You're a Christian and You're Proud?

Recently on Facebook, a small icon on my sidebar caught my attention saying, "I am A Christian & I'm Proud."

That statement confused me for a moment, "Are Christians supposed to be proud?" I explored the linked page and found out that it isn't really about being proud. It's just the statement that misled me to think that Christians are proud people.

I feel sad at the growing vagueness in word usages today. We use words without really knowing what they mean and even use them flippantly. What does the word proud really mean?

PROUD (Dictionary.com)

adjective,-er, -est, adverb, –adjective

1. feeling pleasure or satisfaction over something regarded as highly honorable or creditable to oneself (often fol. by of, an infinitive, or a clause).

2. having, proceeding from, or showing a high opinion of one's own dignity, importance, or superiority.

Isn't it very embarrassing (for me it is) to claim ourselves creditable to something that we do not really deserve? Becoming God's children was never to our credit and something we should not be proud of. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we admonished to be proud. Wherever you see the word proud in the Scriptures, it will always be followed with some sort of condemnation.

I think the right word that we should use in making ourselves known as followers of Christ is, Unashamed. The word means this,

1. not ashamed; not restrained by embarrassment or consciousness of moral guilt

2. open; unconcealed; unabashed:

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 1 John 2:28 (NIV)

I don't judge the motives of those who call themselves Christians and are proud to say it. It may be that they mean something else and just used the wrong word to express themselves. But let us no longer tolerate the use of words without meaning it. God knows well the meaning of what He is saying and so should we.

Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. 1 Samuel 2:3 (NIV)

Do Hard Things Conference in the Philippines!

A Tip on How to Effectively Memorize Verses

When I was in 4th grade, I won Best Speller of the year. If a human resource manager would interview me for a job and ask me what the greatest accomplishment in my life is, I’d probably say, “Becoming the Best Speller when I was in 4th grade.”

I wasn’t one of the top students in class but my English teacher picked me for the spelling competition anyway. I was nervous. I’d never entered an academic competition before. The competition droned on and scores were tight. I ended it when I spelled ‘kayak’ correctly and won one point ahead of the rest. I walked out of the school library a bit shaking. Did I just win? I could not believe it. I returned to my room and my classmates asked what happened in the competition. Someone asked if I won. I nodded and everyone cheered.

They asked if I’ve memorized the dictionary. No, I didn’t. I just happened to read ‘kayak’ a few days back and looked it up in the dictionary.

Ten years later, people still ask if I memorize the dictionary. No, I don’t. I still commit spelling errors at times with the most common words. While I don’t memorize the dictionary, I do read it occasionally. It wasn’t because I wanted to win that I won.  I just wanted to be a good speller.

Well, what does this post got to do with memorizing verses? Oh well, I just thought that it runs the same way when we memorize verses. Most Christians brought up in church, if not all, were brought up memorizing verses so we can have special rewards. While that may be an effective motivation to memorize, it isn’t giving the reward that our spirit craves.

I’ve noticed recently too, that many Christians who’ve read Do Hard Things have included “Memorizing Verses” in their list of Hard Things. It is good that memorizing verses have captured them because of Do Hard Things but it isn’t good to memorize just for the sake of doing something hard.

I’ve memorized a lot of verses but it isn’t because I want to accomplish a hard thing. I just want to know Jesus more.

"End of the Spear" (Missons Week)

Worship Team leads in praising the Lord

Watched End of the Spear and shed many a tear.

Played a game. We had to close our eyes and shout out a phrase or sing a song to find our teammates.

Debriefing time. We talked about what stood out to us from the movie. This eventually led to talking about people we were in conflict with. Although the Aucas were the tribesmen who had murdered their husbands, the wives of this men chose to minister to the people.

The Urgency of the Great Commission (Messiah College Missions Week)

First day of "Step Out! Stand Out!"—our college's Missions Week. We started with prayer for the Christians around the world, missionaries, church elders; prayer for unreached people groups, countries which have never yet heard of the Gospel; nations, governments, authorities, etc.

Our president, then, called to our attention the importance of the Great Commission:

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20

As Christians, we are missionaries to the people we meet everyday. They may be our neighbors, our classmates, relatives, friends, acquaintances...and they all need to hear the Gospel. It doesn't matter where you are; you are called to be a missionary. As the song The Mission says: "...across the street or around the world, the mission's still the same: proclaim and live the truth in Jesus' Name."


In the afternoon, we watched Beyond the Gates of Splendor. Most of us have heard about them—Jim Elliot and his companions (Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, Roger Youderian, and Ed McCully)—but this movie provided fresh insight to the story and a deeper meaning of the Great Commission. Through the stories and the testimonies of the wives, we were able to hear how these young men found their passion in the field of missions and shared their dream of reaching the Auca tribe.



