I ain't much of a writer, as you can tell by how frequently I update my blog. But I have experienced the life of a prodigal blogger, and have decided to return to the Blog father (metaphorically speaking).
It would be impossible to catch up since I last wrote, but I can write a thought for myself, regardless of who reads these crazy ideas and thoughts.
The air in LA is NOT clean normally. The air in LA now is EXTREMELY DIRTY. The fires have created natural pollution. Many have experienced a lot of anxiety due to the fires. I live far from the fires, but I smell it from afar. I can't wait until the day when I won't have to breathe clean or dirty air because the after-life will involved something different, or will it? Will there be air in heaven? There is no need for it. If there is no air, how will we vocalize our voices? How will we speak? Will we need to speak at all? I wonder... But I can't wait until the day in heaven; for it's going to be CLEAN and HOLY and GLORIOUS.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sacrifice for Service
Romans 12. How many times have your heard a pastor speak on this most popular passage in Romans?
I must've heard at least 20 sermons. Honestly, everytime I heard some say "turn to Romans 12..." I begin to tune out. It's not the healthiest thing on my part. I should be teachable even if I heard Romans 12 about 300 times.
Thus, as I spoke on Romans 12 this past Sunday, I wanted to present a fresh new point of view. I didn't preach a heretical message or create some post-modern existential interpretation that deviates from the author's intent.
As I studied Romans 12, a point of view that I never really noticed is that we are living sacrifices with the purpose of serving one another. Often times vs.1-2 is taught in isolation from vs.5-8, when one flows smoothly into the other. We are "living sacrifices". We are still "living" because we are to serve the body of Christ and be ambassadors for Christ to the unchurched.
The question is... "How is our obedience?"
Are we obedient out of obligation? Or are we obedient in love?
Our obligation to obey keeps us committed to the right things.
As we mature and grow in love, then our obedience will take us to the next level of our relationship with God and His people.
Why is it so hard to obey?
I must've heard at least 20 sermons. Honestly, everytime I heard some say "turn to Romans 12..." I begin to tune out. It's not the healthiest thing on my part. I should be teachable even if I heard Romans 12 about 300 times.
Thus, as I spoke on Romans 12 this past Sunday, I wanted to present a fresh new point of view. I didn't preach a heretical message or create some post-modern existential interpretation that deviates from the author's intent.
As I studied Romans 12, a point of view that I never really noticed is that we are living sacrifices with the purpose of serving one another. Often times vs.1-2 is taught in isolation from vs.5-8, when one flows smoothly into the other. We are "living sacrifices". We are still "living" because we are to serve the body of Christ and be ambassadors for Christ to the unchurched.
The question is... "How is our obedience?"
Are we obedient out of obligation? Or are we obedient in love?
Our obligation to obey keeps us committed to the right things.
As we mature and grow in love, then our obedience will take us to the next level of our relationship with God and His people.
Why is it so hard to obey?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Really Great News!
Does God really love me?
It's not that I have doubts about God's love. It's that I've realized in a fresh new manner that God really does love me beyond what I have previously imagined.
My kids know that I love them. But my oldest one understands my love for him to a greater capacity than my youngest. Their capacity to know the extent of my love for them will grow as well.
That's what happenned to me this past week. As I studied through Romans 11, I realized the depth of God's love for me. There are a lot of reasons why God shouldn't love me. There are only a few reasons why God maybe should love me. In the end, God loves me by sheer grace. Did you get that? God loves me because He chooses to love me, not because of what I've done or even will do.
This is REALLY great news. God's love is faithful. Praise the Lord God Almighty!
It's not that I have doubts about God's love. It's that I've realized in a fresh new manner that God really does love me beyond what I have previously imagined.
My kids know that I love them. But my oldest one understands my love for him to a greater capacity than my youngest. Their capacity to know the extent of my love for them will grow as well.
That's what happenned to me this past week. As I studied through Romans 11, I realized the depth of God's love for me. There are a lot of reasons why God shouldn't love me. There are only a few reasons why God maybe should love me. In the end, God loves me by sheer grace. Did you get that? God loves me because He chooses to love me, not because of what I've done or even will do.
This is REALLY great news. God's love is faithful. Praise the Lord God Almighty!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Celebrate Recovery
Many of you have heard of Saddleback, 40 Days of Purpose and some guy named 'Rick Warren'. But how many of you have heard of Celebrate Recovery?
