Sunday, December 27, 2009

A Graduation Story















This is the UCLA Seal on the floor of the entrance to Powell Library. It has much meaning and significance. I remember during orientation, they told us never to step on this seal. "Avoid it at all cost!" They said that every time you stepped on it, you would fail a midterm, final, and/or be held back an extra quarter. As a freshmen, I remember glaring at it thinking... better not step on that... ain't risking it... shoot! Of all the places to put that, they chose the middle of the entrance?!

Heh. So you think the story ends there? No way.
















This is my foot on the UCLA Seal in Powell Library. Before every midterm, before every final, and before every study session in this library, I made sure of one thing - to come to this seal and step on it, stomp on it, and/or jump on it. I was resolved to show the seal who the real boss was - I was absolutely determined to step on it and still get the A, to stomp on it and still graduate in time. Graduating 2 quarters early with a Magna Cum Laude Latin Honors GPA, I would now like to take this time to declare something to my longtime archenemy, the seal - BOO-YA! VICTORY IS MINE!

After my last final, the first place I went to was Powell Library - I stood outside for a few seconds to admire the beauty of the building. Then I walked in, stopped, and smiled at the seal. The security guard started watching me. I pridefully walked on, stomped on, and jumped on the seal. The security guard thought I was hella weird, but I didn't care. And then I took the 2 pictures that I put up in this entry. The 2nd picture is off-centered because the security guard looked like he was starting to get up so I just boned out (haha). As I boarded the shuttle to go back to my apartment, there was only one song that I could play on my phone, on repeat, repeat, and repeat all the way till I got home - All the Way my Savior Leads Me.

It was a long yet short journey, and I persevered with diligence and I beat the seal, but I humbly acknowledge and admit... all the way my Savior led me. My Savior was my strength when I was strong and my strength when I was weak. When I wanted desperately to give up my Savior was my hope to endure. It was He who gave me the opportunity and experience to learn and grow this much at UCLA, and it is He who supplied the willpower, ability, strength, and all else for me to come this far. Thanks God! Yay for graduation. Onwards towards the rest of life!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Something to think about on Christmas

"In the creation, man was made in God’s image; in the incarnation God was made in man’s image. . . . He took our flesh that He might take our sins, and so appease God’s wrath. . . . Christ’s taking our flesh was one of the lowest steps of His humiliation. For Christ to be made flesh was more humility than for the angels to be made worms. . . . He stripped Himself of the robes of His glory, and covered Himself with the rags of our humanity."

- Thomas Watson

(Taken from defendingcontending.com)

Merry Christmas Y'all.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Las Vegas vs Los Angeles

I don't know where to call home... Las Vegas or Los Angeles! But I do know that there are pros and cons of each city!

Las Vegas - Pros
-Amazing great SMOOTH WIDE roads
-Free parking everywhere (except downtown... but who goes there?)
-Very clean China Town
-Best pho on the planet
-Best tea/snack places
-Best buffets
-New nice clean Korean market - with nice parking
-The strip
-AWESOME lights (especially during Christmas season)
-Opportunity Village's Magical Forest (Christmas season)
-Red Rock Canyon
-Lots of nice business parks/plazas
-Nice cold winters! (I love cold weather)
-$1 bowling after midnight
-$3.99 steak, eggs, toast, hash browns after midnight
-Everything's open late night

Las Vegas - Cons
-SIN City (lots of temptations)
-STATIC ELECTRICITY! I Average 10 shocks a day... amazing....
-CHAP lips, DRY skin
-HOT summers

Los Angeles - Pros
-Sports teams!
-Nice weather for the entire year
-K-Town
-UCLA
-Korean Food Heaven
-Mexican Food Heaven
-Beaches
-Jason Lee

Los Angeles - Cons
-No Parking/Bad Parking Situations
-Too much traffic
-Rough bad horrible roads

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A Familar Voice

Yesterday, after a long tiring day, I sat down in the shuttle bus that so faithfully takes me to my apartment - the good old Wilshire Express - Oh the comfort of consistencies. Exhausted, yet talking amongst some of my fine friends I received a phone call from an UCLA office number. Confused, I picked up to find someone saying something among the lines of...

