Month: September 2019

A dear brother in the Lord once shared with me that one of his favorite experiences is diving beneath the water. He fondly recounted the otherworldly silence and calmness he experiences and the breathtaking beauty of an undersea world. I wholeheartedly agree. During my recent vacation in Palawan, I was exploring the reefs surrounding several tropical islands. As I submerged, only the soft soothing rhythmic sounds of bubbles were audible. I stopped swimming and allowed my body to drift. Alone in my thoughts with no distractions, I wanted this moment to last forever. My mind was physically and spiritually thousands of miles away from the cares and concerns of my life.

 

The last few months had been very trying. I was preoccupied with many pressing issues in my company. It had strained relationships both with my employees and professional colleagues and had leaked over into my family life. I had not been sleeping well and I was constantly tired and worn out by my workload. Submerged in this idyllic setting, I was thankful for the peace but lamented that it was only temporary. 

 

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Psalms 94:19 (ESV)

 

We all seek peace in our lives. However, sometimes we substitute pleasure for this peace and joy. Some attempt to find it through escapism, anesthetizing their concerns and pains with drugs or alcohol. Others find distractions like a hobby or travel to divert their attention from their responsibilities. Christian apologist and evangelist, Ravi Zacharias, wrote, “All pleasure must be bought at a price. Pleasure is a means not an end. Joy should be the greater end. God is the source of all good pleasure.”

 

God knows about all of the cares and concerns of our hearts, even before we are completely aware of them. He can bring complete peace to our life when we completely submerge our soul within His Holy Spirit. All we need to do is be still and listen to His Voice.

 

Be still, and know that I am God…

Psalms 46:10 (ESV)

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

 

In one well-known medical textbook of Pediatrics, written in the 1970s, there is a shocking statement that reads, “Children with Down syndrome are usually institutionalized.” While this may have been the prevailing state of medical care at that time, I can proudly attest this is no longer the case. My son, who has Down Syndrome, attends a public high school, participates in basketball and cross country, and has filled our home with numerous ceramic pieces which he has created. Institutionalized? Our family and our world are richer because of the heroic efforts of many brave advocates and champions of children and adults with Down Syndrome who have tirelessly worked to dispel negative stereotypes.

 

Sadly, the stereotypes still persist, particularly amongst older individuals who were influenced by the words of this pediatric textbook and other pundits of the day. Just before my son was born, several people, of an older generation, discreetly approached me and asked me if my wife and I were considering institutionalizing our son, or even considering putting him up for adoption. The audacity and insensitivity of these statements still astound me, yet my anger was tempered by the realization they were only repeating what they had read or heard from others of their generation.

 

Written words have a powerful influence on people’s beliefs, especially when it is published in what is regarded as a reliable source of information. Many people quote the Bible, regardless of whether they believe in God or Jesus Christ. Some believe it may lend credibility to their argument, others do it only to curry favor with those who profess Christianity as their religion, and a few quote selected verses because they believe there is an embedded inherent Truth found in the Words, like any great work of religious literature like the Talmud or Bhagavad Gita. Why should the Bible be any different from anything else we read today?

 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 (ESV)

 

Words have the power to move and influence people and when it is from the Bible, it is much more. It is the living Jesus Christ, God incarnate. No other religious work and no scholarly article or book ever make this claim. Jesus Christ proved it by coming to earth as a man, living a perfect sinless life, and crucified on the Cross. Three days later, God raised Him from the dead proving that everyone who places their faith and trust in Him and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will have salvation and eternal life. 

 

Jesus Christ said He is the Living Word of God. The Bible is God’s Word. It is the only book that we can completely believe and trust. 

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

Researchers state that memories that are formed in childhood are different from the memories formed later in life. Educators have recognized this and promote the exposure and learning of several languages in early childhood. While I was not the beneficiary of such language exposure, I had an equally important exposure which positively affected my upbringing.

 

My parents had the keen foresight to purchase an encyclopedia set for me when I was only 6 years old. I fell in love with it and spent every free moment reading it from cover to cover, all twenty-plus volumes. I am still amazed at how many minuscule and seemingly useless facts I can still recall since the time I first read them over 50 years ago. The average distance of the earth to the sun is 93 million miles. A dromedary is a one-humped camel and a bactrian has two-humps. I think I had a legitimate shot at winning on “Jeopardy” before I was a teenager!

 

I sometimes wonder if I had been fortunate enough to have been raised in a Christian family or attended a Christian church and read the Bible, what would I be retaining today? I came to God and Christianity as a young adult in college. I have always felt as though I was playing “catch up” with other Christians who knew Jesus Christ and the Bible from childhood. One incident reminded me of this when I was attempting to remember the Babylonian names that were given to Daniel and his friends when they were taken captive. As I fumbled through the names, several other adults chimed in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego!” 

 

“Wow, that’s impressive!”

 

They all laughed and my friend spoke up, “We used to sing this in Sunday school when we were kids! Never forgot those names!”

