On the other hand, wasn’t Mary blinded by her love and for being deeply immersed in the sorrow, to see the true picture of what was happening in front of her at the time? When the body of Jesus was gone missing, wasn’t she so consumed by her sorrow, perhaps rightly so…, that she missed to realise actually that it is a moment of great glory.

Surely, the missing body is the sign and the evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead, just as he’s been teaching all along, it is a victorious scenary, where he has crushed the enemy, and freed us from the chains of the sin. But, she is rather weeping in this glorious moment.

However, who am I to say that! Am I any different? Am I not even worse than her! if I look back, aren’t the difficult moments and times that I regarded as ‘just too much’, and grieved upon, the same kind of moments of glory to be rejoiced rather!? Paul in the letter to Rome (8:28) once said, all things work together for good. If that is so, even those difficult times, however they were caused and happened (even if due to my short comings, stupidity or mistakes), they are still the glorious moments to be rejoiced upon.

Jesus tells Mary, why is that you’re crying? Jesus was not disappointed at her nor did he rebuke her for her blindness. Rather he waits and calls her name. “Mary…”, which meant so much to me.

Whenever I’m exhausted and devatated with worries and hoplessness, and even during those times when I am just so consumed by the things, happening right in front of me, he also waits for me patiently and calls my name, and speaks to me through his living words. “Don’t dwell in the sorrow and anxiety, my son. I remember you, and I am always beside you. What you see isn’t all. Don’t just dwell in this, weeping and crying, but move on and cry out (John 20:17). This is not a time to just stay and dwell in the helplessness and brokeness, but a time to move on in strength, looking upon the new beginning (Isaiah 43:19)!”

Yes, my Lord. I once again make up my mind to do so! For you’re with me.

I am sorry for what I did. I am sorry for what I did not do. I am sorry for who I am. I am sorry for not being the person I should have been. I am sorry for not being there for you when you needed.

I ask myself today, am I living worthy of this grace, am I not boasting about my own faith, not manifesting his grace, his glory in me.. I pray that my eyes of my heart are enlightened so that I may know the hope in which he called us, what are the glorious inheritance, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us, just as apostle Paul prayed in the letter to Ephesians 1. And that in turn, this may turn into thanksgiving in my lips and sharing of his wonderful work in the cross, showing the “immeasurable riches of his grace”.

After her acceptance to my proposition…. man, I looked tired.

We went to the diner at Ritz Restaurant to celebrate the Valentines Day (which is our first and the last as a unmarried) and our special day! It was so posh and beautiful so I wanted to take more photos but later we were kindly told not to take any photos inside the restaurant.

My Glory, having her four course dinner. There was pigeon on the menu, which we could not believe, so we asked our waiter whether it is real flying pigeon and yes he confirmed it. I wanted to try it but Glory insisted not to have it. The foods were really really great. It was also dancing and dining night, so, the live band was playing Jazz and the people were dancing on the floor, very nice.
More photos of the Ritz in London. They insist they’re not Ritz Carlton. I don’t know which is true, but, they’re part of the Ritz Carlton according to the website. But, I have to say that the Ritz London is quite special one. It is full of luxury and antiques, so, history.

This is the afternoon tea area. It is known to be one of the best afternoon tea place in London and you have to book a table at least a month advance. We should try that next time for sure.

Towards the Ritz Restaurant. Very beautiful indeed.

My Glory, posing the pose of the lady in the picture in the lift.

Technorati Tags: Propose Glory Valentines Day

As I usually do, I’ve finished the passing year and started the new year with doing a quiet time, the words of God and prayer, thanking God for his providence in passing year 2009 and asked for his faithfulness in the coming year 2010.

During the quiet time, I’ve noticed the Romans 8:37, especially, during reading ‘The Ordinary Hero’ by Tim Chester.

“No, in all these we are more than conquerors through him, who loved us.”

Such an encouraging words. In Romans chapter 8, Paul writes of the assurance, we have in Christ. He writes, though there are difficult times, sufferings, and even the persecutions, none of those will be able to separate us from God. Because, Christ has loved us. Not loves us, but, loved us. How did he love us? Here, Paul is referring to the Cross.

