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 …
Connect with and not criticize children is a simple phrase but how should we understand and see it under God? My parents were deeply hurt people and did an amazing thing. They raised me and did not criticize me at all. Amazing for two hurt people. Yet, at age 12, I felt that I lived in darkness. Yes, they had nothing to deeply connect with me. Thus, though accepted and never criticized, I was lost. It led me to God …
God’s intent is to give us life abundantly. Let’s not live half a life, Let me tell my personal story as an example. I grew up in a good one-half life. My parents had rejected emotion due to their hurt. Their success is that they created a safe place for those who could live in that rational positive space. I was one who could. So, we had only half a world, but I did not know it as grew up …
We know everyone is made in the Image of God. How does that look practically? I strongly believe that being made in the image of God is something extraordinary. It also means every child is a genius. How does that pan out in raising kids God’s way? I cannot say all that is in my heart on this here, but want to tell a story that illustrates so much to me. I do not want to say we have the …
When I am sick, I seek a doctor. When I am sick at heart, I seek psychological help. When I doubt God, I seek mature Christian brothers. I gave thanks to God for each of these experts. Yet we sometimes feel that it is better for a Christian to help me in each case. Did God mandate that? Did God prohibit getting pagan help? How did psychology help my faith? Lots of ways. Let’s look at one. How to Understand …
Fatherlessness and weak fatherhood is one of the biggest problems on this earth, and it is so common. We all have a deep need for fatherhood, but it is not easy for Fathers to be all they can be. God showed up and described himself as a father, and then went to work providing everything we need, giving us challenges to help us grow, and being the God of all comfort. Wow, let’s do this for our kids. If men …
What do you think if someone tells you they are Christian, but “I don’t go to church very often.” This happened to me May 11, 2005 which proved to be life changing and it happened again just now. This makes me think. When that guy said that, I was leading a Christian non-profit in China. He was interviewing to get a job for our non-profit. I asked him why he did not go to church, and he said, “People at …
Fear of death for faithful Christians is quite understandable and thoughts here about parachuting can help us see just how understandable. “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark.” —- Francis Bacon (1561-1626 Christian Scientist) Death is guaranteed unless Jesus comes back before we die. I guess that Jesus will come back in about 10,000 years, so back to the death question. Death is a part of life, so we do best to get used to it. …
