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Gospel of Matthew
22 Feb2010
I love reading Scripture because of the way the Teacher surprises you with things you’ve never seen or noticed before. Specifically, the life and teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels are full of hidden truths, and it’s a delight to discover these truths revealed as you examine Jesus’ life on earth anew.
Here are just a few passages from the book of Matthew that have stood out to me so far as I make my way through it once again:
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
I love themes and repetition, and so the bolding is mine. I’ll continue to highlight more as I continue reading Matthew and most likely move on into Mark, Luke, and John.
- In: truth
The power of beauty and truth
22 Feb2010
John Piper, from a talk asking the question, Is there such a thing as Christian eloquence?
The attempt to craft striking and beautiful language makes it possible that the beauty of eloquence can join with the beauty of truth and increase the power of your words. When we take care to create a beautiful way of speaking or writing about something beautiful, the eloquence—the beauty of the form—reflects and honors the beauty of the subject and so honors the truth.
The method and the matter become one, and the totality of both becomes a witness to the truth and beauty of the message. If the glory of Christ is always ultimately our subject, and if he created all things, and if upholds all things, then bringing the beauty of form into harmony with the beauty of truth is the fullest way to honor the Lord.
Or another way to think about this unity is this: If a person sees and delights in the beauty of your language, but does not yet see the beauty of the Lord Jesus, you have given them not only a witness to his beauty but an invitation. You have said, “It’s like this, only better. The beauty of my words is the shadow. Christ, who created and sustains and mercifully accepts imperfect beauty, is the substance. Turn to him. Go to him.”
- In: quotations
- Tags: beauty, john piper, language, quote, truth
Happy Thanksgiving!
26 Nov2009
I slept in, signed online and watched President Obama pardon a turkey. It may not be waking up to the smell of turkey roasting in the oven or turning on football, but it’ll do.
If you’re wondering what Thanksgiving will look like for me: Today I’ll enjoy a quiet day off with my team, watching movies and baking, we’ll teach a normal day tomorrow, and then Saturday we’ll head to Changchun for a DongbeiThanksgiving celebration with other Americans from our company. There’ll be games, lots of food and good friends.
I’ve spent the week teaching my students about Thanksgiving traditions and sharing why I’m thankful to be in China even though it’s hard to be away from family. They made Thankful Turkeys and shared them with the class 
Today I’m sharing banana bread muffins with school officials and others who take care of us here on campus and have made this semester already so memorable.
Already it’s been a really great holiday week. I don’t have any muffins to share with you, but I do want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I pray it’s a day filled with family, friends, food, and remembering all of the many blessings we have.
- In: china| my work
- Tags: holidays, thanksgiving
Why I love team leading
17 Nov2009
A few weeks back I attended a team leader summit in Beijing, and maybe the most worthwhile thing from the whole weekend sprung from a simple question:
What first drew you to team leading?
Here’s a compilation of the answers my colleagues and I gave, and it pretty much sums up why I said to a friend at dinner tonight that I pretty much have my dream job.
Mentoring, nurturing people, being involved in an environment for growth, seeing development and change in others, seeing our Father work in big ways, challenge of personal growth through leading, being a part of changed lives, influencing beyond the people I can touch personally, multiplying, part of a generation that pours into others, influence through equipping, inspiring people towards living for the kingdom, giving other overseas workers a good start, seeing the necessity of good leaders, the variety of roles in team leading, making use of varied skills and passions, continuity at the school, building community, the impact of living intentionally as a community, preparation and training for the next thing in life, working together for a common goal, having to rely on Him because it’s a job that is way over my head, obedience
If I could write a job description out of thin air, you just looked at it. And I wanted to post it here basically to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to each one of you who has sacrificed something to allow me to be here, loving others and loving what I do.
This is sort of a follow-up from my previous post on team leading.
- In: my work
- Tags: team leading
Snowy Harbin
16 Nov2009
I haven’t written much about the city I’m living in. I hope this is the beginning of that changing.
It’s been snowing in Harbin since Friday afternoon and I’ve been thinking about how beautiful the city looks covered in snow. It might be the giddiness of the first snowfall speaking, but it honestly feels like Harbin was made to be blanketed in white–as if now that I’ve seen it this way I can’t quite remember it without. Did the trees ever have leaves on them? Surely not. Did I ever venture out without long underwear, gloves, scarf and hat? Not a chance.
The change in the city is something more than just my bad memory, however. The taxi drivers are driving with a new sense of purpose and the Harbinren are moving not with any sort of begrudgery at the now-slippery sidewalks and streets, but as if they’ve just returned home to a place familiar. Harbin’s beautiful cobblestone Central Street was alive today, not only with the sea of shoppers that fill every Chinese city, but with the crunch of snow underfoot and the crispness of the cold air breathing new life into the people and place.
