Wow what an awesome year that God has brought me through and I am overflowing with gratitude towards Him for all of the blessings and love and grace and tidings He has given me last year. He brought me first to Cornerstone where I can form real and actual relationships that are godly and purposeful!! And He also brought me to Eternity Bible College and it just totally changed my life for more joy and peace in Him and also in others rejoicing in Christ and displaying His amazing love to me!! So now as this year closes it is time that I make some resolutions for the upcoming 2010 year and what I would like to through the grace and power of God! Paul says by the grace of God He is what He is so may these resolutions come true by the power of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:10, Philippians 2:12-13) I humbly ask that you guys all commit to helping me fulfill these resolutions!
1. The most basic essence of the gospel and of the Christian life is that I want my life to be a showcase of the awesome grace of Christ and the wonderful lovely gospel that He brings! I want to be satisfied in God and Christ and live my life to display the life of Christ and glorify His beautiful name of love and grace!
2. This is not distinct from my compassion for the whole world and my desire for them not only to be saved from hell but also to be satisfied in the beauty and grace of Christ and His Father! Therefore I am resolved to not only speak the gospel because the gospel (by the Spirit's power) does not glorify Christ (John 16:13-14, 2 Timothy 1:10) convict people of their sin (John 16:8, 1 Thessalonians 1:5) enlighten and open minds to respond (Acts 16:14, John 1:9) and grant repentance and wisdom so that they might rest in the work of Christ (2 Timothy 2:24-26, 3:15) if I merely speak words and not live it through a life of love!! I learned that the hard way several times so I want God to refocus I fun-loving and energetic nature into acts of joyful love because that is what makes Christ stand out as a superior satisfaction as a FREE gift to all who believe!
3. I am resolved to glory in the weaknesses of my autism! When I first came to EBC, I had this attitude that I wanted to be healed of this disability because I thought that it was a thorn in my side! And I believed that because first it damaged beyond repair my social skills and my ability to not be distracted! (In other words I have extreme trouble concentrating) And these weaknesses strip me of my ability to do many things but I now see that these weaknesses are in fact wonderful love gifts from God! I desire to love the fact that God made me autistic and weak because it turned out to be my blessings and also the channel by which Christ's awesome power and grace shines. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) So I am resolved to not take anything that claims can help me with my autism such as reliv, or pray any prayer for any of it to be healed, or believe anything that sounds like a health wealth and prosperity gospel because this autism in it's fullness is a gift from God!
4. This is one I ask that you guys always keep me accountable on! I want to honor and love my parents the way Christ loved me! I have not done a good job at this and I am determined and resolved to do a better job at doing this! I know that I am apt to fail because of my sinful nature that is still there but I pray that I can claim victory by the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:13-26) and the power of the union with Christ, and His death burial and resurrection! (Romans 6-8 is a great section all about this). I want to be honest with you about this. My mother is not an easy person to deal with because she is extremely depressed and feeling hopeless about life right now and because of that she acts very self-centered and selfish. (So do I to tell you the truth) So I need to ask for Christ's power of sacrificial love and great patience to endure evil because I cannot do it! (Galatians 2:20) So I hope you guys will push me to love them for the potential reward of their worship of God and the actual reward of my sharing in Christ likeness! If I can love those who don't act loving, like my parents, I can love my friends even better than I did before!!
I ask you guys to help me to fulfill these resolutions and to keep my eyes focused on the reward in heaven and the glory to come! (Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, All of 1 Peter)
Resting in the power of Christ to fulfill these resolutions!
Kevin Chu
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Why I am resolved not to do any theological discussions anymore....
These days I have been pondering what should be more preferable in my walk with Christ for the joy of magnifying Him by the power of the Holy Spirit for all! That is what should I give my life to.... converting people to some theological system (anything doctrine or theology NOT essential to become a Christian) or loving my brothers and sisters in Christ in practical deeds to glorify Christ for the lost to see and believe. I have pondered this and I am now confident that I feel that my life should be geared towards the latter for the following reasons!
1. Paul considered church unity to be vital in the Christian faith and he was sick and tired of the divisiveness that had plagued the Corinth church. Look at his marvelous logic here in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
Look at the incredible words of Paul here! He does not want people to be giving their allegiance to any other theology than Jesus Christ. Why should we say that we are this or that when we can give our lives to the gospel of Christ!!
2. Jesus considered the unity of oneness love to be the ONE thing that would best glorify God's love for all to everyone so that they would all believe that God sent Jesus not to condemn the world but to save it. In fact this is what Jesus Christ prayed for in the most famous prayer in the whole Bible!
John 17:20-23
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, SO THAT the world may believe that You sent Me. "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, THAT they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
How I would long that we would all have our eyes opened to see that when we not get arguementative over non-essential theology or make it a hill to die on when we can rather realize that we are all Christians who want to glorify God! (Psalm 133:1, Ephesians 4:4-6)
3. Knowing all this theology puffs up but love edifies. (1 Corinthians 8:1)
To be blunt, I honestly do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to reward me at His judgment seat based on how much correct theology I have but rather even more so based on how much I loved my brothers and sisters in Christ (John 13:34-35) and how much I loved the lost! And I know that I can start by loving my mother and father who are not saved through action and deed. (1 John 3:18) I certainly need to watch my arrogance over knowing all these doctrines and I really just feel I need to keep them to myself and make my exegetical life private. So I respectfully ask that you guys not bring up these theological debates to me because I really do not want to get into it with anyone else anymore. I just want to be taught to love because that best represents who God is! Christianity is knowing all these doctrines but it is knowing a Person... God in the face of Christ which I saw when I became a Christian. (2 Corinthians 4:6) That's why Paul preaches Christ as he says just one verse earlier!
Striving for unity and not divisiveness over theology not essential to be a Christian for the joy of the world in Christ....
Kevin Chu
1. Paul considered church unity to be vital in the Christian faith and he was sick and tired of the divisiveness that had plagued the Corinth church. Look at his marvelous logic here in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
Look at the incredible words of Paul here! He does not want people to be giving their allegiance to any other theology than Jesus Christ. Why should we say that we are this or that when we can give our lives to the gospel of Christ!!
2. Jesus considered the unity of oneness love to be the ONE thing that would best glorify God's love for all to everyone so that they would all believe that God sent Jesus not to condemn the world but to save it. In fact this is what Jesus Christ prayed for in the most famous prayer in the whole Bible!
John 17:20-23
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, SO THAT the world may believe that You sent Me. "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, THAT they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
How I would long that we would all have our eyes opened to see that when we not get arguementative over non-essential theology or make it a hill to die on when we can rather realize that we are all Christians who want to glorify God! (Psalm 133:1, Ephesians 4:4-6)
3. Knowing all this theology puffs up but love edifies. (1 Corinthians 8:1)
To be blunt, I honestly do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to reward me at His judgment seat based on how much correct theology I have but rather even more so based on how much I loved my brothers and sisters in Christ (John 13:34-35) and how much I loved the lost! And I know that I can start by loving my mother and father who are not saved through action and deed. (1 John 3:18) I certainly need to watch my arrogance over knowing all these doctrines and I really just feel I need to keep them to myself and make my exegetical life private. So I respectfully ask that you guys not bring up these theological debates to me because I really do not want to get into it with anyone else anymore. I just want to be taught to love because that best represents who God is! Christianity is knowing all these doctrines but it is knowing a Person... God in the face of Christ which I saw when I became a Christian. (2 Corinthians 4:6) That's why Paul preaches Christ as he says just one verse earlier!
Striving for unity and not divisiveness over theology not essential to be a Christian for the joy of the world in Christ....
Kevin Chu
Don't pray that God will be with you.....
Tonight I want to give you an encouragement regarding a new way of praying as we come close to Christmas! The reality is that we should not pray for God to be with us because it doesn't change the reality that He will ALWAYS be with us for now and forever. Louie Giglio cites from Matthew 1:23 that Immanuel means God with us dwelled on earth and said that he would ALWAYS objectively be with us till the end of the age in the last words of Matthew 28:20. So tonight I want to talk to you guys about the ongoing ministry of Christ and a new way of praying instead of asking God to be with us.
And what is that new way of praying..... the brand new way of praying is that God would LIVE IN US AND THROUGH US!! We as Christians are spiritually united to Christ and it is no longer us who live but it is Christ who lives inside each and every one of us as Paul teaches in Galatians 2:20! So why do we need to ask God to be with us when we already have Him living inside of us in the Person of Jesus Christ!! Let me share with you some awesome verses regarding the brand new way of praying for Christ to live through us! Remember that you cannot live the Christian life so JESUS must live it for us and through us! That is the unmistakable teaching of Galatians 2:20!
John 14:15-17
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He ABIDES with you and will BE IN YOU!
Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit IN the inner man,so that Christ may DWELL IN your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be FILLED UP to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works WITHIN us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Colossians 1:25-27
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory.
Just remember the awesome privilige that we bear that we have JESUS CHRIST living in us through the power of the Holy Spirit so let me just close this note with a prayer...
Dear Father, I am sorry that I have not savored the reality that You are not only with me but also that Your Beloved Son, who is your perfect delight is dwelling in me. So I want to ask You that Your Son in me would always glorify You and make You known to all who do not know you so that the love that You have for Your Son and the love that the Son has for You may be in them and also that Jesus Christ would be in them all as He is in me. And I pray that I can make my joy in seeing Your Son in them and also in their unspeakable joy of having Jesus in them because that is Your joy Father. So my Christ shine in me and glorify You for all to see. In Jesus' name Amen!
And what is that new way of praying..... the brand new way of praying is that God would LIVE IN US AND THROUGH US!! We as Christians are spiritually united to Christ and it is no longer us who live but it is Christ who lives inside each and every one of us as Paul teaches in Galatians 2:20! So why do we need to ask God to be with us when we already have Him living inside of us in the Person of Jesus Christ!! Let me share with you some awesome verses regarding the brand new way of praying for Christ to live through us! Remember that you cannot live the Christian life so JESUS must live it for us and through us! That is the unmistakable teaching of Galatians 2:20!
John 14:15-17
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He ABIDES with you and will BE IN YOU!
Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit IN the inner man,so that Christ may DWELL IN your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be FILLED UP to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works WITHIN us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Colossians 1:25-27
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory.
Just remember the awesome privilige that we bear that we have JESUS CHRIST living in us through the power of the Holy Spirit so let me just close this note with a prayer...
Dear Father, I am sorry that I have not savored the reality that You are not only with me but also that Your Beloved Son, who is your perfect delight is dwelling in me. So I want to ask You that Your Son in me would always glorify You and make You known to all who do not know you so that the love that You have for Your Son and the love that the Son has for You may be in them and also that Jesus Christ would be in them all as He is in me. And I pray that I can make my joy in seeing Your Son in them and also in their unspeakable joy of having Jesus in them because that is Your joy Father. So my Christ shine in me and glorify You for all to see. In Jesus' name Amen!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Remixing my prayer regarding blessings!
Last night I watched a sermon by Louie Giglio about prayer and he has convinced me that I should not pray for blessings as much as I should pray to enjoy the blessings that God has already given me in Christ!! So the point of this note is to explain why I should ask God to heal me of the weaknesses of my autism when in fact He has given me everything in Christ! Why do I need some physical healing??? Here are the blessings that Louie explains that we ALL have IN CHRIST ALONE!! (That is as Christians united to the Beloved Son!)
We have the blessing of Abraham given to all Gentiles in Christ!
"in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:14)
We have EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ!
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," (Ephesians 1:3)
We are chosen in Christ to display the holiness of God!
"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him . (Ephesians 1:4)"
We have everything we need for godly living!
"seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." (2 Peter 1:3)
We have superabouding grace from the fullness of the Christ!
"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." (John 1:16)
We are heirs of GOD and co-heirs with Christ! (This means that we get every blessing that Christ gets!)
"and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:17)
We are MORE than conquerors and overcomers and victorious in our lives!
"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
God will supply us glorious riches in CHRIST!
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)
We are seated at the RIGHT HAND of God in the heavenly realms with CHRIST!
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6)
In light of all that I have in Christ... it is completely rebelling against the sovereignty of God to ask Him to heal me of my autism and it's weaknesses. I want the burdens of it because they are God's GIFTS!! So please do not try to help me overcome this disability, help me to glorify God and all the riches in the verses listed above. Let my prayers start to gear towards that end! And keep my autistic God... your glory in those riches above will shine brighter in this condition.
We have the blessing of Abraham given to all Gentiles in Christ!
"in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:14)
We have EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ!
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," (Ephesians 1:3)
We are chosen in Christ to display the holiness of God!
"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him . (Ephesians 1:4)"
We have everything we need for godly living!
"seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." (2 Peter 1:3)
We have superabouding grace from the fullness of the Christ!
"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." (John 1:16)
We are heirs of GOD and co-heirs with Christ! (This means that we get every blessing that Christ gets!)
"and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:17)
We are MORE than conquerors and overcomers and victorious in our lives!
"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
God will supply us glorious riches in CHRIST!
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)
We are seated at the RIGHT HAND of God in the heavenly realms with CHRIST!
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6)
In light of all that I have in Christ... it is completely rebelling against the sovereignty of God to ask Him to heal me of my autism and it's weaknesses. I want the burdens of it because they are God's GIFTS!! So please do not try to help me overcome this disability, help me to glorify God and all the riches in the verses listed above. Let my prayers start to gear towards that end! And keep my autistic God... your glory in those riches above will shine brighter in this condition.
The Difference between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus
As I continue to press on in my walk with Christ towards my Heavenly Father for my everlasting enjoyment I start to see God as my all-satisfying Treasure that I desprately want everyone to have which John Piper calls Holy Greediness in Desiring God! And now that I have seen the all-satisfying beauty of God, I can now fully understand the ugliness of idolatry that happens in the world because you reject God as your satisfaction and embrace some other false god to fill up your heart. Jeremiah describes it as exchanging a full cistern for a broken one that cannot hold any water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13) And the Apostle Paul describes it as exchanging the glory of the IMMORTAL God for the glory of man and reptiles and four-footed animals. (Romans 1:18-25) This is a sad tragedy that breaks God's heart.
And now as I move into Christmas season I have come to realize that false gods have been worshiped in place of God and the gift of Jesus Christ which is divine love and grace and mercy INCARNATE! (John 1:14) Now people worship Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and especially Santa Claus. To tell you the truth Santa Claus has been attributed many attributes of God. These days people deem Santa Claus as omnipotent and sovereign and omnipresent because he can get to every house in the world and get down every chimney without effort. And people seen him as eternal and immortal because he never changes and never dies. He is the same yesterday today and tomorrow. But there is one crucial thing that Santa lacks and Jesus has..... unconditional love grace and mercy!
Santa Claus comes to town and you better be good because otherwise if you make the naughty list you will not get a present. Does this not represent a works-righteousness salvation in Christianity. You get a "present" based on your deserving it. This is not biblical Christianity for the following reasons.....
1. Santa never sacrificially loved anybody as enemies. However, Paul says that Jesus died for us while we were yet SINNERS! (Romans 5:6-8)
2. What Jesus came to give is a FREE GIFT! (Romans 6:23) We do not deserve this free gift because if we did it would not be a free gift. But there are two better foundations for God's free offer and extension of grace than our "merits". The first is that God is unwaveringly and ultimately committed to glorifying (showing off) His splendor and majesty! This is the very definition of righteousness. And the second foundation (which is not properly distinct from the first) is that God is unwaveringly committed to the unbeliever's enjoyment of the eternal God which is consummated and put to the max in God's showing off His splendor and majesty through Him! And as Piper and Louie Giglio have helped me to see, these two foundations are the very ground and warrant of our salvation and not some silly "merit and deserving" in us. So why worship a false god called Santa Claus who gives "gifts" based on our "goodness" when we can receive the best GIFT of God in Christ (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus says that those who come to Him will NEVER be cast out! (John 6:37) So come let us adore Him who applies His unfailing mercy to ALL to come to Him!
I will close with these quotes from Louie Giglio!
"God says check this out..... It's grace, it's mercy, it's kindness, it's forgiveness! It's God saying I LOVE YOU! (Psalm 103:8)"
"If you know you are the most beautiful Being in the universe and you allow people that you claim you love to turn their hearts affections away from you than you in that moment are not loving anymore"
And now as I move into Christmas season I have come to realize that false gods have been worshiped in place of God and the gift of Jesus Christ which is divine love and grace and mercy INCARNATE! (John 1:14) Now people worship Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and especially Santa Claus. To tell you the truth Santa Claus has been attributed many attributes of God. These days people deem Santa Claus as omnipotent and sovereign and omnipresent because he can get to every house in the world and get down every chimney without effort. And people seen him as eternal and immortal because he never changes and never dies. He is the same yesterday today and tomorrow. But there is one crucial thing that Santa lacks and Jesus has..... unconditional love grace and mercy!
Santa Claus comes to town and you better be good because otherwise if you make the naughty list you will not get a present. Does this not represent a works-righteousness salvation in Christianity. You get a "present" based on your deserving it. This is not biblical Christianity for the following reasons.....
1. Santa never sacrificially loved anybody as enemies. However, Paul says that Jesus died for us while we were yet SINNERS! (Romans 5:6-8)
2. What Jesus came to give is a FREE GIFT! (Romans 6:23) We do not deserve this free gift because if we did it would not be a free gift. But there are two better foundations for God's free offer and extension of grace than our "merits". The first is that God is unwaveringly and ultimately committed to glorifying (showing off) His splendor and majesty! This is the very definition of righteousness. And the second foundation (which is not properly distinct from the first) is that God is unwaveringly committed to the unbeliever's enjoyment of the eternal God which is consummated and put to the max in God's showing off His splendor and majesty through Him! And as Piper and Louie Giglio have helped me to see, these two foundations are the very ground and warrant of our salvation and not some silly "merit and deserving" in us. So why worship a false god called Santa Claus who gives "gifts" based on our "goodness" when we can receive the best GIFT of God in Christ (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus says that those who come to Him will NEVER be cast out! (John 6:37) So come let us adore Him who applies His unfailing mercy to ALL to come to Him!
I will close with these quotes from Louie Giglio!
"God says check this out..... It's grace, it's mercy, it's kindness, it's forgiveness! It's God saying I LOVE YOU! (Psalm 103:8)"
"If you know you are the most beautiful Being in the universe and you allow people that you claim you love to turn their hearts affections away from you than you in that moment are not loving anymore"
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Eternity Bible College and the First Semester
Well I made it through a spiritually challenging semester of school here at EBC and I will be turning twenty in less than one hour and I am now going to give my thanks to all who have been so good to me made my life at EBC a trophie of God's amazing grace! (Phillipians 4:4-7) I have confidence that I will be a overcomer through faith in Christ!
God
O Father I am just so grateful and for all that you have done for me and through me!! You gave me twenty years on earth and the reality is that all of these years are GRACE!! It is a free gift for me just to have another breath and I want to ponder that reality and realize that I am being treated better than I deserve and you delight in doing so because you are an all-glorious GOD! Thank you for all of these twenty years and what you did with me during them (including my unsaved years) Thank you God for just being loving to me in my darkest hours!! Thank you for showing me that autism and ALL of it's weaknesses that I must painfully endure are in fact a gift meant to show off your GRACE and LOVE! Thank you for helping me out of my lonliness I had as a child and putting me in a godly family where grace reigns and unity is possible! (John 17:20-26) And best of all..... Thank you for providing the gift of YOURSELF through your beloved Son Jesus Christ crucified and risen for my justification and adoption!! Thank you are you ARE a loving gracious God and I want everyone to know that! You are all-satisfying and loving and keep me eyes focused on you and help me to taste your sweet love!!
Mike Clark
Mike you were just an awesome and sweet friend just to have around and I will never forget the times that we had. Thanks for showing me "faulty doctrine." Thanks for just holding me accountable when it comes to my parents because I know I will fail and also four your bluntness when it comes to them! Thanks for never giving up on me! Thanks for letting me stay at your apartment and for all of your theological discussions because it was a pleasure to have them with you! I pray that we can continue to have them in the future as our relationship goes!
Josh Lewis
Man Josh I will never forget the first time that I met you when we went to Collide together. You were a blast and I want to express my thanks for holding me accountable for all the silly things that I do. Thanks for defending my message of Christ when Mike Peters was mocking me for it and thanks for showing me to real gospel living is! And thanks for just being a sweet friend because I throughly enjoyed your company.
Matt Enns
Matt I cannot even being to describe with words just how wonderful you are when I can just hear your wisdom! And I am just grateful that you have always been accepting of me and who I am because every time I sleep at your place... I feel loved by God. And I just want to thank you for your kindness in Christ and your challenge for me to fight through my trials when it comes to my parents or to school because the joy of glory is coming! (1 Peter 4:12-13) Mark Balyulet Man Mark this semester has been fun just going to parties with you and hangouts and just chatting it up with you! Thanks for trying to get me involved when you can and for making sure I have a place to sleep for the night. It has been a wonderful pleasure getting to hang out with you in the EBC lounge! You are a true brother in Christ and I just earnestly desire to get to know you more as a brother in Christ!
Dan Morris
Dan you are a guy that is unique in a lot of ways. But one thing that always sticks out about you is how you have been so good and accepting to me while we have been going to school together. In particular I felt really welcome over the weekend that I spent with you and your Sunland buddies Tom Garcia, Christian Judy, and Jamin Mckeever when I came over. I am so grateful that you welcomed me and took care of me when I was there and God's grace and gospel shines through you!! I pray that God will use you well in counseling because you just have the ability to dig deep into the hearts of people!
Brooke Remund
Brooke I just want to say thanks for being so loving and sweet to me when we have hung during my time here at EBC. I feel so loved by God through you and thanks for just bothering to notice me when I am here at school. I pray that God will use your beautiful loving heart just to touch others!
God
O Father I am just so grateful and for all that you have done for me and through me!! You gave me twenty years on earth and the reality is that all of these years are GRACE!! It is a free gift for me just to have another breath and I want to ponder that reality and realize that I am being treated better than I deserve and you delight in doing so because you are an all-glorious GOD! Thank you for all of these twenty years and what you did with me during them (including my unsaved years) Thank you God for just being loving to me in my darkest hours!! Thank you for showing me that autism and ALL of it's weaknesses that I must painfully endure are in fact a gift meant to show off your GRACE and LOVE! Thank you for helping me out of my lonliness I had as a child and putting me in a godly family where grace reigns and unity is possible! (John 17:20-26) And best of all..... Thank you for providing the gift of YOURSELF through your beloved Son Jesus Christ crucified and risen for my justification and adoption!! Thank you are you ARE a loving gracious God and I want everyone to know that! You are all-satisfying and loving and keep me eyes focused on you and help me to taste your sweet love!!
Mike Clark
Mike you were just an awesome and sweet friend just to have around and I will never forget the times that we had. Thanks for showing me "faulty doctrine." Thanks for just holding me accountable when it comes to my parents because I know I will fail and also four your bluntness when it comes to them! Thanks for never giving up on me! Thanks for letting me stay at your apartment and for all of your theological discussions because it was a pleasure to have them with you! I pray that we can continue to have them in the future as our relationship goes!
