Here we....go!
I get the feeling people will be quoting Joker for a long time to come. It's a good thing, in a way. I just hope that it means more people will genuinely be interested in the batman universe rather than just jump on the bandwagon.
So today's random musing is this: How do we show love to God? How do each of you show love to God?
What comes to my mind right away is to show love to God by loving others. Like what the Bible says, if you say you love God yet hate your brother, you don't really love God. But at the same time, it shoudl also put it into perspective that you can't truly love your neighbor if you don't truly love God first. I think loving God would also mean getting to know Him more. If I love a girl, I would do my best to get to know her as best as I can. In the same way, we should do that for God. Just spend time getting to know who He is through His Word and through His creation.
What will it gain a man to get the whole world yet forfeit his soul? It's like many times we don't love God to the point of giving Him everything because we're afraid to give up stuff. Yet the Bible reminds us that if we have to give up the whole world in exchange for our soul, we shoudl do it. So how hard is it to give up that one sin? To give up that 30 minutes for devos? How hard is it to these things when we know we are getting God in return? Isn't it interesting taht we go out of our way to feed the body yet we can easily starve our souls? Prayer, the Word, worship, this is how we feed our souls. We need God to fill us. It's like a guy who is eating garbage instead of food. Our we feeding our souls with leftovers? with garbage? Yet we can get the real food for free, we can really fed to the point of ultimate satisfaction as easily as lifting our hearts up to God.
But don't get me wrong, following God is not easy. It's not a bed of roses, no. Following God is hard, but is it worht it? Yes, cause it's what you were made for. Anyway, more thoughts later.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
pretty much how I'm feeling today...
Wonderful World
James Morrison
I've been down so low people look at me and they know,
They can tell something is wrong
Like I dont belong,
Well, staring through a window standing outside there just to happy to care
And I wanna be like them but I'll mess it up again,
I tripped them out when God kicked outside everybody's soul.
Chorus:
And I know that it's a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
I thought I was doing well but I just want to cry now,
Well I know that its a wonderful world from the sky down to the sea,
But I can only see when you're here, here with me.
Sometimes I feel so full that it just comes spilling out,
It's uncomfortable to see I give it away so easily,
But if I had someone I would do anything and never never never never let you feel alone
I wont, I wont leave u on your own,
Who am I to dream, dreams are for fools, they always let you down.
Chorus:
And I know that it's a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
[ Wonderful World lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]
I thought I was doing well but I just want to cry now,
Well I know that its a wonderful world from the sky down to the sea,
But I can only see when you're here, here with me.
And I wish that I could make it better,
I'd give anything for you to call me,
Maybe just a little letter
Oh it could start again.
Chorus:
And I know that it's a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
I thought I was doing well but I just want to cry now,
Well I know that its a wonderful world from the sky down to the sea,
But I can only see when you're here, here with me.
I know that its a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
Iv got all the right clothes to wear I just wana cry now,
I know that it's a wonderful world from the sky down 2 the sea,
But I can only see well when ur here, here with me.
And I know that it's a wonderful world
When your with me.
James Morrison
I've been down so low people look at me and they know,
They can tell something is wrong
Like I dont belong,
Well, staring through a window standing outside there just to happy to care
And I wanna be like them but I'll mess it up again,
I tripped them out when God kicked outside everybody's soul.
Chorus:
And I know that it's a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
I thought I was doing well but I just want to cry now,
Well I know that its a wonderful world from the sky down to the sea,
But I can only see when you're here, here with me.
Sometimes I feel so full that it just comes spilling out,
It's uncomfortable to see I give it away so easily,
But if I had someone I would do anything and never never never never let you feel alone
I wont, I wont leave u on your own,
Who am I to dream, dreams are for fools, they always let you down.
Chorus:
And I know that it's a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
[ Wonderful World lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]
I thought I was doing well but I just want to cry now,
Well I know that its a wonderful world from the sky down to the sea,
But I can only see when you're here, here with me.
And I wish that I could make it better,
I'd give anything for you to call me,
Maybe just a little letter
Oh it could start again.
Chorus:
And I know that it's a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
I thought I was doing well but I just want to cry now,
Well I know that its a wonderful world from the sky down to the sea,
But I can only see when you're here, here with me.
I know that its a wonderful world
But I cant feel it right now,
Iv got all the right clothes to wear I just wana cry now,
I know that it's a wonderful world from the sky down 2 the sea,
But I can only see well when ur here, here with me.
And I know that it's a wonderful world
When your with me.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Day 16
So here's a thought. Why do we act like it's taboo to talk about God? I mean, when we go and talk to each other, say hi to each other, it seems so foreign to ask about how your spiritual life is doing or about what God is doing in your life or just to share how your relationship with God is doing? Why is that? Why is it that in schools, at work, we feel kind of ashamed to pray? It's not illegal.
Just slight update for peopel to know, it's not illegal to pray in schools in the States, just general assembly prayer is not allowed. Actually, this is a good thing because you don't want people who aren't believers in Christ muttering words of prayer when their hearts are not there at all. It's kind of like the Roman Empire under Constantine - you would be persecuted if you WEREN'T a Christian, so everyone suddenly became Christians which made it hard to tell who really is a follower of Christ and who just doesn't want to die.
