Absolutely Beautiful

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/55307071]

Reminder For Us As Christians That We Are Adopted Into God's Family:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:14-17)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

Reminder For Us That Jesus Was Adopted By Joseph:

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:4-7)

And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents [Mary and Joseph] brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law... (Luke 2:27)

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. (Luke 2:41)

Apocalypse - Reasons Why 2012 Won't Happen

DISCLAIMER: This post has a bias view on the perspective of apocalypse.

Today is December 20th, 2012. According to the Mayan Calendar, December 21st 2012 is technically the day when the Calendar stops continuing. It prophecies that this Friday is possibly the end of the world. Some argue that it won't happen because the person got tired of continuing with the calendar. As the day is approaching, a lot of people on the internet are discussing and worried about Friday. As a Christian, I want to stand firm with what the Bible says about apocalypse and the end of the age. And I want to suggest several biblical-eschatological reasons why the event for this Friday will not happen.

1.) Regarding "that day", the disciples were asking Jesus what will the sign be for the end of the age in Matthew 24:3. Nobody knows when it will happen. Only God knows. Therefore, the Mayan Calendar is not a divine prophecy that was utter by God, so it won't happen.

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." (Matthew 24:36 ESV)

2.) The end of the age is when Christ returns for the 2nd time. One of the things we know that Christ is coming back very soon is when the message of the gospel is proclaimed in all the nations. The Mayan Calendar does not know when Jesus will come back.

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14 ESV)

3.) The rebellion comes first. The rebellion is when the anti-Christ or the man of lawlessness reveals himself, and the Lord Jesus will come and destroy him.

"Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 ESV)

4.) Jesus will return for the 2nd time like a thief. For unbelievers, they don't know when a thief comes to rob their home, and it will surprise them. For Christians, we shouldn't be surprise because we are ready for that day to come (whenever it is). We are ready because we are children of light. We are children of light because we belong to God when we receive Jesus.

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 ESV)

5.) The book of Revelation offers apocalyptic perspective on how the end will come, which is very different from the Mayan Calendar. My church recently worked through the book of Revelation. Anti-Christ will come. False Prophet will come. Satan will come. The "unholy Trinity", the way my pastor called it, will come and attack and kill a lot of Christians during the Great Tribulation. The Seven Judgement (Trumpets, Plagues, Bowls of God's Wrath) will come. Jesus will come and defeat the "unholy Trinity" once and for all with the breath of His mouth. You can read and study it for more detail. I just want to say in general that the events are slowly happening and we should anticipate the Jesus' coming.

There are many passages in the Bible that I could point out, but I hope 5 reasons are good enough to convince Christians not to stress out over this Friday. As Christians, we can be more confident to not know when Jesus will return than to know His return. However, we are expecting for His return and we are ready for His return. Are you ready for His return?

This Christmas Season

Joy To The World, The Lord Has Come.

What a beautiful day as I see the snow is finally coming to existence in the city of Vancouver. There weren't a lot of snow for the past years, but some. I remember 4-5 years ago, when I was still living around Oakridge, snow piled up to my thigh. I'll never forget the amount of the snow that I had to go through. However, we should be grateful that it finally snowed. Some of us expressed interest in the snowfall, and when it does start snowing, we complain. How ungrateful are we.

My Christmas Break has already started ever since I finished my last final exam on Friday. Most of us will be enjoying this Christmas seasons as we get together with family and friends. At the same time, there are some people who will be grieving and possibly not enjoy this Christmas seasons because of the shooting at Connecticut. I heard that news 3 hours prior to my final exam, and I was grieving over the pain and the lost of 20 children and couple of teachers and adults. When these kinds of events do come up, we begin to ask, "Why would such a thing happen?"

I remember after the riot of the Stanley Cup, my friend, Kevin Thomas, walked up to a staff, who worked/works at the store that got rioted, and ask him what he thought about the EVIL that was committed by people. The staff replied (I'll paraphrase what I remember), "It's not necessarily evil, but it was just stupid people doing stupid stuff." In the culture we are living in, we reject words such as evil and sin because they're religious and don't help make sense with the society. When events like 911, the shooting of Virginia Tech, the shooting in Aurora during the release of the Dark Knight Rises, and finally, the shooting at Connecticut, how are we to try to make sense of these or how do you explain these events to people? People aren't just stupid or aren't just mentally insane, but are inherently evil.

