Leaderboard

With the passing of the Pope and the election of a new Pope, I have been pondering some of the similarities we LDS have with our Catholic cousins. We have a Prophet that guides us, and the Catholics have a Pope. But these are men and regardless of how we may revere them – it is possible that they make mistakes. Our Protestant cousins do not believe in a Pope or Prophet. They believe that scripture is the infallible word of G-d. The term “Sola Scriptura” which is laten for scripture alone is their ultimate source of revelation. We also believe scripture to be the word of G-d but with a caveat that scripture needs to be interpreted correctly. One of the more unique principles of LDS theology is the importance of personal revelation. I should not have to remind anyone here that many falling into apostasy have done so thinking they have received for themselves a more sure revelation about various things. So, it would seem that there is a question – What is to be more relied upon? Prophets? Scripture? Personal Revelation? What is the ultimate source of Revelation? As I meditated on this problem a thought came to me. What does Scripture say? And then what do the Prophets say? And again, what has the spirit revealed? In essence, I believe that we LDS have what I would call a trifecta of ultimate source for revelation. The best way to put this is – In the mouth of two or three witnesses will G-d establish the truth of his word. We are taught by many witnesses to read and study the scriptures, listen to our prophets and to ask in sincere prayer what is true. This is our ultimate source of truth and light – a minimum trifecta of ultimate means to be sure of revelation. If scripture testifies, plus our prophets testifies and also the spirit testifies to us in personal revelation then we can be sure that we have connected and have the ultimate source of revelation. And yet there is more? The Traveler

I think there is a difference between the source, the means (trifecta), the receipt and the application of truth. My read of the scriptures (and my experience) is that the Son of God is the source of all truth for this world. He conveys it in many ways, from the sustenance of all existence and life on earth to the immortal parallels in eternity. The means of conveyance, which requires the involvement of the Holy Ghost, depends on how much and how well the existing organized entity can act or be acted upon. Elements act very little, life forms act somewhat, and people act very much. The "receipt" of truth is addressed in Elder Kearon's last General Conference talk. As we put forth a good faith effort in following Christ a disciples, we get better and better at it. A great part of receiving the truth is applying it to the glory of its Source. How well we receive and apply truth will determine how well the trifecta works. But the Lord has promised that He will bless even a particle of faith or even the desire to believe. The Holy Ghost has several roles of increasing conveyance: witnessing the truth of a matter, an intermediary of sorts in prayer (a form of quickening); serving as a constant companion to illuminate our choices; acting as the agent for purification and sanctification; confirming or validating the fulfillment of covenants in alignment with with Christ's atonement (Holy Spirit of Promise).

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/47eyring?lang=eng The important / eternal / core Doctrine of Jesus Christ is simple. Core doctrine is what our testimonies should be built upon. Core doctrine is unmistakable. It is reinforced repeatedly in scripture, modern revelation, and personal revelation. Esoteric ‘doctrine’ is not important, rarely alluded to, confusing, and should never be one’s foundation of testimony.

As I've noted before, I've worked in the newspaper industry since 2009, and have had my own movie review & op-ed column since 2013. For about 15+ years now, our stake public affairs group has been virtually non-functional. I was called to be an assistant stake public affairs person due to my working for a local newspaper, but was never elevated to being the main stake public affairs person no matter how many times the position turned over. Finally I was told that my services were no longer needed, at which point stake largely forgot I even existed, let alone that I worked for a newspaper. During this time the stake presidency was actually a *stumbling block* to my efforts, in that one particular stake presidency demanded that I submit to them any op-ed or review I wrote that mentioned the church but would then dawdle on giving me feedback. In one incident, it took them three weeks to finally respond to a single column, leaving me a mere 72 hours to create a replacement; when I told them of the situation they had put me in through their delay, the stake president at the time tried to order me to produce a puff piece about an upcoming Choir event. More stake public affair reps have come and gone since, with each one doing very, very little to actually get it done. All the while I'm getting roasted for things not making it into the newspaper I work for despite the fact that I was never given anything to give to the newspaper. Either nobody would think to tell me about an event in enough time, or I would just be told "It's on the ward / stake Facebook page!" when those pages were privated as per official church instruction. Well... as of today's stake conference we have yet another stake public affairs representative. I met with him after conference, and he promised to keep in touch as he gets things fixed. For those of you whose stakes have stake public affairs representatives, how's that been going for you?

