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. …
In China where I live, if you are a child of a top political leader, you have the world at your feet. Some might wish that they were some official’s son or daughter. The Bible says those who believe become children of the King of the Heavens and Earth. That is a lot bigger than earthly political power. That is why the Bible says we can be joyful always. God is in charge and says we need not worry. Why …
I have often noted that Jesus said we are to be children all our lives. He, further, emphasizes that we need to be like little children. The result is that the gap between what we are today and what the Bible says can be daunting. We also have gaps in terms of meeting people’s needs around us. Are we good enough? It can all be too much for us, and we give up or shrink inside ourselves. How does God …
Jesus says he hates divorce and says we men need to love our wives, and wives need to respect their husbands. No sex before marriage is also clear and so wise. Let’s think how we can do better from that base by looking at Christian marriage and newlyweds. Translating for a marriage counselor, Chinese-English-Chinese, a wise American Christian older woman said to the young Chinese woman. “Do not give too much of yourself at the start of the marriage. Hold …
We are made in the image of God according to Gen 1:27: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. We do well to remember that. Let me give an example or two to help us think. In the world, the people of the snowy north are much better off than southerners. Why? An Example To Illustrate The Philippines and Japan are both island nations in the West Pacific. In …
