I was journaling again tonight, and I came across this question: What is your story of salvation? Here is what I wrote.
What is my story of salvation?
I grew up learning Christian principles. I "asked Jesus into my heart" when I was about 7. It wasn't until my Junior year of high school that there seemed to be anything more than that.
That's when I sought community. I looked for accountability. I got real with God. I began studying His word in earnest.
After Cru Winter Conference in December 2012, I fasted for 24 hours for the first time in my life to pray and learn about living the spirit-filled life.
But I skipped a step. First, God had me apply to Stanford, Caltech, and the Flinn Scholarship, and get rejected by all of them. But by his grace, I was named a Flinn alternate and was ultimately named a scholar. The message to me was clear: this whole experience is nothing I earned or deserve on my own merit, but it is a gift from God, to be used for His glory.
I didn't plan it that way. If I were in charge, I wouldn't have played it that way. But thank God that He is in charge and not me, and that His plan turned out far better than anything I could imagine.
There's a lot more to this story, specifically about the last six months, but I will stop here for now and save that for another time, when the dust has had a bit more time to settle. However, I will take this opportunity to say that I was so blessed to spend three weeks in China with 21 wonderful people that I might otherwise not have known if it weren't for God's plan.
26 June 2013
24 June 2013
Love Your Enemy?
The other day, I was going through our Santa Monica Summer Project devotional called "Four Sevens", which goes through the Gospel of Luke. The scripture passage of the day was Luke 6:1-45. Below is an excerpt of Jesus's words:
"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back."Most of us have heard this before. Love your neighbor, love your enemy--wait, what? What is this? I'm supposed to just let people slap me and take my money without paying me back? How does that make sense? Can anyone actually live like this for any length of time? Surely eventually one would run out of money (or patience).
I grew up in America, where we preach the gospel of focused hard work resulting in personal reward. I'm a conservative Republican and Christian. The free market is our guiding force, and we worship at the altar of capitalism. It is so easy to slip that word--"Christian"--into our established beliefs; to add that label to a list of others we've accumulated. But the true gospel doesn't preach hard work resulting in reward. The gospel says that only by dying to ourselves can we truly live. It's not until we come to the end of ourselves that God can give us a new beginning. It's not about adding a label to our list, or reconciling the Bible with our beliefs. It's about letting the list turn to ash and letting our old beliefs die away. We trade our ephemeral happiness for eternal holiness.
This is the Gospel.
It's not a promise of an easy life. It's a promise of an abundant life.
This isn't fair. It's forgiving.
This isn't logical. It's loving.
This isn't defensive. It's divine.
This isn't sustainable. It's sacrificial.
This isn't capitalism. It's Christianity.
It's not a promise of an easy life. It's a promise of an abundant life.
This isn't fair. It's forgiving.
This isn't logical. It's loving.
This isn't defensive. It's divine.
This isn't sustainable. It's sacrificial.
This isn't capitalism. It's Christianity.
16 June 2013
How are you really doing?
"Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing good, how about you?"
"Pretty good, pretty good."
I cannot count how many conversations I have had that began like this. Never mind the grammar mistake (doing well). There is something else about this that troubles me.
When learning Chinese, one of the first thing we learned was "Nihao", which is "hello" in Mandarin. Literally, it translates as "you good" (ni = you, hao = good). It is not a question, though, it is simply a statement used as a greeting. If you add the word "ma" afterwards, though, as in "Nihao ma?", then is becomes a question; essentially, "How are you doing? Are you good?" However, if you ask someone you just met this question, they will likely respond with a very confused look. In China, you don't just go around asking people how they are doing. You only ask this to someone you know very well. Even our laoshi (teacher), who was Italian but fluent in English and Mandarin, told us that when she first went to the U.S. and people asked her how she was doing, she was confused. "Why do you want to know how I'm doing?" she asked. It's a fair question.
All of this made me think about the types of conversations we have, most of which look a lot like the made up one at the beginning of this post. I realized that America is probably one of the only cultures that habitually lies in response to personal questions from almost total strangers as a form of greeting. When was the last time someone actually told you how they were doing when you asked them? When was the last time you actually wanted to know? I don't think we should all cease using this as a greeting. The fact is that it will probably become just a routine greeting, much like "you good" in Chinese, or even saying "go with God" for "goodbye" in Spanish (Dios = god, adios = goodbye). I just think it is worth being aware of how we are using phrases like this, how their meanings and connotations are changing, and where they originally came from. And every once and a while, when you're talking to a close friend, maybe ask them "Nihao ma?"--"how are you really doing?"
