Hopefully you read this passage before your reading this because this passage is strikingly similar to another Biblical book written by Solomon; Proverbs. This passage not only sounds like Proverbs as it is essentially made up of the short proverbs that the book is also made up of, but it also has the same theme of a contrast between wisdom and foolishness. Verse 4, 5: The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the praise of fools, verse 7 extortion turns a wise man into a fool.
Wisdom and foolish in this context shouldn't be thought of as we normally do however. I titled this "wisdom is meaningless" because what I'm getting at, conventional wisdom, or simply knowing a lot, is meaningless in comparison with the wisdom that Solomon speaks of. In the book of Proverbs and also in this passage, wisdom and foolishness could also be understood as knowing God and not knowing God. So therefore, we are wise when we know God and place our foundation in him. Why is it wise to do this? I think it is because at the core of our humanity, we truly need God. I was watching the show Chuck this weekend and in one scene it flashbacked to an older episode where it showed the protagonist Chuck sitting on the ground with his head in his hands, heartbroken because he thought he was never going to be with the girl he loved. I was struck by that image because I think deep down, we all feel the same way. Not about a girl or a boy, but I think at the very core of our hearts, we know that we are broken and need something bigger than us; that "thing" is God! We are broken because we have sin. God is perfect God and we are imperfect humans, meaning that we are separated from God because we choose to make ourselves the God or our lives. We reject God, we disobey God and we fill our lives with things that aren't God trying to bring ourselves happiness. Verse 29 reads but I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path (Ecc 7:29, NLT). Because of this we stand separated from God and under his judgement for our sin. But God in his great love and mercy sent Jesus, his only son, who lived a perfect life, something we cannot do, then died on the Cross for the sins of mankind and rose from the grave after three days, becoming our great high priest, forgiving us and cleansing us of our sin! By putting our faith in Christ, by knowing God, we can find forgiveness of our sins and be made right with God. Those who do this are no longer under his judgement. So that is why it is wise to know God, because it brings you into relationship with him, and cleanses you of your sin!
Similarly to how Chuck sat there broken, longing for something to fill his life with joy and happiness, mankind sits broken in its sin, longing for something more. Jesus Christ is that "something more" and putting your faith in him gains you wisdom, forgiveness, relationship with God, eternal life and countless blessings.
So if you aren't a Christian, I would ask you to consider this new idea of wisdom. Do you feel a longing for something more?
If you are a Christian I think it is important to remind ourselves of what Christ did for us. Verse 28 reads I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright women among them all. This is not to say that women are evil, in fact in Proverbs, wisdom is personified by a women. Rather, this is to be understood as making a reference to the fact that all humanity is sinful, if not putting more weight on the lack of righteousness in men. Keep in mind that at this time period women didn't receive a religious education like men did. So if this so called religious men were just as righteous as the women, what does this say about the men of the time? Anyways, without asking which sex is more righteous, I think the main thing to take away from this is that everyone stands a fool in God's eyes, but thanks to Jesus, you and I have received wisdom from God and the grace and mercy of God as he forgives us of our sin. Remember this, cherish this and meditate on this and as chapter 8 verse 1 says: Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance; as we continue to get to know God, we will truly be changed more and more!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Finals Week
So tomorrow i have my last final and then it is spring break for me! So far I've just been studying for and taking finals and chillin with some friends a little bit as well. Not too much new stuff going on but I'm sure to have some good stories later on as I'll probably do some traveling.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Ecclesiastes 6:10-12; Decisions are Meaningless
If you haven't been reading lately, I've been looking at the book of Ecclesiastes section by section and have focused on something that Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, touches on as a meaningless thing or simply a component of life. Then, I have looked at how that thing or component of life has meaning when Jesus is added into the equation. I didn't make this up however as Solomon is the one who concludes this entire book by saying "Fear God and keep his commandments as this is the entire duty of man" (12:13).
Now that your caught up, or maybe reminded, let's look at the last verses of chapter 6 of the book of Ecclesiastes.
This is kind of a depressing section. Basically it reads, "it doesn't really matter what you do; there is always someone stronger; the more you do the more you lose when you die; life is short and meaningless".
Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever felt like no matter what you choose to do, it just doesn't make a difference. Why make any decisions at all right? After studying this passage I think there are two things to note. First, that there is a decision that we must make, and second, that there is a decision that we must relinquish.
First, a decision we must make. Everyone on earth is faced with a decision that is literally the most important decision they will ever make in their life. The crazy thing is, most of those people have made up their mind and don't even know it. That decision is whether or not to follow Jesus Christ. Many people have decided to follow him, many others have been faced with that decision and chose not to and others still have chosen a different religion to follow without fully knowing that they are simultaneously rejecting Christ. This is why evangelism needs to be stressed in the church; because there are people who have never even heard of Jesus Christ! That said, we are all faced with the decision of who to make the Lord of our life. Some choose money, some their job, others Allah, Buddha, tradition, ancestors, science, and some of course Jesus. For those of you who have chosen something other than Jesus, I would like to simply present why I think making the decision to follow Christ is not only the most important decision of your life, but also the best.
Following Jesus Christ is not a choice I made because I like rules, or because my parents made me, or because hell sounded really lame so I thought I would get some fire insurance. While hell is lame, and my parents did play a role in my decision, my choice to follow Christ was based on me seeing a real need for Christ. What do I mean by this? Let me begin from the beginning. As a Christian I believe that God created everything. I also believe that God is perfect and also perfectly just. This means that God is the opposite of sin, the opposite of evil, and his justness means that anything not perfect cannot be in his presence. In fact, he is just so therefore he punishes evil, he punishes sin. I believe that God created man, however he created man to be intelligent and to be able to make decisions on his own. Because of this, the first man and women, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and thus committed the first sin. Since then, man has been under this curse of sin and unfortunately it means that man must be punished because God is a just God who must punish evil. If he allowed evil people to not be punished he would not be very just would he? We wouldn't like it if a judge let criminals go free right? What I failed to mention earlier however is that God also loves perfectly, and because of this love, he made a way for man to make themselves right with him. That is where Jesus comes in. Jesus Christ came to this earth as a man and lived a perfect life, something we cannot do! He then became a perfect sacrifice when he was executed on the cross. Since he was without sin, he was able to die in place of our sin. See, God in the old testament had installed sacrifices into Jewish society to atone for sin. The sinless animal became a scapegoat for the sin. Jesus did this same thing however he was a sinless human and thus died in place of all mankind. Jesus' death forgave the sins up until that point but when he resurrected from the dead after three days, he overcame death and since he lives he is a never-ending flow of forgiveness.
So the reason I chose Christ is because I looked at my life and could see the brokenness, I could see the sin and knew that this separated me from God. By choosing to follow Christ, I accepted the gift that had been placed in front of me, the gift of forgiveness of sins.
