lacking in love

So yesterday I shared the sermon notes that I took from the Mazak sermon. Well, today I will blog a little about my lack of love. I have been reflecting today about whether I get irritated easily by people and I have to admit that I definitely do. I don't always show it, but I don't always hide it either.

After listening to the message last night, I have been reminded about how wrong I have been in thinking the way that I do. What right do I have in being irritated by other people when the things I do and the way I react to so many things is probably a hundred more times irritating or upsetting to God? You know what they say as well, is that the things you get annoyed about the most are usually the things that you do yourself. It's the old mote and beam analogy all over again.

If I were to list things that annoy me, I could seriously do it all day because there are just so many things! Just today, I caught myself thinking a few times 'man, I can't stand it when....' or 'why do they have to...'. Yep, I'm definitely lacking in the love department.

There was a really good point at the end of the sermon that said that for those of us who have problems with loving others, we really need to meditate on God's forgiveness of our own sins. And I really think that is how I can start to develop the currently-undeveloped-Christlike-love that is in me. I am reminded of one of the lessons I learnt during the Regen Retreat - one of the messages was on God's Love and Jim Berg said something that struck me, something along the lines of 'God knew exactly how much of a sinner we were each going to be before he chose us and bought us with the blood of Christ'. That's pretty grounding isn't it? God knew ALL the things we would do against Him in the future, yet He still chose to send Jesus to earth to suffer and die for us! Wow. It floors me every time I think about that.

So the path to becoming more loving has only just begun. I guess now that I have recognised the problem in my life, I need to stop myself from thinking unloving thoughts and asking God for more love to cover the multitude of sins. It will be tough, but I believe it is something that I need to do.

Lord, help me to look at others with Your love. Help me to remember what You've done for me on the cross despite all that I have done against You. Help me to realise the sheer magnitude of Your grace, and allow this grace to flow through me to the people that rub me the wrong way. It is only through You that I can. Thankyou once again for Your conviction and for pointing out my transgressions. May You cleanse my heart. In Jesus name, Amen.

sermon notes: the cover of love (Greg Mazak)

I took these notes on a sermon that I listened to through Sermonaudio tonight. If you want to listen to it, you can click here. I found it to be quite convicting and quite a blessing so hopefully these notes will be a blessing to all who read as well.

THE COVER OF LOVE
....• Proverbs’ Theme: the fear of the Lord
....• Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
....• Proverbs 15:32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

....• Does this therefore mean that every time someone fails, they should be rebuked?....• No, because Love covers a multitude of sins
....• Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Three points:
....• Love is quick to forgive others’ failures o Love eagerly forgives
........o Question is not if we will sin against someone (that’s reality), it is how will we respond when someone sins against us?
............ e.g. husband forgets to bring back butter and eggs
........o What does cover mean? To forgive
............ Psalm 32:1
............ Love forgives all transgressions
............ James and Peter both quote this text
................• 1 Peter 4:7-8
........o Hatred eagerly fights
............ Love is caring about the other person (forgiveness)
............ Hatred is putting ourselves first (hatred)
............ Hatred – stirs up strife and loves to argue
................• Proverbs 20:3 It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

• Love is slow to react to others’ failures
....o Proverbs 12:16 A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.
........ Are we easily irritated by other people?
........ If we are easily annoyed, we are foolish – we do not show love
........ If we keep records and hold grudges, we are not showing biblical love
........ A prudent man will overlook insults and let love cover it
............o Proverbs 12:23 A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.
........ If we are quick to express what is in our head, we are foolish

• Love never broadcasts the failure of others
....o Gossiping and sharing with other people how people have failed
....o Every one of us is sinful, every one of us fails
....o We will sin against one another, but we should be loving enough to one another not to share with others how someone has failed us
........ Proverbs 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
....o Wisdom is knowing when to keep silent
........ Proverbs 11:12 He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.
....o ‘When you look down on someone else, you judge him by your standards, often comparing their standards to your own – a risky act, unless you are infallible. And which of us can claim to be infallible?’ – Stevenson
....o When someone does something that offends or bothers us – it’s not the person’s problem, it’s your problem.
........ Lack of love
........ We don’t love them with God’s love

