if i may be a wise person for a day, this would be what i would say.
Man denies himself, that he might be taken closer his Self.
Self being the likeness and the image of God, and a more whole representation of the loves, pleasures and individuality of a person. Besides, the vitality of a fellowship with God through Jesus Christ necessitates our abiding in Him and the denial of the selves that mar the Self. Denying oneself so that one can be closer to the Self, brings a person closer to bearing the image of God and advancing the authority of the Kingdom.
That being said, i think the denying of self comes in accordance with the gifts and pleasures that God has given to us. I really don't think God would call us to deny the very things He gave us to live life in abundance. The measure might be the extent to which these pleasures distract us from discovering and living more like the Self (the unfinished work of God that we all are).
whilst rach is pondering such cheem things in the southern hemisphere, i am being confronted with north american superiority and cultural disparities. for more insight, read tschustoday.blogspot.com and please offer responses.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
jubilee and the kingdom
dear teammates,
you have been on my mind for the past few days now. i've never been so far from all of you, not since we first came together. new zealand, singapore, canada x 2 but still so far apart. it messes my mind somewhat to realise we're so far away from each other.
just so you guys know, i'm living in karori, a suburb in wellington. i've been attending karori baptist church, and recently started using their group discussion material as my qt guide. it's titled '50 days of jubilee'. since then, i've been brought back to daily reflections on the kingdom and i have questions i don't know how to answer. i want you guys with me.
i've been having problems reconciling Self, and the denial of Self. the following question is clumsy, but it's the best phrasing i have-
if God made us as individual souls, why should we deny our Selves?
if God made me, gifted me and knows that i take pleasure in certain things, why do i have to deny them?
As an example: dancing.
I know the arguments against clubbing (and I do believe them; I’ve seen and experienced them), but. For all that, for all the burnt fingers and bitten times there’s this part of me that still thinks it’s okay (as far as okay connotes vagueness and gray truth) to be slinking to beats, with bodies all around. Compelling rhythm affects the body, and the body just wants to fit into the music.
Why is it wrong, what went wrong, what is wrong with the night life in the perspective of God's kingdom?
If God made me, and i enjoy dancing to music, why should i deny that?
Yet sometimes there are consequences. and these can be so insidious, and so lasting, sometimes. And that’s the way it is about sin, isn’t it. Somewhere along the way perfectly sound reasons get twisted, and I don’t know where it happened in the dark alley. Is something alright, as long as we had fun and nothing drastic happened, just a piss or two at cars and half-remembered contortions and so much laughter, at a drunken night on a drunken playground.
how do i resolve this?
Secondly (and finally, and linkedly), a question from the book:
If fellowship with God through Jesus Christ is vital, then how do we indwell that fellowship and how does our abiding in Jesus relate to our bearing the image of God and advancing Jubilee?
That question took me so long to answer. And even then, I have more questions than an answer. I don't know, but this is what i have:
1) By remembering our relative positions?
2) through thawking away at the securely seated dirt.
we start to want His wants more. (when will i get there.)
3) God's grace for me and He's done it all.
(then why do i feel so obliged? have i spent too long away?)
you have been on my mind for the past few days now. i've never been so far from all of you, not since we first came together. new zealand, singapore, canada x 2 but still so far apart. it messes my mind somewhat to realise we're so far away from each other.
just so you guys know, i'm living in karori, a suburb in wellington. i've been attending karori baptist church, and recently started using their group discussion material as my qt guide. it's titled '50 days of jubilee'. since then, i've been brought back to daily reflections on the kingdom and i have questions i don't know how to answer. i want you guys with me.
i've been having problems reconciling Self, and the denial of Self. the following question is clumsy, but it's the best phrasing i have-
if God made us as individual souls, why should we deny our Selves?
if God made me, gifted me and knows that i take pleasure in certain things, why do i have to deny them?
As an example: dancing.
I know the arguments against clubbing (and I do believe them; I’ve seen and experienced them), but. For all that, for all the burnt fingers and bitten times there’s this part of me that still thinks it’s okay (as far as okay connotes vagueness and gray truth) to be slinking to beats, with bodies all around. Compelling rhythm affects the body, and the body just wants to fit into the music.
Why is it wrong, what went wrong, what is wrong with the night life in the perspective of God's kingdom?
If God made me, and i enjoy dancing to music, why should i deny that?
Yet sometimes there are consequences. and these can be so insidious, and so lasting, sometimes. And that’s the way it is about sin, isn’t it. Somewhere along the way perfectly sound reasons get twisted, and I don’t know where it happened in the dark alley. Is something alright, as long as we had fun and nothing drastic happened, just a piss or two at cars and half-remembered contortions and so much laughter, at a drunken night on a drunken playground.
how do i resolve this?
Secondly (and finally, and linkedly), a question from the book:
If fellowship with God through Jesus Christ is vital, then how do we indwell that fellowship and how does our abiding in Jesus relate to our bearing the image of God and advancing Jubilee?
