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Posts Tagged ‘faith’

By Joy L Wong

Photo by Alexis

These days, the times when I most realize that good teachers should not be taken for granted is when my daughter asks me for help with her math homework. Despite my own knowledge of the subject matter, in the process of my explanations, somehow she nearly always ends up in tears. I then realize that I should have deferred the matter to my husband, who used to be a math teacher. A few minutes of explanation from him and she understands!

Clearly, good teachers not only know the subject matter that they are teaching, but they know how to explain things in a way that their students will be able to understand (and hopefully, without too much frustration in the process). But if ever there was a teacher with one of the most difficult subject matters to teach, it had to be Jesus. His teachings in regards to his coming suffering and death and what it would mean to all people were incredibly difficult to understand, and his teachings of the Kingdom of God were often surprising even to the learned religious leaders and teachers of the law (ie. Pharisees), and certainly difficult to live out and follow, even for us today.

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By April Yamasaki

Photo by TiênSinh

When I was called to serve as an interim pastor, I had a Master of Christian Studies degree, some experience preaching, teaching, and being involved in congregational life, but no particular pastoral experience. The church’s senior pastor had left abruptly the year before, and the church had been searching for new leadership without success.

So the church asked me to serve while they continued to search, and the conference minister in my denomination agreed to meet with me periodically during that interim time. To my surprise, God took me from not at all thinking about pastoral ministry to being curious and then excited about what I might learn and contribute to the church during the next number of months.

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By Margaret Yu

Photo by karinasetiawan

Here is the promise of the Gospel and the message of the whole Bible: In Jesus Christ, we are given a Friend who will always enjoy rather than refuse our presence. –Dane Ortlund (Gentle & Lowly, 2020, p. 115)

One of the most enduring memories I have from my adolescent years is sitting at what I called the “awkward teenager/children’s banquet table.” Growing up, I attended nine-course Chinese banquet celebrations, and while I loved the food, I dreaded being assigned to the designated tables for non-adults. There were really only two table categories: adults and everyone else. As a child or teenager, I always found myself at the “everyone else” table. The food was the same, but somehow, it always felt like a second-class experience.

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Photo by Marina Del Castell

Photo by Marina Del Castell

By Dorcas Cheng-Tozun

I was fourteen. My father was gravely ill, hospitalized with a disease that was killing him. And the advice I heard over and over again from trusted adults in my life was this: “If you pray hard enough, God will heal your dad.” (more…)

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Photo by Lel4nd

Photo by Lel4nd

By Jerrica Ching

Last week I took advantage of a low-priced airfare special to fly back home to Hawaii for about six days.  It was a very short trip, yet with leafless trees, an earlier sunset, and temperatures gradually dropping, those six sunshine-filled days with my family and friends made it all worth it.  (more…)

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Photo by mikebaird

By Uyen Dang

Restless for over four years, I had been seeking a career or life change. However, the Lord kept on telling me to “wait for him.”  Being a person who is used to making decisions and being proactive, it was difficult to wait for him instead of taking matters in my own hands. (more…)

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