It took a long time to finish this book but it's not because its boring but it's read when I have free time and I savour it slowly as the words and imageries are packed to the full and in an exotic way. She is so good at taking the Chinese imageries and using them as metaphors to describe the moms' thoughts and worldview by making the into pictures (vs. articulating them in terms of philosophical concepts). It's brilliant.
"
"In a matter of seconds, it seemed, I had gone from being angered by her strength, to being amazed by her innocence, and then frightened by her vulnerability. And now I felt numb, strangely weak, as if someone had unplugged me and the current running through me had stopped." p. 200
Tan also has a brilliant way of weaving in and out between the Chinese and American culture--the mothers and the daughters--showing their differences and interactions, and the inbetween-ness the children navigate through.
"Over the years, I learned to choose from the best opinions. Chinese people had Chinese opinions. American people had American opinions. And in almost every case, the American version was much better.
It was only later that I discovered there was a serious flaw with the American version. There were too many choices, so it was easy to get confused and pick the wrong thing." p.214
There is also the delicate relationship between the mothers and daughters, who grew up with a vast contrast in values, with differing ways of showing love and knowing what is good for them.
The stories of the mothers growing up in China also give some insights into the life back then, with the restrictions, cultural colours, regulations, historical bacgkround, and lifestyle in an old China.
"A lot of bad luck fell on our wedding day, even though the matchmaker had chosen a lucky day, the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, when the moon is perfectly round and bigger than any other time of the year. But the week before the moon arrived, the Japanese came. They invaded Shansi province, as well as the provinces bordering us." p.52
Ultimately, the story shows the love of the mothers to their daughters, and their strength that has been masked by their perceived handicap being in a new country that speaks not their mother language. Tan used the stories of four pairs of mother-daughter with immigrant origins to cook up a feast of crabs and fries for us readers. It is definitely a feast for the eyes and imagination as the readers are plunged into the sometimes strange world of the old Chinese beliefs and the more relatable modern young ABCs.
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Saturday, March 24, 2018
41. Praising God - Duck & Wilson-Kastner
P: The book explores the use of Trinitarian language in our church worship, in songs (doxologies, hymns), liturgy (prayers), preaching, Baptism, and visual arts. The authors draw from Scriptures, church traditions and contemporary new songs/liturgy to explore how our worship has incorporated languages that represent the Trinity--not just saying "Trinity" as a concept, but as a mystery and truth about our God in relation to His work related to us believers.
The problem: "so often speaks about the Trinity in the language of formal academic theology, and not the language of praise, faith, and piety, may contribute to the perception that the Trinity is peripheral to Christian life and worship." p.3
-"The main liturgiacl alternative to academic explanations of the Trinity has been the formula "Fahter, Son, and Holy Spirit," which, without further elaboration, may become a matter of rote recitation without room for wonder and growth in devotion and praise." p.3
-"...concern for correct theological formulation in the church's liturgy came to overshadow the search for vital praise." p.3
-"theologians such as Karl Rahner, Catherine LaCugna, Ted Peters, and Gail Ramshaw have also expressed the concern that the Trinity is not central to Christian faith and life." p.4
Why trinitarian worship is important:-"When Christian preaching and worship do not point to the possibility of new life in Christ, when the church does not witness to the power of the Holy Spirit, when Christians do not express their dependence on the holy Source of life, the faith experience of congregations is impoverished." p.4-5
-"The triune God, fount of all blessing, comes to us with gifts of abundant life, joy, and 'courage in the struggle for justice and peace.' Fully trinitarian worship lays out before the congregation the gifts of God and invites Christians to new life." p.5
On worship:
-"worship shapes the faith of Christians, over time inadequate language of praise will distort a church's understanding and experience of faith." p.4
-"One aspect of doing our best to glorify God is to consider how adequately the words of our worship express our faith." p.5
Language: -"Because our language can shape and motivate our actions, which contribute to creating the consequent nature of God, language is important." p.13
-"The criteria for their God-language grow from a determination to be faithful to the encounter between God and the world to which the scriptures testify and also to this encounter in contemporary language that is given birth, and shaped, by a feminist perspective." p.17
-"First, our language cannot be a projection about a deity that is the same reality as we are. Second, we do not believe the deity to be totally removed from us and unlike us. Those of us who speak of a divine reality not comprehended in this world, but in some way present in and to this world, must speak in metaphor and analogy." p.17
"Metaphor, analogy, symbol, and imagery are interrelated in classical and modern theologies. They assume a relatedness of the divine and the created order; they reject a useful adequacy of literal discourse to express the interrelationship of the divine and human realities; they also allow that once can and must speak about and to the deity." p.19
-"Language used to speak of the Trinity should reflect love, justice, and equality, which are the marks of ethical life based in trinitarian faith. ... Fully trinitarian liturgical language is emancipatory, showing the Holy One at work bringing justice and communion among humanity in the continuing mission of Jesus the Christ through the power of the Spirit." p.31
How do we speak to and about the trinitarian God in worship?