Anyway, getting back to topic - the thing is that we should really make an effort to stand up for Christ always. We are to be salt and light. We have to get in there, we have to make a difference wherever we go. I feel like this is the constant thing I'm learning throughout my studies - it is important to stand for Christ even in the face of a society or culture that has lowered His importance. In our culture, it's kind of like everyone says they believe in God, well, yeah, whatever. The thing is that us Christians need to remember that we are ona mission here. People are dying constantly. People need us to reach them. But the problem I think, is that Christians try outreach very aggresively ONLY. We need to not only go out there and share, we need to live the life too. People look at us and measure our faith by who we are. Even if its unfair, like how Christ should be the measurement, not us. However, as tehy say, we may be the only Jesus Christ peopel will be seeing. We need to make sure wherever we go, we make the world better because we are the torchbearers, carrying the Holy Spirit wherever He leads. We have to back up what we preach with how we act. We can't be saying Christ is the number one in our lives and not love our neighbor. We can't say Christ is number one in our life and get hammered/drunk regularly. We can't say Christ is king when we go to places that will nto glorify Him. We need to make a difference, and that means that we can't get so stuck on the mentality of getting pampered. We should be used to getting rejected...
there's this one movie where a guy says, "If the whole world says the love of your life is ugly, would you care?" The friend says, "No, cause I know they're wrong." In the same way, we should be like that with God. To paraphrase the Rock, "It DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THEY THINK." What matters is that we know who God is and we can share that with everyone. And if they say God doesnt' exist and that they get offended, well, sorry na lang.
Well, I have a meeting to run to. ChannelS is comign along great. Mike Dan is working and doing wonders with all the content. Let's pray it comes out as beautiful as it looks on the computer. Coming out last week of July :-) God willnig.
Just slight update for peopel to know, it's not illegal to pray in schools in the States, just general assembly prayer is not allowed. Actually, this is a good thing because you don't want people who aren't believers in Christ muttering words of prayer when their hearts are not there at all. It's kind of like the Roman Empire under Constantine - you would be persecuted if you WEREN'T a Christian, so everyone suddenly became Christians which made it hard to tell who really is a follower of Christ and who just doesn't want to die.
Anyway, getting back to topic - the thing is that we should really make an effort to stand up for Christ always. We are to be salt and light. We have to get in there, we have to make a difference wherever we go. I feel like this is the constant thing I'm learning throughout my studies - it is important to stand for Christ even in the face of a society or culture that has lowered His importance. In our culture, it's kind of like everyone says they believe in God, well, yeah, whatever. The thing is that us Christians need to remember that we are ona mission here. People are dying constantly. People need us to reach them. But the problem I think, is that Christians try outreach very aggresively ONLY. We need to not only go out there and share, we need to live the life too. People look at us and measure our faith by who we are. Even if its unfair, like how Christ should be the measurement, not us. However, as tehy say, we may be the only Jesus Christ peopel will be seeing. We need to make sure wherever we go, we make the world better because we are the torchbearers, carrying the Holy Spirit wherever He leads. We have to back up what we preach with how we act. We can't be saying Christ is the number one in our lives and not love our neighbor. We can't say Christ is number one in our life and get hammered/drunk regularly. We can't say Christ is king when we go to places that will nto glorify Him. We need to make a difference, and that means that we can't get so stuck on the mentality of getting pampered. We should be used to getting rejected...
there's this one movie where a guy says, "If the whole world says the love of your life is ugly, would you care?" The friend says, "No, cause I know they're wrong." In the same way, we should be like that with God. To paraphrase the Rock, "It DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THEY THINK." What matters is that we know who God is and we can share that with everyone. And if they say God doesnt' exist and that they get offended, well, sorry na lang.
Well, I have a meeting to run to. ChannelS is comign along great. Mike Dan is working and doing wonders with all the content. Let's pray it comes out as beautiful as it looks on the computer. Coming out last week of July :-) God willnig.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Day 15
We've reached the half way point. God blessed me with a day to spend just reading the BIble because a virus had rocked my computer at work. I know, I know, Mark, what websites do you go to to get all these viri? I don't know. Lol. It's just like that. So I spent the afternoon just reading the Bible and listening to sermons. It was cool.
The funny thing is that I don't have any deep insights for today at all. What I did do, though, was just enjoy the day. Lol. It was good. What is funny is that Matt is reading in Tagalog here beside me so my writing is getting stunted because I can't seem to get a decent trend running.
Okay, let's go with this. For some reason, June from Messiah really reminds me of Danielle from college and Mel really reminds me of Becca. It's so weird. Like just being around them makes me remember my friends in the states. Sigh. They're cool.
Countdown days till teh new lobby of Messiah is at about 5 days. Crazy. I'm so excited. It's going to look great. What I need to do, though, is get crackalackin on the designs of those wall ornaments :-P Things are going to be so much fun. At least I coudl get that off my chest already.
In other news, I'm suddenly feeling like I'm going to try and caricature people again for some short funny web pics :-P I was trying to do it on the PC, but i'm so old school that they came out looknig all pixilated. So I'll just use my hand dandy sharpie and see what comes out. Stay tunes :-)
The funny thing is that I don't have any deep insights for today at all. What I did do, though, was just enjoy the day. Lol. It was good. What is funny is that Matt is reading in Tagalog here beside me so my writing is getting stunted because I can't seem to get a decent trend running.
Okay, let's go with this. For some reason, June from Messiah really reminds me of Danielle from college and Mel really reminds me of Becca. It's so weird. Like just being around them makes me remember my friends in the states. Sigh. They're cool.
Countdown days till teh new lobby of Messiah is at about 5 days. Crazy. I'm so excited. It's going to look great. What I need to do, though, is get crackalackin on the designs of those wall ornaments :-P Things are going to be so much fun. At least I coudl get that off my chest already.
In other news, I'm suddenly feeling like I'm going to try and caricature people again for some short funny web pics :-P I was trying to do it on the PC, but i'm so old school that they came out looknig all pixilated. So I'll just use my hand dandy sharpie and see what comes out. Stay tunes :-)
Cool Michelle Branch Song A'Capella Version
Breathe
Michelle Branch
I've been driving for an hour
Just talking to the rain
You say I've been driving you crazy
and its keeping you away
So just give me one good reason
Tell me why I should stay
'Cause I dont wanna waste another moment
in saying things we never meant to say
And I Take it just a little bit
I, hold my breath and count to ten
I, I've been waiting for a chance to let you in
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space in between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
If I just breathe
Well it's all so overrated
In not saying how you feel
So you end up watching chances fade
And wondering what's real
And I Give you just a little time
I, Wonder if you realize
I've been waiting till I see it in your eyes
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe,
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
If I just breathe
Breathe
So I whisper in the dark,
Hoping you hear me
Do you hear me?
