they say the difference between HEAVEN and HELL is 11 INCHES

Hmm....and what's the distance between my head and my heart?

to HYMN be the glory - come thou fount of every blessing

Come, Thou fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above;

Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Hither by Thy help I come

And I hope by Thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace, how great a debtor,

Daily I'm constrained to be.

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here's my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

Listen to Come Thou Fount

the day JOHNNY CASHed in everything he had for CHRIST

I remember watching Walk the Line and being marveled at how one of the greatest American music legends fell so far down. The movie told the life story of Johnny Cash: his rise to fame and his demise to shame. Then at the end of the movie, it seemed like he had some kind reawakening, as if he made a new start for himself. But that part always confused me. What really caused that change? How did he get out of that pit?  And I just recently discovered…they left out the most important scene of his life from the movie.

In early October 1967, Cash hit rock bottom. He said, “I never wanted to see another dawn.  I had wasted my life. I had drifted so far away from God and every stabilizing force in my life that I felt there was no hope for me.” At that point Johnny Cash climbed his way into a Tennessee cave with one thing in mind: suicide.  And then he found Jesus again. Johnny describes in his own words:

“The absolute lack of light was appropriate, for at that moment I was as far from God as I have ever been. My separation from Him, the deepest and most ravaging of the various kinds of loneliness I’d felt over the years, seemed finally complete. It wasn’t. I thought I’d left him but He hadn’t left me. I felt something very powerful start to happen to me, a sensation of utter peace, clarity and sobriety. I didn’t believe it at first. I couldn’t understand it … the feeling persisted though and then my mind started focusing on God … there in Nickajack cave I became conscious of my destiny. I was not in charge of my own death. I was going to die at God’s time, not mine. I hadn’t prayed over my decision to seek death in the cave, but that hadn’t stopped God from intervening. I told my mother that God had saved me from killing myself. I told her I was ready to commit myself to Him and do whatever it took to get off drugs. I wasn’t lying.”

Talk about the return of the Prodigal Son. From disgrace to amazing grace, that’s a real life example right there. The temptations of the world choked him: money, drugs, sex, alcohol. But all those years, God never left him. Jesus went out and brought back that hundredth sheep. We can all learn something from this--graduating college, you might make a lot of money, you might be tempted with sex, drugs, gambling, drinking, you-name-it. And you know what? We WILL fall. But it's comforting to know that God can pick us up from the deepest pits. 

Johnny Cash sure as hell wasn’t perfect. He was a great sinner. But I’m no different. In Mark 2:17 Jesus says "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." We need Jesus. And this life will be tough. To that Cash says “It's an ongoing struggle. I do know, though, that if I commit myself to God every morning and stay honest with Him and myself, I make it through the day.” And I get to meet this brother in Christ one day. The brother who said, “Because You’re mine, I walk the line."

From His hands it came down
From His side it came down
From His feet it came down
And ran to the ground 
Between heaven and hell 
A teardrop fell in the deep crimson dew 
The tree of life grew

And the blood gave life 
To the branches of the tree 
And the blood was the price 
That set the captives free 
And the numbers that came 
Through the fire and the flood clung to the tree 
And were redeemed by the blood

From the tree streamed a light 
That started the fight 'round the tree grew a vine 
On whose fruit I could dine 
My old friend Lucifer came 
Fought to keep me in chains 
But I saw through the tricks 
Of six-sixty-six

And the blood gave life 
To the branches of the tree 
And the blood was the price 
That set the captives free 
And the numbers that came 
Through the fire and the flood clung to the tree 
And were redeemed by the blood

From His hands it came down 
From His side it came down 
From His feet it came down 
And ran to the ground 
And a small inner voice said "You do have a choice." 
The vine engrafted me and I clung to the tree

JESUS: the greater kobe

Every kid who has ever grown up in SoCal watched the Lakers. And when the Lakers played on the road, every kid watched it on KCAL9 (for those of us w/o cable, away games were the only thing we had haha). At dinner time, my family used to watch Stu Lantz & Co. commentate the games as Kobe and the Lakers battled it out on the other team's home court. Oh there were exciting games...where the Lakers and the opposing team seemed like they were tied throughout the whole night. Sometimes you never knew who would win. They would trade baskets--a fadeaway shot for a fadeaway shot, a block for a block, a dunk for a dunk, and a fastbreak for a fastbreak. It was a straight up battle!~ Who will win? But I already knew...

Haha here's the catch: KCAL9 was never in real-time. The away games in the East Coast were always recorded and then played back at dinner time in Los Angeles. So I would always check on espn.com to see who won that night (they had already played 3 hours ago), and then I would watch the game.  At times I would get so consumed by the game that I would totally forget the Lakers had already won earlier in the day.  But then I would remember. Even though some of the games got close, even when the Lakers looked hopelessly doomed to lose, I knew the final result already. I knew that in the end, the Lakers would pull it off. Some say that's no fun? Well, it was fun for me. :)

Recently I've been getting mad spiritually attacked. Sometimes I wonder, will God rescue me from this? Will I ever escape suffering? I feel so overwhelmed, I wonder if I will just end up giving up... just succumbing to sin. It's definitely a spiritual battle and it can be disheartening at times. Satan comes at me with full force: pride, anger, lust, apathy, you-name-it. But you know what comforts me? I already know I win. Because Jesus defeated Satan, sin, and death at the cross. So I cry out, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." [1 Cor. 15:55-58]  So remember brothers and sisters, if you feel like you're being attacked, like there's no way out, nor any way for victory. Remember... we already have victory. In Christ. :) Never forget that.

p.s. - I used to try to trick my brother by betting him money on who would win (when I already knew the score). Hehehe. But dangit, he never fell for it...

"Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." [1 Samuel 17:44-47]

the POTTER and the clay

I took ceramics for two years in high school. Got all the way to Advanced Ceramics (ooohh~), but my teacher got angry at me because all I ever made were pots. Pots, pots, pots. The same size, the same cylinder shape, the same style. Haha I never moved on from that, but hey, I was damn good at makin' those pots.

When you're on that wheel (the spinning thingy where you make pots), it's important to keep the clay wet. When the clay gets dry, it becomes hard--and it's extremely difficult to mold. It doesn't make the shape you want it to make. Sometimes it takes a prolonged period of soaking to get the clay moist again if it's been out there too long. And in some cases, the clay is so hard and brittle that you just have to start over with a new piece of clay.

God is the Potter. I am the clay. When I'm soaked in the Living Water, I easily surrender to God's will for me. God can use me so effortlesslly and I'm joyfully willing to do anything for Christ. But oftentimes my heart becomes dry and hard. The Bible is like water, and the more I immerse myself in it, the softer my heart gets. Yet right now I feel like my heart of clay is so hard. It's dry. It's brittle. So change my heart oh God, make it ever true. Change my heart oh God, may I be like You. You are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.

This is my prayer. But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. [Isaiah 64:8] Soften my heart Lord. Saturate it with the Word. Fill me up with the Holy Spirit. Or heck, even throw out my heart of stone and give me a new heart.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. [Jeremiah 18:1-6]

70 x 7

The NUMBERS of FORGIVENESS.

for I am not ASHAMED of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes [romans 1:16]

"If a lame man laughs at you for walking upright—will you therefore limp?" [Thomas Watson]

However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. [1 Peter 4:16]

so i WONDER...

1) If you had never seen/heard of a church, religion, Christian institution... And someone gave you a Bible--after reading it, would the Church look like what it is today? Would Christianity look like what it is today?

2) If everyone at church was just like you, what would it look like?

HIGHSCHOOL dances

Remember all those dances in high school? Homecoming dance, Backwards dance, Sadies, Prom, etc. Ooh~ I used to just love them. And I still remember, we would all dress up nice with our TJ Max suits and go out to eat in some fancy 2-star restaurants. Then we'd come back to school, to find our North Gymnasium decorated and transformed to the appropriate theme. We would check in our coats/shoes with the teachers, and then run off into the dark, misty, strobe-lighted, music-blaring dance world.

The young little 13-17 year olds that we were--my friends and I always came in thinkin' like we were the hot shots, the studs. It was always, how many girls can you dance with tonight? How low can you get? Watch this new move.~ What's the maximum number of girls you can dance with at the same time? Look how dangerously low my hands go. Hey bro I need backup my legs are getting tired. Haha there was more bumping and grinding than the 405 freeway during traffic hour. But it was oh so fun! Until suddenly....it ended. Oh it always came so abruptly.

As we were dancing and freakin', the teachers would always turn on all the lights in the Gym to make us leave. It was such a rude awakening. The music was still blaring, but the fun was gone. You got to see everyone's sweaty oily faces. With the lights on you realized you were in the North Gymnasium, not some fancy nightclub. Suddenly dancing didn't look so cute when all the lights were on. Eww. And the girls felt awkward with everyone visible. Hahaha. I remember those times...

I feel like sin is the same way. In darkness, sin is oh so fun. No worries, no shame. It's all fun and games walking in the darkness. Until BOOM. You're reading the Bible and God turns on that proverbial "light switch". Suddenly the light hits you like a roundhouse kick to the face. Just like when King David was in sin with Batsheba, and then wabam! God reveals to him his sin using the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12. Gotcha! David says in Psalm 90:8, "You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence." Hahaha I hate it and I love it. My prayer: Lord reveal to me the hidden sins of my heart.

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 4:4-6]

i wish all those cute bunnies would eat all those ridiculously colored eggs and get sick and never show up again for EASTER

Bunnies and Egg Hunts are a myth. But I recently discovered a recurring Christian myth about Easter:

On Sunday I heard an advertisement on KFSH 95.9 fm that said, "Come join us on the holiest day of the year for a special concert at ___ Church." 

Holiest day of the year?! How is Easter holier than any other day?! Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. [Romans 6:8-11]  In Christ we are no longer dead to sin but alive to God. And that means every single day we are crucified with Christ. Every single day we take up our cross. Once for all Christ was resurrected, which means every single day our souls are counted perfectly holy because of the perfect blood of the Lamb.