I'm not too familar with this ministry, or movement. But I have heard of the principles behind it. It's similar to a 12 Step Program, but with a defnitively strong Jesus focus.
2 years ago, I attended the Purpose Driven Worship Conference, and it was "A"-mazing, with a CAPITAL "A".
I decided to attend the 2007 Celebrate Recovery Summit and it's "EYE"-opening. Most of us think that we are all good and healthy because we don't resemble the guests on Jerry Springer. But in reality, when you personalize the Word of God and the Law, one realizes how "messed up" one truly is.
A lighter way of putting may be, "he/she is a bit off." The more blunt way to put it, "he/she is messed up." The crude way to put it, "he/she is jacked up". However one puts it? I am "off", "messed up" and "jacked up", and I'm happy to admit it because I'm more thirsty for the gospel. I am more hungry for Jesus, the bread of life. How much more do I need to "abide" and "imbibe" in Him?
It's been the first day, and I see that there are so many who have "hurts, hang-ups and habits" that need recovery, restoration, healing, etc.
Will anyone ever listen to my sermons or "pearls of wisdom", unless I can "empower" them to listen and obey? The ground work of real ministry happens throughout the week. Sunday is just one day, the catalyst for the week.
Lord, help me to celebrate recovery, and enable people to celebrate recovery.
I'm not too familar with this ministry, or movement. But I have heard of the principles behind it. It's similar to a 12 Step Program, but with a defnitively strong Jesus focus.
2 years ago, I attended the Purpose Driven Worship Conference, and it was "A"-mazing, with a CAPITAL "A".
I decided to attend the 2007 Celebrate Recovery Summit and it's "EYE"-opening. Most of us think that we are all good and healthy because we don't resemble the guests on Jerry Springer. But in reality, when you personalize the Word of God and the Law, one realizes how "messed up" one truly is.
A lighter way of putting may be, "he/she is a bit off." The more blunt way to put it, "he/she is messed up." The crude way to put it, "he/she is jacked up". However one puts it? I am "off", "messed up" and "jacked up", and I'm happy to admit it because I'm more thirsty for the gospel. I am more hungry for Jesus, the bread of life. How much more do I need to "abide" and "imbibe" in Him?
It's been the first day, and I see that there are so many who have "hurts, hang-ups and habits" that need recovery, restoration, healing, etc.
Will anyone ever listen to my sermons or "pearls of wisdom", unless I can "empower" them to listen and obey? The ground work of real ministry happens throughout the week. Sunday is just one day, the catalyst for the week.
Lord, help me to celebrate recovery, and enable people to celebrate recovery.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Been awhile
It's been a while, but I just didn't want to write stuff because I had to. I wanted to write because there have been God moments in my life.
The Summer months have been filled with a study through Romans and it's been amazing to saturate my mind in it and to allow my heart to be wrenched from the inside out in regards to the greatness of the Gospel.
Something that I've been realizing and felt a conviction over the past several weeks...
My goal is not to convey how much I studied throughout the week. Sermons should not be lectures. It's pretty clear that when you look up synonyms for 'sermon', you're not going to find lecture anywhere near it. In Christendom, sermons have ranged from heavy theological lessons to fluffy feel good self-help anecdotes.
I'm not of the camp that sermons should deviate from good exegesis and solid theological extraction. I'm not of the camp that sermons should be "Chicken Soup for the Soul" types of speeches either. Sermons should be the communication of God's word through a real human agent who has experienced and is experiencing God's living presence in their heart and lives.
I feel that I can only preach what God has been teaching me and what I've been experiencing. I would rather be real and authentic, than an empty voice.
Lord, may I know you more and guide others to know you more.
The Summer months have been filled with a study through Romans and it's been amazing to saturate my mind in it and to allow my heart to be wrenched from the inside out in regards to the greatness of the Gospel.
Something that I've been realizing and felt a conviction over the past several weeks...
My goal is not to convey how much I studied throughout the week. Sermons should not be lectures. It's pretty clear that when you look up synonyms for 'sermon', you're not going to find lecture anywhere near it. In Christendom, sermons have ranged from heavy theological lessons to fluffy feel good self-help anecdotes.
I'm not of the camp that sermons should deviate from good exegesis and solid theological extraction. I'm not of the camp that sermons should be "Chicken Soup for the Soul" types of speeches either. Sermons should be the communication of God's word through a real human agent who has experienced and is experiencing God's living presence in their heart and lives.
