We have came up with a more complete to-do obedience list, the few of us (but nowhere near complete, you'd agree).1) Raise our children to know and love God
2) Live a life reflective of God's gift of salvation: be a walking testimony
3) Spread the good news of eternal life
4) Be a person of integrity
5) Preach only the word of God
6) Love recklessly, expecting nothing in return
7) Give generously to those in need
8) Be quick to listen, slow to anger
9) Do everything everyday as an offering to God: be a living sacrifice
10) Fix your attention to God in all you do
11) Live in harmony and love with one another as the body of Christ
12) Sing hymns and spiritual songs, in worship as one body
13) Teach, minister and counsel one another
14) Persevere and pray
15) Meditate on his word day and night: know it, study it, defend it
16) Readily recognise what he wants from us and go do it
The next thing I suppose we ought to do is to mark ourselves on how much we do vs. how much we have not done; not to make us guilty but to compel us into obedience with the living out and working out of our salvation with fear and trembling.
Maeghan (with Doug, Julia, Rich and Milly)
Picture by Don Whitaker
Meaghan,
ReplyDeleteSigh, I look at this list and I realize how very far I have to go. I am thankful to reflect and even apply, but it is clear that my application of these principals is selective too.
I want live in a way that applies these principals in all that I do, but not out of guilt, but rather, to reflect the liberty that Christ has afforded me.
I pray that I would take these things to heart and live that life that honors my leader better. Thanks for the loving reminder.
God Bless
Doug
Timothy, I had to really think out your question ;) - for one, it is really late here and two, the word "goal" in my office is quite overused!
ReplyDeleteWhat I can say is this: as far as our goal is concerned in our life with the Lord, it is to finally meet him face to face and to have him say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant." So to me, this list which the few of came up with, is still a to-do obedience list. If you read my post before this, faith, trust and a life in Christ is taken as given; in other words, even before this list is to be considered, we must be first be made right with God.
At least this is what I think :)
Maeghan,
ReplyDeleteWow! I keep spelling your name wrong. Please forgive me. I am, after all, an idiot and very sorry. If it is any consolation, I can't type either.
God Bless
Doug
one ceo once shared how asking his co-workers to list down '10 things they can do to help the company make more money' made the company's goal of making more money more relevant/personal...
ReplyDeleteMy friend on the other side of the world!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your post today, the word "compel" stood out and I thought of 2Corinth. 5:14 which says "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."
I guess when I read the list, I think we should be compelled to do these things because of Jesus' love for us - let that be the source, not a to do list. Then if we are obedient to Him, we will have the opportunity to do these things. God bless you! Julia
Julia,
ReplyDeleteyeah, I agree . You've got a good point. Maybe "to-do" is an overused management (be it time management or project management) word to be used here, the nuance has changed - which is why I call it the to-do obedience list.
If anyone has any suggestion :) or else it's The List ;)
Doug, don't you worry about the spelling of my name. I think this will be good opportunity for me to come out of the box. I was torn as to how to do it and have been (unnecessarily?) worried about it in the past week when my blog got kinda busy, thanks to you guys.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started out blogging, I was new to it (still am) and I was not too sure about what to do and used a pseudonym. Maeghan is Celtic for pearl and my real name is Pearlie (my surname will be a challenge for some :) - it's Ng).
But do continue to call me Maeghan coz I really fell in love with the name so much so I keep having the inclination to sign off my office email with Maeghan as well! :D Also proves that I have been really really busy blogging!
Blessings!
Maeghan
Doug, one more thing - a lot of people spell Pearlie wrong too :) so much so I got used to it.
ReplyDeletemaking more money will always be on top of the list for companies ... that's for sure! But that is how we get paid too :)
ReplyDeleteMeg,
ReplyDelete"The List" is kind of like a list of examples of the fruit of the spirit in people's lives. If a person's relationship is right with God these things will follow.
How do you say Ng? Do you say the "N" or the "G" or both in rapid succession? I think I have learned how to say "Nguyen" sort of like "wen".
I really have to go clean the house now....
Maeghan,
ReplyDeleteMaegan is a cool sounding name, but Pearlie isn't so bad either. At least your last name isn't 'Gates' or 'White'. That would be tough to live
Well if we must be honest here. My real name is not 'DugALug', it is Douglas and I go by 'Doug'. I found out in Israel that my name means 'fish'. This is a far cry better than the Gaelic meaning, which is dark stream. On a project I was working on in Israel, I was called 'Abu Doug' which literally translated to 'Poppa Fish.' I was 36 at the time, I didn't feel much like a 'poppa', though my two girls might diasagree there.
I am glad we have all come clean on this. lol
-Doug
The name Pearlie was given by my mom. Never thought of White but had thought it amusing if I had married a Gates (not to mention I may have gold-paved streets even here on earth).
ReplyDeleteMy surname Ng is a transliteration from the Cantonese dialect. While most non-Chinese here pronounced it erng (as in herb) the actual pronounciation is ... quite difficult to describe actually ... could you try saying "saying" without the "sayi-" and only the "-ng". Therefore in a sense, you would not be actually vocalising it ... it is almost close to a "hmmm" kind of expression. Get it? :) :)
Maeghan,
ReplyDeleteForgive me for asking, but is English your native language?
I ask this because, your english is excellent (as in not perfectly propper, but more like Koine Greek compared to Classical Greek). It is hard to explain, but most of my Asian correspondances (I do a lot of work in Korea). Their english is too 'correct'. It is obvious that they were taught from textbooks.
Anyway, I asked on the Realm where you are. It is really cool to write across the world like this.
