Making a decision for college has arguably been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made in my life. I agree that, initially, it didn’t sound to me like a daunting choice either. After college admissions destroys your self-esteem and narrows your choices down to only a handful of schools, you would think that visiting each college and factoring in your personal preferences will help you to quickly crank out a college choice in no time. However, if you got into your dream college that has just about everything you could ever hope for, but God called you to another college that you may not have wanted to go to as much instead, would you obey Him?
Read 1 Samuel 15
Saul was Israel’s first king and the Lord’s anointed one. God chose Saul out of all the other men of Israel to be king over His people. However, God also wanted Saul to love and obey Him. When He called Saul to go to war with the Amalekites, He gave Saul specific orders to put to death all men, women, children, infants, and all of their livestock. God was with Saul when the Israelites battled with and annihilated the Amalekites. However, instead of following God’s orders completely, he only half-heartedly obeyed them. He took the enemy king as hostage and kept all of the best livestock for his army.
Saul’s actions displeased the Lord, who conveyed His message of grievance to His prophet Samuel. Samuel then rebuked Saul and told him that the Lord has rejected him as king over Israel. Saul was not expecting this. He thought he had done the right thing. He didn’t even take the enemy’s livestock for himself, but wanted to sacrifice all of the good things he reaped to the Lord. Saul thought he knew how to do things better than God did and, through his pride and selfishness, disobeyed the Lord’s commands.
After senior year started for me, I knew I wanted to be an economics major and made a plan of all of the colleges I intended to apply to. Out of these schools, I put the University of Chicago as my number one choice for a number of reasons. Not only was it the closest to home, but it was also in Chicago, one of the country’s most exciting and fun-filled cities. I also had a handful of close friends who were already in the city who I met through Teen Camp, WCAC, or school. On top of that, it was also tied first in the nation at economics with Harvard, Princeton, and MIT. Yeah… small wonder I had that school as my first choice.
(Continue Day # 1) I thought I had everything in the bag last fall after I applied to UChicago as early action. My essay for that school was arguably my best yet, my interview with the admissions officer went by very smoothly, my grades in school were decent, and the admissions rate for UChicago was extremely high for its prestige – sitting at almost 30% a year, and even higher for early applicants. When decision day came in early December, I was crushed when I received a skinny envelope in the mail with a short letter inside confirming that I had been deferred. Things seemed pretty hopeless to me at that point. I thought I knew exactly where God wanted me to go to school next fall, but obviously He thought otherwise. Why else would He have deferred me? I knew what I had to do though – trust in God to provide me with the right college that He wants me to go to.
When colleges started releasing their regular decision admissions results, one of the first ones that came out was UChicago. And what do you know? I was arguably one of the happiest people alive at that moment when I found out that I had been accepted. However, a good education seems to always come at a high price as well – a price that cost me nearly $57,000 per year (holy moly)! However, overall, I had already considered myself a UChicago student. Maybe that’s exactly how Saul felt when he went off to do things his own way. He saw the “good” that the enemy’s livestock had to offer and became enveloped in pride and greed.
Likewise, my happiness about being accepted into UChicago didn’t leave any room for God to work in my life and to direct me to the college He wanted me to go to. He intervened and, through my mom, forced me to go on a college visit to Washington University in St. Louis (another school I got into). I was extremely reluctant to go, thinking that it would just be a waste of my time, but I went anyways because of free travel expenses. In the end, my college decision was down to – you guessed it – my dream college that has just about everything I could ever hope for, or a less prestigious school where I’d still be happy and where I thought God might be calling me to go to.
I prayed to God, asking Him to give me some sort of sign that would assure me as to where He would like to go. I ended up visiting UChicago as well, but found that it actually didn’t quite appeal to me the way WashU did. I came home reasonably sure that WashU was where God wanted me to go. I prayed to God again, asking Him if WashU was indeed the college of HIS choice for me. He answered my prayer and solidified my decision by granting me a scholarship from WashU that made it one of my cheapest colleges.
Now, looking back, I can see why God did the things He did and how He works in such amazing ways in our lives. While I was really hurt that I was initially deferred from my top choice, things would have been completely different had I been accepted right off the bat. I don’t think I would have even bothered applying to WashU if I had been accepted early. With the mentality I carried about wanting to go to UChicago for sure, I wasn’t making any room for God in my life. I was following my own plan instead of His, and was obeying the things my mind was telling me rather than what God was telling me. Even when I thought I could crank out more success to honor God with in the future by going off on my own, God would rather just have me obey Him.
Obedience to the Lord shows that we love, trust, and fear Him. How could we say we love our God if we don’t do the things He tells us to do? 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Saul thought he could make things better for God rather than simply doing what He was told to do. However, God remains the rightful king and sought obedience from his chosen leader Saul. As a result, God rejected Saul and, instead, made David his new Israelite king. I know my story about how I decided on a college isn’t exactly the best parallel for this passage, but obeying God take shapes in a variety of other ways in our lives. We can obey our parents, our teachers, our church leaders, our elders, being respectful to strangers, and always praying to God and reading His word so He can speak to us.
