Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!

Brother GD and Sister Prophet don't really like Halloween..., I don't really love it or anything, but I thought kids deserves a little bit of fun... ;) Instead of dressing up as little ghosts or monsters knocking on doors yelling 'trick or treat?' I think I'd have my kids dressed up as little Jesus or an angel asking, "heaven or hell?" ;)

Anyway, I suppose we don't have to celebrate as the pagans do, but I guess I can appreciate the effort by Washing Mutual to decorate their office building in Seattle... it's a good PR move...

So how are we Christians to celebrate this All Saint's Holiday???

Hm....

By going to a prayer meeting, that's how! ;)

Today's reading was about Pharisees. I suppose those folks remind us that we better not be too religious with our faith... Christ desires mercy not just useless sacrifices... God wishes everyone would come knocking on His door trick-or-treating... and God would be more than happy to give us more than just candy..., but His sweet love and eternal life! God is so good.

(Matthew 12:1-45)

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The King!

Elvis Presley remains as the highest earning dead celebrities... he earned about $49million in the past year. How cool is that! ;) During his early years, Elvis was influenced primarily by gospel music while he attended an Assembly of God Pentecostal church with his family..., the dude actually enjoys singing hymns. Of course this King also knows very well who is the King of Kings!!!! ;) Anyway, wonder when will the next 'Elvis' come along...

One encouraging thing to note is that I think I'm finally making progress debating on internet forums!!! I've debated athesits, Christadelphians(who believe Jesus is Lord, but not God...), and Buddhists... and for 'years', I don't think I've converted a single soul. Gospel isn't really meant to be debated I guess. If I win the debate, the other person would be pissed... if I lose the debate, for sure they won't believe the gospel... so most of the time, I debate for my own benefit. Whenever questions arises which I don't know the answer to, I'd try to find out in the bible or from some other sources...
Anway, today, it seems that one of the Buddhists I was debating with is beginning to doubt his faith in Buddhism. This guy is French Canadian..., I think he must've suffered thru some horrible experiences with Christians in the past..., he really hated Christians..., I think he sorta hates me to..., but I think I'm slowly getting thru to him... Anyway, may the Holy Spirit can personally guide him on the right path later on... he has actually put together a "plan" which I found pretty impressive. Anyway, may God be with him!
Today's scripture reading is about Matthew... and very short. However, it pointed out some important things about the Christ... that he desire mercy more than sacrifice. That although he hates sin, but he loves sinners. Elvis Presley for sure is not a perfectly righteous person, surely not everything that he did would please God. I'm sure not everything that I do would please God too..., but for sure we know that God loves us... that we're righteous by our faith. Just that hopefully we are pleasing God more and more with our born again lives too! :)

Monday, October 29, 2007

Boring weekend...

Yep, this weekend we didn't get to do much..., didn't even watch any movies or anything..., I had to work a little bit on saturday... and then drove wife to Ritz-Carlton so that she can play violin for a friend's sister's wedding... while I go mow the lawn at my parent's house... Other than that, we've pretty much wasted a lot of time... on walking around in Target... me playing stupid videogames and to fix up a tire which didn't need much fixing!!! ;)

So, yeah, it was a pretty boring weekend, but the up-side of it was that I think wife and I are slowing able to enjoy each other's company better! Her blog talked about the difference between 'having' and 'enjoying' are two different things... We've legally had each other since January of this year, we've officially had each other since July..., so let the enjoying begin... and may God help us to be able to enjoy each other more and more! ;)

Anyway, last weekend's sermon was a continuation of pastor Jim's Heros topic. He was describing to us the difference between Heros and Celebrities. Who's our hero? Pastor Jim was saying that it's those who selflessly sacrificed themselves to help others... what they do, may or may not be recognized by the people... celebrity/movie stars typically play heros on screen, but of couse not all heros are that well known... such as we have no clue about the names of the fire fighters fighting the california fires... and it's interesting that wife and I have different opinion of what is a 'hero', but at least we can agree that Jesus Christ is our hero! ;)

Today's scripture reading is about the magi, the wisemen... who somehow figured out the birth of this future hero and decided to come to worship him. So they're probably like the first 'Christians' ever! Even before the disciples!!! ;) As Christians... or as Hero-ians... may we all can live out the remainder of our lives as everyday heros to those who need help. Superman and Spider don't care if people think that they're heros or not..., they help because they see the need for help. May all of us be able to live our lives as heros... so that our Lord's name can be glorified... God gave us all some kind of 'power' to do certain things, so for sure we are empowered by God... pastor Jim also said God has caped us with favor..., previous Sunday, we had free dinner, this sunday, we had free boba milk tea... God is good! :)

(Matthew 2)

Friday, October 26, 2007

CR-Zed Insanity!


Tokyo autoshow has revealed quite a few new cars, one that I like very much is this Honda CR-Z. It's a hybrid car that looks nice and sporty..., kinda like a 'hybrid' of my Civic hatchback and my S2000! ;) For sure it's infinitely better looking than to Toyota Prius.

