Clever.

Clever Lee. A church friend of mine passed away yesterday. 
I received the news as I was returning home from a spring retreat in Austin. It is unbelievable how it happened suddenly.

I never got to really understand him on a personal level, but his cheerfulness and willingness to initiate conversations struck me as a gift from God. He wasn't "normal" by the standards of this world because he had autism. However, I know God gifted him with the ability to talk to anyone and everyone without the fear of being rejected or judged. That is a gift.

This may sound like one of those posts where a person feels obligated to write a sentimental testimony of one who passed away. However, I see it in a different way. I am happy to see that he has gone to the Father and has done his part in bringing: joy and happiness to many of us, and glory and honor to Him.

But of course, he will be dearly missed by his family and friends. I can only pray that his family will be comforted by the Father who is in charge of all things. It is no use by asking God, "Why did you do this". It wouldn't feel any better if He gave us the reason. Instead, we can only pursue Him for more comfort.

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Full of Grace and Truth.

So I thought I'd share another sermon I recently heard from Judah Smith. Again, I did not come up with any of this. I just want to summarize and share this amazing message.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." --John 1:14

We learn to be respectful and courteous to guests right? We give strangers the benefit of the doubt. Think about it, and let me give you a scenario...
You're walking down a sidewalk and accidentally bump into someone. That stranger begins to flip out, starts yelling at you, and continues to walk. Your reaction is either: "what's wrong with him/her" or "they're just probably having a bad day, I'll forgive them".
You usually give a stranger the benefit of the doubt. Now let's look at the other side.

What happens when you personally know someone? You probably won't be as forgiving because you know what he/she is doing. Here's the scenario...
Your sibling is acting all cute and nice in public. Everyone loves your sibling and thinks that he/she is just the most precious, adorable, innocent person. They tell you: "isn't your sister/brother just the most precious person?" or "why can't you be more like your sister/brother, they are so wonderful!"
BUT YOU KNOW THE TRUTH. You know that your sibling is a manipulative, sweet talking, con artist. Unfortunately, no one believes you because they haven't seen the truth.

So as you can see, the more truth we know about someone, the less gracious we are to them. We can easily forgive strangers, but can't forgive our friends and relatives because WE KNOW how MEAN, CONDESCENDING, and MANIPULATIVE they can be (just trying to give a little humor... it's hard to show it when you write...).

We try and play this balancing game. To be a "good person" I need to balance my grace and truth. 50% Grace. 50% Truth. Now let's look at how Jesus would behave in our society.

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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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