"Many of the people of Israel will he (John the Baptist) bring back to the Lord their God…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Lk. 1:16-17)

The Four Gospels not only mention the ministry of John the Baptist, but they also point out that he and his ministry have already been foretold by the prophet Isaiah. In other words, his ministry was not to be taken lightly and he was to play an important part in the plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.

In the Four Gospels, we see the immediate impact of his ministry as he boldly pointed out the sins of the religious leaders and called them and the people to repentance. His ministry was greeted with great success, as even many of the religious leaders came to receive his baptism of repentance.

But his ministry was meant to be preparatory in that if these repenting Jews did not subsequently listen to his testimony about who Jesus is, their baptism of repentance would be totally meaningless.

As it happened, some of those who received his baptism of repentance did believe in his testimony and followed Jesus, and they included Peter and Andrew.

As Luke finished his Gospel account and continued to write the Book of Acts, we have come to realize that many of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem and that many of John's disciples spread throughout Asia Minor and beyond, carrying the gospel with them. As a result, they played no small part in the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem. All these have been a result of the bold ministry of John the Baptist.

As much as we do understand that no one is indispensable when it comes to the ministry of the church, one has to wonder what if — what if John did not faithfully carry out his role as the one who prepared the way of the Lord?

"'I am the Lord's servant', Mary answered, 'May it be to me as you have said'." (Lk. 1:38)

Many Bible scholars estimate that Mary would likely be between 16-18 years old at the time of bearing the Christ child. Maybe, in her time, girls of her age might be a bit more mature than girls of her age today, but still, a teenager is a teenager. How much life experience, how much biblical knowledge and knowledge of God could she have, let alone the knowledge of being pregnant and being a mother?

However, it was because of her young age that God's choice of her is even more special.

Upon seeing the angel Gabriel and hearing his greeting, she appeared to be marked more by being "troubled" than shocked. To a normal person, the very words that he or she is highly favored by God would have brought jubilation: "How I must be very special! I must have done something right!" But Mary was different: This teenage girl seemed to understand that being highly favored by God carries with it an awesome responsibility, and it sure did — perhaps the heaviest responsibility any woman on earth should ever shoulder — giving birth to and rearing the Son of God!

Upon receiving a more detailed clarification of what she had been chosen for, Mary's focus was a very practical one, "How will this be…since I am a virgin?" (Lk. 1:34). This was not a sign of disbelief, but a sign of her maturity, of not being too overwhelmed by the miracle or vision that was before her, but seeing the very practical implication of her charge.

And when the angel further explained to her that her pregnancy would be a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon her and assured her that such a miracle was not too far-fetched, given the pregnancy of her relative, Elizabeth, Mary gave a very brief response: "I am the Lord's servant…May it be to me as you have said." (Lk. 1:38)

If Mary had to keep on treasuring and pondering the meaning of the birth of this son of hers even after the angel's visit, she must have been extremely perplexed with many unanswered questions at this time, yet she expressed the above words of submission. Why? As much as there remained many things about this child's birth that she did not know or understand, there was one thing that she knew for sure, and that was who she was — the Lord's servant. A more literal translation of her words are, "I am the maid-slave of the Lord…".

Yes, she knew she was the slave of the Lord, and as such, it did not really matter whether she knew all the answers and implications of her charge. Her only attitude as a slave was total submission.

Isn't this also true for all of us who belong to the Lord?! There are many things that happen in life which are beyond our comprehension, and we find ourselves continually asking "Why?". But if we understand, as Mary did, who we are — slaves of the Lord — and that the only attitude that matters is "total submission", then the Lord will take care of the rest. The Lord certainly did in the case of Mary.

"…for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is His name." (Lk. 1:48-49)

Mary was certainly a very unusual woman of God and her famous song of praise, called the "Magnificat", is certainly one that expresses her great devotion and submission to the Lord. As this is such a rich, rich song and full of spiritual insights, I would only wish to share with you two thoughts that have touched my heart during the past Christmas as I reflected on her song.

