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Thursday, April 29, 2004 Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:16-26 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. I was challenged this week to examine my life in regards to the Fruit of the Spirit. Am I growing the Fruit of the Spirit? Good question to ask myself. posted by alvin | Thursday, April 29, 2004 Monday, April 26, 2004 Considerations... I miss school. Okay, okay, before bashing me as a nerd, I'll admit that I enjoy learning very much. I rather study than sit in front of a TV, which I did alot of this past weekend. However, studying on my own motivation is difficult. I realized that although I say I can learn outside of the classroom setting, I need the discipline of going to class, even though I may fall asleep or not get much from it. That provides the motivation for me. So...I'm considering pursuing a MBA after talking with a co-worker last week. He finished his MBA from SJ State 3 years part-time. Man, that's a long time. He said going to Santa Clara would be better. I guess my first step would be taking the GMAT. Going to school full-time would be difficult for me, as now I have a mortgage to pay, so I would have to go part-time. However, I'm more interested in taking some seminary courses to further my spiritual growth, and broaden some of my ministry skills. Fuller offers a "Certificate of Christian Studies" program. It is a 24-unit program, which means 6 seminary courses. I could take all the classes at the extention here in Menlo Park. Western also offers a similar type of "Certificate of Graduate Studies" program. I guess Fuller appeals to me more, because it could give me more diversity to my "conversative" christian upbringing. Costs for both program will be around 6-7k. The Fuller application is much easier than Western too. hahaha...=P. Anyways, your prayers would be appreciated. App. deadline is May 21st for the summer quarter at Fuller. Maybe finish the seminary classes first, and then get a MBA? =P. posted by alvin | Monday, April 26, 2004 Friday, April 23, 2004 Birthday Shout-Out Happy birthday to my older sister, Michelle. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, April 23, 2004 Tuesday, April 20, 2004 Road Less Traveled (RLT) and "The Melting Theory (TMT)" In springtime, the phenomena known as "spring fever" kicks in...the time of the year where a lot of people think (and blog) on the topic of relationships. I'm no different. =P. I want to blog about the topic known as RLT and TMT. Before discussing these two topics, please reference Joann's xanga, her April 6th entry. It touches on the topic of Christian guys asking Christian girls out, and provides the basic foundation for analysis on RLT and TMT. In summary, she encouraged Christian guys to be more aggressive and ask girls out. As stated by some other girls at RW, a guy gets some serious eprops for taking risks in asking girls out. However, the guy needs to be careful that it's not just drive-by dating, in which they ask a bunch of girls out, and see which one is the best match. Word gets around, and nobody wants to get asked out by a "drive-by" dater. =P. Alright, sorry to diverge topics. Anyways, let's assume that the initial stuff is over, and there is interest/possibility of something occuring. We'll fast forward here. As the guy expresses interest to the girl, the girl says no. The "no" can be for a myriad of reasons, that I won't get into here, but let's just say she says "no." If the "no" deals with timing, the two not knowing each other well enough, circumstances (such as distance), and/or expectations being too high this is where RLT or TMT can occur. There could be others that also allow the guy to go on the RLT. If the "no" deals with insurmountable issues, the RLT is never recommended. However, if there is still a chance at something, the guy needs to decide if the girl is worth it to go on the R.L.T. It is less traveled because it's a constant shot to the ego, a constant rememberance that the girl shot the guy down. It's a very humbling experience. However, the rewards on the R.L.T. are huge, but the pain is big. From a female point of view..."but really, wait a while... it will pay off and you'll cash in big time cause girls are insecure and defensive. It does suck in the beginning. but once the girl grows more secure with the guy. She'll be SOOO diff and be so sweet to you." The guy comes to a crossroads where he has to decide if the girl is worth it to still pursue. Sometimes the guy doesn't know if they really like the girl enough to decide. So, it can get fairly messy. Lots of prayer is recommended. So, if the guy still decides to pursue, he goes on the RLT. It's important to use the "friend" word during the RLT as it takes off pressure from the girl that the guy is still pursuing. Ideally, the RLT would turn into TMT. TMT deals with the girl finally "melting" and falling for the guy. It takes much persistence, patience and humility. The pursuit has to be interpreted as just "friends" by the girl, with no "strings attached." Anything else can/will scare the girl away. Girls need space to think and process through all the stuff that has gone on. TMT usually is measured in years, not weeks or months. If the RLT and TMT does not end up the way the guy desires...it leads to serious HEARTBREAK. However, guys who go down the RLT get some serious eprops for going on the RLT both if it works or even if it doesn't work out. At least the guy can take heart that he took a risk, and that he tried. A wise "American Idol" once said, "I did my best. I have no regrets." Hopefully all guys can say this in the end. posted by alvin | Tuesday, April 20, 2004 Friday, April 16, 2004 The Apprentice Thanks to Iris for hosting an Apprentice gathering last night. Although results were available on the web, we decided it would be best to not look at it prior to viewing. I haven't watched many episodes, but came up to speed with their summary in the beginning of the last episode. 