tee hee, i like my blog....it's nice to rant on. :D doesn't ever argue w/ me either.

today for some reason, i was just realli aware of materialism. perhaps i've been watching too many commercials about the day-after-thanxgiving sales. many times, i fall victim to my wanting to own nice pretty cool things. many times i end up online shopping for hrs for fun, even tho i know i won't be buying anything (gap.com anyone?). occasionally, i do fall into temptations and buy something (on sale, of course :P)....but do i realli "need" it?

i think the word "need" has become trite....."hey look at those shoes (substitute in video games for guys :P! I realli need something like that." or do we? i'm not saying that it's bad/sinful to own/buy things....but what happens to our mentality and patterns of thought? too often i'd watch a video rather than read God's Word.

I think this also has a devestating effect on kids today. i'm not sure if i'd let my kid play straight hrs of video games or computer games in the house,
under my rules. perhaps for those that grew up w/ it, that seems rather unreasonable. perhaps i'm just so behind and out of the loop. (plus i'm a girl) :)

Brought to you by Ying of tian-caiNET!

Cal 30, Stanford 7
WHOO HOO!!! we won! we won! :) :) (the downside to this is that now there's thousands of drunk ppl outside on the streets of Berkeley.....eeek, better stay inside)

last nite i went to a creation science talk by Kent Hovind. It was informative, but i feel the atmophere there wasn't very open. the speaker's presentation style was humorous, but his jokes, i believe, undermined the information that he actually presented. He also made general sweeping generalizations that could've been backed up a lot better. Tho what he said was good, many of his logical arguments just didn't make connections. but even w/ that, i thought that his attitude and his presentation style seriously jeopordized his credibility w/ the intellectuals and the scientific community.

as i am sitting here doing my sunday school hw about salvation, i can't help but be reminded and thankful of God's role and plans in my conversion:
--The Holy Spirit convict the world of sin (John 16:8)
--God grants repentance to me (2 Tim. 2:25)
--God chose me in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-6)
--God granted me the right to become His child (John 1:12-13)
--God cause growth in me (1 Cor 3:6)
--God will cause my resurrection to occur (1 Cor 6:14, Phil 3:20-21)

Thank u Father, for ur work in a sinner.

haha, served Barkley right:

Charles Barkley kissed Kenny Smith's donkey

Charles Barkley paid up, but it wasn't what a national TV audience expected.

Rather than planting one on TNT co-analyst Kenny Smith's posterior, Barkley puckered up and pecked a donkey's hind end.

The stunt came one week after Barkley bet Smith that No. 1 overall draft pick Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets, a 7-foot-6 center from China, wouldn't score 19 points in an NBA game.
......

I'm posting this as a response to some "pondering" posed by a friend: How do we discern the "Will of God" for us? i mean, sure the Bible talks about sin and right and wrong, but it doesn't really apply when it's about, let's say, what schools to apply for or if this guy is meant for me....or does it?

First, i'll address some misconceptions of what a lot of Christians think:
1) God's 'second best' theory
If God wants me to follow a particular course of action (like, serve in missions in China) and i choose not to do it, then i'm committed for the rest of my life to God's 'second best'. That God had something better for em, but I missed out on it and therefore hafta settle for "Plan B". Many Christians feel like this, believing that they have irrevocably missed out on God's perfect plan for them.
Why it's wrong: This is a misunderstanding of sin and its consequences. First, it assumes that there's only a few decision (the important ones) that might place us outside of God's will. However, we choose to rebel against God in millions of ways throughout our lives. Does each of these mistakes carry us further from the perfect plan of God, until we end up in no-man's land?
Most importantly, this theory denies the power and sovereignty of God. That once i have chosen my action, God is powerless to redeem the situation. He is not a God with plans; He is a God with hopes. He is unable to achieve his goals without my indespensable cooperation, and the subject to the whims and follies of human sinfulness. (God's power supported by Isaiah 55:11, Prov 21:1, Isaiah 45:9-13....)
2) The important decisions
many Christians are preoccupied w/ decisions such as: marriage, job, moral dilemmas, mission field, etc. They want to find God's plan for them in these, so they look to the Scripture for guidance. But the Bible doesn't seem to be of much help. Most think that we have to discern His "special will" for us, most of time doing it wrongly through consulting others, praying, seeking God's peace, waiting on God, looking for signs or open doors, and "hearing" God's voice thought voices and dreams and such.
Why it's wrong: When we ask the wrong questions, we either get the wrong answer or no answer at all. And then we're tempted to turn elsewhere to find an answer. We should ask the questions that God thinks are important, and these are the questions he has answered in the Bible. God's priority for us all is for us to be under Christ and to make us like Jesus, and He has given us all we need to complete this journey (2 Pet. 1:3, 2 Tim 3:16-17). It doesn't matter much where we live, but how we live. For example, our job could be the most meaningless or least important in society's eyes, but it is how we conduct ourselves at work that's close to God's heart.