Another interesting design is the Mazda Taiki. Supposedly it flows with air or whatever Taiki means... I really do like how the curves flow on that car.

Anyway, today we got the garage door fixed. We only fixed one door and luckily the new one looks exactly like the old one next to it so we don't have to replace both of them!!! Plus we were able to get it done cheap thanks to wife's connections... Anyway, hopefully nothing will be needing anymore fixing anytime soon... getting tired of one thing after another...

Today's scripture reading is finally about a new testament character... Joseph. Christ's step dad! We don't seem to hear about him much later on in the gospel stories..., I wonder why. All we know is that he's a nice guy... and does everything God told him to do... so that he can get Mary or baby Jesus out of trouble. The good thing about this guy is that he never seemed to get sick and tired of doing things for others even though trouble seems to follow one after another..., a seemingly troublesome and boring life..., but at least this righteous guy must've been a good dad to have God trust him to raise Jesus... and certainly Jesus is a good carpenter because of Joseph...

(Matthew 1:18-25,Matthew 2:13-23)

2007 Mazda Taiki Concept

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Jet-man: Human powered flight

At the end of today's lunch time staff meeting, manager showed a clip of this amazing guy at the end...

All I can say is WOW! They've turn BuzzLightyear into reality!!!! So cool! The guy is a commercial pilot... a military pilot... does a lot of daring stuffs... anyway, too bad the site is in french so I don't know all the full details..., but suffice to say that he's cool and he's living his life to the fullest!!!!

Anyway, today's scripture reading was about Habakkuk, this guy is even cooler! He can talk to God! (Or complaint to God!) ;) And no matter what happens, joy of the Lord is his strength! Can we do better than this guy? ;)

(Habakkuk 1-3)

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Wind is dying down...

Hopefully that'll help the fire fighters to regain control the wild fires... San Diego really suffered the most damages I think. No rain in the forecast, but I pray that one comes very soon! Have mercy on us God... and may this disaster help many to turn back to the Lord too...

It was very nice of Bible League... I think I donated some money back when I was at Seattle for them to send some bibles to China..., to my surprise, I got an email saying that they're praying for me amidst of the fires..., how very nice of them... I thought it was some junk mail at first, but it's refreshing to see some prayer junk mail instead of a bunch get rich quick junk mails or sexually explicit junk mails! ;)

Anyway, recently my wheels in my mind is still turning regarding the true age of this world... are we seriously billions of years old... or are we merely thousands of years old? (if we take the Biblical accounts literally)

Scientists believe the youngest fossil record we have are at least 10,000 years old... most are millions and some are even billions years old. So no matter how we stretch the biblical accounts, I don't think there's a way to stretch the age of the world to beyond 10,000 years. Of course, scientist aren't absolutely certain either. Carbon dating is only reliable up to 60,000 years... radioactive dating also isn't reliable to anything existing after 1940's... after we invented the atomic bomb... who knows whether or not if we've actually experience another huge exposure of radiation sometime during past history?

But anyway, based on whatever I've learned so far..., most likely, the world is probably older than 6,000 years...I'm just not sure if we are to take the creation account so literally... more investigations necessary..., it's funny that I now find paleontology kinda interesting now! ;)

Anyway, today's scripture is about Jonah. Jonah is an interesting character I think. He seems so angry all the time... wonder what has the Ninevites done to him that he dislikes them so much. Didn't want to preach to them... and didn't want to see them saved... Surely many preachers would love to preach for God... and would love to see many people saved as a result! But not Jonah. Nope. He doesn't want to preach to them... and was pissed that those he preached to repented!!! God sure uses people in a weird way. Some people don't have the gifts but want to do it..., but some do have the gifts but don't really want to do it. What's up with that? ;)

May God help all of us to be able to appreciate our own gifts... and to use it generously..., and may God help us not to covet other people's gifts too much... if anything, we should desire for more spiritual fruits! Such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control!

(Jonah 1-4)
http://science.howstuffworks.com/carbon-142.htm
http://clearlyexplained.com/nature/earth/minerals/fossils.html

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Getting wilder!!!

Wouldn't it be nice if this were some sort of spiritual revival around southern california? Holy Spirit burning within our hearts?!?!? Holy Smoke!!! ;)

Unfortunately, this is an actual fire... it's getting much smokier today... not just accoding to the satellite photos, but I can also smell it more at work too!!!

Anyway, this morning, I woke up early to meet up with contractor about our broken garage door... it's just one thing breaking down after another... sigh... too bad with this broken... and fallen world. ;) Also took the opportunity to do my blood test afterwards before I head to work... sure have gotten a lot done in the morning! ;)

Today's reading was about Hosea... he basically demonstrated the amazing love of God by loving an adulterous and unfaithful wife... I guess that is real love, huh? No matter what happened to your spouse, you will continue your love no matter what... of course if your adulterous spouse were to never turn back, then of course there's nothing you can do..., but as long as they turned back, can we continue to love like that?

