The Heart of Many Thank-you’s

If you were lucky to have amazing parents, friends, and/or teachers, you probably grew up with a lot of advices about how to live life. But one that stands most common among family and friends is this very advice: Be thankful.

Now, if you grew up in a Christian surrounding, you probably heard the same thing but with a little bit of variation. “Thank God for everything in your life.”

You hear it so much, sometimes it goes to the back of your head and God knows when you even remember to properly thank God for everything. But then, there are moments you come to this enlightenment, this realization that truly everything in your life was given by God, all the good and the bad, and you cannot believe how amazing God is and how much He has worked within your life.

People, both big and small, talk about “ways to be happy”. Oh sure, there are plenty of ways. But underneath the joy of happiness, you find that gratitude lies as the strongest foundation of them all. When your heart begins to look at the world and your life with thankful eyes, you understand through thick and thin that everything will not only be “okay” but “great”. You find that the reason you can be joyous of your life is because God is in you, and He is working both night and day, whether we are there to know it or not, to lead your life to His will.

Now, if you are a grumpy old soul reading this post, all these words of gratitude may make your eyes more frown-y, your shoulders more slump-y, and you can’t find what there is to be thankful of! A grumpy soul finds the smiles of a joyous person so distasteful, and quite understandably so. But remember that gratitude does NOT come only when you have fortunate events in your life. No, gratitude is something truly deeper than that. It begins with knowing who you are. It begins with the humble journey of discovering how small and weak you are. When you can see clearly the being that you are, then you begin to see this hovering light of Holiness and Grace above you, so far up in the heavens. You learn through the Words and through the sermons at Church that this Holy Light hovers with grace above the clouds in your life. You learn that the Almighty Christ loves you, that God sent his Beloved Son into this sinful world, to save you and me from death and evil.

You see the shackles that constantly tries to chain you. You see the darkness of the soul seeping into every hole your heart creates. Any emptiness is quickly filled with evil thoughts. You cannot deny this soul we have is evil.

And yet there is but one hope in life. It is the hope of Christ. It is the hope of salvation. Though the toils of man without God is left in the dirt, the work of man in accordance to God’s will is of the heaven’s glory!

Let me share with you a few Bible verses:

Psalms 118:24 – This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Colossians 3:17 – And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Psalms 127:1 – (A Song of degrees for Solomon.) Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Ephesians 1:16 – Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Colossians 3:15 – And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Hebrews 12:28 – Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

Colossians 3:15-20 – And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

Psalms 107:1 – O give thanks unto the LORD, for [he is] good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

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These are but the very few. His words are of rejoice! Let us find gratitude in our hearts, find light in darkness, and seek with prayer and passion that once the Light has been given to us, that we do not let anything take it away.

What is a Youth?

“What is a youth?“… so begins a verse in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. We can attach many adjectives and nouns to “youth” but one of them is passion. The livelihood of youth and the vitality that a young age can give to us amounts to a whole lot, and those who have spent their youths wastefully teach our generation that we must use this time of our lives wisely because we will never be as young as we are today.

A great deal of our youth is spent experiencing and learning from experiences. Some experiences teach us a great deal while other experiences come from bad choices made in our young years. Yet still, even through our mistakes or our endless amounts of failures and downfalls, it is so important to have hope and an undying passion that leads us from day to day. It is because our lives are not set in stone, and so our past and our present do not have to define our future. If we know where we want to go, it is important to learn to get back up and start again. It is possible through and in Christ.

I ask that youths rise up and be inflamed by the passion of Christ. The energy we are given at our age is not meant for nothing. We spend so much of our energy on our career, our success, and personal relationships. But how much do we spend our energy for God? Do we use all the outlets we are given to establish our passion for Christ? Our path to success does not have to be separate path from the path we walk for Christ. When we do all that we do for Him by what Christ has given us to use, it is through Him we become truly successful and complete.

I ask all our young readers today to think about the meaning of youth and how you choose to spend the years that will never return. Remember that what we are given is a gift, even the age  we take for granted. Youth doesn’t necessarily mean those of a certain age. There are those who are elder in age, yet have a youthful heart and mind. What makes them youthful is their hope and passion, not just for tomorrow but for a greater purpose and life beyond their own.

Soon, in about a month, it will be Easter. Let us remember the life Christ has given us to live that took a life of God’s son to save ours. Do not take it for granted and remember to live it fully. Do all things in Christ, and through Him all you do for Him will be blessed forevermore.

Grow a Habit of Achieving!

We are now past the midpoint of January. We’ve set up long-term goals and plans at the beginning of each year to boost up energy and give meanings to our actions. For instance, we set goals like getting certified, going to a new school, establishing a good career history, or even making a hundred-books-to-read list. Setting goals and looking over our plans ahead of time sort of leave us feeling satisfied and even accomplished, and motivate us with great energy to work harder than ever before to attain the goals!

But somewhere along the way the plans that once gave us motivation, became heavy loads on our backs. We start negotiating with ourselves, lowering the expectations and making changes to plans. The worst part of this is that we become accustomed to the cycle of not keeping our own promises.

Of course the Bible says that “a man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) Are we then completely free to say we have no blame for the spoiled plans? I do not think so, and I think we are still responsible to find a remedy and break free from the cycle of failing.

What can we do? We can grow habits of success where we make a chain of smaller goals that eventually lead to the highest goal. Break large plans into smaller and smaller parts, so that these goals become a list of things we can do on a daily basis. Then complete each task. Keep reminding yourself that each day is a new day. Learn to celebrate your victory everyday!

