13–19 August 2017. 2 Corinthians 4 (click to read). We have a saying in English: “No good deed goes unpunished.” We go to so much effort to be nice to others and treat them well, and the only thing we get back from them is meanness and aggression! We try our hardest to help people, […]
6–12 August 2017. Psalm 38 (click to read). It’s very easy for us to see other people’s sins, but we often don’t see our own sins at all. We look at ourselves in the mirror but we don’t see our failings. Instead our eyes and our minds trick us into thinking that we are better […]
30 July – 5 August 2017. Psalm 32 (click to read). One thing that surprised me when I first started teaching in Taiwan was just how quiet the students are. In class it’s always difficult to get students to share their ideas or even ask questions. When I spoke to another professor about this, he told […]
23–29 July 2017. Psalm 23 (click to read). In the Old Testament, it was common to describe both God and kings as shepherds. This was a good reminder that God was the one who guided all Israel, and the one who cared for the whole nation. The king also took on this role as shepherd, […]
16–22 July 2017. Psalm 17 (click to read). When people hurt us and say mean things about us, it’s only natural for us to want revenge. Straight away we start to think of things we can do or words we can say to hurt them even more than they hurt us. In Psalm 17, the […]
9–15 July 2017. Psalm 11 (click to read). Every day it seems like tabloid newspapers are declaring the end of the world. Every day there’s some new enemy and some new reason for people to live in fear. One day it’s evil immigrants and foreigners taking over the country, another day it’s gay people destroying […]
2–8 July 2017. Psalm 4 (click to read). Most of us like to think that we don’t care what other people say about us. But that’s rarely true. When people speak badly about us, when they lie or gossip about us, we do care and it really hurts. Often evil words hurt us much more […]
25 June – 1 July 2017. 1 Corinthians 14:26–40 (click to read). One of the most dangerous and serious sins is pride. We know that Jesus teaches us to be humble, but the pride that hides deep down in our human nature always pushes back against Jesus’s command. We like to be the best, to […]
18–24 June 2017. 1 Corinthians 10:16–33 (click to read). Sometimes we may think that the Jews really have things easy. They have 613 laws that clearly tell them how to live: 248 laws telling what they should do, and 365 laws telling them what not to do. But life for us Christians is different. Because […]
11–17 June 2017. 1 Corinthians 5 (click to read). 1 Corinthians 5 is a difficult text where we see Paul’s old pharisee background coming through in his thinking, and where many of his arguments seem to go against the things Jesus taught us. Maybe that’s not a surprise given how frustrated and angry Paul is […]