Give Thanks

Most people write blogs during the beginning of the day. I guess I'm not most people...

Today I woke up rather late and decided I needed to enjoy the great weather God provided us today. I made some phone calls and played a nice game of singles and doubles of tennis. It was a great day to enjoy the outdoors.

After about an hour of studying for the Hebrew vocabulary quiz tomorrow, I decided I needed to thank God today for the great time I had with friends and fellow students here at seminary. Sometimes we get so bogged down in the academic environment that we forget the people around us who have so many interesting stories to tell us. I feel that most of the learning we are to have in seminary does not happen in the class room or lecture halls but in the dining table, where there is a fellowship of believers, sharing and testifying about the amazing God that we serve each day.

Thank you God for you grace today. Thank you for your love that sustains us each day. Lord, I pray you grant me an eternal perspective while I attend my duties as a student. Give me eyes to see the big picture of why I am studying these things. I rejoice in the diverse gifts you have given to your children. I pray that I live in awe of your majesty and glory. AMEN

God Works Through His Word

Today our Church History professor spoke about the Zwingli and the Zurich Reformation. He spoke about the belief that the primary way that God works is through the preaching of His Word. Then he asked a poignant question to all of the seminary students: “Do you believe when you preach that God is going to work through His Word? If you don't, don't preach.”

How often do we forget the power of the Word? I forget it was the Word that changed my life from a lover of the world and myself to a lover of God. It was the Word that sustained me during my first year of youth ministry with its ups and downs. It was the Word that brought life to my soul when I felt like I was in a spiritual desert. It has always been the Word that has been the fountain of refreshment. Today I will thank God for His Word. I will rejoice for the opportunity to reflect upon it, cherish it, meditate on it, and act on it. Today I will express my faith in the Word, not only through my mouth, but my the hands and feet will put into practice my belief in the power of God's Word.

Aliens

The title is not referring to the movie made in 1986 with Ellen Ripley rescuing humanity with awesome firepower; but it is about the nature or identity of Christians in this world. Today we spoke about 1 Peter 1:1-2, where the Apostle Peter refers to the Christians spread throughout the world as 'aliens' or 'strangers' according to other translations.

God's Word challenged us to remember our identity while living in this world. We are not of this world or living for this world, but rather 'seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness' as Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:33. It is important that we remember this truth and commandment. Let's meditate on this truth this week as we go about our daily lives. Our citizenship is first and foremost of the kingdom of God.

Funny Ad

Get this now!

The Rebirth of a Blog

Many people are probably wondering why this Blog has finally started to come alive. There are multiple reasons. One reason is I have found that journaling my thoughts and my life develops a healthy habit of introspection. Oftentimes I am caught up with life and the daily activities that it requires that I forget to take a time-out and reflect on how God has been blessing my life. Another reason I have decided to make frequent updates is to connect to those people I care about. Living here in the suburbs of Chicago by myself, I've failed to update those around me about what is going on in my life. Sometimes even my own parents don't know what I'm up to. Keeping a Blog updated will foster the communication that I can't do through phone calls alone. Thank you to all those people who have encouraged me to continue with this habit. It will be hard with the semester duties picking up, but I will daily update all on the Internet about the many ways God is blessing me.

Here are some more pictures of food. Pastor John (JFK/목사님) was kind enough to buy us poor 전도사님's some great Octopus and Bacon Dinner (오삼불고기). Pastor Sam (Just another Jundo) did all the serving. I sat back and ate the great food. Great times with great people!

Coffee and Tea

This week is International Coffee/Tea Week. That means each country and nation is represented in the International Student Office with traditional snacks and beverages of their home countries. Although I am technically an American citizen, I have been the victim of a lot of Korean events. I say victim because older students here have been pressuring me to wear the traditional Korean garb, the hanbok (한복), at the event to represent all Korean males. So I took on the modeling job (unfortunately it was an unpaid position) and made the most of the time. Here are some pictures below:

The Party Zone

 

Trying to act like a suave model =)

I wish I could grow an afro!

The Other "Volunteer"

It was a fun experience. It was probably the second time I wore this type of clothing. I made sure I took some photos to show all my fans out there on the Internet. Let me know what you think of my modeling and if you think I have potential. Thanks!

PAP

The Adventures of Seminary

Classes over 3 hours long should be illegal... After our History of Christianity class, my roommate and I (David), went to the gym to get our bodies some much needed physical exercise after a long spring break. (Both of us pretty much sat on our butt and kept eating food this whole past week). So after all the vigorous workouts in the gym, trying to burn all those excess calories we see when we look in the mirror, we decided that we were pretty hungry as well...

So I suggested we start making some healthy bean-paste soup, otherwise known as 된장찌개. David is a real pro at cooking this sort of stuff, so I asked him for some tips. I eventually figured it out and you can see the finished product below picture.

Healthy Bean Paste Soup

Also David realized he brought some left over ground-beef from a few weeks ago (maybe three weeks???).

Traditional Korean Dog Food 

A More Aerial View of the Concoction

Please pray for us as we both ate it and will go to Hebrew class tomorrow morning. We both love to live on the edge!

Also we try to be very figure-friendly when making our rice. As you can see, we added brown rice and black beans to add some much needed fiber into our diet. Enjoy the pics from just another Monday in Seminary.

Thank You Cuckoo!

Rice for Men; or as David would say, "Real Men Eat Rice Like This!"

PAP