The Blog of Big Boss Lee

The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World

2010-02-12T06:56:00.002-06:00

The 5,000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World by W. Cleon Skousen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best non-fiction books I've read in a long time. I finished it in less than a month, and most non-fictions I have a hard time ever getting through them (the few exceptions being The Return of the Prodigal Son and 1776, but even they took months to finish.)

Skousen does an amazing job breaking down what makes America the "miracle that changed the world." In 200 years America progressed more than the world had previously over the last 500 years. Skousen picks 28 foundations of freedom that he believes helped us make such astounding progress. He does so by having studied a lot of the resources the Founders would have had as resources for framing the Constitution and the Government it establishes (including Locke, the Bible, Montesqieu, Adam Smith, and others)

He starts off with an analysis of what freedom actually is, and that the left-right political spectrum isn't the one we should be going by (it's not much of a spectrum); the real spectrum is tyranny-anarchy with the ideal spot being right smack-dab in the middle.

Towards the end of the book I felt he had lost a little of his, unbiased approach; and to be honest a lot of what he talks about (getting back to basics) sounds very close to what Ron Paul's platform was going into the 2008 elections (though I'm not terribly familiar with it, Skousen discusses the idea of separatism and foreign policy, monetary policy, etc.)

I'd recommend this to anyone who would like to be refreshed on the principles our nation was founded on.

View all my reviews here.

Is the 17th Amendment unconstitutional?

2010-02-08T06:38:00.002-06:00

In Skousen's The 5,000-Year Leap, he makes an interesting point on the importance of the balance between Federal Government and States.

The federal government was supreme in all matters relating to its responsibility, but it was specifically restricted from invading the independence and sovereign authority reserved to the States. The Founders felt that unless this principle of dual sovereignty was carefully perpetuated, the healthy independence of each would deteriorate and eventually one or the other would become totally dominant.

Alexander Hamilton further explained,

This balance between the national and state governments ought to be dwelt on with peculiar attention, as it is of the utmost importance. It forms a double security to the people. If one encroaches on their rights, they will find a powerful protection in the other. Indeed, they will both be prevented from overpassing their constitutional limits, by certain rivalship which will ever subsist between them. (Essays on Freedom and Power).

Skousen then asks an important question,

But would the states be able to protect themselves from the might of the federal government if the Congress began legislating against states' rights? Originally, the states could protect themselves because U.S. Senators were appointed by the state legislatures, and the Senate could veto any legislation by the House of Representatives which they considered a threat to the rights of the individual states.

Well, the 17th amendment pretty much abolished this right of the states.

That amendment provided that Senators would thenceforth be elected by popular ballot rather than appointed by the state legislatures. This meant the states as sovereign commonwealths had lost their representation on the federal level, and their Senators would be subject to the same popular pressures during an election campaign as those which confront the members of the House of Representatives. (Ibid., Skousen)

I haven't done any research on the circumstances surrounding the ratification of the 17th amendment, but I'd be interested to find out the justifications for taking away this right of the States. I've often wondered what is the real difference between a Senator and a Representative. One has a longer term than the other, there's only two of one and the other is proportionate to the states population relative to other states. It makes a lot more sense the way it was originally defined in the Constitution.

Law Should Be Understandable and Stable

2010-02-04T12:37:00.000-06:00

In the Federalist Papers, No. 62, James Madison states,

"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known and less fixed?"

I don't think Mr. Madison would be very pleased with our government today, particularly with this 2000+ page Health Reform plan that keeps getting shot back and forth between the two houses of congress with earmarks added here and pork there. Our government should not be this obfuscated.

Maybe this is how a lot of laws are, and for some reason the health bill got to be a little more transparent than others. I don't believe it is alone on the docket. If a bill has to be so complex and enumerated, I have a feeling that it probably is beyond the capability of our federal government to do anything about it. The federal government is to provide for the general welfare of the U.S., and this is getting a little too specific; something that should be a concern of the states at most.

Stargirl

2010-02-02T07:12:00.001-06:00

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I probably would have given this 4 stars had it ended the way I would have liked it to end. I thought this was a great story on getting outside of yourself and learning to not let other people determine who you are going to be or who you want to be. You need to have courage and love to put other people before yourself.

