MY EARLY CHRISTIAN YEARS

I don't know exactly why but the Lord has suddenly, out of nowhere, flashed memories in my mind of my early life as a Christian. What a splendidly crafted, fun past! Its not fun as in fun but worldly fun. I know I'm beginning to sound like a secular guy but that was really my early Christian life. Fun isn't even an appropriate term to describe it. Still, after getting to know God more and understanding His sovereign will, I can't help but joyfully describe my early Christian years as "fun". I was the most superficial, selfish, worldly and ungodly Christian that has ever lived. I wish I could share some of the stuff I did but its just too embarrassing and besides, I'd rather keep my funny, worldly moments all to myself so I can selfishly savor each memory. I just hope I'll still remember all these things when I get to His dwelling place so I can see His glory in His own work. Or maybe.. I won't remember them anymore because its either no longer necessary or simply not worth the space in my mind. Perhaps after seeing the full glory of the Lord in heaven, I'll just forget everything else and in amazement bend my knee and worship. Perhaps heaven, where the full presence of God rests, may be too overwhelming that every memory I had would just fade or be utterly forgotten because they find no place in comparison to the incomprehensible sight of our lowly Messiah holding the scroll of seven seals.

Its hard to believe that the Lord has brought me this far. Well, this isn't really far. I'm still worldly, fleshly and weak. But I am grateful for all these because there is no better way to see the glory of God than in your weakness. Indeed I have a new nature and my heart has changed a lot over the years but I'm still the same little boy who loved dinosaurs and had an entire collection of toy concrete-mixers. Its just great to look back at all those things you did. Good or bad, troublesome or not, these are the stuff that you did and experienced. There are things that I did that I am not proud of.. sure. But hey this isn't about me, right? This is about God invading my life with His grace and power. If it was all about me, woooh, how I wish to be be dead right now.

Its amazing what God can do in your life. And I know this is just a foretaste of what is to come. How anxious am I to those better days yet to come! But I would still enjoy moment after moment in this life I was blessed with. There's no sense in just waiting for Him. You've also got to enjoy His company here on earth. Preaching, praying and sharing, all in the while experiencing His greatness and worshiping Him. Besides, this life will be my last. Never again will I experience this same life in this same world. After His coming, there will be no more struggles, so why not enjoy struggles while we still can? Such struggles glorify the Lord more than anything else! Angels would trade their lives to experience God's greatness here on earth. They wonder, "What is it like to experience the Lord there in man's world? Is the Lord more glorified there than up here? What is it like to be regenerate or to struggle with the flesh?" I know.. this isn't Biblical but who can tell? Maybe those burning angels indeed envy us, His elect. Why not? We are clothed in the fragrance of Christ Jesus and His love is marvelously revealed on the cross where all our sins were hatefully nailed. Will they not envy us who see the glory of God through our sufferings and misfortunes, which they do not experience? Will they not envy us who are filthy and yet are unconditionally, sovereignly loved and graciously conformed to His image? All I am left to say to God is: "Great job God! How in the world did you domesticate such a beast? Job well done! hehe PS We're waiting for your return! Till you do, we'll do as we're told."

THE END OF ALL THINGS

Its been a while since I've written something. I've been so tired flexing my muscles in the packaging industry I work in. I've also been so exhausted struggling and searching for answers. Last two weeks were monumental not only because I barbarically stood up and spoke to God's people without thinking, but also because I've been reminded of the totality of God's glory.

The more I walk with God, the more I see how great He truly is and the more I realize how empty, unholy and fleshly I really am. In my six years of walking with such a blessed Being, I've seen and experienced many storms and struggles. I've done things I am not proud of. I've sinned against Him more than a pagan does. I've wept, prayed and wrestled with the devil. Most of my battles ended up in loss but all of them led me to a more profound relationship with the Lord.

The way God works truly astounds me. He takes care of His children well. He sometimes breaks their hearts to cleanse them of their idols (Eze 36:25) as He does with me most of the time and I praise Him for being such. If He did not, I would be brimming with more idols that a heathen could ever have.

