It seems I am running at a pace that few others care enough to keep up with.
God, teach me patience. I might lose control.
current song: Jam- Michael Jackson
10 October 2009
18 August 2009
attractive
Titus 2:10 "...so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."
I don't understand this. He is beautiful not because we make Him appear to be so. If the truth or beauty of an idea were based on man's ability to make it attractive, then anything might be true and beautiful. How then, are we to distinguish between an attractive truth and an attractive lie? If Muslims or Buddhists were more effective than us in making their faith attractive, does that prove the validity of their teaching? In the same way that Might is not Right, Attractive is not True. Rather than attempt to sell Christ to others by our spotless reputations, we must live in such a way that nonbelievers are drawn to Christ simply because He is who He is.
I do not wish to diminish our responsibility in representing Christ. As 2 Corinthians 4:10 reads, "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." However, my concern is that members of the Church will begin to confess Jesus as Lord only because they have found our Christianity to be attractive, rather than being convinced for themselves of the truth. It would be a tragedy if Christians discover they have no basis for their profession of faith other than their level of attraction to our personalities and lifestyles or their level of comfort from growing up in the Church their whole lives.
Perhaps I'm blowing this verse out of proportion. I'm sure Paul did not intend for Christians to approach evangelism in this way. And maybe God will smite me for rephrasing His word, but I believe a more appropriate verse would read, "...so that in every way they will honor Christ and accurately represent His already-enormous-attractiveness through the Holy Spirit, rather than lead others to a false confession of Christ through their own efforts."
Note: My brain is tired so I may have made little sense just now.
I don't understand this. He is beautiful not because we make Him appear to be so. If the truth or beauty of an idea were based on man's ability to make it attractive, then anything might be true and beautiful. How then, are we to distinguish between an attractive truth and an attractive lie? If Muslims or Buddhists were more effective than us in making their faith attractive, does that prove the validity of their teaching? In the same way that Might is not Right, Attractive is not True. Rather than attempt to sell Christ to others by our spotless reputations, we must live in such a way that nonbelievers are drawn to Christ simply because He is who He is.
I do not wish to diminish our responsibility in representing Christ. As 2 Corinthians 4:10 reads, "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." However, my concern is that members of the Church will begin to confess Jesus as Lord only because they have found our Christianity to be attractive, rather than being convinced for themselves of the truth. It would be a tragedy if Christians discover they have no basis for their profession of faith other than their level of attraction to our personalities and lifestyles or their level of comfort from growing up in the Church their whole lives.
Perhaps I'm blowing this verse out of proportion. I'm sure Paul did not intend for Christians to approach evangelism in this way. And maybe God will smite me for rephrasing His word, but I believe a more appropriate verse would read, "...so that in every way they will honor Christ and accurately represent His already-enormous-attractiveness through the Holy Spirit, rather than lead others to a false confession of Christ through their own efforts."
Note: My brain is tired so I may have made little sense just now.
07 August 2009
track
1. Due to a new America East Conference regulation, Coach Thompson had to cut 17 people from the team this week. That's a lot of people. That's 17 less people I'll be able to reach effectively in my last year. For athletes whose lives revolve around their sports, I cannot imagine how difficult this must be for many of them. I pray that something good comes from this. I pray that they see that there's more to life than track and field.
2. My hamstring is still not 100%...it's been a long time. I don't know anyone who has dealt with an injury this long. I've done everything I could- physical therapy, stretching, icing, heating, my rolling pin, STIM, and prayer. I'm much better but there's no way I can go full speed on this leg. I don't understand. Unless God wants me off the team, unless He's finished working through me, and unless I'm supposed to do something else, He needs to fix my leg. I simply cannot be on the team, take another person's spot who was cut, and run for Him if the fastest I can go is a quick tempo pace. I mean, He knew that if He wanted to do great things through Daniel, He'd have to save Him from the lions den and the fiery furnace. You just can't have a half burnt, half eaten, dead servant doing your work. That would be a poor strategy. It's not going to happen. What the heck...
3. From a completely athletic perspective, I don't deserve to still be on the team. I should have been cut. No, I don't suck and I can jump and hurdle as well as most guys, but I've never scored and on paper it really wouldn't make much of a difference had I not been there. Thus, I must conclude that God has a lot left for me by keeping me here.
2. My hamstring is still not 100%...it's been a long time. I don't know anyone who has dealt with an injury this long. I've done everything I could- physical therapy, stretching, icing, heating, my rolling pin, STIM, and prayer. I'm much better but there's no way I can go full speed on this leg. I don't understand. Unless God wants me off the team, unless He's finished working through me, and unless I'm supposed to do something else, He needs to fix my leg. I simply cannot be on the team, take another person's spot who was cut, and run for Him if the fastest I can go is a quick tempo pace. I mean, He knew that if He wanted to do great things through Daniel, He'd have to save Him from the lions den and the fiery furnace. You just can't have a half burnt, half eaten, dead servant doing your work. That would be a poor strategy. It's not going to happen. What the heck...
3. From a completely athletic perspective, I don't deserve to still be on the team. I should have been cut. No, I don't suck and I can jump and hurdle as well as most guys, but I've never scored and on paper it really wouldn't make much of a difference had I not been there. Thus, I must conclude that God has a lot left for me by keeping me here.
04 August 2009
schedule this
In all your ways acknowledge Him. Proverbs 3:6
In the past when I was busy I would write a note on my list of "things to do" as a reminder to spend time with God. It was quite stupid of me. Although we should make use of helpful reminders, scheduling God is unnecessary if we are living by faith. It's redundant. If I live by faith, then simply by living I am in Him and He is in me. There is no schedule. He is my schedule.