-"The trinitarian God is not a product of theology or philosophy, but is the God experienced and spoken about by the Christian community." p.19
-"the Trinity is the vast sea in which our small boats sail, intimately known to us, yet still mysterious." p.25 "The Trinity as mystery is not an unknowable abyss nor an unsolvable puzzle, but a living reality far beyond our experiences, our traditions, and our reason.
e.g. Brian Wren's Praising a Mystery hymns: "God is not one-dimensional, but a multi-dimensional mystery, decisively known in Jesus, active now as the Holy Spirit. The living God is a mystery, not a secret: secrets puzzle us, but lose their fascination when they are revealed. A mystery deepens the more it is pondered and known. At their best, worship, thinking and action are attempts to praise that mystery, to know God, and be known." p.25
-"Like the intratrinitarian relationship, this relationship between God and worshipers is not a closed system, but one which opens out in care for the world." p.26
-Guidelines about what we can say (or cannot say) about the Trinity:
1. should reflect coequality among the three partners, rather than a subordination of one to another. The triune reality is eternal; though the Word is begotten and the Spirit proceeds, this does not refer to a time sequence, but to the distinctive relationship of Word and Spirit to Source.
2. The unity of the trinitarian persons
3. The distinctiveness of each partner should not be blurred but recognised in Christian worship. p.27
the immanent Trinity: the relationality of God within God's self
the economic Trinity: the relationality of God with creation
[Source, Word, and Spirit], the Living/Eternal One/God
Outline/topics in the book:
1. in liturgical language the church speaks through metaphor and analogy of a God who is not simply a projection or creation of humanity, but a reality with whom we are in relationship.
2. how in worship we can and do give witness to the triune God through varied language for the Trinity (not exclusively male language for God) and the trinitarian dimensions of particular aspects of worship
3. preaching as trinitarian proclamation
4. the riches of Christian hymnody as a means of praising and testifying to the Trinity
5. the use of Wisdom (Sophia) imagery in worship, a contemporary issue
6. the connection between the Trinity, its representation in art and liturgy, and human life
Doxologies: are "words of praise to God, usually with trinitarian content and structure. They play an important part in worship, as a way of focusing on the triune God as the center of worship." p.49 e.g. Thomas Ken 1674 sung to the OLD HUNDREDTH.
Liturgy is "a drama of the development of our communion in God and also a pattern of how we are called to live and to act in God." p.120 How is the Trinity incorporated into our life of worship? in liturgical art, in images adorning the church walls, windows, statues, books for worship. In the words (rites, repeated words of community prayer) of liturgical prayer, we find in a different medium specific images of the Trinity, which also directly or indirectly interconnect the Trinity with human moral behaviour and ethics. p.120
-"Visual art and the repeated words of community prayer affect the whole of our personhood, not just our reason, aesthetic sense, or physical enjoyment of what we see and hear. Our minds and hearts are drawn into these forms of expression, and the whole human responds to and reflects on liturgical expression in visual and aural form." p.121
3 images of the Trinity in Salvation History: Gen 18 OT type of the Trinity: the appearance of the three angels to Abraham and Sarah under the tree at Mamre.; the baptism of Jesus; the crucifixion.
30 Jan-24 Mar 2018
Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999
The problem: "so often speaks about the Trinity in the language of formal academic theology, and not the language of praise, faith, and piety, may contribute to the perception that the Trinity is peripheral to Christian life and worship." p.3
-"The main liturgiacl alternative to academic explanations of the Trinity has been the formula "Fahter, Son, and Holy Spirit," which, without further elaboration, may become a matter of rote recitation without room for wonder and growth in devotion and praise." p.3
-"...concern for correct theological formulation in the church's liturgy came to overshadow the search for vital praise." p.3
-"theologians such as Karl Rahner, Catherine LaCugna, Ted Peters, and Gail Ramshaw have also expressed the concern that the Trinity is not central to Christian faith and life." p.4
Why trinitarian worship is important:-"When Christian preaching and worship do not point to the possibility of new life in Christ, when the church does not witness to the power of the Holy Spirit, when Christians do not express their dependence on the holy Source of life, the faith experience of congregations is impoverished." p.4-5
-"The triune God, fount of all blessing, comes to us with gifts of abundant life, joy, and 'courage in the struggle for justice and peace.' Fully trinitarian worship lays out before the congregation the gifts of God and invites Christians to new life." p.5
On worship:
-"worship shapes the faith of Christians, over time inadequate language of praise will distort a church's understanding and experience of faith." p.4
-"One aspect of doing our best to glorify God is to consider how adequately the words of our worship express our faith." p.5
Language: -"Because our language can shape and motivate our actions, which contribute to creating the consequent nature of God, language is important." p.13
-"The criteria for their God-language grow from a determination to be faithful to the encounter between God and the world to which the scriptures testify and also to this encounter in contemporary language that is given birth, and shaped, by a feminist perspective." p.17
-"First, our language cannot be a projection about a deity that is the same reality as we are. Second, we do not believe the deity to be totally removed from us and unlike us. Those of us who speak of a divine reality not comprehended in this world, but in some way present in and to this world, must speak in metaphor and analogy." p.17
"Metaphor, analogy, symbol, and imagery are interrelated in classical and modern theologies. They assume a relatedness of the divine and the created order; they reject a useful adequacy of literal discourse to express the interrelationship of the divine and human realities; they also allow that once can and must speak about and to the deity." p.19
-"Language used to speak of the Trinity should reflect love, justice, and equality, which are the marks of ethical life based in trinitarian faith. ... Fully trinitarian liturgical language is emancipatory, showing the Holy One at work bringing justice and communion among humanity in the continuing mission of Jesus the Christ through the power of the Spirit." p.31
How do we speak to and about the trinitarian God in worship?
