Friday, December 24, 2010

The three wise men

this is not a song, but i found this to be pretty interesting =] This video is pretty long...like 9 minutes haha...you don't have to watch the whole thing unless you want to =DDD

http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/mystery-of-the-magi-23613928

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus =]]

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Child of God


My mom and I were arguing. It started out with me, asking her, if she could stop comparing me to others. Then somewhere along the way, there was dripping snot...and a 4 inch thick pile of wet tissues...haha. I guess--I can't believe it, because I feel like I've been through this issue already--anyways, I guess it was because I felt insufficiently loved. I was frustrated with my family and felt angry, haha, I get angry so easily. I told her that I didn't feel loved in the family, which was a generalization and essentially a lie, because I know she loves me. As I was saying, I didn't feel loved in the family because my grandpa kept complaining about returning to China where he didn't have to do chores and where everyone respected him, my dad kept telling me that my crying was bothering the neighbors, I was told by another member of the family that they didn't like me because I was getting baptized and that I was the source of the arguing in the family. I felt discouraged and eventually that discouragement turned into anger. I was angry at them for not making me feel like I was a valuable member of the family, for making me feel that if I were gone, they'd be happier. And to play devil's advocate, I said I realized that they maybe they DO love me. But that I didn't feel they did because the way they were doing it was too subtle, and since they don't explicitly say they love me, I infer they do, and because it's an inference, it's uncertain, which becomes a doubt of their love. After some thinking, I felt terrible! Because I realized how spoiled I was being, how unappreciative, how entitled I was feeling. I was disgusted with myself. I was disappointed with myself for being so spoiled. I was being stubborn, refusing to accept my family's hints of love as evidences of love. And that's when said to myself, Annie, you're being absolutely self-centered and conceited. Why is God's love not enough for you? And I found this song, which has become my prayer

With every breath, with every thought/I pray, father
From what is seen to the deepest part/ Earnestly,
I offer all that I've come to be/ to stop being so stubborn and surrender the belief that I am not loved
To know your love fathering me/ So that I will no longer blind myself to the truth of how much I am loved, ultimately, by YOU

Father, You're all I need/ Father, be all that I need
My soul's sufficiency/ Satiate my greedy and hungry soul
My strength when I am weak/ Be my strength
That love that carries me/ I know you love me because of what you did on the cross and it's lifting my spirits up
Your arms enfold me, till I am only/ Hold me God
A child of God/ Because then, I know I'm so dear to you

Friday, December 17, 2010

"if I were God..."

Money and Power: Oscar Muriu from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.



Hey guys :]. this is a video of a message from that I think gives a very powerful perspective of the birth of Christ, and the specific ways God humbled himself by His becoming a baby and a human.

The speaker, Oscar Muriu, talks about the incredible measures God voluntarily takes to humble himself to save us. It's kind of crazy actually, when I think about it...why would God choose this way to save us?? Still trying to wrap my head around it..

Anyways, take a look to at least the first 4 1/2 minutes, because that itself gives an interesting perspective on how God intentionally chose to come in such a vulnerable way. (I have a feeling though, if you listen to it that far, you might not stop 'til the entire way through x]) The entire video is relateable to how we view Jesus's birth, so yeahs. Hope you're blessed by it :]

Friday, December 10, 2010

how many kings - downhere



To continue this Christmas songs sharing...I'll use this song =] Have you ever listened to a song without fully paying attention to the lyrics? Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am guilty of doing just that with this song. I stumbled upon this song a couple of years ago and at the time I didn't really fully take into account the message of this song. A couple of days ago, I was just searching through some music and I found this song. I don't think it was a mere coincidence that I found this song. It was finals week and I admit that my mind was more focused on my finals than Christmas. Christmas comes only once a year and I'm wondering if I am going to let it slip by me once again? I believe God is calling me to do reflect and adore this moment in history that not only changed my life, but others as well...=]

There's so much I want to say about why I love this song. First off, I love how they captured how innocent and fragile Christ was when He first entered this world. "Is this who we've waited for?" We all know that Christ is God, but we also know that He was also once human. It's that "human" part that sometimes gets me. This child is going to be our king? It's hard to imagine Christ as a child. Also, I could repeat the chorus over and over again because Christ is no ordinary king of kings or lord of lords. He humbled Himself for me and you.

Before I became a Christian, Christmas was all about the Santa clauses, reindeer, and presents. I remember how hyped up Christmas was when I was a child. Even when I became a Christian, I still had a hard time celebrating Christmas because I was still trying to grasp the true meaning of Christmas. Because in order to celebrate something, I felt like there has to be certain activities you need to be part of or there's some kind of food you need to eat in order to be in the holiday mood. I am still trying to think of tangent things I can do for this holiday season...

but yeah...hope you guys enjoy this song =D thanks for reading this far!

Monday, December 6, 2010

The Night Before Christmas



"The Night Before Christmas"
~ Brandon Heath

hahaha, for those of you who were thinking about Jack Skelington, sorry, not that Night(mare) before Christmas xD

I just wanted to share this song, as that time of year is coming up again when God's people celebrate radical coming to Earth :]. There are SO many reasons why Christmas is more than just a time to be happy and a time to celebrate a birthday. Sometimes I do wonder, why do we care to celebrate Jesus's birth, when the most of what we focus on in church is His ministry in his 30's, his death and resurrection? I think it's really easy to overlook the amazingness of Jesus's coming, and this song reminds me so much of the greatness of "The Word becoming flesh."

Isn't Jesus's birth so much like how He enters us? In our world of wretchedness, meaningless, and chaos, God steps into OUR context with the plan to show us love and save us from ourselves. And like, DUDE, there's SO much more to Christmas that God wove together so amazingly (like the star! anybody else notice the connection between the star (the brightest in the dark night sky) and Jesus? :]). sigh. so cool xD

Yeah...I'm really hoping that this Christmas, I won't just let it slip by again without recognizing Him through it all :]. Anyways, looking forward to celebrating our Savior's coming with ya'll :D! Praise God!