Under Construction

 ³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 10

 ¹ Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

 ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

 ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Today me, dad and Ant visited Holy Trinity Brompton today. Amazing church. It was beautiful, the praise, the building, the sense that the Spirit was all around.

Al Gordon was talking about Matthew 9 and 10 and about the authority and power of the Lord. How we have, like the apostles, been granted the authority to heal and to do great works. But the power is not ours but God’s.

Authority is the right to utilize one’s power. Our authority is the right to call upon the power of the Spirit, because what can we do on our own?

Ant (reblogged below) talked about the church being a community of believers. The Apostles, despite the authority given to them, were sent in pairs to do their work alongside each other.

The last thing is compassion. Jesus did his works and healings out of compassion. No obligation or compulsion but sheer love and compassion. Win.

Anyway those were some scattered thoughts. If I was in London I think I’d love HTB.

Today:

bought cheese

bought cider

bought doritos

bought chicken

bought mincemeat

bought spices

bought rice (asian win)

had fiesta

tonight was a good night

crunchgoestheleaf:

bought beer

bought 42 strips of bacon

bought ketchup

and bought eggs

tonight is gonna be a good night.

 ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

 ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

 ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

   And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)

Today it was time to say goodbye to someone who’s been an amazing friend and inspiration this semester. While we prayed for her and especially for her home, Egypt, this section of Isaiah came to mind after popping up in my devotionals book…twice…. So thank you Oswald Chambers.

God wants us to step up. To do his work as His body. We start by seeing God in all his glory, just like the prophet Isaiah did. Our sin is atoned for and our guilt taken away because of Christ.

But what next? So often we can be lured to believe that our personal salvation is where it ends.

But it doesn’t does it?

God constantly calls us to do things. Sometimes great, sometimes little but all are for His Glory. It may be moving to the darkest, most spiritually and physically challenging places in the world. It may be talking to your friends about Jesus. It could be doing the dishes, being servant hearted even to those we don’t like maybe. We should not need to be pushed, for ‘chance’ or ‘circumstance’ to arrange themselves around us to push us along the path He’s set out for us to walk.

(Granted there are many times where that is exactly what happens, take the story of Jonah. Of course Jonah did not have circumstance wrap around him so much as the mouth, and subsequently the belly, of a big fish)

But God calls. He says “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”. And the people who acknowledge their sinfulness, and that it is atoned for, and seek to love and follow Him. The body of Christ. The church. Will they hear the call and think “Someone else can do it” or “It’s probably not me, if it is He’ll MAKE me”.

Submission to His will is not slavery, we should not have to be whipped into action. Those who are gifted and anointed by God to do certain things, who love Him, would realize that there is no greater thing than to participate in the salvation of all of mankind as God’s hands in this world. We are free to love Him, free to walk away from Him (despite the pain it causes Him) and we are free, and my prayer is that we all would do this, to stand up and answer the call.

“Who will do it?”

And will there be a deafening silence (punctuated by an awkward cough) among the church? Waiting the person who the open question is actually for to be pulled out of the crowd amidst much cheering?

Or will everyone be shouting “ME, ME, OOH OOH, SEND ME!!!”

Do we, like Jonah, run away? Or do we jump up and down like an eager 6 year old shouting “Teacher teacher pick me!” Like Isaiah shouting “Here I am, send me!”

“Yo, God I’m right here, what needs doing?”

To be those who do not judge others, who know they are sinful too. To be those who have found salvation in Christ’s sacrifice for us. To be those whose lips are anointed and cleansed. To be those who hear when the Lord calls. And those with the courage to shout “Send me!”.

It takes courage and strength to follow God to the ends of the earth and back, not knowing what He’ll expose you to along the way. Courage that only comes from Him. Strength that is from Him. Whatever is ahead and places fear in you, whether it is work, school, life, relationships, missions or especially leadership of some kind, if there is a call for you to step up to the plate. Shout “Let’s DO THIS!” and step up to the plate with the full strength and courage of God Himself, given to you, in your stride.

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Never will you be sent to do something that will break you. Never can you be sent by Him to do something that you could never do. Never can you be broken if the wind in your lungs is God’s, the blood in your veins His or your very skeleton filled with with life and strength from Him. A house with foundations in stone will not be moved. You whose roots are set firm in God, the one solid thing in existence can do it.

I mean honestly, besides, what’s the worst that can happen?

They can only kill you. Pfft. I mean honestly, “If I’m going down, I’m takin’ as many of you as I can WITH ME”. Ooooh tough guy phrase.

…

Well you know, if I’m going up

…

I’M TAKIN’ AS MANY OF YOU AS I CAN WITH ME

So step up to the plate.

“I am pleased to announce that the University will treat April 29th, 2011 as a holiday, in recognition of the Royal Wedding and the Scottish Government’s decision to designate the date a public holiday.”

— The Principal

yaaaaay

Last of the 3 exams done! Now I can’t wait to start next semester’s classes. I’m not crazy I promise….well…not too much anyway.

Funny Hebrew exam though, we were sharing the Hall with med students and what I assume were IR or something who were all doing tests on a different type of question paper from us. So the invigilator referred to us as “The divines” when reading our slightly different separate set of instructions.

Oh right and this was with us on the stage (since there was no space on the hall ground) in front of every other candidate. Facing them.

And when we came int eh stage had all it’s lights on.

It felt like a game show.

It also felt like the Hebrew students were some kind of hilarious stage show for everyone else.

Twas like:

PRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSUREPRESSURE

But it’s over now YAAY

I just realized my 100th post was the one about the Last Words of Bill Zeller.

Sad and morbid yet somehow….fitting…*shrug*

And 101 was my victory on the (snowy) field of battle

:)

Totally just got the beatdown on a Highlander in a snowfight/wrestle/sparring match

SMALL ASIAN WIN!

After about 25 hours+ of traveling and very little sleep, I’m finally about to rest my head on my bed.

Toodles.

“Oh my, my how you’ve grown
Well it’s been, it’s been…a little while”

- “In a Little While” - U2

Well, it looks like it’s time to head back to university. It’s been an amazing (although WAY too short) 2 weeks back, getting to see so many people and getting to see JUST how much everyone’s grown while I’ve been gone.

Those who’ve moved on to new stages in their lives.

Careers.

Relationships.

Those who’ve become more confident.

More muscular.

Taller.

Handsomer.

More beautiful.

More mature (overrated).

More childlike (underrated).

And just about more of everything. There’s been a lot of change all over the place. I just can’t wait to see what it’ll all be like when I come back in May! High school students graduating and moving out into the world, uni students coming back home to welcoming arms.

That day when I’ll land back here is far off. But it’s time to go.

Time inevitably marches on.

It isn’t my place to stay here and be comfortable as much as I would want to. It is to keep walking, keep moving, keep pursuing whatever that plan is that He has got for me for this year and the rest of my life.

And sometimes I’ll see some people around the UK or if I visit other countries. And we’ll rejoice that our paths got to meet again.

And I’ll get back home, here in HK, and look at everyone. Friends, family.

And I’ll be happy to be back home again.

But even happier to be able to say “My, how you’ve grown!”

Because time keeps marching on and keeps going. And we keep changing while still remaining the same. And that’s the joy of this all - getting the opportunity to see others unfold into whatever beautiful thing they are to end up as.

So take His hand and let’s keep on going.

See you in the summer Hong Kong (and all the wonderful people who call you home)

Come away with me, Come away with me
It’s never too late, it’s not too late
It’s not too late for you

I have a plan for you
I have a plan for you
It’s gonna be wild
It’s gonna be great
It’s gonna be full of Me

- “Come Away” - Jesus Culture