The little boy walked up the big wooden stairs. The steps had to be large, and the footing had to be careful, otherwise he would have fallen over backwards, and landing on his little bum. Finally he managed to climb up those mountains, and he looked up, scratching his little head with his little hand. He fidgeted, apparently dissatisfied with the scratching, probably because his scalp was covered by a colourful jester hat for warmth. The bells on the hat jingled every time he moved. The rest of his outfit was just as heartwarming. His parka was blue, and it made the boy looked bigger than he was. He wore loose jeans, and black boots.
Slowly he walked up to the counter, approaching the Starbucks counter. There he waited in line behind some people, many times bigger than he was. The boy looked down, avoiding their eye contact, in fear of confronting them. Eventually the big big people passed, and the boy moved to the front of the line. He realized the counter was too tall, and he could not see anything in front of him. So he stepped back to see behind the counter a pretty girl with a green Starbucks apron. She smiled at him warmly, but he didn't know what to do, frozen in the tracks. "What would you like?" she asked. The boy gulped, and noticed that his knees were shaking. He looked up to the Starbucks girl, and managed to say, "A peanut butter cookie, please." The girl proceeded to get the cookie.
It was odd. The boy, all by himself. My heart beated hard against my chest, as I saw it all happen. The image was clear. I continued to watch as the girl handed the little boy the cookie, and the boy reciprocated by pulling out change from his little pockets, reaching up to the counter. "I can do it!" he told her. The girl let him reach higher, but to no avail, so he jumped and slapped the coins on the counter. Then he walked away. In amazement I stared, listening to the clumping of his footsteps, hand holding a cookie, and now a Spiderman comic.
(what is so special about this little boy? what's so special about what he's doing? find out next time!)
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Saturday, March 05, 2005
worship idea
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transofrmed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:1-2
A very familiar passage to most people, this passage struck me in the most interesting way. Today, I had the privilege to go up to Fair Glen to visit my former high school fellowship at SCBC, Gideon Fellowship, for their annual Winter Retreat. The speaker for the saturday was interestingly the Pastor Fred Tham, who recently left SCAC, and is in search of a new home church. The interesting part of it is that our former youth pastor was his twin brother Pastor Ted Tham, of which i have a very good relationship with. But in bringing up this passage, Fred mentioned a point that i thought was very intriguing:
worship <==> sacrifice
in living a life of worship, it is important that we should be making sacrifices. essentially, being a christian is about making sacrifices. many times we are tempted to do something that is the desire of our lustful hearts, but not of our Father's heart. we must sacrifice these desires and grow to love our Lord's desires (easier said than done, not too possible with human power). in that, as we develop as a christian, i think that God shows us what parts of our lives we need to change, and we should stretch ourselves and make those sacrifices and lifestyle changes. in making such sacrifices, living sacrifices, then it is holy and pleasing to God, and that is a spiritual act of worship, as it says in the text.
God parallels the importance of sacrifice in his son Jesus. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross for humankind. Evidently, it was something that he didn't want to do ("My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39b), but he was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of God's will. Jesus' second prayer on Gethsemane: "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless i drink it, may your will be done." Mt 26:42b. Knowing that this was the only way, and it was God's will that this should happen, Jesus took the sacrifice upon himself.
so next time u think about what worship really is.. remember that worship is not just singing a bunch of nice songs with a bunch of nice people. no way it's so much more than that. He asks so much more of us than that. worship is sacrifice, according to his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1-2
A very familiar passage to most people, this passage struck me in the most interesting way. Today, I had the privilege to go up to Fair Glen to visit my former high school fellowship at SCBC, Gideon Fellowship, for their annual Winter Retreat. The speaker for the saturday was interestingly the Pastor Fred Tham, who recently left SCAC, and is in search of a new home church. The interesting part of it is that our former youth pastor was his twin brother Pastor Ted Tham, of which i have a very good relationship with. But in bringing up this passage, Fred mentioned a point that i thought was very intriguing:
worship <==> sacrifice
in living a life of worship, it is important that we should be making sacrifices. essentially, being a christian is about making sacrifices. many times we are tempted to do something that is the desire of our lustful hearts, but not of our Father's heart. we must sacrifice these desires and grow to love our Lord's desires (easier said than done, not too possible with human power). in that, as we develop as a christian, i think that God shows us what parts of our lives we need to change, and we should stretch ourselves and make those sacrifices and lifestyle changes. in making such sacrifices, living sacrifices, then it is holy and pleasing to God, and that is a spiritual act of worship, as it says in the text.
God parallels the importance of sacrifice in his son Jesus. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross for humankind. Evidently, it was something that he didn't want to do ("My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39b), but he was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of God's will. Jesus' second prayer on Gethsemane: "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless i drink it, may your will be done." Mt 26:42b. Knowing that this was the only way, and it was God's will that this should happen, Jesus took the sacrifice upon himself.
so next time u think about what worship really is.. remember that worship is not just singing a bunch of nice songs with a bunch of nice people. no way it's so much more than that. He asks so much more of us than that. worship is sacrifice, according to his good, pleasing and perfect will.
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