Band of Brothers 09

The Importance of Patience

2009-02-09T01:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some quotes that I posted on my blog that I thought were very convicting:

"The presence of impatience reveals the absence of humility, reveals the presence of self-righteousness in our lives. When we are impatient, we have forgotten God's patience with us."

-C.J. Mahaney

"Appreciate the patience of God, think how He has borne with you and still bears with you when so much of your life is unworthy of Him and you have so richly deserved His rejection. Learn to marvel at His patience and seek grace to imitate it in your dealings with others and try not to try His patience anymore."

-J.I. Packer

2009-01-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

"always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." - 2 Cor 4:10

Best Time to Evangelise?

2008-10-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't read many blogs as of late, but I was able to read some today and it has been really refreshing to my soul. I thought Piper brought up a very good point that we should be taking advantage of this time of uncertainty and giving people who don't know HIM something that is certain. Heaven!

Piper relates this to mission- and we are missionaries on this campus.

I believe the Lord brought this word to mind in one of our prayer meetings on Friday:
The worst of all times is the best of all times for missions.

We were praying over Lamentations 3. Those were the worst of times for Israel. But in that moment they were given the best of promises,

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (3:22-23)

Today marks the close of Missions Focus at Bethlehem. So we were praying for missions. That is when this word came: The worst of all times is the best of all times for missions.

Such words do not have intrinsic authority the way Scripture does. They must be tested. Here is the truth I hear in those words.

During an economic downturn we are more dependent on God. That is the most fertile soil for creating missionaries.
During an economic downturn unreached people around the world do not expect you to come, but to look out for yourself. So they may more likely see your risk as love rather than exploitation.
During an economic downturn those who need Christ around the world may be less secure in earthly things and more ready to hear about eternal life.
During an economic downturn people at home may be wakened to the brevity of life and the fragility of material things, and so may become more generous not less. And when they give under these circumstances, it will make Christ look all the more like the all-satisfying Treasure that he is.

And so it may well prove to be that the worst of all times is the best of all times for missions.

trusting God

2008-09-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

i read Trusting God by Jerry Bridges this past summer and it was extremely encouraging.

the book covers these 3 main points:

1. God is all-wise

2. God is all-loving

3. God is all-sovereign

knowing these three points is so key in trusting God. since God is all-wise, He knows what is best for us. since He is all-loving, He will do what's best for us. since He is all-sovereign, He has the power to carry-out what's best for us.

there may be times of confusion or harships, but God is all-sovereign and everything is under His control. He will orchestrate events that we may not understand so that ultimately He will get the glory.

Senior Year

2008-09-18T17:55:00.001-07:00

I remember our 2nd year, we started this blog because we wanted to be like those "Seniors" and so we created our own lil' blog roll for us to rant on and encourage one another with. Now we are those Seniors and this blog roll is DEAD, ghostly dead.

Lets revamp this bad boy, not only for the sake of encouraging one another, not only for the sake of encouraging the younger bros (and even sisters), but for the sake of proclaiming the riches of God's glory, grace, mercy, love, patience, wisdom, jealousy, etc. Let's paint the picture of God through our words and post about our own hardships and blessings, about being in times of confusion (I am sure we are going to be talking about that a lot this upcoming year)and in times of clarity, or even about our own relationship with HIM.

May the words of my mouth, the meditations of my heart...and the sentences I write be pleasing to God.

#2

I Will Praise Him Still

2008-02-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

"For the Lord our God, He is strong to save
From the arms of death, from the deepest grave.
And He gave us life in His perfect will,
And by His good grace, I will praise Him still."

-Fernando Ortega ( I Will Praise Him,Still)

I just have been thinking about just the lack of faith i have and limiting God's power by not having FULL FAITH, in that he would save people like my Dad (my family) or even a close friend of mine. Or just that lack of faith that when we share the gospel to people, that God might be actually using us to lead a person in accepting Jesus Christ into their lives.

This song was just a good reminder to myself...that OUR LORD OUR GOD is strong to SAVE whomever he wants...crazy to think he would save undeserved people like me and you. Man this song is so short but so full of truth.

May we not de-glorify God by lacking faith in his sovereign plan of rescuing sinners and let us grow and cultivate a heart that GRIEVES after the lost...just like God.

2008-02-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

"We may have men clearer in doctrine, but where can we find that life and power, that ardent zeal, that burning eloquence, that devotedness to the work, those astonishing labors, that self-denying life, that singleness of eye to the glory of God, that unwearied perseverance, or that flame of holy love which seemed to consume the very lamp in which it shone with such surpassing brightness? " - J.C. Philpot commenting on George Whitefield's life.

The faith of the centurion

2008-02-08T01:40:00.001-08:00

It's a short story of one of the many people that Jesus met, but he's one of the most awesome guys I read about in the Bible besides JC.

The story goes like this. A centurion comes up to Jesus saying that his son is sick. Jesus says he'll come to his house to heal his son.

But the centurion refuses. Why? Why would he refuse to have the Son of God come to his house. His faith is amazing. He tells Jesus of the men under him. Each of his soldiers obey his obey without question. If he says come they come. If he says go, they go. In the same way, he says, if Jesus says his son will be healed, he believes his son will be healed. Jesus commends him for his faith and says that his son is healed, and at that instant his son is healed.

How amazing of a faith is that? If I was in his shoes, I'd probably have Jesus over, you know, I gotta see it for myself. But to have a faith of a centurion, to say to God, "Tell me to go and I will go. Tell me to stay and I will stay. Whatever you say, I will do." That's the kind I want to strive to have.

Let God lead my path what-so-ever way He chooses. Let God play out my life to His glory. The kind of faith and commit I want to have is just that.

If you like to read

2008-01-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

Article from NYTimes.com:
The Moral Instinct

It's a fairly long read, depending on how often you read, but basically a Harvard Psychologist is exploring different theories for the origin and purpose of moral behavior. Naturally, it is from a very secular and scientific perspective, but the article does well to address many of the stark inconsistencies in human morality.

What's the point? Besides educating yourself on a thought-out secular response to an issue so important to us, I think we can draw two things: First, have a defense prepared for your God, for His morals and character and commands, and for the reason you live your life according to them. Second, examine your own inconsistent or petty morals, to see if they are Biblical and profitable to others. If they are merely preferences, then loosen your grip on them

Lemme know what you think.

2008-01-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

"So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." - 2 Cor 5:9 (ESV)

Run the race hard bros.

Response to WL: "We Are Running Out of Time"

2007-12-31T13:08:00.000-08:00

yea buddy, we are definitely running out of time. So let me bring the quote out in a deeper context in contrast to how I normally say it. Will is right, and in the perspective of eternity, our lives are simply a mist (James 4) waiting to end at any moment. HOW DO WE USE OUR TIME.

I love our freshmen and sophomore year when Ed was around. I believe it was him where I first thought about "having a theology for everything we do - even smash bros." This simple statement penetrates our life, for how are we supposed to respond to verses such as 1 Cor 10:31 saying, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."? How do we truly live this out? Does the thought of thankfulness for our saving grace infiltrate all that we do, even the simplest and mindless things that we so easily and unconscously do daily? When we sit down and think about it deeply, there are many things in our lives that we don't do to the glory of God. Does it mean we cannot do it? No. But it does mean we need to be thinking about why we're doing it, and if there's no eternal merit either for someone else's soul or for the growing of our thanksgiving for our Savior, maybe we ought not to be doing it.

Yea, "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up." or the version I grew up on is from the NIV. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive." (1 Cor 10:23)

Yes, many things in this world are OK for believers. But when it comes to what is beneficial, we need to truly evaluate our motives. Look at it from this perspective. How would it look if a non christian came to GOC and afterwards came to one of our apartments to hang out. When he gets there, there's beer laying around and stocked up in the fridge. Now, we know for certain it is not a sin to drink. But how does that image portray our ministry and our Lord and Savior? When we spend hours on the computer (or any activity) and just minutes working our sanctification, how does that display to non believers what our true joy is in life? Doesn't it degrade Christ and His worth? Because of how we act, the world is painting a picture of the value of Christ, and sadly we drastically bring the value Christ down to accomodate our lives instead of striving to bring our lives up to value of Christ. What about the freshmen and new-believers in our ministry? When they look at how we live our lives, is it a Godly model for them to follow? Are we paving the road for them to be leaders in this ministry, in the local church? When we ask the question, "can they see a Godly example through my life" what is our answer? What are we doing about it?

All points to Christ. Remembering the example of John the Baptist as McKitterick spoke on at Fall Reteat, we need to be the road signs pointing to Christ - for nonbelievers and our younger believers.
Brothers, HOW DO YOU USE YOUR TIME (what do you do with your time).
And then, WHY DO YOU USE YOUR TIME THE WAY YOU DO (the purpose behind it) and finally, HOW IS YOUR TIME BENEFICIAL FOR THE LORD
I've been hit with this issue quite a lot lately as i talk with people. Without a doubt, i have much to work on in my own life with this issue. My prayer is that we grow in this area, to let purpose and worship fill all that we do so that the Kingdom grows and our worship and the worship around us is increased.

WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME

John Piper even hit on this subject back before many of us were born. Check Out this article in HOW TO DRINK OJ TO THE GLORY OF GOD: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1986/1489_How_To_Drink_Orange_Juice_to_the_Glory_of_God/.

see you all in a week

we are RUNNING OUT OF TIME

2007-12-31T02:38:00.000-08:00

hahahaha.... d. chow started this saying with my apt and a few other guys, "WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME"(the reference, you can ask him). But it is true, in 21 hrs, it is going to be 2008!!! one more year we will be seniors and the year after that, Lord willing, we will be out of school and working 100 hrs a week jobs; can you BELIEVE IT! goodness gracious and we only have abt a week left before we go back to stayin up late studying different fishes or for me chinese characters. If you are like me, this upcoming year I have a lot of goals and things i want to accomplish and Satan will try to hinder me, pulling out all the tricks in the hat to stop me from P.T.L. (praising the Lord).