One of the dangers we face is greed. We want to gain recognition for ourselves and, as a result, we over complicate things when it comes to obedience. We don’t just want to obey, we want to impress and gain glory for ourselves. As soon as we lose sight of why we are obeying God’s commands, or even what things we are obeying, we have lost ourselves to sin. Thus, I really encourage you to spend more time with God each day. I know I forget about it too some days, but how else can we obey our Father if we don’t know how to obey him? Luke 11:28 says, “[Jesus] replied, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” High school will always come with struggles and pressures, but if we trust in Him, He will deliver us from all of the Amalekites in our lives. Nothing makes our Father happier than showing Him that we love him – and to do that, we have to obey!
Monday, May 31, 2010
To obey is better than sacrifice
Making a decision for college has arguably been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made in my life. I agree that, initially, it didn’t sound to me like a daunting choice either. After college admissions destroys your self-esteem and narrows your choices down to only a handful of schools, you would think that visiting each college and factoring in your personal preferences will help you to quickly crank out a college choice in no time. However, if you got into your dream college that has just about everything you could ever hope for, but God called you to another college that you may not have wanted to go to as much instead, would you obey Him?
Read 1 Samuel 15
Saul was Israel’s first king and the Lord’s anointed one. God chose Saul out of all the other men of Israel to be king over His people. However, God also wanted Saul to love and obey Him. When He called Saul to go to war with the Amalekites, He gave Saul specific orders to put to death all men, women, children, infants, and all of their livestock. God was with Saul when the Israelites battled with and annihilated the Amalekites. However, instead of following God’s orders completely, he only half-heartedly obeyed them. He took the enemy king as hostage and kept all of the best livestock for his army.
Saul’s actions displeased the Lord, who conveyed His message of grievance to His prophet Samuel. Samuel then rebuked Saul and told him that the Lord has rejected him as king over Israel. Saul was not expecting this. He thought he had done the right thing. He didn’t even take the enemy’s livestock for himself, but wanted to sacrifice all of the good things he reaped to the Lord. Saul thought he knew how to do things better than God did and, through his pride and selfishness, disobeyed the Lord’s commands.
After senior year started for me, I knew I wanted to be an economics major and made a plan of all of the colleges I intended to apply to. Out of these schools, I put the University of Chicago as my number one choice for a number of reasons. Not only was it the closest to home, but it was also in Chicago, one of the country’s most exciting and fun-filled cities. I also had a handful of close friends who were already in the city who I met through Teen Camp, WCAC, or school. On top of that, it was also tied first in the nation at economics with Harvard, Princeton, and MIT. Yeah… small wonder I had that school as my first choice.
(Continue Day # 1) I thought I had everything in the bag last fall after I applied to UChicago as early action. My essay for that school was arguably my best yet, my interview with the admissions officer went by very smoothly, my grades in school were decent, and the admissions rate for UChicago was extremely high for its prestige – sitting at almost 30% a year, and even higher for early applicants. When decision day came in early December, I was crushed when I received a skinny envelope in the mail with a short letter inside confirming that I had been deferred. Things seemed pretty hopeless to me at that point. I thought I knew exactly where God wanted me to go to school next fall, but obviously He thought otherwise. Why else would He have deferred me? I knew what I had to do though – trust in God to provide me with the right college that He wants me to go to.
When colleges started releasing their regular decision admissions results, one of the first ones that came out was UChicago. And what do you know? I was arguably one of the happiest people alive at that moment when I found out that I had been accepted. However, a good education seems to always come at a high price as well – a price that cost me nearly $57,000 per year (holy moly)! However, overall, I had already considered myself a UChicago student. Maybe that’s exactly how Saul felt when he went off to do things his own way. He saw the “good” that the enemy’s livestock had to offer and became enveloped in pride and greed.
Likewise, my happiness about being accepted into UChicago didn’t leave any room for God to work in my life and to direct me to the college He wanted me to go to. He intervened and, through my mom, forced me to go on a college visit to Washington University in St. Louis (another school I got into). I was extremely reluctant to go, thinking that it would just be a waste of my time, but I went anyways because of free travel expenses. In the end, my college decision was down to – you guessed it – my dream college that has just about everything I could ever hope for, or a less prestigious school where I’d still be happy and where I thought God might be calling me to go to.
I prayed to God, asking Him to give me some sort of sign that would assure me as to where He would like to go. I ended up visiting UChicago as well, but found that it actually didn’t quite appeal to me the way WashU did. I came home reasonably sure that WashU was where God wanted me to go. I prayed to God again, asking Him if WashU was indeed the college of HIS choice for me. He answered my prayer and solidified my decision by granting me a scholarship from WashU that made it one of my cheapest colleges.
