My Only Comfort

Question: What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.... ( Heidelberg Catechism for Lord's Day 1)

There are other comforts of course: friends, knowing you got everything done at the end of a work day, sleep, Motrin, knowing all the bills are paid, Family etc. But those comforts are temporary.

They all blow away. Solomon was right so much of life is vanity just striving after the wind. Everything we spend our whole life chasing: respect, money, women, even righteous things too like family, friends, hard work, and acheivements for good. They all pass away, and they all dissapoint as long term sources of comfort.

Isn't it true in the final analysis that the catechism is right? Meaning of course the Bible that the catechism is based on is right. Isn't this the greatest comfort? The one that holds you both in life and death.

The greatest comfort is to not be my own. To be a posession.

Actually everyone is a posession. Everyone belongs to someone. But who owns you is the most importnat thing in life. Those who think they are their own fool themselves. And what a sad state to imagine oneself to be in anyway: independence how dreadful and empty.

But to belong to someone if it is is someone wonderful ( and it is) is the greatest comfort. To know that I'm in his hands all the days of my life. To know I can not be taken out. To know he is a faithful wonderful friend. To know that I don't belong to myself or this world but to another.

I know myself I know what happens to my posessions they get broken, worn out, neglected, eaten or thrown away, But not my owner. He takes better care.

This is my comfort that I am a posession of Jesus Christ. He keeps me, holds me, molds me, he guides me and he will take me home.

The Disciples thought they had something great. That they had achieved something remarkable.

"Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" Luke 10:17-20.

Don't seek comfort in what you've done or will do. Your comfort should be this: Your names are on the inventory.

Last Summer my friend Harold died and for some reason his name seems to be coming up in conversation recently. This song was played at his funeral: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaM3wCMcHjA
comforting...

I am what I am

Lister: Wasn't it Descartes who said "I am what I am".


Rimmer: No it was Popeye the Sailor Man.



Actually Popeye and Descartes were both beat by at least 1500 years. And I know, as certain Philosophy majors are sure to point out, that Descarte actually said "I think therefore I am".

So on Thursday night I had the good fortune of having dinner at some friends house who I hadn't seen for a long time. After Dinner we had Family devotions and their 8 year old son recited 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 ( He did a pretty good job). As I was sitting there grateful and impressed to be with this family who were consistently raising there three children in the fear and admonition of the Lord I was struck by the words of Saint Paul: "But by the grace of God I am what I am."

In the previous two verses he has made a case for his unworthiness. That is why our risen Lord apeared to him last. As though he had been born too late. Paul was unworthy to be called an Apostle because he perscuted the church of God. The humility of Paul is what struck me and urged me to meditate on my own unworthiness.

I was the worst child in my family. I caused great grief to my Mother and Father who I aught to have treated with all honor. It was true of me as the Proverb says that, "a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother." And in my youth though I was blessed immensely with health, life, food, shleter, and oppurtunities for education. Though I had been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and was as such a member of the Covenant of Grace, and had been given some some instruction in the Holy Scriptures and had access to read them whenever I wished. Though God had poured out these rich blessings upon me. I did not receive all of these and my very life with gratitude and live it rightly in sevice to the giver of all good things. But rather I sought the destruction of my life through vain pleasure and considered as glorious and praise worthy men who had totally destroyed their lives by sin and taken this destruction to its end. And I did at this time have thoughts of God, but my thoughts were so perverse and balsphemous, considering myself as all important in God's universe, that I could have justly incurred the wrath of God at that time. I was so pufffed up as to think of my foolish ideas and Philosophies as enlightened and superior to that of any Christian or Pagan thinker. And upon coming of age I made an utter ruin of my life by sin almost as quickly as humanly possible. And furthermore in my youth and through young adulthood I was given to fits of wrath. So that I terribly burst forth in tantrum when my circumstances did not please me. Such an ungrateful and perveerse a creature I was that I in great measure ruined all of the good blessings the Lord had given me and certainly would have completed this work were it not for the Grace of God.

