Note to Self

- Need to bone up on end times theology. (Revelation, Daniel, Isaiah)
- Read Romans.
- Read Acts with epistles when written.
- Bone up on Spiritual Warfare.
- Learn History.
- Learn Church History.
- Learn Economics.
- Learn Chinese.

Live like Jesus. and stop preaching to the choir.

Bible Plan Readers

Report in.

How are we doing?

QOD

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."

- George Bernard Shaw

Wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
James 1:5-8

God, hit me up with some wisdom!

Jung-Myers

As requested by Joi,

I am.. E N T J (<-- two links)

• slightly expressed extravert
  
• moderately expressed intuitive personality
  
• slightly expressed thinking personality
  
• moderately expressed judging personality

Extraverted	Intuitive	Thinking	Judging
Strength of the preferences %
22	38	1	33

So if I read this right, I think 1% of the time.
Makes sense.

Things I have learned today

• God's love is huger than I will ever comprehend.
• We are all sinners.
• I should become a radio announcer.
• I need to brush up on my Scripture reading.
• Some kids honestly desire to know more about God. This gives me hope.
  
• Never give a "yes" or "no" without thinking it through.

To be continued.

Focus

After much prayer, I think God wants me to focus on three things:

My relationship with Him.
My Family.
Zoe.

I have had issues in the past of being stretched thin, and forgetting things. This is a reminder that the three major things right now are the above.

Random Thoughts

• I should have not prayed for more work at work.
• I might have to start watching the Legen - dary "How I met your Mother".
• Putting only the ppl starting with "A" into my new phone was a horrible mistake.
• I am going to have to start eating downstairs at the Korean Restaurant more.
• Do more call outs.
• Need more cardio than the 2 minute sprints to catch the bus.
• Pray for Revival.
• Be less Me-focused.
• Care less about money.
• Write more original pieces.

Radical Amputation

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. Mark 9:43-47

Matthew Henry states:

1. The case supposed, that our own hand, or eye, or foot, offend us; that the impure corruption we indulge is as dear to us as an eye or a hand, or that that which is to us as an eye or a hand, is become an invisible temptation to sin, or occasion of it. Suppose the beloved is become a sin, or the sin a beloved. Suppose we cannot keep that which is dear to us, but it will be a snare and a stumbling-block; suppose we must part with it, or part with Christ and a good conscience.

2. The duty prescribed in that case; Pluck out the eye, cut off the hand and foot, mortify the darling lust, kill it, crucify it, starve it, make no provision for it. Let the idols that have been delectable things, be cast away as detestable things; keep at a distance from that which is a temptation, though ever so pleasing. It is necessary that the part which is gangrened, should be taken off for the preservation of the whole. Immedicabile vulnus ense recidendum est, ne pars sincera trahatur--The part that is incurably wounded must be cut off, lest the parts that are sound be corrupted. We must put ourselves to pain, that we may not bring ourselves to ruin; self must be denied, that it may not be destroyed.

3. The necessity of doing this. The flesh must be mortified, that we may enter into life (v. 43, 45), into the kingdom of God, v. 47. Though, by abandoning sin, we may, for the present, feel ourselves as if we were halt and maimed (it may seem to be a force put upon ourselves, and may create us some uneasiness), yet it is for life; and all that men have, they will give for their lives: it is for a kingdom, the kingdom of God, which we cannot otherwise obtain; these halts and maims will be the marks of the Lord Jesus, will be in that kingdom scars of honour.

4. The danger of not doing this. The matter is brought to this issue, that either sin must die, or we must die. If we will lay this Delilah in our bosom, it will betray us; if we be ruled by sin, we shall inevitably be ruined by it; if we must keep our two hands, and two eyes, and two feet, we must with them be cast into hell. Our Saviour often pressed our duty upon us, from the consideration of the torments of hell, which we run ourselves into if we continue in sin. With what an emphasis of terror are those words repeated three times here, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched! The words are quoted from Isa. lxvi. 24. (1.) The reflections and reproaches of the sinner's own conscience are the worm that dieth not; which will cleave to the damned soul as the worms do to the dead body, and prey upon it, and never leave it till it is quite devoured. Son, remember, will set this worm gnawing; and how terrible will it bite that word (Prov. v. 12, 23), How have I hated instruction! The soul that is food to this worm, dies not; and the worm is bred in it, and one with it, and therefore neither doth that die. Damned sinners will be to eternity accusing, condemning, and upbraiding, themselves with their own follies, which, how much soever they are now in love with them, will at the last bite like a serpent, and sting like an adder. Matthew Henry ¹

QOD

“Truth always carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong.”

