John 5 : Dec 22

Hello everybody. I have not made a post in a long time. I'm sorry =[ Blogging is a lot harder than I thought. Well, I started on the book of John for winter break. Sharon and I are thinking of doing a bible study book on John so I thought it would be appropriate for me to go through it. In the beginning of the chapter we are introduced to the miraculous healing that occurs at Bethesda. I began to start thinking of the kind of healing I need, as well as the healing Cornerstone needs. There are a couple of points I see in this passage relating to healing. 1. We do not know when the stirring is going to occur. The disabled people wait, in anticipation, for God to move. If it were me waiting near the pool for a healing I would keep my eye on the pool like a hawk on prey. Yet, my spiritual life is not close to that. My weakness is a weak anticipation of God. I wait, but not hope. I call, but not hear. I need to be waiting with eyes open to experience God's movement. 2. Persistence. We see there are a many disabled people waiting for God, some that have been there for nearly 4 decades. What a wait! I can pray for revival all I want, but if I do not have patience with persistence I cannot receive his full presence and healing. 3. Stay away from sin. After a healing occurs God can take away his blessings if he thinks we are undeserving of our gift. The man that was healed was ordered to live a life free of sin or else... God requires us to be righteous always. Stay as far away from sin as possible.

Dec. 15 : John 8:1-11

In this passage I see the extent of Jesus' mercy and grace and how it is so different than the kind I possess. I find myself judging others in so many ways, both Christians and non-Christians alike. When I see people living a life not aligned with directions given in the Bible...I judge. There are sins that I look more down upon. Even as a leadership team, we really talk a lot about drinking and partying. It is an important topic for a leadership team I know, but we should equally address the other topics as well like gossip, broken relationships, and ostracizing among other things. But when does mercy and grace come into play? I realized in the leadership team that sometimes we judge others in our group for what they do, or not do. I was discouraged in one instance when it was difficult to differentiate between judging and constructive criticism in the leadership team. Why do I do this when I see that Jesus had a whole different perspective? He really did sincerely forgive this sinful woman. He did not condemn her nor forsake her. The people around her judging her were ready to stone the woman. Jesus says to them to look at their own hearts, to see also how dirty they are. My heart needs to be like that. To reach out to others; small group members, friends, family members, classmates I need to realize my own dirt. To help others I need to realize the magnitude of my own sin, to see from what depths I was saved from. I need Jesus' grace and mercy.

Dec. 11 - Ephesians 4:17-32

Will I ever be like God? If sin is so prevalent in my life, then can true righteousness and holiness ever become a part of my character? Sinful living is a part of the old self in the Christian. Deceitful desires should be easily, no willfully, willfully easy, to overcome. But is that me? Sometimes I think I can say that, but most other times I cant. Sin is so easy, resisting is not. I find myself at times reverting back to my old self. Why? Because I feel corrupted by deceitful desires. This should not be happening. Something is wrong. Being taught to do away with my old self but then bringing it back means I was taught incorrectly, insufficiently, or a combination of both. The correct way is to be made new in the attitudes of my mind. How do I do that? I need to live the true Christian life. I need to hunger for the Word. Hunger for prayer. I know these are the right things to do. More than that its what I desire. I need to be open, truthful, and loving with my fellow believers in Christ. Then comes the barrier of wholesome talk. "No unwholesome talk should come out of you." Noo! This part is so hard. Sometimes its clear cut, dry, and obvious, other times its just so ambiguous. But Paul says that wholesome talk is talk that only builds people up. Ahhhh. Now I get it. But thats still so hard. I love joking around with people, actually only guys. I have an awesome time joking around with my guy friends, but sometimes its dirty and rude. Its bad, I know. But yeah. A huge list can be made. But Paul ends with one central focus, one MAIN idea; love. Love love love love. Thats how my walk as a Christian becomes more beautiful day by day by day by day. Love. Love overcomes all evil. All wickedness. Love overcomes Me. Love will the engine of my resistance.

Dec. 9 - John 19: 1-16

Guilty or not?
Do you think Pilate was guilty or not? I think he was just as guilty as the Jews who were crying "crucify him!" But one can argue he was not guilty because he was a mediator, and his job was to listen to the people as a representative. However, in Romans 5:6,8 it states that we are all responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. This puts the blame on all of us. So in the beginning of the passage Jesus is being mocked by the roman soldiers, in word and physical pain. Does this mean we did/are doing this to Jesus? Being a born-again Christian my life should be changed, a new creation, an embodiment of all that Christ stood for. However my life sometimes does not reflect that. With all the sin that consumes my thoughts, words, and actions sometimes its hard to know that I am a Christian. Reading this passage made me realize that every time I turn my back to Christ I am returning back to being in the position of "this puts the blame on all of us." I again mock Jesus. I again slap Jesus in the face. I do all this to the one deserving of all honor. All praise. All glory. My everything. I hope that this passage can stay with me until I can better show the fruits of the spirit.

