Christian Reflections

HOMESICK

December 1st, 2009

Jojo Agot

I have been trying to write something about grief for the past few days but so far I can’t seem to find the right words to write. Either the story is too personal to share or the idea is too shallow for such a profound subject as grief.

I actually have two stories in file. One is about the death of my father five years ago and the other is the grief and depression that I went through after I resigned from the ministry in 2006. Both events left me devastated for longer periods of time. Both made significant impact on the life I’m living today.

The thing is that I have no idea how to write about those painful memories without getting emotional. Besides, I don’t want to litter my blog with my private anguish so I decided to settle with a little video piracy here. Below you will see a fan-made video clip of Mercy Me’s song HOMESICK. What I couldn’t say or write, Mercy Me articulated beautifully in this touching song about losing someone so dear. I cried the first time I watched this. I cried again a while ago while I was embedding this song to my blog. Even if you know the song, just go ahead and watch it in the context of today’s Blog Carnival topic on grief. I’m sure you’ll appreciate it more than ever before. For those who are still on the process of grieving, let this song help you go through your ordeal.

Oh and just a side note, you might want to prepare Kleenex before you play the video. (If the video doesn’t work, click this Youtube link.)

Help me Lord cause I don’t understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I’ll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I’m still here so far away from home

MORNING DEVOTIONS

November 29th, 2009

Jojo Agot

dreamstime_30565 Hello everyone, welcome to Christian Reflections, the new home page for jojoagot.com’s ROAD TO RECOVERY. Beginning December 15, all my devotional blogs will be posted here while I use that other site for other purposes.

I’m sure you will all agree with me that Christian Reflections is way better than my other domain. For one, this site managed to gather quite a number of readers even without promotions whatsoever. I never told anyone in my Facebook, Twitter or even any person the existence of this domain but somehow people just stumbled in here seeking devotional stuff. When I slowed down on my blogging in the past few weeks, this site managed to maintain its readership compared to jojoagot.com. The reason is obvious- people don’t go surfing around the internet looking for me but thousands are searching for the keywords “Christian” and “Reflections.”

So in the spirit of serving the majority the easiest possible way, I’m permanently relocating my devotional blog here. As a welcome treat for everyone, I revamped the look of the site today to make everyone feel more at home. I know jojoagot.com looked a bit boring for most of us. That blog is hosted at Wordpress.com so I can’t really do much tweaking there.

The fresh look of this site coincides with the message that I want to put across in this blog. Three verses inspired me why I retained the fruits on my header (yes that picture came with this free Wordpress theme). First, it reminds me of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6: 11. “Give us this day our daily bread…” For most of us, we do our devotions in the morning when everything’s still peaceful. Reading the word of God is like having your first fresh and nutritious meal for the day. It’s the power that pushes us to go forward into the day and honor God with whatever it is that we are supposed to do at work.

Second, the fruits remind me of Ecclesiastes 3: 21- 22.

Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

I don’t know why but when I looked at that bunch of fruits, the first thing that came to my mind is breakfast and the freshness of the morning.

Third, my fruit header reminds me of the famous fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22- 23. Before we go out to work everyday, it is my hope that we always take the time to meditate on the word of God. It is the only way that we can maintain the love of Christ in our hearts as we face the many crazy things that happen everyday. Psalms 119: 11 puts it quite nicely: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.”

Doing Ministry on Foot

November 24th, 2009

jojoagot-RF

They came in droves this morning. A group of people representing a certain religious organization roamed around the neighborhood to distribute pamphlets and invitations for a big religious gathering this December. Unashamed, undaunted by the weird reactions of the onlookers, these people politely knocked on doors to issue out their invitations. You can’t help but be very nice to them because they are extremely polite and friendly.

There’s just this little thing though. From my previous interaction with some of them, I know that they don’t use the Christian Bible. They have an entirely different set of teachings about God that they created their own translation of the Scriptures and called Jesus Christ “a god.” I like these people but I don’t quite agree with what they believe.

Still, there’s something admirable about the way they did their campaign. Going around a strange neighborhood on foot isn’t exactly the coolest thing to do these days, especially if you’re middle age or in your sixties. When I saw them, I was struck with one question: When was the last time I saw a group of evangelical Christians doing evangelism on foot? Ten years, fifteen years ago?

With everything going high tech these days, people rely more on text messaging and other electronic form of communication than doing actual home visits. Most of the time when people from church want to see each other, they arrange to meet outside of homes. Very few seem to be interested in doing physical legwork anymore.

I don’t know if this is to our advantage as a church or not. On one hand, it’s all about taking advantage of technology and staying relevant with the times. On the other hand, we’re slowly forgetting the art of developing intimate, familial relationships. I’m guessing this is one of the reasons why people don’t go to church by families anymore.

I’m reminded of Isaiah 52: 7.

How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace,

who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion,

“Your God reigns!”

How are we gonna “translate” this Scripture now?

FIND ANOTHER DRINK

November 12th, 2009

jojoagot-RF

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises?
Who has bloodshot eyes?

Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.

Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly!

In the end it bites like a snake
and poisons like a viper.

Your eyes will see strange sights
and your mind imagine confusing things.

You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
lying on top of the rigging.

“They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
so I can find another drink?”

COUNTERFLOW

November 6th, 2009

Jojo Agot

Many people blame God for everything that goes wrong with their lives. They think God doesn’t care or He is too busy with God-business that He doesn’t have time for us mere mortals. Others make this an excuse not to believe in God. “If there is a God up there, how could He let this happen to me?”

Whenever I hear people gripe like this, there is only one picture that pops in my mind: a one way street. You could only drive towards one direction and you can’t make a U-turn without endangering yourself.

We get ourselves in trouble not because God doesn’t care but because we are driving against the right direction. Every time we choose to sin, we open up our lives to potential trouble. Sure God can forgive us anytime we ask for forgiveness but sometimes the consequences of that sin cannot be undone.

But what if you didn’t do anything wrong? What if it’s not really your fault that something bad happened to you? In that case, I still think that the highway analogy has another side to it. Maybe you got hit by a reckless driver. Not really your fault but somebody else did it to you.

I know this simplistic traffic analogy doesn’t answer all questions but it helps me process stuff in my head. It helps me believe that when something bad happens, it is not the inventor of traffic lights’ fault. Most of the time it’s just between me and another reckless driver on the road.

SHOPPING FOR A BETTER HOME COUNTRY

November 4th, 2009

Jojo Agot

image-airport-service-b An interesting study just came out of Yahoo news front page today. Some 700 million people worldwide think they would be better off if they move permanently to another country. The top destinations? Rich countries like the United States, closely followed by Britain, France and Canada.

The report says that 38 percent of the entire adult population of sub-Saharan Africa wants to move out in search of a greener pasture. I don’t blame them. At one point in my life I also wanted to go to another country to find a better life.

We all have different reasons why we feel the need to move out. Some do it for financial reasons, others because they just feel the need to start anew.

This reminds me of Abraham. He also moved out of his own country but not because he thought he could be richer in a foreign land. He moved out because of a promise God made to him. Hebrews 11: 10 says he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

There is a better city and a better home for us after all. We are going there one of these days. This is our hope. This is what keeps us going. For our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ… Phil. 3: 20.

Christian Reflections

Christ, Discipleship, Church, Devotionals, Life

HOMESICK

MORNING DEVOTIONS

Doing Ministry on Foot

FIND ANOTHER DRINK

COUNTERFLOW

SHOPPING FOR A BETTER HOME COUNTRY

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