"Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time. Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance. Through the discipline of contemplative prayer, Christian leaders have to learn to listen again and again the voice of love and to find there the wisdom and courage to address whatever issue presents itself to them. Dealing with burning issues without being rooted in a deep personal relationship with God easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative."
~ In the Name of Jesus by Henry Nouwen
18) Leadership II
17) i am not but i know I AM
Bigger is often what the world teaches us but...In John 1:21, John the Baptist was asked, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "I am not" (NIV)
"Knowing who you are and who God is will help us become a little leader like John the Baptist or Jesus."(Note: All quotations from Article "The Little Leader" in catalyst groupzine by Ben Ortlip adapted from Louie Giglio's 2002 Catalyst Message. Louie Giglio wrote a great book "i am not but i know I AM"
"Humility is seeing God as He is. It is not trying to be humble or trying to be little. It's attaching the reality of "I am not" with the knowledge of the presence of 'I AM'.
"Pride is seeing ourselves as we are not."
"When you cry out all the things that you are not, you'll know His answer is, "I AM."
"I AM says of Himself: "I AM the Way, I AM the the truth, I AM the Life. I AM the same yesterday, today, and forever. I AM Jesus -- the Solution, the Sustainer, the Restorer, and the Lifegiver. I AM the Beginning and the End. I AM the First and the Last. I AM God, and there is no one besides Me. I AM the Lord, and there is no other. I AM that I AM, and that is My name - my memorial name to every generation. I AM God, and all I AM looking for is a little leader who is thrilled to be 'I am not.'"
~cC
16) Collaborative effort
We are entering the age of Wikinomics (the new art & science of collaboration) with emerging concepts such as crowdsourcing, smart mobs, crowd wisdom and other ideas that touches upon open source concept.
The Wikonmics book (right) demonstrates how some companies in the early 21st century became successful through mass collaboration and open-source technology and it argues there are 4 principles that defines how corporations will compete successfully in the new era:
openness, peering, sharing and acting globally
I immediately associate these 4 principles with the church, need to be more acceptive, more deeply search & present the truth, more willingly to extend grace to others, and more responsive to world issues. And most of the time we're still very weak on this...
~cC
R: your wise team concept the other day is in line with this. I think you should keep pursuing!
15) Climate Crisis
Finally, the US government is taking action to recognize the effect of climate change in threatening an animal (Polar bear) to extinction (Read article)! I truly hope this will raise more public awareness in the devastating impact we're currently at with global warming. I am still stunned by the animation shown in "An Inconvenient Truth" where a polar bear swam long miles to find an ice cap but he could only find small broken pieces that are melting quickly. If you haven't seen this movie, please go see it or visit the site so you can help reduce the large impact.
For me, other than changing light bulbs, i hope to incorporate this awareness into my small business that i'm pursuing in 2007. If God permits, i surely hope that i can make a difference.
~cC
14) Have I lost my mind?
We live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization .... We must have passion -- indeed hearts on fire for the things of God. But that passion must resist with intensity the anti-intellectual spirit of the world.
~ R.C. Sproul
Unfortunately in our Christian culture today, much of our spiritual growth tends to be in the areas of emotion and sheer tenacity (resulted from the First Great Awakening). There is nothing wrong, with having strong emotions toward God, experiencing His presence in our worship, or clinging to the belief that Jesus is the way. But without a healthy intellect, these areas fall out of balance. Sometimes we even lose faith completely.
~Smart Faith by J.P. Moreland & Mark Matloc
Jesus commands us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself." (Luke 10:27)
Have I cultivate my mind so:
- I can identify fallacies of logic (my own and others)
- when something happens, i'm not simply reacting by my emotion. Instead, i am able to think (in big picture), judge, understand and direct others appropriately?
~cC
P.S. thank God for giving me a small group that nuture intellectual thinking as well as giving me opportunities to learn NOT to take things personal (which was my nature).
