James Dungee

Mr. Dungee was my teacher, mentor, counselor and friend.  I spent all my years of junior high and high school in his Sunday school classes, listening to his lectures, his voice reflecting off the walls of the intimate classroom – he was definitely a bass.  My memories still resound with the Godly authority that came forth out of him as he spoke.  He taught me the foundations of my Christian beliefs and solidified the core of who I am as a Christian.  The majority of what I know and live out is a direct result of what Mr. Dungee taught me.  Time and time again, I’ve relied on his Biblical teachings to help me find my way.  He was a man who refused to re-marry because he wanted to live out his convictions of what the Bible revealed to him. 

If you were to ask me, “who was the most influential person in your life?”, I would respond, “Mr. Dungee” without hesitation.  He gave me the Bible I still carry and have always carried to all the various places in the world the Lord took me to…

If you were to visit him, you would see a bed, bookshelves and books.  He didn’t have much education, but he loved to study the Word and not even pastors and scholars can touch the wisdom God placed in him… just like one of the twleve disciples, who astonished kings and princes with their authority and knowledge despite their educational shortfalls… God is amazing, isn’t He?

Today, I found out how much God really loved Mr. Dungee… our Lord took him home 2 nights ago.  Mr. Dungee has already walked past the Pearly Gates of Heaven…

…and I know Mr. Dungee heard Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Today… I am just feeling… “amazed”

I’ve been posting some bad news lately… time to change that… “Happy thoughts!”

As the world forgets the source of ”true love”… or even the meaning of what “love” is…  sad sad sad…

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An Indian who became a man to marry a female relative was dumped after the surgery, a newspaper reported Monday.

Twenty-nine-year-old rubber tapper Kuttiyamma, born with both male and female genitals, had been in love with the relative, Laura, 25, for 15 years before having surgery to become a man and change her name to Binu, the Hindustan Times reported.

But Laura became engaged to another man and Binu is suing her for breach of trust after spending 50,000 rupees ($1,150) on the sex change in southern Kerala state.

“She had agreed to marry me after the surgery,” the paper quoted Binu saying in the petition. “I took loans to pay the hospital bills.”

Laura’s fiance has since backed out of the wedding after hearing of Binu. The paper did not say how Laura and Kuttiyamma/Binu are related.

This is the world we live in… if your heart doesn’t break, you’d better check to see if you’re still alive…   We, as a body of believers, need to pray more and obey more…

DHAKA (Reuters) – A Bangladeshi woman desperate for money after she was abandoned by her husband has offered to sell one of her eyes.

“I desperately looked for a job to live with my two-and-half-year-old daughter, Meem,” the woman, 26-year-old Shefali Begum, told Reuters Thursday at her slum dwelling in Dhaka.

“But I could not find any … and decided to sell one of my eyes. What do I do with both eyes while my daughter will die for want of milk and food?”

Bangladeshi men have been known to advertise their kidneys for sale to generate cash, but Shefali is the first woman in the country known to advertise an eye.

She did not set a price in a newspaper advertisement she placed, but said she hoped to get enough to set up business as a street vendor or toy seller.

Shefali last saw her husband 18 months ago.

“No one has contacted me yet. Maybe they didn’t believe me and thought I was making a sort of fun but I am serious,” she said.

Nearly half of Bangladesh’s more than 130 million people live in poverty, unable to get two meals a day. Abandoned or widowed mothers are at the bottom of the economic heap.

Bangladeshi law prohibits sale of human organ but allows donations to save lives, officials said. Donations outside a family often carried a price tag, they acknowledged.

How precious are friends?  PRICELESS!

I had a lengthy conversation with a fellow musician last night… enlightened to some new things I had neglected, mainly, that I’ve grown to be very critical of myself over the years due to past failures/mistakes and though I convinced myself that I am not critical of others, it’s only natural that my own critical view of myself would reflect in the way I view others.  So, something to work on… and yeah, please remind me to just relax and enjoy the ride.

Another lengthy conversation with yet another friend, though slightly different in topic, revealed that there are some important areas of my life that I hadn’t given over the Lord… and in essence, have allowed it to become a form of “bondage”.  So, back to the drawing board, so to speak…

the phrase… “Let go and let God” is echoing in the caverns of my over-analyzing, overly critical and “perfectionist” mind… truth does hurt… it stings… but the outcome is always positive… just let it be and let God handle it…

Ever wonder why I’m “duh” panda?  ^___^

You Probably Don’t Want to Drive Behind This Guy
Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:08 AM ET

SEOUL (Reuters) – The motto for one would-be South Korean driver likely is “if at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again another 271 times.”

Seo Sang-moon passed the academic part of his driver’s license examination on his 272nd attempt earlier this week.

The repairman, from a small town in the southeastern part of the county who will soon turn 70, said he was illiterate and used the test process to teach himself the rules of the road because he could not read them in a manual.

Since the oral exam was launched, Seo took the test as often as he could, paying about $1,000 in fees along the way. Each failure taught him a little more, and after 271 attempts, he was able to get the minimum score needed to pass the academic test.

Test officials were thrilled to see Seo pass.

