A few years ago, my family had a chance to visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It was in wintertime and was snowing. As a result, several flights were cancelled and we were trapped in the airport for several hours due to the snowstorm. Finally, we were able to fly-out after the delay. It was not until early morning 3 AM, the next day, we arrived at our hotel around the Canyon area. With a clear weather that morning, we were hoping to see great scenery of the Canyon.

When we went up there, we were surprised to see the whole Grand Canyon area was covered with snow. The snow adds difficulties to our travel and hinders our sightseeing – some of the Canyon areas were closed and we had to return early because of the weather. We decided to try our luck the next day. This time, it was not snowing and we had a better chance to see the Canyon. Looking at the continuous mountains and rocks carved by the Colorado river, my wife and I said, “Wow!” at the same time — we finally saw the astounding layer upon layer landscape of the Grand Canyon. I can only say it is an amazing and incredible handwork from God. Facing the steep-sided canyon, it lets me think of the hymnal “Rock of ages” – “萬古磐石為我開， 容我藏身在主懷… Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee…”

My dear friends, in your journey of life, what mountains do you face? Sometimes, it could be your health, or your work, or your family or your pursuits. What can you do when you face with these difficulties? A brother in the Lord whom I have known was diagnosed to have a cancer disease recently. His family suddenly fell into a turmoil state – family income severely reduced and normal life was interrupted. It is like a mountain of difficulty suddenly added on top of them. In facing with this life storm, the brother was not discouraged. He continues to entrust himself and his family to the Lord – witnessing his belief on internet social media and to his church families constantly.

As apostle Peter indicated, we should not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on us to test us (1 Peter 4:12). What we can do is to depend upon God’s grace, since we believe that He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). Let’s imagine that even the rock of ages in the Grand Canyon can be spliced by God, how can we not trust Him to protect us and to lead our life? Therefore, my friends, I encourage you to put your hope and the mountains that you are facing now to this “True” Rock of Ages – Jesus Christ, He will give you a different viewpoint of your life that you have never dreamed of.

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Just came back from a college visit yesterday. It was a long drive, as we have to drive across three states. However, it is also an excited one because we visited a school with blended disciplines between Engineering and Arts, which my son favors. I myself was thrilled because I had the opportunity to visit my old college, in the middle of our trip, which I had not been able to for the past few years.

With so many NEW buildings added at my old college campus, my wife and I, however, were eager to look for our OLD graduate family housing. In our minds, it is a place where we had distinct memories during our hard and poor days. We were hoping that we can point to our kids and told them the apartment where we used to live in. As we arrived at the location, to our surprise, we couldn’t find it. All the graduate housing buildings had been eradicated and now they become parking lots. We were quite disappointed. It is as if someone rips part of your memory out of your head.

Most of us like new things. The presumption is the new things would have improvements, new features and new functions – at minimum, when it is brand new, we would anticipate it to have a new beginning of its life.  Someone used to say, “東西總是新的好，人還是舊的好” It means  to use the new technology and new gadgets is always favorable, but when it comes to human relationships, we do cherish our old friends and acquaintances. As you can see, there exists an inherent contradiction of the preference between OLD and NEW in our minds.

Is OLD memory always favorable? Not necessarily! For example, “bitter” memories would continue to create ordeals and bitterness in one’s life. It is therefore wise to let them go. Then, you may ask, “How can I forget them?” My experience is you CAN’T, but you could “purify” them by going through steps to release bitterness from the memories.

The first step of purification is “Don’t try to compare what you don’t have now with what you used to have, constantly 放下經常與過去比較的心態”.  This is what apostle Paul mentioned, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead忘記背後努力面前” (Philippians 3:13b). The second step is to “Lay down your pride 放下你自己的身段”.  This probably is the most difficult part in our life, as there are so many “I-centered” or “My-centered” things exist and are emphasized daily. The pride assumes us at a position above others and therefore, is used to judge others in our own favor. The last step is to “Life up your spirit and let God renew your mind daily提起你的精神，每天讓神更新你的心”.

