Co Lo Ssi Ans -- TWO

Chapter 2!


"Continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Denise mentioned this notion of giving thanks in her devotions and I wanted to second her thought. This passage to me means, "follow up in your faith." The peak of our relationship with Christ probably occurs at the point that we realize that we're sinners and need Jesus in our lives. Do you remember that moment when you were sitting and realized that you need God to save you from all your troubles and need him to change who you are? I do. Not once, but many times, I've felt this. But then we usually go through this downfall after that, and slowly lose excitement in our relationship with him. Which is fine, though, because that's human nature. You may feel attached to someone so deeply and the relationship may lose its flames due to many circumstances. But we can try our best to keep that flame going and act in many ways to fuel that flame here and there. And that takes effort. It takes daily effort, actually. There are certain people in my life that I want to keep the flame going with. And if you really care for those people, you'll want to do things to make those people happy, to talk to them consistently, and to let those people know that you're there for them. It's the same case with God. Stay rooted in him. Keep building yourself around him. Keep strengthening yourself in him. And most of all, don't forget to let him know that you appreciate him. This is important.

Verses 13-15 give justifications as to why God deserves all praises and thanks. It's simple. He died for us so that we may live forever in heaven. That's straight-forward, isn't it? Yet it's so hard to grasp sometimes and so easy to take for granted. That is why you need to sit down more and have these quiet times and think about why you should give thanks. Even sitting down right here for me, in this library, studying quietly, I'm so thankful that God took me this far and I'm so excited about where this education is going to take me for the rest of my life. I'm excited to live for God with whatever profession he may choose to grant me, and all the people that are going to be touched by it.

Verse 8 is interesting for me and has some personal values. It says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." I really appreciate some of the writings of the philosophers of the early days that tried to come up with the meaning of life and the sense they made out of it. Even some of the modern writers as well, they had some influence on my thinking. And there are so many people that bind to these philosophies and think that Biblical knowledge and wisdom are a bunch of crap, for it's like "blind faith". I took political philosophy last year, and everyone seemed to have a consensus on the fact that the Bible is just some ancient text that's full of fabricated stories, and that true knowledge and wisdom come from these brilliant philosophers. And people are bound by these thoughts. Even today, in science, people are captivated by the way that scientists can explain almost everything in this world by means of theories and objective experimental results. And it's tempting to be captivated into this thinking. Because most of it is convincing and true to some extent. But what's interesting is that if you read between the lines of the works of these thinkers, they are influenced by the church. By the Bible. By God's way of thinking. I don't know if you guys have read any of Rousseau's works, but he once said this (sorry if I'm not quoting exactly): "The world of reality has its limits; but the world of imagination is boundless." It kind of sounds like Jesus when he said that the world is not everything that we should be bound to, but rather, we should be looking forward to and imagining what's our there, beyond this material world.

So my challenge is this. Instead of learning about all sorts of worldly knowledge and wisdom and become critical of your religion, be the ones that link the two and appreciate the fact that God has allowed us to be creative and imaginary in our thinking. I forget who said this, and I'm pulling this one out of my butt too, but someone said, "Some people complain because God put thorns on roses; while others praise him for putting roses among thorns." Don't look at this world as the nice world with many problems that we try to deal with. In my opinion, that's not how Christians should be thinking. Instead, regard this world as the one that is full of sin, and you are the light of the world that Jesus has appointed.

Be the difference, in a good way.


Hope you had a wonderful Tuesday!


Roh

chapta twoo!
I think the concept that we are sinners is one that is hard to grasp. And its obvious why. Who would want to demote themselves and call themselves something that we, as humans, detest so much? Jesus is the reason why we are here, and why we can still be here. We hear that a lot, i know. Sometimes i hate listening to it too... "without Jesus we would die in sin". Hard to see something that never happened right? But i sat down and looked at all angles of what "could have been" according to God, and the Bible. We would die in sin. Not drop dead but in the after life we would all go to where we belong, hell. So i thought of the amount of love someone has to have to save sinners again. You know the guy who always screws up? i do, we all have someone like that... And every time they screw up we still help them out... weird isnt it? After realizing the amount of thanks i owe to Jesus it was mind blowing.
Also Roh made a good point about the philosophers of this world. I love philosophy and i love to read about great minds. But they are just concepts that are "fun" or " i didnt see it that way". In the end its just a way of thinking about it. Its not fact, its not the way of life.