Easter ain't any holier. However... it should still be special. As humans, we forget so easily that if we don't have a special day to remember the resurrection, we probably wouldn't do it anyways. We often say Jesus died for us, He died for us, died for us. But we often forget Jesus was resurrected. 

All the difference in the world lies in this one question: Was the tomb empty? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." The entire Christianity could be disproved and dismantled by one historical event. If the resurrection never happened, Christianity would mean nothing. Brother, your life would mean nothing. But it did happen. And the world was changed forever. Everything matters because of the resurrection. So remember that this week.

On that note, I'll leave you with this from N.T. Wright:

The message of the resurrection is that this world matters! That the injustices and pains of this present world must now be addressed with the news that healing, justice, and love have won... If Easter means Jesus Christ is only raised in a spiritual sense--[then] it is only about me, and finding a new dimension in my personal spritual life. But if Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead, Christianity becomes good news for the whole world--news which warms our hearts precisely because it isn't just about warming hearts. Easter means that in a world were injustice, violence and degradation are endemic, God is not prepared to tolerate such things--and that we will work and plan, with all the energy of God, to implement victory of Jesus over them all. Take away Easter and Karl Marx was probably right to accuse Christanity of ignoring problems of the material world. Take it away and Freud was probably right to say Christanity is wish-fulfillment. Take it away and Nietzsche probably was right to say it was for wimps.

too holy for that SIN stuff

Ye whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are bright, say not, "We shall never sin," but rather cry, "Lead us not into temptation." There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall.

[C.H. Spurgeon]

hUrriCANe ENDURE

So last night my Dad was dropping me off at school and we had a nice little conversation in the car. I was telling him how I get busier and busier every quarter, and that I don't know how I could possibly add more to my already overflowing plate. He laughed and replied get ready--life gets progressively more difficult. There's no threshold that once you pass a certain level, it's all smooth sailing. There's always going to be more responsibility, more bills, more relationships, more ministry, more everything. To sum it up my Dad said "Young man... Life never gets easier." And then he started laughing again "You'll see, you'll see..."

Haha. I feel like our Christian life is exactly the same. I hear many new Christians (including myself) ask, "When does this Christian life get any easier?" The answer: never. Atleast not until we die. I feel like in many ways, the Christian life is like a HURRICANE. Hurricanes are weakest on the outskirts, and get stronger as you go in. The strongest point is right outside the eye of the hurricane, aka the eyewall. The eyewall is a circle of strong thunderstorms that surrounds the eye; here is where the greatest wind speeds are found, where clouds reach the highest, and precipitation is the heaviest. The heaviest wind damage occurs where a tropical cyclone's eyewall passes over land.

Imagine you live on an island and a hurricane is projected to pass above where you are. At first, the sky gets gray and the breeze starts picking up. Then the palm trees start shakin' and it starts raining cats and dogs. Soon you see roofs getting torn off so you hide in your flooded basement. The winds are howling, the sky is dark, and the rain feels like bullets. When will it end? Until you hear silence...you walk outside to see the most eerily beautiful tranquility you've ever dreamed.

Our lives will only get tougher. Suffering will only increase. But Jesus says, "the one who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12). So stand firm brethren. And don't worry, Jesus promises us at the end of Matthew, "behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Hang on tight, we'll get to the eye soon. Where perfect peace and tranquility await. No more tears, no more sorrows.

Eye hope to see Christ soon.

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" [Philippians 1:6]

Currently listening to:

There Will Be A Day

Jeremy Camp

SINergism

I feel like sin is a vicious cycle. As I like to call it, SINergism:

1) First, I sin. You can fill in the blank.

2) I feel bad/guilty/shame/sucky.

3) I cry out, "I'll never do it again."

4) Then I feel a need to get right with God.

5) And then I try everything in my own power to stop sin.

6) After ____ amount of time, I do it again.

7) And again. And again.

8) Hit Repeat.

And everytime it happens again, I get more and more disheartened. When will it ever end?

Three insightful verses I came across today:

1. [Galatians 3:3] - "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

Analysis: It's true, we try to fight sin with our own human effort. After we sin, we try to "get right with God" by being really passionate in our efforts (ex. We block internet, throw away our computer, break up with the gf/bf, we give our credit card to a buddy for accountability, we stop hanging out with certain people, etc, etc.) But we do it out of our own human power. Paul is saying, "Are you an idiot?" You were born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. If God is for us, who can be against us? And after all that, now you're going to try to stop sin with your own power?

Lesson: Don't be an idiot. Don't try to kill sin by human effort.

2. [2 Timothy 3:5] - "having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."

Analysis: First, we don't want to admit we're weak. We don't tell other people because we're embarassed/ashamed. We don't have accountability partners. Maybe we do, but it's sparse. But to most people, we have the appearance of godliness. Secondly, we deny "the power" from which we can attain true godliness. We deny the power of God that can make us godly, and we try to gain godliness on our own.

Lesson: You only end up with the appearance of godliness. Don't deny God's power.

