Agape

Wordswithwheats

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:46:35 +1000

Wow, Did not know our old pastor played such a great game.

reminds me of Psalm 139 =3 why i think the ultimate relationship...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:10:46 +1000

reminds me of Psalm 139 =3

why i think the ultimate relationship (marriage) between two imperfect human beings should be built upon the perfect One.

d-o-t: Searching.: loveiseccentricandsoami: Do you ever just want to talk to everyone...

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:02:57 +1000

d-o-t:

Searching.: loveiseccentricandsoami: Do you ever just want to talk to everyone but…

loveiseccentricandsoami:

Do you ever just want to talk to everyone but you really don’t want to talk to anyone you just want to BE with someone like have somebody nearby but not actually necessarily talk maybe just listen to music or eat some french toast sticks or something but you can’t because it’s 2AM and all your friends are far away or asleep so you stare at your computer and your Bible and don’t know what you’re doing with your life because just a few hours ago you were fine but now you don’t know?

Ahaha.. why is this so accurate.

hang on, not just me?

J.S. Park: Question: Hopeless, Heartless, and Hanging By A Thread

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:23:43 +1000

J.S. Park: Question: Hopeless, Heartless, and Hanging By A Thread:

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

Sir, I like how real you are. I’m hanging by a thread on to this Christian life. Jesus is great but I can’t imagine what He’d want to do with someone who just doesn’t love Him and, honestly, doesn’t want to obey Him. I tried to live for Him but it feels like slavery. I’m not as good and okay as everyone around me thinks I am. I’m lonely, fed up and I wish I could start my life over where I’m not hanging on to Him only because I’m scared of dying, facing God and fire. Is there any hope for me?

Dear beloved friend,

Want to know a huge secret?

Ready?

Every single Christian in all the history of the world, even the “best” of us, have sometimes felt completely apart from God.

Here’s where you’re at and why it’s okay and where we can go from here.

1) You don’t want to love Him and obey Him. BUT: The Bible actually says this is our default mode of brokenness, our human condition called sin. So you’re simply being honest about who we all are.

2) You tried to live for Him and it feels like slavery. BUT: Maybe the Christian life isn’t about a begrudging obligation to a set of laws. Maybe it’s a growing realization that God absolutely loves you regardless of your performance, and that it’s our response to say “I love you too” which makes us crazy in the best way possible to be able to follow Him — just as love makes us crazy for our loved ones. Maybe it really is a relationship, and not simply receiving instructions in a church service.

3) You think you’re not as good and okay as everyone thinks you are. BUT: I don’t know anyone who thinks they’re as good as everyone thinks they are. It’s an illogical proposition that’s a devil’s lie, which falls apart quickly. A little honesty from you about who you are will fix it immediately. And it’s unfair for anyone to hold you on a pedestal of moral perfection. If they do, it’s their problem, not yours.

4) You’re lonely. BUT: Loneliness is a thick fog that we all walk through occasionally, even when we socialize and have tons of friends. It will hurt, but it comes and goes: so don’t let it anchor your reality. You’re also not really alone. You’re not the only one who feels like the only one, and also: God.

5) You wish you could start over. BUT: You have today. You have right now, this moment, this step. It’s never too late, and that’s not some postcard platitude. People with even less time than you, less abilities, and less physical aptitude have lived amazing stories. It can start this very second. We all wish we could hit a reset button sometimes, but the best reset is to move forward.

6) You’re following God because you’re scared of the afterlife. BUT: Let’s be real on this one — it’s certainly okay to acknowledge the wrath of God at some point in your faith-journey. So many people turn a blind eye to the reality of Hell that it grieves me how much we sugarcoat such a serious truth. Your fear (and my fear) of Hell is not a wrong response.

Yet the Christian life is a relationship with a Heavenly Father who has way more for us than fire insurance. When we come to know Him, our fear always gives way to His perfect love (1 John 4:18). He has for us an intimate joy that moves us so far beyond the fear that it pales in comparison to the rich realness we have with Him.