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe,
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
Everything is alright if i just breathe... breathe
I've been driving for an hour
Just talking to the rain
Michelle Branch
I've been driving for an hour
Just talking to the rain
You say I've been driving you crazy
and its keeping you away
So just give me one good reason
Tell me why I should stay
'Cause I dont wanna waste another moment
in saying things we never meant to say
And I Take it just a little bit
I, hold my breath and count to ten
I, I've been waiting for a chance to let you in
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space in between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
If I just breathe
Well it's all so overrated
In not saying how you feel
So you end up watching chances fade
And wondering what's real
And I Give you just a little time
I, Wonder if you realize
I've been waiting till I see it in your eyes
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe,
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
If I just breathe
Breathe
So I whisper in the dark,
Hoping you hear me
Do you hear me?
If I just breathe
Let it fill the space between
I'll know everything is alright
Breathe,
Every little piece of me
You'll see
Everything is alright
Everything is alright if i just breathe... breathe
I've been driving for an hour
Just talking to the rain
Bitter sweet?
Turnaround, every now and then I get a
little bit lonely and you're never coming around
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll never be the boy you always you wanted to be
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's nothing any better and there's nothing I just wouldn't do
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Trojan dead - Superman Wins.
Finally, the Trojan Virus is dead. Sigh. The computer is now back to life once again. But isn't it the life of an IT person that you just don't get any thanks? Like they say, "Being in IT is like being in the electric company, no one calls to thank you that the light is on." But whatever, just a short note. The main thing is that God guided me to the right program to kill this nasty Trojan and now it's gone. It still took all of today, but it's gone. Praise God! you don't know how happy I am :-) I barely got any sleep last night because of it.
Day 12
Today was an awesome day. I got to hang out with Najee :-) And we got to just talk and pray too. She, Barbie, Sean, Strong and Jess were such huge encouragements to me today. you don't even know. Sigh. Najee really reminds me all the time of who I am and why God brought me back to the Philippines. Each time we talk, she tells me what a difference i make and that really does mean something. It's that extra encouragement and hug to say "keep going." And Strong, he's the one who has the most powerful saying I've ever heard in Tagalog that he always tells me, "Kaya mo yan." Sean also takes that time to be real to really say hi and talk and laugh and at the same time not be embarrassed to worship God with everything. Barbie knows how to give that hugging encouragement, and just being there to check up on me. Jess also just sat down and spent time talking with me and we got to talk about cows. And of course the last bit of encouragement, I don't know exactly who it was but it might have been Ate Chette, but it was nice seeing my name on a list of prayer requests - that people are concerned about me as I continue to embark on this spiritual trek :-)
Aaaaah...God is so good. Truly He is. What I've learned today from my quiet time is this: we can't be unequally yoked. There is no place for a non-believer and a believer to be together. It's not just about relationships. But relationships is a big part of that. Every single place in teh Bible, you see the Israelites saying the same thing we say, "They're not really that different" and they fall every single time. Have you ever read in the Bible where it says that the man brought the pagan to God through marriage? Not much. But hundreds and hundreds of years show just how important it is. It's not about us - its' about showing real love to those that don't know Christ by bringing them to Him first before we put ourselves into the picture.
Aaaaah...God is so good. Truly He is. What I've learned today from my quiet time is this: we can't be unequally yoked. There is no place for a non-believer and a believer to be together. It's not just about relationships. But relationships is a big part of that. Every single place in teh Bible, you see the Israelites saying the same thing we say, "They're not really that different" and they fall every single time. Have you ever read in the Bible where it says that the man brought the pagan to God through marriage? Not much. But hundreds and hundreds of years show just how important it is. It's not about us - its' about showing real love to those that don't know Christ by bringing them to Him first before we put ourselves into the picture.
Friday, July 11, 2008
How long will this last?
Well, its 2:19am. I've been trying to kill this trojan virus for the past 12 hours. It's a tough nut to crack cause it spreads through networks like aids through Africa. As soon as I plug the cables in, the computer that was clean suddenly goes all loco and stops working. I'm trying to clean it cause reformatting it is a pain. It usually takes me about 5 hours to reformat it. So technically thsi is taking longer. The thing, though, is this may be a pride issue here cause I'm the only guy in my college IT department to ever kill at trojan without having to reformat the computer. So I'm trying. We'll see how well this works. Right now this computer is workign so we'll see how long it will last before it goes crazy. I've decided to go old school on this pc. That means, well, going back to the three programs that saved my butt many a time: Adaware, Spybot, and ASquared. I know they are supposedly no longer up to date, but Windows Defender is doing nothing for me right now and I'd rather go to the tried and true than to the new cleaners on the block. So hopefully I'll be able to get this thing together. Catch you later!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Day 9 and 10
Praise God! I had a great day today. Spent time in the Word, spent time in prayer, listened to a sermon, and most of all, I had a really good GReG with my guys. Glad you could make it and thank you for all talking and being open to discussions. The doughnuts were good too. Am glad we got to spend that time together. Hope the entire GReG can get together next week. I might bring some food again. I know it's the end of a long day for you.
