Hi you all:)
I have a question that I hope you ALL answer. Heehee:)
Why is it so hard to understand and experience God's love (when He gives His love so freely and wants us to be able to receive it) OR do you think that it is not hard?
Eager to read your responses,
Anita<3
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
my encouraging :]
yay!!!! sooo yesterday as some of you know i went to my friend's church to watch her get baptized. It was superdupery cool yeah :)
hmm there was this super cool song
most of you probably already know it but i was just wondering if we would sing it fr sunday worship?? cuz that would be coolios :)
so here's the video :]
hmm there was this super cool song
most of you probably already know it but i was just wondering if we would sing it fr sunday worship?? cuz that would be coolios :)
so here's the video :]
Sunday, October 19, 2008
HEY
So i wanted to post on here for a while now but i forgot the link. i just wanted to say hi, and hope all of you back at home are doing good. stay strong in w/e you do, and for those on worship team, always remember what your purpose is doing it! cal is sik, but ive been overloaded with work. my walk with God has been very bumpy since I got here, my schedule has been chaotic, and i still have not found a permanent church yet, so i ask that you guys pray for me, as well as dan and kevin for our transitions and that we continue to stay strong. so for political science, i actualyl wrote a 3 page paper on our church and how it supported easton's model of a political system. let me no if u wanan read it! i hope u guys r staying strong in God, . oh, btw, GO JAGS , 3-3, we are coming back despite our injuries, and to frank: bears have some crazy games, orton is def much better than grossman....and our bet is still on about fantasy, and jags v. bears game :). ummm cal football is very frsutrating, every week that we get ranked, we lose the next week and drop out. aight, well hope u fatties dont get too fat, hit me up if u ever need someone to talk to or need help with something....peace!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
guys, steven learned a new word this week...
The past Friday, at my campus fellowship's weekly large group, we had an unexpected guest drop by - MIke, the secretary-general (I think) of Nigeria's IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students) branch. IFES is perhaps the largest student-driven Christian ministry in the world, having presence in 160 countries; Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world, and also happens to be a place of incredible explosion of Christian faith in the college community. So to have Mike drop by Northwestern unannoucned on his way to UW-Madison, for a meeting at InterVarsity offices there, was very fortunate for us.
For the beginning of the school year, my fellowship, AAIV, is doing this introductory sequence to introduce to the froshies who we are and what we stand for. This year, we've been doing cute little thing of reading our mission statement at the beginning of large group:
Mission Possible: Identity. Conviction. Compassion
"We are a missional community of Asian-Americans that seeks to understand our full identity in Christ, to overflow with compassion for our campus, and to awaken conviction to carry out God's purposes in our lives and in the world." !!!!!!!!!1!!1!11!!!
As for me, and I'm sure the rest of you too, mission statements are nice to have just for the sake of having a msision statement, but read the words, and they mean almost absolutely nothing to me. Cynicism comes very naturally to me as it does to you; it's not only inbred in youthful behavior, but also because of all the hypocrisy, quackery, and general idioicy that we're confronted with daily. Not only do we deal with potheads and mean girls at school, but we live in a world of ongoing political and social corruption - we'd turn to our faith, sure, but it's embarrasing to call ourselves Christian if we're gonna get lumped together with folks whose mere mention makes us moan in disgust (Hello, Rev. Wright. Hello-goodbye, Jerry Falwell). I've heard this mission statement repeatedly since June and nothing has changed my life. I go to large group, Bible study, get up on stage and play keys the same way as I did before. Sure, I nodded my head in agreement when our core team proudly held up the poster with "I.C.C." written on it; but if you're like me, words aren't really something I can live my life by.
Anyways, Mike comes up to speak for a few minutes. He gives us, in his deeply rhythmic British-African voice (I've always found male African voices in public speakers to be incredibly captivating...no homo), the obligatory stuff about what's going on in Nigeria, thanks for our IFES contributions and prayers, various observations about things going on in Chicago relating to his field of interest, complimenting worship team (woohoo!). And then he jumps the gun, and asks Yuri to pull up the mission statement; yes, that run-on sentence bursting with truthiness and impactfulness-less-ness. And he says (I'm paraphrasing), "This truly touched my heart - you are seeking to overflow with compassion for your campus." And now I'm hooked - somebody so profoundly spiritual is going to say something salient about our mission statement - maybe I do need to pay attention and actually read the words (not just read the words, you know).
