the power of context

My 1000-day battle rival blogged something interesting about me: http://josesfromhalifax.blogspot.com/2011/12/man-among-men.html

I am quite encouraged by the title, but I am compelled to explain the situation in case people think I am too scandalous. I was born and raised in Guatemala, though both my parents are Chinese. In Latin American culture, the salutations are very physical. Girls will say hi or say farewell with a kiss on the cheek, no matter if she just has met this person. Meanwhile handshakes are performed between guys. Obviously this is very outrageous for Chinese people, because the way to say hi or farewell in Chinese culture is to like take a step back and raise the hand to make a signal of hi or goodbye (which looks the same).

So regarding the blog post, we were just saying farewell in the context of the Latin American culture (since the girl went for an exchange to Uruguay). Nothing scandalous here if you know the context.

This is actually a great illustration for interpreting some texts from the bible. A lot of times, we tend to read certain passages and get fond of certain verses that we can relate to, and I do that quite a bit. But there were cases when I was taking bible verses out of context, which is dangerous because I can interpret the bible incorrectly. For example:

"'Meaningless! Meaningless!' 
   says the Teacher. 
'Utterly meaningless! 
   Everything is meaningless.'" - Ecclesiastes 1:2

I used to go to quote that as an excuse to skip tutorials, because seriously 99.99% of our tutorials were useless. (By the way, I was jokingly quoting that verse). If we take this verse as it is, then we can say that everything we do is meaningless, therefore I have an excuse to not do well in school, to not work hard and just spend the entire day playing video games. But that's not the case! We need to learn about the context of the entire chapter 1 (and the entire book) so that we can understand the author's intent.

Another cool thing about context is that it helps us uncover a greater meaning of the a passage. Let's look at  the Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15:11-32. This passage is very familiar, we are often identified with the younger son because we naturally run away from God. For the longest time, I focused on debating who the older son is (whether is refer to the Jews or not), but then I realized that this passage is not really about either sons, but about the father's compassion.

Verse 20 is very key because it says that the father ran towards his son. Normally, this is not a big deal, as we can say that the father indeed is compassionate and misses his son, so it is quite normal for him to run. But if we dig into the Jewish culture, men do not run, like they do not run because it is considered shameful because in the way they are dressed. So here, the father didn't care whether running was shameful, but went out of his way to kiss his son. And in similar manner, our God who is almighty, powerful, indescribable, glorious, and awesome, has gone out of His way to save mere sinners like us. And this understanding makes me see how much more gracious and compassionate our God is!

Christmas gift

Feliz Navidad!

It's a joy to write about my favorite day of the year, Christmas! It is definitely a time of joy and peace, because we are celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The glory of God is really magnificent because an all-powerful God will come to be born as a little baby, who will eventually grow up to be a man who live without sin, and die for the sins of the whole earth, so that everyone who has faith in Him can be saved. And this not by our merits, but all by the immeasurable amount of God's grace.

The last sermon from Simply Church (by Pastor Lew) was about Christmas gifts, and I want to elaborate a bit on that sermon. Why do we give gifts to people during Christmas? God gave us Jesus during this day, so perhaps we are to be gracious to give gifts. On the other hand, there is crazy push for shopping (boxing day) that make this season very materialistic. And this influence us to make this gift-giving aspect of Christmas to be more about buying cool stuff to our families and close friends rather than giving what is more important.

Pastor Lew talked about 4 things that we should give: presence, forgiveness, reconciliation, and I don't really remember the last one (sorry it is getting late for me).

I agree those are the more important things to give, rather than the actual physical gift. I am not saying that giving the physical gifts are bad, but the previous items should be given first. For example, if a son can just give their parents a Christmas gift, but choose to not spend time with then during Christmas. Or there is a quarrel among siblings, but they still give each other a gift, but don't really ask for forgiveness and reconciliation.

As Christians, we are called to imitate Jesus. And the result of Jesus' ministry on earth is that man can come into the presence of God, attain forgiveness of sins, and be reconciled with God. So we ought to spend time with people dear to us, to forgive others from their wrongdoings to us, and to seek reconciliation. Doing all these things are really great gifts, and gives God the glory He deserves!

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14

Reflect

Just recently I went into Village 1 (V1) main area on campus to deliver something to a frosh, and as I walked in to the area I couldn't help but to feel  nostalgic about this familiar place. I used to live there when I was a frosh 6 years ago. The place has not changed much, and I can still remember some of the feelings of anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and excitement when I was a frosh, a new person into Waterloo, knowing nobody, embarking myself into this new adventure called university.

A lot of changed since then. God has been so gracious in molding my character through the power of His Spirit, to give me the desire to go after His heart. God has blessed me so much and as time goes by, it is easy for me to take this for granted, or to even forget. 

So during this Christmas time, one of the things I like to do is to quiet down myself, and think about how good God is, how much He has changed my life, how gracious He is, how I need to humble myself and acknowledge His greatness! This is a great way for me to refresh myself in the Lord, to be encouraged for the challenges of next year.

"When I  think about the Lord

how He saved me, how He raised me

how He filled me with the Holy Ghost

how He healed me to the uttermost

when I think about the Lord

how He picked me up turned me around

how He set my feet on solid ground

It makes me wanna shout;
"Hallelujah, thank you Jesus,
Lord you're worthy of all the glory
and all the honor, and all the praise!"
It makes me wanna shout;
"Hallelujah, thank you Jesus,
Lord you're worthy of all the glory
and all the honor, and all the praise!" 

    - When I think about the Lord by James Huey

This is the first picture of me in a CCF event! Guess what event this is and where I am:

Favorite anime of 2011

My favorite anime of 2011 is Steins Gate. It is a thriller about time travelling, consisting of a great story (unpredictable most of the time) and involving many unconventional characters. I actually really enjoy the main characters which is one of the main aspects I looking into when watching an anime. There were also other great anime that I watched like Madoka (yeah, I was astonished about the quality of this one) and Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae (the name is not that good, but the show is the total opposite).

One of the reasons why I like Steins Gate more is probably because the show is about a very cool and interesting topic like travelling through time, and alter the past to make a better future. To a certain extent, I have thought of wanting to change something from the past because of silly mistakes I made that I regret now or I want to change events to turn into my favor. I can think of tons of things.

And with this, I realize that mistakes or struggles from the past have actually taught me much, and if I haven't made these mistakes in the past, I could probably be making them now. As for making choices (selecting school, career, fellowship and church to attend, classes to take, people to invest in, etc), there are things that I could have done differently which will affect me and the people I hangout with. It is interesting, there were probably better choices that I could have made.

But here is where I need to trust in the sovereignty of the will of God. In the moment I made a decision, I can barely see a small snapshots of the bigger picture. And as life goes on, I start to see additional snapshots that reaffirm me, that even if a decision done does not seemed to be the best, it has provided me a valuable impact that is for the best.

When I started going to church, I went to this intensive seminar for basics of Christianity. And there I learned to definition of the "will of God" for me. And it is defined as "the best plan for me if I knew all the circumstances". Yeah, I don't see the whole picture, that's why I need to trust God even in times of uncertainty, taking each step at a time being convicted that God is always good.

