Kennedy's Journey of New Life

Romans 9:15-20 --Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice

2011-06-23T00:00:00.003-04:00

15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who form edit , “Why have you made me like this?”

NKJV
15: God chooses who he wants to be mercy towards and no one can change his decision.
16: Your will does not determine God's will, ever. Your are in the mercy of God. All your work does not control decisions.
17-18: example of God's devine decisions.

Often when we read about God, we tend to be attracted to the bright happy thoughts of God; how he is kind, loving, and understanding like a Father. But I fell into a trap where I dont know the other scarier side of God, the wrathful, punisher, sin-hating judge. I wondered why people dont talk about it, and the only conclusion is it will scare people away and not follow God. Well, I believe it is very important to know and understand this other fearsome side of God. I was in a bible study a few days ago lead by an older, wiser gentlemen and he brought this to light and I realized how blind i was. Socially acceptive phrases to describe my thought of God were, I couldnt picture God, my Father, be so dark and scary. Why does he seem so unfair? why does my heart hurt for those who were not chosen to be saved? I realized I was humanizing God. I judged God through my eyes, and claimed it un-sovereignly cold. But I quickly realized that God's plans beyond what I can comprehend. I was emotionally hurt, but I know spiritually it was necessary to understand what the Bible says explicitly. I have to admit I was not prepared for this topic or how it was presented, but I did however expected God to use this summer to challenge me and ultimately bring me closer to him.

Psalms 1 -- The Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly

2011-06-15T08:00:00.023-04:00

1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

NKJV

Psalm 1:1- The arthor was reflecting on the Godly heart of a person who dos not walk on the advice of the wicked, on the habits of sinners, nor join on mockery on others. Even though action words like follow, walk and sit, can easily be replicated superficially by non-believers or good people, its the heart the author was trying to point out.

Psalm 1:2- Delighting in something written is unique because it is like receiving a letter from a loved one. The loved one might say something hurtful at first, or restricted, but if you know the writer loves and cares about your well being, I consider this delighting in it because you are receiving words of concern and care. Now, delighting in the Law of the Lord is like saying the Lords law isn't suppose to condemn you, but to keep your heart and mind safe.

Psalm 1:3- A tree sitting by a river is healthy because it will receive constant healthy clean water. Naturally if the tree is getting good nutrients, it will bring good fruit.

Psalm 1:4- The opposite of bringing good fruits if the tree was ingesting bad water and nutrients from its environment.

Psalm 1:6- God already gave us good news and guidance because he knows the right way to do things. He knows our hearts and minds always.

First of all, did you know there are 51 Psalms that are anonymous? It seems crazy how we have 51 random Psalms in the bible and we dont know who or where they are from. Im sure God was very clear on who wrote them, and allowed it to be printed, it would just be interesting to know who's perspective im looking through.

Psalms is great because emotions like angry, grief, and frustration is always easier and best expressed through poetry or in a form of music.

Now Psalms is in the old testament. The first recorded psalm is roughly around 1440 years before the Birth of Christ up until 586 BC. That means these were used to help people through the years until Jesus arrived.

Works of God might be displayed from your pain and suffering

2010-12-21T12:07:00.000-05:00

2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?3 Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. John 9:2-3

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. John 10:14-16

For John 9, I remember reading this passage a while back and i thought to myself why does bad things happen in this world? is it because we "done" something bad? I read about all the children who past away from cancer, HIV, hunger. Many does not know who God is, but I am sure, God was with them =]. Anyway, often times we get angry and bitter about the hardships in life, wither someone was born blind or deaf, who is it to blame? We find blaming someone is easier to "cope" with, but it morphs into hatred. Hatred consumes a person's heart and soul because no one is able to ease the pain and fill the void, except for Jesus. Many of us are tired of living in a life without purpose and being "lost", but Jesus said plainly receive this new life i am offering and you will be given a new start. There is no hidden fee, no fine lines, or small print. Because if there was a list of things you must accomplish to receive a new life, then it wont be a gift but a contract. God loves us all and there are many out there who needs to be part of Jesus. Jesus himself said in John 10, that we all know and recognize jesus's voice. We long for him to return and bring us back home. in verse john 10:6 he said there are other sheep that are not part of the fold, i must bring them also. He would give it all to bring you new life; he will give his life for you.

Thank you Jesus.

Explore NYC! - Tuesday of Spring Break 2010

2010-03-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes when I go back down to NYC for spring break, I always end up with the same problem, nothing to do. Nothing to do means I could do something but no motivation to do so because I will only travel for a purpose. Brilliantly, my friend from Sunday school back at Church, Anna Wiebelhaus, suggest going around taking pictures around anything, but make sure I look, UP. So, that inspired me to just take at least one day out of the entire whole break and do just that- randomly going places and exploring NYC like a tourist.
With my iPhone camera ready with full battery life, I went out and took over NYC. Joining me today is Vivian Wong, awesome friend who is currently a freshman at RIT, was interested in my epic journey around NYC.
My goal is completely exhaust my day with traveling, seeing new things, and trying different food. I woke up at 7:00 am and got ready and left the house around 7:45 AM. Carpooled to Brooklyn and took the train to Rockefeller Center. Thus begins my epic journey! Pictures are posted here.
Itinerary: Here is my googleMap of this trip

