Faith can be, and is usually tested. God tests your faith to prove if it is genuine or not.
First I would like to start off with a story.
There was once a very brave and good acrobat called Charles Blondin. He was so good that he can walk on a tightrope across the Niagara Falls without any safety net. One day he announced that he was going to do it again- pushing a wheelbarrow full of heavy cement. To cut a long story short, he succeeded. As he was emptying the wheelbarrow he asked a reporter, "Do you believe that I can push the wheelbarrow with cement across the tightrope and get safely to the other side?" The reporter replied, "Yes." "Now, do you believe that I can push the wheelbarrow with a man inside and get both of us safely across?" Blondin asked. The reporter replied again, "Yes. i believe that." Blondin then said, "Good, get inside the wheelbarrow and I'll push you across." The reporter disappeared into the crowd. He asked many more people, and they too, walked away. Finally, there was one person that agreed to get onto the wheelbarrow. This time many people began betting. halfway across the tightrope, someone partially cut the rope to increase the chance of both of them falling to their deaths and making it look like an accident. With the decreased stability of the rope, it started rocking in the wind, and Blondin had to try very hard to keep his balance. Blondin told the man, "Get out of the wheelbarrow, your arms go around my shoulders and your legs go around my feet. Do it or die!!" The man followed, and the wheelbarrow plummeted into the depths below. Blondin had to use all his years of experience to get to the other side safely, and he did.
It is very easy to say "Jesus I believe in You." but it is hard to put your life on the line and trust that He will bring you over. This is where the test of faith comes in. People who do not put their faith into action don't have genuine faith. God will test your faith to prove if it's genuine or not. This message was spoken by Pastor David Davies from Israel. When he and his wife were called to Jerusalem, God tested their faith. Iraq bombed that place with 1 shell every 3 seconds. They stayed and set up a drug rehab centre.
The example that Pastor David drew from this is Elisha. The story goes that Elijah stayed in a cave and God called Elijah up, gave him Elisha's address and called him to go there. Now before Elijah was taken up to heaven Elisha requested him to give a double portion of his faith. Elijah promised that only if Elisha saw him get taken up into heaven. So they arrived at the Jordan River with about 10 other young people behind them. They must have been thinking, "I believe that he has great faith, but I'm not going to follow him.". Only Elisha went with Elijah and to make a long story short Elijah got taken up into heaven and when he was going he threw out his cloak, and Elisha picked it up (also receiving his annointing). I'm running out of time so here's the thing: None of the +-10 people that were there got Elijah's annointing because GOD CANNOT TOLERATE LUKEWARMNESS. It's either you are on fire for Him or not. If you claim to be a Christian then exercise your faith and behave like one.
Exercise your faith, genuinely. It's good for us. At times I also have to work on this, so yea, let's exercise our genuine faith together, as a Body.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
100%, or is there more?
Hello, it's just in the middle of the exam, and talking about exams, i'm sure all of us wants to get 100% in our studies and academics and stuff. But think about it: What makes 100% in our lives? Are we confined to just 100%? Can we go further?
Okay, let's do some math here, let's use the system that a=1, b=2, c=3 and so on. I'm sure all of you have seen this trick thingy before, so i'll just skip it to the last part.
Attitude= 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5= 100%
Right, we have the 100% part. That's attitude. Now let's explore. 100%. Seems a bit small, like just 1- that's what it means. 100%= 100*(1/100)=1. 1's just confinary. We're confined to this attitude that attitude makes the difference. What if we knew we are free? We are free to go further than 100%. There is more than just 100%. Now our question is: What constitutes more than 100%? Check this out.
Love of God=12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4=101%
101%. Put them both together and there is 201%.
Attitude's just not enough. That's what I'm trying to say here. By doing this we have more than doubled this line. It's just like faith and works. No one can do without the other. To obtain 201% we need the right attitude to spread God's love to other people here. But in order to obtain the remaining 101%, we need to accept Jesus into our lives. That way we can truly have the love of God. We are created to serve Him and Him only. Here's another point that I need to point out. If you've seen my blog post a few weeks back about Corneerstone's pastor's testimony, it's essential to have the right attitude as a Christian. We're not supposed to become a Christian because of what we are given when we do that; that's prostitution. We are supposed to be God's lovers, to have a genuine relationship with Him.
