The moment you realize it doesn’t matter to you anymore what people say or think about you.
Just because they say or think it doesn’t make it true.
Christ defines you and your identity.
If you know who you truly are, you don’t need to be insecure or defensive about who others say you are.
Christ secures and frees us so we don’t have to be bound by anything or anyone outside of Him.
Praise God.
Kila = Keith (in Hawaiian language). I’m not Hawaiian. Sorry if I've disappointed you.
I'm a UC Berkeley student of Religious Studies and Music. Hence, the things I post.
It's kind of amazing what God has been doing in my life - with my studies, interests, family, and friends. I'm a complete failure like the rest of His followers, "but because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved." (Eph. 2:4-5)
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You know what’s freeing?
My mom and I are heretics.
| Mom: | Keith, wake up! Get up. |
| Me: | *groggy* Huh? |
| Mom: | We missed church. |
| Me: | Oh ... |
| Mom: | It's okay. Let's turn on the TV and call it "church." Come on, Keith. Church time!! |
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
I’ve never had a brother or sister. Only child. But God’s been showing me the amazing family that He draws together by His grace.
In high school, I had a really close friend. We would talk a lot about God. And he would constantly question the point and purpose of Christ. What was always amazing about our friendship is that we could not talk in ages, but then click and reconnect like old buddies. We go to different colleges, and this is very much the case. But when we start talking to each other again, we’ll spill our lives and talk about the same crap we used to discuss as if we were back in high school.
Today, we spilled. He told me,
“So, after 10 freaking years that I’ve been told about the Bible (10 years!), I’ve decided it’s time to define my life in terms of Christ.”
And he went on to talk about his issues and God’s grace toward him. My mind was blown.
It’s amazing to think that we may have lives that lead us to different countries and peoples, but we’ll still be siblings under God’s gracious care. Oh, brother! I’m eternally bound to this fool.
I’m so excited.
“Let’s Get It On (Marvin Gaye Cover)” by Pentatonix
Pentatonix. This is why I love them. Their lead. Their backups. Their basses/beats. They even got Sara Bareilles’ standing ovation.
“I Won’t Give Up (Jason Mraz Cover)” by Lennon and Maisy Stella
That little girl.
Acts 9:1-22 “The Conversion of Saul circa 1986” - graphite and digital colors
“God’s reckless grace is our greatest hope.”
— Tim Keller
(Source: whiteflagxp, via giovannypanginda)
sonder
n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
Wedding Bell Blues: God Calling Me to the Altar
I just got back from my first attendance of a friend’s wedding. It was a small wedding out in a city known, if known at all, for it’s winery and suburban feel.
Prior to this wedding, I felt pretty depressed. Mainly because I have a very strong (unwanted) calling in my life to be celibate. And I have been writhing in pain and cursing and crying that God would change these circumstances, but He hasn’t.
My mind reeled with these thoughts as the bridesmaids walked down and lined up before the floriated gazebo. The groomsmen took their places on the other side. I thought, I’m never going to have groomsmen. I’ll never be able to give my best friend the honor of being my best man.
As the groom stood under the covering, the flower girls prepared the way for the bride. And we all rose to witness the beautiful woman walk down the path. A beautiful woman that I’ll never have, I mumbled. She approached her groom.
And suddenly, I was knocked from my self-focused thoughts as the groom said to his bride, “I promise to give all that I possibly can to support you.” At that instant, I saw in my groom-friend the same Christ who was so willing to give all - even to die on the cross - for His bride. In my friends and best friends sitting next to me, there also sat the witnesses and partakers of a future and better wedding in which I would be bound to One who will be my Founder and Supporter. In the bride, strangely enough, I saw myself.
It’s quite the profound mystery: marriage. It’s not just a joyful time for a man and a woman. It’s a serious covenant of sacrificial love between Christ and His Church. I may not be called to be a husband. But from the moment He laid His eyes on me, I have always been called to be His bride. Though this fact may hurt me and stab at my pride, may God grant me the ability to be joyfully submissive to Him, to bear the cross, to die to myself, and to take courage that I will be made perfect and refined for/to Him on the day of matrimony.
“Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready.” (Rev 19:7)
“The question is not “How am I to find God?” but ” How am I to let myself be found by him?” The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?” And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?” … God is the father who watches and waits for his children, runs out to meet them, embraces them, pleads with them, begs and urges them to come home… pays no heed to apologies and promises of change, and brings them to the table richly prepared for them.”
— Henri J.M. Nouwen (The Return of the Prodigal Son)
(Source: thedissonantlife)
Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt
Maybe I just need to stare at this…
(Source: by-the-inglenook)
