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| :: Learning to let go | Posted 6/29/2005 5:48:08 PM |
I was imagining a kid holding onto a candy, and his mother told him that he could have a gummy bear, but only if he's willing to give up what is in his hand for. Often kids struggle to give up what they have, until they can see the gummy bear. Even more times, they would rather have both and not have to exchange.
Often the "opening up your palm" analogy is used to describe when people are learning to let go. I guess rightnow i'm going through the opening up my palm phase, learning to let God take what's in my hand away. At times I'm struggling to keep my palm open, tempting to close it up again, and then having to resist and force my hand to open up again. It's a long struggle.
i was reading about blackhole symdrome for pilots... these are times when they are going through rough weather.. enter into a phase where they are confused as to which way is up.. physically tense up and eventually push the stick down and diving down the plane.. what they teach the inexperience pilots is that.. let go of the stick.. let the instruments of the plane to auto-correct itself.. and then control the plane again.. it's hard to let go when you don't know where you are going.. you feel that by grabbing onto the stick you are in control.. but yet that's the most dangerous thing to do..
I thought of another old experiment that's related to candy. The kids are told that if they are willing to wait, they will get double the amount or better quality food. Those who are impatient didn't wait and just ate their candy. The ones who waited are said to be more successful in life later on.
I imagine those who are willing to wait, really won't stand there and wait. He would just put down the candy and go play, and then come back and see if the gummy bear is there. If it's not, he would go play again. Why? Because really he doesn't care about the candy (present) anymore, he's looking forward to the future where the good candy is going to be given to him.
He isn't upset that he can't eat the candy. He's more upset that mommy hasn't change it to a gummy bear.. he would go bug her after checking up a few times..
If we really let go, the candy won't even be on our hands or in our minds. We are more concerned about something else... in the immediate (what am I going to do while i wait) and in the future (what i'm going to have)..
what are you holding on to in your life that you need to let go?
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| :: Why God giveth, and taketh away? | Posted 5/11/2005 11:32:06 AM |
Answer to a question posted.. share your thoughts too..
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So the question that made me thing a bit was this..."I don't understand why God seems to give some families so much, when other families aren't given anything, and it seems like they are shafted their whole life?"...I answered to him the best way that I could, and at the end of it all, I concluded that that's something we will never know, that God has got a bigger plan for us all, and it's unfortunate that as a by-product of sin, some people face the consequences of other people's fortune. But at the end of the day, God really does love us. I truly believe that, but somehow, it's very difficult for someone who doesn't believe in God to accept that.
So I want to ask you guys, how would you answer that if it was directed
at you?
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Original post: May 11th
I'm sure I have tried to answer it a few times and got no where. But the one that popped up in my head rightnow is this - How do you measure love? Is it how much you give to your child? Does it mean that the parents who are unable to give much, love less? Basically it comes down to does having more material possess means more love. His underlying assumption is that material means is the way or the only way of equating God's love. True it can be a sign, but what's more accurate is His willingness to give up His Son when He has no need, no reason to, unless He absolutely loves us to the point He cannot stand losing us. Is that love more than possession? Once we can reconcile that God loves me and everybody else just the same, then I believe we can ask would He not know what to give to each individual to what He sees it is best to them? If He doesn't love us and all powerful/knowing, then what He's doing is no better than the Greek gods who uses us as chess pieces to play around with.
Starts with love, center on Christ, and ends with love.
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Additional post: May 13th
Actually I was reading a book yesterday.. on the topic of lifestyle discipleship.. and few chapters were touching on suffering & adversity.. the author made a few good points on why bad things happen..
so far we have given the points where we see as ppl who have committed no wrong.. and therefore everything is happening for some mysteries reasons and somehow it's for the better at the end.. and then the author said we often missed the bigger picture.. listed a few points such as (more in the book):
1) bad things happen because of sin
2) because of poor judgement
3) by natural law - example: a christian hit by a car will still die, that's the law of physics
i think what he listed is good.. because he touched on a point that we fail to discuss at times when sharing with non-believers.. the topic of sin and the consequences of it..
