Never Been Camping

I've never been camping before. At least, I've never done it in a tent overnight. Today, I will. I don't know what to expect.

What should I expect?

Hunt your food... make friends with bears... re-find the meaning of life... light a fire and dance around it... find your future wife... and say some prayers so you don't die.

Maybe that's what will happen. But, honestly and seriously, I'm going with 10 great people from school. And for what it's worth, I hope we grow closer and have a fun time in God's great outdoors.


Creation's a stink if you don't appreciate it,
Brendon

Thank You Lord... I will post more about Your works and wonders later this week. Please provide for all my friends and family as the days go on by.

Sidewalk

Brendon Wu
July 5, 2005

Life on the Side

I step outside and I never have to wonder where it’s going to be. It’s always there “twenty-four seven,” so I can depend on it for sure footing. On sunny days, its face is warm and my feet glow beside it. On rainy days, it casts a great and beautiful gloomy reflection as the ethereal puddles take formation on its cheeks. No other part of my hometown is more practical and useful. No matter what, I have always loved my neighborhood sidewalk and I am sure the relationship is mutual.

I first fell in love with my sidewalk at age five. My babysitter, Feng Wei, and I went outside to play on the grass because my mother was taking a rest and wanted quiet in the house. The rainbow shot across the blue definitively from one end of the sky until it broke off into various smidgens on the other side. Even at such a young age, I appreciated the beauty of the day. Hating the damp grass that often wetted and grazed the butt of my shorts when I sat down, I ran around on the dry, soapstone driveway until one day a gigantic rush of metal and wheels threatened my premature existence. In what I always considered as a miracle of God, Feng Wei quickly pushed me out of the way and saved me from a deadly collision with my father’s car. Young and naïve, I wasn’t even aware of the death that barely missed me. Instead, I was infatuated with the peach, pink, and tangerine chain of squares that Feng Wei had pushed me onto. The coarse and undefined texture of each individual square fascinated my virgin fingers. Ignoring my bloody knuckles and scraped knees, I followed the long procession of equal squares around my neighborhood ahead of my father and Feng Wei, who were only too happy that I was unscathed.

My sidewalk is my sidekick, my amigo, my companion of sorts. For such a practical device, the sidewalk’s taken for granted by most people. Imagine a world without sidewalks. Pedestrians beware! In both the urban or rural environment, dangerous cars would wait behind curved roads waiting mercilessly, so they could recklessly run over innocent bystanders. At age five, my sidewalk never cared if my shirt was never properly tucked in. At age eight, it never cared if I took a massive whiz next to Mr. Parady’s tree in the middle of the day. Today, it doesn’t care if I go running and haven’t showered for days.

It didn’t even care that one time I ran away from home. It was a dark, twisted night… one of those nights where the skies were populated with clouds and the humidity clenched onto your skin like suction cups. My mother never ended her pointless tirades about how I needed more “discipline” and better “time management” in my life. She never realized that I was a seventeen year old boy on the verge of manhood. I followed the serpentine path of my neighborhood and scampered through the many loops and cul de sacs. On the parts of the sidewalk that held the dirty, ginger remainders of last week’s blizzard, I ran through them without a second thought. The sidewalk didn’t care where I went or how worried my parents would be. It only cared about helping me sort out my depressive thoughts until I could follow the sidewalk and return home.

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I wrote that as a creative piece for what feels like a LONG time ago. The incident with my father's car is absolutely untrue. A similar occurrence happened but it didn't happen like it did in "Life on the Side." Everything else is true.

1 Corinthians 14:1-5 Exposition

The text (esv)...

14:1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.
4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

Verse 1
Love is what all should seek first. Everything else comes after. If anything comes before loves, then it's meaningless.
All should earnestly desire spiritual gifts particularly prophesy for there is nothing greater than interpreting the scripture with accuracy. The imparting of Word benefits all more than any other gift.

Verse 2
"For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God"--- Corinth was an international checkpoint for merchants coming from Asia, Africa, and Europe. Tongues was beneficial to men when used properly with the intention of speaking a foreign language to edify someone who spoke that language. This beneficial purpose was contrary to the Corinthians' misuse of the gift where they spoke it for ostentatious display.
"for no one understands him"--- They used the gift of tongues improperly when it was not needed causing much confusion.
"but he utters mysteries in the Spirit"--- who but God can understand him? See 1 Cor. 14:14 for the emphasis on understanding.

Verse 3
"upbuilding and encouragement and consolation"--- Encouragement and consolation are both types of upbuilding (edification). Encouragement stirs people to pursue the right things and abstain from laziness or defeat. Consolation provides comfort for those bogged down by sadness, worry, distress, etc. Both are much approved in the worship place.

Verse 4
"The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself"--- All speakers ought to benefit from the sermon or message they preach. When the speaker is most edified by what he himself speaks then he is in great shape to speak to others of God's goodness. However, when he speaks in a language that only he and God can understand, then all others fail to reap any of the benefits. He alone feels moved by God while those around him are secluded from his revelation. He makes all others a fool because of his self-involvement.
"but the one who prophesies builds up the church"--- But he who speaks in a manner which all can understand brings great worship to God and clarity to the people.

Verse 5
"Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy"--- Paul stresses the importance of tongues so that it may lead to the benefit of prophesy. The ability to speak languages brings ripe opportunity for people to use the greater gift, prophesy the interpretation of scripture.
"The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up"--- He who speaks tongues for his own recommendation is useless. Usefulness is found in one who can share the found glory of God and build up the body. No part of Christ's body serves to build up only himself.

Verses 2-5... Prophecy is clearly a superior gift compared to tongues.
Verses 3-5 emphasize that all gifts ought to build up the church, not just the individual.




May we know Him better by the days,
Brendon

1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not a God of confusion but of peace."

Small beginnings

What could I tell you about a god who is so beautiful? Someone who came from a place called heaven to the plane of existence that we know as earth. This god took the form of a man so he could show how much he loved others through his sufferings and beatings and eventually a death on a cross. This someone died for you and me and everyone. What could I say to help you believe in someone so perfect, so self-sacrificing, and so loving?

This god didn’t have to step down from his awesome throne in heaven to come down to a world that’s so full of destruction, despair, and disaster. This king didn’t have to humble himself to the point of humiliation. Today, in this day and age, a world of people laughs, curses, and hates the one who died for you and me. Honestly, you and I deserve to burn in hell because of how sinful we are. We’re so far from perfection. But, Jesus shed His blood for us and took the punishment so we would know God and how much He loves us.

I guess I’m ridiculously and impossibly in love with this Jesus Christ that I’m still getting to know better each day. I know He took the punishment of my sins, which was death, on Himself when He didn’t have to. And, I know that He was resurrected three days after His death on the cross. Because He lives, I live too and do not face judgment on that fateful Day that will come. Every day that I have now until the end of this age will hopefully be lived for Him and His name…

This is what my blog is about.

These are just some pictures that really remind me of Jesus Christ incarnate.


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Consider this passage. What does it mean to you today?

Christ’s Example of Humility (Phil. 2:1-11)
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I want this to live like this. I want to know that this is more than just another part of the Bible. I have faith that the Spirit of God will make this passage a part of my life for Him.

How great are You oh God,
Brendon

*Pictures are courtesy of picturesofjesus4you.com.