bathsheba

Recently I've received some insight into sin that I hadn't considered or given much thought to before. Certainly it's nothing out of this world, and it is knowledge that can be found in the Bible by simply reading it, but for whatever reason, it is knowledge that had eluded me until now. I hope it will be as useful to you as it was for me. Feel free to contribute your thoughts on the matter, so that I may grow as well.

As we know, sin is what we struggle with on a daily basis. Many people have different definitions for sin (some definitions more complex than others) but for this discussion, we will simply define sin as "disobedience to God."

As I mentioned in my Third Day concert post, I received a free book called Glory Revealed, by author David Nasser. It's a great book, and David Nasser is a great writer. What I like the most about it, is that each chapter makes me stop and think about what is being discussed, and answer some questions that the author offers to help you meditate. In the chapter I read this past weekend (yes, I've taken my sweet time in finishing this book), the author talks about how God reveals his Glory through sin. He goes on to say something to the effect of: "if you were to ask someone in prison, 'when you were five years old, did you know you were going to be killing/stealing as an adult, and get put in prison?'" and the gist of the discussion is that most everyone will say "no," and go on to explain that it all started with stealing a piece of candy, lying to their parents, breaking 'silly' rules, etc. Small stuff. I'm sure Cain would tell us the same thing after killing his brother, Abel. Greed kept him from offering his best to God. It led to jealousy, resentment, and finally, murder.

The author then proceeds to remind us of King David's story with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11-12.) Every time I read this story in the Bible, all I could think of was how low David sank by not only sleeping with (and impregnating!) his soldier's wife, but then setting it up so the soldier would be killed in battle! What I never considered was - how did it all start? Going back to the prisoner's example, David Nasser presents the imaginary situation of asking King David: "when you were in your father's pastures tending the sheep, did you imagine you were going to be someday not only committing adultery, but killing the husband of the woman you commit adultery with?" He would've given you a redundant "no." I mean, this was the average-height dude that stood his ground in front of the giant Goliath, for goodness' sake. So, what was David's "small" sin?

The author explains (and this was the revelation for me) that King David's first, small sin was pride. Back then, kings would lead armies in battles and wars. So why was David in his palace while the rest of his army fought for Israel? Maybe he thought the battle wasn't important enough for King David to be bothered to even leave his palace? We don't know for sure, as the Bible doesn't say, but, we could be led to think so. In any case, that was his small sin. If he hadn't stayed behind, he wouldn't have been exposed to watching Bathsheba take a bath. Even if he had seen her at a different time (when everyone was around and not in battle) he could've probably controlled his lust for her.

And there you have it. Obviously, there's a reason for me to write about this subject. I have been struggling with a situation lately, and can't help but relate to David's story. It blew me away when I read it. It has made me stop to think: what was the "small" sin that started all of it? What could I have done (or not done) to avoid it? In any case, I am in the situation, and I've been praying for guidance from God; that He may bless it, or blow it up.

I don't remember if the book outlines what I'm going to talk about next, but in any case, all I could think about the day I read it was David's small sin and his downfall. Needless to say, a huge sense of guilt swept over me, causing me much grief. During the week, I met at Starbucks with a lady from church, who I love very much. I see her as a mother figure, and I sought her motherly (and Christian) advice. We discussed many things, and I mentioned how I had been convicted during the weekend by being reminded of David's story. She agreed, but then completed the revelation for me.

The great news is that there's hope. We haven't finished David's story yet. You remember how God sent the prophet Nathan to expose David's sin, right? David's grief was great, and he repented. The child that resulted from David's sin died, causing David even more grief (and we can imagine it grieved Bathsheba as well, even though it's not written.) However, in the end, out of all of David's wives, God chose Bathsheba - the woman that David committed the sin with - to bring Solomon into the world. Solomon, the next king of Israel. King Solomon turned out to become the richest and wisest (second only to Jesus Himself) man to ever have lived, and one in the very bloodline of Jesus, the Son of God.

David committed such a big sin, yet he was referred to as a man "after God's own heart." So we see that no matter how great our sin, God extends to us His mercy and grace if we but just repent. I can't help but to think about what an awesome God we have. I know that God has heard me, and I am hopeful that He will give me revelation for my specific situation. Thank you, God, for your love.