-- Francis Schaeffer

Project

It has just come to my attention that I will be starting a project at work on Thursday as the team lead.

The project is...

3 months delayed.
with an application I have NEVER used before.
involving monies (more than I make for sure!).
with a group of people I have NEVER met before.
very loosely defined.

So hit me up with some prayers!

VOD

Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. Jonah 2:8

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor. 9:8

Verses that broke the funk. I don't know what it was... but, it was like a veil was lifted from my eyes. Time to go read the Bible!

Funk

Feel like spiritually awakened, yet moving in tar sand. Man, if this is my 100%, it is pretty weak sauce.

More QOD

"I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some."

Herbert Rappaport

"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."

Oscar Wilde

One Can Dream..

As an IT guy, I can relate.

“It’s not just the pilot and the copilot,” cries the flight attendant. “The federal air marshall is bleeding to death, and the only doctor on the plane is on fire!”

Cath rises to her feet.

“The wings are coming off!” shrieks the pregnant mother. “And the F-14s behind us are still firing!”

Cath strides to the cockpit door.

“It’s too much,” cries a priest, tearing off his collar. “I can’t even bring myself to pray!”

“Everyone calm down!” Cath declares. “It’s going to be okay. I’m a sysadmin.”

That turns out to be very, very little help.

(But a little!)

Source

QOD

"It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them."

P.G. Wodehouse

Taken

I don't know who you are.
I don't know what you want.
If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money.
But what I do have are a very particular set of skills;
skills I have acquired over a very long career.
Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.
If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it.
I will not look for you, I will not pursue you.
But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you,
and I will kill you.

This movie looks epic. Anyone want to go?

Argh!

It's so easy to offer praises when things are going swimmingly, I can only assume that this frustration is for the tempering of my faith. But, GG, God that was mean.

God, when I say I will follow you all my days. I am only beginning to understand what that means.

Bible Reading

To my fellow Bible plan readers (and those that are wise to listen):

The goal of engaging in this Bible reading adventure is not for the purpose of patting ourselves on the back for reading through the Bible. The purpose is intimacy with Jesus.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
John 8:31,32

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Col 3:16

Real-Time

These are the events that take place on Jan 11th to Jan 12th 2009. Events happen in real-time and are only slightly embellished.

