Boasting in Christ Alone

Topical Index of Blog Posts

Personal Testimony & Spiritual Journey

Gospel Reflections & Christian Theology

  • The Sin Beneath All Sins: Why Misunderstanding the Nature of God Matters More Than You Think – As I’ve talked to LDS friends about the differences in how they and biblical Christianity understand the nature of God, I’ve been most surprised by the indifference. This post addresses why getting the nature of God wrong is a tragedy and something as spiritually weighty as the gravest of moral evils.
  • Nothing but the Blood of Jesus – Post describing how we are paradoxically and powerfully healed and made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ shed for us on the cross.
  • Hell, Jesus, and the Danger of Dismissing Eternal Judgment – Post about what Jesus and the New Testament teach about the reality of hell and eternal separation from God.
  • What About the Person Who Never Hears About Jesus?– Discussing the question of salvation for the unevangelized through the lens of ten Biblical principles that show us that God is both just and merciful.
  • No Second Chances: Hell, Justice, and the Rich Man’s Plea– Responding to the argument that the traditional Christian view of hell makes God into a moral monster through the lens of Jesus’s parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
  • The God Who Cannot Lie—or the One Who Threatens with Coal?– D&C 19 describes a God who deliberately lies to us about the nature of hell in order to scare us into repentance. I wrote about how this is incompatible with the God of the Bible and contrary to the clarity that Jesus brings to his discussions about Hell.
  • You Are Already Clean! – Post discussing how in Jesus we are already made clean, and do not need to prove ourselves before we can merit cleansing and forgiveness. I contrast this with what I once believed when I served an LDS mission about my need to cleanse myself from the blood and sins of this generation.
  • The Holy Spirit as God’s Spiritual Down Payment– Reflecting on a recent home purchase, this post explores Paul’s metaphor of the Holy Spirit as a downpayment (arrabōn) in Ephesians and 2 Corinthians. It contrasts the biblical view—where God gives the Spirit as a binding guarantee of our future inheritance—with the Latter-day Saint perspective where the Spirit felt more like a conditional, probationary gift.
  • Blessed is the Man – King David’s Forgiveness– Speaking of King David and how I have loved rediscovering his story and appreciating the depth of God’s grace and forgiveness towards him. The Bible  stands in stark contrast to LDS teaching where David loses his exaltation and is not fully forgiven.
  • Grace for the Heavy Laden– Analogizing the contrast between living under the works heavy system of Mormonism to living in a more mountainous climate and therefore needing to work hard to breathe. Living under the true Gospel of grace relieve and removes pressure that one wasn’t fully aware of.
  • Be Ye Perfect – Discussing Matthew 5:48 and how the verse is not a command to achieve sinless perfection but instead an injunction to live a life exemplified by the Love that God shows us in Christ.
  • Jesus is Our Only Hope Reflection inspired by a conference talk by Elder Neil L. Anderson entitled Jesus is Our Only Hope. I focus on Jesus’s words in John 16:33 that we should be of good cheer because he overcame the world, and I reflect on their implications for us and how we can have steadfast confidence in Christ.
  • Jesus as Our Ladder, Lawgiver, and Tabernacle– In this post I look at at the metaphors that John uses in John 1 to describe Jesus as Jacob’s ladder connecting us to heaven, the new Moses, and the new temple/tabernacle
  • God is Love: Divine Simplicity and the Glory of God – Discussing the importance of the doctrine of divine simplicity, or the concept that God is the ultimate source of truth and love from his very nature rather than from any external source.
  • A Greater and More Glorious God – Reflections on how I have been changed and blessed by my more exalted view of God and seeing him as holy, sovereign, immanent, and graceful
  • “Your Faith Has Saved You” – Discussing the stories of the ten leppers and the woman who anoints Jesus with perfume as examples of the need to really understand the depths of our need for salvation so that we can be healed and cleansed by Jesus.
  • “Paul does not have a doctrine of the cross in the Book of Acts” — Bart Ehrman’s Absurd Claim– Responding to scholar Bart Ehrman’s claim that “Paul does not have a doctrine of the cross in the Book of Acts.” I go through the Book of Acts and show how in Acts Paul plainly has a doctrine of the cross.
  • The Theological and Personal Significance of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Reflection on the powerful words of the hymn Come Thou Count of Every Blessings in light of its inclusion in the newest LDS hymn book
  • Life as a Roller Coaster– Analogy to life as a roller coast and how if we trust the designer we are able to enjoy the experience rather than being terrified by it.
  • Christ the Shepherd, and Us as Lost Sheep – Reflections on Pslam 23 after reading A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller. I talk specifically about how we should see ourselves primarily as the lost sheep rather than the undershepherd of Christ since we are so prone to wander and in need of rescue.
  • Orpheus’s Failure and Jesus’s Triumph– I talk about the story of Orpheud and Eurydice as interpretated by the Broadway musical Hadestown and discuss how Orpheus’s failure contrasts with Jesus our triumphant savior who never once looked back, but endured the cross for us.
  • Israel, the Church, and the Faithfulness of God– In light of ongoing conflict in the middle east and my background as an Israeli-American Christian, I consider what biblical obligation Christians have to support Israel. I reject both the extreme of equatting modern Israel with Biblical Israel and the extreme of rejecting any special role that Israel plays in God’s plan. I see Israel’s survival as a reflection of God’s providence and beleive we have a duty to support Israel (though no uncritically).
  • Why I No Longer Call the Constitution “Inspired”(And Why That Doesn’t Make Me Love It Less) – I write about how calling the Constitution “inspried” improperly blurs the line between truly divinely inspired scripture and other documents that may be shaped by God’s hand and guidance but does not have the status or quality of scripture.

