... The Lord Taketh Away.

I just returned home with my brother from San Francisco. My Grandma passed away last Thursday at 9:30am. She was 93 years old.

I had time to reflect during the funeral service today. As I sat there, I was regretful that I never once shared a meaningful conversation with my Grandma. Because she only speaks a particular dialect of Chinese (Taishanese, or Toisan), and I only speak English, we were always extremely limited in our communication. I wept in regret as her Eulogy was presented.

HOWEVER, in Christ, mourning turns into dancing. I'm reminded that He is Risen, Jesus Christ my Lord.

And because He is Risen, I know she will rise. She is a child of God by faith. And my hope isn't just that I shall one day see her again... my hope is that on that day I will communicate with her for the FIRST time.

I don't know if we'll be chattin' it up in Toisan, or if she'll be speaking in English.

But I know that it'll be with the same language we use to glorify and worship our God. It'll be in the heavenly language that people from all tribes and nations, people and tongue, will use as we fellowship with each other and with the Lamb of Glory.



Rev 7:9-10 "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb... And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

It is FINISHED: Reflections on Seminary

Well, my time as a student here at Talbot Seminary has come to an end. I just walked out of my last class. In a couple days, I'll be awarded my Masters of Divinity degree. It's been a long journey since 2004. Many people can't wait to get out of "Cemetary" (uh, you mean, seminary?). I, on the other hand, have honestly loved every semester of it.

I figure I reflect on what I've gained from my time here.
"The unexamined life is not worth living", says Socrates.
"The unexamined degree, is not worth learning" says Gregorius Claudius I.

Of the bazillion useful things I've learned, I'll share with you 10. Here are my reflections:


1. Context, Context, Context: Don't read anything from God's word in isolation, it can ruin your life. Here's a modern day illustration:

I received a text on my phone from Monica after mom got into a car accident. It read:
"bones broken."
I started freaking out... after I gained consciousness from fainting, I later found out that it was the second part of another text that read:
"We are at the hospital now. The doctor took x-rays. Praise the Lord! Tell Ed that the doctor says everything is fine and there aren't any..."

(Dr. Russel, Hermeneutics)

2. Greek is awesome. It seriously adds color to black and white. However, Greek is like underwear: It's great support, but you shouldn't flaunt it. I personally seem to always have a wedgy... I don't feel totally comfortable with it. However, it does me well not to go "commando" when preparing a sermon. Brothers, 'nahm sayin?! (Staff, Greek I, II, Exegesis)

3. Church is family. Literally. It's not just a cute metaphor. We're supposed to view fellow believers as if they were part of our own household. Implications are heavy. (Dr. Hellerman, Exegesis of the Gospels)

4. God still speaks. We just need to listen. He's not deaf, nor dumb. We need to Practice the presence of God. (Staff, Spiritual Formation)

5. Good Idea: "I see Jesus in the Word" :)

Bad Idea: Eisegesis of the Word :(

Eisegesis (pronounced "i-see-jesis") is reading your own situation into the Word of God. The Word was written for us, but it wasn't written to us. (Dr. Russel, Hermeneutics)

So stop Eisegetin'! or Eiseebeatin' in your future.

6. People have different learning languages. Learn your audience, and teach them accordingly. The Word of God is like potatoes. Old people need them mashed, some like them baked, teens need them French Fried, kids need them as tater tots. It's all potatoes. Give it to them in a way they can digest it. (Dr. Kim, Christian Education; Dr. Holoman, Theology I)

7. Praying to God isn't about getting what we want. Prayer is about wanting what we get.
Our prayer life will be powerful once we start conforming our will to the Father's and stop trying to form his according to ours. (Dr. Holoman, Theology and Prayer)

8. In preaching, restate important points three times. When you give a sermon, repeat key ideas in multiple ways. In delivering your messages, reemphasize what you want your audience to remember. (Dr. Sunukjian, Expository Preaching)

Did it work?

9. God has gifted all believers. Don't worry and don't be jealous if another person has greater gifts than you. God has given some 10 talents, others 5 talents, and yet others, 1 talent. It's not about how much you're able to accomplish for God's kingdom... it's about how faithful you are with what you've been given. (Dr. Hutchison, Life of Christ)

10. I don't have to apologize to anyone for who I am. I am who God has made me. I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Dr. Martinez, Evangelism and Cross Cultural Ministry)


So... I'm going to receive my Masters of Divinity degree. Sounds pretty holy if you ask me. But one of my profs keeps me sober. He said to us one day,

"When you graduate after 3 or 4 years of studying theology, do you REALLY think that you're going to be a Master of Theology? Do you REALLY think that you're going to master the study of God? PUH-LEEEEZE! You will hardly be a master of Divine things. I seriously doubt that God will be looking down from Heaven thinking, 'Oh, my wonderful Master of Divinity. How I am so well please with how much you know!' Please. God cares much more about what you do with it. How will you take what you've learned, and how will you teach people to love God more?"

Dear Father, my Lord and my Master, thank you for filling me with a deeper and fuller understanding of who You are and your wild love for me. Help me now to help others fall more in love with Jesus, with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

At the Master's Service,

greg

NOTE TO SELF: Stop the Hypocrisy!

Dear Greg,

I've been convicted regarding the issue of Hypocrisy. Well, fine. I've been convicted of hypocrisy.

