The Islands Wait for His Law

I am off to Ulleungdo with 50 middle schoolers. In case you don’t know, it’s an island off in the middle of the sea between Japan and Korea and only accessible by ferry. We will be there for a week serving and ministering to the islanders living there. This is a great opportunity for our kids and us to grow in our relationships with each other and with the Lord, so pray for us as we go. Most importantly, pray that God would be glorified in all that we would do.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Matthew 27:46

About three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

He was bruised for our transgressions. Remember him this Good Friday. Worship him this Resurrection Sunday.

Two Influential Men in My Life

I was reflecting on some of the people God has used to challenge me in my growth as a Christian and thought I would share with you.

Dr. Christopher shared with me his passion for the Word. Dr. Carson introduced me to the word nouthetic.

Most Useful Food Ever?

You know you are living in a great country when you can buy a snack pack of kimchi at the local convenience store.

It’s Official

Happy New Year! Yes, the whole world can now transition to the official start of 2010 because the Lunar Year has ended!

Seriously though, the Lunar New year is the most important traditional holiday celebrated in South Korea. Many celebrate this holiday by exchanging gifts, visiting family, and eating tons of traditional Korean food. Koreans also observe the Solar New Year, but it’s just not as important.

Remember, while you are celebrating Presidents day, we are celebrating New Year!

노래 방

There are few things more fun to do in Korea then 노래 방. In fact, it might even be true that someone once said, “You have not experienced Korea until you experience 노래 방.” Whether this is a true statement or not, I do not know, but it would seem to be true. Americans like 노래 but seldom place it in the context of a 방 which makes it even more Korean!

Anyway, some people invited us to the 노래 방 after our 2시 한국어 lesson. When we arrived I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place so I asked, “노래 방 어디에 있어요?” The attendant said, “네, 있어요. For your whole family?” I said, “Yes, my whole family.”

So if you ever find yourself in 한국 and your bored, just ask for the nearest 노래 방. It’s sure to put a smile on your face! And if you come to visit, we will make sure you too will be saying 노래 방 is the best until you go home!

Spiritual Emphasis Week

Next week we will host our Spring Spiritual Emphasis Week. This event is following the tail end or our purity seminar so pray for our students, families, teachers, and speakers. Beginning this year was interesting, mainly because there was such a strong spirit of unbelief among our students and families. This should not surprise anyone who is familiar with our school though. Unlike most other Christian schools, we do not cater to the regenerate. No, we believe that our door should be open to any who are interested in receiving an education within the walls of our facility. Our Christian focus means that we are determined to live and preach the Gospel to the families and students that attend our school.

I know this is an extremely different approach to the “Christian School Formula”; one in which we have received much grief over from many Christians who believe Christian schools should be for Christians only. As a result, we have seen whole families come to faith in Christ and we rejoice for the ministry, which God has called us too! Recently, we have had students respond in faith to the Gospel. Pray for them and their families and us as we help them and get them involved in the local church.

This is easier said than done. It is true that two 외국 churches have been planted in Uijongbu as a result of our school, but some families will not attend even if their children insist. Ask God to give us wisdom when dealing with this situation. Also, pray for the granite hearts of the unbelievers as we go into next week.

Sola Fide,

Jay Silvas

What Am I Living For?

I was browsing some blogs and cruising some sites today. I stopped by thegospelcoalition.org and found a note posted by Ray Ortlund. He emphatically stated that this was his last Super Bowl because he has grown tired of the “vulgarity and ego”. He says, “It’s simply not what I’m living for”.

What are we living for? What am I living for? What are my motivations, or as our pastor states, what motivates me to get out of bed in the morning? My prayer is for the Gospel to be the driving force of our family in all that we do and pursue.

Who Is Like You?

Praise be to God who saves his people! He does not make salvation possible; he actually saves his own! We worship a mighty God who saves!

Exodus 15

“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. The peoples have heard; they tremble;

Like the Dolphin Who Guides You…

As I was mulling over lesson plans for my classes I realized that I needed a couple notebooks to jot some idea’s on. Luckily, there is a little stationary store right outside our apartment, so Diana popped down and bought a three-for-one pack. I opened the package of notebooks to find that they had an interesting saying in English:

Like the dolphin who guides you bring us beside you, to live on the land we must learn from the forest

What?! This makes about as much sense as my fever induced dream hallucinations. Anyway, I thought you might get a laugh from this quote; for all I know Shakespeare wrote it and it’s the greatest poem ever written by man (not likely).

Anyway, some of you may be aware that I was pretty sick this past week. I was running a high fever of 103. My director took me to the hospital to get checked out and I was actually impressed with the hospital. I was only there for about an hour-and-a-half and the whole trip, including medicine, cost roughly $120. That’s not bad for a trip to the emergency room.

I am feeling much better today and will probably return to school tomorrow. We are hosting our spiritual emphasis week so pray that God would be glorified and many would be saved.

Sincerely,