1. "He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant": As I reflected on this statement, I came to realize that it can be simply translated, based on the original sense of the Greek words, as "He has even cared to look at me or even paid attention to me".

   You see, Mary was just such an ordinary Jewish girl, poor and living in an ordinary town of Nazareth — in fact, a town rather despised by the Jews (Jn. 1:46). Why would God, of all people and of all places, choose someone like her in Nazareth to be the earthly mother of His Son, to bear and to raise Him for such an earth-shaking, epoch-changing mission?! But as incredible as it was, it was true that she had been chosen, and as she received such an affirmation from Elizabeth and from the child in her womb, she burst into praise, wondering aloud, "How could God even look at me?!"

2. "The Mighty One has done great things for me": You might say to Mary, "Wait a minute; it is all about the Son of God and the salvation for the entire world. You are just a tool!"

   But Mary understood that God never simply chooses and uses anyone as a tool. As much as she had been chosen to be a blessing to the world, she herself would be the most blessed. Who would witness first-hand the sinless life of the Son of God? Who would witness the great humility of the Son of God in greater fashion than Mary — having witnessed His humble birth, having to teach Him to talk, to eat and to walk, and then watch Him go all the way to the cross? Who would understand the love of Christ like her — having experienced His love first-hand as His earthly mother? As much as she was a tool, she knew she was more than tool, but someone God has chosen to greatly bless as well.

Brothers and sisters, this is always how God treats each one of us. No one is too insignificant in His eyes — He sees and He cares. No one is purely chosen as a tool for His kingdom, but as we are chosen, we are the first ones He seeks to bless, if we learn to obey as Mary did!

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people." (Lk. 1:68)

Just imagine:

• You are rather advanced in age, say in your 60's. Though not that old these days, in those days, you would be quite old.
• You and your wife have no children, and your hope for having any children, which was very, very important in those days, especially for the Jewish woman, had certainly vanished after so many years.
• Unfortunately for the wife, she felt somehow ashamed — as if accursed of God — having done something wrong — that is why Luke emphasizes that they are both upright.
• Then you encountered the angel Gabriel and miracle of miracles, you are given a son.

Now, people around you are not only amazed, they truly rejoice with you. In this hill community where everybody knows everybody, they sense that you have found favor with God; and of course, they eventually will hear of your divine encounter. As a result, they cannot help but ask, "What then is this child going to be?" (1:66).

Now, let me ask you: Apart from being excited and jubilant, what might be your focus at the birth of your son, especially with the angel saying, "for he will be great in the sight of the Lord" (1:15). Of course, you will think of what he is going to be, his achievement, and his greatness. If this is your focus, you will naturally express this in your song of praise, perhaps right in the beginning of your praise. Right?

But Zechariah began his praise without any reference to his son in the first long sentence. Instead, he spoke all about God and the redemption of His people as foretold by prophets of long ago. In other words, as much as God had answered their own prayer of perhaps over 40 years with the gift of a son, he was more thrilled to know that God had now answered the prayers of the entire nation after a lapse of more than 400 years during which there was not any word from any prophet. With such a God-centered life, no wonder he was chosen by God to raise the champion of the Messiah who would prepare the way of the Lord!

"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born…She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Lk. 2:6-7)

"There was no room…in the inn": This one statement is a very powerful indictment of the world then and now. The world had no room for the Son of God then, and it still does not. But I wonder how Joseph and Mary felt at the time.

The decree by Caesar Augustus was most unexpected and most inconvenient. We believe that Joseph and Mary were rather poor from the fact that they could not afford to offer the usual sacrifice of a lamb at the time of purification, only a pair of doves or two young pigeons (see the provision laid down in Lev. 12:8). For Joseph, a poor carpenter, the trip to his hometown Bethlehem would mean the stoppage of work as a carpenter — something he could not really afford with the soon addition of a baby to the family.