NBC Store: When I got off at Rockefeller (58th) and met up with Vivian, we went to the NBC store and looked all the stuff they have. Since I recently been obsessed with the show called Chuck, I couldn’t help but to see what stuff they had. My friend Tawa asked to help him get a Nerd Herd shirt so I got that for him. There we saw some cool other show items like from House, Heroes, The Office, etc
NHL Store: After the NBC Store, we stop by the NHL Store because it was along the way. I recently bought new Ice Skates and I wanted some stuff to go with it, but I couldn’t find anything worth it.
FAO Schwarz: This is a huge toy store located near central Park, behind Apple's huge flagship store. This store is awesome!!!
St. Marks Place: After exploring midtown, it was already 11ish and we went to look for food. Vivian knew a good Japanese snack stand thing down by St Marks. However lunch specialty restaurants do not open until noon. So we explored St. Marks Place for a bit.

Jas Mart: This is a Japanese specialty store. It has a lot of junk food. It has almost everything a native Japanese person needs. I bought myself some OKF Aloe Vera drink, =] my favorite.
Lunch: We went to Raman Setagaya, I have never been here before but it was very good. I don’t remember the name of the dish I got but it was really good! So good I wanted more.
Otafuku: Vivian recommended Otafuku for post-lunch, a place where you can grab a quick lunch or snack. It doesn’t open until 1PM, but it was worth the wait. It was soooo goood!! Click on the name for more info.
Book Store: Spontaneously went into a book store.
Sunset Mark: Another Japanese Specialty Store located on the second floor of this building. It’s pretty cool because in Japan, things are usually built vertically, so if there is no space for a market on the bottom, built it above everything.

Chinatown: After St Marks Place, we decided to go to Chinatown.

Cooper Union's Albert Nerken School of Engineering: along the way to Chinatown, we saw these 4 students with food walking into this fancy building next to Cooper Union. It looked like a museum or some sort of corporate building. It happens to be the engineering building for cooper union! Albert Nerken School of Engineering. Extremely awesome looking building! It looks like a community college crammed into one building. They had everything from Architecture, electrical engineering, and computer science. So being the nosy curious people we are, we pretended to be a student and walked straight in. It was a really small school so no one really recognized us. It was a lot of fun! The Electrical engineering class of 2011 was only 12 people!!! That is reallly small! This building looks amazing outside and inside! It was super modern! Why can’t RIT look like this?!!?
Chinese Christian Herald Crusades: We stop by a Chinese base church to look at their bookstore. It was really nice. I haven’t seen Chinese based evangelistic stuff in a long time. The book store was really small but it was really nice.
Elizabeth center: there is an underground Asian social hub below this complex. This is where teenagers alike would typically hangout. anyone who goes to Chinatown a lot or grew up in Chinatown, like me, will know about Elizabeth center (EC).They sells little accessories for your phones, large collection of anything/everything anime like Naruto stuff and gear, huge Gundam store, and an [overpriced] electronic game store. Any possible "cutesy" thing you can imagine could be found there. This complex also has medical offices also on the upper floors.

SoHo: After Chinatown, we went to SoHo.

Eastern Mountain Sport: Vivian wanted to look for a Bag. I was looking at the water bottles. haha.
UniQlo: Japanese based clothing company. This is there SoHo flagship store. They usually have super bright colored clothes. I hardly ever shop here... They are semi expensive. I bought 3 long sleeve shirts (Green, Blue, and Dark Blue) and it was a promotion for $20.

Paragon Sports: This is a really nice store! They usually sell anything sports related. I wanted to try out the Vibran FiveFinger KSO shoes. I reallly like them!! They were very comfortable! I might get a pair online because they didn’t have what I wanted in stock.

Spring Break = Spring cleaning

2010-03-01T10:42:00.001-05:00

Alright, today until March 7th is my spring break from RIT. This is usually when people spend every possibility to get into the south (or far south west) and enjoy the warmth, but I came back to NYC. Which isn’t so bad; Average daily temperatures are around 40 degrees (unlike Rochester’s Sun-less 20 degrees).

So my parents decided to finally ~~destroy~~ remove the second floor carpeting of our house. All of our bed rooms are, so they wanted to start with the farthest one in the house and work their way down the house: starting with my room!

Why the sudden renovation? Costco had a huge sale on Harmonics Skyline Maple Laminate Flooring! Laminate flooring is a multi-layer synthetic flooring product, fused together with a lamination process. Laminate flooring simulates wood with a photographic appliqué layer under a clear protective layer. It has the advantages that it is durable, as compared with carpet, and attractive, at a lower cost as compared to natural floor materials.

Usually during the summer the heat from the entire house travels up and accumulates in the second floor. On top of that the Sun is baking the carpet creating more heat. Therefore we have a window AC in my room to concentrate the cooling and close the blinds because it got so hot. With the new floor, the Sun wouldn’t cook the second floor and the wood would keep the floor cool at the same time: Brilliant!

Because everything in my room needs to be maneuvered for my Dad and his ~~useless~~ friend to assemble the floor, hence the spring cleaning! Now, I am not in most stereotypical families, spring cleaning is not an annual thing. It is mostly a decade thing. Last time I “cleaned” (aka throw stuff out) my room was when we had to move here from Chinatown. So I was going through some old stuff from high school and man it brings back so many memories. Here is some of the stuff I found and kept.

