Reference Menu (July 5th, 2012)

4 Reasons Men Like Porn

This article speaks from a Biblical Counsel point of view on why men can easily be pulled into pornography and actually like them. This may be helpful for you.

1.) Porn is easy, but relationships are hard.

2.) Porn is comfortable, but life is stressful.

3.) Porn is exciting, but life is boring.

4.) Porn makes men feel powerful, but real life makes them feel powerless.

RC Sproul interviews DA Carson on Biblical Exegesis

Listening to interview, spoken from scholars, is helpful for me and refreshes my thinking and reading of the Bible in context. Encourage you to spend some time listening.

Sproul: What is a brief definition of Exegesis?

Carson: All that exegesis is...is reading the text and finding out what's there.

 

5 Questions To Ask Of A Book

Speaking from a Christian perspective and to my Christian audience out there, we are all book readers. Whenever we read Christian books, it is very important to discern and ask ourselves some questions. Tim Challies offers 5 Questions, in his way of reading Christian books, we could ask ourselves.

1.) Does It Draw Its Truth From Scripture?

2.) Is It Faithful To The Bible?

3.) Does It Have A Gospel Focus?

4.) Does It Lead To Other Sound Teaching?

5.) Is It Well-Written?

VOLUME

As I was heading home from school, I picked up my iPod and started reading the Scripture through the ESV Bible App. I picked the book of Colossians a few days ago, and I'm slowly reading through it. Have you ever find that as you continue to read the Bible, the text of Scripture that you read sounds so familiar to you because you read through it many times? Not only that, does it sometimes seem like it's just God's Word, and I'm reading through it as if nothing big stands out anymore? Today, as I was reading on the bus, God spoke VOLUME to me as I read this part of the passage in Colossians:

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
(Colossians 3:12-13 ESV)

As I'm reading through Colossians, Paul was arguing and exhorting the Colossians in chapter 1 verse 3 ti verse 14 and about the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in chapter 2 verse 9 to verse 15. And there were a lot of syncretism coming in to the church of Colossae. Paul was reassuring born-again Christians that the opponents (false teachers) of the cross cannot separate nor disqualify them from being alive with Christ simply because they didn't mix into their "self-made religion" and false teachings. I think this disqualification simply meant the false teachers were passing judgement on them. Because of the power of the Gospel, this passage (Colossians 2:13-15) applies to Christians. Therefore, because of the gospel, we who are raised in Christ Jesus would desire to seek the things that are eternal, things that are above.

This week and today has been a difficult moments when I have to wrestle hard with my emotions and my mind. Nonetheless, there are sins in my life that I need to repent of daily. When I read v.12, God the Holy Spirit convicted me as I look at the characteristics of God's chosen ones. Have I been showing compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience around me? I forgive those who have/had sinned against me, yet I cannot bear the pain that I have suffered from people. When I am reminded of the Gospel, how much more was Jesus willing to suffer the pain that I deserve and die on the cross to forgive me of my sin? "As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." For the non-Christians who read this, just because I sinned doesn't disqualify me from being God's chosen ones because nothing can separate me from the love of Christ. I know I am a screw up every week and I acknowledge that I am sinner who is in need of God's grace everyday. That's why, I'm grateful for Jesus for taking away my sin and shame, and that "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). Therefore, I don't have to try so hard to forgive because I have to. I forgive...simply because God has forgiven me. Holy Spirit will sanctify me and continue to transform me daily as I walk with Him.

He Must Increase, but Lin Must Decrease

When I was in high school, I started picking up basketball and played three years of intramural basketball. I wasn't very good at it, but practicing with my friends paid off a bit. I enjoyed shooting hoops and I practiced my 3-points shot a lot. When it comes to actually playing in a real game, my confidence decreases (it happened in high school). Nonetheless, I do miss playing basketball. When I try playing again, the result of it would lead me to having blisters on my foot. The last time I played basketball was during my missions trip. It brought back a lot of memories, but the skills that I had were pretty much gone.

For the past 12 days, the rising of the NBA point-guard player, Jeremy Lin, leads the New York Knicks to 7 straight victory. Sports center and media around the world are noticing this young talented player. It's an uproar because a lot of people are talking about him, even my mom. It's the internet viral! He's been called "Lin-Sanity". After watching many of his games, I get excited watching the NBA again because I get to see my brother and soldier in Christ fighting hard for the glory of God as an NBA player. I'm very happy for Jeremy in what he's doing.

However, let's not forget why he's doing this. After post-games and interviews, he would praise Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is for the glory of God. Also, remember that he is proclaiming the name of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the world! Just like the time when John the Baptist although he wasn't an NBA player, but he was a prophet, a messenger, whom a lot of people knew and looked up to. He baptized a lot of people and proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The priests and the Levites asked if he was the Christ, but he confessed that he was not. He exalts Jesus Christ in John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease."  John the Baptist was a messenger who was preparing the way of the Lord.