Mike talks about how compassion drives his ministry, in a country where resources and support for the Christian university students are scarce, how they must passionately desire, more than anything, to share the gospel with their compatriots. Surely, when the bigwig of a rapidly-growing national Christian movement speaks, the words have more meaning than it can ever have on paper or projector. And in that mesmeric African voice, he said, "Now you, as God has had compassion for the sinners, have compassion for your classmates, for your campus." Wow...chills down my spine, one-year-and-four-weeks of guilt, for not having compassion or caring, crashes down without a moment's notice.
Later that night, I remembered a passage about Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta from a book I'm reading (Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne), about how trained medical personnel went to Mother's ministry to try to heal the lepers, malnourished, and dying...and were frustrated by the total lack of medical supplies and the sheer number of people. But the intent of the Missionaries of Charity was not to heal the dying, but to provide a place for them to die with dignity - living their last days beign given, and giving, Christ's own love and care. And the woman herself said, "We are called not to be successful but to be faithful."
So finally, a two words have been given meaning to me, of which I've been entirely saturated with and jaded from: overflow and compassion. To overflow requires me to have first been filled, to have first been satisfied with what GOD, in His abundance, has given to me. I love to use this analogy in prayer but never have I been able to, you know, do it: for my cup to be so full that when it is poured out to fill another cup, both cups are entirely and precipitously filled. So can I, as somebody who has pledged to follow Jesus and hold the harvesting sickle, overflow for my campus without going first to GOD for my needs? It's like the gas station you never stop at when you're on a road trip - Marathon, Arco, Rotten Robbie - because daddy invests in Royal Dutch and Exxon-Mobil, and they're so much more reputable. Society stops at these stations for their fill - Hollywood, friends, sex, gossip, drugs, food - and we tag along, because we've never seen anybody fill up anywhere else. But like driving a SUV, running out of gas is inevitable, and altogether too fast. But GOD is the free gas card we won at the supermarket (uh, in Texas, Feb 1998...99c a gallon!) and never deigned to use - but once we have, watch out, because it never runs out. And that's something I've really been lacking - because I can't approach GOD with my needs, that's the reason why I can look out with window at the frat houses and not feel anything - I have not been filled, and I have nothing to give.
Matthew 13:12: Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.
We've already been given that gift of salvation, so surely, surely, GOD will give us more when we want more of Him.
So I'd like to ask you to think of where you have been given in abundance; likely, you have, or will be asked to overflow for your little niche in our broken world.
Maybe I'll share some more about compassion later on - I'm sure you're tired of reading me by now. And maybe, maybe, one of those three compassionate sisters can write better about compassion than a stoic, awkward emo-boy can.
Peace and blessings,
Steven
PS. It's really ironic how this weekend, I missed the annual conference that my church puts on - it's called OVERFLOW. Ha. In my defense, I did work the concession stands at the football game today (NU is 6-1 GO CATS) to make help money for the AAIV fellowship...and I have a genetics midterm on Tuesday...so yeah.
For the beginning of the school year, my fellowship, AAIV, is doing this introductory sequence to introduce to the froshies who we are and what we stand for. This year, we've been doing cute little thing of reading our mission statement at the beginning of large group:
Mission Possible: Identity. Conviction. Compassion
"We are a missional community of Asian-Americans that seeks to understand our full identity in Christ, to overflow with compassion for our campus, and to awaken conviction to carry out God's purposes in our lives and in the world." !!!!!!!!!1!!1!11!!!
As for me, and I'm sure the rest of you too, mission statements are nice to have just for the sake of having a msision statement, but read the words, and they mean almost absolutely nothing to me. Cynicism comes very naturally to me as it does to you; it's not only inbred in youthful behavior, but also because of all the hypocrisy, quackery, and general idioicy that we're confronted with daily. Not only do we deal with potheads and mean girls at school, but we live in a world of ongoing political and social corruption - we'd turn to our faith, sure, but it's embarrasing to call ourselves Christian if we're gonna get lumped together with folks whose mere mention makes us moan in disgust (Hello, Rev. Wright. Hello-goodbye, Jerry Falwell). I've heard this mission statement repeatedly since June and nothing has changed my life. I go to large group, Bible study, get up on stage and play keys the same way as I did before. Sure, I nodded my head in agreement when our core team proudly held up the poster with "I.C.C." written on it; but if you're like me, words aren't really something I can live my life by.