13) Ambition
Lately, my plate is quite overloaded and the more i realize this:
1) "Success in the world is pretty much a function of disciplined effort." There are lots of things i want to pursue and i know it all goes back to fundamentals (i.e. knowning God by listening Him and how? read his words (bible)) which require preseverance and discipline.
2) "It is my obligation to equip myself for my greatest impact and to seek every opportunity to increase that impact. And never to suspect that I'm not called or that my time has passed me by." There are lots of skills i want to grow and i know the owness lies with me and not with others (i.e my pastor). In other words, my spiritual growth is my own responsblity, no one to blame.
3) When someone doesn't need your help, just let go. Don't force someone to be what you think they should be. Instead, change yourself. It's silly to expect someone to change out of no where. As a christian, I only believe God can transform someone. Instead of praying God to change that someone, ask God to change ourselves first.
Note: all quotes from Hugh Hewitt's A Guide to Christian Ambition.
~cC
12) Living Dimensions
Are you always 10 minutes behind and wish you only need to focus one life aspect (likely something you prefer doing)?I believe this is common...likely due to the fact we were taught to live in one-dimension (study) life for 20 something years. If you think this way, it's time to wake up coz your reponsbilities will keep growing as you age and probably only drop when you retire.
How should we tackle this? According to the common mundane world, we will need time management skills or to set our priorites in life. You probably developed such life skills ...BUT do you still feel frustrated when something happen suddenly and changes you schedule completely?
Lately, my small group is studying the art of balance from LifeAtWork Groupzine and in one of the articles, the author puts the following challenge "instead of putting God as a priority, put HIM in the Center of your life" and he uses the following bible verses to illustrate:
Proverbs 31:10-31 (NLT version) - A Wife of Noble Character
The key for this virtuous (alah in Hebrew) superwoman to handle such a multidimensional life is to fear God. I found a great article elaborating on this and i encourage you read it from here. In order to live a God-centric life, we need to fear God (have reverence for God). God actually commands Israel to fear HIM numerous times in the old testament (i.e. Deut 6:13) and King Solomon shared his wisdom about "fearing God" in Proverbs (i.e. Proverbs 1:7) too. This is such a simple concept but why can't we (alike Israels) follow this so easily?Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
She is like a merchant’s ship,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.
She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamp burns late into the night.
Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber.
She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm clothes.
She makes her own bedspreads.
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
Her husband is well known at the city gates,
where he sits with the other civic leaders.
She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to the merchants.
She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.
She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.
Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.
~cC
P.S. Visual challenge: Can you see anything different from the camel picture enclosed (see answer by clicking picture)? Can you see the four dimension from this octacube created by Penn State Department of Math as memorial for 9/11 (you might need to look at the animation on left)? I cannot haha
11) With Gusto
The winners of the Fifth Annual Brillant 10 (by Popsci magzine) was announced last month and they were 10 young maverick scientists (avg age: 34) who changed the limits of what was known by discovering or reinventing science. The one that draws my attention is Kelly Dorgan who disproved Charles Darwin's theory on the way how worm moves. The century old theory by Darwin argues worms move by swallowing but Dorgan discovered worms are just living levers. What amazes me is she didn't have an engineering or physics background (only biology) but with her great enthusiasm, she nailed down the stress fields around the worms and discovered they moved by crack propagation.This strikes me because it's telling me again one does well when one has passion in what one does & what one believes in, hence one will strive towards the goal with great enthusaism and energy ...and where goes my enthusiasm these days?
While i reflect on this, i came across Reflections on the Pslams by C.S. Lewis who shared his rumination on both the form and meaning of selected Psalms. If you read Christianbook.com's description on this book, you'll discover how C.S. Lewis "stresses the importance of the Psalms in singing and worship, how they provide words for our prayers and display an obvious "gusto" for God". (Note: according to wilkipedia Gusto means great enthusiasm and energy).
So believing God as the God alone in this universe, did I do all things with gusto in response to his overflowing love and grace?
