The State of Leaving

"Breaking up is hard to do", says good old song. We are not breaking up, just moving, internationally. We have been living a time of changes, saying goodbyes, packing, unpacking, looking through our stuff and choosing which we want and which to be thrown away. It isn't easy, and we already hope that this period of time will be over.

Yes, it will be over. Every day is closer to the final move, and the transition is always only transition.

Leaving a place is all about inventory, whether be it material or mental garage of life. The moments of joy and sorrow, familiar buildings and surroundings, precious friends, wonderful family (also church family!), everyday meals, nominal routines... Let them be, let them be. Life will continue without us, everything will move on.

We won't, the life of now stays in our minds as a still picture, which we will treasure and zoom in to look at whenever missing home. We will enter another sphere, new rhythm and melody, our life will join the millions of other people in the busy metropolis of China.

What do we take with us? The still picture of current life, the pain of transition, and the excitement of new life.
What do we leave behind us? The possibilities we did not live out, the Finnish childhood Viivi will not have, the events in friends' and family's lives we will miss, and the steady life that would have continued.

Regrets? Life does not give opportunity to regret. There is no if, there is no but. Life goes on, the state of leaving is part of it, and we live through it.

During these times, the words of Paul comforts me:
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Paul's Letter to Philippians 1:20-21)

Let it be a transition that exalts Christ, let it be a change that glorifies Jesus. To live is Christ, He does not change.

Living by faith includes leaving by faith. No matter where we are, we long for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefor God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

In that heavenly country, we will rejoice forever. No need to transit, no need to leave.

Ja "hyvästi" -sanaa ei tunnetakaan. ("Viimeiset veneet", Lasse Heikkilä)

SLR: Christ - the Answer for All Things

The emergence of various new religious movements in Western society during the past decades have produced imminent shadows over the orthodox Christianity and especially the faith of individual Christians. Among the various new movements there are challenges from traditional religions such as Islam and Buddhism, as well as vast amount of "new" movements ranging from New Age to Theosophy, Transcendental Meditation to Unification church. Unfortunately the main stream churches are not responding to these challenges, mainly neglecting their existence or relying on active individuals to produce apologetics for Christianity.

The most challenging new movements that affect Christian individuals seem to be pseudo-Christian beliefs, for example Jehovah's Witnesses, Unity School of Christianity, and a diversity of legalistic Messianic Jewish teachings. Most of the "new" movements are not new in themselves, but reflect the ideologies from Arianism, Gnosticism, Eastern Mystics, and salvation through deeds. The answer to all these ideologies lies in the person of Jesus Christ, and the letter to Colossians is Paul's way of presenting this solution.

Paul attacks the word fullness (pleroma), which was frequently used by false teachers to present their ideologies, by presenting Christ as the fullness of God in creation (1:15-18), fullness of God in redemption (1:19-23), and fullness of God in the church (1:24-2:7). Creation is upheld by Christ and under His authority, redemption is fully accomplished by Christ and only through Him, and the church exists only because Christ is the head of it. No other ideologies or doctrines are needed, Christ is the fullness of these things and His followers should:
2:6-8 ... continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Paul then continues to present Christ as the answer to human philosophy (2:8-10), warning against Jewish legality (2:13-17), cure against oriental mysticism (2:18-19), and rebuke against carnal asceticism (2:21-3:1). It is amazing that despite the clear warnings of the Bible, moderns Christians still fall away into human philosophy, Jewish legality and New Age ideology. It looks like Christians are saying that Christ is not enough, they need something more, something better to make their lives worth living. The saddest situation is when all backsliding is done in the sincere purpose of glorifying God and seeking to find the "lost truth" that would cure all problems of church.

Paul depicts Christ as the Full Knowledge (epignosis), indicating that in His simplicity He is the true knowledge, the glorious mystery of God: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (1:27). If a Christian thinks that this is not enough, he can stray into human wisdom or Jewish legality, which provide seemingly good answers to spiritual growth and maturity, but eventually turns out to be hollow and shallow compared to the firm assurance provided by Christ. Paul exhorts us (3:15-17):

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. 
And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


For the modern people involved in new religious movements, Christ still offers the best solution to your problems of sin, frustration of continuous failures, cynical view on life, and vanity of all affairs. Compared to Hindu/Buddhist world view Christ offers hope of salvation and an active attitude to deal with life. Compared to Chinese wisdom and world view Christ offers not only high ethical standards, but the power and means to achieve and keep them. For the animists living in constant fear and uncertainty, Christ offers joy of life and freedom from all fear and bondage. For the materialistic modern man, Christ offers freedom to choose differently, real value for life, and the love that penetrates thickest doubts and criticism.


My message to you is: Christ is real, not fake. He is the resurrected Lord of all creation, and He wants to be the Lord of your life as well. Will you submit to His superiority and surrender your limited wisdom and knowledge into His use? Will you give Him a chance to manifest His great love and power into your life? Do not be tempted by the wonderful promises of new religious movements or traditional religions, they do not contain the fullness of life. 


Jesus said: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 7:37, 4:14).

