New Rule, or Perhaps an Old One

New Rule: As soon as you compare someone you’re arguing with to a Nazi or a terrorist, you lose.  You’re insulting real Nazis & terrorists.

Blessed….

How did you get to where you are right now?  Was it because you worked really hard?  Because you studied in school, did all your homework, made sure to know what the teacher wanted? 
Was it because you make all the right decisions, know the right people, are able to stay cool under pressure, are able to understand people?

Do you know how blessed you are to be where you are?  What if you were born in a poor village in Africa where war and famine are a everyday occurance?  Would all your hard work make you as successful as you are now?

Once you (and I’m speaking personally as well) start to think that you’re the reason you got to where you are right now, how could you ever have empathy for those who are not as successful as you? You couldn’t.  Your thought process would be, “I worked hard to get where I am. If only these people took responsibility for they situation and stopped feeling sorry for themselves, and picked themselves up.  Just work hard.”

But what if you knew that almost nothing you did got you to where you are. Oh sure, you worked hard, but who gave you that work ethic?  Who allowed you to be born into a family, a country, that allowed you to pursue your dreams?  Who gave you the talent to be able to do what you do?

You see, once we realize this, that it wasn’t us who got us to where we are, we can start to look at the world of those less fortunate a little bit different.  We start to look at the world through eyes that have been changed, ones that see how incredibly blessed they are to be where they are right now.  And because of this, makes us want to reach out to those who need help. 

Because he reached out to us when we needed him.  Because he stayed on that cross even when all the powers of heaven and hell rained down on him so that we may be blessed to be adopted into his family.  To join the dance. 

How blessed we are.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

So, 2011 is over and now we look to a New Year in 2012.  I wonder what it will bring?

2011, I have to say, was a pretty great year for me.  Moving into the City I think was a big difference in that regard.  I have to admit, having to make that drive every day really sucked, especially when all you’re going home to is yourself.  But now, I live in the city (What’s up NW?!), my commute is cut in half, my commuting stress is cut in half, and my roommate is all the happier.

I also have really enjoyed making new friendships this past year.  While I will always love Grand Rapids, MI for the values that it instilled in me, I have to say that I really like DC a lot more in terms of making friends.  Not that I don’t have great friends back home, I do, and when I go back to visit, it’s great to catch up with them.

To the friends that I’ve made in DC (and you know who you are, if you don’t, ask me and I’ll let you know).  Thank you for everything that you’ve done for me this past year.  You’ve all created a great sense of community with a city where, while you may be surrounded by people, it is easy to feel like you’re all alone.  I thank God for putting you in my life, and I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us this coming year.

So, here’s to 2012!  May it be a great journey and not the end of the world like the Mayan’s have predicted.

A Thank You…..

To whom it may concern,

How do you say thank you to someone you’ve never met?  To someone who you may never meet?  To someone who probably made the most significant decision that has ever affected your life?

This is written to a pair of people who had a profound impact on my life.  I don’t know their names, where they live, who they are, what their interests are.  I’m not even sure they knew what my Korean name was (Park Kwon-Do for those who are wondering).  But I thought they had a right to know what happened to what had to have been the most difficult decision a parent would have to make.

Life has turned out alright for me.  Thank you for what you did.  I can only imagine what it must’ve been like to have to make that type of decision.  To go 9 months wanting to have this baby, only to see it be born with a cleft lip and palate and knowing in that instant, that you couldn’t provide for him the way that you wanted to.  To me, that has to be one of the greatest examples of love and sacrifice that I have in my life.  When you made the decision to give me up for adoption, I’m not sure what type of life you were thinking you were leaving me, but I’m sure you thought that it would be better then what you could provide for me had I stayed with you.

I was adopted by a great family.  A mom and dad that truly love me.  Grandparents who left a legacy.  Aunts and Uncles who I love to see.  Cousins who are basically siblings.  True friends that have become family.  I was the first child to be adopted by my mom and dad who then decided to adopt 2 more kids, a sister and a brother.

Right now I am living in Washington DC.  I have a great job teaching tennis at one of the premier Country Clubs in the nation.  I’ve made numerous new friends that I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with.  I’ve found a church that has helped me find a new community.

I don’t know what the rest of my life will hold.  But I do know that it has turned out pretty good for me so far.  By the grace of God I was lucky enough to be adopted by my parents.  To live where I lived.  To go to school where I did.  To have the friends that I have.  And to end up in DC with a job that I love.  Doesn’t get much better then that.

Thank you.

On a side note, if any of you who read this are interested, please visit Operation Smile  and consider giving.

Christmas time is here…..

What do you think of when you hear the name King Herod?  Do you just think of him as that guy who in the Christmas story order the Wise Men to go and find the child, and when they didn’t report back to him ordered the killing of any boy under the age of 2?

Matthew paints two very different kings when he mentions King Herod in the 2^nd chapter of his book.  One who tried to leave his legacy by building great palaces and fortresses. Built a port city said to be one of the greatest in the region.  Who authorized the building of a new temple in Jerusalem with architecture that has modern architects wondering how it was accomplished.  Who’s crimes were so cruel that the killing of the children in Bethlehem aren’t even mentioned by the historian Josephus who kept detailed records of Herod’s life accomplishments and failures.

Herod was both loved and hated by the Jews.  He was like the local drug cartel that everyone was afraid of, but would also sponsor the Little League Baseball team, go to PTA meetings, and provided money for the new community swimming pool.  But in the end, the Jews could/would never accept him.

