We are so cool...AHHHH jk =)Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
An inspiration
After talking with Sofia today, I was really inspired by the story of her Aunt's struggles. Even though life had thrown all kinds of curve-balls at her, even though the devil within her husband tormented her daily, she picked herself back up and said, "Praise the Lord." She is now an eighty year old woman, still full of spirit and energy, and still full of joy. Praise the Lord indeed. I wish I could understand that joy- so powerful it can allow someone to stand up even if every part of one's body is hurting or every bone in one's body is cracking, and say with utter joy, "Praise the Lord." What kind of joy is she experiencing? Throughout my life, I think I've only felt a glimpse or a sliver of that joy. Though believe me, when I felt that little sliver of joy, it was always a momentous experience for me; I thought "surely indeed, this must be that 'joy' of salvation, of knowing God's existence and His word, of His amazing grace and mercy that would save a weak and unworthy creature like me." But now it seems I haven't quite grasped it yet; that feeling or conviction that all the apostles seem to know so well. I'm now left with a great feeling of anticipation. If the joy I had felt in the past was just a mere glimpse of "true joy," then I'm excited to seek out more of God. He seems not only willing but eager to bring all of us closer and closer to realizing what that "true joy" really means.
Love,
Lily
Love,
Lily
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Ruminations on question from previous post
The question: What about all the wars that have been caused in the name of Christianity? [Keyword: many conflicts/wars were caused by religious disputes. Why did God allow this?]
After an afternoon of searching for answers, and thinking of answers of my own, I wrote them down on my electronic notebook. Free feel to critique and question it, actually, please do! I have already been asked this question two times: once from the girl I met at the Christmas party and second from my dad.
Many conflicts/wars were caused by religious disputes. Why did God allow this?
[Begin thought process]
i. Well, you can't blame God. People are all prone to make mistakes. God is a just and loving God, he advocates love, fellowship, and forgiveness...he would never support war, violence, murder...it's all written in the 10 commandments
ii. Adam and Eve; God gave us free will out of love. That is why humans are prone to sin because we were give free will to make choices of our own. That is the risk God took because He loved us too much. Sometimes our choices are bad, but sometimes our choices are good.
-If God knew that free will would cause so many problems, why did he allow it? (Very stupid question, maybe they won't ask...). Or why did God set up the tree in the garden of Eden? It seems like a trap.
Answer: Because love without freedom/free will is not truly love. If someone is forced to love you, would you be happy? Would the other person be happy?
iii. *Remember that we should not judge the teachings or the truth of a religion or philosophy by the conduct or behavior of those who are not following those teachings.
iv. Jesus warns of this in Matthew 24: "For many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Messiah," and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…such things must happen. Nations will rise against nation…all these are the beginning of birth pains…Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved." We learn from the mistakes of the past, and we all try not to let history repeat itself. Nowadays, do you hear of major wars in the name of Christianity? No. We have learned from our mistakes.
v. We have to consider that many wars/atrocities committed in the name of Christ were carried out by people who weren't really Christians or were Christians but didn't follow the teachings of Jesus- judge Christianity by the teachings of its founder and leader, Jesus Christ, not by the actions of those people. In the New Testament of the bible, Jesus says "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also," and "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," and of course "love your neighbor as yourself."
vi. Remember that war is not a problem just for Christianity. It is a problem for all religions and ideologies. Also remember that more murders have been committed by atheistic regimes in this century than have been committed by any "Christian" organization/government over the past 2,000 years.
vii. Don't forget the positive impact Christianity has made on society. Other than charity, donations, fundraising, volunteering, etc. One must remember that most of our educational institutions came out of Christianity (if I'm not wrong, Berkeley's motto is "Fiat Lux" though that probably doesn't mean much]. "Many of the founders of modern science were Christians." Philanthropic organizations such as the "Salvation Army, the Red Cross and the YMCA came out of these revivals [ of the 17th and 18th centuries]." I think the article I am reading is referring to the Christian revival=> the two great awakenings. (Wiki it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revivalism)
[End thought process]
Love,
Lily
P.S http://powertochange.com/questions/qna5/
P.P.S I finally bought Mere Christianity!!! I also went to church today, man I missed Covenant Life, and my pastor's awesome sermons.