Sources used:
Robertson, Irvine. 1991. What the Cults Believe. Chicago, Illinois: The Moody Bible Institute.
Stewart, James A. 1965. Christ is All - Studies in Colossians. Philadelphia, PA: Revival Literature.
Tenney, Merrill C. 1985. New Testament Survey. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.


Please give me feedback in the comments about:
What did you like best about the student's presentation?
How could the student improve in the way he or she participated?
What other words of encouragement do you have for the student?
Please indicate your relationship to the student (also your name if you want).

Another Entry

It so happened that I had the opportunity to contribute to the blog of FIDA International, which is the missions and development aid organization of Finnish Pentecostal churches. For those of you who understand Finnish, feel free to check my post:
Pieni ihminen suuressa maailmassa

If you read it using Google translator, please don't trust it to get the meanings correctly. :)

FIDA's site in English, if you are interested to take a peek:
FIDA International

A Trip to the Holy Land

The definite benefit of studying is to have holidays. For that matter, holidays are also the treasures of working life. We had one week Autumn "holiday" from school, which we used to travel to the Holy Land - Israel. Just to make things clear: we didn't do any pilgrimage stuff, simply holiday, and Israel was a  perfect place for that!

Wonderful warmth (btw 20-30C), beautiful sunshine, interesting places to visit (history, sightseeing, multi-cultural food, religious significance), and good company (wife+baby+parents). The only downsides were rather expensive hotels/hostels and general cost level being similar to Finland, but those money issues were resolved by savings and sharing the expenses. :) Mediterranean, Sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea were great waters to visit and take a dip, unfortunately we didn't manage to swim in Galilee due to time restrictions (welfare of baby).

Here are some pictures that hopefully transmit a bit of the atmosphere and experiences of our trip. By the way, images are captured with Nokia N9. :)

On the way to Israel we had an overnight stop over in Kiev, Ukraine. It made travelling with Viivi much easier. While in Kiev, we really enjoyed Slavic hospitality (you can take this either way) and magnificent Slavic food! The Blinies pictured here were delicious and rather cheap considering it was room service. :D

In Israel the sun set already at 17:30, here is a picture looking at the old Yaffa with some Mediterranean waves. We actually did not notice the 1 hour time difference btw Finland and Israel, thus the first day in Israel was spent in Finnish time.

Some older part of Tel Aviv. As said, weather was terrific for holidaying. Rental car was working well and GPS navigator co-operated seamlessly, until we went to West Bank. :D

Old Roman Aqueduct in Cesarean, besides the sea. We heard this was the only "sight seeing" place in Cesarean with free entrance. :)

Let the Mediterranean flow... 

Beach under the ancient aqueduct. Warm, nice, holiday. :D Viivi was actually afraid of the sounds that waves produced, otherwise she did really well!

On the mount Arbel overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It's actually a lake. We were first in the city of Tiberias, then visited the national park of Arbel. 

The hordes of people in the street of Old Town of Jerusalem. Actually there were groups of dancing Jewish men carrying Torah and singing something. Traffic jam, polices patrolling, and the atmosphere was a bit tense. This was actually at the Arab quarter of the Old Town. :)

Best meal for me during the trip: Arab shashlic (meat on sticks). 

The Garden Tomb, the only place I actually enjoyed in Jerusalem, besides the hostel. :) Quiet and beautiful, one could spend whole day there meditating on life and the Word of God. Thumbs up for recommendation!

One of the slogans on the wall of the hostel we stayed at. Perhaps meaningful for some of you? :)

Overview of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. While going up there the car tyres actually slipped several times at the steep hill of ascension. I really wondered how those buses managed to get up! Also, the GPS failed us miserably as this area obviously belonged to West Bank. 

One of the eight natural wonders of the world: the Dead Sea. We arrived at Minerals Beach and spoke Russian to achieve mutual understanding with ticket officers. The place was well worth the visit: floating, mud, cleaning facilities, sulfur pool, children's pool... Dead Sea is a wonder. 

The mountains surrounding the Dead Sea at its western side. The Qumran was only 20km away from this place in North, Masada some kilometers towards South. Impressive views.

The Sabbath meal cooked together by the residents of the hostel and enjoyed together. It was great meal!

The Shrine of the Book. This is in the Israel Museum, and contained some portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Qumran. It also contained the introduction of the Aleppo Codex and also the Codex book itself! Very interesting place to visit. A sense of sacredness certainly dwelt there, though same cannot be said of the Israel Museum in general. Nice Museum nonetheless.

On our journey back we had another stop-over in Kiev, Ukraine. This view is from the hotel we stayed at. Our taxi driver to the airport happened to be a believer! He had Hillsong music playing in his car, and it was good to hear his stories about Ukraine...

The trip was pleasant. Now getting back to the books and essays, only 6 weeks left of school this semester...

SLR - An Application of Agape Principles in Chinese Culture

Introduction

SLR stands for Service Learning Requirement, which is part of my studies done for each Global University course. This blog entry is my way to fulfill the service learning requirement of the course Human Relationships. Please help me to develop my thought by giving comments/feedback! You can use the comment -field below or send me mail. The feedback could include: What did you like best about the student's presentation? How could the student improve in the way he or she participated? What other words of encouragement do you have for the student? Please indicate your relationship to the student (also your name if you want).

