Bible Intake (Part 1)...For the Purpose of Godliness

I posted about this on my own blog, but I wanted to share something that encouraged me as I was reading. Perhaps you will be encouraged too.

So go on reading it [the Bible] until you can read no longer, and then you will not need the Bible any more, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, the same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you for ever to His eternal home. [1]

Have a God-glorifying break!

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[1] Geoffrey Thomas, Reading the Bible (Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980), page 22.

Chris Chois

a generous spirit

Lol, i was just gonna comment on gabe's post, but then i thought i might as well make another post, since we could use more activity here.. ><

Anyways, Yea! I was just reading 1 tim. and paul stresses money, along with false doctrine, that would lead people astray.. Its scary to think how one of our weaknesses could drive us to do really really bad and really damaging and hurtful things.. like get our friend crucified. I think money affects us all more than we think. I dont really think of myself as a materialistic person (compared to you Gabe lollll jk)(though maybe i should), yet I am struggling ALOT in seeing just how witholding I am in my heart with my possessions. If not to people, than just to God an unwillingness to assign myself fully to His tasks. Really, just a lack of generosity in my heart.

i was reading luke 6 (not sure if its parallel to sermon on mount, but its similar), and the application of being in the kingdom is not to read your bible more, but to give! Give to everyone who begs from you (ch6:30). Thats intense!! Jesus is saying that a regenerated heart is characterized by one who is generous. Buying someone a coffee may fool my ego into thinking I am generous, but when i hear stories of people giving their entire fortunes for missions or to the church, I ask myself what it is that prevents my heart from doing the same. And i know its not just responsibility and stewardship of money that explains it. I could say its the Chinese blood running through me (and be partially right), but really its just sin. its my selfish heart

And why can we be generous? theres the sense in Jesus' sermon that nothing on earth binds us any longer; we are no longer held captive by lusts of the world; desiring things of the earth. I'm no longer storing up for things here. We are FREE, to be non-withholding of our possessions and money. I think v.35 unifies it somewhat, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and evil." It combines the spirit, with the action, with the eternal reward we seek in heaven.

It's like Jesus is saying, "How can you be poor in spirit, but withholding of money!?" humble people are not greedy people. It's no coincidence that Jesus talks about spiritual faith and bankruptcy, and then doing good to others, because they are directly related.

Spiritual dependence, then, is not purely spiritual, because it affects how you think and live in all areas of your life. So if I am to be spiritually dependent, it means I must submit to God all other areas of my life. It also means I must give.

Also.. this made me think that I need to look more intensely at Christ, b/c all human role models we have are far too worldly as well, lol..

anyways. whoever reads this.. pray for me please. I want to be like Christ.

oh, and pray for Gabe too, he still buys too much random asian figurine crap... ;)

Money

Hey guys,
I was reading Matthew 26, and I noticed something: Judas Iscariot fell to money. Sure there were other factors leading to it, but the Pharisees bribed Him, and he traded the Son of Man for 30 pieces of silver. Looking at that, I wonder how many of us do the same thing. Personally I struggle (probably more than a lot of you) with materialism. I like the things of this world, but I'm working hard on putting my money where it really matters - for God's kingdom. Anyway, what I was getting at is that money is a huge issue. Even with Jesus right in front of Him, Judas still gave in to his materialism. Reading this has really humbled me, because I know there are times when we put our money or our own selfish gain (financially) before God. We are then also betraying Him because we love the world more than Him. As a result, I hope that we all begin to look seriously at how money pulls us away from Jesus Christ. Jesus warns of money more than anything else in Scripture, and I think there's a reason for that. I just hope that some day, we aren't looking ourselves in the eye and realizing what we have traded: Jesus Christ, our savior for something utterly vain, deceiving, fleeting, and unsatisfying. So in conclusion, we must learn now to free ourselves from the bondage of materialism, and to invest in something infinitely greater. Instead of cultivating a need for money, let's replace that with a need for God's grace, and give money away, knowing that regardless of how much we give, God will provide us with more. That's all... just really cool reading today! Have a good break...

p.s. read Randy Alcorn's Treasure Principle for more on having a joyful and giving heart!

Manhood!

hey guys, i fell upon this as i was on john piper's blog. check it out, i think it really is cool how we can really bring out the best in both men and women by submitting to the roles that God has so graciously given us:

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/

as for our blog, do you think it is really necessary to make it private? i mean, i thought it would be cooler to have it open so that whoever ends up coming upon this would be able to see our testimony as christians of the faith... but if you feel like we have things that only us guys should discuss here, that's cool too... but yea... iono, i think it'd be cool to make it public so that others can be thinking about what we ponder... :p read the one called "valuing biblical manhood"

Islamo-fascism Awareness Week

So, some of you may have heard about this mass protest going on next week (10/22-26). Information on it is here:
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/news/67/islamo-fascism-week/
Basically, it seems to have two main purposes: to spread the relevance of the terrorist threat, and to spotlight the situation of Muslim women. Nonie Darwish, an Arab-American writer, will be speaking at UCLA. I don't know when or where.