Josh Lewis
Man Josh I will never forget the first time that I met you when we went to Collide together. You were a blast and I want to express my thanks for holding me accountable for all the silly things that I do. Thanks for defending my message of Christ when Mike Peters was mocking me for it and thanks for showing me to real gospel living is! And thanks for just being a sweet friend because I throughly enjoyed your company.
Matt Enns
Matt I cannot even being to describe with words just how wonderful you are when I can just hear your wisdom! And I am just grateful that you have always been accepting of me and who I am because every time I sleep at your place... I feel loved by God. And I just want to thank you for your kindness in Christ and your challenge for me to fight through my trials when it comes to my parents or to school because the joy of glory is coming! (1 Peter 4:12-13) Mark Balyulet Man Mark this semester has been fun just going to parties with you and hangouts and just chatting it up with you! Thanks for trying to get me involved when you can and for making sure I have a place to sleep for the night. It has been a wonderful pleasure getting to hang out with you in the EBC lounge! You are a true brother in Christ and I just earnestly desire to get to know you more as a brother in Christ!
Dan Morris
Dan you are a guy that is unique in a lot of ways. But one thing that always sticks out about you is how you have been so good and accepting to me while we have been going to school together. In particular I felt really welcome over the weekend that I spent with you and your Sunland buddies Tom Garcia, Christian Judy, and Jamin Mckeever when I came over. I am so grateful that you welcomed me and took care of me when I was there and God's grace and gospel shines through you!! I pray that God will use you well in counseling because you just have the ability to dig deep into the hearts of people!
Brooke Remund
Brooke I just want to say thanks for being so loving and sweet to me when we have hung during my time here at EBC. I feel so loved by God through you and thanks for just bothering to notice me when I am here at school. I pray that God will use your beautiful loving heart just to touch others!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
I wish that my life could be filled with more thanksgiving because thanksgiving is the apex of joy because joy is incomplete unless it is expressed. So here is a list of things that I am SO thankful for.
1. I am thankful to you God that you gave me my parents. They have taken care of me and they have kept me physically alive so that I can be used by God as the chosen vessel that I am to shine forth His amazing love and grace to a dark and dying world that God wants everyone to enjoy due to who He is! I ask you O God to give me a heart to sacrificially love them through my laying down my life for them the way Jesus laid down His life for everybody that His Father created in His own image. (John 3:16 for Christ and then 1 John 3:16 for me). Help me to be rich in faith like I was chosen to be (James 2:5) that can only come through the trials that I must endure as I do this task. (James 1:1-4)
2. I am grateful for Cornerstone and Eternity Bible College. I am grateful that I can go to a school where I can learn how to read God's mind as expressed in His Word and where I can actually be blessed in doing this Word and not get puffed up about knowing it. (1 Corinthians 8:1) I thank you God that you are teaching me about yourself through Eternity Bible College and I pray that you continue to do so through my whole time here.
3. I am grateful for all of the brothers and sisters that you have provided while I have been here and the loving care that they have given me while I have been here. I never imagined that I could actually form godly relationships because of my autism induced loneliness of my high school years but I want to just bless you Christ for just walking me through my godly relationships. And I pray that I can be a channel of grace to my parents the way that these brothers and sisters here at EBC have been a channel of grace to me.
4. And best of all, I want to thank YOU O God that you exist and that You have given me Yourself through your Beloved Son Jesus Christ!! This is the indescribable gift that transcends all other gifts combined. (2 Corinthians 9:15) First when I was dead in trespasses in sins (Ephesians 2:1-3), your Son died on the cross to take away my sin and bear your wrath. Then Your Son was raised from the dead conquering my sin and death clearing the way to restoration. You preached your gospel to me through Your Word and gave me the wisdom to understand Your gospel and my sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. (John 1:9, 16:7-11, 2 Timothy 3:15, Romans 10:14-17). You gave me new life by your grace (free gift) through my faith alone (receiving a free gift) APART from ANY WORKS or futile attempts to earn it. (Romans 1:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-9) The new life in me enabled me to see the divine glory that is God's alone! God the Father justified me and declared me son by His grace received on account of my position in Christ ALONE! (Romans 8:1-2). And best of all, I am now an heir of You Father with Jesus Christ so I can now suffer so I can gain reward for eternity. (Romans 8:17) And the day will come where I will look upon your face God with your Beloved Son Christ! (Revelation 22:4) And I will delight in You and show Your Holy Grace for eternity. I thank you for all of this. I didn't deserve it and I didn't need to in order for You to bestow it. You gave it to me through faith alone because you are unfailingly committed to your glory and my satisfaction in You! And You are committed to to Your own glory and my joy in You all because You are Beautiful and Love! (1 John 4:8) I pray that the world will know all of this through my oneness with You and they will ALL repent and believe and be satisfied in worship like Jesus fervently prayed for the first Christians in John 17:20-26 because that would delight my soul and Jesus' above all other things. This is pleasing in your sight!
I close these meditations with a message to all who don't know God. God is infinitely passionate to enthrall you with Yourself and He loves you with the same infinite intensity as He loves Jesus Christ, His own Beloved Son!! And so I ask you to forget about your sin and to come to the living waters of life so that you will never thirst. (John 4:13-14, 7:37-39) Come! Jesus is offering His hand and has given you the wisdom to believe through my gospel and Word. (2 Timothy 3:15, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6)
Savoring the sweet pleasure of thanksgiving...
Kevin Chu
1. I am thankful to you God that you gave me my parents. They have taken care of me and they have kept me physically alive so that I can be used by God as the chosen vessel that I am to shine forth His amazing love and grace to a dark and dying world that God wants everyone to enjoy due to who He is! I ask you O God to give me a heart to sacrificially love them through my laying down my life for them the way Jesus laid down His life for everybody that His Father created in His own image. (John 3:16 for Christ and then 1 John 3:16 for me). Help me to be rich in faith like I was chosen to be (James 2:5) that can only come through the trials that I must endure as I do this task. (James 1:1-4)
2. I am grateful for Cornerstone and Eternity Bible College. I am grateful that I can go to a school where I can learn how to read God's mind as expressed in His Word and where I can actually be blessed in doing this Word and not get puffed up about knowing it. (1 Corinthians 8:1) I thank you God that you are teaching me about yourself through Eternity Bible College and I pray that you continue to do so through my whole time here.
3. I am grateful for all of the brothers and sisters that you have provided while I have been here and the loving care that they have given me while I have been here. I never imagined that I could actually form godly relationships because of my autism induced loneliness of my high school years but I want to just bless you Christ for just walking me through my godly relationships. And I pray that I can be a channel of grace to my parents the way that these brothers and sisters here at EBC have been a channel of grace to me.
4. And best of all, I want to thank YOU O God that you exist and that You have given me Yourself through your Beloved Son Jesus Christ!! This is the indescribable gift that transcends all other gifts combined. (2 Corinthians 9:15) First when I was dead in trespasses in sins (Ephesians 2:1-3), your Son died on the cross to take away my sin and bear your wrath. Then Your Son was raised from the dead conquering my sin and death clearing the way to restoration. You preached your gospel to me through Your Word and gave me the wisdom to understand Your gospel and my sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. (John 1:9, 16:7-11, 2 Timothy 3:15, Romans 10:14-17). You gave me new life by your grace (free gift) through my faith alone (receiving a free gift) APART from ANY WORKS or futile attempts to earn it. (Romans 1:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-9) The new life in me enabled me to see the divine glory that is God's alone! God the Father justified me and declared me son by His grace received on account of my position in Christ ALONE! (Romans 8:1-2). And best of all, I am now an heir of You Father with Jesus Christ so I can now suffer so I can gain reward for eternity. (Romans 8:17) And the day will come where I will look upon your face God with your Beloved Son Christ! (Revelation 22:4) And I will delight in You and show Your Holy Grace for eternity. I thank you for all of this. I didn't deserve it and I didn't need to in order for You to bestow it. You gave it to me through faith alone because you are unfailingly committed to your glory and my satisfaction in You! And You are committed to to Your own glory and my joy in You all because You are Beautiful and Love! (1 John 4:8) I pray that the world will know all of this through my oneness with You and they will ALL repent and believe and be satisfied in worship like Jesus fervently prayed for the first Christians in John 17:20-26 because that would delight my soul and Jesus' above all other things. This is pleasing in your sight!
I close these meditations with a message to all who don't know God. God is infinitely passionate to enthrall you with Yourself and He loves you with the same infinite intensity as He loves Jesus Christ, His own Beloved Son!! And so I ask you to forget about your sin and to come to the living waters of life so that you will never thirst. (John 4:13-14, 7:37-39) Come! Jesus is offering His hand and has given you the wisdom to believe through my gospel and Word. (2 Timothy 3:15, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6)
Savoring the sweet pleasure of thanksgiving...
Kevin Chu
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
God working in Sunland
Wow I had an awesome weekend in Sunland chilling with Christian Judy, Jamin Mckeever, Tom Garcia, and Dan Morris!! I want to say thanks to all of you guys for just the love and grace of the Body of Christ that I have experienced out there. And I want to Thank you Heavenly Father for lavishing your awesome grace on me in this regard. (Ephesians 1:7-8) And Jesus Christ, Thank you for showing your face in these wonderful men.
I don't know how to describe it but I think that they guys that I hung out with in Sunland just really show off Christ with their lives and actions, through faith working in love and that just moves me to want to follow their example. Man as I continue to see the grace of God and His amazing love work in our lives together, and how God is relentlessing pursuing my heart to follow Him way more, I can now see the humility in accepting the grace that these guys have given me is one HUGE lesson that I need to learn.
One way that this is especially seen biblically is the way of salvation. My humility in accepting the gracious care of my brothers in Sunland is parallel though not exact to the difference between faith and works. Works is attempting to earn your own salvation through the Law or through good deeds or through what you do. The heart of it is the need to want to be made much of because your own works accomplished your salvation. In Romans 4:4-5, Paul contrasts works and faith by saying that works results in wages that is due versus a faith that accepts the FREE gift of eternal life which is the heart of the gospel. (Romans 1:16-17)
The reasons that faith glorifies God
1. It is NEVER initiatory in salvation. God first FREELY offered me the gift of life in CHRIST ALONE before I excersied faith to RECEIVE the free gift. Romans 10:14-15 clearly teaches that because no one seeks God (Romans 3:11), Christ must first bear our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21) in His death, rise again and conquer death, and present the gospel to us. That is the order in Romans 10:14-15, hearing then believing not the reverse. Furthermore, God's act of His provision of the gospel of eternal life is not based at all on my "deserving" of it because if it were, it would no longer be a gift and it would essentialy be a works-righteous salvation. However, there is an infinitely stronger ground for this grace of eternal life and that is God's unfailing passion to glorify Himself (the essence of His righteousness and justice) and His unfailing passion for my satisfaction in Him (the essence of His goodness) which are ultimately one passion.
2. When I accept the free gift of eternal life by resting in CHRIST's work of salvation, Romans 3:27 declares that faith excludes ALL boasting because faith passively allowing Christ to satisfy us in God as Hebrews 11:6 teaches. It is Christ that did all the work. And so Abraham's faith glorified God as Romans 4:20-21 teaches. Just as a person humbly must accept salvation, God helped me to see that this applies to my humble acceptance of the love of my buddies.