[Spoiler Alert:]

I think that the ending was a little unfair to Leo. He was actually the one who gave Stargirl a chance to begin with, and even endured the shunning with her (though not for long). I agree he was weak to begin with and probably didn't deserve to be with Stargirl. The unfairness comes in when the whole school (minus Hillari and her boyfriend) ends up forgiving her at the Ocotillo dance. Leo had somewhat befriended her when hardly anyone else would have, and he's the one that's kind a hung out to dry at the end.

Maybe Leo was more of the antagonist in that he's the one who let Stargirl down the most. He couldn't accept her for who she really was. The school couldn't either, but they eventually did. I think Leo may have actually been a little mentally handicapped, to be so dense. Or maybe it's just because he's a guy, and guys are no good at picking up clues.

View all my reviews...

How to Tie Your Shoes the Right Way

2010-01-29T10:19:00.000-06:00

I've been tying my shoes wrong for my entire life! Just a few days of tying them correctly and they haven't come untied yet, a personal record! Actually they normally don't come untied, but that's because I end up having to tie a double-knot. This explanation makes it very clear how to tie a single knot (a reef knot) that will only get tighter as it sits on your shoe, not looser. The video from the site is here below, but check out the actual explanation if it's knot quite clear.

Original NES Games on Wii - Black Screen?

2010-01-21T19:57:00.010-06:00

I downloaded Double Dragon from the original NES for my Wii (I had 500 points to use, and it didn't occur to me to use them towards something a little more entertaining...to bad you can't sell them.) All I could get was a black screen and sometimes some cool DD music.

It turns out that the old NES games were made to only be displayed on TV's with 200 lines, and my LCD has a bit more. So in order to magnify the 200 lines to 400 I had to enter into the operations guide for the game (from the game hit the home button on the Wii remote, then select Operations Guide), connect a nun-chuck and then simultaneously hit "Z" + "A" + "2". The Wii made it's "ding" sound, and the game showed up. Supposedly the Wii should remember these settings for any type of game like this. Oddly I didn't have this problem with Super Mario Bros. 3.

2 Nephi 20 - Thoughts on God's governing strategy and America's

2010-01-14T09:31:00.000-06:00

2 Nephi 20 starts off by talking about neglecting the poor and made me think of today's society. The democrats seem to think that everyone needs to have the same "things." I got to thinking, why does God have a special group of people that he seems to favor and promise things to (the House of Israel) and destroy other nonbelievers once they've served their purpose in making the House of Israel suffer for their wickedness? The scriptures tell us that He is no respecter of persons. So I thought back to the beginning. God revealed his will to Adam who then had the responsibility to teach his family. He taught them, but some chose to not listen and as a result many generations have been lost in unbelief. God will not force us to listen to him. He will make sure that everyone has a chance to accept the gospel, but that doesn't mean they have to.

Now this isn't anything new to me. However, the connection I drew to our government was what made me really think (along with reading in the 5000 Year Leap by Skousen). The Declaration of Independence states that, "all men are created equal." We know that we are not literally equal (not in "physical strength, mental capacity, emotional stability, inherited social status, in their opportunities for self-fulfillment, etc." [Skousen]), Skousen says we can really only be equal in three ways:

Treated as equals in the sight of God
Treated as equals in the sight of the law
Treated as equals in the protection of their rights.

Skousen elaborates on number three by saying,

"The Founders distinguished between equal rights and other areas where equality is impossible. They recognized that society should seek to provide equal oppportunity but not expect equal results; provide equal freedom but not expect equal capacity; provide equal rights but not equal possessions; provide equal protection but not equal status; provide equal educational opportunities but not equal grades.

"They knew that even if governmental compulsion were used to force its citizens to appear equal in material circumstances, they would immediately become unequal the instant their freedom was restored to them. As Alexander Hamilton said: 'Inequality would exist as long as liberty existed.... It would unavoidably result from that very liberty itself.'"

