stuffaaronsays

I am a Celestial Universalist: I believe that virtually--if not literally--all people will eventually make it into the Celestial kingdom.

I've been contemplating this concept for several years. My motivation hasn't been that I simply want it to be so. Rather, my eyes have slowly opened to recognize the difference between God's unending patience, mercy, and desire that all his children return to Him, vs. the limitations that we imperfect mortals seem to impose based on our flawed concepts of things like 'justice' and 'fairness.'

After all, Jesus declared "I... will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32) and explained to Moses that "this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortalit

..as they appear to be in direct conflict with each other. The first comes from D&C 124 from this week’s study in Come Follow Me.

D&C 124:49

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence⁠, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings.

I understand this to mean God is not overly demanding of us, that He judges not based on the outcome per se, but bas

For all callings throughout the church, we’re asked to “sustain” the people who are called. Particularly for callings within our wards/branches, we may often go through the motions of raising our hand at the appropriate time without giving it much thought.

What does it mean to you to “sustain” someone, especially a new Prophet?

Does it mean to be their apologist, vigorously defending everything they have ever said or done?

Does it mean to ignore and suppress any and all frustration or negative feelings?

Does it mean to pray for us to change our ways, to love and respect them as they are?

Does it mean to pray for them that Heavenly Father than instruct them and help them to grow and

With D&C 89 on the docket, I've been asked to give a talk in my ward this coming Sunday. (Short notice, back-filling some cancellations.) Assigned topic is:

How can taking care of our physical well being help us feel closer to the Savior?

To that end, I'm looking for reputable sources (scriptures, GC talks, etc) about the following:

• LDS teachings on the sanctity of the body, how different it is from the rest of Christianity, and why it matters so much
• The inextricable connection between our bodies and our spirits

I of course will be including the WoW promises in D&C 89, referencing that our body is the temple of God (1 Cor 6), but I've got a whole talk I need to give on the su

I’ve been wondering this for a while, and found this quote (from a non-LDS political scientist) interesting:

Politics has a greater impact on religious loyalties than many people would like to admit, Burge said, and some young people who leave the Republican Party because of Trump may also leave The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for linking or overlapping reasons. “People are drawn to or from religious groups based on their political persuasion,” Burge said.

from: https://www.deseret.com/politics/2025/06/02/young-latter-day-saint-voters-increase-support-for-donald-trump-in-new-election-data/

So which is the cause, and which is the effect?

1. Are political views our cent

Over the last few years I’ve considered this a lot and become increasingly universalist in my understanding of the plan of salvation. As heretical as it sounds, I believe that, except for the rare case of sons of perdition, everyone else will eventually enter into the Celestial Kingdom.

These are my three reasons why I think we’ll all end up there.. eventually.

1. Every single person I’ve ever known in my life is trying to find happiness and fulfillment. It’s what we all want. However, we don’t all agree on how to achieve it. Think Lehi’s vision of the tree of life. Yet we also know (and I’ve personally learned) that “wickedness never was happiness.” To paraphrase Maya Angelou, we’re a

Reconciling political views and the teachings of Jesus

This kind of topic can quickly spiral out of hand, so to clarify:

• I’m not referring to Trump
• I’m not referring to the 2024 US presidential election, or even to specific political parties at all

Instead, I’ve been pondering on how Jesus’ teachings (“the gospel”) was so revolutionary—even considered subversive—to the Mosaic law and tradition that ruled the Jewish mind of the day, and why that was.

The law of Moses was all about “law and order:” strict rules and harsh punishments. It was reinforced and reinterpreted and calcified over generations, to the point where the letter of the law was kept, but the spirit of it was complete

This kind of topic can quickly spiral out of hand, so to clarify:

• I’m not referring to Trump
• I’m not referring to the 2024 US presidential election, or even to specific political parties at all

Instead, I’ve been pondering on how Jesus’ teachings (“the gospel”) was so revolutionary—even considered subversive—to the Mosaic law and tradition that ruled the Jewish mind of the day, and why that was.

The law of Moses was all about “law and order:” strict rules and harsh punishments. It was reinforced and reinterpreted and calcified over generations, to the point where the letter of the law was kept, but the spirit of it was completely lost to them. Jesus couldn’t be any clearer about how

WHY DO WE SAY THIS?

I heard this 8-9 times at fast and testimony meeting in my ward last week. It’s one of my pet peeves, especially in the absence of direct testimony of other things. If the church points us to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, shouldn’t they be the ones we testify of? Shouldn’t our relationship be more with God, than with the church?

(It also reminds me of another thing people say: “the church is true, the people are not.” But what is a church, other than its people? “Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” 1 Cor 12:27)

Why do we say and repeat this phrase so much?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Forgive my analytical nature, but “I know this church is t

A recent post here asked Christians for reasons why they support Trump (talking Trump only, not Harris).

This post takes the other side of that argument. As a Christian, what are your reasons (Biblical or otherwise) to NOT support Trump?

MY TWO ASSUMPTIONS

1. God is just, merciful, and wants good things for us, and He “is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33).

2. Where there are two or more churches (distinct entities, in terms of affiliation with a particular sect/conference) and those churches teach mutually exclusive doctrines and/or have mutually exclusive claims of authority that are in direct conflict with one another, then at least in terms of those conflicting teachings or claims of authority, they can’t both be right.

CRITERIA FOR A/THE ‘TRUE’ CHURCH Until we define the criteria, we can’t really evaluate or draw any conclusions. What would such criteria include? Some of my thoughts:

• **Teac