This is UCLA Murphy Hall's administration - is this Cho Yim? Yes. We need you to come in to discuss your graduation requirements. It seems we may have missed something and we need to discuss your possible staying of one more quarter.

As you can imagine, I was pretty furious and outraged. My entire extremely well-thought out plan to graduate 2 quarters early... my set agenda to save $25,000+ of UCLA out-of-state tuition....

"You know that's going to cost me an extra $10,000+ ...right?! How did you guys mess up?! Where? Okay - when can I come in? I'm on the shuttle right now but I'm going to drive there as soon as I get back. I'm coming in right now so someone better be there." I was pretty much set and ready to beat down the entire system, show up, and pull a crazy. Anger, frustration, confusion, sadness, madness, and sin ran down my spine, all at the same time.

And then it hit me... or at least I thought it did. Hmm... a familiar voice... I sure hope its a familar voice. I thought harder and listened harder... and then I knew it - I recognized this voice! But I couldn't be sure... the situation was too drastic, the cost of being wrong too high. So I had to ask... "BILLY?! BILLY IS THAT YOU? THIS BETTER BE YOU BILLY!"

At the sound of his voice and his response I was so relieved. My burning heart cooled down, my anger seemed to quickly fade away. I had nothing left but relief... pure relief and a calming comfort.

Talking to Billy and even me looking back at it, we're both somewhat surprised that the prank went that far. I mean sure, Billy called from work with a UCLA #, but as one of my closest friends... I did not recognize his voice.... When the first sentence, the first word, the first utterance from his distinct voice should have caught my attention and given him away, it did not....
I sure hope that when God speaks to me I can recognize his voice right away. Because it seems to me that when you don't, it can lead to a whole lot of misunderstanding, trouble, and grief.

Dear God,
May I read, love, and study your word. May I soak in your presence, your fellowship, and your love. May I lay at your feet and bow to your throne. May I take in your grace and reflect your glory. May I know you more and more and more and more and more so that I never ever miss your voice. That out of all voices I hear, Yours would be the most familiar of them all - please don't ever let me miss your familiar, comforting, loving, true word.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Must Have CDs for Long Drives

My List
E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) - Black Eyed Peas
The Wicked Soundtrack - Wicked
Epic Movie Soundtracks - Including the Rocky Soundtrack!
Call Me Irresponsible - Michael Buble
It's Time - Michael Buble
Lion King Soundtrack - Disney
Sarah Chong's CD Mix

What's your list?

*How could I forget?! I added the infamous Sarah Chong Mix!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Valley of Vision

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty
thy glory in my valley.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Quarter-life Crisis

Quarter-life crisis... who would have thought I'd be going through it?!

God is Sovereign... God is Sovereign... when one person said that to me, I brushed it off even though I knew it was true. So cliche. When a second person said that to me today, it hit me as comforting. So true!
Sometimes we need multiple reminders from multiple people.

God is Sovereign.
Its not cliche if its really true =]

Friday, September 25, 2009

Rest Stop

Wow it's been crazy lately! So much going on, so much more left to do - hecticness for sureeeee. But I love what Pastor Danny told me about a week ago.

Sometimes you just gotta stop and ask yourself, How's your prayer life? How's your devotional and quiet time with God? And you gotta just remember the former times when you first became a Christian, and you had no responsibilities, no leadership roles, no logistics. All you had to do was read the word, pray, and soak in God's presence.

I can't wait till today is over so I can do just that - I'm rather super super excited! I relish those moments.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

How does free will exist with predestination?

Let's learn a lesson from a fish.




