This 80 miles journey might take ordinary folks three days to complete, but for a heavily pregnant woman like Mary, it would obviously take a few more days. So, as others passed them by as they journeyed to Bethlehem, they would sense that finding a room would be very difficult. However, if I were Joseph, I would comfort Mary with these words, "Don't worry. It is the child of the Most High that you are bearing; He would not mistreat His own, would He? Furthermore, the angel appeared to Zechariah, to me, and to you; he might have appeared to someone in Bethlehem already. Who knows, maybe the richest person in Bethlehem is waiting for us at the city's gate to receive us into his home."

As we know, no one was willing to open their homes to let them deliver their baby. Only an innkeeper was "kind" enough to shuffle them into the manger, a place only fit for animals, to deliver their baby. As one Bible scholar comments, the fact was "Nobody cared".

I wonder, apart from the disappointment and bewilderment Joseph and Mary felt, would they not have asked in their heads, "I wish we were of more means, that the Son of God would not have to end up in a manger!"

The truth of the matter is, they have been chosen exactly because they were poor and that there was nothing they could do to give the Christ Child a more noble birth. It was through them that the Son of God identifies with the poorest of the poor — people whom nobody cares about!

"Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about." (Lk. 2:15)

Maybe you have wondered why Luke would choose to include the shepherds' encounter with the angel and their visitation to the Christ Child in his gospel account. Perhaps, the more appropriate question is, why did God choose to announce the birth of Christ, of all people, to these shepherds?

For one, the announcement of Christ's birth to the shepherds is consistent with the way of the Lord. He often appears to the humble and the simple, as the Lord Jesus makes plain in Matthew 11:25.

These shepherds were indeed simple folks without a lot of means. They were not well educated and certainly not too well respected. However, as the angel announced this good news of great joy, introducing who Jesus is in no uncertain terms — the Savior, the Messiah and the Lord (God Himself) — they did not wait until they could consult the learned and sophisticated rabbis; they did not sit down to do a Bible study; they "hurried off" to visit the Christ Child. What they said before they went was significant: "Let's go to Bethlehem and see the things that have happened, which the Lord has told us." (Italics, mine).

They recognized the glory as God's presence and so those words were not so much from the angel, but from the Lord — God Himself. Furthermore, they simply believed that "this thing" that was told them "has happened" already. Yes, they were simple folks, and they expressed their belief in simple steps of obedience — they hurried off!

They might not have understood the significance of their simple steps of obedience until they reached heaven. What they had seen, heard and shared meant a lot to Mary (and I am sure to Joseph as well) to the point that she had to treasure up all these things (that were told by the shepherds) and pondered them in her heart. To treasure is to "guard" these things, not allowing them to be forgotten. To ponder is to put them together, as piecing a jigsaw puzzle together to find their true meaning. It obviously means that even at that point or perhaps, especially at that point of having delivered the Son of God in a manger, she was very confused and puzzled. What happened to the angel who made the announcement? Why did he not intervene? This is the very Son of God — why didn't Father God intervene? Doesn't He care?

The story told by the shepherds positively answered her doubts — the angels cared and so did Father God!

Yes, we might doubt that what we do for God and His kingdom is as insignificant as we are, and that our simple steps of obedience can really matter. The shepherds have set a very good example and have provided us with the answers.

"And a sword will pierce your own soul too." (Lk. 2:35)

Many of us take offence at the way the world celebrates our Christmas. Surprisingly, we do not seem to bothered too much about how the merchants take advantage of Christmas to sell their products and to encourage people to buy stuff that they do not really need, and for many, with money that they do not have. We care more if they celebrate it with the "Merry Christmas" slogan or with the atheistic slogan of "Happy Holidays".

The truth of the matter is, if they do not believe in Jesus Christ, it really does not matter how they greet us or one another during Christmas. If we do understand and remember the meaning of Christmas, we should celebrate it with both joy and sadness.

With joy, because it is the demonstration of the great love of God in sending His only begotten Son to be one of us, to bring forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all who would believe in Him — This is the greatest news the world has ever heard.

With sadness, because the path to forgiveness and eternal life was through Him being rejected by the world and eventually being crucified on the cross on behalf of us sinners. In other words, as many poets and scholars like to put it, "He was born to die!"

