If they don't, then it is the fire or motives behind the passion that dies out?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Taking pride in your humility
You say you care, but then you turn.
…grabbing their hand only to save yourself.
You say you love, but it’s only out of your greed.
…smiling with the grinding of your teeth.
You say you hope, but then you destruct.
…stepping forward in the wrong direction.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Judges 19
The idea is based on Judges 19 where “Israel had no king." I def. want to do a lot more work with this sometime.
Where am I?
Roaming around with no place to go.
The very hands that I have, cannot be seen.
I hold them in front of me and scream, I scream at the top of my lungs for these precious hands cannot be seen, or touched, or to be used for the building of the cities.
This room has no boundaries, no walls, and no sense of light and dark.
This room has no color.
No shining star and beautiful rainbow.
This place has no emotion.
There is no sense of joy when a baby is born, and no mourning when a loved one is lost.
This place has no authority.
No sense of right and wrong.
I stand here with nowhere to go. No one is here to hold my hand through this valley of darkness. No one is here to shine the light on the path. For this place has no sense of direction.
This place has no one to lead the people.
This place has no king.
Roaming around with no place to go.
The very hands that I have, cannot be seen.
I hold them in front of me and scream, I scream at the top of my lungs for these precious hands cannot be seen, or touched, or to be used for the building of the cities.
This room has no boundaries, no walls, and no sense of light and dark.
This room has no color.
No shining star and beautiful rainbow.
This place has no emotion.
There is no sense of joy when a baby is born, and no mourning when a loved one is lost.
This place has no authority.
No sense of right and wrong.
I stand here with nowhere to go. No one is here to hold my hand through this valley of darkness. No one is here to shine the light on the path. For this place has no sense of direction.
This place has no one to lead the people.
This place has no king.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Cambodia
Tonight, I was stricken with tears in my eyes…and even as I write this, my eyes water. I had a conversation today with a lady who lives in the same house as me. She’s tiny, short, and loves to laugh. Tonight, I started viewing her differently.
One of the things that I have realized is that the more you get to know someone, the view of them usually shifts, and changes. Tonight, I started viewing Daravy differently. I once viewed her as a young lady, 26 years old, who simply wanted to get a higher education. She was getting her masters at “uni” aka university in Sydney. Since the conversation at dinner, I have viewed her as a woman who longs to see change in her country of Cambodia.
In America, we are built on freedom and liberty. [who doesn’t love a story that is built on freedom with the hope of a brighter future?] We has Americans, really have no fear of anything, not government, or anything in between. I was telling Daravy tonight that my worst situation that I can think of is someone breaking into my house or something on those lines. Even with me possibly living in one of the worst neighbors in America [let’s hope it works out…fingers crossed], my fear is that I will be mugged. But that’s it. It’s funny, cause in Blo/No, your worst fear is getting a drinking ticket or getting a speeding ticket. In America, we feel as if justice isn’t always shown justly, which is probably true [can justice not be just?].
With all of this said, I asked her about some killing that I heard about in Cambodia. Honestly, I had no idea what I was talking about, I just wanted to spark some conversation so it wound not be awkward silence anymore. Anyways, she started talking about how there were around 2.2 MILLION people who got killed during these years (1970’s). Basically, what happen was the government was unstable and a group called Khmer took over. Both the Khmer government in the 70’s and Cambodia’s government today are corrupted. The Khmer group started killing people who were educated because their mindset was that if someone was going to try to take over the Khmers, it would be an educated person. One of the stories I heard Daravy tell is about how her aunt was a teacher, and one day she was simply gone. The Khmers had come and killed her because she was an educated teacher. This happened repeatedly throughout Cambodia (2.2 million people died).
She talked about most of her friends wanted to move to America, Australia, or Canada. In my head, I’m thinking about how we always hear other Americans complain about immigrants that are in our country, without knowing their story or why they even want to come to the USA.
Another story she told was how her friend’s dad was a journalist and he criticized the government in one of his articles. One morning the dad was “taken care of.” He was shot and killed because of his comments toward the government. Daravy talked about how the government has their hands in every cookie jar, including the newspapers. The government changed around the story and said his daughter’s friend killed him, which simply was not true.