We had the opportunity to hear from students as well. These are our graduating batch. They went to Cambodia during the summer for a short-term cross-cultural mission trip. They shared their experiences (eating delicacies such as spiders and crickets, visiting cultural museums, going to a park where the walkway is paved with silver, meeting missionaries who work and give so much and have no one to really help them, yet continuing in the work for the glory of God) and what the trip made them realize.



We also heard from the head of the youth missions department of a church. He shared to us how God called him, as well as the challenges he and his team have experienced. He also shared about God's goodness and faithfulness even in the most difficult situations.

"I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ."
Count Zinzindorf

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

Self-control... wait, I got to check Facebook before I post this

There, I finally got to post this.

But then just after you've opened this page you took several detours first just like I did before getting to see this video. Like any other teen, you probably checked another web page to "maximize your time" while our blog's page is loading. You must have checked Twitter, Facebook, email, Skype, a friend's blog, or done a personality quiz. You also probably have 6 tabs open in one window. Or 6 tabs in each possible Internet window you have opened.

And there, the video is done loading. You watch or maybe not. You'll just listen while checking another page. Make no more detours, this video is worth your time. Watch and listen.

Step Out! Stand Out! (Messiah College Missions Week)

This week is our school's Missions Week. We set aside a time every year—one full week—to review once more the challenge of the Great Commission. During this time, we usually invite guests (missionaries, pastors, etc.) to speak to us.

This year's slogan is Step Out! Stand Out! Our theme is military. In this present age, there is an ever-increasing need to share the message of salvation. As Christians, we need to answer to that call. We need to take the challenge. We need to be soldiers for Christ.

It's only the second day, but I have been challenged, inspired, blessed. I look forward to the rest of the week.

Pictures and stories to come!!!

Your Dollar Can Be A Blue Gold

Alyssa and I have been very much occupied for the past month. But we have not forgotten that we have a blog. :)

A year ago, a sixteen year-old guy decided that he wanted to help people in Sudan by building wells for them. One well costs $8,000. By December 2008, he raised $10,000 and was able to build one well for the Sudanese people. This year, he's at it again and we're very excited for the raising of $24,000 to build three wells!

Well, Joshua Guthrie is not your higher than average Joe. In fact, he's completely normal for his age doing school, playing video games, enjoying time with his family. The difference? His compassion for people who need so much of what we constantly take for granted: water.

Watch the video and tell your friends about it! Share it on emails, Twitter, Facebook,  YouTube, or blog about it! Give up a dollar and make a difference in the lives of people in Sudan!

.:::: www.DollarforADrink.org ::::.

Death Is Certain

As a child, my mind tirelessly worked around thoughts, questions, imaginations and childhood fantasies (which I still often do despite my age, well, I'm not that old). One of them was dying. I didn't want to die. I would like to live forever. I've even picked the age I wanted to be like forever. I wanted to be fifteen. Its years are in between childhood and that of adulthood where I can still play and still take matters seriously. Fifteen was both close to 12 and 18 so I decided I wanted to be fifteen forever. Well, that was until I read Tuck Everlasting.

I, then, decided that I wanted to die and that I should die.

But the question why must people die still lingered. Why didn't just God create people not to die? And as I grew I began to understand little by little His design for man. As children usually have, I have had strings of questions (and still do) that sometimes upset adults. How would the earth have been if Adam and Eve did not fall into sin?

People generally want to be certain of all things especially that of the future but one thing certain that they certainly don't like is death. They want to live on forever in this world where in a funny sense people and things die everyday. In short, a living and dying world. Dying was here even before we were born. It's something certain to happen to everyone. There is a time to be born and a time to die. Even if I was born, I am to die. You are to die.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
yet they cannot fathom what God has done
from beginning to end." (Ecc. 3:11)

But even if we die, God designed something wonderful for us after death. Another life, life much more wonderful than anything in this world. Only that He gives us the choice to choose whether we'll have life after death or death after death.

You might not understand so much what I'm saying if you don't believe that there is something in store for us after death. It's written in the whole of the Living Book, the Bible. And by His words I live. For to me to live is to know and cherish Christ and to die is a very great gain.

For all its worth, I'll wager that there is life after death. As put by the famous philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal,

"If I believe in God and life after death and you do not, and if there is no God,
we both lose when we die.
However, if there is a God, you still lose and I gain everything."

What will you choose?

Different Definitions

Though Alyssa and I are usually together we don't really have many pictures together. So last Sunday after a youth welcoming activity at church we decided to take pictures together. Here is one of what we took.

(L-R) Alyssa and Christin goes wacky.

The picture should really be wacky but it turned out that we have extremely different definitions of wacky. :)