Watchmen

2009-12-28T07:32:00.000-06:00

Watchmen by Alan Moore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first comic book/graphic novel I've read (not sure if they're even separate genres). Talk about complex psychological characters... It was definitely a lot smarter read than I thought. I've never thought of giving much credit to the comic book genre, but it can definitely conjure up some pretty complex plots and moral dilemmas.

This was a little bloodier than I imagined, the language was fairly heavy, I was mainly irked at the frequency of the use of God's name in vain (in a book that pretty much was set in a place where God did not exist, probably juxtaposed to emphasize the absence of God), and a few sexual escapades, mostly occurring off-page. The human race is made to be inherently savage, almost nobody able to stand up for good.

Good and evil were too convoluted, though Rorschach, who seems to be the most morally strict (though somewhat deranged - though probably excusable considering the world he lived in), seems to be the one person you end up caring for the most and ends up getting blasted for wanting to do what is right (again, without any higher moral law to ascribe to, could it possibly be right?). Can good and evil be as black and white as a Rorschach test? To those who are morally inane, probably not, but being worthy of divine enlightenment, I do believe it is possible.

This definitely won't be my last comic read. I think I might take a stab at The Dark Knight next. Any other recommendations?

View all my reviews.

The Return of the Prodigal Son

2009-12-25T10:05:00.000-06:00

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J.M. Nouwen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing insight on the parable of the Prodigal son. His doctrinal interpretation transcend any religious barriers. One of the 12 Apostles (Jeffrey Holland) referenced this book in his talk a few years back on the topic of the other (referring to the elder son) prodigal son.

His overall conclusion is that our ultimate goal in this life is not only to make our way back to the Father, but to become like Him.

"...I was prepared to accept that not only the younger son, but also the elder son would reveal to me an important aspect of my spiritual journey. For a long time the father remained 'the other,' the one who would receive me, forgive me, offer me a home, and give me peace and joy. The father was the place to return to, the goal of my journey, the final resting place. It was only gradually and often quite painfully that I came to realize that my spiritual journey would never be complete as long as the father remained an outsider...

"What I am called to make true is that whether I am the younger or the elder son, I am the son of my compassionate Father. I am an heir. No one says it more clearly than Paul when he writes: 'The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided that we share his sufferings, so as to share his glory' [Romans 8:16-17]. Indeed, as son and heir I am to become successor. I am destined to step into my Father's place and offer to others the same compassion that he has offered me. The return to the Father is ultimately the challenge to become the Father."

View all my reviews...

On Moral Fiction

2009-12-22T08:30:00.003-06:00

On Moral Fiction by John Champlin Gardner Jr.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great book. I've been working on a movie review blog that comments on the moral value of movies, and Gardner's book has added a lot of value to my critical analysis process. The first part of the book was most valuable to what I needed, subtitled, "Premises on Art and Morality."

He says that all art should to some extent promote good. A few quotes from his book,

"If art destroys good, mistaking it for evil, then that art is false, an error; it requires denunciation."

"To Plato it seemed that if a poet showed a good man performing a bad act, the poet's effect was corruption of the audience's morals. Aristotle agreed with Plato's notion that some things are moral and others not; agreed, too, that art should be moral; and went on to correct Plato's error. It's the total effect of an action that's moral or immoral."

"True art...clarifies life, establishes models of human action, casts nets toward the future, carefully judges our right and wrong directions, celebrates and mourns. It does not rant. It does not sneer or giggle in the face of death, it invents prayers and weapons. It designs visions worth trying to make fact."

View all my reviews.

A Day No Pigs Would Die

2009-12-19T07:30:00.002-06:00

A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great story. Definitely a tear jerker, very similar type of story as To Kill a Mockingbird or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with exception that it was not really a commentary on the ills of society. It was an introspective story sharing themes of hard work, a loving and trusting father/son relationship, owning up to your responsibilities. It's a quick read, so go for it.