After an afternoon of searching for answers, and thinking of answers of my own, I wrote them down on my electronic notebook. Free feel to critique and question it, actually, please do! I have already been asked this question two times: once from the girl I met at the Christmas party and second from my dad.
Many conflicts/wars were caused by religious disputes. Why did God allow this?
[Begin thought process]
i. Well, you can't blame God. People are all prone to make mistakes. God is a just and loving God, he advocates love, fellowship, and forgiveness...he would never support war, violence, murder...it's all written in the 10 commandments
ii. Adam and Eve; God gave us free will out of love. That is why humans are prone to sin because we were give free will to make choices of our own. That is the risk God took because He loved us too much. Sometimes our choices are bad, but sometimes our choices are good.
-If God knew that free will would cause so many problems, why did he allow it? (Very stupid question, maybe they won't ask...). Or why did God set up the tree in the garden of Eden? It seems like a trap.
Answer: Because love without freedom/free will is not truly love. If someone is forced to love you, would you be happy? Would the other person be happy?
iii. *Remember that we should not judge the teachings or the truth of a religion or philosophy by the conduct or behavior of those who are not following those teachings.
iv. Jesus warns of this in Matthew 24: "For many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Messiah," and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…such things must happen. Nations will rise against nation…all these are the beginning of birth pains…Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved." We learn from the mistakes of the past, and we all try not to let history repeat itself. Nowadays, do you hear of major wars in the name of Christianity? No. We have learned from our mistakes.
v. We have to consider that many wars/atrocities committed in the name of Christ were carried out by people who weren't really Christians or were Christians but didn't follow the teachings of Jesus- judge Christianity by the teachings of its founder and leader, Jesus Christ, not by the actions of those people. In the New Testament of the bible, Jesus says "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also," and "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," and of course "love your neighbor as yourself."
vi. Remember that war is not a problem just for Christianity. It is a problem for all religions and ideologies. Also remember that more murders have been committed by atheistic regimes in this century than have been committed by any "Christian" organization/government over the past 2,000 years.
vii. Don't forget the positive impact Christianity has made on society. Other than charity, donations, fundraising, volunteering, etc. One must remember that most of our educational institutions came out of Christianity (if I'm not wrong, Berkeley's motto is "Fiat Lux" though that probably doesn't mean much]. "Many of the founders of modern science were Christians." Philanthropic organizations such as the "Salvation Army, the Red Cross and the YMCA came out of these revivals [ of the 17th and 18th centuries]." I think the article I am reading is referring to the Christian revival=> the two great awakenings. (Wiki it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revivalism)
[End thought process]
Love,
Lily
P.S http://powertochange.com/questions/qna5/
P.P.S I finally bought Mere Christianity!!! I also went to church today, man I missed Covenant Life, and my pastor's awesome sermons.
Friday, December 26, 2008
2nd Mistake/ Lesson 2- Fourth day since coming home
Here we go again :(
I was at a Christmas party and I met a girl there (she's a senior in High School). I think our conversation about God started when we started talking about college and making good friends there. She was worried that college was all about partying and drinking, but my brother and I told her, "No, you just need to find the right group of people who respect your decision not to drink." She was surprised to hear that we didn't drink in college, and that we didn't party on the weekends or the weekdays. Afterward, I assured her that she would be able to find good friends there because I understood how she felt. She told me she was jaded from High School (from all the drama, the gossiping, cattiness, etc.) Then I asked her, completely without thinking, "Are you religious by any chance?" She shook her head and told me, "I was very religious once, but over the years, I started believing less and less until now, I don't believe at all." She told me she had a lot of doubts and that she was a very logical person, but she never got her questions answered. She told me that people often gave her the answer, "It's just the way it is! Just have faith." She couldn't accept the simple answer "it's just the way it is. Don't question it, just believe." I totally relate to her.
