Compassionary trying to love God and others…
February 5th, 2010

“Disturb Us Lord”

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Sir Francis Drake, an adventurer and essentially a legal pirate wrote this prayer as he departed Portsmouth on the Golden Hind to raid Spanish gold on the west coast of South America.

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February 4th, 2010

Confessions of a Social Butterfly

Just sat down at Panera Bread in Nashville Tennessee. For the past six hours I have been on road by myself. Over the past two days I have had 13 meetings with a wide variety of people. Coffees, meals, speaking engagements, and one where we stuffed, licked, and stamped envelopes. I love being with people and being around people. It fuels my fire. But for this trip to TN I decided to break my normal routine of inviting a crew of people to ride along and felt like I needed to be alone. I was riding on backroads through the beautiful mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee and had some time to think and reflect. I do not slow down much and I rarely take time to get alone and reflect on my life journey. I sometimes feel addicted to change and the next event. But the past six hours has taught me a few things about reflection.

1. Sometimes you cannot even see what God is doing when your life is a “Interstate Ride” and not a slow journey through the mountains. Everything is a blur and slowing down is difficult when you are accustomed to a certain speed of life.

2. Its awkward at first to go from a 90mph lifestyle to a 55 mph pace. But I enjoyed this past six hours of being on backroads because the interstate was closed than any of the other hundred trips I have taken to Tennessee. I am ready to start enjoying my journey with God more than I have over the past two years.

3. Getting there fast is fun but not always fulfilling. I did not realize as it was happening but by the end of the day Tuesday I had drank 9 shots of espresso. I could not sleep that night and I had to be up at 5am. I felt like I was on pure adrenaline on Tuesday but it has affected the next 48 hours in a negative way. Although I love adrenaline we cannot live on it as it will burn our body out much like a car always trying to run off of Nitrous Oxide. I love what I do 130% of the time but there is also a danger in getting to do what you are passionate about.

Loving life and trying to fall more in love with God!

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February 1st, 2010

“Alone With a Jihadist” Interview

Just watched this interview and felt like it was worth sharing. Its a little long but if you are interested in evaluating your life based on the Kingdom and not just on Western values and thought check it out.
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Aaron D. Taylor, author of “Alone with A Jihadist” interview at Book Expo America with Michelle Gipson, Written Magazine from pam perry on Vimeo.

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February 1st, 2010

Consumption, Caring, and Community

So I have officially been in America for 12 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes, and a few seconds. Being back has been quite interesting to say the least. Returning to my home city and catching up with people has reminded me of how far God has brought me over the past two years. I feel kinda like a fish out of water here in America but have enjoyed seeing old friends and family. Just wanted to share a few thoughts with youon my time back in the States…

Consumption:
I have probably gained five pounds in two weeks simply because of the amount of food I have been served and that is available. My fridge in Asia never has much food in it but here at my parents house its like a grocery store. And with my lack of discipline and joy of eating bacon, sweets, and breads its evident that I am needing to get back on the exercise track! It seems that the more you have available to you the more likely you are to form bad habits. I have even watched more TV than ever and I can see how easily it can suck you in. With great blessings also come great temptations and it seems I can understand Israels wanderings from God in the midst of great blessings and returning in the midst of hardship.

Caring:
I am still impressed with the generosity of Americans to give to a cause. Whether its the situation in Haiti, the local soup kitchen, or funding missions Americans always rise to the challenge. Americans have given more during this situation in Haiti than any other crisis ever. Even in the middle of this global economic crisis it shows that people respond when disaster strikes regardless of their financial situation.

Community:
A dear family and one of my faithful supporters had a crisis last week where they lost a loved one in a tragic accident. What I experienced through this was remarkable. I saw people respond instantly with radical love and embrace this family in their time of need. The scripture weep with those who weep took on skin for me over the past week. It was the first funeral that I had to speak at and the presence of God was so evident. I have often said that Americans are individualistic and Asians understand community more. My perception was my reality but not the reality. I am grateful for what I have experienced through my brothers and sisters during this short time I have been here. Grateful for the body of Christ.

Like the old song says. “I am proud to be an American” but beyond that I am honored to be a part of the global body of believers embracing this world with love and compassion despite our faults and issues.

