So I guess some of you may be wondering, what’s with all of the dog pictures?  Well, I love video games.  I know, so that doesn’t really explain the dogs.  I love video games so much that I spent most of my free time playing them, so I actually didn’t have time for exercise and my vision felt like it was deteriorating.  My friends told me the vision thing is probably age, and I think I agree.  Well, I got my Akitas to help me do my daily exercising and take time away from being in front of the computer for so long.  But before I talk about my Akitas let me tell you about the other dogs.

We have a small family dog name Toby.  Toby has been with us for over 5 years.  He is a Maltese and is my wife, Kristie’s shadow.  He gives her a lot of love and attention and has actually been a blessing for Kristie.  I can be grumpy sometimes, but it seems the dog always gives love freely and almost unconditionally to her.  So I hate to admit it, but Toby’s constant attention giving actually makes up for my inconsistencies in giving her the love and attention she needs.

I love Toby, but I personally am not a small dog kind of person.  I prefer big dogs.

Back in the summer of 2010, the boxer named Jessie died at the orphanage.  They needed a good guard dog, but one that would get along with the kids.  I picked up an Akita that was a 25 percent German Shepherd mix because I was told the mix would create a slightly milder temperament and have stronger defenses against sickness.  I named her Kina.  I trained her for about 10 days before I took her down and I fell in love with Kina in the process.  She was very smart and did excellent with the kids and the staff at the orphanage and also grew to be a great guard dog.  If you see her in my pictures, she is the brindle dog with long pointy ears like a German Shepherd and there are also pictures of her puppies she gave birth to in February.

After I dropped off Kina in Mexico, I could not stop thinking about her and I realized how much I liked being with big dogs.  Well, long story short, I ended up getting 2 white Akitas which have become a big part of my life.

The male is named Shiro, which means “white” in Japanese.  He was named by the previous owner.  The female we named Kira, which has its origins from ancient Greece and Persia.  Kira means a “Beam of Sunlight or Light”.

My Akitas actually caused me to be less stressed at work and also allowed me to replace some of my day to day negative energy to a positive outpouring of time in taking care of the dogs.  I believe with the daily walks I am forced to do with the dogs, my health has dramatically improved.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my time with them, but it really is not an option for me to not walk them, as they have to exert their energy.  My daily walks usually last from an hour to sometimes two.  I especially enjoy taking them hiking on the weekends, which takes up most of the day, or taking Kira to dog beach in Huntington Beach.

Well, there you have it.  This is the story behind my dogs.  I plan on breeding them as well, so if you are interested let me know.  Please be warned these are very large and active dogs that need attention and good training.  These dogs are not for everyone and you must have a lot of patience with them especially when they are puppies.  They are extremely intelligent and will also test and challenge you in their younger years.  They are very similar to Korean Jindos but about double their weight.  With proper care they are an absolute joy!

I ran a few errands last night after work and didn’t get a chance to eat dinner. On my last stop at Fry’s, I walked into their sandwich shop and got myself a club sandwich. With my 3 hours of commuting every day, I have become used to eating while driving in traffic. I was starving.

I got into my car and open my Kettle chips and was about to open my sandwich container and decided for some strange reason not to eat in the car and wait till I got home. It was about 8pm, and traffic was light. As I was driving on the freeway, I was approaching 7^th Ave in Hacienda Heights and something in my head kept saying, “don’t get into an accident – don’t get into an accident – don’t get into an accident.”

I kept eating my chips and drinking my diet coke when all of a sudden the cars in front of my slowed down really fast. I stepped on my brakes in time and saw smoke in front of me. I noticed many cars stopped and several pulled over to the side. As I passed I saw one car out of control heading against traffic and running into another car.

As I drove on, I saw several cars pulling over. I assumed that these were the people who saw what had happened. I saw at least a half a dozen cars involved. I immediately thought how strange this whole situation was. Was it coincidence that I was not eating in the car? Was it just my imagination that I thought about getting into an accident right before I approached the scene?

I started to pray for the people who were involved in the accident and asked God to use that situation to draw those people close to Christ. It made me think that life is but a breath, but my time was not up just yet. I still have a lot of work I need to do for His Kingdom.

Today in my devotional I read

Psalms 27:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation–
so why should I be afraid?
The LORD protects me from danger–
so why should I tremble?

