somewhere along the line, i mustve messed it up...

cuz suddenly, ive become a psychiatrist, a life counsellor, an environmental health dude, a architect, a town planner, a math teacher, and a university physics teacher....

what the balls... i cant seem to specialise at all...

good, true friends are hard to come by....

interesting stuff...

i knew this ages ago, but then it just dawned on me again...

1 church... lotsa buildings...

sometimes, its so easy to get caught up in the whole comparing churches, and i know that ive done it lots... actually... a lot a lot...

so here it is... there is no 1 'better' church than the other, becuz the church of Christ is 1 church, and isnt pentacostal or methodist or er... what else is there... anglican i think its called, and so on... God's bride isnt hillsong or the AOG, but its the church of Christ...

i dont think God has an american church bride, a chinese church bride, and so on... just 1 church... and sometimes, we just gotta keep reminding ourselves... as cool as we might think that 1 church is awesomer than another, we are all in the same church, living for the same cause, with a future as bright and as free as the rest of the church..

i do think that God moves different parts of the body of Christ to lead different lives, some are good dancers, some sing, some are led to be successful businessmen, some are environmentalists, some preach, some are computer technicians, and so on... but the body of Christ doesnt segregate, the body is built and designed in a way to work together...

anyways, yea...

the freedom God gives us...

it goes way beyond the "i can sing the songs!" and even the "i can lik pray for people without needing to think much" and goes way further than the "i can jump up and down with my hands in the air during worship time" stuff... im sure God loves it when we worship Him by doing all that, but im just as sure that He dusnt really need us to go through the same motions all the time...

i think the freedom of the gospel is beyond our physical actions and stuff, its the freedom of our potential future as God's child in the world... it goes beyond living according to just the legislation of the world and so on, and dare i say beyond the church rules and expectations... that and even more...

i believe God wants us to live beyond rules, and laws... He wants us to live convicted by His Holy Spirit... the conviction stems from the Word where we learn about God's character, and it is from this root that i believe is where our lives can become enriched and blessed by God beyond what we can imagine...

rules and regulations examine and expose only the negativity and sinful things that we can't do, but isnt life so much more than just not doing bad? its all about doing the good and the best things... it isnt about absteining from the bad, its about our commitment to the good which sets us apart... if God wanted us to just not sin, would He not just lock us all up in a solitary cell so we cant do any wrong? God isnt a policeman... God doesnt just give us a warning when we jaywalk, but He commends us for helping someone cross the street....

i can just about outright say that i hate rules... i hate being bound down and being told what not to do... im not a anarchist, i just dont believe that rules are necessary when God's Word is in your heart, and that you actively live by convictions...

at this moment, im not saying im perfect... i do screw up... but if all i did was try to follow rules, how many more times i will screw up....

i thank God that my church doesnt really impose rules on God's people... i thank God that we have the ability to tell just from the injust and we not only abstain from the bad, but we actively do the best to which i believe You are pleased with....

but God, i pray that You would set Your people free... especially the ones whom live by tight regulations, the ones who live under the expectations of people around them.. i pray that the ones who oppress Your people... the leaders, the pharisees and sadducees, governments, the institutions, the metropolis, the social powers of titles, money, mammon, power, popularity, expectation, regularity, the grain of the world, the principlalities and the propagandas of this world... i pray that You would touch them.... i pray that Your Will be done here right now, and Your freedom to reign here on this planet... God, i pray for a uprising of real God's people... not people who want to impress their leaders, not people who just want to impress the world or even impress other people of God... i pray that we wouldnt lift our souls to another, but would instead lift them up to You, God...

God, Your freedom, in Jesus' Name... as i have known You also by the Name of Freedom, I pray that the rest of the world will also know You as "God, the one who sets us free"... God, i pray for unity, not conformity... i pray for real truth, not propaganda truth... i pray for conviction, not anarchy... i dont want to see anyone become bound down by anything, let it be sin or not...

hebrews 12:1 says
[msg]"Do you see what this means--all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins"
[amp] "THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us"

God's Word clearly defines a difference between extra weight and sins... there is a difference between actual sin and weight... and since Jesus came and helped us get rid of the sin part, the only real ensnaring part left is the weight which we carry around...

God, i release this Word i believe is so strong in Your heart into this world, and i pray that people will hear Your Word and be set free by Your Name...

this one is gonna be really dodgy... even for myself... at this present moment, i really dont know what is right and what isnt... a lot of churches do this, but i personally am not for it, but yea.. decide for yourself...

the question i pose is:
"what is a spirit of *insert whatever verb or adjective needed*?"

for example... what is implied when say someone releases a "spirit of worship" upon the congregation?

to me, it does not make any sense at all... the only time the bible actually described a spirit of something is when God left saul, and saul got a depressing spirit over him... that was it... i really dont recall any other times when it is described as such...

so what IS a decieving spirit? what is a spirit of prayer? whats a spirit of destruction?

all those terms i hear pastors from all over the world use, but i have never actually fully understood it... did the church just make verbs into a entity so then there becomes something we can just blame our mistakes on? is it just some fancy talk to make ourselves sound more spiritual? maybe the leaders of the church saw or felt a aura, almost, and that around some people, they were really depressed.. and then they just bagged the term a depressing spirit... and from there, people just generalised, and spread it into every single emotion there is...

at this point, i dont really have a slant on it... but i believe that the holy spirit has convicted me over this... i personally dont think that God wants me to go around binding something that i dont even believe exsists... im not saying that i dont believe that demons and angels and all, i just dont believe that they are named, and i dont believe that they are "specialized"... well, apart from say the battle angels, and that...

on another interesting note, in my church, they made up something called the "hillsong spirit".. how wierd is that? they named a spirit after their church...

any comments? cuz at this moment, i dont know wuts on the up...

the way some of the church is going, we will soon be hearing "spirit of eating too much" the "spirit of obesity" or even the "spirit of talking on mobile phones in the middle of a movie in a cinema"...

by the way... in case anyone is wondering, even if you DO feel that its not right, i dont think that it is a good idea to let things like this seperate a congregation.. in the end, God gives us our personal convictions, and it is by these convictions that we live... dont impose your conviction on others, no matter how much sense they make to you... God doesnt need everyone to grow up and live exactly the same, because God made us all different...

i dont mean to impose my views on people... i just want to hear what other people's views on this is...

you know what REALLY pisses me off sometimes?

people's lack of willingness to accept responsibility sometimes... and yes, i do that myself too, tho i actively try not to...

let me explain with a really short story...

a man lives a good life and all, with family, church, good friends... also enjoys eating fatty steaks... after a while, he starts to excersise less, and eat more, and before he knows it, he gets put into hospital because his heart is failing...

ok... so is the root of the problem being the ENEMY attacking him? or is it the MAN's fault for overeating?

the way i see it, as much as satan COULD have talked the man into it... BUT, the man had a CHOICE to choose between life and death, and he obviously chose death by eating a lot and not excersising...

there is NO POINT IN BLAMING THE ENEMY FOR THINGS YOU DECIDE TO DO... if someone tells you to jump off a building, would you? of course not.. so when the enemy decides to tell u to be a total ass to your friend because he hasent called you lately, do you do it?

and the most important thing is... IT AINT TOO DIFFICULT, DUDE!!

