12–18 May 2019. 2 Chronicles 16 (click to read). When people think about God, too often they imagine him like some kind of almighty policeman up in the sky. They think that God – like the secret police – is always secretly watching what we do, listening to what we say, and even eavesdropping on the […]
28 October – 3 November 2018. Job 37 (click to read). When it comes to the problem of Job’s suffering, the young and foolish Elihu thinks he has all the answers. Many of the answers Elihu offers Job are not so different from ideas on suffering we still hear from people today. In chapter 37, […]
21–27 October 2018. Job 30 (click to read). We know the way the world is supposed to work. People who do bad things are supposed to be punished, and people who do good should be rewarded. But sadly things don’t always work out that way. Too often the evil and corruption in this world makes […]
14–20 October 2018. Job 23 (click to read). Job knows that he has done nothing wrong. He knows that he has done nothing to deserve such terrible pain and disaster in his life. So Job dreams of bringing a court case to God and defending himself against God. In his heart Job knows this situation is […]
30 September – 6 October 2018. Job 9 (click to read). When things go wrong in our lives, that’s already bad enough. But what makes our suffering worse is knowing that there will always be people around us who will see our pain and be happy. When bad things happen, there will always be a few […]
23–29 September 2018. Job 2 (click to read). Human relationships are complicated and fragile. It’s not always easy to keep a relationship going, and they fail so often for many reasons. Sadly, far too many times I have seen people’s marriages fail. It’s gotten so bad that today many young people are even giving up […]
18–24 March 2018. Psalm 44 (click to read). The Bible is not just a book, it’s a library. It’s a collection of many different books written by many different people in different places and different times. Those different authors often have different ways of seeing God and different ways of understanding their experiences with God. […]
29 January – 4 February 2017. Luke 13:1–17 (click to read). One day when I was walking in Taipei, I saw a church group on the street calling out to people, saying “Become a Christian, and all your troubles will disappear!” As I heard this, it made me really uncomfortable – because that’s not true at […]
29 May – 4 June 2016. Judges 16 (click to read). From beginning to end, Samson’s story is like a train wreck. We see the disaster coming, but just can’t look away! What was Samson thinking? He is supposed to be a Nazarite, a man living a life dedicated to God, but instead he’s a […]
25–31 October 2015. Job 42 (click to read). The ending to the Book of Job is one that causes us a lot of frustration. We have just struggled through 40 chapters of discussion on the problem of suffering, trying to understand why God allows suffering to exist. Job wanted to take God to court to […]