~cC
P.S. While I googled search on Gusto, i came across a U.K. comapny named Gusto which does innovative design. The attached picture is one of their cool product named sticklebook which is an invisble shelving unit: where a line of books appears to hang, unsupported, on the wall. This is on sale online for only $28.70 US!
10) Creative Expressions
I wish I can be more CREATIVE: I wish i can express great concepts in smiple fashion, I wish i can inspire others by telling interesting stories, i wish i can think differently (i.e. to think outside the box, to challenge the process to make things better)..... The more i read about our God in the bible, the more i see how creative HE is. When Pharisee challenges Jesus, Jesus often throws a question back (to make them think plus not to get into their trap). Not only that, Jesus is a great story teller, he uses great parables to express simple concept (ex. Luke 10:25-37).I've dreamt about being a graphic artist because i enjoy the conceptualize process and using the technology to make something very catchy (attractive). Yesterday, i came across a well-done project named Urban Forest Project which brings in 185 top artists in the world to create provocative visual banners about Trees in the heart of New York. The image here is one of the banners i really like and it states "Its in our hands to stop deforestation".
I decided to engage myself more about creative expressions and creativity and i came across the following 2 interesting sites:
Creative Expressions Small group - apparently some brothers & sisters meet regularly in US where they share and "discover the many expressions of God's creativity" .
Creativity Wilkipedia - a thorough explaination about Creativity but the most interesting part was the Neurology of creativity: "Highly creative people...are capable of divergent thinking mediated by the frontal lobe of the brain..." and it links to an article Exploring the Brain's role in Creativity which finds a linkage between sleep & creative innovation. I laugh out loud when i read this because i've told some people i've been dreaming a lot these days. In one of my dreams, I've dreamt people falling from the sky killing people in unusual ways. I guess my brain was working hard in creating video games hehe.
~ cC
9) Living Sacrifices II
How do you define worship? - sing praises, sermon, Sunday ?
I was reminded again that offering ourselves as living sacrifices is an act of worship while i was reading Surrendering Your Life for God's Pleasure Purpose Driven Life Series small group guide:
~cC
I was reminded again that offering ourselves as living sacrifices is an act of worship while i was reading Surrendering Your Life for God's Pleasure Purpose Driven Life Series small group guide:
Don't know why we often focus on the Sunday's praising and teaching part and forgot about our day to day sacrifices we need to offer to God. One of the most important sacrifices i see is the time we spent interacting with God each day and we do this not for our own sake but for God's pleasure."Paul envisions worship as an all-day-long surrender (sacrifice) to the will of a merciful God (See Romans 12:1-2). The acts we normally think of as worship – singing, celebrating and so on – are meant to train our hearts for this all-day-long surrender. Praise prepares us for surrender.
Praise is acknowledging a good quality in something…we can praise someone for his talent..etc. Similarly we can praise God for his good qualities-faithfulness, justice, power or wisdom. Worship goes beyond praise. Worship is acknowledging someone or something as the ultimate source of good, of life itself. Therefore, only God deserves worship.
Another difference is that praise is a 1-way compliment, while worship is a two-way interaction. Worship happens when we let God catch us up in the marvel of who he is, and we taste the intimacy of eternal life together with God. "
~cC
8) Consistent, Confident Faith
It's not the first time people telling R & I have low self-confidence. I still recall part of the exhortation from R's father in our wedding was about this. Today, God reveals this problem to me again as one of the reason why R & I are feeling low when i was reading a sample of The Everyday Life Bible, Amplified Edition by Joyce Meyer.
The following 3 points (shared by Joyce) were similar to what R & I are going through:
~cC
The following 3 points (shared by Joyce) were similar to what R & I are going through:
May the Lord help us to have consistent faith & confidence in all things."Romans 1:17 teaches us people who are just and upright "shall live by faith". Faith is confidence in God. It is important that we learn to be consistently confident, not occasionally confident."
"I had to grow in confidence to the place where people's opinions and their acceptance or rejection did not alter my confidence level. My confidence had to be in God, not in people."