3. [Romans 8:13] - "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live"

Analysis: You will put to death the misdeeds of the body. But ONLY IF BY THE SPIRIT you do so, and then you will live. We try to kill the flesh with our own willpower. "You can do it! You can kill it! Just overcome it mentally, emotionally, physically." NO! NO! NO! It's only by the power of the Spirit we can put to death SIN.

Lesson: Wanna live? Then put to death sin by the Spirit.

It's definitely not exhaustive. But it's something to chew on...

putting the FUN back in FUNDAMENTALISM

"You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
[Psalm 16:11]

"Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart."
[Psalm 37:4]

Have a good time with God.

Enjoy.

:)

you can have all this world, but give me JESUS

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

When I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus

MAN up son!

I was raised by the most alpha male, masculine, man's man father I've ever met. When he wasn't a Christian, he used to feed jippsanims knucklesandwiches (literally) when they talked too much crap at church, and he brought in ggangpaes to protect the senior pastor from being kicked out. For as long as I remember, he was seen as the role model deacon, but he continued to bring his worldly macho-ness into the church.. Few people know that he was also deeply in the sin of women, heavy drinking, and drugs. He was a brawling blue-collar painting contractor with a dirty mouth who was drowning in his own testosterone. And then he met Jesus.

What I love the most is that my dad man is still the same dude. Except now he just plays for the other team. Of course he's still a 2Cor.5:17 man, but he also hasn't lost any of his masculinity, like I've seen in so many guys who meet Christ. Since then, I have been hugely influenced by how Christ has used my sinful daddy for His glory and it awes me.

When I was born again in July '06, I was so confused (still am) by what it means to be a man of God. Do I have to be a soft-speaking ultra-gentle fembot? Because what I saw growing up was a fabio-looking Jesus holding a lamb in His arms when in fact he was a tough, blue collar, and Jack Bauer-like Savior. In addition, I had very few role models--how about older hyung examples? At church I saw 2 things in older hyungs: either a manly guy with no Christ, or a guy with Christ but no manliness whatsoever. So I am left today with a really strange conception of what it means to be a MAN of God. 'S-A-N-C-T-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N' is still a really long word to me, but by the grace of God I'm learning what a man is and how I can become one.
The worly definition, and the biblical definition of a MAN are to be distinguished. They are eerily similar yet different. One is the corrupted/twisted/sinful version of the other. A couple things I've learned that dudes like:
1) Girls - When the world says be a playa, flirt like hell and have sex with as many girls as you can, the Biblical Man must save all that for his wife alone. Be her MVP, flirt with her, and etc.
2) Drinking - When the world says go out and have fun and get drunk/wasted cuz it's cool, the Biblical Man gets drunk on the Holy Spirit (and that's an order!) cuz it's cool.

3) Fighting - When the world says fight with others to reach the top and don't back down to no fools, the Biblical Man fights for the Truth and fights against Satan.

These are 10 types of dudes that, well...I am praying for:

1. Wimps, Pansies

2. Complainers, Whiners, Mr. Downer

3. Video gamers, Grown men who still play Starcraft and Warcraft

4. The second son in Matthew 21:28-31

5. Guys who pick on weaker people
6. Guys who think they're a lot harder than they really are

7. Dudes who can't back up what they say

8. Gossipers
9. Guys who don't provide for their own family
10. Guys who get chicks pregnant and then ditch them

But thank God I have some real MEN of God that I look up to:

8. NFL's John Kitna and NCAA's Tim Tebow

7. UFC Fighters who are hella Christians (Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Pat Barry)

6. Mark Driscoll, John MacArthur, John Piper(don't be fooled by his stature)

5. Pastor Awax + Pastor Bizzle

4. Samson and Solomon (also my future sons' names)

3. Missionary Jason Yoo (Yucatan)

2. My Daddy

1. Jesus Christ

Conclusion: Like I said before, I'm in no position to define what a MAN of God is. I know it's not all about macho-ness and stuff. But I am walking painstakingly on the road of sanctification and Jesus is teaching me how to be a true man. So be true to God. And be true to yourself. That's what it really comes down to at the end of the day.

i'm STARVING

"7 dayz without the Word of God makes ONE WEAK."
-Shon Grady

why ME?

We often cry, "Why did God allow this to happen to me? I don't deserve ___(fill in the blank)___. I don't deserve it..."

And that's absolutely correct.

We DON'T deserve it! Because we actually deserve much worse.

An old Puritan once said, "Your sufferings are not so great as your sins. Put these two in the balance, and see which weighs heaviest."

Want real justice? For the wages of sin is death. That's what we really deserve. But it's God's grace that even allows us to live, let alone have eternal life with Christ. So cheer up! Whatever way you look at it, you're doing better than you deserve. Have a nice day!

FUEGO de dios

"The cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough to it for it's sparks to fall on us."

You know those sparks are? Those sparks are the drops of His blood that fall on our head while we're clinging to the cross as Christ is being crucified... That's how close we need to be to ignite.