If Jesus is not the answer you are looking for, then ask yourself what is? Wealth? Success? Happiness? Self fulfillment? Getting over a problem?

What is shaping your life? What pursuits and desires are fueling you and your family forward?

These are questions I struggled with in my heart and in my head. I found myself living out my life in a pattern of stress and discontentment with glimpses of momentary pleasure and happiness. Then, by the grace of God, I asked myself, “why is my life like this?” I used to complain about how my life could be so much better, but then failed to realize that the answer lies in Jesus Christ. This was not the cliché answer, but the honest answer.

Part of my life wanted eternal salvation and liked knowing the fact that I was a child of God, but another part of me was primarily focused on making life here on earth as good as it could be, without thinking about what God wanted from me. I avoided most sins but didn’t truly desire to live life the way God wanted me to.

But even that, to a certain extent, was a blessing. To be truly honest, without Christ, I don’t think anything would have stopped me from being the most sinful person I could be. If God didn’t exist and Christ was not real, what or who would tell me what to do or what was good. I know I would have dictated completely for myself what was good or bad. My pursuit for wealth and pleasure would not be hindered by any moral obstacles or a desire to do what is good; instead, I would pursue everything I wanted maliciously and as ruthlessly as I could for the sole purpose of my benefit. Why would I want to love anyone but myself? What a waste of time. I would pursue all the sins that I thought would bring me happiness and I would do it with vigor and I would not care who it hurt or what adverse effects it would have on anyone who came my way.

If God did not exist, my life would be completely different. But God does exist and without Him I would not exist, so the idea of “if God didn’t exist…” doesn’t even make any sense. I am God’s child and He is the reason I live. Whenever I am bitter, angry, or stressed out, because of a problem or a hardship I am facing, I try to refocus on God’s answer. His way always works, even though at times life seems bleak. He is my only hope and salvation.

So whatever your problems or worries are today, let go of them and seek Christ and don’t look back. He will give you the answers you need day by day. Your life will never be free from problems or hardship, but with Christ you will have the strength to endure and His glory will shine and be made known through it all in His time.

The lukewarm outlook on life is one of the greatest deceptions of our time. We think life is okay, and our spiritual life is not as alive as it should be. We are more worried about our image and what people might say about us. We care about what we have accomplished in the eyes of the world and what is considered good by society’s standards. But are we as Christ’s servants supposed to be worried about those things?

Paul says in Galatians 1:10

I’m not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Lord, grant us the passion to live life in mad love for you. Help us to do your will without shame but with glad and joyful hearts. For your way leads to everlasting life, and our ways will fail.

These pictures were taken during September 19th about 6PM, but doesn’t do this rainbow justice. I don’t know how many of you guys witnessed it, but it was one of the most amazing rainbows I have seen. While I was driving, I saw a double rainbow, thick and bright. It was two full unbroken semi-circles, one next to the other. By the time I got home, I got a thinner, less bright, single version. But here it is.

Men all over the world demand this title in their house. I, too, have lived a big chunk of my life declaring that, “I am the KING.” My wife probably got sick of me asserting this as fact early on in our marriage. “Be submissive. Respect your husband. Do what I tell you. You don’t tell the King what time to come home or ask him where he has been. Remember, I am the KING!”

But like most guys, we like the title and the perks of kingship but the responsibilities that follow the title are usually tossed aside for the important “King” lifestyle we demand. Being Korean born makes me even more predisposed to the cultural bias of men being the “kings” of their households. This delusional way of thinking about ourselves feels good but is in fact very harmful; not only to those who have to deal with our B.S., but more importantly to ourselves.

You know that deep down inside we profess God to be our King. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, right? Since when did He force His Kingship over us? When was the last time He force us to do something? He gives us a choice to choose His way or our way day to day and moment by moment. He calls us to submission, because He wants us to choose Him and not ourselves. Forcing His Kingship over us is not God’s way. He is King regardless. When we acknowledge His Kingship and lay our crowns at His feet, we begin to understand how this relationship is supposed to work.

