Before I went to sleep last night, I read a story.
(Excerpt taken from By Their Blood,: Christian Martyrs from the Twentieth Century and Beyond by James C. Hefley, Marti Hefley)
One of those who escaped the camp was a young girl of eighteen who stumbled into an American camp. "Are you in pain?" a nurse asked when she arrived.
"No," she replied, "but I have learned the meaning of the cross." The nurse thought she was mentally disoriented and questioned her further. Pulling down the one garment she wore, the young girl exposed a bare shoulder. There, burned deeply into her flesh, was the figure of the cross.
"I was caught with others in my village. The Turks stood me up and asked, 'Muhammad or Christ?' I said, 'Christ. Always Christ.' For seven days they asked me this same question and each day when I said 'Christ', a part of this cross was burned into my shoulder. On the seventh day they said, 'Tomorrow if you say 'Muhammad' you will live. If not, you will die.' Then we heard that Americans were near and some of us escaped. That is how I learned the meaning of the cross."
This incident happened during the Armenian Memorial Day Massacre on April 24, 1915. Even though this scenario happened almost 100 years ago, this level of persecution is still prevalent today. But for us living in our comfy homes, nice cars, and more luxuries than we can count, we face the same question the young girl did. It might not be choosing between Muhammad or Christ...but between the music you listen to...or Christ. Hanging out with your friends....or Christ. Being quiet....or Christ. What would you choose? In every scenario, do you choose Christ? Always?
Think about it...
God bless,
Jobbin
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Jesus Paid it All!!
"Jesus paidd it allll, alll to Him I owweee... Sin had left a crimson stain, He wasshhed it white as snow, HE washed it white as SNOW!" (hear the music? feel the slow, but steady build-up? can't wait to jump into that excrutiatingly loud bridge line?? - OH PRAISE THE ONE WHO PAID MY DEBT, and RAISED THIS LIFE UP FROM THE DEAD!)
Ahh... good 'ole worship... we know what's going to happen, so we plan for it, we practice it, we stick to the moment and get all that we can out of it......... and then Monday hits and we find ourselves, on our knees at 10pm, prayyyying to God, "God, please forgive me! Take away my sin, wash me and purify me, make me whole once again!!" - possibly cry out and shed a few tears (possibly) until we feel reassured and feel a little better that God has once again provided His amazing mercy and grace over our lives...
The days go by and the weekend hits, and what feels to be a dry spout again in our life begins to become a BUBBLING spring!! (it's bubbling, it's bubbling.. it's bubbling in my SOUL!) YEY, the weekend!! A time of deliverance, revival, fellowship with our Christian friends, a time of meetings and church services.... another opportunity to be fake in the prescence of God all over again!!! YEY!! .......
Some of you might have caught that. Others.. not so much :) That's okay, I have yet to 'preach' or tell a person something that I have not struggled with myself. This is how I know that even the "least of these" can be used to bring God glory.
But I've been thinking about all that God has done for us. The amount of Love that He had for us to give up His Son upon that cross - with each and every hammer slammed against the nails, our flesh, our SIN, was being hung up on that cross...
I recently read a devotional about how our God is The Good Shepherd - you see, shepherds don't beat their sheep and hope they go in the right direction that he wants them to go... NOPE, instead, the shepherd would spend every moment of his life taking care of his sheep, whether awake or asleep, he is there among his sheep. If the pen that the sheep are in doesn't have a gate, the shepherd would actually sleep in the opening of the pen, so that none would get out (or come in) without his knowledge. He is their protector and he lays down his life for his sheep. Spending time amongst his sheep, he develops an amazing relationship with his sheep, and in turn, the sheep look to the shepherd for guidance because they acknowledge he is their master.
With all that God has given up for us, although we will never be able to fully repay Him, shouldn't we at least offer up ourselves to Him as a "reasonable sacrifice" and devote our time and efforts to Him? Not JUST on the weekends? Maybe with all that God has given up for us, shouldn't we at LEAST be adament in our walk with Him to not stray off His path that He wants for us? Maybe... just mayyyybe we can sing a song to Him and not just mean it for the moment, but also mean it come Monday morning, and all throughout the week JUST by living it out in our lives??
