So Much Depends on Leadership

/in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Micah 3:1-12.  Let’s go!

Micah 3:1-4 (NIV) 
1  Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice,
2  you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones;
3  who eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?”
4  Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.

On verses 1-4: God wants leaders to “embrace justice” (v1), but instead Micah finds that the leaders of Jacob (another name for Israel) “hate good and love evil” (v2).  Micah uses cannibalistic imagery to describe how Israel’s leaders take advantage of and abuse the people (v3).  Micah says that because of their evil ways, the Lord will not listen to them when they cry out (v4).

Read more

窗户上的两滴眼泪

/in /by

「希伯来书10章23节  也要坚守我们所承认的指望，不致摇动，因为那应许我们的是信实的。

昨天教会的线上敬拜邀请了两位意想不到的来宾，就是几年前被中国抓去关起来的一对加拿大夫妇。我还记得那时教会和脸书上有些机构都呼求为他们祷告。看到他们本人现身，让人迫不及待想知道他们的经历。(以下是简录)

Kevin 和 Julia Garratt原本住在温哥华，读多伦多大学时相识，相恋。一结婚就接到去中国的大学教英文的邀请，成为中共在文革后第一批邀请的当中的两位外国教师。那时他们十分年轻，自嘲像他们那样单纯的人最不可能被当成间谍了。可是事情的发展超乎他们意料之外。

神给了他们两人有同样的感动，两人都希望到中国去服事，他们在中国工作了卅年，除了教英文之外，还参与各种援助工作，教育和社会事业，例如帮助孤儿院和传福音。在2008-2014年间，他们在靠近朝鲜边境的一个地方丹东开了一间咖啡店，为中国和朝鲜的边缘化社区提供一些援助。

在2014年八月的某一天晚上，他们和朋友在一家餐馆吃饱饭后，两人出电梯后分别被不同的警察带走，罪名是：“你是间谍！” Julia害怕极了，在心里不停地祷告。后来她被推入一间当地称的”黑房＂(black jail) 因为那是外界不知道的地方)。 牢房很小，24小时开灯，室内一直有两个警卫监视她。她开始迫切祷告：「神啊，祢在哪里？在这样被隔离中，祢对我有怎样的计划呢？」

Read more

Whom You Listen To Affects How You Live

/in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Micah 2:1-13.  Let’s go!

Micah 2:1-5 (NIV) 
1  Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
2  They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance.
3  Therefore, the LORD says: “I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.
4  In that day men will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.'”
5  Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by lot.

On verses 1-5:  God plans disaster (v3-5) for those who plan disaster against others (v1-2).  Move over Captain America and Iron Man.  The ultimate avenger is Yahweh who says, “It is mine to avenge.  I will repay.” (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19)

Read more

蝙蝠与蝗虫相互消长的意义

/in /by

「不可吃的……蝙蝠」(利未记11:13、19)

学生问道：「老师，你有没有想过为什么上帝创造了蝙蝠，却叫人不要吃蝙蝠？这是不是为难人？」

上帝叫人不要吃蝙蝠，没有为难人，是叫我们不要为难蝙蝠。

上帝的创造也不是都要给人吃，例如上帝创造太阳，祂没有要人把太阳，当太阳饼，拿来吃。

让我先介绍早期的「客家人」，有种很棒的知识，他们将蝙蝠当成祝福的象征。有蝙蝠，就等于作物、果树有丰收。甚至在房子的墙壁，画上蝙蝠，当成期盼蒙福的记号。

蝙蝠，在世界六大洲都有。热带、亚热带、温带、寒带，夜间的天空，都有蝙蝠在飞。蝙蝠不怕冷热，与牠们披着一身毛绒，可以隔热有关。

普世昆虫不能生长过多，蝙蝠是主要的调控者。会飞的昆虫，例如蚊子、蚱蜢、蝗虫、夜蛾、白蚁、螳螂、蟑螂等，蝙蝠都吃，而且大吃。蝙蝠一个晚上可以吃体重十分之一的昆虫。

蝙蝠会发出高频率的音波，不只侦察昆虫，而且会相互呼唤，一群蝙蝠会吃一大群的蝗虫。

蝙蝠大都在日落前三十分钟，出来觅食，清晨休息。蝗虫白天飞翔，大都是为了吃。晚上飞翔，是为迁移，那刚好是蝙蝠寻找食物的时候，减少蝗虫最好的方法，是蝙蝠多一些。

Read more

The Sin That Derailed Us and The Son That Redeemed Us

/in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin the book of Micah.  Written by a prophet called Micah (short for “Micaiah” meaning “who is like Yahweh”), this book prophesies about the destruction of Israel (the northern kingdom) at the hands of the Assyrians and the takeover of Judah (the southern kingdom) by the Babylonians, but also points to the day when both Israel and Judah would be restored.  Micah himself was from Moresheth, a town in the southern kingdom of Judah who ministered as a prophet in Judah during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  This suggests that Micah’s ministry – and this book – took place between 750 and 686 B.C.

Today’s passage is Micah 1:1-16.  Let’s go!

Micah 1:1 (NIV) 
1  The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah–the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

On verse 1:  Samaria was the capital city of Israel (the northern kingdom) and Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah (the southern kingdom).  When Micah refers to Samaria, here he means the entire kingdom of Israel.  When he refers to Jerusalem, he means the entire kingdom of Judah.

Read more