“To learn strong faith is to endure great trials,” says George Mueller. The Apostle Peter knew the meaning of such Christian resolve as he wrote a letter to the churches in Asia Minor. He has been called the “Apostle of Hope” because he directs the focus of persecuted believers away from their severe trials toward a promised future deliverance. Peter knew about suffering for Christ. He had endured...  Read More

[Originally published November 26, 2025] Old Hong Kong has long been an intriguing place. The Kowloon District, a peninsula north of the island, is a site originally built on earlier military fortifications, including a fort in 1810 and a military outpost from the Song dynasty. After the first Opium War with Britain, the Chinese constructed a wall in 1847 around a 6.5 acre plot to create a garriso...  Read More

[Originally published November 26, 2025] 'Tis the season when we often hear the importance of displaying an "attitude of gratitude." Our celebrations of Thanksgiving arouse such sentiment, but for many a warm feeling is the full extent of their response. Surely there must be more to gratitude than emotion. Let us plumb the depths of this important characteristic and discover fresh ways to express ...  Read More

Have you ever been challenged by a teacher to put forth better effort to learn and apply your knowledge? The writer of Hebrews issued a similar challenge to the first readers of the book of Hebrews. He has focused his attention on the immaturity of the believers. Their spiritual childishness hindered their “usefulness and skillful performance for God” (Hebrews 5:12-13). The central warning was tha...  Read More

“I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,” are the words to one verse in a familiar youth camp song that many of us sang when we were younger. Joy, a fruit of the Spirit and key virtue in Paul’s view, was not only to be felt in one’s heart but to overflow in one’s relationships. “Joy” would be the one-word theme I would place above the entire letter to the Philippians. Let’s see how we ma...  Read More

Sometimes it takes a storm to teach us about the peace that Christ provides. This section in Matthew’s gospel elevates divine awareness in both Jesus’ disciples and those who would later read the book. Jesus fed 5000 people, thus showing that He is the “Bread of Life,” and then He calms the wind and waves to show that He is Lord over all nature (15:13-32). Our minds may wonder where God might be a...  Read More

Our motivation for Christian service should be the love of Christ. Paul set this standard of living not based upon his lifestyle alone, but Christ’s. Now, that is a tall order, wouldn’t you say? The possessor of the life-changing gift of reconciliation with God will certainly find it a privilege to tell people about the gift of new life wherever we go. “Reconciliation is the removal of human enmit...  Read More

[Originally published Oct. 31, 2025] In the several hundred years leading up to 1517, life looked bleak in many ways for the poorest of the commoners across Europe. Ninety-five percent of them were illiterate and worked the land, while five percent, the noble and landed gentry, own the ground they lived upon. Living in squalor in rude huts, stone single-room cottages, with sleeping loft above and ...  Read More

Our beliefs about who we are as human beings, and where we find our place in this universe, shape how we make our moral decisions. Humankind's distinctness goes without question among most Christians, because we have been created in God's image and given a purpose in life (Genesis 1:26-27). Herbert Simon offers a contrasting view of human origins and worth when he writes,  "With Copernicus and Gal...  Read More

“The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter” (John MacArthur). Pastor MacArthur’s claim may seem to be rigid, especially in, what I call a “laissez faire age” for religious belief. You know, the mantra of this age is, “You believe what you want to believe, and I will believe what I choose to believe.” We sing about ...  Read More

We all make decisions. None of these choices, however, will be as significant as the one we make about Jesus. It shapes our entire worldview and determines our ultimate relationship with the Heavenly Father. This section of Mark’s gospel focuses on the judgment that people made for and against Jesus (14:1-15:47), and also the judgment God made for His Son (16:1-8). We dare not leave God’s judgment...  Read More

Do you pray in advance of taking a journey? Think of Psalm 121 as an early prayer for traveling mercies! My family, when I was a child, always prayed together before taking a journey. We asked God to provide His watch care over us as we traveled. It is a pattern that I have continued throughout my entire adult life. We are not alone in this regard. Pilgrims going to Jerusalem may have sung this pr...  Read More