-"The trinitarian God is not a product of theology or philosophy, but is the God experienced and spoken about by the Christian community." p.19
-"the Trinity is the vast sea in which our small boats sail, intimately known to us, yet still mysterious." p.25 "The Trinity as mystery is not an unknowable abyss nor an unsolvable puzzle, but a living reality far beyond our experiences, our traditions, and our reason.
e.g. Brian Wren's Praising a Mystery hymns: "God is not one-dimensional, but a multi-dimensional mystery, decisively known in Jesus, active now as the Holy Spirit. The living God is a mystery, not a secret: secrets puzzle us, but lose their fascination when they are revealed. A mystery deepens the more it is pondered and known. At their best, worship, thinking and action are attempts to praise that mystery, to know God, and be known." p.25
-"Like the intratrinitarian relationship, this relationship between God and worshipers is not a closed system, but one which opens out in care for the world." p.26
-Guidelines about what we can say (or cannot say) about the Trinity:
1. should reflect coequality among the three partners, rather than a subordination of one to another. The triune reality is eternal; though the Word is begotten and the Spirit proceeds, this does not refer to a time sequence, but to the distinctive relationship of Word and Spirit to Source.
2. The unity of the trinitarian persons
3. The distinctiveness of each partner should not be blurred but recognised in Christian worship. p.27
the immanent Trinity: the relationality of God within God's self
the economic Trinity: the relationality of God with creation
[Source, Word, and Spirit], the Living/Eternal One/God
Outline/topics in the book:
1. in liturgical language the church speaks through metaphor and analogy of a God who is not simply a projection or creation of humanity, but a reality with whom we are in relationship.
2. how in worship we can and do give witness to the triune God through varied language for the Trinity (not exclusively male language for God) and the trinitarian dimensions of particular aspects of worship
3. preaching as trinitarian proclamation
4. the riches of Christian hymnody as a means of praising and testifying to the Trinity
5. the use of Wisdom (Sophia) imagery in worship, a contemporary issue
6. the connection between the Trinity, its representation in art and liturgy, and human life
Doxologies: are "words of praise to God, usually with trinitarian content and structure. They play an important part in worship, as a way of focusing on the triune God as the center of worship." p.49 e.g. Thomas Ken 1674 sung to the OLD HUNDREDTH.
Liturgy is "a drama of the development of our communion in God and also a pattern of how we are called to live and to act in God." p.120 How is the Trinity incorporated into our life of worship? in liturgical art, in images adorning the church walls, windows, statues, books for worship. In the words (rites, repeated words of community prayer) of liturgical prayer, we find in a different medium specific images of the Trinity, which also directly or indirectly interconnect the Trinity with human moral behaviour and ethics. p.120
-"Visual art and the repeated words of community prayer affect the whole of our personhood, not just our reason, aesthetic sense, or physical enjoyment of what we see and hear. Our minds and hearts are drawn into these forms of expression, and the whole human responds to and reflects on liturgical expression in visual and aural form." p.121
3 images of the Trinity in Salvation History: Gen 18 OT type of the Trinity: the appearance of the three angels to Abraham and Sarah under the tree at Mamre.; the baptism of Jesus; the crucifixion.
30 Jan-24 Mar 2018
Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
40. Free at Last: Experiencing True Freedom Through Your Identity in Christ - Tony Evans
As Christians, we need to know our new identity instead of constantly living in the old one. To know Christ intimately means to abide in Him. We are saints, not sinners so we need to break the strongholds (lies) of Satan by taking each of our thoughts captive to Christ. [Reprogramming your mind] In order to know what to feel/do in a situation, say the thought and end it with "in Jesus' name I pray" then you will know whether it is from God's truth (p.136)
"Faith is no mystical concept. It is simply taking God at His Word and acting in light of that. When you do this, you will begin to see the invisible world of the Spirit controlling your visible world, and not the other way around (2 Cor 4:18; Heb 1:3)". p.137
"Ask the Holy Spirit to reprogram your mind with the facts." p.151
To live out our new identity as those victorious in Christ.
Do not walk by the flesh but walk by the Spirit.
To have faith means to trust God and His Word, putting my confidence in God.
6-7 Feb 2018
Chicago: Moody Press, 2001
"Faith is no mystical concept. It is simply taking God at His Word and acting in light of that. When you do this, you will begin to see the invisible world of the Spirit controlling your visible world, and not the other way around (2 Cor 4:18; Heb 1:3)". p.137
"Ask the Holy Spirit to reprogram your mind with the facts." p.151
To live out our new identity as those victorious in Christ.
Do not walk by the flesh but walk by the Spirit.
To have faith means to trust God and His Word, putting my confidence in God.
