Posts by Alvin Lin (Page 5)
An Unexpected Gift
Come back with me to the first of January. Do you remember what life was like? Remember we had to sit in heavy traffic to get to work? We had to jump from meetings to more meetings. We had to take our children to their soccer games. We had to take them to ballet lessons. We had to rush through meals. We had to pick up dry cleaning. If we are honest, we knew our busy lives were on autopilot,…
Know Which is Which
The secret is out. Americans love to take control. No, we have a deep, deep need for control, don’t we? We need to control this, control that. We need to control our schedule. We need to control how the app icons line up on our phone screens. And if we are honest, we need to control what others think of us. We need to take control over everything and anything that happens in our lives. We stress when we don’t.…
Contentment in Crisis
Last Friday morning’s headlines said it all. A stunning 20.5 million jobs lost in April, the worst month since the government began tracking the data in 1939. The unemployment rate stands at 14.7%, the highest on record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began its monthly series, and climbing. An unimaginably high number of Americans have lost jobs. More stand to lose jobs. Maybe you are someone, or you know someone, who has lost a job or is about to…
Motherhood Film
In addition to the global coronavirus crisis, did you know we are also in the middle of a global fertility crisis? It is happening all over our world. Women are having fewer children, or no children at all. In 1950, women had an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. By 2019, the fertility rate had shrunk to half. Women are having an average of 2.4 children in their lifetime. In Taiwan, where I am from, women on average are…
Missions: The Third Pillar of Christian Living
The Three Pillars of Christian living are community, discipleship, and missions. When one is a part of a LifeGroup, then he or she brings to reality in the 21st century the three essential things 1st-century Christians set out to do soon after our Lord Christ Jesus ascended into heaven.
Discipleship: The Second Pillar of Christian Living
If I asked you what is a disciple, what would you say? Christians think of a disciple in many different ways. Some think of a disciple as a student of a teacher. Others think of a disciple as a sort of protégé, being guided by an older and experienced person. Still others think of a disciple as a follower or adherent of a master. Even though the ways one thinks of a disciple may be many, it is interesting Christians…
Community: The First Pillar of Christian Living
If it was essential to the Christians to live close lives with each other in the 1st century as they went and made disciples of all nations, and I do believe it was, it is and should be essential for you and me today.
LifeGroup
I wrote two weeks ago that one of the features of LifeGroup is that it is a safe place. LifeGroup is where no one is afraid to ask the questions he or she really wants to ask. People ask because they know no one would look at them in a funny way or laugh at them. People hear the answers to the questions they really want to ask. And they grow. Even though LifeGroup is a safe place and people…
Fear
I recently started reading Genesis for my devotions. I say this because it has been at least a few years since the last time I did that…not devotions, but Genesis for devotions. In Genesis 15:1, it said the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you.’” If I am correct, this marked the first time in the Bible God said to someone to not be afraid. Check this…
Virtual Prayer Meetings Launch Next Week!
The Prophet Isaiah introduced a King in Isaiah 61 who would rule in a glorious kingdom. He went on to say that the destruction of Jerusalem would come to a stop. The people of God would restore the city back to its former greatness. More importantly, the people would be restored to a right relationship with their God. Then in Isaiah 61:6, it said, “But you will be called the priests of the Lord; You will be spoken of as…
A Note to Parents
As a result of our nation’s response to the virus outbreak, children have been transformed into homeschooling students and parents have been transformed into teachers overnight. So how is #Homeschool2020 going in your home? I have heard reports that in isolated cases, students have been expelled, and teachers have been caught drinking on the job! It is OK. The beginning may be rough, but hang in there, parents! I am a parent, too. As with everything else in life, things…
A LifeGroup Update
Several Sundays ago, before the Stay At Home order, I began to introduce to you a community group ministry called LifeGroups. LifeGroups is very simply a place where believers at LifeWay live closely with one another. It is an intimate community group. As you probably guessed, much like everything else at LifeWay, the launch date of LifeGroups is on hold until God gives us the “all clear” to proceed. But even though LifeGroups is delayed, this does not mean I…