Taxes. Death. Judgment.

Another tax season is officially coming to a close.  You may have heard it said, "The only two certainties in life are death and taxes." Another certainty is that we will all face the creator God as our judge.  "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).  This rocked my world as a kid growing up.  I knew there is heaven and I knew there is hell.

One City, One Gospel

"But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city!" (Jonah 4:11)

The murder rate in Chicago ranks it as one of highest of any city in the nation.  Each day more people are killed in Chicago than in Afghanistan.  The city has been named "Chi-raq" due to the number of people killed.

Last Friday night I attended a worship time and concert of prayer for the city of Chicago with my good friend and dad.  Three pastors from area churches led the time.  It was a great to focus on the need to show the love of Jesus Christ to the people in Chicago and proclaim the hope of the Gospel.  Join me in praying for God to work in the city of Chicago!

10 Lessons from 10 Surgeries

Entering into the tenth surgery in my life causes me to hit the pause button to reflect and remember.  This is good.  It helps me to remember God’s blessings, who He is, what He has done in my life, and my dependence on Him. 

This is the first surgery I will undergo on an outpatient basis to remove a cyst from my right ankle.  The last nine hip or ankle surgeries kept me in the hospital for a week or more to recover after each operation.  So this one should be “pretty simple”, but I am not taking anything for granted.

If you had told me 20 years ago I would have 10 surgeries on my hips and ankles by this time in my life I would say, “No way.”   But God, in His sovereign plan, has used these surgeries in some amazing ways in my life for His glory. 

In John 9, Jesus’ disciples ask Him about a man born blind.  Was it the parents or the blind man’s sin that caused his blindness? Jesus lets them know that neither the man nor his parents sinned, “but this happened that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:4).  I am grateful God uses ordinary people to magnify His infinite worth.

Here are 10 lessons through 10 surgeries I have learned.  There are more, but these are the ones that come to mind.  Some still to be need to be remembered and relearned every day.  I am one of those sheep the Bible talks about that needs a faithful Shepherd to daily guide and direct me in my walk with the Lord.  Praise the Lord that God is patient and long-suffering with His children. Many of these lessons are lessons for life.

1. God is faithful.  “Know that the LORD your God is God; he is a faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep his commandments.”  (Deuteronomy 7:9).

He provides the right physicians.  He heals. He meets the multiple financial bills after each surgery.  He provides the encouragement of cards, prayers, email, and meals through others. 

2. Be unswervingly God dependent.  It’s easy not to fully lean on God.  My pride says, “I can do this on my own.”  Humility calls me to humble myself under God’s mighty hand that He may lift me up in due time (1 Peter 4:6).

The crutches I have used after each recovery every day have taught and reminded me to lean hard into the grace of God and trust Him.  “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

3. God is good, all the time.  “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all of the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).  Even when days are hard, with pain, whether it be after a surgery or as I keep getting older.  God remains a solid rock, a very present help and refuge in my time of need.  He knows me, what I need, and I praise Him for that!

4. Be thankful.  Thankfulness is the dynamite to blow-up a spirit of discontentment, discouragement, anxiety, and depression.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). 

5. Suffering now is nothing to what lies ahead.  These present sufferings are incomparable to the future eternal weight of glory that awaits one who is in Christ.  I believe that.  Paul reminds us of that in Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

6. Heaven.  Heaven and Hell are real places for all eternity.  “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).  It is hard to grasp eternity. But as I see how short life is I am beginning to sense, in a very small way, what eternity will be like.

I am thankful for heaven and look forward to seeing Jesus face to face to worship Him free of sin.  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (Revelation 21:1-2).

7. Gospel witness.  Through 10 surgeries I have had opportunities to share the love and hope of Jesus Christ that I would never have had if I were not born with degenerative arthritis.   A. W. Tozer says, “We are left for a season among men, let us faithfully represent Him here.” This is my heartbeat!

