Who doesn't like presents?

If you look at the picture on the right, you know whats coming. Spiritual Gifts. This topic has always fascinated me and one of my best moments in life is to watch people execute them.


Fact: There are numerous spiritual gifts known to this day.
Just to name a few in the bible:

Romans 12: Exhortation, Giving, Leadership, Mercy, Prophecy, Service, Teaching
1 Corinthians 12: Administration, Apostle, Discernment, Faith, Healing, Helps, Knowledge, Miracles, Prophecy, Teaching, Tongues, Tongues Interpretation, Wisdom
Ephesians 4: Pastor, Apostle, Evangelism
Misc. Passages: Celibacy, Martyrdom, Missionary, Voluntary Poverty, Hospitality

I doubt this list stops here as times have changed and technology and minds have advanced. But many people can fall within these categories. Personally I'm a believer that everyone has a spiritual gift, maybe plural. If you've been at the Grove for some time now, undoubtedly you've taken some spiritual gift tests that Keith seemed to love. Whether or not you believe in your results is your personal matter. You may think your gift is pretty minuscule in comparison to those around you. However, the stories below have characters that probably had the same thought as you.


John D. Rockefeller, history's most richest man. Born and raised in poverty, his mother taught him to always no matter what, give your 10% tithes to God. He listened. He never failed at giving his small tithes. Result. If he were to give a tithe in 2010, he would offer up 10% of his $663 billion. He alone held 1.53% of the money in America. Gift of Giving.


James Cash Penney, born to a minister, was a well off businessman in the early 1920s. With the coming of the Great Depression, Penney saw his financial empire fall to ruin. This event caused Penney to become ill and had to stay at a hospital. He heard the hymn "God will take care of you" in the hospital chapel and he became a born-again Christian. He has since recovered and regained his financial success. Ever since then, he has been involved in numerous charity acts until his death in 1971. To this day, the secret meaning behind the massive JCPenney malls is: Jesus Christ Penney. Gift of Administration


In the late 1800s, certain American Presbyterians entered a little country where Christianity was pretty much no where to be found. They set up schools, medical facilities, and evangelized the noble families. This war-ravaged, under foreign control country discovered new found hope in Christ due to these missionaries. In present day, this country is now #2 in sending missionaries worldwide (#1 being America). From a GDP similar to Congo in the early turn of the century to one of the economic powerhouses within 50 years, this small country is now home to a Christian majority in the face of Buddhists and Confucians. All thanks to the certain missionaries a century back, South Korea has become the miracle nation in terms of financial growth and a stronghold for Christianity. Gift of Evangelism.


Don't think small of your spiritual gifts. It can change the world. If used in the correct way, God can certainly show you a miracle. When you receive a gift from someone, right away do you shove it in a corner and forget about it? Hopefully not. Gifts are meant do be for you. It's not even worldly right to deny a gift. Since we received a free gift from God, shouldn't we share it, express it, use it to its limits and not keep it shoved in the back corner of our hearts? Its a present, by all means have fun with it! Go change a world or two with it.

15 Seconds of Cease-Fire

I love Calvin and Hobbes. Its hands down my favorite comic series and I have a good collection of treasuries that I read over and over again. Its such a simple strip that shows the true side of childhood. Who doesn't like mischief when you're 7 years old. The picture on the left is a typical scene you will find in the comic. Calvin always ends up arguing with Susie Derkins, the usual "I'm right and you're wrong" situations when you're a kid.

I for one used to love arguments. I would start some just for the heck of it. I thrived in the nature of belittling people and feeding my ego. This is probably typical of most people. The average person has something called pride and no one likes to take a blow to it. Especially, us Koreans, our ego and pride is our code of life. Guys especially cannot take a single smudge to their pride, it awakens the egotistical beast within.

Ever since 2006, I never had a serious argument. Why? I generally avoid them at all costs. I actually hate arguing now. I've never argued with my parents my whole life but I've argued with my youth pastor and classmates a lot so I have my fair share of that experience. Recently though my argumental side was revived on couple of occasions. This time it wasn't my youth pastor, it wasn't my classmates, it's always with my girlfriend.