Background for Agape

Agape is the Greek word for love, but not just any kind of love. When studying the Greek language used in the first century and in the New Testament of the Bible, it is found that there existed four different words to describe the word love we use in English. The word philia was usually used to describe the loving relationship between friends; the word storge was usually used to describe familia love between parents and their children, also siblings; the word eros was used to describe sexual and sensual love, emphasizing on sexual passion; the word Agape was used to describe the love that “seeks nothing but another's highest good”. In Christian faith Agape is used to describe the love of God toward the mankind: self-sacrificing, actively seeking response, long-suffering, and everlasting.

The greatest demonstration of Agape was the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why? Incarnation, because God Himself loved people so much that He was willing to become one in order to bring people to Him, this showed the humility and activeness of Agape. Life, because Jesus lived a life full of Agape towards everyone who was in need, healing people, forgiving sins, breaking bondages, and glorifying God the Father. Death, because He died to accomplish Agape, death being the purpose of His incarnation and life, the price to be paid for the lack of Agape in all humankind. Resurrection, because He can then continue to love the mankind actively, with victory from death and over the devil. In addition to those mentioned, the second coming of Jesus in the end of the world will demonstrate that “in eternity, Agape is fully realized, faith and hope will have done their work”.

One Challenge for Agape in Chinese Context

Now as a Christian, how does the Agape of God affect my life? The course Human Relations has helpfully described the role Agape should play in recognizing myself, growing into maturity, and handling human relationships. In the text below, I aim to examine one practical area in Chinese culture that acutely needs Agape. I am fully aware that I will someday be facing below mentioned situations, thus I want to be prepared and know what to do when that day comes. Preparation really helps implementation!

In Chinese culture, one major fact about human relationships is guanxi, the basic dynamic in personalized networks of influence (reference can be found in Wikipedia). In a successful human relationship one must know what to expect from the other and what the other person is expecting from you. In China, simple trust between people just does not exist, especially nowadays when moral shift in Chinese society is ongoing and shame is not anymore the prevalent motivation for actions or no actions. For example, there are many stories in the news where people have killed/robbed their family members to gain money or other valuables, not even talking about misbehaviors in sexual areas that have permeated whole society. Without further politicizing the situation, I claim that democracy is of no help. The wicked human nature, when no morals or conscience is holding back, is easily destroying Chinese society.

If I am living in China and a friend/relative comes to see me from far away, I need to politely welcome him and receive him into my home (possibly for an extended period of time). I would not have riches or valuable at home anyways, but can I trust that this friend/relative will not try to misuse my hospitality and possibly mistreat my wife and child(ren)? This lack of trust is even more serious if I know that this friend/relative has had unworthy tendencies in the past, or that he is involved in bad company or addicted to gambling. When thinking about this kind of situations, every cell in me becomes defensive and I am tempted to start planning other options for his stay. In addition, I would not be able to treat him with heartfelt warmth and sincere welcome. Lack of trust can always be sensed and detected. As a Christian, what should I do in the situation?

Agape as The Answer

First, I need to articulate to myself the goals I want to achieve when encountering this friend/relative. As a Christian, I really want to relate to him, help him in whatever way I can, and ultimately help him to experience the love of God and surrender to Him. I do not want to just create a good guanxi and later on perhaps enjoy his counter-service. In fact, I do not even want to think that way, because it pollutes my motives. I want to be sincerely interested in him, helping him to succeed in every aspect of his life, and then rejoice with him when looking back in time. Then, how can I successfully keep a pure motive and reach my goals, still acknowledging the risks and dangers involved?

I find the answer to be the Agape -love of God! Taking Jesus as my role model: incarnation: if I move to China, my main motivation should be Agape towards people and not to enjoy myself; life: I should not be living for myself, but be ready to sacrifice and meet the needs of the needy; death: this aspect speaks to me the severity of sacrifices, if Jesus gave His all and my everything is from Him, should not I also be ready to give my everything to His cause? The resurrection and second coming of Jesus assures me of the ultimate reward I will get: to hear Him say “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23, NIV).

Assuming the premises given in the above paragraph, are there any practical tools that can help me to deal with the friend/relative? Fortunately the answer is yes. First of all, to exercise Agape requires commitment and truth. The concept truth here comprehends both objective and subjective truth. I am committed and have found objective truth about this relationship (the worst cases it could present itself), I have also analyzed myself and my motives to find subjective truth about my intentions. This part is clear, but certainly needs re-evaluation every now and then, especially when a described situation approaches.

The next step, then, is to apply Agape principles in this relationship. First of all, genuineness toward the other person forms the basis for mutual trust. I should be able to open myself to him, honestly telling him my thoughts and opinions, even my fears about his situation (in a culturally sensitive way). With genuineness I want to be empathetic to his weaknesses and difficulties, really interested in him and expressing my compassion to him. In addition to those, the third basic attitude I should have is a warm embrace of grace, which indicates that I accept him as he is, really holding him as my friend/relative, and not a bad guy to be feared. With these basic attitudes I believe God can work in him and help him to open up and trust me, increasing mutual understanding and appreciation.

