Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

I hope everyone is safe and sound after the two earthquakes on Friday. Even though it was only 4.8 magnitude, for those born and raised on the East Coast, that was the strongest earthquake they had ever experienced in their lifetime. So, some were extremely shaken by the experience. Pun intended! Paul said,
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks. (Heb 12:28a).
Everything on earth can be shaken except the kingdom of God. You are blessed to live in New Jersey, where disasters are rare compared to many places in the country.
I have experienced many earthquakes like this while living in Burma and California. I was taught to stay away from tall buildings during an earthquake as far as possible.
So, as soon as I felt the earthquake, I got outside the house immediately. Then, I found out it was pretty cold, so I came back in to put on some warm clothes. By then, the quake had stopped.
How do you prepare for an earthquake? The least you can do is not to put heavy stuff on top of the cabinets or high places because they could fall on your head. If you can’t run outside, the bathroom is a safer hiding space because it has more walls and pipelines to support the structure.
Most importantly, learn to maintain a peaceful state of mind or serenity during chaos. I usually don’t panic because of past experiences. But, this time, I panicked because of the strong earthquakes in Taiwan just days ago. However, I resumed my composure immediately by regulating my breathing.
If you have serenity, you can make better decisions even if you have never been taught what to do. How do you maintain serenity in chaos? How to eliminate fear and resume composure as soon as possible.
Tomorrow, we are expecting a rare solar eclipse in our area. That could trigger some anxiety in people asking what’s going on in the world. Earthquakes and eclipses?
The good news is that Jesus taught the disciples exactly what to do after his resurrection. They were in fear when their master was crucified. They worry they could be next. So, they hid themselves in a room and kept the door locked.
When Mary Magdalene came to tell them that Jesus had risen, they couldn’t believe it and sank deeper into fear because it was abnormal for someone to rise from the dead, even though Jesus had told them many times before. They thought Jesus came back as a ghost.
So, today, we will learn how Jesus taught us to handle panic, fear, and anxiety based on what he told the disciples to do. There are three components. The main part is to breathe the Holy Breath. Let’s begin!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
What is more important for your quality of life, happiness or freedom? Many of you know I pursue happiness because I lost my happiness due to some unpleasant childhood events. However, some philosophers and thought leaders argue that freedom is more important than happiness.
Immanuel Kant emphasizes the importance of freedom as a prerequisite for moral action. He believed happiness without freedom might be desirable but lacks moral significance. In other words, for him, happiness without freedom is shallow.
Jean-Paul Sartre emphasizes the importance of freedom and choice as the very essence of human existence. For him, freedom is not just important; it is what defines us as human beings.
I agree with our founding fathers that all these three are important—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are the unalienable rights given to us by our Creator. Therefore, we must create a society that allows all these rights to thrive.
Freedom has three levels—physical, mental, and spiritual. Some people may be physically free but not mentally free. Influencers, the media, or the government could infuse them with false information to enslave their minds. Communism is an example of a mind control machine.
Some people are physically and mentally free but not spiritually free. Spiritual freedom is the ability to bear the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The opposite of it is spiritual enslavement, such as being unable to love, unable to rejoice, unable to forgive, etc. Just reverse the fruit of the spirit, and you get the condition of spiritual enslavement.
I think spiritual freedom is more important than mental and physical freedom because if you are spiritually free, no one can control your mind. People may control you physically, but if you are spiritually free, you will find the way out sooner because you don’t have the fear of death.
Easter sets us free from the fear of death because the resurrection of Jesus Christ reveals to us there’s more to life than this physical body. Jesus said that he came so that we would have life and have it abundantly. His resurrection takes away our fear of death so that we are free to live.
Some might say, “Wait, how do you know the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true? How do you prove that?” I am a rational man, so I have asked this question myself in the past.
I have mentioned it before, so here’s my brief logic. The resurrection of Jesus Christ shattered human history into two parts: AD and BC or BCE and CE. Each time I look at the calendar, I see the miracle of resurrection.
