The Sin of Adam

Last week in my Ask a Mormon series I began talking about the core beliefs of my Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I shared with you the First Article of Faith and what it means to me.  If you didn't read that post, you can read it here.

This week I want to continue in that vein and discuss with you the Second Article of Faith.

"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression." Second Article of Faith
 

This Article of Faith is one that may be a bit different from the beliefs of many Christian denominations.  We believe that children are born innocent and perfect.  That is, we do not believe in Original Sin--the belief that because Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit each of us is born imperfect. 

This  belief leads to a few practices that are very different from many Christian denominations.  One such difference is that we do not practice infant baptism.  A prophet in ancient America recorded it this way in the Book of Mormon,

"For behold that all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law.  For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such, baptism availeth nothing."  Moroni 8:22
 

Our belief is that children are perfect, and therefore do not need to repent or be baptized.  To me, it is inconceivable that a 6 month old baby could be thought to know right from wrong.  And if he doesn't know right from wrong, how could he repent?  And if he can't repent, why does he need to be baptized for the remission of sins?

Because of this belief children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are baptized when they reach the age of accountability--in other words--when they are old enough to be expected to know right from wrong.  The Church has stated that that age is 8 years old. 

We believe that because of the fall of Adam and Eve sin and death entered the world, but that it was a necessary part of God's plan, because we came to this earth to learn, grow and make the decisions that will lead us back to God.  There must be opposition in all things, good and evil. 

However, we do not believe that we are automatically sinful at birth because Adam made a choice.  We are sinful when we reach the age that we know right from wrong and we choose wrong (and we all choose wrong!).  Therefore, we believe we will be punished for our own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

This, I believe, is one of the greatest reasons that our Heavenly Father placed us in families.  It is our responsibility as parents to take the time when our children are young to teach them right from wrong.  To direct and guide them while they are innocent so when they are old enough to choose right from wrong, that they will choose correctly. 

Question: How important is it to teach and guide children when they are young to make correct decisions?




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Twitter: @Skropp2

Raising Entrepreneurs....

Late Night

So this past Saturday my wife, my daughter and I were lying on the couch watching a movie.  Well, my wife and my daughter fell asleep so I shut off the movie.  Now we have Roku, not regular TV.  If you dont know what Roku is, it is a device that you hook to your TV and it allows you to watch "channels" via your internet connection. 

Anyways, there are always new channels coming out, so I was browsing through the new channels to see if I was missing anything super important.  And Lo and behold, I was!!! There was now a TED talks channel!!! Now, if you don't know what TED talks are, PLEASE click on the link right now!!! TED talks are one of the neatest things I've ever come across.  10-20 talks on all sorts of topics.  It allows you to learn about alot of difference subjects and new, cutting edge ideas in those subjects in a short space of time.  It's fantastic.

Anyways, so I download the TED talks channel and start browsing through the talks.  I found some really great ones.  I watched the Simon Sinek TED talk, which is absolutely mind blowing! That should be watched monthly by everyone!! AWESOME info! 

The talk that pumped me up...

Then I came across the talk that really pumped me up.  The talk was given by a gentleman by the name of Cameron Herold. (You can follow Cameron on Twitter @CameronHerold) His talk was titled "Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs".  This talk was absolutely amazing!  There's way to much to just summarize it, so I'd encourage you to watch the entire thing, then I'll share what I got from it!

 Enjoy!

Mr. Herold makes some great points.  The first that I noticed that is absolutely true is that our school systems are focused on making all of us great employees, but we don't recognize and develop kids who may be wired more towards being entrepreneurs.

He gives alot of examples of what he did growing up, but what really stuck out to me were the ideas he suggested for teaching our kids to be more entrepreneurial.  Some of the suggestions he gives that I am going to implement with my daughter are:

No Allowance

He says allowances teach kids to expect a regular paycheck, which is a job, not entrepreneurial.  He suggests you teach your kids to look around the house and find things on their own that need to be done, then have them come to you and explain what you want to do, then negotiate a price.  This teaches them to look for a need and negotiate a price to fulfil the need.

Don't just read bedtime stories

Reading has a place.  But he said to take a few nights a week and have your kids tell you a story.  Give them a few items and have them make up a story.  This teaches them to think on their feet, to imagine, to create, to sell.

Stand infront of groups and talk

Give your kids opportunities to speak infront of groups, even if its just their friends or your friends.  This helps them learn how to speak, how to present to an audience, etc.

Point out Good and Bad Service and Employees

When you're out and about, point out when you receive poor service, explain why the service wasnt very good so your child learns by observation how to serve and how not to serve.  Do the same with employees so they know what a good employee looks and acts like and how to spot bad employees.

Craigslist

When you're getting rid of old toys of your childs, don't just give them away, have your kid put them on Craigslist, ebay, etc.  Teach them how to write a description, have a good picture, determine and set the price, spot scammers, and negotiate. 

My Take Away

It seems that his point was that there are so many every day experiences with our children that we just overlook that could be HUGE learning opportunities for them! 

I was blown away with these ideas!  What great ways to teach and train our children to look for and fulfill needs around them. 

I believe if we can teach our kids some of these principles and thought processes we'll raise a generation that will power this economy.  A generation that will provide jobs rather than looking for someone to give them a job!  A generation that will be self-sufficient, confident, and successful! 





Question: What every day experiences do you have that could be used to teach success principles to your children?




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Twitter: @Skropp2