Coming back up to my room from class, I had to walk by our Hilltop Convenience Store. I pass by the store about 10 times a day, but something caught my eye this time. On the glass doors there were posted all these papers that read “LOST RING” printed out in like size 100 font.
At first I was like hmm… must’ve been a nice ring. Maybe Tiffany Co. I wonder if it’s gold or silver. Maybe her bf gave it to her for their anniversary but the ring size was too big so it just popped out somewhere. Then I realized, Oh my gosh I know how she feels!! She had lost her ring somewhere in the dorms and she made a crazy effort to find it… So badly that she went around all over the Hill and posted these LOST flyers everywhere!
I totally know what that feels like. When my doggy ran away, I chased her down and dragged her back into the house. When I lost my wallet, I drove 20 miles to Speedzone at 6 am the next morning and walked around the whole track with the janitors to look for it. Whenever I lose my keys or cell phone, my heart stops for a second and I look fervently for it. The best example is my old SAT teacher, who swallowed his golden crown because it came off his tooth. He collected his stinky poo-poo for a whole week and picked it apart in search of it. When he found it he was so joyful so he took it to the dentist and put it back in his tooth. We’ve all had our own stories of lost things, so you know what it feels like. I really empathized with how the girl felt, and suddenly I remembered the verse about the LOST COIN.
Luke 15:8-10
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'
Haha sounds like that girl, no?! But how infinitely times more important than a silly ring is a person who is LOST.
How ironic that I go all out when I lose my wallet or my dog, but when it comes to those who are lost spiritually (and possibly eternally), I just ignore it. It’s like when I lose the TV remote control. Instead of looking for it, I just walk up to the TV to change the channel. I am so adamant about doing my own thing (which is watch TV) rather than taking the extra 1 minute to look for the controller. In the same, I am so consumed by my own “Christian” life that I often forget to share the love Christ first showed me. I frequently make more of an effort to live my Christian life in a self-centered way than to go out and look for and share the gospel with the lost. In Amazing Grace the lyrics say “I once was lost, but now am found”. Too many times I forget I WAS LOST TOO NOT EVEN TWO YEARS AGO! Oh the overwhelming joy I felt when I met Christ, and oh how quickly I have grown selfish and kept this love of Christ to myself!
This brings me to the parable in the same chapter 15:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
So where is all this going?....
Listen everybody, let me tell you what has been going on for the past 3 Fridays. Only 3 Fridays?! But it seems like it has been literally months. A small group of us have been going out on Friday afternoons to Santa Monica (3rd Street Promenade, the Pier, etc.) to meet people and share the love of Christ with them.
Week 1: The first week was kind of just get our feet wet. We split into groups and went different directions. Me, Daniel, Laura, and Angela did a homeless ministry. We felt the deep and heartbreaking spiritual needs for the homeless, but we realized, there’s pretty much nothing we could really do for them in the long-run except for prayer for God to have mercy. One particular man was named Ryan, a brother in Christ who just had a series of unfortunate events, and we talked for a while and gave him my Bible. At the same time, Jean and Jasmine’s groups met a disabled man named Derek. Sure they met lots of people, as we did also, but God introduced them to certain people that would began a much longer relationship.
Week 2: Jon Kang and I walked towards the pier and felt convicted to talk to this cholo looking guy! Haha talk about getting out of your bubble-- this is the meaning of “leaving the 99 to go after that one lost sheep”. So this guy David Anthony was shirtless, shaved head, tattoos everywhere, and to be honest I got a little scared at first. The first he said to us was “Are you those religious people? I’m a Satanist, I’m a bad person, get away from me!” Yet the tattoos on his arms were of the cross, and of Christ. Jon and I felt like he was that “sheep gone astray”, and contrary to his wishes we stayed. Oh how wonderful it turned out to be! We had an interesting two hour conversation with Dave Anthony. We shared pizza with Dave Anthony, but more importantly we shared the gospel. He knew the Bible pretty well, except somewhere in his life he was influenced by the world/satan and the Truth was twisted. Yet we had a great time which concluded with Jon and Dave trading a Bible for “River Runs Through It”. We agreed to meet the next week, and parted ways. Meanwhile, Jean, Jasmine, Christina, Shalom continued their relationship with the atheist Derek and other people they had met before.
