Tag: questions

Reflections on the Mormon Church

identity, questions, struggles, theology

This evening I watched YouTube independent journalist Johnny Harris’ outstanding video, “Why the Mormon Church is So Rich,” and it has prompted me to reflect on a number of things. The video is 70 minutes long, has been online for just 3 days, and already has over 1.6 million views. Johnny Harris’ YouTube channel has over 7 million subscribers, and includes not only interesting and engaging content, but also world-class videography. I highly recommend the channel and this most recent video specifically about the Mormon Church.

My deepest intersection with Mormonism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and members of the Mormon church came in undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas in 1993-94. Growing up my parents had some close Mormon friends, and I remember them showing us some of their “prepper supplies,” including lots of grain they could grind into flour at-need in hidden barrels serving as tables in their living room. One of my older UPT classmates was/still is Mormon, and a few months into our friendship they had me over to dinner at their house on base. He was married with a couple of kids, and they had also invited the local Mormon missionaries over to eat with us and after dinner, “share the pitch” about Joseph Smith, Mormonism, etc, and give me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I did read some of it, but having been raised as a midwestern USA Presbyterian, I was skeptical and my inquiries into their faith did not ultimately lead to a change in my denominational affiliation.

This encounter was influential in some of the dramatic events in my life in 1994, but I’m not going to share about those in this post.

What I will share is my opinion that Johnny Harris is remarkably courageous and brave to not only take the journey of the past decade away from the high-control / obedience-focused Mormon religion and culture, but also to SHARE that journey and so many insights through this most recent video specifically. I am thankful for his authenticity and for the window he provides into his own life and identity, but also the remarkable and influential history as well as current role of the LDS church in the United States and our world.

“Straight White American Jesus” has been one of my favorite podcasts for the past couple of years. (There are more, of course, I have a list.) I was fortunate to NOT grow up in a “high-control evangelical Christian” church and family. I attended and completed “Communicants Class” as an 8th grader at the First Presbyterian Church of Manhattan, Kansas, and while we certainly read the Bible, learned important stories and lessons from it, I remember us also being invited and welcomed to BRING OUR QUESTIONS about God and faith to class and to church. This was true throughout my church experiences growing up and at home with our family. I am very thankful for this.

At the end of his video, Johnny shares the following reflection (at 67:20) about growing up in the Mormon church, and how he thinks about those influences and their impact on his life and identity:

That [being raised in ‘a very high commitment, high control religion’] did a number on my mind and the minds of a lot of us who have had the courage to take the story back, to redefine our worthiness and our value away from the story that we were told. To define that worthiness based on what is inside of us and not on loyalty and compliance with the rules of a corporate organization that made us believe that it had the authority to tell us who we are.

Those are super-deep and super-important thoughts.

I also believe we have, as human beings, inherent “worth” and “worthiness” not based on our membership or non-membership in a particular group or tribe… but based on our humanity. As a follower of Jesus and student of the Christian Bible, I believe we were each created in the image of God, our Creator, and as God’s creations we are uniquely and individually both gifted and worthy.

How many people have been “scarred” and are being wounded today by high-control religion? The Jesus I’ve learned about and to know over 55 years, through reading the Bible as well as living life with other followers of Jesus, never advocated for an authoritarian, high-control faith or religion. Those elements of “religion” and “denomination” have been added by people (sadly mostly white guys) who have sought to impose hierarchy and obedience by mandate rather than through the ways of Jesus: Stories and invitations of love.

Give “Why the Mormon Church is So Rich” a watch and see what you think. I have known some wonderful folks who are Mormons and members of other “high-control” Christian churches and denominations. But I also know a lot of folks who embrace a much more liberating and empowering understanding of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I’m thankful for all these experiences and perspectives.

‘But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ‘

Matthew 6:33
https://www.bible.com/bible/2016/MAT.6.33

Amen.

An illustration depicting reflections on the Mormon Church, featuring a man on a video call, a depiction of a Mormon temple, two missionaries presenting a Book of Mormon to a family, and a diverse group of people discussing finances.
Reflections on the Mormon Church (CC BY 4.0) by Wesley Fryer
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Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?

God, questions

These are resources for our Sunday School class on April 22, 2018, focusing on lesson 3 of “The 7 Big Questions” series by ExploringGod.com.

We are using the website mentimeter.com for today’s interactive polling questions. A copy of our printed handout is available.

Video 1: Pulse of the World on Pain & Suffering

  1. Did you identify with anyone’s expressed views in the film? If so, who and what resonated with you?
  2. Was it surprising to learn that the top question people would ask God is, “Why is there pain and suffering in the world?” What would be some of the questions you’d ask God?

Video 2: The Curiosity Collective: Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?

  1. In what ways can you identify with any of the stories in The Curiosity Collective? What did you find intriguing or compelling?
  2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is it for you to reconcile the existence of both suffering and God (1 = easy; 10 = impossible)? Why?
  3. One of the Pulse speakers noted, “Some of the best lessons I’ve learned in life . . . came from very painful times.” In what ways might good come from bad? Do you have any experience with this?
  4. If there’s a God, why do you think he allows evil in the world?
  5. In the video, what did you think of James’s suggestion that God “understands our suffering . . . [and] is seeking to heal it”?

