I've got to admit that I feel a little weired writing a blog. I don't want to be the center of these writings. But recently a lady, probably in her late 50's in my Sunday school class shared what a bless was her blog for her and other people and she encouraged everybody to have a blog. Actually, it cracked me up, I would expect that from a teenager but not from somebody of her age. Then I thought: “well, my blog doesn't have to be all about me, I can use this mean to tell the things God is doing in my life”. So I am back, I want to use a piece of bytes, bandwidth and cyberspace to show what my Lord Jesus Christ is doing in my life and also some thought I shared with my congregation at 1stCC called "Communion Meditations (CM) or Offering Meditations (OM)"
domingo, octubre 01, 2006
10 Steps to ask for money - OM01
Every time I go to a convenience store and I take a look at the front of a magazine, I have a 99 percent chance that I will find a “how-to" article that will try to make me believe that life is just a matter of a few simple steps. "Ten tips on how to get your life better, how to make your life richer, how to be a successful … Fill in the blank" The list has no end. I just saw a title of a new movie: “How to lose a guy in ten days” I’m not quite sure if I’d like to see that movie, but it’s a cliché that we live in a fast-food society, in an instant-gratification society. We all know that, so when Aaron asked me to deliver this offering meditation I ran to find an article on “How to ask for money in the church in two minutes”. Thank God I could not find it, because when I opened my Bible I saw God and the thought of giving money to church turned into a thought of humbly giving my life to Him because of what He is and what He has done for me.
So I put them in “Ten things to remember when I worship him during the offering time”
1. Remember that everything belongs to God, He is the creator of everything; he possesses every single atom. Psalm 24:1. Therefore when you tithe you are not giving 10 percent of your money but retaining 90 percent of His.
2. Remember how much your life cost, how much it cost for you to be in heaven one day. Revelation 5:9
3. Remember your debt. How much you owed God and how he paid it all. Romans 11:12.
4. Remember that you belong to God and you haven’t been bought with gold or money or perishable things, but with the precious blood of Jesus. 1 Peter 1:18 and 19
5. Remember to store up for yourself treasures in heaven where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:20
6. Remember that God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
7. Remember to seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you. Matthew 6:33
8. Remember to keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you, never will forsake you” Hebrew 13:5
9. Remember Jesus. He left behind all his glory and splendor to be born in a poor manger and to be nailed like a thief for you and for me. (Philippians 2:6 and 7)
The last one I am not quite sure if it’s in the Bible at least I did not find it explicitly, but ….
10. Remember that we have bills to pay in the church.
God bless you. Let us pray.
Toss out the Blood - CM03
I heard about this guy. He was in a church service struggling with thoughts of unworthiness when the communion time came. A moment of celebration and joy, turned into a threaten and tense atmosphere like a sentenced to death row man in front of the judge. The cup and the breath more than a reminder of the salvation achieved by Christ looked like weapons pointed straight to him. The guilt of a sin committed not long time ago wighted more than any word of encouragement he could hear from the pulpit. The time to grab the symbols came, and although he did not suffer of Parkinson disses, his hand were constantly shaking. A hundred million thoughts came to his head, but one question prevails? Should I take the symbols? What if God punishes me, I am not worthy of the blood of Christ, he rustled with his invisible enemy in his mind. Finally rationalization creep in like always. “It's just a symbol, it's not the real thing, I am not catholic, this is not the real blood of Jesus and his body” So he hold the cup for a little while, and carefully hid it in the top pocket of his always elegant suit, the bred was easy to put it in any pocket and as soon as the service was over, uneasily and stiffly walked to the men's room thinking that he would deal with this later on. He thought the struggled was over, but holding the cup in front of the bathroom toilet to pour out the juice wasn't an easy thing to do. But the ever present rationalization took over again and thinking the a symbol is just that, a symbol, the sacred juice was mixed with disposable water. God was watching the whole picture quietly all this time, but now it was time to talk. The voice wasn't heard in the bathroom but in the heart of this young man the soft-laud voice of the Lord was clearly heard: “I know those are symbols but you symbolically have rejected the blood of my Son”
That young man was me. It took me this shameful experience to realize that God's love and forgiveness is unconditional, and if I repent he doesn't hold grudges against me for a while like humans do, but He wants to restore my relationship with him immediately. The Holy Spirit says: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the cup” 1Co 11:28 KJV. The commandment is to examine ourself, but also is to eat the bread and drink of the cup, the only thing left in between is repentance. It does not say, if you examine yourself and find sin don't drink and eat, but it says, examine and eat and drink. So if you examine yourself and find sins in your life , it's not to reject this symbols, but to repent , and take those symbols that represent life, your life and the life of Christ. This is a time of confession and reconciliation with God, how can we bring our offering and our worship with unclean hands and hearts? God is here now, ready to embrace us, caress us, hold us, if we examine our lives and repent before him.
