Balancing the salvation check book

How much would you pay for a life? No, I am not talking about a hit job, but how much would you pay if you “could” buy someone’s salvation?

I came to think about this question when I first became a Christian.  I wanted so much for my parents to be saved, but to this day they’re still not.  I thought at that time, if only I could trade something with God for their salvation, I mean anything, even my life.  If God says, “Amy, in order for your parents to be saved, you have to die.”  I would say, “Absolutely! Take my life!”  Thankfully, Jesus has already given his life for my parents, and I am not qualified for the job anyway.

If one could give one's life up for another's salvation, I don't know how many Christians would give up their lives for Buddhist and Muslims.  I thought of the decades of unceasing work in the gospel hard soil of Japan and numerous Islamic countries. The enormous amount of resources pouring in sure does not seem like it is ‘balancing’ the number of people saved. However, I am sure if you ask any one of those who are supporting ministries in these countries, who are working faithfully, who have given their lives for the people in these countries, “Is it worth it?” They will give you a definite "YES!"

God, through this, is telling us that ‘balancing the salvation check book’ is not our concern, it's his business, all we need to do is to remain faithful to what he has called us to do, walk with him, look to him, feel his heart for the lost, the rest is God's concern, not ours.

I'll be back

In just a while, I'll be back blogging.  I don't even want to start telling you why I didn't blog in the past year or so.  If you know, you know, if you don't, don't bother.

The most 'convenient' reason is, I am in China, China is not exactly buddy buddy with Google, Blogger is blogged here, no blogging with Blogger.

Soon, I'll be back, this, I want to promise myself, but a bit afraid to.

Nothing says Easter like...

A Tesco (UK grocery store) commercial says:

Nothing says Easter like a warm, toasted hot-cross bun.

Well, of course you know Easter is more than that, Easter is also about colorful eggs, and kids running after them, cute bunny baskets, bunny chocolates, cards, flowers and everything that might put a smile on your face.

No one wants to remember Good Friday, who wants to remember the pain, the heartache, the betrayal, the isolation, the insult, the beatings, the thorns, the blood, the hole that was poked in Jesus' side, of course, please don't mention the three long rusty nails that held Him there until He suffocated.

Well, as for what happened next, it is just a story that was made-up. Jesus came back to life again, won over death? Easter bunnies are real. Jesus? Hmmm...

It is really really sad, that the majority of the people have forgotten, or in fact in most cases, choose to ignore, the meaning of Easter. The victorious resurrection of the Son of God is reduced to eggs, bunnies and chocolate. Jesus is totally out of the picture.

Don't get me wrong, I like hot-cross buns, colorful eggs, (still trying to find a egg dying kit for Kioni), chocolates and flowers. But minus Jesus' glorious victory over death, the colors on the eggs fade.
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Split household

In two days (this Wednesday), most of our belongings will be taken by the shipping company and put into storage in Cebu for 5 months, plus the one month it takes to ship the boxes to Aberdeen, Scotland, we will have to part with our belongings for 6 months.

We didn't think of it as too unusual at first because Dan and I have been moving with the Air Force many times in the 10 year time when he was in active duty. However, there is a major difference is, this is the first time we have our belongings split in three different parts of the world.

1) We have a storage unit in Michigan filled with our furniture and household goods, we couldn't bring everything when we came to Cebu.

2) In a few days, we will have another part in storage with the moving company in Cebu.

3) Then we will carry whatever we can with us so we can live for the next 6 months until we see our belongings again.

This will be an interesting year, doing without most of our stuff, that makes me wonder if we even need them in the first place. (A lot of the boxes are books, so I guess we do need them.)

Last time I lived in the same place for more than 9 years was the time after I graduated from Taiwan to the time when I married Dan and moved away. Since then, life has been one transition after another.

I miss the days when I can have all my baking supplies, knitting supplies, books and coffee maker all together, it will be a long while before I have it again. We cannot ship all our household goods in Michigan to Aberdeen, because the cost is high, and flats in Aberdeen is small but expensive. So we will again live a "temporary" life for the next three to four years. I wonder what next after Aberdeen.

