To Live A Mortal

Here's the tagline: The path is unsafe. The place is unknown. The journey is unbelievable.

Plot: A discovery made by a kung-fu obsessed American teen in a Chinatown pawnshop sends him on an adventure to ancient China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors on a dangerous quest in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King.

The Forbidden Kingdom - quite an incredible movie. Highly entertaining, and very unique in its concept. Don't think I can recall any other movie with similar plot and setting. And I thought the Jet Li-Jackie Chan combination was unforgettably awesome.

There were many lil' lessons I grabbed from the movie, but there was this ONE moment when Jackie Chan's character drunken master Lu Yan had been shot by a deadly arrow and he laid in a monastery giving some dying-man's advice to Jason the American boy. You see, many of the Chinese legends centers around the theme of immortality, and Lu Yan gave the impression that he was one of the famous 8 Immortals. But this arrow incident brought Jason to realize Lu Yan was not immortal. "If a man does not attach himself to people and desires, his heart shall not be broken. But then does he truly live? I would rather die having cared for someone, than to live forever and be free from my own death."

Give a thought to that. I was moved by these words. In many ways, though we may not pursue immortality as these Chinese folklores center on, we find different ways to realize ourselves and awaken our spirituality. Some say greatness exists within you if you would choose to seek it, what some call 'spiritual enlightenment'. And some live only to make their mark in this world by erecting monuments or buildings that bear their name. Their way of immortalizing their lives. Some speak of how to see meaning out of life, and turn to knowledge of cosmic forces and astrology. You'd be surprised! Not often spoken but often contained within the heart, a desire to be 'remembered forever' as a legend, to 'live forever' in people's hearts.

To truly live is:
a) When you have got everything to live for on earth
b) When you are the kindest and sacrificial person every time
c) When you eat healthy, sleep healthy, and work healthy - live 'til 100
d) When you are the most likeable human ever known, with the hugest fan base
e) When you can spin unending strings of philosophy about life and have great wisdom to impart
f) When you cast caution to the wind, do extreme sports and live like there's no tomorrow
g) When you fall in and out of love in search of your soulmate, your happy ending one day
h) When you have led a quiet life building a stable family and good home
i) When you got enough money to buy you a PR for a better life on greener pastures
j) None of the above?

What does it mean to truly live? Is there eternal life?

The path is unsafe. The place is unknown. The journey is unbelievable.
The glory of a man is a heart fully come alive. I came alive when I came to know Jesus. My life is greatest lived when lived in the power of His death and resurrection. My death is best finalized when I die for His glory, for His Kingdom.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. - 1 John 5:11-12

Come D.I.G.

Excerpt taken from Lou Engle's Digging the Wells of Revival:

John Kilpatrick's father left his family when John was only 12 years old. At age 14, John received a powerful call to the ministry, at which time Pastor R.C. Wetzel approached John's mother about discipling her son. With his mother's permission, John became one of a group of teenage boys that Pastor Wetzel gathered together each week. These boys felt called to the ministry. Pastor Wetzel would teach them the Scriptures then have each one, in turn, teach the others what they had learned. For two years these kids joined Pastor Wetzel for daily midnight prayer meetings. Thus this pastor fathered the fatherless John Kilpatrick.

One night the Holy Spirit fell. Brother Wetzel later told the kids that the Lord had spoken to him that night, telling him to stay on in Pensacola and multiply himself in these teenage boys. "If you do that," God told him, "you will reach more people through these young preachers than you could ever reach on your own." For the next many years, Pastor Wetzel poured his life into John Kilpatrick and the others. The old man died never having seen the prophecy fulfilled.

...Pastor Wetzel was a real father...more concerned about the next generation than about his own ministry...We must understand with humility that we stand on the shoulders of many great men and women of God who have gone before us...God is establishing the work of today's intercessors on the foundation of those godly men and women who prayed down His glory in days gone by.