I know the calendar was created to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, but who cares about Christmas if there is no Easter?
Each time you put down your signature, you must put the date next to it, referencing Jesus Christ. Even an atheist communist must reference Jesus. They can deny him, but they can’t hide from him. The calendar is ubiquitous. Jesus is on their wall, their watch, and their phones.
So, each time I look at the calendar, I say in my heart, “He is risen indeed!”
According to a survey, two-thirds of Americans believe in the resurrection but don’t understand its significance. Jesus is risen, so what?
So, today, we will answer the “So what?” question. What Easter means to us and how Easter sets us free to live, love, lead, and leave a legacy. Let’s begin!

I know the title is a little ambitious, but this message is not about me teaching you how to know everything but exploring together the secrets of discernment taught by Jesus Christ. Just as physicists have been trying to figure out the theory of everything, religions and philosophies try to discover the knowledge of everything.
For example, one of the highest goals of Buddhism is to attain the wisdom of all-knowing or omniscience (sabbannuta ñāna in Pali).
Similarly, people all over the world want to know why we suffer, why bad things happen to good people, why there are wars, why innocent children suffer, why there are injustice, etc. There are so many questions in life that need answers.
These answers cannot be described by words but discerned by wisdom.
We know Jesus knows everything, and Christians are supposed to know everything. Jesus said in John 15 that he shares everything he knows with us like a friend. So, as his friends, we should know everything. Paul said,
Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Co 2:15–16).
Notice it says a spiritual person discerns all things, and we have the mind of Christ. No one can deceive us. I think we underestimated our ability as believers. The keyword here is “spiritual.” How can we be spiritual so that we have the mind of Christ and discern all things?
Sometime back, I came across a TV show based on a book about a man who studied finance in Germany. After graduation, he wrote for a financial magazine in Berlin and became famous because his stock predictions were precise.
At his friends’ persuasion, he formed a private investment club. The baseline for joining the club was two million dollars. It was in the 1990s, so it was quite a lot of money. About a dozen people joined, betting their money on his brain.
Their return on investment doubled every year. It was lucrative. Nothing could beat that kind of return. They wondered if he had some angelic or godly insight to discern the direction of the market.
Three years later, he decided to quit. It shocked everyone. Why would you leave when everyone is prospering? They suspect his ulterior motive. So, they had him sign an exit contract prohibiting him from working in any financial industry for five years. They also froze his assets for the time being to prevent him from investing his own money.
Despite the cruel restrictions, he signed the agreement willingly and returned to China, rented a small apartment in a small town, and spent his time there quietly like a hermit. Since his assets were frozen, he lived meagerly and humbly but happily.
A local policewoman fell in love with him after he helped her solve a criminal case. Discovering his abnormal discernment, she asked him for a miracle as a gift for her. She wanted him to turn a dirt-poor and destitute village from poverty to prosperity.
He surveyed the inventory of the villagers’ talents, skills, and hard-working spirit and brainstormed a plan to relieve them from poverty. To make a long story short, in less than two years, he turned the dirt-poor village into a wealthy town of entrepreneurs.
In the story, everyone asked how he knew what he knew.
Today is Palm Sunday. Before entering Jerusalem, Jesus asked his two disciples to pick up a donkey colt, telling them where it was and what would happen when they picked it up. It happened exactly as he told them. How did he know?
Some commentators said Jesus prearranged it. It doesn’t make sense because there are other examples of his discernment. For instance, he told Peter to drop the net on the other side of the boat and catch boatloads of fish. He couldn’t prearrange that?
When he needed to pay the temple tax, Jesus asked his disciples to cash a fish from the sea, locate a coin inside the mouth of the fish, and use it to pay the tax. That means Jesus could summon money whenever he wants. But he never exploited his capability.
In fact, a colt in those days was like a BMW, Rolls-Royce, or limousine used by kings to enter the city ceremonially. It shows Jesus could summon a brand-new Rolls-Royce whenever he needed it. He knew where it was parked and how to get it for a ride.