Men time is fleeting, like sand through your fingers. Let's be sensible and use it to please the Lord; whether it be hanging out with high school homies, family, enjoying a good read, etc. Because next thing you know, the Lord is on a cloud and the sound of a trumpet will vibrate throughout the earth. Maranotha (the coming of Christ)

p.s. Happy New Year and ptl

#2

"You shouldn't walk in pairs. It's too obvious"

2007-11-17T02:16:00.000-08:00

(Taken from my xanga site)

Rejection. That's what it was. I went "fishing" (cold contact evangelism) for the first time with a partner. I never done it before, and I was pretty nervous.

Then we walked up to this guy. He took one look at us and said no. He knew what we wanted to do, and he wanted nothing to do with it. All he wanted was to get back to his lunch. As we turned to leave he said "you shouldn't walk in pairs. It's too obvious"

Too Obvious.....

isn't that the point?

How are we treating the gospel nowadays? Is it something that I need to slyly inject into a conversation so the person I'm talking to doesn't know what hit him? Should I first casually ask for the time, comment on the food, get a good small talk going all the while leading it toward religion, an open discussion of religion until finally I can share?

Even sharing, am I to leave out parts of the gospel that seem to turn people away from it? Am I to leave out the part about God's wrath, man's sin, one way, and just skip to God's love?

Am I to hide the label "Christian" just because it's thrown around a lot? Should I come up with a fancier name or position that truely shows I'm a true "Christian" unlike the fake "Christians" that only do it to look good or to have an answer?

"you shouldn't walk in pairs. It's too obvious"
Yes that is the point. I don't know about you, but why try to hide the gospel when sharing it?

Romans already established that "there is no one. no not one that seeks after God", so that we know that man on his own cannot even begin to reach toward heaven. Only God can do it. Only God can change heart. Do we think that we are being more savvy because we found a slick way to slip the gospel right under their noses? Do we not believe that God will change the hearts that He will change? Is there a heart so hard that God cannot change on His own? Is there ever a time that all-mighty, all-powerful God will NEED our conversation savvy skills and turn of words to open hearts? Will He need us to use ninja-like skills to sneak up upon the unsuspecting sinner so that we can open their minds to the gospel without them raising a front?

No. He may use your skills of communication to do His work of spreading the gospel, but He can just as easily use someone who is not as effective as talking. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't choose your words carefully. Nor am I saying grab a stool and stand on top of it in the middle of a college campus and yelling at everyone that they are a sinner.

Hardly.

But we shouldn't hide the gospel. I can understand in countries where our brothers are being persecuted for their faith, so they must be careful in how they approach it. However, at least here in America, can't we be that shining light that God told us to be? We don't have to hide the gospel from other people. Let it shine through your words and actions. That brings me to my next point.

Seeker-friendly messages. Why, oh why must people dumb down the gospel. When I say dumb down the gospel, I mean twisting it in a way that seem to fit anyone's mind for the sake of "acceptance" of Christianity. How many times have I heard that God loves all... and that's it. It goes no farther. They never talk about a place of hell being a real place where sinners go. They never talk about Christ being the only way to save us all from that... just A way to do so. They never talk about God's wrath against our sin... only that He seems to love everything.

Salvation through Christ no longer becomes THE way to heaven, but merely A way to A heaven. Christianity can be put stored along side with the other religions in the world and they can all live happily ever after.

Honestly, think about it. It doesn't work like that all. Christianity in it's true form could never stand with other religions. Take one of the most known Bible verses ever: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Break it down: "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". believe in who? The him by grammar of the lanuage refers to God's son. Who's God's son? Jesus. What do they mean by perish. well perish means perish. By the next part "but have eternal life", it is obvious that perish is contrasted against "eternal life". Is there any room for other "truths" other "religions" to stand along side?

Take another well known verse: John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Nope it doesn't seem like. So why are there Christians going around claiming that people can go to heaven whatever way they want. That they can find their own way to heaven. Do they not know that is like telling someone to go wander around in the desert without a map? It's a DEATH SENTENCE! To say to people that there are other ways, it's misleading to them when the Bible, the book that we Christians rely our faith on, clearly states there is no other way. If you know someone that even thinks that it'll be cool to roam around the desert and find their own way around, do you not stop them? Knock some sense into them? I don't know, prove to them that they'll get lost without a map? So why do we let people try to wander their way into heaven?

Don't let them wander. Please

The Bible is truth, and the truth is hard. We don't try to hide it. We don't water it down. We give it all. From man's sin, to God's wrath toward sin, to God's love to save us from sin, to God's sacrifice to free us of sin, to our eventual reunion with God. Only then can we truely show to people the fullness of the reality of God.

Dumbing it down... hiding it. you might as well take out the whole Jesus thing and just proclaim the Bible as a good set of morals to live by... and eventually die by.

"You shouldn't walk in pairs. It's too obvious"
I hope it was obvious. I'm not going to hide... truth. Too much is at stake to do so

A Relationship Rant

2007-11-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of people are starting to think about relationships and such. Sure we have been hearing a lot abt the qualifications of a Godly Woman, (and yes i know he hasnt gotten to the guys)...but i encourage you guys, guys who are pondering about or thinking about being in a Godly relationship with a sister... begin doing some research in trying to find out what we need to do to prepare ourself for a relationship.

I just recently started to listen to R. Hollands relationship series (the oldest one-99' i believe, which i think is more in depth) and even listening to the first one, has been really encouraging for me to step up in the positions he talks about (discipleship, cultivation of control, righteous reputation, clarity of convictions, appropriate attitudes , and soundness of speech. Titus 2:6).

Relationships has recently been on my mind, A LOT, and i cant help to say that we really need to shape up before we head into an relationship with our sisters. I know we can never be perfect, very similar in thought in becoming a sg leader, and I know one has to be striving to be more Christ like, but where you are in that step of trying to become more sanctified, I now believe, matters. Some people have this idea that, if you are growing in Christ, that is enough to put you in the position of pursuing a relationship, but people's growth are radically different in speed. Some grow like melissa's walking speed, fast, while others are comparable to our class getting into relationships, slow. Thus, i believe if your foundation is set and all the fundamentals in understanding the GOSPEL (i.e. Grace, Sin, Faith, etc.) are there (more to the list i didnt mention), then one can start pursing. If one doesnt even have the fundamental understanding of their relationship with God, what examples would one use to lead a girl in a relationship... an example from the world?

With that point, I want to say that I have seen a lot of growth in us GUYS! (PRAISE GOD!) You can see it flowing out of your lives...whether it be serving on a ministry team, evangelizing on campus and to friends ( which i believe is harder then fishing), or your own personal convictions...it has been really encouraging to me. With that, why dont we start encouraging the sisters with that? yeh? doesnt have to be a relationship like bf and gf...just some good talks that can enlighten one another and build one another up. I know some of the girls need it and i know some of us guys need to hear some insightful stuff from them too. {I remember last year I asked some girls to find things in my life I need to work on or just things as brothers we can do better and the things they said really hit a cord with me and convicted me to change}.

I hear Beland likes to talk about this topic too. hahahah.

wl

p.s.

i want to hear your guys opinions. Doesnt have to be on this...just stuff that are going on in your lives. I know that we are all busy and have things we need to do, but a lil update would be nice. That is, if anybody reads this anymore.

You Dont Have It Together

2007-10-05T03:28:00.001-07:00

It is wrong to think that you got it all together...cause you dont.

After talking to a former GOC, who now goes to another fellowship (not saying that this is bad at all), this person told me something that i never realized how GOCers were perceived as. The comment was that we are seen PUFFED and COLD Christians who just know a lot of facts and got a lot of good teaching on fridays and sundays and do nothing else with it but shove it down other ppl's throats thinking that we know WHAT'S UP (we got it together). I exaggerated a bit, and I would definitely say that if that person got to know us (GOCers) better, then this notion would be removed...but that's basically the gist of it. That we GOCers think we know it all...think we got it all figured out or have good enough teaching that will help us figure things out. And in some aspects i believe this statement is true.

Me personally, I can see how I think I got it together, that what I am getting taught is the way and other ppl should follow it. This could be easily seen in how I please my small group leader in trying to get praises from him rather then glorifying God or even going out to share the gospel to others and just wanting to spit out facts or shove the gospel down their throats instead of having a heart to love the sinner (who not long ago, I was in the same position as they were) and truly having a desire for them to be saved.

But what David told me I think we definitely need to take into consideration. Instead of thinking that the remedy to this problem is to stop learning or knowing more abt God and to start "loving" ppl more; to bring love from the bottom and equate it with your knowledge of God. But this idea is wrong. DEAD WRONG. We should instead be learning and seeking MORE information...and if you are learning correctly, by the grace of God, one should understand how to LOVE MORE. You know what i mean? If you stop reading the bible...how are you going to learn how to LOVE one another in the first place.

The bible is filled with passages that tell us that we shouldnt be prideful that we should have a heart for others and to LOVE one another. Philippians is a perfect example, in chapter two itself tells us how Christ is the example of how to live and how He humbly went from God and became Man just to DIE...FOR US!!! US, who are undeserving SINNERS, who knowing things that displease God still DO IT!!! We deserve nothing more then to receive Hell; but because of Christ's humility we are saved from the wrath of God and graciously get to be where God is.

