Hello Post

Hello Post it's been a long time.

Just wanted to free flow. What has been going on in my life, well a lot actually. I just got back from an amazing trip from the Philippines where I got to experience poverty up close. Not only was I able to experience poverty but I got to see God's people doing something about it. I believe God can end poverty. But for some unknown reason beyond you and me, he wants to include us in His great work.

It was my first mission trip of any kind. In college I avoided mission trips, not sure why. Maybe because I never wanted to be sent permanently. But now I am hooked. Send me on another mission trip soon. It's just amazing being in God's presence and his work all day every day. We had a missionary from China come speak at our church recently, he is looking for short term missionaries , I immediately wanted to go. We are having a meeting with him this Wed to discuss.

I hate crying, but I have been crying a lot lately. I cried when I gave my Philippines presentation, I cried last Sunday after the missionary shared his testimony about China. Not really sure what is going on, I think it is God stirring my cold, cold heart.

The devil is real, I truly believe that. As soon as I came back from the Philippines, I was kind of on this spiritual high. The devil hates that and I believe that he tried his best to bring havoc and mayhem into my life as quickly as he could so I would stop being joyful. It worked. But through God's grace I feel like I came out it stronger and I think maybe my family did too.

I met a woman in the Philippines named Nelly. For some reason I love that name. I was seated next to her on both plane rides over to the Philippines. We got to talking and I found out she sponsored like 10 children over her life. This trip to the Philippines was her 5th! During our conversation I kept thinking what a strong wonderful woman. I immediately wrote down in my journal, that I bet I could bench press over 5 times what she could, but the strength of her spirit dwarfed mine.

We became pretty close on the trip though she didn't speak much, I don't either for that matter. But I shared about her during our wrap up session and I shared about her at church a couple weeks ago when I gave my testimony. But I left out the most important part.

During one of the days over there Nelly asked me how many people she thought were on that plane where we were seated next to each other on. I said, “I don't know 700”?

Then she said, “Do you think it was a coincidence we were seated next to each other?” I guess I didn't give it much thought.

Before we went on the trip to the Philippines, the group that was going shared some exchanges over email. I wrote about how I was worried about the heat in the Philippines since it’s my kryptonite, then I wrote something pretty poignant, I said even though I am always physically hot, I am spiritually cold and have been struggling spiritually for awhile now. Nelly said since she read that email God put it on her heart to pray for me every day. And she did, during her walks she would pray for this stranger from across the country she didn't even know.

I was blown away, still am. I am convinced that her prayers helped me meet and experience God all the more during my time in the Philippines. She and I still exchange emails periodically. She emailed me today and said that she still prays for me every day. What a wonderful woman! Mary and I call her the grandmother we never had. I hope we can visit her one day in Florida. She worked for Disney World and offered to be our tour guide. How much would the kids love that! God bless you Nelly! You bring tears to this cold hearted man’s eye.

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My Favorite Foods (in no particular order)

-Togos #9 Hot pastrami
-Porterhouse steak at Claimjumpers
-Seafood alfredo at Olive Garden
-Maguro and Sake sashimi from Japanese market eaten with hot rice and lot's of soysauce and wasabi
-Mary's Gori Gomtang (oxtail soup)
-Mary's Spaghetti
-Hot links from Top Dog
-Spicy pork over rice at Steve's Barbeque (Berkeley)
-Fat Slice Pizza cheese/pepperoni (Berkeley)
-Vietnamese sandwiches from Banh Mi (El Cerrito)
-Cheeseburger and fries from Big Al's (El Cerrito)
-Big Mac and filet o fish sandwiches from McD's chicken nuggets too
-Carnitas plate from Gordos with extra jalapenos
-Vermicelli noodles with porkchops and spring rolls from Huong Tra (El Cerrito)
-Bul go gi (Korean bbq) sandwich from Espresso Experience (Berkeley)
-Fried Chicken sandwich from Bakesale Bettys (Oakland)
-Shrimp (any)
-Spicy scallop rolls from Ichiro's (Oakland)
-Super Burrito Famoso from La Pinata (Alameda)
-Dok Bosom from Shik Do Rak (Anaheim)

1 Corinthians

I've probably read 1 Corinthians like a thousand times, but I got something different out of it today.

