Fighting injustice
“Fighting injustice begins in my own heart. I am called to be salt; I am called to be light. I cannot force people to taste justice and see goodness. However, I can learn to be salty, and I can learn to be bright.”
-Irene Sun (blog post)
Realization
One of the things I’m passionate about is helping others achieve their dreams. This is more obvious to me than my own specific dreams.
City grace’s 1st retreat takeaways! The holy spirit :)
This past weekend, my church, City Grace, went on its first EVER retreat! Hooray! I had such a lovely time getting to know people, some of which I’ve known for years but haven’t had a meaningful conversation with until now! What a blessing :) I’d like to encourage you with what I’ve learned:
- There are 3 fears we encounter: that God doesn’t love me, that God is not in control, and that God’s plan is not sufficient for the world (see them reflected in the temptations Jesus faced in the desert). Fortunately, the holy spirit convinces us of God’s love for us.
- We have to be ‘filled’ again and again in order to do the work God has for us, that is, we need to communicate with God through the Spirit to gain strength (via spiritual disciplines)! Becoming more Christlike requires practice. Jesus set an awesome example of this, retreating to pray boldly in lonely places in the midst of whatever was going on.
- Like with Jesus, the Spirit helps us know how to speak to different people, when to be silent, and gives us power.
- Pray boldly.
- Exercise your spiritual gifts!
- What does it mean to be more Christlike? For one, to practice the fruits of the Spirit until it becomes an almost natural response to life.
- The holy Spirit is a connector! He connects us to God’s love, God’s power, and each other (“the fellowship of the holy spirit”)!
- Though we shouldn’t focus solely on feelings, God wants us to understand and experience His love.
- The holy spirit in the New Testament primarily works to advance God’s kingdom, to grow the church and its witness (outreach plug!)
- We have access to the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Wow.
- The unity of the body is a spiritual reality. We’re meant to speak the truth in love to one another, not let resentment and unforgiveness fester, and focus both inward and outward, on those within the church and those who do not yet know Jesus.
- We should never be married to our culture. We need to be able to confront and edify each other - be able to tolerate a certain level of awkwardness ;)
- As a church, we should help meet the needs of the community. In New York, some examples include those without homes, racial inequality, the foster system, human trafficking, etc.
- Don’t focus on growing the size of the church, simply be faithful and obedient and growth will come.
I hope and pray for our community to continue to grow closer to God, each other, and all in NYC.
Memorable quotes and takeaways from AACF’s panel on love/relationships
- “You can’t truly love someone if you need them.” Finding our fulfillment and needs in God alone frees us to love others without expecting anything in return.
- On why there are so many broken relationships in the world today: the environment we grow up in, our lack of empathy for each other.
- True love is agape love, an unconditional love that sacrifices, expressed perfectly by God sending Jesus for us.
- On encouragement: be completely present and listen to your significant other. Tell the truth. Remind the other of God’s truths.
- On conflict: don’t make excuses for hurting someone, give a real and genuine apology - that’s hard. If it’s a misunderstanding, try to backtrack and get back to the real reason why an argument occurs. Learn when to let go.
- On God’s love impacting our relationships: 1) Knowing God’s love helps us to find complete fulfillment in God, not expecting the other person to provide for all our needs. 2) Loving the other person like God loves us, because we first have been loved, forgiven, and encouraged by God.
- Like God loves the church, similarly, our love for each other should make a positive impact in our community.
- Through being a good (albeit not perfect) example of being in a relationship that builds each other up, we can show others that it’s possible.
- On being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t believe in God: It’s tough, because the two people will probably have very different expectations for the relationship.
- On being single: “Make the most of your singleness.”
happy thanksgiving! i think that even in the worst of times, we still have something to be thankful for.
covered for fun, apologies for my dead voice!
The A Team (Ed Sheeran) Cover
(changed lyrics in bold)
White lips, pale face
Breathing in snowflakes
Burnt lungs, sour taste
Light’s gone, day’s end
Struggling to pay rent
Long nights, strange men
And they say
She’s in the Class A Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since 18
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
Cos we’re just under the upperhand
Go mad for a couple grams
And she don’t want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland
Or sells love to another man
It’s too cold outside
For angels to fly
Angels to fly
Ripped gloves, raincoat
Tried to swim, stay afloat
Dry house, wet clothes
Loose change, bank notes
Weary-eyed, dry throat
Call girl, no phone
And they say
She’s in the Class A Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since 18
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries
And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
Cos we’re just under the upperhand
And go mad for a couple grams
And she don’t want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland
Or sells love to another man
It’s too cold outside
For angels to fly
An angel will die
Covered in white
Closed eye
And hoping for a better life
This time, we’ll fade out tonight
Straight down the line
And they say
She’s in the Class A Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since 18
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries………..
I know
The best things in life come free to us
And we’re all loved by the son of man
But still go mad for a couple grams
And we don’t want to go outside tonight
But He saves us from ourselves again
And makes strong a weary man
It’s too cold outside
For angels to fly
Angels to fly
To fly, fly
Angels to fly,
To fly, to fly
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15
But God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Designed by Shannon Hatch (@ShannonHatchNZ).
Basileia, again!
Of course I’m up the night before Basileia - this isn’t the first time this has happened. I’m up packing, so excited about what God has in store for Intervarsity and NYU in general.
While I was looking for a notebook to take notes in, I found a couple of them - with notes from every retreat/training that I’ve been to in the past 2 and a half years. And BOY have I been to a lot of these conferences, and I’ve been thinking, have I actually grown because of them?
During Basileia 2010, I learned about being a servant leader, and especially the importance of vision casting. I learned more about God’s heart for the lost, and searched myself to see what was holding me back from Him. I felt refreshed by having the chance to pray.
During Basileia 2011, I learned about being a small group leader. I learned about how in the end, when Christ returns, that there will be a multitude of people from all cultures and nations will be praising His name. This includes people from all parts of the world - and all parts of our campuses. We should not be afraid to be missional. My fellowship, AACF, explored specific ways to live that out in the coming year, and we prayed a lot over these plans.
And Basileia 2012? Who knows what God is going to say to me? To us? I’m sure our expectations will be exceeded again, being reminded once again of his amazing love for us. As for me personally, I just want to hear His voice clearly again. I realize that though I don’t necessarily feel spiritually stronger than when I started college, my understanding of God’s love for people and His yearning to have that intimate relationship with each one of us has grown.
Not A Starving Artist: 50 Reasons not to Date a Photographer
Was inspired to write one of these hehe.
- They rather hold their bulky camera, than hold hands with you.
- On a romantic date, you’ll watch the sun go down and think “Wow this is gorgeous” and they’ll go “mirror lock, tripod, and stop down f/8 at 1/125.”
- You’ll never be able to enjoy tv,…