In other news, here's one thing I learned from my quiet time reading Judges again. I was reading about Eglon and Ehud. Ehud was like the least likely guy to be the judge of Israel. He was left handed and he didn't have much of an introduction. Yet, he came and he was the one who singlehandedly took out the evil king, ran to the Israelites and told them that God has delivered the enemy into their hands and led them to war. It was like this crazy fast paced thing if you read it. Can you imagine the Israelites? What? The evil king is dead? Fight? Okay! Let's take them out! I guess what I got from this is two things - God hears us and He can bring us retribution quickly. It doesnt' always have to take so long. There are times we mess up our lives and, like the prodigal son, think we have to earn our right back to be called sons and daughters of God again. Yet, God comes right to us and hugs us and lets us come back into fellowship with Him instantly. There's no "probation period". God is so cool like that. Just like out of the blue, God can answer your prayer and shock and awe you with his goodness. We need to remember that there is victory in Christ, there is joy in God, and that it is in God that we find true satisfaction.
That's the other thought I have been dwelling on. We keep thinking that we can't find satisfaction or fulfillment in God, and that's why we keep going to sins. It's like we eat garbage and spoiling food when God provides us with a feast. I remember this one article before int eh newspaper saying that drinking urine was good for your health. Ewwwwww. THe point is this - sometimes the world will say sin is good for you, that a little sin every now and then keeps you sharp. Baloney! Stupid! Utter foolishness. Why? Why do we flirt with death when God is the only source of true happiness, joy, and satisfcation. And why is it that when we find this joy, we don't show it. We just get depressed at how messed up the world is. Can't we take joy and cheer and wake up with big smiles on our faces because we are saved, free from sin, and now serve the true God and King? Can't we go out there and let people know how amazing God is with joy and gusto and love rather than condemnation? Some say, "How can God be so loving yet send people to hell?" Ummmm...that's where you come in. God sent YOU. Each of us are supposed to tell the good news to everyone so that the Holy Spirit can move them to go to Christ for salvation. So there are the thoughts :-D Have a good ngiht!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Day 7
Been listening to two switchfoot songs today - Learning to Breathe and On Fire. Think it's appropriate considering all that's been happening the past few days.
Learning to Breathe
Hello, good morning, how ya do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
This is the way
That I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
Hello, good morning, how ya been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never thought I could fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad
I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
That I say I love You
This is the way
That I say I'm Yours
This is the way
This is the way
On Fire
Tell you where you need to go
Tell you who you need to be
Tell you what you need to know
Tell you when you’ll need to leave
But everything inside you knows
Says more than what you’ve heard
So much more than empty conversations
Filled with empty words
Chorus:
And you’re on fire
When he’s near you
You’re on fire
When he speaks
You’re on fire
Burning at these mysteries
Give me one more time around
Give me one more chance to see
Give me everything you are
Give me one more chance to be... (near you)
Cause everything inside looks like
Everything I hate
You are the hope I have for change
You are the only chance I’ll take
Chorus:
When I’m on fire
When you’re near me
I’m on fire
When you speak
And I’m on fire
Burning at these mysteries
These mysteries...
I’m standing on the edge of me (x3)
I’m standing on the edge
Chorus:
And I’m on fire
When you’re near you
I’m on fire
When you speak
(yea) I’m on fire
Burning at these mysteries..
The past four days have really been interesting. Devos are up and down. I'm still trying to read through Judges, but it's getting kind of monotonous, or rather, teh feeling that I know these stories already are kicking in. I guess that's why Learnign to Breathe is just an appropriate song for right now. Trying to learn to breathe in God again instead of falling into just studying HIs word and not looking at His Face. You know, I need to remember who's Word it is that I am reading.
Sunday was a good day. I got to see a lot of friends again. Didn't really get to hang out, but it was fun to just be with Strong, Barbie, Jonathan, etc. Saturday was good too. Hugn out with Najee and Carmela and the bunch. Friday was good too. Went to Victory to just see what church there was like - reminding myself of just how big the body of Christ is. Many times we can get stuck in the mindset that we are the only ones in the body of Christ. Or we get stuck in the US and THEM mentality which is also wrong. We need to see that God is moving eveywhere and that each of us have different roles. What is important is that we do our best in those roles given to us. We have to think bigger, realizing all the time just how big the body of CHrist is. That way we can work together to bring Him the glory and to make people wonder what it is about all these believers that makes us so different? The thing is - you have to show that Christ is real, and that is only done when you love Him and love your neighbor. Anyway, it was nice worshipping with Dawn, Kitchie, Glo Anne, and Joy. They said they might come by GCF this Saturday at 6pm to join our two hour praise and prayer night. Hope the other Messiah students could come too.
I also had a good talk with Brian the other day. He's always a good person to talk to if you want to have meaningful deep conversations.
So what am I doing or what have I learned today? Let me explain it this way: There is a website out there that just plays white noise. that's it. It's called SimplyNoise.com. There is, oddly enough, a sort of peace when you just sit there and hear this white noise playing. In the same way, our worldly self looks at God as noise, but really, God's not. It starts off liek that. Agh, noise to our day, challenges to our way of life. But soon we find peace in this apparent 'noise'. Eventually, we realize it's not noise, it's a song. And you hear how God moves in that song, you see His song being played everywhere by everyone who is a believer. You see the universe singing praises to Him. And then you realize that which you thought was everything - the world - is distracting you from taht which you love the most - God's voice. Gets?
I just wish that I could be like that more, just pause, relax, and say that I am resting in my Savior. I want to just pause and breathe in and out, and just thank Him for all that He has done. It's something that you need to do, you know? I think I'm goign to do that later on the way home. Going to stop off somewhere for just around 20 minutes and thank God and dwell on all he has done.
