Pause to Catch Breath

As I pause to catch my breath, I stop to reflect on what has transpired this extremely busy past week.   Selection committee, work, COA, Truth project in community small group, condo, get-together with CCF friends, AV, church, class, Journeys of Paul reunion and slide show, etc etc.....    just reviewing it all tires me out all over again.

Nevertheless, I am thankful for meaningful areas of service, special times of gathering and sharing, being able to learn, and being productive.   I also praise God for what we see Him doing through our COA outreach - there were a couple of people who placed their faith in Christ this past week!  The guest speaker at church gave a good message on the prodigal sons, showing us that the older brother was also a "prodigal" in that, he too, did not value the Father's love most of all; and was basing his "worth" on works.   He was the one who was most like the Pharisees and Jews and the younger brother probably more like the Gentiles.  My friend will be moving into the condo today, so that should be another area taken care of for now.    My CCF friends and I had a nice time catching up, and I was even able to try a new restaurant.   Charo's Peruvian Cuisine had this really excellent green salsa, and the Arroz con Mariscos was very tasty.  Then, while the "critics" were in class yesterday, I was still able to gain much from the lesson, and I hope that the class did also.   And, all went well with the slideshow; and the reunion was nice.   My pastor and his wife provided a really nice kosher dinner.

Well, I'm ready to continue the "race" this week.  Fortunately, it won't be as busy as the last; and I just may be able to take a few more breaths throughout and not constantly be "on the run".

Rejoice

It's been said that joy is contagious; and maybe through studying Paul's great epistle of joy to the Philippians, it is rubbing off on me.   I was filled with joy yesterday when my friend told me that she decided to accept my offer to move into the condo.   I see it as an answer to prayer; and I think that it will be a blessing to us both.

While it is not the ideal situation financially; yet, this enables me to continue to use the condo for what I had initially intended - to help others.    As I was praying for God's direction, there really was not anyone else that I would rather rent to.    I will continue to pray that God will continue to work all things out; and that this added dimension of being landlord-renter will in no way affect our friendship negatively. 

This will allow her to have "her own place" now that she is just about ready to fully face "the working world" after finishing school.   And, hopefully, the beautiful setting will be a blessing to her.  For me, I can put off thinking about selling the place for a little longer; and maybe the value will even start going back up some.  And, it would be bring me joy to see that God uses this to bless her.

There may be some who may wonder at my seemingly poor financial decision; but, I think that this is what we are encouraged to do in life - to love God and to love others.    And, I know that I'm doing this out of my caring for her and my love for God.   I place all things into His Hands and pray for His continued guidance.

Selection Committee and Prayer

Just as the Early Church in Acts spent time in prayer for their leaders, what a privilege it is to serve on the selection committee with some of my church's main prayer warriors.  This is just another way God is teaching and developing me in my area of focus on PRAYER this year.   By observing their examples, it motivates me to be more purposeful, diligent, and specific in my own prayer life.

Nehemiah 4:1-20

Sunday's message on "Trusting God When Critics Mock You" from Nehemiah 4:1-20 was an encouragement in light of the criticism I was starting to sense more of in class.   The initial reminder from the series itself is motivation to keep going, that trials allow us to demonstrate our faith and trust in God.

There was a really neat story of the person who built the first helicopter.  He had a saying posted on his wall that was along the lines of "Bumblebees can't fly because of the proportion of their body weight and size to their wings; but the Bumblebee doesn't know this, and flies anyway." :-)

As we looked at the passage in Nehemiah, we see that the critics:

• Are often filled with anger and bias
• Instead of encouraging progress, mock it
• Gather a wider circle (and often spread like a virus)
• Use the following methods:   labeling, mocking values as worthless, ridicule goals as unattainable, and impede progress

However, instead of letting the criticism get him down (depressed, defeated, or silent), compromising in hopes of appeasing, or getting mad or even; Nehemiah stands up and faces the critics with courageous faith and bold defense of the truth by praying for his critics but against their plan; and restating his values, firing up his passion, and continually moving toward his godly goals.

It was interesting that one thing I started to understand as I was going through the criticism was why Paul so often prayed for boldness and courage.   That's what is needed to stand firm against the critics, of which he had many.