Jesus has died and risen and thus the gift of forgiveness of sins and rightness with God is there for the taking. The last part of my explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is what you decide. It is your response. Do you choose to accept forgiveness of sins and thus make yourself right with God or do you reject that gift and remain in your current state, separate from God and sinful in his eyes. In my opinion it is the most important decision you will ever make because it truly is life or death.
Secondly, for those of us who have made the decision to follow Christ, I think there is a decision we must relinquish. Look back to the text if you would. In verse 10 Solomon writes, "no man can contend with one who is stronger than he". Then in verse 12: "who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?". God is stronger than us and only God can tell us what will happen in the future. Since God is in control of our lives, our futures and that of the world, we need to trust him in that. This means that we need to relinquish the decision, if not the lifestyle, of fret and worry. As Christians we need to live in this world, but remember that we are in fact citizens of heaven. This is a hard thing to balance because obviously we have things such as taxes and jobs that we must maintain now, but nonetheless I think we still need to keep a focus on our end goal; heaven. What does that look like? Here are a few practical things that came to my mind.
1. Trust God with your life. Trust him with your grades, your job, your uncertainties, your health, your family, everything. He is in control no matter how good or how bad things get.
2. Keep your focus on Christ and on heaven by not becoming attached to things of this world. Give your money, your time and your possessions. I am constantly impressed and encouraged by seeing this in the people at Hinson Baptist Church while working on youth staff the last 2 years. People buying kids lunch, giving time to help teach or set up, simply showing Christ's love and their detachment to this world through the act of giving.
3. Get to know God. Read his word. We as humans seem to have an unlimited amount of time for video games and Facebook but yet struggle to read even a chapter of the Bible. Its funny how people can't put down a good book but are so eager to put down the "Good Book".
4. Keep your hands open to Christ. This doesn't mean sell all your possessions and sell your house and move to a remote place (although maybe you'll do that someday!) but keep your hands open so that God has access to those things. If you hold a pencil in a clenched fist, the pencil is yours and no one can take it. If you place the pencil on an open palm however, the pencil is still yours, but it can be taken. This is the same with your life on earth. If you hold onto it with clenched fists, God could be calling you to something but you won't let go of what you have. If your hands are open however, God can use them. He might take them, but he always has your best interest in mind, and when you're truly serving God, even if he takes them you will still find joy because your hands were open to him taking those things in the first place.
We can't contend with God. He has control of our lives so we need to open our hands to him and relinquish our worries and our fears. We need to give him access to anything and everything we have including our possessions, our comfort, our children, everything. If he takes something away from your clenched fists, it will be so much more painful than if he takes it away form your open hands.
It is finals week so it is easy for me to worry about my grades. However, I know that God has got me this far and I know that whatever grades I get, I am still going to be able to follow him, to obey him and to share him and thus I'm completing his plan for my life.
Now that your caught up, or maybe reminded, let's look at the last verses of chapter 6 of the book of Ecclesiastes.
10 Whatever exists has already been named,
and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
with someone who is stronger.
11 The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?
and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
with someone who is stronger.
11 The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever felt like no matter what you choose to do, it just doesn't make a difference. Why make any decisions at all right? After studying this passage I think there are two things to note. First, that there is a decision that we must make, and second, that there is a decision that we must relinquish.
First, a decision we must make. Everyone on earth is faced with a decision that is literally the most important decision they will ever make in their life. The crazy thing is, most of those people have made up their mind and don't even know it. That decision is whether or not to follow Jesus Christ. Many people have decided to follow him, many others have been faced with that decision and chose not to and others still have chosen a different religion to follow without fully knowing that they are simultaneously rejecting Christ. This is why evangelism needs to be stressed in the church; because there are people who have never even heard of Jesus Christ! That said, we are all faced with the decision of who to make the Lord of our life. Some choose money, some their job, others Allah, Buddha, tradition, ancestors, science, and some of course Jesus. For those of you who have chosen something other than Jesus, I would like to simply present why I think making the decision to follow Christ is not only the most important decision of your life, but also the best.
Following Jesus Christ is not a choice I made because I like rules, or because my parents made me, or because hell sounded really lame so I thought I would get some fire insurance. While hell is lame, and my parents did play a role in my decision, my choice to follow Christ was based on me seeing a real need for Christ. What do I mean by this? Let me begin from the beginning. As a Christian I believe that God created everything. I also believe that God is perfect and also perfectly just. This means that God is the opposite of sin, the opposite of evil, and his justness means that anything not perfect cannot be in his presence. In fact, he is just so therefore he punishes evil, he punishes sin. I believe that God created man, however he created man to be intelligent and to be able to make decisions on his own. Because of this, the first man and women, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and thus committed the first sin. Since then, man has been under this curse of sin and unfortunately it means that man must be punished because God is a just God who must punish evil. If he allowed evil people to not be punished he would not be very just would he? We wouldn't like it if a judge let criminals go free right? What I failed to mention earlier however is that God also loves perfectly, and because of this love, he made a way for man to make themselves right with him. That is where Jesus comes in. Jesus Christ came to this earth as a man and lived a perfect life, something we cannot do! He then became a perfect sacrifice when he was executed on the cross. Since he was without sin, he was able to die in place of our sin. See, God in the old testament had installed sacrifices into Jewish society to atone for sin. The sinless animal became a scapegoat for the sin. Jesus did this same thing however he was a sinless human and thus died in place of all mankind. Jesus' death forgave the sins up until that point but when he resurrected from the dead after three days, he overcame death and since he lives he is a never-ending flow of forgiveness.
So the reason I chose Christ is because I looked at my life and could see the brokenness, I could see the sin and knew that this separated me from God. By choosing to follow Christ, I accepted the gift that had been placed in front of me, the gift of forgiveness of sins.
Jesus has died and risen and thus the gift of forgiveness of sins and rightness with God is there for the taking. The last part of my explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is what you decide. It is your response. Do you choose to accept forgiveness of sins and thus make yourself right with God or do you reject that gift and remain in your current state, separate from God and sinful in his eyes. In my opinion it is the most important decision you will ever make because it truly is life or death.
Secondly, for those of us who have made the decision to follow Christ, I think there is a decision we must relinquish. Look back to the text if you would. In verse 10 Solomon writes, "no man can contend with one who is stronger than he". Then in verse 12: "who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?". God is stronger than us and only God can tell us what will happen in the future. Since God is in control of our lives, our futures and that of the world, we need to trust him in that. This means that we need to relinquish the decision, if not the lifestyle, of fret and worry. As Christians we need to live in this world, but remember that we are in fact citizens of heaven. This is a hard thing to balance because obviously we have things such as taxes and jobs that we must maintain now, but nonetheless I think we still need to keep a focus on our end goal; heaven. What does that look like? Here are a few practical things that came to my mind.
