Jeremiah’s Symbolic Acts Many important judgments are recorded in unforgettable imagery throughout the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah gave several prophecies that were accompanied by symbolic acts or allegories. The symbolic act, a staging of a prophetic message, is an interesting phenomenon associated with prophets, as, for example, the prophet Zedekiah’sContinue Reading

Have you ever been betrayed by close friends?  Has anyone ever spread lies about you and hurt your reputation?  If you answer yes, then you have a friend in the prophet Jeremiah. “The days of Jeremiah were among the most difficult and momentous in all Jewish history.  How stirring theContinue Reading

There is an increasing sentiment among some seminary students that the world is overpopulated, running out of resources and that the future looks bleak.  Many students have expressed to me thoughts such as, “What’s the use?  The world is going to end anyways.  Why get married and have children?  WillContinue Reading

In our classroom we have a “question box”.  I have found this to be a useful tool in the classroom.  When a student has a question that would take us far off topic, yet is still relevant to their lives, a teacher has a couple of options.  The teacher canContinue Reading

In Isaiah 5, Isaiah combines parable, warning, and promise together with poetry and irony in an effort to portray the Lord’s work with the children of Israel.  This chapter contains the themes reflected in the first four chapters of Isaiah and serves as a transition between chapters 1-4 and theContinue Reading

Isaiah 6 retells the experience Isaiah had when he saw the Lord in the temple.  The Lord called Isaiah to be a prophet, to go for him and teach the people, to bring them to understanding that they may be healed (Isaiah 6:10).Continue Reading

The demands of justice The atonement of Jesus Christ: his suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection made it possible for all mankind to be resurrected and forgiven of their sins.  Occasionally I am asked why Jesus had to die.  A student recently asked why Jesus could not just forgiveContinue Reading

Imagine that you live in Metropolis, and that you are on a first name basis with Superman.  You live on the 33rd floor of a high rise.  One night you wake up and to your horror you realize that your building is on fire.  You open the window and areContinue Reading

Recently several students have asked about suicide.  The questions are mostly asking how the Lord will judge those who take their own lives.  This and questions relating to how the Lord will judge us are common among the youth.  When Joseph Smith was 17 years old, he approached the LordContinue Reading

The book of Esther deals with many issues that apply in the lives of young people.  Young people today are constantly facing times when they need to stand for something.  Like Esther, they deal with being a covenant person in a very Persian world.  Sometimes they are facing situations likeContinue Reading