Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Taiwan 7/28 Tuesday
Would it not be fantasting and extremely refreshing to sleep 9 hours a night for a couple of days? Well, that has been happening since I have been in Taiwan, Yesterday, the 28th of July, my schedule was set for learning chemistry, algebra, and physics. My dad, who enjoys teaching, plans on establishing a more solid foundation in my education through guiding me in chemistry, algebra, and physics material. The work and learning has challenged me be more diciplined and diligent. The character to develop better time mangement is difficult; nevertheless, my mother said it is essential to have that skill. The Bible says that there are benefits when one pursues discipline: "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid"(Proverbs 12:1). When one loves knowledge, it is inevitable for him to grow in knowledge. Similar to if an individual loves cake. My sister loves cheesecake; hence, if you put a mouth-watering New York smooth creamy irresistablely delicous strawbeary cheese cake in front of her, she is bound to eat it. Likewise, if an individual love knowledge, he will grow in knowledge, whether in the knowledge of God, or in the knowledge of the proper techniques of brushing your teeth. After eating breakfast yesterday, I took took my teeth to the "carwash" a.k.a bathroom. There, I gave it a scrub using invigorating teeth body shampoo. My dad and I then made our way to The University of Continuing Education. There I listened to a powerful sermon from ihop.org, regarding taking a stand of compassion against child prostitution. AFterwards, we went to go eat dinner, and later we went to the park to go excercise at a nearby middle school, which has a basketball court and track. Overall, that was my day, I hope you enjoyed learning about what I did and the lessons I learned. :)
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Taiwan!! Journal.
The church in Taiwan heavily focuses on "lee bai", or attending Sunday Worship. Yesterday, I was praying for the Lord to provide my dad ( I am currently spending time with my dad ｎｏｗ） ａｎｄ Ｉ ａ ｂｉｂｌｉｃａｌ Ｓｐｉｒｉｔ ｆｉｌｌｅｄ ｃｈｕｒｃｈ ｔｏ ａｔｔｅｎｄ． Ｗｈｉｌｅ ｗａｌｋｉｎｇ ｄｏｗｎ ｔｈｅ ｒｏａｄ， ｍｙ ｄａｄ ｐｏｉｎｔｅｄ ｏｕｔ ａ ｎｅａｒｂｙ ｃｈｕｒｃｈ， ａｎｄ ｇｕｅｓｓ ｗｈａｔ， ｔｈａｔ ｅｘａｃｔ ｔｉｍｅ， ｔｈｅ ｙｏｕｔｈ ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅ ｗａｓ ｓｔａｒｔｉｎｇ． Ｍｙ ｄａｄ ａｎｄ Ｉ ｗｅｎｔ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅ， ａｎｄ ｗｅ ｅｎｊｏｙｅｄ ｉｔ ｖｅｒｙ ｍｕｃｈ． Ｔｈｅ Ｐａｓｔｏｒ ｓｐｏｋｅ ｏｎ Ｍａｔｔｈｅｗ ４， ｒｅｇａｒｄｉｎｇ Ｊｅｓｕｓ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｄｅｓｅｒｔ， ａｎｄ ｉｔ ｂｒｏｕｇｈｔ ｎｅｗ ｉｎｓｉｇｈｔ ｔｏ ｍｙ ｅｙｅｓ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒ ｏｆ Ｊｅｓｕｓ ａｎｄ ｈｏｗ ｔｏ ｄｅａｌ ｗｉｔｈ ｔｅｍｐｔａｔｉｏｎ． Ｔｏｄａｙ， Ｓｕｎｄａｙ， ｗｅ ｗｅｎｔ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｓｈｉｐ ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅ， ｗｈｉｃｈ ｗａｓ ｐｒｅｔｔｙ ａｗｅｓｏｍｅ． Ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｗｏｒｓｈｉｐ， ｔｈｅｙ ｒｅａｄ ａ Ｐｓａｌｍ， ａｎｄ ｗｈｉｌｅ ｔｈｅ ｃｏｎｇｅｇｒａｔｉｏｎ ｐｒａｉｓｅｓ， Ｉ ｒｅａｌｌｙ ｆｅｅｌ ｔｈａｔ ｔｈｅ ｎａｍｅ ｏｆ Ｊｅｓｕｓ ｉｓ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｌｉｆｔｅｄ ｈｉｇｈｅｒ． Ａｆｔｅｒｗａｒｄ ｔｈｅ ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅ， Ｉwas able to hang out with the Pastor's son, Luke, who is a pretty cool drummer. I hope to return and maybe sometime jam with him. Nevertheless, ｓｉｎｃｅ my dad established a disciplined schedule in my summer, to learn chemistry, physics, and math; therefore, Ｉ ｒｅｔｕｒｎｅｄ ｈｏｍｅ． Ｔｈａｔ ｗａｓ ｂａｓｉｃａｌｌｙ ｔｈｅ ｈｉｇｈｌｉｇｈｔ ｏｆ ｍｙ ｄａｄ ｔｈｏｕｇｈ． Ｍｏｒｅ ｗｉｌｌ ｂｅ ｈｏｐｅｆｕｌｌｙ ｐｏｓｔｅｄ． Ｇｏｄ ｂｌｅｓｓ！