I have a beta fish (back in UCLA) in the care of one of my friends (thanks). I love that fish and his name is Ninja. The above picture is not Ninja, but close enough (Ninja is definitely more good looking). He has lots of fun hobbies and he loves practicing his free will. He chases after little bugs/gnats that happen to get into my room (its awesome to watch). He makes bubble nests with lots and lots of bubbles (sign of happiness... and wanting to mate). He takes rests at the bottom on the rocks and swims between whatever he wishes. He also watches me study and encourages me as I work late into the night. With all that said - Ninja has 100% free will, HOWEVER he is CONFINED to his TANK as a FISH. He does whatever he wishes, but whatever he wishes to do is restricted by the fact that he is a fish. This means he needs water to stay alive, and he needs to stay in his tank. He cannot free will himself to be human, or free will himself to be a dog, or free will himself to fly, but he has free will.

Thus it is with humans. We have free will but we are bounded by the fact that we are humans. We cannot free will ourselves to be God or to fly ourselves out to space (without spaceships). But you can drop a pencil right now if you want or write a blog entry (like me) if you want right now. However, you definitely cannot free will yourself to salvation. You cannot free will yourself to believe. Here's WHY.

Humans in our NATURAL state of free will would NEVER choose God. Psalm 14:2-3, Romans 3:10-12. God looks down from heaven to see if there are any who seek God, there is none - no not one. We know that in our free will bounded by the fact that we are human we would never ever choose God. John 6:44, John 6:65. As a Christian, I am so glad that this be true because I know I would have never chosen God - I would love to rebel as that is my nature. Then the beauty of God's grace is that He pierces through that boundary and gives us grace and draws us to Him that we may believe. YET, it is not that God FORCES us to believe. Far be it from that. He as God draws us and wills us to believe through His grace and majestic wonder.

Thomas Watson in All Things for Good puts it this way:
"It is a sweet call. God so calls as He allures; He does not force, but draw. The freedom of will is not taken away, but the stubbornness of it is conquered. 'Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power' (Psalm 110:3). After this call there are no more disputes, the soul readily obeys God's call: as when Christ called Zachaeus, he joyfully welcomed Him into his heart and house."

And this... is my attempt to explain how free will exists with predestination =] Thank you Ninja for the help.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Question

Hello fellow readers! K, I REALLY need your participation on this. I am just curious and I want questions to study SO... please leave a comment with an answer to this...

If you could ask one question to God about God, what would you ask?

(Thanks in advance)!

~Cho

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Can you love God TOO Much?

I hate it when people say, "You love God too much. You love and read the Bible too much." If you've been told that, take heart! Do not listen to such foolishness. Here are some wise words from Thomas Watson (my favorite Puritan).

"You may over-love the creature. You may love wine too much, and silver too much; but you cannot love God too much. If it were possible to exceed, excess here were a virtue; but it is our sin that we cannot love God enough. 'How weak is thy heart!" (Ezek. 16:20).
-Thomas Watson in All Things for Good

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Earthly Family/Heavenly Family

If knowing Christ can break the bond of family connected by human blood (Matthew 10:36)
Then it sure as heck better unite the family connected by Christ blood (1 John 4:20-21)

Thursday, June 25, 2009

William Tyndale

William Tyndale's words after months in prison that would lead to his death.

"I beg your lordship, and that of the Lord Jesus, that if I am to remain here through the winter, you will request the commissary to have the kindness to send me, from the goods of mine which he has, a warmer cap; for I suffer greatly from cold in the head, and am afflicted by a perpetual catarrh (a respiratory infection), which is much increased in this cell; a warmer coat also, for this which I have is very thin; a piece of cloth too to patch my leggings. My overcoat is worn out; my shirts are also worn out. He has a woolen shirt, if he will be good enough to send it. I have also with him leggings of thicker cloth to put on above; he has also warmer night-caps. And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening; it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark. But most of all I beg and beseech your clemency to be urgent with the commissary, that he will kindly permit me to have the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew grammar, and Hebrew dictionary, that I may pass the time in that study. In return may you obtain what you most desire, so only that it be for the salvation of your soul. But if any other decision has been taken concerning me, to be carried out before winter, I will be patient, abiding the will of God, to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ: whose spirit (I pray) may ever direct your heart. Amen. W. Tindalus"