Just think: we’re not friends with our friends because we’re scared of consequences. We have friendships because of the joy of intimacy, the freedom of vulnerability, and the mutual exchange of life. So it is with God.

Dear friend: There is hope for you yet. God is sovereign and He’s still in the business of rescuing people, polishing their hearts, loving them to a better place, and simply enjoying them for who they are. God not only loves you, but He likes you — just as much as a dad loves His kids and wants to play with them. He completely understands your struggle more profoundly than you could know, for He became one of us.

I know this won’t solve everything in a day. But so long as a sliver of faith — a mustard seed — is sown into His goodness, you can make it one more step. You are, as I’ve said so many times, a work of progress in a process. We are looking towards the work finished, Jesus.

There is nothing you could do to change God’s mind about you: and it’s then His unchanging heart that will change you. Believe it. Enter it. Bask in it.

I love you and I’m praying for you.

— J.S.

Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

— Psalm 42:5

“You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again.”

— C.S. Lewis

"When I consider my brokenness and God’s love and grace, I am simultaneously crushed and..."

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:41:20 +1000

“When I consider my brokenness and God’s love and grace, I am simultaneously crushed and uplifted.”

- pd12

Unka Glen: The secret sauce on starting a small group

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:38:17 +1000

Unka Glen: The secret sauce on starting a small group:

unkaglen:

more-than-a-piece asked: Hey Unka! Just wanted to ask you if you have any advice about how to start up ministering to high school girls, like maybe how to go about it? What exactly to talk about and how far to go with it? Would be immensely appreciated!! Again thank you! I truly love and learn from everything you post :D

Unka Glen answered: When you’re starting a new ministry, you should do as little talking as possible, and as much listening as possible. All too often people think of ministry as one person saying smart things, and everyone else around being blown away. That’s not really how it works.

So we start with the premise that the Holy Spirit is drawing everyone to Himself, and we all feel that pull, on one level or another, but we spend a lot of our lives stuck on one obstacle or another. So ministry is all about helping people to overcome those obstacles, so that the relationship can move forward. That’s simple.

The complicated part is the obstacles themselves. If they were easy to figure out and overcome, we’d be over them already. We’ve already figured out the Bible part of all these problems, (and so have they) because that part is utterly simple. For example, if a young lady says she’s struggling with anger towards a friend who has betrayed her trust, we all know that the biblical answer is forgiveness.

So, you think, I’ll just tell her to forgive the friend, because this is, after all, the correct answer. Her response will be to tell you, “I just can’t”. She’s stuck, you see. So you think, I need a gimmick that will kind of trick her into forgiving her friend. So you invent some brilliant “exercise” that will do the job. And then that will fail, and then you’ll realize, hey, we never really spent any time talking about the actual obstacle itself.

We need to investigate what makes it hard to forgive someone. That means you don’t need to think of the most amazing lesson on forgiveness (she already knows she needs to forgive her friend, I mean, c’mon), what you need to think of are good questions that are designed to get her to work through this obstacle, and find her own way to the forgiveness.

I might ask questions like these:

What does it feel like when someone lets you down?

Why do we rehearse the anger the way we do?

How does betrayal make us feel about ourselves?

Then, once they do the work to figure out the nature of the problem, you can come in with some verses about how, let’s say, Jesus was betrayed. And how did that make Him feel? And do we betray Jesus too? And now what do we think about forgiving this other person, knowing that Jesus forgave us when we didn’t deserve it?

You see, we’re starting with honesty, authenticity, and getting some understanding going, without judgement. We then investigate and pull apart how this problem actually works. And only then can we know what simple biblical principle needs to be applied.

When it comes to ministry, the less dependent they are on you the better. You want to teach them to break things down for themselves, ask questions of themselves, and learn how apply the Word for themselves as much as possible. You’re always doing your best ministry when you’re putting yourself out of a job.

'Your Church Is Too Small...'