The experience of Israelites at Marah in the wilderness illustrates the power of God in purifying “bitter” water into “sweet” one (Exodus 15:23-25). It also tells us that only God can do the purification of memories if we ask Him. In fact, He is the one who can give us a complete “NEW” self through His son Jesus Christ. This power of transformation is totally amazing. Therefore, my friends, do you want to experience His power? Then, come before Him and ask Him as He is the one who gives generously to all without finding fault.

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As the presidential and senator election intensifies, telephone survey of voters’ intention is also multiplying. Recently, a call came in to survey my wife about whom she shall be voting in this coming election. My wife told them, “I haven’t decided yet”. I don’t blame her as I myself am in the same boat. If you look at recent newspapers and internet, you will find that instead of addressing ideas of improving current economy, health care and other big problems, schemes of attacking personal character overshadow the purpose of election – to elect persons who have the moral integrity and true hearts to serve the community and the country. When everything is so cloudy and whomever you elect is not going to be ideal, it is really, really, difficult for one to decide. Last Friday night in our small group gathering, the subject of who will you be choosing came up and we talked briefly. My idea was we should be choosing the less evil one of the two (兩害取其輕) since we have no alternatives. May God give us His wisdom in this decision process!

Each day, we need to make many decisions. Because each decision would carry consequence accordingly, how does a person conclude in order for him to make that decision is always intriguing me. I always like to learn from others why they decide on certain things. For example, why one choose that kind of car, or that house, or that store for shopping, etc. Particularly, of interest to me is why he or she choose that religion.  For myself, my decision to be a Christian is a combination of personal “subjective experience (主觀的經歷)” and “objective evidence (客觀的證據)” from the Bible. It was a years-long process before I came to that decision. So, before that decision I was an undecided one too.

When prophet Elijah was on Mount Camel, he appealed to the undecided Israelites, by telling them: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”, But the people said nothing. 你們心持兩意要到幾時呢‧若耶和華是 神，就當順從耶和華‧若巴力是神，就當順從巴力‧眾民一言不答‧(1 Kings 18:21)

The waver of the Israelites is because they couldn’t realize the fact that the LORD is God. They have been worshiping Baal for so many years, as king Ahab instituted. Not until the prophet Elijah called fire from the heaven to burn up the wet logs on the altar, they finally realize that Baal is a false God. This subjective experience from God’s miracle delivered by prophet Elijah, however, couldn’t sustain their faith in God long when Ahab and Jezebel (Ahab’s queen) started to fight back. Even prophet Elijah ran for his life too. Therefore, there is another very important element to become a “decided one” following God. It is the faith in God’s words and I called it “objective evidence”. When our belief is not rooted in God’s words, all our subjective experiences may crumble if tests and trials come.

Therefore, my friends, if God is true then follow Him. It may take you some time to come to that decision but please don’t wait. The sooner you reach that decision, the better you will enjoy the blessings from the Lord. May you become a decided one soon!

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Last week at my working place, my manager contacted me urgently to work on an inquiry from his manager. The elevated voice from my manager alerted me about a piece of datum that I provided previously. The event quickly snowballed and involved some of my colleagues. I was not a happy camper at that time and told my manger that it is my fault and I am the one should be blamed because I didn’t filter out the datum with caution after I received it. My manger told me that the event has been escalated to higher level and they are looking for a scapegoat, even though the datum was not from us originally. Ran into such a situation, I was not planning to defend it further since there is politics being played and besides, I should be partially blamed for my carelessness.

From this incident, I was thinking of the questions, “Why life has so many complications? Can we live a simple life and be happy?” Then another question came up to my mind, “Being under today’s net era is this even possible?” This lets me think of an insightful article from the net that I read before. It is a conversation between God and a man. In this article (partial excerpt):

The man asked God a question, “Tell me, why life has become complicated now?”

