I heard it said that a man’s life without God is driven by power or pleasure. As a Christian, I find it to be true in me too. I claim to be a mature Christian who finds value in God and not the things of this world. However, I got married and had kids. I found if things were bad at the office, I was OK as had God. If things were bad at home, I was good as had …
In early morning I went running in my new neighborhood along a Yangzte river delta stream in our City in Wuxi, China. I noticed that not many people were out, but other runners were out. 80% were men running alone like me and 10% were couples out walking together and 10% were women running alone. Here I see again that by creation design women and men are so different. In the evenings in China women gather to do line dancing …
Following on from last week about Baptism, Baptism comes in two forms. One is water and one is the Holy Spirit. This week I promised to write on Faith, the Holy Spirit and Eternal Life. Last week I placed this quote from Acts 11. 15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with[a] water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if …
Baptism is a common word in the Christian world. It comes from the New Testament into our language. Let’s look more completely at what is Baptism according to the Bible. Jesus’ public ministry begins with his baptism. The Gospel of Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism and ends with the empty tomb. Somehow baptism has a big place. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: …
I have started a mittful of Bible studies in the US and China and a handful of house churches and Bible studies in China. With the shrinking church in the US, it is time for a new model. Is it time to start a house church? In the book of Acts, there were no seminary led churches in each city. House churches were a standard model. The Apostle John refers to us as a kingdom of priests, and the Apostle …
What is fair? Fairness or one love one another? My family is starting to send kids to college in quick succession. As such, we are liquidating the rental house we own to help pay for it. I am thrilled by how it has gained in value even while we sometimes could rent it out these 8 years. But here is the hitch. I like things to be stable and not change. Um, my 2 younger children and wife like change …
Life is no picnic. Not only are there sinners all around us, but we have devious sin within us. The result is, when things go wrong, that we often feel life is too hard. After, we realize a lot. When Things God Wrong, God is With Us Let’s look at Proverbs 3:11 which My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines God loves us enough to turn the screw tighter and tighter on us. …
My teenage kids remarked to me that they got scarred by Genesis as children. Genesis is not G Rated and neither is the rest of the Bible. Spreading the Good News in China, I also had this experience of people getting hurt and driven away by Genesis. Lot and his daughters is the biggest problem. However, those of us who have looked closely at the text know the Bible has even more non G issues. It is not just that …
Creation- What has God said in Genesis 1 and 2? Did He give two stories of Creation? This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. We should listen whatever is said after that. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the …
Luke-Acts vs Paul’s epistles is an interesting historical debate helping us think about how pagans think. First, historians generally trash Luke and Acts while they praise 7 letters of Paul. Let me note as I have before what historians like. The Undisputed Epistles of Paul Romans. First Corinthians. Second Corinthians. Galatians. Philippians. First Thessalonians. Philemon. Historians like the 7 letters of Paul a lot. From them, they see that the disciples truly deeply believe that Jesus rose from the dead. …
