Earthquake in Taipei...

... has killed my access to MSN and a lot of non-Asian websites.

Merry Christmas

Hello all,

There's another 5 minutes left of Christmas in Beijing; I've spent the last few days showing my parents around Beijing, and living with them at the Westin Hotel (much more luxurious than my dorm). I just came online and realised I missed spending Christmas with all my friends so I thought I blog something!

Merry Christmas!

While You Were Sleeping

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night, in the night

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping?
Will we be sleeping?

United States of America
Looks like another silent night

tianjin

I've arrived safely in Beijing, I havent had much time to blog because I've been a bit sick, but I'm better now, and I went to Tianjin today with some friends. Was a 1.5 hour train trip each way, and there wasn't that many good sites there but I reckon I took some nice photos. I miss my SLR though.

From Tianjin

Going to Tianjin...

From Tianjin

Haihu (The "Sea" River??)

From Tianjin

for some reason chinese people think you'll kill grass if you step on it

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

Ancient Culture Street

From Tianjin

My friend in a balaclava

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

From Tianjin

Wanghailou Catholic Church

From Tianjin

10 Commandments in Chinese

From Tianjin

Interior

From Tianjin

what the..?

From Tianjin

Great Compassion Temple

I am running/ a hundred miles an hour

I'm leaving tmr morning for Beijing. I'm really sad because I feel like I've just gotten into a good routine here with friends/people and with my quiet times and stuff like that. Just 2 weeks ago I was really sad that I'd be leaving people who are important to me in Sydney, now I'm really sad about leaving behind important people in HK. Maybe in 5 weeks I'm going to be depessed about people in Beijing, but I dont know..

I'm pretty much all packed, I've got like 5 kilos of cables for laptop, camera, iPod, PSP, ext HDD... I think I've travelled too much in my life, and I've never really felt at home. I was reading Inside Out by Crabb the other day, and it said:

Ever since God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden, we have lived in an unnatural environment, a world in which we were no designed to live. We were built to enjoy a garden without weeds, relationships without friction, fellowship without distance. But something is wrong, and we know it, both within our world and within ourselves. Deep inside we sense we're out of the nest, always ending the day in a motel room, never at home. When we're honest, we see we handle our discomfort by keeping our distance from people, responding more to our fears than to another's desire for love.

When I read that, I thought, I feel like I've been in a motel room everynight my entire life. And even though to some extent in this life, we'll always be away from our true home, we are at the same time in constant connection with God; his Spirit dwells in us, and we experience a taste of heaven when we have fellowship with one another. Tomorrow night I am going to be in a dorm room, completely disconnected to my Christian brothers and sisters, but I need to remember that I will still be in constant connection with God.

A song that's really meant a lot to me lately is Does Anybody Hear Her by Casting Crowns. I think anyone who's ever struggled seriously with sin will empathise with the song, as well as anyone who has genuinely cared for a brother or a sister. Parts of the video makes me want to cry.



She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even knows she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away

If judgement looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her

He is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction

----

I am running
A hundred miles an hour...

A fork in the road

Australian politics is suddenly getting so exciting, I'm so sad to be missing all the coverage on Australian TV. There is hardly any video footage of Kevin Rudd on YouTube or ninemsn. I'm trying to read everything I can on smh.

Today

Today I had a really really meaningful day, and by the end of it.. I was really depressed and I just felt such an urge to be a missionary.

Just had a really meaningful conversation with someone really important to me about things in our lives, and hearing about Christians persevering in HK..

69.625

So close to a 70 overall WAM!!

Got my first HD since 1st year. I should have done more Philosophy courses!

Why I was a terrible Sunday School teacher...

Talking to my 11 year old cousin (who I thought was 8 or 9)...

So... are you happy with School?
No

Umm... are you happy with ... life?
No

Well... what do you think are some things you can do to change that?
*Blank Look*

I guess primary schoolers arent quite as reflective as I expected...


My cousin's been going to Sunday School at a charismatic church because my auntie wants him to make more friends, and she's been going as well. Apparently she's quite enjoying it and she's also reading the Purpose Driven Life in chinese. And today another auntie of mine who is probably a Christian (but denouces the eating of ostrichs...) lent my mum that book as well. Hopefully she'll read it.

in HK

I've arrived safely in HK. The turbulence was crazy on the plane, I near threw up! Ummm.. I watched Pirates 2 again on the plane, as well as Inconvenient Truth and My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I'm on dial up atm, so things are going pretty slow . . . . .  Net will be faster when I get to Beijing in 10 days time.

Arriving in HK is pretty sad, reminds me of a time when I was happy..

Going mountain walking with my Dad tomorrow, then maybe go shopping for a camera.

leaving tomorrow

leaving at 4pm tomorrow. I was tossing up today what books to bring to China and Europe. At the moment I think I'm going to bring:

Inside Out
Sinners Guide to Holiness
Possessed by God
How to Read the Bible Book by Book
PTC OT1 Notes

Dont know how many of these books I'm actually going to read though!


On Tuesday I was talking to Dan Au, my MTSer, and after a long discussion he said, you know, with some people, after you talk to them you feel really encouraged and joyful, but with you, its completely different . . .