What is life on life ministry? I guess it is self describing, but let me dig in. When I was in college doing ministry at West Point, I asked another ministry leader what he thought the best mix of fun and Bible study should be for guys we were one on one discipling. He said 90% fun and 10% Bible. I was shocked. I was doing 100% Bible. at 10%, if I get 2 hours a week with a guy, …
What is the gospel? A simple question and yet complex. When I moved to China and started reaching out to atheist Chinese students, I thought they do not know that God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. How can they avoid seeing God like a super hero? That proved to not be the problem. Chinese people worried about face as they were insecure as raised in a high criticism culture. They had trouble seeing God loved them and being good enough …
If Jesus came to save sinners, then why are we all pretending we are holy? The image shows the proud Pharisee and the lowly tax collector before God. Church and fellowship was not meant to be a place where we put on a show. It should be a place where we are safe and can be real about our doubts and failures. Real families can be that way, and we are brothers and sisters. Fellowship needs to be a place …
Jesus said, “The worries of this life…choke the word and make it unfruitful.” Jesus certainly knew, and my experience shows me how it works. I have some tendency to worry about the future. In 202o with start of Covid, my hugely successful business started to get pressure. In 2021, it was in crisis. My oldest daughter went to college in US and needed money. Anxieties about each week, college fees, work, and retirement stated to plague me since Covid started …
The Bible says “Rejoice always” in open of the shortest and most useful verses in the Bible. Despite too much thought on the fruit of the Spirit being singular, I sense anyone who can manage all 9 is remarkable. Today, let’s make room for joy. Talking with my son in college in the US, He said he needs to stop putting his joy in some future like after he gets married or something. Ah, well said. the Kingdom of God …
The thought that we are brothers and sisters with other believers exists in the Church. Jesus started it. Why did Jesus call us brothers and sisters? 8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those …
So this post might be a word more to the introverts. Sins of omission is not in the Bible and i focus on main things, so I will be careful. Being a talkative extrovert, I have often had to go to people to apologize for something I have have said. However, do we ever sin by not saying something? We are commanded to love. Failure to do this would be an act of omission. I believe less talkative introverts could …
I guess I am writing the extroverts here of which I am one. But let me work on this one We often want to give others advice in the Christian life. Usually, they do not want to hear. What can we preach to others? I see two barriers we must cross. The first is love- see I Peter 4:8. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Or in I Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of …
Aristotle was the dominant thinker in Europe for over 1000 years. He said clearly the earth is permanent and has no beginning and no end. Christians learned from God that the earth has both a beginning and an end. The disagreement divided us from the non believers. In the recent 100 years, science has decided first that the universe had a beginning and more recently that it has an end. How should we see the big bang? We could say …
The world is real and a place God created for us. We need food and shelter – and a lot more. God uses circumstances to grow us again and again. Let’s look at circumstances and God’s love. My 16 year old daughter recently inspired me to memorize this verse. Romans 5:3-5 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character hope. And hope does not put us to …