Wow.... "MOST of all" in that cold long suffering painful place, "I beg and beseech" a Hebrew Bible?! God's word is awesome. Thank you William Tyndale, for your example and passion for the Word of God.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Summer Lists

Obviously, I have some MAJOR Writer's Block. Therefore... instead of writing, I've compiled a summer to do list while I'm back in Las Vegas this entire summer.

Summer To Do List (In no particular order)
1) Midnight Bowling @ the Orleans for $1 a game
2) After Midnight Steak & Eggs @ the Orleans for $4
3) Bellagio Water Show
4) Ice Skate
5) Mini-golf
6) Golf driving range
7) Basketball
8) Eat a Dinner Buffet at the Bellagio OR Wynn (for the price of lunch)
9) Mandalay Bay Shark Reef
10) Drive to Red Rock Canyon (I live close), Hike, and Star Gaze
11) Make a difference in someone's life
12) Find a summer job

Possibly To Do List
1) Watch The Lion King Live at the Mandalay Bay

Things Already Done
1) Eat a live shrimp
2) Eat a live lobster

3) Watch Dragonball -... don't do it... its pretty bad...

Summer Reading List
1) Finish the Bible
2) Finish All Things for Good - Thomas Watson
3) Finish Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney
4)
Doctrine of Repentance - Thomas Watson
5) Soul Winner - Charles Spurgeon
6) Crazy Love - Francis Chan
7) The Sinfulness of Sin - Ralph Venning
8) Prayer - John Bunyun
9) The Bruised Reed - Richard Sibbes
10) Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Shine like the Stars

Exactly a week ago on Wednesday, I was lucky enough to go to a planetarium here on the UCLA campus. I was excited out of mind! Ever since I was a boy, it was something that caught my eyes. There were only a few stars to be seen in the Sin-City lights of Las Vegas where I grew up, but still you could always see some and that's what you could always count on.
At the planetarium, as we sat down in the dome shaped room with the dome shaped ceiling, the lights darkened as "the sun went down." We were shown the star-view of the Los Angeles night sky. I sat there in awe thinking, Beautiful!
Then the observatory lights slowly got darker and darker and more and more stars started to be revealed - a massive amount of them! Stars that I have never ever seen in real life appeared abundantly. Stars that I had seen were brighter than ever and some were twinkling like diamonds in the dark sky. Majestic! This is way crazier than the Los Angeles star sky I saw just moments ago!
How could I not give glory to God in this planetarium?! After seeing the amazing stars, how could I not give praise? The stars resonated with God's glory and it could not be hidden. And you know what's crazier?! It got more and more majestic as it got darker and darker and darker. At its darkest, it was the most gloriest.
"At the darkest of nights the stars shine brightest."

Christian, are you going through a tough time? Finals? Midterms (for all y'all UCLA folks)? Financial issues? Family? Relationships? Is your schedule so packed that you lose much sleep? Are you being persecuted for your faith? Injured? Depressed? Struggling with sin?
I could go on and on, and so could you. Life is tough and that's no lie. But I just wanted to say - Keep On Fighting. Don't Give Up. There is purpose in all things, even sufferings. Suffering WILL come. But be strong - when you're going through the toughest darkest of times, your life will glorify God and shine His light all the more. Like the stars shine brighter and brighter as it gets darker and darker, so your life will shine Christ brighter as you stick firm in your faith trusting in Him completely through your darkest times.
Are you ready, Christian? Get back up - now is the time to lead, to rejoice, to glorify. Now is the time to be such as the stars that so clearly shine and twinkle when nothing but blackness surrounds it. Get up. Christ is your Lord and He gives strength to the weary.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Don't Give Up! =]

Life only gets tougher. As you get older and more mature, you get more responsibility. You get busier and busier. You think you're busy now?!! WhoA! What now?! Busier than you thought you would ever be huh? And it just keeps adding on!

