Archive for September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

290912

thirty eight

So.... I woke up at 12pm today after last night's slizz session at karaoke LOL.

Woke up with a minor headache and a woozy feeling... I should have listened to Hemi's advice from long ago to drink water before sleeping after a drinking sesh... It'll prevent hangovers and/or minor headaches.

But after having breakfast and properly waking up, I felt better.. =].

I am a little sick now... Because Seoul has dramatically gotten colder.. Probably an 8 degree change from the day before... 

Anyway, I saw that Alex was on FB and I managed to negotiate and strike another awesome deal with him, securing an improved final drive in time for my return to Sydney (Car talk).
When I looked outside and saw the awesome weather... I simply could not stay inside and I soon left for the river yet again to do another chapter of DoaGM.

Today's topic was Discipline of Worship.

Hardest hitting message: Worshiping in spirit and in truth.

This chapter focused a huge deal on worshiping in the context of worshiping at Church. It talked a lot about preparing one's heart for worship (making sure Sunday mornings are quiet and hassle-free by doing the bulk of the prep on Saturday - breakfast, how and what time you will be getting to church, sleeping early/sleeping sufficiently) and the biblical truth that God calls us for worship -
"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24

But what does it mean for me to be worshiping in spirit and in truth?

To worship in spirit is to worship from the inside out. Notice the non-capitalised 's' in spirit... It is referring to the human spirit...
There are moments, mostly among a big group of fellow brothers and sisters, where the atmosphere is simply crying out for adoration and the pouring of praises to God. For me, this could be in Christian conferences or after a very emotional talk... I recall RICE 2008 - my last year serving in RICE Choir where after the talk, I was so filled with joy that I ignored the harmony part and just sang at the top of my lung (sorry Esther...).

I believe it is times like these that we are worshiping in spirit. A time where our hearts just want to pour out our inner adoration and praise through physical exertion - vocally, through a dance AND also good works.

To worship in truth is to worship with a firm foundation of the truth - what we believe about our God and what we believe He has spoken...
Worship stemming from truth is biblical worship... It is the worship that is governed by what we know and believe of God - namely from our Biblical knowledge.
If we know the Creation story and man's fall into sin, it will inspire our worship as we admit our weakness before God.
If we know the sacrifice, the death but ultimately the triumph of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, it will inspire our worship as we express our eternal gratitude to a God who loves us [John 3:16].

In writing about this topic... I am now feeling rather guilty because it is 3am and I must wake up at 11am or 12pm to get ready for a 2pm service later today... But yes, I will sleep soon..

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For dinner, Min called me up to have dinner together because both of us had no family/relatives to spend Chuseok with in Korea... so yeah we went to Wangsimni and looked around the few restaurants that were open...

And we decided to have Cow stomach/intestines???.. It was interesting.. but it was good.. It was on the expensive side ($20 per person) but there was plenty of food (without rice) and it is considered a popular dish and as Evan always says... "YOLO".







look at this fob.

before.

BEST KIMCHI i've had here in Seoul.. and that's saying a lot since all the restaurants serve Kimchi.

after!

The leftover bits get turned into Albokkeumbab (Flying fish roe fried rice). SO good.

A good relaxing day... as it is getting colder, I must begin to wear my Autumn clothes!!! WOO!!!


Tonight, I felt a very troubling burden inside of me... I was very close to giving 'her' up. A lot of thoughts came up but most of it was probably me overthinking things... 
But then I remembered why I even began to have feelings for 'her' and that gave me enough reason to go on.
So I'm sorry, but tonight I'm still holding on. =].


On another note: I'm running out of cereal.

Thankful: Another Saturday and another chapter of DoaGM... A truly precious book that allows me to understand an even more precious book - the Bible.

Prayerful: A day of Sabbath and congregational worship tomorrow (today). Pray for an undisturbed heart and a peaceful state to learn what ought to be learnt.

Dangers: My body is winning.


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Saturday, September 29, 2012

280912

37.

