How Few There Are Who Die So Hard
In the year of 1812, a young man of 25 years sailed away from New England, accompanied by his newlywed wife of 17 months to begin his mission to Burma. He would not return for 33 years.
Here introducing Adoniram Judson, 19th century Baptist missionary to Burma, who gave his life in the face of terrible opposition for the salvation of the native people. He was brutally tortured, at one time even hung upside down during the night as mosquitos tore at his raw feet while his pregnant wife Ann pleaded with tears for his release. She died shortly after giving birth. Not too long after that, the infant died. Of the three children Adoniram’s wife bore, all three died. After losing his beloved Ann, Adoniram would go on to lose his second wife Sarah, and die on a boat hundreds of miles away from his third wife Emily. Of his 13 total offspring, only 7 survived. In 38 years of ministry, he only returned to New England once, then only to accompany his mortally ill second wife. As his friend Thomas Ranney remarked after his passing, “how few there are who die so hard.”
Behold Judson’s legacy:
Christians in 1812: bordering on none
Christians in 2009: 1,900,000
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
(Joh 12:25 ESV)
Oh to live with such passion and purpose in pursuing the Lord’s work! May I desire to be – and actively work towards being – a mature man, an image of which Adoniram Judson so enthusiastically painted with the blood of his sacrifice.
How will we, as Christians, as students, as intellectuals, praise God with our lives? How ready are we to let the Word of God change our most cherished ideas, ripping apart our egocentric, hedonistic worldviews in order to install His will within our hearts? It is not enough to just want be a doctor, to want to get married and have a family, to want to live a good life surrounded by friends. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities!
Will I have to kneel before the Lord with tears running down my face as He asks, “why, Ming-Yun, why did you waste your life?”
May it never be! Holy Spirit, I beg You to change my heart that I may be a melodious instrument in the skillful hands of Lord Jesus Christ!
Will you stop and think? What kind of an impact will your life leave upon this earth? Is your view of career, ministry, romance, family, and ministry in harmony with the song of God’s heart? How about speech, dress, exercise, test-taking, people you hang out with, things you do in your free time, images you see on the internet, movies and TV shows you watch, music you listen to, and the books you read?
Back!
Welcome back to Grace, UCLA!
…We’re not the only ones that are back. An old friend (circa 1999) has returned as well!
Mold
For the most part, I’ve had a great time moving into the apartments the past week or so – gathering furniture (I guess some are scavenging haha…), getting my own place, being responsible (yay!). I’m also very glad to have a car; amongst many other blessings, it helps a lot to have one when I need to buy groceries. (Cooking for myself, what a concept!) And so, this past weekend I went to Costco to buy massive quantities of food to stock up our fridge (it’s Costco). Fresh salad, tons of good fruit, smoked salmon, blueberry muffins of goodness, and buttery croissants, just to name a few items. I’ve eaten pretty decently the past couple of days. I’m not dead, anyway, as some predicted…
Sadly, I may have been a bit too zealous in my attempt to maintain a full pantry.
Of all the natural things in God’s creation, nothing repulses me quite like mold. Here you have this bounty of food provided you, full of vibrant color and healthy in shape, and then after a few days you’re shocked to find various bits of green speckled throughout your chicken buns. My poor chicken buns…they were so good. But that’s only if you’re lucky. More often than not, you open your refrigerator door and take a look around, hunting with greedy eyes for prospective 21st century prey. Your eye lands upon some salad greens you purchased a couple of days ago, and your hand reaches out towards your imminent victim. You take a look, and you’re suprised to see some strange colors staring back at you, eyes of white hidden amongst a forest of green – a fuzzy mycelium has invaded, spreading its infectious roots throughout your food. You take a look further, and it is evident that the dreaded enemy has been growing unchecked in your absence. Or, perhaps, imagine another scenario – you come back home after a weeklong vacation to find that you left your apple juice out on the countertop. Disgusted at your own forgetfulness, you pick up the cup to pour it out. Suddenly, you have much more to be disgusted at, as inside is a fullgrown slimy, green and white fungus, about the size of an egg. (I couldn’t use that cup again for months.)
Who knows how long the fungus has been growing hidden under your knowledge? How long has it had to spread and poison the food you ingest? Starting off small and nearly undetectable, now you are stuck with a piece once healthy and useful turned foul, repulsive, and sickly odorant, fit for nothing but the wastebin.
