Hey guys,
As a minor confession, I have an extremely short temper, and tend to get frustrated really easily at the smallest things - this is a part of me that's usually kept pretty well hidden to all but my closest friends and family. I didn't realize until last nite that my chief source of frustration towards friends lies in my oftentimes unfair/unrealistic expectations that come from how kind/well i envision myself treating them and in expecting the same treatment in return. People and relationships are too complicated to be reduced into such a simple system of give and take.
Was reminded of the very definition of love given in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, more specifically the part that talks about how love keeps no record of wrongs. at the risk of heresy, i'd like to add to paul's words and say that love does not keep record of rights either. Love is not about feeling (however subconsciously) cheated or smugly satisfied if i gave more than the other person and super uncomfortable if i gave less. I'd call both extremes "pride," and id lose either way. as a good friend puts it, its only when we rest in God that we're able to truly give freely and unconditionally - which is hte only way to give in love.
I'm not saying that we should let ourselves be mistreated or exploited by our friends, but i highly doubt that my problem lies in friends who're out to exploit me or aren't good/kind enough (FAR from that). The problem lies in my tendency to treat friendship as a currency - and feeling angry each time someone "lets me down," as if i was cheated in some kind of business transaction. It's so subtle how my mind does it too, I honestly had no idea i was keeping scores and it's led to so many arguments and estrangements in the past. sorry to everybody i've hurt in this way, so much more growing up to do...-.-v
Not sure how this could be encouraging to people, i kinda figure this is more of an Edward thing but thought i'd share that lil epiphany w/ u guys anyways in case im not the only one. if u find urself keeping score as well, i encourage you to not do it anymore and learn to communicate ur expectations to others in a way that is loving and gracious.
Anyways, have a happy Wednesday!
Edward
P.S. Humility, it works.
Animation v.s. Animator (part II)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxM1cnphLpw
Friday, February 26, 2010
Happy Wednesday (Rut) (02/17/10)
Sup guys,
I found it interesting that jesus defined eternal life not in terms of quantity (duration) but quality (level of awesome) in John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." In other words, heaven begins with knowing God. It is not only the destination, but also the journey. I think this means heaven has begun already and, if i haven't reached it yet, I should've at the very least crossed the start line.
which brings us to the next point, how do we know God? I'd say the overwhelming majority of the people on this list, and certainly the ones who're persistent enuff to actually read these emails, are christians who've HAD "God experiences" - perhaps several. We go to retreats, conferences, yosemite, etc to have these divine encounters. Yet despite all that, we still struggle daily with our faith (or at least edward does, dunno about hte rest of you). Moses was probably one of the closest person to God in history, yet i find this verse in Exodus 33:13 "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favour with you." WHAT?! dude actually TALKED to God, like, verbally. He's had God's literal presence pass by him. For pete's sake, there was even a talking bush! Moses, despite all of these God encounters, still felt like he needed to know God. He draws a connection between knowing God's ways and knowing God Himself. Nothing spectacular, no fireworks or trumpets, simply knowing the ways of God. In fact, even the word "ways" is translated from the hebrew word for "rut" which must be one of the dullest words in the english language. what i think this means is that the way to know God is the boring, monotonous, tireless discipline of putting sin to death and practicing holiness. "Rut" implies endless, mindnumbing repetition and ironically, is exactly what we sometimes need in order to be passionate for God.
I think that we have come to be over reliant upon mountaintop experiences. In spiritually dry seasons we would try conferences, retreats, new churches/social circles/spiritual practices - any quick fix to get us back to God ASAP, anything to avoid rolling up our sleeves and take up our daily cross. It didn't work for Moses, why should it work for us? God encounters are important milestones in our spiritual journeys; but there are no short cuts, only a well worn path that leads through the narrow gates.
Encouragement for the week, to get rid of this addiction to spiritual highs and to have determined hearts that refuses to stray from the rutted course God's charted for us. I think the promise is that we get to meet God when we do this, sounds exciting.
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
P.S. hahaha NBA's rendition of jurassic park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAPABJd4xos&feature=topvideos
I found it interesting that jesus defined eternal life not in terms of quantity (duration) but quality (level of awesome) in John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." In other words, heaven begins with knowing God. It is not only the destination, but also the journey. I think this means heaven has begun already and, if i haven't reached it yet, I should've at the very least crossed the start line.
which brings us to the next point, how do we know God? I'd say the overwhelming majority of the people on this list, and certainly the ones who're persistent enuff to actually read these emails, are christians who've HAD "God experiences" - perhaps several. We go to retreats, conferences, yosemite, etc to have these divine encounters. Yet despite all that, we still struggle daily with our faith (or at least edward does, dunno about hte rest of you). Moses was probably one of the closest person to God in history, yet i find this verse in Exodus 33:13 "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favour with you." WHAT?! dude actually TALKED to God, like, verbally. He's had God's literal presence pass by him. For pete's sake, there was even a talking bush! Moses, despite all of these God encounters, still felt like he needed to know God. He draws a connection between knowing God's ways and knowing God Himself. Nothing spectacular, no fireworks or trumpets, simply knowing the ways of God. In fact, even the word "ways" is translated from the hebrew word for "rut" which must be one of the dullest words in the english language. what i think this means is that the way to know God is the boring, monotonous, tireless discipline of putting sin to death and practicing holiness. "Rut" implies endless, mindnumbing repetition and ironically, is exactly what we sometimes need in order to be passionate for God.
I think that we have come to be over reliant upon mountaintop experiences. In spiritually dry seasons we would try conferences, retreats, new churches/social circles/spiritual practices - any quick fix to get us back to God ASAP, anything to avoid rolling up our sleeves and take up our daily cross. It didn't work for Moses, why should it work for us? God encounters are important milestones in our spiritual journeys; but there are no short cuts, only a well worn path that leads through the narrow gates.
Encouragement for the week, to get rid of this addiction to spiritual highs and to have determined hearts that refuses to stray from the rutted course God's charted for us. I think the promise is that we get to meet God when we do this, sounds exciting.
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
P.S. hahaha NBA's rendition of jurassic park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAPABJd4xos&feature=topvideos
Happy Wednesday! (Sacrifices) (02/10/10)
Sup guys,
(for the purposes of this email, suffering = sacrifice)
a talk earlier this week on the subject of suffering for God led me to reread psalm 51 and made me really reevaluate the things i do/sacrifice for my church. We're promised suffering and hardship if we were to truly follow Christ. we're also promised that our present suffering aren't even gonna begin to compare to the glory that will be revealed in us. What I want to make sure is that the sacrifices i make really are counted towards God's glory and not my own twisted satisfaction. While i shake my head at franciscan monks who'd flog themselves for the purposes of purification from fleshly desires, how easy it is to say to God "look at all that I have done/suffered for You!" Which is silly, since every second and every cent that I count my own never really belong to me anyways.
Wat's amazing is that God's not terribly interested in my offerings, He's interested in me. When God said he wanted our first fruits and the best our efforts have to offer, He's not being greedy. Why would an infinite God possibly need my measly 10%? Rather it is meant to be a measure of an inward transformation. The trap here is to not confuse the measuring stick with the true offering. While He's not all that interested in my 10%, or the time spent in prayer, or efforts to love my neighbours; He is supremely interested in the heart that decides to willingly offer these things. When Paul writes that "each person should give what they have decided in their hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" he's not excusing the reluctant from worship/offerings, he is encouraging them to reach a place where sacrifices made in love comes naturally.
Encouragement for the week: Do not confuse sacrifice with genuine worship, the heart of a true worshipper is one which is broken, humbly repentant, and for whom suffering/sacrifice is not just second nature - but first, third, fourth, etc as well.
May we glorify our Lord even in our sufferings,
Edward
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." - Psalm 51:17
"Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.'" - Genesis 4:6-7
"The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable - How much more so when brought with evil intent!" - Proverbs 21:27
P.S. Cute dog that smiles and wags its tail whenever it's near its owner =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxdh4z94xYM
(for the purposes of this email, suffering = sacrifice)
a talk earlier this week on the subject of suffering for God led me to reread psalm 51 and made me really reevaluate the things i do/sacrifice for my church. We're promised suffering and hardship if we were to truly follow Christ. we're also promised that our present suffering aren't even gonna begin to compare to the glory that will be revealed in us. What I want to make sure is that the sacrifices i make really are counted towards God's glory and not my own twisted satisfaction. While i shake my head at franciscan monks who'd flog themselves for the purposes of purification from fleshly desires, how easy it is to say to God "look at all that I have done/suffered for You!" Which is silly, since every second and every cent that I count my own never really belong to me anyways.
Wat's amazing is that God's not terribly interested in my offerings, He's interested in me. When God said he wanted our first fruits and the best our efforts have to offer, He's not being greedy. Why would an infinite God possibly need my measly 10%? Rather it is meant to be a measure of an inward transformation. The trap here is to not confuse the measuring stick with the true offering. While He's not all that interested in my 10%, or the time spent in prayer, or efforts to love my neighbours; He is supremely interested in the heart that decides to willingly offer these things. When Paul writes that "each person should give what they have decided in their hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" he's not excusing the reluctant from worship/offerings, he is encouraging them to reach a place where sacrifices made in love comes naturally.
Encouragement for the week: Do not confuse sacrifice with genuine worship, the heart of a true worshipper is one which is broken, humbly repentant, and for whom suffering/sacrifice is not just second nature - but first, third, fourth, etc as well.
May we glorify our Lord even in our sufferings,
Edward
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." - Psalm 51:17
"Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.'" - Genesis 4:6-7
"The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable - How much more so when brought with evil intent!" - Proverbs 21:27
P.S. Cute dog that smiles and wags its tail whenever it's near its owner =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxdh4z94xYM
Happy Wednesday (Division) (02/03/10)
Hey Guys,
I must confess that the issue of indwelling sin has been heavy on my mind these past few weeks. was led to read romans 7 today during lunch and thought i'd share my thoughts.
I think most ppl are familiar with this confusing, tongue twister of a passage (22 "do"s in 5 verses..-.-) where paul describes himself as wanting to do good but doing evil instead. It's a passage that talks about this internal struggle between the flesh that craves sin, and the mind that longs for God. This is me, and i know it is every single believer in the history of our faith. Now, it is easy to respond to this passage negatively because it talks about a defeated [insert your name here], and really - with the tongue twister portion highlighted in my bible - it is usually the only part i focus on, but today i realized that there is a victorious component i've always missed in the past that is so crucial.
While defeat (succumbing to sin) should not be the main experience of the christian life but it is an utterly inescapable aspect, we need to embrace the fact that we will never attain perfection and that we are utterly dependent on God. Righteousness - not the kind we display to the world - but true, God-honouring righteousness (which is the only kind that matters), can only be obtained through faith in Jesus. This does not excuse us to sin, rather we're meant to make war with our own fleshly desires and struggles towards God's holy standards. Do not be alarmed or surprised when sin overwhelms your life because it can and often does happen, whether we realize it or not. The 3 signs of a saved christian is not a spotless life, but a love for the laws of God, a hatred of his/her own sin, and a recognition of the fact that their wretched sinfulness requires a saviour. In other words, a saved christian WANTS to be perfect but knows that he/she CAN'T be, and they embrace this frustration out of love and devotion to God.
Now, i promised you victory in Romans 7 earlier on, and it is simply these two points:
1) My righteousness (and therefore victory) does not hinge upon my works/performance, but upon my faith in God's grace and mercy.
2) Passages like 2 Cor 3:18 and phil 2:12-13 promises that God's working on me to make me more like him; so that if i fall, i can get up and climb higher - victory over the bondage of sin is possible, sin is not something we need to "put up with."
Encouragement for the week: you're a sinner, never downplay or ignore this fact, deal with it. The sooner you do, the sooner you get out of denial and self righteousness, and the sooner you can fall under Grace. This should clothe us in humility and a profound sense of gratitude towards God. Instead of freezing us in fear/shame, it frees us to say to our accusers "YES! You're right, I am such a sinful person, isn't that great?! let me tell you about Grace!" It allows us to serve Him even when we know we're so unworthy w/o feeling like a hypocrit, and it allowed me to (hopefully) encourage you all despite personally struggling through a spiritually dry season.
May we bring Him glory even through our ungodliness,
Edward
"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me." - Romans 7:21
"However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." Romans 4:5
"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus...and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." 1 Corinthians 3:8-9
P.S. we've all heard of too many cooks in the kitchen, but apparently the same holds tru of hamster wheels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KhkfK12NiQ
I must confess that the issue of indwelling sin has been heavy on my mind these past few weeks. was led to read romans 7 today during lunch and thought i'd share my thoughts.
I think most ppl are familiar with this confusing, tongue twister of a passage (22 "do"s in 5 verses..-.-) where paul describes himself as wanting to do good but doing evil instead. It's a passage that talks about this internal struggle between the flesh that craves sin, and the mind that longs for God. This is me, and i know it is every single believer in the history of our faith. Now, it is easy to respond to this passage negatively because it talks about a defeated [insert your name here], and really - with the tongue twister portion highlighted in my bible - it is usually the only part i focus on, but today i realized that there is a victorious component i've always missed in the past that is so crucial.
While defeat (succumbing to sin) should not be the main experience of the christian life but it is an utterly inescapable aspect, we need to embrace the fact that we will never attain perfection and that we are utterly dependent on God. Righteousness - not the kind we display to the world - but true, God-honouring righteousness (which is the only kind that matters), can only be obtained through faith in Jesus. This does not excuse us to sin, rather we're meant to make war with our own fleshly desires and struggles towards God's holy standards. Do not be alarmed or surprised when sin overwhelms your life because it can and often does happen, whether we realize it or not. The 3 signs of a saved christian is not a spotless life, but a love for the laws of God, a hatred of his/her own sin, and a recognition of the fact that their wretched sinfulness requires a saviour. In other words, a saved christian WANTS to be perfect but knows that he/she CAN'T be, and they embrace this frustration out of love and devotion to God.
Now, i promised you victory in Romans 7 earlier on, and it is simply these two points:
1) My righteousness (and therefore victory) does not hinge upon my works/performance, but upon my faith in God's grace and mercy.
2) Passages like 2 Cor 3:18 and phil 2:12-13 promises that God's working on me to make me more like him; so that if i fall, i can get up and climb higher - victory over the bondage of sin is possible, sin is not something we need to "put up with."
Encouragement for the week: you're a sinner, never downplay or ignore this fact, deal with it. The sooner you do, the sooner you get out of denial and self righteousness, and the sooner you can fall under Grace. This should clothe us in humility and a profound sense of gratitude towards God. Instead of freezing us in fear/shame, it frees us to say to our accusers "YES! You're right, I am such a sinful person, isn't that great?! let me tell you about Grace!" It allows us to serve Him even when we know we're so unworthy w/o feeling like a hypocrit, and it allowed me to (hopefully) encourage you all despite personally struggling through a spiritually dry season.
May we bring Him glory even through our ungodliness,
Edward
"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me." - Romans 7:21
"However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." Romans 4:5
"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus...and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." 1 Corinthians 3:8-9
P.S. we've all heard of too many cooks in the kitchen, but apparently the same holds tru of hamster wheels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KhkfK12NiQ
Happy Wednesday (Righteousness) (01/28/10)
Hey guys,
better late than never i always said. found myself reading 1 john recently and it's been a pretty convicting few days for me (its a short book, i highly recommend flipping through it when u have a spare minute). I think the passage that stood out to me the most was chapter 3 where john distinguishes the righteous from the sinful. His crieria for righteousness was this: He who practices righteousness is righteous, and he who practices sin is sinful - very plain and simple right? Except, how do we now reconcile the fact that we are forgiven sinner? On the one hand i declare, with confidence, myself to be a child of God; yet on the other I find, as paul did, that "wat i want to do i do not do but what i hate i do." There is still this sinful nature that resides in my redeemed body and pulls on me like gravity. I think the real question from john is how much am i fighting it. I can not honestly claim to be a child of God yet deliberately continue in sin - believing that to be ok. In other words, the practice of righteousness/holiness not a requirement of our salvation, but the evidence of it. I dont have to be perfect, but I must be moving towards perfection.