People warn us, don't get too close to the fire you might get burned. Not only do I want to get burned haha, I want to be freakin' consumed by that fire! So draw me close to You. Consuming fire, fan into flame, a passion for Your name. Lord have Your way with me.

And yes our God, He is a consuming fire

And the flames burn down deep in my soul

Yes our God, He is a consuming fire

He reaches inside and He melts down this cold heart of stone

[Third Day - Consuming Fire]

15 + 1

Billy and I were chatting the other day and he said "Dang I didn't expect this much work for missions training. I have to memorize so many bible verses!" And I had an epiphane... memorizing verses is just like loading bullets into your gun!

It may be tedious. But you don't want to go to the frontlines and find yourself with an empty cartridge. Whether it's for defense or offense, we gotta lock and load:

1) Defense - Jesus was tempted 3 times by the devil. Each time, Jesus defended Himself and fought against Satan with Scripture.

2) Offense - The Bible tells us to put on the whole armor of God: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of readiness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Only ONE offensive weapon--and that's "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:17)"

*In gangsta terms, they call that 15 + 1. That means your 9mm handgun is locked and loaded. 15 bullets in the clip, and 1 in the chamber... ready to fire and kill someone at any moment. Be ready to kill Satan at a moment's notice.

Lock and load baby. 15 + 1.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

[Psalm 119:11]

give the devil an INCH, and he'll become a RULER

When a little hole is opened to the devil, through which, it seems to you, he can hardly pass with his head, he has all he needs and slithers in with his entire body. [Martin Luther]

Watch yo self.

i FEEL ya tozer

O God, I have tasted Your goodness,

and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.

I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace.

I am ashamed of my lack of desire.

O God, The Triune God,

I want to want You;

I long to be filled with longing;

I thirst to be made more thirsty still.

Show me Your glory, I pray,

so I may know You indeed.

Begin in mercy a new work of love within me...

Give me grace to rise and follow You up from this misty lowland

where I have wandered so long.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

if only there were SOMEONE...

Job says in Ch. 9:
³³ If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,
³⁴ someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

Hmmm... if only there were...

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. [1 Timothy 2:5-6]

Just wasn't the proper time for you yet Job, haha. I'm on the other side of the cross, but you know what's cool? We still have the same Arbitrator! :D

i don't understand GRACE

I don’t understand grace. Not at all.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:7-8]

I am that sinner. And I am wickedly sinful. I am a super prideful, sexually lusting, attention loving, power hungry, greedy, brash, unloving, quick tempered, bigoted, self-glorifying, hard-hearted SINNER! And that's only the tip of the iceberg. You can't even imagine the evil thoughts that go through my mind/heart. And I sin daily, hourly, almost every few minutes. All the time.

And then... THE GOD, Almighty maker of the heavens and earth, comes to be humiliated as a man. Beaten to the point where his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—And DIES a horrible death on the CROSS for ME?! FOR ME?! A wicked sinner...

Think about that. It doesn't even make sense. I feel like just saying "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

From disgrace to amazing grace. Sometimes I feel like it's too good to be true. I believe, but help my unbelief Lord.

slowly but SURELY

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.
[C.H. Spurgeon]

ICY HOT

The same sun that melts the ice, hardens the clay.

Likewise...the same Son that melts a believer's heart, hardens the heart of an unbeliever.

The ice begins hard and becomes weak. The clay begins weak and becomes hard. The more you hear the gospel, the closer you will be with Christ or the more numb you will be to it. Hate it or love it.

When you hear the gospel, which is it?

We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

[Hebrews 3:14-15]

we're ONLY on the cover and title page

"And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures... had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

C.S. Lewis
The Last Battle

1 is a 100, and a 100 is 1

Don't be overly impressed nor disappointed by the turnout. Numbers don't mean crap. Whoever is there is there.. So give the gospel with a 100% of your heart. To an audience of 100, do so as if it were an individual. And if it's just 1 person, give the gospel like you would to a crowd of 100.

Dudes with helpful insight:
1) Charles Spurgeon once said that when you pay attention to the seat that is empty, you are paying a disservice to the one that is filled.
2) Mark Driscoll comments "even if there is one person, that one person is someone God has brought for us to minister to and if they are willing to come we must be willing to love them with Jesus love."

a BEAUTIFUL mind, a BEAUTIFUL savior

In the movie A Beautiful Mind, John Nash is a genius mathematician who develops paranoid schizophrenia. Throughout the movie he goes into these delusional hallucinations-- which are inhabited by an old man in a hat (Parcher), his 'friend' (Charles), and a young girl (Marcee) who lead him into ruin. He indulges in his imaginary life, and the deeper he gets into it, the more painful the loss and burden his condition brings to his wife and friends. The breaking point is when Parcher urges Nash to even kill his wife. He suffers immeasurably, and it seems like there is no solution... until, his wife Alicia looks him in the eye and says she'll love him until the end. From that point he doesn't pay attention to the imaginary characters, but instead focuses on the love of his wife. Even at the end of the movie, Nash and Alicia are about to leave an auditorium when John sees Charles, Marcee, and Parcher standing by and watching him. Yet he lives life freely because he no longer indulges on them but instead on the love of his life, Alicia.

