Category Archives: Resources

As a young man I visited the Patriarch of my stake to receive a Patriarchal blessing. He laid his hands on my head and said, “Brother Michael, I name you of the lineage of Ephraim and the House of Israel.” It wasn’t a surprising revelation. Most of the Church members I’d met were aligned withContinue reading “From Joseph to Judah: An ex-Mormon’s story”

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or howContinue reading “The Mormon Mirror”

Growing up Mormon, I believed mankind lived in heaven with God before mortality. Prior to coming to earth, Jesus presented the Father’s plan to us. We would be granted bodies and the ability to choose between good and evil. Since we would all sin, Christ would atone for all mankind. This would grant salvation toContinue reading “Why I’m Not A Calvinist (But I’m Considering It)”

22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Mark 13:22 (KJV) In a YouTube video entitled “The Scripture That Saved My Life From Human Traffickers” (https://youtu.be/LJof2_59vbc), Tim Ballard tells a story about going undercover to gain intel. As heContinue reading “Moroni’s Broken Promise and God’s Undying Oath”

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. –Matthew 22:37 An Application of Textual Criticism The year before I left the LDS Church, I received as a gift Royal Skousen’s The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text, published byContinue reading “Dialogues With My Former Self (Part 5): The Breath Of God Pt 2”

“It is finished.”Jesus (John 19:30 ESV) Imagine you took your old clunker to get restored and the mechanic only did half the job. He promised to continue working on it, but couldn’t give a definite date of completion. In the meantime, you were welcome to keep using it. Would you proudly drive a partially restoredContinue reading “The Restoring Gospel and the Renewal of the Apostasy”

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.–2 Timothy 3:16 Finding Hidden Books Recently, I listened to an Episode of Mike Licona’s Risen Jesus Podcast. He was discussing three methods ofContinue reading “Dialogues With My Former Self (Part 4): The Breath Of God Pt 1”

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.Matthew 23:27-28 (KJV) As a Mormon apologist, IContinue reading “Fountain Theology: Moroni 7 and the Gospel of Grace”

3 You keep the one in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because that one trusts in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.Isaiah 26:3-4 The Great Prologue A pastor friend of mine has a favorite axiom that he coined: “Truth is discovered, not downloaded.”Continue reading “Dialogues With My Former Self: On Why I Still Love God Pt 2”

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”Proverbs 25:11 NKJV By: Fred Anson and Michael Flournoy In part one of this series we considered some of the harsh “scorched earth” tactics that Christian Mormon Critics often engage that either drive Mormons deeper into the LDS Church or ensures that whenContinue reading “Apples of Gold (Part Two): Becoming Mormon to Win Mormons”