music is nice

A couple of weekends ago, I went to Montreal with a group of friends to attend a concert from "Distant Worlds" which plays orchestra music from a famous RPG game series called "Final Fantasy" (FF).

I have only played FF7, FF10, FF12, and currently playing FF6, but I am growing familiar with the soundtrack of the other FFs. The first time I attended the Distant Worlds concert was about 2 years ago in Waterloo, and I really liked it since this is a game that I really enjoyed and music is great, and in the projector screen they show videos of the actual game.

On this second concert in Montreal, I was very excited because this time a choir was present (there was no choir in Waterloo) which makes a significant difference. While sitting down, we noticed some people cosplaying as FF characters (black mage, white mage, Fang, Aerith) which was kinda neat.

The concert started with the FF Prelude and I was ecstatic, and really realize how beautiful music (in general) can be, and what great music accompanies each version of this famous game. Other great songs that were played: Don't be Afraid (battle theme FF8),  Zanarkand (FF10), One-Winged Angel (FF7). One of the most memorable one was the arrangement of "Battle Medley" which include 2 of my favorites (Clash on the Big Bridge and Those Who Fight).

Then I started wondering how much does the music influence the game. Like there are times that I play the game in mute (so that I don't wake up my housemates when I played late at night), and it is still ok. But having this great music accompanying the game during the battle scenes, going in-and-out of towns, cut scenes, boss fights, etc... really make the game so much more enjoyable. Like the music is not the main component of the game, but it does make the experience much more better.

When I think about musical worship, I understand that it is very essential to focus on the lyrics of the songs that tells us truths about the greatness of God, because these truths touch our lives and made us want to sing more about how great our God is.

Though it is not the main aspect, the music that accompanies the lyrics can help make the worship experience better for the congregation. I was involved mainly with AV (Audio Visual), and it is easy to look down on AV because nobody really knows who is doing it, and the task seems that it does not require a lot of skill. Though those statements are true, I think that when an AV person does his/her job well (worship slides are readable, change of slides are correct, the vocals are clear, the volume of the instruments are not loud or soft) it makes a huge difference compared to when the job is not done correctly. So as a fellow AV, I encourage each of us to continue refining your skill to serve the church congregation to facilitate a better worship experience with God.

God is good

December is already here, and there are many great things to speak about this special month where we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we read the bible and learn more about our great God, and we always emphasize these attributes: God is love, God is gracious, God is merciful, because we often fall in sin, and experience at first hand that God is loving and gracious.

Sometimes we emphasize on the Holiness of God, on how we ought to be holy as we are set apart to live for Him. On occasions, we also speak about the wrath of God, as the great lyrics of "In Christ Alone" speaks about it:

"Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied "

Because we understand that our sin has offended the just God, and in order to satisfy His wrath, the death of His only Son was necessarily.

It's extraordinary how our worship to God is more refined when we know Him more and more.

A particular aspect of God that we should also speak is the "goodness" of God. I guess we often associate God with being good, and don't really ponder about it too much.

Recently I have been reading a Chinese manga series called "Feng Shen Ji" that takes place in the days of the last emperor of the Shang Dynasty (Chinese history oh yeah). In the story there are many gods that govern everything and puts mankind into slavery, so the emperor starts a rebellion against the gods to give dignity to the humans. It is a very cool fantasy with manly fight and honorable fight scenes. But it made me think about what would happen if our God is not good, and does not always intend to do good to us. The reason the emperor is starting this rebellion is because the gods of the story are only looking after their own interests, and treat humans as toys.

The classic passage of Romans 8:28 assures us that God works for our good no matter what the circumstances are. There is really no reason for All-powerful Almighty God to be good to us, but this is our God, and His goodness compels us to worship Him more.


 

for the epic moments

I really like to watch sports, and I enjoy a lot the Soccer (Futbol) World Cup and the Summer Olympics. I am not too athletic, but I often daydream about being a great athlete accomplishing something great. Hence, I admire great athletes and I am ecstatic about the epic moments, for example:

• Michael Jordan scoring the winning shot against Utah Jazz in game 6 of NBA finals
• Yelena Isinbayeva breaking the world record on Beijing Olympics in in pole vault
• A young del Potro beats the great Roger Federer on US Open 2009
• Nadia Comaneci scoring the first perfect 10 score on gymnastics in Montreal 1974
• Roberto Baggio carries Italy with a fantastic goal that beats Spain on 1994 World Cup Semifinals

For my anime friends, I also enjoy the epic moments of many anime/manga shows like:

• Double upgrade of Alice on Aria
• Homura reveals everything on Madoka
• The last fighting sequence on Teppen Toppa Gurren Lagaan
• Lelouch in his Requiem Zero on Code Geass
• Strauss reveals his intentions on the Record of the Fallen Vampire

Or in movies like:

• Gandalf standing on the bridge against the demon from the mines of Moria staying "You shall not pass!" from the Lord of the Rings
• Harrison Ford kicking the bad guy out of the plane saying "Get out of my plane!" from Air Force One
• Will Smith punching the alien staying "Welcome to earth" from Independence Day
• Hulk smashes the big alien thing from the Avengers
• Bruce Willis on his last decision on Armageddon

I could go on, haha. 

Reading on Acts, it's really crazy to see the great things that the early disciples did:

• Stephen's meekness when he was stoned
• Peter preaching the Word courageously
• Philip sharing the gospel when an opportunity opened up (via teleportation)
• Paul rejoicing in all his trials
• Many other great exploits of conversion, healing, preaching, and being bold despite persecution

I think that it would be really awesome to be able to achieve similar magnitude of greatness in my life. For many of us, we have the desire to be part of something big ministry for God, and we wish to be instruments and ambassadors to shine Christ towards others. We would love to speak about our faith boldly, to defend our views on the bible among skeptics, to love even if we are not loved, to be a role model in Christ for others.

It is easy to wish to become someone great, but to forget to hard work and time that is required to prepare us for that. The daily time we spend in the Scriptures and in prayer, and all the experience we get from the good or tough moments are actually useful in forming a stronger character in us and preparing us for God's work in the future. During the process, we might not see the point and we might even complain about the lack of clarity of where we're going, but God uses that to build you up and prepare for greater things. 

So let's not underestimate each step of the preparation, because God can do great things through you.

An offer you cannot refuse

So I recently re-watched the movie series "Godfather" which is considered one of the greatest movie films. There is a famous quote which is "I gonna make an offer you cannot refuse", which is what the head of one of the mafia family (the Godfather)  says to accomplish what he wants. The Godfather has so many power and influence that he can make anything happens. He does that via intimidation and threats. So people will yield to his wishes.

This makes me think about what compels people to follow their "religion". What motives people to follow the "god" they believe in? Some might do it because of fear (if I don't meet the requirement then I cannot make it), some might do it just because of family tradition, some might do it because of physical rewards, etc. What makes Christianity unique (in my opinion) is that we don't obey God because we are forced to or by fear or threats, but we do so because we are willing.

We follow Jesus because we have received a precious offer that we cannot refuse, which is the gift of eternal life that is available to us through faith in Christ because of His death on the cross as an atonement for our sins, and His resurrection. This offer is so gracious that we don't do anything to deserve it, but it's freely given to us. This offer restores us to live in the way that we were meant to live, in our original purpose, which is to glorify our Creator!

However, to follow Jesus is not an easy task, as there will be many struggles since Jesus Himself suffered and was rejected, and as His followers, we should not expect anything different. But the joy to walk with Christ, the sweetness of fellowship, and the constant bombardments of God's grace keeps me motivated to follow Him.

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

I don't need a gunbuster machine

Recently I watched an anime series called Gunbuster 2, which is about giant robots (called Gunbuster) fighting alien monsters. Well it's more than that. It is pretty enjoyable as there are some epic outrageous fights that are very memorable, and the series emphasizes the importance of hard work, self-confidence, and friendship.

The pilots of these Gunbusters are pilots gifted with special mental abilities that allow them to crazy things (like tunneling), but they are also arrogant and full of themselves because they are the only ones able to fight the monsters. So people see them as a the top of the society class. Unfortunately, their special powers are temporal, so once they lose them, they become devastated.

So one humble girl was able to join their team of pilots because she had the potential to acquire these special abilities. But since she didn't have these abilities, then all the other pilots look down on her, and avoided hanging out with her. So this girl goes on a journey to get herself a Gunbuster machine because she wanted to be recognized by another pilot (who she looked up as an older sister). For the sake of making the story short, the pilots are ambushed, and this girl suddenly comes back and "awakens" her true power which is like thousand times more powerful than the current Gunbusters.

What is awesome is that she realized that having a Gunbuster or not, it is not important, that she is not defined by what she has or by what she can do. Her worth is based on her inner person, and she works hard to cultivate a stronger character in her.

