Live & Let Live

Update/Treasure in Jars of Clay

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:44:00 -0400

It’s been awhile since I wrote on this blog. I just been overwhelmed with finishing school in general. Right now, I’m working on my graduation at SJSU, church internship (focusing on discipleship and keeping the gospel and Christ the main thing), and been following up with some students about following. I also, moved in to the Joshua House (near campus) for my last two months of school so that I can focus on school and meet up with students on a regular basis.

Before I sign off, I just want to acknowledge God, because some might get the wrong idea that I’m some kind of strong Christian because of my activities and such, but at the end of the day, just like the Apostle Paul, “[I] have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to god and not to [me] (2 Cor. 4:7).” Every good act that we do and a fruitful life lived for the gospel comes from God. “The reason for this is (treasure in jars of clay) so there would be no mistake about where the power comes from” (R.Kent Hughes).

Grace and peace yo,

I’ve been thinking about it for awhile now. And I think...

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:37:00 -0500

I’ve been thinking about it for awhile now. And I think its about time to start riding bike to school. It might be the best way to stay fit and save gas and money at the same time. So, I’m gonna give it a shot.

What are your favorite movies/books?

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 02:38:00 -0500

Favorite book(s): Think and Desiring God by John Piper; Weight of Glory and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis; Deep Things of God by Fred Sanders; Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.

Favorite movie(s): 500 Days of Summer, Catch Me If You Can, Forest Gump, and The Lake House.

What is your favorite book in the Bible?

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:03:00 -0500

Without a doubt, I would have to say the book of Romans. Here’s my reason for it: In this book, Paul lays the ground for the Gospel clearly. You see the condition of man and God’s attributes painted clearly. It describes the justice and mercy of the God of the Old Testament (the Father) meeting through the cross of Christ. As a result, God justified sinners like you and me. What kind of love is that? Second favorite would have to be the book of John, because it gives a clear picture of Jesus’s relationship with the Father; and that truly, he is the Son of God. That book was written in particular, so that you and I might believe in Christ. So yeah, I hope you find this helpful.

The Rebuild Initiative

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 03:44:56 -0400

The Rebuild Initiative :

Our pastor Jorge Mendoza contributes to the The Rebuild Initiative blog. Check it out here: “Living Between John 3 & 4”—A paradigm for doing ministry in the city.

He love us because...

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:21:41 -0400

“God did not die for man because of some value He perceived in hum. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out of relation to God, is zero. As St. Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is Love.”

-C.S. Lewis [The Weight of Glory, pg. 170]

The New...

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:21:00 -0400

It’s been a while since I wrote something on this thing. It’s not until recently that I got to just sit back and relax…

Lately, I’ve been focusing on my new church and getting to know everyone there. And so far, it’s been a great experience. It’s a healthy body (church that is) that is Christ and Gospel centered. It’s definitely a good place for me where I could commit myself and build life long friendships. On the other hand, I’m definitely gonna miss my friends at my former church.

That’s pretty much it. Other than that, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and studying of the Scripture. I also been skateboarding and help disciple my step-Dad [who recently turned to Christ]. Life is good! I’m just thankful to be part of what God is doing in the local church.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude v.24).

Grace & peace,

-Koske

Bookends

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:45:19 -0400

“Time it was and what a time it was, it was

A time of innocence

A time of confidences

Long ago, it must be

I have a photograph

Preserve your memories

That’s all that’s left you”

-Simon & Garfunkel

‎”…[we] were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:39:28 -0400

‎”…[we] were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…” -Ephesians 2:3-5, 8-9 (ESV)

Clarity

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:57:00 -0500

There are some thing that I’ve been thinking about for quite awhile now. Some of them can be confusing because I don’t know how to approach them. At first, I didn’t know how to react to some those things, but I think now there’s more clarity than before. SO, I thank God for that. I also thank God for the freedom that we have in Christ and the love that he has for us! How awesome is that?

On the other hand, this process is sometimes painful and frustrating because we only can see things partially and sometimes we’re just blind to so many things (although it is difficult to admit it). But we believe that God is sovereign beyond the things that are out of our control, and we have this confidence that God works out “all things together” for the good of those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:29).

