For the same reason that He made sunsets and mountain ranges and fireflies! Because He's good. Because He wants to give us a million different opportunities to see how wonderful He is.

- Josh Harris, Boy meets Girl

aw...

message from Pastor Vince Burke, CCF, June 22, 2008

Every time we see a giant… we should also realize that we have a big God.

Giants are small if we put into our hearts that we have a giant GOD.

1. Giant Guilt : You are Clean

There are a lot of times that we think that we don’t deserve good things in life, we think that we’re worth less than what we really are. God is just so everyone who has sin should suffer its consequence – death. But God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) The death of Jesus paid for our sins. God is just so someone need to be face the wrath of God, but because He loves us, we don’t have to face that punishment because God sent His Son to clean us. We are clean and we deserve God’s love.

2 Timothy 2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

John 13:10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean though not everyone of you.”

1 Corinthians 6:11 And that was what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Revelations 1:5-6 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the rules of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

2. Giant Compromise : Seek Him First

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

2 Timothy 2:4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Don’t compromise! Choose God first.

What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? We shouldn’t make earthly treasures fill our hearts, instead fill it up with God’s words and He will satisfy all our needs. What matters is the end, so choose God first.

3. Giant Confusion : Good and Hard

God can take hardships and turn them into good things.

1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the suffering of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

Romans 8:28 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.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle, I am humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

God said, He will give us rest. Whenever we feel hardships in our lives, pray about it and give it to God. He will take care of it, He will give us rest and then… He will transform it into something good.

4. Giant Failure : Don’t look back

Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

In a basketball game, do you care who wins per quarter? In this year’s NBA Finals Celtics trailed for a few quarters during one game, but they catch up and won the final score. It doesn’t matter if you do good or you do bad during the start and in the middle, what matters is how you will react to it. God don’t care if you’re broken majority of your life, but would you change yourself and pick up your life and submit it to Him before it ends? What matters is the end.

5. Giant Discouragement : Never give up

Never give-up sharing Jesus because people need the Lord.

Isaiah 40:30-31 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and now grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross scouring his shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills –
     where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you –
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm –
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

The message this Sunday is about Psalm 121, I feel blessed with the message. I was writing and writing and writing everything the Pastor Dale was saying because everything touches an inner part of me. I always feel blessed when God reassures me that He is everything I need. I am happy that in seek my peace in God and not on mountains, or any other place or position. I am blessed because my help, hope, trust, rest, my future, security are not found in any place or position in the society. It is not dependent on a mountain, a hill, a white-sand beach, a house, a university diploma, a position in an organization or company, but in Jesus, in God alone. God is with me, so I don’t have to look at the mountains but I am looking at the Maker of the mountain. Isn’t that feeling great?

The Lord is my keeper and my help comes from Him.

1. He is the watchman of the wall.

He blesses me, and looks at the future for me. He knows everything, the number of hair I have on my head, the problems and insecurities I have, and even my future. He watches over the wall of what’s coming, warn me, and prepare me for it. He is my God.

2. He is the gardener tending the garden.

Like a gardener, God removes what’s wrong about me. He lets the good ones grow and cut out the bad portions of me.

3. He is like an attorney who carefully follows every detail of the contract.

He takes care of every detail of my life. He knows all my worries, my pains, my needs, and my happiness, and joy. With his presence, I feel safe, I feel protected.

4. He keeps me.

I only need to know God’s presence is here and I’ll be okay. Because God keeps me. Pastor Dale, painted a picture of a father and a daughter. I can’t fully comprehend the feeling because I am not yet a father but I guess fathers will be able to completely understand this.

He said that the best example is when your children is just 6 years old and think that her father can do anything! He continued his story, saying that her daughter once asked, father, do you know where this path leads to? However, it was the first time they both came to this park, so the father said no, I am not yet familiar with it. Her daughter still put her trust on the father, it doesn’t matter if she does not know where the path leads, but knowing that her father is with her, she feels safe.

