Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

Start Your New Year Jesus’ Way Luke 2:41–52 What I like about New Year is that it allows me to start over again. It’s like a fresh new diary book to write another 365 pages of my dream journey. Whether you regard 2024 as a successful year for you or not, the new year gives you another starting point to renew your dream. Another thing I like about the New Year is that it marks a new milestone in an incredible miracle in history. Our calendar is a testimony to Jesus Christ. We often neglect the significance of the calendar we see every day. 2025 means it has been two thousand and twenty-five years since the birth of Jesus Christ, more or less. It’s a miracle because it was about a child born to a young peasant woman in an obscure town behind an obscure inn in a probably smelly manger. After his birth, his king tried to murder him, so his family had to escape to Egypt. He was a refugee kid. Even the town he grew up in later was so obscure that people in those days believed nothing good could come out of Nazareth. With all the obstacles and obscurity, this child broke human history into two parts: BC and AD—BCE and CE to make it politically correct. No matter how you call it, 2025 still points back to the birth of Christ. Each time you put down your signature, you refer to Jesus Christ by putting the date next to it. Even the atheist communists must make reference to him. Christmas is not just a joyful winter solstice celebration or a year-end commercial festival. We must not see it any less than the immense impact of an obscure child that divided our history into two parts. Each time I look at the calendar, I see the evidence of a miracle that only God could have done. As we prepare for the New Year and take another shot at life to make it more fruitful, I believe we can learn significantly from this divine child who has made the maximum impact in the world. This Sunday’s scripture lesson gives us a clue on how Jesus grew in three aspects of life: Wisdom, Maturity, and Charisma, which I call the three pillars of personal growth for maximum impact. According to Luke, that’s how the divine child grew up, and we can use these three pillars as our reference when making New Year's resolutions. Let’s check it out.

I read Leo Tolstoy’s Resurrection a few years ago. It was his last novel, published when he was 71. I have discovered that reading someone’s final works gives you the best of their lifetime wisdom, especially from a great thought leader like Tolstoy. Most of you know Tolstoy for his famous book War and Peace. But did you know he had a spiritual awakening when he was around 50 years old? If you read his books written after that point, they will be more meaty, weighty, and highly spiritual. Why should we take Tolstoy seriously? Here’s why. He is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times and the Nobel Peace Prize three times. That’s incredible! However, he did not get the award despite being nominated so many times, probably because he was critical of the governments and powerful religious institutions of his time. Tolstoy was also known as a Christian Anarchist, submitting to no human ruler, including religious authority. Christian Anarchists believe Christ alone is their king and no one else. Are you one of them? Are you supposed to be one? Abraham was one. We will talk more about that later. Tolstoy’s other book, The Kingdom of God is Within You, based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, was banned in Russia but published in Germany. In that book, Tolstoy presented the idea of “nonviolent resistance,” which fueled the movements of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. By now, I am sure you are convinced that he should not be ignored. The book Resurrection depicts the corruptive nature of society. If you are rich and powerful, you can be corrupted by your power, procession, and prestige; if you are poor, you might be forced to choose the wrong means to survive. So, whether rich or poor, the human civilization will corrupt you. That’s why the wise King Solomon asked God not to make him too rich or too poor. He knew that if he were too rich, he could forget God; if he were too poor, he might dishonor God by committing crimes. That doesn’t preclude those in between because rich or poor is relative. We live in a fallen world—a sea of suffering. What’s worse than suffering is its corruptive nature. It brings out the worst of you. Tolstoy’s Resurrection takes us on a journey to see the injustice of the legal system, the prejudice of society, the hypocrisy of religious institutions, and, most importantly, the unintentionality of it, making it hard to change. He helps us see that many evils are done unintentionally or even with good intentions. We often think those who fight for justice are righteous, but they often become a new force of injustice. Communism is an example. It starts out with good intentions but ends up worse than the evil they fight against. We all want to make this world better, but no one knows how to correct the wrongs the right way, except through a personal resurrection. If you want to change the world, change yourself. That change must be thorough; that is resurrection—the old must be gone, and the new must begin. That community of new lives is called the kingdom of God, and I call it Civilization Next—the civilization of the resurrected people. The Kingdom of God is not just on the other side of death. You can experience the new life right now and right here because you belong to Civilization Next if you have accepted Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, you are in the world but not of the world. You live in the future now. Based on the scripture lesson on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, we will look at two women in history who brought the Civilization Next to Earth—the 88-year-old Elizabeth and the 14-year-old Mary. Let’s begin!

I am sure you’ve heard that Time Magazine named President-Elect Donald Trump the 2024 Time Person of the Year. He is the only person to have been selected twice. Let me clarify before I continue. I just want to prepare you for the upcoming year and new administration so you won’t feel tortured for the next four years. We must discern what God wants us to do, whichever side we are on. I am registered Independent. I don’t vote for the primaries; I don’t vote within a party line; I only vote in the general elections after doing extensive research, contemplative prayers, and spiritual discernment. Paul said, “Those who are spiritual discern all things.” (1 Co 2:15a). I believe Christians should make decisions based on discernment rather than party affiliation because that was what Jesus was. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the parties of the first century, equivalent to the Republicans and Democrats of our time. Humans are wired that way—some lean left, and some lean right. Birds of the feather flock together! As you read in the Bible, Jesus did not belong to any side but was crucified by both sides. Jesus made decisions based on spiritual discernment. If you ask me which party I belong to, I belong to the Spiritual Party because that’s what my Boss belongs to. So, when discussing politicians, I am not endorsing any affiliation. I know many of us are in the same situation. A late elder told me she registered as a Democrat but voted across the party line based on her discernment. She and her husband were independent, so I said, “Why didn’t you register as Independent.” Then she explained that there was no option to register as an independent in those days. You only have two boxes to check—Democrat or Republican. So, she and her husband decided to register for each party—she registered as a Democrat, and he registered as a Republican. When elections come, she and her husband pray carefully, research thoroughly, and vote based on their discernment. Sometimes, they vote for the opposite sides. You have heard that every election is a choice between the lesser of two evils. Those who think they are choosing between an angel and a devil don’t understand humans’ sinful nature. Now, back to the Time Person of the Year. For the past four years, the media have portrayed Trump as an evil man. But now, after he won, some media personnel rushed to the Mar-a-Lago to kiss his ring; you might have heard that in the news. They were shameless. Of course, they have to look after their bottom line. On the other hand, many Americans value the country over their egos. As Americans, we root for our team to win, but when victory is decided, we unite and root for the country. Many countries in the world look forward to our failure. If we stay divided, our enemies will win. Our founding fathers named this country “United” States of America with this vision. Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” (Mt 12:25). Jesus’ last prayer on earth, in the Garden of Gethsemane, was that his people would live in love, unity, and harmony. As Americans, we should root for the success of our democratically elected leaders so that our nation won’t lay waste but continue to be a beacon of light in the world. The election is done; the advent of Trump is here. Whether you like him or not, it’s time to harmonize for the nation’s sake. To be in harmony, we must sacrifice our egos and practice grace. Grace is love in action. I know it’s not easy. Looking around the world, you see that egos rule and divide nations. This week, we saw a nation collapse, and the dictator fled. As Christians, we must be different. The nature of ego is division, and the nature of grace is harmony. As humans, we often give in to our egos, but deep inside, we know that Someone above is watching us. There will come a day of reckoning. But those who have overcome their egos and live in love and harmony have no fear of judgment day because they know God will judge based on love, as we read in Mathew 25. John the Baptist entered the scene in the first century of Israel to warn people about their ego-driven lives and divisions and inform them about the advent of Jesus the Judge. His proclamation made people reflect on themselves. Some came to him for the baptism of repentance and bear fruits, but some continued their ego-driven and divided lives. As Christians, we don’t fear the advent of Jesus and his judgment because we are forgiven people living with a clear conscience. So, we celebrate the coming of Christ. Still, we must frequently reevaluate our lives to ensure we live by higher values and bear the fruits of the Spirit, which is actualized by grace. That’s why we attend church every week, to recenter our lives and surrender our egos. Advent is a season of reflection (which is why we use purple for the season). Based on the scripture lesson on this Third Sunday of Advent, let us prepare our hearts and minds to welcome Jesus the Judge by reflecting on whether we are bearing fruit worthy of repentance. So, let’s begin!