8. Prayer.  Prayer is a barometer of my spiritual life and I believe a believer’s spiritual life.  If am not praying, what place does our Heavenly Father have in my life?  I wish I could say my barometer is always steady.  Often it is not, there are highs and lows. 

My desire is to consistently live out Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”  Lord, help me to pray with great expectation and with thanksgiving!

9. He knows.  This truth has encouraged and convicted me. “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me” (Psalm 139:1). The Creator God of this awesome universe we live in KNOWS me. He knows you too!  What a comfort. He is intimately acquainted with all of my and your ways. 

I can relate to what Job said about God and that he knows everything.  “But he knows the way I take; when he has tried me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).   

10. Remember.  Reflecting on what God has done in my life and will do in the future encourages my heart to keep pressing on.  I cannot always see God at work in our lives, but He is (Psalm 121; Philippians 2:12-13).  Every day His mercies are new…remember…”Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I wait on him” (Lamentations 3:21-25). 

What Child Is This?

"What Child is This?" encourages my heart on the precious birth of Jesus Christ as I reflect on and sing Christmas hymns this year.  At the age of 29, William Dix penned this hymn in 1865. It was composed shortly after he recovered from a near fatal illness in which he was confined to bed rest for a number of months and went into depression.

What child is this who, laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping? 

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?

Refrain:

This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing; 

haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.

Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding? 

Good Christians, fear, for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.

(Refrain)

So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh, come, peasant, king, to own him; 

the King of kings salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone him.

(Refrain)

Thankful

Reflecting on another year leads me to words that start with a “W” for which I am thankful for in 2012.  

Walk.  I am grateful I have been able to walk relatively free of pain again this year.  The hips replaced for a second time 12 years ago and ankles replaced four years ago are doing well.  I do not take for granted the freedom I have to get around. It’s a blessing.   Each day I am dependent on the Lord for His strength.  I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”   

The Word.  The Word of God renews my heart and mind for right thinking and right living.  “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).  The Word guides me as a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105).  The Word encourages my heart.  “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

I am so thankful for God’s word, His living word (Hebrews 4:12).  I need a daily intake to stay calibrated to live for Christ and not for self.  I need it for wisdom in decisions that are daily before me.  I need it as the resource to share the hope and love of Christ through the Gospel.

With Me. (God is with me.)  What a blessing to know and see that God remains faithful to be with me through another year.   When I am a lone, He is with me. When I am down, He is with me.  When it’s a good day, He is with me. When I can’t see Him at work, He is.  

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory” (Psalm 73:23-24).  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).

Washed.  “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7).  I am grateful for the forgiveness of my sins.  My sin reminds me of my need of a Savior, Jesus Christ, who for the joy set before Him gave himself to die on the cross.  I am grateful for His death and shed blood that enables my sins to be forgiven and gives me great hope.  “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:8-9).

Grateful to walk (pain free), the Word, that God is with me, and for the forgiveness of sins this year.

Jeremy Lin: The Reason for Linsanity

In February of this year a sports spectacle of unseen proportions occurred.  Jeremy Lin, an unknown point guard with the New York Knicks, came off the bench to lead his team to a win over the New Jersey Nets in Madison Square Garden. Big deal?  The victory along with six more wins in ensuing games propelled Lin from an obscure no name player to meteoric stardom as one of the most admired athletes in the world.

In the book, Jeremy Lin: The Reason for the Linsanity, Timothy Dalrymple chronicles Lin’s historic role through the amazing seven game winning streak while detailing the adversity he faced growing up playing basketball as an Asian-American through high school, college, and   eventually in the NBA.  One thing that stands out reading the book is Lin’s love for Jesus Christ and playing the game of basketball for God’s glory.  

Jeremy’s parents, of Chinese descent who immigrated through Taiwan to the United States, played a major role in shaping his character, instilling a drive to persevere, and to know Jesus Christ as His Savior and Lord.  Jeremy’s dad’s love for the game of basketball resulted in taking him and his two brothers to the local YMCA three nights a week for drills and games.  Jeremy’s mom instilled within her son a “you can do anything attitude” and that with hard work you can succeed at anything.  She demanded excellence from her kids and had a discipline to hold them to it in academics and sports.

