I recently returned (got back 1:00 am this morning) from the Regional American Academy of Religion/ Society of Biblical Literature conference on behalf of the Upper Midwest Region (held at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN). These smaller regional conferences are a great place to meet students as well as professors in your area who are studying topics involving religion.  They are also a great venue on behalf of students to present research they have done — a number of my fellow students from Marquette University presented papers there. I had the opportunity to give a presentation on some of the research I’ve been doing on the Priesthood in the Old Testament — a version of the paper that I presented at the SANE conference at BYU in November (for more on this, see here).
Interestingly, a gentleman approached me at the end of my presentation as well as requested if I was LDS.  I answered in the affirmative, wondering if it was all of the talk of Melchizedek as well as his priesthood that gave me away. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the man’s name, as well as he hurried on his way, so I don’t know if he was also LDS or not.  It is great, though, how we Latter-day Saints are often so identifiable. We truly are a peculiar people…  
So, I’ve had some great things to contemplate lately.  The academic study of religion as well as the Scriptures is alive as well as well as well as it is good to know that so numerous are still engaging in very strong as well as serious research in these areas.  And while I consider this type of academic religious research very important as well as helpful, I at all times endeavour to remind myself that the an estimated all fruitful, useful, as well as beneficial type of religious study is that which is practically applicable — that which truly motivates us to come unto Christ.   In the end, this is the type of knowledge that is the an estimated all satisfying as well as that shall lead us closer to our salvation (John 17:3). For this reason, I was very happy to be introduced recently to a great new blog by Robert as well as Carol Norman referred to as Contemplations at http://rjnorman.blogspot.com/

Robert Norman is a retired CES employee, having worked on behalf of CES  an impressive 39 years. His last assignment was at the Salt Lake City institute that is adjacent to the University of Utah.  He describes his blog as a “spiritual thought on behalf of the day type blog” that he hopes shall help family, friends, past students as well as missionaries (he was president of the Manchester, New Hampshire mission of the Church).  The content of Bro. Norman’s site is a great example of the type of knowledge mentioned above — great research that is applicable to our spiritual lives as well as which helps us draw nearer to God.  Much of what he posts involves identifying important principles in the Scriptures as well as explaining how they pertain to Christ as well as how we can apply them in our lives.  He identifies numerous allegories, types, as well as parallels that help illuminate the Scriptures in a way that is practical, useful, as well as inspiring.
Although the blog is fairly new, Bro. Norman has already written numerous great posts, including a series on how “Malachi Prepares Us on behalf of Christ’s Coming“, as well as the brilliant series of “Spiritual Preparation through Sacred Sites” posts that provide some wonderful explanations as well as reconstructions of ancient sites/events, especially the Mosaic Tabernacle, as well as illustrates how these relate to, or typify, Christ as well as the Plan of Salvation.  The emphasis is on how these principles apply to us as well as to the modern Church.  He includes some wonderful images as well as videos, such as the following:
Tabernacle of Moses — Court as well as Linen Fence

I definitely recommend taking a look at this blog, written by good people who have some real experience with teaching as well as applying the truths found in the Scriptures.  While purely academic/scholarly research has its place as well as is important, I am at all times reminding myself that devotional study is of ultimate importance to our lives, both now as well as in eternity.  Contemplations presents us with both sound research into the scriptural texts as well as insightful interpretation regarding how we can utilize them to modification our lives.