May the love of God continue to fill our hearts so that we may be able to truly love like God loves... of course, by no means am I encouraging committing adultery to test your spouse's love for you! ;) If anything, we should test ourselves regarding our love for our spouses...

(Hosea 1-3)

Monday, October 22, 2007

Wild fire once again...

Last night we thought our neighbor's cooking was stir frying too much smoke... and it was really irritating our eyes and breathing..., as it turned out, it was probably also the wild fires! The dry Santa Ana wind's certainly not helping too... Hopefully it can be contained soon. Anyway, wife suspected that I probably got sick Friday because of my lack of ear wax in my ear... the sudden change of 'pressure' build up was probably what's screwing me up! I was breaking out cold sweats..., felt like throwing up, and suffering some headache..., but as it turned out, a good nite's sleep was once again able to cure it! Thank God! :)
The next morning, I was able to eat like a pig once more! I cooked up some greasy bacon, ham, egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast... it looked kinda ugly, but it didn't taste too bad amazingly!!! ;) We later on saw Ang Lee's Lust Caution. As I told my wife..., I just plain didn't like the film... and I also don't think it's that crucial to keep all of the explicit sex scenes in order to tell the story properly. It earned a NC-17 rating, could've just hide the actor's balls to get it down to an R rated movie probably... such rating can probably further boost box office ticket sales... Anyway, besides the sex, I really think the story kinda sucks. I just don't get the main female character. Why she did what she did? Just doesn't make sense to me. I suppose lots of folks probably make decisions that make no sense?!?!? Was that Ang Lee's point? Maybe..., but I can't help but give this movie a thumbs down.

On Sunday, perhaps my ear wax was really impeding my listening abilities..., worship really seemed a lot louder to me for whatever reasons! Hopefully my spiritual ear wax may be cleansed away too so that I may hear God better! ;) Pastor Jim talked about being heros... saying that we are all equipped with special powers from God to be heros... first thing he talked about was our God given cape of favors! He wanted us to expect favors from God! As it turned out, it happened very quickly... that evening we had free dinner simply because we bumped into Jay's parents at the same restaraunt... and Mr. Cheng insisted on paying for our meal!!! Thank God for His favor! But I hope we can soon become more 'heroic' around other's too... instead of simply being recipients of favors and blessings!

Finally in formula 1, a controversial season has finally came to an end. Brazil race was interesting to watch... too bad Lewis Hamilton threw it away in the end, but this promising rookie should have plenty more chances to win more championships in the future. I'm glad Kimi has finally won a championship... coming into this race 3rd... and then edge everyone else by a single point to win! Wow! Good for him! I'm happy for him!

Oh, and today's scripture read is about King Belshazzar, the first person to ever join Facebook... and God wrote him a message on his wall!!!! Not a very good message... May God leaves good messages on our walls, but we gotta first be humble and obedient...

(Daniel 5)

Friday, October 19, 2007

Getting sick on sick day...

Haven't had a physical for a while, so I thought I should get myself checked out..., since I have plenty of sick days, so I thought I just take the whole day off! Everything seems cool with the doc, except that the doctor needed to spend a lot of time cleaning my ears!!! ;)

Also thanks to Jay, due to a grand opening of BJ's in Glendale, we were able to have free lunch during their first opening... and practicing week! The food was nice and we ate a lot... and I think I got sick becaue of the food. But wife seems okay though... we ate the same things, so not sure what's my problem...

Today's scripture reading was about Nebuchadnezzar, I guess his problem is pride... and God was able to turn him around. Whatever my problem is, may He be able to turn in around too...

I think I'm going to sleep now... ;)

(Daniel 4)

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Daniel's friends...

Today, we'll have a going away lunch for one of my co-workers, Simon... the dude is a graduate of USC and always wears a jacket with USC on it... I think the love of my life is the only USC grad who's not that crazy about her school! ;) Anyway, Simon is actually going to the exact company and department which I came from about 4 years ago. What a small world!

I was there for about 3 years, working on satellite antenna. Work environment was great and the pay was great too... I remember making more than Daniel back then..., but now that I'm working with Daniel... he has past me by! Anyway, main reason why I switched job was because I was really bored with working on antenna... so wanted to come back to the airplane field. For sure the past years a Boeing had been more interesting... I worked on the shuttle... and actually travelled to Texas and Florida... and saw the shuttle! I also worked in Seattle for a few month on a totally brand new plane..., but too bad that didn't go anywhere... Also, had I been with my old job, my top secret clearance probably would make marrying my black listed illegal alien wife impossible too! ;)

So God makes all things work together for the good of all those who love Him I guess! Today's reading is about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel's friends, who got thrown into the furnace. Regardless of whether God rescues them or not in the firey furnace, they would NOT bow down and worship false idols. I'm also a Daniel's friend, may the Lord strengthen me to be more like them too! ;)

(Daniel 3)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Confused...

