graduation

 
 
 
 
 
 

little tokyo sky

 

lazy sunday

 
 
 

passive not active

Yet there is another righteousness, far above the others, which Paul calls “the righteousness of faith” — Christian righteousness. God imputes it to us apart from our works — in other words, it is passive righteousness, as the others are active. For we do nothing for it, and we give nothing for it. We only receive it.


...


While we live here on earth, we will be accused, exercised with temptations, oppressed with heaviness and sorrow, and bruised by the law with its demands of active righteousness. Because of this, Paul sets out in this letter of Galatians to teach us, to comfort us, and to keep us constantly aware of this Christian righteousness.


...

O law! You would climb up into the kingdom of my conscience, and there reign and condemn me for sin, and would take from me the joy of my heart which I have by faith in Christ, and drive me to desperation, that I might be without hope. You have overstepped your bounds. Know your place! You are a guide for my behavior, but you are not Savior and Lord of my heart. For I am baptized, and through the gospel am called to receive righteousness and eternal life… So trouble me not! For I will not allow you, so intolerable a tyrant and tormentor, to reign in my heart and conscience — for they are the seat and temple of Christ the Son of God, who is the king of righteousness and peace, and my most sweet savior and mediator. He shall keep my conscience joyful and quiet in the sound and pure doctrine of the gospel, through the knowledge of this passive and heavenly righteousness.

...


When we are assured of this righteousness, we not only cheerfully work well in our vocations, but we submit to all manner of burdens and dangers in this present life, because we know that this is the will of God, and that this obedience pleases him.

ocean

 

blur

 

palms and trains

 
 

orange you glad pt. 2

 
 
 
 

orange you glad

 
 
 
 

up a tree

 
 
 

in bloom pt. 2

 

in bloom

 
 

neon bible

i'm amazed that they all fit in there.

assist

"Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed."

proverbs 15:22

[don't] carry that weight

“It is so strange and so puzzling that we are so prone to want to carry anxious burdens which the Lord himself has sworn to carry for us if we will but acknowledge his kingly power in every situation.”

.john piper

another great sermon by john piper entitled, Do Not Be Anxious About Your Life

good reminder.

cast

"6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."

1 Peter 5: 6-7

a really cool sermon by john piper entitled, "Anxieties: To Be Cast Not Carried" (link will lead to sermon download, stream, or podcast)

how can a man like me remain in the light?

Chinese Translation
-M. Ward

I sailed a wild, wild sea
climbed up a tall, tall mountain
I met an old, old man
beneath a weeping willow tree

He said now if you got some questions
go and lay them at my feet
but my time here is brief
so you'll have to pick just three

And I said
What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart?
and how can a man like me remain in the light?
and if life is really as short as they say
then why is the night so long?

and then the sun went down
and he sang for me this song

See I once was a young fool like you
afraid to do the things
that I knew I had to do
So I played an escapade just like you
I played an escapade just like you

I sailed a wild, wild sea
climbed up a tall, tall mountain
I met an old, old man
he sat beneath a sapling tree

He said now if you got some questions
go and lay them at my feet
but my time here is brief
so you'll have to pick just three

And I said
What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart?
and how can a man like me remain in the light?
and if life is really as short as they say
then why is the night so long?
and then the sun went down
and he played for me this song

has the light gone out for you?

icu

 

 

 

God loves his children, yeah

"I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection...Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us "Beloved". Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence."

.henri nouwen

alone but never alone

"He [God] is not moody or capricious; He knows no seasons of change. He has a single relentless stance toward us: He loves us. He is the only God man has ever heard of who loves sinners. False gods - the gods of human manufacturing - despise sinners, but the Father of Jesus loves all, no matter what they do."

.brennan manning

it's just one of those days today.

cannons.

this is the best thing ever! now i just need a dog.

you and whose army.

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

-2 Corinthians 4:7-10

abide/expect/remain.

“Waiting is our destiny. As creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for, we wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light. We wait in fear for a happy ending we cannot write. We wait for a ‘not yet’ that feels like a ‘not ever’. Waiting is the hardest work of hope.”

-Lewis Smedes


28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired His understanding is inscrutable.

29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.

30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,

31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:28-31

slow hands.

 

taken by gowh

hugo is boss.

some timely words. [for me].

"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake."

"Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart."

"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved."

"The greatest happiness of life it the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves."

.victor hugo

good cheer.

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

-John 16:33 (New Living Translation)

"take heart" =

[take courage]
[be of good cheer]
[be confident]
[be certain]
[be undaunted]

waiting/wishin.

"Waiting upon the Lord is a confident, disciplined, expectant, active, sometimes painful clinging to God.  Waiting upon the Lord is the continual, daily decision to say, "God, I trust You, and I will obey You even though the circumstances of my life are not turning out the way I want them to, and they may never turn out the way I want them.  But I am betting everything on you, O God, and there is no Plan B.  That's waiting upon the Lord."

.Lee Hermes

walkin.walkin.

