pre-Thanksgiving

I missed out on the free Dr Pepper. Oh well.

No matter what happens, the LORD is to be praised, right? ;)

I'm thankful that I still have a case full of Dr Pepper at home available for me to drink. What do I have to complain about?

Yes, Thanksgiving is coming up. The impending family gathering is once again causing stress to build up for the wife! Luckily I have the situation under control for now..., may God continue to give me wisdom to know what to do... do know how to comfort my wife. Unlike the so called 'friends' of Job.

Reading about them arguing is kinda cool... remind me so much of my own arguing online sometimes. My recent debate with folks about Prop 8 of course went nowhere. So since I'm not really doing any good for those people nor for God, best thing to do is probably to just shut up and walk away... I've come to the conclusion that this gay marriage thing is kinda like euthanasia. What's the right thing to do? Surely we don't want to see our loved ones suffer... nor do we want to just let them go like that. Often times in this world, we're stucked in between a rock and a hard place. What can we do?

Well, we just can't keep Eve from eating that fruit forever... nor can we force the prodigal son to stay home forever. People gotta do what people gotta do. For sure God is pro-life, but He is also pro-choice. People certainly have the right to choose how they want to live their lives.

All that I ask is that God gives me wisdom to be able to choose wisely. Pastor Jim taught us to meditate... or mutter on the words of God. He also encourage us to live our lives differently than folks of the world. For these are the only way to truly live blessed lives. Of course sometimes during our lives, things may appeared to be not very blessed! ;) Job is one shiny example of that! But still, that is only relatively 'short termed'. I suppose Job not only had the wisdom to choose things wisely, he also had the strength to choose to live righteously. Refusing to just curse God and die. Yeah, besides, wisdom, may God also grant me the strength to carry on no matter what happens!!!

Thanks LORD! :)

(Job 13-21, $2.199, 174.6lbs)

Free Dr Pepper!!!

Dr. Pepper has made good on it's promise... saying that if Guns and Roses ever finished their album 'Chinese Democracy', company will offer a free drink to America! Of course Dr. Pepper never thought this album would ever finish. Recording started in 1994... and in 2005, after spending $13 million, it has officially became the most expensive record NEVER made! Against all odds, Guns and Roses is finally releasing the album this Sunday.

Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.

So maybe one day, against all odds, perhaps China will also someday really become democratic? ;)

Anyway, read something interesting from the 'how people grow' book again... author talked about that biblically, opposite of bad isn't 'good', but 'love'. Whenever we feel guilty, ashamed, depressed, or generally 'bad' about ourselves, what we really need to counter that with isn't to try to feel 'good' about ourselves, whether by building self confidence/esteem or whatever means... What is important is that we need to feel 'love'. It's only after we feel accepted by love, then we can possibly begin to work on those other issues.

This is why a good loving supportive fellowship is important. This is what we naturally seek too... people often seek love, just that often in the wrong places. Sometimes we can seek love thru sex, but of course our sex partners most likely will make you feel worse cause there really isn't love involved. Some may seek love thru marriage. Even in marriages, are people really loving their spouses more... or loving themselves more? In a marriage where if you love yourself more than your spouse, then naturally this marriage will also make you feel bad. Even in churches, are the people in it really love their brothers as much as themselves?

Wherever we are, it's our natural tendency to love self more than anything else for protection. And as we receive less loving support from others, we end up having to compensate loving ourselves more rather than loving others... so the vicious cycle continues... and our morality collapse just as our economies collapse. I suppose this is what Jesus meant by 'For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.' If we lose ours lives for Him... or for Love... that is how we find out what life is really all about!

(Job 10-12, 174.4 lbs, $2.399)

Deflation...

Government's now worrying about deflation rather than inflation. Besides housing, oil prices... host of other things are beginning to have prices fallen. Of course this is good for consumers with money, but eventually companies will have to cut more jobs in order to reduce cost... in order to cover for the lower prices... and as more and more people continue to lose their jobs... this vicious cycle might just continue to no end! Usually there's inflation, the only time when US had a deflation was during the Great Depression.