Many instances in the Bible show Jesus’s discernment. He knew he would be crucified after arriving in Jerusalem and rise again in three days. He foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Everything happened precisely as he said it would happen.
The question is, can we know as he knows? If so, how? So, today, we will explore the secret to knowing everything based on this week’s scripture lesson. What does it require to be spiritual so that we can discern all things and have the mind of Christ? Let’s begin!

Are you joyful this morning, evening, or anytime, depending on where in the world you are right now? Jesus expects us to live our lives in complete joy. That’s the outcome he expects from us. He said,
“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11).
The question is, how do we maintain this complete joy living in this fallen world where the killjoys constantly attack us?
Recently, I got a negative comment on my YouTube channel, severely hurting my ego. Few people watch my sermons on YouTube. I don’t mind because I prepare my sermons to feed my congregation, and as long as my sheep feel fed, I am satisfied.
I posted my sermons on social media to share the good news, hoping someone who needed that message would find it helpful.
So, I was excited when I saw a couple of comments, but they were very negative. This man posted twice, saying, “Shame on you, Sam Stone. Shame on you!”
I wondered, “What did I say wrong?” I wanted to fight back, so I read his comments carefully. It turned out that he didn’t even listen to the entire sermon. He was spewing unfair criticisms that were utterly irrelevant to my message. So, I wanted to react.
I tried to track him down to find out who he was. It turned out to be a pastor and somewhat high profile. He was arrested in a foreign country, presumably for his faith, and our government paid a high price to get him released. Sounds like a hero!?
However, I found more news about him. He was arrested for abusing his wife. Wow, oh, wow! The more I dug, the more I discovered he was pretty deranged. The shame is on him, not on me! I felt pity for him. Responding to his comments would be a waste of time. I’ve discovered long ago that people with low self-esteem tend to be critical. Still, my ego couldn’t swallow the insult and almost reacted.
The lesson I learned from this is never to let negativity from anyone or anything affect your joy. Don’t react to other people’s reactivity if you want to maintain happiness. The question is, how not to react? How to hold your horse?
A better question is, “What makes us react?” If you know what makes you react, you know how to hold your horse. The only reason we want to react is when our ego gets hurt. We must crucify the ego first to live our eternal life with complete joy.
So, today, we will look at how Jesus taught us to hold our horses from reacting to the killjoys and live the eternal life that he offers us so that we can attain and maintain the complete joy he expects us to live based on this week’s scripture lesson. Let’s begin!

I was fascinated by a chapter titled “Perfect Happiness” or “Ultimate Joy” in the Book of Zhuangzi, my favorite philosopher of the 4th century BCE. Zhuangzi was a hilarious sage, and, like Jesus, he used parables and fables to explain the metaphysical reality and spiritual truth.
Zhuangzi sang at his wife’s funeral, which was entirely inappropriate in ancient Chinese culture. People expected the husband to weep and mourn to show his love for her. He was sad for a moment at her departure, but he decided to celebrate her return to the Creator.
Saint Augustine said there were Christians before Christ. Zhuangzi is one of those people. He was way ahead of his time. His happiness is infectious. So, when I saw that he wrote about “Perfect Happiness” or “Ultimate Joy,” I couldn’t resist reading it.
Here’s a provocative parable in that chapter on “Perfect Happiness.”
After a long day of tiresome journey through the wilderness on his way to a neighboring state, Zhuangzi decided to take a break. Sitting down, he saw a skull on the roadside in the wilderness. Being alone and bored, he picked up the skull and talked to it.
“Hey, who are you? Do you have a name? Why are you sitting here in the middle of nowhere? Did a wild beast attack you? Were you punished for a crime, dishonoring your parents? Did someone rob you? Did you die of famine and hunger? Did the tragedy of a war kill you? Or did you die of old age? How did you die, poor man?”
As the sun set, he decided to sleep right there, laying his head on the skull like a pillow. That night, the skull talked to him in a dream.
