Awesome, awesome, awesome...

that's our God and I have a wonderful testimony to share.

Last Friday a Filipino Pastor we know called late in the night to ask for some legal advice from Ed as his wife had just been arrested. I don't want to go into all the details about it, but just that she was found to be running some small business while only on a visit visa. How was she found out? A business partner had a problem with her and turned on her and called the cops, and whether the person intended or not, it got very ugly (it takes only a small seed of bitterness to cause a lot of damage) and she was taken off to jail.

Over the course of the last 10 days I have seen the Lord at work to deliver promise after promise as we turned to Him and I have to, have to, have to share how good He is.

1)God changed my heart: my initial reaction, when this person called was of the flesh. The whole thing looked ugly and the cops were involved and stuff and I wanted to turn and run away from the problem. Thank you Lord that you gave me the sense to come to you with this. As Ed spoke on the phone totally getting involved, I prayed about my feelings. I told God honestly how I was feeling, and you know what He did, He made me go from the north pole to the south pole. = ) I went from hesitation to having this huge burden in my heart to cry out in prayer and intercession for them. I was surprised by this, it was like something awful had happened to my family. I could not understand why I was so moved by what had happened but I was.
2)God kept their faith alive while circumstances looked the worst. Ed spent the next day at the trial with the pastor and they stood together in hope and faith while the wife was denied bail and sent to prison for 6 weeks before the next hearing.
3) God touched us all to pray for them. Ed asked the Pastor to come to our one body meeting at the Vine and we all prayed for the family in the spirit. It was a prayer of protection and strength, of submitting to God's will, of rising in hope and faith,of breaking bondages and standing against the weapon formed knowing that God's protection would cause it to fall away.
4) God's promise came through. Ed visited the wife in jail and she was strong in the Lord, witnessing to whoever she could, far from feeling sorry for herself and wondering why all this had happened to her.
5) God's promise came through. The husband found a lawyer to help appeal the case and try and get bail. They had another hearing yesterday and bail was set at $40,000 + there was a lawyers fee of $10,000.
6) God's promise came through. Although this family is only 4 months old in HK, and did not have the money, God did an amazing thing, He raised $40,000 in a couple of hours. Friends worked together to come up with the money to settle the bail amount and she was released. It reminds me of the early church in Acts where believers got together, sold their stuff and shared what they had to help each other out. We praise you Lord!

All along the way I see how faith has worked to give us what our flesh so easily could have lost us. Anywhere along the line a feeling to get hopeless and settle for the worst or less (which was a temptation that bothered everyone involved) was crucified as faith, hope and belief was chosen.
I can't thank God enough for His spirit, without which we would have been so lost and alone.

Lord may what we have experienced form deep roots in our hearts, may it bless everyone reading this to know that you are our rock and our strength and when our hope is in you, there can be no other outcome but the fulfillment of your promise. Let this experience Lord be the firm foundation that will stand strong, that will hold our faith and conquer any storm that we might ever face. You are our rock and our strength Lord. We love you Jesus.

While she is out of jail the trial will go on and we ask for your prayers. The Lord's glory will shine through just like it has so far. Let us all release our faith in the awesome God we serve. Keep us Lord ever close to you,and be glorified Father in all that we do. Amen.

You know what...

I can't stop saying nice things to people. I guess I've always been this way to some extent (I think it's why I got my flight attendant job before) but since Jesus told me how much He loves me, this thingy about me has escalated. I have a passion for people. They are so wonderfully made. I love nature, I adore animals but gosh! People are the best thing God every created. In all their sizes,shapes and forms, in all their colors, in all their diverse yet similar ways, what an awesome wonder they are. I find that as I meet more and more people, I tend to notice, very soon, many things that are very special about them. I don't believe that it is me doing this, but Jesus in me, and He has no problem whatsoever being nice and saying nice stuff and so I don't either.