Do we feel the same way when we are with God?

God will be with us like in marriage – in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer. Do we allow a marriage relationship with God? Do we trust Him to be with us forever?

A blessing to protect us from evil

Revelations 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpernt called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. he was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Jesus called Satan a murderer, a liar, and the father of it.

The Holy Spirit is always with us, to protect us from evil and deliver us from temptation.

A good example is the English word Godspeed. It means God be with you in your journey. It was first used in Genesis 24:12.

God will protect us. He will watch over our coming and going, now and forevermore. It is a comprehensive coverage. COOL :)

For Christians, WORK is a blessing from God

On a side note, Pastor Dale said something interesting about work. I’ve never thought of it this way before. He said Work is a blessing from God. I said, what?! How could it be when I feel tired and in need of rest after a day of work.

In Genesis, God created the Garden of Eden and in there, Adam and Eve needs to work. It was a blessing from God that they need to work. But because they were tempted, and ejected from the garden, God said, work will be difficult and tiring. (Genesis 3:17-19). However, we will see how much love God has for us, He still sustains us. He sent His Son to save us, and with Jesus coming, we have the Holy Spirit to be with us. God sustains us even though work is difficult, so Christians should continue to seek God in their work, continue praising Him, continuing showing who Jesus is, and make work a blessing from God, and a privilege to let other people come to God.

Thank you, God for another refreshing and blessing Sunday message in SCF. Thank you for speaking to me through the pastors and the choir in church. Please continue to work in me, change me, make me a better person, a better servant. I love you, and I hope I’ll be able to show and share my love for you to others. These I pray in Jesus strong and mighty name, Amen.

I am worried again today because I feel that I am nothing without Christ. I made lots of mistakes in the past. I am not a good Christian. I’ve changed a lot but I am still afraid of my past. I’ve left my country and had become a better person in Shanghai, but all of my friends still know me as Erwin, the crazy guy. Anyway, I am telling my friend about this concern, we’re close friends while we were in highschool but we lose contact after that. It just feels great to have a friend who hangs there. A friend who does not need anything to continue being a friend. Cars need fuel to go, cellphones needs batteries to make a call, but true friends… they never need anything, they suddenly pop-out when you need them the most. So, my friend gave me this verse…

1 Timothy 4:12 don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Move on! I’m young, forget the past, build on the future! I am someone because God created me in His own image and likeness.

Thank you, friend.

Last Sunday, the message in CCF is about fathers and how important their role are in a family. I would not want to make a generalization but a lot of the famous atheists came from a family where there is a problematic father. Of course, I am not saying that if your father is good, you will be a perfect man, but statistic shows that a family with a good father has a greater probability of having good children as well.

Pastor Peter went on saying that, if a father and a mother goes to church with their children, there is an 80% chance that the children will grow up serving the Lord. However, if only the mother went to church with the children, the percentage suddenly drops to 30%. On the other hand, if only the father goes to church with the children, the percentage goes up as high as 70%. Father plays an important role in a family.

I came to reflect about myself. It is quite easy to see that I don’t have a strong relationship with my father as well. I had problems with him, his temper, his values, and his attitude. My father is not a Christian. So when Pastor Peter asked to reflect about the things that comes into mind when we think about our fathers, my answer was, negative. There are 3 possible answers – positive, you have a strong relationship with your father. neutral, you don’t actually care about it. lastly, negative, you want to run away from your father, you don’t want to become like your father, you want anything that has to do with your father. Upon having that answer, I also realized that I have to fix this feeling because it is not what God wanted. I felt that God has been constantly repairing every part of my life.

God wants us to think of us as a father, a bridegroom, a shepherd but what comes into your mind when you think about God?

According to the Bible, these are the main important points to become a good father.

1. A great father knows.

Matthew 6:25-26 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about you body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than them?