And yesterday, the critics did not come to class; so, we were able to have a good lesson covering very important areas of Christology.   I can see God at work, not only encouraging me through this and working "behind the scenes", but also building up my courage and boldness in standing firm in teaching.

Philippians 2

Encouragement, Love, Fellowship, Tenderness, and Compassion - Paul lists these as what the Philippians, and actually all believers, already have.    And his joy would be complete if UNITY would follow.   The rest of the passage focuses on HUMILITY, for it is what is needed for UNITY (not selfish ambition nor empty conceit; but, looking out for the interests of others).    He then, in a beautiful and poetic passage on Christology, points to Christ as the ultimate example of HUMILITY for them to emulate.     These verses describe Christ's Deity, Incarnation, and Exaltation - as He gave up His rights and privileges as God for a time, to become fully Man (never losing his Deity), and being willing to be obedient to the point of death on the cross.  And vs 9-11 is glorious in the exaltation of Christ, to whom every knee will bow and every tongue will acknowledge as Lord!

Given Christ's example, Paul encouraged the Philippians to continue in obedience as they "worked out their salvation" while God works in them through their sanctification and gives them the motivation "to will and to act".    When done with reverence for God and without grumbling or arguing, they would be able to shine as lights in this dark world, holding out (and onto) the word of life, the gospel.    Paul said he and the Philippians could mutually "be glad and rejoice" if their ministry served together as a sacrifice and offering to God.

Paul then tells them his plans to send Timothy to them, and maybe even accompanying him if released from imprisonment.  His description of Timothy shows him to be an example of humility, talked about earlier in the chapter.  Paul also wants to send Epaphroditus, their messenger, back to them; encouraging them to honor people like him, who risked his life for the work of Christ, by becoming sick to the point of death when in Rome helping Paul.

Personal Testimony

Related to Paul's example of giving his personal testimony in Acts 22 & 26 and of the series in Evangelism in class, people have been sharing their personal testimonies.  This Sunday, one person gave a very touching and powerful testimony.   I don't have one of those dramatic testimonies, but following would be mine, if called upon to share:

I grew up going to church with my family; but, it wasn't until shortly after elementary school, that I really became a believer.   My Sunday School teacher at the time was preparing to be a missionary and wanted to practice going over the Four Spiritual Laws.   She took each one of us aside; and as she was going over the Four Spiritual Laws with me, that was the first time I realized that just going to church and trying to be "good" wasn't enough.   I recognized that I needed to put my faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for my sins and resurrected, demonstrating His power of sin and death, thus providing the WAY to salvation.  I have grown in my faith since then; and one of the times I grew the most was probably in college.   I had a lot of friends who were very analytical - some were studying to be engineers also, and some were even studying to be lawyers.   Many were unbelievers, and asked me a lot of tough questions about my faith.   So, that was when I become interested in the area of Apologetics, which is Defending the Faith.   When I was able to start giving answers to their questions, it actually substantiated my own faith; for, I was able to see that what I believed in was reasonable, was able to be supported by evidence, and was rooted in the truth.    As a Christian, I've always tried to live my life faithfully through all the ups and downs, and consider Hebrews 12:1-2 my life verses, which say "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

My testimony doesn't have anything majorly dramatic in it, and actually may not be all that different from many who grew up going to church; but, there may also be some who were like me, thinking that just going to church and trying to be "good" was enough.  I would just encourage everyone to ask the question that was key for me, "Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ, Who is the only WAY to salvation?"

Jeremiah 20:7-18

In continuation of my Pastor's "Faith Under Fire" series in Jeremiah, the background to this passage is found in Isaiah 5 - it is a society that is lost in their wealth, greed, and wickedness.    It was a society not so unlike ours today; as indicated by one response given after 9-11 to why God would allow a tragedy like that to happen?    The response was, since we have pushed God out of our culture, what do we expect?

Jeremiah's message was not surprisingly unwelcomed and not liked by his culture, so they in turn attacked the messenger.   And Jeremiah 20:7-8 records Jeremiah's laments as he felt let-down.   Yet, in vs 9, it showed that he was not able to turn from his calling and he felt the need to declare the TRUTH despite the attacks and facing a culture that wanted him to slip and fail (vs 10).   He placed his trust in God (vs 11-12) and even sang praises to Him (vs 13).   And, even though he sank back into despair (vs 14-15,18); vs 3-6 show that the next day, after all his struggles, he got back up and kept to his message.    So, Jeremiah went through the fire, and sometimes even struggled, but in the end, comes through.