Why is this?  Was it because he was cruel?  Because he was in with Rome?  Yes and yes.  These are partial reasons.  But there was a reason that he surely knew about.   Herod was an Edomite.  A descendent of Esau, older brother of Jacob to which God said, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

God had said to Israel not to let a Gentile be ruler over them (Deuteronomy 17:15), and that a ruler would come from Jacob to overcome Esau (Numbers 24:17-19).  Herod knew the prophecies.  He knew where this supposed “king” was going to come from.  Which is why he constructed a 400 foot hill on which to build the great “Herodion” to over look Bethlehem.

Though Herod built many beautiful things, they ultimately ended up in ruins.  Most people don’t even know of his accomplishments within the ancient world other then the fact that he ordered the killing of boys 2 years and younger in Bethlehem.  Herod built for himself.  To try and form his own legacy.  In the end, all he got was ruins.

The other king was also a builder but of a much different sort.  He didn’t build with fine marble or construct temples that were the envy of the ancient world.  He built with very different materials and with a very different intent then Herod did.  In the end, this King has been remembered far better then Herod ever will be, because the reasons for which he built were for something greater.

We to should be reminded and encouraged, that even when all we see in the world are “Herod’s” that there is another King that is present, one that is still in control, even if he’s lying in a manger.

*Paraphrased from FollowtheRabbi.com*

Tell me you love me…..

Why does God love you?  Does he love you because you pray every day?  Because you give money to the poor?  Because you volunteer for every church event?  Because you tithe more then 10%?  Because you take 3 pages of sermon notes?  Because you know the right theology?  Because you dress the right way?  Hang out with powerful people?  Because you look good?

Does he love you because you’re the worst sinner around?  Because you constantly mess up?  Because you had a bad week?  Month?  Year?

He loves you just because He loves you.  Not because of anything that you’ve done, or are doing, or are going to do.  No, his love doesn’t depend on factors.  His love isn’t tied into anything that we do, think, say, look like, etc.  He loves you just because he loves you.  That’s it.  There is no other reason.

Now, how do we make this real and nothing more then an intellectual statement that sounds good, but, let’s be honest, doesn’t really seem to jive with real world experiences?

You need not look any further then Christ on the cross to get assurance of God’s love.  Where he had the power to stop everything that was happening to him.   And yet, he didn’t.  He took it.  He took the scorn of men, the beatings of the whip, the betrayal of closest friends, the full power of hell, even being forsaken by God himself.  Bomb after bomb after bomb was rained down on him to make him drop us.  To separate himself from us.  Yet he stayed up on the cross.  If Jesus wouldn’t drop you then, what makes you think he would drop you now?  That’s how God made his love real.  That’s how it becomes more then just a high in the sky ideal that we talk about in Bible study. (Paraphrased from Tim Keller’s Sermon “Does God Control Everything?”)

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ 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. (Romans 8:38-39)

Know that God loves you just because he loves you.

Baby Nate

Apparently I liked the bottle.

“….not that we loved God”

1 John 4:10-12 “This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

“…. not that we loved God.”  What a statement to make.  A lot of times I think we as Christians get this false sense of entitlement, that we deserve God’s approval and love because we follow or don’t break the rules.  Never appreciating the full impact of what those 5 words state.  That God loves us in spite of us not loving him.  In spite of the fact that by our very nature we would never choose to love God or even love each other.  That our default setting is one that is set on our own desires, our own goals.

Some people will say, “I don’t deserved to be loved by God.”  To that statement I say, Amen!  You’re right!  You don’t deserved to be loved God.  But you know what?  By some crazy reasoning, one that defies everything that humankind can try to logic its way through, God has chosen (and that is the key word) to love you.  Not because of what you’ve done.  Not for what you may do.  Not for what you’re doing right now, but just because He wants to.  Because He wants you to join the dance that He was enjoying before the creation of the world with the other 2 persons of the Trinity.  And what an honor it is for us to be called to that dance.

But how do we see God if no one has seen Him?  We see by the way we love one another.  And I don’t think the author is talking about how we love others outside the church.  I think he is specifically talking about how we love those in the church.  How we interact with fellow believers.  That is how we see God.  We see him when parents drop off their children in nursery and have no fear about doing that.  We see Him when a long time member sees someone who is new and engages them in conversation.  We see him when friends greet one another with a hug.  We see him when groups of people make a commitment to come together each week to talk about His word.  We see him when friends are just there, not to solve problems, not to talk or give advice, just there.

So friends, let us love one another.  Because by doing so, we experience, if even a small taste, the dance that we will someday enjoy.

Top 10

Top 10 Reasons I Procrastinate:

1.

You’ve heard from the beginning…..

“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.” 1 John 3:11

What a powerful statement John makes in using the word “should”.  For he implies that while we know what the commandment is, have seen it expressed in the greatest way possible, we still have a problem in doing it.  We know what we ought to do, and yet, we still don’t.

And why is this?  Is it because I don’t know what to do?  That I was somehow not told of this commandment?  No.  John stated that we have known it since the beginning.  It has been not only told, but written down, and even shown by God himself in the greatest demonstration of Love.  And yet, I still struggle with it.

Mostly because I don’t want to become uncomfortable.  I don’t want to feel like I’m not in control.  I don’t want to be perfectly honest and say that I don’t want to do it.  That it requires sacrifice.  It requires me to be vulnerable.  To be open.  To have the possibility of being betrayed.  Because that’s what love is, right?  Sacrifice.  Vulnerability.  Openness. The willingness do something even if it doesn’t benefit you.

This is what Jesus did, right?  Came from a place where he was everything, to a place where he became nothing.  And he came willingly.  Where he had complete trust in what he was doing.

My friends, may you “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”