airvinny's Xanga

Life in Beijing

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:26:28 GMT

Check out my blog: http://therealbeijing.tumblr.com

Monday, November 12, 2007

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:43:27 GMT

Where has society gone?

Tue, 22 May 2007 04:54:01 GMT

I've come to respect people who can gracefully accept their mistakes. I think that it is so difficult for people today to accept wrongdoing. Society places so much emphasis on success—making the big bucks, living it large, splurging on toys. Even in light of sin, people are so far removed from admitting sin and actively pursuing holiness. As we've been studying various passages in college bible study with PG, a familiar passage in John came up about Lazarus. The verse that stood out to me was "Jesus wept." It’s such a powerful verse. While it’s a common bible trivia answer I hadn't previously given it much thought. Why did Jesus weep? Some say he wept because He loved Lazarus so much and it pained him to see L dead. Others suggest that it was because Jesus wept for Mary and Martha's faith. I see it more as the latter.

Jesus wept. Why? What would move him so to cry? I believe he cried for the people. Why would he cry for Lazarus, knowing that he would raise L from the dead? That seems superfluous.

32When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34"Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. 35Jesus wept.

Mary, Martha and the Jews all lacked genuine faith. They had the Messiah in their presence and they were weeping. The people’s weeping was the result of their cry of hopelessness, but hope was what Jesus was there to offer. How could they not see it?

Their religiousness was knowledgeable but it lacked basic faith. While Martha exemplified her understanding of the rudimentary principles of Jesus' resurrection, she missed out on the faith aspect of Jesus' gift.

23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."24Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ,[b] the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Martha completely missed out on Jesus’ point. Jesus wasn’t referring to the distant future; he was referring to the present. God in this context is seen as the God of the future, but if he is God shouldn’t he be the God of all time, present past and future? Our God is unique. He is not a distant God who has vaguely given a promise that will be fulfilled in the future. People often see God like this. How do we perceive God? Do we simply trust in God’s future glory, or only his past glory? Do we see God as a close, intimate God or as some remote example of hope?

We can know the Bible through and through and we can use excellent rhetoric in presenting God's word, but our lack of faith in God’s timeless power shines light on our lack of true faith. I believe this brings the most hurt to Jesus. Each time we move away from God in lacking genuine faith, I believe that it pains the Lord.

Martha, Mary may have lacked faith, but if we look at society today we are no better, in fact much worse. I believe that man's actions have become so far extended from Jesus' example. We are ensnared by pride, insensitivity and an inability to accept our wrongdoing. Salvation is such a glorious gift. Since we are so feeble in faith, God provided us a simplified way to come to him.

I too lack the ability to trust in God's eternal power; present, past and future. I too suffer from stubbornness in accepting wrongdoing. I'm trying though; let us all try harder!

The day after the next

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 12:36:16 GMT

Its presence is overlooked, as is its worth. Day by day, it stands firm. We assume that it will never leave, never forget, or never break, but how can we be so naÃ¯ve?

Slowly, the hinges become old and rusty. It has opened and closed countless times. Sometimes we forcefully kicked it, other times we gently crept its latch, making little or no noise at all. Nevertheless, we forget; could we not have taken a moment to appreciate its worth?

It sounds so elementary to be describing an object with so much emotion, but with each passing day, with each passing breath and with each passing Sunday, we forget to restore its brokenness. In all honesty, we casually use it and we fail to recognize the end of its life. The imminence of its last breath means little until it ceases to work accordingly to our actions and desires. Maybe we were much too negligent to acknowledge its pristine place in our lives, I mean how many times have you opened and closed, opened and closed it?

We left it to wither away, and even its groans of pain following years of diligent service could not even engage our attention. Sadly, but realistically, we chose other â€œimportantâ€ responsibilities over it. Today we mourn for its passing; tomorrow we will forget all about it; what will the day after bring?

A fatal flaw almost all too familiar is our tendency. It is a conscious decision that we must not fail to recognize.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Mon, 01 May 2006 05:02:17 GMT

In a nonchalant manner, the black crow hovers over the cusps of the city. It is looking for prey, looking for something to indulge; desperation fills the crow’s motives. I watch from a nearby distance as the wretched bird comes squawking, frantically trying to infiltrate its devious ways on the innocent but vulnerable city.