1. Trust God with your life. Trust him with your grades, your job, your uncertainties, your health, your family, everything. He is in control no matter how good or how bad things get.
2. Keep your focus on Christ and on heaven by not becoming attached to things of this world. Give your money, your time and your possessions. I am constantly impressed and encouraged by seeing this in the people at Hinson Baptist Church while working on youth staff the last 2 years. People buying kids lunch, giving time to help teach or set up, simply showing Christ's love and their detachment to this world through the act of giving.
3. Get to know God. Read his word. We as humans seem to have an unlimited amount of time for video games and Facebook but yet struggle to read even a chapter of the Bible. Its funny how people can't put down a good book but are so eager to put down the "Good Book".
4. Keep your hands open to Christ. This doesn't mean sell all your possessions and sell your house and move to a remote place (although maybe you'll do that someday!) but keep your hands open so that God has access to those things. If you hold a pencil in a clenched fist, the pencil is yours and no one can take it. If you place the pencil on an open palm however, the pencil is still yours, but it can be taken. This is the same with your life on earth. If you hold onto it with clenched fists, God could be calling you to something but you won't let go of what you have. If your hands are open however, God can use them. He might take them, but he always has your best interest in mind, and when you're truly serving God, even if he takes them you will still find joy because your hands were open to him taking those things in the first place.
We can't contend with God. He has control of our lives so we need to open our hands to him and relinquish our worries and our fears. We need to give him access to anything and everything we have including our possessions, our comfort, our children, everything. If he takes something away from your clenched fists, it will be so much more painful than if he takes it away form your open hands.
It is finals week so it is easy for me to worry about my grades. However, I know that God has got me this far and I know that whatever grades I get, I am still going to be able to follow him, to obey him and to share him and thus I'm completing his plan for my life.
Sumo!!!
Today I went and watched the final day of the current Sumo tournament. It was pretty sweet. Its really cool because its such a long lasting tradition and its impressive that it is still the same today as it was probably hundreds of years ago. Tradition aside, the best part was when a sumo fell onto one of the judges sitting ring side (he was okay). It was pretty action-packed and the winner got a year's supply of all sorts of stuff including gas from the UAE (United Arab Emrites... its a country), a year's supply of Coke, and all sorts of trophies to go with it. Here is the final match...
the guy that won this match got some nice earnings for winning, but the guy who lost went 14-1 on the tournament so he was the big winner. I was hoping for some bracket style but apparently the Sumo-league and the BCS are in cahoots.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:9; Money is Meaningless
Money.
Its something we need, its something we want and its something that can consume us. We need it because money is what we use to trade for goods and services that we need to live. We want it because we want more goods and services and better belongings, but it also can consume us because we can spend our whole life chasing it, only to die and lose it all. Pharaohs and other such royalty used to bury themselves with their possessions, believing that it would transfer with them to the next life so they could retain what they had, but those things are still in their tombs. When we die, we don't take anything with us. Any money we earn, any of our possessions, anything we own, could be gone in the blink of an eye, and that is what Solomon gets at in this next section of Ecclesiastes. I don't think what he says, or what I'm going to say for that matter, is anything you haven't heard before, but I think that for those of us who are Christians, how we view money is very important. For those of you who are not Christians (and also those of you who are Christians), I would ask you to contemplate how you view money; what is it's meaning in your life? Something you are constantly chasing, something you are hoarding or even something you can't live without? In a couple paragraphs, I want to restate three things I think Solomon is saying about money.
1. Don't fall in love with money. Right off the bat Solomon says whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. (5:10). I'm going to be honest with you, I have 5 iPods. Two of them were gifts, one of them I got at a crazy good price and the other two I bought at normal market price. Why is it that I have 5 iPods? Well, in my case I have had some unlucky cases of iPods breaking. But suffice it to say the iPod is a great example of a product that keeps getting better so that people keep buying the newest model. I didn't really need my latest iPod, but my older one had a broken part and the new one has a camera! So I indulged. Human beings always want more. They always want the next big thing and that goes for Solomon's time and even now. Those with money keep buying things and keep wanting more money to buy more things. It is a cycle isn't it?
I think this all can relate well to Jesus' words: You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). I'm not married so I might be wrong but I think of love as an emotion that causes someone to make sacrifices for another person. It is an emotion that also causes one person to be completely absorbed and even obsessed (in a good way) with their spouse. The love-bond between a husband and wife should be one where each party makes sacrifices for the other to make the other party happy. This relationship is one where the husband and wife love each other exclusively; out of every women in the world, he chose her and out of every man in the world she chose him. Now remember how marriage is a picture created by God to show his love for his church and even his love for each of us personally. Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for us and he loves his church exclusively. What about us? Do we make sacrifices for Jesus, for the gospel, because we love him so much? Do we exclusively choose Jesus over self-indulgence, lust, our own desires, our own plans, the list goes on and on. When we fall in love with money, we begin to make sacrifices for money. Think of Enron, the "higher ups" essentially sacrificed countless people in order to insure that their paychecks would be a little bit larger. I also think of the average Japanese salaryman who's life is his job. He wakes up early and comes home late just to make a paycheck. Just as Solomon says, we are never satisfied with money when we fall in love with it, because nothing can satisfy us on this earth other than Jesus! So whether you're a Christian or not, I plead with you not to fall in love with money because it truly does consume your life!
So how then should we view money?
2. Money is a gift from God. Use it wisely. Everything we have on this earth is a gift from God. Think of how precise the human body is. Every little piece working perfectly to keep you alive. If one tiny thing went wrong it could potentially prove to be fatal. Life itself even is a gift from God, as is our possessions, our relationships and even our personal characteristics. So first, I think it is important to keep in mind that money is a gift from God and put it in perspective. If we have been given this gift, how should we use it? Think of the Parable of the King's Ten Servants in Luke 19:11-27. The King gives ten men each the same amount of money. Nine of them invest it and make varying amounts of profit, but one, he buries it in a hole and hides it. With our money, should we indulge ourselves and spend it frivolously? No! Let me first say that I do think it is fine to spend money on yourself or your family, but are you spending all or most of your money for yourself? I think that the gifts God has given us are meant to turn profit. By that I mean that the things God has given us should be used for the kingdom! Tithing isn't the church's scheme to get a little more money so the offices can have air conditioning or a pool table, tithing is a way that members of a local congregation can give back the gifts God has given them to help support the local church they are a part of! I can think of many examples of people at Hinson who do this but so as not to embarrass anyone I'll give a different example.