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:13:36 +1000

'Your Church Is Too Small...':

fafdriscoll:

Deep darkness is punctuated by the flash of a thousand cameras; rumbling bass rattles through my bones. Throughout the arena I can hear the burbling, surging, building crescendo of music ready to e…

I personally haven’t been to anything Hillsong but I was hopeful, then saddened during the article.

Yep. They run the same iOS.

Sun, 05 May 2013 20:53:57 +1000

Me: HTCs are so hard to root. Like you have to go through this crazy hard procedure and everything. Samsung devices basically have like one-click root.
Vince: Really? HTCs aren't too bad.
Aaron: But don't they run the same iOS?
Me and Vince: *stares at each other*
Aaron: ...
Me and Vince: *bursts into laughter*

Oh man, I remember this, it was pretty lol and kinda mind-blowing/screwing. I had a similar mini-moment when today I heard someone ask what a PDF was.

thoughts

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:24:50 +1000

so we’re in a group meeting, and someone goes “Shall we start” and I immediately begin to go to praying mode, but realise it’s not a bible study …

"There is a big difference between guilt and conviction. Guilt says that you are nothing but the sum..."

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:09:15 +1000

“There is a big difference between guilt and conviction. Guilt says that you are nothing but the sum total of your dirty little actions. That thought is not of God. Conviction, on the other hand, calls you to something more. It asks ‘why are you settling for this when I have something big and awesome for you?’”

- Unka Glen Fitzjerrell on episode 65 of the Say That podcast

Get it Free on iTunes or our website

(missionusa.com/bridgebox)

First = last and stacks

Wed, 01 May 2013 22:50:00 +1000

So we were talking about the parable of the workers in the vineyard Mt20:16 and how first = last works then I popped a (computer) stack joke and then no one got it. #fail

(Topic for the bible study tonight was ‘Treasures in heaven’)

Four Lies About Introverts

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:51:40 +1000

Four Lies About Introverts:

The more I rest in God’s gracious acceptance of me in Christ, the more freed I am to be my introverted self for his glory.

Introverts from a Christian perspective.

What I find awkward is sometimes I’m extroverted but then sometimes I go back to being introverted. Social connections and just talking to people helps a lot in depression but it’s contrary to my introverted self, so that makes it harder to look for interaction.

jspark3000: Must watch. Hit the...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:57:59 +1000

jspark3000:

Must watch. Hit the heart.

scripturesketches:

#FallingPlates by cruglobal

Saw this in church last week. Absolutely beautiful.

felt a tad weird to me. or i just don’t appreciate art. the Gospel however, is my LIFE.

FROM LEE IN TENNESSEE: Q&A... On Watching Someone Walk Away From The Lord

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 03:21:25 +1000

FROM LEE IN TENNESSEE: Q&A... On Watching Someone Walk Away From The Lord:

leeyounger:

entrahelife asked:

Hey Lee! I was looking for some advice about one of my students. One of the girls I work with has become like a sister to me. This girl a freaking rockstar. This girl gets it. But recently she’s been goin through a tough season. She’s gotten pretty jaded and a bit of a rebellious attitude towards anything church related. I love this girl with everything in me and I see where God wants to take her and how she’s drifting away from that. I know I can’t give her more help than she’s willing to take and generally don’t offer advice without being asked but I’m a little worried about her. She’s going to public school next year for the first time and her older sister went down the same path and never found her way back. I love her like crazy and just want to be as helpful as I can. (edited for length)

..

So I Said:

Hey Sidney. Welcome to my life - and welcome to ministry. It sucks watching people fall away from the Lord, especially when you really love them and really feel that connection to them. It’s heartbreaking to watch them drink from the shallow well when the Living Water is right there for the taking.

You’re so right about so many things you said - this is a very normal season for a person to go through and no, you can’t make her choose the right path. It may be that your friend hasn’t been prepared to walk in the world, but has been sheltered from it. Sometimes parents and church people lay down rules, limitations and punishments on young folks so that they don’t go too far out there, and they’re hoping that these measures will keep them walking with the Lord, but Jesus doesn’t want something manufactured like that. Jesus wants real, loving relationships, not fake and forced play dates. Not only that, but our hearts don’t want false relationships either. We want the real thing. That’s why so many good little church kids go bananas the first time they get invited to a party - turns out they never really knew Jesus. Also, very soon, these kids are going to be grown people who can do whatever in the world they want to, no matter what anyone says, so regulations are a bad idea all around.