Whenever I address delicate issues about repentance, holiness, conformity to God's Word, regeneration and evidence of salvation, I am labeled as a legalist or a person who's trying to add something to Jesus' work on the Cross. I am just tired of explaining myself all over again.

The last thing I would ever want for God's people is to be work-centered. A believer who becomes his own god or makes his work the basis of his joy is not only a form of idolatry but also a direct insult to God. So the only reason why I point to rules, emphasizing sin and godliness is so that we would see the greatness of God. I stress delicate issues regarding holiness, repentance, ministry, the way we preach the Gospel or the meaning of the cross not for the sake of works, but so that we would reverently bow to God in worship.

We can never see God with our own eyes. The Scriptures are there to break our self-righteousness and idols to leave us with empty hands in order for us to cling to Christ alone. As a little boy of God (I will never be able to live up to this name), I have always stressed correct doctrine, proper exegesis and correct Gospel preaching. But these are not the end. Theology, radical obedience, ministry or missions are extremely important but they are not the end. They are only small fragments of what Christianity truly is. That does not make them less important but before the End, who is God, everything else loses its value.

The last thing you would want from a prophet is to tell you what you want to hear. I admit that I have been hard and harsh sometimes. In the emails that I have sent to my brothers and sisters in Christ, I would appear to be nothing more than a "Gospel ranter". I believe I have made wrong choices of approach and I dearly apologize for such. However, I can never take back what I said. God forbid that I tell a lie and water down His truths. I fear Him more than the scorn of men.

You might be wondering then why should we give importance to works when they mean nothing before God's grace? My dear friend, like I said, works, the evidence of salvation, are important because through them, we are enabled to see the glory of God with a clearer perspective. When we repent of our sins, drop all forms of self-righteousness and admit our sinful and helpless condition, we see the glory of God. In our brokenness, we realize that God is all and is the only One that matters in life. Secondly, works have to be stressed because we are so earthly minded. For example, if I say Christianity is about experiencing God, how will men understand that? Its true but isn't it rather vague? Not to mention that every man has his own version of "experiencing God". Shouldn't I also stress the hard truths of Scripture from the meaning of the cross to conformity to His image? Thirdly, we have to be constantly reminded of the things of God. The Bible in the book of Job describes us as people who drink inequity as if it were water. Even upon conversion, we still drink sin and are so accustomed to it that we have to be constantly reminded of God's warnings, reminders, commandments and instructions.

Back to the main issue: the end of all things is God. Yes, it is important to stress repentance and obedience but these are only means to God. Experiencing Him, dwelling in His presence, communicating with Him, thinking of Him and living in Him are the real deals in Christianity. Its all about Him. God forbid that Christianity would be about something else.

READING THOSE OLD BOOKS WRITTEN BY LONG DEAD MEN???

I've been skimming lately through the classical works of our Christian forefathers. I have grown to love contemporary books and yet, seeing the classical works, for instance of Jonathan Edwards, filled my heart with joy and grief. Joy because such forgotten works that are often labeled as "old-fashioned" when they are not really, are so full of truth! This brings me to the reason of my grief. What has happened to our age? How the flesh and the demands of the world have corrupted our writings!? How I wish most contemporary writings would be as the writings of old: unusually strong, true and totally grounded in Scripture.

Reading the majority of modern day Christian books right after spending some time in the libraries of Pink and Tozer would deeply grieve a regenerate heart. How did it ever come that the truth was replaced with half-cooked, flesh-pleasing, crowd-sensitive conjectures? What have we done? What have we become? Should false fire ever be in place of the Spirit in the Lord's altar? Or could true fire from heaven fall on His people, amidst all the noise and clamor the world has generated?

The undying classics that we label as "old" and "inapplicable" are the most essential ones. I can go as far and say that such writings are the true ones and the last bastion of the Gospel here on earth. They have survived the mockeries of our wicked generation, have been tested by time and they have been blessed by the Lord as an act of mercy to His people. If He did not freely act to preserve His absolute truth, the world, in all its hatred for Christ, would eliminate or worse, pervert His Gospel in no time, leaving His elect wandering in the darkness forever.

