down llooww

poem that i shared at uwccf sharing night, fall 2010. spent the past month or so writing it, mainly hitting stuff i've been learning about this past while, especially on humility. it's intended for a Christian-cultured audience, not necessarily for those outside the church, but at the same time for those who are raised in a 'christian' environment.

and some rhymes might be pretty bad. just warning you now lest you choose to be a grammar nazi. you gotta say it with an accent.

shout out the the chil phan for inspiration :)

down low

a lot of us think we got our lives together

high marks, got a job, and now you dressed in leather

got you running the show like you darth vader,

but it's all kinda pointless if it ain't for the Maker.

so now you a baker and you make lotsa bread

but who is it made fo', yourself or your Dad?

i ain't mad but what i said ain't 'bout your dad on this earth

i'm talking about God, the one who gave you new birth.

if this new birth's for fame, mayne, you got it all wrong

cuz the glory is His', He's been King all along

these songs today are just about making that ice

but i can't, i'm reborn, too busy chasing the Christ.

no more wastin' my life, or putting myself on the throne

so when i see God i won't be defending alone.

Christ paid for my sins and resurrected on high

so while we here to live is Christ and to gain is to die.

but why do you sigh when i cry out the truth?

life ain't 'bout gettin' hitched like boaz and ruth.

now don't me wrong because that ain't a sin

it only becomes one if you put it before Him.

idolatry can come in many shapes; many forms

just cuz you go to church don't mean you've been reborn

and yeah, this committee here might look pretty tight

but that's cuz we're WEAK, that's how God shows us his might

for most of us here it might be school that's the idol

or perhaps it's being lazy, sitting still, being idle.

maybe it's 'bout being king, and your new job title

no homie, please don't assume the LORD's title.

and what's the LORD's title, anyone got a verdict?

no? well He's Holy, Righteous, Creator of All but most of all He's Perfect

so murk it if you think you got all those qualities bro

i can't compete with the Christ, i'm just dirt down below

you see the dirt that i am was at one point lost

blind, 'til God sent His Son to cover the cost

of all my lies, all my pride, all the porn that i've seen

but the blood of Christ paid for 'em just so i could be clean

and it ain't a dream, this ain't starcraft, it ain't just a game

i'll open up my life so y'all can see that i'm lame

it's only in His Name that i'm redeemed from the blame

so mayne we ain't ashamed when we call out His Name

we're the same, look at me, i'm no better than you

we've all fallen short; if anything i'm the foo'

you see, God chooses to use the foo's to shame all the wised

so that no one can boast except in the Christ

let me end off and say that we are because we're not

that we are worth-less, until we are bought

from the grip of death; now i'm snatched up outta hell

so we can bring Him the glory and rep His Name well.

so for all of us in Christ, let us pick up our cross

and deny ourselves daily, count this world as a loss

be obedient to the Word, to every whisper and call

to lead, to love, to serve, because Christ is our ALL.

July 16, 2010

Please note this is a rather hefty thing I wrote. It's not intended or directed for any one person, but just as an observation on whole. Feel free to comment, let me know if I'm wrong, or if you think I'm a crazy heretic or something :P Here goes.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to be on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' "

- Matthew 7:21-23

As I tried to sleep tonight, I realized something. And this kept me up all night because I was greatly saddened by the reality. I was saddened in the fact that although many people call themselves CHRISTians, few have actually met the Creator of the Universe, the Lord God Almighty, Alpha Omega, Jesus Christ my LORD and my Saviour.

This realization led me to understand why so-called Christians are lazy and don't seem to have God first in their lives. And that is because THEY DON'T. They think that they got the whole eternity thing figured out, that they're going to heaven because they prayed a prayer one time, or that they go to church and fellowship and read the Bible everyday. They feel as if they've already earned salvation so they move on with the rest of their lives.

