How will you respond?

Everyone's been dealt a hand in life, sometimes you might have pocket aces (pair ace) and other times you will have the worst hand imaginable.

But life's not about what you've been dealt, but what you do with the circumstances given to you.

Will you be the one who at the end of the day, says:

1) 'Master, you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

or

2) 'I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

I want to make the most of all the opportunities I have been given, however good or bad the hand dealt may be, so that one day I will hear the Master reply: "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Offering

One of my favourite and most humbling words of praise...

I bring an offering of worship to my King

No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing

Jesus may You receive the honor that You're due

O Lord I bring an offering to You

Only God is worth it all...

Soli Deo Gloria

Epiphany - God's Unfailing Love

Praise You God of Earth and sky
How beautiful is Your unfailing love
Unfailing love

I love how songs can speak God's words of truth...

I had this *click* moment when I was thinking about various verses I've been reading, and also trying to piece together the idea of God's love and grace (how they fit together), and these words from a song came to my mind. It just clicked.... God's unfailing sacrificial love. Pure and perfect love. True love. How?

Every time when we sin, we rebel against God, we are unholy, unrighteous and dirty scum in His holy presence. We don't deserve to to be anywhere near Him. Every time we sin we should be removed from God's sight, unworthy to be in His presence.

But God's love allows us to come to His presence, and to even have a personal relationship with Him! His love is not limited to how many times we sin and rebel against God, but is unfailing, is eternal, is unconditional.

God's love is demonstrated through grace in salvation - an undeserved act of saving us from our sins through the once-for-all death of Jesus. His death allows us to instead be holy, righteous and pure before God, if we believe in this once-for-all death of Jesus taking away our sins.

What greater love is there, than God's unfailing love? A love that is totally sacrificial, completely unconditional, never failing. A love that never gives up, however sinful, stupid, and worldly we may tend to be. A love that sent the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to the cross for me.

Soli Deo Gloria

Work of Art

Thoughts from "God Delusion"

I've been really confronted today with thoughts about apologetics and defending/explaining/sharing the Christian faith to others, and just had some quick thoughts that I've been mulling over....

1. LISTEN - When people are debating or discussing issues of the Christian faith, both sides have to be open to listen to what the other side is saying. Firstly, the Christian must hear and try to extrapolate what the other person is questioning about and even try to understand the person's barrier to Christianity. The Christian should be willing to listen to the concerns of others instead of purely 'bible bashing'. Remember we have to act in love to our neighbours too. Also, the skeptic must be opening to listening to the stance of the Christian. Often I hear skeptics who argue against Christianity but don't really listen to what the Christian is saying, because he/she has already formed a notion that Christianity doesn't work, which means he/she is moreso trying to push his idea onto others instead of impartially discussing the topic.

2. STAY FOCUSED - More often than not, debates around religion centre around the premise of the idea of a divine being (a god), the compatibility of science and religion (evolution vs creation) and the evidence of Jesus' resurrection as prime examples. While usually discussions tangent off to very particular and specific questions of philosophical/moral/theological/etc. issues, we must remember as Christians to focus on the Christian belief we are trying to describe, and bring things back into perspective to the core values which we hold on to as Christ followers. While its good to delve into those specific issues, we must always remember and focus on the bigger picture of what Christianity is all about.

3. BE CONCISE - While we aren't all trained theologians, it is a really wise decision to familiarise ourselves (as Christians) with concise answers to commonly asked questions about the Christian faith. It is beneficial to know our testimonies, know the truths that Christians hold on to and cannot let go of, and to be able to explain these things in a concise and understandable manner. This prepares us for situations when we are able to explain and defend our faith.

How Efficient....

Buy books at Koorong Springwood

Buy shelves at Ikea Springwood to house the extra books....

My new set of books...

Family Values

I love my family...

There's been a couple of big things that have happened in the past 6 months or so that have caused and challenged me to really think about how I view my family and if I'm taking a right or wrong attitude to them or not...

I know my family is not perfect... but then no one is perfect. We all have our troubles and disagreements, but when I stop and think about it, there are so many blessings and good facets that I love about my family, that I am just so grateful for. I am so blessed to have been born into a Christian family... I am eternally grateful to have been brought up learning about God and seeing the love of Jesus in my life. Mum and Dad made so many sacrifices for the family - worked long hours during the day and at night too so that my brother and I were brought up well, moved countries twice for better education and life opportunities, and doing all they could so that we would be able to do the best we can in life. Mum and Dad also gave us the good examples of how to live, and how to live as Christians. I can remember all the 'wise sayings' that Dad reminded me of, and all the loving and encouraging words from Mum. I can see in hindsight, all the ways my parents showed their love to me... from Dad running downstairs to open the garage door when I get home, to when Mum hugs me when she can see that I'm down and rotten... They were always there to care for me, encourage me, and to remind me that they love me and I'm not a nobody in this world...

I don't really know if that was just a dump from my mind and made sense or anything... and I doubt Mum or Dad will read this, but...

Thank you Mum and Dad.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with this family.

Uni life...

Timetable Analysis

I was doing an exercise with a friend in regards to our weekly timetables this year, and I scribbled down what I was doing last year (in hindsight) and this is what I found out:

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Night

Basically, I've been told by many sources this year, I should have approximately 7 free slots for rest/relaxation/personal time in a week and/or 4 free nights each week. Unfortunately.... I only had 1 definite free slot (uncoloured)...

I know why I've been feeling so tired/dead now!