Larry Morris spoke on the Cowdery Controversies.

Here is the list of his questions covered, minus all the source documentation and his extended explanation. (more…)

Here are two people I wish I could have met.  They showed passion.  Yet after their presentation at the FAIR conference yesterday, and while I was caught up in conversation, they disappeared.  Rats. (more…)

At lunch time, I watched large excerpts from the new video that will be released in response to the DVD, The Bible Vs. The Book of Mormon.  I took notes, (more…)

John Gee – Some Puzzles from the Joseph Smith Papyri

John, author of A Guide to Joseph Smith Papyri,  cleared some things up for me, today, on all the mess of the Joseph Smith Papyri.  (more…)

I have Terryl Given’s landmark book, By The Hand of Mormon (Oxford University Press, 2002), opened in front of me.  He writes,

“Jeremiah is told that before he was in the belly, God knew him and ordained him a prophet (Jer. 1:5).  Joseph fleshes out a concept of premortal existence that encompasses man, fallen angels, Jesus Christ, and mortal existence that encompasses man, fallen angles, Jesus Christ, and Lucifer.  In none of these cases, or a dozen others that could be mentioned, could one make a reasonable, theological defense of Joseph’s ampler enactment of these principles and practices on the basis of the few paltry biblical allusions that exist.  Their insufficiency, their incompleteness is very much to Joseph’s purposes.  They are the feeble fragments that point to an insoluble absence, to frustrating gaps in the historical record, to the poverty and corruption of a text that leaves us in a state of bewildered spiritual deprivation (48). (more…)

Ok, I am back, tonight.  After a “Baconator”, I am ready to roll.

At 9:23 am, today, Steven Olsen says, “I hope you don’t go to sleep in the describing of the structure . . . “The first session is always a tough one, you know, for waking everybody up.  But Steven’s session title, “Are the Church Archives Closed?” attracted me from the start.  I wanted to know if Baptist preachers have full access. (more…)

This evening, I am sitting in a beautiful room at the Best Western Cotton Tree in Sandy, Utah.  Tonight, I am going to blog my thoughts in segments on the first day of the FAIR conference.   When I arrived at the conference room this morning, I noticed first of all the sign in the side aisle:  “Rabble-Rousers will be escorted out by the Danite Committee.”  Uh-oh, I thought to myself, the committee is on to me, watching my every move.  I guess one particular LDS blogger has already humorously experienced the inspections of the Danites, today.  Would there be any hope for a southeastern Idaho Baptist preacher to make it through the day without ending up in handcuffs?

I didn’t know for sure.  That is . . . until, fellow blogger, Kerry Shirts, came up to me with a big ol’ grin on his face.

Let me begin by introducing to you the speakers of this conference.  You will find that Scott Gordon and the other members of FAIR did not just select any average, intermountain redneck for these sessions.  Maybe that is the reason why they didn’t ask me to speak . . .

But nontheless, stay tuned . . . I have a lot to share.

Today, our little girl, Hannah Marie Wood, is nine years old.

We took her and all her friends to the new Rexburg spray park. (more…)

These words in the book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) by J. K. Rowling, are recorded on the white marble tombstone of James and Lily Potter: The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (p. 328).

So who destroys death?

Tomorrow night in our inductive study, we will be meditating on the powerful praise of an ancient prophet who penned words 2,700 years ago that shook the world.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it (Isaiah 25:8). (more…)

1.  A great synopsis for a short family vacation in Utah.

2.  An obnoxious picture discovered in Utah.

3.  An important question raised in bloggernacle.

4.  The central passion of any Christian sabbath.

5.  The prime work of elders:  the ministry of the Word and prayer.  Here is a worshipful prayer for this new week.