Thoughts[Fri-Mon]

It's not like I stopped thinking during the retreat, so here we go.

I wonder sometimes people refer to the cross as the "tree". Is it just an artistic way of saying it? Or perhaps there is some symbolism involved? A tree is living, a cross is dead. Maybe it signifies that just as the tree is a living thing, Christ's death for us is in a way living. It pays for every time you sin. It's not a stagnant forgiveness and cleansing, but one that is activated in the present, with every mistake we make.

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The men of faith:

Abraham: Simply crazy. God says go and he just packs up his bags. How is this possible, who in their right minds would do something like this. With no destination and just a command he leaves the home of his forefathers. He also believes against all physical possibilities and believes that somehow Sarah, with her old and dusty ovaries, will bear him a child.

Noah: Starts building a huge ark at the command of God, probably on a nice sunny day. Can you imagine the faith necessary to stand in the face of humiliation and believe that God is right, even if there is no sign of what God spoke of? I mean, I would have at least lied and said I was an artist and the ark was my creative creation.

Moses: This guy leaves the good life of royalty to side with the slaves. Ends up being a shepherd for a number of years and then is called by God to carry out his plan. This guy isn't as crazy, because he knows what God is saying is ridiculous and because he doubts, i.e. is normal. Then again, he believes in God enough to allow God to work through him to split open a sea.
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It's amazing how different HMCC is from a traditional Korean church. I feel that the downfall of the Korean churches are their pride. The members are so stubborn and prideful. They make it almost impossible for the pastor to preach about real humility. They don't leave any room for rebuke. The pastor is unable to say what he needs to say, sometimes because the members may have been there for longer than he has or because they are older than he.

I think HMCC is amazing because the members make it amazing. There's a sense of real yearning to grow, even at the expense of ourselves. Or perhaps it's just because pride hasn't rooted itself in our hearts as much as these old people. Pastor Seth says what he needs to say, what the members need to hear, because the most of the members are humble enough to listen.
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Isn't it funny that the saying is "Love makes the world go around" or "What the world needs now is love, sweet love"? Ironic to me, because these sayings may leave no room for God to the atheists, whereas to me, it's synonymous to God. God is love for us Christians, right? It's funny that it's not, Justice makes the world go around, or Money, Comfort, Fame, Honesty, Strength, etc. All of these things, some good, some not so good, might be worthy of the title and yet we pick love.

Does this show the inherent human longing for love? For the true, unaltered, unfiltered love? for....God? I think it might. and I think it's ironic that justice is nothing in light of God.

In some sense, there is no room for justice in God's world. If it were so, we would pay the price of our sins. But, because of Jesus' death/resurrection, we don't pay for the consequences of sin, rather only the consequences of our actions. Hopefully, you guys can understand the nuance here. For example, you make an action. Depending on whether that action is a sin or not, there is a consequence. But there's also the consequence of the action itself, which doesn't really depend on if it was a sin or not.