IMPRESSION

Mistake of Doing Nothing

2015-03-15T23:38:00.000-04:00

What do we think about living the Christian life?
Sometimes we run through life as if we're perfectly fine of this plateau-ing life that we just "follow" His calling, "follow" Sundays, and "follow" church people thinking we are doing what we are called to do. We're so afraid of trying new things... going on missions, preaching the gospel to someone, leadership, community outings, fellowship opportunities, outreach and etc.

Francis Chan makes a really good point here. In the message, he talks about Apostle Peter and how he writes to all of us, saying that we are equals in faith as Christ Jesus has sacrificed His life for us. We are all equals because of Jesus.

He also talks about how scripture recites this same message over and over again.

"Be fruitful and multiply." (Genesis 1:28), "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age

Matthew 28:19-20

Well, if this is the case..., why are we so hesitant to just try things? If we walk with Jesus, and believe that we are equipped by the Holy Spirit, then what's the harm in trying? The worst that can happen is just failing, learning something new about yourself and making a new direction. As children of this perfect God, we wouldn't be able to get everything right, but the mistakes we make will only help us grow in Him.

Jesus said to 'Love God and love your neighbours', so we should do everything possible to share the love of Christ.

God is the one who will open the right door and close the wrong doors to let you know anyways. Pray, and ask God, and just try as long as it is in line with His words. He will show you if that is the right path or not just like he did for Paul, Jonah, David and so many others. God gave you all the equipment, and now it's up to you to just do it.

Don't make the mistake of not doing anything. It is the most simple mistake not to make.

Love is Sacrifice

2015-03-15T23:34:00.001-04:00

Love is Sacrifice.

Sacrifice is hurtful. Maybe not always, but it surely was for the most important sacrifice of all.

Sacrifice means letting go, suffering, and even losing everything to reset your life.

The biggest part that I struggle with the notion of sacrifice is the goodness that comes from it.

In life, we don't see the goodness of things until much later, and we have to think of what I really would have happened if things were done differently. As a follower of Christ, and a believer in God's plan, I really struggle with this, although I shouldn't. Most of the times, I cannot wait until I find out the best, and I end up leak all the fun and joy out of it even before I get the sense it.

I mean, I get it, sometimes I do ruin it for myself, but it's just so hard to see what's good about all the pain I am going through....

This got me thinking.

Sometimes, I wonder if Jesus felt that it is good when he was closing in on his last breath. Right after when He said: ...“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), I wonder if He knew 'this is good, My Father is in motion and everything is golden'? It boggles my mind, on how when someone is suffering through so much pain, one can say :

This would be my comfort;
I would even exult in pain unsparing,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.Job 6:10

I sure have a hard time on giving up, letting go and laying it down for myself. but I think Jesus puts it in a perspective that strikes us to be awaken in this.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.John 15:12-17

Jesus laid Himself down for His friends... and well, in fact, called us friends, for sinning against Him and even chose us to bear fruit. This sense of adoption is the only way we will find the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to leave you with this last verse that to remind us that we can endure through all the pain and suffering.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Phil 4:13

Who Other than Jesus Christ?

2014-10-07T01:09:00.000-04:00

I promised a lot of you that I will have this post up in the last couple weeks, but since I have been having a crazy journey, I hope you can all understand.

About a month ago, I was struggling with many things in my life.
The situation is still haunting my sleep away to this day but I have learned to deal with this; to remind myself what the most important thing in my life is.

I have struggled with the sin that is within me just wanting to present itself to the world.
The work of God, rewired, and altered to constantly sin and basking in the attention of own own self not the creator.
This is the struggle that I faced.

Hurting others, and hurting myself in the process is nor healthy nor glorifying.

With this constant guilt and pain that I was facing from years of struggling with this sin, I had hit rock bottom.

God had broken me down.

I no longer felt the need to cover up, and hide in the mask of this self-created image.

It made me feel desperate need for something more.
Something more powerful than all the judging eyes among the world, something more merciful that all the burdens in the world can be healed.

Who other than Jesus Christ?

God planted this hymn "I Surrender All" in my desperate need.

All to Jesus I surrender;

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.
- Refrain:
  
  I surrender all,
  
  I surrender all;
  
  All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
  
  I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender;

Humbly at His feet I bow,

Worldly pleasures all forsaken;

Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender;

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel the Holy Spirit,

Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender;

Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power;

Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender;

Now I feel the sacred flame.

Oh, the joy of full salvation!

