Mindful Latter-day Saint Apologetics
Providing thoughtful and faithful responses to criticisms and questions of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ
My own spiritual journey and recovery has shown what true masculinity is all about. The character and integrity. Finding joy, since happiness requires right circumstances, means to come to a place of experiencing life - regardless of the good, bad, and those ugly moments.
The invitation for us to place our faith in Christ, repent and seek forgiveness for our sins and trespasses, and willingly to deny ourselves and lose our lives for the sake of Christ is an invitation to enter into sacred covenants through those true ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today, we make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father. Those covenants we make bare the signs, tokens, and symbols that help remind us of those sacred covenants. These signs, tokens, and symbols not only help remind us of our Heavenly Father's grace and faithfulness toward us, but it also reminds us of our willingness to continually seek Him and conform to His will for our lives.
Through Noah - there will come a brief period of rest from all that which bore wickedness. Through Christ, we come to find everlasting peace and rest from the carnal mind and vain imaginations of our own hearts.
Thus, to have the Lord's Spirit strive with us means that we are willing to allow the Holy Spirit to rule over our hearts and minds. To judge us and guide us into those moral truths of our Heavenly Father. It is therefore to this end that we understand how the Holy Spirit is limited to how long it will strive with us - as we make our sojourn and pilgrimage through this mortal existence.
Noah and his family were saved of (or through) water from the spiritual decay and immorality surrounding them. The flood destroying the old life in order to bring about a newness of life. It is the very nature and covenant of our baptism.
By reading and studying through the scriptures, listening to those ordained by our Heavenly Father, teaching these things unto our families and others - we are to also engage in meaningful and sincere prayer. Through prayer and fasting, we are able to become conquerors and overcome Satan and those who uphold the work of the adversary (D&C 10:5).
As we submit ourselves, with willingness, to follow Christ and the commandments of our Heavenly Father, we are continually renewed, strengthened, and growing in faith. As we increase in our faith and knowledge of Christ, the power of His intimate atonement, and endure with patience and long-suffering - we shall stand ready to be cleansed and purified of all unrighteousness.
Today, more than ever, our children need to be raised up with a strong and bold faith in understanding and knowing who Jesus Christ is. Develop a strong testimony in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Possess a true and authentic intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Scripture is very clear on this. The savior made it a point to teach that it is far better for an individual to tie a millstone around their neck and be tossed into the sea (Matthew 18:6 and Luke 17:2) when it comes to teaching children to stumble and offend God. Our duty and obligation are to teach them to live right and true to the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The essential truth of Christ’s infinite atonement - and the baptism for the remission of sins - means we are justified before God through Christ, sanctified through the Holy Spirit and our willingness to walk in humility and obedience, and are glorified through Christ’s resurrection and infinite atonement unto immortality and eternal life. Once we are baptized, we walk a path and journey where we are perfected unto Christ (Moroni 10:32) by the process of repentance and forgiveness.
It is only when we are faithful to the basic principle doctrine of Christ that we are able to call others unto repentance and forgiveness. Meaning, we ought to give ourselves over to walking in forgiveness and repentance daily. Otherwise, we are merely criticizing, judging, and condemning others while ignoring the transgressions and sins in our own life (Matthew 7:1-3, 5).
Many times, it is by our own actions and behaviors that set the tone and testimony of the hope that lies within each one of us. When we live the principal truths of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - we become a living and thriving testimony of hope.
Today, many possess the spirit of Cain and say with grave arrogance am I my brother’s keeper? Unfortunately, many who possess such an attitude and spirit of haughtiness are those who claim to be followers of Christ. How are we able to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength when we turn ourselves from the suffering of others? To love God also means we are to love others as we love ourselves.
Our journey through the Old Testament will reveal many symbolisms and foreshadowing that point us toward the nature, purpose, mission, and ministry of Jesus Christ. Yet nothing compares to the very rich and deep symbolism we find within the story of Cain and Abel’s sacrifice and offering before God. In Genesis, we simply find that Abel’s offering, and sacrifice was acceptable before God. However, Cain’s was not. In Moses 5:16-41, we come to understand the nature between the two sacrifices and offerings brought forth.
Obedience merely means we are placing our faith and trust in God’s will and desire for us and our own lives. We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). It is by this faith that Adam and Eve offered up sacrifices unto God as they worshipped and called upon His name. To this end - the Angel came and revealed unto them that this was in similitude of the sacrifice Jesus Christ will provide to answer the ends of the Law and fulfill the plan of salvation.
