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| Went to the United Worship Conference at the ROM with a friend. mindfully stimulating.
Need to add my prayers here for my own reference.
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How many times oh LORD do I lose focus? Let me check myself out first and give thanks for everything. When can I just put away our mindset/distractions and just come to you Lord. Awake & focused to search you, to study you, to run after you. I want to know you LORD.
Amen.
8:20 PM
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LORD, the flame has been rekindled. My longing to know you more has been replenished. The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit alone would not have done it alone. But all the testimonies and stories that surround it have made your words come to life.
As Paul Baloche mentioned in tonight's worship set. Let me start everyday with a word of Thanksgiving. Speak to me, oh LORD, the things you want me to hear. And let me dig deep into your scriptures ever more. Make the words, Your words, jump out to me. I want to see You. Open the eyes of my heart.
12:24 AM
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| have learned the lesson of taking too many business trips
Trips in order: 1. June 8-13: S. Korea 2. June 30- July 6: S. Korea 3. July 7-9: Japan 4. July 10-11: S. Korea 5. July 23-28: Taiwan 6. August 16-22: Taiwan 7. August 22-25: Japan
Things I remember most about my trips - Japs
- the translation problems with the Japs
- how eerie the gangsters in Japan look (they all look like final fantasy real life characters with the over the top hairstyles)
- how extremely loud the pachinko marble gambling halls were
- the awesome night time fun Edmund (co-worker) and I had even though I was soooo dead tired from all the work the week before
- Taiwan
- walking in the Taiwan mall early in the morning
- everyone stood outside their store (as if at attention waiting for a drill sergent to walk by)
- going down an escalator and surrounded by 6 people at the end of the escalator and all of them bowing and greeting with a loud "Good Morning"
- that I got in trouble FOR DRINKING WATER in the subway
- S. Korean
- to learn to say no when you're in the market districts
- how the clothing sizes are about 3 sizes too small for an american large.
- how extremely stylish everyone looked
- how soju (korean alc) was cheaper than water
- how they have pictures of asian girls at the end of shot glasses
- how the co-workers drink it up everynight after a day of work
It was great the first few times around. But after awhile, it gets overly exhausting. I've learned my lesson. I know I shouldn't complain, but man. It gets super tiring after all that. Stuff at work now seems a lot more relaxing even though it's the usual run about things. I need to enjoy these trips.
God, thanks for showing me a small fraction of the world. And thanks for putting me here in the middle of a beautiful country.
wook.
the food specials in Korea. | | |
| Book Review: It's not about me.
The book was ... revealing. It gave new perspective on words I used to read a lot.
This book was split into two parts. The first which covered a lot of the stuff I already learned before. But a second part that definitely gave a lot of insight into the stuff we read everyday.
The one chapter that struck me the most was "My Struggles Are About Him".
John 9 (NIV)
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
Through the blind man's stuggle, God was shown to all those around. We struggle so that God may be magnified, and not because of punishment or of sin. More proof:
Psalm 103 (MSG)
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he's rich in love.
He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
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I was struggling this week with my dad in the hospital. He had a bowel obstruction for nearly a week, sitting on the hospital bed. The doctor's simply said that they have no choice but to go through surgery as his body was unable to free his bowels on his own. They asked him, was he scared. Dad immediately said, "I'm not scared. I got God with me." Bravely, he goes on to describe Psalm 121, which my mom read to him just before he went into the O.R.
Doctors later described that there was nothing that he could've done to prevent this. Turns out his bowel obstruction was a result of the extra scar tissue that formed when he went for another operation years ago. And it had nothing to do with his lifestyle.
Just this past Tuesday, a few days after his operation, I read the chapter above during my devotions. I knew right then God was speaking again.
There was nothing my dad could've done to prevent this, it wasn't about his lifestyle choice.
...this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
The other bedroom patients around him got to hear about him and his walk with God. So did the doctors. So did I. It happened so that God might be displayed in his life.
wook. | | |
| woooowww!
watch the dvd below and you'll get blown away.
justice and worship go together hand in hand. Lets not get comfy within our own church but make a difference outside of it.
Some quotes from the dvd.
"30 000 children under the age of 5 die every day, all from preventable and treatable diseases"
"The church is not worshiping if justice is not part of the church"
"We can't just carry on singing our songs, we've actually got to do something."
"You can't talk about worship and sing to this awesome God, if your life doesn't show a loving, awesome God. So church without bringing justice to the community, is not worth calling the church."
new year's commitment. Demonstrate it, and not just show it on a Sunday service.
We need to understand what it truly means to worship. Otherwise, singing songs and worship can get so self-indulgent.
I truly think that worship will mean 100x more when you can demonstrate God's love rather than just sing about it.
.. as the slogan says from the conference I attended 3 weeks ago..
Go and change the world.
wook.
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| I missed working on projects since school ended. Thought I could put together a little nifty space saving multi-functioning furniture. Meet the "benchies".
This was actually an existing piece of furniture I already had. I had two identical rectangular wooden boxes sitting idly in the basement. Completely forgot to take pictures of it before, but it wasn't in too bad of shape. Used to have a board in the back and an awkward longer piece of wood sticking out in the back. Just punched out the board and sawed off the extra piece of wood. It just needed a slap of fresh paint and some feet to give it some height. It's now able to store some misc. things in the boxes and act as a bench for people to sit on.
cost per bench:
$20.00 - ikea silver legs
$3.00 - worth of paint (can of paint was $16)
$13.00 - ikea boxes
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total: $36.00
To do in the future:
- sew together some nice cushions to go along with these.
- put some nice ambient lighting underneath or inside.
Total Time: 3 hrs
It's a good weekend project.
It's the start of my room reno. Will post more with more weekends/free time to come.
wook.
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