Grow a habit of achieving and enjoy fulfilling them everyday. But most ultimately, ask for God’s guidance and wisdom along the way. Know that in the best of all that we do, it is God who is leading our way.

By K.P.

Marking the 9th Anniversary of TAC

November 25th, 2012 marks the 9th anniversary of TAC. Most of the current members had joined TAC at a very young age, and throughout the nine years, they themselves have developed into mature adults. Likewise, TAC took steps to mature itself as a recognizable Christian non-profit organization. Like any organism, it takes time and a great deal of planning and experiencing to reach a level of full productivity. However, it is undeniable that God has blessed TAC with a vision and a strong mission to carry out for the future. TAC hopes to provide a supportive community of Christians to help each other succeed in the name of God. 

Networking with fellow Christians is one of the main priorities of TAC. Reaching out to Christians and learning from each other, creating a positive Christian image is just the start. A few months ago, when we first decided to start this blog, we hoped to achieve a part of that goal. Unfortunately, with all members as students, it has been difficult to keep on pace, as well as our Youtube channel. 

We hope to revive both this blog and our Youtube so that we can reach out to more and more Christians, especially youths who, like all of us, seek a positive community striving for Christ. Please check out our channel and FB page! We will try to update as much as possible. Stay tuned, and God bless!

The Gift to Change

There are several distinctive qualities of mankind that distinguishes humans from animals. Unfortunately, I don’t know the full list but I believe one of them is blushing. The reason why blushing is a characteristic only belonging to humans is because it represents the conscious awareness of other intellectual beings around us, who may have encountered our embarrassing moments. That is why an adult will not necessarily feel embarrassed for something they wish to hide if they had been in the same space with an infant. The infant is not intellectually capable of noticing and recognizing the observance as socially humiliating, and the adult knows this and will not blush. Animals can’t process that recognition or the ability to feel embarrassed.

Another one is mentioned by an American psychologist named Rollo May. Here I quote him:

This consciousness of self, this capacity to see one’s self as though from the outside, is the distinctive characteristic of man. A friend of mine has a dog who waits at his studio door all morning and, when anybody comes to that door, he jumps up and barks, wanting to play. My friend holds that the dog is saying in his barking: “Here is a dog who has been waiting all morning for someone to come to play with him, are you the one?” This is a nice sentiment, and all of us who like dogs enjoy projecting such cozy thoughts into their heads. But actually this is exactly what the dog cannot say. He can show that he wants to play and entice you in to throwing his ball for him, but he cannot stand outside himself and see himself as a dog doing these things. He is not blessed with the consciousness of self.

An animal is not blessed with the consciousness of self, which is the ability to see yourself outside yourself. Isn’t it amazing how you can imagine yourself as though you have a mental mirror by which you can see your reflection quite clearly? This ability is seen very early on. Children imagine a great deal, and their ability to imagine scenarios of which they play a mental part is an example of being able to detach yourself from yourself. Also, we see little children speaking in third person. “Sally wants food. Sally is hungry. Sally wants to play!”

The idea of self, the recognition of it is quite phenomenal.

However, for argument’s sake, let’s ask why has God gifted man and only man this distinctive characteristic? What was its purpose? And why does Rollo May call it a “blessing”?

All throughout history, we come across great thinkers who have captured a hint of some universal truth and have awaken many a dead souls with their profound truths. What had elevated them above the ordinary thinkers was the ability to see the obvious in some creative light that had developed into an undeniable reality many people took for granted. It is as though their experience of an epiphany had drew the curtains away from their eyes and have allowed them to finally, see. All those who had been blind are also taught to see, and that truth adds a cut, an angle to their world knowledge as well.

Many of these great thinkers had one thing in common and it was the realization that the more they discovered, the more they realized they did not, in fact, know anything. It boiled down to the hard core truth that ultimately we, humans, do not know enough and that the quintessential task of man is to “Know Thyself” (Socrates).

Just like the phenomena of the world around us, we can also be blind to the things that happen within us. Our mentality and emotional capacity are worlds of themselves, equally complicated and intricate in their workings. It is easy to get lost in our own complications, especially when confronting a hardship of reality.

God provides man the ability to see himself outside himself so that he may see in his due time, where he has ended up and where he may lead. Not many people can view themselves objectively, especially in moments of hardships. However, there is nothing as important as believing in the power of change at moments when you see no other way out.

“The Gift to Change” is about never giving up and believing that there is hope because things can change, for the better. This hope is what gives people the power to change their environment, and not to simply accept what they are in. Humans adapt to their environment by creating or recreating their environment in different formats. The physical survival adaptation isn’t the only thing humans can do. They can also change their world, their environment by their mind frame and how they choose to process the flow of observance around them.

TAC encourages people all over the world to believe that man is gifted with consciousness of self so that he may, in his dark and blind hours, see himself in a new light and believe that at the dead end of a road, it is not the end. And that is because man can pave a new road for himself and for others to follow, and like Leo Tolstoy once said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself”, begin by creating a better world by creating a better self.

Youtube Channel

TAC is a faith-based non-profit organization established in 2003, focusing on nurturing future Christian achievers and leaders to take on the role of inspiring people to use their God-given talents and skills for the glory of God. Through TAC’s Youtube channel, we hope to reach out to a greater audience and share our thoughts on life, God, and success.

Our first video is answering some of the FAQs we have received over the years, such as history, mission, purpose, and activities. Interested? Watch. Like it? Click like. Interested? Subscribe!

It’s going to be a slow start, but we will get there! Please subscribe and leave comments.