If you've made that decision today, please feel free to leave a tag on the tagboard :)
Okay, let's do some math here, let's use the system that a=1, b=2, c=3 and so on. I'm sure all of you have seen this trick thingy before, so i'll just skip it to the last part.
Attitude= 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5= 100%
Right, we have the 100% part. That's attitude. Now let's explore. 100%. Seems a bit small, like just 1- that's what it means. 100%= 100*(1/100)=1. 1's just confinary. We're confined to this attitude that attitude makes the difference. What if we knew we are free? We are free to go further than 100%. There is more than just 100%. Now our question is: What constitutes more than 100%? Check this out.
Love of God=12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4=101%
101%. Put them both together and there is 201%.
Attitude's just not enough. That's what I'm trying to say here. By doing this we have more than doubled this line. It's just like faith and works. No one can do without the other. To obtain 201% we need the right attitude to spread God's love to other people here. But in order to obtain the remaining 101%, we need to accept Jesus into our lives. That way we can truly have the love of God. We are created to serve Him and Him only. Here's another point that I need to point out. If you've seen my blog post a few weeks back about Corneerstone's pastor's testimony, it's essential to have the right attitude as a Christian. We're not supposed to become a Christian because of what we are given when we do that; that's prostitution. We are supposed to be God's lovers, to have a genuine relationship with Him.
If you've made that decision today, please feel free to leave a tag on the tagboard :)
Friday, February 19, 2010
An apology, or two.
Hello everyone, just want to address a few issues
First of all I would like to apologize to the people that are involved in this incident, particularly my opw group. During opw today I have let my emotions take over my actions and did like, many things that I wouldnt imagine I will do. Because of this a certain number of people are affected and, well yea, I might have done some irrepairable damage.
Secondly I want to apologize to God because of this, and also that I havent been doing all the right things right and therefore drifted away from Him, which may probably also explain my behaviour today. Perhaps doing QT in school is not a very good idea after all since I dont have enough time to fully digest the meaning of the Bible passage and also listening from Him. There are many distractions here so maybe that also be a hinderance to a more fruitful QT.
Gosh, I feel terrible. It's about time for me to buck up and start acting like a christian all over again. I will buck up. I promise that this type of thing would never happen again.
First of all I would like to apologize to the people that are involved in this incident, particularly my opw group. During opw today I have let my emotions take over my actions and did like, many things that I wouldnt imagine I will do. Because of this a certain number of people are affected and, well yea, I might have done some irrepairable damage.
Secondly I want to apologize to God because of this, and also that I havent been doing all the right things right and therefore drifted away from Him, which may probably also explain my behaviour today. Perhaps doing QT in school is not a very good idea after all since I dont have enough time to fully digest the meaning of the Bible passage and also listening from Him. There are many distractions here so maybe that also be a hinderance to a more fruitful QT.
Gosh, I feel terrible. It's about time for me to buck up and start acting like a christian all over again. I will buck up. I promise that this type of thing would never happen again.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sermon 6/2/10 Faith and Works
To start off, I'll define the meaning of the word atrophy.
Atrophy (noun)
1. Wasting away of the partial or complete part of the body
2. A degeneration or decline as from disuse
3. A decrease in size, deterioration or shrinking.
No exercise (spiritual or physical) will lead to atrophy of the respective element.
Now there are people that say that the Bible contradicts itself when talking about faith and works, particularly Paul and James. Now let's look at the truth behind all this.
Extracts by Paul:
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
Titus 3:5
He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 1:9
... who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.
Romans 4:5
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God to justify the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Extract by James:
James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you what my faith can do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and actions is working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You soo that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
They seem to be contradicting, but there are some differences.
What Paul is talking about:
Challenging Legalism.
Jewish laws and ceremonies
Ground of faith
How to know that you're a Christian
How to become a believer
What James is talking about:
Challenging Laxity (laziness)
Christian lifestyle
Fruit of faith
How to show that you're a Christian
How to behave like a believer
Here James is talking about genuine faith. Genuine faith needs works. Faith is the key, but prayer unlocks the door. If you stand outside your door with the key hoping that somehow that key will go into the lock and turn itself you're not going to get anywhere. Similarly faith without works is nothing much.
So, how do I know if I have genuine faith?
Genuine faith is not just about what you...
Say - What good is it, my brothers, when someone claims he has faith...
It's just more than saying. Someone can just say for the sake of saying, or it may be the truth. No one knows. If you claim you're a Christian I have the right to question it based on your lifestyle.
