The world we dwell in is sublime. It is beautiful. As C.S. Lewis wrote there is a "deep magic" to the works of God, manifested through the material landscape. Even in its fallenness, the creation acts as a conduit through which He calls forth both joy and longing in the human heart. This is a truth too often unknown or ignored by 21st century conservative Christians. Some ...

the following was taken from Shea's blog sheaoakley.com ------------- It can be difficult to understand why a loving God sometimes allows long seasons of suffering in the lives of His children. When we are in the midst of such a time of trial, we may not understand why He does not immediately intervene to remove our pain. At these times, it is important to remember that...

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I went out to eat on a date. On a whim, we decided to go see a movie as well. Just like that. No preparation, we just decided and went. The lack of preparation had absolutely no bearing on how much we enjoyed the movie. After all, we just wanted to be entertained. Unfortunately, we can often approach the Sunday meeting in a similar way....