God gave us the duty to serve as head of our household, not to force our agenda or abuse our power, but to serve. That means being loving. That means being patient. That means being responsible. That means sacrificing. It does not mean being spineless or weak. But don’t look for strength within yourself. Instead ask God for His strength. His economy is different than the world’s economy. Jesus came 2000 years ago to serve, not to be served. He could have came down with armies of angels, full of power and riches, but He chose to live the life of ultimate sacrifice to show us His amazing love for us. He was patient, kind, gentle, loving, not rude or quick to anger… you know the rest, right? Our definition of being king, should be modeled after Christ and not modeled after the world’s definition of kings.

When God revealed what it meant for me to be the true king of my household, I realized I was failing miserably. I was rude, selfish, impatient, and forceful. I made myself bigger than I was. Instead of pointing my family to the Real KING, I kept pointing them to me. I realize now that Christ deserves the glory and not me. I must wait for my crown in heaven and when I do my part, God will usually work in the other peoples lives better than I would have if I had forced my authority over them. Don’t get me wrong, I still struggle day to day with my kingship vs. Christ Kingship. Fortunately, by God’s grace I can submit to Him day to day and moment by moment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in being the proper king of my family.

Also, don’t compromise the institution of marriage and family. That is a God ordained institution. It is to be treated as God instructed us. So don’t let your kids run all over you and say that you are showing grace and love. Be strong with Godly motives and out of love and avoid self exaltation and self centered decision making. Ask God for wisdom and strength day to day, to be able to be that king you need to be, the king who live for Christ and not for himself.

Description of the True King (mp3 format)

Only One Life Twill Soon Be Past Only What’s Done For Christ Will Last

Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgment seat;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way, Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say “‘twas worth it all”;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Author Unknown

Only One Life Twill Soon Be Past; Only What’s Done For Christ Will Last.
“Solo una vida, y pasa tan rapido;
Solo lo que hagamos por Cristo quedara“.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (Message) Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.

In the midst of hardship, we need to surrender to God. In the midst of hardship, we should not have bitterness, resentment, and rebellion. In hard times, Satan will do what he can to make us turn away from God. He will try to highlight the bad and make us in turn blame God and others. Then he will tell us to reject God and God’s ways, for if a loving and good God truly exists, He would not allow this to happen. Satan will try to blind us from the Sovereignty and Holiness of God and magnify the pain – all the while pointing out to us how unfair life is.

When bad things happen, surrender to God and watch out for the attacks from the evil one. Pray for peace, hope and wisdom. If we align ourselves with God and humbly submit to Him, hopefully He will grant us His grace to see life in the right perspective. Lord, have mercy on us. Sin and Sorrow Realization of our sin produces sorrow. Sorrow that leads to repentance and surrender = salvation. Sorrow that lacks repentance = death. 2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

Life is Depressing I fail often. I don’t measure up to my spouse’s expectations or that of my friends and family. I usually cover my weaknesses with anger or a defensive attitude. I aspire to be good at arguing or good at picking at other people’s faults so I can cover up mine. But instead of experiencing change in my life, I feel like this is who I will always be and life will just go on. I have many struggles and a ton load of shortcomings. I will never be that person God wants me to be. Like a thorn in my side, I am constantly dealing with many of the same problems day in and day out. I know I need to do better but it feels impossible. My life is depressing and hopeless. Common responses are things like, “well what about you” or “well that’s who I am, why can’t you just accept me for who I am?” or “I am such a failure, I can’t do this anymore”.

Response: Where is your hope built on? You encounter a time when you realize you are weak or failing or not who you think you should be and you raise your hands up in defeat. You prescribe to anger and attitude because you feel like that is the best way to improve your situation. At that point of brokenness we tend to rebuild ourselves by either bringing others down or making excuses for our selves. What makes you think you can fix your shortcomings on your own only to find out that you will fail again and again. Don’t let these situations defeat you. Don’t try to seek a life avoiding pain, suffering, weakness and hardship as a primary goal, because as hard as you try those times are unavoidable. Instead, in the midst of these trails and suffering, admit your brokenness and humbly submit to God for hope and strength. Respond to these situations through fervent prayer and a seeking after God’s will and doing what He wants you to do. Ask Him for strength to do the right thing and He will grant you that strength. Some situations will last a moment, some a day, and others will last a lifetime, but our hope should always be on Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Do you really know what love is?

