Spiritual Arson

Adam and Tanner return after a long hiatus and man has a lot changed. This episode is all about integrating living healthy, interesting lives with indirect missionary work and how we often miss the mark by aiming at it too directly.

It's time for Adam and Tanner to take a break, reassess, and then come back with a show that's better than ever.

In this episode Adam and Tanner bring on Todd Michael - a man who's in the midst of a massive leap of faith. Todd tells his story about quitting his job and moving across the country without any safety net other than his faith in the fact that this was revealed to him that he needed to make it happen. He talks about how - while the details may be unique - we're all going to have to commit to our faith and take the risks the Lord wants of us.

Adam and Tanner are both huge proponents of action and have advocating that since the first episode of the show. However, there are times the Lord wants us to wait and rely on Him, instead of always needing to work through our own trials and problems. They discuss this principle, their own limitations with it, why it's so difficult, and much more in this week's episode.

In this episode, Adam talks Tanner into revisiting the culture conversation. They break down the differences between proactive and reactive culture, getting though the "cringe" phase, who it is we're trying to affect with our culture, funding through patrons rather than purchases, and what to do about various barriers of entry.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner go through their takeaways from President Nelson's address to the youth in May of 2022. They talk through the primary and auxiliary identities we're supposed to have, how to differentiate ourselves as individuals while still being primarily children of God. They also work through the genius in making every identity gender and sexuality based and why it's been so effective in detaching us from God and each other.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner work throught the relationship between optimisim and honesty. They talk about the murmuring of the Israelites and Laman and Lemuel, along with how easy it is to over correct and have a facade of everything being awesome all the time. They talk through how the Atonement is the solution to both of these and that real growth comes from doing the right things, for the right reasons, with Christ making up the deficits.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner talk about the new show "Under the Banner of Heaven," why it's not worth paying attention to, and what it brings to light in regards to Mormonism vs the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They move on to talk about why we, as members, have a different perspective on cultural events around us. They finish by discussing the merits of perfecting an offering before sacrificing it to the Lord, rather than always expecting Him to work with us through our consecration.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner continue their discussion on favorite talks from the April 2022 General Conference. They talk about Elder Kearon's talk and how important it is to both believe and understand how applicable the Atonement is, how both God and Satan will take different approaches to blame and responsibility, and why a better understanding can lead to compassion without compromise.

In this week's episode, Adam and Tanner talk about their biggest takeaways from the most recent session of General Conference. They discuss proving contraries, focusing on the Tree of Life instead of the Great and Spacious Building, expanding how they interact with people online, and more.

Over the last few years, Adam and Tanner have noticed a particular venom and disdain for things like traditional family values that come from one corner of the internet - those obsessed with professional and collegiate sports. Not all venom comes from the sportsbros and not all sportsbros have disdain for the doctrines of the Church, but there is enough of a correlation between the two that it was worthing dissecting. This week's episode was all about that and Adam and Tanner talked about tribalism, consumption vs participation, correlaries with pornography, and a whole lot more.

In this week's episode, Adam and Tanner talk about how much we actually need to understand the uniqueness of someone's trials to be able to commiserate with the severity of their pain. They talk about how that relates to the human condition today, comparing ourselves to the "better" men of the past, and why Satan is so good and using this particular sticking point to drive us further apart.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner talk about the difference between true forgiveness and the self-soothing approach many of us tend to take. They discuss whether agreeableness is essential to forgiveness, how the forgiveness process mirrors the repentance process, and how forgiveness can be the catalyst for the best and fullest relationship with the atonement.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner talk through the idea that God inflicts bad things upon us when He's displeased. Is this true? What is the source of bad or chaos? When and why does God allow this to happen? And how are we supposed to respond to it? They talk through both wrestling with and finding God in the wilderness (as Jacob) did and why that is so crucial to a healthy relationship with Him.