With joy, because He has gained victory over sins, death and Satan, and He will soon return as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We, who have believed in Him, will reign with Him forever (2 Tim. 2:12).

With sadness, because the world continues to reject Him and at His return, they will be judged and their eternal destiny is the eternal fire (Rev. 20:15).

Many of us do not belong to liturgical churches, but we would do well to follow many of their examples to celebrate Advent with both fasting and feasting. This, to me, is not so that I could prepare myself to be more worthy to celebrate Christ's birth, but so that I can remind myself of the true meaning of the coming of Christ and prepare myself to wait for His second coming.

"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men." (Lk. 2:52)

These days, the ears of people are so dull that they do not wish to entertain too mundane a Jesus, and have revived their interests in some of the pseudo gospels which were rejected by the early church as spurious.

These pseudo gospels and apocryphal writings include the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (likely 2nd century), Pseudo Matthew (likely 6th or 7th century) and the Pseudo Arabic Infancy Gospel (likely 6th century). They paint a Jesus who could and did perform miracles even as a boy. The most common stories appear to be about Jesus making 12 clay sparrows that come alive and the cursing of a certain boy to the point that he withered away and died.

But the four gospels give very little information about Jesus, exactly because He lived a very normal childhood. Presumably by the time of Luke, miraculous stories about Jesus' childhood must have already been circulated, and thus he sees the need to set the record straight and includes a childhood story of Jesus, probably by consulting Mary herself.

The way Joseph and Mary treated and rebuked Jesus shows that they treated Him as a normal child. As much as Jesus has demonstrated His self-awareness as the Son of God with His rather sharp answer in 2:49, Luke emphasizes His continuous obedience to His earthly parents (2:51).

The reason why Jesus would refrain from exercising His divine power and grow up like a normal child is consistent with these words in Hebrews, "Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity… For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way" (Heb. 2:14, 17).

"What should we do then?" (Lk. 3:10)

One of the strong oppositions to the theology of "salvation by faith" is the fear of rendering the grace of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ into "cheap grace". Some would use these words of John the Baptist in Luke 3 to support their opposition, because John calls the people to produce "good fruit" to avoid being "cut down and thrown into the fire" (Lk. 3:9)

However, to simply use these words of John to support the claim that salvation, apart from faith, also requires work is to ignore the context of the passage.

Whatever John teaches or does cannot lead to salvation, otherwise he would not be the preparer of the way, but the "way" itself. John insistently labors to point the crowd away from himself to Jesus saying, "I baptize you with water. But one powerful than I…will baptize you with the Holy Spirit&elipse;" (Lk. 3:16)

Therefore, his baptism is one that prepares the way for Jesus in that the repentance of the people would find true forgiveness if they put their trust in the Messiah who is Christ Jesus.

However, in preparing them to turn to Christ, John seeks to "turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" (Mal. 4:6). In other words, he seeks to return them to a relational faith that is based on "loving your neighbors as yourself" (Matt. 22:39).

If they are prepared to love God by believing in His Son, such a turning of hearts towards one another would ensure that their faith would not be a self-centered faith, but one that certainly fulfills the demands of the Commandments.

Food for thought for Evangelical Christians!

"And as He was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form." (Lk. 3:21-22)

The Lucan version of the baptism of Jesus is rather short, but it provides us with special insights that Luke is trying to convey to us.

First, he mentions that the Holy Spirit descends upon Him, just as Jesus is praying. In the baptism we witness today, it is usually the one who baptizes prays rather than the one being baptized.

The interesting question is: What is Jesus praying about that leads to both the descent of the Holy Spirit and the verbal testimony of Father God?

In a separate article, I have mentioned that Father God must be so excited by the action of His Son that He opens the window of heaven, and exclaims His delight of the Son's demonstration of commitment to follow through with His plan of saving mankind even through death. The immersion into the water signifies this commitment.

His voice from heaven is also a public testimony of Who Jesus is.

