My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.30.
Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"
Mark 13,33-37
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My reading notes:
Yes, Jesus, You can give and you can take. Thank you for your reminder.
We Chinese always forget the other point. We all expect you to give, but seldom do we remember: You can give and you can take.
I was very sad last month. An old family member left me. I felt lonely. Though
he was 92 already, but I had failed to watch. I did not expect he could had gone so sudden. I was caught in the very unexpecting moment.
"You can take" is in the lyric of the "Les Meserable". I remembered the song suddenly this morning in Church. And I had had a deep emotional shock. How can I ignore this?
Yes you can give, but no body knows when you will take. I will be watchful.
Thank you Jesus.
2008年11月30日 星期日
2008年11月23日 星期日
least brothers of mine
My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.23.
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25,31-46.
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My reading notes:
What is the point here?
We see the least brothers every day, everywhere. One thing to remember, anything I will do for them, I am doing it for God.
And actually, they are God.
And some thing more to the point:
When we are trying to solve the problems for the world, we are doing it for God. And thus, we had found the aim of
human evolution. We solve different problems evey day, and we are evolving ourselves.
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25,31-46.
----------------------
My reading notes:
What is the point here?
We see the least brothers every day, everywhere. One thing to remember, anything I will do for them, I am doing it for God.
And actually, they are God.
And some thing more to the point:
When we are trying to solve the problems for the world, we are doing it for God. And thus, we had found the aim of
human evolution. We solve different problems evey day, and we are evolving ourselves.
2008年11月15日 星期六
we must "earn" something
My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.16.
It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.
After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'
(Then) the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'
Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.' His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
Matthew 25,14-30.
----------------------
My reading notes:
From this scripture, I can see that this is a very important issue of the Western
culture. Its quite different from the East, though it is more or lest the same with
the Chinese Culture(before Confucius).
And the point is the goal for Mankind.
Human beings, like the servants in the parable, are useful to the Creator. He must work hard, not only to achieve his own goal, but the goal for the Creator. We must "earn" something for the universe.
In the East, the goal is spiritual improvement to the self only. It is nothing to do with the universe. And this thought, could also be found in Confucius. He thought that the main goal for human beings are morality, not to achieve anything.
Zhuang-zi the ancient Chinses Philosopher who is very much not the same with Confucius, has samilar idea with this scripture. In Zhuang-zi's mind, human beings are like candles. The candles must release light, that is the purpose of living.
It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.
After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'
(Then) the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'
Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.' His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
Matthew 25,14-30.
----------------------
My reading notes:
From this scripture, I can see that this is a very important issue of the Western
culture. Its quite different from the East, though it is more or lest the same with
the Chinese Culture(before Confucius).
And the point is the goal for Mankind.
Human beings, like the servants in the parable, are useful to the Creator. He must work hard, not only to achieve his own goal, but the goal for the Creator. We must "earn" something for the universe.
In the East, the goal is spiritual improvement to the self only. It is nothing to do with the universe. And this thought, could also be found in Confucius. He thought that the main goal for human beings are morality, not to achieve anything.
Zhuang-zi the ancient Chinses Philosopher who is very much not the same with Confucius, has samilar idea with this scripture. In Zhuang-zi's mind, human beings are like candles. The candles must release light, that is the purpose of living.
2008年11月9日 星期日
Jesus was angry
My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.9.
He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves,
"Take all this away and stop turning my Father's house into
a marketplace!"
John 2:13-22
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My reading notes:
If we could see that the temple itself is God, and we should respect it.
Don't turn the holy place into a marketplace.......but we are doing it everyday.
He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves,
"Take all this away and stop turning my Father's house into
a marketplace!"
John 2:13-22
----------------------
My reading notes:
If we could see that the temple itself is God, and we should respect it.
Don't turn the holy place into a marketplace.......but we are doing it everyday.
2008年11月1日 星期六
Where is God ?
........I was hungry and you gave me food
My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.2.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25,31-46
----------------------
My reading notes:
To my humble understanding, God is everywhere. And this feeling is from Zhuang-zi
also. Zhuang-zi is the only Ancient philosopher of China who insisted there is a creator of the universe.
God is everywhere. But only those who has a loving heart can see God. God is in
those we care about. If we care about the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and those in the prison, then we are actually tending God himself.
We shall never feel lonely in the planet. Whenever we offer any help to the needed, we have God by our side.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25,31-46
----------------------
My reading notes:
To my humble understanding, God is everywhere. And this feeling is from Zhuang-zi
also. Zhuang-zi is the only Ancient philosopher of China who insisted there is a creator of the universe.
God is everywhere. But only those who has a loving heart can see God. God is in
those we care about. If we care about the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and those in the prison, then we are actually tending God himself.
We shall never feel lonely in the planet. Whenever we offer any help to the needed, we have God by our side.
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