Entries by

Faith That Makes A Difference

2022-11-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 2:1-12.  Let’s go!

Mark 2:1 (NIV)
1  A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.
 
On verse 1:  Wait. Wasn’t Jesus born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth?  Why do people say that Jesus has come home when he returned to Capernaum?  It’s because Capernaum is known as the place that Jesus treated as his hub or his base when his public ministry began. 

Mark 2:2-4 (NIV)
2  So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
3  Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.
4  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
 
On verses 2-4:  Here’s one of my favourite leadership equations, coined by Pastor Craig Groeschel:  Passion + Limited Resources + A Willingness to Fail = Innovation.

何等恩典

2022-11-10 in , /by

箴言30:21   使地震动的有三样，连地担不起的共有四样。

阅读经文：箴言 30:21-23

21使地震动的有三样，连地担不起的共有四样，22就是仆人做王，愚顽人吃饱，23丑恶的女子出嫁，婢女接续主母。

这亚古珥也太幽默了一些，这些事情在现代人眼中，好像不算什么，因为经常发生在我们眼前。但我相信，在古时候，这些事真是会让人惊讶得几乎下巴都要跌下来了！使地震动表示连地都感到震惊，太不可思议了！因为地是承受一切的，人的活动有何事能逃过地的“眼睛”。我们千万不要以为地是毫无知觉的，神曾告诉以色列人，“在你们以先居住那地的人行了这一切可憎恶的事，地就玷污了—— 免得你们玷污那地的时候，地就把你们吐出，像吐出在你们以先的国民一样”（利18:27-28）。所以当亚古珥说地会震动时，表示那些事前所未有，不曾听过，实在骇人。

但是现在我们看了很多，也听了很多类似的事，可见世界已经变化到一个地步，这些事情我们都见怪不怪了。第一件是仆人作王，毕牧师译为：when the janitor becomes the boss，当扫地的变成老板。这事有什么奇怪呢？只要发奋图强，没有受过高等教育白手起家的人很多，而且许多成功的企业家出身都很贫贱，有很多摆过地摊、扫地洗厕所也可以闯出一番事业的。

The Touch of Your Hand

2022-11-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 1:40-45.  Let’s go!

Mark 1:40-42 (NIV)
40  A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41  Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”
42  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
 
On verses 40-42:  When the leper cried out to Jesus for help, Jesus showed that he was full of compassion as well as the power to heal.  What touches me most is the way Jesus healed this leper: he touched him. 

神那测不透的奇妙

2022-11-09 in , /by

箴言30:19   就是鹰在空中飞的道，蛇在磐石上爬的道，船在海中行的道，男与女交合的道。

阅读经文：箴言 30:18-20

18 我所测不透的奇妙有三样，连我所不知道的共有四样， 19 就是鹰在空中飞的道，蛇在磐石上爬的道，船在海中行的道，男与女交合的道。 20 淫妇的道也是这样，她吃了把嘴一擦，就说：「我没有行恶。」

在这世上有哪些事让你想不透呢？你再想想，就会发现不止是三样或四样。所以亚古珥是抛砖引玉，要让我们思想神的作为何等超乎人的智慧，人的罪性又何等愚妄自欺。“我所测不透的奇妙”，《现代中文译本》译为：神祕莫测的事，《思高译本》译为：令我称奇的事，《吕振中译本》译为：奇妙事超乎我的智力之外。

我们现在有Discovery （探索频道）出的视频，向我们解释很多生物界的奇妙现象。但是以前的人没有这样方便的管道，因此要想破头也无法明白。有个人住在香港一间公寓的37楼，经常会看到大麻鹰在空中盘旋。经过长期的观察，他发现麻鹰的飞行方法很像一只纸鸢。

蚂蟥世代

2022-11-08 in , /by

箴言30:15   蚂蟥有两个女儿，常说：「给呀！给呀！」有三样不知足的，连不说够的共有四样。

阅读经文：箴言 30:15-17

15蚂蟥有两个女儿，常说：「给呀！给呀！」有三样不知足的，连不说够的共有四样，16就是阴间和石胎，浸水不足的地，并火。(新译本：就是阴间、不能生育的妇人、水源不足之地和总不说『够了』的火。)17 戏笑父亲，藐视而不听从母亲的，他的眼睛必为谷中的乌鸦啄出来，为鹰雏所吃。

蚂蟥世代

「蚂蟥有两个女儿，常说，给呀给呀。」(箴言三十：15)

蚂蟥是水蛭，吸血维生，经常在溪流、水田等潮溼的地方活动。吸血的方式是口部有两个吸孔，贴住动物或人的表皮，从微血管吸血。蚂蟥吸血容量，可到身体的4-5倍，能将身体吸到胀起来。吸一次血，可维持2-3个月的食物量，甚至撑半年，再等下一次的机会。

上 帝在此提醒我们，与人相处，不是像蚂蟥，将人吸干，自己得饱足。有些媒体就像蚂蟥，抓到一个人，将其吸干，毁了对方才放掉，媒体的暴力本质，比所放的暴力 节目更血腥。可怕的是，观众也像蚂蟥推导媒体朝这方向去，变成一堆蚂蟥在吸媒体，媒体又去找猎物，供大家病态式的取乐，情绪性的满足。

Face Time with the Father

2022-11-08 in /by

Hi GAMErs!  

Today’s passage is Mark 1:29-39.  Let’s go!

