. In my experience attending a megachurch, the movement toward consumer Christianity and its consequences for how church was conducted precipitated my departure and engendered an interest in attending smaller, more liturgical churches.
As we read through the New Testament, we come upon many instances where Jesus uses parables to teach in ways that were very unique to the day. Until this point, many had never experienced this type of teaching and it proved to be an effective method of imparting knowledge to his listeners. A parable is a story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. During Jesus’s ministry He told many parables such as The Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Good Samaritan, The Rich Fool, Parable of the Mustard Seed, and Parable of the Lost Sheep just to name a few.
Plantinga’s (2002) book Engaging God’s World consists of five parts: “Longing and Hope,” “Creation,” “The Fall,” “Redemption,” and “Vocation in the Kingdom of God.” Throughout the work, Plantinga references public speakers and activists, lyricists, philosophers, saints, and authors to help his audience connect to his perspective.
Christian faith and Ethos is the class I am taking this term. The professor 's name is Reverend Leroy Leach Jr. The class is about God, the creation, and how to read the Holy Bible.
There are many parables (eg: The Good Samaritan) and verses to back up these teachings, the most common being:
As a child I can remember going to church every Sunday, sometimes twice; in the morning and the evening. I would sit in Sunday school and listen to stories from the Bible about right and wrong. As a child I never thought to question the Bible as it was the word of God. My moral compass has roots derived from these standards set forth in the Bible. Lawrence Kohlberg was an American psychologist whose work on moral development identified three major levels (DeGeorge, 22). Little did I know but at the time I was in a pre-conventional development level wherein most of the time I obeyed for fear of God’s punishment and my parents wrath as well.
This parable is supposed to be a narrative for the reader to help interpret and understand the significance of faith, but as for all the parables it might be extremely heard for people today to understand the connection between the words and the actual meaning. Even with Jesus interpretation the parable might be misleading if you don’t know during what kind of circ...
...le writing this paper, I was very distracted with trials that the Lord was throwing my way. Family problems, relationship stress, and the overwhelming reality that this paper dictated my grade and academic progress. I spent more than 8 hours researching reading different commentaries. I put forth more effort than I have for any paper in my educational history. It was surprised to realize that this paper wasn’t hard, but very time consuming. I enjoyed this assignment mainly because is presented me with thoughts that I never would have come across on my own. Reading through the entire book of Matthew helped me comfort some life obstacles that I have recently been praying about. I feel as if I have conquered the fear of feeling inadequate when I read the gospel, and now read the bible with an open heart and the knowledge that I am always going to learn something new.
...ollowing in my sister's footsteps, I began learning from her experiences. We tread lightly around the subject of the religion these days. Thankfully, there are no wild debates at the dinner table on holidays. We respect one another's beliefs and agree to disagree about them. She often tells me, "You should come to my church!" when I call her seeking sisterly advice or needing a sympathetic ear. I have attended her church and admire how she's strengthened her parish and community. That's more inspirational to me than any Sunday sermon - as she is one who sincerely lives in the word, even when it's difficult for her.
While reading the book of Mormon I realized there are a lot of principles applicable to my everyday life. Even though the book of Mormon was written during ancient times, gospel principles have remained with us through the work of the prophets and God’s guidance. We have also being able to see how contention between brethren has stop us from following God’s plan, but we also learn through their mistakes how to create a better future and avoid vicious cycles. It is true that, sometimes, our pride blinds us by creating a fog around our friends and family. We are not able to take the right decisions, at least not by our own. That is why we always rely in the light or spirit of Christ to guide us towards finding salvation. During Helaman’s speech I remember having read how he exhorted his people to repent of their sins. We may need to take that first step towards repentance, which is not always easy. Our prayers may not be responded immediately and most likely if we don’t pray about what the Father wants us we won’t ever receive an answer. We must ponder the changes our lif...
The particular family member that I was witnessing to I knew for a fact was going to be stubborn at my approach. My family member asked me about what I have learned in evangelism, and I told them about certain approaches to how those can reach salvation. From there I introduced the “Four Spiritual Truths” method that I say would happen to very effective if implemented properly. I said , “The four laws are: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life, Man is sinful and separated from God, Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin, We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.” Of course I received an uneasy response at first. i was questioned to why do I have to accept Jesus as my savior in order to be saved, why can’t it be that I can’t just be a good person to get into heaven. Of course I answered that with, “God wants us to be perfect holy beings in his pr...
Growing up I was raised in a religious household, so, of course, I’m a big believer in God and my faith. To me, God is the creator of all and I believe Judgment Day is going to come very soon.The definition of faith is the belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion. My faith and the reason for my faith goes hand in hand because it makes me know the truth and opens my eyes to this world. Also, I get clarity of why I’m in this world which is to make it a better place. But seeing the world as faith with reason or reason with faith has a few challenges and can make things a little bit difficult. Same goes for science and religion which butt heads a lot. Some may feel that the Big Bang Theory created
All welcoming, all loving, all knowing God, for me my Church is like a an close up of heaven will look . All colors, all ages, all backgrounds invited, souls are saved weekly. Faith is increased every Sunday and the Bible is even reflected on heavier Wednesday. Word Church is more then just a big grey, white, and red building, on the corner of Britain Road, with a big W symbol on the side. My church is a hospital, in the middle of a slowly dieng area. Previously dispositioned as an old furniture store, I am currently a member of, the newly remodeled Word church Akron. This was not my first church I attended, however it is the building block of my faith in Christianity . During the foundation of my childhood, I had my first experience with religion, at catholic and Pentecostal churches
According to Hutchison (2015), “religion is symbolic patterns that consists of values, beliefs, behaviors and experiences” (p. 184). I personal conceptualize spirituality as a vital role in my life that helps me during a time of sickness, forgiveness, and needed guidance. Spirituality helps guide me throughout life during the difficult times I have encountered. Spirituality impacts my life in positive ways that influence and regulate my behavior and health. Health is very important to me; I believe the spirit can heal a person from their sickness. It seems that the spirit heals me every time I pray to be healed from sickness. The spirit gives me strength at a time of weakness. When I feel at my lowest point in life I call on the spirit to pick
As grew older and more observant in the church, I realized that there was hierarchy and many of the times, it seemed as if it were tainted. I quickly grasped the concept that if you were connected to the “right” group of people, you would be given special treatment. It reminded me of the typical American high school cliques. For instance, there was always a group of people that were more known than others; they were liked by almost everyone, they were given special treatment, and put on a pedestal. When I finally decided to leave that type of environment, I recognized that it was a toxic atmosphere, especially if one didn’t agree with the majority or put the few on a pedestal. This season of my life helped me realize that I didn’t need to be validated by others. I actually preferred that I wasn’t alike and chose the rebellious, non-confirmative route instead. It was freeing and I’m grateful that I never looked