September 14, 2024

Back in college in 2001, I was on a mountain climbing club. The club was strict, but everyone in the club loved mountains and rock climbing. We would meet at least once a week to learn to climb walls and prepare for our mountain climbing tour that began as soon as the first semester ended. The tour lasted for almost a week.

As soon as the final exam was over, we packed up and climbed up the 500-meter-high mountain right behind our school campus. It wasn’t the highest mountain, but it had good rocks to climb on. We set up our tents and started training and climbing different rocks and got to learn from the seniors. Everything was great, except for one thing. There was no shower. There was no such facility on top of the mountain, and the water was strictly for cooking and drinking only. We sweated all day and we were gross, and we could not shower. We were showerless for at least three days, I don’t know how we did that.

After three days, we came down the mountain to go to the next climbing site. We hopped on the bus. I felt so sorry for everyone else on the bus because we were nasty. This next site had a shower facility, praise the Lord! That shower after 3 days of climbing was like heaven. Oh, it felt so good and refreshing. We were clean again. 

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. How powerful is this statement. The sin that has held us hostage to death for all this time is cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Just like the song that says, “Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” I pray that we will walk in the light of God and allow us to be cleansed by His Son Jesus Christ.

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch

September 7, 2024

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?” Matthew 6:22,23.

This passage is from the sermon on the mount, and many people do not remember this passage as much as the other passages. There are few ways to read this passage, but this reminds me of what my professor shared in class many years ago. It was short but had an impact.

He was watching a show on TV, not knowing what the show was about. Suddenly an inappropriate scene came up without notice, which was now registered in his mind. That Sabbath, he was on the podium to pray and preach. When he got up to give the opening prayer before preaching, that scene that he saw from few days ago came to his thought, completely distracting him from what he was supposed to pray about. I don’t think that is a unique experience for him only, as I have had similar experiences in the past. What we see will occupy the mind, that will control the thought process and our actions.

The things that we do, see, talk about, hear about will determine the outcome of your thoughts and behaviors. I would expect that if we spend and consume more time in the study of the Word and praying to Jesus over other things of the world, then that is what you will be reflecting in your character and actions as you encounter people around you. What have you read and prayed about this week?

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch

August 31, 2024

We noticed beautiful yellow flowers with leaves in front of our driveway a couple of weeks ago. I have never seen one there over the years, and while we were looking at it, Hyemi said, “These are pumpkin flowers!” It turns out, that when we got a pumpkin to carve in the fall season, we placed it out in the driveway and left it out there for the longest time until it got mushy, and finally got rid of it. The seeds must have come out during that time and were planted in that spot and started growing there. I don’t know whether pumpkins will actually grow there, but they don’t belong in the driveway. When the time comes, I will pluck them out and get rid of them.

There’s a similar parable in the gospel of Matthew, which talks about wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30). It talks about how the enemy came at night and sowed tares in the wheatfield. The master let both the wheat and tare grow together, but when the time of the harvest comes, the servants will gather the wheat from the tares, and the tares will be burned. This parable is about the kingdom of heaven.

This reminds us to be ready for the time when Jesus returns. Jesus explains in Matthew 13:41, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness.” The tares represent those who offend and live a lawless life. If one cannot abide by the law of the kingdom of heaven, it would be very difficult to live in the joy of God’s ways. 1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” I pray we will find the joy of keeping God’s commandments.

#pastorsblog #waukeshachurch