Topic > Christian Beliefs
“Love God and love others” – How did this gospel get Jesus crucified?
The gospel is sometimes summarized as “Love God and love others.” So it makes you wonder how that message got Jesus crucified. Today, the Discover the Word team continues their series titled “Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes”—providing cultural perspective for the Bible. We’ll learn why some things we consider orthodox were absolutely revolutionary to first-century […]
Imperfect, Yet Loved
In Japan, food products are immaculately prepared and packed. Not only must they taste good but they must look good too. Often I wonder if I am purchasing the food or the packaging! Because of the Japanese emphasis on good quality, products with slight defects are often discarded. However, in recent years, wakeari products have gained popularity. Wakeari means “there is a reason” in Japanese. These products are not thrown away but are sold at a cheap price “for a reason”—for example a crack in a rice cracker.
My friend who lives in Japan tells me that wakeari is also a catchphrase for people…
4 Reasons Why Not Knowing Our Future Is Good
My sister does this thing that drives me bonkers. She will take a book and, rather than reading it from start to finish, she will skip around the chapters, often reading the last page first.
Our Powerful God
One day by the seaside, I delighted in watching some kite surfers as they bounced along the water, moved by the force of the wind. When one came to shore, I asked him if the experience was as difficult as it looked. “No,” he said, “It’s actually easier than regular surfing because you harness the power of the wind.”
Afterward as I walked by the sea, thinking about the wind’s ability not only to propel the surfers but also to whip my hair into my face, I paused to wonder at our God the Creator. As we see in the Old…
Knowing Better
When we brought our adoptive son home from overseas, I was eager to shower him with love and provide what he had lacked over the preceding months, especially quality food, since he had a nutritional deficit. But despite our best efforts, including consulting specialists, he grew very little. After nearly three years, we learned he had some severe food intolerances. After removing those items from his diet, he grew five inches in just a few months. While I grieved at how long I’d unwittingly fed him foods that impaired his growth, I rejoiced at this surge in his health!
I suspect…
The Heart’s True Home
We had a West Highland Terrier for a number of years. “Westies” are tough little dogs, bred to tunnel into badger holes and engage the “enemy” in its lair. Our Westie was many generations removed from her origins, but she still retained that instinct, put into her through years of breeding. On one occasion she became obsessed by some “critter” under a rock in our back yard. Nothing could dissuade her. She dug and dug until she tunneled several feet under the rock.
Now consider this question: Why do we as humans pursue, pursue, pursue? Why must we climb unclimbed mountains,…
Helicopter Seeds
When our children were young, they loved trying to catch the “helicopter seeds” that fell from our neighbor’s silver maple trees. Each seed resembles a wing. In late spring they twirl to the ground like a helicopter’s rotor blades. The seeds’ purpose is not to fly, but to fall to earth and grow into trees.
Before Jesus was crucified, He told His followers, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified . . . unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces…
4 Lessons Only Failure Can Teach
There are many different ways to fail. I fail to read my Bible every day. I fail to tell the truth to my parents sometimes. I fail to say kind things to people who annoy or frustrate me.
Seeing Masterpieces
My father creates custom quivers designed for archers to carry their arrows. He carves elaborate wildlife pictures into pieces of genuine leather, before stitching the material together.
During a visit, I watched him construct one of his works of art. His careful hands applied just the right pressure as he pressed a sharp blade into the supple leather, creating various textures. Then he dipped a rag into crimson dye and covered the leather with even strokes, magnifying the beauty of his creation.
As I admired my dad’s confident craftsmanship, I realized how often I fail to acknowledge and appreciate my heavenly Father’s…
Hide and Seek
“You can’t see me!”
When small children play “hide and seek,” they sometimes believe they’re hiding just by covering their eyes. If they can’t see you, they assume you can’t see them.
Naïve as that may seem to adults, we sometimes do something similar with God. When we find ourselves desiring to do something we know is wrong, our tendency may be to “shut God out” as we willfully go our own way.
The prophet Ezekiel discovered this truth in the vision God gave him for his people, exiled in Babylon. The Lord told him, “Have you seen what the elders of Israel…
God is able to keep us from stumbling
The older we get, the more concerned we become about stumbling and falling. A fall can be a real game changer for us, and for our loved ones. But falling physically is not the only way we can stumble. And today on Discover the Word, we’ll conclude the week-long series titled “God Is Able,” by […]
Are We Just Having Coffee Dates with God?
Sometimes, after a good, long time of Bible study, I go right into sinning. When I am alone at home, those sins that prey on solitude can easily sneak in. For me, it is often lust. And sometimes I don’t stop it.
God’s plans for your life exceed far beyond what you can imagine
Have you ever met a child with a particularly vivid imagination? Well, today, the Discover the Word team will help you understand what God is able to do in your life and that His plans exceed anything we could ever come up with! We can’t even imagine. Expand your vision of what God is able […]
How firm is your foundation in Christ?
This week on Discover the Word, the group is exploring with you several things the Bible says God is able to do. And there’s a verse in Paul’s New Testament letter to the Romans that says that “God is able to establish you.” Discover how firm and secure your foundation is in Christ when you pull […]
How Much More!
In October 1915, during World War I, Oswald Chambers arrived at Zeitoun Camp, a military training center near Cairo, Egypt, to serve as a YMCA chaplain to British Commonwealth soldiers. When he announced a weeknight religious service, 400 men packed the large YMCA hut to hear Chambers’ talk titled, “What Is the Good of Prayer?” Later, when he spoke individually with men who were trying to find God in the midst of war, Oswald often quoted Luke 11:13, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father…