I pray especially now these days that I can love my parents in return. Because my parents are unlovable to me in my sin, I desperately need Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit more than ever so that I can still love them anyways NOT because they deserve it but rather because I am unfailingly committed to God's glorification in their lives (my righteousness) and my desire to see them satisfied in God. (my love for them) And the only Person who can help me now is Jesus Christ who was faced with many temptations not to love someone who woud only hurt him like the 10 lepers in Luke 17 (only one loved Him back). And so I feel more motivated to love my parents thanks to Dan Morris and Tom Garcia and Jamin and so please Jesus Christ help me to not be a cul-de-sac of grace but rather a channel of it to my parents. And I am looking forward to my reward that my Father will provide me (eternal glory) when I endure the trials of loving my unlovable parents. (Romans 8:18, James 1:12, 2 Timothy 2:10 1 Peter 1:6-9, 4:12-13, 5:10, notice the pattern of suffering THEN glory).
Longing to be a trophie of amazing grace as a son of God so the world may believe (Ephesians 1:5-6)
Kevin Chu
I don't know how to describe it but I think that they guys that I hung out with in Sunland just really show off Christ with their lives and actions, through faith working in love and that just moves me to want to follow their example. Man as I continue to see the grace of God and His amazing love work in our lives together, and how God is relentlessing pursuing my heart to follow Him way more, I can now see the humility in accepting the grace that these guys have given me is one HUGE lesson that I need to learn.
One way that this is especially seen biblically is the way of salvation. My humility in accepting the gracious care of my brothers in Sunland is parallel though not exact to the difference between faith and works. Works is attempting to earn your own salvation through the Law or through good deeds or through what you do. The heart of it is the need to want to be made much of because your own works accomplished your salvation. In Romans 4:4-5, Paul contrasts works and faith by saying that works results in wages that is due versus a faith that accepts the FREE gift of eternal life which is the heart of the gospel. (Romans 1:16-17)
The reasons that faith glorifies God
1. It is NEVER initiatory in salvation. God first FREELY offered me the gift of life in CHRIST ALONE before I excersied faith to RECEIVE the free gift. Romans 10:14-15 clearly teaches that because no one seeks God (Romans 3:11), Christ must first bear our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21) in His death, rise again and conquer death, and present the gospel to us. That is the order in Romans 10:14-15, hearing then believing not the reverse. Furthermore, God's act of His provision of the gospel of eternal life is not based at all on my "deserving" of it because if it were, it would no longer be a gift and it would essentialy be a works-righteous salvation. However, there is an infinitely stronger ground for this grace of eternal life and that is God's unfailing passion to glorify Himself (the essence of His righteousness and justice) and His unfailing passion for my satisfaction in Him (the essence of His goodness) which are ultimately one passion.
2. When I accept the free gift of eternal life by resting in CHRIST's work of salvation, Romans 3:27 declares that faith excludes ALL boasting because faith passively allowing Christ to satisfy us in God as Hebrews 11:6 teaches. It is Christ that did all the work. And so Abraham's faith glorified God as Romans 4:20-21 teaches. Just as a person humbly must accept salvation, God helped me to see that this applies to my humble acceptance of the love of my buddies.
I pray especially now these days that I can love my parents in return. Because my parents are unlovable to me in my sin, I desperately need Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit more than ever so that I can still love them anyways NOT because they deserve it but rather because I am unfailingly committed to God's glorification in their lives (my righteousness) and my desire to see them satisfied in God. (my love for them) And the only Person who can help me now is Jesus Christ who was faced with many temptations not to love someone who woud only hurt him like the 10 lepers in Luke 17 (only one loved Him back). And so I feel more motivated to love my parents thanks to Dan Morris and Tom Garcia and Jamin and so please Jesus Christ help me to not be a cul-de-sac of grace but rather a channel of it to my parents. And I am looking forward to my reward that my Father will provide me (eternal glory) when I endure the trials of loving my unlovable parents. (Romans 8:18, James 1:12, 2 Timothy 2:10 1 Peter 1:6-9, 4:12-13, 5:10, notice the pattern of suffering THEN glory).
Longing to be a trophie of amazing grace as a son of God so the world may believe (Ephesians 1:5-6)
Kevin Chu
Friday, November 20, 2009
Exegeting James 1:19b-25
Man it has been a long, spiritually tough, and academically challenging semester here at EBC and now it is coming to a head as I am now about to write an exegetical paper on James 19:b-25 in the Book of James. I have been studying up on that passage as well as verses 1-18 in order to set the proper context and now I am about to write on this passage. There are three primary things that I am feeling right now when it comes to doing this huge paper.
1. I am very excited
I can't believe it. I am actually going to be doing exegesis for the very first time and actually try to find out what James meant to his readers when he was writing to them.. This will be the chance to "lead out of" the text and find the meaning that James intended to convey to his writers and to see the neat flow of thought that comes to the passage. I can now finally understand what was going on at the time and the background of the author and readers' situation that necessitated these verses to be written. I can actualy work with the grammar of the text and find the meaning of words to find all of the rich and colorful details that helps to articulate the meaning of the text. And finally I can see this exegesis as a way that God manifests His awesome beauty and grace and glory which can satisfy forever and forever. PRAISE GOD!
2. I am nervous
I will admit that I am very nervous because I have never made an attempt at exegesis before. This is a new experience and they can cause intense anxiety at times. Because I don't know Greek (yet) and also because by English grammar is horrible, I fear that I could totally slip up when I attempt to do my exegesis and this leads to the third point.
3. I must depend on the Holy Spirit.
Because I am finite and fallen, only the Holy Spirit who reveals and who inspires Scripture can enable me to see what is in the text. (1 Corinthians 2:6-16) Only He can help me to find what God said through the human authors. Only He can help me to know the infinite mind of my awesome God. And only He can help me to properly to this exegetical analysis of James 1:19b-25.
So I pray that the Holy Spirit will carry me through from start to end on this paper and to carry me through many more hard times at Eternity Bible College.
1. I am very excited
I can't believe it. I am actually going to be doing exegesis for the very first time and actually try to find out what James meant to his readers when he was writing to them.. This will be the chance to "lead out of" the text and find the meaning that James intended to convey to his writers and to see the neat flow of thought that comes to the passage. I can now finally understand what was going on at the time and the background of the author and readers' situation that necessitated these verses to be written. I can actualy work with the grammar of the text and find the meaning of words to find all of the rich and colorful details that helps to articulate the meaning of the text. And finally I can see this exegesis as a way that God manifests His awesome beauty and grace and glory which can satisfy forever and forever. PRAISE GOD!
2. I am nervous
I will admit that I am very nervous because I have never made an attempt at exegesis before. This is a new experience and they can cause intense anxiety at times. Because I don't know Greek (yet) and also because by English grammar is horrible, I fear that I could totally slip up when I attempt to do my exegesis and this leads to the third point.
3. I must depend on the Holy Spirit.
Because I am finite and fallen, only the Holy Spirit who reveals and who inspires Scripture can enable me to see what is in the text. (1 Corinthians 2:6-16) Only He can help me to find what God said through the human authors. Only He can help me to know the infinite mind of my awesome God. And only He can help me to properly to this exegetical analysis of James 1:19b-25.
So I pray that the Holy Spirit will carry me through from start to end on this paper and to carry me through many more hard times at Eternity Bible College.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Idols of the Heart
Wow as I just go through Bible college I have been thinking about all that I have learned throughout the semester and I am just SO thankful to God for the amazing gifts that He has given me and the wonderful friends that He has placed in my life for me to showcase the awesomeness of our God to and whom I can experience Christ, the hope of all glory (Colossians 1:27) in!! When I attend discipleship counseling, I have come to realize what the primary point is in the class, and that is having a heart that worships God and is satisfied in His Person and Rule through Jesus Christ!!
I have come to realize that through watching Louie Giglio's passion talks on worship, and also from studying in Discipleship Counseling, the basic issue of humanity is that we are ALL worshippers of something because that is the way that God made us. And what we worship is going to determine how we act, how we treat one another, what direction our life takes, who we are.... so what are we going to worship. God made us so that we can worship Him through exulting in (Romans 5:2, 11) and showcasing His all-satisfying supremacy to all the world so that they can join us in worship!! That is why Paul says in Romans 11:36 all things are from Him, through Him, and TO Him.... It is all about God, and our everlasting enjoyment of Him forever! So Paul therefore follows up in Romans 12:1 to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God that is holy and pleasing because this is what is pleasing to God!
Now sadly we have rejected God as our all satisfaction (Jeremiah 2:13a, Romans 1:23a, 25a) and because we are still worshippers by nature. we will then worship and deify the creation (Jeremiah 2:13b, Romans 1:23b, 25b). Then our sins progress from that into how we live in the world and with each other. The root of all evil in the world is the fact that we have rejected God as our all satisfying Treasure and have worshipped creation instead. And that idolatry in our hearts will drive us to hell unless we trust in the work of Christ that brings us back to God. (1 Peter 3:18)
But for Christians in regard to idols of the heart, the Bible is evidently clear that we need to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) because from there flows the wellsprings of life. O how I ask God that He renew my passion for His supremacy for the joy of ALL people and that I will set my mind on my heavenly position in Christ Jesus! (Colossians 3:1-4) And I say to you unbelievers not to find satisfaction in Michael Jackson, Jerry Springer, or South Park because they are but vapors that fade away (James 4:13-14) but God is Forever (Psalm 102:25-27) and He will not disappoint you if you hope in Christ alone.
May at the end of our lives when trials come that we can sing Who have I in heaven but You and besides You I desire nothing on earth. My heart and my flesh may fail but You are the strength of my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26)
Seeing the goal of everything in counseling...
Kevin Chu
I have come to realize that through watching Louie Giglio's passion talks on worship, and also from studying in Discipleship Counseling, the basic issue of humanity is that we are ALL worshippers of something because that is the way that God made us. And what we worship is going to determine how we act, how we treat one another, what direction our life takes, who we are.... so what are we going to worship. God made us so that we can worship Him through exulting in (Romans 5:2, 11) and showcasing His all-satisfying supremacy to all the world so that they can join us in worship!! That is why Paul says in Romans 11:36 all things are from Him, through Him, and TO Him.... It is all about God, and our everlasting enjoyment of Him forever! So Paul therefore follows up in Romans 12:1 to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God that is holy and pleasing because this is what is pleasing to God!
Now sadly we have rejected God as our all satisfaction (Jeremiah 2:13a, Romans 1:23a, 25a) and because we are still worshippers by nature. we will then worship and deify the creation (Jeremiah 2:13b, Romans 1:23b, 25b). Then our sins progress from that into how we live in the world and with each other. The root of all evil in the world is the fact that we have rejected God as our all satisfying Treasure and have worshipped creation instead. And that idolatry in our hearts will drive us to hell unless we trust in the work of Christ that brings us back to God. (1 Peter 3:18)
But for Christians in regard to idols of the heart, the Bible is evidently clear that we need to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) because from there flows the wellsprings of life. O how I ask God that He renew my passion for His supremacy for the joy of ALL people and that I will set my mind on my heavenly position in Christ Jesus! (Colossians 3:1-4) And I say to you unbelievers not to find satisfaction in Michael Jackson, Jerry Springer, or South Park because they are but vapors that fade away (James 4:13-14) but God is Forever (Psalm 102:25-27) and He will not disappoint you if you hope in Christ alone.
May at the end of our lives when trials come that we can sing Who have I in heaven but You and besides You I desire nothing on earth. My heart and my flesh may fail but You are the strength of my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26)
Seeing the goal of everything in counseling...
Kevin Chu
Friday, November 13, 2009
Why I want to remain autistic and retain ALL of the weaknesses that come with it
Wow! God has been so good and I am glad that I can sing forever of His love for me and His goodness and I am just so amazed and blown away by His awesome work that He has done through me in my life and especially at Cornerstone and Eternity Bible College. Man do I pray that God will just continue to broadcast how awesome His grace is so that all will believe. This is the reason that the chief of sinners, Paul, was saved as 1 Timothy 1:15-17 makes clear, so that unlimited patience may be displayed for all who believe for eternal life!!
