Surpassing Worth

“Save me for the sake of your steadfast love” Psalm 6:4

Would not this sentence be more appropriate if it read, “Save me for my own sake“? It seems odd to me that David, the psalm writer, would ask God to save him, for the sake of God’s steadfast love. In other words, how does David’s saving lead to a lifting up of God’s steadfast love?

It seems that for some reason, the saving of David leads to a magnifying of God’s steadfast love. I think precisely because God’s love is magnified when God gives to David what is ultimately best for him and that is God. So when God saves David, he saves David to Himself, giving David the greatest thing he could ever want or desire.

As somewhat of an aside, I was at a conference last night at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, featuring some top notch thinkers of the Evangelical Faith. At the conference, echoing statements made by both Dr. Jack Davis of GCTS, and Dr. Miroslav Volf of Yale Divinity, struck me. They echoed similarly that the Church lacked the concrete reality of God in its life. Meaning, the Church has lost any sense of who God really is and that He is the ultimate reality, more real than the chair we comfortably sit in as we listen to our favorite preacher. Volf proposed that the only way to combat the increasingly sensational thirst & desire of our present age, or what he terms, ‘The Empire of Desire’, “we need to make plausible that the love of God is the key to human flourishing (or satisfaction).” All this to say, David’s salvation is for the sake of God’s steadfast love, because it shows that God saves David, not only to give him more of the earthly things he desires, but he saves David to give him more of God, who is the ultimate reality and, as Volf might say, the only hope for human flourishing.

My head feels like it’s going to explode.

I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays this semester, but at the end of the day it’s like I’m on sensory overload. It’s kinda like the feeling after you’ve been strapped inside that virtual roller coaster ride at the amusement park for 8 hours and then you step back out into reality – it’s dizzying.

One thing I can be sure of is that the Word of God is so rich and deep and His realities are so majestic and huge that I can spend a lifetime learning and researching, but will only end up skimming the surface. It’s times like these that I just sit in my chair and am wow’ed by how big God really is.

But the application here is, where does that knowledge lead to. Does it lead to transform into more and more of His likeness or will I twist and delude it for my own gain? I want my mind to be set on high. For it to be held captive by Christ, who is Wisdom. I want not for my thoughts to be mere mental exercise, but fruit bearing work. Wow, I need Jesus.

This week, I’m on my first reading week for the Spring Semester. Reading week is a whole week given to students where there is no classes, in order that they could “catch up” or “read up” on all the material that’s been assigned to them. So, in order to keep from my mind exploding with all that it’s being stuffed with, I’ll unload here in bullet point fashion.

• Reading is more fun when no one tells you what to read.
• The hours between 1pm and 3pm are deadly for reading.
• Structure and plan are completely necessary to stay on task. It could just be my “go with the flow” nature that needs structure during weeks like this, but I assume it’s an accurate generalization for all.
• Mornings are exponentially better for concentration as opposed to nights.
• There’s no quantifiable value that a breakfast can add to your day.
• Exercise is key. Get the blood flowing and things just seem easier for the rest of the day.
• I learn more when I read by myself (in books, notes, etc.), as opposed to lectures.
• I find that the busier I am, the happier I am. Classic work-a-holic.

Yup, this post was completely useless to you. But it was therapeutic for me – no more mental constipation!

This is the last week of Fall Semester classes. Papers and Finals are all due next week. Knowing that the end is near gives me the excitement that it’s almost over, but the energy is lost on my mental exhaustion. No matter how excited I am, my brain’s not going to move any faster. Being back in school is great!

For the next two weeks, these* will be my friends.

*books for my papers.

It’s bone-numbingly cold today. Boston is Sunny with a high of 29 (Sunny and any number below 60 shouldn’t be in the same sentence).

I think when God created the world, he didn’t intend it to be cold. I suspect cold weather is a consequence of the fall of man. I might be wrong, but it sure does feel right.

N.T. Wright, a notable New Testament scholar, was preaching at a Pastor’s Forum this week at GCTS. It was the first time I ever had a chance to hear him speak. I’ve read some books and articles by him, but never heard him speak before. So like a good seminarian, I was giddy to hear a leading scholarly voice expound the New Testament. His focus that day was on the Gospel of John. Now I won’t go in to the particulars of what he preached, but I mainly wanted to emphasize something he got into and what I am learning more and more these days about Scripture, especially regarding the New Testament.

The normative background of the New Testament is the Old Testament. You may even benefit from reading that again, due to its simplicity. As I learn more about how to interpret the Bible, I’m learning that the NT (New Testament) is inextricably linked to the OT (Old Testament). It makes perfect sense even on the surface.