****

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. -James 1:2-4

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. -1 Peter 1:6-7


May God bless you and keep you always,
Pedro

looking forward to Christmas

...yep. Work has been quite busy lately, and I guess it'll stay busy for the rest of the year. I was interviewed last Thursday for a different project, which, if all goes well, I'll be moving to the first day of work next year. The project I'm currently working on, even though it's cutting-edge stuff, has sorta lost it's appeal to me. I'm very much grateful to God for giving me a job, especially the way things are these days, but I just feel like I want to try something different. I was told the new position will involve some traveling, so I guess I'm looking forward to that as well.

****

As an update to previous posts, I'm still going out with the girl I mentioned. However, I'm really praying to God for direction as far as how I should move forward. It's one of those "I'm not 100% sure if this is the one" type things. At this point you may be thinking: "uh, oh. Pedro, the mere fact that you're saying that means that you don't really like her or don't see yourself with her forever and ever!" I assure you that's not the case. I don't say that from a personal standpoint. I think this girl pretty much meets all my "requirements", except one, which I'll keep to myself for now. Please believe, she is definitely not lacking in the looks department (I happen to think she's gorgeous), and so far has demonstrated 99% Interest Level towards me. I say it more from a "God's will for my life" standpoint. Meaning, am I ready for a relationship right now? Even if I'm ready, should I get into a relationship? Is this the one He has for me, or am I leaning on my own understanding? I am trusting God to reveal what He has for me. After all, He already knows the outcome, I just need to trust Him and not worry about it.

****

This Christmas, God willing, I'll be going to Puerto Rico for a couple of days. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to it. It's been really cold in Texas lately, and I can't wait to go back to hot, humid weather. Also, I miss my mom, I miss my dad, and I miss my friends. *tear*

While I'm in Puerto Rico, I think I want to try and play some Tekken. I'll also try and go salsa dancing, see old friends, maybe visit an old teacher to see how she's doing. I'm sure I'll post on all that later.

****

This weekend (God willing) we're going back to Palestine, for a Christmas party at the Beto unit. I can't wait to see the guys again. It feels like forever since I've seen them.

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Today I met with the From Prison To Joy prison ministry folks for some coffee and dessert. I'm now motivated to pick that back up, and get some translation work going. I really have to focus on my Hispanic brothers on the inside that need to read the letters/articles that have to be translated. I get so caught up in stuff that I neglect the important things that God has allowed me to participate in. I almost feel selfish, thinking about it. In any case, I'm glad God got me together with the people in the ministry, so I can pick up the slack again.

****

I know this post doesn't really have a point to it. However, I think I'll start writing more posts like these. Sometimes I wait so much before posting so I actually have some "thing" to say, but then what happens is that I forget things. Also, I think it would be nice (for me) to have a collection of thoughts, so in the future I can look back at what was going on in my life. I also think it will be interesting to see if any changes occur in the way I express myself.

****

May God bless you and keep you.
Until next time,
Pedro

ps. You may or may not have noticed, but I added the "Verse of the Day" and "Google Translate" toolbars on the right side. Hopefully they don't clutter the screen too bad. I like them. :)

november 2009

About three weeks ago I went with the Kairos team (mentioned in an earlier post) to the Beto maximum security unit in Palestine, TX. Like I mentioned before, Kairos is a prison ministry, and a special one at that. We spent the entire weekend over there ministering to a select group of guys. We brought them food, cookies, and a whole lot of God's love. I'm not sure if I can get into all the details, so I'll just say we all had a great time. You could really feel God's presence in that place, it was amazing. Some of the guys received Christ for the first time, and others were refreshed and encouraged in their Christian walk. There was even one guy who converted from Islam! It was amazing. I made a whole bunch of new friends and brothers, and I look forward to sharing with them in future visits, and corresponding with them by mail.

On the following weekend, we went back to the unit for the "Day of Instruction" (or something along those lines), which was pretty much a short "course" for them to teach them how to meet with their "Prayer and Share" groups. We discussed the structure of the meetings, the dos/don'ts, etc. I was able to give a talk on "study", the purpose of which was to encourage the guys to read the Bible and other books that would further them in the knowledge of Christ, and also to encourage them to share with each other what the Spirit reveals to them in their studies. It was great seeing the guys again. God willing, I'll be going back with the team on the 12th of December for a Christmas holiday party. I'll keep you posted.