It is completely cliche right now but, Tim Tebow has been blessed by God with skill at football and an opportunity to play football at the highest level. Now Timmy might have a nice house, he might have a flat-screen tv, I'm not sure and frankly it doesn't matter to me because Tim Tebow is using his gifts for God. Every game this last season, home or away, Tim has invited a sick, even dying, kid, teenager or adult to be his guest for the day. http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7455943/believing-tim-tebow (you can go to this link to read the story). He is loving people with his money. In the story it talks about how he not only gives them an all expenses paid trip (using his money) but also meets with them before and after the games and shows them the love of Christ personally (using his gifts of personality). None of us are millionaires, but how are you using the gifts God has given you? How are you spending your money? If you are a member of a local church are you tithing? If not, why not? I encourage you to look for ways to use the gifts God has given you for the Kingdom of God, and not just money. How can you use things like your house, your car, your skills? If your aren't a Christian, how are using your money? A better question would be, when you die, will the things you bought help you or anyone? I strongly believe that through Christ, we find meaning in even trivial things like how we spend our money, because we are spending it with the purpose of furthering an eternal kingdom, with the purpose of loving people, with the purpose of meeting needs.
3. Be happy with what you have. In chapter 6 verse 9 Solomon, very poetically, warns to be content with what you have. I think this is easier said than done. It is natural to want things even things that aren't material goods like being taller or being smarter. Despite this I think it is important to be content with what God has given us. He has a plan for our lives and in this plan, we have certain possessions, certain characteristics and experiences. His plan for our lives is to glorify him and worship him so how will you use the things he has given you to do that? Be happy with what you have because what you have is all you need to worship Christ!
I'll close by simply saying, if you are not a Christian, I encourage you to consider Jesus Christ, through whom you can make your money spending meaningful. Rather than indulging in yourself, you can use your money, your possessions, your time for a great cause, an eternal cause! To the Christian, I would ask you to consider how you are currently using your money, possessions and time. Is how you are using it glorifying to Christ? Material things will fade away through time but when we spend our gifts for the eternal kingdom of God, we can have an impact that will last forever.
Its something we need, its something we want and its something that can consume us. We need it because money is what we use to trade for goods and services that we need to live. We want it because we want more goods and services and better belongings, but it also can consume us because we can spend our whole life chasing it, only to die and lose it all. Pharaohs and other such royalty used to bury themselves with their possessions, believing that it would transfer with them to the next life so they could retain what they had, but those things are still in their tombs. When we die, we don't take anything with us. Any money we earn, any of our possessions, anything we own, could be gone in the blink of an eye, and that is what Solomon gets at in this next section of Ecclesiastes. I don't think what he says, or what I'm going to say for that matter, is anything you haven't heard before, but I think that for those of us who are Christians, how we view money is very important. For those of you who are not Christians (and also those of you who are Christians), I would ask you to contemplate how you view money; what is it's meaning in your life? Something you are constantly chasing, something you are hoarding or even something you can't live without? In a couple paragraphs, I want to restate three things I think Solomon is saying about money.
1. Don't fall in love with money. Right off the bat Solomon says whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. (5:10). I'm going to be honest with you, I have 5 iPods. Two of them were gifts, one of them I got at a crazy good price and the other two I bought at normal market price. Why is it that I have 5 iPods? Well, in my case I have had some unlucky cases of iPods breaking. But suffice it to say the iPod is a great example of a product that keeps getting better so that people keep buying the newest model. I didn't really need my latest iPod, but my older one had a broken part and the new one has a camera! So I indulged. Human beings always want more. They always want the next big thing and that goes for Solomon's time and even now. Those with money keep buying things and keep wanting more money to buy more things. It is a cycle isn't it?
I think this all can relate well to Jesus' words: You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). I'm not married so I might be wrong but I think of love as an emotion that causes someone to make sacrifices for another person. It is an emotion that also causes one person to be completely absorbed and even obsessed (in a good way) with their spouse. The love-bond between a husband and wife should be one where each party makes sacrifices for the other to make the other party happy. This relationship is one where the husband and wife love each other exclusively; out of every women in the world, he chose her and out of every man in the world she chose him. Now remember how marriage is a picture created by God to show his love for his church and even his love for each of us personally. Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for us and he loves his church exclusively. What about us? Do we make sacrifices for Jesus, for the gospel, because we love him so much? Do we exclusively choose Jesus over self-indulgence, lust, our own desires, our own plans, the list goes on and on. When we fall in love with money, we begin to make sacrifices for money. Think of Enron, the "higher ups" essentially sacrificed countless people in order to insure that their paychecks would be a little bit larger. I also think of the average Japanese salaryman who's life is his job. He wakes up early and comes home late just to make a paycheck. Just as Solomon says, we are never satisfied with money when we fall in love with it, because nothing can satisfy us on this earth other than Jesus! So whether you're a Christian or not, I plead with you not to fall in love with money because it truly does consume your life!
So how then should we view money?
2. Money is a gift from God. Use it wisely. Everything we have on this earth is a gift from God. Think of how precise the human body is. Every little piece working perfectly to keep you alive. If one tiny thing went wrong it could potentially prove to be fatal. Life itself even is a gift from God, as is our possessions, our relationships and even our personal characteristics. So first, I think it is important to keep in mind that money is a gift from God and put it in perspective. If we have been given this gift, how should we use it? Think of the Parable of the King's Ten Servants in Luke 19:11-27. The King gives ten men each the same amount of money. Nine of them invest it and make varying amounts of profit, but one, he buries it in a hole and hides it. With our money, should we indulge ourselves and spend it frivolously? No! Let me first say that I do think it is fine to spend money on yourself or your family, but are you spending all or most of your money for yourself? I think that the gifts God has given us are meant to turn profit. By that I mean that the things God has given us should be used for the kingdom! Tithing isn't the church's scheme to get a little more money so the offices can have air conditioning or a pool table, tithing is a way that members of a local congregation can give back the gifts God has given them to help support the local church they are a part of! I can think of many examples of people at Hinson who do this but so as not to embarrass anyone I'll give a different example.
It is completely cliche right now but, Tim Tebow has been blessed by God with skill at football and an opportunity to play football at the highest level. Now Timmy might have a nice house, he might have a flat-screen tv, I'm not sure and frankly it doesn't matter to me because Tim Tebow is using his gifts for God. Every game this last season, home or away, Tim has invited a sick, even dying, kid, teenager or adult to be his guest for the day. http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7455943/believing-tim-tebow (you can go to this link to read the story). He is loving people with his money. In the story it talks about how he not only gives them an all expenses paid trip (using his money) but also meets with them before and after the games and shows them the love of Christ personally (using his gifts of personality). None of us are millionaires, but how are you using the gifts God has given you? How are you spending your money? If you are a member of a local church are you tithing? If not, why not? I encourage you to look for ways to use the gifts God has given you for the Kingdom of God, and not just money. How can you use things like your house, your car, your skills? If your aren't a Christian, how are using your money? A better question would be, when you die, will the things you bought help you or anyone? I strongly believe that through Christ, we find meaning in even trivial things like how we spend our money, because we are spending it with the purpose of furthering an eternal kingdom, with the purpose of loving people, with the purpose of meeting needs.