It’s been fun to see the city transformed (awakened, even), and it’s reminded me how wonderful a thing it is to live and move in the place the Father has made for each of us, living as the people He’s created us to be.
Just like the Song Hua River looks right as a body of ice rather than a body of water, so each of us were created to be someone specific with specific and certain seasons of growth and refinement. And so, just as we can praise Him for the beauty of a snowfall ushering in what’s sure to be a long, cold winter, we can praise Him for our own seasons of ice and snow, as well as seasons of melting, blooming and dying–because each was made for each of us.
And for this season in my life, I’m certainly glad to be in beautiful, cold, snowy Harbin.
Jiaozi in hand
16 Nov2009
Jiaozi = a Chinese dumpling. Making them with students = something I will never forget or take for granted.
11.11
11 Nov2009
Probably the most common question I get from people I meet is “why did you come to China?” Right behind that is “do you have a Chinese girlfriend?” or, more directly, “do you want a Chinese girlfriend?” Or more awkwardly, “do you like Chinese girls?” Surprisingly, those questions are a lot more related than you think.
It’s Single’s Day in China (11.11), a day in which many Chinese 1s enjoy a dinner with their single friends or try to end their singleness by attending blind date parties. I’ve been thinking about my own singleness lately (I won’t be attending any parties, by the way), and it seems that why I’m in China and why I’m single also go hand in hand.
It’s hard to share why I’m in China… it’s true that I want to teach English. It’s also true that it’s an exciting time to be in China. I often share those things. It’s also true that I want to share my hope with Chinese college students who are often directionless and without hope. I also share this whenever I can.
Regardless of the answers I give, Chinese people often have a hard time understanding why I would leave my family in America, or why I would come to China to make less money than I could make in America. So when I say I’m not married and don’t have a girlfriend, they think they understand why I’m in China: to find a wife. That’s not why I’m in China, but it’s the answer that makes the most sense to them.
And really, my answers in and of themselves don’t make a lot of sense. And neither does my singleness, unless I add the final answer to the question of why I’m in China.
I’m here because I believe God has a purpose and a plan. I’m single because I believe God has a purpose and a plan. For my life. For my students’ lives. If I didn’t believe this, I wouldn’t be here. And though I might still be single, I wouldn’t know the peace that comes from surrendering all of the big questions in life to the One that knows every answer.
- In: china| my work
- Tags: questions, singles day, why i'm in china
Water Cube and Bird’s Nest
4 Oct2009
I visited Beijing’s two most beautiful and famous Olympic venues today and loved every minute of it. Seriously–there’s no way any other Olympic city will every have two venues as unique and memorable as the Water Cube and Bird’s Nest. Maybe I’m biased, or maybe Beijing is just that awesome. I vote awesome.
(There are more where these photos came from on Flickr and Facebook!)
I really have had a great holiday in Beijing, and I have a few more days to enjoy it before I head back to Harbin on Wednesday. I’m excited to get back to my team, students and campus, but I’ve loved seeing friends here and seeing how much my first China home has changed in 3 years. It clearly was a big 3 years for the ‘Jing, so I hope to share more on that (and how Beijing and Harbin are oh so different) soon…
I’m alive
28 Sep2009
Hi, Planet Earth.
Despite overwhelming evidence otherwise, I’m alive and well in the People’s Republic of China (who’s looking well for her age–just two days shy of 60)! It’s been a busy month of adjustment to life in Harbin, made a bit more peaceful, actually, by a lack of Internet access and of a computer altogether for most of it (my Macbook took a nasty fall and is soon to be replaced by an adorable, new netbook–and I’m hoping I can still bring my Macbook back to life, as well).
I wouldn’t have chosen a technology fast for my first month back in China, but honestly, it’s been a blessing. I’ve been able to concentrate on things more closely at hand, like my team and my teaching, especially, and I’ve filled my time in a lot of other ways, including time with students (who I’m excited to tell you about soon!), studying Chinese, and a whole lot of reading (I’ve finished The Old Man and the Sea and The Little Prince (both for the second time), The Power and the Glory, and I’m nearly through Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, which is fantastic). I love reading, and while I’ve missed reading Twitter and my favorite blogs, focusing on fiction again has been a really nice way to put my thoughts into perspective and remember the beauty and mystery of a single human life (unintentionally the theme of all four of those books, really). Returning to a country filled with so many people who are often such a mystery to me, this lesson has been invaluable.
Honestly, too much has happened to update you on right now, but I wanted to say hello, that I miss you all, and I’m looking forward to talking to you and hearing from you again soon. If you’re in China, enjoy your National Day and holiday (I’m in Beijing already enjoying mine), and if you’re elsewhere, remember us here!
十一快乐!
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