SLR: Church History Part 1: Persecution, Heresies, Famous People, and Deterioration of Faith

Background

I have always liked History, perhaps because there is this intricate feeling of reliving the past, the feeling of being a visitor experiencing the very lives of people hundreds of years ago. Talking about church history, it is full of tragedies and victories, all the extremes of human life vividly displayed in a kaleidoscope. This article acts as the summary of few takeaways I got from the recent course: The Church: From Pentecost to the Reformation.

By the way, the concept of history could have at least two meanings. 1st, it could refer to the events that happened in the past; 2nd, it could refer to the study of the past. Being lazy as I am, I usually want to simply enjoy the findings of more diligent historians and just read about the past. However, it is vital also to understand the process of producing these findings and know, that the history we read are mostly assumptions and logical deductions. The course teacher provides a perspective on the study of history: “In determining historical cause, the historian must carefully consider the impact of God’s divine control and human freewill” (Smeeton 2015, 304). In other words, factual events in history might be divine interventions of God, or they might happen due to some extempore burst of human action without any reasonable cause.

Now, let us revisit some historical moments from the past.

Persecution of Early Christians

The history of the Christian church begins after the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. During the Jewish festival of Pentecost, something extraordinary happened. After these events, the Christian community in Jerusalem grew steadily, accompanied by miracles and wonders. However, these were not easy times. Jewish religious leaders felt that their authority and dominance had been challenged, so they arrested Christians and tried to condemn them. The first Christian martyr was Stephen, and there arose “a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem”, which forced Christians to spread widely, taking the Good News about Jesus everywhere they went (Acts 8:1-8).

Again and again there were persecution of early Christians recorded in the book of Acts, as well as in the books of history. Not only Jewish religious folks persecuted Christians, soon also the Roman officials, including the emperor himself, began to persecute Christians. There are few reasons:

• Christians did not worship the emperor --> their loyalty was questioned
• Christians did not commit to Roman ways of expressing loyalty, such as declaring “Caesar is lord”, or offering incense to the emperor.
• Christians did not worship any visible images or artifacts --> they were thought to be atheists, because at the time Roman gods had visible images and statues
• Christians talked about eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus --> they were thought to be cannibals
• Christians spoke of love for their brothers and sisters --> they were thought to practice incest and hold sexual orgies
• Christians threatened the privileges of rich and powerful, because they believed that all men are equal

The persecution meant mostly death: they were arrested and taken to colosseums, or killed on the cross, or burned at the stake etc. Such severe consequences intimidated many, but the courage and commitment shown by Christian martyrs had even stronger influence on more people. Many new converts confessed their faith in Jesus, and Christian church grew rapidly through persecutions. This growth is called by Sell (1998, The Church in Victory) as “one of the marvels of history”. It is well concluded by Schaff (1992, 14), that this growth “furnished striking evidence of its divine origin”, and regarding persecution: “every genuine martyr was a living proof of the truth and holiness of Christian religion”.

Heresies Through the Centuries

In the early days of Christianity, apostles and church leaders faced many questions regarding the exact doctrine of this new religion. In the books of New Testament, Paul of Tarsus provided a comprehensive telling of fundamental Christian doctrines: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); Jesus sacrificed Himself to pay for the sins of everyone (John 3:16-17, Romans 5:6-9), and everyone can be saved/justified by God through receiving/believing in this gift of Jesus (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-9). In addition, New Testament tells about bodily resurrection, return of Jesus, condemnation of sinners and Satan, and eternal glory with God for Christians.

However, there are numerous details regarding Christian life that are not defined: should Christians be living in seclusion or gain wealth in this world? Should church have temporal power (political, social, juridical, etc.)? Should there be only one church organization, or can there be many churches? Etc.
There are also numerous theological details left unstated: what is the nature of Jesus? How can God be one if Jesus is also God? Are the wine and bread really blood and flesh of Jesus? Cannot man live a good life and be fully acceptable to God?

Below is a table presenting the major heresies faced by the early church, and most of them have had continued influence throughout centuries until our days!


The heresies and pagan influences forced early Christian leaders to define orthodoxy doctrines regarding all aspects of life. Through the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit, the church emerged victorious from one heresy after another. However, human impact also accumulated, and the medieval church went far away from the way it was supposed to be.

Famous People

History is full of people we do not know, because most men lived and died without being acknowledged by any historian. This does not give credit to these men and women, because they certainly left their marks in the history! Though no human historian has recorded their lives, the divine Historian certainly has all the things in his famous book (Revelation 20:11-15). In the space below, I present few of the well-recognized historical persons, who had tremendous impact on the life of Christian church.

Polycarp (ca. 70-156) was the church leader in Smyrna (nowadays Izmir, Turkey), who knew apostle John personally. The description of the last words of Polycarp is touching: “The Proconsul continued insisting and saying, “Swear, and I release you; curse Christ.” And Polycarp said, “Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”” (Smeeton 2015, 60). Then he was burned to death.