So yeah, there is no need to travel back through time.

Being

One recurring struggle that I have is that I tend to define myself based on what I do, and measure my worth based on my performance in serving and doing things for people. That's one reason why I find vacation times or breaks very weird because I don't really have anything to do. This is probably part of the Waterloo-workload-conditioning because there was usually no free time at school, and whenever I had free time I was in a state of shock.

Sometimes I find it hard just to enjoy the company of people because my mind is constantly thinking about doing more things. And it is easy for me to have the attitude of just wanting to fulfill a duty and not really put my heart into it.

Also, I believe one of my spiritual gifts is serving, and I really take delight in serving others and do good especially to the family of believers (Gal 6:10). But there are also times that I go overboard in doing good to others, so that when my effort is not appreciated or accepted, I tend to get disappointed.

And we are "human beings", but it is easy to be a "human doing". We tend to be defined by what we do and place our worth in how good we perform in school, work, ministry. Many of us get easily stressed about exams, busy times at work, serving at a big church event because it is a big deal that we do well in those areas. I think it is a good thing to pursue to do well, but we should not put that as our first priority because the pursuit of doing well can become our idol.

 Instead, we should be defined by who we are. And who we are?

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" - 1 John 3:1

This is intense because our identity is a child of God, and this is only possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God love us not because we are doing good to make us love-able, but Jesus died for us while we're still sinners (Romans 5:8). Our worth is based on the sacrifice that was paid for our sins, the work of Christ on the cross. Our identity is in Christ, and we are blessed to be called God's children, and we should remember this.

I like to give the cliche encouragement "Do your best, and leave God the rest" because I think we can only do what we can at the best of our abilities, and trust that God is pleased with us, and that He will carry us for His best plan. In the end, our first priority is to glorify God, and He is not glorified when we put a higher focus on other things.

This is something I am in continuous need to remind myself and learn!

Butterfly and cat

On my undergrad convocation, I was given a folder with my undergrad diploma, and inside it was also a letter from a famous professor from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. This letter is about a story of a butterfly. Basically, it talks about a butterfly struggling to get out of the cocoon.

So the butterfly struggled for several hours to to its body through a little hold of a cocoon, and a man was observing. And the man decided to take a pair of scissors to help the butterfly get out of it. But the butterfly had a small body and wrinkled wings. And the butterfly could not fly, but for the rest of its life it had to crawl. Apparently, the process of the butterfly struggling to get out of the cocoon is a way to force fluid from the body of the butterfly to is wings so that it can fly.

Basically, the point is that Engineering is a very tough where all students faced many struggles. But the struggles are what we need in life to form our character. 

To a certain extent, this sounds very biblical because suffering and trials are ways in which God refine our faith in Him, making us more dependent on Him, and molding our character to be like Christ. That's why it is considered to be a joy to go through suffering (James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:6-7).

Even though I complained about school many times, I realize that there are many important skills I learned. And it is not so much about the theory of technicalities about the courses, but more in certain sets of skills:

• retaining information in very short amount of time
• managing stress in crunch weeks
• prioritizing among many deliverable (assignments, projects, tasks, exams, etc)
• organizing my time

And now that I am full-time working, I can definitely see the benefits of my education (even though I had very tough days during the process of getting that education, especially a 3 consecutive all-nighter).

This brings me to an anime that is very relaxing, called Aria. It is really relaxing, and it took me a very long time to finish it because I was not able to watch more than 2-3 episodes a day. But the quality of the series is great because it has great character development, neat character interaction (the setting is a character itself), and gorgeous animation.

There is this female gondolier (person who "drives" gondolas) named Alicia who is like the nicest character in all anime history. And she has a fat cat that is kinda dumb. And there is a scene in the cafeteria where she makes the cat deliver a candy to kids from a different table (which is a fairly complex task for the cat). And it takes a while for the cat to deliver the candy. Then another gondolier comes and ask why she is not helping the cat (or at least guiding the cat to the kids' table). Alicia's reply is that even though it might be easier (and take less time) if she helps the cat, she wants the cat to learn and feel rewarded for such difficult task. She believes that's the best for the cat.

School is challenging, and life is very challenging, with much struggles and trials. But we have faith in that God is sovereign over everything and that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Even though we might not realize at the moment of the trial, God is purposefully using every situation for our own good.

Appreciating variety

It is really interesting that within the living room of my place, 4 different seasons can co-exist:

This is really cool!

It is also cool that within the CCF fellowship there is a variety of people from different places, different backgrounds, different ages, different academic programs, different Christian denominations, different personalities, different skills, etc... all come together to worship the same God, living our lives for same goal to live as Jesus did, and share the gospel to others. 

CCF is a great community, but we fall into the danger of getting too exclusive within the subsets of the fellowship that share a specific trait such as same year, same academic program, or same background. I am not saying that getting close to people who share a similar trait is a bad thing, instead I think it's beneficial to have a group of brothers/sisters who you are close to. Because there are so many people in the fellowship, and it is impossible to get to know everyone in the same depth. And we need to choose the people who we want to build a deeper relationship and share each other's burdens. But at the same time, we have to be careful to not be exclusive to the point that we just spend time with the same group of people, and neglect the rest of the fellowship. 

It's actually a great blessing to be in a fellowship like CCF because one can learn so much from people who are very different, whether they are younger or older, engineering or non-engineering, born in Canada or born in Hong Kong, extrovert or introvert, etc. The great joy is that in midst of this variety, we all share in the love of Christ, and we live to glorify Him.

Overjoy

This week I went to an all-day training session about computer programming for my job with a person who worked at Microsoft. It was nice to take a break from the every day work and to learn more about some of the good practices about coding.

I was a bit worried that I will be bored and fall asleep (since I haven't attended a lecture for a while), but the presenter made it very interactive, and we had some good group brainstorm activities (we were seated in tables). We also took 7-minute breaks every hour, and after every break the presenter will show us some interesting pictures that are a puzzle, as we need to guess what words of phrase those pictures represent.

I wasn't able to find anything in the internet, so I tried reproducing the most simple ones:

These ones are quite easy to get (if you can't get it, the answers are in the end of the post). There are others that were almost impossible to get, and some that were very neat, but I forgot most of them now!

I have a friend who like to use the word "overjoy" which I don't hear much nowadays. He often applies this word during prayers or deep conversations about our faith to convey how joyful we should all be because of the grace and mercy shown to us by the cross of Jesus Christ, and that the gospel that has saved us is still affecting us every day because the Holy Spirit is continuously working in us to be more like Christ, and He is filling us with joy and peace.

