Books and Songs

Books that I've read or am reading currently:

Recent music that I've discovered:

The Johnson Family


preview tracks from The Atonement

Don't Waste Your Life

I don't want to get to the end of my one and only life and realize I've wasted it. Probably everyone wants his or her life to count for something and to matter; there are certainly very few people who want to waste their lives.

But what does it mean to waste your life? And what does it mean for your life to count, to matter, and to be meaningful? Really, both of those questions boil down to this: Why do you exist? What are you here for? Isaiah 43:6-7 makes it clear that God created us for this purpose: to glorify Him. Humanity was intended to reflect praise and honor to God; we were designed to make much of God. In other words, you exist to point praise and glory to God.
If your life doesn't fulfill its purpose, then it was wasted. Specifically, a wasted life is one that fails to make much of God.

Given the purpose of our lives—as stated in Isaiah 43:6-7—it should be no surprise that Paul gives this command: whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). In other words, everything you do should be done to fulfill your purpose, which is giving glory to God.

The Apostle Paul determined not to waste his life; instead, he set his heart on glorifying God by spreading the message of Christ: I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace (Acts 20:24).
Paul was determined not to get tangled up in little dreams and small visions; he knew that the single purpose of telling everyone about Jesus is greater than every distraction. Because of his vision, passion, and purpose, Paul's life was not wasted. Compare what Paul said in Acts 20:24 about his desire to "run the race" with what he wrote decades later in 2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Paul's life was not wasted; he lived every day purposefully for the glory of God.

Take Paul's example and try writing a "mission statement" for your life. Then, live a life driven by that mission. When you get to the end of your life, don't let your reflection on life be "I've wasted it." Instead, leverage your life in every way possible for the glory of God.
[http://www.christnotes.org/]

Here Comes the Bees

I cherish the rare moments I go into my backyard simply to get some midday sun. The newly planted Valencia orange tree is finally blossoming, after

consistent watering,
looking like this a few weeks ago:

to this:

When the tree was growing up, few took notice. Now that it is blossoming, some take notice and come to receive the unmerited gift of nectar.

The beautiful thing about this process is that the bees store that nectar until they return to their hive. Then they regurgitate the nectar into the mouths of the house or worker bees. These bees then add enzymes from their body which causes the water in the nectar to evaporate, thus producing honey. After it's stored in the honeycomb, if we wish, we take the honey that they worked so hard for, and consume it for our pleasure.

Jesus frequently takes the majesty of God's creation and teaches us its deeply rooted spiritual lesson. In this illustration, we see God's work in making the tree grow and blossom. We have no power to do that creative work. However, He shares His work by giving us the task of watering the tree to maturity. Can it still live if we did not bother watering it? It certainly can. God plants trees by rivers and other bodies of water and He also sends the rain in and out of season. God does not lose if we don't partake in His work. We lose. We miss out in what God is doing all around us. We miss out in seeing the fruit that comes from that work. We miss out on the pleasure of seeing those bees buzzing from flower to flower collecting nectar. We miss out in the appreciation that honey comes from a beautifully designed process.

So it is with prayer, with our quiet devotion to God, and with our service to Him. He is constantly moving, calling, and inviting us to be part of what He is doing. All this for the glory of His name. May we not be so attached to things that are seen, which are temporary, but look to the things unseen, which are eternal. Praise Him when we are invited to share in His work and may we never regret missing out in what our Father is doing.

Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?

"The only reason we don't have revival is because we are willing to live without it!"

"God pity us that after years of writing, using mountains of paper and rivers of ink, exhausting flashy terminology about the biggest revival meetings in history, we are still faced with gross corruption in every nation, as well as with the most prayerless church age since Pentecost."

"The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise ship recruiting the promising."

— Leonard Ravenhill

Beware of False Prophets and Know the True Lord!

Matthew 7 is jam-packed with some serious truth spoken by Jesus. Jesus starts by telling us not to judge, lest we also be judged. How we must be reminded constantly that we are not all-knowing like Christ and that sometimes we are not aware of that plank in our own eye. Then He goes on to tell to ask, seek, and knock, and He will provide. Right after that, there's these two verses that trip up many people.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Are you travelling on the broad or narrow road?