Hopefully God will give the political leaders wisdom to do the right thing in order to get us out of this trouble. But of course we also have to repent of our mistakes too... instead of just expecting a bailout and cointnue to do the same. What would be the point of a bailout or a salvation plan if we continue to do things the wrong way? US automakers are also rapidly running out of money as demand for cars go down..., they were also unsuccessfully at getting government money to help out... some members of congress were saying that we shouldn't bail out companies who's products people don't want to buy in the first place! While that is true, but can we really afford to see all the dealerships and suppliers going out of business along with the automakers?

Obviously we shouldn't continue to fund the prodigal son to roam around living la vida loca, but if companies to repent and turn themselves around, hopefully God will hellp them thru their troubles. Job pretty much experienced all this first hand. World is going to be full of "Jobs" real soon..., going thru this deflationary pain which may or may not be their own doing... and we'll have no clue when the pain is going away...

But at least we can count on God to eventually deliver us at some future time! :)
(Job 7-9, 174.4 lbs, $2.429)

The great fire gas has turned into real fire!!!

Yeah, besides cold sores, our hills are burning... and even a newly constructed building near our apartment burned up too! Knocked out our power also...

Last night was kinda eerie... power got knocked out... and we heard a bunch of helicopters and sirens... and although we cannot see the fire directly from our apartment, but I can see that there's a bright glow reflecting off of buildings... I thought perhaps we're under attack from terrorists... or perhaps aliens... or perhaps Jesus has returned!!! ;)

Anyway, so it was kinda nice for us to rest in the darkness for a while... with no TVs or computers or other distractions... kinda like a quick get away from civilization... our emotions turn from exited... scared... to later on relaxed and peaceful... it made us cherish even more of what we do have... helped us realize what is really important in life!

Had been reading Job lately. Yeah, I had a few cold sores too... and the structures that burned down... at least I don't know any of the victims first hand... so I guess I still don't really know the pain Job had gone thru... perhaps that's good. For sure no sane person would want to voluntarily go thru what Job went thru... of course I don't mean to imply Christ as insane... for he willingly went thru his sufferings... ;) Anyway, upon reading Job, it kinda made me realize one thing...

That is I'm nothing like Job. I'm more like those stupid friends of Job. Their words on the surface sound very nice and holy and spiritual and all that... but they are of no help for Job. Kinda like my debate with some of the online friends regarding prop 8. What I told them are scripturally... theologically correct..., but how am I really helping the homosexuals? I don't know what's it like to be them... Christ is full of both grace and truth. Truth often time hurts..., but grace is the only way that can heal and change souls. I really need to learn to be more gracious... without compromising the truth of course.

I fasted one meal(skipped lunch yesterday), and had a very small dinner. Amazingly, this morning, I still weigh about the same!!! What's up with that? Today, there's free pizza, so I didn't fast, just had a slice of the free pizza... hopefully I won't get too fat because of that! Sigh...,I hope my outer man won't continue to get too fat while inner man grows thinner. May Holy Spirit really turn up the fire that's within us... instead of burning more of Southern California..., the the fire burn inside of us... of course may we all respond to the fire that's within... and not put it out.
(Job 1-6, 174.4 lbs, $2.459)

Pump me up O God!!!!

For the past few days I've been trying to work hard to resolve some weird issues that came up at work. I tried to be like Esther…, I prayed and even fasted for one lunch… and it seemed to help a bit. The problem is sort of resolved now, at least we got it working. However, we still don’t have a full understand of our problem yet. Perhaps I need to fast for 3 days like Esther! ;)

Yeah, both prayer meeting and pastor Jim’s sermon talked about how we ought to ‘work out’ our spiritual selves. If we don’t use it, we’ll lose it! Can't let the outer man continue to get fatter and fatter… and then let the inner spirit man atrophy away, right? 3 day fast sound like a better and better idea! ;)

I’ve also discussed about prop 8 to some people online and unfortunately they are all pretty pissed. I said same sex marriage is so obviously different. Even Obama isn’t pro gay marriage! But hey, if you want equal rights, CA does have equal civil union rights!!!

