Yo,
something that I've been thinking a bunch about lately, as mentioned previously, is the concept of shame and it's really shedding a lot of light on things that I had just not even noticed before. One of the places that I think this has made a huge difference is in regards to the Bible where the concept of guilt and shame are often mentioned.
Previously I hadn't really understood them and thought they were essentially the same thing. They are definitely similar, but shame is so much deeper. Guilt is a feeling that you did something wrong and leads to reconciliation, trying harder to not do it again, and similar positive results. Shame is a feeling that you are bad and leads to isolation, despair, hopelessness, apathy, and the like. Shame makes you see yourself as less and not being worth trying.
And so, as I learned about shame, whether consciously or not, I couldn't really get a hold of it because it didn't seem Biblical. Where did the Bible ever talk about shame or overcoming shame?
And I think this really stemmed from an ignorance. I wasn't seeing it because I didn't know it was there. And now, I see it in places I'd never even imagined it being. Places so simple and yet so profound.
A verse that I'd heard over and over again and told others over and over again has now become so much more. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And I had always read that as simply forgiveness and grace for the things we had done, God's justice, His mercy, His grace and love; the legal requirement paid on the cross as Jesus died on our behalf. Us clothed in His perfection, covering our sin, covering our badness. The cleansing just being of the sin, that it was behind us. The idea that we may struggle with feeling as though, as a result of our sin or not, that we were bad, that we were unrighteous, that there was nothing that could cure that; that idea hadn't crossed my mind. But God is greater than our guilt and the requirement of death for sinners (paid through the cross to bring us life), and He is greater than our shame and feelings of worthlessness (as we trsut in Him He makes us new, He cleanses us from alllllllllllllllllll unrighteousness!)!
He is faithful and just. We are forgiven and made new in Him. Amen.
I am forgiven. I am made new.
D.Fa
Showing posts with label amazing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amazing. Show all posts
17.2.16
Dumplings and Lao Gan Ma and Legalism
Hi.
I've been doing a bunch of things recently. haha
I'd been watching a whole lot of Youtube and playing games on my phone. Like, a lot. Then my friend who sings karaoke alllllllll the time said he was giving it up for lent. And I was like, man. Maybe I should give up aimlessly watching youtube and playing cellphone game apps for lent. However, I feel like I don't really want to do anything. haha. Like what else can I do when I'm at home? So, being fairly legalistic, I'm not spending time on youtube unless it is a single video that someone sends me or a youtube video that isn't on youtube. And games that aren't on my cell phone. haha
So I, after not listening to everyone on youtube telling me to, finally tried playing Undertale, which is an Indie PC game. It's like 10$, but I had become reeeeeeally curious and 10$ isn't bad. And let me tell you. Undertale is an AMAZING game! Like, I cannot say how great the writing and game mechanics are! I don't want to spoil anything, so just play it. haha. The attack, defense, and even level up mechanics are all so interesting and each enemy is different! =D It took me just under 400 minutes to beat the game, so not a whole lot of time. But it was AMAZINGGGGGGGGG! Undertale.com or on steam. 10$. Sooooooo good. Totally worth it! And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will probably talk about it at some time later.
In line with that legalism, I've also been watching a lot more anime than before. haha. And Adventure Time season 7, which I hadn't realized had come out yet. Also really good. Like, the first more than 2 episode arc and it was great. haha.
The other week my housemates made dumplings. Like, a lot of dumplings. I asked one of them why the other two were making dumplings (it had been like 3 hours of chopping and mixing stuff) and he said it was because they had a bunch of midterms coming up so they had to make it that night. > . >. And my room is beside the kitchen (with a window) so they needed to stop making dumplings. So I asked if I could help. It was now 10 at this point. So we started putting the dumpling filling in dumpling wrappers. It was a huge bowl of filling. I asked how many it would make and he said like 400. > . > I wanted to sleep. So I helped and in 45 minutes of peeling wrappers and wetting the edges and putting filling in and crinkling the edges, we were out of wrapper. Only like 100 though. So we were done for the night. They would get more the next day, when I went to sleep early... haha.
So today I made some food. Pork, cabbage, onions, garlic, ginger, 5 spice blend, soy sauce, some vinegar. All the ingredients from the dumpling filling, but cut less thinly. So more stir-fry style to put on rice. And then I remembered!! =D Lao Gan Ma! One of my housemates had made me some food a month ago or so and gave me some of the Lao Gan Ma chilli stuff. So I borrowed some. Fermented Black Bean with Chilli is soooooooooo goooooooood. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Ya. Random. I'm trying to get everyone I know to play Undertale so I can talk about it. haha
Ttyl.
D.Fa
PS. OH! Also this new anime named Erased! It's soooooooooo goooooooooood! I've been watching it every week at a friend's house after P2C weekly meeting. So good. haha
I've been doing a bunch of things recently. haha
I'd been watching a whole lot of Youtube and playing games on my phone. Like, a lot. Then my friend who sings karaoke alllllllll the time said he was giving it up for lent. And I was like, man. Maybe I should give up aimlessly watching youtube and playing cellphone game apps for lent. However, I feel like I don't really want to do anything. haha. Like what else can I do when I'm at home? So, being fairly legalistic, I'm not spending time on youtube unless it is a single video that someone sends me or a youtube video that isn't on youtube. And games that aren't on my cell phone. haha
So I, after not listening to everyone on youtube telling me to, finally tried playing Undertale, which is an Indie PC game. It's like 10$, but I had become reeeeeeally curious and 10$ isn't bad. And let me tell you. Undertale is an AMAZING game! Like, I cannot say how great the writing and game mechanics are! I don't want to spoil anything, so just play it. haha. The attack, defense, and even level up mechanics are all so interesting and each enemy is different! =D It took me just under 400 minutes to beat the game, so not a whole lot of time. But it was AMAZINGGGGGGGGG! Undertale.com or on steam. 10$. Sooooooo good. Totally worth it! And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will probably talk about it at some time later.
