Sinking Sands

Korea is much different from the US. In the US, I had this real sense of stability and security. True, people leave the US to live abroad all the time, but I didn't know any of them. Things were constant. The same routine day in and day out. Adults usually work the same job for years and years on end. The church remains mostly the same. One's classmates remain mostly the same. There is no threat of war or, except in a few areas, natural disaster. I felt relatively safe in the US. The few things in my life that were unpredictable were small enough that I didn't really care about them.

When I came to Korea, all that was pulled out from under me. My life here changes. In big ways. And frequently. I've been put into a community that is very diverse and is constantly changing shape on me. People come and people go. The HICF (Hanbit International Christian Fellowship) I go to now is very different from the one I found when I got here. Our worship leader has changed, our sunday school program has been done away with, our Bible study location has changed, and now our Bible study *leader* has changed. There are very few things that really are constant in my life here. And tonight one of the things I'd really taken for granted, I had to say goodbye to. It's rough. I am a creature of routine and predictability and habit. I don't adapt at the drop of a hat. It takes time. Life in Korea has been difficult because the change is truly relentless. I have had to learn to take things as they come and accept change as something that's unavoidable.

Something that God is teaching me is to give up trying to maintain the status quo. One thing is unchanging. Only one. And that is God. My life needs to be held loosely. I can't grasp onto something and refuse to let it go because it will inevitably fail me and bring frustration and depression. God brought me to Korea to get the status quo off of His throne. Like I said before, change here is relentless. It's like God keeps throwing things at me telling me to deal with it, move on, and keep holding onto Christ. When one holds onto Christ, change, rather than bringing discouragement and depression, brings exhilaration and joy. Oh to walk with Him through all the shifting worlds is better to live in a world that seems secure without His sweet presence! Sometimes God stills the storm, and sometimes He stills the heart of His child in the midst of the storm. I prefer the latter.

Cutting a Hand

Brothers and sisters, I need you to pray for me. Usually when I say that I'm in some sort of depression or discouragement. This time, I'm on the verge of adventure, excitement, and change mingled with what will be a great pain for a while. This week I drew the conclusion that my computer, for most of my life, has been an idol in my heart. When I don't have other things to do, I get on the computer. Even when I remove most of the "interesting" features of a computer I somehow still get stuck on here. I guess I love the convenience of it. I've had a personal computer for most of my life. In fact, I can't really remember the last time I had no access to a personal computer. It's shaped the way I think even. Sometimes when I'm out and about a thought will come to me and I'll think "What a great facebook status that would be." or "I should write a blog entry about that concept." or after a long day at work, "Man, I can't wait to get back and crash with a good movie or TV show on my computer." It's an incredibly versatile invention. You can watch movies, play games, engage in socializing, plan a trip, find all sorts of random, useless information, read a book, and on and on and on. It plays so much to my "instant gratification" mindset. It gives me what I want when I want it.

So anyway, I realized what God wants me to do with this hunk of plastic and metal. Ever see the movie 127 Hours? It's about a guy named Aron Ralston who goes canyon climbing out in Utah. He gets to Blue John Canyon on Saturday. As he's climbing down a tight squeeze between two rock walls, an extremely heavy boulder gives way and falls a short way with him and then comes down pinning his right hand between it and the canyon wall. Over the next 4 days or so, Ralston tries many and various means to get his arm unstuck. On the last day, he comes to the conclusion that if he's going to survive he needs to take drastic measures. He breaks both of his arm bones and uses a dull pocket knife to cut his hand off. He's rescued; but barely. That's what I'm going to do with this computer. Just slice it off. There's a whole life out there that I've missed for a long time because my world centers around this electronic machine. There's a Savior to be known, a salvation to be reveled in, a crown to be won, and bunches and bunches of people to love and serve. So I say it's time. Be off with you, piece of crap. You've robbed me too long and too dearly already.