In England in 1535, King Henry VIII condemned Thomas More to death for treason, mainly for refusing to say that the king was the head of the Church of England. More was imprisoned, waiting for his capital punishment. More’s friend came to persuade him to say what the king wanted him to say for survival. More refused because it was against his beliefs. His friends pleaded him, “You don’t have to believe it; you just have to say it.” Thomas More refused to compromise his integrity and paid the price with his head. What would you do if you were in such situations? Would you compromise your integrity to save your life? Or would you betray your conscience for survival? Do you know Americans lie on average 11 times a week? That’s according to APA (American Psychology Association). No data shows how many lies people from other countries tell, but I believe Americans are more honest comparatively. Many immigrants say Americans are pretty naïve. They are so easily deceived. American tourists are the easiest targets for scammers worldwide because we trust people readily. That may be because Christian values govern our way of living. “In God, We Trust” is the slogan on our currencies. Still, research shows Americans are not 100% honest. Lying seems like part of life, and we often make excuses to justify lying. The Burmese say, “Without lies, words are not smooth.” (mutha maba, linga machaw). ~Burmese Proverbs It means that without lies, it’s hard to make your speech interesting, poetic, or persuasive. It also means you need a little lie to get your message across. It seems to glorify lying as an art. No wonder we call scammers “con artists.” In English, we also have the term “white lies.” It means a type of lie that does not harm anyone. Is it true that a white lie does not hurt anybody? After some research, I’ve discovered that every fib harms the fibber. Every lie we tell lies to ourselves. According to Akira Kurosawa, the maker of Rashomon,  “It’s human to lie. Most of the time, we can’t even be honest with ourselves.” ~Akira Kurosawa A white lie may not harm others, but it does compromise the liar’s well-being. Studies have shown that a person’s integrity can affect their immunity. After the pandemic, we have learned the value of strong immunity—physically, psychologically, or spiritually. According to biologists, the moment someone lies, their brain releases stress hormones, such as cortisol, weakening their immune system. We often say, “Lier, lier, pants on fire!” Their pants might not be on fire, but their immunity is on fire. That’s how lie detectors work. The machine can sense the subtle signs of stress on our nerves when lying. Some people can cheat the lie detector, but they cannot cheat their health. So, honesty is truly the best policy not only for our character but also for our well-being. It proves that we are not created to lie. We are created in God’s image. When we lie, our body resists it, feels uncomfortable with it, and punishes us for it by degrading our health. There are two kinds of stress—overt and covert. Overt stress is obvious; you know it when you have it. But covert stress is more insidious. We might not feel it, but it silently kills us from the inside. It will eventually show up on our lab reports during a checkup. Sometimes, it could be too late to reverse it. Lying is just one of many things that compromise our immunity. Anger, grudges, guilt, discord, manipulation, and other things the Bible calls sin can stress our systems and compromise our integrity and immunity. It seems we don’t even need God to punish us for our sins; our body is punishing us already. If it is human to lie, how do we redeem ourselves? However, Jesus said that what’s not possible with humans is possible with God. He said, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:17). The truth is that Jesus did not come to punish us but to save us from our plight. The immunity boost is just a fringe benefit once we take care of our integrity by confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness. Then, our bodies stop rebelling. We are on the Second Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming. So today, let us explore how to prepare the way for Christ’s coming into our lives by optimizing our integrity and boosting our immunity based on this week’s scripture lesson. Let’s begin!

