16–22 August 2015. Ecclesiastes 11:7–10 (click to read). As we come towards the end of Ecclesiastes, the writer begins to sum up his thoughts, and we find here a very bittersweet feeling. He has tested and tried many things, and looked for a stable meaning to life. But everything has failed. Wisdom and learning, joy […]
9–15 August 2015. Ecclesiastes 5:8–20 (click to read). Most of us know the challenges of trying to balance our own budgets or organizing the family’s finances. We sit down and discuss what our expenses are for the month or year, and then try to plan out some way to earn enough money to cover those […]
2–8 August 2015. Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 (click to read). The Book of Proverbs gives simple descriptions of life, and simple suggestions to guide young children as they grow. But Ecclesiastes is for older readers, and it paints a more complicated picture of life. Here, life isn’t so simple, and the meaning of life is harder to […]
26 July – 1 August 2015. Proverbs 28 (click to read). In Taiwan, the election season is approaching again. The KMT and DPP are starting to put forward their candidates for president, and the newspapers seem full of stories every day about who has more popular support, who is most likely to be elected, and […]
19–25 July 2015. Proverbs 22 (click to read). In past centuries, people in the West had some very strange ideas about mission. Some churches thought that God lived in Europe and America, and that we Christians needed to pack God into our backpacks and carry him into the rest of the world. Today we know […]
12–18 July 2015. Proverbs 15 (click to read). Today we still talk about the seven wonders of the ancient world. Like the pyramids of Egypt, these ancient wonders were impressive structures and buildings that people even in ancient times thought were amazing. They are things we still find impressive today. We read about these places […]
5–11 July 2015. Proverbs 7–8 (click to read). There are so many voices in today’s culture that encourage people simply to follow their heart. So many songs and movies tell us that the heart never lies, so we can depend on our hearts, depend on our feelings to guide us. While sometimes that can be […]
28 June – 4 July 2015. Proverbs 1:20–33 (click to read). When young Jewish boys turned 13, it was time for them to begin their religious studies, and Proverbs was one of their first text books. Written for children, it offered simple ideas to guide them through childhood, and presented the world in a simple […]
21–27 June 2015. Psalm 145 (click to read). Psalm 145 continues the theme of the universal praise of God that we have seen in many previous psalms. Here God is the royal and majestic king, the ruler of all things, and so he must be praised by all things forever, throughout all time. In verse […]
14–20 June 2015. Psalm 138 (click to read). Psalm 138 launches into a great hymn of praise to God, thanking and worshipping him for his wonderful love and faithfulness. Like many of the other psalms of universal praise (like Psalm 65 or Psalm 117), this psalm tells how the whole earth will join together in […]