To Be Free

(version 1.3 with personal & Chica's comments)

Rev. Maak Hei Chun is one excellent evangelical speaker and teacher ... his message touches many people ... including me (and Chica too).

Today in an evangelical meeting with the college and youth group, he talked about his missions with other Christian speakers throughout the world ... spreading the gospel to all nations in all languages.

He said that Jesus wants us to follow His way ... to do what He did ... to do even greater things in His name. All of us are capable of doing great things when we have Jesus in our heart ... to have faith ... and we can be free from our sins, from ourselves, from our world, and even from our death.

To be free from our sins...

Even as a Christian, Rev. Maak claimed that he is capable of sinning ... actually, he claimed that all Christians will sin because all Christians are human ... and it is in our nature to sin. However, with Jesus’ love and sacrifice on the cross, we all can be forgiven for our sin ... Jesus will always forgives us when we come to Him and repent. Then what set Christians apart from non-believers? ... Well, a Christian will always keep striving not to sin ... and one day, when we truly have Him in our heart, we will not feel the need to sin. He also reminded us that as we ask for forgiveness, do not forget to forgive ourselves.

To be free from ourselves...

Rev. Maak told a true story about an honest, rich, business man he knew back in China ... who had everything that he wanted. However, this business man had a busy mind and it did not allow him to sleep. He tried sleeping aid, but it did not help. Western and Eastern medicine cannot solve his problem ... and so he tried ti-che ... yoga ... and other method of meditation ... but all without success. Then one day, someone suggested to him that he should turn to Jesus for help. So, with all alternatives exhausted, he gave it a tried on a sleepless Sunday morning ... and as the pastor spoke, he had his very first good sleep in ages. From then on as his went back (for sleep) ... he thanked God for freeing him from his dilemma with himself.

Moreover, Rev. Maak told us that we needed to allow God to free us from our weaknesses and from our strengths ... yes, from both end to balance us. We all would love to get rid of our weaknesses ... (I for one would love to do that) ... and to do that, we need to let God into our heart ... to let go of control ... to have faith. But why do we need to free ourselves from our strengths, too? Well, we can let our pride get in the way ... our accomplishment makes us boastful, and we can get a “big ego” ... and therefore, we must remain humble ... and balance.

To be free from our world...

In another story, Rev. Maak told us how the world can draw us into conforming with everyone else. It is a story about a baby eagle, taken from his nest by a farmer traveling on the mountain side. The farmer brought him back to his farm and raised the young eagle as one of his chickens. The eagle ate and did whatever the chickens did. Years later, a friend of the farmer came by ... and at first, this friend thought the eagle is was an odd looking chicken from a distant land. But after a closer look, this friend notices that it is a magnificent eagle and wanted to see him fly. However, the farmer believes that eagle will never fly ... since he raised this bird as one of his chickens ... but he allowed his friend to try. This friend of his tried to hold the eagle up high and let it fly ... the eagle started to flap by spreading his majestic wing out ... but when the eagle saw that chicken feed on the ground, he glided down to it and ate. The friend however did give up and tried again from the top of the roof ... and the same thing happens when the eagle saw the chicken feed down below. With one more attempt by the friend ... they went back to the mountain side on that clear sunny day ... and this time when the eagle spread his wing, he saw something new ... and he flew into the open sky. Yes, everyone is capable in spreading their wings and fly into the open sky ... (this is what I’m praying for Chica ... to fly free)

To be free from our death

Rev. Maak then told us that death is part of life ... and we are young (compare to him) and don’t think of it, but it will come sooner or later. Can we truly say that we don’t fear death? ... to be thankful till our last breath? Well, we can if we believe and follow Jesus.

We all can choose to follow Jesus' way and do great thing in His name ... to be free to fly into the open sky. Rev. Maak also mentioned that it is good to be balance ... to not take anything in extremes ... and to this conclusion, I look forward in following his advices and ask Jesus for guidance ... to let go of control ... to have faith ... (and that is something that Chica tried showed me during the night before ... she knew the answer to my dilemma ... she is truly my angel).


edit: from Chica
reference scripture:

John 14:11-12

11 "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on that evidence of the miracle themselves."

12 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

Jesus did not seem to accomplish a lot in his life time. His lifestyle was very simple; He did not have the technology that we have; He did not even ride a horse, only a donkey; He died at age 33, We can do greater things that He does, we can spread the gospel wordlly, even though so far away, with different languages.

But how can we do greater things than Jesus?

1. By praying

2. If you love Him, you would follow/obey His command. (John 14:25 "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

*Our spirits are greater than evil spirits

*But do not ask evil spirits to come into you. If you ask, it can overtake you. So don't join blackmagic games/shows, etc.

*Take some theological courses through seminary.