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 ^.^)
Friday, February 26, 2010
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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