Spring of Hope

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  Parables are simple life stories Jesus used to teach about spiritual truths. They raise intense curiosity, promising more for seekers. The interested ones will be inspired and uninterested will walk away uninspired. They are not myths or fables, nor are they doctrines or prophecies. The parable of "the prodigalson" one of the most popular stories ever told. It has been described as "the Gospel within the Gospel" because the gospel is the love story of God to mankind. A kind father and two sons lived together. The younger son rejected the home and claimed his inheritanace and went to a far away land. There, he wasted all his wealth and became lonely and homeless. Then he remembered about his life in his father's home and decided to return. He repented and returned to the father asking for forgiveness. The kind father took him back as son and arranged great welc...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  Parables are simple life stories Jesus used to teach about spiritual truths. They raise intense curiosity, promising more for seekers. The interested ones will be inspired and uninterested will walk away uninspired. They are not myths or fables, nor are they doctrines or prophecies. A kind father and two sons lived together. The younger son rejected the home and claimed his inheritanace and went to a far away land. There, he wasted all his wealth and became lonely and homeless. Then he remembered about his life in his father's home and decided to return. He repented and returned to the father asking for forgiveness and to take him back as a servant. The older son lived with the father, but was also unhappy and lost in discontentment. The story is not just about the sons, but more about a loving father who restores and reconciles. It has been described as "the Gospel withi...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  Parables are simple life stories Jesus used to teach about spiritual truths. They raise intense curiosity, promising more for seekers. The interested ones will be inspired and uninterested will walk away uninspired. They are not myths or fables, nor are they doctrines or prophecies. A kind father and two sons lived together. The younger son rejected the home and claimed his inheritanace and went to a far away land. There, he wasted all his wealth and became lonely and homeless. Then he remembered about his life in his father's home and decided to return. He repented and returned to the father asking for forgiveness and to take him back as a servant. The older son lived with the father, but was also unhappy and lost discontentment. The story is not just about the sons, but more about a loving father who restores and reconciles. It has been described as "the Gospel within t...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  The story of the prodigal son is the story of a sweet home where two sons and a father lived. Thre is no mention of a mother or sister. It was a wealthy houselhold where there was plenty to share. The younger son rejected the home and and left for a far away place and ruined his inheritance and became so poor that he didnt have a place to live or food to eat. Then he remembered about the father's home and ultimately returns. There are people who are upset that the father did not do anything to search the son. There is no reference to say that the father did not. Knowing how kind this father turned out to be, I believe this father must have done everything possible to contact him. In fact, I believe that he was in constant touch with him, and would have asked him to come back several times. Somehow the father 'saw' (meaning knew) his son coming back. There are two rememb...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  Today's world is filled with choices. We can choose our own lifestyle, living style, purchasing, social media and and so on. We can find selection of makes and models of cars we can choose, fast food outlets to eat at, soaps we can buy and not to mention the number of TV channels. It is a gift God gave us in the form of creativity. Such a trait is not developed anywhere near in other species. This wonderful gift to make thoughtful and intelligent choices was given to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. “You may freely eat any fruit in the garden” (Genesis 2:16). They were given responsibilities along with their freedom, to live and keep up the garden. Freedom of choice comes with responsibility to choose between good and evil. A lot of people don’t like to be decision makers. They want decisions to be made for them. Ronald Reagan learned from a very young age that it is bet...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  There are thirty one unique parables, found in the first three gospels only(the synoptic gospels). They reveal just enough truth to raise intense curiosity, promising more for interested listeners and seekers. The uninterested will leave uninspired while the truth seekers will leave inspired. They are not to be taken as doctrines or prophecies, rather they must be studied in context. The parable of the 'prodigal son' is one of the most well known stories of the world. George Murray said that this parable is "the most divinely tender and most humanly touching story ever told on earth." Charles Dickens described it as "the finest short story ever written." Many theologians have described it as "the Gospel within the Gospel." Jesus spoke the parable of the lost son after he told the parable of  a lost sheep that was part of a group of one hundred ...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  The word “parable” is derived from the Greek word 'parabole' meaning ‘putting things side by side’.” A parable is basically when one story is laid out beside another story, and the two stories run beside one another. In other words, the two stories are “parallel” to each other.Life on earth has two realms dimensions, one physical, and the other spiritual. They run parallel to each other. Two dimensions coexist at the same time, running side by side. When Jesus spoke in parables he revealed the mystery of the kingdom of heaven. He is teaching us to see past this perceived reality of life to eternity. Jesus is the bridge that spans dimensions. He was fully man and fully God in One. He spans the gap between human perception of life and eternity. We see parables of Jesus only in the Synoptic Gospels. (Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as synoptic gospels which include many of the same...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  Joe likes to sing in the choir. But he was always off beat and off notes and it was affecting the choir as a whole. The efforts of the choir director to get him out of the choir were not working. Joe thinks he is doing a fantastic job and is so excited to be part of the choir. Finally, the choir director approached the pastor. The Pastor called Joe and said, “I think you are good fit for leading the children’s church and I want you to take that responsibility. Joe said, “no pastor, that is the time when the choir sings, and I cannot miss the choir.” The Pastor then asked him to take up an usher position and he refused. “Pastor, you know I sing in the choir, and I cannot miss it”, said Joe. After trying several things, Pastor finally told him, ”Joe, some people have told me that you can’t sing, and you need to get out of the choir”. Joe was shocked, and paused for a moment and ...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  A leader in a seminar on leadership showed a demonstration. He took a wide-mouth jar and filled it with rocks and asked the audience “Is the jar full?”. “Yes,” came a reply. Then he poured smaller pebbles into the jar to fill the spaces between the rocks. “Is it full now?” “Yes,” said someone else. “Oh, really?” He then filled the remaining spaces with sand and shook the jar to fill the spaces. “Is it full now?” he asked. “Probably not,” said another, to the amusement of the audience. Then he took a pitcher of water and poured it into the jar. “What’s the lesson we learn from this?” he asked. An eager participant spoke up, “No matter how full the jar is, there’s always room for more.” “Not quite,” said the leader. “The lesson is: in order to get everything in the jar, you must always put the big things in first.” Martha and Mary were sisters who sincerely welcomed Jesus to their h...