All I ask is that the candidates court me until the bitter end.

Posted on September 30, 2008 - Filed Under Any, General, In real life | 3 Comments

[My first political post in a long, long while. This is my one statement on the current campaign. Other than here, I’m going to stay away from political posts because I abhor the lack of charity that permeates them. The basic idea behind this was borrowed from Ann Althouse].
Yes, I’m conservative (mostly). Yes, I’m an […]

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

Posted on September 18, 2008 - Filed Under Any, In real life, Sacrament meeting | 8 Comments

Part 4 (Memory) here. Part 3.5 (Using Analogies) here. Part 3 (Style) here. Part 2 (Arrangement) here. Part 1.5 (Sources) here. Part 1 (Invention) here. Part 0 (introduction) here.
Well, it’s been awhile, and despite the title, this is not the last installment.
Delivery is something that can be overdone, and when it is overdone, […]

My Father in the September Ensign. (And what didn’t make it in)

Posted on August 28, 2008 - Filed Under Any, Biography, Fun, In real life, Sports | 7 Comments

Page 19 -21. It’s part of a larger article (that starts on page 18_, but his anecdote about high school wrestling and promptings from the spirit can be found on those pages. Though the artists rendering on page 20 is all wrong. It looks nothing like my father and the school color and logo in […]

How to Give a Great Sacrament Meeting Talk - Part 3.5 of 5: Style (Analogies)

Posted on July 13, 2008 - Filed Under Any, General, In real life, Sacrament meeting, Sunday School | 7 Comments

Part 3 here. Part 2 here. Part 1.5 here. Part 1 here. Part 0 here.
Analogies, metaphors, similes, allegories, etc. all can work well in a sacrament meeting talk (or gospel lesson). They can also be where the talk (or lesson) fails completely. Because Jesus taught in parables (which, when asked, […]

Mormons appear in the most interesting places…. #2: Steroid Nation

Posted on July 3, 2008 - Filed Under Any, General, In real life, Sports | 12 Comments

Though my reading matter currently focuses on my dissertation, occasionally I read something not at all related, just to keep myself sane and my mind from becoming too specialized (although it’s interesting how often this “extracurricular” reading works its way into my dissertation).
Though I am not much of a sports guy, I do exercise regularly […]

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.

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 […]

How to Give a Great Sacrament Meeting Talk - Part 1 of 5: Invention.

Posted on May 30, 2008 - Filed Under Any, In real life, Sacrament meeting | 6 Comments

(Apologies for this being a day late. My Internet connection was down for a large chunk of time yesterday).
Invention, in the simplest definition, is coming up with the material to discuss – your topic, your thesis, etc. This is easy, right? After all, the bishop (or stake president, or whoever) assigns you […]

How to Give a Great Sacrament Meeting Talk - Part 0 of 5 (Introduction)

Posted on May 25, 2008 - Filed Under Any, General, In real life, Sacrament meeting | 21 Comments

How can Aristotle and St. Augustine help you give a better sacrament meeting talk? The answer is rhetoric.

What is “Daily Bread”? Are you sure?

Posted on February 29, 2008 - Filed Under Any, Fun, Scripture Discussion, Sunday School | 10 Comments

An old friend of mine is now a youth pastor. On his blog, he requested some help with a Greek translation issue in the New Testament. He read in a book (Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book) that “daily” could be translated “fresh” - as in, “give us this day some fresh bread.” […]

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