jeudi 12 mars 2009
A time to refrain
It's amusing that even the local news is talking about how people have given up social networking sites for Lent. I decided not to do that this year because I barely use it as it is and I'm constantly behind on catching up on messages, posts, etc. The worst is wishing people a happy birthday because it's awkward to do it a week in advance (which is probably how often I use the site) so I end up giving practically everyone a belated birthday wish instead. I guess the good news is that I'm not addicted :)
This year, I'm fasting from unnecessary television for forty days. To be honest, I don't tend to remember what I fast from or add to my Lenten season each year except for the first year I started practising Lent and the third or fourth year. That first year, I gave up pop, chocolate, and candy (why I picked three, I'm not sure - it is a good spiritual number though!). It's not that I love any of these things (except maybe dark chocolate) but I'm glad I fasted from them as I now don't drink pop at all and rarely eat candy. The other year was when I fasted from chips and that was much more difficult but again, it left me with the same result of not craving it as often or at all.
Now I'm hoping that curbing my television watching will help me to keep from turning to it automatically when I get home from work even after Easter. I can't recall if I've ever added anything to my life during Lent but some of my friends have done things like reading additional Bible chapters/verses each day. I think I'd like to find a book where you read a bit everyday for forty days and it's supposed to result in something - I'm not sure what topic I'd go for but I have a year to procrastinate on it!
Libellés : Christian life
jeudi 22 janvier 2009
Deeds of love
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. - James 1:22
I've been feeling increasingly convicted about how well I'm conveying my beliefs through my behaviour. While I don't believe that the famous St. Francis of Assisi adage holds up ("preach the gospel, if necessary use words" or something to that effect), I am starting to see how I've been pretty lopsided in my faith. I'm not really a fan of this oft-quoted sentiment because no one can ever lead such an amazing life that words are not required to clarify or explain their actions, but I do think I've been too reliant on words by hoping that they will compensate for my lack of deeds.
However, it's quite clear that in the Bible, both are required, for "as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26). When Jesus went about His ministry, it was both proclamation and deed - His words explained what He was doing and in so doing, gave life to people, while His actions verified who He said He was. It was not just that God so loved the world but that He gave His one and only Son. Yet I struggle so much with how to turn the intangible into the tangible. Faith, hope and love may be in my head and heart but are they visible through my hands?
This reminds me of a quote that I heard in the 2008 version of Sense and Sensibility. Near the end of the mini-series, Marianne Dashwood says the following: "It is not what we say or feel that makes us what we are, it is what we do or fail to do." This is in reference to the scoundrel Willoughby's actions but it's so true about myself. How often do I do things that back up what I say? Sure I can articulate things but does anyone care if I don't do anything about it? Hmm... convicting thoughts indeed. I pray that deeds of love reflecting the love of Christ would become more real and consistent in my life.
Libellés : Christian life
lundi 19 janvier 2009
Milestones and firsts
It has been eleven years since I first heard the Gospel.
It has been eleven years since I prayed to accept Jesus as my Saviour.
It has been ten years since I made Jesus Christ my Lord.
It has been ten years since I received a Bible and read through it.
It has been nine years since God brought me to my home church.
It has been nine years since I first joined a youth group.
It has been eight years since I was baptized.
It has been eight years since I first volunteered in ministry.
It has been seven years since I went on my first missions trip.
It has been seven years since my first year of Bible college.
It has been six years since I took my church membership class.
It has been six years since I preached my first sermon (in class).
It has been five years since I felt the missionary call.
It has been five years since I changed my major to missions.
It has been four years since I helped lead my first missions trip.
It has been four years since I became a church member.
It has been three years since I became a short-term missionary.
It has been three years since I first led someone to the Lord.
It has been two years since I first volunteered in church missions.
It has been two years since I went on my ministry internship.
It has been one year since I graduated from seminary.
It has been one year since I entered full-time ministry.