This Dr. Kent Hovind person sounded interesting in the videos and really managed to convince me that perhaps we really do have a young earth... and perhaps dinosaurs and humans really once lived together... not just millions of years ago...

However, the fact that this dude is currently serving a 10 year setence in jail because of tax evasion certainly didn't help his cause... Apostle Paul getting jailed for preaching is one thing, but getting jail for not paying taxes is quite another. Still, whatever the guy taught is kinda biblical... it's just that some of the things he claims might just be his own interpretations...

Regardless, I wish I can know the real truth... whether if earth is really old... or really just a few thousand years old...

Today's scripture reading is about Daniel. He begged God to give him wisdom and knowledge to be able to know the king's dream and to interpret it for him... Well, Lord God, can I know the real truth about the age of the earth? I know it's possible that earth is really really old... a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day for the eternal God, but it's also possible that you really literally created everything in just six 24hr days, right? Which is it? How can we really know? Can You shed some light on this subject, O God?

(Daniel 1-2,6)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Airbus A380 takes flight!



After a 18 month delay, A380 is finally being delivered to Singapore Airlines! Boeing doesn't believe there's a market for such a huge plane, so instead we developed a smaller and more efficient new plane... and it's been behind schedule also... today, it seems it's just getting harder and harder to keep promises! ;)

Anyway, I wonder how much is a ticket for a "bed" on the A380! If this double decker turns out to be a success, it'd for sure threaten Boeing..., but so far, I don't think Airbus has sold enough of them to break even just yet..., but in the long run, who knows. Boeing 747 was the make or break plane for Boeing... it's going to be interesting seeing Airbus and Boeing duking it out in the future!

I'm also still trying to finish the crazy biblical dino video..., according to the Bible, perhaps dinosaurs really did live with men... at least with Job in Ch 40!!!

15 “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; He eats grass like an ox.
16 See now, his strength is in his hips, And his power is in his stomach muscles.
17 He moves his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.
18 His bones are like beams of bronze, His ribs like bars of iron.
19 He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword.

What is a behemoth? Some said elephant or hippo... in the chinese bible, it is directly translated as hippo!

15 你 且 觀 看 河 馬 ; 我 造 你 也 造 他 。 他 吃 草 與 牛 一 樣 ;
16 他 的 氣 力 在 腰 間 , 能 力 在 肚 腹 的 筋 上 。
17 他 搖 動 尾 巴 如 香 柏 樹 ; 他 大 腿 的 筋 互 相 聯 絡 。
18 他 的 骨 頭 好 像 銅 管 ; 他 的 肢 體 彷 彿 鐵 棍 。
19 他 在 神 所 造 的 物 中 為 首 ; 創 造 他 的 給 他 刀 劍 。

However, that doesn't make any sense! Hippo or elephant or whatever large plant eating animals that we know of... doesn't have tails as big as Cedar tree!!!

Anyway, this Dr. Kent Hovind (http://www.drdino.com/) sure sound crazy! But his video sure seemed interesting and biblical too! Anyway, whether we have old earth or young earth, I don't think it's that critical for our faith..., but it'd be nice to know the real truth!

Today's scripture reading was a weird one too! It's about Ezekiel, who in his visions saw some weird and crazy creature too! ;) Ezekiel was asked to eat God's Words... and it tasted delicious like honey! Ezekiel was also asked by God to boldly speak them out! We should all be more like him! That Dr. Hovind sure seem like a modern day Ezekiel! By boldly saying that dinos still exist today, surely most people think he must be nuts!!! ;)

(Ezekiel 1-3)

Monday, October 15, 2007

Tiring weekend...

This weekend has been a productive and busy once again... Finally got a chance to ride with Pastor Zo's family... Jay joined us too, but his bike has a leak so he couldn't really ride with us... Anyway, good for him, he probably would be exhausted by riding with us!!! ;) Wife was really tired too..., but I thought it was kinda cool. Never realized that LA has these bike trails... of course the scenary wasn't really all that great, but it was kinda cool because it felt as if we're in the wild... in a totally different world!!!

We also saw 'Evan Almighty'. It was kind of a stupid comedy, but has some cool messages in it though. The writer of the movie did a pretty good job to help audiences understand God better, but not sure if people would really take it seriously... anyway, in the movie, Evan was called by God to build an ark... later on, I built a small ark in our dining room too!

Yeah, we got ourselves a new dining room table from IKEA. It's kinda cool because it's expandable!!! It's very solid too! Unlike most IKEA items... Anyway, it'll be nice having a real table around the apartment! Our cat also love to just chill under it too, just like the animals in the movies... ;)
On Sunday, we also went to Faith with Jacob and Louisa..., too bad Pastor Jim was away and it was Pastor's wife preaching... I generally agree with what she's saying, but of course she's not as good of a 'preacher' compared to her husband. Still, her message was still not too bad... we ought to empower others and set others up to succeed... and hopefully others do the same to others... need to figuer out a way to set my wife up for success! ;)

We also had lunch with some of our old family friends later on. We used to live together when I was in High School, haven't seen some of them for a long time... and now we're all married and stuff... wow, time sure has flew by!!!