On a related note, we should make a habit of repentance. this is one discipline that I feel many christians lose touch of - and it disconnects us from teh responsibilities of our sins i think. We tell ourseles that "ok, i messed up, just dont do it again next time" - and leave it at that. usually, in my case at least, this doesn't lead to any life changing progress. Repentance does several things, it is a direct apology to God for sinning against him, and it is also a call to God for help in dealing with the sins in our lives. If we leave repentance out, we're effectively not fighting sin. If we're not fighting sin, then we are practicing it.
Encouragement for the week, make a habit of repentance, and pursue holiness because this desire for righteousness is what marks us as children of God,
Have a great wednesday (all 5 min left of it) and rest of the week!
Edward
"If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faitful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:8-9
"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:6
"He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous." 1 John 3:7
creepy genie who plays 20 questions with you to guess person/character u're thinking of (courtesy of ben):
http://us.akinator.com/
better late than never i always said. found myself reading 1 john recently and it's been a pretty convicting few days for me (its a short book, i highly recommend flipping through it when u have a spare minute). I think the passage that stood out to me the most was chapter 3 where john distinguishes the righteous from the sinful. His crieria for righteousness was this: He who practices righteousness is righteous, and he who practices sin is sinful - very plain and simple right? Except, how do we now reconcile the fact that we are forgiven sinner? On the one hand i declare, with confidence, myself to be a child of God; yet on the other I find, as paul did, that "wat i want to do i do not do but what i hate i do." There is still this sinful nature that resides in my redeemed body and pulls on me like gravity. I think the real question from john is how much am i fighting it. I can not honestly claim to be a child of God yet deliberately continue in sin - believing that to be ok. In other words, the practice of righteousness/holiness not a requirement of our salvation, but the evidence of it. I dont have to be perfect, but I must be moving towards perfection.
On a related note, we should make a habit of repentance. this is one discipline that I feel many christians lose touch of - and it disconnects us from teh responsibilities of our sins i think. We tell ourseles that "ok, i messed up, just dont do it again next time" - and leave it at that. usually, in my case at least, this doesn't lead to any life changing progress. Repentance does several things, it is a direct apology to God for sinning against him, and it is also a call to God for help in dealing with the sins in our lives. If we leave repentance out, we're effectively not fighting sin. If we're not fighting sin, then we are practicing it.
Encouragement for the week, make a habit of repentance, and pursue holiness because this desire for righteousness is what marks us as children of God,
Have a great wednesday (all 5 min left of it) and rest of the week!
Edward
"If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faitful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:8-9
"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:6
"He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous." 1 John 3:7
creepy genie who plays 20 questions with you to guess person/character u're thinking of (courtesy of ben):
http://us.akinator.com/
Happy Wednesday! (Micah: One who resembles God) (01/20/10)
Sup Guys,
Decided to read micah this morning, if u read carefully u start noticing this pattern of God telling israel/judah to listen to his accusations and declaration of retribution, and then follows it up with a promise of grace and mercy. Through this prophet's words u really get a sense of God's hatred of sin juxtaposed with his love of his children. Micah ends with this graphic image of a loving Father ripping all that would harm his sons and daughters and casting it away from them.
But enough about scriptural poetry, I also love the encouraging message embedded in chapter 4, where man asks of God what he should bring as an offering - and starts listing off sheep, cows, oil - sacrifice after sacrifice. God's response was simply that man should walk humbly with him. More importantly, he makes a promise to show man what is good. This was done, i think, through the example of Jesus who is an exact image of the Father. Jesus himself said that if you knew him, you knew the Father as well. So there is this command in effect, to be good we must follow the example set by Christ.
The early believers at Antioch were so zealous for God that they were dubbed "Christians" which means "follower of Christ" BUT i've also heard it translated as "one who is Christ-like." I dont believe it was because of their spiritual giftings that they were given this title which we tend to take for granted today - afterall, the church of corinth had no lack of spiritual giftings. So often, we get caught up in serving the church, in giftings/callings, and in our responsibilities to our brothers/sisters that we assume we're doing ok spiritually or we become too burnt out to even consider imitating Christ. Encouragement for this week, lets forget about our sacrifices and services for a moment and consider the words of Paul - our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. In humility, love, and serving of each other, let us all strive to resemble our Lord. Jesus was meant to reflect the Father in the same way that we were meant to reflect him. I want to be a Micah.
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to show mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8
"He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." - Colossian 1:15
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18
Funny video about tetris, courtesy of Kang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alw5hs0chj0
P.S. Congratulations!! =)
Decided to read micah this morning, if u read carefully u start noticing this pattern of God telling israel/judah to listen to his accusations and declaration of retribution, and then follows it up with a promise of grace and mercy. Through this prophet's words u really get a sense of God's hatred of sin juxtaposed with his love of his children. Micah ends with this graphic image of a loving Father ripping all that would harm his sons and daughters and casting it away from them.
But enough about scriptural poetry, I also love the encouraging message embedded in chapter 4, where man asks of God what he should bring as an offering - and starts listing off sheep, cows, oil - sacrifice after sacrifice. God's response was simply that man should walk humbly with him. More importantly, he makes a promise to show man what is good. This was done, i think, through the example of Jesus who is an exact image of the Father. Jesus himself said that if you knew him, you knew the Father as well. So there is this command in effect, to be good we must follow the example set by Christ.
The early believers at Antioch were so zealous for God that they were dubbed "Christians" which means "follower of Christ" BUT i've also heard it translated as "one who is Christ-like." I dont believe it was because of their spiritual giftings that they were given this title which we tend to take for granted today - afterall, the church of corinth had no lack of spiritual giftings. So often, we get caught up in serving the church, in giftings/callings, and in our responsibilities to our brothers/sisters that we assume we're doing ok spiritually or we become too burnt out to even consider imitating Christ. Encouragement for this week, lets forget about our sacrifices and services for a moment and consider the words of Paul - our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. In humility, love, and serving of each other, let us all strive to resemble our Lord. Jesus was meant to reflect the Father in the same way that we were meant to reflect him. I want to be a Micah.
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to show mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8
"He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." - Colossian 1:15
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18
Funny video about tetris, courtesy of Kang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alw5hs0chj0
P.S. Congratulations!! =)
Happy Wednesday (Rejection) (01/13/10)
Hey guys,
It's been a while! Bible reading has admittedly been a lil dry for me recently (could use prayer in that regard) but today's encouragement came from an unlikely source. I was listening to the radio on my drive to work earlier this week and heard an interview of a singer - can't remember the name - who said humans are born with the intrinsic need to create and the intrinsic fear of rejection. He went on to say how these two characteristics are dangerous together because everytime someone rejects one of his songs/creations, he's tempted to see it as a personal rejection.
This is me. while im by no means a song writer or even uber creative, i've felt the sting of rejection many times in the past when one of my projects or endeavours was looked down upon by others - sometimes by people closest to me. The very notion that these criticisms are actual personal attacks coming from beloved friends/family is ridiculous, yet the hurt and doubt we feel with every rejection is still there. I always need to remind myself that my value is not found in my work, but in how God sees me. I think its only by keeping this fact clear in my head that I would be able to stand firm in my identity as a child of God even when my words, works, or intentions are (un)fairly criticized. Keeping that attitude of humility and remembering that we're not meant to be glorifying ourselves will enable us to "all the more gladly boast about [our] weaknesses" and work/create for the simple joy of worship.
Encouragement for the week, rejections will always come, let's hold onto our identity and worth as children of God. The sting of rejection will never pass, no matter how holy we think we are we're built to yearn for approval, but it should not hinder us from loving God and those around us.
Have a great wednesday!
Edward
"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour." - 1 Corinthians 3:7-8
Simon's cat has found snow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgmXrARr6aI
It's been a while! Bible reading has admittedly been a lil dry for me recently (could use prayer in that regard) but today's encouragement came from an unlikely source. I was listening to the radio on my drive to work earlier this week and heard an interview of a singer - can't remember the name - who said humans are born with the intrinsic need to create and the intrinsic fear of rejection. He went on to say how these two characteristics are dangerous together because everytime someone rejects one of his songs/creations, he's tempted to see it as a personal rejection.
This is me. while im by no means a song writer or even uber creative, i've felt the sting of rejection many times in the past when one of my projects or endeavours was looked down upon by others - sometimes by people closest to me. The very notion that these criticisms are actual personal attacks coming from beloved friends/family is ridiculous, yet the hurt and doubt we feel with every rejection is still there. I always need to remind myself that my value is not found in my work, but in how God sees me. I think its only by keeping this fact clear in my head that I would be able to stand firm in my identity as a child of God even when my words, works, or intentions are (un)fairly criticized. Keeping that attitude of humility and remembering that we're not meant to be glorifying ourselves will enable us to "all the more gladly boast about [our] weaknesses" and work/create for the simple joy of worship.
Encouragement for the week, rejections will always come, let's hold onto our identity and worth as children of God. The sting of rejection will never pass, no matter how holy we think we are we're built to yearn for approval, but it should not hinder us from loving God and those around us.
Have a great wednesday!
Edward
"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour." - 1 Corinthians 3:7-8
Simon's cat has found snow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgmXrARr6aI
Happy Wednesday (Blessing) (12/16/09)
sup guys,
Today's email is completely plagiarized from uncle joseph and tim keller, so if i sound even remotely smart/holy, it's completely their fault.
Christ summarized the law so well when he said it all amounts to loving God and our neighbours. Love is never inactive, it spurs us into action to protect, to edify, and to build. This gave rise to three observations i wanted to share:
1- To know God, like...really know God, is to be remade. It is impossible to walk away from an encounter with him unchanged - he destroys our selfishness and places a piece of himself in its place. Every person who've really encountered God in the scriptures and stayed with him has lost their sense of self and became consumed with a desire to serve him. Keller puts it even more strongly when he said "God will never bless us except to make us a blessing."
2- To be that blessing to others always mean sacrifice on our part. The highest sacrifice we can give is our lives and God demands nothing less of us. If THAT is the standard we're being called to, how much more should we, out of love, be free/generous with our time, money, and skills. To see our relationships not as investments, measured in terms of cost/benefits to ourselves, but as living growth of the Kingdom. Jesus gave us the perfect example of this sacrifice - whenever we fail to burn our lives as a blessing to him/others we're not simply failing to listen to God, we're failing to be LIKE God.
3- To bless others is a blessings for us. I dont mean if we passed out $10 to a homeless person or started tithing at church we'd suddenly get raises at work. I mean that in serving God wholeheartedly, not out of selfishness but because you love him, you can be 101% certain that that love/desire was put in your heart by him - that you are HIS. i honestly can't think of any greater blessing God can give me, in this life, than knowing that i walk with his mark upon me.
Encouragement for the week: Bless and be blessed.
Have a happy wednesday,
Edward
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you...Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends...This is my command: Love each other." - John 15:9-17
"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children...if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." - Romans 8:16-17
Surprised kitty! courtesy of christina =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8
Today's email is completely plagiarized from uncle joseph and tim keller, so if i sound even remotely smart/holy, it's completely their fault.
Christ summarized the law so well when he said it all amounts to loving God and our neighbours. Love is never inactive, it spurs us into action to protect, to edify, and to build. This gave rise to three observations i wanted to share:
1- To know God, like...really know God, is to be remade. It is impossible to walk away from an encounter with him unchanged - he destroys our selfishness and places a piece of himself in its place. Every person who've really encountered God in the scriptures and stayed with him has lost their sense of self and became consumed with a desire to serve him. Keller puts it even more strongly when he said "God will never bless us except to make us a blessing."
2- To be that blessing to others always mean sacrifice on our part. The highest sacrifice we can give is our lives and God demands nothing less of us. If THAT is the standard we're being called to, how much more should we, out of love, be free/generous with our time, money, and skills. To see our relationships not as investments, measured in terms of cost/benefits to ourselves, but as living growth of the Kingdom. Jesus gave us the perfect example of this sacrifice - whenever we fail to burn our lives as a blessing to him/others we're not simply failing to listen to God, we're failing to be LIKE God.
3- To bless others is a blessings for us. I dont mean if we passed out $10 to a homeless person or started tithing at church we'd suddenly get raises at work. I mean that in serving God wholeheartedly, not out of selfishness but because you love him, you can be 101% certain that that love/desire was put in your heart by him - that you are HIS. i honestly can't think of any greater blessing God can give me, in this life, than knowing that i walk with his mark upon me.
Encouragement for the week: Bless and be blessed.
Have a happy wednesday,
Edward
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you...Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends...This is my command: Love each other." - John 15:9-17
"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children...if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." - Romans 8:16-17
Surprised kitty! courtesy of christina =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8
Happy Wednesday (Namesake) (12/09/09)
sup guys,
haha, a lil late for a happy wednesday - been a busy day away from the computer so this was the first chance i had to sit down and actually type this up.
Two quick things i got out of reading romans this week so far:
- "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship..." Romans 1:5
It was for God's glory that we are saved. we so often fall into the self centered thought that salvation was for us, that grace was given for us. We become like spoilt children who actually believe we're entitled to whatever gifts and attention our loving parents bestow upon us - like it's our...aha...god-given-right. While we're definitely on the receiving end of the benefits of grace i think its important to remember the purpose behind grace and how it was meant to magnify God. Failing that, its so easy to fall into pride/ego and take our salvation for granted. Jus a quick encouragement for us to remember this week that our salvation and our lives are meant to glorify God and not ourselves.
- "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Romans 4:17
The other thing i picked up was actually pretty touching for me. That God sees not just who we are, but who we should be; and not just where we are but where we're called to be. There are so many things that i should be but am not: im not completely selfless, im not always loving, im rarely patient, and wisdom seems like a foreign language to me at times. Yet God is so much more patient with me than i am towards myself. He is still busy completing whatever good works he's started in me. Its the same for everyone; while we're not perfect, we are being perfected. Good news for me cause it means i dont have to stay the way i am but by his power, will continue to change and become more like him.
have a happy wednesday (all 30 min left of it) and rest of the week!
edward
"that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
aight...been a while since i posted a hamster video =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDOsXzfIawI&feature=related
haha, a lil late for a happy wednesday - been a busy day away from the computer so this was the first chance i had to sit down and actually type this up.
Two quick things i got out of reading romans this week so far:
- "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship..." Romans 1:5
It was for God's glory that we are saved. we so often fall into the self centered thought that salvation was for us, that grace was given for us. We become like spoilt children who actually believe we're entitled to whatever gifts and attention our loving parents bestow upon us - like it's our...aha...god-given-right. While we're definitely on the receiving end of the benefits of grace i think its important to remember the purpose behind grace and how it was meant to magnify God. Failing that, its so easy to fall into pride/ego and take our salvation for granted. Jus a quick encouragement for us to remember this week that our salvation and our lives are meant to glorify God and not ourselves.
- "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Romans 4:17
The other thing i picked up was actually pretty touching for me. That God sees not just who we are, but who we should be; and not just where we are but where we're called to be. There are so many things that i should be but am not: im not completely selfless, im not always loving, im rarely patient, and wisdom seems like a foreign language to me at times. Yet God is so much more patient with me than i am towards myself. He is still busy completing whatever good works he's started in me. Its the same for everyone; while we're not perfect, we are being perfected. Good news for me cause it means i dont have to stay the way i am but by his power, will continue to change and become more like him.
have a happy wednesday (all 30 min left of it) and rest of the week!
edward
"that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
aight...been a while since i posted a hamster video =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDOsXzfIawI&feature=related
Happy Wednesday (Tasks) (12/02/09)
hey guys!
Lesson learnt this morning/week - take every task given to us seriously:
we're so conditioned to be achievers that sometimes we ignore small, needful tasks because it's "beneath us" - i am constantly guilty of this. So easy to tell ourselves that we're overqualifed for this task or that, as if we could be above doing His work. A simple greeting that sparks a much needed conversation, a word of encouragement that uplifts a troubled spirit, a gentle rebuke that turns a loved one back towards God - any effort that goes beyond loving our own selfish selves.
Or perhaps we talk ourselves out of even beginning any tasks out of fear of ridicule or failure. That's what i love about serving our saviour - it's never about fame or success. A preacher once put it this way: if we are afraid of ridicule or failure, we essentially have an issue with pride. It's always about humility and how that should mean we care more about God's opinion of us than our own or other people's. The kind of humility paul talks about in philippians 2.