Maybe. I encourage you guys - be conscious of all that He has done for us, live a life pure in His eyes, and not just because we're "supposed to" - becuase it's not about the rules, it's about the relationship. So... let's bring truth to this statement:
"Sin has left a crimson stain, HE WASHED IT WHITE AS SNOW"
If it has been washed, and we believe it, let's not turn back to it. He deserves more of us than this...
God bless
Ahh... good 'ole worship... we know what's going to happen, so we plan for it, we practice it, we stick to the moment and get all that we can out of it......... and then Monday hits and we find ourselves, on our knees at 10pm, prayyyying to God, "God, please forgive me! Take away my sin, wash me and purify me, make me whole once again!!" - possibly cry out and shed a few tears (possibly) until we feel reassured and feel a little better that God has once again provided His amazing mercy and grace over our lives...
The days go by and the weekend hits, and what feels to be a dry spout again in our life begins to become a BUBBLING spring!! (it's bubbling, it's bubbling.. it's bubbling in my SOUL!) YEY, the weekend!! A time of deliverance, revival, fellowship with our Christian friends, a time of meetings and church services.... another opportunity to be fake in the prescence of God all over again!!! YEY!! .......
Some of you might have caught that. Others.. not so much :) That's okay, I have yet to 'preach' or tell a person something that I have not struggled with myself. This is how I know that even the "least of these" can be used to bring God glory.
But I've been thinking about all that God has done for us. The amount of Love that He had for us to give up His Son upon that cross - with each and every hammer slammed against the nails, our flesh, our SIN, was being hung up on that cross...
I recently read a devotional about how our God is The Good Shepherd - you see, shepherds don't beat their sheep and hope they go in the right direction that he wants them to go... NOPE, instead, the shepherd would spend every moment of his life taking care of his sheep, whether awake or asleep, he is there among his sheep. If the pen that the sheep are in doesn't have a gate, the shepherd would actually sleep in the opening of the pen, so that none would get out (or come in) without his knowledge. He is their protector and he lays down his life for his sheep. Spending time amongst his sheep, he develops an amazing relationship with his sheep, and in turn, the sheep look to the shepherd for guidance because they acknowledge he is their master.
With all that God has given up for us, although we will never be able to fully repay Him, shouldn't we at least offer up ourselves to Him as a "reasonable sacrifice" and devote our time and efforts to Him? Not JUST on the weekends? Maybe with all that God has given up for us, shouldn't we at LEAST be adament in our walk with Him to not stray off His path that He wants for us? Maybe... just mayyyybe we can sing a song to Him and not just mean it for the moment, but also mean it come Monday morning, and all throughout the week JUST by living it out in our lives??
Maybe. I encourage you guys - be conscious of all that He has done for us, live a life pure in His eyes, and not just because we're "supposed to" - becuase it's not about the rules, it's about the relationship. So... let's bring truth to this statement:
"Sin has left a crimson stain, HE WASHED IT WHITE AS SNOW"
If it has been washed, and we believe it, let's not turn back to it. He deserves more of us than this...
God bless
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
His Calling or Your Comfort?
Hey guys, hope all is going well on your end. God has been good to me since I posted last, and He continues to be a great God in my life.
Today, I woke up wanting to listen to some good ol' Christian tunes, so I jumped onto Youtube and began to search away. I came across a band named BarlowGirl...yes it is an all-girl band but for those who know me well, know that I listen to anything and everything:)..There was a song title that jumped out at me..Stay with me...I was wondering what that meant exactly so I clicked on the link.
The video began with the lead singer talking to a crowd they were playing for. She told them a story of a time when her band was going through some tough times. I don't want to spoil the true essence of her words by mixing it with my own so I'll let you watch the video and take from it what you will and what God wants you to learn from it. But, when I watched this video, alot of things started to make sense in my life. I learned that God is not going to pick you up and take you directly to your purpose and your final destination in His calling. And many of us hear this all the time but, God never places us in front of a wall that He knows we can't overcome. And Alyssa (lead singer of BarlowGirl), said that she wanted to quit serving him because He was making life so difficult for her.
Sometimes it might seem like a problem the size of the Great wall of China is standing before us, but we must remind ourselves that our God is a living God, and he already overcame this "Great wall of China" before and He can do it again. We as humans become so distraught by the laziness we feel and begin to forget that God isn't here to make life the most comfortable experience. We as Christians, must put our comfort on the back burner as we walk in the faith.
