I know this is a touchy subject for some people but I am trying to get a feel from our readers exactly what you all think having one’s calling and election made sure consists of. This is one of those subjects that gets mentioned and hinted at on occasion but I am not sure if there is a universal definition in the church. Here are some of the rumors/ideas I have heard or read about it over the years:
(more…)
I haven’t posted on the BYU men’s basketball team this season. I have to admit that I have been afraid to get my hopes up. But at 25-6 and ranked in the top 25 in the country I guess it is safe to say that BYU is pretty good this year. The team started off hot, beating then #6 Louisville in an early season game and giving #1 North Carolina a real scare the next night. The Cougs found themselves in the top 20 and a loss to #10 Michigan State didn’t worry too many people. But then things started getting a little ugly. First there was the loss at unremarkable Boise State, then the big loss at having-a-down-year Wake Forest, and then there was a blow out loss at UNLV by something like 40 points. It wasn’t looking pretty. But somewhere along the line BYU found a team leader in rail-thin junior swing-man Lee Cummard. Cummard decided to step up and be The Man on this team his ascendancy catapulted the flagging team on to a major winning streak. Cummard finished the regular season as the co player of the year in the Mountain West Conference (along with JR Giddens from New Mexico) and the Cougs won their second straight outright MWC conference title.
Jay Posner over at the San Diego Union Tribune broke the news today:
The network devoted to the Mountain West Conference has not been available on any satellite service since its inception in September 2006. But Jeff Schemmel, San Diego State director of athletics, said today DirecTV will offer The Mtn. beginning Aug. 1.
Rock. On. (more…)
Jesus made the steps to inheriting eternal life seem pretty simple.
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. (Luke 10: 25-28)
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt 22: 35-40, see also Mark 12)
What could be more simple? Love God and love each other; all other commandments flow from these two laws and if we keep these two commandments we inherit eternal life.
The problem is that determining how to best love God and our neighbors is not as easy as it might seem.
This is where philosophical/theological assumptions loom large in all of our lives. (more…)
A new study in the news today is indicating that married couples who are willing to argue with each other (and resolve the arguments) live longer than those who keep it in. Those of you who felt bad about not keeping up with the old advice to never go to bed angry in a marriage can breathe a sigh of relief.
The problem of evil is always a popular topic in the bloggernacle. And why not? It’s a very perplexing and theologically important issue. (See recent discussions on the subject here, here, and here.)
For those of you not familiar with “the problem of evil” it is basically the problem of reconciling the existence of evils and sufferings of all kinds in the world with the claim that there is an all powerful and all loving God watching over the world. Here are some examples of the problem:
Example A1
Mike and Joe are walking through the jungle. Joe falls in some quicksand and slowly starts to sink. Mike sees all this happening, has power to save Joe, and even hears Joe plead for assistance. But Mike chooses to ignore Joe and lets him die.
– We would say Mike is wicked/immoral for refusing to lift a finger to help Joe.
Example A2
Joe is walking through the jungle. Joe falls in some quicksand and slowly starts to sink. God sees all this happening, has power to save Joe, and even hears Joe plead for assistance. But God chooses to ignore Joe and lets him die.
– Why shouldn’t we also say God is wicked/immoral for refusing to lift a finger to help Joe (as we don’t hesitate to do with Mike)?
(more…)
The Thang turned 3 years old this week. Happy birthday to us.
As our regular readers know, a focus of the posts here at New Cool Thang has always been trying to more deeply understand Mormon doctrine, theology, and scriptures. We have spent a lot of time trying to better understand things like the atonement of Jesus Christ, free will/agency, foreknowledge, personal revelation, eternal progression, and all sorts of other intriguing but difficult theological and philosophical subjects. Along the way there have been many wonderful comments and discussions. My life has been greatly enriched by these discussions and I feel simultaneously more knowledgeable about the things of God and more acutely aware of how much I/we really don’t know about God and the eternities. (more…)
Did you see the Las Vegas Bowl tonight? Holy Smokes! We were done. You could have put a fork in the Cougs with 3 seconds left and an easy field goal lined up for the UCLA win. We were as done as we were against Utah I think. But like the Utah game an absolutely astonishing turn of events led to another BYU win. (A blocked kick this time around.) Congratulations Cougs! You overcame getting manhandled by the UCLA defensive front and a bad coaching decision at the end of the first half to get an improbable win.
So with basically the whole offense coming back next year do you think the Cougs will be in the top 20 in the preseason polls next year? A BCS bowl game run will definitely be in the air next season…
As has been mentioned in a couple of other bloggernacle blogs (Julie at T&S, sidebar at BCC, and live on-location reporting from Steve H. at Splendid Sun among others), Elder Ballard just encouraged the graduating class at BYU-Hawaii to start a blog.
No, I’m not kidding.
Steven King is quoted as saying that the character Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series of books is the “greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter” [1] I think he is right on. I can’t think of a more despicable and grating and wicked fictitious villain in recent years either. The thing about Dolores Umbridge though is that it seems to me she is simply a personification and caricature of what we like to call the “Christian Right” in America.
If you have not read the Harry Potter series of books or have not seen the most recent movie (which features Ms. Umbridge) you may not know what I’m talking about here. Dolores has all the ingredients needed to make one’s skin crawl. She plays the sweet innocent role to perfection, complete with a simpering voice and (in the movie at least) all pink wardrobes to go along with her love for kitty cats. But it is all a front to cover a cruel, conniving, pitiless, bigoted, unforgiving, uncharitable, ungracious, hypocritical and bullying person on the inside. Dolores is cordial but not kind. She is saccharine but not truly sweet. She is a gleaming white sepulchre with rotting stench in the middle. In other words she is a true villain. (more…)
Apparently there are a lot of Utah Ute fans who are having a cow over a post-game comment by BYU receiver Austin Collie. Collie is the receiver who caught the long pass from Max Hall on 4th and 18 in the waning moments of the game on Saturday. That unlikely play eventually led to the Cougar victory. As far as I can tell here is what Collie said to a radio journalist in the euphoria after the game:
“I wouldn’t say it was lucky. We executed the play well. We should have had another one (TD). Obviously, if you do what’s right on and off the field, I think the Lord steps in and plays a part in it. Magic happens.”
The sports message boards and Utah radio airwaves have been abuzz with debate over this comment. Journalist Mike Sorenson said: “That implies a higher power favors one team over another and that his team is favored for being more righteous.” Is it just sour grapes or is there something wrong with what Collie said?
(I lean toward the former…)
