Something I read today...

"Some of you seldom speak of the goodness of God. Why is this? I wonder how you can be so coldly quiet. 'Oh,' said one in his first love, 'I must speak or I shall burst.' We have sometimes felt the same, when restrained testimony became fire within our bones. Is it not a sacred instinct to tell what we feel within? The news is too good to keep. Indulge to the full the holy propensity of your renewed nature. Your soul says, 'Speak.' If etiquette says, 'Hush, they will think you are a fanatic,' do not regard it, but speak aloud. Let them think you are a fanatic if they please. Play the organ softly when the subject is your own praise, but when it comes to the praises of God, pull out all the stops. Thunderous music is too little for His infinite deserving."

Charles Spurgeon, The Practice of Praise, p.25

A Grave Injustice Indeed

I have suffered a great and cruel social injustice this evening, dealt to me by the neighborhood hoodlums. We have had the most enjoyable past two days in Seattle of seeing white snow covering the lawns, walkways, sidewalks, roads and vehicles. A beautiful sight. Last night, I waited until enough white had accumulated on the ground to be worthy of the title "snow" and then went and grabbed my friend Linda from Indonesia who had never before seen snow. The look on her face when she saw snow for the first time in her life was definitely a Kodak moment. Her first response? She went out and built her very first snowman. Now, please do remember, we are in Seattle. It's not like home where you can build a snowman as tall as the family van parked in the driveway, or rivaling in height the drainpipes alongside of the house. No. This snowman was a little guy. He came up to just past my knees (which isn't all that tall, I admit said the short girl). But, he was still a snowman. In fact, as I walked past him this morning on my way to class, I patted him on the head and thought to myself that we should be sure to give him a carrot nose and stick arms before the end of the day. I was definitely getting attached to our little guy. And, by early afternoon, when all of the snow had pretty much melted, our little snowguy was the only one on the block still standing. By late afternoon, the snow started to fall again. Oh, frabjous day! By 6pm, we had sufficient (in Seattle measurements) amounts of white covering the ground that I went outside and played in the snow by myself, cause I couldn't convince anyone else to play with me... but it was still fun. While I was out there, I realized what a poor aim I am when I hit everything (including the neighbor’s house) but the window that I was aiming at. Oh, well. And, as the snow kept accumulating and my snowballs kept flying haphazardly, our snowman stood tall and proud. So, imagine my shock and horror when, after dinner, I was talking with Sayuri and we walked to the front door to gaze at the whiteness of it all, plan our snowball war that I had challenged Linda with tomorrow afternoon, and look at the snowman, only to find that our snowman was stolen. Yes, stolen! I was in mid sentence with Sayuri when I cried out, "Sayuri! Our snowman is stolen!!!!!!" All she could say was "HUH??" We both stood there in shock for quite some time. Then, I cocked my head to gaze through the window down the street, and wouldn't you know it, but two houses down I saw all of the neighborhood kids and OUR SNOWMAN! Yup, the kids had stolen it! So, with that, I went on a rampage. You see, snow is a precious thing in Seattle. And, kids or no kids, that was our snowman! I know that we are supposed to uphold our testimony in this neighborhood -- all of the houses around us know that we are a Christian outreach home. But, this was an offense not to be borne! I yelled out to Hannah (from Korea) who was back in the kitchen, and she and I stormed onto the front porch and demanded that the kids bring our snowman back. They didn't. Instead, we found that our snowman had taken on some odd characteristics like having a pumpkin for a head. And then, as if this wasn't enough, these neighborhood hoodlum came over and tracked up all the rest of our beautiful snow in the front lawn (the parts that I had been oh, so careful, not track up in my own playful romp this afternoon to save for the other ladies of the house). And then, they had the audacity to proceed to steal the snow off of the cars parked in front of our house!!!! Now, please understand me. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE KIDS! My dad is a pediatrician. Our house is always full of children. I worked directly in children’s ministry for seven years. But this?! Never before have I seen children cross the border of that which is morally right into that which is morally wrong by stealing their neighbor’s snowman! I have been greatly offended. Hannah and I have talked about going over early tomorrow morning before the kids all wake up to reclaim our stolen property. But, rather than be a cold-hearted pharaoh, I think that we’ll just let them keep it and pray for more snow tonight. Then, in retaliation, Linda and I may knock on doors and challenge these hoodlums to an all-out snowball war tomorrow afternoon. We shall see....

Snowing

It's a Winter Wonderland in Seattle! Yeah for snow!