As she was sitting in her car complaining to God, she felt Him ask her something. He said that He hears from alot of Christians asking Him to get them out of hard times. But at the same time, they want to know their purpose and pursue their calling. They don't remember asking Him for His hand to work in their lives.
The message that I received from this song and Alyssa's brief testimony was that the hard times are what makes us stronger in the faith, it exercises our patience and makes it flourish so that when we come to face other roadblocks in this walk with God, we have the strength and the tools to overcome them with ease.
Thanks for reading and meditating on this:)
Jonathan
Today, I woke up wanting to listen to some good ol' Christian tunes, so I jumped onto Youtube and began to search away. I came across a band named BarlowGirl...yes it is an all-girl band but for those who know me well, know that I listen to anything and everything:)..There was a song title that jumped out at me..Stay with me...I was wondering what that meant exactly so I clicked on the link.
The video began with the lead singer talking to a crowd they were playing for. She told them a story of a time when her band was going through some tough times. I don't want to spoil the true essence of her words by mixing it with my own so I'll let you watch the video and take from it what you will and what God wants you to learn from it. But, when I watched this video, alot of things started to make sense in my life. I learned that God is not going to pick you up and take you directly to your purpose and your final destination in His calling. And many of us hear this all the time but, God never places us in front of a wall that He knows we can't overcome. And Alyssa (lead singer of BarlowGirl), said that she wanted to quit serving him because He was making life so difficult for her.
Sometimes it might seem like a problem the size of the Great wall of China is standing before us, but we must remind ourselves that our God is a living God, and he already overcame this "Great wall of China" before and He can do it again. We as humans become so distraught by the laziness we feel and begin to forget that God isn't here to make life the most comfortable experience. We as Christians, must put our comfort on the back burner as we walk in the faith.
As she was sitting in her car complaining to God, she felt Him ask her something. He said that He hears from alot of Christians asking Him to get them out of hard times. But at the same time, they want to know their purpose and pursue their calling. They don't remember asking Him for His hand to work in their lives.
The message that I received from this song and Alyssa's brief testimony was that the hard times are what makes us stronger in the faith, it exercises our patience and makes it flourish so that when we come to face other roadblocks in this walk with God, we have the strength and the tools to overcome them with ease.
Thanks for reading and meditating on this:)
Jonathan
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Hold on to Jesus
Hey guys I was just thinking how amazing Jesus spoke to the people about life matters within practical everyday analogies that the simple minded people knew. For example, I've been looking at John 15:1-8, the parable of the vine and branch. He knew the majority of everyone were farmers so he chose a topic that everyone understood already. Basically, in a nut shell you have a vine which is what the branches are attached to. If the the branches are not attached to the vine, the branches will not get stronger and not produce fruit and will die. Spiritually speaking we are the branches and Jesus is the vine. When we hold on to Jesus, we are able to be sustained and able to produce fruit. Also, something that has been on my heart for awhile, I feel we as the youth in the church we start losing connection with Jesus the moment we compromise our values/beliefs so that we can " hang out " with people. Don't ever forget who you are and in any situation HOLD ON TO JESUS.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Flying High
I walked out of the house to go to work this morning and it looked horrible. Dark clouds, monsoon type rain, and plus its only Wednesday. This is just adding up to be a great day <----(sarcasm). And just to make matters worse....I have a MILLION things to do....new responsibilities at work, ministry projects coming up, and a little thing called life.
But then I got an email that just changed my day completely around. A few months ago, our ministry held an event called Jesusade, a fund raising basketball tournament that helped build a well in Africa through The Water Project. We had a lot of fun organizing and planning the event and donated almost $2,000. After the event, we all felt really great, but life just moved on.
To be honest, since that tournament, life has been super-overwhelming for me and there have been plenty of times that I wanted to take a break from ministry and just focus on life. But this email changed all that. The President of the Water Project sent me an update on how our donations from last year are being used. With the help of the Chicago community, we were able to build a well for the Butere Girls High School in Kenya to serve over 1,200 students and 120 staff!!! (see pic above)
Talk about encouragement! Just the little work that we did as a community helped out young kids who needed fresh drinking water halfway across the globe. Not to boast in ourselves at all, but this is all by God's grace. We have so much and when you give back and literally see the impact, it is amazing.
I read a verse on this cool website called verseoftheday.com and today's verse was awesome and relates to this soo much:
"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and will not be faint.
— Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)"
Who cares if its Wednesday, muggy, cloudy, and raining. I'm soaring.
Check out more details on our project at: http://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/kenya/new-well-in-kenya-418
God bless,
Jobbin
Hey guys,
I came across an interesting passage this morning, which ties into the two things I wanted to talk about in my blog this week :) haha - lucky me, the Bible has everything!! LOL
Before I tell you the passage though, I'll tell you what lead me up to it... for the past couple weeks I've been planning and praying about the mission trip that I'm going on to Mumbai, India this August... and through the time spent in prayer, and even in the planning itself - I have felt more convicted of things that i felt was "okay" and "just jokes" than I EVER have felt convicted of in the past... I heard a testimony of a woman who, as a child, was sold into slavery - and no, not the "forced-labor" slavery; rather, she was forced into sex-slavery. She was held down, and raped when she refused to be a part of such an industry... she was entrapped for 3 years, used and only spoken to for illicit sexual pleasures of immoral men and women... she slowly became one of them, and became an owner of a brothel herself - even after having the horrid memories lurking in her mind, yet SIN held onto her - it grasped her in every aspect of her life, and she couldn't let go... until she met Christ. That was when she put aside her past, opened up a Jubilee home for women undergoing such issues & slavery and persistently serves her Maker now in all aspects of her life... how or why the sudden change? Because, she met Christ.
So I began to pray, and the Spirit pressed harder on me than ever before - He questioned, why is it that we can know Christ all of our lives and become so complacent with things? Our words, our actions, our thoughts, our jokes. I really want you to take a look at your life (this goes for me as well) and question yourself... when you met Christ - did it change your life? You may say yes, of course it did! Okay - that's all good and all, but now ask this... Now that you've already met Christ, does your life still reflect that change?? Or does it find a balance with this world? Do you not smoke, drink, and go to a strip club, so... at least it's some justification to talk, act, and joke around impurely?
Now for the second part of thsi story... so the other night I was going to Subway after the gym and this homeless guy was outside and he asked me for bus fair... I had very little change on me, so I gave him what was in my pocket... I wanted to spend more time there... but for some reason, I didn't. So, I'm standing in line at Subway, and the homeless guy walks in... I thought, maybe I should buy him food? But he was just asking for bus fair... maybe I could've asked him if he was hungry... but I didn't. The guy sits down in the Subway, and honestly, his smell stenched up the place... like it was BAD!!! But no one in line said a word... a moment later, one of the ladies behind the glass pipes up and says "get up on outta here"... "yeah, I'm talking to you! you can't be in here like that... get up... get UP, and get OUT." I dunno guys... I felt SO horrible for him... all of these thoughts raced through my head... and before I knew it... he was gone. I WISH I would've said he's with me. Or I WISH I would've initially offered him food, so he didn't have to be humiliated like that... I WISH I could've offered him shelter, a shower, or even a decent meal.. I drove away that night wondering... WHY THE HECK AM I SO BLESSED?? Like, what makes me so important that I get to have a clean shower and a meal that night, but yet, he's still out there somewhere... and EVEN if he WAS lying, and he wasn't really homeless... he doesn't have to be there! He does not have to be stuck in that situation to feel that he has to lie to people for money... I dunno guys, that really hit me hard.
So this morning I read this:
James 1:26-27 - If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (NIV)
I dunno guys, it's time to step our game up... this life isn't about attaining jobs, or pursuing our studies, it's about what GOD wants to do with us - in our every word, action, thought, & even joke :)
(hopefully, this all made some sense! haha)
God bless!
I came across an interesting passage this morning, which ties into the two things I wanted to talk about in my blog this week :) haha - lucky me, the Bible has everything!! LOL
Before I tell you the passage though, I'll tell you what lead me up to it... for the past couple weeks I've been planning and praying about the mission trip that I'm going on to Mumbai, India this August... and through the time spent in prayer, and even in the planning itself - I have felt more convicted of things that i felt was "okay" and "just jokes" than I EVER have felt convicted of in the past... I heard a testimony of a woman who, as a child, was sold into slavery - and no, not the "forced-labor" slavery; rather, she was forced into sex-slavery. She was held down, and raped when she refused to be a part of such an industry... she was entrapped for 3 years, used and only spoken to for illicit sexual pleasures of immoral men and women... she slowly became one of them, and became an owner of a brothel herself - even after having the horrid memories lurking in her mind, yet SIN held onto her - it grasped her in every aspect of her life, and she couldn't let go... until she met Christ. That was when she put aside her past, opened up a Jubilee home for women undergoing such issues & slavery and persistently serves her Maker now in all aspects of her life... how or why the sudden change? Because, she met Christ.
