Burnt out? Or Boiling?

Do you feel burnt out for Jesus? Tired? Like you just can't do this anymore? Most people who do will stop serving because "I just need a break".

I have a suggestion... keep serving.

Paul writes in Romans 12:11 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

The word Paul uses for "Spiritual fervor" is a word that literally means "boiling". Basically, we are charged by Paul to maintain our zeal for God by "boiling" for the Lord.

I don't cook much, but I make quite a killer spaghetti. Actually, that's all I know how to cook. When I'm heating my pot of water, I freak out when the bubbles start to boil and overflow all over the place. I rush to take it off the stove and rest it on a cooler surface. The bubbles go away! But the moment I put it back on, the bubbles are back!

Did you know that a constant application of heat to that pot keeps it boiling? Crazy. But take away that application, and it dies out.

Paul seems to suggest that it is possible to consistently maintain our fervor for the LORD. Like, we can stay high for Jesus! We can always be bubbly for Jesus! He says... "Keep boiling". That means, according to Paul's word choice, there needs to be a constant application of something that'll keep us boiling for Jesus.

What is that application? Well, Paul says, "Keep boiling, serving the Lord." That means, our regular and consistent service to God, humbly making him first place instead of ourselves, will keep us from losing our zeal? That I can keep boiling instead of burning out?

Christians, I'd like to suggest that if you're tired and worn out...keep serving. Of course, serve in good portion. Don't overload your plate. You'll get stuffed and won't be able to do anything. Take small bites, but serve consistently, and you'll be amazed at how long you can go.

Oh yeah, and check yo'self before you wreck yo'self. Who you serving? Oh right. JESUS. HE'S the guest of honor. Get outta his seat.

Press on brother. Press on Sister.

Poopey

Ok, no more pictures of Evan. Enough of that.

I've always remembered Hebrews 12, talking about a Father's discipline for his son.

"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Heb. 12:10-11)

I've always understood it to mean that God will discipline us, and it's for our good. He does it out of his love, though at the moment we wonder why he would put us through it.

Now I think I'm really starting to understand it... from a father's perspective.

Evan is a good boy. He REALLY is. Everyone who comes to see him mentions how he doesn't cry very much. To be honest, he rarely does full-on cry beyond a wimper.

Ok I lied, here's some more pictures :)

But I noticed, as I assume it is with all babies, Evan punctures my ears whenever I open up his diaper to change.

I heard recently from a friend that it's because the baby is so used to being wrapped up tightly, bundled together, just like when he was in the safety of mommy's womb. That's why we swaddle the baby so snug, Evan Asada Burrito style. And when we open him up, we're exposing him and creating a sense of vulnerability, a feeling of insecurity.



And so Evan screams like no other moment in the day.

But as I'm cleaning him up, there's not a single second that I consider not going through the process of wiping up the mess. Not for a moment do I think it'd be better for Evan if I'd just close up the diaper again just so that he doesn't have to cry and feel insecure or vulnerable. No stinkin' way.

In my mind, as a father, it is without hesitation my desire to bring him through the process of getting him cleaned up. I know, without a second guess, it'll be good for him, and he will be glad he went through it.



God, our Father, is Good. And I know that. I've always known that.

But now, I think I feel it and understand it a little deeper.

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" Hebrews 12:7

9/9

I preached a sermon recently on God's "kairos". According to the Bible, it's the divinely appointed time for things to happen as God determines it.

9/9 is a special day. Many friends and family were hoping for Evan to come on 9/9. How cool would that be?
Mommy was born on 11/11,
Uncle Ed (Monica's brother) was born on 10/10.
How sweet would it be if Evan was born on 9/9?

Sure enough, Evan arrived on 9/9. Absolutely Fantastic.

But I think 9/9 is special for other reasons as well.

I titled a recent post "The Lord Taketh Away". Just recently, my Grandma passed away at 93 years old. In the very same season, Evan was born. I thought is was rather timely.

Then, my mom told me that my other Grandma passed away on... you guessed it... 9/9.

As one generation passes, another arrives. "The Lord taketh away, and the Lord giveth." Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Then I remembered... wasn't I baptized on 9/9, 1989? I think I was! Then, at the hospital, my younger brother Daniel goes, "That's cool. I was baptized on 9/9."

YOU too?!

As one receives new spiritual life, another receives new physical life!

9/9... God's "Kairos" for the Mah family?

Maybe. But then, maybe not. Maybe it's just coincidence.

What I really hope for is that Evan will live his life pointing as Zechariah pointed in 9:9 of his book:

" See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

- Zechariah 9:9

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!