I think in this world we tend to hear more negative than positive. I remember my first few conversations with God, I found it uncomfortable to hear His words of love that were so passionate and so much. I wasn't used to it although I've been blessed to be loved by family and friends, it was still too much. He loved me so much that I could be healed of all my self doubt and worries and insecurities and I know that's how He operates. He loved me into humility and submission and self confidence and He keeps doing it. And yet in this world we want to beat each other into these attitudes. We are so worried about pride and arrogance and things like that, we've stopped trusting one another to just go ahead and be nice, knowing that the other person is an adult and can handle it. I think this is why I am stubborn about sowing the opposite seed. I don't have a problem telling people how special they are. Big, small, young, old, male, female - I don't care, if there's something special about you and there has to be because God made you, and He only makes awesome things, well, I'm gonna tell you.

I do hear every now and then that guys tend to be tempted a lot more than women with things like pride, arrogance, power and lust (I don't know if that's true ) but honestly once Christ touches someone, man or woman, they are free. What did He set us free from? Sin, and he whom the Son has set free is free indeed. We all have our own journey to take in realizing this but I find that God trusts that we already know this and He blesses us with encouragement just taking it for granted that we will react the right way, and while we notice all those who end up not, the ones who fall into pride and sin, all those big ministers who fail, that the secular media publicizes to no end, we don't see that mostly God's trust and love sets the captives free. Drug addicts, prostitutes and murderers turn away from their sin not because of the finger pointing but because of words like, " you are beautiful, I love you so much I died so that you can be forgiven - you are now washed clean by my blood. I took your place so that you can be radiant and shine and you do, you are beautiful". Of course this gets no publicity whatsoever except on the few Christian channels and news services which I have had the awesome blessing to have come across. Check out God TV and TBN. They both have online beams and so can be watched via the internet too.

I might be wrong to blindly trust people like this but I find that God does this with me. He treats me like an adult even though I sometimes feel like I'm a child. I have learnt that Jesus' death on the cross actually meant something. He gave me the ability to conquer sin especially stuff like pride, arrogance, greed, selfishness and things. I'm not saying I don't face any of these temptations, I do, but I find them easier and easier to detect and check and I know my God trusts me with being sensible like this. He wants to, He's been wanting His people to grow up for 2000 years, He wants me to stop trying to conquer what Jesus already conquered, just grow up and start walking like Jesus did, disciple to nations, heal the sick and raise the dead. If I'm still so busy trying to conquer the little things of the flesh however how can I conquer the bigger things, which is to get rid of unbelief and doubt in His word and get into faith so I can actually do 'the greater things than Him' that Jesus said I'd do. I have His job to do now. He left telling me that He has purified me, broken the curse of the fall, that He has given me access into the throne room of the Father, He's given me joint heir status and the Holy Spirit to help me stay pure and give me the ability to have the faith it takes to move mountains. Now I either believe Him or I don't.

What I find exciting and very encouraging is to see this sort of walk with God happening with the next generation. In the Vine I've noticed at least 4 teenagers who are so mature, they're not dealing with common teenage problems, they're working on their faith. Carmen Reed's recent post (http://carmenread@blogspot.com) blew my mind. While I see so many adults having such a problem with silly sins of the flesh this young girl (she's 18)is conquering a faith battle in the battle field of her mind. Getting her mind and thoughts to line up with God's word and believe in His love for her and in His promise to prosper her and give her her dream which she knows came from Him. Wow! I see how she can grow in faith to really make a difference in the lives of others. And there are more and I see them on Christian TV and websites and magazines, in pockets amongst youth in various churches around the world and this gives me great hope for the future. While the darkness gets darker I can see how the light is gatting brighter and that gives me tremendous joy. Lord may we all grow up and honor you and reflect your glory. May the world look at us and truly see the difference. May they look at us and see you Jesus. We love you Lord. Amen.

Wow! That went somewhere I totally did not think it would go... but that's my thoughts or... are they? Actually I hope with all my heart that they aren't. Lord may you be glorified in everything I say and do. I love you Jesus, my brother, my friend, my God.

