Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Mr. Bilson Blogaholics!

I hope you are enjoying the festivities as much as I. Me and my posse have just come back from another loooong winded service at PMC. Just kiddin!' We finished on time today which is short of a miracle.

I woke up today to the sound of my dear friends and mentors, heroes! They're P & B of course. I sure miss them. They gave us a shout to tell us they love us as always and were thinking about us. I just relish the sound of their voices. I wish I could be with them and hang out and have fun and learn and grow and mature with them. Why do we have to be oceans apart? Why?

Now, my cousins in TX are on the phone to check up on us. I'd love to see them as well. I just love them. We have so many fond childhood memories and want to make new ones. It has been a couple of years since the last time we've met with them. I loved to catch up with them again.

Well, we will be getting ready to go to Dav's. He invited us over for Christmas. Is is snowing outside and Biji is at their house. OHhhhh. She is the most sweetest lady on earth. I can't believe she is related to Dav. They're worlds apart!

Let me end by saying thanks for taking the time to hear about life in my part of the world. I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to you and thank you for journeying with me. Until than...

"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." (Romans 16:20)

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Christmas

"Christmas has really become a hopeless muddle of confusion. The humility and the poverty of the stable are somehow confused with the wealth of indulgence and selfishness of gift giving. The quiteness of Bethelehem is mingled with the din of shopping malls and freeway traffic. The soberness of Incarnation is somehow mixed with the drunkeness of this season."

- John MacArthur, The Incarnation of the Triune God

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

JC

Jesus Christ came to our wall;
Jesus Christ died for our fall.
He slew Queen Death.
He crushed King Sin.
Through grace He put us together again.


"... wherever there is sin, there must have been a preceding sinner. And wherever there is a sinner, there must be a Savior."


- Chuck Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life

Diaspora Preferences...


I had a hilarious conversation with a good friend just now. He is a diaspora Christian like myself who was born from a traditional Indian family but brought up outside South Asia, in Africa to be precise. The comedy started when his Grandma found out that he was dating a white girl.

My friend's Grandma decided to express her concern over my friend's relationship. Mixed marriages or marriages of different cultures is a foreign concept to her. She was seemed unaccepting and unyielding to my friend's, 'preference.' She expressed her desire for him to marry someone a little more in tune with their cultural background and questioned whether my friend knew where his/her cultural roots are.

My friend, in turn, told her that he did know where his cultural roots are. They are in AFRICA!

Ha! Ha! Har! I found this rebuttal quite hilarious!

You probably don't but that is because you weren't there. It was one of those, "You have to be there to understand moments."

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Inanimate objects



It is that time of year again. It is called Christmas. I get a kick out of the sermons preached out of the pulpits these days. They are usually about the focus on presents, objects and everything that has nothing to do with Christ in Christmas. But you know what? These pulpiteers have a point.

What is our fascination with inanimate objects? I was caught in the gulf of thinking about what to get and give for Christmas and putting together a 'wish list' of things I wanted to give and receive. I thought about how I'd love to get a new guitar or even a guitar effects unit called a Tonebone and maybe throw in a new amp like the Vox kind and so on and on and on... I also thought about the other objects I'd love to give to my dear friends and family and other close folks.

But really, are our lives better of with all the extra inanimate objects we get at this time of year? I was wondering about that for my own life. I've been recently listening to allot of inspiring Christian rock with some stellar guitar moves. My wish list of inanimate objects would all just be used to raise some sweet and creative praises to the Chief Shepherd... not to say that this has always been my motives for desiring certain objects. And how about the rest of us? Do the objects we really want bring anything to Jesus? Or do all these objects just help fill our closets and storage areas to collect dust? To they really contribute to the cause of Christ and further His awesome message of love? Maybe we need to ask those shepherds who went to greet the baby Jesus?

I was thinking about these questions after hearing some sermons and recalling the message of Jesus in John 12. Here we have a man who wants his inheritance for selfish things and doesn't seem rich towards God.

"13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

(Luke 12:13-21)

Apparently life is more than taking life easy and eating, drinking and being merry and storing up things for self at the expense of being rich towards God. Real life is caught up in the Savior and using our wealth to treat Him.

Well, I'm not sure what the point of this blog is and I lost my train of thought but I'll get back to you about what it was about when I find out... I'm just thinking out loud at the moment and I hope you got something out of this little splurge.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

IMPOSSIBLE!

Do you know how to spell IMPOSSIBLE?

"I"

"AM"

"POSSIBLE!"

"For nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37)

"Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Growing Deep in the Christian Life!


"Beleive me, nothing is worse the preaching a sermon without the Spirit's help. Well, maybe one thing is worse - listening to that sermon! It is the longest period of time you can endure. As a friend of mine once said, "Without the Spirit's blessing, everything is just toothpaste."

- Chuck Swindoll, Growing Deeper in the Christian Life.

Bonhoeffer

"It was a mistake for me to come to America. I had to live through this difficult period in our nation's history with Christians in Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of the Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the tribulations of this time with my people... Christians in Germany are faced with the fearful alternatives either of willing the country's defeat so that Christian civilization may survive, or of willing its victory and destroying our civilization. I know which of the two alternatives I have to choose but I cannot make the choice from a position of safety."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer became involved in the opposition against Nazi's in Germany

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Responcibilities.


"I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs."

- Frederick Douglass

Sometimes we use prayer as an excuse to avoid taking on our responsibilities. "I'll pray about it!" we say but really we can feel so inhibited to take on the things we need to get done. It may be the result of a lack of faith the we can get things done. It could be that we are just to lazy at times and prayer seems like an easier option. It could be that we just never learned to prioritize the right things first. Or maybe we are just too hedonistic and would rather put our pleasure ahead of our responsibilities. What could it be?

Well, the key to the word responsibility is the word RESPONSE! And that response must be tangible and practical and productive and what God wants for the moment.

Mother Teresa

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much"

- Mother Teresa

Monday, December 10, 2007

Friday, December 07, 2007

Dropping like Flies!

"Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace." 2 Corinthians 13:11


Ahhhh... I'm just pulling out my hair. They are dropping like flies... the actors that is. We have our final rehearsal tonight and there is a B-Day and other things going on and so many people will not be able to come tonight. I feel kinda wrecked.... The cues for the music are not quite in place and some props need some work and yada, yada, yada. At least our B-Day girl is supporting us saying that she wouldn't start without us and I was quite honored! God bless her!

I was just thinking about all the common sense stuff we hear from preachers saying let God do what only He can do and you do what only you can do... Still, I feel the call to strive for perfection especially after reading 2 Corinthians. At the moment I feel we are far from perfection and I'm needing more peace at the moment.

I don't know what will happen tomorrow. We have so much to pack and do and we can only do the best with what we got... I feel restless... Serenity now!

Five Gives you Fifty



Approximately 50% of cancers are preventable. There are five primary risk factors:

1. Tobacco Use

Avoid smoking!

2. Body Weight

Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.

3. Diet

Follow a proper diet that includes plenty of vegetables, fruits and other plant based foods.

4. Physical Activity

Maintain a proper level of weekly activity.

5. Sun

Avoid UV-radiation and prevent sunburn, especially during childhood.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

No Christmas Tree!


1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus says the LORD:


“ Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple

(Jeremiah 10)

Anberlin (I love good live music!)

Make us meanderings...

Make us bold but not impulsive.

Make us confident but not arrogant.

Make us able to see what we can do together.

Make us bring out the best in each other and not the worst.

Make us merciful and not self centered.

Make us see past the offenses and not just at our wounds.

Make us one Father! Make us one!

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

(John 17:20-21)

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Lost and Found!


I got some good news. We just found our brick wall backdrop! Some friends from DPC liked it so much that they wanted to use it and didn't know it was ours. It was flattering to have them ask us to use something of ours for a change. We are always borrowing from them they always go the extra mile for us. It is great to change roles for a change.

We have one more practice and things have been progressing which is a good sign. We just need prayer for a couple of specific things in no particular order:

  • Salvation of souls through this event
  • More laborers
  • Actors/voices to know cues for their roles
  • Sound system and music because we don't have an official sound person
  • The Backdrop frame for holding the backdrops which is constructed by BV
  • Patience and against nervousness and tempers
  • More Expression from actors
  • Final props
I'm grateful for having you journey with me so far. We want to see Jesus lifted up! He is the Man with the Plan.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Changing...

"Philosophers have only interpreted the world differently, the point is, however, to change it."
-Karl Marx

"If I had to live my life over again, I would live it to change the lives of people, because you have not changed anything until you have changed the lives of people"

-Warren Webster (Missionary to Pakistan)

"A mature person is one who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that... all of us need both love and charity.

- Eleanor Roosevelt.

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

- Paul's letter to the Romans (8:29)