"When the growth and progress of my ministry seemed panifully slow, i had to practice being consistently confident. It is easier to remain confident when we see progress, but during times of waiting the devil attacks our confidence and attempts to destroy it."
~cC
7) Breathe In ... Breathe Out
With what do you associate "Breathe In ... Breathe Out"?
R: It's a pregnant women doing exercise.
C: It's a healthy therapy. According to the article from AssociatedContent, "Breath therapy efficiently generates oxygen to the tissues and energizes the body, calms and balances the nervous system. It also helps massage and cleanses internal organs, improves lymphatic circulation, removes wastes from the body's cells, and helps release negative emotions and experiences"...ultimately releasing stress & tension!
What about the Bible? the word "Breathe" is used many times and i was very excited to find the following from passage 2 Timothy 3:16-17....
NIV version:
R & I feel heavy ladened lately coz of our stress dealing with our growing pain. Our head keeps spinning, resulting lack of sleep (plus Roy's nose is stuffy for a long time). I feel like we're dying even though we are clinging close to God through prayers. We've shared this with some brothers & sisters and they've cheered us up in moments but the feeling is still strong until I saw Rosamond's msn note: "Breath in....Breath Out...Breath In...Breath Out"
Surprisingly, R had a reflection last night...he sees the reason why he's failing because he's been relying on his limited reserve of God's words, so the most critical thing he needs to work on is enrichment in Biblical knowledge.
All i can say is we need to engage in more oxygen-intake exercises plus the intake of God's words.
R: please go to the doctor soon and fix your stuffy nose problem!
~cC
R: It's a pregnant women doing exercise.
C: It's a healthy therapy. According to the article from AssociatedContent, "Breath therapy efficiently generates oxygen to the tissues and energizes the body, calms and balances the nervous system. It also helps massage and cleanses internal organs, improves lymphatic circulation, removes wastes from the body's cells, and helps release negative emotions and experiences"...ultimately releasing stress & tension!
What about the Bible? the word "Breathe" is used many times and i was very excited to find the following from passage 2 Timothy 3:16-17....
NIV version:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.King James translation:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God [theopneustos], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.According to Wilkipedia, theopneustos comes from the Greek word θεοπνευστος and it literally means "God-breathed" or "breathed out by God" and I immediately associate this with God giving life to Adam by breathing air into Adam's nostrils (See Genesis 2). Also the word "inspiration" comes by way of the the Latin and the same Greek word θεοπνευστος.
R & I feel heavy ladened lately coz of our stress dealing with our growing pain. Our head keeps spinning, resulting lack of sleep (plus Roy's nose is stuffy for a long time). I feel like we're dying even though we are clinging close to God through prayers. We've shared this with some brothers & sisters and they've cheered us up in moments but the feeling is still strong until I saw Rosamond's msn note: "Breath in....Breath Out...Breath In...Breath Out"
Surprisingly, R had a reflection last night...he sees the reason why he's failing because he's been relying on his limited reserve of God's words, so the most critical thing he needs to work on is enrichment in Biblical knowledge.
All i can say is we need to engage in more oxygen-intake exercises plus the intake of God's words.
R: please go to the doctor soon and fix your stuffy nose problem!
~cC
6) Adding Spice & Colors to life
I had opportunities to see 3 beautiful moments the past 2 days:
1) Hearing Louise (a christian song writer who currently is a housewife) sharing her songs live at JJ959. It's amazing how she adds colors to words and melody. There was a song she composed out of the Book of Proverbs. Like Drew said, Proverbs are like wise words from an old serious man but Louise made it sound so light & enegertic (which really encourages one to see "reading bible can be a lot of fun"). There's also a lovely mandarin song she composed which is a work of art because her lyrics are so beautiful.
2) Hearing how Drew arrange Louise's old 80 songs to bossa nova. The song originally sounds quite "Lo Tao" (traditional) but Drew changed a few chords and beautifies it. The music was so pleasing in sound. Must listen to the broadcast at JJ959 when it comes out in a week or so.