In line with that legalism, I've also been watching a lot more anime than before. haha. And Adventure Time season 7, which I hadn't realized had come out yet. Also really good. Like, the first more than 2 episode arc and it was great. haha.
The other week my housemates made dumplings. Like, a lot of dumplings. I asked one of them why the other two were making dumplings (it had been like 3 hours of chopping and mixing stuff) and he said it was because they had a bunch of midterms coming up so they had to make it that night. > . >. And my room is beside the kitchen (with a window) so they needed to stop making dumplings. So I asked if I could help. It was now 10 at this point. So we started putting the dumpling filling in dumpling wrappers. It was a huge bowl of filling. I asked how many it would make and he said like 400. > . > I wanted to sleep. So I helped and in 45 minutes of peeling wrappers and wetting the edges and putting filling in and crinkling the edges, we were out of wrapper. Only like 100 though. So we were done for the night. They would get more the next day, when I went to sleep early... haha.
So today I made some food. Pork, cabbage, onions, garlic, ginger, 5 spice blend, soy sauce, some vinegar. All the ingredients from the dumpling filling, but cut less thinly. So more stir-fry style to put on rice. And then I remembered!! =D Lao Gan Ma! One of my housemates had made me some food a month ago or so and gave me some of the Lao Gan Ma chilli stuff. So I borrowed some. Fermented Black Bean with Chilli is soooooooooo goooooooood. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Ya. Random. I'm trying to get everyone I know to play Undertale so I can talk about it. haha
Ttyl.
D.Fa
PS. OH! Also this new anime named Erased! It's soooooooooo goooooooooood! I've been watching it every week at a friend's house after P2C weekly meeting. So good. haha
18.10.15
An Element of Truth
I was watching a video on youtube by 2Veratasium (like a side channel for Veratasium that is just like rambling vlogs and personal blah blah (PS. Veratasium is a pretty sweet youtube channel that is super smart and is run by this physicist guy)) and I was thinking about various things while procrastinating and knitting.
The guy quoted Einstein. "There are only two ways to live your life; as though nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is." And the guy briefly talks on this point and I really enjoyed that video because it was just about how everything around us is amazing; science is amazing. Point: it made me remember last Saturday. Instead of having a real Young Adults Fellowship Bible Study time or whatever, a bunch of us just got together and hung out. Since I no longer needed to lead a discussion or anything I took out my laptop and got back to the task at hand: copy and pasting every single blog post into a word document so I could proofread and then count the word frequency for my Zipf adventure.
As I had mentioned previously, this Zipf mystery or whatever it should be properly referred to as, is amazing and I wanted to see it in action. My friend AS brought these chocolate chip cookies to the hang out. They were perfectly light and fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth amazing. As I'm copy and pasting, people start asking why, and I explain how amazing Zipf is and that I want to test it and a couple of the guys were well-learned in computer science and code and one thing led to another and then the two of them were spending an hour trying to convert an exported code text file of my blog into a useful format with only the words. They ended up coding like 2 screens worth of code which produced a page that had all of the content from my entire blog separated by year. =O Computer scientists are amazing. I was sitting there dumbstruck the entire time, but their fingers were flying and web pages of standard code were being referenced. Amazing. What would have taken me a week or two took them like an hour or so. Craziness.
The next day after church I was just amazed by so many things.
Weather
Botany
Computer Science
Linguistics
Knitting / Crochet
Math
Biology
etc.
even Policy Management
(Admittedly I have yet to properly understand the amazingness of political science, but we'll see. ;P)
And then a day later or maybe a few days everything can be terrible. My yarn gets tangled. Conflict with my housemates. Onset guilt for lack of academic productivity recently. Struggle with sin. Drop in temperature. Late buses.
Suddenly everything is terrible, when nothing had actually changed, but my attitude and lens to see life.
This makes me think all the more that it's true: when you see everything as amazing and miraculous things are awesome, and when you start to see everything as terrible things get pretty terrible.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Everything we have is from God and it was made good. (Refer to Genesis 1.)
But what is doubly amazing here is that God is unchanging. In the midst of my continual and sudden changes He remains the same.
May He continue to help me build my foundation upon the solid rock of Christ. May He continue to open my eyes to the amazingness of His creation around me. May He continue to show me more of Him.
D.Fa out
PS. One of the things I was thinking about while watching Veritasium was about how I seem to be replacing a lack of social connection with youtube. Idk. Not good definitely. But the answer shouldn't be to simply cut it off. I need to replace youtube with real people. ttyl
The guy quoted Einstein. "There are only two ways to live your life; as though nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is." And the guy briefly talks on this point and I really enjoyed that video because it was just about how everything around us is amazing; science is amazing. Point: it made me remember last Saturday. Instead of having a real Young Adults Fellowship Bible Study time or whatever, a bunch of us just got together and hung out. Since I no longer needed to lead a discussion or anything I took out my laptop and got back to the task at hand: copy and pasting every single blog post into a word document so I could proofread and then count the word frequency for my Zipf adventure.