God answered, “Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.”

Then the man asked, “Why are we then constantly unhappy?”

“Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That’s why you are not happy.” God responded.

Interesting thing is that as of today, we still couldn’t overcome the habits of analyzing and worrying about our daily life. That is reason our life has become hectic and complicated and no wonder we couldn’t live a simple and happy life. In order to “live” a happy life without complication, the Bible taught us that:

1. We need to know who “the Lord of all” is and follow His commands closely.
2. “.. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 不 要 為 生 命 憂 慮 吃 甚 麼 ， 喝 甚 麼 ； 為 身 體 憂 慮 穿 甚 麼 。 生 命 不 勝 於 飲 食 麼 ？ 身 體 不 勝 於 衣 裳 麼 ？” (Matthew 6:25)
3. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 你 們 要 先 求 他 的 國 和 他 的 義 ， 這 些 東 西 都 要 加 給 你 們 了 。” (Matthew 6:33)

Ultimately, we have to realize that it is our Lord who provides, protects and propitiates us. Our life would become complicated and unhappy if we couldn’t put our Lord in the right place in our hearts and subsequently, we couldn’t set our priority correctly. My dear brothers and sisters, do you still fell that you life is hectic and complicated? “Why not live a simple and happy life by entrusting your life in God’s hand?” Hope you can ponder upon this with me…..

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Last week my family had a chance to enjoy a good family time just before our kids’ high school starts. We stopped by a local pond to have a maiden voyage for our brand new inflatable canoe. Initially, my wife and kids are skeptical about its stability. After tried it out, they are all very pleased – it is stable and tracks well even with its lightweight. My wife and I thought this would be a good means for us to enjoy the Fall foliage later, in the lakes of course.  In my mind, I think it would be a great aid to my fishing hobby too.

I started the hobby of fishing about three years ago and I am always a shore-bounded fishing guy since then. I feel at ease and “safe” from the shore bank to cast it away, when I am fishing at local rivers and creeks. The drawback is when the fishing season starts; oftentimes it is hard to find a good spot at the shore bank to stand on where there are many people already around. This situation becomes even worse at ponds or lakes where they are more suitable for canoes and kayaks. Even though I still could try to cast out from the bank, I couldn’t move too far because of limited available spots. Eventually, I was tired of it and told myself that some day I should get a boat or something to go out there and fishing. This is a dream that I have: to go “beyond the shore”.

In view of my experience in fishing, I find it is interesting to reflect on my journey of faith too. There are two stages that I could remember: the fist stage is called “truth-seeking” stage and the second stage called “Sanctification” stage. I spent about 3 years in seeking, learning and experiencing the truth of Christianity before I accepted our Lord as my personal savior. In the fist stage, I learned that my sinful nature would under the wrath of God and I need the salvation from Him through our Lord.

In a similar fashion, in the 1^st stage of fishing, I have to learn how to set up a fishing pole and what kind of lures and baits to use for different species of fish. Then, I tried all kinds of fishing gears and baits and lures to see what is working and what is not. Even though I am still learning but I have learned that in different locations and situations I need to use different baits and fishing gears for different species. This is the knowledge in the 1^st stage of fishing that I have learned before it becomes one of my hobbies, which is the 2^nd stage.

There is, however, a very important distinction between fishing and faith journey. The transition force between stages is quite different even though all of them “may” progress from the 1^st stage to the 2^nd stage. In the faith journey, it is the work of the Holy Spirit and grace of God that enable us to receive His son, Jesus Christ, as our personal savior and then become His children. However, it is based on personal excitement and enjoyment to keep the hobby of fishing.