3) Hearing relatives sharing stories about Mr. Yip during his funeral. Mr. Yip believed in Christ just a few days before he died but his whole life had impact a lot of people through his great attitude & work. He was an engineer that built many influentical landmarks in HK, he was magician, broadcaster and also M.C. for Chinese Opera. He loves entertaining his guests & friends by sharing a lot of interesting stories (often quite humuorous). He's also a peace maker who wouldn't do things for the benefit of his own.
These are beautiful moments to me because i see these 3 people giving a positive influence to others by adding spices & colors to life.
It reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-14 "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world". In the Message version, this bible verse is translated as
"You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."
~ cC
1) Hearing Louise (a christian song writer who currently is a housewife) sharing her songs live at JJ959. It's amazing how she adds colors to words and melody. There was a song she composed out of the Book of Proverbs. Like Drew said, Proverbs are like wise words from an old serious man but Louise made it sound so light & enegertic (which really encourages one to see "reading bible can be a lot of fun"). There's also a lovely mandarin song she composed which is a work of art because her lyrics are so beautiful.
2) Hearing how Drew arrange Louise's old 80 songs to bossa nova. The song originally sounds quite "Lo Tao" (traditional) but Drew changed a few chords and beautifies it. The music was so pleasing in sound. Must listen to the broadcast at JJ959 when it comes out in a week or so.
3) Hearing relatives sharing stories about Mr. Yip during his funeral. Mr. Yip believed in Christ just a few days before he died but his whole life had impact a lot of people through his great attitude & work. He was an engineer that built many influentical landmarks in HK, he was magician, broadcaster and also M.C. for Chinese Opera. He loves entertaining his guests & friends by sharing a lot of interesting stories (often quite humuorous). He's also a peace maker who wouldn't do things for the benefit of his own.
These are beautiful moments to me because i see these 3 people giving a positive influence to others by adding spices & colors to life.
It reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-14 "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world". In the Message version, this bible verse is translated as
"You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."
~ cC
5) Striving for Excellence
I often give myself a harsh time and asking myself to do things without error since i'm the type of person that strives for excellence through perfection (just like Cynthia Heald said in her book of Becoming a Woman of Excellence). Also, I never use the word "excellence" to praise someone because i cannot see anyone perfect in my world of reference.
Until I read parts of Cynthia's book, i came to realize what the bible says about excellence.
1) In Ruth 3:11 (American Standard Version) , Boaz said to Ruth: "...for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence". Ruth being a widow left her own country to live with her bittered mother-in-law in Bethlehem and she maintained their lives by gathering leftover grains in Boax's field. Despite her unfortunateness, people in town still praised her that she has a strong, worthy and noble character.
2) If we look at the original meaning in Hebrew or Greek for bible verses that describes excellence (i.e. Proverbs 31:29 or 1 Corinthians 14:12), we'll see that in Greek for the New Testament bible verses, the word excellent comes from diaphero, which literally means "transport" or "differ." In Hebrew for old testamanet comes from alah, which means "to ascend." Both these words encourage us to be different than the norm through the qualities of virtue and goodness.
I immediately realized in God's perspective, being excellence means to trust HIM and not allowing any circumstances to dictate our behaviour and responses (just like Ruth). Also, "do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" Romans 12:2
~ cC
Until I read parts of Cynthia's book, i came to realize what the bible says about excellence.
1) In Ruth 3:11 (American Standard Version) , Boaz said to Ruth: "...for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence". Ruth being a widow left her own country to live with her bittered mother-in-law in Bethlehem and she maintained their lives by gathering leftover grains in Boax's field. Despite her unfortunateness, people in town still praised her that she has a strong, worthy and noble character.
2) If we look at the original meaning in Hebrew or Greek for bible verses that describes excellence (i.e. Proverbs 31:29 or 1 Corinthians 14:12), we'll see that in Greek for the New Testament bible verses, the word excellent comes from diaphero, which literally means "transport" or "differ." In Hebrew for old testamanet comes from alah, which means "to ascend." Both these words encourage us to be different than the norm through the qualities of virtue and goodness.