Lovely day today.. achieved many things =].

Woke up to Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5 because Nicole called me to say that they are done with their musical/performance.. Meaning I should get ready and be on my way to Myeongdong to meet them..

After an hour or so delaying things because I struck a brilliant deal with Alex for my car... I was on my way out... but without having breakfast... (bad move).

When I got to Myeongdong, I was extremely hungry... But I tanked it through the shopping. Bought Puma running shoes for $65 (30% off sale) and they are extremely lightweight and comfortable - awesome overall!!

It started raining quite heavily as well so we decided to maybe head to a cafe until it quietened down... so we went to a Dog Cafe... LOL. 










Frank the Pug



Slizzdog

This guy had too much to drink.. 

Chappy!

The Dog Cafe was rather interesting... The Iced Americano was good though! I'm glad that I am in Korea.. where Iced Long Black is a specialty (unlike most cafes in Sydney who haven't even heard of such an idea).
The place definitely smelt like dog.. but it was a clean dog smell.. the kind of smell you get post-dogwash. 

When we got home at about 4.30pm... we decided to just rest up before we went out for dinner + karaoke... so we went our separate ways.. and I had a chat with this good man Ed Cheng and whoever thought praying over Skype had the same encouraging effect as if he was next to me in real life!
It was a blessed conversation and I thank God daily for this faithful brother of mine.

Even if he had to Skype from his mobile phone.. He was there to talk and listen.

At 5.30pm... It was dinnertime at the cafeteria... Tonight's dinner was HUGE. Not a lot of people came though because most of them have already started heading out to their hometowns to celebrate Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). 

It was also my first (and only proper) meal for the whole day... My body doesn't like me very much now..

At around 7.50pm, we met up to go to dinner + karaoke.. and it was a good night! Clean, kinda sensible and energetic vibes were all around =]... Until Eero got way too drunk and actually went off at us afterwards over something quite.... weird.. haha..... Oh it's amazing how girls can have such a hold on us guys...


On a random note... On the way back to my room in the dorm.. I bumped into that disabled man that I first met on my first few days here in the dorm... He said hi to me and introduced me to his friends as "my good neighbour".. He also asked me a question that I definitely did not expect..

"Obed, are you a man of faith?"

"Yes I am... I am a man of faith."

"Awesome."



Thankful: A good start to the long weekend! Got a good deal for my running shoes and I can finally start to take better care of my physical body.... Also for technology and Skype conversations. We can be so far, yet so close. =].

Prayerful: A weekend of rest not only physically and mentally... but spiritually. A lot of spare time = a lot of opportunities to explore my faith.

Dangers: I've seen alcohol do bad things to friends that I once thought were admirable... With such a seemingly wavering perception of people, it makes me wonder how my actions and my words have also affected how people saw me... Especially if I was meant to be a man of faith.

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Friday, September 28, 2012

270912

36. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAPPY.

Last day of the school week!! PHEWWWW.

And the longest day of the week -_-..
most tiring but most rewarding. =]

Woke up to have my daily serving of cereal..
A bit excited because I get to finally try my 2400 won milk (apparently the best milk... that I bought by accident - normally 1500 won for ordinary milk..).




2400 won vs 1500 won... Dairy Farmers vs. Coles brand. I could really taste 900 won in my stomach.


 The day went by rather quick... next thing I knew, I was in the Operations Management classroom (last class 6.30-9.30pm).
MUHHHH.. I get front row because I'm such a good student... COUGH.

After the 9.30pm finish.. I called Nicole to see where she was at.. Turned out she was at a cafe with Julia and Nichole (another girl from America.. but she's white.. funny girl though!)

Nicole and Julia

Fried Chicken at the beer bar afterwards.. Altogether spent 7000won on chicken and 2 glasses of beer.

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard as I did tonight spending time with these three... Funny bunch because there is such a huge contrast... One extreme we have Julia who is 17 years old and VERY innocent... and Nichole who is 21 but is VERY mature... and so if Nichole ever talks about adult stuff, Julia would get very shy about it HAHA. Me on the other hand, I've been exposed to these kinds of topics, but it's always wiser and more God-glorifying to not feed the flame and contribute to such topics... but nevertheless, it was fun =].

