Thoughts on the book of Jonah Ch. 1

Posted on June 15, 2010 by eig

I have been reading a book called Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels. I came across it reading a review. It has led me to read, think and dialogue within me (and even with God) the book of Jonah. I will not be reviewing the author’s book, there are many out there. But I will present some of my thoughts and some point of views contrary to what I am reading in the book Surprised by Grace.
It is interesting that Jonah means dove. A dove according to the ESV is a symbol for “Israel as silly and senseless.” Much like Jonah. Son of Amittai means “son of my faithfulness.” It is as if God was already telling Johan how He saw him.

The book opens very briskly. God speaks to Jonah to go to Niniveh and tell them about their evil. Niniveh was the capital Assyria and was North of what is now Baghdad. We know that God is a compassionate God but we also know He is just. Why Jonah refuses to go and immediately decides to run away from God’s presence is something we are not told. I find the tenor of these verses comical. I can picture this in my mind. God says go to Niniveh and Jonah goes the opposite way to Tarshish. He runs as fast as he can and gets on a ship. Comical because who is he fooling? He knows he can’t run away from God. It is very childlike, or maybe he is just acting like a dove, silly and senseless. What does God do? He could have taken care of him. He could have punished him; instead he will teach him a few lessons and make him see his foolishness. Very much the way God deals with us when we act silly and senseless. We think we can run away from Him, that we can hide from Him.

Jonah gets in the ship. But God raises a great wind (God is sovereign, Lord of heaven and earth) that causes the ship to almost break up. The mariners are not believers in Yahweh (God) but at this point they all start praying for their lives. In their desperation they turn to chance and superstition. They roll the dice to figure out whose fault it is what they are facing. And you guess it. It falls on Jonah. While they do this Jonah is sleeping like a baby. They wake him up and begin to question. Jonah admits he is a prophet of God who is running away from Him. He realizes it is his fault. I believe Jonah is a believer in Yahweh. He is not a pagan. He has been a successful prophet (2 Kings 14:23-28). But he has rebelled against God. He doesn’t agree with what God wants to do. I think he knew that if he spoke the Word of the Lord in Niniveh, people would turn to Him. He was full of prejudice. He should have understood God’s grace. But we are like him as well. We think we know better than God. We think we know who deserves to be a Christian and who doesn’t.
They ask Jonah what they ought to do. He tells them to cast him in the ocean. I don’t know what he is thinking. But I think he wants to die. The men don’t do that immediately. They try to get away from the tempest without resorting to throwing this man in the ocean. Then they pray to Yahweh. It is my belief that these men have become believers of Yahweh at this point. They ask forgiveness for “killing” this man who they will throw into the ocean. They offer sacrifices to God. As soon as they do this, the tempest stops.

It is interesting to me how God uses those who are called his “servants” or followers even when they are foolish. He uses Jonah in his rebellious state to proclaim His name to the sailors. He uses us even when we are rebellious. God also uses those who are not believers to show us mercy and compassion. The sailors cared for Jonah and tried to save him. But Jonah didn’t care about them or about Niniveh.

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Fleeting Time

Posted on April 30, 2010 by eig

I wrote this poem when my son was a freshman. It’s been almost four years and he is almost out of High School.

Fleeting Time

Time flees
I’d like to see
Stop for me
I look at you
What you do
You’ve grown so too
Hold it there!
My little boy is gone
I don’t know where!
Please time, stop fleeting
Let me enjoy
My boy is growing
Too fast, too fast
My heart is beating!