A father knows what’s best because he knows all his children’s needs.

2. A great father provides.

Providing is not about providing just money and material things. Fathers need to have wisdom on how much to give. He should know what and how much to give.

In the Old Testament, God delivered His people from Egypt and brought them into the dessert, there are no food in the dessert so God provided manna. He said, everyday the food will come down from heaven and you should only get all you can eat for the day but the people got more and store it for tomorrow. The next day, there were worms in the food. But God also instructed his people to get more than a day’s worth on the day before Sabbath, because He wants them to worship Him on the Sabbath. This is the proof that God provides what he thinks we need. It is not always 1 + 1 = 2 for God, because sometimes 1 + 1 is more than enough. For God, the answer for 1 + 1, 2 + 2, 3 + 3, … 1000 + 1000 is “it depends" on the need.

3. A great father disciplines and trains.

Training is different from nagging, it’s different from merely showing, and the normal training we know from schools. Training is about changing the internal mechanism of a man. It is about building a relationship, spending time with each other, and guidance towards what’s right in the eyes of the Lord.

4. A great father loves.

1 John 3:1 says “How great is the love of the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him”

How much does God loves us? Psalm 103 : 11 - 13 says "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;"

Love is TIME. It is not money, toys, cars, and other material things. We spend time with people to show we love them.

I find these Father rules interesting and true...

1. I would love my wife more
2. I would laugh more
3. I would spend more time
4. I would pray more and worry less
5. I would appreciate more and criticize less
6. I would encourage more and correct less

I am not yet a father, and I don't even have a girlfriend to begin with, but I will start praying to God that I can be a father that is honoring to Him. I hope that if it is my chance to become a father I would be able to show my children who God is in my life and who God can be and should be in theirs. Being a father is a complicated thing, because children are so unpredictable and foolish. With today's world view, I think it became more difficult to parent a child because people have become too materialistic, too worldly, and too cheap. They've let go of their love for God and filled their hearts with love for money.

I am proud of my father because he was able to raise a family of four. I understand the challenges in being parents and raising up children whose focus is on God because at the same time, parents also needs to provide the material needs of the children. I feel all this pressure now, what else if I become a father someday.

God, continue to fix me, humble me, change my heart. I allow you to make me a completely new me. Prepare me to become more like you. Prepare me for my future wife, and children that I may love them as you want me to. Mold me to become a good father in the future, a good trainer, provider, and that I may have the wisdom to know what my family really needs, and the heart as big as yours to love them purely. All these in Jesus mighty name, Amen.

** Just a side note... after writing a prayer and praying inside my head, I thought that when my children read these in the future, will they find it cute? will they find it scary? will they feel how much I love them? Will I be able to show them how much more the love of God is, through my love? There are a lot of questions... funny but yea, this makes life interesting. we'll never know what's going to happen in the future.

John Piper is a fantastic pastor. I thank God for giving him wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of His Word. He have already explained to me a lot of things and I thank him for continuing to allow people to download a copy of his great works for free in the internet. Today, I was going through his site and I saw this very interesting article... How can Jesus be God and man?

You have to read it yourself, but this is the part that struck me the most. It made me feel that God has a plan for all of these from the beginning. It made me feel that He is in control and I can trust His steadfast love and He will be faithful in His promises.

But what exactly do we mean when we say that God the Son became man? We certainly do not mean that He turned into a man, in the sense that He stopped being God and started being man. Jesus did not give up any of His divinity in the Incarnation, as is evident from the verses we saw earlier. Rather, as one early theologian put it, "Remaining what He was, He became what He was not." Christ "was not now God minus some elements of His deity, but God plus all that He had made His own by taking manhood to Himself."[3] Thus, Jesus did not give up any of His divine attributes at the Incarnation. He remained in full possession of all of them. For if He were to ever give up any of His divine attributes, He would cease being God.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,…

I just blogged about the message a while ago in SCF about “Starting well… and finishing well”. However, God spoke to me again about this topic through my daily devotion, titled "Staying in the rece". The article was about people who have been enthusiastic about their faith but later on lose their grip and went on living an unChristian life. They forgot about God and who He was in their lives. At that moment, I felt God telling me, “Erwin, you’re doing a great job discovering me, and my love for you. You’ve been trying to improve yourself for me and my kingdom, but Erwin, you have to keep up and stay in the race. It matters to me what the final result is.”

