TJ Gong

Everyone loves success and prosperity. When they succeed in whatever they are doing, they think they’re blessed by God. However, if they suffer or have a hard time in life, they must fall into disfavor with God. Is it true all the time?  We read in 1 Samuel 14:44-15:31 that God made King Saul successful in…

“Seeing is believing” is an idiom indicating seeing something rather than hearing about it is the best proof. When it comes to success or achievement, some people tend to exaggerate their words and glorify their deeds. But this idiom seems to be unlikely to suit God’s character and describe who He is. “Believing is seeing”, however, does. In Luke 1:39-44…

As I walked in the leribrary for book return, I caught a glimpse of a big anti-smoking poster on the door of the entrance gate. The poster features a beautiful TV or movie actress (I guess) dressed in scanty clothing, purposely revealing her belly button and holding a no-smoking slogan. When I gave a second…

“It’s impossible! I can’t do it.” I’m just a ordinary person; I can’t be like him or her.” We often voice our doubt or inability to take on a certain task. Some discouraging words will come out of our mouth because we can’t see beyond our vision and circumstances. Similarly, it happened to Zechariah the priest…

My aunt died of cancer in her late 40s. She was my first relative who died as I recall in my childhood. My aunt treated my family and all her brothers and sister well since she was married into a rich family. She would visited her mother, my grandmother, several times a year and brought…

Today on his Sunday message my pastor touched on the topic of union and separation. He pointed out that separation or departure from a person’s original group can be a good indication of another union as long as while leaving, he or she leaves a blessing not a curse or hatred. It occurred to me that…

Sometimes I like to follow Pope’s remarks on various issues whether they are political, social or moral. The news media reported yesterday that the Vatican defended the pope’s view of sexual education as he emphasized the key to eradicating Africa’s AIDS epidemic is not through condoms but by means of  “abstinence and monogamy”. His comments unsurprisingly…

Some scientists from Mexico conducted a study of fossilized reefs, the report about to be published in the latest issue of Nature.  They warned that a “catastrophic rise in sea levels from 4 meters to 6 meters is possible and “the sea levels could rise rapidly by the end of the century if global warming triggers a…

Are you waiting for someone’s email message? Are you waiting for a newborn baby to come? Waiting can be exciting as your favorite band is coming to your town; it can also be distressing as you expect someone to show up at the appointed but he or she doesn’t arrive. We have to learn the…

Did you ever feel wronged? Have you ever felt falsely accused? Would you fight back against accusations immoderately or remain calm and silent without talking back to your accusers? Moses is the person we may learn from about handling complaint and accusations. It happened many times that Moses was accused of his leadership out of…