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Everyone has a Story – Even the Olympians!

Feb 27th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
1 comment

I’ve been part of a campaign at University called iCraveChange. As part of the campaign, I had the exciting opportunity of getting my story filmed. Through the many stories that were put up (you can view some of them at the facebook page -- http://www.facebook.com/iCraveChange), one of the things I learned is that everyone has a story.

Life can be busy and heavily experiential, and so I find it easy to get lost in my own world and my story, and forget that everyone else out there has a story as well. Everyone has lived on earth for X amount of years, and is shaped by their parents, friends and family, choices and life experiences around them. We all have dreams, visions, goals, desires and passions. We all crave Intimacy, Destiny, and Meaning.

Watching the Olympics, it’s easy to forget that every Olympian has a story as well. Below is the story of Olympic snow boarder Kelly Clark, who despite having everything she wanted, craved meaning.


From icravechange.com

Question: Whose story inspires you the most?

Posted in: Confessions, General, Life, Media.
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Beta Testing the Standard Theme

Feb 16th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
No comments yet

When developing websites, the hardest and most frustrating part for me is finding a theme that works. I can almost never find a theme that works out of the box.

This week I’ll begin beta testing the standard theme.

I’m excited, and cannot wait – this is truly a privilege for me. Part of the reasons I’m excited is that @human3rror , aka John Saddington is behind it, and I trust him enough to have faith in the theme.

Hopefully this does not lead me to Wordpress Insomnia.

Question: Has any hobby led you to Insomnia or something close?

Posted in: General, Technology, Updates.
Tagged: · · ·

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Video Game Addiction: Amazing Must-Watch Video

Feb 10th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
1 comment

Video games are a blessing and a curse. I know a gamer who lost his marriage over Counter-Strike. I also know a gamer who is still alive today because of her video gaming community. This video summarizes the two remarkably well -- props to the author!

Question: What are your thoughts on the video? Have you experienced any of this in your life, or the life of someone you know?

I hope to blog soon about some of my experiences with video gaming.

Posted in: Gaming, General, Life, Media.
Tagged: ·

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My Story: Video

Jan 29th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
3 comments

Growing up, I was deeply worried about my destiny -- about what was going to happen when I died. I was also on a quest for meaning -- which one of the gods I worshiped was real?

I Craved Change.

Many of you know I am a Christian, but don’t know why or what it means to me.

This is my story.

Question: Does this resonate? Do you/did you crave change? What’s your story?

Posted in: Confessions, General, Jesus, Life, Media, Questions, Updates.
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Margin: A Day Without Internet – A Poem

Jan 27th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
No comments yet

LifeChurch.tv is doing a series on having Margin in our lives -- I wrote a poem last fall when I didn’t have internet, and I think it fits in perfectly.

A Day Without Internet

A day without internet feels FREE.
No email to worry about, all wires unplugged.
Disconnecting is easy, and I can be fully here.
Although it won’t last, a part of me wants it to.
Oh well, I guess that’s what sabbaths are for.
Hmm… maybe I should start observing!

Other things I learnt:
-Texting is actually useful.
-I can sleep in time!

Your thoughts?

Posted in: Church Online, General, Life, Technology.
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Haiti: What moved you?

Jan 19th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
1 comment

In my last post, I confessed that I was not deeply moved for Haiti.

Bloggers helped change that – Anne Jackson shared about Haiti, and reading the comments left behind by people who were moved moved me.

Sandi’s blog post about Haiti helped nail the following to my heart:

“How can you take a nation of people who have nothing and give them less”

For some reason, apart from all the pictures, that one thought connected deeply. If this had happened in Canada or the States, it would be a lot easier for us to recover. But for Haiti, the disaster is exponentially worse because of the state of their nation.

I don’t think it will ever be too late to help.

Question: What moved you with regards to Haiti?

Posted in: Confessions, Life.
Tagged:

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Haiti – Did you feel that?

Jan 14th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
3 comments

Lately I’ve been watching episodes of Life – recently I watched an episode titled “Did you feel that?”, where in several earthquakes hit LA, and characters popped the question, “Did you feel that?” whenever the earth quaked.

On Tuesday, “the worst earthquake in 200 years” hit Haiti, “followed by 12 aftershocks“. Here are some shocking pictures. Over dinner, Woody (my house-mate) asked me if I felt it for those in Haiti, which led me to consider this question in a different light.

