Share Your Time

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door. "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man.

"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?

"That's none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy.

"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

"Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"

The father was furious. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you're being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questioning. How dare him ask such questions only to get some money.

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep son?" he asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

"Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?"

Share some time with those who need you.
They need our time more then we will ever know.

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Bible Brain Teaser

I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu, kept people looking so hard for facts, and for others it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books are not capitalized, but the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers. To others, it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of the 17, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concenrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are the names of 17 books of the Bible in these sentences. (One preacher found 16 books in 20 minutes. It took him three weeks to find the seventeenth one.)

Submitted by Scott Quinn

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The Bible in Fifty Words

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained.

- Unknown

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Fear of Transformation

Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings. I'm either hanging on to a trapeze bar swinging along or, for a few moments in my life, I'm hurtling across space in between trapeze bars.

Most of the time, I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my trapeze-bar-of-the-moment. It carries me along a certain steady rate of swing and I have the feeling that I'm in control of my life. I know most of the right questions and even some of the right answers. But once in a while, as I'm merrily (or not so merrily) swinging along, I look ahead of me into the distance, and what do I see? I see another trapeze bar swinging toward me. It's empty, and I know, in that place that knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it. It is my next step, my growth, my aliveness going to get me. In my heart-of-hearts I know that for me to grow, I must release my grip on the present, well known bar to move to the new one.

Each time it happens to me, I hope (no, I pray) that I won't have to grab the new one. But in my knowing place I know that I must totally release my grasp on my old bar, and for some moment in time hurtle across space before I can grab onto the new bar. Each time I am filled with terror. It doesn't matter that in all my previous hurtles across the void of unknowing, I have always made it. Each time I am afraid I will miss, that I will be crushed on the unseen rocks in the bottomless chasm between the bars. But I do it anyway. Perhaps this is the essence of what the mystics call the faith experience. No guarantees, no net, no insurance policy, but you do it anyway because somehow, to keep hanging onto that old bar is no longer on the list of alternatives. And so for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of "the past is gone, the future is not yet here." It's called transition. I have come to believe that it is the only place that real change occurs. I mean real change, not the pseudo-change that only lasts until the next time my old buttons get punched.

I have noticed that, in our culture, this transition zone is looked upon as a "no-thing", a no-place between places. Sure the old trapeze-bar was real, and that new one coming towards me, I hope that's real too. But the void in between? That's just a scary, confusing, disorienting "nowhere" that must be gotten through as fast as unconsciously as possible. What a waste! I have a sneaking suspicion that the transition zone is the only real thing, and the bars are illusions we dream up to avoid, where the real change, the real growth occurs for us. Whether or not my hunch is true, it remains that the transition zones in our lives are incredibly rich places. They should be honored, even savored. Yes, with all the pain and fear and feelings of being out-of-control that can (but not necessarily) accompany transitions, they are still the most alive, most growth-filled, passionate, expansive moments in our lives.

And so, transformation of fear may have nothing to do with making fear go away, but rather with giving ourselves permission to "hang- out" in the transition between trapeze bars. Transforming our need to grab that new bar, any bar, is allowing ourselves to dwell in the only place where change really happens. It can be terrifying. It can also be enlightening, in the true sense of the word. Hurtling through the void, we just may learn how to fly.

From The Essene Book of Days by Danaan Parry
http://www.earthstewards.org

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Jack in Japan

With my foster family

At Gifu Park

At Nagara River

Meals :)

At Shotoku Gakuen School

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SSEAYP (The Ship For Southeast Asian Youth Program)

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Hearing God's voice

"Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith), To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:" (Hebrews 3:7-8).

Hearing God's voice??? Really? Can I?
Have you ever find those kinds of response? People are usually sceptic about this kind of spiritual experience. However, some are so enthusiastic and eager to experience it themselves.
I've seen some people came and asked, "how could you listen to God's voice, how did He speak to you, what His voice sounds like?" And the most favorite question regarding hearing God's voice is "how could I tell if it is God's voice or just my conscience?"

I want to let you know that God can speak to you and He wants to speak to you! And the good news is, His desire to speak to you is bigger than yours to hear from Him. God can speak to you through your conscience, through His creation, sometimes it is audible, but mostly He speaks to you through His word (the bible). We only need sensitivity and that kind of sensitivity can only be acquired through a relationship with Him. We can never expect to hear from Him if we never have a relationship with Him. The children of God need to hear from God every single day, we even MUST be able to hear from Him. Sometimes there are things which are emergency that God wants you to tell others and warn them about. It takes quietness and obedience! I used to tell my friends who wanted to hear from God, "Hearing God's voice is not a matter of CAN or CANNOT, its a matter of OBEDIENCE! What I mean here is that once you hear from Him you need to do whatever is said. The time you decide to not to hear what He says will cause Him to not to speak to you anymore.

It is important to always be obedient whenever He speaks cause He might want to tell the people about something or just to warn them.

It is written,
"Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith), To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:" (Hebrews 3:7-8).

The same words appears 3 times in the book of Hebrew, in Hebrew 3:7-8, 15, 4:7
What would that mean? He desires to speak to you!

I have an experience regarding the topic. I was attending a TOEFL test one day last year when suddenly I feel like something speaking in my heart to go to a nearby internet cafe. I wasn't planning to go there so I thought I'd just go home after the test to watch movie or something. Later on it happened that I went to the internet cafe, checking my email and my YM where I found a chat awaited. There a woman who was a new friend of mine asked if she could share about something else. So we chatted for more than an hour and it turned out that she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior (she was from another faith). PRAISE THE LORD! Later she told me that she was depressed by what was happening in her relationship with her fiance and she was unsure whether to share with me or not, besides, we never met before and it was just one month that we got to know each other, but she said there was a voice kept telling her to share with me so she did. A few weeks later I got an email from her saying she and her family went to church. AWESOME!!! I never knew that the voice I heard was meant for one's salvation. If I didn't listen to the voice, the woman might never come to Jesus personally.

Another testimony regarding hearing God's voice would be about a friend of mine who prayed for her aunt for salvation. She works as a teacher and got home at noon. She was tired back then when she heard a voice speaking in heart to pay a visit to her aunt who was sick. She tried to compromise as she was so tired but later she decided to follow the voice. So she went to see her aunt to encourage her, to share with her about Christ and just before she went home she felt compelled to pray for her aunt to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior. So her aunt was born again back then. As they finished praying, my friend went back home while keep praying that her aunt may be healed by God. Two days later she got a news that her aunt just passed away. WooAaa!!! Her first expression was "Praise the Lord, my aunt accepted Christ already!" Instead of grieving, she's now full of joy as she has a full assurance of her aunt's salvation.

See! God's timing is perfect. Can you imagine where her aunt would be right now if she didn't listen to the voice within her heart?

My suggestion is that you listen to His voice as He still want to let you hear from Him. Its now or never!!!
How many loss have you gone through because of your disobedient? How many regrets have you feel because of your ignorance?
My friend, let God speak to you.

"While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." (Hebrews 3:15).

ITS NOW OR NEVER!!!

God bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
~Jack Loloin~

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