Awhile back, I wrote about the message that my church pastor preached on that struck a chord with me. It was a message he preached from the first six verses of the gospel of Matthew.

What I found especially remarkable was that in the designs of God, He included four women with rather questionable pasts in the lineage of the Messiah’s ancestry. What is remarkable is that in the customs of the day, ancestral records do not typically include females, let alone broken, messy ones.

Yet, in a Gospel that purportedly was supposed to set the record for Israel that Jesus is the Promised Messiah, what do we find but the evidence that the Messiah’s ancestry included four women who had less than perfect histories? If we were to include Mary as well, that would make five women ancestors with messy life-stories.

This demonstrates the heart of God: He sent His Son into the world, as the Apostle Paul declares, to save sinners. Read the rest of this entry »

eBay is now an entrenched part of our culture. We shake our heads at the exorbitant prices that some people are willing to pay for some products that are sold through that medium. For instance, recently, the craze of the PS3 limited release with prices reaching almost ten times the original retail prices for the units is well publicized.

Although it is convenience for shoppers as well as sellers, and there are many who are making comfortable living out of eBay retailing, I wonder if the ethical ramifications is worrying anyone. A while back, I was wondering if the eBay philosophy of the marketplace promoted sound ethical practices among (especially) the young and impressionable.

Recently, promoters of a widely popular Australian concert event Big Day Out tried to curtail ticket scalping by adding a condition of sale to their tickets to prevent on-selling of tickets for profit.

However, the legal beagles of eBay Read the rest of this entry »

Is forgiveness linked to religiosity? Apparently, scholars and researchers seem to think so. As this article highlighted, those who are religious find it particularly easier to forgive others who have wronged them.

As the article pointed out, recent events such as the deadly October 2006 Esperanza Fire (for the Wikipedia entry, see here), etc.) and the Amish school shooting earlier in the same month highlighted horrendous perpetrations that defies both our capacity to imagine and to forgive. Read the rest of this entry »

Now, that’s a novel idea! As Rosa Brooks points out in this op-ed piece in the LA Times, the Department of Homeland Security’s office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has designed a new citizenship test that aims to ensure that aspiring immigrants have at least minimal knowledge of American civics, history and political system.

As one of those who are “standing in line” to take the test one day, I am painfully aware of my need to cram for this test. This reminds me of my experience of getting a driver’s license. I came here with a good driving record and a valid driving license from an English speaking developed country, and already was legally able to drive in this country. Read the rest of this entry »