I've been trying to form an opinion on what side to support. Because with any protest, there is a counter-protest. While conservative campus organizations are planning to put on these events across the nation, many other student groups seek to spread what they believe to be the truth. All you have to do is search Islamo-fascism on facebook - there's at least 10 global groups on the matter. Most, I have found, are organized and populated by students of the Islamic faith (no surprise). I was actually invited to one of these groups by a Muslim friend - they are wearing green next week to support their cause. Not wanting to clutter up my groups tab with yet another group, I decided to go and research the topic to see if I would support their cause. Thus, my dilemma.

So now I want to know what you guys think. These are the questions I struggled with, feel free to add or comment on some of your own:
1. Are women truly "oppressed" in the Middle East? Or are they simply being honored as the "weaker vessels"?
2. Is Islam a religion of violence, as we see on the news? Or is it a religion of peace, as Muslim student organizations say?
3. Is Islamic extremism simply a different (and hopefully wrong) interpretation of the Quran? Is that different interpretation similar to divisions in the church (based off conflicting exegesis)?

No, this isn't a post about our faith. As much as I tried to give it a Christian outloook, it's about Islam. I see the relevance in our struggle to spread Christianity in the face of such violence. The War in Iraq has been classified by some as a war of Christianity versus Islam. Some Middle Easterners call us "infidels" and seek to destroy us. Thus, discussion and knowledge about Islam is power to us.

I may have to remove this eventually - just consider it food for thought.

Welcome. back

Psalm 15

Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?

A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

2He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the LORD;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.

==

Its gonna be a good year. Stay rooted, and love hard, dont hold back.

-jonathan

Hello.

Why hello brothers. How are your summers faring so far? Hope things are well.

so i was on facebook just about an hour ago and as i was going to click on my profile, something on my minifeed caught my attention. it was a group called

No, sorry, I don't feel like being converted today....

at first i thought, oh another one of these...
so i click on it out of curiosity and after reading what the group was about 3 things came to mind.

1. honestly i was a little discouraged becuase i mean i go out and fish every week. and thats the exact places i go to fish. and to think these people are so hardened against the gospel that they felt the need to make a group on facebook specifically directed at people who go around trying to share the gospel. (the creator tries to play it down a little by saying that the group isnt directed at christians directly. but i mean. if it didnt bother you, why even make a group about it.)
then it hit even harder when i was going through the group members bc i saw familiar names and even a couple of friends (including friends from hs) and that really got me thinking. i mean going out and getting shot down by random people while fishing hits hard sometimes but this, this hits even harder because its not a random person expressing their hardened hearts about the gospel, its a friend, someone i know. and i couldnt help but think what couldve hardened their hearts so much in the first place. and brought home all the more need to talk to our friends and share with the people around us in addition to going out and fishing to random people.

2. the next point sorta ties in with what i just wrote about. i felt bad for tthose people out there that are so against the gospel they feel the need to come together and express their feelings about it and how they dont need it. do they really not want to hear it at all?? and i just wonder why? what are they thinking when someone does come up to them and tries to talk to them? I mean obviously im biased in thinking that i think they have a misconception of what people actually do when they fish. sure our goal is to share the gospel, but i think more importantly (at least when I go out with Ed, we specifically say we're not trying to convert them or sell them anything) we're just trying to get people to talk and hoepfulyl to get them to start thinking about things, because there are those people that flat out just say they don't want to hear the gospel.


3. after all that, i realized this is also something encouraging. something along the lines of a blessing in disguise. (sp) haha it shows that people who go out and share the gospel are making an impact in people's lives. but yeh i guess its time for football practice. so ill finish later. acutally i dont really have that much more to say but yeh. just wondering how you guys are feeling about this and i guess more generally how you feel when you do encounter people with super hardened hearts.

tee tee why el!

Our Faithful God

I fell upon this passage while listening to a sermon from Crossroads. Check it out if you can: "The God of Yesterday, Today and Forever" Matt Waymeyer. It has been a blessing to study Gruden's "Systematic Theology," and I have definitely learned a lot, but one thing that has stuck with me over and over is that God is faithful. God will always provide for us and He never goes back on His promises. May we remember that the next time we doubt or the next time we question what is happening to us. The God that we serve will never forsake us, and understanding how our salvation is absolutely guaranteed because of God's love and faithfulness should cause us to rejoice, worship and glorify the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Everything we're going through should become nothing because we know that we have our eternal lives secured in heaven! Is there anything that could be better? Should anything keep us from worshipping and looking towards the eternal? I think not.

Isaiah 46:8-13

"Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. "Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, who are far from righteousness. I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; and My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, and my glory for Israel."