I just don't understand why people look at God and just go, "Heh, I don't believe you exist." It's like, it's just so sad. He's everythign that they are looking for, wanting, and yet they reject Him. They don't want to give their life to Him, the one who will take care fo them best. How have you loved me? how do I know you haven't lied? How do I know you are even real? how do i know you're not just a hallucination? how do I know that there is anything after death? how do I know that Jesus was Christ? So many questions, so many doubts...it reminds me of when Jesus came. The intellectuals of the day refused to see Christ that way. It was the people who went to Him to really see who He was that were the ones who really knew Him. Maybe that's what they mean by child like faith? You trust God at His word. At the same time, I guess it all boils down to people not wanting to accept that they don't rule their own lives - that either Sin rules or God rules. it's like people will say finally, "Okay, God exists and Jesus is teh only way...maybe." Sigh. It's so sad and it really wounds my heart seeing it and hearing it. I wish that God could just do something - but then I realize He DID do soemthing. He sent Jesus to die for us. It's like people say, "so? do it again." I'm just really saddened right now thinking of it. How are we supposed to bring people to Christ when they don't want Him? Just many thoughts.
How sinful are we? I think each day of all the sins I commit each day. There are so many sins on the menu. Some sins are so easy to tell if you're using it and others are more sublminal. You can be the leader ofa ministry and be dwelling in sin as much as the guy who gets drunk every night. They are just different sins. Yet, despite all the sins out tehre, despite all the sins we commit, God still loves us. He loves us so much that He encourages us to get better. But we can't, cause sin stops us. We an't break free unless we have the Holy Spirit in us. It is in this that we have the victory. We are free of the chains, we are free of the sin. It suddenly becomes our choice to either obey God or to disobey Him. Unlike before, we were just a slave to sin. Now we have the choice. Do we follow God or choose death? Aaaahhh...and then the world comes in and says, "you will not surely die if you sin..." Yeah, eating poison every day won't kill you. As Pastor Lance says, "A litte sin today means more bondage tomorrow." I suddenly realize why it says we should not give the devil a foothold. We need to keep our lives clear and clean of him. Yet, we forget to let God have a stornghold, to let God be our castle, our rock, our strong tower, our fortress, our deliverer. We think we can do it all on our own. Our castles keep sinking in teh bog of sin, yet we keep building new castles instead of building them on Christ. Is Jesus the ruler of your life? Is He really King? If He is, maybe we should all strive to act like it, to show it, to live it, to really have Him as Lord every single day and moment.
Learning to Breathe
Hello, good morning, how ya do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
This is the way
That I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
Hello, good morning, how ya been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never thought I could fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad
I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
That I say I love You
This is the way
That I say I'm Yours
This is the way
This is the way
On Fire
Tell you where you need to go
Tell you who you need to be
Tell you what you need to know
Tell you when you’ll need to leave
But everything inside you knows
Says more than what you’ve heard
So much more than empty conversations
Filled with empty words
Chorus:
And you’re on fire
When he’s near you
You’re on fire
When he speaks
You’re on fire
Burning at these mysteries
Give me one more time around
Give me one more chance to see
Give me everything you are
Give me one more chance to be... (near you)
Cause everything inside looks like
Everything I hate
You are the hope I have for change
You are the only chance I’ll take
Chorus:
When I’m on fire
When you’re near me
I’m on fire
When you speak
And I’m on fire
Burning at these mysteries
These mysteries...
I’m standing on the edge of me (x3)
I’m standing on the edge
Chorus:
And I’m on fire
When you’re near you
I’m on fire
When you speak
(yea) I’m on fire
Burning at these mysteries..
The past four days have really been interesting. Devos are up and down. I'm still trying to read through Judges, but it's getting kind of monotonous, or rather, teh feeling that I know these stories already are kicking in. I guess that's why Learnign to Breathe is just an appropriate song for right now. Trying to learn to breathe in God again instead of falling into just studying HIs word and not looking at His Face. You know, I need to remember who's Word it is that I am reading.
Sunday was a good day. I got to see a lot of friends again. Didn't really get to hang out, but it was fun to just be with Strong, Barbie, Jonathan, etc. Saturday was good too. Hugn out with Najee and Carmela and the bunch. Friday was good too. Went to Victory to just see what church there was like - reminding myself of just how big the body of Christ is. Many times we can get stuck in the mindset that we are the only ones in the body of Christ. Or we get stuck in the US and THEM mentality which is also wrong. We need to see that God is moving eveywhere and that each of us have different roles. What is important is that we do our best in those roles given to us. We have to think bigger, realizing all the time just how big the body of CHrist is. That way we can work together to bring Him the glory and to make people wonder what it is about all these believers that makes us so different? The thing is - you have to show that Christ is real, and that is only done when you love Him and love your neighbor. Anyway, it was nice worshipping with Dawn, Kitchie, Glo Anne, and Joy. They said they might come by GCF this Saturday at 6pm to join our two hour praise and prayer night. Hope the other Messiah students could come too.
I also had a good talk with Brian the other day. He's always a good person to talk to if you want to have meaningful deep conversations.
So what am I doing or what have I learned today? Let me explain it this way: There is a website out there that just plays white noise. that's it. It's called SimplyNoise.com. There is, oddly enough, a sort of peace when you just sit there and hear this white noise playing. In the same way, our worldly self looks at God as noise, but really, God's not. It starts off liek that. Agh, noise to our day, challenges to our way of life. But soon we find peace in this apparent 'noise'. Eventually, we realize it's not noise, it's a song. And you hear how God moves in that song, you see His song being played everywhere by everyone who is a believer. You see the universe singing praises to Him. And then you realize that which you thought was everything - the world - is distracting you from taht which you love the most - God's voice. Gets?
I just wish that I could be like that more, just pause, relax, and say that I am resting in my Savior. I want to just pause and breathe in and out, and just thank Him for all that He has done. It's something that you need to do, you know? I think I'm goign to do that later on the way home. Going to stop off somewhere for just around 20 minutes and thank God and dwell on all he has done.
