From my earliest childhood, I have been interested in the world, and for my 8th birthday, I wanted just one thing, a globe. I memorized that globe. Later, I moved to China. I was enthralled to see that God’s hear agreed with mine. God loves the nations. Why, because he made each one. These famous quotes drives us on. Matthew 28:18-20 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go …
I live as an alien in China and have for 30 years. So, I have some thoughts on foreigners and how God calls us to see and treat them. The Bible has some specific words on this. It appears God’s message is care for the alien. See here: And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. and here: 28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and …
Loving God with all we have can be a mystery. How do you love God with you soul? What about life in the Spirit? I have some thought here, but would gladly accept more. Jesus said we should 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] Are you loving God with all your Soul? The Apostle Paul notes that we either live in the …
In China, I hold a green card. However, I also have a spiritual passport that says Heaven. Jesus says I was reborn and began a new life. A new life already began when I believed. I Peter notes that new in our belief, we are babies who need good spiritual milk. Hebrews talks about new babies who are not thriving. It is a hard to leave our old life or even family, cultural or national culture, but Jesus died that …
The New York Times has an article up that men centrally need a sense of purpose. Women do to, but men need more. Does God have a purpose for each man? Sure. When we reach out to men, we need to connect them with God’s purpose for their lives. Let me share my story. When I was 10 or 11 in my no faith family, I had a vision of life before me. It was a blackness that I could …
It, Consistent readers of the Main Thing know that I have some tendencies in the Autistic realm and grew up in a house determined to repress all feelings. Therefore, I especially had something to learn about loving God with my heart. I will convey that story below the Bible passages. It might help some readers to consider deeper what Jesus said. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind …
What is holiness? I may be chewing more than I can manage with such a huge question. I sang about holiness, read that God is holy, and did not really know holiness till I was doubting and rebelling against God in my depression at age 27. I could hardly read the Bible as my doubts grew. One day in my darkness, I happened upon the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw …
God says to Adam “for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Are we only Dust in the Wind as the song says? Look what Ecclesiastes says to us and our pursuits for meaning in this life. all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Is that the story? When I first came to China. I taught English to the atheist college students. I played this song, Dust in the Wind for them as they loved …
My puzzle today is are we healed or forgiven? One guy who is an apologist against faith who gave up faith said he was hurting and in church he got healed and so was a Christian. Later, when he got healthy, he left the faith and opposed its teaching. Ugh. First, let me say that faith is precious. May we guard our hearts with truth. Now, to generalize from this great debate in youtube may not be fair, but I …
To the third and fourth generation is a repeated mantra in the old testament ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ Last night my teenage son and I were talking. We noted that our decisions to love are deeply important and have results far beyond what we see in any given day. So let’s talk about the ramifications of …
