Dejuj Kries

Student:  Teacher, what is Dejuj Kries?
Me:  Where did you hear that?
Student:  My teacher she always said, "Believe in Dejuj Kries!"

So apparently, my student had a substitute teacher who always taught about Jesus in his computer and math class.  She ended up getting fired because she wasn't really teaching what she was supposed to be teaching.  A clear breach in state and church.  But what was interesting was how upset my atheistic student was with these "strong believers" of Christianity.  He began to tell me about another negative experience he had with a woman who was evangelizing to him on the street and saying that he would suffer painfully in hell for not believing in God.  My student is just entering 6th grade.  As you can imagine, he has a pretty bad image of evangelistic Christians.

Brennan Manning said that "the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians..."  I remember hearing that for the first time in middle school and being surprised by such a profound idea and statement.  But through the years of being surrounded by both Christians and non-Christians, the surprise has only been replaced by sadness.  When people ask me questions about the Bible, my answers are inadequate and poor.  When people view my life, it is inconsistent with what I profess to believe.  When people see my Christian brothers and sisters, they don't see a community of believers.  I'm sad because I know that I too am a cause of atheism in the world today.

But thank goodness that God is greater than my failures and even the poor preaching and presentation of Dejuj Kries.

Thought of the Day:  STOP NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE EXECUTION!
Song of the Day:  Taru-Summer Day

The Jeremy Lin Show

My my my.

This week's persecuted church: Saudi Arabia

A Christian leader from Saudi Arabia explained: “The Saudi officials are accusing the Christians of committing the crime of mixing of sexes because if they charge them with meeting for practicing Christianity, they will come under pressure from the international human-rights organizations as well as Western countries. In fact, when an employer of one of the detainees asked for the reason for their employee’s arrest, the Saudi official told him that it was for practicing Christianity.”

Saudi officials strip-searched all the women and subjected them to an abusive body-cavity search, and assaulted the men. In a remarkable prison interview with the Voice of America’s Amharic-language service, one of the women, who contracted an infection from the search, attested: “We are traumatized by the strip search. They treated us like dogs because of our Christian faith. While talking about me during a recent visit to the prison medical center, I overheard a nurse telling a doctor ‘if she dies, we will put her in a trash bin.’”

Thought of the Day:  Resource Conflict
Song of the Day:  Humming Urban Stereo-넌 그날 (Gros Câlin Mix)

Seizing Seasons

I finally started the second season of Community.  Like many shows that I watch, I often get stuck on the same season for many a month.  I progress very slowly by watching about an episode a week, so I don't get to see many new things that everyone else is going through.  By the time I finish a season, everyone is already finished with the next one I'm supposed to watch.  I'm always a couple of steps behind.

I feel like a lot of my young adult years have been that way.  People would enter grad school.  I'd be at hakwon.  People would finish grad school.  I'd be at hakwon.  People would start some profession.  I'd be tutoring.  People would start dating.  I'd be tutoring.  People would start getting married.  I'd be tutoring.  People would come in and out of Korea.  I'm still tutoring.  A cold and frozen life like these frigid winter months.

But Sam recently told me that it seemed like my life was finally going through some big changes...positive ones.  My dad has started something new (again).  My brother has graduated and is now working for the first time.  And would you believe it?  I'm getting married before all y'all!  It's almost as if I'm experiencing five unfrozen years all in a matter of five months.  For once, I feel like I'm finally a season ahead of everyone!

However, I can only say that I'm finally having my "fast break" because of those stagnant seasons.  Let me just take one of the many scenarios that has come to my mind.  A little less than a year ago, I applied for a public school position and had thought how perfect it would be if I could land the job that would start in September.  A million people prayed for me.  But despite getting to the final stage of the interview process, I didn't get it.  Because I didn't get it, I continued with my tutoring.  No big deal, right?

It actually was a big deal because...

if I had gotten the job, I would have made less than I make now.  If I was making less than what I make now, I probably would not have proposed to Jaime in January.  If I had not proposed then, we wouldn't have thought of getting married this June.  In other words, the awful news that I received last June was actually very good news in disguise for this coming June.

If I take a step back even further, it's really amazing to see the chain of students that I've been able to meet and teach.  When I trace those chains back, they all go back to my hakwon and the first church I had attended in Korea, my two biggest burdens at the time.  I think Marj stated it perfectly while sharing her testimony:  "God knew what He was doing."  I can now see how all of those frozen years in my life were preparing me for my warm and sunny wedding this summer.  But like I said, this is only one scenario.

Speaking of seasons, Jeremy Lin, NBA's first Asian American basketball player has been giving quite a show lately.



Thought of the Day:  Boracay Hotels
Song of the Day:  Mos Def-Beef

This week's persecuted church: India

Hindu extremists barged into a prayer meeting led by a pastor and beat him and stripped him naked.  They shouted at the Christians in coarse language as they started beating and kicking the pastor before parading the naked pastor in a procession throughout the village.  At about midnight they tied the pastor to a tree near a temple and sent for police.  The police took him into custody for questioning, was charged and locked up, but was later released the same night.

Thought of the Day:  Wedding Fairs
Song of the Day:  SNSD-Mr. Taxi

D-130

Today, my mom called her friend to tell her that I was getting married.  But before my mom even had a chance to share the news, her friend answered the phone by saying, "Has he set a date yet?"

Apparently, she found out through her son who had seen my brother's Facebook.  Forget "word of mouth."  I think we've entered the era of "word of Facebook."  As if social networking wasn't convenient enough, smartphones decided to throw in an extra cushion.  To the hundreds of people (I'm flattering myself here) who didn't get to hear from me first, I apologize.  (Simon's) Facebook is just that much faster.

June 9th.  Mark your calendar!

Thought of the Day:  Beaches
Song of the Day:  KRS-One-Step Into A World (Rapture's Delight)

This week's persecuted church: Nigeria

The Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram has killed at least 935 people since it launched an uprising in 2009, including more than 250 in the first weeks of this year.

The report said 550 people were killed in 115 separate attacks by Boko Haram last year, mostly in the far northeastern state of Borno, where the sect was founded in 2002.

Boko Haram has moved from drive-by shootings and petrol bombs to suicide attacks using large and increasingly sophisticated explosives. A suicide car bomb last year killed 25 people at the United Nations headquarters in the capital Abuja.

Thought of the Day:  Antarctica
Song of the Day:  Just As I Am, Without One Plea

Plenty of Fish in the Sea

So much can happen in so little time.  I'll give you a fastforwarded version of my past week:

Friday:  Proposed
Saturday:  Informed my parents
Sunday:  Informed the church
Monday:  Wrestled with parents over marriage plans
Tuesday:  Informed Jaime's parents and settled marriage plans with my parents
Wednesday:  Informed Mom's side of the family
Today:  Reserved a potential place
What will tomorrow bring?

As I was listening to a sermon on Jesus calling the disciples and making them into fishers of men, it occurred to me just how much I've been worrying about finances.  I've constantly been estimating and calculating and budgeting and visiting banks and punching the calculator and...I'd forgotten that the Lord who is the master of all the fish in the sea is also the master of my bank account and especially my wedding and marriage.  I feel like my restless heart and mind are similar to a broken computer that won't shut down properly unless you hold down on the power button.  Where is the power button to my heart and mind?  Why won't they "shut down properly" and find rest in its master?

It's probably because I have forgotten exactly who it is that sits in the very same boat right next to me.

I think my restless mind has mixed too many analogies.  But yeah, I'm pretty darn excited for marriage!

Thought of the Day:  Simon got a job!
Song of the Day:  Yuna-More