During the formation of a closer relationship, and even after that, I should absolutely follow certain principles that define Agape -love. One such principle could be not giving him money but actually get involved in his life and pay his bills when necessary. Money, gifts, service and counter service are all great dangers to the Agape relationships in China, simply because the society is corrupted by misbehaviors in these areas. Without clear principles I would not be able to treat people equally. Though it might sound easy, I am still in process of defining suitable principles and limits for those areas. These issues must be clarified before a possible move to China, because these issues come up immediately when stepping out from airplane. One good principle could be: love without questioning, but no need to be foolish. :)

Besides principles, I need effective communication to really reach my friend/relative. Though I know the culture and understand many of the connotations in speech and communication, it is not self-evident that I can communicate my message clearly and politely to others. Actually, even communicating in same culture and with similar background, we all need to practice effective communication everyday! Effective listening will open up a totally new world for a person not used to it, direct messaging will help to clarify messages and avoid misunderstanding, and conflict resolution is a skill everyone needs either in family, church, or workplace. My goals for effective communication would be to politely and accurately express my thoughts, with sensitivity to the circumstances, and in a congruent way. May God help me in this process.

Summary

After all is said and written, I must confess that the basic challenge remains: how to live a life fulfilled with Agape -love towards myself and others. This is something we all can practice anywhere, anytime, and with everyone. There will certainly be mistakes and failures along the way, but I am positively labeling the whole process as growth. Holy Spirit works in us by giving us wisdom, patience, understanding, faith, hope, and Agape -love. For God, all things are possible. If I manage to deal with even one friend/relative in China according to Agape principles, I am certain that there will be fruits. If he learns these things and continues to deal with people in his life in the similar way and so on, soon the society is changed. God has empowered us to love others as He loves us, let us rely on Him and not elude from His good purposes in our lives. Great opportunities and adventures, success stories and growth are available to all of us, everyday.

Philippians 3:14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (NLT)

Ps. Now the comments and feedback, thank you! :)

Friendship: Now and Back Then

Finally, I aim to clear my list of blog topics by posting the thoughts. This one is about friendship, what's different now and back then?

When I was a kid, friends came easy, because I was good at school and generally held to be a "good kid". This was of course in China, where the goodness of a person (even a kid) is measured by how useful he can be. Well, fortunately not always. Anyhow, I was a good kid, obedient to the teacher (mostly), diligent with my home works (comparatively), and eager to play with other kids (always). Friends meant having good time, being out from home and doing things other than school work. Friends came easy and brought many good adventures and joys of childhood.

Due to moving from China to Finland, I lost most of my childhood friends, simply because of lack of communication, and later on the lack of common topics to talk about. In Finland friendship is different: you are a friend if we get along, if we enjoy things together, and if we have time to be together. My early Finnish friends were from school, and church. The friends from church stayed quite well for some years to come, friends from school vanished mostly due to time and life.

I wasn't until high-school that I started to make best friends, the definition being: consciously forming and up-keeping the friendship. At the same time I experienced the possible shallowness of human relationships, in addition to the pain of having friends: separation by time and space is a vital part of any friendship on earth.

At some point, years later, I really felt that my heart was divided into many pieces, some left in USA with warmth, some left in Russia with appreciation, some left in China with a sense of belonging, some left all over Finland with smiles and fond memories. The pain of the divided heart became so great that I doubted my will to move anywhere anymore, I just wanted to settle. Until, a godly friend commented to my feelings: the divided heart is not a problem, as long as they are divided according to the will of God. Eureka! My pains settled, my heart stopped bleeding, and I started to value friendship with an open arm, again.

The recent years, due to dating, engagement, marriage, and eventually the birth of Viivi, I have found that the role of friendship has unfortunately decreased, quantitatively. There simply isn't enough time to care for the existing friendships, not even talking about creating new ones! I've felt sad that my path has been separated from my friends and we are growing apart. Family is of course top priority, but isn't there a way to keep up the friendships as well? The bottom line seems to be: our society (Finland) cruelly separates people into categories: children, teenagers, students/young adults, singles, couples, families, work communities, church communities, etc. Any lasting friendship between categories seems to be hard to establish, or keep up. Inevitably friends drift away, not willingly, but passively, time for sharing grows few, chances to travel or do things together become rare, even a deep discourse about vital issues has a time limit. I am sad, again.

The old saying goes: new friends are like silver, old friends are like gold. I want to treasure the gold God has bestowed in my life, at the same time I long for the ability to engage with new friends. Fortunately, family as such is not a restraint for new friendships, rather it opens up doors to a completely new world of people and lives. My current conclusion is thus: at every stage of life there are valuable friendships to be formed, and all friendships should be cherished and tended to. Everybody needs somebody, a friend is a friend, no matter the circumstances or time or space. "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them..." True friendship is also possible with people of different religion or worldview.

 Friendship, in its true sense, should never be despised nor overlooked.

