Category Archive

EXCUSE ME, I LOVE YOU!

my pastor was talking about Outrageous Love today and he shared an illustration from his own life. almost a year ago, his four-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer and every day since then, my pastor has made it a priority to tell his son that Daddy loves him – at least three times a day. “lately, however, [my son] seems to be outdoing me,” he explained. “about twenty times a day, he’ll look at me and say ‘excuse me! excuse me daddy, i love you!’ right in the middle of whatever we’re doing. and i, in turn, will look at him and tell him ‘i love you, too.’ it doesn’t matter where we are, at home, in the hospital, at a restaurant, in the washroom, he’ll say it.” my pastor continued to tell us that it feels like he’s squeezing in a lifetime of love into whatever time they have left. and in the same way, Jesus, while He was on the cross, was squeezing in a lifetime of love into those few final hours.

i think that just like my pastor’s son, Jesus was (and still is) also saying to us, “excuse me, i love you!” and really, we wouldn’t be worse for the wear either if we made a practice of saying it to those who are dear to us.

BECAUSE

i was studying Revelations chapter 7 the other day, thinking about the worship songs the angels and saints were singing when i realized that those worship songs were different from what we tend to sing in north america today.

verse 10:

verse 12:

notice how God is praised so much more for who He is rather than what He’s done. and i got to thinking, God deserves our praise and worship simply because He is. even if He had never given us a way out of our sin, even if He was not the gracious and loving God He is, the simple fact that He is so beyond us warrants praise from us. so if that’s where we start, how much MORE does He deserve our praise in light of the gift of Jesus Christ!

THIS IS LIFE

at least for now, here on earth, this is life. i just received a phone call from a staff at UrbanPromise, the inner-city ministry i worked with four years ago. one of the youths i worked with was killed in a shooting last night. i was asked if i could go in today to help give counselling and support the rest of the kids. but logistically, i can’t. and i haven’t seen the kids in so long that i don’t know how helpful i would be. the most (and perhaps best thing?) i can do is cover them all in prayer.

God, i feel so helpless. so small. and why You would choose to allow me to step into BlueBoy’s life for that brief summer remains a mystery to me. Lord, give me the faith to live by the truth that You are good, even in times like this. help me not to take any day of life for granted, whether it be mine or anyone else’s. Jesus, i eagerly await the day when there will be no more tears, no more injustice, no more suffering children. may your great commission be fulfilled soon so that this day can happen.

WHO I WANNA BE

ok, not exactly who i want to be, but a description of someone i’d like to have apply to myself. i love how the Bible is so full of great people. and the exciting thing is that one day, there’ll be a great reunion and we’ll have forever to swap stories! so who is this mysterious person?

Barnabas.

QUESTION OF THE HEART

been thinking about love lately, not because of Valentine’s day though. ;) been thinking about the line, or whether there is a line, between loving without fear and guarding one’s heart. all the books and talks etc about dating and relationships always cite Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” while i appreciate that nugget of wisdom, a part of me also wonders whether one can be so concerned about guarding his/her heart that the heart begins to live in fear. because in 1 John 4:18, it says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” conversely, if one loves people so much that the heart seems unguarded, is that necessarily a bad thing? is that not the type of love God has for us?

if Proverbs 4 is read in its entirety, it is actually a warning against allowing sin to enter the heart. so could it be that verse 23 has been taken out of context? i think there is definitely a line for guarding the heart against lust, but against love? perhaps this is only a personal misconception. but i’ve come to realize i live with much fear. so if i am to live completely in the love of Christ, i suppose i must also let down my guard against love – because loving people comes with the prospect of rejection and there’s no getting around that. God loves us this way, Jesus loves us this way and so i must learn to love.

however, i think that loving with reckless abandon is only possible if one is grounded in the love of Christ – because He is the source of security when rejection from people hits.

CALLER ID

postings have been slow as of late. it’s because my brain is pretty much perpetually fried. anyway, yesterday, i was reminded again of why i love being in ministry and meeting up with the froshies every week – i learn so much from them! we were investigating 1 Samuel yesterday, talking about how Samuel came to recognize the voice of God when the student leading the discussion proposed an analogy. he said that the Bible is like caller ID on our phones. it shows us who the call is from. just as Samuel recognized God’s voice when the Word of God was revealed to him, so we can recognize God’s voice when we know His Word.

and so, my theme for this year continues: knowing and loving the Word of God more and more.

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE

last night at ccf, we were asked this question, “what’s important to you?” being one of the first few people to share, i said that people and investing my life into them was important to me. but as more of the group shared, i realized that that wasn’t what was most important to me. as far as i can think of right now, the underlying thought that shapes almost all my decisions is this: on that day, when i face my King Jesus, will i be able to look Him in the face and say, “look what i did with what You gave me! the talents, the people, the time, the knowledge, my life… look! i didn’t waste any!”

today, i started reading a novel called Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. it’s about the persecuted church in China and i’ve heard tons of good stuff about it. i’m about 20 pages in and it has already challenged me in terms of my faithfulness to God.

so if i were to answer that question again, i would say, “staying faithful to Jesus is most important to me.”