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Following Jesus in an Age of Super Stars

Posted on April 29, 2010 by eig

The title of this post is misleading. When I mean Super Stars I don’t mean the Hollywood crowd. I mean the Christian stars. Bear with me as I explain. When I was a new Christian I was immediately taken under my youth pastor’s wings. I admired him a lot. Naturally, I began to imitate him, so much that I even sounded like him when I taught or preached. Those that know me can attest to this. This wasn’t bad necessarily because I was young in my walk with God. I was a growing Christian. It was like a child that imitates his mom or dad. We imitate others we admire. It is natural. But as you grow up, you learn to be your own person. In fact, when you are mature, you are expected to be your own person. It is an anomaly to see people who are full grown adults imitating others to the point that you can’t see who they really are. So now to the point I want to make.
We are Christians. In fact, the name comes from the book of Acts. It is there where the believers in Jesus were called Christians (Acts 11:26). It was a label applied to them because they followed Christ. So it is obvious that Christians follow Christ or Jesus Christ. But it is interesting to note that many Christians are still following or imitating the Super Stars of Christianity. I will restrain myself to mentioning names but there are many that follow the teachings of a particular person to the point that they speak like them and think like them. I remember our pastor who used to say that there were members of a particular church that used to say, “My pastor is Dr.____” They said with so much pride. There are many nowadays that have forgotten that we don’t follow a man or a woman, we follow Jesus. You don’t think this is true? Do a search on a particular preacher or teacher and see what people say (of course, they will have critics as well, but that is not the point of this blog). Observe what people say about the pastor of the church you attend. Go to a Christian Bookstore and see who are the Super Stars. Just take a look at Study Bibles with their names. I know, it is natural you say. Yes, but for how long? We must value those are gifted in teaching but we must understand that our role as Christians is to show ourselves approved as God’s workman who accurately handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). We must be like the Bereans (Acts 17:1) and examine everything we are taught by others. We compare what they say with what Scripture says. You will be surprised to find that not everything they say is clearly taught in Scripture. If not, then we know we must follow what the Scriptures say. I am often perplexed why people write the words (i.e. notes) a preacher says about Scripture as opposed to what their explanation of Scripture that is given.
Then there is the issue of imitation. The only one we imitate is Jesus. Beside Jesus, I only find one person in the Bible who said to imitate him, Paul the apostle, but he was clear as to who He was imitating (I Corinthians 11:1). We only imitate others to the degree they imitate Jesus. When we do something, we must follow what Jesus told us to do or God or the Holy Spirit tells us to do: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12) ESV
Be careful who you follow and who you call your teacher or master: “Neither be ye called masters; for one is you master, Christ.” (Matthew 23:10). It is Jesus who calls you to follow him (Luke 18:22, Matthew 16:24, Mark 1:17)

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The Apostle Paul’s Life Mission

Posted on April 17, 2010 by eig

For a while I have thinking about Paul the Apostle. I don’t want to talk about how he came to be a follower of Jesus. You can read it here. It is an amazing story. Humanly, he could not do this on his own. He was a religious fanatic bound by Jewish tradition. When he experienced his

transformation he became a Jesus follower. In fact, Jesus appeared to him. You can dismiss this as craziness or an impossibility but you would have to present your own diagnosis. You will have to read all of his writings to make a determination. I am of the belief that his experience was genuine and I accept his testimony. What really has impressed me lately is his

singular focus and life mission. He was a man who had success being religious, if we apply the normal rules of “success”. But everything changed after the Damascus experience. His focus was preaching the message of repentance through Jesus. He had no other ambition. He

travelled from place to place teaching The Way of Jesus. Those that believed the message like he had became the nucleus of the churches established in Asia Minor. He experienced many trials like hunger,beatings, threats, shipwrecks, dangers, incarcerations and eventually

it cost him his life. Tradition says he was beheaded under the Roman Emperor Nero. Here is what Paul’s mission was: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the Gospel

of God’s grace.” His mission and focus was clear. In spite of the fact that what awaited him in the future was incarcerations and affliction, Paul was determined in his life mission. Nothing else mattered to him, not even his life (Acts 20:24).

Elsewhere Paul also said, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8).

This has made me think about what I value, what my focus in life should be. I have to say that I have not arrived at this. I have many distractions that take my time, some are necessary, some are not. But as I have aged my focus continues to sharpen. I hope and pray to

arrive at it like the Apostle Paul.


