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Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Hebrews 7–13

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Evangelical Questions: Isn’t Jesus the Only Melchizedek Priesthood Holder?

by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

Welcome back to Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions. My name is Jennifer Roach and today we’re going to talk about part 2 of 3 on priesthood. There is so much to say on this and we’re going to get right to it. But I want to point out one thing… [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Hebrews 7–13

Asking Big Questions: Why Is Going to Church Important?

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by Lyndie Jackson

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

Saturdays and Sundays are safeguarded days for most people. Between school, work and other activities, our weeks get hectic and weekends are reserved for relaxing with family and friends and accomplishing tasks that could not be finished during the week. But faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with members of other religions, carve out time during their weekends to attend church meetings.

Church attendance is important for many reasons, not the least of which are to worship God, to feel the Spirit, and to keep God’s commandment to honor the Sabbath day. There are many other reasons to attend church meetings, such as renewing our covenants with God, learning the gospel, and joining a community of believers. Our lives can be exceedingly blessed by going to church, even (and maybe especially) when it feels like a sacrifice.

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A Mortal Davidic Servant?

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Some Old Testament scriptures tell about a latter-day “Davidic King,” “Davidic Servant,” or “Marred Servant.” The consensus of mainstream scholarship and teaching from leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that this refers to Jesus Christ, when He rules the earth after His Second Coming. But some claim the “Servant” will be a mortal man who may or may not be a regularly-ordained Church leader. Because of the name “David,” some speculate Apostle David Bednar will be the Servant, and the same was said decades ago about the prophet David O. McKay.

Many who are not Apostles or Church leaders have claimed to be the “Davidic Servant.” Recently it was reported a woman and her brother kidnapped her teenage son because they believed him to be the “Davidic Servant.” The belief in a “Davidic Servant” is controversial and has been associated with criminal and tragic outcomes. To an unstable individual who feels entitled to power or special spiritual gifts, the “Davidic Servant” belief can be used to justify immoral and unscriptural actions. To an ordinary member of the Church, belief in a coming “Davidic Servant” can cause frustration with actual Church leaders, a feeling of spiritual superiority to them, and an eventual loss of faith in the restored gospel altogether.

A Mortal Davidic Servant: Refuting the Arguments

Believers in a coming mortal “Davidic Servant” use several arguments to support their claim. Most are completely wrong.

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Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Hebrews 1–6

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Evangelical Questions: Ordain Every Man in the Church?

by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

Welcome back to Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions. My name is Jennifer Roach and today we’re going to talk about why in the world ALL men in the church can be ordained as a priest, not just a few. As you know, we’re going through the Come Follow Me readings and addressing common questions that Evangelicals ask about our faith as we go along. Our purpose here is not to fuel debate but to help you understand where your Evangelical friends and family are coming from so that you can have better conversations with them, and perhaps even be able to offer them a bit of our faith in a way they can understand. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Hebrews 1–6

“Beware lest ye are deceived”

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While traveling to western Missouri in the fall of 1830, Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer Jr., and Ziba Peterson made a stop in Kirtland, Ohio to preach the gospel to some of Parley’s friends and former religious associates. While there, they taught and baptized more than a hundred individuals! They then ordained some of the men as Elders and placed them in charge of the affairs of the Church in that area. The missionaries then continued on to their assigned mission in Missouri.

Left to their limited understanding of the restored gospel, which included a renewal of the gift of the Holy Ghost and spiritual gifts, a few of these newly ordained Elders and members began experiencing unusual spiritual phenomena during their worship services. These included ecstatically jumping up and down, swinging from ceiling joists, falling into trances and unconsciousness, seeing visions of parchments with written messages from heaven, crawling around like snakes on the floor, preaching in tongues to invisible congregations of Lamanites, wielding invisible swords of Laban, and so forth.

Of course, these practices drew the ridicule of outsiders in the community, including in the local press, and gave plenty of fodder for the first anti-Mormon book, Mormonism Unvailed.

Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – 1 and 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon

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Evangelical Questions: The Husband of One Wife

by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

Welcome back to Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions. My name is Jennifer Roach and today we’re going to talk about polygamy. As you know we’re going through the Come Follow Me readings and addressing common questions that Evangelicals ask about our faith as we go along. Our purpose here is not to fuel debate but to help you understand where your Evangelical friends and family are coming from so that you can have better conversations with them, and perhaps even be able to offer them a bit of our faith in a way they can understand. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – 1 and 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon

By Study and Faith – Episode 8: Misinformation and Propaganda

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by Zachary Wright

Introduction

Imagine for yourself for a moment that you’re face-to-face with a critic of the church who states “The church is lying to you about its history” or “the church is trying to cover up its past.”  When you ask them what they mean, they explain how the church has suppressed the details behind how a seer stone was used throughout the translation of the Book of Mormon.  They continue “It’s only until the advent of the internet where the church has been forced to be honest.”  What this critic does not know is that this claim is, for the most part, misinformation.  The unfortunate reality is that misinformation can be spread as simply as the example above, and it can have some devastating consequences. [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 8: Misinformation and Propaganda

Asking Big Questions: How Do I Stay Faithful When I Don’t Have All the Answers?

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by Craig Lindquist

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

Have you ever felt that the proverbial “windows of heaven” are too often fastened tightly shut for you? You would not be alone, as most of us have. Assuming that they are not shut because of serious misdeeds, what do we do when we need the revelation that flows through those windows but cannot get it? There is no easy answer. Even after much prayer, fasting, studying the scriptures, or conversations with priesthood leaders, answers can still be hard to find. Nevertheless, in our own struggle we can gain much understanding and appreciation for others who also search for answers from above.

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Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – 1 and 2 Thessalonians

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Evangelical Questions: What Apostasy?

by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

Welcome back to Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions. My name is Jennifer Roach and today we’re going to talk about The Great Apostasy. As you know we’re going through the Come Follow Me readings and addressing common questions that Evangelicals ask about our faith as we go along. Our purpose here is not to fuel debate but to help you understand where your Evangelical friends and family are coming from so that you can have better conversations with them, and perhaps even be able to offer them a bit of our faith in a way they can understand. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – 1 and 2 Thessalonians

FAIR Questions: What did President Nelson mean by “the kind of body with which you will be resurrected” in his General Conference talk?

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FAIR has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/contact. We will occasionally publish answers here for questions that are commonly asked, or are on topics that are receiving a lot of attention.

Question:

In the time since General Conference, we have had several questions about the resurrection – whether our bodies will be resurrected in their perfect form, and what the difference would be between a Celestial versus a Terrestrial or Telestial resurrected body. [Read more…] about FAIR Questions: What did President Nelson mean by “the kind of body with which you will be resurrected” in his General Conference talk?