Thanksgiving

Thanks to God for my Redeemer,
Thanks for all Thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a memory,
Thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,
Thanks for dark and stormy fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten,
Thanks for peace within my soul!

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!

Thanks for roses by the wayside,
Thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,
Thanks for heav’nly peace with Thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,
Thanks through all eternity!

Spiritual Direction

I've been thinking a lot about what Mark shared at CBS about the importance of having a spiritual direction, (not just a career direction).

I know some of us, as seniors, have thought a bit about our next steps. And for some (probably most, or all), family/spouse enters the mix of our thoughts, even if just glancingly.

And so, I just wanted to share this sermon that I was just listening to. Francis Chan articulates it so well, that I'll refrain from summarizing. Basically the first 5 minutes summarize it well, if you don't want to listen to the whole thing. Hopefully what Francis says, along with what Mark shared and what Henry has shared in CBS, will remind us of our mission on Earth, and the importance of following through with convictions, as well as having spiritual direction.

=]

[edit]

(by the way, feel free to disagree with Francis Chan. I know a married person/Christian who sort of disagrees with what he says, because so many people in ministry neglect their family life in the name of "God's call". I don't think that's what Francis is saying, but it could turn into an excuse for that. He also has another series, which is the same thing except elongated and more opinionated (maybe if there are flaws in his argument, it is more easily seen in that one) After hearing a couple sisters disagree with Francis, I have to reevaluate what I think...)

He saves, I complain.

"Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death!" Psalms 68:20

"If we fought for our rights, we'd be in hell tonight." LeCrae

He saves us, and we don't even know it. What we think is best for ourselves is not always what really is best for us. The American suburban dream degenerates to fat materialism and environmentally destructive piggish behavior. Spiritual and religious fervor turns in to self-righteousness. Service becomes people-pleasing. Growth becomes pride.

The way God saves, molds, or purifies me is rarely ever what I expect, know, or even want. I can only trust in His goodness--and even with that, I need His help! And even when I'm in the thick of the process, I will most likely not know it or thank Him for it.

Where would I be without His grace?

Time to Give Up

I've been reading through some old coordinator binders, and in one of them is an excerpt from this guy's book, Time to Give Up by David Henderson. There's multiple stories about time and time management and busyness and Sabbath, but here's the first one (which I liked a lot)...

"A light drizzle fell as I pulled out of the parking lot and head for home. We were trying to squeeze in a family dinner between my work commitments, my daughters' friend time, and my son's soccer practice. As often happens, we were shy a few ingredients for the meal, so I made a hurried run to the grocery store after work, painfully aware of how close we were cutting the time. As i merged into traffic and flipped on my windhsield wipers, I caught sight of an older man walking slowly down the slick sidewalk. A plastic grocery bag dangled at his wrist as he tried to wipe the mist from his glasses. His drooped shoulders were darkened with rain.

In the half-second after I passed him, I realized I knew him; he was a new member of my congregation. In the next half-second, I calculated that it would take me no more than 4 minutes to turn around, pick him up, and deliver him to his doorstep.

But I didn't. I drove right past him.

Lord, have mercy."

I like this story because it reminds me of a time (or multiple times) in my own life, where I don't do the thing I feel is right because of time issues (needing to go somewhere), awkwardness, or convenience. Oftentimes, the moment can pass away quickly, allowing me to have an excuse for not doing something, as long as I wait a little bit.

The most vivid memory I have that is similar to this story is a time when I was in Taiwan (a year ago for winter break), and there was a poor, blind man and his wife singing for money. I wanted to give them some of the pocket money that my dad had given me to go around Taiwan to buy things with, but my family was already moving away when I was trying to decide about all of this, and in a second, I felt like the opportunity was gone. I think there are a lot of opportunities that I just let slip me by...but God has mercy on us. He will make me more faithful!

Rebuke

Galatians 2

"When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong"

..."When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, 'You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?..."

I always thought rebuke had to always be gentle and private. But apparently Paul and Jesus think differently!

