by Keith L. Brown | Dec 22, 2013 | About Mormons
Josh Groban is well known as an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. In December 2012, he shared a “Kid Snippets” video titled “Drivers Ed,” produced by the Roberts brothers of Utah, on Facebook, and commented, “This is my new favorite online laughy thing.” [1] A collaborative relationship between the two was soon begun.
From Home Videos to YouTube Sensation
Growing up, the Roberts brothers enjoyed making home videos. They would have never imagined that one day they would become a YouTube sensation going viral through a channel they created called Bored Shorts TV. They also never dreamed that someone like Josh Groban would watch one of their videos and agree to film some episodes with them. (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Dec 13, 2013 | About Mormons
The official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon” Church” by the media and others) is LDS.org which is “part of a digital communications ecosystem made up of web, mobile, social, and media platforms.” [1] The amount of internet traffic that the site receives each month ranges upwards of 25 million visitors. Jeff Isom, director of LDS.org, commented, “It is believed to be the largest religious website in the world in terms of traffic, design, and content.” [1] With the ever increasing advances in technology, The Church of Jesus Christ is anxiously engaged in developing a website that is informative, educational, and user-friendly, in order for everyone to learn more about the gospel.
Blessing Heavenly Father’s Children with the Gospel
The LDS.org website was launched almost two decades ago, in 1996. Since its inception, the Church has developed, improved, and enhanced the capabilities of the main website, enabling Heavenly Father’s children to partake of the blessings of the gospel. The website is expected to expand even more as the work continues to move forward. One of the greatest challenges in working with a website of this capacity is having all of the various entities of the Church such as welfare, temple work, Church history, and the priesthood become more unified so that members can accomplish the work that they need to do. Since the Church has a lay clergy, every member is serving in some capacity. Resources are available to them on LDS.org. (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Dec 13, 2013 | Mormon Beliefs: Christian Values
There are people who purport that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon” Church by the media and others) are not Christians. One of the main arguments that they use to substantiate their claim is that Latter-day Saints use another volume of scripture, the Book of Mormon, instead of the Holy Bible. In fact, Mormons use both the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon in their teaching, as well as for personal study, and revere both volumes as the Word of God. The 8th Article of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ states,
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
The National Bible Association Recognizes Mormons as Bible Believers
The National Bible Association, a New York based group, is a Judeo-Christian association which was established in 1940 to “encourage everyone to read the Bible … in every sector of society regardless of religious or political distinction.” [1] Some may question whether or not Mormons should be included in that group of Bible believers. To answer this question, Richard Glickstein, the group’s president, replied, “Do Mormons read the Bible? Then they are part of the tribe.” [1] In fact, the Association chose Salt Lake City, Utah, headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ, as the 2013 National Bible City. (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Dec 11, 2013 | Mormon World Report
The Republic of the Philippines suffered major devastation as a result of Typhoon Haiyan, known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, which occurred in early November 2013.The powerful tropical cyclone ravaged many portions of Southeast Asia, with the Philippines being one of the hardest hit areas. The storm, recorded as one of the most deadly Philippine typhoons, claimed the lives of some 5,924 people, and not one missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon” Church by the media and others) was numbered among those who perished.
The Aftermath of the Storm
On 12 November 2013, 71 missionaries from the Tacloban mission arrived safely by bus in the capital city of Manila. There they were greeted by Elder Brent Nielsen, Philippines Area President, who had been expecting their arrival.
The missionaries had little more than the clothes on their backs as most of their belongings were washed away by the typhoon. They were given warm blankets, taken to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) cafeteria for a hot meal, given clothes that they could change into, and were able to notify their families of their safety via Skype and telephone calls. (more…)
by Christopher Cunningham | Dec 4, 2013 | About Mormons
Jett Atwood and Stephen Carter, the writer artist team responsible for iPlates: Volume I, a Book of Mormon themed comic book, will now be producing a second volume. The two recently met their Kickstarter goal for iPlates: Volume II. The first comic book which is available on Amazon tells the story of Abinadi and King Noah. The story stays true to details from The Book of Mormon, and expands the story with fictional story lines that help build and explore motivations within the story.
Encouragement for Young Book of Mormon Readers
iPlates: Volume I is rendered in beautiful comic book style drawings, as will the second volume. The second volume will continue where the previous story left off, with Alma in the wilderness deciding what to do now that King Noah’s court is falling. The second volume plans to add more female characters to the story. Carter explained that part of his motivation in expanding the stories was because “I want it to be the most natural thing in the world for my daughter to imagine females as a part the Book of Mormon. I want to her to think of those women as intelligent, strong, and motivated.” [1] (more…)