Flash Back: Tour Asia, June 2011

Cannot believe it's already been three months since I toured Asia: S-Korea, Taiwan, HK, China. It was a good trip, colorful experiences, good travel companions, great learning opportunities, and also meeting up some friends + relatives. Since I've promised to put some pics here, now I must fulfill my promise before continuing with new blog posts about recent thoughts and experiences.

So, here we go:

First stop was S-Korea, and this little cute decoration was found in a nice local restaurant. The name Jesus is well known for many S-Korean Christians, though I don't know what the little chicks are doing in the thing. Anyhow, cute.

Between the working days I had opportunity to climb a mountain near the hotel we stayed at. It was a nice recreation area and there was literally water flowing from this rock, and one can take a nice drink of the cold fresh water. What's amazing is that the water kept flowing, since it was natural and the spring upstream is producing water, it just can't stop flowing. :) Can't help remembering what Jesus said, that whoever believes in Him, out from those people will flow a stream of living water. If the spring is not dry, nobody can stop the out-flow! Refreshing, stunning, amazing.

Since it was early morning, the air was clean and temperature very enjoyable. Here is an overview from higher on the mountain.

Oh the colors of nature! Reflecting the rich love and deep wisdom of God the Creator. Morning sun shine.

Breakfast in Taiwanese hotel. This was only part of what I had. ;)

Food mart of Taipei 101, which is the tallest building in Asia (?). Bubble tea was great! :D

Departure lunch at Taipei airport. Surprisingly cheap, and definitely tasty as one can expect. 

Spread the wings like the eagle, soar on high, through the blue sky, over the misty clouds. The art of flying, despite the high tech, cannot compare to the creation. Nice view from the cabin window though. :)

HongKong is HongKong, no matter from which angle you look at it, right?

Food in the style of my home province, served in southern China. As always, we were hungry and our eyes wanted more than our stomachs, couldn't finish everything. :(

The cheapest, and almost the best meal on the trip: rice/bean noodles with cucumber and stuff, spicy, cold, bought from street seller, price ~ 0.5 euros. It's good to know that despite the inflation, there can be good and cheap food found. 

Summary: pictures are only a part of memories, and my principle does not allow me to post pictures of people here. Traveling for me is not meant for having fun or tourism, but I want to meet up with friends and people, get involved in their lives even for one glimpse only. Life is better when it is shared. :)

Changes in Life

August, 2011, a new beginning in many ways for our family. After 11 years in Tampere, it is the time to move on. We moved house to the central Finland in the beginning of August, the purpose is to study in a Bible college, and the duration is still uncertain.

The move was much anticipated in many ways: excitement for the student life, interesting study topics, the quietness of a smaller city, more free time to spend within the family ...

The move was of course also dreaded in some ways: the moving is always dreadful, leaving familiar routines and things and people behind and starting anew, a bit uncertain future, and the basic question that how Viivi (1 year old!) is going to feel about moving.

Well, after two weeks of staying in the new home, Viivi is feeling great! The studies have turned out to be more interesting than originally anticipated, and the enthusiasm is arising. Hopefully the essays and exams won't kill the enthusiasm, haha. The floorball season has not started here yet, and the basic information sharing events at school have taken more time than we expected. However, we look forward to starting the routine, to study, to learn, to share, to experience, and to be thankful. This is going to be a great time to re-kindle the passion and fire for God, to meditate, equip, re-focus in life.

There is already one great learning: it's such a blessing to be able to study the Bible and draw close to God! And it's such a great thing to HAVE TIME to spend with God! :D In Tampere the past many years have been full of activities, which themselves were good and useful, but there just haven't been the quietness and time to be near God. Now I can, now we can as a family, learn to find the routine to spend time with God, to bath in His presence, to enjoy His immanency.

We will treasure this period of time. :)

And hopefully I should be able to update the blog in a more regular manner. Autumn cheers!

Summer Loving

Hah, anybody recognized the topic without googling? :P

Summer loving comes from the song Summer Nights, which in turn was a part in the musical Grease. Grease is a must if you want to learn about american (US) culture.

This post is not about US culture, nor about Grease. :)

Summer is now, Finland is experiencing exceptional humidity and temperatures. Kinda nice. In the beginning of July we visited relatives and friends in Eastern Finland, and popped in the Saimaa - the biggest lake of Finland (the land of thousand lakes). The water was COLD! Must have been less than 15 degrees, while the air was ~30 degrees. All the adults were intimidated by the coldness, only Viivi, our bold baby, went against all the odds and enjoyed the clear water and sandy beach. A hero since her small age.

Despite the Summer season and seemingly quiet surroundings here in Finland, I've had a lot of experiences and thoughts about life, living, cultures, people, future, God, faith, family, friends, aging, food, joy, sorrow, pity, pain, stupidy, wisdom, growth, responsibility, fun, happiness, money, work, career, freedom, creativity... just to list a few. ;)

Hopefully I'll manage to find time to finally download my pics from Asian trip (beginning of June) and post some of them here to share. Also, I've listed several topics I'd like to blog about, so hopefully I'll get to them eventually.

We are moving house, next week, to another city. More details later. Summer continues, just another day.