This kind of life style actually has taught me the right attitude towards our life on earth, even if I stay in the same house from birth to the day I die, this is just one big transition, it is temporary. The permanent life, the one that I should look forward to, is yet to come. Though I don't see it now, like I don't see how or where we will live after Aberdeen, I know God has prepared a place for us, just like he has prepared a place for us in heaven. This is the most comforting thought amidst of boxes, bubble wraps and hours and hours of traveling ahead of us.

Give us the words

I just found out today that my aunt (my father's older sister) died. She had battled dementia for many years and didn't recognize anyone in recent years. She walked out of the house once about 7 years ago and went missing for about a week. My mom called and asked us to pray that she would be found, a few hours later, she called again and told me a nurse reported to the police that she took care of a patient whom was taken in by some strangers, because this woman was stealing bread and she didn't look right. My mom told me that my God did 'work'.

My aunt's funeral will be on the night when we arrive in Hong Kong (April 19, Saturday). My mom think that us being Christians will reject going to a Buddhist funeral, my sister told her we do not reject Buddhist, we just reject the belief. My mom was surprised that we are so 'welcoming' to other religions. I would very much like to go to show my dad that I respect my aunt, though I am sure he understood that as Christians, we will not participate in any Buddhist rituals in the funeral.

My dad took the news quite badly, after all, my aunt was the third oldest of the 7 children my grandparents had, and she was close to my dad because their age difference is small. Now that this aunt has died, my dad might think he will be next.

Since my brother and sister are both Christians, we have been trying to share the gospel with our parents for years but to no avail. We sense that my aunt's death is going to open up a window that allows us to talk deeper into the meaning of life and death.

Jesus, give us the right time, give us the right words. May all glory be yours.

Feeling blue

15 days from today, we will be in Hong Kong. I start to feel a bit sad. While we struggle a lot in the Filipino culture, I am starting to miss our friends whom we might not see for an extremely long time. Particularly, I miss Maris, our faithful helper. Without her, I will not be able to homeschool Kioni and handle the stress that the environment presents. If it is not Maris but another helper, she might actually add to our stress. I will miss her so much, she is the only woman whom I can talk to everyday.

I am feeling blue that this phase of our life will be over soon, we have a difficult time here, however, we have learned so much about ourselves, about interacting with people from other culture and about how diverse cultures can be. We will forever bring with us this experience, and will always look back and draw on the discoveries in Cebu.

Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

My aunt forward this to me, though I would share:

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot!! She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone.

Afterthought of a lecture

I am auditing a Chinese Church History class at TEDS, taught by Dr. Richard Cook. The class took a field trip to Marquette University for this year's Casper Lecture. Speaker Dr. Jonathan Spence gave an informative and inspiring lecture on "Thinking it Through: Chinese and Catholics in the Seventeenth Century".
The purpose of my writing is not about what I have learn from Spence, (though I do have something to say about the lecture, well, I always have something to say about anything), rather, what I have learned about myself after the lecture.
Last night's lecture was the first time in two years and two months that I was out by myself, without Kioni and Dan, doing something that I enjoyed.
After the lecture, several of us rode back to Trinity in a van, during the course of conversation, systematic theology came up, we explained to an auditing student, Rebecca, (a lady from the community), what systematic theology was and other issues about studying theology. We also talked about our experiences with Mainland Chinese scholars and our time spent in China, etc. We had a wonderful time.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the non-theology related conversations we had with the ladies at work. What I have forgotten was that I can still think academically and talk theology even though I graduated from seminary 10 years ago and haven't been "in the loop" all these years.
This field trip was more than just a lecture to me, in fact, going back to the classroom this semester unearthed the desire to learn, a desire so strong that led me to go to seminary in the first place. I have, unknowingly and gradually, let this desire sank to the bottom of my heart, buried it deep all these years, thinking I have other more important duties to fulfill, namely, to put Dan through school and to be a mother to Kioni.
Dr. Cook's passion for Chinese Church History, classroom interactions with fellow students and the readings all help me discover something inside that I have long forgotten.
I thank Dr. Cook for offering this class, it attracted my attention, so much so that I actually took time off of work to audit ( I have to thank my boss for letting me take the time off!) I am also glad that Dr. Cook arranged for us to go to this lecture, which leads me to rediscover the part of my 'brain' that I have forgotten exists.
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