November 23, 2024

“So do you like the gift?” Ron asked over the phone on Thursday afternoon.

I replied, “What gift?”

“Snow!”

Many of you know that I enjoy the winter season and snow. I was waiting for it and we finally had our first snow on Thursday. I have to say, it’s not just Winter but I actually enjoy all four seasons. I like the variety that the seasons give and the balance to experiencing all of them is quite the joy for me.

During the Spring and the Fall, it’s not just the views and colors, but they provide perfect weather for running and racing. The cool breeze that passes by me when I run is like a refreshing oasis that I look forward to each day of those seasons. When summer hits, it’s the best time to enjoy water adventures out on the lake. I love swimming across the body of water with a buoy on my back and I would feel like I am flying in the water.

When these seasons pass by and the colors of the leaves change, we know winter is coming. As the leaves fall off the trees, then we know that winter is really close. And I would dearly wait for the snow to fall so that I can play in the snow with my family. Typically I would see snow late October or early November here in Wisconsin. But this year, there was a delay. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for it to snow for the past month and it finally snowed on Thursday. As soon as I brought the girls back home from school, we got changed, went out and made a snowman! The delay was worth the wait. And it was fun.

Matthew 25 talks about the ten virgins waiting for the groom to arrive to pick up the bride. Verse 5 mentions, “But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.” We see the signs that Jesus is coming soon, and we all eagerly wait for His second coming. There is a delay. But we know that He is coming for sure. Perhaps the delay is for more people to accept Jesus. Or maybe it’s because He wants all of us to be well prepared. Whatever the reason is, He is still coming very soon. Therefore let us be prepared and enjoy the feast when Jesus returns.

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch

November 9, 2024

When Ironman 70.3 Augusta was canceled due to Hurricane Helene, the organization allowed the athletes to transfer their bibs to Ironman Chattanooga, as long as they could make it to athlete check-in on time without any extra charge. You need to understand that they are transferring from a half distance to a full distance, which is no easy feat for anyone. A handful of professional athletes and age groupers took up the offer, and one of them was Tim. 

I got to know Tim the day after the race through our mutual friend, Michael. We connected through text messages right away and congratulated each other. Since I didn’t want to drive back home all the way in one day, I was going to sleep over at Michael’s. My bike chain was all rusty from racing in the rain for 6 hours, and I wouldn’t have time to wash my bike at home as I had to fly out to Korea immediately. So, my plan was to wash my bike at Michael’s. I messaged Tim to ask if he had a chain lube and told him my intentions. I would borrow it from him, but he had a better plan. Tim told me that he had a bike repair stand and invited me to stop by his place on the way and wash our bikes together! Mind you, we had never met before, but he was willing to invite me to his place and help me out! He showed his Christlike hospitality and kindness to me in the way Abraham did for the three men (Genesis 18:1-8), and I was extremely grateful for his offer. I went over and had a great time chatting while washing the bikes.

I want to do the same for others as Tim did for me. Jesus reminds us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27). This is the summary of the commandments that God gave us and immediately after this, Luke writes about the story of the good Samaritan. This was a story that defined who our neighbor is. Matthew also writes that when we serve others, we serve Jesus (Matthew 25:40). I pray that we as a church family find joy in helping one another, especially as we are in the month of Thanksgiving.

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch

November 2, 2024

One of the scary aspects of social media is that the system knows you very well. Once you access a few contents online, the media platform would assume what you enjoy watching and create an algorithm of similar contents and will continue to push the videos and in the end click bait you in continuing to watch more contents. So once you watch a video online, you will find yourself watching another one, followed by another, and another. Before you know it, an hour has gone by just like that.

If you were watching or reading an educational and informative content which proved to be a productive time, good for you. But in most cases, it’s not like that. It’s more of a wasted time. On average, people spend about 143 minutes on social media each day. That’s 2 hours and 23 minutes! Think about what else you could have done with that time. Imagine the positive things you could have done with those two and half hours: spend more time with family, study, exercise, spend time with God etc.

I was thinking about this as I was reading Acts 19 with the kids at home. There were people practing magic in the community and it affected the advancement of the gospel due to this. But when the name of Jesus overpowered them, they repented and confessed their sins. “Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.” Acts 19:19. Think of all that money that could have been spent for ministry, that was a lot of investment. But now, they were all surrendered to Christ. When the source of evil were eliminated, guess what happened? “So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” Acts 19:20.

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch