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The Gospel For Mormons Who Reject It A review of Starting at the Finish Line by John B. Wallace, a devout Mormon who ended up getting “burned out” by Mormon doctrine and practice. Written by Shane Lems | Wednesday, July 30, 2014 The bulk of the book really talks about grace – the fact that Jesus came into the world to die for wicked sinners and give them the gift of eternal salvation by faith alone (not by works). Time and time again Wallace explains how he was very works oriented in the Mormon religion. He shows many quotes and...

Mormons have some really weird beliefs. For example, many (all) Mormons believe they (males only) can take a cooking/salad oil, pour just a small drop on the crown of your head and their god will heal them of almost anything. Mormons believe that by wearing ugly underwear bought from a specific company, their god will protect them from harm. Mormons believe that by wearing a really weird looking costume they are taught secret ways to touch angels so after they die, the angels will let Mormons get into heaven quicker. Mormons believe their god requires women to not wear outer...

Stunned by the execution-style killings of six of its members - four of them minors - members of a north Houston Mormon congregation are struggling to begin the process of healing. On Thursday, they sent helium-filled balloons heavenward in memory of Katie and Stephen Stay and their four slain children, ages 4 to 13. On Friday, they planned a trust fund to benefit the victims' relatives. This weekend, part of the regular Sunday service at the Mormon church in Spring will be devoted to assuaging the congregation's grief by putting the Wednesday night tragedy into perspective. "It won't be a...

Ogden • A Plain City man accused of beating a fellow churchgoer last year at a Mormon baby blessing and mission farewell was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail. Wayne Dodge, 52, pleaded guilty last month in Ogden’s 2nd District Court to one count of class B misdemeanor assault. One charge of felony aggravated assault was dismissed, according to court records. Judge W. Brent West ordered Dodge to complete an anger management class as part of a 12-month probation. The judge also ordered Dodge to pay a $550 fine and have no contact with the victim. Dodge, who faced...

From The Salt Lake Tribune: To any guilt-prone women, the annual idealization of motherhood that sweeps across the country at this time of year can be agonizing.The image in the mirror seems less qualified, less nurturing, less altruistic, less crafty, less organized, less patient, less self-assured or wise or adventurous than the one these moms see portrayed in greeting cards, TV ads, and on YouTube.But Mother’s Day may be most painful to Bible-believing women — whether Mormon, Catholic, Protestant or Jewish — who cannot have children.After all, God’s first commandment to the first couple in that holy book was to...

Last week I wrote about Glenn Beck’s recent sermon at Liberty University. In that post, I pointed out that Beck referred to the colored cloth triangles that the Nazis made concentration camp inmates wear to identify the reason for imprisonment. The last triangle he displayed to his audience was a purple triangle...

PALM SPRINGS – A lawsuit filed Friday against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a church bishop and a missionary, claims a woman was repeatedly sexually abused when she was a teenager in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert, and it was covered up. The lawsuit, which was filed in Riverside County Superior Court in Palm Springs, contends that from July to November 1985, Jacqueline Tyler, then 13, was repeatedly abused by a missionary and that after a church bishop learned of the alleged abuse, her family was told to stay quiet and the bishop "made advance payment or...

A fledgling Mormon dating site reports that IRI, the intellectual property rights arm of the LDS Church, is attempting to shutter the planned launch of Mormon Match because of its use of the word “Mormon” and its appropriation of an image of the Salt Lake Temple.Here’s what the front page of the site-in-progress looks like now:For a good discussion of the issues involved, see Holly Welker’s post in Religion Dispatches. (I don’t think RD’s headline is quite accurate, though; as far as I know, the Church has not filed a lawsuit but applied pressure and commenced an “opposition proceeding.” According...

Just saw news flash - BLM is pulling out over concerns for safety.

Amid the growing standoff between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the federal government, reports are growing that Senate Majority Harry Reid’s little-known ties to a Chinese solar energy giant could be playing a major role in the confrontation. Reid, D-Nev., and his oldest son, Rory, a former chairman of the Clark County, Nev., County Commission, are both deeply involved in a plan by ENN Energy Group to build a huge solar farm in southern Nevada, according to a Reuters report from August 2012. Land the Bundy family has been using for cattle ranching is getting in the way of that...

