World Mission

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations." Matthew 28:18-19

What if these verses were left out of the Gospel?

Of course, God's plan is perfect and there really is no "what ifs" in his plans. And yet the enormous significance of this one sentence in the history of our world is simply amazing. I am not speaking about the realm of Christians only. Judeo-Christian ethics, laws, and value has penetrated every significant economies of this world. It has continued its expansion for two millenia and will continue its dominance into foreseeable future.

For Non-Western Christians like us, this verse is even more significant. This really is the only explicit validation of our own existence as Christians. For us, the verse 19 is like a portal to the only Truth that matters. I wish there were more references of people in foreign countries like us in the Bible. But in its absence, I thank our Lord Jesus Christ for this new Mission; to make disciples of all nations, to seek out all human races and enlighten them with the Truth. That God created all things including myself, gave me life and the choice to fall away from him, then sent his Son to death and resurrection in order to save me from my own fatal choices.

I thank those early missionaries who took His command to heart and reached out to our people. And I pray that I too have the courage and spiritual strength to continue His Mission.

Our Living Hope

Hello everyone!  Sorry this post is so late.  I had some issues but, like Dave said in his blog, no excuses...Please bare with me cuz this is the first time I've ever done this...^-^

Today's passage comes from 1 Peter 1:3 and it says that "In his great mercy God has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."  

I think the author is trying to focus on the fact that the Gospel is our living hope and thru that living hope comes the promise of the resurrection of the body but this living hope also promises the "renewal of the universe" or a new heaven and new earth.  What this means is that God will not only purify our bodies but also the world that He created from the evils of the fallen world.   I never really thought about this because, like everyone in the world, I'm self-centered and only focus on the new body promise and never really thought about the cleansing of the world part.  The author even mentions that, "we Christians tend to think and talk too much of the ethereal heaven and too little about the new heaven and the new earth." But now that I think about it, it's like when we die or if Christ comes again, we will recieve our new bodies but where will we live with these bodies?  God takes care of that because, through his great mercy, He gives us a new and better heaven and earth where it is purge of all the sin and evils that it once was tainted by sin. 

This got me to thinking how we forget that this world is evil because it is full of sin.  We should remember that it's the people that make it evil too because of the evilness in their own hearts.  The world was created by God.  It's a gift.  But we tend to forget that and love the creation more than the Creator and try to horde it all for ourselves.  I'm also reminded of what Dulla smn once told me that the common world view is that people are born good and fight the evils of this world with that goodness but that's a wrong way of thinking.  In the Christian world view, it should be understood that people are born evil because they've inherited sin.  So throughout their Christian lives, they aren't fighting the evil/sin with their goodness but they recieve goodness from God so they can fight their own evilness with it.  And that goodness is the Gospel. 

Bottomline is the Gospel is good and our living hope. We shouldn't only focus on the promise of the renewel of the body but also to the new heaven and earth that God will give.  Sorry for rambling but that's it. Thanks for reading and see you Sunday!

The Resurrection of The Body

Hi everyone.
So sorry for writing this a day late. I have no good excuse so feel free to punch me in the arm when you see me. The reading I went over was a pretty cool one for me because it gave me an opportunity to really see our long term future in pretty clear terms. And I mean wayyy long term.

Usually, I always wonder how it's going to be like. I imagine how heaven might be or what it will seem like standing with all the saints throughout history. Sometimes I can picture it so clearly and other times my lack of faith gets in the way and it's difficult to take in fully.

But I really liked today's reflection because it paints a vivid picture of how the resurrection of our bodies will be like by using the promise of scriptures and the example of Jesus.

It also makes me reflect that God made my body and the way that I am with and for a purpose so that He could be glorified through it. It's amazing how detailed and intricate our Father is. Louie Giglio put it best when he said, "Though we are but a vapor, we are marked by majesty."

I won't lie. It kind of makes one feel special and unique but not in that arrogant way. More in that thankful kind of way.

One last thing and I would love an opinion about this... All my friends have tattoos and I always wanted to get one for some reason. But ever since I've been a Christian, I've come to believe in the resurrection of the body as Stott illustrates and I've been afraid to get any kind of tattoos because I don't want it to be with me forever. Pastor James...Do you have an opinion on this small matter??

