This year, I was really looking forward to Thanksgiving and the positive attitude it brings. However, when Thanksgiving week came, I couldn’t connect with the sentiment. I didn’t feel thankful no matter how hard I tried. As it turned out, there is no “Calendar” app for your heart. You can’t just schedule your heart to feel grateful simply because it’s the 4th Thursday in November.
Process
Photo by Moving Break
Back in January, I asked God what He had in store for me this year. And the theme He showed me was “Upgrade.” Sure enough, the last 8 months have been full of changes that turned out to be upgrades. Continue reading
Dealing With Our Shadows
“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
– Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
When tragedy happens, we ask why. The reporters and social media flood us with various theories and responses. Why did it happen? How can someone commit such inhumane acts. We attribute the cause to religion, prejudice, advanced weaponry… looking for any and every external factor that could have culminated in the horrific events. But, I feel like there is one factor that we are afraid to really look into – our own human nature. Continue reading
It’s all about the Heart
Many years ago, there’s a really popular worship song called “Open the Eyes of My Heart.” One day, after service, a friend asked me “What are the ‘eyes of my heart’? The heart has no eyes?!” It stopped me dead in my tracks. I can see he was serious. Completely serious and baffled. To him, the heart was an organ in his body. It’s function was to pump blood through his veins. His heart had chambers, but it surely had no eyes. Continue reading
Growing In Your Season
Some days I miss being back in school. Don’t get me wrong. I definitely don’t miss those all night lab sessions or studying for exams. It is great to have a set schedule though. The school year starts in September and ends in May or June, and we move on to the next level at the end of that term. The transitions are clearly defined and it’s easy to track your progress. Real life, however, is not set up that way. Life flows in seasons instead of semesters.
God’s Classroom Rules
When I was young, our church hosted a summer camp every year. There’s usually a great speaker and we head home feeling really excited about our faith and God. However, after a few weeks, that excitement waned and our attentions were soon diverted back to the daily grind in life and ministry. Eventually, after a few years of this cycle, we began to wonder if our summer camp was really effective. It’s great to feel the conviction and initial excitement. If only we can keep the momentum going.
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