Anyways, Mike comes up to speak for a few minutes. He gives us, in his deeply rhythmic British-African voice (I've always found male African voices in public speakers to be incredibly captivating...no homo), the obligatory stuff about what's going on in Nigeria, thanks for our IFES contributions and prayers, various observations about things going on in Chicago relating to his field of interest, complimenting worship team (woohoo!). And then he jumps the gun, and asks Yuri to pull up the mission statement; yes, that run-on sentence bursting with truthiness and impactfulness-less-ness. And he says (I'm paraphrasing), "This truly touched my heart - you are seeking to overflow with compassion for your campus." And now I'm hooked - somebody so profoundly spiritual is going to say something salient about our mission statement - maybe I do need to pay attention and actually read the words (not just read the words, you know).
Mike talks about how compassion drives his ministry, in a country where resources and support for the Christian university students are scarce, how they must passionately desire, more than anything, to share the gospel with their compatriots. Surely, when the bigwig of a rapidly-growing national Christian movement speaks, the words have more meaning than it can ever have on paper or projector. And in that mesmeric African voice, he said, "Now you, as God has had compassion for the sinners, have compassion for your classmates, for your campus." Wow...chills down my spine, one-year-and-four-weeks of guilt, for not having compassion or caring, crashes down without a moment's notice.
Later that night, I remembered a passage about Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta from a book I'm reading (Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne), about how trained medical personnel went to Mother's ministry to try to heal the lepers, malnourished, and dying...and were frustrated by the total lack of medical supplies and the sheer number of people. But the intent of the Missionaries of Charity was not to heal the dying, but to provide a place for them to die with dignity - living their last days beign given, and giving, Christ's own love and care. And the woman herself said, "We are called not to be successful but to be faithful."
So finally, a two words have been given meaning to me, of which I've been entirely saturated with and jaded from: overflow and compassion. To overflow requires me to have first been filled, to have first been satisfied with what GOD, in His abundance, has given to me. I love to use this analogy in prayer but never have I been able to, you know, do it: for my cup to be so full that when it is poured out to fill another cup, both cups are entirely and precipitously filled. So can I, as somebody who has pledged to follow Jesus and hold the harvesting sickle, overflow for my campus without going first to GOD for my needs? It's like the gas station you never stop at when you're on a road trip - Marathon, Arco, Rotten Robbie - because daddy invests in Royal Dutch and Exxon-Mobil, and they're so much more reputable. Society stops at these stations for their fill - Hollywood, friends, sex, gossip, drugs, food - and we tag along, because we've never seen anybody fill up anywhere else. But like driving a SUV, running out of gas is inevitable, and altogether too fast. But GOD is the free gas card we won at the supermarket (uh, in Texas, Feb 1998...99c a gallon!) and never deigned to use - but once we have, watch out, because it never runs out. And that's something I've really been lacking - because I can't approach GOD with my needs, that's the reason why I can look out with window at the frat houses and not feel anything - I have not been filled, and I have nothing to give.
Matthew 13:12: Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.
We've already been given that gift of salvation, so surely, surely, GOD will give us more when we want more of Him.
So I'd like to ask you to think of where you have been given in abundance; likely, you have, or will be asked to overflow for your little niche in our broken world.
Maybe I'll share some more about compassion later on - I'm sure you're tired of reading me by now. And maybe, maybe, one of those three compassionate sisters can write better about compassion than a stoic, awkward emo-boy can.
Peace and blessings,
Steven
PS. It's really ironic how this weekend, I missed the annual conference that my church puts on - it's called OVERFLOW. Ha. In my defense, I did work the concession stands at the football game today (NU is 6-1 GO CATS) to make help money for the AAIV fellowship...and I have a genetics midterm on Tuesday...so yeah.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Loving One Another With Supernatural Love
Last night, one of my brothers gave a message on the love of God. I'm compelled to share it with this youth group because it was a message that reminded me that no matter how many times I preach the Gospel to myself, I can never fully comprehend or wrap my head around God's love. His love runs from the East to the West. It is so vast in every direction and we are very undeserving to receive it. I was blessed to hear this message last night because it reminded me that God is the source of love and if we truly believe in the Gospel message, we will never doubt His love and will never hesitate to show that exact love to others, to love one another with supernatural love.