3. Be happy with what you have. In chapter 6 verse 9 Solomon, very poetically, warns to be content with what you have. I think this is easier said than done. It is natural to want things even things that aren't material goods like being taller or being smarter. Despite this I think it is important to be content with what God has given us. He has a plan for our lives and in this plan, we have certain possessions, certain characteristics and experiences. His plan for our lives is to glorify him and worship him so how will you use the things he has given you to do that? Be happy with what you have because what you have is all you need to worship Christ!
I'll close by simply saying, if you are not a Christian, I encourage you to consider Jesus Christ, through whom you can make your money spending meaningful. Rather than indulging in yourself, you can use your money, your possessions, your time for a great cause, an eternal cause! To the Christian, I would ask you to consider how you are currently using your money, possessions and time. Is how you are using it glorifying to Christ? Material things will fade away through time but when we spend our gifts for the eternal kingdom of God, we can have an impact that will last forever.
Adults Day! and other various items...
So sorry I haven't updated lately, I've been somewhat busy and with finals looming I'll probably become a little bit busier. But don't worry, i'm still managing to watch 8 hours of tv a day.
Last Monday the 9th was Adults Day in Japan; the day where everyone who turned 20 in the last year is celebrated for becoming an adult. I turned 20 in that time so i got to celebrate! It was a little weird as two years ago I essentially celebrated this when I cashed my savings account and bought lottery tickets, I broke even, who would have thought, but it was definitely a great experience and really a once in a lifetime thing. I went to my ward's ceremony which was basically just some of the officials telling us we're adults but, I was able to go to this with some people from my neighborhood, and got to wear a kimono which was cool! Afterwards, I went to lunch with my new friends (the people from my neighborhood who's parents know my parents) and some of their old elementary school/middle school friends. Afterwards and a little later we all went out to dinner and then to karaoke. (Andrew Millikan, I missed you at Karaoke, but the room was quite small so it would have been hard to choreograph a dance number. )
Today I went to church, then after church the body held a birthday party for a guy who turned 88! After that I went and played soccer with some friends at a park. I also through a football around with some random guys I saw playing catch. It was really nice to do that and was very surprising to see a football in Japan.
Wish me luck, I have a final tomorrow so we'll see how that goes!
Last Monday the 9th was Adults Day in Japan; the day where everyone who turned 20 in the last year is celebrated for becoming an adult. I turned 20 in that time so i got to celebrate! It was a little weird as two years ago I essentially celebrated this when I cashed my savings account and bought lottery tickets, I broke even, who would have thought, but it was definitely a great experience and really a once in a lifetime thing. I went to my ward's ceremony which was basically just some of the officials telling us we're adults but, I was able to go to this with some people from my neighborhood, and got to wear a kimono which was cool! Afterwards, I went to lunch with my new friends (the people from my neighborhood who's parents know my parents) and some of their old elementary school/middle school friends. Afterwards and a little later we all went out to dinner and then to karaoke. (Andrew Millikan, I missed you at Karaoke, but the room was quite small so it would have been hard to choreograph a dance number. )
Today I went to church, then after church the body held a birthday party for a guy who turned 88! After that I went and played soccer with some friends at a park. I also through a football around with some random guys I saw playing catch. It was really nice to do that and was very surprising to see a football in Japan.
Wish me luck, I have a final tomorrow so we'll see how that goes!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Ecclesiastes 3:16-5:7; Labor is Meaningless
There seems to be a pretty standard path for most people as the hit high school. Okay first, do really good in high school so you can get into a good college so you can get a good job and then get a bunch of money and then have a good life. But what does it matter? The people who work hard maybe do gain a good life, but eventually the pass away. The lazy people, sure their life on earth might not be great, but eventually they too die just like the person who worked hard. So it would seem then that the goal, the meaning even, of life is to work really hard at having the best possible life on earth. But there is a problem.
If I could sum up this next section in one cliche, it would be "life isn't fair". Solomon looks at the meaninglessness of life by looking at a few situations of common life and work. He first starts by lamenting that in the place of judgement and justice, there is wickedness. Essentially he states something we probably all have seen and experienced. Life isn't fair. Sometimes the lazy guy gets the promotion. Sometimes the kid that didn't try at all in high school has a grandpa who went to an Ivy League school. Life isn't fair and it is not uncommon for people to get things they don't deserve. That said, isn't life meaningless? We could work really hard and gain nothing or not work at all and gain lots of stuff, it doesn't really matter what we do huh?
Solomon then continues to look at those who do work. Many people's lives are spent trying to get that perfect life, that "American Dream" and all they do is work. Solomon says "and I declared that the dead, are happier than the living" (4:2). Life isn't fair. You can spend your whole life working and gain nothing but callused hands or really good Microsoft Excel skills.
Solomon then continues on the same theme but from a different standpoint of relationships. Some people are blessed with others to help them work is his message but isn't it true that some people are blessed with large families while others aren't. Life isn't fair, some people come from huge, loving families while others come from broken homes. Some people don't have to work a day in their life because of the family they came from while others, they have to start from the bottom. That is why stories like, somewhat recently, Mardy Gilyard's (a Philadelphia Eagle football player) are so inspiring. He was a kid in a broken home who ate mayonnaise sandwiches growing up because his family didn't have money who now is an NFL football player. Life gives different relationships to different people and this can help or hurt us but we have no control over this.
So it would seem that nothing we do matters because either way we could end up getting lucky or end up working hard for nothing right? Wrong. Solomon in chapter 5 says "God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few" (5:2). God has a plan. Even if your circumstances are terrible you must understand that God has a plan for your life. Through God, through Christ, we find meaning in our lives. Without God, our lives truly are meaningless but with God we have a purpose, to glorify him, to follow his commands, to share the good news of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection with others!
So let us backtrack for a second. Everyone is given different circumstances and people in their lives, some help and some hurt us. When Christ is our focus however, we who have no one in our life physically have a best friend in Jesus and we who have many people in our life can praise God for that blessing and try to show the love we feel from family and friends with those who don't have that love. We are given different circumstances which God an use for his glory. The missionary Amy Carmichael hated her eye color but was able to use her brown eyes to save children from oppression (if you are unfamiliar with this story I will let you check it out on your own.).
From a worldly standpoint, work can truly be meaningless, but this is because those workers have no idea where their life is going and have no purpose other than to try and make money and comfort. In Christ however no matter what we do we have a purpose to glorify him which makes even menial tasks worth doing because by doing them joyfully you are glorifying God and thus accomplishing his plan for you!
Lastly, it would seem that the world is corrupt and justice is nowhere to be found and that is because that is somewhat true. With sin in the world sometimes the "bad guy" does win. Just look at the news and you find that recently over 20 Nigerian Christians were killed for being Christian. But take heart friend, because if you follow Christ, you know that one day he will return and justice will come. Wrongs will be righted and we can take joy in knowing that those who have been martyred and persecuted will be greatly rewarded for their faith.
So if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ's gift of grace, that is his death on the cross for your sin, in your place, please accept it, make Christ Lord of your life and choose to follow him, because through Christ, life gains meaning, your labor has meaning because you labor for the glory of God.
Christian. life isn't fair. Bad things happen to good people. But take heart because one day, wrongs will be righted and justice will prevail. So don't let your work and toil be meaningless, but rather work for God, work to glorify him, work to love more, work to obey the commands of Christ, and through this, everything you do will have great meaning. John Piper in his book "Don't Waste Your Life" writes about a missionary couple who within days of arriving in Africa died when their car road off a cliff. Family was asked if they thought this was a waste but the family didn't. Their focus was on Christ and so even though this couple wasn't able to actually share the gospel with anyone before they passed away, they were still laboring for the gospel a much better cause than a job, a house or a cozy lifestyle.
If I could sum up this next section in one cliche, it would be "life isn't fair". Solomon looks at the meaninglessness of life by looking at a few situations of common life and work. He first starts by lamenting that in the place of judgement and justice, there is wickedness. Essentially he states something we probably all have seen and experienced. Life isn't fair. Sometimes the lazy guy gets the promotion. Sometimes the kid that didn't try at all in high school has a grandpa who went to an Ivy League school. Life isn't fair and it is not uncommon for people to get things they don't deserve. That said, isn't life meaningless? We could work really hard and gain nothing or not work at all and gain lots of stuff, it doesn't really matter what we do huh?
Solomon then continues to look at those who do work. Many people's lives are spent trying to get that perfect life, that "American Dream" and all they do is work. Solomon says "and I declared that the dead, are happier than the living" (4:2). Life isn't fair. You can spend your whole life working and gain nothing but callused hands or really good Microsoft Excel skills.
Solomon then continues on the same theme but from a different standpoint of relationships. Some people are blessed with others to help them work is his message but isn't it true that some people are blessed with large families while others aren't. Life isn't fair, some people come from huge, loving families while others come from broken homes. Some people don't have to work a day in their life because of the family they came from while others, they have to start from the bottom. That is why stories like, somewhat recently, Mardy Gilyard's (a Philadelphia Eagle football player) are so inspiring. He was a kid in a broken home who ate mayonnaise sandwiches growing up because his family didn't have money who now is an NFL football player. Life gives different relationships to different people and this can help or hurt us but we have no control over this.
So it would seem that nothing we do matters because either way we could end up getting lucky or end up working hard for nothing right? Wrong. Solomon in chapter 5 says "God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few" (5:2). God has a plan. Even if your circumstances are terrible you must understand that God has a plan for your life. Through God, through Christ, we find meaning in our lives. Without God, our lives truly are meaningless but with God we have a purpose, to glorify him, to follow his commands, to share the good news of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection with others!
So let us backtrack for a second. Everyone is given different circumstances and people in their lives, some help and some hurt us. When Christ is our focus however, we who have no one in our life physically have a best friend in Jesus and we who have many people in our life can praise God for that blessing and try to show the love we feel from family and friends with those who don't have that love. We are given different circumstances which God an use for his glory. The missionary Amy Carmichael hated her eye color but was able to use her brown eyes to save children from oppression (if you are unfamiliar with this story I will let you check it out on your own.).
From a worldly standpoint, work can truly be meaningless, but this is because those workers have no idea where their life is going and have no purpose other than to try and make money and comfort. In Christ however no matter what we do we have a purpose to glorify him which makes even menial tasks worth doing because by doing them joyfully you are glorifying God and thus accomplishing his plan for you!
Lastly, it would seem that the world is corrupt and justice is nowhere to be found and that is because that is somewhat true. With sin in the world sometimes the "bad guy" does win. Just look at the news and you find that recently over 20 Nigerian Christians were killed for being Christian. But take heart friend, because if you follow Christ, you know that one day he will return and justice will come. Wrongs will be righted and we can take joy in knowing that those who have been martyred and persecuted will be greatly rewarded for their faith.
So if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ's gift of grace, that is his death on the cross for your sin, in your place, please accept it, make Christ Lord of your life and choose to follow him, because through Christ, life gains meaning, your labor has meaning because you labor for the glory of God.
Christian. life isn't fair. Bad things happen to good people. But take heart because one day, wrongs will be righted and justice will prevail. So don't let your work and toil be meaningless, but rather work for God, work to glorify him, work to love more, work to obey the commands of Christ, and through this, everything you do will have great meaning. John Piper in his book "Don't Waste Your Life" writes about a missionary couple who within days of arriving in Africa died when their car road off a cliff. Family was asked if they thought this was a waste but the family didn't. Their focus was on Christ and so even though this couple wasn't able to actually share the gospel with anyone before they passed away, they were still laboring for the gospel a much better cause than a job, a house or a cozy lifestyle.
My Last Week or So...
A quick update on what I've been up to this last week.
On Tuesday I went to Disney Sea with some people from my Oregon group. It was a lot of fun however Disney Sea is very spread out and doesn't have many "big" rides which creates a lot of walking and waiting in line. Nonetheless it was a lot of fun and quite frankly, the architecture of the entire theme park is impeccable. It really is a beautiful park.
Apart from that I haven't done much other than hanging out at home and running some errands. School started yesterday technically but I don't have class again for two days.
Tomorrow is the celebration for everyone who turns or turned 20 from march '11 to march '12 so I'm going to a ceremony tomorrow. I think I get to wear a kimono so hopefully I can find a sword and be a samurai at the ceremony.
On Tuesday I went to Disney Sea with some people from my Oregon group. It was a lot of fun however Disney Sea is very spread out and doesn't have many "big" rides which creates a lot of walking and waiting in line. Nonetheless it was a lot of fun and quite frankly, the architecture of the entire theme park is impeccable. It really is a beautiful park.
Apart from that I haven't done much other than hanging out at home and running some errands. School started yesterday technically but I don't have class again for two days.
