Easter Sunday

He has risen.

He is alive!

Gave my first (and last?) Easter sermon.

Never thought I would ever be preaching on Easter Sunday.

Never thought I would ever be preaching.

GG

Good Friday

피 흘림 없인 이룰 수 없네
고난 받을 이유없으신 주
순종하셨네 그 십자가 지셨네 우릴 위해

And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

- Luke 23:34 -

I wonder why.. why Jesus had to say these words.

He didn't have to, did he?

Even in silence, through death and resurrection, He could have saved the world.

But He spoke these very words on the cross, bearing all pain and suffering,

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, 

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

"Father, forgive me, for I know not what I do.

Father, forgive me, for I know what I do, but can't stop doing.

Father, forgive me."

Power Outage

There was a power outage in the middle of service yesterday.

Kim Hyuk MSN was preaching, and the sanctuary suddenly became pitch dark.

(I mean.... we've had power outage at GCC before too. But not during service?)

A deacon handed him his phone with the flashlight on, and he continued his sermon.

Had service in the dark, with one mini light on the stage.

We can see the pastor's face, but he can't see us.

It was an interesting experience.

Rather, it was quite a blessing. 

It was amazing to see the pastor not freak out (because I think I would have freaked out.)

And how everyone just stay put, in a dark and hot room, continuing worship.

Felt like we were having one of those "secret meetings." 

Welcome to Vietnam?

Introducing: Seung Yeon

She's a sophomore in high school, attending an international school.

She wants to go to college in the states, and is currently looking into UC's.

(I'm encouraging her to study hard and go to UCLA ^^)

She.... um.... likes me?

(Lol.... that's totally not awkward to say)

WELL! I often tell my students, "I'm at donuts all day, so come bother me!"

And whatdayaknow... nobody wants to hang out with a "missionary."

BUT this girl's on a term break this week, and she kakao-ed me yesterday asking to have dinner!

Most people (except a few "cool kids") look like they're listening to my sermon,

but this one actually looks like she's soaking it in.

She's one of the few, if not the only one, that actually wants to learn more

and is somewhat striving to draw nearer to God.

Her name is Seung Yeon .

Eczema: Round 2

It's....... back...........

Same finger. Same spot.

Stage 1: small bubbles 

Hopefully the medicine I have from before will cure it at Stage 1.

Perseverance

There are days

when

I 

REALLY

want to

go 

home.

"Lord,  please help me to persevere.

Not for the sake of 'finishing my term,'

not for the sake of a glorious achievement,

not for my own sake,

but for Your sake.

For Your glory.

Please continue to remind me that

there must be a reason,

a reason why you have placed me here

and a reason why I am still here.

May your will be done."

bIG rOLLERS

A new restaurant called "bIG rOLLERS" opened near my house.

They sell sandwiches, spring rolls, burgers, and smoothies.

"Build your own sandwich" 

39,000 VND (less than $2.00)

Choice of (1) baguette (2) sandwich bread

Choose up to 5 items 

(extra item, additional charge of 9,000VND)

Had my first sandwich -

Chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado

Not the BEST, but pretty good for the price!

I know where I'm going when I'm feeling for a sandwich :)

God's Delight

Hephzibah

"My Delight is in Her"

1. King Hezekiah, a God-fearing man, called his wife "Hephzibah." Why? Probably because he could sincerely say concerning his wife, "My delight is in her."

2. God called his people by this name.

                            

         "You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

      and your land no more be termed Desolate,

     but you shall be called My Delight is in Her,

                  and your land Married;

              for the LORD delights in you,

              and your land shall be married."

                           - Isaiah 62:4 -

3. 2008 Summer: God called me by this name, "Delight."

"God, why do you call me your delight? How or why is it that you delight in someone like me? 

Lord, show me what it takes to really live out the name that you have given me. 

May I live out my name to the fullest.

진정 주님의 기쁨이 되길 원합니다."

Faith

What's faith?

What does it mean when we say, "S/he has good faith"?

Yeah.... tricky huh?

I was stumped too.

Finally came down to this:

"Faith: right knowledge in action through obedience" (Anna Rho)

"Lord, I want to be faith-FULL."

