Monday, February 22, 2010

Updated

This past week, my blackberry kept on locking up. Now this is a major inconvenience for me because I carry everything I need on it. It has my calendar, my contacts, my emails, text messages, and it even serves as my cell phone. I must say, my blackberry is one thing that keeps me connected. So when it locks up and I can't get information from it. That is a problem. So after messing with it and finding that I couldn't do anything about it, I talked with Verizon. Turns out when I thought I was keeping the software up to date, well, the software downloads weren't really downloading. A quick software update from Verizon and now it runs as smooth as ever.
As Christians, we need to also stay up to date in our spiritual walk. There is so much at stake in this...our salvation. We have so many ways to keep up to date. We go to church, we read the bible, we spend time in prayer...at least we think we are. But there are things that stop that message, that update from ever reaching our heart and mind. Our focus has to be on Him, in everything we do. We have the means to continue to update...we have the bible, worship, songs, prayers, forgiveness, communion. The Holy Spirit uses these means to help us keep running smooth and up to date. All these things keep us connected with our God.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

It Is Going To Take Practice

The Olympics are in full swing. I've enjoyed watching it so far. I have to admit, some of the events that these athletes are doing are totally amazing. One event that a lot of people felt shouldn't have been an Olympic sport is curling. Curling -- sliding a stone down an ice shuffleboard like rink and trying to get it to stop on a bullseye at the other end. Curling -- a sport where you have two people running down the ice with the stone and sweeping in front of the stone to help direct it to its final destination. Curling? A sport? Well, I had the opportunity to try curling while when I was in Toronto. Wow, it is a hard sport. Like those on NBC, I found myself falling on the ice. It looks so easy, but really it takes a lot of skill. Those curlers worked hard to master their sport.
The same can be said about sharing the message of Christ. It looks easy. I've seen other people talk about their faith and the love of Christ. I've heard stories and bible passages that support and share who Christ is and what He has done for us. It seems like it would be so easy to share it with others, but then, we find ourselves failing to share that message. Why does something that seems so easy, be so hard? We can pray. We can sing praises. We can read His word. But then sharing Him with others? Why does this cause us to stumble and fall. It does take a lot of skill and practice to share the message of Christ with others. We will sometimes feel like we failed, but if we just add that little spark, the Spirit will take over. Sharing the message to others, to complete strangers, to our friends, isn't always going to be easy. But as we continue to practice, it will be easier.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Another Opportunity

On Monday evening, I was sitting at Starbucks waiting for my daughter to finish volleyball practice. I was working on my chapel for Lutheran High School Northwest and really didn't have any thoughts about what to do. I did know that we were going to sing a few songs, so I started powerpointing those words. As I was working on the songs, I had this strange feeling someone was watching me. I looked to my right to see this young lady looking at me. She immediately starting asking me about what it takes to be saved. She shared her feelings on being saved and having spiritual gifts and was really serious about this discussion. So for the next hour and half, I had the opportunity to share with her the saving message of Jesus Christ. I have to admit though, I wasn't thrilled about doing this at this time. I was contemplating something spiritual to share with those high school students. Something that would 'wow' them to see the light of God. I was wondering why God has put me into these places lately. On the airplane and now here at Starbucks. What was His point...well, He put me there to share Him! I had the opportunity to light the fire in her heart and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work. For an hour and half, we talked about salvation and the love of God. We talked about listening to His word and about spiritual gifts. We talked about being still and what our focus in life should be. From all this...from the discussion we had...God gave me a chapel message. God gave me the opportunity to share with her but also with those kids. What an amazing and awesome God we have.

Monday, February 1, 2010

I Am...

I know that this may come to a surprise for many of you, but I have to tell the honest truth. I'm not Hawaiian. Now that some have caught your breath after being in total shock, I just had to be honest about this. Honestly, I'm not German, even though my last name brings out the German in all of us. I'm not Thai. I'm not Chinese or Japanese. I'm Korean. I'm telling you this because my daughter is writing a report on my homeland, South Korea. I'm very proud of this culture, but I really don't live like they do. I live like a normal American and am an American citizen. But when someone asks what country I'm from, I tell them, South Korea. I'm very proud of this and proud to say it. I say it boldly with nothing to be ashamed of.

Now comes the question...can people see Christ in you? When people look at you, can they see that you have Christ in your heart? Do they see it in your words? In your actions? We all are identified by culture, skin color, sports team apparel, accents and the list could go on. But how many of us are identified as Christ's child? We should be proud of whose we are. We should be proud of what we are and what we will one day recieve. The way you act, talk, carry yourself, shows that we are Christians. We are believers. We are His...say it boldly in all you do! I belong to Him. I am a child of God!