I see an eerie resemblance between John Nash and ourselves as Christians. I especially see an eerie resemblance between A Beautiful Mind and Romans 6-7. We were once slaves of sin, but we are now free in regard to righteousness. Our flesh still dwells in us, but it does not control us nor is master over us. Just as John Nash used to indulge himself in his delusions, I once indulged in my sinful flesh. And while he broke his wife's heart as he indulged in his schizophrenia, so we break God's heart when we fall into sin. John Nash's solution was to focus on the love of his wife. And my solution-- the love of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Parcher, Charles, and Marcee (our flesh) dwelled within him, even until the last day. But they were no longer master over him. Likewise, we will be struggling with our sinful flesh until the day we die, but our master is no longer sin, but Christ. So just as he gazed into his wife's eyes, let us just gaze directly into the eyes and love of God. That is our only Solution.

the great EXCHANGE

We don't get what we deserve.
We get what we don't deserve.

That exchange is made upon the cross.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

[2 Cor. 5:21]

HUNGRY again?!

So on Friday night I had "dduk-boh-sahm", or in English, "all-you-can-eat-korean-bbq". And it was delicious--I ate so much that I had trouble walking back to the car! I went to sleep thinking I don't need to eat for the next week. However, when I woke up on Saturday morning... I was sooo hungry again. Funny how that works huh? You go to sleep with your stomach about to explode, and then you wake up even hungrier the next morning.

I feel that's how it is with Bible reading. The more you read, the more you desire and hunger for the Word. Your spiritual stomach stretches...meaning, if you read a lot daily, you're going to need to read a lot on a daily basis in order to keep you fed spiritually. Vice versa, if you barely eat anything the whole day, your stomach shrinks and you don't really feel too hungry. If you barely read the Word, your need for it will never grow. Which means you will never grow spiritually either. So eat up fellas!

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
[Matthew 4:4]

christians = POOP

Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly.

So go out and spread the Good News. Pun intended. :)

can't wait for that DAY

In the Garden, we were ABLE TO SIN.

After the Fall, we were NOT ABLE NOT TO SIN.

After Christ, we are ABLE NOT TO SIN.

In Heaven, we are NOT ABLE TO SIN.

CELINE DION recites scripture

A little while back I was doing my Saturday morning devotional on 2Corinthians. I was going through chapter 12, when I stumbled upon verses 9-10. I meditated on it, and 'til today it's one of my favorite verses:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.


Immediately after my QT, I went to the bathroom to get cleaned up, shave, shower, etc. Without fail, I always turn on my radio as I'm getting ready in the morning.

As soon as I pressed "Power On" on my bathroom radio, the first words I heard were "You were my strength when I was weak." [Celine Dion's song "Because You Loved Me."] Wow. When I heard it, I turned off the radio, and I left it on that note.

I love when that happens. I also love being weak, and I love having an Almighty Savior who leads me all the way.

Coincidence? I think not... :)

HEAVEN on earth

After work I walked into the most beautiful day ever.

Sunny, blue skies, with a slight breeze, on a beautiful campus.

Tuned my Ipod to Shane & Shane -- Before the throne of God above.

And as I was walking, I smiled thinking "now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."[John 17:3]

Seriously. I'm so happy. What more can I ask for?

bumper STICKER gospel

Driving around L.A., let's just say you see quite a few cars. Just a few of my faves:

RELIGION is for the weak

Today I was walking back to the dorms when I noticed this guy at a table in the middle of BruinWalk. The table had signs all over it that reads in large letters, "RELIGION IS FOR THE WEAK." I approached the table with skepticism and ends up that this guy is a Christian, a pastor named Mark. Long story short, I ended up sitting at the table with him for 2 hours--and what a way to strike up conversations! It's kind of funny, there were so many atheists and agnostics who approached us with approval... soon to encounter a rude awakening that we were Jesus lovers haha. Nevertheless it provided an opportunity for us to speak to a microcosm of the most outspoken skeptics on campus.

I'll just leave you with this: I think Christians (especially me) need to step outside of their non-confrontational Christian bubbles and talk to people unlike themselves. Get your feathers a little ruffled. If you get jacked, so be it! Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger--it'll make you want to know what you believe with more proof and conviction.


p.s. - by the way, religion IS for the weak. we are weak. that's why we need a Savior. [2cor.12:9]

p.s.s. - and you know what? God uses the foolish in the world to put to shame the wise, what is weak in the world to shame the strong. [1cor.1:27]

sometimes i don't understand God's TIMING

For everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die,
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted,

a time to kill, and a time to heal,
a time to break down, and a time to build up,

a time to weep, and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn, and a time to dance,

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together,
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to seek, and a time to lose,
a time to keep, and a time to cast away,

a time to tear, and a time to sew,
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak,

a time to love, and a time to hate,
a time for war, and a time for peace.


but I know he works ALL things together for good to those who love, so I'll bank on that.

pleasure is the measure of your TREASURE

And my treasure is Christ. [Matthew 13:44]

which means infinite joy.

