A little light relief, probably much needed in certain circles about now:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZCh4EY_kug     Read more

    Matthew 27:1-2 Mark 15:1 Luke 23:1 John 18:28 Compare Luke 22:66   There’s a certain black humor — perhaps intended, perhaps not — in John’s little detail about how the chief priests and elders decline to enter into the praetorium, lest they be ritually defiled just before the Passover while they’re engaged in orchestrating a judicial assassination.   “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)   “Wherewith... Read more

    My friend and BYU colleague Jim Toronto — a Harvard-trained Arabist and Islamicist who previously served as a mission president in Sicily and who is currently living in Istanbul, from which he presides over the units of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey itself, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — has called my attention to this very nice little article:   http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/10/the-mosque-that-is-as-american-as-apple-pie.html?via=mobile&source=email   It tells a pleasant story of Muslims long residing in... Read more

    Matthew 26:69-75 Mark 14:66-72 John 18:25-27 Compare Luke 22:56-72; John 18:15-18   In connection with this story, please read Elder Spencer W. Kimball’s defense of “Peter, My Brother.”   See, too, this discussion — and particularly, toward the end, the citation of John Hall’s argument that Jesus’s statement (that Peter would deny him) may not have been so much a prophecy as an order.     Read more

    The so-called “Wexford Carol,” which comes from Ireland’s County Wexford and which seems to date back to the twelfth century, may be among the oldest Christmas carols — and, thus, among the oldest pieces still performed — in the Western musical tradition:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b6URDdh_7A     Read more

    The most recent installment of the biweekly column that Bill Hamblin and I do for the Deseret News has just appeared:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865643533/The-Nativity-according-to-Luke.html     Read more

    Jabra Ghneim has alerted me to this article and this book, which sound very interesting:   http://ldsmissionaries.com/powerful-convert-testimonies-from-sixty-different-countries/   And please remember AmazonSmile – This is a charitable giving program from Amazon.com. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, and select “Interpreter Foundation” as your charity, every time you make a purchase of everyday items, 0.5% of your purchase price will be donated to The Interpreter Foundation, at no cost to you. (This method is, obviously, not tax-deductible.) See more information about this program at this link.  ... Read more

    An interesting find, if it pans out:   http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/11/julius-caesar-battlefield-unearthed-southern-netherlands-dutch-archaeologists   I’m afraid, though, that it doesn’t paint Julius Caesar in the most attractive light.     Read more

    A wonderful Catalonian carol, performed by The King’s Singers in Salt Lake City’s Conference Center:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QESJjFGjPM   ¿Qué le daremos al Niño chiquitoCon que se pueda reír y alegrar?Un lindo ramo de hermosas naranjasCon verdes hojas y flor de ahazarTan ta, ran tánQue los higos son verdesTan ta, ran tánQue ya maduraran¿Qué le daremos, qué le daremos?Frum, frum¿Qué la daremos al Niño bonitoQué le daremos major para Él?Vamos a hacerle unas tortas muy dulcesDe Blanca harina, de... Read more

    Here’s a thrilling Nigerian carol, Betelehemu, sung in the original Yoruba by — of all people! — the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9gXWuqZcNw   Awa yo, a ri Baba gb’ojule (We rejoice for we have a trustworthy father) Awa yo, a ri Baba f’eyin ti (We rejoice for we have? a dependable father) (repeat) Ni bo labe Jesu? (Where was Jesus born) Ni bo labe bisi? (Where was he born?) (Repeat) Betelehemu iluwa la, (Bethlehem, city of wonder) Ni bo labe Baba o daju (That... Read more