Jeremy Lin has been an encouragement and inspiration to a lot of people in the world. I believe that Lin strives to make Jesus known to the media and sports network. He's a team player and not a selfish player. He's very bold despite a lot oppositions are coming along his way, but may we, as Christians, continue to pray for him that he would continue his spiritual warfare against the evil one by the power of the Holy Spirit, that he would humble himself before God and fight against the perils of pride, and that God would use him mightily for His kingdom and His glory.

Amen!

Animation (Maya Software)

I want to make a quick update of what I'm doing lately.

I've accomplished one of my projects for filming class. I want to upload it, but I need permissions from the subjects in the video.

I've been doing a lot of animation today because I have an individual assignment due tomorrow. If you're curious, then check out this website (my online portfolio) to see what I've been working on: http://sdtwforce.wordpress.com/

Hope to make more entries on my relationship with God.

THIS IS VANCOUVER

For those who do not know me, I live in the city of Vancouver. I shared a video that was thought-provoking. Personally, I do see God working in Vancouver and saving people every day, but this video is to show the broken side of Vancouver because greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city! Hope you enjoy this video.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/stpetersfireside/thisisvancouver]

Month of December

For the next few months, I will be teaching Sunday School for the Senior High School and Young Adults. Given this kind of privilege from God, I am grateful. For tomorrow's lesson, I will be teaching on Genesis 4 focusing on Cain and Abel and how the enmity between the woman's offspring and the serpent's offspring (Genesis 3:15) dukes it out through the whole Bible.  This theme surely develops throughout the Old Testament, and how that prophecy (Gen 3:15) is fulfilled in the life and work of Jesus Christ where He conquers and rules over Satan, sin, and death through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. Looking forward to that.

School is nearly coming to an end. It's been a tough battle this semester. Went through a lot of disappointments, anxiety, stress over all my projects and assignments. Despite the fact I went through that, God's faithfulness remains forever. When I fail, He forgives. By the grace of God, may I finish well this semester and the year 2011.

I thank God for such awesome brothers in Christ that He raised up: James Wong, Sam Pang, Victor Chiang, and others. We're come together on Monday, for the 4 weeks, to do Biblical hermeneutics Training where we learn to be good students of the Bible. Well, more than that. We come together to study the Word of God. I am loving Jesus more and more as He shapes and stretches my mind to think Biblically as I read His words.

Winter Conference here I come! Need to raise support in order to go. If you're interested in supporting me, then please pray and let me know about it.

One thing I ask......

How is your prayer life? What do you ask God for lately?

Let's meditate Psalm 27:4

One thing have I asked of the LORD,
        that will I seek after:
    that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
        all the days of my life,
    to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
        and to inquire in his temple.

In the context of this verse, the enemy is attempting to overwhelm David, but is David going to fear them?

Two points I briefly want to make:

• Fear enemy or fear God (v.3: Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear)

• Relying on flesh or on God as you cultivate your relationship with Him (v.11: Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies)

Highly encourage you to read Psalm 27 yourself. David has God by his side, THEREFORE, whom shall David fear!? What do you fear?

Adolf Hitler, Abortion, and the Gospel: Ray Comfort and "180" Movie

Some of my friends (Wanda, Chris, Kevin, and maybe others) have posted a documentary video on their Facebook page. I began to ponder what this video meant. This morning, therefore, I took the time to watch it. In the first few seconds into the movie, out comes this question, "Have you heard of Adolf Hitler?" Ray Comfort, who is interviewing the people on the street, is a Jewish and was deeply concerned with this current generation because they are forgetting the greatest tragedy that has happened on the face of human history.

He initiates the conversation by asking them about Adolf Hitler and what they thought about him and if his movement (murdering the Jews) was evil. Surprisingly, some of the people he interviewed didn't know who he was, let alone showing a photograph of him. Some gave honest opinions and answers, and some were outrageous.

He connects the event of Holocaust to the modern activist of abortion. The people saw the Jews were, indeed, human beings, but what makes it difference in murdering a child in a woman? Comfort gave them a statement and wants them to finish the sentence, "It is okay to kill the child in the womb when ________." It shockingly challenged them to think about the mentality that they have and what they believe to be moral and true. In addition, he challenges their perspective of abortion, good, evil, sin, God, heaven, hell, judgement, salvation, Jesus, the Cross and the Gospel. As shocking as it was to watch some of the conversations and worldviews expressed in them, the conclusions at the end were equally powerful in their impact.