Glory, glory, to His Name!
The amazing thing is that the Grace gives us this second chance. I need to know that my salvation has nothing to do with what deeds I do, or what I make out of my life.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me

- Galatians 2:20
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
- Ephesians 1:7-8
1. Through Jesus Christ, my saviour, I am redeemed. I am just glad that this redemption is not out of my own good, but the good of Christ.

Overcoming Burdens

2014-08-21T11:17:00.000-04:00

Struggles are the worst!

I am currently having the time of my life in terms of my struggles and drastic changes of my life.

Do these struggles guide me to be more desperate for God?
Maybe.
Then should it be the highlight of my life?
.... NO.

My highlight of my life is and should always be my testimony of how He loves us.
Testimony is defined as the "proof or evidence that something exists or is true".

My personal definition is a bit different I think.

I would like to define it as "How God has revealed himself and His never-ending love to me"
David Crowder Band's How He Loves Us is an example of this.
Some may think of this as a very selfish way of thinking.

However, I believe that how His love is revealed is different for everyone.
As long as we see the Grace of God.

His grace in any shape or form, as everything comes from His love (i.e."Hurricane" of Love).

Recently, this song Healer by Hillsong United have come back to my attention.

As many of you may know, this song is wrapped in controversy.
This song is written by a pastor who lead the congregation in worship.
After going to the hospital from a minor car accident, he announced that he was terminally ill with cancer. He wrote the song Healer, which led many people in prayers and unison. This song became very popular as the pastor continually showed physical signs of deterioration from cancer (losing hair, oxygen tank, and etc.). However, all these signs were an act. In fact, the pastor was never diagnosed with anything, especially not cancer.

Who knows what his intentions were, maybe it was for finacial support, maybe it was for compassion. Many years after his cancer announcement, he confessed in front of the world that all his relation to cancer was a lie. He confessed that his 16-year struggles of pornography addiction was what he really wanted to bury with the lies.

Many people were against this news and felt betrayed. For a reason too. All the financial, emotional investment for years definitely leave a sense of betrayal.

Although this may come to a shock , the important thing to note, I believe, is that we are no different. He doesn't become any more of a sinner than we are. We are all sinners and without Jesus Christ and the Grace that He sacrificed His kingdom and His life for our sins, we do not even hold a chance in ... anything.

Struggles may come and go, but Christ has given us a way out.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13

Overcoming burdens may be difficult and may seem impossible, but God always gives us a way out.
Christ Jesus, my Saviour.

Blessings in Disguise

2014-08-18T07:49:00.001-04:00

Long time no see, Internet.

It has been definitely way too long since I last wrote here.
I have missed you a lot.

Today, I wanted to write about this phrase, "Blessings in Disguise".
It was a topic that came up in my youth class today. During my class, the kids had a strange way of bringing out the topic of Blessings in Disguise.

It got my thinking gears moving.

How often is it that we just do not see any blessings in our lives?
Especially on things that we just endlessly complain about?

"Sun is shining too bright on me today, I couldn't sleep."
"It was too rainy to go out and enjoy the weather."
"I have too many things to do, all I want is rest."

Why can't we say "all I want is God"?

Nope, scratch that.

Why can't we just appreciate that God love us?
Why can't we just be thankful that Jesus Christ showed us the greatest compassion, the greatest sacrifice, and most importantly, the greatest love that no one can replicate?

Whether it is good or bad, it always is a blessing.
It is still within God's plan for us to be built up in our daily walks.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
- Proverbs 19:21

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
- Psalm 73:23-26

His Glory is Beautiful and His promise is everlasting. It is so encouraging just knowinn that He is God and He is there to give us His plan according to His time.

Good or bad, it is all good in Him.

Body of Church, Body of Christ - Part 3

2014-01-16T15:48:00.002-05:00

It sure has been a long time since I wrote my last blog.

Love-packed month with GKYM, Mosaic Retreat, and all the other things that have been going on in my life. I guess I have not had a chance to sit in front of a computer and write what I feel about the body of the church.

This will my last series on Body of Church, Body of Christ.

To summarize the Body of the Church, it is necessary to remember that church is not a physical place. Church is spiritual, church is behavioural, church is sometimes abstract. The church in the bible can only be explained by the people, those who follow Christ and put Christ as the head.

With this in mind, Christians are given the opportunity to love, to be passionate, to have fellowship, and to train together.

One member from Hillsong United said this at the concert I recently went to. He talked to the congregation about salvation.

He showed how the idea of Christian life is not as hard as people think. This convicted me deeply.
So many people in the world are scared to devote their lives in God. But really is not something He needs from us. He does not need us to "support" Him or "Live for Him and Glorify His name". He is well-off without us, probably even more well-off. It's by His Grace that we have a chance, not the other way around.

