I’ve been reading this book I picked up at the discount table of a library called “My Lord and I”.  It’s a daily devotional of mini-essays by Harry Moyle Tippett.  I don’t know if it’s the post WWII times he wrote in (it was published in 1948) or the fact that he masterfully encased his insights in the English language before its most recent perversion in modernization that it makes me so happy.  In any case, I’d like to blog these daily entries as much as I can.  I hope you receive as much grace as I have these past months.

May 8         “Christ the Word”         John 6:35
Our Satisfying Portion
    I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
    The spiritual significance of the banquet on the grassy hillside was lost upon the multitudes who had seen the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand.  “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert.” “What sign shewest thou?”  To this query, made apparently in self-defense to the charge of the Saviour that they were material-minded, He reminded them that He was the true bread of life, the final answer to every human need, the ultimate satisfaction of every human heart.
    No more universal symbol could Christ have used thatn this one of bread.  For nearly every nation on earth it is truly the staff of life.  It ministers equally to every race and class of people.  Infidel, atheist, agnostic, Mohammedan, Buddhist, Christian–all receive alike its sustaining power.  Our bones, our tissues, our blood, our bodily organs–all cry out for bread.  There are no theological quarrels over its value.
    When famine stalks a land, the cry is for bread.  When people become hungry, cold, and desperate, great bread riots break out in populous centers.  In the exigencies of a nation besieged by war the most familiar sight in the cities is the bread line.  What a vital symbol Jesus chose to represent His significance to famished souls. 
    But how often the material manna of the baker’s loaf obscures the eternal values of life.  How often the lusting hearts of men, like those of ancient Israel, spurn the food of angels for the sodden satisfactions of Egypt, symbol of sin’s slavery.  Christ was in the celestial manna that nourished Israel in the wilderness.  He is the living bread that men must eat today if they would strengthen their spiritual ankles to walk the way of self-sacrificing service He walked in Galilee.  He is a satisfying portion that disease will not waste, fire will not consume, death cannot destroy.  But bread to feed the hungry soul must be eaten daily.  “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalms 34:8.

[side note]: Don’t you just love how good writing gives you chills? 

and a merry Friday to all.  *hugs*

The whole article is well worth the read, but here’s a blurb:

[Excerpt]:
“…Western attitudes of superiority to China and the rest of the East
will also subside, as Westerners realise they are no longer the masters
of the world.
The U.S. company Orient Express complained when Tata tried to
buy it, that any association with the Indian company would damage the
Orient Express’s premium brand.
Responding, R K Krishna Kumar, a senior Tata executive,
thundered that “Indian companies … will take their rightful place in
the international arena.
“Enterprises and individuals must recognise and adapt to these
fundamental economic changes. We believe that those with a fossilised
frame of mind risk being marginalised.”
In a world in which we are no longer masters, it is a warning that we ignore at our peril.”

full article

Wow.  I guess ‘humility’ and ‘graciousness’ are out of the picture.

So… who’s lookin’ forward to one hellova rude awakening?

[crickets]

Oh, and I also updated the last post with the still-functioning video of Fitna by Geert Wilders. 
It’s good to know that death threats and fear mongering are still alive and well in the world of *cough* free *cough, hacking cough* speech. 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d9_1206624103

Since LiveLeak was threatened and had to take it down, I’ve put up the Google video version.  Watch it while you can, before the Islamist crazies duct tape (or sew) your mouths shut~!

My friend Charles, environmental studies major at Univ. of Nevada Las Vegas, asked me to complete a survey for him for his class.  I’m to be the one opposition voice on the topic of climate change.  HAHAHA.  I thought he’d have fun with this one, and I thought I’d put my answers up here to stir the waters a little.  Enjoy~!

A)   Age and gender:     24, Female

B)    Is climate change real or made up for the sake of politics?
The climate changes; that’s real.  Man-made global warming or climate change is a scare tactic to get people to think that what they save or recycle matters more than it really does to make people feel good and feel like they’re in control of something.  This becomes political because this “feel-good” movement translates into policies enforced on the rest of the populace that only denotes more power for the government and less individual rights, as well as limiting open dialogue and criticism to uncover the truth and really talk about the bare facts of climate change.  Pollution, acid rain, deforestation… all these are much more pertinent environmental issues we can grapple.  Taking it to the next (an obscene next) level dubbing it “global climate change” when we can’t even accurately predict next week’s weather is fundamentally ridiculous and the dearth of information and proven facts point to mythology more than climatology.  

C)    What is climate change, what is the cause of climate change today?
The climate goes through changes regularly, although how “regular” that is may be in larger scope than we think.  Climate change is a vast and complicated process with many factors, the profundity of which is difficult if not currently impossible to fully comprehend.  Thus, it is highly doubtful that mankind’s activities on earth have manipulated the brunt of climate’s change because despite the amount of carbon emissions we emit and CO2 we produce, the earth is and has been capable of volatile changes as stark as the most recent ice age being only 1,500 years ago to massive global warming as well as global cooling.  A volcano erupting sends tons more toxic materials into the atmosphere than any booming industrial economy and natural fires (without human intervention through firefighters) would completely scorch the earth and leave nothing but charred carbon.  Basically, the world left to its own devices would do much more “damage” to itself than if there were not a human presence on the earth, but also even if humans did not exist the earth would survive.  It survived meteorites and dinosaurs and everything else evolutionists believe, and yet scientists cannot believe that the earth will survive “global climate change”?  Today, the cause of climate change is substantially lessened, as human life and development on this earth has mitigated a lot of the volatility that the earth is capable of.  There are immediate, viable environmental issues such as pollution, deforestation, etc, but they dwarf in comparison to the drastic changes the earth is capable of undergoing.  