2 eprops go out to Antung for predicting that Omarosa would sabatoge Kwame's chance at winning. Now, if he could have predicted the NCAA Final Four...=P. Omarosa...let me just say...evil...and a slacker too. She doesn't do her job, and blames others for mistakes. She doesn't take responsibility for her mistakes, lies, tells Kwame to be more proactive and then buddies up with Jessica Simpson, so that they ditch the "Meet and Greet" while Trump is looking for Simpson, with Trump saying, "Time is money." Made Kwame look very bad. She doesn't answer her walkie-talkie either. And Omarosa goes and opens the door when Trump and Kwame come and visit Jessica in the hotel suite (after parading around in a wig). Give me a freaking break. Argh. Anyways, Kwame didn't know he could have fired her. Choosing Omarosa for his team was really stupid. And she'll probably be returning for the sequel to Apprentice. One thing that was interesting was that the team these players chose didn't get paid. It was basically a volunteer job. No motivation to do well, and some bitter feelings still residing. From the two type of jobs, Chicago sounded a lot more exciting than the LA job. Building a new skyscraper as opposed to a golf course. Seemed like an easy decision. Anyways, 2 eprops for Kwame. Hopefully he can be as famous as William Hung. Kwame, "I tried my best. I have no regrets." posted by alvin | Friday, April 16, 2004 Monday, April 12, 2004 Settlers of Catan After playing Settlers again on Sat. night at post ALCF service get-together at Mike's, I think I will be taking a break from playing the game again. I was first introduced to the game in Davis, playing with Chris/Howe. It was a lot more chill. Now, as I play with different RWers, it starts to get fairly competitive, and becoming lord of Catan is fairly intense. "All hail lord of Catan." I didn't really talk to anybody at the party, but just focused on the game. It doesn't bring out the best in me, but did help out my bball game, as I was hitting all these outside jumpers during RW bball the next day (although number of TOs was way too high), allowing me a place to vent my frustration...=P. posted by alvin | Monday, April 12, 2004 Friday, April 09, 2004 Random Thoughts and Easter Wishes Been strongly considering switching over to xanga so it would make it easier on my readers to just view daily subscriptions. The only drawback would be that my counter would have to restart, and it's taken over a year to accumulate over 12k hits. It's about my readers. What do you prefer? Anyways, been thinking a lot lately about life, purpose, intentionality, passion, etc. Does anyone else out there feel like they're just spinning their wheels, not really moving forward too much, just going through the motions of young adult life? I hate stagnancy. I received Ed's update on the Palmsurv project, and it made me very excited to hear what's been going on. Talked with a co-worker today and he said his cousin committed suicide recently. He was Native American, and lost hope about life. Huge rituals and such for burying the body. So sad to hear. Hope is so powerful, as I wrote in a previous post. As Christians, we provide and share that hope with others. I need to be more of a beacon of hope. Easter is a great time of year. How the Easter Bunny came about, and the relation to eggs...I have no idea, since bunnies are mammals, and the baby bunnies are alive when they come out. I'm glad I believe in a God that is alive, that He conquered death. That we can have HOPE. Happy Easter to all my readers. posted by alvin | Friday, April 09, 2004 Thursday, April 08, 2004 A Shout Out... Like to say goodbye and congratulations to Slim, who is heading back home to LA to pursue his dream of video game programming with Insomniac Games. He will be an intern there. We have been in SNAP together for over a year, and it's been a joy and blessing to get to know him better along with pray and encourage one another. Best of luck to you. Also goodbye and congratulations to Andy, who is heading to Shanghai to work at SMIC. He's definitely one spontaneous guy (a huge P), and always willing to be honest with you. He's a total free spirit. I'm looking forward to how God will stretch and grow him as he heads out to China. Welcome back to Calvin, my old Davis housemate, to the Bay Area. He has returned from frigid Minnesota to start a job at Xilinx. Solid heart, and always funny. Quality guy. =P. Plus, he shares 5/6 of my first name. Good to have you back Calvs. posted by alvin | Thursday, April 08, 2004 Monday, April 05, 2004 Impatient Hmm...as Jonathan, Kathy, Anthony and myself were playing Settlers of Catan on Sat. night after the Duke/UConn game, I found myself feeling extremely impatient. When I play board games now, I've lost the focus of enjoying being with people (shared experiences). I focus more on completing the game in a quick and timely manner. Ahh...so structured. hehe. =P. I need to enjoy the time being together...the process instead of the destination. The open variable of people taking time to make decisions and organizing resources etc., takes a long time. I try to make decisions quickly. If people don't want to trade with others it's fine. Jonathan emphasized that negotiating takes time. Anyways, I think part of my impatience was that i was upset with the Duke loss...hahaha. But then I thought about other areas of life. When I play Monopoly, I don't like counting out the dice roll (moving one square at a time), and instead just jump the player from their current square to their destination. I last played monopoly with my younger cousins (elementary/high school age). I taught them how to play quickly...haha. =P. That took some of the fun out of it, but at least I felt productive. When I play pool, I rush my shots a lot, many times hitting the