Thursday 14 November 2013

Be A Diamond, Not A Talc (Poem dedicated to the victims of the Philippines' Typhoon Haiyan)'

Be a Diamond, Not Talc

A fierce vortex may carry a roof away.
A gigantic earth fault will clash and clutter the walls.
A sliding slope will drag houses down like a waterfall.
An extreme army of wind and rain will drown the innocent beings.
A furious conflagration might incinerate the mortals' fragile skin.
A flowing ribbon of lava will engulf a tree's beauty.
Yet we are still alive.

Who knows when a plane will crash against a skyscraper?
Who knows when a ship will overturn in the deep cold blue?
Who knows when a bus will skid towards a train?
Who knows when a young lad will get shot?
Who knows when death is cursed on a loved one?
Yet we are still alive.

We may live in a world weaved with catastrophes.
Poverty and prostitution still do exist.
One innocent mind will be harmed one day
by the awakening of reality’s rage.
Yet have no fear
that when faith knocks on your door,
Not even grenades of disaster will crash onto you.

We may lose our current plans.
Our shelters, together with our belongings
may be destroyed and no longer in use.
We may be devastated
to see earth turned to deadly black,
yet there is one tiny spark hidden beneath the soil
that will soon grows and glows with great glory,
a luminescence that will revive our hearts.

Dear people,
don't be a sectile, bendable talc.
Your heart may be twisted like its rubber-like body.
Your spirits may be shattered like its weak bonds.
Your soul may be torn like its easily-scratched surface.
But
do remember the spark that will illuminate
right before your eyes. 
It will help to rekindle your heart,
like a flame of hope that ignites in brilliant warmth.

Let the flame in you ablaze with wondrous power.
Let's stand up from the debris left on the ground
and lay hands on one another's shriveled wings.
Let's be diamonds that conquer misery,
strong and resistant.
Its surface cannot be damaged
but reflecting beams of bright silver
that an enemy's eyes be blinded. 

Don't let hypocrisy and sarcasm overcome your thoughts!
Get up on your feet now!
Fix the cracks and ruins
to create a renewed world. 
Keep in mind that you are not engulfed in isolation
for we hold you in our prayers
and God will lend you his mercy and grace.
So open your eyes now.
Be a diamond,
not talc. 


Wednesday 13 November 2013

World Kindness Day 2013: Post a love message!

I don't know whether you are aware of this, but today is World Kindness Day. I don't have any money with me, except my debit card and countless pennies in my wallet so I can't buy gifts, but I would like to share this message with you all.

For those who can't find something to make someone's day better today, you can do this simple task on Facebook, twitter, or any other social sites (even email =P). So here's what you can do with your laptop in front of you. Post a short message of love as your status update OR as a special message to a friend or two. If possible, you can post your message to as many friends as you can think of. Here's an example:
"I just want to let you know that you're perfect just the way you are. You are the reason why I'm being myself and living here in this world with a smile. I love you, and I hope you'll never forget that you are always loved. Spread this to the people you care by (posting this as your Facbeook status/ tweeting this to your friends). Happy World Kindness Day!=)"

You can copy the example above as your own love message, but it would be better if you create your own love message and share it with your friends. Be creative, but simple, meaningful, and inspiring! Your message will make a person's day joyful. Compose a short poem, quote a portion of lyrics from a good song,share a bible verse...anything you want to make your love message perfect!

If you find this task a little cheesy, then you can grab your coat and start something bigger! One of my favourite Youtube artists, David Choi did a great example to show a random act of kindness. Check out his collaboration with Jubilee Project here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rSMRM9_TZo

In this video, he sang one of his singles "Can't Take This Away" in order to get some lunch money from passers-by. In the end, he ended up giving all the lunch money he earned to a beggar at the store. So, why can't you? Go and do a random act of kindness by donating a quarter, a toonie, or a dollar to a person in need! Just don't spare cash to those fake, lazy beggars! They are just trying to trick you! If you see someone who is desperately seeking help, let your heart to be softened and give a silver or a green to that person.

There are, of course, other ways to do something kind. If you don't feel like doing something nice, then I suggest you to start by doing the online task above. If this encourages you to do something more, post more of your love message, and eventually, you'll find yourselves walking down the aisle and help your family, friends, or even strangers with a good deed. You wouldn't want to miss out on this special day! Today is a practice for you to do something good for other people! So....what are you waiting for??? START NOW! =D As Ellen Degeneres always says: "Be kind to one another"!