God would never ask you to choose between things that are too hard for you to differentiate... and God will never put you in a position where you are that lost that there is no way out...

God wants us to build character, not shift blame... God wants us to mature, not ignore responsibility... God wants us to choose life, and not choose death and blame satan for it...

in the end, it is OUR choices that makes or breaks... God's will cannot be denied, but our choices determine where WE get to in life... i for one would very much like to make it to the end choosing life all the way through...

and again, i would like to add, i was there in that story, as much as the man would like me to pray "i bind thee demons plaguing this man's life", i would pray "we bind the fatty steaks and release a willingness to excersise over this man's life in Jesus' Name"

in our daily lives, it is not just that, but many other things that cause our lives to stumble... but before you go around blaming the enemy... think about it... is it REALLY the enemy doing stuff against you? or is it you yourself doing things against you... because right now, i have pretty much had enough of people asking me to help them bind the enemy, blame the enemy, this that and the other, when it is so evidently the person who is killing himself...

it seriously lik... pisses me off...

lik we see on the news how some extremists use religion to shift blame, and we say "oooh.. they are so messed up" but the reality of it is, sometimes, we do EXACTLY what they do... its just that the consequences are less catastrophic...

hahahaha... its kinda funny...

a few days back, someone came up to me, talking about how those ppl who go on protest marches are just wanting to cause trouble and rebel against the government and all that... so im here thinking... is it REALLY what they are trying to do? i mean.. are they trying to voice their opinion? did they have a bad day at work and so they figured torching a store is a way of venting? maybe they truely are all against it, and so they want to voice their opinion... but when i said that, i was faced with the question "why dont they just sit at home and pray?"

i didnt reply to that, cuz i didnt want a debate to stir up... kinda funny.. we read and talk about how we wud all just step up to the challenges God gives us, and like go DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, and not just SIT AT HOME AND TALK ABOUT IT... hahaha... im not AIMING this at anyone, im just kinda... contemplating? yea....

its also funny how so much of the out-going churches of the world complain how the conservative church sits in their own "christian bubble", and ignores the world? hahahaha... i mean... isnt that pretty much along the same lines? i mean... God said u have to respect the authority figures, in the Lord, didnt it? so if the government says anything against the will of God, does that give us the right to do something about it? isaiah 10... "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless".... so here is, probably one of the most famous prophets, saying something along the lines of "i am very dissapointed at u government people who makes unjust laws and stuff"...

on a funny side note, when u go to a protest, and ask anyone what it is exactly they are against, most probably cant answer u... for example, at the article 23 protest, no-one i came up to can tell me, exactly, what IS wrong with the article... they just say "ooh.. cuz the democrats say its wrong" or some other really wierd excuse that isnt really what THEY believe in...

funny eh? im not saying im AGAINST protesting, and im not all FOR it either... i guess im against protesting if i dont know what it is im believing in... kinda funny... if you think about it, it takes more faith to protest and not know what ur getting into, than to protest knowing what it is that you want....

so for all these people who says that protesting is against the will of God, that means that the whole martin luther-king with the anti-racism movement was wrong, and that it was against the will of God... im not saying sitting at home praying doesnt do any good.. it does a lot of good... but without action, the Gospel is not as effective... if no one was willing to step up against these oppressive social issues of our time, think about it....

if all Jesus did was sit and pray, no one would be saved...
if all moses did was sit and pray, all of Israel would have been re-captured by egypt again...
if all esther did was sit and pray, all of Israel would have been killed by the dudes from persia..
and if all paul did was sit and pray, most of the new testament wouldnt have been made...

sometimes, we have to really get our asses off the chair, and go DO something... may it be something drastic, or something really simple, but we cant afford to just sit all day praying about oppressive laws, not do anything and expect everything to sort itself out...

at times, especially at times like this, it is imperative, i believe, that we as children of God step up and do something about the oppression against the people of this world... so maybe these people deserve to be oppressed, but arnt we all? so these people dont know God, but we were just like them before... what is the point of letting the rest of the world get oppressed while we live a life with God, if we cant even reach out to the world and show that we care?

as children of God, we should shun all injustice as the world throws it at us, and we should fight the Godly fight against oppression of all people, let it be rich or poor, powerful or slave, no matter what race, gender... we are all loved by God equally, and we should live life with equality like God wants us to....

but yea... any comments? i was really thinking... protesting against something as oppressive as the WTO i think is necessary... but setting cars and stores on fire isnt... praying against unjust laws i think is necessary... and we have to speak out for justice... let a cry of justice for all the world be the anthem for this generation....

God, i believe that the cry of the lost people for justice is there because so much of the church seems to want to ignore it... with the cause of Christ at heart, and with the authority of God, i pray for people who would step up against injustice from the church... God, i dont want to see any more news on TV about cars on fire because of injust law protests, but that the church will unite unto the cause of the Gospel, for Your Name to be lifted high, and for Your cry of justice to be heard in this broken land... God, i pray for a peaceful rally in HK, as the WTO talks move here... i pray that the people will not resort to violence to vent their anger, but instead realize that peace rallys are more effective.... as You ordained the peace rallys led by martin luther, God, i pray that Your justice be set right again.. for this land to be healed from all inequities, and from the pain of oppression... God, no bloodshed... may these days be so different to what traditional protests look like....

American Imperialistic Free Trade Ensnares Worker’s Rights in Developing Nations

The “American Dream” of having greater wealth, freedom and equality is the dream that the American lifestyle (Adams, 1931) based on. Not only does this dream apply to their own lives, but also the corporations that they own and run. There have been many instances of American corporations exploiting the labor force of a developing nation. Companies such as Unocal and Disney have expanded its corporation’s empire offshore into developing nations, impacting the economy and society. Factors such as the implementation of ‘free trade’ brought on by globalization and the World Trade Organization has enabled richer countries to freely expand their empires around the world without responsibility to the social impacts it has on it.

