This week's persecuted church: Ethiopia

On March 8, armed Muslims entered the home of an elderly Christian leader who founded a church. When they began to assault the church leader, his grandson screamed at the men to leave his grandfather alone. They swung at his head and arms with their machetes and wounded his head and hand. The men robbed the house believing the man was dead. The young man's family was forced to make a three hour journey on foot to take him to a hospital in a nearby city, where he is still receiving treatment. The Muslims announced through loudspeakers that this attack is only the beginning and should be viewed as only a warning to the Christians. More attacks would be coming and more Christians would be killed in the future attacks.

Thought of the Day: Rest

Song of the Day: Song Ji Eun-미친거니

My Facebook Message to Sheemones

It just occurred to me that it's March 16th today. That means that it is my brother's birthday along with Enoch's and Blake Griffin's. Haha. I've had this blog for a while now, but I don't think I've ever dedicated a post to Simon. I often describe him as the smushed version of me (both physically and mentally), but there are a few things that I think I should point out about my brother that many people don't know.

Growing up, we always balled together, and I awaited the day when he would finally grow up and be a good match for me (that day still hasn't come). Since I'm five years older, I was also undefeated in insults, video games, and eating. Naturally, my mom often compared the two of us, which pretty much translated into nagging to him. Maybe that's why he got suspended in kindergarten for slapping a girl in the face for cutting in front of him for ice cream. Maybe that's why he had a period of tics and ripped up paper for no reason. Maybe that's why he once slammed the trunk door on my head when we used to live in Burlingame. I think it's all starting to make sense now.

But 22 years ago on this very day, God brought this little bear into our family that brought us much joy and pride. I think he was supposed to die when he got hit by a truck when he was only two, but God chose to give him a second chance. I have often abused and taken him for granted throughout our years together, but he has been resilient with that thick body and heart of his. I guess I can even argue that he has so much character because I put him through so much suffering and hardship. Haha. I have a younger brother who can give his older brother piggyback rides like they're nothing. He knows how to smile more and crack up a room with his own laughter. His UCLA status has swollen my parents' pride that has forgotten about my anteater education. On this day, I am once again thankful that I am never bored when Simon is around. Happy Birthday.

Chong Bong, update me on your status.

Barrel, you never fail to disappoint.

Thought of the Day: Retreat

Song of the Day: Nada Surf-Where Is My Mind

Mike's Last Suppers

Some of the guys wanted to take Mike out for dinner, so he chose his famous 두부마을 place outside of Seoul.

We never knew he loved Bloodsport as much as we did.

So Nate photoshopped all of our faces into the Dim Mak scene.

Getting

ready

for

this!

Here is Mike on his last Sunday with us.

We presented gifts including a signed basketball,

dvd,

personal letter,

and an iPod nano! Mike confessed that he almost said, "Oh crap!" when he saw it. "What're they going to do? Fire me?" Haha.

We prayed for his family.

We had some "Thank you Pastor Milk" cake. Haha.

Kraze Burger.

And dessert at Baskin Robbins with 짱구.

Finally, here is a video of my church that I truly love.

Mike was the best pastor I ever had.

Thought of the Day: Fix Bike

Song of the Day: Donawhale-Echo

This week's persecuted church: China

Jiang, a 41-year-old Christian lawyer who has campaigned for religious freedom in China was seized by authorities who have refused to tell his wife where they are holding him or whether he has been charged. On February 19th, he was taken to a police station for interrogation where his head was knocked against a wall. In an interview just days before his arrest, he said, "My only hope is that the day comes later, but I cannot avoid it at all...the authorities tied Gao (another outspoken lawyer who has been missing since April 2010) up and beat him continually. They used an electric shock baton on his penis. As a human being I am definitely afraid of torutre, but they cannot stop us doing the right thing - the pursuit of justice...it is a deterrent to other human rights lawyers. They want to fill our hearts with terror and fear. They also imply that the treatment Gao Zhisheng suffered could also happen to us...please pray that the Lord will strengthen me and give me wisdom."

I was inspired by Tiff to start this up again. I thought nobody read this stuff. Spread the awareness and pray!

Where in the world is 평택?

This is my friend, Joe, who lives in a far off land called 평택. He technically lives in a place called 안성, but everybody confuses that with 안산. I visited him yesterday to see just how country his area is. This is a picture of him giving me an idea.

He told me that there was a river nearby the area, so we did a lot of walking to check it out. We concluded that we should come back again when it's warmer and go fishing here with some of the guys.

As dinner was approaching and Joe didn't have a clue as to what was good in his area, I looked up Naver to see what would make my long journey worthwhile. A few people recommended this 부대찌개 place as there happens to be a military base nearby. This place took us forever to find; I think I literally had to stop and ask eight different people for directions.

But we found it.

And had our ramen with it...only to conclude that it wasn't worth the search. But we found it, tried it, and never have to go back again. I think I wanna explore more of 경기 on my off days.

