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.

Gary Burge in his commentary on John’s Gospel:

In my academic community, the Jewish/Christian dialogue is predicted on the notion that together we will find religious commonalities that do not offend the other party.  To speak otherwise is to “blaspheme” the process of interfaith discourse (cf. John 5:18).  In the university marketplace of ideas, Christian religious belief is generally held suspect because most assume that lurking beneath the surface is an absolute argument for truth that wants to upend secular systems of thought and faith.  They are right. (more…)

Is this LDS authority?  Follow your heart.  This brand-new blog author is on popular ground for “authority”.  There have been many young LDS missionaries that have expressed, “Follow your heart.”  But I know the Spirit in scripture has expressed to me that I can’t trust my natural heart. (more…)

“Today we have substituted creedal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. (more…)

Are there any more blog stories by Sahar or others in Turkey?  I realize it has been a while.

Do Latter-day Saints believe we are saved by faith or works?  Is this the contemporary LDS Church answer?  Because it dwarfs the power of Christ’s atonement and robs the promise of glorification freely given.  Does Geoff over here, speaking of “Amazing Grace,” differ with this answer?  Speaking of Geoff, I need to catch up with this guy. (more…)

I have been reading J.P. Moreland’s book, Love Your God With All Your Mind:  The Role of Reason In The Life of the Soul (NavPress, 1997).  The book is in our Idaho Falls public library.  Take a peek at it sometime.

He writes:

“Theologians describe God as a maximally perfect being.  This means that God is not merely the greatest, most perfect being who happens to exist.  He is the greatest being that could possibly exist.  If God were merely the greatest being who happens to exist, it would be possible to conceive of a case where a greater god could come along (even if such a being did not actually exist) or where the real God grew in His excellence.  In these cases, our degree of worship ought to increase and, therefore, a God who just happened to be the greatest being around (and who could be surpassed in excellence) would not be a worthy object of total worship.  Fortunately, the God of the Bible is a maximally perfect being; that is, He is the greatest being that could possibly exist.  It is impossible for a greater being to supersede God or for God Himself to improve Himself in any way.  Thus, God is owed our supreme, total worship.  This is why Scripture calls idolatry the activity of giving more dedication to something finite than to God.  God is worthy of the very best efforts we can give Him in offering our respect and service through the cultivation of our total personality, including our minds. . . . (more…)