Cards: I remembered back in high school everyone started to write Christmas cards to everyone. It was just absolutely ridiculous. Randomly people just giving everyone Christmas cards! I found some from Jason, Lynne, Ellyn, Laurie, Vanessa, Diane, Ling (and the group) and a graduation card from the future CFO Cody (or CEO?). Thank you guys, it was a sweet moment. (scroll down for pictures)
Textbooks and regular Books: I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t throw away my books. None of them. Mostly because I never read them, and they were stuff I like to keep. I threw out my old SAT books (cringe), old epic algebra books I used in the 3rd grade, yes I was like a super math protégé back in little grade- I loved negative numbers and solve for X.
My little picture bible: Seriously, why the heck will I throw that out.
Pictures: Oh man I found some really old pictures! I found a picture from my 7th grade class! Mann!!! That was awesome! I also found pictures of my AOP group at Geneseo. Yea I kept it. You guys are the best.

7th Grade EOP Geneseo class of 2011
Old Essays: I really like reading the stuff I wrote in the past. Even though I have to break the habit of feelings too attached to my notes from high school, my essays are very interesting to me. I can see how much my writing has improved (still not the best).

Well, I will post up a picture of how my room looks when it is all done!

Vanessa Ellyn Laura Diane Jason Lynne

The Ghost World:: graphic Novel

2009-10-15T21:28:00.001-04:00

Ghost World was one of those books through where I am left with an unforgettable dismay “aftertaste”. Despite being disappointed by the ending, it was quite an interesting concept of a graphical novel. When the book was briefly introduced in the first few classes, I was intrigued by how the author Daniel Clowes could possibly be able to portray himself in a second person perspective as a woman. It was described to be a self-reflection through the female main character name Enid. Throughout the book, she experiences an identity crisis which Clowes assumes could be related to anyone universally.

The end of the novel was disappointing by the failure of the characters inability to see through their problems, and complained about their goal of self search was “too hard”. Not only did they fail in immature manner, it was a stereotype of how to people approach problems. The author, however, did a great job in an illustrating the negative aspects of modern society, such as the fall of man’s dignity, teenage sexual frustration lead to uncontrollable lustful addictions.

The city itself where the story is set does not look too bad. Even though the architectural features of each house and building were rather extremely simple boxed shapes, it was kept really clean. Huge cities of real despair will have artifacts of sufferings and cry-outs of anger through the level of “trash”. In the movie Watchmen or Batman, you see people’s frustrations and anger spoke out by the environment. In Ghost World, the floors were not really dirty, not much graffiti or profane vandalism. You see a few fast food beverage cups lying around, but it’s not filthy.

As my first graphic novel, it was a pretty good follow up example to the chapters Scott McCloud in “Understanding Comics”. The chapters described how comics often use different techniques to show greater, deeper meanings in simple images. With the guidance from the “textbook”, symbolism became easier to analyze. As the novel pans through the life of Enid and her friend Becky, you see someone captivated by what is on television sets in homes. The television plays a vital role in representing the down fall of modern life style. The idea for television technology was created for entertaining people by making lives more enjoyable. But this luxury item was depicted as prison; taking captive of the viewer’s heads make their social lives dull.

The simplicity of the characters also helps give life to their behavior and makes it easier to understand and “relate”. Often there would be some drawings with realistic details, such as the girl with a cancer on her face, when Becky went to Josh dressed up really nice, when leafs falling off the dying tree when Enid couldn’t get a good enough SAT score. These emphases on detail display a definite issue soon will ultimately influence the character Enid and Becky to adjust to- it’s more of maturity being discovered.

Taking the context of the girl’s environment, how they react and go about their lives is heavily influenced by who and how they grew up. In the very first few pages, there was a picture of a Enid and Becky standing in a commentary in front of a tomb, shows that a tragic event in their past has scar them both. This especially influenced Enid because there were many times when she would fall back to childhood artifacts and brought a supernatural peace and comfort which allowed her to sleep. It was strongly obvious that these girls did not have female role models. No one help guide and help Enid or Becky to grow up in this hostile world. Therefore, the person who passed away depicted in the tomb must be Enid mother. This idea was supported when Enid’s father’s reattempt to comfort her with childhood memories of the good and “safe” days- It must be from her mother.

Daniel Clowes could easily be criticized as a hypocrite, sexist, or depressing author, but there must be a much deeper meaning behind the purpose of the book. The author made the character Enid out of his own name, and could well be about related to how he depicts his childhood of feeling lonely depressed. The book was dedicated to Erika, which is easily assumed to be a girl’s name. With a little girl above the name, it could be the author’s daughter trying to tell his child that she shouldn’t feel alone because he will always be there for her. However, these are just speculations, but just as valid when analyzing the whole novel as a whole.

My Chrisitian Music List

2009-07-06T21:50:00.001-04:00

Thanks Ed!!

What would you do if you were robbed at knife point?

2009-06-10T11:04:00.003-04:00

Source: http://imperfectaction.com/blog/2009/05/21/personal-development/kindness-for-your-robber/

While I was at Intervarsity Basileia 2009 at my Small Group Track, I shared this story I read about Julio Diaz, a social worker who lives in New York City and every night at the end of his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx. Julio stops for dinner at his favorite diner. His story was about how he did the unthinkable when he was robbed at knife point.

