Update: As Christians, we oftentimes can be very hard on ourselves for not trying hard enough. However, my husband told me that having regret over this matter means that I am too prideful, because I think I have control over the situation, but in reality I don't. God is in control. What's the point of regretting something you have no control over, he says.  What has passed has passed, don't dwell on the past, look to the future. To have regret over this matter is to doubt God's will. God chose this time for her to die. God chose for her not to hear the gospel from us. We need to submit ourselves to God's plan, and not be regretful in our SELF. If regretful, then pray for comfort. Prayer is to help us to trust in the Lord and be okay with God's plan. And prayer helps us to align to God’s will for us on Earth. Prayer changes us, not God.

When we pray for something, we don’t know the full picture like God knows. If we are believers in Him, just know that He loves us and protects us, and He will answer our prayers the way a Good Father knows what will be best for us on Earth, even if means suffering and persecution in our humanity. (For instance, if our own father tells us not to use a cell phone or iPad, we risk getting made fun of by our friends and told we are not cool enough and rejected by the cool kids, but we would waste less time, protect our eyes, and be less gossipy.)

~~~~~~~~

My husband told me this AM that his grandmother in China passed away. He had been working all night at the hospital until 4am this morning. His mother called him around 10pm right before he started an operation. I can't imagine how he must have felt trying to finish his operation with this on his mind in the wee-hours of the night. 

Even though it is not my grandma, I still feel so sad for her loss. She was the grandma that raised my husband, and she was eager to see her great-grandchildren, who were set to go visit in October later this year. Sadly, that will never happen. 

And I can't say that I am at peace over her death, because I have a big regret. My biggest regret is not spreading the gospel to her, or having my husband spread the gospel to her. If only we would have called her sooner, or gone to visit her in China sooner, perhaps she could have received the Good News and accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. I don't know her well enough to know if she's ever heard of the gospel or not. She grew up in the country-side and is illiterate. 

I wish I could console my husband and say that I am sure she is in Heaven now, but the truth is, I can't say that. Because I don't know her salvation status, and I don't know what the Lord's plan for her is.

For my husband's remaining family members, I am more motivated than ever to try to spread the gospel to them.  They have been brainwashed by the government and trained to discredit Jesus and the unseen spiritual forces. They only believe in science and the visible world. 

This is my burden, to open our overseas relatives' hearts on both sides to receive Christ. And if they don't, at least I won't have any regrets that I did not share the Gospel with them. 

It is much easier to live with the fact that you've done everything in your power to help someone, but they still refuse, vs. not having tried to do something to help and the person missed out on the chance of a lifetime. :'(

A career in the medical field is rewarding, exciting, fulfilling — and undeniably fast-paced and sometimes stressful. Because of this, Christians considering a career as a nurse or doctor may wonder: Is there still time for compassion in today’s fast-paced medical environments?

One of the greatest ways to be the “hands and feet” of Jesus Christ is to enter a career in the healthcare field. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are given the unique opportunity to care for others in a holistic way, taking into account the spiritual, physical, and mental needs of their patients.

However, a career in healthcare also presents challenges unanticipated by many prior to entering the field, from heartache and sorrow to exhaustion and burnout.

Stress in the healthcare field is well-documented; Health care providers have higher stress levels and complaints than employees of any industry, including the professional, business service, and retail sectors, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. In total, 69% of healthcare workers reported feeling stressed, and 17% reported feeling highly stressed.

Commenting on the study’s findings, Jason Lovelace, president of CareerBuilder Healthcare, said that while stress is a hallmark of many health care jobs, "high levels sustained over a long-period of time can be a major detriment to employee health and ultimately stand in their way of providing quality care to patients."

Here are a few things to keep in mind while considering a career in the healthcare field.

Jesus as The Great Physician

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is described as the Great Physician: “When Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’” - Mark 2:15-17

As demonstrated by His many miracles, Jesus was concerned not only with humanity's spiritual condition but also with its physical state. Matthew 8:2-3 recounts one such healing: “And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

During His short time on earth, Jesus showed compassion to the multitudes (Mark 8:2), healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame walk, and the deaf to hear.  

When Jesus healed a woman on the Sabbath, His reply to the criticism was: "Should this woman... not be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" (Luke 13:16). The Bible tells us that Jesus empathizes with the pain associated with losing a loved one. When He heard of the death of His friend, Lazarus, the Bible simply says, “Jesus wept.” In His Sermon on the Mount, He told His disciples: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

Because Jesus became flesh and suffered and died on the cross, He understands human pain and frailty: Isaiah 53:3 tells us, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

Likewise, before He ascended to Heaven, Jesus urged His disciples to follow in His footsteps, exhorting them to heal the sick as they proclaimed the kingdom of God to the lost. "He sent them [the twelve disciples] out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick" (Luke 9:2).

How does Jesus’ life and ministry as The Great Physician pertain to our modern-day healthcare practices?

Compassionate Care Based on Jesus’ Example

Jesus’ ministry was one defined by compassion and concern for society’s most vulnerable members. He viewed everyone — from the leper to the tax collector — as precious souls created in the image of God the Father, complete with value and dignity.

Jesus’ heart for the weakest members of society is is clearly outlined in Matthew 25:40-45. The passage reads, in part: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Similarly, Proverbs 14:31 says, “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

As healthcare professionals, we are called to treat every patient — regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality or social class — with the same respect and care Jesus showed His patients. In today’s fast-paced medical environment, remembering that our role is to present Christ to others, in action and words, is of the utmost importance.

Viewing patients as created in the image of God allows us to go beyond the basic requirements of the job description in extending Christ-like, compassionate service to those in our care.

Integrating Faith into the Profession

As Christians in the healthcare field, it’s important to be intentional about bringing clinical competency and spiritual commitment together. By continually integrating faith into medical care, compassion becomes an instinctual, natural response under pressure. Because we are comforted by the Great Comforter, we are able to comfort others in crisis. 2 Corinthians 1:4 refers to the Holy Spirit as One “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Dr. Laurel Shaler, author of Reclaiming Sanity: Hope and Healing for Trauma, Stress, and Overwhelming Life Events, puts it this way: “While you don’t necessarily have to be a Christian to show compassion, my compassion, as a believer, comes from a different place; it truly comes from having the Holy Spirit in me. As Christians, we are able to rely on Jesus as our anchor, our hope and our peace, and that differentiates us from others. In my field, I look to Scripture and weave those into my various interventions. Everyone who has experienced something traumatic is looking to cling to someone, and that person is Jesus.”

She added, “While we want to make sure we are guided by ethics and evidence-based treatment, we also must remember that we can integrate our faith in an ethical manner. Our job isn’t to proselytize, but as Christians, we are walking witnesses in whatever we do.”

Taking Time to Rest

Only half of U.S. adults employed full-time work 40 or fewer hours a week, according to a 2014 Gallup poll. The average workweek is now 47 hours, the poll found, with nearly one in five full-time workers clocking 60 hours or more. In healthcare, long shifts are standard practice — and breaks are sometimes difficult to come by.

The healthcare field tends to attract compassionate, empathetic individuals. Unfortunately, these qualities, while positive, can also leave one susceptible to "nurse burnout.” This term describes the physical, mental and emotional exhaustion healthcare providers often experience due to work stress. When we experience such burnout, we are unable to care for our patients to the best of our ability.

During Jesus' time on earth, He sometimes escaped the busyness of the crowds to renew His strength. Mark 6:31 says, “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to [His disciples], 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

Jesus — the Son of God — understood the importance of rest in the midst of a chaotic world. Similarly, we are called to follow His example by setting boundaries and resting, both in our personal and professional lives.

To avoid “nurse burnout,” Carol Rickard, LCSW, TTS and author of Stretched Not Broken: A Caregiver's Toolbox for Reducing and Managing Stress, advises taking time to oneself, whether it’s an extended vacation, quality time alone, or two minutes in the break room.

"Think of a bottle of soda," she explained. "If you shake a bottle, the pressure builds up inside. I believe the same thing happens to us."  

Rickard recommends the same kind of thing one would do with an over-pressurized bottle of soda: "Step 1: Stop the pressure from building by doing something calming for 60 seconds. Step 2: Release what's there by doing something active for 60 seconds," she said.

Ultimately, the weary soul finds rest and relief from its stress in listening to God’s voice and speaking to Him in prayer. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Working as if Unto the Lord

The Apostle Paul reminds us that “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23). As Christian healthcare professionals, we should be marked by the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).

Showing true compassion to patients in today’s fast-paced medical environments is no easy task. In fact, it’s impossible in our own human strength. To achieve this goal, we, as healthcare providers, must be prayerfully dependent upon God (1 Thessalonians 4:17) while striving for excellence in the workplace (Proverbs 14:23) and exemplifying Christ-like love for in all interactions (1 Corinthians 16:14).

-Leah Marianne Klett

I initially was going to write a post about Jesus' suffering on the cross, but I am going to side-track from the topic a bit. I am going to talk about the female gender. 

This morning, on my way to work, I was thinking about my fallen nature of being born a woman. I was wondering if I should continue on my quest of spreading the gospel and prophesying, or if I should pass the torch of this website to my husband.

I was struggling with the Bible verse,

 "The women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; 

but they should be subject, even as the law also says. 

But if they desire to learn anything, they should ask their own husbands at home; 

for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church." 

1 Corinthians 14:34-35. 

And 1 Corinthians 11:5-12, "But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered disgraces her head; ... 

For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is God's image and glory; 

but the woman is the glory of the man.

 For man is not out of woman, but woman out of man; 

For also man was not created for the sake of the woman, 

but woman for the sake of the man.   

Therefore the woman ought to have a sign of submission to authority on her head for the sake of the angels.

  However neither is woman without man, 

nor man without woman, in the Lord. 

For just as the woman is from the man, 

so also is the man through the woman; 

but all things are out from God."

Well, my conclusion is that my conscience has overactivated, and now it is tipping into the realm Satan's attack. But I do agree that there needs to be a male figure, my husband, overseeing my writings and approving of them, or else I will be in violation of God's teachings.

In order to understand the verse, we need to understand the audience it was addressed to. Paul was talking to the Church in Corinth, and specifically about the message of speaking in tongues and creating organization in the church. The Corinthians were disorderly, worldly, and did not have an organized church life. When Paul said women "not permitted to speak," I took it to mean speaking in tongues and delivering prophecies, since that was what the preceding verses were about. 

Paul’s original intent in 1 Corinthians 14:33–35 seems to be that a woman must not take part in the deliberative process of evaluating prophecies. 

Actually, what he said is still applicable today. In our church, we don't have the sisters ministering over the Lord's Table. The sisters must be under the submission of the brothers, and they may prophesy and speak only under the covering of the brothers. 

Also, the women may not have spiritual authority or control over the brothers. 

Simply put, the Bible verse means that women should not have leadership over the brothers in the church. They need to give respect to the brothers and not counterattack or question the validity of a fellow brother's statement in a group setting. They can bring it to the attention of their husband or their male family member or ask a more senior sister. When learning the Bible and the truths, they should not vocally and loudly counterattack or question a brother openly in the church. If they are unsure of the answer, they should bring it to the attention of their husband, or a man in their household, or a wiser and more senior sister.

Furthermore, in 1 Timothy 2:10-15, he states, "But, what befits women professing godly reverence, by good works. Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection; But I do not permit a woman to teach or to assert authority over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was formed first, then Eve;  And Adam was not deceived; but the woman, having been quite deceived, has fallen into transgression. But she will be saved through her childbearing, if they remain in faith and love and holiness with sobriety."

This doesn't mean that women do not have a role in the church. Nor does it mean that women cannot prophesy. Woman can still prophesy (speak for God and speak forth God, saying things that has occurred or will occur according to the Word of God) and elaborating, celebrating, and cherishing God's Words. This is different than Prophecy (receiving "de novo" Divine Revelation from the Lord, although women prophets did exist in Old Testament & in the early life of Jesus), and predicting the future like a fortune-teller what has not been written in the Bible. There were women prophets in the Bible before Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Women may prophesy, as stated by Luke in Acts 2:17-18, "And it shall be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream things in dreams; And indeed upon My slaves, both men and women, I will pour out of My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy."

Furthermore, when the saints are in the Spirit as One Body, there is no division or sexual discrimination anymore. "There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there cannot be slave nor free man, there cannot be male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28.

Jesus said that in Heaven, we will all be like the angels without gender differentiation. This was His answer to the Pharisees who asked Him which husband will be with the widow in Heaven if she had 7 husbands on Earth. The Pharisees asked this question: ”In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.  And Jesus answered and said to them, You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." Matthew 22:28-30

“The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” -Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father Of the United States, circa 1784

”"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." -George Washington, Founding Father and First President Of The United States

In my earlier post, I forgot a very important point about being in the Spirit. 

Jesus said, "For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst." Matthew 18:20

This is because when it is just one individual in the Spirit, it is a very subjective experience and subject to tampering and trickery by Satan. You do not have another saint around you to validate your feelings. We must pray with other saints to come up with a collective agreement, to achieve "ONENESS."

Otherwise, you risk turning into a rogue stray sheep, lost from the flock. There is very little strength by yourself. The strength is built in numbers.

Having hundreds of people pray about something is better than having one person pray about something.  

People commonly tell me, "I believe in Jesus in my heart. I don't need to go to church or fellowship with other people. I don't like being around people. I can read the Bible alone. I can pray by myself." This is not true. This is a lie from Satan. A patient today just told me she doesn't need to go to church, she believes in God and prays on her own. Another patient told me he didn't want to go to church because he didn't like the pressure to tithe and donate money.

If you don't like going to church, then either you haven't found the right church group for you yet, or you have

not fully given your life to Jesus yet. You are still having a hard time terminating your SELF and your own earthly desires, and your old life.

I also hear a lot of people tell me that they know people who are prophets today. My dad's doctor's wife states that she talks directly to God every day and received prophecies from Him. One of my aunts from the East Coast states that her pastor is a prophet who predicted the death of Sadam Hussein. I even know of a person from our church who claimed to be a prophet and has a direct line of communication with God; this person lives on the East Coast.

The point is, I don't think that God has divinely appointed any modern-day prophets today. God has completed His words with the Bible already. Whatever the self-professed prophets are claiming may or may not be in line with the Bible. Whatever they prophesy must not contradict the Word of God. And it must not be a new or radical theory or proposition.

In fact, all of us believers have the ability to prophesy. What we do is witness the works of God in our lives, and testify testimonies of our experiences and prophesy what we have learned from reading the Word of God and how it is still true today, because the Word of God is the TRUTH. TIMELESS TRUTH. Valid in AD 58 (time of Apostle Paul), Valid in AD 100 (time of Apostle John who wrote the Book of Revelation, son of Zebedee) and still Valid in AD 2018. Pertinent in BC 658 (time of Prophet Jeremiah), Pertinent in BC 700 (time of Prophet Isaiah) and still Pertinent in AD 2018.  Because the TRUTH withstands the test of time, we all have the power to prophesy today. The TRUTH transcends time, space, location, gender, age, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, sickness, health, war, peace, life, death, wealth, poverty, power, subordinance, destruction, edification, education, technology.

For instance, I can say, "The Lord is coming back soon. I see signs of End Times." This does not make me a prophet. I am merely stating what I observe going on in the world, and how it matches with what the Bible says. Stay in the Body--> Stay in the Spirit. 

In the words of Jesus Himself: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away." 

Matthew 24:35, Luke 21:33

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians:

"For if indeed he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit, which you have not received, or a different gospel, which you have not accepted, you bear well with him." 

(In layman terms: If someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily.)

2 Corinthians 11:4

"But what I do, I also will do, that I may cut off the opportunity of those desiring an opportunity, that in the thing in which they boast, they may be found even as we." 

2 Corinthians  11:12   

"For such ones are false apostles, deceitful workers, transfiguring themselves into apostles of Christ."

2 Corinthians 11:13

"And no wonder, for Satan himself transfigures himself into an angel of light." 

2 Corinthians 11:14 

"Therefore it is no great thing if also his ministers transfigure themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." 

2 Corinthians 11:15

"But if even we or an angel out of heaven should announce to you a gospel beyond that which we have announced to you, let him be accursed." 

Galatians 1:8

