January 1-January 7 I was reading a very short notice this past week in a local newspaper that was just over 300 words long.  This is not a well-known national periodical, in fact, it’s quite obscure—but the notice I read is probably the most important thing ever published in the news.  The paper was The Wayne Sentinel and the date was Friday, March 26, 1830.  This was the first announcement that The Book of Mormon was now available to the world.

December 25-31 Here’s the latest breaking news:  The major war that was going on in the pre-mortal world between the forces of Lucifer and the forces of Michael has continued—but it has changed locations.  All of Lucifer’s forces have been moved to this earth and continue to wage war against the Saints and the followers of Christ and His Gospel.

December 18-24 For a few minutes you can leave the hustle of the season behind, while we take you to Bethlehem, a place we’ve spent much time. Come on an armchair journey.

December 4-10 There is often a certain dread that comes over us as we approach a thorough study of John’s Book of Revelation.  “How will I ever understand this book?  How can I figure out all the symbols and mysterious beasts?  Is there application in this book for me personally?”  In this week’s podcast and in one more lesson on Revelation to follow, we will give you some tools and some thoughts that will help you unlock this great book.

November 27-December 3 John is described as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, and it may be no surprise that he gives us a deeper look into what it means to love and how it is done. Of all the things I want and hope for in this world, it is to learn how to be a person filled with love, but self creeps in at every turn. Let’s turn to John for help.

November 20-26 We know so much about the apostle Peter.  He is a hero to many of us.  He is the one who stepped so quickly forward to action.  He is the one who boldly testified that Jesus is the Christ.  He is the one who healed the sick and the lame and raised the dead. But how much do we know about the two epistles that he wrote before his martyrdom?  Let’s do some exploring and see what we can learn together.

November 13-19 Of the three men named James in the New Testament, which one wrote the Book of James? And another question: Is James actually a Hebrew name anyway?

November 6-12 When I was in college, my great desire was to develop an unshakeable faith, and so I tried many things. I went up the canyon hoping to be alone with God and pray for an hour, but I ran out of things to say in ten minutes. Then, a speaker came to my college ward who struck me as a woman with wonderful faith, and so I asked if I could go visit with her at her home and if she could teach me what she knew. But things began to open up for me when I read what Paul wrote in the...

October 30-November 5 Who wrote the epistle to the Hebrews—Paul or somebody else? It has been a centuries old debate that Joseph Smith had an answer for.

October 23-29 What would you say to your beloved friends and followers if you knew this was the last time you would ever speak to them?  Such is the case with 2 Timothy as Paul has his last words penned by a scribe from a dungeon in Rome.  Paul’s words to Timothy, and of course from his other letters, would change the entire world.

October 16-22 We have many sicknesses today in our tumultuous world, but Paul aptly labels one of the most pervasive and contagious. We’ll call it the “shaken in mind” syndrome. Being “shaken in mind” is as deadly as it sounds, like something that would make you really sick. It is where stillness and stability and a sure foundation have fled. 

October 9-15 Paul’s letters, or the Pauline epistles, are arranged in the New Testament in descending order of their length—with the exception of The Book of Hebrews.  These 14 letters comprise 173 pages, just about 43% of the entire New Testament.  This week we will be looking at the small epistle of Paul to the Philippians—those converts living in Philippi in the region of Macedonia, Greece and another even smaller epistle to the Colossians—those living in Colossae, a celebrated city of...

October 2-8 What does it mean to be a “stranger in the world”? That’s a lonely idea, right up there with one of the saddest words in our language—homeless.  Paul tells the Gentile converts, “Now, therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the Saints” (Ephesians 2:19). Being a stranger in the world is what it means to be without Christ in our journey. A stranger in the world is exiled from Him and from home. That would be lonely, indeed.

September 25-October 1 The Book of Galatians is little known among us.  It’s only 6 chapters, in 149 verses and a total of 3,084 words.  Can we glean some eternal lessons from this brief letter of the Apostle Paul?  We certainly can!  In today’s podcast we will draw out some of Paul’s teachings that we think will bless all of our lives.

September 18-24 In this book of 2 Corinthians we come nearest to the inner feelings of Paul than in any other of his writings. As one writer said, here Paul reveals his “joy and depression, anxiety and hope, trust and resentment, anger and love.” We see his human qualities. Some writers have suggested that one of the best words to describe 2 Corinthians is that it is a defense. What would Paul have to defend? We'll discuss that this week.

Septebmer 11-17 This mortal experience was never meant to be easy—it was meant to be a school—but a school full of joy and wonderful learning.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians:  We are troubled on every side (have you ever felt that way?), yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” (See 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9) Paul sounds like he is talking to us in our day—not to the people living in Corinth in the 1st Century A.D.  Or...

September 4-10 In 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing early converts to the Church who brought with them baggage and false ideas from their previous beliefs. To make matters even more difficult, they were far away from any central administration of the Church and so old ideas, firmly entrenched in their minds could clash with the gospel. Among these new converts were polytheistic Gentiles who had once worshipped idols, Jews who held to the Mosaic law, and all of the ideas influenced by the...

August 28-September 3 This week’s readings include some of the most important teachings in all the scriptures.  You’re familiar with them:  Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I AM NOTHING.  We’re excited to explore this most...

August 21-27 Corinth was the powerful, bustling, and wicked trade center of the Roman province of Achaia. When Paul wrote what we call 1 Corinthians, to the members there, it wasn’t his first letter to them. That one is lost to us in time, but this second letter, that we call first, was motivated in part, by the concerns of a woman named Chloe and her household, who had written him. We’ll tell you why.

 August 14-20 The Apostle Paul begins in this week’s readings with a bulls-eye on the struggles we have in this mortal experience and then tells us how to free ourselves from this bondage.

August 7-13 The book of Romans has some scriptures that are so familiar to us like “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ”, and at the same time, we may sometimes find it hard to understand what Paul is saying beyond those scriptures we know well.  Let’s dive in and see if we can unwind some of the mystery.

July 31-August 6 In this week’s lesson we find the prophecy of Saul bearing witness of the Lord before Kings already being fulfilled. Paul’s testimony would reverberate throughout the world.

July 24-30 Why does Joseph Smith directly compare himself to Paul? What did he see in Paul’s experience that made him feel that the two held so much in common?

July 17-23 Preaching the gospel had been restricted during Christ ministry, with few exceptions, to the House and children of Israel.  In a series of days on the beautiful coast of the Mediterranean Sea—all that would change.  It reminds us of a very special day in June of 1978—a day never to be forgotten.

July 10-16 What is this surprise in the nature of Paul that he can go from “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of Christ” one day and be a submissive disciple of Christ the next? Of course he had this stupendous vision on the road to Damascus, but is there something more we can learn about the life of Paul, itself, that can give us clues to his energy and passion?