Sabrina and I have been together for I forget how long but in that time we've had our fair share of arguments. Even though we bicker all the time, it never gets serious. When we do argue though, its a different story. For one thing, the very very rare times we fight, it always lasts a long time. 2 hours min and no maximum. Sometimes it spans days. Certain qualities come out that I regret but thats pretty normal during arguments. Our fights have always been very biblical as well. In that sense they get pretty damn intense. If I was a bystander watching in on our fights, it'll probably hinder my faith thinking "how can christians fight like this??". I've noticed that for the first hours of the argument we both are blinded by our pride and unwillingness to give into the other opinion, let alone hear it. It starts off with a disagreement, elevates to a new level of stubbornness, escalates by getting very biblical, plateaus back and forth with "I'm right, you're wrong", and suddenly dips into mutual agreement and reconciliation. Even though these are times I wish I could go back and erase from my life, I'm very grateful for these instances. The rare 2 or 3 times we've fought, bring out our worst, trying to topple one another have in fact built my character. When I killed my pride and actually listened to what she was saying, it was all making sense, it sunk in. Vice versa she realized it as well. In the end, its always something very stupid. You realize you could have saved yourself from all this trouble just by killing your pride for 15 seconds.

Pride is the root of all sin. Yes indeed it is. If you take a step back and analyze every situation without your pride, its plain simple to solve. 100% of the world's problems would be solved if people would give 15 seconds of cease-fire. Yet we human beings are incapable of letting our pride sit for 15 seconds. I wish for a day that all people can get rid of their pride and listen to each other. Then the world would be such a better place. But that day will never come so as long as Satan has a grip on this world. Not everyone will agree with 15 seconds of cease-fire, but it definitely changed my life.

Maybe even your's.

"Pride goes before destruction" -Aesop


"Arguments are not about who's right, but what's right" -Anonymous 

We're gonna change the world

Amazing how such a simple children's sing along song can have such a powerful statement.
Recent as many of you may know Lodi missions has come to an end. I know that all who helped out were blessed by the experience. Me however, was blessed more during the editing process of the video. I never had the thought to go to Lodi missions but last minute, God literally shoved me in there.

Me: I cant teach...
Me: I cant deal with kids...
Me: Its too far...
Me: Its not gonna be a place where I can serve...
Me: I really cant handle kids well...
Me: Did I mention I cant teach?
God: But you CAN make videos, cant you?
Me: Oh...

Thats pretty much how it happened. Literally.
I'm not gonna write my whole testimony down here. Maybe later on I will but at the moment, I've never been so satisfied ever after completing a video.

Just as the song says, "We're gonna change the world!"

On the March - Hillsong Kids

Unofficial Rules of the Road

I rarely lose my cool. I rarely if ever get pissed off. I rarely show pessimism. However, the road makes the worst of me come out. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually one of the most considerate drivers you'll meet. I'll let you butt in front of me in traffic. I'll always let you go first on a turn. I'll always signal if im feeling impatient to cut in. I'll always give right of way to you pedestrians ONLY IF you guys are not douchebags.  However there are some unofficial "rules" that are in play on the streets. Especially in the busiest hours. If you can't follow them, please do us all a favor and get off the road or find another driver for you. No need to take up space on the road with your "dangerously safe" driving.

The Unofficial Rules of the Street:
1) As soon as the light turns yellow, its time to speed up, not slow down. If its been yellow for about 3 seconds, THEN and ONLY THEN you slow down.
2) If it says no turn on red but no ones there...go for it.
3) Never go at or below the speed limit or face the consequences from the rest of us.
4) If you think you're an awesome multitasker, save it for the office and not the blackberry in your car.
5) Music is meant to be played to your consent. I'm all for blasting with windows down. But at a red light, lets be considerate.
6) If your car has an exhaust problem and we can actually see the damn smoke coming out of your pipe, I'm no green freak but lets get that fixed. Asap.
7) If you think your all cool with your riced up pieces of junk, dont feel embarrassed when a minivan out runs you on the straightaway.
7.5) If your car makes a sound that is related to an a/c on steroids, a cry of a slaughtered lamb or goat, or the sound that comes out of your rear before a massive diarrhea bomb, go stick your head in your own exhaust pipe and suffocate please (cuz im pretty sure you could since those exhaust pipes are damn huge).
7.75) If your car's engine is just that powerful, don't be afraid and just let the beast out.
8) Stop signs are only there for when there are two or more cars in the scene.
9) The left lanes are called fast lanes for a reason.
10) If something goes wrong...lets not panic. 90% of all accidents can be avoided if people would stop panicking and think straight for just a second.
11) If you've never driven in the snow before, slow and steady wins the race.
12) Your learner's permit doesn't grant you invincibility.
13) Parking lines are there for a reason.
14) Street racing is perfectly fine as long as the parties involved know what they are doing.
15) Speeding never kills anyone, the sudden braking does.
16) Car horns can do many things from avoiding accidents to pissing off your neighbor.
17) Unfamiliar with the area? Pull over and use your map or gps and stop going 10 mph trying to find the location.
18) You slowing down to check out the accident on the curb slows the whole road down, horribly.
19) Be courteous and let tailgater pass. They are tailgating for a reason.
20) Enjoy your driving experience.