Let's not just pick on murders, but on ourselves - liars, adulterers, idolaters, thief, the proud, and etc. We too are inherently evil, deep down inside. Once you have broken one of God's law, you have already committed this act called sin. Sin is not just disobeying God, but outward and inward rebellion against God in thought, speech, deed/motive, and action.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is none who does good.
The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
(Psalm 14:1-3)

When we choose to walk away from God, we become corrupt, meaning we become evil and distorted. We are evil, and we sin by nature and choice. Because of this, we are separated from God and we will deserve justice based upon our sinful deeds - hell. "For the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)

And we desperately need a solution for our problem. How can we be good? No, that's not the question. The question is, "WHO has the solution?" It's not just a simple solution, but it's a divine solution for mankind. Jesus Christ is the divine solution for man's sinfulness and evil. During this Christmas season (or whatever time He was born), Jesus stepped down into human history to be born by a virgin teenager (Mary). He was born not in the hospital or in a King's palace or inside a comfortable building, but in the lowliest place (at a manger) in Bethlehem. What a great humiliation that was for King Jesus! He lived the perfect and sinless life that we should've lived. He obeyed all the commandments of His Father that we should've obeyed.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
(John 1:29)

Jesus is the perfect spotless lamb that went to the cross to be slaughtered, executed, and murdered by men. It was horrendous and it was evil. He's the one who takes away the sin of the world. He's the one who forgives sin. He's the one who rose in the 3rd day to conquer Satan, sin and death. This is good news!

You might ask, "So how is that a solution for evil?"

First of all, you need to recognize yourself as a sinner. The bad news is that you're lost and hopeless without God. You need to recognize that you're heading towards hell. You need to recognize that you don't have absolute control of when you'll face death. Just like the events I have listed above, it can happen anytime all of a sudden without warning or notice. When you die apart from receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will surely be separated from God for all of eternity. Are you ready to face death right now? And this is not a threat from me, but it a warning from Jesus Christ Himself.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
(Luke 13:1-5)

Second of all, you need to have a personal relationship with God. You need to repent from sin and turn to Jesus and respond to Him - the good news! He gave His life for you. He is the only hope for man's sin. He is the only way to the Father. Respond and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. When you genuinely surrender your life to Christ, God changes your heart and give you a new desire. You'll grow to love Him and His people. It doesn't happen at an instant, but God will continue to work in you and change you daily. Once you experience Him, you'll know that Jesus Christ is the hope of this nation, and that's why we celebrate Christmas.

I went off on a tangent as I was blogging. Anyhow, what am I doing this Christmas Season?

• Read the Bible


• Read Systematic Theology


• Hangout with friends and family.

Mankind of Unclean Lips

[UPDATED] What runs through our minds when we speak a word that comes out of our tongue? With every breath that we breathe, what kind of speech or word or phrase will come out? Do we think clearly and thoroughly before we speak?

I certainly struggle with using correct words and terminologies when I speak. Most of the time I don't think before I speak. The words that I utter could be for meaningless entertainment and humor. It is certainly very easy to sin with our mouths. Words are not simply just words, but they could stick in a person's heart for a lifetime (Maybe I have posted a similar theme in the past, but I do not remember when I posted it). Words hurt people.

There are a lot of passages that are related to words, lips or tongues, and I'll give you some to meditate and consider:

• James 3:1-12 - blessing and cursing. 
• The Book of Proverbs has tons of verses on our tongue, but I especially want to note Proverbs 18:21. 
• Isaiah 6 - Isaiah confesses that he has an unclean lip. 
• Exodus 4:11 - remember who made our mouth. 
• Exodus 20:7 - Use the name of God in honor and reverence with our lips, not in vain. 
• Luke 6:45 - What you say defines you.

