Exposed

I've been listening to this sermon series on how we are "the salt and light of the world". It's a pretty standard message that, if you're a Christian, makes total sense and you've probably heard it as a kid. And I bet at this very moment, some of you are singing "this little light of mine" in your head. Admit it. :)

But...as we go through our Christian life, this term of being a light takes on a new meaning. As a kid, I always felt that I should let my light shine. But I took it in the sense of staying put and being a good person. Wherever you are, just try not to get caught up with the crowd, and when trouble comes, make sure you hold fast and shine. There was never a proactive approach with my light. It was stationary.

Then our group started this fast yesterday preparing for a summer event. After spending some time in prayer, I listened to a sermon that spoke from Ephesians 5. While the whole chapter is convicting, verse 11 really hit home: 11"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."

To me...that means you should have a proactive approach with your light. When you see sin, your job as the light of the world isn't just to be the goody-two-shoes guys in the office who would never do that. Being a light exposes sin. Being a light is an active job.

So are you active with your light? When you see sin, do you expose it? Or do you stand around and let things slide. We can hold a flashlight in a dark room, but in order to turn the light switch on so everyone can see, we will need to physically shine the light around to find the switch. Jesus was the light of the world....and He didn't stay put. He made sure everyone saw the Light so that sin would be exposed. He gave us the template, so we just have to follow it. So while you go to class today, joke with friends at the office, or surround yourself with various people....ask yourself....what am I doing with my light?

God bless,

Jobbin

Think Global

4 weeks and counting....that's how long it's been since we have had small group. In case you don't know, our youth group meets every other Sunday for small group/Bible study and I just so happen to lead it. But my life has been so crazy for the past month, I just have been way too bombarded to lead it. And to make things worse, I absolutely love leading small groups and its driving me crazy that we haven't had one yet!

To be fair, I have been really busy with good, productive, personal things, but at the same time I haven't been able to properly meditate and prepare with the Word as I wanted to. So this week I finally hunkered down and spent some time studying the Word and really praying about what God wants me to do over the next few months. And He spoke loud and clear....

Think bigger. We get caught up in a lot of good things. Even good spiritual things. We might be nice, church going people who even read the Word and pray regularly. That's where I found myself....but something was still lacking. I felt that I was doing the will of God in my life....but the funny thing is God's will is SO much bigger than the personal will for our particular lives. He has a Global will in mind too.

We all know the story of Jonah...but one particular note about it caught me. He was a prophet!! Here is someone who actually understands the character of God Himself, and still refused to do His will. That's because Jonah was selfish and even though he wanted to serve God as a prophet, he cared about God's personal will for him rather than God's global will. A perfect example of this is that Jonah literally got angry after God showed mercy on Nineveh! (Jonah 4:1-2) Who does that? Why would he get mad at God saving someone? But when the vine he was getting shade for withered away, he became angry again because it affected him personally.

I love how the book of Jonah ends. It ends with a question from God, and I felt He was asking the same question to me and I hope you feel convicted too when you read it. Jonah 4:11: "But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" How does this relate to me not leading Bible study? Simple...I need to spend more time furthering God's GLOBAL will instead of my own. Developing youth into a community for Christ is our mission. We can spend all day praying and fasting for our personal needs, but at the end of the day, God is asking us to be concerned with something greater.

All around me...

I know this is extremely late, but I just couldn't think of what to write about... to be honest, I don't even know right now. Lol - all I know is that I like there are so many things happening all around me in this world and I don't necessarily feel responsible for them occurring, but rather, I do feel like it is our/my duty/responsibility to uphold my friends and others (in this world) in prayer... some may call that... a burden, I guess.

I know God has a mighty plan for this up and coming generation... He's calling out a generation to be strongly founded on Him - not like the guy who 'cleverly' builds his house on the sand only to have it topple at the first torrent of waves, instead, MUCH like the guy who wisely builds his house on a strong solid foundation (ie. the ROCK) - it's this man that represents the generation that God is calling out these days... He doesn't want the feeble minded... He wants leaders who are willing to say "God, from here on out, all I am, and all I have, is Yours." He wants leaders who are willing to say "Although there are storms, and the world may tell me I am not safe... I will look to You and know that I am secure."

Guys, he wants leaders who are willing to say, "ENOUGH with this second-hand dual-tone life that I'm living, I want to live for Christ, and if that means giving up every part of me, including ever last breath, then so be it."

There are people out there in this world: men, women, and children - who are lost and need our help - they are the homeless, the en-slaved, the hungry, the depressed... the broken... and it's US who are called to reach out to them. Let's keep them in our prayers, and open ourselves up to what God is calling us to do... He has a purpose in each and every one of our lives, and He's going to let you know what that is exactly... But when that happens will yo ube able to say:

"Despite what the world may want me to believe, despite the chaos all around me, despite the questions I don't have answers to... Lord, here I am, tell me what you'd like me to do today."

It's a bit scary to think that God still gives us an option to say Yes or No even though He asks us of certain things, but in all honesty, it's up to us, as leaders, to set aside ourselves, focus on God, consider this world, and do what God has called us to do in it...

