Doctrinal Essays

Doctrine. It's not exactly a word that catches most people's attention. Its probably never been a viral topic on YouTube, Facebook, or any other social media outlet - it's not likely ever to be so. That's okay with me, most things that catch most people's attention don't appeal to me anyway. But it's an important subject. It's one thing that has true potential for bringing about real and lasting change in our lives. I can't think of anything more deserving of the attention of all of God's children, regardless of race or religion. When I think of true doctrine, I can't help but think of food analogies for its importance. There are all kinds of food, but only one kind of nutrition. We can eat garbage and call it food - and truthfully, garbage in the form of most of the things people eat can keep us alive, but that doesn't mean it's nutritious. When nutritionists get right down to the heart of nutrition they are talking about vita...

In my profession as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) scientist, much of my time is spent in the observation of locations and events, and their spatial relationships, trends, and patterns. Understanding these conditions always paints a clearer picture and leads to truer understanding of the big picture. This 'nerdy' type of analysis has extended into my personal spiritual life. I have observed the inevitable trend of spiritual location and movement in my own life, and in the spiritual lives of others. Understanding these patterns, relationships, and more importantly, the causes of spiritual movement can aid in the goal of a spiritually constant life, and ultimate confident reunion with God. Position is an intrinsic component of movement. Two positions become manifest when movement occurs; the position before, and the position following the movement. The second position is always higher or lower, ahead or behind, or better or worse than the first position - never the...