A Nevada cattle rancher appears to have won his week-long battle with the federal government over a controversial cattle roundup that had led to the arrest of several protesters. Cliven Bundy went head to head with the Bureau of Land Management over the removal of hundreds of his cattle from federal land, where the government said they were grazing illegally. Bundy claims his herd of roughly 900 cattle have grazed on the land along the riverbed near Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, since 1870 and threatened a "range war" against the BLM on the Bundy Ranch website after...

UPDATE: Armed Bundy family leaders meet with BLM officers Posted: Apr 12, 2014 3:06 PM EDT Updated: Apr 12, 2014 4:05 PM EDT By Caroline Bleakley, Senior Online Editor - LAS VEGAS --  Armed Bundy family leaders are meeting with BLM officers to discuss what will become of the cattle that the feds removed from BLM land, over the past week.Tensions are running high and I-15 is closed in both directions, about seven miles south of Mesquite, because protesters have blocked the freeway, according to Nevada Highway Patrol.The protesters have gathered in support of rancher Cliven Bundy, who has been locked...

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced today that it was ending its effort to seize Cliven Bundy’s herd of cattle that has been illegally grazing on federal land. The reason the BLM suspended the cattle round up was to protect the safety of federal employees and members of the general public. Bundy and a smattering of his right-wing supporters have threatened to wage a range war if the government continues with its effort to enforce the law. Let that sink in for a minute. The government is halting their efforts to enforce the law because of the threats being...

Beginning Palm Sunday, April 13, 2014, and running through Easter, April 20, the Church is launching an Easter initiative called “Because of Him,” focusing on the hope, healing, and salvation made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Elder David F. Evans, Executive Director of the Missionary Department, said, “As followers of Jesus Christ, we seek to do as He has instructed: ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’ The ‘Because of Him’ Easter initiative is part of an ongoing effort to follow the Savior’s admonition.” Using the Internet and social media, the Church...

PORTLAND, OR, April 8, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A soon-to-be opened natural foods store in Oregon is in danger of never opening its doors after homosexual activists publicized remarks its Mormon owner made online supporting true marriage and organized a boycott targeting not just the store, but its suppliers. Chauncy Childs had planned to open Moreland Farmers Pantry, an organic, locally-sourced grocery store, in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland. But because of comments she made under a pseudonym during a discussion on Facebook last year in which she defended true marriage and said business owners should have the right to refuse...

While the church got headlines for dropping its much-mocked ‘Mormons get their own planets’ doctrine, it quietly reaffirmed a far more important, and more radical, tenet of the faith.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently backpedaled on a key tenet of Mormon theology: that after death, righteous Mormons will become gods, with the capacity to create planets of their own. But while press coverage of the walk-back has focused on the “Mormons get their own planets” doctrine, already ridiculed on Broadway and TV, what’s remarkable is what the LDS church left in.Indeed, the church doubled down on the...

"Revelers with colored corn starched hands celebrate during the 2014 Festival of Colors, Holi Celebration at the Krishna Temple Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Spanish Fork, Utah. Nearly 70,000 people are expected to gather starting Saturday at a Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork for the annual two-day festival of colors. Revelers gyrate to music and partake in yoga during the all-day festival, throwing colored corn starch in the air once every hour. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the large majority of participants are not Hindus, but Mormons. Thousands of students from nearby Brigham Young University come...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a religious organisation registered as a private unlimited company in the UK, was told in 2005 that it was not exempt from paying business tax on its temple in Preston, Lancashire. Because the public were not allowed access to the temple, which was reserved for the most devout Mormons, the High Court dismissed their appeal in July 2008. However, the church refused to accept the decision, claiming that it amounted to discrimination on religious grounds and taking their battle all the way to Strasbourg. Now the European Court of Human Rights has...

"Jodi Arias' defense team is trying hard to keep two heavily-covered events out of the Maricopa County Superior Courtroom. Lawyers have filed two motions with the court as of Feb. 13, requesting Judge Sherry Stephens prevent the retrial jury from hearing about Jodi Arias' attempt to switch out her attorney and claims that Arias wanted to kill prosecutor Juan Martinez."

Miraculous claims surrounding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon are an evidence of the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith. Critics intent on discrediting the Restoration point to DNA studies on indigenous American peoples in an attempt to expose Joseph, the Book of Mormon, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as frauds. Claiming that scientific evidence excludes any possibility that Middle Eastern or ancient Jewish travelers came to the Americas in antiquity, such critics attempt to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of Latter-day Saints and those of other faiths concerning the authenticity of the...