Thought of the Day: Gift Ideas

Song of the Day: Donawhale-Echo

Just Getting Started

Dinko had recommended Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles a while back along with Pastor Mike who had told me that it wasn't too bad as well. I finally came around to it and can belatedly agree that it's actually a pretty decent show. I like how they try to be very consistent with the Terminator movies. I also like how they thought it was so necessary to choose a girl Terminator who is pretty attractive. I think we all need to be more thankful that Terminators don't exist in our world. That would make things quite difficult.

Another new thing that I recently started is my "Small Group Discussion Topics for Korean Students" book with my 아줌마 class. Today's topic was Teenage Sex Trade (the picture above actually comes out in my book), so I was a bit concerned that it would be a very uncomfortable class. However, I was actually very surprised by how open everyone was about their thoughts and opinions on prostitution and pornography. The discussion kinda went off the road when the 아줌마s started talking about their experiences of catching their sons watching porn. Then when I tried to bring them back to focus and asked how we could solve the prostitution problem, one of the ladies passionately argued that we need to kill all the adult male customers.

아줌마: Why do men do these things? WHY DO YOU GUYS DO IT?!
Me: I'm so sorry.

I finally finished both courses on the History of Christianity and was debating on what to start listening to next. I still have a bunch of Phil Ryken stuff, but I think he's more of a Sunday morning kind of guy. Then I remembered how Jae had told me that people had recommended Ravi Zacharias to him. I remember listening to Ravi once way back in high school when I first met Chang on our roadtrip to LA. Then later in college, I visited a KCM apartment and found one of the theological dudes listening to one of Ravi's talks. So I gave the Indian author and apologist a shot. I seriously hit the bullseye!

Thought of the Day: Chadwick
Song of the Day: Lupe Fiasco-Never Forget You

Church Challenges

We finished a 10 week Bible Study on finances today at our church. I wasn't expecting that much in the beginning, but it turned out to be really good. I've already shared with a number of people that I was so surprised to learn how much the Bible opposes debt and how we are supposed to pay it off as soon as possible. Debt is essentially bondage, and bondage is something that displeases the Lord. Growing up as an American, I saw debt as something common and regular, especially with school loans and credit card bills.

According to a CNN article that I read, "many Americans follow the same pattern: work hard in high school, go to college, accrue a load of debt and get a job right away to work it off." And as I grew up in the same pattern, I was very lax with paying off my school loans all these years. But I have now decided to have a fixed spending/saving plan that will allow me to be debt-free

(assuming that I maintain my current income) before I turn 30...American age. That means limiting my weekly spending to 50,000won. I wonder if I'll end up losing weight this way. I think it's a healthy challenge.

Another challenge that I have brought upon myself is to learn how to pray in Korean. I always believed that this was the ultimate test of how good a person's Korean was. Not that this will finally turn me into a fluent speaker or anything, but I felt so humbled after my Korean teacher asked me to pray in Korean for our class. I. Sounded. SO. STUPID. Fortunately, we had a private class today. But some time this week, I'm going to actually ask my mom to teach me how to pray in my mother tongue (no pun intended). No more of this "God Thank you Amen" stuff. Man, just the thought of learning is burdensome.

Thought of the Day: Pastor Samuel

Song of the Day: Tony Rich Project-Nobody Knows It But Me

For All You Preachers

"I believe that the messages that are most full of Christ are the most likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers. Let your sermons be full of Christ-from beginning to end crammed full of the Gospel. As for myself, I cannot preach anything but Christ and His cross, for I know nothing else. Long ago, like the apostle Paul, I determined not to know anything else 'save Jesus Christ, and him crucified' (1 Corinthians 2:2). People have often asked me, 'What is the secret of your success?' I always answer that I have no other secret but this: I have preached the Gospel-not about the Gospel, but the Gospel-the full, free, glorious Gospel of the living Christ who is the incarnation of the Good News. Preach Jesus Christ, always and everywhere. Every time you preach, be sure to have much of Christ in the message...We must have Christ in all our messages, no matter what else is in them or not in them. There ought to be enough of the Gospel in every message to save a soul."

-C.H. Spurgeon from The Soul Winner

Thought of the Day: Debt

Song of the Day: Kara-Jet Coaster

Happy 삼겹살 Day

The bike is fixed.

Watch was broken but is now fixed.

Wireless password is set up.

Teaching hours have increased.

Weather is slightly warmer.

Mom is back home.

Sleeping hours remain the same.

It's a prayer come true.

Thought of the Day: 4 gig SD card

Song of the Day: Green Day-Jesus of Suburbia

삼겹살 Eve

Bike tires feel flatter. Internet speed is slower. Teaching hours are fewer. Weather is colder. Home is quieter. Sleeping hours are longer.

Thought of the Day: Loyalty

Song of the Day: Big Bang-Tonight

Biiig Bang!

April got Big Bang Concert Tickets and was kind enough to invite me, Nate, and Jung to this female madness.

We even got to say hi to Jinu (from Jinusean) who hooked her up with the tickets. We even got to see Ha Ji Won a few rows in front of us...

although I couldn't get a clear picture of her face.