Everyday, we speak and use words, for those who can speak. From the time we were born, we cry and make noises to communicate with our parents about our needs. As we grow up, we whine and complain about things. We start to pick up bad languages and cuss at others. We use our lips to gossip behind people's back. As we grow older, we complain about life and be less thankful. Worse of all, we use our lips to curse God when His Son died on the cross for our sins. Nails were hammered on his hands and feet. Scoff, insult, "CRUCIFY", belittle and mockery all flew into the ears of the Son of God. Jesus could have spoken a word and destroy everything and everyone before Him. Jesus could have spoken a word that could have unbind Himself from the cross. But Jesus, instead of responding in resentment and vengeance, echoes a most loving phrase to the Father that we should profoundly think about, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

A Provoking Verse

"Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man
who acts with arrogant pride.
(Proverbs 21:24 ESV)

Need to give some thoughts on this.

What A Journey

This blog has been quite quiet for a while. I remember I used to blog almost every single day. Due to the business of life, this blog has to delay. Nonetheless, this is Remembrance day so I do have some time to reflect and share my life.

The Christian journey, the moment when we deny ourselves and pick up the cross and follow Jesus, has been a trial and tribulation. On Saturday, I went to Willingdon Church for the service, and it turns out that the sermon was based on the persecuted church. After deep reflection, my brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are striving and enduring in their faith through persecution. Hearing stories about their faith really hit me...every time. It doesn't even matter how much of the Bible we know, or how much theology we know...all I know about them is that they love Jesus and they want proclaim the Gospel to those who might even kill them. Yes, we should know our Bible and have correct theology, and those should move us to strive and tell the World about Christ. My buddy, Victor, and I were praying for a while for our brothers and sisters who are suffering but also rejoicing because they do not count their lives as of any value nor precious. (Acts 20:24) I confess, sometimes it is hard to be a Christian in North America because of all the distractions of materialism, consumerism, sex, and etc. But it is also hard, I think, to be a Christian in Third World Countries because of extreme persecution. But we, in North America, should support the persecuted church through prayer and resources. I didn't do any research on the numbers, but I think every second there is a Christian being killed.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV)

Indeed it is Remembrance Day, and let us NOT forget the soldiers who fought and died for our liberty in this country that we are living. So often we take that for granted...let us be grateful.

It has been in my heart to teach fellow brothers and sisters in Christ on Biblical Studies, but I never really gotten to it. Recently, a fellow buddy from my church asked me how to study the Bible. When he asked me that question, it triggered my passion that I had for a while. And I was praying in my heart about it and talking to other brothers about it. There are also two other brothers in my church who expressed interest in learning how to study the Bible, which makes it three people in total so far. I believe it is an answer to prayer that I rarely even ask God for...how can I not be grateful? He knows my heart and desire, but I don't often ask Him about it...but when I do ask, He gives. It would turn into a one day Seminar class where we'll learn what the Bible is and how to study it. I ask for your prayers for me and the students.

Lecrae's new album, Gravity, hit the chart. My favorite song in that album is "Tell The World"...and probably became my favorite song by him. Enjoy :)

Expressionist

For the past months, I've been filled with joy as I see God working in and through me. As an imperfect person, God still invites me to be part of His plan in redemptive history. Two of my youth are getting baptized next Sunday. I'm very excited and very happy for them and sometimes I just want to cry because I've been praying for them that God would open up their hearts in understanding and receiving the Gospel. God has been very good to me, and I don't deserve any of His goodness. How can I not keep praising Him and worshiping Him with my life? Emma and Albert, if you ever get a chance to read my blogs, I'll be praying constantly that both of you will finish the race that is set before you. May both of you continue to abide yourself in Jesus and in His word. When we stumble, sin and screw up, what we need is not improvement on how to be better...what we need is God's Grace, and His perfect abundant grace can cover our deepest filth of our sins. Continue to pray for those who are lost without Christ and reach out to them with love and with the Gospel and show them that there's hope.

The Confession

Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
(Proverbs 1:20-22 ESV)

Oh my soul longs to breathe in the Holy Ghost daily and fully submit to His divine power. My soul gushes out in words that are burdensome and inexpressible.

My longing for satisfaction has been yielding toward worldliness that provides a counterfeit for pleasure and satisfaction. This life on earth is temporary, so seize the moment and experience the abundance of life, which speaks Half-Truth. How foolish it is to simply to gain the riches of this world.