~~~

PRAISE THE LORD, THE LAST ADAM BECAME A LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT!!!

It is pretty obvious from my posts that I go through "highs" and "lows" all the time in my life. Yesterday, I shared with my Friday night small group that I wished my life was more of a straight line, rather than a sine wave with ups-and-downs (see picture above). 

My cousin says: "Yes, our life struggle is supposed to be like an up-and-down wave, but it should be an upward trajectory up-and-down wave." Meaning that you are always growing upward in life, achieving a positive slope (see picture below), rather than staying at a slope of 0 or going to a negative slope. 

Going to church definitely helps pick me back up from my "lows" in life. The fellowship and Spirit makes me feel alive again. Another sister states that she was in Korea for several weeks, and did not get to attend church while there. When she came back, she felt dead in the spirit like a zombie. She was a serving sister too, and I was surprised to hear that she felt that way! I felt the same way after coming back from San Diego as well. It is a feeling of emptiness, hopelessness, and unhappiness. 

However, having the opportunity to fellowship with the saints yesterday definitely helped boost my mood again. Today I am much happier, knowing that I am not alone in my struggles. My small group is there to help me and support me. I am so thankful to have met such a wonderful group of humble people who are non-judgmental of my weaknesses. I hope to see every one of the families in my meeting group be showered with love and blessings. 

"For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

-Hebrews 4:13

So being in the spirit takes practice. And if you don’t feel any difference, don’t be disheartened. Stay in the Body of Christ, stay in the church, and don’t give up. Try to live a righteous life free of sin, be as Christ-like as possible. 

It only took me 22 years to re-activate my spirit, so it does take time. Not an overnight occurrence. Unless you had a miracle happen to you. We can’t all expect miracles. But we can keep strong in the Faith and continue believing.

Granted, there are a handful of individuals in those churches who truly have a strong spirit, and they are very nice and Christ-like in their behavior. They will actively exercise their spirit on their own accord through prayers, singing, and living a godly life.

They won’t gossip or pursue worldly goods. I had one such friend in medical school, who got diagnosed with lupus while he was an undergrad at Stanford. He loved God very much, and talked to me about righteous living. He said that for himself, whenever he catches himself coveting another person’s girlfriend/wife/etc, he will repent and correct himself because Jesus said even thinking bad thoughts in your mind is committing adultery.

I was very impressed by his strong faith, but I couldn’t understand the constant attraction and continual desire to pursue Jesus and get closer to Jesus. I was more interested in pursuing all the things of the world! All the glittery, glitz, glam, and colorful things of the world and the fashions of this age that I was exposed to after I left the confines of my parents’ house.

Now, I finally understand the desire to get closer to God, to feeling His love and His protection, and this is through activating our spirit to mingle with the Holy Spirit.

I know a lot of Psychiatrists who practice Buddhism and meditation as a way to calm the mind. They even use these methods when treating drug and alcohol addiction. Yoga is another commonly used and highly touted relaxation technique. When people are stressed, the doctors tell them - do yoga, meditate, practice mindfulness, be aware of your surroundings, create calming imageries.

They will practice chants, poses, and “prayers” to achieve zen and peace.

The New Age movement is so popular nowadays for this reason. The people believe in “energy,” “vibrations,” “healing rocks and crystals,” to achieve calm and peace and tranquility. 

The physical objects, such as the rocks, crystals, statues of Buddha, Hindu gods, worship shrines, incense, prayer beads, are all idols. The people feel more comforted and protection when they have these physical objects in their lives, because it is like a security blanket. (However, demons can inhabit inanimate objects too, usually as a result of witchcraft/sorcery.)

Also the chants, the meditation prayers, reading the 4 Noble Truths to achieve good karma and perfect nirvana, they are so-called ways of activating the innermost part of the soul - which is the “spirit.”

Yes, I do believe the pagan worshippers can activate their “spirit” in such a way and achieve peace, but their peace does not come from The Holy Spirit. The non-believers do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them. Therefore, their inner soul, the “spirit,” is actually getting in touch and fellowshipping with demons and Satan, feigning the sensation of peace, feigning the spiritual “high” through the chants, meditation, yoga poses. I think yoga poses without chants or channeling the mindfulness energy is fine, since they are just stretching poses. However, if you use the poses to get into the “spirit” to contact the higher power, then just know you’re contacting the wrong power. 

The non-believers’ “spirits” will contact the demonic and Satanic powers. Except they are blind and cannot see the wrongdoing, because “it feels so good, relaxing, and peaceful,” and helps them become a “better” person. For instance, the benevolent charity group Tzu Chi is one example. They do good works and good deeds, but their biggest sin is not believing in God and Jesus.

Satan’s workers are demons and fallen angels. They are synonymous — think of all of them as invisible evil forces. 

Evil hides in outwardly good things too. That is why Satan is so clever. He and his demons are our biggest bullies in life. They want us to be tricked, and believe there is no such thing as God or Jesus, and make us think that when we die, we either reincarnate to another being, we turn to nothingness, we get trapped on earth and haunt people, or we become one with nature.

But when a person dies and enters into constant hellfire, torturing, burning, and suffering for an eternity, it is too late already. Because God gave the person all the chances while on Earth to be humble and turn to Jesus, but they refused, and remained blind. Once you enter Hell, the demons and Satan will rejoice, because they have successfully tricked you on Earth, and brought you down to their level forever, which is where they all will eventually go; there are a lot of them down there already. Misery loves company, and they love to see God’s beloved humans suffering with them. 