6-7 Feb 2018
Chicago: Moody Press, 2001
Friday, January 5, 2018
39. Fresh Faith: What Happens When Real Faith Ignites God's People - Jim Cymbala
I. Stolen Property
"In the spiritual realm, a kind of stealing is going on in many lives. Satan is in the business of ripping us off." e.g. stealing our very purpose of living/things that have value with God and are of eternal significance p.11 Jn 10:10
Faded calling for long time Christians. p.13
Where did the faith go?
David learned the powerful truth that God recovers stolen property. p.19 1 Sam 30:16-20 'David and his men came to a moment when they chose to get up and go after stolen prpoerty." p.20
We have to also come to the moment to say "In the name of the Lord, I am not going to give up on my calling, my potential in life." p.20
Satan knows the importance of faith "the righteous will live by faith" (Rom 1:17) and that "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb 11:6) p.21 Real faith is our lifeline to God's grace and power.
Check instastory notes for Jan 5th, 2018.
We need to depend on God.
God can make you forget 'Manasseh' Gen 41:50-51
Can I trust God to lead me?
The forgotten standard of faith as a measure of the Christian life instead of outer things/denominational norms p.68 Many Christians make big decisions in life without the thought of seeking God.
"A faith-filled believer will pray earnestly until he finds God's will for things such as: changing jobs, moving..." p.71
Trust God completely instead of our own cleverness e.g. the negative exmple of Jeroboam 1 Kings 11, 14
Faith runs on a different clock "Many of our struggles about faith have to do with timing. We believe, at least in theory, that God will keep his promises--but when?" p.98 e.g. Zechariah and Elizabeth Luke 1:13-14; God does the impossible when we think it is past the timing already
God is drawn to prayer: Zechariah prayed. God revealed himself when people began to pray: Acts 10, Acts 4:31, Luke 11:1, Luke 1:13
Don't second-guess God
"The great battle of our spiritual lives is 'Will you believe?' It is not 'Will you try harder?' or 'Can you make yourself worthy?' p.105
"The timing of God is often a mystery to us, and even sometimes a frustration. But we must not give up. We must not try to arrange our own solutions." p.112
Overcoming Discouragement. Joseph's story.
Grace that is greater. Judah's story.
4-5 Jan, 2018
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999
"In the spiritual realm, a kind of stealing is going on in many lives. Satan is in the business of ripping us off." e.g. stealing our very purpose of living/things that have value with God and are of eternal significance p.11 Jn 10:10
Faded calling for long time Christians. p.13
Where did the faith go?
David learned the powerful truth that God recovers stolen property. p.19 1 Sam 30:16-20 'David and his men came to a moment when they chose to get up and go after stolen prpoerty." p.20
We have to also come to the moment to say "In the name of the Lord, I am not going to give up on my calling, my potential in life." p.20
Satan knows the importance of faith "the righteous will live by faith" (Rom 1:17) and that "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb 11:6) p.21 Real faith is our lifeline to God's grace and power.
Check instastory notes for Jan 5th, 2018.
We need to depend on God.
God can make you forget 'Manasseh' Gen 41:50-51
Can I trust God to lead me?
The forgotten standard of faith as a measure of the Christian life instead of outer things/denominational norms p.68 Many Christians make big decisions in life without the thought of seeking God.
"A faith-filled believer will pray earnestly until he finds God's will for things such as: changing jobs, moving..." p.71
Trust God completely instead of our own cleverness e.g. the negative exmple of Jeroboam 1 Kings 11, 14
Faith runs on a different clock "Many of our struggles about faith have to do with timing. We believe, at least in theory, that God will keep his promises--but when?" p.98 e.g. Zechariah and Elizabeth Luke 1:13-14; God does the impossible when we think it is past the timing already
God is drawn to prayer: Zechariah prayed. God revealed himself when people began to pray: Acts 10, Acts 4:31, Luke 11:1, Luke 1:13
Don't second-guess God
"The great battle of our spiritual lives is 'Will you believe?' It is not 'Will you try harder?' or 'Can you make yourself worthy?' p.105
"The timing of God is often a mystery to us, and even sometimes a frustration. But we must not give up. We must not try to arrange our own solutions." p.112
Overcoming Discouragement. Joseph's story.
Grace that is greater. Judah's story.
4-5 Jan, 2018
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999
Thursday, January 4, 2018
38. The Prayer of Jesus: Secrets to real Intimacy with God - Hank Hanegraaff
Lord teach us now to pray Matt 7:29 "He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."
The Secret: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matt 6:6
"Prayer does not simply maintain the Christian life, it is the Christian life..." p.10
"The absence of inwardness is the lost freedom we trade for addictions. ... When God fills our inner vacuum with his Holy Spirit, life works. When God does not fill the vacuum, a host of consuming appetites swarm through our better intentions. ...It all adds up to a kind of powerlessness, which always results from living too far from the Grand Enabler.