We don't go through trails alone, and it is comforting to know that "If we are faithless, He remains faithful - for He cannot deny himself"  (2 Tim 2:13)     A couple of other interesting related quotes were along the lines of:

• If there is no joy in your religion, there is a leak in your Christianity
• It takes both the rain and sunshine to make a rainbow

I find encouragement from this passage, and from the second part of Philippians 1 we studied in class on Sunday.   I do feel that there are some people who have become more vociferous in their opposing views in class; and while my non-confrontational nature wants to shrink away from it all and thinks it would be easier to just give up and walk away from teaching, but like Jeremiah and Paul, I feel like I should continue to declare the truth and should not give up despite opposition.   Even though, in some ways, I feel like they are waiting for me to slip up so they can pounce, yet, I just remind myself that I have always tried to handle accurately the Word of Truth; and I just need to continue to do that.    And, it is just better now that I am aware of what the opposing views are, so that I can be prepared to give a response.   By becoming more prepared to give an answer, it just helps me to grow in my knowledge and understanding.  I pray that God will grant me wisdom and grace as I lead the studies.

Letters to God

The movie "Letters to God", which I had a chance to watch today, was truly tearful and heartfelt.   It's the true story of a boy who had cancer, but touched the lives of those around him through his letters to God.  There was a line in the movie where the mother of the boy said that she didn't realize that when her son was writing letters to God, that he was really praying.  After watching the movie, I was inspired to write my own letter to God; and considering my theme for this year on Prayer, I just thought it was neat for God to use this as yet another way to teach me another aspect of prayer.

Job 1-2

The theme of the new "Faith under Fire" series in the worship service is actually similar to the one from Philippians, of having JOY no matter the circumstances.  My Pastor started this series with a message on Job from Chps 1 and 2, as the greatest example of loss and the greatest lesson on suffering.  Some quotes that really stood out:

• If tears were indelible ink, we would all be stained
• We are moved by two things:  pain and beauty
• Living by FAITH is not for cowards
• Suffering is not an option but misery is a choice

It was clear from the passage, that suffering can happen to good people who love God, are rich, and live a life of privilege.  Seven foundational facts about suffering given:

1. God can accomplish His greater purposes through suffering  ("Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him"  - James 1:12; and "For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings" 1 Corinthians 4:9)
2. Satan wants to cast doubt on our integrity
3. Satan wants to cause us to curse God
4. God sets boundaries on trials and tests
5. Calamity can strike unexpectedly and without warning
6. One source of suffering is evil people driven by jealousy and greed
7. Another source of suffering is the dysfunction of the fallen natural order (sins effect on creation)

We can learn from Job's responses to his suffering:  grieve the losses, worship God, refuse to listen to critics and skeptics, and trust God and allow for hidden higher purposes.   God is not the source of suffering and evil; rather He is the only savior from it.

Philippians 1

The initial motivation for studying the Book of Philippians came from wanting to enhance the study of one of Paul's Epistles with the background that came with knowing the apostle and his circumstances better after the studying Acts.

While that will definitely be the case, yet, it is interesting to find that this also applies to my area of focus this year.    Chp 1 gives us a beautiful example of what Paul prayed for the Philippians and his attitude towards them as he prayed.   It was clear that he loved them and was thankful for them; and when he prayed, he was filled with joy.   Also, as he prayed, he focused not so much on immediate concerns like we often do, but more on the eternal perspective, such as their growth in love through knowledge and understanding.   This clearly shows that Christian LOVE is not just a sentiment or emotion; but, is substantiated by knowledge of the Truth and understanding or discernment with Wisdom.   And, of all the things he could've prayed for them to abound in, he prayed that they would abound in LOVE.   I think that's tied to it being part of the two greatest commandments (loving God and loving one another) - that when we have this, all other things fall into place.  In practical application, it is true that we will love God and others more as we grow in knowledge of Him.

Throughout this passage is reference to the sanctification process - he referred to the believers as "saints" - set apart for God; he talked about God being at work in them starting from salvation and completing in glory, and he prayed that they may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ being filled with the fruit of righteousness that is imputed to believers through Christ.