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Taiwan Summer English Camp Mission
Hello everyone, this is Richard and I am in Taiwan!
These past two weeks I volunteered in the Summer English Camp at Yuan Ze University. We did the same camp for two weeks, and in total there were about 250 students, about 125 per week. The first week has gradually molded and shaped me to become more of a servant, similar to Jesus. He says in Matthew 20:28 that He "did not come to be served, but to serve". On the day I arrived at the campsite, Pastor Yao preached on this topic and humility, and how His people are to be completely humble and gentle as we learn from Christ's example of his meekness and gentleness. Throughout the camp, the American co-workers taught English, performed skits which had lessons on character, led small group, built relationships with the kids, led games and worship, and other tasks. In all of the joyful and strenuous work, much lessons were applied and memories made. On Sunday, there is a talent show, where the parents of the kids come and see their children perform. My group, group 3, performed a skit teaching the lesson that a major character trait in a Christian is love. The exhilerating and amusing skit begins with a bank robbery. As climaxing background piano music resounds in the ears of the captivated audience, criminals enter the bank and demand money. The workers at the bank, which are Christians, begin to pray. Their noises of pleading with God reaches the level that results in the criminals mercilessly killing the Christians. Where the criminals begin to have a spark of relief and delight because they are almost complete with their shameful task, police arrive at the scene and shoot them down. They also die, and the scene then turns to hell...dun..dun..dun! The criminals have ended up in hell, where they begin to grow hungry. They find food and chopsticks; nevertheless, the chopsticks are too long. Attempting to feed their aching stomachs, which is as empty as a balloon, they use the chopsticks to pick up food and try to put the food into their own mouths to selfishly satisfy their own personal needs yet facing the conclusion that they cannot eat because the chopsticks are too long. Upset and in deep pity, they ask the devil to allow them to gaze at the wonders of heaven. They see in heaven the Christian bank workers, yet, when they grew hungry, they did not use the extremely long chopsticks to feed themselves, but one another, impressing on the hearts of the criminals the love and kindness of Christians. Although this is not the most biblically based skit in the world, the lesson is that the body of Christ is to be selflessly and joyfully loving one another. Let us act to fufill 1 John 4:11-12: "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." With God's love overflowing like a glorious and abundantful fountain, the light of Christ overcomes the darkness which so depresses and entraps the lives of many. Yesterday, I received news that one of the girls that attended the camp began to go to church again. During the alter call on the second week, there was a great responce with floods of young people coming up. One of my goals for the summer is to continue to keep them in my prayers, pleading with the Lord to "turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word"(Psalm 119:37).
