It’s amazing how God works.  This past Sunday I decided to drive to the BART station to attend church.  (For those of you who don’t know, it’s the Bay Area Rapid Transit — a very fast and convenient means of transportation for where I live).  Well, I got to the station much earlier than my train arrival, so I decided to walk around and sit on a bench.  While waiting, I saw that the guy next to me had his Bible opened.  The pages of his Bible had some foreign characters printed on it.  Being intrigued, I asked, “Hi, may I ask, is your Bible in Korean language?”  Well, actually I have no knowledge of Korean, but since the characters on his Bible pages didn’t look Japanese nor Chinese, my only guess is perhaps it’s Korean. :)  We started talking and apparently he is indeed from Korea.  He said he hasn’t been in the States for that long.  I asked him what church he attends.  To my surprise he said that very Sunday morning (just hours before) was actually the first day he attended church in America.  Wow!  He told me he had passed by that church and decided to attend it.  But lo and behold… when he sat down for the worship service, it turned out to be a Spanish speaking church!  Poor guy…  He couldn’t understand a word, so he ended up sitting and praying quietly throughout the whole service.  Wow, I felt so bad for him.  He didn’t know where to find church and he thought it was a “miracle” that I came up to him to ask about church.  I was so excited, because perhaps God was using my early arrival to the BART to help him find church.  I told him that I could suggest a few good churches and, if he likes to, perhaps next week he could go to the one I attend.  He agreed to.  We exchanged e-mail addresses and, Lord willing, we’ll be attending the same church this coming Lord’s Day!  This is so awesome.  I don’t know much yet about his spiritual background or his walk with God.  He may or may not be Christian.  But I’m really excited of how the Lord may use this whole incident and the possible ripple effects it may have for his spiritual life.  This is awesome.  Praise God for His timing!

I was reflecting upon John Gerstner’s quote when he said the most important thing in the Christian life is not the thinking; it’s the feeling.

Right feeling of (or about) God is definitely necessary.  It is non-optional.  But here’s the catch…  There is no right feeling without right thinking.  And if we “think” rightly about truth but do not “feel” rightly about God, then we are on our way to eternal ruin.  Truth must penetrate our hearts. 

This gets me to reflect on churches I’ve observed in the past.  Regrettably it seems many churches appear to be on the opposite sides of the spectrum.  There’re people who show a lot of knowledge of truth, but seem so cold and show not much zeal or passion.  It almost appears that for them the intellectual head knowledge is stimulating but does not penetrate their hearts.  Then on the other side, there’re those ‘fired up’ people who proclaim, “Don’t gimme theology, just give me Jesus!”  They think theology is some old, cold, stuffy things reserved only for the austere few.  Though, of course, ironically as soon as we start talking about Jesus, we’re talking theology, right?

A friend cited me this quip:

The Word without the spirit, we dry up.
The spirit without the Word, we blow up.
The Word and the spirit, we grow up.

I imagine the 18th-century evangelist George Whitefield (who was used of God as one of the main catalysts in the First Great Awakening) must’ve preached with much fire and feeling as he boldly spoke to those tens of thousands of people in open air!  People were moved to tears and their lives changed as they were convicted by the Gospel.  My pastor said, “If we truly believe in the damnation of hell and the awful reality of what we have been rescued from, how can we evangelize to lost people without tears in our eyes?” 

Well, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have both zeal and truth? 

We can’t just give off the light without being passionately consumed by the object itself.  On the other hand, if we muster all the zeal in the world and have no light, we will not lead any sinner one step nearer to Heaven’s gates.

What a glorious Church it is to have both zeal and truth.

I love being able to listen to good sermons while jogging or during long drives.  Teachings from good Bible teachers are now so readily available and accessible!  I’m so thankful for that!  I’m an old-fashioned traditional girl who would be content to live a simple life, but I admit computers and iPod are some of the things I like about technology. :)  It’s awesome to learn, study, and be encouraged by some of my favorite Bible teachers through the click of a mouse or iPod.  I was listening to John Piper as he described the heinousness of sin and the ways in which we commit sin (please note sin is not limited to these, though).

Sin is…

The glory of God not honored. 

The holiness of God not reverenced. 

The greatness of God not admired. 

The power of God not praised. 

The truth of God not sought. 

The wisdom of God not esteemed. 

The beauty of Christ not treasured. 

The goodness of God not savored. 

The faithfulness of God not trusted. 

The commandments of God not obeyed. 

The justice of God not respected. 

The wrath of God not feared. 

The grace of God not cherished. 

The presence of God not prized. 

The Person of God not loved.

I played table tennis recently.  Woohoo!  It’s fun.  Been a while since I practiced, so too bad my game playing is a bit rusty.  I’m excited to join a local table tennis club again soon.  See these cool smashes below.  Look dangerous, I know. ;)  Well, we all know how unsafe it is when it comes to the blood sport known as table tennis.

I just saw the following youtube video from my friend’s (Adam’s) blog.  It’s a video showing how two “Christian extremists” disrupted Hindu prayer in the Senate. 

