Dave & Grace’s Wedding: A Preview

Here are a couple of my favorite shots so far as I’m going through and editing the pictures.

A Mustard Seed Can Be Enough

There’s been drastic changes at work this past week, changes that are both good and bad.

There’s also been a lot of conversations because of those changes. Conversations that painted broad strokes of new visions and goals. New standards that we could set for ourselves, because of the potential in this new team. But the biggest obstacle is fear. For me, fear has always been the mountain I had to climb. It’s defined what I see in front of me and casted the shadow over what I saw behind me. I cower rather than stand upright, become timid rather than confident.

But then there’s faith. And if this cowardice can be redeemed to trust, I wouldn’t just climb over this mountain, I can tell it to move aside.

At times I’ve dismissed the idea of having faith like a mustard seed. It seemed like a hyperbole, an expression that was beautiful but not practical. But I’ve realized in the past few days that even that small amount of faith can be impossible to have when faced with certain situations, I’m so quick to forfeit any amount of faith I may have had in the wake of mountains that weren’t there before. But Jesus knew that already and made it so that that would be enough.

$36 a Month

I started sponsoring a girl in Ghana for $36 a month back in February. That’s three decently-priced NYC dinners. That’s 18 subway rides. It’s ten times less than what I spend on groceries. 100 times less than what I’ve spend on my camera equipment. 1000 times less than the “investment” I made in my education. But for her, it will allow her to have food, clean water, and an education.

She has six siblings. She is an orphan. She likes to recite rhymes. She lives in an AIDS-infested village. She doesn’t know what her future it going to be, but there’s one thing she knows: she knows Jesus.

Her favorite verse is John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

She knows about unexpected deaths and destruction. She sees it all around her. But I can picture her fighting; picking up all the destruction and throwing it back into the face of the thief. I can picture her having an abundant life.

Cheeses Saves!

This simple little comic completely made my day today.

Here’s the blog where this is from.  10 words, black lines, and a shade of grey can go such a long way in the hands of a talented person.

The beauty and humor of creativity!

Remembering the Deepest Truths

Here is one of my, if not the favorite chapter in the Bible.

Romans 8

Life in the Spirit

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life i has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, l could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on he things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then l heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creationas subjected to futility, not willingly, but q because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit f intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, v who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through z him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I’m going to commit this to memory by the end of April. Anyone want to join me?

Our Chain of Prayer

There is someone there right now praying. In that prayer room that is full of meaning and idiosyncrasies, there are people from our church seeking God. Nicholas is in there till 11, then Grace and George are praying till midnight. Then, the students from Parson’s are praying their all night. In the morning, my friends Sunny and Clinton are going to pray from 6 in the morning till 7.

And this is how it will go for one whole week. People whom I know and have talked with will go into that room to pray and listen for God’s voice and heartbeat. One of Pastor Bruce’s main convictions for launching this prayer chain is because he wants our church to be awakened. To me, that is such a profound and prophetic church mean.

It’s a change of state. From being asleep to being awake. And there are a countless amount of infinite differences between those two things. What we perceive as when we are awake are only incoherent, vague, and over-dramatized scenarios when we are asleep dreaming. There is a more profound, concrete, and real truth that we can enjoy when we are awake rather than being asleep.

It means a deep change and progress to who we are now. It means being aware of things that you never were, and it means such realities will demand you to change your life and reevaluate the purpose of your life. Our church needs people who are fully awake.  

We need prophets
We need wisdom.
We need the Spirit of God.
We need the truth.
We need Jesus.

My slot is this Friday at 1-2PM excited to say the least.

Progression

Today, I lifted the heaviest I’ve ever did since i started training. After two months, I finally slid off the 25, 10, and 5 pound weights from the barbell and put on a 45 pound plate on either side. I placed myself underneath the barbell in order to lift it off the rack to do my first set. I squatted down as low as i needed to go and came back up. I did that 9 more times and finished 2 sets of ten. It’s a celebratory milestone to be able to move 135lbs during an exercise. And inside after i finished those sets, I did an internal victory dance.

Progression is a powerful thing. A comparison of me now and me three months ago is irrefutable data on that point.

What that has meant for me is that progression is essentially achieved through consistency and effort. But the deeper than I get into weight training and also weight loss, I realize how many offers/products/services out there do not talk about progression, but rather immediacy and automation. Consistency and effort are, in my opinion the key to weight loss, muscle gain, and just overall better health.

20 minutes, 3 times a week on one magic machine will not do it. Brainless exercises and diets that you aren’t actively experimenting, trying new things, and thinking about will not do it either. A clinically proven, pharmaceutical-backed pill that promises to shed off the fat has not got it either.

Because out of the thousands, if not millions of products out there that relate to fat/weight loss, I would assume that at least 50% of it is usable, decent, and fun. Then once you find that gadget it’s matter of doing it everyday and putting in as much effort as you can each time. Then you’ll see. You’ll see the improvements and progression and realize that you are actually moving. It would be a mistake to advertise this achievement as THE only way and THE secret to weight loss. Rather you should talk about the effort and consistency you had with the product in order to become healthier.

I can’t wait to see where I am tomorrow.

Eventful Day

A lot of things happened today. Things will become more clear tomorrow.

It’s scary and uncertain times these days, even if you do have a job.

Honoring your Responsibilites

This post is inspired by a piercing message I heard, based out of 1 Peter 3:7, by Mark Driscoll called “Marriage and Men”.

The most lasting idea from that message for me was that even though everything that happens within your marriage and family is not your fault, it is your responsibility. There’s a lineage and progression to that idea that can be traced all the way back to when that man is 25, single, and eager to understand and build himself up to biblical manhood.   

Four years before, that 25 year old was given his responsibilities in the form of a syllabus and class schedule. It looked months ahead and outlined for him his primary role and purpose was for him at that time in his life. The other areas in his life were not laid out so clearly, and therefore were usually a mess and marked with many mistakes. In many ways, those peripheral issues were a foreshadowing of the real responsibilities to come.

Graduation hailed the arrival of such responsibilities. Now, those responsibilities were not thought out, written out, and delivered to him by someone else. He has to do all the work. He creates the vision, the goals, and the milestones. He is held responsible not only for keeping to his goals, but even what the very goals are. Most men cave under such pressure and deal with this in two ways: cowardly or chauvinistically. This is another big idea in the message.

He either hides in his corner or destroys everything around him. He either runs away from his responsibilities/problems or pushes everyone aside, blaming them for everything that went wrong. Both are wrong. Neither of these help anyone.

Instead, there is a model that we follow. Christ, and him crucified. He burdened his responsibility in this most ultimate and painful way: he died to fulfill them. He knew what he had to do. He knew what was at stake. He knew that when he came down to this earth, he knew what was asked of him to do. And he did it, with love. Jesus knew how to take responsibility.

And so in my feeble attempts to mimic and imitate, I need to learn how to take on responsibilities in the same way. One example I can think of is learning how to sacrifice my time, energy, and heart. Also leaning how to commit to one thing, person, and marriage and enjoying the fact that the other is also reciprocating their commitment as well.

There are many other ways this can play out, and a reason why I am even writing in this blog is to talk about those things with you.

Older Company

Don’t have much time or energy to write a post tonight. Spent it with adults at Crab Shanty on City Island, and now watching the game between Korea and Japan. It was good spending time with them and seeing them laugh and have fun. Those crazy folks.