Monday 4 November 2013

God is Life


A friend sent me this link yesterday and recommended me to incorporate this into something deeper, that is the true meaning of life. Being a child who is raised in a Christian family, I wondered why we went to church every Sunday,and I was called a "church kid" because I was taught about God and received God throughout my childhood. To be honest, I didn't truly understand all those teachings about Christ back home, but after living with a bunch of church sisters back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as well as being involved in conferences and retreats with the Canadian saints, I realized that, with God, life is full of meaning.
So, the picture above is the link I receive. Many Christians believe that they should do good in order to please God and to get closer to God. I agree that we should be good in the eyes of the Lord. However, there is one thing that a lot of them don't know. They have a little hole in their hearts, and they're finding the missing patch to sew it back on. The patch is God as life. Their true, real life. What I mean here is that they have to allow God to enter into their hearts and to guide them every day in every place and every minute. God is a real person, not just the Holy Spirit. If we open our hearts and listen to His speaking, He will tell us what to do. In this way, the things we do in life will not only satisfy ourselves, but also God Himself!

Now you probably know the story of Adam and Eve in the beginning of the Bible. God made them for a significant purpose, that is to express Him and to contain Him as a vessel. God gave them two types of tree: the "tree of life" and the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" (Lee, 104). "God's placing man in front of the tree of life [so that] men [can] receive Him as [life]"and to take him in as "food" (Lee, 110). He is our real food! He is found "in the Word", which is the Bible (Lee, 110). In fact, the tree of life represents God himself! Praise the Lord that He is life! We have to take Him as our "center" so that he can supply our empty hearts with his life. His life becomes our life which is real to us (Lee, 110). God also desires us to take Him as "food", as it says in John 6:48: "I am the bread of life" and John 6:57: "He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me." (Lee, 110-111). The fruits that grow in the tree of life are organic and fresh for us to eat and enjoy, and this will help us to experience God's life as well as his eternity. John 6:51 reminds us: "I am the living bread, which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread which I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world". On the other hand, the tree of knowledge of good and evil is portrayed in the picture above. People who only believe in the matter of good and bad are dying. Genesis 2:17 says: "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die". Eve ate a fruit from this tree and she experienced death, so did Adam. Same goes to us today. If we eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil, all we believe is morality and values, which causes us to fail in experiencing God's presence! Yes, you go to church but if you do not feel that God is knocking the walls of your heart and begging you to let him break through and reach you to breathe him in, then you are not satisfied with the way you live just like the woman in the picture. Ask yourself, dear reader. Do you want to eat the tree of life OR the tree of knowledge of good and evil? I would like to hear you say: "I want to eat the tree of life so that I can depend on God as the real life!"


Life is like flowing water that gushes out of a fresh, crystal clear river. John 4:14 says, "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life". Many Christians take this as a doctrine, thinking that the fountain of living water is only a metaphor or an illusion of God. But here's what I learn from this precious verse. This specific type of water is a source that we as thirsty, desperate, empty human beings are seeking for to survive spiritually. It "[flows] within us", "[proceeding] out of the throne of God" (Lee, 153). "This river was made to water the garden [of Eden] that [it] might grow things of life" (Lee, 153). The world's first garden, the garden of Eden is introduced in the book of Genesis, and this symbolizes that today, the garden of Eden is in us! The greenery (trees and flowers and fruits and all you can find in this garden) depends on the amount of water flown from "the river of water of life" (Lee, 163). If a person's garden is dying, it means that he or she doesn't have the right amount of water from the river of life to water the garden. So what can we do to water the garden in us? Simple. We need to open ourselves to the Lord to allow the "fountain [to emerge] as a spring, and the spring flows out as a river" (Lee, 152)! We need the Lord to whoosh his waters of eternity all over our spirit, our soul, and even our body so that we can experience Him as our only life!

If you're interested, here are a couple of hymns about God as life.
"Christ Has Come To Be Life"
http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn.php/ns/149
"Take My Life and Let It Be"
http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn.php/h/445

Lee, Witness. Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of  


Genesis: Volume One. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 2013. Print.
Lee, Witness. Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of 

Genesis: Volume Two. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 2013. Print.



So..yeah...that's pretty much it! XD I've spent two hours writing this out, but it feels great to share this to you. Thanks to these two books as reference (as shown above), the points here are linked to the real matter of life. Only God's life is ideal and full of hope and glory, and with it, we can no longer suffer!
Oh! And as a special treat, this is a favourite video of mine about the Christian students at UBC (University of British Columbia) who sang a bible song from John 6:51.

What do you think of this post? Leave your comments below. ;) Thanks for reading!