Final Video from Seminary Class

God's Provision

There are many things I don't understand in life. There are almost zero things I understand about God. One such thing I cannot wrap my head around is this idea of "grace". Why in the world would God, the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of this entire Universe, want to give an unwarranted, undeserved gift to ungrateful sinners such as us? It blows my mind! It blows my mind so much that I am up at 1:48 AM working on a blog post to talk about it!

Today, God reminded Laura and me of His grace through a simple reminder of a promise which He makes to us: He will sustain us. For months, Laura and I have cried out to God for financial provision. Getting married and moving to California to go to school isn't exactly the best financial decision we have ever made (as we have been reminded), but, for some reason, we knew He wanted us here. Yesterday, I was offered a job opportunity which seemed to be God's provision. I was quick to say YES due to our need. Well, as I thought through it, I figured out that I would not be happy in the situation, but I figured I would take the job anyway. Today, God stepped in and allowed us to see His provision through other means: none other than His Church (in particular, our local congregation). Our church voted to help provide for us so that we would not be forced to take two and three jobs a piece. This small congregation saw our need and answered the need. We know that God lead this decision. Praise God for His leadership and His Church.

As I said, I know very little about God. But I will say that the few things I do know about Him make me want to love Him passionately. Every time He even shows a peek of the unstoppable Glory which defines Him, I just want to call my mom like I do everytime I get a good grade on a paper (yes, I still do this....just ask her) and scream. We love Him because He first loved us.

I read this tonight in an incredible book of Puritan inspired prayers, The Valley of Vision, and wanted to share it with you:

           Thou hast shown me

            that the sensible effusions of divine love

             in the soul are superior to and distinct from

             bodily health,

            and that oft-times spiritual comforts are

             at their highest when physical well-being is

             at its lowest.

Praise God for His infinite grace.

In Christ,

Steve

Kwangsu comes to class....

Our friend, Kwangsu, who decided to visit from South Korea came to class with us tonight....

Join us next week as we have the final week of our 10-week course @ Golden Gate....hope to see you there!

Video Blog #2....Same class

My question for tonight...
When is the last time your school had an icecream party? 3rd grade? Should have come to Golden Gate...

A Little Glimpse into Seminary Class...

Our class hit a "low-point" tonight, so I thought I would sneak you guys in for a minute...

Top 10 Reasons Why We Love California

Before moving here Steve and I were questioned quite a few times about why we would ever want to live in California. I think some of you may still be wondering why. Hahaha. So I have decided to enlighten all of you Southerners to the top ten great things of the West Coast. In no particular order….

1.       Every public bathroom has toilet seat covers.

2.       Deer appear more frequently than squirrel (Steve said we saw a 10-point last night… whatever that means I’m not sure).

3.       The beach is about a 10 minute drive away.

4.       There is no need for heat or air conditioning

5.       There is free fellowship lunch after church every week in the Chinese church.

6.       Goodwill sells almost exclusively designer clothes.

7.       Dogs are allowed in any store.

8.       Casual clothes are always appropriate.

9.       Minimum wage is eight dollars an hour.

10.   The ethnic food is authentic.

(Us enjoying studying in the beautiful California sunshine!)

Fun and games aside there are some other reasons we have come to love this place too…. We pray that you will partner with us in loving this place where very few are showing the love of Christ.

1.       San Francisco is only about 3% churched.

2.       There are about 2 million college students in CA without any Baptist ministries on their campus.

3.       San Francisco has between 7 and 10 thousand homeless people.

4.       San Francisco has the highest percentage of Homosexuals and Bisexuals of any major city in America. This amounts to over 94,000 people.

5.       Most churches are small and in need of strong discipleship and leadership.

6.       Tiburon is one of the top 10 most expensive cities to live in in the US. Many idols exist in the form of wealth here.

7.       The top two religions in the area are Roman Catholic and Muslim.

8.        More than 20 abortion clinics are in the bay area.

9.       21 different Wicca groups exist in Northern California. (Some who practice at night around Golden Gate Seminary)

10.   On average more than 25 people commit suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge yearly.

Please pray along with us that God would break the hearts of many Christians for the people of California. Pray that he would send more workers to this harvest field. We know that our God is the God of this city and will be worshiped here.

We love and miss you all!
Laura