I am always encouraged by Paul, especially in the book of Philippians (which many know it's my favorite book). When Paul wrote this letter, he was in jail and not knowing if he will die the next day, probably going through many hardships, probably missing some of his closest fellow workers (like Timothy), probably not doing great in health. In spite of his circumstances, he was able to write some of the most encouraging words I have heard:

• I thank my God every time I remember you (1:3)
• In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy (v4)
• to live is Christ and to die is gain (1:21)
• Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (1:27)
• I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (3:8) 
• Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (4:4)
• Do not be anxious about anything (4:6)
• And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (4:7)
• I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation (4:12)
• I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (4:13)

In a bible study in grad cell, a sister shared her insight that Paul was not thinking of his circumstances at all, but always thinking about God, about how good He is, and about how much He has blessed him and the fellow saints in Philippi. Because of that he was able to be joyful despite his circumstances; even more, he was able to encourage others to be joyful because his mind is set on God.

In this exam time, I hope that fellow brothers and sisters will commit themselves to the Lord, and be joyful in this mental and physical challenging times.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Guess what this means:

Answers:
first 3 pictures: J-walking, breakfast, circular reasoning.
last picture: always overjoy

Gentle whisper

It has been more than 7 months since I last blogged. This is kinda ridiculous that I am slacking that much. I have to admit that laziness is one reason why I have not blogged for a while. Also, I have been quite drained by work (even though it is only 9-5, it can take a lot away from you), as well as busy after work with some sort of ministry. I tend to like to fill my schedule because I want to be useful to God with the time I have. But there are many points in my life when living this full-schedule has been doing more harm than good in my relationship with God, because I just don't enough spend time alone with Him, quiet down myself in prayer, talk to Him in prayer, and meditate on His Word. Sometimes it is just difficult to feel that God is near.

As time increases, symptoms of burnout increases.

This has been a struggle lately. And it is something that I was aware of, and was hopefully wanting to overcome it at the start of the fall term, but this term has been quite demanding. 

But somehow, God has been giving me certain realizations here and there, as well as encouragements from brothers and sisters, and just personal conviction that God is indeed near and He is gentle whispering to me to focus on Him every time. Now that the term pretty much ended, I have some time to rest up physically, reflect on the things I need to improve, and replenish myself with the goodness of God. And I look forward for this, to just really deepening communion with God every day.

I look forward to prayer walks, reading more (both the bible and as well as Christian literature), blogging, and writing personal emails (I really like personal correspondence!). Blogging is definitely good because it helps me to put in words the realizations from God, and it makes me discipline to be constantly thinking about God and His interaction with people, and I hope that by the grace of God this can be encouraging to others.

One of the most memorable CCF bible studies was on summer 2007, when we did 1 King 19, which talks about an ownage person like Elijah. He did great things but he fled when the queen Jezebel was persecuting him. Elijah feels lonely, unmotivated, tired, inadequate, depressed (all of these seems signs of burnout). Then the Lord speaks to Eljiah, but Elijah responds with much complains. Then the Lord manifests His great power:

"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”" - 1 Kings 19:11-13

God is able to perform so many powerful things (very strong winds, earthquake, fire) but the Lord came and spoke to Elijah through a gentle whisper. This shows that God is merciful and gracious, that His gentleness breaks the tough hearts of men to draw them back to Him. God is intense.

scandalous

One time I was browsing through a Christian website, and came across a book named Scandalous by D.A. Carson. I can't hide the fact that I felt impulsive to get it because of the title =P. And then I found that Mark Driscoll strongly recommends this book, so I totally went for it.

I have to say... it is good. "Scandalous" is an excellent book that explains clearly the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection. It provided me a deeper understanding of how every sin is a transgression against God, and more knowledge of the meaning of propitiation and redemption that was accomplished in the death of Jesus on the cross.

The first chapter talks about the "double irony" of the cross. D.A. Carson presents 4 "double ironies" from the account in Matthew 27 on the death of Jesus. I found it very neat, even though Jesus was mocked on the cross, ultimately God owns them with their own mockery.

1. Jesus was mocked as the King of Jews
   
   Matthew 27:27-31, the soldiers mocked Jesus, saying "Hail, king of the Jews!". And on verse 37, it is written the charge against Jesus, "THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS". The soldiers were making fun of Jesus, because He claimed to be the Messiah but He is now rejected and condemned. And that is the irony. But, the counter irony is that Jesus is indeed the King. Revelations 19 shows a breathe-taking description of Jesus as the rider on the white horse, and on His robe it is written "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS". Jesus is King.
   
   
2. Jesus was mocked as powerless
   
   Matthew 27:32-40, Jesus was insulted even by one of the thieves who were also crucified (Luke 23:39). The soldier casted lots on His clothing, and the public kept on shaking their heads and insulted Jesus. They kept on with saying that it is impossible that Jesus e can destroy the temple and build in in three days. And that if He is the Son of God, then He should be able to save Himself! So basically, it was ironic that Jesus proclaimed that He is the Son of God, but was powerless in this situation. But the counter irony is that Jesus is indeed powerful because what He accomplished on the cross is indescribable. He took upon Himself the wrath of God for the punishment of our sins, and He resurrected from the death three days later. Jesus defeated death! Jesus is God, powerful.
   
   
3. Jesus was mocked as not able to save anyone
   
   Matthew 27:42, the chief priests mocked Jesus saying that Jesus save others but can't save Himself. They further mocked that if Jesus can come down from the cross, they will believe in Him. The irony is that Jesus offers eternal life for those who believe in Him, but He can't save Himself on the cross. But the counter irony is that Jesus can save all those who have faith in Him because of His death on the cross. Only Jesus can live a righteous life, and His righteousness is imputed on those who believe in Him, and our sins was imputed on Him so that He will take upon the punishment (2 Cor 5:21). Only the blood of Jesus can save us.
   
   
4. Jesus was mocked as not receiving help from God
   
   Matthew 27:43, further mockery about how Jesus always said that He trusts God, but if that's the case then God should be able to rescue Him. The fact that He is not receiving any help from God is an irony. But the counter irony is that Jesus is submitting to God the Father in obedience to death on the cross, and Jesus is then exalted to the highest place, and Jesus' name is above all names (Philippians 2:9).

This is just the tip of the iceberg of how good the book is, and how powerful Jesus is.

The work on the cross of Jesus and His resurrection is real power that defeats all human works, wisdom, mockery and anything. We can only boast on the cross of Jesus, and stand amazed at the grace offered to us.

"And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he [Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." - Colossians 2:15

More about the atonement

draw our life from His smile

So recently I am watching an anime called Arakawa Under the Bridge, which is a comedy that consists of extremely peculiar characters doing random things, and they all live under a bridge. It sounds weird, but it's actually very enjoyable.

The main male character (Ric) is a guy who has everything. He is the heir of the most successful company in Japan, he is smart, knows his stuff, excels in many areas. Because of that, he is full of himself. Moreover, his family has a motto of "to never rely on anyone". Meaning that he has to do everything by his own powers. So the story starts with the main female character (Nino)  rescuing him from the death. And then he wants to do everything possible to repay her, as he can't owe people anything. She doesn't want to take anything from him, but eventually she requested if they can start dating, lol.

There is one particular scene I really like, when the male character's father converses with the main female character... goes like this:

- Nino: whenever I brought him food, he wouldn't shut up about doing something in return.
- Ric's father: Of course he did. You need to want something too. Otherwise it is not fair.
- Nino: No. It's fair. When he's full, it feels like I'm full too.

