Why sharing the gospel is important

This is passion week that leads up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. During the week, there are multiple evangelism events that are going on on the campus to share with people the true meaning of Easter.

As we are doing all the evangelism events on campus this week, I got to a point when I have to question myself again, “why am I doing these?” can’t I just be more quiet in practicing my belief so that I can look more tolerant to nonbelievers, instead of being offensive to people who don’t follow Jesus? What if what I am doing only going to make these people hate Christians and the church as a whole even more……? Honestly, these questions bothered me. And I had to reexamine the purpose of me doing the things that I am doing.

Then, I had to question myself….. What is love? How did Jesus love?

When I think about Jesus and how He loved by sharing the truth during His ministry, sure there were many people who came to repentance and chose to follow Him, but it was offensive to the others at the same time. He was bold and pointed out the legalism and hypocrisy of the religious Jews. Hence, he was being persecuted. Yet, Jesus didn’t stop sharing about the kingdom of God during persecution. He listened to His Father’s commands and never tolerate the sins that the people were committing. He asked the people to “sin no more”.

Whenever we share the light of truth, darkness will hate it.

It’s like you having a very untidy room. When the room is dark, you cannot see how messed up your room is, but it doesn’t mean that your room is clean just because you can’t see it. You might be able to continue living in your dirty room quite comfortably and think that everything is okay. However, when someone came in your room with a torch light and brighten up the room even a little bit, you start to see all the mess. If the person brings up conversation about the condition of your room, surely you can get ashamed (I sure hope you do) and maybe even offended by what he said, which is the truth- your room is a mess.

Us sharing the truth is not the cause of hatred in nonbelievers. There is already hatred and bitterness in their hearts even before we say anything. It’s not going to go away just because no one ever talk about it. What we can do is tell the person how messed up his room is, provide him a solution on how can he cleans his room, whether he is going to ignore us or hate us or start cleaning his room is completely up to him.

These people, at least, they have been exposed to the gospel and are given the freedom to make their choice then. What about the people who have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ?

Some of the people I talked to were surprised when I told them that there are people out there who have never even heard the name of Jesus.

You heard me right.

We are very fortunate to at least have heard about Jesus. Some people have even grown up listening to the name of Jesus every single day, but never realize how privileged they are. But what about those who have no idea about the gospel?

I think about myself. Even I grow up in a country where Christianity has some level of freedom of being preached, I have no idea about the gospel, never being told what Jesus did for me and explained why does that matter to me, until I was 19 years old. I knew I had to make an important choice then, and I chose to follow Jesus. I had the freedom to make my choice. And I thank God each day for the people who were bold enough and obeyed Christ’s command to share the gospel with me.

There are many people out there who need someone who is willing to take the chance to share the gospel with them. They need to be given at least the opportunity to make their own choice.

Think about you having a cure for cancer. What would be loving for you to do?

Hide the secret to yourself so that you may live while other people die? Or go out there and telling everybody about this cure that you have found out for cancer?

However, ultimately, it is God and God only who can save, not you, not me. But what can we do is to share the gospel, share this hope that we have. Whether people are going to accept it or not, it’s up to them, they have to be responsible for their choice and God is the ultimate judge for the choice they made.
But remember, you and I are held accountable to God too.

This is the conviction God brought to my heart.

Rev 3:15-16 "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

About miracles

"We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus' miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming."


Wow! Never thought of miracles in such a way.....
What a new insight!

Taking God seriously

I am just thinking......

Are we practicing what we preach?
Do we really believe in who we say we believe in?

If God is exactly like who He say He is
Are we taking Him seriously?
and treating Him in a way that He deserves to be treated

.....................

Or are we turning Him into an image of our own?

I asked God to teach me to fear Him. To see Him as who He is. And He answered me.

"Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it."

God remember my sins no more

Isaiah 43:18-19, 25

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland…. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

Immaturity

I was just reading through my previous posts and realized how immature I was.

I almost forgot the "me" that used to be several years ago. I forgot how the blog used to be my source to release all my emotions: anger, joy, frustration, excitement.

Reading through all those posts, I even feel shameful for myself. How immature. How selfish. How ignorant. How prideful. How self-centered! There are certainly some memories, some journey in my life that I do not want to revisit again. They are just painful.

The fact that I am going to turn 23 soon just hit me like a wave. Not long after that, I will be 25. Then 30. Then 40. Then 70. (If, by the grace and mercy of the sovereign God that He allows me to live that long in this world)

I am kind of scared and uncertain at the mean time to think about who I will be. What kind of person I would turn out to be.

And many many years later, when I look back to this blog, what kind of feeling I would have, thinking about this moment.

Will I look back at my old self and see new changes the Lord has done in my life?
Or will I look back and regret about the ways I have lived my life?

I certainly want to live a life that would glorify His name and Him being the Lord of my life.

So many times in life before, I tried and tried to do things my way (hey, hey, hey)
I thought that I was smart enough, I thought I knew enough to (handle my self)
I didn't realize the problem was, the struggle was between my will and Yours
So I'm giving up my will for Yours, I'm totally depending on You (please come through)


(Hook)

I have no other choice but to trust You
That's all I can do
I have no other choice but to believe


(Verse 2)


Now when trouble comes my way, I don't cry, I just lift my eyes (to the hills)
'Cause Your word says my help is gonna come, I'm just going rest in what You say (hey, hey, hey)


(Bridge)


'Cause I know every word You say is true
And every promise that You made it will come to
So no matter how long it takes
I'll be here still giving praise
Waiting on my change to come

It's going to be ok

No matter how much I want to deny it, the truth is, it happened.

But everything is going to be fine.

*ploop*
die ki....