Sacred Space
I’m reading the story of Joseph this week and it strikes me how his life was a continuous cycle of ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs. One minute he’s the favored son, the next an exiled slave in a faraway land. He’s up with Potiphar, then down in jail, favored in prison, […]
Behind the Curtain
Could it be that it is God Himself who brings about the “winter of our discontent”, the collapse of our joy in the work of our hands? Is it possible that sometimes He must do this, so as to wrench us away from our myopic concentration on our own perceived ability to please Him? Perhaps […]
Forgiveness
“…unless you forgive your brother from your heart…” – Matt. 18:35b It’s easy to reflexively think of forgiveness as a sort of one-shot deal, where you say some magic words and everything is fixed and fine. But what about those times when you say the words, but your heart keeps churning afterwards? Does that mean […]
Outside the Camp
Jesus ruined everything. “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood. Let us, then, go to Him outside the camp, […]
Jesus’ Joy
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross…” Hebrews 12:2 Have you ever played Scrabble (or any other word-type game), and been trying to make some simple word, when all of a sudden you looked down and realized that […]
Traitors and Tyrants
“Why do You idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” -Habakkuk 1:13b Judas was a traitor, used of God to fulfill His purposes (John 17:12). What of him? Consider the pagan conqueror Cyrus, “whose right hand I [the LORD] have grasped, to subdue nations […]
Expectation
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.” -Psalm 130:5-6 (ESV) I walked in to the sanctuary of the large Korean Assemblies of God church and I could feel it in […]
Worship in Waiting
“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I hope.” – Psalm 130:5 In 2001, my grandfather lost his words. He had been visiting family out of town when he had a stroke, and fortunately they were able to get him proper medical care that saved his life and prevented much […]
Chinese Drywall (pt.2)
“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” – 1 Timothy 4:16 Chinese drywall could be one of the best things that ever happened to us. That’s probably not something you’d expect to hear from someone who’s being forced […]
Chinese Drywall (pt.1)
“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” – 1 Timothy 4:16 I never thought it would happen to me. Just the other day, I was thinking and thanking God that out of the dozens of houses in […]