D)    What are supposed to be the ramifications of climate change?
The ramifications of climate change are supposed to be volatile environmental conditions, shortages of food/water/resources, and general death and destruction—all within a ridiculously short timeline of the next 50-100 years.  It was predicted in the 1970s that with 4 billion people in the world, the earth would come to an end within a decade because of how much it would take to sustain such a population and the effects that population would have on the environment.  We are now closing in on the first decade of the new millennium with a population of 7 billion and counting, and we are doing just fine.  People in the world live better today than they ever have before, and science never stops innovating to adapt to whatever the changing scenarios demand.

E)    What are ways to act to mitigate the impact of climate change?
There are no feasible ways to mitigate the impact of climate change.  Experts agree that it would take a complete overhaul in the way we live (or the complete overhaul of life itself) to make even one single dent in this massive process called climate change.  In that sense, no conservation of energy, toilet paper, or fuel will really do anything and our greatest efforts toward mitigating climate change would be negligible at best.  Climate change is an issue that goes beyond our current realm of understanding, just like evolution, God, or the universe (just think about the word ‘cosmic’) so it is best understood in baby steps, not in leaps and bounds of desperate theories forcing square pegs into round holes in the effort to make some sense.  If we want to mitigate pollution of our air so we can breathe better and not have acid rain ruin our clothes and make our hair fall out, then that’s an issue we can deal with.  If we’re talking conservation of energy or getting off of our dependence on oil because the people who have it hate us, then that’s a topic worth grappling.  Too much (especially political power playing) has been stuffed into the concept of “climate change” and it urgently needs to be parsed and adequately analyzed to actually make sense.

haha. thanks for reading. I’m sure it was difficult for some of you. 
Bring on the haterade~

Low bass tones and rhythms are hard to really listen to, but they drive the music and give it the depth that makes decent melodies into the tunes you rock out to.  Kind of how salt ties everything together and brings out deeper flavors in cooking.  Kind of how the word and Spirit of God have been quietly pulsing through my life, leading me to this point and steering me toward the path I must go. 

And when the music and lyrics break, the bass tones come out in force to usher in the chorus or a refrain, and it can change the entire vibe of the song, elevating it to new heights.  But the bass tones always there, tempering the music as the main beat or skeleton, but when it’s highlighted in a rift you know something big is coming, something that’ll make your heart beat louder with the coming musical notes and send blood rushing through your body.  So it is and has been with this word and spirit in me, especially during hard times when my faith and patience are tested.  When my morning is cloudy, these bass tones crescendo in the noontime and set my path straight for the clear afternoon.  Evening becomes quieter but the battle is still on, and though I am vigilant all night, with morning comes new tasks to face. 

I’m sure I’m not making much sense right now, and even as I write, I write slowly and my words are dense.  It’s the awareness of one day, one moment, as part of a grand scheme with each step being not a shortsighted move but, in its own sense, further embedded resolve and fortitude.  In my mind, I’m not looking at things one day at a time, but I’m taking it a day at a time because my journey is long and the road is rife with struggle. 

But now is the time of God’s power.  When I was young God allowed me to be foolish, falter, not care, and go my own way.  But what He wants now is a commitment.  And He signaled that my time had come by giving me conviction to do His will, to commit to what is good and right and holy and eternal.  And He waited until I was ready to take that first wobbly step.  He allows us to make that first whimpering cry to Him, that first stirring of our faith.  And then with ecstatic joy He lifts up and galvanizes us for the purpose for which He has called us, placing us before the onslaught of answers and open doors that have been inundated from our immature “self-searching”. 

—————————————–

“The prodigal’s resolution, ‘I will arise and go to my father,’ is the essence of wisdom.  It is the first step toward competency in mental, spiritual, or material welfare.  A journey of a thousand leagues is begun with the first step; it cannot be avoided or substituted or overlooked, and that first step must be voluntary.”
    — Harry Moyle Tippett, My Lord and I: Daily Meditations On Christ Our Great Exemplar

Seriously… anyone else just absolutely sick of campaign/election talk yet?  I mean, talk about beating a horse to death before it’s even left the stable.  Let’s all vote for Fred Thompson and call it a day.

have you quizzed your political persuasions? http://glassbooth.org/
I got Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Congressman from San Diego. 
Can’t say I’m disappointed (75% similar).  Must be a California thing
Duncan Hunter for Governor of California~!! woot woot~~

It’s been six months since I’ve been home and things have remained stagnant. Very, very stagnant.  And recently, it has turned rancid.  When I look at my life, there isn’t any viable reason for why I have to be stuck, entrenched and prepared with nowhere to go, or ready, set and poised, at the starting line with no gunshot fired.  But when the doors are this closed, the path this blocked, and you’ve given it your all, what can you say?

“The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
“I, the Lord, will do it swiftly in its time.”
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

This is the third time I’ve gone running this week where the skies are cloudy yet bright when I start out and by the time I’m finishing up and jogging/walking home it starts to rain.

I like to think it’s God holding back the waters until I’m done with my run.

Anyway, I had me a good laugh.  Hope everyone else enjoyed their first week of the new year. Much love to you all~

Well, so much for wanting to go back to Kenya this year…

BBC article

Please pray for Kenya.  And also the Nairobi Evangelism Seminary where I stayed for five weeks in the summer of 2005, that is home to Rev. Jeremiah Kim and his family along with 50 native Kenyans, mostly Kikuyu (the target tribe of the attacks on homes, businesses, and places of worship).  Thankfully the seminary is in Central Nairobi where police and military are barricading the opposition party members from getting in, but many of the students at the school are from other regions, to which some have even been commissioned as lay-missionaries, and they include the Kibera slums and Southern Kenya, where unrest seems most volatile.