The American dream is based on the original American constitution, written out by the founding fathers of the nation after it declared independence. One of the clauses written in, and signed by the leaders of the 13 united States of America says:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness” (Hancock, 1776).
All men are created equal, not just Americans, not just the rich, but everyone, with unalienable rights, including rights to life, liberty and happiness. Therefore, it can be said that the value of one human being is the same as the other. American corporations do not seem to follow this founding document, as they continue to exploit people from all over the world, especially the poorer and developing areas.

The Alien Tort Claims Act, 1789, was written with the intent of protecting American ambassadors overseas (this is one speculation of many for the reasons for the Alien Tort Claims Act, but no one is sure about its exact purpose), but is becoming used more often to protect human rights. It is written that: “The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort [personal injury] only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States” (US Congress, 1789; Sparshott, 2004). However, this act has been used as a human rights law since the 1980s, starting with a $10 million USD lawsuit against a Paraguayan police officer who was charged with torture (Lobe, 2003). The Alien Tort Claims Act enables corporations who expand their enterprises overseas to be sued over irresponsible behaviour and mistreatment of workers.

Unocal, one of America’s largest oil companies, was charged and convicted of forced labor and labor abuses in Myanmar using the Alien Tort Claims Act (Greenwire, 2005). Unocal argued that they had built infrastructure that would benefit the community, and that they had not known what the army was doing to the locals, to which the judge insightfully saw it as a trick (Energy Intelligence Group Inc, 2003). The security force they hired, the Burmese Army, was found to be forcing entire villages to work the pipelines under working conditions similar to that of slave labor camps. Unocal is an example of a large corporation exploiting the labor force of a poorer country and not caring about the social impacts it has.

Another example of corporate business expansion exploiting worker’s rights is Disney. Disney is a large multinational corporation expanding into developing nations such as China and Indonesia for its cheaper labor and resources. However, some factories that produce Disney products in developing countries have been exploiting workers, and putting labourers under almost slave-like conditions (Teather, 2005). However, the labourers employed in these factories generally have a low education level, and do not know of the Alien Tort Claims Act, and also, especially in developing countries, there is a growing culture of silence, where the people getting abused do not stand up against the authority figure, as they are under their power (Milgram, 1963, 1974; Raven et al, 1959, 1999). The social powers described by Kelman (1973) show that rich Caucasian American businessmen representing a large corporation such as Disney is perceived to be socially powerful, especially to the lower class labourers in a developing state. This makes the reporting of labor abuse harder to find, as the labourers are unwilling to report it.

Currently, the American government has developed its policy to becoming more economically and financially driven than ever before, such as. John Ashcroft, the attorney general of the US Justice Department is openly attacking the Alien Tort Claims Act, in a move that will protect the American corporations such as Unocal, and giving the president more political power in foreign affairs (Hermer et al, 2004). As a republican, George Bush states that the American economic policies that are in place is lowering taxes (Bush, 2004), but according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Greenstein et al, 2005), the rich gets the most out of these tax cuts, and corporations benefit most from it. Bush himself was in the oil industry, as a business man in “Arbusto Energy”, a Texas-based oil company (Lardner et al, 1999). With corporations being protected by the corporate-friendly Bush government, the move by the Justice Department trying to get rid of the Alien Tort Claims Act is not surprising.

Globalization is defined by Encyclopaedia Britannica as “a phenomenon involving the integration of economies, cultures, governmental policies, and political movements around the world” (Feketekuty, 2001). However, with the integration of all the world economy, cultures, policies and political movements, who can arbitrarily make the decision of what is the new norm for them all? At what price would a bag of corn in this new world economy cost? If the price of commodities is set at a global level higher than what developing countries can afford, then the developing countries would have to pay a lot more for it than they should need to. On the flipside, if the prices are set at a price where the developing countries can afford, the rich western countries would be paying a lot less than they had to before, and therefore be able to exploit the system. This exploitation by the larger economies in the world would therefore be in power to change the world economics, cultural, political movements as they see fit. This gives American corporations an even bigger foothold into being able to exploit developing nation’s workers rights.

Worker’s rights are actively being ignored by not only the American corporation, but by the Bush government who unequally protects the corporations that feeds the country’s booming economy. One of the few ways the workers can fight for their rights is through the Alien Tort Claims Act, which the Bush government sees as a hindrance to further economic growth, and is actively campaigning against. Although globalization seems to benefit all nations and strengthen their economies, workers in developing countries continue to get exploited. To make matters worse, the social powers described by French and Raven (1959) and the worker’s perceived lower social status (Milgram, 1963; Zimbardo, 1971) causes the workers to become dehumanized, and depressed, and not being able to stand up against unfair treatments by figures of authority. Without the external influences of worker’s rights movements and other social justice groups, this cycle will continue to grow stronger for the corporation; which means that the exploitation developing parts of the world will continue on.

er.... i wrote that as a essay topic on "social issues concerning the working environment"
slightly twisted it, but hey...

any comments ppl? btw... i shudve written more... so if ur complaining its too short, yea, i know too...

u know whats a really scary thought that came into me the other day? having the thought of knowing how to 'do church'... might sound trivial, but think about it... having the thought of mindlessly jumping because its a 'jumpy song', or having to look and feel somber because its a slow song... that is a scary thought of just the 'religious act'... having to go to church because ive been here, done that... just the thought of that just almost makes me get the mini-twitch... i dont wanna ever go to any church, no matter where it is, and go through the motions... i dont want to have to walk into God's House, and know what to do... i dont want religious acts... i dont want to do the same thing twice... i dont want to do the same thing... i want to go all out... no more hands up in the air because everyone else is doing it.... no more just flowered up stuff... no more expecting the same songs and stuff.... no more songs determining how i should worship the Allmighty God... no more of [as richie puts it] "white worship"....

i wanna so live beyond that.... i dont want the shouting unto God to become a weekly ritual... i dont want jumping and dancing even to become something out of doing something i know i can do... i want to go and do everything i can do and some that i cant do for God...

man... just that thought of... "knowing how to worship God"... God, i dont want to know the RULES in worshipping You... i want to go all out... abandoned... totally... for Your Name to be further glorified and be made famous in this land...