[youtube g8vENZwp1rk]

Before the Hindu guy started his invocation, a Christian named Ante Pavkovic said a loud prayer, “Lord Jesus…  Forgive us Father, for allowing the prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in Your sight, to be offered in…  This is an abomination.  We shall have no other gods before You.  You are the one true and living God…”

Indeed, the prayers and offerings of the wicked are but a stench in the nostrils of Almighty God.  And were we to approach God clothed in our own filthy rags (instead of Christ’s robe of righteousness), our prayers would have been a “strange offering” to His divine faculties as well.  Even though we don’t get to hear much of the Christian’s prayer in the video (since he got stopped), I thought his first few words and boldness were inspiring.

I think the Hindu guy seems a bit fearful at first.  One can only imagine how much more fearful he would be when he faces the Lord one day before His judgment throne in the light of His awesome, perfect, and holy presence.  I also noticed when this Hindu guy prayed, he had no convictions at all whatsoever. 

At any rate, it got me thinking about non-believers and how sad it is that there are people out there who worship false gods and idols.  Truly, very sad.  It is mind-boggling that some people out there worship objects, cows, rocks, trees, etc.  All these things are created beings.  People make objects and then deify them.  Consider the golden calves that the Israelites used to build.  Their prayers toward these objects are falling upon deaf ears.  How can these gods do anything for them?

I’m reminded of Laban in the Old Testament, who pursued Jacob because he thought that Jacob has stolen his false idols.  When he finally caught up, Laban asked Jacob:

And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” (Genesis 31:30)

“Why did you steal my gods?”  

That is so funny!    It makes me chuckle everytime I read this verse. 

Wow!  Laban’s gods can be stolen.  I wonder if Laban realized how utterly ridiculous his words were as soon as they escaped his lips.  His gods could not protect themselves or find their way back.  They’re material beings.  Laban needed to watch for his gods — instead of the other way around.  He had to travel and chase Jacob to rescue his gods.  Why was he worshipping them?

Praise God, the one and only true God, that I never have to worry about anyone stealing Him because He is a God of Spirit and truth.  By His grace and mercy, He is mine and I am His.  He is not some object confined to time and space because He Himself is the Creator of time and space!  As Athanasius wrote, “The Word [Jesus Christ], far from being Himself contained by anything, He actually contained all things Himself.”  He is a God Who watches over me, and Who neither sleeps nor slumbers.  I need not protect God because He is the Protector of all His people.  Praise Him that He is the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal Being Who is supreme over all of life.  Blessed be His Name!

Woohoo, now I (we all, rather) can watch John MacArthur preach online.  Wonderful!  Hope I could see him preach in person soon, Lord willing.  I love his expository preaching.  I’m not inclined toward his Dispensational leanings, though.

I just want to praise God for His goodness to me.  He answered a BIG prayer request of mine over the weekend.  Though, of course, nothing is too big or too hard for our great God.  Praise God for His kindness! :)  Without delving too deep in details, I must say He works wondrously, in ways I wouldn’t have guessed.  I know that it was the Lord Who orchestrated the answer to my request.  Yes, nothing happened by “chance,” but the way it happened also seems a bit out of the ordinary.  And I believe God sometimes does things in ways that we least expect Him to.  Or in a way that seems almost unlikely or maybe even almost “impossible.”  Why?  It is so that we will give Him all the glory.  So that we can thank Him and not take any credit for our answered prayers.  So that we are reminded that He is Jehovah Jireh–the Lord will provide.  He alone receives all the glory because we know we can never say “Oh, I did this or that to help make it happen.”  I truly feel that God is watching out over me.  Yes, I’ve known this intellectually in my mind before.  I had an intellectual assent that the Lord loves me and provides for me in every way.  But through my experiences, the Lord continues to teach me and help me to not only think it, but also to experience His wondrous providence and love in my daily life.  Thank You, Lord.

For all of you who enjoy John Piper’s books, all books are $5 at the Desiring God store today and tomorrow (June 27-28).

A quiz about me just for fun.  Let’s see how well you know me. :) When it prompts you for your personal information (just before you see your result), please look for the ”Pass” button and click on it to avoid answering them.  There are 20 questions, each is worth 10 points.  So the score is based out of a possible 200 points.

Create your own Friend Quiz here

I love the old classic Christian hymns.  Their lyrics are usually rich and replete with solid orthodox theology.  It’s hard to find contemporary songs like them today.  The following hymn ”Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” was written 300 years ago by Isaac Watts in 1707.  I got a bit teary-eyed listening to the music below yesterday.  How amazing that the holy, just, righteous God Who spoke this universe into existence would choose to save a wretched sinner as I!  To Him be the glory.

Play and listen:

Lyrics

Alas and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I
Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree
Amazing pity, grace unknown
And love beyond degree

My God why would
You shed Your blood
So pure and undefiled
To make a sinful one like me
Your chosen precious child

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut His glories in
When Christ the mighty Maker died
For man the creature’s sin
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear Cross appears
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt my eyes to tears
 

Music and chorus lyrics by Bob Kauflin
Lyrics by Isaac Watts

You can purchase this song from the album Songs for the Cross Centered Life from Sovereign Grace Ministries.