" -Calvin Miller p.11
Your Father Knows: Matt 6:31 "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard bc of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
F-A-C-T-S
Faith: "Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. ...it is the object of faith that renders faith faithful. The secret is in coming to know ever more fully the One to whom we pray." p.22
Jn 15:7, Rom 10:17
Adoration: Ps 95:6-7
Confession: "While unconfessed sin will not break our union with God, it will break our communion with God." 1 John 1:9 p.24
Thanksgiving: Rom 1:21, Col 2:7, 4:2; 1 Thess 5:16-18, Eph 5:20
Supplication: 1 John 5:14-15
Building our relationship. Matt 6:9 God's name be magnified
The city of God. Matt 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done. "How gracefully has the Divine Wisdom arranged the order of the prayer; so that after things heavenly--that is, after the "Name" of God, the "Will" of God, and the "Kingdom" of God--it should give earthly necessities also room for a petition!" -Tertullian p.52
Bringing our requests Matt 6:11 Jesus was reminding his disciples that he was there to sustain them spiritually as well as physically. Each time we partake of communion we are reminded that he is "the bread of life" (Jn 6:35) p.60
The Compassion Award Matt 6:12 Forgiveness "It means that when you say you are sorry, you're supposed to say 'That's all right' and never think about it again." p.70
The Armor Matt 6:13 "we often underestimate the unmitigated hatred the Devil and his demons have for the things of God." p.76
Embracing the prayer of Jesus "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man..." Matt 7:24
Dec 2017-Jan 4, 2018
Nashville: Word Publishing, 2001.
The Secret: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matt 6:6
"Prayer does not simply maintain the Christian life, it is the Christian life..." p.10
"The absence of inwardness is the lost freedom we trade for addictions. ... When God fills our inner vacuum with his Holy Spirit, life works. When God does not fill the vacuum, a host of consuming appetites swarm through our better intentions. ...It all adds up to a kind of powerlessness, which always results from living too far from the Grand Enabler.
" -Calvin Miller p.11
Your Father Knows: Matt 6:31 "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard bc of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
F-A-C-T-S
Faith: "Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. ...it is the object of faith that renders faith faithful. The secret is in coming to know ever more fully the One to whom we pray." p.22
Jn 15:7, Rom 10:17
Adoration: Ps 95:6-7
Confession: "While unconfessed sin will not break our union with God, it will break our communion with God." 1 John 1:9 p.24
Thanksgiving: Rom 1:21, Col 2:7, 4:2; 1 Thess 5:16-18, Eph 5:20
Supplication: 1 John 5:14-15
Building our relationship. Matt 6:9 God's name be magnified
The city of God. Matt 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done. "How gracefully has the Divine Wisdom arranged the order of the prayer; so that after things heavenly--that is, after the "Name" of God, the "Will" of God, and the "Kingdom" of God--it should give earthly necessities also room for a petition!" -Tertullian p.52
Bringing our requests Matt 6:11 Jesus was reminding his disciples that he was there to sustain them spiritually as well as physically. Each time we partake of communion we are reminded that he is "the bread of life" (Jn 6:35) p.60
The Compassion Award Matt 6:12 Forgiveness "It means that when you say you are sorry, you're supposed to say 'That's all right' and never think about it again." p.70
The Armor Matt 6:13 "we often underestimate the unmitigated hatred the Devil and his demons have for the things of God." p.76
Embracing the prayer of Jesus "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man..." Matt 7:24
Dec 2017-Jan 4, 2018
Nashville: Word Publishing, 2001.
6. Here and Now: Living in the Spirit- Henri J. M. Nouwen
I. Living in the Present
"A new beginning! We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises." p.15
our imagination can lead us to the truth of our lives...The problem is that we allow our past, which becomes longer and longer each year, to say to us: 'You know it all; you have seen it all, be realistic; the future will be just another repeat of the past. Try to survive it as best as you can.' There are many cunning foxes jumping on our shoulders and whispering in our ears the great lie: 'There is nothing new under the sun...don't let yourself be fooled.' p.15
Rev 21:2-5
Without 'oughts' and 'ifs'
Here and now-the most important ; "Prayer is the discipline of the moment. When we pray, we enter into the presence of God whose name is God-with-us. To pray is to listen attentively to the One who addresses us here and now. When we dare to trust that we are never alone but that God is always with us, always cares for us, and always speaks to us, then we can gradually detach ourselves from the voices that make us guilty or anxious and thus allow ourselves to dwell in the present moment. This is a very hard challenge bc radical trust in God is not obvious." p.18
"Listening to the voice of love requires that we direct our minds and hearts toward that voice with all our attention. ...prayer." p.19
"One of the discoveries we make in prayer is that the closer we come to God, the closer we come to all our brothers and sisters in the human family. God is not a private God. The God who dwells in our inner sanctuary is also the God who dwells in the inner sanctuary of each human being." p.20
"We often wonder what we can do for others, especially for those in great need. It is not a sign of powerlessness when we say: 'We must pray for one another.' To pray for one another is, first of all, to acknowledge, in the presence of God, that we belong to each other as children of the same God. Without this acknowledgement of human solidarity, what we do for one another does not flow from who we truly are.' p.21
II. Joy
Joy & sorrow. "Joy is essential to spiritual life. ... Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing--sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death--can take that love away." p.25
Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there bc it comes from the knowledge of God's love for us. ...sorrow and joy can exist together. ...when we think about some of our deepest life experiences, such as being present at the birth of a child or the death of a friend, great sorrow and great joy are often seen to be parts of the same experience. Often we discover the joy in the midst of the sorrow." p.25
"Joy doesnt simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us." p25
"It is important to become aware that at every moment of our life we have an opportunity to choose joy. Life has many sides to it. There are always sorrowful and joyful sides to the reality we live. And so we always have a choice to live the moment as a cause for resentment or as a cause for joy. It is in the choice that our true freedom lies, and that freedom is, in the final analysis, the freedom to love." p.26 at the end of the day decide to remember the day as a day to be grateful for. increase our heart's capacity to choose for joy. As our hearts become more joyful, we will become a source of joy for others.