Our Christian faith is rooted in the cross, where he poured out his life to save his people. Our faith shall not be like that we feel so blessed on one sunny afternoon and feel God loves us. Because, sooner or later, it’ll rain. Rather, we are to look upon and cling to the cross, all the time, when there are a hardship or sun shine down on us, and be reminded of what Christ has done for us and achieved on the cross. What’s more, the cross still stands to demonstrate his love for us, that he loves us. One ultimate act on the cross in the past, gives full assurance ,and demonstrates and reminds that he loves us to this very moment and forevermore.

Now, the year 2010 has finally begun. The year may will be filled with happiness and good memories. Or, the year may will be filled with pains and hardships. Only God knows. But one thing, I’m sure of is, no matter how the year 2010 turns out to be, I’m more than a conqueror for the cross of Christ and the cross will be my strength.

As some of you already know, I work for an Israeli bank and the bank kindly sent me to the Head Office in Tel Aviv for 4 days to meet the various teams in Head Office and build working relationship with them as well as getting some training, about three months ago. It was very interesting experience. It was a shame that I couldn’t go to Jerusalem, where is less than couple of hours away by car, though, since I couldn’t extend my trip in Israel any longer than that as someone special was waiting for me in London. So, I decided to leave Jerusalem for the later.

Me at the Tel Aviv airport. In order to save time, I chose to fly in the night, 10pm, and arrived in Tel Aviv at 5 in the morning. It was very strange from the beginning of the trip. Being a far east asian, not Jewish, obviously, I was picked by the security staff, while I was waiting on the check-in que and escorted to an interview area. Then, the staff asked me various questions, like the purpose of the visit and I was requested of the travel documents and the contact details in Tel-Aviv. Lucky, I did print out the email from the Head Office and hotel arrangement. Then, they told me that they will check in my bag and do the rest of the check in process, so, I just waited in that area while they do all the hard work for me. What’s more, they even told me that I can not carry any hand luggage with me to the airplane, so, they will carry the hand luggage to the gate, where I’d be able to retrieve my hand luggage. I didn’t have to que up for the check in nor at the gate. I just showed up at the gate and told them who I am, there I am already in the airplane! That’s what I call a VIP treatment. Sometimes, being different does good. But, because of such a high security procedures (they even had their own xray monitor during the check in and at the gate
on top of usual airport’s x-ray check), the flight was delayed about an hour. The lady, who is Israeli and sat next to me, appears to be fed up with such Israeli culture. She told me that she has just finished the backpack trip in Ireland and absolutely loved it. And, she warned me that I’ll be surprised at how unprofessional Israeli people can be, so, be ready for it, and wished me a luck. Then, she made a complain to the flight attendant, of their unprofessionalism for that they left an used blanket on my seat.

This the building complex (Azrieli Centre, or City Centre), where my hotel is located. The middle one is the hotel building and the other two are the office buildings and shopping mall.

I checked in my hotel and there it was a welcome message from the hotel. It seems that this kind thing is norm service among the business as I’ve seen this in one of the south Korean hotel in my recent trip to Seoul. Anyway, another story. I caught the taxi from airport to hotel and I was previously advised by one of my Israeli colleague that I should always ask the driver to turn the meter on and ask the receipt at the beginning of the journey, otherwise, they’ll rip you off. So I told the driver that I need a receipt and the driver said, ‘Of course!’, but, didn’t say to turn the meter on. Big mistake. I told the driver that I need to go to Crowne Plaza, not the one on the beach but in the city centre. The driver proudly answered, saying, ‘Of course my friend! I know, there are two Crowne plazas. So, you want to go to the one not on the beach?!……my friend, there are actually, another Crowne Plaza in the city, which one is it?’. And, he told me he will take me to where he think it is and tell me to get off and check it out. The place he took me turn out to be not even a hotel. He asked me again, ‘are you sure, it is not on the beach?’…… &^*!. He then called the Crowne Plaza on the beach and found the address from them and said, ‘my friend, it is called Crowne Plaza - City Centre (Azrielli Centre), next time you travel, you should know the exact name of the hotel, if you have told me the exact name, I should have taken you there, no problem!!’…..’oh, Lord help me -_-, I did tell you, it is in the city centre…’. Anyway, time to settle a bill. He gave me the receipt, which I thought, of course, way overcharge. I told him, that’s way too expensive and I’ve got no cash of that much money with me. Second mistake, I didn’t know, what’s the average fare from airport to the hotel. The driver was raising his voice saying ‘you are working for the largest bank in Israel, who gonna actually pay, so, just help me out here!’. Third mistake, I should have not told them who I work for. I paid what I thought to be still reasonable, and got off the taxi. I didn’t really want to have any more words with the guy. It’d have been totally different story, if it was me, who is paying the bill, of course. But still, later I realised I paid twice more.