Then she asked me, "Many conflicts and wars happened because of religious disputes. Why do you believe that Christianity is the one religion? Why do you have wars over this belief, and why did God allow it?"
I was struck dumb. Which is ridiculous! I took SET over the summer, Course 101, and have questioned my leaders and the upperclassmen, and even my peers on questions like these, but somehow I couldn't think of the answer. I was completely caught off guard. This means I have been slipping a lot over Winter Break- I have "unwinded" too much. My mind has either turned into mush or has decided, at that crucial point, not to function. I began saying, "Well, you can't blame God. People are all prone to make mistakes. God is a just and loving God, he advocates love, fellowship, and forgiveness...he would never support war, violence, murder...it's all written in the 10 commandments!" But that answer was not satisfactory to her. She just gazed at me and said, "Wow you seem very religious." But that was not the reply I wanted to hear! She asked me how I became Christian. I told her my story and shared a bit of my testimony, but at the end, she said, "I need a more logical answer. You are an artist" - she gave me an uneasy look- I sighed and agreed, "You're right, I'm more of a "feeler" than someone who can give you the clear cut, logical side of things."
She started to get up, but I suddenly said, "Wait, I think I have a better explanation to your question." She sat down. I asked her, "Do you remember the Adam and Eve story?" She nodded. I said, "God gave us free will out of love. That is why we are prone to sin. Many of the evils of the world is not within God's control because we were given this free will to make choices of our own, sometimes bad choices...sometimes good choices." Still, it wasn't enough. She seemed like she wanted to get away from me more than she wanted to sit down and listen to me ramble. When she left, I was hitting myself over how my answers were so...elementary.
Now that I'm at home again, I remember that I could have said that wars and conflicts do not just stem from religious disputes. Many of the worst wars and conflicts came out from things that were not related to religion at all. There are two sides to everything. But still, I don't feel like it is an adequate answer.
Man, I have definitely not done my homework. There are so many aspects of Christianity that I haven't researched about yet. And now I realize that knowing Christianity inside and out is not enough (Another problem is, I don't know Christianity inside and out). I need to research on other religions: Muslim, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. When someone throws a question like "Why choose Christianity out of all the other religions?" It will be hard to answer if one didn't have a knowledge on the other religions.
BUT the thing that frustrates me the most is that MANY people give up on Christianity...on God...because they just aren't willing to get on that computer, type in their doubt into that awesome google search bar, and SEARCH for answers to their questions, or get UP, go to the library, and check out a book that might have the answers to their questions!* Why work so hard to learn to read and then NOT USE this skill?! People give up so easily. It basically goes like this "Uh oh, she didn't give me an adequate answer, one strike...2 to go...and then I'm gonna give up on this religious thingymajiggy."
*She told me she never read an apologetic before, even when she was religious. I told her to check out "The Reason for God" and an author called "Lee Stroebel." But she didn't seem interested. I asked her if she ever bothered looking up her doubts on the internet or through a book. She shook her head. That saddens me. I told her my pastor is a very logical person, and that in order to break through many barriers of doubt, he sought out answers until he got them...and now he is a pastor. That means the answer is OUT THERE. You just have to actively look for it!
Of course, knowing this means I have to work harder and keep myself from slipping too much over break. I seem to have forgotten a lot of what I learned in Course 101 and SET, and from our discipleship retreats.
Guys, this is another lesson that I learned. Always be on guard. Always. And even if you think you know the answer to a question completely, and are completely convinced by this answer, you might be surprised to learn that people are all different, and that they need different answers to the same question in order to even just loosen their doubt by a little bit. Man, this is harder than I thought. Still, gloria in excelsis deo. Because we love Him.
