God is holy, Can we be holy? How do we relate to holiness? Is seeking holiness our goal? Well, first lets see the Bible command. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”[a] And take a look at this: 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and …
Let’s focus on the meaning of be born again. Nicodemus as a member of the Sanhedrin came to visit Jesus at night. Do go take a look at the passage. He was a deeply knowledgable leader who knew the Bible well and was highly respected. I think he wanted to know about Jesus philosophy more and to polish up his religion with Jesus ‘new’ ideas. Jesus knew this and that adding some good ideas would not save Nicodemus or anyone. …
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 …
Last week, I noted that God being a God of order must not make Order God. Let’s expand on that thought and see where we may be simplifying following God and then making a god out of some principle. Do we put our foot down for God and fall outside Jesus teaching? Our relationship with God and with the people around us needs more art than rule bound thinking. Let us not simplify God and become cold people. Jesus called …
