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fri night STORM
went to STORM instead of alpha. pastor Ul will need me to lead praise for youth group, since he doesn't play guitar. that means i won't be serving or attending alpha for a while.
right off, things were a wee bit different. we cleared all the chairs to open up the area for worship. the youth rocked the house. then, some (all) attendees to J24:7 were asked to go up and share, not necessarily about the retreat overall (apparently, there was some sketchy action going on, exchanging of numbers, etc, etc. tsk, tsk. this never happened in my day. or maybe it just never happened to ME....), but about how God touched their lives; spiritual aspects of J24:7. it was great. to hear such things, warms my soul.
to continue what was started at J24:7, the youth group kids prayed for each other. and how. they responded in a surprising way, really taking to it, and some of them even came over to pray for me. totally made me all soggy. you can SEE, and PALPATE the things that God is doing in this youth group.
And I praise Your name
Lord I praise Your name
and I lift You up, forever....
then, we ate, and they left.
stayed for church wide prayer mtg at 11 (actually, played foosball for a while, then joined the prayer mtg ;P )
went home, tired. my life is tiring.
sat:
STORM servants (counselors) mtg at 10:00. talked about our experiences, some things for the future, hopes, dreams, etc.
nice to hear ppl out, though i wished some of the others would say more. i KNOW they have stuff on their hearts. i know that i can inadvertently taking over things by gabbing too much, so i tried to hold back a little at the end, even at the cost of permitting silence to sit at times, though i have a flood of things on my mind. i know pastor U wanted to hear us out, but he doesn't want my flood of thoughts. it would take hours (4hrs, as our first talk on sun did). so i tried to limit what i said to pertinent positives and negatives. as perry so often says, "silence doesn't make ME uncomfortable. i can wait as long as you need." (one of the best lines i've ever heard) hahaha.
went home, brief nap, studied, worked out, went to dinner.
ate at shabu katsu or something like that with friends (au, an, mi, jen, gr, br, ca, ai, sh). was good, but dang, mad expensive. i can't afford dinners like that anymore. i need to hit up mickey D's more often. the shabu-shabu (thing slices of meat swirled in boiling water) was good, but the broth turned into soup afterwards was awesome. amazing what a little salt and pepper can do. that broth combined with the noodles we added made a better meal than the shabushabu itself, methinks.
made it a blockbuster night. "kikujiro"
this is not an action movie, but definitely one of the most clever and funniest movies of ALL time. everyone should see it. if you do not howl like a hyena while watching it, i will stop playing basketball. (yeah, RIGHT! even my MOM can't make me do that...and darned if my wife-to-be will...haha)
********
********
SUNDAY
STORM
pastor Ul gave a rousing sermon. this brother can PREACH. he has fire in his eyes when he preaches. i've always noticed that about his eyes. they're very large and when he gets excited, they get bigger, and draw you in. i remember when he used to do announcements when i first started to go to remnant: some of me wanted to laugh, because he seemed sooo excited about announcements, and part of me wanted to listen more carefully to hear what could be so exciting.
for pauline's sake (she's in korea. come back, come back!! we miss you!), here's a brief summary:
scripture: Matthew 15:1-20
pastor Ul started with a brief story, of how he came to know Christ. it's too funny/personal to share online, esp b/c it's not mine, so you'll have to just ask me about it later, pauline.
the line that a pastor gave that gripped pastor Ul: "Jesus died for ___blank___ . now fill in the line with your name."
"Jesus died for ___Ul******"___"
and from that moment, Jesus became more than a story, more than something to be learned. He became a personal God.
summary:
Pharisees challenge Jesus upon his disciples eating w/o washing hands. Jesus rebukes them for traditions, esp when the traditions that the Pharisees created even go against the law of God. calls pharisees hypocrites, and cites isaiah: "these ppl honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. they worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."
it's not what you do on the outside, but what's in your heart. you can preach, you can lead praise, you can go on these cool retreats, you can serve in church, but it's what is going on inside your heart that counts/
then he explains that it's not what goes into your mouth that makes you unclean, but what comes out of your mouth that makes you unclean. again, what is inside you.
there needs to be a transformation in your heart.
how does that happen? -----> by receiving Christ.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -
2 Corinthians 5:17
you are not a christian for doing christian things. there is a process of recognizing your sin, being humbled when faced with God's holiness, the acceptance of salvation which He gives, and the recognition of Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord.
Jesus said: "I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 16:4)
challenge from pastor Ul: be honest, STORM. really, really be honest, and examine your hearts.
*****
Remnant 11:30 service
worship rocked. my man jae ko adds a lot of kicking flavor. he's very humble, doesn't indulge me or my adulation (i really love this guy), and careful not to let his heart get proud, but dude, you could feel the added energy in worship. this bro is very talented. if i were a praise leader, i would tell him to take out all the brakes, and rock out, and tell him to get creative.
sermon: diff btwn church and world/society
1 Cor 1:9
- Paul did not get angry, frustrated, or disgusted with Corinthian church that was just "flexing" spiritual gifts (and neglecting basics). he spoke to them gently as family.
