Harry Potter - Die to self, defeat sin

This is going to be an interesting post. My mind started going on a tangent as I was thinking back to the movie Harry Potter. So, to help illustrate my thoughts, i'll briefly summarize the parts of the movie that stood out, and then reference them to my thoughts :p

Voldemort had placed his soul a number of times inside Horcruxes. This way, Voldemort was able to live 'forever' unless all the Horcruxes were destroyed. Through the course of Harry's lessons, Dumbledore was trying to get the young wizard to piece together different pieces of Tom Riddle's (young Voldemort) memory so that they may identify these Horcruxes as well as where they were hidden. Honestly, all of this information could have just been told to Harry! But no, Dumbledore preferred that Harry realize things slowly. Why? Personally, I think that it has to be Harry's realization; his choice. As Dumbledore says, "it is our choices that show what we truly are." Likewise, there is a huge emphasis on free will in our walk with the Lord. As we are given new life and freedom in the Spirit, we are also given the choice to live by the Spirit. Like the parable of the "lost son" (the more i discuss this parable, the more I'm beginning to believe it was the older son that was "lost"), if we decide to leave God, God lets us leave! But He is always willing, waiting, and yearning for intimacy and celebration with us.

The choice is ours to make - to follow Christ, or to follow our flesh. Following Christ as a disciple is a hard and heavy investment. Jesus even warns us to count the costs before making the decision. Despite the intimidating and heavy investment in kingdom focused labor, the return value for us is going to be amazing!

Why didn't the killing curse work on Harry? Why were some of Voldemort's powers transferred to Harry as a baby? And why did Harry have the ability to see things from Voldemort's perspective? Because Harry Potter himself was a Horcruxe! That got my head flying all over the place. Reminds me of Ephesians 2:1-3 - "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature (the flesh) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."

Sin existed since the time of our birth. Although he wants us separated from God, Satan himself cannot touch us or hurt us. He (satan) can only tempt us with opportunities to follow and gratify the desires of our sinful flesh (i.e. lust, stealing, and the rest of your huge list of human desires). See, Harry couldn't destroy Voldemorte cause he was still a Horcruxe. But when Harry died, Voldemorte lost his power on Harry. The strongholds (Horcruxes) that once surrounded Harry are now destroyed. Voldemorte can now be defeated. As Christians, sin too has lost its power; death has lost its sting. We are freed from the grip of these fleshly desires. From the grave and resurrection of Christ, we too stand victorious.

One of the coolest scenes in the last series of Harry Potter was a conversation after the young wizard died. "Tell me one last thing," said Harry (to Dumbledore). "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?" "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" After dying to the things that once bound us in chains of fleshly desires, we are always struck with disbelief and repeatedly ask "is this real? Am I truly saved?" Our spiritual sensitivity increases as we continue to remain obedient to Holy Spirit's convictions. Even then, we still ask ourselves "Is this real? Is God REALLY speaking to me?" Through obedience and a continual reliance on His Spirit, we are able to walk into glorious freedom. We don't have to live our lives with Horcruxes (strongholds) surrounding us. See, we can't live a freedom life with the flesh still a part of us. We need to die to our old self, and be made new in Him. This is the power of Christ in me - that through His resurrection, I may now live and destroy the Voldemort in my life.

Past, Present, Shaped

At church on Sunday, I was asked to share my past/present view of 'serving' and how the ministries at my church (Scarborough Community Alliance Church) shaped my walk.

Whenever I think about "serving", I am reminded of a meet I had with my discipleship group. The concept we were discussing was "Servanthood" and how they'd feel if they were a servant. One of my disciples responded saying: "give me a gun and I'll kill myself!" He expressed that being a servant meant low pay, exploitation, and zero freedom. I then asked him, what if your master was perfect? His response changed...

