Glory of the Cross

Prosperity Preaching

2007-02-16T00:38:00.000-05:00

John Piper has posted a great article on the deceitfulness and dangers of prosperity preaching.

Judge not, lest ye be judged

2007-01-13T12:08:00.000-05:00

Ah, that famous verse from Matthew 7:1.. as popularized by bumper stickers and T-shirts all over. For years I struggled with that verse.. are we to judge or not judge? If I see a brother or sister persisting in sin, do I confront or do I overlook? Because.. "Judge not, lest ye be judged." And yet it just feels "wrong" to not confront the person in sin. It also seems contrary to the rest of Scripture, which exhorts us to build one another up, which I'm sure involves accountability and pointing out sin in each others' lives.

Recently, while reading a book ("Questioning Evangelism" by Randy Newman), I learned the full context of the verse for the first time. Like many "popular" verses, the verse itself is not meant to be taken in isolation. To understand the context, we need to read the whole passage:

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

I have read that passage many times, yet I always stop at the part that says "first take the log out of your own eye." I somehow always miss the importance of "then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Jesus is warning us here not to be hypocrites. If we want to point out someone else's sin, we should really examine ourselves first. Are we practising the same sin? Are we involved in some other sin that is equally or more serious? Is our life generally reflective of Jesus, or is it one of persistence in sin ourselves?

After that humble self-examination, and repenting of any sins ourselves, then it would be appropriate to gently "take the speck out of your brother's eye."

So Matthew 7:1-5 is a warning about hypocrisy. We still need to be as careful as ever. Sin is sneaky. If the apostle Paul can say "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing" (Romans 7:19), how much more do we need to examine ourselves and ask others for input about whether we are hypocrites ourselves?

I still have so much more to learn.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T21:29:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to my readers.. if any! ;)

Considering the number of blog posts I generate per year, I'm pretty shocked that you somehow found out about this blog and are actually reading this right now. :)

My sister asked me the other day why I don't blog as often as I should. Good question. I guess it just takes a lot of energy to put down my thoughts into words. Or perhaps I'm just not built for the spontaneity to transform thoughts into words that blogging requires.

Actually I'm not sure if spontaneity is a good thing. Recently I learned that our spiritual gifts should be used to build up the church.. although technically there is no "gift of blogging", I still think that blogging should be used for building up the church as well. That's why I feel the need to blog in a way that will hopefully encourage the reader, if I were to blog at all (see also Justin Taylor's post "Think Before You Post").

Having said that, hopefully this year I'll be able to increase the number of posts. Have a great new year!

Watch Your Life and Doctrine

2006-11-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

Just found out from Justin Taylor's blog that Crossway will be publishing a book called Preaching the Cross, which is based on the sessions from the Together for the Gospel conference.

Crossway has allowed Justin to make a chapter by C.J. Mahaney available on his blog.. you can download it at the end of his blog post (limited time only!!!). The chapter is entitled "The Pastor's Priorities: Watch Your Life and Doctrine." Yet another item to add to our read-study-apply lists!!

Sarcasm

2006-11-01T22:12:00.000-05:00

When I was young (and very foolish), especially during my high school days, I used to find joy in sarcasm -- yes, I enjoyed stringing words together to form sentences that would rate extremely high on the sarcasmometer and use them on my friends. Of course it doesn't help that my friends were also fellow fans in the horrible art of sarcasm.

It was only recently that I learned, via a sermon from C.J. Mahaney, that sarcasm has no place in the Christian's life. C.J. gave a sermon on encouragement, where his key verse was Ephesians 4:29:

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

The command from God here is that there must be no corrupt talk whatsoever, which would naturally include sarcasm. Instead, what we speak should be good for "building up" others.

I was challenged once again by a pastor's sermon on Sunday, from another verse in Ephesians:

"Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving." - Ephesians 5:4

That's a tough challenge for me indeed, especially at the lunch table at work, where there's always a tendency to start and dwell on unhelpful topics, and I'm very guilty of this as well.

Finally there is the sombre warning from the Lord Himself:

"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." - Matthew 12:36-37

Jesus did not make any distinctions -- believers and unbelievers alike will be judged for every careless word they speak. Oh, how many careless words have I muttered under my breath. God give me grace.

How to be a success in life

2006-10-01T22:21:00.000-04:00

"If you want to be a success in life, find out what God is doing and throw yourself wholeheartedly into it." - Arthur Wallace

It's not about us, it's all about God!

What are you?

2006-09-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

How would you answer that question? Most would probably answer based on their vocation (e.g. "I'm a doctor or teacher or ..."). That's how I would've answered it.

That's the question Mark Dever asked C.J. Mahaney on the Together for the Gospel blog last month.

Now, C.J. is the humblest man I know of. If you get the chance to see him speak, you can't help but see the overwhelming evidences of grace in his life.