I guess then we better suck it up and learn to deal with everything we have now. We gotta conquer and have a I CAN DO THIS! mentality. How you say?! In Christ! What joy you can have in such a busy schedule when your life is all about glorifying God. Who knew studying and working and having a packed schedule could be so glorious?!

Feel like giving up? Don't =] Get back up. Strive! Crawl if you have to! Finish the race to the end - Christ will guide you all the way.

For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death.
Psalm 49:14 (NKJV)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Dead week ? Nope! Grace Week!

I wrote a sermon for seeker group on the sinfulness of sin. Spent my whole time in the Masters Seminary library (during Shepherd's conference) searching over scriptures just on sin and anything that could relate. So many! But I realized I only needed a couple passages - I only needed to focus on one sin - the fall. One sin is wickedly wicked. And we didn't stop at that one sin. We kept going and still do keep going.
In light of this, I glory even more so in Christ because only He can make one so evil such as I righteous before God. And because of the death I deserved, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), because of the eternal wrath of God I should receive, because of the pure evil of sin, I cannot call 10th week, "Dead Week," as the entire college does.
10th week I have a final group project, 2 final essays, 1 final quiz, and 1 final - all within 4 days. Yet, I cannot bring myself to call it dead week. I have to call it "Grace Week" because this is nothing close to the death I deserve. Oh how great grace is.
Today I turned in 35 pages worth of a final group project and a final essay. The final quiz is out of the way. I have one more 7 page essay and 1 final left. All of this with a broken left hand that is hard to type with. God is gracious. What a beautiful "Grace Week."

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

In Jesus' Name, Amen

It is utterly astonishing to me the final words of a Christian prayer... "in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name I pray, amen."

Almost everyone prays. In fact, I think everyone does pray - even the atheist. But what gives the prayer power? Is there power in prayer? Or is there power in the one whom they/we pray to?

I remember Pastor Eric glanced over this once in one of his bible studies. He said something along the lines of, "There is no power in prayer. Rather, there is power in the one whom they pray to. In Christ. There is no power in faith. Yes, faith alone saves, but faith IN Christ. It saves because there is power in the one whom they have faith in. "

I've been thinking about this subject a lot and it has not left my mind ever since. I'm mainly just focusing on the prayer part of this. But it blows my mind that prayers can become sin (psalm 109:7) and an abomination to the Lord (proverbs 28:9). It amazes me that only one kind of prayer has true power - the prayers prayed to the one true living God. The one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). I stand amazed whenever I pray now, whether by myself or in a group. As I'm about to end a prayer, my heart jumps and beats faster and faster in excitement and in anticipation, waiting for the words, "In Jesus' name I/we pray, amen."

Oh how I've forgotten how powerful prayer was. Oh how I've taken for granted those last words of Christian prayer after praying thousands upon thousands of prayers. May it never again become just a scripted ending to every prayer. Remember the power in that name, in His death and in His resurrection. All other prayers are useless and powerless cause there is no power behind whose name they pray in, but ours we pray in the name of the one true Mediator (capital M). Let us remember this.

In Jesus' most holy perfect glorious awesome magnificent powerful name I pray,
Amen.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Generalizations, Christianity, and Love

In Christianity, you find that there are many generalized statements.
You hear ...

"Adultery is bad."
"Premarital sex and pregnancy is not to be done."
"Drugs are not good - it is a god - an idol."
"Abortion is murder."

To these statements I say, and the Bible says - absolutely 100% true.

