Saturday, April 2, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
when u turn away...remember this
Isaiah 53:5-6
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
i want to come back to my comfort in Him
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
i want to come back to my comfort in Him
Monday, March 14, 2011
qualities to pursue in our short life
from the earthquake and unfolding disastrous aftershocks of tsunami in Japan, we see just how fragile life is. In one minute there is a city built by the hands of man, but destroyed within hours by nature. So our life is but a "puff of smoke" in the timeline of eternity...so while we are living, let us live the way we were created to live for a full life!
Know that you are chosen by God and loved by God through: (2Peter 1: 3-11)
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Know that you are chosen by God and loved by God through: (2Peter 1: 3-11)
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
so BE prepared..
1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect....
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect....
Sunday, March 6, 2011
what i should be doing...
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
but that isn't what i am doing. i am just letting time slip by yet again.. even though God gave me such a miracle yesterday.
I was able to share the gospel with my friend Mika who I am staying with and she listened to me from 1am till 4am... and we even prayed together at the end. it felt so refreshing to speak about God to a Japanese person and I just really pray that God will stir something in her heart to live the great life that he has in plan for her!
this is just the beginning of my purpose here in Japan.. to love people around me and to shine as a light pointing to Jesus through my life , not through simply telling ppl but by living it out.
Please pray for strength for me so that I will be able to get through each day.
really tired of going out and sick of travelling.. HAHA. i guess anything good always gets dry after a while cos we're human and we're always looking for new things to do. Really shows that nothing in this life can fully satisfy us aside from the happiness that derives from relationships and loving others and living for others. LOVE. and God is Love.
but that isn't what i am doing. i am just letting time slip by yet again.. even though God gave me such a miracle yesterday.
I was able to share the gospel with my friend Mika who I am staying with and she listened to me from 1am till 4am... and we even prayed together at the end. it felt so refreshing to speak about God to a Japanese person and I just really pray that God will stir something in her heart to live the great life that he has in plan for her!
this is just the beginning of my purpose here in Japan.. to love people around me and to shine as a light pointing to Jesus through my life , not through simply telling ppl but by living it out.
Please pray for strength for me so that I will be able to get through each day.
really tired of going out and sick of travelling.. HAHA. i guess anything good always gets dry after a while cos we're human and we're always looking for new things to do. Really shows that nothing in this life can fully satisfy us aside from the happiness that derives from relationships and loving others and living for others. LOVE. and God is Love.
Friday, March 4, 2011
2011- another new chapter
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Even though i was so pumped for the new semester, everything not really being as expected is still something i am adjusting to. from adjusting to the fact a lotta my good friends from last semester are gone, to the living with my japanese friend mika, and just having to make an extra effort to stick around uni to actually talk to new people because the people is what makes exchange rewarding.
in all things, i feel God really telling me to just not be discouraged.. at the moment i dont feel motivated because academically speaking its so easy here (not that i'll be getting 100%) buuut its not challenging..to be really honest, i just want the days to pass quickly so i can come back to sydney. to the point as you may see i hafn't updated my blog because even i dont really care what i do here. but i know thats definitely the wrong attitude as life is too short to not seize the moment and make the most of it in terms of shining for God and living life the way i was created to live. i dont wanna be letting time slip through my fingers and achieve nothing. so... i'm really trying to get back on track with my atitude. today definitely helped as i actually went out to dinner with ppl from KGU and got to meet new people and made an effort so i guess it feels good..
though i know God's love is enough to fill me, i still really feel the need to go home because a lot of people that i hold really close to my heart dont really seem to want to catch up with me. although it might seem that way, of course it might not be that way at all because i realise everyone is really busy with their own lives. but i am constantly praying for you my brothers and sisters that as busy you may get with life, please please please dont forget your ultimate purpose here on this earth~ we are but temporary residents here .. and even if we've lost contact for a long time, i am always always always appreciative to hear from you!!! you dont know how much it means to me...
well just letting everybody know i am healthy and well and trying hard :) thank you for your constant prayers and support <3
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Even though i was so pumped for the new semester, everything not really being as expected is still something i am adjusting to. from adjusting to the fact a lotta my good friends from last semester are gone, to the living with my japanese friend mika, and just having to make an extra effort to stick around uni to actually talk to new people because the people is what makes exchange rewarding.
in all things, i feel God really telling me to just not be discouraged.. at the moment i dont feel motivated because academically speaking its so easy here (not that i'll be getting 100%) buuut its not challenging..to be really honest, i just want the days to pass quickly so i can come back to sydney. to the point as you may see i hafn't updated my blog because even i dont really care what i do here. but i know thats definitely the wrong attitude as life is too short to not seize the moment and make the most of it in terms of shining for God and living life the way i was created to live. i dont wanna be letting time slip through my fingers and achieve nothing. so... i'm really trying to get back on track with my atitude. today definitely helped as i actually went out to dinner with ppl from KGU and got to meet new people and made an effort so i guess it feels good..