Then Jesus warns us, "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits." Some people have a problem with truth and what to believe because there's just too many "truths". We have hundreds if not thousands of religions and denominations galore which add to the confusion. How are we to know who is telling the truth? Jesus offers this simple test and observation: You will know them by their fruits. By observing their fruit, we can weed out many self-professing prophets. One of the greatest self-professing prophets is a man by the name of Muhammad, whom many believe to be the true prophet and a man of peace. Dr. Labib Mikhail, a Biblical and Islamic scholar, wrote a book called Islam: Muhammad and the Quran in which he investigates the character of Muhammad and the teachings of the Quran.


Click here for the online version. Take a look at the end of chapter 2 and examine for yourself whether he is a true prophet. If you want to do further study of the Quran, click here for an English translation. Be informed!

Ravi Zacharias explains the Quran



John Piper responds to a document called "A Common Word Between Us and You" in which Muslim clerics extended a right hand in an attempt to unify the Christian and Muslim faith.


In the next part of Matthew 7, Jesus utters something which is, in my opinion, the saddest and most hopeless statement that anyone will ever hear, "I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" He warns us, just because we claim to be Christian, just because we pray and say, "Lord, Lord," just because we do good things in His name, does not mean we will enter the kingdom of heaven. What is the key? "I never knew you." Do we know Him? Can we with confidence say that we've dined with our Saviour King? Have we spent much time with Him? Have we sat by His feet, in His presence, reading His Word and listening to His voice? Oh, that we're not deceived by the tide of this world. May we know our Lord passionately and intimately!

Awareness Test

My sis emailed me this halarious video link. Besides looking out for cyclists, what other implications can you conclude from this lesson?

Heaven and Hell

There are some, perhaps many, even attending church religiously, who question the reality of heaven and hell. It is understandable, since we don't personally know someone who have died in our lifetime who have come back to tell about it. Unless you were one of the witnesses who saw the glorified body of Christ after His resurrection, there is no physical proof of life after death. However, Christ said much about this subject:

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:19-31 KJV)

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:11-12 KJV)

He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 13:37-42 KJV)

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:47-50 KJV)

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:2-14 KJV)

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31-46 KJV)

And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. (Luke 12:4-5 KJV)

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3 KJV)

References that Jesus made about Hell: Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 11:23; 16:18; 18:9; 23:15, 33, 25:46; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 10:15; 12:5; 16:23; Revelation 1:18

Finally, the basis of our Christian faith is the resurrection of Christ. Paul argues it this way:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20 ESV)

Simply put, if Christ was not resurrected, we are still in our sins, still condemned before God, with no hope of reconciliation. Furthermore, all hope is lost, for all we do will come to an end. What does it matter if we die today than die tomorrow? I pity those who have no desire for life, for hope of the glorious reality of heaven. But for those whom God has placed this hope, we have His blessed assurance.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the Life was the Light of men. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 1:1-4, 3:16, 36 ESV)

Sermon

How My Pastoral Ministry Shapes My Pulpit Ministry
76 minute SOLID teaching by John Piper taken from recoverthegospel.com
Definitely worth listening to!

Clarification

Looking back at my previous posts, I've spent quite a significant amount of time speaking on the sinful depraved nature of man. I talked about the condition of our wicked nation and the corruption of churches. While I still believe this is all true, I also believe there is still goodness and hope in the midst of all this madness. Some people look and listen to people like me and they are turned off because it seems as if I am spewing brimstone, fire, and judgment. I read somewhere that good intentions can sometimes produce bad results, so I am constantly learning to love as God calls us to love. I am aware that Jesus did not come to condemn, that we already stand condemned, and that we are to do the same, to give others the message of hope and salvation. That is my primary goal and prayer of my heart. I want others to taste the goodness of God and to walk in glorious Light. We love, by serving, by caring for others, by praying for people. We can always be a bit less selfish and a bit more selfless.

Reflecting on Rob Bell's bullhorn guy... perhaps a bullhorn is not the best way to tell people that they already stand condemned. Rob Bell sees that even with good intentions, that method simply does not get through to people. Perhaps he is right. We do need to tell people the truth, that there is a heaven and hell, that we have eternal destinies, that we must give an account to God at the end of our lives, that God desires for us to walk in humility, repenting of our sins. Father, show us how we can do this to bring glory to You. AMEN.

The Emergent Church

Rob Bell/Nooma Expose




Parody of Emergent Guru Rob Bell's Nooma video entitled Bull Horn Guy.



McLaren's Attack Against the Doctrines of Hell and the Substitionary Atonement



("God wouldn't ask us to do something that He was incapable of doing" -- where in the Bible does it say that? There's one huge missing rationale that's missing here: God is God and we are not. We are not Holy as He is and thus we have no capacity to understand that He simply cannot "let things go," thus the necessity of the plan of salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ.