Recommended videos and resources related to our topic today include:

  1. Video: What Is the Reason for Suffering? (5 min)
  2. Video: What Is God’s Role in Pain and Suffering? (3 min)
  3. Book: The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis
  4. Book: Evil and the Justice of God by N. T. Wright

A wealth of additional resources relating to the topics of pain and suffering are available on the ExploringGod.com website.

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How Can God Be Real, Good and Powerful When Bad Things Still Happen?

God, questions

I remember the setting vividly: It was the summer of 1991, and I was spending three weeks in England at RAF Upper Heyford during the summer before my senior year at the Air Force Academy. Highlights of that trip included visiting Oxford University, Westminster Abbey in London, and getting a ride in a F-111 fighter jet– breaking the sound barrier briefly over the North Sea. I was eating breakfast one morning in the mess hall, when an Amy Grant song came on the cafeteria PA system. I don’t remember the exact song, but I think it was from her “Heart in Motion” album that had been recently released. The song had a lyric about “everything good coming from God.” I was struck by how unrealistic that seemed: How could people ascribe only the good things to God and not the bad things, if God is both omniscient and omnipotent?

I was raised in a Presbyterian church attending family, and I professed faith and joined our church as expected at the conclusion of “communicant’s class” in 8th grade, but it wasn’t until pilot training when I was 23 years old that I had a true “come to God” moment which was transformative for my personal faith. Eating my eggs and bacon in the chow hall at Upper Heyford that morning, I don’t think I had anyone to discuss these ideas with, but they made a vivid impression in my mind which persists today. Unlike my 20 year old self, however, I have better answers for this important and perhaps eternal question which Amy Grant encouraged me to ask:

How can God be real, good and powerful when bad things still happen?

Yesterday our family was almost involved in a very dangerous and destructive high speed automobile chase in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I posted about it on Facebook afterward. In the post, I gave thanks to God that we were not injured. Someone posted in reply, “Why didn’t God protect the other people who were involved in the accident?” I shared a brief response, but didn’t have time then for a more extended answer which this question deserves. This post is my attempt at that longer response.

When we hear the news which is almost universally filled with stories of tragedy, crimes, war, and people generally acting poorly toward each other, it can be easy to be pessimistic. Bad events happen every day. The world is filled with darkness. How can this make any sense, alongside a conception that a supernatural, creative force in the universe exists who has the power to intervene in human affairs? Why would God act to save people in some cases, but appear not to act in others?

We can ask this question in the specific circumstances of our own lives, or as we look at the broad brushstrokes of history. Why did my wife lose her husband to cancer when she was just 26? Why did my friend’s father commit suicide in 1989? Why did Hitler and the Nazis kill millions of Jewish people during the Holocaust? Why did whites almost exterminate native people when they came to the Americas in the 1500s onward?

There are a lot of things I don’t know and won’t claim to know, but here are some insights I’m confident of today which help me face these questions and make sense of them.

  1. I know God exists, is real, and responds to my prayers because of an ongoing relationship I have with him, as well as specific things he has done in my life which “he has given me eyes to see.”
  2. I do not know how God decides when and where to intervene in human affairs and the events of planet earth, but I strongly suspect that is a divine mystery we will never be able to fully comprehend in this life.
  3. I know that when we choose to seek God and ask Him to reveal Himself to us, He answers and responds. God communicates to us through our prayers, through His Word shared in the Bible, and through other people. There are many ways we can be led astray and down ill-conceived paths if we seek “religion,” but if we seek God through the power of his Holy Spirit I know he can and will respond to reveal Himself, His nature and His truth to us.

When we are faced with bleak tragedy in life: the loss of a loved one, the loss of a life’s dream, a crippling injury, or something else, we sometimes come to this choice more directly and abruptly than at other times in life. Will I choose to believe in God and his goodness, or will I reject God because the circumstances of my life are simply too bad to imagine that a loving God would ever allow to exist?

This is the step of faith. Faith is believing when I cannot see, and trusting when I cannot know the outcome. Faith is a gift from God, but it is a gift we can ask for and receive, just as he is gracious to give us all good gifts. The fruits of His spirit are good:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

Amy Grant asks and answers this same question about which I am writing in her song, “Ask Me.” God does not always answer our prayers in the ways we expect or want. God is not a vending machine. God DOES promise to always be with us and never forsake us, even when the darkness surrounds us and we are overwhelmed with fear, pain, and sorrow.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

I have experienced those emotions in my life, and God has walked with me through those dark valleys. Those experiences have strengthened my faith, once feeble and timid, to the point today where I see and acknowledge His goodness when it is manifested in my life.

Evil exists in the world, and yes, God has allowed that evil to remain. But that is not the final state for humanity, and in the end, evil does not win out. As we learn in the Bible, the existence and persistence of evil is closely tied to our human pride. And even though evil may seem to triumph at times in this world, God has overcome evil and the world through his Son, Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings serve as a blueprint for our actions as Christian believers.

My encouragement to you, if you have found this post and are struggling with questions about God’s existence and his goodness, is to seek Him. Seek God through prayer, and seek Him through your own reading of the Bible. Start with the Gospel of John. Seek God through the counsel of trusted friends whom you respect, and who profess faith in God and Jesus Christ.

Pray to God that he will give you eyes to see and ears to hear. Many who have heard and hear today the words of the Lord do not comprehend them, but he offers the promise of understanding and of FAITH to those who seek Him. As we read in Matthew’s gospel:

‘The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. (

Matthew 13:10-16)

I pray this day God would give us, as seekers of His truth, ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand his goodness.

Amen.

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