So, when asked, "What is C.J.?", here is C.J.'s response:

What am I? Well, here is what I am. I am the worst sinner I know. And by the grace of God I am doing better than I deserve. For I deserve the righteous wrath of God because of my sin. I deserve to be punished eternally. But in the mystery of His mercy, God sacrificed and crushed His Son on the Cross--as my substitute--so that I might be forgiven of my sin and know God as my Father rather than my Judge. What am I? I am truly amazed by the grace of God. That’s what I am.

Whoa, what a response! It's so obvious that the gospel permeates every part of his life. What a fresh reminder of the need to place the gospel at the very center of our lives.

Young, Restless, Reformed

2006-09-23T10:57:00.000-04:00

Christianity Today has published its article on the resurgence of Reformed thinking among youths. A lengthy read, but worth it.

Great quote from Joshua Harris:

"If you really understand Reformed theology, we should all just sit around shaking our heads going, 'It's unbelievable. Why would God choose any of us?'" Harris said. "You are so amazed by grace, you're not picking a fight with anyone, you're just crying tears of amazement that should lead to a heart for lost people, that God does indeed save, when he doesn't have to save anybody."

"I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist"

2006-09-16T23:15:00.000-04:00

How could you not take notice of a book with a title like that? :)

I first heard of "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" on Justin Taylor's blog, and immediately checked it out on Amazon.com. After reading a few excerpts of it, I must say, it's excellent. Just The Thing to give to your skeptic friends.

Here's a description from the publisher:

"I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist argues that Christianity requires the least faith of all worldviews because it is the most reasonable. The authors lay out the evidence for truth, God, and the Bible in logical order and in a readable, non-technical, engaging style. A valuable aid to those interested in examining the reasonableness of the Christian faith, Geisler and Turek provide a firm challenge to the prior beliefs of doubters and skeptics."

I love Josh McDowell's endorsement on that same publisher link:

"If you’re still a skeptic after reading I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, then I suspect you’re living in denial!"

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

2006-09-16T22:50:00.000-04:00

I'm usually not a fan of outlines.. you know, those outlines that you receive at seminars and lectures that you're supposed to follow through and take notes. I have this tendency to take the outline home, file it, and... um, file it. :) I might refer to it once in a while but more often than not, it is left in the files, waiting to be rediscovered the next time I'm forced to do some spring cleaning.

So when my small group leader sent me a download link for a Sovereign Grace Ministries outline entitled "Suffering and Sovereignty", I let it sit in my inbox for days. Well, I finally got around to download it, expecting it to be one of "those" outlines again. Boy, was I wrong. The outline is on the very important topic of human suffering in light of the sovereignty of God. Despite being just nine pages, it is packed with biblical wisdom, insightful quotes, and application material.

Never mind about outlines, but why did I get excited over an outline on the topic of suffering, of all things? Well here's an excerpt from the outline that explains why...

"One of the major causes of devastating grief and confusion among Christians is that our expectations are false. We do not give the subject of evil and suffering the thought it deserves until we ourselves are confronted with tragedy. If by that point our beliefs - not well thought out but deeply ingrained - are largely out of step with the God who has disclosed himself in the Bible and supremely in Jesus, then the pain from the personal tragedy may be multiplied many times over as we begin to question the very foundations of our faith." Carson

You can download the outline here.

Coincidentally, John Piper and Justin Taylor just released their new book "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God" a few days ago. Would love to get my hands on it.. and maybe do a review. Then again, no promises about a review... this is coming from a guy who blogs less than ten posts a year. :)

Does God want you to be rich?

2006-09-14T00:04:00.000-04:00

That's the question Time Magazine is asking on its cover this week.

From the link:

"For several decades, a philosophy has been percolating in the 10 million-strong Pentecostal wing of Christianity that seems to turn the Gospels' passage on its head. Certainly, it allows, Christians should keep one eye on heaven. But the new good news is that God doesn't want us to wait.

Known (or vilified) under a variety of names -- Word of Faith, Health and Wealth, Name It and Claim It, Prosperity Theology -- its emphasis is on God's promised generosity in this life. In a nutshell, it suggests that a God who loves you does not want you to be broke."

Sadly, this is the age of prosperity theology. Who cares about taking up the cross when you can gain the whole world.

Here are some helpful responses from Alex Chediak and Albert Mohler.

Choice quote from Dr. Mohler:

"Well . . . why would an awesome and mighty God want anything less for his children? The saddest aspect of that question is its focus on material prosperity at the expense of the limitless spiritual riches we are given in Christ. The problem with prosperity theology is not that it promises too much, but that it promises so little -- and promises that so falsely."

(HT: Between Two Worlds)

How good are you?

2006-09-02T21:24:00.000-04:00

Find out!

What is the gospel?

2006-04-11T22:56:00.000-04:00

In this post, C.J. Mahaney tackles two important questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. What is the most serious threat to the gospel?

The gospel is the central message of all the Bible, and the only essential message in all of history, so this is definitely worth a read.

Isn't it such a blessing...

