Thanks Geoff B. for the tip.

“You won’t want to miss this local cast performing a local favorite in one of the oldest operating theaters in Idaho, the newly-renovated Virginia Theater!”

The Virginia Theatre in Shelley, Idaho presents a live stage performance of the beloved family film, Rigoletto.

Last week, I packed my whole family into the car to see this.  Munching on popcorn and candies, we had a blast.  A nice girl who has attended our church sang the part of Gabrielle.

It was fun.  And yet it is not hard to detect the LDS cheer on the celestial.

Tonight is the last performance.  Get your tickets.

Coming up:  A Christmas Carol

Last night, our church family explored the extraordinary text of Genesis 6:1-4.  Before I knew it, an hour zipped by in our biblical study and discussion.

Lots of scripture texts bounced around in my mind from Job (sons of God), Psalms (gods), II Peter, Jude (Enoch), Numbers (Nephilim), and back to Genesis. (more…)

Musings on Mitt Romney’s Speech

Yesterday, I stayed home and spent more time tiling some more of the floor in our house.  During this manual labor, I had time to listen the whole day to conservative talk radio.  And what an experience that was!  It will leave you jangling for weeks.

I heard Rush Limbaugh on Mitt’s speech.  Then locally in Southeastern Idaho,  LDS Neal Larson (the “extreme fisherman” caller is hilarious.).  Then Sean Hannity.  Then LDS Glenn Beck.  They all had me laughing at various turns on their highly favorable perspectives on the speech.

As a great storyteller, Glenn described the whole experience of sitting in the audience of around 200 VIPs and listening to Mitt Romney.  And he also talked about sleeping for only a couple hours the night before and then sitting with Richard Land yesterday morning and trying to communicate the “deep doctrine” of Mormonism in 40 seconds.  I could hardly tile my floor, I was laughing so hard. 

Glenn basically said, If you have questions, look up the professors at the LDS universities.  [Sidenote – Doesn’t one of his daughters attend BYU-Idaho in Rexburg?  I am sure from Glenn’s angle, Rexburg is a land of sagebrush out in the middle of nowhere.]

And the local media on Mitt?  Yesterday, the front page of our local Post Register quotes Kirk Jowers, a Romney supporter and director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah:

I had no expectations that he would get into the theological weeds of Mormonism.  There simply isn’t the time to address all of the issues that some people may have with the Mormon faith.

I don’t expect Mitt Romney to do this either.  I wouldn’t want him to do this.  But beyond the BYU professors, I do expect LDS apostles to step up to the plate and dialogue with evangelicals in 2008 over “theological weeds of Mormonism”.

I have a couple questions that have been emailed to me by friends, so I will place them in the thread later.

Musings on Divine Logic – the Bible

I believe that Scripture is divinely inspired, the very breathed-out words of God.  I believe that it is illogical to say that living, inspired words of prophecy from an open heaven are contradictory.  I don’t understand all God’s words fully because of my limitations, but I do trust that the Bible is perfect logic.  I believe in the incarnation of Christ (100% God who became 100% man) this Christmas season.

My presuppositional faith maintains that the biblical oracles are not illogical.  Therefore my inductive reasoning studies continually operate off the divine text.

But I tend to believe that Joseph Smith rejected the Bible text as infallible divine logic.  I believe he would have made the OT JST changes even with the evidence of the DSS material, etc. and etc.  Joseph Smith simply did not accept the Bible as being logical.  And if he thinks that the text in many parts is illogical, why does he say the biblical scriptures are inspired?

My friend, Jacob, would say I am anti-logic.  He is correct in this sense:  I am anti to the logic that impugns God’s holy texts as anti-logical or incoherent.  It is my premise that the JST in seeking to solve “alleged logical contradictions” spawns more illogical inductive reasoning with the biblical scripture.  Hence, more confusion for Christianity.

Does this make logical sense? 

Blake Ostler and others add some new thoughts.

I would like to interrupt with a brief commercial on this strategic day, December 6, 2007, in LDS political history.

If you are like me, one who dislikes both beer and coffee . . . (in fact, I don’t even like the smell) . . . (and I must add that all my friends are laughing at me) . . .

Let me recommend to you one of the best drinks in the country:

Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Chocolate in Farmington, Utah.

It is the best drink you can enjoy this Chrismas season.  For Hot Chocolate lovers, this is the business that you need to tap into!

And well done, Governor Mitt Romney, for the stirring patriotic speech. 

May God bless America.  (Our church family in Ammon, Idaho prays for this weekly.)

FAIR just put this on their website last week.

May I ask some questions for Blake on this thread?

Bob Bixby has shared an interesting interview with expert missiologist, Dr. Hesselgrave.

“Stay Fundamental.”

My undergrad degree was Cross-cultural Christian Missions.  I cut my missiological teeth on Hesselgrave’s books.

John Morehead, a professor at Salt Lake Theological Seminary and author of a cross-cultural mission blog, has read Hesselgrave, too.  But we have yet to explore more where we see eye to eye on key issues. (more…)

I came across LDS Doug Towers’ recent post on his blog about Protestant ministers and their belief in Scripture. (more…)

This is the discussion between Bob (red ink) and me (black ink).In Bokovoy’s response to Heiser, he interacts with Genesis and uses authors and Aramaic targums that I don’t know.  I would like to share with you quickly these excerpts and authors and then ask:  1.  Are you familiar with these authors?  2.  Who would be the contemporary O.T. scholars providing contrary viewpoint to what these critics propose?  thanks.

I am just lifting Bokovoy’s quotes from his paper that deal with Genesis and these authors. (more…)

This church blog has been in the works.  We will be doing lots of fine-tuning.

But posts will be coming regularly from various brothers and sisters in our church family.  Sister Marilyn speaks today.  And this gifted sister will write frequently.

This blog won’t deal with Mormonism like HI4LDS.  But it will open up a whole new different environment through a unique window.

Tell me what you think.  The “Always the Word” link in the sidebar of HI4LDS will be your link from here to this new literary adventure.