Lateness and punctuality

Lately, I have been thinking about lateness and punctuality..

At my church in Indonesia, tardiness for practicing is a common action to do... If you come late, then it is normal. But if you come on-time, then nobody is there to appreciate it, because everybody will be late...

I talked to my cousin, and we were telling stories how when we lived in Canada or Australia, we ought to come 10 minutes before the practice started, or at least, right at the arranged time...
So, when my cousin moved back to Indonesia, and he came to practice 10 minutes before the practice started... Well, he found out that nobody was there...
He then decided that he would just get to the church at the arranged time and when he did that, nobody was there too... So, he thought, what the heck, let's just come late, because everybody is late anyway... And there he was, changing his habits from being punctual to being late...

And then you thought, why don't we just tell everybody to be on time?!

Well, when we try to make everybody punctual by criticizing someone when he/she is late, everybody else thought that it was not nice because we should not scold the person who is late, especially at the church setting because people serve voluntarily.... The next thing we need to do is apologize because we scold the person who is late...

When this happens, the world turns upside down... The right becomes wrong and the wrong becomes right...

Joy to the world! The Lord is come

I have just finished watching Got To Dance UK and one of the judges --- Ashley Banjo -- is the winner of Britain's Got Talent Season 3. His dance group -- called Diversity -- won the competition and he was the choreographer...

Now he is not only famous as a dancer but he has also achieved a status to be a judge of dance competition... Many of the contestants, especially street dancers, thought that they hope they can impress Ashley, who has ever been in their position. However, Ashley still judged fairly. He did not let the contestants who cannot dance pass the audition easily, even though he knows what the contestants felt.

Yesterday (Dec 7, 2010), I read Our Daily Bread that tells story about some medical students who got unique experience. Those students went to nursing home and experience what the life of the residents there for 10 days. At the end, they learned how to serve the elderly better in the future because they understand the struggles of elders.

Both Ashley and those students have experienced the feeling of the people that they serve.

God, too, has come to the earth and he has experienced life as humans...

Joy to the world, the Lord is come and let earth receive her King....

Verse 3 and verse 4 of "Joy to the World" go like this:

Verse 3

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

Verse 4

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

When we sing Joy to the World, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, we usually skip the part where God "rules the world with truth and grace." It is not only by grace, but it is alo with truth. We, as humans, like to forget this. Like the contestants of "Got to Dance UK" who hate the judges when the judges did not let them through to the next round --- even though the judges judged fairly --- , we hate God when he rules the world with truth.

We are happy when he comes, but we do not glorify his righteousness.

We sing Joy to the world, but we do not prepare our hearts for him.

Christmas is about someone, but it is not about Jesus.

Christmas is about celebration, but it is not about celebration the birth of Jesus.

Christmas is about presence, but it is not about the presence of Jesus.

Rather, it has been about Santa Claus, celebration of the coming Christmas itself, the presence of presents, holidays, shoppings, christmas tree, christmas decoration, and christmas song.

So, let's remind ourselves that it is about the birth of Jesus Christ and the reason why he came. He came to save us. We are the reason that He gave us his life, and we are the reason that he suffered and died. God, like the judges, judges human fairly. He understands that humans sin, and he understands that humans cannot help each other to erase their sin, because all of them are sinners. It took more than just mere humans to help them. However, he is not only just, but he is also gracious. That is why he, who is holy, came to earth and became human to cleanse our sins. He has done all of these because he loves us, the "mere humans"

Therefore, we need prepare our hearts, receive our King, and bring ourselves to be a proof of the glories of his righteousness at this upcoming Christmas.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” -- Luke 2:14

-- Merry Christmas everyone!!! ---

Japan

Two months ago, on my way to Indonesia from Vancouver, I spent a night in Japan...

In my hotel, there is a convenience store at the lobby... So I decided to buy something for food.

I found a different way to drink milk from the milk carton (so I thought, why not share it??)

The next morning, I also enjoyed a really good traditional Japanese style breakfast at Narita Airport