Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter means Freedom

Easter means freedom. Freedom from...

1) Empty pursuits: No need to figure out our purpose in life. The resurrection shows us that our purpose is to live a divine driven life! Give up our empty pursuits. Our life needs to be rooted in Him, in He which is eternal. I can't put my trust in people. Nothing else will bring true fulfillment than doing the will of God.

2) Adamic guilt: We started out wrong. Jesus will get us right. We were born in sin. Jesus took that guilt away from us, we don't have to carry it with us anymore. Great exchange of his righteousness for my sin.

3) Spiritual death: Result of adamic guilt, we become the living dead. Living in a state of spiritual death. We bare the nature of Adam, a self-centered, egocentric life.

4) Eternal Damnation: Those who reject Him will suffer from eternal damnation. Jesus gives us freedom from eternal damnation, from hell. We don't need to worry about eternal damnation. God through Christ has done everything possible to lift us out of eternal damnation. Don't blame God if we reject Him.

5) Reservations about the future: Jesus came to say "you don't have to worry." The curse of sin is all around us, but we don't have to worry. We know who holds the future, Jesus Christ. The world is suppose to get worse and worse before Christ comes. God is our refuge, and He is our strength! Although we do not know what the future holds, we know who holds the future.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Kingdom

"But what, then is the kingdom of God? Where is it found?
It is found in every time an offense is forgiven, every time a stranger is made welcome, every time an enemy is embraced, every time the least among us is lifted up, every time the law is made to serve justice, every time a prophetic voice is raised against injustice, every time the law and the prophets are summed up by love.
From time to time, the figures of Jesus, or fragments of his figure, appear here or there in individual lives, showing up sometimes in people who burn with a prophetic passion, sometimes in people of inordinate compassion and forgiveness. When this happen, we are likely to mistake such people  as mad or weak, which in a sense they are--mad with the folly of the cross, weak with the weakness of God."

John D. Caputo
What would Jesus Deconstruct

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Whispers..

At the sound of His whisper,
Oceans will part,
Nations come.

The absolute sovereignty of God. Something that our humans minds can't even comprehend. The power of God. Sometimes I grow obviousness to this fact, that in an instant, God can crush this Earth. His voice will cause the mountains to jump, the wave of His hand can turn deserts into rain forests. His created the entire universe only so that we, His children, have light during the night, that there is proof of His love for us in the stars.

And yet even though I know I'm His child, and that He loves me more than all the stars in the sky, I fail to realize that this sovereign is there for me. He works FOR me, not against. The only person working against me, is me. My own inner demons who try to drag me down, who try to distance myself from God.

What is there to fear? Who is there to fear? The GOD of the UNIVERSE loves me. He is right next to me every morning, he walks with me on campus, he comforts me when I'm down.

The God of the Universe is next to me, hearing my pains and struggles, talking to his child, and I'm the one not listening.

He has blessed me with amazing friends, parents who love me unconditionally, family who I can count on all ways, and a life which can make a difference.

Lord forgive me for being selfish here on Earth, teach me your ways, give me Your heart.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Decision making and stuff

Hey guys, it's been awhile since I've been on here :P I feel bad that I haven't been as regular at Haven as I'd like to :/ I should be writing my paper right now, but it feels like a huge monster right now, and I'm not ready to conquer it. Plus there's something I need to get let out and prayed for. Here it goes.
As I think most of you know, I LOVE ministry. Pulse has seriously changed my life. Every time I serve I get so much joy and energy. The problem with me is I have a hard time saying no :/ I used to think saying no to people is easy. But when it's about something you really want to do, it's a whole other story. Like I know I have no time at all, but I'll commit to doing this ministry thing anyways :P "Somehow God will make it work". When that happens, sleep usually becomes a luxury.

So for the past year I have been working closely with Robby on ministry stuff, specifically UIC. Like the UIC retreat, Porn Nation etc... Robby is probably the most amazing student leaders I have ever met. Robby is graduating at the end of Fall 09'. I kind of saw it coming, but basically now UIC people are looking at me to take over as UIC coordinator. When I first started working with Robby last spring I was super excited about it, and I kinda had in mind that I would take over. I was totally fine with it. Now they have unofficially asked me to "take over". Now I'm kinda freaking out. I would love to do it, but man... That thing is a MONSTER! It is HUGE! This will probably be one of the biggest decisions I have taken ever. I'm really scared to do a crappy job. Robby has set really High expectations. I'm not Robby, and I'm not trying to be, but there's going to be a lot expected out of me if I make the decision to go for it. Please pray for me! I don't know when they really need to know. I'm hoping not until fall semester. The thing is I'm the only other dude that has the passion for it, or has even worked close enough with robby to do this. I don't even know if they have a second pick!

If i decide to go for it, it means I will be a lot less available when UIC stuff comes up. Someone told me that he heard some people already saying I was going to be the next UIC coordinator (even though I haven't said yes) and that I was going to be quitting Pulse. If you hear that, please tell that person to SHUT UP! That would be like disowning my own family. There is no way I am stepping out of Pulse, and Core. I love you guys too much. (except eric)

Please pray for me, that I would be at peace with this decision. That God would open and close doors for me and make it clear of what I need to do. If I do accept, I'll have a ton of other prayer request for you guys :)

Thursday, April 2, 2009

An Update

So I finally got admitted as a full-time student for Fall 2009. It's been a hard journey, putting up with the administration and constant obstacles that put me through two semesters of taking classes as an open-university student. What scares me is that after a year of taking only 2-3 classes per semester, I will not be mentally ready handling a whole line-up of classes, perhaps even back-to-back schedule. Furthermore, I have a feeling that my current semester grades will be evaluated. What if they take back my admission? My English 1B class is killing me - no, let me correct that, 7:30 is killing me. I have not been successful in waking up for that class for the past several weeks. Today was the first time I managed to attend the class. I have missed an in-class essay and gotten C's on my second and third out-of-class essays. I really need to recover in that class, but I have a feeling the damage is already sinking in.

Nevertheless, I would say this semester has been good for the past weeks. Pulse has been good. My friends have been good. God has been good! It's interesting and exciting to see God constantly hinting me that I could be so much more than I think I am capable of.

I also want to share something I was learning about through devotional last week in Compton. Psalm 91 talks about God protecting us, the faithful ones, the believing ones, from the enemies' arrows and sending his angels to guard us and to prevent us from falling, yet it's so easy to interpret this as a statement that as long as we are believers, God will protect us from harm and sufferings, and that only non-believers suffer. That is exactly the perspective Satan wishes us to keep in our heads. Just like how the devil tempted Jesus in the desert by telling him to call upon the angels to save him should he throw himself down from the cliff, Satan wants us to believe that we are invicinble with God by our side. Yet, as many of us already know, we go through obstacles and hardship. We lose loved ones, we lose jobs, we get hurt, and the list goes on. We may wonder why God allows this, or if He is the one orchestrating these events. Just remember this: God doesn't tempt us or brings suffering. Satan is the one who does that, at the consent of God! Satan roams here on earth, yet he still needs permission from God to tempt us. Isn't that mysterious? It's all part of God's design. God doesn't tempt us, but he does allow us to go through trials, in hopes we may perservere in His name and grow closer to Him.

We are to praise Him under all circumstance, and that's the wonder of His love.