Give cause it's not yours.

My dad is the richest dad in the universe.

A Christian can say that.  How cool is that?

You are not poor.  You are rich.  You live in the US.  You live in Southern California.  You live in LA.

But forget all that... your Father in Heaven... he owns the universe.  And he will take care of you if you honor him.

Honor him with your money.  Honor him with your attitude.  Honor him with your heart, body, mind, and soul.

That has been the whole point of the "RED Letters from Jesus" series.  Jesus said some crazy things in the Bible... but more than anything, he asks us to do as he commands, and there will be a reward.  Honor Jesus... Honor Father God, and he will take care of you.

That's reassuring. That's life changing.

That's the Bible.

-P. Kev

LOST

I'm a huge LOST fan.  I'm not even going to pretend like I'm not geeking out about the series finale (Sunday, May 23rd, 9:00pm - 11:30pm) or the simple fact that ABC is devoting almost the entire weekend program to one show.  Seriously... here's ABC's LOST schedule for this weekend:

Saturday May 22nd
8PM - 10PM - LOST Pilot (The two hour First Episode that started it all!)
Sunday May 23rd
7PM - 9PM - LOST Recap of the entire series
9PM - 11:30PM - LOST the LAST EPISODE!
11:30PM - 12:30PM - Jimmy Kimmel Live, a tribute to LOST. (And quite possibly the last time that the producers ever discuss LOST! If we don't get answers by 12:30... we may never get the answers we want!)

Crazy, right? Yes. I am a fan. And clearly... I want you to be a fan too.  But why?  Cause LOST is an awesome, life changing show about some weird, mystical, magnetic island?  Cause LOST is a GREAT show with GREAT characters and GREAT writing insights?  Maybe.  But I think more than that, I want you to be a fan so I can talk to you about it.  So we can experience it together.  So that there's something that we share together.

In fact... that's how it is with all good things in life, isn't it?  That when we run into something awesome, or we hear/see/taste/feel something amazing... we want to share it with the people we care about.  If you eat something amazing, you offer a bite to someone else so they could share your excitement and enthusiasm for it.  Or when you watch a movie, you bring people with you to share that experience.

But what about Jesus?

Isn't Jesus magnificent? Perhaps even more so than a TV show? Than any person you know? Than even life itself?  Don't we sing worship songs at church that talk about how much Jesus means to us?

So how come we don't talk about it him? Why are we ashamed to admit it? Why are we so inclined to hide what we do every Sunday morning?  Why shy away from what we're doing on Wednesday nights?

Maybe Jesus doesn't mean as much to us as we say he does.

But can I tell you an incredible secret?

Jesus loves you more than you can imagine.  Even if you never say a word about him... he loves you.  Even if you HATE him... he loves you.

Romans 8:38 - 39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Not even your lack of love for Jesus can separate you from his love.

And THAT... is worth talking about.

-P. Kev

Do Not Worry - A student blog!

WHAT WHAT?! ANOTHER GUEST BLOG?

THIS TIME FROM A STUDENT?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen... from a student!  I'm excited to share our very first blogpost from a student.  Hopefully this will be the start of many more to come!



"Do Not Worry" by Alice Choi (6th Grade, 9:30AM service)
Matthew 6: 25-34
"Therefore i tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ...
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet i tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Jesus is soo right.
Why are we worrying all day and night about what we should wear, eat, or drink the next day?
What we CAN eat, drink, and wear are all gifts from God.
Shouldn't we be spending more time with God, rather than worrying about tomorrow?

In this passage, Jesus is saying that our Heavenly Father already know that you need them. He is asking us to not worry, but to seek his kingdom and his righteousness.
"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

-Alice Choi (6th Grade)

Are you really?

Does eating kimchee make you Korean?
Does eating at a Korean restaurant make you Korean?
Does eating at a Korean person's house make you Korean?
Does syling your hair a certain way make you Korean?
How about what you wear?
What about speaking the language?
The car you drive?
The friends you have?
The things you talk about?
Your grades at school?

None of those things unfortunately.  You're born Korean... or you're not.

What about being a Christian?

Does reading the Bible make you a Christian?
Going to church once a week?
Singing a praise song?
Not singing a praise song?
Pretending to listen to a sermon?
Participating in small group?
Not participating in a small group?
Praying for your meals?

None of those things unfortunately.  You're born again... or you're not.

Are you a born again Christian? Or not?

-P. Kev

DWELL

Here's a treat for everyone! A guest post from Connie Su teacher!

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
– Philippians 4:8

This is good advice.

I mean, sometimes, bad things happen and we come to dwell on the negative.  Sometimes I feel completely misunderstood and betrayed by my friends, I get all disappointed in myself for not doing as well as I’d like to academically, or I read something really stupid online and get all hot and bothered about it.  And I mean, not to say that feeling these things is unjustified (depending on the circumstance)… But really, dwelling on the negative only makes me bitter and not so nice to be around.  It’s actually embarrassing how ugly it gets. 