As I had mentioned previously, this Zipf mystery or whatever it should be properly referred to as, is amazing and I wanted to see it in action. My friend AS brought these chocolate chip cookies to the hang out. They were perfectly light and fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth amazing. As I'm copy and pasting, people start asking why, and I explain how amazing Zipf is and that I want to test it and a couple of the guys were well-learned in computer science and code and one thing led to another and then the two of them were spending an hour trying to convert an exported code text file of my blog into a useful format with only the words. They ended up coding like 2 screens worth of code which produced a page that had all of the content from my entire blog separated by year. =O Computer scientists are amazing. I was sitting there dumbstruck the entire time, but their fingers were flying and web pages of standard code were being referenced. Amazing. What would have taken me a week or two took them like an hour or so. Craziness.
The next day after church I was just amazed by so many things.
Weather
Botany
Computer Science
Linguistics
Knitting / Crochet
Math
Biology
etc.
even Policy Management
(Admittedly I have yet to properly understand the amazingness of political science, but we'll see. ;P)
And then a day later or maybe a few days everything can be terrible. My yarn gets tangled. Conflict with my housemates. Onset guilt for lack of academic productivity recently. Struggle with sin. Drop in temperature. Late buses.
Suddenly everything is terrible, when nothing had actually changed, but my attitude and lens to see life.
This makes me think all the more that it's true: when you see everything as amazing and miraculous things are awesome, and when you start to see everything as terrible things get pretty terrible.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Everything we have is from God and it was made good. (Refer to Genesis 1.)
But what is doubly amazing here is that God is unchanging. In the midst of my continual and sudden changes He remains the same.
May He continue to help me build my foundation upon the solid rock of Christ. May He continue to open my eyes to the amazingness of His creation around me. May He continue to show me more of Him.
D.Fa out
PS. One of the things I was thinking about while watching Veritasium was about how I seem to be replacing a lack of social connection with youtube. Idk. Not good definitely. But the answer shouldn't be to simply cut it off. I need to replace youtube with real people. ttyl
21.9.15
Ingress.
Yo, so, I've been playing this game called Ingress. And I was very skeptical at first, but it is amazing. haha
I started playing it after the trailer for Pokémon GO. I was so excited about it that I posted a bunch on facebook about how excited I was for it to finally be happening (a REAL LIFE Pokémon game!) and a friend of mine said that Niantic (the company which is partnering with Nintendo/Pokémon) had made a previous game named Ingress. So, out of curiosity, I downloaded the game.
I started playing over by Lees station, finished the tutorial and really didn't know what was happening. haha. All I knew is that these alien guys are trying to brainwash us using this exotic matter (XM) and my team wanted to ensure that didn't happen. We are called the Resistance. The other team refers to themselves as 'the Enlightened' and wants to use the energy to take humanity to the next level of evolution. Nothing good can come from that I think.
All around the world in places of cultural or historical significance 'portals' are located where the XM flows through more rapidly. You can hack portals to get items: portal keys, resonators, XM cubes, weapons, and more. Using resonators we can make the portal ours, and using portal keys we can link them together and when 3 are linked to each other a control field is created. Fields and links block the other team from forming links and taking territory. And you can take back a portal by destroying all of the enemy resonators and setting up your own.
I took one portal. And then another. The following morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was awesome. So many portals. All mine. haha
I went to school and saw how green it was. I took out a portal, the pendulum, and started to plan how I could take it all with AG and JC who I had recruited. However, soon after I discovered that there were a number of very high level green agents who I definitely could not defeat on my own. Specifically there was a green agent whose name was similar to mine. I was thousand-year dragon and he was black dragon. He would be my biggest rival, but I needed help from some other agents. So I messaged some of the agents who had blue portals at school and they responded!
The next day I got to meet up with 5 agents. They were super nice. haha. One girl took a couple of us around and just destroyed all the portals and gave us experience. xP The next day I was messaged and got to meet up with a couple other agents. Something that is hilarious though is that there was apparently talk that black dragon had made a blue account just to spy on us. People had though that I was just a fake account. haha. So funny. There's also a kind of derision towards Ingress players who all started just because of Pokémon GO. haha. Whatever. I think I've proven myself.
But this game is amazing. And playing in real life and getting to meet up with the others, the whole thing makes it feel so much like an anime. haha. One where the world just happens to be ignorant of the present danger they are in and a few select people have been given the power to fight back and save the innocent civilians. Something like Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru or Shakugan no Shana or something. But meeting up in person also made me think of like Durarara or Paranoia Agent or .//hack or even The Guild web series. haha.
I can't wait for Pokémon though.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
I started playing it after the trailer for Pokémon GO. I was so excited about it that I posted a bunch on facebook about how excited I was for it to finally be happening (a REAL LIFE Pokémon game!) and a friend of mine said that Niantic (the company which is partnering with Nintendo/Pokémon) had made a previous game named Ingress. So, out of curiosity, I downloaded the game.
I started playing over by Lees station, finished the tutorial and really didn't know what was happening. haha. All I knew is that these alien guys are trying to brainwash us using this exotic matter (XM) and my team wanted to ensure that didn't happen. We are called the Resistance. The other team refers to themselves as 'the Enlightened' and wants to use the energy to take humanity to the next level of evolution. Nothing good can come from that I think.
All around the world in places of cultural or historical significance 'portals' are located where the XM flows through more rapidly. You can hack portals to get items: portal keys, resonators, XM cubes, weapons, and more. Using resonators we can make the portal ours, and using portal keys we can link them together and when 3 are linked to each other a control field is created. Fields and links block the other team from forming links and taking territory. And you can take back a portal by destroying all of the enemy resonators and setting up your own.