When I got back to my dorm at around midnight... I looked at my News Feed on Facebook and saw pictures of my younger brothers from Study Camp and/or their graduation... Haha... It's funny that it's been 35 days and I've almost forgotten the specifics of how they looked... Evan now has a new hairstyle and I never noticed his rather mature face... Same could be said about Ivan's recent fashion tastes (probably influenced by Hemi).. and then there's Hemi's toned build and me wondering why he's still single (but I know the answer to this question.. so I just smile and move on).

We welcomed a new member to the family today... Although I wasn't there... I saw a picture and it is a rather good looking one!! It's white and runs very fast. It's clean and dad is very happy with it. Hemi says it's ridiculous because he thinks I'm more excited about it than he is... But when you've been exposed to so many ordinary examples of cars here in Korea, it's hard not to miss the JDM car scene back in Sydney... ++ my cousin Paul, isn't helping me either because we've been talking about cars all day today... haha...

How am I doing today?

I'm doing fine.

I've gotten over being attached and adopted a more careful attitude towards friendships here... I've been staying diligent with my prayer list and I know it's time to add onto the list when now I can pray without looking at it... It's a liberating feeling to pray and day by day I am learning of the importance and how desperately any Christian needs to pray if he/she expects to get through the day.

I miss my family back home and also my friends.. but the difference between now and my homesick moments a few weeks back is that I see an infinitely greater value in staying because hopefully, in staying and remaining focused, by God's grace I may become a better brother, a better son, a better friend and a better person.


I'm going to buy running shoes tomorrow at Myeongdong because I've also decided to start running and getting healthy as I feel my lungs and heart need the workout...

=]

Thankful: Another week done and dusted!! So quickly did the days go by..

Prayerful: A weekend of rest as it is a long weekend of Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) until Wednesday for me..

Dangers: I'm staying up late and usually don't give myself enough time to write this blog.. Some nights I am very weary and it would be so very tempting to just write a short entry... but I shouldn't... [It's easier to stick to a 100% dedication than it is for 99%... the moment you say to yourself "it'll be okay just this once" is the moment you will keep falling to a continuous decreasing of dedication... it's seen in habitual sin, addiction, laziness and ultimately, a lack of discipline]

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

260912

THREE FIVE.

LAUNDRY DAY BAHAHA.

Woke up, showered, laundry.
BAM.

Done.

Had lunch with the gang + Julia. Went to the cafeteria and then went into town to get Bingsoo =D ($14 for two - decently priced).






Chocolate Bingsoo

Fruit Bingsoo

After this, we all went back to our dorms to 'study' or if they're like me, watch random documentaries until dinner.. Dinner was good today!
Samgyeopsal, Squid, Pork cutlet,Tofu... and the normal rice + kimchi on the side =D... + soup.

After dinner, it was small groups time!
So off I went to Gangnam... 40 minute trip... I was 3 minutes late because I didn't manage my time properly... =[

The train was PACKED with people... I was uncomfortably close to the people around me but thankfully time went rather quick..
Gangnam at night on a weekday is rather interesting..
Streets are packed with young people dressed in fancy clothes and definitely dressed to impress. I was wearing the typical Aussie boy clothes (shirt, shorts, slipons)... so I caught quite some attention haha....

When I arrived at small group... it was literally a 'small' group... with only 5 or 6 guys in the group..
It is an all men's group so at the very least, there are fewer distractions, clearer focus and more tendency to be open about guy stuff.

My study leaders are Darryl and Matt... Two non-Korean locals who have had experience leading Men's sexual purity studies - so we were encouraged to just express topics if we wanted to.

The rest of my group were - Jeong Ho, Tae Hyun and Q... There will be one more person next week that we haven't met yet.

