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Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

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John 14–17 – Faithful Resources for Come, Follow Me 2023 Week 24

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“Continue Ye in My Love”

JUNE 5–11

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FAIR Faithful Resources for Come, Follow Me 2023 June 5–11. John 14–17: “Continue Ye in My Love.” Find answers to difficult questions to help you in your learning and teaching. Here is a collection of reliable resources to supplement your study of John 14–17. FAIR Resources link to relevant questions which have been answered on the FAIR website. Under Church Resources you’ll find links to the different Come, Follow Me manuals, as well as other helpful links as applicable. Other Resources link to resources outside of FAIR that are trustworthy and helpful.

Main points to ponder

An if/then statement is a logical statement that expresses a conditional relationship between two parts: the “if” clause and the “then” clause. It’s a way of describing a cause-and-effect relationship or a condition and its consequence. Consider some of the if/then statements the Savior uses in this week’s reading:

  • “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also” (John 14:7)
  • “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 7:14)
  • “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
  • “If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father.” (John 14:28)
  • “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7)
  • “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:10)
  • “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:14)

What can these statements teach us about our relationship with Christ? What do they teach us about his love?

Continued here…

Asking Big Questions: How Can I Gain a Testimony of the Book of Mormon?

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The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has been called the keystone of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members have been continually encouraged to read, study, and ponder the Book of Mormon’s contents since it was first translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph himself said that “a man would get closer to God by abiding by its precepts.” But how can we know this is true? [Read more…] about Asking Big Questions: How Can I Gain a Testimony of the Book of Mormon?

Cornerstone: A FAIR Temple Preparation Podcast – Episode 2: Covenants and Ordinances with BJ Spurlock

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Have you ever felt that the gospel is a bunch of things to check off a list? Have you ever wondered what’s up with this “covenant path” that Church leaders talk so much about? If so, join us for this episode with BJ Spurlock as we explore covenants, ordinances, and how God teaches us through symbolism.

BJ Spurlock is a Sunday School teacher in Kentucky, blogs at thingsastheyreallyare.com, and has also written for FAIR and Public Square Magazine.

 

Jacob Crapo was born and now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He served his mission in Upstate New York and was an ordinance worker in the Las Vegas Temple. One of Jacob’s dreams is to help build a temple. He is an electrician by trade but his real passion is helping others access the powers of heaven.

New Resources Available on Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell and Religious Extremism

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The Lori Vallow murder trial has begun, and the Chad Daybell murder trial will likely take place later this year. Each trial is expected to last several weeks, and to bring up many of Vallow and Daybell’s extremist religious beliefs. There has already been a great deal of public discussion of their ideas like reincarnation (which they called “multiple mortal probations”), a prophesied “Davidic Servant,” a group of 144,000 servants foreseen in the Biblical book of Revelation, end times calamities, and their interpretation of scripture to justify violence. People have also been curious about the “Preparing A People” website and conferences that hosted Daybell and Vallow as speakers and podcasters.  [Read more…] about New Resources Available on Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell and Religious Extremism

Cornerstone: A FAIR Temple Preparation Podcast – Episode 1: The Plan of Salvation with Scott Woodward

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Podcast: Download (64.2MB)

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Attending the temple for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. It can seem like a very unfamiliar experience for many, especially because we rarely hear details about what happens there. Understanding the doctrine and purpose underlying the temple will help you be ready and excited to enter the House of the Lord.

The purpose of this podcast is to do just that. We will cover topics such as the Endowment, temple sealings, covenants, ordinances, sacred temple clothing ,and common misconceptions about the temple.

Whether you are preparing for a mission, your own temple sealing, or just desire to receive your own endowment we hope that this podcast will deepen your understanding of the doctrine surrounding the temple.

In this episode, Jacob Crapo talks with Scott Woodward about how the temple and “Plan of Salvation” relate to each other. They discuss what the temple teaches about God’s plan for humanity and how the temple ordinances and covenants play a key role in that plan. Scott teaches religion classes at BYU-Idaho, is a managing director at Scripture Central, and host of the Church History Matters podcast.

 

Jacob Crapo was born and now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He served his mission in Upstate New York and was an ordinance worker in the Las Vegas Temple. One of Jacob’s dreams is to help build a temple. He is an electrician by trade but his real passion is helping others access the powers of heaven.

Evaluating Claims that Contradict the Prophets

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Seven years ago, a FAIR conference presentation identified a harmful ideology among some members of the Church of Jesus Christ. It claims that God gives revelations, visits, and special priesthood ordinations to individuals outside of church leadership, and that faithful church members should follow and obey those individuals, and believe the truth of their purported visions and revelations, either along with or instead of actual church leaders. It often criticizes church leaders for being uninspired, or else claims one must read between the lines of leaders’ statements because most church members are too uninspired or unrighteous to receive greater light and deeper understanding. At the time, some of the major proponents of this ideology were Julie Rowe and Denver Snuffer.