Rebuke
....• If someone sins against you, it may be right to rebuke them
........o Luke 17:3
....• Guidelines on when to rebuke:
........o When the sin is intentional
........o When the sin is habitual
........o When the sin is communal (against more than one person)
........o When the person would benefit from a rebuke
........o When it will glorify God

If we find it difficult to forgive, we probably need to spend more time meditating on God’s great forgiveness of us.

recap: k's 21st

Last night some of us travelled back in time to the 80s for Caleb's 21st birthday party. For the week leading up to the party, our family had been working hard to organise food, clean the house, prepare the program, think of games, decorate the house in fluoro, put together out outfits, and when it was finally party time, I think we were all feeling quite tired (even the Birthday boy) - but thank God that it was a pretty fun night for us as well as those who attended!

Like I posted before, it is so awesome to see my little brother grow up to be 21. Caleb has always been the baby of the original YPG and to see him turn 21 had signified the end of an era in a way. As Uncle Sonny would put it 'the new guard is taking over'.

Here are a few piccies. There's more on facebook if ya interested :)

how awesome is the weather??

SOOOO awesome!

Weather has been great in Perth for the last week or so: mid-to-late-twenties-or-low-thirties-maximums, cool nights, cool mornings, warm sun, the occasional threat of rain - I love it!

I thought I better write something good about the weather to balance all the recent whingeing about the heat hehe.

It just reminds me that autumn is just around the corner and then WINTER!! I can hardly wait! :)

verses I like in isaiah

The thing I like about Isaiah is that even though I read through it before I go to bed, every now and then a verse will strike me as just that little bit special. Some of them stood out because of sermons that I have listened to either in church or downloaded, others I had never come across before. I guess that's what makes reading through the Bible such a blessing, because you come across verses you wouldn't normally read.

So as I lie in my bed with my Bible on my pillow, I keep my eyes peeled and a highlighter handy just in case I come by one of these little nuggets.

One of them was in Isaiah 38. Hezekiah was told by Isaiah (who relayed a message from God) that his time was up - he was about to be worm food - he was to 'die, and not live' (v2). Hez didn't like this and wept and pleaded with God for mercy... Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. Pretty standard pleading and praying - if you just leave it there. But what was really cool was God's response. God gave Hez a fifteen year extension to his life! Whoa! I like the response in verse 5 I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears. God is awesome.

And then there were the classic verses that came soon after:

Isaiah 40:28-31 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

But these were some that I hadn't come across before...

Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

Isaiah 43:10-11 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

Cool verses huh?

Well that's it for now. At the moment I am about to read Chapter 46 (out of 66). So nearly to the end. Yay!

caleb's coming of age

It doesn't seem that long ago when this little guy took his small steps into my life...

Yep, this same little guy has just turned 21 today. It's quite amazing really. I am going to sound like an old lady when I say this but he has grown up so fast. In fact, he's starting work tomorrow - which is even harder to get my head around (though it's not full-time yet, it is still the first step career-wise).

It's weird! I mean, I remember when he was born man! All of a sudden my mum had a baby in her tummy and then one day my dad took me and Adrian to the hospital where my mum was lying in bed with a little baby in her arms. I wanted to call him 'Polly', Dad said 'how about Caleb?', I still thought Polly was the go - but thought Caleb had a nice ring to it too (I thought it was a horse's name at the time - but what would I know, I was only 3). And there was the start of many years of good times, laughs and priceless memories.

And now Polly, I mean Caleb, is all grown up into a young man who is about to start working life. It's a strange feeling, but I am also really proud of the little guy. He is really talented (as a designer, as a guitarist, in sports, in getting along with people, in making me laugh) and I reckon, as a person, he is a genuinely nice guy.