I was reading this passage that a pastor wrote in a book, about what he does in his church:

(by the way, this is key! I have personally seen innerworkings of a church divide because of this)

"One Sunday about 20 years ago, back in our days in YWCA, I said something impromptu while receiving new members into the church that has stuck with us ever since. People were standing in a row across the front before me, and as I spoke, the Holy Spirit seemed to prompt me to add, “and now I charge you, as pastor of this church, that if you ever hear another member speak an unkind word of criticism or slander against anyone—myself, another pastor, an usher, a choir member or anyone else—you have the authority to stop that person in midsentence and say, ‘Excuse me—who hurt you? Who ignored you? Who slighted you? Was it Pastor Cymbala? Let’s go to his office right now. He will get on his knees and apologize to you, and then we’ll pray together, so God can restore peace to this body. But we will not let you talk critically about people who are not present to defend themselves.’

“New members, please understand that I am entirely serious about this. I want you to help resolve this kind of thing immediately. And meanwhile, know this: If you are ever the one doing the loose talking, we will confront you.” "

~Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

So good.

Fear God.

thoughts on coordinator confirmation

not too many thoughts though. the one thing that strikes me as most important is that there was a lot said yesterday. a lot of possible changes, a lot of possible new directions, a lot of saying that we'll need to seek God, but now comes the hard part of following through with what we say we believe in

too often good intentions remain that way

my favorite basketball player...

http://www.newsok.com/article/3560862

“I just want to grow spiritually with the Lord,” Durant said. “It's something I always talked about, but I never really got into it.”

Cool, Kevin Durant is one of my favorite basketball players. 2-time scoring champion and also only 22 years old! He's basically my age. I could be 6'9" and scoring 30 points a game too. I should become his spiritual mentor.

An Encouragement to Fast for Hunger

"Christian fasting, at its root, is a hunger of a homesickness for God...Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense"

"If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great."

~John Piper, A Hunger for God

Nehemiah, what I really wanted to say in the last post

So now that the background is done, what I really wanted to say about Nehemiah

Nehemiah 6 (ESV)

¹⁰Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, "Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night." ¹¹But I said, "Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in."

I think I'm going to have to say that verse in random contexts from now on.

Should a man such as I...

Nehemiah

So I was just reading Nehemiah the other day because I haven't read Nehemiah for ages (and haven't read Ezra for even longer...going to have to get to that)

Rereading Nehemiah helped me to....really see Nehemiah in a lot more awe than before. I knew about his life and stuff, "Oh, some guy who was the cup-bearer for the king. Went back and rebuilt the walls and stuff," but reading some of his quotes...I felt like I didn't remember reading those quotes at all before!

So some background for Nehemiah--Nehemiah lived during a time when Israel was still exiled from their land. Ezra had gotten permission to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, but the wall was still broken down around the city, and Israel still had a lot of enemies around them. Nehemiah heard about the wall and got permission from the king to go back to rebuild the walls. When he was rebuilding the walls, the enemies of Israel sent messengers to frighten Nehemiah. They were enemies who were under the same kingdom as the king who gave Nehemiah permission to build the wall, but they hated Israel, and sent messengers telling Nehemiah that they were going to tell the king that Nehemiah was starting a rebellion or trying to set himself as king.

That's some mental warfare going on there.

So before I come to the super awesome verses, I'm just going to talk about some verses that come before it.

⁷Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry.

Nehemiah 4

⁸All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.

⁹But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.

¹⁰Thus in Judah it was said,
"The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much rubbish;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall."

I just really liked that poem. I mean, it's kind of depressing right? But it makes the story so much more real, because there aren't a lot of things that we can accomplish without overcoming some discouragement. I think this poem hits it on the head in describing a common experience during difficult times. Our strength is failing. The burden we bear is so heavy. There is so much work to be done. We just can't do it.

¹¹Our enemies said, "They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work."

¹²When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, "They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,"

¹³then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows.

¹⁴When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses."

I want to be the very best...the best there ever was

Hello!

So, this was posted on facebook by Kristopher Ahn, and at first it seems silly, and it's not Christian or anything, but it was something that I really liked, and something I thought was pretty inspiring as well!

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/03/03/letters-to-an-absent-father-mare-odomo-pokemon-comic/

It's about pokemon, and about letters to Ash's father. I really encourage you to read them! Haha, ok, so most of them are just silly, and probably you won't really learn anything about them, but I liked the last comic the best...

Ash says

"If I ever have kids...

If I'm ever a father...

I want to be...the very best."

I know it may seem kind of cheesy to people, but I really like that kind of sentiment. I like it when I see people or hear about people who want to be good parents or stuff like that. I don't have experience or anything being a father, and I know that it'll be tough, but I think there's just something incredible in raising someone. To have someone who looks up to you and trusts you to guide and protect--who looks to you to teach them about lessons in life.