After watching the documentary, I was confounded by the conversation. It got me thinking more critically about how I go out sharing with my friends to a bunch of strangers. The passion that I have, along with Ray Comfort, is to engage in people's worldview and asking right questions to get this current generation to think deeper and critically about life. I would lovingly say that a lot of the interviewees were hypocrites. The answers given by one situation contradicts with the other situation. Most of them do value human lives. Knowing that the murder of the Jewish lives is not right, what makes it right to abort a child in a mother's womb even if the situation (e.g. rape or financial problems or not ready) is different? I would encourage you to take the time and watch the documentary below:



I thoroughly enjoy the fact that Comfort is engaging with strangers and challenging them to think critically. Even through the conversation, he pointed them to Jesus Christ. As a Christian, I desire to be fill with the Holy Spirit and see people discover Jesus. As Apostle Paul said to the church at Rome and Corinth:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. " (Romans 1:18-32 ESV)

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."
(1 Corinthians 1:25-29 ESV)

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete." (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 ESV)

Anticipate His 2nd Coming

MY LIFE IS COMPLICATED

There is, indeed, greater needs that wants to consume our emptiness. We crave, actually. What do you consistently put your hope in? Let's not talk about the knowledge of the answer is, but let's talk about where your heart is at. Your thoughts, your emotions, your intelligence, and your actions. I remember reading parts of the book called "Soul Cravings" where the author, Erwin McManus, said there are three major aspects of things which we crave for: Intimacy, Meaning, and Destiny. In one of this entries (#12) on Destiny, he says, "What is fascinating about the human spirit is that we can live with a conscious awareness of death and not be paralyzed...it can actually inspire us to live a life of passionate urgency...even the smallest of dreams will keep us moving forward...but when we give up hope, when we allow ourselves to internalize despair, we shut down..." Despair to mean that "to live apart from hope" or "to live without a future." Continuing, "We should be able to live perfectly well without God and without hope. But neither proves to be the case. Ironically, when we should believe even the existence of hope, when we are most consumed with a sense of our insignificance, it is here we will crave it the most...Without hope your life may not come to an end, but it does come to a stop."

Fascinating, I suppose. If you are a Christian, then what do you consistently put your hope in? Answer: Jesus. Yes, that's a good simple answer. Now, let's not talk about the knowledge of the answer is, but let's talk about where your heart is at. Really? Do you really? Do you truly consistently put your hope in Jesus every moment of your life?

I'm convicted of this question that I asked myself, "Do I constantly have hope in the anticipation of His 2nd coming?" Honestly, my life is full of complicated issues. There are a lot of disgusting, unclean, unrighteous, and sins that need to be purify. As I live everyday, I get anxious about my future, my education, my future wife, future ministries (my career), my student loan, my family, and whole bunch of crap that are weighing me down. Nonetheless, I do have hope. If you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, then I am sure you have hope. Hope for a better future, a good wife (a good husband if you are a woman), good place to live, and career. We plan out this kind of list and work our way towards the future.



But what happens if what you crave for fails you? What happens when you become despair? We may typically want to continue find these things until they fulfill our cravings completely. We do not want to lose heart or hope, actually. We want our lives to continue. I know some people who are despair and lose all hope in whatever they are doing. They won't persevere. Like McManus said, "without hope your life......[comes] to a stop." Indeed, that's when suicide attempts happen. That's when life becomes meaningless. Your boyfriend/girlfriend breaks up with you, you lose your job, you go through bankruptcy, your parents divorce, your friends betray you, you are very stressful, your health fails you, your mentality was wrong, you experience catastrophe, and maybe you can list more. What, then, did I do wrong with my life!? Then, majority of the social network would put these three simple letters: FML...maybe for real this time.

My friends, let me confess to you on the account of my life. I am bitter. I am jealous. I am proud. I am an idolator.

I am bitter about something that I shouldn't be bitter about. I am jealous about something that I shouldn't be jealous about. I am proud about myself that I shouldn't be prideful of. I am idolizing something that I shouldn't worship. I am, therefore, broken. I put my hope on something that eventually led me to brokenness and despair because I didn't put my hope and focus on something that will last for eternity. This is what the Bible says about me, as a sinner:

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)
" For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)
"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food." (Isaiah 55:2)
"And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me..." (Mark 7:6)
"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” (Matthew 15:18-20)
"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:13-14)

Are you despair recently? If so, why? If you have not yet experience this of deep despair, then God bless you. But, what you hope for in this world (your future and stuff) will eventually bring you to despair. We all agree that we will die one day. When we will die is not the right question. "How short is my life" is the question. You and I don't know for sure if we will live tomorrow. But aren't we supposed to be hopeful or optimistic about life? Yes, we human beings are hopeful people and we want to live forever in this earth, but that is not happening. After you die, you will live forever: Heaven or Hell. Wake up, my friends. Can you prove to me that you will live tomorrow or can you guarantee yourself that you will live tomorrow? Wake up, my friends. Do you know 100% for sure know where you will be going after you die?