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| :: The Perfect Storm | Posted 5/3/2005 12:32:04 PM |
While I'm still writing the 3rd part of this article series on "Storms of Life", I found a great sermon on our subject. Hope you'll enjoy it. =)
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"The Perfect Storm" - Timothy Lutheran Church, June 25, 2000
(Job 38:1-11, Mark 4:35-41)
Have you seen the commercials for a new movie called "The Perfect Storm," which stars George Clooney? In the movie trailer, several sailors are boating along the sea, in the midst of a storm, when all of a sudden, they come face to face with a wave that must be 200+ feet tall or so. Talk about fear! I don't know much about the movie, and it won't even be released until next week, but the image of that wall of water coming down upon the boat overwhelms me. Even if you've faced a rough storm in your life, I think it's safe to say you've never experienced anything like that.
In today's gospel lesson, the disciples faced a storm, which threatened and terrified them. Perhaps it was not "the perfect storm" of the same magnitude as the movie, but the disciples were more than just shaken. As they crossed over to the other side, the waves beat into the sailing vessel, over the edges of the boat, so that it was being swamped. The disciples, many of them successful fishermen, could imagine the calamity that was almost upon them. They were certain their boat would capsize at any moment. Suddenly, in the middle of their frantic attempt to save themselves they realize that Jesus is in the front of the boat, asleep on the cushion, apparently unconcerned that they were all about to die. Although the storm couldn't wake him, the disciples did, and they shouted at him, "Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?"
Each of us has faced storms in our lives where we have turned to God and said, "Don't you care that we are perishing?" If God exists and loves us, then why do we have suffering in our lives and in the world? God can calm storms, and yet we are still plagued by torrents and downpours in our lives. If God can calm the storms in our lives, explain the Holocaust. If God could quiet the turmoil in our lives, then explain ethnic cleansing or domestic violence. If God can silence the wind and the waves, then explain drive-by shootings or casualties of war. Suffering is a universal truth, but it leads us to look up to heaven and shout, "Lord, don't you care that we are perishing?"
Our first lesson from the book of Job outlines the story of a man whose life was one threatening storm after another. Over the course of the story, he lost everything - his house, his kids, his animals, and his reputation. After losing almost every material and personal thing, Job surveyed at the storm damage left after the hurricane of life has raged all about him. As he sees the shambles of his family, property, and relationships, he calls out to God, asking a similar question that the disciples ask in the boat, "God, don't you love me? Don't you care that everything around me is gone? Why did this happen to me?" Job's life is beset by a deluge of storms, which take away his most highly valued possessions.
To Job's questions, God says, "Job, where were you when I formed the world? Where were you when I measured out the span of earth and set it into place? Where were you when I created the heavens and earth? Did you place the stars in the heavens or make the water flow on the earth?" It's as if God says, "Job, look, you're asking the wrong questions. It's not that I don't love you or care about you. But you are human, and you just can't understand it all because you don't have divine vision. I have a wider design in mind that what you can see."
In our gospel text, Jesus responds in a similar way. When Jesus' disciples wake him up frantic that he doesn't care that they're all about to die, the first thing he does is still the storm. Jesus' nonverbal answer to the disciples is like God's answer to Job, "You still don't get it yet, do you? I wasn't worried about the storm because my heavenly father has all this under control? I trust him completely, and that's why I slept."
And after Jesus stilled the storm, after the disciples have survived this near-death experience, after they have witnessed his nonverbal expression of divine power, "they were filled with great awe, and said to one another, 'who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'" The literal translation of the phrase, "filled with great awe" is that they "feared a great fear". After the storm was calmed, after the danger was averted, after the threat had passed, the disciples became overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what just happened. It suddenly hit them that Jesus must be an extraordinary man to have such divine power as to still the threatening storm. We are left with the impression that even after watching what he was capable of, the disciples still feared what this meant.
In this familiar story of Jesus stilling the storm, Jesus suggests that the opposite of fear is faith. After he stilled the storm, he looked at the disciples and said, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" to which they reply, "Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?" I don't think Jesus is berating them for being inadequate or attacking them for their undeveloped faith. Instead, I see Jesus with his heart breaking, wanting to bring all people into faith in God, wanting to help his disciples know that God is good. Jesus knows that we have fears, and yet he wants us to release those fears so that we can find faith, hope, and love in God. Jesus desires for us to find a saving relationship with God, instead of dwelling in our fears and letting them paralyze us.