I firmly believe that God wants to use each and every person, some for grand and noble deeds and some for small and common purposes - yet each and every person/task (no matter how mundane) is uniquely essential to His grand Plan. He trusts those who are trustworthy. It is pointless to pray for a coworker's salvation when we fail to even show him/her love; worhtless to pray REVIVAL when evangelism isn't even on our minds; and meaningless to pray for an end to world hunger when we guiltlessly walk past a hungry man on a street. If we fail in even small tasks such as these, then how are we even serving our Lord?
Encouragement for the week, do stuff for God, no matter how small or inconsequential it seems - He has this habit of taking even our measly offerings of loaves and fishes and turning it into something awesome and amazing.
Have a happy wednesday (I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS DECEMBER!)
edward
"Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you..." - Jeremiah 1:7-8
"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" - Jeremiah 12:5
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." - Luke 16:10-11
lol a lil corney but here's a poor, lonely guy singing a duet w/ himself ^.^v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVo-S9ns2_A
Lesson learnt this morning/week - take every task given to us seriously:
we're so conditioned to be achievers that sometimes we ignore small, needful tasks because it's "beneath us" - i am constantly guilty of this. So easy to tell ourselves that we're overqualifed for this task or that, as if we could be above doing His work. A simple greeting that sparks a much needed conversation, a word of encouragement that uplifts a troubled spirit, a gentle rebuke that turns a loved one back towards God - any effort that goes beyond loving our own selfish selves.
Or perhaps we talk ourselves out of even beginning any tasks out of fear of ridicule or failure. That's what i love about serving our saviour - it's never about fame or success. A preacher once put it this way: if we are afraid of ridicule or failure, we essentially have an issue with pride. It's always about humility and how that should mean we care more about God's opinion of us than our own or other people's. The kind of humility paul talks about in philippians 2.
I firmly believe that God wants to use each and every person, some for grand and noble deeds and some for small and common purposes - yet each and every person/task (no matter how mundane) is uniquely essential to His grand Plan. He trusts those who are trustworthy. It is pointless to pray for a coworker's salvation when we fail to even show him/her love; worhtless to pray REVIVAL when evangelism isn't even on our minds; and meaningless to pray for an end to world hunger when we guiltlessly walk past a hungry man on a street. If we fail in even small tasks such as these, then how are we even serving our Lord?
Encouragement for the week, do stuff for God, no matter how small or inconsequential it seems - He has this habit of taking even our measly offerings of loaves and fishes and turning it into something awesome and amazing.
Have a happy wednesday (I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS DECEMBER!)
edward
"Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you..." - Jeremiah 1:7-8
"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" - Jeremiah 12:5
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." - Luke 16:10-11
lol a lil corney but here's a poor, lonely guy singing a duet w/ himself ^.^v
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVo-S9ns2_A
Happy Wednesday (Calling) (11/18/09)
Hey all,
some of you are pretty new to my wednesday emails, i pretty much added everyone here cause i figured u mite get something out of it. This email thing started w/ me wanting to encourage some struggling friends in the middle of the work/school week to hang in there and persist in God (with cute hamster videos). It's evolved over the months to become a mini devotional where i share whatever i've been learning recently (but still w/ cute hamster videos). It's been a great blessing to me as i recap (for myself) lessons learnt and i hope it's been eddifying to everyone. If you prefer not to receive these emails anymore pls do tell me, i promise i wont be hurt or upset =)
What i've been learning recently is that God's calling in our lives and ministry needs to take precedence over our own agendas and wisdom. I loosely define "calling" as God's will in all areas of our lives - so it doesn't apply only to stuff like career and ministry choices but to the mundane, like what to wear each day, as well. I briefly shared on this recently with the focus on the "risk taking" aspect, namely faith = trusting in a hand we can't see and to not constantly wait for clear signs to validate a desire in us to do something for God. Not to say signs are bad, but definitely to say that we can't freeze ourselves from doing good simply because we're not sure if God wants it or not - God always wants good.
The focus in this email is more on the "seek and obey" aspect. We're called as christians to put God's will above our own. This leads us to a two fold responsibility: the first is to seek out God's calling in our lives; the second is to obey His will once it's made known to us. The first is done through prayer (preferably not alone) and in simply knowing what God expects of us in every situation (immersion in word). As an example, I'm not saying we need to consult God for fashion guidelines every single morning, but we can choose clothes with a God centered attitude. The second is usually done through gut wrenching, painful humility (at least for me).
As a wise friend told me recently, it's easy to simply take care of a problem yourself, so much harder to ask for help. This is me. Not just in my serving/life in general, but my prayer life too. Encouragement this week - seek out God's calling in all our decisions and problems, give God a real presence in our lives as we turn to Him in all things. Afterall, it's inconsistent for us to claim to entrust our lives and souls to God if we can't even trust him to get us through the little troubles of each day.
"How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" - Isaiah 30:19-21
Rock Climbing Hamsta! <3
(easily a V6 bouldering problem w/ toe hooking action, u go lil guy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krTcfx1QHUY
some of you are pretty new to my wednesday emails, i pretty much added everyone here cause i figured u mite get something out of it. This email thing started w/ me wanting to encourage some struggling friends in the middle of the work/school week to hang in there and persist in God (with cute hamster videos). It's evolved over the months to become a mini devotional where i share whatever i've been learning recently (but still w/ cute hamster videos). It's been a great blessing to me as i recap (for myself) lessons learnt and i hope it's been eddifying to everyone. If you prefer not to receive these emails anymore pls do tell me, i promise i wont be hurt or upset =)
What i've been learning recently is that God's calling in our lives and ministry needs to take precedence over our own agendas and wisdom. I loosely define "calling" as God's will in all areas of our lives - so it doesn't apply only to stuff like career and ministry choices but to the mundane, like what to wear each day, as well. I briefly shared on this recently with the focus on the "risk taking" aspect, namely faith = trusting in a hand we can't see and to not constantly wait for clear signs to validate a desire in us to do something for God. Not to say signs are bad, but definitely to say that we can't freeze ourselves from doing good simply because we're not sure if God wants it or not - God always wants good.
The focus in this email is more on the "seek and obey" aspect. We're called as christians to put God's will above our own. This leads us to a two fold responsibility: the first is to seek out God's calling in our lives; the second is to obey His will once it's made known to us. The first is done through prayer (preferably not alone) and in simply knowing what God expects of us in every situation (immersion in word). As an example, I'm not saying we need to consult God for fashion guidelines every single morning, but we can choose clothes with a God centered attitude. The second is usually done through gut wrenching, painful humility (at least for me).
As a wise friend told me recently, it's easy to simply take care of a problem yourself, so much harder to ask for help. This is me. Not just in my serving/life in general, but my prayer life too. Encouragement this week - seek out God's calling in all our decisions and problems, give God a real presence in our lives as we turn to Him in all things. Afterall, it's inconsistent for us to claim to entrust our lives and souls to God if we can't even trust him to get us through the little troubles of each day.
"How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" - Isaiah 30:19-21
Rock Climbing Hamsta! <3
(easily a V6 bouldering problem w/ toe hooking action, u go lil guy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krTcfx1QHUY
Happy Wednesday! (Sight) (11/11/09)
sup,
Isaiah 6 is, for me, probably one of hte most referred to passages in the OT. Its a glorious chapter that opens with a vision of heaven but ends with a proclamation of world wide blindness. It was this blindness that drew me to John 9, to the beautiful drama that unfolded there w/ Jesus healing a man blind from birth. Read it!
There was 4 reactions to this miracle:
1- the blind man's thankfulness/loyalty, and his discerning jesus as first prophet, then Lord.
2- the disbelief of his neighbours, people who knew him but couldn't accept his transformation.
3- the parents who, though they believed in the changes in him, kept silent out of fear.
4- the pharisees who responded w/ skepticism and arrogance in claiming to be able to see w/o God.
john is VERY big on light and sight, entire sermon series can be preached on this chapter alone but i think all ill really draw our attention to is this simple fact: we need Jesus to be able to see clearly. Several times in john, people have misunderstood jesus and the events surrounding him because their eyes were spiritually blind (i'll rebuild temple in 3 days, you must be born again, i will give you living water, etc). Each time the people responded in very human ways to spiritual words/events. This is us. The world is so much with us and we're so spiritually blind that we often fail to see God in our day to day life. Prayer and encouragement for this week - that we receive spiritual sight from God to be able to have spiritual reactions instead of human ones. That we'd have Godly perspective in all areas of our lives. That we can accept suffering/hardships so that the work of God might be displayed in our lives.
Have a happy wednesday =)
Edward
"Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing but never perceibing." - Isaiah 6:9
"One thing I do know: I was blind but now I see!" - John 9:25
"I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?" - John 9:27
"For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." - John 9:39
Guy asked for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZy105010SI&feature=channel
Isaiah 6 is, for me, probably one of hte most referred to passages in the OT. Its a glorious chapter that opens with a vision of heaven but ends with a proclamation of world wide blindness. It was this blindness that drew me to John 9, to the beautiful drama that unfolded there w/ Jesus healing a man blind from birth. Read it!
There was 4 reactions to this miracle:
1- the blind man's thankfulness/loyalty, and his discerning jesus as first prophet, then Lord.
2- the disbelief of his neighbours, people who knew him but couldn't accept his transformation.
3- the parents who, though they believed in the changes in him, kept silent out of fear.
4- the pharisees who responded w/ skepticism and arrogance in claiming to be able to see w/o God.
john is VERY big on light and sight, entire sermon series can be preached on this chapter alone but i think all ill really draw our attention to is this simple fact: we need Jesus to be able to see clearly. Several times in john, people have misunderstood jesus and the events surrounding him because their eyes were spiritually blind (i'll rebuild temple in 3 days, you must be born again, i will give you living water, etc). Each time the people responded in very human ways to spiritual words/events. This is us. The world is so much with us and we're so spiritually blind that we often fail to see God in our day to day life. Prayer and encouragement for this week - that we receive spiritual sight from God to be able to have spiritual reactions instead of human ones. That we'd have Godly perspective in all areas of our lives. That we can accept suffering/hardships so that the work of God might be displayed in our lives.
Have a happy wednesday =)
Edward
"Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing but never perceibing." - Isaiah 6:9
"One thing I do know: I was blind but now I see!" - John 9:25
"I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?" - John 9:27
"For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." - John 9:39
Guy asked for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZy105010SI&feature=channel
Happy Wednesday! (Meaningless) (10/28/09)
Sup all,
Always thought Ecclesiastes was a depressing book - at a glance, u can basically summarize it as: everything's meaningless, we're all gonna die! /sob sob T_T
Solomon's life was tragic, he started out so well but fell away from God (2 chron). The book of Ecc. was written towards the end of his reign as he reflected over his entire lifetime's pursuit of wisdom, pleasure and wealth - only to find it all meaningless. He summarized the wisdom gained over an entire lifetime into these three pieces of advice (at least...the 3 i found, prolly more if u dug deep enuff):
1- Find enjoyment in life wherever you can - be it in work, food, or ur wife/husband (see #2).
2- You need God to be truly satisfied - so everything we do needs to be done with God in mind.
3- Fear God - meaning honour him and, with an attitude of humility, know him to be holy.
Encouragement of the week, find satisfaction/enjoyment in even school/work! I think so many of us honestly dont care about our jobs and celebrate more fridays than mondays. I want to be able to, with God's help, find satisfaction/enjoyment in my work. we're supposed to come home tired at the end of the day knowing our time was spent on worthwhile pursuits. We're supposed to find joy in satisfying our hungers and emotional needs. we're supposed to do all of this with the understanding that God is the giver of all these things and that, in the end, only He can ultimately satisfy our craving for things eternal.
Have a happy, meaningful wednesday! =)
Edward
"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?" - Ecc 2:24-25
"He has also set eternity in the hearts of men..." - Ecc. 3:11
"Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." - Ecc. 12:13-14
Cage fighting kitties!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiCuw1N49O8&feature=related
Always thought Ecclesiastes was a depressing book - at a glance, u can basically summarize it as: everything's meaningless, we're all gonna die! /sob sob T_T
Solomon's life was tragic, he started out so well but fell away from God (2 chron). The book of Ecc. was written towards the end of his reign as he reflected over his entire lifetime's pursuit of wisdom, pleasure and wealth - only to find it all meaningless. He summarized the wisdom gained over an entire lifetime into these three pieces of advice (at least...the 3 i found, prolly more if u dug deep enuff):
1- Find enjoyment in life wherever you can - be it in work, food, or ur wife/husband (see #2).
2- You need God to be truly satisfied - so everything we do needs to be done with God in mind.
3- Fear God - meaning honour him and, with an attitude of humility, know him to be holy.
Encouragement of the week, find satisfaction/enjoyment in even school/work! I think so many of us honestly dont care about our jobs and celebrate more fridays than mondays. I want to be able to, with God's help, find satisfaction/enjoyment in my work. we're supposed to come home tired at the end of the day knowing our time was spent on worthwhile pursuits. We're supposed to find joy in satisfying our hungers and emotional needs. we're supposed to do all of this with the understanding that God is the giver of all these things and that, in the end, only He can ultimately satisfy our craving for things eternal.
Have a happy, meaningful wednesday! =)
Edward
"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?" - Ecc 2:24-25
"He has also set eternity in the hearts of men..." - Ecc. 3:11
"Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." - Ecc. 12:13-14
Cage fighting kitties!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiCuw1N49O8&feature=related
Happy Wednesday (Aroma) (11/04/09)
Sup guys,
So i decided to write on 2 cor2:14-16 today, in part because I've been thinking about the aroma of christ passage a lot these past week or two so....also, because im too embarrassed to write about song of songs (which i just finished reading).
If ur first thought of our position in the "triumphal procession" is as victorious followers of christ, think again. A triumphal procession was a roman tradition where the victorious war general would parade his captured enemies/prisoners through the streets of rome to display his military might. For paul to describe himself and us as participants of Christ's triumphal is not to suggest we're God's comrades, but to make plain the fact that we are God's captives. Do not let the romance of our salvation lead us to forget obedience.
What's also plain to me is that we're called to smell like Christ. By the fragrance of christ, the world is split into two sides, those to whom this aroma smells good and those to whom this aroma smells bad. Which side do we belong to? we're not required to smell good to people, that is between each person and God - only God can make his fragrance desirable to each person; but we're required to spread everywhere the "fragrance of the knowledge of him." To work like Christ would, to play like he would, serve like him, read like him, love like him, even to be angry as our Lord does. In every way possible, by our living, to display Christ to the world.
Encouragement this week, remind ourselves that if we are prisoners of Christ we should really act like it. To let God into every aspect of our lives so that we spread the fragrance of His kingdom to the ends of the earth, starting with our own little corner.
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life..." 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ...You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." Romans 6:16-17
"I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" - Matthew 10:34
wonder what that hamster's looking at...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWY0YpoVNug&feature=related
So i decided to write on 2 cor2:14-16 today, in part because I've been thinking about the aroma of christ passage a lot these past week or two so....also, because im too embarrassed to write about song of songs (which i just finished reading).
If ur first thought of our position in the "triumphal procession" is as victorious followers of christ, think again. A triumphal procession was a roman tradition where the victorious war general would parade his captured enemies/prisoners through the streets of rome to display his military might. For paul to describe himself and us as participants of Christ's triumphal is not to suggest we're God's comrades, but to make plain the fact that we are God's captives. Do not let the romance of our salvation lead us to forget obedience.
What's also plain to me is that we're called to smell like Christ. By the fragrance of christ, the world is split into two sides, those to whom this aroma smells good and those to whom this aroma smells bad. Which side do we belong to? we're not required to smell good to people, that is between each person and God - only God can make his fragrance desirable to each person; but we're required to spread everywhere the "fragrance of the knowledge of him." To work like Christ would, to play like he would, serve like him, read like him, love like him, even to be angry as our Lord does. In every way possible, by our living, to display Christ to the world.