Joy is contagious
"He is a realist, but his deep faith allows him to know that hope is more real than despair, faith more real than distrust, and love more real than fear." spiritualrealism p.27
Surprised by joy instead of sorrow (news)
Hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present, p.32
III. Suffering
Jesus shows, both in his teachings and in his life, that true joy often is hidden in the midst of our sorrow, and that the dance of life finds its beginnings in grief. ...It is the way in which pain can be embraced, not out of a desire to suffer, but in the knowledge that something new will be born in the pain." p.37 Jn 16:21
Our desire for communion
Be faithful to our vocation
IV. Conversion
The Spirit of Love: "The Spirit of God is soft and gentle like a small voice or a light breeze. It is the Spirit of love. ...Maybe we still distrust the Spirit, afraid to be led to places where our freedom is taken away." p.51
Set your hearts on God's kingdom first...and all other thgs will be given you as well' summarise best the way we are called to live our lives. ...God's kingdom is, first of all, the active presence of God's Spirit within us, offering us the freedom we truly desire. p.52
How to set our hearts on the kingdom first when our hearts are preoccupied with so many things? Somehow a radical change of heart is required, a change that allows us to experience the reality of our existence from God's place." p52
Jesus answers from above to questions raised from below. e.g. Matt 20:22, Acts 1:7-8
the reverse mission
being freed from the burden of judgement-Only when we claim the love of God, the love that transcends all judgements, can we overcome all fear of judgement. p.61
V. Disciplined Living
Living for the one clear goal: What is our prize? Is it the divine life, the eternal life, the life with and in God?
Eternal life starts now, it is not the afterlife. It is living in communion with God p.68
Spiritual reading: books that have spiritual content or reading the news of today with a spiritual reading (not to master knowledge or info but to let God's Spirit master us." p71
VI. The Spiritual Life
Matt 11:28-30
God is eternal love
Fatalism vs. faith. Faith is the deep trust that God's love is stronger than all the anonymous powers of the world and can transform us from victims of darkness into servants of light. p.78
VII. Prayer
'Well, when you spend one hour a day adoring your Lord and never do anything which you know is wrong...you will be fine!'-Mother Teresa to Nouwen after he explained all his complicated problems p89
from worrying to prayer.
Contemplating Psalm 23
VIII. Compassion
be compassionate, as the Father is.
Being the beloved.
downward mobility Jn 12:25, Matt 18:3, Matt 20:25-28
"Compassion means to become close to the one who suffers. But we can come close to another person only when we are willing to become vulnerable ourselves." p.197
IX. Family
X. Relationships
XI. Who We Are
Dec 13, 2016-Jan 3, 2018
London: St Pauls, 2002.
"A new beginning! We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises." p.15
our imagination can lead us to the truth of our lives...The problem is that we allow our past, which becomes longer and longer each year, to say to us: 'You know it all; you have seen it all, be realistic; the future will be just another repeat of the past. Try to survive it as best as you can.' There are many cunning foxes jumping on our shoulders and whispering in our ears the great lie: 'There is nothing new under the sun...don't let yourself be fooled.' p.15
Rev 21:2-5
Without 'oughts' and 'ifs'
Here and now-the most important ; "Prayer is the discipline of the moment. When we pray, we enter into the presence of God whose name is God-with-us. To pray is to listen attentively to the One who addresses us here and now. When we dare to trust that we are never alone but that God is always with us, always cares for us, and always speaks to us, then we can gradually detach ourselves from the voices that make us guilty or anxious and thus allow ourselves to dwell in the present moment. This is a very hard challenge bc radical trust in God is not obvious." p.18
"Listening to the voice of love requires that we direct our minds and hearts toward that voice with all our attention. ...prayer." p.19
"One of the discoveries we make in prayer is that the closer we come to God, the closer we come to all our brothers and sisters in the human family. God is not a private God. The God who dwells in our inner sanctuary is also the God who dwells in the inner sanctuary of each human being." p.20
"We often wonder what we can do for others, especially for those in great need. It is not a sign of powerlessness when we say: 'We must pray for one another.' To pray for one another is, first of all, to acknowledge, in the presence of God, that we belong to each other as children of the same God. Without this acknowledgement of human solidarity, what we do for one another does not flow from who we truly are.' p.21
II. Joy
Joy & sorrow. "Joy is essential to spiritual life. ... Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing--sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death--can take that love away." p.25
Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there bc it comes from the knowledge of God's love for us. ...sorrow and joy can exist together. ...when we think about some of our deepest life experiences, such as being present at the birth of a child or the death of a friend, great sorrow and great joy are often seen to be parts of the same experience. Often we discover the joy in the midst of the sorrow." p.25
"Joy doesnt simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us." p25
"It is important to become aware that at every moment of our life we have an opportunity to choose joy. Life has many sides to it. There are always sorrowful and joyful sides to the reality we live. And so we always have a choice to live the moment as a cause for resentment or as a cause for joy. It is in the choice that our true freedom lies, and that freedom is, in the final analysis, the freedom to love." p.26 at the end of the day decide to remember the day as a day to be grateful for. increase our heart's capacity to choose for joy. As our hearts become more joyful, we will become a source of joy for others.