Feel - "... and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and fulfilled'" (NKJV)
Reaching out to others is a symbol of genuine faith. It's more than what you feel for the opposite party. You have to put it into action.
Think - "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works." (NKJV)
If you're a Christian people should be able to see it by your works that express your faith. People are tired of faith without works.
Believe - "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe..." (NKJV)
A worldwide survey shows that most of the Christians are BAD, meaning that there is no difference in lifestyle bdetween them and the people of the world. People of the world. People in the Kingdom of God. There is, actually, not much difference in most of their lifestyles. The question of the survey is 'What is your impression of a Christian'. Most people answered negatively. There was one who answered, "I haven't met one yet. Christians are supposed to be loving. I haven't met anyone like that." Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, but I don't like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." The Church, unfortunately is full of people who don't love God. This is reflected on what they do, their actions. We all were made to be lovers, but those who don't love God make it into a business, and when a Body becomes business, that's called prostitution.
However, genuine faith is demonstrated by what you do. Faith and works go together. James is trying to say "Your faith MUST speak through your works!" This means that faith and works cannot be separated. Faith MUST go together with works. Either of that missing and it's not genuine faith anymore. Because of faith working together with works, faith will lead to obedience. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar he willingly did it. And here's a common misconception. Faith is not a temporary feeling. Like your spirit and how it can mature your faith can grow. In other words no faith will lead to spiritual atrophy.
Christians all around the world have very little faith. Very little. If a communist can declare communism as his wife, food, clothes, religion, philosophy and so on, and is willing to be executed because of his communism, why can't we, as believers of Christ, do that? I mean, people are willing to do such things for their faith. Why can't we? If you're a non-Christian now I ask you: What is your impression of Christians? If the answer is more or less negative then that is the condition of Christians today! We have negative reviews, negative criticism. Why? Because our actions do not speak our faith. There are many non-christians out there that live like Christians. Why can't we live like Christ? It's because we have very little genuine faith.
Does your faith speak through your actions?
Atrophy (noun)
1. Wasting away of the partial or complete part of the body
2. A degeneration or decline as from disuse
3. A decrease in size, deterioration or shrinking.
No exercise (spiritual or physical) will lead to atrophy of the respective element.
Now there are people that say that the Bible contradicts itself when talking about faith and works, particularly Paul and James. Now let's look at the truth behind all this.
Extracts by Paul:
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
Titus 3:5
He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 1:9
... who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.
Romans 4:5
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God to justify the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Extract by James:
James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you what my faith can do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and actions is working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You soo that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
They seem to be contradicting, but there are some differences.
What Paul is talking about:
Challenging Legalism.
Jewish laws and ceremonies
Ground of faith
How to know that you're a Christian
How to become a believer
What James is talking about:
Challenging Laxity (laziness)
Christian lifestyle
Fruit of faith
How to show that you're a Christian
How to behave like a believer
Here James is talking about genuine faith. Genuine faith needs works. Faith is the key, but prayer unlocks the door. If you stand outside your door with the key hoping that somehow that key will go into the lock and turn itself you're not going to get anywhere. Similarly faith without works is nothing much.
So, how do I know if I have genuine faith?
Genuine faith is not just about what you...
Say - What good is it, my brothers, when someone claims he has faith...
It's just more than saying. Someone can just say for the sake of saying, or it may be the truth. No one knows. If you claim you're a Christian I have the right to question it based on your lifestyle.
Feel - "... and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and fulfilled'" (NKJV)
Reaching out to others is a symbol of genuine faith. It's more than what you feel for the opposite party. You have to put it into action.
Think - "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works." (NKJV)
If you're a Christian people should be able to see it by your works that express your faith. People are tired of faith without works.
Believe - "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe..." (NKJV)
A worldwide survey shows that most of the Christians are BAD, meaning that there is no difference in lifestyle bdetween them and the people of the world. People of the world. People in the Kingdom of God. There is, actually, not much difference in most of their lifestyles. The question of the survey is 'What is your impression of a Christian'. Most people answered negatively. There was one who answered, "I haven't met one yet. Christians are supposed to be loving. I haven't met anyone like that." Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, but I don't like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." The Church, unfortunately is full of people who don't love God. This is reflected on what they do, their actions. We all were made to be lovers, but those who don't love God make it into a business, and when a Body becomes business, that's called prostitution.