I am looking forward to celebrating a lot this year for all of the amazing things that God has done in my life :)
Libellés : Christian life
samedi 23 juin 2007
Getting there
Well, I just handed in one of my assignments for my spring course and have just one more thing looming about me - the dreaded research paper. I'll probably work on that when I'm in Laval since I won't have as much incentive to go downtown (even if the Metro is there now, albeit a half hour away from me). So after this research paper is finished (what a glorious day that will be), I will be free to focus on my French classes and another internship/stage class I'm taking this summer. The only reprieve I'll get from all this schoolwork will be in the second half of August, which is only two months away :) Then, I'm back at it again for my last year in my program!
I'm so amazed at how God has brought me to where I am today, most notably in Montreal. The other day, I was thinking back to all the choices that have faced me and how my life would have turned out so differently if I had picked the other roads. For instance, if I had accepted the university's offer to go into nursing, would I later learn that I hated it or would I grow to love that occupation and be a nurse today? And what would have happened if I had not continued at Bible/Christian college and went into media/film studies as I intended halfway through? I suppose that would have meant I'd never meet the wonderful people I know here in Montreal. I guess those were big choices that led to such drastic changes in my life, but they were also precipitated by smaller decisions. All this to say, I love that God is in control and that I can always trust Him to bring about the greatest good in my life. So many things have happened that would otherwise be unfathomable.
Oh yeah, yesterday was my 4th blogiversary, wow!
Libellés : Christian life, seminary
samedi 16 septembre 2006
Guidelines on Christian living
To have a list of guidelines to live by restricts the freedom that the Holy Spirit gives us and reduces the Christian faith to nothing more than regulations to abide by. That being said, it would be dangerous to live the Christian life without having any guidelines on morality and personal ethics. To have no moral grounding is to chip away at our foundation of living by continuing to walk on loose ground.
As the Holy Spirit guides and convicts us, we are responsible for heeding His direction and avoiding that which causes us to stumble. While a universal code cannot be applied for all Christians, living by the Spirit requires that we apply a moral rigour to our own lives because it honours our Lord. Jesus lived a life of the utmost piety and devotion to holiness.
If we think that we can live apart from principles and guidelines that may aid us in holy living, we are deluding ourselves. Our fallen nature gives us a slippery slope to fall down on - we need these guidelines to help us up. Though we no longer live under the law, we are by no means to engage in unlawful behaviour willingly. Placing standards in our life that brings us closer to God enables us to walk in the Spirit, with His help. If we are so fearful of falling into legalism, it may just as well lead us to the other extreme of antinomianism.
---
I used to scribble my reactions to comments made in class in the back of my notebooks. I didn't always get a chance to speak aloud so I would just write it down. This blurb came from a church history class probably a year and a half ago.
Libellés : Christian life
lundi 27 mars 2006
Gracious living
Irene has written a piece about how "Chinese culture teaches you nothing about grace" and from my personal experience, I can see how it is true. I have had such a hard time explaining this concept to my parents and what makes it difficult is that they see it as a silly idea.
"Why would anyone do something for nothing?" is a common expression I've heard growing up and I've always been taught that I need to repay every kindness I experience in life. As I have been pursuing missions work, I know there are going to be times where I will need to rely on the grace of others. But at the same time, I know that it is unsettling to my parents that there are people not related to me who would want to support me.
The most heart-breaking part is that when I talk about how I am saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and not by the works I perform, it is completely alien to my family. Despite this, I have been convicted that the more I show grace to my own parents, the more they will start to understand it. So I suppose I have to keep working on that then, only with the grace of God of course :)
Libellés : Christian life, culture
mercredi 28 septembre 2005
Wondering out loud
"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." - Proverbs 29:11
Boy, is this hard to live out. I always wondered what the Christian response to anger was. I know that in the New Testament, it speaks a lot about getting rid of anger, but other than that, what are we to do when we are angry? Yes, we're not supposed to sin in anger or let the sun go down while we're still angry, but what actions are we supposed to carry out? It seems very improbable that we simply eliminate any experiences with this emotion. We will have to deal with it but short of denying our feelings, what is there? I think it's important that we are honest about how we feel and that we bring it before God, yet it seems like we can't display it. I've been told before that it's not Christian to act angry, even if you are. And there could be truth to this in that you don't want that anger to fester into malice or bitterness. So if suppressing it isn't healthy and acting it out isn't ideal, how can this be dealt with biblically? God has a righteous anger in the Bible - is it possible that we can be righteously angry and still find a balance in sorting through the emotions? Anyways, I'm just thinking through this and trying to figure out which Bible verses I've missed that do touch on responses to anger.
