Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

The first girl was beautiful, a head-turner where ever she went. Tall, clear skin, gorgeous smile. Our relationship lasted a little while, then she got bored. Maybe she wanted more attention, or maybe she wanted less. One thing's for sure, when you have someone beautiful, they don't always stay that way. You get used to their appearance. They don't turn your head anymore. And with the passage of time, the beauty fades ... and fades ... and fades.

The second girl had a sense of calling. I thought she was the one. A missionary-in-the-making, full of courage and ministerial zeal. She was young and in the prime of her life, yet was willing to sacrifice it all to be where God wanted her. I found this extremely attractive. She was a person with a vision not only for her future vocation, however, but also her future partner. He was to be like this, and like that and going in the same direction. Long story short, I didn't fit the bill. I wasn't the one. Oh well, moving on...

The third girl had charm. A magnetic personality that drew me right in. I felt so comfortable around her and could actually be myself. She was entertaining in a simple and quiet way and not a lot of expectations of our friendship - which was nice for a change. However, this person glimmered of character deficiencies, and not a big lover of God. No, No, No... Enough said.

The next one ... must fear the Lord. She must be a woman of integrity and character, someone who is first a Christian before she is a romantic. I know now: Beauty, charm, and calling are secondary characteristics; they do not make the woman. They may be little extras that make the relationship exciting, but in the long run, they mean nothing. The godly woman trembles at God's word, which she has hidden in her heart. She loves with depth and acts in purity.

She is the one.

the wilderness of testing

And Jesus was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted ...

Why?
Why the desert? Why to be tempted? Why by the Holy Spirit?

Let's think about the desert. What are some things in the desert that we can't find in normal everyday, urban existence?

First, the desert is a place of isolation. No one's around. Nobody peeking over your shoulder to see if you're behaving like a Christian. Inconspicuous. Christendom is a long way away. Here, no one knows about your vows, your convictions, and no one expects you to uphold them and no one cares if you do or don't. You could sin, and no one would know, in fact, it was most "normal" of you to do so.

Second, the desert is where you're at the mercy of the environment. The sun will beat on you during the day, the frost will bite you at night. Sand storms, venomous critters, hungry animals. It's where you need to keep alert and deliberately work at surviving. The only time you "get used to" that environment is when you're dying - reaching homeostasis with the surroundings, they say.

Third, in the desert is a lack of sustenance. No abundance of the usual things we feast on so gluttonously. No conferences, seminars, commentaries, 5 different versions of Bibles. Just you and whatever comes out of the mouth of God, and the mouth of the raven. Maybe there isn't a lot of new insights, but a time when you get to think long and hard about the stuff you've already learned. Now is the time to make sense of it all, ask yourself if you really believe it - out here, like you thought you did back there.


When God tests a man in the desert, it's not to see how he'll do. He's not ignorant of the future or our prospects for success. It's not so that God'll know how we'll fare. It's so that we'll know. It's for us to find out what God really means to us. It's for us to see what we're made of; whether we revert to our animal instincts, or we abide in the Spirit. It was essential for Jesus' ministry to find Himself in God and experience Him in the desert, away from everyone, away from the expectations of being the Son of God. The testing was about His humanity and the place that God occupied in the heart of a Disciple. The wilderness is where we each need to go and meet God ... at some point.

have mercy

Just finished preaching a sermon from John 3:16-21. The gospel, clear and straightforward presentation on the sacrificial and universal love of God. It took 20 mins, then for 30 mins, I got chewed by my class during the critique.

They took apart the transitions, complained about how the intro could have better tied into the 2nd point, and wondered why the applications weren't more "concrete". I mean, do I really need walk you through a 3-step process on how you examine your beliefs and reflect on the love of God and how to respond in continuous, fruit-bearing faith?

Sometimes I fear the direction that theological education is going. I fear where the church is headed. The flabbiness, the apathy, the intellectual impoverishment.

God have mercy.