There is only one Truth on Earth, and that is “Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus.”

That’s it. Simple. Even a 4-year old can understand it.

All the evolution theories are meant to confuse us and trick us. Sure, Neanderthals may have 99% of the same DNA as us, but do they have a spirit to contact God? Were they created in God’s image? I don’t think so. Humans try to rationalize everything with the physical world, visible world, tangible world, through sciencific discoveries, Carbon dating, DNA sequencing. But they do not realize that there is an invisible dimension out there, one that can not be identified by science, one that is beyond our limited human comprehension. We cannot be so arrogant like Steven Hawking or Richards Dawkins to say that “blind faith” is wrong. 

To become a Christian in the spirit and remain in contact with the Holy Spirit, you got to take a “leap of faith.” If you are too cocky and think the invisible realm is non-existent, then you have no one to blame but your own stupidity when you die and enter eternal hell. 

Sure, Darwinism and genetic drift does happen based on climate, topographical geography, soil and plant types, availability of water, presence of malaria or not (sickle cell anemia was protection against malaria) - this is why people around the world have different colored skin, hair, eyes, facial structure, nose, ears, body build.

However, you got to remember that we are the only ones that God created in His image, and we contain a spirit. No other creature on Earth, alive or dead, has a spirit. 

So all that homo habilus, homo erectus, homo hominis, etc, are not the same as humans. Sure, genome sequencing and evolution theory can suggest we are the same, but can carbon dating detect our spirit? Our soul? I don’t think human technology is that advanced yet. We can detect gases and sound, but we don’t have a machine that detects the spirit and the soul.

We were created by God and God alone. We did not evolve from primordial soup. Don’t be fooled by so-called “science” and the arrogance of scientists.

Don’t be fooled by thousands of years of cultural history or beliefs in paganism. 

Actually, if you look at world population, more than 50% are believers in the Abrahamic religion, meaning they believe in 1 invisible God. 

Choose the right God. Choose the right Savior. 

Dare to be different than your peers. Dare to pray to God. Dare to call on Jesus for help. Even if He doesn’t answer, it may not be His will. You also may not be fellowshipping with other saints, and you may not be living a righteous life. These are all hinderances to effective prayers. It’s not going to be your way or what you think is the perfect way. It is His will through His way. He will answer you eventually as long as you remain faithful. Even if you can’t seeing on Earth, you will see Him in death, and sense His love.

Have you ever thought about why there are so many near-death stories of people who visited Heaven and came back, but not as many people who talk about visiting Hell and back? Well, because the Hell people are ashamed and afraid people will forever judge them. The Heaven people are joyful and proud, and excited, and can’t wait to get back there again. The Hell people are attempting to try life on Earth one more time. 

There are multiple people who commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Only 2-5% survive. One man who survived said, “The moment I let go of the railing, I experienced intense and deep regret, except there was no turning back.”

Think about it this way. Of all the religions on Earth, is there another afterlife more horrific than the Christian afterlife if you are non-believer?

For the other religions, you can reincarnate to another animal. But even being an animal on earth is nice cuz you don’t sustain eternal torture. If you go to outer space, even better. If you become nothing and cease to exist, great, that’s not bad either. At least you won’t feel pain or suffering anymore.  If you become a ghost and float, there’s no torture either. If you become one with nature like Pocahontas, then that’s beautiful.

Only the Christian afterlife, after living a life of sin and non-repentance, and non-belief in Jesus, will there be constant burning, constant thirst, constant heat, constant pain, constant screaming, constant crying, constant breaking bones, constant ripping flesh, constant gnashing teeth, constant torturing, forever and ever and ever. And you can feel it even without your Earth body. Wow. So scary. 

We do not want to be wrong about God and Jesus or forsake them. 

It is better to be wrong about not believing in all the other religions (meaning that those religions were right, and you go reincarnate) than to be wrong about not believing in Christ (meaning that Christianity was right, and you go to eternal torture). What a horrible afterlife.

But of course, a lot of the world is blinded to this, especially in Asia, due to cultural pride and belief in generations of false glory, like the dragon, like 666, like the color red, like hanging “luck” upside down, like getting married on lucky days. Sure, the demons and Satan can make dreams and riches come true too. Of this world on Earth only though. Can’t take all these riches to afterlife, despite what Egyptian pharaohs and Chinese Emperors thought.

Don’t forget though, the beginnings of the Chinese written language did have pictographs of the Old Testament Biblical occurrences, but Asian pride and Asian worldly success got the best of them, so they stopped believing in God, and was instead tricked by Satan.

When I was little, the term Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit always scared me. I would harken to an image of Donald Duck’s Uncle Mr Scrooge being haunted by the Holy Ghost. So naive and pathetic, I know, but no one explained to me what it was when I was young. Perhaps for fear of scaring the children?

I guess the reason why the word “Ghost” or “Spirit” is used is because it is invisible. 

To me, the Holy Spirit, or Life-giving Spirit, is an invisible force that overtakes your being and transforms you into a New Man. When you receive the Holy Spirit, and whenever you exercise your Spirit, you feel almost a “floaty” sensation, as if you are going to ascend upward and become lightheaded in a good way. It is when you feel that all the burdens and weight of the world have been dropped. Have you ever seen when some people prophesy, and are really in the spirit, they will periodically lift their heels and get on their tippy toes? Or when saints reach upward or point upward when they are exercising the Spirit? This is because of the feeling of ascension. 

And when the Spirit touches you, you will be very enthusiastic and on fire for the Lord. You just want to eat, breathe, drink Christ, and share your love of Christ with the other saints. It is a constant thirst to get closer and closer to God, and farther and farther away from the world and from sin. 

I was baptized at a young age, age 13. I remember feeling lightheaded, faint, and peaceful while singing hymns and calling on the Lord’s name in unison with other saints, but I thought it was because I wasn’t inhaling enough oxygen with each breath while opening my mouth to sing or call on the Lord’s name. It was only in retrospect that I realized that this was my early practice of exercising of the Spirit. 

Sadly, because I never knew what to make of that feeling, I really didn’t care when that feeling was gone. I didn’t seek out that feeling intentionally. I wasn’t addicted to Christ. And the more I lived in the world and did things of the world and flesh, the further away I went from the Holy Spirit. Yet I still called myself a Christian and a believer, because I wanted to hold on to my faith like a lucky charm - pray to God when you are in trouble, and forget about God when you are successful. Sadly, I did not realize or have insight that this was being a “Carnal Christian,”meaning not actively trying to correct one’s behavior to become Christ-like. I still submitted to my worldly ways and to my pursuits in the flesh. I did not try to fight what my “id”, or primitive default nature, wanted to do. I fed my flesh, because  that felt natural, it felt good, and I satisfied myself. Again, this was because my spirit was no longer activated inside of me. I may still have had the Holy Spirit, since I believed in Jesus, but my own spirit was not touched or communicating or in sync with it. 

Carnal Christians do not have their spirit activated, and so their spirit is not in sync with the Holy Spirit. Their own spirit is dead, so it is all soul-living. 

Our soul is: mind, emotion, will.

Our spirit is: fellowship, intuition, conscience.

Carnal Christians oftentimes don’t have a conscience, nor fellowship, nor intuition. They may have 1/3 but not all 3 at the same time.