During my college years, I gathered with some friends every Saturday morning at a tea house to enjoy our morning tea and talk. One day, a friend showed up with bandages over his head, arms, and legs. He had a nearly fatal motorcycle accident. He said he wished he had died that very moment because he was sure he would have gone straight to heaven since he had been well-behaved in those days. He had been attending church regularly, volunteering, and giving to charity. He was sure God would welcome him, saying, “Well done, my son. Welcome to heaven!” My friend was disappointed that he did not die because now he had to keep behaving as if good behavior was challenging for him. I wasn’t sure if he was joking because we all know that our admission to heaven depends not on our deeds but God’s grace. Thank God! However, my friend’s concern is not baseless because Jesus repeatedly says he wants to see us awake and working when he returns. The Lord said, “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find at work when he arrives.” (Mt 24:46). If salvation does not depend on our work but on God’s grace alone, why would he expect to see us working? Shouldn’t we all goof to heaven? Does it mean grace is not free? Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that grace is free but not cheap. He said, “The word of cheap grace has been the ruin of more Christians than any commandment of works.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer How do we understand grace is free but not cheap? Grace requires gratitude to complete, but how do you thank God, who doesn’t need anything from us? I’ve learned that you thank God by gracing forward. I have discovered that Grace is like electricity with inflow and outflow to complete a circuit. A lightbulb can not lit up by only the inflow of the electric current. It needs two wires—an inflow and an outflow to complete the energy circuit. We are just like lightbulbs. Grace makes us shine when we grace it forward. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” (Mat 5:8). That means the outflow makes the inflow possible. Jesus used several parables to teach this profound mystery, such as The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. In that parable, a man owed the king a massive amount of money, equivalent to more than a billion dollars of today’s money, which he could not repay in his lifetime, but the king forgave him out of mercy because he bagged him for more time. However, on his way home, he met a man who owed him a small amount of money. He sent him to prison for not paying back immediately. The king heard about his mercilessness and revoked his grace. This story reveals that grace is like electricity; the input doesn’t work without an output. If you receive grace and don’t grace it forward, the grace you receive returns to where it came from. Grace is free but not cheap because it requires you to pay it forward to complete the circuit. It does not mean grace has strings attached, but it’s just how it flows. On the other hand, Jesus said that the servant who is found goofing would be severely punished. “He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 24:51). It sounds scary. I think that’s why my friend was afraid of dying when goofing. He doesn’t want to join the hypocrites. None of us do. The word “hypocrites” comes from the Greek word with a similar pronunciation: ῠ̔ποκρῐτής (hupokritḗs), meaning “stage actor” or “pretender.” Hypocrites are like weeds that pretend to be like wheat. They look identical until harvest time. When harvest time comes, they stand tall and light because they don’t carry the weight of the grains. They are just pretenders or hypocrites. They don’t grace it forward. They cheapen grace. Jesus said, “At harvest time, I will tell the reapers, ‘Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Mt 13:30). Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming. It’s a season to think about the coming of Christ, particularly the second coming, which will be the harvest time. He will separate the weeds from the wheat, the hypocrites from the real Christians who grace it forward to complete the circuit of power. When you grace it forward, your life becomes fruitful. So, today, we will explore how to maintain a fruitful state based on this week’s scripture lesson so that we will not appear as weeds or hypocrites when the Lord comes. Let’s begin!

Napoleon famously said, “The word impossible is not in my dictionary.” His can-do spirit helped him make incredible achievements in history. In my dictionary, I want to delete the word “unacceptable” because I’ve discovered that acceptance is love in action, and it’s essential to developing our spiritual intelligence or Spiritual Quotient (SQ). To be successful or live a good life, we need IQ, EQ, and SQ. Your SQ (Spiritual Quotient) is measured by your ability to love and accept people. First, we must learn the difference between approval and acceptance. For example, my children may do things I disapprove of, but I must accept them because I love them. Approval is based on law, but acceptance is based on love. Approval is based on the head, but acceptance is based on the heart. That sounds simple enough but not easy to practice. Jesus wants us to love even our enemies. Many people confuse loving our enemies with approving their actions. No, Jesus wants us to “accept” our enemies without “approving” their behaviors. Otherwise, we could end up demonizing people and justifying violence. We all have encountered people doing things that we disapprove of. Sometimes, it’s just a minor issue, so we can easily forgive and forget about it, but there are times when people may go above and beyond our tolerance threshold, and we say, “It’s unacceptable.” In such cases, we muddle the line between approval and acceptance because our strong emotion overrides our ability to see the person apart from their behavior. Jesus wants us to love the person despite their behavior. I know it’s a tall order. Some people have a lower tolerance threshold than others. They are quick to stick a Scarlet Letter on someone they disapprove of. Talking about the Scarlet Letter, I am sure most of you have read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s American Classic, “The Scarlet Letter,” or have watched one of the movie adaptations. The story reveals that everyone wears a Scarlet Letter—outwardly or inwardly, legally or secretly—even the holiest man in town has a secret Scarlet Letter beneath his clothes. The story reveals human nature, keeps us humble, and warns us against hypocrisy. Understanding this human nature would allow us to separate approval from acceptance. To effectively resolve human conflicts, we must first accept one another. But most people got it backward. They don’t accept others until they approve of their behaviors. Acceptance must be unconditional because that’s what “agape love” is about, the kind of love Jesus taught. Jesus has shown us the ultimate acceptance on the cross by forgiving and seeing humans as redeemable. He expects us to love one another the way he loves us. That’s a huge challenge, but when you can widen the gap between approval and acceptance, you are on the way to spiritual maturity, as Jesus expected. Based on this week’s scripture lesson, we will explore Jesus’ teaching on what’s lawful and loveful and how to read the Scarlet Letter A differently. Along the way, we will discover how to raise our SQ—Spiritual Quotient—to live a joyful, meaningful, and fruitful life. Let’s begin!

During a TV interview, a reporter asked Bill Gates, saying, “Mr. Gates, Microsoft products have been illegally copied and distributed in China. How are you going to deal with that problem?” That was over twenty years ago when the software was convenient to duplicate. In those days, most people in China couldn’t afford to buy Microsoft, so they bought cheap, illegal copies from the black market. I was curious about his answer, but to my surprise, Bill Gates replied magnanimously, “China is still developing. If they steal technology, I’d rather have them steal mine than others.” He seemed confident that Microsoft would survive the theft and turn the thieves into customers. Today, his magnanimity pays off. After decades of using bootleg copies, the Chinese have fallen in love with Microsoft and prefer to buy it as they can now afford it. Today, Bill Gates has captured a market four times larger than the United States because of his magnanimity. Conversely, many good software products have disappeared because of their pettiness. Even if you have the best product or the greatest idea in the world, your attitude can become a stumbling block to your progress. The dictionary defines magnanimity as “having a noble spirit and being generous and kind, especially towards someone who has wronged you.” It came from the Latin root words “magna,” meaning great or big, and “animus,” soul. So magnanimity means “great soul.” In the Fruit of the Spirit, the Greek term ἀγαθωσύνη (agathōsynē) is translated as “generosity” in NRSV and “goodness” or “nobility” in others. I discovered the best translation of this word is “magnanimity” because it covers all three meanings—generosity, goodness, and nobility. Why is magnanimity important? It elevates your life. It prevents you from the pettiness that hinders your success. Dr. Steven R. Covey calls it “scarcity mentality” instead of “abundance mentality.” Magnanimity is an abundance mentality that attracts abundance. Based on this week’s scripture lesson, we will explore how Jesus taught us to cultivate magnanimity to become salt of the earth rather than a stumbling block to the souls. Let’s begin!