Fish stink

Luke 5:1-11

Fishing. Now that's something that Peter could do. You don't find yourself, some 30 plus years of age, doing the same thing over and over again since your daddy taught you when you were a little runt and not being pretty darn good at it. Peter had to have been a good fisherman, but sometimes you land a sweet catch and sometimes you don't. This time he didn't. All night long and not even a wandering crab (provendential failure, perhaps?)

Contrast this with the next scene: a haul of fish so massive that neither the net nor two fishing boats combined could sustain the weight of the catch.

And the difference between the two scenes: a program? an ideology? a strategy?
Nope.

Jesus.

A great catch of fish, but it didn't come easily. The fish could only be found in deep waters. Deep waters. But deep waters are ... deep! They're dark! They're far away from shore, from home, from comforts. Out there in deep waters, there's so much uncertainty! We're sitting ducks at the mercy of the sea!

That's what we think.

Jesus, he just thinks, deep waters ... where else can I find enough space to summon all those fish to mash themselves into Peter's net?

And the rest is history. After Jesus comes on the scene, everything changes, nothing matters anymore. The earth-shattering, record-breaking, career catch of fish, the busted nets, the soggy boats; they're all left to rot on the beach. Jesus has just walked into their lives and it is no gamble for them to leave everything and follow him. From now on, they'd be catching men. From now on, they'd be forever caught by Christ.

orthopraxy

On a certain mountain stands a tall tablet shaped stone with a flat surface. On it are inscribed words. The words are not in any foreign language, and although the phrases are a little mysterious in meaning at times, what it says is generally straight forward. Many people gather at the foot of this stone. They carefully read the words and then scribble their own words onto a parchment and head back down the mountain and tell others what they wrote. Of course not everyone has the same reflections about what the stone said, so they spend their time arguing with one another to see who's right. Some people go to the stone, read what it says, but don't write anything down. They simply try to remember what the stone said, head down the mountain and begin putting it into practice as best they can.

Much of theology can be reduced to grown men who don't know how to say those 3 precious words: "I don't know". What they do not know they strive to know and in so doing build vast systems to help them organize their thoughts on God. God is in no way impressed with them. Rather, he delights in the one who meditates on his words day and night, who remembers what it says and puts it into practice.

The emerging church is moving in the direction of orthopraxy over orthodoxy (right living over right knowing) and I don't think it's such a bad thing. Of course there are some fundamental truths that can never and should never be compromised. There can never be a truly postmodern, relativistic Christian. But I can appreciate the emphasis. It's time to move. It's time to start living as if we actually believe in the supremacy of Christ and the desperate need this world has for the gospel. It's time we come down from the mountain and show the world that we know God and we have his word.

The Isaac Offering

"A guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do ..."

Whatever the Chaldee version of that phrase is, Abraham certainly muttered it into his cloak as he made that ascent up the mountain of Moriah on the eve of the sacrifice of his son to God.

Imagine if he, after receiving the command from God, asked his friends what they thought about it. Imagine if he asked his wife Sarah, "I think I heard God say that I'm suppose to offer our son as a burnt offering." What would she have thought? "Are you out of your damn mind? God would never tell you to do that!"

Perhaps that's why he set out so early in the morning.

But that is exactly what God had spoken and Abraham knew it. He had to dispell every word of resistance discouraging such a disgusting act such as human sacrifice, and yes, it was a terrible thing to command a father to do. But God had said it. Abraham had learned to recognize the voice of God. Now, he was to learn to trust it.

It's a scary thing to come face to face with an Isaac offering request, but it is essential to our discipleship. A time will come when God bids up lay down the very thing that we have invested our entire lives for, the thing that we love more than anything on earth. He asks us, "Do you love me more than these? Can I have this?"

It's not that He intrinsically wants it or needs it, but knows that our hearts are attached to it, and our grip has tightened around it. It was a gift to begin with, but with time we clutch it like a child clutches a candy bar. We forget that there was a time when we were without it and God was enough to satisfy us completely. But then this 'thing' came along.