Almost half way through the week... I FINALLY GET TO SLEEP IN TOMORROW!! YEeeeeEE.
Have a good wed-nes-day.
E-Sak

Isaac, don't get me wrong (well, not just Isaac but everyone else). I'm not underplaying the role of philosophers and saying that their writings merely serve the purpose of interest and enlightenment. Rather, some of the most important values and systems of today are shaped around these philosophers. Look at democracy -- it comes from Rousseau and even many philosophers before him. The Protestant church came from Martin Luther (not the Black dude, but the German one), who himself was a philosopher and a revolutionary. We NEED these philosophical minds and actions. But, what I'm saying is that we need to recognize that Jesus' teachings and the Bible cannot be ignored, and as Christians in a "worldly" world, I don't want us to blend in and regard the Bible simply as "just another book with fairytales". The Bible contains truth, and it is the book of life. It is as important, and usually more important, than most philosophical literaries.


Roh

Sorry Roh and Izak.. I can see you guys are having a discussion but I have serious ADD and I don't think I can read Roh's gigantic essay and follow up on the discussion..
TBH, I'd rather go chase pretty butterflies
AWESOME
but.. I will attempt to read it! >_> Since you devoted your time, heart, and a lot of passion into writing it.. I really want to but.. Now i feel bad.. real bad...

When I was reading this.. it reminded me of this thing called "Zeitgeist"
it's a movie that's on google video.. youtube.. etc. and it basically 'proves' christianity is just another religion in this world...
you guys should check it out, but obviously just for interests' sake
it reminded me of this because of what Peter wrote in Verse 4 "I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments"
If you guys ever end up watching the movie.. you guys will understand
anyway, I also really wanted to know what the other person wrote to Peter that brought about Paul's response from Verse 6 to Verse 23...
Finally, when Paul said, "But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires." I realized I will always be sinful, because I have sinful thoughts no matter what. It's actually not THAT hard to refuse to put these thoughts into action (like stealing, etc.) in fact, it feels good at the end if you end up not doing it!
However... the thought is there, the intent is there, and therefore the sin is also there.
And for God who knows what we're thinking and all these stuff to be able to forgive us in the end.. I'm very grateful of that!
That's what I've learned from this Chapter...


Damn I'm a hypocrite >_>

oh many the zeitgeist movie.... how i can rant and rant about how messed up it is. BUT you guys should watch it. It does tackle some issues/ has some cool historical "facts" (if you want to call it facts). Also this is the reason why atheists will still be atheists.
.... damb zeitgeist......

Colossians 2

I find it neat when we all seem to be traveling on the same wavelength with the interpretation of chapters, and I think that sort of happened today, so forgive me if I'm repeating, haha. Anyways.

v.6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

I italicized the words "just" and "continue" because the inclusion of those words heavily influenced what I extracted from this verse. I can remember that first time when I was at a retreat and received Christ Jesus as my Lord and it was an exciting moment. You walk away from an experience like that on fire for Him, and wanting to just know more and more and more. But as time goes by, I recall slowly falling back into the arguably-"easier" grooves of the world. And this verse asks us to continue to challenge ourselves to "live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness", with the same fervour and enthusiasm that we had when we first accepted Christ. I mean, as with all relationships, it takes an effort to to do so, and I think it's especially easy to fall out of things with God simply because at the back of your mind you know that despite what neglect you carry out, He'll still always be there waiting for you. But if anything, because of this love He shows, you can be guaranteed that this can be the one relationship that will never let you down, even if you decide to put copious amounts of yourself into it. And I think as we continue to root and build up in him, as a natural order of things, our thanksgiving and passion for him will grow and grow and grow!