If this girl is going to walk away from the Lord, you need to let her do it. I know that sounds awful and it goes against your instincts, but it’s true. Not only do you need to let her do it, but you need to let her know that you’re not stressed about that or down on her about it. If she’s headed out, you can’t stop her, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. Buckle up, because I’m about to tell you the super-secret, ultra classified ministry special sauce…

It’s time for you to plant a ministry time bomb. What I mean is, before you watch this kid go hog wild with the Lord, take her out for dinner, buy her food, laugh about stuff and then, when the door is open, plant the bomb. Look into this girl’s eyes and tell her, “I love you. I love you so much it’s ridiculous. Nothing in this world will ever change the way I feel about you. No matter what you do or who you become, I will always love you deeply from the heart. I know you’re walking away from Jesus right now, and I want you to know that if you ever need me, you have my number. If you need me to come pick you up at a shelter in Tuscon and bring you home, I will. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here. I am not judging you, and I will always feel honored to play whatever role in your life I can.”

Tick, tick, tick… the bomb is planted. Now, who knows when it’ll go off? It may be in three weeks and it may be in ten years, but if you keep loving that girl and showing that non-judgmental and sincere affection, it will go off one day, and guess who she’s going to call? You. The reason that bomb will go off is that nothing in this world actually satisfies but Jesus. Whatever she tries won’t work and if she’s honest, she’s going to want what you have. That leads me to the last part of the ministry time bomb, which is that you need to just keep loving Jesus with all you’ve got. Live a life that other people want to have. Love Him and let it show. If your friend is honest, she’s going to want what you have way more than anything this world has to offer.

..

ASK ME A QUESTION

No one ever taught me what to do in this situation … the time bomb =P

EDIT: Full Res here (tumblr downsizes it) Small sample size, but...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:50:00 +1000

EDIT: Full Res here (tumblr downsizes it)

Small sample size, but interesting. TI148 a witness ministry?

(reblog of fafdriscoll with full res)

So I watched this and thought Dove made a horrible campaign, and...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:10:12 +1000

So I watched this and thought Dove made a horrible campaign, and when dot was like, watch that (everything companies do is for the ‘bottom line’) video before talking about the Dove sketches video I was like WHY?! It’s HORRIBLE.

Then I found the real Dove video.

Lol.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

- 1 Samuel 16:7

And boy do I have a beautiful heart, all because Jesus is there. =D Apparently David wasn’t so tall either? =P Oh, and the NT confirms this (not the bit about David hehe).

For those who say but David was handsome, in those days ‘handsome’ was a lesser quality than looking macho. Especially because the king goes to battle and is supposed to look impressive, not like a pretty boy.

illustratingthegloryofgod: Researching some bush-tucker. Nom...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:20:49 +1000

illustratingthegloryofgod:

Researching some bush-tucker. Nom nom nom #trektotheredcentre

omg, just remembered i had a dream where me and my family were eating lizards .. they were crunchy and yummy although the last one was hard and dried or something =S

J.S. Park: Question: Regrets About Wasted Time

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:18:24 +1000

J.S. Park: Question: Regrets About Wasted Time:

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

How do you overcome the wasted time and regret that comes with depression? God is in the process of healing me, but I look back and see the damage that depression has done: my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health; friendships and relationships, my family, my academic career. People say stuff like it’s not wasted time because God is growing something deeper in you, but the fact is a lot of time HAS been wasted. Nothing will ever bring back those years. How do you grapple with that?

I’ve struggled with depression since forever, so I’m right there with you. I know what it’s like to think of those “fogged out” patches of life and mourn over why we couldn’t have just done better.

But please, dear friend: you really can’t beat yourself up about this.

