Summer of Love, Pt. 4: A Promise of Hope

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."  --Romans 5:3-5


What do you say to an exhausted and desperate mother, who is practically in tears, wondering if she will ever again have her own home, a job, and a car?  Just hang in there.  Everything happens for a reason.  Something good is just around the corner.  I'm sure she's heard those things before.  Here's one I'm sure anyone who has ever been through a difficult time has heard: Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.  I wonder how many hurting people that tired phrase has failed to help.

I am finding that the more God teaches me to spend myself "in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed" (Isaiah 58:10), the more I find that the easy answers I once thought should be sufficient to a suffering heart are really not.  I know most people are well-meaning and want to offer something helpful.  I mean, it takes a frighteningly hard heart to see a suffering person and have no desire whatsoever to help.  But, again I ask: what do you say?

I can't promise you a perfectly scripted, one-phrase-fits-all line to have at the ready; I don't believe one exists.  I can offer one word, however, that must be a foundational part of anything we do say--if we say anything at all--and everything we do.  One word: hope.

Hope is what keeps us going when we have nothing left.  Hope is what makes us believe that things are going to turn around, even when there is no evidence that shows it will.  Hope is what causes people to dream of revolutionary solutions to problems no previously thought could be remedied.  Hope is the answer for the brokenhearted homeless mother, and it is the answer for each of us.  It is in more than merely our words, no matter how well-said.  Rather, it is in the spirit and attitude with which we live our lives.

That's not all, though.  Hope is not just a thing to be obtained.  Hope is defined in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, through which God poured out his love into our hearts, and which is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.  Put simply, we hope because we know God loves us with an unfailing love, and nothing in all the universe can separate us from this God of love.  

May our lives be a reflection of this amazing God to those who are in need.  




Question:
How have you experienced God's hope and love in difficult times?

Summer of Love, Pt. 3: Don't be scared. Just love.

This week, be inspired by the testimonies of some Trinity women who have joined with Gems Uncovered and have begun to serve in a way that has opened their hearts, pushed them out of their comfort zones, and revealed to them more of God's love for people.  If you are interested in going out with the group on Friday, July 27th, please contact Christine Hung at christine.youn@gmail.com.  Ladies only.

"I was blessed to apart of the last Gems Uncovered serving opportunity. Nothing was done before we all earnestly prayed for ourselves and others. God opened the door for me to pray with a young man asking for prayer at the outreach table. We also did a prayer walk and got to see the new safe house. I know God is doing a new work in my heart. Praise God for his unfailing love and open arms to all who will come to Him!"

--Vivian Huerta

"What a privilege to see God’s glory in action!  It is only with God’s will that women commit every Friday evening to shine God’s light in an unlikely destination…just like Jesus, as He went to places where His need was evident...That was God’s work being done in His city! Praise our Lord, Jesus Christ!"

--Laura Hurtado

"One man on a bicycle was flagged down, and the women offered him the food and perhaps, some prayer. He questioned why we prayed...He said he loved Jesus, but he also loved Buddha, God, and Muhammad...He continued attempting to make [me] look like the one arguing, but [I] was agreeing with most of what [he] said. He probably wasn't listening to very much of what [I] said. [I] saw a sign from the others with more experience, and let the man leave, cackling on his bike.  Five people came up to me that night, and told me that the incident with [this man] was the first step in God's big plan for my life. They said I was chosen to be a warrior of God, that I was going to be doing really huge things. Monica said she envisioned me on a hill, armor-clad, facing a landscape of darkness, leading light and lush greens behind me. The passerby pastor told me to read 1 Peter 5:7, and the verse in Revelations that tells the devil of how his end will be. Others said very similar things. It was incredibly encouraging."

--Rebecca Wong

"On Friday June 29th 2012, God turned all my feelings of fear, uncertainty, anxiousness and nervousness into love, compassion, hope, and security in Him. I had no idea what to expect and I felt totally ill-equipped to go out and minister to the prostitutes and pimps of Long Beach. But God was there with me affirming every step that I made as we prepared to go out and do His will...I realized not only how broken, lost and hopeless these prostitutes and pimps were but also how broken I was. Some of my friends were skeptical or thought it was abnormal for a group of women to go out at 10pm to 12am into the streets...to share God’s love with people who are desperately seeking to be loved. But then I realized that this exact fact is what I have in common with a prostitute or pimp…the desire to be loved...So many times I go out and serve thinking that I am going to touch and change people’s lives but more times than not, I end up being blessed, encouraged and healed in the process...What an honor and privilege to be a part of what God is already doing! Praise Him for He is worthy!"

--Janelle Tom

"My second experience with Gems Uncovered was a very different one - mainly because I was able to bring along my dear sisters from Trinity and witness their acts of love for the Lord.  I knew a lot of them were very nervous about the evening, but they saw God’s mission at hand and wanted to partner with the Lord in the things that stirs His heart.  This demonstration of faith and obedience was such a blessing for me.  It was a testament that the Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of Trinity and that God is moving to bring us closer and closer to spiritual maturity."

--Christine Hung

"Going to Gems Uncovered was a huge step out of my comfort zone. I kept thinking 'Does God really want ME to do THIS?' After much prayer, I knew the answer was a resounding YES. But I was still scared...And now looking back, if I felt even an ounce of love for these strangers, how much more must God's love for them be! He wants His children to know that they are loved and that is what Gems Uncovered seeks to do every Friday night. It was a blessing to be able to join them for a night. God's plans are so much bigger than we can imagine, all we need to do is obey His command to love one another and He will take care of the rest. Don't be scared, just love!"
--Cindy Cameron 

Summer of Love, Pt. 2: 12,000 Opinions, 1 Truth

Everyone seems to have an opinion about love.  One website I've seen has over 12,000 quotes about love, by everyone from Gandhi to Mother Teresa to Marilyn Monroe to Bob Marley.  I even saw Dr. Seuss in there.  Some had positive things to say about love, and some seemed to not even believe there is such a thing.  Some had a flighty and unrealistic view of love, while others seemed to take a darker, more cynical approach.  Some believe that true love lasts forever, but some believe that love is a feeling that can somehow simply...go away. 

And quotes from the past are just the beginning.  One needs only listen to a currently popular song, watch television, or read a magazine to be even more bombarded with varying definitions of love, while the truth about what it is can easily continue to evade us.

With all of these differing definitions of love, how are we to know for sure what it is or if it even really exists? 

And then, the truth breaks through: 

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." -I John 3:16-18

Jesus Christ himself is the definition of love, and he laid down his life for us so that we can then turn around and...wait for it...lay down our lives for others.  It's safe to say we won't have too many opportunities to physically die for someone else, but we can lay down our lives by laying aside our very selves on behalf of someone else.  We can lay down our leisure time, lay down our energy, lay down our finances, lay down our material possessions.  We have the opportunity, every day, to do for others what Jesus did for us.  And when we do that in Jesus' name--when we love with actions and in truth--our own lives suddenly become the epitome, the definition, of love.

Believe it: love is real, and we can live it every day.


Question:
How have you seen the love of God through someone laying down his/her life for you?   

Summer of Love, Pt. 1: Summers are for What?

When you hear the word summer, what immediately comes to your mind?  Vacation?  Heat?  Beach?  Over too soon?  (Obviously, those are some of the things that come to my mind.)

When I was a kid, summers were for swimming, reading, ice cream, and hours of basketball.  As an adult, it is all to easy for summer to become for me all about work and looking forward to an eventual vacation, maybe.  There are some good times to be had, but I have come to believe God has something more in mind for us.  Much more.

What if our summers were spent not only on ourselves?  What if the summers were for loving others?  You might be thinking, "Isn't every day for loving others?"  If you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, the answer is always yes!  But, what if during this season called summer we each focused on pouring out God's love on one person, on going out of our way to shine the love of Jesus Christ on someone who needs it?  And not only that, but what if we took the time and opportunity to share those "love encounters," to encourage one another to do the same and to put on display the amazing things God's love through us can do? 