I can hear the questions coming. How will you stay in touch with your friends and family from back home? Does this mean no more emails or facebook or Skype or overseas communication in any form? No. It doesn't mean this. I'll still have my iPod. I'm getting wireless internet at my house soon. Then I can voice Skype, facebook, and email with my loved ones. They won't be able to see me as I don't have a camera on my iPod, but that's an inconvenience I'm prepared to deal with.

So why do I ask for prayer? Well, cutting out an idol doesn't automatically produce intimacy with Christ. It puts me under the fountain of blessing but God still has to turn that fountain on. There will be a great deal of pain. Most of my life, I've had a computer supporting me, giving me entertainment, taking my mind off of problems in my life, etc. Cutting that off isn't going to be a thrill ride most days. It's going to be hard and painful and frustrating and boring many days. Pray that doing this would rain down such a blessing of intimacy with Christ that I literally wouldn't know what to do with all my joy. And if He doesn't do that, pray that I would bear this patiently, persevering and walking with Christ daily. So yeah. Pray for me. Thanks, everyone!

Please Come Home

A mother and her daughter lived in a little village outside of Rio de Janeiro. They didn't have a lot of money. Their floor was dirt. The mother scratched a living by knitting and repairing worn out clothes. And the mother's greatest fear was that one day, her daughter, who was very, very beautiful, would leave home and go to Rio de Janeiro to get a life for herself. The mother knew what would happen to her if she did that.

Well one day the mother came home from work. Her daughter was gone. There was a note left that read "I have gone to Rio de Janeiro to make a life for myself." The mother knew what was going to happen. So the mother took all the money that she'd managed to save. She went to the bus station and bought a ticket to Rio de Janeiro. When she got there she went into a photo shop and spent a great deal of her money making pictures of herself.

The mother found a place to stay for a while and for the next few weeks she went all over the city. She visited every nightclub, bar, disco-tech, and hotel where she thought her daughter might be. And she left a picture of herself every place she went to look. Eventually she ran out of money and went home.

One night, the daughter was walking down the stairs of a hotel. She was with a man. She had become a prostitute. And as the daughter walked down the stairs, she felt like she was dying inside. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw with horror that she seemed to have aged fifteen years. Her image looked so tired and beaten down and haggard. But then something caught her eye on the side of the mirror. She went over to look closer and was astonished to see a picture of her mother. She picked it up and cleaned it off and then turned it over. On the back, she read these words: "I don't care what you have done. I don't care what you have become. Please come home."

Man. Woman. If you are out there and you are sick to death of yourself and your life, if you are worn out and beaten down and so discouraged that discouraged doesn't even begin to describe how you feel inside. If you feel like you are dying, listen to this. The message God wants you to hear is "I don't care what you have done. I don't care what you have become. Please come home." If you cannot keep going this way and you are more lonely than you ever thought possible. If you are considering ending your life. If you think there is no HOPE for you, LISTEN! COME TO JESUS! He is SUCH a MIGHTY SAVIOR! "...the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out." He is MIGHTY to save! Come to Him! Trust in Him! And He will save you from everything you need saving from.

Pursue Christ

What is the Christian life about? In the end, what does it all come down to? Going to church? Saying your prayers? Having a quiet time? Serving and loving both Christians and non-Christians? None of these is the answer. The Christian life isn't even primarily about being forgiven or sanctified or going to heaven! These are all very important things... but they're not the point of Christianity. Let me ask you a question that will direct you to what I believe is the right answer; WHY do you need forgiveness? What does it achieve? What was God aiming at in offering forgiveness to anyone who believes? I'm forgiven... so what... now I can sin more than ever because I'm forgiven?! NO! You were saved FOR GOD!

Brothers and sisters, the point of salvation isn't to make you good people! It's not a bargaining chip God put down to get you to behave yourself! Jesus didn't die to make you respectable and make you get your life together! The point of EVERYTHING is knowing Jesus Christ! How much do you desire Christ? To what lengths are you willing to go to know Him? Is your pursuit sluggish or lazy? Or is it your all-consuming passion? Do you think that Jesus Christ is "pretty cool" or does the very thought of Him make your heart start beating faster?

Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God, this kind of desire can't be produced in the human heart... any more than a person with dead taste-buds can determinedly sit down to a jar of honey and say "This is GOING TO taste sweet to me!" So what do you do if you DON'T feel this intense yearning and desire for Christ?! This almost brought me to tears recently! What do I do if Jesus Christ isn't deeply desirable to me?! Do I despair? Do I try to blame-shift? Do I just sit down and cry? Or do I pray?

Friends, let this note be a catalyst to pray like you've never prayed before! God is highly, highly honored by this prayer because it calls Him to move his sovereign fingers to fulfill a promise He made to you. "I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Beg with God. Don't put on a show. He'll see right through it. As you're praying, don't try to produce desire in your heart. Just read. Trust God to speak to you. And if He doesn't speak right away, don't despair. God is not obligated to move at your whim. He is God. You are not. Your praying is not a bargaining chip to get God to move. When He moves it will be a gracious, beautiful gift. Maybe it will take a day... or a month... or a year... or ten years. Don't... give... up! Devote yourself to prayer and Scripture. And see how precious He can become. He is worthy to be pursued!

A Losing War... Won For Us

I just thought of a parallel between the story of David and Goliath and the gospel. If anyone doesn't know this story, I'll relate it briefly.

David, a teenager who tends his father's sheep, is sent by his father to check up on his brothers who are away at war. David gets there and finds that Goliath, a giant on the Philistine side, has been taunting Israel for several weeks, waiting for a champion to come and face off with him. The deal is that if someone kills Goliath, the rest of the Philistines will surrender and become slaves of the Israelites. Goliath is a powerful guy. Stands about 9 feet tall. The Israelite army is petrified. Nobody is willing to go and fight this guy. Anyway, David gets there and sees this happening and says "I'll kill this guy. He's defying the armies of God. God will hand him over to me." So Saul, somewhat reluctantly, lets David go off and face Goliath. David uses a slingshot and strikes Goliath on the forehead, knocking him out. Then David takes Goliath's sword and cuts off the giant's head.

What struck me as an awesome parallel between this story and the gospel is this: the armies of God do not accomplish the central victory themselves. The whole battle is determined by two champions facing off. Praise be to God I don't have to worry about killing Satan myself! That victory is secured! The army doesn't look very impressive in this story! So I don't have to worry when I don't look very impressive myself. After Goliath is killed, the Philistines flee. This shows the attitude of a Christian's warfare. Sure there is some conflict between the armies but it's all in the attitude of the victory having been won already!

An illustration that John Piper used that I truly love is of being in a hospital. Imagine you're lying behind the curtains in a hospital bed and in the enclosure next to you you hear blood-curdling screams and agonies. It makes all the difference in the world whether you're in the oncology unit or the maternity ward. Brothers and sisters, we are in the maternity ward. All the sufferings, pains and inconveniences we deal with are not the pangs of death, but of life. The victory was won at the cross! Christ suffered the worst of the pain! And by His stripes we are healed. Praise God!

"Wow... That would buy a whole lot of..."

There's an episode of the Simpsons that just crossed my mind that I think has some parallels with how I perceive my salvation. It's just this one line from the episode that stood out to me. I don't remember what episode it is but Bart has just received a great deal of money and he's seeing an ad about a sale on burgers or burritos or something. Let's just say he's received $500. He looks bug-eyed at the ad and then says something along the lines of "Wow... $500... That would buy a whole lot of burgers!"