And perhaps, the prayer of Jesus at the time is not unlike His prayer to the Father in John 17. There, before His walk towards the cross, He once again expresses His commitment to glorify the Father and asks the Father to glorify him (Jn. 17:1).

Here the Father answers with both His voice of delight and with the descent of the Holy Spirit in visible form for the sake of those who are beside the river. We read in the Gospel of John that John the Baptist indeed had truly come to believe Jesus, his cousin, as the Son of God because of this experience (Jn. 1:33-34).

I believe that as we use baptism to demonstrate the same commitment to follow Christ till death, it will be such a delight that Father God will not be able to hold His feeling and that He will express His delight from heaven as well.

"Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry." (Lk. 3:23)

While John the Baptist rightfully depicts Jesus as one who is much more powerful than he is, whose sandals' thongs he was not worthy to untie and whose final judgment is to be feared, it is interesting to note that Luke gives us the age of Jesus when He began His public ministry. It begs the question about why Jesus would wait till this age to begin His public ministry.

Church traditions vary as to when Joseph died, but based on the fact that Joseph did not attend the wedding at Cana, he would have died before Jesus began His ministry. And we know that the last time Joseph was mentioned was when Jesus was left behind in the temple for three days when he was 12. In any case, when Joseph died, Jesus would definitely have reached the age of Bar Mitzvah (Son of the Law which begins traditionally at 13 years old for Jewish boys).

The logical assumption as to why Jesus had to wait till 30 to begin His ministry would be to take care of his family as the oldest of Mary's sons, in Joseph's absence. That means, with Mary being so poor, Jesus would have to carry on the trade of His father and become a carpenter (and indeed He was a carpenter according Mk. 6:3).

This is quite amazing to think of Jesus delaying His work of salvation because of filial piety! What an example He has set for all who have parents, widowed or otherwise, who depend on them for their well-being.

"If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread…If you are the Son of God…throw yourself down from here." (Lk. 4:3, 9)

Many fine commentaries and articles have been written about the temptation of our Lord and I do not think I have too much to add. But of the many commentaries and articles I have come across on the subject, I am still deeply impressed with Henry Nouwen's point about what he perceived in the first temptations of Jesus, and that point was the temptation of relevance.

Jesus knew full well who He is and He really had nothing to prove. So, in spite of the pressing need to resolve the issue of hunger, He would not yield to the tempter's challenge to turn the stone into bread.

These days, the pressing need seems to be to resolve many issues in society, not for our own sake, but for others'. Still the real issue is relevance. We do not want the world to think that we are so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good. We sense the need to prove to ourselves that we are relevant, we can solve problems, and we can deliver!

But Henry Nouwen was so right! We have nothing to offer the world, except our own brokenness. But that's so inapt, so weak, and so un-Evangelical! We belong, we have influence, even political influence. We have answers!

Really! If we follow the footsteps of Jesus, we can only offer our brokenness, our weakness, our prayer, our inapt presence, a broken vessel. But within our brokenness, our weakness, our prayer, our inapt presence and our broken vessel is our treasure, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in our brokenness that we find wholeness in Him. It is in our weakness that we find strength in Him. It is in our desperate and helpless prayer that we find hope in Him. It is in our inapt presence that we find Immanuel. It is in our broken vessel that we find great treasure in Him.

We can offer the world nothing, except Christ. But anytime we offer the world our pretended wholeness, our own strength, our eloquent prayer, our social influence and our charisma, we leave our treasure, Christ, behind.

Sadly, this temptation of relevance may not be an outside force, but oftentimes, it comes from within the church.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." (Lk. 4:18)

Ever since the surge of the Social Gospel, championed by Walter Rauschenbusch, many have used this passage from Luke in which Jesus preached from Isaiah 61:1-2 to affirm that He is the one spoken of by Isaiah and to reduce the gospel to a purely earthly dimension.