Week 3: Jon and I came a little late and Dave had probably left by that time. So we just walked around the pier looking for him, shared the gospel in Spanish to Leo, and returned to where we had met Dave the week before to just pray. Then on the way back to Third Street, we saw a homeless man wearing chains all over his body and Tuba evangelizing to him. With so much symbolism, that’s an image I’ll never forget. Anyways, we get to our meeting spot, but the girls are nowhere to be found. So we walk to the McDonalds and the girls are sitting down talking with Stacy and Clark. Clark, an atheist, after hearing Jean and Jasmine singing “When the music fades”, started singing his own songs to God and making his own chords on the guitar! Shalom and Christina were talking to a fellow brother named Stacy. Out of nowhere, Derek (the man in the wheelchair), comes looking for the girls and joins the conversation as well. Meanwhile, me and Jon had no clue what was going on so we started walking to eat buffet. Jean comes running towards us with so much joy, and cries out “He’s about to accept Jesus and be saved!”. It was almost as if she was saying “Rejoice with me I have found the lost coin.” We told Jean “Then go back! Don’t worry about us omygosh!” The girls came about 30 min later to the buffet and told us everything that had happened. Just 3 weeks but the relationships and the way God is moving in those people were so amazing. We were all tremendously blessed, and then we prayed in the middle of the restaurant, with the girls crying and stuff. Hahaha. Good times, we have been just so tremendously blessed the past few weeks.
“And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'REJOICE WITH ME; I HAVE FOUND MY LOST COIN.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:9-10)
In Greek, it is heureµka, heureµka—I have found, I have found. It is a declaration of rejoicing. And our outreach group knows, it is no joke, it is the greatest joy to see someone coming to Christ. The joy I feel through this is equal to, if not more than the joy I felt when I personally met Christ. Yes! To that extent!! So crazy!
These are just a few testimonies and blessings we have from the past three weeks. This note does injustice to everything that went on. Feel free to ask Me, Jean, Jasmine, Shalom, Christina, Jon, Daniel, Tuba, anyone who's gone and get ready for an earful of tesimony/crazy stories/amazing blessings.
We only have about a month left of school, so I encourage all the KCM brothers and sisters to come out. Leave the 99, search for the lost! Get out of your bubble, and share your faith!
Just one last thing to add. Take note that in Luke 15:8 the lady "lights a lamp" in order to find the coin. Hmm.. I wonder what the lamp is? The WORD is a lamp unto my feet! Jesus says "I AM THE LIGHT...he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). So if we want to go out into the dark and find what's lost, we need THE light in order to even see them. Without it, we are lost also. So I urge you to grow in the Word and in Christ so that we may be able to have a brighter light, and with that brighter light we may see truly how many lost coins there are in the deep darkness! Grab your lamp, and let's go...
For from Him and through Him and to Him are everything. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
At first I was like hmm… must’ve been a nice ring. Maybe Tiffany Co. I wonder if it’s gold or silver. Maybe her bf gave it to her for their anniversary but the ring size was too big so it just popped out somewhere. Then I realized, Oh my gosh I know how she feels!! She had lost her ring somewhere in the dorms and she made a crazy effort to find it… So badly that she went around all over the Hill and posted these LOST flyers everywhere!
I totally know what that feels like. When my doggy ran away, I chased her down and dragged her back into the house. When I lost my wallet, I drove 20 miles to Speedzone at 6 am the next morning and walked around the whole track with the janitors to look for it. Whenever I lose my keys or cell phone, my heart stops for a second and I look fervently for it. The best example is my old SAT teacher, who swallowed his golden crown because it came off his tooth. He collected his stinky poo-poo for a whole week and picked it apart in search of it. When he found it he was so joyful so he took it to the dentist and put it back in his tooth. We’ve all had our own stories of lost things, so you know what it feels like. I really empathized with how the girl felt, and suddenly I remembered the verse about the LOST COIN.
Luke 15:8-10
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'
Haha sounds like that girl, no?! But how infinitely times more important than a silly ring is a person who is LOST.
How ironic that I go all out when I lose my wallet or my dog, but when it comes to those who are lost spiritually (and possibly eternally), I just ignore it. It’s like when I lose the TV remote control. Instead of looking for it, I just walk up to the TV to change the channel. I am so adamant about doing my own thing (which is watch TV) rather than taking the extra 1 minute to look for the controller. In the same, I am so consumed by my own “Christian” life that I often forget to share the love Christ first showed me. I frequently make more of an effort to live my Christian life in a self-centered way than to go out and look for and share the gospel with the lost. In Amazing Grace the lyrics say “I once was lost, but now am found”. Too many times I forget I WAS LOST TOO NOT EVEN TWO YEARS AGO! Oh the overwhelming joy I felt when I met Christ, and oh how quickly I have grown selfish and kept this love of Christ to myself!
This brings me to the parable in the same chapter 15:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
So where is all this going?....
Listen everybody, let me tell you what has been going on for the past 3 Fridays. Only 3 Fridays?! But it seems like it has been literally months. A small group of us have been going out on Friday afternoons to Santa Monica (3rd Street Promenade, the Pier, etc.) to meet people and share the love of Christ with them.