That question took me so long to answer. And even then, I have more questions than an answer. I don't know, but this is what i have:
1) By remembering our relative positions?
2) through thawking away at the securely seated dirt.
we start to want His wants more. (when will i get there.)
3) God's grace for me and He's done it all.
(then why do i feel so obliged? have i spent too long away?)
Monday, June 30, 2008
heartache
i miss the philippines too.
pea was telling me about jino + the rest at care channels, and suddenly i was-
need to see jino, must find out how arvin is doing, and spend time with the people of cc. like mushi.
den, your reminsicing of that part of our trip was really powerful. just that, we bathed in cold water because we were brave (and did not ahemboilwaterahem). and all the throwing rachel around- i might win now though! and, i simply must add miss pearlyn chen's using of MY SLIPPER to kill a cockroach.
den, you serious about going back? cannot joke you know..
pea was telling me about jino + the rest at care channels, and suddenly i was-
need to see jino, must find out how arvin is doing, and spend time with the people of cc. like mushi.
den, your reminsicing of that part of our trip was really powerful. just that, we bathed in cold water because we were brave (and did not ahemboilwaterahem). and all the throwing rachel around- i might win now though! and, i simply must add miss pearlyn chen's using of MY SLIPPER to kill a cockroach.
den, you serious about going back? cannot joke you know..
Monday, June 23, 2008
Change...
I'm glad we met once again, to mark the 1st anniversary of our trip...
Yes, it's been a year since we spent a memorable experience at Philippines...
We have grown...
We have matured...
We have learnt...
We have suffered...
we have changed.
Thou we are the same Pea/Eugene/Rach/Den den, so many things have become different...
Haha, change really seems like the only constant...
But I'm comforted to know that we have another constant...
GOD!!!!
Yes, it's been a year since we spent a memorable experience at Philippines...
We have grown...
We have matured...
We have learnt...
We have suffered...
we have changed.
Thou we are the same Pea/Eugene/Rach/Den den, so many things have become different...
Haha, change really seems like the only constant...
But I'm comforted to know that we have another constant...
GOD!!!!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Memories and Baguio
dear team,
I dont know if you guys realised it, but 2 days back, on the 2nd of June, Friendster sent an alert saying that "Mark Louie's birthday is today!".... That only hit me today... somehow... I remember that we bought M.Louie a box of donuts from dunkin donuts, cost us abt 120 pesos if im nt wrong... and we ate the donuts in the living room of Cambridge. Thereafter, we spoke to Jhay-ar for quite some time and learnt about his sad past.
This morning, a sense of nostalgia overwhelmed me as i was speaking to Eug. And we remembered that we this (the early part of June) was about the time that he first joined us, and how we left for Baguio soon after... where the large part of our memories as a true team of 4 began... Baguio and Olongapo. I remember vividly the cockcroach brave eugene killed with his bare hands not too long after he arrived. I remember 4 of us and K.Randy at the interchange waiting to board the bus to baguio (2000 Pesos per person!) and i remember seeing rach reading Screwtape letters (her belated bday gift from me.) and Eug writing non-stop all the way to Baguio and how we talked about r/s issues. I rem Ate Chat, that petite but powerful lady who was such a delight to be with, picking us up the afternoon we arrived. And and... i rem that lovely sunset which is still the best i've ever seen, beaming brightly and proudly at our balcony...=)) The photos we took. They are precious to me. And those two dumb girls from my team who bathed in cold water (hohoho). And the wrestlign matches that we watched so i could learn some powerful finishing moves n practise them on rach! While we went through some tough moments in Baguio. In the end, we came through as a team. I am proud of us.
I miss the Philippines. truly. It is time to consider a visit back again...=)
With Love,
Den
I dont know if you guys realised it, but 2 days back, on the 2nd of June, Friendster sent an alert saying that "Mark Louie's birthday is today!".... That only hit me today... somehow... I remember that we bought M.Louie a box of donuts from dunkin donuts, cost us abt 120 pesos if im nt wrong... and we ate the donuts in the living room of Cambridge. Thereafter, we spoke to Jhay-ar for quite some time and learnt about his sad past.
This morning, a sense of nostalgia overwhelmed me as i was speaking to Eug. And we remembered that we this (the early part of June) was about the time that he first joined us, and how we left for Baguio soon after... where the large part of our memories as a true team of 4 began... Baguio and Olongapo. I remember vividly the cockcroach brave eugene killed with his bare hands not too long after he arrived. I remember 4 of us and K.Randy at the interchange waiting to board the bus to baguio (2000 Pesos per person!) and i remember seeing rach reading Screwtape letters (her belated bday gift from me.) and Eug writing non-stop all the way to Baguio and how we talked about r/s issues. I rem Ate Chat, that petite but powerful lady who was such a delight to be with, picking us up the afternoon we arrived. And and... i rem that lovely sunset which is still the best i've ever seen, beaming brightly and proudly at our balcony...=)) The photos we took. They are precious to me. And those two dumb girls from my team who bathed in cold water (hohoho). And the wrestlign matches that we watched so i could learn some powerful finishing moves n practise them on rach! While we went through some tough moments in Baguio. In the end, we came through as a team. I am proud of us.
