Just something I took from one of the first seminars. I didn't really think much about that statement when the lady said it but over the past couple days I have noticed some little things that have made me kind of happy or amused or surprisingly blessed.
- The post title is sort of a surprise. I actually didn't think I learned very much from that seminar initially but it's turned out to be pretty applicable and somewhat of a recurring theme.
- I met this one girl on Monday and she was pretty cool so we got to hang out and talk and stuff. I was actually kind of disappointed I didn't get to meet more people but the next day I actually ran into her again and got to talk a little more. It was just neat to run into the one person I met in a 17,000 person conference.
- I've kind of been thinking about worship. Large scale bands aren't really something I'm into and I was kind of wondering why it's always the big, extravagant styles that get celebrated. This morning one of the Asian singers led worship and it was a lot more low key and more what I like and am used to. That was a really nice blessing to start off the morning.
- I was looking through some of the notes I took from Tuesday night's message from Oscar Muriu, which was really sweet, and I came across one that made me laugh when I wrote it and reading it again: "God did not send Jesus as a king on CNN or as Will Smith from Independence Day."
- I was browsing the booths in the Global Connexions exhibit where a bunch of missions organizations were set up and I met a couple of my sister's coworkers. I guess that's not really too surprising, but it was kind of neat to talk to one of the girls who my sister talked to at a previous Urbana now working for the same org.
- This whole conference so far has been a surprise too. It's simultaneously been so different than what I expected and also exceeded any expectations I might have had. Which of course is always nice.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Goals Post
Not to be confused with a goalpost: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV6wiaJJHtI
I should really get to bed, but I guess something I just wanted to put down were just some goals and I guess expectations for the last couple days I have here. I know I just made a post but I feel like this is something important too. Maybe this will even be a challenge to someone reading out there as well.
- Really discover my gifts. What spiritual gifts do I have? And how can I use my gifts (spiritual or otherwise) for the Kingdom of God? Where/what is my niche? I think it's great that we appreciate how uniquely we're all created. But it would be a shame to just stop there. I believe that we're created differently with our own individual gifts because God wants to use all of us in a way that only we, with our specific talents and experiences, can be used.
- Learn more about the power of prayer. I visited the prayer ministry room today and hung out there a little and had the opportunity to be prayed over. It hit me how blessed we are to have a sovereign God who is also a personal God who cares for each one of us. It's so cool that we can bring our prayers directly to Him and that He is always present in our lives.
- Be present to the presence of Jesus. A kind of cheesy line from one of our seminars but I really liked the idea that there are always opportunities for us to recognize the greatness of God and experience something profound as long as we are open to it. I have to admit that having been in the church and a Christian for years, I do feel like it becomes kind of mundane and honestly a little boring sometimes. But every day is a gift and every day brings new blessings from God into our lives.
- Live to be forgotten. This is another line I stole and one of the most challenging things for me. It came from a guy named Patrick Fung. He's a very intelligent man, a successful doctor who gave up everything (he literally gave away his entire life savings) to serve God. As an Asian-American and someone who is studying business, it's very natural for me to want to make a name for myself and to be successful. So it's hard for me to truly desire to make God known without any selfish ambition of my own. I want to have success, I want to make money. Dr. Fung challenged us to ignore these impulses and instead live to make ourselves less and magnify God instead.
I should really get to bed, but I guess something I just wanted to put down were just some goals and I guess expectations for the last couple days I have here. I know I just made a post but I feel like this is something important too. Maybe this will even be a challenge to someone reading out there as well.
- Really discover my gifts. What spiritual gifts do I have? And how can I use my gifts (spiritual or otherwise) for the Kingdom of God? Where/what is my niche? I think it's great that we appreciate how uniquely we're all created. But it would be a shame to just stop there. I believe that we're created differently with our own individual gifts because God wants to use all of us in a way that only we, with our specific talents and experiences, can be used.
- Learn more about the power of prayer. I visited the prayer ministry room today and hung out there a little and had the opportunity to be prayed over. It hit me how blessed we are to have a sovereign God who is also a personal God who cares for each one of us. It's so cool that we can bring our prayers directly to Him and that He is always present in our lives.
- Be present to the presence of Jesus. A kind of cheesy line from one of our seminars but I really liked the idea that there are always opportunities for us to recognize the greatness of God and experience something profound as long as we are open to it. I have to admit that having been in the church and a Christian for years, I do feel like it becomes kind of mundane and honestly a little boring sometimes. But every day is a gift and every day brings new blessings from God into our lives.
- Live to be forgotten. This is another line I stole and one of the most challenging things for me. It came from a guy named Patrick Fung. He's a very intelligent man, a successful doctor who gave up everything (he literally gave away his entire life savings) to serve God. As an Asian-American and someone who is studying business, it's very natural for me to want to make a name for myself and to be successful. So it's hard for me to truly desire to make God known without any selfish ambition of my own. I want to have success, I want to make money. Dr. Fung challenged us to ignore these impulses and instead live to make ourselves less and magnify God instead.
Urbana Pt. 1
So this is pretty much the first time I've been able to just sit down on a computer (with internet access) and I do have some stuff to put down so I will write it.
