Simply Katherine, a Christian blog

What does it mean to be revived? From the perspective of history, when people say revival , they generally mean an event in time where there was a significant increase of spiritual interest in a specific region after a period of decline, often characterized by mass conversions and burning zeal toward God. There was the First Great Awakening, then the Second, the Third, and finally, the Fourth Great Awakening. Yet many begin to wonder what happened? Where did that spirit of revival go? These days morality plummets and normality is distorted. Deep down, everyone knows we desperately need the Recovery of Revival. To be revived means "to bring back to life or consciousness; to resuscitate (to impart new health, vigor, or spirit); to restore, use, or activate." What we actually need is not a mere exciting event of revival once every century, or every decade, or every year. We need a day-by-day revival! In the midst of this tired universe we're living in, the need...

The healing Christ is the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings ( Malachi 4:2 ). The word Sun  refers to life (i.e., the sun as source of life supply) and righteousness refers to justice. Many are excited by miraculous physical healing. However, this is not the aspect of the healing Christ I'm going to write about today.  The truth is ... "Today the whole world is sick. The daily news reports are filled with death, injustice, lawlessness, and darkness. This earth needs healing, but it will not get it until Christ returns. The only ones who receive healing today are the ones who know Christ as their Savior and inward life.  We are receiving this healing ahead of time in a secret, hidden way every day. We are sick in our entire being- spirit, soul and body. We need our whole being to be healed by the Sun of righteousness. We need His wings to heal us, first inwardly and then outwardly." The divine healing for our physical sickness barel...

I've had a long history with Christians on Campus, since I was a freshman in college. There I got connected with Judy, an older sister in the Lord, whom I love dearly. From that moment on, our ongoing fellowship has helped me go through various spiritual crises. Recently, living my life has been quite challenging (isn't this everyone's story?) I'm the kind of person who wants to excel in everything that I do, but it soon becomes excruciatingly difficult when everything  appears to be the first priority. In short, giving 100% at all times, in all things, drains both my mental and physical capacities. I know time management. The key is to wisely prioritize, right? Yet the main problem is I truly, genuinely, consider that all my responsibilities are equally important. Now what? Not only that, when I managed to drop one of the balls that I've been juggling, I got so condemned, fearing the judgment from others. Sounds like a nightmare, doesn't i...

Continuing from my previous post on The Sign of Jonah , I'd like to write about our experience in relation to Christ entering into death and passing through death into life. It's good to know that Christ entered into Hades as both God and man. Yet the account of Jonah's prayer, which parallels to Christ's activities in His burial, is so detailed that it makes me wonder- why do we need to know what Christ did in such a thorough way ? 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, on the one hand being put to death in the flesh, but on the other, made alive in the Spirit;" Christians hardly talk about Christ in His burial, especially about the part where He was "on the one hand being put to death in the flesh, but on the other, made alive in the Spirit." Yet this is a great matter!  At that very juncture of time, within this One Person, humani...

Jonah in the belly of the fish! That's what most people think about when they hear the name, Jonah . Actually the story of Jonah is quite amusing. How could a man be swallowed up by a big fish, stayed for three days and three nights, and be spewed out from the belly of the fish onto the shore? Why is such an account in the Bible? This past week I came across Matthew 12:39-40: "But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." Surprisingly, Jonah is mentioned again in the New Testament. But what's more mind-boggling to me is the fact that the Lord Jesus refers to Jonah being in the belly of the great fish as a sign pointing to His own burial- the three days and three nights in betwe...

Last week I wrote Only Lovers Can Be Mighty . Being a lover and a warrior are two sides of the same coin. This week though I was reminded of a fellowship I had with Mr. Danker, an older brother in the Lord, concerning: Who would be the most valuable person in the Lord's eyes? Previously I considered being a lover and being the most valuable person as pretty much identical. I mean if you're a lover to someone, then by default, aren't you the most valuable person in that someone's eyes? Our answer would, of course, be yes. Now let us consider together. If that lover of yours truly, deeply, fervently, crazily love you, but simultaneously strong in the sense of always insisting upon his/her ways, styles, concepts of values, standards, and opinions; is he/she still practically the most valuable person in your eyes? Tough question, isn't it? But I would say practically no. Please do not misunderstand me here. I have not defined the characteristics of a true lo...

Continuing from my last post on our Christian mission in choosing to be part of the mighty ones  is another quote by R. Kangas, inspired by the divine romance portrayed in Song of Songs chapter 3: "We are not trained to be mighty ones merely by being sent to a barren place to pass through one hardship after another. Rather we are trained by maintaining and nurturing our love toward our Beloved. Our Beloved is the mighty One. His love prevails... We should not allow the enthusiasm of war or the thrill of victory to interfere with our steady, developing, ongoing romance with the Lord." The mighty ones are God's army, beautiful in the Lord's eyes and terrifying to the enemy ( Song of Songs 6:4 ). Yet what's so astonishing about this army is the fact that all these ones are firstly LOVERS! In a sense, to the mighty ones, they do not go to war to win, they go to war to "waste" their lives upon the One whom they have loved. To the mighty ones, this spiri...

Recently, I met quite a few Christians dedicating their time and energy to go to missions: building houses, giving out free food and clothing, providing various kinds of medical assistance, etc. All with good intentions to help mankind and to tell them about Jesus. I admire these ones. Yesterday, however, I read a quote that charged and challenged me with a high commission. As Christians, as part of the Church, we are quite familiar with the evangelistic commission given by the Lord Jesus in appointing us to "go forth and bear fruit" ( John 15:16 ). John 15 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible, loaded with crucial aspects in organic growth, fruit-bearing, increase, multiplication, and so forth. However, hardly ever mentioned by most Christians is the fact that as Christians, as part of the Church, we are also involved in a great spiritual battle ( Ephesians 6:10-20 ) to represent God in carrying out His judgment upon the enemy, the devil. This is truly ...

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...