I must ask myself, "Am I at rest if I am not in fulltime ministry, or on my way to the mission field just yet? Am I satisfied, sitting still, doing little but being attentive at the feet of Jesus, like Mary? Or am I constantly compelled to shake and move and get busy for the ministry, like Martha?" If my identify has been programmed by what I do for God and not who I am in God, then my heart is laid captive by an external force that is not God Himself. My proper integration into a church where I am not given a high profile responsibility is essential at this point of my life. Though this may run contrary to the suggestion of many and makes little sense given my soon approaching graduation from a Bible College, I am sure that the call of God, for now, is to stop, and to receive, to be led, and to fellowship. It's high time I flow and resonate with a church rather than flail about impatiently as one of its leaders hoping to get where I 'really wanna be'.

It's time to offer Isaac.


Giddy up.

memoirs of an invisible man

Babel is fallen.

Crumbled into a heap of rubble by the hand of the Almighty. For a time we may mourn the passing of our dreams and aspirations, but it's necessary that Babel die. God will tolerate no competition for our hearts. It is impossible to attempt to make a name for ourselves while calling ourselves His disciples.

Missions. Something so close to God's heart. But because it is not God Himself, it is susceptible to idolization. Missions and ministry was my Babel, made in my own image and for my own glory. And God must act in order to bring total chaos and confusion into my life so that I come down from Babel, and so that I will turn my eyes upon Jesus once again. Once Babel is out of the picture there's nothing obscurring the view.

The call of God now is not into the mission field, but into the Church. Go to church ... for real this time. Love the church ... for real this time. For so long it was my workplace, a place of struggle and strife. I liked the feeling of doing something for God, but I despised the instituion itself. I secretly resented how I was being used like a comodity.

All that's gotta change. Time for a great exchange. Learning to feel what life is like on the other side, as a member, a recipient. How hard it will be to give up control, to shut my mouth and not take charge, not make a comment or give an answer or show them how it's done. To follow and not lead, to listen and not speak, to submit and obey. To be in the church and not outside, above or beyond the church. To be one of the sheep again, for the first time.

baa.

Horses of War

Sure, wild stallions can have a function. Let them loose and watch them fly. They jump and spin and flail about, running faster than the wind. They’ll kick with brutal force. You might even be able to mount one for a few seconds and it might even take you somewhere towards your desired destination before it throws you off. It’s got zeal, passion, energy.

But a horse who has gone through the trials of time and testing; now he’s another creature altogether. Hours upon hours, days upon days of exercise and drill in order break him. You tame him, yet he is not weakened. You make him submit and obey. Then, that horse becomes still … disciplined. He goes where his rider wishes. He will run swiftly towards an oncoming lance and never flinch, he will leap over a cliff to certain death if commanded to. He becomes a horse of war; a truly useful beast. He will last for the long haul and be faithful companion.

It's true that passion without purpose is pointless. And that purpose must be that which lay on the horizon and not what is two steps in front of you. To fulfill the purpose that lay on the horizon one must focus his passions. At times focussing one's passions looks like anything but passion. In the movie Higher Learning, with Ice Cube (heh), the two most racist and most passionate guys in the movie (the bosses) were the one's who held back, they were calm and reserved through most of the movie while the "wild stallions" were out causing trouble like petty thugs. They controlled their zeal and did not unleash it too early. They let it sit, slowly boiling, slowly festering. It's not until the very end where you see how serious those bosses really were.


Missions that matter are long term missions. Going far and going long means digging your roots deep. It means building relationships and solid foundations of support. I need to be reminded that whlie I may seem zealous for missions, it's God who's heart is boiling over and deeply grieving over the lost. He is the passionate one. Instead of flailing around making splashes in the sea, all I need to do is ride the wave of God's passion and do what I see the Father doing.

to infinity and beyond.