These past two weeks I volunteered in the Summer English Camp at Yuan Ze University. We did the same camp for two weeks, and in total there were about 250 students, about 125 per week. The first week has gradually molded and shaped me to become more of a servant, similar to Jesus. He says in Matthew 20:28 that He "did not come to be served, but to serve". On the day I arrived at the campsite, Pastor Yao preached on this topic and humility, and how His people are to be completely humble and gentle as we learn from Christ's example of his meekness and gentleness. Throughout the camp, the American co-workers taught English, performed skits which had lessons on character, led small group, built relationships with the kids, led games and worship, and other tasks. In all of the joyful and strenuous work, much lessons were applied and memories made. On Sunday, there is a talent show, where the parents of the kids come and see their children perform. My group, group 3, performed a skit teaching the lesson that a major character trait in a Christian is love. The exhilerating and amusing skit begins with a bank robbery. As climaxing background piano music resounds in the ears of the captivated audience, criminals enter the bank and demand money. The workers at the bank, which are Christians, begin to pray. Their noises of pleading with God reaches the level that results in the criminals mercilessly killing the Christians. Where the criminals begin to have a spark of relief and delight because they are almost complete with their shameful task, police arrive at the scene and shoot them down. They also die, and the scene then turns to hell...dun..dun..dun! The criminals have ended up in hell, where they begin to grow hungry. They find food and chopsticks; nevertheless, the chopsticks are too long. Attempting to feed their aching stomachs, which is as empty as a balloon, they use the chopsticks to pick up food and try to put the food into their own mouths to selfishly satisfy their own personal needs yet facing the conclusion that they cannot eat because the chopsticks are too long. Upset and in deep pity, they ask the devil to allow them to gaze at the wonders of heaven. They see in heaven the Christian bank workers, yet, when they grew hungry, they did not use the extremely long chopsticks to feed themselves, but one another, impressing on the hearts of the criminals the love and kindness of Christians. Although this is not the most biblically based skit in the world, the lesson is that the body of Christ is to be selflessly and joyfully loving one another. Let us act to fufill 1 John 4:11-12: "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." With God's love overflowing like a glorious and abundantful fountain, the light of Christ overcomes the darkness which so depresses and entraps the lives of many. Yesterday, I received news that one of the girls that attended the camp began to go to church again. During the alter call on the second week, there was a great responce with floods of young people coming up. One of my goals for the summer is to continue to keep them in my prayers, pleading with the Lord to "turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word"(Psalm 119:37).
Friday, July 10, 2009
Shake Them Snakes
Today, as I was reading my morning devotion, a word just burned on my heart deeply about conquering sin and trials/temptations.
Taken from BibleGateway.com
Acts 28 (New Living Translation)
1 Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. 2 The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.
Isn't it fascinating how the passage made it sound so simple? Paul was building a fire, a viper (in other translations) came up and wrapped around him, and Paul shook him off into the fire like a bad habit. It took 3 plain verses to describe what happened, but I can imagine that it would be the defining moment for many people's lives today:
Imagine going camping with some of your best buddies, both saved and non-saved. You drive 4 hours up to Lake Tahoe and finally unpack the truck after the grueling trip with multiple stops for bathroom and food. You tell your friends to start pitching the tent while you grab some wood for the dinner fire. Zack (just made the name up) comes with you. Lo and behold, there's no wood around so you travel deep with your hatchet to get some. You two get lost. An hour goes by and you finally return with some kindling and a good night's supply of logs/branches. Zack gathers the rest of the guys who were waiting on the firewood and tell them to circle around for the glorious fire moment. As you light the match (or lighter, if you're not as hardcore), you feel something smooth and uneasy on your leg. Its squirmy. A worm? You look down and you see the end of its tail crawl up behind your back so you can't see. Its a rattlesnake. Nope, its a viper. It opens your mouth to attack you. Your entire biology class from 7th grade is flashing before your eyes and you wish you kept yourself awake to learn how to combat snakes. What do you do?