I just don't understand why people look at God and just go, "Heh, I don't believe you exist." It's like, it's just so sad. He's everythign that they are looking for, wanting, and yet they reject Him. They don't want to give their life to Him, the one who will take care fo them best. How have you loved me? how do I know you haven't lied? How do I know you are even real? how do i know you're not just a hallucination? how do I know that there is anything after death? how do I know that Jesus was Christ? So many questions, so many doubts...it reminds me of when Jesus came. The intellectuals of the day refused to see Christ that way. It was the people who went to Him to really see who He was that were the ones who really knew Him. Maybe that's what they mean by child like faith? You trust God at His word. At the same time, I guess it all boils down to people not wanting to accept that they don't rule their own lives - that either Sin rules or God rules. it's like people will say finally, "Okay, God exists and Jesus is teh only way...maybe." Sigh. It's so sad and it really wounds my heart seeing it and hearing it. I wish that God could just do something - but then I realize He DID do soemthing. He sent Jesus to die for us. It's like people say, "so? do it again." I'm just really saddened right now thinking of it. How are we supposed to bring people to Christ when they don't want Him? Just many thoughts.
How sinful are we? I think each day of all the sins I commit each day. There are so many sins on the menu. Some sins are so easy to tell if you're using it and others are more sublminal. You can be the leader ofa ministry and be dwelling in sin as much as the guy who gets drunk every night. They are just different sins. Yet, despite all the sins out tehre, despite all the sins we commit, God still loves us. He loves us so much that He encourages us to get better. But we can't, cause sin stops us. We an't break free unless we have the Holy Spirit in us. It is in this that we have the victory. We are free of the chains, we are free of the sin. It suddenly becomes our choice to either obey God or to disobey Him. Unlike before, we were just a slave to sin. Now we have the choice. Do we follow God or choose death? Aaaahhh...and then the world comes in and says, "you will not surely die if you sin..." Yeah, eating poison every day won't kill you. As Pastor Lance says, "A litte sin today means more bondage tomorrow." I suddenly realize why it says we should not give the devil a foothold. We need to keep our lives clear and clean of him. Yet, we forget to let God have a stornghold, to let God be our castle, our rock, our strong tower, our fortress, our deliverer. We think we can do it all on our own. Our castles keep sinking in teh bog of sin, yet we keep building new castles instead of building them on Christ. Is Jesus the ruler of your life? Is He really King? If He is, maybe we should all strive to act like it, to show it, to live it, to really have Him as Lord every single day and moment.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Day 3
Today was completely shot. Sigh. Didn't get to have a good one hour in the Word today. Found myself kind of getting lost in thoughts. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. So the main thought of today is this: What happens when good Christians go bad?
I was going to show this one video to my GREG group today at Messiah, but then I found some stuff online that the guy may possibly be a heretic and has gone slightly crazy with his theology. Christianity Today did a piece on the guy before, and it seemed like he was fine. However, there were some stuff he said that, even in context, sounds a little funky. I don't know what to make of it. I'm going to do some more research. But in order to not defame anyone's name, I'm not goign to say who it is. Basta, I'm going to have to look into this more before I show his videos to people. Sayang talaga because his videos are really good for stirring up discussion among people. It's sad when that happens, you know? When a perfectly good Christian guy begins going into bogus ideas. I'm sure he means well. What they said DAW was that he got so caught up in studying the Bible and the culture and the jews from before that he lost sight of the absolutes in the Bible, saying that you can apply any interpretation to teh Bible. it's like he goes way too far with some of his ideas. I remember the pharisees where they got so absorbed with studying the Torah that they didn't see Christ anymore. All they could see is all these mythologies and geneologies and myths that Paul said we should stop dwelling on.
So the next question that plagues my mind is: How can i make sure I don't fall into this trap? It's this fear that getting so absorbed in teh Bible may make me stop looking at Jesus as the personal God He is. How do you guard against that? I think that's why fellowship and discipleship is important. You need to be able to bounce ideas off of others so that you know if what you're getting from your Bible readings and devos is right. Also, that's what theology classes are for (which is cool that there are those available to the GCFers now). But again, its' good to avoid gettting lost in arguments and debates that lose sight of what the purpose is to begin with. One Bible, one meaning, but many applications.
We had an interesting Greg today, though. Everyone was either sleepy or just out of it. I'm hoping the other guys will begin participating in discussions more. So proud of Luigi, though. He's awesome. Really kept things going in teh group today. Really needed him. But what was cool was that everyone got their second wind by halfway through and we got all noisy and were laughing and talking a lot. I'm just hoping the sharing and the open discussion will come out sooner than later. It seems we're still stuck on the 'calling on for answers' mentality. But I know that will change. It's really on me, I think. I need to get better as a small group leader. Sigh.
Was thinking again that sana, by some miracle, those 12 people I've been praying will come to Messiah will some how end up still coming, like transferring over. I know, I know, it's crazy. God brought them to those schools already for a reason. I just wish that they'd be coming here to the college. I really think they are a good fit and that they could get the most from what we offer. But at the same time, I also know that God has a purpose why they aren't here. Whether it's a major issue or something else, God needs them where He put them too.
Well, have an experiment tomorrow that I'll write about tomorrow night. We'll see what happens.
I was going to show this one video to my GREG group today at Messiah, but then I found some stuff online that the guy may possibly be a heretic and has gone slightly crazy with his theology. Christianity Today did a piece on the guy before, and it seemed like he was fine. However, there were some stuff he said that, even in context, sounds a little funky. I don't know what to make of it. I'm going to do some more research. But in order to not defame anyone's name, I'm not goign to say who it is. Basta, I'm going to have to look into this more before I show his videos to people. Sayang talaga because his videos are really good for stirring up discussion among people. It's sad when that happens, you know? When a perfectly good Christian guy begins going into bogus ideas. I'm sure he means well. What they said DAW was that he got so caught up in studying the Bible and the culture and the jews from before that he lost sight of the absolutes in the Bible, saying that you can apply any interpretation to teh Bible. it's like he goes way too far with some of his ideas. I remember the pharisees where they got so absorbed with studying the Torah that they didn't see Christ anymore. All they could see is all these mythologies and geneologies and myths that Paul said we should stop dwelling on.