Daddy and Evan reading through Romans


We got into a little heated discussion over Romans 14.

... The Lord Taketh Away.

I just returned home with my brother from San Francisco. My Grandma passed away last Thursday at 9:30am. She was 93 years old.

I had time to reflect during the funeral service today. As I sat there, I was regretful that I never once shared a meaningful conversation with my Grandma. Because she only speaks a particular dialect of Chinese (Taishanese, or Toisan), and I only speak English, we were always extremely limited in our communication. I wept in regret as her Eulogy was presented.

HOWEVER, in Christ, mourning turns into dancing. I'm reminded that He is Risen, Jesus Christ my Lord.

And because He is Risen, I know she will rise. She is a child of God by faith. And my hope isn't just that I shall one day see her again... my hope is that on that day I will communicate with her for the FIRST time.

I don't know if we'll be chattin' it up in Toisan, or if she'll be speaking in English.

But I know that it'll be with the same language we use to glorify and worship our God. It'll be in the heavenly language that people from all tribes and nations, people and tongue, will use as we fellowship with each other and with the Lamb of Glory.



Rev 7:9-10 "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb... And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

Myth Busters: Accepting Christ will save you

I have seen many friends “accept Christ as their Lord and Savior”. What does that mean?!? Everyone in the U.S. accepts Obama as President... what does that mean? 5 bucks to anyone who can show me that the Bible says we're saved by "accepting Christ".

I have seen youth raise their hands at praise rallies. I have seen people go down onto the field at Gospel Crusades. I have seen friends come forward at retreats.

I have seen many of the same people walk away from faith and into the ways of the world.

In Joshua 24, the book closes with this intense scene where Joshua’s giving one last speech to the people before he passes on. The scene kind of reminds me of a rally or a some kind of revival meeting. After reminding them of all the crazy things God has done for them in their past, Joshua peforms an altar call: "Now choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... as for me and my household we will serve the LORD."

4x the Israelites raise their hands and cry out: "We will serve the LORD! We choose God!"
Joshua, not too concerned about numbers, pushes back at them and says: 'You can't serve God. He's too holy!"
Yet they insist: "We will serve the LORD!"

One generation later, the Bible says that after Joshua died, "Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals" (Judges 2:11).

It's tragic when we make Christianity merely about "praying the sinner's prayer" or coming forward at a gospel meeting. Seriously, thank God if you were one who made a decision to follow Christ in such a way... I hope you're still pursuing Christ faithfully . But it's a tragedy when we fatally mislead people by telling them that all you have to do is say a prayer and "accept Jesus into your heart", and Wha-La! You're saved!

Being a Christian isn't a one-time commitment. It's a FULL-TIME commitment. Some reading this right now want to stone me because "It's by faith we are saved, and faith alone!"

Amen to that.

But faith isn't demonstrated in an instance in time. It's demonstrated by a life-time of commitment.

Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross DAILY, and follow me." (Luke 9:23). I don't seem to ever recall Jesus calling for passive acceptance... I hear Jesus calling for active obedience, intentional discipleship, and persistent committment driven by faith.

I like Hebrews 4:13. Check it out: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”

In the same way, I want to challenge you, as long as it is called "Today", to face up to Joshua's challenge each day you wake up in the morning: "Choose this day whom you will serve."

Each day, choose him, and chase after him. Pursue Him, because he has pursued you. Then pick up your cross, and follow him... by faith.

That ONE PERFECT person: Part II

I'll share my thoughts regarding the previous blog (Thanks for your responses!)

Me and Monica agreed to pray for a month (November of 2003) to see if God would speak to us regarding whether or not we were "meant for each other". We spent that time apart from each other until the Lord spoke to us.

It was the last day of November, and I still had not heard from the Lord at all. I remember laying in bed in San Francisco, praying to God, "Ok God, this is it. The last day, and I still haven't heard you speak regarding whether or not Monica is the one for me". I kept imagining God would be all dramatic and speak to me at the very last second.

I fell asleep.

I'm quite a deep sleeper... my roommates in college would wake up when my alarm went off, then they'd get up, and physically wake me up since I sleep like a bear. But oddly, that night I was woken up by a leak in the ceiling due to rain... IN ANOTHER ROOM! It was weird, I was wide awake and couldn't go back to sleep because the drip was so constant and so annoying. I remember being utterly frustrated as I laid their trying to fall back asleep.

Then God spoke to me. I had JUST read Proverbs 27:15:
"A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day".