“He has been coming here for more than five years and we regard him almost as being one of the family,” an official from the exam office said by telephone.

Seo said he was preparing for his road test, and was discussing with his wife what kind of car to buy once he get his license. “Driving seems a bit hard. But after trying 271 times to pass the oral exam, what do I have to be afraid of?,” Seo said.

Even as we live and breathe on Earth, going about our daily business, our bodies still remain the Holy Temple in which the Spirit of the Lord dwells.  His Holy Temple must be just that – HOLY!  All this pruning and refining, though painful, is a process of getting rid of all the worldly “artifacts” in our minds and from our hearts… the place of worship; the place where we lay prostrate before a perfect and Holy God.  Anyone can lay prostrate outwardly… but to humble ourselves in that place where only God sees…is a life-long task.

Jesus…you’re so patient with us.

How did I get here?  … only God and my thoughts to keep me company… and Nikki, too.  Nikki is my Taylor 714 BCE (Brazillian Rosewood Cut away Electric acoustic guitar).  I don’t know for sure where God is taking me, so I can only work hard in the present in preparation for the future… but He sure puts a lot of desires in my heart… which is the scary part, because He demands a softened heart.  Each day has its battles and each battle is a choice to rely upon His strength, His timing and His plan.. the plan I cannot see or touch nor completely understand, but it’s there… it has to be.

A friend reminded me the other day… “God is truly the greatest artist”, inspired by what she saw outside my window.  Her husband nodded in agreement, pleased that his wife was so appreciative of God’s amazing creations…

Indeed… who can plagiarize the artistry of the setting sun… fading slowly in the distant horizon… setting ablaze the sea and mountains, in a glorious conclusion to a single day… 

Tomorrow is a brand new day, a day to revel in the works He has given me to do.  My life is without purpose had He not given me work to do.  There’s something about the setting sun that gives me a sense of conclusion to my day.  I’ve spent many sleepless nights, trying to find closure from a day’s activities… Praise God.  I can sleep much more soundly now, but with that comes the responsibility of being more productive with my time.

I’ve wasted a lot of years wandering…looking at it positively, it was all training to prepare me for what’s happening in my life right now… absolutely amazing… and absolutely a God thing. 

I stopped wondering what I did to deserve all these blessings; the finality of my logic leads to only one conclusion: I don’t deserve it… only, God chose to pour out His blessings at this time in this way… hopefully, I can be a blessing to others without letting it rowse up an old arch enemy of mine – pride.

God is good… time to sleep.

Delivery Man Stuck in Elevator for 3 Days
Wed Apr 6, 2005 09:36 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Chinese food delivery man was found trapped in a broken elevator on Tuesday, more than three days after he was reported missing, police said.

Ming Kung Chen, 35, who worked for the Happy Dragon restaurant in the Bronx, was reported missing late Friday when he did not return an hour after setting out on a delivery.

Police said he was found at about 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Tuesday and was hospitalized with dehydration. Police were

unable to question him immediately because he did not speak English.

Newspapers had reported the Chinese community feared that Chen, who is from Fuzhou province in China, might have been a victim of robbery or foul play by immigrant smugglers.

In a twisted sense, there is some humor about a delivery guy getting trapped in an elevator, especially b/c of the way media depicts delivery guys – it’s almost always comic relief, especially the Asian guys with the bad accent who deliver Chinese food.  Please don’t take it the wrong way…  I don’t find this funny, not in the least bit.

In fact, I’m very saddened… even convicted by this event.  If only someone had taken the time to find out where he was delivering and actually go there to check, they would’ve discovered him in the elevator that night or even the next day.  Poor guy…. no one even bothered to look… that’s just heart breaking.  Hopefully, a Believer who knows this particular gentleman would share with him the parable of Jesus leaving the 99 sheep to go find the 1 that got lost.

As Believers, we are to imitate Christ, right?  When was the last time I left the comfort of the 99 and sought to find the 1 that got lost?  Ashamedly… very little.

How often have I had the experience of sharing with someone, only to find out that person had been struggling for a long time and I had absolutely no idea.  If I had just taken a few minutes out of my day to call and just check-in with people, they would’ve shared and we could’ve carried the burden together in prayer and uplifting scripture.

Even worse, when we know someone is struggling, how many times have I avoided that person, just because I didn’t want to deal with someone else’s problem?

I’m reminded of the parable about the servant who owed a great debt to his master, was shown mercy by his master and his debt forgiven, only to throw a fellow servant in prison because of a VERY minor debt…  Do I really want to face my “Master” again, the one who had forgiven my GREAT DEBT, after having abused fellow servants?

As a Believer, I’ve failed so miserably… so often…  We’ve been given so much relief from struggles in times past and present and also will in the future… How can I even dare to think a brother/sister struggling is nothing but a hassle?  Although I know God chooses to work through us, it baffles my logic… Why, Lord?  Why would He want to… choose to use us?

God wants us to share in the blessings that come from God’s business of saving and changing lives.  We do not have the capacity to actually change lives, but we certainly are the vessels through which God influences people.  As we become more willing to be used and are used by God, our own lives will be changed all the more, more closely reflecting the image from which we were created.  Glory to God in the highest.