View all my reviews

Farenheit 451

2009-12-17T10:25:00.002-06:00

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the first part of the book better than the second half. The second part of the book was more of the philosophical ponderings of the action that took place at the beginning. I didn't think this book was so much about censorship as it was about the importance of standing up for what is right. Censorship (e.g., burning books) just happened to be what so many people failed to prevent from happening. There's also quite a commentary on the evils of the mass media and how television is damaging because it give the viewer no time to think or imagine, but forces emotions and thoughts. I'm glad I listened to it on audio tape, because I may have had a hard time finishing it.

View all my reviews.

The Selfish Republican

2009-10-19T12:30:00.001-05:00

A few posts ago I got on my soap box and didn't have time to fully address the issue of how being selfish is in all of our best interest.

I read an article where the author was rather perturbed by an article he read in Time magazine that basically said that because so many people lost money in their 401(k)s in 2008 that that investment engine was broke and we need to reach out to those people and find a new investment engine other than the stock market. This is just another case of someone passing the blame from themselves. It really isn't our place to judge who was smart (those who educated themselves on investing and diversified their investments, becoming more conservative as they approached retirement) and who wasn't (those who didn't take the time to get educated and as a result made poor decisions). A lot of people's losses could have been mitigated if they had a diversified investment portfolio (and just because I use this vocabulary doesn't mean I'm an expert). I just hope the government doesn't decide to create more taxes on the responsible to help the irresponsible.

All those who happened to be unfortunate "victims" of the recent recession are individuals who either have family or friends or churches to go to in the event that they need help (everyone does, but my focus is on those who think they are victims). The victim's first recourse should be to family, not to the government. Parents spend years upon years 100% devoted to the welfare of their children; it is not enough for their children to simply pass on their legacy by being good parents themselves, they need to be good children and support their parents in their old age, particularly in the event that their parents are affected by some late-life financial loss (regardless of the children feel about their parents' wisdom in investing).

In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin (a prophet that lived in the Americas circa 100 BC) teaches that we shouldn't restrict our helping the poor because we believe that the reason they're in their situations is their own fault.

17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—
18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.

This is wrong and sinful. We should be willing to give freely to all.

The church should be a way that the community one lives in has an opportunity to serve. In our church we donate money monthly to our congregation to help out with any of their financial needs. Money goes out to help with rent, utilities, food, medical expenses, counseling, etc. We are not forced to and yet so many are so willing to help their spiritual brothers and sisters.

The government should never force us to give our money away to the less fortunate. According to the preamble of the U.S. Consititution, government exists

to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

Don't try to argue that "if the government doesn't force us to help our fellow beings all the less fortunate will be much worse off." Have a little faith in your fellowman! If we were taxed less because the government cuts back on taxes (taxes that basically redistributes the wealth of the better-off folks), it would find that the less fortunate would be much better-off because people are genuinely interested in the welfare of their neighbors and don't need to be forced to be charitable. Everyone would be happier because they are given the opportunity to exercise their God-given agency. Sure there would be those that would care less, but such is the purpose of this life: to choose liberty and eternal life or captivity and death.

Going back to the title of this post (forgive the stereotypes), Democrats tend to want the Government to expand to be able to help more people (e.g., FDR after the Great Depression, Obama with Health Care), Republicans want more freedom from government in order to choose for themselves how to help those around them and not be forced by some unconstitutional hand. I'm of the opinion that less government gives us more freedom, allowing us to make choices that will allow us greater happiness, and sadly also greater sorrow.

Vista Error Code 19: Where'd my disc drives go???

2009-10-08T20:00:00.004-05:00

All of a sudden Vista said that both of my optical drives did not exist. I could boot from a CD when restarting the computer, but once Vista loaded I couldn't access them. They showed up in the Device Manager, but with little yellow warning signs. The DM claimed the drivers were up to date, and the only info I got was this message in the drive properties:

"Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)"

I tried System Restore, but was only able to restore it 3 days earlier, and it didn't help any. I tried disabling and uninstalling the drivers to no avail. I even unplugged the drives from the power source and moved them around then plugged them back in hoping to jar something into recognition. I spent hours searching forums for an answer and finally came across this site which suggested deleting some entries in the registry. Very Risky, but I thought it was worth a try. So after exporting my registry I made the recommended deletions and restarted, and Voila! it worked! Craziness. Hopefully Windows 7 will be a little more reliable.