This is a good critique and response to the doctrines of Rob Bell, specifically to his book called Velvet Elvis, in which Bell describes the Christian faith as continually changing and growing. The critique is written by a layman named Mark Sohmer who attends a Bible-believing church and who seeks to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. http://www.sohmer.net/Velvet_Elvis.pdf

Question

pondering this... if Jesus Himself is the King of kings and the Name above all names, and is worthy praise from every creature, why do some churches infuse the attractiveness of the world to sell Him, as if Jesus Himself is not worthy enough? Why deceive, mislead, confuse people with the glitz and glamour of the world in order to bring them into the church, so that they can have a chance to "know" Jesus?

Physics Major, Eaglet in a Chicken Farm, and a Pig Eating Garbage

Here are three audio clips from a sermon by Paul Washer called "Being What You Are". They speak of what it means to love God and be born again.

Physics Major
Eaglet in a Chicken Farm
Pig Eating Garbage

This is another good sermon on video by Paul Washer: The Gospel and Regeneration

Photos of the Church on Western Ave./253rd. St.

Flickr

No Urgency

Someone once said that there is no rush to share the gospel, to talk about the things of God with people. Let them live their lives the way they want. Give them a lot of space to explore and if God comes along later, then so be it. Implication: ME now, GOD later. Why? Because if I start seeking after God now, I'll miss out on all the things I want to do. If I seek after God now, my life may get old and boring, like those old and boring church services where they read the same Bible verses over and over.

The truth is our lives and God are not separate entities. God created all things and is involved in every aspect of every created thing, including every second of your life. Seeking God later does not mean that God is absent now. God still has complete control of your life and can do anything He wants with you. Seeking God later just means that you don't care for His blessings and His love and His wisdom and His power now.

Some people ask, "Isn't living a good life enough?" Living a good life without God becomes a self-satisfying endeavor, and we miss the reason why we were created. We were created for Him and we are invited to live our lives with Him. If this is reality, how can one say there is no urgency to proclaim this truth? Because outside of this reality, there is no hope for the soul. God is light and everlasting life, and apart from Him, there is only darkness and everlasting torment. The only possible reason for the lack of urgency is that some people are hopelessly blind to the truth, and that only God, in His time (thus the lack of need to be urgent), can bring them to Him. Still, I believe that although God saves people in His time, we are still called to urgently preach the gospel, and not in the "give Jesus a try" kind of way, but with solid reasons why Christ is worthy to be worshipped. Urgency and the preaching of the Word of God, of God's holiness and wrath, of judgment and sin, and of grace, mercy, and redemption through the blood of Christ, has been the way God ordained His people to proclaim throughout the ages. More on this later...

Horror Movies - Good or Evil?

It has been a long day. There's much going on in the heavenlies that I'm not completely aware of, and I need to be more fervant in prayer. Please pray for me, that I will stay focused on God and not so distracted by earthly things. There was an interesting moment today with my second grade reading group. For some reason, a student shared that horror movies are fun to watch. Then almost every student (in a group of 8) raised their hands and shared the movies they liked. They had knowledge of names like Halloween the movie, Michael Myers, the Grudge, Chucky, and others. All this came from cute little 7 year old children. Without wasting much class time, I stopped the lesson and talked to them about the danger of watching those kind of movies. One of the boys said it's just for fun and that he knows that it's fake. I asked him how he can be sure that it's fake. I told him that things don't have to happen in "real life" in order for that thing to be real. The mind is a powerful thing, and if we let in dark and evil thoughts into our mind, we can't guarantee that we have control over its reality. I went on to tell them that I'm not their parent, and I don't have control over the things they watch at home, but I encouraged them to think for themselves and not do something just because their parents do it. Just because something is fun doesn't mean it's good or right. "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." -- Philippians 4:8.

I'm amazed how far God has let us wander away from Him, and still show so much grace to us. I sometimes feel that it would be more beneficial to us if God just scare us straight, instead of letting us learn the hard way, having to face the many consequences of our sinful actions. Perhaps He does scare us straight. Perhaps He waits and waits and waits, until one day, we realized how far we have departed from Him, and we see our depravity in the Light. But while we have the chance today, to turn back to God, to seek Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul, will we do that? Will we have the boldness to speak to the people, that they may fear God and embrace Him? Make us alive oh God - alive to your Spirit.