Since then, this spiritually elitist ideology has become far more widespread than a few “remnant” groups. Our culture’s obsession with “authenticity” and personalized truth, along with confusion about scriptural principles of revelation, have made a lot of us susceptible to very harmful ideas that undermine our faith and ability to truly commune with God. [Read more…] about Evaluating Claims that Contradict the Prophets

Yet another critical website pretending to be something it’s not – “LDS Discussions”

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Websites critical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are popping up regularly, some gaining more traction than others. FAIR has responded specifically to some of them, like the so-called “CES Letter,” “Letter to My Wife,” and MormonThink. There are many other similar websites that FAIR has not responded to, partly because the topics raised in these sources are usually addressed in our wiki anyway, and partly because many of these sites overlap, because they are mostly re-hashing old arguments. [Read more…] about Yet another critical website pretending to be something it’s not – “LDS Discussions”

Willing to Be Weak

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Come Follow Me – Doctrine and Covenants 1

by Wendy Ulrich, PhD

Have you ever done anything that left you feeling foolish and weak? Something for which you hadn’t fully anticipated the consequences in time to avert them? Something that brought disapproval from your friends or contempt from your critics that even you had to agree might be warranted? Something that happened because you didn’t see the big picture, lacked experience with the problem at hand, lost your temper in the heat of a battle, or lost your prudence in enthusiasm for some new, shiny idea?

Yes, you have.

As have I.

How comforting the assurance that whatever others may think, whatever we may think, Jesus Christ is not alarmed by human imperfection and weakness (1 Corinthians 4:3-5; Ether 12:26-27). In fact, His preface to the Doctrine and Covenants asserts that He chooses and uses “the weak things of the world. . . [to]  break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellowman, neither trust in the arm of flesh – but that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world.” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:19-20, 23). He throws the door wide open for every weak, ordinary person to speak in His name and participate in His power. What might weakness have to do with that power?

“Calling All the Weak!” [Read more…] about Willing to Be Weak

FairMormon Finances

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The mission of FairMormon is to “provide well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” [1]   As such, we support fully the leadership of the church, its teaching and practices. That said, FairMormon is an independent organization that is not funded, nor run, nor even directed, by church leadership.

The three main sources of income for FairMormon are contributions from individuals and groups, revenue from conferences, and book sales. FairMormon has never received donations from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Nor has it received funds through Deseret Trust or the Foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FairMormon has received two donations from the More Good Foundation. One was a $2,000 donation that was part of a fundraising effort that was matched. The other was in 2018 when a $125,000 donation was made, which we were very grateful for because FairMormon was in financial difficulties at the time. At no time has the More Good Foundation ever told Fairmormon what to do. They do, however, use some of our information in their videos.

The More Good Foundation is also an independent organization funded through contributions. According to their website, they  “operate several websites along with social media pages where persons of other faiths can learn about the Church, and where individual members of the Church can share their beliefs. We also provide training and support for members interested in sharing their beliefs online.” [2] Their website also states that they are “primarily funded by the generous donations of individuals. It may also receive funds from trusts, corporations, and foundations, including Deseret Trust Company (a donor-advised fund), and the Foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes donations to many organizations and is funded by the revenues of wholly owned, for-profit companies” (emphasis added). [3] In addition, their website states “The More Good Foundation operates independently from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More Good Foundation is not managed or directed by the Church.” [4] [Read more…] about FairMormon Finances

FairMormon Statement Regarding “This is The Show” Videos

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Recently FairMormon released a new set of videos titled “This is The Show” on our YouTube channel. These videos use comedy and caricature to address criticisms of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are intended for a youth and young adult audience as part of our efforts to provide accurate, well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice and history of the Church.

In response to these videos, some individuals have made incorrect claims and accusations we wish to address.

First, some have claimed that other groups collaborated with FairMormon on these videos. This is false.  FairMormon commissioned the production of “This is The Show” videos without prompting, input, suggestion or direction from any other entity or individual. No other group has contributed to the content, style, performance, production, or distribution of our videos. FairMormon alone is responsible for the content shared on the videos, and our websites.

Second, some have accused FairMormon of distributing a meme with intent to incite violence. This is also false. We did not create or distribute the meme in question, nor did we ask anyone (directly or indirectly) to create or distribute such a meme. We do not know the individual who created the meme. We have nothing whatever to do with the meme, and we do not condone it in any way. FairMormon abhors violence in all of its forms and condemns anything that would invite or incite violence towards anyone—including our critics. We regret that any personalities associated with FairMormon may have shared such content.  We will review our social media policy with our FairMormon associates and contractors.

FairMormon is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented, accurate, authoritative, and complete answers to criticisms of and questions on the doctrine, policies, practices, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The overwhelming bulk of our work is set forward in well-documented articles and lectures. “This is The Show” video series isn’t a change in our course; it’s our first attempt to support young people—using means, methods, and media commonly familiar to them—in their efforts to understand and defend sincere and insincere questions or attacks on their faith and beliefs. For further information, please visit our FAQ page.