Christmas is overwhelmingly seen, at least where I am, as a time to gather with your immediate and extended family. And while this is a worthy purpose for a holiday that almost everyone observes, it tends to obscure its greater, profound, and universal purpose: salvation for all who will, healing, mercy, love from God for … Continue reading Christmas is more than family
There’s a lady in our ward at church whose family moved here from the United States a few months ago, I think due to her husband’s work. For her, Christmas this year is feeling very strange, because she is used to it being in the middle of a snowy, cold winter, with evergreen trees and … Continue reading Christmas in summer
I recently watched an excellent Chinese TV fantasy drama called Love Between Fairy and Devil, or Cang Lan Jue (‘Separation of Cang and Orchid’). If you haven’t heard of it – it’s hugely popular in China and very popular overseas, airing back in August – it’s a truly beautiful, wonderfully-produced show with a great story, … Continue reading What are we here for?
In the progression of miraculous signs given to Pharaoh to persuade him to let the Israelites go, God left the most painful sign for the end; when the pharaoh had, finally, refused to respond to every earlier inducement. Pharaoh was given ample time and many testaments – many opportunities to accede to God’s demand. But … Continue reading The Passover and the death of Egypt’s firstborn
One of the reasons people reject religion is that it requires things of its adherents. Some of those requirements appear strenuous, especially when compared to contemporary popular cultures. They even seem strange, and to those immersed within those popular cultures, wrong and harmful. How you see the requirements of religious adherence depends on your worldview. … Continue reading Why does God make demands of us?
Peaceable Treasures 