Withdrawn

It's been obvious to me that I have been idle and withdrawn from living for God. The last 6 months of school have been so crazy that i basically pushed God to the side. Every moment of free time was used to recover from the stress of school. Instead of turning to God to find rest in Him, i turned to idols. I filled my mind with media, flooding it with movies, television and other mindless games. I felt like a sluggard, doing nothing meaningful. I resorted to doing easy things and avoided anything that required work. I felt useless to God. I wasnt purposeful. I found myself making excuses and putting blame on distractions, when it was really the condition of my heart.

2011 Resolutions

This is about the time of the year when people make new year's resolutions. I've already been convicted about which goals, disciplines, and resolves I am to prioritize for this coming year. These goals have been the same goals for a few years now. Ever since seminary, it seems my determination, commitment, focus, and consistency of these goals have dwindled. I pray that now more than ever, God would empower me with the strength of His Holy Spirit to continue to grow in these areas. I know when you make goals, it's best to be specific and have realistic time frames of measurement. I tend to be successful for a short while, then tend to give up completely on keeping them daily.

Reflection of 2010

Moving up to California was a big transition.
This year had many trials.
I went through a time of depression
but was strengthen by fellow peers, classmates, counselors, and the church body
I faced a tough living environment, which lead to daily frustration
But was also able to forgive and approach the situation in love
I became defeated, discouraged and extremely stressed out at times
But was lifted and encouraged by God
My first year at Talbot just finished today, and I realized that God has been growing and strengthening me through these trials

Church as a Family

One thing ive been learning is seeing the Church as a family. The best terms Jesus gave us for seeing other believers in the church were brothers, sisters, and mothers. Usually our priorities are God first, the family, the church, and the world. However, the service of God is never separated from serving God's people.

My teacher, Joesph Hellerman, who wrote "The Church was a Family" argues that we are to put a greater emphasis on treating the body of the church as our family. 57 times, Paul says "our God" and only once writes "my God." We normally see our sanctification and spiritual growth as a very personal experience. Even at our conversion of justification we have seen it as a very personal and individual relationship with God. However, when a believer steps into faith, he or she in a sense has become part of a new family. We find a relationship with God, but don't have the view of giving our lives to the church and the gospel.