God, i really thank You for this thought-provoking statement... and Lord, i know that this time is a time of real challenges, not only for me, but for everyone else as well... but i pray that You would challenge us with this as well... im not sure about everyone else, but i feel that this is a challenge worth going for... God, i know You've seen it all, but i want to do something You want to see, and not just what everyone else wants to see...

does anyone else ever see how closely the government is linked with the business world? theyd like us to believe that they are in charge of the country, but i beg to differ... the number of times the corporations have bugged the supreme court to overturn court cases is just insane... and some of the fines they recieve is just not fair... McWane pipes, one of the largest pipe making companies in the US, has gotten more OH&S violations than all other competitors added up together, yet all it gets is 100,000 dollar fine... which is less damagine than a slap on the wrist...

isnt this sick, the way how large corporations run the world and twist it to however they want the world to be? the media who controls what the 'everyday person' knows about whats going on in the world flowers up what really goes on... i dont care if prince william fell off a horse or that britney spears is pregnant... i care about the common people who get abused and forgotten and get betrayed by the people with power, by the corporation, by their own government... the introduction of globalization, and its positive effects are overemphasised, and the holes it creates in the 'developing' places is just sickly sugar coated...

when will someone stand up against crap like this? who the balls do these big people think they are that they can push everyone else aside just because they want to? its time for the people to stand together, and rise up in revolution against all the crap that the world is coming to... they dont care about lives lost, they only care about the money...

i just felt like i needed to let that out... cuz its really pissing me off big time... screw disney and unocal... i hate seeing large corporations putting on a sugar-coated face for the cameras, and go around their shrewd ways... disney is a children-loving enterprise? my ass they are... they are probably one of the largest organizations that hire child labor, forcing them to work at a dollar a day... unocal isnt much better off, getting soldiers to force villages to work their pipes...
and u know what? im not writing this because im a Christian, im not writing because im a social justice writer, im writing this because this is just plain wrong... if someone came up to your kid and forced him to work in a steel factory for 12 hours straight, paying him a buck a day, wouldn't YOU be pissed?

God, Your Name be lifted high... Lord, as much as i dont want to see these things in the world, i know that You have not forsaken them, but have raised up many people willing to stand up for a cause such as this against the powers of red tape and world-based authorities who ignore Your calls for justice... God, i thank You for giving me insight to the things that pain Your Heart, and for not hiding the realities that plague our world...

its very interesting how we can get all caught up in the moment trying to impress God with our doings in church, being a nice person, and all that, but in the end, we totally forget some of the most vital ingredients of true living... matthew 6:33-34 says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." so many of us forget to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness... we sometimes do one or the other, but oftentimes, we dont do both...

to see God's Kingdom is like trying to seek God's face... it requires effort and determination... and God only reveals His face to those who God wants to... God doesnt just honor us by revealing Himself to us just like that... God lets on a bit at a time, part of His wisdom, part of His personality, part of His true image to us... i consider it a great honor to just have God call on my name... but even more so that He has called me to work for Him... that He reveals parts of Himself to me, even though i know it is only a small part of Him, i still consider it a great honor... that is, to me, one of the coolest part of living...

the other part is to seek His righteousness... to me, this part is probably one of the harder if not the hardest things to do... being totally perfectly righteous isnt easy... in fact, so far, i havent even gone an entire day let alone a week without sinning... some people go around doing the "ooh.. i havent sinned today", but right there, thats being full of themselves and not seeing who they are.. and if i remember right, thats a sin...

im just so glad that im living under the new covenant God gave us... under the gift of grace... not under the power of the law which is like a limit to who we can be, but like a endless sky, where we can live freely under the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit...

thank You for Your Word, and thank You for what Your Son Jesus did for all of us here on earth... not only did He heal the sick and set the prisoners free, but You set us all free from the law that bound us through sin, and broke the power of death over our lives... thank You God that You reign above all that is in heaven, in earth, under the earth and everything else beyond that....

like many people, i believe that nothing happens without reason or cause... its pretty simple... if something happens, there has to be a purpose to it, or else why would God do it?

the first hurricane showed the whole world that the nation of america isnt all that equal... there is still a big difference between the rich and the poor.. the services, the attention and the value they have in the eyes of their government.. it is now so evident that the country who a lot of other people look up to isnt the avatar of freedom, of justice, of good things... its merely a cover-up for all the faults... im not saying no other country has problems, but unlike america, they ignore their own faults, focus on everyone else's and blames them for not being strong enough to solve them...

within a short time, the second hurricane is visiting the area... i might have some idea oh what God is trying to do... it may be because God wants to show the world how efficient bush wud be in implementing a evacuation plan when it hits a rich area; when it hits his hometown; when it hits a oil-rich area... maybe it is because God wants the americans to stop their carbon-spewing ways and prevent any further damage to the world ecosystems... maybe God wants to cut the oil supplies from the US...or maybe God just wants to further shake up the nation... show them what they really look like... for now, i have no idea...

but this is what i think happened... God first allowed the world trade center things to happen to shake the world up, to crumble the name of the nation that everyone else almost worships... then when the government tried to save face and blame the terrorists in afganistan and iraq, all the focus was shifted from God-movement, into extremist movements elsewhere... then God decided that america didnt learn what God wanted them to see yet, and sent in hurricane katrina, that showed the poorly run system that makes the elite rich richer, and the poor poorer... and i think still, God wants to show the world something more... which is where the next hurricane comes in....

the thing is though, people can always shift blame... God wanted to show america how stuck up they are... how self-worshipping they are, and they blamed it on people of a different religion... God wanted to show them how injust they are, and scientists blame it on the warm atlantic waters (which just so happen to be majorly caused by increased carbon matter in the air, i think figures said 50% or more comes from america... talk about irony).... i dont know how much longer they can lie to themselves, but knowing how stubborn southern conservative fundamentalist christians are, i think this battle will last a long time...

God, i pray that Your Word, Your Message, Your Good News, Your Vision and Your Grace and Mercy be upon us all... may You speak to us, and let us understand the wisdom that comes with living in Your Love, and in Grace... i pray that You would show us what You are tying to show us, and let us see for ourselves what we really are in Your eyes.... God, please be gentle with us all, and may we be showered in Your Grace and Love...

the world trade centre incident... it may have been part of God's plan, it may have been satan trying to do something destructive, it may have just been a group of fanatics trying to prove a point, it may have been due to bad piloting skills, or it could have even been a combination of all those things and even more so... but either way... it showed the world something... americans arnt invincible... people can build skyscrapers higher than even the tower of babel, but God is just going to strike them down again...

the world trade towers represents the societies drive towards dog-eat-dog business, free trade rules, where big businesses go into other places and force everyone to work for them and suck up all their resources dry, then move on to the next country... it stands for a countries' pride, showing off to the world that they have the technology and skills to build something so great... it stands for the rich, and ignoring the poor, it stands for injustices to those without power, and power-greedy people who can afford to bully anyone and get away with it... the world trade towers began as a huge business office block, but then it grew bigger than that... it became a national monument and a part of society... its foundations changed from a run-of-the-mill office complex into a tower of babel...

and in one swift move, it crumbled to its feet... one of the greatest monuments in the history of america down at its feet... and the whole nation crumbled... but is it really such a negative thing? it showed the world that the americans are still humans.. it showed that they are just as fragile as anyone else in the world... the americans dont rule the world... God does...

is it such a wonder why there are such big and bad things happening in america, considering they are the most prideful and powerful nation on earth? God wants to break the power of pride that blinds their thinking.. that blinds their ability to define what is right and what is not...

