Psalm 2

The psalm begins with humanity’s attempt to rebel against the Lord (v1-3).

The psalm ends with an encouragement to take refuge in the Lord (v12).

This reminds me of all those times I think that I can make plans, devise strategies to make my life better, to get comfortable, to do what I want to do. Many times I do it without consulting the Lord, at all! This is an encouragement for me to run to God, to take shelter in Him, and Him alone. So many times, I run to money, friends, or my own abilities. It takes a crisis for me to remember that those things are not 100% dependable. Lord, let me not forget my place within You!

Psalm 22

Psalms 22:8 “Commit yourself to the LORD; let him deliver—let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

Just like I said in the previous psalm, I often try to deliver myself (and fail). If I were to ever write a maxim, it’d be: “The fool is the one who blunders and does the same thing again.” I am fool!

But, there’s grace. The second half of this psalm encourages me to let God deliver me, rather than me try to deliver myself. The shocking thing is that I am the one in whom God delights! That’s such a weird concept, to think that God knows me, as majestic as He is…He still singles me out, and delights in my existence and in my life. It is such a special honor for a King to notice His subject, much more, to delight in him.

Psalm 27

Psalm 27:1             The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

            Light dispels the anxieties and dangers of darkness. Salvation guarantees the defeat of all adversaries. Defense (stronghold) assures victory against all assaults. If God is on our side, who can stand against us?

Psalms 27:6                Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

            When I worship, I get this urge to move. And I’m not saying, just to sway side-to-side. I’m saying jumping for joy! But I look around and I don’t see other people doing that, except for a few “expressive” people. I got to stay cool! I don’t want to look like an idiot.

            But Psalm 27:6 really reminded me of what it looks like to praise God and to show gratitude. Worship has got to be a sacrifice. It must cost me something, even if it is my own dignity. What can we give to God, if not our praise? And for any praise to be extravagant, it’s got to be a shout. A shout comes from deep within our bodies, and is exerted with force. Worship must shoot up its praise in a shout! Worship must be creative and expressive in song and melodies.

            But the first part of the verse must not be forgotten. Why should we worship the Lord at all? Because he has lifted us above our enemies. He has defeated Satan and sin and death and has brought us to His city, His throneroom, His presence. Praise the Lord! 

"People can't get enough of what they don't really need." (Ford, Kevin. Transforming Church.)

It makes you think differently every time you sing, "Your grace is enough." It also makes you think differently about that new iPad or that new car you're looking forward to getting. At least it does for me. 

"Basic techniques are not simplistic or easy; they are techniques that will work all the time on anyone, every time." (Erik Paulson)

"Advanced techniques are basic techniques done well." (Greg Nelson)

Even though these two guys are professional mixed martial artists...they bring something valuable to the table. Meaningful things like hearing God's voice and discerning His will for your life are "advanced" things. They only come by daily, continual practice of spiritual disciplines like reading the Bible, reading Christian literature, surrounding yourself with intentional Christ-followers, prayer, meditation, fasting, worshiping, i.e. "simple" things. 

So if you're trying to hear from God, and you're not successful, don't fret. Stay faithful to the little things, and God will eventually bring you to bigger things. Stick to the basics, and before you know it...you're doing advanced things. Hearing God's voice clearly only comes after years of diligent listening intently.

"A Christ that differs from the rest of men only in saintly degree and not in redeeming kind is not the Christ of the New Testament" (P.T. Forsyth).

I'm taking a Christology class at seminary, and one of the books had this quote. I thought it was profound. A lot of people today think that Jesus was just a good person. Or that he was wisest man, a good teacher/rabbi, or an exemplar of the moral life.

But Jesus wasn't just a human. He was fully God and fully human.  Still is. If Jesus was only a human, was only a good teacher, was only a holy man...then we would still be lost in our sins.

A saint doesn't save. A redeemer saves. The only kind of redeemer that Jesus could have been was a divine one. That is the Christ of the New Testament. The NT portrays Jesus as God stepping into humanity, to not only teach us the way to God, but to make that way possible.  

I've been thinking about this subject for a while. Coveting, the call of the church, having our needs met,  giving, etc. 