But throughout the New Testament, it is indisputable that the gospel of Jesus Christ is first and foremost about the saving of souls unto eternal life through repentance and belief in Him. This is not to say that doing good and the seeking of social justice are things that Christians can ignore. It is so basic to what is meant by being a human made in God's image that it cannot be called a mission, but a basic expression of human dignity. Many other religions thrive in this respect, but the gospel is much more than this. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can offer forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

Therefore the true mission of the anointed Christ is not meant to:

1. Preach the gospel to the physically poor only, because if such was the mission of Christ, He would have easily eliminated poverty or at least narrowed the gap between the haves and the have-nots. But the gospel is indeed good news to those who recognize their poverty before God, i.e. their desperate need to trust in God for their eternal life.
2. Set those wrongly imprisoned free, for He did not free anyone in jail, not even John the Baptist whose continued imprisonment probably was the reason why John was so puzzled. He has come to free all those who are imprisoned and chained by their own sins and lusts.
3. Recover the sight of the blind. Although Jesus did heal quite a few of the blind, He did not give all the blind their sight. In fact from time to time, He cautioned those whose sight was restored not to spread the news (Mk. 8:26, Matt. 9:30). But He has come to give sight to all who have been blinded by the lies of Satan, and live in spiritual darkness.
4. Release those who are oppressed. This was the one thing most looked forward to by the Jews of His time. It is obvious that Jesus did nothing to overturn the Romans. On the contrary, He willingly subjected Himself to their trial and judgment which led Him to be crucified on the cross. But the good news is that He has come to release all who are oppressed by the demands of life, the pressure of work, family and society and their own sins, that they may find rest for their souls. (Matt. 11:28-30)

Indeed, all the prophecies in the Isaiah passage that Jesus read out have been fulfilled in their ears and before their eyes, because He came, with His death to atone for our sins and with His resurrection to reconcile us with God. His death has defeated sin and Satan and has freed all who would believe in Him, and with His resurrection, He offers us eternal life. We who have believed in Him have found favor with The Lord who will welcome us into His everlasting Kingdom.

"All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips. 'Isn't this Joseph's son' they asked." (Lk. 4:22)

The words that Jesus said to the people of His hometown of Nazareth seemed very harsh. Since Jesus grew up in Nazareth, the people knew His father, mother and siblings. As much as they found His words amazing and powerful, it was only natural for them to ask, "Isn't this Joseph's son?" In other words, to accept Him as the Messiah was not easy, and to acknowledge Him as the Son of God would have been even harder. We have to remember that even His own brothers did not believe in Him in the beginning (Jn. 7:5). This highlights one of the ugliest sides of human nature, and that is that we tend to look down upon one of our own.

As much as most Bible-believing churches seek to base their decisions on biblical principles, there is at least one area where we simply find it hard to adopt biblical principles, and we do so blatantly. I am referring to the calling of a pastor by a church.

We know full well that the character of God's servant is of far more importance than his or her gifts, charisma and education, and yet most, if not all churches call their pastor based mainly on these external criteria. What is wrong with our churches? A lack of faith? A lack of courage? A lack of sensitivity and obedience to the Holy Spirit? Or, simply an unwillingness to get rid of our secular mindset?

I visited a church in New York that miraculously purchased an abandoned school building as their church. I said miraculously, because they submitted their bid to the authority purely based on faith and not on money which they did not have.

But the most miraculous deed they have done is how they called their senior pastor. As the old senior pastor retired, they went through the process of searching for his replacement, and as all good churches do, they did so with prayers. But their prayers were different — they prayed with an obedient spirit. The Holy Spirit moved them to appoint not a Ph. D., not an experienced pastor, nor a pastor with great preaching skill, but their janitor who had demonstrated a character of love for both men and God and a zeal for evangelism, they obeyed.

To cut a long story short, I was told that half of the congregation left as a result. The reason was not just because the pastor had no academic degrees, but because he was once one of them. However, under his leadership the church prospered with solid growth and an exemplary discipleship ministry, even to the homeless.

I wish more churches would honestly live out their claim that they are a Bible-believing church, especially when it comes to calling their pastor.

