Old and New

"Faith does not make things easy... It makes them possible."- Paraphrased Luke 1:37

I remember when I was three we had this church in the back of the our pastor's house. It was a trailer with 20 seats in it. Very old school. We were trying to get enough money to get a bigger church and all. (That good ol' building fund) The daycare was his house. We tore that place up. LOL. He didn't mind. He asked us to go ahead and clean it up when we are through. Our parents worked diligently to make the church better. And amazing it was. We moved from the country back woods to the middle of the city. The journey was needed as the church grew bigger. Our pastor, Pastor Jin, knew we needed more stability so that we could reach out to our church members better. There in lays our start of our Korean International Baptist Church. They were pushed to make a way for them to head towards God's path. Now, 28 years later, it seems like a funny imagination. So what was happening at that time? My mom was a 36-ish year old Korean Lady who had lived in the US for about 9 years. She was a former believer in Buddhism, but found God. I in turn grew up in a christian home and so has our generations to come.

We created a christian heritage in our family from there. Always blessed even in our worse hours. We've seen joy. We've seen pain. All in all, we've been through something. Now that we paved the road, what's next? Refer to 2 Kings Chapter 2 & 5. Also Psalm 127. It's not an easy road, but we still have to keep moving on. Let us never forget where we came from. We came from His image and love.

1 Thessalonians 5:11-Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Who am I

I'd rather be relevant than incognito,
I'd rather be corrected than stroke my ego,
Flying high as an eagle but still need the wind beneath my wings,
If anyone ever wanted to, 
They could ask me why the caged bird sings,
Feeling as if the world was on my back and shoulders,
The older I get, it seems as if the world gets colder,
It's funny to think that especially when we talk of the world going to hell,
But I cannot deal in negativity and downfalls because that would mean that I failed,

So who am i,

Maybe I might ever know,  through the rain, sleet, hail or snow, 

There can be times where I want to hide but I can never forget that there is always time to grow, 

I am not just your typical, average, run of the mill type of person,
I am that guy who shines even when my times worsen,
What I give to you is an open mind to a closed world we live in,
I just hope that I'm not too late before it all comes to an end


-Shad

Wisdom

 "Never argue with ignorance. They will make you step down to their level and beat you with experience."- Unknown

Common sense seems to be more of a rarity than common. It's seems like it's so lost in translation that it has become more of a second language. What does it mean to be a know it all versus having wisdom?
Proverbs 26:4 "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." The ones we hear the most are not always the most knowledgeable. In this verse, it talks about arguing with a fool. The fool has no thought to his antics. He is only led by mostly arrogance and ignorance. So why even entertain them with an answer? If we choose to go along with them, we look just like them. What is better? A quick answer, or the right answer? A wise man studies to answer, but a fool blurts out whatever comes to mind. Train your ears and mouth to appreciate studied answers.

A friend once told me that if you are the smartest person in the room, then you need to change your circle of friends because you will not learn anything. I totally understand that saying. When you are not learning, you are not living. When you are not living, you are dying. Once we can understand that, we can really start to live. Now to dig deeper into that statement, which life are you trying to live? If you choose to have eternal life, we have to gain knowledge of Christ and his teachings. If you choose to only learn the way of the world, then your life will end with it. Think about that.

Matthew 12:37 "For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Be careful what you say. Words can heal as well as hurt anything in it's path. It has no bias. Allow yourself to speak angrily, and you will say the greatest thing you will ever regret. Speak with meaning and compassion, and depth and compassion will be reciprocated. One of my most favorite sayings is, "It's hard to be deep in shallow waters." So when we talk to others, let us think to ourselves how

can I benefit that person with the knowledge that I have to offer? (And to be more specific, the knowledge of Christ." I hope that you enjoy this as much as I have and good teaching to you all.