Jonah Vines

I was reading through Jonah today, and I was struck by what I read in chapter four, verses 6-11:

"Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, 'It would be better for me to die than to live.'
But God said to Jonah, 'Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?'
'I do,' he said. 'I am angry enough to die.'
But the Lord said, 'You have been concerned with this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned with that great city?

As I was reading and rereading this particular chapter, I started to ask myself, what are the vines in my own life? What is it that I am so concerned about and think belong to me, when in reality, are gifts from the Lord? They are vines that He tended and caused to grow -- not me. And, yet, so often I focus upon these vines as though they are mine -- as though I own them. How easy it is for the vine to seize the vision. But I don't own the vines. He gave them. He can take them. I belong to Him. All that I have and all that I am is His. May I not be like Jonah that I become so preoccupied with the vine(s) that I lose sight of the "more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left" on the UW campus, the Ave, the grocery store, Greenlake, etc. My God is a compassionate and gracious God -- and as His child, I want my life to be an expression and an extension of that as well. The vines are good. But His compassion and vision is preoccupied with people, not the vine. May it be so in me.

Oh, Huzzah!

Huzzah for Mission Ridge and an early opening! (I got this pic off of the website -- nice view of the valley and the Columbia. And, that's one nice looking new patrol shack too... I leave and they get posh new quarters!)

Our Christmas Tree Tradition

It's been tradition for as long as I can remember in the Milnes fam to go the day after Thanksgiving into the woods to find our Christmas tree. This year, instead of going to Mission Ridge as we usually do, we went to Ingalls Creek just off of Blewett Pass. Although we hiked up some steep inclines, the snow was only about a foot and half deep or so, and it wasn't too cold. Aye, 'twas a good year for "tree-tree."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Isn't it wonderful to set aside a day every year to be with family and friends and give thanks? And, as believers, we have the special treat of having everyday be a day of thanksgiving -- as we daily give thanks to God for His gift of kindness, mercy, redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation.

My family read through Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation this afternoon during our meal. What wonderful words to consider:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

President Lincoln had it right when He wrote about the "gracious gifts of the Most High God" who in wrath remembers mercy. How kind. How gracious. May our lives be ones that are an expression of overflowing gratitude to the Lord for who He is and all that He has done. Happy Thanksgiving!

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name." (Psalm 100:4)

This is classic...

A fellow apologetics-loving friend of mine here at the UW had this to say the other day while describing themself -- I absolutely love this line, and as I've been chuckling over it since it was told to me, I had to use it somewhere:

"I'm just not comfortable unless I am asking people what they think the meaning of life is."

Perception

I was reading through Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" this afternoon, and a couple of the lines which always seem to catch my eye did so again:

"Well employ / Each faculty of sense, and keep the heart / Awake to love and beauty!"

These are perhaps some of my favorite lines written by Coleridge. For the Romantic poets, perception is one of the predominant themes throughout their poetry and prose. I think that William Blake, another of the Romantics, provides the best description of the power of perception when he writes in a letter: "As a man is, so he sees; as the eye is formed, such are its powers." Now, I could go off on a whole philosophical thread about society and its blurred perception of love and beauty. I've been thinking about this alot. It was in that context that I was thinking about these lines. But I won't. Except to say this -- that it is only when I abide in Christ that my perspective aligns with Truth. In the Kingdom of God, perception is key. Keeping each "faculty of sense" and my heart engaged with the Word of God purifies my faculty of perception. I want my heart to be "awake" to Him, and allow Him to transform my perception and understanding of that which is truly Lovely and that which is Beautiful -- seeing Jesus Himself.

"Your Word is Established"

Tonight I finally went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in downtown Seattle (for those in the Seattle area, this is a must). And, I have to say, it was very well done. The first 2/3rds of the exhibit painted the picture of the culture, people and customs of Qumran through various replicas of everyday items, as well as the interesting history of how the scrolls were found (for example, did you know that there was an obscure ad selling them in the Wall Street Journal? I mean, where's Ebay when you need it?). And, being the Pacific Science Center, there were great hands-on parts parts of the exhibit for the kiddos. About half-way through the exhibit or so, there was a timeline along one of the walls that was particularly fascinating to me -- it traced key events throughout antiquity that I’ve been studying all quarter in my Roman Empire class alongside the starting place or key founding leaders of various religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucius. Absolutely fascinating. The actual Dead Sea Scrolls were in a very large dark room near the end of the exhibit. The room was lined with special dark cases that only lit up for a few seconds at a time exposing the parchments that the cases contained. Beside each case was a banner describing from which book and chapter of the Old Testament the parchment was, along with a brief synopsis as a commentary. Although this isn’t a complete list of all that we saw tonight of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of the passages from the Old Testament that we saw were from Genesis 1, Hosea 2, Exodus 3, Psalm 119, and Ezekiel 11. Throughout the evening, there were two moments that significantly stood out for me. The first was as I stood in front of Psalm 119. As I read from the banner which verses they were that I saw in the case, I read:

“Your Word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations.”

All I could think as I stood there was, “Ah! God, I am blown away at the power of Your Word! Here I am -- looking at a piece of parchment that’s lasted 2,200 years that says, ‘Your Word is eternal.’ And, Lord, Your Word is eternal! But, beyond paper, Your Word is established in the heavens! It stands firm.”

Next, I moved to the passage marked in big bold letters on the banner: “Exodus.” Now, I have to admit, I was really hoping that it would be either Exodus 3:14 or Exodus 34:5-7. I quickly glanced at the passage in English on the banner to see what verses they actually were, and I saw in capital letters: ‘I AM WHO I AM.” Sure enough, Exodus 3. With that, I hurried over and looked down into the case waiting for the special light to turn on and illuminate the scroll, and when it did, I saw a ripped and jagged parchment with lots of holes and missing words. But that didn’t matter. “I AM WHO I AM.” Who cannot acknowledge Him? Who could possibly deny Him?

So, if you happen to be in Seattle, please be sure to go and see the Dead Sea Scrolls for yourself. Click here for the Pacific Science Center and info on the exhibit.

Bonhoeffer Quote

“To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.

Andy Tu's Baptism Pics

This is Christine (Andy's wife), Augustina, and baby Uriah -- precious friends who love to pray.
Me with my "Indonesian brothers" -- Miki and Andy (aka "Twin")-- whom I have the privilege of serving on the ICF music team with. And, this our new friend Vicky.
Some of the dear folks who attended the baptism singing along with their song sheets during worship.
Simon Zeigler -- the "Commander-in-chief" -- welcoming everyone
Leading worship -- that's Greg and Andy (Twin) worshiping on their drums. This is a particularly nice view of the "water-drum" in action...
They came from all over the world for this baptism!
Andy Tu worshiping his Jesus.
Andy Tu
"I have decided to follow Jesus!"

Listening

Silence tends to cause people to become uncomfortable. Have you noticed that when a professor pauses to let students answer a question, the seconds that he waits for a response can seem to last for an eternity? And, we’re all familiar with that uncomfortable pause that occurs in the middle of a conversation with another person when no one knows quite what to say next. So, the conversation weaves around trivial matters. We talk about the weather. We talk about food. We talk about politics. We talk about society and its moral decay. We talk about intercultural affairs. We talk about school, work, and family. It doesn’t really matter what it is that we are talking about; all that matters is that we are talking, and silence is avoided.

Within communication, there are always two parts. First part – I listen, you speak. Second part – you listen, I speak. It’s like a dance – we go back and forth between listening and speaking. To listen, though, we have to first be silent. If communication is talking with someone, how can we hear if we are doing all of the talking 100% of the time? We don’t like silence. It makes us feel uncomfortable. But in order to listen, silence on our part is key.

Throughout Scripture, God calls us to “Be still and know that I Am God.” The importance of listening – the importance of learning to hear His voice – cannot be emphasized enough. Learning to hear the voice of God is crucial to our walk with Him. It is absolutely essential to our growth in Him. God calls us to listen. It is when we are quiet that we hear Him speaking. It is okay to be silent in prayer. It is as we are silent and wait for Him to speak that we are able to hear. Sometimes He speaks right away, sometimes we have to wait for a while. But, the secret is to abide -- to wait in His Presence with a listening ear. Andrew Murray writes in his book, “Abide in Christ”: “Retire frequently with Him into the inner chamber of the heart, where the gentle voice of the Spirit is only heard if all is still.” What an awesome privilege it is to still ourselves before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Throughout Scripture, men and women continuously say: “And I heard the voice of the Lord… and the Word of the Lord came… and the Lord spoke…” How did they hear Him? They had learned to hear Him. Their ears and hearts were positioned to hear Him speak. In order to listen, we have to learn to listen. We must learn to hear His voice. We must have our ears tuned to His voice. The great Grace of God will teach us to hear Him. But we must ask Him to open our ears to hear Him speak. When my Mom calls me on the phone, she doesn’t have to say, “Hi, Em. This is Mom.” All she has to say at the beginning of a conversation is, “Hi!” I know it is her on the other end of the line because I know her voice. How do I know her voice? I’ve spent time listening to her. My ears are trained to recognize her voice. In fact, because I’ve come to recognize her voice, I can distinguish it from all others. This practice of recognizing and distinguishing voices is the same with recognizing and distinguishing the voice of the Lord. I love the passage in John 10 about sheep listening to the Shepherd’s voice. Those sheep have been trained to hear the Shepherd. They know the voice of their Master. And, what is beautiful is that they won’t listen to a stranger’s voice because they don’t recognize it. Their ears had been tuned to recognize a specific voice – the specific tone of the Master. How did they get trained? They spent alot of time in the pasture -- they spent alot of time simply "hanging around" and being with the Shepherd. Let’s be those sheep. Let’s learn to hear the voice of our Good Shepherd by spending time with Him.