So when our own spirit is activated, it will become in sync with the Holy Spirit, and we will feel God’s love for us. Even if one doesn’t know how to activate the spirit yet, the Holy Spirit will decide the right time to intervene in your life. The Spirit will then change your heart, your soul, and activate your spirit. 

In the past, even though I didn’t have my own inner spirit activated yet, I was still under the protection of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would divinely intervene to rescue me. There is no logical or scientific explanation of how such a thing could happen. It defies reason, and all you can say is, “It was an act of God.”

However, once I saw “the act of God” and had a “come to Jesus” moment, my own spirit became activated. And how happy I am to have it in contact with the Holy Spirit! And I never want to lose it again!

The Triune God, Father, Son, Spirit, makes me feel so safe and secure no matter what my outward situation is. 

I know I can depend on Christ. 

I trust Him and His infinite wisdom, and besides, our life is already planned out and He already knows our future. 

• The Christian martyr does not lose Faith in God, whereas the suicide victim has lost faith in God. 
• The very act of killing oneself, ending worldly struggles on Earth, means that the person did not have enough faith that God and Jesus will pull him/her out of the Earthly predicament.
• Life on Earth is not meant to be fair, glorious, or easy. Life on Earth is a test - a test to see if you can withstand the trials and tribulations that are thrown your way without giving up hope and Faith in Jesus Christ. If you pass the test by overcoming the hardship, then you become an Overcomer, headed for Zion.
• God doesn’t punish you or give you hardships. God allows Satan and his minions to attack you, to see if you can withstand the test like Job did. God actually loves us so much, like how a father loves his child. However, He gave us a spirit+soul so that we can communicate and have a relationship with Him. He also gave us free-will, but He wants us to pick Him - pick Life, pick Love, pick Eternal Salvation. It is a love that surpassed all human understanding.
• Sometimes, overcoming your hardship means execution/death on Earth. This means not fearing evil in face of persecution, living Christ through us, and crucifying ourselves with Christ. Our soul lasts forever, and to have Eternal Salvation with the One who gives us unconditional Love is truly a blessing.
• Don‘t compare yourself with all the worldly people, and think, “how come they can do that.” When the world says “No” to Christ, you say “Yes.” 
• God will eventually judge all the evil ones - he will balance the scales, right the wrongs. He may not do it while the people are on Earth, but it is an eventuality.
• Jesus loved us so much that He came as man to be tortured and hung on a cross, pouring out precious blood and water. 
• This blood has saved us, and this water is new life through the Spirit. If we have been touched and transformed by the Holy Spirit, we will try to live out Christ through us.
• Not all Christians have been touched or transformed by the Holy Spirit, and you can easily see that their worldly actions are contradictory to the Word Of God.
• I don’t think Mr. Knight was filled with Holy Spirit - instead, he was tortured by demons who were successful in tricking him to commit suicide and think that the afterlife will be better. The demons want us to think there is no such thing as Eternal Salvation.
• He wrongly thought that he will float around in the sky, hovering over his family member. This is what the world teaches us to think- but it is all a lie from Satan and the demons.
• The demons make you think there are such thing as ghosts and unrested spirits, but they are in fact the evil demons that inhabited the host - the human, before the human died. They especially target their attention on grisly murder sites and homicides to make us think that the person’s soul is “trapped” on Earth. Halloween is one example. Horror movies are another example.
• I once thought that I would be better off dead as well, and just “float” over my kids and watch them that way, to escape my difficult life. Oh, how wrong I was and how repentant I am! I was tricked into the thinking of this world.
• Have you heard of the great magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini? He was able to make all sorts of illusions and perform sleight of hand magic on Earth, such as making a live elephant disappear, or escaping out of chains and locks. Well, before he died, he made a promise to his wife that after death, he is going to "haunt" her and give her a secret code to say he's arrived in the afterlife. However, his wife waited and waited, in total 10 years. Then she gave up. She said, "a decade is much too long to wait for any man." So where did Houdini go? Obviously not on Earth.
• And the psychics, fortune tellers, are consulting demons for their supernatural powers. 
• Especially in Asia, where fortune telling and superstition are all the rage.
• 
  
• The meaning of Life is - Love. Not in the man-woman sense only, but love toward all other humans, showing humanity, and receiving the unconditional, free love from God and Jesus. The purpose of life can really be boiled down to, “Of God, By God, For God.” 
• Knowing that God and Jesus loves us so much, this means that we have hope for future. We do not fear death because we know we will go to be with the Lord. Hope is so crucial to survival. In medical psychiatry, when we evaluate a patient’s suicidal risk, we look to see if the person had future-oriented thinking, meaning if they had made plans for several months down the road, such as vacation, marriage, kids, saving up to buy a new car... In medical terms, this shows the person still has hope. If a person has no future-oriented thinking, and has active suicidal plans, we commit them to a psychiatric hold for potential "danger to self."
• It is the complete absence of Hope when Life seems meaningless and there does not seem to be a point for existence. And that is when death seems like a good solution, to escape the problems of this life. No amount of job, lack of money, failed relationships, fall from grace, humiliation, inability to pass a test, inability to get into college or grad school, is worth giving up Hope in life for. 
• Find solutions to get out of the rut. Foreclose if you need to. Leave your inhumane job. Go live in a homeless shelter if that is how bleak life has gotten. Go ahead and declare bankruptcy. But never stop praying to God to take you out of your predicament. Also do not turn to drugs, alcohol, or smoking to mask your suffering. Stay in the Body of Christ - turn to church for help. The church consists of God’s servants who would be willing to help someone regain their life, as long as they don’t have evil intentions in their heart.

William “Billy” Knight, a former Westchester High standout and UCLA NCAA player was found dead just before 3 a.m. Sunday morning on a Phoenix roadway, according to the Daily News.No evidence of foul play was suspected, police said.

Just two days prior to his death, Knight posted a video on YouTube titled “I am Sorry Lord” in which he voices regrets over his “life of sin”. Knight also said he believed the video would be his “last message on earth.”

This is probably my last message on earth. I just want to say that I lived a life of sin. I lied, I cheated, and I stole. From many people. I was a taker, and that’s why my life ended up where it is now. Life is not a game. You can’t play around with life. It’s serious. And I wasn’t honest with a lot of people– even my mom, my brother, and my family members. I isolated myself from my family members. I isolated myself from my friends. And that’s not something you should do. If this happens, you probably have a mental illness. Mental illness is serious. I hear voices in my head constantly; I don’t know where they come from. I just ask God for forgiveness for all the wrong I’ve done. When I was younger I was really religious. Spiritual. 

