Sojourning the Earth. Settling for Eternity.

"Of all persons the Christian should be best prepared for whatever the New Year brings. He has dealt with life at its source. In Christ he has disposed of a thousand enemies that other men must face alone and unprepared. He can face his tomorrow cheerful and unafraid because yesterday he turned his feet into the ways of peace and today he lives in God. The man who has made God his dwelling place will always have a safe habitation. " -A.W. Tozer It has been a fruitful and abundant year. Its not an easy year at all, but when I looked back I see how God works in every trials and obstacles that I've encountered. This gives me hope; God's faithfulness and mercy prevails every time. All the time. So what's my New Years Resolution? Its more like prayers actually: 1) I pray for more faith and confidence in this upcoming year. I want to feel excited whenever I encounter adversities. Voddie Baucham said that he felt that way because he knows that God is about to transfo...

Pull me a little closer, Take me a little deeper, I want to know Your heart. Because your love is so much sweeter, Than anything I've tasted, I want to know Your heart.

Niagra Falls - Summer 2012 to remind ourselves that the God that we worship is both powerful and loving. His strength far greater than the force of waterfalls and his love is unmeasurable, as vast as the ocean. I have to remind myself especially with days like today, of God's provision. My prayers are with those who have lost their children in the Connecticut shooting. We live in a broken world and this tragedy should enforce up to develop and pursue a closer relationship with him who gives us the everlasting life. As I was praying, I asked God where He was in this tragedy. To be honest, I was very depressed and troubled by this whole massacre. Yet God confirmed this to me: all those kids are with Him. He was there when the slayings are happening. He was there in the midst of the shootings. He was there to comfort those victims. Not one single child is left behind by Jesus Christ. I am even confident that these children are now safe and sound with Him, at this moment. We are...

Glory to God Alone! My fall semester is done, and there are a few praise items I want to mention: -Thank you, God, for your faithfulness -Thank you, God, for your grace -Thank you, God, for your patience -Thank you, God, for your provision -Thank you, God, for your peace -Thank you, God, for your presence -Thank you, God, that you have Overcome!

Its been a tough semester. Mini essays every week. Challenging midterms. Projects. UCM. I can't believe there's only two weeks of school  class left! After saying that, I do agree that I've grown (again!) so much throughout this semester. To be honest, I entered the semester expecting that I won't do that much work. I picked my courses earlier in the summer, making sure that they are courses that I'd enjoy and that they won't have too much workload. Boy, was I wrong and God truly convicted me of this. I was too confident in my own skills and efforts that I placed God out of the picture... I relied on my own strength, not expecting God to reveal his magnificent power in my life and his desire of partaking in the midst of my daily routines. Selfish.. Prideful.. Insecure.. Yeah, that's what I am. Yet I thank my God that he has new mercy for me everyday. I was so blind coming into this semester and God knows this. He still gives me that freedom of choosi...

One of the misassumptions that I often had (and still guilty of) is that when I spend time with God, He will bless me with more things. Its kind of like earning God's approval by deeds. This is such a preliminary error yet I keep on falling into the same habit over and over again. And if I did put in some time with God and not receive the result that I want, I get disappointed. Such is the case this year, where I try to put God first (more than my other years at university) yet the results that I receive in my classes were not what I anticipated. I've put in quite a bit of time and effort in my courses as well, yet it's still hard to get the marks that I wanted. This circular trap gets me every time. God doesn't want His children to come to Him with an expectation that He will bless us in return. He wants us to come to him with a desire for him and him alone. He wants us to come to him, without expecting God will give His blessing to us in return - no string attache...

What is it that makes human so limited? One of the biggest thing that I've experienced is the fact that I don't know it all. Even if I feel like I've maintained a thorough understanding of a situation (or even of myself)... things happen, circumstances occur, situations change, leaving me with the realization that I haven't got a single clue of what's going on. So how should I respond with respect to all these things? Instead of confiding in Him who is omniscient, I placed trust in myself. Rather than surrendering my all to Him who is able, I became stagnant in my own closed off world. Hence, I become insecure, anxious, and afraid. All I can do now is ask for forgiveness for my own iniquity. My stubbornness. I don't have it figured out. I don't know what's going on. All I want now is you, Lord. I pray that your peace will transcend over me and overwhelm me. I want to be confident in the realm of uncertainties. You are there by my side, I shall no...

Well, I'm back in Vancouver now. Spent some time with the family and now I'm all packed up to move back to the GHouse. I noticed that I'm a pack rat - too many junk in my belongings! Well, I won't try to bring too much stuff this time. Couple of things that I'm really stoked about this year: 1. Living in the GHouse + catching up with people 2. Core leading in UCM 3. Having a close family member on campus 4. Psyc Courses! My friend was telling me that its good to have a motivation behind your work. I'm trying to brainstorm some goals that I want to have this year: 1. Keep on reading and memorizing Bible passages 2. Get into a lab position for my 4th year Cogs I'm sure there are more but I'll focus on that for now :)

1. Half of August is gone 2. I have seven more work days 3. Summer is ending 4. School is starting In other words... time flies by... fast! Its hard to believe that in a couple weeks, I will be taking a flight to return to Vancouver. My time here felt very short.. I can also say that I am ready to go back home. I'm starting to miss my family and friends in Vancouver. I guess living by yourself does make you feel that way sometimes - especially when all my roommates have gone home for the rest of summer. God has taught me quite a bit of things this summer and He also has provided me with numerous opportunities to grow, to learn, and to explore. Some of the things I am thankful for during this summer: A) The opportunity to grow in my relationship with God via reading the Bible. CCF has motivated me to read the Bible and to discipline myself in memorizing some passages. It does bring a new perspective and revelation in the Bible stories that I grew up with and the passages tha...