So what are the storms in your life that bring you fear? And how will you react to them? Will you let yourself be immobilized by fear, or will you allow Jesus to help you find faith? There is no storm too great for God! When your child turns their back on you, reach for faith. When your workplace becomes threatening, live in faith in God. When you wonder how to make the money stretch to meet the bills, dwell in faith. When you face the illness of someone close to you, grasp at faith. When your best friend betrays you, turn to the one who can strengthen your faith. No storm can keep us from God!
Jesus wants us to have faith so that we can face the storms of life with God, rather than facing them by ourselves. Jesus wants us to have faith so that we can be reassured that although suffering doesn't make sense to us, there is a wider purpose in all of it. We may not understand it, but let us be encouraged by remembering that God created heaven and earth, and hasn't given up on us! God can calm our storms, or at least give us the faith to face those storms head-on. An old spiritual puts it this way, "No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I'm clinging. Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?" Cling to the solid rock of Jesus, grasp hold of the God of glory, find faith in the God of our salvation, and He will deliver you from the power of the storms of life! Amen.
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| :: Searching for pointers in the Eye of the Storm | Posted 4/22/2005 3:49:49 PM |
In the midst of a storm, you want to find stability, even if you have already accepted the wind. You wish to know that the storm will only last so long, or you are only so far away from shore, or any indication of where you are in the situation. You search for pointers in the midst of storm.
In the good o'days, fishermen use stars to guide their way and various simple techniques to detect weather change. I would think that they try to avoid storm as much as possible, because once they are in it all they could do is to go into survival mode - no stars to guide them and no signs to tell them how long the storm will last. With the advance of technology, we no longer need stars to guide us and signs to tell us what's ahead. Surprisingly though people still die in storms with all these new equipments, why is that? Could it be the pointers we rely on are flawed?
Nowadays, we are flooded with commercials that tells us all kinds of things that could provide stability in this turbulent world - whether that be money, power, fame - when you have it you are in control. We want to believe that when we have a load of money, there's nothing to be concerned about; or if we have influence on people, you can dig yourselves out from a hole with it; or our pure charm can buy our way into people's hearts. Yet in reality, none of these things could give us stability or clues on what's going on in our lives. When 9/11 happened, the Americans realized the "power" they preceived to have is not real. When the tsunami stuck, did the wealthy got spared their lives as oppose to the poor? When the steroid scandels spread throughout newspaper, we questioned aren't these atheletes suppose to be the role-models for our society? Could it be these pointers we rely on are flawed?
Remember the story of Jesus and the disciples in Mark 4:35-41, where Jesus Calms the Storm? What was the most important point in the story? Otherthan the fact that Jesus demonstrated He is God by calming the storm, but He also challenged His disciples - “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Jesus was disappointed with the disciple because while they are looking for pointers around them - the indicator that storm will be over, or the shoreline is in sight.. they miss the REAL pointer right in front of them - Jesus himself - who alone controls all things and knows all things. And He is right there with them.
If you can trust God with the storm.. that it is a part of life moving forward.. then trust also in Him when you are in the midst of it (when He's with you.. in the midst of storm)
One thing I found interesting was what Jesus was doing when the storm is going, while the disciples are trying to steer the boat to the other side of the shore. He was sleeping. The disciples' complain is exactly that - How can you sleep in the midst of this (storm)? We are going to die.
Don't we complain about the same thing when we are in the midst of change? Where are you God? What are you doing? Why aren't you doing anything? Don't you care about me? But when I reflected more about it, and especially hearing Pastor James McDonald preached on Psalm 23 (particular on verse 3 - he restores my soul) i realized.. in the middle of the storm, Jesus slept not because he wasn't afraid or concerned about the wind.. (well, really He wasn't concerned since He knows all things) but simply it's time to sleep after a day of preaching/hard work (Mark 4:1-34).
In times of storm/change, I often struggle to go to sleep at night and to get up in the morning. As a matter of fact I've been sleeping on average 5-6 hours last week. Little things put me over the edge just like the sheep. But yet Jesus slept, why? Because He understood the concept - sleep restores the soul. Without sleep, we are in no position to handle the change/crisis or to make sound judgement. So even in the midst of storm, we are called to sleep, rest, and then reflect.. centering my life back on God - finding the true pointer in the midst of storm - the only one who knows all things.. and then move out again.