Nevertheless, there are many people would decide to stay at the 1^st stage without moving into the 2^nd stage for both fishing and faith journey. I called them “shore-bounded” (using the terminology of fishing) because he / she don’t want to step out his / her comfort zone to experience a new life. This limits them to go beyond the shore and sees a very different picture of life. I still remember the verse from the very first Bible that I received as a gift. It is from the Gospel of John – Jesus indicates that, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 我來了，是要叫羊﹝或作人﹞得生命，並且得的更豐盛‧ (John 10:10b)” Years later, I find that the verse is very true and I do hope that many of you could experience its fullness in the Lord.

My friends, are you still “shore-bounded” in your journey of faith? Then you should set up a goal to go beyond the shore quickly. Based on my own experience, I am sure that you will experience a life that is beyond your imagination. May God grant your wish!

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Last Saturday, many families of us got together to have a picnic BBQ at a local country club. It is a blessed day to have – good weather, good food, good fellowship and lots of friends and families together under tree shades. My heart was full of thanksgiving to see the blessings God had bestowed on us.

Oftentimes, a big event like this is likely to have glitches and mishaps. For example, if the weather were not co-operating, then the excitement of outdoor BBQ activity would be greatly reduced. If people we invited were not coming, then we would have too much food left. If not many people wanted to contribute foods, then our stomachs would be greatly disappointed. If any child fell or got hurt, we would be greatly distressed. If, ….if, ….. Therefore, apart from the enthusiasm and preparation of brothers and sisters, most importantly, it is God’s hand was upon this event. We are really blessed to have Him with us.

Talking about blessings, Chinese has a great desire in pursuing “福 – good fortune, happiness or luck”. This probably is because they have been a misfortune people from history :-).  On the surface, the pursuit of good fortune or happiness or luck in this world may not seem to be inappropriate. However, it is worthy to examine your intention. This lets me think of an insightful presentation from “The interview with God” that most of us probably already knew (courtesy:  http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/popup-frame.html) It starts from a dream of the author. I will try to give you an excerpt and you can complete it by yourself.

I dreamed I have an interview with God. “So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have time,” I said.

“My time is eternity, what questions do you have in mind for me?” God answered.

“What surprises you most about humankind?” I asked

God answered, “That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and they long to be children again” “That they lose their health to make money, and then lose their money to restore their health.”  “That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.” “That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while. And then I asked. As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.”

……………….

………………..

“Thank you for your time,” I said humbly. “Is there anything else you’d like your children to know?” God smiled and said, “Just know that I am here.” “Always.”

Do you think you are blessed, my dear brothers and sisters? How do you know? The answer would be: I know it because the “Bible” tell me so.:-) In fact, the assurance of blessings is coming from God’s son, Jesus Christ because He is our propitiation for our sin. Because of Him, we were redeemed. That is why Fanny Crosby, when she authored the lyric of “Blessed assurance”, saying, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!” May you have the same blessed assurance as Fanny!

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Chinese has an old saying, “Compare yourself with others would exasperate yourself greatly人比人氣死人.” This implies that we tend to use external material things such as wealth, position and fame to define / measure a person. As a result, we were exasperated because there is always someone has better wealth or position or fame than us.

There was a conversation between a senior monk and a junior monk when they saw a large crowd of people enter into their temple to worship. The senior monk asked the junior, “How many people do you see?” The junior tried very hard to count them but fail in his attempt. The senior monk then said, “It is no need to count them. There are only TWO people. One is fame (名) and the other is profit (利) ” This is an interesting yet insightful observation for our life in this world. You may argue that there is nothing wrong with rich and famous. I agree with you. The question is do you compare with other rich and famous constantly? And, most importantly, do you think rich and famous are the best things in your life?

We were allowed to have “one” life in this world, as Bible told us. How to live a life that is worthy in God’s eye is depending upon how we view what are the best things in our life. A few years back, Rick Warren wrote a series of popular books. One of them is called “Purpose driven life”.  He said that the first purpose of our life is to worship God because we were planned for His pleasure. The second purpose of our life is to have a real fellowship with our brothers and sisters in God’s family. If purposes of life are to worship God and to fellowship within God’s family, then worshiping Him and fellowship with others should be the best things in our life.