During October of last year I felt like I had this holy discontentment that consumed me. And since then, I’ve been motivated to live biblically and to experience the leading of the Holy Spirit (in greater measure). Anyways, there are so many things I am not sure about anymore, but these are things that I am most certain about:

1. I believe God wants us to enjoy his salvation and grace, and proclaim it to others.

2. The great commission: to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20)

3. Loving God [having affection for him and treasuring him as your most valuable thing in the world] and loving one another [the second commandment].

4. Care for the poor (Matthew 25:30-46), orphans and widow (James 1:27)

I know there’s more to the list that I can think of right now. But I hope this helps you understand what it means to be a follower of Christ. Being a disciple is not an easy thing to do. It requires total surrender and utter dependance on Christ. Most likely, we’re going to make lots of mistakes in the process but I thank God for his patience and his mercy. Ultimately, we believe that God will finish the work that He started in us.

On the other hand, I don’t know exactly what’s ahead of me or what my future is going to look like, but as long as Christ is in it I’ll be fine. I just want my life to look like I belong in the New Testament, whatever that may look like in the environment that I’m in. Lastly, I hope that wherever we are in our journey that we’ll see Jesus and that we find him more valuable than anything in this world.

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ…for who I’ve suffered loss of all things and counted them as rubbish, that I may gain him and be found in him…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings” (Philippians 3:7-11).

Soli deo gloria!!!

Jesus and the Prosperity Gospel

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:58:03 -0500

Jesus and the Prosperity Gospel

“If you’re a slave to something, you ain’t...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:44:00 -0500

“If you’re a slave to something, you ain’t living. Unless, you’re a slave to God.” -Lecrae

Motivated to live biblically

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:29:00 -0500

As of lately, I made a choice to objectively pursue the Truth of the bible and it’s been a liberating experience—as He promised to all of His followers that the Truth will set them free. For a long time, I lived a Christian life that is based on a denomination, which built a framework and caused me to be biased on my interpretation of the Bible. In Francis Chan’s Forgotten God, he believes that “we work diligently to ‘prove’ that our presuppositions were correct (another example of eisegesis) rather than simply and honestly pursuing truth” (pg. 47). So I thank God, that I’m slowly breaking away from my presuppositions and coming to know His truth, as He leads.

Reading Acts 2:38, the apostle Peter is telling the crowd to “repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit.” God promised that if we repent, be baptized and believe Him, we would receive His Holy Spirit. Honestly, I do want the leading of the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of His leading, not because of selfish reasons or it feels good to have Him. I believe that it’s the only way to truly follow Him. Jesus tell His disciples that the Holy Spirit is our Teacher, Comforter, Helper and will guide us in all Truths.

Since, I feel like its rebirth for me, I guess the first thing to do is to get baptized again. The apostle Peter says that I would receive the Holy Spirit after repenting and being baptized. I’m really excited to get baptized again. Like I said before, I just want to live a biblical life and experience God like the people in the Bible. I’m not trying to sound radical or crazy, but I believe the things that I’ve been doing is motivated by love and the Bible. I hope that God will give y’all the desire to receive (or have a greater commune with) the Holy Spirit, which leads to a life that is biblical and Christlike. See you all soon.

What's been on my mind...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:16:00 -0500

It feels good to be off school and I’m really excited for this winter break because I can finally unwind and just lay down my thoughts. Tomorrow night I’m taking off to see my brother in Vegas, and to spend Christmas with him and my mother. I can’t wait to go. I’m looking forward to a lot things that I want to accomplish while I’m there. Aside from hanging out with my brother, I really want to study the Bible for clarification about certain things that have been burdening me. Things like: the “Prosperity Gospel”, which I felt have been abused by many word of faith advocates; what it means to live biblically; and the true meaning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are just some of the issues that I want to revisit and get a better clarity from the Bible. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I can no longer accept some of the things I was taught growing up (because of its contradiction with the Scripture). I mean, anyone can take different passages from the Bible and package it into something that would fit our life, with a little bit Jesus in it; and I feel like we’ve done that. I feel like we made our own version of Christianity to fit our lifestyles, so that we don’t really have to conform to the Gospel.

