Put God First

June 2, 2009

Browsing through a friend's blog brought light to a truth that can easily be pushed aside: Put God first. This entails putting trust in God, putting God's will first and putting God's son first. Bitterness, disappointment and hopelessness prevail in life when people or circumstances do not measure up to expectation. Noone is absolutely perfect and right - put your trust in God and His grace, trust what His grace can do. Secondly, get into a right relationship with God's needs and He will open the way for us to accomplish His will - see what is a need in obedience. Thirdly, exhibiting His son in our lives allow transformation to occur through the power of the gospel. Have you put God first?

Faithfulness

May 11, 2009

Being a co-laborer with Christ is extremely rewarding. These past two months I had the privilege to witness God's faithfulness to His people. Many times I worry over the financial situation of our workers, yet God always supplies. He never abandons His child half way through, and always carriers out His plan for His glory. Sometimes we hold on to a mentality that we're the giver in a short-term trip; under closer scrutiny, however, it's not hard to realize that we're in fact the biggest receiver as we step out in obedience. Truthfully why would I be anxious about anything? This verse keeps popping up in my mind: Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added onto you.

Creation

March 19, 2009

God created beings to reflect His glory. He also created earth and man to display His love and to share it with beings that He could have a relationship with. However, since our ancestors, Adam and Eve, chose glory for themselves, the whole human race has fallen in the trap of sin. God doesn't abandon us and work among us in spite of our sins, and Jesus Christ was sent to be the saviour for all peoples who believe in him. Jesus came to earth to walk in our midst, died and resurrected to satisfy God's wrath once and for all. During his time on earth, Jesus came as a suffering servant and discipled men to glorify God in all nations. God's desire to see people from every tongue, tribe and nation to worship Him is evident, we too are part of His plan being pursued by Him. Are you troubled by the fact that so many of His creations do not worship God?

Love

February 20, 2009

What throbs your heart - Famine? Disaster? Injustice? Brokenness? or the lost souls? I am easily moved and touched even by a drama. Have you ever thought of the root of this love or compassion for humanity? I was reading an article that talks about the miracle of love that weeps, in which the author John Piper states that "God-centered compassion (which is the only kind that cares for people eternally) weeps over the misery of people who reject God's glory and drink the cup of his wrath.... Therefore, the weeping of compassion is the weeping of joy impeded in the extension of itself to another." Our love for the people cannot be detached from our passion for the glory of God.

Synergy

January 22, 2009

In preparation for mobilization events in the upcoming weeks brought forth a myriad of stories. A simple question on "why do you become a missionary" sparks an eventful answer that goes beyond "God's calling". In fact, the journey of becoming a missionary is a synergistic movement that prompts by the initial burden God places on our hearts. Every journey is unique and noone can provide an all encompassing answer to this wonderfully rich question; however, conversations with the wise helped to create a flowchart in my mind: God's call (work of the Spirit) -> process (prayers, counsels from spiritual leaders) -> training (learning, informing, reading) -> grow up (more prayers, more learning, more counsels from spiritual leaders). These may all sound cliche, but like the Apostle Paul said "How do people know unless someone preaches to them" This is true for the unbelievers; this truth is also equally valid to all of us who seek God's will in life.

Symbols

December 23, 2008

Emmanuel, God is with us. What a blessed assurance we have in Him. While the sight of a big guy in red suit, smell of cinnamon, sound of dinging bells, and touch of snowflakes canvas one of the most popular holidays in the world, let's not forget that the true meaning behind Christmas in fact lays with a cradle, a cross and a crown. Jesus came to the Earth as a baby walked without sin, yet eventually died on the cross as an atonement for our sins. His resurection from the dead won victory over the power of the darkness and bestowed upon us the gift of grace which we can be called the children of God and not to be condemned in the fire for eternity. Share this gift with others. Pray for the millions who celebrate Christmas without the full knowledge of joy and peace.

Emmanuel.

State of the Mind

November 26, 2008

Current diagnostics on recent events display the inner state of human's mind - financial crisis, food scandals, pirate activities......Who still upholds morality? Is there a harbour that safeguards our hearts? How to differentiate the importance of primary to secondary? The sin we inherit from the first human couple perpetuates in multitude of manifestations until the new heaven and new earth comes. There are hardships on Earth but none is too significant to break us apart.

"Trust in him at all times, you people pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." (Psalm 62:8)

May His peace and blessings shower upon you.

Ageless

November 10, 2008

Serve Asia doesn't only serve the youngsters (but also the young at heart)! This past weekend we had an encouraging time in Kingston to speak with people from all ages. Many came to our booth to chat about searching for God's will in their lives. Among this group, some are actually close to retirement age! Isn't this wonderful to see people from all walks of life would engage in such conversation? Feel free to contact us if you would also like to learn about different opportunities.

Quietness

November 3, 2008

The office is exceptionally quite today, as many travelled out town and some befriended seasonal germs. Sitting in this quietness reminiscences a story I heard at a retreat last year. A team went into a remote village with little foreign influence. As the team crossed path with an old lady, she yelled at them in a tongue that none could realize. The interpreter then translated her words and asked the team to share the gospel with her. Unfortunately where the team was located was not strategic for sharing. They left heavy-hearted and prayed for another chance to meet with this old lady. Amazingly another opportunity arose and the team managed to share with the old lady at a street corner with no passerbys to interrupt. What was even more amazing was that the team later found out that the area where they first encountered with this old lady was under authority survillance. If they had spoken about Jesus at the moment, they could have been arrested. God's timing and protection is alwyas perfect!

In midst of the quietness of a rural village, remains a huge reality of spiritual warfare. Pray to the almighty God who has won vicotry in the past, present and future.

Blunders? Blessings!

October 27, 2008

Good intentions do not always translate to good changes. In an attempt to update the Serve Asia page, with my limited web maintenance knowledge, the process has turned disastrous. Nothing has been added on the page, rather, bits and pieces of information has been unintentionally removed. Does this not resemble our life situation too? We often make decisions based on finite information, and things do not always turn out to be the way we wanted. However, our Lord is the omniscient God whose wisdom and knowledge is complete and above us all. Knowing that everything happens in life do not go un-noticed and He always has the best in mind, what a wonderful comfort and relief. Won't you also want others to share in this peace and joy?

Hope

October 22 2008

Summer has come and gone and now we are gearing up for an exciting fall, full of Heart for Asia Conferences, visiting churches and schools, and connecting with inquirers. We recently had a Heart for Asia Conference in Mississauga where Melissa spoke about the needs in Japan. Many people don't think of Japan when they think of world missions. Rather, we tend to think of countries where they are physically in need. However, with over 127 million people in Japan, 85% claim to be Buddhist, 90% claim to be Shinto, and 80% claim to be "unreligious". Does that make sense? One will discover that many people in Japan either hold to a pluralistic view of religion and have a Shinto birth, a Christian wedding, and a Buddhist funeral. Or, they tend to be non-religious and not give religion the slightest thought. Most young people fall into the latter category. It's no wonder that Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world with roughly one suicide every 15 minutes. Most recently, there's a growing phenomenon of internet "suicide clubs" where lonely Japanese people can gather and commit suicide together.

The Japanese are in desperate need of the Gospel. Pray that those who are contemplating suicide will receive peace from our Lord and be greeted with hope in Him rather than the hopelessness that so many of them feel.

Three young adults approached us after with a burden to pray for the Japanese and to one day go to Japan if it is God's will. If you would like more information on how you can pray for Japan or if you would like us to visit your church or school group, please feel free to drop us a line at serveasia@omf.ca

For His glory,

Zabrina and Melissa

Serve Asia Coordinators

OMF Canada