My past view of serving was quite similar to my disciple's. I used to believe that 'serving' meant we are to serve people, church, and fellowships. Don't get me wrong, serving in these areas is a good thing! But if it's your only focus, you will experience burnout and guilt. Furthermore, I realized that over time I was simply serving myself. Example, I used to believe that serving was an obligation. If you don't serve, you will experience guilt. To disallow myself to feel that guilt, I served! HA - SELFISH. I was also good at encouraging people. As I kept giving and giving, I became more empty and dry. Burnout...

My present view of serving is to serve God. It's not until our Lord is in His rightful first place in my life am I able to move beyond the first commandment of loving Him and successfully live out the second greatest commandment of loving [serving] others. Weird... how did I even get to this point in my life? All I remember is that all my sins were laid before me (in 2009) and the feeling I felt was immense brokenness and disgust. However, 'grace' covered me and it was then that I experienced freedom.

Imagine this... I know that some people feel that they need to spend their entire life paying off their mortgage. That feeling must be devastating and hopeless. One of your friends give you $5, and another paid your entire mortgage off and gave you enough money to live sufficiently after. To the first friend, you'd probably take them out for dinner to express your appreciation to them. To the latter, you'll spend your entire life responding to your inner love and appreciation for them.

My hands were involved in situations that bruised and scared many people; my feet brought me and others into many dark places; and my mouth spoke so many discouraging comments to people where I probably I destroyed not only their self esteem, but also their identity. To know that someone paid for my penalties honestly causes me to respond. It'll be inhuman and STUPID to not respond. My body is no longer used to serve myself or others. It's God's. Serving is no longer an obligation - it's a privilege. I no longer serve for my salvation; I serve from salvation.

Five ministries at SCommAC have Shaped my faith walk:

1. More Than Conquerers: This is my small group fellowship. It is a place that allows me to bridge biblical concepts into my daily life. Not only so, it is a platform for me to ask questions such as what does Amen mean? What does Doxology mean? What does being a Man after God's heart mean?
2. Worship Team: Being a part of Dave's team, I realized that the worship team does not point the congregation to the proceeding message or speaker. The worship team's role is to point the congregation to God. As we sing, we sing of His character. Not about the message or speaker.
3. Junior High school Ministry: It was evidential what these youths needed. They needed to experience Jesus. But how could us counselors position them? For whatever reason, we told them to create community and for them to realize the importance of community (i.e. their fellowship). But how? We began to encourage them to just love one another and as they did, by God's grace, community began to form. From this ministry, what I learned was that you don't love community and expect community to form. You love people, and community will form.
4. Ministry of Presence: The pastors at SCommAC reminds me of Batman's Butler, Alfred. Anytime we're confused, broken, shattered, and discouraged, our Pastors are always there. Despite what we do, they are there for us. With all my past craziness, their simple presence spoke a huge message of love in my life.
5. Mentorship: my mentor has definitely introduced me into a new world of being more rational/logical as supposed to emotional. Without a proper balance, I will destroy myself. Furthermore, he has showed me that we fellowship and meet with one another not only when times are good and joyful. We are still there supporting one another even during those discouraging and lonely times.

Since it's thanksgiving soon, the one thing I am thankful for is the community at church. Despite my past, their acceptance of who I am has inspired me to continue to run this race despite how difficult it may be at times. I am a sinner. But when the people you are surrounded with focuses on your potentials and giftings as supposed to your shortcomings, the cultivation of one's gifts begin.

How do you know she's the 'one'?!

"How do you know she's the One?" has been a struggling question I've asked myself over and over again for as long as I acknowledged my hormonal affinity towards females. The question eventually evolved to "How do I know this is the One God wants me to be with?" To be honest, 'till this day, I still can't answer that question. However, what I have discovered is how I know a girl is NOT the one, and who is SUPPOSED to be the One.

Since our early friendship, there was something about Adrienne's prayer life that made her very attractive. As she prayed, I remember yearning to have the same kind of relationship with Jesus that she had. Not only that, but there was something about her prayer life that made her seem alive! From yesterday's sermon by Pastor Brent, he used breathing for humans as a metaphor for prayer for Christians. If humans do not breathe, it means they're dead - duh?! Likewise, the vitality of a Spirit-filled Christian life depends on prayer. I personally want a lifelong partner that is spiritually alive, and their prayer life demonstrates that inner life. So if your potential partner ain't breathing, she ain't living.

