UBC Wed For Life

When Faith Stops Trying to Win Debates and Starts Changing Lives Being in this world can leave you tired. Tired of arguments. Tired of outrage. Tired of people shouting convictions they do not practice. Tired of public virtue and private vice. Tired of hearing what people believe while watching their lives contradict what they proclaim. Many people today are not rejecting Christianity because they have carefully studied every theological claim. They are rejecting what they perceive as hypocrisy, inconsistency, tribalism, and performance. In an age where everyone has a platform, many have forgotten how to be a witness. Jesus never instructed His followers to win every argument. He instructed them to love. To serve. To forgive. To remain faithful. To carry their cross. To become the kind of people whose lives cause others to question their beliefs and values before their mouths ever say a word. The most compelling testimony is not a perfectly crafted debate. It is a transformed life. Jes...

                   Have you ever considered that our present reality is merely the shell of a deeper spiritual existence—a realm where the Kingdom of God sets the true order of all things? According to Ephesians 6:12:  we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Imagine for a moment that in this current realm, an ecosystem of unseen creatures roam, each embodying the vices that shape who we become. None of these creatures bring life, nor can they be controlled by us. However, we may decide which ones we feed—though we are not always aware of those that feed on us. The Predatory Nature of the Internal Wilderness Stephen King’s IT provides a vividly terrifying view of how this ecosystem could operate. The greatest threat isn’t claws or teeth; it is the way the entity preys on what is ...

                            Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28 (KJV) Come as you are with the weight of worry and frustration that weighs you down. Come as you are with sins too many to name. Come as you are for Our Heavenly Father is waiting. Come as you are afraid, doubtful, sick, full of rage, hate, lost, even those who are homeless. Come as you are prideful, angry, the one who felt unlovable, mistreated, the one who thought no one cared. Come as you are those who are clean on the outside but feel dirty and ashamed on the inside. Come as you are with the mask you may not want others to see, your true self. Come as you are for Our Heavenly Father is waiting with open arms, waiting to love you, for He has never stopped. He reminds us in His Word I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. - Hebrews 13:5 (KJV) Come as you are For once you come to the Father ...

                                    The format and tone of the Bible shift pretty substantially going from the Old to the New Testament. The Old Testament covers thousands of years of history and introduces us to hundreds of different people playing a variety of roles in the story God tells us. The New Testament is the culmination of the story namely — the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While the New Testament is all about Jesus, He didn’t write a single word in it. Other people were tasked with telling His story, delivering His message, and executing His will in the building of His church. Peter was one of the most important figures in the New Testament. So much so that he is recognized as the first Pope of the Catholic church. With such an important impact on our faith, you might think Peter was the paragon of a believer in Christ. Maybe he was, but that doesn’t mean he was perfect. In fact, Peter was ...

  Across Scripture, history, psychology, and lived human experience, periods of deprivation and uncertainty consistently precede transformation. The settings in which these periods occur are both physical and psychological and are biblically referred to as the wilderness. The wilderness appears as a recurring environment in which control is removed and identity is clarified. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness of Midian before liberating Israel. Elijah fled to a cave when death threats stripped him of his prophetic confidence. Jesus Himself, immediately following His baptism and divine affirmation, was “ led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted ” for forty days (Matthew 4:1). This was not accidental wandering but intentional leading, suggesting that barren seasons function as deliberate mechanisms rather than random misfortunes. This observation raises a fundamental question: If wilderness experiences appear consistently in transformational narratives, what divine ...

                  The Story We’re Taught About Power Most of us grow up learning the same unspoken rule: if you want influence, take control. Climb the ladder. Guard your position. Don’t look weak. Over time, this story shapes how we understand leadership, success, and even our sense of purpose. Yet many discover a strange contradiction: the tighter we grasp for control, the more restless, disconnected, and exhausted we become. That inner tension opens the door to a deeper question: Is there another way to live and lead? When Power Fails to Deliver If power, as the world defines it, so often corrodes meaning and connection, is there an alternative vision for greatness, one that produces wholeness instead of harm? More specifically, does Jesus offer more than a moral challenge? Does He provide a workable redefinition of power and purpose that actually leads to life? Understanding True Power Jesus’ life and teachings exhibit a radical possibil...