Tomorrow is the celebration for everyone who turns or turned 20 from march '11 to march '12 so I'm going to a ceremony tomorrow. I think I get to wear a kimono so hopefully I can find a sword and be a samurai at the ceremony.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Weekly Meditations: Ecclesiastes 1-3:15; Everything is Meaningless
I was in the Otemachi train station the other day going to school when a thought hit me. As I was walking down the hall I noticed how monotonous train stations are. On one side there is a sea of people dressed exactly the same walking one way while on the other side the same is happening, only moving in the opposite direction. At that moment I was greeted by the age old question: "what is life all about". To many in Japan it is a job. You wake up at the same time, eat your breakfast, but your salaryman suit on and head out the door into the same routine, everyday. How unfulfilling is this right? Nothing new, just everyday the same monotone clothes, the same hallways, the same sea of people doing the exact same as you. It would seem that life in this day and age has no meaning. It would seem that all life is, is a routine we go through each day, each week, until we hit our eventual death.
Solomon deals with this same problem in the book of Ecclesiastes when he opens his writing with "Meaningless! Meaningless! ... Everything is meaningless" and with this idea, I want to start a study in the book of Ecclesiastes and humbly answer the question of what the meaning of life is.
The book of Ecclesiastes really can't be read in more than one sitting. Honestly, it is quite a beautiful book when read all at once but we are going to split it up which is why I'm going to start things off by giving an extremely short summary of the book and in doing so, I will not only answer the question of life's meaning but also share the thesis that will guide me over the next several weeks. In short, Ecclesiastes is a book that rants about how meaningless life is but then concludes by arguing that in God, life in fact finds its meaning. Simple, but yet so profound.
As Solomon begins to write, he is distraught by how meaningless life is. "Everything is meaningless" he says. He goes on in chapters 1 and 2 to say that labor, wisdom, pleasures, folly, toil, essentially life, is meaningless. I agree. Our lives need something to gain meaning or else just like Solomon says, our lives will not have meaning and nothing we do will have meaning. What good is it if we gain all the wisdom in the world, all the wealth, if we work hard, if we toil and labor, if we waste life away as a fool or if we live as a king when at the end of it all we will die and have none of it? We can't stop death with wealth or wisdom, pleasures are fleeting; I mean take a look at your Christmas gifts, in two weeks time I guarantee you will not feel the same way about them as you did when you received them. So how then do we give life meaning? How can our work, our wisdom, even our fun be worth something? Solomon answers this in chapter 3 verse 11 when he writes "...He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end". In verse 14 he writes "God does it so that men will revere him". So what then is the purpose of life? To revere God. To stand in awe of him and what he has done. But then take that further and set your heart on eternity with God which is only accomplished through Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ came to the earth, lived a perfect life and then died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He died in our place so that we could be made right with God. Through belief in this act we can gain entrance into life eternal with God because we are seen as clean, we are forgiven for our sin. So to be focused on eternity then is to be focused on Christ and what he accomplished on the cross, and to be focused on Christ is to hold him as Lord of our life and revere him! So friends, the way to find purpose in our lives is to revere and worship Jesus Christ. When we make the decision to follow Christ, when we follow his commands, it is then that we find meaning, it is then that our actions have meaning.
When we follow Christ it doesn't matter what we do, we will be glorifying God. That is not to say that we could sin and glorify God, but rather, that if we seek wisdom while following Christ, it glorifies him, when we take pleasure having fun with friends, it glorifies him and when we work, it glorifies him too. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God". When we are truly following the commands of Christ, everything we do finds meaning in him, and everything we do glorifies him and as Solomon says in chapter 3 verse 13, "this is the gift of God".
So despite my boring, monotonous walk each morning to school, I know that if I have my heart set on Christ, my life has meaning. The things that I do and the choices I make have meaning because when I choose to follow Christ, it glorifies God and this is the purpose of my life, to worship the creator along with all of creation.
Solomon deals with this same problem in the book of Ecclesiastes when he opens his writing with "Meaningless! Meaningless! ... Everything is meaningless" and with this idea, I want to start a study in the book of Ecclesiastes and humbly answer the question of what the meaning of life is.
The book of Ecclesiastes really can't be read in more than one sitting. Honestly, it is quite a beautiful book when read all at once but we are going to split it up which is why I'm going to start things off by giving an extremely short summary of the book and in doing so, I will not only answer the question of life's meaning but also share the thesis that will guide me over the next several weeks. In short, Ecclesiastes is a book that rants about how meaningless life is but then concludes by arguing that in God, life in fact finds its meaning. Simple, but yet so profound.
As Solomon begins to write, he is distraught by how meaningless life is. "Everything is meaningless" he says. He goes on in chapters 1 and 2 to say that labor, wisdom, pleasures, folly, toil, essentially life, is meaningless. I agree. Our lives need something to gain meaning or else just like Solomon says, our lives will not have meaning and nothing we do will have meaning. What good is it if we gain all the wisdom in the world, all the wealth, if we work hard, if we toil and labor, if we waste life away as a fool or if we live as a king when at the end of it all we will die and have none of it? We can't stop death with wealth or wisdom, pleasures are fleeting; I mean take a look at your Christmas gifts, in two weeks time I guarantee you will not feel the same way about them as you did when you received them. So how then do we give life meaning? How can our work, our wisdom, even our fun be worth something? Solomon answers this in chapter 3 verse 11 when he writes "...He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end". In verse 14 he writes "God does it so that men will revere him". So what then is the purpose of life? To revere God. To stand in awe of him and what he has done. But then take that further and set your heart on eternity with God which is only accomplished through Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ came to the earth, lived a perfect life and then died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He died in our place so that we could be made right with God. Through belief in this act we can gain entrance into life eternal with God because we are seen as clean, we are forgiven for our sin. So to be focused on eternity then is to be focused on Christ and what he accomplished on the cross, and to be focused on Christ is to hold him as Lord of our life and revere him! So friends, the way to find purpose in our lives is to revere and worship Jesus Christ. When we make the decision to follow Christ, when we follow his commands, it is then that we find meaning, it is then that our actions have meaning.
When we follow Christ it doesn't matter what we do, we will be glorifying God. That is not to say that we could sin and glorify God, but rather, that if we seek wisdom while following Christ, it glorifies him, when we take pleasure having fun with friends, it glorifies him and when we work, it glorifies him too. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God". When we are truly following the commands of Christ, everything we do finds meaning in him, and everything we do glorifies him and as Solomon says in chapter 3 verse 13, "this is the gift of God".
So despite my boring, monotonous walk each morning to school, I know that if I have my heart set on Christ, my life has meaning. The things that I do and the choices I make have meaning because when I choose to follow Christ, it glorifies God and this is the purpose of my life, to worship the creator along with all of creation.
2012
Well here it is, 2012. In just 100 more years the priests of the temples of Syrinx will fill their hallowed halls with computers (if you know what I'm talking about pat yourself on the back).