The Chinese Christian Church of Mountain View, CA was an important part of Jeremy’s life growing up and remains an important part of his life today. Dalrymple notes the importance the local church had on Jeremy’s life. He writes, 

“This would be the first community (his church) to pour deeply into Jeremy’s life, and they continue to support him to this day.  Modern sportswriting focuses too often on the individual and his talents.  It’s a reflection of American individualism.  In the Chinese way of looking at things, each person is in large measure a product of the people around him – of the parents who sacrifice for him, of the family that shapes him, of the community that nourishes him and raises him up.  This is one of the great missing pieces in the Jeremy Lin story as it has been told so far in the American media (emphasis mine).  Jeremy would not have succeeded apart from the quality of his character, and it was his family and friends and his community of faith who, over the years, planted and cultivated the seeds of character within him” (p. 8)

Jeremy Lin lived out his faith in Jesus Christ high school and college. He participated in Christian student groups on campus and reached out to inner-city kids in the Palo Alto area.

In his senior year Jeremy led Palo Alto High to a state championship against California’s perennial powerhouse, Mater Dei.  Through his high school career he amassed a number of honors.  He was a two-time league MVP. He was NorCal player of the year. First team all-state. Named Division II Boys Player of the year. First team all-state. Named Division II Boys Player of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News and captained his team to a State Championship.  However, was not offered any scholarships to Division I schools.  It’s rare for Asian Americans to reach the highest level of D-1 basketball.  “According to the NCAA Student-Athlete Race and Ethnicity Report, only 19 of the 4,814 Division 1 basketball players in 2006-07 (Jeremy’s freshman year in college) were Asian Americans – and that number includes Pacific Islanders and part-Asians” (p. 74).  In spite of this it did not stop Jeremy Lin.  He was determined to play at the collegiate level even if he didn’t receive a scholarship.  He wanted to go to Stanford.  He landed at Harvard.

During Jeremy’s time at Harvard, he grew as a Christian and basketball player. He was supported not only by Christian brothers and sisters during his games at Harvard, but Asian Americans began to come see him play.  They wanted to see an Asian American who had the potential to make it big.  They wanted to be a part of it.  In the midst of it, Jeremy received racial taunts and insults more than ever before while playing on the courts of Ivy League institutions like Penn, Princeton, Cornell, and Dartmouth.

Upon graduation from Harvard, Lin was not drafted by any team in the NBA.  In 2010, he received a partially guaranteed contract with the Golden State Warriors.   He rarely played and was sent to the D-League (minor leagues) three times.  He was waived by the Warriors and the Houston Rockets.  The New York Knicks picked him up in the 2011-12 preseason.  The amount of playing time with the Knicks was still minimal until the first week of February 2012.  That’s when Jeremy’s opportunity to show his God given basketball talent and hard work turned into “Linsanity.”

“Statistically speaking, never before had anyone arisen from such obscurity to extraordinary heights.  To take one measure:  Jeremy was the first player with at least 20 points and seven assists in each of his five careers starts since at least 1970, when the Elias Sports Bureau began keeping stats for the NBA.  To take another:  Jeremy had collected 136 points in his first five starts, breaking Shaquile O’Neal’s twenty-year-old record”(142).

As Bill Simmons, one of the most beloved sportswriters in the country wrote, “What’s happening with Lin right now” is “unprecedented.  I have never seen it before…I’ve never seen a [poor] man’s version of it before.”  Jeremy’s story was “following the real-life Rudy or Rocky script—and he’s more talented than either of them” (142).  

Maui

There were too many pictures too post from two weeks in Maui.  Here are some of the top ones that capture my time on this tropical island.

West Maui

Haleakala, 6 AM, February 14, 2012

72 degrees sea level, 40 degrees plus windchill 10,000' up.

Maui's Northshore

One of many surfers rip'n H20.