2006-04-01T23:33:00.000-05:00

...to receive a letter from a respected Christian leader on your 13th birthday?? That's exactly what Chad Mahaney (C.J. Mahaney's son) got from David Powlison. David penned great words of wisdom in that letter, a lot of which are equally applicable to all of us, regardless of age. Definitely worth a read!

Assurance

2006-03-30T11:05:00.000-05:00

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:21-23)

To me, that passage is undoubtedly one of the scariest passages in the Bible. If, when I die, Jesus says to me "I never knew you", I will know immediately that that is The Definite End. All hope is forever lost. I would know immediately that I had lived my life thinking I was a Christian, but was never saved in the first place. I would know that I would have to spend every slow minute in hell, in total darkness, in isolation, without a single hint of hope. Worst of all, I would know that I could have spent eternity with Christ in heaven -- my real home, the place I was created to be in. How those cruel words would ring in my mind: "could have, could have, could have..."

One of my greatest struggles is the assurance of my salvation. I know I am not alone in this -- many Christians from the "regular" believer, like me, all the way to Charles Spurgeon the great preacher have had these doubts. I know that churches throughout the centuries have consisted of both the saved and unsaved. Only God really knows the state of each person's salvation.

My big problem is that I'm a sinner. Every time I sin, it clouds the assurance of my salvation. Jesus said a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). If someone who professes to be a believer continually sins and produces bad fruit, it could be that that person was never saved in the first place. This is a huge motivation in my battle against sin.

I know that my works are not what earns me entry into heaven. It is God who saves, and justification is by faith alone. But most people who quote Ephesians 2:8-9 tend to miss out verse 10, which says that Christians are created for good works. In other words, we're saved first (justification) so that we can produce good works (sanctification). Therefore if I consistently produce bad fruit, and my spiritual life keeps deteriorating, it could be that I was never even saved in the first place. Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).

At the same time, I believe that full assurance of salvation in this life is possible. As I search the Scriptures and examine my own life, I do believe that I will be able to possess and express the full confidence that I am truly saved, just like Paul (2 Timothy 1:12).

I rest in God's many promises concerning salvation:

"...whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (John 5:24)

"And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

How my whole being longs to hear Jesus say those precious words -- "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23) -- on that Day.

Ramblings

2006-03-23T11:14:00.000-05:00

Wow it has been a while since I've blogged. I've been awfully busy in the past three months. A ton of things have happened. Spiritually, there have been victories, and there have been defeats. Though I always have a tendency to be affected more by the defeats than the victories -- a trend I hope to be able to change. After all, "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) That is God's promise that I'm holding on to.

There are many things I want to write about, but time is lacking. Nevertheless, I hope to be able to find time to write, since I believe it is important to share one's life lessons with others. I think that is one way to glorify God, since it involves loving our neighbor (Matthew 22:39). I can only hope that the lessons I'll share will be Biblically grounded, though I know I'll never be perfect while on this earth.

I really do long for the day when I will be re-united with my Lord and Savior, and to enjoy eternity with Him forever and ever. What a great joy it would be to see the face of the One who died for me.

Happy New Year 2006!

2006-01-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

Just want to wish everyone a happy and blessed new year!

Actually this is just an excuse for a post... the real news is... Go Panthers!! Yeah!!!

What a Christmas!

2005-12-25T22:34:00.000-05:00

My Christmas weekend was a blast! On Christmas eve, my wife and I had dinner with a family from church.. and then attended Christmas eve service at church. On Christmas day itself, we celebrated Christmas with two different families and their kids... and had a ton of meaningful time fellowshipping with them.

We're blessed to have such great friends who seek to honor and glorify God with their lives, and who are just so genuinely kind and nice. They're such a great example to us.. as believers, as married couples, and as parents. It is such a breath of fresh air to know and to see with my own eyes that there is hope in life, marriage, and parenting -- and learning that this kind of growth and fruit will only come by holding on to Christ and living out a gospel-centered life.

What a great way to celebrate the birth and life of Christ with people who seek to follow Christ in every area of their lives.

Next to spending Christmas with real family back home, this is without a doubt the best way to celebrate Christmas. Lord, thank you!

Merry Christmas!!

2005-12-23T14:51:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to wish all my readers (if any!) Merry Christmas!! May Christ be glorified and exalted on Christmas, and each and every day of the year.

Self-improvement does not improve self

2005-12-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

Here's a true story. My bookshelf used to be very well stocked with self-improvement books. I've got a bunch of them, ranging from positive-thinking books to financial planning "prosperity" books, and an assorted range in between. If there was any new self-improvement book out there that got rave reviews, I wanted to get my hands on it.

I believe my intentions were genuine. I realize then, as I do today, that life is very very short; I wanted to find out exactly the "best" way to live life before it's too late. I don't want to be the old man who looked back at his life near the end of his days, and say, "I've wasted it all." Therefore I immersed myself into self-improvement books, thinking that I will somehow gather the secret to healthy and wealthy living for the rest of my life.

But here's the reality today: you can take all my self-improvement books away.. you can steal them and throw them away or burn them -- I don't care. But just make sure you leave one single book behind. My Bible.