Beautiful South Lantau... yup! this is Hong Kong... hard to believe isn't it? Yet it's right here on our door step and we love to share so come visit anytime...: )

Now, meet the family... this one is the cutest...she's Tiara, she's 8 and she's the best.

isn't she a cutie?...



that's Ed... he's da man...yup! that's where she gets her looks from. Thanks daddy you did good and since she's got my brains : ) and our heart, I think all in all we've got a winner. Thank you Jesus.

that's me and two of our doggie dogs, Ebony and Ivory (we have 3, the 3rd being Sheba that's short for Bathsheba - don't ask... Tiara picked the name) contemplating life half way up the hiking trail on the hill behind our home, which eventually gets to Lantau peak, the highest peak in HK.


Beautiful Tong Fuk...

this is a view of our village and beach from a hiking trail on the hill behind our home and it wasn't even a clear day.

okay, that's it for now... more later.

I have a dream...

and a vision that every Christian home in Hong Kong (and the world for that matter) will have Christian media in it, whether that be magazines, comics, CD’s DVD’s, or Videos, we will have the alternative to what the world is giving us, we will choose it and have our lives changed by it.

This dream began when Ed and I started having this need ourselves. As we began to allow our first love, God's Holy Spirit, to take us over, our taste in worldly media began to sort of disappear. It was so weird but stuff that we really used to enjoy before suddenly began to seem so tasteless to us. We got rid of more than half of our CD's DVD's, books and magazines - we kept the comics though ( I still enjoy those very much)
The other day we were listening to a commentary on JR Tolkien and CS Lewis, the famous Christian authors of 'The Lord of the Rings' and the 'Chronicles of Narnia' and the speaker was saying that the one problem they had with the literature of their time was that they could not find anything that they wanted to read, and so they decided to write the books themselves. That's a bit like what's happened to us.
We remember the day we went to the bookstores in HK looking for Christian magazines that were modern and interesting and a good read, stuff written by local Christians and we could find almost nothing. We had to subscribe to the ones made in the States which are really good by the way. Anyway our dream to see the same done in Hong Kong began, and what an awesome dream it is. The Hong Kong people are readers. You see it all over the place. People read on the MTR, we all have magazines in our homes, there are little magazine hawkers all over Hong Kong. The comic culture is also huge among the kids in Hong Kong.

We have a dream that what is being read today will be replaced by what will actually help lift our spirits, entertain us, edify us, solve our problems and complete us and God certainly can do all these things and He wants to.

This is not an impossible dream. Nothing is impossible with God.

May more and more people dream this dream with us. Thank you Father for dreams and thank you that you deliver way above our dreams and expectations. You are exciting Lord. Awesomely exciting. Give us some great stuff Lord. We look forward to it, we do, we do, we do. Amen!

I'm very contemplative today, it happens sometimes... : )

Mary vs Martha,

Luke 10:38-42 (New International Version)
38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Reflections…


This seems so unfair to poor Martha doesn’t it? I mean take the same situation today. One person is busy , working hard to get the job done (so everyone might be fed, including Jesus), and yet it’s the one sitting at the feet of God (seemingly not working as hard as the other) that He says is better. Why? Is He an unfair God? Yet I find that people cannot help but react like Martha towards those who behave like Mary.

I used to be this way, you know. I did not like very much to give away the money I worked so hard to earn. I mean I gave my tithes and stuff and well I actually did give most of it away but I wasn’t really a cheerful giver. I wanted those who received from me to really deserve it, in my eyes (I did not really ask God whether He wanted me to bless them). You see, I was giving to people and not to God. I did like blessing people (it's was a 'makes me feel good' decision) but somewhere deep down was the thought, ‘you know if you really want it you should work for it like me.’ You see I wanted something back in return, I wanted them to deserve the money I had worked to make. It was MY money and I was being this wonderful person and giving it away. It was a ‘me’ thing. Today, I am very blessed to say, that old me is all dead and gone. I love blessing people today and I actually want to have, just so I can give and get the pat on the back from my Jesus. It makes Him so happy and I love that. Thank you Lord for opening my eyes to that one and setting me free.

You know this is a trap I see many people stuck in. Another trap is that nobody wants to be Mary these days. Mary looks like a lazy person. I had this problem too. It’s easier to be Martha and look down on Mary than be Mary and have only Jesus understand what is actually going on. It’s a lonely place if one is seeking man’s approval but it’s the place God says is better. As a woman I have this problem, how much more men?