Now I have gotten a brand new revelation from both God and Jesus Christ as I continue on my journey through Eternity and in my Introduction to Discipleship class. When I first came to school here, I wanted to completely rid myself of the weaknesses that came with autism because I thought that it was going to significantly hold me back in many crucial areas of my walk. I was reminded of all of the hard times that I had to go through because of autism, how I was isolated for years and laughed at before I became a Christian. And now everything is in a different perspective as I meet amazing God-glorifying Spirit-filled Bible soaked Christians that I have gotten the chance to bond with and enjoy! Now I WANT to retain this autism and all of the weaknesses that come with it. Now this sounds like an insane request to the world and yes it is an insane request. But the Christian life is SUPPOSED to look insane to the world is it not??
The key to this new perspective on autism will rest on two key texts that occur in the Bible.
1. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
A Thorn in the Flesh
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
This is one of my favorite passages when it comes to why I am the way I am. I have realized that God may me autistic and that it is an integral part of me, strength and weakness combined. And so I realized that I shouldn't hate it, I should rejoice in it because that is what glorifies God. (Psalm 139:13-14) Mark Beuving helped me to see that I can actually take delight in God's specific handiwork of me and that I should not try to be somebody else I am not because any attempt to be healed of autism would be a sin because I am trying to escape from God's chosen identity of me.
Furthermore, I realized that I am really actually building godly relationships with other wonderful EBC students and Cornerstoners DESPITE my horribly damaged social skills and I believe there is only one reason that this is true. It makes the power of God and also the GRACE of God shine that much more brightly. People can look at God and praise Him for taking a guy who was a nobody without Christ and make Him into somebody who can build godly relationships, something that is considered impossible for the average autistic. And now imagine if I can actually do effective Christ-exalting ministry and if I can actually get married to a beautiful woman WITH all of the weaknesses of autism that I have. Just think about how much more praise to the amazing grace of God would that bring. I won't be able to say that I overcame autism and that the grace of God really worked, like it did in the life of Paul. "By grace I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10) I am a child of the most High God and therefore I rejoice in my weaknesses of autism, because then grace really starts to look beautiful in my eyes. Autism is really a gift now to me and not a disability, as the world would call it.
2. 1 Peter 1:6-9
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
All of the weaknesses of autism are trials and I know that I can rejoice in these trials because these are what brings me even closer to God because HE is the gospel, not health wealth or prosperity. And I know that God is using the trials with autism to make my perserverence stronger and to perfect my faith so that I can rejoice in and display the beautiful grace of God even more!! So I know that it would be a sin for me to ask God for healing from this disability because it is who I am and also because that is taking the easy way out. God has big plans for me for what He will do through my disability and I am excited to see this in the future.
Living by faith and not by sight with you (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Kevin Chu
Now I have gotten a brand new revelation from both God and Jesus Christ as I continue on my journey through Eternity and in my Introduction to Discipleship class. When I first came to school here, I wanted to completely rid myself of the weaknesses that came with autism because I thought that it was going to significantly hold me back in many crucial areas of my walk. I was reminded of all of the hard times that I had to go through because of autism, how I was isolated for years and laughed at before I became a Christian. And now everything is in a different perspective as I meet amazing God-glorifying Spirit-filled Bible soaked Christians that I have gotten the chance to bond with and enjoy! Now I WANT to retain this autism and all of the weaknesses that come with it. Now this sounds like an insane request to the world and yes it is an insane request. But the Christian life is SUPPOSED to look insane to the world is it not??
The key to this new perspective on autism will rest on two key texts that occur in the Bible.
1. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
A Thorn in the Flesh
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
This is one of my favorite passages when it comes to why I am the way I am. I have realized that God may me autistic and that it is an integral part of me, strength and weakness combined. And so I realized that I shouldn't hate it, I should rejoice in it because that is what glorifies God. (Psalm 139:13-14) Mark Beuving helped me to see that I can actually take delight in God's specific handiwork of me and that I should not try to be somebody else I am not because any attempt to be healed of autism would be a sin because I am trying to escape from God's chosen identity of me.
Furthermore, I realized that I am really actually building godly relationships with other wonderful EBC students and Cornerstoners DESPITE my horribly damaged social skills and I believe there is only one reason that this is true. It makes the power of God and also the GRACE of God shine that much more brightly. People can look at God and praise Him for taking a guy who was a nobody without Christ and make Him into somebody who can build godly relationships, something that is considered impossible for the average autistic. And now imagine if I can actually do effective Christ-exalting ministry and if I can actually get married to a beautiful woman WITH all of the weaknesses of autism that I have. Just think about how much more praise to the amazing grace of God would that bring. I won't be able to say that I overcame autism and that the grace of God really worked, like it did in the life of Paul. "By grace I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10) I am a child of the most High God and therefore I rejoice in my weaknesses of autism, because then grace really starts to look beautiful in my eyes. Autism is really a gift now to me and not a disability, as the world would call it.
2. 1 Peter 1:6-9
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
All of the weaknesses of autism are trials and I know that I can rejoice in these trials because these are what brings me even closer to God because HE is the gospel, not health wealth or prosperity. And I know that God is using the trials with autism to make my perserverence stronger and to perfect my faith so that I can rejoice in and display the beautiful grace of God even more!! So I know that it would be a sin for me to ask God for healing from this disability because it is who I am and also because that is taking the easy way out. God has big plans for me for what He will do through my disability and I am excited to see this in the future.
Living by faith and not by sight with you (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Kevin Chu
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Lamentations over my sinfulness
Today was a rough today because I sinned against my parents and I didn't talk about them in a positive and honoring way that God commands me to. (Ephesians 6:1-3) I just don't know anything anymore and I feel like my sinfulness towards my parents is ripping me apart and destroying my walk with God. I don't know if I can sincerely apologize anymore because I have a deep-seated fear that my flesh is plotting another sucessful victory and I am deathly scared that I will sin again. I feel like the situation I am in with my parents and my attitude towards their authority is like what the Apostle Paul described in Romans 7, how he struggles with the flesh. O how I wish that I could see God face-to-face so that I would never sin again. I am dearly sorry that I am such a sinner against my parents yet at the same time, I have a sinking attitude that my apology is not sincere. O what a wretched sinner that I am and that Christ is a Great Savior as John Newton said at the end of his life.
Why am I so sinful towards my parents. This is not an attempt to excuse it but to use my anyilitical skills to figure out what happened that led to this. The issue that puts me in a dire position with my family is the fact that my parents are not believers and therefore they cannot possibly represent God to me through loving authority over me. It is similar although not exact to the warning that God said to Eve when they sin, that Eve would try to rule over Adam and Adam would rule over Eve brutally in return. (Genesis 3 tells the sad story of this) And now because of both of our sins, we are now in heavy conflict with one another over matters like my actvities down at Eternity. I also believe that it is related to the fact that I am a college student and almost not a teenager and I want freedom from the authority of my parents as to where and when I go to EBC to hang and study. It feels like I am defeated either way.
I pray that you guys will not give up on me as your brother in Christ when it comes to making peace with my parents and having a good relationship with them because grace is what I, a sinner, so despreately need when it comes to my relationship with my parents. O what a wretched sinner I am and how much bigger is the grace of God in the midst of this. (Romans 5:12-21) Thanks Jesus for loving me in my sin and not just when I am righteous. Please pray that God would soften the hearts of my parents as I attempt to find peace with them over these issues.
I am just so grateful that Jesus Christ went through the worst of human experience as a man and was tempted to sin in every way yet he never sinned (Hebrews 4:14-16) and He overcame the world. (John 16:33) And I am just grateful that His mercy is new every day (Lamentations 3:22-23) in spite of all my sins against my family. I pray that our friendships that God has given me are not ruined by this experience and I pray that you guys will not give up on me as I struggle to become a godly man that God wants me to be.
Here is a wonderful song about God's faithfulness even when we sin. (1 John 1:9)
Nothing can separate
Even if I ran away
Your love never fails
I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails
Chorus:You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There maybe pain in the night but joy comes in the morning
And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails
Verse 2:The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails
The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails
Bridge:You make all things work together for my good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_Xj3WAGBk
In sadness over the sting of sin,
Kevin Chu
Why am I so sinful towards my parents. This is not an attempt to excuse it but to use my anyilitical skills to figure out what happened that led to this. The issue that puts me in a dire position with my family is the fact that my parents are not believers and therefore they cannot possibly represent God to me through loving authority over me. It is similar although not exact to the warning that God said to Eve when they sin, that Eve would try to rule over Adam and Adam would rule over Eve brutally in return. (Genesis 3 tells the sad story of this) And now because of both of our sins, we are now in heavy conflict with one another over matters like my actvities down at Eternity. I also believe that it is related to the fact that I am a college student and almost not a teenager and I want freedom from the authority of my parents as to where and when I go to EBC to hang and study. It feels like I am defeated either way.
I pray that you guys will not give up on me as your brother in Christ when it comes to making peace with my parents and having a good relationship with them because grace is what I, a sinner, so despreately need when it comes to my relationship with my parents. O what a wretched sinner I am and how much bigger is the grace of God in the midst of this. (Romans 5:12-21) Thanks Jesus for loving me in my sin and not just when I am righteous. Please pray that God would soften the hearts of my parents as I attempt to find peace with them over these issues.
I am just so grateful that Jesus Christ went through the worst of human experience as a man and was tempted to sin in every way yet he never sinned (Hebrews 4:14-16) and He overcame the world. (John 16:33) And I am just grateful that His mercy is new every day (Lamentations 3:22-23) in spite of all my sins against my family. I pray that our friendships that God has given me are not ruined by this experience and I pray that you guys will not give up on me as I struggle to become a godly man that God wants me to be.
Here is a wonderful song about God's faithfulness even when we sin. (1 John 1:9)
Nothing can separate
Even if I ran away
Your love never fails
I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails
Chorus:You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There maybe pain in the night but joy comes in the morning
And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails
Verse 2:The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails
The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails
Bridge:You make all things work together for my good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_Xj3WAGBk
In sadness over the sting of sin,
Kevin Chu
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Christian Virtues that I need to develop and perfect
Last Sunday night I had the blessed privilige to hear Francis Chan at Cornerstone preach from 2 Peter 1:5-8 and I was just blown away by what he had to say about the character of Christianity. The quailities that he mentioned in 2 Peter 1:5-7 are goodess, knowledge, self-control, perserverence, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. These are fruits of the Spirit that we must develop if we want to be like Christ. In fact developing these wonderful qualities are the path to knowing Christ Himself because in verse 8 he says that possesing these qualities in increasing measure will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oftentimes, it is so that we wish that God would take our trials away and change them but the challenge that Francis had was that God would change US, not necessarily our circumstances.
In BSM we are interpreting James 1:2-4 and what we learned in class is that God actually uses trials in order to develop our perserverence and from that to make our faith complete and lacking in nothing. This coincides perfectly with what Francis was saying and I pray that God would give me joy in the trials that I have to face, namely autism. I don't want to be rid of the weaknesses of my autism anymore because God glorifies Himself in the midst of weakness as the thorn in the flesh proves. His grace is sufficient for me. And now imagine that if I can actually make godly friends, get married, and minister WITH all of my current weaknessess that I have (and this includes my deficient social skills and attention span) then God would get so much more praise from my life then if He had healed my weaknesses and then did all of these things.