If you are Christian, you will realize that you must continue to work out salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12) That is to say: on your own, you can never be good enough in the eyes of the LORD. (Romans 3)You cannot call yourself a Christ Follower if you do not devote yourself 100% to Christ. You are not a Christian if you think you can let Jesus control a part of your life but not ALL of it. (Note: it's not to say that a new believer or a immature Christian is not saved. I am not trying to question salvation, but rather your willingness to be sold out for Christ)

No. If Christ is not EVERYTHING in your life, then He is nothing in your life. If you call yourself a Christian, live up to it. Do not blaspheme the name of the LORD my God. If you don't plan on surrendering your sinful desires, or your plans, your dreams, or your hopes to God, then please don't try. God doesn't accept half-hearted sacrifices. (Malachi 1) And besides, it's no sacrifice anyways.

So why do you continue to call yourself a Christian, when you revel in SIN, and when you enjoy the same entertainment of the world around us? What makes you different except that you're busy on Friday nights and Sunday mornings? You say you have to be a part of this world, but I say that we find our citizenship in Heaven (Philippians 3:20) You say that you have become all these things in order to 'minister' to all these people (1 Corinthians 9:19), but all you do is give an excuse to sin freely. You say 'everything is permissible', but 'nobody should seek hos own good, but the good of others'. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)

So please. Do not use the LORD's name in vain. If you claim to be a Christ follower, then be prepared to lose everything to gain Everything. If not, then do not use my God's Holy Name in vain. Do not use His Righteous Name to bring glory to yourself. If you seek the praise of man, then go for it. But if you want to seek the praise of God, then stop indulging in this worldliness. Wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed! (Romans 13:11) Live a life of Christ that is worthy of a life of Christ. Take up the cross. Suffer for it. Let all men hate you because of what you believe and trust. (Matthew 10:22) Stand up, men and women of God, and forsake everything for the sake of knowing the LORD Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

- Matthew 10:37-39

committee

When the first deadline to apply came by, I declined the call to take up the role of committee (or at least running for it). However, as of last Wednesday, things have changed. Thanks Derek for sending me the email (despite how late it was :P) which has since made me reconsider applying for committee (to uwccf, for those uninformed).

My original reasons for not applying for committee was because of three reasons. One being my inability to lead when there are, in my opinion, others who are more capable to lead a fellowship. My second reason was regarding my want to do things outside of fellowship: house ministries, homeless ministries, one-on-one caring to name a few. I figured that being on committee would limit my time to do these things, or perhaps limit my "permission", so to speak, to run these things. Reason three was pride. I felt that when or if I applied to committee I would consider myself higher or "more elite" than those who did not apply. Reason rebuttal in next paragraph :P

So. Reason one was easy. It didn't take long for me to realize (once again) that God does not look for perfect people to accomplish His will. He looks for those who are broken, those who are humble, and those who are willing. You don't need to be a super-intense-hardcore-beastmachine Christian to serve. Serving is something that is a privilege given to us and should not reflect on what we are capable or not; if we are called to a certain role, God will provide us the necessary tools to accomplish said role. Second reason. I was talking with an LCCF committee member and he had the same thoughts when it came to this as well. However, he made me realize that being part of committee does not limit what you can do; it only gives you more freedom to do things. I can be on committee and still hang out with froshies, or cook for sick people, or chill with some guys downtown. Committee just adds a bonus, if you will, to what I can or cannot do. Third reason was pride. And to be honest, I'm not over this one yet, and if you are reading this and you sense pride in me at any time of my life (whether committee or not), please just tell me. I would prefer be bashed by a friend than going around being a douchebag. As for pride, I think it would be best to view committee not as some high-up elite service role, but more of a unique place for unique people, just as everyone is called to serve in some capacity. It may be leading worship, or caring ministries, or perhaps talking to janitors after CCF. Whatever it is, each of us have a place to serve and committee is just another one of them.

So, pray for the best. Will update on the comfort post soontimes, just have to get this out before it goes stale in my brains. :) thanks for reading