Lastly, Daravy talked about how if you want to be “successful” in Cambodia, you have to bribe the government. All in all, the government is corrupted. Here’s how I view Daravy differently, most of the last educated generation is gone due to the killings, and the government is still corrupt, even today. She is going to school here in Sydney to get a higher education and go back to Cambodia. She wants to restore Cambodia with her knowledge. She is writing her thesis something on the lines of agriculture and creating Cambodia to use their resources more effectively. Despite the constant fear that she lives in due to the corrupted government, she only wants to live in Cambodia. This is the place that she feels she can be most effective and start restoring Cambodia.
While most of her friends are studying in Australia so that they can gain full residency, she is studying there to bring the knowledge back to her homeland. Knowing that the government is not stable, she wants to help her people. For this reason, I look at Daravy differently.
Sometimes labels don’t matter like “Doctor” or “Christian”, sometimes it requires a helping hand.
It’s a shame that too many people today are “too busy” to lend a hand.
One of the things that I have realized is that the more you get to know someone, the view of them usually shifts, and changes. Tonight, I started viewing Daravy differently. I once viewed her as a young lady, 26 years old, who simply wanted to get a higher education. She was getting her masters at “uni” aka university in Sydney. Since the conversation at dinner, I have viewed her as a woman who longs to see change in her country of Cambodia.
In America, we are built on freedom and liberty. [who doesn’t love a story that is built on freedom with the hope of a brighter future?] We has Americans, really have no fear of anything, not government, or anything in between. I was telling Daravy tonight that my worst situation that I can think of is someone breaking into my house or something on those lines. Even with me possibly living in one of the worst neighbors in America [let’s hope it works out…fingers crossed], my fear is that I will be mugged. But that’s it. It’s funny, cause in Blo/No, your worst fear is getting a drinking ticket or getting a speeding ticket. In America, we feel as if justice isn’t always shown justly, which is probably true [can justice not be just?].
With all of this said, I asked her about some killing that I heard about in Cambodia. Honestly, I had no idea what I was talking about, I just wanted to spark some conversation so it wound not be awkward silence anymore. Anyways, she started talking about how there were around 2.2 MILLION people who got killed during these years (1970’s). Basically, what happen was the government was unstable and a group called Khmer took over. Both the Khmer government in the 70’s and Cambodia’s government today are corrupted. The Khmer group started killing people who were educated because their mindset was that if someone was going to try to take over the Khmers, it would be an educated person. One of the stories I heard Daravy tell is about how her aunt was a teacher, and one day she was simply gone. The Khmers had come and killed her because she was an educated teacher. This happened repeatedly throughout Cambodia (2.2 million people died).
She talked about most of her friends wanted to move to America, Australia, or Canada. In my head, I’m thinking about how we always hear other Americans complain about immigrants that are in our country, without knowing their story or why they even want to come to the USA.
Another story she told was how her friend’s dad was a journalist and he criticized the government in one of his articles. One morning the dad was “taken care of.” He was shot and killed because of his comments toward the government. Daravy talked about how the government has their hands in every cookie jar, including the newspapers. The government changed around the story and said his daughter’s friend killed him, which simply was not true.
Lastly, Daravy talked about how if you want to be “successful” in Cambodia, you have to bribe the government. All in all, the government is corrupted. Here’s how I view Daravy differently, most of the last educated generation is gone due to the killings, and the government is still corrupt, even today. She is going to school here in Sydney to get a higher education and go back to Cambodia. She wants to restore Cambodia with her knowledge. She is writing her thesis something on the lines of agriculture and creating Cambodia to use their resources more effectively. Despite the constant fear that she lives in due to the corrupted government, she only wants to live in Cambodia. This is the place that she feels she can be most effective and start restoring Cambodia.
While most of her friends are studying in Australia so that they can gain full residency, she is studying there to bring the knowledge back to her homeland. Knowing that the government is not stable, she wants to help her people. For this reason, I look at Daravy differently.