Thus I go back to my point that it's not ok to think we got it all together or to think that we got it figured out. For now i have 2 reasons why.

1. we are IMPERFECT people
We shouldnt be like Pharisees who think that they got it all figured out cause they were living the law out perfectly...which they were not. We are all sinners, non are righteous, no one is perfect. It's ok NOT to have things all figured out, we are HUMAN BEINGS we are not perfect unlike CHRIST who was the only one to fulfill the 10 commandments. So if someone finds fault in us...we should be expecting it and in a way be greatful for it (i need constant reminder of this myself).

2. illusion of perfection brings PRIDE
When we start to think that we got it all together, that everything in our own life is figured out and thus dont need anybodies help...you begin to take the glory away from God and start to trust yourself for all things. Whether it be grades, things goin smooth in your life, or even finding the right girl, one starts to think that...I did all this, I am the reason why I have gotten this far. BOOYA! (Just realized this, even in editing this post...i want this post to be PERFECT, with no errors to show that I know my GRAMMAR IS GOOD. [prob being overly critical, but you know what i mean])
This obviously is not happening in everybody's life that thinks that they got it all together...but if you make it abt yourself and start thinking abt how it sucks for other people cause their lives are not as good as yours, pride has creeped into your life. That is why it's always humbling to be down and out, 4th and long, waiting for the river card to be an Ace of hearts...you have to rely on God.

Conclusion:
I know this post seems like I am bashing GOCers or whomever, but I'm not trying to. I am just like any one of you guys...a flawed and imperfect sinner hoping that God will come soon enough so we dont have to deal with this crap anymore. But in Matthew (verse?) and throughout 1 and 2 Timothy...it tells us life is hard there is nothing easy about it and that the gates to the kingdom is narrow. So in posting this, I hope (MYSELF WAY INCLUDED) to remind us of our heart conditions in whatever we do, whether it be talking to friends or even sharing the gospel, we are to be loving and humble people like Christ. Christ is the way and until the day we get to see Him...until then, we will not have it together and that is OKAY.

(I like dan's comment)

S Koreans in Afghanistan

2007-09-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6974591.stm

This is for anyone keepin up with the S Koreans who were held hostage in Afghanistan. This story is really sad, it's even worst that they deny the purpose of the trip was for missions and instead say it they were going to help and aid ppl in Afghanistan.

My friend, who was studying in Korea when this happened, said that many S Koreans are clearly upset at the churches and basically Christianity for allowing this incident to happen. Let's be prayin for them and the Christians in Korea specifically, cause i bet they are getting a lot of crap right now, left and right.

Some thoughts

2007-08-03T23:32:00.001-07:00

I'm heading back to Los Angeles for session C, where I will again see the fair faces of some of y'all. Admist the usual packing and mental preparation, I find it in me to write a partial and unbalanced reflection on my stay in Nor-Cal (lame-Cal to some of you).

Knowledge of Self. Home reveals different shades of the heart. How do we fair when it comes to submitting ourselves to our parents? Are we still faithful students of the word, servants of the church, and fervent evangelists? What's life like when we're comfortable and have excessive amounts of free time? Do we still burn for the salvation of others?

The Church. I'm attending a new Church, and its definitely been another growing experience. Different perspectives, different people, different personalities, and different preferences have a way of testing your humility and ability to love. But the blessings of life in God's church is an awesome one!

Anyways, session C people unite! Let's make summer exciting!

life is a vapor

2007-07-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. Hope your summers have been all good. I miss all you norcal folk. ='(. Well, norcal folk other than Ryan Wong. hehe. Anyways I recently found out that my aunt is not doing so well health-wise. She's survived breast cancer but was diagnosed with colon cancer (I think) something like 2 years ago. It's been up and down and apparently its worse than ever now. It's not looking too good. On top of that, I just read Sarah Kang's post on gvine and it's just dawning on me more and more; life is a vapor. It reminds me of a movie I saw recently, Hitch, which I have now seen like 7 times. I saw it twice this past week to help me cope with my crazy amounts of homesickness which is another story. "Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breaths away." Disregard the grammatical error but I really like that quote. Some people can live for 100 years but they may never have had their breath taken away. Not in the same sense that Will Smith meant but they've never had their breaths taken away by how God works. And I guess that's what I've been learning a lot right now. For the first couple of weeks of summer, it's been very blah and dull and mundane. But now, I'm seeing more and more how awesome and cool God is and it's just been the dopest thing ever really having my breath taken away. Anyways please pray for my aunt and her family and stuff. Oh and also, there's a pretty good chance that my friends from home might come to la late august-ish. Please pray that they could come because two of em are unbelievers who I've talked to countless times about the gospel and I think it'd help if they checked out some solid churches rather than Korean ones. Heh. I was planning on taking them to Tim Keller's church in New York but I'm not there this summer so yeah. Also the other friend who might come is a younger guy I discipled last summer and I'm hoping to catch up with him. Anyways, this blog has been kinda dead over the summer. Let's keep up with this/each other please. I <3 you guys.

Summa-time! 8D

2007-06-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hey i don't have much to say, but that this year was real good and i'm ready for a good break. Thanks all you guys for being great friends and brothers this year. You guys are my best friends at school no lies, and i'm glad i got to know a lot of you better.

Anyway as you recover from finals and all, i just want to encourage people to post about stuff God is teaching you and bringing you through, so we may all encourage one another and keep up the fellowship.

"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." Hebrews 3:12-14

Haha now i'm gonna watch the A's .... aw nuts.

A Break From My Paper

2007-06-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hi, just wanted to encourage you guys to keep up with your devos and to keep trusting God that he will provide whether when the times are good or bad...probably in midst of studying for finals and realizing all the other things you are behind in (for me: anthro paper, sg paper, Chinese final, preaching?, other finals...and so on)...we should be piggy backing on to Christ and KNOW that he will get us through this small, but necessary, stage in our lives.

You BROS have really encouraged me this year to strive and work harder to know the Lord not only as higher being, but as a God that will always provide and is sovereign all the time.
If you guys got any encouraging shout outs... i would love to hear from you guys. Work hard BROS because life isnt meant to be easy. PEACE

WL

something encouragin frm Jeff (senior)
"Thus, my thoughts and advice to those younger than us... to enjoy this brotherhood. Even in my former pagan lifestyle, though I had friends who I've known and befriended for 12 odd years, I've known nothing like this. I guess, that's what happens when you live with some people, yelling at them to do their dishes all the time, but even more so, these spiritual relationships are unique and so, enjoy. Running hard with brothers... and I guess some sisters =), isn't that the point? While not all points were enjoyable, they have all turned out to be wonderful."

baptized baby!

2007-05-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody. As all of you, I was baptized this past weekend and wow! Oh boy, it's a great feeling. It was super awesome as I was dwelling on my testimony prior to reading it to everyone how great of a work God has done on my life. I guess I don't really think about my whole life regularly and sometimes maybe the thought of my salvation becomes a little mundane for a lack of a better word but thinking about where I was and where I am now physically and more importantly spiritually is pretty crazy. I'm reminded of Ephesians 2:1-10, which happens to be my favorite passage in the Bible but I digress. Either way, thinking about this stuff was mind boggling and it was super duper awesome. After the baptism, I was in a daze that I might still be in. I was/am just overwhelmed in a good way. From Saturday on, all I could think in my head was WOW! OH MY GOD! I really couldn't think straight. And now I have a confession to make: that's the first time I've ever told my testimony to anyone. I've been in 2 small groups that shared testimonies, I've been asked countless times about my testimony and yet I never truly told it. During those times that I was asked about my testimony, I gave a super abridged version basically just saying that I was born in a Christian home and then went to a retreat and was saved. I never shared the bullying, the running away from home and the hatred of my parents. I've shared bits and pieces of this stuff to random people but yeah ya know. I think the reason why I never shared this stuff is because I really struggle with opening up to people. It's something that I've always struggled with and I think it's because of my upbringing. My parents were never home and as I mentioned in my testimony, I really hated them. Consequently, I guess I developed this me against the world type mentality and thus, I have a hard time really opening up. Whenever someone would ask me how I'm doing or something of that sort, I would always answer vaguely. I don't know if you guys noticed this but yeah. I hope (and think) that this testimony is the beginning of me really opening up and sharing and stuff. Please keep me accountable on this. =] Also, I've been in a real reflective mood lately as I'm sure a lot of you are because it is the end of the year. I think, for me, there were three things that made this year super cool. These three are, in this order:

1) Justin Wong. I was in small group with him and I've seen him grow. If you're reading this, hi Justin. I hope you're okay with me talking about you. ^^ Anyways, I didn't really know Justin all that well last year. He kinda went to GOC and he was on the south side of my floor but I didn't really know him but getting to know him this year was the best part of the year for me. Besides his unbelieveable funniness, watching him as he shared the gospel with the football team, participated in athlete's bible study, went through evangelism training and just grew, it just really encouraged me and spurred me on. Thanks Justin.

2) Baptism. Back during Thanksgiving, I attended Benjamin Chang's baptism. The pastor asked Ben why he is getting baptized, to which Ben replied, "To be obedient to God's command." I'm paraphrasing a bit but you get the point. It was at this point that I realized, wait a minute, I'm not baptized! I was baptized as an infant but that does not count. I never thought it was a big deal but I realized it was. After this past weekend, I'm so thankful that God used Ben in such a crazy way for me to be obedient as well as for me to have this unbelieveably cool weekend. Thanks God.

3) This blog. I really liked the senior's blog so I thought it would be a good idea to steal their idea. ^^ I don't know what you guy think about this blog but I love it. Especially with everyone so busy, it gets hard to keep up with everyone but I think this blog has been a great way for a lot of us to pray for each other and be encouraged by each other's thoughts. Plus, it makes us a little more like the senior class and that's not a bad thing.

just a reminder...