Joy is contagious
"He is a realist, but his deep faith allows him to know that hope is more real than despair, faith more real than distrust, and love more real than fear." spiritualrealism p.27
Surprised by joy instead of sorrow (news)
Hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present, p.32
III. Suffering
Jesus shows, both in his teachings and in his life, that true joy often is hidden in the midst of our sorrow, and that the dance of life finds its beginnings in grief. ...It is the way in which pain can be embraced, not out of a desire to suffer, but in the knowledge that something new will be born in the pain." p.37 Jn 16:21
Our desire for communion
Be faithful to our vocation
IV. Conversion
The Spirit of Love: "The Spirit of God is soft and gentle like a small voice or a light breeze. It is the Spirit of love. ...Maybe we still distrust the Spirit, afraid to be led to places where our freedom is taken away." p.51
Set your hearts on God's kingdom first...and all other thgs will be given you as well' summarise best the way we are called to live our lives. ...God's kingdom is, first of all, the active presence of God's Spirit within us, offering us the freedom we truly desire. p.52
How to set our hearts on the kingdom first when our hearts are preoccupied with so many things? Somehow a radical change of heart is required, a change that allows us to experience the reality of our existence from God's place." p52
Jesus answers from above to questions raised from below. e.g. Matt 20:22, Acts 1:7-8
the reverse mission
being freed from the burden of judgement-Only when we claim the love of God, the love that transcends all judgements, can we overcome all fear of judgement. p.61
V. Disciplined Living
Living for the one clear goal: What is our prize? Is it the divine life, the eternal life, the life with and in God?
Eternal life starts now, it is not the afterlife. It is living in communion with God p.68
Spiritual reading: books that have spiritual content or reading the news of today with a spiritual reading (not to master knowledge or info but to let God's Spirit master us." p71
VI. The Spiritual Life
Matt 11:28-30
God is eternal love
Fatalism vs. faith. Faith is the deep trust that God's love is stronger than all the anonymous powers of the world and can transform us from victims of darkness into servants of light. p.78
VII. Prayer
'Well, when you spend one hour a day adoring your Lord and never do anything which you know is wrong...you will be fine!'-Mother Teresa to Nouwen after he explained all his complicated problems p89
from worrying to prayer.
Contemplating Psalm 23
VIII. Compassion
be compassionate, as the Father is.
Being the beloved.
downward mobility Jn 12:25, Matt 18:3, Matt 20:25-28
"Compassion means to become close to the one who suffers. But we can come close to another person only when we are willing to become vulnerable ourselves." p.197
IX. Family
X. Relationships
XI. Who We Are
Dec 13, 2016-Jan 3, 2018
London: St Pauls, 2002.
Monday, January 1, 2018
37. Training Up a Child and Be Glad You Did - Harold J. Sala
"If we fail at home, I wonder if we have really succeeded anywhere." p.7
Mom and Dad are the first pictures of God to a child. Ps 103:13 Isaiah 66:13
The importance of the early years.
The young child learns attitudes, responses, character traits. He begins to develop a positive or negative self-image. He learns what he can get away with and where he must stop. p.25
parents teach children in 3 ways: by example, by attitudes, which develop emotional responses in our children, and by our words. p.32
-Attitudes: "Children often verbalize attitudes when we hadn't really counted on them saying aloud what we had thought." p.39 "Everyday of your life your attitudes are shaping and molding the character of your child." p.40
The Bible says a great deal--both negatively and positively--about our thinking. Phil 4:8-9
convey positive mental and spiritual attitudes which we must be firmly committed.
-Words: Teach the principles of God's Word Deut 6:6-7 "And these words, which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children..."
capitalize on the questions of a child to teach them God's truths.
The principle of praise and appreciation: When they do something that pleases us, we need to let them know that what they have done is right and good. p.47
"The family that plays and prays together stays together." The atmosphere of your home e.g. decoration is important too!. p.61 A visible witness, can people know that God lives here in your home?
Discipline your child. Prov 3:11, 12; 12:1; 13:24; 15:10; Heb 12:5, 6 ; Eph 6:4
Discipline not to vent your anger and frustration on your kids. But to discipline children in order to save heartbreak and anguish.
Discipline produces a security that draws the limits on behaviour. "Indefinite limitations--poorly defined and enforced--also result in an emotional instability where life itself is not clearly defined." Discipline produces obedience. Jesus was obedient to Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:51), Heb 5:8
1. Establish clear limits of behaviour
2. Enforce boundaries with consistent discipline (parents work together)
3. Administer discipline in private. The purpose of discipline is to reinforce the teaching-learning process which develops a sense of right and wrong in the child. It is not to shame him, humiliate or anger him... p.85
4. Establish responsibility for the wrongdoing. ...ask a series of questions which cause a youngster to acknowledge a wrongdoing. eg. 'Do you understand that you were supposed to ask permission before you left our block?' Not: 'Did you cross the street?'.