The two greatest commandments in scripture is 1) Love God; and 2) Love people (Matthew 22). One morning, I was eating breakfast with my family and my parents both started sharing with me the importance of having Jesus as my 'lightbulb' in my relationship with Adrienne. They explained to me that wherever we go, whatever we do, or whatever we say, make your decisions as if Jesus is right there! That's when it clicked. I answered my parents with a few tears streaming down my eyes, "No... Adrienne is the lightbulb; Jesus is my number One." Loving the Lord first is a practical principle for getting the most of one's life and relationship. It's not until the Lord is in His rightful place can we move beyond the first commandment (Love God) and start successfully living out the second - to love someone else. Furthermore, we can only love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

So lets assume you're reading this post and you have a 'potential' in your life. I think the first question you should ask is "Is she Christian? Does she love the Lord?" I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one, if she's not Christian, and you've made the conscious choice to date this individual, you are 1) sinning; 2) telling her Christians that keep sinning is OK; and 3) there are exceptions to the Bible's teachings and they revolve around your self-desires. Sin is like a good sneeze. It feels good coming out, then you get snot everywhere. If you know you're sinning, confess, and stop it. God wants to bless you. But He won't bless your sin.

Trust Him to get you where you need to be - and to help you recover if something does go wrong. Like I stated earlier, I do not have the answers on 'How do you know...' But there are a few practical observations I made myself attune to in determining my 'potential' as my 'number Two'.

• Who does my 'potential' hangout with? Does she spend time with spiritual women? Or does she hang out with crowds of people that could potentially become a negative influence in our relationship?
• Friendship first. Establish the way you'd like to communicate. See one another's characteristic outside of the church setting such as in the home, groups of friends, bars, school, etc.
• Is this person becoming more like Christ?
• Is this person responsible financially, relationally, emotionally, intellectually?
• Are both your attraction towards one another increasing? One huge lesson I learned is that it's not unspiritual to be drawn physically and emotionally to someone. What can I say, God blessed me with a beautiful partner! WOOHOO!!
• Are you two helping each other grow closer to God, rather than drawing each other away from Him?
• Is God central in this relationship?

As I reread this list of things I observe in my partner, some may feel this is tedious or unnecessary. If you read the Bible, the role of the man is to love their wife the way Christ loved the church and died for her. Don't treat your partner seriously only when you are dating. Be serious even in the discerning process of who your Number Two is because how you search reflects who your Number One is.

Dissension - Personal Reflection

1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

I've been struggling with this passage the entire week. The disconnect I feel with certain individuals in our congregation is so intense that the cloud of dissension seems to have thickened into a brick wall. I don't even know how to blog/journal about this...

It saddens and angers me:

• To see old friends drift away
• To feel betrayed by old friends
• To feel replaceable
• To feel as though their judgement comes before my character
• To feel insecure and unsafe around these friends
• To feel as though they don't care about my well being

See, I know I am supposed to love these individuals. But 'HOW'? I feel like they don't even know/see the transformed me. Actually... I don't even think they care. All they hear are hate and flaws of me from an individual with a perspective that doesn't care about the growth of the church body. How can people become so insensitive? There's two sides of a story.

Evangelism is great. Reaching out to the lost and the unchurch is a calling - praise God if you feel as though you are living out the call. However, how can you reach out to others when the message of the Gospel hasn't even become personal to yourself? What Gospel are you actually sharing then?! I am stating this not to condemn or point fingers at anyone. I am grieving as I write this.

I agree... we must live out what we say which will lead us to speak of the Gospel only when necessary. But that requires one to recognize that Jesus is their LORD as well as Savior. So many Christians focus ONLY on Jesus being our 'Savior' and place very little emphasis on the concept of Jesus as our Lord. Why? Simple... you're not willing to make Him Lord of your life. 'Savior' simply sounds better - it allows you to continue with your daily lust for complacency and worldly wealth. But if Jesus is ones Lord, they will sell all their goods (spiritually and physically) to follow Him like a living sacrifice.

