(Written while people-watching on a public plaza…) Young girl. Running ahead of Mom. She is enjoying her freedom. Mom is following behind and letting her daughter explore and make choices of where to go. Mom isn’t controlling her. Daughter keeps looking back to check if Mom is still there. She wants Mom to be there. She wants to be sure that Mom is ok with the way she is exploring. If Mom wasn’t there, the freedom would suddenly turn scary. Did she…
“I’m just a sinner saved by grace! I repent in the morning and I’m bound to be in sin by the evening. You know how it goes!” “Well, we’re all bound to sin now and again.” I would have identified with these statements in the past. It is more or less the message that I internalized about our relationship to sin. But let’s, for a moment, examine the words we use when we speak like that. “I’m bound to…” What are you…
A commitment is only as good as the person making it. Since nearly half of the marriage commitments that have been made in our recent past have ended in divorce, it would seem that commitments don’t really seem to mean much. It’d be like tossing a coin. Sure we can make a commitment. It’s easy. Just say the words “I commit to…” and then add words to the end of that sentence… “…going to the gym everyday.” “…eating healthy.” “…being there for you anytime…
God wants to love us even more than he wants us to like him. Consider that for a moment… I’ve known some really good fathers and mothers. I’ve known some rebellious sons and daughters. I think I’ve always had this notion that the more a parent loves their children unconditionally, the more the children will like their parents. I’m not a parent, but I think in my mind’s eye I’ve always assumed that if I had children, they would love…
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest…” Hebrews 4:1-3 I have already “made it”. I get to live from…
Usually when people say “God sees everything”, it’s in the context of God seeing all the bad stuff you do behind closed doors when you think no one else is looking. This thought often strikes fear into the hearts of whoever might hear it. We’ve done some pretty awful things that we wish no one would ever know about. As far as I know, God does see everything. And that’s only a bad thing if you don’t understand how He…
“I daresay we’ve heard a bit about original sin, but not nearly enough about original glory, which comes before sin and is deeper to our nature.” – John Eldredge in “Waking the Dead” As a landscape architect, I’ve sometimes worked on restoration projects. A few years ago, I worked on restoring an old rundown industrial site along the river in Shanghai. These types of projects are a lot of work. Knowing ahead of time how much time and effort goes into such…
I thought freedom came through making enough money to do what I wanted when I wanted. I thought security and protection came through having enough money saved up in a bank or an insurance company. I thought my significance came from collecting and earning life’s trophies and climbing ladders higher than people around me. I thought love came through securing women’s affection and men’s approval. It was never enough. To others, it must’ve looked like I was doing a pretty good job. Sometimes…
By way of contrast, I’ve noticed how much easier it is to obey the law in the US than it is in China. Especially when it comes to the workplace. In the US, the typical employee has all the taxes and social security taken right out of their paycheck automatically. As far as I can tell, it’s usually done in most workplaces as prescribed by the law of the governing authorities. It’s not something most employees have to make much of a conscious…
