Interesting article on Newsweek yesterday “America’s Next Top Mormon” about the prominence of members of the church on reality TV shows… I guess a member of the church has won “The Biggest Loser,” “The Rebel Billionaire,” and “Survivor,” not to mention some second place finishes. Then there is “So you Think you can Dance,” “Dancing with the Stars,” and of course “American Idol.” I have a friend who constantly updates me on ‘my guy’ David Archuleta… even though I have never seen the show, I have some sort of affinity toward him…

I love this quote:

There must be something about the Mormon community that makes these people so self-confident and so open,” says Lynne Spillman, a casting director for “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race.” She thinks that coming from a large family probably helps in a game like “Survivor,” with its complicated group dynamics mirroring sibling rivalries. “They also have these incredible experiences through their missions,” she says, “and can relate to being dropped off in the middle of somewhere they’ve never been and having to make it.

Finding Answers from Conference - April 2008 Ensign

Several stories about how Conference has helped people receive inspiration and guidance in their lives. - Receiving Answers - Implementing their Counsel - Serving Again - Learning His Will - Filing the Hungry - Helps for Home Evening

• “Pray that one of the messages at conference will give you the personal revelation you need.” I knew that prayers could be answered through conference, but it never occurred to me to pray for the speakers in advance. Deciding to follow that advice, my wife and I specifically asked the Lord to direct our path through the conference speakers. We prayed for weeks as we eagerly awaited conference.
• To my amazement, the very first conference talk, Elder Richard G. Scott’s “Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer,”1 gave me the answer I so desperately sought. During his talk I recalled several impressions I had
• That experience really solidified my testimony of conference and prayer. The talks we hear during conference truly are the words of the Lord, and if we put our trust in Him and earnestly seek Him in fervent prayer, He will guide us in our decisions.
• After watching the Saturday sessions of April 2007 general conference, I began preparing for Sunday by implementing what the Brethren encouraged us to do
• During this time, the missionaries invited me to attend October general conference. What stood out most from the messages was not the content but my feelings
• I felt in both my mind and heart that I was listening to a prophet of God. I felt inspired and strengthened in my convictions; I also felt peace.
• Helps for Home Evening
  • We got a great idea from a friend of ours. We have small children and it is constantly a struggle to get them to listen at conference. We have tried coloring and reading, but we end up spending most of our time telling the kids to be quiet. Well, this past Monday night at FHE we taught our kids the story of King Benjamin and focused on the tents all the families brought and how they faced their doors to the temple. We then decided that we would set up our tent in our house and let everyone come inside and watch General Conference out the door. We talked about making our tent a temple and what it meant when we entered the temple. To help us out, our 6 year old made steeples for our tent with an angel Moroni on the top. They will take off their shoes before entering our sacred temple. I am very hopeful that this will help them understand the sacredness and importance of Conference. comment by Jeff VanDrimmelen

Okay, I admit I really like the title of this article, but it is a good article as well. This morning I read “Called to Blog: Fighting for the Church Online.” It deserves a read. A couple of excerpts:

An Orem woman posted a video of her testimony on YouTube. A man in another state watched it four times and emailed, asking for a copy of the Book of Mormon.

A man in Vegas wrote on his blog that he was grateful for the law of tithing. A questioning reader asked him why Mormons like commandments. After several online conversations, the missionaries began meeting with the man.

That is just cool… I love stories like that.

Curtis… thinks the web is an easier venue for members to share the gospel. Even students can be sharing the gospel, he said, even though most of the people they live with are already members. With the web, students can reach out to people everywhere.

“People don’t go to their neighbors like they used to,” Curtis said.

Instead, people google things, Curtis said. The Internet is where many people will go to find answers to religious questions as well.

“I’ve had a handful of people that have started asking me questions,” he said.

One woman found Curtis online and the two began conversing about the gospel. She had been converted when she was younger but went inactive after her mother disapproved. That testimony in her never left, Curtis said. After a while, she began attending church and took her family as well.

Awesome! So go out and spread the word! Technology was created just for this!

I read a great article this morning in the January Ensign entitled “Unplugged.”  This is a story about a family that ended up without TV for a month and realized the toll it was taking in their ability to complete things. 

I suddenly seemed to have the time to do projects I had put off for years because I thought I was too busy. Had television really robbed me of these important activities?

As I began to add the hours in my head, I realized the price I had paid. The television stayed off during the daytime hours, but it usually remained on the rest of the night. At four hours a day for six days a week, we watched 24 hours of television each week. At the age of 54, I had spent almost eight years of my life watching television. Eight years!

I personally hardly ever watch TV anymore (too much to blog about), but what about other technology (like blogs ).  But the principle is sound… technology can both enable us, but Satan is also good at using it to distract us as well.  As an old friend of mine used to say “Vigilance, constant vigilance.”  (Thanks Wyett)

This morning I came across an article in the CNN news “Believer bitter over prosperity preachings.” The article basically lays out the history of other church’s prosperity gospel… or in simpler terms… the principle that if you pay money, God will bless you with riches. A couple of thoughts:

1. This is just another example of how Satan takes a pure doctrine and twists it. Yes, God will pour out the blessings of heaven when we pay our tithing.¹ So Satan twists that and has people paying money (notice, NOT tithing) to PEOPLE… not the church.

2. There is this misconception… even within the church… that if we are doing what is right we won’t have any trials. Yes… we will be blessed, but blessings sometimes come in the form of trials.

3. Paying money to get the blessings of heaven… hmmm… isn’t that the basic premise of Martin Luther’s Reformation in the 16th Century?² When are we going to learn? We can not buy our way into heaven.³ We have to do our best, and then Christ will make up the rest.⁴

1. Malachi 3:8-10[↩]
2. Wikipedia Article - Indulgences Controversy and the Start of the Reformation[↩]
3. Acts 8:20; 1 Timothy 6:10[↩]
4. 2 Nephi 25:23[↩]

So this morning CNN published an article about churches turning to digital collection baskets. This has been a topic of discussion on the LDS tech forums as long as they have been around (see here and here). I know there are a growing number of people out there paying their tithing in some sort of digital way. The church has always been on the cutting edge of technology… so why do they wait to do this one?

Well… I have one idea. There is something special about actions. My father taught me to “fake it till you make it.” If you don’t understand a gospel principle or want to find out if it is true, live it for a while and you will gain an understanding of the principle. Yes, you are still paying your tithing when you pay it online. But sitting down and writing out that check and filling out the envelope requires an extra step… a VERY small sacrifice.¹

I also usually also give one of my children the opportunity to give the tithing envelope to the bishop or one of his counselors. I hope that it allows them to trust the bishop more and know that their parents pay their tithing. We would certainly lose that one.

What about you? Do you, or would you pay tithing online if you had the chance? Why or why not?

1. Matthew 19:16-22; “Praise to the Man“-4th Verse; Sacrifice[↩]