SINergism

I feel like sin is a vicious cycle. As I like to call it, SINergism:

1) First, I sin. You can fill in the blank.

2) I feel bad/guilty/shame/sucky.

3) I cry out, "I'll never do it again."

4) Then I feel a need to get right with God.

5) And then I try everything in my own power to stop sin.

6) After ____ amount of time, I do it again.

7) And again. And again.

8) Hit Repeat.

And everytime it happens again, I get more and more disheartened. When will it ever end?

Three insightful verses I came across today:

1. [Galatians 3:3] - "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

Analysis: It's true, we try to fight sin with our own human effort. After we sin, we try to "get right with God" by being really passionate in our efforts (ex. We block internet, throw away our computer, break up with the gf/bf, we give our credit card to a buddy for accountability, we stop hanging out with certain people, etc, etc.) But we do it out of our own human power. Paul is saying, "Are you an idiot?" You were born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. If God is for us, who can be against us? And after all that, now you're going to try to stop sin with your own power?

Lesson: Don't be an idiot. Don't try to kill sin by human effort.

2. [2 Timothy 3:5] - "having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."

Analysis: First, we don't want to admit we're weak. We don't tell other people because we're embarassed/ashamed. We don't have accountability partners. Maybe we do, but it's sparse. But to most people, we have the appearance of godliness. Secondly, we deny "the power" from which we can attain true godliness. We deny the power of God that can make us godly, and we try to gain godliness on our own.

Lesson: You only end up with the appearance of godliness. Don't deny God's power.

3. [Romans 8:13] - "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live"

Analysis: You will put to death the misdeeds of the body. But ONLY IF BY THE SPIRIT you do so, and then you will live. We try to kill the flesh with our own willpower. "You can do it! You can kill it! Just overcome it mentally, emotionally, physically." NO! NO! NO! It's only by the power of the Spirit we can put to death SIN.

Lesson: Wanna live? Then put to death sin by the Spirit.

It's definitely not exhaustive. But it's something to chew on...

putting the FUN back in FUNDAMENTALISM

"You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
[Psalm 16:11]

"Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart."
[Psalm 37:4]

Have a good time with God.

Enjoy.

:)

you can have all this world, but give me JESUS

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

When I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

MAN up son!

I was raised by the most alpha male, masculine, man's man father I've ever met. When he wasn't a Christian, he used to feed jippsanims knucklesandwiches (literally) when they talked too much crap at church, and he brought in ggangpaes to protect the senior pastor from being kicked out. For as long as I remember, he was seen as the role model deacon, but he continued to bring his worldly macho-ness into the church.. Few people know that he was also deeply in the sin of women, heavy drinking, and drugs. He was a brawling blue-collar painting contractor with a dirty mouth who was drowning in his own testosterone. And then he met Jesus.

What I love the most is that my dad man is still the same dude. Except now he just plays for the other team. Of course he's still a 2Cor.5:17 man, but he also hasn't lost any of his masculinity, like I've seen in so many guys who meet Christ. Since then, I have been hugely influenced by how Christ has used my sinful daddy for His glory and it awes me.

When I was born again in July '06, I was so confused (still am) by what it means to be a man of God. Do I have to be a soft-speaking ultra-gentle fembot? Because what I saw growing up was a fabio-looking Jesus holding a lamb in His arms when in fact he was a tough, blue collar, and Jack Bauer-like Savior. In addition, I had very few role models--how about older hyung examples? At church I saw 2 things in older hyungs: either a manly guy with no Christ, or a guy with Christ but no manliness whatsoever. So I am left today with a really strange conception of what it means to be a MAN of God. 'S-A-N-C-T-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N' is still a really long word to me, but by the grace of God I'm learning what a man is and how I can become one.
The worly definition, and the biblical definition of a MAN are to be distinguished. They are eerily similar yet different. One is the corrupted/twisted/sinful version of the other. A couple things I've learned that dudes like:
1) Girls - When the world says be a playa, flirt like hell and have sex with as many girls as you can, the Biblical Man must save all that for his wife alone. Be her MVP, flirt with her, and etc.
2) Drinking - When the world says go out and have fun and get drunk/wasted cuz it's cool, the Biblical Man gets drunk on the Holy Spirit (and that's an order!) cuz it's cool.

3) Fighting - When the world says fight with others to reach the top and don't back down to no fools, the Biblical Man fights for the Truth and fights against Satan.

These are 10 types of dudes that, well...I am praying for:

1. Wimps, Pansies

2. Complainers, Whiners, Mr. Downer

3. Video gamers, Grown men who still play Starcraft and Warcraft

4. The second son in Matthew 21:28-31

5. Guys who pick on weaker people
6. Guys who think they're a lot harder than they really are

7. Dudes who can't back up what they say

8. Gossipers
9. Guys who don't provide for their own family
10. Guys who get chicks pregnant and then ditch them

But thank God I have some real MEN of God that I look up to:

8. NFL's John Kitna and NCAA's Tim Tebow

7. UFC Fighters who are hella Christians (Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Pat Barry)

6. Mark Driscoll, John MacArthur, John Piper(don't be fooled by his stature)

5. Pastor Awax + Pastor Bizzle

4. Samson and Solomon (also my future sons' names)

3. Missionary Jason Yoo (Yucatan)

2. My Daddy

1. Jesus Christ

Conclusion: Like I said before, I'm in no position to define what a MAN of God is. I know it's not all about macho-ness and stuff. But I am walking painstakingly on the road of sanctification and Jesus is teaching me how to be a true man. So be true to God. And be true to yourself. That's what it really comes down to at the end of the day.

i'm STARVING

"7 dayz without the Word of God makes ONE WEAK."
-Shon Grady

why ME?

We often cry, "Why did God allow this to happen to me? I don't deserve ___(fill in the blank)___. I don't deserve it..."

And that's absolutely correct.

We DON'T deserve it! Because we actually deserve much worse.

An old Puritan once said, "Your sufferings are not so great as your sins. Put these two in the balance, and see which weighs heaviest."

Want real justice? For the wages of sin is death. That's what we really deserve. But it's God's grace that even allows us to live, let alone have eternal life with Christ. So cheer up! Whatever way you look at it, you're doing better than you deserve. Have a nice day!

FUEGO de dios

"The cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough to it for it's sparks to fall on us."

You know those sparks are? Those sparks are the drops of His blood that fall on our head while we're clinging to the cross as Christ is being crucified... That's how close we need to be to ignite.

People warn us, don't get too close to the fire you might get burned. Not only do I want to get burned haha, I want to be freakin' consumed by that fire! So draw me close to You. Consuming fire, fan into flame, a passion for Your name. Lord have Your way with me.

And yes our God, He is a consuming fire

And the flames burn down deep in my soul

Yes our God, He is a consuming fire

He reaches inside and He melts down this cold heart of stone

[Third Day - Consuming Fire]