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Aim to Be a Great Communicator

2022-11-17 in /by

Hi GAMErs!  

Today’s passage is Mark 4:1-9.  Let’s go!

Mark 4:1 (NIV)
1  Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.
 
On verse 1:  According to many scholars, Jesus’ voice would project more clearly by sitting in a boat out on a lake than standing on the shore.  This would make a difference especially when speaking to a large crowd, as Jesus often would.  So church volunteers and staff who are into sound crew and sound editing, remember this:  Jesus cared about good sound!  Your ministry matters so much.  For if the sound quality is not good, it almost doesn’t matter how good the message is or how well the band plays and sings.  If Jesus was intentional about having a good sound delivery system, we should be as well. 

才德的妇女

2022-11-16 in , /by

箴言31:10  才德的妇人谁能得着呢？她的价值胜过珍珠。

阅读经文：箴言 31:10-31

10 才德的妇人谁能得着呢？她的价值胜过珍珠。 11 她丈夫心里倚靠她，必不缺少利益。 12 她一生使丈夫有益无损。 13 她寻找羊绒和麻，甘心用手做工。 14 她好像商船，从远方运粮来。 15 未到黎明她就起来，把食物分给家中的人，将当做的工分派婢女。 16 她想得田地就买来，用手所得之利栽种葡萄园。 17 她以能力束腰，使膀臂有力。 18 她觉得所经营的有利，她的灯终夜不灭。 19 她手拿撚线竿，手把纺线车。 20 她张手赒济困苦人，伸手帮补穷乏人。 21 她不因下雪为家里的人担心，因为全家都穿着朱红衣服。 22 她为自己制作绣花毯子，她的衣服是细麻和紫色布做的。 23 她丈夫在城门口与本地的长老同坐，为众人所认识。 24 她做细麻布衣裳出卖，又将腰带卖于商家。 25 能力和威仪是她的衣服，她想到日后的景况就喜笑。 26 她开口就发智慧，她舌上有仁慈的法则。 27 她观察家务，并不吃闲饭。 28 她的儿女起来称她有福，她的丈夫也称赞她， 29 说：「才德的女子很多，唯独你超过一切。」 30 艳丽是虚假的，美容是虚浮的，唯敬畏耶和华的妇女必得称赞。 31 愿她享受操作所得的，愿她的工作在城门口荣耀她。

才德的妇女，是利慕伊勒王的母亲所盼望有的媳妇。假如真的要像她所说的通通做到，可能要去订做一个机器人。难怪这世上有很少满意媳妇的婆婆，因为她所订的标准实在无人能及。为什么呢？因为她的灯终夜不灭，未到黎明就要起来，这样不用一星期或一个月，谁能不倒？但是若把她的看法分开来看，其中有许多值得我们借镜的地方。

我觉得第11节是做妻子的成功之匙。不要总是在细节上和丈夫争闹，要成为一个丈夫心里可以倚靠的女人。是心里，不是外表。正如王的母亲所说的，“她丈夫在城门口与本地的长老同坐，为众人所认识。”丈夫在外面必须有面子，所以一个才德的妇人，是在暗地里支持丈夫，从里面把他撑起来的人。不是在外面和丈夫抢荣耀的人。

Misunderstood By Your Family?

2022-11-16 in /by

Hi GAMErs!  

Today’s passage is Mark 3:31-35.  Let’s go!

Mark 3:31-35 (NIV)
31  Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.
32  A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33  “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34  Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
35  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
 
On verses 31-35:  Jesus was known for making shocking statements, but what did Jesus mean exactly when he says that “whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (v34-35)?  Jesus means that those who believe in Jesus and follow Him are Jesus’ true family.  The same goes with us today.  When you believe in Jesus and decide to follow Him, not only are you forgiven of your sins, but you become a child of God and a member of God’s family, and those who also believe in Jesus are your brothers and sisters in Christ.

You Belong to Someone Stronger

2022-11-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 3:20-30.  Let’s go!

Mark 3:20-22 (NIV)
20  Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.
21  When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
22  And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
 
On verses 20-22:  In our day a lot of people long to be famous.  But here we learn something about fame from the most famous person of all, Jesus Christ: fame is a double-edged sword.  For example:
 
You may have crowds that love you, but you’ll also find it difficult to have a normal life because of it.  For example, Jesus couldn’t eat his meal because there were people crowding him and clamouring for his attention (v20).  