Do you really know about love? As I am reading John Piper’s ‘Don’t Waste Your Life’, I came across a page that impacted me in a profound way. It deals with the topic of love. Here are two parts that God really spoke to me about on the topic of love.

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John Piper writes:

Does Being Loved Mean Being Made Much Of?

For many people, this is not obviously an act of love. They do not feel loved when they are told that God created them for His glory. They feel used. This is understandable given the way love has been almost completely distorted in our world. For most people, to be loved is ‘to be made much of’. Almost everything in our Western culture serves this distortion of love. We are taught in a thousand ways that love means increasing someone’s self-esteem. Love is helping someone feel good about themselves. Love is giving someone a mirror and helping him like what he sees.

This is not what the Bible means by the love of God. Love is doing what is best for someone. But making self the object of our highest affections is not best for us. It is, in fact, a lethal distraction. We were made to see and savor God, and savoring him, to be supremely satisfied, and thus spread in all the world the worth of his presence. Not to show people the all-satisfying God is not to love them. To make them feel good about themselves when they were made to feel good about seeing God is like taking someone to the Alps and locking them in a room full of mirrors.

Loving People Means Pointing Them to the All-Satisfying God

The idea has been almost totally distorted. Love has to do with showing a dying soul the life-giving beauty of the glory of God, especially his grace. Yes, as we will see, we show God’s glory in a hundred practical ways that include the care about food and clothes and shelter and health. That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Every good work should be a revelation of the glory of God. What makes the good deed an act of love is not the raw act, but the passion and the sacrifice to make God himself known as glorious. Not to aim to show God is not to love, because God is what we need most deeply. And to have all else without him is to perish in the end. The Bible says that you can give away all that you have and deliver your body to be burned and have not love (1 Corinthians 13:3). If you don’t point people to God for everlasting joy, you don’t love. You waste your life.

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I realized the best way to love my wife and kids is for my life to point them to the All-Satisfying God. My selfish desires of trying to change them to be what I want them to be were basically futile. I was basically trying to do God’s job. Instead of trusting in Him, I trusted myself and failed. I thought I was a loving guy, and that I could satisfy the needs of my kids and wife if I try really hard. But I realized that we have a God, whose love is so deep and incredible, and He just wants to pour it out to us. I was trying to do all the work when God told me, “just point them to Me, and I will do the work”.

I prayed that in both my success and in my failure that those around me will ultimately get closer to God. As we abide in Christ day to day, life becomes profound. Lately, by God’s grace I found a deeper sense of what Love is. I cannot express the joy that I feel inside as I try to live out this truth.

An Instance of faith at work.

This is a true story that happened to me in my Senior year in high School. It was at a New Years eve worship service at our old church for our High School and Junior High School group. Back then our high school group met inside of a large tent set up outside next to the old tool shack and volleyball net. That night it was raining cats and dogs. It was raining so hard that we could barely hear our Youth Pastor speaking in front of our group. The rain was a loud and constant rippling pound on top of our tent.

Till this day, I do not know what compelled our Youth Pastor to do this, but all of a sudden in the middle of his sermon, he pointed his finger upward and yelled, “In the name of Jesus, I command the rain to stop.”

All at once the pounding stopped and for 2-3 seconds it didn’t rain. It was like someone pulled the plug out on the rain. Imagine a constant loud pounding that lasted a long time, all of a sudden stop like that. Everyone, looked at each other in disbelief. It seemed like even the pastor himself was in disbelief. Then the rain immediately started to pour down on our tent again. It was like the time in the Bible when Peter walked on water with faith and when he realized he was doing it and looked down, he began to sink.

It is true that with the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. I take this literally. But when we live in a time and place where everything has to make sense, and there has to be some sort of logical explanation for things, we tend to snuff out our faith.

Our youth pastor at that time was a person who had a fervent heart for the Lord, but lacked the skills and the personality to connect with our youth group. A lot of kids criticized his way of leading the youth ministry. But looking back to that night, I realized, that at that moment, he had the faith to stop the rain (even if it was for only 2 seconds). Now, if he went around shouting things like that all the time and sometimes things like that happened and at others it didn’t, it wouldn’t have been that special. But out of nowhere he did this, just this once, and on that New Years Eve night. I don’t know if any of you other old timers remember that night at LACRC.