OPERATION WORLD 24-7.365

I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem,
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord, give yourself no rest...
And give him no rest, till he establishes Jerusalem
and makes the the praise of the earth.
Raise a banner for the nations...
Isaiah 62:6+7+10

WHY?

Because we need miracles more than we need strategies.
Because the world is a vacuum waiting to be filled.
Because the MTV generation is lost in space.
Because we've seen the end of the movie.
Because this is not the dress rehearsal.
Because the poor are getting poorer.
Because we're aliens in the world.
Because we're too sensible.
Because boredom is sin.
Because he's worth it.

RUNNING FOR THE BOOK

The Kite Runner is such a good book. I find myself running home after work and planting myself on the couch for hours on end. Go out there and get yourself one soon!

Audio: Better Than by Vineyard.
Biblio: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Cerebrio: Why am I so tired, so early?

READING TO NOWHERE

I don't usually leave books unfinished. Half-way through The Autograph Man I started to wonder if Smith's exegesis on Judaism, cross-cultures, celebritism and collection were going anywhere. Three-quarters, I finally gave up, wishing I hadn't wasted the last week reading to nowhere.

Audio: John 5 from the Audio KJV Bible.
Biblio: The Kite Runnerby Khaled Hosseini.
Cerebrio: So, I'm going to read to Afghanistan instead.

THE COLD FRONT HAS ARRIVED.

Online shopping was made for people like me.

I don't go to town to browse. I don't window shop. Hence I'm always late when it comes to fashion trends. Not that it matters, since I don't care very much for fashion. Function and utility can be stylish. When I need something, I go to the shops.

Or, I go online and I don't have to bother about the crowds!

Audio: Better Is One Day by SonicFlood.
Biblio: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith.
Cerebrio: The cold front has arrived? So has my winter cold.

TIME ONCE AGAIN

It's true. It's time for gloves, hats, hoodies, jackets and jumpers.

It's also true that its time again to be thinking about direction, future and options in teaching and in ministry.

Audio: Saade Dil Te Churiyan Chaliyan by Daler Mehndi.
Biblio: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith.
Cerebrio: ... much prayers...

CHANGE OF PLANS

Change of plans. The idea was to go to California over winter break, fly into San Francisco, hang out with Jamba in San Jose and drive up to Yosemite with A.

Now, it looks like I could be spending time with A. over Christmas and New Year between Shanghai and Hong Kong. Ah, who really knows?

Audio: -/-
Biblio: The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith.
Cerebrio: Options in Teacher Education...

WILLY WONKA IS JESUS

... showing us all the things on offer in heaven, chocolate paradise and inviting us to inherit what is his as God's sons and daughters.

Today's talk at Ashiya Mini Church (henceforth AMC), was great. I can't wait to get to heaven! We had Justin, a Floridian Young Life missionary join us for the first time. I've known him before summer but its only since coming back that I've gotten to know him better. He's opened an invitation to join him in his work in Young Life, at "Club" level. Club is a friday night event that reaches out to the non-christian highschoolers. It's a ministry demographics that I have not been involved in before but I want to be part of this exciting thing happening. Yet, I'll need to be praying how to be supporting this work, lest I spread myself too thin amongst all the work here.

Audio: Venimos A Adorarte from Más De Ti.
Biblio: -
Cerebrio: China... this christmas?

ANY GOOD TRIP IS LIKE LOVE

By the end of this (or is is the last one, now?) summer, I had been on no less that fifteen flights. I was so over long lines, check-ins, baggage and customs that through one long haul flight, I had decided to take with me nothing but a duffle bag containing whatever little I could get away with. So over it.

Summer was one very unsettled period, in moving places physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Now I'm back in Japan and the things that take over my life here so far are these; I'm throwing myself into learning about teaching, more resolute to take with me as much of the learning experience there is in teaching this year. There's more to it than I can cope and I think I can't wait to plug myself back into school to learn to teach. I'm managing the worship band at Hope Chapel Namba and praying that I'll be bale to take it to the next level, high enough so that I won't be needed. Ashiya Mini church at my place has also got on the way, filling a need that has simply fallen into place when all the pieces are ready. Instead of traveling, I've taken to reading historical fictions of places that teach me about the culture and the past.

Pico Iyer said, any good trip is like love, "admitting us to a heightened state of awareness … ready to be transformed." Like traveling, books and love are about being carried out of yourself and deposited in the midst of terror and wonder. Stepping into unfamiliar territory shakes your stereotypes, rattles your defenses, and redefines your paradigms.


Audio: Nothing Is Sound by Switchfoot.
Biblio: War Trash by Ha Jin.
Cerebrio: I'm falling into that heightened state of awareness … ready to be transformed.

HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY Gaijin.Cerebrio!

Happy birthday Gaijin.Cerebrio. You're an awesome old age of 2!

Audio: Jind Mahi.
Biblio: The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh.
Cerebrio: I am back in Japan. Over summer so many things changed. I'm still getting used to them. More later.