Smallest Seed

Image from ZipRecruiter. One book author said it well. Most churches today lack love, especially for sinners. They may love each other in church but they often neglect non-Christians who sometimes feel left out or out-of-place because believers keep their church fellowships too tightly sealed---like an exclusive club. Non-believers find it hard to squeeze their way in. But what's the solution? The popular notion today is to give special treatment to the unchurched. I even read something about asking people what they want or expect from a church and build church from that foundation. In other words, go after people. They say that demonstrates "love" for sinners. Yeah, once upon a time I also thought so. I made sure I entertained visitors in church, made them feel welcome so they'd go back next Sunday. I thought that was how Jesus did it---until one day I sought Scriptures to confirm it. Sinners Should Pursue Jesus (That's God's Love) To my surprise,

Image from Daily Mirror. Thank God he is full of grace and mercy. With the same, we should be gracious and merciful to others as well. But here's the problem---most believers misuse them. They think it's a dole out, a grace and mercy spree. And they fondly call it "giving a second chance." They lack wisdom on how God uses these divine helps. I often see pastors giving another leadership chance to their leaders who fell into willful sin. Like that church leader who left his wife and did adultery with another woman. He was suspended from ministry for a while but the pastor later simply put him back to leadership roles even without repentance. The pastor reasoned, repentance was between the sinner and God. So, there he was, this erring leader, doing ministry again even if he continued with an adulterous relationship. And the pastor thought what he did was in line with God's grace and mercy. Second Chance? Give guys like that "second chance"? God

Image from Optimal. There was a time I tired of going to church. Really. I was excited about God but not anymore the church---I mean "church" as religious people have made it---the programs and activities and everything they do there "for God" which had all become meaningless to me. What they called "ministry." Since then, I've always looked for churches that look like Jesus' ministry and the Acts church. Especially preaching---I really tired of hearing about church growth and strategies and how to reach people out there and bring them in church---and inspirational preaching about them. These are important but NOT as important as the one thing that Mary chose and which Martha didn't see. This story has been there in the bible but the church has never really learned from it. They still prioritize what makes them worry and upset about many things and neglect the one thing that's really needed. I heard this preaching in church year i

Image from ShareFaith. You'd probably say an angel told the shepherds to go to the manger scene so they ended up there. Not quite. But this is what most people think happened. Actually, the angel simply tickled their imagination and aroused their curiosity. Anyone proclaiming the good news about Jesus Christ should use this Kingdom principle instead of "trapping" people into attending their churches each Sunday. But why shepherds? Why did they have to be there? Why not prominent people like Herod or the rich? Shepherds were the poorest people and the lowest type of laborers at the time. They were unschooled and often rough mannered. And yet, they were the first to be told of the birth of Jesus. But first things first---take note that God chose to send his Son to a poor family when he came to the world to save us. It was no accident. It was pre-planned. Father, Son and Holy Spirit sat down and carefully planned all this and decided to go to a poor and weak nati

Image from Top Documentary Films. Many times, bible truth does not coincide with our experience in the mundane world. For instance, we are told to be holy for God is holy. That's truth. We can be holy. Otherwise, God would not have told us so. But actual experience tells us otherwise. We find it easier to fall into sin than live in holiness. So, some people conclude, it's impossible to live holy in this world. That's why we are saved by grace. But God intended that grace and righteousness should go together. "Grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" [Rom.5.21]. It's not grace versus holiness but grace and righteousness. It's a package. However, just because in our experience we often fail to live righteously, we conclude that holiness is not really feasible in this life so we must rely on God's grace alone. Then we form doctrines out of that, saying no matter how we live, as long as we hold on to God

Servants and Tenants in the Kingdom I don't know if you've noticed it. But in one Kingdom parable, Jesus let us look closer into some realities in God's Kingdom. Matthew 21 tells us of a story about a landowner, tenants, servants and a vineyard. The vineyard was left by the owner to tenants who had to give him his share of the fruit. The owners sent his servants to collect it for him. I know this is about how Israel rebelled against God in the Old Testament no matter how many prophets God sent them to repent. Then last of all, he sent his Son Jesus whom they killed. But this story can have lots of other insights for the church. After all, the Christian church is very much a part of God's chosen people through Christ. We are no longer aliens and strangers but fellow citizens in the new spiritual Israel. So, in the Kingdom, there are servants and tenants. Tenants work the vineyard while servants are sent to collect the owner's fruit. But in the story, the t

Images above from Dreamstime and Flickr. Salt and Light Few things are important in the Kingdom---like being salt and light. On these two depends your effectiveness in the Kingdom. You may look so good and effective in ministry, but if you lose your saltiness and don't shine properly as light, you're nothing in the Kingdom. In fact, being salt and light of the world is more important than any church "ministry" or activity. Being salt and light is what keeps us from ending up like the Pharisees and religious law teachers---salt that had lost its saltiness and light that was kept under the bed or a bowl. They were experts when it came to the Word of God but they never lived it out. They lacked character results. They lacked fruit. If you live out the Word, you live the Beatitude Life. As long as the Beatitudes is seen in you, you are salt and light. You are effective in the Kingdom. Salt Salt is good as long as it keeps its saltiness. "Saltiness"