:)

who invited JOB to the snowboard trip?

Since I've been back to school, everyone's been telling me "Oh my God I heard about the crazy snowboard trip. It must've been so miserable." Actually I loved it. But for those of you who don't know, here's what happened:

1) We get to Bear Mountain, and we find that Christine forgot to bring her snowboard in the trunk.
2) Phoebe rents a snowboard but as she's walking to the lift for her first run, she has back spasms and can't board for the entire day.
3) Andrew gets a nasty voicemail from the cabin owners-- supposedly the neighbors called the police on us because we were being loud, and the city called the owners. The owners had spied on us at 2 am and counted 18 of us through the window, when the cabin is only for maximum 8-10 people (there were actually 30 of us haha). And they counted 6 cars in the driveway when the max is 3 cars. As a city ordinance, we had to cut the number to 10 and the cars to 3, or else we would be kicked out that night, no exceptions.
4) Robert has to go to the E.R. because of a severe foot infection. The doctors tell him that if he doesn't treat it quickly, he could possibly die.
5) On the last run of the day, I misfire a rail and my shins land on the corner of the metal box. Then my face lands on the ice and I have a bloody face.
6) As all the cars are packing up to go back to the cabin, Alice's snowboard is nowhere to be found. Somebody stole it and ran off without a trace. And on top of that it's her friend's snowboard that she borrowed.
7) We have to move 3 of the cars to another location for the night. Even though it's snowing, and there's icy roads, we take our chances and head out without chains on our tires. Halfway there i stop, then Billy stops behind me. But Andrew's car skids on the ice and collides with Billy's rear bumper.
8) On the way back home, almost all the cars gets back safely. Jon, driving Shening's family Suburban, is the last one. As he is about the get on the 405N (which is 5 min. from UCLA), a car crashes into the Suburban. The car had been avoiding a reckless driver, and ran into Jon. And by the way, the reckless driver zooms off.

Wow. All within a span of about 30 hours. Whenever we said it can't get any worse, it always did. Was it a lack of prayer or praise? Certainly not. This was probably the first KCM snowboard trip where we had a night of worship, devotionals, prayer, and morning QT's. A snowboard retreat haha. So was it because we did something wrong? Was it Satan attacking us? It doesn't matter. God deserves glory in every situation.

That night Billy and I were licking our wounds and whining about the woes of the trip. Why would God do this to us, it's so unfair! And that's when I remembered John 3:30--May God increase, and we decrease. We need a higher view of God. Instead of complaining and whining and blaming God, we should give praise to God for whatever the circumstance! Does God owe us a perfect trip? Are we of some worth that God is obliged to give us a smooth vacation? Not at all. God had shown us enough mercy already.

Thinking about it, things could have been much worse. We could have gotten kicked out and forced to drive home in the pitch black snowy night. Robert's toe infection could have been fatal, as the doctor had warned. I could have easily broken my nose or teeth if I landed centimeters closer to the rail. Andrew and Billy could have collided with a pedestrian or other cars. And Jon's car could have turned out to be a much deadlier and costly accident than it really was. So in a way, we are blessed.

And above all, we're saved by grace. Yet while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Talk about receiving a gift that we don't deserve. At the end of the day, grace is all I need. Sufferings, hardships, accidents can't faze us.

Soli Deo Gloria.

coincidence? i think not... [MISSIONS]

I usually don't rummage through trash cans, and I especially don't put in my backpack things from a trash can. But on the way to class today I noticed a magazine sitting in the midst of an overflowing trashcan. It caught my eye because it said The Watchtower on it, and I knew the Watchtower is to Jehovah's Witnesses what the Vatican is to Catholics. I said to myself, "Oh interesting.~ The Jehovah's Witness official magazine, I'll have a look into it later." I grabbed the magazine, rolled it up, and shoved it in my backpack.

During the KCM servant team meeting, my mind wandered while we were talking about the upcoming missions report night. I opened my backpack and started picking at the magazine. One article remarked that "God's Word needs no revision," and I chuckled to myself because the Jehovah's Witnesses find the Bible false so they retranslated the Bible into their own New World Bible translation. I flipped through other articles until one of them grabbed my attention because it said Freedom for Mayas. There was a map of the Yucatan, and I pointed to Ashley who was sitting next to me, "Oh shoot, Yucatan! That's where I go for missions every year!" When I turned the page, my heart dropped and I almost cried. I forget names easily, but I never forget a face. There on the photo was a woman I had evangelized to in a remote village just a couple months back. As soon as I saw the photo I yelled out loud "Oh my God!", and at that exact same moment Jon Kang asked me to close in prayer for the servant team about... I didn't even hear the topic because I was busy looking at the photo. I turned to Ashley and she said it was for missions, and by this time I was freaked out and shaking. God reminded me of the urgency for missions. So I prayed. Coincidence? I think not...