“Sir, you talked to me like a man entangled in the hardship of life. After death, I no longer have any of those concerns. I don’t have a human boss above me nor a servant under me. There is no winter or snowstorm, no war or famine. Every day is like spring and autumn all year round. No human king in the world is as happy as me.”
Surprised, Zhuangzi asked him, “If I had a supernatural power to restore your flesh and body, return you to a human, and bring you back to your friends and family, wouldn’t you wish me to do so?”
To his astonishment, the skull said, “What? Do you want me to leave this joyful eternal life richer than any human king and return to human life to suffer the hardship of the fallen world again? No way!” (End of the Story).
What surprised me is that the chapter mainly talks about death. What does death have to do with perfect happiness or ultimate joy? The truth is death significantly affects our ability to enjoy life. Paul said,
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Co 15:26).
Fear of death disturbs our ability to experience the fullness of joy. Jesus came to destroy death, setting us free from the fear of death by giving us eternal life. Zhuangzi teaches us that humans are not ready to live until they are ready to die.
Children have perfect happiness because they don’t have the concept of death. For them, a hundred years feel like an eternity. Jesus guarantees us eternal life so we can return to a carefree childhood and enjoy the ultimate happiness.
Today, we will learn five steps to turn from hardship to happiness based on what Jesus teaches in this week’s scripture lesson. Let’s resolve our suffering once and for all so that we can enjoy life to the fullest because that’s what Jesus said he came to give us. Let’s begin!

When I first came to New York City, I was surprised to see the garbage bags and trash cans piled up on the sidewalks all over the city in the evening. It just happened to be one of those days of the week you take your trash out. But it didn’t look like the New York City of my imagination. As the Capital of the World, I thought New York City should always be as clean and pleasant as other modern cities like Singapore.
However, the sanitation trucks came by to pick up the trash at night. The garbage piles were gone the following day. Still, my question was, why do they have to put the garbage out in front of their homes by the sidewalks? It’s unsightly! In most modern cities, the trash is picked up from the back doors.
If you have been to New York City in the evenings before garbage collection, you can’t forget the unpleasant sight. It sticks in your memory. However, over the years, I have learned to appreciate it as an excellent metaphor for how to live a good life.
But, first, let me give you a little more subtle place for garbage dump—American media. The American media are like New York City streets, constantly exposing the garbage of the country. It’s unpleasant. Sometimes, they make you cringe; other times, they make your blood boil, triggering your rage. I didn’t like it, but now I appreciate the wisdom behind the First Amendment, which includes the freedom of the press. Exposing the garbage of the nation allows responsible leaders to clean it up.
When I was in Singapore many years ago, I noticed the news was carefully censored. Many other governments around the world control the media and don’t allow them to report the shameful news of the nation. They only report the positive news of their government, sweeping the garbage under the rugs until they rot and stink. By the time the skeleton came out of the closet, it was too late to clean.
So, the downside of exposing the trash constantly and publicly is unsightly, but the upside is it gets cleaned up. Hidden stuff behind the scenes is hard to clean. In the long run, it can make us sick.
How about it as a spiritual metaphor? Do you hide your spiritual trash to maintain a nice and clean facade? I know Trinity members are down-to-earth; we don’t wear masks to the church. (I’m not talking about protective masks but pretentious masks hiding the skeleton in the closet.)
Lent is the time for spring cleaning to maintain a clean heart and spirit. Why should we keep a clean heart? The Bible says our body is God’s temple. Paul said,
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Co 6:19).
As a redeemed, your body is the temple. If Jesus were to look inside your body to make his home in it, what would he see? This question might make us cringe because we all have skeletons in the closet and prefer Jesus to stay with our neighbor instead. “Oh Jesus, I love my neighbors; I rather have you make home in their hearts. I don’t want to hoard you for myself.”
In today’s scripture lesson, we read that Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem and found it a mess. He cleaned it up and decided to tear it down and rebuild it inside your heart. There is no more physical temple today. There is only a broken wall left, called the Wailing Wall.
