071012

by

46th dei.

HI!
As said, today will be a double post... So here we go!

Saturday was a busy and physically draining day... I met up with my mentor group to visit Ehwa village - a small slum-like village not too far from the city. We visited the village because of its artificially artistic wall paintings.

In the evening, there was a big firework display near the city centre where hundreds of thousands of people gathered and watched (I didn't though.. I don't like crowded areas).

But we'll start with the morning activities =].

Woke up at 12ish.. 2 and a half hours before our proposed meeting time at Hyehwa station. There was a Seoul National University festival going on and there were stalls and over 5 bands/musicians performing.

For lunch, I had a Spicy Chicken Burger from McDonalds ($5 for a set - chips + coke) whilst waiting for the others to arrive.



Traditional Korean dance uniform

On top of the hill... LONG and tiring hike up... but the view was awesome.



Cute cafe.


Streets around the village.

Wall painting

=D

Can you guess what this means?


Reminded me of The Rocks in Sydney.

On the way to the main road... The village was very small.

From this point.. We had to decide what to do next.. None of us knew completing the village path would only take one hour LOL.
So we decided to visit palaces!

First destination - Changdeokgung Palace [A secondary and smaller palace than Gyeongbok palace where the King + Queen stayed... apparently when Gyeongbok palace was burnt down].

On the way. Rest stop.

The palace walls.

Here! 



There were a lot less people and nicer weather as it was approaching sunset.

My mentor, Chloe =]




The courtyard.



The king and queen's 'office'.

The leader, Nemo, educating me about the palace.

The ring held up tents.

She stole my phone to take luvos. LOL.



The office. stupid pole.

We caught a couple making out in the palace. NOT very sneaky guys.. tut tut tut.


Don't.

Behind the office.. Where fire extinguishers are found.


The housing where the king and queen slept.

After this, we decided to head to Gwanghwamun where the Gyeongbok Palace is.
The Palace was open until late night just for a week (usually closes at 6) so we thought we might see it at night.


So many people... Perhaps too many, so we decided to eat dinner instead. LOL.

On the way to the restaurant, we walked past this statue of King Sejong (the founder (?) of the Korean alphabet system).

The Sejong Center of Performing Arts.. Running man landmark!

The line for an Italian/Korean restaurant... Wow...

The place we went to. Kinda like a hotpot restaurant =D.

After dinner, we all decided to call it a day.. because some of us decided to go to the fireworks or to simply go home to rest after the day's tiring activities.
Gwanghwamun station.

When I arrived at the dorm... The fireworks had just finished... And I am glad I escaped the 'peak hour' that followed after the firework.

It was madness as you can see from the next picture...

Can you imagine falling over and being trampled? Yeah...

When I had heard news that the fireworks was finished.. I decided to give Eero, Julia and Nichole a call to see if they were going to do anything afterwards... We decided to hit the bar and ate garlic butter chicken + drink beer... and head off to Karaoke until 4am... wow..


At the bar.

MOMO. LOL.

Eero's new attire.


Oh yeah.. at this stage, Nichole was tipsy and Eero was well on his way.

By the time we finished at 4am, I had lost my voice, Eero was drunk off his feet (could not walk straight and I had to guide him home) and Nichole's mood was all over the place.... It wasn't a good end to the night...

It was basically 4.45am when I got back to the dorm... meaning I'd have 7 or so hours of sleep before heading off to Church at 2pm.

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SUNDAY MORNING.


Felt sick. Felt ceebs. Felt unmotivated. Felt like I could skip Church and no one will ever know.

But deep inside.. Something told me to go. Something told me it was going to be worth enduring the headache, the stomachache and the 40 or so minute travel time.

The moment I stepped into the Church hall and entered an atmosphere of praise + worship.. I felt like my heart wasn't in the right place. I had come unprepared and I had come with a hard and dry soul...

You see, the past week hasn't been the best... Many times I have felt unworthy and so sinful because of my weakness. Temptation surrounded me and it would only get worse and worse as the week progressed.. By Saturday, I had felt like I was well on my way of walking away from God and into a path of an easy, worldly life. But then again, even if my body wanted to walk this path, my spirit and soul were struggling so much to fight it... They would crave for a deeper encounter and a deeper meaning in life... Which made the week all the more spiritually draining.

