Spring of Hope

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  In the gospels and the Book of Acts we read that Jesus remained on earth for 40 days after resurrection. During that time, He was seen by over 500 people. Then He led his Disciples out to the Mount of Olives and, and as they watched, He ascended up into Heaven. (Luke 24: 50). Luke is also the author of the Book of Acts. While he is repeating the story, he writes about two promises. One was the promise of the Holy Spirt and they are to wait for “the promise of the Father.” The other promise was about the return of Jesus. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was taken up into the clouds, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). They were to wait f...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  In the 2000 years of Christianity, there are only two recorded occasions where the church was officially closed around the world. The first was during the Spanish Flu which occurred in 1918 and ended in 1920. This year 2020 will be the second time this has happened due to the COVID -19, exactly a hundred years after the first one. Wars and persecution did not close the church in the past, swords and battles did not stop worship in history. Today the church is closed like those who lived 100 years ago during the Spanish Flu. We are asked to worship from home because of an invisible enemy that threatens our health and life. The gatherings and the rituals we cherish have become public danger and if we must survive, life as we know it must be put on hold or we need to adapt. Pope Francis lamented the present predicament when he noted that “a thick darkness has gathered over our squares,...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  Master Chef is a reality TV show that has become popular. Cooks are all given a box with the same ingredients and must use only those ingredients to create a dish within a fixed amount of time. The judges will select 3 dishes to taste based on visual appearance and technique. The 3 judges taste the dish, and vote "yes" or "no"; 2 "yes" votes are required for the chef to move on and receive a MasterChef apron, while those who fail to do so leave the competition. When the Lord becomes the chef, we all win. Gospel writer John describes the last days of after resurrection in Chapter 21. The resurrected Lord Jesus is described as hosting a breakfast on the beach. The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus must have been bewildering and puzzling. It says in verse 14 that this was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he rose from the dead. H...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  Someone said, “I don't like surprises. I am afraid of them because surprises are either too good to believe, or too bad to accept.” Like them or not, surprises are inevitable in this world. God gives us some surprises throughout our lives. Abraham was surprised by three visitors while he was resting under a tree (Gen 18) and was surprised to hear that he was going to have a child at the age of 100. Mary and Joseph were surprised by the visit of angel to tell them that they are going to be the parents of the savior of  the world. Moses was in the desert when he found God in a burning bush, Isaiah was in Babylon with exiled people when he prophesied, Job was in the midst of pain and calamity when he experienced the surprising power of God. The one consistent element in the gospel accounts of that first Easter morning is that everyone was surprised. No one expected an empty...