Any good writer knows that you write about what you already know. Even fictional writers will write in light of what they have experienced in real life (even sci-fi has parallels to one’s own understanding of life). Why do guys talk about sports? Because they’re always watching Sportscenter. Why do girls always talk about boys? Because men are awesome (ok, I just threw that in there to see if you were paying attention). Think about it. What comes out of us has correlation with what’s already in us. Now, transplant yourself to the age of the NT writers. What was most prominent on their minds? Duh. The OT. Their religion was rooted in this text and they would’ve known it inside and out, as was customary of teachers and scribes. So in writing the inspired texts of the NT, what would’ve naturally come out? The OT scriptures. It’s that simple.

Why do I even bring this up? Well, because I think in all my studying of the Scripture, up until now, I saw the two testaments as somewhat mutually exclusive. Yes, I did notice that the OT was quoted here and there by several NT authors, but never did I think the relationship went beyond that. What I’m seeing now, as I reread the NT scriptures, is the overwhelming presence of the OT. And in seeing this undeniable link, I’m beginning to gain such a depth of understanding of what the NT writers are actually wanting to communicate through their writing. Amazing stuff that probably only interests me at the moment, but amazing nonetheless.

I’ll give you a small tidbit of what I’m talking about. Look at John 1 and Genesis 1 in parallel. From the get go, do you see something similar? “In the beginning…” Now, I don’t have time nor the scholarship to expound this adequately, but suffice it to say that John is undoubtedly repeating this phrase from the well-known beginning parts of the creation account in Genesis. In the first book of the Pentateuch, God created the earth by His Word. Man destroyed the earth in his sin. But what John is doing here is introducing a New Creation. By referring back to Genesis, John is saying that Jesus is the Word by which God will recreate and reestablish His creation into right order. Jesus is the dawn of the New Creation. What we managed to destroy, Jesus is coming to reclaim and renew. God doesn’t just throw His tainted creation away, as if to give up on it and start all over. But He chooses to restore us back to the way things ought to have been. He saves us. That’s the amazing Gospel! And all of that from just the first three words in John’s Gospel. Trust me, there’s more where that came from, just look.

I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to begin reading your New Testament through the lens of the Old Testament. It will blow your mind. (hint: use those cross-references that you always neglected)

There are times when my mind feels bruised. Today is one of them. I feel like a mishandled peach, left for some poor merchant to throw in the trash at the end of a long day at the farmer’s market.

It’s crunch time for the Fall semester here at Gordon-Conwell. We have less than 3 weeks left of class and there is a full train of papers & finals coming this way. I feel like I’m standing on the tracks, stripped of everything but my pencil to stop it. Anyone feel me?

School’s great though, don’t get me wrong. The other night some friends from Chicago were in town visiting and we talked briefly about what grade in school was our favorite. I quickly answered, “first grade,” solely on the basis that my memories of it are, by far, the fondest. I distinctly remember that in Mrs. Coffey’s class (she’s the one on the left) at Churchill Elementary School we made a 6 foot T-Rex out of paper mache. I think that was the most productive thing I did from grades Kindergarten to Undergraduate. Sad, but true. I wish I were 6 again.

So far so good. My one worry with Seminary (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) was that my mind might start to outrun my heart, but I’m almost surprised to say that the reading that I’m doing and the studies I’m involved with are doing nothing but enriching my spiritual life. I realize I run the risk of sounding like a complete nerd and a grade-A suckup, but it’s absolutely true. Everything from the study of broad theological concepts concerning God’s revelation to us, His creation, and to the nitty gritty of New Testament text criticisms, perusing through the original greek documents at a painstakingly slow pace. I’m loving it (seriously).

Now I’m sure my honeymoon period with Seminary will soon wear off to the reality of my marriage to it for the next 3 years, but let a brother enjoy the moment!

I’ve also settled nicely into a church I absolutely love. It’s called Seven Mile Road. It’s a growing community of young believers learning what it means to love God and love those around them. From week one of stepping in to worship with them, I truly did feel called to stay. I’m excited to learn, grow, and be challenged out of my comfort zones and learn what it means to be missional in the city of Boston. Also, it’s a pretty weird story, tailor made only for the 21st century of how I ended up at Seven Mile in the first place. Let’s just say that Craigslist can do more than sell your unwanted Nintendo 64 games.

Admittedly, a Korean dude coming from a pan-asian church background worshipping weekly with non-Asians was a huge adjustment. But man, after the initial culture shock, I’m just amazed at the unity faith in Christ can bring. Jew or Gentile, truly there is no other God that brings unity to the world.

I leave you with just some things that got me abrewing in my tiny pea-brain. I feel I must vomit them here in order to process…

• Any rejection of the New Testament based on the idea that it’s unreliable, because it has far too many errors and inconsistencies is just poor scholarship. The evidence stacked up against you, if that’s the position you take, is just too great.
• Jesus is God’s Revelation (John 1:1). How cool is it that God would give us, the blind and foolish ones, something to touch and point at, allowing us to say that it is God, himself? If you think about it, He’s letting us hit from the ladies’ tees.
• The Author writes himself into every book. Look for Him and He’s there.
• Recover the Gospel! This generation needs the Gospel. The Good News. The too Good to be true News.