***

Just this past Thanksgiving weekend, I had the chance to visit my sister in Atlanta. I met her boyfriend for the first time, who seems to be a nice guy, which makes me happy for my sister. We spent Thanksgiving day at his dad's place. The family showed me great hospitality, and I had a great time. We ate a lot, watched the Dallas Cowboys game, and played a card game called "Golf".

On Friday, we pretty much chilled for most of the day, running errands and whatnot (that was after my sister and her boyfriend went Black Friday shopping at some ridiculously early hour). I treated them to Vietnamese food for lunch, which was interesting since it was the first time my sister had Vietnamese food. I had tried to get her to eat it in the past, but she acted like she found it disgusting or something. So, since we were hungry, I figured it was a good idea to tell her I'd pay for lunch if she just gave it a chance. She had Phở Tái Chín, and even tried some of my Phở Bò Kho, and she seemed to love it. She even took a copy of the menu home. ;-)
After lunch we hung out at her apartment, and then went to a friend's house to spend the evening. I was able to meet her salsa friends. There were a bunch of Puerto Ricans there, and a Chinese girl. The Chinese girl was the girlfriend of one of the guys, and it was funny/interesting seeing the dynamic they had. She can speak and understand quite a bit of Spanish, and her accent is quite good. What's funny about it was that because her boyfriend is Puerto Rican, she has picked up the Puerto Rican accent, and even Puerto Rican words and expressions. The girl can cook Puerto Rican food too. I'd say the guy is set. ;D

You can tell I was impressed/amused by what I witnessed.

The day before my departure (Saturday), we drove to Blue Ridge, GA, which is where the rest of my family was staying (or, the family that lives in Georgia, anyway). They had rented a cabin up in the mountains for the weekend, so we paid them a visit. It was a blessing to see my family for the first time in almost a year. We had great conversations, ate a lot of food, and just had a good time together. I was able to see my little cousin again, who has grown up quite a bit since I saw him last. At one point he asked me "when are you coming back?" --- at which I think my heart exploded. We said our goodbyes, and drove back to my sister's. We then went out for a night of salsa dancing at the studio where my sister attends (she's also in a "performance" team there). If you have been following my posts, you know I haven't salsa danced in a long time. Well, I suppose I made up for it that day. I danced almost non-stop. There was a good mix of experienced and new dancers, and I danced with most of the ladies there. One interesting observation was that there seems to be a big Russian community in Atlanta. I hadn't met so many Russians before in my life, haha. Anyway, at some point they did an amateur salsa competition, and I paired up with one of the Russian ladies. We made it to the final two, but, the other couple had quite the number of friends in the audience, which overwhelmed the amount of applause that we got. And I thought my partner's Russian peoples in the audience would give us the advantage, haha. Oh well, it's all good, we had a great time. I look forward to going back some time in the future. The bad news is that I think I have the "salsa itch" again. We'll see if I can make time to start going out again.

Here is a picture of me with my dance partner :-)




Until next time.
May God bless you and keep you.
Pedro

october 2009, continued

October has been quite the eventful month. I attended Kevin's wedding, went to the Mary Poppins musical, helped out at the Plano International Festival, went on three dates with a girl (*ahem*), went to the Third Day concert, Tekken 6 came out, and I gave a talk at church, in front of the whole congregation.

...Yep, it sounds amazing (to me, at least). It's just hard to believe that I went from being a guy that didn't want to go anywhere near a church, to somehow serving God by talking at church on a Wednesday evening service. But, that just goes to show how awesome God is, making something out of nothing.

The talk was titled "Sharing our faith". I discussed what, how, when, where and why we share our faith. I mainly focused on Scripture throughout, meaning I didn't really "preach" or anything. I explained "what" the Christian faith is about using various verses from the Bible, with the "mindset" of having a situation where someone asks you to share your faith with them. The "how" wasn't as straight-forward, as many different situations call for different approaches, and honestly, I don't know. It's one of those "say what God puts in your heart" and "do what He tells you to do" kinda deals. The "when" and "where" were pretty easy (anytime, anywhere). The "why", well, was pretty easy too. God gives us so much without us even having to do a single thing (all we need to do is receive it), that it should be motivation alone to share it with others. I provided some Scriptures throughout the whole thing, and shared my testimony in the "why". Also, I threw in a story and/or joke here and there throughout the talk.