Echoes of the Trinity

Seven part series where I explore the doctrine of the Trinity. I look at numerous “echoes” in scripture and in nature that provide glimpses of the Biblical Godwho is simultaneously relable and yet beyond our comprehension.

Christmas and Easter Reflections

Critiques of Mormon Doctrine and Apologetics

The Cross Changed Everything: Why Christ’s Finished Work Leaves No Room for a Restoration – In this post, I talk about how the Bible presents the cross as the final and decisive turning point in redemptive history—one that fulfills rather than reverses God’s earlier commands. I also explain why the LDS claim of a restoration lacks both the theological grounding and narrative continuity of the new covenant.

Don’t Cut the Branch You’re Sitting On: A Plea to My LDS Friends to Defend the Bible – An invitation to LDS friends to reject apologetics that require tearing down the Bible and to devote themselves to supporting the Bible vigorously since it is the branch they are sitting on and if the Bible collapses so do the truth claims of the LDS Church.

The Dog That Didn’t Bark: Why Early Christians’ Silence Challenges the LDS Great Apostasy – One of the most compelling reasons I rejected the LDS idea of a Great Apostasy boils down to a simple question: If the apostles died without successors and priesthood authority was lost, why don’t early Christians express alarm or lament? I look at how early Christians’ silence about the loss of the office of Apostle is itself a significant piece of evidence that challenges the LDS idea of a Great Apostasy.

MORMONISM: SAVED BY GRACE OR WORKS?– Response to a document shared by LDS apologist Hayden Carroll that took quotes from LDS leaders including Elder Oaks, Elder Ballard, and Elder McConkie out of context in order to show that they taught that salvation was by grace and not works. Looking at those quote in the full context of their talks shows that they taught that something very different.

A Tale of Two Testimonies: From “I Know the Church Is True” to “Jesus Saved Me” – Reflections on how while Latter-day Saint testimony often focuses on what members “know,” Christian testimony is not about doctrinal claims or spiritual confirmations, but a declaration of grace, a story of rescue, and a celebration of Jesus.

Marriage and Family as an Idol – I talk about how marriage and family can become an idol and how Jesus offers us something far better when we truly put him first.

If Heavenly Mother Exists, Why Don’t Mormons Worship Her?– If Heavenly Mother really exists, it would be dishonoring to not give her the worship and priase she is due. But if Latter-day Saints were to regularly pray to her, sing to her, and include her in worship, it would be impossible to maintain the appearance of Christian continuity.