In this episode Adam and Tanner talk about the First Presidency's response to Russia's attack on Ukraine, why so many people are so angry about it, and why it was exactly the response it was supposed to be. They talk about using nuance to either deepen your commitment to the Lord or to further justify yourself, how prophets see things through a spiritual lens, and more.

In this week's episode, Adam and Tanner try to work through the proper way to handle apostasy - both what we see in person and online. They break down the different reasons and motivations for why we respond the way we do, admit to quite a few of their own errors in judgment and judging, and try to come up with an alternative solution that isn't milquetoast but also isn't so difficult to latch onto.

In today's episode, Adam and Tanner talk through the fallout with Brother Wilcox, cancel culture, kindness vs bullying, and how it all relates to being robust instead of fragile. They talk how true anti-fragility can only be found through faith in Christ and a willingness to submit to the Lord.

From time to time, Adam and Tanner are unable to get together and record a new episode for the week - which provides the perfect opportunity to go back through previous episodes and either discover them for the first time or glean some new insights as you've hopefully grown spiritually since the last time you listened. To that end, this week's episode is an encore presentation of episode #11- You're Suffering Wrong.

In this epidote, Adam and Tanner take a look at some of the controversial issues that arise in Moses 7 - including how God has used racial divisions in the past and no longer does so today. They take a look at false versions of Zion and what happens when people try to recreate the fruits of the Spirit without first establishing the necessary roots.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner talk about the pitfalls of outright banning your kids from social media, along with other potential solutions to help them navigate that world. Adam breaks down the relationships between different types of electronic entertainment and mental health issues like depression and anxiety, and Tanner draws socialization correlations from their homeschooling experience. Like many previous episodes this is one that finishes with more questions than answers.

How is your worship? What makes it different from other aspects of your relationship with God? Is it intentional? In this episode, Adam and Tanner walk through the limitations of only seeing God as the CEO of the universe and an intimate, loving father. They struggle with trying to define what worship is and how it should be done better and end up coming up with both a worship and anti-worship approach to the ceremonies and rituals we participate in as members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

What's your favorite Come Follow Me podcast? We don't care. At least, we don't care if you're just relying on them to do all the heavy lifting for you instead of learning to receive revelation for yourself. In this week's episode Adam and Tanner talk about outsourcing our spiritual development, how the Saints practice tolerance, why revelation is so important, and how to ask the right kind of questions that lead to revelation and personal insights.

In this episode, Adam and Tanner talk through the importance of embracing some of the more difficult and unique teachings in Come Follow Me this week. They hit on how God can make things both literal and metaphorical, the danger in limiting God to man's own understanding (both past and present), and how so many of our limitations are rooted in our own fear and pride. Adam and Tanner also spend some time talking about goals and resolutions and the people who love to hate on those for using the new year as a time to start new habits. They discuss motivation vs discipline, the inertia of self development, and how we can all establish new, better baselines.

In the final episode of 2021, Adam and Tanner walk through the plain, precious, and simple truths of the Gospel, the dangers of overemphasizing an intellectual or nuanced approach, why the basics are so important, and the value of letting your kids beat each other up with wooden shields.

In this episode Adam and Tanner talk about the milquetoast approach too many podcasters, academics, and even sunday school teachers took in teaching the Family Proclamation this year.  They go into how our own morals have been weaponized against us, the new update on the Church's handbook that talks about online bullying, the importance of not ceding definitions of words, and just how crucial the family is. Then they finish off by talking about what they would have loved to see or discuss in an ideal lesson on the Family Proclamation and Adam had some killer insights into how we can approach this important revelation.

In this episode Adam and Tanner talk about how we as Latter-day Saints are in a unique position to respond to changes in the economy like inflation, information, culture, and more. They talk about feeling the cost of living increase, how Tanner started to work for himself, and what it means to truly be self reliant.