I feel that I can only preach what God has been teaching me and what I've been experiencing. I would rather be real and authentic, than an empty voice.
Lord, may I know you more and guide others to know you more.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Praying as a way of Life
I have been experiencing more and more, the many things that I've been learning. It's as if God wants me to "know" Him more and more.
Here are some updates....
I gave a sermon on the Pentagon LifeShape which is really about "knowing your role in life." Paul made it so clear that we need to fulfill our role in the life of the church in his letter to the Ephesians. The power of God's grace is that it enables us to see that we are gifts to His church. We serve by God's grace. We give out of an overflow of His grace.
This past Sunday, I gave a sermon on the Hexagon LifeShape which is really about "praying as a way of life." The topic was really on the Lord's Prayer. As I watched my daughter perform at her dance recital on Saturday, it brought back memories of my own recital days. Here's the dark and hidden secret of my life. I use to... "play the flute." Yes, it's true. It sends chills down my spine as a I think about it.
But with recitals, we are called to play a master piece of another great composer or writer. We recite their music. Why? Because reciting their music is going to teach us real music. In a similar way, when we recite the Lord's prayer, we are reciting a master piece of a prayer. We learn how to pray when we pray as Jesus taught us to pray.
Read Matthew 6:9-13 and meditate on each line, each phrase, and each word.
Toward the end, I encouraged our congregation to recite the Lord's prayer 3 times a day instead of praying over a meal, and then I changed it to 2 times. I said, "alright maybe just 2 times a day instead." Then, it's as if God was speaking, because there was a power surge and the power almost went out. I decided that God was speaking and I changed it to 3 times a day, and the lights were fine. "Lord, thanks for speaking so clearly that day." Coincidence or God? Hmmmmm... You know what I think about it.
Pray the Lord's prayer this week, 3 times a day. Shalom.
Here are some updates....
I gave a sermon on the Pentagon LifeShape which is really about "knowing your role in life." Paul made it so clear that we need to fulfill our role in the life of the church in his letter to the Ephesians. The power of God's grace is that it enables us to see that we are gifts to His church. We serve by God's grace. We give out of an overflow of His grace.
This past Sunday, I gave a sermon on the Hexagon LifeShape which is really about "praying as a way of life." The topic was really on the Lord's Prayer. As I watched my daughter perform at her dance recital on Saturday, it brought back memories of my own recital days. Here's the dark and hidden secret of my life. I use to... "play the flute." Yes, it's true. It sends chills down my spine as a I think about it.
But with recitals, we are called to play a master piece of another great composer or writer. We recite their music. Why? Because reciting their music is going to teach us real music. In a similar way, when we recite the Lord's prayer, we are reciting a master piece of a prayer. We learn how to pray when we pray as Jesus taught us to pray.
Read Matthew 6:9-13 and meditate on each line, each phrase, and each word.
Toward the end, I encouraged our congregation to recite the Lord's prayer 3 times a day instead of praying over a meal, and then I changed it to 2 times. I said, "alright maybe just 2 times a day instead." Then, it's as if God was speaking, because there was a power surge and the power almost went out. I decided that God was speaking and I changed it to 3 times a day, and the lights were fine. "Lord, thanks for speaking so clearly that day." Coincidence or God? Hmmmmm... You know what I think about it.
Pray the Lord's prayer this week, 3 times a day. Shalom.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
More to this Life, A Passionate Life
Going through the motions of life. What's your routine? Some people like routines because they value consistency. Some people dread routine because they see it as monotony.
When the things that you do become routine, we sometimes drift into the mode of going through the motions without intentionality or appreciation.
There is a great song by Steve Curtis Chapman called "More to this Life". It captures the feelings that many of us go through when we're going through that daily grind: wake-up, breakfast, commute, work, commute, dinner, catch up, time with God, sleep, etc.
There truly is more to this life. That "more" is found when we go back to the heart of discipleship. Mike Breen wrote a book titled, "A Passionate Life" that talks about getting back to the heart of discipleship, which is more about being a disciple and less about the activity of discipleship.
Mike Breen teaches discipleship principles by using LifeShapes (basic geometric shapes that remind us of key principles for walking with Jesus in our everyday lives).
The first shape is the Circle: Learning from Life. Life is an arrow where we sometimes focus our eyes on eternity and heaven. But is life just about trying to survive to make sure we get to heaven? Obviously not.
