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Today I seen 2 deaths.
One of which is of course the passing of Michael Jackson and the other is the passing of Kodachrome.
Yes both are unrelated but they are significant in a way that shape the world culturally.
MJ is of course the King of Pop, and his music will be forever remembered. I grew up in his music from Billie Jean to his Egyptian inspired MTVs. At 50, it is an age where youthfulness and experience brings about the best of both worlds, and to go at this time seems so much like a waste. RIP MJ.
Kodachrome, to the uninitiated, is colour film that heralds the era of personal photography in colour. Without colour, we won't be enjoying the sights and imagine the sounds of faraway places. We also won't enjoy our photos as much. As a photographer, colour is as much a part as I am as God has intended for man to enjoy the joys of creation and thanks to this colour film, we can enjoy it that much longer in time.
Both 'demise' are part of me, and it is really hard to see them go and both reminded me about Solomon's wise sayings.
"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever" (Ecc 1:4)
They are here for a reason and both show the positive side of life with positive influence but MJ also shows something that Solomon also has experienced. The 'meaningless' of life.
With power of influence, money and adoration, MJ still isn't happy and we all know his issues and ups and downs. He just shows us something that the Lord wants us to understand and Jesus has made it really clear..."Seek ye the righteousness of God and all these things shall be added unto you"
Although the verse talks about material needs, I say the word 'ALL' has a deeper meaning than just material. It includes the joy of having the material needs with the appreciation of ABBA's love and providence.
Just as Solomon has everything he needs because of God's grace, what he lacked was the ability to enjoy it at a level of appreciation. He 'enjoyed' anything and everything that fancies him but still did not 'enjoy'.
I believe that Jesus is the hole that needs to be plugged, in order to fully enjoy the things we have and the people around us.
Nevertheless, rest in peace MJ and 'Thank You for the Music' and to Kodachrome 'Thank You for Colouring my life'
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
This is really a good piece!
THE QUESTION that CHANGED MY LIFE
-by David Ryser.
A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school
of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly
searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with
Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across
a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short
version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this:
Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece
and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and
became an enterprise. Some of the students were only 18 or 19
years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand
and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding,
"An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha,
the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not
imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was
self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless,
I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked
such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be
a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going,
and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued,
"But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"
The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or
spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the
presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were
on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was,
"Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." I didn't dare express that thought
aloud. God had taken over the class.
Martha's question changed my life. For six months, I thought about
her question at least once every day. "When a body becomes a
business, isn't that a prostitute?" There is only one answer to her
question. The answer is "Yes." The American Church, tragically,
is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we
love Him? We don't even know Him; and I mean really know Him.
... I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not
know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates
in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what
we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would
bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him
for His money, and we don't care if He lives or dies as long as we
can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business,
merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded
to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that's pretty
intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love
someone we don't even know? And even if we do know someone,
is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or
prostitutes?
I was pondering Martha's question again one day, and considered
the question, "What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute?"
I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does
what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but
only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, "What would
happen if God stopped paying me?"
For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover
my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of
God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He
never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please
understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The
issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is
the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings
in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have
earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any
conditions? It took several months to work through these questions.
Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by
my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed
with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in
my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved,
but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.
So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute?
There are no prostitutes in heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for
that matter, but there are plenty of former prostitutes in both
places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no
substitute or unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I
mean there is no palatable substitute available to us (take another
look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We must choose.
-Dr. David Ryser.
THE QUESTION that CHANGED MY LIFE
-by David Ryser.
A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school
of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly
searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with
Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across
a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short
version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this:
Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece
and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and
became an enterprise. Some of the students were only 18 or 19
years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand
and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding,
"An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha,
the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not
imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was
self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless,
I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked
such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be
a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going,
and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued,
"But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"
The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or
spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the
presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were
on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was,
"Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." I didn't dare express that thought
aloud. God had taken over the class.
Martha's question changed my life. For six months, I thought about
her question at least once every day. "When a body becomes a
business, isn't that a prostitute?" There is only one answer to her
question. The answer is "Yes." The American Church, tragically,
is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we
love Him? We don't even know Him; and I mean really know Him.
... I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not
know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates
in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what
we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would
bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him
for His money, and we don't care if He lives or dies as long as we
can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business,
merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded
to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that's pretty
intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love
someone we don't even know? And even if we do know someone,
is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or
prostitutes?
I was pondering Martha's question again one day, and considered
the question, "What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute?"
I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does
what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but
only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, "What would
happen if God stopped paying me?"
For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover
my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of
God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He
never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please
understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The
issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is
the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings
in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have
earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any
conditions? It took several months to work through these questions.
Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by
my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed
with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in
my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved,
but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.
So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute?
There are no prostitutes in heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for
that matter, but there are plenty of former prostitutes in both
places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no
substitute or unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I
mean there is no palatable substitute available to us (take another
look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We must choose.
-Dr. David Ryser.
Truly Great Quotes
"the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing - and
the main thing is Christ."