Sometimes labels don’t matter like “Doctor” or “Christian”, sometimes it requires a helping hand.
It’s a shame that too many people today are “too busy” to lend a hand.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Approach to Glory
Since being in Australia, I had a chance to talk with an Aussie (Australian person) about the approach to how they live their life. The result of this conversation has made me view my approach to life very differently. In America, I feel like the approach to living your life is like it was a magic show. Meaning, people (Christians) try to live in a way that impresses other people. They live in a way that if they put on a good enough act or put on the best possible presentation or performance, they will convince the non-Christian to believe. This is good in a sense.
The problem lies in the assumption that it’s about the person. Let me correct myself, it’s not so much the person, but rather the assumption about the role that they play. In my understanding about American evangelism is that “you” need to tell your friends about Jesus. When it comes to Wesley Institute and this Aussie, they believe this should not be the case.
They believe that it’s not so much about “you”, but rather the role that you are playing. Are “you” trying to convince your friends, or trying to live a life that gives God all the glory? Americans, can just assume that they are giving all the glory to God, even reading this, they are probably saying, “Of course I’m giving God all the glory!” … but lets be honest, really!? [In my opinion, we need to become awaken, eyes opened, live in a that we don’t simply “go to church.” I hang out with too many people that view Christianity as a hobby, this is sickening, we should live in a way that desperately cries out to God to pour grace over our wicked hearts, but I digress.]
Let me use a practical example of what I’m trying to explain. In track when they are doing a relay, they have to pass the baton. The switching from one person to another is critical. How smoothly the baton is passed is everything. It is the make or break point of the relay. However, on the other hand, when you hear how well the team did, you here about the team, and not the baton. You may hear how smoothly they were able to pass the baton, but the spotlight is not on the baton itself. I believe we as Christians are the baton. We need to play are role well, and very well, because our role is critical. We are the medium by which the non-Christian finds God, and we are the gospel-living bearers. We need to play our role so smoothly that all the glory goes to God, and non-Christians aren’t in love with us, but rather with Jesus. The approach to glory is that we become very well at handing off all the fame to God.
The approach of Wesley Institute and this Aussie is when they go into the secular world they leave the person with a signpost that can only lead to God. They want to live in a way that reflects what God desires and to do it in such a degree that leaves people with them seeing the very bright and shining glory of God. To Him be the honor forever and ever, amen.
The problem lies in the assumption that it’s about the person. Let me correct myself, it’s not so much the person, but rather the assumption about the role that they play. In my understanding about American evangelism is that “you” need to tell your friends about Jesus. When it comes to Wesley Institute and this Aussie, they believe this should not be the case.
They believe that it’s not so much about “you”, but rather the role that you are playing. Are “you” trying to convince your friends, or trying to live a life that gives God all the glory? Americans, can just assume that they are giving all the glory to God, even reading this, they are probably saying, “Of course I’m giving God all the glory!” … but lets be honest, really!? [In my opinion, we need to become awaken, eyes opened, live in a that we don’t simply “go to church.” I hang out with too many people that view Christianity as a hobby, this is sickening, we should live in a way that desperately cries out to God to pour grace over our wicked hearts, but I digress.]
Let me use a practical example of what I’m trying to explain. In track when they are doing a relay, they have to pass the baton. The switching from one person to another is critical. How smoothly the baton is passed is everything. It is the make or break point of the relay. However, on the other hand, when you hear how well the team did, you here about the team, and not the baton. You may hear how smoothly they were able to pass the baton, but the spotlight is not on the baton itself. I believe we as Christians are the baton. We need to play are role well, and very well, because our role is critical. We are the medium by which the non-Christian finds God, and we are the gospel-living bearers. We need to play our role so smoothly that all the glory goes to God, and non-Christians aren’t in love with us, but rather with Jesus. The approach to glory is that we become very well at handing off all the fame to God.
The approach of Wesley Institute and this Aussie is when they go into the secular world they leave the person with a signpost that can only lead to God. They want to live in a way that reflects what God desires and to do it in such a degree that leaves people with them seeing the very bright and shining glory of God. To Him be the honor forever and ever, amen.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)