Now, looking back, I can see why God did the things He did and how He works in such amazing ways in our lives. While I was really hurt that I was initially deferred from my top choice, things would have been completely different had I been accepted right off the bat. I don’t think I would have even bothered applying to WashU if I had been accepted early. With the mentality I carried about wanting to go to UChicago for sure, I wasn’t making any room for God in my life. I was following my own plan instead of His, and was obeying the things my mind was telling me rather than what God was telling me. Even when I thought I could crank out more success to honor God with in the future by going off on my own, God would rather just have me obey Him.
Obedience to the Lord shows that we love, trust, and fear Him. How could we say we love our God if we don’t do the things He tells us to do? 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Saul thought he could make things better for God rather than simply doing what He was told to do. However, God remains the rightful king and sought obedience from his chosen leader Saul. As a result, God rejected Saul and, instead, made David his new Israelite king. I know my story about how I decided on a college isn’t exactly the best parallel for this passage, but obeying God take shapes in a variety of other ways in our lives. We can obey our parents, our teachers, our church leaders, our elders, being respectful to strangers, and always praying to God and reading His word so He can speak to us.
One of the dangers we face is greed. We want to gain recognition for ourselves and, as a result, we over complicate things when it comes to obedience. We don’t just want to obey, we want to impress and gain glory for ourselves. As soon as we lose sight of why we are obeying God’s commands, or even what things we are obeying, we have lost ourselves to sin. Thus, I really encourage you to spend more time with God each day. I know I forget about it too some days, but how else can we obey our Father if we don’t know how to obey him? Luke 11:28 says, “[Jesus] replied, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” High school will always come with struggles and pressures, but if we trust in Him, He will deliver us from all of the Amalekites in our lives. Nothing makes our Father happier than showing Him that we love him – and to do that, we have to obey!
Read 1 Samuel 15
Saul was Israel’s first king and the Lord’s anointed one. God chose Saul out of all the other men of Israel to be king over His people. However, God also wanted Saul to love and obey Him. When He called Saul to go to war with the Amalekites, He gave Saul specific orders to put to death all men, women, children, infants, and all of their livestock. God was with Saul when the Israelites battled with and annihilated the Amalekites. However, instead of following God’s orders completely, he only half-heartedly obeyed them. He took the enemy king as hostage and kept all of the best livestock for his army.
Saul’s actions displeased the Lord, who conveyed His message of grievance to His prophet Samuel. Samuel then rebuked Saul and told him that the Lord has rejected him as king over Israel. Saul was not expecting this. He thought he had done the right thing. He didn’t even take the enemy’s livestock for himself, but wanted to sacrifice all of the good things he reaped to the Lord. Saul thought he knew how to do things better than God did and, through his pride and selfishness, disobeyed the Lord’s commands.
After senior year started for me, I knew I wanted to be an economics major and made a plan of all of the colleges I intended to apply to. Out of these schools, I put the University of Chicago as my number one choice for a number of reasons. Not only was it the closest to home, but it was also in Chicago, one of the country’s most exciting and fun-filled cities. I also had a handful of close friends who were already in the city who I met through Teen Camp, WCAC, or school. On top of that, it was also tied first in the nation at economics with Harvard, Princeton, and MIT. Yeah… small wonder I had that school as my first choice.
(Continue Day # 1) I thought I had everything in the bag last fall after I applied to UChicago as early action. My essay for that school was arguably my best yet, my interview with the admissions officer went by very smoothly, my grades in school were decent, and the admissions rate for UChicago was extremely high for its prestige – sitting at almost 30% a year, and even higher for early applicants. When decision day came in early December, I was crushed when I received a skinny envelope in the mail with a short letter inside confirming that I had been deferred. Things seemed pretty hopeless to me at that point. I thought I knew exactly where God wanted me to go to school next fall, but obviously He thought otherwise. Why else would He have deferred me? I knew what I had to do though – trust in God to provide me with the right college that He wants me to go to.
When colleges started releasing their regular decision admissions results, one of the first ones that came out was UChicago. And what do you know? I was arguably one of the happiest people alive at that moment when I found out that I had been accepted. However, a good education seems to always come at a high price as well – a price that cost me nearly $57,000 per year (holy moly)! However, overall, I had already considered myself a UChicago student. Maybe that’s exactly how Saul felt when he went off to do things his own way. He saw the “good” that the enemy’s livestock had to offer and became enveloped in pride and greed.
Likewise, my happiness about being accepted into UChicago didn’t leave any room for God to work in my life and to direct me to the college He wanted me to go to. He intervened and, through my mom, forced me to go on a college visit to Washington University in St. Louis (another school I got into). I was extremely reluctant to go, thinking that it would just be a waste of my time, but I went anyways because of free travel expenses. In the end, my college decision was down to – you guessed it – my dream college that has just about everything I could ever hope for, or a less prestigious school where I’d still be happy and where I thought God might be calling me to go to.
