Song

I was just listening to the radio, and they played this song and I just loved the lyrics. It's "This is a moment made for worshipping" by Stephen Curtis Chapman. (Apparently Steven Curtis Chapman is the one who sings the best Monday songs)

6:30 Monday morning
I'm here hiding in my bed
A song plays on my alarm clock
As I cover up my head

And somewhere in the distance
I remember yesterday
Singing "Hallelujah"
Full of wonder awe and praise
But now I'm just wondering why
I don't feel anything at all

Chorus:
This is a moment made for worshiping
'Cause this is a moment I'm alive
This is a moment I was made to sing
A song of living sacrifice
For every moment that I live and breathe
This is a moment made for worshipping
...
From the rising of the sun
To the setting of the sun
The name of the Lord
Is worthy to be praised

This is brilliant: the best reason to worship God right now is that I'm alive. Sometimes I think about that, and it's weird because it's always like that thought just pops into my head out of "nowhere". It kind of takes me by surprise every time. Sometimes the pastor or somebody mature Christian says that or praises God for the fact that we're alive and I'm usually not impressed. But that's because I just cannot grasp it, just how huge that is. But when God puts that in my heart, it's just mind blowing…

Superman

A few weeks ago I watched the new Superman movie with friends from church. I was surprised to notice a lot of allusions to the idea of Christianity. For example Lois' article about "Why the world doesn't need superman". Superman is a positive character and people are generally big fans. I think you don't have to be a Christian to realize that the world needs a savior; people just don't spend time thinking about that. So I thought it was cool that the movie mentioned that idea. And it was nice to listen to Lex Luthor(aka the bad guy)'s philosophy: "Gods are selfish: they don't share their power with humans" and automatically think that our God is different. How cool is that?

Anyway I found a very interesting post on one of my non-christian friends' blog. She is a very popular girl studying to become a journalist. She's seen the movie and it made her think about why the world does/doesn't need superman. The blog is in Romanian, so I'm just going to translate, because I think the non-christian perspective is very interesting.

"Why the world doesn't need Superman:
- because history showed that we can grow without him : we got to do brain surgery, build tall buildings, step on the moon without his help
- because his existence (the idea that somebody will show up and help us right before it's too late) creates tranquility, so we don't have the motivation to solve our problems on our own; because only trying to do the impossible can we go beyond our limits; because evolution is based on failure, on the frustrations we have when we’re not able to solve our problems
- because no matter how hard we try, we can't become Supermen, and we need a model who would be human, with strengths and weaknesses;
Why the world needs superman:
- because we are our own enemy: we move fast and depend on technology, but kill each other and are in a continuous conflict with one another. We're unable to respect life and Superman can stop at least part of the consequences of our criminal tendencies
- because we need to believe that somebody up there hears our cry for help, we need to believe until the very last second that something good will happen to us. If faith in an unknown force disappears, the existence of Superman fills our hearts with hope
- because we need an immaculate model, as we have too many imperfect ones. "

If the movie was meant to make people meditate about the known God that saves us, I think it did a pretty good job. It's interesting how so many people believe in God but do not know Him. And my friend is right when she’s saying it is very difficult to keep the faith in a God you don’t know. How can you trust a person you hardly know if you don’t know their character, their capabilities, how faithful they are, and so on? What’s even more interesting is that Superman is making himself known, he gets close to humans. He speaks to people, he's kind and gentle, he can be your friend and you can get to know him (at least Lois did and his "mom" too).

Unfortunately:
- he can't be in more than one place at the same time
- he can't share his power with (other) people
- his powers can be diminished by some weird green crystals
- he needs the sun to get energy
- he doesn’t help people be better/more peaceful
- he offers help in critical situations but does not offer long term solutions (for a better/happier life)
- he's totally enjoying the glory of the world
:)

