耶穌登山變像，是祂生命中的重要事件之一，與祂的受洗、釘十字架、復活和升天並列（Moule, 2005）。我們可能每週都紀念耶穌在十字架上的犧牲，在復活節回憶祂從死裡復活，但我們有多反思耶穌的變像，祂在山上的經歷（《馬太福音》17:1-8，《馬可福音》9:2-8，《路加福音》9:28-36）？雖然無法討論所有細節，這篇文章將簡要比較和對照耶穌變像的不同記載，最後以路加的版本作結，讓今天身處香港的我們可從中學習。
耶穌登山變像 （Dan Liu）
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Author Archives: Dan Liu
The Transfiguration of Jesus (Dan Liu)
The transfiguration of Jesus is one of the key events in His life, along with His baptism, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (Moule, 2005). We may celebrate each week Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and at Easter remember His rising from the dead, but how often do we reflect on Jesus’ transfiguration, His experience on the mountain (Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36)? While unable to discuss all of its details, this blog article will briefly compare and contrast the different accounts of Jesus’ transfiguration, concluding with Luke’s version, in order to draw lessons for us in Hong Kong today.
Continue reading「極其謙和，勝過世上的眾人」（Dan Liu）
《聖經》人物中，少有如摩西般萬眾矚目的。從好萊塢的史詩《十誡》（1956年）到夢工廠的動畫《埃及王子》（1998年），不同類型的電影作品都將他的故事搬上銀幕。摩西和以利亞兩位先知與耶穌一起登山變像（《馬可福音》9:2-13），這是基督徒耳熟能詳的。《聖經》記載，沒有其他先知像摩西那樣，「是耶和華面對面所認識的」（《申命記》34:10）。這篇文章勾勒出摩西轉化成「極其謙和，勝過世上的眾人」的歷程（《民數記》12:3），包括回顧摩西年輕時的魯莽，他對自身弱點的省悟，及他作為領袖所依靠的人。接著，重點將放在摩西對神及祂的靈的倚靠，怎樣「在我（神）全家盡忠」地服事（《民數記》12:7），並從他的榜樣中讓今天的我們汲取教訓。
Continue reading“More Humble Than Anyone Else…” （Dan Liu）
Sébastien Bourdon creator QS:P170,Q553795, Bourdon Sebastien-Moses and the Burning Bush, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons
Few Biblical figures command popular attention as Moses has. Cinematic productions as diverse as the Hollywood epic The Ten Commandments (1956) and DreamWorks’ animated The Prince of Egypt (1998) have brought his story to the screen. Christians recall that Moses and Elijah were the two prophets with Jesus on the mountain of His transfiguration (New International Version Bible, 2011, Mark 9:2-13). It was written that no other prophet since Moses has been like him, “whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deut 34:10). This blog post will roughly sketch out Moses’ transformation into a man “more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Num 12:3). It will briefly survey Moses’ youthful audacity, his awareness of weakness, and then outline the others who he relied upon in his leadership. The blog post will then focus on Moses’ reliance on God and His Spirit, serving as someone “faithful in all [God’s] house (Num 12:7), drawing from his example lessons for us today.
