Lifelight Church

I like to do more yoga for my health. But I don't really know how to do yoga and classes are expensive; not to mention the difficulty of fitting them into my busy schedule. I could imagine myself just rolling out the mat, and practicing yoga in my living room at my own very convenient time, only if I knew how to. Well, I could just go for a lap-swim every other day instead. I know how to swim and I have in the past done it as my primary exercise. I could finally get that six-pack ab I always talked about! But I'd still have to fit the lap-swim hours into my busy schedule. Sigh.. only if I could have my own swimming pool in my backyard. Then I'd really get in shape. We can talk and do the exercises of Christian formation & practice all we want. But at the end of the day, we actually have to put into the practice of doing it. When I say practice, I mean the practice that doctors refer their work - they don't actually keep on practicing medicine on us, it's what they do. How can we then start practicing the re

Have you heard anyone say "I'm not religious. But I'm spiritual." From Shaolin monks to Nacho Libre, monks for most people today are cool. Their subversive way of life is intriguing, desirable and respected. Christianity actually has a long tradition of monks. At our very beginning, we lived a subversive way of life that to people of the first few centuries, was intriguing, desirable and respected. In 1935, Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenged the Church that "...the restoration of the church will surely come only from a new type of monasticism." The question then is; how can we monk the church? Well, it starts from learning from those who went before us. In part 3 of Life With Us, we'll examine some of the most precious Christian traditions: Celtic, Benedictine, Ignatian, Franciscan and of course, Wesleyan - the deep well of tradition from which we can draw.

Do you remember learning to speak? You probably don't. I wondered how a child learns to speak and, as I raise one, I got to see how. But speaking isn't just the ability to speak. It's an ability to speak with someone. And speaking with someone is entirely a relational activity. What then of praying? Praying isn't just saying stuff. It is entirely a relational activity - an activity with resurrected Jesus. As a child learns to talk, so do we in prayer. And prayer is the primary form of Christian formation and practice. Part 2 of Life With God is learning the different stages of prayer. Intrigued?

Spiritual formation has been the biblical exercise and discipline through the Old Testament and the New Testament times. It has been at the heart of those who sought God and followed Jesus. And even Jesus lived HIs life rigorously practicing the presence of God. Yet it seems that the contemporary Christian communities have done away with these activities that invite us into deeper and more authentic life with God. We have stopped embracing the Immanuel principle. This Sunday, we begin, or rather continue, our study of living out the resurrection as Eugene Peterson calls it. Wouldn't you like to learn to live this life with God so that we can be progressively transformed in heart and mind like Christ? Join us this Sunday for the part 1 of Life With God series.

I don't like buffet. Not a fan of it. I don't like when someone asks "do you wanna try mine?" and pushes his/her dish to my side of the table. I especially don't like it when someone asks "can I try yours?" and stick out the fork that is other than one in my own hand. I like to eat at my own table, staying put, and have a single plate of food to work on. Am I weird? Maybe. But I'm not the only one. As a matter of fact, my preference of food consumption is very biblical. Paul tells to Corinthians to "stick to one table of food. Don't eat from this table and that table." Only thing here is that he refers one table "the table of the Lord" and the other "the table of demons." It makes me wonder if I stick to my aforementioned preference in my spiritual consumption. How about you? Come and reflect together on 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1.

In my younger days, I didn't bother reading a rental agreement, a manual of a devise, or an instruction for an activity. It just seemed boring and too safe. I may not be the only one to have thought that way. Some of you, reading this, still insist on not reading the manual or an instruction. A friend of mine, being in-between jobs, decided to go to a law school. For fun. He had one reason: to be able to do whatever he wants. Knowledge, in this case, of laws, would give him freedom to know how far he can push the system and manipulate for his cause. Christians in Corinth thought the same - that they had enough knowledge about God to do whatever they want (in 1 Corinthians 8, that would be eating whatever they want). What do you think Paul would have to say about that?