TERRITORIAL COMMITMENT + PROPHETIC INTERCESSION

Many faithful ones have sown into their beloved nations, Malaysia included. Countless tears shed for those who feel the burden of the millions of souls unsaved. Houses of prayers are being set up all over the globe, in many places the nameless-faceless young generation is heeding the Nazirite call to consecrate their lives to fulfill God's purpose for their generation - one by one.

That stirs me deep inside, I know that's what I live for, and what I wanna die living for. God! My heart has grown cold and distracted, my prayers in the midnight hours brief and unpiercing. Give me a constant diligence in solitude and intercession...Holy Spirit, fill and overpower me -my will, my dreams, my plans, my future, everything...be my fuel as a firebrand of Yours. I need that fire.

See the Malaysia section in: jaesonma.com/archives/2007_08_01_archive.html

Let's pray that this Wetzel spirit be the passionate desire of many more, to see the generations arise and inherit all that comes from rich spiritual heritage of godly men and women who lay down their lives for their spiritual children. God is a covenant-keeping God and we are seeing a restoration of His Kingdom presence and power in these days!

Reclaim the spiritual inheritance of your nation.
Dig the wells of revival.

do you like history?

recent readings include The Eternal Church by Bill Hamon. very thought-provoking, makes me hungry for more historical stuff. I know, that's so...whats-the-word. But really, you get a sense of excitement to ask God for a glimpse into His blueprint for the next decade. for you, your loved ones, your nation, the world.

so many things are happening around us --- some appalling, some really wonderful, some nice and pleasant, some sheer madness, some plain dumb, some so disgusting, some just make you speechless and wondering 'what are they thinking!?'. don't you get that feeling when you read the papers sometimes? or see a video on youtube that dumbfounds you?! or some news that stirs you up so much you just wanna get up and do something?

and these next few years will be exciting. you think many things are happening NOW, wait and see a few more years. if you were alive 3 decades ago, you'd live and think so differently. or, how about just ONE decade ago? exciting age, isn't it? and more messed-up than ever. but the move of God in these final days will awe you into heaven. an awesome statement from The Eternal Church was that you cannot have a desire to have insight into what's coming if you turn your back to what's happened before (in my own words). which is true. part of preparation for the future is to know history and use that knowledge to chart the course to come. and i'm specifically referring to the history of restoration of spiritual truths in the Church since the Acts 2 Pentecost day when the Church was birthed.

i know that's why it pumps me up to read up on some church history stuff lately. partly 'cause i'm trying to get through my whole book collection so that i don't need to lug any unfinished books with me to the states. that wouldn't be fun. or cheap (read previous post). but mostly 'cause i learn so, so much! read about people like john wycliffe, john knox, calvin, luther. wow...so much to read, so little time :) it fuels me, lifts my faith. movement after movement, miracles and revivals - there're so many stories of people and places completely transformed by the power of God! God, You do it over and over again! God, we wanna recognize Your move and join You.

one question: if there is even 10% of the world's population who live the way these guys lived, what would NOW look like? if YOU live the way william carey did, is there the slightest chance you might look back and feel you could've led a different life, lived for a different cause?

your story makes history. the best you can do with your life is to get involved in what God is doing in your generation. and the best place to start looking/finding out might be in reading other people's stories who made history.

YOU TAKE UP SPACE

recently had to call up some airlines to find out their baggage weight limit. good news and bad news. man, i really gotta make sure the cubic meters my suitcases take up don't exceed the given limit. it involves money, which, of course, matters. especially when the currency is in US dollars.

space. luggage takes up space. stuff takes up space in luggages. and space, in the airline business, costs money. we're talkin height x length x width. 2 pieces of luggage, no more than 50lbs each, and no bigger than 62 linear inches- something like that. of course i know this is all very necessary for airlines, don't get me wrong.