It’s a challenge but the article in my devotion tells me that one way to stay in the race is to talk to people who have been constant in their faith or more than 50 years. Because when you talk with these people you will see that they’ve had heartaches, troubles, and sufferings but they will tell you God’s faithfulness, and you’ll hear them speak out a heart that continues to delight in Him.

I’ll do that. I’ll keep up with the race. I’ll love God more than anything.

The message today in SCF is about "Start well... Finish well". Easy to say, yet a lot of people (including me) had difficulty in accomplishing.

People often says, "You're off for a good start!". People often celebrate starts (E.G. opening of a business, graduation, marriage) But these good starts rarely finish good as well. Today's message is a reminder that God wants me, us, to start good with our lives, but continue doing what you're doing good until the end. Don't get tired, don't lose hold, but always keep pushing, keep persevering, keep walking with God.

The example used today was Asa, the great great grand son of David. (2 Chronicles 15:2) It was said that he was with God.

1. Be with God. Being with God means trusting in God. When we choose God, He will definitely ask you to trust Him. God was with Asa, Asa was walking with God. So, Asa trusted God when he and his 300,000 soldiers went into war with 1,000,000 soldiers. He trusted God's power to deliver his kingdom.

2. Take courage.  Taking courage means do not lose heart. It literally means, do not drop your hands. It means being willing to do what others are not willing to take. It means taking the extra step when everybody else are tired. Asa took courage to destroy the idols in his kingdom. God is a jealous God, so Asa took the courage to tell his people that there should be no other gods but the living God.

3. Finish well. When we see the rubbles after a tornado, a typhoon, or an earthquake but didn't know what happened, the first thing we ask is... "What happened here?" If people see the life of Asa, defeated at the end of his reign, we'll disregard his past greatness. Asa did not finished well, he stopped walking with God and used the silvers in the temple to pay another kingdom to fight its war. Asa did not continually trust in God.

So, point of today's message is that, we have to start our journey well, and do well until the end. That's what God wants for us.

God has been constantly defining what love is to me recently. Last week, He told me about 1 John 4:16-19 , it says God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

Today in SCF, the message was also about love. 1 Corinthians 12:31, 1 Corinthians 13. It says… “But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way…" 1 Corinthians 13 has 3 important points according to the speaker today.

1. Love is a verb. It is an action. If you look at John 3:16, it says "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Also in John 1:14, 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. God loves us and He did something concrete to show us His love. Therefore, a love that is in God requires action.

Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.  - 1 Corinthians 14:12

God's love is wonderful, and it is how God wants us to love.

2. Love is eternity. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Love is forever, when everything else fails, love will prevail. I think it also means that we should have faith in Jesus Christ, have hope in His kingdom, but above all, love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your strength, and with everything you have.

I knew 1 Corinthians 13 is about love, but this is the first time I read it with a heart that is open for God. I understood today how much God loves me and because of that I should not be afraid to love other people. It is God's love for me that should be shown to other people.

God is love. In 1 Corinthians 13:2, it says "...if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing." Faith without God is nothing. Doing good deeds without God is nothing. In John 14:6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 John 4:7-10 says "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

So why do we have to love one another? 1 John 4:11 continue saying that "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

So, can we love without God? No. God loved us first, that's why we can love. Love without God is not love because God is love.

Love is not a just a feeling. It feels exciting to fall in love and to be in love but if you put God in the center of a relationship, God's work will make the relationship exciting forever!