~Clay Peck
"Salvation is a helmet, not a nightcap."
-Vance Havner
"Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God."
-Brennan Manning.
These are truly great quotes
Quote 1: The main thing is Christ, and as Paul preaches, Christ crucified!
Quote 2: Salvation is a helmet and it is not 'sloppy' like a night cap. Our salvation is iron clad. It will protect us, if we put it on correctly. We are saved now and forever and it has no conditions except to believe!
Quote 3: I love this quote. If life is clear, then we do not need to rely on God. The main reason for this is very very simple, because God love us! Sounds weird? Look at it this way, God so loved us, that he wants us to keep relying on Him. Much like parents even when their children are grown, would want the children to rely on them for advice and comfort. If we who are evil able to love our children with such tenderness, how great is God's love!
So it is not because God do not want us to give us clarity, it is just that He would rather wants us to rely on Him, to build our faith and allow Him to bless according to His good plans for us (Jer 29:11) and His abundance. We are a nation of Royal Priesthood according to the priesthood of Melchizedek. We are prince and princesses of the Most High. He gave us that title through His son's sacrifice, so why don't rely on Him? (as this was typed, I am also in a state of struggle, to see God in my trying circumstances).
Be Blessed According to the Riches of Heaven through and in Christ.
the main thing is Christ."
~Clay Peck
"Salvation is a helmet, not a nightcap."
-Vance Havner
"Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God."
-Brennan Manning.
These are truly great quotes
Quote 1: The main thing is Christ, and as Paul preaches, Christ crucified!
Quote 2: Salvation is a helmet and it is not 'sloppy' like a night cap. Our salvation is iron clad. It will protect us, if we put it on correctly. We are saved now and forever and it has no conditions except to believe!
Quote 3: I love this quote. If life is clear, then we do not need to rely on God. The main reason for this is very very simple, because God love us! Sounds weird? Look at it this way, God so loved us, that he wants us to keep relying on Him. Much like parents even when their children are grown, would want the children to rely on them for advice and comfort. If we who are evil able to love our children with such tenderness, how great is God's love!
So it is not because God do not want us to give us clarity, it is just that He would rather wants us to rely on Him, to build our faith and allow Him to bless according to His good plans for us (Jer 29:11) and His abundance. We are a nation of Royal Priesthood according to the priesthood of Melchizedek. We are prince and princesses of the Most High. He gave us that title through His son's sacrifice, so why don't rely on Him? (as this was typed, I am also in a state of struggle, to see God in my trying circumstances).
Be Blessed According to the Riches of Heaven through and in Christ.
More "Great Quotes"?
Today just received another email from Revival, and with the judgment of the author, he or she deemed fit these quotes as being 'Great'
Quote No. 1:
"Phone Interviewer: “Say you were asked, Leonard, to speak for
the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters,
and the Lord directed you to accept that invitation, what message
might you bring to that group?”
Ravenhill: “I believe I’d preach on hell."
Now what is exactly is the problem with the above?
When a 'man of God' has the chance to preach to the world, he don't preach about Christ, he decided to preach on hell.
Why would he want to do that? I mean, we are walking upon this earth that has seen nothing but death and destruction, of condemnation and of sin. Do we need another preacher that preaches on hell when every where around us, people are living in hell physically, mentally or worse, both physically and mentally.
If you are drowning, would you call to someone who shouts to you instructions on how to swim or would you want that person to save you or to notify the lifeguard?
We are already in sin, so why preach hell to the point that we already state the obvious so thoroughly so that people think they are not worthy to be saved?
So my question to you now is this, "Did God redeem the world through Christ on the cross before we are born?"
So technically speaking, we are saved so long we believed. And how to make a person to believe? The answer is to tell the good news that there is a saviour, hence we got the Gospel through the new testament.
Preaching on hell will just give the illusion that Satan's power is unassailable which is of course, bogus!
This world is already condemned because the power of sin is in the law. Preaching on hell won't make a person go to Jesus, it actually focuses the person to the negative judgment of condemnation upon the sinner. The alternative is to show a loving God, whom has made a tremendous sacrifice to let go of His Beloved SON and because of the SON's willingness to die on the cross, also show my Lord's love to the sinner. Won't that be a better attraction to the sinner?
Would any one want to go to an amusement park where all the rides are about punishment?
So why would it be any different if the person you are preaching to, would be repelled away because you kept on preaching hell?!? It just show that you do not know the true nature of Jesus salvation which is the Grace of Christ, and not the law of Moses.
Hark back to Moses. When God tells Moses not to strike the rock (happened in Ex 17:5-6 ) but to speak to it (Num 20:8). Why the difference? And why such a heavy punishment where Moses is not even allowed to step into the promised land?
The reason is simple. Jesus is being compared to as a rock and being the CHIEF corner stone.
So striking the rock in the first instance, is the picture of Christ crucified. The second instance is only talking to the rock, which is prayer to Christ, that will bring forth water, and the water that Christ always profess, is the living water as told to the woman at the well in John 4.