God, open our eyes so we can see what is painful to Your sight... God, let nothing get in Your way to justice here on earth... God, i pray that even though vengence is all Yours, i pray that Your forgiveness and grace be upon us, for we have all, in some way and some form, opressed the powerless and the poor... God, may You open the doors for us to change the way this world is run....

as humans, we all want to be in total control of our lives.. we want to make sure that nothing bad happens, and that we would be able to live in contentment, no external pressures, just me in a bubble... and to do that, we have to be in control of our lives, to be in power... the thing is, oftentimes, we dont have the responsibility to do that... obviously, God doesnt want us to live that way either, in contentment of what we have... God wants us to live beyond the restrictions of our bubble... God made us not for us, but for His purpose, even though part of our purpose is about us... one of the greatest robbers of our purposeful life is contentment, when we really just want to chill out for too long and just stay stagnant... so many times, when we sit in our comfy chairs and all that, God tries to get us out of the seat to start doin God's Work... and when we look at our choices, both look so good, but in the comfy chair, we already know how good that is... on the path to do God's Work, we dont know what is in front of us... so generally, we just carry on sitting, and not doing....

sometimes, i just hate the things i do... most the time, i dont even realise that im just relaxing and not doing what You call me to do... sometimes, its so hard to see whats in front of me...

God, i dont want to be sitting here and underdoing what You want me to do... God, i realise that im only human, and that i have limited capabilities, but in You, God, i know that i can do great things for Your Glory... God, i dont want to sit in a comfy chair and just live life the easy way... i wanna live life to its fullest, to Your big purpose and to make Your Name famous...

when reading through God's Word, its good to try to look at it from a brand new perspective... last night, i was intrigued to try to look at the world through the eyes of judas, the one who betrayed Jesus... its easy to just say that he was a evil man, and that he shouldn't have betrayed Jesus... but when i tried to look at it from his perspective, everything seemed different...

for example... Jesus always hung out with the 12 disciples, but there were 3 who were his favourites... peter, james and john... and im not sure about you, but if i thought that Jesus was a powerful prophet (whom i think a lot of people around those days thought Jesus was), and He doesn't spend as much quality time as i want Him to, then i might get jealous... when Jesus, peter, james and john came down from the mountain, they most likely shared with the rest of the group what they did up there, and how they could see God's awesome presence and stuff.. ever missed a concert because the venue was full and all your friends came back saying how great it was? when that happened to me, i was almost jealous...

we all do things for a reason... we dont just betray someone just like that, it takes something to really hit it off... it could have been that judas was desperate for attention... maybe he didnt like life without worldly riches... it could be something not recorded in the bible... if we can learn anything from judas, its that whatever happens in our lives, even though we may think its something so insignificant, or it may be huge, dont underestimate what it can do... everything has a eternal consequence...

God, thank You for this opportunity for me to be able to be Your servant and be part of You plan... God, i know that everything we do has consequences that shake not only what happens now, but also what happens for eternity... God, keep reminding us of our daily choices that will affect what happens in eternity, and let us not forget our final goal, which is You, God....

just because something isnt labelled as "Christian" doesnt mean God has nothing to do with it... its really dependant on what your perspective of it is... once, i was walking down the street, and i was sure i saw a van that sped past with words on it that i believe God was speaking to me through, even though it wasnt a Christian van or whatnot... i then asked God what He was trying to tell me... in about 20 minutes, i was walking with my pastor to lunch, and i was asking him about what he thought of it, and he pointed out another van, with a different word on it, and that spoke to me yet again... the right word in the right circumstance spoken or read at the right time can drastically change situations from dire to good..

just because someone doesnt know God doesnt mean we cant learn anything from them... in the movie the Lord of the Rings, i learned a lot about standing up to oppression, and even when you are severely outnumbered, giving up isnt the right way out... (when aragorn and his 100 or so numbered troops were outside mordor, surrounded by orcs... they didnt let up, they continued fighting, because they knew that frodo needed their support to get through...) even in secular music, so many rock bands sing about how they are lost, how they are full of anger, how the world always fails and that they need something even more, and seeking something that they are missing... which is God's love... thats everything you will ever need....

how good is that.... we have what the world's 'leading' celebrities and idols dont have.... we have God, and thats all that matters...

God, thank You God for not letting us down ever... thank You Lord You reign over everything... God, i pray that You would suprise us even more with the ways that You speak to us, and through the least expected ways.... thank You God You never run out of things to suprise us with....

reading the Word, listening to the Word, understanding the Word, and living the Word... 4 concepts that coincide with each other, each more important and valued higher than the previous... but you cant skip steps...

living the Word of God is probably the hardest thing to do... although there is so much gain to doing it, the way the world works is almost exactly the opposite as what God wants us to do... God wants us to do the small things, the world wants to do the big thing... God wants us to be humble, the World teaches to grab credit and be proud... God wants us to stand up for the poor and the needy and not to conform the the world's beliefs, the world teaches us to conform, to strike rich quick and easy... its hard growing up and learning two different and contrasting ways of life...

the simple solution is this... seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)... seek life, not death... the Word of God is like a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path (psalm 119).... God's Word isnt just a book of rules... its a book of what God wants to speak to us...

if it was a rulebook, it would be just a list, like the 10 commandments... and take note that the 10 commandments were written on tablets of stone... and these stone tablets are easily broken... if it was me up there on the mount writing the commandments down, i think i would have transferred them onto a piece of paper or card, at least... maybe laminate it... i have a funny feeling that the stone tablets represents something... it could be that God knew that the 10 commandments would be broken pretty soon... if i wasnt told that lying was wrong, then i would do it, not knowing that it was sinful... but the 10 commandments made it clear that there is a distinct right and wrong... and moses broke the stone tablets... could signify the coming of Christ, who came to die for us, so we would die from the laws and regulations of this world, and live by the convictions of God's Word...