- Paul did not distance himself from the "problem" church, but reaffirmed his ties and identified with the "problem" church. (there are applications to this flying to my mind. substitute "family member" or "friend" or whatever else for "church," and you will see many applications)
- PH vision: "to thank God for the evidence of the grace of God in our lives."
- as we move, we grow. but don't focus on the gift, but the one behind the gift. confidence should be in God, not the gifts.
- Hope is not in "spiritual all-stars," but the God who made them so.
grabbed quick lunch: mexican!!!
3:00 praise team set-up, practice
4:00 prayer mtg
*******
5:00 evening service.
pure joy to worship with these folks. pure joy. JH broke yet another string. he holds the record holder, the CHAMP for breaking strings. i think he quadruples the next runner up.
sermon by PH: Adversity is the great leveler of all humanity.
so how does a discouraged person deal?
1) what you believe
2) how you grieve
3) who you lean on
cafe hour after service. had a dishwashing spree with DK (the most wonderful bro in the world. he IS blood to me), so that we could hit the foosball table. we rocked. then, he gave his position to a girl (he is like that, sacrificing wins for the sake of fellowship. i'm still grasping that. haha. ) we lost, totally cause of the girl. we made a switch in desperation, and i led an offensive comeback by myself to within one, but only to lose. (i'm just imagining someone steaming in fury right now...HAHAHAHA)
then, we played again, and this time, we won, convincingly. this time, it was her good plays. i guess she redeemed herself. somewhat. maybe i'll let her play with me again. (oh, my, be careful, girl. you're gonna pop a blood vessel in your head, and have a massive intracranial hemorrhage. remember to breathe)
******
STORM lock-in:
by this time, i'm beat. i led praise again with raw fingertips. for these kids who are becoming so passionate, i'm willing to play until my fingers are nubs.
intense prayer time. i can hardly recognize these kids. josh, who has been away for a while, recently said, "STORM has grown so much, while i was away." what an astute child. he is dead on.
my world was shaken that night: someone dear to me is leaving. a bright energetic light came into my life, shone oh-so-brightly!, gave me energy and enthusiasm, and is now leaving, to bless some others. may God always be with you and continue to work in you. don't let go, hold on for your life.
11:30pm- my day ends. i think i need to drop out of medical school. the thought of getting up at approx 5am to get in at 5:30 does not sit well with me right now. i want to run back to church and be with STORM. and go to six flags with them tomorrow.
yakob at 11:50 PM
-----------------
went to STORM instead of alpha. pastor Ul will need me to lead praise for youth group, since he doesn't play guitar. that means i won't be serving or attending alpha for a while.
right off, things were a wee bit different. we cleared all the chairs to open up the area for worship. the youth rocked the house. then, some (all) attendees to J24:7 were asked to go up and share, not necessarily about the retreat overall (apparently, there was some sketchy action going on, exchanging of numbers, etc, etc. tsk, tsk. this never happened in my day. or maybe it just never happened to ME....), but about how God touched their lives; spiritual aspects of J24:7. it was great. to hear such things, warms my soul.
to continue what was started at J24:7, the youth group kids prayed for each other. and how. they responded in a surprising way, really taking to it, and some of them even came over to pray for me. totally made me all soggy. you can SEE, and PALPATE the things that God is doing in this youth group.
And I praise Your name
Lord I praise Your name
and I lift You up, forever....
then, we ate, and they left.
stayed for church wide prayer mtg at 11 (actually, played foosball for a while, then joined the prayer mtg ;P )
went home, tired. my life is tiring.
sat:
STORM servants (counselors) mtg at 10:00. talked about our experiences, some things for the future, hopes, dreams, etc.
nice to hear ppl out, though i wished some of the others would say more. i KNOW they have stuff on their hearts. i know that i can inadvertently taking over things by gabbing too much, so i tried to hold back a little at the end, even at the cost of permitting silence to sit at times, though i have a flood of things on my mind. i know pastor U wanted to hear us out, but he doesn't want my flood of thoughts. it would take hours (4hrs, as our first talk on sun did). so i tried to limit what i said to pertinent positives and negatives. as perry so often says, "silence doesn't make ME uncomfortable. i can wait as long as you need." (one of the best lines i've ever heard) hahaha.
went home, brief nap, studied, worked out, went to dinner.
ate at shabu katsu or something like that with friends (au, an, mi, jen, gr, br, ca, ai, sh). was good, but dang, mad expensive. i can't afford dinners like that anymore. i need to hit up mickey D's more often. the shabu-shabu (thing slices of meat swirled in boiling water) was good, but the broth turned into soup afterwards was awesome. amazing what a little salt and pepper can do. that broth combined with the noodles we added made a better meal than the shabushabu itself, methinks.
made it a blockbuster night. "kikujiro"
this is not an action movie, but definitely one of the most clever and funniest movies of ALL time. everyone should see it. if you do not howl like a hyena while watching it, i will stop playing basketball. (yeah, RIGHT! even my MOM can't make me do that...and darned if my wife-to-be will...haha)
********
********
SUNDAY
STORM
pastor Ul gave a rousing sermon. this brother can PREACH. he has fire in his eyes when he preaches. i've always noticed that about his eyes. they're very large and when he gets excited, they get bigger, and draw you in. i remember when he used to do announcements when i first started to go to remnant: some of me wanted to laugh, because he seemed sooo excited about announcements, and part of me wanted to listen more carefully to hear what could be so exciting.
for pauline's sake (she's in korea. come back, come back!! we miss you!), here's a brief summary:
scripture: Matthew 15:1-20
pastor Ul started with a brief story, of how he came to know Christ. it's too funny/personal to share online, esp b/c it's not mine, so you'll have to just ask me about it later, pauline.
the line that a pastor gave that gripped pastor Ul: "Jesus died for ___blank___ . now fill in the line with your name."
"Jesus died for ___Ul******"___"
and from that moment, Jesus became more than a story, more than something to be learned. He became a personal God.
summary:
Pharisees challenge Jesus upon his disciples eating w/o washing hands. Jesus rebukes them for traditions, esp when the traditions that the Pharisees created even go against the law of God. calls pharisees hypocrites, and cites isaiah: "these ppl honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. they worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."
it's not what you do on the outside, but what's in your heart. you can preach, you can lead praise, you can go on these cool retreats, you can serve in church, but it's what is going on inside your heart that counts/
then he explains that it's not what goes into your mouth that makes you unclean, but what comes out of your mouth that makes you unclean. again, what is inside you.
there needs to be a transformation in your heart.
how does that happen? -----> by receiving Christ.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -
2 Corinthians 5:17
you are not a christian for doing christian things. there is a process of recognizing your sin, being humbled when faced with God's holiness, the acceptance of salvation which He gives, and the recognition of Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord.
Jesus said: "I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 16:4)
challenge from pastor Ul: be honest, STORM. really, really be honest, and examine your hearts.
*****
Remnant 11:30 service
worship rocked. my man jae ko adds a lot of kicking flavor. he's very humble, doesn't indulge me or my adulation (i really love this guy), and careful not to let his heart get proud, but dude, you could feel the added energy in worship. this bro is very talented. if i were a praise leader, i would tell him to take out all the brakes, and rock out, and tell him to get creative.
sermon: diff btwn church and world/society
1 Cor 1:9
- Paul did not get angry, frustrated, or disgusted with Corinthian church that was just "flexing" spiritual gifts (and neglecting basics). he spoke to them gently as family.
- Paul did not distance himself from the "problem" church, but reaffirmed his ties and identified with the "problem" church. (there are applications to this flying to my mind. substitute "family member" or "friend" or whatever else for "church," and you will see many applications)
- PH vision: "to thank God for the evidence of the grace of God in our lives."
- as we move, we grow. but don't focus on the gift, but the one behind the gift. confidence should be in God, not the gifts.
- Hope is not in "spiritual all-stars," but the God who made them so.
grabbed quick lunch: mexican!!!
3:00 praise team set-up, practice
4:00 prayer mtg
*******
5:00 evening service.
pure joy to worship with these folks. pure joy. JH broke yet another string. he holds the record holder, the CHAMP for breaking strings. i think he quadruples the next runner up.
sermon by PH: Adversity is the great leveler of all humanity.
so how does a discouraged person deal?
1) what you believe
2) how you grieve
3) who you lean on
cafe hour after service. had a dishwashing spree with DK (the most wonderful bro in the world. he IS blood to me), so that we could hit the foosball table. we rocked. then, he gave his position to a girl (he is like that, sacrificing wins for the sake of fellowship. i'm still grasping that. haha. ) we lost, totally cause of the girl. we made a switch in desperation, and i led an offensive comeback by myself to within one, but only to lose. (i'm just imagining someone steaming in fury right now...HAHAHAHA)
then, we played again, and this time, we won, convincingly. this time, it was her good plays. i guess she redeemed herself. somewhat. maybe i'll let her play with me again. (oh, my, be careful, girl. you're gonna pop a blood vessel in your head, and have a massive intracranial hemorrhage. remember to breathe)
******
STORM lock-in:
by this time, i'm beat. i led praise again with raw fingertips. for these kids who are becoming so passionate, i'm willing to play until my fingers are nubs.
intense prayer time. i can hardly recognize these kids. josh, who has been away for a while, recently said, "STORM has grown so much, while i was away." what an astute child. he is dead on.
my world was shaken that night: someone dear to me is leaving. a bright energetic light came into my life, shone oh-so-brightly!, gave me energy and enthusiasm, and is now leaving, to bless some others. may God always be with you and continue to work in you. don't let go, hold on for your life.
11:30pm- my day ends. i think i need to drop out of medical school. the thought of getting up at approx 5am to get in at 5:30 does not sit well with me right now. i want to run back to church and be with STORM. and go to six flags with them tomorrow.
yakob at 11:50 PM