I am hungry and thirsty for You. You're everything that I need.

 

At The End Of The Day

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Psalm 73:25-26 ESV)

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
(Psalm 16:2 ESV)

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
(Psalm 16:11 ESV)

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14 ESV)

Lessons From Judas

A moment ago, I listened to a sermon called "Jesus and Judas" preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll. They celebrate their 15th anniversary of Mars Hill Church with a very sobering message that caught my deep attention as I was browsing through the web. Personally, in reference to Driscoll's message, I want to share with you the 8 lessons that he made in which we could learn from the life of Judas Iscariot.

1.) Sometimes you bear no responsibility for a person you love who betrays you and/or wrecks their life and shipwrecks their faith.

2.) Sitting under good bible teaching is not enough; you have to believe it.

3.) Being in community with Jesus' people is not enough, you have to be one of them.

4.) Leading a ministry is not enough; you have to love Jesus.

5.) An enemy of Jesus parading as a minister can lead people astray for thousands of years. 

6.) Sometimes false teachers appear to be credible, loving, and generous to the poor.

7.) You cannot lose your salvation, but you can fake it.

8.) How your life concludes is far more important than how your life beings.

Here is a sneak peek of lesson #2 (below):



Here is the full sermon: http://marshill.com/media/luke/jesus-and-judas

I do not know where you are at in your relationship with God. I do not know your heart. You know your heart better than I do, but God knows your heart better than you do. I say this because I do love you. Therefore, my prayer for you, brothers and sisters, as a type this with tears in my eyes, that you would take your faith seriously, that you would love Jesus, that you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, and that you will finish the race at the end of your life. I humbly submit to you, DO NOT BE LIKE JUDAS.

Anticipate His 2nd Coming

MY LIFE IS COMPLICATED

There is, indeed, greater needs that wants to consume our emptiness. We crave, actually. What do you consistently put your hope in? Let's not talk about the knowledge of the answer is, but let's talk about where your heart is at. Your thoughts, your emotions, your intelligence, and your actions. I remember reading parts of the book called "Soul Cravings" where the author, Erwin McManus, said there are three major aspects of things which we crave for: Intimacy, Meaning, and Destiny. In one of this entries (#12) on Destiny, he says, "What is fascinating about the human spirit is that we can live with a conscious awareness of death and not be paralyzed...it can actually inspire us to live a life of passionate urgency...even the smallest of dreams will keep us moving forward...but when we give up hope, when we allow ourselves to internalize despair, we shut down..." Despair to mean that "to live apart from hope" or "to live without a future." Continuing, "We should be able to live perfectly well without God and without hope. But neither proves to be the case. Ironically, when we should believe even the existence of hope, when we are most consumed with a sense of our insignificance, it is here we will crave it the most...Without hope your life may not come to an end, but it does come to a stop."

Fascinating, I suppose. If you are a Christian, then what do you consistently put your hope in? Answer: Jesus. Yes, that's a good simple answer. Now, let's not talk about the knowledge of the answer is, but let's talk about where your heart is at. Really? Do you really? Do you truly consistently put your hope in Jesus every moment of your life?

I'm convicted of this question that I asked myself, "Do I constantly have hope in the anticipation of His 2nd coming?" Honestly, my life is full of complicated issues. There are a lot of disgusting, unclean, unrighteous, and sins that need to be purify. As I live everyday, I get anxious about my future, my education, my future wife, future ministries (my career), my student loan, my family, and whole bunch of crap that are weighing me down. Nonetheless, I do have hope. If you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, then I am sure you have hope. Hope for a better future, a good wife (a good husband if you are a woman), good place to live, and career. We plan out this kind of list and work our way towards the future.