How long will you let sin spread and poison the temple of God? Starting off small and nearly undetectable, each small compromise leads to larger ones, until you are stuck with a piece once healthy and useful turned foul, repulsive, and sickly odorant, fit for nothing but the wastebin.
One Truth
Each week as I venture out onto the UCLA campus to share the gospel with students, there is no question that comes up more often than this: “how do you know the Bible is true?” Why do you put your faith in a mere book; what proof do you have that it is true? Why are you so convinced, and so willing, to place your trust, and your life, into the hands of the Bible — each religion has their own sacred scriptures, so why is the Bible the only authoritative one?
How do you answer such a question? Of course, there are many things that could be said. The Bible, solely as a literary text, is completely consistent, telling one story from beginning to end, despite its plurality of authorship. As a historical text, it is remarkably accurate, having survived for millenia. It is also self-attesting:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness
(2Ti 3:16)
But then the respondent may say that these are interesting points, but other texts come close enough — I can write a text such as that, and such a statement that the Word is self-attesting is but circular reasoning. What foolishness is the faith of the Christian!
So why do I trust that the Bible is true? I know the apologetics, I know the proof, and I can present the logical arguments clearly. But why, as a person, do I place my full trust in, and rest all of my life, my SOUL, all of my faculties, on this book?
Let us take a brief glimpse back into the day of Christ, the 1st century AD. Jesus has just shared with many the harsh truth that man can do nothing to reach God, and works cannot save. Many disciples have left him, and once-interested followers have since deserted him. Turning to the twelve — the men He chose with His very own hand to carry on His ministry — His closest students and closest friends, Jesus asks, ”You do not want to go away also, do you?”
Oh the pain in those words! To see so many turn away from Him, Him who created the heavens, Him who holds all power and all knowledge! But herein lies the response of Cephas, and the answer to mine own inquiry:
Joh 6:67-69 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” (68) Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. (69) ”We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
(Joh 6:68-69)
You may doubt the Bible, and you may see it as foolishness, but to you I pose this question: “what else do you have to offer me?” Perhaps you say intellect, logic — the heart! But that is nothing, really, for the heart is deceitful — above all else! (Jer17.9) I believe the Bible, and the very Gospel of God, because there is nothing else for my soul. There is absolutely nothing else that can save, or offer propitiation to a most Holy God, or give me the love of mighty Yahweh! Hah — Jest all you want! Laugh, and insult me with all thy bitter words! But still I will say,
Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Psa 73:25-26)
There is nothing else. Think, sir! Know the greatness of the cross, the one evangel! Perhaps you see it now as just the moronic religiousity of fools. But to that I say,
The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.(1Co 1:18)
I choose you!
Sunday morning at GCC…
“So I was talking to Jay and Ryan about how T and J are preaching… If you ever want to preach, I will train you to battle! It’ll be like Pokemon!”
– Choice
Us three?
Only Grace
There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday…has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it’s clear
There’s only grace
There’s only love
There’s only mercy and believe me it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there’s nothing left now
There’s only grace
You’re starting over now
Under the sun
You’re stepping forward now
A new life has begun
Your new life has begun
And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back up
Get back up again
—–
”There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.”
Rom 8:1-3
Arise, O Sleeper. Press On.
Abba, thank you so much for the book of Hebrews — a magnificent treasure in the midst of a priceless gift!
Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
(Heb12.3-4)He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
(Heb12.10b-13)
A Freed Man
A Conversation with Death on Good Friday
CHRISTIAN: Hello, Death, my old enemy. My old slave-master. Have you come to talk to me again? To frighten me? I am not the person you think I am. I am not the one you used to talk to. Something has happened. Let me ask you a question, Death. Where is your sting?
DEATH, sneeringly: My sting is your sin.
CHRISTIAN: I know that, Death. But that’s not what I asked you. I asked, where is your sting? I know what it is. But tell me where it is. Why are you fidgeting, Death? Why are you looking away? Why are you turning to go? Wait, Death, you have not answered my question. Where is your sting? Where is, my sin? What? You have no answer? But, Death, why do you have no answer? How will you terrify me, if you have no answer? O Death, I will tell you the answer. Where is your sting? Where is my sin? It is hanging on that tree. God made Christ to be sin—my sin. When he died, the penalty of my sin was paid. The power of it was broken. I bear it no more. Farewell, Death. You need not show up here again to frighten me. God will tell you when to come next time. And when you come, you will be his servant. For me, you will have no sting.
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
- John Piper
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
