NY/NJ Trip Part 1

God revealed the Pharisee in me (again) these past few week… I recently attended a business training conference in New Jersey where I met and listened to the stories of many successful people in the financial industry. To my surprise, many of these millionaires were much more humble, disciplined, passionate, and lived with so much more conviction than most Christians I know including myself. Two thoughts came to mind:
a. What is the difference between Christians and non-Christians? These non-Christians seem to be producing very good fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). Their marriages are strong and they live with a mission to serve others. As I was wrestling with this question and even comparing my own life with theirs, God reminded me of a passage we discussed during Sunday school, the riddle in Psalm 49. “But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them… But God will redeem my life from the grave. Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will descend with him… A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.” Wow… This pretty much goes to say those Christians trust in God and non-Christians trust in themselves (or was that more from Psalm 73?) The only difference if that Christ redeems the lives of those who place their trust in him instead of what they build up on this earth. Then I thought… 
b. These people are so worldly, living and chasing after success in this world even though it will not last. They appear satisfied, content, claiming to experience “true” freedom and joy in life…. I shouldn’t follow them, they chase after things of this world while I have kingdom work that can last for all eternity. I better not get into business with these guys…. While these statements may be true, my real thought was, “I don’t want to be associated with these sinners.” That night God pointed me to the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee prayed about himself saying “God, I thank you that I am not like other men- robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” The tax collector simply says, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” He didn’t compare himself with anyone else like the Pharisee did. He simply saw himself as a sinner before God and nothing else mattered. Because of that, God exalts him. Too often I miss out on God because I’m too busy comparing myself with others, whether in dance abilities, serving in the church, the way I dress, etc. I lose out on giving thanks to God and worshiping Him. I’m thankful for the weekly reminders from FAP to pray with thanksgiving and with the understanding that we desperately need his mercy every day. 
c. There is a third thought that I am quite ashamed to share about. But I will share because I know God wants to uproot this sin and redeem this area of my life. 70% of the associates at the business convention were middle-aged Chinese immigrants. In the middle of the conference, I felt super uncomfortable and thought “I can’t believe I have to learn and get advice in this business from a bunch of Chinese people.” In that thought, God revealed a deep prejudice I had against the Chinese. Growing up, I often heard comments like “products made in China are bad” or “Chinese tourists are polluting our beautiful island” or “Chinese people are so loud and rude.” Sly comments like these, repeated over the years, implanted the thought that Taiwanese is better than Chinese. Straight up telling the truth here. It was much easier to hide this prejudice while growing up in a Chinese immigrant church because we were called to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. However, outside the church is really where that love gets tested. I failed, but God is addressing this issue by bringing more Chinese friends into my life. For that I am thankful. 
As God continues to expose my pride, I'm learning to look to Christ, as the ultimate demonstration of humility, "who being in very nature God did not consider himself equality with God something to be grasped. But made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a serving, being made in human likeness. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a Cross!" (Philippians 2) Thank you for your great example, Lord. 

ESV Study Bible

I received an ESV Study Bible this year as a graduation gift from a close family friend. So far, I've been putting it to good use by utilizing the commentaries, the online features, and following their Bible reading plan. I especially enjoy the "Listen" feature, where a man reads the passages aloud. Listening to his voice is so much more interesting that listening to my own. Plus, he can actually pronounce the names correctly!

Today's readings on Genesis 3, Psalm 2, and Luke 1:57-80 gave me another picture of God's faithfulness throughout history. In Genesis, he promised that he would send someone to take down Satan (3:15) despite the fall of humanity and the punishments for their sins. In Psalm 2, the king, in which God has appointed over Israel, affirms the degree or covenant God made with David and Zachariah's hymn in Luke's passage is a praise to God for bringing the fulfillment of his promises through the coming of the Savior, Christ.

Other interesting topics include the various responses the characters have toward God and even people's response to sin. I will reflect more on these issues to understand how I ought to rightfully respond to God's promises by following the "way of the righteous" through faithful obedience.

Zechariah's Prophecy (Luke 1:67-79)68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 

67 And his father Zechariah ewas filled with the Holy Spirit and fprophesied, saying,

g“Blessed be the Lord hGod of Israel,

for he has ivisited and jredeemed his people

and khas raised up la horn of salvation for us

min the house of his servant David,

nas ohe spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

pthat we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us;

qto show the mercy promised to our fathers

and rto remember his holy scovenant,

tthe oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him uwithout fear,

vin holiness and righteousness before him wall our days.