But what happens if what you crave for fails you? What happens when you become despair? We may typically want to continue find these things until they fulfill our cravings completely. We do not want to lose heart or hope, actually. We want our lives to continue. I know some people who are despair and lose all hope in whatever they are doing. They won't persevere. Like McManus said, "without hope your life......[comes] to a stop." Indeed, that's when suicide attempts happen. That's when life becomes meaningless. Your boyfriend/girlfriend breaks up with you, you lose your job, you go through bankruptcy, your parents divorce, your friends betray you, you are very stressful, your health fails you, your mentality was wrong, you experience catastrophe, and maybe you can list more. What, then, did I do wrong with my life!? Then, majority of the social network would put these three simple letters: FML...maybe for real this time.

My friends, let me confess to you on the account of my life. I am bitter. I am jealous. I am proud. I am an idolator.

I am bitter about something that I shouldn't be bitter about. I am jealous about something that I shouldn't be jealous about. I am proud about myself that I shouldn't be prideful of. I am idolizing something that I shouldn't worship. I am, therefore, broken. I put my hope on something that eventually led me to brokenness and despair because I didn't put my hope and focus on something that will last for eternity. This is what the Bible says about me, as a sinner:

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)
" For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)
"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food." (Isaiah 55:2)
"And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me..." (Mark 7:6)
"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” (Matthew 15:18-20)
"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:13-14)

Are you despair recently? If so, why? If you have not yet experience this of deep despair, then God bless you. But, what you hope for in this world (your future and stuff) will eventually bring you to despair. We all agree that we will die one day. When we will die is not the right question. "How short is my life" is the question. You and I don't know for sure if we will live tomorrow. But aren't we supposed to be hopeful or optimistic about life? Yes, we human beings are hopeful people and we want to live forever in this earth, but that is not happening. After you die, you will live forever: Heaven or Hell. Wake up, my friends. Can you prove to me that you will live tomorrow or can you guarantee yourself that you will live tomorrow? Wake up, my friends. Do you know 100% for sure know where you will be going after you die?

What do you put your hopes in? After feeling all beat up about my life being so complicated, when all hope is lost in this world, I still have Jesus Christ. I was a fool. He's been walking beside me the whole time. He promised me that "I will never leave your nor forsake you." "I (Jesus) am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me." (John 10:14) When this world fails me, I am reminded of what Jesus promised:

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:3-5)

My friends, Jesus is alive and He will make all things new, and He will come back again. It is either we die and meet Him as our Judge, or He comes back for the second time. Wake up, my friends. Life is short! "You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." We don't know when we will die, and we also don't know when Jesus will come back. We could die in a minute or tomorrow, or Jesus could come back in a minute or tomorrow.

"And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:29-36)

If you do not believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord ans Savior and what He has done for you, then God bless you that you are still alive today while grace and forgiveness of sin are still open-handedly given to you freely. Turn to Him and believe in Him while you are still alive. You and I are sinners who turned our backs against God. Because God loves you and I, He demonstrated that love by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins while we should be the one who should have paid that penalty. He died and, 3 days later, He was resurrected to give us new life and the hope that we could have in Him alone. Do you see that you have turn away from God and put all your hopes in this world in which God created that will ultimately lead you to despair and destruction. Now, YOU have an important decision to make, my friends. Do you want to accept and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us stop sleeping around and watch out for ourselves "lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life", and be awake and anticipate our 2nd coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! Believing this truth, there are still people who needs this hope that we have! What a joy and great hope we have in our Savior! Love My Life because of Him.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2)

Christmas Greeting!

Merry Christmas everyone! Pray that you will enjoy the time opening up presents and spending time with family! Also, remember Jesus Christ because He's the reason for this season.

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder,and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

God Bless you all.

Day 18 – Your beliefs

This post may hopefully spark up discussions and comments below. I'll start off by saying that I am a Christian. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus died on cross for me and purchased my salvation through Him. I believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. I believe in the God of the Bible, which is the same God in the Old Testament and the New Testament. I believe God saves people. I believe that people are going to hell if they do not give their lives to Jesus. I believe God is love.

I do have faith, not in something that does not exist. If I do believe in things that does not exist, then you could call me insane. However, I do have faith that God exists even though I am not able to see Him. In the Bible, faith is described as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). I believe Jesus was raised from the dead. "And if Christ has not been raised, then [my] preaching is in vain and your faith [and my faith] is in vain...but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:14;20) So for those who do not want Him to exist or still want Him dead, then tough luck.

Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it the POWER of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Roman 1:16). This is the gospel that I believe because I personally experienced the power of it and Jesus Christ saved me. He has given me a new life, a new heart, and a new desire to love and serve Him. I am not my old-self as I was during my High school years, but I am a new creation, I have been clothed with a "new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).

I wrote a "letter" as an assignment for one of my Bible classes, and I want to explain why I believe the Bible is worth-reading and living by. So if you want to read it, then feel free. I'll be continuing my entry down below and end my blog.

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Dear (reader),

How are you doing lately? Hopefully you are doing alright with your life. Do you remember the letter you have sent me? You asked me why I believe the Bible is worth reading and living by. Therefore, hopefully in this letter, you will understand why I value Jesus as a Christian and live in obedience to Him. Hopefully you still remember the conversation we had about how I became a Christian and how you were struggling with life during that moment.

I believe the Bible is the authoritative word of God because it is authoritative, accurate, and authentic. If I may quote the Bible found in 2 Timothy 3:16, then I am very convinced that “All Scripture is inspired by God.” The word, inspired, means that the Bible is from God. Further on in that verse, I am convinced that the Bible is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” If God has given us the Bible, then He has something to say to us. When I read the Bible, I can clearly understand that the stories that Jesus told were speaking directly to me. God is teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training me to become more of the person who He wants me to be, which is to become the likeness of Jesus. I understand that reading the Bible is dull to you because I went through the same process too, but the Bible has impacted my life ever since I became a Christian since it is clearly from God. I love to read what He has to say to me so I could grow in my spiritual maturity, my spiritual effectiveness, and my relationship with Him. Hopefully you will experience the same joy as I have when I read the Bible.

You said, “The Bible was written by man, so how can the Bible be from God?” It is true that the Bible was written by people. Also, God did not use the pen to magically fly in the air and write for itself, although He could have simply done that since God is all-powerful, but He did not intend to do that. However, I believe that God worked through the authors of each book in the Bible through the process of inspiration. Inspiration is the process by which God worked through the human writers without destroying their individual personalities and styles to produce divinely authoritative and inerrant writings. In the Bible, I am convinced that “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”, which is found in 2 Peter 1:20-21. God used people to produce the Scripture in the sense that it originates with Him and is authorized by Him, even though it is articulated by men. Simply put this: God revealed, and man recorded His word.

In Psalm 18:20, it say, “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” If God’s way is perfect, and that Bible is inspired by God, then Scripture in the original manuscript does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact. Therefore, I am assured that Bible is accurate and does not err because the Bible has its origin in God and was superintended by His inspiration.

The Bible does not generally say everything we want to know like an instruction manual. For example, how to get a girlfriend or boyfriend, how to fix the car, how to do a better make-up, or how to become a pro-gamer in whatever videogames you are playing. So how is the Bible sufficient? What is God trying to tell us? The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God He intended His people to have at each stage of redemptive history. Perhaps when you read the Bible, it seemed like it just a story, poetry, prophecy, and logic, but God never intended it that way. Indeed, there are different genres in the Bible, but ultimately it contains the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting Him perfectly, and for obeying Him perfectly.

Unfortunately, we do not have the original manuscript, but one of the historical evidences is the early discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947 which contained the oldest complete manuscript of the book of Isaiah that dated back to about 125 B.C. You may be wondering how we obtained the Bible we have in this modern culture and how can we be sure we have every books that were inspired by God, which also called Canonization. Ultimately, it comes by faith in believing that God was overseeing the process and preserving the Bible through the generation because I believe God is more concern in about it. The history of canon did not immediately become a collection of books, but it was a gradually development as some books were accepted quickly and other hovered for a long time on the fringe of the canon before being fully accepted.

After reading this letter, my hope is that you would understand why I believe the Bible is worth reading and living by. Hopefully, it also helps answer your question and spark up curiosity. We may have different interpretation in viewing the Bible; however, the Bible contains the central meaning of what God is trying to communicate. God created us for His glory because He loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us. However, the Bible warns us of the eternal punishment in hell for those reject God’s love and turn away from His provision and forgiveness for their sin. God has given us the path of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you have any more questions, then please feel free to reply.