Loving One Another With Supernatural Love
1 John 4:7-11
--> What is John talking about when he says "let us love one another"?
- "love" = agape: divine love, supernatural love
* John 13:34- "love one another even as I love you"
- not how but who
Who is able to love with supernatural love?
1) one who knows God
--> our identity starts with knowing God
v. 7-9: "let us love one another, for love comes from God....because God is love....that he loved us"
* John 13:23- "the disciple whom Jesus loved"
- John understands that God's love for him is not earned by anything he did
- pride vs. humility: pride runs from the love of God, depending on self for penance vs. humility runs toward the love of God, depending on God for forgiveness and love
GOD is the source of love.
so who is able to love with supernatural love?
2) one who is born of God
~ regeneration: God's act of making someone who is spiritually dead, spiritually alive
* John 1:12-14- "who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God"
- you didn't choose to be born. God did!
* 1 John 2:29, 5:18, 5:1- "born of God"
What does supernatural love look like?
- before we imitate the love of God, our hearts must be changed
- before imitation comes meditation
--> don't get caught up with the process (sanctification) instead of position
(justification)~ it is God who saved us first, so that we could live to please and glorify
Him
=> getting caught up with the process will only lead to 1) puffing ourselves up or 2)
beating ourselves up: puffing ourselves up <= those who believe that they are 'good people' and don't need the love/grace of God to be saved vs. those who fail to do every good work and believe that they are unsaveable because they are not 'good people'~ reminds me of the basis of Catholicism that believes we cannot be justified by faith alone <-- THIS IS FALSE
- the Father loved us by giving us His BEST
v.9~ by giving us His Son
* John 3:16- "For God so loved the word that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"
Isaiah 42:1- "my Chosen One in whom my soul delights"
Matthew 17:5~ God's pleasure in His Son was for all eternity. They have an eternity to love.
John 17:24, 1:1; Psalm 2:7-8; Hebrews 1:10~ God will not stop at giving His Son everything
why did God give His Son to us?
- so that we might live through Him
* John 14: 6~ Jesus is the source of life, valuable beyond measure
- if God has given His best to you, what would He not give to you?
* Romans 8:32~ If it was beneficial to us, god would not stop in giving us everything
--> "What saddens me is that we don't want God's best. We don't love God."
* 1 Corinthians 13:4-8--> We don't love God because we are inpatient, unkind, envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered, keeping record of all wrongs, delighting in evil, harming, doubting, being hopeless, giving up, failing again and again and again
BUT
- the Father loves us even though we did not love Him
v.10: "not that we loved God but that He loved us"
- the love of God does not depend on us, doesn't start with us, but extends to us
despite who we are
* Romans 5:6-8- "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
- God is a jealous God and He is just in His jealousy because He rightly deserves our love
*Deuteronomy 4:24, 32:21~ God is jealous when people create idols
- God hurts in His heart when our affections are not truly His
- when our love is constrained, it is not free love
- love others even when they don't love you
--> how can a holy God love a people who have rejected Jesus Christ, His best? how can He love sinners?
- by suffering for us
v.10b: "and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins"~ Jesus absorbed the wrath of God which was meant to be poured out on us for our sins
* Isaiah 53:10~ it was the Father's joy to crush His Son --> why? cosmic child abuse? no; it was His joy because He loved you
So?
v.11: "since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another"
During the message, I was reminded of how many times I failed to love the people in my life. I remember instances when I complained about how much I love people and how I felt that I loved them too much and received nothing in return. But, in this message, God showed me what true love is--to love those who are unlovable, to love those who don't love you back. How can I say that sometimes I feel that I love people too much when God received so much rejection from me, from everyone, and yet still loved. God didn't minutely show us how much He cares for us. He sacrificed His best, His One and Only Son! How much more should I love others? Or, how much more should I show God how much I truly love Him?
So, brothers and sisters, I hope that reading this sermon was a blessing to you. I hope it compelled you to love God who is just in His jealousness. And I hope that it struck your heart to just how much He loves you, and then, just how much you should love others--with supernatural love.