Many times, I struggled with the fact that I tend to define myself with what I can do in school, at work, and in church. And I am driven to do these things so that I can accomplish something and that I can find my worth based on what I have accomplished. This often has led me to be over-worked, exhausted, and burnt out.

Truly, I always need to be reminded on my identity as a loved child of God. Christ has shed his blood for me, so my identity is based on Christ! I don't have to accomplish stuff to prove my worth, because God has already ransomed me at a very high cost. So instead of working hard to prove who I am, I should focus on working on my inner character with the help of the Spirit, so that more of Christ can be manifested in me, and accomplish great things so that people can give glory to God.

Character

This weekend I had a great time in a bachelor's party, and it is truly a joy to witness a brother (who I know for very long time) to grow in the maturity of the Lord, and now committing to marriage.

We did a wide variety of events including paintball, wings night, watching the worst movie ever, manly breakfast, wall climbing, all you can eat sushi, cheap steak lunch... it was pretty awesome. As well, we had a time of prayer to encourage our brother in this new journey. Also, we had very late night sharing, where we talked about various spiritual topics, and it is really encouraging to see a brother sharing about their God-given burdens, and the desire of their hearts to walk with the Lord. Really treasure these times (not sure why it has to always happened at post 1am).

Of course we talked about the role of the man in a marriage relationship, and the aspect of "spiritual leadership" was brought up. For most of us, we see this accomplished through investing time in prayer time and bible study with the spouse, and serving the Lord together. But this brother shared that these activities are very good, but it is not just about that. It is also about growing in the character of Christ, to grow into a man who can love his wife unconditionally, who can make the right decisions in difficult times, who can make sure the relationships stay centered in Christ. I think this is good.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." - Ephesians 5:25-27

Revelation Song

Recently I have been really affected by this song called the "Revelation Song"

Such a beautiful song because...
 it expresses the infinite greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ
 it portrays how powerful Christ is
 it centralizes in the constant worthiness and holiness of our God

I have no more words, but to listen to this in different languages:

 

knowledge vs knowing

Recently I had the joy to catch up with my home pastors from Guatemala. They are originally from Vancouver (from the Chinese Alliance Church), and they served in the missionary field for many years. During my high school years (very long ago), they both influenced me a lot in my early spiritual walk, and I learned so much from them. Actually, now that I look back, I can actually appreciate more the lessons they taught me.

It was great to meet up with them, and to be able to catch up like friends. Even though they are far older than me (finally I felt young for once!), we were able to share with joy what's going on in our lives. More importantly, we are connected with the love of Christ, and that is a bond that we as fellow brothers and sisters are privileged to have.

As pastors, they deal with a lot of church issues (we are sinners, and there will be issues in a community), so I was sad to hear about a brother that recently left the church in Guatemala. He is a very smart person, and soon after he became a Christian, his knowledge in the bible grew a lot. He was commended in my home church as the brother who possesses a vast theological knowledge. And apparently he had read through the whole bible several times (in Spanish and English, not sure about Chinese).

He was in charge of many important church ministries, but he suddenly notified the board members that he will be leaving (in a month). And now he and his family is going to another church. The part that saddens me is that he will still attend the men's group, and criticize and accuse my home church... making comments like "I was never edified in the last x years", causing grieve and disruptions among the group of men.

Perhaps I lack the general context of this whole scenario. I have nothing against people switching churches, but the fact that he is talking bad about the church with the group of men is not loving at all. For sure, I can point out many shortcomings from my home church, and some of this had hurt me in the past, but the proper response is not to talk bad. The reality is that we are all sinners, and it is natural that issues will arise. The difference is that we as Christians understand that we have been forgiven, that our transgressions against the Holy God have been removed, because of the great sacrifice of Christ. And because of this, we are empower to forgive others' transgressions towards us (Col. 3:13). We are to extend God's grace towards others. This applies to all context of relationships (marriage, family, friends, church).

What I am really trying to get at is that there is gap between knowledge and knowing about living the Christian life. The sheer knowledge of theological truths might not do anything good if it just sits in my intellect. Actually, for me I find it dangerous at times because the more knowledge I gain can make me more prideful, and I have tendency of looking down to others. This is not good.

The reason why we want to gain more knowledge of theological truths is that we can get a better understanding of our great God, and be marveled for His greatness, so that we cannot anything else but to bow down and worship Him. So we need to internalize this knowledge in our hearts, and really "know" Him more and more.