We even got to see Big Bang pretty close up. That G-Dragon boy was pretty small.

Here is Jung with her Big Bang socks.

And Big Bang with their 마지막 인사 where my camera ran out of memory.

Thanks again, April!

Thought of the Day: Nate hating on 지용.

Song of the Day: Big Bang-Tonight

Spring Fever

3:00A.M. You know you were pretty sick when you wake up in the middle of the night realizing that you've gotten so much better and can't fall back asleep because you can't stop thinking about it. I literally thought about going home early after every single class yesterday. By my last class, I would just cough my lungs out and look up to the ceiling for mercy. Them last 20 minutes were brutal. I don't know what my dad gave me, but I think they were antibiotics. Thank God for antibiotics! I never thought I'd welcome spring with a flu/fever/cold.

Thought of the Day: Webcam

Song of the Day: Lee Hyun-내꺼중에 최고

예술이다

I came home from basketball only to find my desk strangely messy yet artistic at the same time. It pretty much represents the tornado I go through before leaving for the courts. Too bad my game is pretty messy too.

Today, while I was going for a fast break, a defender hit the ball to my crotch and I was in pain. I tried to play it off, but everyone noticed how uncomfortable I looked and how I kept bending over with my hands on my knees. This is something you cannot merely "walk off." I guess I made things look more ridiculous by continually telling people that I was alright when I really wasn't. Hit to the crotch. Ain't no art in that.

Thought of the Day: Broken Bike

Song of the Day: SNSD-Hoot

Hoop Dreams

Last night, I had a dream that the Lakers were playing soccer against Korea's World Cup team. Korea lost 1-4, and I was so mad. How does a nation's soccer team lose to a basketball team in their own sport?!

Thought of the Day: Friday Night

Song of the Day: Lee Young Jin-바이러스

Who woulda thunk it?

Not me. =D

Thought of the Day: Charley's Interview

Song of the Day: The St. Francis Choir Feat. Ryan Toby-Oh Happy Day

Seoul Drives Me Crazy

There's a lot I've learned to put up with and accept in Korea. From the smoking inside the bars to the pushing in the subway stations, I've come to tolerate and even "assimilate" into many things. But there are three particular things that still upset me and they all happen to be related to Seoul drivers. I hate...

1. How the drivers pay no attention to ambulances.

I think it's the most ridiculous scene when the ambulance is struggling to get through the intersection as if it were playing Frogger with other cars. Nobody moves out of the way nor stops to let the emergency vehicle through. The siren can cry all it wants, but the ambulance will just be another noisy car in Seoul that is trying to be 빨리빨리.

2. How nobody signals.

I didn't realize how much of a problem this was until I started riding my bike in the streets. In my American mind I'm thinking that if you don't signal, you're going to go straight, not make surprise turns! I can pretty much think of a couple of times everyday where I probably could have died if I had not second guessed a driver's SIGNAL-LESS decision to turn. I really hate the stereotype too, but you 아줌마s drive me nuts!

3. How the air is so bad.

Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time outdoors, but sometimes I straight up feel like I'm smoking. I will purposefully exhale out of my mouth just because it feels like I will somehow get rid of the many toxins that have entered my virgin lungs. It honestly discourages me from running outside for exercise because I think it will do me more harm than good. The Shenyang population might think I'm being a baby, but all I know is that living in this city doesn't do a body good. And because of the two former reasons, I blame the millions of Seoul drivers for the bad air.

Just like the education system or the peace talks with North Korea, I guess there is no simple solution. But the drivers really can learn to signal!

In other news, I chose a new book for my 아줌마 class and showed it to them today. More than the content or the difficulty of the material, they were happier with the colors and the size of the letters. Hilariousness.

Thought of the Day: Phoenix Park

Song of the Day: Cleo-Good Time

"Turbo" Galbi & 설날 Food

Mom: Why do you always take pictures of food?

Me: To show Simon (what's he missing out on).

Thought of the Day: Kiss of Dragon

Song of the Day: Mayday-Oran-G

Killing Them Softly

For Nate. And anyone else who has never seen Chapelle's best. And again for everyone who already has.






Thought of the Day: 설날
Song of the Day: Chae Yeon-봐봐봐

Old School Thinkers

"We ought to be willing to suffer the loss of all worldly goods without regret."

-John Calvin

"'You’ve lost your homes. You’ve lost maybe loved ones. You’ve lost this, you’ve lost that.’ He says, ‘Well, tell me. Have you lost Christ’s love? Have you lost the Holy Spirit? You haven’t lost anything. You value these things too highly. What your faith is about is your possession of Christ.'"

-Dr. S. Donald Fortson III on St. Augustine in The City of God

"We have to tell of an earnest Savior, an earnest heaven, and an earnest hell. How earnest we ought to be when we remember that in our work we are dealing with souls that are immortal, with sin that is eternal in its effects, with pardon that is infinite, and with terrors and joys that are to last forever and ever!"

-C.H. Spurgeon from The Soul Winner

Thought of the Day: Basketball

Song of the Day: Mighty Mouth-Tok Tok