How to Read the Bible from Tim Keller

There are two ways to read the Bible. The one way to read the Bible is that it’s basically about you: what you have to do in order to be right with God, in which case you’ll never have a sure and certain hope, because you’ll always know you’re not quite living up. You’ll never be sure about that future. Or you can read it as all about Jesus. Every single thing is not about what you must do in order to make yourself right with God, but what he has done to make you absolutely right with God. And Jesus Christ is saying,  “Unless you can read the Bible right, unless you can understand salvation by grace, you’ll never have a sure and certain hope. But once you understand it’s all about me, Jesus Christ, then you can know that you have peace. You can know that you have this future guaranteed, and you can face anything.”
Tim Keller

First Annual Berean Sports Day

On October 4th, 2008 9a.m. Berean Community Church will be launching our first annual BCC sports day. One of the most memorable things about my college life was the annual sports day we had between different campus ministries. Some participated in basketball, some in volleyball and some in tug of wars. Whatever your assignment was everyone cheered for their team as if their salvation depended on it. I can’t physically compete like I used to but I am looking forward to the family of Berean gathering together to spend a day in healthy competition. At the end of the day we will see who will have the bragging rights and who will need to remain silent..at least for a year.

Though we are encouraged to consider each other better than ourselves in Philipians, apostle Paul also challenged us to run the race as to win in 1 Corinthians. Let’s put both of these principles into practice on this day. Let’s do our best to beat the people who are better than us. See you there……

Peter Kim

September M Update

Hello everyone! It’s been about 3 months now since we’ve come to China, and all I can say is I am having the time of my life! The sense of newness about everything has made our 3 month stay here very exciting. I feel like everyday I’m learning something new about culture, language, history, and of course, about his great plans for this country. Every day has been a joy and I am very grateful for this opportunity to be here.

My daily routine has consisted of Chinese class in the morning, studying and reading in the afternoon, teaching at the Hakwon late afternoon to early evening, and of course, hanging out with people either during lunch or dinner. I feel like there has been very little idle time because of how many people he is allowing me to meet. He has given me opportunities to meet new people and build relationships everywhere: on the basketball courts, on the train, at the schools, and even at work.

One thing I ask for is discernment and judgment for where I should invest my time and energy in. There are so many different activities and relationships I could jump into, and though I would like to take part in everything, I realize it is just not realistic.

Things to Keep in Mind

Daniel: We have started to meet together and we will be reading the book that was written for the people in Rome. He has expressed to me that he has some doubts and questions. Keep in mind our weekly meetings and that I would be given wisdom and clarity in how to talk with him.

The Lim’s: This is a family that has been incredibly good to us. They have treated us like their own children and we are incredibly grateful for them. We will be helping them with their college study groups during the weekends where there will be a lot of interested people who are curious and want to know more.
Ni hao, BCC! ☺ Man, I can’t believe it’s already been three months! I feel like time is going by quite fast… even in China. I think this is due to the fact that we’ve been quite busy from the moment we’ve stepped foot in this country! I am so thankful for the people we’ve met and will continue to meet. Truly, I feel my heart growing more for the people here, and this is solely because I clearly sense the concerns of his heart for this country.
The first month was clearly busy because we immediately got settled into working at the Hakwon due to a shortage of teachers, as well as getting adjusted to places, people, and helping prepare for our annual English camp. The second month was pretty chaotic as well as we finished up the camp, got right back into work mode and was anticipating the crowds of people as the Beijing Olympics were upon us! Now during the third month stretch, with the Olympics and the chaos almost at an end, I feel a little bit more at ease calling this place my home, and seeing Mike as my di di (little brother) HAHA. I’m busy trying to learn Chinese, and really trying to impact the students that I teach… with more ways than just teaching them English. I also enjoy meeting up with our camp students here and there for dinner, as they are starting to come back to school and are able to meet with us more. I am grateful for the hustle and bustle, which keeps me focused and not missing home TOO much.
As most of you might have already heard, I have been having a few, semi-serious problems with my stomach, which I’m sure is no surprise to those who have experienced it. The pain is in my upper stomach area, and was not due to only the food. Thankfully, I am doing much better but am still taking some very nasty, strong herbal medication (liquid and powder) that constantly gives me a bitter taste in my mouth. I’m also getting hot pack stomach treatments to where I have to go to the herbal doctor every other day. This is causing some fatigue when my body needs to be kept moving, so please continue to keep my health in your thoughts.

People/things to keep in mind:
Vickie and Rita- both are sisters of ours and they are definitely growing. R is persevering a lot through various challenges, and I am so greatly strengthened by her. She informed me that V is being stretched right now through a family tragedy, as most of you might have heard, so she is questioning a lot of things. V is further away from Beijing, but I hope we will have opportunities to build a stronger relationship and that she would see his hands at work in her life. That she would surround herself with more good influences.
Stella- was Eslo/Becky’s language partner that I’m now meeting up with… that he would ready her heart to think and be concerned about the things of him.
Visa situation- I was only able to extend my time here by two months. I still need to get my year visa, which will cause me to go out of China one more time. Hopefully all will go according to plan.
Our team of two- that we would continue to die to ourselves and lift one another up, reflecting his love through love for one another.

Book Review: The Cup and His Glory by Greg Harris

[From Mark Lim]

When trials and suffering disturb our regular life, our perspectives drastically change.  In his book The Cup and the Glory, Dr. Harris leads the reader through his personal path of intense trials.  He is honest and transparent about his initial responses to the hardships along the way.   He asks the question, “How do you cope when your hopes and expectations are completely shattered?”   As he searches the Bible for answers, he concludes that one can snarl and shake their fist at God, or humbly submit to a thorough examination of the roots of our expectations and desires.   Where is our hope? What do we pray for?  A biblical inspection will penetrate our pride and ingrained selfishness.  If our hearts have ever said, “I don’t deserve this,”  “I never signed up for this,” our world view requires a drastic turn around. 

In careful search for answers, Dr. Harris saw greater light of the One who willingly determined to sign up for the road well acquainted with suffering.  He is the one who truly did not deserve the rod and stripes.   Yet this was God’s will for Christ.   Having our focus placed on Christ, we can stop looking for someone to understand us, to fix our world, or to numb the pain.   Rather, we see Christ’s humility and glory that in effect humbles and comforts us.  With great hope and assurance, we are reminded of what it means to place our trust in His hands.  

I whole heartedly recommend this book as a must read for those who have felt the heavy weight of pain or loss.  Also for those young readers, like myself, who have yet to face the deeper trials of life, this is an excellent book to prepare and ready our hearts.   The book is written almost conversationally, and is suitable for anyone.  I recommend that with each chapter, you take down notes as it makes us more careful readers.

“Me-Centered” Worship

Thank Elder Joe, P. Peter Chung, and Alex Yi for not leading us in songs like these…

Vision 1: God-Centered Worship and Not Man-Centered

Haha, I got a kick out of this.  It brings the purposefulness in the wording of our first vision point into full focus.