What I see in light of the gospel is this... I have a whole boatload of riches in Christ. More than I even dreamed existed in the world... but I have the mind of a fool or a child. Sometimes all I can see is "Wow. There is a lot of forgiveness for lust, overeating, and laziness in there." I'm missing the point when I think like this. Just like Bart would be an idiot to spend $500 on burgers. Burgers are too small an item to consider spending $500 on! Forgiveness for lust, overeating, and laziness are too small to consider spending the riches of Christ on! Bart should be thinking of much bigger things to spend his $500 on! I should be thinking of much more significant, beautiful, awesome pleasures (i.e. the pleasures of knowing Christ Himself) to enjoy through the blood of Christ! I know the analogy breaks down but it's just a thought. When you see forgiveness as the epitome of what salvation is all about, you miss the main point. Forgiveness is not an end in itself! You are forgiven so that you can actually know God! That's what salvation is all about! Jesus died to take away all the obstacles from you having a personal relationship with God that wouldn't end in the eternal destruction of your soul! If you're not enjoying that personal relationship you've missed the whole aim and purpose of your salvation.

Atonement Q & A

Call me weird but I love Christian rap. It's like listening to a 5 minute sermon and it's so packed full of truth that it's ridiculous. Anyway, here's one of my favorite songs. This one explains the very center of Christianity, the gospel itself. How does it do it? By defining theological terms that many people may not know. This is like a massive pile of dry leaves and wood to throw on the fire of your joy!

Verse 1


Who is God? God is the universe’s Creator

And Sustainer plus the only Savior, there is no one greater

He's triune, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute

Loving, sovereign and righteous are a few of His attributes

How do we know this? Well, we know this from the Bible

Where God has revealed Himself- anything else is just an idol

What’s the Bible about? Man’s complete ruin in sin

And what God has done in Christ to bring us to Him again

What is sin? Sin is the breaking of God’s law

Plus our condition, which means from birth we all got flaws

What’s the result? The result is by nature we’re God’s enemies

And must pay the penalty unless God provides the remedy

What the remedy? The remedy is the cross of Christ

Where He suffered all the stripes for the lawless type

I’ve been rescued by the Lamb, I’m convinced that He’s risen

And blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!


Chorus


Just fall back, and with the eyes of faith

Behold the beauty of surprising grace

Because the Lamb has died, third day He had to rise

He’s magnified- God’s wrath is satisfied


Just fall back- there’s an atonement now

The cross of Christ is holy ground

Because the Lamb has died, third day He had to rise

He’s magnified- God’s wrath is satisfied


Verse 2


Regeneration- the Holy Spirit’s true work in His love

To the elect, who receive new birth from above

Expiation- expiation means God’s removed my filthiness

The old testament type was the goat into the wilderness

Redemption- we’ve been freed from slavery to sin

And His very own blood is the price He paid, my friend

Propitiation- Propitiation means since the Lamb has died

His work is finished- God’s wrath is satisfied

Adoption- adoption means God is now my Father

I got the hottest Poppa and by the Spirit holler Abba

Reconciliation means there’s no more enmity

God is now a friend to me, we’re no longer enemies

Justification- God declares us righteous

Sanctification- we’re being made into His likeness

Glorification- that’s what happens at the finish

When God conforms believers perfectly to Christ’s image!


Chorus


Verse 3


God’s grace is magnificent, He slayed His innocent

Son- through faith and repentance we get the benefits

What is faith? Faith is a gift from God- when we receive this

We trust and treasure the person and finished work of Jesus

Repentance? Repentance is turning from your sin

And trusting Christ as the Spirit cleanses you within

What is grace? Oh, grace is unmerited favor

Our inheritance major ‘cause we cherish the Savior

Right, and if I may quote again, we were doomed with Satan

But believers get Jesus’ righteousness through imputation

Imputation? God takes Jesus’ righteousness amount

Through faith He credits it into the Christian’s account

Anything else? Well, I guess this overview must suffice

But none of this is possible apart from union with Christ

And finally, once you know the ways of the Lord than the

only thing that you can say is Soli Deo Gloria!


Chorus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RUciHVpCbw