In Christ... So what does it mean?

Disclaimer: I am not taking any credit for this message. Judah Smith preached on this topic and inspired me to share. In addition, I am writing this to remind myself.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

Sounds like a very familiar verse right? Well let me try and share a different perspective of this popular verse. Here's a quick background. The apostle Paul is writing to the church of Corinth. He's encouraging followers of Christ with this verse

You become a follower of Jesus. You feel pumped up and passionate about Christ and the Gospel. After a few days or weeks, you go back to your old ways. This is the cycle.

1. Go to a church retreat/conference/mission trip and get very passionate about God.
2. Come back home to your normal life.
3. Get "burned out" within a few days or weeks.
4. Repeat.

You're wondering: Why do I go back to being normal again after a few weeks? Why do I not feel any different? Why is it still difficult for me to resist my old habits? Why isn't God helping me?
You're asking the wrong questions.

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Passion 2014: Houston, TX

The weekend of Feb. 14-15th was Passion. 
What is Passion? It's a huge Christian conference that occurs one time a year. I know what you're thinking, "Oh it's one of those weird, crazy religious things." Yeah, it may seem like it, but it's different when you experience it yourself.

Passion usually occurs in Atlanta, Georgia every year. However, they decided to bring it back to Houston this year. When I heard this announcement at our church, I signed up. I don't know why. I just did. I didn't think much about it. This was last semester.

After a couple months passed, Passion arrived. It happened so suddenly. I was so caught up with schoolwork and didn't realize that it was in a few days. Then it happened.

  The Experience
I have never been in such an intense environment. Here's what I mean. There is no way this "religion" is fake. There's no "religion" that creates an environment where people, who have never met each other, will worship together in joy. The environment was so loving, caring, and passionate for Christ. These feelings are all genuine. They're from the heart of every individual. Christianity doesn't MAKE us act like this. There are no rules that say, "You must be happy while you worship God." We do it because we want to. We do it because we experience the love of Christ. It's all genuine and real.

I felt so encouraged to see the thousands of people who love Christ. I even met some high school acquaintances at a random McDonald's before getting to Passion. There is no way that I met them by coincidence at Passion in that McDonald's. I was reminded that "coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

There are so many things I could talk about here, but I'll end it here with some major points that I learned.

• Once you truly have your eyes opened, you experience God in a way that will forever change you life

• Every day is a day closer to Christ. Either we get closer to death, or we get closer to His return. Every day should be the best day of your life.

• We are made new IN Christ. Being in Christ redefines our position. We no longer have to live life trying to get a certain position (CEO, pro athlete, president, etc.). That's what society/the world tells us to do. Now that we're IN Christ, we are given the highest position. Our position IN Christ now defines how we live our life. For Him.

Everything feels so surreal. But I'm certain that this experience will not disappear like any of the other church retreats/revivals. This hit me at the right time and at the right place.

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1.19.14.

It's been a little over a week since a close friend has left me. She was always around all my life up until now. Unfortunately, it was time for her to go. Chocolate: my dog, my longest friend passed away on January 19, 2014. She's been around ever since I didn't really have any friends. 

I knew it was going to happen soon because she was sick all throughout winter break. But I wasn't sure if I wanted to say my goodbye as I left for another semester. I don't think I did. But hey, life happens. There's a process of life and death in this world. It's inevitable.


Last week, I didn't have much time to be sentimental. I know it's kind of sad, but I didn't have time to be sad and think about the good times. I guess now is my time to reminisce on the past. The weird thing is, I'm not all that depressed or sad that she's gone. And by no means am I trying to say that I don't care. I do.

I didn't really know how to react when I heard the news from my dad. All I knew was that I had too many things going on. I didn't have time to sit and think. So I tried to suppress those feelings in me for the time being. I held them in as long as I could up until I came to prayer meetings during the week. From that moment, when I started praising and praying, I began to ask God to let me see the good in what may seem bad. I asked for this burden of mixed feelings to disappear. Amazingly, it did.

You see, what's done is done. You can't change the past. Of course, everyone knows that. Even though this event is unfortunate, God showed me the urgency we need in our lives. Our lives our short. Dogs' lives are shorter.

Some of you may be thinking, "how can you NOT be sad, and how are you so emotionless?" It's not that I'm not sad or depressed or angry, I choose not to pursue those emotions. They lead to nothing. Instead, I think about how there wouldn't be death at all if sin had never distorted the truth and this world. That's what keeps me going; I want expose the truth that has been distorted by sin.

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New Year Resolution: 2014

I know most people make a new year resolution, but no one ever lives up to it. By week 3-5, I notice people giving up. For example, you'll see a large number of people running across campus during the beginning of the semester. However, if you wait a few weeks, the number starts dwindling down.

Let's hope I can make my resolutions a life long habit.

• Finish the rest of the Bible (the old testament). I finished the new testament last year.

• Focus on learning and becoming more educated for His kingdom. NOT MY GPA.

• Read up on daily news: world, US, tech stuff, etc.

• Start disciplining myself by working out, again. I took a long enough break from finals.

• Finally, make time to meet people more often. This will probably be the most difficult one of them all.

 Here we go.

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2014: Beginning with United Worship

It's hard to believe that it is already 2014. A new year has started, but it feels as if nothing around me has changed. However, I guess change starts from within and by Him.