Let’s think through what you’re asking. There are always some questions that will lead to a “Gotcha.”

For example:

- Do you ever think you could’ve tried harder?

- Have you ever been happier than now?

- Do you feel like no one understands?

- Is there more you could be doing?

I hope you see what I’m doing. The answer to all these is, “Of course bro.” If I ask, “Do you feel like you have regrets over wasted time?” — then nine out of ten people will scream YES and overthink and start wallowing in self-pity. These questions will almost never have satisfactory answers.

This mind-bomb already condemns you before asking.

It’s a technique used by New Age, Scientology, pop psychologists, and the preacher who doesn’t know better. It sets up an angst in your soul so you have to buy-the-book or go-to-the-conference or jump-through-these-hoops.

No more of these questions, all right? We’re done with that.

The thing is: You can’t really make up for lost time. If you try to compensate for what’s behind you, you won’t be able to look ahead. It’s like starting a race from negative two laps. This is a losing game, and the only way to win is to admit loss and start over.

When I first learned how to drive, I had a bad habit of looking in the rearview mirror all the time. My dad would tell me: Don’t worry about the car behind you. That’s their job. You look straight ahead.

Sounds like something Jesus said: Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

I’m not telling you to never look in the rearview. I’m saying: We can’t live our lives looking both forward and backward at the same time.

It’s okay to feel regret, but this can’t be the determining axis on your story. There is a time to mourn, but there’s also a time to stand again.

You know this already, yet the devil’s lie in this whole thing is that you can somehow “repay” the hurt you’ve done. But the truth of Jesus is that he left Heaven to die and rise for the very regrets that you’re facing.

As much as you might not feel this now, God has already preempted your every failure and disobedience and misstep with grace upon grace upon grace. This means that even the “lost time” is in God’s hands, and it’s somehow being transformed into a good that we cannot comprehend. But that’s all the more reason we move forward and pursue Christ, not less. That’s even more reason to get the help you need, to seek forgiveness, repair relationships, rebuild community, and gain trust again.

None of this will be easy, but it won’t be any easier if you keep looking over your shoulder.

Today, simply declare bankruptcy on your old life. Begin again with Christ.

Right now, God has already gone ahead of you with all grace and is ready to accomplish amazing things through you. He offers Himself, which is already enough. Hold onto His grace and cast off anything else that impedes. We don’t get many second chances in the world, but we always have a second chance with Christ.

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”

— C.S. Lewis

— J.S.

don’t cry over spilt milk just like how we shouldn’t worry about tomorrow, and just run the race for the prize, while building up each other in love

blimeycow: Ten Things You Should NEVER Say to a Girl. not sure...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:36:24 +1000

blimeycow:

Ten Things You Should NEVER Say to a Girl.

not sure what things to say when talking to girls? hmmm I’m learning =P (Of course we all know HOW we should treat other people).

J.S. Park: Question: Fighting Off That Stress

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:39:50 +1000

J.S. Park: Question: Fighting Off That Stress:

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

Hello! How are you doing? I wanna say, thanks for answering people’s questions and concerns on here. I was wondering how you deal with stress. I’ve been more stressed lately than I have been in a while, and it’s starting to affect me physically. I’m continuously praying because the effects are scaring me, and I’ve already set up a doctor’s appointment. If you have any tips on dealing with stress and trusting God through it, I would appreciate it greatly. Thanks, and God bless!

Thanks for the awesome question and for your very kind words.

You know, I’ve heard plenty of teaching on stress and I’m a Psych major, so mostly I hear the same thing: “Are you stressed? Well, stop it.”

But I know that doesn’t help. It also doesn’t help to try that same technique on anger, lust, greed, jealousy, grief, or loneliness. It’s like trying to stop a bus with your body weight.

The other thing I hear is, “If you really knew the peace of Christ, you wouldn’t be stressed out.” I wish it was that simple. Even when Jesus and I are most tight, I still get anxious like crazy.