Let's have a moment of silence and let's examine our hearts.
That young man was me. It took me this shameful experience to realize that God's love and forgiveness is unconditional, and if I repent he doesn't hold grudges against me for a while like humans do, but He wants to restore my relationship with him immediately. The Holy Spirit says: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the cup” 1Co 11:28 KJV. The commandment is to examine ourself, but also is to eat the bread and drink of the cup, the only thing left in between is repentance. It does not say, if you examine yourself and find sin don't drink and eat, but it says, examine and eat and drink. So if you examine yourself and find sins in your life , it's not to reject this symbols, but to repent , and take those symbols that represent life, your life and the life of Christ. This is a time of confession and reconciliation with God, how can we bring our offering and our worship with unclean hands and hearts? God is here now, ready to embrace us, caress us, hold us, if we examine our lives and repent before him.
Let's have a moment of silence and let's examine our hearts.
The mystery of the mind - CM02
The mystery of the human mind is something that has puzzled and challenged mankind for centuries. It will always be a mystery to know how our mind works. If you are like me, sometimes in one second I can be thinking of something then the very next one I’ve have change topic already like those numbers on the stock market. I found out this is not only me, but you can check www.bengrames.com you’ll see what I am talking about.
I was driving by Neptune Road and I saw a few empty lots for sale, and my appraiser mind started working and wondering about the value of them, how much they could cost? How much the owner paid for before? Is this an inheritance? And you know how the mind works. So the next thought was o horrible flashback of something I’ve done in my past followed by the temptation to keep dwelling on that image. What am I doing? Am I taking pleasure or torturing myself? Or both at the same time? I don’t know, but in the middle of a hurricane of thoughts, memories and images, the voice of the Lord spoke to me like a gentle whisper saying “why are you stealing from me?” Although gentle, the inaudible voice left me even more perplexed than the already gone gust of confusion and I said, what do you mean Lord that I am stealing from you? – Yes, you are stealing from me, I already pay for all your sins, they belong to me and you are trying to make them yours again. Instantly the wonderful well known verse in 1 Corinthians 6:20 became new again “you were bought at a price”. Wow, if remember well, this is what it means to be redeemed. Many times, we use these theological words to describe in fact simple things. To be redeemed means that we have been bough at a price. Jesus paid that price with His own His blood, and His blood says John, “cleanses from all sin”. Come to the table right now, and if the devil brings memories about your past full of mistake, just ignore him, remember that if you are in Christ, you are stealing from God if you do this, because He already paid the price for all of your sins.
I’ve been criticized before about people not understanding my accent. Well, for those that didn’t understand a word of what I just said, the summery of all my speech I this” You are forgiven, God loves you, be faithful”.
Fabian
I was driving by Neptune Road and I saw a few empty lots for sale, and my appraiser mind started working and wondering about the value of them, how much they could cost? How much the owner paid for before? Is this an inheritance? And you know how the mind works. So the next thought was o horrible flashback of something I’ve done in my past followed by the temptation to keep dwelling on that image. What am I doing? Am I taking pleasure or torturing myself? Or both at the same time? I don’t know, but in the middle of a hurricane of thoughts, memories and images, the voice of the Lord spoke to me like a gentle whisper saying “why are you stealing from me?” Although gentle, the inaudible voice left me even more perplexed than the already gone gust of confusion and I said, what do you mean Lord that I am stealing from you? – Yes, you are stealing from me, I already pay for all your sins, they belong to me and you are trying to make them yours again. Instantly the wonderful well known verse in 1 Corinthians 6:20 became new again “you were bought at a price”. Wow, if remember well, this is what it means to be redeemed. Many times, we use these theological words to describe in fact simple things. To be redeemed means that we have been bough at a price. Jesus paid that price with His own His blood, and His blood says John, “cleanses from all sin”. Come to the table right now, and if the devil brings memories about your past full of mistake, just ignore him, remember that if you are in Christ, you are stealing from God if you do this, because He already paid the price for all of your sins.
I’ve been criticized before about people not understanding my accent. Well, for those that didn’t understand a word of what I just said, the summery of all my speech I this” You are forgiven, God loves you, be faithful”.
