Latter-day Saint FAIR-Cast

By FAIR

Faithful Answers, Informed Response... more

4.1

557557 ratings

FAQs about Latter-day Saint FAIR-Cast:

How many episodes does Latter-day Saint FAIR-Cast have?

The podcast currently has 912 episodes available.

Best of Latter-day Saint FAIR-Cast

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Psalms 49–51; 61–66; 69–72; 77–78; 85–86 – Jennifer Roach Lees
Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Psalms 49–51; 61–66; 69–72; 77–78; 85–86 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
August 25, 202627min
Number 2: Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Psalms 1–2; 8; 19–33; 40; 46 – Jennifer Roach Lees
Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Psalms 1–2; 8; 19–33; 40; 46 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
August 18, 202614min
Number 3: Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Proverbs 1–4; 15–16; 22; 31; Ecclesiastes 1–3; 11–12 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson
The Only Success You Can Guarantee by Autumn Dickson I really like Ecclesiastes. It’s like the Eeyore of books of wisdom in the bible. Where Proverbs encourages man to follow after wisdom and do well; Ecclesiastes starts its lecture on wisdom by pointing out futility and vanity of life. Where Proverbs expresses the idea that it’s worth following wisdom; Ecclesiastes likes to show us how useless it is to follow anything else. Proverbs liked to show how good patterns of living often bring good results. Ecclesiastes likes to point out that this is not always the case; sometimes you live well but find bad ends. While Proverbs holds a lot of truth, Ecclesiastes likes to question the oversimplification found therein. And though Ecclesiastes often takes a more pragmatic (and sometimes, bitter) route to get there, it teaches the same great truth: purpose in life is found in following after God no matter what happens. After going through the rounds of discussing the nothingness of man (even when does follow after wisdom), it comes to this great conclusion. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. As members of the church, we are taught to do good. We are taught to be leaders but then get released and follow after someone else’s leadership. We are taught to keep spiritual records that may never be enjoyed by posterity after us (or, in the very least, never be read past the first one or two generations). We are taught to try and make the world a better place, even though we know the end of the world is not known for being righteous. We are taught to show up day after day, year after year, contributing and giving and striving, without any guarantee of visible progress. The only guarantee is God’s. Conner and I recently had a conversation about this. We were discussing what it looks like to be truly successful. At the end of our lives, what is going to really matter to us? At what point, do we look at our lives and feel that we’ve “made it?” This conversation was a result of my husband working really hard on projects only for them to completely fall apart and amount to nothing. I’ve watched him build incredible things and spend countless hours developing machines that could be a blessing to people, only to hit a dead end and watch those hours fade away into a resounding halt. This has happened more than once despite his incredible inventions. Even great products need more than just good engineering and material. A lot of these projects were starting to eat away at him. Despite his great success in the most important parts of life and despite his success in being able to provide for our family, I could see the feelings of futility. Why even bother anymore? He constantly jokes of being jaded. He often encourages entrepreneurs to turn back and try a different path; he does this as a joke but also with some truthfulness. You can work forever on something only for it to completely fall apart because of random bad luck. We often love to espouse that working hard can bring success, and I do believe that in a lot of ways. However, it’s never guaranteed. So after watching these feelings of futility spring up in Conner, I wanted to try and get him to see where he had done well. I wanted to try and shift his perspective to a goal that he could be successful in regardless of anyone else in the world making decisions. I wanted him to see the work he had put in and celebrate how much he had learned and grown instead of only viewing failure. In the midst of this conversation, I learned that success in life meant two things: an actual ability to make something happen and joy. Let’s look at a couple of different measures of success that Conner and I talked about. Having a product take off and do well: Even with the best tools and materials, there is no guarantee that we can force this kind of success to happen. Even if this kind of success happens, it doesn’t automatically turn on joy. Being able to provide for the family: There is no guarantee of this. Everything could explode tomorrow. No matter how we save or prepare or build, we cannot guarantee the ability to provide for our families. Not to mention, it doesn’t automatically turn on joy. Having a happy, healthy, whole family: There is no guarantee of a happy family. You can’t force others to do what’s right or find happiness. Heavenly Father was a perfect parent, and yet, a good portion of His children decided to follow Satan instead. You can’t force this outcome. However, despite the fact that you can’t force this measure of success, we are getting closer to the overall principle of Ecclesiastes. We may not be able to guarantee a happy family, but having a happy family is much closer to ensuring joy. I suppose there are exceptions, but I know of no other lot in life that brings more five star reviews. A happy family really does bring joy. Talking through each of these success measurements led us to the same conclusion as Ecclesiastes. Nothing is guaranteed in life. We can work hard to build something good, and we may find it, but there are no promises in that regard. This led us to finally discuss our true measure of success. We simply try to follow God, love Him, and change. Interestingly enough, part of the Plan of Salvation was that we didn’t even have to be perfect at it. We just had to try. We had to be diligent in our days at trying to build something worthwhile, but at the end of the day, the true measure of success is whether we let that diligence change us into something worthwhile. We are our end product. Our character is the final project that we turn in. The great conclusion is to follow God; this is the whole duty of man. It’s the only way we can have a goal that is 100% within our ability to reach. Our ability to follow and love God rests on us alone regardless of circumstances. We can reach that goal with opposition, but no absolute roadblocks that stop our progress forever. That goal is completely in our hands. This goal of following God is also the only way we can guarantee a happy ending, even if not in this mortal life. He has promised joy, and He can deliver. Learning to find happiness in Him is not a fruitless endeavor. I testify that Ecclesiastes knows what it’s talking about. The philosophy found therein is sound and true. Life passes away. The things we build will one day crumble. The work we put in can get undone so quickly in the next generation. The bellies we fill become empty again. The fields we sow will need to be sown again. It can be argued that it all comes to naught. Even immense fame and legacy doesn’t benefit the person who died. It doesn’t even necessarily dramatically affect tons of people from here on out. I testify that following God is worth it no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. I testify that joy is found therein even when everything else is falling apart miserably. I testify that the gospel of Jesus Christ takes all of your earthly success and failures and turns it into something eternal. When it comes together or when it falls apart, it has the ability to change you if you turn to Christ and therein, you find true success. Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Proverbs 1–4; 15–16; 22; 31; Ecclesiastes 1–3; 11–12 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.