7:00 PM - Finish Team Meeting.
7:30 PM - Decide to eat out with Chan Sisters.
7:35 PM - Arrive at Chan residence.
7:38 PM - Drive to Fritter King.
7:40 PM - Chan sisters engage in mindless (yes, you read that right) banter. Realize Chan sisters are weird.
7:48 PM - Get Bubble tea from Bubble Republic.
7:49 PM - Eldest Chan sister declares herself the bubble girl. "duh nuh duh nuh duh nuh... able to drink bubble tea really really fast!".
7:51 PM - Passengers realize different interpretation of the "bubble girl".
8:00 PM - 24 Season 7 premiere begins!
8:07 PM - Arrive at Felix's House to watch.
8:44 PM - Explained the subtle nuances that enhance the awesomeness that is 24. No one listened.
8:57 PM - Youngest Chan sister declares that 24 is about stare downs and "alpha male-ness".
8:59 PM - Ending credits of episode one include intense stare downs by various cast members.
10:00 PM - Premiere finishes.
10:05 PM - Decide to watch the 2nd part of the premiere tomorrow at Felix's.
10:21 PM - Play "Who, What, When".
10:37 PM - "Where I went to vacation!" "Punta Cana!" "No! The other place!" The Chan connection does not work too well in this game. :P
10:44 PM - Frustrated with team for taking 20 seconds to guess "Meat Pie".
10:52 PM - "You are Elvin's ____." "Brother! Sibling! Older Brother! Older Sibling!" "Opposite of small!" "Little Brother!" "zzz...." (Big Brother)
10:58 PM - "It's a soccer star. One word." Looks at his female guessers...."never mind". (...Pélé)
11:09 PM - "Where troubles melt like lemon drops / Away above the chimney tops / That's where you'll find me." "???!!" (Somewhere over a Rainbow)
11:18 PM - Fail at making team guess "Jordan". Luckily, not ftl.
11:22 PM - "______ Franklin! Agatha Franklin! Agartha Franklin! Agrea Franklin!" (...Aretha)
11:24 PM - JC, Alan, Richard team rock it. J.A.R. ftw.
11:33 PM - Sit around and guess the cards for fun.
11:59 PM - Go Home.
12:20 AM - Spend time in prayer and devo. Read Eph 6.
12:42 AM - Promise God that if I am still awake in 30 minutes, will read all of Ephesians.
1:15 AM - Read all of Ephesians. Memorize Eph 4:29.
2:12 AM - Pray to God to allow me to make it to work on time.
2:33 AM - Sleep, blissful sleep.
7:10 AM - Wake up!
7:12 AM - Read Psalm 93.
7:19 AM - Look in mirror, my eyes are barely open. Two lines. -- ___ --.
7:33 AM - Re-read Psalm 93. The floods have lifted up your voice, O Lord.
7:58 AM - Drive to GO. "The purpose of reading the Bible is never to solve an exegetical problem, but to enlarge our understanding of God."
8:32 AM - Read Ezekiel 8-12.
9:04 AM - Get to work on time. /no1

Awesome!

IT WORKS!

Someone stop me...

The Studio XPS 13.

I am crying on the inside. Anyone have the inside scoop on the nehelam chips? Or at least...a comparable 13-inch laptop that won't break the bank?

God Time

Ever notice when you spend time doing quiet time with God, there seems to be a million things that you need to do instead?

Do not succumb to the tricks of the devil!

This is a reminder to all of us, especially myself. :)

For the Glory of God

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
1 Cor 10:31

The importance of this verse has never struck me so hard as last night. When we quote this verse, we often associate it with the freedom in the activities that we CAN do for Christ. Rather, that everything we do CAN bring glory to God.

I can wash dishes for God.
I can play Counter-strike for God.
I can survive a zombie epidemic for the glory of God.

And rightly, you can.

But, is that what the verse says?

We minimize the effect and the power of this verse by limiting it to "CAN DO". The statement is an imperative! We MUST do all things for the glory of God. Anything that takes away from Jesus, from the HS, from the Father are things that we need to put to death. Our lives MUST be lived for the sole purpose of bringing Him glory!

Is there sin in your life? Do not put it away so that you can call yourself a good Christian. Put it away so that you can adequately reflect His glory. Examine the motives of your actions. The actions that seek to give God all of the glory are the ones that we should set our lives to.

Vacation

Who wants to go on vacation with me?! Fares are cheaper this year, so might hit up some places... might as well get going, while the economy is in the tanks!

Vague

I don't mean to be vague -- most of the time. I think I dwell and think about things for a long long time, and write one line about it to summarize all of my thoughts. It is the conclusion that most of you read, rarely the thought process that leads to that conclusion. If I was a superhero, I would definitely be called the Summarizer.

Note to Self

Learn to have an opinion.

Hey! Listen!

How callous we are sometimes. How, totally unobservant! In our effort to dispense sage-like wisdom, we forget who we are talking to and dealing with. Perhaps, our ministries are too far stretched, and we cannot afford the precious time that is necessary for each soul we meet? Or maybe our heads are so swollen with pride, that it is not the person that matters, rather how good our advice sounds, how holy we appear?!

Whatever the case, whatever the issue...perhaps it would be prudent of us to take a minute longer to listen, to digest the words that person is saying.

Stop minimizing their issue.
Stop changing the subject.
Stop mocking them.

Pray for them, they revealed their thing to you for a reason.