MEANINGFUL.

I realized this, by the way.

Every single one of Jesus' words were incredibly meaningful. And every single one of God's words have incredible meaning.

Meaning, the Bible, being the inerrant, fulfilled, promises of God, is continually a place to find God's meaning for me.

How often have I read the Bible and thought, this does not mean much. Wow. I am such a being with a small understanding of meaning.

But God is good.

God is good. ALL THE TIME.

And we all know the response. All the time... GOD IS GOOD!

then why in the hell do I keep thinking that God's goodness is what I consider to be good?

Sorry about the exclamatory question (only emphasized by the "hell" in that question). But I've been asking myself this question a ton this summer. My definition of good had been this: Do something productive this summer. Meaning you have to be a part of some program or some initiative or someTHING.

Instead, God decided to keep me from going on missions, from getting an internship, from finding a job. And yea, I am staying in school for one more semester. So at least that helps.

But my definition of God being good was giving me an opportunity to do something productive this summer.

How I've been rebuked and blind in seeing what God has done.

I've realized that the Gospel is never, ever fully known. Because every day, every moment, there needs to be a serious consideration of the cross in my continual sinful flesh. And in these moments, God shows me that there is a continual need to continually focus on the fundamentals of faith.

And doing something productive, in knowing God's goodness, is exactly that. Rely on Him and Him alone for all the good things. Because truly, all the time, God is good.

culturally counterproductive to the Gospel.

I had an interesting conversation today with my roommate.  It came up, innocently, as a question to him regarding the stereotyping that koreans receive (he's chinese).  The conversation went somewhere along the lines of this:

Me: So are Koreans really notorious for not treating their girlfriends/wives well?

RM: Yea.  I have a Korean friend who is a girl whose dad basically said he would be ok with her dating a Korean guy or a Chinese guy.

Me: Really?

RM: Yea.  The Korean guy, well obviously because he's Korean.  But the Chinese one, well he basically said Chinese guys treat their women better.

Me: Lol.

And it got me asking him about the difference in cultures between Chinese and Koreans, especially in the Christian context.

By the way, I don't mean this post to target only Koreans or Chinese.  This can happen at any church, anywhere, within any culture.

So, we ended up talking about how the Gospel can be contorted and twisted within cultures and how the true message of Jesus Christ is no longer what is being communicated.

Where do I see this happening?  I think, as a Korean American, and a long time Korean church attendee, that in many ways, the Gospel becomes a way for us to fuel our long time Korean culture identity in a way that is "morally" right, not Gospel-like right.

And ultimately, this leads to the idolatry of certain "moralities" or "values" rather than making Jesus Christ the center and focus of a church.  Not to say that every single person who is in the Korean church is one, but the Pharisees were just as content on making God's law somewhat more important than God Himself because they viewed God as a distant, transcendent being who did not meddle in the petty affairs of human beings every day, even though His prophets would proclaim God who cared deeply about us and wanted to know us intimately.

Jesus came and shattered it all, making his dwelling among us so that we might know the true righteousness of God.  But the temptation still remains.  The temptation to feel that we may be more superior than others because we are more "spiritual" or "moral" or "*insert any other value here*" rather than seeing the worth of every man, woman, and child through the love shown on the cross.  And because of this, the Gospel becomes counterproductive to what its very intent was.

Sadly, I am very guilty of this myself.  Who am I to consider my worth higher than another human's based off of my own works and thoughts when God sent His Son to save all those who would believe?  How many people have I kept from belief because of my lack of grace and love?  Man, that is incredibly sobering.

it's hard.

remembering the cross in every situation and aspect of life.

I know Your ways are higher.

remind me what it means to submit to You, oh Lord.

and keep me in Your hands.

no confidence in the flesh.

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Jesus Christ and put no confidence in the flesh -

Philippians 3:3

What a great reminder.  The contrast of Jesus Christ and my flesh.  Everything that is in God, within Christ can give us full confidence.  Why?  Because God will be given all the glory and if God is given the glory, things will work out for good for those who love Him.

Everything outside of Christ is to have no confidence put into it.  What a simple reminder that can be expressed in so many different ways.

I want to put no confidence in the flesh.  But it still drags me down, making me do what I don't want to do.  Must keep fighting.