"...for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." - James 1:20
Libellés : Christian life
vendredi 6 mai 2005
Unvoiced thoughts
I haven't really sat down to write anything original lately, but I'll write a quick blurb about what I've been up to. Right now, I'm taking an ethics class, and while some moments drive me to frustration, I am more frustrated with the fact that I don't speak up enough. Today we were talking about same-sex marriage, and I had something I wanted to say but didn't have the chance to. Nothing too profound and nothing too elementary either I hope, but my thoughts were that it seems as if we're focusing on a side issue rather than the fundamental issue. Seeing as how this is most likely to become a reality in Canada, it is something Christians need to be concerned with. Anyways, I think that we emphasize the same-sex part more than the marriage part regarding this issue.
It's a shame that even in the Christian subculture, marriage is not treated with the reverence that it ought to be. We're up in arms about gay marriages, but look at how we treat the institution of marriage itself. We claim that it is the basic unit of society, but the divorce rate for Christians is no different than the divorce rate for non-Christians. We don't preserve the sanctity of this life-long institution yet we act as though we are the authority figures when it comes to marriage (general statement of course). I mean, this is obviously a gross generalization but I don't think divorce in the church carries the same stigma that it had before. It's become so common that we are desensitized to the effects it has in the breakdown of family life and in the emotional upbringing of children. I'm not an expert in this, but it's common sense right? Divorce comes with implications, and unfortunately it's become accepted as a mainstream act.
I guess I just wish that marriage was treated with such respect and awe within the Christian church that people couldn't help but long for that for themselves. I do see many examples of faithful marriages that are reflective of what God has intended for even in this fallen world, but it's no longer the norm today. Instead, common-law relationships and "serial monogamy" seems more prevalent. When marriage is seen as a bedrock foundation upon which Christians can confidently build, people will realize the gravity of this institution and what a gift it is that God has given to us. Wouldn't it be a great picture if people saw Christian marriage as so attractive that not only did they see the incredible love between a husband and wife, but also a glimpse of the divine love between Christ and His church? And in an ideal world, that there would be no doubt as to what marriage, in its realized purpose, looks like? So, I don't know what more I could say but these were some of the things I had in mind today.
Libellés : Christian life
vendredi 1 avril 2005
To be possession-less
I was blessed to hear a wonderful sermon at school today, preached by none other than my friend. One of the things he talked about was the wartime lifestyle, which I wrote a bit about last year. Well, over Christmas, I tried it once again, but that didn't go over too well. I recommitted myself to this vision again last month and actually drew up a budget and resolved not to buy useless junk. But after that sermon today, I feel even more convicted to seriously give up everything that will get in the way of what I'll be doing in the future. Right after finals are over, I am going to spend my summer reducing my possessions and keeping only the things that I will absolutely need.
I remember reading The Gospel According to Larry a while ago for fun, and one of the things unique about 'Larry' is that he only has 75 possessions in total. His rule is that if he wants something new to add to his stuff, he needs to get rid of something so that the new thing can takes its place. I don't know if I can do that since I have so many books, but the idea of having so few things on earth to be worried about sounds completely freeing. I don't want to be tied down by what I have, and it's such a daunting thing at this point. This whole post really reflects how materialistic my culture is and how much I've allowed that to seep into my life, huh? I hate that I didn't have a vision for this before when I was younger, but I'm glad I will be starting to, right near the end of college.