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.” (John 10:1-5)

Part of positioning ourselves to listen and hear His voice includes the laying down of our own personal ambitions, hidden agendas and motives. If we don’t, these will affect our ability to hear His will clearly. The will of God is already in our favor – so let’s lay down our own ambitions at the foot of the Cross, and let Him speak to us of His plans and His purposes for our lives. His plans are much better than the plans that we make on our own. His ways are higher! He wants to speak into our lives. Isaiah 30:21 contains a precious promise from the Lord: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" He will speak. He will lead. He will direct. However, it is all dependent on whether or not we learn to hear His voice.

I think that the greatest tragedy in the Old Testament is the hard condition of the nation of Israel in Jeremiah 6:10 when the Lord says:

“To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to Me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The Word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.”

The people could not hear or receive the Word of the Lord. When the Lord looked for someone to speak to, there was no one to listen. The nation had no pleasure in the Word of the Lord. Rather than be filled with awe that the God of the universe would speak to them, the Israelites took offense at the Word of God. How tragic. May our hearts always be soft to the call of the Lord. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). Let’s not become discouraged if we don’t hear Him right away. Time spent in the secret place is never a waste – even if we don’t hear Him every time. Let’s find pleasure in Him. Let’s silence ourselves before Him. Let’s take time to wait in His presence. Let’s learn to discern. He will speak. And, let’s be quick to obey Him when He speaks. I think author Oswald Chambers sums it up best when he writes in "My Utmost for His Highest":

“Get into the habit of saying, 'Speak, Lord,' and life will become a romance. Every time circumstances press, say, 'Speak, Lord'; make time to listen. Chastening is more than a means of discipline, it is meant to get me to the place of saying, "Speak, Lord." Recall the time when God did speak to you…. As we listen, our ear gets acute, and, like Jesus, we shall hear God all the time.”

The Chronology of Months

Well, I had another moment today in which to cultivate humility, but to get the story, you have to look back two weeks. Simon Zeigler (aka "Commander-in-chief") and I had talked about dividing our large Christian Growth Group at ICF up according to birthdays during prayer two weeks ago. It worked out that he would take those with birthdays between the months of January and April, I would take those with birthdays between May and August, and Wallis Wong would take those with birthdays between September and December. Okay -- so we got it all worked out. We're all on the same page and know what we're doing. Well, when it came time to actually break up into our small prayer groups a couple of days later, Simon asked for everyone with birthdays between January and April to raise their hands. Now, I've never had this problem before (at least, I don't think I have), but for a split second there, I thought that the month of May goes before April. So, up goes my hand along with all the others. Simon looked at me rather flabbergasted and quizzical, as though to say, "What are you doing??? We had this all worked out!" Those in the group who know when my birthday is burst out laughing, and the whole time I sat there looking at Simon like, "I know when my birthday is! And, it definitely goes before April!... And why on earth is everyone laughing???" Finally, Simon said, "Um... Em... your birthday is in May. May comes after April." Needless to say, it took a while to recover my dignity with the group on that one -- later on I was told that it was a "classic Emily moment." So, two weeks later, I thought that my days of forgetting the order of months was over. Today, I was sadly proven wrong. I had a meeting with Simon (it seems to always happen with Simon...), and I was going over the worship-leading schedule that I had made up for the next couple of months for ICF. I convinced him that he had sent me the wrong Gospel of John reading schedule, and that I would need to redo the whole thing because the passage we are studying this week wasn't correlating with the passage I had marked on the worship schedule for this week. So, he graciously resent the whole John reading schedule to me. Later this afternoon, when I sat down to redo the worship-leading schedule with the "right John schedule," I realized that everything actually was lining up -- correct passages with the correct dates -- that I had only read the months wrong and I mistook December for November. This is getting to be really pathetic. Perhaps I shall blame it on midterms and lack of sleep... =)