一个母亲的肺腑之言

2022-11-15 in , /by

箴言31:2  我的儿啊，我腹中生的儿啊，我许愿得的儿啊，我当怎样教训你呢？

阅读经文：箴言 31:1-9

1利慕伊勒王的言语，是他母亲教训他的真言。2我的儿啊，我腹中生的儿啊，我许愿得的儿啊，我当怎样教训你呢？3不要将你的精力给妇女，也不要有败坏君王的行为。4利慕伊勒啊，君王喝酒，君王喝酒不相宜，王子说「浓酒在哪里」也不相宜。5恐怕喝了就忘记律例，颠倒一切困苦人的是非。6可以把浓酒给将亡的人喝，把清酒给苦心的人喝。7让他喝了，就忘记他的贫穷，不再记念他的苦楚。8你当为哑巴开口，为一切孤独的申冤。9你当开口按公义判断，为困苦和穷乏的辨屈。

有人知道利慕伊勒王是谁吗？知道的请提供消息。在各种查经资料里有许多猜测，在这里我只采用两种比较有可能的说法。第一是根据古老拉比们的说法，他们认为利慕伊勒Lemuel就是所罗门王。在巴比伦《塔木德》一书里指出所罗门一共有六个名字，其中有一个名字就是利慕伊勒，意思就是“towards (lemo) God (el)向着神”。

有位拉比Moncure Daniel Conway曾写过一本有关所罗门王的书，其中有一段故事发生在拔示巴和所罗门之间，和今天的经文有关。大家还记得拔示巴吗？她就是大卫王不择手段抢来的女人，所罗门就是他们的第二个孩子，第一个在神的惩罚下死了。故事是这样的，在所罗门建了圣殿，献殿的那天，所罗门王和埃及公主成婚。那天所罗门喝得酩酊大醉，到第二天才醒来。因为开圣殿的钥匙放在所罗门的枕头下面，因此无法开启圣殿的门。大家都不敢去吵醒所罗门王，因此他的母亲拔示巴进入他的卧室并责备他。

Jesus Values Teamwork

2022-11-14 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 3:7-19.  Let’s go!

Mark 3:7-19 (NIV)
7  Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.
8  When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.
9  Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.
10  For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.

On verses 7-19:  For those of you who want to make a difference in this world, remember this lesson from Jesus’ life:  It’s not enough to draw a crowd.  You need to raise a team of leaders.

Given his abilities and the crowds he was drawing, Jesus could have chosen to be a one man show.  But wisely, that wasn’t Jesus’ way.  Jesus knew the value of team.  That is why in the midst of all of his fame, popularity and busyness as a public figure, Jesus took the time here to assemble a team.

不要自找罪受

2022-11-14 in , /by

箴言30:32   你若行事愚顽自高自傲，或是怀了恶念，就当用手摀口。

阅读经文：箴言 30:32-33

32你若行事愚顽自高自傲，或是怀了恶念，就当用手摀口。33摇牛奶必成奶油，扭鼻子必出血，照样，激动怒气必起争端。

32-33 If you’re dumb enough to call attention to yourself  by offending people and making rude gestures, Don’t be surprised if someone bloodies your nose. Churned milk turns into butter;  riled motions turn into fist fights. 《The Message》

我们都知道神称迦南地为流奶与蜜之地。张文亮教授在他的《圣经与植物》一书里，曾经提及，“迦南美地是世界上花草类最多的地方，种类在两千七百种以上，而且持续有新种发现。花草多，代表可供蓄牧的草料多，奶和牛奶的生产量就多；花草多，吸引来的蜜蜂也多，所生产的蜜就多。（引用自p.23） ” 今天这节经文：“摇牛奶必成奶油”，在中东和巴勒斯坦（即迦南地）所说的奶油，和现在我们从西方人得知的奶油是一样的吗？

Don’t Miss the Big Picture

2022-11-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 3:1-6.  Let’s go!

Mark 3:1-2 (NIV)
1  Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.
2  Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

On verses 1-2:  The Pharisees were in “church”, that is, in the synagogue, but their focus was not on worshiping Yahweh.  Their focus was looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, to see in particular if Jesus would heal a worshipper in attendance with a shriveled hand.

How about you?  When you go to church, is your focus on giving God your best worship or are you more focused on seeing the people and judging what they do?  It’s no wonder Jesus was angry and “deeply distressed” (v5) by the way the Pharisees conducted themselves in the synagogue.

各类型的领袖

2022-11-13 in , /by

箴言30:29   步行威武的有三样，连行走威武的共有四样。

阅读经文：箴言 30:29-31

29步行威武的有三样，连行走威武的共有四样，30就是狮子，乃百兽中最为猛烈、无所躲避的，31猎狗、公山羊和无人能敌的君王。

狮子型的领袖

「狮子乃百兽中最为猛烈，无所躲避的．」(箴言三十：30)

「狮子」的原文在箴言里有丰富的涵义，在这里有「猛烈分开」的意思。狮子有利爪、利牙，爆发力，冲劲，吼叫声音又大，经常采主动攻击，难怪是百兽之王。要想对抗牠的，将会被撕得粉碎。这类比要成为领袖的人，需要勇往向前，遇到阻碍，解开问题，为后面的跟随者，开出一条路。如同施洗约翰「预备主的道，修直祂的路。」(马可福音一：3)

需要有狮子的领袖，才能接受托负，完成任务；承续异象，完成使命。当我们靠主，有颗狮子的心，许多前面的雾气就消除。在困难的事上，主会给我们狮子的力量，去征服。(张文亮教授)