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How to Teach a 25-Minute Sunday School Lesson

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Successful short Sunday classes need to be focused, engaging, and spirit-led.  I went through all the stages of church-policy-change grief and acceptance in about 10 minutes after I heard we were moving to 25 minute second-hour classes. I LOVE SUNDAY SCHOOL. I’m a corporate trainer and presentation skills coach by day who has been clawing his way through a faith journey (Deconstruction? Crisis? Obsessive deep-dive?) by night. I’m also an early morning seminary teacher. And there is nothing more thrilling to me than being called on a Sunday Morning by a desperate Sunday School president in need of a sub. And I love attending Sunday School.  If you teach Sunday school and you take nothing else from this post, let it be this: You are important. No matter how ill-prepared you feel or how underwhelming you deem your own performance, those who are prepared will be taught what they need to learn . Your calling is simply too important for God to let it be otherwise. Just try and y...
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Does the Book of Mormon Contradict the Bible?

  My Facebook algorithm has exploited my insatiable interest in religious discourse to serve me an endless barrage of anti-Mormon posts and Mormon apologetic responses to them. I usually know better than to respond directly, but a recent post about a Christian’s experience with the Book of Mormon (He found it contradictory to the Bible and too full of KJV English and anachronisms to take seriously) made me want to present my own story as a case for viewing scripture differently than is commonly represented by both sides.  I was born and raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I drank all the Kool-Aid. I heard all the objections and had answers for them all and, most importantly, didn’t think proof was nearly as valuable to me as the spiritual witness through which I felt very close to my Heavenly Father.  But then about 4 years ago, things changed. I felt like I fell off a spiritual cliff, like when I prayed, there was no one on the other end of the...
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Tips for Studying the Old Testament in 2026

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I was reminded in Sunday School today that not everyone is as enthusiastic about studying the Old Testament as I am. And I acknowledge there are some major difficulties to wrestle with (until daybreak), but I really think you should wrestle, and go all-in on the Old Testament, and I think with a few tools, you’ll have more success with it than ever before. Here are my top tips for better understanding and enjoying the scriptures this year:  First, know your why. Here’s mine: the primary way God has chosen to be in relationship with humanity is through a covenant made with a single family*: The family of Israel. That covenant  is foreshadowed, given, challenged, and explored at length throughout the Old Testament. As a Christian, I believe the covenant was fulfilled (not superceded or replaced) by Jesus Christ, and it continues to be fulfilled today as the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is restored through the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil in the l...
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Do I Sustain Dallin H. Oaks?

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  Do I sustain President Dallin H. Oaks as the prophet, seer, and revelator and as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? On my mission, I taught a man named Uju. He was baptized in Africa many years before we met and reconnected with the church after meeting my companion and I on a dusty downtown Omaha street.  Uju wasn’t one to stay on topic. When we taught him, any number of things could push his attention to something tangential, and usually a bit more mystical than our western sensibilities were prepared for. We didn’t usually know how to respond to his vivid descriptions of sacred dreams, metaphysical theories, and half-christian theological ideas.  Once we were sitting at his kitchen table and he prophesied. “Elder Chandler,” he said, straightening in his chair and widening his eyes. His voice got deep and serious. “One day, you will become the president of these United States.”  Finding this unlikely, and yet aligning with so...
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Which Story is True?

  The first story goes like this:  From the beginning, God has revealed the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to his servants, the prophets. Prophets taught and administered the gospel successfully for periods of time called dispensations. Almost every dispensation has ended in apostasy–a popular rejection and silencing of prophets and a great falling away from truth. When the people are prepared, God has again called a prophet, restored gospel truth, and ushered in a new dispensation. In the latter days, God has revealed his gospel one final time before the second coming of Jesus Christ. The gospel as we have it now is the same gospel that was revealed to and understood by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Hosea, Jesus, John, Nephi, Alma, Moroni, etc., and it is only misunderstood because of the effects of apostasy which take away plain and precious truth, now being fully restored in the fullness of times.  The second story goes like this:  From the beginning, huma...
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