To kick the new year off, I though I would give you 20 interesting facts about Japan, followed by 12 new years resolutions.
20 interesting facts about Japan:
1. There aren't trash cans on the side walks but no one here litters. It makes for very clean streets and the annoyance of having to carry your garbage around with you.
2. Christmas is mostly celebrated on Christmas Eve here. You spend time with your girlfriend, not your family.
3. New Years however is a huge deal, it has its own food, games, activities and has monetary present giving. Nice.
4. Japanese game shows usually don't feature random civilians but rather pit celebrities against each other. Not only are the game shows better in pretty much every way, but you are able to see your favorite stars do hilarious things.
5. Japanese television is mostly variety type shows and educational programs featuring different combinations of about 100 celebrities. Its actually pretty fun to watch, its like reality tv that makes you smarter instead of slowly killing off your brain cells.
6. Since school uniforms are a must here, elementary school boys wear short shorts and middle/high school girls wear skirts all year. Even winter. Even though the temperature is almost freezing. I feel bad for the elementary school boys most of all, they're cold and have to wear short shorts.
7. The lowest quality cell phones here are better than any American non-smart phone yet you would think the Japanese haven't imported a computer since 1996.
8. Speaking of which I don't think they've manufactured a basketball for the last 20 odd years.
9. They say your never three feet away from a spider; in Japan I'm never three feet away from a vending machine. I swear there's one for every citizen here.
10. I may have said this in an earlier post but.... People go to Disneyland decked out in mickey ears and Disney clothing like I go to a Blazer game.
11. Cell phone accessaries are a must. They range from fairly small little figurines to "are you kidding me" sized plastic food and stuffed animals.
12. I literally have 2 whole months of break between semesters. So does everyone else.
13. The Tokyo Tower is an orange slightly taller Eiffel Tower. #when8metersmatters.
14. I ate a small squid the other day, then two days later ate another one.
15. I'm pretty sure every Japanese song in the last 10 years has at least one English word in it. Its actually hilarious to listen too because its all Japanese and then suddenly there's some random English phrase that doesn't quite make sense. i.e. "do you wanna play tag?"
16. Setting aside the traditional singers, every artist here is a pop artist, even the ones that are trying to be a rock band or a rapper.
17. The train system here is impeccable.
18. Earthquakes (small ones) happen fairly frequently here. By the way, there was a pretty big one today but I am fine and as far as I know there weren't any injuries etc.
19. Convenience stores here sell edible food and the cashiers are polite.
20. Japan has a great mix of the modern and the traditional. There are lots of really cool new buildings as well as beautiful shrines and temples close by.
12 new years resolutions:
1. Become a legend in Japan.
2. Eat more cheeseburgers.
3. Bring honor to my ancestors
4. Catch a Dragon
5. Find out Dragons aren't real.
6. Discover the lost city of Atlantis
7. Write a book about a teenager who finds out he's 1/4 vampire, 1/4 werewolf, 1/8 swamp monster and 1/2 Australian. Don't worry, the people that read these books can't do math.
8. Invent a new pig based meat.
9. Learn to go off on endless tangents like so many of professors can do.
10. Memorize the Friends theme song.
11. Prove to CBS that they are not in fact the best television station. I'm not sure on what planet Mike and Molly is the number one new comedy and Neil Patrick Harris is overrated. No offense Neil.
12. Become Supreme Commander of something.
To kick the new year off, I though I would give you 20 interesting facts about Japan, followed by 12 new years resolutions.
20 interesting facts about Japan:
1. There aren't trash cans on the side walks but no one here litters. It makes for very clean streets and the annoyance of having to carry your garbage around with you.
2. Christmas is mostly celebrated on Christmas Eve here. You spend time with your girlfriend, not your family.
3. New Years however is a huge deal, it has its own food, games, activities and has monetary present giving. Nice.
4. Japanese game shows usually don't feature random civilians but rather pit celebrities against each other. Not only are the game shows better in pretty much every way, but you are able to see your favorite stars do hilarious things.
5. Japanese television is mostly variety type shows and educational programs featuring different combinations of about 100 celebrities. Its actually pretty fun to watch, its like reality tv that makes you smarter instead of slowly killing off your brain cells.
6. Since school uniforms are a must here, elementary school boys wear short shorts and middle/high school girls wear skirts all year. Even winter. Even though the temperature is almost freezing. I feel bad for the elementary school boys most of all, they're cold and have to wear short shorts.
7. The lowest quality cell phones here are better than any American non-smart phone yet you would think the Japanese haven't imported a computer since 1996.
8. Speaking of which I don't think they've manufactured a basketball for the last 20 odd years.
9. They say your never three feet away from a spider; in Japan I'm never three feet away from a vending machine. I swear there's one for every citizen here.
10. I may have said this in an earlier post but.... People go to Disneyland decked out in mickey ears and Disney clothing like I go to a Blazer game.
11. Cell phone accessaries are a must. They range from fairly small little figurines to "are you kidding me" sized plastic food and stuffed animals.
12. I literally have 2 whole months of break between semesters. So does everyone else.
13. The Tokyo Tower is an orange slightly taller Eiffel Tower. #when8metersmatters.
14. I ate a small squid the other day, then two days later ate another one.
15. I'm pretty sure every Japanese song in the last 10 years has at least one English word in it. Its actually hilarious to listen too because its all Japanese and then suddenly there's some random English phrase that doesn't quite make sense. i.e. "do you wanna play tag?"
16. Setting aside the traditional singers, every artist here is a pop artist, even the ones that are trying to be a rock band or a rapper.
17. The train system here is impeccable.
18. Earthquakes (small ones) happen fairly frequently here. By the way, there was a pretty big one today but I am fine and as far as I know there weren't any injuries etc.
19. Convenience stores here sell edible food and the cashiers are polite.
20. Japan has a great mix of the modern and the traditional. There are lots of really cool new buildings as well as beautiful shrines and temples close by.
12 new years resolutions:
1. Become a legend in Japan.
2. Eat more cheeseburgers.
3. Bring honor to my ancestors
4. Catch a Dragon
5. Find out Dragons aren't real.
6. Discover the lost city of Atlantis
7. Write a book about a teenager who finds out he's 1/4 vampire, 1/4 werewolf, 1/8 swamp monster and 1/2 Australian. Don't worry, the people that read these books can't do math.
8. Invent a new pig based meat.
9. Learn to go off on endless tangents like so many of professors can do.
10. Memorize the Friends theme song.
11. Prove to CBS that they are not in fact the best television station. I'm not sure on what planet Mike and Molly is the number one new comedy and Neil Patrick Harris is overrated. No offense Neil.
12. Become Supreme Commander of something.
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