though i know God's love is enough to fill me, i still really feel the need to go home because a lot of people that i hold really close to my heart dont really seem to want to catch up with me. although it might seem that way, of course it might not be that way at all because i realise everyone is really busy with their own lives. but i am constantly praying for you my brothers and sisters that as busy you may get with life, please please please dont forget your ultimate purpose here on this earth~ we are but temporary residents here .. and even if we've lost contact for a long time, i am always always always appreciative to hear from you!!! you dont know how much it means to me...
well just letting everybody know i am healthy and well and trying hard :) thank you for your constant prayers and support <3
Sunday, January 16, 2011
hello to the new year !!
as I haven't had consistent internet access since moving out of homestay, I havent had time to sit down and recap all the events of the past month!
so beginning with Dec 28th, I travelled to Tokyo with matt, thomas and mika and stayed at sakura hotel where i bumped into isaac and eric .. we went to all the famous places from shinjuku to shibuya to ikebukuro to ueno etcetc. tokyo was boring . there is nothing to do aside from shopping. the shopping however is amazing. In order to do something cultural, i visited the Meiji Jinggu in Harajuku on new years day and also went to see the Emperor. Both events can be recounted as 90% waiting in line, 5% jumping up and down to see the front, 5% actual emperor talking / seeing front of shrine
mainly travelled with sherwin, nemo and stefanie;; went to 2 gay clubs and 1 normal club (dragon men, artsy fartsy , atom) respectively . interestingly, had a better time at the gay club than at the normal one because ppl were seedy, the place was dirty, and moreover coz it was new years it was overpriced. NEVER going back to atom. also the foreigners were seedy.
the place i enjoyed the most in tokyo was ASAKUSA.our friends got interviewed by fuji tv regarding the food they've chosen to eat in japan, the temples were beautiful and there are a lot of Japanese nibblies and souvenirs around there. The hostel we stayed at wasnt all that fancy but it had everything we needed.. called Khaosan Smile .
after Tokyo, i caught a bus to nagoya. had a bit of freak out trying to find the bus terminal, but praise be to God that I eventually found it. I am getting really good at asking for directions due to the high frequency of getting lost all the time.
Spent most of the time in nagoya looking around Osu, temples and eating the most delicious miso katsu where a lovely old lady served everything..she looked so old and frail but she was sososo nice... had some drinks with eric's friends at nagoya city university at a place called misfits.
nagoya in general is much more chill , has nothing much to do, and very accessible by bike. i spent a whole day on a bike and got around to quite a few places with the help of eric's german friend tabea : )
after nagoya, i headed back to osaka to pick up saehwan to begin the Japan tour to take him all the way to his best friend in tokyo.
Shunskies came with me to the airport to get him and we stayed at shinsaibashi, the massive shopping district. Since taking him around to sample all the foods, i have yet again gained another 2 kilograms T__________T this is absolutely terrible!
had dinner, karaoke, pool with KGU ppl on the 2nd night , shopping on third day then headed to KYOTO where we stayed at a 4.5 star hotel called westin miyako overlooking the mountains.. the room was HUUUUGEEE and we accordingly did the correct amount of shopping for the size of the room. Saw all the world heritage sites from golden temple pavilion, nijo castle, kiyomizu temple and koudaiji temple there.. and walked along gion where the geisha all work : )
we spent a day in nagoya where we stayed at the most amazing little ryokan (japanese style hotel). Beautiful rock gardens, manicured pine trees, yukatas , futons, tatami mat rooms..and most of all a HOT ONSEN to soak in.. because its open all night, i had the whole shower room and hot spring to myself.. it was GODLY.
we visited the noh theatre, nagoya castle, oasis 21 and nagoya television tower then took the shinkansen to a small town called mishima where i am right now..
today we went from mishima to atami , a famous hot spring spot. the views are astoundingly beautiful.. a whole town built on the moutainside facing the sea. the plum blossom festival was on but the blossoms were only in 30% bloom. nevertheless it was very pretty and maiko (geisha in training i think) served us green tea and a sweet which is SUPER RARE OPPORTUNITY. we saw tea ceremony, saw the Korean garden and waterfalls and streams.
after that we went to onsen. there was a lovely outdoor onsen on the rooftop where you could enjoy views of the entire town and the sea . it was VERYVERY hot. and there is a bamboo pipe that pours boiling water into the hot spring, and the idiot saehwan decided it was a good idea to step in under there.and burnt the insides of his legs which he is now nursing.
aside from that God has really been guiding us along the way.. we didn't have many plans at all but he just continued to protect us even though we didn't make reservations for most things till the last minute. it was highly likely we cud've ended up homeless with all our luggage but its just been amazing. so far saehwan has pretty much experienced all the famous foods in each region. the day ended with VERY FRESH sashimi nigiri and hot cakes .
