CCF Banquet

A recap of the past Saturday night: I had a really fun time.... I suppose the nostalgia attacks and feelings of loss will haunt me throughout the course of the summer as I slowly begin to realize that I have... GRADUATED. Anyways, it was a masquerade. So a lot of people dressed up with masks and such. I purchased a cheapie $2 mask...which I promptly lost as the evening came to a close. There was a dancing lesson too, so we learned how to waltz and jive. I thought guys lead with the right foot...but I suppose my memory is a little shakey as my last dance lesson was years ago.

Probably, there were two really touching moments of the night. Danielle's speeches about the grads. I guess you never realize how much of a positive impact you can make on people's lives until you hear it. A lot of things she said, I felt she was all wrong. She said all good things, but you know... I am still so sinful... People say that they can see God working in me, I sometimes wonder if I am really letting God work in me as much as He could. The other moment goes to Thaddeus's picture slideshow and videos. He put a lot of time and effort in and it showed. A lot of good moments this year at ccf. Props to Angie and Jacky for putting the banquet together....granted...the three of them don't read this blog....I thanked them in person.

The highlight of the night goes to the short chat I had with Brian Tse. I wish he showed up more at ccf, God will use him in incredible ways. He's one of those guys who are very in tune with their faith, despite not "knowing" as much biblically. I wish I had his faith. :)

EDIT:

Happy Birthday Mom! :)

Summer doldrums

Even though it is summer, I have the urge to remain active. Lots of things I want to do. Now it is just building up the discipline to follow through. :D

Job

So I was offered a job today. It is a nice job, government, lots of benefits and decent salary. It will give me plenty of experience in the varying aspects of IT. I should be more excited, but I am not. Why?

I have been in the interview process for this position for months. First, credentials are examined. Following that, there was a written test (similar to an exam, without anything to study). After the written test, there was the interview. And finally, my references were called. This has been ongoing since January.

I remember praying at the very beginning of this process. God, I would like this job. He answered, "If you really want this, you can have it.". I have told very few about this prayer and its answer. I don't like saying, God told me this..and then it doesn't happen..and you feel extremely dry. But, it happened! And I cannot help but feel excited...for His blessings, His providence. Thank God!

So the reason, I'm smiling today....the reason I am happy and excited today is not, because God has blessed me with a job. It is, because... my God answers prayers. My God is the living God. :)

EDIT:

I just realized today is my 40th post. 40 was a pretty significant number in the Bible...mostly associated with trials followed by prosperity. So hopefully, the job is the prosperity part..and the trials have already been passed. o_O Regardless, praise God!

Ritz

When did the world decide that everything/everyone needs to be so flashy? Seriously, whatever happened to modesty? Is that not a virtue?

New Monitor!

I call it "blessings in disguise":

My lcd monitor broke this morning...sometime between the hours of 1am to 9am. After breakfast, I wanted to check if I had any e-mail before heading to school. I turned on the monitor, and it blinked at me. Colours of gray, white, and RGB danced on the screen endlessly. For those of you that are less technical, here is the first move any technical support agent does: I reset my computer. No luck. I decided to do a hard reset (unplug, replug). No dice. I cried. Nothing seemed to work, so I went to school.

Seven hours later, I returned....and played rock band. After which, I decided to see if the monitor had fixed itself (through prayer). I am clearly not righteous enough. (James 5:16). So I called Dell Tech Support, and they're sending me a NEW monitor (possibly a better upgrade) on Thursday or later. Granted, this does count as answered prayer...but, it would be much cooler if it was fixed like that. Even more cooler than the usual answered prayer! :D

Anyways, the point of this is two fold:
1. Now I don't have a computer to distract me from studying.
2. I get a new monitor!

UPDATE!!!

I got the new monitor on Thursday, just like the kind tech support lady said! BONUS!!! It is a 20" monitor! Furthermore, I lucked out and got the S-IPS matrix over the S-PVA which is supposed to have superior color and quality!!!! THANK YOU GOD!

Encouragement

If I could only be known for one thing, I would be a man that empowers those around him.

Some things you shouldn't do

I have this bad habit of putting myself in dangerous situations that would dishonour Christ. The statement probably sounds a lot worse than it actually is, but hey....God calls us to a high standard (1 Pet 1:16). I'm not talking drugs or anything hardcore. I find it's the little steps towards wrongdoing that can be the most harmful (at least for me). However, even removing those little steps toward temptation and sin does not lead us to honouring His name (James 4:17).

So the first question is....why do we do such things? Ignorance of the law doesn't save you (Romans 2:12).

And the second question is....what are some of the little steps we are taking to prepare ourselves for when He calls us?

Hesitance

Ever have moments where you wonder whether you should be telling someone that their understanding of a theological concept or interpretation of a bible verse is incorrect? Do you weigh the potential outcomes of your choices: keeping quiet, or telling him or her.

But, Richard! Keeping quiet will have that individual build upon an incorrect idea!
But, Richard! Telling him or her could discourage the person from further study! (Especially, if they are the type to continually mess up interpretation!)

Do we have an obligation to (gently) correct those who have incorrect interpretation? Or are we to encourage spiritual growth, and let them make minor mistakes along the way?

