chrisdliu's Xanga

the birth of jesus

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:35:23 GMT

[based on luke 2:1-7]

joseph received the decree from caesar augustus that all the world should be registered which meant that he and his very pregnant wife-to-be, mary, would need to travel 100 miles to the city of bethlehem because joseph was from the line of david.

they slowly travelled out of galilee, from the town of nazareth to judea, bethlehem. the journey was tiring. long. uncomfortable. they were worried that mary would give birth along the way, but they got to the town without any major problems.

when they arrived, the small town was packed with people who were also back to be registered as they were commanded to do by caesar. joseph and mary, these two teenage kids, were unable to find any room in the inns so they ended up in a manger surrounded by animals.

and it was there that mary gave birth to jesus. and it was then that the prophecy of isaiah would be fulfilled. the miraculous virgin birth of our Lord, jesus christ. the Son of God, the second person of the trinity, humbled Himself and became human, taking on the form of a baby boy. fully God. fully man. the chosen one. emmanuel. God with us. our savior. messiah.

...

watch mark driscoll's sermon on luke 2:1-7 here

...

here are some personal takeaways:
- although i've heard the story of jesus’ birth so many times, it is still always amazing to be reminded of this humble entrance by the King of kings. God who created everything decides to come to become a mere man. it is not like other religions where they are striving to do good and become like gods, but it is the story of God coming down to earth to be like us to save us.
- jesus was fully God and fully man. although He never sinned, He went through all the pain that we go through. He went through every temptation that we go through. He went through trails and had hardships and uncertainties in His life. He lost loved ones. He felt pain. and He knows personally exactly what i am going through in my life because He’s experienced it all Himself.

good eats

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:44:23 GMT

i like food. it makes me happy. and i'm glad that the people at EV like good food too :D

and these past three days i've had some pretty good meals with some EVers. on thursday for lunch, joe and i went to this place called chicken box. and what was funny was that we wanted to double-check directions so we called sam, and he just so happened to be going there too with his friend jefferson, so the four of us had lunch together. haha. anyway, what they do is deep-fry and pressure cook their chicken so the meat comes out really juicy. even the chicken breast. mmm-mmm... and then last night after fellowship, a bunch of us went out to a taco truck. it was good stuff. i haven't really eaten mexican food since i moved back, so it was good to get a couple of tacos in me. especially at 11pm. haha... and then this morning i had dim sum with some more EV folks. yummm. so yea, past couple days i've had some pretty good eats! happy am i :D

shane "sings" 5 octaves

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:10:34 GMT

oh my. it's painful to watch, but hard not to keep watching. haha

*first seen at tylerstanton*

this and that

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:34:29 GMT

[pearls]

i should stop making excuses too...

pig makes me smile :)

[d-wade]

oh so pretty...

[the men who stare at goats]

love the parody

[batman vanishing]

yay for more parodies! haha

[abed as batman]

yay for more batman parodies! :D

[onion sports news]

sorry clips fans

[116 clique - send me/represent]

lecrae remixed

[dc*b - how he loves]

neat artsy video

going to a lakers game

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:05:10 GMT

yay! i'll be going to a lakers game :D

my dad told me he wanted to take me to a game for my 30th birthday. he's never been to a nba game and he knows i love my basketball and lakers, so he told me to get 2 tickets. we'll be going out next thursday to watch the lakers take on steve nash and the suns. how exciting! the tickets were still expensive for nose-bleed seats, but whatever, it's gonna be fun going on another date with my dad. haha

speaking of the lakers, they haven't looked exactly sharp coming out of the gate. two overtime wins, barely beating the clips, and loosing badly to the mavs isn't a good start, but the season is early and they are 3-1. and, they are playing without pau and artest is still trying to build chemistry with the rest of the team, so you know better days will come. still, the lakers bench hasn't played well and fisher looks old, so there are some concerns as well. and, boston looks strong. really strong. blah. but, it is a long season so anything can still happen. i'm just happy the season has started! yay basketball :D

true love

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:41:36 GMT

just cause we sang it on sunday :D

he shall be called john

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:41:10 GMT

[based on luke 1:57-80]

after nine months of being unable to speak, the day came when zechariah’s wife, elizabeth gave birth to their son. their relatives rejoiced when they heard the news and they came piling into their house hoping to see the newest member of their family.

