Simply Katherine, a Christian blog

Please see my previous post on  Christ Satisfies . Growing up, I wasn't good at meeting people or making friends. My community was my extended family, they were mostly Christians. I really thought that was enough, that I needed nothing more. Eventually we moved to a bigger city to be with our parents. I moved there when I was twelve and so all those years until I graduated from high school, I began to learn people skills. No doubt, I had a circle of friends. Yet no matter how close we were, I always hesitated to tell them the inward troubles that I had concerning my Christian walk with the Lord, my family issues, and so on. Most people thought I was friendly but very reserved. Until one day, our family was hit by a major crisis. Everything seemed to be okay outwardly but inside, I felt quite devastated. The problem was I could not find a single person to go to. At that time, I didn't want to talk to my family about the matter lest I'd cause more troubles in ...

I apologize for the late post. I did not withhold anything from you. In my last post, the claim was clear and straightforward:  Christ satisfies and the Church includes us. The truth behind the delay is I'm having a hard time trying to write more about this claim. Not because I don't have any supporting facts but it's because I have too many. I'm having a dilemma in finding the most fitting perspective to share with all of you concerning Christ and the Church (the use of upper-case "C" for the word "Church" is mainly for emphasis). Well, one of the many ways to expound on the claim is to share it from a life experience. I'm not inviting you to evaluate what I'm about to write in a doctrinal and reasonable way. On the contrary, this is a true life story. I'd love for you to, for lack of better words, sympathize, empathize, and relate in the most human way. Everyone has their own story of how they met the Lord. This one is mi...

Earlier this month, Newsweek published an article entitled, " Is the Web Driving Us Mad? " I'd say the author, Tony Dokoupil, has somewhat generated a  moral panic  by supposedly presenting statistics and life examples on how the Internet promotes addictive, insane behavior in its users. I read the article. For sure, there are some truths in this article but for you who decide to stay clear from the Internet due to Dokoupil's presentation (e.g. the anonymous reader who asked for healthier alternatives in my previous post) I recommend reading another article to balance his view. The article was published by TIME , " Does the Internet Really Make Everyone Crazy? " Please read those articles at your leisure, but the point is we need to go back to the root of the problem. Just like any other tool,  technology  can be used to aid or to destroy. It all depends on the users. Nevertheless, the more we think our society is relentlessly attacked by the n...

Dear Readers, In my last post, " The Great Searching of Today's Society ," I was asking for your thoughts and comments. I understand that the first few weeks of July, everyone might be occupied with special plans, family trips, etc. So yes, my previous post was quite untimely but I'd like to gather more responses from you all concerning the content of my previous post.  Would you all go back to read it? Also, please take some time to write your thoughts and comments at the end of my blog post? Click here for my previous post. By gathering your thoughts, I'm hoping to observe this matter of searching more closely. Actually the purpose of this blog is partly to present a sound, flowing thought on unfolding the mystery of human life.  So it would be interesting if you could contribute and participate in it. You don't have to write much but if you can also explain your thought process of how your thoughts emerged, that would be helpful! Plea...

Observation on Today's Society Recently one of my resourceful colleagues told us that he had been observing today's society and what it's searching for. Few of us are involved in an online outreach project, where we quickly realize that social media has taken over not just the worldwide web, but the world itself.  There are many articles and reports out there signaling this trend that significantly impacts teens, college students, businesses, and many more. Just to give you an example, a recent blog post by  The Washington Post  was entitled, " Many Teens Tell Survey They're Addicted to Social Media, Texting ." Or, you can check out the 2012 social media statistics . Actually not only social media, the Internet in general has become a world in its own. The online realm is  "The 21st century's New World."  Sooner or later, everyone would migrate there and it would soon become the next superpower, having a major influence over the glob...

Today I was reading an excerpt this morning ( Conclusion of the New Testament- Messages 135-156, Chapter 8 ): "To be found in Christ actually means to be observed, seen, or discovered in Christ by others... It is one thing to have a doctrinal understanding of being found in Christ; it is quite another thing to be found in Christ in our daily living. Where we are when others observe us indicates the realm in which we live. If we live in our culture or in our good behavior, we shall be found in culture or in our behavior by others. In whatever realm we live, that is where we shall be seen, observed, and discovered by others." When I was in Puerto Rico, I stayed with a family who served the Lord full-time on a nearby college campus. My morning reading today reminded me of them because during my stay in Humacao, I had observed, seen, and discovered this family in Christ. Our crew in Humacao In their neighborhood, there are several households who are either related to...

A while back I met a mature sister in the Lord (see my popular series: Conversations with Mrs. L ). Yet I found myself clueless whenever I sat across face-to-face with her in her living room. I didn't know how to converse with her. I mean this sister was four times my age, how could I relate with her?  Should I ask questions? What kind of questions? Should I wait until she asks me questions? What should I do? So I went to her son-in-law and asked him what I should ask her. He just said, " Ask her anything, even questions that you think you know the answers. You'll be surprised ." He was right! Every time I met this older sister, I would just ask her anything and her answers would help me both humanly and spiritually.  Since then I have learned that in the fellowship with other Christians, especially more mature ones, I'm actually not seeking for answers. I'm seeking for persons who can minister Christ into me .  Back to t...