With all the facial expression and musical background from the anime, it was really cool and spoke to me. When I serve God, I know that my works don't contribute to my salvation, because it by grace and through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). And I get my motivation to persevere in my faith because I desire in my heart that the Lord will say to me "good faithful servant" on the day I stand before God.

But, as I live here on earth, there are times of discouragement, burnt out, lack of fruits, and many other things that can damper my motivation to run in the race. So often, the lack of a visible affirmation from God that He is pleased with what I am doing really throws me off.

Then, I realized that perhaps I am putting more emphasis on results of my works instead of God Himself. I came to the conclusion that I have missed God in those times of discouragement in serving by focusing on what I do. Because I want to get something back (a visible result!), but I am missing the point that God already loves me.

Truly, I need to learn how to be satisfied in God, drawing power from the assurance that He loves me so much (1 John 3).

"[God] He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile" from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

cell membrane

As an engineer I am used to study for engineering courses. Most of these courses have to be studied with learning how to solve problems (assignment questions). So understanding the theory might not as important (though, it helps and it makes you a better engineer). Somehow, I got a bit tired of engineering courses and decided to take a "free" course on human physiology (BIOL 273). It was fun, I have to learn to memorize text (and not numbers), and it was very interesting to know how the body works. It was also very fun that some CCFers from engineering and science were also taking that course at the same time. So, we engineers aimed to beat the science kids, but we couldn't beat the cookie eater.

I think high school science teaches about cell membrane in a very high level, and in BIOL 273 we went a bit deeper. These are some of the cell membrane's functions:

• Traffic control: semipermeable membrane that allows certain particle to pass and blocks others
• Protects the cell from outer environment
• Reads and process information: contains binding channels that reads information from an agent (hormone, protein, etc) and elicits a response

I might be a bit off so bear with me in my limited scientific knowledge.

I want to share a bit about the purpose of the ministry I am co-leading with Jon Lin, which is called  Breaking-down Brick Walls (BBW) (yes, we stole the name from a friend's blog name). The vision of our ministry is to help equip Christians into the service of God by imparting knowledge and teaching skills of various Christian topics (apologetics, bible studies, serving, etc) through workshop and discussions. We started as a ministry solely focused on apologetics, but later we expanded our scope across various Christian topics.

The more I think, ponder and talk (back and forth) with Jon about this ministry, I realize that our focus should not be so much about teaching people knowledge because people can just easily absorb a truth and believe it without thinking and questioning it. Besides, information is so easily accessible nowadays. Instead, our focus is   about helping people build a "biblical mental framework" that can teach them to filter knowledge. That people will not just blindly believe in one side of the argument without understanding where both sides of the arguments are coming from. Our aim is that through discussions we can incite people to think and question about the truths of our faith. 

Because it is so easy to just believe about what is taught in the church without looking in the bible. There is a lot of gain in "wrestling" with a passage of the bible (because a lot of verses are very hard to interpret). The more we wrestle, the more we gain from the riches of the Word of God  (instead of just believing everything a pastor say). Also, this is important especially since there are many false teachers in this age.

Since many Christians who grew up in church might think that Christianity is another part of their routine, that most of them might not be able to put in words the basic truths of our faith. It is important that we understand and think thoroughly and even question about our faith. We have to take ownership of our faith, meaning that I am not a Christian because I go to church or because my parents bring me to church, but that I decided to believe in Jesus Christ, who died for me on the cross for my sins. That I made that step of commitment knowing its implications (cost of discipleship).

Also, there are times when we are emotionally down, and the knowledge of our faith (assurance that God is faithful, the promises of God) is what we can cling on to persevere in our faith.

Moreover, there are many topics in which there is no black/white distinction of what is right or wrong (maybe because the bible is not clear about all topics) so a believer has to think critically and discern what biblical truths can be applied.

Similar to a cell membrane, a "biblical mental framework" has these benefits:

• Information control: discern between biblical and "sketchy" teachings
• Protects us from false teaching
• Process information: think critically about biblical truths and know how to apply them

There are two caveats:

1. This is more geared towards seasoned Christians. For new Christians, it is understandable that the focus is more on just learning biblical truths (and not so much questioning it). But as your grow in maturity in Christ Jesus, we are called to correctly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
2. We believers have the Holy Spirit, and we acknowledge that He works in us and teaches us. So it's not just human thinking and knowledge, but it is taught by the Spirit and spiritually discerned (1 Cor 2:13)

Also, I talked in my past post about the importance of knowledge.

love relationships

I was reading an online conversation from my friends with some mormons, and they were defending their views on polygamy (a man can have many wives) with bible verses from the Old Testament in which many biblical role models (David, Solomon, Abraham, Jacob) have more than one wife (or had a child with the wife's maidservant). I pointed out that not everything that is narrated in the bible is an example of moral conduct. The bible tells us stories of God's interaction with men, and clearly shows us that men are sinful and are in need of the grace of God.

It pains me that people are twisting Scripture to justify their believe in a selfish and self-gain view on marriage by taking pleasure with many wives.

Because God's purpose on marriage is such a beautiful one. Ephesians 5:25 clearly says that the love display in a marriage symbolizes the unconditional love that Jesus displayed to His bride (the church) by dying on the cross for us (His bride). And yeah, it is not because we are in any way attractive to God or that Jesus needs us, but this is a display of God's love... giving up Himself to die for His enemies.

I was reading a friend's blog, and came across with this article of  Soul Mates or Sole Mates? from boundless that I think explains well the Christian view on relationship and marriage.

Also, for the guys, these are good question to ask yourself (21 Questions for a Prospective Suitor) before pursuing a girl :P.

Furthermore, for those who are single, this is a cool video from P4CM that encourages the single Christian to wait in a very poetic way:

the value of experience

The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals (soccer) ended this week. Surprisingly, the defending champion Inter Milan lost against the surprising "weaker" Schalke 04. On another match, Manchester United defeated their English rival Chelsea. An interesting point I want to emphasize is the value of the experienced players of the winning teams.

On one hand, Manchester United is historically a very powerful team. Many people from Hong Kong are fans of this team (I personally don't like them haha). But this year they are not in their most powerful state, still they are able to be in the semifinals. The three goals they scored were assisted by Ryan Giggs, a living legend of Man U. He is 37 years old (spend 20 years playing for Man U) and was indeed a determining factor of this series.

Schalke 04 is a not a so famous team, but they count with one of the greatest Spanish player, Raul Gonzalez, who had a great career in Real Madrid. Now he is in Schalke 04 to try to win things with another team in the latter part of his career. They faced the defending champions (Inter) and surprisingly destroyed them 5-2 on their away game. Raul scored two goals in the series showing his first-world class skills as a forward. 

This reminded me of a chapter of Naruto manga called "the value of Kakashi's experience", in which he fights the genius Uchiha Itachi for a second time and shows that he is able to fight fairly and squarely (after getting owned in the first fight). Kakashi did pretty well, but Itachi is still a lot more ownage.

