First I’d like to issue my apology for interrupting the series “Teach Me” which will resume once I feel there is more time to reflect and write. I have not had a lot of time to write out a full post but there are a number of drafts in the works. More importantly, Summer is here!
I wanted to update the few of you who actually read this to potential plans, some goals and some things I love about home. I’ll conclude on a random reflection that summarizes a bunch of my extra-curricular readings.
Plans
- I’m speaking this Friday for college group. The passage I have been dealt is John 18:1-16. What a great way to begin the summer, to carefully examine and proclaim a key event in the Gospel!
- Vacation Bible School: I wrote a rather lengthy discourse at the conclusion of VBS last year. I will probably do something of the same again, though the topic as of now is up in the air. I have two roles this year, which at first glance, are near polar opposite, but in the end serve the great goal of bringing glory to God. For much of the week I’m going to have a blast doing pre-kindergarten and kindergarten crafts with Willie Tseng. I have not worked with this age group since doing games with Chris Lee, so it will undoubtedly be fun. Four days into VBS brings a greater responsibility of sharing the Gospel with the elementary kids alongside my brother, Ryan Chang. Please pray on behalf of us for wisdom because it’s hard to share the entire message in 15 minutes using terms that second through sixth graders can understand.
- If Byron Yee ever gets back to me, there is a chance I’ll be working a couple hours at church.
- I’ve been considering buying an iPad for a while. If everything works out, I should have one in the near future. I’m doing my best to find ways to ensure it will be a productive tool for my educational and biblical studies and have developed a good idea of what I want to do with it. I’m well aware of the pros and cons, but I’ll save my iPad thoughts for another post.
- Summer Outing? If I attend, we’re leaving on my birthday.
- CBM Camp Counseling: If this pans out, it should be a good experience and an opportune avenue to grow.
- If I get really bored, I’ll head to Irvine for second session of summer school. However I do not think I will ever be under the impression that I have such an abundance of time to be “bored,” especially after my brief survey of the scriptures concerning “time” last quarter. If I think it will be a productive use of time, I’ll consider.
Goals
- I retooled my Bible reading plan for the Summer, making it a bit more rigorous. If you’re interested in taking a look, maybe to help with the formation of your own plan, feel free to shoot me a message. Hopefully I’ll also be able to look at a couple concepts that I struggle with in a systematic study as well because those have been incredibly helpful for me in the past (i.e. brief study of words, time).
- Memorize. I’ve become very lazy in this regard.
- I want to read at a minimum, 3000 pages of good books. When I say good books, it doesn’t strictly refer to Christian books, though a bulk of it will be. There are a couple of other things I’d like to read, such as the new Redwall novels or the likes of Freakonomics and Outliers. I would not mind picking up a classic work either. One of the primary reasons why I want an iPad is to serve as a reader. I am becoming increasingly appalled at the literacy of my generation, and I want to do my best to get into the habit of turning to a medium that doesn’t fill my mind with worldly rubbish but increases my propensity to love God and understand the world. I suppose I’ll save a post on the importance of reading for later.
- I want to finish writing some of the songs I started during the school year. I suppose I also want to hone some of my musical talents. I usually use the guitar or piano as a break from any reading I do so it wouldn’t hurt to get better.
- I want to stay off the computer as much as possible unless the purpose is for writing or picking up a tip or two for playing a particular song on youtube.
Some things I love about home:
- I love the people. I love how there is an intense desire among my peers to redeem this time to pursue the knowledge of God to lead to proper living. It’s refreshing to hear from people who want to push themselves hard over the summer, those who desire to discipline themselves for the sake of godliness. One girl wants to go through Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology, an endeavor that I know is no easy task (I failed last summer, but I’m going to finish it this time around!). Ryan Chang and his recent high school graduating sister are going through three lessons of the free theology program on Bible.org every night. People are eager to seek the Lord in prayer and through His Word. I think this is part of the beauty of the body of Christ, to encourage one another in our personal endeavors toward holiness.
- My sister is still a bundle of joy. Sometimes her presence borders on obnoxious, but it’s still great and I can learn much from her child-like dependence.
- The fellowship is different. It would take much too long to explain, but I suspect it has to do with the radically different philosophy of ministry concerning youth when comparing Berean to Chinese Grace. There are things that occur in Sacramento that would never happen at Berean. For example, this past Wednesday two high school guys put on a seminar about lust because they saw the need to address this in anticipation of the idle and wandering minds that often come with summer. Let me first say that I’ve listened to my share of sermons on purity and lust but I heard the most thorough systematic biblical survey of the sin from a junior in high school. If was in my power, he would be among my top pick of speakers at CCM. The other guy, a senior, proceeded to give some practical tips with painful transparency for the second session on how to deal with lust. At the end, we had a discussion on the outworkings of this sin, one which often comes with a more shameful stigma among guys. Did I mention there was no adult supervision? I do not mention this to boast in the work God is doing at my church, but because no matter how I spin it in my mind, there is a crystal clear difference in fellowship. Perhaps it goes back to the passage in Hebrews 5 concerning the importance of being able to convey what one knows to be true, much less teach what you know and how it is a reflection of one’s maturity and leadership in God. Bottom-line? I feel as if I am in the midst of I Timothy 4:12, among aspiring men who are often labeled as boys at their age. It is awesome.
- Jade Fountain is delicious. Oscars is delicious. Mizu still needs some work.
Random Reflection:
I’ll save this for another time. I’ve been thinking and writing for a good hour. Study break is over, back to work :U
Tolle Lege 