Monday,
28th of June 2004
late evening |
My New Bicycle
This evening (Monday) I rode to work on my new bike (purchased
Thursday) to find out how much time it would take if I commuted
using it. It took me about 45 minutes going one way for both
directions! I think I'm going to be sore in the morning...
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Thursday,
24th of June 2004
late evening |
Climbing Half Dome
This past weekend I went camping with a group of friends from
1st Baptist of West Los Angeles (WLAB) at Yosemite, and many of us
did the Half Dome hike, still only about half of us made it
to the top of Half Dome. And I can understand why!
It's scary getting up there near the end. You get to this point
in the trail where you are stepping on rock that has these coarse
sand particles all over it, and this makes it slippery. You can
feel your foot slide a bit until it finally grabs the rock and
then you move forward. There's all these steps you have to hike
up to get to what's called the saddle point, which is the base
of the cables that go up the side of Half Dome. Many of the steps
on my way up seemed to be covered with that sand, and you can just
imagine slipping and finding yourself tumbling to your doom down
the side of the mountain. :( Or at least I could!
Once at the saddle, with a few of my friends, we found the cables
clogged with people, so that along with my fear of possible failure,
there was a 30+ minute climb due to the traffic jam on the cables.
This was one thing that made me wonder if it was worth it.
:) Why take a chance when it's so inconvenient to do so?
But, a few were determined to go up, and if I was going to have
to wait for them anyway, I guess it's more convenient to at least
give it a try... So many people do it and survive anyway, I'm
just over-cautious...
And so, after many minutes of climbing up the cables I made it
to the top! No incidents! No slipping to the valley floor, or
anything like that! And I found that I was quite capable of doing
it, even though my lack of experienced had fueled my doubts!
Although I didn't get too close to the edges up there, I took
pictures and enjoyed myself up there, and was glad I could make it.
(Of course, the very end of the return trip was in the dark.)
So many times I've found myself like this. Uncomfortable with
doing what I've never done before, and resisting doing it because
of the perceived dangers involved. But, sometimes in order to get
somewhere you just have to overcome those fears and trust that
everything will be okay. And once you've done it, it isn't
so hard the next time around. :)
But I can't help to wonder, what advantage does climbing Half
Dome have in God's will that I should not think it a waste if He
chose to take my life out of this world at that moment? Are the
perceived risks of Half Dome small enough that I'm not testing
Him and is it something, that in the end, I can use to glorify Him?
I don't want to think I'm wasting the life He's granted me on this
journey!
In the end I thought it was, or otherwise I wouldn't have gone
all the way. The value of the experience and testimony of making
a climb which was difficult at first, but increasingly easier as
the climbing continued, makes it all worth it! Such analogies
from life experience make God's Word more real to myself and
others. They help us to see more clearly and understand what
He is doing in our lives as we follow Him even though the road
may occassionally seem difficult.
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Saturday,
12th of June 2004
morning |
Meaningful Missionaries
About a week ago I came to some conclusions due to thinking about
the homeless ministry my friend was doing
(The Poor).
It's based on my thoughts about
Making Time for Others.
And whether my conclusions are totally correct or not, I think
they deserve some thought.
Trying to minister to many multiple homeless all simultaneously
is probably not a good idea because of several reasons. Because
you never get to known any of them, your interactions with them
stays at a very superficial level. You see their hunger and
feed them, but you miss what's invisible, never having a chance
to see their spirit. Most need more than just food, yet most
people just offer foods and services, but don't offer dedication
and friendship. I ask myself, what do people most often cite
as being my most valuable characteristics, and usually it's
something they've learned through personal and long-term
interactions with me, not impersonal and sporadic happenings.
(Otherwise the response would be generic...) I think it's a
good question to ask oneself, why do people think I'm special? Is it
because I just happen to be handy to have around? I hope it's
far more than that!
I believe a meaningful relationship with one homeless would be
more beneficial to all homeless than trying to minister to
multiple homeless. This is because his own relationship with
you would become apparent to other homeless, and they would ask,
and he would give a testimony that would minister to all of them!
I think this parallels well with Jesus' ministry in the world.
He ministered to specific people who then spread His Gospel to
many nations. He ministered to a few sinners and relied on these
sinners to spread His Gospel to others. He didn't rely on random
and time-limited encounters. He generously made time for others,
especially His Apostles and closer disciples!
It's key to remember that God cares about what's in our hearts,
and not on our outward appearance. Likewise, God cares about the
homeless due to their hearts, and not their outward appearance.
Someone may be poor in money, and if you see them by their outward
appearance, you may feel sorry for them and feed them, but inside
they may have something worse -- or even beautiful! --, but you'd
never know unless you took the time to get to know them as God
knows them. And if it's something God's given you a gift to heal,
you'll never know unless through patience and longsuffering you
show love to the person as Christ showed to others... And then
sometimes you may also find, as some Christ met, that they
are not the one God means for you to minister to due to their
hardness of heart, and you can use your time wisely ministering
to those that God has led to you and have hearts prepared for the
Gosepl.
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Thursday,
10th of June 2004
late evening |
Staying Your Ground When It Matters
Proverbs 25:26, "Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain
is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked" (RSV).