Mark 1:29-31 (NIV)
29  As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.
30  Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her.
31  So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
 
On verses 29-31:  In Mark 1:21-22, we saw Jesus’ power to teach God’s Word.  In Mark 1:23-27 we saw Jesus’ power to drive out evil spirits.  Now in Mark 1:29-34 we see Jesus’ power to heal the sick, beginning with Simon’s mother-in-law.   
 
Notice how Simon’s mother-in-law responded after Jesus healed her: “she began to wait on them” (v31), that is, to serve Jesus and his team.  The same should be our response to Jesus as well after we witness and experience Jesus’ power in our lives.  May we not be consumers who just keep wanting more and more things from Jesus, treating him like our servant.  Rather, like Peter’s mother-in-law, may our response be to serve Jesus and His followers rather than always wanting to be served.

The G.O.A.T.

2022-11-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 1:21-28.  Let’s go!

Mark 1:21-22 (NIV)
21  They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.
22  The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

On verses 21-22:  Jesus was far more than just a teacher, but what a teacher he was.  There was something about Jesus’ teachings that carried weight and “authority” that other teachers of the time did not have (v22).  Not only did Jesus amaze people with His teachings when Jesus walked this earth, but two thousand years later no one else’s teachings have ever come close to having the impact that Jesus’ teachings have had and still have.  When it comes to our sins, Jesus is our sacrificial lamb, and when it comes to teaching humanity, Jesus is the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time).  So when you open your Bible and read Jesus’ teachings, remember that you are reading the most precious, brilliant and powerful teachings that there have ever been. The most important and powerful words you can cling to are Jesus’ words.

跳出以自我为中心的人生

2022-11-07 in , /by

箴言30:10  你不要向主人谗谤仆人，恐怕他咒诅你，你便算为有罪。

阅读经文：箴言 30:10-14

10你不要向主人谗谤仆人，恐怕他咒诅你，你便算为有罪。11有一宗人，咒诅父亲，不给母亲祝福。12有一宗人，自以为清洁，却没有洗去自己的污秽。13有一宗人，眼目何其高傲，眼皮也是高举。14有一宗人，牙如剑，齿如刀，要吞灭地上的困苦人和世间的穷乏人。

新译本： “不要向主人诽谤他的仆人，恐怕他咒诅你，你就判为有罪。有一种人咒诅父亲，又不给母亲祝福。有一种人自以为清洁，却没有洗去自己的污秽。有一种人眼目多么高傲，他们的眼睛，长在顶上。 有一种人牙如剑，齿如刀，要吞灭地上的困苦人和世人中的贫穷人。

在这段经文里，亚古珥让我们看到五种人，这五种人有一个共通的特点，便是自私自利和自以为是，应该可以说就是以自我为中心。第一种人向主人诽谤他的仆人，也就是打小报告。这种人觉得别人做得不好，深怕主人不知道，便打小报告，要让主人以为他很为主人着想。他也是仆人，但是要踩着别人的脊梁往上爬，不是靠实力，而是靠告发他人，以赢取上司的喜悦。他在背后踩人，人家自然讨厌他，咒诅他。在神的面前，这种人算为有罪。

Don’t Get Stuck in “Preparation Mode”

2022-11-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today we begin the Gospel of Mark.  Though the author does not identify himself in this gospel, early church writers unanimously claim Mark (also known as John Mark – see for example Acts 12:12, 25) as the author, which in some respects would be a strange choice if it were not true.  Mark was a close co-worker of Jesus’ disciple Peter, whom Peter even calls “my son” (1 Peter 5:13).  Thus many scholars believe that Mark wrote his gospel based at least in part on the eyewitness testimony of Peter.  It is also believed by many scholars that Mark wrote this gospel while in Rome between approximately 57 and 63 A.D. (although some scholars have suggested an earlier date).  Shortly after this Emperor Nero would begin his severe persecution of the church in Rome, which as tradition holds is where Peter eventually would die a martyr’s death.

Many scholars agree that the gospel of Mark was probably the first of the New Testament gospels to be written and was an important reference book for Matthew and Luke to refer to when they wrote their gospels.

Today’s passage is Mark 1:1-20.  Let’s go!

亚古珥求两件事

2022-11-06 in , /by

箴言30:8  求祢使虚假和谎言远离我；使我也不贫穷也不富足，赐给我需用的饮食。

阅读经文：箴言 30:7-8

7我求你两件事，在我未死之先不要不赐给我：8求你使虚假和谎言远离我；使我也不贫穷也不富足，赐给我需用的饮食。9恐怕我饱足不认你，说：「耶和华是谁呢？」又恐怕我贫穷就偷窃，以致亵渎我神的名。

托尔斯泰曾经写了一个寓言收在《呆子伊凡》这本故事集里，名字叫做〈魔鬼与农夫〉。话说有个老魔鬼看到人的生活实在太幸福了，便想去扰乱一下，尽尽做魔鬼的本份。他派了一个小魔鬼去打一个农夫，因为那个农夫每天殷勤工作，所得却甚少，却十分快乐满足。

小魔鬼就去把农夫的田地变硬，让农夫挖土挖得很辛苦。但是农夫并未因此而抱怨，只是更殷勤地敲打地，小魔鬼失败地走了。大魔鬼派第二个小魔鬼去，小魔鬼心想农夫不怕工作辛苦，但是没有体力就不行了吧？于是牠偷走农夫的面包跟水。没想到农夫找不到面包跟水，说：“不晓得哪个可怜的人比我更需要那块面包跟水？如果这些东西就能让他得温饱的话，那就好了。”于是小魔鬼又逃走了。