Anyway, the most interesting thing over the weekend was perhaps watching a video of a guy explaining how dinosaurs may not be as old as we think... and he used the bible to explain things away... I still haven't finish the whole video just yet, but I'll write more about it later on after I finish! ;)

And today's scripture reading is once again about a guy I'm not that familiar with... Baruch, just just a secretary type for prophet Jeremiah I guess. Jeremiah gets the Word... and Baruch basically just get to write things down... and then deliver the message, by reading it, to the people. So for sure that's not an easy and I'm sure a very thankless job.

I can probably write things down too, but would I dare deliver the message to the people in public? Evan in the movie faced similar kind of dilemma too... will I be able to really carry out what God wants me to do when push comes to shove? Hmm... I hope so, but I'm also sure that I've failed Him plenty of times... :( But thank God that we have a loving and patient God and a God of impossible! :)

(Jeremiah 36,43,45)

Friday, October 12, 2007

How should we live our lives?

Lately, love of my life has been upset with her student's parents... these parents are limiting their kids and sort of forcing them to live out the dreams they themselves failed to live... Of course I'm sure all parents meant well for their kids, they want their kids to have a best, especially chinese parents. But sometimes, forcing us to do whatever they cannot do is probably too much. Enough is enough!

Anyway, based on today's scripture reading, it's interesting that I found out that parents are not always wrong too! Today, I'm reading about Jonadab. Honestly have no clue who this dude is before... thanks to biblegateway.com for clueing me in on this guy... Anyway, Jonadab commanded all of his kids to never drink, never farm, never build houses... basically he has 'forced' all of his descendants into some sort of nomadic lifestyle. Not sure if this 'command' originally came from God... or was it from Jonadab's dad, Recab... anyway, suffice to say that it wasn't a decision made under the influence of alcohol... because they're not suppose to drink, right? ;) Anyway, my suspision is that this must've originally came from God... or some sort of vows made by Recab to God or whatever..., cause otherwise, who is Jonadab to promise his kids that they'd be able to live long lives by obeying this command?

And it really did save them, the Recabites, when the Babylonians invaded... these Recabites simply moved quickly to escape the Babylonians. God also praised their faithfulness to Jonadab's command..., but from our perspective... that seemed like a ridiculous command, right? Never drink? Never settle down? What if I want to settle down? Why should I continue to obey some stupid tradition passed down from generations ago?

So anyway, it's not always a bad thing to listen and obey your parents. I know this from experience too... For sure my own mother has tried to control me plenty of times, for sure she's not always wrong... and I'm not always right either.

So how should we make decisions in our own lives? May my will be done? May my parent's will be done? Of course it ought to be... may God's will be done! And may God's will be revealed in all of our hearts so that we can stay way from the wrong paths... and stay on the right ones!

(Jeremiah 35)

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Potter and the clay...

Today's scripture reading is about Jeremiah... and the potter and clay story really caused me to think... I wonder how many times I have screwed up which caused God to have to reshape me again and again... and will I ever be done by God?

But luckily God says:

我 是 耶 和 華 , 是 凡 有 血 氣 者 的   神 , 豈 有 我 難 成 的 事 麼 ? (Jeremiah 32:27)

(Jeremiah 1,18,32)

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

787 will have to wait a bit longer too...

Due to shortage of bolts and problem with flight control software, Boeing 787 will be delayed for 6 months.

Waiting sucks. Nobody likes to wait..., but c'est la vie! If you don't know French, it means this is life! ;)

Yes, sometimes in life, we just don't always get what we want. This is not just a Boeing problem, but a pretty universal problem everyone has encountered! When we're under pressure, how can we not get crushed? When we're being strucked down, how can we be sure to not get completely destroyed?

Daily Bible Verse provided by Wife's Facebook profile clearly teaches us how:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." (Psalm 91:1-2)

Today's scripture reading is about King Hezekiah. When he was surrounded and mocked by the Assyrians, there was absolutely nothing that he could do except to pray and wait upon the LORD. Situation was embarrassing, unbearable, morale was low... and I'm sure they all felt very hopeless too. They could very well have given up! Assyrians promised them horses... and even their own vine and fig tree! Assyrians have also clearly demonstrated their superiority with the number of nations they've conquered in the past. So I'm sure it would've been so easy to simply give up.

But instead King Hezekiah prayed and waited... and sure enough, God saved them.

Is God our refuge, our fortress? Do we really trust in God with our own lives?

(Isaiah 36-37)

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Strength will rise...

as we wait upon the LORD?