2007-05-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you guys saw the freshmen blog but Nate posted regarding a facebook group called "No, sorry, I don't feel like being converted today...." I try to think of something to say (or write) but what more can I say? You guys know the situation. There's nothing I can really say that changes anything. Nate's post was great. I guess this is just a reminder for you guys (and for me especially) that this campus is lost. This world needs the gospel. Desperately. And yet they have no idea. Please pray.

Who are you working for?

2007-05-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

In small group today, Albert brought up a really good point he was thinking about. On the topic of our motives and desire behind our work for the Lord, he noticed that in this fellowship, we are very encouraging to one another. We value godliness and servanthood and want for each of our brothers and sisters to grow in these aspects. But the dark side to that is that there's a danger of doing godly things because we expect to get a pat on the back from our brothers, or maybe even our small group leader or a staffer. This is mostly in the case when our inner desire to serve is at a low point, and we are doing it because "we know we should."

So just remember that "we know we should" not because our fellow GOCers say so, but because God commands his children to do so, and we are his children. Make sure you would be perfectly satisfied in the work you do for the Lord, if no other believer was around to encourage your work. Check your heart to know that you are primarily serving your God, and that the pat on the back is there to encourage more serving towards God - not more pats on the back.

And the reason Albert was thinking about this was because, as a senior, he's gonna be gone from this fellowship soon =(. And while we have all the brotherly support we could ask for here, we need to make darn sure that our faith rests with God, and not with the approval of man. [warning: strange analogy!] It's great to be able to soar along over the mosh pit of encouraging brothers, but our faith is a walk, and we need to be able to walk it on our own two feet.

so yup. make sure your hearts are prepared!

The Days are Hot

2007-05-08T01:40:00.000-07:00

As we approach summer and as we begin to experience all the summer heat and humidity...we all know that, that means people, especially girls, are going to wear less and less. I am just beginning to read proverbs and the chpts. 5, 6, and 7 speaks on the idea of lust and committing adultery. Reading these chapters you hear the author's voice and feel he is really worried abt dudes falling into lust and from there possibly leading to adultery. Proverbs 7 specifically talks about how "the young man lacking sense... takes the way to her house (the harlot's house)." as it continues we find out that this young man does follow this woman into her house and scripture reads, "So he does not know that it (by doing this, knowingly committing this sin) will cost him his life." Adultery doesnt just happen out of the blue, it begins with lust and that lingers on and then that sinful desire manifests into adultery.

Thus I am writing this post to warn and pray for all of us guys to fight even harder on this issue, this time of season and to keep our heads down... not looking at girls that are dressed provocativly and to also pray that the Lord will help us fight continually, day and night, against sinnig against him by lusting.

I got midterms...you guys get the gist of the post. peace

jimmy brought up a good comment frm Mr. Piper...which steve tu found:

A - Avoid temptation as much as is reasonably possible.

N - Say NO to every lustful thought within five seconds.

T - Turn your mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction.

H - Hold the promises and pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until they push out the other images and ideas.

E - Enjoy Jesus. Sin cannot keep its appeal when it is compared to the pleasure of knowing Christ.

M - Move into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors.

WL

home

2007-05-06T01:25:00.000-07:00

On thursday night, I went to the opening of Spiderman 3. It wasn't that good but I'll get back to that later. Anyways, the movie featured many prominent shots of New York City. After seeing about 2 and a half hours of shots of Queens, SoHo, Times Square, Central Park and East 12th street, my homesickness reappeared. I miss home. I've missed home since Spring break. I've missed home before I went home for Spring break. I missed going to Greenwich Village for some bubble tea. I missed going to SoHo for some nice shopping down Broadway. I missed going to Times Square and seeing all the bright lights. I missed seeing the beautiful skyline on the ferry. I missed eating overpriced but amazingly delicious food in nice restaurants. I missed going to Chinatown and laughing at all the Chinese fobs. I missed the honking. I missed the noise. I missed paying $2 to take a subway ride (ok maybe not). I missed all these things and I still do and yet it turns out that I'll probably stay here for the summer. That saddens me but I'm still excited for what God has in store for me in my first california summer. But yeah, I will miss home and even just typing all this stuff is getting me all nostalgic but why am I so homesick? I mean, I should be homesick right? The Bible tells me to be homesick but New York is not my home. Neither is Los Angeles. Home is in heaven! Why is it that I can go for months missing New York but I rarely dwell upon my eternal dwelling? Why don't I think about all the wonderful surprises God has in store for me that Revelation 21 doesn't mention? If I am a stranger on this earth, why do I love the bright lights of New York City so much? Look at the awe-inspiring sights of Times Square and just think, how much more beautiful and glorious will heaven be? "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." (Rev 21:23) Think about all the mega-wattage it takes in order to light just one block of Times Square and think about how much larger the Lord's heavenly kingdom will be and yet not a single bulb is required for light. Why do I not dwell on these glorious thoughts? It is because of my unbelief for if I truly believed this, then surely I would never cease to give praise to the Lord for preparing my eternal dwelling. Oh how I pray that I can yearn for heaven and eagerly await the day the Lord calls me home.

So, in regards to Spiderman 3, I must say that it was a mild disappointment. However, it still had its moments and so I'm not displeased. I think the interesting part for me, SPOILER COMING DONT READ IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED YET, is how Harry gives his life for Peter. Wow! Why would he do that? Peter had just recently viciously attacked Harry and permanently messed up his face. And despite all that, Harry lays down his life for Peter. What a friend. However, this act pales in comparison to the life our friend laid down for us. On the surface, the two acts seem sort of similar: Peter had just done wrong to Harry, the people unjustly crucified Jesus. Harry sacrificed his life so that Peter may live. Jesus gave his life for others to live. However, it is not the same at all. Harry was cool guy but ultimately a (fictional) sinner. Jesus was sinless and perfect. "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:6-8. Harry died for Spiderman! He died to save a superhero who has saved people's lives. Christ died to save ungodly men who spit in his face. Men who have seen the Son of God right in front of their lives and ordered His execution. What a love! Anyways, it's getting late and in 5 hours I'll be waking up for church. It probably wasn't a good idea to write this now but it has just been weighing on my heart all weekend, I had to release it. Anyways night!

Pray Until Something Happens

2007-04-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.^[a] 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

James 5:13-18

As believers, prayer is important to our lives. Allow us to continue to fervently pray for each other and ourselves.

Breakin the Law, Breakin the Law

2007-04-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

Something came into my head while listening to Rick’s sermon today, and Mike Wozny said some stuff during brunch that reinforced and added to the idea. So, as 1 Peter 2:13 tells us to submit to every human institution, I thought about how we often take advantage of “the system.” You know, just those harmless little loopholes or stuff that nobody honestly cares about. Yet when we do that, what are we showing?

I thought of two possibilities. One, we’re being efficient and resourceful without it being at much of an expense to others. But on the other hand, we are being selfish. I think in most cases, we make loopholes because there’s something wordly or material that we want, but don’t want to give up a lot of resources (money, time) for it. We may think, “It’s easier to do it like this. Everything will work better. It’s more fun if we do that. Besides, everyone does it and again, nobody seems to care.” And so it’s easy to just dismiss it as that.

Now, just for clarification, I’ll list some of the actions I’m thinking about (and I do/have done most of these myself, and I’m pretty sure a lot of you have, too).

- Downloading music, programs, movies, etc.

- Having someone else sign you in for attendance for a class

- Sneaking people into places they’re not allowed to be

- Stealing food/supplies from the dining hall

- I dunno, just those things we do to get a leg up in school and stuff

Hmm and now I can’t really think of all that much, nor does it seem so bad anymore, but let me move past the list and get to the reasons.

Anyway so at brunch, we were talking about the sermon and more so on the passages implications to our lives, and Mike talked about rules like the speed limit, or even as trivial as crosswalks and traffic lights on campus. We break them all the time and don’t even care, yet a simple action like that could discredit ourselves before certain nonbelievers. Like if you tell someone you’re Christian and they see you jaywalk, they could point you out and said you just disobeyed 1 Peter 2:13. And honestly, what kind of excuse could you give? “It’s not that bad.” “Nobody cares.” “Everyone does it.” Are those good guidelines for how we should live? No way!

Another reason is what I think Rick was getting at, where we demonstrate as Christians that we have freedom, but that we use it to freely submit to God, whom we love to obey. And by also submitting to secular authority we show that we serve others before ourselves, and respect God’s commands.

Now I want to connect some ideas. Earlier I suggested that when we bend rules, we are satisfying selfish desires. So when we submit to secular rules, especially the ridiculous ones, we are for sure putting aside our convenience. And what will this show? Like Rick keeps saying, we are foreigners on this earth. Why should it matter when we have to endure a tiny bit of trouble for something temporal and probably unnecessary? We should not be breaking rules and finding loopholes to get stuff here on earth. We should be doing it to store treasures for heaven! (Which is actually possible, haha. Pat asked about what to do if authority forbids what the Bible tells us. Well, then you must break those rules. But as Rick told us, most authorities hold the same basic principles of punishing wrong and rewarding right.)

IN CONCLUSION, I was just pretty convicted because I realized how much I break rules. But I don’t really know how to begin to tackle the problem. I almost jaywalked on my way back to my room while talking to Dan Wu about all the rules I break. So I wanted to share with you guys to show that even breaking the tiniest rules have implications. Let us pray that God would enable us to live lives that clearly show that honoring and fearing Him is our number one purpose and desire in life. Let there be no other idols that question this goal. I hope my message is clear. Let me know what you guys think.

