Korean American Christian Blog

Empty words are normally found, in the great abyss of this juxtaposed nature of my mind, where you can often find things to say, when you least expect it. That is, you have a small area in your brain, where there are countless number of words that collect over the years, to remedy awkward moments of silence, between yourself, and a person of no particular relation, (a faceless/nameless one), to help you move through the moments that are shared between 2 strangers.  

I only bring this up because it has made me think, even if there aren't that many moments as these that occur routinely on a daily basis, how many of these moments have I puposefully made, on the account of Jesus for the sake of sharing the truth to men and women around me? 

In my life, it seems, the truth is, maybe 1 millionth of 1 millionth of a percent. maybe less.  I'm a little shy when it comes to proclaiming God. I never had the ability to really just confess, excuse me, Can I pray for you?

Many times, we think of it not worth our while, to share in the possibility of sharing Christ purposefully. What if this or that, and suppose something might happen and we are put in a weird or negative outcome? Would it still be worth your while? 

 I began to question, how many people, that are up and about today, would actually go out of their way to make it known, to share the good news?  

CHRIST IN ME...

It had been one of the most challenging times of my life, where my spirit and my willingness to let myself be molded, collided into a pile of mush, a sticky, gooey, intolerable matter of existence, that has become a great and stupendous, very hard lesson to learn.

God, in all his marvelous, supernatural, awesome, remarkable ways, has whispered to me from time to time, "be still and know that I am God." I mean, I knew, something definitely was up inside, but really never grasped the complete and authentic definition to this until now. Being completely still is aggrivating. Meaning, not doing a single thing, but remaining silent, remaining in a state of complete motionless-ness,  if that is even a word, was THE hardest thing to do.  From time to time, I could hear God trying to  whisper to me, be still, sometimes in not so subtle ways, and then at times, experiencing a way to being still, through  intimate moments shared  with family, and friends.

Perhaps, it is also the way I imitate my parents in their dedication to being authentic. Authenticity in a manner which simply shows, do you utmost, for whatever task you are put into, and in every manner which compels you to live your life.  It is a impossible task. To be perfectly able, capable, and worthwhile, to follow orders that are impossible to fill. It is only now that I see, there is no way to fill that tall order of perfection.

I fall incredibly short, of that. I am not perfect. But inside, I feel there is a great desire to comply to what I think and know to be the path paved for me to walk upon. We all have a path that God gave, and to try to have every step be in perfect order, is quite impossible. The only steps that complete such a task can be only done through the life and death of Christ.  Looking at myself,  I will always have steps that are not straight back to back, one infront of another type of imprinting which comes upon my walk with Christ. And even through this time, while I sit here contemplating, blabbering about my inmost thoughts, I am so filled with thanksgiving, that I must praise God, for revealing another thing about myself, that I am coming to see more clearly.

Loving yourself,even  letting go of yourself, in the midst of finding out who you really are, how you hold true to yourself, in the manner of experiencing your likes, dislikes, loves, qualms, etc etc, all within the context of Jesus experiencing you, and loving you, has been a really eye opening adventure.  I expect, my journey with loving and experiencing Christ, will become even more radocally as I grow with him. ...

Candlesticks....

With another year of life added figuratively for myself and for teaching, parenting, and all other hats we choose to wear, I am so thankful God has allowed me to see the things that once seemed impossible. Things that are now quite tangible and confident in nature, which were once the opposite at some point in my lofty life last year.

First for potty training thanks to my parents, my siblings for helping train our youngest 2 legged monster erect, who is stubborn as a mule *takes after his mom*, and yet curious as the next then 3 year old little boy. To now, waking on his own, and getting ready for preschool on his own and feeding himself the instant mac and cheese you stick in the microwave with the help of a great big brother has been the highlight of this week....

 

Ok, so today, was another new day of beginnings. We had such an awesome time of praise and worship yesterday, to magnify our Great God, who sits enthroned in heaven, and to literally call on his name with shouts of praise, not only by what is written in our hearts and minds, but to sing joyfully to a creator that acknowledges us in all things.  It was that kind of worship. 

There is a passage in the bible where it shows how  one little verse can show you that life is meant to be lived for the purpose of glorifying God, just as Christ had lived on his time here on earth.