One of my friend has this statement on his Facebook status: "we've grown up too much, sometimes we forget that we are children of God". There is some truth to this statement. What's interesting is that this statement reminded me of an interesting experience that I encounter a couple months ago, last semester. I was walking around downtown Vancouver, going back to my workplace and I suddenly stopped. I saw a reflection of myself on a store window (this sounds pretty narcissistic haha). But I stopped because I saw myself with a nice dress shirt, formal pants on, hair gelled stylishly, wearing a nice pair of dress shoes. And I thought to myself: "Wow, I'm all grown up. The world awaits me...real life awaits me". To tell you the truth, that IS a scary thought! To be given the freedom to do what you want to do with your life and the independence from my family... I just feel like I'm not ready at all.  But I can't avoid it, I do have to face reality (...

Something that my friend shared. A good consideration, definitely worth reading through. Where is God in tragedy?

Initially, I considered my time here in the east as a break from Vancouver. In a way, it has been a good break. I've been involved with UCM since my second year, and this includes the summer semesters as well. Its nice to see how God works in different parts of the world (even though I'm still in Canada). CCF is different from UCM and I'm just beginning to appreciate the difference. Coming into CCF, I knew that the fellowship will tend to lean more on the conservative side. Hence, during my time here, I have to withhold some of the things that I usually do back in Vancouver. But really, it doesn't seem bad at all. It has been a blessing being here in CCF. Although I was raised in a conservative family, I grew up in a liberal environment at UBC. I find that I don't really have a preference of one view over the other. You can say that I'm somewhere in the middle or that I'm pretty accommodating towards both views. As I become more involved with the ministries ...

I haven't really explained what a regular day in Waterloo for me looks like, here it goes: 8am - wake up, shower, brush teeth 8:30am - breakfast + Devos 9am - leave house 9:15-12pm - Work (I'm a software tester, lots of writing/executing test cases) 12-12:50pm - Lunch (its free yay) 12:50-3pm - Work 3-3:15pm - Coffee break (I mostly walk around) 3:15-5:15 - more Work 5:15-11:30pm - all up in the air haha I guess that's the nice thing about co-op life. You don't need to worry about homework, midterm, exams, etc. I usually come home and cook dinner with my roommates. Still trying to adjust to the whole sharing groceries + cooking together (always). Back in Vancouver, I never do this. Each guy will cook their own food (although we have community meal once a week). Its been interesting so far but I don't know if I can keep it up (since some of the guys are just learning how to cook). It can be pretty hard trying to come up with what food to make every nig...

Whenever I strike up a conversation with the people that I meet, I often find myself trying really hard to understand where they are coming from. You can say that I was trying to place myself in their shoes. Its kind of interesting how my natural inclination tends to follow this course. No wonder I'm doing a minor in Psychology. But as I also find myself being very sympathetic as I try to gain a better grasp of the individual. Although this feeling is a tremendous help in understanding them, I do find myself restrained at times. Last Sunday, P.T was preaching about King Saul as he continued along the series "Heroes and Villains of the Faith". Saul 'could've been a great King', but because of his lack of self confidence he has failed in the many occurrences that God has granted him with to establish him as one of Israel's greatest King (1 Samuel 15). What sticks out for me is how the fear of others hindered Saul from listening to the Lord. I know that I...

I feel like I'm being tested with my patience right now. This summer, I've moved to Waterloo, ON from Vancouver. I am surrounded with a different environment, setting, and people. Currently, I am living with four other guys and let's just say that the state of our house is below my standard level of "clean". I'm sure lots of people who have gone away from home have experienced this dilemma. I'll refer to the effect of this dilemma as the "Messy Roommate(s) Syndrome", MRS in short. I've talked to some people on how they dealt with MRS. The most famous solution is to turn a blind eye to the whole thing, while still cleaning up after your own stuff. This also entails the person to keep their belongings in their own bedroom (kitchenwares included) and buying a small refrigerator to store their own stuff if you want to be extreme (or if things get pretty nasty in the fridge). To be honest, I am really considering this option. Although the house is...

I haven't really explained why I picked my blog title: "Sojourning the Earth. Settling for Eternity". www.thefreedictionary.com defines the word "sojourn" as a temporary stay; a brief period of residence. That definition nails it! Everybody, here on earth, is a sojourner. You. Me. Everyone. We are made in the image of God. Consequently, we are made as eternal beings. We are made to inherently have the desire for eternal life. I think that's why lots of people are quite dissatisfied with their lives. They look for gains and pleasures from the world, yet they try to ignore the fact that those things don't last forever. It's quite a shock for me to remind myself that everything in this life is temporary.  "Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away." -1 Corinthians 7:31 (NLT) When I look with the lenses of this verse, I gain a new perspective. It makes me reali...

My first blog. Ever. I'm not really sure where to start but here goes nothing... I was talking with my friend A and when she told me about how she blogs to put down her thoughts online, it really drew my attention. It's totally true that when anybody blogs, they are giving a piece of themselves away. They became vulnerable. Exposed. But there is a degree of admiration involved in this process. Often times, it is difficult for me to open myself up when I am meeting someone new. Why? Fear is one of the reason. When I do expose myself to others, I initially feel that I am ensnared with the fear of getting hurt, betrayed, and what-not. I am also afraid that when I open myself up all the ugly, icky part inside me will be revealed. That's why I wore a superficial facade to prevent that from happening. I've build a wall that I thought would protect me from harm's way, yet in reality the very same wall is restricting me from the relationships that I invest in. But prais...