Please obey the rules :)

Minimalism

I am the definition of minimalist.

Minimalist: being or offering no more than what is require or essential.

Ever since freshman year of college, my stuff has decreased tremendously. I went from bringing my whole house my freshman year, to weeding out the extras during sophomore year, to bare essentials junior year. Those that have visited my room in Ernie Davis this past school year know what I mean when I say "bare essentials". My room consisted of the furniture that was already there + a bunch of randomness put together to call it a room. Those at church probably know my trademark outfit by now. 

Look Familiar?

Yeap, its the good ol' Syracuse sweatpants. In fact, this year I've bought another pair of sweatpants just so people dont think I never change. As many have voiced concerns and questions about my attire of choice, I am here to assure everyone that I am a very clean person, probably more obsessed with cleanliness than 95% of the population. 

My room in 823 Davis was quite the sight. Emptiness at its fullest. Empty to the point of echos. My desk had my laptop and printer, 3 outta 5 drawers were filled and the other 2 were empty, closet had 5 pieces of clothing hanging with 5 pairs of shoes on the bottom (still wondering why I brought so many), walls were as white as snow, and the fact that it was hardwood floors didnt help the emptiness look. 

When I was packing to leave for home, I realized my senior year I can get rid of more stuff. Screw the 5 pairs of pants that I seldom wore, cuse sweats are where its at 24/7. I had a good whole drawer filled with shirts but again I only wore my hoodies. People always asked me before I left "gee isnt it tough packing?", and I would answer "I got my guitars and a duffle bag to bring home, yep its pretty tough". They would give me the wtf look. Still I thought I had too much stuff so I trashed all the unnecessary junk that was taking up space in my room and it boiled down to 1 amp, 1 guitar, and 1 duffle bag to bring home. In the back of my mind I still feel I had too much stuff. Why travel heavy?

So why am I going on about being a minimalist?

For the past few weeks ever since I got back home I've been moving to my new home and helping others move as well. Its a pain. When I saw all the boxes and boxes of stuff people had I had to wonder, do you really need all this? My room was finished within the hour of moving. Good guess, I had minimal stuff to move in. My parents, not so much. Took the whole week just to get rid of old books, sermon notes, packing all the 15 tons of books into 9 bookshelves, and the out of tune piano. After a good coupla weeks of suffering from the pains of moving and the experience of moving everyones stuff to Uhaul and Patrick's after spring semester 2009, it just comes to me instinctively to ask:

Do you really NEED all this stuff??!?!?!?!?!?!!


Dear College Students,
You're going to live here for less than half a year. Do you really need your whole house? You only spend that much more time agonizing about packing.

Dear Adults,
Old means old. Malfunctional means malfunctional. Outdated means outdated. Yea yea it has sentimental value, so much that it was found in the dust covered box in the corner of the basement storage.

Dear Kids,
You are (insert single digit # here) years old. You dont need 3/4 of the stuff you have in your room. They are plastic and serve no functional value other than "look pretty". In a couple of years they're going the salvation army anyways, why not start now and save some trouble :)

Again I'm probably coming off as harsh to some. But in all honesty...

Do you really need all this stuff?


A pair of sweats and the number to jimmy johns works for me.

Producer's Block

So recently I've had a plethora of songs come to mind.
They just come to whether I'm doing my QTs, driving to the store, sleeping...blah blah.
It kinda sucks that when I go to pick up my guitar to figure out a chord progression, I tend to forget how the melody went. Then I go to my piano and try to figure out the melody line again. Only this time I forget what the rhythm was. To solve all this, I get my ghetto Garageband and try to figure out the BPM (beats per min) and a simple beat to with it...then I lose it all.

Fail imo. For once I wish I was back in cuse. At least then I could use the sound studio.

Still I'm thankful that God is keeping my mind running even though my summer is pretty lazy.

At this rate, I'm probably gonna end up making an album for my senior project xD

But lets always remember..

"Its not about how, its about why"

"One in a million"

Currently there are 6,817,535,863 people in the world total (6,817,536,121 now at 11:28pm) and there are always more popping up every minute. Out of this huge number of people, 309,154,062 are in the US alone. Out of that number, nearly 50,000,000 are students in all forms of schooling from K-Ph.Ds.

Now enough of number crunching.

The "one in a million" phenomenon has always got me thinking ever since I started high school. The ultimate goal of high school is to get into the college or university you want. But thats in the minds of millions of other high schoolers. So how many of us actually get into the school of our choice? Ever since you are born you are taught that hard work and a college education will get you to achieve your dreams. But how logical is that? According to statistics you, a single guy/girl are up against 49,999,999. Now you might say that all 49,999,999 people are not in your particular field of study, but at least a good 6-7 digit number are in your same field. Theres millions of aspiring designers, filmmakers, businessmen, entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers, writers, journalists, etc etc etc. So what are the chances that you, the one person will beat out 999,999 others for that single dream to come true? One in a million. If your dream is to be the next Steven Spielberg or Michael Jackson, how hard to you have to work to beat out 999,999 others? If your dream is to work at a certain position at a certain company and they only offer limited positions, how much do you have to stand out to beat 999,999 and snag an interview? 

Its discouraging that the higher you go in life, the more minuscule your chances get to go further. Only a select number of players max can be chosen to play for the high school basketball team. Only a couple will get college play time in a D-I school. Only 1% will be drafted to the NBA and only 26 will be considered an "all-star" for the season. 

Why is that Justin Bieber and the recent Taiwanese sensation Lin Yu Chun get to stardom and live out their dreams out of the millions of other youtube artists? Why is that only James Cameron (the d-bag) gets to express his creativity while the other 999,999 have to work under him and kill their own dreams to realize his? But I guess if your life long dream was to work under Cameron then your dreams have come true, but what about the 500,000 others who have "actual" dreams? Guess he had a "better education" then the rest. That would be the case if he wasn't a drop out.

Its also ironic that our society places so much emphasis on a good "higher education" to succeed. If good education can get you to the highest of heights, how do you explain the following:

Jane Austin never attended college.

Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard.

Woodrow Wilson dropped out of Davidson College.

Frank Lloyd Wright never graduated.

The Wright Brothers dropped out of high school.

Andrew Carnegie dropped out of elementary school.....

Walt Disney dropped out of high school.

Albert Einstein dropped out of school at age 15.

Queen Elizabeth II never went to school. Period.

F. Scott, Fitzgerald dropped out of Princeton.

Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College.

JFK dropped out of Princeton.

Donald Newhouse dropped out of Syracuse, yet ironically our com school is named after him.

George Orwell never went to college.

JK Rowling never went to college.

Colonel Harlan Sanders (KFC guy) dropped out of elementary school......

Mark Twain never got past 5th grade.

and the list is pretty damn long...

In no way, shape, or form is this a rant to crush your dreams, kill your plans, offend anyone, poke fun at universities (partially...), or attract haters. Yes you all probably have a different outlook on life then I do so I don't mind any criticism at all, I never do. 

But what I want to ask after this long rant is: 

Are you that one in a million?

Because...

I know I am. I feel bad for all the other 999,999 I am going against to "succeed" in this worldly sense because I already have and will be successful. After all, if He already conquered the world, won the battle already, have plans to prosper me and not harm me, and plans to give me a hope and a bright future, how can I NOT succeed?

Credits: Jeremiah 29:11 ;)