Fruit of Love

There's a fruit lady that sells fruits on her moto right outside Donut's Donuts.

She's there EVERY DAY! All day every day. 

Yesterday she ran into Donut's Donuts, handed me a pre-sliced orange, and ran back out.

It was like a, "Uhhh.. What? Huh?" situation.

Happened so quickly.

SO random. SO unexpected.

Yet something about it made me feel loved and cared for :)

"Fruit" of Love

Don't Act

"We try to be too holy. QT is NOT bible study." (P.Ray)

So true. There are times we come across QT passages where there seems to be absolutely NOTHING to reflect on. So, what do we do? We quickly turn the page to the given insights. (That is, in a sense, cheating.)

We can't seem to find anything to write down in the blank spots next to the passage. We look at our blank page and feel ashamed, hoping that nobody will come across our book. (ESPECIALLY our pastor.)

He's right. We try to be too holy. We have nothing to write, because we feel as though we must write down something holy. Okay, honestly! How holy can you get when you read a passage with a list of this person's descendants and that person's descendants? Or when you're reflecting on the book of Numbers for a whole 2 months? (You can only be so holy). 

"QT is NOT bible study." We don't have to act so holy. For all we know, NO ONE'S WATCHING! We're not in front of students, having to act like we know (even when we're clueless ourselves). It's a time with God. Simply reading, meditating, and spending time in prayer. No matter how so-called "holy" we can get, next to God, "nuh-uh" we are not even close to holy. 

So be honest. It's okay! We don't have to be so holy. 

"Anna Rho, you don't have to be so holy."

--

QT Sharing

Genesis 37:1-11

- Jacob had many sons, one being named "Joseph."

- Jacob favored Joseph

- Joseph's brothers were very jealous

- Joseph had 2 dreams foretelling his reign over his family. 

(Yeah.. not so holy. Simply facts, right? But who cares! God speaks even through this.)

The word 'God' doesn't appear once in the passage but we can clearly see God working. The extra love that Joseph receives from his father and his dreams lead to greater hatred from his brothers. This will eventually lead his brothers in selling Joseph, which becomes the pathway for Joseph's future authoritative power. 

GOD IS IN CONTROL. Every little situation in my life is being controlled by God. They may seem like mere dots at the moment but in the future I will see how God connects those dots to make a beautiful picture.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,

for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 

I went from Genesis to Romans 8:28. How? I don't know. God spoke, when all I did was jot down a simplified summary of the passage.

GOD IS GOOD :)

Called Righteous

"Wretched man that I am! 

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks to be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

--

Christianity, this Christian walk, is very interesting.

It seems about right that you start to become a "better" person, or rather you start to feel like you're becoming a better person, the longer you've been a Christian.

However, it's not so.

As time goes by, we start to realize how "bad" we are, how sinful man is.

As for me, I'm finally starting to see more and more of what a "bad" person I am; what a sinful (wo)man I am.

Apostle Paul cried out, "Wretched man that I am!"

Why? I never really understood. Rather, it never really spoke out to me.

But today I myself want to cry out, "Wretched (wo)man that I am!"

I'm starting to see (hehe.... it's only the start) and realize how sinful man is, how sinful I am.

Perhaps this is a sign of growth? 

We were all living under God's wrath. 

(Actually, there are still many out there that are living under His wrath.)

But God loves me, God loves us so much that He decided to give us something called GRACE.

I am redeemed. We are redeemed. 

We say that God's judgment IS coming, but actually we were ALREADY judged.

We were once living under the wrath of God, but through Jesus Christ, 

we are now living UNDER GRACE.

So sinful. Yet, God calls us "righteous".

We often say, "We sin because we're sinners."

Nope. That no longer applies to us.
We're NOT sinners! God Himself called us righteous!
We don't sin because we're sinners, we sin because there's sin within us. It's sin that makes us sin.

Our status has changed from sinners to righteous.
In faith, we must believe.

"Wretched man that I am!

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Ker Plunx

Dropped my iPhone in the toilet.

(THANK GOD it was before I peed!)

The speakers were damaged so I had to get them replaced.

I don't know how trustworthy these replacement parts are... but at least it's cheap? :)

It cost me less than $20.00 to get the phone dried up and the speakers replaced.

YAY for Vietnam :)

Gentleness

And he said to them all, 

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself 

and take up his cross daily and follow me."

- Luke 9:23 -

--

It's so easy to think that I understood something:

1. I convince myself that I understood it 

2. I genuinely think I understood it 

LUKE 9:23

Heard it. Learned it. Taught it.

SO MANY TIMES.

Did I really understand it? Nah. 

I thought I did, but I guess there was more to it that I was missing.

It's not that I convinced myself (which makes me feel a bit better), but at the same time, I never took the time to really sit and reflect on what this verse - the verse that I've heard, learned and EVEN taught so many times - meant. 

So... Did I sit and reflect? (kind of)

Not on my own, but through God who brought the right teacher at the right time.

Question #1: What's the difference between "denying yourself" and "taking up your cross"?

Question #2: So then, what is your cross?

About a month ago I was asked this question: 
"What's the difference between denying yourself and taking up your cross?"
... (dot dot dot) ...
I felt like I got punched in the face.
Simply put, I couldn't answer the question. I couldn't differentiate the two!

After all these years of genuinely believing that I understood, one day I have come to realize that I was wrong.

The question was answered for me. It made sense, but it wasn't CLEAR.

Finally, after 9 long hours of sitting, discussing, and reflecting... it came.

It was as if all the dots in my head got connected.

There was a deep(er) meaning to this verse and it has now become clear(er) to me.
Perhaps there's more to it? I don't know. 
Perhaps there are other interpretations? Maybe.

But for now, I'm content.

"Denying yourself" and "taking up your cross" CAN be differentiated.

So then, what is MY cross?

After long hours, God gave me this word:
GENTLENESS. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
- Galatians 5:23 -

Hallelujah !

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Finally finished reading the whole bible,

along with a 555 page Korean commentary

HIP HIP HOORAY! :D

"하나님나라 관점에서 읽는 90일 성격통독"
90 Day Bible Reading Plan -  Reading from God's Kingdom Perspective

HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!

Sore Throat

Almost died with a sore throat last night..
(Okay maybe not die.. that's just me being dramatic)

Woke up several times in the middle of the night because my throat was hurting so much.
Opened my eyes around 5:00AM and started to worry.. "how am going to preach like this?!?!?!"
Tried to get some more sleep, and woke up around 6:30AM.
PTL! Felt so much better.

Voice cracked a couple times during my sermon.. but it was pretty okay overall.
But AFTER the sermon..... GG. I felt like my throat was going to rip apart.

Went to the pharmacy after service and told the Vietnamese pharmacist, "Sore throat."
She gave me two medicines - one to swallow, and two to melt under my tongue.
She said "3 times a day. How many days you want?"
So confused. I thought they would just give me the whole box.
So I just said, "One."
Paid 30,000VND ($1.50) and got my day's worth of pills.

She took it out of the box, cut out 3 days worth, and put it in a small plastic bag.

Vietnam style?

Legged Fly

As I was preparing my sermon at Donut's Donuts, I found myself a little friend!

(But not for long..... muahahaha)

It looks like a fly with antlers and legs.

Stared at it for a little while,

then said my goodbyes.

On the Floor

I was invited over for a mini-picnic on the floor, behind the counter, of Donut's Donuts.

Donut's Donuts: Morning Shift

This is what we ate..

It's a type of shell, but I don't know the exact name of it

The chewy texture kind of reminds me of escargot (cooked snail),

which also I tried for the first time in Vietnam.

Looks kind of gross, huh? But pretty delicious :)

Eating a lot of unfamiliar things over here..

But I guess there's always a first to everything ^^

Jesus Messiah

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

- 2 Corinthians 5:21

 beautiful.

Oh how beautiful is the gospel message

(Bark)

This is what I go through every night..

listen carefully

One dog barks,

then another dog,

and then another dog.

It's always three dogs.

(perhaps the same three dogs every time

Then of course, there are the other dogs barking from a far distance.

It's a battle every night to fall asleep.