The view from the hotel. The city is mixture of old residential buildings with new high rises, somewhat strange to me.

After I had a short break, I headed out to work and it was Sunday. Working in Jewish country means their sabbath is Saturday, not Sunday. -_-;, which means I was going to 6 days this week!!! Anyway, looking from the map, the bank seems to be within the walkable distance, so, to enjoy the sunshine (I love sunny day!!), I decided to take a walk to the bank. Another mistake, I don’t understand the scale on the map. I was just so glad to see the sun, got over excited and overlooked how hot the day was. It was over 30′c. It took me more than 45 minutes to the bank and got lost in a way, actually not lost, just was given an address of the different building of the bank (They were saying, the bank is too big and they could not keep every department in the same building, so, they spread them out in many buildings. But, seriously, I think they did it to cut the cost).

Finally, I arrived at my building and look what I’ve found….the Max Brenner!! Is the Max Brenner Jewish? I can not help but think it is Jewish as I remember the bank gave us the Max Brenner chocolate few years back and as now I see them in Tel-Aviv. What’s more, the max brenner is in St Ives where is the large Jewish community. Hmmmm.

Anyway, here are some of the high rises in Tel-Aviv. I don’t know why I took them but where ever I go, I seems to be attracted by the high rises.

잔잔하던 내 바다 거센바람 불어와
지친 내 몸을 흔드네

고요하던 내맘은 쓸쓸한 밤 홀로 헤메이고
거센파도 나를 덮쳐도

오직 주님만 바라봅니다

(If you wanna go)
(if you wanna know)
(You gatta find the real light)

내 모든걸 아시는 주님
모든짐을 주께 맡기네

이끄소서 만왕의 주
날 붙드소서 전능의 주여
잡으소서 생명의 주
날 건지소서 폭풍걷히고
비추리라

작고 약한 나의 마음 오늘도 안으시는
내겐 한없는 그 사랑

메마른 가지처럼 한없이 지쳐만가던 삶에
빛이되신 주님오셔서

상한나의맘 감싸주시네

(If you wanna go)
(if you wanna know)
(You gatta find the real light)

내 모든걸 받으신 주님 폭풍속에 구원되시네

이끄소서 만왕의 주
날 붙드소서
전능의 주여 잡으소서
생명의 주 날 건지소서
폭풍걷히고 비추리라

나 이제 주의이름높여 노래하리

You know I may just fall again but I believe
I can do it everything
Gonna walk with you my Jesus stay with me

With me

Pour rain on me greatest of all
Down on my knees
I pray to you Lord
Your Love is so real
Feel it so strong
Lord in the rain storm
Shining upon me

Pour rain on me greatest of all
Down on my knees
I pray to you Lord
Your Love is so real
Feel it so strong
Lord in the rain storm
Shining upon me

Down on my knees
I get down on my knees
Down on my knees
I pray again I pray again to you Lord
Down on my knees your name above al

We are truly sorry, and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your son Jesus Christ,
who died for us,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may serve you
in newness of life
to the glory of your name.
Amen.
…………………

This is what we read almost every Sunday service in our church. Though I read them every week, every time I read them, these words still convict me (and rightly so), really humbles me, get me to acknowledge my short comings and brings me down on my knees to cling onto the cross, and be grateful for what Christ has achieved on the cross.

