just thought i'd say that i'm being a very hard, diligent worker today... *sigh*
have a red letter day!
_|--|o
Aug 8, 2006
Aug 7, 2006
..:do you believe?:..
oh man... so nice. i'm home on a monday nite - at 9:30, all showered, relaxed, talking w/God, and blogging w/my mac. no tv, no dvd, no surf, no book, no email, no IM, no work, no nuthin. ok, i lie - the laundry is going on in the background, but aside from that, just taking some well deserved (at least in my mind) rest from 2 weeks of absolute mayhem. i've haven't had an opportunity to sleep past 8am (or maybe even 7am) in the past 2 weeks - just once this past saturday morning, and that was cuz golf was cancelled. praise God for that, cuz i really needed it! and to top it off, i actually managed to play an hour of ball tonite - so my bi-monthly exercise quota is fulfilled!
had an awesome weekend too. 180 was just awesome, and i love giving my all to the ministry. i had a first hand experience this past weekend into the why's of why exactly derek n janice love it as they do. the team is absolutely incredible. from the leadership team, that just gives full support in all areas - from the setting up of the lounge, the tabernacle, to the worship, the prayer and ministry, the hospitality, the sermon, the energy and excitement, the food n beverage, to the cleaning up and shutting down - there is just tremendous support. most of the time, i just kinda do 'my thing', and never really concern myself w/too much else... but this time, i was focused on just everything; not necessarily to see it gets done, but really just to see for real how it gets done. the team gets there early - and amy, julianna and a few others are there to help me set up the tabernacle. nate's there to help lead worship during the prayer time. drew came in (on last minute notice - THANKS!!!!) to do sound. michele's around to do anything (you're so awesome, but u gotta receive!!!). gabby's running around setting up the lamps and banner and stuff. mandy and abbie are mixing it up with people, greeting newcomers. linnet's busy w/her team prepping the ramen. mike lau's available to pray w/christiaan w/me. cece, despite her supposed day off, helps to lead MCing (and me as the wallflower next to her awesome mic skilz!) - AND comes up w/such an awesome fun game too! tom has worship in full gear that nite. and at the end of the nite, everybody pitching in to restore the tabernacle for sunday service.... it was just an awesome vibe. i learned so much about motivational, visionary, managerial leadership that night. to see people who have no other business being there other than to give their ALL to God. i mean - that's wat it's all about at the end of the day.
and THAT, i guess, i why i love the ministry. to serve on the team, to serve the people there. to be used as a vessel to do anything that He calls me to do. to occasionally get up in front of people and make a fool of myself. even sometimes to deliver a Word. and we have a solid core of people that has the buy-in to that vision! imagine now what would happen if we choose to expand it. imagine what would happen if we apply the jabez prayer - to expand the territories. to move beyond what we know in our minds is not possible. to think big. to pray big. but to have full confidence that God will give bigger. that's where i feel that we're headed. yah - it'll be bumpy. things won't always be perfect. nothing ever is. but we have a spiritual army to fight thru that. the enemy can throw anything at us. but you know, as long as the core is faithful, i believe. the bible says "five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight".... if we walk in accordance to His commandmants. is that not powerful? God math cannot be learned in school... it's gotta be birthed in the heart by the holy spirit! so... do you believe?
_|--|o
oh man... so nice. i'm home on a monday nite - at 9:30, all showered, relaxed, talking w/God, and blogging w/my mac. no tv, no dvd, no surf, no book, no email, no IM, no work, no nuthin. ok, i lie - the laundry is going on in the background, but aside from that, just taking some well deserved (at least in my mind) rest from 2 weeks of absolute mayhem. i've haven't had an opportunity to sleep past 8am (or maybe even 7am) in the past 2 weeks - just once this past saturday morning, and that was cuz golf was cancelled. praise God for that, cuz i really needed it! and to top it off, i actually managed to play an hour of ball tonite - so my bi-monthly exercise quota is fulfilled!
had an awesome weekend too. 180 was just awesome, and i love giving my all to the ministry. i had a first hand experience this past weekend into the why's of why exactly derek n janice love it as they do. the team is absolutely incredible. from the leadership team, that just gives full support in all areas - from the setting up of the lounge, the tabernacle, to the worship, the prayer and ministry, the hospitality, the sermon, the energy and excitement, the food n beverage, to the cleaning up and shutting down - there is just tremendous support. most of the time, i just kinda do 'my thing', and never really concern myself w/too much else... but this time, i was focused on just everything; not necessarily to see it gets done, but really just to see for real how it gets done. the team gets there early - and amy, julianna and a few others are there to help me set up the tabernacle. nate's there to help lead worship during the prayer time. drew came in (on last minute notice - THANKS!!!!) to do sound. michele's around to do anything (you're so awesome, but u gotta receive!!!). gabby's running around setting up the lamps and banner and stuff. mandy and abbie are mixing it up with people, greeting newcomers. linnet's busy w/her team prepping the ramen. mike lau's available to pray w/christiaan w/me. cece, despite her supposed day off, helps to lead MCing (and me as the wallflower next to her awesome mic skilz!) - AND comes up w/such an awesome fun game too! tom has worship in full gear that nite. and at the end of the nite, everybody pitching in to restore the tabernacle for sunday service.... it was just an awesome vibe. i learned so much about motivational, visionary, managerial leadership that night. to see people who have no other business being there other than to give their ALL to God. i mean - that's wat it's all about at the end of the day.
and THAT, i guess, i why i love the ministry. to serve on the team, to serve the people there. to be used as a vessel to do anything that He calls me to do. to occasionally get up in front of people and make a fool of myself. even sometimes to deliver a Word. and we have a solid core of people that has the buy-in to that vision! imagine now what would happen if we choose to expand it. imagine what would happen if we apply the jabez prayer - to expand the territories. to move beyond what we know in our minds is not possible. to think big. to pray big. but to have full confidence that God will give bigger. that's where i feel that we're headed. yah - it'll be bumpy. things won't always be perfect. nothing ever is. but we have a spiritual army to fight thru that. the enemy can throw anything at us. but you know, as long as the core is faithful, i believe. the bible says "five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight".... if we walk in accordance to His commandmants. is that not powerful? God math cannot be learned in school... it's gotta be birthed in the heart by the holy spirit! so... do you believe?