I was trying to use Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2 today and I came across a lot of issues. I am an ASP.Net developer so I am not used to the issues about cross domain stuff. In ASP.Net it is easy to read RSS feeds, but that wasn't as easy in Silverlight. Silverlight can only access resources in its own domain. If you need to access another domain, that domain should consciously allow you to access their resources through an crossdomain xml configuration file. If that file is not present, Silverlight will not download the contents and will just say that the resource you are trying to get is not found.

I thought it was just an RSS issue, but the same is true for images. That's weird.

Everyone needs compassion
Love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

Verse 2:
So take as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Bridge:
Shine your light
And let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory of the risen King, Jesus

Artist - Hillsong United

Album - Various Songs

Lyrics - Still

This post is from http://www.crosswalk.com's article... Finding Fulfillment in Life

People, places and things are the gifts of life, not the Source of life …

—Gary Smalley

If I ever start to feel worry, fear, hurt, or any other negative emotion, I thank God for them. Then I pray and ask forgiveness for focusing on something thatis less than Himself. Finally, I ask Him alone to fill my life. Psalm 62 says that we are to wait and hope in God alone. He's our rock, our salvation, our rear guard, our hiding place. He's everything we'll ever need! Nothing on this earth compares to knowing Him (Philippians 3:7-9).

I have been quite interested in how to tell other people about the gospel and Jesus Christ. The questions that is raised by people who don't believe in any religion and who live in a country that does not have Christianity as a major religion have a couple interesting questions...

First, we decide our own fate, why do you think there is a God? There's reason for everything and science can explain it.

Second, any religion I choose is the same. It is the same with the fact that we should do good, we should love one another, and don't do evil.

John Piper answered the second question in a way I've never heard of. In his article "Is Christianity just a bunch of rules for how to live?", he said that Christianity before it became a religion is a good news.

What I liked about his description is the picture he painted using the Vietnam war scenario.

It's like we're in a war, in a concentration camp, and suddenly you're hearing on the smuggled-in radio that the troops of deliverance have landed in helicopters five miles away. They're conquering everything in their path and they're just about to get to the gate and open the doors. And having lived all your life in this concentration camp, you're now going to be set free.

That's Christianity. It's news that God sent rescue troops into the world, namely Jesus Christ, and that at great cost to himself he has conquered our enemy the Devil, opened the gates of the concentration camp, and welcomed us home. And then you add the beautiful image of bride and bridegroom and realize that this is not just a soldier who simply frees you go and do what want to do. He's you're husband, as it were, who has been separated from you for years and years, and you're the wife who has been in the camp. And when the gates are opened there he stands on the other side, and the kinds of affections are huge.

Isn't Christianity wonderful? It's more than a religion, it's the good news sent by God to His people.

1 John 4:16-19 … God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

I have to blog about today’s article in Our Daily Journey (the daily devotion that I have been reading staring January of this year) because it’s about the relationship between love and fear.

The apostle John gives us a clue about how to handle the fear factor in our lives: Replace it with love.

Maybe the first question, you’ll ask is… what?! The article continue what it means…

Jesus is the best example. He had much to fear in surrendering to the experience of death on the cross, but His love for His Father and His love for you and me superseded His fears. When we fully comprehend the depth of His love for us, we are empowered to extend His love to others.

An additional ally for overcoming fear – trust – is implied here as well. Often it’s the fear of who will take care of me if I’m so busy looking after the needs of others that holds us back from living a life of love. Are you afraid that in your love you will become vulnerable, misunderstood, taken advantage of, or misused? Trust God to watch over you, meet your needs, and give you His best, and those fears will become increasingly non-existent.

Fear is conquered by love through Jesus Christ.

I noticed that I haven’t been blogging anything Shanghai here. So maybe, I should at least start.

