Letters of Recommendation: The Role of Seminary
Mid-life Forks in the Road: Just the other day, i ran into an acquiantance, a pastor friend of mine in his late 40s. He was looking for a new ministry job and shared with me that he had gone back to seminary because his professor told him that a seminary degree and a subsequent ordination…
Read MoreThe Nearness of Heaven – The Awakening of my Soul
“The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Lk 17:20-21 (NET) American Christianity has many myths that include… the myth that you can live your Christian life alone the myth that…
Read MoreDemystifying The Internal Civil War
Is there a civil war going on inside our souls, a “bad” vs “good” nature that is waging war inside of us? Many books and Bible teaching on the subject assume this is the case. Even Bible translations that employ the term “sinful nature” to translate “flesh” suggest this. For example, Gal 5:17 seems to…
Read MoreI killed Mr. Spock in 2014
“I am the door for the sheep. 10:8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill…
Read MoreThe Four Spiritual Laws if it were written from an Eastern Perspective: Epilogue
I can’t imagine myself using the “4-Spiritual Laws from an Eastern Perspective” any time soon. And I regularly engage in dozens and dozens of spiritual conversations. So why did I write these “4-laws from an Eastern Perspective?” if I don’t use them myself? (graphic above from http://wernermischke.org) Following are links to all four “laws”: Law 1, Law 2, Law…
Read MoreThe Four Spiritual Laws if it were written from an Eastern Perspective: Law 4
“Faith involves using the imagination. The greater the faith, the greater the imagination.” – Dr. Jeffrey Garner, Pastor of San Francisco Lighthouse and adjunct Professor at Western Seminary “…whenever anyone is in extremis (going through any kind of crisis), their chances of survival are far greater when their horizons are formed of projected images from…
Read MoreThe Four Spiritual Laws if it were written from an Eastern Perspective: Law 3
I’ve not met anyone else with more childhood shame than I had. My earliest memory of shame dates back to being 4 years old, when I decided to stop talking to relatives and their kids. For the next 10 years, I hid my voice and they would hardly hear me utter a word. That meant…
Read MoreReflections on a Hit and Run accident I just experienced
“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” I’m taking a little break from the “series” for a little reflection. It’s been a while since I have felt the feeling that our lives hang by a thread. I’m grateful to be alive, that I did…
Read MoreThe Four Spiritual Laws if it were written from an Eastern Perspective: Law 2
It’s well known that emotions tend to be suppressed in Asian culture. CNN has long reported that sharing weaknesses is “taboo” in Asian cultures. More recently, Sam Louie in his book “Asian Honor” describes “Soul Murder” where Asian adults “have lost their abilities to say no, articulate what they want, set boundaries, or even acknowledge feeling…
Read MoreThe 4 Spiritual Laws from an Eastern Perspective translated into Chinese
This is just a “teaser” slide. The complete Four Spiritual Laws in Chinese are found in the link below. Also below, I introduce my translator theologian friend, Xi-Wei Wu. We’ve worked together for about 10 years, and she wrote an explanation of the Gospel from the “ground up,” meaning it is much more contextual. I wrote…
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