This chapter, to me, is all about following the Spirit. Verses 3 and 5 are among the most potent in all of scripture. "Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." "...the Holy Ghost ... will show unto you all things what ye should do." Doesn't get any clear...

All the other times I've read this chapter, it's been mostly about the whole baptism thing.  Now, I don't discredit the sermon given about Christ being baptised, and the necessity for our being baptized to make it to heaven... ...But this time, something else struck me. Ya know...  I love having chats with people about the Gospel.&nbs...

The beginning verses of this scripture were the ones of focus today. For the past 2 chapters (or more), the Lord has been chastising the Gentiles, should they fall into the pride cycle and not repent. The beginning 2 verses of this chapter basically says, "even though the Gentiles were bad, don't get on your high-horse, thinking you're any...

I know a lot of the posts this year have been on the spiritual topic, but, I write about the events of my life, and so I guess this is what ya get. Today was awesome. If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that today I sang in the choir, gave a talk in sacrament meeting, and taught the 15-16 year old doctrine class. It was wonderful. ...

Wow...  What a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and of the prophets who wrote it. This whole chapter is a rebuke against people who don't accept the Book of Mormon.  Reading chapters like this strengthens my testimony concerning the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  I mean, what are the chances, if the Book of Mormon were false,...

Well....  From the first eight verses of this chapter, I could write pages.  The first verse itself is a great testament to the veracity of Jacob 4:13, which states that the Holy Ghost "speaketh the truth and lieth not". Because we all can be under the influence of the Holy Ghost (and worthy members have the opportunity to ha...

Imagine for a moment you had no idea about the atonement of Christ. Now imagine you sitting there and listening to what I have to say. And the first thing you hear are the words, "God demands perfection for salvation." Not sure about you, but for me, that creates a sort of sinking feeling inside...  I put "perfection an...

About a week ago, I began thinking I needed another project.  I really was getting to thinking about how I spend my time, and how I can better use the time I have. Nothing popped out at me, until yesterday. Yesterday, I got a call from one of the people in my ward, and he asked me if I would teach the 15-16 year olds in their gospel doctri...

In the beginning of this chapter, I didn't realize that the book to which the verses were referring was the Book of Mormon. I guess this chapter answers the question, "What is in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon?".  The answer is quite simply found in verse 10:  "...for behold, they reveal all things from the foun...

Ya know, I sure am glad that Nephi wrote verse 22 of this chapter.  In all of scripture, this is the only chapter which uses the word "flaxen" to describe the way Satan tempts us. Flax is a fiber from a plant which is used to make linen.  Linen isn't known for its strength. Satan indeed does "lead us" with very ent...

Interesting that in verse 7, the example he uses of an unrighteous king pretty much parallels what happened to the Nephites in the Land of Nephi under king Noah.  Couldn't have been many years since the people of Limhi had come to join Zarahemla, anyway.  I've never thought of that before. Verse 13 is always a fun one.  It's great ...

So, the Christmas season is officially here, and I'm feeling more Christmas Spirt than I ever have in my life - by a long shot. I attribute this to two things...  First and foremost, attitude, and making good choices.  To me, Christmas is a spiritual season because it's filled with love, good will, charity, friends, and family.  If...

Jarom, for some reason, didn't seem all that inspired to me, this time around. The only thing which caused me to question was verse 2. To me, it seems that Jarom didn't want to write "much" for two reasons:  1. Because the plates are small, and 2.  They are being written for the benefit of the Lamanites. I guess I can u...

So, we've been busy at the studio lately.   So much so, I've neglected to update the site's samples.   We've got a few new ones up, and so I thought I'd let everyone know a bit about em'. ScramJet : Tread Softly  -  ScramJet is a band out of Salt Lake City, dead-set on bringing their musical vision to life.  They kn...

Surprisingly... I'm not sure if it's because of my attitude or what, but I believe I got a bit more out of this chapter than I have for the rest of the Isaiah stuff. I'm not 100% sure what the branch is that comes out of the root of Jesse, but I've been told that is refers to the prophet Joseph Smith (D&C 113). I also believe that when it s...

