Today's TLA is MRS

Moving Really Sucks

I have moved 8-9 times in the past 10 years. Moving is always a chore, I have so much stuff now. 10 years ago in high school, we had an assignment to document how much stuff you have in a journal and here is what I wrote down.

Personal Inventory Records
-Airwalk Shoes
-4 pants
-11 shirts
-tennis racket
-7 shorts
-computer (486) 25mhz
-Morey Boogie Board
-CD's

10 years ago I left Los Angeles to go to college with that much stuff. Dang, now I think it's going to take me 5 trips to get all my stuff from Sunnyvale, CA to San Jose, CA. What the heck happened? I have too many books, not sure why I have so many. Books ranging from the classic American Literature to math books which I may never read again. I have accumulated too much stuff since college. Most of the stuff are just toys. I think the most recent irrational impulse buy I bought was an electric guitar and amp. After reading Ted and Danny's survey's and describing my dread with regards to moving my stuff, the following will be my survey.

27 years ago: I was baptized in a Catholic Church in Manila, Philippines. I found this out, because of that journal I had from high school, we had to write down, when we were baptized, first communion, confirmation, and wedding day (TBD).

10 years ago: I was entering my senior year in high school. I went to an all men's institution in La Canada, CA called St. Francis High School. I was taking Religion 12 with Father Jerome L. Cummings. Probably the best class I have ever taken in my life, because he would entertain and grab the attention 18 year old kids. He taught the profound teaching of Christ and the Bible. He had interesting lessons, like how to tie a neck tie, how to correctly shave, what to wear when you are meeting your girl friend's parents for the first time, what to wear during prom, the difference between courtesy and ettiquette, setting goals for one's life, and possibly the best thing was to write a letter to my future wife. Hmmmm...I was taking AP Calculus. I think I was going to take the SAT again. I was probably applying to different schools. I was itching to get out of LA.

5 years ago: I was entering my senior year in college. I had an internship at Fujitsu. I turned into a very serious corporate type. I disconnected with Barkada, the Multicultural Center, and even tutoring math. My focus was to get a job, finish school, and pay off student loans. But I did throw a beginning of the year party, but the Santa Clara PD shutdown the party at the house we were renting out. I guess I continued the tradition of introducing Freshmen to a "college party." I got a ticket, had to go to court, and do 40 hours of community service out of it.

1 year ago: I was entering my 4th year at my first job. I traveled to Italy with my family. I found out that I love traveling and I want to travel and see the world. I felt idealistic again, like I was a student again. I started attending LTG small groups at Baylight Church Community. Danny left the job and went to Yahoo. I didn't have anyone to talk to at that gig.

yesterday: It was my mom's 63rd birthday yesterday. I sent her a Bonsai plant at her office. I called my parents to see how they were doing. I got the key to my new place. I found out my sister's dog is missing. I also got a call from a high school friend that a classmate Megho Fidanian passed away during a motorcycle accident. May the Lord be with him in heaven, and may the Lord give his friends and family strength, wisdom, courage, and love during this time of sorrow.

5 snacks i enjoy: grapes, snickers, teddy grahams, ruffles cheddar cheese chips, corn nuts

5 songs i know all the words to: My Way, California Love, Like a bridge over troubled water(Willie Nelson version), For Your Love (Stevie Wonder), Gin N Juice (Snoop Dogg)

5 places i would run away to: Rio de Janeiro, Cusco, La Paz, Casablanca, Manila

5 things i would do with a million dollars: Travel all over the world to fund and create a documentary about the Filipino Immigrant.

5 things i wouldn't wear: tight fitting dress shirt, a kilt, jewelry, leather pants, parachute pants (MC Hammer pants)

5 favorite tv shows: Simpsons, I dream of Genie, Get Smart, Sportcenter (when I had cable), Cartoons from the early to mid 1990's

5 bad habits: not shaving, not eating breakfast, not being expressive, communicating, or speaking up, being messy, being lazy

5 things i'd like to do before i die: Learn 10 different languages, live in a foreign country, love and marry the most beautiful woman for me, love and see my future kids grow up, initiate a scholarship fund for minorities in Mathematics either at Santa Clara University or at other universities.

5 people i'd like to have coffee with: Jack Kerouac (perhaps drink an alcoholic beverage or two and ask him about what effect did God have while writing On the Road), a current or past President or leader of any country (I wouldn't really know what to ask, but maybe just be in the presence of their charisma to lead a country), Shaq (I would ask him if could give me a million dollars to fund my documentary), the Pope, Giselle Bundchen (hot Brazillian super model, just tell her she is hot), oh yeah and of course Jesus. (I wonder if Jesus would like his coffee black or with cream, sugar, splenda, or nutra-sweet, would we meet at Starbucks or Peete's or Coffee Bean?)


Enjoy,
Jonathan

Today's TLA is MTT.

My Testimonial Today

Here are my talking points for how has God affected my life this past year?

-Living in community with other believers is Christianity. I just wanted to thank Danny, Jieun, Ted, Brittany, Eddie, Hannah, Kenneth, Stephanie, Gil, and Michelle.

-Being one in Christ through our Baylight Church Community

-Praying for one another is healthy and a sign of maturing Christianity (Praying for our pains, worries, our sins, but also praises as well)

-Being God-centric this past year rather than material and self-centric

-Being Christian is not just an hour on Sundays like in Catholic upbringing, but its a daily practice.