But it just feels so good, doesn't it? I mean, who cares if you'll be counted last... you can worry about that later. But for now, you'll be first in everyone's eyes. All the glory, all the attention! It's all you boy.

So anyway, here's what you gotta keep doing to make people think you're all spiritual and stuff.

1. When praying in a group, make sure you recite what you're gonna say in your head first. Don't even listen to what other people are praying... how you say your prayer is more important. You want to make sure your prayer sounds all flowery and filled with Christianese jargon. Then people will say, "Wow, he's so holy! He must talk to God like that all the time!"

2. When you're worshiping, make it look like you're all into it even when you're not. If you're sleepy or distracted by random thoughts, you can always close your eyes and have that constipated look on your face. People will really think you're so in love with God!

3. If everyone's standing during worship, sit down. If everyone's sitting down, stand up. Trust me, it'll make you stand out.

4. When you know that there's gonna be some testimony time, like sharing around the campfire at retreats, make sure you do extra good deeds for people and act more holy than usual so that you'll get your name mentioned in front of everyone. The more people who mention you, the better.

5. When you're on a streak and doing more quiet times than usual, make it a point that people know about it. Be subtle. You can say things like "When I was reading my Bible early this morning...", or "You know, Jesus says in Matthew 8 that..." People will think you ALWAYS read the Bible!

6. Make sure everyone at church knows about all the ministry opportunities you get. It'll make you seem like you're in demand, and then MORE opportunities will be coming your way!

7. Keep yourself really busy with lots of ministry. Even though it's not true AT ALL, it'll make you feel like you're important because you're doing all these "important" things for God. Then you can complain and say to people "Man, I have SO much stuff I need to do- Small groups, bible study, so and so wants to talk to me about stuff..." and so on. People always think that the more you do, the holier you are. Actually, they don't. Keep thinking it though.

8. Exaggerate. Exaggerating a little bit won't hurt. In fact, it'll make you seem so much more than you are. If one person compliments you, you can say to other people, "A few people have told me that I..." And if a couple people compliment you, you can say things like, "All these people say" or "SO many people think I'm..." They'll never know how many people actually said those things.

So anyway, keep it up. Keep running for first. Sure Jesus says, the first will be last, and the last will be first. But what does that mean anyway?

Insincerely,

Greg

Reflections on 30

So I turned 30 this year. I figured I spend some time reflecting on my first 30 years, and so I wrote down the first memory that came to mind for each year I lived. Here are reflections of my first 30 years:

1. Born in San Francisco Chinatown, Kaiser Permanente. Taken to our home in Daily City, CA (don't remember much of this)
2. Moved to South Torrance.
3. Had reoccurring dreams of a T-Rex that would chase me around the house, and I would have to jump over a pit in the middle of my hallway to survive.
4. Fell in love with a brunette named Amanda. I would repeatedly draw her the same picture of a hill, a four-door car, and a rainbow.
5. Asked Keiko to marry me. She said she would if I would marry her.
6. Started my 5-year career at Hickory Elementary School.
7. My second grade teaher, Mrs. Cousin, pulled my hair and called me a “fat” liar. Traumatized.
8. Had a fat crush on Ms. Yamamoto. Made her a clay cup that said “#1 Teacher”, but the handle broke off, and I couldn't give it to her.
9. Was baptized at South Bay Chinese Alliance Church. Gave my best friend, Jose Morales, my 1972 Reggie Jackson baseball card for Valentines day, because it meant so much to me, and he meant so much to me. Now I can't even find him on Facebook.
10. Won 2nd place in my entire Cub Scout troop for the annual school-wide derby car race. My dad spent DAYS building the car.
11. Realized how fat I was, so tried to lose it by riding the exercise bike we had at home for at least ½ hour.
12. Stepped on a power sander and sanded off the flesh of my second toe.
13. Cut my own hair for the first time ever. Just under 4 hours.
14. Moved to a new school, West High. Prayed fervently that God would cause all the girls to like me. No joke.
15. Made it to frosh/soph tennis for West High. 0-11 record.
16. Truck broke down while driving to PV, got out to check under the hood, and my truck started rolling down Hawthorne Blvd. because I forgot to put on the brakes. It rolled down hill until it was stopped by a van coming up Hawthorne.
17. Got my first pager ever. 4 years late. Bravo LX. Mods: burgundy case, red back light, badtz maru and dragon ball stickers. 4364, 8684!
18. Top 5 Homecoming Court. Greatest high school accomplishment.
19. UCI Anteater.
20. Joined Crossroads Campus Ministries.
21. First cell phone ever. 4 years late.
Started Praying about the possibility of a future with Monica on July 11, 2001.
22. Graduated UCI with a B.A. in International Studies. Preached for the first time ever for the youth group at church. Preached outside for the first time at the Long Beach Rescue Mission.
23. Started the Masters of Divinity program at Talbot School of Theology.
24. Started to date Monica officially on September 4.
25. Started AlphaOmega Learning Company with Mike Yim and Jeff Wu.
26. Started developing a women’s designer jeans company. J-Star. Rustic Jeans.
27. First retreat ever. FCBC Hikoi Fellowship. First mission trip to Taiwan with OMF.
28. Proposed.
29. Married my beautiful wife, Monica.
30. Baby daddy.



Conclusion after 30 years: God is GOOD.