"'Be quiet', Jesus said sternly, 'Come out of him!' ." (Lk. 4:35)

The incident about Jesus stopping the "testimony" of the evil spirit in Luke 4:31-37 and which is also recorded in Mark 1:21-28 reminds me of a similar incident in Acts 16:16-18. Allow me to simply repeat an article that I wrote earlier:

I have come across incidents where Buddhist monks or nuns attempted to reach out to Christian churches, with the notion that we are really the same and all religions somehow lead to the same God. Some Christian leaders appeared to welcome them with open arms.

Paul's treatment of the slave girl in Acts 16 should help us guard against such misguided enthusiasm.

When you think about it, the slave girl was actually doing Paul and Silas a great favor on the surface (just as the evil spirit in Matthew and Mark was doing for Jesus). The two were foreigners introducing a brand new faith to this pagan city (and Jesus was just beginning His public ministry). The slave girl was not only known locally, but quite sought after too. Therefore, it would not seem to hurt Paul's cause when the slave girl (or rather the demon or evil spirit within her) testified to who Paul and Silas were. She told the people, "The men are servants of the Most High God." Not only that, she appeared to give credence to their message: "(they) are telling you the way to be saved." (Acts16:17)

The hearers who revered the slave girl and her spirit would have no problem welcoming Paul and Silas and their message because of her testimony. But Paul would have none of that. In the name of Jesus, he drove out the evil spirit from the slave girl. One might wonder why Paul would choose to do this. The reason, in fact, is not hard to understand.

In 2 Corinthians 6:15, Paul strongly preached against the unequal yoke between believers and the world, and in so doing he said, "What harmony is there between Christ and Belial (i.e. demon)?".

In testifying about who Paul and Silas were and what their message was, the evil spirit was hoping that the people would not only believe the gospel message, but would also remain loyal to him. In other words, the evil spirit was trying to elevate himself to the level of God, and was hoping that the people would not take Christ as the only way to salvation.

But God would have none of that. There is no room for coexistence between God and demons or idols. By driving the evil spirit out of the slave girl in the name of Jesus, Paul proved to the people that there is only one true God, and there is also only one true way to salvation, which is through Jesus Christ.

I do understand that even Buddhist monks need to hear the gospel, but we should guard against being manipulated into sending a wrong message to the people that Christ and Belial could be in harmony!

"At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place." (Lk. 4:42)

I am greatly bothered by some of the devotional books that promote a few minutes of devotional time a day. Such shallowness is alarming. Some even use Brother Lawrence's famous term of "practicing the presence of God" to imply that it is sufficient to "sense" God's presence in everything we do, without cutting out an extended period of time of solitude in prayers and scriptural reflection.

They have obviously overlooked that Brother Lawrence grounded his practice of the presence of God in his own extended time of fellowship with God on a daily basis.

Even worse is that such teaching simply "uses" God to give us a sense of peace to carry us through the day. But our relationship with God is not based on utility, but one that is based on love — the cultivation of intimacy between two people in love.

As a result, we see in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ that in the midst of the demand of ministry, He intentionally cuts off an extended period of time to be alone with Father God. So we read in Luke 4:42 "At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place." The same incident is expanded in Mark 1:35 which says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place where He prayed."

Jesus, indeed, leaves us the best example of how to spend time with God:

• When: To be able to get up early in the morning takes preparation the night before, without which we will not be able to wake up to meet with God.
• Where: If there is anyone who can genuinely practice the presence of God anywhere, it has to be the Son of God. Yet He finds it absolutely necessary to be away from the crowd and His usual environment to meet with His Father, without any distraction.
• What: And in solitude, He talks to His Father.
• How often: The Four Gospels undoubtedly give us the impression that this is Jesus' habit throughout His life on earth, and often He would pray the entire night.

If the Son of God "needs" to cut out so much time, often to meet with His Father God, how much more do we need to do so in order that we may grow in our knowledge of Him and of His will for us, to receive strength to do His will, to be able to recognize our sins and repent, and to grow in our love for Him and men?