How to Give a Great Sacrament Meeting Talk - Part 3 of 5: Style

Posted on June 30, 2008 - Filed Under Any, General, Sacrament meeting | 6 Comments

Part 2 here. Part 1.5 here. Part 1 here. Part 0 here.
I feel like Douglas Adams, trying to squeeze five books into a trilogy. This one will be split into two (or maybe three) parts.

Culture Change and the 1978 Priesthood Revelation: Memoir of a (Somewhat) Radical White Mormon

Posted on June 29, 2008 - Filed Under General | 57 Comments

The following guest post is from Dr. Warner Woodworth.
Latter-day Saints around the globe recently celebrated the 1978 Church announcement regarding the Priesthood being conferred upon all worthy males. For me it’s a time to pause in gratitude, remember that momentous event, and reflect on the days of struggle many of us, Black and Caucasian, […]

Guest Post: Movies on the Book of Mormon: Finally Got Some Things Right?

Posted on June 24, 2008 - Filed Under Administrative, General, Guest Post | 20 Comments

The Millennial Star is pleased to present the following guest post from Chris Heimerdinger. Chris is the author of the well know “Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites” adventure series of books. He’s written a total of sixteen adult and young adult novels and has released a film, Passage to Zarahemla in October 2007.
Chris has five […]

Supporting the Church’s position on SSM (part 2)

Posted on June 24, 2008 - Filed Under General | 26 Comments

This Sunday, bishops will be asked to read a statement in Sacrament meeting requesting that members donate their time and means to make sure a constitutional amendment promoting one-man one-woman marriage is passed on the Nov. 8 ballot.
The purpose of this post is to discuss ways members can contribute to this effort, either in California […]

On the Road on the Sabbath

Posted on June 19, 2008 - Filed Under General | 17 Comments

An article from yesterday’s Mormon Times discusses attending church and otherwise observing the Sabbath while traveling or on vacation. This is an interesting topic to me because I’m pretty bad at observing the Sabbath while traveling, and I feel conflicted about it.
The article tells the stories of people who have been quite diligent in their […]

How to Give a Great Sacrement Meeting Talk - Part 2 of 5: Arrangement

Posted on June 16, 2008 - Filed Under Any, General, In real life, Sacrament meeting | 7 Comments

Part 1.5 here. Part 1 here. Part 0 here.
Now that you have all of your sources in order, it’s time to arrange them. The standard idea of having an introduction, a body, and a conclusion works well for sacrament meeting talks. Introductions and conclusions are often overlooked, even though they can […]

Father’s Day Special: Relatedness of Abraham and the Children of Israel

Posted on June 15, 2008 - Filed Under General | 2 Comments

In all that we hear about fathers, one of their most fundamental, axiomatic even, contributions to our lives is seldom mentioned on Father’s Day: Fathers are they who gave us half or more of our genetic composition. “Or more?” the reader may ask. I shall elaborate with special consideration of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and […]

How to Give a Great Sacrament Meeting Talk - Part 1.5 of 5: Invention to Arrangement

Posted on June 8, 2008 - Filed Under General, Sacrament meeting, Scripture Discussion | 13 Comments

Part One here. Part Zero here.
This section became longer than I expected. So, I’m breaking it in half. Instead of discussing arrangement this time, I will bridge the gap between invention and arrangement by discussing what sources could and should be used when creating your talk.
So, now you have a topic […]

Utah may end ‘membership’ requirement to get a drink

Posted on June 4, 2008 - Filed Under General | 32 Comments

I’ll never forget the first time I went to Utah as an adult. This was before I was a Church member, and when I used to occasionally go to bars. So, I went to a bar in Trolley Square. I had to pay a $1 “membership fee” and fill out a card […]

Private Morality, So Very Private That It May Not Extend Beyond Our Brains

Posted on June 4, 2008 - Filed Under General | 27 Comments

Why do a self-governing people hire police to enforce the laws? There are some good reasons, and some that aren’t so laudable. The work of police takes time, so it’s good to hire someone to attend to it and let them develop competence at it. Also, some law enforcement tasks are dangerous and require both […]