Continue reading小薯大夢 (Dan Liu)
商界領袖喜歡將矛盾的想法結合起來。《福布斯》(Forbes) 提出了「大處著眼，小處著手」(“think big, start small”) 的口號，以突出人工智能帶來的數碼化時代的轉變（Scalerandi，2024）。哲學家也不例外。在《道德經》中，老子也有類似的思考，指出「天下難事，必作於易，天下大事，必作於細（天下的難事，必從簡易的地方著手；天下的大事，必從細微的地方做起）」（Sturgeon, n.d.）。小與大之間的聯繫充滿矛盾，這個真理亦被耶穌巧妙地捕捉了。耶穌為了營造其聽眾的想像力：
他又設個比喻對他們說：「天國好像一粒芥菜種，有人拿去種在田裡。這原是百種裡最小的，等到長起來，卻比各樣的菜都大，且成了樹，天上的飛鳥來宿在它的枝上。」
-《馬太福音》13:31-32
Start Small (like potatoes), Dream Big
Rumi Borah~aswiki, Assamese small potatoes, CC BY-SA 4.0
Business leaders like to pull paradoxical ideas together. Forbes invoked the “think big, start small” mantra to highlight transformation into a digital era with artificial intelligence (Scalerandi, 2024). Philosophers are no different. In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu mused similarly, claiming that “all difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small” (天下難事，必作於易，天下大事，必作於細; Sturgeon, n.d.). Jesus articulated truths that profoundly captures the paradoxical connection between small and great. Focusing His hearers’ imagination,
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
– Matthew 13: 31-32
耶穌領導力：兼顧所有，刻不容緩 (Dan Liu)
作為基督徒，我相信耶穌是屬靈領導力的終極典範。這段日子我領會到，帶領小組、工作團隊和家庭時，領導學的鑽研可給我們提供一些有用的原則。我們會研讀《路加福音》7:1-10中耶穌治愈百夫長僕人的片段，見識他的領導[1]This blog post is based on a paper I wrote in a leadership studies and theory course as part of an online program at Johnson University, Tennessee, USA. I am grateful to my instructor and cohort mates for their guidance and support.。 我們將考慮經文的前文後理及那個時代關於尊榮、贊助 (patronage)、財富和親屬關係的背景，再去剖析經文，從領導模式的角度來看耶穌的領導力。一世紀加利利的耶穌，他僕人式及顛覆性的領導榜樣，也能啟迪今天的我們。
註腳
| ↑1 | This blog post is based on a paper I wrote in a leadership studies and theory course as part of an online program at Johnson University, Tennessee, USA. I am grateful to my instructor and cohort mates for their guidance and support. |
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Jesus’ Leadership : All at Once at the Same Time (Dan Liu)
As a Christian, I believe that Jesus is the ultimate example of spiritual leadership. These days, I am learning that studying leadership formally may provide helpful principles to us as we lead small groups, work teams, and families. This blog post will consider Jesus’ healing of the centurion’s servant in Luke 7:1-10 to appreciate how He led.[1] We will consider the context of the passage, the framework of honor, patronage, wealth, and kinship at the time, and then go to the text, viewing Jesus’ leadership in light of leadership models. Our final aim is to glean insight for us today from Jesus’ servant and transformational leadership example from first-century Galilee.
回到起初的愛心？ (Dan Liu)
前兩篇網誌，我們研讀了寫給老底嘉 (Laodicea) 和士每拿 (Smyrna) 教會的信息。本文將探討寫給以弗所 (Ephesus) 教會的信息。這城市的考古遺址，也是 2023年3月的一次國際會議後去拜訪的[1]感謝香港基督教會的支持，讓我和太太能跟許多其他與會成員一起，參與這趟亞細亞眾教會的城市遺跡學習旅程。《啟示錄》中提及的七教會，以弗所是第一個。研讀此信息的背景，對我們這些今天活在香港的門徒必有裨益。
註腳
| ↑1 | 感謝香港基督教會的支持，讓我和太太能跟許多其他與會成員一起，參與這趟亞細亞眾教會的城市遺跡學習旅程 |
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Will You Return to the Love You Had at First? (Dan Liu)
Partial view of Ephesus’ commercial agora site, where the riot (Acts 19:23-29) probably began (Wilson, 2020a) (all photos taken on March 21, 2023 by Elexa Liu).
In two preceding blogs, we studied the Scriptures regarding the messages to the churches in Laodicea and in Smyrna. This blog will explore the message to the church in Ephesus, another city whose archaeological ruins were visited after an international conference in March, 2023.[1] Ephesus was the first of seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation. Studying the context of this message, we will glean lessons for us as disciples living today in Hong Kong.