These are Biblical principles, and there are many more, but hear me out, readers of my blog, Christian and NonChristians. - drug addicts, pregnant teenagers, those who judge, adulterers, sinners - now let us show you the love of Christ. Welcome to church. Welcome to the body of Christ. We were as such as these. We know that we have sinned, and still in the grace of God, sin and fall. We struggle with our sin. But find hope and find joy in Christ. These statements and these truths may scare you, but many of us have been there - whether Christian or not, let us show you love of Christ.

Christians, Church - Don't you dare judge the pregnant teenager who walks in. Don't you dare judge the drug addict, the gang member, the messy dressed homeless man. Don't you dare look at the couple who had an abortion and give them looks of disgust, or talk behind their backs. Show them instead the love of Christ. Minister to them. They need it. And you very well have needed it much before.

Here's a reminder lest we forget that...

Paul was a murderer. He killed and persecuted Christians.
David was an murderer and adulterer. He had so much blood on his hands that God did not let him build God's temple!
Moses killed an Egyptian and buried him in the sand. He was sent to exile for 40 years!

Yet God gave them His love. Christ died for such as these.
And such were some of you. BUT you were washed, BUT you were sanctified, BUT you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthains 6:11.

Help them see past the generalized statements. Let us show them the love of Christ. Let us take them in and help them glory in the awe and love and grace of God. Generalized statements, yes. BUT, Let us love, church, let us love.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

God-given Righteousness

Charles Spurgeon is a bible gangster. I love this preacher.

I wanted to write about my new found God-given determination in everything I do. But I woke up this morning and started reading out loud an entire Charles Spurgeon sermon. And something he said/wrote shocked me - it hit me hard. He said this...

"Oh, to think that such an One as Jesus should be our Savior, that Heaven’s Darling should condescend to assume our nature and become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh! That He should live such a life and die such a death! That He should present to God a work so perfect, without flaw, without excess! Is there not room for praises here? Now we are as clean before the Lord because we have been washed in Christ’s blood, yes, we are as pure as if we had never sinned! And standing arrayed in Christ’s righteousness, we are more righteous, even, than Adam before the Fall, for he had only a human righteousness, but we have a Divine righteousness. In Christ Jesus, the second Adam, we are nearer to God than if we had been born of the first Adam while untainted by sin!
-Charles Spurgeon - 09.03.1876 - "Good News for Seekers" - Psalm 22:26

I can't believe the righteousness I have through Christ Jesus, and Him alone. I can't believe its power, its magnificence, and its glory. A divine righteousness rather than a human righteousness. Thank you God. It never hit me what kind of righteousness I was given until now. And to think before that Adam's righteousness before sin was at par with my God-provided one. Ha - what foolishness; what grace... simply amazing.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Tick Tock NonResolution

...tick... tock... tick... tock...
The familiar noise of the clock vibrates through my ears and catches my attention. Awake earlier than usual after a time of prayer - finally - prayer - I look up and gaze upon the shiny clock my family has in the living room next to the TV. I watch as the second-hand ticks away, second by second, tick by tock. Then comes a sudden realization that this sight is horrid to my eyes. Every second, every tick, every tock - it will never be redeemed again.

I have no resolution for 2009. No - instead - I have this prayer and this meditation.

So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom
.
Psalm 90:12.

I think that upon this verse and this meditation rests everything I would put as a resolution. I have to redeem the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). Yes, it is true that every tick and every tock brings us closer to eternity with God in heaven (praise God), but for now we live in a world where time is limited - we are bounded by time. God alone knows the days of our lives.

Thus sayeth the Psalmist after being surrounded by his enemies
I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD has chastened me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.

Psalm 118:17-18

I am alive today, in this new year, because God wills it. I have been chastened (disciplined) severely in 2008 - with extreme chickenpox on my 20th birthday, with the quarantine from school, hardcore flu, return of asthma, stolen credit card, and much more, but God has not given me over to death - not yet. Like the Psalmist who went through harsher things, I will live and declare the works of the LORD. Time is short yes, it is like a vapor in the wind - like a ticktock of a clock - so teach me to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom.