Reckless Love at Christmas

Do you know what I love about Christmas? Well, I can list quite a few things: the music, the advent celebrations with the local church, giving gifts to each other out of love, and just getting to be with friends and family over the season. However, I also know that Christmas can be very stressful (I currently work part-time in the retail and wholesale industry, so I can attest to that); it can also be depressing with the loss of loved ones over the years. But I want to focus more on why Christmas is significant to me.

#HardTimes – How Music Shaped My Life

I'm back, baby!

Heathens for Halloween

Happy Halloween, everybody!

Since this is Halloween, I thought I'd write about a cool song that came out in the summer and has been on my fall playlist for a while since my graduation from university. That song would be "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots; this is also the lead single from the Suicide Squad soundtrack, and it perfectly fits with the spookiness that we're used to in October... especially on Halloween. However, that's not the only thing I like about the song.

Basic: Holy Spirit

In continuation with my Basic Series adventure with my college n' careers group, we watched the third video: Holy Spirit. This video talks about who the Holy Spirit is and some thoughts on why the Holy Spirit we read in the New Testament doesn't seem to be present today in our churches. Here are just a small amalgamation of some thoughts my group mates and I after viewing the video.

Is it just me, or have we sort of cheapened the person of the Holy Spirit? What I mean is, why is it that we talk about the Holy Spirit when we're in church, and we have this predictable nature with our services that nothing about it seems to be supernatural, if natural at all. Why doesn't the presence of the Holy Spirit not appear or sound similar to something like what the Apostles experienced in Acts?

Basic: Follow Jesus

Two Sundays ago, I started going through a video study called the Basic Series. We had discussed about what it meant to fear God, and I like how we concluded on it (you can read that from my previous post on the video, "Fear God"). Last Sunday, we watched the video, "Follow Jesus", which is video #2 in this series.

Find Rest

Finding rest and peace seems to be a constant theme in my life. What I mean is, I find that I sometimes get myself worked up over many things when all I needed was rest and peace for my soul. I recently finished my fourth fall semester at the Mount before exams get written, and I know that exams, much like paper writing, can be very stressful. I also know that with the Christmas season upon us now, people are also going to be stressed over what to get their loved ones for the holiday. So, in a world full of stress and pain, how do we find rest and peace? Enter Jesus, the son of God. I know this is rather cliché, but Jesus' words in Matthew 11 come about in my head.

To Cast My Cares

I recently gave a presentation for my animal physiology class. It wasn't a very good one, and it certainly was not among my greatest achievements, so after class, I had felt rather anxious about the whole thing. When I was talking about this with one of my fellow biology students, she reminded me about it wasn't anything to sneeze at and that I may have done better than what I thought I did. And you know what? She was right. More and more, I am starting to really learn and recognize that thigs happen for a reason and there's always something that I can learn from my mistakes (like learning to make more room for finishing homework). I think this is why God told us not to be so worrisome all the time and let anxiety and corrupted emotions get in the way.

Kingdom WHAT?!?

Rejoice for the Kingdom is here!

Kingdom WHAT?!?

         That was the theme for this fall's Inter-Varsity Nova Scotia Retreat. What is the Kingdom of God? Who is the King/Father and part do we play? The past weekend involved three sessions of Bible study in a manuscript-styled fashion where we took a look at the context, the contents and the connections, the three major C's that staff worker Shu Yin Wong was teaching us as we looked through the parable of the prodigal son as well as when Jesus went to the Samaritan town of Sychar. So what did I get out of all of this?

Islands and Vines

I am made to be in a community.

Just think about that for a moment - you and I - we - are made to be relational. It's amazing that God had instilled in us from the beginning that notion of belonging somewhere or with someone that only He can completely fill and fix. After all, He is the embodiment of the perfect relationship - the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because I believe that Jesus died and rose again for my sins, and have accepted Him into my life, I am in a relationship with Him; this also means that I am a part of a community bigger than myself.

Fear and Provisions

Wow, it's been three months since I had written here. The time sure does fly. I guess I should explain a little about what's been going on...

I started a new job in the city about a month ago at Costco, and I am one among a few students working at the front end (what we call the cash register area). It's not too bad of a job, though dealing with customers sometimes can be stressful and annoying, and I also have to be careful about forklifts coming by whenever I have to work a night shift. It's at least some work experience that I can add to my CV.

Though I appear to be doing fine at my job, I sometimes can't help but worry and fear about possibly being fired; I'm on probation, so you're only given a limited amount of time before you can be more solidified in the company - in my case, that's three months. However, thinking through the past months about this fear of not having a job reminded me of a lesson that I had helped teach to some kids at a Vacation Bible School session at church this past week of God being our provider and how He provides our needs.

Who's My Valentine?

Ah, Valentine's Day, a day filled with love, romance, chocolate, cards...

But WAIT! WHO'S GOING TO BE MY DATE? This is something that many of us ask ourselves, and for most guys, this often includes trying to have sex. But what if there's more to love?

Lord, I Need You - A Song of Intimacy

There's something about music that draws me more toward God and exemplifies how he makes me stronger in my faith despite how weak I am without him. To me, music is very much therapeutic as well as expressive; it's often how I feel the Holy Spirit move in me. I also find that music has this way of opening me up more to love and prayer. More often, a set of inspired lyrics just hit me at the core, and I just know it. It’s naturally for me to be singing along when I know that deep down, that is what I feel.

The Light of Christmas

Ah Christmas, it's a season filled with love, joy and peace...