When I first came to America, I noticed many governmental organizations are named “services:” The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US Postal Service (USPS), the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), and others. Conversely, many other countries prefer to use the term “authority” rather than “service.” We do have a few departments that use “authority,” such as the Port Authority. However, times have changed. If you have dealt with some of those “services,” you don’t feel you are being served. For example, do you feel served when you receive a letter from the IRS? “Wow, I am so glad the IRS sent me a letter. It’s so nice of them! They are so good with math!” Some departments act like authoritarians and dictators. Some officers are outright rude. A few years ago, I took my father to the immigration office in Newark for an appointment. It was a cold and windy winter morning, but we had to stand outside in line for hours to get in. My father was over seventy at that time and was not very healthy. I was concerned that he might faint. When we eventually got inside, we saw a vast, warm, empty lobby that could hold ten times the people still lining outside. I thought they kept people out because there was no room to wait inside. It reminded me of dictatorship rather than service. To American standards, it’s fair to say that those immigrants were treated less than animals because we treat animals much better, but they could do that because those people didn’t have a voice. Power corrupts. Maybe it was just Newark. I tweeted a complaint and was surprised to receive many comments saying they agreed with the situation. I don’t know if my tweet had any effect at all. The good news is that the immigration service at Newark has improved significantly in recent years, but I am glad I don’t have to go there ever again after becoming a citizen. It was a mockery of the term “service.” As a nation deeply rooted in Christianity, we practice the “servant leadership” exemplified by Jesus. He said, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mk 9:35). He set an example by washing the feet of his disciples. Based on this principle, Government officers are supposed to be civil servants. It’s an excellent concept, but unfortunately, it doesn’t prevent power from corrupting them. We all know that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” No matter how we name our organization and mission, power can make us forget our service mentality. Authority can be intoxicating. How can we stay humble as we climb the ladder of power? Sometimes, I am glad I don’t have a job that gives me much power and authority. I don’t know if I could handle it and not be corrupted by it. But we all aim for greatness to make a difference. So, today, let’s explore the secret to attaining greatness without losing your souls based on this week’s scripture lesson. Let’s begin!

I was reluctant to name this message "How to Change the World" because I could imagine many people might think I was bloviating. I know I am nobody and have no qualifications to speak on such a grand topic, but I believe it’s a matter of age. The older we grow, the more cynical we become. Let us be children for a moment because when we were young, we had all kinds of imagination and ambition to make a difference one day. But as we grew up, we gradually felt those dreams became unattainable. Maybe that is why Jesus wants us to become like children and rekindle those imaginations and ambitions. So, let us momentarily pause our doubts and cynicism and unleash our childlike creativity to entertain the possibility of changing the world. Jesus did change the world for good and taught his disciples how to make this world a better place to live. The world has never been the same since the moment he was born and it will never be the same unless we stop extending his great commission. To be a Christian means to be a world-changer. Even Richard Dawkins, the renowned atheist, recently declared that he is a cultural Christian because he can no longer deny the influence of Christianity on the advancement of human civilization. Wherever Christianity thrives, civilization flourishes. History has proven it, and no reasonable person can deny it. Of course, some religious people have done some damage in history. It’s nothing new. Even the Son of God was crucified by religious people. However, the atheist would like to cherrypick history to excuse their unbelief. Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently asked Richard Dawkins, what do atheists contribute to the advancement of human civilization? Nothing! They only know how to tear things down, leaving a void in civilization to decay and allowing evil to thrive. The question is, what role do you play in this world? Do you still maintain your childhood dream of making this world a better place until your last breath, or have you given up those aspirations? We all want to improve the world, but the question is how. Having good intentions is not enough because people can make things worse with their good intentions. That’s why we need to know how to change the world “the right way.” In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus revealed his way to change the world, but his disciples didn’t get it and couldn’t accept his method. Like most people, they believe we change the world from the top down, but his way is from the bottom up. We are two months away from an important election. Most people’s minds are on changing the nation or the world from the top down by electing the right person. However, WWJD (what would Jesus do)? If you get the message from this passage, you will think about this election differently, and you will know your role in changing the world Jesus’ way. Let’s begin!

There once was a king who sought advice from a sage about how to govern his kingdom so that it would enjoy peace, progress, and prosperity and be free of crimes, violence, and wars. The sage said, to govern your kingdom that way, you must govern yourself first. As the Son of God said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt 3:66). The king said, “I know, but the kingdom of God is too far. I don’t have the vehicle to go there.” The sage said, “As a king, if you don’t have the vehicle, who will have it, and who can attain the kingdom of God?” Then the sage added, “The vehicle to the kingdom of God is simple: a humble spirit.” As Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3). Poor in spirit is an Aramaic idiom for a humble heart. The sage implied that the king couldn’t attain the kingdom of God, not because he didn’t have the means to seek it but because he was full of himself. This reminds me of another parable. A professor hiked up to the high mountain to ask the sage to impart his wisdom to him. He introduced himself as one of the most accomplished professors in the country’s best university. The sage asked him to slow down and sit at his tea table and began serving him tea. The cup became full, but the sage continued pouring tea into it, and it began to overflow and spill onto the table. The professor laughed at the sage’s clumsiness, “Oh, old man, don’t you see the cup is already full? You can’t fill it anymore.” “You are right,” the sage replied. “When the cup is full, you can’t fill it with anything. Please come back when your cup is empty.” With that, the sage turned away the professor, implying he was not ready to learn because he was full of himself. I often wonder how often we approach God and ask God to give us what we want without leaving room for God to provide. The king wants to develop his nation without developing himself. The professor wants more wisdom without humility. In today’s scripture lesson, Mark recorded two incidents Jesus encountered that revealed the secret to answered prayers. It’s an open secret that everyone knows but fails to put into practice. The secret is humility, but it’s easier said than done. Even the great Benjamin Franking admitted that he failed in this aspect. Today, we will learn how Jesus answered the prayers of two situations so that we can improve our prayer life as well. So, let’s begin!

