my very first poem "Unity"

I’ve never written a poem in my life! Since this was our assignment I was left with no choice. Hope it’s not too cheesy, but I was inspired by this passage. 1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

I appeal to you brothers

By the name of Jesus Christ

Be all in agreement

And get rid of your strife.

Let there be no divisions

It is time to unite

So you would be of same judgment

And would have the same mind.

Be united in sorrow

Stand by those who feel pain

For it might be tomorrow

The misfortune you’ll gain

Be united in Spirit

Keep each other from sin

Only then you will see it

When united, we win.

My treasure hunt

Once I’ve heard that we would do a treasure hunt, I got a little scared. I’ve been in ministry for many years and speaking is not a problem, but coming up to a total stranger is out of my comfort zone. It is scary to do that even if you had heard an audible voice of God, so listening to Holy Spirit was little nerve wrecking. What if it is my imagination? What if it is just my memories? What if it is the movie that I’ve watched? Those are the questions that kept tormenting me during the process.

     Even though the process wasn’t very comforting I decided to yield to Holy Spirit. I remember closing my eyes and asking Holy Spirit to speak to me. All I could hear were the words “Life Everlasting, life everlasting”, and that kept me wondering. Then I began to see something interesting. I saw what looked like a girl standing on the docks, leaning her head against the pole. She looked like she was in distress. As I wondered about the vision I began to hum the words “ what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

     I began to think that there is someone in need of Jesus or in need of some kind of encouragement. I wasn’t scared anymore, when Carlos and I left the prayer room I felt unstoppable. After all God showed me what I needed to do, or at least I thought that it was that specific thing that I need to do for God. I realized that the fear that I had was long gone and the excitement took its place. I was looking forward to meet the girl and tell her about Jesus.

      When we got to Riverfront Park we headed straight to the dock. Full of enthusiasm I looked at the dock and “NO WAY”!!!!! The dock was empty! There was no one there!!! This is where I should feel stupid, but for some reason I felt that great joy. I wanted to find that person, so we began to walk around, looking for that poor unfortunate soul.

     We couldn’t find matching that description, but as we looked around we found a man sitting next to a light pole not too far away from the docks. I kept looking his direction, and then I hear Carlos say, “Want to pray for that guy?” Oh yeah! Yes I do! To my surprise I wasn’t scared at all, I was eager to pray. What happened to my old self? I usually don’t bother people in the park!

     When we got closer to the guy, I asked him if I could ask him a question. His reply was “It depends on the question” and he went back to texting. I asked him if we could pray for him, his reply was simple “I don’t need prayer”. Then he points towards union mission and tells us to go and pray for people over there. I asked again, and His answer was “No”. Now this is typically where I begin to feel very stupid and embarrassed. That is the exact reason why I don’t usually practice these kinds of things, but something was different this time. As I was being rejected I felt being filled with joy. I didn’t mind being rejected because I actually listened to Holy Spirit and did what He wanted me to do, even if it meant being rejected.

     I was fascinated by this experience; it did something great to me. As we were walking away we began to pray out loud for that man. We began to ask God to soften that mans heart, and to draw him to Himself. Maybe we needed to go where that man pointed us towards, I don’t know. All I know is that I’m learning to hear His voice clearer and there will come a time when I will. My experience was great and I will do this again in a heartbeat.

My Church Visit

Last Sunday I finally got out of town just to go to Beaverton foursquare church. I got two birds with one stone, ooh yea! My nephew was being dedicated, so it was an honor to worship God with my wife’s side of the family. It worked very well for me because, while I was supporting my brother in law and his wife, I was doing my homework.

     The truth is that besides Salem Alliance church, I can’t remember my visitations to other churches in the past. It seemed like a new adventure to me, so I looked like a tourist, or like someone who’s never been inside a church before. I was looking around, observing people, worship, and the preacher. Since I’m a huge coffee drinker something caught my eye. Yes, they had complimentary coffee stations in few places, but I had to say no to my addiction because I came here to worship.

     Worship was quite different then in our church, and I’m not saying that because there were different songs, or people were dancing. When we worship in SAC it really feels like our worship leaders can start preaching if they want to, the scripture just flows out of their mouths. It feels like when Jeff or Laura had a real conversation with the Lord Himself before they take the stage. As we were worshiping in Beaverton, it felt like that was missing, and I don’t know why.

     As we were singing songs of praise about fifty percent of people had their hands up, and that was kind of awesome. It was awesome to see that this church was showing her adoration in such a way. Another thing I’ve noticed was that this church is more multicultural than our church. There were all kinds of people, and there were booths for translators that were translating the church service into about seven languages.

