Thanksgiving…………..

Every year we take some time off from our busy schedules to spend some quality time with our families remembering God’s blessing over our lives. This past Sunday the Berean family was able to do the same. Just looking around the room and seeing all the people that God has put together to run this race with was a great reminder to me of God’s continual blessings that we are all under. I heard a pastor this week talking about how we ought to have one day out of the year reserved for complaining and whining and the rest of the year we can be free to give thanks for all His blessings. He reminded his church that if we are not careful we can easily think that thanksgiving is something that we do once a year and then we go right back to our usual discontent feelings focused on all the things that should be rather than all the things that are in Christ. Our God deserves more than one day a year of our heartfelt gratitude for who He is and what He has done, does and will do. What an awesome God we serve.

The more I live the more I appreciate what God has done through His Son Jesus. I am more aware of how far I am from Him in my flesh. How much I really deserve His wrath. Sometimes I cringe when I hear old puritan songs that refer to us as wretched worm and the like. But I have to admit that there are times when I feel even lower than that. Yet despite my shortcomings and the sin that so easily entangles my heart and thoughts God allows me to praise Him by His atoning work in me. People say that the closer you come to God the more you reallize just how far you are. I guess I have been growing in my faith since I am more aware today of my utter inability to be near Him with my own strength than I did in my twenties (and thirties..I forgot how old I was). Of course I have always known this through the testimonies of my mentors and the books that I’ve read. But to have it hit you in your face over and over again is very humbling–and sanctifying at the same time. All I can say is……………THANK YOU JESUS FOR YOUR DEPTH OF LOVE AND PATIENCE WITH ME…..I WILL NEVER FULLY UNDERSTAND YOU BUT MY APPRECIATION OF YOU GROWS EVERY YEAR……..

Jesus Paid it ALL

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.

download a free mp3 here.

November M Update

This past month has been good. A regular routine has been established every week, so I’m going at a very reasonable pace. On weekdays (Monday through Friday), I have Chinese class in the morning from 10AM-12PM. After lunch, I go home and study Chinese. I have found that this language is pretty dang hard to pick up and get good at, so I am putting a lot of effort into it. I’m also usually online, so hit me up on AIM! From 5PM-7PM, I teach English at a small language school. After work, I go and hang out with students (this is when the real work begins). Overall, I’m thankful that I have a set schedule that I follow pretty much everyday

Meeting up with students has been pretty fun, and there’s never a shortage of people to hang out with. Right now I am concentrating on getting to know each person, and trying to make the time we spend with each other count. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to share with some friends, but so far no one has shown interest. I think the most important thing for me right now is to develop these relationships that He has given me. I want them to see me as their friend so that when I share with them, they will know it is because I genuinely care for them.

Things to Keep in Prayer:
(1) Daniel – I’ve been meeting with him consistently every week and we’re studying the book of ROmans. I am very puzzled about his spiritual condition. On one hand, he demonstrates clear knowledge about the message. Whenever I ask him questions, he gives answers that are correct and sound. However, on the other hand, he asks questions that a non-Christian would ask, like “why would my unsaved father go to hell? He has been a great father to me and loves our family”. He has been a little distracted and anxious lately because he is studying for a huge exam in January. If he doesn’t pass this exam, he can’t get into graduate school. He studies 10 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and he has a prep class all day Saturday and Sunday (so he doesn’t go to gathering). Please pray for him, that God will give him clarity in his understanding about the message, and that he may be motivated to persevere despite the circumstantial pressures around him.

(2) Chang Family salvation – please continue to keep my grandparents and my aunt in thought (they are on my mom’s side, hence, the Chang’s). The situation with my grandfather has rocked them all, and has caused them to really think about faith. Please pray that God may give them a genuine faith and grant them true repentance.

(3) Personal disciplines – it’s just as easy to get distracted here as it is in America. I find that when I go online, I often fill my mind and time with worldly things (i.e. world news, sports news, entertainment news, Facebook, AIM, etc). Just pray that I won’t be so caught up with these things, and that I would do things in moderation. Ultimately, pray that my disciplines will be caught in the flames of passion for Christ, and that I would desire Giver above gifts.

Ni hao, BCC! ☺  The weather in Beijing is DEFINITELY getting colder now!  The continual blue skies have been smog free and clear, and yet the winds at night bring chills you feel into the bone!  It has been interesting trying to get used to a kind of cold that I haven’t felt in the past fifteen years, and I’ve been doing my best to try to make sure I don’t catch the flu.  So far so good, but I’m afraid my stomach is not doing so well again since I got back from Korea (AGAIN) late October for visa issues, and so I am back on taking more herbal meds, (yeck!) which helped when I was taking it a month ago.
In better news, I am thankful that Mike and I are finally holders of year-long working visas after going through much complications since we’ve arrived!  PTL!  I think this process really set in my mind that NOTHING since I’ve arrived has been done under my control, but only through his perfect timing and will.  This is just one of many circumstances that is teaching me that I must learn to trust in him, to be patient and wait on him to take care of matters as he sees fit.

Besides a routine of Chinese class and work each day, I have started to meet with Claudia (a girl from our camp) regularly once a week one-on-one to have Bible study together.  Please continue to keep Claudia in your prayers as she desires to know the Bible more.  I also had an opportunity to meet with Stella again before I left late October to Korea.  I don’t quite remember how the topic came up, but we got to talking about purpose in life and how there are so many questions that come up.  My answer to that was of course, read the Scripture and do what it says!  Before I left, I brought about the idea of making time to regularly meet and study together, and we are supposed to meet up soon to discuss this idea.

People/things to keep in prayer:
Claudia: our study together would mold her heart; for her heart to be convicted of her need for Jesus.  That she would in return come to repentance and accept him as her Lord and Savior.

Stella-  her interest to know the Bible more would grow and would be eager to study and speak of eternal matters.

Family- assurance of salvation for Dad, Mom, Sister and Brother in law. Mom’s health; and sister’s health as she is having a baby very soon!

Our team of two-  continually lifting one another up, keeping each other accountable in love.

Personal health-  that my stomach would settle fully and that I would learn to trust in him no matter how my health ends up.

**A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE SISTERS WHO WERE A PART OF THE DVD THAT WAS SENT TO ME!  I MISS EACH OF YOU GUYS SO MUCH, AND YOU ARE ALL IN MY THOUGHTS.  WO AI NI!!! **

…word of the Lord stands forever…

Thank God for His word. The more I live the more I realize how unreliable everything in this world is. The more I realize how unreliable this world is the more my affection for His words grow. The word of God is my security blanket during thunder storms. When I am near it I feel His presence more keenly. I am like a child waiting for his father to return from a long trip. I can always read his letter to remind me that he’s going to come home soon. It’s such a long letter but every part of it has something to say to me.

1 Peter 1:24-25
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.”