Is anger a sin? Is it the result of sin? The cause of sin? Is the problem in feeling the emotion or the action we take after doing so? Can we change what we feel? The scriptures talk about God's anger, is it an emotion like what we experience or something entirely different? If we do feel it, what should we do about it? What have prophets taught us about anger? What examples do we see in Moses, Captain Moroni, Joseph Smith, and even Christ? We cover all of this and more on this week's episode.

Does your Sunday School class talk about seer stones, shaking hands with angels, Kolob and its proximity to God, or any of the other uniquely awesome things we believe in as Latter-day Saints? Do you? If not, why not? In this episode Adam and Tanner talking about leaning into the unique and even esoteric aspects of who we are and what we believe rather than simply avoiding those topics because they're outside of what the rest of Christianity is comfortable with. They take that same idea and apply it to the right attitude with which we should be approaching our study of the Old Testament next year.

This episode is about all things modesty - the difference in standards and expectations between men and women, how modesty changes depending on circumstances and culture, the equally displeasing reverse of immodesty, and a whole lot more. Much of this episode is rooted in Tanner's background and experience in teaching men how to think properly about clothes. He and Adam also dive into when you should dress in a way that draws attention to yourself, what "costly apparel" means, and why God cares about how we dress.

What do you do? Adam and Tanner don't know. But, if you haven't had someone in your family or a close friend leave yet, you will. All too often the focus is on those who make the decision to go - the room that they need and the grace they should be extended. This is true. They are children of God and deserve his love. And those who stay also need space to process the pain, anger, and even a sense of betrayal that can come from big changes like this. There are no easy, cut-and-paste answers here. And that doesn't mean it should be treated with kids gloves or not discussed at all.

In this episode Tanner walks Adam through his six-year association with the 21 Convention and how he's watched it transform from a pick-up conference to a group of men who are honestly seeking spiritual truth. They also discuss God's interest in not just our belief or our actions, but in our actual becoming, what's required to seek good learning outside of just the scriptures, and a whole lot more.

Adam and the other Saints in Oklahoma and Kansas were blessed to have a visit from Elder and Sister Uchtdorf along with President and Sister Nelson. And Adam gives a breakdown of his favorite points from their talks including topics like humanizing villains, receiving personal revelation, becoming more childlike in our faith, and more.

We're a week out from general conference and, in this episode, Adam and Tanner walk through their favorite talks, the biggest themes and tones from the weekend, and even some talks they (Tanner) struggled with - along with breaking down how to be more spiritually disciplined and proactive.

Like members of many other different churches and faith, latter-day Saints often have an unhealthy relationship with sexuality. We tend to either fall on the side of treating sex like a necessary evil (or at least teaching our kids that's what it is) or we're as overly focused on the hedonistic aspect of it as many of the rest of the world. While this is certainly not true for all Saints, it is for many. And in this week's episode, Adam and Tanner try to both understand and explain what healthy, Godly sexuality is.

If you haven't already, at some point in your life you will deal with a fallible church leader. It may be as simple as a personality difference or as extreme as an outright apostate who's a wolf in sheep's clothing. In this episode, Adam walks us through his experiences with a difficult bishop, what he learned, and how this experience actually deepened his testimony.

We all know how ridiculous it sounds to completely ignore a person's failings because they're attractive or wealthy, so why are we so prone to do just that when a person is charismatic, nice, or polite? In this episode, Adam and Tanner talk about these forms of Godliness and what happens when they lack depth, along with knowing and worshipping God for who He actually is - not just the image of Him we've created for ourselves.

In this week's episode Adam ask a couple very sincere questions - Why should we make plans if those plans are often frustrated by life or even the Lord? - Why do we try to assign reasons and steps to promptings when often those we do assign turn out to be false? Both of which are questions Adam and Tanner didn't feel like they had any particular answer to. So, in what is typically their favorite approach to take on the show, they started to try find answers together.

In this week's episode Adam and Tanner discuss Elder Holland's talk to the BYU administration and their response. They walk through the larger implications of how the reactions have been, and potential pitfalls of writing it all off too easily.