Currently listening : Relient K - Pressing on

Thoughts

The other day I was reading about Abraham and all the amazing things that happened to him. One thing that really struck me was the way God was continually telling him that He's with him and that He will bless him and everything. I was thinking how we sometimes really want to hear from God, how we feel that He should tell us if we're on the right track and He doesn't (actually I think it’s more like we’re deaf). So what was so special about Abraham? God loves us all the same, so the problem must with us. I guess Abraham was uber-obedient, he was literally ready to do ANYTHING God would have asked him to do. I tried to put myself in his shoes and realized it would have been impossible for me to just obey like that without questioning anything. I really hope one day I’ll be able to have that kind of heart. Anyways, I strongly feel that the measure of God's involvement in our life is related to how obedient we are and how willing to give everything to Him. I think this is very encouraging, because if we sometimes don't get answers from God, we know we can always draw closer to Him, focus on obeying Him and He will speak. I know He's very excited about speaking to our hearts, but we have to be ready for that to happen.

One of the first things I found out about being a Christian was that everything we do must glorify God. Ever since then I've been wondering what that means and how exactly that happens. So I got to read one of John Piper's books entitled "The dangerous duty of delight". It talks about how we bring glory to God by delighting in Him. This is what he says : "Did God create you for His glory or for your joy? Answer: He created you so that you might spend eternity glorifying Him by enjoying Him forever. In other words you don't have to choose between glorifying God and enjoying God. Indeed you dare not choose. If you forsake one, you lose the other. [Jonathan] Edwards [in his "The End for Which God Created the World"] is absolutely right: "God is glorified not only by His glory being seen, but by its being rejoiced in." If we do not rejoice in God, we do not glorify God as we ought [...] God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. This is the best news in the world. God's passion to be glorified and my passion to be satisfied are not odds." How uber-awesome is that?

Currently listening : Steven Curtis Chapman - Declaration of Dependence

Friends and music

Yesterday Shin left to go back home (Vancouver) for good. He's the only Christian grad student in computer science that I know, and it's a pretty large department. He also plays the violin in church and we'll all miss that :). We never talked too much, but we went to the same church for like half a year. This is kind of annoying because I'm not used to people coming and going so much (and, of course, it's not the coming that I mind). I guess that's why people in general seem so cold here: they're used to not getting attached to other people because of this population circulation thing. Anyway, the good part is I got all this classical music from him (his play list lasts for a month or something like that - and I got the 38 best hours of it). It was really funny because he was recommending me stuff and he was trying to hum it and that's always funny because one person can't really reproduce the music produced by an entire orchestra. So we both ended up humming Brahms's 1st symphony as I walked him to the student center and said good-bye.

But God is wonderful and he doesn't let me philosophize too much (one of the things I love the most about Him). He has given me Samantha who suggested we go to IHOP for breakfast today. So here we are on a Saturday morning, driving, listening to (loud) Switchfoot and singing (yelling) along (loudest played song: "Something more"). It was really fun. The other day we were watching "La vita e Bella" and laughed and almost cried together (as Tim was snoring). Which brings me to where I wanted to get: I was listening to this really good sermon the other day, recommended by Jay. I like the part where the pastor talks about Acts 21:5,11-14. He's funny, but most importantly, he emphasizes that there's a special bond between Christian friends. Sam is my first Christian friend and from my experience, I totally agree with him. One of my ex-roommates has been my best friend for almost a year, but she wasn’t a Christian and I got over her leaving surprisingly fast.. So this strong bond must be because of the Christian thing :)

Update: This afternoon, Samantha started IM-ing me in Romanian. I seriously thought I'm hallucinating and that my brain had started to automatically translate without my approval. Turns out Samantha is determined to learn Romanian. I tried to convince her not to because it's useless, but that seems to have made her even more determined in this venture. Actually it was that and also the encouragement she got from reading a website in Romanian and understanding most of it (because words look a lot like their equivalent in Italian and she knows Italian). She gave me a link to a website where some American missionaries describe part if their cultural experience (shock) in Romania. Hilarious but true (mostly).

Here's what she said:

"Samantha:
Bunã ziua! [Hello]

Samantha:
Eu sunt învăţa limbă a ta! :D
[this is actuially not correct, but what she probably meant was : I learn your language - most Romanians would understand what she meant though]

Samantha:
Foarte bine, Noroc! :D [very well, good luck!]"

And may I just say LOL

Currently listening : Mozart - Symphony #41