 

taken by gowh

union station.

taken by gowh

fix you.

shalom(is>whatIamLookingforiswhatINeed)

strong's concordance:

7965

shalowm {shaw-lome'} or shalom {shaw-lome'} from
7999; TWOT - 2401a; n m

AV - peace 175, well 14, peaceably 9, welfare 5, salute + 07592 4, prosperity 4, did 3, safe 3, health 2, peaceable 2, misc 15; 236

1) completeness, soundness, welfare, peace 1a) completeness (in number) 1b) safety, soundness (in body) 1c) welfare, health, prosperity 1d) peace, quiet, tranquillity, contentment 1e) peace, friendship 1e1) of human relationships 1e2) with God especially in covenant relationship 1f) peace (from war) 1g) peace (as adjective)


7999

shalam {shaw-lam'} a primitive root; TWOT - 2401c; v

AV - pay 19, peace 11, recompense 11, reward 10, render 9, restore 8, repay 7, perform 7, good 6, end 4, requite 4, restitution 4, finished 3, again 3, amends 1, full 1, misc 8; 116

1) to be in a covenant of peace, be at peace 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be at peace 1a2) peaceful one (participle) 1b) (Pual) one in covenant of peace (participle) 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to make peace with 1c2) to cause to be at peace 1d) (Hophal) to live in peace

2) to be complete, be sound 2a) (Qal) 2a1) to be complete, be finished, be ended 2a2) to be sound, be uninjured 2b) (Piel) 2b1) to complete, finish 2b2) to make safe 2b3) to make whole or good, restore, make compensation 2b4) to make good, pay 2b5) to requite, recompense, reward 2c) (Pual) 2c1) to be performed 2c2) to be repaid, be requited 2d) (Hiphil) 2d1) to complete, perform 2d2) to make an end of

rain.

 

didn't feel to clever.

finally updated my fotos.

time is never time at all.

it's a new year. mixed feelings.

cut your hair.

my father and i had an interesting exchange today at the store.

(dad is rummaging through today's paper, looking for something.)
dad: i want to see this movie

me: (in disbelief, cos my dad rarely wants to watch a movie) oh really?  which?

(dad continues to rummage.  he finds the calendar section and turns to the full-page advertisement for sweeney todd.  he points to johnny depp.)
dad: he's a barber; i'd like to see this movie.

me: (i smile) appa (father, in korean), he's a barber, but the movie is about a barber who's a murderer.  he kills people.

dad: (in a serious tone) oohh...he's a bad barber.

(i almost fell out of the chair)

my father wanted to see this movie about a barber because he, himself, is a barber, though not a murdering barber.  he became a barber late in his career.  this was after repairing televisions and vcr's for over a decade.  this was after owning a beauty supply business, which he still owns.  he proved to me that you can be whatever you set out to be.

hallelujah.

this take seemed so effortless, so natural. from the framing, to the lighting, to the color and tone, this may be the best music video i've ever seen.




"I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah"

black wave.

i've always wanted to see big waves.  i think i'll get my chance on wednesday.

join me.

rain.

unless i'm driving on a freeway, where i'd rather be at work, it's too nice outside to be working.  i want to be outside, under an umbrella, coffee in hand, heading to the ocean.

grateful days.

i am thankful...

...for family.
...for friends.
...for church.
...for work.
...for health.
...to be here.

give thanks.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

robbers on the high street.

my parent's home was burglarized yesterday.  haven't gathered all my thoughts, but it was a surreal.

heard was a drone.

some facets of my job are at the mercy of the speed of my computer.  some process take awhile, so, from time to time, while waiting for the processes to run, i surf various sites.  on this particular day, i was on amazon.com, and on their homepage i was once again reminded how far i had come - in age.  displayed across the upper quarter of the page was u2's "joshua tree", this year being it's 20th anniversary.

twenty years?!  i have cousins who weren't even born when joshua tree was released.  they have no idea what a joshua tree is.  i began to wonder how my other favorite albums had aged, so i decided to look into some, and here's what i came up with.

note: all dates were taken from wikipedia, the oh-so-semi-authoritative wikipedia.

smashing pumpkins - gish (1991)
pavement - slanted and enchanted (1992)
rem - automatic for the people (1992)
smashing pumpkins - siamese dream (1993)
weezer - blue album (1994)
jeff buckley - grace (1994)
radiohead - the bends (1995)
radiohead - ok computer (1997)

wow.  thinking back, i could recall random memories, situations, and feelings attached to songs from these albums.  i was always bad at recalling the exact timing of such events, but i could remember the first time i heard jeff buckley's "grace", specifically his cover of "hallelujah".  i remember when i bought "ok computer" at the virgin megastore - import, no less.  i could recall tough times with "automatic for the people".  all of my memorable moments, emotions were tied to a particular song or album.  i could trace my growth via my record collection.

these days, i'm quite content, and (thankfully, i might add) my moments are tied to hymns, worship, and praise.  i just have to work on my worship/praise collection.

twitter along [the right].

does anybody use twitter?  it can a nice productivity tool, but it's mostly a time-waster.

i can see it being very useful when you have friends in close proximity, but for the other times?  i dunno.

device conflict.

[sigh]

a bit difficult to concentrate today.  just one of those days...

free time is death.

"Free time is death to the anxious, and thank goodness I don't have any of it right now."

.jon stewart

i'm up to running 3-4 miles a day, with the exception of sunday. i find it surprisingly soothing, calming. there is nothing better than to come home after a run tired and happy, with little to fret over. hopefully if the knees hold up, i'll be running the marathon next year.

you've been stuck.

lift.
-radiohead

This is the place
Sit down, you're safe now
You've been stuck in a lift
We've been trying to reach you, Thom
This is the place
It won't hurt, it will not end

The smell of recognition
A face you barely loved
Empty all your pockets
'Cause it's time to come home

This is the place
Remember me? I'm that face you always see
You've been stuck in a lift
In the belly of a whale at the bottom of the ocean

The smell of recognition
A face you barely loved
Empty all your pockets
'Cause it's time to come home

The smell of recognition
A face you barely loved

Let it go, let it go

Today is the first day
Of the rest of your days
So lighten up, squirt

let it fall.

How I Made My Millions.
-Radiohead

I was stronger
I was better
Picked you out
Now don't say a word
No don't yell out
Never mind
Let you out
Led you back
Stay on
Sit down
Let it fall
Let it fall
Let it fall
Let it fall