In this week's episode Adam and Tanner interview Dr Bennet aka Kevin Dolan who was recently fired from his job for his association with #DezNat all as part of the latest attempt of former members to give the Church a black eye. During the conversation the three talk about how the Lord has blessed Bennet during this transition, what he's doing now, and how other Latter-day Saints can learn and prepare for when they'll be forced to choose between Zion and Babylon.

With the First Presidency releasing a statement this week urging members to get vaccinated and resume wearing masks at church meetings, there have been a lot of member wrestling with the idea of prophetic counsel and how to respond to it this week. And Adam and Tanner are no exception. In this episode they talk through their initial responses to the statement, how they've wrestled with it, and what their plans are moving forward.

While there are many people in the world who are legitimately struggling with real trials, and the Gospel is obviously the only real solution to what those pains and heartaches are, how do you fit in the Church if your life is great? So much of both the official and unofficial messaging we see and hear in social media, talks, manuals, and Gospel discussions has to do with getting you through a major crisis or struggle. So what should our relationship with the Church and the Gospel be if you currently don't have any major struggles, are happy and thriving, and still want to get closer to the Savior. Adam and Tanner have more questions than answers this week, but believe they are questions worth asking.

If you've been listening for a while, you know that Adam and Tanner are no fans of the elevation of niceness above all other virtues. It's a horse that's been beaten dead by them repeatedly and in today's episode they go into their theories on why it happened and how to effectively combat it.

In this episode Adam and Tanner talk through an excellent Substack article written by extradeadjcb in which he outlines how the growth and contraction of the Church is something that's happened multiple times and will happen in the future. How can we make sure we're not part of those who can't handle the pressure that will be put on us? How do we not resent those who already can't handle the pressure we're currently facing? How do we learn to rely more on the Lord?

In this episode, Adam and Tanner wrestle with the mainstream interpretations of what Celestial Glory will look like, who will be there, and what it will consist of - along with trying to better understand the inherent mercy in both Telestial and Terrestrial assignments. Like many other episodes, about halfway through both realize something they've been doing something wrong for years and feel called to repent and do better.

After taking a week off, Adam and Tanner are back at it to talk about the how and why to avoid going to extremes in emergency preparedness, food storage, and other end-of-days concerns. They also explore Adam's understanding of ways we can better live the Law of Consecration now and why it's so crucial to start doing so.

In this week's episode Adam and Tanner talk about the anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, what he put on the line, and what we can be sacrificing. They take it further with a discussion on how to takes risk and stand up for our beliefs proactively instead of reactively and why ultimately this is God's approach.

We've all heard the jokes "My wife is dragging me to the celestial kingdom on her apron strings" "I'm basically just the oldest child in the family and my wife is the only parent" Or the more sincere but pernicious lies "Women are more spiritual than men" "Men need to the priesthood to be on the same level as women" It's all garbage and you create weak, passive, incompetent men, husbands, fathers, and priesthood holders by perpetuating these lies.

This is exactly what you think it is. In this episode Adam and Tanner talk about porn, how to overcome it, the difference between it and healthy sexuality, and why it's so cringe.

Happiness isn't what we think it is and it certainly isn't our default emotional state. In this episode, Adam and Tanner talk through what happiness really is and why it can only come through love of God and obedience to His commandments.

In this episode Adam walks us through his recent trip trough a few Church historical sites - including Nauvoo - and breaks down why visiting these locations is so powerful. He and Tanner also talk about the reality of spiritual power in symbols and rituals and how Satan is still using his own perverted versions of this power to capture the hearts and minds of men today - even if we may not realize it's happening.

Adam and Tanner recognize that there's a little too much Utah hate on the show. And yes, there are problems that are unique to this part of the world but there are also some great blessings and benefits. In addition to the discussion on Utah culture Adam and Tanner talk about modeling fatherhood, condemnation for poverty, and more.