Are only a few going to be saved?

Jesus said we need to make every effort to enter through the narrow door (or gate) in response to a man asking whether or not only a few are going to be saved.

This indicates that the idea of going through the narrow gate has to do with the way of salvation.

So how many (or who) are going to be saved? According to Luke 13:24 it all depends, for we are called to make every effort to enter through the narrow gate.

Note that the gate is Jesus Christ himself. He is dubbed as the 'narrow' gate. Why? For one thing, he is the only way of salvation. For another his teachings are narrow, because he taught for example, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me."

I think the good news is that for those who enter through the narrow door (via self denial etc.), He honors their efforts that inasmuch as they put trust in Him for His power of salvation, He does all we need for salvation just as the Apostle Paul said, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation! The old has gone, the new has come!" That is right. As we are made new, we are called to put off the old self and put on the new self which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24), which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator (Col 3:10)!

Sun Deck

Today in order to make a sun deck to welcome my fifth grand-daughtger to come [July 2 :-)] I needed a cross bar for fencing.
The only wood (with the right length) I had was a cedar branch I saved for over a year. But it turned out that this cedar is full of termite infestation.

Termite Infested Cedar

At first I thought I should throw it away. But I remembered, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation!"

"Hmm. This cedar branch is as much termite infested as I am infested by all sorts of sin problems." So I gave the cedar a termite treatment. Tomorrow I am going to paint it, so it would be as good as a new cedar branch!

So don't give up on you. Why? Jesus came to save even you!



Termite Treated Cedar! (Oh, Yea! That is for sure)

Do not do anything before you get this down first!

[There are ten objects in the picture. Which one reflects the point of the good news below? Choose 3 and send an email to hdk121@gmail.com. A gift of significant value will be sent to you, to the first three persons coming up with correct answers.]


Why are you doing what you are doing? Or why do you not do what you are not going to do? What does your schedule for today look like? Or if you do not have any thing to do, why not?

In any case, the fact you read this post itself means that you are alive.

Life has a purpose. The purpose of man does not come from man, but from the one who made man.

The Bible says, God created man.

Why did God (or the maker or creator of man, if you will) create man?

John 3:16 answers the question: God so loved the (people of the) world that He gave his one and only son.

This statement indicates that God created man in order to give Himself to man.  (Father God and Jesus the Son are one. John 10:30.)

What does this mean to you and me? The word 'loved' answers the question, for in the true sense of the word 'love', love means giving the highest good to the one whom you choose to love.

What then is the hightest good? There are many good things or good people in this world. But none can be better than God the Father for by definition God the Father is the source of all that are good all the time; all the rest are just derivatives - they are of secondary importance in value. Inasmuch as God is the source of all that are good, totally good, and good all the time, and because all the rest are limited in quality and quantity, God alone can be said as the highest good.

How then can I secure this gift?

John 3:16 answers the question: receive Him. God 'gave', so all you and I ought to do is to receive Him.

Well, he died long time ago. How can I receive him? Yes, he died, but he rose again, and is with God the Father waiting to be in you.

How do I know that He is alive and available so I can receive Him? Acts 2:38 answers the question: whoever repents and believes in the Son He gives him the gift of the Holy Spirit who in turn reveals to him Jesus, the Livng Son of the Living God, so that through the Holy Spirit you can know Him, and have a fellowship with Him. This fellowship is as intimate as the intimacy can be, for by way of the Holy Spirit, the Son who lives in the Father, literally lives in you who lives in the Son.

So literally you are a living (or walking) temple of God who resides in you. You are carrying in you the highest good (the source of all that are good, totally good, and good all the time).

Isn't this cool?

Verichip? Mark of the Beast? Confused? Or Worried?

Google will turn up in 0.19 second about 8.7 million plus results if you type in, "Commentaries of the book of revelation". My observation thus far indicates that every Christian (bible scholar, preacher, commentary writer etc.) seems to have his or her own way of interpreting the book. If you want to be a little more "confused" [:-<] click here.

Why is there  so much confusion? How can one avoid confusion?

Well, one of the ways is to find the keys to all the mysterious looking stuff in the Book of Revelation.

What are the keys? Where are they?