This passage speaks powerfully of God's omnipotence, faithfulness and perfection. Look at what is said: "For I AM GOD, and there is NO other; I am GOD and there is NO ONE like Me." If nobody else can come even close to calling themselves God, then how can we even think about questioning Him? We definitely can't; we're called transgressors here. There is NO ONE like Him, who has planned everything out already. There is NO ONE like Him who can accomplish all things for His pleasure. Note that it's for GOD's good pleasure and not ours. Consequently, when we suffer, when we sacrifice, and when things don't go our way, we should still be rejoicing, for it is God's good pleasure for it to happen that way. Isn't that a good way to think about it? God wills everything for His pleasure, and so we should be rejoicing in the fact that His will is being done, regardless of its effect on us. If we are focused on Him, then all pain, sorrow and sadness should fall away. Thus, is there any reason we need to question our God? No. He is faithful. He has a perfect plan, and it WILL be accomplished. Think about how faithful He has been since creation. To put it into perspective, think about how faithful He's been in your own life. I know that God has provided for me in ways I could never imagine were possible, and He continues to answer my prayers daily. Therefore, shall we ever question God's will for us? Shall we ever question why things happen the way they do? He has declared the beginning from the end.

psalm 30

4 Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.^[b]
5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
-psalm 30:4-5 (NKJV)

dude! for anyone in gospel choir, check it!! haha, i knew that line was tooo unusual!

hello brothers! praise God for Gabe's baptism, and for raising his Son!


"As the Ruin Falls"

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love --a scholar's parrot may talk Greek--
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

-CS Lewis


Thursday's message was an answer to all the conflict in my heart thats been accumulating for a while. We want so badly for our faith to be pure and real and raw, and so everytime I see the insertion of self into my spiritual life and ministry, I hate myself for it, because its done in the name of God and yet i want it to serve myself too. "Are we fellowshipping to pray, or are we 'praying' just for fellowship?" is something i kept asking myself about our prayer mtgs. (ayiah i'm so sorry, i know, i suck) I know that its not the system and structure that always needs adjusting, but always the heart of the individual(s). Our activities just cant be compromised with even a hint of impure motives, thats all. And as a human, its impossible for me to maintain that standard, so its only in my moments of weakness, trusting God, that my motives can be pure.

Its just crazy 'coincidence' in the timing of it all, b/c Justin's words were exactly what had been resonating in my heart the same week. The cool part is that his message came with the answer to my conflict. My friend from backhome felt the same way i did about hating the 'Christian institution"- (basically anything fake that holds the name of God, but is not really done for God), and her response after seeing this everywhere, was to flee from it and join a crazy house church where they pray like mad and live super passionately. haha, i still love her though. and her faith surpasses mine. BUT seeing my compromised heart, and in my moments of wondering if i needed to abandon it all like her, I learned from the message that you don't run away. You stay and pray contstantly for a humbled heart in light of the cost of Jesus' blood. =) thank you God. Hmm. i also learned that i need to stop cowering in my thoughts and prayers, and step out and take a beating for Jesus. woo!

but I think its something i've been learning and growing alot in this year, honesty with myself about my relationship with God. It's also encouraging to hear fellow sg-ees growing in the same way.

yay. okay this is super not cool, b/c easter was put in the shadow in this post most recent to easter day.
praise God because He has risen!

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
-1Cor 15:17

Hate the Sin, not the Person

I think it was Justin McKitterick who said this, but I was reminded and convicted while reading Luke that we have no reason or ground to hate the people who put Jesus down. We are exactly like them. We are, as CJ says, the ones in the crowd who are mocking Jesus as the King of the Jews. It is painful to see the way our savior was treated, that they would mock, spit on, and ridicule Him, but are we any different when we sin? Are we not the same? This is what makes our salvation so wonderful, yet so humbling as well. We have nothing to boast in. We ARE those sinners, but God has chosen to save us. For that reason, we have no grounds to hate the person. We stand humbled by the presence of God, that HE chose us, and that He can choose anyone else to be saved as well. Like Jesus says, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). It is truly so painful to see Jesus put down so much, but we see that Jesus knew everything that was to happen. We know that Jesus came to bear everything for us, and for us He has gone through so much. As we can see in Jesus' quote, though, He still had a compassion for the people. Forgive them. He loved us so much that he would continually ask for our forgiveness. Jesus didn't hate us, he hated the sin that existed in us. I am reminded of Justin Lau's sermon as well, that we need to show everyone love and compassion because we have no right to judge who will be saved and who will not. Consequently, hate the sin, and not the person. Hate the pride that exists in ALL of us to say GOD you aren't enough. Hate the fleshly desires of ourselves, and cling so hard to our salvation because that is what frees us from the eternal separation. It is what frees us from our fleshly desires, and it is what frees us from our sin. Think about that the next time you say, "how dare you," or "he is so evil," for we are those people. Ask, like Jesus asks, to forgive them. Love them, and be reminded of how much evil there is in sin and how we must continue to fight the good fight, to press on towards the goal. Hate the sin, not the person.

Galatians 6:1-5

"Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load."

Let us share our thoughts, convictions and reflections on this blog as a testimony to each other and to all those who fall upon this site. We are to bear each other's burdens, to restore each other, to encourage each other, and to pray for each other. Let's begin sharing what God has put upon our minds and hearts and how He has been working in us.

"Now to our God and father be the glory forever and ever." -Philippians 4:20