Over the years I have come to realize what a waste of time self-improvement books are. I think their biggest fallacy is that they promote the glorification of self rather than God. They appeal to sinful pride and prosperity.. saying, "if this is what YOU want, here's how YOU get it!" It's "self"-improvement after all. No wonder they appealed to me.. I was a hopeless and rotten sinner then, and I am attracted to sin (today, I've made a little progress in this area, but I've still got a long way to go before I'm truly like Christ).

A lot of the problems with self-improvement books result because they hold a worldly worldview rather than a biblical worldview. Let's take financial planning books, for example. Here's what they say: once you get your salary, pay yourself first (i.e. save), then pay everything else later. Its intention is good, but still falls short of biblical standards. The Bible says, pay GOD first (i.e. tithe), and then save/spend the rest in a God-glorifying way. If possible, give even more to God. Another example from financial planning: Prepare a nest egg for retirement. Saving is fine, but nowhere in the Bible can you find a concept of retirement (think about it -- why would God want you to spend the last years of your life bumming around doing nothing? Those are great years to serve God!).

Because of this clash of views, I've read more than one financial planning book, and even one written by a so-called Christian, who "bash" preachers for, well, preaching God's Word about the biblical act of tithing. How sad. What they don't realize is that earthly life is short but after that we will live eternally -- and the way we spend eternity is determined by how we spent life on earth! And then there are other books that promote tapping into the subconscious, like one which advocates meditating that you're in a meeting with past great men like Lincoln and imagining that they're "advising" you about your goals and life. I'm serious. Because I want the readers of this blog to avoid that book like the plague, I won't even mention its title here.

So, what's the alternative? My suggestion is, dive into God's Word and immerse yourself in it. Why settle for human wisdom when you can tap directly into the wisdom of the One who made humans? Study God's Word regularly and meditate on it. After all, the purpose of life is ultimately to glorify God -- and His Word shows us exactly how to do that. Not only until we discover this truth will we seek God and give Him the glory that He deserves, and life will never be more satisfying.

The second-best thing, I think, is to read doctrinally-sound Christian books by authors who are grounded in and living out God's Word. While these books do not have the authority of Scripture, they sure help us understand the Bible and how it applies to our lives. Here's a short list of books I highly recommend, in no particular order:

"Knowing God" by J.I. Packer
"Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper
"Money, Possessions, and Eternity" by Randy Alcorn
"The Cross-Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney
"Humility" by C.J. Mahaney
"Systematic Theology" by Wayne Grudem

Of course, merely reading the Bible (and these books) will not help change our lives unless we actually apply them. We would benefit a whole lot more if we were to join a Bible-teaching, Bible-living church and fellowship with genuine believers who can encourage and strengthen us in our faith.

Let me end with one last point. Everyone of us, whether rich or poor, is given one single finite resource -- time. Whether we like it or not, we only have 24 hours a day. I have wasted so many hours, days, months, and years, including 9 years as a Christian, trying to figure out what's the purpose in life and how I should live it out. It was only recently that I figured out that life is all about glorifying God in the first place, and never was it about myself. So I urge you -- please, please don't waste your time like I did. Dive into God's Word -- read it, study it, obey it, apply it, live it. And give Him all the glory in everything that you do.

I did it!

2005-11-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

I did it! By God's strength, I read through the entire Bible for the second time. The first time was done on a book-by-book basis; this time, I followed a chronological Bible reading plan. If you're thinking of reading through the Bible, I highly recommend using the chronological plan, because it really gives you a greater understanding of how all the individual books are linked together harmoniously and consistently.

There is really nothing I love to do more than to spend a long, uninterrupted chunk of time immersing myself in God's Word. I never used to be like that -- in fact, my Bible was gathering dust in the corner of the room for three years at one point. So I really thank God for imparting a desire in my heart for the holy Scriptures. Soli Deo Gloria!

Are you called?

2005-10-30T00:45:00.000-04:00

Are you called to serve God.. full time?? Yes, that's quite a question. Most of us have probably pondered about that question at least once in our lives.

If that's you, you might be interested to know that Dave Harvey of Sovereign Grace Ministries has written a 50-page booklet called "Am I Called?". I have read the first few pages.. it looks very promising. As with all material from Sovereign Grace, it's written with a gospel-centered perspective which I find very refreshing.

And yes, it's available online as a PDF file. Another book to add to my Online Christian Books list. You can also buy the booklet itself at the Sovereign Grace store.

Do all to the glory of God

2005-10-25T21:04:00.000-04:00

This post is a reminder to self.

During the busy seasons in life, like the one I'm going through now, I often find myself complaining and whining under stress... but I need to remind myself of God's Word as spoken through the writings of my favorite apostle Paul...

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
- 1 Corinthians 10:31

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."
- Colossians 3:23-24

May God be glorified.

Self-Evident Truth

2005-10-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

Self-Evident Truth is an excellent website and resource that exposes the horrors of abortion.

Came across that link on Justin Taylor's excellent blog.

