interesting

For some reason our professor started to have lunch with us again. So during yesterday's lunch I asked him if he did anything interesting for the past weekend. He told us a couple of things, one of which is that he watched the history of crucification on the history channel.

Ha! It certainly brought up my follow-up question "do you believe that was true". Interestingly, he said the crucification was well-documented history. However, he doesn't believe that Jesus was risen from the dead. There was certainly more to dig, but it was probably wise for me to stop right there.

It reminded me of the question I asked my friends long ago. "If historically Jesus existed, would it change your view on Christianity?" Some of them said no. Some of them refused to respond.

Also, I wonder how many Christians believe in the real thing instead of a nice concept of God's grace.

prayer #39

Dear God, make me shameless of my failure and fearless of whatever might come next.

I pray that your will be clearer to me, and that I have what it takes to do your will.

I pray that when I meet you face to face, no matter how big a mess I have made in my life, you will smile at me and say "yes, you love me".

Amen.

the message of hope

I went to the Easter Sunday service at NLC after witnessing my friend's baptism at the Chinese church. It was no surprise that the sermon was about Jesus's death and resurrection, given by one of my favorite pastors. The truth is that every sermon is about the same message with different degrees of emphasis. It is just the way it should be.

The pastor talked about what is our hope and what we should do about it. I liked the fact that he pointed out the cost of being a disciple. He also mentioned that we are all sick due to our nature, which happens to be what I was thinking about the night before.

I have been feeling quite detached lately. The huge gapbetween knowing the truth and living the truth (or living in the hope) is lying right in front of me. I definitely need to go to church more often. In fact, when I went, 80% of the times I loved it.

It is getting better.

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Romans 5: 4perseverance, character; and character, hope.

surprise

Severl people from CC were going to get baptized at the local Chinese church on Easter Sunday. So this morning I went there to witness that event.

As I expected, the songs and messages didn't speak to me. However, one guy among the people to be baptized today was someone. I never had much conversation with him. In my memory, he was aggressive, and a little bit loud.

It is a strange feeling to see him there. I was curious of what happened and hoping he would give the testimony. And he did. When he was talking on the stage, I was saying "I know, I know" in my heart. Similar time. Similar struggles. Similar emotions. He had more severe depression than I did. Sitting there with tears in my eyes, I felt enormous love towards him.

Yes, we paid a little for our pride. Back then, we didn't know that Christ paid a much bigger price for our sins.

And again I was amazed by God. He collected us one by one like a sheperd looking for his lost sheep. And he knows us so intimately that no one else can bring us the same sort of comfort. And no one else has the power to save us from the brokenness of this world.

Thank you father for sacrifizing your only son so that we can be born again.

revived

Last night was our accountability night. So after we shared with the big group the updates in our lives, we broke down to three small groups so that we could talk about deeper issues.

This was my second accountablity night. It really worked for me. Ciara was very understanding and encouraging. I was comfortable with telling her something that had been bothering me. Our conversation definitely lifted up my spirit quite a bit.

It reminded me again of how much blessings I have received in my life. And how God keeps loving me through these godly people and many other ways.

ridiculous things in Old Testament (1)

1 Kings 20:35 By the word of the LORD one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, "Strike me with your weapon," but the man refused.

36 So the prophet said, "Because you have not obeyed the LORD, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you." And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.

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So obedience is important. I get it.

But why would a person put such a curse on his friend just because his friend didn't want to hit him?!

Tenebrae service

Through Conversation Connection (let's call it CC from now on) I have got to know a couple of Catholic friends. Since this week is the holy week, there have been a lot of activities going on in the churches. People in CC were invited to go to any service that they are interested in.

So last night I attended the Tenebrae prayer service in my friend's church. It was very nice. As I have not been much talkative, a prayer service was just what I wanted. I love the music they played. Both the male and female singers had amazing voices. I sense that I am ready for some quiet and soothing Christian music.

I had lunch with a friend today. We discussed the difference between Catholics and other Christions, such as traditions, evolution, prayers, etc. It was an interesting and educational conversation. To me, as long as we recognize Jesus as the only way to life and we love each other as he asked us to, any religious difference is quite minor.

what do we have

If Solomon, who had the greatest wisdom and was almost the richest person at his time, still betrayed God, what do we have that can make us confident in our love for God?