So, for preachers out there, don't preach the sins of the world and damnation, but preach and speak to the ROCK, that will bring forth living water from Christ, the good news of salvation, for the thirsty multitude of this world will willingly drink from Him if we show the correct picture of God and of Christ!
So is the above a great quote? No, it is doing Christ name an injustice by placing hell above His name.
Quote 2:
“I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in
the United States are truly born again.”
-Leonard Ravenhill
The above Leonard, is the same Leonard from the previous quote.
If to put this as a 'great' quote, then on what basis do we judge a person's salvation? When a person shows fear and trembling towards God?
Honestly, GOD FORBID! To have such a mentality means one do not really know God as a Father. THE father who loves, who runs to his wayward son when he saw him from a far. The father who reinstates the son to sonship even before the son could say his prepared speech (which of course, is to make himself as one of the servants).
We are that son. We keep thinking about being a servant, when Christ has made us sons and daughters of God the Father, whom all blessings flow. Who are we to judge a level of salvation a person receives? Who are we to know and judge how a born again should behave?
Love the person! When you are deeply eros love your wife during the happiness of the courtship did you really look at all the flaws? Now we God deeply AGAPE love you so deeply, that He gave His son so that He can legally called you righteous...so how do you know God has made a person a new Creation in Christ?
Time to stop judging Leonard Ravenhill.
Quote No. 1:
"Phone Interviewer: “Say you were asked, Leonard, to speak for
the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters,
and the Lord directed you to accept that invitation, what message
might you bring to that group?”
Ravenhill: “I believe I’d preach on hell."
Now what is exactly is the problem with the above?
When a 'man of God' has the chance to preach to the world, he don't preach about Christ, he decided to preach on hell.
Why would he want to do that? I mean, we are walking upon this earth that has seen nothing but death and destruction, of condemnation and of sin. Do we need another preacher that preaches on hell when every where around us, people are living in hell physically, mentally or worse, both physically and mentally.
If you are drowning, would you call to someone who shouts to you instructions on how to swim or would you want that person to save you or to notify the lifeguard?
We are already in sin, so why preach hell to the point that we already state the obvious so thoroughly so that people think they are not worthy to be saved?
So my question to you now is this, "Did God redeem the world through Christ on the cross before we are born?"
So technically speaking, we are saved so long we believed. And how to make a person to believe? The answer is to tell the good news that there is a saviour, hence we got the Gospel through the new testament.
Preaching on hell will just give the illusion that Satan's power is unassailable which is of course, bogus!
This world is already condemned because the power of sin is in the law. Preaching on hell won't make a person go to Jesus, it actually focuses the person to the negative judgment of condemnation upon the sinner. The alternative is to show a loving God, whom has made a tremendous sacrifice to let go of His Beloved SON and because of the SON's willingness to die on the cross, also show my Lord's love to the sinner. Won't that be a better attraction to the sinner?
Would any one want to go to an amusement park where all the rides are about punishment?
So why would it be any different if the person you are preaching to, would be repelled away because you kept on preaching hell?!? It just show that you do not know the true nature of Jesus salvation which is the Grace of Christ, and not the law of Moses.
Hark back to Moses. When God tells Moses not to strike the rock (happened in Ex 17:5-6 ) but to speak to it (Num 20:8). Why the difference? And why such a heavy punishment where Moses is not even allowed to step into the promised land?
The reason is simple. Jesus is being compared to as a rock and being the CHIEF corner stone.
So striking the rock in the first instance, is the picture of Christ crucified. The second instance is only talking to the rock, which is prayer to Christ, that will bring forth water, and the water that Christ always profess, is the living water as told to the woman at the well in John 4.
So, for preachers out there, don't preach the sins of the world and damnation, but preach and speak to the ROCK, that will bring forth living water from Christ, the good news of salvation, for the thirsty multitude of this world will willingly drink from Him if we show the correct picture of God and of Christ!
So is the above a great quote? No, it is doing Christ name an injustice by placing hell above His name.
Quote 2:
“I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in
the United States are truly born again.”
-Leonard Ravenhill
The above Leonard, is the same Leonard from the previous quote.
If to put this as a 'great' quote, then on what basis do we judge a person's salvation? When a person shows fear and trembling towards God?
Honestly, GOD FORBID! To have such a mentality means one do not really know God as a Father. THE father who loves, who runs to his wayward son when he saw him from a far. The father who reinstates the son to sonship even before the son could say his prepared speech (which of course, is to make himself as one of the servants).
We are that son. We keep thinking about being a servant, when Christ has made us sons and daughters of God the Father, whom all blessings flow. Who are we to judge a level of salvation a person receives? Who are we to know and judge how a born again should behave?
Love the person! When you are deeply eros love your wife during the happiness of the courtship did you really look at all the flaws? Now we God deeply AGAPE love you so deeply, that He gave His son so that He can legally called you righteous...so how do you know God has made a person a new Creation in Christ?
Time to stop judging Leonard Ravenhill.
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