It is true that we are forgiven and our penalty has been paid once for all (1 Peter 3:18-Christ died for sins once for all…) and yet remembering our shortcomings and acknowledging our needs of change (sanctification) and his help are very important in our Christian journey for that is our expression of trust.

One of the sentences, which I come to think a lot lately, is ‘we have sinned against you……in the good we have not done…’. I quite often think of and regret on things I have done, the mistakes I have made, the things I have said and so on, but, not what we should have done. Maybe it due to the ten commandments (Ex 20:6), which is full of ‘You shall not..’ commandments. Maybe it is due to our physical nature/attachment to the oldself, which is enslaved to the sin, which tend to make our world view and life experience as an enslaving experience.

However, the Christianity should not be like that, rather knowing God and his commandments should be translated into the full of freedom and liberty for that is what Christ has achieved on the cross. Furthermore, Psalm 119:96-98 tells that his words/commandments lifts our horizon and broaden our worldview, which will eventually free us from the limits, this world has put on us.

Moreover, the interesting thing is that in NT, it is full of ‘do’ commandments. Jesus has taught us that the greatest commandment is to love your God with your heart, mind, soul and strength, and the next is to love your neighbor as your body (Luke 10:26-28). He told the rich young man upon seeing him that he kept all the 10 commandments to sell all his belongings and give to the poor and follow Christ (Mark 9:17-22). Lastly, the very last thing that Jesus has told his disciples (and us) before he was lifted up to heaven, was the great commission, which was to proclaim the ‘important’ news, which is the gospel, to all nations (Mat 28:16-20).

Our christian life should be full of doing things. It should be proactive, not passive nor reactive faith. It is also a sin, not doing thing. Prior to Jesus and his cross, the best we could do was to restrain ourselves from sinning for we were helplessly enslaved to sin and we were not able to do anything good and righteous. But now the shackles that once restrained us from doing the righteous thing are now gone and broken. We are no longer chained to the sins nor we are enslaved to the sins. We now can through the power of the cross and the holy spirit do what God has commanded us to do (Romans 6:15-23). How wonderful it is to be freed. But How much more wonderful would it be to exercise and enjoy this great freedom? Shouldn’t we exercise this great privilege and gift, freedom?
——-

After I finished writing it and I gave another thought and just felt the need of clarification on some of my points that I’ve made. During the Summerlink, which is our church bible study gathering during the summer break, one of the lady, I sat together on the table, mentioned that the one of the big difference of the Christianity is that everything is done on the cross and there is no need of doing things to achieve anything. And, I agree with that and I hope I was not sounded as if we need to do things to achieve the righteousness or anything, rather I wanted to highlight that the change of the status and the obtained freedom should be flowed into actions. Not to achieve but because now we can.

I have to say that it’s not an easy book to study and at many times, I was so stressed and frustrated before, during and after the study, to understand it, and all the time, those times of stress and frustration have been worth the struggle. Paul’s writing is not the easiest writing to understand (and it’s not just me for even the apostle Peter also said so in his letter) and yet I have to say that I’ve been amazed at his logics and his use of the grammar to make his case and so on, because, behind these, the great teachings about God, us, his unchanging divine rescue plan, righteouness, reality of Christian living, and his sovereignty are embedded in. And seeing those at last, after the long agonizing struggle to see, made my days.

Now, the end of my second RML year is near and this time around, there are more regrets than satisfaction. Many times, I lacked in contribution during the group discussion, i.e. lacking preparation and concerntration. Many times, I felt that i’m not building the others with the truth and not supporting the two great leaders well. I do pray that I may not just dwell in such thought but put it into action to correct and do better job to follow God’s command.

Now, I will likely serve as a leader next term, Lord willing, and I know I need to improve on so many and yet firstly I need to learn to put my trust in him completely that he will prepare me and use me. I’m, after of all, just an instrument of God. By the way, it’s a bit of shame that I can’t do the overview RML with current group members. It’s been such a joy to study the words of God together and be encouraged and I know there are more rooms for knowing and serving each other more, so not being able to study with them makes me truly sad.

Anyhow, I’ve got about three months till the next term begins and there are so many things I want to do to be ready and it’s gonna be busy summer break!