Meridian Magazine--Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast

January 19-25
Creation, fall, redemption. These are the three pillars of eternity, the story that was Adam and Eve’s and ours too. It is one grand picture. We think of a book like the Old Testament as being dusty and very far away from us, but in reality it is our first story. It is our story. We think of the war in heaven that first set Satan on his path to put men and women in bondage and chains as something that was handled and finished eons ago, but in reality, that war in heaven was just the first skirmish of a war that is raging ever hotter by the year.

January 12-18
Today are we going back to the beginning, to cosmic explosions and brilliant flashes of light and creation that is primordial, at the very core of our existence. We have four accounts of it, in Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and in the temple. Those who attend the temple have their minds drawn back to creation continually, and we might wonder as Latter-day Saints why we are shown the creation so often. We’ll talk about why it matters so much today.

January 5-11
Don’t all of us have a secret desire to be on the stage, dressed in amazing costumes, involved in a play with a Director, with our own starring roles, with a character-driven plot and lots of intrigue and excitement in our story? Imagine then that you ARE intimately involved in an award-winning three act play and you are already quite far into Act 2. But here’s the catch, you can only fully understand Act 2 if you have a knowledge of Act 1—and when you finished Act 1, the curtains were dropped and you can not only NOT look back on that part of the play, you can’t even remember it. Do we know anything about Act 1 at all? Yes, we do—quite a bit, actually. And that’s what we’re going to talk about in this episode.

Sometimes we feel overwhelmed as we start this particular year of studies in the Old Testament. Perhaps it is the sheer size of the book. Perhaps it is the archaic language and culture. Perhaps it seems to be so disconnected from us in time. But let us remember how the Old Testament permeates all the other scriptures.

December 22-28
Since I was a child, on Christmas Eve, I yearned to be in that very stable in Bethlehem and see the Christ-child lying in a manger.  I wanted to be close to that glowing presence and feel the heavenly love and hear the angel chorus. It was a yearning that was soul deep, undeniable, breath-taking and heart-felt, and it seemed that somewhere, some how that event was happening again on that magic night, if I could just go to Bethlehem, and defy time and find the right place. That was the magic of it all. I could talk to the baby, the Christ-child and He would look at me with knowing, smiling eyes and heart would be satisfied. It was more compelling to me than what Santa Claus would bring me or all the lights and festivities of Christmas. I am not alone in that yearning.