Godly Passion Compels to Action

"A godly passion leads to a compelling call to action". This is one of the great things I have learned this week. I am deeply  enthralled by the lives of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield on how they made a great influence in the Christendom. I am very well impressed about the works they have done so that the message of Christ would spread in a wider scope. They used their gifts, talents, skills, abilities and even their passions to become effective ministers of  Christ. I could not even imagine how they sacrificed their earthly ambitions for them to gain the ultimate treasure they cannot lose even though in return they would miss the gain they could not keep.

Way back to my childhood day, I had so may ambitions in life. I wanted to be singer, dancer, actress, and teacher. I wanted to acquire lots of money so that I could have all my needs and wants. I wanted also to help my  parents so that I could repay them for the good things they did to me. I was very highly ambitious way back then but all of a sudden God interrupted and He let me to stay focused to what His ambitions for me. I realized that accomplishments here on earth may be beneficial in a shorter span of time but it would never last. Instead of gaining  vast earthly possessions, God spoke to me that to pursue heavenly treasures could have an eternal impact. I could not even remember during my kindergarten, elementary, or even high school days to have dreamed to becoming a missionary. But within my college days, during my second year in a bible school, God impressed to my heart that He wanted me to be a missionary.

I am willing to be a missionary. No matter how hard it may be I would love to because I believe that God will always be on my side. he will not leave me nor forsake me. I experienced to be a short-term missionary and somehow and in some way, I tasted how to be such. Yes, it's not easy. For me, God's calling had never been easy but then I thank God that He had put a desire and passion to our hearts to serve Him whatever means regardless of the cost. I desire to follow God all the days of my life and I can't do it by my own willpower but through God's grace and His sovereign power alone. I will press on to the calling that God had put in me ever since the world began. I believe that what He had started in me, God will successfully finish it. Apart from Him, I am nothing, I have nothing and I can do nothing. To God be the glory!

No Longer Spectators But Catalysts

“Christians should not be spectators any longer but rather to be catalysts of the society for the better.” A true Christian must live what he believes and to thrive for whom he worships. It added to my learning about the life of Jonathan Edward. He made the best use of what he had for the glory of God. He didn't just sit back and relax on a couch, enjoying a comfortable while other Christians in his time were fighting for their faith. What I have learned from his life was his full devotion to God. He became one of the great philosophical theologians rooted in Reformed theology and one of the forerunners of the age of Protestant missionary expansion in the 19^th century. Jonathan was such a hardworking Christian and what he believes did not just remain in papers but he really showed them through his great works with God's help. A lot of people nowadays are measuring their success in life by the amount of things they acquire which they cannot keep instead of investing their days on earth to impact the world for Christ, the Savior of all men, that can never be lost.

In my 22 years of existence, I truly accepted Jesus Christ as my own personal Lord and Savior when I was 13 years old. During the time that I was still a new convert, I was so very passionate to serve God. But then there were lots of times when many days, months, and years had passed since I became a Christian, I experienced dryness in my spiritual life. Many times I tended to backslide because I just couldn't cope the sufferings I had experienced for being a bearer of the name of Christ. I did able to fought back to my parents at that time and I also went to the opposite way of where God wanted me to go. I could still remember the days when I challenged God if He was really real. I asked too many questions to Him knowing that my mind is too limited to understand His ways. I tried to do things with a minimal dependence on God and sometimes feared and doubted His will for me. Instead of being an agent of change to the world, I became an passive agent of Christ, not fully trusting Him and living for Him. Then one day God had struck me with these sticky statements, “Life is not about you. It's about God.” (from desiringgod.org article) I have realized then that I should not focus on my problems but on my purpose instead. I have to turn the camera lens away from me and face it to God.

Living as a Christian in this hostile world is too difficult. But then I ought to fear God rather than any other else. I have to show to the world that I have a tremendous God, so why live in doubts or fears? I can't but I can with God. I want to pursue God's calling for me and the dreams that He wants me to accomplish on earth. I want to be a cross-cultural missionary and build an international school with a mission agency having an ultimate goal for world evangelization through mobilizing and sending missionaries to both local and international areas where God leads. My dreams may seem impossible to reach but I have no reason to doubt because God will fight for my dreams as long as these are according to His sovereign will. I am willing to be mightily and effectively used by God for the furtherance of His kingdom. To Him be all the glory and praise!!!

Who You Are

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are" (Joseph Campbell). I can connect this quote to what I have learned this week especially in the life of the church historians named  John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and John Calvin. I so highly appreciate their great works in the church history. I could not imagine how did they able to show to the world their identity in Christ without compromising to ungodly standards even their lives had been put at stake. They had just exposed to the world what they got and they really stood in the gap for the sake of Christ. They made the best use of how God designed them in order to bring glory to His name.

I was guilty about not being true to oneself before. I was too shy enough to show the real 'me' in the image of Christ. When I was with my unbelieving friends, there were times that I became too shy to do good because of  fear of rejection. Even though I was already a Christian in my high school days yet studied in a Catholic school was pretty hard for me. My faith was really stretched out during those times. I could say that I was a lukewarm Christian at that time. As I looked back, it seemed like I just use my being a 'Christian' to gain respect from other people. Most of the people around me in my high school institution looked up to me and I could say that I was very proud to myself at that time, acting as a self-righteous person and doing things to please men. I tended to forgot that I didn't own anything because only God can rightfully claim what I have and even me, myself. Then after I gained the people's affirmation during high school, I held tightly to the honors and recognition I got from them through my own effort and  partly from God (what I acted before). Then suddenly after my high school career, God broke my heart into pieces and I experienced a devastating fall. I chose to keep the thing I can lose and  to lose the thing I can keep. It's because I neglected God's calling for me, He chastened me.

My life now in the seminary is far different from my high school days. I have learned in here that attitude matters more than achievements. Being a winner can be achieved through living a life pleasing to the One who gives it. Even though there are still times I fail because of my human frailties, I am proud of what God is continually working in me. To aim for excellence is not bad if you do it for God but doing it for self alone can lead to a great stumble. I thank God for always reminding to live a Christlike life. He always reminds me that life is not about me but it's about Him. Just like Calvin, Luther, and Wycliffe, they chose to value God more than people. They feared God in their lives and this caused them to be courageous enough to fight for the truth. This time, I am having lots of struggles. One of my struggles is to decide what I am going to do after BTC? There may be lots of opportunities but then my desire is to to choose to do the will of God for me. I don't like to fail Him again and even this time I am still constantly praying that He will show me His way. I want that my life radiates who I am and whose I  really am.