Category Archives: Seminars and Convocations

RHTS 2010 @ Pacifica – A Reflection

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I give great thanks to God that I was able to attend the Regional High School Theological Seminar (RHTS) this summer at Pacifica Church.  Growing up in church sometimes causes me to think that every spiritual seminar I go to will turn out the same, but I’m glad to say that that was not the case this year.  When I was registering for the event, I noticed that very few people signed to go this year compared to the attendance last year.  My first reaction was “Aw, man! This is going to be no fun!”  However, I realized throughout the course of this RHTS that it is not man that makes these events “fun” or edifying, but God.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

God is the origin of all our spiritual blessings, and He is the one that has the power to guide and bless every one of our church events.

The theme this year was A Life of Victory.  We studied a wide variety of topics under the guidance of God and the workers He sent to help us, including The Transformation of Peter, Joseph and Samson, Romans, Daniel, Ephesians, Acts and Evangelism, and Water Baptism and One True Church.  From these, we learned about the foundations and pillars of our beliefs and how to defend them, the importance of Holy Spirit and God’s Word in transforming our mentality and our lives, and how to be victorious through humility and faith in God.

In addition to the lectures, we had many wonderful prayers, sharings, fellowships, and testimonies between the counselors and the students.  I believe that many of us gained just as much, if not more, from the activities outside of lectures as we did from the formal classes.  One gift that everyone received from these activities was the gift of experiencing God’s undying love for us.  Whether through the Scriptures, through prayer, or through the words of our fellow brethren, I saw that God touched the hearts of every holy worker and attendee with His gift of love.  One of the most memorable was Psalms 103, shared by one of the brothers who testified:

“…The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.  He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.  For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.  As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.  For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust…” (Ps 103:8-14)

Although at times it seems that we are few in number and lacking in strength, we don’t need to worry.  From this RHTS, I learned that God is loving and faithful to the children that He chose from the beginning of time.  As long as we are willing to put our trust in Him, our rock and salvation, and obey His word, God will abide with us and allow us to see Him work.

Only Believe, All Things Are Possible

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In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I testify about how God has guided me throughout my life, and how I received the Holy Spirit.

I was born into the True Jesus Church.  My parents, my older sister, as well as my mother’s side of the family were all believers.  I was baptized when I was very young.  However, unlike many believers who grew up in TJC, I had a very different childhood.  My parents moved to North Carolina in hopes of finding a nice place to live.  There were many good schools here, good jobs, and good living standards.  So although I was born in TJC, I grew up in a remote area with no church or prayer house.  We used to have Saturday family services with my family and my mom’s side of the family.  I don’t remember the details because I was so young, but there were one or two other families that came to service, too.  Eventually, those families left church, and my mother’s family moved to California.  When I was in 4th grade, we moved to a new house just two minutes away.  At the time, my parents worked very hard to provide for my sister and me.  Eventually, my mom began working longer shifts, including Saturdays.  My sister is 11 years older than me, so at that time she also started college.  On Saturdays, it would just be my dad and me.  I didn’t grow up with Religious Education, so my dad taught me everything I knew.  We would study the Bible and sing hymns together.  After lunch, he would always ask me to recite Psalm 23 or the Lord’s Prayer for him. Continue reading →

EWR 2008 – The Spark Will Go On

A week of brainstorming, work sessions, battles, tea times, lectures, and research has coursed through our lives like a river, half pushing us, half pulling us…sometimes inspiring, other times intimidating. Time has passed us by in a hurry, and we — an adventurous group of EWR writers — are back at the busy train station of the real world. We stand here, trying to hold on to the lingering laughter and lessons of the past few days. We recount the memorable phrases and the touching moments with a subtle nostalgia.

“High-five yo!” – courtesy of Angela

Tea time with a British flair.

“Find the nugget…the spark…the jewel…the gem…” – courtesy of Julius

BBQ at the park among deer, squirrels, and a scary flock of geese.

“Picture time! One…two…all right!” courtesy of Liliana

The sudden emergence of mysterious EWR bookmarks.

This seminar brought each of us face-to-face with the angel of the Lord. We wrestled. We struggled. We held on to Him until He blessed us. And we were not disappointed.

Fires have been lighted in our hearts and minds. Our keyboards have been licked by the flames of biblical inspiration. The flickers within have been fanned aflame by the close fellowship of modern-day scribes.

We stand at this train station, ready to step back into our individual worlds. We separate, yet remain joined under a single, fiery, steadfast banner: “Ready Writers for God.”

Day 4

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One of the most important lessons that I learned during this EWR was to imitate Mary’s attitude towards serving the Lord.

Mary worshipped the Lord by listening to Jesus Christ. While Martha served, she grew frustrated because she focused on production, which is what I found myself doing during EWR. I always knew writing wasn’t my forte, but during the beginning of the retreat, I kept thinking of how to improve my writing.

During the next couple of days, I realized (through classes, prayers, and the sharing of others) that writing isn’t the main point. Servitude and our attitude are. Only when we have humility, can we empty ourselves (our interpretations of the Bible, our ideas of what we want to write, etc.) can God fill us with what He would like us to do. =)

Day 4 – Be A Bridge

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One of the important ideas I took away from yesterday’s lessons was that our role as writers is to be a bridge; our writing should be a bridge connecting our readers to God. It has always been easy for me to draw the focus of my writing around me; I wanted my readers to know that I received this inspiration, that I discovered it in my Bible reading, that I experienced it in my life. Because of this bit of self-interest, whenever I felt that my faith was low or that my inspiration was dry, I had nothing that I thought was worth writing about.

Our attitude in writing, however, should be purely to serve God, to bring others closer to God, without a hint of self-exaltation or pride. It shouldn’t focus on ourselves and on our work, our ability to analyze, our ability to see things that other people typically miss. It should stem only from our desire to draw closer to God and to have a deeper understanding of his Word. It is this spark, our inner desire to be near to God, that allows us to find the precious gems we find in our study of the Bible. Even when our faith feels dry and we can’t seem to find any gems, and the only thing we have to give to God is our inner spark, that is enough for us to be a bridge for others to connect to God. Because again, our writing was never about our insights or our inspirations; it’s about the source of all inspiration from the Word of God.

The pure and selfless motive to serve God was exemplified by David. He sought to build the temple for God. If he had built the temple, he could potentially receive much of the glory and credit. The temple would’ve been named the temple of David. But God told him that his son Solomon was to build the temple. Had David carried any bit of self interest in his motive, he would’ve either insisted on his initial intention or felt some degree of bitterness. But instead, David earnestly prepared materials for Solomon, giving his all to support the construction, even though later the temple would be called the temple of Solomon and not the temple of David. His primary desire was just to serve God, and not to serve God in a way that could potentially glorify himself. Again, as writers–no, as servants for God, our willingness to write should be for God’s glorification only, having no hint of self-interest.