One night in February 2008 , as Julio stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn. He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached him and pulled out a knife. The boy ask Julio for his money and Julio handed over his wallet.

As the teen began to walk away, Julio told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

The teen look at Julio with a puzzled look on his face than said to Julio, “Why are you doing this?’”

Julio replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.

Julio later told reports: “You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help.” He and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth together. During dinner the manager, dishwashers and waiters all stop by to say hi to Julio and his teenage dinner guest.

The teen said to Julio, “You know everybody here. Do you own this place?”
Julio replied, “No, I just eat here a lot.” The teen said, “But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.”

Julio said, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”
“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.

Julio asked the teen what he wanted out of life? The boy couldn’t answer and his face got very sad face.

When the bill arrived, Julio told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”

The teen didn’t even think about it and he returned the wallet. Julio than give the boy $20, Julio also asked the teen’s for the knife and he did give his knife to Julio.

After the evening was over Julio told his mother what happened and she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”

Julio Diaz said “I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

Do you think this one dinner could change the boy’s life? What comment do you have about what Julio Diaz did? Would you do the same?

Is this one man’s Imperfect Action to change the world?

Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action

This is an incrediable story because in Romans 2 and Matthew 7, it speaks about how we should judge people because we have no right to. But Mr. Diaz here instead of judge, he knows the kid is struggling and wants to know more. He stepped up and became that loving man God has created us to be. He was brave, humble, and understanding.

I dont know if he was Christian, but he sure reflected some Godly character.

past, present, future...

2009-03-02T01:29:00.006-05:00

The hardest moments in my life is when i look back and ponder through what could have been better. We all make mistakes and make choices we regret or brought us to somewhere greater than expected.

I have been on break since thursday night, and i feel the strangest things since i got back. sometimes i feel lonely when i reflect on the past, and not sure why. I am not sure i really want this post to be publish publicly and have it copied over all different places over the internet.

Finals week

2009-02-22T23:17:00.003-05:00

Hello,

Yes, its finals week for me and other students at RIT. I have 2 finals comming up. not bad right? WRONG. I have to analyze a 20 page program on tuesday, determining what the program does.

Then on wednesday, i have to take a physics final, which i have been having alot of trouble understanding.

also, i have a lab due on tuesday (before my final) of a chess game =]. yay

until then...

The Lord’s Covenant Renewed

2009-02-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal. 31 He followed the commands that Moses the LORD’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.”a]">[a] Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. 32 And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altarb]">[b] the instructions Moses had given them.

33 Then all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant. This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had previously given for blessing the people of Israel.

34 Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction. 35 Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.

Joshua 8:30-35 (New Living Translation)

Hello, on top is the section my small group was going over.

In the beginning of the reading, Joshua wanted to create an altar for God. He specifically wants it out of pure untouched stones. In earlier books, Moses does the same thing, however end up cutting the stones and praised their work of their hands and forgotten the meaning of the altar. I find that very interesting because I think of people who praise others for their creations; such as computers, machines, physics, and even music. These things were not possible if it wasn’t for the assistance of God. I truly believe that we haven’t gotten to a point where we should be prideful of our creations. Computers have gotten carried away because we can use them however we want. Weapon technology has advanced so much; there are numerous ways of killing another human being quickly and effectively. Physics? Well we can only know so much. Astronomy is all guess and theories. The big bang was theorized from a few physics calculations and what we already know how matter interact with each other. We don’t know anything about deep space or what it is.

I was looking at astronomy picture of the day, and there was a huge picture of the Milky Way. It was beautiful and I thought to myself that must be one of the greatest art works God has shared with us.

Naturally, prideful self-achievement and egoistical behavior has driven most of people to ongoing cycle of unsatisfactory. They will begin to think there is never enough money or fame. They focused their lives on money and fame... unfortunately it drives people completely mad.

Now, another point from the scripture I found absolutely amazing is one line 35 (the last one).

It says "[E]very command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners". The Jewish people were supposed to reach out to foreigners and gentiles’ way before Jesus came.

The hate towards foreigners has destroyed the message of reaching out to people. Even today, there are a lot of people who really hates Mormons, or Catholics, or people not part of a particular Christian group, or even non Christians. I got to know a certain individual recently, and he really hates Mormons. He hates it so much, it started to disturb me. He came to my room and found out I was a Christian. then he started talking about he wants to throw Mormons' "bible" books on the floor and set it on fire in front of them, and punch them in their face, then slap them with his bible. Then he started to insult their way of dressing all white and was just so negative and so much hate. I was appalled. I just stared at him in shock and very speechless. I didn’t know what to say. All I could tell him was "those who doesn’t know as much as you should get the opportunity", I suggested he should then show them what Jesus and God has done for him. But I really was scared and disturbed. Why do people hate each other this much?! I was just thinking was he so prideful being a Christian that he feels it is like joining a Gang? Or a fraternity?

It was just really strange and disturbing...

Anyway....

After that segment of our bible study, we went over Intervarsity's Doctrinal Basis. You can see it here http://www.rit.edu/sg/ivcf/resources/documents/doctrine/

I got really, reallllllyy confused about what were the three persons of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. HUH!??! WHAT?! What does that mean?!?!! People say think of it as like you Body Mind and Soul. Its soo confusing because Jesus SPOKE to the Father!! Is he talking to himself?! What?! Isn’t he the SON of God the Father?!