And psst: Viivi has recently learned to walk, still 2 wks till her 1 year birthday. She has also learned to annoy her parents intentionally. Bright future ahead. :)

If I ... can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, but ...

It's amazing how can one be so blind. Talking about myself, my blindness struck me right at my face very recently.

The Bible place summarizes it so well:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
- Paul from Tarsus, Letter to the Corinthian church, 1st century. Chapter 13, verses 1-3.

The blindness meant in my case, that I thought I was a loving person. Not necessarily easily lovable, but at least loving. I concentrated on things and issues, instead of love. I pushed for matters and changes, instead of more love. I aimed for perfection and to glorify God, but missed love.

Well, waking up, thanks to a friend and Holy Spirit, I now see what I've been missing: love. I can't say I've been very loving. For what love is? The same Bible place continues from above:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
- Chapter 13, verses 4-8.

The standard of Love is devices by God Himself. It doesn't work if I try to put my name in the places of "love" in above passage. Only the name "Jesus" fits, only He is able. However, as a Christian, a follower of Jesus, I am called to aim for it. I've been promised Holy Spirit to help me, mold me, change me. Now I see, now I want, I'm willing. And He can.

I thank God for this wake up call, perhaps I can start a new era in this field in my life. Hopefully.

Comforting:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
- Letter of Paul to the church in Ephesus, 1st century, The Bible.

Long-suffering

In our cell group gathering last Sunday, the topic was smth like: how to be/do good in the world that has gone bad? It was a wide topic but we concentrated on few issues only. Mainly, how do we handle the not-so-nice things and situations that happen to us? To ignore it and withdraw, or to face it? If to face it, how to do it in a way that is suitable for the occasion?

The discussion lead me to think about my own behavior. I do not have patience as I used to have, I am currently lacking the humility I used to possess, I find myself lacking in this field of love: long-suffering. Maybe it's because I used to "be better" in this area that I notice the change and difference. The next question is then: what changed? Why I changed?

It has not been a deliberate process, that's for sure. As I look back to the time I used to be better with long-suffering, I was more simple, more sincere towards God, spent more time in prayer, spent more time with the Bible, spent less time with work/studies, in general was more "easy" with life.

Another aspect of this change, I have become more "hard" towards things and people. This is related to my previous post about pride: Growth and Pride. Now I'm still in the process of working on this one, and sometimes it feels that things are just getting worse: I get more feedback about talking in a "hard" manner, speaking harsh words without pity. I myself also notice sometimes how I handle people and things in a harsh way. What should I do?

Analyzing the situations and the behavior, I have one intermediate conclusion: it's easy to withdraw, but one really needs wisdom and long-suffering to face the issues and ppl in a good manner. Part of me wants to withdraw from all these situations - I'm not good enough to handle them. But I know this is a lesson I need to learn, so I want to continue to fight. Withdrawing means also not to take responsibility for other people or other things - as a Christian, I am called to take responsibility to care for other people and care for this world.

If you have some wise advice for me, let me know. One thing I want to do: spend more quality time with God in reading His love letters to me (the Bible) and in prayer. In addition I want to take good care of my family, do my job well, and keep up the relationships with relatives and friends. My current voluntary responsibilities in church will also continue, actually only two and half months to go. I want to trade my wasted time to the quality time with God, and I want to start this already before moving to Keuruu in August. :)

As mentioned also in the previous post, I'm gonna rest. I'm also gonna talk less and be in no hurry. God doesn't utter useless words, and God is never in a hurry. :)

Ideals in Life

It's all about life. Then again, a song says it well: "It's all about You, Jesus..."

There are two items that very recently came across my life that is related to the topic. One item came up in a recent facebook discussion on my wall. Politics, the visitors said, is all about compromises and negotiation skills. Another comment was stating that without the ability to co-operate across parties and contradicting agendas one cannot practise politics.
All these might, well, are true in today's (Western) societies, but I am not satisfied. I am a bit idealistic here, but isn't it more valuable and honorable to hold on to one's personal belief and principles, rather than trade those things for political achievements? Actually many times the contradicting beliefs and principles can co-exist, I think, but when there is a choice to make, will one make it according to one's belief and principles, or according to the level of benefit one might gain by making compromises?

Here the word "compromise" appears. In job interviews and such occasions this property might be counted as a benefit, if a person can "co-operate" with others and knows how to make "compromises" in order to make thing work. But considering the ideals, compromises kill ideals! An ideal is something true and noble, to which every person should hold on to till the end. Such ideals are honesty, trustworthiness, accountability, and humility, just to mention a few. These are not things one should make compromises of.

I might never become a politician, but if I do, I want to hold on and not to compromise. To co-operate is good, but one cannot talk about co-operation if one doesn't even have an opinion of one's own. As my pastor said at some point, it's important to have an identity of your own first, then to identify and help others to find their identity.

Another item related to the topic. Have you noticed this phenomenon: as a child and youth, one often has dreams and ideals of the world. After the long / hard schooling, when one finally gets to a position / job to be able to make a difference, one often finds that the world is a sick place, one cannot change anything after all. Then there lie two choices: to compromise and become cynical, or to hold on to the ideals and do what one can.