Fabian
My Testimony (part of it) - CM01
I was 18 yrs old when I heard the Gospel for the first time. It was a classmate of mine that boldly invited me to his house just to preach to me about Jesus. I was my classroom’s appointed spokesman because I was known for my debate skills. But something happened that afternoon: I could not refute anything of the things he said to me although I did not want to believe them. My inquisitive mind and my pride would not rest for the following two weeks. I spent hours and hours alone in my bedroom thinking about his words and reading the Bible to find a way to contradict what he told me.
I could not fight it anymore. I admitted that what he shared with me was what the Bible said, but there was one thing that was driving me crazy, and that very thing is the core of the Gospel. I asked myself over and over again, “how does a man that died almost 2000 years ago have anything to do with me?” I see that he might have died because of the sin of his contemporaries, but what did I do? I don’t have anything to do with that, it happened centuries ago. That day I took the bus to town to see my classmate so I could ask him these questions. His house was close to the Children’s Hospital and the bus stopped right at the entrance. I had never been inside and I was always curious to see what goes on inside. Somehow, it was like a hand guided me to the top floor, where kids abandoned by their parents wait to be adopted. In one room was this little boy. His name was Mathew, and he was crying with a cry I’ve never heard before, a cry of real pain, no tears in his eyes, staring at the ceiling like praying to God for help. I was shocked. I did not know what to do. At that moment, the nurse came in and I asked her why he was crying. She replied: it is because of his wounds and open sores, so we have to change his position often. When she pulled those sheets I could not believe my eyes: he was skin, bones and sores. Almost crying I asked the nurse how long he’s been like this. She said “14 years, his parents abandoned him when they discovered that he had mental problems.”
I was only four years older than him and he looked like a five year old child. Tears were running through my eyes. When the nurse left, I could not that image out of my head. I thought, he might have never seen the light, and I took courage and lifted him up and took him to the windows to see the outside world, a world that rejected him, a world that he never knew. In my unbelief I prayed, “God, why do these things happen? He is totally innocent and he is paying for the sin of irresponsible parents.” In that very moment, God spoke to my spirit and told me: Jesus was completely innocent and never sinned and he suffered even worse because of your sin. Don’t ask me how, but that day I understood the Gospel and I would never be the same again. God used an abandoned, malnourished child to save me.
I never got to my friend’s house, all my questions were answered. I left that hospital crying, but crying for joy. I’ve been forgiven by the blood of the innocent Holy Lamb of God.
I could not fight it anymore. I admitted that what he shared with me was what the Bible said, but there was one thing that was driving me crazy, and that very thing is the core of the Gospel. I asked myself over and over again, “how does a man that died almost 2000 years ago have anything to do with me?” I see that he might have died because of the sin of his contemporaries, but what did I do? I don’t have anything to do with that, it happened centuries ago. That day I took the bus to town to see my classmate so I could ask him these questions. His house was close to the Children’s Hospital and the bus stopped right at the entrance. I had never been inside and I was always curious to see what goes on inside. Somehow, it was like a hand guided me to the top floor, where kids abandoned by their parents wait to be adopted. In one room was this little boy. His name was Mathew, and he was crying with a cry I’ve never heard before, a cry of real pain, no tears in his eyes, staring at the ceiling like praying to God for help. I was shocked. I did not know what to do. At that moment, the nurse came in and I asked her why he was crying. She replied: it is because of his wounds and open sores, so we have to change his position often. When she pulled those sheets I could not believe my eyes: he was skin, bones and sores. Almost crying I asked the nurse how long he’s been like this. She said “14 years, his parents abandoned him when they discovered that he had mental problems.”
I was only four years older than him and he looked like a five year old child. Tears were running through my eyes. When the nurse left, I could not that image out of my head. I thought, he might have never seen the light, and I took courage and lifted him up and took him to the windows to see the outside world, a world that rejected him, a world that he never knew. In my unbelief I prayed, “God, why do these things happen? He is totally innocent and he is paying for the sin of irresponsible parents.” In that very moment, God spoke to my spirit and told me: Jesus was completely innocent and never sinned and he suffered even worse because of your sin. Don’t ask me how, but that day I understood the Gospel and I would never be the same again. God used an abandoned, malnourished child to save me.
I never got to my friend’s house, all my questions were answered. I left that hospital crying, but crying for joy. I’ve been forgiven by the blood of the innocent Holy Lamb of God.
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