Yes, we are clothed with mortality. Yet, as we come to faith in Jesus Christ and commit our lives over to living the principal truths of the Gospel of
In Word: The Tree of Life is symbolism of the Plan of Salvation. The love of God who is Jesus Christ. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the representation of moral agency. It stands in opposition to the tree of life. It represents mortality. Adam and Eve remained in a state of spiritual existence. A state of innocence. A state of perfect union and harmony. Yet, to bring about the reality of the Plan of Salvation - humanity needed to make a choice. That choice led to the temptation and partaking of the forbidden fruit. The Tree of Life represented immortality and eternal life. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represented mortality and moral agency. All that encompasses human liberty and freedom of choice comes suffering, adversity, and sorrow. Yet, our Heavenly Father has prepared a way for us to overcome and endure temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).
True discipleship is one of great cost. It requires us to take up our cross and abide in Christ by keeping his commandments (Matthew 16:24-26 and John 15:10).
As we seek after the Kingdom of Heaven - seek after the righteousness of God, we do so through love of our Heavenly Father and love toward others. The Savior expresses that these two teachings are the main commandments: Love God and love others (Mark 12:28-31). It is the call to allow our Heavenly Father to rule in our hearts, in our homes, in our workplaces, and in our communities.
Through our discipleship we come to know the nature and truth of who our Heavenly Father is and what he expects of us. To which, the Savior declared, be ye therefore perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48, Philippians 3:15-16; 3 Nephi 12:48). It means we are to be complete and full as it relates to Our Heavenly Father.
The Sabbath is a time where we connect intimately with our Heavenly Father and fellowship with others. A time of opportunity to serve others. It is a time to reflect on the covenants we have made as disciples of Jesus Christ. Where we fall short, it is a time of seeking forgiveness, walking the path of repentance, and seeking wise counsel from those whom our Heavenly Father has chosen.
Meaningful and mindful worship begins when we are authentic and accurate in our attitude toward Heavenly Father. He is pleased by our thoughtfulness toward Him. Reflecting on his nature, desiring to become more like Christ, sanctified and holy. We are called to be holy as he is holy, perfect as he is perfect, and through Christ, we are perfected unto God.
We are fashioned with eternal spiritual bodies. It is then that our Heavenly Father breathes into our mortal bodies the breath of life so that we become a living soul. Scripture also declares unto us the promise that those who come to faith in Jesus Christ - by the miracle and gift of the infinite atonement - will have a new heart and spirit (Ezekiel 36:26)
After all that our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ, have accomplished - they saw that it was good. This is something we are incapable of imagining. The sweet harmony, beauty, unity, and the way all things worked together in peace. Such beautiful perfection was very good. We also have a difficult time understanding the Holy Goodness of our Heavenly Father. The goodness in His creating each one of us after His own image and likeness. The goodness in His plan of happiness for each one of us through our Savior Jesus Christ. The goodness of revealing Himself through all
King David marveled at the power and testimony of God’s creation in Psalm 19. Here, he proclaims that the heavens declare God’s glory and that the firmament sheweth his handiwork (See, Psalm 19:1). The Apostle Paul also shared his insights by stating how we are without excuse because of how creation clearly reveals the eternal power and Godhead by what is manifested and clearly seen (see Romans 1:20). The Prophet Alma also commented on how all things denote that there is a God (See, Alma 30:44). When our Heavenly Father revealed unto Moses the workmanship of His own hands - Moses marveled and wondered at such a glorious work. The great patriarch Abraham also saw the endless and glorious workmanship of God’s hands (See, Abraham 3:12).
From scripture and modern day revelation we learn that Jesus Christ was chosen and foreordained to be the mediator and redeemer of humanity. He is key to the plan of salvation.
It is through our humility and submission to our Heavenly Father where he will bless and use us for his holy purposes
Our mortality is a test where we are to gain a vision and understanding of who Christ is, thereby gaining understanding of who our Heavenly Father is. Having this vision helps us go forward in faith and purpose because we know who we are and where we are heading.
Today, our religious worship requires something more. It requires our sincere reverence and gratitude. It is a sacrifice of our own self and will. Such sacrifice comes when we call upon God, through Jesus Christ on a daily basis
Much like the Israelites, we are wandering in the wilderness and desert of life. Seeking freedom from those things that have us bound. Sin enslaves us, pressing upon us, and the more we resist, the weaker we seemed to become. Our Heavenly Father sent His Only Begotten Son to free us from the snares of sin and death. The Apostle Paul writes to the Romans wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin so also does life come from the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:12-19).
Mindful Latter-day Saint Apologetics 
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