I haven't really been able to process too much yet so this is likely going to be pretty rough but hopefully still coherent and not blasphemous or anything.
So far my time here has been pretty great. I hate to hesitate to use superlatives even though I actually do quite often when I talk and I honestly don't feel like my entire life has been changed through this like I've heard from some people's experiences. Urbana just hasn't quite had the feel of an "amazing" or "awesome" although I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I tend to process things logically, I like to think through them (I am an ISTJ after all) so I generally don't get too caught up in extreme feelings or emotions. Having said that I am learning a great deal even if I don't always realize it. I've been to a couple seminars that I didn't really think I got too much of until I started thinking about it and talking about it with other people.
It's really neat to see how God has been using His servants as the speakers and seminar leaders share about their experiences. It's been a lot of fun learning about how God works and also being challenged as well. I don't often feel challenged by speakers so to have that happen is a really neat thing.
One of the main things that I've been really hit with is the greatness of the Gospel. It's great in the sense that it's an awesome truth, so complex and deep yet simple and understandable as well. It's also great in that it is so big and applicable to every person and people group in the world. I've kind of held a viewpoint in the past that the Gospel is the good news for everybody but more of a take it or leave it kind of thing. I'm learning a lot more about contextualizing the Gospel, bringing it to people in the way that they want and need it, not how I want to share or feel comfortable sharing with them.
The speaker of the first seminar said something which I thought was pretty neat. To roughly paraphrase she said that the Gospel is God's dream for the world. To have His Kingdom and salvation brought about through the birth, life, death and resurrection, and return of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit as we respond and participate.
It's so awesome that what we believe is such a simple truth that we can share with others. And of course part of sharing anything is to do it in a way that meets the needs of the people you're sharing with. When you share food, you don't give someone the portion that you know they don't like or else that's not really sharing. It's just dumping off the scraps.
In light of learning about the Gospel I feel challenged to go out and do this. But first I really want to solidify what the Gospel is to me and hopefully learn what the Gospel is to others as well and find a way to effectively take it to them.
I haven't really been able to process too much yet so this is likely going to be pretty rough but hopefully still coherent and not blasphemous or anything.
So far my time here has been pretty great. I hate to hesitate to use superlatives even though I actually do quite often when I talk and I honestly don't feel like my entire life has been changed through this like I've heard from some people's experiences. Urbana just hasn't quite had the feel of an "amazing" or "awesome" although I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I tend to process things logically, I like to think through them (I am an ISTJ after all) so I generally don't get too caught up in extreme feelings or emotions. Having said that I am learning a great deal even if I don't always realize it. I've been to a couple seminars that I didn't really think I got too much of until I started thinking about it and talking about it with other people.
It's really neat to see how God has been using His servants as the speakers and seminar leaders share about their experiences. It's been a lot of fun learning about how God works and also being challenged as well. I don't often feel challenged by speakers so to have that happen is a really neat thing.
One of the main things that I've been really hit with is the greatness of the Gospel. It's great in the sense that it's an awesome truth, so complex and deep yet simple and understandable as well. It's also great in that it is so big and applicable to every person and people group in the world. I've kind of held a viewpoint in the past that the Gospel is the good news for everybody but more of a take it or leave it kind of thing. I'm learning a lot more about contextualizing the Gospel, bringing it to people in the way that they want and need it, not how I want to share or feel comfortable sharing with them.
The speaker of the first seminar said something which I thought was pretty neat. To roughly paraphrase she said that the Gospel is God's dream for the world. To have His Kingdom and salvation brought about through the birth, life, death and resurrection, and return of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit as we respond and participate.
It's so awesome that what we believe is such a simple truth that we can share with others. And of course part of sharing anything is to do it in a way that meets the needs of the people you're sharing with. When you share food, you don't give someone the portion that you know they don't like or else that's not really sharing. It's just dumping off the scraps.
In light of learning about the Gospel I feel challenged to go out and do this. But first I really want to solidify what the Gospel is to me and hopefully learn what the Gospel is to others as well and find a way to effectively take it to them.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
In the STL
I really have been meaning to post on here. I just kind of got busy towards the end of the semester with finals and stuff and then pretty much all of break I've just been wanting to be lazy. So there's that. But that's really no excuse. I think I can just be a little too much of a perfectionist at times and I want to make sure I gather all of my thoughts before I put it down here. But really that's not my goal with this blog, it's just to get stuff down.
Anyway I'm currently in St. Louis for Urbana and I'm guessing I will have some things to write about after (or maybe during) these next few days so look for updates. If I have time I may try to post each day or so but more likely it'll be a bigger summary post when I am back home.
I don't really know what to expect. Just trying to go into it with a open heart and mind. I guess we will see how it goes.
Anyway I'm currently in St. Louis for Urbana and I'm guessing I will have some things to write about after (or maybe during) these next few days so look for updates. If I have time I may try to post each day or so but more likely it'll be a bigger summary post when I am back home.
I don't really know what to expect. Just trying to go into it with a open heart and mind. I guess we will see how it goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)