Latter-day Blog

After my previous musing, I thought I might share some more in depth thoughts on the subject…
…it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. (2 Nephi 2:15)
So which was sweet and which was bitter. Surely [...]

As I was reading Numbers chapter 31 this morning, I was thinking about the first two verses where it was the Lord who commanded them to “Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites.”
I tried to picture this in our day. Would God ever command a people to go to war today? Certainly the Lord [...]

Have you ever noticed that while Jesus called 12 apostles in the Old World, the twelve he called in the New World were not “called” “Apostles”. They were called “disciples”.
1 Ne 12: 8-9:
8 And the angel spake unto me saying: Behold the twelve disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to [...]

In Alma chapter 5, Alma gives one of his most famous sermons on having a “mighty change of heart” and receiving His image in our countenances.
He also mentions in that sermon, the “Bands of Death” and the “Chains of Hell”. What do these phrases mean, and what could they symbolize? I’d like to [...]

I was reading in Ether 10:11-12 this morning and I just couldn’t help but think of President Clinton. I was in South Africa on my mission during the whole Lewinsky escapade. It was an embarrassment to America. But I know a lot of Americans loved Clinton because our economy was so good at the time. [...]

This post may get a little political, but I’ve recently been reading in the book of Alma, chapter 62 (and other places), where dissenters of a “democratic” society who were in support of overthrowing the government and establishing a king, were about to cause the cause the downfall of the whole community. These “king-men”, [...]

I am nearly to Alma, the big book. This section of the Book of Mormon always reminds me of a webpage I wrote back in 1999. It is an interesting look at some numbers in the Book of Mormon. Feel free to check it out here:

So what if Nephi and his brethren did not return to Jerusalem and obtain the brass plates? What if they had no scripture, or records of their ancestors?
Well, my guess is they would have become as the people in Zarahemla. The people of Zarahemla also came from Jarusalem, shortly after Lehi and his family left. [...]

Oh the dreaded Jacob 5, 77 verses long! While growing up, I never quite understood this chapter. Even after a number of lessons in Sunday school and seminary. I think we spent a couple days in seminary talking about it and all I got out of it was what it meant to graft a branch [...]

I was reading in the first chapter of Alma this morning. One point that caught my eye was that because the steadiness of the people in the church, they began to prosper, and had an abundance of all things they needed. They were also able to help others who were in need, and gave much [...]