WELCOME!!

Hello everybody!

It's been quite a while since I have blogged but I have a passion to write and share my thoughts with anyone (especially my supporters) who would be interested to hear about my missions experiences this summer!

Just for introductions sake, there is a "chip-in" button on the right. For those that would like to support me financially (electronically), you can click it and support me either through paypal or just any standard credit/debit card!

If you haven't already, please take 15 seconds to fill out this form so I can send you a personalized letter and so I can have your information to update you with my trip!

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDhrYm91NnNVVmNHTk5pMUNSd1h3bXc6MA

I am in the process of putting my letters together so if you have filled out the form, expect to receive something from me soon!

Other than that, I look forward to following up with each and every one of you and I pray that God would work mightily through all of us in all that we do.

In Him,

Sam Bay

"THE MIND"

Rock of ages~~ You will Stand~~ Our foundation! till the end~~

Never failing~~ God unchanging~~ Rock of AGES! You will stand.

I'm sitting here listening to this chorus as millions of thoughts are running through my head on this early morning of September 15th. Thought I would take some time to write on my jumbled thoughts!

KCM.

Servant team retreat is tomorrow. So blessed to have an awesome core of brothers and sisters who are like-minded and have willing hearts to really strive to proceed in prayer in a manner that seeks to please God above anything and anyone else. It's definitely going to be a struggle and is a direct invitation to opposition and conflict from the one who does not enjoy it when God's people actually try to live out their faith do what His word says. I have definitely been experiencing my fair share of spiritual warfare and God has been graciously revealing how weak and dependent I really am on the strength that He provides. God has instilled within me a rock solid desire to serve in KCM in a way that will fulfill the single and clear purpose of PRODUCING DISCIPLES. How exactly that will happen or what exactly that means; both things that I think God will reveal in His time and in His way for His glory. (transition) LOVE. It is still insane to think that the greatest ACT of love, if done without LOVE, is USELESS. We are utterly incapable of love if we are not attached, established, rooted, and firmly connected to the only legitimate SOURCE of love: Jesus himself. Ministry, counseling, preaching, teaching, missions, anything/everything can be USELESS?!?! God's Word continues to blow my mind into pieces (as it should) and leads me to offer up those pieces to God in a humble manner saying.. "GOD! I don't know your truth! I don't understand your scripture! I try to but I can't! I'm too finite...too limited...too intoxicated by sin. Please HELP ME! Otherwise i am HELPLESS!" on CHRIST the solid rock I stand. ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND~~ What a great commission it really is.. that God in all His power and might would commission filthy sinners to make disciples of other sinners that we might proclaim "NOT TO US BUT TO HIS NAME BE THE GLORY!" God. Please help me be humble, faithful and spirit-led through the ministry of KCM.

CHURCH.

I love church, but no where near as much as Christ loves the church. He loved it so much that he died for it. *MIND BLOWN* It is HIS church. HIS body. HIS bride. *paradigm shift* Must must must guard, protect, and serve HIS church. He is the head, we are the body. Must never seek to do ANYTHING without first consulting the head. What's the problem with the church? I am. I AM. I AM! Turn your finger around and point at yourself Sam. Check your own speck. judge your own heart. YOU serve. YOU pray. YOU encourage. There's not time to criticize or judge. Continue to pray for young adults, pastor, college group, EM, CHURCH.

FUTURE.

Let tomorrow worry about itself~ there's PLENTY on your plate today. Don't plan; TRUST. Don't look ahead; LOOK UP. Don't desire things; DESIRE HIM. Don't live for now; LIVE FOR LATER. You live for one thing: to hear "well done good and faithful servant".

THE FLESH.

The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak~ WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM! WHO WILL DELIVER ME FROM THIS BODY OF DEATH!???..........but thanks be to GOD!!!

It definitely is not easy struggling and fighting against yourself. I want this but I don't at the same time. Why why why why!! WHY!! Why does God not simply strip our fleshly passions from us? Why does God not simply strip our fleshly passions from us? Why does God not simply strip our fleshly passions from us? Three times Paul asked..."My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness". *MIND BLOWN* Finding the sufficiency of God's grace amidst the toil and struggle of battling the many thorns in my flesh...

Sigh.

On Christ the solid rock I stand~ All other ground is sinking sand~

Lead me to the cross.

Exodus 33:18

John Newton, converted slave trader, passionately longed for the transforming vision, but the answer to his urgent prayers came in a way which staggered and almost overwhelmed him. He has recorded this experience:

"I asked the Lord that I might grow in Faith and Love and every grace,

Might more of His salvation know and seek more earnestly His face.

'Twas He who taught me thus to pray and He, I trust, has answered prayer;

But it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair.

I thought that in some favored hour at once He'd answer my request

And by His love's constraining power, subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of that, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart,

And bade the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part.

Nay more, with His own hand He seemed intent to aggravate my woe.

