Rusty's Blog - Mormon Conversations — Discussions on faith, religion, Mormonism, and other important topics

Supreme court upholds ban on same-sex marriage

May 26, 2009

According to CNN (article here), the California high court just upheld the ban on same-sex marriage. It did sustain the validity of prior same-sex marriages, but the ban on new marriages was upheld by a 6-1 vote. California’s Proposition 8, preventing same sex marriage, has been the subject of extreme controversy, as you’d expect, but [...]

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Digestible: A beacon of light

May 20, 2009

“If you have seen one of the temples at night, fully lighted, you know what an impressive sight that can be. The house of the Lord, bathed in light, standing out in the darkness, becomes symbolic of the power and the inspiration of the gospel of Jesus Christ standing as a beacon in a world [...]

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Introducing Digestibles!

May 20, 2009

Life is often incomprehensibly busy. There’s usually vastly more to be done, than you’ll ever have time to do. But regular reconnections with the gospel of Christ keep us direction-conscious, while frequent encounters with words of enlightenment and encouragement keep us energized for the course. Therefore, with the understanding that sometimes you won’t have time [...]

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God’s hidden plan for you

May 18, 2009

Around 1620, separatists from England had arrived in America seeking religious freedom. Landing at New Plymouth, they set up what would become known as the Plymouth Colony. This colony would be crucial in establishment of a nation free to worship God as they saw fit. But it almost didn’t happen. On the journey, many of [...]

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Why do Mormons believe in Works?

May 15, 2009

Daniel, in the post “Do Mormons have more than one God?” (page 3 of the comments), asked a very important question pertaining to the mercy, the atonement of Christ, and the role of works in achieving exaltation. This is one of the most frequently asked questions I encounter. He accurately notes that there are scriptures [...]

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Did Joseph Smith think that he was better than Jesus?

May 15, 2009

Daniel, in the post “Do Mormons have more than one God“, asked why Joseph Smith said he did a better job than Paul and Jesus for keeping the church together. Daniel, Thanks for asking this question. First and foremost, this was not the belief, or attitude, or teaching of the prophet Joseph Smith. In fact, [...]

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We are the product of our thoughts

May 14, 2009

I’ve moved this post to my new Life-Engineering blog (www.life-engineering.com), which is dedicated to motivating and inspiring people to realize their potential and achieve their dreams. It’s about engineering your present to change your future. A place where like-minded people can come and share their successes and encourage each other. You can now find the [...]

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What does it take to be a hero?

May 7, 2009

I’ve moved this post to my new Life-Engineering blog, dedicated to motivating people to achieve their goals and change their futures by taking control of their lives. You can now find this post here: http://life-engineering.com/what-does-it-take-to-be-a-hero/

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You’re number 288! Please, be personal.

May 5, 2009

The other day I was in Cutlers, a small sandwich shop here in Utah (they’ve got an amazing turkey and avocado sandwich, by the way, and crazy-good sugar cookies). It was early evening and they were about to close. I walked in and placed an order for a dozen sugar cookies (no, not all [...]

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Did Mormons invent Wing Dings?

May 5, 2009

A little while ago, I was talking to a non-Mormon coworker. He, of course, knew I was Mormon, and as we were talking, he said (in all seriousness): “I heard that Mormons are the ones that invented the Wing Dings font as a secret language”. In case you’re not familiar, Wing Dings are a [...]

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Rededication, overcoming entropy in your personal life

January 2, 2009

I love… the turn of the new year, largely because we take the opportunity to reevaluate our lives, assess where we’ve been, and plan where we’re going. It’s a phenomenal event, pivotal, and magnificent. An important part of avoiding personal spiritual entropy.

Life is not casual. Life is engaging. Spend too much time as a bystander, and you find your life is filled with more regret, than accomplishment and opportunity… (read more)…

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The power of forgiveness

December 17, 2008

The following YouTube video, one of the final talks delivered by the apostle, President James E. Faust, is a powerful portrayal of the purifying principle of forgiveness, and a compelling example, of true Christian behavior.

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Are Mormons Christian? What truly defines a Christian?

December 12, 2008

This post is a continuation of the series “Are Mormons Christian“. In the comments on the post “Are Mormons Christian? Do doctrinal difference define us“, the Pondering Pastor and I began a most crucial discussion that strikes at the very heart of this matter. The post was about the importance of having a commonality of [...]

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WordPress problems, missing posts

December 9, 2008

There was a problem tonight with WordPress, where many WordPress users, using the system during a certain period of time, had all of their custom sidebar code dissapear. Unfortunately, I was a beneficiary of that bug. I’ll work to restore that code as quickly as possible, since it is what granted access to all my [...]

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