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January 23rd, 2010

23,000 Dolphins Slaughtered Yearly

I just finished watching “The Cove” It is a documentary about dolphins being slaughtered in Japan. Growing up I was a huge fan of the TV show flipper and to this day love the ocean and snorkeling because of that show. Quite often I am at seafood restaurants eating and wondering how much longer will we be able to consume the resources of the sea before it all dries up. It takes a lot of guts to make a documentary like this one. I give huge props to these guys and feel compelled to share this story. Spend a few bucks and rent this documentary.
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January 22nd, 2010

Man vs Wild vs Survivor Man

Being back in America I have watched more TV in the past few days than all of 2009 combined. I had to catch up on some episodes of The Office and one of them was absolutely hilarious. It was based on Survivor Man.
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I had just watched Man vs Wild the night before and noticed a safety cord attached to him as he was supposedly rappelling down a waterfall with a vine. Although I have not watched more than two episodes of either of these shows I have been involved in some pretty heated discussion as to which one is better. And it seems that majority of people think Man vs Wild is better than SurvivorMan (even when presented with evidence that Man vs Wild is staged and he is assisted) The argument against Survivorman is that his show is boring. And my thought is “Of course its boring he is in the middle of the woods and its real life!” “Have you ever hung out in the woods?” Bear has lots of cinematic music making everything feel like a Rambo movie!
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So often we are not satisfied with real life and would rather be entertained with something that is more “exciting” and larger than life. People look at my life and think I am on this grandiose adventure. But the reality is wherever you go and whatever you do life is normal and oftentimes boring. But its in the boring times where God can show up in supernaturally natural ways. As you go about your normal every day life look for the fingerprints of God. I love going to the movies but if I expect my life to be a cinema experience every day I will be very disappointed. But I can expect supernatural moments to show up in my very natural normal every day life.
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Romans 12: 1 – “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life and place it before God as an offering.”

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January 15th, 2010

Haiti, Gods Judgement, and Grace

The whole world is focused on Haiti currently and I am seeing some great things happen. One of the things that disturbs me is all of the talk about God judging Haiti for making a pact with the devil. What about all the Christians that have died over the past few days in Haiti that never made a pact with the devil? Is God judging them too? What I see is something beautiful. I see the entire world responding. I seen Taiwan rescuers showing up to dig people out of the rubble, I see $6,000,000 has been raised through text messages, and an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of rebuilding the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. As opposed to sitting in our comfortable homes making assumptions on the judgement and wrath of God. It rains on the just and unjust. My personal opinion is that God poured out his wrath on Jesus for all of mankind and now we are to return the favor by giving our lives. How much have we prayed for Haiti leading up to this? How many of us have got on an airplane to visit and shine light into the darkness? How many children who are starving are we sponsoring? How many pastors are we going to visit who are struggling to survive while leading God’s people?
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I see the global community responding in love while a lot of the christians are responding with unjustified biblical criticism. Jesus said these things would happen. Lets be ready to respond when they do! Respond with getting hands on and respond in tears in prayer.
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January 7th, 2010

The Sunscreen Song

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December 23rd, 2009

God is in the slums, the cardboard boxes, the clay house…

Do not let anyone tell you it cant be done. We can be the generation… You finish the sentence. Unfortunately I feel most people in comfortable societies would say “We can be the generation that makes sure we continue to live comfortable lives by taking care of the climate and trying to figure out why the weather is changing.” Now I love the environment. I love trekking to the top of a mountain and taking in the extreme beauty of creation. I hate swimming in polluted rivers, surfing in waves littered with plastic, and being afraid to simply drink the water in the places I visit but more important than the I is we. We have to be concerned not just about our comfort but about those who are dying daily because of the geographical location fate chose for them to be born in. Lets care about the environment but not at the expense of forgetting the poor and standing up for true justice. We can be the generation who lays down our lives and decides that SELF is not king and Jesus is. Who is our generation serving? Who are you serving? What are you truly sacrificing for injustice? For the poor? For the lost? We need to be asking these questions. But we must not just stop at hypothetical situational answers we have to be moved deeply and motivated to action. I have many African American friends because people were willing to speak up, stand up, and die giving their life for what they believe in. What is God asking you to speak up about? Stand up for? How will you give your life?
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December 23rd, 2009

None of that “Sissy Stuff”

I received this from my dad a few days ago. Been in the jungles of Borneo for the past week so no posts lately. Had a few minutes of time here in a coffee shop to catch up on emails and ad to share this with the wheresdaniel.com community! Will have some fresh blogs served up soon about some of my experiences lately!
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None of that ‘Sis’-sy Stuff
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Are you tired of those sissy ‘friendship’ poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of True Friendship.
You WON’T see cutesy little smiley faces on this card- Just the stone cold truth of our great friendship.
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1. When you are sad,
I will jump on the person
that made you sad,
like a spider monkey
jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!
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2. When you are blue,
I will try to dislodge
whatever is choking you.
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3. When you smile,
I will know you are
plotting something
that I must be involved in.
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4. When you’re scared,
we will high tail it out of here.
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5. When you are worried,
I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse
it could be until you
quit whining, ya big baby!!!!
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6. When you are confused,
I will use little words and speak very slowly
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7. When you are sick,
Stay away from me
until you are well again.
I don’t want whatever you have……
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8. When you fall,
I’ll pick you up
and dust you off–
After I laugh my rear off!!
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9. This is my oath…
I pledge it to the end.
‘Why?’ you may ask;
because you are my FRIEND!

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by D Ross | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments » | Tags: ,


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