Indubitable

Jebediah Springfield Originally Published at Modern Mormon Men February 28, 2014 ___ I recently came across a couple of neologisms (newly coined words) that expanded my vocabulary in a good way. It certainly isn’t the only time that The Simpsons was the source of my inspiration. The words are: “embiggens” and “cromulent”. As it turns out, the town motto for Springfield comes from Jebediah Springfield who said: “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man”. When Mrs. Krabappel said she had never heard…

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Pete sent this along recently.  It’s a great statement on integral role of religion in democracy.  It somehow reminded me of another airplane conversation I had as I sat next to a cop from Belfast on a flight to London a year or so ago.  His newspaper had an article about several police officers from Belfast that had been injured in sectarian violence the day before. He also worked on the riot squad and regularly puts his life on the…

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Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images Uno, Duo, Tre Originally Published February 4, 2014 at Modern Mormon Men I’m joining MMM as a full-time contributor so add it to your reading list.__________________ Having called his Twelve Apostles, the Lord endowed them with great power and sent them to rescue the lost sheep of the House of Israel. He said ‘I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves’ and then enjoined them to be ‘wise as serpents, and harmless as doves’…

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In my readings about Tertullian I was amazed by his wisdom (here for an old post and background; here and here for more quotes).  He was one of the great apologists for Christianity in the Roman world and left an extensive body of Latin writings about Christianity. This is impressive given that in Tertullian’s day it was at best unfashionable, and at worst downright dangerous to be Christian. His sense of faith was apparently much greater than his sense of fear.  He’s…

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Henryk Siemiradzki (1843-1902)Christian Dirce*oil on canvas, 1897National Museum Warsaw Originally published as a guest blog at Millennialstar ~~~ Tertullian was born the son of a Roman Centurion in Carthage around 150 AD. As a member of a higher social class, he received an excellent education and was trained as a lawyer. He indulged in all the trappings of his day, including the pastime of watching gladiatorial combat and games where criminals were tortured or eaten alive by wild animals. Historian Roger…

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Take a look at my latest guest blog at MMM here.  Fellow Canuck N. Eldon Tanner nailed it in his General Conference classic from 1972.  He was so forty-years-ahead-of-his-time that its eerie.  This could easily fit into Discovery Channel’s lineup for 2014. 

Cain and Abel – Titianoil on canvas, 1542-1544Santa Maria della Salute, Venice The seemingly arbitrary rejection of Cain’s offering and acceptance of his brother Abel’s offering outlined in Genesis 4 has long been a source of contention for non-believers.  They say this passage speaks of a capricious God that is unpredictable and vindictive. Yet though we readily recognize the Messianic symbolism of Abel’s offering, the Mosaic law did allow for bloodless offerings. It was more the attitude that accompanied Cain’s offering,…

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Check out my most recent post at Modern Mormon Menhttp://www.modernmormonmen.com/2013/12/guest-post-fresh-asparagus-and-sweet.html

Normandy American Cemetery – August 2012 Normandy American Cemetery – August 2012 Utah Beach – August 2012 The English Channel from Pointe du Hoc – August 2012 It’s just over a year since I had the opportunity to visit the invasion beaches of Normandy. As I dug out my poppy today, in anticipation of Remembrance Day (Veteran’s Day here in the US), I couldn’t help but be reminded of that day.  It was stunningly beautiful, yet deeply disquieting.  We visited…

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The proverbial mustard seed In a footnote to the account of Jesus healing the afflicted child that his disciples failed to heal (here for my post; here for Elder Holland’s talk), Jesus said:  If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.      Matthew 17:20 There are 90,000 mustard seeds in one pound of seed.  If you do the math and…

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