I will admit that I have not fully developed these character quaiities and I do not believe that anyone ever can here on earth. I will be honest I have gossiped over the last few days and I realize that I was wrong in doing so. And I pray that God will forgive me and restore to me the joy of my salvation. Wow God is just doing great things through me and I want to be a part of what He is doing in my life. May I ask God that my autism would be seen as a gift and not a weakness because God has molded me in a very special way: the image of His son, like He planned for from His eternal realm. Like Solomon wrote at the end of his life in Ecclesiastes that the true meaning of life can only be found in God, may we all realize that real life comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ and through that with the Father. That is the very definition of eternal life that Jesus defined in John 17:3 and died to give us.
Signing off with optimism of God's work in the future
Kevin Chu
In BSM we are interpreting James 1:2-4 and what we learned in class is that God actually uses trials in order to develop our perserverence and from that to make our faith complete and lacking in nothing. This coincides perfectly with what Francis was saying and I pray that God would give me joy in the trials that I have to face, namely autism. I don't want to be rid of the weaknesses of my autism anymore because God glorifies Himself in the midst of weakness as the thorn in the flesh proves. His grace is sufficient for me. And now imagine that if I can actually make godly friends, get married, and minister WITH all of my current weaknessess that I have (and this includes my deficient social skills and attention span) then God would get so much more praise from my life then if He had healed my weaknesses and then did all of these things.
I will admit that I have not fully developed these character quaiities and I do not believe that anyone ever can here on earth. I will be honest I have gossiped over the last few days and I realize that I was wrong in doing so. And I pray that God will forgive me and restore to me the joy of my salvation. Wow God is just doing great things through me and I want to be a part of what He is doing in my life. May I ask God that my autism would be seen as a gift and not a weakness because God has molded me in a very special way: the image of His son, like He planned for from His eternal realm. Like Solomon wrote at the end of his life in Ecclesiastes that the true meaning of life can only be found in God, may we all realize that real life comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ and through that with the Father. That is the very definition of eternal life that Jesus defined in John 17:3 and died to give us.
Signing off with optimism of God's work in the future
Kevin Chu
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Humility in Preaching the Gospel
Well over the last few weeks, I have been writing to an old high school friend named Mike Peters in the hopes that he would repent and receive Jesus Christ for eternal joy in heaven that God infinitely desires for Him. The first time, he mocked me about going to hell, the second time, he threatened to beat me up if I wrote to him again, the third time, I am pretty sure that he pretended to convert to Christ in order so that he could mock me. I have been agonizing over the possibility that I have failed Mike Peters because I didn't fight hard enough for his conversion. And that's when I got a humble correction from my good EBC classmates Mike Clark and Dan Morris.
Dan Morris talked to me about the situation and he reminded me that I cannot save anybody which is so true. Only God has the power to save somebody. More specifically, only the Lord Jesus Christ has the power to save. I may have gotten caught up in the idea that I have the power to save people, to give eternal life, to forgive sins, and open people's eyes. All four of these things are different ways of saying that someone is saved. And now I realize that my only role in preaching the gospel is this fact: I am just a nobody telling everybody about somebody (Jesus Christ) who can save anybody. And so I pray that Dan's words grip my heart and bring humility to me in helping me to see that I am just a man who can save nobody. That's why Jesus tells Peter that with man it is impossible but with God EVERYTHING is possible. (Mark 10:26-27) All I can do is preach the living and active gospel to the person. Only God however can open eyes and give new life and forgive.
Michael Clark adds that I didn't fail anybody but rather that Mike Peters failed God by refusing the offer of life. And then he thanked me for having such a good heart but there are many improvements that need to be made to my life. First, he reminded me that preaching the gospel is not just merely doing it with lips, in Greek it means doing it with action!! I pray that God will actually teach me to live the gospel out wherever I am and that He will shine like a blazing sun through me. Second, Mike reminded me that their is a need for patience and God's initiative when preaching the gospel for the battle to save souls. In Galatians 5, one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience and I need to ask the Holy Spirit to give me that power. And finally, Mike reminded me that there is more than just winning over another convert, discipleship is the ultimate goal. Jesus' Great Commission is that we make disciples, not just converts. I realize that I have the goal of getting that person to become more like Christ in all that he or she does. And so I must ask God for wisdom with faith so that Christ's incarnate wisdom can radiate.
I thank these guys for their desire to see me grow in the Christian faith so that I can really actually learn to be Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. I must preach the gospel by pointing them to the one Person who can save their souls and bring them to the eternal God that can satisfy them, Jesus Christ. But that is all I can do, I have no saving power. May God alone be glorified for saving souls.
Dan Morris talked to me about the situation and he reminded me that I cannot save anybody which is so true. Only God has the power to save somebody. More specifically, only the Lord Jesus Christ has the power to save. I may have gotten caught up in the idea that I have the power to save people, to give eternal life, to forgive sins, and open people's eyes. All four of these things are different ways of saying that someone is saved. And now I realize that my only role in preaching the gospel is this fact: I am just a nobody telling everybody about somebody (Jesus Christ) who can save anybody. And so I pray that Dan's words grip my heart and bring humility to me in helping me to see that I am just a man who can save nobody. That's why Jesus tells Peter that with man it is impossible but with God EVERYTHING is possible. (Mark 10:26-27) All I can do is preach the living and active gospel to the person. Only God however can open eyes and give new life and forgive.
Michael Clark adds that I didn't fail anybody but rather that Mike Peters failed God by refusing the offer of life. And then he thanked me for having such a good heart but there are many improvements that need to be made to my life. First, he reminded me that preaching the gospel is not just merely doing it with lips, in Greek it means doing it with action!! I pray that God will actually teach me to live the gospel out wherever I am and that He will shine like a blazing sun through me. Second, Mike reminded me that their is a need for patience and God's initiative when preaching the gospel for the battle to save souls. In Galatians 5, one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience and I need to ask the Holy Spirit to give me that power. And finally, Mike reminded me that there is more than just winning over another convert, discipleship is the ultimate goal. Jesus' Great Commission is that we make disciples, not just converts. I realize that I have the goal of getting that person to become more like Christ in all that he or she does. And so I must ask God for wisdom with faith so that Christ's incarnate wisdom can radiate.
I thank these guys for their desire to see me grow in the Christian faith so that I can really actually learn to be Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. I must preach the gospel by pointing them to the one Person who can save their souls and bring them to the eternal God that can satisfy them, Jesus Christ. But that is all I can do, I have no saving power. May God alone be glorified for saving souls.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Amazing grace over Halloween weekend
By the God of all grace, I had an amazing weekend in Simi Valley partying it up with my fellow Cornerstoners and brothers and sisters from EBC! I want to say thank you so much for the fun moments that we have together and I truly would love to return the favor by being a blessing to you and a channel of the awesome grace of our God poured out to us from His unfailing passion to glorify His Awesome Holy Name. I also want to add that I felt so loved by God in a way that I never have before in all of the days of my life that I have existed. Thank you for everything!!
As an autistic, I have come to the realization that I do not hate having it anymore. I actually have embraced it and I know why I have! An awesome friend Mark Balylult told me yesterday that he was encouraged to see a life without Christ (since I didn't grow up in the church and he did, it helped him to see that) and a life that was hopeless and didn't have any future, a life filled with years of rejection, and then that life, by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ and accepting His wonderful love, changed drastically into one that is radiant with the incomparable riches of the grace of God and will be more radiant of that in the future. I was so encouraged to hear that from Mark and I am grateful to him for it. And now this brings me to this wonderful realization.
In Ephesians 2, Paul starts this simple chapter with what a non-Christian looks like. He is dead in sins and is following the hopeless Gods of the world and by nature is a son of disobedience and wrath. (2:1-3) That was me before I became a Christian and this is illustrated by the fact that I have hated God and have followed the gods of the world that do not satisfy and I have put up with lonliness and rejection my whole life. But then Paul talks about the unconditional rich and great love and mercy of our God that saves us through Christ making us alive and even better, seating us in the heavenly places! (2:4-6) This is so true with me and my life became filled with love for God and acceptance by God on account of Jesus Christ and also by the amazing brothers and sisters that God is only STARTING to get me involved with. Wow! This is unspeakable and indescribable just the amazing grace of our God that He is offering to all creation. I am blown away by what my life looked like before and what it looks like today because of God. I plead with all those who don't know the love of Christ receive Him by faith so that you can expereince such a life change that I have!!
Now in verse 7, Paul gives the big reason why God saved me and why seeks out a relationship with His lost creation, "so that in the coming ages, He might SHOW the incomparable riches of His GRACE, expressed in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus!" Two things come to my mind when I ponder this life-changing passage of Scripture.
1. Salvation is about me??? It is not! It is all about God and His wonderful passion to glorify the inexhaulstible wealth of His grace!! That is the chief reason why God saved Paul. (1 Timothy 1:15-17) This is incredibly humbling as I have come to see just how God has reminded me that He and His grace and my enjoyment of Him forever is what his saving acts are all about!! It is also my greatest security because God's righteous unchanging passion to glorify His grace is my only hope of grace and it is the only hope for sinners.
2. I want to be a testimony of grace to both my brothers and sisters at Cornerstone and at EBC as well as to a lost and dying world. God took a guy who was autistic and had no hope and turned his life around and blessed him abundantly. My life is literally a living testimony of hope and I pray that God will break down all of the pride in me so that His grace and continue to shine like a sun shines on the earth. And I know that is why I am a student at EBC and why I am passionate to be involved with the community there. And God is so good that He is going to work wonderful displays of Himself through me there in the future. I pray that all unbelievers will be convicted by this awesome display of power and give their lives to Christ so that they can undergo a simliar unique transformation of life that I have experienced. I would love it if all you guys can actually help me to actually be a display of grace in light of the seemingly insigificant affliction of autism!
I want to thank all of you for taking the time to get to know me and I am pleading with God for a closer relationship with all of you and I can't wait to see you in the future.
Rejoicing in God with you all, Kevin Chu
As an autistic, I have come to the realization that I do not hate having it anymore. I actually have embraced it and I know why I have! An awesome friend Mark Balylult told me yesterday that he was encouraged to see a life without Christ (since I didn't grow up in the church and he did, it helped him to see that) and a life that was hopeless and didn't have any future, a life filled with years of rejection, and then that life, by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ and accepting His wonderful love, changed drastically into one that is radiant with the incomparable riches of the grace of God and will be more radiant of that in the future. I was so encouraged to hear that from Mark and I am grateful to him for it. And now this brings me to this wonderful realization.
In Ephesians 2, Paul starts this simple chapter with what a non-Christian looks like. He is dead in sins and is following the hopeless Gods of the world and by nature is a son of disobedience and wrath. (2:1-3) That was me before I became a Christian and this is illustrated by the fact that I have hated God and have followed the gods of the world that do not satisfy and I have put up with lonliness and rejection my whole life. But then Paul talks about the unconditional rich and great love and mercy of our God that saves us through Christ making us alive and even better, seating us in the heavenly places! (2:4-6) This is so true with me and my life became filled with love for God and acceptance by God on account of Jesus Christ and also by the amazing brothers and sisters that God is only STARTING to get me involved with. Wow! This is unspeakable and indescribable just the amazing grace of our God that He is offering to all creation. I am blown away by what my life looked like before and what it looks like today because of God. I plead with all those who don't know the love of Christ receive Him by faith so that you can expereince such a life change that I have!!
Now in verse 7, Paul gives the big reason why God saved me and why seeks out a relationship with His lost creation, "so that in the coming ages, He might SHOW the incomparable riches of His GRACE, expressed in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus!" Two things come to my mind when I ponder this life-changing passage of Scripture.