Anyways, when I do my practicum next year, the last thing I want to worry about are my belongings and how I'm going to transport them all over there. Yecch, I'm going to do what I can to cut everything down by half. It's not that I have a lot of "stuff stuff," but that most of what I have are papers and random gifts people have given me which takes up a lot of room. And it is utterly sad that this is a problem in my life. I've become a "fat" Christian, and this is a sin that I need to repent of, and get rid of before it develops roots into adulthood. Lord, help me to live a wartime lifestyle for Your glory!
Everyone wants everyone else's everything
Sometimes the more we have, the less we really gain
I'm tired of life and all that money has to buy
Get out of my heart, out of my mind, leaving you behind....
Why are we obsessed with possessions here on earth?
Go and take a look at the flowers and the birds
God is always taking care of nature's every need
And how much more important in the Father's eyes are we?
I said, how much more important in the Father's eyes are we?
He sees everything
- Sanctus Real "Things Like You"
Libellés : Christian life
jeudi 17 février 2005
"Waiting it out"
Michelle has written an awesome post somewhat in response to what I wrote the other day. I can relate to a lot of what she has shared, because it's pretty typical of a Bible college/seminary environment. There seems to be the heightened hope that people have when they enter a Christian school that their significant other could potentially be there as well. And when it might not happen, there's probably a sense of disappointment that their plans did not go through.
One of the questions that Michelle asks is, "Do Christians have it harder or easier waiting it out hoping for the right relationship?" I think it's harder because of the greater anticipation and longing for something that exceeds the expectations of this world. At the same time though, it's easier because of our trust in a God who does not withhold good things from us. All to say, if this waiting process for marriage does not teach us more about patience, one wonders what would!
Libellés : Christian life
lundi 24 janvier 2005
Waiting on Him
My computer is starting to slow down a lot, and has entered the phase where it thinks that not showing images on web browsers is pretty funny. Unfortunately, that means I can hardly do a thing when I need to check email and all that sort of stuff.
"I'm always in a rush and I've developed the fear to slow down."
These same words that I posted about a year ago still hold true for me today. My life group has been challenging me to try to get up early and spend some quiet time with God before I start anything. Most of the time though, I hit the snooze alarm or rush out of bed in a frenzy. I always insist that my best time of the day is before I go to sleep, but one of my profs has said something to the effect of, "It's not as though you need all those Bible verses for when you're not even conscious." Yes, and yet I neglect them when I need them most - all the times I'm awake.
I am finding it most difficult to follow Jesus' example, especially now that I'm getting bogged down with homework. I'm squeezing a million things more into my schedule that I know I don't have the time for and failing to spend time with God. I thought I'd be better at managing my time but looking back at what I wrote, it seems as though time still has control over me and my day. I still need to learn how to relinquish that power over to the One who created day and night, who knows what I should be doing with my time better than I ever will.
Sounds like I need to take a hint from my computer!
Libellés : Christian life
dimanche 12 décembre 2004
Spiritually honest
I realize my posting has been completely sporadic this semester. I figured people didn't need to know the latest updates on one assignment or another. Plus, I don't get out enough to maintain any form of a social life. Add my uncreativeness to this mix and it means I barely have anything to write about in the first place.
Another thing I've been experiencing lately is how dry my faith has become. I mostly attribute this to my lack of investing time in my relationship with God. I'm sure just like any relationship, if you don't spend time with the other person and think much about them, the less they start to mean to you. You take them for granted and give them a passing thought every once in a while, but at this point it's more of an acquaintance-ship. I fear that that is where I have headed with God. The love that I once had for the Bible, His Word, has diminished by my treating it as a textbook. The prayer times I once craved has been reduced to five lines of the usual plea that I not get into any car accidents that day (which lately, has been on the very top of my priorities). I read something about Jesus, and I add it to my list of facts about Him. I become an automaton who is able to spit out the right jargon and results, but inside I am letting my heart and soul disintegrate.
