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| Wow, its been awhile since I've last posted. In fact, its been 1 school year since I have last posted. I am more active on facebook now than I am on Xanga. However, I think the great about xanga is that it primarily focuses on bloging, and not networking like facebook does. So I had a lot of free time today, and I just wanted to update my blog because hopefully in 10-20 years, when I look back, these journals and experiences that I have shared with the world will still be here. So this is why I want to keep my account active.
Enough rambling. Its been an interesting year for my life thus far; I am 2 years from concluding my college life (hopefully), and soon will be entering into the next chapter of life called adulthood (aka prime time). Its very frightening to know how fast life travels because I just recently went to a high school graduation, and to a high school choir concert (who I saw many seniors cry their eyes out), and it just seemed like that was me yesterday. I was the one wearing that graduation gown, and signing yearbooks. But now, all that seems to be fading away very quickly, and soon enough, my 10 year high school reunion will be arriving.
Okay, I need to stop being nostalgic, and embrace whats going on in the present time. As of right now, there are a lot of things that are running through my mind. For one, upon talking to my dad today, I realized how assuring it is to be blessed with parents who will take care of me regardless of what happens. The reason being was I was talking to my dad about the job market, and wanting to find a second job to make more money so I can afford books commentaries, topical bible, and leisure reading books, and singing lessons (for accapella group), and also hopefully to save enough money after I graduate college to find a place to live. And the words that came out of my dad's mouth was surprisingly what I did not expect. A lot of friends I know tell me that they need to survive on their own after they are 21. But for me? My dad said, "if you listen to me, and trust what I say, you won't have to struggle finding a house, if and only if you listen to me. You can stay here as long as you need to, whenever you need to." Those words, are one of the most assuring words that I have heard in long while (outside of God's word of course). Again, I have a lot of things running through my mind, and this is only part of it.
Now that summer is here, I have a lot of time to meditate on God's word. And every time I touch the cover of my Bible, I feel so blessed because there are people all around in the world, especially in Islamic countries such as Indonesia, the Middle East, or Burma, its nearly impossible to read the Bible freely. In fact, I remember back in Unikoi, there was a month dedicated to the month of praying for people who were persecuted, and vividly remember soliders who invaded a house of one family who were reading the Bible. They were being violently being taking out of the house, and trying to resist the soldiers. However in one scene, a soldier notices a little girl carrying the Bible out with her, and he immediately slaps the Bible down on the floor and spits on the cover of it. The little girl calmly goes down to the ground and wipes out the spit, and dirt from the Bible; and the next thing you know, the soldier shoots her in the head. Whenever I touch the cover of my Bible, that is what I think about, and that is why I feel so ashamed, and unworthy of having one. I am blessed to be in a country, to be in a city, and community, where I don't have to worry about soldiers coming into my house and persecuting me. I can just pick it up anytime, and meditate on it. What is my point for telling the world about this? It is plain and simple. Never take the Words of God for granted; if people are willing to die for a book, doesn't that kind of saying something about it? I mean, just think about that for a second.
Its a beautiful sunset, with blue and orange skies. Can God create things anymore beautiful than this?
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| EDIT: 10/25/07 True intmacy occurs when we draw closer to the Holiness of God. How do we draw closer to God? By worshipping him with reverence and in fear. By doing that, we will experience God in our daily lives 24/7. Like myself, I experience God on a daily basis through time of worship, and reading the Word Of God. Because of all that, I get to know God much more in depth, and understand how sinful I am. Being intimate means to draw closer to God; therefore, the more we are closer to God "or intimate" the more we will realize the holiness of God. Just like my examples in Revelation with the 24 Elders, Moses with the burning Bush, Ezekiel when God called upon him, they all trembled at the presence of God. Why? because God's glory radiated upon them. Glory is the reflection of God's holiness. Now, how does this apply to worship? When we realize how sinful we are, and sing songs that EXALT God's name, we will begin to fall facedown and worship on bended kness to show reverence to God. As a result of that, intimacy occurs between you and God. Now some may or may not agree with me, but hey that is why God created all of us differently. Just want to clarify, I respect everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect that and I will not think any less of it. Unless for some reason it is outrageously wrong, then I will correct them. Thanks. Here is a video of how God stirred Chris Tomlin's heart to write the song "We Fall Down." Yes folks, he wrote the song. (hahaha you know who you are) http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Vo0bKJjKUo. Hope you enjoy it. I am not a Tomlin fanatic, nor do I him, but I do worship the lyrics that he writes about God. Why? because he uses scripture as inspriation to most of his songs. No disrespect to Redman, or Tim Hughes...okay fine! its cause Tomlin's style is more fitting for me! haha! "After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." at once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature likean ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourthliving creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,who was and is and is to come!" And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." -Revelation 4 This is what true worship is all about. If you think we are going to run up "Into God's Arm" and be hugging him and whatnot, you are wrong. Lets take a look into some instances in the Bible where people just get owned when they encountered God shall we?