Online Christian books

2005-10-21T00:32:00.000-04:00

Just came across these gems on the Net, and wanted to pass them along to you..

Online Books from Desiring God, John Piper's ministry
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/onlinebooks_index.html
Sovereign Grace Ministries: The Pursuit of Godliness Series
http://www.sovgracemin.org/books/
The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood -- addresses critical issues of manhood and womanhood, especially in this day and age.
http://www.cbmw.org/resources/books.php

Such generosity from the authors and publishers to freely give away these materials on the Net.. of course, if you have benefited from these online books, please consider buying the dead-tree version to support the authors.

If you know of any other places where you can download high-quality, biblically-sound Christian books like these, please let me know!

Commenting system change

2005-10-17T11:30:00.000-04:00

I've changed my commenting system from HaloScan to Blogger's. As a result, all previous comments were lost (not that I really had that many! :)). Sorry 'bout that!

My car got broken into again...

2005-10-11T15:24:00.000-04:00

...for the second time in less than 10 months. The first time my car got broken into was last Christmas -- they broke my window but did not steal anything. This time, they did not break any glass (thankfully) but they stole my stereo and a few other little things. Well, at least my car is still there.

Even though it was an unpleasant experience, I'm thankful to God because I found out from my response to the incident that God is at work in me. See, I could've been extremely bitter about the whole thing. I could've whined and complained endlessly about it, just like I've used to in the past.

However, I found myself praying a blessing for the thieves, and asking God to forgive them because they do not know what they're doing. I prayed that God will protect them and that they would not have the desire to steal again.

So, I thank God that my car was broken into. It showed that God is truly at work in me, and is using this incident as part of my sanctification. God wants me to trust in Him even more.

I lost my stereo, so that means very quiet commutes to and from work. But I still have Jesus Christ, and that's all that matters.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." - James 1:2-4 (ESV)

ESV Bible Blog

2005-10-04T22:50:00.000-04:00

Oh wow, my favorite Bible translation, the ESV (English Standard Version), actually has its own blog!

And if you're a web developer/programmer, you can even publish ESV passages using their web service API.

That's pretty neat! Truly a Bible translation for the 21st century. :-)

"I lost my family!"

2005-10-02T14:28:00.000-04:00

Let me tell you about this cute little girl in our church. She was originally from Russia but was adopted by one of the kind families here. I'm always inspired by the many families in our church who would go out of their way to adopt children from less fortunate places, so that they can have a fresh start in life under the care of a loving family.

Well, back to this little girl. Whenever she sees my wife and I, for some reason she'll always come up to us and give us a hug (especially my wife.. I'm not as huggable I guess!). That's interesting because we aren't exactly close to her or her family.. but still, she always does these cute little things and we remember her for that.

Today we saw her again in the church auditorium, where she was running around with a friend looking for something or someone.. when she saw us, she said in a high-pitched voice, "I lost my family!" before she sped off again. It turned out that she was looking for her parents and brothers, who were probably chatting with their friends somewhere in the church building. I'm sure she finally found her family in the end.

On the way home from church, I thought about what she said. And I realized, how wonderful it is that when God adopts us into His own family, we will never ever have to say, "I lost my family"? When Jesus died on the cross, our sins are forgiven forever, and not only that, God even adopts us -- yes, us filthy hellbound sinners who mock and hate God -- to be His children. This is grace of the highest measure, considering that we were sworn enemies of God and yet God sent His Son for us, and then tells us that...

"...neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

What a faithful loving God we have! His love and grace we will never be able to fully understand. Praise the Lord!

Preaching the gospel

2005-10-01T23:49:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine recently shared this witty quote with me...

"Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words."

Interesting thought to ponder about...

Snappy Fall days are here again

2005-09-29T00:04:00.000-04:00

This morning as I was getting ready to head out and do my usual routine, I was surprised that the usually green grass in my area is suddenly showing a tint of brown. That can only mean one thing: Fall is finally coming!

Fall's always my favorite season -- there's so much beauty in falling leaves. I always wonder what's the equivalent of the seasons in heaven.. or will there even be seasons in heaven. Either way, I know that everything on earth, despite how beautiful it can sometimes be, will pale in comparison to heaven. And of course, even heaven itself will pale miserably in comparison to the most beautiful One who made it all in the first place -- the Lord our God.

Oh, how I long to see the face of the One who died for me.

Work: the dreaded four-letter word

2005-08-19T19:34:00.000-04:00

When you're overwhelmed with work, it's hard to keep yourself motivated at times. Still, all glory be to God.

Nugget from the Prophets

2005-07-29T14:22:00.000-04:00

Most of the time, as we read the Bible, the books of the major prophets (especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) tend to be the hardest to wade through. I'm currently reading through Ezekiel as part of my year-long plan to finish the Bible from cover to cover (and speaking of which, I'm pretty behind schedule :)).

Ezekiel is probably one of the most difficult books. The strange thing is, I've read it before last year but this year as I read it again, I don't recall anything I read last year! Perhaps that's because it was so difficult that my mind forgot it entirely.