A Fragile Marriage or Unbreakable Union? Contrasting Views of Grace Through Brad Wilcox’s Analogy – Responding to an interview with Brad Wilcox on the topic of grace where he compared covenants to a wedding vow. I praise his metaphor, but discuss how for Mormonism that metaphor does not fit will given the conditional nature of God’s blessings compared to the unshakable union with God that Christians receive.acts

Who Is Really Playing the Notes?: Rethinking the Piano Teacher Metaphor of Grace– Responding to Brad Wilcox’s famlous Piano Teacher metaphor by describing how the final judgment is like an impossible concerto and how Christ’s grace steps in ensuring that his notes count as ours.

After All We Can Do? – Discussing 2 Nephi 25:23 and how LDS leaders perpetuated the interpretation of the verse says that grace doesn’t kick in until after we have done all that is in our power. If they got it wrong and the revisionist grace enabling reading of this verse is correct, then why should we trust what they teach now?

The Mirage of Temple Worthiness – Discussing how the temple recommend and temple worthiness perpetuate works righteousness, can be soul crushing, and leads to pride and focus on outward commandment keeping rather than inward reform.

The Restoration of All Things? – In this post I critique the concept of “a restoration of all things” and look at how in his zeal for restoration Joseph Smith restored the very works based system of salvation that Christ came to abolish.

The Always-Reforming Church v. the Mirage of Elegance– Responding to LDS (and Catholic) arguments that a Church led by inspired leaders is more elegant and harmonious than being led by scripture alone. I point to the value of having an always reforming spirit rooted in the word of God.

Paradise Lost and Found– Discussing the story of the City of Enoch and how it and other LDS writings perpetuates utopian thinking and lead people to believe in an elevated view of mankind.

Paul and His Opponents on Grace – Post noticing that Latter-day Saints make the same arguments against Evangelical Christians that Paul’s opponents made against him. Then and now the Gospel led to freedom not cheap grace. These accusations and Paul’s response show that he was not preaching the LDS Gospel of works righteousness)

Do Former Sins Return?– Post discussing D&C 82:7 and the concept of former sins returning to us when we sin again. This verse stands out to me as one of the most problematic LDS verses that undermines the Bible’s message of God’s forgiveness.

The God Who Cannot Lie—or the One Who Threatens with Coal?– D&C 19 describes a God who deliberately lies to us about the nature of hell in order to scare us into repentance. I wrote about how this is incompatible with the God of the Bible and contrary to the clarity that Jesus brings to his discussions about Hell.

The Curse of a False Prophet – While the idea of being led by true prophets is enticing, there is nothing worse than being led by false prophets. When false prophets teach falsehood their ideas get accepted as divine truth and are incredibly difficult to change. The Adam-God doctrine and  priesthood ban are premier examples of this in LDS history.

The Great Apostasy and the Holy Ghost– Post highlighting how extreme the LDS position that for 1,800 years no Christians received a remission of sins or the gift of the Holy Ghost really is.

How Realistic is the First Vision?– Post discussing how unrealistic the First Vision and other LDS accounts of appearances of God the Father are in light of the Bible and the many inconsistencies and problems in accounts of these visions.

Better than Just a Mediator – Discussing Boyd K Packer’s mediator parable and how it does not adequately reflect the full riches of God’s grace. In Christ we become adopted as sons and heirs, not as debtors working to pay off a more lenient creditor.

Was Jesus God before He Was Born?– Post questioning how Latter-day Saints can say that Jesus was God before his birth when he did not have a body, was not married, and had not yet had an earthly experience

Was Jonah a False Prophet – Responding to the LDS apologist argument that Jonah was a false prophet since Nineveh was not destroyed and therefore we should excuse LDS leaders blatant false prophecies

Temple Work and the Sale of Indulgences: A Common Pattern of Exploiting our Compassion for the Dead – I discuss how both the LDS practice of temple work and the Catholic practice of selling indulgences preys on a human inclination towards compassion for the dead. Both falsely teach that the living can impact the spiritual state of the dead and create false hope and dependency.

The Word of Wisdom: A Mark of a False Church that is not of Christ.– In this post I argue that the fact that the Word of Wisdom is a requirement for baptism and temple access is one of the clearest indicators that the LDS Church is not true. This requirement contradicts the New Testament’s clear instruction that in Christ no food or drink is unclean or defiling.