I prayed to God, asking Him to give me some sort of sign that would assure me as to where He would like to go. I ended up visiting UChicago as well, but found that it actually didn’t quite appeal to me the way WashU did. I came home reasonably sure that WashU was where God wanted me to go. I prayed to God again, asking Him if WashU was indeed the college of HIS choice for me. He answered my prayer and solidified my decision by granting me a scholarship from WashU that made it one of my cheapest colleges.
Now, looking back, I can see why God did the things He did and how He works in such amazing ways in our lives. While I was really hurt that I was initially deferred from my top choice, things would have been completely different had I been accepted right off the bat. I don’t think I would have even bothered applying to WashU if I had been accepted early. With the mentality I carried about wanting to go to UChicago for sure, I wasn’t making any room for God in my life. I was following my own plan instead of His, and was obeying the things my mind was telling me rather than what God was telling me. Even when I thought I could crank out more success to honor God with in the future by going off on my own, God would rather just have me obey Him.
Obedience to the Lord shows that we love, trust, and fear Him. How could we say we love our God if we don’t do the things He tells us to do? 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Saul thought he could make things better for God rather than simply doing what He was told to do. However, God remains the rightful king and sought obedience from his chosen leader Saul. As a result, God rejected Saul and, instead, made David his new Israelite king. I know my story about how I decided on a college isn’t exactly the best parallel for this passage, but obeying God take shapes in a variety of other ways in our lives. We can obey our parents, our teachers, our church leaders, our elders, being respectful to strangers, and always praying to God and reading His word so He can speak to us.
One of the dangers we face is greed. We want to gain recognition for ourselves and, as a result, we over complicate things when it comes to obedience. We don’t just want to obey, we want to impress and gain glory for ourselves. As soon as we lose sight of why we are obeying God’s commands, or even what things we are obeying, we have lost ourselves to sin. Thus, I really encourage you to spend more time with God each day. I know I forget about it too some days, but how else can we obey our Father if we don’t know how to obey him? Luke 11:28 says, “[Jesus] replied, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” High school will always come with struggles and pressures, but if we trust in Him, He will deliver us from all of the Amalekites in our lives. Nothing makes our Father happier than showing Him that we love him – and to do that, we have to obey!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Christianity is the scandal that is Jesus
Christianity, my friends, is the scandal that is Jesus. We need to remember that this same Jesus was the one who had the temerity to publicly say, in front of his mom’s face, “Who is my mother?” and declare that “Whoever does the will of God is my mother, brother, and sister.” (Mark 3: 31-35). Even more insane is his declaration: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 26). Is this the Jesus you’ve been waiting for when you sing that song, “This is the One we’ve been waiting for: Jesus, Lord and Savior, this is our God.” Jesus, himself, remained single for the rest of his life – and keep in mind that in those days, it is normal for every young guy to be married, especially by Jesus’ age.
Let me make it even more uncomfortable for you. This is the same God that could, after you worked your tail off all through high school, make sure that the best university you’ll get into is the University of Wyoming. This is the same God that will one day take your mother and (as it was in my, Sally, and Mia’s cases) your father from you. This is the same God that will send you to Singapore even though He knew you’d hate it. I have a friend who was called to (unnamed country) and she confessed that even though she knew it was God’s will for her to be there, she hated it, and is having a hard time saying, “God is good to me.”
But the truth of the matter, my friends, is that God is good to us, but sometimes that good requires sacrifice. Thus, sometimes we need to deny things. The closer I get to the day seminary begins, I’ve been beset with questions. Is this a good idea? God, maybe I should stay in Singapore – at least I’ll make much more money. God, maybe I should stay – my mom and grandparents would be much happier. But the more I thought, the more I realized that if I stayed, I may end up with lots of money, and my family will be together, but I would’ve given up God in the process. And, unfortunately, sometimes you will be faced with such a choice in life. Maybe you might be called to choose between life or Jesus.
And that’s why Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 16: 24 that his followers are to deny themselves and take up their cross. That is what Christianity is about, because nobody takes up his or her cross unless Jesus is first in their lives. Is Jesus so important to you that you will lay aside anything and everything in His name and take up your cross and follow him? Maybe following God requires you to accept that B instead of arguing with your teacher for why you deserve an A. Maybe following God requires you to break the hearts of many people. Maybe following God requires you to be single the rest of your life. Is Jesus that important to you?
And that is my prayer for all of you, especially the seniors, that Jesus will always remain that important to you. May you always follow in the steps of Jesus, who for our sake carried the cross and allowed himself to be nailed to it, that we may be saved. For it is that same Jesus, Lord and Savior, who is our God yesterday, today, and forever.
Let me make it even more uncomfortable for you. This is the same God that could, after you worked your tail off all through high school, make sure that the best university you’ll get into is the University of Wyoming. This is the same God that will one day take your mother and (as it was in my, Sally, and Mia’s cases) your father from you. This is the same God that will send you to Singapore even though He knew you’d hate it. I have a friend who was called to (unnamed country) and she confessed that even though she knew it was God’s will for her to be there, she hated it, and is having a hard time saying, “God is good to me.”