Babelling out from the centre of the world

New word,

to Babel: verb, meaning to build up one's own Empire and seek self-actualization. To grasp at whatever is necessary to make a name for oneself.

Is it possible to Babel about ministry? I think so. It's so subtle and insidious. Imagine making plans to build up the kingdom of God, to do this and that for God, go here and there for God, while all along God is no where to be found in the whole equation. How difficult that must be to catch.

Perhaps I see that in myself and my zeal to be a missionary. "Missions, the final frontier. These are the voyages of Dennis Oh. His continuing mission to seek out new tribes and languages ... to boldy go where no one has gone before!!"

I am such a nerd.

Am I doing nothing more than grasping at means to become significant in my own eyes and the eyes of others? Am I truly driven by love for God? and how could I know for sure, if the heart is truly deceptive and wicked above all things? The only upshot is that the Apostle Paul is not too concerned with our inferior motives when it comes to preaching the gospel; to him the mission is more important than our lousy reasons for getting there.

but I think I'm entitled to ask, nonetheless.

See, it's all too easy to love the world or the things of the world. It's easy for ministry and missions to fall into that nasty 3rd category: the pride of life. Ministry can become our identity, our price tag that determines our market value in the world. It can become our source of security, status or income.

But where's God? We've displaced Him with the very things of His own kingdom, like worshipping the creation and not the Creator. That's a scary thought.

May Christ Himself be my life mission, the goal, the very point of existence. He's not the thing we settle for or the means to an end. He is the end, just as He was the beginning.

O Christ,
Be the Centre of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the Centre of our lives

Theology: the toy everyone has

Theology is ubiquitous. Everyone has one whether they like it or not. It's funny that theology is so often relegated to some anti-spiritual, academic exercise. But even the super-spiritual have a dogma that they will defend with everything they have, just like the scholastics. They may even be more dogmatic than scholars are on certain issues.

What exactly is theology of the academic variety? Well, chiefly, it is a theology rooted in the Bible, such that undocumented and unscriptural phenomena are considered secondary data. Academians also spent inordinate amounts of time and effort hearing one another's views and attempt to trace the development of doctrine down the centuries; they evaluate it in light of the available Biblical data. Seems responsible so far.

Theology of the super-spiritual kind? Well, seems like it's based on one's own experiences, intuitions, feelings. That doesn't mean that it's wrong, just not as objective. There's no need to confirm it with through others or read what others say about it - I experienced it, and that's all that matters. If God revealed it directly, who is anyone to scrutinize it? History? no need, God is doing a "new thing". Here's the rub: when experiential theology drifts off the path, how does it get back one? How does one even know that it got off to begin with.

The beauty of academic theology is that it is always done in community. Sure, theological debates are often heated and pointless and seem like anything but community-oriented. But such feedback from the theological community and saints through the ages is invaluable in preserving sound doctrine. But when 'theologians' come by claiming, "God is doing something new!" or "God directly revealed such and such to me .." what are we to say in response to that. This kind of theology operates within its own subjective framework and everyone goes with the flow until there's a desire to return to the Word. It's a vicious cycle.

I'm not against charismatics, I wish the church was more 'charismatic' in many ways. I just don't see the propriety of dismissing academic theology in favour of an experiential one; or viewing it as somehow unspiritual.

The Anatomy of Lust

What is lust and why is it sin?

Technically lust is defined as an intense desire for something or someone. How is one to measure the degree of desire and at what point does a desire become intense enough to be labelled sin?

First, desires require an object. It is impossible to desire nothingness. This is the basic inconsistency with Buddhism in its purest sense. Desires will always exist and they are fixed upon an object. Whether it is a woman, a car, a job, a status or a Tag Heuer watch, people desire objects. That object must be a specific person or thing, whether they are before your eyes, or on the pages of a magazine. One of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not covet your neighbours' house, wife, possessions ..." Inherit in this covetousness is desire for something.