Encouragement this week, remind ourselves that if we are prisoners of Christ we should really act like it. To let God into every aspect of our lives so that we spread the fragrance of His kingdom to the ends of the earth, starting with our own little corner.
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life..." 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ...You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." Romans 6:16-17
"I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" - Matthew 10:34
wonder what that hamster's looking at...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWY0YpoVNug&feature=related
Happy Wednesday (Roads) (10/14/09)
Sup guys,
GSCC jus finished the Fearfully and Wonderfully Made series, and the last two sermons dealt with our Journey and our Destination. From this, I was reminded of another sermon i heard some years ago that marked 4 Roads every Christian should progressively travel upon (road/journey...get it? get it? =D).
1) Road to Damascus (Road of Encounter)
Road upon which paul met Jesus. This is the first step in our christian walk, notice that it is God who encounters us, and not hte other way around.
2) Road to Emmaus (Road of Recognition)
This was the road taken by two of Jesus' followers after his burial, the risen Jesus met w/ them on the road but they were kept from recognising him until the end of hte day. recognition of christ as Lord over our lives is an important step in every christian walk and it's one we often have to come back to as his lordship slips from our minds in the humdrums of day to day living.
3) Road to Jericho (Road of Compassion)
The good samaritan story took place on the Jericho road. Knowing Christ should move us into compassion, our love for God should spur us to ever increasing kindness and generosity as we strive to love the people God has placed in our lives - be they strangers or friends. "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." phil 2:13
4) Road to Calvary (Road of Obedience)
This is the final road that every believer is expected to walk on, even our Lord walked upon it. It applies to all areas of our lives be it eating, sleeping, playing, evangelism, sanctification/purity, forgiveness, even our dying...EVERYTHING. I can't express this any better than paul did in phil 2
I encourage all of us to soberly examine which road we're currently travelling on, do we recognize jesus as sovereign over our life? Is the presence of christ in our lives evident by the way that we live?
Sorry i haven't been sharing from my own personal studies recently, but this sermon seemed most applicable to my life right now and has been heavy on my mind these past few days. The road of obedience has been constantly poking me recently and after much prayer and thought, I've decided to go on a mission trip ot Uganda at the end of this year. I'll be sure to update everyone w/ more info as the weeks go by but for now, I would uber appreciate it if everyone can keep me in their prayers. Some items of concern for me include the visa app, the immuno shots, and most obviously the financial burdens of this trip. I could use all the encouragement and support y'all can give me as I can't even begin to do this thing w/o the help of God and all of you.
Have a happy wednesday, cu all on the road =)
Edward
"As he [Saul] neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'" - Acts 9:3-4
"Now that same day two of them [Jesus' followers] were going to a village called Emmaus...Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him...When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him..." Luke 24:13-32
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers...But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." Luke 10:30-33
"Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of Skull [Calvaria in Latin]. Here they cruficied him, and with him two others - one on each side and Jesus in the middle." John 19:17-18
lets take a break from penguins and go back to simon's cat!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOHvZjiDANg
GSCC jus finished the Fearfully and Wonderfully Made series, and the last two sermons dealt with our Journey and our Destination. From this, I was reminded of another sermon i heard some years ago that marked 4 Roads every Christian should progressively travel upon (road/journey...get it? get it? =D).
1) Road to Damascus (Road of Encounter)
Road upon which paul met Jesus. This is the first step in our christian walk, notice that it is God who encounters us, and not hte other way around.
2) Road to Emmaus (Road of Recognition)
This was the road taken by two of Jesus' followers after his burial, the risen Jesus met w/ them on the road but they were kept from recognising him until the end of hte day. recognition of christ as Lord over our lives is an important step in every christian walk and it's one we often have to come back to as his lordship slips from our minds in the humdrums of day to day living.
3) Road to Jericho (Road of Compassion)
The good samaritan story took place on the Jericho road. Knowing Christ should move us into compassion, our love for God should spur us to ever increasing kindness and generosity as we strive to love the people God has placed in our lives - be they strangers or friends. "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." phil 2:13
4) Road to Calvary (Road of Obedience)
This is the final road that every believer is expected to walk on, even our Lord walked upon it. It applies to all areas of our lives be it eating, sleeping, playing, evangelism, sanctification/purity, forgiveness, even our dying...EVERYTHING. I can't express this any better than paul did in phil 2
I encourage all of us to soberly examine which road we're currently travelling on, do we recognize jesus as sovereign over our life? Is the presence of christ in our lives evident by the way that we live?
Sorry i haven't been sharing from my own personal studies recently, but this sermon seemed most applicable to my life right now and has been heavy on my mind these past few days. The road of obedience has been constantly poking me recently and after much prayer and thought, I've decided to go on a mission trip ot Uganda at the end of this year. I'll be sure to update everyone w/ more info as the weeks go by but for now, I would uber appreciate it if everyone can keep me in their prayers. Some items of concern for me include the visa app, the immuno shots, and most obviously the financial burdens of this trip. I could use all the encouragement and support y'all can give me as I can't even begin to do this thing w/o the help of God and all of you.
Have a happy wednesday, cu all on the road =)
Edward
"As he [Saul] neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'" - Acts 9:3-4
"Now that same day two of them [Jesus' followers] were going to a village called Emmaus...Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him...When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him..." Luke 24:13-32
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers...But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." Luke 10:30-33
"Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of Skull [Calvaria in Latin]. Here they cruficied him, and with him two others - one on each side and Jesus in the middle." John 19:17-18
lets take a break from penguins and go back to simon's cat!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOHvZjiDANg
Happy Wednesday! (Beggars) (10/21/09)
Hey all,
going through proverbs and noticed how often solomon mentioned the poor. Even a casual glance over proverbs will reveal that solomon felt it was better to be poor and in God than to be rich and without him. Keep in mind that solomon was king over israel at the nation's political and economical peak, the man had gold to waste, if any man knew whether the grass was greener on teh other side, it'd be solomon (Rick Holland). At the same time, solomon is real enough with us to point out the fact that poor ppl often face rejection "a poor man is shunned by all his relatives - how much more do his friends avoid him!" Prov 19:7 This confused me for a bit, solomon seems to be saying its good to be poor and in God, yet is giving us this warning that being poor sux...to which I now ask...well then whats so good about poverty? I think solomon begins to explain this in proverbs but for the complete answer we'd need to look (as usual) to Christ
It's no secret that Jesus rooted for the underdogs, he hung out with dredges of society and his views are evident in his teachings (lazarus/rich man, easier to get camel through eye of a needle than rich man into heaven, etc). It seems like Jesus is in agreement with solomon here. In the very first sentence of his very first sermon, Jesus said "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 5:3). Does this mean the poor get instant access into heaven? No, but I do think that Peter (our peter) had a great point when he said that the rich (that is us) are at a disadvantage. In poverty a person is forced to come to God, when all your friends and relatives desert you God becomes your only companion, there is a deeper understanding of the humility that defines the specific kind of poverty Jesus is referring to - that is, the poverty of the spirit. It is the realization that we can't do this by ourselves but need to rely on God. ALL of the other beatitudes relies on first reaching this poverty of the spirit (Steve Lawson). There is no mourning for those who celebrate in their pride, no hunger for those who consider themselves full of their own wisdom, no mercy for those who consider themselves righteous enough to judge their brothers and sisters, and no purity for those who aren't in Christ.
My encouragement this week, take a good look at our lives - all the pleasures and material assets we have and stack it up again our salvation and the salvation of others. Which is worth more? Do we say God, or do we walk away sad like the young man in Matthew 19? I find the words of Christ so comforting when the disciples asked how anyone can be saved if the requirement is this UNNATURAL poverty that God demands of us, and our Lord's answer was simply this: "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
"Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." Proverbs 11:4
"Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse." Proverbs 28:6
"I tell you the truth...everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." Matthew 19:28-29
aww..baby penguin jus wanna spend time w/ his dad =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSbLpQEZP1Y
P.S. Sending out final paperworks and money to FIMRC today, will be officially commited to the Uganda trip as of lunch time =)
going through proverbs and noticed how often solomon mentioned the poor. Even a casual glance over proverbs will reveal that solomon felt it was better to be poor and in God than to be rich and without him. Keep in mind that solomon was king over israel at the nation's political and economical peak, the man had gold to waste, if any man knew whether the grass was greener on teh other side, it'd be solomon (Rick Holland). At the same time, solomon is real enough with us to point out the fact that poor ppl often face rejection "a poor man is shunned by all his relatives - how much more do his friends avoid him!" Prov 19:7 This confused me for a bit, solomon seems to be saying its good to be poor and in God, yet is giving us this warning that being poor sux...to which I now ask...well then whats so good about poverty? I think solomon begins to explain this in proverbs but for the complete answer we'd need to look (as usual) to Christ
It's no secret that Jesus rooted for the underdogs, he hung out with dredges of society and his views are evident in his teachings (lazarus/rich man, easier to get camel through eye of a needle than rich man into heaven, etc). It seems like Jesus is in agreement with solomon here. In the very first sentence of his very first sermon, Jesus said "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 5:3). Does this mean the poor get instant access into heaven? No, but I do think that Peter (our peter) had a great point when he said that the rich (that is us) are at a disadvantage. In poverty a person is forced to come to God, when all your friends and relatives desert you God becomes your only companion, there is a deeper understanding of the humility that defines the specific kind of poverty Jesus is referring to - that is, the poverty of the spirit. It is the realization that we can't do this by ourselves but need to rely on God. ALL of the other beatitudes relies on first reaching this poverty of the spirit (Steve Lawson). There is no mourning for those who celebrate in their pride, no hunger for those who consider themselves full of their own wisdom, no mercy for those who consider themselves righteous enough to judge their brothers and sisters, and no purity for those who aren't in Christ.
My encouragement this week, take a good look at our lives - all the pleasures and material assets we have and stack it up again our salvation and the salvation of others. Which is worth more? Do we say God, or do we walk away sad like the young man in Matthew 19? I find the words of Christ so comforting when the disciples asked how anyone can be saved if the requirement is this UNNATURAL poverty that God demands of us, and our Lord's answer was simply this: "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Have a happy wednesday!
Edward
"Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." Proverbs 11:4
"Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse." Proverbs 28:6
"I tell you the truth...everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." Matthew 19:28-29
aww..baby penguin jus wanna spend time w/ his dad =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSbLpQEZP1Y
P.S. Sending out final paperworks and money to FIMRC today, will be officially commited to the Uganda trip as of lunch time =)
Happy Wednesday (Purity) (10/07/09)
hey guys,
I've reached proverbs 5 and been heavily convicted since last week to talk about sexual purity. I am fully aware that this is not a popular subject, and that there will most likely be a few of you who would be extremely offended that I am even bringing this up. This is not meant to target any particular persons but it is my fervant prayer that it hits every single one of us. God takes sexual purity very very seriously, Matthew 5 (see below) tells us that our salvation can be affirmed or disproven based on what we do w/ sexual temptations - so while being pure doesn't save us, striving for purity indicates that we are saved.
The bulk of what Im sharing this week comes from a sermon by Rick Holland at Resolved 2009 conference, I've included the link below and I highly recommend listening - it is one of a handful of sermons I can claim to have heard over 20 times (i do mean that literally). The sermon follows Proverbs 5 and offers 6 good strategies, try all of them. I've personally found 5 and 6 to work best for me.
1) Undertake the pursuit of biblical instructions (v1-2)
Pretty self explanatory, I would simply add that biblical instruction is not limited to bible, but extends to pastoral oversight and accountability w/ Godly friends. I have never been ridiculed, put down, or ostracized for sharing my personal struggles and im confident that the Barnabas'es God placed in ur life won't either.
2) Undress the deception of the adulteress (v3-6)
Adulteress here can mean man, woman, computer screens, movies, novels, newspapers - it is anything and everything that would tempt us sexually outside of marriage even if it's only a flicker of thought. See that these things and ppl do not ponder how they're leading us down a path of addiction and spiritual ruin.
3) Understand the value of safe distance (v7-8)
Rick introduced the concept of the joseph principle here (see genesis 39), it is simply to flee from all temptations. Don't tempt boundaries with the opposite gender in what you can or can't do. If u need guidelines in "how close is too close?" ask urself this honest question, "is the Glory of God on my mind when i interact with this person?" Failing that, humbly subscribe to strategy 1. Never assume that purity is something that can be attained or maintained through will power alone, we need ppl/God's help - 13 years of experience since puberty confirms this for me over and over again.
4) Unmask the regret of sin's aftermath (v9-14)
emotional scarring isn't only for married couples! what we do in our singleness matters to our future spouses and it matters to God. In "going all the way," there is the very real risk of std and pregnancy; in indulging in pornography there is desensitization of our senses and the habit of dehumanizing the opposite gender into a collection of parts; in ignoring gender boundaries there is risk of damaged relationships that are dear to us. Most importantly, for every single act of sin we actively pursue in our lives, God is mocked, and we fail as witnesses to our unbelieving friends. v9-14 asks the question, is all of this worth our indulgences?
5) Unlock the satisfaction of marrital intimacy (v15-20)
In v15, we are encouraged to find satisfaction in the love of our spouses (not the marriage bed) - that in doing so would keep us from temptations. This has tremendous application for singles as well. For me, I constantly resolve to keep myself pure and practice sexual purity for the sake of my future wife. If i am to believe aunty jane and whole hordes of female readers in this thread (=P), God has someone in mind for me. If that is so, then I am responsible for acting as if i am already married.
6) Unleash the power of God's omniscience (v21)
My own personal strategy of choice, God sees everything, we forget this so often and we take for granted how much He forgives us daily. Remind yourself that your life, body and mind does not belong to you but to God, that He purchased us by blood. Some of you have noticed I started wearing a crucifix a while back, it serves as a constant reminder that I belong to Him and has stopped me from sinning so many times. Get reminders for yourself - it can be a cross, a wwjd bracelet, a verse you chant to urself whenever u get tempted, ANYTHING - jus always remember that God watches and is in a constant state of loving u.
I am so far from perfect. Everytime i take a step towards God i become so painfully aware how far i am from Him. I've won and lost battles, sometimes on a daily basis. This week, I want to encourage everyone, out of their salvation and love for our Lord, to strive for sexual purity.
http://www.resolved.org/media.aspx
Happy Wednesday,
Edward
"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery wiht her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." - Matthew 5:28-29
"It is God's will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable..." - 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
More penguins!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cevs63S5XLo
I've reached proverbs 5 and been heavily convicted since last week to talk about sexual purity. I am fully aware that this is not a popular subject, and that there will most likely be a few of you who would be extremely offended that I am even bringing this up. This is not meant to target any particular persons but it is my fervant prayer that it hits every single one of us. God takes sexual purity very very seriously, Matthew 5 (see below) tells us that our salvation can be affirmed or disproven based on what we do w/ sexual temptations - so while being pure doesn't save us, striving for purity indicates that we are saved.
The bulk of what Im sharing this week comes from a sermon by Rick Holland at Resolved 2009 conference, I've included the link below and I highly recommend listening - it is one of a handful of sermons I can claim to have heard over 20 times (i do mean that literally). The sermon follows Proverbs 5 and offers 6 good strategies, try all of them. I've personally found 5 and 6 to work best for me.
1) Undertake the pursuit of biblical instructions (v1-2)
Pretty self explanatory, I would simply add that biblical instruction is not limited to bible, but extends to pastoral oversight and accountability w/ Godly friends. I have never been ridiculed, put down, or ostracized for sharing my personal struggles and im confident that the Barnabas'es God placed in ur life won't either.
2) Undress the deception of the adulteress (v3-6)
Adulteress here can mean man, woman, computer screens, movies, novels, newspapers - it is anything and everything that would tempt us sexually outside of marriage even if it's only a flicker of thought. See that these things and ppl do not ponder how they're leading us down a path of addiction and spiritual ruin.
3) Understand the value of safe distance (v7-8)
Rick introduced the concept of the joseph principle here (see genesis 39), it is simply to flee from all temptations. Don't tempt boundaries with the opposite gender in what you can or can't do. If u need guidelines in "how close is too close?" ask urself this honest question, "is the Glory of God on my mind when i interact with this person?" Failing that, humbly subscribe to strategy 1. Never assume that purity is something that can be attained or maintained through will power alone, we need ppl/God's help - 13 years of experience since puberty confirms this for me over and over again.
