(scrounged up every random thing I scribbled on paper or on twitter over the past week and shall now blog expanded versions of it)
1. (this thought came during bro kahfei's sermon last sunday on parables)
We are like a lamp on a stand. And they say lamps need oil for burning. In the case of our walk, the oil of the lamp is faith. And when oil comes into contact with heat, can it decide not to combust? Can it decide to remain indifferent? In the same way, when new faith comes into contact with God, that catching of fire is an unconscious effect.
2. I love the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 13. Before one of the most oft-quoted verses on what love is (love is patient, love is kind...). They speak about why love is so important. "If I speak in the languages of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. " The verse basically speaks about the difference between acting with love and acting without love. And there's alot of truth in that. You can see it in the story of Job. Take some time to really, really analyse what they say, and you'll realise that Job's friends spoke more like labeling diagnoses on a sick patient then discussing the life of a friend. And that's what makes the difference between something that is merely 'going through the motions' and something that really touches hearts. Love. Love makes the difference.
3. The very face that the word 'gospel' stems from old english
gōd spell, meaning 'good news', is a pretty important thing. Because the nature of news is to be told. No publishing company makes newspapers to be buried underground, or to be never read. The nature of 'news' is to be known, to be made known. That's why CNN and BBC has their own twitter feeds. Why newspapers appear at my doorstep every morning. And why there's always time on tv dedicated to telling people the news. Because the nature of news is to be known. I don't think you necessarily need a missions call to go and share with people about God. I don't even think you need to be specifically told in a vision or a dream that you should. You are a Christian, therefore, you are qualified enough, you are called to.
4. Look at Moses' burning bush encounter and you will realise this: you need to throw down your staff before it can become a snake; you need to throw down what you have in front of God before He can make a miracle out of your life.
5. MIT makes you tired. But you only feel the effects when it's over, when the training is done and you're on your way home, that's when it sets in. When it's 8 in the morning and you've caught 4 hours of sleep, that's when it sets in. But not all the time. Some mornings, you walk out of the house to beautiful azure blue skies and a light breeze blowing, rocking music in your ears, and it feels like God got creation to say 'hellooooo', just to brighten the morning :)
6. Any place of battle can be a place of miracle, can be a place of great victory, can be a place of great testimony.
7. I like the way C. S. Lewis talks about morality and ethics. He mentions that morality can be thought about in three sections. "Firstly, with fair play and harmony between individuals. Secondly, with what might be called tidying up or harmonizing the things inside each individual. Thirdly, with the general purpose of human life as a whole." His analogy is really good, he likens the human race to a band. Of course, each individual instrument must be in tune, and each instrument must know when to start playing and when to play what. And of course, the whole performance would not be a success if they were hired to play a dance number and ended up playing Battle Hymn Of The Republic. Or if it were a fleet of ships, it is important that each ship be kept well tuned. Of equal importance is that each ship knows to keep in formation. The fleet would get disrupted if ships were getting in each others way and colliding all the time. In fact, they are equally important because lacking one often causes lacking in the other. If each ship is internally malfunctioning, sooner or later it will break formation with the other ships. And if one ship is already out of formation and colliding with the others, it will soon be damaged and in need of being repaired. And, of course, there's no point if the destination of the fleet is new york yet it ends up in Calcutta.
C. S. Lewis FTW anyone?
8. Spiritual attacks suuuuck. Suck tremendously. Terribly. Horribly. Mosted definitely. Some days it really seems like every faucet of life is an aspect the enemy's trying to get at me at. But God is stronger. And that's a fact.
9. I like the way P. Dom deconstructed 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. That thoughts become arguments become pretension become strongholds. Thoughts are... passing ideas. Passing blocks of ideas that go through one's mind. But if we aren't careful, those thoughts can become arguments. Arguments that are a collection of thoughts, that are ordered and have some sense of structure, and that creates statements of a proposed fact. And then arguments form Pretension, which creates self-fulfilling proposed statements. That sort of rose-tinted-lenses that cause everything to be seen in a certain light. And those Pretensions finally lead to Strongholds. The thoughts are the bricks that build strongholds.
Oh yes, I thought and wrote all this during the SP empowerment. Was scribbling furiously before the thoughts ran out of my head.
It relates also to my personal theory of the God-Thought-Ratio. The idea of comparing how much one thinks about God, about the (many) things of God, compared to other thoughts. Because beneficial thoughts about God often mean building to the stronghold of who God is in your life. A little complex, but please take this collection of ideas in the correct way. kthx.
10. Gid is inadequate. God is more than enough.
It's a repiphany. An epiphany I've had before, and am having again.
11. cool haiku
I love God alot.
Mostly because He's awesome.
And that He loves me.
heh.
12. I love street e. It's so fun. If I am tired before going into it, I find myself pretty passionate after it. Sharing my heart makes me feel.... onzzz.
13. I do think love is a universal language. Even if we're rusty in the different kinds of love languages, it's a universal language. It spans cultures and countries, it's spoken and heard throughout the world. Yet, it's surprisingly hard for people to speak it to someone they don't know. Why is that? Nobody needs to feel a certain emotion in order to speak english. And some might say it's because the language of love often causes emotion. Well, Chinese causes certain bad emotions in me, but I don't need to be in a particular mood in order to speak it. (oh yes there are flaws in this argument, but it's 2.15 in the morning, let me off the hook)
14. One of the core verses that I live my life by is Proverbs 11:25. It reads "...he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." And I love that. I believe that. I see and feel it every day. The math of the Kingdom of Heaven is funky. It says: 100-100=200. It says that giving is, in itself, receiving. And that's why, as michy pointed out to me the other day, love is a choice. And when people wonder whether or not they love God? They should ask themselves, 'what would I do if I did?', and then go out and do it. Because although one thinks that by doing that, one is subtracting from that love of God to do His work, in fact, that act of subtraction adds to that love. It increases the love for Him. Weird I know, but also very cool. And it's also why I do try to give to others. And share my life, my heart. Because I know in refreshing others, I myself am refreshed.
15. Aside from typing out something epiclong, I am also epictired. Will be away in Thailand from this monday till the next, and I know that when I'm back, I'll have many many testimonies to share :) hope this feeds your curiosities till then.
(oh, and if you're wondering about the number things, yes they are emotionally draining, which is why I do them one at a time, and no, the numbers themselves have no significance. There is no special code in the number.)
Right, night.
In awe of the One who gave it all.