So, I’ve been here since December, and I find Shanghai a peaceful, busy, and crowded city. Everything is Chinese so if you can’t speak Chinese, life would be tough! (but that’s challenging!) I have a French officemate and he told me how to goes home when he first came to Shanghai. He took the taxi all the time and just show the taxi driver the characters on his phone. Pretty cool! But I was laughing-out-loud when he told me about his cellphone running out of battery and he needs to point to the right and say umm..umm! to ask the taxi driver to go right, and the same with the left. It is just completely different in a non-English speaking country.

Well, aside from Shanghai not being an English speaking country, I enjoy being here. I am proud that I have learned a little Chinese through every conversation, chinese songs, Chinese TV series, but I wouldn’t qualify myself as a conversational Chinese speaker. (maybe, survival Chinese speaker)

I’ve been here for quite some time and I have experienced several holidays. Normally in the Philippines, I don’t want holidays to end but in China… I am so bored after 2 days of sleeping and staying at home. My first holiday is the Chinese New year last February which lasted for 7 straight days! My second holiday is April, their all-souls day. Third is the labor day on May 1 and now June, there’s the dragon boat festival holiday. So all the other holidays are just long weekends except for the Chinese New Year which is a 3 day holiday. China has an interesting way of making the holidays longer, they ask people to work even on weekends and move those weekends worked and make the holiday break longer. Maybe I would appreciate these breaks more if I am with my friends and family. I miss Manila and all the chaos there. There’s no traffic in Shanghai, there’s sidewalk everywhere, there are proper bus stops, 9 subway lines, and I feel safe here. But, I love Manila! I want the traffic, the excitement in waiting and fighting for a ride for FX in the middle of the street in Cubao, there’s no bus stop, the bus can stop anywhere like a taxi, the subway? We only have 3 short lines and all trains are full of people where every virtually love each other without a choice, we hug! That’s the summary of what you’ll experience in Manila, but I love and I miss the city anyway! See you in September, Manila.

Funny, that I started this blog thinking that I didn’t have any blog entries about Shanghai but at the end of this blog, the subject is not Shanghai but Manila again.

Luke 24:32 Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?

The message from Shanghai Community Fellowship today, about who Jesus is spoke to me in different ways. It talks about Luke 24:13-35.

There were two believers talking about the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus appeared to them and asked them about what they are talking about. They were not able to recognize Jesus and they told him what they are talking about… They said that Jesus was a great prophet, powerful in the word and deed before God and all the people but the chief priests and the rules handed him over to be crucified. They said that they were expecting that Jesus is the redeemer, the savior of Israel, but he died. Then, they mentioned that the body is now missing on the third day of this death. Hearing this, Jesus said, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart of believe all that the prophets have spoken!" Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

It was unexplainable why the two believers did not recognize that they were talking with Jesus. The question was, Why did God restrain them from seeing and recognizing Him?

1. Some things are better communicated while we are on our way.

Why? When we are in our comfort zones, we tend not to listen. We tend to be too proud and too easy with everything. When God finds us on our most uncomfortable place, that’s the time that He begins talking and revealing to us.

God is not only concerned about the final answer. In Math Exams, even if you get the right answer in a multiple choice question, sometimes the teacher wants to check how to arrived at your answer before giving you the full credit for it. Jesus cares about how we got the final answer. He reveals to us not when we reach the final destination but slowly and gradually as we travel towards the final destination.

God has a plan for us, he sees the bigger picture so trust in Him. I hope that when I get to the final destination, I know and I can say that God revealed to me slowly and gradually throughout my journey and now that I am near my final destination, I know in my heart, that I know God.

2. Timing

3. Because God’s perspective is the right one and it is the right perspective He wants us to have.

God is incomprehensible sometimes but trust His heart. He is always good, He is always wise, always merciful, just, and graceful. He is powerful, and His love for His children is steadfast. He is faithful in His promises.

God restrains us from seeing Him and doing something for our good. Because God cares about the process, not just the final result.