I took one portal. And then another. The following morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was awesome. So many portals. All mine. haha
I went to school and saw how green it was. I took out a portal, the pendulum, and started to plan how I could take it all with AG and JC who I had recruited. However, soon after I discovered that there were a number of very high level green agents who I definitely could not defeat on my own. Specifically there was a green agent whose name was similar to mine. I was thousand-year dragon and he was black dragon. He would be my biggest rival, but I needed help from some other agents. So I messaged some of the agents who had blue portals at school and they responded!
The next day I got to meet up with 5 agents. They were super nice. haha. One girl took a couple of us around and just destroyed all the portals and gave us experience. xP The next day I was messaged and got to meet up with a couple other agents. Something that is hilarious though is that there was apparently talk that black dragon had made a blue account just to spy on us. People had though that I was just a fake account. haha. So funny. There's also a kind of derision towards Ingress players who all started just because of Pokémon GO. haha. Whatever. I think I've proven myself.
But this game is amazing. And playing in real life and getting to meet up with the others, the whole thing makes it feel so much like an anime. haha. One where the world just happens to be ignorant of the present danger they are in and a few select people have been given the power to fight back and save the innocent civilians. Something like Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru or Shakugan no Shana or something. But meeting up in person also made me think of like Durarara or Paranoia Agent or .//hack or even The Guild web series. haha.
I can't wait for Pokémon though.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
8.3.11
I Wish I Could Always Stay Here.
So. I want this to be quick so I can cram for my Bio midterm. I may be getting into a longish post however. xPP >.>
So, I stumbled upon (no not actually.) this song when I was trying to get a set list for worship one week and I really liked it, but I didn't think it should be in the set list. So I wrote down in a blog post draft titled "Note to Self" that I should blog about this eventually.
Can I Stay Here Forever by Starfield. The lyrics are as follows:
Through forgotten convictions
Misplaced affections
I'm losing the sound of Your voice
I've been chasing after emptiness
Trying to tidy up this mess
I swear I've been down this road before
I want to get back to where it all began
When I would long for only You
Like a child I'll take You at Your word
As these mountains of doubt, they fade away
I'm longing to trust and love You more
So for me this is beautiful
A brand new thought, and a brand new world
Can I stay here forever here with You?
I've lost sight of what first drew me
To the love that pursued me
The joy that inspired my song
The friendship that was all I knew
The arms that I would fall into
Seem miles and years from where I am today
I gotta get back to where it all began
When I would wait for only You
Can I stay here forever
Here with you?
Surrounded by Your mercy
Clothed in Your truth
Always, I'll stay
Always here with You
Can I be here forever
Here with You?
Can I know what it's like
To deeply love You?
Always, Lord, let me stay
Always, here with You
Also, we are playing this song for worship during Getaway and I really like singing it. Rediscover You by Starfield. Lyrics:
I need to just admit
my faith is paper thin
I'm feeling so burned out
On religion
I say an empty prayer
I sing a tired song
I need to just admit that the passion's gone
And I want to get it back
You told me
Look for You and I will find
So I'm here
Like I'm searching for the first time
Revive me, Jesus
Make this cold heart start to move
Help me rediscover You
I want to learn to pray
The way that David prayed
I want my soul to burn when I hear Your name
I want to feel like new
I want to hunger for you
Bring me back to life like only You can do
Cause I don't want to stay the same
You told me
Look for You and I will find
So I'm here
Like I'm searching for the first time
Revive me, Jesus
Make this cold heart start to move
Help me rediscover You
Lord, I want to be Yours today
I want to know the passion of the saints
And how they were changed
You told me
Look for You and I will find
So I'm here
Like I'm searching for the first time
Revive me, Jesus
Make this cold heart start to move
I want to burn for You
Bring me back to life, Jesus
Help me rediscover You
Both songs express how they were passionate for Jesus and just living for God. In the first song, they ended up being drawn away by other things and started losing touch with God. In the second song, it became so much about the traditions, practices and keeping up their appearance while no longer actually connecting with God.
1. How did they ever come to know God?
"I've lost sight of what first drew me, to the love that pursued me." God loves you. God loves every person He has created. He has made each of us with a unique purpose and He loves each of us and wants us to be in a loving relationship with Him.
2. Why did they ever leave this relationship if they had come into relationship with Him?
Everyone has fallen short of the glory of God. The original reason and most of the reasons since then is that we get so focused on ourselves and satisfying our own desires by our own means that we lose sight of the fact that God provides for us and instead go our own way. The thing is, God created us with free will. This is amazing. He could have forced us to follow Him, but if we so desire, he will let us do as we wish. However, disobeying Him and seeking to fulfill our desires separates us from Him. "I've been chasing after emptiness / Trying to tidy up this mess" Things like lusting over women, or seeking to be popular to try and substitute for the hole where God was in our hearts doesn't work. We were built to have Him in our lives.
3. Can we get back to a relationship with God on our own?
The answer is no. Nothing we can do can reconnect us. There are a few main ways that people try to get back to God by becoming 'more holy' in various ways, such as doing good works, religion or philosophies. As it says in the second song he confesses about how empty religion is "I'm feeling so burned out on religion, I say an empty prayer, I sing a tired song" but it's not the same, it's not a real relationship with God.