This is my fault, and I've been letting it slide on for too long. All throughout the semester, I kept telling myself that it would get better during Christmas break. I would finally have time then to devote to God. Obviously, that can't be right. Faith is meant to be lived out everyday, not hoarded for a later date. And of course it had to take me the whole semester to learn that. It's going to take me some time to unlearn all those bad habits I picked up, but I'm thankful God allowed me to see what was actually going on with my life. I suppose it's very easy to delude myself into thinking that busyness isn't harmful but I think I've seen enough repercussions. The bad news is that next semester, I'm taking seven classes and doing a ton of other things that will increase my current load. I either need to come to terms with how my work is interfering with my faith and cut something out or continue going on the way I am. Unfortunately, I don't know that I could give anything up.
"I can't be satisfied to sit along the rivers banks and wait
Somewhere inside of me there's a hunger for what lies beneath the surface
I've spent so long just getting by on borrowed faith and dead religion
I've come this far to only realize I've not come far at all"
- Starfield "Quiet Waters"
Libellés : Christian life, songs
jeudi 23 septembre 2004
Existing consciously
My blogging frequency has more than plummeted around here but I'm still kicking, somewhat. I'm also feeling less than eloquent, so be forewarned.
I've been reevaluating a lot of things lately and that's led me to be more quiet and reserved, especially at school. I don't quite fit in with things anymore and I'm trying to figure out why. It's funny, I never thought I'd have an "identity crisis" near the end of college, but I guess that's how things work out. It feels like God is purging me at times, figuratively, yet in a real sense as well. It's unexplainable at the moment, but I do know the process is very trying.
Bottom line: I'm struggling to find my identity in Christ. I've given so much of myself to other people that I no longer know who I am. My identity always seems to come from the role that I take on in serving people. "Oh, you're that person that does this.." or "You're the one who helps out with blah blah blah." But no one's ever interested in finding out who the person behind all those tasks really is. And as a result of that, I don't even know anymore.
I remember speaking with a Christian counselor a while back (who saw this problem in me way before I started doing this hardcore), and she said that there are two things that some Christians, especially those with the gift of serving, confuse all the time. Those two things are "being" and "doing" and what happens is, the "doing" part swallows up the "being" part completely and when the person's near breakdown, the "being" part is spit back out and tattered throughout. That's the point I'm at right now. I'm just assembling the broken pieces of my being, and hoping to fit them together somehow. I know I can't do that without the help of Jesus and yet I persist in over-doing. Lord, help me.
Libellés : Christian life
samedi 18 septembre 2004
22 questions
Someone in my class had this list of questions that John Wesley and members of his Holy Club had asked themselves in their devotional time. I think I'm going to make a copy and ask myself these questions as often as I can. At this point, I am really enjoying #12.
1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I'm better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass on what was told to me in confidence?
4. Can I be trusted?
5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying or self justifying?
7. Did the Bible live in me today?
8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
9. Am I enjoying prayer?
10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
13. Do I disobey God in anything?
14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?
17. How do I spend my spare time?
18. Am I proud?
19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what I am doing about it?
21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
22. Is Christ real to me?
Source: John Wesley's Holy Club
Libellés : Christian life
samedi 14 août 2004
Filthy language
I finished Colossians last month and came across this verse:
"But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."
- Colossians 3:8
Not to single one thing out (well, I guess I'm doing that anyways) but I used to skim over the filthy language part. The others are all things that I try to keep out of my life, but filthy language is something I don't focus on too much. I very rarely swear and when I do, the worst I say is probably "crap" but I notice that other Christians are comfortable using any number of extremities.
I'm not going to write about that. Sarah has already written two excellent posts about the matter of Christians cussing. Instead, I'll talk about the range of filthy language. I used to take it as meaning specific words, none of which will be listed here of course, but I admit that when I first became a Christian, I used those words as a measuring stick of my 'religiosity'. I would look at myself and think I was better than so-and-so because I didn't use a word that they used. That was wrong.
(Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
- Matthew 7:1-5)
Thankfully, I've seen that filthy language extends to much more. It's not limited to a few branded words - it encompasses all words that are hurtful to others and any type of language that could be offensive to the listener (such as surly, sarcastic or rude). Filthy language could be a joke I tell that makes someone uncomfortable. It could be a remark that belittles someone. All of these things are to be rid from my lips. It's not enough that I keep from swearing, if I want my speech to be God-honouring, I need to carefully choose the words that come from my mouth. Having laryngitis certainly helped with that process but I have such a long way to go. I am still very sarcastic and I find myself cutting people down with a mere sentence every so often. I need to "put on the new self" everyday and hold my tongue a lot more often. The fact that I preached a sermon on "Taming the Tongue" certainly convicts me!
Here is what a commentary on this chapter says:
James reminds us that the real issue at stake when people talk with each other is not so much the verbal transmission of ideas, but how those ideas affect human relationships for good or ill (Jas 3:1-18). Thus, if our speech is informed by heavenly Wisdom and thus characterized by purity (Jas 3:17), then relationships are put at peace and the community can await God's "harvest of righteousness" (Jas 3:18). If, on the other hand, our speech is informed by earthly wisdom and is thus "of the devil" (Jas 3:15), then relationships are destroyed by "bitter envy and selfish ambition" (Jas 3:14) and the community finds "disorder and every evil practice" within itself (Jas 3:16), thus imperiling its entrance into a future shalom (Jas 3:2; 1:4).
- IVP New Testament Commentaries
Libellés : Christian life
jeudi 20 mai 2004
Unfinished post
Why has the notion of wanting to be holy like Jesus been so deemphasized? In this case, I am not talking about wanting to be perfect in this life or being holy only for the sake of legalities or pursuit of salvation, but the honest attempts of a Christ-follower to exhibit holiness in all aspects of life. An argument I've heard before is that God isn't just about holiness, He's about love. Yes, that sounds pretty and all, but it's not one or the other with God. He is both - perfect love and perfect holiness. The verse that comes to mind is,
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:15-16
The written text that Peters refers to are these verses in Leviticus.
Leviticus 11 states this: "I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy."
True, we are no longer under the law, but this does not change the basic nature of God's holiness. And as a Christian, if I am to be in relationship with a holy God, does that not mean that I must become holy as well? Obviously, I can never be holy on my own strength but through Jesus Christ, this is possible. I am redeemed before the Father because of the Son. However, because I am still part of this fallen world and part of the curse, I will screw up and sin.
But that does not mean that I shouldn't still pursue holiness. The other cliché I hear is that we shouldn't be pursuing _____, we should be pursuing God. I do not mean to put holiness before God at all, I simply mean that one does not necessarily push the other aside. In fact, in pursuing God, could we not also be pursuing to be holy like Him? Just as holiness is ingrained in His character, as redeemed children, shouldn't it become ingrained in ours?
I don't know where I want to go with this, but it seems to be more commonplace in some Christians' lives. It's as if when they've become saved, they've become lukewarm because they feel that they can be and that they don't need to change. They've been saved but do not see sanctification as having any place in their new life.
Libellés : Christian life
mercredi 14 janvier 2004
Stillness
Isn't it interesting that being stressed is nearly a requirement for normal living nowadays? That people who are incredibly busy with full schedules are regarded as more important than those with laid-back lives? I see it everywhere, people are making tons of appointments in their Palms and they need an itinerary for each day. Time dictates them, controlling every single second of living. I certainly fall into this category. It's not unusual for me anymore to have meetings left and right and I barely escape a day without having to do a million errands and tasks. I dislike the fact that as I get older, the more I will become like this, becoming increasingly busy. I barely have time to take a break and when I do, I feel guilty that I'm not doing something productive. My mind is always in the mode that if I don't do something, it won't get done. I neglect this fact:
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
- Psalm 46:10
I rarely remember times that I am still, simply waiting on God. I'm always in a rush and I've developed the fear to slow down. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I don't think I've ever fully surrended my day to Him. Then I start relying on myself and letting time consume me. I know it's going to be tough incorporating stillness into my life everyday, but I know that it will be worth doing so. I don't want to let my timing interfere with God's perfect timing. I want to be less time-dependent and more God-dependent.