I witness these shell-shocking events and wonder where this foreign bird has come from. Its ways are unconvincing and despite the façade of brilliant feathers encompassing the bird, its true deception is eminent and apparent.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 04:35:01 GMT

He had just hung up the phone after talking with the sweetest, most beautiful girl that he had ever witnessed. His heart was beating harder than the speed of a prized thoroughbred at the Kentucky Derby. The last words she murmured to him were, “Thanks a lot for a fun night. You made it special.” What did those words mean? As he mulled over the meaning of her relatively simple words, he couldn’t help but sink deep into his seat and recall the time he had just spent with her.

He still remembered the brief moment when his hand met hers as they walked slowly down the cool, pasty sand beside the crashing waves of the beach. They talked and they laughed the night away. He wanted so badly to stop time for an eternity so he could relive those moments of bliss over and over again. He sat there a moment absent mindedly replaying the events of that night over and over again through his head. It played like a movie-clip in his mind, but instead of getting old and repetitive, it still had the same vibrant effect on his heart time and time again.

Before he could fall deeper into his already dreamy, lackadaisical delirium he felt a numbness fall over him that magnified a sharp pain that pierced his heart in half. He abruptly woke from the ache that kept digging deeper into his heart. As soon as his blurred eyes that were filled with tears began to clear up he could make out what seemed like a hundred pairs of eyes locked in on him. But, while these faces were still a blur to him there was one pair of eyes at the forefront of his vision. These were the same eyes that he had gazed deeply into that one night. They were the same eyes that made his heart beat harder than the sound of a hundred drums beating in unison. They were the same eyes that he had been looking for, for all of these years. He knew where he was now though. He had waited too long. She was now on the verge of marriage, not their marriage but her own marriage. The only thing that was holding her back was him. At this point, the stiff air began to loosen. By impulse he squeezed his way to the aisle, while nearly tripping over several large individuals. With all eyes still on him, he ran up to her and told her what he had desperately longed to tell her for all these years. He had practiced it over and over again in his mind; it was now time to execute. With a slight stutter in his voice he said to her, “Remember that one night? I forgot to tell you that… God loves you more than anything in this world.” Before he could even finish taking his breath she fell into his arms and said… “No one has ever given me such a hope…

And so it is. God’s love penetrates through time and even the unthinkable. Don’t ever lose sight of your faith no matter what the circumstances.

fallllllling in love ova and ova again

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 04:32:28 GMT

i'm fuhreaking in love with God. why is He so cool?
dude, wanna know the best part?
i love God, heck yes i do... and He loves me back. uhhhhh-mazing!

"not to us, but to Your name be the glory."

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 08:04:07 GMT

thanks God for amazing friends and family.
y'all know how to partay!

y'all know i can get 2 candles in one huff of a puff!

the boys + minagirl. kev has a scary smile. jp.

here's my boy ec. gotta love the smile.

she's gonna kill me, but before she does... sorrry joanne. hehe

upon the mountaintop

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 07:06:25 GMT

He is an icon now, yet during his last months, even those closest to him began to question his vision for non-violence. Martin Luther King Jr. stood as the driving force of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s, but few are aware of the darkness that he faced behind the scenes.

It's scary. King endured whites who simply wanted to bring him down. They worked sheepishly to tap his phones, convince people that he was merely leading his people into death (through non-violent protests), and to turn his own family against him. From the resounding cadences of his voice, to the strength he displayed when jailed for no apparent reason, King displayed a certain amount of courage. But, behind that reverberating voice, I'm sure there was fear. There was fear, so much that it took over him at some points. Spiritual warfare. Demons. Dark stuff. Unfortunately, the sinful aspect of his life got hold of him. He admitted to love affairs with other women. His marriage had grown weary. But ultimately, he was afraid for the people, afraid for the future of this country, even of this society. He knew his time was winding down. He knew...

"And every now and then I think about my own death..." "Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop."

But despite his faults, King was supremely set on abiding in God's will. Somehow, somewhere, God provided him with a calm, just before his death.

"Like anybody I would like to live... But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. I'm not worried about anything! I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"

That is a servant's heart. One that has no fear and only a genuine desire to follow what the Lord has in store for us. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man, not anything more, not anything less. He had his share of struggles, but his life reminds us that we must remain firm in our faith. We are most vulnerable when we are openly serving, but that shouldn't necessarily lead to fear. We must trust God. He will provide.

Just as King asked I hope that we wouldn't dwell on his name, but instead on his purpose in serving the Lord. I pray that you would just spend a moment to rededicate yourself for the Lord. Have you been to the "mountaintop" and experienced God?

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Sun, 18 Dec 2005 23:27:29 GMT

thinking, thinking, thinking...
i think my brain is going to fry from thinking so much.

when is it too much thinking?