We tend to think of meeting our needs as the central purpose of our lives. In the Bible there are stories where God heals, rescues, enlivens, delights, feeds and cares for people. But the problem is that we have made meeting our needs the most meaningful thing in our lives. We think this way because we tend to identify our humanity at its core with a set of needs that must be met. Abraham Maslow held that human beings are characterized by a hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, love, belonging, esteem and finally leads to self-actualization. Our humanity is reinforced 1000s of times each day through the culture of advertising. Images, phrases, music, sensations make us think we need or desire or work toward satisfying of those desires and needs. In essence, North American understandings of what it means to be human are deeply shaped by the market. We are trained to see ourselves first and foremost as consumers with needs to be met. What is lacking in this view of humanity? Glaringly absent is any understanding of a purpose for human life that extends beyond ourselves and the gratification of our own needs and desires. The problem is not that meeting our needs is wrong; it's that when meeting needs moves to the center of our lives, the result is self-absorption and narcissism. Genuine spiritual growth is difficult to achieve until this posture of self-absorption is confronted and addressed. What the gospel offers, by contrast, is the opportunity to be drawn into something larger than ourselves. The gospel sees our humanity not in terms of needs to be met, but in terms of capacities and gifts to be offered in God's gracious service. We are created not to consume but to know god, not merely to meet our own needs but to participate in God's life and mission. The gospel is primarily about God, and only secondarily about us. It's an invitation into a new way of being human. ("StormFront: The Good News of God", by James V. Brownson, p. 33-34)

I'm so itching to work out. I really, really want to get back into mixed martial arts. It's the one thing that I love doing and that I'm good at. But it's like at least $125 a month!! 

 I realized today that exercising is really only for the rich. If you're poor, you wouldn't have the opportunity to exercise, work out. No money to pay the gym. No leisure time to work on your figure. People who are poor tend to have more than one job, and more than one bill, so most of our time is spent on those things. In many cases, a poor person would be doing manual labor anyway so physically they are too exhausted to exercise more.

And that goes for eating healthy too. When you're poor you only buy the $1 menu stuff at Taco Bell or Jack in the Box or those foods with high fructose corn syrup, because they're cheaper. It's WAY unhealthy, but what can you do? 

 It's a sad deal.  I'm feeling the pinch.

If you have ever thought about dating or marriage, you might wonder, "What is the next step?" This is my attempt to draw out the "next step in a relationship."

1. Sharing the same faith
2. Sharing ideas/thoughts
3. Watching the same TV shows
4. Sharing jokes
5. Watching movies together
6. Sharing opinions
7. Going on a group roadtrip together
8. Sharing feelings
9. Having the DTR talk = Defining the Relationship
10. Getting interrogated by Pastor James and failing
11. Getting Pastor James' blessing
12. Letting family know
13. Getting family's blessing
14. Letting the church leadership know that you're dating
15. Boyfriend keeps girlfriend warm by giving her his jacket
16. Girlfriend feeds boyfriend
17. Share meals
18. Holding hands
19. Giving presents to each other
20. Sharing the same cup of water
21. Changing your relationship status public on Facebook
22. Licking the same ice cream cone / frozen yogurt spoon
23. Kissing
24. Sharing the same toothbrush (only for emergencies)
25. Sharing a phone plan to save minutes
26. Someone getting down on one knee and someone else saying "Yes"
27. Having an argument and making up
28. Going through a wedding
29. Taking pictures at a beach or mountain somewhere far, far away
30. Sharing bank account
31. Sharing a home
32. Sharing babies

Am I missing any steps?!?  

Haha, don't ask me where I am at. And don't take this too seriously. 

It's been a while since I blogged so I'll start off easy.

I was so tired and distracted the other day that after I poured my cereal into my bowl, I automatically grabbed the bottle and poured in apple juice. Aaugh! So then I filled the rest of the bowl with milk, because I didn't want to waste the whole thing! So I had a mix of apple-milk cereal. It was a bad mix.

Like my story? =) 

So I am in San Salvador, El Salvador now. Why? A guy got sick on our plane, we emergency landed, got delayed 2 hours, missed our connecting flight, and we have to wait until the night flight.

 What can you do? Nada. I feel at peace. God is in control, is He not? 

 One of the sermons I am preaching in Nicaragua is about trusting God. If you read Psalm 139, it talks about the omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence of God. Since God is everywhere, then necessarily, He knows everything. And if He knows everything, He can do everything necessary to fulfill His plan. 

Omnipresence + Omniscienec + Omnipotence + the Goodness and Love of God = Trust.

Since I know that God is with me, knows what I am going through, is strong enough to save me, wants to help me, and has my best interest in mind....

I can let go.

I can trust.

I can let Him hold me, and take me where He will.

I pray that I can hold onto this truth. And I pray that whoever hears this message would be encouraged too. Here we go, Nicaragua!