To live is to die.........

Zachary rode his bike to school for the first time today. I know that when I was younger I was a lot more independent than my kids are now, but times are different. Most parents are almost living in paranoia that something tragic is going to happen to their kids. I have my fears but at some point I need to let go and give them room to grow up. As my kids get older what they really look forward to is their independence. He rides his bike all the time. In fact he's kind of bored with it already. But this morning he was elated to get on the bike to go to school. Of course it had nothing to do with riding his bike. His excitement was about his independence. I think he felt grown up to go to school on his own.

As I was watching him ride away I couldn't help but to think how he's going to have to relearn all of that with his relationship with our heavenly Father. One of the most important lessons about being a man is to be self reliant, to not rely on others and learn to take care of yourself. But when it comes to our spiritual growth it's exactly the opposite. If we don't learn to depend on Him more and more we will never grow. Our whole Christian duty is to die to oneself and to live hidden in Him. I guess this is what we call a paradox. To live is to die and to die is to gain.

My prayer this morning is that I would be able to disciple my children to become independent when it comes to this world and dependent when it comes to our true citizenship in heaven.

Nothing Compares......

Can someone who has truly met the Lord ever be in love with anything else more than Him? People often ask me what book I've read that is a must read for everyone. I am not an avid reader but there is nothing that I can think of that is a "must read" other than scripture. I have never been affected by a book written by man like the way God's direct words have on me. There is a lot of talk about God and literature expounding the preciousness of God but nothing compares to meeting Him yourself. Reading about God and talking about God is not the same as meeting God and knowing God. We are inspired by testimonies. We are enlightened by good exposition of scripture. Our world views are stretched by deep insights but only the word of God can produce faith that changes us for good. Taste and see that the Lord is good. I can tell you how great Christ is and be as articulate as Shakespeare and as powerful in presentation as John Piper but it can never replace us meeting Him in person. Seek the Lord with ALL YOUR HEART, is what our Lord commands. Our God is not hiding. He is simply waiting for us to realize how much we desperately Need Him and in response Want Him. Have you ever had something so good that just the thought of having that again makes your stomach growl and mouth water? Meeting the Lord has that same affect when you have truly met Him. Meet Him. Don't be satisfied with talks of Him. Don't settle for pictures of Him. Don't settle for testimonies about Him. Seek the Lord and determine to know and love Him with all your heart. He is not far. He is waiting.

Thankful..

Our God is so good and loving. I don't see Him tangibly every day but in those times that God chooses to reveal Himself to me I am always awed and changed. God listens to my prayers. He cared enough for my soul to send His only begotten Son. Why would I ever doubt that He would not love me in smaller things. It is when I am content in this world that my spiritual sight becomes dull and my heart becomes callous. My God is a gracious and loving God who is worthy to be praised and adored. He hears me. He knows me. He loves me. Simple truth expressed all throughout the bible but small tangible reminders breathes life into those words. What does this world have that can be better than Him? He knows my inner thoughts better than I do. He cares for every need more than I can imagine. He desires for me to call out to Him because He finds joy in me when I do. He pursued me when I was not aware of Him. He spoke to me when I was not listening. He loved me when I was a filthy blasphemer. He endured with me when I repeatedly stray. I don't want anything else. Only God, Only Jesus, Only the Spirit of God can satisfy the longings in my heart. Thank You Lord...

Blaise Pascal's Journal Entry....

Blaise Pascal, founder of projective geometry, devisor of the first calculating machine, discoverer of atmospheric physics, inventor of the barometer and the hydraulic press, became a man desperate for God and his truth. He turned to the Bible, and during the night of November 23, 1654, God came very near to him, and he wrote down on a piece of paper his impression of those hours:

In the year of Grace 1654 
On Monday, 23rd of November 
From about half past ten in the evening until about half past twelve FIRE 
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars. 
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace. 
My God . . . 
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except God. 
He is to be found only by the ways taught in the Gospel . . . 
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy . . . 
Jesus Christ. 
Jesus Christ. 
I have fallen away. I have fled from Him . . . 
We keep hold of Him only by the ways taught in the Gospel . . Total submission to Jesus Christ . . . 
Eternally in joy . . . 
I will not forget Your word. Amen.

Hope in Christ.....

I'm sure by now many of you have read the story about the airline attendant who lost it and opened the hatch and ran off the plane. What made him snap? He must have known the consequences of his behavior. Why would he throw away a good job like that over a silly argument with a passenger? But the question I have is why more people just don't snap like him?

I often imagine what my would have been like if I didn't have hope in Christ. What would I be living for if I didn't have hope in the coming King? I'm sure like the rest of the world I will do my best to block that out and just fix my hope on immediate gratifications. I imagine I would be dreaming about the next vacation to this or that place. I would be thinking about how I was going to fill my weekends so I would feel like I am doing something worthwhile with my life. The latest gadgets always seem to brighten up people's lives for a short while. But in the big scheme of things what would get me out of bed every morning other than sheer habit and necessity to pay my bills and continue "living". Why am I here? For what reason do I endure life when things start to unravel? The fact that the world continues to plug along without ever coming anywhere closer to answering this fundamental questions for existence is a mystery to me. You would think that after thousands of years of philosophizing about life and also thousands of years of scientific inquiry that the world would be at least a little closer to answering that question. What a depressing thought, to not know why you need to get up each day. How would I have adjusted if Christ did not open my eyes in 1983? What vacation spot, what weekend activity, what gadget or sports team would have filled that gnawing voice in me for my reason to live?