But the truth of the matter, my friends, is that God is good to us, but sometimes that good requires sacrifice. Thus, sometimes we need to deny things. The closer I get to the day seminary begins, I’ve been beset with questions. Is this a good idea? God, maybe I should stay in Singapore – at least I’ll make much more money. God, maybe I should stay – my mom and grandparents would be much happier. But the more I thought, the more I realized that if I stayed, I may end up with lots of money, and my family will be together, but I would’ve given up God in the process. And, unfortunately, sometimes you will be faced with such a choice in life. Maybe you might be called to choose between life or Jesus.
And that’s why Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 16: 24 that his followers are to deny themselves and take up their cross. That is what Christianity is about, because nobody takes up his or her cross unless Jesus is first in their lives. Is Jesus so important to you that you will lay aside anything and everything in His name and take up your cross and follow him? Maybe following God requires you to accept that B instead of arguing with your teacher for why you deserve an A. Maybe following God requires you to break the hearts of many people. Maybe following God requires you to be single the rest of your life. Is Jesus that important to you?
And that is my prayer for all of you, especially the seniors, that Jesus will always remain that important to you. May you always follow in the steps of Jesus, who for our sake carried the cross and allowed himself to be nailed to it, that we may be saved. For it is that same Jesus, Lord and Savior, who is our God yesterday, today, and forever.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
What Christianity Is About
Read: Matthew 16: 21-28
Make sure you read the passage above first and I warn you that this is not going to be a “comfortable” devotional.
Let me begin at verse 23 and ask what Peter had in mind that Jesus found so objectionable. After all, Peter was defending Jesus, was he not? At least Jesus could’ve said, “Peter, I appreciate your defense, but that’s not what I had in mind.” That would’ve been much better (and nicer) than “Get behind me, Satan!” Plus, we talk about “apologetics” all the time, defending the faith, blah-blah, but when Peter tries to defend Jesus, he gets the Satan-label? Is there some great miscommunication going on?
We need to recall what the Pharisees were hoping for when they prayed for a Messiah. They were hoping for someone who can bring “Change They Could Believe In.” And for them, that change meant kicking the Romans out of Judea, and restoring the glory of Israel. Israel would be that glorious nation that the world’s economy, politics, and culture revolves around. And Peter had that kind of Messiah in mind. So when Jesus said that “he must be killed,” it’s not surprising Peter wanted to save him. Actually, he wasn’t trying to save Jesus - he was trying to save the world’s idea of the “ideal Jesus”. Thus, Jesus rebuked him: “You don’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
We are, in case you haven’t noticed, in a new series, where our outgoing seniors leave us with what’s on their hearts. As a non-senior, I do wish to send them off with something that might prove useful… maybe. But the truth is that we live in different times that are changing really, really fast. I was a high school senior only 7 years ago and already, in less than a decade, you guys are facing different challenges than the ones I faced, even those of you heading off to Christian institutions. Many institutions are centers of liberalism, and unfortunately that does have an effect on Christian fellowships. The “liberal” philosophies in many universities across the nation are all about the self, about what makes you feel good. And when an all-powerful, all-knowing God comes into your life, and tells you that you just might be wrong, you don’t feel good – and subsequently, you end up rejecting God.
It is my personal belief that many college students give up their faith because something about Jesus stopped making them feel good. Or, something about Jesus’ followers (Christians) stopped making them feel good. I want to dispel this notion that Christianity is about feeling good. A lot of times, you hear it in the news or whatnot, that Christianity is about the family, about self-esteem, etc. We make a big deal about how Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship with God. Even better – we say that Christianity is a “personal relationship with Jesus.” All of them, unfortunately, fall short of the Gospel.
Make sure you read the passage above first and I warn you that this is not going to be a “comfortable” devotional.
Let me begin at verse 23 and ask what Peter had in mind that Jesus found so objectionable. After all, Peter was defending Jesus, was he not? At least Jesus could’ve said, “Peter, I appreciate your defense, but that’s not what I had in mind.” That would’ve been much better (and nicer) than “Get behind me, Satan!” Plus, we talk about “apologetics” all the time, defending the faith, blah-blah, but when Peter tries to defend Jesus, he gets the Satan-label? Is there some great miscommunication going on?
