Culture Disconnect

October 31... Halloween. The night where you'll find most Christians turn out the lights to their house and disconnect themselves from the rest of the world. From the little children whom Jesus loves, and they are literally knocking on our doors. Why? "Because we disapprove the celebration of the devil!!" So what we will do is to lock ourselves in the "safety" of our basement, waiting for the day the Lord returns, while the world is starving for the Truth?

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."
~Matt 5:14-16 (The Message)

How are we a light in this world, a city on a hill, when we hide in our basements with out lights out when the devil run amok in the world, and while little children are being ensnare by the devil. Brothers and sisters, this is one night of the year children come running to you. What better opportunity than this? Yes, I heard it all, it is not effective outreaching to the children on Halloween night. Be creative! If you are not creative, what does it take to toss a Bible tract along with a piece of Candy? What if only one out of a hundred children read it? Didn't Jesus say that he will leave his 99 sheep to look for the lost one. What joy is it to have one children hear the Gospel?!?

Surely it is better than being a snob, turning out your lights and pretending not to be home.

On the verge of a burnout

I can feel it in every fiber of my body. I'm tired. I slept at 8:00p last night and woke up tired this morning. I had to take a quick nap after work before I was ready to tutor Michelle in Math.

I had been very careful this year not to get burnt out. But the events of the past weekend is straining my focus. Psychology, I am drained from all the "excitements". There is a lesson to learn in all this...

Counting my blessing...

... in the mist of a car accident.

Tonight, while leaving youth group, I was involved in a motor vehicle accident.

[My poor car... :( ]

[The other car...]

Traveling southbound on Bayview, rainy conditions, a northbound Benz made a left turn in front of me and I had no time to react.

Blessings:

• All drivers and passengers in all three vehicles involved are okay.
• The airbags did not deploy, or else I would be in worst shape.
• God provided an eye witness to the incident.
  
• I was able to smile through the incident.
• Though my car might be total lost, I have peace in my heart. (could be bye bye to Protege) :(
  
• I was in no way angry at the teenage driver, pray that I was a good witness.
  
• The most important of all, I had a good time chatting with the tow truck driver.

Pray for Felix, the tow truck driver. I will have another opportunity to talk to him tomorrow morning. Pray that God will open doors and give me the opportunity to share the Gospel with him.

In His Grip

I am reminded of what Dr. Shepherd said in Systematic Theology. It is not how strong our grip is on God that matters, it is ultimately about how strong God's grip is on us. We can grip him as strong as the barnacles do, but we have to let him grip hold of us.

Lesson learned from Barnacle

I have had this though marinating in my mind for the past few weeks, I guess it is finally time to put it on paper.

On Thanksgiving weekend, mom, dad and I got to stay home one night to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. Mom made crab... yummy. While I was enjoying myself tearing the crab open to get to the delicious meat, I noticed barnacles were growing on the crab.

That got me thinking. The barnacle must have thought it had it made - riding on an armour cladded crab, with no worries and well fed. It hung on to the crab with all it's might. A barnacle larva cements itself headfirst to a surface (the shell of the crab) and then undergoes metamorphosis into a juvenile barnacle. Barnacles develop hard armour plates to surround and protect their bodies. For the rest of their lives they are cemented to the crab, using their feathery legs to capture plankton and gametes when spawning.

The bond the barnacles use to attach themselves to the surface is one of the strongest substance know in the world. Therefore, to the barnacle riding on the crab, as long as it hangs on it has no worries.

Little did it knew that the crab would end up on my dinner table.

We can learn a lot from that barnacle. We, too, have a tendency to hang on to what we feel secure. We spend our lives reenforcing our grips on those things. But these things we hold on to, will they last? Or will it be thrown into the fire like what happened to the crab?

The apostle Peter reminds us of this, in 2 Peter 3:10-13:

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

What will you hold on to?

Expectations

Lying in bed trying to cry myself to sleep. A verse in Philippians comes to mind:

NIV Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life-- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

Lord, I don't want to complain and whine, but I am getting wear down by the expectations people place on the church leaders. Expectations on anyone who steps onto the pulpit is to be holy person. Expectations on these leaders that they have to be blameless. Because of these expectations, I have a constant fear of dropping the ball - disappointing others. Yes, we are called to shine like stars in a crooked and depraved generation, where can a church leader go for support when he/she is down and out?

I am only human. I am not holy, I am not blameless. I am pressing forward toward those goals, and I thank the brothers and sisters who are encouraging me in prayers and support. But how come when a church leader show any signs for human weakness, some are so ready to jump in and criticize. Why is there an innate interest for humans to see others fall? To put-down and to destroy? It is as if we enjoy the spectacle of an individual rise up so that we can see this same individual fall.

The pulpit is a very lonely place. If I was called to serve mere man, I would just put on a good face for everyone to "enjoy". But in reality, I am called to serve God. Does it matter what others think? Am I serving to please others? When we look at Bible characters like Abraham, David, Paul and etc, the first image we have is they are men/women of God. And their level of faith and obedience seem to be unreachable for many. What I was encouraged by is that Abraham is a liar, David is a adulterer, Paul is a murderer, Rahab is a prostitute and etc... yet, God still used them mighty. They are only human.

Yet, how would the church react if King David their leader? Would they seek the counsel of God and act in mercy and forgiveness. Or would they cast him out and criticize him without a second thought.

I am reminded of a song by Michael W. Smith

Move In Me
I am only human
Struggling to find
Confidence in all that I believe
You are only holy
You are love defined
And you have said to ask and I'll receive

So I have come to pray
That you will come and fill
The hunger here inside me to grow
Stronger in the faith
There's a longing and a need
To have you ever closer
Come fill me

Cause when you move in me
It's like a symphony
The timeless melody
That soothes my soul
Though silent I can tell
That you're alive and well
Cause I can feel you move
In me

What they try to tell me
Is that your love is false
And faith is just a way
I choose to feel
And that there was no meaning
To You upon the cross
And I should reach for something that is real
And when those words are said
The questions in me start
And I don't have any answers
Until I stop thinking with my head
And start listening to my heart
And there I find my assurance
I tell them

This serves as a good reminder, I am only human, and I need the Spirit of the Lord to move in me. My service is not to see the praises and approval of others, but to love the Lord with all my actions.

The pulpit is a lonely place, but the presence of the Lord is there, and what more can I ask for...