Many years ago, I met an elderly lady in our neighborhood. People said she was a good Christian and knew the Bible thoroughly. I was impressed. She held a Bible study group in her house, and people came to listen to her teaching. However, my perception was shaken when I heard about her strained relationship with her in-laws. Given her role as a Bible teacher, I had assumed she was in the right. Yet, when I met her in-laws, I discovered they were devout Christians. I didn’t know who was wrong and who was right, but it disturbed me to see Christians don’t get along with Christians. One day, someone brought her to our church. Since her church is much farther away in another town, it was much more convenient for her to attend our church. After a communion service, she said we shouldn’t use the normal bread because bread has yeast, which symbolizes sin in the Bible. As Jesus said, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” (Mk 8:15b). Respecting her age and biblical scholarship, we tried to accommodate her by changing the bread to matzo since it’s even simpler to prepare. However, a few months later, she left the church despite our hospitality. Later, I learned she didn’t just couldn’t get along with her in-laws but almost everyone around her. I was naïve thinking someone who knows the Bible would be the most gracious person. In fact, in the Bible, we see Pharisees who treated the Bible seriously and taught the Bible to others. They were quite difficult to get along. Their heads were filled with biblical knowledge, but their hearts were rotten. They eventually crucified Christ. Have you ever wondered how a person can be so religious and so vicious? It serves as a warning to all of us. With all the warnings Jesus gave us, why do some Christians still become like Pharisees? It’s a reminder that we, too, can fall into the trap of righteousness without grace. Jesus said, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20). It was a tall order because the Pharisees were strict practitioners of righteousness. The Hebrew term “righteousness” is quite complex because it means fulfilling God’s commandments. But Jesus made it simple with the Great Commandment, covering the Old Testament: Love God and love people—nothing more and nothing less. In other words, if we don’t have love, nothing matters. Even if we can recite the Bible from cover to cover, we miss the kingdom of heaven. As Paul put it impactfully, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Co 13:1–3). Paul was a recovering Pharisee, and he knew what the Pharisees had missed. Their heads were full of biblical laws, but their hearts were short of divine love. As Jesus said, we cannot enter heaven without love. Do you know the distance between heaven and hell? It’s just about 18” apart—the distance between your head and your heart. It’s upside down, of course. Heaven is where your heart is, and hell is where your head is. Interestingly, all four of these words start with “h.” This doesn’t mean biblical knowledge is unimportant. It is vital for our lives but must go beyond our heads and flow to our hearts. When the Bible goes to our heads, it becomes knowledge. When it enters our hearts, it becomes wisdom. Today’s scripture lesson taught us about Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees, who criticized Jesus’ disciples for breaking the rabbinic law. But Jesus revealed that the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. This story allows us to self-search and evaluate our hearts to see whether our hearts are in the right place according to God’s law. Let’s begin!

I am not fond of SMART goals because they are too mundane and meager. In case you don’t know, a SMART goal means using the word SMART as an acronym to set goals. SMART represents Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It’s a good starting point, but not for leaders because leaders set problem-solving goals. They identify a problem and try to solve it. Sometimes, a problem can be enormous. In that case, the SMART goal strategy doesn’t apply because it requires you to set “Achievable” goals. We are in an election cycle now. You don’t hear the candidates talking about their SMART goals. Each of them tries to solve some monumental national or regional problems. Whoever has the best policies and capability to solve the issues will get my vote. What problem are you trying to solve? Last week, I talked about Bob Peirce, who felt called to solve the massive orphanage problem after the war and founded World Vision. Young and penniless, if Bob Pierce had set a SMART goal, he would have concluded that solving the orphanage problem was not SMART because it was beyond his ability to achieve. However, Bob Pierce knew, it was achievable by relying on God. Jesus wants us to solve significant problems rather than set SMART goals. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus tested Philip by asking him how to feed a crowd of five thousand people following them. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” (Jn 6:5–6). According to Mark, Jesus was training his disciples to become apostles. Disciples are followers, but apostles are leaders. (I mentioned this last week.) Jesus was teaching them to be leaders who solve problems. He wanted them to be scholars rather than students. How would you solve the problem if you were Philip? Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” (Jn 6:7). I checked online, and the average monthly wage in the United States is about $5,000. That means even $30,000 worth of food would not be enough to feed them. Philip used the SMART goal, and he knew it was not achievable. They couldn’t afford it. Jesus doesn’t allow his disciples or apostles to have a limited mindset. Have you ever settled for less because of your limited mindset? I am sure we all do, but Jesus wants to stretch our mental limits and think far outside the box. What problem is God calling you to solve, and what limitation are you encountering? Time, talent, or treasure? Do you have limited time? Limited talent? Or limited finance? Jesus wants us to think outside of those limits. Jesus doesn’t want us to set SMART goals. He wants us to set Miracle Goals. That’s what godly leaders do. They make miracles by thinking outside of human limits—not just thinking outside of the limits but acting outside of the limits. When you think and act outside those limits, you discover that they don’t exist at all and realize that you arbitrarily set those limits. When you have a breakthrough like that, you witness a miracle. Jesus wants us to set Miracle Goals. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus fed five thousand people using minimal resources. We will learn from this miracle the profound lessons of discipleship leadership to solve insurmountable problems and to move mountains. Let’s begin!

Do you know that one of the best-selling nutritional supplement categories is energy supplements? If you search for energy supplements on Amazon.com now, you will get over 20,000 items. Three years ago, I did the exact search and got 8,000, and I thought that was too many. It grew almost three times in three years. What does it tell you? It tells me there is a shortage of physical energy, and many people have become dependent on energy supplements as a quick fix. I heard about people getting extremely rich by selling energy supplements. The market seems ever-expanding. For example, everyone today knows Red Bull—the energy drink sold over twelve billion cans in 2023, almost two cans for every human. A can of Red Bull costs $0.9 to make but sells at $3 or more. The wholesale price is around $1.80. So they make nearly 20 times the profit. Why do people lack energy? Can instant energy pills or drinks leave long-term damage down the line? They do, but people would rather risk their health for an instant energy boost. Some drink it for entertainment, and others for productivity. Today, I would like to introduce a natural energy booster that doesn’t cost anything. It’s part of the Leadership Spirituality I have researched for decades. Humans are composed of body, mind, and spirit. Our physical energy comes from healthy nutrition, mental energy from sound learning, and spiritual energy from proper devotion. When all three are well integrated, we have wholeness, which gives us the most energetic state without the Red Bull. Conversely, three things drain our energy: eating wrong, learning wrong, or devoting wrong. Energy supplements cannot replace these mistakes. Supplements should be used as supplements but not as substitutes. Instead of reaching out for a quick fix, we should figure out what is draining our energy. I’ve discovered that nurturing spiritual energy is crucial because no matter how well you eat or how smart you are, life without devotion is meaningless. For example, what activity in life requires the most energy? Childbearing. Where do mothers get that amazing life-giving energy to bring a new life into the world? Love and compassion. Love is spiritual. Some might want to say love is an emotion, but it’s part of the spirit. The Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are spiritual fruits, but they manifest as emotions. A healthy spirit produces healthy emotions. If you are spiritually nourished, you will feel energetic even if you don’t have time to eat. We read in the Bible that there were times Jesus did not have time to eat because he was busy healing and helping people, yet he appeared energetic as if he had already eaten. For example, when Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman at the well while the disciples went into the city to buy food. The disciples returned, and the Bible says, Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” (Jn 4:31–32). What food did Jesus eat? At the beginning of this story, Jesus was already tired after a long journey, but now he appeared nourished and satisfied without eating physical food. What did he eat that turned him from tired to triumphant? What’s his secret? The context shows that the secret is love and compassion, but you might wonder how you can consume compassion as nutrition and how it can immediately reenergize an exhausted body. Love and compassion can make supermen and superwomen out of ordinary people. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus trained his disciples to become leaders and showed them how to become “energizer bunnies” because leaders on a mission sometimes may not have time to rest. We learn that even the disciples didn’t have time to eat but continued to work long hours energetically. Today, we will explore compassion as an energy booster through today’s scripture lesson and learn how to naturally and spiritually energize your life without sugar water or Red Bull. Let’s begin.