Overall, experience is valuable in a person's endeavour, whether it is studies, work, ministries, relationships. Because experience teaches a person not to make the same painful mistakes and increases the knowledge framework for the individual to improve in such endeavour.

In a Christian context, experience is very valuable as well. This is not to say that people without experience shouldn't serve, as you have to start somewhere. But that mentorship and seeking advice from older people is beneficial. I remembered how encouraging and refreshing was to talk to my upper years about deep topics, and asking counsel about serving, fellowship, and Christian lifestyle. This does not mean that experience people are much more holier or better, but that their years of experience can make a difference.

In a more practical point of view, I think an individual should be connected with people more experience so that he/she can have easy access to advice. Also, an individual should be connected with younger people whom he/she can invest and share their experiences with them.

A caveat though, seek God first in all. Ask Him for wisdom first (James 1:5), but do remember that God can use brothers and sisters to speak to us as well.

more than conquerors

 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:


   “For your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”


 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:28-39

This is one beast passage from the bible. Verse 28 is probably one of the most quoted verses I have seen. This passage has a lot of meat to chew, so I want to share a bit about "more than conquerors".

Pages 96-97 from the book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper provides a great commentary about what "more than conqueror" means.

Basically, trouble, hardships, persecution, famine and sword might have the aim to make us fall away from God. When things are difficult, there might be thoughts of wanting to give up living for God. Victory occurs when we remain in the Lord, because Jesus' love is so intense. So the idea of being a "conqueror" means that the enemy is defeated (Christ's love endures and affliction does not separate me from God). But how about "more than conquerors"?

The idea is that,"more than conquerors" subjugates his enemy, making the enemy serve the conqueror's purposes. So, the afflictions do not just get owned by Christ's love, but the afflictions are actually making us realize how much bigger Christ's love is and propelling a bigger desire to remain in Christ's love. Indeed, how great is our God!

One time, I was studying at the SLC, and Bily asked me to get a fork from Timmy's or turnkey so that he can eat his lunch. But I was a bit out of it that day and brought him a spoon instead. While we're chatting online (we were in different tables, and it is quiet study room) he was telling me how hard it is to eat the meat with the spoon. Then he said, "but, there is victory in Christ =)". Yeah, this is kinda random, but even in small issues like this, we can remember that we have an assured victory in Christ, and that His love for us is as high as the heavens are above the earth (Psalm 103:11).

watchmen

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, 
   and in his word I put my hope. 
 My soul waits for the Lord 
   more than watchmen wait for the morning, 
   more than watchmen wait for the morning."
                                               - Psalm 130:5-6

I know it's exam season, and many people are going all out in their studies. It might be a time of relaxation or excitement for some, but it might be a time of worries and emotional fatigue for others. I guess sometimes, besides the stress of exams there might be other things (relationships, work situation, family, etc) that might add to the burden. It is not easy to be an university student, there are many things that come bombarding at you.

Even though, we know in our heads that these things are so small in comparison to other things in life and that in 10 years most of these worries will not matter much, we still tend to get caught on these worries and fatigue. It is part of being human, and shows how much we need God, how much we need to be soaked in His presence.

Everyday as we wake up, let's remember the goodness of the Lord, because there is joy when we think about the Lord, and we realize that how can we keep from singing His praise. Let's focus on God, giving our first priority to Him. Let our souls wait for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

I had a tough 3A term (winter 2008), serving in committee as a Program Coordinator, having the hardest term academically (3A is killer for ECE) and dealing with some emotional strain. Adding on that, being in committee that term was particularly challenging, and I was just recovering from some burnt out period. It was God who sustained me and provided me with joy to persevere in spite of the turbulent waters.

Here are some words of encouragement.

man of empowerment

I really haven't followed NBA for a long time. I grew up watching Michael Jordan leading the Chicago Bulls to his second 3-championships, and it was so good to watch him own other teams. Another player that I liked (though I didn't really watched him play much) is Steve Nash. Besides the fact that he is an above-average player, his role in assisting his teammates is from another dimension. What is really cool is that when he plays, his teammates perform better by scoring more points. He enables his teammates to contribute more to the team.

Nehemiah 3-4, we can see that the wall is been rebuilt. It is not Nehemiah alone, but many other people are contributing to the cause. All chapter 3 talks about different people building different sections of the wall. The vision sharing in chapter 2 really brought results by making these people take ownership of this task.

I think as a leader, I tend to like to do things all by myself. It is more efficient as I know what I am doing, and also it is a pride issue of relying on my strength and not on others'. But it is so much more edifying to delegate some tasks to other fellow servants of God. It might take more time to train and teach, but when we see them growing and learning to serve God, it is such a joyful experience. 

Also, I realized that I cannot bring a change to the fellowship by doing everything myself, but I need to share the vision that God has given me to convict others, and empower them so that they can also take part on making this vision come true by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Delegating is such a key skill that can avoid someone from burning out. At the same time, we don't want to delegate just because we want to split work to other people. But the reason of delegating is so that other people can take ownership of the fellowship (or any Christian community). When people realize that they can contribute to the fellowship, they feel "more" part of it, they develop confidence, and are encouraged to do more for our gracious God!

man of action

Overall, this is what happened in Nehemiah 1-2:

• Nehemiah is broken by the current situation in Jerusalem, because he sees what God sees, his heart is close to God's (like Hosanna song, "break my heart for what break Yours".So God gives Nehemiah a vision.
• Nehemiah spends lots of times seeking God in prayer and fasting.
• Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, so he was in a situation of influence to do something.
• Nehemiah takes action to speak to the king in midst of fear (not easy to just talk to the king I guess).
• From the conversation with the king, it seems that Nehemiah has thoroughly planned many things ahead.
• Nehemiah surveys the walls and then shares the vision to the other Israelites, who are encouraged to see God's work in Nehemiah, and are pumped up to rebuild the walls!

I really admire Nehemiah because of his willingness to take action. It's one thing to see that something is wrong and complain about it, but it is another one to really do something about it.

One of my close brothers, Herman, said this quite often: "If you see a problem in the fellowship, you're likely the best person to do something about it". That reminds of my first ministry in CCF, which was welcome team. I used to be very scared of CCF because of its big size, and I felt unwelcomed. Somehow I served in the welcome team in my 1B, and I found that I could relate a lot with the shy newcomers.

This is not to say that we should always serve because of a need (that can lead to burnout), but that a need is an indication of something. If we see a need, instead of complaining about it we should talk to other brothers and sisters, and see God in prayer to see how can this need be met.

In general, the problem is people not taking action in fellowships is quite apparent. I can think of 3 reasons now why people usually don't like to take action: I don't feel passionate about it, it's scary, I don't have enough time. I think I talk about it a bit in one of my past post. I just gonna focus on the first two. 