tomorrow we will be going to fuji-kyu highland ...where the BIGGEST ROLLERCOASTERS in japan are. near mt fuji. : )
will update more sooonn!!! that was the recap of january my dears . miss you and love you all...i dont hear much from ya'll in sydney so please let me know how you're doing too!
so beginning with Dec 28th, I travelled to Tokyo with matt, thomas and mika and stayed at sakura hotel where i bumped into isaac and eric .. we went to all the famous places from shinjuku to shibuya to ikebukuro to ueno etcetc. tokyo was boring . there is nothing to do aside from shopping. the shopping however is amazing. In order to do something cultural, i visited the Meiji Jinggu in Harajuku on new years day and also went to see the Emperor. Both events can be recounted as 90% waiting in line, 5% jumping up and down to see the front, 5% actual emperor talking / seeing front of shrine
mainly travelled with sherwin, nemo and stefanie;; went to 2 gay clubs and 1 normal club (dragon men, artsy fartsy , atom) respectively . interestingly, had a better time at the gay club than at the normal one because ppl were seedy, the place was dirty, and moreover coz it was new years it was overpriced. NEVER going back to atom. also the foreigners were seedy.
the place i enjoyed the most in tokyo was ASAKUSA.our friends got interviewed by fuji tv regarding the food they've chosen to eat in japan, the temples were beautiful and there are a lot of Japanese nibblies and souvenirs around there. The hostel we stayed at wasnt all that fancy but it had everything we needed.. called Khaosan Smile .
after Tokyo, i caught a bus to nagoya. had a bit of freak out trying to find the bus terminal, but praise be to God that I eventually found it. I am getting really good at asking for directions due to the high frequency of getting lost all the time.
Spent most of the time in nagoya looking around Osu, temples and eating the most delicious miso katsu where a lovely old lady served everything..she looked so old and frail but she was sososo nice... had some drinks with eric's friends at nagoya city university at a place called misfits.
nagoya in general is much more chill , has nothing much to do, and very accessible by bike. i spent a whole day on a bike and got around to quite a few places with the help of eric's german friend tabea : )
after nagoya, i headed back to osaka to pick up saehwan to begin the Japan tour to take him all the way to his best friend in tokyo.
Shunskies came with me to the airport to get him and we stayed at shinsaibashi, the massive shopping district. Since taking him around to sample all the foods, i have yet again gained another 2 kilograms T__________T this is absolutely terrible!
had dinner, karaoke, pool with KGU ppl on the 2nd night , shopping on third day then headed to KYOTO where we stayed at a 4.5 star hotel called westin miyako overlooking the mountains.. the room was HUUUUGEEE and we accordingly did the correct amount of shopping for the size of the room. Saw all the world heritage sites from golden temple pavilion, nijo castle, kiyomizu temple and koudaiji temple there.. and walked along gion where the geisha all work : )
we spent a day in nagoya where we stayed at the most amazing little ryokan (japanese style hotel). Beautiful rock gardens, manicured pine trees, yukatas , futons, tatami mat rooms..and most of all a HOT ONSEN to soak in.. because its open all night, i had the whole shower room and hot spring to myself.. it was GODLY.
we visited the noh theatre, nagoya castle, oasis 21 and nagoya television tower then took the shinkansen to a small town called mishima where i am right now..
today we went from mishima to atami , a famous hot spring spot. the views are astoundingly beautiful.. a whole town built on the moutainside facing the sea. the plum blossom festival was on but the blossoms were only in 30% bloom. nevertheless it was very pretty and maiko (geisha in training i think) served us green tea and a sweet which is SUPER RARE OPPORTUNITY. we saw tea ceremony, saw the Korean garden and waterfalls and streams.
after that we went to onsen. there was a lovely outdoor onsen on the rooftop where you could enjoy views of the entire town and the sea . it was VERYVERY hot. and there is a bamboo pipe that pours boiling water into the hot spring, and the idiot saehwan decided it was a good idea to step in under there.and burnt the insides of his legs which he is now nursing.
aside from that God has really been guiding us along the way.. we didn't have many plans at all but he just continued to protect us even though we didn't make reservations for most things till the last minute. it was highly likely we cud've ended up homeless with all our luggage but its just been amazing. so far saehwan has pretty much experienced all the famous foods in each region. the day ended with VERY FRESH sashimi nigiri and hot cakes .
tomorrow we will be going to fuji-kyu highland ...where the BIGGEST ROLLERCOASTERS in japan are. near mt fuji. : )
will update more sooonn!!! that was the recap of january my dears . miss you and love you all...i dont hear much from ya'll in sydney so please let me know how you're doing too!
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