What does it actually mean for us to ask God to show us His glory?

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@realmattwong
What does it actually mean for us to ask God to show us His glory?
To live is Christ and to die is gain
Hi everyone. A lot of people found out that I went to Asia a few weeks prior. However, not a lot of people know why I went, and even less people know what happened during my time. It’s already been two weeks since I’ve been back, and I haven’t written anything because I never really felt like it. But currently as I’m beginning to reflect more on my life and what God has been doing, I felt some sort of urge to share with people. It’s Valentine’s Day and this could be a little bit depressing to read, but if you’re interested, then here’s my life for you!
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When talking on the phone, my grandma has this habit of hanging up without saying good-bye. You could just be talking with her and before you know it, you’re just talking to yourself. In a similar manner, my grandma passed away on January 13th, 2016, peacefully leaving without a single word for my family, leaving us to wonder why she had to leave so soon.
I found out on the morning of the 13th that she had passed, and then I found out on the night of the 13th that I’d be leaving for Hong Kong on the 23rd for her funeral. Needless to say, everything happened very fast and everything felt so surreal until I actually left for Asia. To be honest, I don’t think my grandma’s death impacted me that greatly because I didn’t know her very well. However, there was still lots of anxiousness in going, because I didn’t know what to expect.
Anyways, I left for Asia at 7 AM in the morning on the 23rd. A part of me was kind of bummed that I was missing out on fasting and revival stuff with our church, but I also felt like being able to be with family in a time like this over in Asia would be good for me.
Here’s a quick outline of events. On the night of the 26th, we had my grandma’s funeral service. On the morning of the 27th, we had my grandma’s cremation service. On the morning of the 30th, we brought my grandma’s ashes to the cemetery. I just kind of did whatever with my parents and relatives for all the time in between (and also met up with some old HMCC folk).
Going into this trip, I thought it was going to be a very depressing and difficult time. I just wasn’t looking forward to seeing the people around me break down. I didn’t want to see people hurting.
But God is so good, and there is so much hope in knowing who He is.
Thanks to God, this time of mourning became a time of celebrating. At first it was easy to get caught up with how my grandma left so suddenly, seemingly leaving nothing behind. However, as people began to reflect on her life, they remembered a woman of Christ who lovingly and joyfully served the people around her, even when it was hard. My grandma didn’t leave us empty handed. She left us with an example of Christ.
It was a fascinating experience because next door to our funeral service was a traditional Chinese funeral. If you didn’t know, Chinese people believe in burning paper objects in hopes that their deceased relatives would receive these things in whatever afterlife they believe in. As I looked at all these paper objects that were preparing to be burned, I just couldn’t help but think of how little hope they have.
And you know, if we didn’t have Christ, this story would be really depressing. There wouldn’t be any hope for much really. However, because God so loved this world, that He chose to send His son down to die for our sin. And in Christ, we know my grandma is in heaven. We know that she is with God. We know that she’s reunited with my grandpa. And we know that one day, we will join her in heaven. And it’s amazing that this is the hope that we have in the love of God.
Turns out, this story isn’t too depressing to share on Valentine’s day, because there is nothing greater than God’s love for all of us.
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT IN 4 EASY STEPS
I’ve spent the past year losing 80 lbs and getting in shape. A lot of people have been asking me how I did it; specifics like what diet I was on, how many times a week I worked out, etc etc. So I thought I’d just answer everyone’s questions by giving you guys step by step instructions on how you can achieve everything I have… IN JUST 4 EASY STEPS! Ready? Here we go!!!
1.) NO BEER This is a big one, and one that you’ve probably heard before. Every time you drink a beer, it’s like eating seven slices of bread. That’s a lot of bread!
2.) PORTION CONTROL This is especially true when you go out to eat at restaurants. A good trick to do is when your meal comes, cut it in half and right away ask for a takeout container, so that you can save the rest for later - and even better, if you start your meal out right by ordering lean meats and veggies, you’ll slim down in no time!