What do you put your hopes in? After feeling all beat up about my life being so complicated, when all hope is lost in this world, I still have Jesus Christ. I was a fool. He's been walking beside me the whole time. He promised me that "I will never leave your nor forsake you." "I (Jesus) am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me." (John 10:14) When this world fails me, I am reminded of what Jesus promised:

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:3-5)

My friends, Jesus is alive and He will make all things new, and He will come back again. It is either we die and meet Him as our Judge, or He comes back for the second time. Wake up, my friends. Life is short! "You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." We don't know when we will die, and we also don't know when Jesus will come back. We could die in a minute or tomorrow, or Jesus could come back in a minute or tomorrow.

"And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:29-36)

If you do not believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord ans Savior and what He has done for you, then God bless you that you are still alive today while grace and forgiveness of sin are still open-handedly given to you freely. Turn to Him and believe in Him while you are still alive. You and I are sinners who turned our backs against God. Because God loves you and I, He demonstrated that love by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins while we should be the one who should have paid that penalty. He died and, 3 days later, He was resurrected to give us new life and the hope that we could have in Him alone. Do you see that you have turn away from God and put all your hopes in this world in which God created that will ultimately lead you to despair and destruction. Now, YOU have an important decision to make, my friends. Do you want to accept and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us stop sleeping around and watch out for ourselves "lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life", and be awake and anticipate our 2nd coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! Believing this truth, there are still people who needs this hope that we have! What a joy and great hope we have in our Savior! Love My Life because of Him.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2)

VBS: Words On The Street

This week, from Tuesday until Saturday (Aug 2nd - Aug 6th), Oakridge Children’s Ministry will be hosting Vacation Bible School! It’s very exciting to see children coming to our church, having fun, making friends, learning the parables in the Bible, and getting to know our awesome Savior Jesus Christ.

The children will basically be learning about 5 words based on the parable lessons being taught: Gratitude, Compassion, Grace, Forgiveness, and Faithfulness. These lessons may be simple knowledge for our Christian life, but not easy to apply them in our day-to-day basis. For the next 5 weeks, through the reliance of the Holy Spirit, I will try to explain each word through the teachings of Jesus - the parables - and how it all points to the gospel.

5 Questions to think about:
What are you thankful for each day?
How do you deal with someone who is in need?
Is there someone, who usually ticks you off, you need to show love?
Is there someone who you need to forgive?
How is your walk with Jesus Christ?

The Dude With The Teddybear

Praise the Lord for giving me another opportunity to love someone, even to the poorest of the poor. As Jesus humbled Himself, who was rich became poor, by embracing the broken ones, so will I embrace those who are harassed and helpless.

Victor invited me the prayer meeting held at UBC by UBC C4C students. Very grateful to meet some new brothers and sisters. We were praying specifically what our hearts feel toward the campus. We want to see happen within C4C and how God can change the campuses for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us expressed the desires of our own heart and lift up our prayers to God. I believe God is doing something awesome on the campus, and even those who don't want Him to do anything, nobody can stop His movement. Let us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, bring the kingdom of God down and kick down the gates of hell. Personally, I want to see Godly men being raised up to be life-time laborers for the kingdom. To be bold and courageous to be in the front-line for the kingdom and for the women of God.

Afterwards, Victor and I went to Regent College Bookstore to look around for birthday gifts (book) for Kevin T and Bonnie K. Don't worry, we got them something nice.

Victor, Mitsumi, Nicki, Jeremia, Samantha, Michelle, and I were outside sitting on the grass chilling. After talking about campus ministry, a dude holding the teddybear walked up to us. It was a bizarre moment. He talked to us, "I see you all being in a circle...can you pray for me?" What the heck!? Who is this guy? He looks homeless and was holding a teddybear. Is this guy a prophet? How did he know that we're Christians? So, we talked to him and  cared for him. He taught us some things he believe to be true of God. He seemed very lonely and wanted to talk. However, the way he talked to us and explained to us his situation does not seemed to be true because Victor told us he met this dude. That dude's story was totally contrary to the story he told Victor when they both met. I did not know what to do but to love him and care for him. He's a very broken and lost even though he's a Christian...at least he say he is although I'm not sure. Maybe he is suffering from remembering who he is. We talked and we prayed for him.

It was an awesome day to show love for him. I thought he was going to give me the teddybear, but he took it back. He seemed to believe in God and believes God loves him. Pray that whatever he is going through, may God help him persevere through. If he is not a genuine believer, then may the Holy Spirit convict him of sin and see that he needs Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Journey With Me (Day 1)

May 6th, 2011. 