And, of course, we can learn much from Paul's example of his joyful perspective despite his circumstances of being under house arrest in Rome.   He maintained humility, and viewed himself as a bondslave of Christ even though he was a respected leader and teacher.   He found joy in being thankful for and affectionate towards the Philippians.   He saw God at work advancing the gospel and using him despite his being in chains.

Through his perspective, he was able to "continue to rejoice", focusing on the message (that Christ is preached) rather than the motives of the messengers (those preaching from envy and rivalry hoping to cause trouble for him while in chains); and trusting that through the prayers of the Philippians and through the Holy Spirit, he would be delivered either by life or death. 

But, no matter what, he exhorted the Philippians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel, manifested through unity, striving together for the faith of the gospel, not fearing the opposition, and suffering for Christ.

New Year '12

2012 is here.  Where do I start?  Part of me feels like time just flies by; but, I also realized that I have learned much from all that has happened.   I am just thankful that through the ups and downs of the past year, that He has been with me and has brought me through.

One of the reasons why 2012 just crept up on me even though I was somewhat "caught up" by Christmas was because of the condo.   I spent all of my vacation last week working on and painting the place, pretty much with singular focus for about 12 hours a day despite aching muscles.  However, it is actually rewarding to be able to see that the place now looks almost new again.   I was able to show it to a friend today; and I was reminded once again of the beauty of the place and reason I was drawn to buying this place previously.  There are still a few minor things left to do; but, I am grateful that God was able to help me finish the bulk of it.   I just pray now that He will show me what plans He has for the place next.

It really has been a full week.   From the time I last wrote, much has happened.

I worked on the AV Team Christmas Eve and also New Year's Eve and today.   I was talking to a couple of friends today on singleness, and this is one example of ways that I am able to serve as a single that might be more of a challenge otherwise.   One of the reasons that I often serve on the Holidays is because the other members of the team have family obligations with kids, in-laws, spouse schedules, etc.    As a single, I do have more flexibility, and as Paul said in Corinthians, "undistracted devotion to the Lord".  However, singleness is not without its struggles; and especially during the holidays, the loneliness can hit hard, like it did when I came home after serving for the Christmas Eve service and spent the evening by myself all alone.

When my Assistant Pastor did devotions today with the worship team, I was reminded once again of how our personal worship and relationship with God affects our ministry.    I could see how what he learned in personal time with God was used to share with us.  He talked about the passage about pouring new wine in old wineskins and applied that to needing to stretch ourselves and make changes in our lives in order for God to do something new this year.

Then, our Pastor during the message, preached on Philippians 3:7-14, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead; and counting all things as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ!   This was actually a preview into our next study in class in the Book of Philippians.   Just as I found during preparation, that our study in Acts would enhance the study of Philippians and give additional insights, the Pastor often referred to passages in Acts as he talked about the Philippians passage.  He encouraged us to let go of things we need to lay beneath the blood of Christ, and move ahead with new goals and resolutions.

For my area of focus this year on PRAYER, by just talking to my friend on the phone, I was reminded that 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to "Pray without ceasing" - to constantly be in an attitude of prayer and to always be ready to be in communication with God.   I do hope that I will be able to truly tap into the power of prayer at a greater level than I currently do.   I have already found that just being mindful of it has made a difference - during open prayer in the worship team devotional time, in class, and in our class get-together afterwards, I already experienced a difference in my prayers.  So, I really look forward to what more He will be teaching me this coming year in helping me to develop in this area.

Also, today, was the 5th anniversary of my class.   I am amazed at what God has done in growing the class from a handful of singles to a fairly large group of career adults both singles and couples.    God has shown me that when we set goals for Him, they often do get fulfilled - like having meaningful areas of service or wanting to get more involved with community service.   He truly is at work in my life, and I am grateful and encouraged to see it.

I actually also was encouraged in another unexpected way today.    One of the members of my class who had been sick the last few weeks was at church today.  He told me that of all the Christmas cards he received, the one I sent him was the most meaningful to him and he had set it in a special place and looked at it daily.  That affirmed how I felt that although cards take a lot of time to write, it can be special to the person receiving.