Tertullian

Tertullian (ca. 160-220), a.k.a. Father of Latin Theology, spoke out against the increasing worldliness in the church, and defended orthodox faith against Gnostics and Docetists. Tertullian provided theological definitions regarding Christ and Trinity, and he eventually joined Montanist movement as a protest against corruption of church.

Already back in the third century, Origen (ca. 185-254) developed the exegetical study of the Bible. Emperor Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which made Christianity a legal religion. The first pope is often held to be Leo I of Rome (440-461), who established papal primacy with the support from emperor.

Benedict of Nursia (ca. 480-547) founded the Monte Cassino monastery in 529, which started the Benedictine Rule, balancing the lives of monks between work, study, worship, and healthy living (Smeeton 2015, 119). Patrick (389-461) evangelized Ireland, which became predominantly Christian at his death. Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428) introduced the grammatical historical method of interpreting the Bible. Jerome (ca. 345-419) translated the whole Bible from original languages to Latin, which became the official church Bible for the next thousand years!

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is well known to modern scholars and students of theology: his books Confessions and City of God are classics, and his theology has impacted the church life in many ways. Augustine wrote against the various heresies at his time, and contributed to theological areas such as the doctrine of church, doctrine regarding human sinfulness and salvation, and doctrine regarding the grace of God.

Then few missionaries: the “apostle to the Germans” Boniface (680-754), the “apostle to the North” Ansgar (801-865), and the “apostles of the Slavs” Cyril and Methodius. There were also many reformers, who saw the spiritual decline of the church and wanted to change that trend: William of Occam (ca. 1290-ca. 1349) attacked superstitious aspects of Catholic religious life; Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260-1327) and other Christian mystics sought personal experience with God; Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) emphasized personal devotion and social involvement; John Wycliffe (ca. 1328-1384) translated the Bible into English; John Hus (ca. 1369-1415) highlighted the Bible as the absolute authority.

Medieval Church Map

These and many more testified for the vitality and power of Christian faith in the dark periods of Christian history. Many paid the price with their lives. Was it worth it? These brilliant men and women did not seek worldly glory, but they trusted their Lord to reward them justly, and they shall not be disappointed.

Deterioration of Christian Faith

The Christian faith has deteriorated since its beginning all the way through the 16th century. The church stayed united within the Roman church all the way until year 1054, when the Greek Orthodox church fully separated. From outward aspects, the overall Christian church continued its growth all this time, evangelizing and converting more and more pagans from surrounding areas. But internally, the quality of faith rotted away to give way to wealth and power.

This trend was mainly due to the increasing material wealth and political power yielded by papacy and church, which caused clergy to focus on wealth of this world instead of spiritual things. Despite the negative overall trend of secularization, the severe inquisitions showed that there were always those committed to Christ and wanted reform in the church.

Catholic theology also contributed to the spiritual decline, because it began to emphasize clergy as the necessary middle man between man and God, and it declared that there is no salvation outside of Roman Catholic church. Popes began to issue papal decretals, which were letters with binding authority similar to decrees of emperors. The climax of papal status and at the same time papal erroneous doctrine took place when pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) wrote the Dictatus Papae, which essentially gave papacy the authority and role of God on earth. How lost and blind these “holy men” were!

Selling of Indulgences

Catholic theology also supported the selling of indulgences to allow people to receive forgiveness of sins, and in their greed, the clergy popularized this practice and gained much wealth. The continued misuse of ecclesiastical power and abuse of the trust of people lead to growing discontent. As nation-states began to gain power and Renaissance began to sweep over Europe, the stage was set for the Protestant Reformation. That is the beginning of a new era, which will be discussed separately.

Conclusions

It is obvious that this article only scratches the surface of all the events between 1st and 16th century. Each event, person, and time deserves a longer study of their own. The failures of Christian church include immorality, the sale of grace of God, focusing on wealth and power instead of love and service, cruelty, crusades, and overall hypocrisy. The success of church lies on the God who created it, who calls people to follow Him, and leads the events in history.

My learning from this part of history is that God can use ordinary people in extraordinary ways. Another fact emerges also: the Christian church is founded on Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit actively protects, guides, and helps it to grow. The universal church does not refer to church organization but to the invisible body of truly committed followers of Christ, this should also teach us to not overlook other Christians. Most importantly, would this church history convince you about the faithfulness and goodness of God? It is because of His faithfulness that church has survived until now. History is very helpful in providing perspective, may God help you to see His deeds in the past, and trust in Him with your life for the future.



References:

Eckman, P. James. 2002. Exploring Church History. Wheaton: Crossway.
Schaff, Philip. 1992. History of the Christian Church: Volume II – Ante-Nicene Christianity A.D. 100-325. Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Schaff, Phillip. 1994. History of the Christian Church: Volume III – The Middle Ages: From Constantine The Great to Gregory The Great A.D. 311-600. Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Sell, Henry T. 1998. Studies in Early Church History. Willow Grove: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing.

