Brandon Holyoak

#Family 🏡 | #Country 🇺🇸 | #LatterDaySaint 🏔️| #GoCougs 🤙🏼 | #TakeNote | #Smoker 🥩 | #TusksUp | #MAGA 🦅

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Christmas & Easter tie together unlike any other holidays because both observe and are underscored by the life and mission of Jesus Christ and His redeeming Atonement. From a humble manger, to a cruel cross, to finally an empty tomb, I testify that He Lives! Happy Easter!

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Why Jesus? Why Christmas? Why celebrate this seemingly obscure man who didn’t live but 30 some odd years? In fact, how did humanity come to fixate its collective consciousness around this man’s life, setting our watches and calendars to his birth, and for 2 millennia see his message spread the world over?

Christianity is not the only religion on Earth, hardly the oldest, even some faith systems have arisen and withered before Jesus was born. Christians themselves have long held to their own sub traditions and denominations under the overall umbrella of Christianity, yet the name of this meager carpenter from the Middle East and his message still pierces the hearts of more than a billion people the world over. What is so special about Him anyway?

Christianity differs from other religious traditions because of the answer it provides to the question, “Why?” While other faiths around the world pose similar theological beliefs based around self mastery, morality, sacrifice, and gratitude, no other belief system comes close to the supposedly counter intuitive notion of mercy and forgiveness balanced with justice.

Whereas deity had heretofore been vengeful, dispassionate, and distant albeit omnipotent, this Jesus figure challenged the religious status quo of the day, striking a chord with his own Judaic lineage and organizing a faith movement that ultimately cost him is mortal life. He did not brandish an army, he did not seek audience with the powerful or the political, rather he dined with tax collectors, fisherman, debated religious scholars, bade the lame, blind, and dumb to follow Him.

But again, why was this sprouting well of faith in the Middle Eastern desert different?

A commonly known scripture from the New Testament illustrates this answer.

“For God so loved the world⁠, that he gave his only begotten Son⁠, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life⁠.

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17, KJV)

This set a new precedent apart from other faith traditions: a God previously believed to be distant, “loved” the world?

The original Greek word recorded in John 3:16 is “ἠγάπησεν” which in English, describes the kind of selfless, unconditional love we recognize in parental affection today: parents love their Children not because of what the child offers, but because of what the parent has given.

God was not dispassionate, cold, or ethereal: Jesus taught that God was in fact our Father, a selfless unconditional loving paternal figure, whom had sent his own son to champion a new paradigm, that mankind ought to love one another selflessly, unconditionally, even if it at times meant “turning the other cheek” or was not to one’s gain or benefit.

It is that unconditional love for our fellow man that set the foundation for Christianity. Despite differing traditions and practices throughout Christendom, this universal belief that God loves us unconditionally from the outset of existence continues to confound even the hardest of hearts today. God’s design for the world was/is NOT to condemn, but rather to save. To heal. I believe we are all God’s children, shortsighted and imperfect, be we are His.

So why Jesus? Why Christmas? Because as we emulate Him and live His teachings, we come to value unconditional selflessness, mercy, forgiveness, charity, and a love deeper than anything we’ve ever known.

Whereas the shortsighted world may long only for cold hard justice, Jesus Christ, the Messiah walked an objectively unfair path none of us could walk, and chose instead to give His life for all of God’s children. I love Him, and His Gospel.

Joy to the world, and Merry Christmas!

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

We have the best jet pilots in the world, by a country mile. Reading about so many people clutching their safety pearls over stunt plane trained pilots buzzing a beach today. Pure 1st world level nonsense.

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@iiTzz_Tyrell “Hello, Pot. This is Kettle, you’re black.”

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@FiredUpCoug Big 12 is a great league fit and culture wise, but if the Big 10 comes calling there’s no way Santiago says no, and I honestly wouldn’t blame him.

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Oh this looks goooooood.

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

The first trailer for ‘I PLAY ROCKY’ has been released.