“so what are you going to name your son?” one aunt asked?

“he should be called zechariah, just like his father.” an uncle suggested.

elizabeth smiled and answered, “no, he shall be called john.”

“john? but no one in our family is named john. zechariah, what do you think? what should you name your son?”

zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “his name is john.” immediately, his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.

when his relatives saw this and when their neighbors heard of what happened, they knew that there was more to this family than they had first thought. murmurs went across the town as people asked, “what then will this child be?” for the hand of the Lord was with him.

and certainly, God was with john. as a child zechariah prophesied about his son and the great work that he was going to do. he was the one that old testament prophets had spoke about. he himself will become a prophet as well. he was going to be the one who will prepare the way of Jesus Christ whom the world will receive salvation through. a humble servant. a light in this world. he will become john the baptizer.

...

watch mark driscoll's sermon on luke 1:57-80 here

...

here are some personal takeaways:
john, knew His role for what God had called him to do. he was going to be the one who will prepare the way for Christ. john lived his life according to God’s will for his life. he also didn’t look for more power or position but pointed people towards Christ when his ministry began. for myself, i need to be diligent in what God has called me to do. to prioritize certain things over other things. also, to remind myself of why i serve God. not for my own glory, but to point people towards Christ as well. all for Him!

hallelujah night

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:00:15 GMT

EV had their annual hallelujah night (aka fall-fest, aka harvest festival, aka alternative halloween night :D) on saturday night. it was cool. always fun to see the cute little kids dress up. i basically ran a "photo booth" with holly. the kids got to take a picture (or if they were shy, take one with holly. haha) and if their parents wanted, they would give us their email address and we would email them their picture (and it was a sneaky way of getting their email addresses. shhh... muhaha). and then, after taking their picture, they get to spin a wheel for prizes (candy or tickets which go towards buying toys). anyway, here are most of the pictures i took...

[cute kiddies]

[Jr. Highers/High Schoolers/Collegians/Young Adults]

[r-r-r-random]

didn't get enough pictures? you can go here for the rest of them :D

funny

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:59:53 GMT

spiritual gifts

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:50:00 GMT

our CG is doing an inductive bible study on the book of 1 corinthians and last night we went through chapter 12 verses 1-11. it's the one where paul talks about spiritual gifts. from the text, we learned that all christians have at least one spiritual gift given by the Spirit for the purpose of the "common good." we are to know what gifts we have, use those gifts, and keep using them so that it produces a result. anyway, after our study, we took a short spiritual gifts test and it was good to confirm what God has given me. my top three (with the scores in parentheses) are:

[music (12)]
worship through songs have always been a big part of my life. i really enjoy worshipping through music in my own personal times with God and people have also told me they appreciate it when i have had the opportunity to lead during service.

[prophet (11)]
i really enjoy preaching God's Word. i like taking biblical truths and sharing that with people and trying to make it applicable to their lives. people have also encouraged me to keep preaching as they have been blessed by them. praise God!

[hospitality (11)]
i always like having people over at my place. when i was in college we actually went through a time when our door was unlocked, so i'd come home after class and friends would be in our place with none of my roommates there. haha. living with the talbot guys we always had bbqs and "halo nights" at our place. living at kittoe house people always came by after church, we had small group meet at our place, and birthday parties and events would be held at our place. and with mike, people always came over to hang out and bum around. good times. good times.

and my "sub-dominant" gifts are: pastor (10), apostle (9), teacher (9), serving (9), faith (9).

so, friends, you can help keep me accountable in using these gifts and be a good steward of the spiritual gifts God has blessed me with :D