So to my little sai-lo... Happy Birthday Special K. Hope the years ahead will see you continue to grow more and more into the man that God has purposed you to be!

shopping for opportunities

I have wanted to go op-shopping for years, but never brought myself to go because I thought that it would be too gross to sort through a whole pile of stuff soiled with nasty stains and riddled with disease. But once again, my assumption was wrong.

It's actually really really fun, and so far, I haven't come across any nasty surprises! PHEW! In the past week, I have gone to the same place about four times (Good Sammy's Hay Street West - the East Shop is not as good. I was talking to the lady at the West shop and she told me they get all the good stuff out and then send the rest off to other stores like the one on Hay St East). I guess you can call me a regular there now. And every time I have gone, I have bought something too! The twins have blogged about this previously, and have already made a pretty good summary about what op-shopping is all about and all the reasons why you should go so I will just leave you to read it here if you are interested.

Ka-ruth mentioned in their blog that you could get branded stuff at Op Shops but I was skeptical (I thought they meant brands as in Target and Suzannae Grae). They also mentioned that a lot of stuff had tags still attached (again, I was a tad suspicious about this claim). But when I went last week with Julsies to check it out - I was pleasantly surprised. Long story short, I saw brands - Cooper St, Top Shop, Peter Alexander, Wish, Levis (as well as Jacqui E, Portmans, Colorado, Sportsgirl, JeansWest and all those chain stores - oh yeah, and Target and Suzanne Grae! hehe) and heaps of stuff still had tags attached! Best of all was that Good Sammy's had 50% off all clothing for this month!

Dress by Wish - $5.25, Cooper St Top - $3.25, Peter Alexander PJ pants (new!) - $4.50, knowing you only paid a small fraction of the retail value - priceless!

noisy words

Have you ever noticed how the way some people speak about themselves or others makes you more self-conscious about the way you do something yourself? I have – obviously, since I have just asked if anyone else has noticed. But yeah, isn’t it interesting how that can affect the way you do things? Words of others can create noise in our souls (internal thoughts that don’t come from God) and can often paralyse us from doing more than we should.

The other day I overheard someone making a comment about someone else singing out of tune. It wasn’t the first time I have heard someone comment on something like this (other times it can be a snigger when someone sings the wrong part, sings the wrong melody, starts singing too early, starts to sing verse 4 when the chair person has said to only sing up to verse 3) but it just made me wonder, how much have similar comments influenced me on a personal level. And when I thought about it, I realised they had definitely influenced me - significantly.

Most of the time, people who make such comments have some kind of ‘authority’ to do so – they are in the choir, they are a musician or they have been gifted with a good voice – and as a result, you kind of revere what they say and subconsciously try to live up to (or sing up to) their standard. I have even found that such comments have rubbed off on me (someone with no such ‘authority’) – as I have also been guilty of sniggering at someone and making comments about others. It reminds me of the cycle of bullying – kid gets teased, kid becomes more popular by doing and saying the ‘right’ things, kid solidifies popularity by teasing other kids, original teased kid becomes the next bully – cycle resets.

Let me expand this example further. I have found that often when I sing now, I won’t attempt to sing high parts in a song because I am afraid that I will squeak or produce an unpleasant break in my voice, I talk myself down saying that I am not a good singer, and when I am around people with ‘the authority’ I lower my volume (like I don’t want to offend their ears). It has created noise in my soul and has ultimately distracted me from true worship of God. You may argue that it is my fault for listening to this noise myself, and it might be, but because it is so subconscious, I never (in the 20 odd years I have been going to church) really realised it until recently.

When we worship God, our minds should be on Him and on Him alone. How would you feel if someone you love was telling you how much they love you, but feeling was absent in their eyes because they were too worried about their enunciation, tone and pitch? How then do you think God feels when we distract ourselves from worship by trying to sing up to the standard of others, and in the process forget that we are supposed to be praising the One who gave us our voice – the voice that will always be beautiful and in tune in His ears, as long as it manifests the awe and praise that is in our hearts.