I remembered a quote I read on my friend's wall who used to play varsity soccer. It read something like: When you're not training, someone out there is. It's similar to the mission field-- because when Christians are neglecting missions, then somebody else out there is spreading false doctrine and leading people to hell. I don't care if it's Jehovah's Witnesses (who preach that Jesus Christ is not God), or Mormons, or Muslims, or Buddhists. When we as believers make excuses not to go on missions, then cults and false religions are happily there to fill the lack. Not only do they spread demonic doctrine, they undo the missions work that you have done in the past. Just like the lady who I shared the gospel to, somebody else is spreading the Jehovah's Witness gospel to the same people. It's continual spiritual warfare. So I urge you, Christian. Promote missions. Don't be afraid to share your testimony. Support missions. Go out on missions. It's no joke.

The Watchtower is read semi-monthly by almost every Jehovah's Witness in the world.

The same woman that me and Missionary Yoo shared the gospel with in July 2008.

a NEW year, a NEW chapter

Don't be afraid of tomorrow. God is already there.

get a little UNCOMFORTABLE

INVISIBLE CHILDREN
(click if you dare or care)

blog volcano is about to ERUPT

wow i have sooo much i want to blog about
i'll wait til the new year
and then the blog volcano will erupt

hold your horses :)

COINCIDENCE? i think not...

Seriously, let me just being by saying God works all things together for good to those who love Him.

My story begins on the 3rd day of UR--on Wednesday morning my Dad called me but I just stared at my phone and didn't pick up. He left me a voicemail so I decided to listen to it just in case it was an emergency. My Dad says, "Hey I found this drug rehab center in Tecate, Mexico. Let's sleep in San Diego Thursday night and head over there on Friday. Call me A.S.A.P. if you want to go." My immediate reaction: Pshh heck no! I went to SkiDazzle just for a Big Bear lift ticket and it expires Friday. No way, I want to snowboard.~ And I refused to give him a call back. So I sit down for the morning sermon, and guess what it's on? Missions. Haha are you serious? Oh my gosh Pastor Richard's sermon convicted me. Everyone deserves the gospel. It made me realize what was truly important, and I had a heart to go spread the love of Christ. Coincidence? I think not...

I called my Dad after service and told him, "Hey pick me up from San Diego. Let's do this." On Thursday night we ended up staying at the Hilton hotel at Del Mar Heights in San Diego. Around dinner time we got hungry so we went driving around the Del Mar Racetrack area to find a place to eat. Then as we're driving through this plaza, we spot this white guy/asian girl couple through the windows. And we both thought, hell no-- can that be Uncle Jerry and Aunt YooSoon? We went inside and surprise! Haha out of all the restaurants in San Diego at that same hour, what are the odds? And it gets even better-- my cousin's boyfriend Rich was there with them asking for the blessing to marry their daughter Connie (my cousin). Haha he must've thought our family is crazy, but nevertheless he showed us the ring and we had a nice conversation. Wow what are the chances that we meet on those terms? I'm hoping that our growing family will become a Christ-loving bunch :) Coincidence? I think not...

The next morning we head over to Tecate, Mexico, and Pastor Roberto was waiting for us at the border. My Dad met him on Thanksgiving weekend when he drove by himself to Mexico looking for new ministry opportunities. He asked where the most crime-infested area of Tecate was, and then he found a couple churches in that area. By God's will, he ended up finding Pastor Roberto. It just so happens that both Pastor Robert and my Dad have a heart for drug rehab ministry because they were both drug addicts before meeting Jesus. Haha imagine what Roberto thought when a random Korean guy showed up at his door. But anyways... Coincidence? I think not...

Pastor Roberto knew a drug rehab center so we drove about an hour away to the place. When we arrived there, all the drug rehab interns had gone somewhere to work for the day. The only people remaining was one leader, and a young drug addict named Manuel. Manuel had been hooked on Methamphetamines since he was 8-years old. He came to the rehab center about 2 weeks ago and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Amen! And ever since then, he has broke the chains of drug addiction. However, on this particular morning, he didn't follow the other interns because he was angry about something in the morning. Everyone left except the leader and Manuel. Without any prior contact, we popped up and my Dad shared the gospel/practical experience with the young believer. Manuel (a brand new believer recovering from drugs) was tremendously blessed by the advice, testimony, and gospel that we shared with him. We gave him his first Bible and he accepted with tears of joy. Coincidence, I think not...

Afterwards, my Dad and I attended the Friday night service at Pastor Roberto's church. I shared an encouraging word, and my Dad shared his testimony. While he was sharing the gospel and testimony, there were a few that just broke out in tears. I really believe God wanted those particular guys attending the service to hear the message and touch them. Even if it was through some random Korean guy who speaks Spanish who found a random church in a random district of a random city. Coincidence? I think not...

It may not seem like much, but take a closer look at things. Everything happens for a reason. [Romans 8:28]

I was sleeping when my Dad was driving. When I woke up I said, "Am I in Utah or Mexico?"

The Son is beautiful.

Drug addiction? Slavery to sin? Victory is through Christ and in Him alone. Ask any of them.

There are no colors in the House of God.