Week 1: The first week was kind of just get our feet wet. We split into groups and went different directions. Me, Daniel, Laura, and Angela did a homeless ministry. We felt the deep and heartbreaking spiritual needs for the homeless, but we realized, there’s pretty much nothing we could really do for them in the long-run except for prayer for God to have mercy. One particular man was named Ryan, a brother in Christ who just had a series of unfortunate events, and we talked for a while and gave him my Bible. At the same time, Jean and Jasmine’s groups met a disabled man named Derek. Sure they met lots of people, as we did also, but God introduced them to certain people that would began a much longer relationship.
Week 2: Jon Kang and I walked towards the pier and felt convicted to talk to this cholo looking guy! Haha talk about getting out of your bubble-- this is the meaning of “leaving the 99 to go after that one lost sheep”. So this guy David Anthony was shirtless, shaved head, tattoos everywhere, and to be honest I got a little scared at first. The first he said to us was “Are you those religious people? I’m a Satanist, I’m a bad person, get away from me!” Yet the tattoos on his arms were of the cross, and of Christ. Jon and I felt like he was that “sheep gone astray”, and contrary to his wishes we stayed. Oh how wonderful it turned out to be! We had an interesting two hour conversation with Dave Anthony. We shared pizza with Dave Anthony, but more importantly we shared the gospel. He knew the Bible pretty well, except somewhere in his life he was influenced by the world/satan and the Truth was twisted. Yet we had a great time which concluded with Jon and Dave trading a Bible for “River Runs Through It”. We agreed to meet the next week, and parted ways. Meanwhile, Jean, Jasmine, Christina, Shalom continued their relationship with the atheist Derek and other people they had met before.
Week 3: Jon and I came a little late and Dave had probably left by that time. So we just walked around the pier looking for him, shared the gospel in Spanish to Leo, and returned to where we had met Dave the week before to just pray. Then on the way back to Third Street, we saw a homeless man wearing chains all over his body and Tuba evangelizing to him. With so much symbolism, that’s an image I’ll never forget. Anyways, we get to our meeting spot, but the girls are nowhere to be found. So we walk to the McDonalds and the girls are sitting down talking with Stacy and Clark. Clark, an atheist, after hearing Jean and Jasmine singing “When the music fades”, started singing his own songs to God and making his own chords on the guitar! Shalom and Christina were talking to a fellow brother named Stacy. Out of nowhere, Derek (the man in the wheelchair), comes looking for the girls and joins the conversation as well. Meanwhile, me and Jon had no clue what was going on so we started walking to eat buffet. Jean comes running towards us with so much joy, and cries out “He’s about to accept Jesus and be saved!”. It was almost as if she was saying “Rejoice with me I have found the lost coin.” We told Jean “Then go back! Don’t worry about us omygosh!” The girls came about 30 min later to the buffet and told us everything that had happened. Just 3 weeks but the relationships and the way God is moving in those people were so amazing. We were all tremendously blessed, and then we prayed in the middle of the restaurant, with the girls crying and stuff. Hahaha. Good times, we have been just so tremendously blessed the past few weeks.
“And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'REJOICE WITH ME; I HAVE FOUND MY LOST COIN.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:9-10)
In Greek, it is heureµka, heureµka—I have found, I have found. It is a declaration of rejoicing. And our outreach group knows, it is no joke, it is the greatest joy to see someone coming to Christ. The joy I feel through this is equal to, if not more than the joy I felt when I personally met Christ. Yes! To that extent!! So crazy!
These are just a few testimonies and blessings we have from the past three weeks. This note does injustice to everything that went on. Feel free to ask Me, Jean, Jasmine, Shalom, Christina, Jon, Daniel, Tuba, anyone who's gone and get ready for an earful of tesimony/crazy stories/amazing blessings.
We only have about a month left of school, so I encourage all the KCM brothers and sisters to come out. Leave the 99, search for the lost! Get out of your bubble, and share your faith!
Just one last thing to add. Take note that in Luke 15:8 the lady "lights a lamp" in order to find the coin. Hmm.. I wonder what the lamp is? The WORD is a lamp unto my feet! Jesus says "I AM THE LIGHT...he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). So if we want to go out into the dark and find what's lost, we need THE light in order to even see them. Without it, we are lost also. So I urge you to grow in the Word and in Christ so that we may be able to have a brighter light, and with that brighter light we may see truly how many lost coins there are in the deep darkness! Grab your lamp, and let's go...
For from Him and through Him and to Him are everything. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow" (Hebrews 4:12)
It takes a couple brothers to help use the Evangelism Cannon.
Starting always with prayer.
Daniel and Laura walking around 3rd street promenade.
Our group on Week 1, with pier in the background
Good times, so good times.
We figured out the bus was so cheap, only a quarter! So here we are waiting for the bus on Week 3.
jon hiding a concealed weapon, his bible
We pass by some beautiful views during the bus ride.
We look to the Everlasting, for it is completely through him and for him that we do this. There's a bright future out there in Santa Monica. Let's finish the good work that has started.