These two choices are kind of extremes, but I've seen so many cases, where people don't bother to hold on to their ideals. The saddest are the Christians who make compromises. Christians tend to either dive into self-pity or self-indulgence: one end keeps one from doing anything; the other end keeps one doing everything but with wrong motives.

In the Western society, another form of compromise is the questioning of God's (and Bible's) authority. E.g. regarding marriage, regarding homosexuality, regarding creation, regarding divinity of Christ, regarding the necessity of local churches. Christians and non-Christians alike tend to lower the bar for themselves, compromising on God's direct commands and guidances, disobeying but putting the action into nice decorated phrases and theories. I guess you might conclude that I'm a fundamentalist, a conservative, an old-fashioned, and legalistic. It's not in fashion to hold on to the simple beliefs taught by the Book.

I've given up, it's a good thing. I've recently again and again seen myself and my inability to change anything. I've happily given up. Happily, because I've found the source of Life, the source of the Ideals. I came to realize (once again), that it's all about Jesus. I just need to do my best, then the responsibility lies in His hands. I will rejoice, for the opportunity to do good, the opportunities to serve Him. I will rejoice, for the changes He makes in people, for the wonders He performs each day. I will rejoice, for He holds my tomorrow, and all my dear ones I'll trust into His good hands. I will rejoice, and sing:

It's all about You, Jesus
And all this is for You
For Your glory and your fame
It's not about me
As if You should do things my way
You alone are God
And I surrender to your ways

Jesus, lover of my soul
All consuming fire is in Your gaze
Jesus, I want you to know
I will follow you all my days

For no one else in history is like you
And history itself belongs to you
Alpha and Omega, You have loved me
And I will share eternity with You

.. it's all about You, Jesus, and all this is for You, for Your glory and Your fame, it's not about me, as if You should do things my way, You alone are God, and I surrender, to Your ways.

What a relief. :)

The song in Youtube

Happy For a Reason

Ouh yeah. The title of this post is actually a slogan we used in our Summer outreach in 2009. It was painted on our team's T-shirts and surely demonstrated a happy and joyful life attitude.

Today I recalled this slogan, and it's really good! Happy for a reason, it says a lot. I feel happy, happy for a reason. Of course there are many reasons if I started a list, but the slogan is saying one thing: true happiness IS available and it's available through Jesus Christ.

Today I felt happy, happy for the awakening of the beautiful nature, happy for the wonderful people I met and spent time with at church, happy for having worked hard to facilitate our international Easter party, happy for seeing happy faces of multi-national guests. Happy to be home, putting baby to sleep and share time with family. Happy, for a reason.

Tomorrow would be a new day, working day, with new challenges and many issues. But this moment is the one I am enjoying. There is a Finnish song expressing this feeling:
Huomisesta en mä tiedä
Esirippu eteen jää
Minne tahdonetkin viedä
Tänään tahdon ylistää

About tomorrow I don't know
There's a curtain unveiled
Wherever You are going to take me
Today I just want to praise You

No worries, no fear. One of the best gifts of Christian life this is. Looking back: full of blessings and guidance. Looking at the future: full of possibilities and a bright goal. Enjoying today, enjoying this moment, happy for a reason.

Ups and Downs, Lefts and Rights

It's amusing how things go. It's amusing how things don't go. :)

This post is probably a bit absurd, because I don't have one clear topic to write about. Then again, that's the way life many times seems to be: no clear ups or downs, simply daily life with full speed ahead. Work has been busy recently, sleep has been scarce, baby has been growing fast, and Summer is coming. Perhaps I won't complain this time, just to cheer.

Easter holidays, that's now. I can remember the Easter posting in this blog last year: Easter Passion. Seems that the pictures have disappeared. Oh well. Anyhow, now it's Easter again, and I've changed. The top question still is, how am I living up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? I think I've come through some more emotions and seen more changes in the past year, thus I've grown. I also think that God has graciously brought me thus far, giving full blessings in the form of a warm family, clear next steps in life, bright hope for the future, and constant strength and help. What a wonderful Savior!

The grass is starting to green, the trees are budding, the streets have almost been cleaned up from the sand and dog poo, sun is shining. New life is springing up all around, and it was so relaxing to walk around in no hurry, just be. The moment of life, that is it - life. Dreams about future, treasures of the past, culmination of the current. That's the moment, I cherish, I value.

Looking forward to take it easy, knowing I've done what I need to, and leaving the rest to the hands of the Almighty God.
"Savior,
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave"

Happy Easter!

The Cost of Discipleship

Recently I've experienced a lot of new things, new feelings, new ideas. Some were related to Nokia's major strategical move to utilize Windows Phone 7 for smartphones; some were related to my recent trip to China; some were related to some issues happening in people's lives around me; some are related to the Word of God speaking into my heart.

In addition to those above, there are major turmoils going on in the world: Libya, Yemen, Japan catastrophe, constant rivalry between nations and people, and the media discussion in Finland about rights and wrongs. All these things are real, regardless of my feelings or thoughts. There are people suffering, hurting and being hurt, crying, laughing maliciously... World is not a nice place anymore.