Overall, I think it went well. People seemed to have a good time.

Anyway, I don't take credit for it. I recognize that God helped me every step of the way, and that if it wasn't for Him, I wouldn't even be attending church in the first place. It felt kinda weird to have people congratulating me and thanking me after service was over. I mean, I guess I wanted to say "thanks" to their gratitude, but I recognize that it's God who deserves the glory and appreciation. All I did was read the Bible and talk about what I read. In any case, I'm glad they liked it. :)

I'll conclude by saying that I'm thankful to God for bringing me this far, and for putting me under my Pastor's guidance (I'll put up a picture of him sometime). I just can't imagine where I would be or what my state of heart and mind would be like if God hadn't rescued me from where I was three years ago. Words can't describe it. I love God so much. I never want to let go. The kicker is that He loves me more than I love Him. Who can understand Him?

fall 2009

Well, it seems like not that much has happened lately. Nothing extreme, I guess.

I've been attending the team meetings for the Kairos prison ministry. We are scheduled to go into the prison on the weekend of November 15th to minister to the guys on the inside. There's quite a bit of prayer involved both for the team going in, and for the brothers in white. Let's pray that God may deliver those in spiritual bondage, with the freedom that only comes from knowing Jesus Christ.

As far as other ministries, I've really been slacking in the other prison ministry I was helping out with by translating articles into Spanish. I translated what they gave me, but it's taken me forever to actually sit down and verify they are correct before I turn them in. I really need to work on that. Lastly, I talked to my Pastor about presenting something in Sunday school, but he instead asked me to present it in one of our mid-week services (on Wednesday) to the congregation. Needless to say, I'm humbled by the request -- who knew that I would go from not wanting to be anywhere near a church, to actually standing in front and talking. I praise and thank God for all He's done for and in me. I have been writing down/recording some ideas on how I want to present it, but I guess I'll really sit down and do it this weekend (the talk is next week). I will keep you posted on how it turns out.

***

As far as actual "events" I've been to lately, I went to a wedding last month. A brother in Christ that I met at Tres Dias was getting married, and he invited all the men from the weekend. I also had the opportunity to teach him and his now wife some salsa dancing before the wedding. They are a really cute couple, and I pray that God will continue to bless them with good health and a strong relationship. Here are some pictures:



Too cute. God bless them.



Me with Hoang-Kim at the wedding. =)


***

A couple of weeks ago I participated in the Plano International Festival, helping the Vietnamese community in the international fashion show. It was a lot of fun just hanging out dressed in an ao dai. There was a Puerto Rican booth at the event, and I managed to get a bacalaito. We then went to Brio (Italian restaurant) for food and more good times. Here are pictures:



The (mostly) Vietnamese group. =)


Representing. ;D


***

Oh, the day before the Plano International Festival, I went out with some friends to see the Mary Poppins musical. It was pretty awesome. I'm not very into musicals at all, but that was quite the treat. I thought it would be a lot more expensive, too, but it ended up being around $40. I guess it's kinda steep for two hours of entertainment, but I think it was worth it.

***

One of the things I'm looking forward to is the Third Day concert, which is this Thursday (October 22nd). Ever since I heard their "Revelation" song on the radio, I got hooked. I've purchased pretty much all their albums, and haven't gotten tired yet. Anyway, some time ago I noticed they were going to be in town, and I got a ticket with the quickness. I'll be going by myself, which I'm not sure if it's sad or not (to be honest this will be the second concert I'll attend) but I don't care. It's my favorite band at the moment, and I'm sure I'll have a good time.

Another thing that's coming up is the release of Tekken 6. I know I mentioned I've pretty much stopped playing, but I think I'm going to get it anyways. I am curious about it, and want to learn how to play my characters in this new version. Some guys from Puerto Rico are going to be traveling to the US for tournaments, and I may join them in one or two. But for that, I have to actually practice first. I'm pretty sure I won't be playing as much as I used to, especially since I've been very busy lately. I haven't even been salsa dancing in quite a while, which is something I used to do on the regular. Oh well. I guess I'll post up whenever I go to a tournament or something.

