nothing doesn't come w/out a bit of work, faith, and love...

That's a Good Question --> What are the basic visual identifiers of your religion and their importance to the practice of your faith?
You won't be surprised to hear the cross is the most basic visual identifier for the Christian faith. Churches put crosses on their walls; people wear them around their necks. Crosses are common in our day; they were controversial in Jesus' day.
The cross was Rome's brutal way of excuting its most despised criminals. Death on a cross was designed to be excruciating and humiliating. Cicero (Pro Rabirio), the Roman statesman, wrote, "Let the very name of the cross be far, not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from his own thoughts, his eyes, his ears."
So why would Christians identify themselves with something so demeaning and distasteful as the cross?
Why would Paul write, "May i never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14)? Why would he say, "we preach Christ crucified" (1 Cor 1:23)?
The answer is that the cross proclaims good news for all people. Jesus willingly died to pay for the sins of the whole world -including your sins and mine. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). No wonder we call the day Jesus died "Good Friday."
All who embrace the message of the cross, trusting in Jesus' death and ressurection as payment for their sins, are given forgiveness and eternal salvation. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18).
-- Pastor Rick Reed

*I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11 NLT
*Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NLT
*****oh Abba...let me acknowledge You in everything...use ME!*****

i heart you magma...i've grown so much by His Grace...=)

ahhh...my dear housemates...i heart you too =)...lol, the things we do =P

ONE MORE EXAM...sweet =P Soccer season time...yeahh! Go Sens goooo. All i hv to say is that i love my family...THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.

God is good...i live for You everyday...without You i am nothing...Matt 6:33-34

That's a good question! --> Why do human beings need religion?
To say that humans need religion is a bit like saying a thirsty man needs a cup. His real need is not for the cup but for what's in it. The cup is just the container for what he needs most: life-giving water.
As humans we have a chronic spiritual thirst. This thirst can only be quenched by God. He is the living water our soulds crave.
Religion claims to be the cup where parched men and women can find the God they thirt for. Sadly, religion has often proven to be a cracked, dusty, or even empty container. Many religious people have found that rules and rituals can't satisfy their thirst for God. They rsonate with Bono's words: "I still haven't found what i'm looking for."
Jesus was speaking to religious people when He said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38) Jesus offered people what they needed most: a relationship with God. A relationship that is freely given to all who trust in HIm. A relationship that satisfies our deepest thirst.
As a follower of Christ, I am committed to living out His teachings and am connected to a church community. So you could say i'm a religious person. But i'd be quick to tell you that it's not religion that quenches my thirsty soul, it's a relationship with Christ. That's what humans really need.
-- Pastor Rick Reed

*I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. John 15:1-2 NLT
*Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures. John 10:9 NLT
*Jesus said to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. John 8:12 NLT
*Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst. John 6:35 NLT
*Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him. Ephesians 5:2 NLT
*****I remember You...for who You are, and what You've done...for me*****

chinese. tall. tailored. FRENCH SPEAKING. decent looking. left handed. studying PHYSICS IN FRENCH @ stauff. ==> suckered in. Hahaha...shaddup...lol, like i see a person like this everyday =P Lol...now if he played soccer or another sport...

nice wkend-- happy 19th bday fi =P, cheesecake!, parents in k-town ^^, cell =D, hockeyyy XD

He has risen! Risen indeed.

*Then the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. Matthew 28:5-6 NLT
*But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 NLT
*And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to myself." John 12:32 NLT
*Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24 NLT
*Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! Isaiah 53:4 NLT
*He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7 NLT
*For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28 NLT
*My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 NLT
*But he led his own people like a flock of sheep, guiding them safely through the wilderness. Psalm 78:52 NLT
*****Thank you for the cross...humilty*****

=) kev, joycee-poo, jeff and i share our cookie cupcakes. Mmm...even tho it was some time ago...they were yummy w/ milk! =P

nursing gang (back l-r: jaymie, crys, sares, me, ceceilia, bev, val, elaine, anna, front: l-r: grace, arvee, jenna)

*sigh* today marked the end of clinicals for me this semester...Seriously going to miss it...have been totally blessed in this field...hahahaha...there hv been some crzy things happening during the day...i do not usu. walk into elevator doors, i don't usu. shuffle my feet all the way down the hallway to a pt's rm when i'm carrying a thermometer in one pant pocket, an oximeter in another pant pocket, two charts, and four styrofoam cups filled to the brim XP, i do not always walk into doors when leaving the pt's rm, i don't always wish to skip my breaks =P, i don't usu. climb chairs & tables to help pt's get things fr/ shelves that are too tall for me, i don't usu. come out of the rm looking perplexed w/ what i should do, i don't usu. say stoopid things to my clinical instructor just to make her laugh, i don't usu. eat when i'm on the flr...the donuts, candies, chocolates are just there...haha, they're out there to get us fat! =P, i don't usu. fall asleep in in-service classes, i don't usu. look twice at the medical staff...LOL --> no comment...sigh. I'm going to miss being a nurse on the flr.