Right now, I feel like I’m starting all over again with my theology (except for the foundational elements, of course!). But my prayers for you and I, is that the Holy Spirit would truly guide us and lead us to the truth; and that God would grant us more love and humility, so that we don’t puff up and our love for the lost would increase. On the other hand, I’m not exactly sure where God is leading me but I know that God has struck a chord in my soul, that won’t allow me to rest. I believe that He’s leading me to seek Him out diligently and challenging me to take more risk (or use my faith). Overall, I know I’m in His will. Even though, it breaks my heart to see myself growing apart from my contemporaries, I want to follow Him at what ever cost (as He supplies me the grace to do it).

I want to leave you with this quote from Mortimer Alder, which should be our attitude about dividing the Word of God. So here it is: “Do not say you agree, disagree, or suspend judgement, until you say, “I understand.” We have to be honest with ourselves and God, because at the end of the day, it is us that’s accountable to Him. Being intellectually honest is part of the process. If we stumble upon something in the Bible and our theology/tradition/beliefs is contradicting it, we have to let go of that belief and submit ourselves to the Word of God, with readiness to obey it. Ultimately, the Bible is our guide and our filter to our doctrine and not the other way around.

And I hope that as follower of Christ, that we would all seek Him diligently and we would be lovers of the Truth to the end! I pray that we would not conform to this world, but as children of God, we would “let our light shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Love y’all!!!

1st Semister

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:26:11 -0500

This has been a crazy 1st semester at State. Lot’s of reading, researching, writing, bus riding and sleepless nights. On the other, there were a lot things that struck my soul, which led me back to the Scriptures and to His grace. Some tension remain unresolved, but definitely struck a chord in my heart. All I can say for now is “Soli deo gloria” and it’s time to unwind.

...is like a splinter in your mind driving you mad...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:05:55 -0500

The truth of the Gospel is like a splinter in your mind that will drive you mad until you fully live them out,until there’s no more lukewarmness in you

the greatest blessings of God are not the things this world admires, for “what is highly esteemed...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:21:10 -0500

the greatest blessings of God are not the things this world admires, for “what is highly esteemed among men is detestable in God’s sight”

I never thought I would arrive to this point, but I’m...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:57:00 -0500

I never thought I would arrive to this point, but I’m really beginning to develop a strong distaste for the ‘Prosperity Gospel.’ It’s weird because I see it all around me and I have this unsettling tension in my heart that says, “this is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” I don’t believe that Christ died for the comfort and prosperity of men, women and children. Although, I’m not denying that God can bless a men, but I wouldn’t go as far to say that God wants everyone to be rich and prosperous. Otherwise, why would Jesus tell us that “it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.” In addition, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy that “those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lust which drown men into destruction and perdition…for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

The Bible is clear that we should avoid these kinds of teachings because they are dangerous and more harmful than anything to the believes. My concluding thoughts for now is to study the Word of God for clarity and for reproof and correction. Study God’s words to see whether anyone’s teaching lines up with the Gospel. And if it doesn’t line up with Bible we must reject it. We don’t want to just quote the Scriptures so we can remember them, but we need to know its true context and meaning. We don’t want to come up with false conclusions about God and His Word.

I don’t claim to have any authority regarding this issue, but in my study of the Scripture, the flaws of the ‘Prosperity Gospel’ became apparent to me; and I truly believe that it distorts our view of God. We only have one shot at this guys, then we off to eternity. So don’t you think that we should really be careful in how we handle God’s Word? Call me religious or whatever, but I want to know God’s truth. If the difference is between heaven and hell, is God’s truth really worth risking?

In Christ Alone

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:37:00 -0500

There’s nothing more inspiring than to know that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I thank God that He granted me to know Him in truth, not that will of any man but as the will of the Father. Whether I’m in need or not, Christ is enough. Only He can satisfy. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God to salvation to those that believe. The world may shame us for believing in Him, but we don’t have to be ashamed of Him. And lastly, these I am also thankful for, that we have been granted to be called the children of God and joint heirs with Christ. Nothing in this world matters but to know Him and be known by Him. In Christ alone my hope is found…

That’s my King. Do you know Him?

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:06:17 -0500

That’s my King. Do you know Him?