1 Tim 4:10

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

LIfe Saved....

I saved a life this morning. It was a tiny little bug that was squirming around my bathroom. Normally I wouldn't have thought twice about squashing it. I have been training my boys, even little Isaiah, not to be afraid of bugs and just stomp on it. This is what men do!

But today I was watching the little bug in our bathroom. He began to squirm as soon as I turned the light on as if he knew what was coming next. I watched him wiggle around to find a safe place but he was moving a millimeter per every 5 seconds. He had no chance. My first thought was to pick something up that I can smash it with. But as I began to watch that hideous looking thing squirm I began to wonder what sin looks like in God's eyes. To someone so pure and perfect every imperfection, every rebellion must seem so grotesque. What prompted Him to not crush us? What moved Him to send His only begotten Son to not squash the sinner but to squash the sin in us? Then I had a thought. Maybe I'll let this one go today. I'll save his life and place him outside of my house instead. I began to look for a piece of paper to pick it up but couldn't find anything. So the next thought was, "this is silly, I should just squash him". I wrestled to force myself to not squash him at that moment. Why not? It's just a bug. Who would call me cruel or unjust if I squashed this thing. Who would say that I'm gentle and loving if I didn't squash him and placed him outside. What did it matter one way or another. It was just a bug. In other words, I wasted a minute of my life because of this dumb, grotesque looking creature. I finally found something to pick it up with and then proceeded to place it outside. It had no idea what just happened, the thoughts that went through my mind that lead to his life being spared. All it knows is that it did not die today.

His love is amazing. WHY?? Why did He look on us with compassion? Why did He plan to inflict His Son to save us? What thoughts went through His mind that would cause Him to do such a thing? I may never fully understand His thoughts but I do understand that I live today. I live because He chose not to crush me. He sent His son as the blood sacrifice for my sins and sprinkled me clean. He is the high priest where I find my refuge. He is the curtain that lead me to the throne of grace. He is my Savior and closest confidant. He is beyond words....

Nothing lasts forever?

The younger a person is the easier it is to impress them. A child will be impressed with a simple card trick but to impress an average adult it would have to be something really amazing. But no matter how amazing something is at one point it eventually loses it's luster. A new car eventually will experience it's first ding or it's first scratch and the new car smell will eventually fade to other odors. After over 42 years of being wowed by various things and all of them eventually fading into the old category its much harder to get truly amazed by anything now. When I talk to younger people they always seem to be excited about something whether it's a new movie or a new relationship or a new place they are traveling to. You rarely hear that kind of excitement about anything when you are chatting with older people. It's usually "been there and done that" type of attitude. There is always more energy with youth because they are more easily excited about everything.

I don't mean to depress you but everything eventually fades. EVERYTHING. No one stays young and youthful forever. Now that a bigger portion of our church is moving into their 30s the energy level definitely is not the same. The church is harder to mobilize because it's harder to get people excited about anything.

All this only reminds me further of the constancy of our Father. I woke up thinking about the sun and how it didn't burn out again. As I write this I am aware that "something" or "someone" is keeping this earth at a constant distance from the son/sun so that we don't burn out. There is a perfect amount of oxygen around me to sustain my lungs all day today. But the most amazing thing is the constancy of God's love for me. I am more and more amazed by the consistency of our God. He amazes me. He is truly praise worthy.

Kingdoms in Conflict

As most of you already know, Prop 8 has been declared unconstitutional by the courts. It's in the appeals process so the fate of this is up in the air. Most likely it will end up in the Supreme Court and the whole country will have to wait to see what the final judgment will be.

Though the prospect of having homosexual marriages legalized and the ramifications this decision may have on our schools, work places and even our churches is unsettling, we should not be more alarmed than we should have been before. Which sin is worse, homosexuality or worldliness or bigotry or idolatry or apathy or believing and preaching false doctrines or......................

We are not alarmed when we see idolatry in our own hearts or worldliness and apathy in our churches and yet when we see sin being embraced by a world who has publicly rejected Christ we ought not be surprised and caught off guard. I am concerned for my children sending them back to public school and what they will be exposed to there. But I am equally concerned that they will grow up to embrace a nominal faith holding to a form of godliness and yet know nothing of its powers.

Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. If it was He would not have given Himself to sinners to be crucified. He could have easily summoned legions of His angels to fight for the control of this condemned world. Instead He calls His church to be the light and to call the world through the preaching of the "foolishness" of the cross to another kingdom. A kingdom which president does not change every four years. A kingdom whose king is perfect and immutable. A kingdom that will not fade or change with time. A kingdom where the perfect law will be ruled by a perfect judge with a perfect advocate standing as our perfect mediator.

We should be good citizens of Rome but never forget that our true citizenship is somewhere else. Soli Deo Gloria!!!!