Well, one verse that I read last night struck me:

"As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" - Ezekiel 33:11 (ESV)

Most of the time, especially when we sin, we think that God "enjoys" judging and punishing us. It's as though God is peeking at us constantly, waiting for us to sin and just itching to say "Aha, gotcha!" Well, this little nugget from Ezekiel tells us otherwise -- God finds no pleasure in punishing the wicked, but He would rather have them (i.e., us) repent.

Not the blogging type?

2005-07-27T11:16:00.000-04:00

The last post was ages ago. Perhaps I'm just not cut out for blogging. Every time I have an idea for a post, I think long and hard about it, especially on how to write and perfect each sentence. In the end, the post just disappears into some corner of my mind instead of being on this page. Maybe I'll just write whatever next time, and not worry about the consequences. Then again.

The Good News

2005-07-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted much in a while, so here's a short post. Just wanted to proclaim the Good News.

Simple pleasures

2005-06-04T21:51:00.000-04:00

I had a crazy workload for the entire week, which I finally completed on Friday, and so I got to enjoy the weekend. One of the highlights of the weekend was I managed to attend a homeschooling graduation ceremony at church with my wife. It was really interesting, as I've never attended a homeschooling graduation before. The graduates were all taught by their parents at home for the past 12 years, and we could see the remarkable difference in the way they acted and carried themselves. They are not the typical rebellious teenager, that's for sure. Instead, it was evident that God was at work in their lives and they purposed to serve and glorify God as they embark on a new chapter in their lives. What a great reminder of the need to glorify God in all that we do.

After the ceremony, my wife and I got home and relaxed, and somehow ended up playing the children's song "Jesus Loves Me" with me on guitar and she on violin. I really love and enjoy playing music together with her. It's simple pleasures like this that make life so meaningful. I really hope that I'll be able to enjoy as much of these moments with the dearest and closest people to me as I can throughout my life.

No second chance

2005-05-20T23:30:00.000-04:00

Of all the classes I've taken in school, statistics is the one that eludes me most. I've never been a fan of statistics and have always been an average student at it. Yet the news and media bombard us with tons of statistics every single day, so it helps to understand statistics a little bit so that you can figure out what's scientifically sound and what's not.

Despite my dislike for stats and my lack of understanding of it, I have come across one statistic which I found very interesting. This one statistic is completely true, scientifically sound, fully provable, and absolutely easy to understand. Here it is:

The death rate of all human beings is 100%.

Yes, you and I are going to die. Before you think I'm such a pessimist, well, I would like to point out that death is a misnomer. People don't actually die. Sure, the body dies but the soul lives forever, for eternity. But, like most people, we don't usually think about eternity. It's like, "eternity, oh okay." Many people don't see that eternity is not just 100 years, or 1,000 years, but millions and zillions of years. It never ends. Compared to eternity, life here on earth is like a vapor that quickly disappears into thin air; the Bible says that "all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them." (Isaiah 40:6-7).

Worldly wisdom says that we should plan for retirement and financial independence while we're still young, but the truly wise plan for eternity. After all, there is no second chance to re-live life when death pays a visit.

So how should we live life if it is only a vapor on earth? I think we should live life and do things that have eternal significance. If you're a non-Christian, I would really urge you to consider inviting Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior. God has paid the penalty for your sins through his only Son Jesus and He freely invites you to receive Him. This is the Good News. When you receive Jesus, you will get to spend eternity in heaven.

For Christians, we can do things of eternal significance by choosing how we spend our time, talent, money, and energy. We spend so much time chasing worldly success that we often lose sight of what is truly important. Do you remember what your great, great, grandfather did? No? Well, neither do I. And in the next few generations, what we have done will also be forgotten on earth.

So it really helps to do things that are eternally significant in heaven forever and ever. This means living a life for the glory of God. This means fulfilling the greatest commandment, which is to love others as we love God. This means serving others wholeheartedly and humbling ourselves. This means sharing the gospel. This means denying ourselves unnecessary indulgences but to give our money to the church and to missions instead.

In the words of Jesus our Lord:

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)

Our true eternal rewards are in heaven. Worldly financial planning books promote the concept of "delayed gratification". True delayed gratification is foregoing worldly pleasures to enjoy our rewards in heaven.

"It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day." - Matthew Henry

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Life is short. Live it well.

Living a life that's worth living

2005-04-24T23:05:00.000-04:00

For many years now, I have been contemplating what it means to live a life that is worth living. Being "young", I've always wanted to find out the "right" way to live as early as I can, so that I won't waste my life and regret it all at the end of my time here on earth.

Unfortunately, even as a Christian, for a number of years I have lived using worldly standards as a yardstick. There was a time when I thought the Bible was not sufficient to be the ultimate authority in my life. So I turned to countless self-improvement books, personality tests, and a whole bunch of worldly junk. All this while, my Bible was lying around in the corner of the room gathering dust.

How silly I was. And how arrogant and proud I was. And still am.

