S. Kent Brown

Fascinating, Little-Known Facts About Mary and Joseph's Engagement

By S. Kent Brown

December 10, 2019 10:00 PM MST

It all started with the fathers. As with countless Jewish girls, Mary’s betrothal likely began when, by custom, Joseph’s father approached hers. Before Joseph’s father said more than a few words, Mary’s father likely knew what he wanted. To be brief, he wanted to discuss a possible engagement of his son with Mary. That topic would require a somewhat formal meeting.1 Whether Joseph’s father was the first parent to approach Mary’s father we cannot know. It is certainly possible that her father had been approached by other fathers of young men in Nazareth. Mary would surely have been visible to all the fathers in the small town. She may have been one of the few eligible young women that year in a settlement that sat apart, high above the surrounding plains at the top of steep hills that rose near one another and, falling precipitously toward each other, formed a bowl-like setting for Nazareth’s few inhabitants.

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Latter-day Saint Life

How Imprisonment, Persecution Helped Paul Move Christ's Message Forward

By S. Kent Brown

July 23, 2019 01:10 PM MDT

The setting was an institute class wherein some important dimensions about Acts 16–20 became clear to me. For example, it became apparent that in three instances the Lord had coated his believers with Teflon, so to speak. All instances involved the Apostle Paul in one way or another. Plainly, the Lord watches over his people and orders events for their good, whether they perceive it or not.

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Latter-day Saint Life

Fire and Speaking in Tongues: What We Can Learn About the Pentecost Festival in Acts

By S. Kent Brown

July 03, 2019 12:00 PM MDT

Acts 2 has frequently caught the attention of students of the New Testament, for it is here that the power of the Holy Ghost begins to show itself in the life of the nascent church. The apostles, whose number was newly completed with the addition of Matthias as the replacement for the fallen Judas (Acts 1:26), had gathered with other church members at the Jerusalem temple. They had probably assembled on the east side of the huge Court of the Gentiles under Solomon’s Porch, a favorite spot for church members to gather (Acts 3:11; 5:12). Precisely on “the day of Pentecost . . . they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). At this moment, the Lord chose to seize the attention of everyone who would pay attention: “suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.” This was not the whole event because, next we read, “there appeared unto them cloven tongues of fire, and it sat upon each of [the Twelve].” As a capstone, “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues” (Acts 2:2–4). In effect, the Lord had set the table.

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Latter-day Saint Life

A Deeper Look at Jesus’s Healing of the Woman with the Issue of Blood

By S. Kent Brown

June 19, 2019 09:00 AM MDT

We begin with the unnamed, unknown persons in this story—the crowd. If modern Middle Eastern towns are a gauge, the crowd that followed Jesus was likely made up of men and, perhaps, a few boys who had squeezed in among the adults. If women or girls were present, we expect that they did not join the throng. Instead, typically, they hung back. This observation alone underscores the bravery and determination of the woman, unnamed in the accounts, who pushed her way into the clump of male bodies and reached out for Jesus’s clothing to gain relief.

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Latter-day Saint Life

Details of Christ’s Suffering in Gethsemane to Help You Understand It in a New Light

By S. Kent Brown

June 12, 2019 11:43 AM MDT

We begin where almost everyone begins—with the name. As all know, the name means “olive press” and derives from Hebrew. The place lay on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, on the east side of the Kidron Valley, opposite the city of Jerusalem, which sat on the west side of that valley (Matthew 26:36; Mark 14:32; Luke 22:39). It likely had a wall around it for it was called “a garden” (John 18:1). The name “olive press” points to the place’s essential character, a parcel of ground that grew olive trees and therefore must have had a working press. Archaeology does not disappoint. Though we do not know the exact location of this garden, very near this area was a cave that shows evidence of having been used for olive oil extraction and for the storage of tools.1 Occasionally, the cave may also have served as a sleeping place for Jesus and His disciples (Luke 21:37; John 8:1).

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Latter-day Saint Life

How Jesus Honored His Family Despite Complicated Relationships

By S. Kent Brown

May 30, 2019 08:24 AM MDT

This is the third article in a three-part series on Jesus Christ's teachings about families found in the Gospels. Read part one, "How Christ’s Teachings Highlight the Ever-Present Emphasis on Families in the Gospels," and part two, "The Miracle of the Fishes + Other Ways Jesus Demonstrated His Focus on the Family." Honoring parents can shape the character of families and even how members interact with one another. In this short study, which continues the earlier two, we learn how Jesus and His disciples retained honorable ties to parents.

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Latter-day Saint Life

The Miracle of the Fishes + Other Ways Jesus Demonstrated His Focus on the Family

By S. Kent Brown

May 30, 2019 08:23 AM MDT

This is the second article in a three-part series on Jesus Christ's teachings about families found in the Gospels. Read part one, "How Christ’s Teachings Highlight the Ever-Present Emphasis on Families in the Gospels," and part three, "How Jesus Honored His Family Despite Complicated Relationships." In light of the Gospels' interest in families and their proper nurture, we turn to reports, partially told, of how Jesus intentionally impacted families in enduring ways.

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Latter-day Saint Life

How Christ’s Teachings Highlight the Ever-Present Emphasis on Families in the Gospels

By S. Kent Brown

May 30, 2019 08:22 AM MDT

This is the first article in a three-part series on Jesus Christ's teachings about families found in the Gospels. Read part two, "The Miracle of the Fishes + Other Ways Jesus Demonstrated His Focus on the Family," and part three, "How Jesus Honored His Family Despite Complicated Relationships."

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