“Did you feel that?” – Did you feel for the people who went through a calamity the likes of which we only see in the movies? Buildings wiped, 100,000 dead, family members missing, dreams and hopes shattered.

I had to say, no, I did not. Deep down, my heart was not moved. I knew I should be moved (Matt 9:36, Matt 25:40, Col 3:12). I prayed and did other things we’re expected to do. But deep down, no, I didn’t feel it.

To me this shows how self-focused and narcissistic we can be – aka, if it doesn’t directly affect us, we don’t care. However, despite our feelings, we should help – my friend Paulman wrote towards that end.

Question: Does this resonate?

Posted in: Confessions, Life.
Tagged: · ·

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“I’m probably speaking to a tree” – Messages from Avatar, Part 3/6

Jan 12th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
No comments yet

“We will send them a message” – Jake Sully, Avatar

I just watched Avatar, and couldn’t wait to blog about a few thoughts that stood out in my head. This series is digested best after watching the movie – the movie is definitely worth watching. First the trailer to set the stage:

“I’m probably speaking to a tree”, but…

The Na’vi believe in an earth spirit, similar to our concept of God, that guides all life on their planet, Pandora. There comes a point when Jake, the hero of our story, needs a little bit of divine intervention. And so taking a leap of faith, he asks for it.

Many of us have doubts about the spiritual, about religion, about God. I challenge you to do the same thing Jake Sully did – to take a leap of faith, and to ask God. “God, you might not be real”, but – are you real? what’s the truth? If God is real, he can meet you where you are.

And Jesus says, he will. From Matt 7: 7-8:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Question: Do you believe in God? If so, why? If not, what would make you believe?

Posted in: Jesus, Life, Media, Movies, Questions.
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“It is said the Na’vi are born twice” – Messages from Avatar, Part 2/6

Jan 7th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
No comments yet

“We will send them a message” – Jake Sully, Avatar

I just watched Avatar, and couldn’t wait to blog about a few thoughts that stood out in my head. This series is digested best after watching the movie – the movie is definitely worth watching. First the trailer to set the stage:

“It is said that the Na’vi are born twice.”

Fascinating concept, isn’t it, being born twice. The Na’vi are born once physically, and again spiritually, becoming part of the people. Just thinking about the concept alone fascinates me. What fascinates me even more, is that Jesus said the exact same thing:

From John 3:1-8:

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

In Cameron’s fictional world, you had to be spiritually reborn to be truly part of the Na’vi. In God’s real world, you need to be spiritually born again to enter eternal life and be part of God’s kingdom.

In Rom 7:7-8, Paul writes:

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Without being born again, we cannot know or please God. More about that here.

But what if God’s not real? In Part 3, we’ll be taking a brief look at that.

Question: What are your thoughts/beliefs on needing to be born again?

Posted in: Jesus, Life, Media, Movies, Theology.
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“I cannot tell which world is real” – Messages from Avatar, Part 1/6

Jan 5th, 2010
by Suraj Reddy.
4 comments

“We will send them a message” – Jake Sully, Avatar

I just watched Avatar, and couldn’t wait to blog about a few thoughts that stood out in my head. This series is digested best after watching the movie – the movie is definitely worth watching. First the trailer to set the stage:

“I cannot tell which world is real.”

In the movie, Jake Sully steps into an “Avatar”, a Na’vi body made for him, so he can work a deal for the humans with the Na’vi. He ends up being immersed in the Na’vi world for so long, that he has an identity crisis – is he human, or actually Na’vi?

In Jake’s case, this is fine, as both his conflicting worlds are real. However, in our case, it’s not.

Many of us abandon our real physical worlds for virtual online worlds. Instead of seeking God when we hit bottom, we dive into worldly pleasures to fill us, which for some of us is getting immersed into a video game online, or building a fake personality for ourselves on facebook, among others. This can ruin our lives.

Andrew recalls his experiences quitting World of Warcraft 4 times on his blog:

“My relationship with my wife was threatened by a fight over a petty game item. I was appalled that such a meaningless entity could intrude upon my relationship”

It is not just our physicial relationships that can suffer because of our indulgence, but more importantly, our relationship with God can be threatened. Things that practically consume our lives are our practical Gods, and God does not like his spot being replaced in our lives. From Rom 1:24-25:

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity… because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”

We all begin there – we’ve all replaced the real God with fake fantasy and worldly pleasures.

Question: What are some of your struggles in the pursuit of happiness or satisfaction?

Posted in: Gaming, Jesus, Life, Media, Movies.
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