4. So how do we get back into a relationship with God?
In the songs they sing of getting back to where they were or rediscovering Him, so it must be possible. The answer is in God's love for us. While we were still going our own way separated by our own decision, God took it on Himself to come to us and even then He was rejected. God gave His only son on the cross so that we can have a relationship with Him. The effect of going our own way, the payment for that is death. Only through Jesus' death have our past actions been erased so that we can enter a relationship with God again if we so desire.
5. Jesus died, so I'm good now, right?
Well, yes and no. Yes, He did die, but you can't just know this and then BAM! without doing anything your life is fine. Jesus also came back to life and that has to be reflected in what we do as well. We were dead in our sins, but alive in Jesus. We can't continue living separated from God, that's what got us where we were. You have to put your trust in the fact that He did this for you and ask Him to be a part of your life. This isn't a one time thing. Every Christian ends up going back to the way they were at some point. It's a challenge sometimes, why else would there be so many songs about it? But the thing is, when you turn away again, you turn right back and continue to trust God for what He does in your life.
6. So, how do I ask Jesus to come into my life, and what does that mean?
The way we talk to God is in prayer. But just praying without your heart in it means nothing. The words don't matter as long as you truly mean them. The amazing thing is that God always listens to us when we pray to Him. The following is a sample prayer that you can pray, but you can say whatever you think you need to.
Part two of the question: What it means is that Jesus will be in your life and with you always. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will be able to live an empowered life to live the way God intended.
Sample Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. I'm sorry for going my own way and trying to find my own path. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door to my life and ask you to be my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be. Amen.
7. Now what?
Now you are filled with the Holy Spirit and are in a relationship with Jesus. All your past sins have been forgiven and you have just started a long journey. "As these mountains of doubt, they fade away, I'm longing to trust and love You more". There will be times when you doubt, but if you truly seek, you will find God's truth and love for you wipe away the doubts. There's always room to grow closer to God, it's not an instant process. I still have a long way to go. The best way to start growing in your relationship is by exploring God's word, the Bible, and see what He has done for you. I advise starting in the book of John. You should also pray regularly. No relationship grows if only one person is doing the talking. You should also get to know some other people who trust in God by joining a Bible study or going to a church.
Also, if you have just accepted Christ into your life, please message me. =D I'm super excited about this. Leave a comment, or you can email me: dylan.dfa@gmail.com
Ya. xP I hope you come to know God more closely and I will try to help answer any questions or help you in any way I can.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
PS. There is a lot more I could tell you about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
PPS. Starfield is pretty cool.
So, I stumbled upon (no not actually.) this song when I was trying to get a set list for worship one week and I really liked it, but I didn't think it should be in the set list. So I wrote down in a blog post draft titled "Note to Self" that I should blog about this eventually.
Can I Stay Here Forever by Starfield. The lyrics are as follows:
Through forgotten convictions
Misplaced affections
I'm losing the sound of Your voice
I've been chasing after emptiness
Trying to tidy up this mess
I swear I've been down this road before
I want to get back to where it all began
When I would long for only You
Like a child I'll take You at Your word
As these mountains of doubt, they fade away
I'm longing to trust and love You more
So for me this is beautiful
A brand new thought, and a brand new world
Can I stay here forever here with You?
I've lost sight of what first drew me
To the love that pursued me
The joy that inspired my song
The friendship that was all I knew
The arms that I would fall into
Seem miles and years from where I am today
I gotta get back to where it all began
When I would wait for only You
Can I stay here forever
Here with you?
Surrounded by Your mercy
Clothed in Your truth
Always, I'll stay
Always here with You
Can I be here forever
Here with You?
Can I know what it's like
To deeply love You?
Always, Lord, let me stay
Always, here with You
Also, we are playing this song for worship during Getaway and I really like singing it. Rediscover You by Starfield. Lyrics:
I need to just admit
my faith is paper thin
I'm feeling so burned out
On religion
I say an empty prayer
I sing a tired song
I need to just admit that the passion's gone
And I want to get it back
You told me
Look for You and I will find
So I'm here
Like I'm searching for the first time
Revive me, Jesus
Make this cold heart start to move
Help me rediscover You
I want to learn to pray
The way that David prayed
I want my soul to burn when I hear Your name
I want to feel like new
I want to hunger for you
Bring me back to life like only You can do
Cause I don't want to stay the same
You told me
Look for You and I will find
So I'm here
Like I'm searching for the first time
Revive me, Jesus
Make this cold heart start to move
Help me rediscover You
Lord, I want to be Yours today
I want to know the passion of the saints
And how they were changed
You told me
Look for You and I will find
So I'm here
Like I'm searching for the first time
Revive me, Jesus
Make this cold heart start to move
I want to burn for You
Bring me back to life, Jesus
Help me rediscover You
Both songs express how they were passionate for Jesus and just living for God. In the first song, they ended up being drawn away by other things and started losing touch with God. In the second song, it became so much about the traditions, practices and keeping up their appearance while no longer actually connecting with God.
1. How did they ever come to know God?
"I've lost sight of what first drew me, to the love that pursued me." God loves you. God loves every person He has created. He has made each of us with a unique purpose and He loves each of us and wants us to be in a loving relationship with Him.
2. Why did they ever leave this relationship if they had come into relationship with Him?
Everyone has fallen short of the glory of God. The original reason and most of the reasons since then is that we get so focused on ourselves and satisfying our own desires by our own means that we lose sight of the fact that God provides for us and instead go our own way. The thing is, God created us with free will. This is amazing. He could have forced us to follow Him, but if we so desire, he will let us do as we wish. However, disobeying Him and seeking to fulfill our desires separates us from Him. "I've been chasing after emptiness / Trying to tidy up this mess" Things like lusting over women, or seeking to be popular to try and substitute for the hole where God was in our hearts doesn't work. We were built to have Him in our lives.