4) Unmask the regret of sin's aftermath (v9-14)
emotional scarring isn't only for married couples! what we do in our singleness matters to our future spouses and it matters to God. In "going all the way," there is the very real risk of std and pregnancy; in indulging in pornography there is desensitization of our senses and the habit of dehumanizing the opposite gender into a collection of parts; in ignoring gender boundaries there is risk of damaged relationships that are dear to us. Most importantly, for every single act of sin we actively pursue in our lives, God is mocked, and we fail as witnesses to our unbelieving friends. v9-14 asks the question, is all of this worth our indulgences?
5) Unlock the satisfaction of marrital intimacy (v15-20)
In v15, we are encouraged to find satisfaction in the love of our spouses (not the marriage bed) - that in doing so would keep us from temptations. This has tremendous application for singles as well. For me, I constantly resolve to keep myself pure and practice sexual purity for the sake of my future wife. If i am to believe aunty jane and whole hordes of female readers in this thread (=P), God has someone in mind for me. If that is so, then I am responsible for acting as if i am already married.
6) Unleash the power of God's omniscience (v21)
My own personal strategy of choice, God sees everything, we forget this so often and we take for granted how much He forgives us daily. Remind yourself that your life, body and mind does not belong to you but to God, that He purchased us by blood. Some of you have noticed I started wearing a crucifix a while back, it serves as a constant reminder that I belong to Him and has stopped me from sinning so many times. Get reminders for yourself - it can be a cross, a wwjd bracelet, a verse you chant to urself whenever u get tempted, ANYTHING - jus always remember that God watches and is in a constant state of loving u.
I am so far from perfect. Everytime i take a step towards God i become so painfully aware how far i am from Him. I've won and lost battles, sometimes on a daily basis. This week, I want to encourage everyone, out of their salvation and love for our Lord, to strive for sexual purity.
http://www.resolved.org/media.aspx
Happy Wednesday,
Edward
"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery wiht her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." - Matthew 5:28-29
"It is God's will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable..." - 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
More penguins!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cevs63S5XLo
Happy Wednesday! (Forgiveness) (09/29/09)
Sup guys
I've shared the meat of this email w/ some of u before but I feel like this is an important enough subject for it to be raised again and it is certainly one that I felt seriously convicted of lately. I wanted to address the issue of Forgiveness in three parts: the first, forgiveness defined; second, the depth of the debt we're forgiven of; and third, how this should colour our relationships with the same grace and mercy towards each other.
To me, forgiveness means resisting the urge for revenge, it means not bearing ill will towards someone, it means wanting good for your enemies, it means grieving for them, and lastly it means seeking reconciliation if at all possible. Forgiveness does NOT mean the absence of anger or consequences. It is natural and correct to be angered by sin (God does it all the time), discipline and correction is still necessary even for the repentant. we're not bound to foolishly place trust and intimacy in those who're not worthy of it (ie, the unrepentant). we take whatever steps are necessary to protect ourselves. These are consequences of sin that are permissible for believers towards the transgressor; what is NOT permitted is hating them, wishing evil upon them, all of which demonstrates a lack of love towards our enemies that Jesus demanded of us.
In quoting psalms, paul wrote that "there is no one righteous, not even one," from Day One of our christianity we are taught that we're ALL sinners and God sought reconciliation with us who are undeserving, who were unrepentant, who were His enemies. Even now we are experiencing His forgiveness on a moment-by-moment basis. A single, unmaterialized intent to tell a small white lie is enough to damn us to eternity in hell because of the nature of God's holiness. The degree of seriousness of a crime can be measured by how undeserving the one against whom the crime was commited. So...hitting a mother who loved and nurtured you is a more heinous/evil crime than hitting a random stranger (this is true even among unbelievers). If we took this and applied it to God who is INFINITELY GOOD, hopefully we can see why a preacher once said "we commit more sin against God in one day, than anyone can possibly commit against us in an entire lifetime."
Which brings us to the parable of the unmerciful servant in matthew 18, i think most of us are familiar with the story - a man is let off of a million dollar debt but refuses to cancel the debt of a few dollars owed to him. Too often, I am so disgustingly similar to this man.. Everytime i fail to demonstrate forgiveness in my life I am displaying for the world that I, in my pride and arrogance, do not acknowledge the million dollar debt Christ releases me from moment-by-moment. I am spitting on the grace and mercy that God shows me every second of my offensive existence. It is my firm conviction that a person's salvation can be affirmed OR disproven by the degree of forgiveness he/she has in their life. I want so so desperately to emulate Christ, even into His love and forgiveness of those who wrong Him. I want to encourage all of us to be a forgiving people, ones who fully recognize the love shown them by Christ and ones who would (out of insane, Christ-like love) pursue those who wrong them with goodness and love.
In the love that Christ bears for us moment-by-moment, have a happy wednesday =)
Edward
"Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' " Luke 23:34
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
"For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." - Matthew 6:14-15
well, of COURSE penguins can fly...duh..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnlCz1P95WM&NR=1&feature=fvwp
I've shared the meat of this email w/ some of u before but I feel like this is an important enough subject for it to be raised again and it is certainly one that I felt seriously convicted of lately. I wanted to address the issue of Forgiveness in three parts: the first, forgiveness defined; second, the depth of the debt we're forgiven of; and third, how this should colour our relationships with the same grace and mercy towards each other.
To me, forgiveness means resisting the urge for revenge, it means not bearing ill will towards someone, it means wanting good for your enemies, it means grieving for them, and lastly it means seeking reconciliation if at all possible. Forgiveness does NOT mean the absence of anger or consequences. It is natural and correct to be angered by sin (God does it all the time), discipline and correction is still necessary even for the repentant. we're not bound to foolishly place trust and intimacy in those who're not worthy of it (ie, the unrepentant). we take whatever steps are necessary to protect ourselves. These are consequences of sin that are permissible for believers towards the transgressor; what is NOT permitted is hating them, wishing evil upon them, all of which demonstrates a lack of love towards our enemies that Jesus demanded of us.
In quoting psalms, paul wrote that "there is no one righteous, not even one," from Day One of our christianity we are taught that we're ALL sinners and God sought reconciliation with us who are undeserving, who were unrepentant, who were His enemies. Even now we are experiencing His forgiveness on a moment-by-moment basis. A single, unmaterialized intent to tell a small white lie is enough to damn us to eternity in hell because of the nature of God's holiness. The degree of seriousness of a crime can be measured by how undeserving the one against whom the crime was commited. So...hitting a mother who loved and nurtured you is a more heinous/evil crime than hitting a random stranger (this is true even among unbelievers). If we took this and applied it to God who is INFINITELY GOOD, hopefully we can see why a preacher once said "we commit more sin against God in one day, than anyone can possibly commit against us in an entire lifetime."
Which brings us to the parable of the unmerciful servant in matthew 18, i think most of us are familiar with the story - a man is let off of a million dollar debt but refuses to cancel the debt of a few dollars owed to him. Too often, I am so disgustingly similar to this man.. Everytime i fail to demonstrate forgiveness in my life I am displaying for the world that I, in my pride and arrogance, do not acknowledge the million dollar debt Christ releases me from moment-by-moment. I am spitting on the grace and mercy that God shows me every second of my offensive existence. It is my firm conviction that a person's salvation can be affirmed OR disproven by the degree of forgiveness he/she has in their life. I want so so desperately to emulate Christ, even into His love and forgiveness of those who wrong Him. I want to encourage all of us to be a forgiving people, ones who fully recognize the love shown them by Christ and ones who would (out of insane, Christ-like love) pursue those who wrong them with goodness and love.
In the love that Christ bears for us moment-by-moment, have a happy wednesday =)
Edward
"Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' " Luke 23:34
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
"For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." - Matthew 6:14-15
well, of COURSE penguins can fly...duh..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnlCz1P95WM&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Happy Wednesday (Purity) (09/23/09)
yo
i think psalm 119 is the longest psalm (AND longest chapter) in the bible...its an acrostic poem where the verses of each stanza begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet - so one stanza per letter. I originally planned on zooming through this chapter in one day, only to find myself unable to move beyond the second stanza, Beth v9-16, simply cause it was that profound.
It dealt with spiritual purity in an impure world and opens with a very honest question, "how can a young man (or woman) keep his/her way pure?" then proceeds to answer it. The psalmist encourages us to seek after God and to bury His words/laws in our hearts. More importantly, he encourages us to recount these laws and to think upon them daily. In other words, its not just read the bible, its reminding ourselves while we're going about our lives so that when troubles and decisions arises, we're ready to meet them with a God centered attitude (same concept as those "sentences" john piper likes so much). It could be as simple as starting with the ten commandments, it could be instilling an attitude of humility and constantly applying it, it could be a conscious effort to be more compassionate to people, for us guys - it could be having the glory of God on our minds while we talk to girls. Watever the case may be, my own encouragement to us this week is two fold:
1) read. u can't know God's law unless u dig for it.
2) apply. God's laws are useless and forgotten unless we actively think on them throughout the day and apply whenever we can.
Lastly, and i LOVE this part. This psalm has two characters who're working towards the psalmist's purity, namely the psalmist himself AND God. I back this statement up with verses like "do not let me stray from your commands" and " teach me your decrees." We're totally not alone in this, as if God simply made up laws and left us to our own devises. Ask God for help in all areas of purity, i've found that He is always faithful to answer =)
happy wednesday!
edward
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hiddent your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." - Psalm 119:9-16
"for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good pleasure/purpose." Phil 2:13
Penguin: 1
Orca: 0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJaMtBKnN-I&feature=related (lol peng WIN at 2:20)
i think psalm 119 is the longest psalm (AND longest chapter) in the bible...its an acrostic poem where the verses of each stanza begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet - so one stanza per letter. I originally planned on zooming through this chapter in one day, only to find myself unable to move beyond the second stanza, Beth v9-16, simply cause it was that profound.
It dealt with spiritual purity in an impure world and opens with a very honest question, "how can a young man (or woman) keep his/her way pure?" then proceeds to answer it. The psalmist encourages us to seek after God and to bury His words/laws in our hearts. More importantly, he encourages us to recount these laws and to think upon them daily. In other words, its not just read the bible, its reminding ourselves while we're going about our lives so that when troubles and decisions arises, we're ready to meet them with a God centered attitude (same concept as those "sentences" john piper likes so much). It could be as simple as starting with the ten commandments, it could be instilling an attitude of humility and constantly applying it, it could be a conscious effort to be more compassionate to people, for us guys - it could be having the glory of God on our minds while we talk to girls. Watever the case may be, my own encouragement to us this week is two fold:
1) read. u can't know God's law unless u dig for it.
2) apply. God's laws are useless and forgotten unless we actively think on them throughout the day and apply whenever we can.
Lastly, and i LOVE this part. This psalm has two characters who're working towards the psalmist's purity, namely the psalmist himself AND God. I back this statement up with verses like "do not let me stray from your commands" and " teach me your decrees." We're totally not alone in this, as if God simply made up laws and left us to our own devises. Ask God for help in all areas of purity, i've found that He is always faithful to answer =)
happy wednesday!
edward
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hiddent your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word." - Psalm 119:9-16
"for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good pleasure/purpose." Phil 2:13
Penguin: 1
Orca: 0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJaMtBKnN-I&feature=related (lol peng WIN at 2:20)
Happy Wednesday (Failure) (09/16/09)
Hey Guys,
Was reading through psalm 105 and 106 yesterday, side by side, and thought I mite share the thoughts I had going through this. Psalm 105 basically spoke of Israel's history from abraham to the exodus from egypt, psalm 106 spoke of israel's history from the exodus to (presumably) israel's defeat at the hands of the babylonians. 105 spoke of God's faithfulness, and 106 of israel's disobedience.
Wat i learnt these past few days from these two pieces of scripture is EXTREMELY cliche'esque, so my apologies for that. I think we hear so often about how we shouldn't laugh or shake our heads at israelite's unfaithfulness, or the disciple's spiritual blindness, or the chief priests' hardness of hearts - because we do the EXACT same things. You're about to hear those words again...=)
Only this time, instead of internally rolling our eyes and saying "yeah yeah, i get it..we bad," take some time today to really really reflect on how often we wrong God by our thoughts, words, and actions - and how far our attitude is from the humble gratitude the cross should inspired in us daily. Looking at the list of grievances God had against israel in 106 i can safely assure you that i have personally also:
1- forgotten God's many kindnesses (v7, 13)
2- grown envious of others (v16)
3- worshipped idols (v19)
4- forgotten that it is God who saves - not edward (v21)
5- despised the blessings He gave me and refused to believe in His promises (v24)
6- complained against God and repeatedly disobey Him (v25)
7- attached myself to habits i know are bad for me (v28)
8- failed to complete tasks that God has given me (v34)
9- followed the patterns of this world (v35)
10- refused to learn from past mistakes (v43)
My encouragement for us all this wednesday: to contemplate the many ways we offend our God, to repent, and to turn from our wicked ways. 106 was wonderfully encouraging in how it ends with God's mercy and grace inspite of all that israel (and us) have done against him. It's the same for us too if we'd only turn to Him.
have a happy wednesday! (week is HALF over!)
edward
vid clip is from sandy, poor puppy has fallen...and can't get up! T_T
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVQQ50IbdU0&feature=related
Was reading through psalm 105 and 106 yesterday, side by side, and thought I mite share the thoughts I had going through this. Psalm 105 basically spoke of Israel's history from abraham to the exodus from egypt, psalm 106 spoke of israel's history from the exodus to (presumably) israel's defeat at the hands of the babylonians. 105 spoke of God's faithfulness, and 106 of israel's disobedience.
Wat i learnt these past few days from these two pieces of scripture is EXTREMELY cliche'esque, so my apologies for that. I think we hear so often about how we shouldn't laugh or shake our heads at israelite's unfaithfulness, or the disciple's spiritual blindness, or the chief priests' hardness of hearts - because we do the EXACT same things. You're about to hear those words again...=)
Only this time, instead of internally rolling our eyes and saying "yeah yeah, i get it..we bad," take some time today to really really reflect on how often we wrong God by our thoughts, words, and actions - and how far our attitude is from the humble gratitude the cross should inspired in us daily. Looking at the list of grievances God had against israel in 106 i can safely assure you that i have personally also:
1- forgotten God's many kindnesses (v7, 13)
2- grown envious of others (v16)
3- worshipped idols (v19)
4- forgotten that it is God who saves - not edward (v21)
5- despised the blessings He gave me and refused to believe in His promises (v24)
6- complained against God and repeatedly disobey Him (v25)
7- attached myself to habits i know are bad for me (v28)
8- failed to complete tasks that God has given me (v34)
9- followed the patterns of this world (v35)
10- refused to learn from past mistakes (v43)
My encouragement for us all this wednesday: to contemplate the many ways we offend our God, to repent, and to turn from our wicked ways. 106 was wonderfully encouraging in how it ends with God's mercy and grace inspite of all that israel (and us) have done against him. It's the same for us too if we'd only turn to Him.
have a happy wednesday! (week is HALF over!)
edward
vid clip is from sandy, poor puppy has fallen...and can't get up! T_T
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVQQ50IbdU0&feature=related
Happy Wednesday (Accountability) (09/09/09)
yo,
This is really something i've noticed a while back and recently begun noticing again (thx in large part to the david/nathan sermon this past sunday), at least with myself personally. Christians have a tendency to go solo in their spiritual walk. We can have friends, we can even be actively serving in church, but it is very rare to find groups who commit to meeting up for the purposes of prayer, reading, and accountability. In particular, i want to revive the lost art of confession of sins.
paul wrote in 2 cor. that we are to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates and to perfect holiness out of reverence for God. I've personally found nothing more motivating for this purpose of sanctification than the encouragement and counsel of good friends. I read once that, on average, we speak 10, 000 words a day, Ephesians exhorts us to use as many of those 10k for the purposes of building each other up as possible. I think so often we fear rejection more than we do the consequences of continuing in sin. I have personally never had someone reject me after I've confessed my sins to them, if anything such honesty typically strengthend the bond i had with the person.