"Andthe angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of themidst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet itwas not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." and he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God." -Exodus 3
"Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank." Acts 9:3
As you can see, when they encountered God, they fell at the presence of his holiness. Ezekiel didnt even dare to try to describe how God looked like because he was so overwhelmed by the "gleaming metals" of the light. This is how worship is going to be like in heaven, because when we encounter God, we are going to tremble, and fall facedown to the ground saying "Holy, Holy, HOLY, is the Lord God almighty" Amen. This is my visions and hope for worship; to one day see people truly understand the meaning of worship by falling down on bended knees, and worshiping God with the utmost reverence.
I'll admit, I am dogmatic, (CATmatic), but honestly, do you truly you think you will run into God's arm and BAM! be with him? I dont know..but if Moses and Paul, two of the most Godly people in the Bible feared God, and trembled before him, who are we to just run up to God and worship him?
I like this analogy: Its like waiting in line to Worship God, most people think they can just cut through the line, and worship God" no, everyone is worshiping by bowing and facing down. Not by cutting through the line and sit on God's lap.
"We fall down, we lay our crowns, at the feet of Jesus,
And we cry Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lamb"
What a beautiful song, props to Tomlin for using Revelations 4.
Here is a video that I saw on youtube, it really sums up what I do everyday at school. Hope you enjoy.
Prayers going out to the victims of the fire. Hopefully God will provide rain to wash away all ashes and smoke in the air.
Happy Birthday Daddy!
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| Wow I havent written here in such a long time...
anyways myself and the rest of the Macau missions team recently got back..it was an experience that we'll never forget. There are alot of stories, and funny moments. I am sure majority of the people reading this got my emails during the trip right? basically what I said in the email was what happened. You can ask me, or the others about the trip when we see you. There's too much to explain, which means too much typing and time. It was tons of fun, and fruitful.
Here are links to my facebook account which leads to my pictures (dont worry, you do not have to create an account to view it. at least I dont think so..)
http://fullerton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035056&l=9e54f&id=19909178
http://fullerton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035058&l=9eb9d&id=19909178
http://fullerton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035061&l=2cf4a&id=19909178
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KOqEJjNlojE
this video is our team motto at the college camp. its so hilirious you guys have to check it out. LoL..I will post more pictures/videos here on xanga later.
Till then! God's good all the time.
Here is one of my favorite pictures:
Edit:
Here is Our Pantamine that we practiced for...hope you all enjoy it! Hopefully we'll get to perform live or something!! It is fun doing a pantamime! +200 for Christi for teaching us!! I'll add more pictures later!
More Videos:
Same Pantamime, but just at the College Camp (more flaws though)
Fountain Show
Your Beloved (Acapella)
The Attempt(S) of the UJW*
Tim= Christi Gene= Cheryl
The Family Portrait. Jason Lee= Christi, Benson= David Wong, Gene= Uncle Joe, Tim= Auntie Denise, Lei-Lei= Cheryl (well its not exactly what she did)
Okay to explain a little..UJW= Uncle Joe Wong. Why? Because Tim and Jason continuely thoughout the entire trip teased Christi about the family portraits in her living room. If you ever looked at it, they look so serious..especially UJW.
We distributed approximately 800 bibles within a span of 2 1/2 hours!! Our only regret were not bringing enough bibles to distribute.(we didnt have enough space in the van to carry all the bibles)
I am so blessed by this woman named Ida; because she would always ask me to teach her how to play some of the worship songs that we did at the Rehab center. She even asked for copies at the end!! hahaha I hope God continues to bless her through her worship just like God has blessed me through worship as well. (hahaha look at her shirt!)
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| So I go and buy some food at the Lolicup near my house, and was waiting for my food to come out. I look at my phone to check on any messages that I might of missed in the last 3 days, and I came across a voice-mail from my cousin Eleanor. But before I explain what she said to me, I have to go back to last 2 weekends back when I was up North for a family reunion. While at the family reunion, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to raise my own missions money. Because as most of you know, 1/3 of the trip has to be raised by ourselves. And so I made a short power-point presentation about my missions trip to Macau this summer; although not everyone in my family is as devout of a Christian as I am, or even some not even a Christian, they all decided to pitch in money for my missions trip. And lets just say, I raised more than 1/3 for my missions trip.
Now going back to the voice-mail with Eleanor today...as she and Tim, and her parents were at the family reunion, Eleanor called me today and left a voice-mail saying that they all wanted to support me of my missions funding as well. Eleanor and my Uncle and Aunt want to pay the other 1/3 that my parents were suppose to pay. So basically..2/3 of the money that I received, is essentially from my family. And the other 1/3 is paid by the church.
Just looking back at this, really I honestly cannot thank my family enough for their love and support. Sometimes, I fail to realize, that God's really blessed me with a group of people that would support me through whatever circumstances regardless of their faith or my faith. Its just a great assurance that in whatever I do in life, whether I fail or succeed, I have my family to fall back on; however, I am not saying friends wont be there..but with family, its a guarentee that they will be there no matter what. As oppose to friends, there are no guarentees, because unfortunately..some will betray and gossip about you.