Seriously? Seriously. Seriously? Seriously...who gets their fingers stuck together w/ super glue? Who doesn't watch sherlock holmes? Lol, it's better than the o.c. ewww, primetime soap opera...haha, JOKING...=P. Who laughs during a mushy scene in a chick flick just cuz it's so cheesy that it's almost impossible to imagine it occuring in reality? Who tries to talk whale language outside of a housemates window trying to get their attention, but instead getting the neighbours? Who get's paid $18/hr to be a dietary aide? A DIETARY AIDE who HANDS OUT FOOD TRAYS to pts on the flr...do i need qualifications to apply? =P Who rollerblades and almost falls flat on their face trying to get fr/ the road to the sidewalk AND hopes to get away w/ it b/c it's like in the dead of the night, but sees their neighbours walking back home fr/ the lib. who are waving madly at u >_> Who falls down the stairs while still holding onto the railing? Who tries to open the same door three days in a row when the door doesn't open at all. Who doesn't love to scare pigeons? Who hides their precious shoes under their bed the night before april fools day b/c they know that there will be retaliation the next day for sticking saran wrap on the toilet seats? Haha...*ahem*...yeah, lovely i know =P

Anyways, hv been watching the love and marriage series that was shown some time ago on 722.org...must say that it has been quite interesting. Some points that i got out fr/ part 1: addressed to gen. audience
- you need a standard to set yourself to
- God made Adam, Eve He "fashioned" Gen 2:18-25...yeahhh! =P
- 2 basic purposes of marriage--> a) procreation, b) illustration --> bring them into world to spread God's image thruout, blessing/ inheritance fr/ God, illustration of Christ and rltnshp w/ the church
- God's the one who causes us to desire marriage
- marriage is important enough that 'For THIS cause, he will LEAVE his family' --> find that kinda person who's important enough to do this
- someone who will send you farther along than you could do yourself
- the truth is so much more satisfying, gratifying and beautiful than anything else

part 2: addressed to men
- you need a goal
- Ephes 5: 25-33, ver. 32 key
- required that husband is head of household --> not b/c better, God said to lead a home like Christ leads the church --> needs headship --> two heads is a monster -> not right
- men hv responsibility to lead in love --> lover #1
- prob. w/ vision of love -> overwhelming force of "love", follow your heart, your hearts what it wants, don't choose who we fall in love w/, create the idea of "the one" -> cycle, unbiblical, don't feel love nemore -> think it's the wrong one --> Greco-Roman myth of love, if true then all marriages fail/ not safe, a) won't ever feel secure enough to get married, b) no objective way of knowing if it's the one c) that love is not transferable -> hv babies, not enough love for everybody --> prob. w/ God, don't 'feel' in love w/ Him, not right.
- define love --> biblical, ver. 25, Christ is the model for love, Jesus loves the churches b/c He loves the church, it's His bride, His convenant, He chooses to, Matt 22, Deut 26 "Love the Lord your God with all..."
- ***Biblical love is an act of the will (choice) accompanied by emotion (not void, but not directed) and leads to action on behalf of the object*** --> foundation on which marriages can be built
- act on the love of our choice of will --> lead w/ the will
- 2 Cor 6:14 --> need to be a Christian, 1 Cor 7:39 --> assumed, you marry IN THE LORD, 1 Cor 15:13 --> bad company corrupts good morals
- don't invest in ppl (gf's/ bf's) who aren't qualified
- i CHOOSE to love you
- led by emotion --> rollercoaster
- don't let him drag you behind him like a dog --> you are worth so much more
- choose a man whose love for you isn't based on your ability to satisfy him --> he will lay down his life for you
- good deal -> ordeal -> new deal --Tony Evans...when things go wrong in marriages that weren't right in the beginning --> Greco- Roman love

*The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. Psalm 23:1 NLT
*His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family . . . through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5 NLT
*For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don't belong to darkness and night. Thessalonians. 5:5 NLT
*****Thank you Abba, my life is Yours to use...use me!!*****

sign #1...

discovery #2...O.o

my beloved shoessss...
lol...i uno if i really deserved it XP...hahaha, but it would've been funny to see if they wouldn't hv seen our prank b/f it was too late...muhahaha...i think i'd get pulverized after XP Hahaha...they retaliated by wrapping my shoes in newspaper and wrapping it up w/ miles long tape >.<...thx...lol, i was actually scared i would've cut off a shoelace or smthg...ahaha.

Other note-- props to my lil bro on handling skits for coffeehouse and sharing ur testimony w/ others...u da man =)
Wootwoot on being 2nd in the hockey pool...yessss...hahha...okay, that's enough =P

**********
PS- anyone know how to get super glue off their fingers? >.<...

*Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God."? Psalm 14:1 NLT
*For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks. Matthew 7:8 NLT
*****Rebuke in love...love, love, love*****