Selah – Thoughts of a Cute Mute

in Thoughts  by Jinha Kim 0 comments

I have laryngitis; for several days, I could barely whisper.

I remember losing my voice once before during my last year at Uni.  A friend of mine cheekily called me a “cute mute.”

While I am hardly “cute” anymore, after 10 years and a baby, I have definitely been mute for the past two days.

It has made me a lot more reflective about the power of speech.

Being a literary person as well as a leisurely talker, I enjoy my words.  I like making conversation and sharing my thoughts freely.  It’s quite satisfying to be able to express myself.

So while I have been frustrated at my inability to talk, I have been surprisingly aware of my ability to listen.  It turns out that it simply takes being silent a bit longer than usual to hear a whole lot more.

As I shared in my sermon on Saturday (Mercy and Truth Kiss: The Meaning of Moses’ Mistake), I was quite reckless with my words a week ago, when we were having a miserable time in New Zealand.

This week, because each word has been quite painful to pronounce, I have been a lot more careful.  As a result, I have chosen my words more wisely.  My silence has also given the men of my house (my husband, my son, my father-in-law), occasion to talk more about what’s on their minds.  My muteness has given me insight into their needs and concerns.

The Bible has wise words to live by – James says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can sae you.  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says. . . Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (James 1:19-22, 26).

I may not be a cute mute, or even an acute mute, but I have experienced the power of silence in communication.  Just as the rest notes in a musical score provide the harmony and balance needed for a great song, pauses in life to truly listen to the other person are necessary for a good relationship.

Perhaps that’s what God, too, desires from us at this moment – to pause, to listen, to be silent.

Selah is a Hebrew word used 74 times, mainly in Psalms.  No one knows precisely what it means, but some believe it is either a liturgico-musical mark meaning “stop and listen,” or an indication of a musical interlude.

Perhaps it’s a good time to be mute – Selah.

Good News for Marriage

in Thoughts  by Jinha Kim 0 comments

Have you heard that 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce, and that Christians are just as likely to divorce as non-believers?  Talk about discouraging statistics.

The good news for marriage this week is that Shaunti Feldhahn, a Harvard-trained researcher and author, has discovered that those statistics were based on projections of divorce rates in the 1970s and not based on actual numbers.

In her recently released book, “The Good News About Marriage: Debunking Discouraging Myths about Marriage and Divorce,” Feldhahn shares results from an extensive eight-year study on marriage and divorce. Among other things, her research found:

  • The actual divorce rate has never gotten close to 50 percent.
  • Those who attend church regularly have a significantly lower divorce rate than those who don’t.
  • Most marriages are happy.
  • Simple changes make a big difference in most marriage problems.
  • Most remarriages succeed.

It’s time to stop the rumours and commit to a renewed look at the meaning of marriage as found in the Bible and in the lives of the couples we admire around us.

“But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:7-9, NKJV.

 

5 Games to Make your Bible Study More Fun!

in Thoughts  by Kuda 2 comments

Bible study is the perfect time to open the word of God and create memories with family and friends. When you have a care group you also have a family, and families that play together grow together. Games are not just great ice breakers, but they’re also great for identifying hidden talents in others, breaking in the newbies to how “awesome” your group is, or just learning how to be more comfortable around each other. Here are five games that can help make any Bible study more fun.

1. Heads Up

For any one with a smart phone Heads Up is a game you can download on your phone that works exactly like charades except that you work in teams and one player has to guess the words by watching his teammates act out the word in front of them. The game comes with a lot of categories some free and some which you can buy for $0.99. You have to keep an eye on the clock with this one because next thing you know you’ll be rushing your lesson with 5 minutes left for you to run the study. You can downlod the app here.

2. Camera Hot Potato

Play hot potato with a camera. This camera game is a huge hit at parties. You set the camera’s self-timer, and pass it around the room (or table).Whoever has the camera must do a quick ‘selfie’ pose while holding the camera before passing it on to the next person. The result: lots of exciting and candid photos from one fun night. Great for Facebook Albums.

3. Honey I Love You

Honey I Love You, is another icebreaker that’s fun to play. Your group should be sitting in a circle again with one person in the middle. The person in the middle can go to anyone in the circle and say “Honey I love you, won’t you give me a smile?” The person who was asked the question has to answer back “Honey I love you, but I just can’t smile” (without smiling.) The person in the middle can do anything to the other person to make them smile except touch them. You have to be the judge as to what you call smiling.

4. Wink’Um

Have your group sit in a circle. With a deck of cards, have each player take a card until everyone has one. If there are seven players, take seven cards from the deck then pass those around. Make sure one of the cards is an ace of spades. The person who receives that secretly winks at the other players. If you are winked at, you say, “I’m dead” and throw your card in the middle. The object is to guess who has the ace of spades. If you think you know, state that you want to guess. If you’re wrong, you forfeit and die – if you are right, you win.

5. Fizz Bang!

This is one of my favorite games from primary school. Fizz Bang! is a counting game, in which players start at one and aim for 100. Instead of 3, or multiples of 3, say ‘fizz’; for 5 or multiples thereof, say ‘bang’. For multiples of 3 and 5, it’s ‘fizz bang’. So: I, 2, fizz, 4, bang, fizz, 7, 8, fizz, bang, 10, 11, fizz, 13, 14, fizz bang, etc. Make sure you split the teams evenly and play a few rounds before determining whether 100 is an achievable goal.

W ll there you have it; 5 games to make any Bible study more fun. Try not to play them all at once but do rather at your own pace. Have fun and God Bless!