Paul, Galatians, and the Word of Wisdom– Post discussing how the Word of Wisdom and its additional requirements for fellowship and temple worthiness are incompatible with the Biblical gospel and similar to the Judaizer heresy that Paul confronted in Galatia.

Do Mormons Know the Bible Better than Evangelicals? Refuting a False Claim – Refuting the common Mormon apologetic argument that Mormons know the Bible better than other Christians. This assertion is based on a single pew survey, but LDS apologists ignore a later survey with the opposite results and vastly overstate how much these studies can say about actual knowledge of the Bible.

Reflections from a Temple Open House Tour– Reactions from taking a temple open house tour and especially to Elder Holland’s quote about “heaven not being heaven” without his wife and how temple is an unnecessary distraction from Jesus Christ.

The God who Made the Machine – Post describing how the argument for Design support Biblical Christianity but creates additional problems for Mormonism since it is difficult to explain why a god producing universe could have emerged without a transcendent creator

Does Acts 3:21 Predict a Restoration of Christ’s Church? A Biblical Refutation and Gospel Message – Post refuting the common LDS argument that Peter in Acts 3:19-21 is predicting the LDS Restoration.

The Great Apostasy that Wasn’t: Acts 20:28-31 and the Church in Ephesus– I used to point to Acts 20:28-31 to prove a Great Apostasy. But the Book of Revelation demonstrates that the Church in Ephesus actually heeded Paul’s warning, showing that a Great Apostasy was not inevitable.

Mormonism is like an Artificial Sugar – I point to artificial sugar and how our body detects and processes it as a perfect analogy for how Mormonism modified the truths of the Gospel of Christ’s grace in subtle ways.

Why I Won’t Give Brother Brigham a Break – Discussing Brigham Young’s Adam God doctrine and why it was such a shelf breaker for me. In particular, I talk about how disturbing it is that dissenting voices who taught biblical truth were silenced because the “prophet had spoken”

Brigham Young’s Adam-God Heresy Preached in the British Isles in 1853-1854– Discussing the Adam-God doctrine and how it was enforced as orthodoxy by missionaries and Church leaders in the British isles including Franklin D. Richards

LDS General Conference & Leader Responses

Jesus Is Enough: Reflections on Sister Runia’s Talk and the Grace Latter-day Saints Long For – Reaction to a popular LDS conference talk by Sister Tamara Runia. I praise her for her focus on God’s constant and unwavering love, but point to how Mormon doctrine undermines that powerful message.

“I Have Finished the Work”: Why Those Words Belong to Jesus Alone – Reaction to a conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland where he talked about a young child who said, “I have glorified [my father and] have finished the work [he gave] me to do.’“ I talked about how those words form Jesus’ highly priestly prayer are uniquely the words of Jesus and it was inappropriate to put those words on the lips of any mere mortal.

Thankless Service and the Handcart Disaster– Reaction to a conference talk by Elder David A. Bednar entitled Path of their Duty. I first talk about how great it is to serve in the Christian church where I get to choose where to serve rather than have to wait for a calling. I then talk about the faith of the pioneers and the Martin and Willie Handcart Company disasters. I discuss how Apostle Franklin D. Richard’s false prophecy of the success of these companies led to a preventable disaster and how the Church silences critics in the name of following the prophet.

Not I, But He: Where True Confidence Comes From – Post contrasting Russell M. Nelson’s conference talk Confidence in the Presence of God with an easter message that I heard which focused on the Christ as the ultimate source of our confidence.

The Answer is Always Jesus – Favorable reaction to a general conference talk by Elder Robert Daines of the 70 entitled Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus. I appreciated how he emphasized that covenants and commandments are “about relationships” rather than “rules to earn his love,” but noted that I didn’t think Elder Daines went far enough and that his views were not fully compatible with historical Mormonism.

Book of Mormon Critiques

Does the Book of Mormon Contradict LDS Doctrine on the Afterlife?– Post about how Book of Mormon passages especially Alma 34 teach a binary heaven and hell and no chance to post mortal repentance that is completely incompatible with LDS teaching regarding temple work.