EDIT: Okay, so it's not so important that you obey all the rules, but what kinds of things are you known for? Even if it's not the main thing you are known for? So yea, i think that's mostly it aside from what i said in the conclusion.

Anyone there?

2007-04-17T00:51:00.000-07:00

anybody there??? it's been dead for way too long.

Well this weekend was super encouraging to me and hopefully to the rest of you too. Just being able to talk to some of you and to listen to Jim preach to us about stepping up to the plate and being able to soon feed others instead of having others feed us. For me the most convicting thing that came out of this weekend was how i manage my time. I have been wanting to participate in a lot different activities, whether it be on my floor, at grace, or just playing IM Sports...trying to balance all that has been super hard and basically what I've realized is that i lack discipline.

These several verses have been a good encouragement for me to keep disciplining myself.
1 Tim 4:7 "But have nothing to do with wordly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, DISCIPLINE yourself for the purpose of godliness." Discipline for the purpose of godliness...woahhh that's pretty sweet.
and
1 Cor 9:26 "Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; BUT I DISCIPLINE MY BODY AND MAKE IT MY SLAVE, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."

So let's hope this quarter will be a quarter where we run hard, edify one another, and a quarter filled with encouragement, so that at the end, like Paul, we can say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." The time is now, you ready to step up?

WL

Dad's Birthday

2007-04-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

Mike, i mean Dad, has gotten a year older and hopefully a year wiser. But seriously, I thank God for putting a man like Mike in my life, with all his wisdom and corniness . Use the gifts that the holy spirit has blessed you with, boi and make God proud with another year of life. Happy Birthday Mike

2007-04-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

Let a righteous man strike me-it is a kindness; let him rebuke me-it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it...

Psalm 141:5

I don't know about yall but I got a prideful heart. There are many a times when I refuse to be taught. I reject counseling and biblical guidance simply because I got my "honor and dignity" to uphold. So let this be a reminder to everyone, that our honor and dignity is trash before the holiness of God. We have nothing to be proud about. Let it be clear that is gracious of God that He allow us to be with Him... let alone live. So, brothers, grow in humility and become more teachable.

Consistency

2007-03-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that I'm a dork when it comes to anything physical (expect maybe sleeping, eating, and sitting down), I think I see the great importance of consistency. Pat Tsai didn't become a marathon runner by cramming all of his training into a single day, but by having a set plan of running and training. And through consistent training he was able to reach the goal:the finish line of the LA Marathon.

Drawing the spiritual connection, I'm not going to become a faithful God-follower by making resolutions and dropping them when the going gets tough. We're supposed to preach in-season and out, and not just when things are fresh or going well.

We're young guys. That means we're in some of the best years of our life mentally and physically speaking. And we're also converted by the Spirit of God. We're dead to sin and alive to God. We have some of the greatest resources available to us and the greatest cause to apply those resources to, and it would be a great shame if we take action.

We've got a week of rest boys. And then we've got another cycle of service, studying, and struggling with sin in the midst of it all. Let's make the upcoming quarter a quarter where the power of God is made clear in magnifying him in all our lives. Let's see EVERYTHING in light of the cross, hell, grace, Christ, and God's glory. Let's push through the moments when we feel lazy and dull, and strain to get to heaven.

woah

2007-03-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

So while studying for my final, I took a break to swipe Mitchell and Peter some bruincafe. Then as I'm walking back up to Hedrick I find out that the UCLA-Pitt game is almost over so I decide to go down to the TV lounge to watch the end with all you people there. While I was heading towards the elevator, I see my next door neighbor and he's heading down too and so we got to talking and it turns out he had a bag full of alcohol and was heading down to a party. He asked me if I wanted some smirnoff and I was tempted to take him up on that because that's my drink and all but that would just kill my testimony so I told him I didn't drink because I was a Christian. He says that he's a "Christian" too and he knows that he shouldn't be drinking but "nobody's perfect." So we get to talking a little more until we got to the lobby and he went off to his party. I guess this story's kinda anti-climatic but I thought it was really cool the way God just provides all these opportunities to bring the gospel into any type of conversation. Whether it be a deep conversation or us talking about partying, the gospel can and should be applied at all times. Also, I could have very easily taken a bottle and then my testimony's gone, my words become hypocritical and any followup conversations would be extremely difficult. Anyways it's getting late here in New York and I'm gonna see Will Lau in like 3.5 hours so I guess I should go. Please pray for more opportunities to share with my floormate. =]

We Survived.

2007-03-23T17:32:00.001-07:00

The Power of Prayer

2007-03-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I forget about how powerful prayer is and rely on my own power, thinking that there are things that I can do on my own. But through these past two weeks, I'm seeing the power of prayer right before my eyes. One instance being my family suddenly deciding to go to church, which they have been doing so for about 3-4 consecutive weeks now. Hopefully this is a good church, I'm going to check it out over break (I don't know anything about it), but praise God for answering my prayers since last summer!!! So just a reminder to all you guys out there, through faith and the right motives, God can do all things. And remember to PRAY what is on your heart. God sometimes answers prayers in ways we don't expect, but He is faithful none the less. Good luck with finals everyone who still has them, and have a good Spring Break!

"So I say to you, 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 he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" -Luke 11:9-13

Just a reminder.

2007-03-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

In light of what Will said on Saturday, I would like to say I'm a loser. I'm like one of the Jews in the Old Testament that lack faith in God's promises. It is definitely an Old Testament passage that put me in my place.

Looking at Exodus 14:10-18 (I'll summarize this), we can see how gracious God is to His people. As the Egyptian soldiers marched and their chariots roar, the Jews were cornered. Out of fear and distrust, they complained at Moses for their doom. But Moses rebuked them and said the following in verses 13-14, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." The NIV translates the last section as "you need only to be still." And God did save the Jews. He commanded Moses to raise his staff and the Rea Sea parted.

In the greater scheme of things, whatever happens in our lives, God is in control. Throughout this pivotal event, God was the one that parted the sea and stopped the Egyptians in their tracks. And all of this was for the glory of God. Moses was even lucky enough to be involved in this event as he was commanded to raise his staff. Likewise, even ourselves are lucky if God use us!

So work hard and good luck in finals. Whatever happens, fear not, God fights for you.

We owned his face...

2007-03-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

This is what we did to Ryan on our High School Senior Trip. I think it's shaving cream on his face...

2007-03-16T01:55:00.000-07:00

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer." Ps 19:14

dude...

2007-03-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

God is soooo good! Oh gosh. So like Collin calls me up on Wednesday night to go tabling today and I gotta admit I was kinda like bleh about it because I didn't have class and I really didn't need to be on campus and all but I wanted to serve and all so I was like sure whatever. Then I go and first of all I met Olivia for the first time and that was really cool but like right when we were about to pack up some guy comes up to us and introduces himself. It turns out, he wanted to interview a Christian for his sociology class and so I agreed to do it and all in hopes to spark a conversation with him and stuff like that. It was really cool because he recorded the interview and he's gonna give it to his professor so that really convicted me to saturate the convo with the gospel. Afterwards, he wanted to talk to me personally just about his own faith so we ended up talking for like an hour. He came into college a professing christian because his mom was a christian but he became like a sociology major and stuff and basically he just learned about teachings by Marx and others about how man created all religions and now he's just confused and trying to explore. But yeah this whole day was such a blessing because it's just cool how God works and how close I was to not tabling at all to having this great opportunity to proclaim the gospel fall into my lap. Oh and by the way this guy's gonna try to come out to GOC one day so yeah keep praying for him but man, God is soo good! HOLLA

I Hungered

2007-03-08T11:10:00.001-08:00

As of this very moment (not anymore), i am still fasting (3/8). I have fasted for 24 hours + and am NOT posting this to get praise or anything like that, but i am posting to tell you my reason and my experience through fasting. SO a couple days ago, I was talking to WOnga about how our class was growing so much and how encouraging that is. But as he was talking about that I was realizing in my own life that my fire or my drive wasnt really for Christ or the glory (goungrong-chinese for yah) of God but it was really for my own satisfaction and pride. Thus I wanted to fast. I wanted to have the feeling of reliance on God and use God almighty as my only crutch, as if i was a man without legs.

Throughout the 32 hours, i really hungered over things and i even felt weak walking to class and even during class. However i was able to read and focus more intently on my devotionals and prayed that He would give me strength to do whatever i needed to do. I realized that i found myself praying more frequently and it wasn't just before bed or before i ate or anything, just some spontaneous praying lifting up all worries and things on my mind to Him. It felt GOOD.

Yeh, im sure there are many different reasons why ppl would fast and stuff, and it might be the reason why i fasted wasnt the correct one, but i've realized that whatever brings me back to the cross...hopefully lord willing... is worth it. Im not saying that all of you should do it or anything, but remember, are you willing to give up EVERYTHING for the free gift that Jesus Christ has given us? even if it means a meal? As of now, i sure aint...and that's wrong. Let's work on that bros, bring it back to the cross and a reliance and assurance on Jesus Christ.

thanks jimmy

WL

2007-02-28T21:06:00.000-08:00

"Come from your knees to the sermon, and come from the sermon to your knees. The sermon does not prosper—because it is not watered by prayers and tears, nor covered by meditation."

Joseph Alleine

Jaded...