1. Salvation is about me??? It is not! It is all about God and His wonderful passion to glorify the inexhaulstible wealth of His grace!! That is the chief reason why God saved Paul. (1 Timothy 1:15-17) This is incredibly humbling as I have come to see just how God has reminded me that He and His grace and my enjoyment of Him forever is what his saving acts are all about!! It is also my greatest security because God's righteous unchanging passion to glorify His grace is my only hope of grace and it is the only hope for sinners.
2. I want to be a testimony of grace to both my brothers and sisters at Cornerstone and at EBC as well as to a lost and dying world. God took a guy who was autistic and had no hope and turned his life around and blessed him abundantly. My life is literally a living testimony of hope and I pray that God will break down all of the pride in me so that His grace and continue to shine like a sun shines on the earth. And I know that is why I am a student at EBC and why I am passionate to be involved with the community there. And God is so good that He is going to work wonderful displays of Himself through me there in the future. I pray that all unbelievers will be convicted by this awesome display of power and give their lives to Christ so that they can undergo a simliar unique transformation of life that I have experienced. I would love it if all you guys can actually help me to actually be a display of grace in light of the seemingly insigificant affliction of autism!
I want to thank all of you for taking the time to get to know me and I am pleading with God for a closer relationship with all of you and I can't wait to see you in the future.
Rejoicing in God with you all, Kevin Chu
Monday, October 19, 2009
The struggle with my family!
I wish it could be easier to live the Christian life and I certainly wish that I could do a better job of honoring my mother and my father even when it is difficult. But I wonder why it is so difficult to obey their authority when I do not want to. I suspect that the number one reason is the fact that there is indwelling sin in me. I have idols that are in my heart that I feel that I must defy and dishonor my parents in order to get. It is like what Paul said in Romans 1:18-25 when He mentions how we exchange the glory of God (the truth) and then pursue the glory of created things and ourselves (the lie) and then we worship and serve the creation rather than the Creator like all men are made to do! (Colossians 1:16)
I must admit that their are difficulties that I face in my quest to love my family and to bring the gospel to them with the way that I live. I firmly do not believe that my parents can truly and genuinely love me as unbelievers. Why is that? Well love is the joyful passionate commitment to enthrall the person that is loved with what is most eternally and infintely satisfying and what can bring the most joy and pleasure and happiness to the person's soul. And what is the One Thing that the person who loves must give for the enjoyment of the other?? GOD!! That person must be committed to reflecting God in his life and must labor to point that person to God for his or her satisfaction. And because my father has rejected Christ, he cannot glorify My Heavenly Father or point me to His all-satisfying love grace and beauty. And it gets worse, he exalts gods that are made in his own image and tries to point me to them for his enjoyment and that was all that I could do when I was not a Christian. And exalting any other god for the person's enjoyment is an act of hatred not love. And so my father can only be unloving to me by preaching his false gods. And that is one factor that could potentially influence me to go against him when I should be honoring him.
I wish that my father would follow the biblical mandate of Ephesians 6:4 where Paul says for fathers not to expaserate their children but to bring them up in the instruction of the Lord. And my father failed his part of the commandment and now this has hurt me throughout my whole life because I don't have a compass to lean on at my lonely house where I can find Christ.
In light of all of this I think that this is something that God will use for the time being in order to help me to grow and so that I may be complete and lacking in nothing like James says in 1:1-4. And then James goes on in verses 5-11 to say that I can ask with FAITH wisdom from God so that I can endure this trial that if I do I will get the crown of life. (James 1:12 cf. Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 2 Timothy 2:10). And so I pray that God will give me the way out of the temptation of disobeying my father (1 Corinthians 10:13) and also that I can look to Jesus who faced an infinitely worse temptation to disobey His heavenly Father but made it through. (Hebrews 4:14-16, 12:1-3). And that Jesus is praying for me and interceding for RIGHT NOW in heaven. (Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:2) So let me run this race for the prize of more glory to reflect for all eternity!! God is awesome and he will use my parents sins and acts of hatred against me for my good and His glory because even these sins when God allows them they will be allowed for HIS glory not theirs. I pray that you guys will all help me as I struggle to fight the sins in my own life and as I endure the loveless house I live in.
I must admit that their are difficulties that I face in my quest to love my family and to bring the gospel to them with the way that I live. I firmly do not believe that my parents can truly and genuinely love me as unbelievers. Why is that? Well love is the joyful passionate commitment to enthrall the person that is loved with what is most eternally and infintely satisfying and what can bring the most joy and pleasure and happiness to the person's soul. And what is the One Thing that the person who loves must give for the enjoyment of the other?? GOD!! That person must be committed to reflecting God in his life and must labor to point that person to God for his or her satisfaction. And because my father has rejected Christ, he cannot glorify My Heavenly Father or point me to His all-satisfying love grace and beauty. And it gets worse, he exalts gods that are made in his own image and tries to point me to them for his enjoyment and that was all that I could do when I was not a Christian. And exalting any other god for the person's enjoyment is an act of hatred not love. And so my father can only be unloving to me by preaching his false gods. And that is one factor that could potentially influence me to go against him when I should be honoring him.
I wish that my father would follow the biblical mandate of Ephesians 6:4 where Paul says for fathers not to expaserate their children but to bring them up in the instruction of the Lord. And my father failed his part of the commandment and now this has hurt me throughout my whole life because I don't have a compass to lean on at my lonely house where I can find Christ.
In light of all of this I think that this is something that God will use for the time being in order to help me to grow and so that I may be complete and lacking in nothing like James says in 1:1-4. And then James goes on in verses 5-11 to say that I can ask with FAITH wisdom from God so that I can endure this trial that if I do I will get the crown of life. (James 1:12 cf. Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 2 Timothy 2:10). And so I pray that God will give me the way out of the temptation of disobeying my father (1 Corinthians 10:13) and also that I can look to Jesus who faced an infinitely worse temptation to disobey His heavenly Father but made it through. (Hebrews 4:14-16, 12:1-3). And that Jesus is praying for me and interceding for RIGHT NOW in heaven. (Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:2) So let me run this race for the prize of more glory to reflect for all eternity!! God is awesome and he will use my parents sins and acts of hatred against me for my good and His glory because even these sins when God allows them they will be allowed for HIS glory not theirs. I pray that you guys will all help me as I struggle to fight the sins in my own life and as I endure the loveless house I live in.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The amazing glory of Romans 9:15
Romans 9:15 is a verse where Paul quotes from Exodus 33:19 where God says to Moses "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion" I have recenty discovered the amazing meaning behind this awe inspiring statement. The context for when God said it to Moses is that Moses was interceding before God after he saw the Israelites dancing in front of the golden calf. After Moses finds favor with God in Exodus 33:12-17, he makes a request that one would dare not make while they are in a sinful body. He asks in verse 18 that God would show Him His glory (the visisle manfestation of His all surpassing beauty. After Moses makes His request, God replies in verse 19 "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim my Name, the LORD, in your presence." And then God goes on to say that "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion". I believe that God said that in order to justify granting Moses' faithful request to gain a partial beatific vision of God that his face would be radiant to as he went down to speak with his people. (Exodus 34:29-35) And now I think that I finally may have found a life altering meaning in Romans 9:15 where Paul quotes it in order to validate the righteouesness of God in saving through the gospel rather than by race. (Romans 9:6-8) Romans 9:15 is God's unswerving zealous zeal to show amazing glory to all those who respond to the gospel with a desire to accept God's love as accepting eternal happiness. I think that is precisely what Hebrews 11:6 is saying when the author says that faith is coming to God with the expecatation of a reward (Happiness in GOD??) And so the nature of saving faith is desiring and accepting God's all-satisfying love and grace and beauty with a confident trust that it can satisfy. Jesus says in John 6:35 that He who believes in me will never be hungry or thirst EVER!! And so I plead that you will accept the gospel that Paul presents in Romans 9:15-16 regardless of anything in you. Because the reason that God will have mercy on who He does is because they belong to His wonderful Son (Galatians 3:28, Romans 9:8) and they can now be even more radiant with God's glory than Moses can all because they can go directly to God through union with their mediator Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5) and through the indwelling power and fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-26) So I plead that you can delight in Romans 9:15 because that is God's unswerving zeal to proclaim His glory and all-surpassing goodness to those who belong to His beloved Son, who are children of promise and spiritual children of Abraham without those people being obilerated as they now are spiritually alive!! Even the reason why He is putting up with His vessels of wrath (all non-Christians as John 3:36 declares) is so that not only will they repent and come to Christ (Romans 2:4) but also to demonstrate the glory of His amazing mercy to us Christans both Jew and Gentile!! (Romans 9:22-23) I pray that you will see that amazing God who is infinitely passionate about your soul-stirring pleasure in Him that no tribulation on earth can brake!!
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Consequences for Rejecting the Gospel
I have first posted the wonderful news of the gospel, the power of salvation for everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16-17) I want to just say that I am not suprised that you are all offended by the gospel, which is the wonderful news of a new life in Christ and a wonderful joy of being a child of the King!! (Ephesians 2:4-7) And I think that it is a wonderful thing that you are offended by my previous message because it exposes the dark pride that is in your hearts. (Proverbs 16:18) And it is the preaching of the living active gospel is the only way that you will even be enabled and enlightned to preach the gospel because you are convicted of your pride and sin (John 1:9, 2 Timothy 2:24-26) and through Jesus' death and the preaching of the gospel your pride and sin is crushed onto Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) And so it is a wonderful thing that you are convicted of the sin and pride that you have that has now been crushed onto Jesus Christ. The gospel is both beautiful and offesive at the same time. And now the offer of the wonderful gift of eternal life and joy and peace awaits you through Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1) All you have to do is accept it. You don't have to pay anything for this FREE gift. And I trust that your life will JOYFULLY change if you accept the gospel. It is with great sadness that I must now preach the consequences of rejecting this wonderful gift and grace and love of God that labored to enthrall you with the all-satisfying beauty of God and all that He has in store in Jesus Christ (at the cost of His dear Son)!! If you refuse to believe, you will be cast into hell for all eternity after you die where you will experience the wrath of God. (John 3:18, 36). Hell will have an eternal fire burning in it prepared for the devil and His angels. (Matthew 25:41-46, Mark 9:43-48) And it gets infinitely worse than this. I ask that God give me weeping over this reality that neither God nor the Holy Spirit nor I could ever possibly desire. (Romans 9:1-3) There is an aspect of the wrath of God that I have fiercly neglected to mention that Christians like Tim Keller, Millard Erickson, and especially Norman Geisler (my favorite living systematic theologian) and CS Lewis. Sin is ultimately the rejection of God and His wonderful gift of His amazing majestic beauty. And so when you die, you will at the end of history see the awesome beaufitul Creator that loved you and made you for Him and died for you so you could be with Him. You will finally understand the amazing acts of love that He performed for you throughout your whole life that YOU rejected. And then you will now be granted your lifelong request of everlasting separation of God and all that is good. The apex of the suffering of hell will be that you have seen how wonderful God is, and then God gives you what you wanted your whole life, that is separation from Him. You will be eternally tormented by your ETERNAL separation from God and all that is good and by the ensuing overwhelming remorse over rejecting your loving Creator as you realize how much He loved you. (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10) You will remember reading this message and wished that you didn't let your getting offended move you to ignore it. This is FAR worse than any physical punishment of fire in hell not intended for any man but for the fallen angels. The chief and defining aspect of the wrath of God which is stored up over a lifetime of sins (Romans 2:1-10) is that God will grant the wish of any creature that does not want Him.... a horrible reality for the creature when that happens. I don't want it to happen to any of you and so I plead with you to repent so that you will not have to experience that horrible wrath and judgment of being left alone by your wonderful Maker. I don't care if I offend you even more. It is the only way that you can be enabled to make a choice to accept this FREE gift of God. I am not asking you to change your life or hobbies or to fix your life up because YOU can't do it. Only Jesus Christ can do it for you. Changing your life is not what this message is about. All I desire for you to do in this message is to accept the gify. And your life will joyfully change as you realize the wonderful taste that God is good. (Psalm 34:8) I urge with you not to reject this message because of the horrible consequencses that will happen if you do so. Receive Jesus, and you will be united to Him. You will then receive every wonderful gift bestowed in Him alone as you now have direct access to God and his wonderful spiritual salvic gifts only available through Christ Jesus. And the apex of it will be seeing God in all His glory and being glad forever. (1 John 3:2) Believe and you will have pleasures forever more. (Psalm 63:1-3) Refuse and you will have torment that cannot be described.