-Christ re-awakened me back to my idealistic mentality of my past as a student, rather than accepting the institutionalized psychotic reality of corporate life after college.

-Learning, growing, and emphasizing Christ's grace through the words of the Bible and other Christian books during small groups gave me a lot of clarity and
confidence to express Christian-ness.

Enjoy,
Jonathan

Today's TLA is COD

Celebration Of Discipline


"Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people."

I like the boldness of the above paragraph. It is the first paragraph of a book called Celebration of Discipline. Well I don't have anything interesting to write about today so the following will just be the collection of notes I have taken during my reading of the book. It is kind of like a book report. It's too bad. How come as adults we don't have book reports anymore? Like I remember making diaoramas, story boards, mobiles, or poster boards about books I have read. Ok enough random thoughts and shenanigans and on to my notes. I think only DC and DC's friends on jack.html will ever read this entry. Anyway look below, I even made a heading to make it even look like a book report... Dang I am a nerd...

Jonathan Reyes <first> <last>
10-09-05 <date>
Celebration Of Discipline <title>
8A <home room class>

Meditation:
"Christian meditation, very simply is the ability to hear God's voice and his word."

"What we see over and over is God's people learning to live on the basis of hearing God's voice and obeying his word."

"... Jesus has not stopped acting and speaking... He is not idle, nor has he developed larryngitis."

"The detachment from the confusion all around us is in order to have a richer attachment to God... giver ourselves to God freely."

"Meditation is guidance dealing with ordinary human problems."

"Meditation boldly calls us to enter into the living presence of God for ourselves."

"My peace I give to you."


Prayer:

To pray is to change.

...But when we pray. God slowly and graciously reveals to us our evasive actions and sets us free from them...

...to breathe is to pray...

our goal is to learn always to think God's thoughts after him, but we all have times when our human desires get in the way.

Listening to God is the necessary prelude to intercession ... listen for guidance.

We do not pray for people as "things" , but as "persons" whom we love.

We should never make prayer too complicated. We are prone to do so once we understand that prayer is something we must learn.

...Jesus taught us to t come like children

...Jesus taught us to pray for daily bread.

...the imaginataion is a powerful tool in the work of prayer.

We must never wait until we feel like praying before we pray for others.

I want a life of greater, deeper, and truer prayer.

Fasting:

Modern Culture...confuses fasting with mortification.

Satisfy every human appetite has made fasting obsolete.

Throughout scripture fasting refers to obstaining from food for spiritual purposes.

Because of secularization of modern society, "fasting" (if it is done at all) is usually motivated by vanity or by desire for power.

Christ both upheld the Discipline of fasting and anticipated that his follewers would do it.

...Our affluent society fasting involves a far larger sacrifice thant the giving of money.


Purpose of fasting? (Fasting must forever center on God) Food does not sustain us, God sustains us, We are fasting on the word of God.

You are to be a master of your stomach not its slave.

Study:

Good feelings will not free us. Ecstatic experiences will not free us. Getting "high on Jesus" will not free us. Without a knowledge of the truth, we will not be free.

Study in a specific kind of experience in which through careful attention to reality the mind is enabled to move in a certain direction.

What we study determines the kind of habits of thought that are formed, which is why Paul urges us to focus on things that are true, honarable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious.


Four Types of Study:
-Repetition - ingrains habits of thought
-Concentration - centers the mind (no distractions)
-Comprehension - focusses in on knowledge of the truth, leads to growth and freedom
-Reflection - describes the significance, not only understand the subject , but ourselves as well.

We must submit to teh system (of study)

We must be humble.

Arrogance and a teachable spirit are mutally exclusive.

Accumulation of information does NOT equal knowledge.

Three intrinsic rules of study
1) Understanding
2) Interpreting
3) Evaluating

Experience is the only way we can interpret and relate to what we read.

Purpose to study scripture if for inner transformation life transforming truth not just good feelings.

Experience what you read.
-reverent observation ("Butterfly as moth")

love everything == divine mysteries

Pride and fear

We study humanity. Study provides joy!


Simplicity:
God made man (and woman) simple. Man's complex problems are of his own devising.

The Christian Discipline of Simplicity is an inward reality in an outward life-style.

I am learning that a man can live profoundly withouth masses of things.

We have no unity or focus aroun which our lives are oriented.

Because we lack a divine center our need for security has led us into an insane attachment to things.

Lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic.

Mass media has convinced us that to be out of step with fasion is to be out of step with reality.

...conformity to a sick society is to be sick.

The Biblical injunctions against the exploitation of teh poor and accumulation of wealt are clear and straightforward.

Jesus speaks to the question of economics more than any othere single social issue.

First seek God to create an inward reality for both personal ans social concerns we shall seek God first.

Wealth does not bring freedom from anxiety

What we have is not the reuslt of our labor, but the gracious care of God.


Refuse to be a slave to anything but God.

Timesaving devices almost never save time.

US less than 6% of population but has 33% of the world's energy?


Solitude:

Inward Solitude has outward manifestations. There is the freedom to be alone, not in order to be away from other people, but in order to hear the divine. Whisper better.


A person under the disicpline of silence is a person who can say what needs to be said when it needs to be said.

Submission:

"If anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

The cross life is the life of voluntary submission....


Wow that's a lot of notes. I figure I might as well write all of these things down somewhere.

Enjoy,
Jonathan