Here are the instructions I followed (Repeat them at your own risk!):

Click MY COMPUTER at the top of the list, click FILE, then EXPORT
Browse to a folder that is esy to access such as My Documents
Type a filenme that is easy to remember, such as RegBackup
Click SAVE to backup the registry.
Click the small plus sign (+) next to each of the following folders

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM
Select

Double click the default key and note the value Data number. This value data is used in the next step.
Click the small plus sign (+) next to each of the following folders

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM
CONTROLSET001 (IF the default value data was 1) or Controlset002 (If the default value data was 2)
Control
Class
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Right click LOWERFILTERS from the right side of the window and click Delete
Right click UPPERFILTERS from the right side of the window and click DELETE
Exit registry editor and restart the computer.

Becoming Better Citizens, part 2

2009-09-22T13:32:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately at what more I need to do (with all my free time...) to be a better citizen.

Stay up-to-date on U.S./World/Local news and government proceedings
Be familiar with the Constitution and other important political literature
Research candidates for elections that you can participate in and vote
Pray for you elected officials (whether you voted for them or not)
Read the Book of Mormon
Other ideas are in the presentation I posted a while ago (some reiterated above)

I can't imagine this list is exhaustive. What do you do to be a better citizen? Does anyone volunteer time in their community or other areas? If so where and when?

Obama to talk to our elementary school kids?

2009-09-02T13:27:00.000-05:00

Apparently Pres. Obama is going to broadcast a speech to all elementary age kids via the internet on September 8, 2009. Of course there's a lot of speculation as to what he's going to "indoctrinate" our kids with. Given that elementary age kids were advocating healthcare reform at Ted Kennedy's funeral, and in light of the hot topic of healthcare, there's a chance Obama might ask these impressionable kids to urge their parents to be more supportive of this national need and brainwash them into becoming liberals.

I find that ridiculous. Pres. Obama may be shrewd and silver-tongued, but I don't think he'd stoop low enough to speak of something so meaningless to elementary school kids, where they would be better off reviewing for their upcoming spelling test. It's the first day of school for children across the nation, and I think he'd just like to give them some encouragement to work hard.

However, I believe that the federal government should have nothing to do with public education, and that by being so involved they actually make learning less effective. "No child left behind"? I believe that does everything to leave behind those kids who are most likely to succeed and focuses on those who will have less influence on our country's future. By serving the bottom of the barrel (be it education, or healthcare, or welfare, etc.) our government is denying better programs for our country.

To be continued with a discussion on "The Selfish Republican."

Becoming Better Citizens

2009-09-01T09:12:00.002-05:00

We've decided to dedicate our 5th Monday family nights to learning more about our country and how to become better citizens. I ran across a couple articles by Ezra Taft Benson (America at the Crossroads and Christ and the Constitution) on the website latterdayconservative.com, a great reference for talks and quotes by LDS church leaders regarding the importance of being active citizens in our families, communities, and Nation. Below are some of the highlights I pulled from those two talks as well as an awesome video on the War in Heaven.

Where do you get your news?

2009-08-17T09:02:00.005-05:00

Please answer the poll on the right and add any comments/advice you have below.

I've recently purchased an online subscription to our city newspaper ($5/mo.). Up until now I've been mainly going to various news websites (and plan to continue to do so), but have felt somewhat disconnected from what goes on in the city I live in.

How valuable is a newspaper (online or in print) compared to the tons of information you can get for free on the internet? For one the internet is disorganized and a big time consumer and a newspaper has limited space to tell you what's going on. On the other hand, the news on the internet is mostly free.

Does your method of reading the news encourage you to participate as much as you can? Do you get informed enough to feel comfortable to voice your views to your government representatives or are able to make an informed argument for one policy or another?

What do you all think? What do you do?

The Cannibal King

2009-08-10T07:00:00.002-05:00

This is probably one of my favorite songs I learned at scout camp. Sorry, I will not be posting an audio file of me singing it (unless you need it for a campout or court of honor, in which case I'd be happy to help).