The Lord spoketh! Not that Monica IS NOT THE ONE because she's like a constant dripping... she's anything but quarrelsome! But the Lord spoke to me by helping me realize from this Scripture that the Lord ISN'T going to speak to me regarding whether someone is the one for me or not. I have a freedom to choose.

Prov. 27:15 is a guideline regarding our spouse- it's better not to marry someone who is quarrelsome. It is not a command. The Bible is filled with guidelines for wisely choosing a spouse. For men, wives should be submissive, God-fearing, not quarrelsome, not ill-tempered, etc. For women, it's good if their husband is considerate, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, etc.

The only clear Biblical commands for knowing whether one is the one for us is:
1. He/She is a equally yoked
2. He/She is of the opposite gender.
Other than these two criteria, the Bible only provides guidelines, and allows us the freedom to choose whoever we would want to marry, as long as these two criteria are met. Once we marry, the responsibility is ours to be faithful to our spouse for the rest of our earthly life.

Biblically speaking, there is just no evidence of God having that perfect one for you. The argument is from silence. Of David's many wives, which one was the "right one"? Not that God condoned multiple wives, but even when David married on different occasions, God never condemned David, nor anyone else in the Bible, for marrying the wrong wife.

Logically, it just doesn't work. Considering the past, once someone married the wrong person (which the divorce statistics tell me that's likely the case, and probably happens all the time), EVERYONE ELSE marries the wrong person. For example, if I married the wrong person, I took someone's perfect person, and that someone will end up marrying another wrong person, who was supposed to be someone else's perfect person... and so on and so on. Everyone gets jacked.

There are things we can find in God's Word as things that God values in his people. If we value those same things and look for them in our spouse, then I think we'll be pleased. And during the times when we aren't very pleased, we need the mercy and grace of God to be faithful and committed to love the one we chose for life.

That one PERFECT person

My friend Matt asks a question that, surprisingly, different Christians disagree on:

"Does God have that one person for you?"

Monica and I actually spent a month apart from each other before dating to seek God and listen to His voice. We decided to pray and ask him whether or not we were meant for each other. He spoke to me loud and clear on the 30th day.

What do you think? Does everyone who's meant to be married have one perfect person out there for them? Interestingly, Monica and I disagreed over this before we got married. It actually grieved me that we felt so differently. I think we might even still disagree about this!

I have my thoughts.What are yours?

The Gift of Pain

If you were going through pain, would you ask God to take it away?

We were talking about leprosy in my “Life of Christ” class that I’m taking at Talbot. We were talking about what it looks like, and how many lepers these days have fingers, hands, arms, and feet looking like they’re being eaten away at. I’ve heard before that leprosy was believed to be an infectous disease where the body deteriorates and eats away at itself, causing lepers to look the way they do.



I also heard an explanation that the body really isn’t eating away itself at all… modern leprosy involves damage to the nerves and the lost sense of touch. And the reason why the body looks as if it’s being eaten away at is simply because there’s no pain acting as warning signals to harm and danger. Naturally, the parts of the body are being burned, rubbed away at, cut off, and damaged because nothing is telling the body that it’s in harms way. Nothing is telling the body to turn away or flee.

I always thought this was a cute urban legend, but was pleasantly surprised when my professor was able to have this validated by a veteran pain specialist at UCLA Medical Center. This doctor confirmed that it is very positively the case among modern day lepers!

If you were experiencing pain in your life, would you ask God to take it away?
To pray for a leper and ask for his healing is to ask God to give the leper the gift of pain. To pray for a leper is to ask God to restore unto him a sensitivity to harm and danger.

If you were going through pain, would you ask God to take it away?

Would you pray for leprosy?

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Christians are like Atheists... sometimes

I recently read a blog of an atheist. It reads:

"To claim there is a God who can cure cancer, but doesn’t, raises the huge question, “Why?” The fact the Christian cannot answer this very basic fact about God demonstrates why I reiterate any claim about God is unenforceable, because God is unobservable and unverifiable.

If you don’t know enough about your God-concept to explain why such a God wouldn’t cure cancer in a five-year-old, don’t tell me how it writes books, or provides you a parking space, or gave your child the winning shot in the J.V. basketball game."

I think the author of this comment has a confused understanding of God, as does the Christian who thinks that God will always give us that parking spot or help my favorite team win. God doesn't exist so that we can get what we want... in fact, we exist so that God will get what he wants, in particular, glory and praise.