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Reflection From Our Mission Trip to Mexico

Posted on April 12, 2010 by eig

I just came back from our mission trip in Mexico. The youth of our church went for seven days to Nogales México and I went along as one of the leaders. My job was to be an interpreter for those who didn’t speak the language but for me it was more than that. This is not the first time I go to México on a mission trip. I have been to several of them and they always teach me something new and make me reflect on my own life path. I always learn to be grateful. Seeing how people live, without water, without bathrooms, without paved streets and with out many other luxuries makes me be grateful. I grew up in this same way up until I was about 10 years old. I lived liked them. Just before I came to America, we moved to my grandma’s home and experienced for the first time what it was to have a nice home with showers and bathrooms. But after been here in America for most of my life, I have forgotten what it was like. Going to México reminded me that I need to be grateful. And I am. I also connected with many of the people from Mexico and learned about their lives. I went to visit at least two homes. I always ask questions to learn about them. It gives me a a different perspective as I learn from what they have experienced. Eduardo and Leo where the ones I talked to the most. They shared part of their life stories. I tried to encourage them by listening and showing empathy. I went to Eduardo’s house and learned more about him and his family while we worked digging and leveling an area in a neighbors home. I spent time talking to Leo and while we went running on one morning, we talked about life and his relationship with God. There were also several conversations with the children. They amazed me. So many of them were able to share things about their simple life. But more than anything, their love for God moved me. When I found out the church we were helping had mostly children, I was somewhat disappointed. I wanted to have a “normal” church with adults. But it didn’t take long to show me I was wrong to think this way. After hearing them the first day, everything changed. These children had more faith than I’ve ever seen in adults. It reminded me of what Jesus said about them. He told his disciples in

Matthew 19:14

““Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (ESV) In Matthew 18:3 he also said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (ESV) He also prayed in Matthew 11:25 ““I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.” (ESV)

 

This was so true in Mexico. These children will be the future of the church in Mexico, I can see them going all over the world as missionaries. I believe in them. Jesus believed in them.

 

I also got a glimpse of the church in community. About forty of us, mostly High School students, ate together, worked together, prayed together, sang together, shared the Lord’s Supper together, played together, laughed together. I didn’t hear complaints. I didn’t see any disagreements. I saw community. It reminded me of what the churched was like in the New Testament. Acts 2:42-44:

 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” (ESV)

High Schoolers showed me a glimpse of what Christian community should be. I miss it!

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Why I love Senior Citizens

Posted on February 15, 2010 by eig
In a previous post I wrote why I love children. But it is not only children that I love. I love Senior Citizens. It is a class of citizens that our society in our American culture ignores. Our culture puts a stigma on age. Once you are a citizen that reaches a point where you have to depend on others, then you are put away somewhere where with little or no interaction with the younger generations, especially our teens (which is a a topic I shall explore later). Other cultures don’t do this. They esteem their Senior Citizens. But let me get to my point. 
Why do I love Senior Citizens? For one, they have lost all pretentiousness. They don’t pretend to be anyone except themselves. They have lived long enough to know that being someone else other than themselves is superfluous. They don’t care what others might think about them. They don’t care about impressing others. Recently, we have been attending a church made up of significant number of Senior Citizens. In fact, they are a big reason why we decided to go back to this church after visiting a few of them. One of the Sundays we visited the church, we went to Sunday school. What we didn’t know is that it was the “older Sunday School Class.” I remember one of them cracking a joke about this saying that we were in with the “old” group instead of the young group that met an hour before. But they did not discourage us. They took us in. They laughed. They joked. They were themselves. After class, we met Bob. He spoke Spanish. He is a widower who had been a missionary in Argentina. He was not pretentious. He just shared part of his life story. Senior Citizens also have much to give even at their age. They give us perspective when we think life is difficult for us. A few weeks ago during the service we had a short prayer time. A 72 old lady took my wife’s hand and mine and prayed with us. But before doing that, she told us her age. Told us she had been attending church for many years. She had been a Christian for over a long time. She told us about the time she lost her 28 year old son who was attending Seminary. How she coped with her husband’s death when she was in her 50’s and had to go back to work and managed to move up the corporate ladder. She told us how she shared her faith with others in a very straight forward matter. She prayed for us. She prayed for her neighbors who wouldn’t get up to go to church. I left church with a different perspective on life. 
Senior Citizens have a life story to share where we can draw wisdom for our own lives. Today I heard from a 92 year old man who at the age of 17 left Pennsylvania in a Harley Davidson heading to the West Coast. His bike broke down in Utah. He hitchhiked to Washington and found work on a farm. His trek led him to California where he finally settled. He told me how he came to faith at the age of 20. He told me about growing up in the Great Depression which he said I didn’t know anything about. I asked if our current tough times surprised him. He said that nothing surprised him anymore. As he spoke, I asked questions and listened. I know that in his story there is wisdom. Age and experience has given him much wisdom. Senior Citizens also show us what loving others mean. They show it when they shake my hand as I enter the church. They show me love by introducing themselves to me, like the two of them today. They show me love when they laugh and say hi to me when I go visit my mom. They make good comments about our family visiting my mom. They say it is a good thing. They don’t see this often. People have forgotten them. They are alone. But they have so much to offer: the perspective in life that we need to move on, the wisdom of old age and the unpretentious life worth living. 
My family and I have conversations about them. We wonder why our generation ignores them when they have much to give. We intend to make them part of our lives. We intend to be closer to them. I love Senior Citizens, especially my 81 year old mom who has shared so many stories of her past. I have passed them to my son. One day I will take her place and hopefully my son or my Grandkids will be there to listen to me. One day YOU will be a Senior Citizen. You will want someone to listen to you. I pray someone is there for you as well.
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My First Marathon: Thoughts from an amateur runner

