UBC Wed For Life

God is good all the time. We’ve all heard that said in church at some point. Most of us have said it ourselves, but do we really mean it? Do we actually understand the implications of what we’re saying? A lot of times, we as Christians confuse our understanding or expectations of what is good with what God believes is good and ultimately chooses to do. This is backwards. After all, as Christians our definition of “good” should simply be anything that is of God. So, anything that is within God’s will should be seen as good. The problem is that we humans are limited in what we can perceive. Most of us believe God has a plan. Unfortunately, none of us understand the totality of that plan, so in our ignorance, questions arise that may shake our faith, or in the case of nonbelievers, keep us from coming to the faith altogether. Why did He create a world with natural disasters? Why does disease exist? Why do children have to suffer? We’ve all heard or posed those questions...

Sometimes Christianity gets accused of being a sexist religion. That impression isn’t helped by the fact that many of the most prominent characters in the Bible are men. All the characters that this blog has shined a spotlight on so far have been men, but that all changes with Ruth. It is a book of the Bible that covers the lives of two women: Naomi and Ruth. The story starts grimly. Naomi experiences quite a bit of loss. Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. - Ruth 1:3-5 They were all living in Moab at the time. Ruth in her sadness was preparing to send her daughters-in-law away and return to Bethlehem to be with her people. She believed that the Lord had turned against her, and she didn’t want the girls to have to share in the bitt...

  The Bible is a book. Most people in the world have heard of it. In fact, it is probably the most well known and widely read book in history. It’s not just any book though. It has had an impact on the world unlike any other. For nonbelievers, it might be an interesting philosophical text that has had an unbelievable impact on humanity both for good or bad depending on who was wielding it. For believers, it is the Word of God and serves as the basis for our faith. Every verse of every book was given to us by God to benefit us in some way.   All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness - 2 Timothy 3:16   Actually, calling the Bible a book is a bit of an oversimplification. The Bible used by most Protestants is actually a collection of different texts and books, 66 in all. Those books are divided into two testaments, the old and the new. Most people know these facts,...

In today’s world, we take a lot for granted. We have so much knowledge and technology within arm’s reach. To us, that is the norm and most of us have become accustomed to it. We seldom reflect on the fact that even just a 100 years ago, much of what seems commonplace to us was the subject of fantasy. To someone from Biblical times, our world would seem like a realm of unending marvels and wonders.  No one can question the good that exists because of our intellectual progress, but some bad has also come along with it. Climate change and the rise of deadlier weapons of war are just a couple of examples. However, some spiritual problems exist too. Perhaps the most fundamental problem is the fact that as we learn more about how our world works, more people have a tendency to drift away from God. Many feel like if we can explain the nuts and bolts of how the universe works, there is no need for God to exist. In this way, they are relegating God to the same position as the old...

The Bible is a large book and for us, people centuries separated from the events that transpired in it, the book can sometimes seem complicated and difficult to understand. For believers, that fact can sometimes be a roadblock to our progression in the faith. Thankfully for us, God has provided help for us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Paul mentions this: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. - 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 God also provided us with people who are blessed with the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, which are needed to make sense of the Bible and lead God’s people according to what it says. So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people...