"I'm doing good, how about you?"
"Pretty good, pretty good."
I cannot count how many conversations I have had that began like this. Never mind the grammar mistake (doing well). There is something else about this that troubles me.
When learning Chinese, one of the first thing we learned was "Nihao", which is "hello" in Mandarin. Literally, it translates as "you good" (ni = you, hao = good). It is not a question, though, it is simply a statement used as a greeting. If you add the word "ma" afterwards, though, as in "Nihao ma?", then is becomes a question; essentially, "How are you doing? Are you good?" However, if you ask someone you just met this question, they will likely respond with a very confused look. In China, you don't just go around asking people how they are doing. You only ask this to someone you know very well. Even our laoshi (teacher), who was Italian but fluent in English and Mandarin, told us that when she first went to the U.S. and people asked her how she was doing, she was confused. "Why do you want to know how I'm doing?" she asked. It's a fair question.
All of this made me think about the types of conversations we have, most of which look a lot like the made up one at the beginning of this post. I realized that America is probably one of the only cultures that habitually lies in response to personal questions from almost total strangers as a form of greeting. When was the last time someone actually told you how they were doing when you asked them? When was the last time you actually wanted to know? I don't think we should all cease using this as a greeting. The fact is that it will probably become just a routine greeting, much like "you good" in Chinese, or even saying "go with God" for "goodbye" in Spanish (Dios = god, adios = goodbye). I just think it is worth being aware of how we are using phrases like this, how their meanings and connotations are changing, and where they originally came from. And every once and a while, when you're talking to a close friend, maybe ask them "Nihao ma?"--"how are you really doing?"
11 June 2013
Flash Paddy!
Flash Paddy... it's gonna be a thing.
Step 1: Get a minimum of four people.
Step 2: Get paddy hats for everyone (see picture to left)
Step 3: Find a shallow, standing body of water. Fountains, kiddy pools, and bathrooms are good examples.
Step 4: Person 1 runs by pouring dirt evenly into the shallow body of water.
Step 5: Persons 2 and 3 run by and plant rice plants in a grid, using the correct technique (see picture to left).
Step 6: Person 4 runs by playing stereotypical Asian music out of a portable boom box.
 |
| Jichang Village Rice Paddy Guizhou Province, China |
Step 1: Get a minimum of four people.
Step 2: Get paddy hats for everyone (see picture to left)
Step 3: Find a shallow, standing body of water. Fountains, kiddy pools, and bathrooms are good examples.
Step 4: Person 1 runs by pouring dirt evenly into the shallow body of water.
Step 5: Persons 2 and 3 run by and plant rice plants in a grid, using the correct technique (see picture to left).
Step 6: Person 4 runs by playing stereotypical Asian music out of a portable boom box.
Honestly?
"Honestly? I think the world's gonna end bloody. But does that mean we shouldn't fight? We do have choices. I choose to go down swinging"
-Dean Winchester, Supernatural
In a metaphorical sense, I agree. I don't think we should spend every waking moment trying to prolong our own lives and create a false sense of self-righteousness for all mankind. I think man is inherently sinful, and that this earth will eventually pass away. But I also think that God has set eternity on the hearts of men. I think that God actively intervenes in this world and in the lives of people. Good exists, and we can join God in his good work. If we try to save ourselves or this world, our lives and our legacies will end with the world, whether or not we choose to go down swinging. But we can also fight to give it all up to God in exchange for something greater. If we fight this fight, we don't have to go down at all.
-Dean Winchester, Supernatural
In a metaphorical sense, I agree. I don't think we should spend every waking moment trying to prolong our own lives and create a false sense of self-righteousness for all mankind. I think man is inherently sinful, and that this earth will eventually pass away. But I also think that God has set eternity on the hearts of men. I think that God actively intervenes in this world and in the lives of people. Good exists, and we can join God in his good work. If we try to save ourselves or this world, our lives and our legacies will end with the world, whether or not we choose to go down swinging. But we can also fight to give it all up to God in exchange for something greater. If we fight this fight, we don't have to go down at all.
The Wise Man's Fear
"There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in a storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man."
-Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear
I told this quote to my mother, and she responded by saying "What about a woman?" I thought about this, then later replied "That's covered under 'the sea in a storm.'"
-Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear
I told this quote to my mother, and she responded by saying "What about a woman?" I thought about this, then later replied "That's covered under 'the sea in a storm.'"
08 June 2013
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