I immediately realized in God's perspective, being excellence means to trust HIM and not allowing any circumstances to dictate our behaviour and responses (just like Ruth). Also, "do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" Romans 12:2
~ cC
4) Living Sacrifices I
On Aug 2nd, R & I had an incidence where we've kindly ask the neighbouring kids not to play on the parking lot of our church since others will be coming for worship practice. However, an angry neighbour saw this and start naming us evil with no loving capacity. She blames we took all their parking spaces every Sunday and why can't we share ours to them. This really strucks me & both of us have no chance to response.
For sure, our presence in that neighbourhood is quite awkward giving most of us being so well-educated and wealthy, there's simply a gap between us. I can definitely feel for their uncomfortableness and seeing us being the intruders. I can see how repellent we are because all these years we are only good at attracting non-believers that are like the core group.
To this day i'm still thinking about how to face those whose needs are opposite to ours (i.e. this neighbour).
I keep thinking whether i need to learn what Jesus said in Matthew 10:16 so I can response properly to this people (Matthew 10:16: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves").
So i look up the the meaning of the word shrewd vs innocent:
shrewd -- cunning (subtle or deceptive planning or action), ingenuity(cleverness); Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical.
innocent -- Uncorrupted by evil, malice, or wrongdoing
When i read this i was very despair because there's no way i can live with no sins and be so clever like Jesus.
However, last night during my small group, one of my brother shared something really really touches me. He said, "it's not about meeting the needs this people have. It's about how much you're willing to sacrifice yourself to them." The best part is when another brother responsed who said, "this is exactly how i feel...i was very different than all of you but you guys are willing to sacrifice so now i'm a Christian".
As Christians, ain't we called by God and Jesus to do this "To give ourselves to God as living sacrifices (May it be giving up my time, my resource, my needs, my oldself)". Didn't Jesus set many good examples in the bible (i.e. spending time with tax collectors & sinners, touching those man with leprosy, etc.)? When i see this, i feel much more happier coz i know i can fullfill this and I'm up for the challenge!!
~cC
For sure, our presence in that neighbourhood is quite awkward giving most of us being so well-educated and wealthy, there's simply a gap between us. I can definitely feel for their uncomfortableness and seeing us being the intruders. I can see how repellent we are because all these years we are only good at attracting non-believers that are like the core group.
To this day i'm still thinking about how to face those whose needs are opposite to ours (i.e. this neighbour).
I keep thinking whether i need to learn what Jesus said in Matthew 10:16 so I can response properly to this people (Matthew 10:16: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves").
So i look up the the meaning of the word shrewd vs innocent:
shrewd -- cunning (subtle or deceptive planning or action), ingenuity(cleverness); Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical.
innocent -- Uncorrupted by evil, malice, or wrongdoing
When i read this i was very despair because there's no way i can live with no sins and be so clever like Jesus.
However, last night during my small group, one of my brother shared something really really touches me. He said, "it's not about meeting the needs this people have. It's about how much you're willing to sacrifice yourself to them." The best part is when another brother responsed who said, "this is exactly how i feel...i was very different than all of you but you guys are willing to sacrifice so now i'm a Christian".
As Christians, ain't we called by God and Jesus to do this "To give ourselves to God as living sacrifices (May it be giving up my time, my resource, my needs, my oldself)". Didn't Jesus set many good examples in the bible (i.e. spending time with tax collectors & sinners, touching those man with leprosy, etc.)? When i see this, i feel much more happier coz i know i can fullfill this and I'm up for the challenge!!
~cC
3) Fostering Curiosity
It never occurs to me being curious is good since the Cantonese always coined it as very nosy, so I’ve grew up learning not to question someone or go deep down into someone’s story. This actually grew into a habit for me in not asking questions when someone tasked me. I never think about what is the purpose of the work, who is the audience, how can I achieve this etc. and all I do simply is saying yes or no if I can accomplish such task.
