Posts by Alvin Lin (Page 2)

You and I are not very different from each other. I know I am not wrong. Each of us has stepped on someone’s toes. Maybe not all the time, but enough times. I know, because you and I are sinners, and it is only a matter of time before we step on each other’s toes. We have been guilty of saying insensitive things to another person, and offended them. We have said the wrong things and have done things we…

Read Part I Adam and Eve, however, did not die only physically. That is only part of the story. When a sinful being collides with a holy God, something else is happening. Colossians 2.13–14 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has…

We all know the story. In the beginning, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Genesis narrative seems to say there were many trees inside this garden. God told Adam he may eat from any tree in the garden. But there was one tree in the garden where its fruit he may not eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat…

You already know this but the Bible teaches the Christ believer to give to God. This includes resources of all types such as our time, our gifts, our energy, and our talents. One of the most distinctive practices of the Christian life is, however, that he or she also gives financially to God. Not everyone in the world understands this behavior. We especially cannot expect those who do not understand what is the Christian faith to understand why Christians give.…

Read Part I. When we hear that the Levites did not receive a land inheritance like all the other tribes, it is easy for any of us to think they were, in some way, less than the other tribes. But that would be a mistake. It would be wrong for us to think God did not care for them as much as he cared for the other tribes or love them as much as he loved the other tribes. Why…

Do you remember that as a little boy or girl, what did you want to become when you grew up? A musician? A scientist? A writer? What did you dream about? I don’t remember how old I was, but I do remember that by the time I was in middle school, I dreamed about studying automobile designing in Italy to become a designer or about becoming a meteorologist, not one of those meteorologists standing in front of a camera at…

Read Part I Read Part II As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, God made a promise to them he would surely go before them into the Promised Land. He would always care for them, come to defeat their enemies, and they would live securely. They would finally enter into their rest in the Promised Land. He also said to them that after they had settled into the Promised Land, they must observe the Sabbath. They must keep it holy,…

We know that the commandment to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy came to the Israelites in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Before this, there was no commandment to the Israelites anywhere in the Bible to remember the Sabbath day, and to keep it holy. But I don’t want you to think that God introduced the concept of rest for the first time in Genesis, and he didn’t bring up the concept of rest, or more…

The Ten Commandments is one of the most recognizable sections in the Bible. I first heard about them when I was still a little boy. Hollywood even made a movie with the same title in 1956. But what if I were to tell you the words, “Ten Commandments” are not found anywhere in the Bible? It’s true. That is because in the three places where “Ten Commandments” appear in the Bible, it does not say, “Ten Commandments”, but “Ten Words”…

In the opening chapter in the Book of Hebrews, the author wasted no time firing off on his agenda. He set out to begin to talk about angels right out of the gate. But he didn’t just begin to give a systematic theology on angels. His purpose was more specific than that. His main thesis was on how Christ is superior than the angels. Of the many directions he could have gone, it is remarkable to me the first thing…

Do you know what is prosperity theology? You may not know the term, but you may already know the theology. Prosperity theology is sometimes also called the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, or the gospel of success. It is an unbiblical theology that says if a person becomes a Christian, it is God’s will for him to receive financial blessing, physical well-being, among other “prosperous” things. For the past two weeks, I was in Taiwan visiting my parents…

The Lord taught the Israelites to observe the Passover once they entered into the Promised Land so they would always remember how the Lord killed every Egyptian firstborn to deliver them. Year after year, the Israelites observed the Passover, and they became more and more familiar with the Lord’s teachings on the firstborn—the firstborn belongs to the Lord, the firstborn must be redeemed, and redemption always required blood. Then came one day many years later, a Passover unlike any other.…

After refusing nine times to let the Israelites go, it is remarkable that on the tenth time, Pharaoh told them to get out, and that in the middle of the night. He couldn’t even stand to wait until daylight. It took the murder of all the Egyptian firstborns to bring Pharaoh to his knees and to let the Israelites go. The tenth plague was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Every one of the nine plague struck the Egyptians,…

How many of you are the eldest among your brothers or sisters? Are you a firstborn in your family? According to some studies, the oldest in the family are usually high achievers, excellent problem solvers, born leaders, independent thinkers, and the brains in the family! If you are a firstborn, have I just described you? How many of those things I listed are true of you? On the flip side, as with many things in life, being the firstborn comes…

Let’s be honest. No one likes mourning. Mourning that is, not morning (many don’t like that too). None of us looks forward to something that gives us a reason to mourn. Just hearing the word makes us feel sick. To mourn assumes one is already experiencing some kind of a deep grief, and he or she is expressing that deep grief outwardly. Genesis 23:2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in…