Love, as directed by our forefathers before us, proclaimed by the lips of Christ, is the ultimate command that God wants of us to fully understand, comprehend, exercise, and embody.  It is the only way of the cross and all that it signifies and ultimately, loving another person more than you love yourself, that is the act of surrendering all that is inside of you and all that you are-  is the greatest example in form and perfect definition of what Christians must comply to in order  to become complete in Christ. 

How then does one truly love another, as Christ loves you?  It is not in the physical, emotional, monetary, or relational means that the world describes love to be.  All of this is superficial. What matters is God's love for us. That even before time began, he poured out his love to us, through the redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Proof in writing? One place is found here: 1 John chapters 3 and 4 testify this plainly.  That God is love, and because God loved us so much, he sent Jesus to die in place of our sins, so that we may stand righteous before him, and through the love placed through Jesus and his example of love for us, even death on a tree, we are able to commune with God and know God in a personal and real way.  How great and marvelous are thy works O God Almighty!!!

We are such a blessed nation, to have the many blessings and freedoms that many countries would die for, and yet, in our lavishness, our minds are fooled by the devils scheme to manipulate how we should act, think, and reply to daily living situations in our abrupt and unimportant life.  What matters not is what we do, but how we do it.  If you are called to love in a capacity to show kindness, or compassion, or encouragement, we should do it.  To give like you've never given, to share like you've never shared, to enjoy the hardships and turmoils because all those moments of heartache and dross are but temporary! What matters more is that your treasure is stored in heaven, and there will be an eternity of rejoicing and enjoyment afterward!  (Our treasure is found in the worshiping of our Lord, praising, loving, and exalting Him! ) 

My father grew up in a household with two mothers, and eleven siblings.  My grandfather had secretly married his second wife, and my grandmother had no idea he was already married before she moved to his hometown.  My father barely finished junior high school, and was forced to work for my grandfather, while his brothers and sisters all went on to high school, and some of them to college.  He started working at the age of about 14, doing hard physical labor for my grandfather until he passed away.  Once a fairly wealthy man, my grandfather had left this earth with almost nothing in his possession, only a dozen heartbroken children who never even had the time to think about how unusual or dysfunctional their own family was.

This past Sunday at New Hope, we kicked off a new series of teachings called, "Crossroad: A Theological Praxis from the Streets". This new series will focus on developing a theology rooted in the streets as exemplified by Christ's interaction with humanity during his time here on earth. As a former professor of theology and ministry for 9 years, I was able to see and experience some of the disconnect between the theology formed in academia from that of practitioners ministering in the field. Although much good is produced from the ivory tower, I believe there needs to be some more field-based development of our theological lenses.

This series is designed to encourage, challenge, and inspire the hearer to reconsider the stories of Christ's interaction with people on the streets in hopes of developing a practical theology for day-to-day ministry, especially outside the walls of the church. I invite you to listen and interact via this blog about the topics introduced during this series.

Click here to hear this message on the New Hope podcast (iTunes required). [Please keep in mind that it may take a few minutes or hours for this particular podcast to show up on iTunes. It is there. :) Just click on subscribe and it should start downloading.]

Psalms 34: 6

"This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles." 

It is such a thrilling feeling to have won a million dollars, who could fathom having the potential to spend that much in a day's time? But I say, rather, what a greater thrill it is to see, feel, and know that joy, when your financial debt disappears, like that magical wave of the hand, and the anguish, worry, and hold money can have on people.  The kind, where tuition rates soar as tomorrow's gas prices surge to new highs, the kind of money troubles where our elderly, our parents, and grandparents, friends,

 

"The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!"

Psalms 19: 46

 

Simple and profound were the shouts of David.  The moments of exaltation, when your heart bursts forth into a new song reminds me that joy,  old and new transcends time...

In my youthful days, I listened to sermons about Jesus, his teachings, read on somewhat of a daily basis, and fell into the category of "average" Christian.  Someone who was brought up in a God fearing home, raised and bred in the all american (or komerican) church family, and did all those wonderful activities branded by our loving parents (and others as well) to do good works for church and beyond. I suppose that is what you call the call to go beyond...

Leadership comes at a cost. More accurately, leadership comes at a deep cost. In fact, leadership comes at a cost that no one can fathom until they themselves are placed in "that" role. No book, seminar, advice, or person can adequately prepare you for the cost that great leaders face.