Yea... my small group ended up spending a long time going over what it was and the Trilogy. And I realized that we won’t fully understand it...

In Acts 8 when Philip was baptizing people, but only when John and Peter placed their hands on them they received the Holy Spirit. ... huh?? What? Why? How did Peter been able to move... God? Huh? Yea. I am totally confused...

Until next time.

With love,

Kennedy

New look!!!

2009-02-16T18:46:00.003-05:00

Sup everyone!

It is one hell of a Quarter!!!

I changed the theme of my blog to something cool =]. its orange, i couldnt find any happy peaceful red ones (they were all scary and dark and gothic like).

I know i have not been going on my blog lately. thanks for those who are reading. It is interesting to find out who reads my blogs, but no one write comments! lol.

This blog is not only for my devotions, but my random life at RIT. Everything around me shows me something and amazes me of something.

Not only have i been doing so much work, I had opportunities to be engaged with so many things on campus!

I was offered to take up an opportunity to intern at Microsoft this Summer in Richmond, Washington, but i felt i wasnt ready so i decided to not apply. I really dont want to regret it, but i know i will.

Well, THINGS WILL BE LOOKING GREAT!!

I will also be posting up pictures now =]. this is going to be a very interesting blogging experience. I will also write about what i learn in my Small group =]

YAY!!

-Kennedy "Prof. Xavier" Kong

P.S. the Xavier was a middle name my friend Joash gave me to fille kxk8257@rit.edu <-- my e-mail

Friends, the good memories, and the bad

2008-12-19T01:26:00.005-05:00

Hello Blog,

its been a while since i came back here.

I just felt lead to do this and write about this issue i am having for a while.

it might be strange, but i realized i was not able to express this a while back.

I think this happened when i was a little dude. middle school, when i was at MS 131, a zone school for inner new york city chinatown kids. I realized what friends mean to me, and why they were special. friends are unique things in my life. I hardly remember much of a social life when i was younger. however there are some really good memories some particular people i grew up with that made me "suddenly realize".

I was the jealous kind, the one who envies people who has close friends and comfortable socially with others. however personally the following friends that i grew up with, Michael Chen, Vernon Leung, Eric Moy, and Leticia Chiui i must say were my best friends growing up. I met them all durnig elementry school and still see sometime today. they were the coolest part of growing up and going to school. I just know that during those times we were able to hang out in CPC, and during our lunch play game boy, and i really felt like people cared about me for who i am. they were my friends. when i was with them, i didnt feel like i needed to "fit in". they too me in and proved those things doesnt matter.

I remember just feelings and memories about these four people. I dont remember, but i know i must have done stupid stuff, and said stupid things, but i know they still cared about me.

Now stepping out of elementry school, and now in to Middle school. things suddenly became so different. Vernon and Eric went to different schools, but i was able to see how Mike and Leticia grew. basically, they all ditched me. lol...

Leticia never spoke a word to me ever again after elementry. and i think thats when i realized what true lost of friendship was. i didnt understand it, even til now. i just let it happen-passive and just watched. we hardly hanged out anymore, it was like our friendship was never there. lol. Mike was growing is own ways too. but then i realized i should just move on.

But now. we are in college. With Facebook, i was able to see three of them, one of them i dont know what happened to. They have all changed. they are all so different. soo different than i imagined since we were little.

now here is the big reason for this post, during highschool i feel my friendship and trust is being cheated and fooled. i opened to friendship but people just wanted to step over it, and i was just a side friend. imagine, it is like a coat, you wear it when you need to, or feel like it, then it warms u up, then you put it back on the hanger, and go back when u feel like it. oh it might seem like i am trying to get attention, its not. why did letitica and mike leaving my friendship hurt so bad? because i invested my friendship and loyalty to them. i felt like i was good friends with them, but they disappeared. and they wouldnt want to see me, or hang out with me or talk to me. lol... so it was really hard for me to trust people. i realized it started to happen to me. When i couldnt trust, i couldnt tell appart for those who wanted me to be friends with them.

I really honestly love my friends who cared about me. i take them as my brothers and sisters. Siu yim for example, she is one of the closest friends to me and i consider her my sister, my 姐姐. Genuinely i feel my friendship and loyalty to my friends are trusted and she recieves it and she allowed our friendship to be strong. until now, even if we havent spoke to each other, we would snap and start chatting for hours on end like i never left. that is friendship i am talking about.

during highschool, it was the extreme version. it was really hard for me to settle in. so much superficial stuff, and friends. i looked for the people who were true to themselves and not pretend to be like others. people i wanted to be friends with stood by their word, and actions. if they wanted to be my friend i would do the same back. people were very cliche and i didnt feel welcomed. at all. my social life in highschool i think was very unreal, or missing.

I read somewhere on another blog that, If you want friendship you gotta show friendship, then recieve, not just all recieve and not all just waiting.

when i cant to geneseo, it was really hard for me to trust anybody. however, God has been really good to me and watched what has happened in my life. took that B.S from my past and really took 180 around. I met Ray, I met Steven Lee (my crazy Korean buddy), Tim Schmitts, and of course people from IV like Siu, Jenny, etc (sorry). i was a bit skeptical of course, but i really felt taken care of. God lifted all my past anger and defeat and insecurities, and taught me how to start over. I have never been loved by that much people before.

examples of God's love working through us and the peace he brings is when Siu and I can talk. it is as if i never left Geneseo. Jenny Park is somewhere, but manages to catch up on me. Wanda one night randomly texted me and its such a blessing what things like that can do. something so small, made me felt loved by others. Even though i struggle feeling unappreciated, doubted whether i was thinking too highly of a certain friendship, it will never stop. but i pray that i get guidence from this.