Life is full of issues. I learned that early on like everyone. Life just don't work out as you plan, hope and try. Things get complicated, huddles are presented and the worst of all, your personal limitation is realized. So, this picture below speaks volumn I think. Well, you add to life faith, rules and what not, and it gets even more complex. Paul deals with some of these complexities Corinthians have brought to him (mostly on marriage) in 1 Corinthians 7. What's his advise?

How important is sex to you? I'm guessing that depends on how old you are, where you are in life, whether you're married, or not. Our society certainly takes sex importantly, judging by the amount of debate, promotions and consumption of sex. Yet it's barely in regard to reproduction (that's important believe it to not. You wouldn't be reading this otherwise.), or marriage. I bet reproduction and marriage didn't even cross your mind as you read "sex." Be honest. This Sunday, we will talk about sex. Let me first declare that sex is a great thing. It's a good stuff - one of best gifts from God to us. That is why it's also the most harmful when abused. Paul tells it in 1 Corinthians 6:9-20.

I heard that a kid whose dog ate his homework told the teacher and she never believed him. Kids in preschool don't get "the look" when they ask to be excused from the class because they have to go to the bathroom. Not the same when they get to 1st grade. My all time favorite excuse is the "I have to return the video tape" from American Psycho (Don't watch it) which unfortunately is no longer useful. If you think of excuses people make, there is a common motif that runs - separating oneself from the problem or mistakes. Excuses we make up are not always ridiculous and obvious. Some are clever, logical and often sincere in the person's mind. Paul deals with excuses the Corinthians are giving over a guy who's sleeping with his step-mother (1 Cor 4:17-6:8). They're good excuses. Really. 'Cause we still use them all the time.

"Monkey see, monkey do." Have you try this at the zoo? I don't know what might take to get a monkey at zoo to demonstrate this but it's not too hard to do on humans, especially kids. And I don't mean just little kids, teenage kids and even grown ups. As the saying goes, "there's nothing new under the sun," we are all copycats of the old. At the conclusion of his first section of the letter to Corinthians, Paul simply tells them, "copy me, do as I do." Is Paul so arrogant? Can the Corinthians' problem be resolved simply by imitating Paul? Come and see how all the talk about the Cross ends at... wait for it, the Cross.

I have a 8 year old daughter. She's not tall. She's average in height for her age I think. Occasionally we encounter another 8 year old who is freakishly tall, and Hannah unfortunately gets to drink milk in the amount more than the usual. At least I try to contain my wife from feeding her something dramatic for her growth - she is just being a mom. Some moms go a little too far in my opinion to ensure "extra" growth of their Asian children. I will say no more. Growth is a thing that is rather uncontrollable. Or should I say it ought to be uncontrolled. Yet we devote in science to control it whether it is on human or watermelons. I'm afraid the same goes for faith in the church today. We measure and control the growth of church by professional consultation, large events and the size of the building. But Paul says otherwise in his letter to Corinthians (1 Cor 3:1-16).

During the presidential election of 1992, Bill Clinton's campaign team grasped the issue that appeared to matter the most for Americans and won the election by the slogan; "It's the economy, stupid." I thought it was brilliant. At every argument, you say "it's the economy, stupid" and walk out as a winner. If you've paid attention to the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians, it sounds like that's what Paul is telling the Corinthians; "It's the cross" - that's what matters the most. But a word of insult like "stupid" doesn't belong to bible. Does it? I for one favor the power of insult which when used at the right time, can be effective (but not friendly). Yes, harsh words are sometimes needed to wake up a person. So join us this Sunday as Paul adds "stupid" to complete his campaign slogan to unite the Corinthians; "It's the cross, stupid!" Well, not exactly, but you'll see what I mean.

If you know me, you know that I don't like the "Sunday school answer." At Lifelight, we encourage both at the weekly bible study and whenever we study the Word, to go deeper than simply giving the "Sunday school answer." Not every answer can be sufficed by saying "Jesus," "love people," or "love God." Or... can it? At least in the current span of Paul's teaching in his letter to the Corinthians, it is. So if you join us this Sunday, you'll get the rare opportunity to give the Sunday school answer and be perfectly fine. Yes, I allow it! Because it's the right answer - it's the answer that Paul seeks in 1 Corinthians 2:3-16 and the answer he sought in the previous passage we studied. So join us this Sunday and be ready to say, "I know. It's Jesus," or "oh, it's the cross!" How exciting!