Once upon a time, a woodcutter was chopping wood by a river. As he swung his axe, it slipped from his hands and fell into the river. The woodcutter was poor and could not afford to lose his only tool. Desperate, he sat by the riverbank and cried. Suddenly, the angel guarding the river appeared and asked why he was crying. The woodcutter explained his plight, and the angel dived into the river, emerging with a golden axe. “Is this your axe?” asked the angel. The woodcutter, with tears in his eyes, shook his head. “No, that’s not mine,” he said. The angel dived again and came up with a silver axe. “Is this your axe?” asked the angel. Again, the woodcutter shook his head. “No, that’s not mine either,” he said. Finally, the angel brought up the woodcutter’s old, worn-out iron axe. “Is this your axe?” asked the angel. The woodcutter’s face lit up with relief. “Yes, that’s my axe,” he said, his voice filled with gratitude. Impressed by the woodcutter’s integrity, the angel rewarded him with all three axes. (End of the story.) This allegory might sound childish, but it edifies those seeking wisdom. Integrity may sometimes sound silly in a situation like this, but God rewards those who have it. First, let’s define integrity because most assume integrity means honesty. Integrity is more than honesty. It means being integrated. It’s similar to wholeness—being whole and complete. In telecommunication and IT, “system integrity” means every part of the hardware and software functions as intended to complete the tasks. In humans, integrity represents wholeness, giving us a healthy and harmonious body, mind, and spirit. So, integrity is more than honesty. It’s congruency among our actions, thoughts, and beliefs. A person without integrity acts incongruently from their thoughts and beliefs. If you were that woodcutter, how would you react when the angel showed you the golden axe? You might say, “It’s not exactly mine, but I don’t mind using it. Better than nothing!” Don’t you think it’s both honest and humble? You don’t want to trouble the angel to dive down the river for you again. I have seen people like that woodcutter. They are down to earth. They don’t take what’s not rightfully theirs. If you have such people among your friends, you are blessed because they make reliable friends, and you can trust them for life. Integrity has at least two major benefits: It gives you peace, and you will sleep well.It gives you the power to influence people. A Chinese proverb says, “Those who don’t act against their conscience in the daytime will not fear ghosts knocking on the door at night.” (白日不做亏心事，半夜不怕鬼敲门。) Integrity makes you sleep soundly at night because you have a clear conscience. Secondly, a person with integrity emits subliminal power over people. They influence good people and intimidate bad people. Those who lack integrity fear people with integrity. They are like a bright light shining into the darkness, so the darkness hates them. We live in a world that promotes compromise. Maintaining integrity in this fallen world is not easy. But we must strive to attain and maintain our highest integrity because it makes you sleep well and gives you the power to influence good people and intimidate bad ones. Today’s scripture lesson tells the story of a man of integrity, John the Baptist, against dark and violent tyranny. John died with integrity, but he didn’t lose; tyranny lost. Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mk 8:36 ESV). When someone loses integrity to gain worldly profits, they lose their soul. So, today, we will explore how to protect the power of your integrity and wholeness when the world tries to compromise you. Later, I will also share what it is like to be at the pinnacle of integrity. So, let’s begin!

I’ve discovered that life is limited by the capacity of imagination. Imagination is what makes us different from animals. It’s God’s image in us. The question is how we can stretch our imagination far enough to have no more limitations. In 1990, when I was about to leave for the U.S. from Burma, I called my aunt in California, asking her what I should bring to America. She said, “Don’t bring anything; we have everything here. Just bring yourself.” Still, since the flight allowed two large pieces of luggage, I filled them with the best thing I could get from Burma, thinking my American relatives and friends would love to have them. When I arrived in the U.S., most of them turned out to be useless. It’s a waste of time, money, and energy to carry them across the globe. It’s difficult for someone from a third-world nation to imagine what the first world is like. Believe it or not, I have heard someone from Burma migrate to America with a sack of rice, thinking there’s no rice in America since the Westerners eat mainly bread. Even though I was not that ignorant, my best imagination of America was still far shorter than reality. I had already been to other countries and had seen many American movies. Still, what I put in the luggage revealed my third-world limited imagination. Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” ~Albert Einstein By that, he didn’t mean knowledge is not essential, but we have a limited time and capacity to acquire the knowledge. Only creative imagination can help us fill the knowledge gaps. Optimal imagination is like the ability to see the future. It turns you into a prophet. What would you stuff your luggage with if you were traveling to the kingdom of heaven? Most people know you cannot take your procession with you to heaven. But what other abstract things do you carry? For example, emotional baggage, such as guilt, grief, and grudges, I often mentioned my favorite philosopher, Zhuangzi, the grandmaster of imagination. For example, he spoke about the Peng bird with thousands of miles of wingspan, flying at 90,000 miles high above the sky. Can you imagine a bird that big? Jesus further stretched our imagination by introducing the kingdom of heaven to us. What would God tell you if you called Him on the phone, asking what you should bring to the kingdom in your luggage? As Christians, we are on the journey to the kingdom, but many carry unnecessary baggage that limits their lives of freedom and joy. Jesus wants those carrying heavy burdens to come to him and take on his burden instead because his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Jesus wants us to travel light. When we empty our luggage, our imagination is set free, and Providence steps in. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus teaches us how to move on from life’s limitations by setting free our imagination. Let’s begin!

One of my most joyous moments in life was when my first daughter, Cassy, was born. I can never describe how happy I was when the nurse put her in my hands as soon as she landed safely on this earth. I started counting her cute little fingers and toes. It was December, so I regarded her as God’s best Christmas gift for me. For the following years, I was in the clouds, reading books to her at night, taking her to the Zoo every week, and riding the mini choo-choo train around the park. Even after a long day at work, my stress faded away as soon as I saw her cheerfully greeting me at the door. I know many fathers like me have shared the special blessing of the indescribable joy of having a Daddy’s little girl. Yesterday, Paul Simon’s song “Father and Daughter” popped up on my timeline, leading me on a trip down the most beautiful memory lane. I wonder how many of you know that song. Have you ever wondered how God feels about His daughters? Some of you might have heard of this unwritten version of the creation story. Do you know why God created Eve after Adam? Why wasn’t God satisfied with Adam alone since he was created in God image? Why did God need to create a woman? Here’s the behind-the-scene story. After creating Adam, God looked at him and was pleased, but God wondered, “Hmm, I think I can do better than that!” So, God created Eve! Then, when Moses wrote down Genesis, God told him not to include this behind-the-scene story because He didn’t want Adam to suffer from an inferiority complex. Being a man, Moses agreed, so he kept this story off the record, letting the men fantasize they were superior creatures. That may be a joke, but the proof is in front of your eyes. For example, women, in general, live longer than men. Visit any nursing home, and you’ll see more women than men. The latest data show that women live five years longer than men on average. If longevity does not prove women are a better creation, here’s another example. Harvard Business Review published a research report showing “Women Score Higher Than Men in Most Leadership Skills.” Out of 19 leadership abilities, women scored higher in 17 of them. Most importantly, women are more spiritual. You see more women in the church, Bible Study groups, or fellowships. The first persons who discovered Jesus’ resurrection were women because they loved Jesus and visited him at the tomb while the men were probably still sleeping. You know the resurrection story. Numerous pieces of evidence show women are God’s little girls. Of course, we know God loves everyone, but women seem to have a special place in God’s heart. In today’s scripture passage, we read about a tale of two daughters, which teaches us two lessons: 1) God loves His little girls and 2) how to turn adversity into advantage. So, let’s begin!