Lord will use the weakness in us so that his work will be greater.

God bless you guys.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for comments.

why? why why why?? i dont understand no more, or have i ever known?

2008-11-23T16:19:00.005-05:00

Ray brought up a good point last time i went to geneseo for bible study, it was interesting because it was about when we are saved, we know when we started to realize things are different and have followed a path of christ.

i believe i have reach that point, but alot of the questions are unanswered and i am slowly not sure what i am doing. There is a difference between thinking and knowing. knowing i am doing something wrong is factual and has guidelines or you feel this hard pin feeling and u know something isnt right. but, do i know wat i am doing? i am not so sure. i THINK i am.

but so many unanswered questions. i am looking at 1 John 1, and it says DONT do this DONT do that, but WHY?! why is this world so bad?! i know there are pride is wrong, but why do we do what we know how to do, because thats how we know what to do is our skills and our strengths in this WORLD!

Ten Healed of HIV...

2008-11-11T09:15:00.000-05:00

Originally posted by mr maple

In a weekly fellowship group, we studied Luke 17:11-19 and tried to think of a way to culturally paraphrase it to reflect the shocking nature of the healing of ten men with leprosy. Here was my take:

As Jesus made his way down to Washington, D.C. - preaching and teaching in the small community chapels and churches as he went - he entered a rural town. Ten homeless men were languishing on the road into the city watching Jesus approach. All of them had HIV or full-blown AIDS, and everyone in the little town knew it and wanted nothing to do with them. Some had open sores from their ulcers; others had chronic diarrhea from the virus; all of them had tuberculosis and coughed up blood, spitting it into the dirt. They were filthy, diseased. But they knew who Jesus was, the miracles he had done, and from far away they yelled out to him in hoarse voices, "Jesus! Master, have pity on us!" When Jesus saw them, he stopped and said, "Go, show yourselves to the local doctor and to the pastor of the church you used to attend." They got up, dusted off their clothes, and walked down the dusty road into town. As they walked, they felt the strength return to their bodies; they felt the sores disappear and the cough vanish into thin air as they breathed freely for the first time in a long time. They were healed. One of them, when he realized that every trace of the debilitating illness - the sickness that had driven him from home, that had cost him his job, that had ruined his friendships and the very core of the decent man he once imagined himself to be - was entirely erased from his body, raced back to Jesus. He swelled with joy and thanked the name of God over and over and over again. He yelled it from the top of his lungs, even though he hadn't set foot in a church for decades. And when he found Jesus on the street corner, he threw himself at his feet and thanked him.He was a homosexual.Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?" Jesus looked up at the small crowd of curious onlookers who had gathered and said, "Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this homosexual?" Then Jesus said to him, "Rise and go, your faith has made you well."

When historians describe the plight of lepers in ancient society, they mean to convey even more fear, disgust, and horror than the festering sores of HIV or the bloody sputum of TB. When historians describe the Jewish view of Samaritans as heretics and idolaters, they mean to communicate even more force and animosity than present in the Christian / homosexual divide today. Lepers were the filthiest of the filthy, people who contaminated everything they touched. Samaritans were the polar opposites of the Jewish people in immorality: bastard children of the faith with no legitimate claim to God's inheritance, regardless of how penitent they appeared or professed to be.

The focus of this post is not on the moral acceptability of homosexuality - a brutally honest reading of Scripture gives no quarter to the practice - but on the utter shock of seeing a Samaritan man as the only one with gratefulness. The focus of this post is to give a glimpse of insight into the grace and accessibility of God. How else can it be illustrated? A thief executed on a cross given the promise of paradise; a spoiled brat returning home after squandering millions of dollars; an investment banker who lost billions of dollars and crashed the market who is forgiven of his debt. These are the people and scenarios that Jesus used to describe the foreign and mind-numbing concept of grace. It violates our sensibilities of just desserts and divine retribution and we blubber excuses and quote scripture in righteous disgust. And though every letter we utter may be theoretically and apologetically accurate to the core, no combination will ever spell out that simple and incorruptible word, g-r-a-c-e.

The original text is reproduced below: Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:11-19

http://weblog.revelife.com/revelife/681780249/ten-healed-of-hiv.html

Tong Hua

2008-11-06T23:02:00.002-05:00

忘了有多久
wang le you duo jiu
I’ve forgotten how long it has been

再沒聽到你
zai mei ting dao ni
Since the last time I heard you

對我說你最愛的故事
dui wo shuo ni zui ai de gu shi
Tell me your favorite story

我想了很久
wo xiang le hen jiu
I have thought for a long time

我開始慌了
wo kai shi huang le
I start to panic

是不是我又做錯什麼
shi bu shi wo you zuo cuo shen me
Wondering if I have done something wrong again

你哭著對我說
ni ku zhe dui wo shuo
You told me as you cried

童話裡都是騙人的
tong hua li dou shi pian ren de
That everything in fairy tales are all lies

我不可能是你的王子
wo bu ken eng shi ni de wang zi
I couldn’t possibly be your prince.