On a similar note, I want to share this message from Francis Chan, who speaks about how to stay humble:

Barcelona 0 - 4 Bayern Munich

So a couple of weeks ago, my favorite soccer team lost very badly against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League semifinals. It was a very shameful lost. The game is played in two matches, so Barcelona lost the first match 0-4, and lost the second one 0-3. After the first match, I knew the chances to revert it was very low, but I was hoping that Barcelona would lose in a more dignified way.

There are many reasons why Barcelona lost so badly (injuries, long season, lack of key players in certain positions), but simply Bayern Munich is the better team at this point in time.

And many critics saw this defeat as an indication that Barcelona winning cycle is coming to an end. Barcelona has been the most dominant team in the last 5 years, and it is considered one of the best team in history. But I am confident that this is just a "small defeat", and that Barcelona will come back next season as one of the favorites to win the title. Of course, Barcelona will have to make some readjustments like strengthening their vulnerable defense, and find players that can take the team on their shoulders when Lionel Messi is not there.

As I think about my spiritual walk with Christ, I have experienced many defeats in my battle with sin. I often feel that Romans 7 reflect my life very well, I know what is the right thing to do, but I end up doing the contrary. It is really because God's steadfast love and mercy are new very morning, and His grace unfathomable that I can keep on walking with Him.

Whenever I feel down and ashamed of my sins, I am reminded that God loved me while I am a sinner (Romans 5:8) and that He has taken away the sin from me (Psalm 103:12) by the death of Christ on the cross. The constant reminder of the gospel, which is full of grace, compels me to keep living my life for the glory of God!

There are times when we need to make readjustments in our lives, so it is good to spend time reflecting how my walk has been with the Lord, what are the areas of my life that I need to submit to Christ? Was I able to know God more in the recent months? What I have learned from Him lately? Some good questions that I asked myself once in a while.

When we experienced a defeat, it's ok, as God is with us. His love never changes, and He is faithful.

Tim Keller posted something based on John Newton's "Blemishes of the Christian Character": http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/05/24/forgive-us-these-faults/, which I think it is a good read because often we are blind to our own faults while we think we are acting in a Christian way.

to be or not to be

In the recent times, many of my friends are either getting engaged or getting married. I see couples that get engaged after a considerable long period of dating (e.g. more than 2 years), as well I have seen couple getting engaged after very short period of dating (e.g. within 6 months). So this led me to think about whether there is a recommended period of time a couple has to date before entering engagement, which leads to marriage. I have spoken to different groups of people to get a spectrum of opinions regarding this topic.

About dating longer

As Christians, we get into dating relationship with the purpose of marriage. We believe that marriage was ordained by God  (Genesis), and that marriage is also an illustration of the love that Christ has for the Church (Ephesians 5). Marriage is a beautiful relationship that God designed and we ought to take it very seriously.

Hence, we during dating period, we should take the time to get to know our partner to determine if we can find any "deal breaker" that will end the relationship. It takes time to get to know a person. My analogy is poor, but I work as a Software Tester, and it is impossible to test a product 100%, so we try our best to test it within the time given to us, ideally we want to find all the "show stopper" bugs, so that we can release guaranteeing the product will be ok. Similarly, we want to date well so that we can find and sort out "deal breakers" so that the marriage can be smoother.

Another argument for this is that when a couple starts a dating relationship, there is a "honey moon" phase, where emotions are strong, and the couple sees sunny days, rainbows, butterflies and flowers even when in reality we are in a Canadian winter day. So it takes some time to "cool down" before the couple can maximize their objective thoughts regarding their relationship. As well, there are probably not much heated arguments during that "honey moon" phase. It is part of our sinful nature that we will hurt each other in a relationship or disagree on things, so understanding conflict resolution as a couple is a very helpful exercise to grow as a couple.

I personally come from divorced parents, and experienced the consequences of a broken family. It's not pretty. As a Christian, I have a firm conviction that divorce is not a choice, therefore I think the decision to be engaged has to be made very carefully. In most cases, carefulness involves taking time to think about it and getting more information (to mitigate risks).

But, I also think that having a prolonged time of dating can be dangerous because it can show insecurity or lack of commitment as a couple to move forward.

About dating shorter

I will go back to the illustration of marriage, which is Christ loving the church and dying for the church (Ephesians 5). Christ died for the church, not because the church loved him or the church could add more value to Him. We know that when we were sinners, enemies of God, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8), and that God loved us first (1 John).

So we can see from these that love is not purely emotions, but it is driven by a will. A will to do something (an action) on behalf of its object (from a sermon from Voddie Baucham). Christ loves us even when we were his enemies!