I miss the Philippines. truly. It is time to consider a visit back again...=)
With Love,
Den
Sunday, January 27, 2008
twenty-one.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL-CARROT!
here are your photos :)
and now, a note for you.
you stand at a threshold, with 21 years behind you and as many more ahead that God has planned for you. You might be uncertain, and certainly the past looks more solid. But look, God has lit a pathway for you to walk on. It's narrow, its long, and difficult to walk on. But ahead lies Him revealed in all His glory.
Happy birthday Rach, keep walking towards Him.
-pea.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
awesome. i claim first post of the new year.
I read through just about every post we wrote. Tangible shifts, changes in tone, in mood, in frames of minds. We have come from a long time ago.
Remember the days when we were wild and chock full of loud laughter? Where every joke was hilarious, and we couldn't get enough of categorising each statement into Medfac, or science, or Arts. And the arts people could never get a joke wrong. Maybe the fact that we were also the girls had something to do with it.
Remember the camp? Incredibly good memories, incredibly deep ones. The ice was first broken there, we first defined how we saw each other. The repressed onion buried under cement, the cat + girl with both extremes in her + person with many layers, the final of which is a bomb. The singing of christmas carols under the lovely building, the talks and sharings under the long corridors. Do you remember? The night of dancing on the hotel bed. haha. The attempt to cross the river with each other on our backs, pea and I screaming while we desperately hold pinkys while sliding off the guys, denden's heroic boom of LET'S GO PEOPLE. ayy. Some things are worth revisiting.
Remember the fights we happily entered in the philippines itself? Flinging ourselves on denden, jumping away because we knew that if he grabbed our hands we would be helpless and our punishment would be a very painful, red waist. We did a post on it, by the way. It's the only one we wrote while in the philippines, if I got it right. That was the height of our team's abandonment of restraints- agreed? We were like children, trusting each other and loving one another. Even in pain.
Because we cried so much in that house. Seeing arvin's home, seeing ate lennie... Sometimes I didn't understand why I could not stop the tears. One of the girls at bahay na pagasha asked me too. Why do you cry for us? (when you are not from here, that was the implied question.) I couldn't answer. But do you know, when I was in thailand, I learnt a verse: 1st corinthians 12:26-
26: And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
If there's something I learnt with jarring reality, this would be it. The body of Christ can, and Does feel for each other. Beyond geographical barriers. Or socio-economic backgrounds. Or even.. having a history together. We only knew arvin for a few days, and ate lennie barely hours, but we went on our knees to God all the same.
I look forward to wednesday. We are too special to be just friends.
God made us team mates, to bat for His side.
Remember the days when we were wild and chock full of loud laughter? Where every joke was hilarious, and we couldn't get enough of categorising each statement into Medfac, or science, or Arts. And the arts people could never get a joke wrong. Maybe the fact that we were also the girls had something to do with it.
Remember the camp? Incredibly good memories, incredibly deep ones. The ice was first broken there, we first defined how we saw each other. The repressed onion buried under cement, the cat + girl with both extremes in her + person with many layers, the final of which is a bomb. The singing of christmas carols under the lovely building, the talks and sharings under the long corridors. Do you remember? The night of dancing on the hotel bed. haha. The attempt to cross the river with each other on our backs, pea and I screaming while we desperately hold pinkys while sliding off the guys, denden's heroic boom of LET'S GO PEOPLE. ayy. Some things are worth revisiting.
Remember the fights we happily entered in the philippines itself? Flinging ourselves on denden, jumping away because we knew that if he grabbed our hands we would be helpless and our punishment would be a very painful, red waist. We did a post on it, by the way. It's the only one we wrote while in the philippines, if I got it right. That was the height of our team's abandonment of restraints- agreed? We were like children, trusting each other and loving one another. Even in pain.
Because we cried so much in that house. Seeing arvin's home, seeing ate lennie... Sometimes I didn't understand why I could not stop the tears. One of the girls at bahay na pagasha asked me too. Why do you cry for us? (when you are not from here, that was the implied question.) I couldn't answer. But do you know, when I was in thailand, I learnt a verse: 1st corinthians 12:26-
26: And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
If there's something I learnt with jarring reality, this would be it. The body of Christ can, and Does feel for each other. Beyond geographical barriers. Or socio-economic backgrounds. Or even.. having a history together. We only knew arvin for a few days, and ate lennie barely hours, but we went on our knees to God all the same.
I look forward to wednesday. We are too special to be just friends.
God made us team mates, to bat for His side.
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