Oh, the cannibal king with the big nose ring

Fell in love with the Indian ma-a-aid

And every night by the pale moon light

Across the stream he wa-a-de

He'd hug and he kiss his pretty little miss

Underneath the bamboo tree-e-e

And every night by the pale moon light,

It sounds like this to me-e-e:

A-ROOMP (kissing sound) (kissing sound)

Honey won't you marry me-e-e?

A-ROOMP (kissing sound) (kissing sound)

Underneath the bamboo tre-e-e.

If you'll be M-I-N-E mine

I'll be T-H-I-N-E thine

And I'll L-O-V-E love you

All the T-I-M-E time

You are the B-E-S-T best

Of all the R-E-S-T rest

And I'll L-O-V-E love you

All the T-I-M-E time!

Cool New Music

2009-07-29T21:10:00.007-05:00

I've found some new really cool music and thought I'd share it with everyone. Not that my previous tastes have changed, I've just found more music that I enjoy. Most of this has been discovered via lala.com and further tested on grooveshark.com if I haven't decided to buy the song off of lala and I've already used up my one free listen for whatever time period they track it for.

Jack White has got quite the talent. He's with the White Stripes (if they're still going with his divorce - he was in it with his now ex-wife), he's done some solo work and duets, he's also in two other bands, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. I love the song he did for the latest James Bond movie with Alicia Keys and I love about 80% of the songs on the latest Raconteurs CD. The Raconteurs are like a mix of great 70's classic rock - Boston, Led Zeppelin, Kansas, CSNY, etc. Check out this song:

Rich Kid Blues - The Raconteur...

The Dead Weather, at first listen, was amazing too, but after listening to it a second time I was less impressed and found it more disturbing than likeable.

60 Feet Tall - The Dead Weathe...

The Flaming Lips is a band I haven't heard too much of, but the few songs I've heard, I really like. I was introduced to them several years ago, but just am now rediscovering them.

Fight Test - The Flaming Lips

Glen Hansard, at least from the Once sound track, has some great talent as well. Almost a Cat Stevens sort of sound, but with a lot more emotion. AND it's written in 5/4! (which is pretty cool).

When Your Mind's Made Up - Gle...

I've also come across some great Latin music just by listening to it occasionally on the radio and then looking up the song title and artist by typing its lyrics into Google. Here's a sample of a few:

New Latin

Receiving Enlightenment through the Study of the Book of Mormon

2009-05-31T19:33:00.006-05:00

The following is a talk I gave in church today on the Book of Mormon. It really helped me gain a stronger testimony of it and realize the universal help it can provide, particularly in recognizing false political, educational, and philosophical ideals.

"One of the great families to join the Church in Canada was that of Archibald Gardner. From his journal, we learn of the family's experience in Canada during the year 1843. "Robert Gardner describes the day of their baptism: 'We went about a mile and a half into the woods to find a suitable stream. We cut a hole through ice eighteen inches thick. My brother William baptized me. . . . I was confirmed while sitting on a log beside the stream. . . .

"'I cannot describe my feelings at the time and for a long time afterwards. I felt like a little child and was very careful of what I thought or said or did lest I might offend my Father in Heaven. Reading the Scriptures and secret prayer occupied my leisure time. I kept a pocket Testament constantly with me. When something on a page impressed me supporting Mormonism, I turned down a corner. Soon I could hardly find a desired passage. I had nearly all the pages turned down. I had no trouble believing the Book of Mormon. Every time I took the book to read I had a burning testimony in my bosom of its truthfulness.'" (Pres. Monson, Ensign, November 1990)

The Book of Mormon Brings Us Closer to Christ

Pres. Benson:

"The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ through two basic means. First, it tells in a plain manner of Christ and His gospel. It testifies of His divinity and of the necessity of a redeemer and the need of our putting trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and the Atonement and the first principles of the gospel, including our need of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a spiritual rebirth. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteousness and live the moral life of a Saint.