3.) HAVE YOUR HEART BROKEN And not just broken; shattered. Into itsy bitsy tiny little pieces, by a girl who never loved you and never will. Join the gym at your work. Start going to the gym regularly, and even though you don’t know that much about exercise and you’re way too weak to do pretty much anything but lift 5 lb weights and use the elliptical machines with the old people, do it until your sweat makes a puddle on the floor. Then go home and go to bed early and the next day do it again. And then again. And then again.
Listen to stories of your ex-girlfriend fucking around with gross and terrible people, stories from your friends who think they are doing you a favor. Go to the gym and make more puddles of sweat. Buy books. Learn about different muscle groups and how they work together. Start eating healthy. Learn about nutrition. Plan out your week of meals. Try to forget her.
Keep reading
Interesting Trip to Burger King
I probably had the greatest experience ever going to Burger King this past Tuesday. It was just overall a very stupid situation that turned out hilariously. I kept joking around and saying things like, “GUYS WHAT DO YOU THINK GOD IS TRYING TO TEACH US IN THIS MOMENT?” Little did I know, He was trying to teach me something with this whole experience (Go figure).
A little back story. I received a sheet with a lot of BK Coupons, and I got super excited. I snapped a picture of it and sent it to LIFE Group a few days before and asked if anyone was going to come join me. It was such good news that I wanted to plan something for after LIFE Group! Then during LIFE Group, I went all drama-queen on some people and I’m like borderline begging them to go to Burger King. C’mon guys! It’s cheap Burger King! It’s gonna be awesome! You need to eat food? Come get Burger King with us!
So then I gathered a group of people to go. We strategically planned out which coupons to use. At the end, we decided on using four coupons. When we got to the drive-thru of Burger King, we discovered that we were only allowed one coupon per car! What the heck?! At that point, we had already gone so far. We weren’t going to give up now. We managed to become desperate for Burger King, so desperate that we decided to call another Burger King to see if they would allow us to use more than one coupon at their drive-thru. Fortunately, we found a Burger King that would accept all four of our coupons at once, so we immediately took off for this second Burger King.
So... Well that was stupid. The first thing that stuck out to me was: Why the heck was I so desperate to go to Burger King? At the time, in my mind, this was good news! I had good news and I wanted to share it with my LIFE Group! To the point where I was desperate to find some people to go with me. And here I am, sharing the good news of Burger King with so much desperation. Then it occurred to me later. Why am I so eager to share the good news of Burger King, while I lack the eagerness to share the good news of Jesus Christ, the King above all Kings?
But really, what’s keeping me from sharing the good news of Jesus Christ? Do I not see the need for the gospel in this in my workplace, on this campus, or really, in the world? Do I believe that this good news is worth sharing and worth dying for? Do I even believe that this is good news?
And then here we are, a group of people who for some reason became desperate for Burger King. We were so close to getting this Burger King that we didn’t give up even if we looked ridiculous getting it. Our desperation led us to become weak and shameless and I was slapped with another challenge. Am I this desperate for the Lord? In my weakness do I believe that God will be there for me?
The situation was stupid, but thanks be to God, for He takes all these things and uses them for good.
You know you’re a LIFE Group veteran when...
In honor of LIFE Groups launching this week (and me being super nostalgic all the way from Romeo), I thought I’d make a listicle for funsies…
You know you’re a LIFE Group veteran when…
01. You show up to your first LG with premeditated names.
02. Before you pick out your LG name, you’re already designing a t-shirt.
03. You immediately walk into your first LG and start making hand gestures to represent your last year’s LG.
04. You see a newcomer sitting alone, and you’re immediately like…
05. Song sheets? No need. Already memorized all the songs.
06. No matter how hungry you are, you let younger people eat first.
07. Don’t make eye contact with leaders in case they call on you.
08. You’re already telling last year’s LG how much you miss them in GROUPME.
09. Your week is already booked because you scheduled meet ups with all the new members.
10. Your know that God will not only meet, but exceed your expectations like He’s done in years past.
Have a wonderful wonderful year! God bless all your LGs. :) I can’t wait to hear all the stories that are being written. Do it up big, veterans. God is using you all in tremendous ways.
