q: what's it take for us to be filled with God?
what first came to mind was Paul the apostle or the early church father Augustine. these were men of God..they weren't perfect, but i think they were filled w/ God. how do we get to be like that? God wants to fill us, to dwell in us. I think that's something we really don't realize as Christians. he wants to fill us, yet we rarely allow him to do so. check this quote out: "practices don't transform us. God transforms us. Christian practices help us loosen our grip on the wrong things so we can reach toward th right things. They till the soul-soil, knead the clay and loosen our knotted lives a little. When we "practice" our faith, we make room for the Holy Spirit to blow through our lives more freely, allowing ourselves to be invaded by God's grace, which is what makes imitating Christ possible in the first place" - from "Soul Tending"
Christian practices are like devos, worship, prayer, meditation, fasting, tithing, fellowship, etc.
so what does it take? God. and time with God

its 4:11 am right now...
can't seem to stop thinking about kyrios right now. i miss everyone even though i just saw them. i think its finally set in that i'm not really gonna be around anymore. i've got the counsellor/six picture as my desktop background right now...just looking at those faces makes me happy and sad at the same time. geeze i'm crying again.

i've said it before, but i don't think i've said it enough (this goes out to all of Kyrios, past and present, counsellors and teens): i love you guys. and i'm really going to miss you too.

i know that this is God's will and its for the best. I need to rest. Koon needs to rest. and Graydon deserves our utmost attention. koon and i have been pretty bad at maintaining our friendships with people our age at church. with the exception of the counsellors and one or two others, we have drifted pretty far from people. sometimes i feel like i've been left by the wayside. i remember telling the counsellors how important it was to maintain fellowship with other adults...and how hard it was to do so at the same time because our very lives became wrapped around and entwined with yours (the teens). looking back, i wish i had done so much more for you guys...i'm sorry if i didn't take more time to know you better or spend more time with you, but do know that each and everyone of you were on my heart, in my prayers. i will never forget you. you have touched my life so deeply; words cannot express what you all mean to me.
to steal something from koon: i'll be really sad if i don't see you in heaven...
if i could ask one last thing of all of you...hold fast to Christ. never forget His love. abide in Him. seek Him.

back from snow camp. wow. not quite what i expected..kinda weird not bunking with the teens. made things feel more isolated, but thats ok. i think it helped in closing things off, in putting some distance between us. at first sharing was kinda weird. i thought i would be crying my eyes out when i shared. instead, i was pretty calm. it wasn't until other people started sharing about koon and i that i lost it. write more later...kinda tired right now.

oh...golden bricks will be mailed out...tooo much to say to people.

In a world full of anger
A world full of hate,
A world full of sin,
In a world where everything seemed hopeless,
So utterly, utterly hopeless
There was hope.

There was hope for a brighter future,
Hope for a new beginning,
Hope for better days,
There was hope for the birth of a new life,
A very precious new life,
Christ was born.

He was so helpless, yet powerful.
So innocent, yet secure
So precious, yet hated by the world.
He was, so pure, so heavenly, so divine,
Yet he was put here on earth for one purpose,
He was put on earth to die.

He died in pain,
Died in agony,
Died on the cross.
He died on that very day,
He was crucified on the hill that very day,
So that we may live.

He died so we may live a life of joy,
A life full of love,
A life free from the plague of sin.
He did so that we may live and spend an eternity in heaven.
All this he gives and all he asks,
Is that we believe.

To believe in him,
To believe in the resurrection,
To believe in the bible,
To believe that there is a better place,
A place far greater than we can grasp
A place that is not of this world.

In a world full of anger
A world full of hate,
A world full of sin,
In a world where everything seemed hopeless,
So utterly, utterly hopeless
There is salvation.
Salvation in my Saviour Jesus Christ!.

- Josh Yuen