Often times I will judge people in our congregation because they are different, they don't do the normal things that the rest of us do. They don't come to the normal fellowships, bible studies, group outings, are clickish and only hang around certain people, etc.

God not only gives us different gifts, but he gives us different personalities. Those unique traits that are individual makes us repulsive to some, yet attractive to others. Churches need all of those different people, in order to become a thriving community. Some people will never want to meet up one on one with a pastor but may open up and share with someone else in the church, someone you would least suspect.

I think the term leader gets thrown around at church too often and too flippantly. We all are and can be leaders in diffrent ways. You don't have to belong to a designated group to display leadership, even in the church environment.

God has defintely made me unique, many bad traits but some good. I have to use my gifts or personality to reach out and affect my sphere of influence.

Wang Nguyen

Like most typical 1.5 generation Asian Americans, it was instilled in me at an early age by my father that I should become a doctor when I grew up. There was no other option for him, it was doctor or I was a failure. The only problem is that I never enjoyed science and never really excelled in the subject.

I was actually talking to Mary this morning about how I hated my primary physician at Kaiser. Just because someone is good at science and wrote memory doesn’t necessarily translate into them becoming a good doctor.

Now to what I originally wanted to write about…Ed Wang has become the first Chinese American drafted into the NFL. Dat Nguyen was the first Vietnamese American drafted into the NFL, and they are the only two full blooded Asians to have been drafted into the NFL to date.

I believe that in the next 10-15 years you will begin to see a lot more Asians entering into professional sports. Parents around my age/generation are no longer instilling this eastern mystical garbage into our kids, that a career in Medicine or Law is the only respectable career. I feel a lot more parents our generation will encourage our kids to follow their passion and support them no matter what they want to do, especially if they want to become a professional athlete.

Perhaps some of the reasons are that we don’t want to suffocate them the way our parents did, but a lot of it has to do with financial stability. Unlike our parents who often had to grind it out every day in their stores or multiple jobs, we have careers. We don’t feel the financial burden and impress upon our kids fear tactics of becoming rich and successful so they can help the family out.

Dr. Harry Edwards a sociology professor at Berkeley argued that African Americans dominated professional sports not because they were genetically gifted, but rather very much like the whole Asians becoming doctors phenomenon, most African Americans were channeled into that career as an only option.

I don’t completely buy into his theory, but I do believe there is a sociological aspect to explain why there are less Asians in professional sports. And as I mentioned before, in the next 10-15 years you will see more and more news of 100% Asian Americans playing in American professional sports, including the NFL and NBA which is currently dominated by African Americans.

Judges, Not Those Type

In the Old Testament, God raised up judges to preside over the Israelites because they became so corrupt. Whenever God raised up a judge, he was with that judge and the Israelites followed God. But each time the judge died, the Israelites returned to their corrupt ways and became even worse than before.

This passage stood out to me because I was having a conversation recently with a group of friends about how Christians need clear guidance in their lives and they need somebody to tell them what to do. It might seem childish for us to be told how to live as Christians, but isn’t that what we are most times?

We are children, and like children when we go unsupervised by an adult, we become like The Lord of The Flies. We run amock with corruption and our own sense of right and wrong.

Men do it all the time, when their wife is away, they return to their bachelor ways of old, eating fast food only, drinking too much, messing up the house, pizza boxes and beer cans everywhere, socks on the floor, and then quickly cleaning everything up and returning the house to the way it was right before your wife comes home. We all do it.

The Israelites are a representation of man kind. Left to our own wits we return to sin, again and again. Often times even adult Christians need someone to spank them, and show them what’s right and what’s wrong. Maybe not in the same way our parents did when we were children, but we need God apointed judges to show us how to live right with God.

I'm Fat

So my wife thinks I'm fat. Not that I disagree with her, but I don't completely describe myself as fat.

I guess one of my icons that I can fall back to is the "Rock". In my opinion I thought he looked better "big ' back than he does "now".

Okay fine he's more ripped. But in my opinion he looks anorexic. I guess there are different opinions on what is considered fat. But I definitely don't consider myself fat. Big yes, but fat no.