Posts from 2026
What does it mean to “act like a Christian?”
My wife and I the other day were looking around some interesting ‘youtube’ documentaries, and we came across one that was titled “The Holiest Places on Earth.” It peaked my interest and we watched about an hour of it. Top on the list of holiest places was a monastery on an island in Greece. It was built centuries ago; was constructed multi-stories high on a crazy rock (to this day engineers are amazed how they did it a few hundred…
Desperation
Have you ever wondered where some of our everyday things have come from? The problem with urban living is that we have become really disconnected with how our food is made and produced. Luckily, I grew up in farm country. This led to lots of “peeks behind the curtain”. It led to a lot of “what the heck”?! For example, who decided that a burnt tree pod made amazing bean juice (aka coffee). Who looked at an oyster (raw no…
Purposeful Suffering
Paul the Apostle is arguably one of the most influential people for the Christian faith (obviously after Christ!) He had a momentous conversion. He was planting numerous churches. He gave bold witness to individuals, communities, and governments! In short, he was a powerful instrument in the hands of God. But where did this power come from? Do you remember what God said to Ananias regarding Paul’s faith and ministry? “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry…
“The Love of God Reaches to the lowest Hell”
This coming Sunday I will bring to us a very famous passage of Scripture that are part of the “Christology Hymns” of the New Testament; that is. “Christology Hymns” of the New Testament describe theologically who Jesus really is and what He has done. Last week we studied Colossians 1:15-23. I am asking you to read ahead before Sunday and meditate carefully on this week’s passage, Philippians 2:6-11. For a larger context, once you read this part, read the whole…
Prayers Work!
Have you ever heard someone say to you, “Prayers work”? I cannot know for sure, but if I am right, I think this is what they meant. They had something heavy on their hearts, or something nice they really wanted, and they prayed to God and asked him for his help. After they prayed, God removed the heaviness on their hearts, or gave them that something nice they really wanted, and they wish to say the reason why that happened…
Jesus, the Visible – Cosmic Christ
Have you ever given much thought to how the ancient societies seemed to have so many gods? If you are a student in any way, even just a casual student of ancient times you will know of some of the names in the past of ‘gods’ that societies had. Just for fun, let me remind you of some: This coming Sunday I am beginning to lay out the first of four in what is often referred to as “Christology hymns”…
Good and Evil – God and Satan
Pastor Kim made a comment to me that has stuck with me, and frankly it has seriously shaken me. He told me that the biggest adjustment in moving back to the States, was leaving a country where everyone was at least coming to the table with an agreement that there is a God (even if we don’t believe in the same God). But here in the US, that foundational truth is not a given. Think about that for a second.…
Hell is Under Fire
“Hell is unfair!” “There is no way a loving God can morally send a person to Hell for eternity.” “If the God of the Bible allows Hell, I would rather be away from him forever.” The outrage against Hell is real. The truth of Hell is one of the most challenging topics in Christianity. It is one of the most common obstacles for the skeptic. But not only for the skeptic, for the sincere Christian, too. Even if a Christian…
Is Religious a Bad Word?
As many of you know already, I grew up as a little boy in Japan. What you might not know is that while I was living there, my parents didn’t put me in a traditional Japanese school. Instead, they put me in an international, and also Catholic, school. Even though the school was founded by Canadian Catholic brothers, the school welcomed students from all faith backgrounds. While I was there, in addition to the usual English, Math, Science, History, French…
The Kingdom of Heaven
Last week we heard about Heaven being that future world of love where God is. This week we will be learning about the present kingdom of heaven here and now. So, we might say that last week, we focused on heaven as the place where God dwells. This week, we will focus on heaven as the space that God fills. In our understanding of “kingdom” in human terms, we tend to see it as a physical empire, a government, or…
Heaven
I am eagerly longing to gather with you all again to worship our loving God. I have heard it said that “heaven is where God is.” But God is everywhere, isn’t he? God is omnipresent. He is then “present” in your home, the workplace, the mountains where you hike, the grocery store, the highways where you drive, your schools, sports teams, and sleepovers… But to say God is everywhere, it doesn’t mean he is present in the same way everywhere.…
Grain of Wheat Must Fall
If you recall the story, one day a group of people came to Jesus’ disciples, Andrew and Philip, and asked to see Jesus. The people had just witnessed the raising of Lazarus, and it could be that they had wanted to see more. Or it could be they had wanted to hear more. I personally think they wanted to see the person who performed this miracle do something, anything, because they had just seen an incredible miracle. Jesus gave a…
I can be Redeemed!
If you have heard me preach and ‘tell stories’ (which I commonly do) you have learned some things about me. And one of those things is My wife and I enjoy on a day off or relaxing afternoon stopping at a garage sale. The one remarkable thing about garage sales is that of course you find lots and lots of American junk we are famous for that in our culture of collecting far more than we would ever need. But,…