Kevin Park's Christian Today Articles

  Birthright In the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis chapter 25, verses 27-34, we learn about where our treasure lies. The story of Jacob and Esau tells us that when Jacob was cooking a red lentil stew and Esau was famished, Esau sold his birthright to satisfy his hunger with some stew. According to Google, birthright means “a particular right of possession or privilege a person has from birth.” Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob as Esau was a skillful hunter, and Issac loved the taste for wild game (Genesis chapter 25, verses 27-28). Therefore, since there is more privilege for being the firstborn, Jacob probably wanted Esau’s birthright to win Isaac’s favour. “The law of the firstborn is nothing but an expression of the exceedingly high esteem in which the first child was held.” (John Goldingay, Genesis) Although firstborn privilege is still essential in today’s context, I would act like Esau if I was hungry. I want to receive love from my parents, but if I am starving, I think I...

  How often have we committed to someone or something and failed to keep that commitment? For instance, one person wants to catch up with their friend, and their friend promises to catch up soon. However, they did not keep their promise because they had gotten busy or forgotten. Another example is finding many desirable things people want to commit.  However, they eventually cannot keep one or more of their commitments as time passes. Faithfulness is one of the human beings’ challenging concepts, to be honest.  It even was shown in the Scriptures, especially Old Testament. The covenant God However, the Scriptures also indicate that God is the covenant God. But what is a covenant? According to  The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms , the word ‘covenant’ defines as  “a formal agreement or treaty between two parties that establishes a relationship and in which obligations and mutual responsibilities may be enacted.” As God is unconditional, the unconditio...

  Isaac’s trust and faith in Abraham When Isaac asked his father, Abraham, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”  Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” and Isaac just trusted and put his faith in his father. He did not even complain that his father lied to him when Abraham was about to slay him. As the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from slaying Issac, God provided a ram for the burnt offering. Isaac’s trust and faith in his father, Abraham, links to Jesus’ trust and faith in His Father, God. The angel’s command and warning about Abraham’s slaying action to Isaac indicate that it was just Abraham’s test of his faith in God.  However, God’s sending His Son, Jesus, into the world to be sacrificed for human beings happened in reality. Jesus’ trust and faith in God Jesus was in anguish with suffering, but He did not complain and willingly accepted God’s will. For example, Jesus prayed in anguish to His Father and requested ...

  Biblical stories of mistreatment There are several stories in the Bible of mistreatment. For example, Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she is his sister.  Because there was no fear of God, Abram feared they might murder him if they found out he was her husband. As a result, God inflicted Pharaoh with severe disease. God told Abimelek to return Sarah to Abraham if he did not want to die (Genesis chapter 12, verses 11-20; Genesis chapter 20, verses 1-11). The excuse was Sarah was his brother because of his father’s family line (Genesis chapter 20, verse 12). Another example is when Sarai told her husband Abram to sleep with her Egyptian slave, Hagar.  Since she could not conceive any children, Sarai thought she could build a family through Hagar as she was able to conceive.  As soon as Hagar became pregnant, Sarai mistreated her because of the suffering after telling Hagar to sleep with Abram. The excuse was Hagar despised her mistress Sarai because Sarai could ...

What is prayer? Prayer Prayer is a two-way conversation between God and Jesus’ followers. To be specific, it is the bridge of connection between the earthly place and heavenly place. God speaks to believers through the Bible as it is entirely packed with His word.  Therefore, the Bible can be a prayer book (2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16-17). God also sometimes talks to believers through the Holy Spirit by sending promptings or convictions (John chapter 16, verses 12-15). The Holy Spirit is the gateway of God’s Spirit and ours (1 Corinthians chapter 2). Although Jesus’ followers cannot see God in reality until they go to heaven at the end of their physical lives,God longs to communicate with them as they automatically become His children through faith in Jesus. Prayer sounds as spiritually refreshing as it is, but we often forget it since we live in a culture of busyness. Some of us may think that God completely understands how we live to glorify Him in everything we do. Although G...

The story of Rebekah In the story of Rebekah in  Genesis chapter 24 , we learn that Rebekah was positioned to be an answer to Abraham’s servant’s prayer. Abraham told his servant to go to his relatives and get a wife for his son, Isaac. Abraham’s servant prayed, asking God to let a young woman, who gives him and his camels a drink from the well, be the woman for Isaac ( Genesis chapter 24, verses 12-14 ). A young woman called Rebekah was at the well and gave Abraham’s servant and his camels a drink.  Rebekah was a relative of Abraham’s family, so she was being positioned to be his prayer ( Genesis chapter 24, verses 15-27 ). Have you been someone who answered someone else’s hope and/or prayer?  Or, have someone responded toyour hope and/or prayer? I sure have answered my friend’s hope and/or prayer. Being positioned A long time ago, one of my friends needed a faith community, and I got her one by bringing her into one of the home groups. My hopes and/or prayers also have ...