Smeeton, D. Donald. 2015. The Church: From Pentecost to the Reformation, an Independent- Study Textbook, 3rd Edition. Springfield: Global University.

Sproul, R. C. 2005. The Unexpected Jesus: The Truth Behind His Biblical Names. Fearn, UK: Christian Focus Publications.

Sproul, R. C. 2011. What Is the Trinity?. Orlando: Reformation Trust.

This Lady is 99 This Year!

Congratulations to dear Finland, who turned 99 this year, today. Of course Finnish history extends long before that, but this is to celebrate the founding of the Republic of Finland.

Finland is an unique country, just as unique as any country in this world, but some more. The last 100 years of Finnish history contains a huge leap from rural farming society to modern IT society. The Finnish people have changed from Sweidish speaking aristocrats and cursing farmers to "civilized" Westerners, ranking among the top nations in the world for literacy and higher education. Finnish economy has evolved from forestry and farming to high-tech and service industry. Finnish culture has changed from God-fearing and hard-working to God-less and individualistic. Family values have degenerated, but somethings have not changed: sarcasm, irony, over-consumption of alcohol, and unmovable determination a.k.a. sisu.

It is well known that Finnish people are not easy to befriend with, but it is also very true that Finnish friends prove to be very good friends, often friends for life! There are so many great things about Finland that the world has not discovered, but will these things stay the same if the world discovers them?

One interesting fact: when Finland faced Soviet Union in Winter war between 1939-1940, the president of Finland declared nationwide prayer for the country. And people prayed indeed. Many say that this fear of God was what saved Finland from losing the war, as it was really a miracle that such a small army could withstand the attack of Red Army for so long time. Nowadays the nation of Finland is far away from the atmosphere of prayer or fearing God, history is written by the conquerors, and modified as time passed...

Couple of literary pearls by Finnish author Väinö Linna:
The Unknown Soldier
Under the North Star trilogy

Happy Independence Day, Finland!

Google's way:

Revitalizing The Blog

It seems that this blog has been sleeping for some time, so now is a good time to ring the wake up call. What has happened during the past two years or so?

The monkey king in the picture is not the answer to the rhetoric question above. Two years has included a lot of things, especially in the mind-buzzing high-speed ever-changing environment of China. Maybe it's good to simply summarize, maybe just a few highlights or learnings, if it can rightfully act as an extended memory picture.

1. The biggest thing in the past two years: a transformation of mind. Towards the end of our stay, I felt that I have become a local person. I followed the local news, knew the tricks in dealing with various issues, checked traffic condition from the map before going out, checked regularly air pollution forecasts and planned our life accordingly. Everything was normal, part of life. It felt good to belong, but it also became exhausting. Life in a big city is not easy nor relaxing.

2. The Funniest thing in the past two years: there were so many, perhaps mostly related to our kids. But for me personally, some great colleagues at work have brought a lot of fun into everyday life. The jokes, the discussions, the attitude with which we handled our dwindling job. Very professional, mostly, and definitely unique in many ways. And I find it funny.

3. The happiest moment: This is a tough one, because I tend to find happiness often and in everyday lives. I am often thankful to God for minor details, and satisfaction brings a lot of happiness. Perhaps the major happy moments relate to the assorted meals I managed to enjoy all over the places, heh. Then again, the single most happiest moments relate to seeing and knowing that the lives of some of our dear friends have experienced God and changed. Simple as that.

4. The saddest moment: The saddest moment was, when the husband of my aunt was diagnosed with lung cancer at late stage, but he was kept unaware of the seriousness of it. I went to see him, but could not tell it to him, and could not openly discuss death with him. A couple of weeks later he died, only one day after finding out about the cancer. I think I should have boldly talked to him about things, now it's too late. The saddest moment is the wrong decision / lost opportunity, which can only be regretted. And to learn from.

5. The most touching experience: This also relates to sickness and death. A close family friend was diagnosed with pancreas cancer, went through couple of successful surgeries, but suddenly the cancer spread wider and he died after few months of hospitalization. He was a successful man in his career, artistic, sensible, and has a wife and daughter. He was sporty and tall, and owned a healthy frame. But towards the end, he was stripped one layer at a time, one title at a time, one thing a time, until he was weak, thin, hopeless. His wife stayed by his side until the end, but inside his thoughts, he had to surrender everything that used to be dear to him. I had couple of occasions to visit him, talk with him, pray for him, and tell him about salvation in Jesus Christ. He was willing to receive Jesus into his heart. Was it a desperate grasp of anything that could save him? I don't know. God knows. When I gave him a hug before leaving, he pulled me to himself and gave me a long hug, with tears. I am thankful I could be there for him.