Home, sweet home! I am back from the Gift of Life mission trip in Vietnam. It’s a medical mission that provides heart surgery to children with congenital heart diseases who can’t afford it. This week, I had the privilege to observe the cardiac surgery of a 16-month-old child up close. It was quite an experience to be with a team of dedicated doctors and nurses working skillfully on a living human. They looked like they were having fun practicing their art and science to save lives. The surgical team was kind enough to give me a prime spot where I could also take pictures and record videos. I won’t show you those pictures and videos because they are quite graphic and not for the faint of heart to see. It was a complicated case, but the surgery was successful. I also took a couple of pictures of the child's face during the surgery. Under the magic of the anesthesiologist, he slept through the entire surgery peacefully. He didn’t know his body was pried open, his heart cut apart, blood flow redirected, and his heartbeat was stopped before they fixed his problem, and then they put everything back to normal. He slept through a storm of life! When he woke up, he would not remember anything that had happened in those hours. He will feel some pain for some time, but he will be healthier and stronger than before. Had he been awake during the surgery, his fear would have been insurmountable, and his pain would have been unbearable. It’s a blessing to sleep through the storms of life. In fact, we all sleep every day, and many things happen during our sleep. Our digestive, respiratory, and healing systems continue to work hard when we sleep. We have no control over them, and we don’t have to. God doesn’t want us to. Unfortunately, many can’t sleep through the storms of life because they want to control everything. Part of the Serenity Prayer says, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.” ~Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr “Things I cannot change” include the storms of life. I am sure everyone has been through some storms in life. At times like that, we must learn to sleep peacefully through or ask God to grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus shows us how to sleep through the storms of life and teaches us how to maintain serenity, accept things that we cannot change, and have the wisdom to know what to do and when to do it. Let’s begin!

This week, I watched a thought-provoking debate between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Many of you know Richard Dawkins, a reductionist atheist who wrote the famous book, “The God Delusion.”  I mentioned him a few weeks ago in another message. Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up as a Muslim and became an atheist after moving to Europe. Ever since then, she has criticized all religions, including Christianity. She frequently appeared on CNN and other channels. Dawkins and Ali were partners in crime, promoting atheism. However, in a truly unexpected and dramatic twist, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a staunch critic of all religions, recently underwent a profound transformation. She found solace and redemption in Christianity, accepting Jesus Christ as her personal savior. This seismic shift, a shock to Richard Dawkins, sparked a heated debate on her newfound faith. The debate, a battle of intellectual giants, is a must-watch. It delves into the survival of Western civilization, the well-being of our children, and the future generations, all in the context of the pervasive mind virus of wokeism and Marxism. The debate, a clash of two levels of consciousness, is fascinating. Both Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Richard Dawkins were once intellectual radical atheists. However, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has ascended to a higher level of consciousness, recognizing the destructive nature of radical atheism and the vacuum it created for the mind viruses to infest. I have noticed in this debate that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is considerate, but Richard Dawkins is condescending. According to the Taoist philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, persons of lower consciousness tend to be condescending and sarcastic. For example, Zhuangzi began his book by telling the story of the Peng bird with a thousand miles of wingspan, flying 9,000 miles above the sky. A cicada looks up at the giant Peng bird flying above him and says it is stupid and useless to fly that high. But the Peng bird doesn’t care what the cicada says because they belong to two different worlds—heaven and earth. There are many stories like this in Zhuangzi. When a person of lower consciousness can’t understand that of a higher consciousness, they try to define them using condescending terms. On the contrary, a person from a higher consciousness is considerate when dealing with them, as Paul put it, speaking the truth in love. In the debate, Richard Dawkins constantly tries to define Ayaan Hirsi Ali using condescending words like BS, nonsense, ridiculous, etc. Dawkins's book title is also condescending, “The God Delusion.” On the contrary, Ayaan Hirsi Ali politely invites him to see what she sees, mainly how atheism has caused the potential extinction of the great Western civilization in recent decades. Richard Dawkins has also recently softened his stance on atheism. He now calls himself a cultural Christian because he appreciates Christian culture, art, and music. The irony is that he enjoys the fruit but wants to kill the tree. Isn’t it hypocrisy? People like this are not conscious of their own hypocrisy but quick to define others. Jesus doesn't allow the hypocrites to define him. They called him Beelzebul, the head of the demons. Even his family thought he had gone insane and tried to stop him. Jesus prevents being defined by defining himself according to God’s definition. The truth is, if you don’t define yourself, the world will define you. In fact, the world is constantly defining you. There are numerous Richard Dawkins, Sam Harrises, and the like who try to define you as delusional, BS, ridiculous, nonsense, and so on. How do you define yourself? You can’t define yourself based on your own fantasy of who you think you are. The best way to define yourself is based on what God thinks you are. Today, we will look at how Jesus defined himself and defend his definition when he was being defined by the world. So, let’s begin!