The Conquest of Death

Today's reading made me think about death. I believe that everyone fears death. Some people are more so than others. Death is inevitable. Whether you are Christian or not death visits everyone. however for Christians who have been resurrected with Christ, death is not loss of life but gaining of eternity with Christ. We have been reading the passages regarding Jesus appeared to various people after he resurrected. Jesus appeared to his loved ones and empowered them with same power that resurrected Christ. Jesus Christ conquered the death. Whoever believe the risen Lord, death has no authority over them nor power to put them in captive.
Reading John 11:17-44, famous story about Lazarus, I put myself in Lazarus'shose. I was Lazarus died in my transgression. But Jesus called out, "Come Out" I am no longer a lifeless corp but through power of Christ I am alive. Jesus breathed in me a new life. This new life will continue on 'til eternity.

Symbol of Power

Last night I caught back-to-back episodes of "Intervention" on A&E. Each episode featured an individual in a seemingly hopeless situation due to addictions and the family's efforts to intervene and save the individual from self-destruction. As the show progresses, you follow a life spiraling out of control finally reduced to a state of living to appease a perceived need literally minute-to-minute. Naturally, it can be unnerving to witness the depths of how far one's life can plummet.

The show is aptly named as in both situations, it was not the individual's own dissatisfaction that instigated a change but a demonstration of love and the conveyance of the hurt by the family that served as the biggest motivation for a reversal of the situation.

After reflecting on today's devotional, I realized that our stories were not very different, the primary difference being the timeframe in which we reach our fate respectively. Because of the accelerating effects of their physical addictions, the intensity of their downward spiral is amplified as their lives are compressed into a shorter period of time - something not as obvious over a "normal" lifespan.

Living to appease ourselves minute-to-minute isn't really an exaggeration. We may not all be addicted to narcotics, but we find other ways to medicate our insecurities and self-focused desires, ways that have become so commonplace that we don't even flinch.

Jesus says "whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." Its a confusing proposition that has no appeal to any part of our nature. Yet nothing that we've been able to do on our own in history has ever proven otherwise. That's the real power of the Cross, self-sacrificial love. God has intervened on our behalf with the ultimate expression of love to begin the reversal of this dark vicious cycle we are born into. Likewise, each one of us is called to find our true life, not by focusing on ourselves, but to propogate Christ's example and organically build the Kingdom of God.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

The Assurance of Forgiveness

I think we all
- read the bible
- heard numerous messages
- heard someone pray
- or prayed
about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and being raised from the dead by conquering death and sin.

This is the main bases of our Christian faith so what if it's not true..
- we will be in some serious dew dew
- those apostles are all liars or was delirious
- we'll still be unforgiven sinners
- our faith is futile, we're helpless, with no power of holy spirit
- no life after death, we'll just perish or reincarnate as a flower or something
- we would be gentiles forever without any hope (can we convert to Jew?)

Fortunately for us, I believe that God did accept Christ as a perfect sacrifice for our sins and that he was raised him from the dead to be with God.

Now, I need to believe and continuously remind myself each moment of my life that His death was real and He was sacrificed for my/our sins.

Sunday reading: Verdict reversed

This week, Stott leads us to reflect on the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sunday's reading led me to think that even with all the scriptural references in the old testament of the Savior, people really didn't know who or what to expect. It seems that only in hindsight after the death and resurrection of Jesus that all those references came together like pieces of a puzzle to reveal and confirm Jesus as " Son of God and Savior".
There are countless scriptural references pointing to the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah 53 gives us a glimpse of what the Savior would be like"...He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,...He was despised and rejected by men,....But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities...." Micah 5:2 even points ahead to where the "ruler over Israel" would be born. Jesus Himself gives a reference back to Moses on how he lifted up the snake to save those who would only believe and look up to it. Jesus said" Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life". Yet, no one was able to figure out who this Savior would be and how He would "save" Israel. Even His own disciples doubted and stumbled over their own lack of understanding.
Even Simeon who held baby Jesus in his arms and worshiped God for allowing his eyes to behold the Savior- could he have known that the baby Jesus would grow up to be crucified then resurrected from the dead? Perhaps the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a thought that was too lofty and too high for any human mind to grasp. And yet, as Stott stated, it is by resurrecting Jesus Christ from the dead, God "validated Him as truly the Son of God and Savior".
And now, it is for us to fully realize who Christ is and what He has come to do in our lives and through our lives. We as believers are the ones to whom the "arm of the LORD has been revealed" We too have heard and read from the scriptures what the disciples have witnessed as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Do we fully understand and believe?
Perhaps by meditating on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ- the full meaning and significance, we too can have any false notions or misunderstanding of Jesus Christ "reversed" in our lives. And by getting to know better the "true Son of God and Savior", we can better worship Him, fellowship with Him, better Love Him.