Mark Kim

Dec. 8 - Psalm 25

Today I did my quiet time on the passage we will be focusing on for our last bible study - Psalm 25. The passage is a plea to God for help in times of distress. Although I am not in a period of trouble currently in my life, I still can find hope in this passage. The passage has a few words it focuses on: trust, hope, truth, fear of God, pain, refuge, and prosperity. In a typical university here in America its hard to stand up for your faith and defend it adequately. More and more the idea of intelligent design is viewed upon as myth and tale, a product of the human imagination - and only that. An an environment where professors can lose tenure just for entertaining the thought of ID how then can a mere student withstand the heat in todays universities? Its been hard recently trying to stand up for the faith outside of church. I am sometimes afraid to pray or show my faith in the classroom for fear of being put to shame. But this passage says, "No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse." I know I need more confidence in the Lord even when its not the most popular thing to do. Integrity and uprightness is what can fix this whole problem! In verse 21 it says just that: "May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you." May integrity and uprightness protect all of us. =]

Dec. 7 : James 2:1-13

Hello all.
Today I did my quiet time on James 2:1-13. This passage focused on favoritism. This passage brought conviction to me, both in a personal and fellowship/leadership based level. In the passage James says this, "If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet.'" . He says that we have sin and have become judges - with evil thoughts. Nowadays we are not going to blatantly show someone special treatment in church based on what someone owns or looks like. We are, however, going to judge based on his character, personality, and/or "coolness". Someone in our fellowship that comes to mind is Mike Cho's roommate David. I've seen him around, said hello, and went our own ways. But, I talked to him on Friday for the very first time. I knew people were a little turned off by him, and for that reason he was pushed to the side, away from everyone else. I am not trying to judge anyone in our church or our leadership team, but we (including myself) have not done a very good job in providing the essentials of friendship to people such as David. I may do a good job here and there, watch my sins here and there, but if I fail in favoritism, I fail Christ and sin. James points out this sin that probably lives in most of us. We need to heed James' wisdom and love those who need love the most.
=]

Dec. 3 - John 21

Today I did my quiet time on the bible study for this friday. Honestly I found that it had little to do with 'offering forgiveness'. Maybe I'm not catching the main point? Regardless I found some uplifting passages within the chapter. In the chapter Jesus asks of Peter 3 times this question: "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" And of course Peter answers, "yes." I do not doubt the sincerity of Peters responses, but the reason why Jesus asks these questions is not to make Peter feel guilty, but rather to show Peter Jesus still loves him. I think this passage is beautiful in that, with the guilt inside of Peter for his denial, he still without thinking jumps into the water to meet Jesus. This is the kind of attitude we need as we approach our Lord. We make mistakes, but our love for him is really there. There are times when we make mistakes, big or small, that hinder us from approaching Jesus. But we do see that Jesus still loves us. He's been faced with and all the temptations and sins that can roll our way, so he understands, and he will always love us as we try to reconcile a past of sin. This scene is touching, and can be a resemblance of my life. =]

Dec. 2 - James 1:19-26

hello everybody. The passage I focused on today was from James 1:19-26. The short passage is entitled 'Listening and Doing." James writes in such a fashion that enables me to compare myself to that of the ideal follower. I know my walk with Christ falls short of perfection, but this is what Christ desires of me. It is so hard to maintain life that resembles that of Christ's, however this passage tells me that listening and doing are different and that they add up to different values. Be haste to listen James says, but be haste even more to live what was heard. Many times when I read scripture I find myself understanding the value of what is written in my head, but not understanding it in my heart. A follower of Christ is about believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and a devotion in faith to the Father who sent him. If I confess with my tongue, but my hand contradicts what I say, then I am being deceived. I sincerely hope I can follow after Christ with my hands and feet, and less with my tongue and appearance. The tongue is powerful I know, but the tongue is prone to error. James writes, if I can't keep a tight reign on my tongue...my religion is worthless. I know I've said many things I regret, many things I would be ashamed of even confessing. Does this make my religion worthless? Does this make my faith worthless even more? My tongue, my speech, must be in alignment with my limbs, my actions - and ultimately my faith in Jesus Christ.

Dec. 1 - James 1:1-18

In the past I always took this passage, and others alike, as an inspiration to persevere through those emotionally rough times. It is difficult trying to endure thorough the problems thrown at you as a college student, trying to get the grades you need, trying to fix relationships, or the lack thereof, or elicit a certain behavior to feel accepted. I read this passage in the past to receive hope to overcome lifes problems. But now I feel like its related to trials and temptations of the spiritual ,and less of the physical. I have been having a hard time being spiritually "upright" recently, but this passage shows me where I lack and areas in need of improvement. It may be so hard, or seem downright impossible, to maintain a certain level of spiritual integrity when you have so much sin in your life. But this is the kind of perseverance I need. "Perseverance must finish its works so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." This passage shows me perseverance is an integral part of growing in faith. There would be no need for perseverance if there were no obstacles or hardships. Without trials and temptations perseverance would have no meaning in the spiritual sense. In Romans 5 Paul writes, "rejoice in your sufferings for suffering produces perseverance." This passage, in addition to james 1, we see that we need to endure and overcome these trials and temptations in order to be mature and lack nothing. So would it be appropriate to hope for temptations or to wait with anticipation of trials of all sorts? Is it something we should pray and ask for? If spiritual maturity is what I desire, then I need to put my perseverance to the test.