     People are the focus of this church; I say that because this church is missionary oriented just like SAC. They do not go to Middle East, or Africa, their country is India. It was amazing to hear inspirational stories of their pastor; it was more amazing to hear that God is doing His work among Indian people. I want to say that my church experience was great, and if I’m ever in Beaverton during a church service, I wouldn’t hesitate to stop by.

I will not object!!!

     Honestly I had a hard time figuring out the gap in my identity in Christ. First of all I don’t think that much of Christians really think about it. If one is asked, who are you? Then we would find what real awkward silence is, and if someone tries to answer that question, then usually the answer is to general. This explains one thing, and that is that not every Christian is thinking on that subject.

     Through out my Christian life I thought of my identity, but I might’ve been looking the wrong way. As I thought about my identity I thought of my spiritual gifts. While spiritual gifts showed me my part in God’s kingdom they didn’t really tell me whom I am. After reviewing our identity in Christ I found it very helpful to memorize what the scriptures say about our identity.

     Scriptures focus on Christ’s identity instead of ours, and that is absolutely beautiful, because it simply means that Christ’s identity is my identity. It is absolutely remarkable to know that I am an expression of the life of Christ, whether I agree with it or not. I used to not want to agree with such statements, because my life doesn’t always support them. But I’m a human being; it means I still fall short often. As often as I try to be that expression of the life of Christ I fail time to time, and that is frustrating. Good news though, God does not concentrate on my failures, because He looks at me through Jesus, and in Christ I am what I am. If God sees me as an expression of Christ's identity, then who am I to object?

I'm Exhausted!!!

     As I sat in my car after the lessons were over, I prayed that Holy Spirit would show me how to pour myself out for people. I did not know whom I would pour myself out for, or how, but I was ready for the task. Never did it cross my mind that it would be so time consuming, and exhausting. By Wednesday evening I was drained both spiritually, and physically. How did Jesus pour Himself out day in and day out? Maybe the answer is; Jesus is God, and nothing is impossible for Him. That same God can continue to pour Himself out through us by the power of Holy Spirit.

     My journey began on Friday. Together with my wife I went to visit a friend of mine, who is a youth pastor in a Russian church. As Holy Spirit was guiding the conversation, I began to see that I needed to tell my friend everything that I’ve learned about the person of Holy Spirit. To my surprise, the same topic was on friend’s mind for a while; he struggled with it in some areas. It was a long conversation, but a very productive one.

     Saturday was overwhelming; I had to pour myself out in a free clinic. Every Saturday I come to Salem Free Clinic to pray for the patients as part of my practicum. I enjoy doing that, so I asked Holy Spirit to Guide me in prayer that day, and that He did. That Saturday was extra busy; I’ve never prayed so much in such a short period of time. As I was pouring myself out in prayer I’ve seen tears of joy, smiles, and tears of repentance. Yes, one lady recommitted her life to Jesus.

     On Sunday I found myself Pouring myself out in giving a Godly advise on relationships. There were tears because she was mislead in her relationship, but she took the advice, and found out the truth that same day. It was a long conversation, but productive.

     Monday things looked little different. I went home after work as soon as possible, it was time to pour myself out for my kids. We ended up drinking tea, and playing Monopoly Deal until we were all exhausted. That was a satisfying time with my MONKEYS (AKA my kids).

     Tuesday after class instead of doing my homework I was pouring myself out by teaching on Holy Spirit. One of my friends bumped into me, and began to ask all kinds of questions, and topic on Holy Spirit was difficult to understand for him. Again Holy Spirit led me to pass my knowledge about His person to someone else.

     Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week, because my home church gets together in my house, and I pour myself out for them by hosting everyone, and leading the Bible study. It is exhausting but very satisfying.

     I’m extremely happy that Holy Spirit led me in Christ’s footsteps. Jesus taught what he heard and seen in heaven, and I taught what I’ve heard and seen in RTI. Jesus prayed often for His disciples and people, and I ended up praying a lot for people. Jesus comforted and led the right direction, and Holy Spirit led me to do the same. Jesus spent alone time with the ones he loved, and I was led to do the same thing. Jesus never hesitated to give an answer to those that are seeking the truth, and Holy Spirit empowered me to do the same. Finally Jesus always helped his disciples to understand the scriptures, and Holy Spirit gifted me in that area so I would do the same.

     This week was quite a journey, and it is all for the Glory of the Kingdom! May we all continue to pour ourselves out as Jesus did, just to make our Father smile.