We need to recall what the Pharisees were hoping for when they prayed for a Messiah. They were hoping for someone who can bring “Change They Could Believe In.” And for them, that change meant kicking the Romans out of Judea, and restoring the glory of Israel. Israel would be that glorious nation that the world’s economy, politics, and culture revolves around. And Peter had that kind of Messiah in mind. So when Jesus said that “he must be killed,” it’s not surprising Peter wanted to save him. Actually, he wasn’t trying to save Jesus - he was trying to save the world’s idea of the “ideal Jesus”. Thus, Jesus rebuked him: “You don’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
We are, in case you haven’t noticed, in a new series, where our outgoing seniors leave us with what’s on their hearts. As a non-senior, I do wish to send them off with something that might prove useful… maybe. But the truth is that we live in different times that are changing really, really fast. I was a high school senior only 7 years ago and already, in less than a decade, you guys are facing different challenges than the ones I faced, even those of you heading off to Christian institutions. Many institutions are centers of liberalism, and unfortunately that does have an effect on Christian fellowships. The “liberal” philosophies in many universities across the nation are all about the self, about what makes you feel good. And when an all-powerful, all-knowing God comes into your life, and tells you that you just might be wrong, you don’t feel good – and subsequently, you end up rejecting God.
It is my personal belief that many college students give up their faith because something about Jesus stopped making them feel good. Or, something about Jesus’ followers (Christians) stopped making them feel good. I want to dispel this notion that Christianity is about feeling good. A lot of times, you hear it in the news or whatnot, that Christianity is about the family, about self-esteem, etc. We make a big deal about how Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship with God. Even better – we say that Christianity is a “personal relationship with Jesus.” All of them, unfortunately, fall short of the Gospel.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Favorite Verses
Hey guys, I just wanted to share a few thoughts with you, which is just sharing a few of my favorite verses and my train of thought.
The one thing we want from people is approval. So we act accordingly. Whether it be acting cool, tough, funny, flirty, whatever. We try to get people’s attention because it makes us feel good and it makes us feel accepted. It is human nature, even I do it. But there has to be a place where you draw the line. The first thing I want to say is that we are serving God. We are not serving the “in” crowd, the media, our parents (OMG), or any other person or thing that has influence in our lives. Now I’m not saying you should just tell your parents that you’re not going to listen to them anymore. I’m saying that in accordance to God’s will, you will submit to your parents or any other authority. So if your parents tell you to go kill all the citizens of Naperville, you can tell them that you’re not going to listen to that command because God says so. But if your parents tell you to do your homework, you better not go against them. First is because you love learning of course. Second is because you are supposed to be a steward of the good education God has given you. (Some kids don’t get an education, believe it or not). Sometimes by obeying God means obeying other people. But by obeying other people doesn’t always mean you’re obeying God if you get my drift. Here is a verse to reflect upon. Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”As servants of Christ, we have a higher standard. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We don’t want to be legalistic in our thinking. Don’t do THIS and never do THAT type of thinking. Instead we should be thinking about how we can please God and follow His will. Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” By doing so, we are being an example for our fellow brothers and sisters. It is always very encouraging when, together, we are all serving God. Not a happy feeling, but a joyful feeling. Sometimes, being a Christian isn’t always easy. A quote I always liked was “What’s popular isn’t always right and what’s right isn’t always popular.” Being a true follower of Jesus Christ isn’t always popular. Some people will ask you why you weren’t at that crazy party last night. Some people think you’re stupid in class for standing up for Christianity. Being a true follower of Christ was never easy. But be encouraged to know that some people want to hear the good news of Jesus. Just because 10 people hate you for professing your faith and only 1 person is interested in the gospel, isn’t that a win? So let me give you this verse. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?”
So yup, that was my train of thinking and it might’ve not made sense in some parts but that is ok. The Spirit works through all things. Good luck during finals!
The one thing we want from people is approval. So we act accordingly. Whether it be acting cool, tough, funny, flirty, whatever. We try to get people’s attention because it makes us feel good and it makes us feel accepted. It is human nature, even I do it. But there has to be a place where you draw the line. The first thing I want to say is that we are serving God. We are not serving the “in” crowd, the media, our parents (OMG), or any other person or thing that has influence in our lives. Now I’m not saying you should just tell your parents that you’re not going to listen to them anymore. I’m saying that in accordance to God’s will, you will submit to your parents or any other authority. So if your parents tell you to go kill all the citizens of Naperville, you can tell them that you’re not going to listen to that command because God says so. But if your parents tell you to do your homework, you better not go against them. First is because you love learning of course. Second is because you are supposed to be a steward of the good education God has given you. (Some kids don’t get an education, believe it or not). Sometimes by obeying God means obeying other people. But by obeying other people doesn’t always mean you’re obeying God if you get my drift. Here is a verse to reflect upon. Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”As servants of Christ, we have a higher standard. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We don’t want to be legalistic in our thinking. Don’t do THIS and never do THAT type of thinking. Instead we should be thinking about how we can please God and follow His will. Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” By doing so, we are being an example for our fellow brothers and sisters. It is always very encouraging when, together, we are all serving God. Not a happy feeling, but a joyful feeling. Sometimes, being a Christian isn’t always easy. A quote I always liked was “What’s popular isn’t always right and what’s right isn’t always popular.” Being a true follower of Jesus Christ isn’t always popular. Some people will ask you why you weren’t at that crazy party last night. Some people think you’re stupid in class for standing up for Christianity. Being a true follower of Christ was never easy. But be encouraged to know that some people want to hear the good news of Jesus. Just because 10 people hate you for professing your faith and only 1 person is interested in the gospel, isn’t that a win? So let me give you this verse. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?”