And I obeyed the laws of the universe, of the earth, the Ten Commandments. And once I got older, I thought I knew it all and I veered off. But what I want to say– I just want to help someone out there who’s feeling like me. Maybe an ex-athlete, maybe someone who’s changing jobs. I just want to try and at least help them out by putting this on Youtube. So other people can hear and maybe get help. I never got help. I denied help. And people told me to get help. Many people. And I just ignored them and I thought I could do it on my own. When in reality, you can’t really do it on your own. You need to get help. Now, I’m lost in life and I feel like there is no hope. I have no friends with me here. I have no wife or girlfriend. I have nothing. And I just feel like I can’t continue on. But if you’re feeling like this please get help. Don’t let this linger on. I love Earth, I try to do the best I can, but I got caught up in sin. You can’t live a life of sin. I grew up with Jesus Christ. He’s my Lord and Savior and I veered off and veered away, and I just used. I use people to get what I want and that’s not how you’re supposed to live. So if you feel like you’re using people, stop no. This life is about giving. The secret to living is giving. Give to others. I just feel like I didn’t belong here on Earth, so my time is up. I couldn’t. I couldn’t obey the laws. I couldn’t fit in society. So now I will take my chances. Either I’ll be in heaven, or I’ll be in hell, or I’ll be in limbo. But I’m willing to take that chance. And I’ll be watching over all the people that I’ve hurt throughout my life and all the people I used throughout my life. My family as well. I know there’s one person who loved me more than anything in the world. And that’s my brother. Eric, man, I treated you bad, too. But you still loved me, man. And I love you, too, Eric. I love you more than anything. I left some stuff for you– it’s all I had. If I had more I would give you more. Bless your wife. Your kids— I’ll be looking over you and I’ll protect you and make sure you’re being safe. You’ll be better than me. I’m sorry Lord. 

Reflecting on my life last week and this past weekend, I can see now that I was in darkness.  However, while I was in the midst of darkness, I could not focus on anything else besides myself and feeling self-pity. How terrible it is to have Satan blindfold me to the joys in my life!

Satan is getting more clever in his ways of attacking me and comes up with devious plans. 

He made me think that I was tired, I was a loser, I was a failure, and made me anxious of people and wanting to avoid going back to work. 

Today, after fellowshipping with some sisters, I can tell what a difference it makes to turn to the Lord. Of course, my parents' and husband's fellowship with me also helped too. 

I also need to be more humble in recognizing my personal flaws. 

All of my worries and anxieties seem so meaningless when you keep your focus on Christ.

That is why it is so important for saints to go to weekly Prayer meetings and the regular Church Meetings, to get revived, to gain protection in the Body of Christ, to experience jubilee, happiness, and ecstasy.  I am going to try harder to stay in the Body as much as possible, and I will try to wake up early every day, especially on Sunday for the Church Meeting. I will continue to pray about it. 

Even if you are in high school, college, or grad school, and feel that there is not enough time, even attending 1 hour of Church is better than 0 hours. Mingling, fellowshipping, and  releasing the power of being in the Body is our weapon against the enemy's attacks. Because sometimes, the enemy will put blinders on you and you can't even see or discern that you are in darkness. You need a fellow saint to help point it out to you and encourage you, and lift you up and out of the predicament. 

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 What A Sweet Salvation From Our Savior! 

Go Away, Stinky Satan, Go Away! 

There is no place for your here! 

Praise the Lord, Hallelujah! 

Thank you Lord for my wonderful parents who motivated me to get up early today and go work out.

What a difference moving your body makes! My husband and my baby convinced my parents to come back! Baby kept saying, “Lao Lao, huey lai.” (Grandma, come back.)

Thank heaven for a brand new day! Every day when we wake up, it is a new chance to start fresh and start over again.

Hallelujah, I love you Abba Father!

Thank you for my wonderful life! Thank you for being in my life! Thank you for your rich supply, grace, mercy, and love! 

You never give up on me even when I want to give up. Banish Satan from my life! Let me focus only on You, and not myself. All glory to You.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen

" Does anyone among you suffer evil? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you ill? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him.
Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The petition of a righteous man avails much in its working. Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and he earnestly prayed that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

And he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth sprouted forth with its fruit. My brothers, if any one among you is led astray from the truth and someone turns him back, Let him know that he who turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save that one’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

-James 5:13-20

One of my biggest obstacles in spreading the gospel to my Taiwan relatives is dealing with the culturally-ingrained beliefs, such as worshipping ancestors, worshipping Buddha and other gods, overcoming superstitions, lucky numbers, feng-shui, fortune-telling. At this point in time, they are still not open to hearing about it. My aunt intentionally ignores my statements on Jesus. I can't force religion on them. In spreading the gospel, it is important to be well-equipped. Here are some of my own tips:

• Pray before spreading the gospel. Pray for the Spirit to transform the hearts of the non-believers.
• Don't go spreading the gospel alone. Find at least 2 companions to go with you. This is protection from the attacks of the enemy.
• Don't force the gospel message onto others. Not everyone will receive the message immediately. It takes time and help from other saints. For me, the gospel only made sense to me after more than a decade of hearing the messages, and after shepherding by multiple different people separated by space and time. My brothers and sisters from the Bay Area, San Diego, and Los Angeles all impacted my transformation.
• Expect hardships and obstacles. I remember last year before our church went to Germany, Air Berlin went out of business, and all the plane tickets were voided. I don't believe the refunds ever came through.
• Be patient. Show compassion, kindness, mercy, generosity, and love. Be positive and happy. Shining the Light on others will attract them like fireflies.
• Be humble. Show respect and be considerate. Allow others to go before you. Help out with Cinderella-like tasks. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
• Put on the whole armor of God. Set boundaries to protect yourself. Don't be tricked by evil and dishonest people.
• If you have bad feeling about someone, and feeling a presence of strong darkness or evil, it is better to flee immediately and pray for them, rather than attempt to conquer the darkness. You don't want the enemy to drag you down too, especially if it is strong demonic feeling. Pray for God's protection and for God to bind the enemy. 
• Don't judge others and tell them what they should do and shouldn't do. God will judge them. Also don't judge them because of their race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. A lot of people are turned off by Christians who purport to be self-righteous and scold others. Your job is to try to be as Christ-like as humanly possible, and do not give in to temptations and sin. Repent immediately if you feel in the flesh. 
• Say no to people who try to take advantage of your kindness. Christians are often the targets of thieves, evil people, immoral people. They will try to milk the system and get as much out of your kindness as possible. I once had a lesbian patient ask to borrow $500 from me for her rent because she knew I was Christian.
• Be wary of overly sycophantic and flattering people. Sometimes they have ulterior motives. 
• Be confident in God and Christ. If you don't know an answer, just say I don't know. Offer to ask another saint for the answer, or offer to look up the answer for them.
• Memorize Bible verses. I wish I memorized more as a child. They are very useful to explain things, to stay faithful, to persevere on. 
• Just know that no amount of logical explanation or reasoning will transform people. It is only by the power of the Spirit that will turn people to Christ. 
• Remember to thank the Lord for manifesting Himself to you, so that you can now share the Good News to others.
• Don't gossip about others to other people.
• Dont doubt God's blessings and plans for you. You are a VIP, a very important person. 
• Dont give up if you don't succeed. Don't compete with other saints to see who could convince the most people to follow Christ.
• Work on yourself and try to correct your flaws. For sure, it will be difficult, but your conscience will feel better once you improve.
• If people accuse you of being a hypocrite, tell them that you repent your transgressions, you are praying to God about it, and that you are working on becoming a better person. Ask them how you can improve and correct your flaws, and thank them for pointing it out. Apologize to them that you gave them a bad impression on Christianity, and inform them that all humans are fallen, and we can only look to Jesus Himself and His Ways while on Earth as the example of how to live. Jesus alone is perfect, without blemish, without sin.
• Stay calm, be slow to anger, don’t talk back, don’t disrespect. Don’t show pride, narcissism, arrogance, condescension. Don’t show off. Showing off may make you feel good about yourself, but it will make others feel jealous, inadequate, and depressed.