So the next question that plagues my mind is: How can i make sure I don't fall into this trap? It's this fear that getting so absorbed in teh Bible may make me stop looking at Jesus as the personal God He is. How do you guard against that? I think that's why fellowship and discipleship is important. You need to be able to bounce ideas off of others so that you know if what you're getting from your Bible readings and devos is right. Also, that's what theology classes are for (which is cool that there are those available to the GCFers now). But again, its' good to avoid gettting lost in arguments and debates that lose sight of what the purpose is to begin with. One Bible, one meaning, but many applications.
We had an interesting Greg today, though. Everyone was either sleepy or just out of it. I'm hoping the other guys will begin participating in discussions more. So proud of Luigi, though. He's awesome. Really kept things going in teh group today. Really needed him. But what was cool was that everyone got their second wind by halfway through and we got all noisy and were laughing and talking a lot. I'm just hoping the sharing and the open discussion will come out sooner than later. It seems we're still stuck on the 'calling on for answers' mentality. But I know that will change. It's really on me, I think. I need to get better as a small group leader. Sigh.
Was thinking again that sana, by some miracle, those 12 people I've been praying will come to Messiah will some how end up still coming, like transferring over. I know, I know, it's crazy. God brought them to those schools already for a reason. I just wish that they'd be coming here to the college. I really think they are a good fit and that they could get the most from what we offer. But at the same time, I also know that God has a purpose why they aren't here. Whether it's a major issue or something else, God needs them where He put them too.
Well, have an experiment tomorrow that I'll write about tomorrow night. We'll see what happens.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Day 2
Today wasn't exactly what I would call a productive day compared to yesterday. I woke up late, so I had to have my quiet time after Chapel at school. Chapel went really well. Pastor Mans shared about why some of us struggle loving God with our mind, heart, mind, and strength. One thing that he shared was how God is the one seeking us. Like the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son - the active one is the person who lost something. The Prodigal son is just from a different perspective, but we know the father was searching and waiting for him to come back. God is waiting for us to come back to Him, anytime, anywhere. It's never too late.
I then though of the prodigal son some more and how we can learn a lot about how the son acted. When he came back, he didn't come in arrogant like "I'm back! I want my bed and my stuff. Bring me a head of a pig!" well, they wouldn't eat pigs cause they were Jews...but still. you get the point. The son came in humble and appreciative of the father's forgiveness. he didn't stop the father and say, "I'm the one who sinned, so I need to earn your love back. Stop saying you will just accept me back." He acknowledged the forgiveness and with humility came in. It's alwyas about humility. In the same way, we shoud'nt take God's active seeking for us for granted. We shouldn't take God's love for granted.
Later, watched a Nooma video about how we should stay in rythm with God all the time. It's like we shoudl watch what we do and make sure we are following God's will.
The one thing, though, that I woke up feeling and pondering and meditating over was this thought of really giving to God. I realized how easily I tend to trust in money and how lately I haven't been as freely blessing others with it. That's why giving back to God money is so amazing because it helps us to stop trusting money but begin trusting God to provide that money. Remember the early church? THey shared everything. Can't we do that more often? Like as the body of Christ really share with each other when there is a need because we know God is going to send us what we need when we need it.
Yup, so there you go. Nothing too deep and profound today. :-)
I then though of the prodigal son some more and how we can learn a lot about how the son acted. When he came back, he didn't come in arrogant like "I'm back! I want my bed and my stuff. Bring me a head of a pig!" well, they wouldn't eat pigs cause they were Jews...but still. you get the point. The son came in humble and appreciative of the father's forgiveness. he didn't stop the father and say, "I'm the one who sinned, so I need to earn your love back. Stop saying you will just accept me back." He acknowledged the forgiveness and with humility came in. It's alwyas about humility. In the same way, we shoud'nt take God's active seeking for us for granted. We shouldn't take God's love for granted.
Later, watched a Nooma video about how we should stay in rythm with God all the time. It's like we shoudl watch what we do and make sure we are following God's will.
The one thing, though, that I woke up feeling and pondering and meditating over was this thought of really giving to God. I realized how easily I tend to trust in money and how lately I haven't been as freely blessing others with it. That's why giving back to God money is so amazing because it helps us to stop trusting money but begin trusting God to provide that money. Remember the early church? THey shared everything. Can't we do that more often? Like as the body of Christ really share with each other when there is a need because we know God is going to send us what we need when we need it.
Yup, so there you go. Nothing too deep and profound today. :-)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Day One
So today is day one. My head hurts. I spent four hours of hte day scanning pictures. Four hours. Imagine how that feels. Ugh. My head really hurts. Anyway, it means tomorrow I need to spend time touching up and fixing those pictures.
Woke up this morning and fought the urge to run out the door to work. I spent time reading the Bible. I read through Psalm 9, which was kind of cool cause I felt like I never read it before.
I will tell of all your wonders.
I also read through a section of 1st Timothy 2 which seemed to go along with that psalm also.