***

I won't talk much about it, but recently I met a girl that caught my attention. It seems like I caught her attention as well. More on this later. Stay tuned.

Life is great. God is awesome.

It's been some time since the last update. Quite a few events have happened since then. Before I get into those, one of the things I failed to update on my last posts has been my salsa class with the kids! At the end of the semester, we put together a show for the teachers and parents. The event wasn't exclusive to us, though - I guess all of the different after hours "clubs" put on a show, we just happened to be the closing event for it. ;-)

Anyway, the kids did great! It was quite a tiring week. We only started -really- practicing for it like one week in advance, so we had to practice for an hour or so each day. The kids, even though still being kids, put quit a bit of effort into it. We assigned partners (frustrating but hilarious process, as you can imagine with 10 year olds) and we practiced and practiced old and new moves. All in all, it was a routine that lasted roughly 60 to 90 seconds. Not much, but the crowd ate it up. I taught the kids how to do a dip at the end, and the audience really liked it. The kids dressed up and looked great. If you have me as a Facebook friend you can find the video of it in my profile. Otherwise, I can put it on Youtube if someone requests it here. For the moment, enjoy some pictures:

The boys.

Goofing off with the boys. =)

Ms. J with the girls.

The kids making their way onto the stage.

****

A couple of weeks ago, work led me to New Jersey for a week. I went with people I hadn't really worked before, and had a great time. I got to know more of them at lunch/dinner and just being at work. They are good people, and I pray that God continues to bless them in all they do. We finished up pretty early on our last day of work in New Jersey, and decided to take the train up to New York for the rest of the day. What a blast. We visited Ground Zero (I hadn't been there before. What a blessing to be able to see the Ground Zero cross and listen to the story behind it!), had a hot dog, had a slice of New York pizza, walked through Central Park, went to eat dinner in Chinatown, played Tekken 6 at the Chinatown Fair arcade, had New York cheesecake, and concluded the night with a visit to the Empire State Building. Needless to say, we were super tired by the end of the day, but it was definitely worth it. The only sad part of the day was that it was the same day that Michael Jackson died. It was a weird feeling. We heard the news of him being in the hospital around the time we were visiting Ground Zero, and then late at night we heard the news of him being dead as we walked past MTV and saw all the fans displaying their RIP signs. Anyway, we took the ~11pm train back to New Jersey, and flew back to Texas the next day.

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I mentioned in one of my older posts that I was considering re-taking Vietnamese I and II again in the summer. So I did, and it was tough. The class itself was ok, but it's Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 8:30, which became exhausting after a while. After Viet I was over, I decided not to take Viet II. Well, I signed up for it, but ended up not attending. I went yesterday for the first time to help my friend with a class presentation, and plan to attend next week, but I don't think I'll put time/effort into it outside of class. Don't get me wrong, I'm still fascinated by the Vietnamese language, it's just that it takes quite a bit of time, which I seem to cherish more and more now. Anyway, I leave you with a picture from after our presentation for Vietnamese I:

With my partner and friend Hoang-Kim (she's the one I mentioned won the Miss Texas Jr Teen pageant)

****

The final event I'll talk about happened this past weekend. I went to a Christian (non-denominational) retreat called Tres Dias. What a blessing. It's an experience beyond words. I'll just say that a lot of prayer and effort is put into it by the Christian community, and is aimed at the attendants experiencing God in a new, refreshing way. God really revealed himself to me this weekend, and renewed my strength and my faith, reminding me what He's done for me and what He continues to do. It was also a blessing to share the weekend with so many brothers in Christ. I met so many new people which I will call brothers and friends. I look forward to growing in my renewed relationship with Jesus Christ and my relationship with my new brothers, and I also look forward to serving in future Tres Dias weekends, that others may experience God in the way He chooses for them.

I invite you to take a look around for information on Tres Dias. It's an international organization, which means you can have that experience in many parts of the world. You can only attend if you're sponsored by a person that has attended previously, so if you feel that God is tugging at your heart for you to go and experience Him, I suggest that you ask around. I would also feel honored to sponsor someone to attend, so feel free to ask me.


May God bless you and keep you.
Until next time,
Pedro