They are all much older than I am.. The 2nd youngest is late 20's if I'm not mistaken.

We talked a lot about our lives... What we've been through and where we are at now. The group is a rather interesting bunch... One of them having gone through drugs and everything else imaginable.. He also had a lot to say and talk about, so it will be a rather loud small group. We are all single except for Tae Hyun, who is the only married one.

Though we didn't touch on the material today (introductory week), I am rather excited about the study and to do it within this group. I pray that this group will be close-knit and we'll put our pride and selfishness aside so that God can do His thing.


When I got back from Gangnam... I met up with the others at the river.... where we met this little guy! He kept talking to us... one time for 30 minutes... all in Korean.

Weirdly enough, I understood maybe 70% of what he was saying (mostly about food in Korea and his likes). He kept falling on his roller blades and was very fun overall.


 That was it for today really... If you noticed in the above picture.. Nicole is holding my bible. We had a good chat tonight about Christianity and what it meant to me...

 When I arrived at the river, Eero made a comment about me holding a Bible, saying "I didn't know you were so religious" almost in a condescending tone... (As I am typing this, I am trying to kill a mosquito in my room)... It then made me a bit puzzled how he quickly associated someone holding a bible as "religious".

 I then had a chat with Nicole about this aspect and we both agreed that it was rather inaccurate to make that association. I told her that I'm no different to anyone else.. I've done bad things in the past and even now I have the capacity to do such things.. Just because I'm holding a bible, it doesn't mean that I'm not a sinner.
[Just because I am in a garage, it doesn't mean I am a car].

 We then had a good session of chatting about her past and how she used to be mildly 'religious' - reading the bible and going to church... Although I think she said she was a Catholic... 
She doesn't do any of that now and is pursuing to get to know Buddhism because Buddhism provides her some sense of freedom on the basis that "I shouldn't believe just for the sake of believing.. I should seek out the truth and follow what my heart wants".
As she was saying that, I thought to myself... That sounds somewhat similar to what I believe in...

 I don't believe in Jesus just because... I believe in Jesus because I know he is the truth (the way and the life) and it is what my heart wants because he fills up the God-shaped hole in all our hearts.
Furthermore, I've had numerous moments where I've doubted... but even more moments where I was convinced that following Jesus means everything to me.

 I'm not too sure what tonight's chat meant to Nicole.. but I know that God is working... Progress may seem slow at times... but I hope I may be an influence to her and to the rest of the group.

 It was uneasy when the group asked me why I was going to Gangnam and I replied "Bible study"... It was uneasy because I know they are thinking "why would anyone waste one or two days of the week to go and do something like that when they could be meeting new people, meeting people of the opposite gender and what-not."
Though it would've been easier to just say "I'm meeting someone in Gangnam" or... "I have something to do"... To hide the fact that I am a Christian is declaring that I am shameful of my God... which I hope I am not.
I will continue what I am doing here and with God's guidance, I hope to be the different.

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On a seemingly related topic...

My dreams have turned very... very bad.

Almost horrific.

My body wants to indulge in worldly pleasures... but my soul, spirit and mind are at constant war with it... But this topic isn't something to be discussed publicly... so that is it.


Thankful: The start of small groups.. A very open and dedicated group. Thankful also for evangelistic opportunities. 

Prayerful: That the small group will be fruitful and keep our commitment to come every week. Prayerful for my inexperience with evangelism.. I've never done it before so it is a daunting task...

Dangers: I'm still mildly too attached to some people in the group... Everything they do seems to affect me on a huge level... Bad bad bad...

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

250912

thirty four. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Woke up extra early this morning (nah jokes.. just 8.30) to meet up with Eero at 10am to retrieve our Alien Registration Cards =D.

Off we went on our 45 minute journey to Omokgyo station and walked past busy streets and seemingly more 'modern' buildings under the blistering sun.. Quite hot today..




Probably one of the biggest Buddhist buildings I've ever seen here.

YEUH. bad photo.... hate it... but oh well.

After that, I managed to recharge credit on my phone!! WOOHOO!!! Recharged $10 just to see if I can manage my data usage better this time and if I can't, at least it's only $10 instead of $30 (like last time... $30 only lasted 2 days...).

We then went back to the University to meet up with the others to have lunch.. had a Bibimbap type dish that has a more Japanese touch to it... $3.50 ish for it and it was good =].

Then... I had class at 4-6 [International Business] and then waited for dinner with the others at 6.30.. where we ate Kimbab haha! Quick dinner because they wanted to study...

Nicole has been studying like crazy... we're talking about 5 hours individual study (outside of the 4 hour class) just on Korean alone... She's very motivated to learn.... But Lyna isn't so much... She's come up with complications in regard to credit transfer back to her home university so she's grown stressed, sick and frustrated - to the point where she doesn't want to study... It's a shame though because tonight as I was helping her, she had great potential... She picked up words very quickly and had good technique for a 2nd week Korean language learner... Maybe it's just because she's sick right now that she feels drained and tired - but hey, at least her appetite is coming back. =].

Supper snack... $1.80 for this tray of Ddeokbokki... It was a lot more full =P.


My credit!!! 9714won... I get this message every time I make a call.. it updates me with my balance..

Tomorrow I'll have the whole day off... No classes because professor is in Japan... so it'll b laundry day and lunch with the crew =].

Tired now... and it's time to sleep... Also... small groups start tomorrow so I'd better be fully focused on that!

Thankful: Alien Registration Card received (bank card now attainable and I don't have to dangerously carry my passport around all the time).

Prayerful: A fruitful small group session tomorrow and quality time spent with them and the word of God on 1 Timothy.

Dangers: I haven't met up with Jo for 2+ weeks... Losing contact with accountability contacts here in Korea...

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

240912

33 -

Mmmm.. sorry no pictures today because it was again an empty day.. haha!

Usual monday classes except for International Law because the professor is on leave...

Global Ethics... Today was quite a neutral class though... We had a pop quiz.. I got everything right except for one because I misunderstood his English wording.... BLEHHh... It doesn't matter because my WAM will not be affected by the marks that I get here - I just have to pass my courses.

After class, I bought my textbook for Operations Management and headed back to the dorm where I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening/night watching documentaries on Sharks, Ancient Britain and How things are made... Oh and cooking... When I get back to Sydney, I'm going to make Strawberry Daifuku.. Or maybe even ice cream daifuku =D.

In terms of my recent prayer commitment... I got distracted this morning because the Global Ethics professor emailed us very late of the next class content so I only had this morning before the class to catch up on readings... But on the way back to the dorms, I realised an uneasy feeling and pointed it to the lack of prayer today.. So when I got back, I spared a few moments and got to it! Picking up new habits is hard... but difficulty and struggling is part of discipline.. so they are necessary.

Tomorrow morning is the day I'll go and pick up my Alien Registration Card with Eero.. Meeting him at 10.. So maybe I should sleep now..

Thankful: Another gorgeous and warm start to the school week.

Prayerful: Discipline with habitual prayer.

Dangers: Habitual prayer seen as a chore and thus robbing it from any meaningful connection that it is intended to be.

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Monday, September 24, 2012

230912

32. one month since departure.

Today was Church day!

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day.. But I got distracted and left the dorm quite late [1.20pm].. and got to Church at 2.05pm.. =[ Wooops..

Today's teaching was on Faith.

What is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1 lays it out quite nicely: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Pastor Douglas talked about Faith from Luke 18:35.. the Jericho scene of Jesus and the blind man who cried out so desperately as Jesus walked by.
Twice the blind man called out "Son of David, have mercy on me"... the second time with a more desperate tone [The pre-translated word(s) for "cry out" were different in these two instances.. the first being one associated with 'pain' and the second almost out of 'anger/frustration'].
The bystanders who were there told the blind man to be quiet after his first cry, which was why his second cry was one out of frustration.

