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 …
The Triune God is surely our friend, relative, father, King, and warrior. God is not our grandfather, however. Let me frame that a little. God is the creator of all the emotions and drives we have. He is bigger and more than all we see. Therefore, he is more soft then the most touching mother and tougher and more demanding than the toughest father. He has everything we need. I am not saying we don’t need counselors. I am saying …
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 …
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 …
Did Jesus come to Earth to lose? Yes, but let me unpack that. When Jesus said he was going to die in Jerusalem, Peter jumped up and said No!. Why did Peter say no? Peter wanted to win. He wanted the other guy to die. Jesus said he was Satan for wanting to win. Jesus was committed to lose to gain the kingdom he wanted. Further, did Jesus die for the Jews? Did he die for the Pharisees? Did he …
The guy who wrote and sang Sold Out walked away from faith and said it did not happen all at once, but rather the sweater unraveled. In his job, he had to be pastoral and needed to write meaningful Christian songs. He was terrified of losing his faith, so stuffed down his doubts. The band backed off, and he did not need the band for income. He then looked at his lost faith and knew he did not believe. Jon …
Churches decline but not the Kingdom means we do not need to fret about God’s Kingdom. He has all this in hand. About 15 years ago, I read a book by the statistics giant, George Barna. The book’s name is Revolution. It says by 2050 most Christians will be in house Churches and not in traditional church buildings. This was not and is not news to God. God surely is in this and working. Let’s join him. Last week, I …
God made us each different. Isn’t it amazing? Unfortunately, it is irritating that people around or near us have such strange concerns, habits. and fears. Can both be true together? God and the Bible helped me see who I am and others are through 40 years of my life. Then a Christian boss who loved to share the gospel gave me a new challenge. I worked to create a better system, and a better more honest culture for his Christian …
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 …
Being the body of Christ is much harder than we guess at first look. Why can’t we just get along? The Apostle Paul gave us the basic course when he said we are a body with different parts, and the hand should not say it does not need the foot and such. Many times people are different, and we still have trouble with them. To this I recommend Please Understand Me II. It is published by a major atheist publishing …