6. The most beautiful thing: The smiles of people, the beautiful creation of God, the growing children, the tears of repentance and salvation. For me, the most beautiful things were minor details I observed through the mundane daily routine. And there were many!


An old man playing guitar and singing old tunes.



A train station right before heavy rain fall



Childhood delicacies: buns with chili, and Tofu with chili sauce



Sea side

In a Time When Nobody Cares

It certainly has been a while since the last article here. Frankly, I do not feel sorry about it. Or perhaps a little.

Writing is a very therapeutic art, cleansing the inner self by organizing thoughts and emotions into sequels of words. Writing during the deep night is even more therapeutic: one sees oneself reflected in writing, quietly, silently, humming away the words which are never heard during the busy moments of daytime.

Nobody cares. This can be a subtle statement about current society. This can also be the tune played in the deep night of the soul. This might simply express the cynical view about life. This might be a weighty accusation towards everyone around. This is me.

Realizing how I change, it is both bewildering and commonplace. People tend to change, it's just that nobody cares. Usually people notice the change in themselves only when major incidents happen, and they react to them in a way that totally surprises themselves. And it is usually not in the manner one would like it to be. well, nobody cares.

Not being cynical or sarcastic, I have simply come to realize: nobody cares. This mantra so well suits the society I current dwell in, possibly addressing its biggest wound at the same time as pointing to the unfortunate indulgence of human nature. People, we, have been marred by sin, which causes us to be self-centered and twisting the truth, deceiving ourselves into ignorance. No wonder "ignorance is a bliss", it truly is.

On a bit more positive note: in a time when nobody cares, the cold cold society creates an immense desire in people to find warmth, feel cared for, and share the coldness of Winter of their souls. Sharing creates warmth, caring creates hope, courage creates faith. Failures create pain, and failures cause cynicism. What a sad sad time.

Holding on to the most precious source of life, love, joy, happiness, hope, faith, courage, and power, I feel obliged to care. Despite the lack of responses, despite my own ups and downs, the road I know to be worthy, I must continue to travel. Let there be more and more joining me on this road, more hearts touched by this life, more justice done in this place, more hope spread in this time. I believe, and I live. Soli Deo Gloria!

Book of Revelation, Chapter 2, verses 1-7:
 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
  These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The New International Version. (2011). (Re 2:1–7). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Self-Deception - Best Friend and Worst Enemy

The landscape of our hearts? Open peaks and hidden valleys.

Now I am arriving at a topic that has long been acutely interesting to me. The reason for this interest is due to the paradoxical and multi-layered nature of the issue.

Self-deception, as Wikipedia defines it, is "highly debated and occasionally argued to be an impossible phenomenon" (accessed 18th Nov. 2012). Through this difficulty, Wikipedia has chosen the definition for Self-deception as "a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument". I will provide another aspect to this.

First of all, the opposite of self-deception could be defined as "awakening". This is my proposal. The concept of awakening implies that the self-deceived is in a state of sleeping, or living in a dream world, away from the reality and truth.

Okey, Matrix or MIB kind of movies have done a good job of enlarging our perception regarding what is "true" and what is "The Matrix". However, our capability to conceive and handle these concepts is an ample proof of our ability to live in self-deception. According to one of Triver's theories, self-deception is a side-product of our ability to think abstractly (Wikipedia). However, debate still exists whether self-deception is an innate characteristic of human nature or it is a learned trait through experience to achieve certain goals (Wikipedia).

Here I propose another root cause analysis: the human nature in its original perfect state did not comprehend false or true, because all things were true and the environment was perfect, because God the Creator was perfect. Due to the choice to disobey God, in a seemingly positive desire to learn more (about good and evil), Adam and Eve broke out from perfection and entered into so-called "abstract thinking". This new state is called "the fallen state of mankind", and it can as well be described as "the state of sin".

Now, so much about the definitions and root cause analysis, I will give some applications of this item. Applications of real life implications, let us start with a well-known psychological concept, the Johari Window:

The implications here are obvious: both the Hidden Self and Unknown Self areas of ourselves are more than vulnerable to self-deception. Of course some can argue that the Unknown Self area lies more in the sub-consciousness, thus cannot be classified as deception - how can one conceal something if not even aware of it? But looking from an objective point of view, or frankly, from Divine point of view, the facts are there even though the person is not aware of it, and it is also self-deception since the person is not aware that he is not aware of it. Getting confused? Please don't, following examples could help to clarify.