last week i was watching E! (yes, i watch TV sometimes) when this interview with a-certain-artist came on askin her abt her new album with two other artists. "so what was it like working on this album with these guys?" she said, "i'm not used to sharing diva space...but for this album i had to get used to it...sharing the space with them..."

so? got me wondering abt SPACE...

met an old friend at starbucks for a cuppa, just to catch up before i leave kk. was halfway through my updates when he said out-of-the-blue, "you know, you take up a lotta space." i blinked and after 2 seconds, laughed. "what?! what space?" my mind goes, "what, like i'm fat or something?" according to him, he meant that there are people you meet in life who are not so intense, not so in-your-face, like "you know how some people can enter a room and you don't notice them?" uh huh...so i'm not that kind. "oh, sounds like a good thing. thanks. you take up a lot of space, too."

it got me thinking --- abt taking up space. i don't mean taking up diva space, though, and not being willing to share that space with others. the way we live. the way we cross paths with people. the way we sometimes intrude each other's space, in a good way, so that nobody stays in their space for too long without change or growth. otherwise he/she gets stuffy and rigid and aloof and enclosed. if you've ever watched Stranger Than Fiction, man, that's such a cool movie! it's good to share your space! shift around spaces, move space from time to time...swap spaces. you know, don't be thin air - going thru life just breathing, merely staying alive. you, being a person whose very presence should speak loudly, that you can't be ignored, shut up, stifled, muffled...when you got things to stand up for, things to say, to speak up about, to shout about! it's good to be taking up a lotta space :) just, be a LOUD 'BE'-ing. whether or not you open your mouth, who you are and what you contain can't be ignored, 'cause you take up so much space.

in this perspective, i'd say - we should take up space!

a lot of SPACE is lost when we are apathetic and lifeless. or rather, fight-less. we don't contend when enemies crowd around us and steal our space. gain our ground, take up our territory. "oh, you want that space? sure! why not." and little by little, we become colonised and we wonder why we feel restricted and without 'freedom'. weed taking over the land, overpowering the plants that were originally meant to take up the entire space and dominate it in the first place. excuse me, is this space reserved? yes, it is.
excuse me, is this soul taken? yes, it is.
excuse me, is this heart available? no, it's for Jesus. (no sorrys needed)
excuse me, is your life for the taking? yeah, but it's taken already.

Jesus takes up a lotta space. and i'm glad He does. that leaves no room for things that should not seep in or steal space.
i'm done ranting...

40 Days and Counting......

Check out the 50-Day prayer guide of Malaysia National Prayer Network...
Day 10 now...40 days and counting.

Don't take lightly the significance of this time for Malaysia. Ask God for restoration in the power of Holy Spirit: restoration of the supernatural in His Church that will impact our nation's key cities and states bringing Jesus Christ to the community. The power of the Gospel is released when we testify of His love and grace, and the FULL message of the Cross and His blood - nothing more and nothing less.

We cannot compromise on God's Greatest Command and Great Commission. But of course, we rely on His leading, as He instructs, according to His timing and empowering...

Press on.

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On a more personal note, just got back from KL for my US visa interview. Praise God for His unprecedented favor (hey, Wini dear), it was such an unexpectedly relaxed interview. I'm amazed by His goodness to a person like me. Also got to spend more time with people dear to me, especially my parents who traveled together for a holiday with my aunt in Subang. It was a rare opportunity, may be long before the next one. I will really appreciate those times.

Truly, grace is being bestowed with the opposite of what one deserves. I await good news of my Fuller application, and in the meantime will make plans for the US flight (soon!). Just wanna give glory to God here....thank You, Lord. You are Almighty.

lil' matt

this is MATTHEW PRESCOTT HERON :)
he is just ado-wa-ble!!! (he's the cutest godson i could ever ask for...gosh, what's a godma to do!??)
and u can read more abt him by his very proud parents Tim & Wini on http://www.matthewprescott.blogspot.com/

will post pics of 'em soon!