Fear is an enemy for all of us whether we know it or not. We all are like Gandolf in this great painting. God’s goal in Christ is to free us from fear, but it is hard for us to get there. First, let’s look at God and see what he says in two passages in 1 John. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an …
Jesus instituted Communion on the night before he died. He is talking about the main thing as His death is the fulcrum point of all history. Let us here list what he said beginning with Mark, 22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they …
Really? Desire More is the path to life? Doesn’t desire cause our problems? So, I grew up in a family where my parents saw emotion and desire as the enemy. This led me to have a favorite color of gray and really a gray life. I first discovered that God wanted me to feel when I was 25. However, that does not mean I could clear away all the wrong attitudes and habits I had. I married a woman who …
I have a daughter who is a student at Swarthmore College which the Quakers founded. Quakers founded many excellent US schools by the way. Finally, the Quakers gave up these colleges, but culturally they are all still influenced by this origin. They pay attention to mind the light. For example, they regularly send us parents an email/letter. They call it: Minding the Light. Now Swarthmore is not Christian and uses this to encourage positive thinking and good thoughts. However, where …
I lead a recruiting company. Many of our customers are looking for candidates who use servant leadership or something in that form if not that name. So, what is servant leadership, and where did this idea come from? Well, Jesus started it, and no one can stop it as He still speaks. The disciples were arguing over wh0 would be the greatest, and they drew an idea out of him that they put in the gospels. 25 Jesus called them together …
I heard it said that a man’s life without God is driven by power or pleasure. As a Christian, I find it to be true in me too. I claim to be a mature Christian who finds value in God and not the things of this world. However, I got married and had kids. I found if things were bad at the office, I was OK as had God. If things were bad at home, I was good as had …
In early morning I went running in my new neighborhood along a Yangzte river delta stream in our City in Wuxi, China. I noticed that not many people were out, but other runners were out. 80% were men running alone like me and 10% were couples out walking together and 10% were women running alone. Here I see again that by creation design women and men are so different. In the evenings in China women gather to do line dancing …
Following on from last week about Baptism, Baptism comes in two forms. One is water and one is the Holy Spirit. This week I promised to write on Faith, the Holy Spirit and Eternal Life. Last week I placed this quote from Acts 11. 15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with[a] water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if …
Baptism is a common word in the Christian world. It comes from the New Testament into our language. Let’s look more completely at what is Baptism according to the Bible. Jesus’ public ministry begins with his baptism. The Gospel of Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism and ends with the empty tomb. Somehow baptism has a big place. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: …
I have started a mittful of Bible studies in the US and China and a handful of house churches and Bible studies in China. With the shrinking church in the US, it is time for a new model. Is it time to start a house church? In the book of Acts, there were no seminary led churches in each city. House churches were a standard model. The Apostle John refers to us as a kingdom of priests, and the Apostle …
