21 October, 2012

So yea.

Yup. This is what I always do.
Set new trends and never keeping it for long but, Yea.
So I just posted a poem by WIlliam Blake, Tyger(it should be below) and I just want to say it is an excellent poem, sound so much better and feels more awesome when you know the beat to say each syllable. So much meaning, so powerful.

So as I am posting this from the Library, it is because I borrowed a book containing many poems and one of them was Tyger. Well, I heard Tyger before in sec 4 so yea. And the poem is really one of the best poems so I thought I would share it here. Anyways.

So expect a few more poems. If i feel led to, I may post dulce et decorum est and dig deeper in it.

But just yesterday I was talking to one of my friends from China and he is a professor in Singapore, a really nice guy. (i live in Singapore by the way)

So he was telling me about how he doesnt use twitter but uses weibo and how he feels that twitter is quite boring because it is filled with people who posted about things like: What am i eating now, Where am I going, Who am i meeting,
But weibo is so useful where it can be used easily for politics and business and it is more meaningful.

Now to this I can respond now saying, it is as usual about the aspect of life ratio.
You see, when people sign up for twitter, they are signing up for a microblog.
A micro blog is a blog that is smaller than average.

Definition of blog: A Web site on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis.

So when people go to their blog, it is like going to their home. They are at ease to talk about almost anything they want.
So if people who sign up for twitter are younger people, than obviously you would not expect them to be talking half the time about politics, but about what they are feeling, and what they are doing with their friends because that is what matters to them.

However weibo is mainly users from China.
Most people there are very driven to succeed in life and be better than the rest.
Thus that is their more important aspect of life.
And whatever that is in your heart, you will talk about it more because it concerns you more.
Thus it is very expected that weibo is used for that.

You see, to me, both weibo and twitter are micro blogs. I think both are interesting, but to different groups of people. It is just like, basketball and chinese chess. Both appeal to different age groups, but I can only say this: You can only find something that interest you useful.
If you are more mature, than you would most probably prefer linkedIn. And if your friends are all on twitter and not facebook or myspace or QQ or SinaWeibo then obviously you would use twitter because it becomes like your home. And when you feel at home, you feel at peace.

So my take? Anything works fine. Not everyone is the same, so definitely the microblogging style and talking about food may not suit everyone, what matters most is the person's character, as long as you find solitutde, and you're happy, that's what matters most.

Ok, BYE FOR NOW:D

The Tyger

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forest of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chair?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

What the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,
In the forest of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

William Blake
Amazing poem, I love it best when I speak the poem, it sounds fabulous, taste fabulous, feel fabulous. Just pure AWESOMENESS

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13 October, 2012

Rick warren- 4 Pillars of a strong lay ministry

I was talking with some people after a weekend service once, and I mentioned that we really needed someone to create a multimedia video for an upcoming event. The person I was talking to said, “Why don’t you get her”?

And he pointed to a woman standing a few feet away.  I walked over, found out the her name, and asked what she did. Her reply was, “I’m the chief video production director for Walt Disney”.

Another time, I mentioned that we needed a flower designer to decorate our our worship center for Mother’s Day. Someone pointed to a person in the crowd and said, “He designs many of the prize-winning floats for the Rose Parade”!

It bothers me when I think talent like that could go unused.

You have talented members sitting in your congregation, and you need to uncover, mobilize, and support their giftedness for ministry.

This is vital because your church will never grow any stronger than your core of lay ministers who carry out the various ministries of the church.

Based on Romans 12:1-8, I believe there are four pillars of lay ministry that our churches should be upon –

Pillar #1: Every Believer is a Minister

To be a Christian means being like Jesus. He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. (Mark 10:45)

We believe these two activities — service and giving — are the defining characteristics of the Christ-like lifestyle expected of every believer.

At Saddleback, we teach that every Christian is created for ministry (Eph. 2:10), saved for ministry (2 Tim 1:9), called into ministry (1 Peter 2:9-10), gifted for ministry (1 Peter 4:10), authorized for ministry (Matt. 28:18-20), commanded to minister (Matt. 20:26-28), to be prepared for ministry (Eph. 4:11-12), needed for ministry (1 Cor. 12:27), accountable for ministry, and will be rewarded according to his or her ministry (Col. 3:23-24).

Pillar #2: Every Ministry is Important

There are no “little people” in the Body of Christ and there are no “insignificant” ministries either. Every ministry is important.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”  (1 Cor. 12:18-22)

Small ministries often make the greatest difference. The most important light in my home is not the large chandelier in our dining room but the little night light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up to use the bathroom at night. It’s small, but it’s more useful to me than the show-off light (My wife Kay says that my favorite light is the one that comes on when I open the refrigerator!).

Pillar #3: We Are Dependent on Each Other

Not only is every ministry important, every ministry is intertwined with all the others. Since no single ministry can accomplish all the church is called to do, we must depend on and cooperate with each other.

Like a jigsaw puzzle, every piece is required to complete the picture. When one part of your body malfunctions, the other parts don’t work as well.

One of the missing components in the contemporary church is this understanding of interdependence.  Our culture’s preoccupation with individualism and independence must be replaced with the biblical concepts of interdependence and mutuality.

Pillar #4: Ministry is the Expression of My S.H.A.P.E.

S.H.A.P.E. is an acronym we developed years ago to explain the five elements that determine a person’s ministry.  Those five elements are:

Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience
Each of us is uniquely designed — or “shaped” — by God to do certain things. If you don’t understand your S.H.A.P.E., you end up doing things that God never designed you to do.

When your gifts don’t match the role you play in life, you feel like a square peg in a round hole. This is frustrating, both to you and to others.  It is also an enormous waste of your talent, time, and energy.

Napoleon once pointed to a map of China and said, “There lies a sleeping giant. If it ever wakes up, it will be unstoppable.”

In many places today, the church is a sleeping giant. Our pews are filled with members doing nothing with their faith except “keeping” it.

If we can ever awaken and unleash the massive talent, creativity, and energy found in those pews — if we can mobilize the ministers in our midst — Christianity will explode with growth.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

I was very impacted by what Pastor Rick Warren has shared. It is important to be released into ministry, so that we van fufill the great commandment, the great comission and the cultural mandate.
Hope this repost was useful!

Pastor Rick Warren is the pastor of Saddleback church, one of the biggest churches in America with over 10000 members.

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