All Things Witness

Thoughts on the mission and power of Jesus Christ

Tag Archives: Church

Salt Lake temple


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The Holy Church of God

Have you ever read a passage of scripture – maybe even for the ‘umpteenth’ time – and had it hit you so profoundly that it’s caused you to re-evaluate something? Or maybe even re-evaluate everything? It’s caused a total shift in your paradigm of some principle, or even your foundation?

In my last post, I talked about the things we believe, but which are false, that prevent us from coming to know the truth (often called unbelief or traditions of the fathers in the scriptures). The truth must be our goal, because it’s the truth that sets us free. When we can truly let go of one or more of the false beliefs that we hold, the scriptures can open up to us in new ways, allowing us to have these profound experiences of life-altering understanding enlighten us. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

Now with that background, when I talk about the ‘Holy Church of God’, what do you think I’m referring to? Is it an organisation or institution? If so, which one?

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Brigham Young


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When History Troubles Faith

This is a topic that has been on my mind for some time, but I’ve really struggled to find the right words. The purpose of this website is to build faith in Jesus Christ, but as soon as we start to talk about mortals – any mortals, no matter how ‘righteous’ they are or we think they should be, we are going to encounter problems. How can we then discuss anything potentially controversial without damaging the faith in Christ we wish to build?

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High Council Sunday

So, here’s some humour for your Sabbath day.

In the LDS Church we have a lay ministry. All of the local leaders of the Church, teachers, and others are asked – or called in our terminology – to serve in a particular way for a (usually unknown) period of time. It can be daunting. It can be frustrating. It can be exhilarating and incredibly spiritually uplifting. It’s one of the ways we worship and serve the Lord, by doing what we are asked to do to teach and uplift others.

One of the things men can be called to do is to serve on what is called the High Council. Twelve men will be called into these positions at any one time, and the role is basically to help leaders organise different elements of the Church across several of our congregations.

Accompanying these responsibilities is usually the requirement to also attend a different congregation one Sunday each month to give a sermon. Now, it should be noted, that men are virtually never called to serve on the High Council because of their ability to address a congregation. And the result of that Continue reading →


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Depression and Church service.

© Copyright Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Christ taught the importance of both faith and works

© Copyright Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
Christ taught the importance of both faith and works

I was very blessed to have been born into a Christian family. My parents never wavered in their testimonies or Church attendance, and I grew up learning from them the importance of it.

I’m not sure at what point I began to understand the difference between the Church and the gospel – the earthly (though divinely mandate and approved) organisation through which gospel ordinances are performed in our day, versus the eternal principles by which our future happiness is governed.

At some point I did, though. And at about the same time, I also began to notice other principles we often conflate within the Church. Believing versus faith. Doing versus becoming. Reading  – or even studying – versus feasting.

Whichever set of words you look at, they’re both necessary: essential even. But our ultimate aim is always the second. We strengthen our belief until it grows into faith. We study the scriptures until we come to a point where we love them: our soul “hungers”, as Enos put it, and we desire to feast (see Enos 1:4). We do the things the Lord commands until we become a people who would naturally choose those things anyway – even without commandments, and without thinking about it.

It wasn’t until my darkest time of despair, however, that I realised my understanding of these things was intellectual only, a mere grasp of the theory. Continue reading →