2007-02-26T23:24:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been thinking about posting but I didn't know what to write about. There wasn't much going on in my life and so I didn't think much of it. But after Resolved I realized that was the problem. The reason there wasn't much going on spiritually was because I refused to really let Christ be the focus of my life. I gotta admit, this past year, I've been jaded by this whole "God" thing. And although I've been a believer for about 7 years now, I've never taken my faith as seriously as I should have until I came to college and GOC and all that and so this whole "do all things to the glory of God" business is relatively new. I remember last year I would be so stoked about small group and fishing and sharing the gospel with my roommates and meeting up with people and all that but yea this year I've been so jaded. One thing I really liked about Resolved was the theme being the gospel. When I first heard that that was the theme I thought it was kind of dumb since the majority of people attending would be believers but I'm just reminded of what I think Rick said about the Ephesian Church forgetting their first love. Something so simple as the gospel, which is the most basic of things in the spiritual life of a believer is something that is so easily forgotten, at least for me. Today I was coming back from class and I put on my Ipod and for the first time in a very long time, I listened to Jay-Z's first album, Reasonable Doubt. Inarguably one of hip hop's greatest albums, and one of my personal favorites, I was quickly reminded of just how good this album was. In the same way but so much more significant is the gospel and how I need to be reminded of its role in my life which is why lately I've been trying to do what C.J. does and tell myself the gospel every morning. I must say, it's one of the best spiritual suggestions I've ever received and it has worked wonders. Anyways, I'm getting tired so I'd just like to say I love you guys. =]

It is God who works!

2007-02-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

Therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13

Reading this verse, we stand in awe of the truth that it is "God who works." In the context of this passage, we have just heard from Paul writing and calling the Philippians to fulfill his joy by "being likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." (2:2) That mind he emphasizes is in direct opposition against selfish ambition and pride that some of the Philippians were developing in their minds. Furthermore, he then purposely leads the readers to he greatest example of humility, Jesus Christ, reminding the Philipians of their salvation. This is meant to break down their pride in submission to their Lord Jesus. Then in verse 12, he calls them to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling," not with hand of pride and selfish gain. And FINALLY he inserts the awesome truth: it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Why do we work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Why can we have no pride in ourselves? Why must we "esteem others better than himself" (2:3) Why do we "do all things without complaining and disputing?"(2:14) Because it is GOD WHO WORKS! We have absolutely no place in puffing our hearts to think we have done anything in our own doing, but instead its our obligation, our joyous obligation to hold fast to our salvation and just rejoice in complete satisfaction watching the Lord work! Look at Paul's words from verse 2:14,16- Do all things without complaining and disputing,... holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain." Therefore, let us just remain humbled in the viewing the surpassing joy of salvation! I think this is fitting word from Charles Spurgeon on this issue:" you who borrowed everything, should think of exalting yourself?"

Humbled by this passage, brings me to this week and what a joy it was to see the start of our athlete bible study (got abs?) It was a joy to hear the gospel shared and addressing the many questions some of our athletes had in relation to their position before the Holy Lord and the many misconceptions of salvation that some of them had. But one of the most amazing joys was to look upon the glorious work of the Lord. We preach a shameful gospel, a gospel that has no understanding to the natural man. We have no glory in changing the hearts of a person, yet it has brought me back into wonder of our Savior in how he draws men and women to Him and even brings me back to exclamation in reminder of His drawing of my soul. So both me and justin ask your prayers for the Bible study and just for the salvation of so many athletes on this campus! May we depend on grace in everything.

God's grace everything
-ryan

I'm a stumbling block.

2007-02-21T01:09:00.000-08:00

"You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall rever your God; I am the Lord."
-Leviticus 19:14

"But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak."
-1 Corinthians 8:9

"Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way."
-Romans 14:13

The greatest concern that I have for our class is how poorly we treat the brotherhood. The things that have been coming out of our mouths are vile and disgusting; one would have to question, "How is that God glorifying?" Though it may be just for "kicks and giggles," the manner of joking we do is totally unsanctifying. The "Your mom" jokes, the "I hate you" comments, the "I don't want you here" comments are all uncalled for. Perhaps I'm biased, since most of these comments are directed at me, but I feel it's wrong. Of course, there are times when boys will be boys and this type of joking is "needed" to lighten the mood. I can see that. And, this can be a matter of Christian liberty. It is totally up to your own discernment of whether you want to continue on. Even so, I personally find it to be shameful. For one thing, I am not sanctified by your words. How can anyone be? Secondly, it is not Christ-like. This is not how BROTHERS IN CHRIST should act. If you want to be BROTHERS OF THE WORLD, then please continue to use those remarks.

There is also the issue of puffing up each other's pride. I think it is clear when we do that too. It is one thing to build someone up but a completely different thing when we puff them up. Usually, building someone up requires us to first break them down; admonishing them and showing them their sin. We do not need to build up each other's superficial pride. Again, it is up to the individual to determine if this is sin. I would like to encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. From this text, we can see that we are all parts of the body of Christ; each part as indispensable as the rest. Though there may be many that are more gifted and (as James 4:6 shows) some that receive more grace than others, we still need one another for the body function. There is no reason then to build each other's pride. The fact of the matter is that it is better if we treat each other as if we were all on equal planes. We shouldn't feed the pride of the more gifted, nor should we ignore the weak. So, let us not cause each other to fall by puffing each other up. It is better that we humble one another, then puff each other up. Wouldn't you agree that that's a stronger brotherhood?

I admit, I am just as responsible as everyone else is. I, too, need to control my speech. But, this start with the group. Let us not be stumbling blocks to one another and cause each other to sin. Let us not cause the blind (in my interpretation - the weak Christian) to stumble and fall in their walk. 1 Corinthians 12:26, "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." If we let one brother down, we let the entire body down. We rise and fall together. Shouldn't we, then, be more careful? Or shall we continue to live in this world and forget our commitment to Christ?

Let me leave you with this: Sin will always creep in the small issue first. Are you going to make ground for that?

Caring for others.

2007-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

For a while, I've been noticing the proportion of my concern that goes just to myself as I go through each day. It's a high amount, like enough to safely reject a null hypothesis, if my understanding of stats is decent. Seriously though, I always seem to follow strictly to a mental "Daniel Schedule" in my head, leaving little room for things I don't plan on doing.

I actually find it hard to explain, but I hope you guys maybe go through the same thing so you'd understand. These plans I make can be specific like "go to class" or "eat with Andrew Leung" but other times can be really broad, like "chill in room" or "take a break." But like if something unexpected comes along that doesn't really fit into the plan, i usually allow it, but I'm still thinking about the thing that I wanted/planned to be doing, and waiting to get back to it.

The problem with all this is that deep down, it's a very self-centered way to live. It greatly reduces my desire to think about other people and other causes besides me and my day. One kind of example is the "religion is for the weak" guy on bruinwalk. Ive heard stories about him and that he's there for God, but i don't think many have actually talked TO him. But instead of going to him to find out for sure whether this guy - who pretty often is in a good-lookin conversation with someone - is for or against the gospel, I just think "ooh next time, i have to go to class." "I'm too hungry to stop and talk, i have to eat" or "i never stay on campus after im done with class!"

I've been praying that God would help break me from this mindset, but another situation happened today. As a lot of you know, a guy crashed his motorcycle on the 405 close to school like right after most of the people who left on time passed the place. He was bleeding from his hand, his clothes were scraped up, and he may have broken his arm, but he walked to the shoulder in one piece, shaken up, but alright.

I was in Becky's car and she pulled over, trying to get through to 911 (but being on hold) as we watched the man slowly gather his thing and walk over to the shoulder. After a while I got out to ask again if he was okay, but I really had no idea what to do. We waited for a while and these other guys in a pickup truck pulled up to help and they seemed to have a better idea of how to handle the situation. After making sure those other guys would take care of things, I told Becky we could head out.

I was kind of distressed after cuz i felt like we barely did anything and felt guilty for continuing on our way, thinking of a handful of coulda-shoulda's. But i was comforted as i talked to some other people at church, one who saw the police taking care of it, and one who got through to 911. So in hindsight, i think there really wasn't much more we couldve done but stayed. The motorcycle guy did appreciate us for stopping though.

The point is though, that I lacked compassion. I was really caught off guard and while i had the heart to do something, i'm so used to just ignoring minor accidents here and there, that when a major one comes around, i'm lost. I know I didn't care for that man very much, and just thought it'd be right to try to do something. I could theorize that this mindset has something to do with growing up in suburbia and not interacting with strangers much, but it's all my fault if i don't change it.

Jesus came and he loved all people, he died for all mankind. He would probably explode with compassion if he met someone who had a glimpse of death. (well actually, he did encounter many people who DID die...) But yeah, i think one of the hardest commandments for me is to love the sick, the poor, the needy, and your neighbors. These people are important to God, and really, it's more important to care for people in need, in the name of Christ, than even to get to church on time. And this was just another reminder to me to pursue this compassion that Christ commanded and exemplified.

arrrr, git off my chest!

2007-01-23T00:47:00.000-08:00

ugh, i did something stupid today... so last week ben and a few guys shared the gospel with our third roommate, and i stayed for that as well, missing my first IM soccer game. I'm on a team with two high school teammates and a couple guys we met here at school. That night i had just told them that "something came up" when they asked where i was and it was no big deal cuz we won and all.

Then today, after the game, a couple of us were walking back and one of the guys asked again where i was last week. I guess i couldn't think of a cool way to explain it or something and i told him "i forgot." how lame is that! >=| He was also probably the guy i knew the least, too.

It's especially troubling after coming away from last last friday's message filled with a desire to be different, to not focus my mind on fitting into the world, but rather to guide the world to Christ. I was gonna be the saltiest light i've ever been! And socially it doesn't make a lot of sense either, i was thinkin about it. I basically ONLY play soccer with these guys, and that's all they expect of me. I don't interact with them in any other way, and since i play well, i meet their expectations of me. So what really do i have to lose by unashamedly expressing my dedication to Christ?? NONE. not that there are valid excuses, but i can't even make up a bad one for this case.