We all have Kairos moments? Key moments that are both good or bad that enable us to experience discipleship as we stop to enter the portal of the Kingdom to practice two activities: Repent and Believe.
Last Sunday, I experienced a Kairos moment. As I was driving on t\he 210 Freeway from Church, and headed to my son's 1st baseball game. The front tire tread came off and flew into the air and I had to pull to the side of the road. Out in the middle of Sun Valley, the Tow Truck wasn't coming for another hour. So, I tried to change the tire myself. Several difficulties arose. The wrench to unscrew the nut was small and thus it was difficult to remove the nut. So, I stepped on it to get some leverage. And guess what happened? The nut and stud broke off. "Oh great!" I said to myself. I should've said it outl oud since no one would've heard me in the midst of freeway noise. Then I successfully removed 3 more nuts from the studs without a glitch. Then as I got to the final one, it was an irregular size nut. It didn't fit my wrench. I couldn't get it off. So I had to wait until the Tow Truck came. The metro truck came first, but the guy didn't want to break off the stud so he left it alone. Another tow truck came, and this guy broke off the stud. I had a replacement tire, but that meant I could only put 3 nuts on 3 studs and of course, that's not very safe. But I had to risk it. It was Sunday, and all mechanics were closed that day. Somehow I safely made it to Kragen, got the replacements parts. I went to my father-in-law's place and we fixed the tired. I missed the game. I got home late. And all that ran through my mine was, "Lord why did that happen?" Then it struck me. The tire was my first shape: the Circle. The lesson I learned on the 210 freeway was a Kairos moment. I once again experienced my sermon before I preached it.
Thank you Jesus for that Kairos moment to stop and go through the stages of repentance and belief.
Pray for God to give you some Kairos moments this week. It's a scary prayer, but it's a great one to experience.
When the things that you do become routine, we sometimes drift into the mode of going through the motions without intentionality or appreciation.
There is a great song by Steve Curtis Chapman called "More to this Life". It captures the feelings that many of us go through when we're going through that daily grind: wake-up, breakfast, commute, work, commute, dinner, catch up, time with God, sleep, etc.
There truly is more to this life. That "more" is found when we go back to the heart of discipleship. Mike Breen wrote a book titled, "A Passionate Life" that talks about getting back to the heart of discipleship, which is more about being a disciple and less about the activity of discipleship.
Mike Breen teaches discipleship principles by using LifeShapes (basic geometric shapes that remind us of key principles for walking with Jesus in our everyday lives).
The first shape is the Circle: Learning from Life. Life is an arrow where we sometimes focus our eyes on eternity and heaven. But is life just about trying to survive to make sure we get to heaven? Obviously not.
We all have Kairos moments? Key moments that are both good or bad that enable us to experience discipleship as we stop to enter the portal of the Kingdom to practice two activities: Repent and Believe.
Last Sunday, I experienced a Kairos moment. As I was driving on t\he 210 Freeway from Church, and headed to my son's 1st baseball game. The front tire tread came off and flew into the air and I had to pull to the side of the road. Out in the middle of Sun Valley, the Tow Truck wasn't coming for another hour. So, I tried to change the tire myself. Several difficulties arose. The wrench to unscrew the nut was small and thus it was difficult to remove the nut. So, I stepped on it to get some leverage. And guess what happened? The nut and stud broke off. "Oh great!" I said to myself. I should've said it outl oud since no one would've heard me in the midst of freeway noise. Then I successfully removed 3 more nuts from the studs without a glitch. Then as I got to the final one, it was an irregular size nut. It didn't fit my wrench. I couldn't get it off. So I had to wait until the Tow Truck came. The metro truck came first, but the guy didn't want to break off the stud so he left it alone. Another tow truck came, and this guy broke off the stud. I had a replacement tire, but that meant I could only put 3 nuts on 3 studs and of course, that's not very safe. But I had to risk it. It was Sunday, and all mechanics were closed that day. Somehow I safely made it to Kragen, got the replacements parts. I went to my father-in-law's place and we fixed the tired. I missed the game. I got home late. And all that ran through my mine was, "Lord why did that happen?" Then it struck me. The tire was my first shape: the Circle. The lesson I learned on the 210 freeway was a Kairos moment. I once again experienced my sermon before I preached it.
Thank you Jesus for that Kairos moment to stop and go through the stages of repentance and belief.
Pray for God to give you some Kairos moments this week. It's a scary prayer, but it's a great one to experience.
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