The film follows a young Sylvester Stallone & the dramatic journey it took to get ‘ROCKY’ made.

In theaters on November 20.

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@rYsentrout Ha! Didn’t ask.

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Last hot take on DST for now…

Sunsets are good for reflecting in the evening. More people home from work to do that with their family is a good thing.

Also, more people need to see the sunrise, especially kids. It’s inspiring to see the sun come up in the morning, too.

People’s sleep schedules will adapt easier with one set time, and adapt gradually over the course of the year to changes from solstice to equinox. We’ve proven that 2x a year for a century we can interrupt people’s, so once and for all moving forward seems doable.

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@todayyearsold I’m driving to work at 6:30 AM in December. Big whoop.

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Then work schedules can finally be forced to adapt to rough winter conditions. It’s 2026. If there’s a nasty storm, then organizations can call for a hybrid work from home approach. Emergency personnel who can’t WFH will only see less traffic on the roads, and snow plows (who don’t wait for sunrise anyway) will have easier access to clear and salt

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@JonMarshallNV @NoblestCalling @ToddLlewellyn “Early to bed, ***EARLY TO RISE***” comes to mind

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Watch. The next thing we’re going to see are people identifying with their time preferences.

“Hi, I’m Ashley, and I identify with Standard Time. #Nightforlife lol!✌️”

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Love me a good old Family History Flex. Nice @nickshirleyy! But hey looks like you’ve got a little work to fill out, my guy

[Nick shirley @nickshirleyy]

@CattardSlim This is completely false. Here is my family tree for proof. @CommunityNotes

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

I think this is a reasonable and feasible downstream change from updating everyone to Daylight Savings Time. Kids need their sleep anyway.

[Tony Jones @Tjonesonthenba]

If we do this, then we need to push school start time back to 9 am…..otherwise we are going to have children commuting in pitch darkness

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Check on your Vegan friends… in a few days they might be okay

[NBC 7 San Diego @nbcsandiego]

A San Diego infectious disease doctor says it’s probably best to stay away from fresh produce for the next week or so, even if you wash it. A fecal parasite illness, known as cyclosporiasis, has now reached California. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes has details. https://t.co/beYdXip2Ds

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@gwowls Swig and McNuggets?

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@naturalaristo Do you worship the building and it’s architecture? Or do you worship the God and Savior it points us to? The covenants and work we perform in this or any temple matter infinitely more than what the structure looks like. And even then, it’s going to be beautiful.

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@grok @grok going by decade, what is the average age of elected congressional representatives in the United States Congress, starting in 1926 through 2026?

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@grok what -if any- policies are in place that require elected officials to pass medical exams in order to be deemed fit to serve?

[Fox News @FoxNews]

Lindsey Graham's final phone call is being revealed, as he dialed one senator's staffer in desperate need of help.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville is sharing new details about Sen. Lindsey Graham's final moments, revealing Graham called his scheduler after returning from an overseas trip and said, "Listen, I'm having chest pains. I need to do something."

When asked, "Did you call 911?" Graham replied, "No, that's the reason I called you." Tuberville said the scheduler immediately called 911, and "by the time she got there, 911 had knocked the door down, and they were working on him."

Tuberville said, "Lindsey basically worked himself to death," noting Graham rarely took time off and was always traveling to "work out something for our country."

Axios also reported Graham delayed seeking medical attention before his scheduled appearance on Meet the Press, saying, "I can't die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization."

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

@grok @grok review the number of elected officials in the United States Congress whom have passed away due to medical or health issues (ignore voluntary resignations and assassinations). Over time, has the frequency of officials dying while in office increased?

[Brandon Holyoak @holyoakb]

Yep. Nobody else move to Utah.

[Leading Report @LeadingReport]

10 worst states to live in for 2026, per CNBC:

1. Tennessee
2. Texas
3. Indiana
4. Louisiana
5. Georgia
6. Utah
7. Missouri
8. Alabama
9. Oklahoma
10.Arkansas