(REFLECTIONS ON Colossians 2:16-23) When we moved back to Taiwan in 2011, we spent some time visiting different churches to find a spiritual home here. At one point we were attending a young and growing church in Taipei. After attending the church for about 6-months, we learned about an unwritten policy that the church had regarding […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Colossians 2:11-15) Circumcision in the Old Testament was a covenant sign given to Abraham and his descendants. It was a physical act, performed on the male body by human hands, and was a visible sign of participation in God’s covenant. Circumcision was a physical sign that belonged to God’s covenant people and symbolized separation […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Colossians 2:1-10) Paul begins today’s Scripture writing, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face.” Paul is addressing the church in Colossae, a church in Laodicea, and all those […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Colossians 1:24-29) Jesus was rejected, misunderstood, suffered on His way to the cross, and sacrificed life with His death on the cross. Paul writes that He rejoices in his sufferings for Christ’s body, which is the church. As Christians, we are taught to be like Jesus, which is to love like Jesus, and the […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Colossians 1:15-23) Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God,” thus God has been seen, heard, and felt, through Jesus. We can then no longer say that no one has ever seen God, because those that saw Him walking the streets, those that saw Him crucified, and for sure His disciples all saw […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Colossians 1:1-14) 13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We were all, at one time, in the domain of darkness. No, that does not mean that we were all in poor […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Ruth 4:1-22) 17 The neighbor women gave him a name saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, father of David. 18 Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron, 19 and to Hezron was born Ram, and to […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Ruth 3:1-18) In Ruth 3, Naomi seeks security and protection for Ruth through their kinsman-redeemer, Boaz. A kinsman-redeemer was a close relative who had the responsibility of helping preserve the family line and inheritance. Naomi instructs Ruth to wash herself, anoint herself, put on her best clothes, and present herself to Boaz at the […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Ruth 2:1-23) In July, 2011 my family of four (wife, son, daughter, and I) moved from California back to the country of my birth, Taiwan. Interestingly, 34 years earlier, my family of four (father, mother, sister, me) left Taiwan to pursue the American Dream in the United States. Through God’s amazing grace and guidance […]
(REFLECTIONS ON Ruth 1:1-22) A story of a family of four, a husband, wife, and their two sons. In hope they left Bethlehem and moved to the land of Moab seeking for a new and better life. Why would Moab represent a new and better life for this family? Because we are told that there was […]