This is somewhat how I imagined the situation was for Paul (this is also how I read the Bible). Paul simply SHOOK off the snake! He didn't panic, he didn't worry, and he didn't even fear the snake. He merely took the snake and tossed it into the fire! That is extreme!
And that's one of the biggest problems in the church today. We make a big deal out of everything, don't we? Grades drop, friendships are broken, girls/boys are chasing us, and families fall apart--Yes, those things are indeed tempting and extremely painful to go through. Yet, why are we so easily discouraged or impressed by the works of the devil? One or two things go wrong in our lives and we begin to justify backsliding or sinking away from our Christian walk. This is crucial, especially because people will look and start analyzing you, just like the islanders did. They might say you deserve it, they might pity or sympathize with you, or they may simply stare and watch. They can't help you so why bother with what others say?
Yes, the snake/trial/temptation is poisonous; yes, the hurt will be there once the event or action has occurred; yes, it's easy to talk about and hard to live out; but the poison will only spread and affect you if you allow yourself to be bitten. A mosquito cannot sting you if you do not give it a chance to land on you.
Next time the snakes come onto you, show no intimidation.
Shake them snakes off and into the fire.
Taken from BibleGateway.com
Acts 28 (New Living Translation)
Paul on the Island of Malta
1 Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. 2 The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.3 As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. 4 The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” 5 But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. 6 The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.
-----Isn't it fascinating how the passage made it sound so simple? Paul was building a fire, a viper (in other translations) came up and wrapped around him, and Paul shook him off into the fire like a bad habit. It took 3 plain verses to describe what happened, but I can imagine that it would be the defining moment for many people's lives today:
Imagine going camping with some of your best buddies, both saved and non-saved. You drive 4 hours up to Lake Tahoe and finally unpack the truck after the grueling trip with multiple stops for bathroom and food. You tell your friends to start pitching the tent while you grab some wood for the dinner fire. Zack (just made the name up) comes with you. Lo and behold, there's no wood around so you travel deep with your hatchet to get some. You two get lost. An hour goes by and you finally return with some kindling and a good night's supply of logs/branches. Zack gathers the rest of the guys who were waiting on the firewood and tell them to circle around for the glorious fire moment. As you light the match (or lighter, if you're not as hardcore), you feel something smooth and uneasy on your leg. Its squirmy. A worm? You look down and you see the end of its tail crawl up behind your back so you can't see. Its a rattlesnake. Nope, its a viper. It opens your mouth to attack you. Your entire biology class from 7th grade is flashing before your eyes and you wish you kept yourself awake to learn how to combat snakes. What do you do?
This is somewhat how I imagined the situation was for Paul (this is also how I read the Bible). Paul simply SHOOK off the snake! He didn't panic, he didn't worry, and he didn't even fear the snake. He merely took the snake and tossed it into the fire! That is extreme!
And that's one of the biggest problems in the church today. We make a big deal out of everything, don't we? Grades drop, friendships are broken, girls/boys are chasing us, and families fall apart--Yes, those things are indeed tempting and extremely painful to go through. Yet, why are we so easily discouraged or impressed by the works of the devil? One or two things go wrong in our lives and we begin to justify backsliding or sinking away from our Christian walk. This is crucial, especially because people will look and start analyzing you, just like the islanders did. They might say you deserve it, they might pity or sympathize with you, or they may simply stare and watch. They can't help you so why bother with what others say?
Yes, the snake/trial/temptation is poisonous; yes, the hurt will be there once the event or action has occurred; yes, it's easy to talk about and hard to live out; but the poison will only spread and affect you if you allow yourself to be bitten. A mosquito cannot sting you if you do not give it a chance to land on you.
Next time the snakes come onto you, show no intimidation.
Shake them snakes off and into the fire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