Let's take a Western lady as an example, purely imaginary. Aged around 60, she has gone through a multitude of life situations. As a Christian, she has heard about all the Biblical truths there can be preached about.
PUBLIC SELF: she is fully aware of her way of talking to others, how people perceive her as a nice lady with a tender heart, which she certainly is and knows it herself.
PRIVATE SELF: she knows things about herself which others do not know, such as a tendency to dress properly according to situations, caused by the fear of being humiliated publicly. Or, that she is a huge fan of a young and handsome pop-singer but dares not to admit it.
HIDDEN SELF: she does not know this about herself, but everybody around her observes it clearly: she is obsessed with speaking in a "correct" manner, always stressing certain vocals or using certain expressions. She might not like herself doing it if she realized it.
UNKNOWN SELF: she might have some childhood dreams which she has already forgotten, but which still affects her desires and causes her to get excited at certain thoughts or ideas, e.g. traveling to a far country somehow attracts her but she has never stepped out from her home country. Another aspect is mostly cultural, she might not be as individualistic as younger generation, but she blindly believes in the goodness and truthfulness of public authorities and media.

Then let's take a Chinese young lady as an example, purely imaginary. Aged around 20, she just started university and is dating her childhood adoration, a popular young man in the neighboring university.
PUBLIC SELF: she is successful, attractive looking, good in her studies and a good girl at home. Everybody agrees about these.
PRIVATE SELF: she has some bad habits such as chatting online with unknown guys hoping to get some fun out of it. Also, she might really hate living with her parents but cannot show it publicly because it is held as inappropriate. She might dream about running away with her handsome boyfriend but definitely cannot say it aloud.
HIDDEN SELF: others see the proud side of her, a bit arrogant in dealing with other people and some issues. Still others see her tendency to be a spoiled princess, being selfish and self-centered. Usually nobody tells her these things, even her boyfriend, because he thinks it is cute, so far.
UNKNOWN SELF: she does not recognize the imbalance inside of her, due to the culture she is immersed in. For example she used all her attractiveness to entice her current boyfriend to leave his ex-gf, and she did not pity the other girl at all, because all these seem natural to her. She will also devout herself to love her bf totally, surrendering everything to him because he is so handsome and good etc. She does not know why she loves in this way, or is this even real love? In short, she does not recognize her behavioral patterns as right or wrong, but just follows them, as everybody else does.

All the examples above might not be orthodoxy according to Johari model, but they are my applications. As this text nears its end, I am finally approaching my claims and reasons.

If the road is clear, it will be good to travel.

All over the world, I have met people from different social classes, backgrounds, age groups, religions, and family conditions. I have seen many positive traits in many people, but I have also observed many negative characteristics of many people. One of the most painful traits/characters that I have seen/experienced is Self-deception.

Self-deception is so subtle that it tarries with us long time, deceiving us, drags us from true freedom and happiness. Self-deception is not caused by others but rather by ourselves (of course the spiritual adversary and the surrounding world have their parts to play). Self-deception is the single most destructive force in individual lives, preventing us to see ourselves as we really are, putting us on a misty mountain road that is full of pits and falls. Self-deception is the single most dangerous enemy we are facing in ourselves. And we are not facing it.

Ignoring to know myself is to ignore my true self, negligence has a price to pay, if not now then eventually. How, then, can I detect self-deception and overcome the pitfalls and destructive effects it brings to my life? The answer is simple but multifaceted: Jesus. Jesus is the only man who has NOT been tangled in self-deception, and He has meant us to learn from Him, to imitate Him, to follow Him. As the perfect man and perfect God, His divinity does not take away His "accomplishments" as a man, thus here are some clues for us to challenge ourselves, to fight against self-deception：

• Acknowledge that you are vulnerable to be self-deceived
• Have motivation to become "awakened"
• Check your life, objectively compare to Jesus, and see what will you notice in yourself that you have missed earlier
• Be honest with God, and you will hear His honest words to you
• This activity requires the Holy Spirit of God - without Him this will lead to desperation and further deception
• Become teachable, find trustworthy friends/pastors/teachers/mentors to help you
• Let them tell you the truth, they are very helpful especially in the HIDDEN SELF area
• Let them instruct you according to the Bible, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Paul's letter to Philippians, 2:12-13)
• "To work out what God had worked in", live in a way that manifests the saving work God has done in you. (p.42, Roger, 2004, Opening Up Philippians)
•  Find out about cultural issues that hold you back from truth
• Such as behavioral patterns, thought patterns, wrong value system, or missing links of truth
• Remember, it will be a process, but a rich and profitable process! Oh, and it takes the rest of your life time. :)
• You forsake self-deception to gain spiritual and personal growth
• You forsake falsehood to gain truth，and the truth will enable you to be free from bondage and lies
• You might loose a couple of seemingly good friends, just to gain more real good friends
• You might loose some fun, but you will gain everlasting joy and happiness

Self-deception is your best friend, when you want to embrace yourself with self-pity and indulge yourself with temporary relief of pain.
Self-deception is your worst enemy, when you want to be true to yourself and everyone around you. It is also your worst enemy on your road to personal growth, blocking your way to spiritual maturity.
Self-deception is your worst enemy if you want to fully enjoy life and have some everlasting impact in this world.

