UBC Wed For Life

Most people, Believers and nonbelievers alike, understand that believing in and following God requires faith. Jesus spent much of his time instilling the importance of faith into his disciples. Therefore, building and demonstrating faith have always been central parts of the Christian experience. As Christians, we all have likely been exposed to a wide variety of examples of Believers demonstrating or speaking on their faith. Some of those examples may have been relatively routine such as the testimonies we often hear where Believers explain how God rewarded their faith or provided in a way that strengthened their faith. We’ve also seen or heard about examples of faith that sound almost miraculous such as with the faith healers that claim they are able to heal infirmities and sickness through their faith in Jesus, just as was done by the apostles in the Bible. You may have even heard or seen more extreme examples of displays of faith like the church services of the snake handler...

On this blog, we have talked a lot about love. We have good reason for that given the importance that the Bible puts on love. Along with faith, love is a fundamental part of every Believer’s walk. However, the Bible does not just put a lot of emphasis on what and who we should love. It is also clear about what we should not love. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world. – 1 John 2:15-16 These are strong words from John and they have led some to take strong measures in the way they live their lives. We see sects of Christianity where people live very simplistic and basic lifestyles in an effort to avoid the things that John mentions in this scripture. While such measures are certainly valid and fair, are they what God expects from all of us? The world has a lot t...

If you’ve watched the TV or surfed the internet at all in the last couple of weeks, you know that another Marvel movie is in the theatres. This one, Avengers: Endgame, is the culmination of all the story telling that Marvel Studios has been doing over the past 11 years. What they have accomplished is unprecedented in cinematic history. They have told 21 different stories while building a shared world full of interesting characters and concepts. Endgame is the 22nd and it is supposed to tie together everything that has come before it and give this era of stories a conclusion. While, what Marvel Studios, has done is impressive as far as movies go, it’s not quite as rare in the world of literature. In fact, we all know of an example where a similar feat is captured in a single book – the Bible. If we look, we can see some interesting parallels between Marvel’s work and superhero movies in general to what’s done with the Bible. Much of this is likely unintentional. However, the ...