However, genuine faith is demonstrated by what you do. Faith and works go together. James is trying to say "Your faith MUST speak through your works!" This means that faith and works cannot be separated. Faith MUST go together with works. Either of that missing and it's not genuine faith anymore. Because of faith working together with works, faith will lead to obedience. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar he willingly did it. And here's a common misconception. Faith is not a temporary feeling. Like your spirit and how it can mature your faith can grow. In other words no faith will lead to spiritual atrophy.
Christians all around the world have very little faith. Very little. If a communist can declare communism as his wife, food, clothes, religion, philosophy and so on, and is willing to be executed because of his communism, why can't we, as believers of Christ, do that? I mean, people are willing to do such things for their faith. Why can't we? If you're a non-Christian now I ask you: What is your impression of Christians? If the answer is more or less negative then that is the condition of Christians today! We have negative reviews, negative criticism. Why? Because our actions do not speak our faith. There are many non-christians out there that live like Christians. Why can't we live like Christ? It's because we have very little genuine faith.
Does your faith speak through your actions?
Friday, February 5, 2010
What it is made up of.
Hey Caleb, you really will make a great pastor! You can deliver such great speeches!
You really should become an inspirational speaker like Nick Vujicic or Dave Pelzer! Many many many people will get moved by your speeches and skill.
What skill?
People close to me say I'm generally a very good speaker. But am I? Answer to self: No. I am not a good speaker. One of the probable reasons is because of the 'speech' that I gave to my class a few weeks ago and a bit of the ability to share sermons with friends in my own words. But even though I am that good, it's just not me. People say I make a good pastor, it's just not me; people say I make a good inspirational speaker, it's just not me. Really. It's not.
But how come you can deliver such great speeches that can earn great respect? If it's not you, then who is it? It cant possibly be anyone else right?
What my 'speeches' are made up of are not just my knowledge or wisdom or anything. It's not. It's made up of the Holy Spirit speaking through me to the audience. You see, during camp last year I received a 'mission' from God: Rise up and become a leader. Having this post as a monitor now I feel that God is trying to tell me to spread His love around to those people that need it. I feel that influencing other people around me and spreading God's love like a contagious disease is the basic things that I need to do as a monitor or even as a normal student as well. The challenge will come when the class cell that we have been praying quite a bit about starts.
That, is what it is made up of. It's not a confession though, it's glorifying God.
You really should become an inspirational speaker like Nick Vujicic or Dave Pelzer! Many many many people will get moved by your speeches and skill.
What skill?
People close to me say I'm generally a very good speaker. But am I? Answer to self: No. I am not a good speaker. One of the probable reasons is because of the 'speech' that I gave to my class a few weeks ago and a bit of the ability to share sermons with friends in my own words. But even though I am that good, it's just not me. People say I make a good pastor, it's just not me; people say I make a good inspirational speaker, it's just not me. Really. It's not.
But how come you can deliver such great speeches that can earn great respect? If it's not you, then who is it? It cant possibly be anyone else right?
What my 'speeches' are made up of are not just my knowledge or wisdom or anything. It's not. It's made up of the Holy Spirit speaking through me to the audience. You see, during camp last year I received a 'mission' from God: Rise up and become a leader. Having this post as a monitor now I feel that God is trying to tell me to spread His love around to those people that need it. I feel that influencing other people around me and spreading God's love like a contagious disease is the basic things that I need to do as a monitor or even as a normal student as well. The challenge will come when the class cell that we have been praying quite a bit about starts.
That, is what it is made up of. It's not a confession though, it's glorifying God.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
What should I do?
Note that I am not talking about a specific group of people, but rather all audiences.
At the top, there's only one way to go -- down.
Many times I think to myself: It's only a piece of cake to reach out to other people, and although the feeling of getting outcasted because of that is bad, but it's not that bad.
This is a totally different story altogether. Please note that I have intentionally censored the names of everyone involved in this incident.
Now there's this person in my class that I've brought to church a few months back, let's call him A. But after coming to church I feel that his personality was going down the drain. Never mind about that, because now he is turning into a better person. Again it is not always that yi fan feng shun, as I think there is now an outcasting atmosphere around, and someone also said, "It's because to him, you're the only guy that actually still cares about him."
It's because to him, you're the only guy that actually still cares.