How does God guide us?
"Apart from his Spirit working through Scripture, God does not promise to use any other means to guide us, nor should we expect him do."
God urges us through the Scripture to listen to His Word, to attend to public reading and teaching of Scriputre, to study and meditate upon Scripture, to gaze intently into what it sez and then do it. But nowhere does he urge to us to seek signs, visions, dreams, etc.
Heb. 4:12, Eph 6, Psalm 119, 1 Tim 4:11-16, many more.....

General outline
If something is a matter of righteousness, then there is no need to search for further guidance--we should do what the Bible sez is right. But if a decision is no a matter fo righteousness, but simply of good judgement, then we should seek the counsel of the Scriptures(to see what principles or perspectives they might give), weigh the factors involved, and then make our choice without feeling guilty that we might be making the 'wrong' choice. If it's not in the right/wrong category, then we can't make the 'wrong' choice! Choosing either course is right and pleasing to God. If both courses seem 'right', then either course represents God's will for us. We can't step outside God's will--His plans can never be thwarted(Job 42:2).

This is a simplication of course. Many decisions are multi-faceted. Part of it has to do w/ wisdom and good judgement. But whatever it is, take comfort that God has not left us only partially informed, but He leads us and guides us as we shine the bright light of His Word on the path before us, to the eternal inheritance in Christ that never fades.

Of course, this is very BASIC, and a lot lot more can be expounded on this. For a good reference, pick up a copy of Guidance and the Voice of God by Jenson & Payne, from which a lot of material here was taken from.

take the nerd test.


and go to mewing.net. a nerd utopia.

i watched gilmore girls tonite. i realli dun like how rory's going out w/ jesse now, cuz i just don't realli like jesse....he's definitely not my type of guy. And it's kinda lame how they keep making out so he wouldn't smoke. :P i mean, i thought rory should be smarter than to fall for a guy like that, w/ a "bad boy" image. oh well....the nice guys always lose (at least on tv).

my electric bill was $97 for last month. *falls over w/ chair*

"God will not suffer man to have the knowledge of things to come; for if he had prescience of his prosperity he would be careless; and understanding of his adversity he would be senseless."

You are Augustine! You love to study tough issues and don't mind it if you lose sleep over them. Everyone loves you and wants to talk to you and hear your views, you even get things like "nice debating with you." Yep, you are super smart, even if you are still trying to figure it all out. You're also very honest, something people admire, even when you do stupid things.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

YEAH BABY! (i dun realli care that shaq wasn't dere and that if he was the lakers probably woulda won)

Rockets 93, Lakers 89
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Houston Rockets have been patiently waiting for Yao Ming to display the talents of a first overall draft choice.
The 7-foot-6 Chinese import did just that in the eighth game of his career -- and against the three-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, no less.
Yao shot 9-for-9 in scoring a career-high 20 points in 23 minutes, and also had six rebounds Sunday night to help the Rockets beat the Lakers 93-89.