God bless

Power in Prayer

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

So I had finals this week and I've never studied so much in my life!!!! I prayed and studied for the past week and did nothing else. Today I found out that a couple of my close friends didn't pass the final that we all were afraid of. I didn't check my grade after hearing everyone saying they didn't make it. These were the people I was studying with. " If they didn't make it, what makes me think I did?" For 30 minutes, I was walking around school with my blood pressure up the roof and my heart rate at 200. I didn't want to check my grade, but as I was walking I was praying to Jesus that his will be done in my life and that he gives me strength. The peace that I had was no where near. All these doubts came into my head and remembering that I didn't pass two semesters ago came to my head. So finally I went to a lab and got to computer and before I clicked I put my hands in front of my eyes and as it came up and I moved two fingers and saw 85.7 and remember I needed an 83. God is good.

1 Corinthians 15:10 - But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.

I don't remember how much I cried out to God besides this semester. When your desperate, I believe God will help you. I have one more final and we'll see how I do.

The Modern-Day Good Samaritan

So today I went to check my e-mail on yahoo.com and on the main page, Yahoo lists a bunch of headlining news in sports, finance, the whole nine yards. The one thing that caught my eye was an article about a Good Samaritan in New York who happens or should I say "happened" to be homeless. I'll give you a bit of a synopsis of what the article talked about:

A homeless Guatemalan immigrant was walking on the sidewalks of New York one night and in front of him was a couple. After a few moments, the couple started to talk more aggressively and out of no where became physically aggressive. The homeless man obviously saw what was taking place and decided to intervene. He tried to separate the two quarreling people but the man fighting with his girlfriend pulled out a sharp weapon and repeatedly stabbed the homeless man until he was reduced down to the ground in a pool of blood. The couple quickly parted ways leaving the poor Good Samaritan man there to die in his own blood.

Now, what shocked me was that the woman involved in the quarrel didn't even try to stop her boyfriend/murderer, but instead fled from the scene of the crime. The badly wounded man laid there even after a few pedestrians walked past him. Not one of them called the authorities. One man even poked at the body thinking it was just another drunk homeless guy laying on the streets of New York. One lady finally called 911 but when the police arrived at the scene, the man had already died. They don't know at what point the man passed, whether it was before or after the man poked at the man's dying body.

This is really a new despicable low for the human race.

When I read this story I felt hatred for the man who committed this senseless crime and for the men and women who stood idly by while a man died right in front of their eyes. It broke my heart to even imagine what that man was thinking before he intervened. Did he think he had nothing to lose if the man did or didn't retaliate? Or did he feel it was his duty as a citizen to rise up and act when he is a witness to something like this? He did the right thing, just as Jesus did for us when he sacrificed himself, to help the woman in distress. She is like us sinners who lived and breathed sin, and who didn't comprehend or even care that someone died for us. This story made me think if Jesus is still trying to show non-believers the truth and the reality of his death on the cross through real-life instances and examples. Maybe this story will bring lives to come to know Christ and to realize the true meaning of Christ's death and resurrection.

R.I.P. Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax

Thanks for reading

Jonathan

Becoming like Christ

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
- Gandhi
I found this quote just now and I started thinking about it more closely. What he states is so true. People who call themselves Christian rarely act like Christ acted. Generally speaking, these Christians go to church only on holidays like Christmas, Easter, or any other type of celebration. If we call ourselves Christian, we should become Christ like. In everywhere in our life, we must be like him such as in our talk, behavior, and the way we act. It's hard to be like Jesus in this day and age but we have to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give us strength and courage to be portray Christ in our life and not be ashamed. I urge you guys to pray that people see Jesus when they see you.

Selfless

Matt 14:13: When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. (NIV).

I've been reading the book of Matthew lately and I've come to this familiar portion of the Bible that I bet we all have heard before. Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves and two fish. But for some reason, verse 13 really stuck out at me, especially because of the beginning. Why did Jesus withdraw himself to be alone? If you get a chance to read the chapter, you can see that the verses before this whole miracle occurs is the story of how John the Baptist was killed. In case you don't know, that was Jesus' cousin.

Now think about this for a second. You just hear the news about a tragedy in your family. Not just any family member, but a very close friend. What do you do? How would you react? Often times in our lives, we deal with problems, heartache, frustration, and sadness in so many different ways. Jesus Himself just wanted to go away and be by Himself as we read in the verse. The crowds on the other hand, didn't really cooperate with this plan; so they followed him anyways.

Put yourself in Jesus' shoes at that moment. All you want to do is be alone, but thousands of people still crowd around you, not leaving you alone for one second, bringing their problems, frustrations, and burdens to your feet almost without any regard to what you are personally going through. Doing youth ministry for about 5 years now, that would drive me nuts. Not that I am some big expert on helping others, but I try to be there for my friends whenever they need me. But if I was going through a low point in my life, I would find it EXTREMELY hard to forget about my current circumstances and just focus on others. We are human after all.

But look at how the heart of Jesus is so different from ours. He was moved with compassion so much that when His people would come to Him, He couldn't even stand to send them off without eating. He didn't think about Himself but took the time to heal the sick who came to Him. Even in the time of despair, He still showed compassion, mercy, and love to 5,000 people.

At a time where most of the world is celebrating Easter weekend, and this might be the only time you might see some friends, family, and coworkers actually attend church, this story symbolizes what Jesus was sent to Earth to do. Having a selfless attitude, He constantly gave Himself for others, never once thinking about His own benefit. By being an example for us and showing us that even in the times of trouble and despair, compassion and love should overcome everything. To me, that is the biggest miracle of all.

God bless,

Jobbin