The night before he was killed, Jesus ate the passover with his disciples.
Year: 2006
A Mormon Image: Sweaters for the Penguins
This image was too good not to revive the Mormon Images feature of blessed memory.
I don’t know why you say goodbye
We give many thanks and a fond farewell to both John Fowles and John Payne. We were happy to have them around and enjoyed their posts. In an effort to keep up our streak of powerful yet ubiquitous names, we welcome Ed Johnson as a guest blogger.
Jews and Mormons
In some way, Jews and Mormons seem to be kin culturally, whatever the doctrine about our kinship.
The Inadequacy of Our Missionaries
With all the talk about missionaries around here lately, I have again pondered on something that concerned me both while a missionary and afterwards, teaching in the MTC and more generally as a non-full-time-missionary member of the Church. It is about the sheer inadequacy of our missionaries.
Marketing the Church
Over on Conglomerate, Elizabeth Brown links to an article about the “Scum of the Earth Church” as an example of niche marketing.
Sunday School Lesson #15
Lesson 15: Numbers 11-14; 21:1-9
The Last Door
We’ve all heard the stories about intrepid missionaries who faced rejection door after door only to be let in at the final house that they contacted.
On Earning the Right to Complain
“If you don’t pay your tithing and serve in the Church, you give up your right to bitch,”
In Defense of the Word “Gentile”
I like referring to non-Mormons as “Gentiles.”
An Open Letter to BYU Students
On Tuesday, gay rights activists will, according to news reports, hold a rally on or near the BYU campus. How might you respond to this?
A Hymn for Palm Sunday
My song is love unknown, My Saviour’s love to me, Love to the loveless shown, That they might lovely be. O who am I, That for my sake, My Lord should take Frail flesh and die.
From the Archives: Mormon Cursing
While reading Wilford Woodruff’s diaries recently, I discovered that I have been living in a cursed part of the country. What am I to make of this, and the more general phenomena of Mormon cursing?
Why My Mission was Hard
I’ve heard lots of people discuss how their missions caused a spiritual crisis for them. So did mine.
The Uses of Adversity
The late Carlfred Broderick was a professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at USC as well as a Stake President. He may have been one of the most profound–not to mention funny–LDS thinkers of his generation.
Redeeming Judas?
Today’s headlines contain news of a new gospel: The Gospel of Judas.
Mordred had a point…
Among Mormon History nerds, “Camelot” refers to the period of time in the 1970s and early 1980s when Leonard Arrington served as Church Historian. It is traditional to look back on it as a Golden Age that was tragically lost.
Danger Rethunk
I’ve taken down the post titled “The Real Danger?” because it was pointed out to me that its impetus was unnecessarily divisive. This was certainly not my intent and so I considered deleting my first paragraph. Without a statement of that impetus, however, the post simply became a denunciation of pornography, which someone else pointed out was something everyone agrees with and someone else said was old news. Such a denunciation has been done much more effectively in the LDS context by President Monson in the recent General Conference and by President Hinckley in the Priesthood Session of the April 2004 General Conference. If you want to see a Mormon “standing on a wall” preaching against the insufferable evil of pornography, go to those sources. [UPDATE: I have reposted the original in fairness to the commenters and the record.]
The Real Danger?
[NOTE: After initially posting this, I soon removed it because I was made aware that it was unnecessarily divisive. This was not my intent. However, I am putting it back up, unaltered, in the interest of debate. Additionally, one commenter pointed out that it was unfair to delete the post after people had commented, something I hadn’t considered when I took the post down. “For the record,” therefore, if for no other reason, I am reposting this.]
A Reinterpretation of Faith-Promoting History
Mormons have an ingrained habit of interpreting their history in the rosiest of all possible terms, even when — as a historical matter — a less rosy interpretation makes more sense.
Spiritual ancestors
Last year in Sunday School, as we were finishing up the Doctrine and Covenants, the teacher asked us what the spirit of Elijah meant to us. I immediately thought: “the spirit of adoption.” I’m not sure where that thought came from, but I have continued to think about it in the past few months.
S.P.Q.M.
In the past, I have suggested that the Mormon constitution is English, but of late I have wondered whether it might be Roman.
Mara Gwen
I’m very pleased to present the second Times & Seasons baby of the month, my daughter Mara Gwen.
A Proconsular Apostle in Chile
Peggy Fletcher Stack’s recent Salt Lake Tribune article on the Church in Chile is definitely worth a read.
How quick we are to condemn
In Notes from all over a link was added to a news item claiming that the latest Dutch spelling reform requested that the name “Christ” be written with a lower-case “c”. That information was spread on various American news channels and blogs. Flurries of comments ensued.
Sunday Afternoon Session: Open General Conference Thread
Ok, here’s the last session for this General Conference. It’s been fun.
Sunday Morning Session: Open General Conference Thread
Welcome to the second day of General Conference. President Hinckley, President Faust, and Elders Oaks, Ballard, Wirthlin, Scott, Holland, and Uchtdorf have yet to address a general session this year, so there is a lot to look forward to today.
Tomorrow morning, at 2 AM
Once a year, after enduring a grueling six hours of church in one day, I lay down to sleep knowing that during the wee hours of the night I will be robbed of one whole hour. It is time to forever abolish Daylight Saving Time.
Priesthood Session: Open General Conference Thread
I am not sure how an open thread on Priesthood Session will work, but let’s give it a try. I hope someone will provide summaries of the talks to provide a basis for the conversation.
Saturday Afternoon Session: Open General Conference Thread
Ready for Round Two? Here is the open thread for the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference.