Last night's prayer meeting with brother GD, he surprised us with a special vision for wife... saying that he saw wife wearing red... or slowing turning red... and wife was moved into tears... and he saw her in a house, initially with few people... and then lots of people... apparently kneeling down as if praying or repenting. We're not quite sure what all this means, but brother GD belives the red of course symbolizes the blood of Christ... and I guess we're going to buy a house and perhaps God will use wife to save alotta souls? ;)
Today, Howard brought the freshly off the press EP2 CDs. Hopefully God will use TG music to help save some souls! :)
Yesterday's scripture reading was near the end of book of Judges, it was pretty bloody too. It talked about a levite's wife getting raped and killed. Israelites really got pretty pathetic at those times... Today's reading was about Ruth. One of my favorite stories in the Bible. Ruth is the type of the person who'd stick to Naomi no matter what happens. I've told wife many times that we ought to never allow problems to drive us apart too! But of course Naomi wasn't the one causing problems for Ruth, I, on the other hand, can cause trouble for wife sometimes! ;)
But that's no the point, the point is we ought to love each other no matter what! Of course, I ought to change myself for the better if I really do love my wife... likewise, we ought to really change ourselves and become more holy if we really do love God! We most definitely don't want to cause Jesus to develope trichotillomania! ;)
(Judges 19-21, Ruth, 174.2 lbs, $4.159)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Olympic watch...
Not sure if any of the events can ever top what Jason Lazek did, but I still couldn't help myself from watching too much of the Olympics anyway! It's the first time ever I'm getting a high definition look at modern China, plus, I'm really impressed with Asians in general, they're winning more and more medals than I thought they could! Korea is #3 in the medal counts! I'm shocked!!! ;)
Anyway, perhaps I'm watching too many swimming events, lately, I'm becoming more like wife, retaining more water than before! I'm not sure if I gained a whole lot of weight, but for sure I'm having difficulty putting on my wedding band for whatever reasons... Olympics just don't go well with wedding bands or something... there was an American beach volley ball player who lost her wedding band while competing, but luckily they found it later! ;)
Today's reading was more of Samson, how he finished his life. I guess this is a guy who didn't do his race in life well, but at least he finished it with a bang! I wonder if Jason Lazek prayed to get that extra burst of energy..., I digged a bit on the net and I wasn't able to find anything regarding Lazek's faith at all... except that he's a Jew. Anywho, I also read about that Micah's idol thing. It's a weird little story and I'm still not quite sure what it all means. I don't even recall ever reading this story in the bible... weird. ;)
(Judge 16-18, 174.6 lbs, $4.199)
Anyway, perhaps I'm watching too many swimming events, lately, I'm becoming more like wife, retaining more water than before! I'm not sure if I gained a whole lot of weight, but for sure I'm having difficulty putting on my wedding band for whatever reasons... Olympics just don't go well with wedding bands or something... there was an American beach volley ball player who lost her wedding band while competing, but luckily they found it later! ;)
Today's reading was more of Samson, how he finished his life. I guess this is a guy who didn't do his race in life well, but at least he finished it with a bang! I wonder if Jason Lazek prayed to get that extra burst of energy..., I digged a bit on the net and I wasn't able to find anything regarding Lazek's faith at all... except that he's a Jew. Anywho, I also read about that Micah's idol thing. It's a weird little story and I'm still not quite sure what it all means. I don't even recall ever reading this story in the bible... weird. ;)
(Judge 16-18, 174.6 lbs, $4.199)
Sunday, August 10, 2008
8-8-08
This weekend we attended a wedding of Eddie, a friend of wife... we thought it's going to be a small wedding, but it was in fact quite large! I've never been to a morning... and then reception during lunch kind of wedding. It was also kinda long... from 11 til 3pm and kinda still going... but overall it was quite nice. During worship, it was almost as if we're attending one of the church services. The songs were simply and familiar, yet I was still quite moved. Wife mentioned pretty much all of his family and friends are Christians... how cool is that? Also during the reception, the server at Twin Palms were so nice that I had endless number of cokes to drink. These 2 things alone will cause me to rate Eddies wedding as the best ever! ;)
This weekend is also the Olympics. The opening was quite good. China really put up quite a show for the world. Chinese emphasized the ideal 'peace', but paradoxically China is struggling with peace even within its territory. May China one day turn its focus more on love, more specifically the love of God. Anyway, I've been watching some swimming races... kinda miss my old high school swimming days... and Jason Lezak, a 32 yr old, did an amazing performance comparable to that of David killing Goliath and helped the Americans win the gold in 400m relay! Woohoo!!!
And Pastor Jim was out fishing this sunday, so there a guest pastor Pastor Keith, who wife doesn't even remember, talked about how we can preserve ourselves in Christ based on the book of Jude. Basically there are 4 things:
1) Build up yourself- We gotta become our own favorite preacher... preaching to ourselves the Word! Initially I thought he's some sort of faith teacher, teaching us to just speak it and make it happen..., but I'm glad that's not what he meant. Basically, we do have to become our own preacher... our own cheerleader. Cause otherwise, if someday we were stucked in the middle of nowhere when satan come tempt us, how are we going to be able to defend for ourselves? Jesus spoke the Word to drive away temptations. We, too, can use God's Word to encourage ourselves at times of need!
2)Pray up yourself- we gotta not just pray to God before meals... do we chitchat regularly? Do we pray in the spirit? Anyway, I don't speak in tongues, but I suppose if we are mindful of God as often as we possibly can even during daily routines, that ought to be pretty good! ;)
3) Keep up yourself- we gotta be able to keep ourselves in His love. Action also is always louder than just words...
4) Look up yourself!!! Yes, always look up to Jesus... look up to him as if Jesus is coming back today!!! This type of attitude will for sure transform and renew our minds!!!
Pastor Keith is pretty interesting that he'd always cry during altar calls. Not sure if he's for real or not... I personally don't really like these travelling pastors... especially when they only travel to big rich churches..., but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt I guess. At least I like his preaching! ;)
Anyway, I was also reading about Samson. If Samson would follow pastor Keith's advice, surely he would've been a much better judge. Then again, maybe God meant it this way... if Samson were more godly, maybe he would've have fought toe Philistines the way he did... whatever...
(Judges 13-15, 174.4 lbs, $4.219)
This weekend is also the Olympics. The opening was quite good. China really put up quite a show for the world. Chinese emphasized the ideal 'peace', but paradoxically China is struggling with peace even within its territory. May China one day turn its focus more on love, more specifically the love of God. Anyway, I've been watching some swimming races... kinda miss my old high school swimming days... and Jason Lezak, a 32 yr old, did an amazing performance comparable to that of David killing Goliath and helped the Americans win the gold in 400m relay! Woohoo!!!
And Pastor Jim was out fishing this sunday, so there a guest pastor Pastor Keith, who wife doesn't even remember, talked about how we can preserve ourselves in Christ based on the book of Jude. Basically there are 4 things:
1) Build up yourself- We gotta become our own favorite preacher... preaching to ourselves the Word! Initially I thought he's some sort of faith teacher, teaching us to just speak it and make it happen..., but I'm glad that's not what he meant. Basically, we do have to become our own preacher... our own cheerleader. Cause otherwise, if someday we were stucked in the middle of nowhere when satan come tempt us, how are we going to be able to defend for ourselves? Jesus spoke the Word to drive away temptations. We, too, can use God's Word to encourage ourselves at times of need!
2)Pray up yourself- we gotta not just pray to God before meals... do we chitchat regularly? Do we pray in the spirit? Anyway, I don't speak in tongues, but I suppose if we are mindful of God as often as we possibly can even during daily routines, that ought to be pretty good! ;)
3) Keep up yourself- we gotta be able to keep ourselves in His love. Action also is always louder than just words...
4) Look up yourself!!! Yes, always look up to Jesus... look up to him as if Jesus is coming back today!!! This type of attitude will for sure transform and renew our minds!!!
Pastor Keith is pretty interesting that he'd always cry during altar calls. Not sure if he's for real or not... I personally don't really like these travelling pastors... especially when they only travel to big rich churches..., but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt I guess. At least I like his preaching! ;)
Anyway, I was also reading about Samson. If Samson would follow pastor Keith's advice, surely he would've been a much better judge. Then again, maybe God meant it this way... if Samson were more godly, maybe he would've have fought toe Philistines the way he did... whatever...
(Judges 13-15, 174.4 lbs, $4.219)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Burning the midnight oil...
I'm here burning the midnight oil trying to meet some deadline at work. Thank God I finished now at 3:30am intead of having to stay up ALL night! ;)
I'm really too old for this, but at least this is occassional and not happening regularly. Plus, I'm getting paid extra! In a slowed economy of today, I suppose it's a blessing to have extra work!
Today, I'm reading more on Judges. It's really not a very pleasant book to read. Israelites were just being disobedient... and even the judges are kinda messed up... with Jephthah making stupid vows to sacrifice whatever came out of his door... which he ended up sacrificing his beloved daughter. If God is going to deliver something to us, does God really need us to sacrifice somebody else? Why not sacrifice self instead?
Anyway, luckily I'm also reading about another more interesting book that we brought back from taiwan. It's a small little book that talked about paradox of life in the book of Ecclesiastes... it's really a short wonderful book and I think I'm going to review a few times just to get a better understanding...
Today, I read a passage which I thought was really cool: "達人的弔詭: 他珍惜今生,更看重來世. 他做最悲觀的打算,也做最樂觀的預期. 他同意所羅門的虛空論,也羨慕雅歌的愛情觀.在喪禮中哀歌,也能再婚宴中喜酒.患難不能困住他,幸福也不能迷惑他. 他夠悲觀,所以能處芻吉避兇; 他夠樂觀,所以他的生命沒有停怠不前. 在人生最後一刻, 他對生命有不捨的眷戀,也有放手的瀟灑...
If only we all could live such paradoxical life, there'd be no period of Judges on earth...
(Judges 10-12, 175.0 lbs, $4.259)
I'm really too old for this, but at least this is occassional and not happening regularly. Plus, I'm getting paid extra! In a slowed economy of today, I suppose it's a blessing to have extra work!
Today, I'm reading more on Judges. It's really not a very pleasant book to read. Israelites were just being disobedient... and even the judges are kinda messed up... with Jephthah making stupid vows to sacrifice whatever came out of his door... which he ended up sacrificing his beloved daughter. If God is going to deliver something to us, does God really need us to sacrifice somebody else? Why not sacrifice self instead?
Anyway, luckily I'm also reading about another more interesting book that we brought back from taiwan. It's a small little book that talked about paradox of life in the book of Ecclesiastes... it's really a short wonderful book and I think I'm going to review a few times just to get a better understanding...
Today, I read a passage which I thought was really cool: "達人的弔詭: 他珍惜今生,更看重來世. 他做最悲觀的打算,也做最樂觀的預期. 他同意所羅門的虛空論,也羨慕雅歌的愛情觀.在喪禮中哀歌,也能再婚宴中喜酒.患難不能困住他,幸福也不能迷惑他. 他夠悲觀,所以能處芻吉避兇; 他夠樂觀,所以他的生命沒有停怠不前. 在人生最後一刻, 他對生命有不捨的眷戀,也有放手的瀟灑...
If only we all could live such paradoxical life, there'd be no period of Judges on earth...
(Judges 10-12, 175.0 lbs, $4.259)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Weird phone calls...
Recently, I've been getting a bunch of international calls, at first, I thought it's from taiwan, but now, after careful investigation by wife, it's apparantly from Shanghai China! I have no clue who has been calling me. The person also doesn't bother leaving me a voicemail. Why would a person make international calls again and again and never leave a voice mail message? Hmm...
As far as I know, only Pastor Lau would call but never leave any messages. But calls weren't from Hong Kong thought...
Wife was jokingly asking me if it's my 2nd wife in China? Luckily I don't travel that frequently to China as Jay or Louie, in fact, I've never even been to China, otherwise for sure wife wouldn't be asking me about that "jokingly"! ;)
Unless someone dialed a wrong number, who could this be? My voicemail used to only have a standard greeting listing my number, now I've added my name. Next time when the caller call, he should know that he has reached the right or wrong number I guess.
Perhaps it's the ex-girlfriend of mine..., cause who else in asia could have my phone number? Supposedly she married some guy and moved to China, so it could be her. But anyway, whoever it is, I think I'm just not going to pick it up unless if the caller leaves a message.
Today's reading was about end of Gideon's life. I really like Gideon's story earlier on, but it's sad the things ended so badly for him and his family. He didn't want to be king of Israel, but he sure lived as a king nevertheless. He also had many wives and therefore many children. Perhaps he was indulging himself too much... with riches and with women... and by having too many kids, that could be a problem? One of his children, Abimelech , was a major source of problem... Gideon is probably a prototype of David! ;) Both are cool guys, but later on just lost it with riches and women... and their trouble making children.
Hmm..., my daughter Ana is also making trouble for me with my credit report!!! May God help fix me problem please!!!
(Judges 7-9, 174 lbs, $4.279)
As far as I know, only Pastor Lau would call but never leave any messages. But calls weren't from Hong Kong thought...
Wife was jokingly asking me if it's my 2nd wife in China? Luckily I don't travel that frequently to China as Jay or Louie, in fact, I've never even been to China, otherwise for sure wife wouldn't be asking me about that "jokingly"! ;)
Unless someone dialed a wrong number, who could this be? My voicemail used to only have a standard greeting listing my number, now I've added my name. Next time when the caller call, he should know that he has reached the right or wrong number I guess.
Perhaps it's the ex-girlfriend of mine..., cause who else in asia could have my phone number? Supposedly she married some guy and moved to China, so it could be her. But anyway, whoever it is, I think I'm just not going to pick it up unless if the caller leaves a message.
Today's reading was about end of Gideon's life. I really like Gideon's story earlier on, but it's sad the things ended so badly for him and his family. He didn't want to be king of Israel, but he sure lived as a king nevertheless. He also had many wives and therefore many children. Perhaps he was indulging himself too much... with riches and with women... and by having too many kids, that could be a problem? One of his children, Abimelech , was a major source of problem... Gideon is probably a prototype of David! ;) Both are cool guys, but later on just lost it with riches and women... and their trouble making children.
Hmm..., my daughter Ana is also making trouble for me with my credit report!!! May God help fix me problem please!!!
(Judges 7-9, 174 lbs, $4.279)
Monday, August 4, 2008
Relatively uneventful day...
Today is a relatively uneventful day..., just busying working at work and even some more working at home. But today is still a great day because I didn't screw up that much and wife didn't get made at me for anything at all! ;)
Today's reading was more about judges, Deborah and Gideon. I personally don't really enjoy reading Judges... during that time, things just appear so messed up... kinda like the world of today I suppose... an uneventful period of time..., but of course there can still be eventful happenings where God does something cool. May that happen to me someday. :)
(Judges 4-6, 173.2 lbs, $4.339)
Today's reading was more about judges, Deborah and Gideon. I personally don't really enjoy reading Judges... during that time, things just appear so messed up... kinda like the world of today I suppose... an uneventful period of time..., but of course there can still be eventful happenings where God does something cool. May that happen to me someday. :)
(Judges 4-6, 173.2 lbs, $4.339)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Selah!
Wife was really looking forward to her new camera on Friday and asked me to pick it up from my parent's house, but unfortunately I totally forgot about that... so naturally that really disappointed her and sorta ruined the whole evening for us that Friday... To her, she couldn't believe how I can be so inconsiderate and forgetful? Don't I know she's really looking foward to this? How can I forget after repeated reminders?
Well, I just forgot... I don't want to forget, I didn't mean to forget, but I forgot anyway. Sigh... How can I do that? Why did I do that? I don't know..., but may God help me become more attentive and more mindful of things...
Anyway, God did help me comfort wife better I suppose. Earlier on in our relationship, I couldn't even comfort my wife properly. At least wife's angry period is getting shorter and shorter... hmm, not sure if it's I'm improving as a comforter or perhaps God has also helped wife deal with anger better? Perhaps it's paradoxically BOTH! ;)
練愛 is so hard..., but we gotta keep on practicing I suppose! Only with practicing can we hope to ever make it 'perfect'!
Anyway, so the next day, After wife and I feel all better, we visited the LA Arboretum to play with our new toy! I just took one picture, which is shown below..., with manual zoom and focus! Wow, I'm such a talented photographer! ;)
We also treated dad with a steak dinner on Saturday too, but too bad our steaks didn't sizzle like Ruth Chris's for whatever reasons..., but at least I've finally successfully made french fries this time... I've failed that many times before! ;)
Anyway, Pastor Jim gave a sermon that kinda spoke to my heart today. He said joy is proportional to the level of our trust and knowledge of God. Quite often in this world, as we look around, we may be distressed; as we look within ourselves, we may get depressed; only when we look up to God, we may feel at rest. Can we be still and know that God is God and He is in control? We know that God makes all things, both good and bad, happen so that those who love Him can be benefitted... of course when bad things happen, it could be other people's fault... such as when Joseph experienced bad things, it's not really his own doing... when Jesus was crucified, it wasn't his fault..., but in real life, sometimes bad things happen because we screwed up! Well, hopefully we can all screw up less and less so that we can all make it less painful for others... and hopefully that we can increase our tolerance for pain so that when others cause pain, we can be more like Joseph... more like Christ! Bottomline is that we all need to learn to just be still and know that He is God. Selah! <===(unknown Hebrew word probably means pause, be still...) (Judges 1-3, 175.0 lbs, $4.359 )
Well, I just forgot... I don't want to forget, I didn't mean to forget, but I forgot anyway. Sigh... How can I do that? Why did I do that? I don't know..., but may God help me become more attentive and more mindful of things...
Anyway, God did help me comfort wife better I suppose. Earlier on in our relationship, I couldn't even comfort my wife properly. At least wife's angry period is getting shorter and shorter... hmm, not sure if it's I'm improving as a comforter or perhaps God has also helped wife deal with anger better? Perhaps it's paradoxically BOTH! ;)
練愛 is so hard..., but we gotta keep on practicing I suppose! Only with practicing can we hope to ever make it 'perfect'!
Anyway, so the next day, After wife and I feel all better, we visited the LA Arboretum to play with our new toy! I just took one picture, which is shown below..., with manual zoom and focus! Wow, I'm such a talented photographer! ;)
We also treated dad with a steak dinner on Saturday too, but too bad our steaks didn't sizzle like Ruth Chris's for whatever reasons..., but at least I've finally successfully made french fries this time... I've failed that many times before! ;)
Anyway, Pastor Jim gave a sermon that kinda spoke to my heart today. He said joy is proportional to the level of our trust and knowledge of God. Quite often in this world, as we look around, we may be distressed; as we look within ourselves, we may get depressed; only when we look up to God, we may feel at rest. Can we be still and know that God is God and He is in control? We know that God makes all things, both good and bad, happen so that those who love Him can be benefitted... of course when bad things happen, it could be other people's fault... such as when Joseph experienced bad things, it's not really his own doing... when Jesus was crucified, it wasn't his fault..., but in real life, sometimes bad things happen because we screwed up! Well, hopefully we can all screw up less and less so that we can all make it less painful for others... and hopefully that we can increase our tolerance for pain so that when others cause pain, we can be more like Joseph... more like Christ! Bottomline is that we all need to learn to just be still and know that He is God. Selah! <===(unknown Hebrew word probably means pause, be still...) (Judges 1-3, 175.0 lbs, $4.359 )
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