Kenneth Liu

Back when I was courting Monique, I would write letters and emails to her fairly often. Rather than wooing her with poetry or winsome words, I would quote Spurgeon from my  Daily Spurgeon Devotionals. That might sound weird to you, but heck, it worked! Here’s a quote that I wished I had on hand for last week’s sermon. But alas, it’s never too late. Enjoy.

“Earthly comforts are loaned. They are not gifts, for all that we possess is God’s property. He has only lent them, and what he lends He has a right to take. We hold possessions and friends on a lease that can be terminated at the Supreme Owner’s option. Therefore, do not complain when God takes His own. In a world where thorns and briars grow, is is natural that some sharp points will pierce you.

The world swarms with thieves, deceivers, and slanderers, with losses in business, crosses in our expectations, false or fickle friends, and with sickness and death. Little wonder our joys are stolen. Our Master warns that our habitation is not theft-proof. “Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19).

Beloved, because of these calamities may be expected, let us be prepared. Hold all things loosely. Hold them as though you did not have them. Look at them as fleeting; never expect them to remain. Never make mortal things your gods. If you do, your heart will be broken when they are taken, and you will cry with Micah, “You have taken away my gods which I made” (Judges 18:24).”—Charles Spurgeon, Beside Still Waters

HT: Josh Harris

John Piper on “What is the Recession for?”

1. He intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
2. He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
3. He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
4. He intends to advance his saving mission in the world—the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church—precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
5. He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

I loved this scene played by my niece. Yes, this does happen in real life. For the official trailer and other clips, go here.

If I could generalize with a broad stroke, many of us come from a highly repressed cultures. Asians on a whole are emotionally constipated, with an occasional blowout [excuse my crassness]. Passive aggressive is another way of describing our M.O. Couple that with being Presbyterians, who are often dubbed, the “frozen chosen”, this does not bode well for our emotional state. Emotions are generally distrusted in favor for intellect, reason and order. Saving face becomes the greater virtue rather speaking the truth in love. The distrust of our emotions is not unique to being Asian or Presbyterian, but an assumption adopted by many.

(more…)

This story is so sad. In Japan, the suicide rate increased 15% since last year due to the global recession. Here’s an excerpt from CNN:

Taro, a 46-year-old man fired from his job at an iron manufacturing company, hoped to fade into the blackness. “My will to live disappeared,” said Taro. “I’d lost my identity, so I didn’t want to live on this earth. That’s why I went there.” Taro, who did not want to be identified fully, was swimming in debt and had been evicted from his company apartment. He lost financial control, which he believes to be the foundation of any stable life, he said. “You need money to survive. If you have a girlfriend, you need money. If you want to get married, you need it for your life. Money is always necessary for your life.”

Yesterday, we were going over some of the material by Soma Communities on the gospel when we came across Luther’s take on the first commandment:

Luther said that the first commandment is the gospel – “You shall have no other gods before me” is the same as, “You shall have no other justification for your life, your righteousness, your significance, your security etc… other than me.”

My hope and prayer for this guy is that he would one day be able to find a true foundation for his life. During these times, may our identity, significance, and security come from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yesterday, we talked about different ways of seeing the gospel. We can look at the gospel  through two lenses:

1. Systematic/thematically [e.g. God-Sin-Jesus-Faith]
2. Story/narrative [e.g. Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration]

You need both perspectives and cannot pit one against the other. If you want to dig deeper, check out Tim Keller’s article entitled, The Gospel in All its Forms.

Interested? Let me know.

Once again, apologies for the lack of original writing. But this is too good not to pass along to you all. Once again, here’s John Piper:

Seek to see and feel the gospel as bigger as years go by rather than smaller.Our temptation is to think that the gospel is for beginners and then we go on to greater things. But the real challenge is to see the gospel as the greatest thing—and getting greater all the time.

The Gospel gets bigger when, in your heart,

* grace gets bigger;
* Christ gets greater;
* his death gets more wonderful;
* his resurrection gets more astonishing;
* the work of the Spirit gets mightier;
* the power of the gospel gets more pervasive;
* its global extent gets wider;
* your own sin gets uglier;
* the devil gets more evil;
* the gospel’s roots in eternity go deeper;
* its connections with everything in the Bible and in the world get stronger;
* and the magnitude of its celebration in eternity gets louder.

So keep this in mind: Never let the gospel get smaller in your heart. Pray that it won’t. Read solid books on it. Sing about it. Tell someone about it who is ignorant or unsure about it.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel…. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

HT: Desiring God Ministries