也許你不會懂
ye xu ni bu hui dong
But perhaps you don’t understand either

從你說愛我以后
cong ni shuo ai wo yi hou
Ever since you told me you loved me

我的天空星星都亮了
wo de tian kong xing xing dou liang le
All the stars in my sky have brightened.

我願變成童話裡
wo yuan bian cheng tong hua li
I’m willing to become the one in the fairy tale

你愛的那個天使
ni ai de ne ge tian shi
The angel that you love

張開雙手
zhang kai shuang shou
I extend this pair of hands

變成翅膀守護你
bian cheng chi bang shou hu ni
and turn them into wings to protect you

你要相信
ni yao xiang xin
You must believe

相信我們會像童話故事裡
xiang xin wo men hui xiang tong hua gu shi li
Believe we will be like we are in a fairy tale

幸福和快樂是結局
xing fu he kuai le shi jie ju
Where blessings and happiness is the ending

你哭著對我說
ni ku zhe dui wo shuo
You told me as you cried

童話裡都是騙人的
tong hua li dou shi pian ren de
That everything in fairy tales are all lies

我不可能是你的王子
wo bu ken eng shi ni de wang zi
I couldn’t possibly be your prince.

也許你不會懂
ye xu ni bu hui dong
But perhaps you don’t understand either

從你說愛我以后
cong ni shuo ai wo yi hou
Ever since you told me you loved me

我的天空星星都亮了
wo de tian kong xing xing dou liang le
All the stars in my sky have brightened.

我願變成童話裡
wo yuan bian cheng tong hua li
I’m willing to become the one in the fairy tale

你愛的那個天使
ni ai de ne ge tian sh
The angel that you love

張開雙手
zhang kai shuang shou
I extend this pair of hands

變成翅膀守護你
bian cheng chi bang shou hu ni
and turn them into wings to protect you

你要相信
ni yao xiang xin
You must believe

相信我們會像童話故事裡
xiang xin wo men hui xiang tong hua gu shi li
Believe we will be like we are in a fairy tale

幸福和快樂是結局
xing fu he kuai le shi jie ju
Where blessings and happiness is the ending

我要變成童話裡
wo yao bian cheng tong hua li
I will to become the one in the fairy tale

你愛的那個天使
ni ai de ne ge tian shi
The angel that you love

張開雙手
zhang kai shuang shou
I extend this pair of hands

變成翅膀守護你
bian cheng chi bang shou hu ni
and turn them into wings to protect you

你要相信
ni yao xiang xin
You must believe

相信我們會像童話故事裡
xiang xin wo men hui xiang tong hua gu shi li
Believe we will be like we are in a fairy tale

幸福和快樂是結局
xing fu he kuai le shi jie ju
Where blessings and happiness is the ending

我会變成童話裡
wo hue bian cheng tong hua li
I will to become the one in the fairy tale

你愛的那個天使
ni ai de ne ge tian shi
The angel that you love

張開雙手
zhang kai shuang shou
I extend this pair of hands

變成翅膀守護你
bian cheng chi bang shou hu ni
and turn them into wings to protect you

你要相信
ni yao xiang xin
You must believe

相信我們會像童話故事裡
xiang xin wo men hui xiang tong hua gu shi li
Believe we will be like we are in a fairy tale

幸福和快樂是結局
xing fu he kuai le shi jie ju
Where blessings and happiness is the ending

一起寫我們的結局
yi qi xie wo me de jie ju
Together we can write our own ending

Last small group of the quarter

2008-11-04T07:12:00.007-05:00

Whenever i get asked the question, Why am I a christian, i always fall short of an answer because it seems to be too big of a question. When my room mate asked me in our first few days we met, we got into a long, over night discussion about it. I basically told him about my youth, and how i was introduced to the Lord, and what i am who i am today. But in essence, the answer can be simplified.

Question, Do you know what you are doing? I ask myself that and to other people. Without God, i can tell you that i was a lost child, believing in false hope, and placing my faith in the wrong hands of something flimsy and unstable. Some would say they are going to school and getting a wonderful paying job is a fulfillment of what they are doing, or doing what makes them happy, but is that it? Do we really know what we are doing?

When we talk negatively on a fellow brother or sister, What are we doing? When we are jealous of others, and judge others, do we know what we are doing? In large group last friday, we talked about a muslim community. one of the muslim turned to christ and the whole town wanted to kill him, as they approach to his house, they over heard him praying for them, the whole community, and pray they will be forgiven because "they dont know what they are doing". it stunned everyone, a force prevented them to complete their murder mission, and broght chills down their spine, then ran home terrified. The narrator, who was one of the killers, asked "What am I doing? was he right?" So that very night, the narrator, went back to the house, and asked "WHO IS THIS JESUS?".

That is beauty of conviction. It doesnt hurt anyone but it leaves a sting.

Yesterday in my small group session, we were studying Ephesians 6: 10-24, about The Whole Armor of God, and the Final Greetings of Paul.

I really like this passage because it connects to my life very well, and answers the big question "why am I a Christian". Paul in verse 11 says "Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil." The Devil is real, crazy to understand, but he is a spirit that roams freely like the Holy Spirit which roams around us. The key phrase is "strategies of the devil" Saten schemes unseen clever strategizes to try to wins us over and make us fall to the ground and break appart. He would use flesh and blood, humanly things in our lives such as family, friends, school, work, your esteem, and everything which can be used against you will be used. Paul warns this, and told us to PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD, the only thing that can overtake the schemes of the devil and STAND FIRM (13). ITS SPRITUAL WAR FAIR GUYS!!