I don't feel passionate about it

In the past, I have burnt out because there are things that I do are based solely on meeting a need or fulfilling a duty. Some other brothers and sisters from CCF experienced similar problems, so the fellowship put a big emphasis on serving on areas that "you feel passionate for". I agree with the concept, because God  is who works in each of us, and He will accomplish His purpose by using us, so there should not be any room for burnt out. So if we are doing what God wants, then it should be ok. The danger of this statement is that it gives a sense that doing what you're passion for is always being pleasant and smooth, without difficulties or hardships. But the reality is that there will be tough times when I don't really want to keep on doing ministry, but it is only God who pushes me to continue. 

Being "passionate" is not just a emotional feeling, but a willingness and conviction to suffer for the cause.

My point is that we should not rapidly close a door to serve in a certain area because we don't feel passionate about it. There are other factors like fellowship's needs and responsibility that are often neglected.

In the case of Nehemiah, he was indeed emotionally affected by the broke walls, but later on he faced many struggles and opposition, and it wasn't easy. It is the assurance of knowing that God is in his side that carried him through.

It's scary

It must have taken quite a lot of courage for Nehemiah to speak to the king. Like, if someone do or say something "wrong" to the king, he can order that person to be killed. But Nehemiah decided to take action. He spent 4 months praying, and was praying as he talked to the king, so it shows that relying on God carried him through.

One of my greatest joy in serving is that it really puts me in situations where I have no place to go but to rely on our merciful God.

I think the we need more men of action. There are many attendants in a fellowship, but not so much participants who actively contributes to the body of Christ. The reason why a fellowship might not be as impacting is because maybe "one arm" and "one leg" are not taking action. Imagine how beautiful it is, if all the members of the fellowship co-partners displaying the full potential of the body of Christ!

As a child, I really liked Dragon Ball Z. There is this movie called "Wrath of the Dragon: If Goku Can't Do It, No One Can", which I actually haven't watched entirely. Nevertheless, I really like the title. If Goku can't do it, one one can! If we are not doing what we suppose to do, then who will?

man of vision sharing

For those who watch Naruto, you probably know who this person is. He is considered to be one of the strongest and greatest leader of the ninja world, Minato Namikaze, the 4th hokage (leader of the Fire Country). He is really cool and ownage.

In the very first chapter/episode, it is told that he sacrificed his life to protect the village from a fox beast. So we don't get to see much of this cool guy. 

What is really cool is this idea of the "will of the fire". Since the first hokage, there is a vision for the ninjas to use their strength to protect their village. This vision is pass on to all the ninjas of the Fire Country. Therefore, even if the cool 4th hokage died, the "will of the fire" continues with the remaining ninjas, who will fight to protect the village.

In a similar way, leaders gets a vision from God, and needs to share this vision to the rest of the Christian community because:

• a vision from God deals with people (convicting people of sin, challenging people to mature, encouraging more prayer and outreach, etc)
• a leader cannot make a vision happen by him/herself
• Christian community can confirm the vision

I mentioned that a leader's role is to influence people towards the direction of God's vision, therefore a leader has to share this vision to convict people that God is calling them. Let's look at Nehemiah:

"The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.

 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.”  I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me.

   They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work." 

- Nehemiah 2:16-18

Nehemiah tells them "let us rebuild the wall" because this is the vision God gave him in chapter 1. He also shares that God has shown him grace (gaining king's favors) which confirms that testifies that God is in his side. This encourages the Jews who readily agreed and began this good work.

Vision sharing is quite key in a fellowship, because in order to improve the current state of things, to move towards where God wants, the leader(s) alone cannot take the whole job, but it is also everyone else. Therefore, the vision needs to be communicated in a way that impacts everyone. If everyone "catches" this vision, then everyone will participate in being used by God to move this fellowship to where God wants. Even if the leaders are to "disappear", the rest of the fellowship will be able to continue the good work.

man of responsibility

How does Nehemiah 1 ends? It talks about Nehemiah's job, he was the cupbearer to the king.

Why is this important? Perhaps to state the influence he had, and the possible favor he can ask from the king.

What does this job entail? He served the king wine but he was also responsible for the well being of the king because he tasted the wine to make sure that there was no poison in it.

But how did he become cupbearker to the king? We can infer that Nehemiah is trustworthy (for such big responsibility), reliable (have to be proven to be able to perform such duty), reputable (to gain initial trust), courageous (put his life on the line).

I find it interesting that just before chapter 2 (when there is a time jump of 4 months), Nehemiah's job is mentioned. In a way, this precedes his plan of action to talk to the king in chapter 2. At the same time, it also shows that Nehemiah is not just a random guy, but he holds a very high position, serving closely to the king, and this implies that Nehemiah has shown a good track of record of responsibility and integrity. This tells us something about Nehemiah's character.

I believe that a good track of record is important for someone in leadership. One extreme view is that a leader has to be all equipped for the task, and this often intimidates those who want to step up in leadership but feel unequipped. The other extreme is that the person's track of record is not really an important factor, but more his "passion" to serve.

The problem with the first view is that in the Bible, God often calls people who are not adequate nor equipped to serve Him. God called Moses (who didn't want to talk to people), Jacob (a sneaky person), Elijah (who ran away from his enemies even though God just showed Him that fire can fall from the skies). Jesus came and called fishermen and tax collectors, who are very low-position roles during that time. This shows that these people are not relying on themselves, but on the grace of God (1 Cor. 12:9). God chose Paul, a persecutor of Christians, to be an apostle who brought the gospel to Gentiles.

The problem with the second view is that it is easy to let everyone become a leader because we see his/her enthusiasm for the Lord, but we haven't seen him/her serve in other roles to observe his/her character. Therefore, it is easy to let people who are not matured in Christ in leadership roles. And that is dangerous for the person (might get burn out, discouraged, character issues in leading), and affect the fellowship (bad leadership, stumbling others, discouragement).

Therefore, I believe it is important to consider one person's track of record, which shows his/her character, whether that person is responsible or of integrity, that would allow him/her to do a good job in leadership by God's grace.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." - Luke 16:10

man of prayer

This is from Francis Chan,  Prayer as a Way of Walking in Love: A Personal Journey. Very cool, as I am reminded the importance of prayer. It is so easy for me just to go ahead and do all these things for God, but am I really getting to know God more. Am I abiding in Him? Am I loving God more?

Going back to Nehemiah, we can see many elements of prayer that we can learn from: confession, sincerity, humility, persistence, recognizing God's mightiness, claiming promise that believers are entitled to. It seems that Nehemiah knows much about prayer, and that's possible when a man walk with God in prayer.

It is interesting to note that from chapter 1 (month of Kislev) to chapter 2 (month of Nisan), they are four months apart. That is like a school or coop term. What was Nehemiah doing during this time? The bible doesn't say, but one can infer from chapter 1 that Nehemiah could have spent more time praying and fasting since there were not any clear directions from God. Perhaps he also spent time planning and preparing his next course of action.