The Time Has Come! Sitting on the airplane for almost 6 hours is another new experience. During the past 4 days, I have been preparing for this exciting trip that God had planned for me. In the beginning, I was so pumped up and feel ready for the trip. Little did I know, there were a lot of information that I had to take in. With all the details and information I need to store while I am on the trip, I feel overwhelmed and fearful because I totally don't know what to expect. It was very humbling. Although I do hope that my heart and mind are ready, I am not 100% confident and ready. But I know that God is with me and my family while I am away. Hope that this will be an awesome step of faith that I'm taking.

Four more hours until I land. My nerves are getting nervous and I just don't know what to say or think about but TRUST! Recently, I have been reading 1 Samuel and understanding and applying how the story relates to the New covenant. It has been a long time, but I am glad that I can refresh my memory.

Hope to update this everyday during my trip.

PS: I watched three movies and I really liked them.
PPS: I am sitting near Myra, Jen, Emily, Zach, Stefan and Megan.
PPPS: I miss DearBubbleSon.

Welcome Back (East Asia Update)

I came back from an intense and awesome experience at East Asia Project. God is very good and ordained everything before the foundation of the world. A lot of memories and stories to share with all my friends and family. For the next little while, I will be posting my daily journal (with edited stuff...censored) to show you guys what happened for the last 7 weeks.

Peace

One Minute Of Fame

I deeply apologize for not constantly updating my blog post. My brain is shutting down with ideas and I am having a writer's block (weird?).

Anyhow, do you want to win a free iPad? If you're in UBC or SFU, then you could go to Campus For Christ's booth and do One Minute Of Fame! Basically, you will be filmed for one minute, and you only have that minute to finish your sentences consisting of these fives topics:

Love is...
God is...
I wish I could be...
After 4 years, I will...
I am...

In order to win a free iPad, you have to get a lot of "LIKE" on YOUTUBE, NOT facebook. Therefore, be creative and keep sharing your videos with others!!!!

Here is the one I did and "LIKE" it =) :

Winter Conference 10/11 – Your Love Never Fails (PT.2)

[caption id="attachment_604" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="I was sharing my evangelistic experience to more than 200 people during the day of evangelism"][/caption]

This is the 2nd part of my sharing for Winter Conference. Last blog, I talked about the highlights that I took out, Initiative Evangelism (during our free time and night time), and also my visions in how God wants me to impact the world. For this entry, I will basically finish up the rest of my experience at Winter Conference.

Our speaker for this conference is Tom Cullen. He's a pastor at a Chinese church in Scarborough. I thoroughly enjoyed all the main session. He covered a lot of important depth of the Bible in the Old Testament and how we can play part of God's story. He encouraged us to always read the Bible in CONTEXT. He used few examples of how the verses or passages are taken out of context, such as 1 Corinthians 13.

Pastor Tom went through:

The survey of Genesis: The story of God in creation;
The survey of Deuteronomy: The story of God's grace;
The survey of Ruth: The story of God in redemption;
The survey of Jonah: The story of God in mission.

Pastor Tom knew his stuff and I thank God that He called him to speak at conference, blessing us with the word of God, encouraging us and challenging us. For those who went on conference, indeed you may be fed with good knowledge of the Old Testament, but I encourage you (and myself) to use it and go out and share this message with our friends because "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

The workshop this year is pretty good this year. I went to three seminars: How to Love difficult people, Why is the Old Testament awesome, and Make the most of your time. I won't go into a lot details on the workshops because there would be lots to cover.

Personally, I do struggle with loving difficult people, especially my family. Sometimes I am selfish towards them and not care about them. Because they are non-believers, they talk about stuff that it's hard for me to participate. God is using me to love them and I want to show that love to them so that they would see Christ in me.
Old Testament is awesome! PERIOD. Interestingly enough, I am taking Willing School of the Bible, and the course is covering all of the Old Testament. So far, the course is awesome! God is good.
I need to find my notes for the last workshop (Make the most of your time). This is what I took out: find a purpose and manage your time to meet that purpose.

During the day of evangelism, C4C did an outreach in a totally new way. We used facebook, msn, phone, and other technical innovation to help advance the message of the gospel through the use of the media and the internet. Long story short from my experience (check the photo on the top), it started out with prayer and empowerment of the Holy Spirit to guide me to talk to whoever is online. Also, I specifically prayed for my friend to be online so I may have another spiritual conversation with him. And praise God! My prayer was answered. He and I had a long spiritual conversation about Grace vs. Religion. I explained everything he needed to know about the difference, and he understood the difference. Ultimately, I want to show love and I want to love him as much as possible to help him discover who Jesus is and what His goal was on earth. Therefore, I shared the gospel with him for my fourth time. However, in the end, he would say that he does not believe in the existence of God, and I didn't know what to respond to him. Although I thank God because he is very open to both arguments between theist and atheist because there is no concrete evidence...yet he leans on the other side more.

