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...

So Jeff Petersen is a guy with whom I've been friends for years.  I hadn't seen him in probably as long.  We went to BYU together, were roommates, and had summer jobs in California together.  We got along very well... But then we each got married, he moved to Missouri, and that was that...    ...until two days ago. ...

First thing out of the gate that I noticed this time around with this chapter is that the first thing Alma says to Corianton regards his disobedience - in a possibly sarcastic way, or at very least - sincerely displeased.  "Haven't your brothers been a good example for you?"  Anyway... I found that interesting Also noteworthy ...

Well today has been ok. I've spent most of it playing with my brothers, but later on in the night I came onto the computer to find something I never expected! I found that my new friend CMT_Music_Awards she said things I'll never forget, made me cry. I was suppost when I read what she said. I think she said she's only 11, she seems to be such a s...

 After a whole heckuva lot of work, at a faster-than-I-want-to pace, the self-titled album from Herod the Fink is finally finished, and available. Herod the Fink is an in-house production of our mixing and recording engineer, and a great musician-friend of his. The whole project  came together with a simple phone call, a month before ...

As I sit here listening to, watching, and reading the talk given by President Uchtdorf, I'm puzzled by my lack of caring of the faith of my fathers. I don't exactly know why it is, but I.....  I've never really looked at what my parents believe being a part of my faith.  I don't know if that is wrong or what... What I believe is what ...

When I'm not listening to music, I love listening to a few AM talk radio programs.  Well, about six months ago, one of my favorite radio stations, KNRS 570 AM radio, changed their streaming program that let people use the Internet to hear their content. This change effectively shut-out all Linux users.  I chatted with 4 other Linux use...

Today I had an interesting thought.  It's a question that possibly has thousands of answers, but, since I'm on a pensive streak, I thought I'd write down some of what I came up with. The thought was "How do you tell if someone cares for you?", which also spawned the thought, "How do I tell if I care for someone else?", whi...

Well I never thought it would a big Christmas because our family has never really had a big one any ways. I started off trying my best to bring the Christmas cheer to others ( something I never do) but I upset and just couldn't make anybody happy. All my family really wanted was snow, we've not seen snow in so long. My two little brothers have neve...

Ya know...  I sure would like to know what the politics of the time were back then.  Helaman's guard was able to single-handedly save the newly-appointed chief judge, by disguise, intellect, and ultimately a firm blade straight through the heart.  Yet, the account says nothing of telling anyone what was happening during the incident....

Oh, man...  Where do I even begin this post?  And from which angle?  How about I just start typing and figure it out when I'm done....  Yeah, that's what I'll do. I just finished reading this Microsoft article which explains, using no uncertain terms, how to get "IT Management" to see the "value" in upgrad...

I'm always pleased and grateful that the Spirit comes so quickly when I read the Book of Mormon.  Sometimes I forget how much I love how the Spirit of God makes me feel and think and act. Anyway...  Great chapter this was.... Of all of the stories in the Book of Mormon, I think I like the one of the 2000 Stripling Warriors the best.&n...

So Jeff Petersen is a guy with whom I've been friends for years.  I hadn't seen him in probably as long.  We went to BYU together, were roommates, and had summer jobs in California together.  We got along very well... But then we each got married, he moved to Missouri, and that was that...    ...until two days ago. ...

To be honest, about 80% of these two chapters made no sense to me at all.  I didn't put forth my best effort to understand, but I really did concentrate. A couple of verses made a lot of sense to me due to the state of the world we live in. Chapter 15 verses 20-23.  You know it's a bad day when people in general accept wickedness as r...

A few minutes ago, I visited my favorite weather-forecasting website and I saw something I thought I should document, just because it doesn't happen very often.  I saw a 7-day forcast that looked like this: I think it may snow tonight! :) Anyway... My mustang isn't liking life very much right now.  It's so freakin' dirty.  ...

Wow....  Ya know those news stories about that sickness being spread by people in swimming pools this summer?  Well... I've got one thing to say about em': BELIEVE THEM.  THEY'RE TRUE. I'm just getting over a sickness that pretty much was a worst case scenario of what they explain as a parasite called "cryptosporidium", w...

 So, before I even begin reading this chapter, I've gotta say that this is one of those chapters which is seriously deep in doctrine.  I could probably spend the better portion of 2 or 3 days studying this one.  That said, I don't have much time to spend now, so I'll get as far as I can. Verse 1 : An "exceedingly high mountai...

Hehe.... According to this verse, I guess even Lamanites can learn! "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith God has made us free!" Yeah... I think I'm gonna have that made into a poster, and hang it on my wall or something. The big message of this chapter, and the few preceeding it, for me, would have to be "Rely on The Lord for y...

We had the awesome opportunity to work, once again, with Herod The Fink last weekend, and ended our session with some serious improvements to some songs we had already recorded. We totally re-invented the introduction to Desperate Husband's Chorus, which now is sure to give a healthy round of grins to all that hear it.  We also put a pretty ...

Amazing.  A couple of chapters ago, I was commenting on the sad state which Nephi found himself in, and the amazing faith he must have had to remain in a state of faithfulness to God, when everyone around him was wicked. I guess that's the way it goes.  God tries us to our breaking point, careful not to give us trials beyond our capabil...

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...