He first…

It is not us who chose Him but He first chose us.
He chose to love us.
And that choice cost Him.
He chose us on the basis of His first love for us…and here we are, trying so hard, occupying our time with multiple attempts trying to please Him when He is already pleased with us.
Didn’t He die for us when we were yet sinners?
For we have nothing in us to earn that love.
With the understanding of the above, it did not reduce us to being lazy or worst, a person who now has license to commit sins of the biggest proportion.
Strangely, it’s the opposite from what we fear most. Instead, we become more loving, more at peace with ourselves, more gracious to others who “sin” against us…The ‘effects’ will take time as the Spirit in us work His nature in us and this change is not impulsive, not rush, not rude. Such change will last a life time.
The fruits will be evidently seen in them who just soak themselves in the truth that, “for He first loved us”…
Isn’t this the grace of God as written in the Bible.
Grace is a person, grace is Jesus.
How simple can truth be.
My Father chose me.
And He never make any mistakes, ever.
I’m yours, Jesus, no regrets.

Seeing in the Dark | Good Friday

The bottomless abyss of our sins being dealt with once and for all by Love Divine’s crushing blow and death to the body of my beloved Jesus Christ. From rebellion to redemption, fully paid once and for all. I’m Your Son, Father, made possible by Jesus Christ. Blessed Good Friday.

Seeing in the Dark | Good Friday

(by Chuck De Groat)

It’s our human tendency to want to know.  The serpent, long ago, offered knowledge of good and evil.  And ever since, we’ve been judging who’s in and who’s out, who gets it and who doesn’t, who believes the right things and who doesn’t.

It’s fascinating, then, that the way Jesus restores relationship is by paradox.  He does not offer the right answer.  Instead, he lives it.  He embodies it.  And, it’s called “scandal,” “foolishness,” and “folly.”  He enters into the darkness, through the portal of suffering and death.  His life ends on a different kind of tree – not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – but one which would need to die in order to sprout again, only to grow in the hearts of men and women who could bear its death in their own bodies so to offer its best fruit.

A seminary professor once said, “I went to seminary to learn about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, only to later see that I was devouring its fruit the entire time.”  We crave knowledge, control, certitude.  It is the appetite of the false self, the “ego” as many psychologists have called it.  But the paradox of Good Friday is that life comes through death, that wisdom comes through the embrace of the paradox, that fruitfulness in our lives emerges as we die, again and again, to our ego.

Good Friday is not a day where we merely remember, though remembering is vital.  Rather, we participate, because it is in dying that we live.  We can only love, serve, risk, and become the mission-shaped people we’re called to be as we succumb to this inevitability.  It may take a thousand humiliations to make a significant dent in that hell-bent ego.  But death will come, whether we surrender to it or not.  And through the darkness, we will discover real illumination, the kind of freedom that manifests in a flourishing life.

Football Rant

I am quite surprised that I’ve never come to this place to rant about my dissatisfaction with the current malaise plaguing my beloved football club which I supported since I was a kid. During those days, Man U was a work in progress under Sir Alex Ferguson (SAF) i.e. they were not champions just yet. Which means, I was not a glory-hunter/supporter who supports only when the team is winning like Manchester City fans.

I will keep this short and sweet.
The malaise plaguing my beloved team is in the form of this person, David Moyes, the current coach.
Before he was appointed, I, together with many MU fans already expected that it will be an overwhelming job for this transition to take place because how do you replace a legend of legends like SAF?
But to see how we have digressed so far behind this season is hugely shocking to the arteries and veins of my body.
The team lack inventive play in the problematic midfield, players look demotivated, lack of proper replacement for Scholes, Ronaldo, we lack the class and what we get is, Cleverley, Ashley Young.

What is Moyes’s crazy problem with not using Kagawa.
KAGAWA IS A WORLD CLASS PLAYER. What is wrong with you, David Moyes. The way you leave such world class talent at your disposal out in the cold is beyond me.
Wait.
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAGHSADGJADGSHJADSHGLASKJDGALKFGQWG@(#&PG@(#&RG@#OIF

Okay.
MU players are not used to being beaten and hence the lack of confidence start creeping into their play. It’s obvious.
Lack invention in the middle of the park,  BORING and the worst of all, we become more like Everton rather than the MU of old.
SAF, with all due respect, deserves some of the blame for not properly replacing Scholes and Giggs (who is still playing at 40, WHAT A LEGEND).
When the players are down on their feet with heads bowed down in defeat, you wouldn’t really trust Moyes to inspire them or give them the infamous hair-dryer of SAF to kick those tushies so that they start playing and acting like world class players.
We need to replace at least 4-5 players.
Welbeck and Chicharito are backup strikers at best. Moyes need 1 world class striker to shift some of the load from the world class RVP. He’s 31-32, so it’s wise to get a mid 20’s striker.
Young and Cleverley will never be top class, they look good in a mid-table team, but not MU. They just don’t have the pedigree. Sorry.
Now, the mind-boggling question is how do you fit Mata and Rooney together as it is obvious, both want to play the no. 10 role, the playmaker/shadow striker. I don’t know. Hence, no idea why Mata was even brought into the picture. Maybe, Moyes wanted to make a statement of intent and hope to get the “Ozil” effect. Didn’t really quite work out eh since Mata is always yayplayed out of position at the left/right flank. Mata’s best position in Chelsea where he was voted 2 times running Chelsea Player of The Year was in the no. 10 role.
Since Rooney, the heart of MU will definitely not make way for him, it will be a pickly hot mess for Moyes to resolve. Does he inspires confidence in you to solve it. Less said, the better.
Evra, Vidic and Ferdinand, the heart of MU’s defence for a glorious decade which form 1 of the best defence in BPL history is worth celebrated and mentioned for many many years to come. But, it’s time to replace them and move on as the trio look WAY out of pace. Evra and Vidic especially look like their age when speedy fullbacks run past them as if  they were not there. V
idic is going to Inter Milan, bless his soul for being such a rock solid central defender for MU, but he knows, we know, it’s time to move on. And moving to a lesser demand league in Serie A, where the football pace is much slower and less physical would suit him perfectly.
Ferdinand, 1 of the most elegant defender of the ball MU have ever seen, already a legend, should stop playing already. The many injuries he sustained is already a tell-tale sign to let the curtain fall down on his illustrious career. The way some strikers/midfielders from opposing time run past him is embarrassing. Aih. Time for him to move on to football management.
De Gea is probably 1 of the other world class players MU is glad to have at their disposal. World class stamp!
Less is said about the fella, Rafael, the better. The Brazilian look like a few pounds off weight and his rashness and temper will cost MU some matches. Seriously.

The problem is not about offloading ineffective players, but about whether any world class players would want to come to Moyes’ MU. He doesn’t seem to inspire confidence other than those bulging weird looking eyes and kept saying in all his after-match interviews, “Oh we could have played better, I don’t know why we played so badly”.
YOU ARE PAID TO MANAGE THEM TO PLAY LIKE CHAMPIONS.
The last straw was the 3-0 butchering by a team i love to loathe. Sorry, I can’t even type the name without feeling a lil nausea in my mouth.
Okay, rant is pretty much done for now.
World class players look like the one’s in the banner above, Moyes.

P.S. : Every morning after an MU match, i have friends complaining to me about Moyes’s Man U. Seriously, our heart can only take that much of pain.

Ezra