My encouragement this week is to sift through your network of friends and chose someone who you feel is able to keep you accountable; then aggressively pursue holiness by entrusting your sins and shortcomings to each other in confessions and prayer requests. Surround yourself with friends who aren't afraid of being honest wiht you about what they see, and at the same time, be active to pursue holiness in others by pointing out problems you see in their lives out of the love you have for them. That "love" bit is the most important part, compassion is absolutely essential in the giving of Godly correction/criticism and it is the bit I most often find myself forgetting. True love is moved into action, apathy remains silent.
Have a happy wednesday!
edward
"Confess yours sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." James 5:16
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." - Ephesians 4: 15-16
"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body...Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." - Ephesians 4:25-29
Simon's cat trying to get into the house:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rb8aOzy9t4
This is really something i've noticed a while back and recently begun noticing again (thx in large part to the david/nathan sermon this past sunday), at least with myself personally. Christians have a tendency to go solo in their spiritual walk. We can have friends, we can even be actively serving in church, but it is very rare to find groups who commit to meeting up for the purposes of prayer, reading, and accountability. In particular, i want to revive the lost art of confession of sins.
paul wrote in 2 cor. that we are to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates and to perfect holiness out of reverence for God. I've personally found nothing more motivating for this purpose of sanctification than the encouragement and counsel of good friends. I read once that, on average, we speak 10, 000 words a day, Ephesians exhorts us to use as many of those 10k for the purposes of building each other up as possible. I think so often we fear rejection more than we do the consequences of continuing in sin. I have personally never had someone reject me after I've confessed my sins to them, if anything such honesty typically strengthend the bond i had with the person.
My encouragement this week is to sift through your network of friends and chose someone who you feel is able to keep you accountable; then aggressively pursue holiness by entrusting your sins and shortcomings to each other in confessions and prayer requests. Surround yourself with friends who aren't afraid of being honest wiht you about what they see, and at the same time, be active to pursue holiness in others by pointing out problems you see in their lives out of the love you have for them. That "love" bit is the most important part, compassion is absolutely essential in the giving of Godly correction/criticism and it is the bit I most often find myself forgetting. True love is moved into action, apathy remains silent.
Have a happy wednesday!
edward
"Confess yours sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." James 5:16
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." - Ephesians 4: 15-16
"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body...Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." - Ephesians 4:25-29
Simon's cat trying to get into the house:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rb8aOzy9t4
Happy Wednesday! (Weariness) (09/02/09)
hey guys,
i find it interesting that some of the most feared words we speak of in church aren't "sin," "hell," and "losing faith;" instead, it's words like "burnt out," "limits," and "over commitment." The latter list of words ARE important, but i wonder if our hypersensitivity to words like these are due to the fact that we're not serving God with the right frame of mind.
In samaria, after Jesus spoke with the woman at the well, the disciples prompted him to eat something to which he replied "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." (John 4:34). These words amazes and constantly inspires me! Not only is Jesus NOT being physically/emotionally/spiritually drained by serving, but he is somehow being sustained through these very acts of serving that we seem to dread! The concept of sabbath rest is not resting one day out of the week, it means being in God's presence and doing his will (ie everyday is sabbath for us) - in this sense, the words of Jesus shouldn't surprise us at all.
Most ppl, i think, are aware that between family, friends and church i carry a pretty heavy load. I am totally aware that i constantly tease the limits of what i can do to love others. What i want ppl to notice though is that there is no way I could possibly begin to care enough to do any of this if it wasn't for God. i am worse than NOTHING without Him. Through God i am able to learn patience and love towards my mother, I am able to serve the church wholeheartedly, and i am able to....well lets face it, write (hopefully) encouraging emails to you guys on wednesday mornings. My personal encouragement for everyone is to not be afraid of brushing against your limits in serving others, because it is only at the edge of what you're capable of that you learn how to rely on God, and only in that place that you learn what it means to be sustained by God instead of your own strengths and resources.
Now go serve, and have a happy wednesday!
Edward
another clip of simon's cat =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s13dLaTIHSg
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ...Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:1-10
"We constantly remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thes 1:3
i find it interesting that some of the most feared words we speak of in church aren't "sin," "hell," and "losing faith;" instead, it's words like "burnt out," "limits," and "over commitment." The latter list of words ARE important, but i wonder if our hypersensitivity to words like these are due to the fact that we're not serving God with the right frame of mind.
In samaria, after Jesus spoke with the woman at the well, the disciples prompted him to eat something to which he replied "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." (John 4:34). These words amazes and constantly inspires me! Not only is Jesus NOT being physically/emotionally/spiritually drained by serving, but he is somehow being sustained through these very acts of serving that we seem to dread! The concept of sabbath rest is not resting one day out of the week, it means being in God's presence and doing his will (ie everyday is sabbath for us) - in this sense, the words of Jesus shouldn't surprise us at all.
Most ppl, i think, are aware that between family, friends and church i carry a pretty heavy load. I am totally aware that i constantly tease the limits of what i can do to love others. What i want ppl to notice though is that there is no way I could possibly begin to care enough to do any of this if it wasn't for God. i am worse than NOTHING without Him. Through God i am able to learn patience and love towards my mother, I am able to serve the church wholeheartedly, and i am able to....well lets face it, write (hopefully) encouraging emails to you guys on wednesday mornings. My personal encouragement for everyone is to not be afraid of brushing against your limits in serving others, because it is only at the edge of what you're capable of that you learn how to rely on God, and only in that place that you learn what it means to be sustained by God instead of your own strengths and resources.
Now go serve, and have a happy wednesday!
Edward
another clip of simon's cat =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s13dLaTIHSg
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ...Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:1-10
"We constantly remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thes 1:3
Happy Wednesday (wat i look forward to) (08/26/09)
sup guys,
this past week, received another no-brainer bit of insight but one that hit me like a rock with its simplicity and truth. it's kinda hard to put into words but i'll do my best not to confuse everyone..
I noticed that I have a tendency to look forward to things; and once I've done or accomplished this thing, instead of feeling fulfilled, i look forward to something else. In and of itself, i dont think there is anything wrong with anticipating w/ excitement a camping trip, or a marathon race, or a wedding, or simply the weekend. I think the problem for me is that I do not get excited enough about God stuff. By this i dont mean church events or sunday service, etc i get excited about those too...but i rarely think about how each event fits into the glorious purpose of magnifying Christ and as a result, fail to give him due praise for EVERYTHING that happens. I think we have lost that sense of excitement, that pure joy of looking forward to meeting christ in our day-to-day living.
I guess to put it in simple words, we're not designed to find satisfaction in anything besides Christ. I want to encourage y'all to look forward to God more in our lives instead of only looking forward to temporary things that wont last. We do this by serving him, thinking of him, and knowing him through prayer and scripture.
For me, what this would mean is instead of looking forward to a reconsiled family, to look forward to God's kingdom coming down upon my family. Instead of merely looking forward to church this sunday, be excited about all the lives that would be touched through sermon and ministry. Instead of looking forward to a backpacking trip where i get to be alone, look forward to finding God in the wilderness. Life is never meant to be "blah," it is meant to be glorious for the simple reason that God is in it.
Happy wednesday and have an awesome week!
edward
"Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." - Psalm 51:12
Hoops and YoYo =D (sarcastic wed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BakNIOfI6P0
this past week, received another no-brainer bit of insight but one that hit me like a rock with its simplicity and truth. it's kinda hard to put into words but i'll do my best not to confuse everyone..
I noticed that I have a tendency to look forward to things; and once I've done or accomplished this thing, instead of feeling fulfilled, i look forward to something else. In and of itself, i dont think there is anything wrong with anticipating w/ excitement a camping trip, or a marathon race, or a wedding, or simply the weekend. I think the problem for me is that I do not get excited enough about God stuff. By this i dont mean church events or sunday service, etc i get excited about those too...but i rarely think about how each event fits into the glorious purpose of magnifying Christ and as a result, fail to give him due praise for EVERYTHING that happens. I think we have lost that sense of excitement, that pure joy of looking forward to meeting christ in our day-to-day living.
I guess to put it in simple words, we're not designed to find satisfaction in anything besides Christ. I want to encourage y'all to look forward to God more in our lives instead of only looking forward to temporary things that wont last. We do this by serving him, thinking of him, and knowing him through prayer and scripture.
For me, what this would mean is instead of looking forward to a reconsiled family, to look forward to God's kingdom coming down upon my family. Instead of merely looking forward to church this sunday, be excited about all the lives that would be touched through sermon and ministry. Instead of looking forward to a backpacking trip where i get to be alone, look forward to finding God in the wilderness. Life is never meant to be "blah," it is meant to be glorious for the simple reason that God is in it.
Happy wednesday and have an awesome week!
edward
"Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14
"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." - Psalm 51:12
Hoops and YoYo =D (sarcastic wed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BakNIOfI6P0
Happy wednesday (faith => works) (08/19/09)
sup guys,
took a break from psalms and ended up in philippians (currently my favourite in NT =D). phil 2:12-13 says for us to "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" and i came away with this question: work out my salvation? what happened to faith and grace?
apologies in advance for sounding preachy, but here's my take on this passage - if i may borrow from john piper and uncle joe. grace is still wonderfully real and true, that doesn't change, but i think the part so many of us forget is that faith should produce works. Therefore, it is not "work to obtain salvation" but "work because of salvation." work is, therefore, an indication of our faith/salvation. This is not to be taken as a way of judging ppl's salvation (in the words of uncle joe, that is God biz), but as a means of self examination. Faith, if we have it, WILL produce good works in us (phil 2:13), in fact we can't produce genuine good works w/o it. We can't disconnect the two, as if we could separate eternity from "real life."
with that in mind, i want to point out that sanctification, that is our struggle against sin, is one of the "works" that i think paul wrote of. how much are we ourselves struggling against sin? we can't come to the cross and say faith will save us and holiness is merely extra credit; thats not how it works, the two are the same battle. I want the urgency of sin to sink into each of our minds, sin WILL destroy us if we leave it unchecked, or worse, protected and hidden. we need to attack the sins in our lives with the kind of zeal and seriousness that jesus described in Mathew 5:29. this is important because our struggles against sin will tell us if we are for God or not. No wonder paul used the words "fear and trembling!" just because faith alone is necessary for salvation does NOT mean obedience is optional. "Test yourself to see if you are of the faith" (2 cor 13:5) this is one of those tests: our struggles against sin, or lack thereof..
lastly, I want to point out that this is actually very, VERY good news! it means God will have victory over sin, and not merely tolerance of it. it means that He is fighting with us to fulfill his promise in romans 6:14. Sanctification and holiness is not something we can achieve on our own, what we ARE responsible for though, is to decide to initiate that struggle against sin and to rely on God's grace. i will be the first to humbly admit that i have a lot of work ahead of me in this struggle, i want to be surrounded by brothers and sisters who actively face this this same struggle together in loving community and accountability =) lets build a church whose members pursue holiness.
Happy Wednesday,
edward
This one's for the cat lovers, hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qHVVbYG8Y
"Be killing sin or it will be killing you" - john owens
"We constantly remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thes 1:3
"...think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Rom 12: 3b
"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Rom 6:14
took a break from psalms and ended up in philippians (currently my favourite in NT =D). phil 2:12-13 says for us to "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" and i came away with this question: work out my salvation? what happened to faith and grace?
apologies in advance for sounding preachy, but here's my take on this passage - if i may borrow from john piper and uncle joe. grace is still wonderfully real and true, that doesn't change, but i think the part so many of us forget is that faith should produce works. Therefore, it is not "work to obtain salvation" but "work because of salvation." work is, therefore, an indication of our faith/salvation. This is not to be taken as a way of judging ppl's salvation (in the words of uncle joe, that is God biz), but as a means of self examination. Faith, if we have it, WILL produce good works in us (phil 2:13), in fact we can't produce genuine good works w/o it. We can't disconnect the two, as if we could separate eternity from "real life."
with that in mind, i want to point out that sanctification, that is our struggle against sin, is one of the "works" that i think paul wrote of. how much are we ourselves struggling against sin? we can't come to the cross and say faith will save us and holiness is merely extra credit; thats not how it works, the two are the same battle. I want the urgency of sin to sink into each of our minds, sin WILL destroy us if we leave it unchecked, or worse, protected and hidden. we need to attack the sins in our lives with the kind of zeal and seriousness that jesus described in Mathew 5:29. this is important because our struggles against sin will tell us if we are for God or not. No wonder paul used the words "fear and trembling!" just because faith alone is necessary for salvation does NOT mean obedience is optional. "Test yourself to see if you are of the faith" (2 cor 13:5) this is one of those tests: our struggles against sin, or lack thereof..
lastly, I want to point out that this is actually very, VERY good news! it means God will have victory over sin, and not merely tolerance of it. it means that He is fighting with us to fulfill his promise in romans 6:14. Sanctification and holiness is not something we can achieve on our own, what we ARE responsible for though, is to decide to initiate that struggle against sin and to rely on God's grace. i will be the first to humbly admit that i have a lot of work ahead of me in this struggle, i want to be surrounded by brothers and sisters who actively face this this same struggle together in loving community and accountability =) lets build a church whose members pursue holiness.
Happy Wednesday,
edward
This one's for the cat lovers, hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qHVVbYG8Y
"Be killing sin or it will be killing you" - john owens
"We constantly remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thes 1:3
"...think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Rom 12: 3b
"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Rom 6:14
Happy Wednesday! (08/12/09)
sup guys,
decided for today im not gonna go by what im currently reading and instead share what i think God's been trying to teach me this past week. namely the fact that we are God's children. My own initial understanding of our God at the time of my conversion was as God my Father, yet i frequently catch myself trivializing this ASTONISHING truth - that God would call me "son." as if i could shrug and say "...yah, so?"
i had the wonderful privilege of sharing romans 8 with a friend this week and took the time to read it myself. paul talks about receiving a spirit of sonship, and how we are MORE than conquerors. I never fully understood what that last bit meant! we can talk about purpose in light of suffering, we can talk about doing God's work and pursuing holiness, we can talk about how God has jeremiaic plans for our lives. BUT, how im choosing to understand romans 8:37 is that we are worth SO much more than purposes, works, and plans in the eyes of God. that it isn't our successes and failures that draws Him to us. that we are NOT chess pieces to Him but sons and daughters that He would choose to bleed for! in light of that, reading on through v38-39 brought me down to my knees.
i think, so often, we are too caught up w/ what we're supposed to DO with our lives (ie our purpose) when we should be standing in constant amazement at who we're called to BE. My prayer and encouragement this week is for all of us to find worth in being a child of God - to see beyond purpose and trials, and to stand in awe of this simple truth that we so easily forget.
many, MANY thx to the brothers and sisters who nudged me to this realization this past week.
happy wednesday and have an awesome rest of the week!
edward
here's another cute kid doing cute things - girl's got a piercing voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk&feature=related
"15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship (or daughtership). And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." - Romans 8:15-16
"37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8: 37-39
decided for today im not gonna go by what im currently reading and instead share what i think God's been trying to teach me this past week. namely the fact that we are God's children. My own initial understanding of our God at the time of my conversion was as God my Father, yet i frequently catch myself trivializing this ASTONISHING truth - that God would call me "son." as if i could shrug and say "...yah, so?"
i had the wonderful privilege of sharing romans 8 with a friend this week and took the time to read it myself. paul talks about receiving a spirit of sonship, and how we are MORE than conquerors. I never fully understood what that last bit meant! we can talk about purpose in light of suffering, we can talk about doing God's work and pursuing holiness, we can talk about how God has jeremiaic plans for our lives. BUT, how im choosing to understand romans 8:37 is that we are worth SO much more than purposes, works, and plans in the eyes of God. that it isn't our successes and failures that draws Him to us. that we are NOT chess pieces to Him but sons and daughters that He would choose to bleed for! in light of that, reading on through v38-39 brought me down to my knees.
i think, so often, we are too caught up w/ what we're supposed to DO with our lives (ie our purpose) when we should be standing in constant amazement at who we're called to BE. My prayer and encouragement this week is for all of us to find worth in being a child of God - to see beyond purpose and trials, and to stand in awe of this simple truth that we so easily forget.
many, MANY thx to the brothers and sisters who nudged me to this realization this past week.
happy wednesday and have an awesome rest of the week!
edward
here's another cute kid doing cute things - girl's got a piercing voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk&feature=related
"15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship (or daughtership). And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." - Romans 8:15-16
"37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8: 37-39
Happy Wednesday! (08/05/09)
sup guys,
a word of thanks followed by a confession on my part. It's been a long while since i started this happy wednesday email thing as a way of encouraging ppl in the middle of the week and it's been wonderful getting so many positive responses and feedback. you've all been such awesome encouragement to me as i, ironically, tried to encourage you - many, many thx. with all the praise/appreciation though, i must confess that this email thing has become a source of pride for me. i first noticed earlier this week as i poured through psalms looking for something insightful, something deep, something smart to say that would...let's face it...impress you all. i am so sorry. if i am to continue this weekly email, i promise you that i will do my best to do so by God's grace from now on.