 

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 (KJ21)

 

Whether it is discussing these blogs with my daughter and seeing how God’s Word can be applied to everyday situations or memorizing Bible verses with my son, I am keenly aware that the window of childhood is quickly closing. I pray that God’s Word will remain in their hearts and minds and they will be able to raise their children in a godly home.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

Pitchers in baseball are broadly categorized as starters, relievers, and closers. Most starters do not pitch an entire game, even if superbly pitching, since it is more important to preserve their pitching arm, not risking any injury. Enter the reliever and closer. These specialized pitchers perform a critical function by preserving the lead and securing the win. To recognize their contribution, the term “save” is used when successful. Recently I was watching a baseball game and witnessed what I thought was a save by the closer. However, after a discussion with an aficionado of baseball, he questioned me, “Is it a save?” We realized that we both did not know the strict operational definition of a “save.” We soon found the answer.

1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
2. He is not the winning pitcher;
3. He is credited with at least ⅓ of an inning pitched; and
4. He satisfies one of the following conditions:
   1. He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
   2. He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
   3. He pitches for at least three innings.

Source: Official Rules of Major League Baseball

 

In our case, this closer, although performing admirably, preserving the lead, and securing the win after pitching one inning, did not fulfill the criteria of a save because he entered the game with a lead of four runs. I was intrigued by this formal definition and the criteria that one needs to fulfill in order to be credited with a save. Sometimes a perceived save is not a save.

 

Could a Christian lose their salvation? I struggled with the security of my salvation for many years. Perhaps being saved is not truly saved? Was I simply deluding myself into believing that I was saved but never truly made a decisive decision?  What if I committed a heinous sin, would God still forgive me? 

 

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

John 10:27-30 (ESV)

 

It took many years of digging through the Bible and meditating upon the many verses discussing salvation. The verse quoted above is affirming the glorious Truth that once someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are saved for eternity. No person, no action, not even Satan will ever cause a saved person to lose their security and sanctity of salvation with God. Once saved, always saved.

 

Is it a save?

Thanks be to Jesus Christ who died and was resurrected so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life!

 

Amen!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

It was my freshman year in college and I was rushing to return to my college dormitory to drop off my books and head to the dining hall. When I entered the dorm, I was surprised to see a large crowd huddled around the front desk. They were all glued to the small television broadcasting a news event. I couldn’t decipher the newscaster’s message so I asked in a loud voice, “What’s going on?”

 

One of the students shouted, “President Reagan’s been shot!” Another immediately chimed in, “Yeah! He was shot!” He was pumping his fist and maniacally smiling. I watched a few more seconds to confirm the grim news. I reviewed the now-familiar images of March 30th, 1981, when a lone gunman, attempted to assassinate then-President Reagan. I was horrified by the event but was even more appalled by the response of my college classmates. 

 

“Cmon guys!” I said as if speaking to a blank wall. “This is the President who was shot!”

 

“Good!” came the sardonic reply. 

 

I lingered a few more seconds and then shuffled off to my room. It was my first introduction to how hostile political loyalties can warp our moral sensibilities. Even if I do not agree with the political policies of our leaders, I have never wished death upon them. Apparently, on that day, I was definitely in the minority. Thank goodness we, as a nation, have evolved since then!

 

In this hyper-politically charged world we live, violence has frequently erupted against someone if they even suggest they are supporting one political party or candidate over another. Christians are not immune to this name-calling. It is foolish and narrow-minded to label all Christians as conservatives just as it is equally foolhardy to label all liberals as humanists. Life and politics are not that black and white. We should respect and honor our leaders, regardless of whether we agree with their policies and ideologies. Sadly, this is no longer the case as anyone living in this world can attest.

 

What is the Christian response to this?

 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 (ESV)

 

Christians are commanded to pray and honor all of our leaders. While we may not agree with all of their policies, we should support them as long as their policies do not go against the teachings of God and the Bible. As the Apostle Peter stated to the Roman authorities when they were asked to stop preaching Jesus Christ, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29 ESV)

 

Since that day in 1981, there have been five presidents. I have certainly not agreed with all of their policies, regardless of their political affiliations, but I have prayed for all of them and will continue to do so. All leaders will someday answer to God for their actions. I pray that God will always guide our leaders to do what is best for our nation and our world.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

My father was a general dentist in Hawaii and for my entire childhood, he was the only dentist who ever examined me and performed my dental work. After moving away from Hawaii, several years quickly passed after my father’s last dental examination so I was delighted to learn that the woman I was currently dating, my future wife, was a pediatric dentist. A few months after we met, I asked her if she would examine my teeth. Thankfully the exam was pleasant and painless. After she examined me, she proceeded to scale the tartar that had accumulated. Several minutes later, she instructed me to rinse my mouth. I squirted some water from the tubing that I was holding into my mouth. After swishing, I looked around on both sides of the reclining chair. She silently observed me for a few seconds with a bemused smile on her face as I squirmed in one direction and another. “What are you looking for?”

 

“I’m looking for the spit basin!” I mumbled, my mouth filled with the slurpy mixture of water and spit.

 

“Spit basin?” My future wife looked at me with a quizzical look. 

 

“Yes, you know, the thing that you spit in after rinsing your mouth.”

 

“You mean, a cuspidor?’

 

“Cuspidor! Is that what it’s called? Well, yes, then!”

