Pastor's Blog
As I’m sure you know, Beta Testing is the process by which an almost-ready-to-go product is field-tested out in the real world before its official release. Humans are privileged to be able to revisit their designs and perfect them. It is quite a testament to human intelligence that we are able to test products and services, discover flaws or areas that need improvement,…
The other day I was struck by the precariousness of a major league baseball player’s career. A player can be traded to another team just like that! Without any foreknowledge of the trade; and completely without his consent. He’s expected to adapt to a new coaching staff, teammates, and potentially a different playing style. Family members have to be ready to…
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:2) Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. (Lk 22:31) How strikingly different are the intentions behind these statements. How diametrically opposed are their wills toward us. One seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. The other comes to give life…
The case of the defective lights. Recently I purchased some work lights like those pictured to the right. They were from an online discounter of products made in another country. I had to wait some 4 weeks for them to arrive. But I had been lured by the great price. When they finally did arrive, guess what! They didn’t work. So I put them on the charger. Not even the…
To fit him for the kingdom, God changed Saul’s heart (1 Sam 10:9). Why would God need to change his heart? Simply put, because the condition of Saul’s heart—just like every other human’s heart—was very grave. “The heart is deceitful; it is desperately sick,” says God. (Jer 17:9) Our hearts are hard (Ps 95:8), unclean, and defiled (Mt 15:19-20). So God did a wonderful…
Life Trajectory
On Sunday I shared that Saul’s was a “rooftop” life. The gifted young champion had a beautiful, majestic rise. All was progressing splendidly. Then came the peak, and all too soon his early promise became a flower quickly fading. His decline, degeneration, and degradation accelerated frighteningly. Till finally he met disaster and an ignominious death. How might we…