I came upon a set of documents from early in my career recently that I thought might be interesting to young professionals. I suspect many large organizations give templates or formal process definitions to these sorts of things, but that's not what caused me to create them. I decided on my own that a yearly … Continue reading Personal Professional Plans
Today my Sunday School instructor in teaching about the Sermon on the Mount concluded with an interesting graphic on the chalkboard. In it she stacked horizontally the topics covered in the Sermon on the Mount. On top of it she drew a church, pointing to the Savior as the key to it. It reminded me … Continue reading Summary of the Sermon on the Mount
Location: Cana In 2011 I was asked to speak to our local congregation on Christmas Day. In preparing the sermon, I was struck by the fact that we know so little about 95% of the Savior's life. Here's what I said Life Between the Nativity and His Baptism I have wondered if at times we … Continue reading Lessons from the Marriage at Cana
Contents: Naming of Jesus Presentation at the Temple Visit of the Wise Men Flight to Egypt Slaughter of the Infants Return from Egypt Visit to Temple at Twelve Years Old. Naming of Jesus Per instructions in Leviticus 12, Jesus would have been given a name, and circumcised eight days after birth. If born on the … Continue reading The Visit of the Magi and Other Post-Birth Events
A number of years ago I stumbled upon this classic speech by Sterling W. Sill, "Bottles and Books" (May 1, 1977) given at BYU. I've quoted some of it in this entry, Emotions vs. Intellect. I have listened to it half a dozen times. It was so inspiring it caused me to find one of his … Continue reading “Hang on the walls of your mind the memory of your successes”
The dates in this article start from a basis of the Savior's Birth being in late December BC 5 or early January BC 4, perhaps even on my suggested date of the morning of December 23, BC 5, as described in this article. Annunciation to Zachariah Conception of John the Baptist Annunciation to Mary Visit … Continue reading Estimated Dates of Events Prior to the Savior’s Birth
An Impossible Task I began a serious study of the Harmony of the Gospels in February 2003, and performed more work in 2007. I have again picked it up in 2019. Harmonizing, or essentially producing a chronological outline of the events in the four Gospels is impossible. McConkie says it well, when he says: And … Continue reading Harmony of the Gospels: Introduction
Mary's beautiful psalm, initially spoken to perhaps a party of one, her cousin Elizabeth, in a quiet house, unnoticed by any media or leaders, teaches us more than we likely appreciate about God's love of and plan for the poor, obscure, humble of his children, particularly women. 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify … Continue reading Mary the Forgotten
Elder Bruce R. McConkie notes that the symbolism of the sacrifices performed under the Law of Moses were in many ways superior--perhaps meaning more impactful--than the Sacrament we partake of today. In this our day—which we, in our self-conceived conceit, are pleased to designate as an age of enlightenment and intellectual achievement—we look with some … Continue reading Sacrifices and the Sacrament
I have loved this quote from Neal A. Maxwell for years: "In the geometry of restored theology, hope has a greater circumference than faith. If faith increases, the perimeter of hope stretches correspondingly." In considering this recently in the temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil, I had a set of images come to mind that perhaps … Continue reading Faith, Hope and Charity and God’s Will