Furthermore not only in my past, but even currently as I have been translated into the Kingdom of his dear Son I am still so ungrateful and full of sin. That I often negelct and consider of little importance those duties of prayer, worhsip, and meditation that are of most importance. That I prefer Idol entertainments that sow to the flesh. My heart is so desiring to go after useles pleasures that I'm like Rachel the rat who methodically and continually sniffs and paws at every door, hinge, or bar so that if at all possible she may free herself from her cage. So my heart searches for an opening to escape the glorious feast I have in Christ and flee away to to the broken cisterns of the the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. So I confess without qualification with the same Apostle Paul that, "I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh." Rom 7:18. I am certainly unworthy to be called a child of God. In fact I'm plainly unworthy of even the common blessings that he gives to me like beholding the beuty of the sunrise through the clouds this morning I saw from the 101 South on the Peninsula, and all the other good gifts of this life.

But like Paul after confessing my unworthiness I can not deny: But by the grace of God I am what I am. Paul was something. It was undeniably all of Grace as Paul continued to confess in this same verse, "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." Though it was all by grace it was still an undeniable fact that Paul was a true child of God and not only that but that he was an Apostle. He was the Apostle to the Gentiles on whose labor the New Testament Church, for the most part, was founded and grew.

And I agree with Paul that by the Grace of God I actually am something. Not that my works are at all comparable to his of course. It has been given to me to be a son of the Living God. I can not deny that I have this gift. That my troubled soul has been comforted by the promises of our Lord, " I will not leave you as orphans;I will come to you" (John 14:18) and many other promises. I can not deny that he has given me hope. I can not deny that he has given me some ability to know Jesus Christ and some ability to understand his revelation in Scripture. That this has been given to me is quite remarkable. I have observed others who in worldy wisdom and learning are as much or more accomplished than myself who can not comprehend the Scriptures at all. That even if they read or hear them come away with no knowledge or think of them to have some small and strange meanings and are incapable of beholding the the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:6) These are those who the Apostle refers to as natural men (1 Cor 2:14). I can not deny that I have been saved from among their number and made a Spiritual man.

Why has this grace been given to me? Certainly not, as has been attested to above, due to any good in me. It was not that I of my own strangth and will pulled myself up by my bootstraps, so to speak, and turned my life around. No but we are clearly told why: But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1Cor 1:27-29). God chooses foolish sons and Persecuting Pharisees so that they may never forget that it is all of Grace and so that the world may know it is by His Choice, His Grace, and His Power.

The style of this post I think has been somewhat effected by my recent listening habits. I've been listening to some Jonathon Edwards Sermons on my MP3 Player that I downloaded free off of Sermon audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?SpeakerOnly=true&currSection=sermonsspeaker&keyword=Jonathan%5EEdwards

All of his messages seem to follow this pattern make a point, have few sub points, give like 11 arguments to suppoert each sub point. This makes for long sermons, long posts, and convicting car rides. That is of course not Jonathon Edwards the Socialist Presidential candidate, but that Puritan Pastor Jonathon Edwards who God worked through in the Great awakening.

Hmmm... Great awakening. My sleep hasn't been that great.

The Waves and Winds

"Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still knowHis voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below."
Hymn "Be Still My Soul" Katharina A. von Schlegel

Mark 4:39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

They all tremble and obey at His Command:
Waves, winds, Hurricanes, Tsunamis, Foreclosures, Lay Offs, Cars on the freeway

He made them and He holds them together:
Dissapointments, Appointments, Administrations, Laws, Schools, Jobs

He works them according to the council of his Will:
Inconsidierate individuals, rebellious loved ones, Broken Windows

King Jesus is Lord of all

This is our comfort if we are his.
Whatever "is" is because He is, and whatever "is" is good because He is.

Oh and I forgot abt health care: Makes more sense if you read below post first

Ron Paul:

The American people have been offered two lousy choices. One, which is corporatism, a fascist type of approach, or, socialism. We deliver a lot of services in this country through the free market, and when you do it through the free market prices go down.

But HMOs did not arise in the free market; they are creatures of government interference in health care dating to the 1970s. These non-market institutions have gained control over medical care through collusion between organized medicine, politicians, and drug companies, in an effort to move America toward “free” universal health care.

President's Day Dope Ron Paul Quotes

On Freedom:

America was founded by men who understood that the threat of domestic tyranny is as great as any threat from abroad. If we want to be worthy of their legacy, we must resist the rush toward ever-increasing state control of our society. Otherwise, our own government will become a greater threat to our freedoms than any foreign terrorist.

On the money (He's right on the money):

A paper monetary standard means there are no restraints on the printing press or on federal deficits. In 1971, M3 was $776 billion; today it stands at $8.9 trillion, an 1100% increase. Our national debt in 1971 was $408 billion; today it stands at $6.8 trillion, a 1600% increase. Since that time, our dollar has lost almost 80% of its purchasing power. Common sense tells us that this process is not sustainable and something has to give. So far, no one in Washington seems interested.