If you are reading this, and you do not believe God exist, then may I submit to you to consider the life you are living in. This world we are living in will all die and fade away. Actually, we will die some day. If I am DEAD WRONG that God exist (or if God does not exist), then no hard feelings for me because I do not have anything to lose (think logically =D ). However, if you are wrong, then you are making a BAD gamble for your eternal destiny. I do love you because I do not want you to make that gamble. For those who are in Christ, we have the full confidence that Jesus is alive and has all the authority of ruling over all the heavens and the earth, and that those who receive Him as Saviour and Lord shall inherit eternal life; therefore, we do not need to make that kind of gamble. If you are not a Christian, then what is your craving in life? Do those cravings fulfill all the satisfaction in your own life? What if Jesus is the one who can fulfill those cravings?

Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman who was getting water at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (Context of this passage is found in John 4)

If you want to know more about Jesus, then you have to know the basics of why I believe, which is ultimately the Gospel that is explained in this link.

I shall end my Winter Conference experience here. I want to end this post with a quote by my friend, Kevin Thomas, that truly applies to the desires that I have.

"So what do I want to do? I know what I don't want to happen. In my final moments before I take the road that exits this life, I don't want to look back and just see a diligent student who did well in school, got a high GPA and academic accomplishments to boot. I don't want my life to become about a great professional who always put the project first. I don't want to just see an hard-working engineer who wrote great code and built impressive systems; no one will remember either of them. I won't want to see my possessions, certificates or accolades that only accumulate ever thicker layers of dust; none of them will give me any comfort at that time. An impressive resume will become meaningless, for no one will ever use it to make a hiring decision ever again. Any money (or lack of it) that I accumulate will have an exchange rate of zero on the other side of this life.

I want to pour my life out to the very last drop for that which will bring life to people's hearts. I want to tell them about the Living One, the Christ without whom there is no Land of The Living. Loving people has become very important to me. I want to love those around me with all the risks that come with it, even if I get hurt in the process; the hurt won't matter anymore on the other side of this life. What good is it being a stingy miser with my words, affection and actions? Who am I saving all my capacity for love, anyway? Am I planning to hoard it carefully and spend it all on those whom I meet when I cross over into the Land of The Living? That's so stupid!

I have come to the conclusion that as great as it is that we are able to develop innovative technology, building better systems of any kind will not ultimately change the condition of the human heart, out of which all things flow. Neither will the approach of taking power out of the hands of the few and putting it into the hands of the people; it is pointless if the heart doesn't recognize the One who possesses and bestows all power, understand what true power is, and how to wield it. Without bringing people to the knowledge of the Living One, the Giver of Life, I have come to the belief that every other accomplishment in my life is ultimately meaningless.

I want to shine the light of the Living One in the Land of the Dying, so that those who are dead will see His light and come along with me on my journey with Him to the Land of the Living. If I die in the process, I'll get there all the faster. "

May God bless you as we journey this life together by His grace and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 "Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints."

Winter Conference 10/11 - Your Love Never Fails (PT.1)

This will be my first entry of 2011, and I am very excited to share my Winter Conference experience with everybody who reads this blog. Winter Conference is an annual conference hosted by Campus For Christ. This conference trains students to help the lost students discover Jesus through seminar, the day of Evangelism, fellowship with brothers and sisters, and the speaker in the main session. This would be my 4th Winter Conference that I had attended. Personally, I would consider this to be the best Winter Conference experience I had ever since my 1st Winter Conference.

My friends asked me, "What so great about this year?"

Here are three highlights or points that I took away from this Conference.

1.) When people see me, I want them to be reminded of Christ.
2.) Make imprints on campus, the nations, and the world that would count for eternity.
3.) Dream Big.

1.) When people see me, I want them to be reminded of Christ.

1 John 3:16-18 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

This passage really struck me when I ponder throughout Conference. What have I been doing with myself through the years? What kind of impression am I leaving when people see me? "How can the love of God be in him?" This sentence convicted me. Have I been loving?

2.) Make imprints on campus, the nations, and the world that would count for eternity.

We have limited amount of time on campus. Some students may stay 4-7 years in University. However, the time on campus can be very valuable. Let me ask you a question: "Before you graduate, what significant imprints do you want to leave on campus that could count for eternity?" As I was in Calgary, I was very encouraged with the men who wanted to go out for evangelism during our free time and night time. This is a totally new experience for me at WC. It started out with 5 men. Later on, more brothers and sisters came along with us. We went to a small Asian mall to evangelize. Me, Alan, and Wayland walked up to a group of high school students. We talked to them, but it felt kind of awkward for them. Three of them have Christian or Catholic background, and one is not religious. We asked them questions based on what their beliefs, and we shared the gospel with them. We prayed for them hoping that they understood what we talked about (they nodded their heads). We walked away and turned our back, and we noticed we got fingered by one of them. It is where their heart is at. I do pray that the seeds that we've planted, it not land anywhere but good soil although it is God who does the work in them.