It might sound quite lame- a God who creates us to be worshipped? What kind of God is that? But the truth is, truth isn't determined by its lame-factor (how lame it is or isn't). I think it's lame that if i fall off a 400 foot cliff, my bones will quite likely fracture, or perhaps even explode and shatter all over the place. I may even die. As lame as it is that I have to suffer from falling off cliff, it doesn't take away from the truth that gravity exists, and rocks at the bottom of a cliff are usually hard. (By the way, I've come to experience that giving all to glorify God isn't lame at all. It's actually quite satisfying when I'm living according to my intended design).

I pray this would make sense to you someday: From a biblical perspective, Praying to God isn't about getting what we want. Prayer is about wanting what we get.

God is Sovereign. God's will is the goal of every believer, to align our desires with his, rather than trying to allign his desires with ours.

We need to start living according to God's words, and stop trying to get Him to live according to ours.

P.S. Stay tuned for Baby update! Gender revelation in a few weeks!

Christians Smoking Weed

So my friend Mike asked for some interesting advice: Why is smoking weed wrong for a Christian?

I'm interested in what you would say. Is it even wrong for Christians to smoke marijuana?

Can't Tell Time

Thank you everyone for your emails and messages regarding our pregnancy! Many of you have asked me, "Were you guys planning to have a baby?!"

Yes and no. Yes we wanted a baby. No, not now. But I guess I realized something- I can't tell time. Not God's time at least.

Many of the Bread of Life youth have been memorizing Scripture as a response to the retreat we just had. So I recently memorized Proverbs 16:9.

"In his heart a man plan's his course, but the LORD determines his steps."

Just looking at my relationship with Monica, I've had all my plans in line, my course mapped out. But geez, my clock does NOT seem to be in sync with God's clock, and my steps are NOT His steps! Here's how I've come to realize that God runs on a different schedule than mine.

- I wanted to date Monica immediately, He had us pray for 2 years.
- I wanted to date for 2 years and then get married, He had us go 5 years.
- I wanted to be married for 2 years and then have a baby, he had us go 5 MONTHS!

I GIVE UP. It seems like my 2's are his 5's, his 5's are my 2's. My years are his months, my months are his years!

I remember having memorized Isaiah 55:8-9 in the past:

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I think the Word of God got it right. WORD.

D.I.P., Ian Ullstrom

Dance In Praise, Ian.

When I was working a few years back, I tried to share Jesus with this coworker I had. Man, Ian, I seriously tried to share with her everything I could- my personal testimony, biblical evidence, what Jesus could do for you. EVERYTHING. Nothing moved her.

But she said something to me that I never forgot. Ian, check this out. She goes, "There is one thing I admire about you Christians. I noticed that when loved ones die, you guys are happy! You guys have this peace and comfort when your loved one dies. I wish I could have that."

When we found out a month ago that your sickness was terminal, I remember, I was driving, and Monica read me the email from her phone. I just started weeping there in the car as I was driving. Monica sat there as I drove and sobbed.

There's nothing good in death, Ian. Nothing at all. There's nothing to rejoice in. Death was the scheme of Satan. Death is the power of evil one. There's nothing to be happy about.

But it's because of the resurrection that we can get up and DANCE! It's because He is Risen that I know you are alive! It's because of the resurrection that we can say "Praise the Lord!" And it's because He is Risen that you don't have to just "rest in peace", but that you can rise up and D.ance I.n P.raise! It actually made me smile when we got the email two weeks ago that you had passed on to be with the King!

I heard that your memorial was AMAZING! Carmen sent us news today that almost every single person who shared that day talked about how you NEVER blamed God and never focused on your suffering, but you just looked forward to Jesus. That made me so proud of you. For a teenager, you had a better handle on Life than many mature Christians I know. You make me smile bro.

Go on Brother, let me see you Tootsie Roll. Now D.I.P, baby, D.I.P.!

Reflections on 30

So I turned 30 this year. I figured I spend some time reflecting on my first 30 years, and so I wrote down the first memory that came to mind for each year I lived. Here are reflections of my first 30 years:

1. Born in San Francisco Chinatown, Kaiser Permanente. Taken to our home in Daily City, CA (don't remember much of this)
2. Moved to South Torrance.
3. Had reoccurring dreams of a T-Rex that would chase me around the house, and I would have to jump over a pit in the middle of my hallway to survive.
4. Fell in love with a brunette named Amanda. I would repeatedly draw her the same picture of a hill, a four-door car, and a rainbow.
5. Asked Keiko to marry me. She said she would if I would marry her.
6. Started my 5-year career at Hickory Elementary School.
7. My second grade teaher, Mrs. Cousin, pulled my hair and called me a “fat” liar. Traumatized.
8. Had a fat crush on Ms. Yamamoto. Made her a clay cup that said “#1 Teacher”, but the handle broke off, and I couldn't give it to her.
9. Was baptized at South Bay Chinese Alliance Church. Gave my best friend, Jose Morales, my 1972 Reggie Jackson baseball card for Valentines day, because it meant so much to me, and he meant so much to me. Now I can't even find him on Facebook.
10. Won 2nd place in my entire Cub Scout troop for the annual school-wide derby car race. My dad spent DAYS building the car.
11. Realized how fat I was, so tried to lose it by riding the exercise bike we had at home for at least ½ hour.
12. Stepped on a power sander and sanded off the flesh of my second toe.
13. Cut my own hair for the first time ever. Just under 4 hours.
14. Moved to a new school, West High. Prayed fervently that God would cause all the girls to like me. No joke.
15. Made it to frosh/soph tennis for West High. 0-11 record.
16. Truck broke down while driving to PV, got out to check under the hood, and my truck started rolling down Hawthorne Blvd. because I forgot to put on the brakes. It rolled down hill until it was stopped by a van coming up Hawthorne.
17. Got my first pager ever. 4 years late. Bravo LX. Mods: burgundy case, red back light, badtz maru and dragon ball stickers. 4364, 8684!
18. Top 5 Homecoming Court. Greatest high school accomplishment.
19. UCI Anteater.
20. Joined Crossroads Campus Ministries.
21. First cell phone ever. 4 years late.
Started Praying about the possibility of a future with Monica on July 11, 2001.
22. Graduated UCI with a B.A. in International Studies. Preached for the first time ever for the youth group at church. Preached outside for the first time at the Long Beach Rescue Mission.
23. Started the Masters of Divinity program at Talbot School of Theology.
24. Started to date Monica officially on September 4.
25. Started AlphaOmega Learning Company with Mike Yim and Jeff Wu.
26. Started developing a women’s designer jeans company. J-Star. Rustic Jeans.
27. First retreat ever. FCBC Hikoi Fellowship. First mission trip to Taiwan with OMF.
28. Proposed.
29. Married my beautiful wife, Monica.
30. Baby daddy.



Conclusion after 30 years: God is GOOD.

Spiritual-eyes: Seeing God in Court

So I was on the phone trying to set up a court date to fight off $270 worth of STUPID traffic tickets. We were up surfing at San Onofre, and this officer gives me TWO tickets at once:
1. "Failing to Signal". Failing to SIGNAL! Is that even a law? I seriously thought signaling was just courtesy.
2. Going 35mph on a 25mph street. But come on, who actually drives 25mph? That's unrealistic. Everyone does 35.

And so as I'm waiting for the teleprompt to get me to a live person to schedule a date where I can go and fight my case, I'm thinking of what I can say to the Judge that will get me off the hook. Then I come across some unfortunate realizations.

I broke the law. Bottom line. Whether I was going 35 or 135, the law is 25, and I transgressed. And in the "failing to signal" case, can't I just tell the judge I didn't know? Plead with him to let me go since no one ever told me that failing to signal is against the law? I asked my lawyer friend if this would fly, and he said to me, "Greg, ignorance is inexusable. Whether you know it or not, the law is there, and the law stands."

I broke the law. The only way i can go free is if somehow the judge finds it in himself to have mercy on me. To have pity on me and show some compassion. But if he doesn't, he has every right to make me pay the penalty. I'm guilty. It's a hard reality.

But what's $270? It's a WHOLE lot I tell you! But the truth is, it's not the end of the world. I'll get over it. More serious than $270 is the fact that we all stand as sinners, every one of us. We're guilty of breaking God's law, the standard that He's set. Our penalty is eternal conscious torment while we are physically and spiritually separated from God.

Whether we've broke God's law just once, or once a day for everyday of our life, the fact is, we broke it. We're guilty. And we can't plead ignorance, because whether or not we know what God's Law says, whether or not we've ever read His word, the Law stands. And we've transgressed.

The ONLY way that we can go free is if somehow the Great Judge finds it in himself to have mercy on us. To have pity on us and show us compassion. Bit if He doesn't, He has every right to make us pay the penalty.