Does the Book of Mormon Teach Pre-Mortal Existence?– Shows how the Book of Mormon doesn’t teach the doctrine of the premortal existence and in fact supports the traditional Christian view—that God creates each person individually, and that human spirits do not eternally coexist with God in the same way He exists.

Lehi the Deuteronomist? How the Bible and Book of Mormon Both Undermine Anti-Deuteronomist LDS Theories– I look at the theory popularized by scholar Margaret Barker and many LDS scholars that the Deuteronomists were the bad guys who corrupted the true Israelite religion. I point out that this idea is contradicted in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon

Son of Righteousness — Evidence the Book of Mormon was Originally Written in English– I talk about how the play on words found in the Book of Mormon which replaces “Sun of Righteousness” in Malachi 4:2 with “Son of righteousness” in 3 Nephi 25:2 is a clear indication that the Book of Mormon was originally written in English not an ancient language. This play on words only makes sense in English

“Only the Poorest Remained”: How the Bible’s History Undermines the Book of Mormon– Looking at how the Book of Mormon’s account of Jerusalem as a place filled with prosperous individuals like Lehi and Laban contradicts the Biblical account which shows that Israeli’s elite and their wealth had already been captured by Babylon.

The Book of Mormon and the New Testament – I point out some of the extensive ways that the Book of Mormon relies on the language of the KJV Bible, especially Moroni 10:8-17 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. If the Book of Mormon were truly ancient this should be impossible.

Fixing What Wasn’t Broken: How the Book of Mormon Rewrites—and Distorts—Isaiah 13:3– Post describing how the version of Isaiah 13:3 found in the Book of Mormon rewrites and distorts the meaning of Isaiah in a manner that is not reflective of any ancient manuscripts but totally consistent with 19th Century Protestantism.

The Holy Spirit and Pentecost: A Biblical Contradiction in the Book of Mormon– Post highlighting how the reception of the gift of the holy spirit by the Lamanites in Helaman contradicts the Bible’s depiction of the day of Pentecost as the inauguration  of the indwelling gift of the Holy Ghost.

Scripture Based Devotionals and Study Material

Galatians Study Guide – Full Document– Link to my full study guide on the Book of Galatians with verse by verse commentary and discussion questions.

Thirsting in the Desert or Flourishing by the Stream? Reflection on Jeremiah’s powerful image of a tree planted by the water contrasted with a desert shrub.

From (King) Saul to Paul: A Story of Redemption and the Triumph of Grace– Discussing how the story of Paul the Apostle reflects and redeems the story of his namsake King Saul.

Rooted and Built Up In Him (Col 1-2) – Reflection on Col 1-2 and the need to avoid adding requirements upon the simple truths of the Gospel

Let Light Shine Out Of Darkness (2 Cor 4:6) – Short reflection on 2 Cor 4:6 and how God’s work in our hearts is a miracle just like God’s miraculous work of creation.

Deceived by his Cunning (2 Cor 11:3-4, 13-15) – Short reflection on 2 Cor 11: 3-4, and 13-15 and how they teach the need to test spiritual impressions to avoid being led astray.

He Who Calls You Is Faithful (1 Thess 5:23-24)– Reflection on 1 Thess 5:23-24 and how god preserves us and our faith in moments of spiritual weakness.

He Has Rescued Us (Col 1:9-14)– Reflections on Paul’s prayer in Col 1:9-14 and how God centered and God honoring it was

Poetry and Creative Writing  

He Who Was Eternal– Poem reflecting on the miraculous incarnation of God where he who was eternal took on flesh and died for our sins.

The Physician and the Cure– Poem about the ongoing battle against sin in the flesh

Woe Unto You— A poem reflecting on spiritual deception, false authority, and the burden of legalism—modeled after Jesus’ woes to the Pharisees and expressing grief over being led away from the true gospel of grace by LDS leaders that once revered.

 O God Of My Salvation – Poem reflecting on how while I once longed to spend time in the temple, I now can seek God’s presence directly.

At the Throne of God – Poem describing God’s holiness and his great mercy towards me a sinner

The Wayward One – Poem describing Paul’s conversion from a Pharisee of the Pharisees to a champion of Christian freedom   Reason to Boast (creative personal essay)

Reason to Boast – Creative essay describing my conversion and freedom in Christ