Only by knowing myself better can I better surrender myself to God.

Satisfaction and happiness

Recently China Central TV made a street survey to "regular people" with a question: Are you happy? The answers were extraordinary. Actually, I have not seen this program and have not heard the answers, except those answers which happened to be extraordinary.

For example, one 20ish student (male), who was queuing to buy a train ticket, was asked by the reporter: What do you want the most? He answered: a girl friend. Reporter: what is the worst thing you have faced so far? Answer: while talking to you, so many people have bypassed me in the queue.

If you didn't get the fun of above reply, don't worry. It's much more fun in Chinese language, haha.

Anyhow, all those extraordinary answers, but the question is actually really simple and valid. Are you happy?

In China, people have a difficulty to define happiness! Perhaps it is same in many other parts of the world. What does it mean to be happy?

Reflecting on our recent life here, contentment and satisfaction come to my mind. Reflecting on the past many years of life, continuous contentment and satisfaction have been a significant "trademark". I could define my happiness in this way: being content and satisfied. This definition rises above the changes in life situations, working environments, living locations, or any other life situations. Proudly, I think this is in line with the Biblical definition of happiness: Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth (Paul's 1st Letter to Timothy, Chapter 6, verse 6. New Living Translation).

Elaborating the thought: why happiness requires both contentment and true godliness? This would come back to the question of the definition of happiness. Relativism argues that everyone can be happy in their own way; truth argues that there is one essential factor to enable happiness, without which there will not be true happiness. Relativism argues further that how can anyone define what is true for another; truth argues that horizontally nobody can define happiness for another, but vertically God has already defined it.

Ah the wonders of our post-modern society and world. Perhaps below picture illustrates the idea of relativism. :)

Another aspect to happiness: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Paul's Letter to Philippians, Chapter 4, Verses 6-7. New Living Translation)

Can it be possible? You bet. Believing is happiness! Think about a child who fully believes in the abilities of her father/mother, what a happy child! I am content, now.

Culture Shock - Now I Got It

Some layers of society:
pure and dirty,
rich and poor,
beauty and ugliness,
God and human,
wrong and right,
injustice and righteousness,
faith and foolishness.

Hah, finally.

Culture shock struck me, kinda of. Recently, after returning from the happy relaxing holiday period, there has been more challenges in everyday life compared to previous period. Challenges have related to dealing with rules and ways of handling things by various entities of this society, human relationship challenges at workplace near me or facing me, experiencing the frustration of common local people towards several areas of life, and all these magnified by increasing tiredness due to workload / flight delays / spontaneous extra responsibilities.

The result is multifold:
- Aggravated spirit inside me towards some on-going issues
- Lack of patience or love to deal with these issues
- Lack of prayerful mind to ask help from above
- Turning to human wisdom and abilities
- Twisted view on things and even people, reflected in less polite or gentle behavior
- Finally, sighs under "heavy burden" and realizing, this is what some people have warned me about. At the same time, sighs expressing frustration and the inability to make a difference.

"You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all."

Tired, bombarded, kind of wasted, I felt the urge to pour out my heart into this blog posting. Then, something happened. I saw that recently this blog post has been frequently visited:
SLR: An Application of Agape Principles in Chinese Culture
Amazed, this was the exact teaching I needed today! It has biblical basis, correct emphasis, and exact tools for me to deal with people around me, starting myself. The objective truth and subjective truth, the genuineness spiced with empathy, and the warm embrace of grace - all speak of the mighty God I have.

Culture shock or not, I know again where should I be heading to in those issues, practicing what  I know to be right, and draw close to the source of my joy and my strength. Thank you God for your wonderful work, your presence, your care, and your divine guidance.

 "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth."
- Job 19:25

At the last He will take His stand on the earth. smiley

Recent developments

It was hard to come up with a title for this blog post, so I apologize for the mundane title it now has. However, hopefully the pictures in this post compensates for your interest.

Life has indeed progressed most rapidly in recent months, so rapidly that I have not had time. Yes, not had time. This is of course a concept worth to be reviewed with more details, I mean the concept of "not had time". Here it acts just as an open excuse for the negligence this blog has experienced in recent months.

May went by with travels, grandma's funerals, busy working weeks, and relatives visiting us.

June went by with some travels, some busy working weeks, some visiting relatives and related bureaucracy, some self studying, and some preparatory works for small group studies.

July went by with seeing off wife and baby, intensive self studies, frequent hospital visits (non-serious nature), emergency business travel, and traveling to the other home country on earth.

The past 2 weeks has been busy with meeting friends and family, traveling, camping, re-capturing our previous life, and partially meditating on our future life. Still ahead is the last part of this holiday trip and then returning to the current home country and the everyday life there.