hehe stereotypical:
"He can speak clear English, too, which surprised me. I heard him talking to his teammates.'' --Rick Fox
(ok, so otherwise he was just suppose to go out there and do his own thing?)

hehe, poor mike will be sad....it's ok tho, since Fiona will be there to comfort him so he won't realli be THAT sad. :P

::sigh:: i wish i went to the game. :(


On another note:
sadness
A week after LaDainian Tomlinson questioned his team's desire following a fourth-quarter collapse in St. Louis, the Chargers rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime Sunday.
Drew Brees got the Chargers into position and Steve Christie, one of the NFL's best clutch kickers, ended it with a 40-yard field goal with 4:11 left in the extra period.
Christie got his chance because San Francisco's Jose Cortez was wide right on a 41-yard attempt. It was Cortez's fourth miss in three weeks, including two in regulation at Oakland on Nov. 3 before he won that game in overtime with a 23-yarder.

(they need a new kicker....that's all i can say after watching the last two games)

Something new/interesting to think about(for me at least.....

"A forgiving spirit characterizes those who have been forgiven." --D. Whitney
We as Christians are called to forgive others (Mark 11:25-26, Luke 6:37). The grace of God extended to us causes us to want to forgive, even when our flesh rebel against it. However, Whitney elaborates the differences between ready to forgive and actually extending of that forgiveness. Biblical forgiveness is never given or required where there is no repentance. Although Christ said, "Father, forgive, them, for they do not know what they do", this is not an unconditional forgiveness or else everyone would be forgiven of theirs sins without repentance and faith in the gospel. Christians should be ready to forgive, and when forgiveness is sought, then it can be extended. Being ready to forgive involves not harboring bitterness and hatred. However this is different from the actually process of forgiving.

I guess that makes sense, but it's hard to actually apply that in a very practicaly sense. How does this difference flesh out in reality?

wow, it's been a while since i updated this ole thing. guess that's cuz i was outa town for a lil bit. :) so i took the gre's....it was way too long and they don't even let you take water with you into the testing room. Of course after 4 hrs, you kinda just want it to end and ur eyes are getting cranking from staring at the computer, so u're more prone to start hallucinating things on the screen. :P

the weekend was relaxing....too relaxing. it's gonna be very painful getting work done this week.....i now conclude that la has better dim sum than oakland. :)

the parables of Jesus are interesting....i personally like stories a lot, and i remember them a lot better than i would some detailed explanation. That's y i like analogies too. :) i wanna study them!

So i decided on tuesday that i should take the gre's sometime, if i did want to apply for grad school by december.....that "sometime" turned out to be.....ta da! this friday! so i will do as i normally did w/ o-chem tests--wing it. To top it off, the ETS decided to change the format of the gre so as of october the analytical section(my fav section before) is now gone, disappeared, adios. to replace it is -- ta da! a writing section! just perfect! (i'm being sarcastic about this whole entry, if u can't tell) yes, u get the chance to compose two lovely essays. *cringes*

ah well, such is life. u dun get to play by ur rules.

"Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reaches of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need fo God's grace." -- Jerry Bridges

Lord, forgive me for straying from you, and being negligent in the spiritual disciplines that I know are necessary and helpful for my spiritual growth. My problems are not merely the sins that I have committed (most of which I am insensitive to and unaware of), but that my heart is sinful. The heart of the heart problems is sin, and the expressions of that is ever so present everyday. however, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Father, i know it's b/c of Christ who bore my flagrant and willful sins. Help me to focus upon your Son as my only hope, and to know that my performace is never good enough to be acceptable, but the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ gives us confidence to enter Your presence as acceptable.

my ever amusing immunology class.....

professor: so the viral or antigen peptide binds to and fits in the groove of the MHC molecule. the 3-d image is like a hog dog fitting into the bun. class I MHC can bind longer peptides because the ends of the bun are open; and class II MHC binds shorter peptides because the ends are closed. So remember the principle: tight buns.