After moving to Cheyenne, I have become more aware of the Mormon religion. Being so close to Utah brings about an influx of Mormons as opposed to Minneapolis where I was living before. I came across a very helpful blog today on how to effectively witness to Mormons. This article encourages using a theological argument instead of an apologetic argument. The first will probe deeper into why Mormons believe what they believe while the latter tends to simply turn them off of religion completely. They say, “the approach we believe is the best way to witness to Mormons is the theological approach: to elucidate the Biblical message of sin, righteousness and faith by using and challenging Mormonism on its own theological ground. People do not need correct Christian doctrine to realize that they are sinners… they need it to solve that problem!”

They encourage the use of asking questions because Mormons are out to witness (as should we be), but then we should be asking questions about the answer they give because, “Mormons are trained to speak the same things as if from a script, but we should come in the opposite spirit, as Jesus taught His disciples (Luke 21:14-15). We don’t have to be experts on Mormonism, but we should be experts on the gospel. If we grasp the basic concepts of the gospel and rely on the Spirit for words, we’ll be able to witness to any person from any religion at any time. We don’t need to worry about every question or word to be planned. This allows for each conversation to be unique.”

You can read the blog in full here.

I just found a great new blog called ‘Doxology and Theology’ and came across a blog that voices a big issues I’ve seen in many different churches. I’ve often seen a big disconnect between “worshipping” during the week and worshipping on Sundays at church. It’s easy to stand up and cheer during the week when you’re watching the Olympics and Michael Phelps becomes the most decorated Olympian ever, but why don’t you do it on Sunday when you sing about the ramifications of Jesus taking our place on the cross? I like what the following article says that the outward posture reflects what’s going on in your heart. Granted, there are times to stay still in the presence of God, but not always. You can read the full article at: http://www.doxologyandtheology.com/2012/06/29/with-arms-high-and-heart-abandoned-why-posture-matters-by-stephen-miller/

I just read a fantastic blog on Leading Your Family Well. It really made be grateful for a father who took time to sit down and talk to me, generally at the expense of some sleep simply because he cared for me. Now I know he wasn’t perfect and he would never claim to be, but the one thing he always did for me was take the time to listen for me. Despite the issues going on at church, or the negative things that the people in the church were saying about him he would be there to listen and generally give advice whether I wanted it or not. 

This past Mother’s Day I had the opportunity to share about my mom during church that morning, and today I’m taking a chance to publicly thank my dad for the influence he’s had in my life. I hope and pray that I can be as good of a father as him and influence my kids the same way he’s influenced me. I love you dad!

I did what I used to do in college last night and went to the midnight showing of John Carter. I read the books this movie was based on my Junior year and had been hoping this movie would be made sometime in the near future. The movie takes you on quite the ride!

As typically happens with book adaptations, there were many parts of the movie that were different, and I don’t think all the changes were great. This book essentially tried to piece together all the parts from the first 3 books of the series which often felt rushed and incoherent. The story itself is a great idea: a man is magically transported to Mars from Earth where he has super human strength because of the difference in gravitational pull and finds himself immersed in a war between the different nations and falls in love with the princess…of Mars. Graphically the movie was incredible (I’d expect nothing less from Andrew Stanton, director of Wall-E). I saw it in 3-D and felt completely immersed in the world of Mars. However, the story felt too rushed like they tried to fit too many pieces into this one movie. For those who haven’t read the book I could see it being very frustrating because there isn’t a lot of help about what is going on in the story.

A theme through the movie is the changing of heart/redemption of John Carter. At the beginning of the movie we see that he is selfish and unwilling to help anyone but himself. Through the course of the movie we learn why, and get to see his change of heart to one who is willing to lay down his life for others (sound familiar?).

This movie is rated PG-13 and does have some violent scenes as well as a couple bad words. I’d suggest seeing it with those that are 14 and up. It definitely is a fun movie to watch, despite some of the plot holes and rushed pace.