Firstly, Hillsong asked everyone for an altar call, THOUSANDS of people to alter call. Although only God knows who really received Jesus as their personal saviour and Lord, it still was a moment of surrounding love.
The member said;
- First thing to do, is to talk to others about your salvation and greatness of God, how your life has changed.
- Secondly, go find a church, and then be the church.
- and lastly, take your Bible and make it your own. Read it all the time and sincerely, think about the verse and pray about it.

There really is no other thing in life. Life is just an opportunity that God gave us. Without this life, we would be just going straight to hell, the moment that we were born, or even, born in hell.

Sometimes, that scares the crap out of me. The idea that we wouldn't be born into this life but we would be born into hell. This opportunity of 60~80 years of age is such a blessing from God.

Psalm 28:7 says:

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

The fact that he gave as a living chance, the fact that we are far from deserving any piece of it, but he still gave it to us, is amazing.
We are saved from His strength, from His shield and we should be, if at least, thankful.

I hope you all see this biggest miracle of love.

Body of Church, Body of Christ - Part 2

2013-11-21T10:16:00.000-05:00

As the second part of this series, here is a clip by Francis Chan describing the church in the bible.
Church in the Bible shows that there is a lot of passion and unity.

Francis Chan explains the church in the Bible in a very simple terms,

In the video, he talks about 4 aspects of church:

Love, Passion for sharing the gospel, Fellowship and Bible Training.

Love

Love is an important aspect about a church. Church is a group of people who love each other and lift another. This love is not from us sinners but from Jesus who loved us so much. God loves everyone in every way and there is nothing that can come between us and His love. The unending love is so amazing since we try so hard to refuse and yet, He still loves us no matter what.

Passion for gospel

The people in the first church had one goal: to spread the gospel to the world, sharing the good news. Every moment is a mission for us as that is what we are born to be. All we can do is talk about how amazing God is and how He has changed our lives.

Fellowship

God gives us the people, and the church to support another and to lift another. The accountability of fellowship is so important since we are living in a sinful world. When there is a member who is struggling, we are accountable for each other and to serve another. The importance of fellowship comes from serving another.

Bible Training

When someone died for us to save us from death and eternal separation from God, why can't we spend just a little more time to learn more about that someone? Jesus has lowered Himself to be one of us, and to die in the hands of people He saves. To know more of Him is crucial as a church.

Acts 20 : 28 says,
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

To have the life with love and passion is something so amazing, and to know that God gave us this, is even more amazing.

Body of Church, Body of Christ - Part 1

2013-11-17T10:26:00.000-05:00

What does the Bible say about the church?

People of the world tend to have an idea of the church but have negative connotation of the fellowship and unity of the church.

In the next couple blogs, I will be talking about the church and where it belongs in terms of the Bible. What does the church represent? In fact, what does Jesus represent?

In this world, the church is misinterpreted as a building or an institution.

I believe that the most important thing about church is that "Church is not where we go, but who we are." It is an abstract concept rather than a physical place.

The church in the bible was never a building. There was no billboard directing to a "CHURCH" or a flashing cross to attract people.

The church in the bible was simply a group of people who are passionate about God and the salvation through Jesus.

In Ephesians 2 says,

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

This group that was built in the foundation of Christ Jesus is the church. This church binds the members of the church to love and be passionate about God and the people.

He is absolutely amazing. Jesus loves me so much to have such passionate people around me and I am so thankful. He has given us this opportunity to be a church and build one another up, not to build a building or a mansion or anything like that.

Don't just go to church. Be the church. Make it your own and feel for the members of the church and other people.

All of His Desires

2013-11-06T17:54:00.002-05:00

Hillsong United - Oceans

Joel Houston makes a great point in this clip.

God is just looking for more of our heart. The Grace is there for you, not the other way around. It's never about performance.

A first step, it's the heart's first step. God is calling us but He is just calling more of our heart. Step is not about missions, not about creating a new ministry, but be a faithful husband, a faithful members of church, or even a faithful friend.

The end goal is as such, "My faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Saviour.".

The Spirit will lay upon us, not for our actions, but for our yearning. A yearning that is for God, not for our sake.

Luke 19 talks of the Zacchaeus climbing up the tree to see Jesus and Jesus says:

"Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19 : 9-10

Saved by climbing the tree.

All he wanted is to see Jesus. All he wanted is to be with the Lord.

The Amazing Grace saves us.