So I began to pray, and the Spirit pressed harder on me than ever before - He questioned, why is it that we can know Christ all of our lives and become so complacent with things? Our words, our actions, our thoughts, our jokes. I really want you to take a look at your life (this goes for me as well) and question yourself... when you met Christ - did it change your life? You may say yes, of course it did! Okay - that's all good and all, but now ask this... Now that you've already met Christ, does your life still reflect that change?? Or does it find a balance with this world? Do you not smoke, drink, and go to a strip club, so... at least it's some justification to talk, act, and joke around impurely?
Now for the second part of thsi story... so the other night I was going to Subway after the gym and this homeless guy was outside and he asked me for bus fair... I had very little change on me, so I gave him what was in my pocket... I wanted to spend more time there... but for some reason, I didn't. So, I'm standing in line at Subway, and the homeless guy walks in... I thought, maybe I should buy him food? But he was just asking for bus fair... maybe I could've asked him if he was hungry... but I didn't. The guy sits down in the Subway, and honestly, his smell stenched up the place... like it was BAD!!! But no one in line said a word... a moment later, one of the ladies behind the glass pipes up and says "get up on outta here"... "yeah, I'm talking to you! you can't be in here like that... get up... get UP, and get OUT." I dunno guys... I felt SO horrible for him... all of these thoughts raced through my head... and before I knew it... he was gone. I WISH I would've said he's with me. Or I WISH I would've initially offered him food, so he didn't have to be humiliated like that... I WISH I could've offered him shelter, a shower, or even a decent meal.. I drove away that night wondering... WHY THE HECK AM I SO BLESSED?? Like, what makes me so important that I get to have a clean shower and a meal that night, but yet, he's still out there somewhere... and EVEN if he WAS lying, and he wasn't really homeless... he doesn't have to be there! He does not have to be stuck in that situation to feel that he has to lie to people for money... I dunno guys, that really hit me hard.
So this morning I read this:
James 1:26-27 - If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (NIV)
I dunno guys, it's time to step our game up... this life isn't about attaining jobs, or pursuing our studies, it's about what GOD wants to do with us - in our every word, action, thought, & even joke :)
(hopefully, this all made some sense! haha)
God bless!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Live my life through Gods eyes
"Live my life through Gods eyes, and not my own" – John Halgrim
A friend of mine shared this video with me and it really touched my heart. It is a powerful testimony about a young teenage boy named John Halgrim who had a dream to help young kids in Africa. John was diagnosed with a brain tumor in March of 2006 and lost his battle against the brain tumor in November of 2007. John was a young boy with a huge heart for young African children. John gained a passion to save these young kids from slavery, hunger, and homelessness. John explained that he always went to church, but never really had a relationship with God. He became close to God when he became ill, and learned what his purpose in life was. John teaches us that going to church every Sunday is not enough. We need to have a relationship with God and help the weak and unsaved in this world. One quote that John said that really touched my heart was “I want people to remember me as follower of God”.
When we leave this world, how do you want people to remember you by? We need to show the world who are. We need to be proud to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We need to express his love toward one another and help those who are in need.
- Joel Varghese
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJD1r374uW8
A friend of mine shared this video with me and it really touched my heart. It is a powerful testimony about a young teenage boy named John Halgrim who had a dream to help young kids in Africa. John was diagnosed with a brain tumor in March of 2006 and lost his battle against the brain tumor in November of 2007. John was a young boy with a huge heart for young African children. John gained a passion to save these young kids from slavery, hunger, and homelessness. John explained that he always went to church, but never really had a relationship with God. He became close to God when he became ill, and learned what his purpose in life was. John teaches us that going to church every Sunday is not enough. We need to have a relationship with God and help the weak and unsaved in this world. One quote that John said that really touched my heart was “I want people to remember me as follower of God”.
When we leave this world, how do you want people to remember you by? We need to show the world who are. We need to be proud to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We need to express his love toward one another and help those who are in need.
- Joel Varghese
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJD1r374uW8
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