Please read my previous post to find out more about the island of Puerto Rico . Without a doubt, Puerto Rico has it all:  nature and culture . Yet what I enjoyed the most was meeting Christians, young and old, and having a rich fellowship with them (despite the language barrier that we had since I don't really speak Spanish). I also met a lot of college students who were affiliated with Christians on Campus. Their endeavor to reach the young people on campus, to bring the gospel to them, to fellowship, and to dive into the Word of God was too precious!  From Puerto Rico with Love. I realized that even though we were so far apart geographically, we all, in Texas and in Puerto Rico, had been endeavoring to do the same thing: gaining young people for God . Furthermore, even though we didn't speak the same language and weren't brought up within the same culture, there was always a prevailing atmosphere of love and joy among us. At the end o...

Finally I got a chance to sit down and begin this amazing post on my recent summer vacation with Christians on Campus in Puerto Rico ! Also known as "La Isla Del Encanto" (lit. The Island of Enchantment ), Puerto Rico was truly a mesmerizing island. Although I originally came from a tropical island, Puerto Rico was something else. The shades of blue across the horizon were awe-striking. Playa Sucia, Cabo Rojo (Credit: J. Hernandez) Nature is definitely at the top of my favorite destinations, but Puerto Rico has much more to offer. You can see bright and bold colors exuding the island's rich culture. This is most apparent when you decide to take a leisure walk in Old San Juan, in the northern part of the island.  Old San Juan (Credit: L. Coy) To be honest, I'm not sure where to begin and where to end. Puerto Rico has plenteous stories to tell. "Castillo de San Felipe del Morro" (or El Morro ) is one of them. Its magnificent...

I'm counting days toward my Puerto Rico trip. I've never been there but I heard from others that Puerto Rico is so beautiful! My siblings and I will be traveling with a small group of Christians from Texas. We will be staying with families affiliated with Christians on Campus on the island. I just can't wait to get to know these Christians and have fellowship with them. It's quite amazing how Christ has torn down our differences on the cross so that now we can simply embrace our brothers and sisters in the Lord regardless of their personalities and backgrounds. Ephesians 2:14 says, "For He is our peace, who has made both (the Jews and the Gentiles) one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;" One of the major differences that we have with one another is our culture . Most pride in their unique identity, being part of a certain culture. Sometimes I even feel like my culture defines who I am. But Christ died ...

This post is a response to the most recent video published by Bibles for America , entitled The God-shaped Vacuum . What is the Gospel? The gospel definitely constitutes as one of the most basic elements of the Christian life. I'm a little hesitant to elaborate on what the gospel intrinsically is, not because I don't know or I don't care about it. On the contrary, I fear that I may come short in presenting the high gospel to you. But the point is you can receive the gospel even before you can fully understand everything about it! Many people hesitate to receive the power of salvation in the gospel because they think that they need to fix their current situation first - "Oh, the gospel is too wonderful that it wouldn't match with my poor condition," or "it wouldn't match with the condition of a despicable sinner such as I." Yes, the salvation in the gospel is indeed wonderful! In fact, I'm daily learning, appreciating,...

Today is the third time I heard it: "Remember, Katherine. There's no hero in the church." It's so good to be reminded again and again that I'm not a hero . Maybe I'm a workaholic or a perfectionist or both; I like to give 110% in everything that I do, including in activities related to church service. Well, it's been almost a year since I'm involved with this project for our campus outreach. I went into this project with no background whatsoever in the specific field that I'm now involved with. So I worked hard to study, to catch up, to manage, and even to effectively communicate with others who are helping with the project. I knew from the start that this was not an ordinary job. This is the Lord's work, so I cannot handle it in a common way. Looking back, this whole year has been a good training for me. I've been having a hard time because this outreach project is on a voluntary basis, so often the peop...

Where We Are Today A good starting point of why Christians should blog is plain stats. According to World Bank (Google Public Data) , in 2010, 30.48% of the world population were Internet users. Today, in the United States alone, the percentage of Internet users is probably well over 80% of the country's population. If you read an article from New York Times two years ago, you'd be floored-  "The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones.  And because so many of the...

Just in case you would like to check out other Christian bloggers, I have a list of recommendations of Christian blogs that I've been following myself. This is, by no means, an all-inclusive list but just something to start with. Here is the list, in a random order (simply click the Title to go to the Blog): I Pursue: scriptural and cultural observations along the author's Christian pursuit Life and Building: curating the best of life, architecture, and the Bible Ark and Architecture: a blog on the Bible and buildings Come, see a man: everyday experiences of Christ, life, and Christ as life Holding to Truth in Love: words of truth to help every believer grow in Christ I've benefited so much, humanly and spiritually, reading some of these blog posts. So I hope you enjoy reading them as well. Do you have any recommended Christian blogs that I could subscribe to?

Psalm 119 If we muse on Psalm 119 we shall realize that from the very beginning, in the Old Testament, God's view in giving man His law is to lead man to Christ Himself. In this chapter, the psalmist describes God's Law as His Word, His testimony, and as salvation, a life-source. Christ is God's Righteous Law! "The law is not consciously kept by us through our outward endeavoring but is spontaneously and unconsciously fulfilled in us by the inward working of the Spirit of life.  The Spirit of life is the Spirit of Christ, and Christ corresponds with the law of God. This Spirit within us spontaneously fulfills all the righteous requirements of the law through us when we walk according to Him...  The law is the living word of God which infuses God's substance into those who lovingly seek Him... Once we have been thoroughly infused with God's substance, He Himself from within us will keep His own law."  (Holy Word for Morning Reviva...