End days

THE APOCALYPSE... kidding...more like end days at Ryerson. Today was the last presentation I would EVER make as an undergraduate student. It went pretty smoothly considering that there was only one person in the audience (the prof). One thought I had was that we have all grown a lot. My friends, my cousin, Brian, and I all presented as a group. The prof offered to give us references, if we needed it. So I may just take her up on the offer.

Before the presentation, I had lunch with a friend. I prayed that the Spirit would guide the conversation, as he is non-Christian. We chatted for a while, I got a little into the spiritual stuff. He's a non-practicing Buddhist. I didn't make any amazing call out or anything, but it is a start. We're going to go on a grad trip so I joke to myself that I'll convert him over that one week period, and bring him back Christian. >:D

For dinner, I went to City Grill with my good friend, Brian Yee. We talked about a lot of different stuff. Spiritual walk, career plans, stock market, girls, etc. and so forth. I will miss him when I graduate. I have decided that I will continually spur him on to read scripture. He desires to know more, so why not push him further?

Drive

I think Pastor Tim's message really inspired me again. Not only that, his character screams volumes about his relationship with God. He has recently left his church, and not only that the committee for joints missions conference (undoubtedly related to the church leaving). Side note: Joint Missions Conference is a youth-focused (high school -> university) missions conference held every three years. However, immediately after informing me that he was no longer part of the joint missions committee, he starts telling me how wonderful and awesome it will be. I should definitely go. He said he "might" go. That's okay.

Anyways, back to inspiration. I read all of 2nd Samuel. There were a couple things that stuck out in my mind. The hugest would be in 2nd Samuel 6. Unrestrained worship. Go read it and understand. I wonder if I could be able do that? Do I truly worship God with all my heart and soul?

Another thought...was what drives us to Christ? Some people are Christian, because they are driven by some emotional experience where God HAD to be there. Some people are rational, God is God, because He makes the most sense. What drives me is the question? I lean more towards the reasoning. I want to conform to His image, and I keep 1 Pet 3:15 close to my heart.

My Blog

That's right...RESPECT:

....

Pastor Tim

Today (Sunday) was a pretty awesome day.

At church today, there was a guest speaker. He was the pastor that accompanied Kevin, Felix, Eleasa, Elaine, Pat, Shirley, Rebecca, and I to our missions conference in France. Pastor Tim knows his stuff really well, and I couldn't help but feel inspired listening to him during the service and Sunday School. Nothing invigorates more than a healthy dose of Scripture. Learning new stuff is pretty epic!

After service, we decided to eat in at my house. We went to TnT and got a random assortment of various unhealthy goodies. Lunch is always good, but I guess sometimes we don't focus enough on God. Today was different. We spent a good engaging in spiritual conversation, what we thought of the sermon, other cool things we had learned. It was a really good day. I will probably post more on this stuff another day. God has been speaking, are we listening?

I am...

And now you know the mystery behind the name! :)

Random Thoughts

Okay, I haven't posted in a while. So here are some random thoughts throughout the week.

I have been at the library more times the past two weeks than the entire year.
My sleepover count at Ryerson has reached a record-high of four times.
Watching a movie during school hours is funny.
Conforming to the image of Christ is a lot harder than previously anticipated. I think it gets harder as you learn more.
I am still resolving the concept of justice and my part in it.
Stock market stuff is difficult.
I cannot wait to graduate.
Girls are complicated. Yes, they are.
Prayer is life.
Personalizing Quiet Time is pretty key.
It is hard to not tease people.

Archive of Facebook Notes

Collection of Facebook Notes not on my Facebook anymore:

What We Want - January 28, 2008

I think this is more a personal reflection, but the thought process would no doubt be a good one for any person to go through. Not many people think as long-term as they should (myself included).

For instance, many of us plan ahead with our money. I would like to purchase a home in several years, God willing. Therefore, I need to work out how much I get from my job, how much I earn from my investments, how much I need to save, how much of a mortgage I can afford, how much I can con out of my parents, etc and so forth. Now, I am hardly an advocate for the importance of money. Sadly, I spend too freely...granted, always on food. My other vices are not so nearly expensive.

Should we not put the same due diligence in what we want out of this life? Do you plan to be the greatest hockey player of all time? Map your life so as to achieve that goal. Want a family? Maybe, work on being an attractive potential husband or wife. Want to serve God? Seek out His will and prepare yourself for Him.

But, how can I focus my life into a single pursuit? I'm not suggesting to purely speed down the road of life towards your destination. Rather, just lift your head up and make sure you're headed in the right direction. The small steps that we take each day, might be causing us to run around in circles. You can make up a lot of things, time...not so much.

They say that on your death bed, everything you want out of life becomes crystal clear. I guess those few precious seconds before your imminent demise is a great motivation for prioritizing. Hopefully, we all won't take that long to figure out our lives.

What You Know - August 12th 2007

I'm at a point in my spiritual life where I can say that I know very little about Christianity and the Bible. Not that I don't know anything about Christianity...but rather that I've reached the tip of the iceberg, and have realized that there is so much to learn about God.

With this realization, comes many challenges. Of the little knowledge I do possess...when do I speak? When do I listen? For instance, if someone were leading Bible Studies with weak exegesis, should I stop them knowing that they are honestly trying to do something for the glory of God?

I guess one thing's for certain though, I will constantly listen and pray to God, so that when the Holy Spirit compels me to, I will answer the call.

The End.