These "old" books written by godly men such as Edwards and Spurgeon, who have long passed to the next life, should be redeemed and reincorporated in our Church if the glories of salvation is to be understood and witnessed. Such fundamental, hard and Scripturally grounded truths are so rich that a hungry believer would wish he had lived in such classical times when the true Gospel was still abound, when preachers still swept the land with much plowing and sowing, when virtue still dominated sensuality and the words "repent and believe the Good News!" (Mark 1:14) were graciously heard.

Let me close in the words of Theoden of Rohan, a heathen king in the book the Lord of the Rings, "How did it come to this??"
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WHAT IS GOSPEL REDUCTIONISM?

Gospel reductionism is watering down the glorious message of God by removing some parts, altering some elements (especially the ones about our sinful natures) or changing the entire message based on the preference of the unbeliever. This is the main reason why most Churches are filled with empty, lost and carnal people. Gospel reductionism brings false conversion. The Lord warns us that if His message of salvation is altered in any way, we would not only be condemned but we will also get superficial, ignorant and phony conversions.

We must preach the fullness of the Gospel starting with the holy justice of God along the fall of man, down to the the nature of the atonement and the Spirit's work of sanctification REGARDLESS of the people's whims or personal preference.

Here are several reasons why preachers reduce the Gospel:

1) They have no confidence in the Word of God so they change it to suit their purposes
2) They are afraid of being rejected to they take away those issues about sin, condemnation and the wrath that is to come
3) They love to please the crowd
4) They are totally ignorant of the true Gospel
5) They have poor theology that is more based on a godless culture than the Word of God

Some of the most popular, well-loved examples of modern day gospel perversions:

1) "Jesus died for you on the cross. Now, do you want to have a relationship with God? Do you have a relationship with our loving Jesus? If not, ask Jesus right now to come into your life, say sorry and thank Him for the cross"

2) "Who loves Jesus? Raise your hand if you want Jesus! Now, pray this prayer and you shall be saved!"

3) "Jesus loves you and He died for you because He wants you to enjoy life with Him in heaven. He want you have your best life now so He was crucified. Would you like to repeat a prayer and ask Him into your life?"

4) "Do you know you're a sinner? (yes) Do you love Jesus? (yes) Do you want to get to heaven? (yes) Do you want to ask Jesus in your life? (yes) Now that you've asked Him into your life, you are saved."

So then if these are but perversions, what is the TRUE GOSPEL of Jesus?

This is the Gospel in summary: Brother I have a great news for you but before I can tell you that lets first get in to Scripture about what it says about man. Brother, man is sinful, corrupt and helpless. He is in bondage with sin and he has continually offended the Lord in his thoughts and actions. And because of this, he is on a way to hell, a place where God's wrath is manifested. (I don't believe you! --This is a typical response, see how the real Gospel creates conflict?). No my friend, its true, God is holy and just and if you look at these passages you would realize that the wages of sin is eternal death. He would be a corrupt judge if He lets you go for your crimes. (No! What about good works?) You cannot be saved by good works because the problem is not your works. The problem is your vile and sinful heart that needs to be changed and converted.

But you know? Here is where the Good News comes in. Someone paid the price of your sin! Someone died for you on the cross! and that Someone is the Son of God in human form! He paid the price of your sins on the cross! He was wounded for your transgressions and His life became an atonement for your wickedness! (What! God did that?) The wrath of God which should be poured out to us because of our inequities was instead poured out to His Son. Yahweh offered His Son as a sacrifice. The Son of God was tortured and killed so that we can be forgiven and reconciled with the Father. This is all for the glory of His Name and for the salvation of His people. (What great God! So what must I do to get saved?) REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL!!! You are saved by the grace of God alone through faith in Him! Now, if you genuinely have been changed by God, your life, your heart and your thoughts would start to change. If there is no inward change in your life, you had nothing from me here today and we have to talk again.