Why is it so difficult to be Mary and so much easier to be Martha? The words ‘I’m so busy’ is like a fashion statement today. I hear it from people all the time and today I hate it when it comes out of my mouth, because usually it’s the reason I haven’t done something I know I should have that is usually relationship oriented. With such a busy life how can we actually spend time with God and do the things He wants? Yes, we try but usually we get stuck in this horrible place where we're a Martha who pretends to be a Mary. ‘I’ll fit God into my 45 minute lunch break. ’ Even some of us in active ministry sometimes have this attitude. ‘Surely God expects me to have a life!’

There are too many Martha’s and too few Mary’s and we as people pleasers wanting so much to fit in, join the Martha’s rather than the Mary’s. I’m not saying this to condemn us. I think it’s a genuine problem that only God has the answer to. One that I hope more and more of us will seek to find for our own sakes. It’s a hard answer to seek, because we feel like Martha did, that if we do not do the work and get all 'busy busy' then everything will stay undone, or that we will be utterly useless or that our lives will be boring and lack meaning or that we'll have no satisfaction that we've actually achieved something or that people will not respect us or we won’t have any friends. Yes, and it seems genuinely unnatural that any other outcome should result. But surely we’re missing something here. Why would Jesus say that it’s better to be Mary than to be Martha if we’d end up losing out? Surely He couldn’t have meant that? Yet He clearly was suggesting that Mary had it right to sit at His feet while Martha did all the work. What did He mean? Only He knows and we need to not try and guess or use our own wisdom or understanding and come up with some kind of rule to explain this. There is too much of that going around.

Only God knows the hidden things of Him and He will reveal it to us if we ask.

Jehova Cuddly Bear…

Soon after Jesus revealed Himself to me I began to discover an aspect of God I had no idea existed. The ‘daddy’ side of Him. I was in this new and awesome world and realized that I could actually go into the throne room where the big God who sat there, was also my daddy who longed to reach out to me, to have me sit on His lap and just chat. We had some really special conversations (and we still do) where He talked to me like a loving father does to a 3 year old.

I will never forget this one however. I was on the bus alone, going from Tong Fuk (where we live) to Mui Wo (Silver Mine bay) and on a warm sunny day this journey is a very pretty one and it was that day. The hills were so green and fresh, the ocean looked so cool and refreshing, the flowers, the butterflies, the sky, the cute village homes in the shade of the trees, it was all so beautiful and I was chatting with God about them. Now this conversation happened naturally, it wasn’t some deliberate thing. It was in my thoughts, and it was two way, and it was so clear and real that I suddenly stopped after I had said something, wondering if I had just said it out loud. I was suddenly aware of the fact that there were people around me and I had probably been smiling and oh! dear if I had actually said stuff out loud, I would have looked like those kids who go around with their imaginary friends. I knew my invisible daddy was laughing at my self consciousness and realizing that no one was actually near me I allowed myself to chuckle with Him and said something like, “Lord, don’t do this to me, I don’t want people thinking I’m nuts… = ). I mean in the bible when you revealed more and more of yourself to people it was always this awesome thing like, Jehova Jireh - God will see or provide, or Jehova Shalom – God is peace or Jehova nissi – God is my banner, or Jehova Ropheka – God is my healer and to me it’s like Jehova cuddly bear - God is my cuddly bear imaginary friend who goes along with me to keep me company. "

I shared this with my husband Ed but not with anyone else, not knowing quite how they’d react and fearing I suppose, that they’d think me weird. A couple of days ago however it just came out in a conversation with a friend and he surprised me by saying that he knows of someone who says God revealed Himself to him as Jehova sneaky as He’s always sneaking up on him. = ) I sense that many of us are seeing this lighter, relaxed, fun side of God and I find that it’s just as awesome a picture of Him as all the other revelations. This world is so in need of their Dad and He wants so much for us to just hang out with Him as well. Over time we’ve done so much revering, honoring, exalting and fearing it’s turned into a flesh thing that actually separates us from Him. We put God on this pedestal and keep Him in that lonely place and that’s not at all what He wants and we lose out on so so much by doing that. Lord you are the cuddliest Father there ever was and ever will be and I thank you for every precious cuddle you’ve given me. I love you Dad.