Going back to two weekends ago which was Memorial Weekend, my family and I always go up North as a tradition to go to Los Gatos grave site to honor our parents, brothers, and loved ones that have passed away. See the thing is this, everytime I went to the gravesite, everyone that passed away I never really got to know. So everytime I would go, I can only imagine what they are like through testimonies, pictures, and old video-tapes of them. However, this year is the first year we are celebrating my Uncle Roddy's death. Its still hard to believe that he's gone..because usually every Memorial Weekend, I would expect to hear his laughter, and voice. He's so loud, and funny..but this year seemed different. The family really isnt the same without him..but hey you know God's sovereign, and just like Romans 8 says, he has a purpose for everything, and whatever that purpose is, will be Good. But as we came across my Uncle Roddy's grave, I saw my dad, and his brothers and sister crying. Like seriously, I hate seeing my dad and his brothers and sister crying, because I really tears apart my heart to see him like that. But losing your own brother, mother, and biological father, has got to be really hard. And looking back at that moment, I realized how fortunate I am that my dad is still alive today. God could of easily caused all of this to happen to him, instead of my Uncle. Although it doesnt make the situation any better, the point is that I've become much more humbled, and more appreciative of the people who are still alive in my family.
More off Tangent..
And the scary part, Sunday night, I was sleeping at my Aunt Judy's house who is my Uncle Roddy's wife, and it was really freaky to sleep on the couch all by myself at night. The reason is where I am sleeping, there is a huge picture of my Uncle Roddy that was used during his funeral, and basically he was just staring straight at me. I cant really avoid it..but dont you guys get freaked out at looking at pictures at night? sometimes my imagination takes over and wants to think that they will pop out, or whoever is in the picture is talking to you..? hahaha I know I am kinda freaking some people out here, sorry..but for me, that was just a little scary to have to look at my Uncle Roddy's picture, especially in the dark, where there's still partial lighting on the picture frame.
But anyways...on a more lighter note..overally everything has been pretty good lately, at least for the most part. Have to go to my sister's graduation this week; man..i cant believe its been 1 year since I have finished high school. I still feel like a high-schoolers sometimes..hahaha..man great memories in high school..both in school, and church. I was looking at my pictures on my computer this past weekend, and I came across a video that I recorded. Some of you might remember this, but its a video that I recorded when myself, vania, ty, lawton, and others kidnapped Beatrice for her birthday last year. I have posted on youtube, but in case that doesnt work here it is. Its so funny..I laughed when Gabe started yelling, and then Lawton started to pinch Beatrice at the end. I realized, in the video where I inroduced everyone invovled in the plot, Kristen is no where to be found in the "actual kidnapping." hahaha where were you the entire time Kris?!?
Here it is, hope you all enjoy! =)
This is Part I: The Introduction of the people invovled.
And this is the Actual Kidnapping of Beatrice. She looks so helplesss...if this were to happen in real-life..i would be over for you Beatrice..hahaha =) sorry if this embarasses anyone..but its freaking hilirious.
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| Should America tighten gun posessions after the events of Columbine and
Virginia Tech? I mean... the shooters bought the gun at a local gun
store for about $531.00. That is really cheap considering it is a fatal
weapon, but costly in lives. I think they should..actually I think America really needs to ban weapon posessions from people. I think the only people that should carry guns are law enforcements, and bodyguards. I would not see any other reason why people would need a gun. To protect themselves? studies show that a family or person that carries a gun is more likely to pull the trigger at themselves, and someone else.
I dont blame Bush, or the
administrations at VT...Although there were signs well in advanced that
something was going to happen. The shooter Cho Seung Hui had planned
two bomb threats to the school. Wouldnt the school take him more
seriously since's threatened the school more than once? and even more
wouldnt they expell him? I dont know...and another way it could of been
prevented was since the first shooting occured at 7:15 Am in the
morning, and then the next shooting occured two hours later, shouldnt
the classrooms be in lockdown mode? meaning barrade all the doors, lock
the doors so the shooter cannot get inside the classrooms?
and finally, I heard that the two shootings were linked..and that it
was indeed both by Cho Seung Hui. If it was, between the time of the
first and second shooting, students or faculties, or even campus police
that saw Cho shoot the first two people like report him or something? I
dont know...
Yeah, there was nothing you can do about teh first shooting. That was a
dometic thing...but the second shooting could of been prevented in my
opionion. In my mind, if there was a shooting, wouldnt you go to
lockdown mode and lock all the doors to prevent the shooters from
coming in? at least he cant just walk into the classroom and start
shooting at people..right?
Already people are starting to be racist to Asians already..especially
to Koreans. It is disappointing to see and hear..asian people are being
mocked innocently because of Cho Seung Hui.
That is just my view and opinon. What do you guys think about the situation? do you think it could of been prevented? or campus police could of taken a different approach? would love to hear your guys opinion.
in the mean time...everyone keep praying for the victims who lost their lives yesterday. I went on facebook today and looked up the victims that died..and it sucks because they are just as young as me who are in college and have a facebook account as well. Its just sad and disappointing to hear the tragic loss.
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