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

"Lord, why is this?" I trembling cried. "Wilt Thou pursue this worm to death?"

"This is the way," the Lord replied, "I answer prayer for grace and faith.

"These inward trials I employ from self and sin to set thee free,

And cross thy schemes of earthly joy that thou might'st find thy all in Me."

"Pictures are AMAZING"

Cho left that comment on my last post and i couldn't agree more- pictures truly are amazing. After a whole day of taking pictures today, I realized that a picture captures so much. It rarely needs to explain itself and it captures reality as it is. This got me thinking a lot because I'm currently reading a book called "The Godly Man's PICTURE" by Thomas Watson.

One of many quotes that I love so far is:

"It is one thing to PROFESS God, another thing to RESEMBLE Him"

I recall many times when people would describe things to me and explain things to me. A lot of times it was about a person and certain characteristics or descriptions of that person. Yet, without fail, I realized that those descriptions are ALWAYS subject to reality. It doesn't matter what a person SAYS; it only matters how a person IS.

Oh, how I pray and long for the picture of my soul to be an ever growing resemblance of God my Father. That my life in it of itself would be a sufficient evidence of the growing theme of my life: "Less of ME, more of Him". Much more to come on this book.

Other than that, VBS STARTED TODAY! WAHOO! :) Definitely one of the highlights of my summer. I'm especially happy because I took some photos that I can share :)

The CRAZY decorations. We have a BOAT in our small chapel. Wow. Some of us tried persuading Ian (The Praise Leader) to sing inside the boat. He refused.

This is Skipper. Throughout the day I passed by this poster many many times and I realized that sometimes, the smallest things can encourage and remind you of eternal truths like the fact that "GOD LOVES YOU". Hopefully I (and all of us believers) can be like Skipper here to others :)

This is FIRST MATE DK. He makes sure the schedule is followed and that everything is going according to plan.

Meet Timothy- definitely one of my favorite kids. Will share more on him later.

Ian looks like a hospital patient. This picture looks like an advertisement for the latest VBS material lol.

Anyhow, I hope these pictures were somewhat enjoyable. I have much more to come! and remember what Skipper said..

GOD LOVES YOU

Summer.

It's been a while, but I have missed blogging indeed. I plan on updating a lot more frequently with the freedom that summer provides. I also, thanks to my friend Joe Cha, temporarily obtained a camera to take pictures. Posted below is my favorite picture of the day.

"Morning Prayer"

"Lord, here I go. I'm going to go into life and I'm going to do ten thousand things with my tongue, my eyes, my hands, my heart, and my legs today. Would you please guide me? Would you so transform my mind and bring it into conformity to Jesus that spontaneously what comes out of my mouth would be helpful and loving to people? Because I can't pause at every moment in my life to ask you about this. You've got to be so in me and so fully functioning through me that my spontaneity is you!"

"Holy, Holy, Holy"

We often talk about the characteristics and the attributes of God. There are over 200 names given to describe his indescribable nature and our feeble, limited minds cannot even begin to comprehend His awesome nature.

However, if we were to sum up God's nature and character in one word, what would it be?

Some would say LOVE; that God is ultimately love. Other would say JUST; that God is a God of justice. Still other may say GRACE; that at the core of His nature, is grace.

I am led to believe that at the core of the nature of God, is His holiness. He is holy.

"Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is HOLY..." (Isaiah 57:15)

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" (Revelation 4:8)

All of his characteristics flow out of His holiness.

What did this mean for the Israelites in the old testament? It meant that they could NOT approach God. There was a CLEAR sense of separation and distance between a Holy God and unworthy sinners. Physically, this was represented through the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle.

The Israelites clearly understood that God was transcendent and HIGH above us. They would not dare enter the Most Holy place because God in His holiness cannot tolerate even the smallest ounce of sin. The relationship that stemmed from a proper understanding of God's holiness was nothing less than one of REVERENCE and AWE.

So what happened to that? That reverence? That awe?

Has God somehow become LESS holy?

This is what happened.

"We have confidence to enter the holy places BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS, BY THE NEW AND LIVING WAY THAT HE OPENED FOR US THROUGH THE CURTAIN, that is, THROUGH HIS FLESH" (Hebrews 10:19-20)

JESUS happened. He, through the cross and His blood, made a way for us to freely ENTER the Most Holy place. WOWWWWW!!! Just think about this mind-blowing truth through the lens of an Israelite.

Our Holy God did not change. Our Holy God DOES NOT change...

"Yet God is not only perfectly holy, He is also perfectly gracious. Though His presence was made known most strongly in the temple, He was also present with every contrite and repentant Israelite. This was a truth that the old covenant believer did not understand as long as the temple stood, for its limited access reminded them of the separateness of the Lord. But Christ has come and has replaced the temple, and now we see clearly not only God's holiness but also His grace. For in His great love He appointed His one and only Son to die in our place so that He could satisfy the demands of His holiness and still give us eternal life"