However, last weekend in the camping site Kausjärvi of our church, I experienced the peace and beauty of the nature. There are still many beautiful things, many places and people and memories to cherish. In addition, there are also many opportunities to do good, to shine in the darkness, so to speak. Active and positive attitudes are not self-evident anymore, but they are still available, if I want to adhere to them.

Back to the topic: the cost of discipleship. The central idea and theme is simply this: to be a disciple of Jesus means to pay a cost. Ultimately Jesus has already paid the cost for me, my sins, my guilt, but when I live my everyday life, I also need to pay. My payment for following Him is not much, simply choices in using my time, money, mind, strength, heart. Whether I would just enjoy myself in nice Finnish environment, or I would forsake the enjoyment and rather work hard to teach the Word of God. Whether to enjoy watching movies or use the time to study the Bible. Whether to allow the media and on-going evils to bring me down, or to actively promote the light and hope for the bright future.

The problem seems to be, that often I only want to pay the minimum price. That could mean just going to church every week, or just doing all my duties and that's it. In recent discussion with a cell group member, he was so ambitious about having quality music in church that I was startled. We had consensus that the quality of music as such is not important, more important is the heart that worships. But he helped me to see his heart, that if we live for God and do things for God, why would we be satisfied with intermediate? We could and should give it all in, do the best we can, and bring full glory to God. In another words, pay the full price!

It's not about how it looks or feels, but about the passion and devotion. The cost of discipleship is measured not in money or time, but in heart and spirit. Jesus said of himself in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9 and verse 58, that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but he does not have any place to rest. Why are we building big houses and sleeping in king-sized beds, buying comfortable sofas and watching daily entertainment from wall-sized televisions? And the worst of all, all we do is to complain and wail about the evil around us or the bad situation of the world, sitting comfortably in our ivory houses with full belly of delicious food + deserts. Irony, sarcasm, paradox.

Keeping up with the idea of positive and active attitude, I'm asking the question: am I willing to pay more for being a true disciple of my Lord? The ultimate price might be death, but that's an ending for us all anyways. To live fully, vigorously, is to pay the price. I want to hear my Master's comment: You good and faithful servant. That will be worth all the pain and price. All the joy and great experiences come as a bonus on top. :)

China in My Eyes, February 2011

I happened to have a chance to visit China wk8 this year. Only one week, but it was an eye opener. The last time I visited this Middle Kingdom was last year's May, it was only a few day's trip, and it was an eye opener also.

China has changed a lot during these past year, unfortunately to a worse direction in my option. By "China" I don't mean government or environment or economy, I mean the quality of the everyday life of people. One may ask that how am I measuring this quality? Well, by having discussions, observing, contemplating, experiencing.

The one major change has been inflation, meaning that the prices of everything have gone up in huge leaps, whereas people's income have grown in much smaller steps. This trend is more general than just China, but in China the gap between rich and poor is already huge, and it's widening at an unbelievable pace. Social unrests shall follow if nothing is done. I am worried about this country.

Another major thing is the attitudes of people. Already earlier I've experienced the mentality of "can't do, can't help the situation, can't change the society, can't change anything". Now I see it being even more obvious that people have given in. Everybody is just striving to make his/her bread for the day, some just try to spend as much as possible in enjoying what life can offer. Nobody cares, nobody can make a difference. I don't mean political difference, there are a lot of people trying to do that, and good luck to them. I mean to make a difference in the society, in the way people think and act, in the value system, in the ways of living. It's not about wealth or health, nor about beauty or beast, it's all about what we are living for, why are we living at all?

Returning to Finland, I experienced some minor crisis inside me due to the huge contrast between the ant-hill living style in China and the relatively laid-back style in Finland. The biggest shock was the spiritual life, it's also laid-back in Finland, easy going, no pressure, no direction. Honestly speaking, I was frustrated for a day or two. Then I adjusted. It's scary how people can adjust themselves.

However, there are many wonderful things both in China and in Finland, and I do enjoy them and thank God for His goodness. At the end, the overall feeling I have from the trip is that I need to take life seriously. Take my faith seriously. I'll continue in another post about the Cost of Discipleship.

For the wonderful parts of the trip, there were family and relatives, friends, new experiences, and food. :) So here are some pics of the food and places. You know I don't put people's pictures here, some memories are better stored in the mind and heart.


The breakfast in BJ, a quick stop-over to meet a friend.


City view of BJ in Winter. Much more sunlight than in Finland...


The only food I actually desired to eat when visiting China this time: Do Fu Nao (Tofu), in chili.


Home made chili paste between the home made steamed bun. Nam!


Bricks for construction at the countryside. Something rural in comparison to big cities.


The elementary school I went to during my childhood. So many memories for the whole place, including the residence area besides the school.


The famous and delicious Xi An dish: Yang Rou Pao Mo (pieces of bread in lamb soup stew).


Da Mei Sha beaches near ShenZhen. We visited this place back in the Summer of 2009... :) Didn't go swimming this time, too cold. Memories...


During a long discourse with an old friend in BJ, these dishes were served. Nam! :D