Not really, but please read on (even though it’s long)

A couple weeks ago, one of the most important marathon races of the year took place in Boston. The Boston Marathon is considered one of the most prestigious road races. Only those that meet qualifying standards are allowed to run in this event. The best runners from around the world are invited to compete for the illustrious crown every year.

This year’s men’s winner, Robert K. Cheruiyot from Kenya, had this to say about the Boston Marathon. “This was the hardest. Boston is not a very easy course, it’s very difficult. [But] I enjoy running the hills.” Although he repeatedly checked his watch as he ran alone for the last miles, Cheruiyot did not challenge the course record of 2:07:14 he set two years ago. His problem: no one to race with. “It’s very difficult when you’re running alone here in Boston,” he said. “You need company.”

As some of you may know, I’m moving to Boston in early June. I’ll be attending Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the Fall. Actually, this decision’s been a long time in the making. Some of you may ask: why Boston? to answer all the cynics, “No, I’m not jumping on the bandwagon. Yes, all their professional sports teams are winning championships, but I still love my cubs, bulls, & bears.” Ok, so why Boston then? Simply, I feel called. Yes, the city is rich with history. Yes, it’s quaint & beautiful. But much more than that, I think about the Kingdom potential of the city (I blame Pastor Min for giving me eyes to always see potential). If you consider all the Ivy League schools within miles of each other & the types of people that flow through this city, it’s such a huge hub of influence. Men & women that will lead the future of this world flow through this very city. So imagine the Kingdom potential! If Christ can capture the heart of one…many will follow. It’s pretty exciting.

Don’t get me wrong. I realize the naive nature of this vision. But I can’t help but to hold on to the verse in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” There is a power in the Gospel that reaches far beyond hyper intellectualism. There is a power in the Gospel that breaks the grip of money-grubbing hands. And there most certainly is a power in the Gospel that redeems the worldliest efforts for power & influence. So it’s with this vision I set on toward Boston, but not one step ahead of Jesus, who leads me.

But unlike Cheruiyot, who had no one to run with, I won’t be alone in Boston. I’m going to be attending school with my good friend, Hojin. Among other friends already in Boston, I feel as though God’s surrounding me with much needed spiritual accountability. I can’t imagine what this next stage of life would look like without brothers and sisters in Christ that’ll run alongside me. What Cheruiyot said is so true. You need company.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my 7 years on campus here at U of I, it’s that this Christian race is meant to be run with other people. With the spiritual accountability of my church, CFC, I always felt like I had 800 brothers and sisters running right alongside me at any given moment. And let me tell you, sometimes that’s what kept me going one more day. It’s a lesson I’ll always take with me wherever I go. When I fall, I need someone to pick me up. When I slow down, I need someone to push me. And when I’m tired, I need someone to keep me going. The Christian marathon was never meant to be run alone.

Most of all, I’m excited to be a part of God’s plan. I know very little about what next year’s going to look like. I’ll be a full-time student again, but other than that, I’m committed to walking by faith & not by sight. Beyond that I know much less about what the next 10 years will look like. Where will I live? Which church will I serve? Who will I be serving? Admittedly, they’re all questions I’m asking myself, but ultimately I entrust all things to the God who knows insurmountably more than I could ever know. So more than the anxiety of me not knowing, I’m thankful that God knows.

Please pray for me as I transition from the cornfields of Chambana to the winding roads of Boston. I’m still in the process of finding a place to live next year & in search for a church in the Boston area. Finances are also a huge worry and prayer request, because I forgot how poor you are when you’re a student! But most of all, pray that I’d faithfully run this race until the very end. Pray that whatever the circumstances, I’d never let up or give up.

David Wells, professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, comments on the degenerating state of some of our modern churches. I thought this article to be right on, but I hope to add to it by saying nothing new that Dr. Wells didn’t already imply or say. (read the full article here)

There is nothing that can replace the fellowship of the local Church. While radio programs, podcasts, television shows, web communities, & individual devotion are great additions and supplements to your regular church life, there are by no means biblical substitutes. The minute “church” becomes more about the product that’s packaged than the content that’s preached in community, then we have a problem. When conversations are increasingly filled with “my faith” & contain less “our hope”, we have a problem. And when the church is purposed to serve self, rather than community, there’s a huge problem. Throughout the Bible we see faith lived in community. Adam had his Eve. Moses had Aaron and the Israelites. Ruth had her Naomi. David had his best friend Jonathan. Peter had James and John. Paul had his Timothy. Wherever you look, there was the Word of God in the center, and two or more people gathered around it. That is Church. Let us take heed these alarming statistics and never forsake the power of the local Church in transforming lives to transform the world.