God, thank You for Your beautiful Word... thank You that there are just so many things in it that are so powerful and hold such great importance in our lives... thank You for Your understanding and insight You gave us into Your Word through Your Son Jesus and Your grace upon us...

on sunday morning, i was blessed by the wototo childrens choir... a group of orphans in a region in uganda, in africa, who lived in poverty and famine and disease... most their parents died from either HIV/aids or they were just too poor to keep another child, and so the child was neglected and so on... the stories are just terrible, and sad...

but the most amazing thing is that Jesus touched their lives and took them from a place of sorrow and regret into a place of joy and happiness... even though their past was so recent and so life-scarring, they are still so full of joy and happiness... they never stop smiling... and when they sing, they sing their hearts out to God... its such a beautiful sight...

and i feel so challenged to be so much happier... God helped me from so much bad stuff, and yet its nowhere nearly as bad as what those kids have been through... and yet i complain about some of the smallest things, when they are so happy even through the toughest circumstances...

God, i want to be so full of joy and happiness as i know You have brought me through the good and the bad times... Lord, remind me and challenge me to become a person of such life and happiness because of You who is in me... God, i do this for Your Glory, and so the world may know that You are God, and that you are the way, the truth and the life....

the world is full of compromise... the belief the world holds is that there will almost never be a single way to do something, so compromise is a must... however, lots of people end up compromising EVERYTHING they do.. compromising their savings account to buy something they cant afford, compromising their standing in beliefs so then they can fit in with everyone else... compromise is such a killer especially when it comes to crunch time... when an emergency comes up, and you just realise that your house is still on mortgage, and your savings account was emptied for the latest fararri car....

compromise doesnt do anyone any good... even if you manage to fit in into the "in" group, what does that achieve? so what if people think you are cool.. does being cool make you a much better person? does it make others know your identity better? of course not... when we compromise, everything we are becomes a compromise... our identity goes from who we are to what everyone else is, imbedded in us.... our aspirations become a compromise from what we could be... we become just another face in the crowd... our life becomes small...

i dont think any of us would want our lives to just shrink into something insignificant and small... we want more out of our lives... we have to remind ourselves that we shoudnt allow ourselves to compromise our standings... we shouldnt need to compromise... there is so much more to it when we stand up for what is right and what should be done, and not compromise it at all... so much more so when other people's lives are in the line, where they often are... not many decisions can be made that doesnt affect anyone else....

God, give us strength so that we can stand up against all compromise... God, we want our lives to be full of life, and full of You.. we dont want any compromise in our lives... Jesus, help us so then we can use our lives to the fullest and for Your purpose... God, we bring Glory to Your Name...

life is way too short for us to hold grudges against each other.. ive seen so many good friendships totally destroyed, just because one or the other or even both have too much pride and wont bite the bullet, forgive the others, and move on with life... too often we cant take it, because our flesh gives us the "but they did THIS to you... you cant take that crap from them...", and then your actions follow what the flesh makes you do, and not let God's Holy Spirit work through them...

so many live through their life thinking to themselves "im so going to get back at them for what they did", and it just burns them... it kills their insides just thinking about him... that person's name becomes the very object of hatred in their lives and it will consume their life... instead of aspiring to become something big and good for all, their attention turns into how they can get back at the one who did that to them...

the funniest (or saddest) thing about this is that the other person who had crossed the first party in the first place most likely doesnt even know that they are holding such a deep grudge against them... even though it hurts and it eats them so much, the anger, the hatred, the person who is being hated doesnt even know about it... and when revenge does take place, they only feel better for such a short time before they get him back... and the vicious cycle goes on...

in the end, he who doesnt go and forgive and live onwards are the ones who are hurt most in the end... today, i didnt learn it anew, i re-learned it in a new way God showed me... i asked "i dont understand why should i forgive them" and God said "well, i dont understand why i should forgive you"... and that kind of shut me up for at least a while to come... haha.. our pride sometimes overrules our actions, and before we know it, it becomes our downfall....

God, thank You for just reminding me again, something of such great importance, but is yet ignored so often... God, break my pride, Lord, give me strength, God, Your strength that i may forgive all those whose names are in my head who ive kept grudges against... God, i dont want to live the small way that unforgiveness leads to... i want to live it all out to the fullest, the way you designed me for....

God divinely appoints meetings for us to go to, whether we want to or not... even if we dont want to meet this certain appointment, oftentimes, we find that we are there, and when we finish the meeting, life gets so much better, for all parties involved... when God wanted jonah to go preach, and he didnt want to go, God made sure that jonah got there... first by boat, then by fish, and so on... but when jonah did get to his destination and preach, he turned the whole city around to repentance... however, jonah wasn't too happy about it, even thought he should be...

today, i met a friend whose life turned around after reading how ive grown to know God, and how God changed my life.... even though i have been such a blessing to his life, he has blessed my life too... i wouldnt have known that this blog could have done such a thing... it started out as just as God's revelation, in His Words, translated into english, on a website... all Glory unto God...

who would have known? so many people ive met would not have been saved or impacted or even alive if it wernt for divine appointment... thank God for His perfect timings and His skillful and purposeful life for us... its good to know that i live for a reason more than just to have sex and reproduce, as how the world thinks is the reason we are here... such simplemindedness... who would have known that people would have twisted their inner desires and egocentric stuff into something they think is their purpose? wierd... the world needs more of what God has bought us, and needs more of God's purpose and will and love....

Thank God for the internet and it's ability to unite people who would otherwise not be reachable by us... thank You God for all the gifts You have already bought for us, and thank You God that You paid in full for everything... thank You God for Your purposeful planning and appointments You have set up in our lives...

i cant emphasise it enough... God has done in our lives, way too much for me to even begin to forget... even though my memory is so bad, i have no intention of letting God's miracles to be forgotten...

when God delivered Israel from egypt, all the people of Israel acknowledged God as the Savior... but as soon as they reached the red sea, it seems like all of them, with the exception of moses, totally forgot what God can do and what God had already done for them...everything from creating the world to casting those plagues... creating the world might be a bit too far back in history to remember, but the plagues only occurred at most a month back... and already they lost all hope, but God was already there, with a plan of victory, not of defeat...

i dont want to turn into someone who would experience a high with God, then suddenly drop into a brand new low of hoplessness... i want to have sights set at higher, above and beyond what i can see right now, and live in what God wants for my life, and not what i think my life should be... God always has a greater plan for us than what we can even imagine...

ive already seen way too much for anyone to prove that God doesnt do anything... ive experienced too much of God's Love that people cant tell me that Jesus didnt die for us as individuals... God has worked so much, and by His grace, i am still here living under His calling and purpose for my life...