Posted on February 7, 2010 by eig

Today I ran my first marathon. I’d like to offer some thoughts which aren’t probably new. But first a little background of how I got here.

Eight months ago I started running. I started running out of necessity. My weight was reaching 190 lbs.(I have lost over 25 pounds since then) I have always worked out and I was doing weights but it wasn’t helping me much. So I decided to do bicycling. I bought a new bike and started going out on rides. One day at my work, I was staying late and just decided to go running. I ran for about 30 minutes. and my feet felt like I had weights on them. But I decided running would be easier since I didn’t need much. So I ran six days a week. I started running 30 minutes. and then I increased it to an hour. I reached 13 miles on one occasion but not without my physical troubles. My knee hurt for about a month. I tried different shoes until I found the ones that were comfortable. I also suffered from headaches and neck pain. It took a while to get over them. But I continued running. I decided that one day I could run a marathon and today I ran my first one. I hadn’t ran this far ever. I ran in Jr. High cross-country but nothing this long.
I ran the Huntington Beach Surf City Marathon today. I arrived at 6:20 AM and it was packed with people. It was surreal. Quickly I joined the first wave of runners and in minutes we were off. I saw so many people of all ages, shapes, attitudes and endurance (some where so good that I think they are machines). So many people all along the way giving us encouragement. It was incredible. My first 15 miles were easy. I hardly drank water. I stopped once to fix my water belt. I had my iphone on and I listened to music until my battery died around mile 16. My extra battery didn’t work for some reason (it worked at home perfectly when I checked after the marathon). I enjoyed every passing moment. Once we got to mile 18 we were running along the shore. The ocean was beautiful. I had been warned about mile 20. The block. So I was looking forward to it. I reached it and felt good. It didn’t stop me, in fact I only stopped once when I fixed my belt. It did get harder though. I started drinking much more water. I took my pain pill, I took my Tums when I felt my knee locking up. I did feel some pain on my knee after mile 20. But I was determined to finish it. After mile 22 or so I started picking more speed. My goal was to finish the marathon under 5 hours so I timed myself. I finished strong, after 4 hours and 42 minutes. I walked about a mile and a half to meet my ride. I couldn’t communicate without a phone and tried to find a public telephone but apparently they don’t exist anymore. Luckily, I saw my son driving my wife’s car. I called them. I ran to where they stopped. I could barely do it. My knee was in so much pain. But I did it!
Running the marathon was an incredible experience. But I have to say that if you run alone, you are alone. You do get people on the sides encouraging you but you are the runner. You must do the work. You must pace yourself. You must finish it. So is life. No one can live your life. People can encourage you but you must do the work. You must finish it strong even if it is hard and you feel lonely. Yes, you can even feel lonely when you have hundreds or even thousands around you. But that shouldn’t stop you. It didn’t stop me.
I look forward to my next marathon, whenever that is. For now, I’ll focus on my trail run in two weeks.