Going back to the relationship aspect, a man chooses to love a woman even though he might not know all the possible "deal breakers", but he will still love her even if a "deal breaker" is known because love is a conscious choice he made.

"Momentary Marriage", a book by John Piper, emphasizes in the aspect of covenant, which involves serious commitment. Even during marriage, there will be difficult times, when we will know more of the shortcomings of our partner, but one learns how to love despite these shortcomings. Loving a person is not just about the "good" things of our partner, it is also about the loving him/her in spite of the "bad" things.

This view focuses on the commitment aspect, and when a couple starts dating, it is expected that their commitment is as close as to be ready for marriage, hence there is really not much point of dating. And a prolonged dating period can be seen as having more "room" for the couple to bail out from this commitment.

Though this view seems to have a lack of emotions, I don't think this is the case at all. Though love is driven by a choice, it is also accompanied by emotions that confirm the choice made.

Any conclusion?

This is really hard to answer because there are many factors that we didn't take into account:

• maturity, age, life stage
• parents' viewpoint
• life vision
• character compatibility
• spiritual depth
• serving roles
• etc

There are more questions that are interesting to answer:

• How well you need to know the other person before going towards engagement?
• What factors (or deal breakers) will lead a couple to break up?

I think that the question of how long one couple should date before getting engaged has to be really treated case by case. Though there are safe guidelines to follow, they might not be a must. There is a need to have a conviction that a marriage relationship can only survive by the grace of God, marriage has to be Christ-centered, otherwise it will fall apart as adding 2 sinners into an intimate relationship does not make it easier.

I personally will ask myself these questions:

• Am I willing to lay down my life for this person? (no matter how long you date, you just cannot know a person entirely)
• Am I willing to share in her burdens and life baggage?
• On a very dark day, can her smile make my day the brightest? 

will of the fire

So I have been quite busy with work that I am neglecting this blog a bit, but I cannot wait to write something about one of the first manga series that I started to follow, which is the famous ninja series Naruto.

This series is often criticized because there are many ups and downs, and sometimes it is just ridiculous. But there are certain aspects of it that I really like it. There is a common theme throughout the series, and that is the "will of the fire". Perhaps it is not explicitly portrayed, but it comes out on almost every arc.

The main village is from the Fire country, and it is ruled by a leader (called Hokage) which main job is to ensure the peace and safety of the people under his rule. It starts on episode 1, when we are told that the 4th Hokage dies protecting the main village against a fox monster. So the sub-themes of becoming strong to protect your town, become self-less for the sake of your friends, and living in harmony with others are very apparent in this show. And this overall idea is called the "will of the fire" and it is passed down from generation to generations, through example where leaders live it out, and the young ninjas are inspired by them.

It makes me think about one aspect of fellowship, where we meet up to encourage one another in our walks with God. For sure there is relationship-building and mutual support in fellowshipping, but there is also the aspect of being partners in the gospel, to live our lives serving God.

One thing that I want to see through a fellowship, is that the love (manifested through caring, actions, service, gifts) that we have for one another does not end inside the fellowship, but that each member will carry this "will of the fellowship" wherever they go, so that the gospel lifestyle can be experienced by others.

Recently, the pastor John Piper retired from being the preaching pastor at his church (he is transitioning into other ministries). It is encouraging to see the video that his church prepared based on his faithful service:http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-legacy-of-john-piper-in-the-lives-of-real-people-video-tribute

A joy to see that the passion that John Piper has for living our lives for the glory of God, and enjoying ourselves in Him, is impacting the people at church in multiple facets.

Barcelona 4 - Milan 0

So one of my favorite club-level soccer (futbol) teams, FC Barcelona, had a very important match against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League playoffs. Barcelona lost the first game 0-2, so it looked tough for them to revert back the score.

Even though Barcelona has been the most dominant team in the last five years, they were showing signs of inconsistencies in the recent games (they lost 3 of their last 5 matches). And many people were starting to criticize them. But yesterday, Barcelona once again showed what they are made of, being faithful to their game style, and played with their best, and was able to accomplish the feat to win the game 4-0 (so a global 4-2 score).

I was not able to watch the game, so I was checking the results during work and whenever they scores I was yelling silently of happiness.