Also, in chapter 2 verse 4, before Nehemiah answers to the king, he prays to God for help! It shows that Nehemiah really draws strength from prayer, and that He relies on God.

man of vision

In the anime Gurren Lagann, mankind is suppressed to live underground because there are "monsters" living on the surface. Mankind is powerless against the constant hunting from the surface monsters. Therefore, humans were not able to enjoy the beauty of the skies and the refreshing gentle morning breeze. But, a man named Kamina did not conform to this hopeless reality. He saw the possibility of doing something about it, he saw the place that he can reach, he saw that mankind can strive to overcome this situation by piercing to the surface! And because of him, the "Dai Gurren" movement was born to free mankind from the suppression of the monsters.

Kamina is one my favorite male anime characters. Besides that fact that he likes to say "who do you think I am?", he sees things that not other people can see. He is able to perceive the place that his followers and himself should head towards for a better tomorrow.

As I read Nehemiah, chapter 1 talks about the great distress in Jerusalem because of the walls are broken down. Historically, the walls of Jerusalem holds a great significance of the prestige and greatness of Israel. But because of sin, outsiders were able to invade and break these walls, creating an environment of hopelessness and disgrace. This is Nehemiah's reaction:

"The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
   In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

   They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

   When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said:

   “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

   “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

  “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

   I was cupbearer to the king." - Nehemiah 1


Nehemiah was a man of vision. He saw things as God saw them and was convicted deeply in his heart even to the point of fasting and prolonged mourning. It was not a trivial matter that his nation, God’s chosen people were in shambles because of sin. He took to task, planning and praying for a good time to act when the God would grant him the king’s favor.

Tangent

Gonna sidetrack a bit.

So I was surprised yesterday morning to read the news from the Guatemalan (where I was born) newspaper that the current president is divorcing his wife, so that she can run for the presidential election this coming September (more info). Basically, the constitution forbids any blood-relative from the current president to run for president. Actually, the president thinks it is ok for his wife to run since she is not a "blood-relative", but that they are united by a "signed paper". But due to pressures, they decided to sacrifice their marriage for the sake of the country.

It sounds kind of heroic, sacrificing one's happiness for the sake of many people. Without going into the hidden intentions of politics, I question, it is really alright to sacrifice one's marriage for the good of more people? In a Christian context, it is ok to sacrifice one's marriage for ministry and church?

To further generalize, it is ok to sacrifice one's family for the church? In my early years, when I was a recently converted to Christianity (grade 10), I have this big desire to serve in the church. And I volunteer of many things, offer help to brothers and sisters, attended many meetings, and spent most of my time with fellowship people. It felt very good. Like I was doing something good. At the same time, I neglected to spend time with my parents and my brother. Especially, the relationship between my brother and I was affected quite a bit. He went through a lot of common teenager's problems (rebellious, disobedience, don't want to study, etc), and I was not there when he needed me the most. Since it has been difficult for me to talk to him.

So yeah, in the bible there is this passage about the qualifications of an elder:

"Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect." - 1 Timothy 3:1-4

Besides the specific character attributes, it includes stuff like "husband of one wife" and "manage his own family well". Perhaps, if those two statements are true, then a lot of character issues are dealt with. The idea is like, if I can't take care of my family (which is small number of people, and should be close to me), how am I gonna care for the church that is made of more people and there are people who might not be close to me.

Perhaps, this passage might not be as applicable in my case, as it specifically targets to elders, but I think the idea carries that we should work in our relationships with our immediate family, since they are likely to be close people to us, and probably the ones who can hurt us the most. So having good relationships with them is generally a sign that godly character is abounding.

Here is a Mark Driscoll's sermon to pastors, about marriage.

magnets

Now I want to transition from serving to leadership (an appropriate topic since it is CCF committee elections!).

What is leadership? I let some experts define it:

"Leadership is influence" - John Maxwell

Dave Kraft on Leadership

Here Dave Kraft mentions the existence of a "vision". Furthermore, Blackaby defines spiritual leadership as "moving people on to God's agenda".

When I first served in committee, an older spiritual brother introduced to me John Maxwell, a Christian author  who writes book about leadership (his audience aren't only Christians, but also general corporate leaders). So I read Developing the Leader within You. And on my following work term, I read Spiritual Leadership by Blackaby.

Definitely, I learned a lot from these experienced Christian authors about what leadership is all about. And as of now, I define leadership as "influence to move people to a place described in a vision". In the Christian context, this vision is given by God.

So yeah, leaders are like magnets that exerts a magnetic field which cause atoms to be aligned in the same direction and creates an attraction force (I am forgetting a lot of this stuff learned from school!). To a certain extent, I think everyone should be a leader in a certain area (relationships, small groups, ministries, fellowship, leading someone to faith, etc).

The first bible study I helped write is about the book of Nehemiah, which brings back interesting memories. And I want to go through it, to dissect what the bible tells us about leadership, which I really like to talk about.

Double Fish-O-Fillet

So yeah, according to wikipedia, double fish-o-fillet is usually available during lent (makes sense for those giving up red meat). It's good stuff, double the goodness, very enjoyable. Everyone should go and get one!

Serving God is a great privilege, and God does not need us, but still He gives us a new life, and molds us and chooses to use us to do His work. Also, serving does take time, and we usually need to either cut our lesser priorities or work harder. So it is not easy, some people who serves are already very busy with school and many other responsibilities, but out of obedience they jump into serving.

Even though, the motivation to serve comes from a grateful heart to the work of God in us, and that we usually serve in an area where matches our strength, and probably a ministry that we enjoy. But that does not take out the fact that serving requires responsibility, discipline, and hard work. So serving is adding load to a believer (filling up his plate), and leaders usually have big loads.

Let's look at the fish-o-fillet, a single fillet is really good, but not satisfying and filling enough since it is kind of small. But, when you eat a double fillet, it's very satisfying. Similarly, a person who is not keeping his hands busy for the Lord, might not be "satisfying" the potential for what he/she was created for. But someone who actively keeps him/herself in the Lord's affairs, using his/her time for the Lord, is satisfying the purpose of the abundant life in Christ (John 10:10).

I am not advocation that the more you serve, the busier you are, the more holy you are. By no means! My point is that every believer should first seek God, deepen his/her relationship with Him, and be sensitive to what He desires, and fill your plate to what He entrusts you with. And when your plate is full, it might busy, it might be harder to handle everything else, but if that is what God is calling, He will provide and His grace is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9). On the other hand, worshiping "serving" is bad, as the focus is no longer on God, and your plate might break leading to burn out.

My desire is that everyone go in pursuing what God is entrusting each of you, out of obedience. That you can become one who the Lord can say "well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).

Common obstacles

Serving in CCF leadership has taught the importance of encouraging other members to serve. Some people tend to actively think about serving and some not. And many times when I encourage people to serve, I get reasons why they don't want to serve. Some are valid, some I like to challenge here:

I am inadequate

Undoubtedly, the realization of our sinfulness is important to realize how vast God's grace is. But satan can use it to attack our sense of worth and self-esteem. The sense of guilt of sin can be so big that we are deterred from wanting to do anything for God because we feel so unworthy. 

The important thing is to know and be convinced that Jesus' blood has cleansed us from all sins. Hebrews 4:14-16 and Hebrews 10:22 are powerful verses that reminds us that we have a great priest, Jesus, who understands us, and is interceding for us, and that through Him we have access to the Father. 

