Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

I get frustrated when my GPS keeps recalculating. There's something deeply unsettling about that automated voice constantly announcing "recalculating" just when I thought I knew where I was going. It can be applied to life. I used to think that by this stage of life, I'd have a clear route mapped out, but instead, I find myself on more detours than ever before. This reminds me of an ancient story...

The Courage to Disappoint: When Your Calling Won't Share the Throne Luke 14:25-33 I used to believe that spiritual maturity meant keeping everyone happy—that if I just worked hard enough, prayed sincerely enough, and organized efficiently enough, I could fulfill every expectation without disappointing anyone. I admired those rare individuals who seemed to glide through life meeting every obligatio...

I have to confess—I struggle with waiting, especially when my prayers for clarity or breakthrough seem to hang in the air like morning mist that never lifts. I used to think effective prayer worked like a business transaction: clear request, prompt response, measurable results. This reminds me of an ancient story about a young scholar who desperately sought wisdom from a renowned master. The schol...

Summer is here, and like many of you, I love spending time at the beach occasionally. I'm one of those people who can't resist collecting beautiful stones during beach walks - each one catches my eye and somehow finds its way into my pockets. But I've noticed something interesting about my stone-collecting habit. What started as picking up one or two beautiful stones has turned into lugging around...

Let me start with a familiar story; I'm sure you've heard it before. It is both lighthearted and profound. A man lived in a flood-prone area, and when the rains came, the waters began rising rapidly around his house. As the water reached his porch, he climbed onto his roof and prayed earnestly, "God, please save me! I have faith that you will rescue me!" Soon, a neighbor came by in a rowboat and s...

John 13:31-35 Here’s one of my favorite childhood folk tales: A farmer went to town to sell his produce and returned with a large chest of treasures. His family and relatives gathered around him to hear the story of his windfall of fortune. He said, “As I walked through the forest on my way home, I heard someone groaning in a cave. I entered the cave and saw a dying tiger with a massive infected w...

I used to misinterpret the story that I’m about to tell you. It’s a well-known story about Zhuangzi, the great philosopher. I discovered that I was not the only one who misunderstood its profound meaning. In fact, many scholars interpret it the way I did. Here’s the story, and see what you get out of it. Zhuangzi once encountered financial hardship. His family didn’t have enough food, so he called...

You know I have been playing with AI apps for a while and love them. They have been evolving recently and becoming more useful every day. I encourage everyone, young or old, to experiment with AI. It’s not that hard because you don’t need to know the science behind it. Treat them as tools or toys, and you will discover they are useful tools and fun toys that can help you get things done. Some expe...

One of my favorite fables is about a scientific experiment on monkeys. Once upon a time, a group of scientists decided to observe the behavior of monkeys in a unique setting. They placed five monkeys in a large room. At the center of this room stood a tall ladder, and at the very top of the ladder hung something irresistible: a bunch of golden, ripe bananas. The monkeys, as you can imagine, were t...

Once upon a time, in a quaint little town, a wealthy traveler happened upon a sight that took his breath away. It was a magnificent two-story building, and the second floor, oh, it was a thing of beauty! The veranda seemed to whisper promises of relaxation, and the roof design was like nothing he'd ever seen before. The rich man just had to find out who had created this architectural wonder. He se...

There was a woman who was diagnosed with a terminal illness. The doctor gave her three months to live.  She had a gift of evangelism and always loved sharing her faith. But now, realizing that her life was cut short, she decided to use her funeral as her final opportunity to share her faith. She gave her pastor her funeral plan, which included singing her favorite hymns and reading her favorite sc...

Life is complicated, but I am a simple man who likes to simplify complex concepts without losing their essence. Many philosophers have tried to resolve life’s issues, but I feel they still make it more complicated than I like. I want to find a secret of life that I can succinctly articulate and live by. I admire Einstein, who found the secret of energy and put it into a simple formula: e=mc2. It’s...