But to them, I’m viewed as some sort of bigot… and to use the bathroom analogy, still supporting the separate but equal bathroom’s for whites and colored folks. But to me, I think I’m more like supporting equal but separate bathrooms for men and women! Why mix the two up? From a child’s point of view, shouldn’t one mommy and one daddy still the most ideal way to go? We just couldn’t agree. But that’s okay, people should still learn to agree to disagree without hating each other, right? But I get the feeling that I’m being hated for my faith.

Sigh, for sure I didn’t make any friends. Probably also failed to fish any men for Christ as Pastor Jim want us to do… Oh well. May God have mercy on all of us.

(Esther 1-10, 174.6 lbs, $2.559)

God is good! :)

Had been kinda stucked at some problem at work lately. I've also asked around some senior engineers at work, but even they are clueless... Hate the feeling of unable to make any kind of progress..., yet have no clue what else I can do after trying all I can think of... kinda stressing me out for the past few days...

But after the prayer meeting and burning a bit of the midnight oil... thank God I was able to make some progress!!! Yipee!!! Halleluja!!! ;)

Okay, I'm going to sleep now.

Beginning to feel unfulfilled at work I think...

Yeah, it pays well... that's about it for this sedentary job. I think I need to use my hands to create stuffs. Even cooking is fine with me. I'm also beginning to think about learning to sew... to be able to make cloths... or perhaps drapery and upolstery..., but then again sometimes work can get kinda busy and I not only don't have a lot of extra time, but also not a whole lot of extra space too!

But anyway, will just have to make do with what I have! ;)

Market continues to decline. US automakers are bleeding money... and are expected to lose all of its cash reserves by the years end. President-elect Obama certainly inherited a mess, but can he turn this around? If he did, then he'll not only go down in history as the 1st black president, but will also go down as one of the great ones! Lincoln probaby only managed to be one of the great ones because of the messy situation he was in too! ;) And the silverlining of all this is that gas is getter cheaper and cheaper everyday! Houston Texas now has gas below $2 now!!!

Anyway, besides being able to fill my tanks, hopefully I'll be able to live a more fulfilled life as well! Pray like Nehemiah, Remember me with favor, O my God! :)

(Nehemiah 7-13, 175.2 lbs, $2.659)

Prop 8

People are pretty pissed about passage for prop 8, the new law which specifically spelled out marriage is for a man and a woman. It showed a narrow lead against it prior to the election, but it apparently suffered a 'Bradley effect' during election day... and won just barely. Bradley effect was coined when african american Tom Bradley failed to win the Governor's race... when polls showing him a victory, but ended with a defeat on election day. People during the poll simply didn't want to claim that they're racist by claiming that they'd vote for him, but didn't.

A lot of folks feared the Bradley effect for Obama too, but fortunately it didn't happen. As for prop 8, supposedly lots of black people voted overwhelmingly for protection of marriage. Most african americans were also Christians... so when they showed up to vote for Obama, that perhaps was what tipped the scale for prop 8. I also voted for it, but honestly I didn't think it'd pass. I'm surprised that it did. Thank God.

Anyway, there are still lots of folks who think we Christians are hateful against homosexuals. But reality is that prop 8 didn't really take away their civil union rights. Alot of folks are pushing for gay marriage mostly just to be anti-christianity I think.

Perhaps it really isn't that good of an idea for us Christians to meddle with legislation... passing new laws. We of all people should know how lame laws can be. Imposing laws on unrepenting people is an exercise in futility I think. God did just warn Adam to not eat it. God never bother to stop Adam from eating it. Who are we to stop gay people from 'marrying'? Should we really force the prodigal son to stay home? What would that achieve?

Anyway, I did my part to help preserve 'marriage' in California during the election. We did pray for it to pass, eventhough I thought it probably won't... so I guess this is indeed God's will then. Surprisingly the Mormons really played a huge role in the passage of prop 8. They raised a LOT of money for it. I heard a Mormon family with 5 kids, prayed and decided to withdraw $50k out of their 401k to support prop 8!!! This family is not rich..., they still drive like 10 year old Honda Civics... Gee..., their commitment to preserve marriage really put me to shame!

But still, I pray that people's hearts will finally change toward God. I pray that we Christians can also show more grace toward those unbelievers... for Jesus Christ is full of both grace and truth. Besides emphasizing Truth, we ought to emphasize Grace to all. That's the only agent that can cause real change I think. The mind set of I'm right and your wrong certainly won't help change anybody's mind...

