Often the story about the other criminal who was being crucified along with Jesus slides into vigorous debates about what happens after one dies, or where Jesus went when He died.

In some of the gospel accounts, we read that the people around Jesus’ cross were all mocking and taunting Him, including the two criminals being crucified at His side. Luke tells us one of the criminals stopped and rebuked the other. He turned to Jesus and asked, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23: 42-43)

On Easter Sunday morning, while reflecting on this interaction between Jesus and the criminal, I was struck with an insight I have not noticed before. As I reflected on what Jesus told the criminal, I became aware that the Scriptures were silent about the death of the criminal. I had assumed that he died on that same day, yet historical accounts tell us that Read the rest of this entry »

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Each time I thought about the passage of Scripture that Jesus said to His first disciples, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” I had assumed He was talking about evangelism and that evangelism was about telling the message and convincing others to follow Jesus. Similarly, I thought Jesus’ emphasis was about catching men, fishing for people and also that evangelism was about the bait, the content of the message, and about reeling men in, the delivery and so on.

“Fishers of men” might really have to do with going out to where there might be a lot men, and making the effort to bring them to know the Lord. But, the other day, as I was sitting and listening a sermon about the story of the young boy in the sixth chapter of John, there was a “connecting of the dots” in my mind. It occurred to me that the phrase “fishers of men” might have a lot to do with what happened that day about the boy with the fish and the loaves. Read the rest of this entry »

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Awhile back, I wrote about the message that my church pastor preached on that struck a chord with me. It was a message he preached from the first six verses of the gospel of Matthew.

What I found especially remarkable was that in the designs of God, He included four women with rather questionable pasts in the lineage of the Messiah’s ancestry. What is remarkable is that in the customs of the day, ancestral records do not typically include females, let alone broken, messy ones.

Yet, in a Gospel that purportedly was supposed to set the record for Israel that Jesus is the Promised Messiah, what do we find but the evidence that the Messiah’s ancestry included four women who had less than perfect histories? If we were to include Mary as well, that would make five women ancestors with messy life-stories.

This demonstrates the heart of God: He sent His Son into the world, as the Apostle Paul declares, to save sinners. Read the rest of this entry »

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Is forgiveness linked to religiosity? Apparently, scholars and researchers seem to think so. As this article highlighted, those who are religious find it particularly easier to forgive others who have wronged them.

As the article pointed out, recent events such as the deadly October 2006 Esperanza Fire (for the Wikipedia entry, see here), etc.) and the Amish school shooting earlier in the same month highlighted horrendous perpetrations that defies both our capacity to imagine and to forgive. Read the rest of this entry »

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In my recent discussion about Joy and Work and, especially the ideas proposed by Dennis Bakke in his book, “Joy at Work“, one of my readers (Holger) questioned if work came as a result of the fall. Moreover, this reader suggested that most of us rarely display our creativity at our jobs. Bakke himself pointed out that work was right there at the dawn of creation. Man was charged with tending the garden right at the beginning, prior to the fall. After the fall, though, the toil and grind of work entered into man’s experience. Rather, it was thorns and thistles became the result of man’s toil rather than fruits and everything for food from the ground.

So, both the meaning and the result of man’s labor became troublesome after the fall. However, work was supposed to be glorious, God-honoring and God-pleasing. According to the plan at creation, man was supposed to work for his nourishment and enjoyment. Read the rest of this entry »

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Recently, I came across Parableman Jeremy Pierce’s short post on joy - a quality usually associated with expressions of happiness and pleasure. But, Jeremy pointed out, it need not be that or else we won’t have joy while we go through some decidedly unpleasant experiences.

As a person who have sunk deep into depression, yet who was quietly confident in God’s providence and His sovereignty over our experiences, I resonate very much to the idea. (For a while back then I used to tell people that I felt like I was hanging from a clifftop by my finger nails, but at the same time I also had the quiet confidence that underneath me were God’s everlasting arms.) Being depressed on the surface, seems contradictory to the concept of having “joy in the Spirit”. When I was “down in the dumps”, I would recall such Biblical passages as Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” During those times, I would embrace my situation, my emotions, and my relationship with God. I would sigh and groan in prayers, and would take on the attitude of waiting on God. Also I am often reminded that Paul speaks about joy in the context of his own suffering. For example, we read of him and Silas singing hymns to God in the dank, damp, darkness and discomfort of the dungeon-jail at Philippi. Read the rest of this entry »

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Recently, my wife read aloud Romans chapter 1 to the family. As I listened to her, I was struck by how Paul addressed himself as a “servant of Jesus Christ“. It is not a common phrase used today, but the New Testament is filled with such references used either by the writers themselves or in referring to a group of Christ followers. In some translations, the phrase used is “bond-servant”, which is likened to the practice of the Hebrew who took on bond servants in their households.

These servants are sometimes also known as slaves, but I believe they have some key differences between slavery in biblical times and slavery as we understand it today. I recall Parableman once did an extensive study of the morality of slavery. While the study was insightful and I am sure highlighted many valid points, I also remember being quite uncomfortable with some of his conclusions. I am not sure if the claims he made are widely held among scholars, but basically (if I remember correctly) it goes something like this: Read the rest of this entry »

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“If God appeared to you today and gives you a chance to ask Him one question, what would it be?”

At church this morning, the pastor posed this question to us and gave us a chance to talk about what our question might be with each other. There were quite an intriguing array of questions people suggested.

One lady next to me said she would like to find out when He is returning. Another asked if he was in the center of God’s will. Yet another asked if she could find out the real meaning of the gospel.

One question that I might be tempted to ask is, “What are you doing, Lord?” In the past, I have asked quite a few questions. Not so long ago, I agonized over a painfully personal one. But the tone and intention of such questions now seem almost too presumptuous to me and I now have the impulse of putting my hands over my mouth, as Job did when confronted with the majesty of God, after initially demanding God for answers to some really tough questions. So, perhaps, I might just have to be silent before Him.

But, if given one question to ask the Lord, what might that be? I think it might be this: “Why do you love so much?” I think that question might be help me to plumb the depths of who God is, and give me glimpses to the mysteries of life.

Well, what about you? What if you were given a chance to ask God one question? What might that question be?

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