14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.^[d] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.^[e] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Standing ground is actually an proactive terminology. Because Saten is constantly beating us down and making us fall, we are trying to stand. But what can deflect the blows?

The belt of truth, holds our armor together.
The body of armor of Righteousness protects our heart from impurities and allows the heart to be soft and uncold.
Shoes is peace because Jesus is the base, and bedrock of our heart, so it is firm and secure.
Then comes the Shield of Faith, the powerful full body shield (according to my creativity) is where we place our faith to protect us from the flaming arrors of Saten. Fiery arrors is a very cool anology, because fiery arrors not only does it invoke point to point damage, but its suppose to scorch everything else it comes in contact. If the faith we have is weak, it will would put everything else on fire, our armor protecting our heart, and our belt which holds our armor together- the Shield puts out the fiery arrors.
Put on the Salvation as your helmet. Even though we pray and protect our hearts, our head is most important because false information can cause our head to be misguided to wrong directions. Our thoughts control alot of things, knowing exactly what is going on is critical, and stating the fact that we are SAVED and reborn children of God is critical. In my small group, I said i really like my helmet to be glowing with yellow and blue flames. in medievil war fair, the Helmet represents alot and used as an identification, so mine will be awesome and intimidating with Flames of the Holy Spirit. For those who knows World of Warcraft, the super high level helmets are gleeming with colored itimidating flame awesomeness. Together with the Helmet is the Sword of the word, to used to fight back Saten.

then Praying in the Spirit is a form of action against Saten. When we pray in general, and for others, we are actually fighting Saten! So if you see a fallen brother and sister, Praying for them is like your backing up fallen warriors, and helping them Stand up again. ITS SOO COOL!!!

In the end Paul spoke if Tychicus, who is his fellow brotheren who is helping him in battle and is telling us to be like Tychicus and spread out.

23 Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness. 24 May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, be in peace illustrates to us to have a firm standing with the Shoes of Peace with Jesus. and help others be in peace. Paul also says "pray for me", an active request of backup because he is in jail and needs prayer.

In essense, God wants to stand with us and needs us to stand strong and not be scared and have faith in him because God full body armor will protect us. GOD IS SMASHING SATEN AT WAR!!

Thank you Lord for leading me today,

Ahmen!! WOORAAHHH!!!

The new plan

2008-11-02T18:36:00.004-05:00

Dear Lord,
Thank you God for giving me this awesome new technology to blog. I am not so sure whether this idea will see the light of day or distract me more than it will help my walk with you. I am using this to speak to my fellow brother and sisters out there, that the walk with you Lord is active, and ever fall short and taken lightly. I realized that once i transferred to RIT things will get much more difficult with my walk.

I, like many others, was too comfortable in my place at home, SUNY Geneseo and New York City. I was was addicted to The Haven, and i couldn't get enough of the love i had received from others. I just loved being with people who the drive in following you. I loved Brooklyn Tabernacle, the love and spirit is so strong in there, it sometimes makes me want to fall down on my seat.

There are many things hindering in my walk with Jesus. Most of it relates to school and family, and own self esteem issues. As I continue with this project, I will be digging deep in to the Bible.

Recalling from last week's Expedition, I will continue to seek His word and listen to him. I will practice letting go of my own plans, and trusting each step with Him.

In Jesus name,
Ahmen

Story of 2 Farmers

2008-03-19T15:25:00.001-04:00

A story onces goes like this, two farmers who pray to God for rain during a drought, both farmers put it in God's hands but only one farmer goes out and prepares his field for the rain, which farmer do you think trusted God more?

I was inspired by this story from a movie I watched called Facing the Giants.

Too many online blogs and journals

2007-12-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

alright, Xanga was the shyt back then, everyone had one and if u dont, ur considered "not in the norm"
then xanga died because fancy myspace allowed you to put music and change up everything also. it was suppose to be for promoting private organizations and fund raisers and raising musicians, then it became really popular for people to advertise themselves (lol...)
then came facebook. the college level "mature" community network where only college students with .edu are allowed to acquire an account. however, highschoolers use facebook to transition to college, so they came up with HS.facebook.com. which is wack.

then there is google based journal- the Blog spot. which is what im using now. it is very customizable and you can write entries by sending a message to you own personal email address on blogspot and it will update ur blog. cool. i wonder whats next, youtube globs? people posting videos of themselves.. talking? lol.

this is a random post, not going to check my grammar. =]

what do u think will be the next "wave"??

Finals

2007-12-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

OHH MANN finals
I had my first final today, it was really intense. i realized the learning enviornment is completely different in college compared to highschool. the classes are not one whole year like in highschool, they are only 4 months. 4 months of intense studying and advancing our brains. i think its good because human brain capacity will reach its limit in old age. so learning hard and fast and learning how to learn fast and efficently will help me and other college student battle different types of environments in the future. weither it is work, or games, or conversations or anything.
Had my theatre final today, having my Astro tm, having my Calc on monday, then my Geograhy one on tuesday, then i am done for the week. Yes, going home on wednesday