The thing is: Stress is completely unavoidable. I think people tend to get stressed about getting stressed, as if somehow they “shouldn’t be if they’re in Christ.” But with all the demands, deadlines, and due dates of life, it’s completely understandable that you’d feel an anxiety about what needs to be done and what is not done.

That’s just life. Half the battle of fighting stress is to simply anticipate your bodily changes and to recognize what is happening. That’s true with temptation, with conflict, with fear of the future. To be able to say, “Here it is. The pressure’s on. Body is freaking out, right on time.” And then the other half of the battle is to move forward anyway.

There is plenty of practical stuff I could say here. You probably already know about —

- To-Do Lists

- to have some kind of a written planner

- to have a mentor or an understanding friend

- to find stress-relieving activities like exercise or drawing or skydiving or sword-fighting

— to prioritize your tasks with what’s most time-sensitive (do stuff that’s due soon now, don’t do stuff now that’s due later)

— to not look at tasks from left to right, but front to back (because a stack of dominos left to right will psychologically overwhelm you, but from front to back means you take care of things one at a time like a deck of cards)

— and to foster good habits like taking a scheduled break or jogging the same time everyday or using mouthwash (because good habits foster other good habits).

Yet even all these only reduce the stress – you’ll still need to push forward with the task at hand. The cool thing though is that very act of starting your priorities will undo a lot of the anxiety, because the human mind releases tension as it moves forward into tangible action. That’s a lot of fancy talk to say: Start anywhere, but just start.

About prayer: You’re totally right to pray, and even “secular prayer” or a time of meditation is known to have positive effects on the body. But prayer, as we all know, is hardly a fix-all or genie or magical potion. That’s not even the point of it.

What I would also pray about is asking God “WHY.” Why am I doing this right now? Why is this so important to me? Why am I stressing about this?

I know that sounds overly existential, but I believe when you spend time with questions of why, you’ll be able to 1) re-affirm your purpose in Christ to move forward with God’s call on your life and 2) downgrade things that are not so important in your life.

There are TONS of stuff we do that have no other point besides routine or indulgence or extra layers, which we could all cut from our life with little loss. Knowing where to say NO will cut unnecessary stress.

To name some examples: Christians sometimes write daily in a journal, as if this is just as important as reading the Bible. But “journaling” is not for everyone, and if it stresses you out, don’t do it. Sometimes we make a huge deal about making our bed perfect, or studying every scribble of lecture notes for the exam, or knowing someone’s whereabouts at all times, or being a Nazi whenever someone is late to a meeting or praise team practice or worship service.

Prayer can help you sort through these things to see what’s critical in light of eternity. The longer you spend in, “Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name …” then the more your relationship with God and with people will take the main stage in your heart.

A last thing: As I said before, stress is often caused by seeing what needs to be done and seeing what is not done. So to close this gap, some of us become perfectionists. We become high-stress because of a need to make things perfect, even when we know it’s killing us.

Then stress becomes a means to conform reality to our desire, as if stress will somehow bend things into shape. While there is such thing as “good stress” (called eustress in psychology), most likely we feel distress. There might be a death-grip for control that you’ll need to let go of each day.

Let’s accept some imperfection. It’s absolutely right to strive for your best, but we’re called to trust God with the results. When I let go of expecting perfect results, that actually cuts most of my anxiety immediately. It also allows me to love people for who they are instead of how I’m trying to mold them.

I had to remember too that all the results are always in God’s control. Not were, not will be, not can be, but are. On one hand that’s a little maddening, but on the other hand – I can relax.

I can stop trying to squeeze everything into my will. I can let go of stressing myself into a twitchy neurotic mess. I can repent from the hostility of being so controlling. If God is in control – and He is – then I don’t have to be. Since He’s good and all-knowing and He loves me, then when things go bad, He’s still good, and He will work it out for my good. It does not mean I won’t be stressed, but it does mean that no matter how stressed I am, He’s still in control.

I’ll throw you a prayer. Love you, my friend, and so does He.

— J.S.

This helps explain, plan and show how to deal with stress =)