Second, God commands "do not love the world or anything in the world" (1 John). What did he mean? Shall we not love our families, puppies, Christmas dinners and the budding flowers in spring. Answer: No, we shouldn't. Not if the love of these things are an end in themselves. Any love and desire for anything that does not ultimately leads us to a love and desire for the glory of God is sin. Sin is when we exchange the glory of God for ANYTHING else - however warm and fuzzy it might be.

Third, the lusting after a person occurs when your desire is turned towards yourself. If you are attracted to someone or something, praise God - you're normal. When you appreciate physical beauty or charming characteristics, praise God - He's a creative and wonderful God. But as soon as desire does not translate to love for God or the others, the only person left to receive the benefits is yourself. We are commanded, "Love the Lord and love one another." The sin of Adam and Eve was a sin of lust: a lust for nourshment, independence and power. Everyone who ever committed the sin of lust thought of how they might take and use that object for their own personal gain.

Fourth, lust is adultery. In the sexual sense, the lust that is conceived in the mind of man is fully evident before the eyes of God. You think it, you did it. Spiritually, lust is adultery of the idolatrous kind. Adultery is unfaithfulness and a prostituting of oneself to someone to whom you are not joined. Lust diminishes the supremacy of God, casting Him momentarily aside.

simple impetus

As I grow older and wiser, I want my life to become simpler and more straight forward.
When I think of my impetus for wanting to go overseas for missionary work, there's a simple thing I have in mind.

What is the thing that drives me to the nations? The glory of Jesus Christ. I live for that day when people from every tribe and nation fall before the Lamb in worship. Those who do not worship will, at least, be forced to confess the Lordship of Christ.

Until then, there is one thing as our responsibility: preaching the gospel to the farthest ends of the earth. Let us get one thing certain: there is absolutely no possibility of salvation outside faith in Jesus Christ, and there is absolutely no way for people to believe except by the preaching of the gospel, and there is absolutely no way to preach unless you, or I, or better yet both of us, go.

There I was standing in front of you the entire time
and you never took notice, did you?
You never realized that for some people revelation of oneself is a rather big step
It doesn't come to naturally for all
Only for the one in love

But you look at me with wooden lenses
Your feet sunken in cement shoes to approach me
Your mouth gnaws molasses to speak
An arduous chore it seems to lift your gaze

If only you would explode out of your passivity
and ravish me till I am near dead
that, at least would satisfy

but as all good things come to an end
the heart grows colder

the silence envelops the sound

quick thought #3

Thomas Acquinas (they call him a "Saint") was known to have said, "Preach the gospel at all times and in all places ... use words if necessary."

are you kidding me?

THE GOSPEL IS WORDS. PERIOD.

Paul (they call him a "Saint" too) once said, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Words of Christ." There is no gospel that is preached without words. The gospel will forever be the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, conveyed in the foolishness of preaching WORDS. You cannot believe propositional truths that are not ultimately conveyed using words.

Don't confuse good works and kind acts as synonymous with the Gospel.

quick thought #2

We have this tendency to venerate people from the past. Augustine, Thomas Acquinas, Luther, Calvin, Owen, Edwards.

Snoopy was once writing a book entitled, "Did it ever occur to you that you might be wrong?"

Smart pup.

Sure, those guys were godly men and contributed to the Church in amazing ways. But they were fallen sinners like you and me. It's very likely that they were wrong on some point. I, for one, am convinced that Owen was wrong about limited atonement.

but I could be wrong.

quick thought #1

The words of Scripture take priority over the historical context for which, or in which, it was written. Consider this:

1. The words of Scripture are objective, the historical context is subjective
2. The words of Scripture are completely known, the historical situation cannot be entirely known
3. The words of Scripture are ultimately penned by the Holy Spirit to the first reader, but also ultimately canonized by the Holy Spirit for us.

