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Merry Christmas 2007 and Happy New Year 2008! My dear friends!
Everyday is a gift from God. I'm thankful that God gave me another year of abundant life in which
(1) God provided me a full-time ministry position in Chinese Christian Church of Baton Rouge (http://www.cccbr.net/) as the English Minister. It was a 6-month search since last Christmas but God finally provided a position which was completely beyond what I imagined or expected. There are many things to give thanks to God for being the English Minister of Baton Rouge including humble brothers and sisters willing to help when help is needed, God's provision of a vision, mission and strategic plan for the ministry, a more structured worship service with PowerPoint slides as visual aids, start of English prayer meeting, the formation of the English Ministry Committee with brothers and sisters with servant heart, the formation of 3 other new Bible study fellowship groups besides the youth group, the active participation in Sunday School for training future Bible study leaders and Sunday school teachers, the worship & praise team training, God's provision of another responsible, dedicated and gifted sister to be the new English Deacon for 2008 and faithful and humble leaders from the Chinese Ministry to help build up the English Ministry.
(2)
God provided faithful and godly servants to continue to serve the
ministries I've been serving in DCBC (http://www.dcbconline.org/)
as Men's Ministry coordinator and Career Single Fellowship
Advisor. God answered our prayers.
(3) God fulfilled a prediction by a mature brother a few years ago that I would become a "Black Belt Pastor" when he heard that I was training in Taekwondo. It was a 3-year journey which started since April of 2004 and ended on 4/28/2007. It was made possible only by God's grace and motivated once and again by the eternal values I foresaw in it for I thought about quitting a couple of times when seminary training, church ministry and other demands in life made it difficult to continue. I've benefited from the training tremendously physically, mentally and spiritually. But getting 1st degree black belt is just a beginning for it's my goal to continue to train as long as live. It will take 45 years to get from 1st degree to 10th degree (the highest level).
"To live is to worship the true God in all aspects of our life. To live is to train in holiness through the training of the body and the mind." -- by Johnny Tang, a Christian martial artist and servant of God.
Here are 2 clips from my Black Belt Tests. Enjoy!
(a) Board-breaking test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQm2Q7Vvb3Q
(b) Final Test Step Match
& Self Defense http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSTaylgceGY
(c) Final Test Sparring http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chBcvp-Txig
(d) Final Test
Board-breaking, paper & award presentation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6RmJK-Zj4g
(4) God fulfilled a fearful wish I have had since I became a Christian -- to share the Gospel with about 50 of my relatives in Mainland China. God miraculously provided the plane tickets within a short period of time and all arrangements to visit Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Taizhou and then Beijing from 7/14 to 7/31. God protected me throughout the trip. I didn't get sick at all despite the extremely hot weather and heavily polluted air. I could lie down on 3 seats when I was flying from LA to Hong Kong and got a free upgrade to business class seat on my way back from Hong Kong to the USA. I visited 44 of my relatives, shared the Gospel with them through our conversations or Gospel tracts which I bought in Hong Kong through God's miraculous help. My relatives and I went to churches in China together. Churches in China were packed with people. It's true that people need the Lord as said in a hymn. Please pray that God would continue to work in the hearts of my relatives and bring them to saving faith in Jesus Christ and help those who believed to continue to grow in their faith to walk with God in their lives.
(5) The brothers and sisters whom I've served honored me generously and lovingly. Their encouraging, kind and loving words with lovely photos in the scrapbook, thoughtful gifts and farewell dinners made it difficult for us to leave them. On top of that, after I've started serving as the English Minister in Baton Rouge, 3 of them drove all the way from Dallas for 8 hours to visit me. I truly cherished the friendship we have in Christ! Thank God that Dallas is not too far away from Baton Rouge and I will see them on 2/2 in the wedding of one of my beloved sisters in Dallas.
(6) I became a US Citizen 1 day before I moved from Dallas to Baton Rouge. I've been postponing the application until a friend needed my help to apply for his. So I also applied for mine. God many times helped me when I was helping others. My friend also became a US Citizen a few weeks later.
(7) God helped us safely and smoothly move from Dallas to Baton Rouge and get settled in a home better than we expected.
I would like to share with you my favorite verse from the Bible this Christmas. My name Johnny is from it. I was born on the date shown by the verse number (3/16) and I became a Christian (someone who is certain he/she is going to heaven to be with God after his/her physical death) on 3/16.
If you are not sure that you are going to heaven, please go to the following website to find out how you can be sure: http://www.evantell.org/resc/fullcolor.pdf
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. NIV
Martin
Luther called John 3:16 “the
heart of the Bible-the Gospel in miniature.” It's so simple a
child can understand it; yet it condenses the deep and marvelous truths
of redemption into these few sharp
words:
Through birth into an animal house with no bed but an animal feeding box to lie in, the highest of kings became the lowest of men on the day Jesus Christ was born which we celebrate on Christmas Day. Things were not as beautiful as we often portray.
It was a terrible time and place for the Son of God to be born into: a time marked by (1) poverty, (2) social pressure on Jesus' mom Mary for being pregnant before her wedding day, (3) violence from King Herod the Great trying to kill the prophesied King of Jews, (4) Satan's plot against the Son of God and (5) a people famous for for rejecting God's prophets.
God showed aspects of HIMSELF which mankind would not use to describe God: Courageous, Humble and Approachable.
On the day Jesus Christ was born, God made HIMSELF approachable to everyone in the world including the most despised or lowest on the social ladder like the shepherds, prostitutes, tax collectors and children.
It's such an honor to be able to serve our God who is the creator of the universe, the savior and friend of mankind and the fairest judge who would come back again very soon to judge the living and the dead.
Let's be thankful and be alert to live our everyday life to the fullest so that we would not be ashamed when Jesus Christ to whom we owe our life comes back again when we least expect it -- like a thief in the night.
In
the Lord Johnny and Nina |
