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to the ends of the earth

Sunday, 26 July 2009

hallelujah for YOUTH HALLELUJAH!

Today I went to Youth Hallelujah for the first time at FG. The Open-mic session was at 3pm. It was really cool especially Neah Lee. She's absofreakinlutely awesome when she plays and sings along with her filler machingamabob. They passed out offering bags for an organization called Compassion, which is kinda like World Vision. They ask people to sponsor kids so that they can have food to eat, clothes to wear, etc. But they caught my attention because they seemed more "Christ-centered" than World Vision or American Red Cross. They were also selling Neah Lee cds near the door after the open-mic session ended.. but I had already offered my last few bucks to Compassion. Dang..

Then we went downstairs where people got some hot dogs and other refreshments. Later on, we went back up to wait for the main even to start: Youth Hallelujah 2009! Praise was awesome, but I was stunned at how greatly God used Pastor Jae Park today. I mean people have told me he's a great speaker.. I just didn't know he'd be that good. He's hillarious, but very down to earth and real. Then during the alter-call he asked that the praise team refrain from coming up and that the staff not turn off the lights. I liked that. Like he said, real followers have to make a SOBER decision. Not affected by the mood of the place.. but by what was felt in someone's heart. During the outpour of prayer, I started praying in tongues. While it was certainly not the first time I had done so, it was great to know that God would take over the words over my mouth to give him glory. This was an oppportunity that comes rarely being at a very conservative Chinese church most of the time.

So as the event ended, me, Sam, Jess Ho, and her two friends Doolee and David finally arrived to Main Street, walking from FG. It started pouring rain. OMG. But it stopped right when me and sam were about to get on the bus. These group of friends came on and one of the girls said she was really pissed off because the previous bus driver refused them. Half way along the ride, I heard the talk about baptism. I really wanted to join in to the convo. So yea, I eavesdropped and heard that one guy was telling the girl next to him not to delay the baptism because "incase you get into a fight, you'll stop yourself because you'll say 'Oh, I can't do this. I'm baptized.'" But I was thinking.. wait a sec. Baptism is just a word. You can't use it to keep yourself accountable. You use your brothers and sisters in Christ to keep you accountable. Baptism is a way to show the world and especially your church that you are willing to live a life devoted to Jesus Christ. So I asked, are you guys Christian? All 6 or 7 of em said it together: "No, we're Jehovah Witnesses." Instantly my eyes just got 5x wider. And then I redirected my convo focus from baptism to their beliefs. The first thing they told me is that they too believe that God is love, except that God isn't three in one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are just three different people who work in the same office. < That's my interpretation -.- Not theirs. They're a really kind group of kids but I didn't have time to tell them more. I really wish I knew to get at least one of their SNs or something. I only remember one's Sam, and another girl is Diana. You, the person reading this: I hope you can pray for these people. Pray that God would give clarity in their walks with God and that their families would be blessed by blood of the lamb.

GOOD NIGHT! (literally)

Thursday, 28 May 2009

the urge to share something simple

So its 11:30 and I have to start my spanish project which is due tomorrow. LOL and study for my long vocab quiz in english. -.-

But before I start that, I went to take a shower, and since I saw that my dad had brought home some food from Flushing and was sitting on the kitchen counter, I decided to grab a midnight snack.

This past week, for some reason, I've been dealing strangely with the way I look. It's been bugging me but I don't know why this has been in my mind this week. Anyways, I was heating my food up in the microwave for about a minute. Past the 40 second mark, I walked passed my kitchen window, and noticed something about my reflection that made me turn my head to look again. There wasn't anything special or different about the way I looked. But as I looked at my reflection, God said, what you're looking at is the perfect image of God (besides that pimple you just popped)... What you see in that window reflection IS the image of God. Don't EVER EVER EVER do anything to try to change that image. So by this time, my food is done, and I'm just staring at the window, thinking, God is too great. I don't deserve to be an image of God. But apparently, the God almighty sure thinks so.. and I can't ever challenge his judgment.

Praise God from the inside out. Today and Forever.

Friday, 22 May 2009

praise you in the storm

Yea. As you can see, I'm already getting excited about going to Syracuse. I got the colors going already. (dozo colors for another 4 yrs -.-)

Today was Jesus Day at Cardozo High School. Many of the seniors were getting so anxious to see how today might have turned out because for once, we left the responsibility of planning of everything to the younger kids. But Justin, you did a great job coordinating. Cindy even said that she was impressed.

But Satan is ALWAYS against us. The Christians.
Today, everything was going fine. Everyone was so excited for Jesus Day. I know I was. But when we went to the cafeteria to set up the equipment, we realized that there was a class on 300+ students inside for regents review. That's not the end of the story.. The security guards and deans eventually came out to tell us that a permit was never put in place for this event. Basically, we weren't even allowed to have this event, but the security guards were being nice and letting us stay until 6:30pm. Apparently, if you don't have a permit, the law requires students to leave by 6:30. We were planning to start at 5pm. We were supposed to have the cafeteria from 3:30 to 8pm. Instead, we had it from 5 to 6:30.

But PRAYER never fails.
Before we made any other decision, everyone that was waiting in the hallway gathered in a group to pray. Later on, I had asked Sam to see if KCPCQ would help us out and let us borrow the place. Although they were reluctant, worried we would leave a huge mess, the pastor there said okay. But before we said let's go over to that church, Pastor Stephen said to me.. it's your call. The only difference is that you'd be worshiping in school. Then and there, I felt God tugging me. He said, yea, that's the only difference. But that's also the most important difference. Worshiping INSIDE a school is such a rare opportunity, and that's what makes Seekers so unique. It allows for students of any school to come together, and worship in a school setting. So I made the decision that we would stay in school, despite the time shortage. God's presence was desperately needed in our school. And it's our job to keep his spirit moving in it. We ended up cutting out a few songs, shortening the sermon, and took out a testimony. We were out by 7:10.

The result?
David Song says that was the shortest revival ever. haha. But although it was short, God's spirit definitely moved in our school, and seeing the outcome, given our situation was too great. God was crying out, I don't need you guys to minister to someone else's church. This school.. it needs your prayer, it needs your joy, your power. And I'm laying all of it before you. What are you waiting for? So by ignoring the time shortage, and simply listening to what God had planned for the night, finally, this night was for Him. If we had gone to KCPCQ, it would've only been to satisfy what WE had planned. Instead, God had something sweet and simple in mind tonight. Yet his spirit resounded beyond the four walls of our school. That I know for sure...

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
We rely on the fact the God is love. How do we know that? He sent his son to die for EVERYONE of us. And if you were the only person on earth, he would die for you too.

Friday, 27 March 2009

temptations...

so what happens when temptations rise and you feel like you've had enough of this 'self-control?' when you feel that every time you put off an urge to do or say something, the weight of the world keeps pressing you down...

it's safe to say that you would want to turn to God, since you've already made an effort to set aside your weaknesses for him. But when it's hit you, do you know for sure that you'll be able to pray to God at that moment? Or will you let your desire eat into you, brainwashing you to believe that you'd enjoy a break from God?

Satan knows all our weaknesses, and when we're most vulnerable to his attack. He will always use that to his advantage. For me, I'm most vulnerable when I'm alone and tired. He can strike you at any moment, and once he does, your mindset will be completely distant from God. Sometimes I try praying when temptations rise, but it feels like his presence has been sealed and I'm only scratching the surface. But God is omni-present. He's everywhere, and cannot be removed in any way. This is his planet and his rules. Rather than God not being present, could it be that we are so sucked into the devil's deceit that we do not want to cry out for help?

If we don't want to get sucked into this garbage, we need to be focused on God's word everyday. Guess that's why we're told to do devotions since who knows what age... "Wait, but I just want to be a regular Christian, not a pastor..." Most of society doesn't have a problem with people being Christians.. they just have a problem with the 'raidcal' Christians who actually act upon their faith. Well if that's what they call 'em these days, then so be it. Be the 'radical' Christian. What they don't realize is that we were made to worship. We were and always will be called to love God and our neighbors. Is it radical or extreme to live the way we are supposed to?

I get the impression that too many people think they have to alter God's ways just a tad-bit because they don't really conform with the world's standards. But he told us we can't have everything. We either love God, and hate the world, or love the world, and hate God. There's no middle-ground here...
And before you go 'take a break' from God, question this:

If you could have anything you've ever wanted, eat anything, do anything, be with anyone, and live in paradise, but not have God always by your side, could you be completely satisfied with life?

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

WWJD?

So what would Jesus do?

Today I woke up late for class.. again. I got out of the shower realizing that I was going to be at least 15 minutes late to math class. And dumb math department has this new rule: For every time you're late, you get a point off your report card. I shouldn't care so much now that I'm into the 2nd semester of senior year.. but getting such a low grade that colleges have to take back your admission offer is quite a scary thought.

So I tell my mom to write me up a late note, saying that I was sick this morning. So while I was brushing my teeth and on my way out, she hands me the letter, which says I had a stomach virus. (I'm sure she did so, because I remember her asking me if she had spelled virus correctly -.-) Then I went into my room to change my AIM status to 'away' while I was about to leave. Then I saw my WWJD bracelet. "What would Jesus Do?" Immediately I felt God pounding on me, saying, Jon, I hate sin and you know it. Are you willing to disobey me for a lousy grade? ..So although I wanted to thank him so much for reminding me to do the right thing, but I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Mr. Shin, my math teacher and Seekers adviser didn't teach anything new, so I understood most of the work. I had the letter at hand while I saw him write up my 6th point off for being late. But I held back, and threw away the letter at the end of class.

Something this little made me kind of depressed for a couple of hours. But I realized, that's not even close to the constant persecution Jesus received, eventually, to the point where he was nailed on a cross. Imagine the kind of suffering he must've gone through. To say that I ever suffered now sounds outrageous.

We're called to take up the cross, and make a difference in the world. Because this world is already too far off and different from the way God intended it to be. No one said it would be easy. But then you have to think to yourself, are you willing to suffer a little just to get God's attention? It's amazing how God, an all-powerful, creator of the universe God would want nothing more than to have intimacy with his children. And he deserves all the love we can give him, doesn't he? He wasn't created for us, but we were created for him. His love for us is incomparable. So are you going to continue sinning, doing what he hates most? Or will you love him back because he loved you first? What are you going to do? What would Jesus do?

Saturday, 14 February 2009

love already amplified

today's loveamplified praise night ran very smoothly if you ask me.. that is, until the security guards kept bugging us about leaving 730 sharp. However, I really liked Chris' attitude towards it. He said that 'with God's permission, we'd play one more song.' They might've not been happy about that, but hey, this night was for God after all.

So far I've asked 3 or 4 people what they though of loveamplified..and I got the exact same answer each time..'awesome'. which in itself is truly awesome as well. One thing I've noticed about being the coordinator of an event is that it's much harder to make judgements on how things went. And as much as I enjoyed working with all 27 staff members (incl Pastor Doug Bolan), one of these days it'll be nice to sit back and watch other people take on the job.

Seekers is great and I only have God to thank for all the blessings he's given the club and its leaders in order to run events like loveamplified, Jesus Day, and seekers meetings effectively. But it's time to raise younger leaders. Leaders should know that they need to turn to God for every situation, in every day, in every hour. You just won't survive as a leader if you don't have God. Now, don't forget you need other people following your tracks, otherwise, who are you leading? Being president, like me, has a lot of perks. Looks nice for college, keeps you busy, and let's you get connections with other people. However, there's a side that MAY NOT sound to appealing...

Simply being you're stamped with 'PRESIDENT' title, you're expected to do things according to a certain standard, and there's a lot of 'why can't you do it my way' shinannigans always going on. My favorite: 'It's all YOUR fault!' And the more devoted you are to your duty, the more you get blamed for doing things wrong. But I or any president of Seekers am human too.. we make mistakes, and there are times were we might be less responsible than people make us out to be. Now what's to do with this kind of work environment? Idk bout other school leaders, but hopefully, maybe, you'll still see a smile on my face..and I'll still serve you all the food I can possibly give you in my house. God's word says to take joy in your sufferings. And no, my smiles are not fake... but not matter how much you complain, or don't bother to notice that I'm hurt, God provides me just enough energy to go through the day... So if I have to squeeze out all the love and energy that's left of me just to cook for ya or host you in my house, I will. Just thought you should know that.

It's so late right now, so I will end this..
But I just want to point out how a lot of us leaders make YO MAMA or YO FACE jokes.. ya sometimes they're funny. But someone once said that New Yorkers have this tendency to say such things because we're so defensive. The first thing that comes to mind is YO MOM.. and that usually prevents us from showing any love to others. It's because we've put this '10 feet wall' up against us.. and like Pastor Doug said, God IS love.. God defines love. How can we show love to others if we've got a defense mechanism that blocks the light of God from shining through us? Maybe some of you are praise leaders, YG leaders, yet the outside of church world has no idea you're a Christian.
loveamplified was planned with great intensions.. planning did not go well in the beginning. But I learned something through this year's praise night planning. Keep it to a bare minimum and MAX up the prayer. I really thank God for the opportunity to have great prayer meetings in my house on saturdays, in Chris' church during praise practices, and for having Pastor Doug spread the word about praying for praise night to so many other church pastors. That's the REAL reason behind loveamplified's success tonight. I believe that Seekers is going to be a great tool for God's kingdom expansion. I can feel it! As long as we keep the prayer live.. 'pray it up', anything is possible. Tonight, God made the impossible, possible (Stole this from Joanne's aim profile)
This tuesday will be the first time I go to UR! Hope to expect more from God.
As life goes on, the more blessings you have, the harder life becomes. But the more you seek God during those times, the wiser you become. The wiser you become, the greater the opportunities to spread God's word.

That's it for tonight. Hope you enjoyed this little shpeel .. (that's not how ya spell it is it.. )
God bless!

Thursday, 27 November 2008

Oh man today was great.

First, Seekers was totally looking forward to this Thanksgiving Potluck dinner that we had planned to do with Francis Lewis Seekers. So when I got home, I was told that there would be rapid dismissal in school during 10th pd. That means no clubs afterwards! WHAT?!?! Kevin Law and others had already prepared so much food! So in the midst of the rowdy environment my house quickly grew to be, I went upstairs for a moment, PRAYED to God that this problem would be resolved, and realized that I could not panic..I needed to have grace under fire. Which is basically having patience and calm attitudes about something even in the most hectic situation. Anyways, it was 3:30pm, and Seekers should be starting in 30min. So as I was thinking of what we could do to resolve the situation, Sam Hyun had told us that KCPCQ's sanctuary was available to us. That was more or less our last and only resort. Then, Mr. Shin calls me back and tells me that he talked things out with some school officials and that they agreed to let ONLY seekers into the building after the rapid dismissal! WTH?! That's super amazing.. praise God! And ya know, I definitely know that God wanted us to have this event as a time of fellowship because when I came in late, the bigger room we requested was jam packed! People from 'dozo that I've NEVER seen around, Francis Lewis, Bayside, and David Choi, Manny Lim, and Karen Ching all came to celebrate with us. A bunch of schools coming to worship and eat together.. gave me the chills looking back at my picture perfect flashbacks of what seekers was today.

Then a bunch of us went to Douglaston Plaza to watch BOLT. Fell asleep in some scenes, but it was ite. NEVER AGAIN SHALL WE WATCH AN ANIMATION AT LATE NIGHT!

So it's 12:42, which means it's Thursday and that means TURKEY DAY!
So far, I'm thankful for numerous things: 1)God and putting me on this earth to experience his love and glory.
2)My family who wants the best for me (even if my own Mom feeds my friends better food than she feeds me with)
3)My church family, who I've been able to grow with for the past 7 years.
4)Mr. Shin for resolving the school problem we had today.
5)Seekers! I can't forget my bros and sis' in Christ (especially those I chill with all the time. Can't get enough fellowship time with you guys!) and especially the seekers meetings themselves..the people I get to meet are awesome and I can't think back to a time when Seekers was ever so productive.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! =D

Tuesday, 11 November 2008

So I came home from Rite-Aid, and the first thing that comes to me (besides the funky odor of Greek food from my landlords downstairs) is my Dad yelling at me for hanging out too often. That I need to work harder in school and study harder for my SATS which are in 3 weeks. And his lecture really stressed me out that I couldn't eat my dinner and just layed on my bed. But soon after, I got up, went to my computer, and went on oovoo, where a buncha friends totally brightened my day(all by just saying nonsense things). And then the weight of the world I felt was on my shoulders an hour ago just eased away and suddenly God told me that it's gonna be okay. Then I realized once again, that family and friends make such a great balance of love in my life. My parents offer love through truth. My friends however, offer love through laughter and compassion. So basically, all you gotta do is say "I surrender all" .. and the problems don't just go away, but tolerance from God comes in and problems simply become a defeat worth fighting for. Hallelujah, I think that's why I'm a Jesus Freak!

