Stingy Asianness

I've resorted to looking at online flyers as a way to try and save money. I guess I take after my mom in that respect.

On a seperate note, yesterday was absolutely fantastic, for no other reason that good weather that was celebrated with a BBQ at a friend's place. First BBQ of the spring.

On another seperate note, I think I've got all the transportation details for my Amsterdam missions trip sorted out. I won't have to miss any of the conference! Praise God!

On Worship

"I want my life and the worship I do with my life outside of this room to be what I'm remembered by...that outside and friendship levels and relationships with friends and family, I worshipped well...so what we do with our time, how we treat each other, that's the crux of our worship. And when we come in here, we get to celebrate the one who holds it all together, the one who's going to be victorious in the end...but it come from lives that worship God apart from this gathering, that culminate into this one big flame for the kingdom of God. And that excites me to be a part of. "

~Todd Fields

1Therefore, 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^[a] act of worship.

Romans 12:1

So it was the first time I lead worship for the english congregation. Worship has always been something that was abstract and undefined, but most often I catagorize it with songs. What I've found about leading is that are several factors you have to account for in the 4-5 song set you pick to play and that picking and preparing is far more difficult that I realized. Yet, as important as it is to physically prepare, what holds it all together is our relationship with God. I'm sure this is pretty fundamental, but to see it in application leaves me in awe.

The experience itself as a whole was memorable. No question we were off on a few of the songs, but in the end we saw what is a usually a rather silent congregation come out and sing. The biggest compliment I received was someone telling me that "the presence of God was definitely felt." Humbling was knowing that the God used whatever would offer to make it work, answering one of my prayers. From it, I have a gained a tremedous respect for vocalists, leaders and greater appreciation for my band members. Definitely without them, none if this could happen. My perspective on worship is drastically altered.

Mmm...steak...

I finally got the chance to celebrate my good performance review with my family on sunday. At the recommendation of my brother we went to a place called Ruth's Chris Steak House. I had never heard of it before but apparently there's over 100 chains in North America. All I can say is that I've never had a better steak in my life. 12 oz U.S. prime rib-eye seared in butter. (mmm...steak) They have a prime time dinner package that includes salad or lobster bisque (I got the bisque), side dish (my family shared creamed spinach, mushrooms and steak frites) and dessert (mango sorbet). All for $54 (tax & gratuity excluded). Highly recommended.

Leafs Win!

So I got to fulfill one of my dreams yesterday and see a Maple Leafs game. I was supposed to go with a buddy of mine from school, Jay, but he got sick, so Johnny filled it. They were such good tickets! 100 Level Reds!!!! The hockey game was really entertaining and we saw Mats Sundin make a sick deke play to score on Tampa Bay. For a long time I had boycotted hockey because of the strike. Now, I just won't watch them on TV but still follow them.



Other notable things that happened that night:

• We had Burrito Boyz for dinner
• Johnny was seen on the TV above centre ice and is now a celebrity
• We saw some white guy in cowboy boots doing white man dances. (Robot, spinkler, you name it)

Also, my Steve Fee album (Burn For You) finally came in from Altanta. Steve Fee is one of my favourite worship leaders. His style is very fast paced and energetic. "All Because Of Jesus" and "We Shine" are both fantastic songs off the album. Those of you that have been to church when I've been playing should be familiar with the first song. =D

Budget Lunches

So, in my attempts to save money, I've drastically altered what I eat for lunch to find a happy medium between cheap and healthy. My boss is on a health kick where he buys wraps, salads or soups that total around $9.00 at a place called Fit For Life. I've come up with a more cost-effective solution that I call Cheap For Life.

My Lunch:

1/2 Can Of Baked Beans
1 Can of Tuna/Salmon/Sardines
Bananas or fruit that is on sale.

Cost: ~$2-$3

My Snack:

Tim Hortons Plain Tea Biscuit
Rolled Oats (Dry)

Cost: less than $1

Say what you want, it works so far...although I don't recommend buying the beans made with Maple Syrup. That was gross. Frugality, must be the asian in me.

On Fellowship

For the first time, I began to see fellowship as a living body, not so much as a event, place or an organization. I've heard it all the time, but never begun to appreciate what it means until you see its members victories ands struggles . That completely changed my understanding and mentality towards fellowship and serving.

22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 1:22-23

One thing you should know about us Aquariuses...

We're just wacky, weird people....but honest and friendly!

Apparently I'm:

friendly and humanitarian
Honest and loyal
Original and inventive
Independent and intellectual

And on the Dark Side:

Intractable and contrary
Perverse and unpredictable
Unemotional and detached

To be honest, it sounds exactly like me to a tee. I just wonder if its because I read this at a very young age and it stuck or if there's actually something to be said about the zodiacs. I tend to lean towards the fore rather than the latter. Agree or disagree?

http://www.astrology-online.com/aquarius.htm

Weirdness outside of Goodlife

So, last saturday I went to Goodlife and the moment I stepped out of my car, so random guy in van stopped in front of me:

Random Guy: "Yo! You're going to think I'm crazy, but my distributor made a mistake and left me this extra home entertainment system! I'll sell it to you for really cheap!"
Me: "Umm...I don't much money on me." [Thinking] "Hmm...I bet this was stolen and it sounds like you've been smoking something."
Random Guy: "You sure, like, I'm not kidding, whatever money you have."
Me: "That's quite alright." [Thinking] "Stop talking to me."

I would've gotten the license plate of the van expect the plates were taken off. No suprise there. It's only a bit suspicious. It's a beat-up burgundy chevrolet minivan. Maybe you've seen it before.

What I've always thought was meant by "true" friendship has been challenged inside and out.

"Evil, justice, love and forgiveness. There is only one place in history where all four converge."

- Ravi Zacharias

Ravi is amazing!

On Tithing

One of the promises I made this year was to tithe 10% back to God. I remember listening on the radio about tithing and how the speaker would rather have 10% of God and 90% himself over 100% himself and it got me thinking.

Malachi 3:10 says:

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

The way the verse comes off is as if God is daring us to test his faithfulness, which got me excited in a "Cool, show me" sort of way. So far, God has definitely provided more blessings that I can keep track of.

There's a few things about tithing I've found. One, you start thinking of innovative ways to adapt to meet your budget (even though I've still yet to meet mine). Two, you find out that money is only that, money. And lastly, the money itself really isn't mine, but something God's loaned to me.

The last point really hit me. Everything I have really belongs to God in the first place, so offering my tithe isn't really giving to God something that's mine. In fact, I can't offer anything that really belongs to me outside of myself. That's when it occured to me that this is what God was really after in the first place.

True Friendship

I was talking to my PK co-worker about an situation I've been wrestling with over the past week with my friend. One one hand, I don't condone her actions whatsoever, on the other hand I understand why she does it. When you feel you've lost respect for someone, it's really hard to be genuinely friends with them. So then, I have to decide where I stand.

My friend's advice, which God was definitely speaking through her. (Paraphrased)

"True friendship isn't about what you can get from the person, but what you can offer to them...(I'll add the rest once I remember it)"

Really, I believe I've had my approach about friendship all backwards without even knowing it. It's one of those moments where you're wowed by the beauty and simplicity of that wisdom and humbled by it when you compared to how you treat your friends. As Elaine would put it, "God slapped me in the face." on that one.