During the worship session.. My heart did not cry out as much as it did a few weeks back, when I was still new to Korea and when it was a lot easier to dismiss the desires of the flesh.
I found it troubling that I felt so dry but I prayed.. 

"God, something doesn't feel right and You know it better than I do.. Please allow me to encounter You today and refresh me."

And then the final opening song came on... Forever Reign by Hillsong.

You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I'm running to Your arms,
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign.

Beautiful song to describe our beautiful Saviour.

When I was singing this song, despite my croaky and tired voice, I felt a burden lift.. I felt like things were already getting brighter... Things could go right again.

And then Pastor Douglas took the mic and said something... Something that really hit the spot - it was almost like God was speaking Himself..

I don't know where you are this week... How sinful you feel and how much struggle you went through... You know you can run from Him as much as you want, but you should know, He'll always come after you.
God is not here to condemn, judge or punish you... He's here to bless you and it would be a shame if you left today's service feeling the same.

To be perfectly honest, at this stage, I was already tearing up... Because it really did hit the spot.
Me, a weak and unworthy sinner who was contemplating skipping out on Church today, would be sought after by an all powerful God who holds the world by His fingertip.. A God like that who would go out of His way to make sure I was back at home... And all I needed to do was turn around and run into His open arms again.

A truly liberating moment that led into a time of repentance and prayer.

And then the message. Luke 19:1-10 - The story of Zacchaeus and his encounter with Jesus.

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector - hated and despised by people not only because he'd cheat them, but that he worked for the Roman government. He wasn't the kind of person you'd invite over to your house for a friendly meal...
So when Jesus was passing by Jericho, Zacchaeus had heard of this and wanted to see Jesus.. but the crowd blocked him out so that he wouldn't see... On top of this, he was a rather old man who wasn't what you'd call athletic and physically tall. 
But he didn't let the crowd discourage his efforts.. So instead, he climbed a sycamore tree so that he would be able to see Jesus' face.

We should learn a lesson from Zacchaeus... He was a short, old man who probably had a lot of trouble climbing a sycamore tree... I mean, when was the last time you climbed a tree? And even if you did manage to get up there, how risky a position you'd be in if you slipped and fell! But despite this, Zacchaeus still did it. Because to him, seeing Jesus was his goal.


[In the midst of your struggles, what would you do to see Jesus? Are you actively seeking him?]


If you have to climb your own sycamore tree, would you do it?

If it meant waking up an hour earlier just to have a moment of prayer, would you do it?

If it meant not working on a Sunday just to have a peace in preparation for the Church service, would you do it?

If it meant devoting yourself to singleness for a certain amount of time to rediscover Jesus, would you do it?


I know for me, when I am really facing a spiritually dry time, it is often easier to just say... "Oh I have wandered way too far to return to God now... It is more convenient to just let things fall into place and see where I'd end up".

The ironic yet amazing thing however... Is what Jesus then does with Zacchaeus.

Jesus walks close to the tree where Zacchaeus was hiding, and Jesus looks up and says to him - "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."

Jesus knew him by name. He knew where he was hiding and he knew what needed to be done.

You see...

Jesus doesn't say "Zacchaeus you sinner! You bad man! You will go to hell!" 
No... instead he says "I MUST stay at your house". Therefore, why do we all seem to think that when we sin, Jesus is condemning us? Jesus doesn't condemn us... Jesus calls out to us "Come to me, for I must stay with you". To bless us and to remind us that he loves us.

Whenever you feel pity for yourself... feel downcast... feel like the biggest failure... and when you tell God "I am so sinful... I am so unworthy... I am so weak and I feel so defeated", that's when he replies "That is why I have sent my Son to the world... that is why he has come to the world... so that you don't need to fight the losing battle you are trapped in, for you are made a victor through his blood."

You MUST seek Jesus to see him. Climb a sycamore tree today and encounter him.




Just like that, there will always be a bridge to the other side.


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In other news... THAT WOMAN HAS REPLIED ME! LOL.



Thankful: A brilliant day. An awesome church service with an even more amazing God.

Prayerful: Honesty, humility and the integrity to admit my weakness without God. God's power is made known in weakness and if I ever say I am strong without Him, oh would I be wrong..

Dangers: I may be giving out wrong signals to Julia... Should cut back so that I wouldn't be placed in a bad situation....