This is so true because you can't clean someone nearly as well
if your water is full of muck. Whereas a completely righteous
person would have clean water, like Jesus, that is unspoiled and
capable of real purification. This works well with the themes
in Proverbs because it's always talking about the wise and how
they are valuable in making others wise through rebuke. But I
think it really shows that in the end our own cleanliness is
dependant on God and His grace because wisdom comes from Him,
and without Him we'd just be trying to clean each other with
eternally dirty waters. :D
Also I wonder if it could be applied to bodies of people as well?
Such as a church? What is the effectiveness of a church that
bends to the ways of the ungodly? Is it like a murky pond? A
stagnant fountain?
Hopes of Mercy Around the Wicked?
Proverbs 21:10, "The soul of the wicked desires evil; his
neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes" (RSV). Some people seem
to think that wicked people will magically start caring for
people given enough time and patience. I'm not sure if this
wishful thinking is true, and I think this is a hint of it.
Only with a changed heart can they truly care, and there's a
lot of chastisement recommended in Proverbs for wrongs committed.
Seems to me that just sitting there isn't going to help.
Along with this, Proverbs 25:21-22 recommends, "If your enemy
is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him
water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on his head,
and the Lord will reward you" (RSV). For which I wonder if this
also refers to your wicked neighbor who only desires evil?
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Tuesday,
8th of June 2004
late evening |
DSL Finally Works!
Verizon finally sent me a new modem last week and I had it
by Thursday! Finally after 3 weeks of hassling their tech
support and explaining to them that they already tried doing
something 3-4 times previously (which hadn't work at all and yet
they were still suggesting it as a solution), they sent me a modem!
I don't know who is more at fault, the tech support, or the people
who try to save money by telling tech support to repeat
troubleshooting advice over and over for the millionth time
even though it's never worked because it's less costly
than sending a new modem. :(
Justice is Important to God
Proverbs 21:3, "To do righteousness and justice is more
acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice" (RSV). Do we ever
set aside doing what's right and only do things because it's
easier to do? I think it's quite hard to be just because it
might mean some people may not like you, whereas giving
sacrifices is more passive and allows things to continue
in relative peace.
What Justice Looks Like to Evildoers
Proverbs 21:15, "It is joy to the righteous to do justice; But
it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity" (ASB). Sometimes
I think people think it's wrong to hurt an evildoers feelings.
According to this proverb, it's probably wrong to think doing
what is right will do anything but hurt them!
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Monday,
1st of June 2004
late evening |
The People Pleasers
Proverbs 18:24, "The man of many friends [a friend of all
the world] will prove himself a bad friend, but there is a
friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Amplified Bible).
Friends you can count on stand for something, and they stand
up for what is right, and will defend you when you've been
wronged. If a friend wishes to have many friends, and
please others, they may let you down for the sakes of others
and be wishy-washy when they should be firm. I think this
is sometimes reflected in our relationship with Christ. Any
of those times we fail to be His friend by neglecting to say
those things we feel people may reject us for saying. And any
of those times we try to appear comfortable (being joyful) with
others when in we know Christ wouldn't have delighted in what
was being done.
Now, this is an interesting verse because it has several
translations too, although this one seems the best. The
Living Bible says, "There are 'friends' who pretend to be
friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother,"
which is similar to the RSV translation, yet the ASB is closer
to the Amplified Bible. The KJB says, "A man that hath friends
must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother." Altogether, I believe they all mean
the same, telling the difference between a 'pretender' friend
(deception) versus the 'true' friend (honest). What type of
friend am I? That's the question I think should be asked!
Why Protecting the Unrighteous is Wrong
I've seen it happen multiple times over among Christians, and
it's slowly tearing me apart from them because I see the lack
of God's justice they uphold. The lack of justice cheapens
God's grace because sin goes uncorrected. Proverbs 18:5,
"To respect the person of the wicked and be partial
to him, so as to deprive the [consistently] righteous of
justice, is not good" (Amplified Bible). So often we think
by being kind to the wicked we will gain their favor
and help them, but I don't believe this is true and neither
does God. Proverbs 19:19 shows the error in being kind
to the wicked, "A man of great wrath shall suffer the penalty;
for if you deliver him [from the consequences], he will [feel
free to] cause you to do it again" (Amplified Bible), or as
the Living Bible says, "A short-tempered man must bear his own
penalty; you can't do much to help him. If you try once you
must try a dozen times!"
More Encouragement to Ask and Seek
Earlier I found something similar. It makes me want to just
make a table of all the Proverbs that talk about similar topics
because this topic of not being hasty in jumping to conclusions
is one I value. Proverbs 18:13, "He who answers a matter before
he hars the facts--it is folly and shame to him" (Amplified Bible).
Admonition to Those Who Know Enough
Proverbs 18:15, "The mind of the prudent is ever getting
knowledge, and the ear of the wise is ever seeking (inquiring for
and craving) knowledge" (Amplified Bible). I know people who
fear or dismiss seeking understanding because they think of it
as being unpleasant. I'm always feeling restless in my own
desire to understand, which seems to put me at odds with many
people, so I find this verse encouraging! :D If only
more people also could also find value in this verse.
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