Keys are found throughout the "other" books of the Bible "including" the book of Deuteronomy.

Examples:

* Key to the Seven seals (Rev 5-19): Deuteronomy 32:34 

“Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults?" Remember that the Revelation is addressed to his servants (the words 'his servants' are repeated ten times in the book [1:1; 2:20 6:11; 7:3; 10:7; 11:18; 19:2,5; 22:3,6] [Blessed be those who read all these references.]

* Key to the trumpet judgments (Rev 9 and beyond): Deuteronomy 31:29

"For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made.” Note that Revelation 9:20 mentions the works of their hands, referring to the causes of the disasters, namely, idol worship. God [of Israel] hates idol worship because He alone is infinately glorious, which in turn indicates God's desire and will for mankind is for every human soul (made in His image) to be as great as He is. [Romans 8:29; 2Co 3:18]

P.S. Just in case you are confused (or worried) about the verichip or the mark of the beast in Revelation 13 read Genesis 1:26 and consider the purpose of God's creation especially the import of God making man in 'his image'.

P.S. 2: If you want to prevent yourself from being exposed to the wrath of God every day go visit the site (ubf daily bread) by clicking here, and eat the word of the Lord.

Dr. Donald W. Miles the author of the book Cinco de Mayo: What is Everybody Celebrating? concludes that it is thanks to the victory of the Mexicans in their war against Napoleon that Abraham Lincoln was able to win the Civil War, for due to Napolen losing out, his plan to support the Confederate Rebels was aborted. 

So how is Cinco de Mayo related to the U.S. becoming a major world power? According to Dr. Donald, the former is at least one of the key factors to the latter becoming a reality.

Yesterday Dechoami had a May Fifth Celebration at the Josh/Andrew's apartment in Long Beach. They extended invitation to 'everyone', so I invited myself and Marie. [The following attended: josh, andrew, lani, diana, debbie tonne (she had to leave early), alan (he too had to early for work), roman (joined in the middle), ryan, dan, paul lim jr. the enginner, paul cho, me, marie)].

The host served us nice Mexican food (fabulous). Andrew promised to teach me recipe. Paul Cho led the singspiration. 

Stephen served a message on 1 John 1. The message was fitting for it talked about the liberty our Lord Jesus came to win by way of winning the war against the devil and thereby librate all who believe. He shared a message expounding on the theme/point based not just on the 1 John Chapter 1 but on the entire epistle, then on such other books of the Bible as Hebrews, Romans, mentioning about the struggles of the Israelites as described in the entire books of the Old Testament Scriptures. His analogy on the nature of Chrstian's walk in the Lord as a  man taking shower coming from the Trinity was enlightening.

There was an answer and question session wherein we discussed topics like: Was Jesus' body special? [No one asked questions, so Dan supplied the floor with questions.]

The meeting (especially the discussions on the Bible) was lively. [As the discussion heated up, Marie got bored. So Diana opened a side bar with Marie wherein Daina kept Marie interested by going through Bible stories.] I saw great possibility for the great work arising from among the growing gens. The leadership of the Decomi esp. the coordination among Dan, Paul, and Stephen is exemplary.

Thank you guys, esp. Josh and Andrew inviting 'everyone' and serving us with delicious Cinco de Mayo Menu!

P.S.: towards the end of the meeting, Paul Lim Jr. sort of summed up the discussion by emphasizing the importance of "SIS" model (if you will), that is, Sonship, Intimacy, and Service. Stephen also stressed that we should not mix up the order like putting service ahead of sonship. He is right. First thing ought to come first, then second then third. So I piped in saying, "We should not put a cart in front of the horse. But how often do we err like this? Even a spiritual man like Elijah erred like this, so he got all burnt out and toyed with the idea of committing a suicide."

The Dechoami's discussion stated above is very much to the point of today's daaily bread, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this." Deuteronomy 24:22

P.S 2: The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. followed by an eating fellowship. I had to leave early around 9:30 p.m. for I needed to visit a local market.] On 5/6 right before worship I asked Andrew how the remainder of the meeting proceeded. He said, "The meeting went on and on, until 1:00 a.m. ; we all got deep into the words of God for we could not get enough of the Word." I asked, "What about Marie?" He said, "She fell asleep on the couch."