Maranatha!!!

I woke up early this morning groaning for the Lord. I am tremendously blessed with a great family and a great church yet there is a growing longing in my heart that nothing in this world can satisfy. It's always been there since 1983 but it seems to have surfaced more notably in the past months. I have not traveled extensively but the few places that I have seen that left an impression on me was never man made. What man is able to create out of his own imagination and will power is amazing sometimes. But when compared to the grand scale and majesty of His creation it will never come close. I long to meet the Lord who created my inner being.

When our hearts long for something else other than what we have our natural tendency is to fill that with something immediate. But maybe that longing was placed there to wait eagerly for the Lord and not for human companionships. The world can only distract us from our true longings.

The early church used to greet each other saying Maranatha!!! It means "Lord Come" or "our Lord come". I pray that your day will be filled with reminders that causes you to eagerly anticipate His second coming.

WORD OF GOD....NEVER EXHAUSTED!!

Have you ever taken on a task and found that you were in over your head after working hours and hours only to realize that you've only made a dent. I feel this way every time I open up God's word. I have been reading, studying and preaching out of this one book for the past 27 years. Some books I have read over several dozen times, studied through it over a dozen times and preached and taught out of it almost half a dozen times and I still catch myself surprised by the things that I've missed before. The difference between this task and any other task that I feel overwhelmed by is that instead of it leading to frustration it causes me to be in awe of the writer of these letters (the Holy Spirit).

I don't like watching the same movie more than once. Although I am a creature of habit I am one of those people who the teachers would have definitely given Ritolin to. I get bored when anything is done in repetition. If things are too predictable I lose interest faster than the average person. But the word of God seems never to get predictable. Although it is simple like a child it is deeper than anything else I can imagine. It's like finding the deepest poetry written by a kindergartner. God has made it simple enough that beginners will find life in it. But He has made it deep enough that mature Christians can dive into it all their lives and never come near to touching the bottom.

Who else can give us something so profound and simple all at the same time but our heavenly Father.

"The Rose and the Lily"-Spurgeon

Spurgeon on the Beuty of Christ

"As for us, my brethren, the beauty of Christ is such that if we go in to a barn to worship, we are quite as satisfied as though it were a cathedral, with grained arches and glowing windows. Such is the beauty of Christ in our eyes, that we are quite content to hear of him without the pealing organ and the swell of Gregorian chants; and we are even satisfied though there should be no display of taste, nothing sensuous and scenic, nothing to please the eye or charm the ear. Jesus alone affords our mind all that delightful architecture, poetry and music could profess to give. And when our soul gets near to him, she looks upon all 'outward adornments' as mere child's toys, fit to amuse the rattle-brains of this poor idiot world; but vain gewgaws to men in Christ Jesus, who by reason of use, have had their senses trained, and learned to delight in nobler things than those in which the swine of this earth delight themselves."

Beauty of Christ

The whole bible is a description of the beauty of Christ.

A foreshadowing of His beauty in the books of the law, the substance of this beauty in the gospels, the contemplation of His beauty in the epistles and the promise of His beauty in the prophets.

All great things that are truly beautiful distract us from lesser beauties.

Turning away from temptation seems too great of a task if we are not tempted by the beauty of Christ first.

1 Cor 13:12

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

2nd Post

I have been jet-lagged all week. I have been waking up at 3a.m. consistently every morning. It seems to take me longer and longer to adjust each time I come back from China. The plane ride seems to get more arduous each time. But all of this is worth it to see the progress of the gospel in China.

There is a young lady named Moon in China that our team has known for over 7 years. She is one of the first students we met when we began our work on the west side of China. This summer I had a chance to meet her again for dinner. This time it was initiated by her. Her roommate Rita told me that she had some concerns about her father and wanted to ask me questions about it. I had no idea that the concern that Moon had was that her Father became a born again Christian and seemed to be overly enthusiastic about his faith. Obviously this made me ecstatic. But it was not only her father but her mother and her older sister as well who came to the faith in the past year. Her oldest sister now wants to become a full time missionary. WOW! Now she has her roommate, bunch of foreign friends and almost her whole family sharing the gospel and praying for her. Each time I go out to China I run into stories like this. The harvest is ripe there. The harvest is ripe every where. Going out to China only reminds of this truth.

Sometimes living in the United States it requires work for me to be reminded that there are hungry people here as well. I can't think of a more rewarding work in life than to spread the gospel to people who are in desperate need of it.

Meaningful work bring more rest than meaningless rest.

In the beginning

I am creating this blog to share what God has been teaching me primarily for the body of Christ in Berean. Since this will be my first blog I will keep it short.

Raising four children while managing a growing church has not been an easy task but God has been stretching me for my own sanctification. Though my time is limited I do see the benefit of using this media outlet to better communicate and inform the people of God as to how God has been leading me to lead the church. I am a hands on type of person so this new form of communication does not sit comfortable with me. I am not an old dog but I am and older dog than most at church. I will have to adapt in order that I don't get left behind with this electric machine thingy that I'm typing on. I'll see you people more soon-- hopefully.