Joseph and Oliver must have been excited to share the message of the newly restored Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. However, intense persecution started almost immediately after the Church was organized. I can imagine it must have been intimidating to carry the burden of proclaiming the gospel in such circumstances.1 The revelation in…
Category: Doctrine and Covenants
“The Power Thereof”
One of the first things Joseph Smith learned in the Restoration was that God had to restore something the world had lost: the power that comes from covenant relationship with Him. Without priesthood ordinances binding us to Christ, we have only a “form of godliness”—missing the transformative power that makes exaltation possible.
I Believe Joseph
I remember when I first received a spiritual affirmation of Joseph Smith’s experience when he saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, most often referred to as the First Vision. It was a few months before I left on a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My parents…
Return to the Grove
What happens when you return to a sacred place expecting to feel what you felt years ago, but God gives you something different? My second visit to the Sacred Grove taught me that sometimes we don’t need another witness. Sometimes we simply need to remember, with gratitude, the one already given.
Drop by Drop: the Attainment of Spiritual Knowledge
When people say they “know” something is true in a testimony, what does that mean? How do they actually “know”? The answer seems to be pretty simple and straight forward and it comes directly from the Lord to Oliver Cowdery in Doctrine and Covenants 18: “Behold, I have manifested unto you, by my Spirit in…
All Your Heart, Might, Mind and Strength
A few months ago, a friend asked me some advice about missionary work ethic. In the context of Doctrine and Covenants 4, he asked me what I thought it meant to “serve Him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.” I gave three points of advice based on my personal experiences… #1 Leave It…
“That Liberty Which Binds Us”
September 11, 2001 is a day I remember vividly. The terrorist attacks that day changed our lives in a variety of ways and we were different on September 12, 2001. There is a post circulating on social media that describes a longing for that day when we were running out of flags in the stores;…