When I was in college, a friend invited me to join a Wisdom Society. We were required to write a philosophical essay every month, and the best essay received an award and was published. The first assignment was titled “God Created Humans or Humans Created God.” It was thought-provoking but not as easy to write as I had expected. Even though I didn’t win the contest, the topic stayed in my head for over 30 years: Did God create humans, or did humans create God? I’m open-minded, and I like to investigate the truth. Wrestling with this topic does expand your wisdom. I’ve discovered that the best way to answer this question is by figuring out the second part, “Did humans create God?” because it’s easier to prove than the first. If God created humans, God is the higher intelligence. It’s harder for the lower intelligence to understand the higher one. If humans created God, we are the higher intelligence, and it would be easier to reverse-engineer our creation to figure out why and how we created God. As humans, we create things to meet necessities. We made airplanes to meet the necessity of traveling faster and farther. We created countries and territories to meet the necessity for security. Otherwise, we could have lived in a global village without borders. We created kings and presidents because leadership is necessary. We need someone to call the shots; the buck must stop somewhere. If God is also our creation, what human need necessitates our creation of God? I’ve discovered that humans need a moral compass or a North Star to orient our lives for meaning and purpose. God meets that human need. Then, it becomes a catch twenty-two situation. If we need God to have a moral compass, the moment we realize God is our own creation, the magic stops working because we are following our own artificial North Star. When you say, “Humans created God,” you become an atheist instantly? You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be a theist and be a creator of God. Atheists don’t believe in God because they believe God is a human invention. They also argue that human belief in God evolves with time. They say, “If God is true, why does theology evolve along with human evolution? If God existed, he wouldn’t have changed over time. Therefore, God is a human creation. That’s also a catch-twenty-two logic. If belief in God is part of human evolution, then wouldn’t it make atheists less evolved? In fact, some cultures do believe atheism to be barbaric. Civilized societies are God-believing societies. If you think deeply enough, there is no logical argument for “Humans created God.” Instead, the need for meaning and a moral compass are clues that God created humans. John Calvin said we are born with a sense of divinity and a seed of religion. That’s why you see religions and philosophers all over the world in search of the Creator. Saint Augustine put it succinctly, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” ~Saint Augustine We didn’t create God to rest our restless hearts; our hearts are restless because God created us to rest in God. After digging into the great minds from past to present and East to West, there is only compelling logic to argue for “God created humans.” If “God created humans” is more logical, why do we have atheists, and some of them are pretty smart? After talking with many atheists, I discovered that organized religions turn them off. They can’t differentiate religions from God. God created humans, but humans created religions. Religion is not equivalent to God. The atheists got it wrong. God is not a problem; religions are. When religions corrupt, they blame it on God. They say, “If there’s a God, why can’t he even keep his church in order?” What they don’t understand is that God created humans with responsibility, not as puppets. God created humans with free will so our love can be genuine. Jesus didn’t come to establish a religion but to rekindle our relationships with God and with people. So, Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. That’s what Jesus’ Great Commandment is about—love God and love people—nothing more and nothing less. Religions set rules, but relationships sow love. We see Jesus frequently breaking the rules, triggering the religious leaders’ anger. He didn’t break the rules to be rebellious but to show us that corrupt religions turn people off by valuing rules above love. So, today, let’s explore how Jesus broke the rules and why so we can learn when to break the rules to maintain loving relationships and avoid loveless religiosity based on this week’s scripture lessons. Let’s begin!

There’s a Chinese proverb, “Men do not pass 8x8; women 7x7.” This saying comes from the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Medicine Manual, written in the 5th century B.C.E. What does it mean? It’s about the pattern of physical changes in males and females. Men grow in an eight-year cycle and women in a seven-year. Let me explain by referring to the Internal Medicine Manual. A boy changes his teeth when he is 8. By sixteen (8x2), he has the reproductive capability. By twenty-four (8x3), he is fully grown. By 32 (8x4), his body quality reaches its peak. By 40 (8x5), his energy starts to drop. By 48 (8x6), his hair begins to turn grey, and his skin begins to wrinkle. By 56 (8x7), his legs become weakened and slow down. By 64 (8x8), his hair and teeth start to fall. That’s the end of his prime and productive years. (Yike, I’ll soon approach that age!) A man after 8x8 (or 64) is deemed old, not according to me, but according to the Internal Medicine Manual. It also says that females change in a seven-year cycle. A girl changes her teeth by 7. By 14 (7x2), she has the reproductive capability. By 21 (7x3), she is fully mature. (Girls mature sooner than boys.) By 28 (7x4), she reaches the peak of her development. By 35 (7x5), her physical state turns downhill. By 42 (7x6), her hair starts to turn grey. By 49 (7x7), she loses her reproductive capability. That’s the end of her prime and productive years. It’s the nature no one can avoid, according to the Internal Medicine Manual. So, the saying, “Men don’t pass 8x8; women 7x7,” means men’s most productive years don’t go beyond 64, and women 49. If you are still active beyond that point, you are blessed. Many of you are far beyond that point and truly blessed to live in times like this to enjoy the longer and stronger golden years. That’s physical, but how about mental and spiritual since humans have body, mind, and spirit? Mentally, we don’t have a pattern like that. Your mental maturity depends on how much you learn. The average person reads only four books after graduating from college. So, if you read more than four books a year, you are above average. Many brilliant people read about a book a week, fifty books a year. Spiritual maturity is even more nebulous. You can measure your physical growth by age. You can also measure your mental capacity by taking an IQ test. How do you measure your spiritual maturity? It can be measured by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. However, there’s a caveat. Jesus said we are branches. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself without attaching to the vine. Jesus said he is the True Vine. He said without him, we can do nothing. (Jn 15:5). It’s a strong statement, warning us that a branch doesn’t even have life without attaching it to the vine. An atheist told me, “Well, I don’t need God or Jesus to live by love, joy, peace, patience, etc.” I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but then I discovered his life behind the scenes was a big mess. So, fat chance! Communism is the largest experiment to bear the fruit of the Spirit without the Spirit. They do good without God. History shows they failed miserably, building a utopia without the creator. I don’t have to elaborate since it’s well-recorded. Branches don’t have life unless it’s attached to the vine. Furthermore, the Bible says a branch that connects to a poor-quality vine bears poor-quality fruit. That’s why Jesus said he is the True Vine. It means other vines are not true. You might wonder, “Isn’t it arrogant or insensitive to say he is the only true vine, and we can do nothing without him? There are so many religions out there.” Jesus said by their fruit, you will know them (Mt 7:20), meaning, “Look at the evidence!” Ignore him at their own demise. Good luck, utopians! Today, we will explore how to become a branch of the True Vine. Jesus uses parables and metaphors because spiritual reality is metaphysical. We need physical analogies to understand metaphysical reality. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus uses another metaphor to describe how the branches emerge from the True Vine. He says, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (Jn 3:3). To be born from above is like being born as a branch of the True Vine. It’s a spiritual rebirth. The initial outcome is seeing the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the alternative living. We live in a fallen world of suffering, but there is an alternative world, the kingdom of God, the Promised Land filled with the fruit of the Spirit, so we can live life to the fullest despite this fallen world. To live in that kingdom, we must first see it. To see it, we must be born from above. So, today, let’s look at the mystery of this eye-opening rebirth that allows us to see the kingdom of God based on this week’s scripture lesson. Let’s begin!