Tomorrow marks the last day of my supervisor working with me since she has taken a 1-year assignment with another department. I will surely miss her because she’s my guiding hands since the beginning of my GIS career. Everybody loves her diligent work and her keen attitude in providing the best solutions. How does she do that? She simply gathers as much information as she can to the problem by asking many questions which include whether solving this problem will benefit the organization as a whole and whether this will create other interesting work opportunities etc.
To me, she’s definitely a woman of influence who strives for the best by questioning practices and often it will lead to discovery and then to innovation.
So from now on, if you see me asking lots of questions, please do not coin me as nosy :P
~cC
Tomorrow marks the last day of my supervisor working with me since she has taken a 1-year assignment with another department. I will surely miss her because she’s my guiding hands since the beginning of my GIS career. Everybody loves her diligent work and her keen attitude in providing the best solutions. How does she do that? She simply gathers as much information as she can to the problem by asking many questions which include whether solving this problem will benefit the organization as a whole and whether this will create other interesting work opportunities etc.
To me, she’s definitely a woman of influence who strives for the best by questioning practices and often it will lead to discovery and then to innovation.
So from now on, if you see me asking lots of questions, please do not coin me as nosy :P
~cC
2) Road to Wisdom
According to my division head at work, the road to wisdom is:
Data --> Information --> Knowledge --> Wisdom
It's miles away before i can see things beyond general understanding so i can call myself wise hehe. For me, I am always good at turning data into something meaningful which we coined "information". However, I'm always bad at digesting and re-interating information and turn them into my "knowledge".
~cC
Data --> Information --> Knowledge --> Wisdom
It's miles away before i can see things beyond general understanding so i can call myself wise hehe. For me, I am always good at turning data into something meaningful which we coined "information". However, I'm always bad at digesting and re-interating information and turn them into my "knowledge".
~cC
1) Leadership I
Have been reading www.injoy.com and enlightened by the follow statements:
1) "Companies that focus on cultivating employees' strengths rather than simply improving their weakness stand to dramatically increase efficiency while allowing for maximum personal growth and success" by Marcus Buckingham
2) Being successful in adding value to others & in our lives (John C. Maxwell), you need REAL:
RELATIONSHIPS Ability to get along with other people. It impacts every aspect of a person's life. Your relationships make you or they break you.
EQUIPPING Those closest to you determine the level of your success. If your dreams are great, you achieve them only with a team.
ATTITUDE Determines how one approach life day to day. Your attitude, more than your aptitude, determines your altitude.
LEADERSHIP Everything rises and falls on leadership. If you desire to lift the lid on your personal effectiveness, the only way to do it is to increase your leadership skills.
3) Clarity!! Leadership is the art of clarity: seeing a clear vision, responding to a clear calling and presenting clear ideas to those you influence. (The focus for 2006 Catalyst Conference)
As God's servant, i see myself in need of work for:
- Relationship, Clarity and strengthen my talent.
May God help me out with this ~ cC
1) "Companies that focus on cultivating employees' strengths rather than simply improving their weakness stand to dramatically increase efficiency while allowing for maximum personal growth and success" by Marcus Buckingham
2) Being successful in adding value to others & in our lives (John C. Maxwell), you need REAL:
RELATIONSHIPS Ability to get along with other people. It impacts every aspect of a person's life. Your relationships make you or they break you.
EQUIPPING Those closest to you determine the level of your success. If your dreams are great, you achieve them only with a team.
ATTITUDE Determines how one approach life day to day. Your attitude, more than your aptitude, determines your altitude.
LEADERSHIP Everything rises and falls on leadership. If you desire to lift the lid on your personal effectiveness, the only way to do it is to increase your leadership skills.
3) Clarity!! Leadership is the art of clarity: seeing a clear vision, responding to a clear calling and presenting clear ideas to those you influence. (The focus for 2006 Catalyst Conference)
As God's servant, i see myself in need of work for:
- Relationship, Clarity and strengthen my talent.
May God help me out with this ~ cC