Happy Epiphany! When was the last time you had an epiphany? I would love to hear about it. The Native Americans have a device called a Dream Catcher. But I would like to introduce Epiphany Catcher—not a device but a skill. Epiphanies can be big or small, subtle or vivid, but each epiphany raises our consciousness to a higher level, enriching our lives with meaning, joy, and hope. I had an epiphany...

Start Your New Year Jesus’ Way Luke 2:41–52 What I like about New Year is that it allows me to start over again. It’s like a fresh new diary book to write another 365 pages of my dream journey. Whether you regard 2024 as a successful year for you or not, the new year gives you another starting point to renew your dream. Another thing I like about the New Year is that it marks a new milestone in an...

I read Leo Tolstoy’s Resurrection a few years ago. It was his last novel, published when he was 71. I have discovered that reading someone’s final works gives you the best of their lifetime wisdom, especially from a great thought leader like Tolstoy. Most of you know Tolstoy for his famous book War and Peace. But did you know he had a spiritual awakening when he was around 50 years old? If you rea...

I am sure you’ve heard that Time Magazine named President-Elect Donald Trump the 2024 Time Person of the Year. He is the only person to have been selected twice. Let me clarify before I continue. I just want to prepare you for the upcoming year and new administration so you won’t feel tortured for the next four years. We must discern what God wants us to do, whichever side we are on. I am register...

In England in 1535, King Henry VIII condemned Thomas More to death for treason, mainly for refusing to say that the king was the head of the Church of England. More was imprisoned, waiting for his capital punishment. More’s friend came to persuade him to say what the king wanted him to say for survival. More refused because it was against his beliefs. His friends pleaded him, “You don’t have to be...

During my college years, I gathered with some friends every Saturday morning at a tea house to enjoy our morning tea and talk. One day, a friend showed up with bandages over his head, arms, and legs. He had a nearly fatal motorcycle accident. He said he wished he had died that very moment because he was sure he would have gone straight to heaven since he had been well-behaved in those days. He had...

Napoleon famously said, “The word impossible is not in my dictionary.” His can-do spirit helped him make incredible achievements in history. In my dictionary, I want to delete the word “unacceptable” because I’ve discovered that acceptance is love in action, and it’s essential to developing our spiritual intelligence or Spiritual Quotient (SQ). To be successful or live a good life, we need IQ, EQ,...

During a TV interview, a reporter asked Bill Gates, saying, “Mr. Gates, Microsoft products have been illegally copied and distributed in China. How are you going to deal with that problem?” That was over twenty years ago when the software was convenient to duplicate. In those days, most people in China couldn’t afford to buy Microsoft, so they bought cheap, illegal copies from the black market. I...

When I first came to America, I noticed many governmental organizations are named “services:” The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US Postal Service (USPS), the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), and others. Conversely, many other countries prefer to use the term “authority” rather than “service.” We do have a few departments that use “authority,” such as the Port Authority. Howeve...

I was reluctant to name this message "How to Change the World" because I could imagine many people might think I was bloviating. I know I am nobody and have no qualifications to speak on such a grand topic, but I believe it’s a matter of age. The older we grow, the more cynical we become. Let us be children for a moment because when we were young, we had all kinds of imagination and ambition to ma...

There once was a king who sought advice from a sage about how to govern his kingdom so that it would enjoy peace, progress, and prosperity and be free of crimes, violence, and wars. The sage said, to govern your kingdom that way, you must govern yourself first. As the Son of God said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt 3:66). The k...

Many years ago, I met an elderly lady in our neighborhood. People said she was a good Christian and knew the Bible thoroughly. I was impressed. She held a Bible study group in her house, and people came to listen to her teaching. However, my perception was shaken when I heard about her strained relationship with her in-laws. Given her role as a Bible teacher, I had assumed she was in the right. Ye...

I am not fond of SMART goals because they are too mundane and meager. In case you don’t know, a SMART goal means using the word SMART as an acronym to set goals. SMART represents Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It’s a good starting point, but not for leaders because leaders set problem-solving goals. They identify a problem and try to solve it. Sometimes, a problem can...