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Finding Peace in Divine Clouds
Over the last several years I have undergone many transitions, evolutions, and transformations in my discipleship and relationship with God. Joseph Smith once famously stated that, I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against religious bigotry, … Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty (TPJS, p. 304). While I have certainly not run into religious bigotry and suffered the torment of mobs and violence that Joseph Smith (and the early Saints) endured,…
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Doctrine and Covenants 1: An Ancient Treatise Pattern?
A few years ago, during the summer months as I was preparing to teach the Old Testament for early morning seminary, I happened across a podcast that was a beginner’s guide to the Old Testament. The podcast is called Discovering the Old Testament by Sheldon Greaves. It has since become one of my favorite beginner podcasts and one that I suggest for anyone wanting to get a good sampling of Old Testament studies. Each episode is short (only approx. 20 minutes in length) and Greaves keeps the conversation rolling along in his rather hypnotic voice. He has a way of going just deep enough to make a newcomer feel a…