It’s so different when my thoughts are on the good.  And it’s not even just thinking about “good things.”  I can dwell all day about the goodness of myself and of this world – the good things that happen to me me me, and the goods things that I I I have done, the happy things of the world we live in…but you know, I’m forced to recognize everyday that the only thing in this world that’s really good – is God.

When I’m dwelling on the REAL positives – on how good God is in my life, how good God is PERIOD for just being Himself – my heart is changed and I am transformed.  Crazy awesome.

And you know, this is actually more than just good advice.  The verse in Philippians says to DWELL. It doesn’t say that you should dwell, or that it would be nice if you could dwell. It simply and clearly commands you to dwell on such things. 

So, you need to do it.  Not you should do it.  But you MUST dwell on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise.

Let’s take God’s word and really put it into practice.  And this too is a command. (Philippians 4:9)  The Bible promises that the God of peace will be with you.  In fact, check out verse 7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  How cool is that?  Our God is so good. DWELL my little friends. Let’s dwell.

Happy dwelling!

-Con.

Obey your Parents

Ugh. So hard.  So difficult.

But the truth is... everything that's truly worth it in life... is attained through hard work.  So yeah, it's gonna be difficult and it's gonna hurt.  But I guarantee it's worth it.  God himself guarantees it.

Don't be dumb. Don't take the easy road.

Obey and be rewarded by God.

Exodus 20:12 - Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

-P. Kev

FML

Romans 12:2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.


FML. DGAF. I hear this crap all the time. There was a period of my life... where this junk was a part of my vocabulary as well.  I'm trying my best to not say this anymore.  Why?

Cause I have more to live for than what this world is telling me I need to live for.  Watch TV for an hour, and you will know what the world is telling me I need to live for.  I need to drink this, I need to buy that, I need to go here and experience that.

But open the Bible for once...and you'll see that NONE of those things are important.  God says to pursue him with everything, and to love your neighbors as yourself.  That's the things that most dear to the heart of God.

And FML and DGAF aren't the attitudes that are going to help us do that.  Let's face it. You're American.  That automatically means that 90% of the rest of the world is envious of YOU.  Most likely, you're in the richest 95% of the world.  And yet... you can still say that?  You don't think that offends God?

I do.

And so I'm going to stop.  I'm going to stop pretending like my life is crappy.  I'm going to stop pretending that God owes me more "stuff".  Rather, I'm going to live like the gospel is REAL.  I'm gonna live like the Bible is TRUTH.

And instead of websites like FML... I'll read websites like this and be inspired.

http://www.givesmehope.com

-P. Kev

Wisdom (teeth)

Seems like everyone is losing their wisdom.

Teeth I mean.

What are wisdom teeth?  Here's the official definition: Wisdom teeth are the third and final set of molars that most people get in their late teens or early twenties.

I've pulled out 2 of them myself.

So if you had to pull out any wisdom teeth lately... be it because of braces or some other reason, I hope you're all doing alright.

I had a thought today though. Sometimes... our wisdom teeth need to go.  It may be painful and it may hurt for awhile... but sometimes they need to go.  They grow up with you... and they're usually the last physical representation of your youth.  When your wisdom teeth are grown out, it's kind of like your body's way of saying "Welcome to adulthood."  But many of us will live our lifetimes without getting rid of our wisdom teeth.  We gives excuses: it's too painful. It's too expensive.  It's not really necessary.  I'll take them out when it hurts...

And in a way, pulling out wisdom teeth is like evaluating the friends and relationships that we have in our life.  I mean really think about the people that surround ourselves with.  The people we trust.  The people we've grown up with.  They're our best friends... our shoulders to cry on... our army when we need it.  But deep down inside... we know that some of these relationships and friendships aren't good for us.  But we make excuses to stay their friend - It's too painful not to be their friend anymore.  I can change them.  We've been friends for so long.  They'll hate me.

Proverbs 13:20 - He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

It's interesting that God doesn't say that a companion of fools becomes a fool... but suffers harm.  You may not do everything your friends do, but we've all gotten in trouble just for being somewhere we weren't supposed to be or we were with someone we weren't supposed to be with.  Your friends' behavior is destructive, and eventually, you will be brought down with it.

As junior highers, there aren't too many of you guys who get this... but I hope that repeating this in your life... you will eventually understand.  Your friends' destructive behavior is not worth being around.  And this is a promise... their behavior will eventually get you too.

The earlier you get rid of your wisdom teeth... the better.  Don't wait til your wisdom teeth all come out and mess up the alignment of your other teeth.  Don't wait until your wisdom teeth loosen your main teeth... and you have dental issues the rest of your life.

The sooner you recognize which friends are destructive, the better.  Don't wait until their behavior explodes and you're caught in the explosion.  Don't fall victim to your friends' inability to change.  You really want to do them a favor though? Bring em to church.  Don't be pulled into their world... pull them into the arms of Jesus.

When you're with your friends, who's doing the pulling?

Get rid of your wisdom teeth.

-P. Kev