Second, the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention (2 Nephi 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon is similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time." – (Pres. Benson, Witness and a Warning, p.3)

Pres. Hinckley:

I know of no other writing which sets forth with such clarity the tragic consequences to societies that follow courses contrary to the commandments of God. Its pages trace the stories of two distinct civilizations that flourished on the Western Hemisphere. Each began as a small nation, its people walking in the fear of the Lord. But with prosperity came growing evils. The people succumbed to the wiles of ambitious and scheming leaders who oppressed them with burdensome taxes, who lulled them with hollow promises, who countenanced and even encouraged loose and lascivious living. These evil schemers led the people into terrible wars that resulted in the death of millions and the final and total extinction of two great civilizations in two different eras.

No other written testament so clearly illustrates the fact that when men and nations walk in the fear of God and in obedience to His commandments, they prosper and grow, but when they disregard Him and His word, there comes a decay that, unless arrested by righteousness, leads to impotence and death. The Book of Mormon is an affirmation of the Old Testament proverb: “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34). (Pres. Hinckley, Ensign, August 2005)

Keep the Commandments

How many times are we promised that if we keep the commandments of God, we will prosper in the land? And to further describe this prosperity, King Benjamin said,

“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” (Mosiah 2:41)

D&C 84:49-51,54-57

49 And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.

50 And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me. (Lee: and one of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to bring us closer to Christ.)

51 For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin. 54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.

57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written.

Not all Scripture is Equal

We have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat the falsehoods in socialism, organic evolution, rationalism, humanism, and so forth. (W and W, p.6)

Not all truths are of equal value, nor are all scriptures of the same worth. What better way to nourish the spirit than to frequently feast from the book which the Prophet Joseph said would get a man "nearer to God by abiding its precepts, than by any other book"? (W and W, p.10)

Teaching our Children

Alma 23:6 – After Ammon and his brethren overcome the trials of bringing the gospel to the Lamanites, seven of the Lamanite cities were converted and it was said of them,

“And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.”

If our children and grandchildren are taught and heed these same truths, will they fall away? We best instruct them in the Book of Mormon at our dinner table, by our firesides, at their bedsides, and in our letters and phone calls - in all of our goings and comings.

Some spiritually alert parents hold early-morning devotionals with their families in their homes. They have a hymn, prayer, and then read and discuss the Book of Mormon. (W and W, p.11)

Personal Thoughts

“The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come” (Introduction). Just previous to His visit, the land was filled with evil, robbers, darkness, and all manner of wickedness. The only thing that could disperse this darkness was the Savior. So it is in our lives, no matter how dark or sinful or dismal our lives are, the Lord is the only one who can help us. So why not read and abide by the precepts of the book that will bring us closer to Him than any other book?

Paraphrasing Elder Nelson, “[The Book of Mormon] can help with personal problems in a very real way. Do you want to get rid of a bad habit? Do you want to improve relationships in your family? Do you want to increase your spiritual capacity? Read the Book of Mormon!”

The Priesthood of God

2009-05-17T05:49:00.000-05:00

Better Understanding the 5th Article of Faith

2009-05-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

My wife took on the challenge to memorize the Articles of Faith in Spanish, and since she posted them on the shower door, I decided to try it too. As I was going through them, I got to the 5th Article and reading it in Spanish changed a very important part of the meaning for me.

For those who are familiar with the tune that the article is put to in the Children's Song book, that's generally how I'm able to recall most of the Articles of Faith in English, the way that it's sung never fully made sense to me, since it didn't emphasize the punctuation. There's a pause between "laying on of hands" and "by those..." but you don't hear the pause where the comma is between "authority" and "to preach...", which is where the Article explains to what end a man must be called of God. I had always thought that it was saying that, "a man must be called ... by someone in authority who can preach the gospel and administer its ordinances." But the comma between "authority" and "to preach" is very importand and makes it read instead that, "a man must be called ... by someone who has authority, SO THAT the man who is called can preach the gospel and administer its ordinances." In other words men are called to preach the gospel and administer its ordinances, they aren't just called with no purpose by someone who happens to have the authority to preach and administer.

