Ride for the Brand

To start off, I know this isn't a well-written article, none of these are, but thank you for giving me a small audience to speak to and for your patience in my ramblings.     Well, after taking a short sabbatical, I figured it was time to get back on.  Hopefully everyone had a good Christmas and New Year.  I know we did.      I've been thinking about some things and one of the things that always enters my mind is common decency.  Nowadays that seems to be an oxymoron because decency seems to be anything but common.  As recent as 20-30 years ago society had a code.  That code said that if something was defamatory, degrading, or just plain rude then you avoided those topics.  If something was private, it was private.  With the advent of social media there's been an influx of, in my opinion, could be called moral degradation.      Back then when someone had an embarrassing moment, it was limited to the people that witnessed it and the few people they blabbed it to.  While s

I'll try to make this one short so you don't have to get bored of reading my rants.  I've been thinking lately about the world and about things people say.  One of the subjects that gives me great concern but also great amusement is all the hatred the LDS church gets.  It's sad to see some people be so vehemently opposed to an organization that does so much good, yet comical to hear people's reasons.  I've yet to hear one good reason for someone leaving the church.  Sure there are people who have issues with Bishops, Stake Presidents, someone said or did something and made you mad.  But those are people.  Nobody has been able to tell me how the church has hurt them. "Well, they tore my family apart!"  Did the LDS church really tear your family apart or was it the individual choices you were all making?  "Well, I just don't agree with the doctrine."  What don't you agree with?  That Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world?  The

     Hello all.  Since it's been a month since my last rant, I figured I was due.  Things have been going well in our household.  A new baby has changed things.  Kind of different when it's been four years since you had a newborn.  It was a decision we made a while ago to have another one, but not one that we took lightly.  We weighed the pros and cons, talked finances, and ultimately prayed about it.  So now we're a family of 5, and we love it.      As for my rant, there's something that's always been frustrating and annoying to me and that is the idea of Christianity as it's seen from a world view.  Now, let me start off by saying that I am 100% Christian.  I believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  There are many things that have helped me come to this conclusion, but that's for another time.  You might be asking, "Well, that's nothing special.  There are millions of Christians in the world, are you annoyed at yourself?"  My a

     I just wanted to jot down a few thoughts I've been having.  With all the cool things happening with medicine, Mars, space, and other scientific breakthroughs there's one thing that always amuses me:  people assume that science and religion can't exist together.      As a member of the LDS church I have been taught and believe that we are not the only living things in the universe.  Scientifically speaking it can't be possible, either.  With the billions of stars and planets, especially all those in the "hospitable zone", there is no chance we are the only life.  It's ridiculous to think that.      Another issue I have is that people think things are random.  Why couldn't a being that is supreme use science to create or put things together?  Why can't God use science?  The laws of the universe are His laws.  He is a God of science.  He doesn't do magic, he uses the principles of chemistry, physics, geology, and others to make things possi

Well, this one is just going to be some fun.  No rants, no soap box.  We came in 5th at the State Fair Dutch Oven Cook Off.  It was fun.  Hope you enjoy these as much as I do/did. http://hereistoday.com/ http://htwins.net/scale2/ http://www.artofmanliness.com http://www.stevespanglerscience.com http://soundsjustlike.com/ http://www.vat19.com http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3A2mPYq670CY3FLB9qOwLQ http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHCph-_jLba_9atyCZJPLQQ http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRijo3ddMTht_IHyNSNXpNQ If you find any others that are appropriate you'd like to add, just put the link int he comments.  Enjoy! BJ

     Well, here it is another week.  Liz is ready to be done with this pregnancy.  Brinley is loving school.  Wyatt is Wyatt and is always fun and curious.      This post is going to be a little more on the serious side again.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about life and the things that happen.  With so much going on in the world that seems horrible how can there be any hope?  How can we have anything to look forward to?  The answer that I've found that seems to fit the best and help the most is pretty simple on the face but extremely complex underneath.  There is one thing that encompasses all.  The cool thing about it is that it applies to everyone whether they want to accept it or not.  Whether they believe in it or not.  That's the cool thing.  The sad thing is that there are those that haven't ever had the chance to learn about it.  The most disappointing and frustrating thing is there are people who have had the chance and still refuse to accept or believe i