Remember it’s all volunteer. It’s not a job. People work 65 hours a week-we in the church should be grateful we can find people willing to work their callings at all. Before I was certified I used to volunteer to referee TKD sparring matches. I did so for free. I was absolutely willing to accept criticism, but if anyone tried to give me a “royal butt whipping” I’d take my tie off, leave and go find a beach.

That's actually pretty funny. Congrats to your BIL and his sense of humor.

A fourth but much rarer source of truth would be a personal manifestation of the Lord Himself. Such as with Joseph Smith, Paul, the Nephites, etc. And could we classify creation as a source of truth? Truth is revealed in everything around us.

I've never heard of such a position on the stake level. So, that should tell you how it's been going.

Sounds similar to something I have seen/heard Scott Woodward talk about on several occasions. Here's one of his youtube videos talking about his heuristic for what he calls "doctrinal confidence":

@Ironhold It often seems in life that whenever given the task of draining the swamp that all of a sudden, crocodiles, snakes, misquotes, horrible storms and all kinds of undesirable swamp creatures ultimately become the primary focus of anyone attempting to do anything with or in the swamp. I cannot say what you should have done – only what I would have done. For any possible reference to the Church of Jesus Christ – I would submit (perhaps via email or text) to the stake presidency, high council and stake auxiliary presidencies (or any related person) anything I intended to be printed in the local paper where I was working – with a 48, 72 or whatever hour deadline for revisions. If I had nothing and nothing was added within the deadline – I would print that there was nothing provided. If anyone complained, I would simply say please provide your input on time, next time. Beyond that I would not complain or worry about anything and continue seeking input and to do my job for my employer. The Traveler

Raising your hand and sustaining fallible humans can be challenging sometimes. It helps if you understand that sustaining people in their calling occasionally means not putting up with their bullcrap if that's what they're shoveling. I learned this lesson once as an executive secretary in a bishopric meeting. The stake representative was chewing out the bishop for not having all his ducks in a row regarding some priesthood advancements. The bishop said something to his clerk, who left the room. Bishop then took out his copy of the handbook and began reading verbatim the section on ward and stake duties and procedures when it came to such things. After he had read the section, the clerk had returned with several records, and the bishop proceeded to assign dates to every single thing the ward was supposed to do. Then he turned to the stake responsibilities and read them off, one at a time, saying things like "the stake has had bro Smith's teacher ordination paperwork since [date]. Have you done step 3 and completed the paperwork?" "the stake was informed about their need to interview bro Jones for advancement to elder on [date]. Has the stake contacted bro Jones to set up that meeting?" The questions went on and on. The stake was found lacking on every single item. After the bishop was done, he asked "ok. So, is there anything the stake is waiting for on our end? If not, I think we can move to the next topic." I've never seen such a royal butt-whipping as I saw the bishop give our stake rep that day. There was love in the air, and there was also absolutely no mistake about who had dropped the ball. I mean, you're not bishop, but if you're filling your calling, you can speak with the same authority. You can say what you will and will not be doing. You can point out how other people are not doing their jobs. And even though it's a skill that's hard to master, you can do such things in love.

AI Sowell can justify tariffs all he wants, but he’s just going to sound ignorant until he addresses Internet kittens.

A bit of family news, my BIL just got elected to be the new chairman of the Utah Co Dem Party. This is how he broke the news on Bluesky. 😂

Just to be clear, I’m a casual hobbyist. If I ever dropped 5,000$ on a baseball card Melissa would very quickly sell it, buy a hitman, and you’d never have to deal with this gator again.