God, dont let me forget all that You've done for me... God, be with me Lord as i give all that i have to You for Your Kingdom sake... thank You God for Your Grace upon my life... and that even i am not worthy of it Lord, You paid in full for my life that i may live.. thank You for that gift of live, God.. thank You....

growing up in a world such as this doesnt make living our lives easy... in fact, it hinders it so much... in our world, hatred towards someone else who does not hold your same ideals is encouraged... and when arguements come, big or small, the world teaches us to wage war on each other, plundering and killing all who oppose them...

up to now, i am still in awe at how God can change people so drastically from someone who wages wars and plunders their neighbour, just because they had a look on them... my church both here and back at home consits of a diverse bunch of brothers and sisters... all with their own background and past... all with their own stories of how God changed them...

the most rightous and true judge, but a all-loving judge has the hardest choices to make... imagine having to sentence each and every single person you have to judge the death sentence... but then taking the judgement yourself... how hard is that... and yet God did that... God sentenced all of us to death row, but He took the pain and the suffering to clear our names...

but the most beautiful thing is this... the past, its all swiped blank as we ask Jesus to save us... not many judges i know would be willing to do that....

its only through God that we are united... 2 years ago, my goal was to chillax and live the high life... now, my goals has changed so much... im doing things i wouldnt imagine, relaxing and chilling more than i thought possible, having brothers and sisters i wouldnt imagine being able to accept people like me... and all this through the Grace of God... how awesome... not one person can offer me that except Jesus... just when i think life cant get any better, it gets even better...

when we stand with God, God stands with us... when we run towards God, God runs towards us... we are alive in Christ, and Christ in us... there is so much in the relationship between us and God, some things we cant see, some of them we can... all of it, however, we know, and is established in God's Word, and all of it can be felt happening... this can be very confusing, however... for example...

we are IN CHRIST, in heavenly realms, where we are completely healed, and in God's peace and all that ... BUT evidently, we are all not completely whole, and unpeaceful, on earth! God said that we are IN CHRIST and CHRIST IN US... obviously, we cant be at 2 places at the same time either... Christians are said to be holy people, and yet unholy at the same time... disunified and together... we surrender ourselves to victory in God! if i read all of this as a story book, it would not make ANY sense at all...

but God, i believe, has all of this worked out... we as humans look at it from a human perspective... we look at things 1 dimensionally... we look horizontal.. we dont look up enough to see what God really means when He says these things... from God's perspective, it is so evidently simple and easy to understand, but to us, it is mighty confusing...

when you look at a piece of tubing, say, there are obviously two ends to it... but when you look at the tubing from a different viewpoint, all you can see is 1 end, which is the pipe end... i believe that by looking at things from a different perspective, from a better perspective, we can better understand what God says and what God means when He says those things... and remember that God's Word is not for the elite few who have degrees, but it is for all of us.... so let go of the perspectives that the world has taught you, and take hold of the perspecte God has already imbued into us, but is waiting to be used...

God, thank You for Your Word You have given us, and this new perspective on Your Word... thank You God for Your promises You have given us, and thank You that You never fail to deliver... thank You God for Your grace upon us whenever we fail to deliver...

BOOOO!!!! haha.. as y'all might have noticed, this ain't aaron... [er, in this post] it's reanneeeeeeeee... [liddo sis?? mmhmm..] just testing sth.. i find it pretty fascinating.. lol... so yeah..

GOD BLESSS!!!
reanne.

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1Corinthians 14:29-33
29Let two or three prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. 30But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop. 31In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. 32Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the other churches.

ever see someone who, during mid-service, would jump up and say all this stuff that sounds like God said a lot of things? like they would just say that God spoke to them and scream at the top of their voice and like preach or whatever, disrupting everything the pastors have planned for the service? it would seem that a lot of people actually approve of them doing that, because its deemed to be powerful... but it is so evident in this passage that God doesnt want us to do that.. God wants peace, not disorder..

God, may we all do things by Your Word, and by Your grace and Wisdom You have put in us... Lord, let us not be attention grabbers and may we do all things for Your Glory, and not for self-glory... thank You God for Your beautiful Word You gave all of us, and the same Good News that has brought us from death and darkness into life and salvation...

after long studying revelation 13:18, i believe i have finally figured out the meaning of the number 666... it represents sin. the beast represents all that is evil and sinful in this world... the mark on the hands and heads of men represent the sin upon our lives in thought and in action... those who dont have this mark of the enemy cannot buy or sell in this world, because we are dead to this world... we died and was reborn in the Name of Christ, in His rightousness and His Splendor... we dont need to buy and sell in this world because we dont deal with the ways of this world, just buying and selling... we live beyond the normal transactions of just living here, we live in the Kingdom of God... we reside and are permanant residents up there... as believers of Christ, its important to remember that we are in fact set apart to do greater things, even though it may not seem possible with our personal skills and expertise... many powerful preachers and worship leaders dont have an amazing credentials to their name.... while many people with dual or triple PhDs dont do anything to help other people, let alone the Kingdom and Cause of God....

i dont believe i have figured out the whole book of revelation.... i dont think ive figured out any book of the bible at all... i understand the general jist of the ideas and forms, but the exact meanings the Word of God holds i dont think will ever be fully understood... no matter how mature in Christ, no matter how long we read and how intense we read it... revelation does not just come to those who read... revelation comes to those who seek it... theres a difference between reading and understanding... u can listen but not hear.... read and take it in... there is a real difference... if God reveals things to you in His Word, you are blessed... and not only that, we are blessed to be a blessing to others... just because the wording on a physical piece of paper cannot change doesnt mean that the meaning and understanding doesnt move... God's Word is a living, vibrant Word...

even though it sounds like a really wierd concept, LISTEN to God's Word... reading it is something, but listening is something else which is often overlooked...

Thank You God for Your revelation to us, and the impact it brings not only to my life, but to the lives of many others who knows us... as in Psalm 23, david proclaims that his cup overflows with blessing... and as we overflow, we bless those others around us... and i pray in Jesus' Name that we would continue to seek and recieve Your revelation, and Your grace...

the character of God cannot be defined by any word, no matter what language... God's character is so deep and so intense and so undefinable by any means... every time i read a story or any part of the bible, He reveals to me another aspect of Himself i would have otherwise have not known... and it is by this way that i know Him more... and the more i know Him, the more God can deal with me in my life and work through me... brings Glory to God...

as a lover of Christ, i dont think anything can amount to His greatness... so many times, i use the term 'awesome God', but i also use the word awesome as an adjective for other nouns such as burps and cars.... but they are no match for the Glory of God... can a car give me a future and a purpose? no... can a burp give me everlasting peace and love? no... as humans, i think we try to define God too much... its almost like we twist the image of God in the Word into something tangible... its in our nature to do so, whenever we dont understand something... think back to science class in high school or in university... scientists predict the exsistence of electrons and all that, and they try to put things into fundamental theories that fit what they observe... they twist things into simple, logical things so then they can twist it to their bidding... and thats what a lot of people, whether we realise it or not, do... we try to put God in a box so then we can sort of twist God into something we can understand and into what we want God to do for us.... its so easy to just say its not right to put God in a mindset in our heads that allow us to just make small God, but at times, it is just in the flesh that we dont realise what we do....