I am good at giving long lists of what I have done, here comes a short list of what I have found out or pondered about:
- Life in China is very hectic, too hectic. We need to do something about our life there to get things rolling smoothier.
- Life in Finland is very nice, but we do not belong here no more, at this phase.
- There are tremendous opportunities for "doing good" in China.
- There are marvelous friends in our lives, which we will treasure and appreciate.
- Loving parents and family are gifts from God.
- The Creation is so beautiful, after spending 6 months in BJ, the appreciation of pure nature grew tremendously!
- Positive attitude and a clear purpose help to sustain us, all based on the goodness and immanence of God.
- I have learned to use more superlative words to express myself. Perhaps I have now had more superlative emotions? :)

Coming and going, now we are kind of used to it. People meet us and ask when we will leave. It does not feel bad, rather very encouraging: the short moments spent together are much appreciated, and we all know that our family does not belong here, for now. Knowing where we are and why we are, it is very assuring. God is a God of assurance. He does not leave anything uncertain.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Paul's first letter to Timothy, Chapter 1, verse 9: He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. 

Paul's letter to Philippian church, Chapter 3, verses 13 and 14: Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

The letter to Hebrews, Chapter 3, verse 1: Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

Scenery (notice the magnificent clouds)

Picnic in the park, with dear friends

Picnic / swim in the beach, with dear friends, and wonderful weather

The tasty table at a birthday party. Wonderful makers of the cakes and snacks. :)

Earth and sky

Awe struck. "How great, how awesome art Thou!"

A Little Bit of This and That

Somehow the inspiration to write occurs often during the silence of the night. After the busy goings of the day is over, and all rational people are sound asleep, I felt the urge to write.

Our past month has gone by like the wind: quickly and in a clean manner. I do not know if our life has become too simple, or just that we are still in transition. Perhaps all that and even more.

The picture at right side is an ancient sun watch, perhaps invented in China, I don't remember. It reminds me about the uniqueness of time: though ancient, it is still valid; though immeasurable, still measured; though in the past, still in the future; though equally possessed by everyone, still weighing completely different for different people.

I'm sure about it, now: we are in transition. To settle into this new life currently means that we still have questions unanswered, things pending, processes ongoing, and sights unseen. The biggest question currently is: what should we do here? In such a vast city there are all kinds of people, huge opportunities and possibilities, huge needs and at the same time many resources available. I feel like a small detail in the midst of this buzzing society. Perhaps this is the reality I've been exposed to? Is it actually a win or a loss when I forget this feeling and get the answer I want?

All in all, I'm certain that this period of time will pass. We will figure out more about God's plan for us, and we will be busy going about the "official" business. In the mean while, we are learning to pitch our tents for His glory in everyday life. Day by day, the fragrance of Christ will spread from us to our colleagues, neighbors, friends, relatives... That is our prayer.

Life tastes good. Growth takes place also during silent periods. I learn, if I just mind to learn. God speaks, if I just mind to listen. Simple, isn't it? :)

The State of Leaving

"Breaking up is hard to do", says good old song. We are not breaking up, just moving, internationally. We have been living a time of changes, saying goodbyes, packing, unpacking, looking through our stuff and choosing which we want and which to be thrown away. It isn't easy, and we already hope that this period of time will be over.

Yes, it will be over. Every day is closer to the final move, and the transition is always only transition.

Leaving a place is all about inventory, whether be it material or mental garage of life. The moments of joy and sorrow, familiar buildings and surroundings, precious friends, wonderful family (also church family!), everyday meals, nominal routines... Let them be, let them be. Life will continue without us, everything will move on.

We won't, the life of now stays in our minds as a still picture, which we will treasure and zoom in to look at whenever missing home. We will enter another sphere, new rhythm and melody, our life will join the millions of other people in the busy metropolis of China.

What do we take with us? The still picture of current life, the pain of transition, and the excitement of new life.
What do we leave behind us? The possibilities we did not live out, the Finnish childhood Viivi will not have, the events in friends' and family's lives we will miss, and the steady life that would have continued.

Regrets? Life does not give opportunity to regret. There is no if, there is no but. Life goes on, the state of leaving is part of it, and we live through it.

During these times, the words of Paul comforts me:
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Paul's Letter to Philippians 1:20-21)

Let it be a transition that exalts Christ, let it be a change that glorifies Jesus. To live is Christ, He does not change.

Living by faith includes leaving by faith. No matter where we are, we long for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefor God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

In that heavenly country, we will rejoice forever. No need to transit, no need to leave.

Ja "hyvästi" -sanaa ei tunnetakaan. ("Viimeiset veneet", Lasse Heikkilä)

Changes in Life

August, 2011, a new beginning in many ways for our family. After 11 years in Tampere, it is the time to move on. We moved house to the central Finland in the beginning of August, the purpose is to study in a Bible college, and the duration is still uncertain.