So yup, that was my train of thinking and it might’ve not made sense in some parts but that is ok. The Spirit works through all things. Good luck during finals!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Walking by Faith without Insurance
Read: Mark 10: 17-31
Isn’t it depressing how life sometimes turns out? Sometimes, people are gifted with things that seemed to serve life to them on a gold platter. My mom had a friend whose two children had perfect GPAs and both went on to Brown University (turning down acceptances with scholarships from Harvard and Yale) because Brown had one of those 7-year MD programs. The rest of us, unfortunately, had to work our tails off and pray to God that we might make it to the second round of admissions decisions. Maybe you feel that way during finals week. Some people are just so smart, they don’t need to study to get an A. You’re studying, it’s 3 AM in the morning, and your parents are up your case about studying more. And, worse, that A is looking more and more elusive the more you study. The next thing you know, you think your future’s in the trash can because the best you can do in the exam is to muster an earth-crushing, shame-slapping, and dignity-destroying B+.
But in the narrative in Mark 10, Jesus seemed to say otherwise. The rich young man, much like many in Singapore today, had gobs of money. Let’s just say he has a net worth of $50 million. But he was a devout person, having gone so far as to follow all the commandments! Very, very impressive, indeed, by any standard. Now, young 20-some-old people generally aren’t rich, unless of course you received that wealth as an inheritance. It’s quite clear, it seems to me, that the rich young man had life handed to him on a gold platter. Lots of money and lots of faith.
But before we move on, note the next thing: Jesus loved him. Jesus, of course, knew what’s about to happen next, but how reassuring it is to us that Jesus loved us before we even knew it. The young man expected Jesus to say, “Good work, my faithful servant!” but no. Jesus responded, you’ve got lots of money and lots of faith. Now give up all your money and follow me on faith alone. Of course, the young man walked away. It is not that the young man had a hard time choosing between Jesus and Money. The problem is that the man was only willing to follow Jesus with his money as insurance, in case things don’t work out. If following Jesus ends up being a waste of time, at least he can go home and continue buying food for himself for the rest of his life. But the challenge is that Jesus is calling the young man to remove his “golden parachute” and throw all his chips into the Jesus basket; to trust in Jesus alone. That, my friends, is a tough sell. No wonder the rich have a hard time entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Maybe you don’t have a lot of financial wealth, but society has conditioned us to think that if you study well in school now, if you get all A’s and go to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, you will end up having financial wealth. If you get just one B+ and your GPA drops below the sacred 5/4, you can’t be successful in life. But wait – if you’ve read the passage above, you should know that Jesus was never interested in “successful lives”. He was only interested in whether we’d follow him.
So I ask all of you to rest your hearts and not let your final exams get the best of you. Don’t give up on spending some time in meditation and devotion, at least for a few minutes every day. Of course, you should study so you can perform the best you can in your exams. But if the best you can do is a B+, do not despair. Your future and your worth is not preconditioned upon your GPA, but based on how God sees you. And how does God see you? The same way he saw the rich young man: he loved him.
Isn’t it depressing how life sometimes turns out? Sometimes, people are gifted with things that seemed to serve life to them on a gold platter. My mom had a friend whose two children had perfect GPAs and both went on to Brown University (turning down acceptances with scholarships from Harvard and Yale) because Brown had one of those 7-year MD programs. The rest of us, unfortunately, had to work our tails off and pray to God that we might make it to the second round of admissions decisions. Maybe you feel that way during finals week. Some people are just so smart, they don’t need to study to get an A. You’re studying, it’s 3 AM in the morning, and your parents are up your case about studying more. And, worse, that A is looking more and more elusive the more you study. The next thing you know, you think your future’s in the trash can because the best you can do in the exam is to muster an earth-crushing, shame-slapping, and dignity-destroying B+.
But in the narrative in Mark 10, Jesus seemed to say otherwise. The rich young man, much like many in Singapore today, had gobs of money. Let’s just say he has a net worth of $50 million. But he was a devout person, having gone so far as to follow all the commandments! Very, very impressive, indeed, by any standard. Now, young 20-some-old people generally aren’t rich, unless of course you received that wealth as an inheritance. It’s quite clear, it seems to me, that the rich young man had life handed to him on a gold platter. Lots of money and lots of faith.