Our human limitation, however, is that we need to hold something “tangible” in our hands in order to prove that we have possessed them. Hence, it is hard for us to visualize something, which is intangible, in our hearts. David C. McCasland, author of “Pure God”, once wrote in RBC devotional, “The best things in life are the eternal riches that come from God’s goodness and grace in Jesus Christ. We do not hold them in our hands, but in our hearts. 人生最美好的事就是擁有來自上帝的慈愛與基督的恩典，這是一份永恆的財寶，不是握在我們手中，乃存在於我們的心裡。”  It is an enlightening remark.  David hints us that the best things in life are to have God’s richness and goodness. And, use our hearts to receive God’s grace and to experience His goodness proves to be even more important than anything in our hands.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, can we do a reality check about ourselves? “What are the best things in our life?” Hope your answer is God, Himself. Let’s us not to set our eyes on that which is “temporary” but on that is “eternal”. May God remind us constantly!

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Summer is almost over and college is ready to start. Like other families, we dropped off our daughter yesterday to her college. This year she is about to move in a new dormitory with her good friends that she met in her first year. Pinpointed the load of stuff that we need to unload, I asked my sons to come with us in order to help my aged back during unloading.

Entered the dormitory, we realize that we are late, because the other girls have moved in already. There is only one bed left, which is very close to open windows with a very awkward orientation. My wife said, “We have got a bad one again – a bed with a difficult and awkward position next to the door and window”.

An initial look of the room seems to be older and a lot smaller than last year’s room and space. My immediate reaction was this is another rip-off from college. 🙂 Later after we unloaded my daughter’s stuff, we stopped by a neighboring “brand new” dormitory for a dinner. When we saw its good and new air conditioned room and cafeteria, we sighed again. Well, sometimes it is not by choice – as my colleague always said.

The good part is I didn’t hear my daughter complained much. She told us that they had to go through a lottery system in order to get a new room. She thought it is understandable that is not easy to get a “good room” for 4 girls. Considering her situation, I agreed with her. I guess she is thrilled to live with her other good friends, regardless of the condition she had. This reminds me of an important perspective of good friends.

I think most of us would agree with me that we need friends to support / accompany us throughout our life. Friendship probably is one of the most important relationships, in addition to family, that we all need to develop in our life. Good friends, however, are sometimes hard to find. Just look back your past and count how many good friends you have. You may be amazed that it could be just “handful” or may be NONE – we may have many “old friends” but none of them is “good friend”. Isn’t this something revealing?

What constitutes a good friend? You may have your own standard and criteria. But, there is one person who is unparallel by others – He is our Lord, Jesus! There is one hymn called “What a friend I have in Jesus” which is one of my personal favorites. Its first stanza gives us a picture of how a good friend we can have:

耶穌是我親愛朋友，背負我罪擔我憂，

何等權利能將萬事，帶到主恩座前求！

多少平安屢屢失去，多少痛苦白白受，

皆因我們未將萬事，帶到主恩座前求。

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear!

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

My dear brothers and sisters, I do hope that you have good friends in this world to accompany you and to support you. Sincerely I plead to you: to realize that the only true good friend is our Lord Jesus Christ. Please talk to Him today and you shall know…..

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Entering my house after a fishing trip, my wife asked, “Got anything?” “No, they are too small”, I responded. My kids also asked, “Daddy, did you catch anything?” “No. It is not a good day for me.” I answered.  The truth is I did catch a few “undersize” ones and some “undesired” ones. I released them in observation of the regulations of DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) agency – catching is only allowed in certain species and certain size of fish at certain period.

The other day when I was fishing on a shore bank of a lake, a mother and her daughter came to where I was fishing and asked to fish alongside with me. Her son with his father was on a boat ready to head out toward the lake. I asked the son, “What kind of fish are you targeting?” “Everything!”, he responded. I smiled and responded, “Good luck”.

