Friday, October 30, 2015

Sometimes You Just Gotta Sit

I like to stay busy. I like being productive with my time. I like optimizing anything and everything I do. There are always things to do. And I feel very awkward when I don't have anything to do. Seriously. When I finish my tasks for the day, I begin to worry that I forgot to do something.

I was thinking about what our "work" entails when it comes to being a Christian. If you're familiar with scripture, then you know that we are called to go out and make disciples of all nations. We're supposed to work by spreading the good news -- the Gospel. So as a disciple of Christ, we must work to glorify His kingdom in the way we love one another. But I was reading a passage and learned that being a disciple doesn't mean to work 24/7.
"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 38-42
Most of you probably know the story of Martha and Mary. I've heard sermons on this way too many times. Honestly, I feel that I've gotten everything I could out of this passage. But I learned something new.

In verse 39, Mary "sat" at the feet of Jesus while Martha was working to prepare for her guest. I read the footnotes of my study bible, and it described Mary's physical posture/gesture. Mary is sitting at the Lord's feet. This is described to be "a disciple's proper place".

When I read this, it blew my mind. How can sitting be a disciple's proper place? Aren't we called to be working for God? There are people who need to experience God. There are people who need help, physically, mentally, and spiritually. But we're supposed to just sit and be still? Why? This is wasting time. We're running out of time.

Then I realized, we are made to rest. We are biologically programmed to rest by sleeping. On top of that, God rested. We're created in His image. Therefore, we need rest at times throughout our lives. More importantly, we need to rest in Him. He's the only one that can recharge you completely.


If you like reading, then check out my friends' blogs!

Brian || Taylor || Hnou || Xing || Judy || Esther || Josh || Jenine
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Wild at Heart

I started reading a book titled, Wild At Heart by John Eldredge. And I have to say, it's quite inspiring. I've only read through the first few chapters. But I can try and explain it in a nutshell.

As a Christian, I believe we were created by God. That being said, the book highlights how we were created. Men and women, according to Bible were created differently. Man is described to be created from the dust of the Earth (Gen. 2:7). Men were created from the "outback", as Eldredge puts it. On the other hand, women were created in the Garden of Eden. A place filled with beauty in every aspect.

We're made differently. We act differently. We have different functionalities. I don't think I have to prove that to you. It's pretty obvious in our lives. Boys will be boys. Girls will be girls. We're unique in our own way. Men have this instinct to be wild, adventure seeking. Women have this instinct to beautiful and captivating. And of course, this is a broad generalization. I'm NOT saying men can ONLY be wild and women cannot be adventure seeking. It's important to have a mix of everything, I believe.

For now, all I can say is that Eldredge has an interesting take on thinking about a man's heart. What defines a man? What is our purpose as a man? On the other hand, Eldredge's wife writes about a woman's heart. What defines a woman, her purpose, etc.? It'll be an interesting time as I read this book.

On another note, the book sparked a story idea that I've been working on for the past two months. I finally broke through the writer's block.

Another note: I started thinking about taking a road trip somewhere to seek adventure. This book is making me want to go out to nature... I hear Big Bend National Park is cool. Maybe that'll be my first stop. Just kidding. Maybe somewhere a bit closer for starters.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Literal Vomit. #WordVomitWednesday

A couple of my JP fellows started this trend of #wordvomitwednesdays. It was to encourage us to write and keep our creative minds going (I think?...). But anyway, here I am writing in my delusional state of mind.

Ironically, I literally threw up monday night. Random fact. I haven't thrown up since middle school. But anyway, I've been bedridden for the past 36 hours. And I've finally managed to stay awake long enough to open my laptop and write this blog post.

I feel like I've been asleep for weeks, if not years. It feels like I've died and come back to life in a different world. Everything feels so delusional. But there's only one thing that I remember thinking throughout these past 36 hours. God is good.

Well, there's that. And there's also the fact that life can throw unpredictable things at you. I was completely fine on monday. I was working on things. I ate with friends. All of a sudden, I was puking everywhere. Then my body shut down. All of this happened in a matter of a few hours. Now, I've been spending the past 48 hours recovering from some stomach virus.

I don't even know what I'm writing anymore. I don't think I'll even remember writing this. Hope everyone has a great wednesday? Is it even a wednesday? Goodnight.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Self(less or ish)ness?

