Brothers =]

apppppps

Why is it so hard to write a personal statement?? I think I've been working on it for 2 months or so... but I think I've got it now. The pieces seem to be coming together =]

Influence

I want to be an influence to other people. Not only through my actions... I feel like I am a person who says little and does much. But there are times where words could make big impact. There are relationships I feel become wasted because of my lack of initiative in conversation.

God, give me the ability to speak your words and give me the strength and power to be your lips.

He is Risen!!

God is VICTORIOUS over our sins! Jesus has BEATEN death! There is nothing to fear in death, nothing to hope for in sin! Let us live knowing that death can do nothing to us, that human hands can only take away our bodies, that the SPIRIT OF GOD IS ALIVE WITHIN US. Seriously, how empowering is that? So let’s go heal the sick, raise the dead, preach the gospel, cause the world needs it =].

예수님, 주의 이름을 경배 드립니다.

神様、息子さんが私たちのために死んで下さったから感謝しています！

¡Alabanzas a Dios, quien mostró su poder en el amor que tenía por nosotros!

Nous sommes très joyeux pour la vie que nous avons en vous!

God will be praised on this day throughout the Earth!

(Corrections in grammar/spelling/word choice in any of the previous statements would be greatly appreciated =])

"Click to embiggen"

Our culture has embraced technology so much, even our language reflects it. We've adopted new words into our language that technically have no meaning, but because of the power of the internet, we are able to adapt new words, acronyms, slang into our speech that they become almost universally accepted. Think about how the leaders of tomorrow will be raised up on language like "lol," "wtf," "meme," "failblog," etc. Haha I wonder what kind of impact this will have.

Jumbled thoughts

It's funny how just writing what we think becomes a jumbled mess of words. When we type, we think it sounds a certain way, but the reality is so different. How can the same words, expressed in two different way convey such different feelings?

Anyway, I've been really concerned about the future of our nation. We've never really thought about it, but how blessed we are to have peace and security in our nation. How for granted we take it, expecting it to last for eternity. But Rome fell. Babylon fell. Jerusalem fell, even though when Solomon was king no country could rival its wealth. The life we live is such a blessing from God, which can be taken away at any moment.

I've been hearing stories like, our Government is pretty much useless right now because of its complete inability to actually take action on things. It's paralyzed by the decades of wasteful spending, and there's not a thing it can do about the massive health care reform needed, it's forced to spend billions on war, etc.

When Nineveh was about to be destroyed, the people repented and fasted and turned from their wickedness. Pray that USA would do the same.

Look at the signs of the times. Do not be complacent. Put your faith in God and not in your money, your power, your job. Store your treasures in heaven where rust, decay, war, tyranny cannot destroy.

I am an INTJ

That means i think vividly, but I think abstractly. My thoughts are hard to organize because they're not linear, not concrete, but that's what allows me to synthesize so many things together. So to get by this weakness of mine, I will continue to spew out my thoughts so that they can be organized in a concrete, organized fashion, that can be further used as a base to construct upon. (Wow, as I was writing that, I realized, no wonder I love brilliant writing that describes exactly what I'm thinking! It's because I have such a hard time verbalizing it myself that when someone else puts it together for me, it's so relieving!)

It's so interesting how the most random people can be used by God to encourage you. I recently met a Bryan at UCLA (I actually met him several times, and I kept calling him Robert for some reason). He was a normal person, albeit friendlier than most. But what really got me was when I saw his tweets. In them you could see such joy at knowing God; the pleasure that Bryan got from knowing Christ was so evident, that it made me reconsider whether I myself took joy in knowing Christ. I realized I didn't, but since then I've been making it a point to rejoice in Christ, whether in my own thoughts, or to others, or on my own tweets. "It is good to praise the Lord." "Be active in sharing your faith so that you may have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Thank you Bryan, even though you don't read this blog. Your simple act of faithfulness to God has pointed me back to my true north, my God and my savior.

Of course, there are a lot of factors leading to this point. My friend at my church reminded me that before God, we are righteous. Why? Because "he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." We are righteous. And that is the gospel. That Christ died on the cross in love, and took on the sins of the world. We are now justified, and are now being sanctified, and this is true for all who believe. =].