I have been to other churches where worship seems so much more genuine and real – people are not afraid of what others are thinking of the way they are singing. They’ll be fully singing out of tune but they are just so lost in worship that it doesn’t cross their mind at all. Moreover, the people next to them are also so lost in worship themselves that they don’t even notice that their pew-buddy is out of tune. Though such churches may be criticised for their doctrine and their style of worship, I believe that much can be learnt from their non-judgemental attitude to others. These guys are so involved in their praise for God and subsequently their off-beat, out-of-tune voices, are a sweet-sounding-symphony to the Lord. I really truly believe that we need to spend less time trying to sing right, and more time getting our hearts right before the Lord.

OK so I got a bit carried away with the example there, but it just goes to show what kind of effect a few stray words here and there can have. After all, in James, we read about the power the tongue has – it is described as an ‘unruly beast’ and ‘full of poison’. Though it is a little bit of muscle in our mouth, it’s pretty deadly.

I think it is also worth stepping back from everything once in a while to re-evaluate whether what we see as important is important in God’s eyes as well. It is easy in our daily lives to get distracted by things around us (like focussing too much on what someone says), and because they seem worthy of the distraction at the time (you revere that person and what she / he has to say), we let our guard down and then allow it to consume us with time. The result a lot of the time is that we lose focus of the big picture and even miss the point of what we do completely.

So the moral of the blogpost is that we should firstly, watch what we say, secondly, examine what people say to us and not allow it to generate noise in our souls (remembering that noise is NOT from God, if someone says something that is from God, you should definitely listen), and thirdly, regularly take a step back from what you're doing and refer to the big picture lest you lose sight of it.

Lord please help me to fear You above all other things. Help me to see what is important to You, and help me overcome my fear of man. Give me that desire to do what You want me to do and take away my own selfish desires. Help me to see everything with eternity's values in view. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

burswood does it better

Victor organised a Chinese New Year outreach yesterday at Burswood Park to coincide with the Pasar Malam (night market) and fireworks display that Burswood had organised for their high-rolling-gamblers (apparently they fly these players in and let them play golf and watch fireworks in return for 'investing' a significant amount of money at the casino).

It was a really fun afternoon where we ate food, played cricket in the park, fellowshipped with what turned out to be a fair few people (including some newbies!), and sat down to enjoy some fireworks later that night. Thank God some of us got the opportunity to share the Gospel with some of the new people too. I didn't get pictures of all the stuff before, but here are some of the group waiting for the fireworks to begin...

And then it began... Fifteen minutes of full-on-firework-action just above our heads. We were so close to the action that at times we thought the shells would drop on us! After going to Aussie Day and thinking - man I think I have grown out of fireworks, this had well and truly restored the interest ! It was clear that Burswood does it better. Here are some piccies...

I smell a rat...

Well it's that time of the year again - when Chinese celebrate the new year - one month after.. the new year. Yes it's Chinese New Year's Eve tonight and for many Chinese households it is the eve of a week-long celebration of the moon making another revolution around the earth.

I don't know what it is about the Chinese but they seem to give the moon a lot of attention - almost too much in fact. Disagree? Think about it, if I were to say that a group of people watch the moon, hold festivals when there is a full moon - where they make and eat little 'moon cakes' with egg yolks inside as little symbols of the moon, and every year before the new moon (that signifies a new year) - go around madly getting haircuts, cleaning their house and garden, buying new clothes, buying gifts, doing their laundry and preparing little envelopes of money to give to children (to ward of demons) - you would probably think they were some kind of cult!

Chinese are so superstitious and the one time in the year when they are the most superstitious is Chinese New Year. It's just crazy! Even the Chinese Christians (especially te old school) get into it which I don't know is such a good thing.. [I incidently got a haircut yesterday - I didn't realise it was Chinese New Year until I got to the Salon and poor Jamie and Mel were flat out (I asked Mel why they were so busy and she said 'Chinese New Year!' and the penny dropped) - so a disclaimer right now that I did NOT get my hair cut for Chinese New Year (I don't think that having my hair cut after Thursday would have made any difference in my fortune)].