Every word of Scripture is for the Church, even if it deals with animal sacrifices, head coverings, or holy kisses. It is there to teach us something. Anytime we use historical context to make the text say the opposite of what it seems to be teaching , beware.

The Radiance vs. The Veil

After Moses met God, his face shone with brilliant radiance - and he did not know it. The radiance was the latent presence of God. It was the residue and after effect of being in communion with God. He had been with God and it showed. But when he came down from the mountain, the people feared the radiance and were reluctant to approach him. Hence, Moses veiled his face when he spoke to the people God's commands and unveiled it when he spoke with God in the tent.

Moses had the after glow of God's presence, and the people were taken aback instead of being drawn towards it. They did not understand the radiance. It was a hindrance and distraction to them. It made them afraid.

However, when Moses was in the tent with God, that veil came off. There was no need of it. In the tent, the veil became the hindrance and the distraction. Moses' own face resonated with God's presence. Moses felt at home.

Moses hated that veil. That veil was the veil of compromise. He wore for it for the people's sake - because they did not welcome the radiance. Just like the veil in the temple that hid God's presence from the people, the Most Holy from the holy. It was erected for the people's sake.

Interesting that when God came down and revealed His Glory and Name to Moses, that entire narrative is encased in law and commands such that there is hardly a separation between God's presence and God's law. So often we only want the presence of God, the experiences and feelings, but we do not want His law. Sheesh.

Sometimes the commands of God are simply not welcome. Preachers are responsible to be faithful in communicating the text of Scripture, but the people will not accept it. So, it is sadly veiled. Compromised. The people don't want to hear that God's hates divorce, that fornication is wrong, that Jesus is the only Way, so these truths get veiled and the glow loses its brilliance. But just remember, that veil is not the way it ought to be.

This week in class I'll be preaching on 1 Tim 2:11-12 (women are to be silent and may not teach or have authority over men in the church). Yeah, yeah, yeah, no one wants to hear this one. After my exegesis on the passage, I wish I could come to a different conclusion than the one I came to. The temptation to bastardize the text and preach the exact opposite is great, but then I will not have preached God's word faithfully and will have wasted everyone's time including my own. But my reflection on the "veil" confirms that it's time for the veil to come off. It's time to be judged by the Word of God instead of running away from It.

What's in a name?

What did Moses and God do on that mountain that day? Remember, it was the closest that Moses had ever come to God. It was their most intimate encounter. Maybe it didn't last very long. But during those moments, what did God want to reveal to Moses?

Two things: First, His glory. Second, His Name. The LORD the LORD, the Compassionate and Gracious God, Slow to Anger, Abounding in Love and Faithfulness, Maintaining Love to Thousands and Forgiving Wickedness, Rebellion and Sin.

To truly know someone means to know their name.

God even reassures that Moses that He is pleased with Him because He knows him by name (Ex. 33:17).

God and Moses were friends. They spoke to each other face to face. They beheld each other's form. They experienced hardship together. They knew each other's name.

First Things First

When Jesus Christ calls a man, he does not first call him to "do" but to "be with" (Mark 3:13-14). We are called to be with him FIRST and to do something for him SECOND. He calls us to relationship, not task. Why? Because he is both the source and the purpose for whatever task we might perform.

The task is important, but without the person it means nothing. Martha cared only for the task which is why Jesus sighed her name. Mary chose what was better, or rather, she rightly discerned what was first in priority - Jesus.

The two must be balanced, but first things first. There comes a time when we gotta get the task done. Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days. He could have easily spent another 40, but God commanded to go down and minister to the people who were corrupting themselves.

The Road of Life is long and complicated.
Convoluted
Along the way you meet people travelling a common path for a fraction of the journey
You share a story or two, a couple of laughs and a few drinks
They are your company for a while
And soon they are gone
You can't hold them back from pursuing their course
After all you have your own route to follow
You just say, "This is where we go our separate ways"
and bid each other "God speed"
and that's that.
Others will come along
Soon