 

She laughed. “We don’t use cuspidors any longer. We use this suction.” With that, she handed me a clear plastic tube and instructed me to place it in my mouth and close my lips over it. Instantaneously, the vacuum sucked out my oral contents.

 

“Wow! So much easier than spitting!” I declared. 

 

“No worries! Some older offices use a cuspidor and in dental school, that is what we used. It still works!”

 

I was looking for the old and familiar, the dental office I had grown up with my father. Even though the cuspidor performed the same function, there was something better. Life sometimes feels like this. In this hyper-accelerated connected world, we receive instantaneous replies through text messaging and emails. Even the art of writing a thank you letter is becoming passe. Regardless of how the message is conveyed, it is not the mode of communication, it is the substance of the message that matters. A cursory thanks with an emoji on a text message is a poor substitute. Call me a Luddite but nothing should or could ever replace the personal touch of a well-composed hand-written letter.

 

What about our relationship with God? When we read the Old Testament, we learn of many older traditions such as animal sacrifices and the temple worship that were expected of a faithful Jewish worshiper. In fact, there were 613 laws that all Jews were expected to obey. It was a monumental task but it did point to something better. The laws were a tutor to guide the Jews to Jesus Christ so that they may be justified by faith, not by only following laws (Galatians 3:24). The laws pointed to something greater and better.

 

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 9:13-15 (ESV)

Spit basin and cuspidor. 

 

Animal sacrifices and temple worship. 

 

All point to something greater and better. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament. He is the Messiah the Jewish people were expecting. 

 

What am I looking for? 

 

For many years I was lost in life. I was looking for something better but did not know what it was. I found it in Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of all of the Jewish prophesies of the Bible and the completion of the Jewish laws. He is the true Messiah for the entire world for all who confess and repent of their sins and accept Him as Lord and Savior. 

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

“I would like to invite Jake and his wife, Sally, to join us in prayer. For those of you know them, please feel free to come forward and place your hands on them in prayerful agreement.”

 

The middle-aged man and his wife were seated in the front row, directly facing the senior pastor. As they stood, a crowd gathered around and proceeded to embrace them. “This is the last step in the restoration process. Jake is on a journey, the same one that all of us are on. Some of you may look at a leader like Jake and lionize him for what he is doing, others may still harbor resentment for what he has done. We are all sinners, saved only by the mercy and grace of God through faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

 

This was a public restoration for a pastor who resigned his position as the senior pastor of the church I had been attending for the past year and a half. While I was unfamiliar with the exact details, it was a scandal that occurred five years earlier that tore the church apart, leading many in the congregation to leave, resulting in a succession of temporary pastors as a search for a permanent senior pastor ensued. At the same time, this man and his wife attended another church under the direct supervision of the pastors and elders of that church, who oversaw his rehabilitation. During this time, this former pastor repented of his sins and after several months of meetings between the leadership of both churches, it was agreed the former pastor was ready to be restored to fellowship with his former church. He and his wife would be allowed to attend all worship services and any event that occurred at the church but he would not be allowed to teach or have any leadership position.

 

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:1-2 (ESV)

 

Discipline in the Bible is very clearly stated, but very seldom enforced. It is a divisive topic and all Christians must guard against casually calling for the church to intervene in any small disagreement. This former pastor’s actions still evoked a wide range of emotions and responses from the congregation that had endured the past five years. Uneasiness. Joy. Confusion. Anger. As if he were anticipating this, the current senior pastor wrote the following in a church email sent out the next day, “We hope this may serve as an illustration of hope. The specific situation our church experienced over the last five years may not apply to you directly, but God’s power to restore is available in the same way. We are praying that this journey will help those who are wounded by the sin of others to believe healing is possible and to encourage those who have caused wounds to trust God’s mercy.”

 

Sensitive, direct, and completely centered upon God and His Word.

 

God asks us to trust and obey Him. Whether the task is easy, convenient, or upsetting-God’s commandments are given to be followed. His grace, love, and mercy are sufficient for us in every situation we encounter. His power continues to restore our lives.

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

The crowd was wildly cheering and the loudspeakers were blasting a celebratory song. The Los Angeles Dodgers had won the baseball game! Across the packed stadium, fans were high-fiving each other and shouting what was being lit up on the scoreboards that encircled us, “We Win!” Even as our family exited the stadium, the revelry continued and random groups of people were celebrating with various dances and yells. The excitement was infectious! We were sharing the victory with the winning team!

 

Less than twelve hours later, I was sitting in our Sunday worship service and singing a rousing worship song. One of the verses I sang stated, “Death could not hold You!” Several voices rang out in unison, “Yes!” The excitement built and by the end of the song, the congregation was on their feet, hands raised in the air, fists pumping. When the last note was sung, spontaneous applause erupted. The excitement was also infectious but it was different than the baseball game.

 

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57 (ESV)

The win at the Dodger game was exciting and I shared in the celebration, but it was a win achieved by the baseball players. Jesus’ victory was not a vicarious victory for us to celebrate. He gave us the victory. We win because Jesus won! His victory over death gives us eternal life and salvation. We live because He lives. 

 

Amen! 

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.