Last nite, wife and I were just talking about the things that we'd like each other to pray for... I personally wish to be able to glorify God more at workplace, Brother GD's vision certainly gave me some encouragement... I also wish my family can all soon get to know God too. Wife wishes for having 5 more students...wishes Tiffany's future to be well... wishes that she can be free from the various pains of her body... wishes that more of that joy of the Lord can be in her! We also prayed for a clearer direction for life in general... and to be able to have passion for it too!

During our discussion phase, things really turned kinda depressing and hopeless for a while. Nonetheless, we tried our best to get thru that and just give it all to God. May the Lord our God hear our prayers... and may God continue to give us the strength to be able to do this regularly... We trust in You Lord God... and we shall wait upon You. Of course like Pastor Jim said, waiting on God isn't just sit there and do nothing! It's more like being a waitor... or server for God! To continue to serve my spouse, family, boss, students, etc... with a joyful heart.

Anyway, we'll try our best!

Today's scripture reading was also encouraging:

Isaiah 40 (NLT)
28 Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

28 你 豈 不 曾 知 道 麼 ? 你 豈 不 曾 聽 見 麼 ? 永 在 的   神 耶 和 華 , 創 造 地 極 的 主 , 並 不 疲 乏 , 也 不 困 倦 ; 他 的 智 慧 無 法 測 度 。

29 疲 乏 的 , 他 賜 能 力 ; 軟 弱 的 , 他 加 力 量 。

30 就 是 少 年 人 也 要 疲 乏 困 倦 ; 強 壯 的 也 必 全 然 跌 倒 。

31 但 那 等 候 耶 和 華 的 必 從 新 得 力 。 他 們 必 如 鷹 展 翅 上 騰 ; 他 們 奔 跑 卻 不 困 倦 , 行 走 卻 不 疲 乏 。

My current favorite song Everlasting God just happened to be based on these scriptural verses! Wife is probably tire and weary of listening to it because I've repeated it so often... ;) Anyway, I look forward to the day when we begin to soar like couple of eagles! Thank You Lord! As we wait for You, we shall continue to praise You! Halleluja! :)
(Isaiah 6,40,53)

Everlasting God!


Monday, October 8, 2007

Busy Weekend!

This weekend, we seemed to have done quite a bit of things... for the 1st time, we rode the bikes Pastor Zo gave us to IHOP for pancakes. We also ran some errands along the way..., distance-wise it wasn't too long, but it wasn't short either. We ended up with our butts hurting... and wife said her leg was a little shaky too... maybe we rode a little bit too much on our first attempt, but if we do it regularly, I'm sure it's not that big of a deal. Later on I went rotate my tires on my Civic, found a nail on my tire, but it wasn't leaking air so I thought I'll leave that in for now... If it ain't broken, why fix it? ;) Changing tires was also quite a workout. So on Saturday, I actually end up losing a lot of weight... I went almost below 180 lbs before eating dinner that evening... even after dinner, I was only about 182.

And because we're going to Catalina Island on Sunday, we decided to goto a Saturday service at Faith. There were a LOT less folks on Saturday and I don't think we've ever sat so close... Pastor Jim continue on a similar passage from last week except he changed it slightly to "WHO got you here, won't get you there!" This week he's more focused on 'partnership'. Of course Pastor Jim had to make himself clear that he's not talking about convenant relationships such as marriage... he's not asking us to continue to change partners to get to places... nor is he talking about switching churches to get to places..., but being a team player is important. Even Jesus himself quickly chose a 'team' after his baptism and temptations. And the purpose of a 'team' is to equip and train themselves to get the job done! And of course we have to be careful not to allow bad company to corrupt good character. God places more emphasis on our character than our success!!! Anyway, I think wife and I ought to start a prayer "team" together and learn to pray in agreement more regularly instead of just over meal time!(Mat 18:19-20) Okay, we'll try to start tonite instead of tomorrow... ;)

Oh, and our trip to Catalina on Sunday with Sister Hui-ling and Eva was kinda fun and relaxing..., it's too bad that we ate too much... I think I was about 180ish in the morning too, but by the time I get back home... I was more than 186lbs!!!!!!!!! I don't recalling me eating that much! See, our lunch has very tiny portions:



Of course we also had ice cream...



And we shared some ribs in the evening, I don't really think we ate a whole lot, but our weigh scale sure is telling us otherwise... see, we don't look that fat do we? ;)




Anyway, as long as we don't eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence, we should be okay, right? ;) Today's scripture reading is about Solomon's proverbs. Hmm..., may my wisdom be also something that increases within me instead of just fat! ;)


(Proverbs 2-4)


Oh, and one notable mention would be an interesting development for F-1 racing... rookie Lewis Hamilton may very well had tossed his championship away by losing the Shanghai race over the weekend... It is really his championship to lose..., he's still leading, but now we have a 3 way battle for the very last race of the season in Brazil... this hasn't happen for decades... usually we have one top guy who clinches the championship already or we'd at most have a duo between two..., but to have 3 potential championship winners, that's cool! :)


Here's a cool wet shot of Lewis Hamilton. He sure remind me of my former F-1 hero Ayrton Senna...