cue ball off center, non-intentionally. I now force myself to count to 10 before I hit, so I won't rush the shot. In bowling class in college, I had my own lane for a quarter. I was finishing 6 games in 50 minutes of class. The key...using two bowling balls. I got a pretty good workout from that. I like bball more than tennis these days, although I am better in tennis than bball. Bball is a time-based game, with lots of continuous action. I don't like it when near the end of the close game, the losing team keeps fouling, and the game is decided through making free throws. It slows down the game too much (and too many commercial breaks). I like to fast-break, get people out and run. You can tell from my quick release shot, that I don't wait for the play to develop, and why once I get the ball in the post, it's going up. Anyways, lesson learned from Sat. night is to be more chill about things. =P. posted by alvin | Monday, April 05, 2004 Argh... 1. Due to the Duke loss, I lost my work pool for the NCAA bracket. 2. Due to the Oklahoma St. loss, I lost the RW pool for the NCAA bracket. 3. Due to Brendan Haywood/Lorenzen Wright (and Brandon's chep picking strategy) and because I checked the Internet too late at night to also use the chep picking strategy, I am playing for 3rd place in my fantasy bball league, and I have a feeling I might lose 3rd place too. Due to the UConn win in the NCAA tourney, I won all the leagues that had no money riding on them. Whooppee (note the sarcasm here)...=P. Key take-away:Gambling has its ups and downs, usually downs. The attitude of gambling is for fun/entertainment (like playing video games), and should expect to lose money. posted by alvin | Monday, April 05, 2004 Friday, April 02, 2004 Over-coming Although I don't cry often, I always get teary-eyed when watching movies of underdogs "over-coming." Last night, while at King's place, we saw the trailer for the movie "Hardball" starring Keanu Reeves. I saw this movie on one of my trips in 2002. It talked about Keanu being busted for illegal gambling, and had to work in the inner city developing a youngster's baseball team. He got very attached to the kids and the shortest kid on the team, who didn't get much playing time, finally got in a game. I think he scored a run or something. I don't remember. However, I do remember, that he got shot during a drive-by shooting, and they had a funeral and such. I remember Keanu sharing about him, and how this little guy's example helped him to be a better person. Touching. I think I watched the ending like 3 times during the plane ride. One of my all-time favorite movies is "Mighty Ducks." This is a tear-jerker for me. Pee-wee hockey. Emilio Estevez takes this group of scrubs, earns their respect, grows from the experience, wins the championship, and of course...gets the girl. The pee-wee hockey team that he used to play on is the one they beat in the finals. As a youngster, he missed a championship shot, and lived with regret for most of the rest of his life. What I like about this movie is the idea of growth: both from the team perspective (they were really bad in the beginning), and from the coach himself. Emilio finally pursues his dream and enters the minor league hockey ranks. I love that movie!!!!! posted by alvin | Friday, April 02, 2004 Hope As defined by Webster's dictionary: "The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help." In the biblical counseling class, we discussed briefly on motivators for change. Although situations may be good, Steve said that people are willing to change for hope. The concept and idea of something more, something much, much better. Hope is such a powerful motivator in society, as people pursue dreams, visions, even if the odds are stacked against them. posted by alvin | Friday, April 02, 2004 Thursday, April 01, 2004 Fear I was taken aback by one of Steve Lawry's statements from the Biblical Counseling Class. "Most of life is motivated by fear of death." I'm not sure if I agree. In evaluating the activities I am involved in, I'm wondering if I do them because I fear death. Frankly, I don't think so, but I guess, I need to think deeper about what motivates me to do the things I do, and ultimately if it somehow deals with the fear of death. Anyways, I guess, what I want to talk about is this idea of fear. I think in society, and even moreso in Christian community and culturally being Asian, there is a high value in "saving face". Everybody desires to be loved and accepted. We put on this positive spin on many issues of life, so people won't see us for all the baggage, issues and problems that we have. Who doesn't want to be known as cool and having it all together? Steve and Erika basically shared on the topic of a "Godly courtship" and the idea that the woman has specific, real and deep fears in her life, including "superficial judgment, worldly comparison, victimization, uncommitted men, anger, being used, being unfruitful, etc." They continued on to say that a husband's love gives her security and offers protection (the concept of protective love). I do agree that deep fears exist for women, but also for men too. All the same fears apply. Taking this idea one step further to community, "If someone really got to know me, what will they think? Will they still be my friend? Will they care about me?" 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Just as a wife feels more secure from her husband's love, each person in a community when receiving love can and will feel more secure by showing, expressing and receiving love to/from one another. Ahh, to be in a community where a person doesn't need to fear having issues, baggage, problems because they have the overarching security of knowing they are loved. Yeah, this is a picture of community...I want to be in a community like that. posted by alvin | Thursday, April 01, 2004 |
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