For this week, i ended up praying about it and felt like God led me to psalm 23, that this is what many ppl on this email list need right now. i leave you all with this simple encouragement to read it in its entirety, to meditate on the truths that are expressed in this psalm, and to pray/search for the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. so without any further words from me, i give you the Word of God:
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." - Psalm 23
happy wednesday,
edward
P.S. this sounds so dumb but pls dont feel like y'all need to stop the encouragement/responses, i do enjoy reading/responding to them and i swear i'll look upon them w/ humility from now on.. >.
Im guessing everyone's sick of hamster videos by now so here's something different =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sTwu9PGf4w
"..surely...?" (i love how she keeps looking forward to that part!)
a word of thanks followed by a confession on my part. It's been a long while since i started this happy wednesday email thing as a way of encouraging ppl in the middle of the week and it's been wonderful getting so many positive responses and feedback. you've all been such awesome encouragement to me as i, ironically, tried to encourage you - many, many thx. with all the praise/appreciation though, i must confess that this email thing has become a source of pride for me. i first noticed earlier this week as i poured through psalms looking for something insightful, something deep, something smart to say that would...let's face it...impress you all. i am so sorry. if i am to continue this weekly email, i promise you that i will do my best to do so by God's grace from now on.
For this week, i ended up praying about it and felt like God led me to psalm 23, that this is what many ppl on this email list need right now. i leave you all with this simple encouragement to read it in its entirety, to meditate on the truths that are expressed in this psalm, and to pray/search for the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. so without any further words from me, i give you the Word of God:
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." - Psalm 23
happy wednesday,
edward
P.S. this sounds so dumb but pls dont feel like y'all need to stop the encouragement/responses, i do enjoy reading/responding to them and i swear i'll look upon them w/ humility from now on.. >.
Im guessing everyone's sick of hamster videos by now so here's something different =D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sTwu9PGf4w
"..surely...?" (i love how she keeps looking forward to that part!)
Happy Wednesday =D (07/21/09)
Sup guys,
it's amazing how much reading u can get done when the internet is down at work.. i managed to get through ezra and nehemiah so far this week; these two books details the return of the jewish ppl from exile, about rebuilding jerusalem first of the temple and then of the city walls. There's so much to look at in terms of application - a lot of parallels exist between rebuilding a city, building a church, and building up a christ centered character. We can go into how important it is to have a firm foundation (words echoed by christ hundreds of years later), about encouragement, about opposition, about joys and sorrows, about teamwork, about persistence, and about leadership, so on and so forth. I decided to focus in on prayer because i feel it is a discipline many of us (myself included) do not have enough of, yet it is one that is perhaps most easily remedied if we applied the effort and it has such a huge impact on our faith.
I lost track of how many times nehemiah spontaneously breaks down into prayer in his book. This guy would literally pray while engaging a king in conversation (2:4), now i've personally prayed before and after conversations i've deemed important....but during?! nehemiah was that much in tune w/ God that praying even while holding a conversation is the most natural thing for him! he also prayed while facing injust accusations (6:9), persecution and disappointment, and (perhaps most impressive of all) even in his success. this man consulted God on practically every aspect of his life! i wish i could speak of the same devotion for myself! i think reflected in this prayerful lifestyle is the kind of humility i was talking about last week - it all starts with admitting that we need help. looking at nehemiah's life, and listening in on his prayers, it's clear to me that this man lived his life for an audience of One - see how he concludes his book? "Remember me with favour, O my God."
Encouragement for the week: if u find urself stressed (and many of u have complained to me this week so dont bother denying =P), if u find urself faced with impossible tasks, with disappointments, with anger, with boredom, with waaay too much free time, with no time at all, with success, with joy, with fear and confusion, with life - remember always to pray! bring this spiritual discipline into ur daily routines. make a conscious effort to pray when u wake up, when u commute, when u have lunch, when u...do stuff in the bathroom, haha always make time for God. prayer should not be limited to before meals and 5 min before u pass out in bed, hold this ongoing, constant conversation throughout the day. just because you do not see ur prayers answered right away does not make prayer useless - we are not talking to ourselves when we pray but to a living and holy God who hears every word spoken and unspoken. my hope is that each of us notice His presence all the more this week by taking that extra time out and offering it to Him.
Have a happy wednesday and a prayerful week!
edward
hamster vaccum!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4AGWnHJcaY
it's amazing how much reading u can get done when the internet is down at work.. i managed to get through ezra and nehemiah so far this week; these two books details the return of the jewish ppl from exile, about rebuilding jerusalem first of the temple and then of the city walls. There's so much to look at in terms of application - a lot of parallels exist between rebuilding a city, building a church, and building up a christ centered character. We can go into how important it is to have a firm foundation (words echoed by christ hundreds of years later), about encouragement, about opposition, about joys and sorrows, about teamwork, about persistence, and about leadership, so on and so forth. I decided to focus in on prayer because i feel it is a discipline many of us (myself included) do not have enough of, yet it is one that is perhaps most easily remedied if we applied the effort and it has such a huge impact on our faith.
I lost track of how many times nehemiah spontaneously breaks down into prayer in his book. This guy would literally pray while engaging a king in conversation (2:4), now i've personally prayed before and after conversations i've deemed important....but during?! nehemiah was that much in tune w/ God that praying even while holding a conversation is the most natural thing for him! he also prayed while facing injust accusations (6:9), persecution and disappointment, and (perhaps most impressive of all) even in his success. this man consulted God on practically every aspect of his life! i wish i could speak of the same devotion for myself! i think reflected in this prayerful lifestyle is the kind of humility i was talking about last week - it all starts with admitting that we need help. looking at nehemiah's life, and listening in on his prayers, it's clear to me that this man lived his life for an audience of One - see how he concludes his book? "Remember me with favour, O my God."
Encouragement for the week: if u find urself stressed (and many of u have complained to me this week so dont bother denying =P), if u find urself faced with impossible tasks, with disappointments, with anger, with boredom, with waaay too much free time, with no time at all, with success, with joy, with fear and confusion, with life - remember always to pray! bring this spiritual discipline into ur daily routines. make a conscious effort to pray when u wake up, when u commute, when u have lunch, when u...do stuff in the bathroom, haha always make time for God. prayer should not be limited to before meals and 5 min before u pass out in bed, hold this ongoing, constant conversation throughout the day. just because you do not see ur prayers answered right away does not make prayer useless - we are not talking to ourselves when we pray but to a living and holy God who hears every word spoken and unspoken. my hope is that each of us notice His presence all the more this week by taking that extra time out and offering it to Him.
Have a happy wednesday and a prayerful week!
edward
hamster vaccum!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4AGWnHJcaY
Happy Wednesday (07/15/09)
hey guys,
well..internet has been down at work so i figured i should do this before taking off this morning. Felt like these past few weeks, God's been talking to me quite a bit about humility. I dont mean humility in the sense of "oh im not really that attractive" or ""i only got a 98% on my last midterm" or "im not that fit, i can only do 20 pull ups "(^__^v). Those three examples are really the result of either a very distorted self views, or pride being disguised as false modesty. By humility, i mean opposite of pride, i mean struggling daily against vanity, against thinking i can take care of things myself, against believing i am better/more important than everyone around me, i mean tearing down this idol i've been worshipping called Edward when i shouldve been worshipping God.
couldn't really pull out any one particular lesson from 1 chron, but as i found myself closely examining the life of david in chron, the two kings, and my brief peek into psalms, i started getting an idea of what a man who chased after God's own heart looked like. He was a man who would commit adultery and murder, a man who wept and trembled for fear of his life (/lose man card), a man who had multiple wives, a blood drenched warrior, and one who, however briefly, took pride in his army - 1.5 million strong. At the same time, i also see a man who repents EACH and EVERY time he stumbled and took full responsibility for his sins. I see a man who would dance before his God with the kind of joyful abandon that would piss off his first wife (/fist bump david), i see a man who was told that the role of building the temple (originally his idea) is to be passed onto his son - and surrendered that honour without complaint. I saw a man who did his best to walk step by step with his God. Wehn i look at david's life, I see and hear a man who would genuinely say the words "who am i lord that you have brought me this far," he understood that everything he had, all that he's accomplished, is not a result of his own efforts and skills but only by the grace of his God.
i guess in terms of application, there must be a daily reminder that the world does NOT revolve around us (even for kings). more importantly, there must also be a parallel reminder that the world DOES revolve around christ. There must be an understanding that you are here - where you are in life and in Him - by the grace and mercy of God. That He loved you first, before you loved Him. It means that there must be a difference in how you care for ppl, versus how a nonbeliever cares for ppl (phil 2:5-11 - read it). it means realizing in ministry, that it's not by your effort that ppl are healed, comforted, or saved, but by the loving grace of God that should be evident in your own life - "ppl dont need you, they need Christ in you" (thx again to the person who sent that to me =). Lastly, i think it means that there should be a HUGE difference in how we perceive God - no one strolls or struts into heaven, as if they've earned their way there. I think the humble soul realizes daily how much trespass is forgiven of them, how much mercy they are under, and because of all this, fall all the more in love with Christ with every passing day.
Before closing, i wanted to apologize to everyone i've hurt w/ my own pride and self addiction, please be patient with me, i think im slowly getting the hang of this.. Also to thank everyone (yes, i mean you) who, whether they realize it or not, are constantly being used by God to teach me so much more about humility than can be learnt in a thousand sermons/trips to yosemite. I love you all.
Have a blessed and humbling wednesday and a great rest of the week =)
edward
oh no'es!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyRYgrYnaU4
well..internet has been down at work so i figured i should do this before taking off this morning. Felt like these past few weeks, God's been talking to me quite a bit about humility. I dont mean humility in the sense of "oh im not really that attractive" or ""i only got a 98% on my last midterm" or "im not that fit, i can only do 20 pull ups "(^__^v). Those three examples are really the result of either a very distorted self views, or pride being disguised as false modesty. By humility, i mean opposite of pride, i mean struggling daily against vanity, against thinking i can take care of things myself, against believing i am better/more important than everyone around me, i mean tearing down this idol i've been worshipping called Edward when i shouldve been worshipping God.
couldn't really pull out any one particular lesson from 1 chron, but as i found myself closely examining the life of david in chron, the two kings, and my brief peek into psalms, i started getting an idea of what a man who chased after God's own heart looked like. He was a man who would commit adultery and murder, a man who wept and trembled for fear of his life (/lose man card), a man who had multiple wives, a blood drenched warrior, and one who, however briefly, took pride in his army - 1.5 million strong. At the same time, i also see a man who repents EACH and EVERY time he stumbled and took full responsibility for his sins. I see a man who would dance before his God with the kind of joyful abandon that would piss off his first wife (/fist bump david), i see a man who was told that the role of building the temple (originally his idea) is to be passed onto his son - and surrendered that honour without complaint. I saw a man who did his best to walk step by step with his God. Wehn i look at david's life, I see and hear a man who would genuinely say the words "who am i lord that you have brought me this far," he understood that everything he had, all that he's accomplished, is not a result of his own efforts and skills but only by the grace of his God.
i guess in terms of application, there must be a daily reminder that the world does NOT revolve around us (even for kings). more importantly, there must also be a parallel reminder that the world DOES revolve around christ. There must be an understanding that you are here - where you are in life and in Him - by the grace and mercy of God. That He loved you first, before you loved Him. It means that there must be a difference in how you care for ppl, versus how a nonbeliever cares for ppl (phil 2:5-11 - read it). it means realizing in ministry, that it's not by your effort that ppl are healed, comforted, or saved, but by the loving grace of God that should be evident in your own life - "ppl dont need you, they need Christ in you" (thx again to the person who sent that to me =). Lastly, i think it means that there should be a HUGE difference in how we perceive God - no one strolls or struts into heaven, as if they've earned their way there. I think the humble soul realizes daily how much trespass is forgiven of them, how much mercy they are under, and because of all this, fall all the more in love with Christ with every passing day.
Before closing, i wanted to apologize to everyone i've hurt w/ my own pride and self addiction, please be patient with me, i think im slowly getting the hang of this.. Also to thank everyone (yes, i mean you) who, whether they realize it or not, are constantly being used by God to teach me so much more about humility than can be learnt in a thousand sermons/trips to yosemite. I love you all.
Have a blessed and humbling wednesday and a great rest of the week =)
edward
oh no'es!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyRYgrYnaU4
Happy Wednesday! (07/08/09)
hey all,
well...im in 1chronicles, but at the (God forgive me..) slightly boring part at the begining that lists geneologies. so i figured i'd go back to 2nd kings for happy wed material this week. I tend to focus on a couple of key characters in each book of hte old testament, for 2nd king it usually tends to be elisha and hezekiah, this time around i finally noticed hezekiah's great grandson Josiah (2 King 22-23) - king of judah:
the kingdom of judah was doomed: surrounded by enemies on all sides, israel had already fallen to assyria, ppl fallen into idolatry, and now it's been prophesied that babylon would take over the country (in fact, this happens a few chapters later). In spite of all this, when the book of law was found and brought to josiah, his reaction was immediate and extreme. He tore his clothes in mourning for the sins his country has fallen to. After reading through the book of the law, he initiated the greatest eradication of idolatry in judah's history. In the past, god-fearing kings would take down the foreign idols in their country - but always compromise on one point or another and eventually fall into some form of sin. Josiah was different! chapter 23 gave a long litany of idols, asherah poles, high places, and altars he destroyed. He was ruthless in his efforts to remove idolatry from his nation - even destroying altars/idols set up by solomon and jeroboam, probably national icons by this time and presumably left untouched by past national cleansings.
How aggressively do we attack the sins and idols in our own lives? do we compromise? do we protect the very things that causes us to stumble (a relationship, the internet, television, etc)? josiah was told even the eradication of idolatry wont save his country from invasion; yet he did all of this solely to please God! In the midst of disaster and trials in our lives, let this story be an inspiration to us to not be distracted from our purpose in Christ. Pray and hope, but also remember to repent! I feel like we as christians often forget this important spiritual discipline. Repentance is a two step process, first the admission of sin and need for help, and second is taking steps to remove that sin from our lives - we can not fully do one without the other. we should repent not because it mite get us out of hot waters, or curry favour with God, but simply because we must realize how desperately short we fall of God's holy standards and recognize our need for Him. Ask for strength and discipline to completely remove all traces of sin from ur life as josiah did.
Have a happy wednesday and a blessed week =)
edward
Gaah...i wanna do this at work!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aCWt9taCNQ
well...im in 1chronicles, but at the (God forgive me..) slightly boring part at the begining that lists geneologies. so i figured i'd go back to 2nd kings for happy wed material this week. I tend to focus on a couple of key characters in each book of hte old testament, for 2nd king it usually tends to be elisha and hezekiah, this time around i finally noticed hezekiah's great grandson Josiah (2 King 22-23) - king of judah:
the kingdom of judah was doomed: surrounded by enemies on all sides, israel had already fallen to assyria, ppl fallen into idolatry, and now it's been prophesied that babylon would take over the country (in fact, this happens a few chapters later). In spite of all this, when the book of law was found and brought to josiah, his reaction was immediate and extreme. He tore his clothes in mourning for the sins his country has fallen to. After reading through the book of the law, he initiated the greatest eradication of idolatry in judah's history. In the past, god-fearing kings would take down the foreign idols in their country - but always compromise on one point or another and eventually fall into some form of sin. Josiah was different! chapter 23 gave a long litany of idols, asherah poles, high places, and altars he destroyed. He was ruthless in his efforts to remove idolatry from his nation - even destroying altars/idols set up by solomon and jeroboam, probably national icons by this time and presumably left untouched by past national cleansings.