In a sense, we are all unworthy, but because of the costly blood that Jesus shed for us, we find our worth and identity in Christ, and is in Jesus where we put our trust in.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins." - 2 Peter 1:5-9

It's intimidating

I agree. I was afraid of public speaking, and serving in certain positions, I have to stand up to say something to the fellowship. And in the first bible studies I led, there was definitely fear in me.  In committee, there were many moment of fear... 

Obviously, as I grew closer to God, and got more experience, the fear tends to dissipate. But I am a weak man, so I am still afraid. 

The key is to know how to react to that fear. Matthew 14:30 is a good example of how our first response should be to seek help from our Lord. Ultimately, we have to realize that it is not through my power that I serve, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. If we understand that we are vessels that allows the Spirit to work in us, we are able to find strength.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

I don't know enough about Christianity

Well, I think no one will ever know and understand 100% of the bible. It's amazing how every time I read a familiar passage, I am able to get new revelations. The Word of God is so rich!

So what is enough? I think some roles might require some matured Christian knowledge, but there are plenty of roles that do not require Christian theology expertise. Also, you need to start from somewhere. I would placed more priority in the desire to grow and learn vs threshold of knowledge. 

For example, when I first led bible studies, I wasn't too well nourished with biblical knowledge. I understood the basics of my faith and knew some familiar books of the bible. I remembered in one member's meeting, there was a concern that bible studies were a bit shallow, and I thought the bible studies were so deep! 

But as I continued to lead bible studies, God really showed me many things about how powerful His Word is, and this transformed my life. It is actually through serving that I learned the most about Christianity.

I don't have enough time

Everyone has 24 hours. Of course, people have different priorities and commitments. The main question is, what are your priorities? Is Jesus your number one? Because if God is up there, then I would want to prioritize my time for what God wants me to do.

Honestly, there are many ways I can make time. I personally like to read manga and watch anime. Sometimes, I abuse of it and it ends up taking a lot of my time. It is not good. We live in a very distractive world. There can always be improvements for my time management. 

The important thing is to know the size of your plate (as my last blog post). Make sure to full it up with what God is entrusted to you, so that you can use your full potential to serve Him.

Conclusion

Let's examine ourselves carefully, as I had used some of these reasons myself. When I think about it, they are just excuses of my lack of willingness to serve. It really boils down to either me being selfish and me having a lack of faith (of the effectiveness of the blood of Christ and the power of God). Faith can be explosive. Do we really believe God?

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" - Hebrews 11:6

training chamber

In many fighting anime like Dragon Ball Z, there is a lot of growth in power in the main characters. They usually undergo different seasons of training to get themselves stronger to fight new powerful enemies. Usually, they like to hack it, and use a "training chamber" in which time runs slower. So one year inside the chamber equals to 1 day of real time. Therefore, they can take advantage of this chamber to get themselves a lot stronger in no time. Many other anime follow the same idea... Good childhood memories :)

I personally see CCF has a training ground. University is a very critical time, and for myself it was a time to develop my character, mature mentally and spiritually, commit seriously to my faith... many things that will probably impact the rest of my life.

And particularly serving has been one aspect of my Christian faith that has mold me and developed my character, and convicted me that I need to commit seriously to the faith I profess. If I didn't serve, I wouldn't have been able to integrate into the CCF community and get challenged to grow in Christ.

The usual question, where can I serve? Within CCF, there are many different ministries: worship, caring, outreach, av, bible studies, prayer, discussion leader, committee, personal initiatives, etc. Since there is only so much time, what factors should determine where I spend my time serving?

I started with welcome team (now part of caring ministry) in my 1B term. One of my main struggles during 1A is that CCF is twice the size of my home church, so it was very intimidating for me. So in my 1B I decided to join welcome team was my choice because I found an issue with the welcoming aspect of CCF, so I want to do something about it, and I am also able to understand how newcomers feel when coming to a big fellowship. That was a good experience as I got to know many of the members of the fellowship.

On 1B work term, a brother challenged me to lead bible study, and I said yes just because I thought this is a good area for me to explore and learn from. The first few experiences were slightly tough and difficult, but I really learned a lot, and discovered that I was able to handle small groups decently well.

Later on, I served on other areas like coordinating serving team for coffeehouse, stage crew for Lifesong, and coordinated a Lifesong. Many of these experiences developed my organizational and interpersonal skills. Eventually, the opportunity to run for committee came, and I took the step of faith to do it. And the role I was more affinitive is Program Coordinator, because of my liking for organizational stuff.

Based on my experience, there are a few things that I look at when deciding where to serve:

• what is God teaching me recently?
• what areas do I need to improve in my spiritual walk?
• what apparent needs do I see in my fellowship? Is there a way I can be part of the solution?
• what are my strengths, and how can I use these to serve God?

I can't say that all the answers will be crystal-clear, but they are good guidelines. We might not always get a clear answer, but the beauty of life is to trust in our God in midst of uncertainty.

Even though there is a lot of "I" in all these paragraphs, it's all God. Is He who pushed me into these ministries, is He who equipped me, is His power who prepared and enabled me to be effective, is He who sustained me. All glory goes to Him.

Size of the plate

There is a manga called Yakitate Japan which is one of the best comedy I have read. One of the those series that can literally make me roll on the floor. It's pretty interesting to think that a "break baking" anime can be that good.

So in the story (in the Monaco Cup arc), there is this special competition where you're given about 1 hour to get any ingredients you want from the local storehouse to make your bread. But they don't tell you any rules until you're finished with the ingredients. So one of the members of the Japanese team (Kai) decided to go Asian and get all the ingredients he can with the time he has. His rival (a French guy) was very selective and got only a few of his favorites ingredients.

After the hour, they were told to bake a break using all the ingredients they got. Meaning that if you have leftover ingredients, you're disqualified. And that was quite the big shock for the Japanese guy because he got so much on his plate! (btw the French guy knew the rule beforehand, that's why he only selected a few). Somehow, using his never-dying samurai spirit, Kai pulled it off, and beat the French guy!

One important aspect about serving is to know the size of your plate. Each of us are given different gifts and responsibilities, each of us have been entrusted different things from God. Not everyone is able to serve 20 hours a week in a fellowship. There is no norm how much everyone should serve. It boils down to knowing what God is entrusting you with, and how much you can handle. The assurance we have is that God will not give you more than you can handle, and He will always give you sufficient grace and strength.

Knowing yourself (last post) is key to help you know the size of your plate. The point is to fill the plate, not too empty that you're not using your full potential for God, nor too full that the plate will break making you ineffective (eventually burn out).

I probably on the latter end, always wanting to over-full my plate. There are many times when I get really exhausted and been in the border of burn out. So yeah, I need to grow in realizing that I need to do less and focus more on the wonders of God. Need to more like Mary and less than Martha (Luke 10).

For those who are in the other end, I encourage you to fill your plate as God can do wonders, He can show you more of His riches, and how joyful is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Peter 1:5-8