I guess i'm still getting better at showing the gospel in my life, i'm much more emboldened to share in at least strictly "fishing" circumstances and with other christians, but yea... i still live in shame in many situations.

If you could ask God to break me from being so concerned about myself and to put my strength and my honor in Him alone, so i don't try to build them up myself. And I dunno.. you all have permission to craftily set up awkward situations where i have to stand up for my faith, if you want.

Gigga De Gigga De...

2007-01-21T00:29:00.000-08:00

Tonite was freakin awesome. I feel bad for the ppl who didnt get to go. Wow what a night of laughter, seriousness, and FULLNESS! Im done with KRN BBQ for about a couple of months. Who wants to run of the fat with me? And NO i dont want to run with PAT. hahahah, jk bro (HI-YOOO) Peace

WL

IT's SNOWING!!!

2007-01-17T16:29:00.000-08:00

Well not really, but i saw small lil' ice sleets going back to my room. It's AMAZING! Dang I love this weather. It's not pouring rain and it's not blazing hot...it's in between.
I wish i had brought my camera to class today cause right outside of powell there was this amazing shot of one side where the sun and clear skies were and right next to it was dark and cloudy skies...a beautiful visual but it should be a constant reminder of God's grace and a reminder for why we are put here in the first place.
"...Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
(Matt 5:16 NIV) AMEN

WL

Another ordinary quarter. Lets pray not.

2007-01-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

Another quarter is coming up. Another round of midterms, papers, finals. Another barrage of lectures that drive us to the country of daydreaming, which is a far off land that borders bored-ville and sleep-land. The days seem like a perpetual cycle of weariness, with the occasional spurts of laughter and dumb jokes that make the dullness just a little more bearable.

In the midst of this, there are some things that I hope don't stay the same:

1. I hope instead of constantly listening to the Word preached and applying a fraction of it, that there would be a fresh appreciation of its purity, gravity, and truthfulness. That there would be a thorough understanding of the details, an undefiled delight in its revelation of truth, and a weighty application of the teaching.

2. I hope instead of falling into the same old legalisms, dead formalities, and self-centered self-righteousnesses, that there would instead be a fresh appreciation of the grace of God and the perfection of the work of Christ. That there would be love instead of legalism in my daily walk, and that my recognition of Christ's righteousness would overwhelm any sinful self-condemnation.

3. I hope instead of trying to be commended by men, that I would instead look to be commended by God.

As cliche as it sounds, eternity hangs in the balance. Our reputations, our money, and even our own feelings of comfort and happiness will in the end bow the knee to the God over all, blessed forever. Let's live with that consciousness of eternity, and surrender every part of our lives over to the service of God.

Even this kind of reminder can be pretty predictable and hum-drum. And maybe that's alright, if the result is that we live lives dedicated to Christ.

Just Blogging

2007-01-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

I dont think i've mentioned this but....
this layout is AWESOME!!! Thanks Dan Cheng

Reminder:
1. Get your presents for your secret santas, if you havent yet
2. Do what you got to do now (sleep, eat, video games, etc.) cause school is coming right around the corner.
3. Buy your books
4. Say HI to your MOMS for me.

WL

Happy New Year Fellas

2007-01-03T00:29:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I hope everyone is having a good break. Sorry haven't been posting on this thing(not that there are a lotta posts here or anything...), I've been busy with work and family time as probably many of you guys are. Well just wanted to let you guys all know that this past sunday my family came out to church with me! It's been tough getting them to go after I started really pushing them to go when I got back from summer school at UCLA. I'd been praying about it a lot and just hoping that they would want to revive their spiritually stagnant lives, especially after all the growth I had gone through since joining Grace last year and everything. The main issue was not having a Chinese church anywhere really near where I live because my town is basically white/latino and no asians. Also they work 7 days a week 11-9:30 everyday, so they would have to set time away from the restaurant too. I've been going to matty z's church about half an hour from where I live which is kinda far, but I think it's the nearest one. Anyways when I came home for break, I wasn't really in the greatest of moods for a lot of reasons (I won't get into it here), and I never really brought up the idea of getting them to go to church. But randomly my mom asked me if was going to church on sunday because she and my dad both wanted to go. Funny how God makes things work out, they enjoyed the sermon, liked the pastor and everything, so I hope and pray that this is becomes an every Sunday thing. See you guys back at school. Haha and I agree with Justin, you guys should post more. Any new year's resolutions or whatever.

-Jake Deezy

Anyone There?

2006-12-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I trust everything is going well at home, I know most of us NorCal dudes are freezing up here.

Anywho, Dchow and I were driving back home from the Bay and I was thinking it'd be cool if us dudes went camping for a weekend. Just us guys, relaxing, lake, beach, fire, pt, singing, laughing, chillin, whatevers. Just for a weekend, like leave after GOC, 9 or 930, drive an hour or so, set up, hang out and go back to la Sunday afternoon. Of course it'd have to be like... 1st or 2nd week, so it would probably happen spring quarter if we want to do this.

Here's where the tricky part comes in.

Rides, me and dchow can both drive... a total of 8 others besides us (10 total), we'll probably need at least 1 or 2 other cars to go, considering we have ABOUT 20 guys in our class, rite?

So if enough people generate interest and are willing to go, split the cost of food/campsite, then I’d be more than happy to plan this mini-outing for spring quarter. Equipment (tents, lamps, tarps) shouldn't be a problem and should come at little or no cost to us because my roommate works at the outdoor adventures rental center, so I could possibly get it for free, or I’ll cover the cost. The only thing we'll need to provide is sleeping bags, food, etc, but even if we need to, we can rent/borrow some.

Leave a comment, yes, no, maybe (and when you will know by) and any suggestions to add to the trip.

You guys should post more. About anything.

jwong

Contentment

2006-12-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, how's home?
I hope all of us are learning to trust God more in some capacity. It's crazy how much sinfulness I see every minute when I'm at home. As cliche as it sounds, my complacency has really caused me to stumble a great deal more than at school. Struggles with family, lust, even my sore body... All these things have caused me to become discontent and frustrated. Sorry if I sound like such a crybaby, but I desperately want to have JOY and a genuine one at that. I pray that I'm just not acting on my emotions, because joy isn't just happiness, but contentment and comfort in the Truth and the Word. I hope that every single one of us will become steadfast in our faith and be reminded time and time again of that awesome promise in 1 tim 6:6 "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment." I ask that you support me in prayer and help me pursue righteousness with a pure and content heart.

Do you guys mind....?

2006-12-17T00:07:00.000-08:00

If i play around with the template for the blog? Maybe go for something a little more... unique? Unique as far as GOC Guys' blogs go? Would that be cool? Mm?

Prayer Request

2006-12-16T02:51:00.000-08:00

FINALLY we can all say we are done with FINALS!!! Hurray! Can you believe it, the first quarter is already over? The 1st quarter has brought so many fond memories with you guys and hopefully we can make more this upcoming year.

Now I'm back home, and it's only been half a day, and i already feel so many temptations rising in me, specifically lusting and committing adultery. Thus i need to ask you guys to pray for me during this break. Pray that i will always put faith in God and not on the things of this earth, and pray that I will admit my sins to God IMMEDIATELY. Thanks brothers, and i pray that we will all be a good light wherever we might be at.

W.L.

Whoa.. First Post

2006-12-14T02:43:00.000-08:00

As most of you guys know, last year I was in a pretty serious relationship with a non Christian. By the grace of God, I ended it and have received many blessings from the Lord since then.

However, I feel as if I am not completely over the whole relationship.

It's her soul. It's not the fact that we're no long dating or cuddling or whatever couples do. It is the sheer fact that another soul turns its back on the kingdom of God. And it kind of hurts. Have you ever seen someone you really really love suffering? I think my heart is heavy because I know the suffering that is to be had by those who turn their backs from grace and mery. And it's scary. I feel like I should have been a better Christ to her.

My main point of this is, brothers, let's go share Christ with others. I often pray that I would overcome my ginormous fear of man, so that I may be a lethal weapon of God in saving souls. Remember 2 things we can't do in heaven? Sin, and share the gospel, right? Well my brothers, pray that God infests your mind, body, and soul into living and breathing the gospel. We are not called here to save, but to be used by the Holy Spirit. Please keep me and my testimony accountable. I would like to challenge you to share the gospel with someone over break. We can meet after break and talk it up about how it went and what we can work on.

Brothers, I encourage you, let's be do-ers, not watchers.

Double Check

2006-12-13T17:22:00.000-08:00

So Tuesday, the last day of my final, I woke up early to study for my Arts and Arch 10 class which i thought the final was at 3:00 pm. So i woke up read, study a bit and was going to get ready to eat lunch when i got a call from Tranwei at 11:20. "Hey Will are you coming soon?" i was like what? it's only 11:20, am i coming soon for what...i then just realized my final was at 11:30!!! So i rushed straight down with my board and flip-flops and jetted to class as fast i could. I almost ate it a couple times but i got there out of breath and all at 11:30 exactly.
The thing was the teacher did midterms and finals differently. Instead of giving you a piece of paper and letting you control your own time he puts the question on the over-head projector and reads it to you for a min. or 2 and then goes to the next question; he never goes back to the previous question. Thus i almost pee-ed myself when i found out i was going to be late for my final.
The main idea: DOUBLE CHECK where your finals are and WHEN your final starts, cause some ppl arent as lucky as i am to know how to ride a skateboard. Have fun studyin.

