3–9 June 2018. 1 Kings 9–10 (click to read). There was a popular belief among the ancient Israelites that the exotic people of Southern Arabia and Ethiopia were especially blessed with wisdom. Other nations may have great warriors or great riches, but the people from Sheba were famous for their wisdom. In 1 Kings 10, […]
27 May – 2 June 2018. 2 Timothy 4 (click to read). With sadness we come to the end of Paul’s second letter to Timothy as well as the final phase of Paul’s own life. Paul is now imprisoned, his friends and coworkers have abandoned him, and he is facing his coming execution. But despite […]
20–26 May 2018. 1 Timothy 3 (click to read). One of the most common temptations we face is the temptation to grab hold of power. Sometimes we want power because our pride pushes us to want to stand above other people and make ourselves feel greater than them. We think having power over others makes us […]
13–19 May 2018. Deuteronomy 28 (click to read). For a long time in ancient Israel, the text of Deuteronomy 28 was lost. 2 Kings 22 tells us that when it was rediscovered and read to King Josiah, the text was so shocking the king tore his clothes in despair. Even though this text doesn’t apply […]
6–12 May 2018. Deuteronomy 17–18 (click to read). Our lives are full of temptations. Some of us are tempted by popularity, by possessions and money, by power, or countless other things. It doesn’t matter whether we are great or small, pastors or lay people, men or women or children, we all struggle with temptations. That’s […]
29 April – 5 May 2018. Deuteronomy 5–6 (click to read). Which is the most important law in the Bible? If we had to answer that question, I think many people would choose one of the so-called Ten Commandments. Most people know those commandments very well, and we even find them written out twice in […]
22–28 April 2018. Colossians 1 (click to read). A few years ago, a church pastor excitedly came to me and told me that there was an old man here in Taiwan who had the gift of prophecy and speaking revelations. This church pastor was planning a trip for himself and his church elders to go […]
15–21 April 2018. Psalm 72 (click to read). Every day when we read the news we are confronted with a world full of problems. No matter where we look we see injustices and suffering, evil, hatred and violence. We know that this world isn’t perfect. But is there any hope? Of course there is. As […]
8–14 April 2018. Psalm 65 (click to read). One of the big mistakes we can make in our faith is to think of God as being very small. We do this in many ways. For example, maybe we think of God only as the God of Presbyterians. But of course God is not just our God. […]
1–7 April 2018. Psalm 58 (click to read). The world isn’t supposed to be this way. Goodness should win and evil should fail. That’s the way things should be. But sadly that’s often not true. What’s worse, often evil doesn’t just struggle along, it succeeds – and it even rises to power. In politics, society, […]