How devestating that is! I'm not dealing with a friend only, I'm dealing with an outcast. There also are some people that I feel want me to give up on A and outcast him too, let's just call them the rest of the alphabet (B to Z, although there arent that many people but i dont want to give the number of people). Somehow I find that I resemble Jake, I'm trying to help outcasts but in the end I'm going to get outcasted myself too. People say that I'm too soft hearted, saying that I give too much grace and letting this become very vulnerable to getting taken advantage of. Based on this I think somehow or another getting outcasted is now inevitable. I know, I have been chosen first for some project grouping, and I have moved to A's group and therefore becoming a 'traitor'. That is my fault. But think about it, if someone can say "It's because to him, you're the only guy that still cares", and if i don't care about him, no one else ever will.
"Whatever he is now, he deserves it. We have given him enough grace. You need to teach him a lesson and not give in to his stupid demands."
Grace - that's giving to someone who doesnt deserve it. We all deserve to die in hell even for the slightest wrong we do, like telling very little white lie. You, me, everyone. No one is perfect. But it is by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been saved, through faith. In other words there's never enough grace given or to be given. Imagine there's this man that owes his boss millions of dollars, and he begged his boss to give him some time to repay the debt, and the boss, taking pity on the man, cancelled the debt. Now this man was also the boss of another guy who owed him only ten dollars, and that guy also begged him to give him some time and he will be able to repay the debt. But the man took him to court and sued him and ordered everything of his to be sold because he could not repay the debt at that time. News spread to the boss, and the boss called the man up to his office and said "I cancelled your debt because you begged me to, shouldnt you give grace to your employee just as I had given to you?" In his anger the boss ordered everything the man had to be sold until he could be able to repay the debt. Think about it. Shouldn't we give grace beyond all boundaries because Jesus has done that for us too?
That, is just from my point of view. It just doesn't have to be like this over some small matter.
What do I do, where do I go from here?
At the top, there's only one way to go -- down.
Many times I think to myself: It's only a piece of cake to reach out to other people, and although the feeling of getting outcasted because of that is bad, but it's not that bad.
This is a totally different story altogether. Please note that I have intentionally censored the names of everyone involved in this incident.
Now there's this person in my class that I've brought to church a few months back, let's call him A. But after coming to church I feel that his personality was going down the drain. Never mind about that, because now he is turning into a better person. Again it is not always that yi fan feng shun, as I think there is now an outcasting atmosphere around, and someone also said, "It's because to him, you're the only guy that actually still cares about him."
It's because to him, you're the only guy that actually still cares.
How devestating that is! I'm not dealing with a friend only, I'm dealing with an outcast. There also are some people that I feel want me to give up on A and outcast him too, let's just call them the rest of the alphabet (B to Z, although there arent that many people but i dont want to give the number of people). Somehow I find that I resemble Jake, I'm trying to help outcasts but in the end I'm going to get outcasted myself too. People say that I'm too soft hearted, saying that I give too much grace and letting this become very vulnerable to getting taken advantage of. Based on this I think somehow or another getting outcasted is now inevitable. I know, I have been chosen first for some project grouping, and I have moved to A's group and therefore becoming a 'traitor'. That is my fault. But think about it, if someone can say "It's because to him, you're the only guy that still cares", and if i don't care about him, no one else ever will.
"Whatever he is now, he deserves it. We have given him enough grace. You need to teach him a lesson and not give in to his stupid demands."
Grace - that's giving to someone who doesnt deserve it. We all deserve to die in hell even for the slightest wrong we do, like telling very little white lie. You, me, everyone. No one is perfect. But it is by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been saved, through faith. In other words there's never enough grace given or to be given. Imagine there's this man that owes his boss millions of dollars, and he begged his boss to give him some time to repay the debt, and the boss, taking pity on the man, cancelled the debt. Now this man was also the boss of another guy who owed him only ten dollars, and that guy also begged him to give him some time and he will be able to repay the debt. But the man took him to court and sued him and ordered everything of his to be sold because he could not repay the debt at that time. News spread to the boss, and the boss called the man up to his office and said "I cancelled your debt because you begged me to, shouldnt you give grace to your employee just as I had given to you?" In his anger the boss ordered everything the man had to be sold until he could be able to repay the debt. Think about it. Shouldn't we give grace beyond all boundaries because Jesus has done that for us too?
That, is just from my point of view. It just doesn't have to be like this over some small matter.
What do I do, where do I go from here?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)