Lewis Hamilton:

Debut season for Ayrton Senna:


Friday, October 5, 2007

United we stand?

Today's scripture reading is about Phinehas, son of Eleazar, grandon of Aaron, the priest. God was pleased with him for his zealousness for God's honor and glory. Because he stood up and intervened... he was able to stope the plagues.

In Joshua 22, it also talked about him being sent to talk and possibily goto war to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. [RGM](Anyway, it's funny how the chinese translators translated the Reubenites as 流 便 人, I think the love of my wife wishes she's a Reubenite! Haha... ) Anyway, because the Jordan River runs thru the land, the RGMs wants to build a replica altar, not for sacrificial purposes, but as a rememberance or witness for their descendants that LORD is God! They were worried that this river might cause their future generations to split up... so they want this replica altar to serve as a reminder for their future generations...

This kinda reminded me of the Chinese and Taiwanese situation. Is it good to splite or to unite? Naturally we don't want to be under communist regime, but aren't we still Chinese? Is it really worthwhile to split up all of China's provinces so that each can join the UN under its own name? Since Singapore is so tiny, heck, why not let each city become independent? If Singapore can do it? Why can't the City of Taipei do it? ;) State of California also could be very powerful as a nation of its own. I'm sure a nation of Los Angeles would be pretty strong too! But why?

Anyway, this is a really tough topic... should churches be like Catholic church? One church for the whole earth with Pope as its singular leader? Or should we have a bunch of tiny little Protestant Churches each with our own denominations our own ideas... our own interpretation of the scripture?

What's right? Who's right? Hard to say...

Suffice to say that God is a God who'd like us to unite together in Him as one... and Satan's scheme from the beginning is to cause divisions amongst us... to have us turn against one
another... and then he slowly pick us off one by one...

May the LORD our God help us united together as one in Him!

(Psalms 106,Joshua 22:10-34)

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Revelations...

Last night, Brother GD reminded us once again using James 1 that we born again christians really ought to be "born again"! Have we really been transformed by the Holy Spirit or are we still the same old selves like before?

16 我 親 愛 的 弟 兄 們 , 不 要 看 錯 了 。
17 各 樣 美 善 的 恩 賜 和 各 樣 全 備 的 賞 賜 都 是 從 上 頭 來 的 , 從 眾 光 之 父 那 裡 降 下 來 的 ; 在 他 並 沒 有 改 變 , 也 沒 有 轉 動 的 影 兒 。
18 他 按 自 己 的 旨 意 , 用 真 道 生 了 我 們 , 叫 我 們 在 他 所 造 的 萬 物 中 好 像 初 熟 的 果 子 。

Brother GD also prayed for all of us and asked the Holy Spirit to give each one of us revelations... and surprisingly he's predicting Katty's going get married and have a baby!!! I usually think brother GD's visions are simply too symbolic and too vague, but he sure has surprised me last night. For example he also has pretty clearly told me that God will somehow help me advance in my career! Which is kinda cool! I do have a cool job, but my career really isn't all that spectacular or anything... for example I don't have any cool titles nor do I make a whole lot of money... so it can be quite difficult to witness for some of my friends who are doing better than me... Anyway, may God help me become more passionate about my work and start getting better at it, whether it's the same line of work... or perhaps a totally new path? Whatever it is, may I be able to truly bring glory to my God!

And wife was given a kind of a vague vision last nite... saying that she's in an empty room... and then the room was filled with people... Perhaps we'll have a party going on at our house soon? ;) And the love of my life was hoping that perhaps she'll have her social life back? That can be cool too... I have told her that marriage doesn't mean we must absolutely cut off all other social ties with others! It is okay to occasionally have some of her 'own' time away from me sometimes... Anyway, may God help her keep a good balance regarding her social life... so that she won't be bored to death of only interacting with her boring husband and her annoying students everyday... ;)

And today's reading was about Asaph. Asaph means convener or collector... or it means God has gathered. Supposedly he's one of the leaders on David's choir... very skilled in music... He seems to have also experienced a lot of depressing events in his life...

28 但 我 親 近   神 是 與 我 有 益 ; 我 以 主 耶 和 華 為 我 的 避 難 所 , 好 叫 我 述 說 你 一 切 的 作 為 。(Psalm 73)

May all who are feeling spiritually depressed remembers this verse above...


23 然 而 , 我 常 與 你 同 在 ; 你 攙 著 我 的 右 手 。
24 你 要 以 你 的 訓 言 引 導 我 , 以 後 必 接 我 到 榮 耀 裡 。

(Psalms 73-77)

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Too much happiness a bad thing?