Thankfully, God has been gracious to lead me back to Him. I now base my life solely on the Bible (or at least, I try to as much as I can). Life is worth living again. Today I can fully attest that the only life worth living is a life that glorifies God alone. I strive everyday to live a life that's worthy of the gospel.

Today, it scares me to see how many people form their life principles based on an eclectic mix of what they read on the Net, or what they see on TV, or what their friends say, or some catchy quote that they read from some book. I say that because I was once like that, and I know how dangerous and how unfulfilling life can be if we base our life on anything else apart from God's Word.

I know that it is very difficult to live according to the Bible. That is because we're still on earth, and we are constantly barraged with worldly wisdom every single day. But worldly wisdom and God's wisdom are like oil and water. To follow God is to deny my own humanity. To follow God is to reduce my pride to shreds, and be humble and follow Him.

The problem is that we are all born sinners. The world always tries to portray humans as though we are all "good", but nothing could be further than the truth -- we are all evil by nature (Romans 3:10-12; 3:23). And that's why we are in need of a Savior who will save us from our sins. He saves us even though we do not deserve it. What a gracious God we have! And I think that living a life that glorifies God -- the One who loved me enough to save me from hell and eternal damnation -- is the least I could ever do for Him.

Best Keynote Speech I've Ever Heard

2005-04-09T12:10:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, I had the privilege of participating at a business plan competition at a university. Actually, I was not a competitor -- I was just a participant and part of the audience who got to enjoy the event. This particular event has gained notoriety over the past few years, where a large portion of the audience are the city's top business people. It was fun to be able to rub shoulders with the city's business elite -- however, that was not the highlight of the event.

The highlight was definitely the keynote speech. Why? Because the guy who gave the keynote was the least-qualified keynote speaker, and yet his speech was the most inspiring keynote speech I've ever heard! Puzzling? Let me explain.

I have heard many keynote speeches in the past -- all from industry leaders and people at the top of their fields. These are people who've made headlines and defined their specific industries. However, the guy who gave the keynote during the business plan competition:

1. was originally from a small town in Kentucky;
2. had a degree in Bible;
3. was originally supposed to become a P.E. teacher.

In other words, he almost had no business experience!! And yet, his speech totally floored me. The reason was because he glorified God all the way in his business, and that was extremely evident in his keynote speech.

The guy I'm talking about is Dwain Gullion of Magnet America. He became very very successful in just 1.5 years or so (and he didn't say it but I'm pretty sure he's a millionaire now), and I'm convinced that happened because he glorified God all the way. And he was absolutely the humblest guy in the room -- he said that he was not much of a keynote speaker, and that the university must be desperate for keynote speakers to have invited him!

Dwain's company sells those "Support Our Troops" yellow ribbon magnets that many people have on their cars. It was a very simple idea that he said he thought of while working in his family's Christian bookstore. So he quickly set up a website to sell those magnets, and he got his first order in just three weeks! Slowly the business grew and eventually things exploded. In June 2004, he received a million orders that month! He said things went so wild they were hiring anyone who knew anyone who needed a job (and he added, "yeah, that was pretty scary!") and his brother Chris had to answer all the calls to their toll-free number. Reporters came knocking and soon his company was on TV, the news, etc. Dwain said that this was all God's blessing.

His first Powerpoint slide showed his company name and a picture of his family. He said he had to put them there because his family has been through a lot; he had worked many late nights till 3am in the morning. Now, how many business presentations have you seen where the speaker puts his family photo on the first slide? It was amazing. I learned that he has a child and have adopted two children from China. And he travels frequently to China to support the orphanages there... he said that God has put it in his heart to help the little ones in that country. Even with his big business success, he still goes there regularly (in fact, his million orders per month happened while he was in China).

God has truly blessed Dwain tremendously. What really impressed me was that he was just a very regular guy. And it was super-amazing how humble he was, and how he acknowledged God in everything that he did... even in a secular business event! He said, if a guy from a small town in Kentucky who has a degree in Bible and was about to become a P.E. teacher can do it, anyone of you can! And that is so true. The best part of it is that his speech was not one of those "you can do it" positive-thinking self-motivation speeches... he acknowledged everything, everything, to God.

What a great testimony! Truly...

"The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor." - Proverbs 15:33 (ESV)

"Both riches and honor come from you [God], and you rule over all." - 1 Chronicles 29:12 (ESV)

Happy Easter!

2005-03-26T16:18:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Wedding Bells

2005-03-09T18:33:00.000-05:00

Pardon the long hiatus. I just came back from my sister's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, and it's extra-special, well, because it's my sister's wedding. :) It was a good time to recall and reminisce about my own wedding and my wedding vows. Most of all, I'm reminded about the church being the bride of Christ, which goes to illustrate just how holy and beautiful marriage is in the eyes of God.