What faith can do...

Last night, someone in the apartment was listening to a song called "What Faith can do" by Kutless. It's a really good song, and it's something that I like to sing along to because it seems like a song with a lot of hope! It has such a...hopeful? outlook on what faith can do:

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

But, I guess I've never really took the lyrics all that seriously--I understood them, but I never really thought about how such a thing applies to life around us. There was this article that I read today that I really wanted to share, and it reminded me of that song.

"A homeless man serves the homeless"
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homeless-memorial-20110304,0,6513503,full.story

Read it...it's really an amazing story. When I read it, I was just filled with a lot of awe about what God can do in people, and how amazingly God can change circumstances around us. It really humbles me...and puts me in awe of this man's simple faith.

A good story from Josiah Cha's facebook notes, haha

"An old missionary couple that had worked faithfully in the mission field in Africa for over twenty years was returning to New York to retire. These two had no children, no pension, no retirement fund – they were battled, scarred, burnt out. Defeated, discouraged, afraid. On the ferry back to the States, it was discovered that the President Theodore Roosevelt was also aboard, returning from his famous hunting expeditions. The couple watched as people flocked to the president and his entourage. The old man said to his wife, “Something is wrong.”

“Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us." His wife tried to talk him out of this feeling. His reply: “I can’t help it; it just doesn’t seem right.”

When the ship landed at New York, a full band was awaiting the President with loud songs of celebration, including the mayor and other dignitaries. The front page was of the President’s arrival. No one received the missionary couple. They bent over and picked their luggage, slipped off the ship, and found a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping to see what job they could find the next day.

Every man has his breaking point. That night, the old man broke. He said to his wife, “I can’t take this: God is not treating us fairly.” His wife replied, “Why don’t you go into the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?”

He went in, and after a while appeared transformed – his face was completely different. His wife asked, “What happened?”

He said, “The Lord settled it with me. I poured out my heart, I told Him I was bitter that the President would receive a tremendous homecoming, yet no one met us when we returned home. At that time, I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder and say,"

“You’re not home yet.”

Year's End

O Love beyond compare,

Thou art good when thou givest,
when thou takest away,
when the sun shines upon me,
when night gathers over me.

Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world,
and in love didst redeem my soul;
Thou dost love me still,
in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.

Thy goodness has been with me during another year,
leading me through a twisting wilderness,
in retreat helping me to advance,
when beaten back making sure headway.

Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead;
I hoist sail and draw up anchor,
with thee as the blessed Pilot of my future as of my past.

I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.
If thou has appointed storms of tribulation,
thou wilt be with me in them;
If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation,
I shall not drown;
If I am to die,
I shall see thy face the sooner;
If a painful end is to be my lot,
grant me grace that my faith fail not;
If I am to be cast aside from the service I love,
I can make no stipulation.

Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or trial,
as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.

The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

Object of Faith -- Joshua Harris

"If the object of your faith is a particular outcome for your situation, your faith will be as weak as your wisdom. But if the source and object of your faith is Almighty God, even if it is the weak mustard-seed variety, your faith will be enough for whatever God allows into your life." - Nancy Guthrie (via Charissa Galbraith)

Lacking joy?

One reason for our distress at such times is the knowledge that sin is one cause of aridity in the life; we naturally reason that if sin brings drought and we are suffering a dry spell, then we must have been guilty of sin whether we knew it or not. The way to deal with the problem is to remember that sin is not the only reason for dryness. If after ran honest examination of our lives we are sure that we are not living in a state of disobedience and that no past sin is unforgiven, we may dismiss sin as the cause of our dry condition.

...

Normally we may expect some degree of spiritual joy to be present most of the time. Fellowship with God is so delightful that it cannot but provide a large measure of joy; but we are talking now about those times when our joy fades out and the presence of the Lord is felt feebly or not at all. Such times demand that we exercise faith. Moments of great spiritual delight do not require much faith; if we never come down from the mount of blessing we might easily come to trust in our own delights rather than in the unshakable character of God. It is necessary therefore that our watchful Heavenly Father withdraw His inward comforts from us sometimes to teach us that Christ alone is the Rock upon which we must repose our everlasting trust.

A.W. Tozer, Root of the Righteous