They simply play their best. More info: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2013/03/12/sp-soccer-champions-league-barcelona-messi-ac-milan.html

On a separate note, we all encounter good days and bad days in our daily endeavors (whether it is work, school, ministries). So we simply have to do our best, and stand firm in what we believe in, which is in a sovereign God who is in control of everything and He takes care of us. Even if things don't turn out well, it's ok since God is with us so we don't have to worry about it.

the value of relationships

I finally finished watching an anime series called K-ON. It was a very enjoyable show, but took me a while to finish because it is a slow-pace "slice of life" show. I like "slice of life" because it usually has a good focus on characters' personalities, their growth, and interaction among characters. But I just cannot watch too many episodes consecutively since it is a bit slow.

I have to say the final episode (24) of seasons 2 was fantastic. Definitely an anime gem. Basically, this is about a group of high school girls who are part of musical club, and 4 of their members are graduating so this is the episode of the graduation ceremony. So there are several farewell scenes with their homeroom teacher, their underclassmen, and the musical club's only member who is left. There is some sadness since people are leaving, but at the same time there is this warm feeling of gladness because they were able to be part of their lives.

This made me think about the different relationships (not in the context of exclusive boy-girl) I have developed throughout all my years. And I have been privileged to meet really great people that has impacted my life in positive ways. As I looked back, there has been many farewells at different stages of my life:

• high school graduation
• leaving to Canada for University
• graduating from University
• friends leaving the city

Recently, a very old friend from high school emailed me, and I haven't talked to him for almost 12 years. I was really happy to reply to his email, and I really hope to catch up with him soon in person. But there are many people I have met in those stages that I haven't seen for a while, and there are probably some that I might not ever see again.

My point is that, with the little life I have lived, I realized that I will not always be able to be part of people's lives because it is inevitable that some people will move to different places, have a different "calling", etc. Once they live in another city, it is really hard to be connected (despite the available technology) unless the two parties made a big effort of it. 

So it is sad that there are many farewells. But I am glad that even for a short time period, we were able to build a relationship and enjoy each other's company. And I think that I should really treasure more the time I spend with close friends, to really made good memories out of it, because life is so dynamic nowadays that some might move on in life to a totally different direction than yours.

I am reflecting upon this as there are a group of people graduating from the UW (specifically from CCF). Actually most people who are graduating are people who were frosh when I graduated, and so they get some sort of favoritism haha. It is really a great joy to be a small part of their lives while they were in Waterloo. Though it is sad that they are leaving, the privilege to witness the work of God transforming int heir lives is an outstanding joy.

As a family of Christ, we have the assurance that we are not just friends, but also brothers and sisters in Christ, and that there is a deeper relationships rooted in the love of God. So we have the assurance to see each other again in our heavenly home, and also to know that God is working in each of us. 

But yeah, we gotta really take initiative to value these relationships and nourish them.

why Trinity

I was watching a video with Tim Keller, John Piper, and D.A. Carson about the Trinity which is quite insightful and good: http://thegospelcoalition.org/videos/44935725

I remembered on a Sunday school, this question was asked "would you stand up and die defending the truth of the Trinity?". It's interesting because the bible does not explicitly state the term "Trinity", and perhaps not many people think that the Trinity is one of those fundamental truths that we should defend like the death and resurrection of Jesus, salvation by grace through faith, or the authority of Scripture. Also, it is really hard to comprehend the Trinity.

But I think the Trinity is on-par in importance.

First of all, we are to grow in learning more about the God who we worship. So the better we know of who God is, the more accurate our understanding of Him is, the more accurate our worship towards the true God is. For example, we all know God is love, but not many know that God is wrathful. So people who lack understanding in the latter, will worship God because He is loving but will not comprehend why the cross of Christ was necessarily for our salvation, and not comprehend that the consequence of our sins is death. Having knowledge of both aspects of God (love and wrath), we can understand that His grace is actually a couple of magnitude larger than we thought, and we will realize that there is nothing else that we can do but worship Him.

The point I want to emphasize is the relationship among the persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, Spirit). Tim Keller in his "Reasons for God" book has a chapter dedicated to the Trinity, and it conveys the beauty of the truth of the Trinity. Basically, he describes it as a "dance", where each person of the Trinity is submitting and glorifying the other members of the Trinity, non-stop. There are examples in John 16-18, where Jesus submits to the Father, or when talks about the Spirit will glorify Christ. Also the statement of  "God is love" is profound. Because if God was just one person, then when we said "God is love", he can only love Himself, since love requires more than one member. So the fact that our God is three persons, the statement of "God is love" makes sense because the constant selfless act of glorying one another for each person of the Trinity is the essence of God's love.

Since God loves us first, we can also love Him and love our brothers and sisters. And by understanding the love within the Trinity, we can learn how to love one another by being selfless, gracious, submitting towards one another. God is so good.