September 11, 202614min
Number 4: Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Proverbs 1–4; 15–16; 22; 31; Ecclesiastes 1–3; 11–12 – Jennifer Roach Lees
Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. She was the 2023 recipient of the John Taylor Defender of the Faith award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Proverbs 1–4; 15–16; 22; 31; Ecclesiastes 1–3; 11–12 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.
September 08, 202624min
Number 5: Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Psalms 102–103; 110; 116–119; 127–128; 135–139; 146–150 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson
Where do I find peace? by Autumn Dickson Mortal life is not for the faint of heart. Though it can have breaks in the difficulty where the sun shines for a while, we often get thrown back into the waves so that we can achieve our purpose of growing. It’s a necessary exercise. It was the purpose of mortal life. However, despite opposition being one of the main tools of the Plan of Salvation, it can be exhausting. Here is a verse in Psalms that helped me to reflect on this concept. Psalms 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. In all the craziness that runs rampant in our world, the Lord can offer peace and rest. He doesn’t offer it as the world gives it; He offers it differently. Doesn’t that sound nice? I spent a lot of time growing up not understanding how to actually harvest the peace out of the gospel. I did the work, but I couldn’t close the gap between following the commandments and actually receiving a calmness in my soul. I went to church and read scriptures and did programs and attended the temple, and I still had a significant amount of turmoil in my life. So what are some of our barriers to peace? I think there can be many barriers to peace including opposition, spiritual challenges, and challenges for our loved ones. However, I think the biggest barrier is a misunderstanding of where peace comes from. Let’s talk about some of those misunderstandings first. The world teaches us that removing the opposition will help us find peace. I don’t think that’s 100% false. I definitely find peace when I take care of some of my issues. However, this is not a consistent enough resolution. Even when my life is relatively serene, I have a bad habit of finding problems. There was an experiment performed by John B. Calhoun in the late 1960’s where he created a mouse utopia with plenty of space, food, and water. The temperature was always ideal. There were no predators. The mice flourished initially. As time moved on, despite ideal conditions and plentiful resources, the society of mice dissolved. Males started fighting aggressively with no true purpose. Females abandoned their young. Many mice withdrew socially and wouldn’t participate. In a world filled to the brim with external peace, the mice created their own problems and sabotaged their own society. I can’t help but notice parallels in our own world. There is such a thing as external peace, but it actually plays a relatively inconsequential role in our internal peace. The world would tell you to remove external pressures and responsibilities. This is relatively ineffective. But beyond what the world teaches, I think sometimes we, as Latter-day Saints, misunderstand where peace comes from even within the gospel. At least I misunderstood it. I thought that if I did what I was supposed to, the peace would just descend upon me. It would just start springing up as I made the correct decisions. I missed a critical step. Following the commandments → get to know Christ → peace in Christ Following the commandments does not automatically bring peace. It can remove some of the barriers to peace. It can prevent barriers from rising up. For example, following the Word of Wisdom helps prevent addictions which can upend your life. However, we have already discussed the fact that removing external barriers is insufficient. Peace is a byproduct of belief. I believe that Christ can fulfill His promises to me, and those promises are so incredible. I love them. When difficult things happen, I can hold to those promises. When life is easy, I still can find purpose rather than emptiness. True belief brings peace. Commandments can help us find belief. Perhaps that seems like a silly nuance, but it made a world of difference for me. I kept doing what I was supposed to do in the church, but I was still finding turmoil. True belief was missing. Interestingly enough, I believe in the church. I believed that God led it. I believed that Joseph Smith had restored it. I believed The Book of Mormon came from God. But it wasn’t until I started actively believing that Christ had died for me, paid for my sins, and promised to personally take care of me that things clicked into place and I felt safe. I’m grateful that the commandments helped me find that belief that brought peace. Which brings us back to our verse. Let’s put it into modern words this time. Psalms 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. Rest. Because the Lord has blessed you. Because He will bless you. Sometimes He really does calm the sea and remove external barriers. Those are nice times. Those are times where we get to practice finding purpose to ground us. But other times, He can help us walk on water instead. In the New Testament, Peter walks on water and stays there as long as he keeps his eyes on Christ. It doesn’t matter how tall the waves are. It doesn’t matter how much the water rises. It doesn’t matter when keeping your eye on Christ keeps you on top of all that water. In fact, the rising water just brings you higher. You’re not swimming desperately or drowning. You’re keeping your eyes on Christ, and He is enabling you to walk on top of it all. Your soul can rest because He is dealing with you bountifully. I testify that peace comes internally. External peace is nice sometimes, but inner peace is truly what matters. I testify that the most powerful kind of peace stems from keeping your eye on Christ. I testify that keeping the commandments brings peace because keeping commandments helps you keep your eye on Christ. I testify that peace is possible even in our world filled with turmoil. Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Psalms 102–103; 110; 116–119; 127–128; 135–139; 146–150 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.
September 04, 202611min