God bless,
Lily
I was at a Christmas party and I met a girl there (she's a senior in High School). I think our conversation about God started when we started talking about college and making good friends there. She was worried that college was all about partying and drinking, but my brother and I told her, "No, you just need to find the right group of people who respect your decision not to drink." She was surprised to hear that we didn't drink in college, and that we didn't party on the weekends or the weekdays. Afterward, I assured her that she would be able to find good friends there because I understood how she felt. She told me she was jaded from High School (from all the drama, the gossiping, cattiness, etc.) Then I asked her, completely without thinking, "Are you religious by any chance?" She shook her head and told me, "I was very religious once, but over the years, I started believing less and less until now, I don't believe at all." She told me she had a lot of doubts and that she was a very logical person, but she never got her questions answered. She told me that people often gave her the answer, "It's just the way it is! Just have faith." She couldn't accept the simple answer "it's just the way it is. Don't question it, just believe." I totally relate to her.
Then she asked me, "Many conflicts and wars happened because of religious disputes. Why do you believe that Christianity is the one religion? Why do you have wars over this belief, and why did God allow it?"
I was struck dumb. Which is ridiculous! I took SET over the summer, Course 101, and have questioned my leaders and the upperclassmen, and even my peers on questions like these, but somehow I couldn't think of the answer. I was completely caught off guard. This means I have been slipping a lot over Winter Break- I have "unwinded" too much. My mind has either turned into mush or has decided, at that crucial point, not to function. I began saying, "Well, you can't blame God. People are all prone to make mistakes. God is a just and loving God, he advocates love, fellowship, and forgiveness...he would never support war, violence, murder...it's all written in the 10 commandments!" But that answer was not satisfactory to her. She just gazed at me and said, "Wow you seem very religious." But that was not the reply I wanted to hear! She asked me how I became Christian. I told her my story and shared a bit of my testimony, but at the end, she said, "I need a more logical answer. You are an artist" - she gave me an uneasy look- I sighed and agreed, "You're right, I'm more of a "feeler" than someone who can give you the clear cut, logical side of things."
She started to get up, but I suddenly said, "Wait, I think I have a better explanation to your question." She sat down. I asked her, "Do you remember the Adam and Eve story?" She nodded. I said, "God gave us free will out of love. That is why we are prone to sin. Many of the evils of the world is not within God's control because we were given this free will to make choices of our own, sometimes bad choices...sometimes good choices." Still, it wasn't enough. She seemed like she wanted to get away from me more than she wanted to sit down and listen to me ramble. When she left, I was hitting myself over how my answers were so...elementary.
Now that I'm at home again, I remember that I could have said that wars and conflicts do not just stem from religious disputes. Many of the worst wars and conflicts came out from things that were not related to religion at all. There are two sides to everything. But still, I don't feel like it is an adequate answer.
Man, I have definitely not done my homework. There are so many aspects of Christianity that I haven't researched about yet. And now I realize that knowing Christianity inside and out is not enough (Another problem is, I don't know Christianity inside and out). I need to research on other religions: Muslim, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. When someone throws a question like "Why choose Christianity out of all the other religions?" It will be hard to answer if one didn't have a knowledge on the other religions.
BUT the thing that frustrates me the most is that MANY people give up on Christianity...on God...because they just aren't willing to get on that computer, type in their doubt into that awesome google search bar, and SEARCH for answers to their questions, or get UP, go to the library, and check out a book that might have the answers to their questions!* Why work so hard to learn to read and then NOT USE this skill?! People give up so easily. It basically goes like this "Uh oh, she didn't give me an adequate answer, one strike...2 to go...and then I'm gonna give up on this religious thingymajiggy."
*She told me she never read an apologetic before, even when she was religious. I told her to check out "The Reason for God" and an author called "Lee Stroebel." But she didn't seem interested. I asked her if she ever bothered looking up her doubts on the internet or through a book. She shook her head. That saddens me. I told her my pastor is a very logical person, and that in order to break through many barriers of doubt, he sought out answers until he got them...and now he is a pastor. That means the answer is OUT THERE. You just have to actively look for it!
Of course, knowing this means I have to work harder and keep myself from slipping too much over break. I seem to have forgotten a lot of what I learned in Course 101 and SET, and from our discipleship retreats.