Sunday, 02 November 2008

wow jamfest was da shizz yo! people were dancing and jumping and shouting out .. that truly rocked out beyond the four walls of faith bible church. ;p

i've been paying attention to what the newcomers of seekers are doing and i just had to tell yal how great a group of bros and sis God provides for me and seekers this year. It's only the beginning of November and already I have about 5 people that I want to consider for next year's leadership. (and all of them are new to seekers!)

So at jamfest, I was maybe a little bummed out that no one wanted to come with me to jamfest on friday =(
but i walked in and I see Cindy and Kwon Do! ANND.. they brought their entire youth group along with their youth pastor! I would've never imagined that they'd be so interested. Their whole team come both friday and saturday. WOOT!

On saturday, I was originally planning to have a leader's meeting, but because of friday night .. i decided that it was so good, I should postpone the meeting.. which can be done at anytime(especially if most of the leaders are at your house 5days a week!) So I wanted the leader's to experience what I experienced on friday night.. but most of 'em were too tired to come. But it's ite.. got nammms and klaw to come. (thx to yale church's van driver for getting us there on time)

About a quarter way into Sat's jamfest session, Courtney calls and says she wants to come but has no idea where she is. I asked her .. where are you? She said.. near a bush -.- Unfortunately .. she missed a great night, but she still shows a lot of interest and leadership. I admire when I meet someone for the first time and they're already helping out at foreign food night, making an effort to find your church lols, and attending someone else's church service.

oo oo .. and I got this new IM slang from one of Jess' comments.. PTL 2 the max! (praise the lord to the max)

Thursday, 30 October 2008

im sick of school already and it's not even november yet! -.-

senior year kinda sucks (at least for now). and yea i brought it upon myself...
trying to finish college apps in one night just bumms you out because you realize that if you hadn't procrastinated over the summer, you wouldn't be in such a mess. but remember, having "grace under fire" is always the way to go. it means controlling the situation, no matter how strenuous, and not letting the situation control you.

sats.. man hoping for a 2160 and getting a 1690 instead is a complete slap in the face .. especially if it's october of your senior year and you've only got nov or dec to retake the exam. makes ya think .. man i shoulda listened to my friends and taken it in junior year.

when it's 2am..and you're either on oovoo or talking to kevin law, and you finally realize that some of the schools you wanna apply to require what you dont have .. oh say, sat2s, you just gonna end up going to bed an angry man(or WOman) and you NEVER go to bed angry.. lol erno why but i heard it from Robert in the show Everybody Loves Raymond

yea it's senior year and i've finally taken education seriously(somewhat.. lol) quite discouraging to realize that if you had done so in your earlier stages of high school, maybe your gpa wouldn't be so low.

and to think, you're president of seekers. in a school of 4000+, you and your leaders represent a wide open opportunity to your school community to be saved. And then you fall into temptations, lack excellence in just about everything you do, and say to yourself, what did you do to deserve such a position for such a mighty God?

so as of now, school life itself is really depressing(and no.. im not emo just yet. i still have to take cutting lessons from justin. hahaa jk<3) but seekers is prospering both spiritually and in numbers and i've never enjoyed spending time with the seekers fam as much as i do now. yal a buncha wackjobs but i love yal ;p

i know, i just made it sound like im going through a crisis.. but i realized..
ok yea, i need to take control of my schoolwork. but it's senior year, few months and you're outa here. i'll be fine. and what about everything else? actually, seekers is awesome, cf is doing well too, church is growing at lightning speed..and its just jaw dropping to see how much my church has grown in the past few months, and as for family, yea mommy and daddy still fight at the dinner table, but even in the worst economic situation, my parents company has been constantly getting new clients and that takes lots of stress and anger off of them.

guess im okay eh? it's funny how everything for God is great right now but school sucks. I bet if I went to school for God and not for myself, school would be better too. Either way, gotta love the word. it says to press on toward the goal for you've been called heavenward in JC!