heaven and rewards

was exercising this morning and doing my bible reading on the stationary bike this morning. this thought came... "what happened to the answers from the bible regarding rewards in heaven?" (referring to this blog entry but i guess it's for clichephrase's contacts only...)

basically my friend posted a blog entry about rewards in heaven (what kind? how will we be rewarded? by having big mansions? crowns? and how would that motivate/effect us here on earth?)

so i decided to do a search and list the bible verses in New Testament... (according to my own discretion regarding the relationships between heaven and rewards) (quoted from NIV)

Matt 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matt 5:19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 6:1 [ Giving to the Needy ] "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matt 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matt 9:21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Luke 6:23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
Luke 10:20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Luke 12:33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Luke 18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

1 Peter 1:4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,

i did a search on the word "heaven" in NIV and NASB and 278 entries showed up. according to my judgment, there are only about 12 that are sort of relevant to rewards. that's a very small percentage compare to what the New Testament talks about heaven. so it seems to me that rewards and heavens is not a hot topic that Jesus or the disciples focused on. heaven... it's more about other matters. and even when it talks about being rewarded in heaven, it has more to do with how much a person sacrifices (in various ways) for God/Jesus, not so much related to our material giving...

but i think the most obvious bible verses that taught us the concept of heaven and rewards are those highlighted in red.

wild parrots

went out for a jog this morning. along the way, i heard this strange bird noise, unlike those "normal" birds. so i stopped and tried to figure out what kind of bird was making that noise. and woo hoo... those are wild parrots roaming around this area. so cool.... here's a website with their pix. they look exactly like this. :D

wild parrots website

my voice within

went to Hollywood Bowl for my 3rd concert of this season last night. it was Julie Andrews presenting "the gift of music". the first portion of the concert consisted of songs from Rogers and Hammerstein's musicals. 2nd portion was a newly composed (i think) musical based on Julie Andrews and daughter, Emmy's children's story book--Simeon's gift.

it was really weird to "see" Julie Andrews in person (since she is such a familiar face from The Sound of Music and Princess Diary... and voice...). I had thought that she went thru a vocal cords surgery and couldn't sing anymore but she did. although her voice was hoarse and she couldn't reach very high notes anymore, her presence and expressions are still excellent. She is also an excellent story teller.

and for the 2nd half of the concert, it's kinda a typical children's story with this educational focus on music and also knowing who you are. the songs are nice but not memorable (seriously, i can't sing any of the songs back to you from the show... unlike littler mermaid or something). but the story did resonate something within me.

i guess because the main character, Simeon, is simple minstrel. for the purpose of finding something that would allow him to justify marrying the princess, he went on this journey hoping to perfecting his craft and write music that is beyond the simple tunes he used to sing. along the way, he learned many things but ultimately the noises of the city beat him down and made him very discouraged about his dream. he then decided to sell his lute and return to the village in order to say goodbye to the love of his life. but on the journey back, he encountered three animals that reminded him of his passion for music and eventually for him to find his voice again. and as in all fairy tales, his music was so wonderful, it did earn him the right to marry the princess. he then continued to compose wonderful music for the rest of his life. and thus--Simeon's gift (to the world, i suppose)

i guess since i have composed some songs before (i think those were mainly therapeutic for my own sake). the songs and lyrics just flowed out of me. it never took a long time for me to compose anything in the past. but in the past year or so, i've stopped. partly because i am searching again of why i compose and to whom do i compose my songs for. (or maybe i am coping with my stresses in different ways?) i think also because i am doing this ethnomusicology program. with all the learning and reading, i hesitate in composing because i don't feel that my songs are really reaching many people (of course my friends and family have been encouraging about this and i do appreciate all your support). but i do know that music IS a gift and i should utilize it.

i am not sure which part of the journey i am on right now... maybe just keep walking

ouch

i bought 2 lavender plants today and planted them in my uncle's house (because that's also our office). the ground was rather hard with lots of pebbles and rocks (i think maybe when they built these town houses, they just dumped all the junk into the back yards and that's where all these nasty little things come from)

i used a little shuffle. i was digging the first hole for the first plant. dug and dug and dug without wearing gloves (since it was easier. the gloves were too big). suddenly i noticed that some skin on my palm had come off. i just kept digging and planting the two plants.

now it really hurts.

Ice cream!

the july 4th weekend was filled with fun and food. (also lots of sun)

after dinner on saturday, we went to Fosselman's ice cream co in Alhambra. and this is the kind of stuff that i was hoping to find many months ago when a craving for really good home made chocolate ice cream like the kind you find at daily scoop that was walking distance from where i used to live in sg.

above picture is my chocolate raspberry cream on a sugar cone (with my little sis in the background and picture taken by my thai-american bro, nat.) (awesome pic, nat!)

the price is not bad and there were lots of people going thru the store even at 9:30pm (when we arrived). i will be going back again (probably need to jog for like an hour before i go again). and if you are ever in the neighborhood, i highly recommend trying out their yummy ice cream.