v.8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

I'm not entirely sure how to begin writing about this verse, but to say that it certainly struck a chord with me today. Perhaps because I've been reading new idea after new idea about existentialism and can see an entire class of individuals with the potent potential to be taken captive by these 'hollow and deceptive' philosophies that Paul talks about. I'm trying to be very careful with my words here...Akin to what Roh said, I feel like when people get to that point in their lives when they begin critically questioning what their purposes are, it can be much easier to turn to the works of philosophers and existentialists to "find" it - especially in the context of our times, where science and reason have become like the backbone of society, turning newer generations away from finding themselves through faith and religion. To a lost soul, a philosopher or existentialist can offer them volumes upon volumes of their work, where they can expand on the process (sometimes inclusive of very understandable, 'human' experiences) they've endured in order to come to the system of beliefs that they've established, making them all the more 'logical' for the audience. If any part of their thinking particularly stands out to a seeker, it's so easy for the rest of their ideas to become a sort of a moral compass for the life of the individual. I'm not gonna lie, I'll be reading pieces by these different people and sometimes a profound phrase will set off a light switch in my head and I'll walk out genuinely feeling like I'm a better individual because of it, so I see where the challenge non-Christians can find in falling head over heels into philosophical schools of thought. Wow, I put out so many unnecessary words and thoughts..I suppose just because this has to do with something that's been on my mind lately. This'll probably go into my journal. Hahaha. Anyways, coming back to the verse, I was simply very appreciative of it for serving as a great reminder that despite all the wise words that are out there, there is no comparable essence of meaning and truth to that of our God.

Biggest written tangent of my life. My apologies for the taking-up-spaceage. Note though, my personal belief is that there's a way to be in tune with the truth of God while appreciating some of the wisdom that there's to be found in the works of philosophers and existentialists..I mean, I don't think it has to be one or the other. Makes sense? Maybe not. You know what, I'm just gonna go take my sinus pill. Hahaha.

HAPPY WEDNESDAYS

Hannah.

haha hey guys
today was such a good day, I was like, floating on clouds
i pigged out at mcdonalds after school
then i went and attempted to jog it off, almost got bitten by a pitbull in the park
haha but its ALL GOODDDD
man i wish i lived my whole life in this mood

but anyhoo
heavy heavy chatper, colossians is intense man
but i really liked this chapter
firstly, " For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority"
i vaguely remember memorizing this for a missions scripture test
haha which i did horribly on, btw.
But this verse really reinforced our understanding our Jesus: in him, we hav ethe Holy Spirit, God and the Son all in human bodily form: a form that we can connect to, understand and relate to. Becuase Jesus was here in our form and gave us a great connection and relationship with God, we have 'fullness'. And i dont know this word justkind of stood out to me in relation to what Paul talks about later. When we know and work on a relationship with Jesus, we are made FULL with Christ.
But, Paul talks about faith that is consumed with the world:
There are many people that 'believe' in a very shallow way: they are taken over by human tradition, by rules, etc. and therefore their souls are unspiritual and they are shallow - therefore, not full.
And I couldnt help to be reminded of the Catholic church. And I'm not trying to start beef or get really controversial. haha but i was baptized Catholic, and have been going to a catholic school for like, 7 years now.. So I know what they're all about, and the reason that I fell away from my baptismal promise to the Catholic church is becasue it just seemed like another one of those religions; rules, traditions, conventions seemed to take over the whole religion and faith kind of seemed to be.. far away and inapplicable to the regular human being
But since I started going to milal, I found fulness in Christ; I didn't feel trapped by rules and traditions, but our focus was a relationship and love, which I think is 10 000 times more important than making sure that there were no such thing as 'altar girls' becuase it was against tradition.

Like Sam always says, 'Christianity is a relationship, not a religion'. So I guess I have to remember how much Jesus can fill me: from the inside out, he can be within me and reign in me

holy crap... Hannah way to write a book... we all wrote so much,, im having issues reading all of it...
we have a kitty emoticon... awesome..