How I became the first-ever Christian in my family lineage - By Alexander Chu

Click … click … click. I could hear my parents in the other room using a handheld tally counter while they recited mantras. In one day in our home, the counter might reach 1,000 clicks or 2 hours of meditation. They chanted in order to clear their minds and purify themselves, seeking perfect enlightenment in the way of Buddha.

   Each morning I would wake up to the smell of incense burning. Oranges and pineapple cake were offered in front of the Buddha statue in a room designated for meditation. Our home was like a temple, with a Buddha portrait on each wall totaling more than 30 deities throughout the house. A statue of the Grand Master, revered as a living Buddha, stood in the center of our home. My parents spoke often about discipline, wisdom, and training the mind according to the Four Noble Truths.

   You might picture us nestled on a street in Thailand or China; yet the story of my life begins in Lawrence, Kansas, home of the legendary Jayhawks. My father was a science professor at the university and my mother a homemaker, raising my two sisters and me. The influence of a Guggenheim Award–winning dad and a so-called "tiger mom" kept the pressure on us for straight A’s. Academics, achievement, and ambition were nonnegotiable in my search for parental approval.

   My Taiwanese family lineage includes generations of Buddhists, so religion was destined to be an integral part of my identity formation. Yet outside of our home, our neighbors pursued an entirely different faith. While I practiced the violin on Sunday mornings, my attention drifted to the sound of cars pulling up outside. Families dressed in their best would get out and walk to one of the many churches down the block. I would watch them, and then return to the Suzuki method. Somehow I managed to go through 18 years of life without ever hearing the Good News of Jesus.

Radiating Love

In the mid-1990s, I arrived at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC) with eyes wide open and eager to soak in all that campus life had to offer. I had chosen UIUC because of its engineering program and its closeness to home; plus its diversity and active student organizations. Back in Lawrence, I had been regularly reminded that I am in an ethnic minority. At UIUC for the first time in my life I met not one or two; but a whole group of people who looked like me, had similar upbringings, and knew what it's like to be bicultural in a white-majority culture.

   My dorm was full of fervent Christians, the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) students shared a bond with each other and seemed to radiate love. They were the first Asian American Christians I had ever met. They cared about things that were important to me, like living with purpose and having compassion for a cause beyond themselves. Living with them, I began to realize that the Buddhism of my upbringing was not in my heart.

   Growing curious about Christianity during my sophomore year, I asked a friend if I could join him at an IVCF gathering. There I heard for the first time, God's promises declared in worship songs and saw men and women praising Him. I soon joined a gig (Groups Investigating God) and began studying my first Bible, beginning with the Gospel of John. The authority with which Jesus spoke amazed me. It's as if His words jumped off the pages, addressing me directly.

   Before I could place my faith in Jesus; I needed to know there was a rational basis for Christianity's foundational truths. Early that summer, I attended Chapter Focus Week (a retreat sponsored by IVCF), where I took an apologetics track. I heard well-founded explanations of the inspiration of Scripture, the problem of evil, and the uniqueness of the gospel. After the doctrines were satisfactorily defended, my gig leader recommended that I focus on the person of Jesus, and not to let my endless philosophical queries distract me from the main character of Scripture. Jesus' display of justice and compassion from the cross made perfect sense and my reservations dissipated. I found that, contrary to the media's portrayal of it as narrow, crazy, and judgmental, Christianity was the most intellectually stimulating worldview I had ever encountered.

   In October 1997, during my junior year, I decided to take a study break. I started reading John Stott's pamphlet "Becoming a Christian," which I had picked up at an IVCF gathering. While reading it, I grew convinced of my sins and needed to be forgiven. I drove to an open forest area that night, knelt down on the grass beneath the stars and committed my life to Christ. I grew up in a sea of deities; but never had a relationship with any of them. On that night, I experienced the living God, Emmanuel: "God is with us." A peace overtook me as I gazed at the sky. That night I became the first Christian in our family's lineage.

Honoring My Parents

   By presenting the gospel in a profound and simple way, Stott's booklet had sealed my conversion. Over a dozen believers led me up to that point. I heard the gospel, both through the message and its messengers; who embodied the Word of God in their lives. Some had an intellectual style and could answer my tough questions. Others shared about Jesus' mark on their life. A few of them regularly invited me to events. God sent his only Son as both the message and the messenger. Likewise, the IVCF community served as the message and messenger united as a faithful witness.

   For months, I prayed about how to tell my parents what had happened. When I was at home for winter break, I sat in our living room to read Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents. My father was stunned by my reading choice; but also pleased by the dutiful title of the book (written by a team of Asian American ministers, including Peter Cha and Greg Jao). When he asked why I was reading it, I told him I had become a Christian.

   That evening, my dad, ever the scholar, took my Bible to his office and spent hours reading it to learn about my new faith. Being from a collectivist culture that emphasizes group identity, my parents insisted that our family religion was Buddhism. My mom recognized Jesus as a humble man with good character, but said he is one of many gods. Both parents held out hope that I would come to my senses and return to the Buddhist faith.

   As the years passed, God's indwelling in my heart grew deeper and I started to discern a call to vocational ministry. My parents said that if I followed through with this plan, they would cut me off. Sensing the disunity in our home, I decided to stay and care for my father, who was battling with heart disease. My presence and devotion built mutual respect and helped preserve our relationship. In God's timing, my family softened to my hopes of becoming a pastor. My parents continue to share their Buddhist experiences with me, and I continue to share my faith with them. My mom regularly prays to Jesus to bless and protect me.

   Today I serve on staff at a multisite church in the Chicago suburbs. I help members to become ambassadors of justice and mercy within a ten-mile radius of the church. I was fortunate to have experienced the love of God and now have the privilege to shepherd others in living out the gospel. There were a number of twists and turns in the road to reach this point. Every season of my life is in response to God's love. He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion. Through the power of Christ's resurrection, my shame-based culture's search for affirmation was transformed and redeemed by grace. I am God's workmanship, approved and unashamed (2 Tim. 2:15).

   Alexander Chu is the outreach pastor of Christ Church in Lake Forest and Highland Park, Illinois. He is a doctoral candidate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Satan hates that the veil has been lifted from my eyes and that I have the Life-Giving Spirit inside of me. The more I spread the Good News to others, the more he attacks me. My purpose now as a doctor is to: 

• Be God's useful and humble servant
• Be productive, not be idle. Gather "grains" for my family. 
• Have God work through me to shine light on non-believers
• Be a witness to the miracles of Christ
• Continue to give testimonies of my experience with the real and living God
• Show my humanity, my weakness, my fallen self, my vulnerabilities, to demonstrate that I am no different than any one else in the world. 
• Show my daily struggles on Earth, and how I overcome them with Christ
• Express my love for Christ and do His work through my career trade
• Exhibit humility, patience, kindness, generosity, calmness, peacefulness, compassion, hopefulness, forbearance, perseverance, bravery, mercy, happiness, purity, sacrifice, discipline, love, justice, forgiveness.
• Pray for non-believers and pray that the Spirit will touch and transform their hearts
• Help people with their illness not only through medical treatment, but with the healing power of Christ inside of them. 
• Pray for the building up of the Body of Christ with strong fortification
• Pray for God’s protection of believers against attacks and lies from the enemy
• Service God’s people on Earth, through prayer, teaching, philanthropy, humanitarian efforts 
• Raise up my children with a solid foundation in Christ so they can become God’s warriors, fully-equipped for every good work.