Harry Lewenstein broke his back on a bike ride and later on became paralyzed..., but he was still able to live contently. The article said while this executive had a small car, he was satisfied with what he has... when he upgraded to a convertible, he was satisfied too! He'd never actually covet other nicer cars his neighbors were driving... I think my personality actually matched his pretty well! We know how to be content! ;)

Anyway, although researchers have shown that that Americans are generally happier compared to Japanese, Americans are likely to be easily ticked off! You can flight 1st class, but get upset because you had to wait in line a little... or you can live in a mansion, but a little noise from your neighbors can totally piss you off... That's the price you pay for being "happy" I guess! ;) When you're used to it, the littlest negative experience can upset you..., and you tend to feel immune to all the positive things happening to you...

Lewenstein on the other had has the ability to accept who he is and what he has become after the accident and did not resent it. Making the best of what you have is an important first step. Psychologists also suggest that people or couples who attend to everyday accomplishments, celebrate the postives, and cultivate a sense of gratitude for what they have tend to be able to maintain their sensitivity to positive experiences... and consequently have the best odds at continuing to feel happy. Actually this is nothing new... this is why God wants us to praise and give thanks, right? Plus, the occasional negative experiences can really help us appreciate the positive ones much much better!

Anyway, today's scripture reading is about David. He sure went thru a lot of positive and negative experiences throughout his life. I wish my prayers can somedays be as psalm-like as David's in the future... this guy is good..., but then again he has also went thru a LOT!

Psalm 5
11 凡 投 靠 你 的 , 願 他 們 喜 樂 , 時 常 歡 呼 , 因 為 你 護 庇 他 們 ; 又 願 那 愛 你 名 的 人 都 靠 你 歡 欣 。

(Psalms 3-8,32,Romans 4:6-8)

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Speaking for God?

Pastor Jim was saying that we cannot make time and that's for sure..., today I was debating the atheists on a Christian forum... and seem to have lost track of time!!! So I better just write a quick devotional note quickly... ;)

Anyway, today's scripture reading was about Elihu, rebuking Job of his self righteousness and his 3 friends for lack of encouragement and lack of truth in their words... and of coures Job only shut up after the LORD Himself have spoken. So perhaps my debates with the atheists also will be useless until God grab hold of them too.

Anywho, if I get a chance to speak for God, I'll do my best..., but most certainly it shouldn't be at the expense of occupying so much time that I don't have enough time to do my own devotionals? May God help me manage my time better so that I can get the important stuffs done!

(Job 32-37)

Monday, October 1, 2007

Resting in His peace...

On saturday we buried my grand-aunt..., who's basically my grand-ma because my real grandma passed away long ago when my mom was very young... and it was grand aunt who took care of my mother... anyway, she's probably the last one of the people in her generation who I consider to be close with... Gee, we're getting old... It was a very nice service and wife played the violin beautifully. It was also the first time my very own violin got to see the light of day when wife played it. Wife's own violin was just too old to be able to see direct sunlight so as a precaution, she used mine...

Anyway, also got into some interesting theological discussion with the wife afterwards. What's the purpose of life. What's the purpose for marriage. What is the purpose for having free will... bunch of why, why and more whys... Luckily God gave me wisdom... so I think I was able to answer some questions! However, may God continue to give me more wisdom so that I can show my wife what is truly an interesting life, a loving marriage and how we can choose wisely to live a godly, purposeful and loving life! I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I'll just latch on to God and hope for the best I guess! ;)

Pastor Jim also preached an interesting sermon on Sunday. Main topic was just a warning... or challenge for all of us that... what got us here, will NOT get you there! To press toward that goal, we've got to forget about the past. Of course, we don't have to forget about the lessons learned from the past and repeat our mistakes..., but we certainly shouldn't hold on to past hurts... or even past successes.... point is that we shouldn't live in the past. We live in the present and looking toward a hopeful future. In a world where most people are faithless, hopeless and loveless, how can we stop wasting time and to live out our faith, hope and love at every moment?

Anyway, this is quite a challenge... for I've wasted plenty of time myself! How can I re-invent myself? How can my life be revived and also be of good influence those around me? I don't know..., but may God lead my way. As I draw closer to God, surely He will show me how? Right, Lord? ;) Recently I've at least been able to wake up better... so I have been wasting a little bit less time dragging myself out of bed... so hopefully this trend can continue... may His Spirit continue to enable me so that I can soar higher and higher... day by day...

Today's continuing reading of Job is kinda fitting I thought. Job is experiencing lots of problem... and his friends nor Job himself knows why... sometimes God simply doesn't tell us why. But for sure whatever happens, God allowed it to happen for a good reason. God allowed it to happen in order for us to be benefitted in the end. God is my eternal hope. May God help us all to see things from an eternal perspective. May my life and my marriage life be transformed continuously transformed to truly reflex His glory! Teach us how to live for you... and teach us how to rest in You! Thank You Lord! :)

(Job 4-7)