W.L.

a prayer

2006-12-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

Lord, you are a God of compassion, full of grace, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth. You deserve all praise and glory and all honor be unto Your name. God the worries of my day and the anxieties looming are tugging at my stronghold, but Lord, I pray for forgiveness, cleanse of me of my iniquities, presenting me pure in Your holy sight. You have called complete obedience to Your word and in Your word it says "do not be worried about your life." And yet, oftentimes I create in my heart an idol of this world. Lift my burden, O God, and hold my mind set on things above. When I think about You and Your coming kingdom, my minute short term burden is lifted, looking forward to the overwhelming bouty in heaven where praises of your name would resound. Lord, I pray for your coming kingdom and I pray that you would bring it sooner. But as we wait upon You, Lord I pray for an unselfish heart, break down my pride, and fill us with patience and love. Lord, I pray that you would use us to further your kingdom and all exalt Yourself in us.

I know I should be studying, but...

2006-12-12T00:49:00.000-08:00

I can't focus. I've been thinking a lot this past week about my relationship with God, and whether or not I've been truly faithful to him. Simple answer: No. One thing that hit me hard was the Crossroads sermon this Sunday. Do we live up to Paul's exhortationin 1Thessalonians 5 that we be continuously rejoicing, praying, and expressing gratitude? It was a good message, and I say we put it to practice, specially with finals this week and everything else we're going through. Study hard guys! I'm done Tuesday at 9:30 let's do something!

-J Deezy

free time (what's that?)

2006-12-11T02:54:00.000-08:00

In my small group the other day, Tim talked about planning your breaks especially during finals, when we all burn our brains out. He said that when you do that, you tend to look with less caution for things to wind down with. I suppose that's true, but in any case.. i got a pretty light finals schedule so if anyone wants to do something for a study break, call me up - i most likely would be free to join you. And if you need some crazy favor i may be up for that too.. maybe.

no youtube-ing! =P study hard

Finally i figure out how to post on this thingy

2006-12-09T22:28:00.000-08:00

It's finals week! Now it's rainy and gloomy, gloomy like norcal... jk...wait actually no that is pretty true. Anyways good luck on finals everyone, stay strong and remember not to put God aside. I know sometimes I do that when i feel myself getting overstressed about academics and other things in my mind, but actually spending some time in the Word or just praying to God gives relief knowing that eternity with God is far superior to the trials we face.

-J Deezy

Realization...

2006-12-09T02:28:00.000-08:00

I've just found out that if you wanna know more about YOURSELF or just about GIRLS... just ask them cause they'll tell you. Leave your pride at the door cause it's going to be BRUISED.

W.L.

This speaks volume.

2006-12-02T20:06:00.000-08:00

His excitement makes me happy.

DEVO Accountability

2006-11-30T00:35:00.000-08:00

hey guys, so i know this might sound weird and what not but i was thinkin, in the shower might i add, that the beginning of next quarter or somethin we should set up a time where we can meet to just do our DEVOS. Whether it be in the dorms or on campus we would be able to meet up and read. I can see the trouble now of having ppl meet up and just wasting that time talkin abt randomness, or ppl might feel more comfortable reading by themselves, that's fine too. But by having this we could keep each other accountable reading the bible...cause that's MUCHO important.

Just an idea to be thrown out there...like throwing fish to a family of sharks.

PEACE

what are u thankful for?

2006-11-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

i had a nice time at home with family and my dog (bear) :D. i have a lot to be thankful for like just life and being able to breathe normally and for hope. i'm also very thankful for the body of Christ which is super supportive. hope u guys had a good and relaxing time at home =).

09 Band of Brothers in Christ

2006-11-28T01:52:00.000-08:00

okay, i've finally figured out how to work this stupid website...so difficult, or mayb it's just cause im a newb or that im just use to good ol' XANGA.

Anyway, i just wanted to say i posted a long rant on my blog and that ppl should POST MORE, and not just MIKE TU!

peace BROS

Excating Exegesis of Ecclesiates (or not)

2006-11-23T22:36:00.000-08:00

I was going to post something on Ecclesiastes, but I decided to post this instead.

" Martin Luther once spent three days in a black depression over something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. "Who's dead?" he asked her. "God," she replied. Luther rebuked her, saying, "What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die." "Well," she replied, "the way you've been acting I was sure He had!""
- Source

Thanksgiving Eve Thoughts

2006-11-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

This article is worth reading.

(perhaps something more substantial will be posted over break)

Memorize Bible Verses!

2006-11-16T16:06:00.000-08:00

Hey in the shadow of Quarter Cookout, I was reminded that I've memorized almost none of the Bible. Does anyone want to start memorizing verses with me? And if you guys could reply with some choice verses to memorize. Short and sweet for now =)

I present to you all

2006-11-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

the ryan wong diet

hey...

2006-11-14T02:29:00.000-08:00

where'd everyone go?

Just to lighten up the mood

2006-11-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

American's Most Wanted
Dan "Ace of Spades" Kim
Extremely dangerous, previously arrested in fifteen states for acting too gangster.

Distinguishing traits: totally messy room, preppy dress on sunday mornings and gangster dress the rest of the week, an amazing resevoir of rap lyrics

Mortal enemies: Mike Tu, for posting this ridiculous post.

Bodies

2006-11-06T04:25:00.000-08:00

Yeah I'm here, ready to blog like a LOG. hopefully it's not in my eye...

good morning brothers,

have you ever just sat there, and became fully more aware of what you are. structures of flesh and bone, with fingers that move instantaneously without thinking, and a lump of nerves in your skull that produces rings of thoughts and glimpses of memories. then we start thinking about ourselves in relation with the multitudes of people who are all living equally comprehensive lives, and we all live on this freefalling ball, and in the middle of a large expanse of space.

quite miniscule we are.. yet wonderfully made and graciously sustained.

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were create through him and for him And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." colossians 1:16-17

talk about humbling.

More so than the things "visible" there are "invisible" things too! an everlasting part of us that is acquainted with God in a way that we cannot fully fathom, only faith brings us together through reconciliation. Even for people who have no faith in Jesus, there is always an inherent longing for Truth and Justice. interesting huh.. God truly is the Lord of all Creation, and no man can frustrate His will. I have to reason with myself, my body has a place before this awesome Lord, it is to obey His will in righteousness, so that He would proclaim His majesty through my body and my soul. Maybe I'll write more about bodies another time.. it can be a series! right now it is time for this body to rest (even that has meaning!).

good night brothers.

Doing what I do

2006-11-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

Too often in my life, I fall into a set routine or way of thinking. I go about my day without really thinking or being conscious of the environment; I am focused on doing what I have to do and that’s it. I am not aware. To illustrate, across from my house lives an elderly woman who a large portion of her day gardening and tending to her plants. Her showcase consists of a few desert plants, including cacti in front of her house. One day my mom and I returned from running errands and she parked in front of the elderly woman’s house. Since it was first semester of senior year, I had an excruciatingly large amount of work to do on college applications. Being an agonizingly large amount of work, it was on my mind at the time. I opened the door, stepped outside, and felt pinpricks all over my arm…I had walked into a cactus. Now I had “known” that there were cacti there, but I was not aware of it. Trust me, I was aware of it when I looked down and saw little spikes sticking out of my arm and I was aware of it when I had to pull each one out.

The point of the story? I know that I, and most likely others are simply not aware of God, what He is, and what He has done. The key word being “aware.” Too often I walk around with knowledge of God, my sinfulness, and how I was purchased by blood. However, I am not constantly aware of God and things spiritual; likely due to the fact I do not understand so much. I do not understand what it means that God is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15). I do not understand such majesty or such splendor to which seraphim shout “Holy Holy! Holy!” (Isaiah 6:3) I do not understand my sinful nature and depravation. I do not understand the love spoken of in John 5:13 that would cause such a holy and perfect God to give His son Jesus over to such a horrible death that those who despise Him would have His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). I do not understand such great a love that Jesus possesses that would allow Him to ask forgiveness for those who mocked, spit at, kill Him. As mentioned by Rick Holland in a sermon last year, words have lost their power in significance. Words such as awesome have lost their awe. Majesty, love, beauty have lost their “punch” and are nowhere near close to describing the ruler of the universe. When reading the Bible, I know many times I do not perceive what is meant to be conveyed. When reading Isaiah 6:1-4, I know I do not comprehend the full splendor that is described. How can I picture all that the Lord is? Even seraphim that shout His praise cover their eyes and their feet; “holy” does not have the impact on me as it should. If only I understand and am aware of things spiritual, I would try with all my might to not sin and with all diligence pursue God and truth. I would as Justin McKitterick put it on Friday, I would be filled with a “holy discontentment” to want more and more after tasting God. I would thirst and hunger for truth. I would not so easily be distracted from the Creator and prioritize worldly things over a relationship with the Father. The vocabulary we have now is the closest we have to describe God and we will never fully understand all the above in this life, but I pray we be aware and realize what is meant to be conveyed and of the Infinite One.

AL MOHLER BABY!

2006-11-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

Who's excited?

Too Fob for UCLA

2006-11-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

Things I've done this week that make it possible to classify me as a fob (this post is not a slam against fobs):

- Listen to Jay Chou.
- Enjoy listening to Jay Chou.
- Continually listen to Jay Chou.
- "Help" somebody do chinese 4 homework.

Any more things?

Easy listening

2006-11-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

This sermon is worth listening to. Especially his section on sanctification (about 30 minutes in).

It was a blessing to me because I often live my life running on a treadmill of works in my sanctification. Did I pray today? Did I read what I planned on reading today? Did I encourage somebody today? Did I talk about Christ to somebody who is not a Christian today?

Subtly, those questions reveal that my sanctification is self-centered at times. Isn't sanctification really about being set apart for God?

It begins...

2006-10-28T22:00:00.000-07:00