Alan and I approached a shop owner who sold anime models and toy figures. His name was also Tommy. Interestingly enough, I told him that Tommy means "seeker of the truth". This created an interesting transition to a spiritual conversation. He was familiar with God and Jesus because he went to a Catholic elementary school. There was a bit of a language barrier, but by God's grace and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, I did my best to explain and articulate the gospel message to him. As Alan and I shared with him, I believed God was working in his heart. He shared about his grandmother's sickness. We both understand him situation. In love, I shared God's love to him: He died for his and our sins. That those who receive Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Was he willing to receive Him? I do not know because salvation comes from God. Alan and I prayed for him and his grandmother. After praying, he had tears in his eyes. I didn't want to leave the store empty-handed, so I bought One Piece action figure.

Alan and I got very closed together in just one day of evangelism. It seemed like our bondage as brothers grew stronger as we went out for sharing. When I went evangelism in the past with someone, we didn't become as close like this one. Alan is just a 1st year student and he has a strong passion for God. He shared with me a bit of his past sins, and so did I. He and I went out a lot for evangelism and stayed together most of the time. Of course, we had more significant moments to share, but I believe the 1st two are some of the good moments we shared because it was our 1st time-sharing together. I hope to see him at UBC and go out and proclaim the name of Jesus.

We only had 4 days in Calgary. While I was in Calgary in a VERY limited amount of time, why not go out for evangelism and bless the city of the message of grace? Same thing with our campus, the nation, and the world. Our time is limited. Wherever God is calling us to go, we are all called to fulfill the Great Commission. Whether if it's at our workplace or our campus or wherever you are...go out and make disciples =) Take that faith step and let God do the rest.

3.) Dream Big

During conference, I was reminded to live a life with a purpose. I do have a dream, not the american dream...but a dream that gives glory to God. I signed up for East Asia Project, and I am praying to see what God will do this summer within my own life. Furthermore, if God wills, then I would love to go back to Hong Kong and minister to the culture there. It's been around 4 months ever since I felt God called me back to Hong Kong. It's be desire to go back and minister to the Chinese culture, and leading them to Jesus culture. Personally, I feel that Chinese people have two main issues: Pride and Gossip. Whatever God wants me to do there, then I will gladly serve Him over there.

Overall, this WC was a blessing. With many things to share and many things I learned, I want to take it back to Vancouver and put it into practice. I do have lots to share, but I will stop this entry here because it has gotten too long. If you have read this, then I hope that you're encouraged as well. =)

Making Him my own (Philippians 3:12)

As life at school proceeds on, I have encountered a lot of new experiences through God's grace.
Sometimes I pity myself for working and studying so hard at school.
Today, as I was walking home, I began to ponder to myself...
Why am I studying Interactive Arts & Technology?
Why am I pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree?
Why am I doing this to myself knowing that I have more passion on Biblical Studies?
I remember asking myself this question.

As I began to reflect back over the this semester, lots of things I had to struggle through.
One of my course, which I do love, I literally taking over my life.
However, I praise God for sustaining so that I won't lose my spiritual life, and continually walking steadfast towards Him.
It has been very busy.
What should I expect?
I even went to Seattle Design Charette where my and my team had only few hours of sleep.
Insanity to the extreme, indeed.
My eyes are turning more red than I could ever imagine.
I am growing more sleep deprive that I could expect.
In addition to my stress, I have writing courses to take care of.
Writing is not my strength, and I do not like writing.
I sense that I will be doing a lot more writing in the future.

Throughout the semester, I began to ponder more to myself in my service to God at OBC.
Am I being a problem or a solution?
I talked to few people about the issues I am having, and I received their encouragement and advice with joy and gladness.
Knowing that Jesus is with me, I can always come to Him with anxiety.
I have been struggling with OBC.
The way God speaks to me through His Word is so powerful that He help me to see the struggle in OBC.
Why is it not growing? Is it dying?
I talked to one man, and he said, "If your church is not growing, then it is dying."
The gospel is the power to save.
John Neufeld preached on 1 Corinthians 14, and reminding us that the main thing is always the gospel.
Without the gospel, then who can be saved?
Without the gospel, then there is no power.
Without the gospel, then there is no forgiveness of sin.
Without the gospel, then there is no atonement.
I am being reminded in 1 Thessalonians 1:5a "because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction."
I have been struggling to pray for my church and leaders.
Rarely do I pray for them aside from praying what is going on in my life.
I need to repent of that and give support to them through prayer.
Asking God, knowing that He sees the request I make Him, He can provide peace and He answers it according to His purpose.