Last night I went to Tori Kelly's concert here in Austin. It was amazing (for the most part). What made it less amazing was the people. Ugh. People are so SELFISH. For example, there's was a group of 15ish people who cut in line before the concert. And there was a couple who tried to push their way in front of me. Then one of them had the audacity to ask me "Can you move bro?" No I can't move because you're trying to make my personal space your space.

How can people be so selfish? Why are people so selfish? Why don't people have any common courtesy? Then I had one of those Jimmy Neutron "brain blasts". I remembered everything God has been showing me the past few days.

Let me backtrack to a month or two ago. I bought this bracelet from myintent.org. Basically, it's a metal washer and some string. You engrave a word onto the washer and pay $15 for it. I know, some of you all think it's a waste of money. But that's not the point. The point is that I chose the word "SELFLESSNESS". And little did I know, this word would come to mean so much more to me now than it did back then.

I'm going to credit Isaac Lim (my bible study teacher), Christian Lee (a pastor at New Philly), and Judah Smith for the following insight.

The Essence of Sin is Selfishness
Adam and Eve disobeyed God because they believed that they could become like God. They were thinking about themselves. Look at the ten commandments. The first couple laws deal with loving God. The others talk about loving your neighbor. No where does it talk about YOURSELF.

God is the Essence of Selflessness
Let me explain. I think we can all agree that God is love. And according to 1 Corinthians 13:5, "[Love] does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered..." If God is love and love is selflessness, then God is selflessness.

Sin is the opposite of God. It's everything against God. Coincidentally, sin is selfishness which is the complete opposite of selflessness (which is God).

My Conclusion
I never thought about this word so intently when I first designed my bracelet. Originally, I just wanted to be reminded to be selfless and serve others. That's what Jesus did. And I wanted do what Christ did. 

Ironically, selflessness isn't just an action of God. It's the essence of God. To be more like Christ is to become more selfless. But it's our human nature to be selfish. We grow up learning to say "mine". We're taught to hate others for their well-being. Why is it that we wish misfortune on others when they are blessed? It's so weird how we automatically resort to selfish thoughts. But that's proof that we are born sinners.

But if we live with Christ in us, we can overcome our selfishness. Through Christ, we can serve others and be selfless. Christ came down to serve. Not to be served

And only he can do that because he is full in God. He is God. He doesn't need to be served because he is complete and fulfilled in God, who is the essence of selflessness.
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14
Hope you guys can be encouraged through this. Sorry if it was a bit longer than usual. But props if you made it to the end!
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Thursday, October 1, 2015

Uncomfortable

I listen to hip-hop, believe it or not. I know I don't look like a guy who would listen to that kind of music. Justin's so boring. Justin's so serious. Justin only listens to jazz or classical music. SURPRISE!

Hip-hop is probably the last genre anyone choose to be "Christian". But I'm about to surprise you with an artist, who I think is pioneering into the hip-hop industry. ANDY MINEO: caucasian, italian rapper from NYC. I know what you're thinking. Christian rap? That must suck. "Christian" anything is mediocre, if not horrible.

Side rant: that's something that bothers me to this day. If we've been gifted and enter the fields where God wants us to be, then we should be excelling and representing the kingdom. We should be the best if God's on our side. I think there are Christians who are trying to bring the "Christian genre" into some aspects of life when they shouldn't be (because they're doing it poorly). But again, I digress.

Andy Mineo just recently came out with his second album. It's sick. I was listening to it all week while studying. But anyway, I was listening to his first song titled "Uncomfortable". And it spoke so much truth to me.

To put it in a nutshell, Mineo raps about one of America's biggest issues. We seek to live as comfortably as possible. And there's nothing wrong with relaxing and resting. But there's a time to work hard. And there's a time when we are blessed to rest in Christ.

I love the beginning of the song. It starts with these words.

Nobody told me you could die like this
Nobody told me you could die from bliss, yeah

As these lyrics go on you'll notice that the major chords change into an erie minor chord. Essentially, Mineo addresses the issue in America. We seek to gain comfort in worldly things and find bliss in them. However, we're actually dying by chasing the comforts of this world. We're losing sight of Christ, who is the true source of joy/bliss/happiness.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. - James 1:2-4
I'll leave the lyrics here, and let you guys take a listen to it. The website has all his lyrics analyzed with biblical passages tied to some stanzas. Hope this song encourages you to fight the good fight and run the race!


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