God Bless,

Tommy

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Either you read the letter or not (hopefully you did), that's alright. I want to share what the gospel is...The gospel is the good news, in which Jesus died on the cross for your sins and my sins so that we may be reconciled to God and have a relationship with Him. God created all of us to reveal His glory and to be in relationship with us, just like the time in Adam and Eve. But we sinned against God, we chose to disobey Him, and we were set apart from God. And the consequence of sin is eternal torment in hell - eternally separated from God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom6:23), and no one is perfect. No one can do good deeds and merit salvation. However, because God is merciful, gracious, loving, and compassion, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth as a rescue mission to save sinners. He lived on earth, lived just like us, but He did not sin. He taught, healed and did a lot of miracles. Later, He demonstrated His love by being crucified on the cross, and "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). Three days later, after He died, He rose from the dead so that one day we will rise with Him and live with Him forever. If your life feels perfect without, then I hope you are doing it right because the money, girl, reputation, and etc. won't last. Therefore, I urge you, don't walk in your own ways anymore. Turn to Jesus who can give you eternal life. Confess your sins to Him, call on Him, and repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ and thanking Him for what He has done for you. He will be coming back again, and He will judge! Those who believe in Jesus will spend in eternity with Him in heaven, and those who reject Him will spend in eternity in hell. That's the gospel! That's what I believe.

Day 17 – Your highs and lows of this past year

I can never express myself enough. This topic really hit me and got me thinking. Highs and Lows; Goods and Bads; Pros and Cons. I'll start off with the highlights of my lows for this past year.

LOW

As emo as I can be, sometimes I enjoy mentioning the negative moments in my life. Let's just start off by giving my readers a recap. Remember reading some posts at around June - August? If you haven't done so, then I suggest you to read some so you get the picture of where I am getting at. Why June - August? For those who knew about it, I sincerely thank you for being there for me during my moment of painful trial. Just when I thought things were going according to God's plan, she told me, "God told me to say 'No' about this." Actually, what a silly thing for me to say, of course it was going to God's plan...now that I think about it.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Once again, rejected by another one who I loved (and I still do, only as a sister in Christ though and nothing beyond) and found interest in spending my life with. It's alright, I suppose. It's not really the first time I got rejected by a girl. However, it was definitely a big disappointment, and a heart-break. At the same time, I didn't feel depress, surprisingly. For me, I wasn't able to give in and accept it...and it was difficult. I was lying on my comfy bed and stared at the dotted white ceiling, pondering within my own world, "What did I do wrong?" Honestly, I still haven't fully figured where I went wrong although I am piecing things together. I am trying to figure out where in the most important areas of sin I need to repent of if I was to be in a relationship. Of course, I'm not perfect, but I am slowly learning and slowly being more like Jesus Christ. In the end, I just had to let her go and move on. All I want to keep in my nut-shell is this, Jesus still loves me and forgives me if I did anything that displeased Him. By God's grace, I am growing to be more of a godly man so I may love a woman.

HIGH

Now that I mentioned my emo side, it is time for me to talk about my HAPPY EMO side. Honestly, God has been very gracious to me. Through the study of the Scripture, I am learning about His promises and His grace. By understanding the depth of the gospel, it compelled me to continue to bring the gospel everywhere I go. Before, I knew that the whole Bible points to Jesus Christ, yet I was kind of passive about it. After going to Sam Pang's Bible Study on the study of James, it really encouraged me to continue to keep the gospel central because it is the power to save. I have been growing a lot this year in my walk with Jesus, and the Word of God is becoming more and more real to me as I put my faith on His authoritative words.

If you are reading this, then please comment so I could know who read this (or you can be an anonymous) :)
For example, you could type, "I read this"...or a lengthy comment.

Expressionist

It has been a week.

Not pretty used to it.

Last night, when I was coming home from Bubble Tea at around 12am, I suddenly realized she didn't call.

We probably won't talk on Sunday evenings anymore.

It happened so fast.

Thinking back from last week, it was a sudden shock to my nerve, yet I am not sad about it.

Give me Jesus. You can have all this world, but give me Jesus.