God, who never lies, promised

(Titus 1:1-2 ESV)
[1:1] Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, [2] in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began...

Two things to catch here:
1) God never lies
2) God (who never lies) promised

Let's just think about this for a few moments. God never lies! It is against his nature to do so. And this God, who never lies, also promised! Oh how much surer and truer eternal life is since this is so.

The very character of God is one of absolute truth. His holiness and perfection has no room for any lie. The smallest of lies is worth an eternity in hell facing the wrath of God. He never lies - in fact Hebrews 6:18 tells us that 'it is impossible for God to lie.' This is His character - part of who He is as God. And if he never lies, then we can take him at his word without ever questioning him.

Some of us are blessed to have friends who rarely lie (because we are all liars). They're proven themselves worthy to be believed; their yes' are yes and their no's are no (for the most part). When they say they will be there at a certain time or say they will get something done, you know they will. But we have a God who never lies. When He speaks, only truth comes forth.

And our God does not stop there. But to reassure us, our God, who never lies, PROMISED. When the trustworthy friend who rarely lies also promises something, you know for certain that he or she will come through. But when the perfect God, who never lies, promises something... then there is no denying whatsoever that the things He says are true! (Because there was no denying it even in the first place).

This is comforting and incredible is it not? Every promise God makes in the Bible is true. It is His word. He never lies and yet He gives us an oath/promise to reassure us and make our feeble human hearts even more certain of his word.

What a great God and what great promises we have received and look forward to receiving in full.

How We Are To Love God

One of the greatest sermons I've ever listened to in my life was preached by Eric Chabaneix while I was at UCLA KCM. I remember sitting there engaged through the entire sermon as my heart was torn to pieces at my own sin, and then sewn up by Christ love and the cross. And it made me love God more. Every point in the sermon spoke to me and caused me to search my heart and consider my love for God. Love the Lord your God with your all. Hmmm. It's a message I think we all should hear - adapted from Jonathan Edward's Religious Affections....

And yes, this is the sermon many of the youth kids at the most recent baptism referenced. And since many people have been asking me for it, I've uploaded it onto the only place I know how to upload to. I think it allows only a few downloads per every 24 hours. And it only stays up for 21 days. So if anyone knows of a better place to upload sermon files, let me know.

How We Are To Love God - What The Love of God is NOT - Eric Chabaneix
(Wait 25 seconds, and then click "Regular Download")

Ministry Class

There's a few things I've been learning as my church has been doing something called "Ministry Training Class." This 'class' consists of 7 of us young inexperienced non-seminary-trained Christians who have the opportunity to preach in Sojourners - our college group. It's an interesting concept... that 7 of us preach in a rotating cycle through the book of Philippians week after week.

I'm writing this because #7 of 7 just preached today and the cycle starts over again. I'm excited for what I've learned from watching everyone struggle through their text and their preaching. We all seem to have one struggle/worry in common, regardless of our lack of training and our lack of giftings (so it seems).

This common struggle/worry/goal is simply to expound the word of God. To be faithful to his Word. To not worry about "wow-factor" and "compliments," but to make his word known and trust His word to pierce through the division of heart and soul, of bone and marrow. It has been the utmost encouraging thing to see... because it is precisely the only thing that seems to pierce any Christian's heart - both the preacher's and the listener's.

How crazy the thought we hold God's word in our hands.... How awesome the thought we get to proclaim it.

More Book Reviews!

Driving back home to Las Vegas in less than a day. I'm absolutely excited to see my family, friends, and home city again. There's nothing quite like winter in Las Vegas. Perfect. It's a stretch this year, but hoping for a little bit of snow in the city.

Well, I know I said in an earlier entry 2 months ago that my passion for writing was dwelling up again... but that lived out in writing papers for discipleship, messages, and personal journal studies. Thus, this blog has suffered. However... while I was not blogging, I was reading! So here are some more honest short book reviews. Let me know if you want to borrow any (except Narnia - it's not mine).

1) The Unquenchable Flame - Michael Reeves
Wow. I've always wanted to know more about church history and the protestant reformation and this was the best book to start that study. It was fast, exciting, encouraging, and informative. I really didn't want to stop reading - it was like reading a mini-biography of reformers and their work in every chapter. You can't help but feel their passion - their unquenchable flame - as they fought for biblical truth and the glory of God. For someone like me who didn't know too much beforehand, this book was simple, clear, and edifying.

2) Adopted for Life - Russell Moore
This was a blessing to read. What I loved about it was that it not only talked about adopting real children on earth, but our own adoption in God's family as well. Russell Moore writes as a father of two adopted children and you can easily see that he's thought about this subject very much. He's so clear, passionate, engaging, and funny... yet serious. The book is very gospel-driven, very well thought out, and very encouraging. It's full of stories and great truths that you do not want to miss. Don't pass this book up just because you're not considering adoption. This book is literally for everyone who has been adopted by God himself. There is great truth and application for both adopters and non-adopters that will really cause you to think and glory in God.

3) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, & Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
Yes - I've only read 3 of the 7 books. I thought I would never read these, but one night I didn't feel like heavy books... I wanted a simple fun read... and thus my journey into Narnia began. And let me tell you - woohoo I went full on into the world of Narnia and it has been a joy! Originally I planned to only read the 1st book (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), but after book 1 I needed more. I desperately sought out the rest and found them through DJS and SL (thanks guys). Then after I read book 2 (Prince Caspian), I saw the movie trailer for Dawn Treader (book 3), so I quickly read it so I could watch the movie later. The allegories, the illustrations, the imagination - C.S. Lewis is brilliant. What a great allegory of Christ and the Christian life. I can't wait to read the rest!

4) The Supremacy of Christ in Preaching - John Piper
I'm very grateful for the work of John Piper and his biblical preaching. It has impacted me so greatly in my early college years. And so reading this book was of utmost excitement for me. And let me say - this book owned me. It absolutely owned me. I remember after reading the first half of the book (Part I - Why God should be Supreme in Preaching), I just sat there wondering at the awe of it all and praying in praise. I felt rebuked yet encouraged, weak yet strong, sorrowful yet joyful.... It helped me understand the role of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit and the role of the preacher. And the 2nd half (Part II - How to make God Supreme in Preaching) was edifying, uplifting and practical. I know it may seem strange to read this if you're not going to be a preacher... but I think it's still a good read for all.

5) Lectures to my Students - Charles H. Spurgeon
A lot of people know that Spurgeon is one of my utmost favorite authors to read. He is arguably one of the best preachers ever to live - I mean, come on! - His nickname was "The Prince of Preachers." Now that's a title. And this very same preacher has a book on preaching! I think what astonishes me is Spurgeon's utter dependence on God to work through the message being preached. He has full confidence in the word (not in himself) and preaches expecting people to come to faith. I also love how it is not only about preaching, but about pastoring - how a pastor is called to holiness, to prayer, to love, etc. Sometimes he seems too harsh saying that if you don't have a loud voice and don't have good annunciation you're probably not called - but I think that's because Spurgeon was a pastor of a very large church in a time microphones did not exist. However, this book is full of practical and biblical wisdom and well worth your time if you're going into ministry. If not... please read Soul Winner by Spurgeon!

6) Look Out, World: Meaningful Quotes for Graduates - Tom Burns
This book... is a picture book with quotes. My mother bought this for fun and gave it to me at my graduation ceremony. I read it later that night - it was quite funny and had some good quotes. But save yourself the time - here are the 3 best quotes:
"The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle."
"The difference between "try" and "triumph" is a little 'umph.'"
"If you don't have time to do it right, you must have time to do it over."

The Wonders of Coffee

Coffee gives me the runs. And by runs, I mean diarrhea.

Knowing this, I stayed away from coffee and chose the nice alternative of green tea.

But at work when my favorite tea was gone and my only other option was our Starbucks Coffee Machine, I went for that option. And yes, I did get diarrhea.