Chapter 29 of Alma is such a good chapter - on so many levels, too. How would it feel like to want the good of mankind so badly, that it caused you to take time to carve your feelings out in brass plates?  Putting all the doctrine of this wonderful chapter aside, the beginning verses give me a tiny glimpse into the type of desires living a p...

As soon as the angel of God knew Nephi's purpose and desire, the first question he asked him was "Do you believe?". I think that's a fairly important question, which we should ask ourselves each day.  If we are being tempted and we ask ourselves that question, to which we already know the answer, I can promise you the tempter's pow...

First, a question. In verse 15, Nephi states that he delights in the scriptures, and that he writes them according to the spirit.  Well...  That leads me to question whether or not he realized he was a prophet or not.  Very interesting, and possibly stupid, question (maybe he already knew about D&C 68:4). Now, the chunk of ...

Okay...  So Advanced Budget Studios had the opportunity last weekend to record a group which came from the Springville's Art City Music Fest, and due to time constraints, we really didn't get a very good tracking session.  We got some of Bethany's vocals, JT's acoustic guitar, Jake's bass, Dan's shredding guitar solo, and a very rough scr...

"Some are lost because they are different. They feel as though they don’t belong. Perhaps because they are different, they find themselves slipping away from the flock. They may look, act, think, and speak differently than those around them and that sometimes causes them to assume they don’t fit in. They conclude that they are not...

The MOST ridiculous trial bike video I've ever seen. More than half of what this guy does shouldn't be possible. A-freaking-mazing. http://www.flixxy.com/inspired-bicycles.htm...

Ya know... I think these chapters are meant to teach us how frail the hearts of men are.  Okay... Here's a good question..  How long did it take the Nephites to go from "seeing the sign of the birth of Jesus Christ" (this is *Christ* we're talking about here.  *The Messiah*.  How long did it take them from seeing that ...

With all that I've noticed about making covenants this time around, I can't help but notice that this chapter has some very interesting words. I really do wonder where the line is with covenants we make.  In the days of the Book of Mormon, people would rather die than lie or break a covenant.  This is made abundantly clear with the eali...

I've only got 5 minutes to write, but I've simply got to say something about our baby Samuel... With Collin and Luci, I didn't feel a real connection until the actual birth.  Well..  Walking around today in the house, I looked at Sarah's big belly, and I felt a warm feeling in my chest which can only be described as a connection with t...

Beginning this chapter, another testament to the correlation between peace and keeping God's commandments is apparent.  Giving "strict" heed to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel undoubtedly brings peace. Now, on a totally different note, I wonder where Korihor came from?  It just says that he came into the land.  Was ...

Man... I'm kicking myself right now for not taking a photo of this amazing musician, but I was way too interested in the music I was hearing to worry about silly cameras. Taylor Miller came in for a visit, and recorded 3 original songs tonight.  They have yet some proper embellishment to receive, but the tracks we got tonight were primo.&nbs...

Okay...  So this chapter wasn't brimming with the deep doctrines of the Gospel, but it did have a few nuggets. I would absolutely love to see some sort of diagram of exactly what the Nephites did to build up their cities.  I have so many ideas in my head of what it could have been, but to what extent that's true, I have no idea.  I...

I find it interesting how Satan is described throughout scripture. In this chapter, through verses 13 - 20, Satan is seemingly exposed as the weak fraudster he really is.  Verse 16 is quite potent, written from the standpoint of people who were tempted by him, when shown his actual person, are amazed at the frailness of Satan.  They say...

Reading these two chapters didn't leave me with much spiritual insight, as I didn't understand much of it. That said, I did, however, really feel the Spirit while reading them.  I yearned to know what the words meant.  I wanted to study them more....  Oddly enough,  I find myself wanting to study them more, yet kind of scared ...

Ya know, I sure am glad that Nephi wrote verse 22 of this chapter.  In all of scripture, this is the only chapter which uses the word "flaxen" to describe the way Satan tempts us. Flax is a fiber from a plant which is used to make linen.  Linen isn't known for its strength. Satan indeed does "lead us" with very ent...