Father, forgive me if I write this blog in anger. Receive this post as my prayer unto you.

300 - Defend one another

So I just came out of an exam and I'm on the move to study for my next one. At 8:22AM this morning, I received a text from a dear brother. This is what he said:

Hey guys, Since Gabe is going into an exam today I figured I'd send out a thing in case he doesn't get to it. One of my favorite passages that I know is relevant to at least 2 of us right now: Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) The Armor of God:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

- Your BIC, J Chow

WOW! I was super humbled by this act of partnership. As I read this text, I was deeply reminded of the movie 300. There was one scene where the king of Spartan, Leonidas, told the deformed creature, Ephialtes, that it could not fight with them because it couldn't hold up a shield. This is what the King said: "A Spartan warrior fights not only to defend himself, but the man fighting beside him. He protects his friend from neck to thigh [with this shield]. I am sorry, but I cannot have you fight with us."

We are called to put on the FULL armor of God – not only the parts we think are cool. Personally… I hate wearing helmets -_-“ Furthermore, I know a lot of brothers and sisters want to “help” other Christians out. But we simply cannot be responsible in lifting another individual’s faith (i.e. the shield). If they aren’t willing to do so, Paul in 2 Corinthians made it clear that we should not be equally yoked with them. We need to know the type of enemy we have. He is an individual that prowls around like a hungry lion ready to devour ANYONE. We need to be properly armored and ready to defend our team.

Xerxes: It isn't wise to stand against me, Leonidas. Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory.

King Leonidas: And I would die for any one of mine.

Matthew 12:20

SMS on April 8, 2011

"A bruised reed He will not break, a smoldering wick He will not snuff out, till He leads justice to victory."

I decided to spend the day in meditation. I went to Bruce Mill park to walk along their trails and I stopped at a ravine. I sat and rested. I saw a beaver for the first time, and a couple of weird colored birds - they're actually pretty cool. I also noticed that the ravine was surrounded with reeds. And that's when I was reminded of Matthew 12:20. What did Jesus mean when He said "A bruised reed He will not break...?"

Perhaps a little irrational, I climbed down and walked over to these reeds and to my surprise, these grass looking sticks were TWO TIMES my height (don't make assumptions! HA I'm not THAT short - 5"9). However, the reeds that were bent were no taller than my knees. That's when I began to tear. Ok... fine... I began to BAWL. I felt like the bruised reed - intimidated and overwhelmed by the surrounding giants of the other reeds.

As I made my way back to where I originally sat, I began to question why did Jesus say: "...until He leads justice to victory?" When that happens, will He break the bruised reed and snuff out the smoldering wick? No... When justice is led to victory, He will heal the bruised reed and smoldering wick. WOW! It's so interesting how easy it was for me to think of the worse case scenario. His gospel and love is victorious, and it is in us. We are no longer a bruised reed or a smoldering wick.

2 Corinthians 6:16

SMS on April 18, 2011

"as God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.""

So often, we (especially me) feel so alone in this world. But the Lord promises a relationship not of distance, but of intimacy. Whenever we use the word "I" or "mine", we are making a claim of ownership. Imagine my parents saying to me, "you are Gabe" versus "you are my son." There's power and a sense of belonging in the latter statement!

Do we feel that belonging and intimacy with God? Do we even know how He calls us or what our worth is to Him?

2 Corinthians 6:1

SMS on Thursday, April 14, 2011

"As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain."

My head is flying all over the place from reading this ONE verse. From this passage, we see that even God's workers can be in vain - CRAZY! We know that grace is offered freely and fully. But just simply receiving it (i.e. hearing it in service or in small group) brings about a slippery slope that leads you to be in vain. What is vain? Excessively proud of or concerned about your own appearance, qualities, achievements or position. It is the attitude of a FOOL. When you receive God's grace (imagine medicine from a doctor), it needs to be applied and taken in. You can't walk around with a pill in hand boasting about it and still be sick - HA FOOL! So don't just receive His grace (our medication) and not apply it to your life. It needs to be taken in, embraced, and applied.

