Names play a significant part in our lives. Names can identify or distinguish one another in society. Our names are more than just the title we answer to, they represent our identity as individuals and can be an important link to our ancestors and the past. In many cultures, names are passed down from generation […]
Excerpt from A Christ-Centered Home Chapter 8, It’s About Joy There are few things that bring the Spirit of God into a home with greater power and effectiveness than music. Singing together as a family creates bonds, strengthens unity, and teaches the Gospel to children far more effectively than most sermons. Bruce R. McConkie explained […]
Reshare from Passing Down the Faith (See www.passingdownthefaith.org for more inspiring articles) As a child, my mother taught me manners when it came to the dinner table, as we had many lessons on etiquette for our homeschooling. “No elbows”, “no pots and pans on the table”, and to “use a tablecloth for Sunday meals.” My […]
A Nephite Christmas carol, commemorating the events described in 3 Nephi 1 and Helaman 14 Carol of the Other Sheep (Nephi’s Testament) Lyrics: Mormon, James F. Stoddard (3 Nephi 1, Helaman 14) Music: “Huron Carol” (or “Twas in the Moon of Wintertime”) See original carol tune here. For there were some who said,“The time was […]
We have a good, conservative, active LDS friend who feels that it is her duty to use a trusted personal tutor in her home hours in nearly every week. We happen to know this tutor well. This tutor is extremely charismatic and entertaining. Sadly, and completely unbeknownst to our unsuspecting friend are the values of this […]
Repost from blog, Ballantyne the Brave Anna and Elizabeth Botkin — August 11, 2008 People often ask us to name the most important books we’ve read—books that have influenced our thinking the most. Our inclination is to list the books that educated and informed our already-matured minds (more impressive titles by well-respected thinkers, theologians and […]
Family Songbook Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching & admonishing one another in psalms & hymns & spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16) . . . praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise […]
Every feeling—every emotion—felt by man can be expressed through music. Can it be that while we have been immersed in this medium, we have been seduced and distracted to forget its power for good or evil? In 2019, James F. and L. Hannah Stoddard gave a fireside discussing how to analyze the emotions behind music, […]
During the mid to late 1900s, a growing number of Christian parents became concerned with the increasing sexual immorality and degeneration of chastity and virtue in America. In response, many began looking back to time-tested customs and principles lost during the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s. Some adopted the purity movement, some returned to various […]
Submitted by a Raising the Bar contributor When Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley, he and other early leaders taught the Saints that they had been commissioned by the Lord to build a new culture, a culture of refinement and holiness! While the Prophet Joseph Smith’s attempts to build a Zion culture in Missouri […]
One of the first questions almost universally asked when someone is working to implement better dance standards in their life is, “Where do I start? Where can I learn better dances?” Below are some resources to help you get started! If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with […]
L. Hannah Stoddard My family knows I am one of the ‘crazies’ who plays Christmas music all year round and claims winter as the best season of the year—everything about it. The snow, the holidays, the decoration style, the colors. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and our entirely refurbished Christmas really are the highlight of the year! Frankly, […]
Two thousand years ago, a small group of God-fearing Jews known as the Maccabees proved that might does not always make right—that the God of Israel is a God of Miracles. Hanukkah—known to the world as the Festival of Lights, or in scripture as the Feast of Dedication—celebrates God’s victorious defeat over the Greek invasion. […]
From day one, our dad (James) creatively thought outside the box when it came to education. Growing up, our schooling was project based, spirit directed, service oriented, and agency motivated! We’ve shared some of our experiences in webinars, interviews and vidcasts. See videos below! Educating Zion What does a “Zion education” look like? Today, there […]
Written by: Malissa Cochran Every Thanksgiving, we take time to celebrate the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and other righteous Founders of America. God fulfilled His promise to bring the lost tribes of Israel back to their homeland. We are their descendants—we are Israelites. The covenants they kept and lived, and the blessings that were promised them […]
Improvement, Friendship & Networking Are you striving to raise your standards? Are you looking for like-minded friends who are also “raising the bar”? Then you have come to the right place! Raising the Bar is a safe place for Latter-day Saint individuals who are striving to live higher standards to meet new friends, share ideas […]
Raising the Bar is an online resource and community of families who are coming together to share and uplift one another on this journey to “build Zion.” We are real families, with real struggles, real challenges, and real testimonies of REDEMPTION and HOPE. We are not perfect! But we hope you will join us and […]
Are you interested in joining Raising the Bar and connecting with other individuals who are striving to live higher standards? We’d love to meet you! Raising the Bar Member Form Loading… Private Facebook Group for Members Questions or comments? Email us at raisingthebarlds@gmail.com
Contributor: Raising the Bar member Here is how the ‘Holiness to the Lord’ placards our son thought might help families with celebrating Shekinah turned out. We have decided to display ours year-round in our entry, and are still trying to decide if we want to paint it or not. Someone mentioned that they would make […]
Contributor: Emily Dayley Its really nice to hear from some many others who dont celebrate Halloween. When we stopped celebrating Halloween, we replaced it with the Fall Feasts (or holidays) from the Bible. It has been such a a grand blessing for my family! The feast of tabernacles, or Sukkot started Sunday, and continues for […]
