Luke 14:7-14 Compare Matthew 23:12; Luke 18:14; John 5:29   This has always been among my favorite New Testament passages.  Practical applications are available pretty much every day of the week.   Posted from Logan, Utah     Read more

      http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865633219/The-spiritual-side-effects-of-viewing-Earth-from-outer-space.html   Several prophets appear to have been given some such experience by the Lord, as well.  Probably for similar spiritual reasons:   And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.  (Moses 1:8)   Posted from Logan, Utah     Read more

    My friend and former Maxwell Institute colleague Matt Roper has posted a note that’s especially interesting to me in the light of certain recent discussions about the historicity of the Book of Mormon:   http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-learned-shall-not-read-them-2-nephi.html   Posted from Logan, Utah     Read more

      This is the kind of thing that I would like to see being done more often by more Latter-day Saints:   http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2015/07/23/new-website-promotes-mormon-beliefs#axzz3gsVouTSI   Kudos to Cody and Stacy Bentley!   Posted from Logan, Utah     Read more

    My thanks to John Hancock for bringing this important and persuasive article to my attention:   http://www.theonion.com/article/man-already-knows-everything-he-needs-to-know-abou-17990   It’s from The Onion, of course, the exceedingly very excellent publication that is, otherwise, known as “America’s Finest News Source.”  You can trust The Onion.   Posted from Logan, Utah     Read more

    “Virtue is persecuted by the wicked more than it is loved by the good.” “The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (d. 1616), Don Quixote   Posted from Logan, Utah     Read more

    Luke 14:1-6   The question that Jesus poses to the Pharisees isn’t, strictly speaking, a trick one.   But they decline to answer it because they realize that any answer they’re likely to give will be problematic.   If they says that it’s illegal to heal or save people on the Sabbath, that will seem to suggest a prohibition on doing good on the Sabbath day, and they don’t want to do that.  After all, as Jesus implicitly... Read more

    It’s that day of the week, right?   So a new article has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-deuteronomist-reforms-and-lehis-family-dynamics-a-social-context-for-the-rebellions-of-laman-and-lemuel/   Enjoy!   Posted from Logan, Utah     Read more

    I’m sure that he has many merits.  His “Samaritan’s Purse” charity seems to do a lot of good, for example.   But Franklin Graham has a hard edge that’s very different from his famous father’s graciousness:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865633179/Evangelicals-and-Muslims-together-denounce-Franklin-Graham7s-anti-Muslim-remarks.html     Read more

    As currently understood and reported, this discovery doesn’t appear directly relevant to the Book of Mormon and it certainly doesn’t count as evidence for its claims:   http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/israeli-researchers-group-of-colorado-indians-have-genetic-jewish-roots.premium-1.433227   But it’s intriguing.   And it does plainly suggest that there’s still a lot to be done and a lot to be discovered, and many surprises to be had, with respect to Amerindian genetics.  Moreover, as various authorities have pointed out, not identifyng Sariah’s unknown genetic signature among today’s Native Americans... Read more