3. Can we get back to a relationship with God on our own?
The answer is no. Nothing we can do can reconnect us. There are a few main ways that people try to get back to God by becoming 'more holy' in various ways, such as doing good works, religion or philosophies. As it says in the second song he confesses about how empty religion is "I'm feeling so burned out on religion, I say an empty prayer, I sing a tired song" but it's not the same, it's not a real relationship with God.
4. So how do we get back into a relationship with God?
In the songs they sing of getting back to where they were or rediscovering Him, so it must be possible. The answer is in God's love for us. While we were still going our own way separated by our own decision, God took it on Himself to come to us and even then He was rejected. God gave His only son on the cross so that we can have a relationship with Him. The effect of going our own way, the payment for that is death. Only through Jesus' death have our past actions been erased so that we can enter a relationship with God again if we so desire.
5. Jesus died, so I'm good now, right?
Well, yes and no. Yes, He did die, but you can't just know this and then BAM! without doing anything your life is fine. Jesus also came back to life and that has to be reflected in what we do as well. We were dead in our sins, but alive in Jesus. We can't continue living separated from God, that's what got us where we were. You have to put your trust in the fact that He did this for you and ask Him to be a part of your life. This isn't a one time thing. Every Christian ends up going back to the way they were at some point. It's a challenge sometimes, why else would there be so many songs about it? But the thing is, when you turn away again, you turn right back and continue to trust God for what He does in your life.
6. So, how do I ask Jesus to come into my life, and what does that mean?
The way we talk to God is in prayer. But just praying without your heart in it means nothing. The words don't matter as long as you truly mean them. The amazing thing is that God always listens to us when we pray to Him. The following is a sample prayer that you can pray, but you can say whatever you think you need to.
Part two of the question: What it means is that Jesus will be in your life and with you always. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will be able to live an empowered life to live the way God intended.
Sample Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. I'm sorry for going my own way and trying to find my own path. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door to my life and ask you to be my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be. Amen.
7. Now what?
Now you are filled with the Holy Spirit and are in a relationship with Jesus. All your past sins have been forgiven and you have just started a long journey. "As these mountains of doubt, they fade away, I'm longing to trust and love You more". There will be times when you doubt, but if you truly seek, you will find God's truth and love for you wipe away the doubts. There's always room to grow closer to God, it's not an instant process. I still have a long way to go. The best way to start growing in your relationship is by exploring God's word, the Bible, and see what He has done for you. I advise starting in the book of John. You should also pray regularly. No relationship grows if only one person is doing the talking. You should also get to know some other people who trust in God by joining a Bible study or going to a church.
Also, if you have just accepted Christ into your life, please message me. =D I'm super excited about this. Leave a comment, or you can email me: dylan.dfa@gmail.com
Ya. xP I hope you come to know God more closely and I will try to help answer any questions or help you in any way I can.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
PS. There is a lot more I could tell you about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
PPS. Starfield is pretty cool.
21.2.11
Intrinsically Canadian.
So, today is definately a bit out of character for me...
I mean, I have done a bunch of stuff that must be called 'Canadian'.
I have skated 2 miles on the canal.
I had a beavertail. (Soooo goood. Lol... Nothing speacial actually...)
I helped shovel a rink at Brewer Park.
I am currently 'playing hockey' with a few friends and a couple random people who are also here. Lol.
It is cold and windy, but so good.
I have decided. The weather, unless it kills you, cannot ruin amazing stuff.
Yesterday I was 'worship leader' meaning I am in charge of selecting songs, in charge of choosing a call to worship and I kinda direct the congregation when we are singing.
I did a pretty slack job. I chose the call to worship at 12:30 am on Sunday. I chose the songs at 5pm friday and one saturday morning. I had nothing prepared to say. At practice I forgot how to sing 3 of 5 songs...
These are problems, but God's love that never leaves us can fix them, and did fix everything in the end.
Ttyl, eh?
D.Fa
I mean, I have done a bunch of stuff that must be called 'Canadian'.
I have skated 2 miles on the canal.
I had a beavertail. (Soooo goood. Lol... Nothing speacial actually...)
I helped shovel a rink at Brewer Park.
I am currently 'playing hockey' with a few friends and a couple random people who are also here. Lol.
It is cold and windy, but so good.
I have decided. The weather, unless it kills you, cannot ruin amazing stuff.
Yesterday I was 'worship leader' meaning I am in charge of selecting songs, in charge of choosing a call to worship and I kinda direct the congregation when we are singing.
I did a pretty slack job. I chose the call to worship at 12:30 am on Sunday. I chose the songs at 5pm friday and one saturday morning. I had nothing prepared to say. At practice I forgot how to sing 3 of 5 songs...
These are problems, but God's love that never leaves us can fix them, and did fix everything in the end.
Ttyl, eh?
D.Fa
13.2.11
Bulk Barn Punch
TODAY!
T is for Trifle
O is for OCBC
D is for Dylan wearing a bow tie
A is for Asia
Y is for YA
So, today was pretty amazing and there is no way I can summarize into a cheesy acrostic, so I will elaborate a bit.