I realize this is how I survived my junior year. It was okay that I had almost no time for regular devotionals or even to sleep because my life was my devotion. (don't try that though...) He was in everything and He was everything. There was no difference between my daily toil and my time with God. He was in class with me, He ran workouts with me, He walked with me on campus, and He stood next to me as I cooked, cleaned and took out the trash. There was no intermission. I did not need to wait until Sunday morning or LG to meet Him. He was in all my ways.
In other words, if we were asked, "What do you do that requires faith?" our answer should be, "Everything." When we confine God to our daily devotionals we become overly concerned with the frequency and quality of our quiet times in expense of the spiritual quality of our "loud times"- the times in which we are doing something besides praying and reading the Bible. A life lived by faith is concerned with both.
What was your last activity in which you included God? How are your loud times going?
Try waking up in the morning to this verse: "When I awake, I am still with You" Psalm 139:18. It's not that easy for me. Actually, faith hasn't been easy this summer.
For additional perspective...Do you schedule in time for breathing? Thanks to our medulla oblongata we don't need to or we would all be dead. If we ever find a need to schedule God, something is wrong. Are you breathing?
In the past when I was busy I would write a note on my list of "things to do" as a reminder to spend time with God. It was quite stupid of me. Although we should make use of helpful reminders, scheduling God is unnecessary if we are living by faith. It's redundant. If I live by faith, then simply by living I am in Him and He is in me. There is no schedule. He is my schedule.
I realize this is how I survived my junior year. It was okay that I had almost no time for regular devotionals or even to sleep because my life was my devotion. (don't try that though...) He was in everything and He was everything. There was no difference between my daily toil and my time with God. He was in class with me, He ran workouts with me, He walked with me on campus, and He stood next to me as I cooked, cleaned and took out the trash. There was no intermission. I did not need to wait until Sunday morning or LG to meet Him. He was in all my ways.
In other words, if we were asked, "What do you do that requires faith?" our answer should be, "Everything." When we confine God to our daily devotionals we become overly concerned with the frequency and quality of our quiet times in expense of the spiritual quality of our "loud times"- the times in which we are doing something besides praying and reading the Bible. A life lived by faith is concerned with both.
What was your last activity in which you included God? How are your loud times going?
Try waking up in the morning to this verse: "When I awake, I am still with You" Psalm 139:18. It's not that easy for me. Actually, faith hasn't been easy this summer.
For additional perspective...Do you schedule in time for breathing? Thanks to our medulla oblongata we don't need to or we would all be dead. If we ever find a need to schedule God, something is wrong. Are you breathing?
11 June 2009
5 Thoughts
1. In 3rd grade, I was the dorky Asian kid with thick round glasses and two huge front teeth. Derek, the blond, smart, athletic class president was always first to finish the warm-up run in gym class. He always won, as if it were a law engraved into stone. I was usually somewhere in the middle of the pack.
But one day I thought to myself, "Let's see what happens if I try." A short distance into the run, I looked around and noticed I was passing people. I never passed people. I wasn't sure my legs would hold up but I was too excited to slow down so I kept going...and going...and I passed Jared...and Kevin...and then Justin...and way up ahead, at what seemed an immeasurable distance, was Derek.
To my (and his) surprise, I caught him easily. At the end I wasn't even tired. It made me wonder what the heck I was waiting for.
We are often stuck in a state of complacent mediocrity- entirely oblivious to or so paralyzed by fear that we do not jump into the fullness of life that is ours if we just tried. "Get busy living or get busy dying." -The Shawshank Redemption
2. God is not a mere concept we can push aside every time Christianity becomes inconvenient.
3. He works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28) ...over and over and over again, and yet, it's so hard for me to accept. I am re-re-re-relearning to trust that He is good.
4. "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." Revelation 3:17
I wonder...if we were to look in the mirror one morning and, instead of seeing our face and body in flesh and blood, the clothes we put on, or the way we style our hair...if we were to see the condition of our spiritual body- the way our heart looks in a mirror, our character in Christ, the size of our muscles from fighting temptation, or the fat deposits from lounging around, or the color that our thoughts and intentions would make in the light- would we still be willing to walk out the door looking the way we would?
5. I am growing a mango tree.
But one day I thought to myself, "Let's see what happens if I try." A short distance into the run, I looked around and noticed I was passing people. I never passed people. I wasn't sure my legs would hold up but I was too excited to slow down so I kept going...and going...and I passed Jared...and Kevin...and then Justin...and way up ahead, at what seemed an immeasurable distance, was Derek.
To my (and his) surprise, I caught him easily. At the end I wasn't even tired. It made me wonder what the heck I was waiting for.
We are often stuck in a state of complacent mediocrity- entirely oblivious to or so paralyzed by fear that we do not jump into the fullness of life that is ours if we just tried. "Get busy living or get busy dying." -The Shawshank Redemption
2. God is not a mere concept we can push aside every time Christianity becomes inconvenient.
3. He works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28) ...over and over and over again, and yet, it's so hard for me to accept. I am re-re-re-relearning to trust that He is good.
4. "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." Revelation 3:17
I wonder...if we were to look in the mirror one morning and, instead of seeing our face and body in flesh and blood, the clothes we put on, or the way we style our hair...if we were to see the condition of our spiritual body- the way our heart looks in a mirror, our character in Christ, the size of our muscles from fighting temptation, or the fat deposits from lounging around, or the color that our thoughts and intentions would make in the light- would we still be willing to walk out the door looking the way we would?
5. I am growing a mango tree.
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