_|--|o
Aug 2, 2006
..::pressured::..
i feel like i was presssured to update... bullied... that's ok - i'm a middle child, and i'm always either bullied (by the older), overshadowed (by the cuteness of the younger), or ignored (by the parents, in favor of "the eldest", or "the cutest")... so life just happens to be one big pressure cooker. and this time, bloggers in the one_eighty forum have all been bullied by tom to update ... *sigh*
i'm fighting thru illness at the moment. sitting in the office at 8am, w/a strep throat, and aching shoulders, and periodic pounding head is not so good. i hate being sick. i think in 9 years of working, i've taken 2 sick days. guess i gotta soldier through.
currently, i'm staring out my office window into the harbor. over the way is tst - a place i rarely visit, but the sites are so familiar. it's so exotic over there, and makes me wonder why i don't venture out there more... then the bout of irrationality leaves and i'm glad to be back on the island! :P but HK is honestly a beautiful city. the skyline, as i look down towards wanchai/cwb, is amazing, and really has no comparable across the globe. i think that we here are pretty fortunate too. guess i'm caught up in the emotion of the middle east. it's so sad to see how that's unfolding. i'm currently doing a study in the book of JUDGES - and time and again, the israelites turn away from God, and God then allows others to come and rule over them... to the point where the Israelites will then have a leader sprout up that will bring them back momentarily, but then they fall back into disobedience.
if you think about it, that pattern has persisted to this day. the atrocities of the holocaust during WWII, during/after which i'm sure the jews were crying out to their God for some kind of salvation (even tho they rejected him some 1940 years ago) - and they were then "given" back their land, even though they didn't deserve a square foot of it. but all that's been going on since then, in the past 60 years, has been war-mongering amongst the leaders. you don't see israeli leaders coming to God, and seeking him... and now - they are again caught in a situation where they're stuck in war. it's so amazing - as this has been the prophecy of israel for the rest of its days - unfaithfulness and war.
is it a harsh assessment? probably, but it's hard for me to be too sympathetic to either side. one of my lesser spiritual gifts was mercy, so i AM working on it!!! but it just really drills down in my own heart how important it is to be spiritually consistent. when israel was on fire for God, they had EVERYTHING... when they turn away, they always have NOTHING. so simple...
maybe the mercy thing IS sorta getting to me - cuz everyday i read the paper, watch the news, my heart really goes out to all the people that are killed/murdered/displaced... it really sucks...
i feel like i was presssured to update... bullied... that's ok - i'm a middle child, and i'm always either bullied (by the older), overshadowed (by the cuteness of the younger), or ignored (by the parents, in favor of "the eldest", or "the cutest")... so life just happens to be one big pressure cooker. and this time, bloggers in the one_eighty forum have all been bullied by tom to update ... *sigh*
i'm fighting thru illness at the moment. sitting in the office at 8am, w/a strep throat, and aching shoulders, and periodic pounding head is not so good. i hate being sick. i think in 9 years of working, i've taken 2 sick days. guess i gotta soldier through.
currently, i'm staring out my office window into the harbor. over the way is tst - a place i rarely visit, but the sites are so familiar. it's so exotic over there, and makes me wonder why i don't venture out there more... then the bout of irrationality leaves and i'm glad to be back on the island! :P but HK is honestly a beautiful city. the skyline, as i look down towards wanchai/cwb, is amazing, and really has no comparable across the globe. i think that we here are pretty fortunate too. guess i'm caught up in the emotion of the middle east. it's so sad to see how that's unfolding. i'm currently doing a study in the book of JUDGES - and time and again, the israelites turn away from God, and God then allows others to come and rule over them... to the point where the Israelites will then have a leader sprout up that will bring them back momentarily, but then they fall back into disobedience.
if you think about it, that pattern has persisted to this day. the atrocities of the holocaust during WWII, during/after which i'm sure the jews were crying out to their God for some kind of salvation (even tho they rejected him some 1940 years ago) - and they were then "given" back their land, even though they didn't deserve a square foot of it. but all that's been going on since then, in the past 60 years, has been war-mongering amongst the leaders. you don't see israeli leaders coming to God, and seeking him... and now - they are again caught in a situation where they're stuck in war. it's so amazing - as this has been the prophecy of israel for the rest of its days - unfaithfulness and war.
is it a harsh assessment? probably, but it's hard for me to be too sympathetic to either side. one of my lesser spiritual gifts was mercy, so i AM working on it!!! but it just really drills down in my own heart how important it is to be spiritually consistent. when israel was on fire for God, they had EVERYTHING... when they turn away, they always have NOTHING. so simple...
maybe the mercy thing IS sorta getting to me - cuz everyday i read the paper, watch the news, my heart really goes out to all the people that are killed/murdered/displaced... it really sucks...
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