PENnED

Category: Reflections on Scriptures

  • Something Worth Treasuring and Pondering

    Read Luke 2:15-21 ________________   Amazing One of CNN’s Top 10 Newsfeed the other day had this warning for a headline: Don’t Get Caught Using These Banned Words in 20121  Guess what word tops the list. “Amazing”!   Amazing is one of the abused and overused words that people want banned.…

  • Spread the Word: “Do not be afraid…”

    Read Luke 2:1-20  When we think of Christmas we begin to have this nice, warm feeling. Indeed, how can we not have such good feeling? Our past experiences of Christmas were mostly, if not all, pleasant. Today, Christmas Day, everything around us—the scents, sights, sounds, and, what else, mmm…  sarap (the…

  • On Christmas, think about this: Why do you do what you do?

    Read: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 Believe it or not, I don’t get paid for this and a lot of other things I am doing. So why do I do them? Everything I do is a response to the love of God:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one…

  • Reason for Living

    Read: Acts 20:22-32 22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim…

  • Enjoying Freedom

    Freedom. When people talk about it in America I often wonder if they know what it really means.

  • Jesus: God with Us

    Read: Isaiah 53 The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. —Isaiah 7:14 “Yeah, right!” If Christopher Hitchens were still alive today, that’s probably how he would respond to Isaiah 7:14. But to us who believe, the revelation that Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us,” makes our…

  • Undying Love

    ne important thing I learned in seminary is that Bible narratives have generally one important purpose: to draw people’s attention to God. God is always the story’s hero. Yes, even in narratives in which God or God’s name is not mentioned.

  • Easier Said than Done

    Read: Romans 12:9-21 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it…

  • How to Look Beyond Great

    Read: Colossians 3:12-17  12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which…

  • Need something good to think about?

    Read: Philippians 4:4-9 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. If you’re wondering about what to think about, the verse above should make you wonder no more. Although…