There is a lesson or two to be learnt here... When we cry out to God in prayer and petition, do we do so continually? When other people or other obstacles surround us and try to tell us to be quiet and stop praying, do we pray all the more? Do we cry out to God even louder?

The speaker then talked about what it meant to have faith in Jesus our Lord... In Luke 18:35-43, it is said that it was the blind man's faith that saved him...
Having faith in Jesus meant that the blind man 100% knew Jesus was the only one who could heal him. Without hesitation or any speck of doubt, he pursued Jesus with what he could and sought for a specific deed from Jesus - to restore his sight.

If Jesus were to walk down the UNSW walkway, or the church aisle, what would you say to him? Would you just say "Thank you Jesus!" or "You are awesome!"... Or would you cry out in desperation for him to answer what it is that is bothering you right now. Relationships, school, a job, a sickness or where you stand with God... Whatever it is you are desperately anxious about, are you willing to get down on your knees and cry out to Jesus desperately?

Or are you choosing not to do it because you have no faith.
Not sure about you, but for me, when I don't pray for something it is usually because I think it is such an absurd and impossible prayer to answer. It could be guidance for a relationship that I've been investing in lately but see no real hope for it to happen, or it could be for some miracle to happen in my exam room where my stress and fear of failing won't become a mental obstacle.

When Peter and the other disciples were fishing, and Jesus appeared to them on the water asking Peter to come. For a moment, Peter too began to walk on water but only to sink when the waves and wind rocked his steps. Jesus then saves him from drowning and says "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Sometimes I'm like this... There are times when I feel like I am walking alongside God, steady and firm... But when the waves of temptation and struggle come my way, I sink and I sink very deep. 
Today's talk then made me realise... where then have I placed my faith?

Have I anchored my faith on money? My own power? Relationships? That one girl who I believe can help me grow in the Lord? Whatever it was... if my world was ever shaken and I began to sink, it was definitely because I was not anchored on Christ, the Solid Rock.

There are times when God lets you sink... Though He will never leave you to drown, He will test you. To see where you have placed your faith. When your world is shaken, will you stand firm? Or will you sink. Have faith in the Lord your God, who is above all things. The enemy is under His feet. All creation bows in worship. He is the God over all - your problems, your sickness, your anxieties.. 

["If you have come to church today and you feel guilty, condemned and distant from God... that is not from God. If anything, God wants you to dwell near Him; whereas the devil would rather you be drowned in guilt and separation from God."]

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Small groups have started!
But mine is on Wednesday =]



A beautiful day. Ducks on the water.

When I got home from church, I went on FB... and found this picture...



This was the MT that I didn't go on... I was speechless when I saw this because... that is a cross in the background.
This is/was a place of worship. Even though I believe worship isn't bound to a specific place... Regardless, this room is/was intended for worship. To have turned such a room into a den of iniquity is just beyond words...
You wouldn't go to church with the intention to meet God and His people whilst intoxicated would you?

I know the drinking culture here is reckless.. but this is just disturbing.

But to look at it with a brighter light... May that cross in the background somehow speak to those who attended and may God do what He will for them.


For those who read yesterday's post... I talked about getting angry and doing something I regret out of jealousy...

Yeah, well tonight I apologised to Lyna and the others because I did not feel right and I knew Lyna was affected severely by it..
I explained to her the situation and we're still trying to get over the problem. At the very least, reconciliation has been made but our friendship won't be the same at least for now...

But I would rather awkwardness than hidden negative feelings that have not been relieved.


On another note, I have booked the accommodation where my family and I will be staying in January when they come here =].

I'm very excited and I hope they are too.

It's been a refreshing and awesome day... A perfect start to a new week.


Thankful: Church day and being able to sort things out with Lyna and the others after last night.

Prayerful: Lyna will be able to forgive me and get over the awkwardness. In future, may I act properly and with self-control around them.

Dangers: I'm getting conscious about my looks again... In a country where looks are so important to people, it is rare to go through a day without people giving you judgmental looks about what you are wearing.

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