That sounds like much more than a summer of work, a summer of fun, a summer of beating the heat, a summer of waiting for vacation, or a summer of dreading the return to school.  That sounds like a Summer of Love.  Don't you think that's how Jesus would have spent his summers?  Don't you think that's how he'd want us to spend our summers?

And if that's how we spent our summers, imagine the trend we would set for the rest of the year.  Imagine how a Summer of Love could change the world for you and for someone else.

I'm in.  Are you?


Question:
Who's going to receive some extra love from you this summer?  


 

Real Testimonies: Phillip Wong, "God has a Better Plan"

God has really shown Himself to me through my job and my workplace. About six years ago I was laid off due to a restructure at my lab research company. I had never met failure at such a high stake. The idea of losing a job because you were not adequate compared to others was a hard thing to grasp. This job loss was crucial, however, for God to humble me. The job I had at the time was taken selfishly; it was actually something that I picked up and just decided to stick to because nothing else better had come along. During this struggle, God showed me that He had bigger and better plans for me. I realized after my layoff that God was calling me to do something that had a direct impact on people’s lives, and that turned out to be teaching.

Not only did I feel called by God to become a teacher, but everything related to teaching just seemed to fall in place. I was able to go to school part time and provide for my family at the same time when I picked up a teaching job in San Bernardino. Two years down the road, I am now a credentialed teaching looking towards tenure. God’s plan for me has not stopped there. I first felt that God had put me here to make an impact on students’ lives. I have now realized that God has not only put me here for these students, but also to teach me lessons in life as well as from my students. How ironic that God put me here as a teacher, and yet I am getting schooled by Him at the same time!

Real Testimonies: Kris Fong, "Wait on the Lord"

One of the things I've felt the Lord putting on my heart is patience. Most recently through my schooling. Last semester, I was looking to transfer from my Community College, Goldenwest College, to a CSU. Due to various circumstances, I was unable to transfer to a CSU for the Fall 2010 Semester/Quarter. So I decided to take some classes, mostly interest classes, at GWC, to boost my Grade Point Average and to have something to do. I applied for transfer again, but upon recommendation changed my CSU choice from Long Beach to Dominguez Hills. Again I ran into obstacles, the state budget. The lack of a budget for California left many students in a state of limbo because it stalled transfer students and made it difficult for people to know if they could get financial aid. My application and proper paperwork was submitted back in September. I finally found out my Spring 2011 school at 2:00 AM on a Thursday in November. Come Spring 2011, I'll be at Dominguez Hills. This is one of the many times I've seen His hand at work in my life. I feel that He used this experience to really emphasize the point that I must wait on Him for everything, not just for ministry and church stuff. He will provide all that we require at all the necessary times so we have nothing to worry about.

Real Testimonies: Anh Trinh, "God's Love"

Trinity church has been my home since I was 13 years old. I first attended Friday night youth group by invitation from my cousin who attended the Saturday Chinese language school at that time. I was quite the troublemaker and probably raised a few eyebrows with my antics but the youth leaders were very welcoming. They showed a very different and loving side of humanity that I did not expect. I soon realized this unusual treatment I received really stemmed from the love of God. Every progressing week, I was being mentored and nurtured by the leaders and youth group members. Their investment in my life resulted in my acceptance of Christ at age 14. I soon became aware that taking up the cross was no easy task because I faced persecution from my Buddhist family. My parents gave me strict warnings about getting baptized as they feared my newfound religion was cult-related. But through time and observation of the big change in my life, they became more accepting of my faith. Since my acceptance of Christ, I have been involved in a handful of ministries at Trinity but my passion has always been with youth ministry. God has impressed upon my heart to advance his kingdom by reaching the hearts of young people and help raise up new leaders. I have seen many youth come and go but God has taught me that his word is true and He is faithful to his people. As a result of his promise, I've also seen quite a few former youths become leaders in their respective ministries.

As much as I love serving God, my only regret is that I have not been bold enough to share more of my faith with my parents and family. Thankfully, God has recently presented me some opportunities to share a few gospel stories and several key Bible verses with my parents and grandmother. I hope that there will be more opportunities. Please pray for the salvation of my family as God uses me to be a good witness.