"WAIT a minute? PEACE?" you say. "What's so peaceful about Christmas? I love Christmas, but it's gone all commercial and retail has made it even more crazy."

Life with God

What exactly does life with God look like? I think that it looks like a life where we are actually listening to God, and understanding that He wants to give us. I also came across this video on the web a few weeks back and thought that it would sum it up better than I could.

Forgiveness, Faith and Needs Met by Jesus

I find it rather soothing that Jesus meets us where we are. Where else in the world can you find past recordings of someone choosing to come over to find somebody and show them love and forgiveness without condemning them? Who else would decide to come to our level so that we can eventually learn to understand what he is getting at?

From Bread to Ice Cream

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I'm really blessed to have such awesome friends through the Mount Christian Fellowship. During the past week, we have been reaching out to new students, giving them frozen treats during a high-energy orientation week event and inviting them to our upcoming events. This is also my second year as an orientation leader, which has been a big part of how I reach out to people on the campus. You know, this kind of reminds me of an event that was recorded in the Bible.

More Than Conquerors: Thoughts on Chapter Two

It's been a while since I last wrote about thoughts on the book that I had been reading (More Than Conquerors: A Call to Radical Discipleship). Therefore, I decided that I will share my thoughts on what Chapter Two was about. I still find that this book is getting me to think and reflect. So, here are some thoughts that respond to some study questions from the back of the book.

Made by God

I'm finding more and more that I am appreciating the life that God has given me over the years. Sure, I've had some struggling moments, but those were where I needed to grow more deeply. I'm also finding a great appreciation for the beauty around me, both in nature and people. I was thinking about this after reading through Psalm 139; in particular, this verse was what has been impacting me this morning:

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  your works are wonderful,  I know that full well." -Psalm 139:14 (New International Version, or simply "NIV")

I find that this verse is very powerful; if it could touch me into feeling more intimate with my Creator, how much more could it impact others, people who don't know Jesus yet? By reading this verse, I am reminded that I was born for a reason, a purpose, that I'm not just an accident. It shows that there is someone greater than what this world offers, someone who loves me so much despite my flaws and failures. As the loving father that He is, God will always catch me as I fall so I can be brought back to my feet and try again.

I understand how hard it is to feel that you are beautiful or amazing as I have struggled with this (sometimes, I still do, though not as much). Many teens and young adults have this problem. But I am grateful for friends and family who love Jesus and are filled with His Spirit; many of them have helped in shaping who I am today, a friend of Christ and a warrior for heavenly peace. This also reminds of of Proverbs 27: 17, which says (again, from the NIV): "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." Without the people whom God brings into our lives, we probably would be in more turmoil.

If you feel like you cannot see yourself as beautiful, I just want to let you know that God loves you; He made you to be who you are and wants to show you how beautiful you are on the inside. He wants to perfect you more into a diamond out of the rubble of sin and despair. I also want to say that you are not alone. God had promised that he will never leave nor forsake us (Joshua 1:9). We also have friends and family to count on when we are at our lowest points.

I think a song would greatly sum up my point. The song in the video below is called, "Made," which is performed by Hawk Nelson off of their new album of the same name. I hope that this song and what I said brings you encouragement today.

-Alex

John 3:16 - The Story of Love

This evening, I was checking through my social news feeds when I found this YouTube video that was shared by a friend. It was rather thought-provoking and a good reminder as to what Christ had done for me. I hope that this will be a blessing to you as well.

God bless,

Alex

Gifts and Barbecues: Showing How God is Working Through Us

Over the past week or so, I had been doing the following three things: passing a social psychology course, trying to find a job, and continuing to explore more deeply into my relationship with Jesus. Mind you, trying to balance all of this is easier said than done. While I have been continuing to enrich my journey and have passed the psychology course, my job prospects have been very slim. Now, I'm starting to wonder if I'm looking for a job for the right reasons. Is God saying that I am supposed to be getting a "job" (a form of paid employment), or is that what society is pushing me to do? What is it that God wants me to be doing right here, right now? What about in the future? Things like this still plague me, no matter how often I try to wash it off.

However, this past Saturday was more of a lax day for me, especially since I had it in my heart to do something helpful. So when I had heard that my friend, Kayla, was putting on a "Love Halifax" barbecue party as part of celebrating her birthday and to show God's love to the city, I decided to jump on the wagon like many other people who attend Shiloh Youth and Shiloh University Church. It was definitely worth it; we cooked up hot dogs and burgers, we offered water, chips and freezies, all for free while there were people participating in road hockey competitions and the Walk the Walk for Autism around the Halifax Commons. We also had games and worship during those few hours when we were there.

Looking back at this event, as well as some recent venturing into understanding spiritual gifts, I can see how we were rather similar with each other but are also distinct. For instance, I had noticed some similarities between myself and my new friend Garret (pictured left): both of us appear to be very gifted in knowledge and evangelism, but he has more hands-on experience in practicing these gifts as well as his music skills (he was really good at leading worship). All of this had gotten me to reflect on 1 Corinthians 12, which talks a lot about spiritual gifts (among many other passages). I guess the whole point was to explain how God equips us to do certain things that all have a common goal: to bless others, but more importantly, to reveal the One who made us and loved us so much to die in our place.

I find it rather awesome as to how radical this journey with God has been so far. I feel that I learned so much and yet have a long way to go. I pray that as we continue to walk with Him that He will strengthen and equip us to do his work on the earth. Yesterday may be history for now, but there's still today to go through and if allowed, tomorrow will be another day set out for us as well.

Peace be with you all and God bless you!

Alex