And you, child, will be called xthe prophet of ythe Most High;

for zyou will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

ain the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the btender mercy of our God,

whereby cthe sunrise shall dvisit us1 efrom on high

to fgive light to gthose who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into hthe way of ipeace.”

Thankful for Opportunities

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18

Just a days ago my dad's cousin moved to Chicago from Taiwan with his wife and two boys, one 17 and the other 13 years old. We had a great time reconnecting with them and all our relatives during our Thanksgiving dinner today. My cousin, Leo, and I shared some of the challenges we faced as kids integrating into American schools, such as learning to make new friends, how to open the lockers, and deciding where to sit on the school bus. Somehow through these silly anecdotes, I was reminded of how thankful I am of my parents' decision to move our family to the U.S. to give my sister and I the opportunities we have today.

One of those opportunities was attending church for the first time with my aunt and uncle when I was in third grade, which led to a series of other opportunities to ask questions like "what is the trinity?", "what is the purpose of life?", "who is Jesus?", and "what is grace?" In the year following, I attended my very first retreat (well, at least that I can remember) called "Foolishness" with 1 Corinthians 1:18 as theme. After asking all the questions I could think of about God and getting most of them answered, I was confronted with, yet, another opportunity: to decide whether I considered the cross as foolishness or truly the power of God.

Thirteen years later, I am confronted with that decision again.... and again, and again, and even now. This confrontation exists because I choose my thoughts, my site, my words, my actions every second of my life (thank you Lord for the opportunity to choose). However, my choices are often influenced by my lust, my pride, and selfishness.

Confession: Prior to writing this post, I chose to spend 7200 seconds of my life feeding my lustful cravings. In those 7200 seconds, I did not consider the cross as foolish, but I decided that the cross did NOT have the power to save me. I was lost and did not want to be saved.

"I want to die longing to see the face of Christ.
But I know I would not wish to see his face at my deathbed
if I do not wish to see his face right now."

Your words sent chills down my spine because truthfully, I don't want to see His face right now. Not like this; not while I'm in this condition. Like Adam and Eve, guilt and shame prompted me to hide from the Lord's face. But like God Himself, He sought after me the very next second I tried to hide and gave me, yet, another opportunity. Right now, Sherry, do you believe that the cross in which I demonstrated my love for you has the power to make our relationship right again? Do you believe that I died and rose so that in this very moment, you can return to me again and that shame and guilt can no longer keep us apart? Do you, Sherry Lin, believe that My distinct ability to love you and save you from your current condition is the viable demonstration of My power and glory?

Yes, Lord. Show me your glory. I want to see your face.

As I approach graduation in three weeks, I am thankful for all the opportunities God has given me to know Him more, to comprehend His love a bit more. Thankful that He chose me and for the ability to choose Him back, which can only come from Him. I pray that my newly-immigrated relatives can also embrace the opportunities they'll have to come to know Jesus, too.

Lessons learned and to be learned

All my own desires aside... Should I stay or should I go?

Lessons I learned in college:
- the church is the vehicle in which God chooses to transform communities/lives (Acts 2)
- God invites us to participate in His mission to redeem lives through evangelism and discipleship (Matt 28)
- God cares for me and wants me to know and enjoy Him daily (Psalms)
- ministry is about people, not tasks

What I want to learn before I graduate:
- prayer allows us to see God's work around us
- prayer ushers in the Kingdom of God and reveals the power of God to the world (Matt 6)

Dear Lord,

Please continue to help us know what it means "to live is Christ and to die is gain." Lord, I pray for the many people in the World who are dying for the Gospel, they are gaining because they are with you. However, too many people are dying in Chicago that are NOT dying to gain eternity with You, but stolen/taken by Satan into hell. Lord, please bring your light into those areas, please teach us to understand the Gospel deeply that we may become that light into those dark areas. Lord, we lift up chicago to you.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Dejavu- Inspiration Kitchens

The scene of me sitting across Avril Greenberg, interviewing her about her job. in a restaurant. her getting up and attending to some need and coming back to sit down for the interview. Even the lighting. It all seems so familiar. I've had a dream with the exact same picture before. freaky. vision from God? Hm... maybe I should pay attention to my dreams more. This has happened before. cool....

Dreaming

I need space to write down all my dreams and ideas.

1. cafe restaurant training program for low-incomed men and women
2. entrusted talents in Chicago
- dance
- music
- spoken word
- drawing/painting/photography
3. Breakthrough Urban Ministries- Nutrition Program