I sat down with a neighbor at the dining table in his house. We've known each other for awhile and developed good friendship. He knew I am a Christian and began to share his spiritual background, experience, etc. He asked, "so what do you believe in?" There it was - my opportunity to evangelize! So I shared the whole gospel; virgin birth, cross and resurrection. And he simply responded, "huh..." I said, "yup!" We both acknowledge without saying what I said was pretty crazy. To be honest, I felt a little stupid for sharing it, or even worse, believing in it. We are freaks to the world. Who can possibly believe this stuff? It sounds stupid and foolish. And I'm not the only one to say this. Ask Paul - we'll read what Paul has to say about our message this Sunday as we study 1 Corinthians 1:10-2:2. He says it A LOT better than I can though. So come join us this Sunday at 1030am.

One of my all time favorite move to watch is The Independence Day. It's not the greatest movie. I know. But I find it fascinating how it imagines the humanity united by the threat of our survival. No longer we are divided by race, nation and religion when faced with the imminent annihilation. The common goal of survival united all nations and people. I imagine the message of the cross should bring about the same unity - dead to sin but only alive in Christ; one God, one Savior, one people. But often the church is divided. We are divided. And this was the problem from the very early on. So we ought to pay attention to Paul's instruction to Corinthians as he lays the groundwork for the key to unity, the key to our problem.

"Remember when we first started;" whatever follows this phrase is exciting and wonderful. Nostalgic reminiscence creates certain mood that is wishful and blissful. Even hardships seem a pleasant memory; we say "we had no money but we were so happy." In the start of things, there was an ideal, a goal and hope. Somewhere along the way, the ideal and goals got skewed and tainted. What's missed most, however, is the purity and the clarity of why we started, why we came together. There was a church in a rich and thriving city called Corinth in the first century. Paul planted it and nurtured it. Years have passed and the church had lost its way; things got messy and people were divided. I bet that at least a few reminisced the day back when they first started to meet and asked themselves what had changed; what went wrong. So they asked Paul and he wrote back. And that's the letter we will study for next few months. Like the church in Corinth, we have a story and the calling: the reason why we came together at the

Imagine a spy movie. A trainee is a son of the director of a super secret, lethal agency. The training is hard and painful. In one scene, the trainee faces several instructors who just starts beating him. Even after a while, the beating doesn't stop. The pain is excruciating. He's confused and angry. Then he spots his father, standing in the far corner, his arms folded. No intervention. No help. The most difficult area in Christian faith is understanding and dealing with tragedies in life. Some say it's God punishing us. Others say it's God disciplining us. Maybe there's some unknown purpose in this. Maybe God is just making me strong and testing my faith. I am angry but I should be thankful... and sing "Blessed Be Your Name... You give and take away." After all, it's the human doing. It's the disease. It's the criminals, bad people, bad politicians, and my mistakes. But why couldn't God interfere and help? Where is the hand of providence, the outstretched arms? The book of Ruth is like Esther about ordin

Have you ever read the scriptures and then wondered - what in the world is God trying to say to me in this passage? Maybe that is the best response we could have. Try reading the story of Samson and Delilah and asking yourself - How does this Story apply to my life?

There's a saying, as most of you have heard, you learn a little when you are taught, you learn a little more when you practice it, but you have learned the most when you can teach it (I may have butchered this. But you know what I mean). In our case, you have learned well if you can tell the story.

Have ever had a moment when you confessed, "Ohhhh, you told me that but I didn't understand, or didn't believe you then?" I think we all have. That's just how we are. Sometimes when things are incomprehensive, or too far off from what is commonly thought, whether it be the post-modernism or the first century Judaism, we simply reject it. A good example; explain to a teenager that what their friends think of him/her is not important. The response: "What?! Whatever!"