2 Corinthians 5:7

SMS on April 11, 2011

"We live by faith, not by sight."

So often times, we desire to know what is to happen. We want to physically see the job openings, see our family love one another, see the pay cheque, and see people do do do (especially at church). But we are called to place our faith and trust in the Lord that He will provide the job even if there's no opening visibly seen, He will transform our family even if they don't physically show it, and He will provide for tomorrow even if the cheque doesn't come in. Not saying we should just be ignorant and not labor in love for His kingdom. But we need to trust that in His perfect timing, He will provide one way or another. His plans are perfect and surpasses all our understandings of "enough."

2 Corinthians 3:18

SMS on April 7, 2011

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

I love this passage. My sister small group's name - Transformers, is based off of this verse. In the old testament, no one could look at the radiance of glory directly. Moses had to put a veil over his face when he delivered God's commands to the Israelites. Why? Don't know... perhaps he was too bright and it was difficult to focus on what he wanted to say - HA! But due to the new covenant in Jesus Christ, we reflect (well... we SHOULD reflect) His glory. Therefore famo, make no attempt to conceal anything in regards to the nature, design, and the awesomeness of the gospel. Unveil your face!

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

SMS on April 5, 2011

"...the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

Pretty self explanatory! We are blessed (i.e. comforted) so that we can bless others (i.e. comfort others). Our comfort or our blessings are not for us to keep... it's for others.

1 Corinthians 16:10

SMS on April 4, 2011

"If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am."

The community in Corinth was told by Paul in this letter to ensure that Timmy has nothing to fear while he is with them. Growing up with such a dirty past, I always walked into my church feeling as if I were the only sinner. Everyone around me looked soo squeeky clean it made my dirt look so much more apparent. In what way, family, are we disallowing fear to surface in our brothers and sisters? How are we welcoming each other in peace and love? I am not telling you to flaunt your dirt - HA! What I am encouraging you to do is love and accept one another and share with one another even in your suffering and brokenness because it is then that our Lord's power is made perfect.

1 Corinthians 15:37-38

SMS on March 30, 2011

"When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be... God gives it a body as he has determined..."

When I read this, immediately I remembered all those times I sowed a particular way to form a certain outcome. Example, I didn't like the way I talked and served at church. So I dealt with it my way by talking in a way I thought was more "spiritual", and served the way I believed ministries should be. Overtime, I realized how all of that needed to be put to death. He doesn't need us to talk a certain way or serve - He wants us (all of it). And as our meager attempts are put to death, He raises us up and with new bodies, we WILL talk and serve differently in Him.

This morning's read was not one to discourage us to serve, but is one to remind ourselves that we are only background instruments.

1 Corinthians 12:17

SMS on Friday, March 25, 2011

"If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If they whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?"

I always skimmed through this verse cause the verses leading up to 17 seemed pretty self explanatory! But I believe Paul is putting an emphasis on the individual Christian that has given themselves up to loneliness. We were all made to be in community (the body). Does it make sense to claim yourself as a community (a body) if you are alone? No...

So family, as tempting as it may be sometimes to claim that no one understands you and that you deserve to be alone, realize that statement is absurd. An eye is simply not a body/community on its own.

CLIU - Christ Lives in U

Christ Lives in U (CLIU) is a promise that sadly not many believers recognize. For the past month, God has convicted me to encourage brothers and sisters I have been blessed to journey alongside with a simple daily reminder. The task is simple - encourage a group of Christian brothers and sisters early in the day with the Word and encourage them to continue to pass it on by sending their devotion (or mine) to another either by SMS text or email. The vision is that of a mustard seed (Matthew 13:31). As we begin to share the things of the kingdom, great effects will happen in this world.