Follow Jesus Christ

The song “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” as performed by Simply Red in 1989, is a cover of a 1972 song by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes — but it was Simply Red’s version that became world-famous. The main idea of the song is summed up in…

Our planet is Earth. On its surface the oceans roar, forests grow, the seasons change, cities arise and whole civilizations come into being. People love and hate, build homes, make discoveries, are born and die. It seems that everything most important happens right here. But all this life exists only…

Imagine a ring on your finger. As long as it stays on your finger, it belongs to you. If one day the ring slips into the grass, you can lose it in an instant. That is how many people imagine salvation: as a precious object. Some fear dropping it, others…

The growth of a plant is governed by a genetic program and by environmental conditions. A plant does not have the conscious ability to say, “That’s enough, I’ll stop growing now.” Yet not all plants follow the same pattern. Annuals (for example, wheat or sunflowers) go through a cycle: they…

Jesus and Paul disclose reality in different ways. Jesus reveals reality orally and directly. He shows it through a person’s encounter with God, through an action, a parable, a paradox. After talking with Jesus a person did not necessarily receive a new theory, but often began to see himself and…

Many remember Forrest Gump as a somewhat odd man who unbelievably lucked out. But psychologists like the film for a very different reason. They see a person whom life repeatedly placed in harsh circumstances but never managed to break. It’s striking that many of the principles that helped Forrest get…

Let’s run a small experiment. Take all of Jesus’ words in the Gospels, remove the prepositions and pronouns, the function words like “and,” “in,” “on,” to see which words and concepts He used most often. Many would probably guess “love,” “faith,” “salvation,” or “sin.” But that’s not the case. In…

Whether your life is running downhill or you’ve reached enlightenment and are levitating in the air — that won’t last forever. Everything changes; every new day must be begun anew, battling difficulties and battling yourself. Life itself is arranged so that a state of rest is unattainable. Earthly life is…

If the blood of Jesus by itself saves a person, why did Jesus speak so much about following him, repentance, being born again, loving your enemies, taking up your cross, and doing the Father’s will? In Jesus’ teaching salvation is almost always linked to a change in the person, not…