May God help us... to be like Nehemiah... to be able to protect and restore the wall of truth and to be gracious and release the poor people's debts so that it won't cause poor people to once again be bound by "law".

(Nehemiah 4-6, 174.4 lbs, $2.759)

North and South...

US election results can clearly show a color difference... blue states in the north(and around the coasts) and red states in the south. Obama did manage to turn some of the red states blue, but the trend, since the days of Abraham Lincoln, continues. Nation is kinda split. Lincoln did manage to preserve the union with a war... for otherwise those red states would've been their own countries by now.

Taiwan seems to mirror this in a similar fashion. Same north and south arragement... except swtich the red to green! ;) Wife was saying even in China, for whatever reasons the north part of China seems to have an advantage over the south. Capital is at north part... Beijing.

That is just so weird.

Anyway, I just hope people in Taiwan can learn from US history... to be able to learn to get along without having to pay too heavy of a price... such as a civil war. But who knows? Perhaps that's just not possible? People are just so naturally divisive and can only see the self interets instead of the whole picture... this is how we got seperated from God in the first place... and therefore need Christ to shed blood to reunite us back together...

Whatever happens, may more folks turn to Christ over there as a result. When we're all part of God's family, hopefully there'll be less bickering..., but wait, both the American north and south were Christians!!! Both worshipped the same God and read the same bible and still decide to kill each other over their differences...

Sigh..., may God's will be done I guess. South was into slavery..., there's no way the South can triumph over the north in the end I suppose. After Obama's win, lots of black folks are singing praises to God... few can believe this could happen... God's grace is indeed amazing.

Now, when it comes to Taiwan's north and south issues? Who's more right and who's more wrong? Which side is God more pleased with? I don't know. It's really hard to say. Both blue and green failed to govern righteously. We need a godly man to rule Taiwan. May God rise up that man... in the mean time, may God show people of Taiwan mercy... Read about Nehemiah directed the folks to work together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Will there be a Taiwanese Nehemiah soon? Hope so.

(Nehemiah 1-3, 174.6 lbs, $2.835)

Historic moment!

Just during the weekend, we had our very first black Formula 1 world champion driver... Lewis Hamilton.

Just last night, we also had our 44th, yet, the very first black US president Obama.

Wow.

Congrats to them both! :)

They were saying when Obama was born, there were like 15, 16 states that actually made inter-racial marriages illegal!!! Obama's parents would've been unable to marry back then. And now, here he is... a president of the United States.

Besides the presidential race, another high profile thing on the ballot was Prop 8. Amending the California constitution to specifically define marriage to be for one man and on woman. Both sides spent a lot of money on this... and it narrowly passed with YES! CA voters were able to protect the sanctity of marriage, for now...

Today's reading was about how Ezra praying for the sins the Jews have committed-- the inter-racial marriages. Yes, I suppose in a way, people can see Jews as being racist, but God is really just a 'faithist'. Ruth wasn't a Jew. God had no problem with her, right? Race isn't the problem..., it's only a problem when we lack faith. Marrying folks with little faith in God of course could pose a problem for those with faith. I admire Ezra's commitment... to pray and fast for the sins of those people..., but it's kinda weird that the book didn't explain what happen to those foreign wives and children?

Today, the problem is with gay couples. I don't know how to deal with them too. I don't want to rob them of their civil union rights. I also don't want them to force church pastor to 'marry' them. I guess the only thing to do is to be like Ezra. To just pray for them. Of course homosexuals aren't the only people committing sins around here in our nation. Surely the heterosexuals have committed their fair share of the sins. May God forgive us of our sins... for we just don't know what the heck we're doing. May we also be able to repent and change our ways.

Change is coming, as indicated by America's first foray of non-white president! I pray that we'll change for the better of course.

(Ezra 7-10, 174.6 lbs, $2.859)

Everybody vote!!!

Election day. Will America make history by electing the first black dude as president?!?!? Hope so.