You may think that I must be a fishing junkie because I kept talking about fishing. Well, not quite there yet. As I spent more time on it, I find it has many lessons left to be learned. So, please bear with me and don’t feel bored. Because, one of the important lessons of fishing is a training of “patience” or “loooong suffering” 🙂 From the two events that I have experienced, there are life lessons that I would like to share with you.

Oftentimes, people think fishing is all about catching many big fish from a trip. This impression probably is instilled from watching TV Fishermen show, as the show promotes the excitement of catching big fish. The bad is it distorts the reality. If fishing is only about catching big fish, then, you will have your share of rejection – catch nothing.  In fact, an important aspect of fishing is to have a right mind set in between “gain” and “loss” 得失之心.  If you are too eager to catch fish from a trip, then, you may find yourself disappointed after the trip. On the other hand, when your intention of fishing is to relax and to enjoy the environment, then you could easily cope with the feel of rejection. This is a lesson of “How to let go”.  One of my colleagues at work just spent a week long of vacation in camping and fishing around local mountain area. His result is nothing but a small trout. He told me that he is not regret in spending time in relaxing and enjoying the beautiful natural environment – this is exactly the mindset I admire.

My dear brothers and sisters, there could be many milestones in our life journey. Some of them may be so important that we are very eager to reach, while some may not. When you think success is an absolute requirement for certain milestone, you may also need to be ready for any unexpected since the gain and the loss are so close to each other. My experience to cope with frustration of failure or rejection is to learn how to “Let Go and let God”.

Jesus taught us in the Gospels that, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 因為凡要救自己生命的、〔生命或作靈魂下同〕必喪掉生命．凡為我喪掉生命的、必得著生命。人若賺得全世界、賠上自己的生命、有甚麼益處呢．人還能拿甚麼換生命呢。(Matthew 16:25-26)” This is a very important aspect of gain and loss. Only when we realize that what is the “real gain” then we will learn what the “real loss” in our life is. Hope we all can learn from it.

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Last week, I was chatting with my wife and she told me one thing that is surely raised my attention. It is from one of our neighborhood friends.  She observed that I was not walking around the neighborhood as frequent as I did in the past. And, my usual smiles seem missing when she saw me. She thought that I must have too much in my mind.  I didn’t realize that my facial expressions was that obvious 🙂

Someone once said, “After the age of 40, it is you who is responsible for your own countenance”.

I guess it bears some truth especially nowadays, a lot of pressure is coming from this world upon you.  Hence, after certain age, you may feel that you are overloaded by life pressure. Ha…ha…ha. Seriously though, it is true that one’s countenance does reflect his life experiences and, more importantly, what is inside in his mind. The other day in our small group meeting, we were talking about whose face was shining with light. Someone mentioned that he saw a pastor with a shining face. Therefore, we can deduce that how you live your life would reflect in your face and appearance and it is obvious when you are older. This reminds me of what Moses reminded Israelites, “As your days, so shall your strength be. 你的日子如何、你的力量也必如何 (Deuteronomy 33:25b)”

On the other hand, can a person project to others may be very different from who he is on the inside? I think it is very likely. In fact, there is a devotion that I read a while ago titled “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. It depicts a contradictory living between Dorian’s outward appearance and his corrupted heart. It is an enlightened story and a similar story from Pharisees was seen in the New Testament — that is the reason Jesus criticized them as hypocrites.

My dear brothers and sisters, God prescribed a life journey for each one of us. Do we become more like or not-so-like His son Jesus Christ in the end of our journey would tell the story of our living. We may not escape from pressure of this world but we can live a “joyful” life because we have a treasure – Jesus Christ – in us. Therefore, please remember that

“We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 我們有這寶貝放在瓦器裡、要顯明這莫大的能力、是出於　神、不是出於我們(2 Corinthians 4:7)”

I hope you will have a shining face when I see you next time 🙂