“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
The Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:22-24)

We know from scripture that the cross was God’s idea. The day that sinners rejected the capstone (Christ) was actually marvelous.  As the old adage goes (or in this case, as Joseph once said to his brothers): “What we intended for harm, God intended for good to accomplish the saving of many lives” (1).  It was my sins that put Jesus on the cross to kill him.  But it was God’s plan to put Jesus on the cross to save many lives, including mine.  So I will rejoice this Easter.  And I will be glad in this day because God played the final card and won.  I can now live in a world where sin and death no longer reign.  I can now live in a world where God can use the harm in this fallen world for good.  So let us rejoice!

William Kang

(1) See Genesis 50:20. See also “The Passion of Jesus Christ” by John Piper

If you’re like me when I was a teen, you have dreams of hang-gliding in the Grand Canyon or becoming a successful lawyer/musician/whatever. You probably have a list of things you really want to accomplish before you “kick the bucket” and die. But when my pastor pointed out how self-focused a lot of these bucket lists are, especially when this dying world needs salvation, I realized that my ultimate wish list was really selfish.  

In the video below, Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Church, challenges Christians in America to pray the prayer of Agur in Proverbs 30:7-9:

⁷ “Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

This prayer was like an ancient Hebrew bucket list! But instead of self-indulgent entertainment or a successful career, Agur was asking God for truth in his life and only his basic necessities, lest he dishonor God. I committed to making this noble bucket list my own: to desire no deception in my words and actions and to live with “just enough” to get by, for the sake of depending on God.

To “keep falsehood and lies far from me,” I have had to examine how I put up a lot of masks in front of people and pretend to be someone I’m not. This deception includes how I avoid admitting my sin, easily blame and criticize others, and consequently think I’m a pretty good person. Though these were deeply ingrained habits, as I prayed for this earnestly and meditated on the Bible, God has helped me to recognize my falsehood more readily and to turn from it by confessing to other Christians and taking responsibility for my sins. Through this practice, I have been able to experience forgiveness and peace from God.

To receive “neither poverty nor riches, but…only my daily bread,” I have had to take two stances. First, to avoid the poverty that would make me cut corners, steal, and dishonor God, I realized that I would have to work diligently in school and eventually at a job. I began to see the value of paying attention in class, doing my homework, and getting help when needed. I basically began to take my work and myself more seriously.

Second, to avoid the riches that would make me forget God, I realized that I would have to live with “just enough.” Although I still receive more than enough from my parents and friends, this principle means that I try to donate away what I don’t need in my wardrobe and I don’t buy more, unless absolutely necessary. It means that I stop thinking about how to accessorize and entertain myself and instead think about how to help out around the house, encourage my friends, and provide for the poor.

For example, I sold my iPod speaker set, which my dad had bought me before college, and donated the money to World Impact, an urban ministry to the poor in Oakland. It was hard to give up at first, but afterwards I was surprised at how much I didn’t miss it; instead, I was so grateful to be able to help others. Even in small ways, like using cheaper soaps instead of insisting on brand-name face wash, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, my life has become more simple and I have become more content.

Also, I thought about how receiving “only my daily bread” also literally applies to how I should stop gorging on and indulging myself through food and just be content with a moderate amount of healthy food. Moderating my meals taught me self-control and made me less dependent on food for my happiness. In the process of de-luxurizing my life, I have sincerely become a happier person, less attached to material goods, less insecure about how I look, and more willing to stand apart from the norms of the world.

As I look back on my old bucket list, I praise God for sparing me from goals that definitely would not fulfill me and would probably instead bring regrets for pursuing my own desires at the expense of loving this world. At the end of my life, I want to say that I clung to the truth and depended on God for my needs and that, in turn, He provided a joyful and meaningful life beyond imagination! If you find yourself craving some exciting, worldly goal in your lifetime, I challenge you to join me in sincerely praying the prayer above as a biblical bucket list to last our lifetimes.

I just got back from a mission trip to Tecate, Mexico and it was amazing.  We got to go to a church with many people who were recovered drug-addicts, and it was incredible to hear the passion in their voices as they sang praise songs.  We also got to eat a lot of delicious authentic Mexican food which has left me utterly spoiled; I think it will be a long time before I can eat La Piñata again.  But one of the things that impressed me the most were the teenagers we worked with.  The woman running our trip, Ana, had two sons, Frankie (age 17) and Reuben (11), and another guy Davis (16) who was living with her.  These guys were fantastic.  Frankie was in charge of construction and was even able to teach a bunch of dingbats like us how to repair the homes we were working on.  Davis was also helping lead the construction projects, and Reuben was our translator and helped out with the painting when he wasn’t busy.  These guys were invaluable to our trip and always worked hard and never complained.

But what was even more astounding was what they had gone through to be there that week.  Frankie and Reuben’s father died two years ago, and Frankie has had to take over as lead for the construction projects since then.  Davis has two brothers who ran into some trouble doing drugs and he no longer lives at home.  On our first night Ana said it’s a struggle not to fall into drugs for many people in Tecate. Davis has to fight against this temptation all the time, even during his walks to church three days a week.  She called Davis up and asked him why he keeps going to church, despite the temptations he faces.  He answered simply, “I want God’s things in my life.”  So simple, so clear and confident.