I see some similarities with Taiwanese presidents and US presidents. President W. Bush is very much like President Chen. Like to polarize the electorates... use the 'us against them' strategy. In case of W, the "us" would be the conservative christians. For president Chen, it was the Taiwanese. I didn't really like their divisive styles... and I think it served them right to finish their terms with super low popularity ratings.

And now Obama is like President Ma. Both sound like they can bring about change and hope about perfecting our union! But can they really deliver?

Hard to say. All we can do is to pray for them and hope for the best I suppose. President Kennedy said it best, 'ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country!' For sure a good leader is important for a nation to rise, but we all better contribute our own efforts. We shouldn't parry all personal responsibilities! Even if a candidate who we don't like were elected, we are still called to do the best we can under that circumstance!

Besides government, I suppose this is applicable everywhere, at our workplace, at church, at home, etc. Instead of being cynical and always complaining about things, we ought to all just work together to get thru our problems and hope for the best. Ain't nothing wrong with complaints... as long as we can have some sort of resolution afterwards. If you absolutely are going to be cynical about it, if you absolutely can't stand it, then you might as well just leave. But this better be the last resort though. This is how governments or even churches split!!! But hey, if this is indeed the best way for everyone, then so be it. Union is nice, but even God sometimes would divide us up such as during the tower of Babel times... when we're too proud, then it's time for us to split I guess. But of course I don't think this is ideal. Usually nothing good can come out of the splits.

Biblically, this has been happening again and again. Obey God in Eden... or get the hell out! ;) If you're stucked in a bad situation and can't get out, as long as we obey God, God can help us out! Even when situation seems hopeless, we can always trust God that He'll be able to get it done in the end! But of course the main problem is do we really want the same thing God wants? Do we really want to stay in Eden and not eat from the tree of knowledge? Do we really want to leave Egypt? Do we really want to go thru all that trouble to rebuild the temple?

Cynicism isn't always a bad thing. It's good to be skeptical of satan's schemes. But how do we properly balance cynicism and hope? I don't know. All I know is that we all should just vote for which ever candidate we believe in. Even if the candidate we voted for didn't win, we ought to continue to live our lives the same just, merciful and humble way. If God made this guy authority over us, there must be a good reason for it. Of course if this elected person is really the anti-christ, then of course we don't have to obey all his evil orders, but otherwise, we ought to keep on trying to serve and love one another. This much is all that I know.

Here's praying that more and more of us end up think more and more like God. Desiring the same things that He desires. I'm also hoping that we can slowly perfect our union on earth. Progess has been made for sure. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream is slowly being realized. God is still with us... and working on us. You rock O Lord! ;) Thank You!

(Ezra 4-6, 174.6 lbs, $2.899)

Rebuilt to grow!

Spent the weekend relaxing, trying to reduce the 'fire gas' that was within... along with extra hour of sleep, it worked out pretty well! Feeling much better and the cold sores are pretty much healed now! Thank God! :)

I also got my old Civic fixed up and got it to pass smog check. Hoping to use it during winter time to reduce wear and tear on my S2000...

Anyway, pastor Jim on Sunday preached more about fishing. This time was regarding the 3 question asked of Peter by Jesus. We typically would revert back to our old selves whenever the going gets tough. Instead of being the fisher of men, Peter wanted to just go back to fishing fish. Whenever I feel discourage, I think I'm inclined to do the same stupid thing. This kind of struggle is part of growing process I guess. It's good to know that Jesus can actively participate in our growing process, help extricate us out of our shells.

In the 'how people grow' book, the authors also talked about how God often uses other people to help us. How important it is to be plugged in the Body of Christ. With Jesus dead, of course the disciples got afraid and split! That body was dead for 3 days! But once the Body is restored, naturally the church will form again... and of course this new Body is never going to die again. We are all particular 'cells' of this Body. May our Lord's body on earth grow stronger and stronger. May we also grow along with him.

When brother GD quits leading our prayer meeting, may Christ himself help us find a good fellowship either within FCC or else where... Today's reading of Ezra also talked about rebuilding the temple of God! Not just making our old selves better, but to start from scratch to rebuild a brand new person! Yeah, it for sure isn't going to be easy, but because He's good and His love endures forever, this is going to be done!!!! Halleluja! :)

(Ezra 1-3, $2.95, 174.6 lbs)