A message to those who don't know God
I have been pondering this lately and I thought it would be important to to mention this urgent message. If you want to call me a condescending person I feel nothing but sorrow for all of you and the misery that will await you if you do not heed the message that I am about to give you. I pray that I will have immense anguish at the thought of your eternity without God (Romans 9:1-5) and I know that you know He exists!! (Romans 1:18-24) I desire that you at least consider reading what I am about to write. The first thing that I want to say is that I know that you are all seeking self-fufillment, happiness, and satisfaction. You want a joy that will never ever end, and will never fade even in the deepest possible pain. And I know for a fact that you are desiring it and you are searching hard for it in every place that you go. You are looking for it in hobbies, people, spouse, material things, and anything that you can imagine. This pursuit of joy is something that is built-in in your nature. And this pursuit of happiness is not someting that is evil in and of itself. God placed it in you when He formed you in your mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13-14) And I want to say that you won't find it in any other place except in God alone. And now this leads into my talk about who God is and how He alone can satisfy. The first thing that I desire to talk about is the majestic beauty of God. This means that God is so amazingly wonderful to the eyes that to see it in all of it's glory will lead to everlasting happiness forevermore. (Psalm 27:4-5, 73:25-26). This beauty is majestic, that is it is amazing wonderful beauty that outshines the glories of heaven itself. And God's beauty will cause great awe, amazement and wonder to those see it in Christ Jesus!! And even more stunning, God's beauty is holy, that is it is a beauty like no other that is ever seen. The holiness of God is the fact that there is NO ONE like Him. He alone is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and indescribable beauty. And so I just want to paint as accurate a depiction of who God is as I possibly can. And now the next thing that I want to talk about is the righteouessness of God. I fear that many of you will be turned off by this attribute of God because all it can do is give you what you deserve for your rejection of God.... eternal wrath in the lake of fire. But I have good news for you, that is not ALL it does. I have seen in Scripture that the righteouessness seems to be the foundation for God's acts of grace and mercy. Many people in the Bible have appealed to God's righteouessness for grace and mercy. (Psalm 119:140, 143:11) And so I now want to define what the righteouessness of God is. This moral nature of God means that God is UNSWERVINGLY committed to glorifying His nature in all that He does. I believe that this is the reason why God delays His wrath (Jeremaih 14:21, Isaiah 48:9-11, Psalm 106:6-8) and also why God saved me through my faith in His Son alone (Psalm 25:11, 1 John 2:12) It was not because I deserved it (I don't) but because of God's righteouessness: His unswerving committment to glorify His beauty in all that He does. Now what does it mean for God to glorify Himself in all that He does??? I feel that Ephesians 2:4-7 is the best Scripture that explains it to me. Verses 4-6 say that: But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, So this illustrates regeneration (imparting of eternal life) and adoption into the kingdom of God. Now verse 7 makes the reason crystal clear. so that in the ages to come He might SHOW THE SURPASSING RICHES of His GRACE in KINDNESS toward us in Christ Jesus. Here is another awesome verse about that demonstrates God's unwavering passion to reflec His amazing grace: 1 Timothy 1:15-17 says that It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for THIS REASON I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might DEMONSTRATE HIS PERFECT PATIENCE as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be HONORED and GLORIFIED forever and ever. Amen. I have now shown you two amazing verses that explains the reasons behind God's merciful and gracious dealings with men. He will not let the glory of His beauty and grace be tarnished. Now I can imagine an objection coming up to all of this when I talk about this. It is ok because I struggled with the same thing. How can it be a loving act of God for Him to desire to glorify Himself in all things and to get men to praise and display Him. Here are two anticipated objections to this. 1.Is He just some insecure little child who can't live without the admiration and praise of other people??? 2.Is He just some selfish megalomaniac who doesn't care who He has to hurt in order to gain as much praise as possible?? I pray that I can show that God's unswerving committment to upholding the glory of His beauty and His love for us are one and the same thing by the end of this discussion Response to Question 1 Well in order for God to be God, He must be the First Cause of all created things. He furthermore must have had eternal existence before even time began. That is why God is known as the name "I AM WHAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14) And it will certainly mean that God has absolutely NO deficiencies (Acts 17:24, Romans 11:33-36) that He needs to take care of. He is perfect joy and happiness and He delights infinitely in the glory of His Son in human form, Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6, John 17:24, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3) It cannot be that He has some insecurity and He is depedent on some outside being in order to complete His happiness as He would have been just as glorious if He didn't create anything. Response to Question 2 (I thank Louie Giglio for his help in my embracing of God's passion for His glory) Is God selfish in wanting to be glorified and worshipped in all that He does. No He is just being God. If He is God He knows that He is the most beautiful, loving, amazing, wonderful, all satisfying, all-sufficient, Good above all other things that exist. And if He knows that and He allows people, people that He claims that He loves to turn their hearts affections towards anything else (less than the very best), not only is He committing idolatry but He is no longer a loving God because for Him allow them to pursue their pleasure any other beauty (and therefore ruining their souls) would be pure hatred. If you fail to worship God, God will just be God and will still glorify Himself regardless. And you on the other hand will miss out on knowing, savoring and praising the most beautiful being in the entire universe, which will be your everlasting loss. So lets get rhetorical again. What should God give you if He were to love you infinitely. HIMSELF right??? Paul says that through the Spirit in Christ we have direct access to the FATHER (Ephesians 2:18) and Peter says that the very reason that Christ died was to bring us to GOD!! (1 Peter 3:18) Read the Psalms if you want to see hedonistic pursuit of pleasure and joy in God. Now what do we do when we are filled with infinite joy??? We praise and admire and worship it because this is the only way that our pleasure if going to be made full!!! We can't help but express joy in worship because that is the highest happiness!!! And so when God demands your worship, He is not doing it for Himself (as if He needed it to attain a happiness He does not have). Rather He is doing it for you, your benefit, and your highest happiness that can be found in Him alone. And God is being loving when He does this and not selfish. CS Lewis put it wonderfully!! I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. This is the grand and glorious gospel of God. That He is all righteoues and all loving and these two are really if you think about it two sides of the same coin. His righteouessness, that is highest passion for the full display of His glory, and His love for us, His passion for our highest happiness intersect perfectly!! God loves you and your happiness in Himself infinitely and suprememly and that is the glorious message of the cross!! So what is the cross all about!!! Well all people have sinned and what that means is that we have all rejected God (Romans 3:9-20, 23, Psalm 51:5) And that is evident by the way we live our lives. The essence of sin is not sex but rather rejecting God's love and your everlasting happiness and then pursuing your pleasure in something that can't satisfy!! (Jeremiah 2:11-13, Romans 1:21-25) And this completely affects the way that we live our lives towards other people. The problem is not so much our outward behavior but the idols of our heart. And because we have a sinful nature thanks to Adam's sin.... we are unable to accept God's love and happiness and our driven towards idols. Therefore God's wrath is now against us and we are doomed.... unless a miracle happens. And so because God infinitely loved us and infinitely desired to restore the display of His glory that had been marred by our sin, He sent Jesus Christ to die on a cross. On that cross, our sins were crushed onto Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24) and Jesus was consequently separated from His Father (Matthew 27:44-45) because our sins were placed on Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21) And by crushing our sin onto Jesus Christ, the Father's wrath was satisfied and sin was killed in Christ. (John 19:30) And now we are free to respond to God's invitation of the gospel because our sin problem has been taken care of through the cross. God lovse you and wants you to have eternal life in heaven. And John defines this life very clearly as knowledge of the God. (John 17:3) This means loving Him and glorifiying Him. And all you have to do when the living gospel is presented to you is to just simply believe and passively receive by faith the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 1:16-17) And so I want to close my presentation with what will happen if you accept the wonderful gift of God through Christ!! When you die and go to heaven, you will see God's face (commonly called the beatific vision in theology) and ..... I can't even describe it so I will just say pure happiness that cannot be described. Read Revealtion 21-22 if you want a little preview of what will happen. Just remember unbeliever, God desires you to end your quest of happiness and Christ is infinitely willing to satisfy you with Himself. Just passively accept the gift by faith. Don't try cleaning up your life or making a committment to do all these things for Him. (He doesn't need you to do things for Him as He is self-sufficient) Just accept His love for you and you will find pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11, 73:25-26) Thanks for reading this and it was my great joy to depict the glory of God as accurately as I possibly can and to joyfully pursue your happiness in the Amazing and Living GOD!!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Why I am Here at EBC
I have had to question lately why I am going to EBC!! Why am I a student at their school??? Why did God place me in such a wonderful learning enviroment for me to passionately engage in holy communion with Him and to display His beauty for all too see?? Another puzzling question is I now need to figure out why I have been crashing in Simi Vallley all of these times??? Is it just some random chance?? I don't believe it for a second. (Proverbs 16:33) I am absolutely confident that God is showing is goodness to me by deliberately placing me in Simi Valley all of these times because He wants to manifest another aspect of His beauty towards me. I believe that He is sovereignly using these chain of events (Ephesians 1:11, Daniel 4:35) as a means of bringing me closer to Him through the EBC and Cornerstone community. I want to say that I haven't been to a church that has reflected the glory of God in the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6) better than this church has and I am just so thankful for all of you. Christ, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26-27) is clearly seen. I can say with absolute confidence that it is no act of randomness that I have crashed in Simi Valley all of those times. (Matthew 10:29) So why has God deliberately placed me in Simi Valley. Well I believe there are two reason. One He wants me to savor His beloved son in the brothers and sisters of EBC and Cornerstone Community Church. The other is that He wants me to be a display of Christ to these people and also to those who don't know the gospel. (Mark 16:15, Ezekiel 33:1-11) I was diagnosed with autism when I was three years old. It is a disability that I am still fighting today. As a result, my social skills and communication skills are far behind and also I was a turn-off in high school. This is still evident in some of the social mishaps that I have committed even last weekend at Cornerstone Community Church. But when I got saved almost 4 years ago God turned my life around and gave me hope in Him. (Psalm 42:5, Colossians 1:13-14) And I am ever so grateful to Him that He has given me the willpower and determination to overcome autism for the glory of His name at Simi Valley. I want to be a display of the TRIUMPHANT grace of God, the kid that was a nobody in the past (hated by others) into someone loved by God and Christ!!! It has been my great prayer that God will bend me into the kind of man that HE wants to use for His glory.I am now working on moving down to Simi Valley permanetly. I am doing this because I feel that God is calling me to live there so that I can be an example of how God's triumphant grace shines in somebody who as a former nobody into somebody that is loved by God and by Jesus Christ in others!! I wanted to say that it is a tremendous joy to be around you all because CHRIST (the perfect glory of God) shines so brightly in you. And I want to apologize for all of the social errors I may have made with you while I was hear. I look forward to what God will do with me in the future here at EBC and Cornerstone. This is Kevin longing for your joy in God and to savor Christ in you all, signing off with this verse!!In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.Romans 8:26-27
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