Joy...through perseverance.
This is the verse for today
"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own."

The Never-Forsaking Father (Hebrews 13:5-6)

When was the last time we thought God left us? Do we turn to what God says or do we turn to our own fears?

Understand this passage in Hebrews 13:5-6, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

I want us to focus on these two statements, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” and “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Never will I leave you. It is a promise and assurance that God will never leave us for any sort of reason: sin, pride, arrogance, ignorance, and selfishness.

Never will I forsake you. There will be moments where we go through difficult life. I’ve been talking about hardships, sufferings, and struggles that we face in our lives, and we feel that God has left us. However, that is just our “thoughts”.

Therefore, most often, we think that God left us because we sinned against, which is a justified point and fair, but that is not true. When we through depression, pain, and stress, we THINK that God left us.

That passage, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”, was referenced from the Old Testament verse in Joshua 1:5. The Israelites were very rebellious against Moses and Aaron. If you know how the story goes, they weren’t able to persevere through due to their lack of faith in God. They would rather die serving Pharaoh the king of Egypt. The story ends like this, they got to the promise land as God has promised!

They went through a lot of oppositions on their way. It was not through their own strength that destroyed their enemies while they were still outnumbered. It was all because of God’s promise to the Israelites, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” It was God’s amazing provision led them to where to they should go. It was God who was there to defeat the enemies who opposed them when He said, “I will hand them over to you.” It was God who handed Goliath, the giant, over to David with a sling and a stone in one hit.

The antidote to "love of money" is contentment, which comes from trusting in God’s promised provision (Deut 31:6; 8).

“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” This passage is referenced in Psalm 118:6. It applies the idea of trusting in God for more than just financial needs (even during persecution, Heb 13:3).

If God was there for them, then no doubt for us, who believes, that He will not leave and forsake us. Have faith and trust that God is also our ultimate provider.

As we share the gospel with our friends, remember what Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

God says, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you” Do you hear Him saying it to you? Does it sound true to you personally? If you don’t have that kind of assurance of God, then be still and know that He is God and listen to Him again.

Taste the Word (Psalm 119:103)

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

I wonder...
When was the last time I really tasted that the word of God is good...delicious.
I remember watching Ratatouille the other night. (It was an awesome movie)
There was this rat called, Remy, and his brother, Emile.
Remy ate something, and he was tasting it, and then he exploded with delight when chewing it.
However, Emile, just ate it and swallowed it without REALLY tasting it.
Remy told Emile that he was missing out and encouraged him to taste and chew it slowly.
Emile was kind of ignorant when tasting it and didn't experience the same delight as Remy.
For me, I honestly don't know where I am at right now in reading the scripture.
Am I eating it too fast or am I slowly chewing it so I could experience "How sweet are [His] words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
I am almost done reading the whole Bible.
I am slowly grabbing each pieces of puzzles together and get a glimpse of God.
And also forming a picture.
For the past few weeks, I have been doing this summer bible reading plan.
I gave it to the youth so they could read the New Testament for the summer.
I didn't want to just give it them and tell them to read it, but I also want to be an example by reading it with them.
However, as I am reading it and reading it, I am not absorbing it.
I am just eating it too fast without seriously studying the word of God.
Chapter by chapter, I am practically absorbing knowledge into my head.
I need to ask myself.
What am I reading?
What is God is doing here?
What is God trying to tell me?
One chapter on the gospel of Luke is very long.
I didn't seriously take into the investment of my time in studying Jesus.
Now, I haven't been keeping up with the Summer Bible Reading because I wasn't too sure if this is right for me.
That style doesn't suit my taste anymore.
I want to eat it.
I want to chew it.
I want to experience that JOY and that SWEETNESS in the word of God.
Not only that, but I also desire to be transformed by the word of God.
Tonight, I was asking myself.
God, how are you going to transform me?
How will you make me any different next year?
I want to submit to You.

Mother's Day

Mom
Although you may not read this, but someday, I will let you know.
For the past 20 years, you went through a lot of suffer and sorrow in raising me.
You use every bit of your strength in raising me up to where I am right now.
I may be a spoiled brat or child in front of you, but I know deep down, you love me and the family.
I may sometime be disobedient and talk-back, but I ask for your forgiveness.
It is Mother's day.
I just want to thank you for taking care of me every moment of my life.
I praise God for a mother who is willing to commit her time and life in raising her children.
I do pray for you, that someday, you will see.
That you will see Jesus Christ as your hope.
That you will see Jesus Christ as your Savior.
That you will see Jesus Christ as your Lord.
That you will see Jesus Christ as Love.
That you will see why I am doing what I must do.
Lord, I ask that you will bless my mother.