How aggressively do we attack the sins and idols in our own lives? do we compromise? do we protect the very things that causes us to stumble (a relationship, the internet, television, etc)? josiah was told even the eradication of idolatry wont save his country from invasion; yet he did all of this solely to please God! In the midst of disaster and trials in our lives, let this story be an inspiration to us to not be distracted from our purpose in Christ. Pray and hope, but also remember to repent! I feel like we as christians often forget this important spiritual discipline. Repentance is a two step process, first the admission of sin and need for help, and second is taking steps to remove that sin from our lives - we can not fully do one without the other. we should repent not because it mite get us out of hot waters, or curry favour with God, but simply because we must realize how desperately short we fall of God's holy standards and recognize our need for Him. Ask for strength and discipline to completely remove all traces of sin from ur life as josiah did.
Have a happy wednesday and a blessed week =)
edward
Gaah...i wanna do this at work!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aCWt9taCNQ
Happy Wednesday =D (07/01/09)
Hey all,
candice shared this the other day and i thought it was a good article on being still and knowing God is God:
http://grainoffaith.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/be-still-and-know-that-i-am-god-psalm-4610/
Lest y'all think im jus being lazy in citing other ppl's devotionals, i hit 2 kings yesterday and was reading up on Elisha when i noticed something interesting (2 kings 5-6). Most of us are prolly familiar with elisha's story (double portions man), but what i found interesting was that hte floating ax head miracle was placed between the healing of an Aramean general and Elisha saving the Israel army. One "small" and "insignificant" miracle sandwiched btw two that changed the course of nations. Two takeaway points i got from this:
1) Elisha trusted God even in seemingly trivial/everyday life things (sorta what was shared last wed)
2) IRON axes were probably worth a lot back then (iron smithing came late to israel) but...come ON, this guy had the respect of kings! wat was he doing saving gardening implements? Elisha took time out from his busy, nation-shaking schedule to care for his followers. i can't really speak for every/anyone, but for myself personally, i find that as life and church responsibilities gets busy, i've often neglected to care for my family and friends (and i highly suspect im not hte only one). Encouragement for the day: if you're in leadership position, or even if life is just getting crazy, don't forget to intercede for your family/friends and to care for them in whatever capacity God has blessed you with. dont let the importance of your work distract you from sharing Christ's love.
Have a great week =)
Edward
Today's vid is from sandy, hope this 3.2 grams of cuteness brightens ur day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnn-wMPU9w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcuteoverload.com%2Fpage%2F13%2F&feature=player_embedded
candice shared this the other day and i thought it was a good article on being still and knowing God is God:
http://grainoffaith.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/be-still-and-know-that-i-am-god-psalm-4610/
Lest y'all think im jus being lazy in citing other ppl's devotionals, i hit 2 kings yesterday and was reading up on Elisha when i noticed something interesting (2 kings 5-6). Most of us are prolly familiar with elisha's story (double portions man), but what i found interesting was that hte floating ax head miracle was placed between the healing of an Aramean general and Elisha saving the Israel army. One "small" and "insignificant" miracle sandwiched btw two that changed the course of nations. Two takeaway points i got from this:
1) Elisha trusted God even in seemingly trivial/everyday life things (sorta what was shared last wed)
2) IRON axes were probably worth a lot back then (iron smithing came late to israel) but...come ON, this guy had the respect of kings! wat was he doing saving gardening implements? Elisha took time out from his busy, nation-shaking schedule to care for his followers. i can't really speak for every/anyone, but for myself personally, i find that as life and church responsibilities gets busy, i've often neglected to care for my family and friends (and i highly suspect im not hte only one). Encouragement for the day: if you're in leadership position, or even if life is just getting crazy, don't forget to intercede for your family/friends and to care for them in whatever capacity God has blessed you with. dont let the importance of your work distract you from sharing Christ's love.
Have a great week =)
Edward
Today's vid is from sandy, hope this 3.2 grams of cuteness brightens ur day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnn-wMPU9w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcuteoverload.com%2Fpage%2F13%2F&feature=player_embedded
Happy Wednesday (06/24/09)
Happy wednesday everyone =)
so i finally made it to first kings! the book opens up w/ solomon building up the temple of the lord. This is an old lesson but one that always need constant reminder, notice that solomon built the temple of the lord before he begun to build his own palace. I think this story pretty much speaks for itself in terms of what our priorities should be.
If i may though, I'd like to go one step further and share with you all something that I learnt from a sermon i heard a while back. In philippians 1:21 paul said that for him "to live is Christ and to die is gain." I'm certain that english majors (and i know we have at least one on this list) would be the first to agree with me that this sentence is grammatically incorrect, It's missing a gerund/verb. It should be "to live is worshipping christ" or "to live is to love christ," instead paul leaves it as it is, as if Christ should be all encompassing in our lives. Rick Holland explains this grammatical faux pas by saying that for us christians, God should NOT be the #1 priority in our lives - let me finish =). No, instead, God should be #1 and #2 and #3.....all the way down to #312342 and beyond. It means that we do not place God first and then assume the rest of our lives can be lived isolated from God's influence and love. It means we dont simply pray before a test, but during and after. It means we can't assume that after the sunday, after the preaching, after the worshipping, after the serving, we can go into our days to play and work apart from Him.
God should permeate everything we do and not exist as merely item number 1 on some priority list - as if we chould simply check Him off and move onto other things.
Hope this encourages everyone to put things into new perspective, have a great rest of the week!
G'bless,
edward
haha, some of you probably seen this already but it never gets old! here is slow loris being tickled, I like how she looks down when the tickling stops and then into the camera as if to demand "more!" she looked so sad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9f-6jygRJk
thx for sharing this sandy! (also, credit where credit's due, kelsey's passed me several of the hamster vids i've shared in the past ^.^)
so i finally made it to first kings! the book opens up w/ solomon building up the temple of the lord. This is an old lesson but one that always need constant reminder, notice that solomon built the temple of the lord before he begun to build his own palace. I think this story pretty much speaks for itself in terms of what our priorities should be.
If i may though, I'd like to go one step further and share with you all something that I learnt from a sermon i heard a while back. In philippians 1:21 paul said that for him "to live is Christ and to die is gain." I'm certain that english majors (and i know we have at least one on this list) would be the first to agree with me that this sentence is grammatically incorrect, It's missing a gerund/verb. It should be "to live is worshipping christ" or "to live is to love christ," instead paul leaves it as it is, as if Christ should be all encompassing in our lives. Rick Holland explains this grammatical faux pas by saying that for us christians, God should NOT be the #1 priority in our lives - let me finish =). No, instead, God should be #1 and #2 and #3.....all the way down to #312342 and beyond. It means that we do not place God first and then assume the rest of our lives can be lived isolated from God's influence and love. It means we dont simply pray before a test, but during and after. It means we can't assume that after the sunday, after the preaching, after the worshipping, after the serving, we can go into our days to play and work apart from Him.
God should permeate everything we do and not exist as merely item number 1 on some priority list - as if we chould simply check Him off and move onto other things.
Hope this encourages everyone to put things into new perspective, have a great rest of the week!
G'bless,
edward
haha, some of you probably seen this already but it never gets old! here is slow loris being tickled, I like how she looks down when the tickling stops and then into the camera as if to demand "more!" she looked so sad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9f-6jygRJk
thx for sharing this sandy! (also, credit where credit's due, kelsey's passed me several of the hamster vids i've shared in the past ^.^)
Happy Wednesday (06/17/09)
Hey Guys,
so a couple of us went to resolved conference last weekend and i thought it'd be awesome to share w/ y'all a small part. The conference was on sin, and there is just too much to share on one happy wednesday email. Instead, i think that the second sermon given by C.J. Mahoney would benefit the church (plus edward's friends) the most. He talked on spiritual deadness, that place where you earnestly sought after God and heard absolute silence. As i've shared w/ some of you, I've only recently felt this so this was especially helpful towards me.
Sermon was on psalm 42, it's the well known "as the deer pant for hte water" psalm but carefully read over ALL of it when you have a chance. If you do you'll notice, as i never did, that the psalmist vascillates between a thirst for God, not being able to hear/find God, taunts and suffering on account of trials, AND a conversation with himself and telling his own soul to hope in the Lord.
In short, we talk to ourselves all the time and therefore, we are our own strongest influence. What we usually say to ourselves in light of troubles or spiritual deadness are lies about the nature of the circumstances, the ppl we interact with, and about God. The key then, is to not listen to lies about the apathetic God, the uncaring friends, or the unfair circumstances, but instead declare truths to yourself and to God. A great way to do this is through worship. This was how the psalmist dealt with his fears and his supposed abandonment. Notice in v9 how he asks of God, "why have you forgotten me?" Sound kinda like what Christ said on the cross right? Here's the profound bit...the psalmist FELT abandoned while Christ WAS abandoned, so that WE are never truly abandoned. Lastly, if the psalmist can feel this much hope pre-christ, how much more should we hope in God having experienced the grace of the cross.
And now, for your weekly dose of hamster:
http://tinyurl.com/ydgat53
how many of you think the hamster ran jus so he could do the spinney thing at the end?
so a couple of us went to resolved conference last weekend and i thought it'd be awesome to share w/ y'all a small part. The conference was on sin, and there is just too much to share on one happy wednesday email. Instead, i think that the second sermon given by C.J. Mahoney would benefit the church (plus edward's friends) the most. He talked on spiritual deadness, that place where you earnestly sought after God and heard absolute silence. As i've shared w/ some of you, I've only recently felt this so this was especially helpful towards me.
Sermon was on psalm 42, it's the well known "as the deer pant for hte water" psalm but carefully read over ALL of it when you have a chance. If you do you'll notice, as i never did, that the psalmist vascillates between a thirst for God, not being able to hear/find God, taunts and suffering on account of trials, AND a conversation with himself and telling his own soul to hope in the Lord.
In short, we talk to ourselves all the time and therefore, we are our own strongest influence. What we usually say to ourselves in light of troubles or spiritual deadness are lies about the nature of the circumstances, the ppl we interact with, and about God. The key then, is to not listen to lies about the apathetic God, the uncaring friends, or the unfair circumstances, but instead declare truths to yourself and to God. A great way to do this is through worship. This was how the psalmist dealt with his fears and his supposed abandonment. Notice in v9 how he asks of God, "why have you forgotten me?" Sound kinda like what Christ said on the cross right? Here's the profound bit...the psalmist FELT abandoned while Christ WAS abandoned, so that WE are never truly abandoned. Lastly, if the psalmist can feel this much hope pre-christ, how much more should we hope in God having experienced the grace of the cross.
And now, for your weekly dose of hamster:
http://tinyurl.com/ydgat53
how many of you think the hamster ran jus so he could do the spinney thing at the end?
Happy Wednesday (06/03/09)
Hey guys,
so im in samuel now and at the story of how it took God four tries before samuel recognized him (1 sam 3). he's so slow! kinda reminds me of me... lol guess my encouraging thought for the day is to actively look/listen for God so that you dont keep Him waiting. I feel like there're so many ppl who are currently wondering where God is in their lives right now. perhaps what you thought is the biggest problem in your life isn't what God's concerned with right now? Perhaps He's already responded to your prayers, perhaps He's simply waiting for the right time, or perhaps He's been calling you and you didn't hear him. Hold onto hope and remember that this is the God who died for you; if this is true, how much more would He be willing to bless you in whatever your struggles are. If there is one thing I've picked up so far from OT, it's that He is faithful.
Saturday Hiking @ Big Basin:
some of you might've received an email already about this, but we're planning on doing a hike this saturday at big basin. Meet at the church at 9am, we'll figure out drivers and directions there. The hike we're planning on doing is about 10 miles but it's relatively flat so it's fairly easy (it's a redwood forest so plenty of shade). My guess is that we'll be done by 3 or 4 pm. If it's taking us too long and ppl are tired i can suggest shortcuts along the way to cut down the mileage. Be sure to bring water and sunscreen.
call if me you have questions: 510 557 2915
I need to train harder, jus like this guy!
Happy Wednesday =) (05/20/09)
So one of the coolest thing about reading bible from cover to cover is realizing no matter how well one knows the bible, there's ALWAYS so much more to learn. It took me a while longer than expected but im finally done w/ the pentateuch! In joshua, and i can't believe i missed this in the past, but i find that God parted the jordan river for Israel to cross into the promised land. I've always noticed the red sea being parted (cause thats the part that sticks out) but i honestly dont remember the parting of the jordan. There's a beautiful sense of symmetry here..God led them out of Egypt by parting water and now He's leading them into the promised land in the same way. By this same way he demonstrated that He was with Moses and now with Joshua. Now Israel no longer needs to rely on stories their parents told them (remember the entire generation passed away in the wilderness), but have witness God's glory for themselves.
My encouragement is this: do not rely on things that God has done for you in the past - on the faith and hopes of yesterday to sustain you. Do not look back on past victories and miss out on God in the now. God is just as real in the present as He was in the past, as real today as he was the day you were saved or the day you felt Him move. He is as powerful here as he was there. So look to Him for new hope and new strength to get through this day.
Anyways, i give you all - hamster on an elevator:
Happy Wednesday (05/13/09)
Hey guys,
a while back, someone told me we should be praying for more hope in our church. I feel like this is still as true today as it was back then, and that it would probably remain true for the rest of our lives. Who really will ever reach a point in life where they can honestly say that they have no more need for hope - only those who've given up on life completely? Hope is what pushes us onward towards another weekend, the last final exam you'll ever take, that next job interview, a happier relationship next time, a restored body, a reconciled family, and ultimately to God. In this day to day struggle for bread, for meaning and purpose, remember God who is the source of this hope in us as well as the final blessing. Such a simple lesson but one that I've required constant reminder.. ^__^v
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
Edward
Anyways, i was torn btw finding a hamster video again and showing joni the peanut butter jelly song...so i settled on this compromise.
I want to love my job as much as this gentleman does:
"I jus do my job man, I do what my God given body allows me to do and I thank Jesus Christ for it EVERY SINGLE DAY, and do i enjoy what I do? hahahahah....HELL YA."
Yet Another Happy Wednesday =) (05/06/09)
Sup Guys,
So, finished reading Leviticus and think i finally managed to find evidence of a loving God amongst all the rules and regulations! The purpose of the laws for us in retrospect, is to make us aware of our own sins and need for a saviour, but served other purposes for the Israelites. It marked them separate from the pagan nations that surrounds them, it's often meant protect their health, and it tested their commitment to God. Also, I've become more aware reading Lev this time round of how concerned God was with keeping his people holy (the word "holy" is mentioned more times in Leviticus than in ANY other books of the bible, 152 times - and no, i didn't do the counting). Notice that it's really not what we can do or refrain from doing that makes us holy, but only through God's mercy. This is a hard lesson for me to learn as I struggled the past couple weeks to regain/force myself back to the closeness with God I thought I'd lost, when really all i needed to do was be still.
"Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy, I who make you holy." Lev 21:8
Edward
Now, to continue with the story from last week, here's more cat and bunny romance - first date ^.^
And if your name is Don Le, don't click that link above, click this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?Happy Wednesday! ^.^ (Do NOT Reply All Here) (04/29/09)
Hey all,
Here we are, middle of the week again. Hang in there, everyone, and remember that it's not only the weekend we're looking forward to, but eternity with Him =D bigger picture and all i guess.. Hopefully this gives those of us who're struggling more hope for the rest of this week.
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
i figured u guys are probably sick of hamsters by now and I couldn't seem to find a funny hamster video this week anyways, so i guess ill risk losing a man card and share this instead =) Cute love story about a developing romance btw a cat and a bunny in a society where cats and bunnies aren't allowed to date.
Have a great rest of the week =D
edward
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