  "Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure"
- Revelation 19:6-8

Indeed, at the end of time, the church is to present herself as a beautiful spotless Bride to Christ. I read a book called Sacred Marriage recently, where the thesis is: what if marriage was never meant to make you happy, but rather to make you holy? Having being married recently (or perhaps not so recently), I can attest to the difficulties and challenges of marriage. There's nothing like marriage that'll change someone to the core of their beings. But, overcoming these challenges produces great rewards: Holiness. Humility. Dependence on God.

Marriage truly moulds us to be more holy, so that at the end of time, we will be presented as a beautiful spotless bride to our Lord. Now I know why the Psalmist said:

"It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes."
- Psalm 119:71

So, despite all the hardship I go through, I always think and remind myself about marriage from God's point of view. Only by focusing on the cross do I see hope in marriage, and in all of life. This is not to say that marriage is hard work all the time. I do enjoy my marriage and the many joys that it brings; and I would not exchange my marriage for anything else.

I'll end this post with my favorite description of marriage, which I heard during a seminar by Paul Tripp. Dr. Tripp described marriage as:

Fallen man, and fallen woman, in the hands of a faithful God.

God's Faithfulness

2005-02-05T10:53:00.000-05:00

"I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations."
- Psalm 89:1

That is my desire for this blog -- to proclaim God's faithfulness to all.

My Favorite Blog

2005-02-03T17:52:00.000-05:00

I have read quite a number of blogs in the past few years; from those focused on technology issues, to "social" blogs, to food blogs, to friends' blogs, and many, many others in the ever-growing blogosphere. I think the blogs that impact me most are those that I can learn something from. It's interesting that when we read a blog, it seems as though we get to know the blogger personally in the process, though we probably do not even know him or her in real life.

At the same time, some blogs get started and quickly die off. I hope this one won't end up like that! Yet others are updated frequently but may reach a point where the blogger loses interest and it ends up like a relic from ancient Internet times. The interesting blogs tend to be those that are frequently updated, and never "finished" or "completed."

Yet my favorite Blog -- the one I read most often -- has already been finished and completed. There are no more posts to add to it. There are no posts to delete. There are no pending posts in draft mode, lingering for their time to be published. The Blogger has already written down all His posts, yet His messages are timeless.

My favorite Blog is the Bible -- God's Word. It is the Ultimate Blog.

The Bible is written by one Author, and yet it is a team blog. Its sixty-six books were written by many human authors throughout the centuries, and yet each author is fully inspired by God. Each book has different themes, yet they tell one story: God's redemption of humankind. It is the only story worth telling. It is the only story that is timeless and will never, ever be out-of-date.

The whole story can be summed up in one verse:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
- John 3:16

I am so grateful that God chose to leave a written record of His Will for us little human beings. Our sole purpose in life is to glorify God -- to love Him, to serve Him, to know Him. God, in His boundless grace, gives us His Book so that we can know Him personally and glorify Him, though we are the absolute last to deserve a relationship with Him.

Great is His love for us all.

Snappy day? Dust and ashes?

2005-02-01T23:43:00.000-05:00

You might be wondering, what in the world is a "snappy day"? Initially I chose that name for my blog because I was thinking of doing a photo blog, with the intention of posting a new snapshot everyday. So you know -- snapshot, snappy -- hope you get what I mean.

Well that's only the partial reason. A snappy day also means a "nice day". And since Psalm 118:24 tells us that...

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

...therefore every day should be a snappy day.

Lastly, snappy also means pleasantly cold. I happen to like snappy weather, especially autumn and not-so-cold days in winter. And incidentally, this blog was born on a snappy day. It snowed in my city for the first time this winter on January 30, 2005.

So, snappy day has many connotations. As someone who enjoys playing around with words (though this blog may suggest otherwise!), I really like the term snappy day.

Now, why is my blog nickname "dust and ashes"? Because that's exactly what I am. God created us from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7), and we will return to dust when we die (Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 3:20). When Abraham was asking God not to destroy Sodom because his nephew Lot was still living there, he described himself as dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27). In the eyes of God, we are all dust and ashes. Lest I become proud and glorify myself instead of God, I want to remind myself constantly about what I truly am -- just bits and pieces of dust and ashes.

First Post

2005-01-30T10:35:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog! I never thought I would start one, but I just wanted to try it out. I guess I'm the "late majority" when it comes to blogging. Well, legend has it that blogging has therapeutic properties, so we shall see. As to what this blog is about, it is about my walk with God. I'll cut to the chase. I'm a Christian who has recently "found" God again.

Actually God has always been there with me, but it was me who chose to "leave" Him (as if that's really possible) and do things my own way. For three whole years of my life, I lived in a worldly manner and did according to what was right in my own eyes.

But God is loving and merciful. At the end of my three-year hiatus, I was down in the dumps. I hit rock bottom, so to speak. Through a very painful process, God made me realize that He was and is and will always be the only one that I should live for. This is just a summary of my recent years in my walk with God -- I apologize that I can't really get into specifics right now, as it's a long story. There are a thousand things I'm bursting to tell you about. But those stories will have to be left for another day.

So welcome again, and thanks for reading. Hope to see you again, and have a snappy day.