But should a Christian celebrate Chinese New Year?

Personally, celebrating Chinese New Year and Moon Festivals just don't really sit right with me. There are just so many luck-securing-badluck-warding-off 'traditions' that occur. I don't believe that a Christian who is supposed to believe in a God of providence and faith can also believe that they can 'make their own luck' by wearing new clothes (preferably red), inviting 'lions' to come round to their shops to ward off poor-profit-demons, and keep their children safe from other spirits by giving them little red packets of money. That's just my opinion.

I acknowledge that I may sound like a Chinese who has 'forgotten' her culture and her 'roots' (especially since I don't really speak Chinese either) but I also believe that I am a Christian first and a Chinese second. Disagree if you will, again, it's my opinion.

I think (at the moment - still thinking though) that it is OK to participate in some of the traditions because they are all neutral things, but the context in which they occur may make them questionable. The more I read about what Chinese New Year is all about, the less I am convinced of it's innocence. Instead the worship of other gods, themes of luck, prosperity and evil spirits seem to come forward. Same goes for Halloween. Dressing up, collecting candy, and practical jokes are all neutral things again - but when placed into the context of Halloween they become questionable.

As the Bible says: All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any - 1 Corinthians 6:12

I will conclude by saying that in my opinion, I believe that a Christian should use their discretion when it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year - I don't belive we should run away every time we hear the firecrackers or lion dance music. I really think that times like Chinese New Year, Halloween and other such events are awesome opportunities to witness to people who are shackled by superstition and deep-seeded tradition - to tell them that they don't need to worry about all these things because they can be freed from their sins and guilt by a loving God who's will for their life cannot be changed - even by bad luck and evil spirits!

oooOOoooOO shiney!

I got my new phone on the weekend. It's so nice and new and shiney. What happened at the phone place? Well, what I expected really. I asked for extra stuff, they said no, I said 'I'll take it'. But in my defence, I went to 3 different places and they all said they couldn't do anything.

But in the end I got what I really wanted anyway - a pretty new phone! Here's a pic from the net...

Though some people will say that it's not good because it doesn't have this or that, but hey, in the end it's just a phone! All I need to do is make/take calls and smses. It doesn't need to walk the dog and clean the toilet! Gadget-goons may disagree, but I'll be happy with this piece of metal for the newt two years.

soOOooo sloooOOOooow...

The internet is really slow at home at the moment. Like really slow. So slow in fact, that when I tried to look at one site with flash, it took nearly 5 minutes for the page to load up. So slow that when I tried to download a sermon, which usually only takes 30 seconds at the most to download, it took nearly 10 minutes! So slow that when I open up a webpage that usually would load up instantly, like my google home page, I can now walk away and get a glass of water and then come back while it loads. Apparently it is down to lower than what we had when we were with dial-up.

And it’s all my fault. I admit it. But I acted innocently, or more out of ignorance than anything else. Apparently, there are peak and non-peak periods for downloading, and apparently, we are given a monthly limit of stuff we can download. I wasn’t aware of either of these things and proceeded to download seasons 3 and 4 of The Office – during peak time. So we got shafted down to really slow internet as punishment from iinet. My brothers weren’t happy with me. And I believe the sentiments will remain until 10 February when it is supposed to return back to normal quick-broadband speed. Julia told me recently that she did the exact same thing but their net was restored at the end of January, 10 days earlier than me – where’s the justice?

Some good has come from this however. I spend a lot less time on Facebook – hardly go on at all (because it takes so long to load!) Also, I have found that the time waiting for things to load can be used effectively to read through Isaiah or my other books. So it’s a blessing in disguise, really. So there’s my story – lessons learnt? Don’t download during peak periods! iinet need to learn lessons on forgiveness. Frequent hydration breaks will always be beneficial. And always look for the hidden blessings!