I'm glad to report that I can now go through a cup of coffee without diarrhea. In fact, 1.5 cups of coffee without diarrhea!

What kept me coming back to the coffee? Well... let me spare you 1,000 words....

Sling Shot

Aha! Finally - my passion to write is returning and I can feel it!

I think I'll try to write more than once a month now. This will be fun.

Random thought: I like telling stories. Here's a random one.

Today, as I awoke to a new wonderful morning, my initial thought was: Yes! The rain has probably washed my car! I kid you not, I was incredibly excited! So much so that I quickly proceeded to walk outside and admired the beauty of my rain-cleaned car... but as I approached the rear... to my utmost horror... my car had again been bird poop bombed! O, how these birds are true ninjas.... But... to their utmost horror, what they don't know is... I now have a slingshot!

Say hello to my stress killer at work.
It literally hangs in my office, ready for its master (that would be me) to call it to use.






















The crumbled pieces of paper (aka: my mistakes) = ammo























Yes, I can hit the bulls-eye. (Disclaimer: I really can. It just takes me 50 times).

It's practice... for you Ninja Birds!
(Disclaimer: I am really not going to shoot the birds. Come on. That's plain stupidity....That would probably cause me to break my window)!

Sarah Yim: God's gift for 14 years

When I was 8 years old, there was a certain day that I had the runs... the good old diarrhea. My friend, Allen, was over at my place hanging out with Young (my brother) and me. I had recently gotten a puppy - the cutest little creature you could imagine. And when you're cute 8 year olds, your attention is on the cute puppy. So in my happiness and joy as we were hanging out, I called over to her - "Sarah ~ Sarah ~ Come here ~" I was sitting down comfortably with my legs out, tapping the ground as she puppy ran towards me at puppy speed. And then the unthinkable happened... as soon as she got to me, she puppy bit my crotch area... causing me to yell in surprise. "AhhhhH!" At this moment, I proceeded to diarrhea my pants in front of my friend, Allen. And then I proceeded to laugh because there was nothing else I could do.























When she grew up, she still ran the same way she did as a puppy. And when I saw her run, I would always remember the diarrhea incident. It is such a fond funny memory to me.


































Everyone, this is Sarah Yim. I always thought my brother chose the name, Sarah, because he had a crush on a girl named Sarah... but I guess it was because he thought it was a cool name in elementary school. I wanted to name her 'Bingo.' (Fitting for a vegas dog no)?! It was because I had watched the movie, Bingo, and wanted my dog to be just like the dog in the movie. Sarah exceeded Bingo in every way a dog could.

She knew 'Sit,' 'Shake,' 'Other hand.' She knew 'Fetch'... well... or it was a natural reaction of all dogs... that is until she got old and didn't fetch ANYTHING I ever wanted her to! And my brother kind of taught her, 'Stay.' But she never listened to me on that commandment... but I think it's because she couldn't resist being away from me.
























Sometimes when I came home from college for breaks, she would be so excited to see me again after so long that she would pee as she jumped and jumped and wagged and wagged. I took the above picture because I thought it was so funny that she was peeing 'her pants... or concrete.' Yeah - that's right Sarah - payback for making me diarrhea my pants!
























We fed her from a pink bowl in the shape of a heart. I once told her, "Like master like dog! The way to your heart is food, just like mine!" But I was wrong. She loved me regardless of the food. I remember sometimes we'd go on family vacations and ask a friend to come over and feed her while we're gone. But she wouldn't eat until we came back. If that doesn't prove me wrong, then I don't know what does.

I found out last night that Sarah has passed. The vet said there was no chance for her (she was sick and wasn't eating much for weeks). My dad had to let her go.

Thank you Sarah Yim, for your loyalty and friendship. Thank you for keeping all my secrets and for being able to brighten any sad day. I never thought dogs could smile, but you always did. Thank you Sarah, for loving me.

R.I.P. Sarah Yim - October 23, 1996 - September 9, 2010.

My brother's blog entry about this - he's always great at seeing God in the picture.