Last week, I am asking God why didn’t it happen smoothly if you allowed me to meet her? I understand now that God has a reason for restraining me from what I want to do. I think God wants me to learn more things before I reach the final destination. I believe that He has blessed me with someone and He wants me to do it His way this time around. I don’t know if everything will continue to go well in the future. I don’t know what God plan is, but I trust in His works that whatever it is, He is guiding me to best pastures He knows there is.

I will continue trusting in God and I try my best to grow as a Christian in every little way I can.

I find this article from http://www.crosswalk.com interesting. It list down personal characteristics that we should mold ourselves into to see God in our daily lives. I’ve seen how God works, but I know a lot of work still needs to be done on the following areas of my life. I am only beginning, there’s a long journey ahead of me.

1. Humility.

The article is saying… “Stop trying to limit or control God’s work; accept that God will be God on His terms, not yours.” I am guilty of this, sometimes, I say, God do this and I will do this for you. I need to have enough humility to just say, God I’ll do this for you because I love you and I want to show other people in this world who You can be in their lives

“Don’t waste your time or energy on trying to impress God. Instead, know that it’s enough simply to be yourself before God, and that God sees your humility as a beautiful response to His invitation to intimacy.”

I think the most important of all is…

“Remember Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross often, and let His great gift of salvation humble you. Understand that you’re worthy of God’s love only because He has made you so – not because of anything you’ve done – and He will treasure you forever, no matter what.”

What Jesus has did freed us from everything related to sin. Let us use this power and cherish the gift of eternal life.

2. Community

Reject the world’s lies: “I am what I have,” “I am what other people say about me,” and “I am what I do.” Instead, embrace the reality that you’re valuable because God has ascribed great worth to you, regardless of what you have, what others say about you, and what you do. Let the truth of God’s unconditional love validate you and free you to enter into healthy relationships with other people whom God loves.

I am guilty of this. I am conscious about what other will think of me instead of what God will think. I am afraid of what will happen next instead of asking God to control what’s going to happen next. I should join a community where Christians express the love of Christ to each other unconditionally. I should join a cell group really soon.

Ask God to help you recognize Him when you encounter people in great need, and to motivate and empower you to reach out to them as He intends. Give generously to others as God lead you to share your time, talents, and money. Rather than just giving from your leftovers, try to give the best of what you have. Instead of just giving handouts, try to empower poor people.

3. Simplicity

Eliminate everything in your life that’s distracting you from focusing on what God considers most important. Build your priorities around those core values to experience the freedom God wants for you. Don’t make simplicity an end in itself, or it will only lead to legalism. Instead, simplify your life so that you can better pursue what God wants you to pursue – including giving generously to others.

It continued saying that simplicity will allow ourselves to release our hold on other worldly things that includes money, time, energy and completely giving everything to the works of the Lord.

4. Submission

Resist the urge to assert yourself as God by trying to control your life. Instead, trust God with every part of your life, remembering His great love and kindness. Know that God truly wants the best for you.

Sometimes we think we know what’s best for us, but normally we are wrong. God knows our greenest pasture. Read Psalm 23 and know how God valuably treat everyone of His creation.

I think this is my weakest point. I find it hard to completely trust God. Just last night, I know God didn’t want me to do something, but I insist. I end up hurting myself. I end up messing up a lot of things. It was perfect when I was trusting in what God was telling me, but when I tried something and trusted on my own way, that’s where everything goes wrong.

Proverbs 3:3 says… trust in the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind Lean not on your own understanding, with all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.

5. Brokenness

I know how much God loves me because of I accept the fact that I am a sinner and I am not perfect. Ever since I started thinking, I know I also started sinning consciously against Him. God knew that, but He continued loving me.

God uses your brokenness to transform you personally, bringing you the healing you need. Then, He calls you into action to serve others, empowering you to transform the broken parts of the fallen world with His love flowing through you. So brokenness, with God, leads to wholeness.