Not by might, not by power but by His Spirit…

This scripture has taken on new meaning for me today. I realize more and more as I seek God and His ways that it’s not about what I can do for Him, but about what He can do through me. There is only one way we can be effective for God and live the victorious life that Jesus died to give us. It is by laying down our lives as a living sacrifice for Him, by doing things not by might or by power but by His Spirit. That might sound too profound, abstract or radical an idea to adopt practically, but actually as has been revealed to me this morning, by our best friend Jesus, it is an extremely practical and very simple idea.

We all know that we are the bride of Christ. In other words we are called into marriage with Christ right? Now, what is an ideal marriage? One in which the husband and wife spend time with each other, getting to know one another and loving each other. As this is done, day by day the two gradually become one.

Is the marriage any good if they do not spend time together on a daily basis? Is the marriage any good if they have a brief honey moon period and then proceed to get on with life growing away from one another? Is the marriage any good if they both get caught up in the duties of marriage and forget about each other? Is the marriage any good if they force themselves into a relationship out of a sense of duty or guilt? No. It’s the same in our relationship with Jesus. Many people experience the life changing initial moments with Jesus when He reveals Himself to them, they have a brief honey moon period with Him when they are on fire for Him but then the busyness of life gets in the way. Then there are those who get so caught up in the busyness of being a Christian, evangelizing, preaching, teaching and ministering, they get caught up in the kingdom, they forget about the King. Still others spend time with God out of a sense of duty or worse still, out of guilt. Gosh! what a slap in the face for any spouse who is treated this way, and yet as the bride of Christ ... how many times do we do this? In being this kind of bride to Christ, living according to the scripture, ‘not by might nor by power but by His spirit’ becomes a huge challenge and is in fact I realize impossible.

Just like we cannot have a victorious marriage without loving each other and becoming one , we cannot live a victorious life in Christ without becoming one with Him. We cannot do things by His Spirit if we are not one with His Spirit. 1 Cor 6: 17 says, ‘But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.’ Are we? Do we expect the victory of being a Christian without loving our Lord the way He wants and deserves to be loved?

If however, we commune with Him on a daily basis like a husband and wife does, if we hang out with Him, we relax with Him, we chat with Him, we find out how much He loves us, we tell Him how much we love Him, we ask His opinion and we submit under His authority. What will happen?

Clearly when we do this in our marriages, the person whom we love becomes a huge influence in our lives. His/her decisions become ours, his/her choices become ours. It is the same with God. When we treat Him as our husband and get into an active relationship with Him giving Him the place He deserves as our husband, it is only natural that He becomes the leading influence of our lives. His Spirit becomes one with ours and pretty soon the things we do will no longer be by our might or by our power but by His Spirit.

I have experienced some of this. I find myself changing, my taste in the things of this world is going, my taste in the things of God is growing, I find myself doing things better, being nicer, kinder, more loving, all smiley faced and stuff and with no real effort on my part, in fact I almost can't help it sometimes and I know it's Christ's spirit in me doing this. Yeeeeeeeehhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaa! It's way cooler than trying to do the right thing in my own strength. Man! that's tough. Isn't it awesome? I love God... and He does a whole bunch of amazing stuff through me and I am blessed and His glory is revealed... and who wouldn't want this life? Jesus Christ you are awesome. I LOVE BEING A CHRISTIAN.

My Favourite testimony so far.

