Thinking about a lot of things (Part I)

There are much to be written about what i am thinking recently, from the books i've read, or situation that i've been in, or countries that i've visited - i'll try to come to some sort of organization for what i am thinking - it involves - pretty much everything from religion to technology to politics , conflicts between countries, and then about us - humans - and myself - obviously.

To start it off, i've been in multiple cities in multiple countries in the last couple of months, from my "home town" in the US to my "home town" in East Asia, there are much to be said, and much to be ponder about.

First of are things that we had taken for granted in the United States, from the technologies to food or sports - for one thing, as a follower of Christ, we've taken our faith and blessings for granted. As i am currently visiting the island of Taiwan, where the population of Christian are probably 2 to 3% which comparably lower than countries like Singapore, South Korea, and the US - but there are fervency here - some that i don't see in the States - the Christians here pray for revival and claim cities and neighborhood for Christ, they pray for healings of people's heart, they pray for physical healings, they are praying for God's glory to be displayed, in their country. The Christians here pray with authority that i felt we sometimes lacked in the States, have we stopped believing ?? or have we just sunked into the mindset of a Technopoly (i will refer to this book later) - where science had become our certainly, and not God ?? Let's just ask ourselves this question, who is constant, God? or the knowledge of this world ?? and who would we trust ??

if you've kept up with East Asian news lately, we all can see the struggle in Taiwan's democracy, where this "baby democracy" is still trying to learn how to be truly democratic, and how integrity is important , and how freedom needed to be used - very interestingly - just in the last couple of weeks and months, i can see that prayers are being offered for the Presidents, for the Parliament and such, for a government with Integrity - i hope this government will be truly transparent and truly free - and i am glad to be part of its audience as i watch it unfold ... and be part of the process by praying for it =)

Here's the next question i am going to pose - is United States getting less free - or have we just taken for granted of what we've know - or what we've inherited from previous generations of spiritual heroes ?? Have we gone soft of what we knew as truth ? Have we let the media or public opinion shaped the truth ?? I read some truly saddening news today where a valedictorian's speech was cut short (or blank out) because she mentioned her thankfulness to Christ as her savior - What is wrong with that speech ? A person truthfully thank her savior for saving her - yet doesn't have her rights to speak about that on her graduation ? In a free America ? what kind of argument is that? Persecution in America ? you tell me about that ...

I guess situations like that are fairly common lately, with the label of separation of Church and State , our country had taken away the opinion of my generation - we know the truth too - and when we share it, please do NOT shut us off ! Christians can be prominent figure too, we can be valedictorian as well, prominent scientists - even successful businessman , and stop branding us as backwards people, because we are NOT, and we refused to be branded as that -

okay, maybe i've written too much about that issue - let me know what you are thinking as you read this - and there's much more to come as far as what i think on other issues - definitely including the mid east conflict ... ahh ...

til then,
peace out,
Daniel

 

 

Football Madness - some 100 people gathered together to watch England vs Paraguay - England Won 1-0 

Music Fountain on Sentosa Island 

Merlion ! - Mermaid + Lion 

Capitol Hill ?? - Nope, Singapore Supreme Court 

Mall with a Chinese Design 

This is for you - Adri  

Singapore - where the east meets the west :-) 

Welcome to Singapore ! 

sitting in the airport , waiting for my plane to come ...

so here i go again - flying to singapore to visit my cousins then going to malaysia to visit the rest of my family.
my time in Taiwan had been great !! :o)
it was fun getting to know more about my parents ~ chill with them and such -
it was great getting involve with the local church , and getting to know the local believers - it was great ...
so , i am waiting for my plane to come - it time to really go home - ahh - bet ya don't know i am from malaysia - actually small town malaysia - i'll definitely post some pictures.

ok - for now - it's bye , til i see ya again.

daniel

Sunshine and Rain

i love the rain - because it cleanses the city - and the atmosphere feels cooler and fresher after a pouring rain. i love walking in the rain and sang "Grace like rain" by Todd Agnew - to remind myself of the grace of God and we've been washed clean !

anyways - i've been in Taiwan for more than 2 weeks now - it's still a - um - crazy experience - at times i was really boring because i lived with my parents at the 14th and 15th floor of a condo-plex - or because i haven't attempt to drive yet - i do walk and take the bus - lol -
anyways - i got a chance to share at the youth service last weekend - i talked about Christ being our friend - see John 15:15 - Christ called us friends - not slaves, but friends because He's telling us stuff that He heard from His father - what a priviledge to know Christ as a friend - and that's eternal life - John 17:3 -

so - one thing i've realize while i am here - is the prayer of the believers for their country - i don't know how much we pray for our country in the US - we prayed for our own needs, maybe the needs of our church, or the needs of our bible study and such - but do we pray for our country - i am amazed - although the population of Christian in Taiwan is not as huge as the ones in North American, but their fervency and their passion is as huge as or even bigger Christians in places that are more Christianized - anyways - so - while we in the US (okay i am not for the moment -- ) need to pray for the revival and renewal in our country as well - prayer is important - the harvest is here , the kingdom is near.

i've made some new friends here - through the Christian Fellowship on the college campus that my parents teach at. A guy named Phil that is absolutely on fire for God - he leads the worship that we have in the middle of the campus, although we only have 5-6 people to start with, students do stop by and listen and sing with us from time to time, that is amazing - and Phil, is awesome, he loves hip hop and rap just like me - except he was like - man, hip hop in US is so messed up, because they used some much cussed word .. then i introduced him to KJ52 and such - haha - it's kinda hard to explain gospel rap, but oh well ..

well - there ya go ... my post for the week ..
i'll put some pics up soon - and i'll be travelling to s'pore and m'sia next week to meet
up with my counsins and go back to my hometown for a couple of days,
oh yeah ..
Sweet Home Alabama!
(ok - not exactly Bama, but feels like that - like the movie - going home - back to the roots ..)

please cont. to pray for me :o)

thanks, God bless.
Gig'em

Daniel

My Primary Food Source - even in Asia - Filet O Fish ! 

Bro and Sis Gangsta Post ... oh yeah ! 

Shaved Ice 

My sister and I at Taiwan 

The other side of the world

ni hao from the other side of the world,
i've safely made it to home in taiwan :o)
it was a long trip but it sure is nice to be able to be at home with my parents and sister.
i am still adjusting to the timezone, lifestyle, culture, language and such, prayer will be appreciated :o)

it had been great so far, had an opportunity to sat down and pray with my family yesterday, something we haven't done at a family in a while because i was always MIA when they get together with my sister.

today will be fun - well the first day that i will have other human contact then my family, and it's going to be challenging (i think) - to get to know other people, to make friends and to talk and share my faith and such. Last time i was here, i was very very shy, hopefully today will be a little different !

oh anyways - the view from my room is awesome, especially at like 6 oclock in the morning - since taiwan had long abolished daylight savings time (it is too confusing) , day usually dawned around 5:30 in the morning (actually that's like Oregon with day light savings ... haha) - so from my window at the 14th floor, i can see the sun shining down on the city - that is absolutely gorgeous !

anyways -
that's my post for now - i'll take some pics of view and post'em up here -

take care y'all.

love and peace.

macster

this just came out a couple days ago,
check it out.

go KJ.

d-mac
(can't stop dancing to hip hop music.)

D-O-N-E

the semester came to an end at 5/9/2006 - 5:30 pm.
i am a free man.
whooop!

stuff to do before i leave town
- pack my stuff up (and store it in storage)
- pack for my trip
- pay my bills
- talk to prof about research
- find a sublease
- have fun as usual !