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Random Thoughts About Children and Life

Posted on January 25, 2010 by eig

What happens to our kids when they grow up? We wish for them to be those we use to hold by the hand when walking, those that sat on our laps to hear a story, the ones we tucked in bed and saw each morning. But nothing that is will remain the same. Time passes. Time changes things and people. Here I am 39 years later and how things have changed. I could not have ever guessed where I am now. But I am here and For the most part, content. With ups and downs that I have to tackle as they come. With my eyes on what I desire but with no guarantee that it will happen. I have to admit, some times I get to some low ends.They affect me,but not for long. But I try to keep myself moving forward. My son reminded of my favorite quote from my favorite movie Rocky Balboa, “It’s not about how hard you hit, but about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.” (see movie clip below)

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Changes and Goals for 2010

Posted on January 4, 2010 by eig

This year will bring changes for us, some we know, some we don’t know. We do know that my son will finish High School and will start college. We will see him go and start his adult life on his own. It will be hard for us, but this is part of the process in parenting. There are no guarantees that any of these can happen. We have to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will do this or that.”
I also have some plans. They are not resolutions, they are simple goals with a plan in mind. I will just mention them briefly. I intend to
– Serve others more: I have intentions of serving wherever God puts me. I also have intentions of serving at the church we attend now. I have ideas. But God will lead me at due time.
– Give others more: I want to give more of my time, talent and resources (financial or otherwise). I especially want to focus on those who can’t give back to me. It’s easy to give to those who can give us something back.
– Learn more: The Bible, other books and experiences will help me. I want to learn how to love God better and love others, especially those near me such as my wife and my children. I want to learn how to be more patient. I will continue to learn discipline through running. I will continue to learn (or relearn) how to pray and get passed the roadblocks I have now. These are my thoughts and some of my goals for 2010.

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Scars, The Past and The Future

Posted on December 11, 2009 by eig

The other day as I watched Criminal Minds I heard a noteworthy quote: “Scars reminds us where we’ve been, but they don’t have to dictate where we are going.” At the moment I thought it was great, and it is, if you have the context where it was told. But the more I thought about it, the more it made me think that it is not that great. Let me give you the context. A girl was abducted by a delusional killer. At the end he is caught and the girl is set free by FBI agents. One of the female agents says she will be all right but that she will always remember and deal with the event. Then comes the quote. So it makes sense. My thoughts.
Scars are either physical or emotional. They do come from our experiences. Physical and emotional ones leave scars. Some are self-inflicted but for the most part they are not. Physical scars often affect our emotions and our emotional scars affect our physical well-being, thus they are intertwined. They go hand in hand. Both are hard to deal with. The second part of the quote is the part that I find myself not agreeing with totally. Yes, in the context of where it was told, scars or those bad experiences should not let the person be controlled by them forever. The fact is all scars affect us and they do dictate where we are going. If we are willing to deal with them then they will dictate a better future. They can even continue to affect us. They will remind us what we’ve experienced but they won’t cripple us and keep us from moving on. Our scars can dictate a future that we never thought of by ourselves. They can help us relate better with others by having empathy because we know how our scars have caused us pain. They can lead us to opportunities where we can help others as well. So our scars do dictate where we are going. Of course, they don’t have to, but they do. But they should not dictate a future filled with bad memories and emotional turmoil. They will take time to heal and the pain will be tolerable but they will never go away. They will affect our future. We have to deal with them to make sure they dictate a better path. A path of healing. A path of empathy. A path of hope. We will always be people walking with scars. They will remind us of our past. But by sharing our pain and dealing with it we will find healing.

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