In Spanish, in addition to the comma, the article also says that a man must be called...so that he can preach the gospel... that's the translation of "a fin de que"

We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

Creemos que el hombre debe ser llamado por Dios, por profecia y la imposicion de manos, por aquellos que tienen la autoridad, a fin de que pueda predicar el evangelio y administrar sus ordenanzas.

I hope I explained the realization I came to well enough to be understood. I'm not sure how many English speakers have thought the same thing, but my wife said that she always understood it the other way (the way I thought the article read) too.

Media Collection Managers

2009-05-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

About a year ago I had posted about some media collection managers that I had tried out and liked. Unfortunately the one I liked the most (DVDSpot) went away about six months ago and I haven't really found a comparable one yet. The closest I've found is DVDCrate.com, which looks like almost the same code. The one thing that makes it not that great is the uploading feature. You have to have a list of all the UPC's to upload them, and I don't have a code scanner or the desire to buy one. DVDSpot allowed you to upload a list of names and then you could select which one you owned if it came up with multiple versions of the same DVD.

I've tried IMDB.com's "My Movies" but there is no upload feature, so the only time I add a movie is after I see it and am on the movie page reading the trivia or other people's reviews.
A lot of people talk about DVD Aficionado, but it's just not an appealing website, and not worth it overall. Similar to IMDB, you have to search for the movie to add it.
DVD Corral has had a most welcomed face lift, and I will have to try it out again. [5 minutes later] In fact I just did, and I happened to find my old DVDSpot export which contained all the UPC's for the movies I owned at that point. This one actually has me excited!

Anyone else using an online collection manager they love? Maybe one that does books and music as well?

Tackling the Old Testament

2009-04-09T12:28:00.005-05:00

My wife and I have set a goal to read the entire Old Testament by the end of the year. I've done most of the Sunday School, Institute, and missionary Old Testament schedules, but they never seem to have you read everything (or at least I never get to finish reading everything). Three months into the year, we've done pretty well. We're currently in the book of Numbers and have read bits and pieces of some other books later on in the Old Testament. I thought I'd share some of the resources we've been using to help make this an enjoyable and enriching experience.

byu.tv

This website has a ton of resources. Specifically for the scriptures, there's a tab for Scripture Discussions and that includes scriptural diiscussions with several professors of Ancient Scripture/Writings from Brigham Young University. Each discussion is 30 minutes and covers a handful of chapters at a time (e.g., Numbers 1-7).

Reading Schedules

I found a reading schedule online that scheduled the entire Old Testament to be read over the process of an entire year. It doesn't have you reading from beginning to end (mostly). It has you reading from the beginning on Monday-Friday, on Saturday you read 3 Psalms, and on Sunday you read 1 chapter of Solomon's writings and 4 chapters from Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.). I like this approach, but I think I might try switching to reading straight through and not jump around.

Audio Files

Scriptures.lds.org allows you to download the audio files for all of the scriptures. I've found the narrator for the Old Testament to be a very good reader. He's helped the Old Testament language not seem too archaic.

Dearscriptures.com

Dearscriptures.com is a pretty cool website that also has all the text for the LDS scriptures, but allows you to take notes and highlight them online. You simply setup an account and it tracks all the changes you make to your set of online scriputres. It also allows you to listen to them and even setup an online community of friends so that you can share your latest insights with. It's still pretty new and may have a few glitches, but the developer is very quick to respond to any feedback you have, just be sure that you can replicate any problem you submit to him.

Set a Goal

Setting a goal always help us accomplish something we want (or need) to do. What's made it even easier is setting working on the same goal with someone else. This allows us (my wife and I) the opportunity to discuss the chapters we've read, try to figure out what the purpose of these incidents in the scriptures is for our understanding, etc.

Timeline

One last item that has made the Old Testament a bit more understandable is actually seeing all the events and important people laid out in a timeline. I realize the book is written pretty much in chronological order, but having a visual representation of it all really helps. LDS.org has a timeline for all of the scriptures, but they were in a single pdf file, and I didn't have a printer that could print on poster-size paper. Sourceforge.net has a nice tool that will allow you to cut up a pdf file into the size you want, so I was able to cut the lds.org pdf file into individual pages that would fit on standard printer paper, and then we taped them together and put them on our wall