In Christ Alone,
With Christ's love,
Andrea
Loving One Another With Supernatural Love
1 John 4:7-11
--> What is John talking about when he says "let us love one another"?
- "love" = agape: divine love, supernatural love
* John 13:34- "love one another even as I love you"
- not how but who
Who is able to love with supernatural love?
1) one who knows God
--> our identity starts with knowing God
v. 7-9: "let us love one another, for love comes from God....because God is love....that he loved us"
* John 13:23- "the disciple whom Jesus loved"
- John understands that God's love for him is not earned by anything he did
- pride vs. humility: pride runs from the love of God, depending on self for penance vs. humility runs toward the love of God, depending on God for forgiveness and love
GOD is the source of love.
so who is able to love with supernatural love?
2) one who is born of God
~ regeneration: God's act of making someone who is spiritually dead, spiritually alive
* John 1:12-14- "who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God"
- you didn't choose to be born. God did!
* 1 John 2:29, 5:18, 5:1- "born of God"
What does supernatural love look like?
- before we imitate the love of God, our hearts must be changed
- before imitation comes meditation
--> don't get caught up with the process (sanctification) instead of position
(justification)~ it is God who saved us first, so that we could live to please and glorify
Him
=> getting caught up with the process will only lead to 1) puffing ourselves up or 2)
beating ourselves up: puffing ourselves up <= those who believe that they are 'good people' and don't need the love/grace of God to be saved vs. those who fail to do every good work and believe that they are unsaveable because they are not 'good people'~ reminds me of the basis of Catholicism that believes we cannot be justified by faith alone <-- THIS IS FALSE
- the Father loved us by giving us His BEST
v.9~ by giving us His Son
* John 3:16- "For God so loved the word that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"
Isaiah 42:1- "my Chosen One in whom my soul delights"
Matthew 17:5~ God's pleasure in His Son was for all eternity. They have an eternity to love.
John 17:24, 1:1; Psalm 2:7-8; Hebrews 1:10~ God will not stop at giving His Son everything
why did God give His Son to us?
- so that we might live through Him
* John 14: 6~ Jesus is the source of life, valuable beyond measure
- if God has given His best to you, what would He not give to you?
* Romans 8:32~ If it was beneficial to us, god would not stop in giving us everything
--> "What saddens me is that we don't want God's best. We don't love God."
* 1 Corinthians 13:4-8--> We don't love God because we are inpatient, unkind, envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered, keeping record of all wrongs, delighting in evil, harming, doubting, being hopeless, giving up, failing again and again and again
BUT
- the Father loves us even though we did not love Him
v.10: "not that we loved God but that He loved us"
- the love of God does not depend on us, doesn't start with us, but extends to us
despite who we are
* Romans 5:6-8- "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
- God is a jealous God and He is just in His jealousy because He rightly deserves our love
*Deuteronomy 4:24, 32:21~ God is jealous when people create idols
- God hurts in His heart when our affections are not truly His
- when our love is constrained, it is not free love
- love others even when they don't love you
--> how can a holy God love a people who have rejected Jesus Christ, His best? how can He love sinners?
- by suffering for us
v.10b: "and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins"~ Jesus absorbed the wrath of God which was meant to be poured out on us for our sins
* Isaiah 53:10~ it was the Father's joy to crush His Son --> why? cosmic child abuse? no; it was His joy because He loved you
So?
v.11: "since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another"
During the message, I was reminded of how many times I failed to love the people in my life. I remember instances when I complained about how much I love people and how I felt that I loved them too much and received nothing in return. But, in this message, God showed me what true love is--to love those who are unlovable, to love those who don't love you back. How can I say that sometimes I feel that I love people too much when God received so much rejection from me, from everyone, and yet still loved. God didn't minutely show us how much He cares for us. He sacrificed His best, His One and Only Son! How much more should I love others? Or, how much more should I show God how much I truly love Him?
So, brothers and sisters, I hope that reading this sermon was a blessing to you. I hope it compelled you to love God who is just in His jealousness. And I hope that it struck your heart to just how much He loves you, and then, just how much you should love others--with supernatural love.
In Christ Alone,
With Christ's love,
Andrea
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