The restoration of the soul is so important that David described God as a shepherd who "makes me lie down in green pastures". The Psalmist didn't say the sheep was comfortable and want to lie down.. or it's too tired and lay down.. or after pacing back-and-forth and then lie down. As a matter of fact when sheeps are even slightly disturbed, they can't sleep. And so sometimes God has to "make me" to lie down, and so our souls can be restored. I thank God that He knows what's best for me, to the point that He will ensure I get it even if it means He makes me lie down.
Are you finding rest/peace in the midst of storm? What is your pointer for stability?
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| :: Living life in the Eye of the Storm | Posted 4/19/2005 11:31:20 AM |
It's been so much change in the past 2 months (wow, it's been 2 months) that I am having trouble keeping track of what's happening, let alone being able to stand still in the process.
I used to hate change. I love stability. Even if things are shifting, as long as I can predict the direction, I'm okay. What happened in the past 2 months was nothing like that. Things were shifting, and I have no experience nor knowledge to predict what will happen next. Everyday a new variable comes into my life. And just when I've adapted to the change, another new variable comes in. Things were shifting so fast. And yet at this point, I'm kinda okay with these constant changes now. So what happened? Why did my behaviour change? I guess how I look at "change" now changed how I look at changes.
Have you ever sailed before? Remember "Forrest Gump" or "Message in a bottle"? I'm sure you remember some scenes in the movies where the main character struggled to sail in the midst of storm. Water is coming in. The ship is being tossed around by the wind. He is trying desperately to stay on course. Of course in the end he makes it to his destination, but that's just because it's a movie. Real people die in storms.
Sometimes we wish we don't have to go through those storms in life. Take them away. Ah. Much better. Although if you are sea-sick, the waves will still do that to you but at least we have some predictability. Now take even the wind away. Ah. Completely calmness. Everything is still. Perfect environment to sit on the deck and enjoy the sunset.
Now if our purpose of sailing is to enjoy being in the sea, I would say take the last option. It's safe. It's nice & easy. But if you really want to enjoy sailing, or go somewhere, this option actually sucks. Without wind, your ship won't be going anywhere soon. As a matter of fact, you need at least a gentle wave of wind to move your ship from point A to B.
Too many times when we look at life, and how life should be, we take a side-view/camera view of the situation. We see the ship and the waves and that's about it. We see people toil in the storm & the wind, and ask how can you enjoy something like that. What we fail to recognize is that when we step back and look at the ship from a wide angle, it's actually moving along the ocean. Without the wind, the ship stand still. Without change, life stand still.
Remember Truman in "Truman Show", when he wanted to find out once and for all if he's in the real world or not? The Director of the show was determined to slow him down with adversity, with storm, with lightening, and what did Truman do? He kept on, even if it meant he will lose his life in the process. He shouted out, "Is this the best that you can DO???" Was he enjoying the wind? No. He was more like drowning in the storm, but he's determinated to find out the truth. The storm is no longer a cause to stop, but a necessity to find his answer. To Truman, finding life means welcoming change.
What about you? Would you like to live life in the Eye of the Storm?
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| :: Site News :. |
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Apr.07
Added recent comments column.
Mar.25
Initial Design. Just want to get the site up-and-running.
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| Nick: nighthawk Sex: M |
| Location: Richmond Hill, ON, CA |
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| :: Recent Comments :. |
Why is it so difficult to find our personal call?
Blue_Bear - 3/14/2005 7:12:20 PM - thanks for sharing abe
| How to build a fellowship?
little bunhead - 6/3/2004 10:21:30 PM - Amen! Just wanted to let you know that you have some great thoughts there. If everyone in your fellowship catches your vision, the world will be impacted!
until everyone has heard,
little bunhead
| The uncertain leader
j.k. - 3/15/2004 5:45:43 PM - A couple of thoughts:
The necessity to make "perfect decisions" in leadership. In leadership books, I think there's sometimes undue emphasis on how to make decisions -- methodology at the expense of judgment. Perfect decisions are decisions, not formulas.
The consequence of making a "bad decision." What someone said a few days ago -- making decisions -- even ones that we should be "qualified" to make is less about proving our ability and more about our need to rely on God.
| Finding God's Will
Gary Au - 11/2/2003 7:29:05 PM - Well put abe, I didn't know you were such a great writer. I'm just disappointed that I wasn't there sat. night for the discussion.
| Do you believe in 'church'?
pearl - 10/10/2003 10:58:46 AM - i found it hard to get back into the groove of my home church when i was there this summer....
thanks for the reminder....
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