The move was much anticipated in many ways: excitement for the student life, interesting study topics, the quietness of a smaller city, more free time to spend within the family ...

The move was of course also dreaded in some ways: the moving is always dreadful, leaving familiar routines and things and people behind and starting anew, a bit uncertain future, and the basic question that how Viivi (1 year old!) is going to feel about moving.

Well, after two weeks of staying in the new home, Viivi is feeling great! The studies have turned out to be more interesting than originally anticipated, and the enthusiasm is arising. Hopefully the essays and exams won't kill the enthusiasm, haha. The floorball season has not started here yet, and the basic information sharing events at school have taken more time than we expected. However, we look forward to starting the routine, to study, to learn, to share, to experience, and to be thankful. This is going to be a great time to re-kindle the passion and fire for God, to meditate, equip, re-focus in life.

There is already one great learning: it's such a blessing to be able to study the Bible and draw close to God! And it's such a great thing to HAVE TIME to spend with God! :D In Tampere the past many years have been full of activities, which themselves were good and useful, but there just haven't been the quietness and time to be near God. Now I can, now we can as a family, learn to find the routine to spend time with God, to bath in His presence, to enjoy His immanency.

We will treasure this period of time. :)

And hopefully I should be able to update the blog in a more regular manner. Autumn cheers!

Summer Loving

Hah, anybody recognized the topic without googling? :P

Summer loving comes from the song Summer Nights, which in turn was a part in the musical Grease. Grease is a must if you want to learn about american (US) culture.

This post is not about US culture, nor about Grease. :)

Summer is now, Finland is experiencing exceptional humidity and temperatures. Kinda nice. In the beginning of July we visited relatives and friends in Eastern Finland, and popped in the Saimaa - the biggest lake of Finland (the land of thousand lakes). The water was COLD! Must have been less than 15 degrees, while the air was ~30 degrees. All the adults were intimidated by the coldness, only Viivi, our bold baby, went against all the odds and enjoyed the clear water and sandy beach. A hero since her small age.

Despite the Summer season and seemingly quiet surroundings here in Finland, I've had a lot of experiences and thoughts about life, living, cultures, people, future, God, faith, family, friends, aging, food, joy, sorrow, pity, pain, stupidy, wisdom, growth, responsibility, fun, happiness, money, work, career, freedom, creativity... just to list a few. ;)

Hopefully I'll manage to find time to finally download my pics from Asian trip (beginning of June) and post some of them here to share. Also, I've listed several topics I'd like to blog about, so hopefully I'll get to them eventually.

We are moving house, next week, to another city. More details later. Summer continues, just another day.

And psst: Viivi has recently learned to walk, still 2 wks till her 1 year birthday. She has also learned to annoy her parents intentionally. Bright future ahead. :)

Long-suffering

In our cell group gathering last Sunday, the topic was smth like: how to be/do good in the world that has gone bad? It was a wide topic but we concentrated on few issues only. Mainly, how do we handle the not-so-nice things and situations that happen to us? To ignore it and withdraw, or to face it? If to face it, how to do it in a way that is suitable for the occasion?

The discussion lead me to think about my own behavior. I do not have patience as I used to have, I am currently lacking the humility I used to possess, I find myself lacking in this field of love: long-suffering. Maybe it's because I used to "be better" in this area that I notice the change and difference. The next question is then: what changed? Why I changed?

It has not been a deliberate process, that's for sure. As I look back to the time I used to be better with long-suffering, I was more simple, more sincere towards God, spent more time in prayer, spent more time with the Bible, spent less time with work/studies, in general was more "easy" with life.

Another aspect of this change, I have become more "hard" towards things and people. This is related to my previous post about pride: Growth and Pride. Now I'm still in the process of working on this one, and sometimes it feels that things are just getting worse: I get more feedback about talking in a "hard" manner, speaking harsh words without pity. I myself also notice sometimes how I handle people and things in a harsh way. What should I do?

Analyzing the situations and the behavior, I have one intermediate conclusion: it's easy to withdraw, but one really needs wisdom and long-suffering to face the issues and ppl in a good manner. Part of me wants to withdraw from all these situations - I'm not good enough to handle them. But I know this is a lesson I need to learn, so I want to continue to fight. Withdrawing means also not to take responsibility for other people or other things - as a Christian, I am called to take responsibility to care for other people and care for this world.

If you have some wise advice for me, let me know. One thing I want to do: spend more quality time with God in reading His love letters to me (the Bible) and in prayer. In addition I want to take good care of my family, do my job well, and keep up the relationships with relatives and friends. My current voluntary responsibilities in church will also continue, actually only two and half months to go. I want to trade my wasted time to the quality time with God, and I want to start this already before moving to Keuruu in August. :)

As mentioned also in the previous post, I'm gonna rest. I'm also gonna talk less and be in no hurry. God doesn't utter useless words, and God is never in a hurry. :)