In this latest newsflash from the LDS newsroom, I have some questions. And yes, I admit to you my LDS friends that I have been perturbed all day by the pious marketing title as I prepare for the Lord’s Day, tomorrow.  Hey, I am just an average, dumb, impressionable spud living in Southeastern Idaho.  But does the LDS newsroom expect me to stomach this?  This is exasperating.  How many times do I have to hear it in my lifetime?

If the Bible is correct only as far as it is translated correctly, why in the world has no group of LDS apostles since Joseph Smith attempted to correct it?  This is ridiculous.  I would think that passion and love and reverence for scriptures would motivate the authorities to roll up their sleeves and make what they think is a more accurate English take for the Greek and Hebrew texts.  We are talking about a length of time spanning almost two centuries in order to make a better translation?  So what’s up?  Their sly agenda toward the scriptures is inexcusable. (more…)

Check out the ice sculpture of the Rexburg Idaho Temple.

A $1,000 bucks perhaps, if this would have been commercialized.

I wish I had the artistic talent. 

My brother-in-law, Joe, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Rexburg, Idaho possesses such skill.  He will be sculpturing an eagle (not out of ice) as permanent artwork to be displayed in the new Red Cliff Bible Camp Lodge, nestled in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

From last year to today . . . The Rexburg SnowFEST!

I could have been out there on this beautiful day, performing huge canon balls in the ice water with all the BYU-Idaho students.  Think of the publicity!  Think of the caption:  “The Baptist Bomber.”  (Oh yeah, that crazy guy who authors HI4LDS!)

More importantly, think of the fun.  At one time in my past, I had competed for how long I could stand on an ice flow in an Alaskan wilderness.  Now, I just compete with my kids over how many times we can fully immerse ourselves back and forth from the cold water (55 degrees) to the hot water (105 degrees) at Green Canyon Hot Springs, not too far from Rexburg.  But who needs Alaska or further yet, the North Pole, when you can join the Polar Bear Club right here in Southeastern Idaho?! (more…)

This year, I am reading through the Joseph Smith Translation alongside my personal Bible reading. 

Let me start from the beginning on Smith’s alterations that stand out starkly in my mind.

A Revelation Given to Joseph the Seer (June A.D. 1830)

v. 2 – “And God spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name, for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?”

What does endless mean?  (Btw, Dart, Blake’s first two books are in the mail.)

v. 4 –  . . . “but there is no God beside me.” 

I recognize this from Isaiah.  Does this mean that the Father does not recognize the Son as a God like him?

v. 8 – . . . “For, behold, I could not look upon God except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him.”

In his natural state, Moses can look at Satan?  But only in his spiritual state, Moses can look upon the Father?

v. 13 – . . . “Depart hence, Satan; for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.”

Does this mean that Moses does not equally worship the Only Begotten?

v. 23 – . . . “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

Is immortality, resurrection from the grave?  And eternal life, celestial glory?

v. 24 – . . . “And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught, and take many of them from the book which you shall write, behold, I will raise up another like unto you, and they shall be had again among the children of men, among even as many as shall believe.”

Is this predicting Joseph Smith, a prophet like Moses?  Was Moses a restorer of God’s words in the midst of apostasy?

Peter over at Mormon Matters has opened my eyes to quite another segment of Mormonism.  I have met or corresponded with those who I think fit very well in this category.

We just added Born Again Mormons, New Order Mormons, ExMormons, and Mormons in Transition. (Oh, and we also inserted the FAIR blog.)

I am sure there will be more nuances to come.  And your comments and critique are welcome in my ongoing exploration in the world of Mormonism and its various threads.

Times and Seasons on abortion

An LDS perspective on the Calvinist view of abortion

An evangelical perspective on the LDS view of abortion

A Christian Calvinist on abortion (just a soundbite)

Let me in addition today, add a few words by Werner Gitt from his book, In the beginning was information (Master Books, 2006). (more…)

One of the brothers in our church discovered tonight the Kids 4 Truth interactive website.  Many of the Christian churches in my ministry network and association utilize the materials from these friends at Kids 4 Truth.  Among the board of directors for this ministry, John Hutcheson (field representative for Frontline Missions, International) will be speaking in our church next month.  Another board member, Will Galkin (a good brother who grew up here in Idaho)will be bringing his team (check out the team picture and pick up some of the beautiful music) to minister with our church family for a whole week in the fall of 2009.

Anyways, the brother in our church said in an email this evening that this Watchmaker Presentation for the kids is excellent.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Enjoy.

Our church family is going through Genesis on Sunday evenings.  We recently discussed Genesis 9 and 10.

And in JST Genesis 7:10, Smith writes:

And there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people.

Reading through the JST, so many things are new to me.

Do LDS today interpret “blackness” as black skin or a black heart?  Probably the latter, eh?  Especially in light of this new LDS film on black Mormons.

Yet many things are problematic to me over what the LDS prophet, Joseph Smith, has done to the text of Genesis.

Today, I discovered this interview of years ago.  Incredibly fascinating!

To the staff at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho:  Are there more of these transcripts that directly interface with LDS and those involved with Grace Baptist Church in Rexburg?

Several things: (more…)