Libellés : Christian life
vendredi 9 janvier 2004
Trust and obey
I came home from one of the best classes I've ever been to. I called it a "big style revival preached in a night" because our speaker was so amazing and energetic about everything! During the class, he talked about trusting and obeying in the Lord and to share about what we've been having problems with in our life that we weren't turning over to Him.
This is the strange part. I trust God. I know that He has my future planned out and that my life is in His hands. I am completely thrilled with whatever is in store, and I don't doubt that it'll be exciting and such an adventure. God could be calling me to serve Him in so many different ways, and the moment I know what He wants, I'll go for it. Whether it be serving Him as a youth pastor, video editor, missionary, filmmaker, whatever it is, I'm ready for the challenges laying ahead.
Here's the catch though. As much as I am confident about my future, I worry incessantly about everyday things. I don't trust daily things to God. Now how absurd is that? There's a youth devotional that I read a few years ago and still lingers in my mind whenever I think about this. This is what it says:
"I finally got sick of being anxious all the time. My worrying never changed anything - except I felt torn up on the inside. Then one day it hit me: I'm trusting Christ to get me to heaven, but I don't even trust Him for everyday problems. How ridiculous! Since then, whenever I start to freak out over a situation, I remember that he's promised to take care of all the things I can't handle."
How true. If I am that bold about things that are unknown to me, why do I waste my time on things that I am certain of? The God that has given me peace regarding the future can and will give me peace at the moment, from day to day. I need to trust and obey Him for that.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
- Words by John H. Sammis and music by Daniel B. Towner "Trust and Obey"
Libellés : Christian life
lundi 1 septembre 2003
Ironic how there's no labour on Labour Day
C'est septembre! Wow, this summer just flew by so fast. Now it's back to school. Something I'm not looking forward to: 20 000 more students on the road. Traffic is going to suck.
I found out a while ago that the drummer from my worship team just died suddenly. I didn't post about it then because it didn't sink it yet. It couldn't be true, I just saw him the last time we were on. I remember saying hi to him. It was such an out-of-nowhere email that I received - that he had passed away. I wish I had gotten the time to know him better. He left behind a wife and two kids. He probably had great stories to tell. I wish I had said more than hi to him. I mean, I was on his team for two years (minus when I was on a different team and then switched back)! Why didn't I bother taking the chance to talk to him? And now he is gone. Life is so fragile. You never know when someone will be gone. I guess that's why petty issues from day to day don't really matter in the long run. That's why forgiveness is so important. Because you never know if you'll lose the person that you have a grudge on. And then you'll never get a chance to make things right again. But praise God that Wynn is with Him, playing drums for the Audience of One like never before. Please pray for his family, for comfort and hope that can only come from the One who conquered death.
Libellés : Christian life, church
dimanche 31 août 2003
In retrospect
I realize my rant on not getting along with my relatives was really immature. Now I regret not spending more time with them and possibly telling them of my faith. All I can do now is pray that God will bring friendlier Christians into their lives back in E-town. Argh, I feel like an idiot for not taking more chances to talk to them. But thanks to Sharon for leaving me a comment with tips on how to make visits better next time.
I'm just in a cruddy mood right now. I learned another lesson this morning. Maybe the Word can explain it:
Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
- Psalm 146:3-4
Do not trust a neighbor;
put no confidence in a friend.
Even with her who lies in your embrace
be careful of your words....
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD ,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
- Micah 7:5, 7
At least it's a good lesson to learn. And to top my mood today: news that the government will be eliminating smiling and frowning on passport pictures. Gosh, there goes my horror of a picture. Or maybe it'll fit into their standards! Anyways, I start school in three days. Tuesday is orientation day and I get to take pictures for the yearbook of the new students. Hmm, I guess summer really is over. Happy Labour Day tomorrow!
Libellés : Bible, Christian life, news