Guys, this is another lesson that I learned. Always be on guard. Always. And even if you think you know the answer to a question completely, and are completely convinced by this answer, you might be surprised to learn that people are all different, and that they need different answers to the same question in order to even just loosen their doubt by a little bit. Man, this is harder than I thought. Still, gloria in excelsis deo. Because we love Him.
God bless,
Lily
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Mistake- 2nd Day after coming home.
Today I made a stupid mistake. I met up with two of my old High School friends, David and Cacey, to go to the mall today. David was the guy who interned at Oracle over the summer and came to one of our A2F blue's bible study. And Cacey is my best friend =)
While we were driving back, we suddenly touched on the topic of evil, and David quips, "I don't believe in sin." I reply, "Well "sin" may seem like a strong word, but its definition is just the word "wrong." David replies, "I don't believe in wrong or right." I suddenly got angry. I said, "So you don't believe a man who rapes a thousand girls and tortures them before he kills them is wrong? There's a moral standard in this world." I think I said it too harsh because he starts to retort in this very philosophical voice, "You're talking about the absolute-" before my brother (he was the driver) cuts him off and says, "guys, calm down."
David said something else, but I was too blinded by my anger to hear. I said "Why don't you read the "Reason for God" book I gave you over the summer and maybe then you'll understand." He replies, "Umm...I don't think so." His tone made his words seem final. That's when I yelled back, "Fine, then give it back to me."
I know...stupid stupid stupid stupid. I know I shouldn't have said that. I know I shouldn't have reacted so strongly. I wonder what I could have said differently in reply to his question, and then I wish I could have been patient enough to listen to every word he said before I argued anything back. This taught me a big lesson. Listen carefully before you speak. And always, "emotional intelligence." The hardest part of emotional intelligence is: "Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power, that is not easy" - Aristotle.
Please don't make the same mistake I did. This was a backward step for me to introduce the gospel to 2 people over Winter Break. Now I have to take two steps forward.
But before I do that, I need to apologize to him.
While we were driving back, we suddenly touched on the topic of evil, and David quips, "I don't believe in sin." I reply, "Well "sin" may seem like a strong word, but its definition is just the word "wrong." David replies, "I don't believe in wrong or right." I suddenly got angry. I said, "So you don't believe a man who rapes a thousand girls and tortures them before he kills them is wrong? There's a moral standard in this world." I think I said it too harsh because he starts to retort in this very philosophical voice, "You're talking about the absolute-" before my brother (he was the driver) cuts him off and says, "guys, calm down."
David said something else, but I was too blinded by my anger to hear. I said "Why don't you read the "Reason for God" book I gave you over the summer and maybe then you'll understand." He replies, "Umm...I don't think so." His tone made his words seem final. That's when I yelled back, "Fine, then give it back to me."
I know...stupid stupid stupid stupid. I know I shouldn't have said that. I know I shouldn't have reacted so strongly. I wonder what I could have said differently in reply to his question, and then I wish I could have been patient enough to listen to every word he said before I argued anything back. This taught me a big lesson. Listen carefully before you speak. And always, "emotional intelligence." The hardest part of emotional intelligence is: "Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power, that is not easy" - Aristotle.
Please don't make the same mistake I did. This was a backward step for me to introduce the gospel to 2 people over Winter Break. Now I have to take two steps forward.
But before I do that, I need to apologize to him.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Project 1 Done
I think I'm done with this painting for now...I have another project to focus on called "Falling Angel" so I'm going to give this a status of "Finished." I wanted to decorate her with traditional Chinese clothing + fan + other stuff but I don't think I have time right now so the dragon will suffice. Enjoy!
Additional Hours took: 5 hrs.
Tools: Photoshop + Tablet
Reference: None.
Status: Finished
Love,
Lily
P.S Took me forever to get that wet, saturated look on the painting >.< Never knew the smudge tool + smudge (saturation) would come in so much handy
Additional Hours took: 5 hrs.Tools: Photoshop + Tablet
Reference: None.
Status: Finished
Love,
Lily
P.S Took me forever to get that wet, saturated look on the painting >.< Never knew the smudge tool + smudge (saturation) would come in so much handy
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