5. Show grief over the offense.
6. Administer discipline firmly and thoroughly. Prov 13:24, the rod 2 Sam 7:14
7. Allow a child to vent his emotions and then talk with him. stay with him until he has stopped sobbing, then talk with him again to clarify why he was punished.
8. Once a matter has been dealt with, consider it forgiven. Heb 12:5-13. When God forgives us, our sins are as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12)
9. Balance discipline with personal attention.
Convey moral and spiritual values to your children
-don't be a hypocrite
-"Have a plan to teach spiritual truth as well as illustrate it with your life. ...No great concert pianist would assume that his daughter is learning music theory because she grows up in his home." p.116
-Live as consistently as you can.
-Confess your failures
-Practice unconditional love. Acceptance doesn't equal approval
-Keep the channels of communication open. Anger, frustration, constant preaching, sarcasm, and similar gestures are surefire ways to stop the flow of communication. ...lots of genuine listening with an attempt to understand. p.120
-Protect your offspring with a fence of prayer.
Teaching your children about sex. When a child asks a question is the best time to answer him--honestly and openly. If he cares for details, he'll ask for details.
Have regular family worship time. Plan it.
1. The study of the Word
2. A time of prayer
3. Memorization of key verses and passages geared to the needs of our family.
Dec-1 Jan, 2018
Manila: Accent-B/P Publications/OMF Literature Inc., 1978
Mom and Dad are the first pictures of God to a child. Ps 103:13 Isaiah 66:13
The importance of the early years.
The young child learns attitudes, responses, character traits. He begins to develop a positive or negative self-image. He learns what he can get away with and where he must stop. p.25
parents teach children in 3 ways: by example, by attitudes, which develop emotional responses in our children, and by our words. p.32
-Attitudes: "Children often verbalize attitudes when we hadn't really counted on them saying aloud what we had thought." p.39 "Everyday of your life your attitudes are shaping and molding the character of your child." p.40
The Bible says a great deal--both negatively and positively--about our thinking. Phil 4:8-9
convey positive mental and spiritual attitudes which we must be firmly committed.
-Words: Teach the principles of God's Word Deut 6:6-7 "And these words, which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children..."
capitalize on the questions of a child to teach them God's truths.
The principle of praise and appreciation: When they do something that pleases us, we need to let them know that what they have done is right and good. p.47
"The family that plays and prays together stays together." The atmosphere of your home e.g. decoration is important too!. p.61 A visible witness, can people know that God lives here in your home?
Discipline your child. Prov 3:11, 12; 12:1; 13:24; 15:10; Heb 12:5, 6 ; Eph 6:4
Discipline not to vent your anger and frustration on your kids. But to discipline children in order to save heartbreak and anguish.
Discipline produces a security that draws the limits on behaviour. "Indefinite limitations--poorly defined and enforced--also result in an emotional instability where life itself is not clearly defined." Discipline produces obedience. Jesus was obedient to Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:51), Heb 5:8
1. Establish clear limits of behaviour
2. Enforce boundaries with consistent discipline (parents work together)
3. Administer discipline in private. The purpose of discipline is to reinforce the teaching-learning process which develops a sense of right and wrong in the child. It is not to shame him, humiliate or anger him... p.85
4. Establish responsibility for the wrongdoing. ...ask a series of questions which cause a youngster to acknowledge a wrongdoing. eg. 'Do you understand that you were supposed to ask permission before you left our block?' Not: 'Did you cross the street?'.
5. Show grief over the offense.
6. Administer discipline firmly and thoroughly. Prov 13:24, the rod 2 Sam 7:14
7. Allow a child to vent his emotions and then talk with him. stay with him until he has stopped sobbing, then talk with him again to clarify why he was punished.
8. Once a matter has been dealt with, consider it forgiven. Heb 12:5-13. When God forgives us, our sins are as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12)
9. Balance discipline with personal attention.
Convey moral and spiritual values to your children
-don't be a hypocrite
-"Have a plan to teach spiritual truth as well as illustrate it with your life. ...No great concert pianist would assume that his daughter is learning music theory because she grows up in his home." p.116
-Live as consistently as you can.
-Confess your failures
-Practice unconditional love. Acceptance doesn't equal approval
-Keep the channels of communication open. Anger, frustration, constant preaching, sarcasm, and similar gestures are surefire ways to stop the flow of communication. ...lots of genuine listening with an attempt to understand. p.120
-Protect your offspring with a fence of prayer.
Teaching your children about sex. When a child asks a question is the best time to answer him--honestly and openly. If he cares for details, he'll ask for details.
Have regular family worship time. Plan it.
1. The study of the Word
2. A time of prayer
3. Memorization of key verses and passages geared to the needs of our family.
Dec-1 Jan, 2018
Manila: Accent-B/P Publications/OMF Literature Inc., 1978
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