God Bless
doug
:) This may be interesting to you because even though I am Chinese, I speak, think and dream in English!! I have been educated in the national language, Malay from school and grew up speaking, reading and everything English. My Chinese is really basic - I can only speak it conversationally (Chinese in its formal and colloquial form is quite different.) So you can say that I am almost trilingual (don't count Greek coz I can only read without understanding): Malay, English and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese).
ReplyDeleteIn a way, the term native language don't quite apply to me - or rather, I would't know how. Take it a step further - what would be my son's mother tongue? At age 4, my son insisted he is English, not Chinese and he still kinda speak Chinese in a foreignish way!
haha ... not perfectly proper eh? I really try to be ... now you got me a bit agitated (in a good way, so don't worry!) - how not proper?
Don't quite get your Koine Greek vs. Classical Greek :)
Haven't checked the Realm yet but it is in my profile - I am in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, in South East Asia, south of Thailand and north of Singapore.
oh ... I forgot to include ... I am what one would humourously call a "Banana Chinese" = outside yellow inside white !!!! I definitely am! hahahaha
ReplyDeleteMaeghan,
ReplyDeleteThis is so very interesting to me. Doesn't Bahasa Melayu use the European alphabet? How far is it from Cantonese? Are they at all related.
Please forgive my ignorance, other than knowing that Kuala Lampur is the capital and some language trivia, this is the extent of my knowledge of Malaysia. I know this may be a shock to you, but we Americans thrive on pure ignorance
Koine Greek was/is considered conversational Greek. It reads as it is spoken. Classical Greek is the 'propper' written Greek. It cannot be directly spoken, but rather translated into spoken Greek. If my memory serves me correctly. The Iliad and the Oddessy were both Classically written, while the Bible used Koine Greek.
As far as the bananna comment. Pretty much all Americans are this way. My herritage is Arab/German/Jew/Slovac/Irish/English/American Indian. I cover most western wars in my own bloodlines. We Americans are true children of the whole world (though most don't have as diluted bloodlines as mine).
-Doug
yup, Bahasa Melayu uses the Roman alphabet.
ReplyDeletee.g. Selamat Pagi is literally Safe Morning and it means Good Morning.
Chinese uses characters, or pictographs, almost hieroglyphic.
Take a look at my Check It Out at the sidebar - have included a pdf version of one of my post pertaining to the language when Julia could not read the Chinese font in the post.
No problem, I am terrible with Geography and general knowledge as well ;)
I do have an idea about Koine and Classical Greek - but wondering how you applied that to my English.
If I'm a Banana Chinese, you may be what I'd call a Rojak! ... one of my most favourite local dish - basically it is a delicious mixture of great stuff. The Chinese Rojak is sweet with fruits, chopped nuts and a great blend of sauce. The Indian Rojak on the other hand is a savoury sweet dish with some greens, some patty/cakes with spicy peanut sauce. I can live on both!
Maeghan,
ReplyDeleteKoine reference was to the fact that textbook English is not really spoken English.
When classic English is taught, sentence structure is very rigid and generally avoids passive voice. Spoken English, simplifies language rules and makes assumptions on subjects. Example:
Spoken:
If I go to the store, I will buy noodles.
Classic:
If I am able to go to the store, then I will buy some noodles.
The two sentences say the same thing, but spoken assumes that you know that the person will not buy all of the noodles in the store. 'Then' is assumed because it compliments the 'if' clause.
If you can 'go' to the store, then you 'are able' to go to the store.
In spoken, these words have been conveniently dropped to add to the efficiency of the spoken language. You write with this type of proficiency that reflects that you speak English, not just read it.
God Bless and jumpa lagi
-doug
Ah ... now I understand what you are trying to say :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I take that as a compliment - thank you!
I get what you mean. English is my first language, not a textbook one at that so much so that it is not textbook perfect as such. I love writing and I love words, but still quite amateurish in it. (I just order a copy Dictionary Of Clique to help improve my writing especially at work and can't wait for it to arrive.)
Mentioning Koine Greek - how to you pronounce it BTW?
I use to say Koy-Nay Greek
but was later corrected to say
Key-Nay Greek :)
I am not sure who corrected it for me but should be through a native speaker. I've got loaaaddss to learn.
Maeghan,
ReplyDeleteI think you have been told incorrectly. I am almost 100 percent sure it is pronounced like:
Coin-Nay or Coin-Neh
At least this is what my professors referred to it as.
Selemat malam
-Doug
-Doug
check this out:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.coptichymns.net/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-6471.html
It was one our pastors who told me about it - that Greek is actually pronounced differently. We are taught by lecturers who spoke and taught it using the "English" pronunciation. But we have no choice but to speak it as it spells anyway :)
Maeghan,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds possible to me. There is something very similar in Latin:
Julius Caesar
How do you we prounounce this?
Jool-ee-Yus See-Zar
Romans pronounced this:
Yool-EE-oos KY-Zar
This is where the Germans get the leader position Kaisar (also Kaisar rolls come from this) and where Russians get the CZar.
The hard-C and the J-sounds are decendants of passing spoken words from the written.
It all pretty cool and interesting.
God Bless
Doug
Maeghan,
ReplyDeleteI thought more about this last night. The correct way to pronounce 'Koine' is:
Coin-Nay or Coin-Neh
It doesn't matter that this is not correct for Greek.
If I went into a resuraunt and asked for a "Ky-Zar" salad, the waitress would look at me with a very perplexed gaze.
The accepted pronounciation is "See-Zar" and it doesn't matter that it would confuse Romans from 2 centuries ago.
Just my thought,
Selemat malam
-Doug
:) ok, ok, Doug.
ReplyDeleteAnd I would make an order for a "See-Zar" Salad anyway!
Yeah, but hold the anchovies... they are really gross.
ReplyDelete-Doug