On Abortion:

One day I walked into an operating room, to just be an observant, which we would do generally, as a medical resident. They were performing this hysterectomy, which was a caesarean section. And they lifted out a fetus that weighted approximately 2 pounds, and it was breathing and crying. And it was put in a bucket and set in the corner of the room, and everybody in the room just pretended that they didn't hear it. And the baby died. And I walked out of that room a different person...

On Iraq:

Finally, there is a compelling moral argument against war in Iraq. Military force is justified only in self-defense; naked aggression is the province of dictators and rogue states. This is the danger of a new "preemptive first strike" doctrine. America is the most moral nation on earth, founded on moral principles, and we must apply moral principles when deciding to use military force.
U.S. House of Representatives, September 4, 2002

On the "War on Terror":

If we can't or won't define the enemy, the cost to fight such a war will be endless. How many American troops are we prepared to lose? How much money are we prepared to spend? How many innocent civilians, in our nation and others, are we willing to see killed? How many American civilians will we jeopardize? How much of our civil liberties are we prepared to give up? How much prosperity will we sacrifice? [...] I support President Bush and voted for the authority and the money to carry out his responsibility to defend this country, but the degree of death and destruction and chances of escalation must be carefully taken into consideration.
U.S. House of Representatives, September 25, 2001

Hosea8:7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.

BTW:

I'm not delusional. I know that Ron Paul's chances of being our next president are slim to none. Closer to none. Some day hopefully the American people will wake up.

In fact I heard that on a popular gambling website Ron Paul's chances to win were 100 to 1. Providentially these are the same odds, 1oo to 1, that my San Francisco Giants will win the World Series. So all I need is 200 bones a couple of miracles and I'll have the most amazing two months of my life this fall (Just Kidding).

Gen 22

Genesis 22 is the famous or infamous passage where God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. One reaction to this is to be utterly freaked out by the thought sacrificing a child followed by an attempt to rationalize, ignore, edit, or otherwise run away from this great text. Another reaction is to point to this text as a picture or type of God sacrificing his own son. I agree that it is a beutiful type and foreshadowing.

I'm convinced that the heart of the meaning of Genesis 22 is the demonstration of the amazing faith of Abraham. I think it aids our understanding if we contrast Abraham with the Rich young man who came to Jesus (Matt 19:16-22). The young man wouldn't sell what he posessed and give it to the poor and follow Jesus. The Lord of Glory doesn't mince words. He doesn't beg for a half-hearted commitment. He gets right to the heart of the matter: What won't you give me young man? The young man walked away.

But not so with Abraham. All of God's promises to Abraham, and really his promises to the whole world, were embodied in Isaac. But abraham was willing to go to Moriah because, "he considered that God was able" (Heb 11). Abraham was willing to give his everything.

And what of us?

What aren't we willing to give to Jesus: an entertainment, a temptation, a friend, a relationship, a laugh, pride, face, worldy philosophies, a habit, an obsession, a dollar, a thousand dollars, all our dollars, a minute, an hour, a year, a life?

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matt 13:44)

"Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." (Gen 22: 2)

Hello Internet

Hello Internet. This is Simon Lyle Chow. I don't know exactly what this blog will consist of in the future. Or how long I'll will keep it up. As I was planning it out in my head I was thinking it would consist of all of the following at various times:

1. Quotes that I find inspirational and/or entertaining
2. Pics
3. General updates on my existence
4. Outworkings of my Theological study
5. Possible works of fiction and poetry

I hope that everything I post will give glory to my Lord and Saviro Jesus Christ.

And I hope you like it. Check it once in awhile when you are bored. Or when you're not bored if you are that interested in the thoughts of a Half Chinese-Security guard-single Dad-Calvinist who just got 2 pet rats.

First a few comments on the name. I wanted the address of this blog to be onceandfuture.blogspot.com, but this was already taken. It so happens that it was taken by some guy in 2003. This guy in his one (and only) post five years ago stated that he didn't like the Old testament at that he believed certain parts of the Bible were patently false. Go figure.

Also I do not mean to imply in anyway that Jesus is not King right now or that there has ever been a time when he wasn't King. I do think however that the analogy of a rightful King taking back his realm is helpful, somewhat accurate, and sounds cool.