But before we move on, note the next thing: Jesus loved him. Jesus, of course, knew what’s about to happen next, but how reassuring it is to us that Jesus loved us before we even knew it. The young man expected Jesus to say, “Good work, my faithful servant!” but no. Jesus responded, you’ve got lots of money and lots of faith. Now give up all your money and follow me on faith alone. Of course, the young man walked away. It is not that the young man had a hard time choosing between Jesus and Money. The problem is that the man was only willing to follow Jesus with his money as insurance, in case things don’t work out. If following Jesus ends up being a waste of time, at least he can go home and continue buying food for himself for the rest of his life. But the challenge is that Jesus is calling the young man to remove his “golden parachute” and throw all his chips into the Jesus basket; to trust in Jesus alone. That, my friends, is a tough sell. No wonder the rich have a hard time entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Maybe you don’t have a lot of financial wealth, but society has conditioned us to think that if you study well in school now, if you get all A’s and go to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, you will end up having financial wealth. If you get just one B+ and your GPA drops below the sacred 5/4, you can’t be successful in life. But wait – if you’ve read the passage above, you should know that Jesus was never interested in “successful lives”. He was only interested in whether we’d follow him.
So I ask all of you to rest your hearts and not let your final exams get the best of you. Don’t give up on spending some time in meditation and devotion, at least for a few minutes every day. Of course, you should study so you can perform the best you can in your exams. But if the best you can do is a B+, do not despair. Your future and your worth is not preconditioned upon your GPA, but based on how God sees you. And how does God see you? The same way he saw the rich young man: he loved him.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sing to Him a New Song
Psalm 33
Whenever I’m asked the question, “have you done your devos today?” my immediate response is to think, have I read my bible this morning. And its true, reading my Bible is an opportunity to get to know the Living God, the creator of the universe. But quiet times, devotionals is so much more than just reading verses on a page. Or critically analyzing the literary structure of a particular book. The real question is, “have you spent time with Jesus today?” And not just 30 minutes of my already packed schedule, but “have you spent your day with Jesus?”
Spending time in intimacy with God isn’t restricted to just reading a chapter or verse. We can speak with God in a conversation, engage him in a song, wait on him in stillness, read from His living word.
Read Psalm 33 (Not to critically analyze the passage, but just try and imagine the Psalmists’ emotions as you’re reading)
The Psalmist starts off by saying, “Shout for joy in the LORD…Give thanks to the Lord…make melody to him…Sing to him a new song.” The following verses from Psalm 33:4-22 is the Psalmists song of praise for all the things that God has done. It’s a song of praise about his character (4-5) It’s a song of praise for his works (6-7) It’s a song of praise for his power (8-9) It’s a song of praise for his dominion (10-12) It’s a song of praise for his compassion and care for his people (13-17) It’s a song of praise for his salvation (18-22)
Sometimes, maybe what we need to do in our time with God is to do what the Psalmist is encouraging the people to do. Sing Him a song. God created us to bring Him praise. Throughout the Old & New Testament we’re given the ability and task of singing songs of praise and adoration to God.
Spend sometime this morning singing songs of praise to God. As you sing, reflect on the words, make the song your prayer or your declaration. Just sit in the silence and let your heart and mouth respond in worship. Even as I’m writing this God is putting a song on my heart to sing to Him. I hope that you allow Him to do that in you. This is my love song to Jesus today.
“My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now
I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now
I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now
In mansions of glory and endless delight
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.”
Whenever I’m asked the question, “have you done your devos today?” my immediate response is to think, have I read my bible this morning. And its true, reading my Bible is an opportunity to get to know the Living God, the creator of the universe. But quiet times, devotionals is so much more than just reading verses on a page. Or critically analyzing the literary structure of a particular book. The real question is, “have you spent time with Jesus today?” And not just 30 minutes of my already packed schedule, but “have you spent your day with Jesus?”
Spending time in intimacy with God isn’t restricted to just reading a chapter or verse. We can speak with God in a conversation, engage him in a song, wait on him in stillness, read from His living word.
Read Psalm 33 (Not to critically analyze the passage, but just try and imagine the Psalmists’ emotions as you’re reading)
The Psalmist starts off by saying, “Shout for joy in the LORD…Give thanks to the Lord…make melody to him…Sing to him a new song.” The following verses from Psalm 33:4-22 is the Psalmists song of praise for all the things that God has done. It’s a song of praise about his character (4-5) It’s a song of praise for his works (6-7) It’s a song of praise for his power (8-9) It’s a song of praise for his dominion (10-12) It’s a song of praise for his compassion and care for his people (13-17) It’s a song of praise for his salvation (18-22)
Sometimes, maybe what we need to do in our time with God is to do what the Psalmist is encouraging the people to do. Sing Him a song. God created us to bring Him praise. Throughout the Old & New Testament we’re given the ability and task of singing songs of praise and adoration to God.
Spend sometime this morning singing songs of praise to God. As you sing, reflect on the words, make the song your prayer or your declaration. Just sit in the silence and let your heart and mouth respond in worship. Even as I’m writing this God is putting a song on my heart to sing to Him. I hope that you allow Him to do that in you. This is my love song to Jesus today.
“My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now
I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now
I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now
In mansions of glory and endless delight
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.”
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