My stud of Judges didn't really add anything new to my knowledge of the book. The only thing the commentaries pointed out was that it was usually the next generation of Jews that fell away from fearing God. Also, its amazing how long the book of judges takes place. It happens over almost 400 years! Four hundred years ago...America wasn't even discovered yet! So 400 years of people going to God and not passing it on....actually, there IS a thought. The next generation of Jews never really appreciated God for what He gave them. The previous generation recognized hwo they were saved by Him and how grateful they are that He didn't just wipe them off the face fo the Earth for sinning and rebelling. Yet the next generation didn't see God taht way. Why? Maybe they didn't really get trained up properly? Maybe the elders didn't share with teh kids what happened in a way that they would remember? I don't know. When people tell me that I should appreciate teh food we can get every day, I shrug it off and think the days of the 'war' are long gone and will never happen again. Yet I wonder why the students I have can't grasp teh idea that they should apprecaite having a computer, having the internet, having computer games, etc. Like, I want to slap half the people on the 'net and tell them to stop complaingin about the CGI in Hulk cause tehy should appreciate it for what it is compared to the CGI we had back in the days of the Jim Henson hour! Sigh. You see, when we tell the youth of today that they should be happy we can use drums during worship, they don't really internalize that as much as I do.
The poitn is, we shoudl look and see what God has done in others' lives, in our lives, in our friends' lives, and remember that He is the same today as He was back in the Bible times. God is the same and He never will let us down. We're always safe, we're alwya in His hands.
Pushed myself hard today to be excellent for the Lord, but also took time out to be with the students to remind myself that they are each gifts from God. Looking in all of their eyes and hearing each one laugh reminds me that God brought each one of them here and that what I do is to help them to become stronger and better leaders for Christ. That is why I work so hard. It's for each of them, it's because I believe in each one of them that they are going to bet he onest o change this world, to change the Philippines for Christ. Peopel may go to other colleges, but God told us to put this college up so that we can train teh next generation of youth leaders who will scare the secular world so much because of how on fire for God they are and how excelletn and strong they are in their work. They are the ones who will cause the paradigm shift that will make people once again really look up to Born Again Christians and say "those people are reflections of Christ." There's me rambling. But I love each and every one of them. Yes, there are days taht I wish God will move the hearts of some of my friends who have ended up in other colleges, especaily when I see the potential they have and how well a match they are with Messiah. But I trust that God is the one who brings people here, not me. And that means that His choise is waht is best.
So there are my thoughts for the day. I think this blogging each day for this month may help me to also decompress before I head out so that my head doesn't stay in "hyper work mode" the whole time.
Btw, I'm so proud of Matt :-) He's a college kid already and I see him already being a big brother to some of the guys here at the college, checking up on them and watching out for them.
Woke up this morning and fought the urge to run out the door to work. I spent time reading the Bible. I read through Psalm 9, which was kind of cool cause I felt like I never read it before.
Psalm 9
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Death of the Son." A psalm of David.
1 [a]I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;I will tell of all your wonders.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
7 The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice.
9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may declare your praises
in the gates of the Daughter of Zion
and there rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
16 The LORD is known by his justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
Higgaion. [b] Selah
17 The wicked return to the grave, [c]
all the nations that forget God.
18 But the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.
19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.
20 Strike them with terror, O LORD;
let the nations know they are but men.
Selah
I also read through a section of 1st Timothy 2 which seemed to go along with that psalm also.
My stud of Judges didn't really add anything new to my knowledge of the book. The only thing the commentaries pointed out was that it was usually the next generation of Jews that fell away from fearing God. Also, its amazing how long the book of judges takes place. It happens over almost 400 years! Four hundred years ago...America wasn't even discovered yet! So 400 years of people going to God and not passing it on....actually, there IS a thought. The next generation of Jews never really appreciated God for what He gave them. The previous generation recognized hwo they were saved by Him and how grateful they are that He didn't just wipe them off the face fo the Earth for sinning and rebelling. Yet the next generation didn't see God taht way. Why? Maybe they didn't really get trained up properly? Maybe the elders didn't share with teh kids what happened in a way that they would remember? I don't know. When people tell me that I should appreciate teh food we can get every day, I shrug it off and think the days of the 'war' are long gone and will never happen again. Yet I wonder why the students I have can't grasp teh idea that they should apprecaite having a computer, having the internet, having computer games, etc. Like, I want to slap half the people on the 'net and tell them to stop complaingin about the CGI in Hulk cause tehy should appreciate it for what it is compared to the CGI we had back in the days of the Jim Henson hour! Sigh. You see, when we tell the youth of today that they should be happy we can use drums during worship, they don't really internalize that as much as I do.
The poitn is, we shoudl look and see what God has done in others' lives, in our lives, in our friends' lives, and remember that He is the same today as He was back in the Bible times. God is the same and He never will let us down. We're always safe, we're alwya in His hands.
Pushed myself hard today to be excellent for the Lord, but also took time out to be with the students to remind myself that they are each gifts from God. Looking in all of their eyes and hearing each one laugh reminds me that God brought each one of them here and that what I do is to help them to become stronger and better leaders for Christ. That is why I work so hard. It's for each of them, it's because I believe in each one of them that they are going to bet he onest o change this world, to change the Philippines for Christ. Peopel may go to other colleges, but God told us to put this college up so that we can train teh next generation of youth leaders who will scare the secular world so much because of how on fire for God they are and how excelletn and strong they are in their work. They are the ones who will cause the paradigm shift that will make people once again really look up to Born Again Christians and say "those people are reflections of Christ." There's me rambling. But I love each and every one of them. Yes, there are days taht I wish God will move the hearts of some of my friends who have ended up in other colleges, especaily when I see the potential they have and how well a match they are with Messiah. But I trust that God is the one who brings people here, not me. And that means that His choise is waht is best.
So there are my thoughts for the day. I think this blogging each day for this month may help me to also decompress before I head out so that my head doesn't stay in "hyper work mode" the whole time.
Btw, I'm so proud of Matt :-) He's a college kid already and I see him already being a big brother to some of the guys here at the college, checking up on them and watching out for them.
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