John 13:34-35 - "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Super thankful and encouraged to see God's love move in this small group :) #accessthegoodlife
This is pretty neat!
Toys!
me: I wanna go buy some toys
aunt: You still like toys?
me: Yeah of course
aunt: What kind of toys? Gundam?
me: Nah, stuffed animals
And then I immediately laugh at myself after I said that because of how ridiculous that sounds.
Ambassadors OTL.
This is probably the most condensed story of this LIFE Group ever. If you’re interested in hearing more, let me know!
There was something special about this LIFE Group. In case you didn’t know, this LIFE Group started off with 4 people, 2 leaders, 2 members. Since our group was so small, we believed that God was leading us to grow in discipleship. Right off the bat, we started saying things like, “Let’s be like a church plant on this campus!” We chose the name Ambassadors OTL (of the Lord). Ambassadors are messengers of the highest calling, and we believed that God had called us to go and share His love with this campus.
Well, God revealed to us our inability to love very early on in this LIFE Group. But despite our faithlessness, God led people into our LIFE Group. By the end of June, at least 5 members have joined us for LIFE Group at some point in time. At this point, we also noticed that many of our members would not be with us in Ann Arbor in the following year. We began to see that our LIFE Group would be a sending LIFE Group.
In the following month, we felt as though we had been shattered to pieces. But even before we realized, God had been piecing us back together. Although we were all struggling with different things, God met each of us where we were. He is a personal God.
During this time, God also led 3 members to join us for LIFE Group. One of these members joined with just 3 weeks left of LIFE Group. I thought to myself, what could God possibly do in these 3 short weeks?
“Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
This quote began to float around in my mind as I began to see God’s power manifest in this brother’s life. God completely transformed his perception of hope. This brother knew that there was hope somewhere, but God showed him that his hope is in fact, Jesus. As God was transforming his understanding of hope, God was simultaneously transforming everyone else’s understanding of His power. Three weeks is such a short period of time, but that’s all it took for God to transform a life.
******
Ambassadors OTL has ended, but the amazing thing is that our mission has really only began. As we felt called to be ambassadors at the beginning of our summer, God took this entire summer to grow us in love and faith. As we were a sending LIFE Group, God has now sent us to many different places, so that we can share His love with the world. Now that is amazing.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:20
I really don't like it when...
...I read the word "stoned" in the Bible and I think it means "to get high." Today in Acts, when I read the section title "Paul Stoned at Lystra," my first thought was that Paul got high in Lystra. That's not cool man
What a coincidence
There was this guy from my home church that I was really close to growing up. About 5 years ago, he stopped coming to church and we stopped communicating. 5 years later I see him at an HMCC prayer gathering and he tells me, "I'm came back to church." I'm excited to catch up!
I bought a kindle!
I hate it when I buy things on amazon and I accidentally send it to Farmington instead of Ann Arbor.
But... excited (kind of) to read!
Ten Q God for everything that you’ve done in my life :)
To ignite students with a passion for God, so that they can take the gospel to every nation in our generation.
This conference was fascinating. That’s all I feel like sharing for now. Thanks for reading.
Don’t wait for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations.
Charles Francis Richter (via thatkindofwoman)
Have you ever thought about how to spread the Gospel through the internet?
Me and some people have been discussing the idea of using the internet for outreach. The internet is a massive space that many people go to in their spare time. It sounds like a great platform to use to reach out to the masses, right?
But yeah, we are starting to think about this, so we don’t have much yet. If there’s anyone who has already thought about this before, please share some ideas!