..and little do we realise its the other way around... God changes us so then we can bring Glory to God....

Thank you God for Your grace upon our lives... thank You for the great Works You do here on earth through your children... thank You God that You work in our weaknesses, and we thank You for all the Good Works You will and are doing in all our lives...

in the beginning, there was nothing... therefore, it can be said that there are no exsisting ideas or form of anything in the beginning... that means that there is no past experiences to build upon, no foundation to start from... there is just nothing... and so when God made all the heavens and earth and all of that, God HAS to have creativity, otherwise God wouldnt be able to do anything... to be creative is to build something out of nothing, with little or no form based on past experiences and/or ideas... so if God has so much creativity to create everything we see and that much more we dont see, how can the church have so little creativity when God created us to be like Him? so many times, the church just sits around and follows the creativeness of the world to expand... it so should be the other way around... the church should have the first creative ideas and the ones leading the advance in this world.... it is such a shame so many Christians just barely do enough and dont utilize the creativity that God gave us to use.... the wheel was invented by someone, obviously, but the idea must have come from God first, as God had this idea in mind for a long time before it was founded by people...

creativity is what makes people interesting... all the exciting people i meet are spontaneously coming up with new ideas for things, and they just come out as fast as they breathe... we should, as children of God, be just like that... we should be able to just throw great ideas and creative ideas just as God did... a lot of churches around here are pretty much boring, not because it is traditional, but because they are so inflexible with new ideas... the contemporary church that intergrates new creative ideas into its ministry are growing rapidly, not just because God blessed them, but because they have such a hunger to seek new things in God, and finding new ways to be creative in presenting God to the world...

this is not a marketing scheme, but i believe creativity has been quenched in so much of God's church just because so many people become satisfied with where they are, without the input of new things... it is a fact that many people are against change, because they dont know what is on the other side of the fence... to many, God's Word does not seem enough to push them forwards and strive towards being flexible to change and doing something out of nothing....

there is so much more to God than what we see... so many people could not see that Jesus was the Messiah... every time we think we got God all figured out, God pulls something new out of thin air... thats what God does... God always suprises us... and we keep seeking God... and when we think we must know it all, God, again, pulls out something totally new and suprises us again... isnt it awesome? Praise God for His creativity...

Thank You God for Your creativity... thank You God that even though You started with Your Spirit hovering over void, over nothingness, You created all these things that are so beautiful all around us... thank You God that You always manage to suprise us even when we think we know all of Your Character... thank You God for your grace that we so do not deserve but gave us anyways... thank You God...

john 17... one of Jesus' prayer....

14I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I am not of the world.
15I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one.
16They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth.
18Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
19And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth.

Jesus specifically said that we are not of this world, like Jesus was not part of this world... but many people miss out this part, where Jesus prays "Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world".... we arnt supposed to be hiding in a fortress of the truths of Christ, but we are supposed to be in the world, preaching the Good news... im not going to go around condemning any Christian denominations, but so many of them just hide in the House of God, and just stay there, waiting for Christ to come take us all Home... but the thing is, it is clear that Jesus wants us to go to the world, but not be part of the world...

its challenging for all of us to take that one step and invite the people of this world to go meet Christ in His House... in psalm 26, it was clear that david didnt want anything to do with sinners and people who didnt know God.. but when Christ came down, He chilled with tax collectors and other sinners... this is the age of the new testament... this is the time when all of us who stand with Christ goes into the world and be fishers of men... "And Jesus said to them, Come after Me and be My disciples, and I will make you to become fishers of men." (Mark 1:17)... the thing is, if we arnt in the world, fishing for men, who are we following? Jesus specifically said FOLLOW ME, and i will make you fishers of men... so many people totally forget that part of knowing Christ... we worship, we love, we do all these good things, but we forget one of God's most important mandate...

ever heard of the great commission? Matthew 28:

18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

a lot of Christians treat this as the great suggestion, thinking that we have a choice not to do that... its a commission... not a suggestion... to be commissioned is to gain authority [in Christ] to do what someone in power [God] told us to do.... it is not the same as "do it when you feel like it"... because it is human nature to want to relax and not do anything unless they have to...

God, remind all of us again what is at stake, and give us a heart like Yours, wanting the lost to know You, and recieve Your salvation and to revieve Your Holy Spirit in them... Thank You God for Your grace upon our lives and thank You for Your purpose You gave us, which is to follow Your Word and to reach out to the lost of this world... Thank You God...

Our names are who we are... its our identity, our actual self, whether we realise it or not.. when i go anywhere and they ask me for my name and they get it wrong, like spelling it with a E instead of a A, then i would go all out to making them correct it, as i wouldnt want to be known as something im not.. the name makes us who we are... this is why some people's names such as jacob and jabez are almost looked down on, because of its meaning, jacob implying thief or scammer, jabez meaning pain... but we serve a Name higher than any other Name... its all over the scriptures... and this Name took a long time for the human race to find... from the beginning of time all the way until only a few thousand years back.. took this long to find THE Name of all Names... and it is by that Name we find salvation, and in His Name we find peace... its the identity of Christ where we find ourselves... which is why Jesus said in matt 16 "If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life"... we have to give up our old name, our below perfect, our bad identity, and take up the identity God has for us, which is IN CHRIST... we pray in Jesus' Name, because that is the identity we go by... it is now officially who we are... no longer our old ways, old sins, old habbits, old name... but we are renewed in the Name of Christ... we are forgiven of our past transgressions against God because we decided to drop our old identity and take up a new one in Christ as we accept Christ as our savior... how great is our God, Lord... how great is His Name...

the thing is, for a long time before Christ arrived here on earth for the first time in a human form, no one called out Jesus... all we knew about God at that time was the Name God and Light upon the world, Emmanuel, and some others... they all describe aspects of God... but Jesus is THE Name of God... THE Savior... THE Redeemer... THE One with us... THE Loving God... and more adjectives and verbs and all those fancy stuff that i cant think of at the moment... seeking God's Name is one of the most powerful things we can do as disciples of Christ...

Thank You God for Your Name... Emmanuel... God with us... Jesus, The Christ, The Lord of Lords, The King of Kings, the Savoir, the Redeemer, The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit, the Light Onto the world... Thank You God that You have given us this opportunity to become renewed in Your Glorious Name... thank You God for Your Son who died to take away my old identity the world knew me by and now replaced that with my identity in Christ... thank You God... i pray Lord that all people from all over will find their identity in You Lord and drop their old identity... thank You God...