But here's the FANTASTIC news. He has found it in Himself to be merciful. He does have pity on us. He has shown us compassion. The Judge Himself, Jesus Christ the Son of God, steps down from His position, pays the penalty for our guilt and serves the sentence. Christ did this for us when He died for us, bearing the weight of our sin and the wrath of His Father. But He was made alive and exalted back to His rightful place as Judge and King. And He says that if we would believe that He paid for our crime, that the penalty has been paid, we will be freed. Let go. Forgiven.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Paul, Romans 3:23-24

Love goes round

Last night I was able to speak at UCR's AACF. SUPER blessed. God was doing some pretty sweet things.

One thing that blessed me was a sister I met afterward. Before the message, we prayed that God would speak to anyone who was in need of the message of forgiveness. I spoke on Matthew 18, the parable of the unmerciful servant. After the sermon, a sister came up to me and shared what was going on her life. She had JUST (hours earlier) arrived from the Midwest in the midst of tests and deadlines for her doctorate program. Even still, she just had to spontaneously get away, partly because of an overwhelming situation where six people were affected by a wrong she had committed. So she flew out to CA.

When she came up to me, she started off by saying "Now I know exactly why God had me come out here". It was a message of forgiveness she needed to hear. God was reminding her of the riches of God's mercy and forgiveness through Christ on the cross.

I noticed something in the message yesterday that I didn't explicitly say, but it's so clear. When God's love and forgiveness comes down to us, it causes us to love and forgive others. When we love by forgiving others, love and praise goes back up to God. Now THAT's a beautiful cycle.

Obsessession...

I think I'm obsessed..

I just came back from lunch. You know it's crossed over to obsession when you're thinking about surf and accidentally scoop your rice into your coffee mug. No joke. All day I dream about surf. When I close my eyes, it's sick, all I see are waves. I know, lame. When I'm at work, all I can think about his hitting the waves. When I wake up, I check the surf report. When I get to work, I check the surf report. When I get home, check the report. This is seriously getting out of hand... but seriously though, when I think about surfing, I get all warm and fuzzy inside. It's definitely crossed over into obsession.

I was thinking last night, I wonder if anyone feels like this about Jesus. How come I've never felt this warm and fuzzy thing for my Lord? I started praying, that if this kind of obsession for God was what he desired of me, that he'd fill me with that passion. That my energy for surf would be greater for the Lord. That I would yearn for Him, and that the thought of helping the lost find Jesus would be my eager desire.

I know, this all sounds cheesy. But seriously, that Christ would be my Magnificent Obsession...

Jesus got my back

I had a pretty traumatizing incident in my sleep back in high school.

Not all incidents that happen at night are necessarily spiritual…this was definitely spiritual.

For the longest time, I’d be scared to sleep on my back. I found testimonies online of people who had the same creepy experience, down to details of what they saw. There were eerie sketches posted of the same freaky things I saw that night. Most of the cases occurred when the people were sleeping on their back. I was sleeping on my back that night.

I was reading Luke 11 today, where Jesus had just cast out a demon from a man. Check this out, he goes, “If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.”

The FINGER of God!!! His finger. How awesome is HE?! By his finger, he flicks out demons! They got nothing on Him.

I think of Colossians 2:15, where it says that Christ disarmed the powers and authorities (agents of Satan), and “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross.” It’s this picture that the readers were familiar with- a Roman general, after having victory in battle and having captured the enemy, would parade the chained and naked prisoner through town as the people danced in the victory of the king.

Dang. My Jesus is Mighty.

I’m sleeping on my back tonight. Bring it.

...to fall in Love.

Ok.

So I was praying this morning over the Easter Sermon coming up this Sunday. I was asking God how I should deliver the message... should I share the gospel and target unbelievers? Should I encourage the believers with hope? should I give them logical reason for the Resurrection? SO many ways to go about it.

Answer: Help people fall in love with Jesus.

Man, isn't that it?! Isn't that the question I ought to ask myself in everything I do for the Lord? Not WWJD, but AIHPTFILWJ? Am I Helping People To Fall In Love With Jesus? I mean, yeah, talking theology gives me tingling sensations and teaching about the implications of the Greek cognate of hagiois and hagiazo give me an overwhelming sense of pleasure, but AIHPTFILWJ? AIREALLYHPTFILWJ?

I've often said in my sermons that "theology" is useless if it's not changing the way we live. It should be causing us to Love Jesus with crazy passion.

So that's it. My new defined passion in life... to help people fall in love with Jesus. Mikey's been telling me start a blog for so long, but I've put it off. But I figure, hey, this may be another one way I can give people Jesus... to talk about ridiculously amazing things He does in my life.

So here we go Mikey, I'm gonna give 'em Jesus.