Too often walking with God seems so complicated, with so many things to do, outside pressures to fight, all the while trying to look like we’ve got it all figured out.  But what if we just paused for a second, took a step back and refocused on what really matters: God, His love for us, and how He has changed our lives.  Maybe then we too would find that we simply want God’s things in our lives.  If you’re like me you’ve spent far too much of your past seeking the things of this world, and have found that they all fall short of what God wants to give us.  So I encourage you, make your faith simple.  Go back to God daily in prayer and in reading the Bible, and reaffirm that all you really want are God’s things in your life.  Let all your anxieties and worries about what you’ve got to do fall away and learn to seek Him out of a genuine desire to serve the One who died for you and loves you so much everyday.

Finals is the time when the concepts you didn’t quite master (or learn) the first time around catch up with you. The vast amounts of information that you must absorb, sometimes quite literally by noon tomorrow, can cause much anxiety and impair sight of the eternal perspective.

During this past finals season, I experienced the anxieties of reviewing and learning what seemed to be a hopeless amount of material. And yes, my sight of the eternal was also impaired. However, in the midst of all the frantic studying, two things really helped me during the battery of tests and papers, reminding me to refocus on God.

First, refocusing the purpose of my studies in terms of an eternal perspective helped me to let go of what would have otherwise been all consuming anxiety.

When academic achievement becomes the basis for your sense of self-worth, instantly, that final becomes extremely stressful. After all, your performance on that three hour test determines your worth, buddy. But, Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross symbolizes that we no longer need to work our way to salvation or self- worth because He has already done it for us on the Cross. (Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Timothy 1:9) His sacrifice means I no longer need to work my way to earn worth. As a Christian, I know that my worth is not and can not be determined by my own might, but by God and God alone. So, regardless of whether I do well or don’t do well on that final in two hours, God sees me the same. And, while the world may measure me on the basis of my material achievements, I know that it is only God’s view of me that matters. .

However, before I gave up on studying altogether, I had to keep something else in mind: I am a steward of all that God has given me, including my studies. God has entrusted me with the opportunity to study, and to be entrusted with something does not mean to let it go to waste. A Bible study message additionally especially challenged me to view my studies from an eternal perspective. Namely, that my studies were an opportunity to grow in my character skills (such as discipline) which were transferable to my spiritual life. Also, because stress often gives way to impatience, it leads to the lowering of spiritual guards. In other words, finals is an opportunity to be especially spiritually vigilant and stretch my character.
Secondly, keeping up with devotional times during finals really helped me to refocus and check my attitude during finals. Especially observant of how my stress after the Bible study message, I saw that my stress gave way to the guards that I had previously put up. Through reflection, I caught myself worrying about how I would do on my next test, allowing fears of failure to grip me, and clinging tightly to what I felt was “my” time. During those times, I was able to check myself, repent, and correct myself of those wrong attitudes. I was able to prevent those attitudes from growing and festering more.

Though finals can be an anxiety ridden time, by checking my attitude towards my studies and maintaining spiritual disciplines, I was able to refocus on God in the midst of an otherwise stressful time. I was able to keep an eternal perspective.

To help me better understand this verse, a pastor at my home church in SF gave an interesting analogy regarding verse 1. Last year, he had participated in a half marathon which started early in the morning. Because it was very cold in SF, many people wore sweatsuits rather than the typical runner’s shorts and t-shirt. Eventually, they realized that the heavy clothing hindered them from running their best, and so they had to take off those extra layers and abandon them on the side of the road in order to finish the race.

For me, I need to first recognize what exactly hinders me from working on my relationship with God. The most obvious obstacles have to do with how I prioritize my time. As I reflect on my activities during winter break, I see that I squander my time on email, internet, and idling at home. These require very little effort and thinking. Even though there were different issues or easily reversible habits (e.g. laziness) that I had delayed for the winter break to try to resolve, I find myself fearful and reluctant to do so. I realized that my pride and desire to remain comfortable place a wall between me and God. However, when I fix my eyes on Jesus and the degree to which he endured – dying on the cross for my sins – I recognize that I am just a rebellious, undeserving sinner at the core.

I see that God never wants me to “grow weary and lose heart.” He wants me to take concrete steps to “throw off everything that hinders.” First, I need to “throw off” my strong grip on time. One way I try to do this is by giving my mornings to God. I spend time on reflection and devotionals. I also try to rid myself of distractions that could cause me to lose focus of God throughout the day. I try to restrict my internet usage to just email, and also limit my email usage to once or twice a day. In order to relate more personally and deeply with God, I need to have a consistent prayer life. Before, I found myself putting off prayer or simply forgetting to pray. I used to pray every night, but I would be overcome by sleepiness. The hindrance to prayer, I realized, is my laziness and lack of desire. Now I am starting to write down the specific things I will pray for each day, and then set aside a later time to do so. What also hinders me from coming to know, understand, and love God more is my tendency to be very self-focused. I not only lose sight of God in my life, but also the people around me – family and friends. Thus, I include in my prayer list, the people who I am trying to love, reach out to, or who are in difficult situations. I make the effort to call up and visit them. All of these seem so simple, yet they are very hard to do when the competitors are media, fun, and comfort. I just have to remember that Jesus did so much more for me. The least I can do is to personally relate with God in every way I can, being productive and intentional (spiritually) with my time and efforts.