Sharing is Caring

  The way the Lord builds His church       [Acts 4:19-20]     I have gained insight through studying Acts chapter 4 during the church leadership Bible study session.   The revelation I received is regarding how the Lord established His church (referred to as the early church).   However, what surprised me is that the pattern of how our churches are being established in this current age seems to be the opposite.   I identified the pattern of how the Lord established the early church in five steps, which I have named the "Top to Bottom Method": (1) Prayer (v. 31, see also 1:14-15), (2) Being filled with the Holy Spirit (vv. 8, 31), (3) Proclamation of the gospel (vv. 8-12), (4) Increase in believers (v. 4, see also 2:47), (5) Loving community (vv. 32-37).   However, I believe that the methods of the world are the exact opposite, which I have called the "Bottom to Top Method."   I compared the world's methods with God's ...

How to build?     [Nehemiah 3:1-3]     A phrase often used during President Bush's speeches at the Republican Convention was ‘Building a safer world and a more hopeful America.’   During his speech, President Bush mentioned several names: ‘… I am lucky to have the best Vice President   ...   I am honored to have him by my side ....’   He said that he was grateful to be walking through life with Laura Bush, saying that the American people were seeing the goodness, the kindness and the virtues of Laura Bush that she had seen 26 years ago.   He then mentioned his two daughters and close friends and parents.   During his speeches, especially at the end, as he spoke to the soldiers and their families who died fighting for freedom, I was moved and the TV showed people who shed tears.   As I listened to President Bush's speech, I compared President Bush and Nehemiah.   President Bush who wants to make America a safer and ...

The wise man who built his house on the rock         [Matthew 7:24-29]       If you live here in California, have you ever experienced an earthquake shaking your house or building?   During the 1994 Northridge Earthquake (magnitude 6.7), my apartment building shook violently.   At that time I was lying on the second floor in a bunker bed.   I was amazed at how loud it vibrated.   According to one Internet site, the Northridge earthquake in the United States did not appear in the list of the 10 most powerful earthquakes since the 20th century, but the Northridge earthquake ranked second in the disaster damage list ($44 billion) (1st place was the Kobe earthquake in Japan, estimated property damage is $100 billion) (Internet).   If I share only two pieces of information, the most powerful earthquake since the 20th century was the earthquake in Chille in May 1960 with a magnitude of 9.5.   The second and thi...