I started this year by serving as a "shepherd" at the United Worship youth retreat. In other words, I was a counselor for youth aged kids. More specifically, I was a leader of a group of 9th graders. At first, I was hesitant and worried about being a mentor for these kids. I have no experience as a teacher/mentor whatsoever. There was nothing I could do to prepare for the discussions and meetings we would have. On top of that, I heard stories of some of the kids being crazy/wild. 

"They're going to keep you awake all night."

"They always run around and get you in trouble for not being with them."

"They don't listen. You need to make sure they stay awake during the messages."

These were some of the things I heard from previous counselors. So I was a bit worried about the situation I put myself into. Just a bit.
The day finally came where I met my group. They were a normal looking bunch. We introduced each other. I set some ground rules of respecting one another, and I gave them all the freedom they wanted. No strict rules. Surprisingly this method worked. There was never a time when I lectured a member. I never had to "chase" them down. They respected me the way I respected their maturity and responsibility. Simple. There you have it. Everything went smoothly. No arguments. No complaints. Nothing. Only one guy to thank for this, and He's the one who made everything.

My only regret was not getting closer to my group. But despite my failure to do so, they still grew spiritually in so many ways. Their level of passion for Christ in prayer and worship was unbelievable. The best part is that I had nothing to do with it. I know, for a fact, that there was nothing that I did to make any of that happen. I boast in my weakness and flaws to verify that God did all that, not me.

So there you have it. My group seemed to be perfect in every way imaginable. No crazy kids. They all grew spiritually. They all became more passionate for Christ. Best of all, I didn't do anything. I was just there to monitor and witness what God can and will do.

                                       Group B11: Issac, Bryan, Trey, Chris, Mingook, Aaron, June.

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End of 2013.

It's been a while since I've made post. But now that I'm done with finals and back home for break, I've had some time to relax and settle down. There's quite a lot that happened over the past month; however, I'm probably going to have to break the topics into different posts.

For those of you who don't know, I completed my first semester at McCombs. Classes were a bit more difficult than my previous year. And, unfortunately, I was not able to keep my perfect 4.0. In way, I'm thankful that I didn't receive all A's in my courses. At one point, I became arrogant and careless about my classes. I assumed that I could easily keep my perfect GPA. I was proven wrong. God humbled me. He showed me how much I really need to rely on Him in everything I do. No matter how naturally talented you are at anything, that talent is worthless without Christ being centered in what you do.


Now moving on to my break so far...
I haven't done much over my break. The only thing worth mentioning is that I finished a book titled "Jesus > Religion" by Jefferson Bethke. This book is truly eye opening and honest about the radical truths about Jesus. Like I said before, there is so much to talk about in this book. So I will probably make another post specifically about this book. It is a book worth reading. It's concise, simple, and modern.
Now the other part of my break will consist of serving as a leader in a "United Worship" youth retreat. I actually attended the training session today. To be honest, I volunteered for this retreat out of obligation to serve and make some use out of my break. I didn't think much about it when I agreed to serve. But I think God is slowly showing me that this opportunity is truly a blessing to change these the lives of the youth. For some reason, however, I feel some uncomfortable, uneasy feeling about the coming weeks. Whatever that may be, I can only pray for protection and conviction through His mercy and grace.

In addition, I may attend another college ski retreat. But it depends on my physical condition. So hopefully, God will fuel me through both retreats. Anyway, I am constantly encouraged by this song to persevere and continue to pursue Him... "When my heart is torn asunder" - Phil Wickham.

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A mistake I'll never make again

Today, I made a decision I will regret for the rest of my life. I promise that I will never make this mistake ever again.

Now let me explain a sad truth. When you see a homeless person and a dog with them, who do you feel more pity and sympathy for? Most Americans will probably feel sorry for that poor, hungry dog. Now this is in my own opinion and from my own experiences. How disappointing is that when someone feels more sympathy for a DOG rather than a human being. Yes, it's important to care for animals and whatnot, but when did we decide that it was okay to place an animal in front of a human being?
Why do we treat homeless people like they don't exist? So what if they've made mistakes in their lives? We make mistakes all the time. Some of them may not be as fatal and detrimental; however, mistakes are mistakes. No one is perfect. What makes you better than a person on the streets? Your looks? Your financial status? Your intelligence? The fact that your mistakes weren't as "stupid" as theirs? None of this matters. We're just like them. Imperfect. Flawed. Sinful. The list can go on and on.

Now here's the mistake I made today. I was on my way to leave for a tennis match. I looked down the alley and saw a homeless man eating out of a dumpster. A dumpster. This man was so hungry that he resorted to eating scraps out of a trash bag. He's living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. A country that has a plentiful amount of resources: food, water, electricity, etc. And he's eating out of a dumpster.
I felt disgusted in so many different ways. Not of what he was doing, but of how he was pushed to the limit and had no other choice in order to survive. What's even worse is that I got in the car and left. I didn't want to keep my friends waiting. I didn't want to be judged. I had things to do.
I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I let a man be humiliated in one of the worst possible ways anyone can be humiliated.

I will never make this mistake again. I will never make an excuse not to help someone in need. A few minutes of my time to help someone in a dire situation is worth more than me spending it in class, watching tv, playing games, or whatever else. And if I do fail again, I can only ask for forgiveness for not having the compassion that Christ commanded me to show to everyone.

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