I was raised Catholic and one thing that I got from that, was a love and admiration for Jesus. He was my best friend ever since I was about 7 and I had a deep adoration of Him and growing up, I was a huge fan of His. I grew up with nuns around me right through school and college and I was an absolute 'goody goody' girl. For anyone who understands religion, you know what kind of a trap that can be. Being good and doing the right thing was this huge burden I carried. I was very aware of my love for Jesus but had no clue really of His love for me, of the freedom that it brings and had no active two way relationship either. About two years ago however, I was watching a Christian television show and I felt like the guy talking had something more in His relationship with God than I did, He was saying stuff like God spoke to him and I was like, "c'mon that's weird, God doesn't talk to us... or does he?" Anyway, I don't know why I did it, but at the end of the program I prayed the sinners prayer and did not think I had done anything spectacular or different, but I felt nice.
Soon after however I had an argument with my husband Ed (one of our typical cat and dog fights - if any of you feel bad that you and your spouse fight, take it from me, you can't beat how terribly good we were at it : ) ), I was sitting around and moping and feeling sorry for myself and I asked the question in my heart, 'why can't I experience a love that goes without for me? (typical!!! - too many fairy tales : ) ) So there I was feeling all hurt and upset, because Ed would not come into the room, go down on his knees and apologise, : ) And I heard Jesus so clearly, I will never forget it, He said, "Cheryl you want to know of a love that went without so you can have, I love you so much, I gave my life for you". I was stunned, (it's amazing how you can grow up knowing this, and yet not know it at all) In that instant, I experienced a love like none I had ever experienced. It was supernatural and it drove out all my insecurities, doubts and fears and at the same time brought me into an awareness of the fact that, I did not deserve it. Yet I knew that I had this love and He poured it out so freely. I was so loved and so overwhelmed and it rocked my world. ALSO, I knew that Ed was actually this wonderful guy who loved me very much. Amazing, how that happened. : )

Then the changes in the natural began to manifest and they went at roller coaster speed. It's like God did not waste any time at all. What an awesome God He is. I was still working as a flight attendant with Cathay Pacific Airways but a question I had suppressed for about 2-3 years would not stop coming into my mind. 'Why am I doing what I do for a living?' and I answered "because God asked me to" and He said, "really? did I?" and that's when I realized I had not really asked God at all, and so I did and God said, 'Do you feel like this is where you are meant to be?' and I said, ‘no’ and He said, 'so quit' and I said, 'NO' and He said, 'Okay...' and He slowly revealed to me the real reason I would not quit. It was because I did not believe that if I did what He was asking me to (follow the desires of my heart and join my husband full time in the magazine ministry he was just launching, and be a full time mum to my daughter Tiara) that God would take care of me. Of course I argued that this was not the case, that it would be irresponsible to quit my job and things like that and I came up with some very good, seemingly biblically backed arguments as well (my religious upbringing helped greatly in this regard), but in the end God showed me that I had a fear that our needs would not be met, if I did not depend on myself and my job and I was hiding it very cleverly. The bible verses, " look at the lillies in the field... and seek first the kingdom of God and messages like that kept coming up so much, it was almost funny. I faced the reality that my dependence upon my secular work was a trap of fear that I disguised as responsibility. He showed me that my work should not be my source, that He is and when we do what He created us to do, we are rewarded by Him whether that is through a secular job, a business or in active ministry, our supply comes from Him alone. There is a difference between working at a secular job and claiming God is our source and working at a secular job and actually having God as our source. It's a fine line actually, and it was an issue I avoided confronting until God helped me to. But I had to choose to believe this and to me this step was like jumping off the cliff, but my love for Him was so strong and the realization of His love for me too real to worry about this like I used to, and it remains the same to this day.

By this time ( it had been about two months into this conversation - I was taking my time and God was being very gracious ) Ed had already left secular work to begin the ground work on the publishing ministry. A call that began over 6 years ago for him with one failed, part time, half hearted, faithless attempt in his bag already. We realized that this task could not be done unless we both worked at it full time. So our dependence on secular work had to be crucified. As we began to pray and seek God in this call He gave us more visions and dreams and revealed to us His desire to unite the body here and bring the young generation to Him through media. Praise God I am so amazed at what He has done with us.
It's a journey where we stumble and fall and then rise in victory on a daily basis almost and life for me is unlike it has ever been before. I have faced and overcome challenges I had no idea I could overcome and even during the toughest parts of this journey I can tell you with all honesty, I will not change a single thing. I only want more of this life in God. Every struggle I have with my flesh has led to tremendous growth in my spirit and deep down I know I have found the path to the life we as human beings crave. I am headed towards victory in Christ and it's awesome. Jesus Christ you totally rule.