Friday, January 18th, 2008
seems like we have spurts of passions for God. but its weird cause it seems like it doesn’t last for most people.
i guess it’d be catagorized into being caught up in ‘the hype.’ but seriously – whats the real reason for this phenomenon? i mean for an instant – you have the passion to go out there and do everything for Christ. but after a week your just back to your plain old self.
how do we maintain that feeling. that conviction?
it all starts with prayer. prayer to give urself up for God. prayer to allow the Holy Spirit to change your life. prayer to wait on the lord.
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
the holy spirit – probably the most neglected out of the trinity. but yet, he’s there for a reason – because he is just as important.
thats right, the holy spirit is a person! the holy spirit can think, and the holy spirit isn’t just an abstract concept that you can’t grasp.
the holy spirit is like Jesus, and like God. the holy spirit decides to leave places and come into places – but when i read scripture, i feel like i almost always treat it like this ‘concept.’ when in reality thats not really not how it works.
The holy spirit is like a friend, and he should be with us all the time. But when was the last time you prayed for the holy spirit to be your lifelong friend and ask him to join you daily in your walk.
have you ever prayed, talking to the Holy Spirit like you would to Jesus? pray like how we ask Jesus into our lives? I know I really havn’t.
The Holy Spirit is so much more! And the holy spirit can empower us and teach us so many things about Christ. But if we don’t ask him to come into our lives, like a friend – then we really have nobody.
why do i say nobody?
cause physically, the only person dwelling among us is the holy spirit. God and Jesus are both in heaven seated on their thrones. And they actively instructed the holy spirit to decend upon us, to guide us in their stead.
So i hope prayer for the holy spirit to be our friends, to be with us will become a more prevalent prayer. And with the Holy Spirit comes great gifts from the Lord. Just look at the pentacost when people started speaking in tongues.
Or when the Holy Spirit was so strongly with the Apostles that even their shadows healed people as they passed.
So Pray! Pray for the Holy Spirit to be a part of your life. Pray so that you may get to know the Holy Spirit!
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
student population: Student population: 22,660* (according to ANGEL)
out of that population, i’m pretty sure less than 10% actively attend a fellowship and a church. 10% is 2266 students – thats a pretty big number by my count.
lets say 200 students roughly attend UWCCF (including mCCF and cCCF), 100 students @ C4C, 100 students @ KCCF (and i’m being generous with the numbers here)
that doesn’t even hit 10%. Isn’t that sad? Shouldn’t we be seeing more of those students being saved? 9/10 students…
There is this huge mission field, but we choose to ignore it. Well not really ignore – but I’ve been living by this ideology that if I be that perfect Christian, others will notice and be challenged and be saved. But that can’t be true. thats not even how the early churches did it!
Queen’s University has a fellowship of what.. 400? for their CCF
UWO has a fellowship of about 100.
McMaster 80’s
Laurier CCF 50’s
I dont know if you look at it, there are so many ppl to reach.
If you find something good to eat, your bound to share it!
If you see a cool youTube vid, your telling others to watch it.
Great TV show like Heroes.. you tell ur friends to see it as well.
But why don’t we do this with our faith.
Something as important as being saved for all eternity, should be one of the first things we share with our friends. who cares if we get rejected – at least you tried.
according to stats (and i’m not making this one up) 85% of church-goers decide not to return after they enter university. why?!
anyways, i’m determined to do something different about my approach. to be more bold with my faith. and it all starts with prayer.
so i pray that God will change my life so that I can stand committed – to be filled with the Holy Spirit so I can do more. to wait on the Lord.
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
i’ve been doing alot of thinking about where i’m going. this planning ahead business has really gotten to my head, but its not a bad thing. just begs more unanswered questions than i can handle. but something i’ve realized is that as a Christian, i havn’t really been doing anything other than maturing in my faith.
doing things like growing in a fellowship, and attending churches, reading the bible, is great. but i’ve come to realize that i havn’t been evangelizing. having been a christian for so many years now, i can only say i’ve saved maybe one soul. and that is even a big maybe… cause it was like God helped me that time, and i couldn’t have screwed it up even if i tried.
have i become complacent?
satisfied with what i have around me? living with a family of believers, growing slowly without really pushing any of the comfort zones… its really quite sad.
part of the cause maybe the chinese background i’ve grown up in, leading what i would call a rather conservative walk in my faith. infact, most chinese churches are conservative. not really stepping out there to actively evangelize to the city. what we do is sit and wait for them to come to us. (although i’m generalizing here)
but compared to some of the other churches i’ve seen who actively go out regularly to invite ppl back to their churches, i’ve realized that there is so much more that can be done.
looking at acts, and the early churches – all they do is go out and evangelize and fellowship and when they get too big.. they split and then rinse and repeat the process. the are always moving to save more souls for God.
i may sound like i’m trying to ‘convert’ ppl, but really, the passive approach that i’ve taken before – which is to lead a strong christian life and hope ppl ask me about God – just doesn’t cut it. i mean – who in their right mind would randomly ask me about God unless he was really seeking Him in the first place? what about all those ppl that never get a chance to hear the gospel cause i was too chicken to go out and ask a few questions. what about all my friends that know i’m a christian but never think twice about it cause i’ve never approached them about it.
passive, is kinda like putting God second in our lives, and i’d like to try a more active approach. although, i may face a lot of rejections or similar hardships. its probably more rewarding. although, learning and growing in God’s word is very rewarding – imagine how much more rewarding it is to save someone for eternity.
after all, it does say to go and preach the good news to all nations. i think its about time i gave it a go.
it may not have been a big focus before for me. but i think its something we really gotta go and do! on a campus with over 20,000 students each term with appx 40-50% of it being asian – the attendance to CCF should be much higher than just a 100.
just pray for now and hope God will do powerful things. i dont know where my resolve is right now, but hopefully it’ll be clear as i continue to seek His will.
Sunday, January 6th, 2008
a lot of the times we start the year with resolutions that we make. resolutions that we dream up and try to follow.
but at the end of the year. can we honestly say to God that we’ve done everything we possibly can? Can we go to heaven and tell him that without regretting anything?
I made a huge list of things, and i’m pretty sure i’ll keep most of them – but i had to do some editing. cause my mindset was all wrong.
its not what I can do for the coming 2008. but more of how God can use me for 2008 and what He wants me to do. things dont happen cause of your own awesomeness. relying on yourself only leads to pride and a huge barrier between you and God.
but moreover, we should ask – God what do you want me to do. dont do something to seek results, but do something to seek God’s will. even if there is no results, the process might be a lesson God wants you to learn.
so dont define your own lives, let God define your life. ask God for answers, not ourselves.
be like Jesus, and be able to say to God your will is done just before he was crucified (John 17)