First was Sunday school, then church, then we played and recorded this amazing song that I will not go into detail about, but I could have played it all day I love it. lol. Then we went to McD's. I played with TONKA trucks. We went to PETAG and by peer pressure I ended up wearing a bowtie. It was a pretty sweet bowtie I'm not gonna lie.
We then went back to the church to start setting up. FYI, I am not a neatfreak, I am a freak who is neat. This is the most interesting type of person. Anyways, I swept and mopped the whole sr. parlour and then we set up tables and got the food and all that and when I got back it looked so nice. I then got to have the most fun ever serving buns to the married couples. I had to ask if the were having the fish and chips. If yes the response was 'your fries will be coming with you meal later'. If no, I was to ask if they would like a white or whole wheat bun. I played this up for a while until I got to AW and DW at that point AW was just cracking up and so I also cracked up.
Anyways, we made the salads and put the entrees on plates and made the deserts and it was a lot of fun being a waiter. I wish I was a waiter for real. It was a lot of fun.
We got pizza and leftovers for supper.
I also got a call from JC, a C4C staff in Toronto, about my project application. I don't have any medical things, so it appeared as if I had just not seen them becuase I didn't write anything, so they wanted me to verify that I had seen it by actually answering them. It was also a bit about the confidential question about purity and clarifying some stuff. The main point is I'm going to East Asia for 6 weeks on a missions trip! Yay!
Also, I recently found my testimony that I shared at a C4C weekly meeting a long time ago, in late October..? So, look forward to that.
Also, I got so many random comments about this sweater and the bowtie and my haircut today. 1 I hate the sweater. 2. It's just a bowtie. and 3. It's just a bit of hair.
Ya.
ttyl.
D.Fa
T is for Trifle
O is for OCBC
D is for Dylan wearing a bow tie
A is for Asia
Y is for YA
So, today was pretty amazing and there is no way I can summarize into a cheesy acrostic, so I will elaborate a bit.
First was Sunday school, then church, then we played and recorded this amazing song that I will not go into detail about, but I could have played it all day I love it. lol. Then we went to McD's. I played with TONKA trucks. We went to PETAG and by peer pressure I ended up wearing a bowtie. It was a pretty sweet bowtie I'm not gonna lie.
We then went back to the church to start setting up. FYI, I am not a neatfreak, I am a freak who is neat. This is the most interesting type of person. Anyways, I swept and mopped the whole sr. parlour and then we set up tables and got the food and all that and when I got back it looked so nice. I then got to have the most fun ever serving buns to the married couples. I had to ask if the were having the fish and chips. If yes the response was 'your fries will be coming with you meal later'. If no, I was to ask if they would like a white or whole wheat bun. I played this up for a while until I got to AW and DW at that point AW was just cracking up and so I also cracked up.
Anyways, we made the salads and put the entrees on plates and made the deserts and it was a lot of fun being a waiter. I wish I was a waiter for real. It was a lot of fun.
We got pizza and leftovers for supper.
I also got a call from JC, a C4C staff in Toronto, about my project application. I don't have any medical things, so it appeared as if I had just not seen them becuase I didn't write anything, so they wanted me to verify that I had seen it by actually answering them. It was also a bit about the confidential question about purity and clarifying some stuff. The main point is I'm going to East Asia for 6 weeks on a missions trip! Yay!
Also, I recently found my testimony that I shared at a C4C weekly meeting a long time ago, in late October..? So, look forward to that.
Also, I got so many random comments about this sweater and the bowtie and my haircut today. 1 I hate the sweater. 2. It's just a bowtie. and 3. It's just a bit of hair.
Ya.
ttyl.
D.Fa
10.2.11
But there are No Windows... >.>
Honestly, slow cookers have blown my mind. xP You throw a bunch of good stuff in a pot that you wouldn't really eat on it's own and then you just leave. When you get back the smell of amazing stoup fills the air and you cannot wait until supper. It was soooo good. Also, I am very glad that RL suggested making rice. I had actually wanted to, but I've never had stoup with rice, so I kinda pushed it off.
In any case, YA is really great. I was actually thinking of BC on Monday in DG when there was a question asking about people we could talk to in our lives that are 'lost'. He was the first name to pop into my head even though he wasn't on my 5 or even my 15. You know, I'm still pushing him away despite always feeling like I should be doing the opposite.
Ya. BJ didn't come to YA. I really wish she had. xP but there's always next time or the time after that. As long as we still get to talk at work and stuff and ever since she got a phone that's been less of a problem, but I still never get to hang out with people in 'real life'. xP 'Real life' as in, not school, not work, the other stuff.
I have to work on a bonus question for Chem by tommorow afternoon and then I have to cram for a midterm on equilibrium and kinetics and rate of reaction stuff. It's almost all grade 12 stuff, but I missed almost all of the classes. I watched them all, but it's not the same. You can be as distracted as you want as long as you have the video playing. Where as in class, there's no internet (because its in a basement and all that fun stuff.)
So, ya.
It's almost reading week!
=D.Fa
In any case, YA is really great. I was actually thinking of BC on Monday in DG when there was a question asking about people we could talk to in our lives that are 'lost'. He was the first name to pop into my head even though he wasn't on my 5 or even my 15. You know, I'm still pushing him away despite always feeling like I should be doing the opposite.
Ya. BJ didn't come to YA. I really wish she had. xP but there's always next time or the time after that. As long as we still get to talk at work and stuff and ever since she got a phone that's been less of a problem, but I still never get to hang out with people in 'real life'. xP 'Real life' as in, not school, not work, the other stuff.
