My teenage kids remarked to me that they got scarred by Genesis as children. Genesis is not G Rated and neither is the rest of the Bible. Spreading the Good News in China, I also had this experience of people getting hurt and driven away by Genesis. Lot and his daughters is the biggest problem. However, those of us who have looked closely at the text know the Bible has even more non G issues. It is not just that …
Creation- What has God said in Genesis 1 and 2? Did He give two stories of Creation? This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. We should listen whatever is said after that. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the …
Luke-Acts vs Paul’s epistles is an interesting historical debate helping us think about how pagans think. First, historians generally trash Luke and Acts while they praise 7 letters of Paul. Let me note as I have before what historians like. The Undisputed Epistles of Paul Romans. First Corinthians. Second Corinthians. Galatians. Philippians. First Thessalonians. Philemon. Historians like the 7 letters of Paul a lot. From them, they see that the disciples truly deeply believe that Jesus rose from the dead. …
How about a Chinese Church faith report? I should have blogged on this insightful article last year, but find myself only now starting to write. The question is: Should we see the Chinese church as persecuted and needy or perfectly provided for? Or just how should we see them? This article brought a hearty Amen from my heart. See the quote below. Though this narrative (China as a persecuted needy church) may have been accurate in the 1980s as China …
The Bible says we are citizens of the Kingdom of God. What is Kingdom of God culture? First, what is American culture? Americans love freedom, and personal independence even personal autonomy. Individualism is a high value. We like change and trying new things andhave the confidence to invent and support totally new things. Americans love equality, and that is why we say America is a land of opportunity for migrants. You are what you do. Any poor migrant can come …
I recently saw a Revelation Media 1 hour movie on Jesus life on earth. I appreciated how they portrayed Jesus as a real person with real emotions. However, any movie has difficulty parsing how Jesus did more than die a cruel death. Jesus of all finally said My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The quote is from Psalm 22 which describes his agony in more detail. So Much More Than Die a Cruel Death What does it …
I recently bought an ebook called Five Essentials to Engage Today’s Men. It is done by Barna, so they did good research. It reminded me how hard it is for men to be better than their father. This certainly includes me. From it I learned it is good to be a Christian man. In 10 different areas like mental health, work life balance, and physical health, Christian men, on average, felt better than non Christian men. Men who had intergenerational …
I have read more than once the phrase that we all need a little more grace. The phrase is so true. People may look put together, but people mostly carry a lot of hurt that they do not always realize. Find the 9 Bible verses on Grace from picture here. Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. So everyone has had and will have trouble. We need to see everyone …
The Bible uses some phrases that cause me to wonder if we are different then they are and think we best take notice to consider. For example, do you ever charge anyone before the Lord? Note what Paul wrote here: I Thessalonians 5:27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. At the start of the letter, Paul praises the Thessalonians for what great Christians they are and actually has no …
We can always be happy, but we need to think more to make it real. I Thessalonians 5:16 says: Rejoice always That is an incredible and very short verse. If we look at Jesus, we can see many emotions like anger, sorrow, and anguish that I would never describe as rejoicing. He also had times where he visibly rejoiced like when the disciples came back after going out two by two. How can we say that Jesus was rejoicing always? …