• I love learning, and medicine is a field where the learning never ends 📚 
• I like to problem-solve, and coming up with the correct diagnosis is very rewarding 💡🔎
• Seeing the smile and gratitude from a patient I had helped makes me very happy 😊 
• I am the happiest when I make other people happy through the work that I do 🌈
• I initially wanted to do pediatrics because I loved kids. 👶 Before I had kids of my own, I was always playing with other people's kids. I did not go into pediatrics after my inpatient rotation and seeing all the sick preemies, babies, toddlers, and children in the hospital. So sad. I wanted to cry almost every day. 🚑 💔🤒
• I majored in bioengineering, and found the high-tech advancements and innovations in medicine to be very fascinating. However, I still longed for a humanistic aspect of my scientific career, where I can interface directly with people. 👩🏻‍⚕️
• I like tackling and overcoming a challenge. I like intellectual stimulation. I wanted to achieve my maximum potential education-wise. 🏔 🚵‍♀️ 
• I liked the prestige, the respect, and the autonomy (now gone due to managed care) of being a physician. 🏆🏅
• Before I got married and had kids, I felt that I was equal, if not better, than the male gender, and this included academic achievements. 💪
• One of the few careers with job stability, where you become more respected with age and experience. 👵🏻
• It was what Asian parents wanted their children to be: doctor, lawyer, or engineer. 👩🏻‍🎓 👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍⚖️
• I thought that after I became a practicing physician, I would live happily-ever after with a glamorous life. 👠👜👗👛😎
• Medical knowledge is very handy to know. Every human being on Earth at one point in their life will need medical care. It is a universal language. I am able to take better care of my children with medical knowledge 🌎
• There is the potential of opening own practice, running own business, being own boss 👨🏻‍💼
• It is one of the professions which allows you to work part-time, on an as-needed basis. You can't do that with being a teacher, an accountant, an engineer, a lawyer. 🏌️
• Exposure to large pool of intelligent males who can potentially be husband-material (except most are taken by age 26, except for the "weird" ones with personality problems) 💑
• I wanted to make my family proud 👍
• I wanted to live a life where I don't have to worry about money 💵

~~~

Our Creator made our body vastly intricate, down to the molecular level. As a result, there is so much to learn, so much yet to be discovered and learned, such as what is responsible for human consciousness. That is why medicine is so hard, because there are so many variables with the body, and even the most brilliant minds in science cannot explain everything. I am very impressed with what human civilization has accomplished thus far.

However, I do wonder if God views the accomplishments of His Creation as vanity of vanities. Or does God view the accomplishments of humankind as an expected consequence of Adam's fall, which will lead to the coming of the Antichrist and Armageddon?

" But we do speak wisdom among those who are full-grown, yet a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nought;

  But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory,

 Which none of the rulers of this age have known; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

 But as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

 But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

 For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way, the things of God also no one has known except the Spirit of God.

 But we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been graciously given to us by God;

 Which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.

 But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually.

 But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.

 For who has known the mind of the Lord and will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

It has been 9 months since I've stopped working full-time. Financially, we are struggling. This week, we had to borrow more credit line money just to make ends meet. We are truly living on a prayer. Our expenses and payments are now exceeding what I earn, and there is a real risk of bouncing checks, defaulting on loans, and foreclosure. 

We have never been in such dire straights, except for 4th year of med school. I really don't know how my husband and I will last financially for the remainder of the year. 

You see, before, when we were two full-time physicians earning household income, we got used to a certain lifestyle of living. We put the kids in schools and extra-curriculars that cost money. However, with my significant pay cut, we cannot continue living our prior lifestyle.

It is hard. Very hard. I know that Jesus does not want us to live lavishly. In fact, he wants us to drop all of our worldly possessions:

"Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow Me." Matthew 19:21

" And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24

"And hearing this, Jesus said to him, Still you lack one thing: all that you have, sell and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow Me. But when he heard these things, he became very sorrowful, for he was exceedingly rich. And Jesus, seeing that he became very sorrowful, said, How difficult it is for those who have riches to go into the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Luke 18:22-25

So I know that my worldly possessions are just extra baggage and distractions. However, my old self is still wanting to enjoy the luxuries and comforts of my prior life. I am slowly trying to learn to be more frugal less wasteful, and cut down on retail spending. It is not an overnight process, nor is it easy. but I have to correct my habits in order to perfect myself. Satan makes us think that buying fancy things, eating expensive meals, spending money, will make us happy. It does make us happy in the short-term, but in the long-run, these material objects become burdens, junk, clutter, chaos. 

I secretly wish to have a fast and easy solution to my financial woes, but again, I know that is not the will of God. He does not want us to win the lottery, play the stock market, or gamble to get rich quick. He does not want us to be rich at all outwardly. What he wants is the richness of our inner man, our spirit, so that we can become the corporate expression of the Triune God, from glory to glory. 

My daily life is a pruning of my fleshly flaws, and I admit, I do struggle with it. Satan tells me I will be happier on Earth if I just give up my struggles and forsake God. But I know he is a liar and deceiver, so I will not fall for his evil schemes. 

I will continue to fight the battle to stay strong and faithful, no matter what happens, because I know God is real.

~

Eight Things to Do with Evil

• Expect evil. “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
• Endure evil. “Love bears all thing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7; see also Mark 13:13).
• Give thanks for the refining effect of evil that comes against you. “Give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Romans 5:3–5).
• Hate evil. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
• Pray for escape from evil. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).
• Expose evil. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).
• Overcome evil with good. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
• Resist evil. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Four Things Never to Do with Evil

• Never despair that this evil world is out of God’s control. “[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).
• Never give in to the sense that because of random evil life is absurd and meaningless. “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! . . . For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Romans 11:33, 36).
• Never yield to the thought that God sins or is ever unjust or unrighteous in the way he governs the universe. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways” (Psalm 145:17).
• Never doubt that God is totally for you in Christ. If you trust him with your life, you are in Christ. Never doubt that all the evil that befalls you — even if it takes your life — is God’s loving, purifying, saving, fatherly discipline. It is not an expression of his punishment in wrath. That fell on Jesus Christ our substitute. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:6).

When we renounce the designs of the devil and trust the power and wisdom and goodness of God through Christ, we fulfill God’s purpose in letting Satan live. We glorify the infinitely superior worth of Jesus.

-By John Piper

"Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and we are. Because of this the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is. And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness also, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested that He might take away sins; and sin is not in Him. Everyone who abides in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him. Little children, let no one lead you astray; he who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous; He who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."

-1 John 3:1-8

~

"So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone; In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit."

-Ephesians 2:19-22

"And I will restore your judges as at the first / And your counselors as at the beginning. / Afterward you will be called the city of righteousness, / The faithful city. Zion will be ransomed with justice, / And her returning ones with righteousness. And there will be the shattering of rebels and sinners together, / And those who forsake Jehovah will meet their end."

-Isaiah 1:26-28

"And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where also the beast and the false prophet were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

-Revelation 20:10