I have to work on a bonus question for Chem by tommorow afternoon and then I have to cram for a midterm on equilibrium and kinetics and rate of reaction stuff. It's almost all grade 12 stuff, but I missed almost all of the classes. I watched them all, but it's not the same. You can be as distracted as you want as long as you have the video playing. Where as in class, there's no internet (because its in a basement and all that fun stuff.)
So, ya.
It's almost reading week!
=D.Fa
14.1.11
YF FTW! / Loving Family
So, ya.
EFCC Conference here in Scarbourough has been cool. I honestly was probably not paying enough attention to the first two talks, but when I saw stats I was like completely paying attention. XP Maybe I should be a statistitian..? XP Maybe. XP
So, ya. After the stats talk and brief discussion we went out for Chinese food. I had Peking duck for the first time. It was good.
We then went for YF at the church we were staying at, HCEFC..? Hallelujah. XP I havn't actually been to YF in almost a year. We were in different groups. My group was doing a book study and it was cool. It was about prayer and everyone was at least talking most of the time. One girl not as much, but they were almost always laughing.
Hallelujah just gives off this great feeling. Everyone is just shiny for lack of a better word. One thing that is just so cool about the church (the people not the building), no matter where you go you have a large loving family.
Ya. Today, if only for YF, was amazing.
D.Fa
EFCC Conference here in Scarbourough has been cool. I honestly was probably not paying enough attention to the first two talks, but when I saw stats I was like completely paying attention. XP Maybe I should be a statistitian..? XP Maybe. XP
So, ya. After the stats talk and brief discussion we went out for Chinese food. I had Peking duck for the first time. It was good.
We then went for YF at the church we were staying at, HCEFC..? Hallelujah. XP I havn't actually been to YF in almost a year. We were in different groups. My group was doing a book study and it was cool. It was about prayer and everyone was at least talking most of the time. One girl not as much, but they were almost always laughing.
Hallelujah just gives off this great feeling. Everyone is just shiny for lack of a better word. One thing that is just so cool about the church (the people not the building), no matter where you go you have a large loving family.
Ya. Today, if only for YF, was amazing.
D.Fa
13.1.11
You Are The Only Exception~
So, just because I was procrastinating and stuff I finally got around to searching for the song that JB and EM sang at the Christmas assembly at MHS. They were so good. I think they were actually better than the original. xP I miss EM.... xPPP
So, ya. Here is the original "The Only Exception" by Paramore.
You know. This is a common thing in our society; 'love' that isn't real, 'love' that fades away, 'love' that is so based on appearances that it doesn't last, 'love' that isn't worth all the heartbreak and trouble, 'love' that is so superficial, 'love' that ends up making you lose trust in anyone, 'love'.
There is only one real love, one exception to what we see in the world. A love that is unchanging, unconditional, eternal, infinite, personal, unfailing, worth more than anything, the only important thing, the thing we all crave, the thing we all search for, the thing we all need, and the sad thing is that it is freely offered, but everyone looks over it or rejects it before actually seeing how great it is. True Love.
1 John 4:7-19 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love on another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the saviour of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgement; because as He is, so also are we in the world. We love because He first loved us.
The 'love' we search for without God, isn't really love. For without God, who is love, we don't really have love. We only have a fake 'love' which many believe is love until it falls apart at which time they give up on love.
God's love is so great for us that He would even die on a cross for us. He would come down from heaven and walk with us. A love so unimaginably large that we can't even get our heads half way around it.
Love.
God.
So, ya. Here is the original "The Only Exception" by Paramore.
You know. This is a common thing in our society; 'love' that isn't real, 'love' that fades away, 'love' that is so based on appearances that it doesn't last, 'love' that isn't worth all the heartbreak and trouble, 'love' that is so superficial, 'love' that ends up making you lose trust in anyone, 'love'.
There is only one real love, one exception to what we see in the world. A love that is unchanging, unconditional, eternal, infinite, personal, unfailing, worth more than anything, the only important thing, the thing we all crave, the thing we all search for, the thing we all need, and the sad thing is that it is freely offered, but everyone looks over it or rejects it before actually seeing how great it is. True Love.
1 John 4:7-19 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love on another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the saviour of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgement; because as He is, so also are we in the world. We love because He first loved us.
The 'love' we search for without God, isn't really love. For without God, who is love, we don't really have love. We only have a fake 'love' which many believe is love until it falls apart at which time they give up on love.
God's love is so great for us that He would even die on a cross for us. He would come down from heaven and walk with us. A love so unimaginably large that we can't even get our heads half way around it.
Love.
God.
12.10.10
The Climb. No. Not by Miley Cyrus. XP
On the way up... By the 20th floor I started imagining "what if the stairs collapsed." and I was freaking out....... So scary..............
I couldn't get to the top floor. The very top floor the door was locked. So I had to deal with the 22nd floor...
I wanted to look out the window so badly. I went around the halls looking for a window and couldn't find one.
However, there was one room open.
It was soooooooo cool! Honestly amazing. It's fall. There is a river right there. It's sunset! Omg. Creation is so pretty. XP...
Well worth the whole climb.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
I couldn't get to the top floor. The very top floor the door was locked. So I had to deal with the 22nd floor...
I wanted to look out the window so badly. I went around the halls looking for a window and couldn't find one.
However, there was one room open.
It was soooooooo cool! Honestly amazing. It's fall. There is a river right there. It's sunset! Omg. Creation is so pretty. XP...
Well worth the whole climb.
Ttyl.
D.Fa
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