Jesus made an all-important statement early on in his ministry. Already based in the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament), Jesus was simply re-emphasising an essential characteristic of God’s people:

We are not first and foremost task-managers and busy-bodies. We are first and foremost sons and daughters called to hear our Father.

Yet there are 2 major hindrances to such. There are more that could be considered, no doubt. But I believe these are the 2 major ones that become barriers to hearing the voice of our Father. Continue reading

It’s that time of year again: autumn. This is the season where God displays his beauty in the shades of orange, yellow, red and brown in the leaves hanging from the trees. For me, it is also a time of anticipation as we lead up to the holiday season of Christmas. But in this time, it is also launches a debated day for some Christians. I speak of Halloween, which arrives every year on October 31. Though I no longer live in America, I am aware that it is quite a celebrated day amongst my countrymen and women, or at least their children. The stores are stocked with all things orange and black, not to mention the overflowing aisles of all things candy.

And oddly enough, though I live in Belgium, I hear that if you go into one of the main American communities just south of Brussels, into the city of Waterloo, you will see lots of jack-o-lanterns in anticipation of the day.

Certainly, Christians have debated about this day for years on end. And, no doubt, many Christians would rather decline an invitation to dress-up in a costume and march around the neighbourhood, all with the intent of speaking those infamous words, ‘Trick or Treat,’ at each door that was knocked on.

So, is Halloween harmful, even evil? Or is it just a simple ploy to get some free candy? I mean, can’t we just dress up as clowns or firemen (or Bible characters) in our attempt to collect some complimentary candy? What are we to make of all this hype, for America does know how to hype its holidays? Those are the questions that beg themselves, at least for me. Continue reading

You might have never thought much about it, but when it comes to communication, I think there is a difference between these two all-important words: reacting andresponding.

How do I see them as different from one another?

Reacting seems to be more immediate, jumping to conclusions very quickly, and, therefore, this can lead to heated communication. Here there is a lack of wisdom.

Responding, for me, points more to seasoned wisdom, in the sense of not immediately speaking without first thinking through the implications.

For many, this might simply be a case of semantics. But, as I understand communication, these are two quite different words. One is more helpful (responding); one is not as helpful (reacting). This is true in real-life person to person communication and in the midst of the world wide web (we call it the internet today).

As follower of the Christ, I believe we are called to be responders and not reactors, even when righteous anger is called for in the midst of injustice.

Understanding the Bible is not always easy. Yeah, you noticed that already. Good!

Of course, I would say, as well as many of our fathers and mothers of the faith, that the essentials concerning salvation and the foundational beliefs of Christianity are quite discernible to those who faithfully read and study the Scriptures (ala 2 Tim 3:14-17). But it’s not always so easy as opening up the Bible, reading it and then coming to a well-formed biblical theology.

Thus, at times, we need helpful resources – from theologians, even scholarly theologians. Of course, we have to want to dive into other helpful resources. I’d say it is important for us all, if not on a daily or weekly basis, then at least some kind of ongoing basis. Snacking is ok, but there are times when we need full meals. Sipping wine is ok, but there are times when we need to drink the full glass down to the dregs.

And this calls for us to engage with other resources outside the simple (but good) approach of devotional reading - ‘God, speak to me from this text.’

So I list a few of my favourite books on understanding the Bible. Most of them are not a step by step of how to do hermeneutics, the science (or art!) of interpreting, understanding and applying the biblical text. But rather these books are helpful in giving a bigger picturefor understanding the Bible. Continue reading

I recently came across this quote below. Though it is not absolutely clear who penned (or spoke) these words, most attribute the line to Plato.

This is one of the more powerful one-sentence statements that I have read in quite a while. It has really gripped my heart, leaving me to ponder it quite a lot.

You know, whenever I see people that are different from me or don’t approach life as I do, or even more, they are outright obnoxious, it’s easy to judge them. A week or so ago, some varying families that we know got together. The time was actually quite nice. But one thing that stuck with me was that one person present did not seem to have a filter on their mouth (meaning they were willing to blurt out just about anything).

I was quite judgmental as I thought about this person. And while having a filter of wisdom in which we watch our words (i.e. what we read about in Proverbs) is a very good thing, later on these words quoted above came to the forefront of my mind. Continue reading