Jesus has moved the temple from Jerusalem to your heart. This church or any house of worship is not God’s temple. They are just a place for congregation. The temple is your body. That’s why you need to keep your body clean for God to dwell in.
Today, we will explore spiritual cleansing, developing the habit of taking your garbage out for Jesus to cleanse. So the trash inside will not become rotten and make us sick down the line. Most importantly, let’s prepare our body to be an acceptable temple of God as we welcome the risen Lord. So, let’s begin!

If you had only three years to live and wanted to make the most out of your life, what would be your obstacle other than time? If you had only three years to live and wanted to leave a legacy that would last for generations, what would be your obstacle other than time? If you had only three years to live and wanted to build a company that would last forever, what would be your obstacle other than time?
In just three years, can you establish a company that will last thousands of years? Jesus did it. He spent merely three years with a company of twelve disciples and started a movement that has lasted for over two thousand years and is still thriving. What’s his secret?
Don’t tell me something like “because he is God.” It will become an excuse for not giving our best to make a maximum impact. Jesus said we would “do greater things than he did” on earth. That leaves us no excuse not to leave a lasting legacy in the next three years.
Whether you are 19 or 90, you can make a lasting impact with your life if you can afford three years. Moses was 80 when he brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Jacob was about 90 when he returned to Canaan to build the kingdom of Israel.
If anyone can create something significant that can leave a lasting legacy in three years, what is the obstacle? Today, we will take a fresh look at Jesus’ open secret that he taught his disciples in this week’s scripture lesson. Let’s begin!

There once was an evil dragon living on a high mountain. Every now and then, it would come down to burn the farms and destroy the villages. Every time a warrior went up the mountain to kill the dragon, they never returned. People assume the dragon killed the warriors.
One day, a young man decided to go up the hill to slay the dragon. He had just returned from the best martial arts school. Before he went, his brother told him not to persist if he found out he couldn’t win, “As long as you preserve your life, you have another chance to try.”
He replied, “No problem, I’m confident I will win. I will return with the dragon’s head, and we will eat the dragon’s meat.”
As always, the warrior went up the mountain and never returned. The brother felt upset and decided to go up the hill to avenge the death of his brother. When he saw the dragon, he discovered it looked familiar.
After a closer look, he realized the dragon was his brother. He escaped the mountain and told people what he saw. (End of the story.)
How would you interpret this allegory? It’s about the dragon slayers turned into the dragon. That means every hero that went up the hill to slay the dragon turned into the dragon they slew. They successfully destroy the evil, but they become the next evil.
The story tries to warn us that we could become who we hate. On a small scale, some people turned into bullies after beating the bully. On a large scale, the communists fought against injustice but became the next injustice.
Darth Veda was a Jedi Knight! Lucifer, the Satan, was an archangel. We have instances like this all over history.
Everyone wants to make a difference in this world. We all have justice to fight. We all have a dragon to slay. We all have a mountain to move. But do we have what it takes to win without losing our soul? Jesus said,
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mt 16:26).
Jesus is not discouraging us from winning the world but warning us against losing our souls. If we become the dragon after slaying it, we gain nothing, and the world still has another dragon to fear, and we become their next enemy.
Do you know what could turn a hero into a villain? The answer is there’s another dragon inside us—our own ego. If you don’t tame the dragon within, you may win but lose your soul. Now, the question is, how do you prepare yourself to win big without losing your soul?
Jesus came to earth to slay the evil dragon to recuse humans. As fully human, does Jesus also need to tame his ego to ensure he wins without losing his soul? If the Son of God needs to immunize himself from dragonizing, shouldn’t we do the same even more?
So, today, we will look at how Jesus prepared himself to accomplish his mission decisively by spending forty days in the desert, fasting, fighting the temptations, revealing to us the secret to taming the ego.
Do you have a mountain to move? I do! What dragon are you trying to slay? From Jesus’ forty days in the desert, we can learn how to decisively conquer the world, realize our dreams, and fulfill our calling without losing our souls. Let’s begin!