Today is the day

Today is surely one of the most influential days in my life.

Back to June 2005, during Jkt-Sfo flight, I was once a youngster with optimistic mindset that United States is the promised land. I dreamt of myself being a highly educated career woman living in the city and walked through the snow with long coat and heels. Later I found out that SF doesn't have snow but I always wear coat even in the summer!

6years later, I am a changed person inside and out. I never dreamt to experience the love of Jesus in U.S., nor having an awesome family of Christ. Now I know what matters the most. It's not my diplomas, work experiences, money I earned, or anything. But my heart and character that Jesus has molded throughout the years, that I'm sure it would never happened if I'm not coming here.

His works for me in U.S. has done wonderfully. Now it's time to practice my child-like faith. I will leave the States without my own dreams because I know God is the author of my life. He knows what best for me.

For my friends & family, you indeed left special mark in my heart that I'll never forget :) God bless.

Start-Ups Fever

The success of the entrepreneurs behind Dell, Google, YouTube, and Facebook will undoubtedly inspire a growing breed of the young, energetic, and self-reliant who are more than willing to gamble that their startups will fly. But it's not just about role models. The start-ups idea usually came from passion, rebellion from traditional career path, and even recession (read: layoff). So when we set out to find the latest batch of fresh faces and examine what makes their businesses tick, it wasn't surprising to see their ages skewing younger and their ideas getting smarter. And for generation Y who have nothing to lose, yet, why not taking chances? They are willing to go extra miles such as sleepless nights and have peanut butter or ramen noodles everyday -- they are used to it anyway in college! I guess that's the beauty of the youth.

Here's the list of America's Best Young Entrepreneurs based on Bloomberg Business Week. (they are all in mid 20s!)

2008
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2008/sb2008098_467315.htm
2009
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2009/sb2009106_810168.htm
2010
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2010/sb20100922_312662.htm
 

Asia's Best Young Entrepreneur 2009
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/09/0911_asias_best_young_entrepreneurs/index.htm

Seriously, they are all worth reading.

Infusing Fast Food with Gospel, Why Not?

I believe some of you have seen the writing of “John 3:16” on the Forever21 yellow bag or “Rev 3:20” on the In-N-Out burger wrapper. These are a few examples of how certain large business organizations display their foundation on biblical and Christian values. As a group of young students and professionals, some of us aspire to own / start a new business venture on our own. These are great dreams to pursue, however, money and profits are not the only goals in a business. As follower of Jesus, we need to learn to marry our business goals with mission to spread the Gospel. The following are a couple of examples of successful Christian-based companies that we all should take learning from:

It’s hard not to love In-N-Out Burger! Their tasty offering of freshly served burgers and fries has made many fans to crave over them – including those outside California. This family-owned business are famous for their boldness in declaring their Christian faith. Most of their food packaging contains bible scriptures (i.e soda cup bears the writing of John 3:16). Not only did they reach out to their customers, the In-N-Out management is also known for great employment benefits for their employees. In-N-Out is one of the only fast-food chains who provide above minimum wage, medical insurance benefits, as well as paid vacations.Their excellent execution at both food quality as well as employee appreciation exemplify their pursue of serving other under Christian value and it has taken them them to become one of the most successful fast-food business who runs very well for many years.

Some of us in California might not have heard about Chick-Fil-A and their famous chicken nugget or chicken sandwich. Chick-Fil-A is famous for their consistency in using real chicken meat in their products. The company is also listed to have one of the best customer services by BusinessWeek because the company promotes the family value. The restaurants are also famous for its tradition to close on Sundays to provide opportunity for their employee a day of worship. Both the executive and owner of Chick-Fil-A believes that the business existed to glorify God. They personally treat their employee like family, for example inviting a new store manager to their residence for a dinner. The owner, Mr&Mrs Cathy, is also a devoted Christian and has an active involvement in local and international mission. Chick-Fil-A also becomes a financial sponsor for two Christian-based foundation, WinShape and LifeShape. Both of these foundation provide helps and trainings for young leaders and they have been equipping many young teenagers with solid foundation in  Christianity.

As we can see, many of these Christian-based business shows an excellent example that a business can thrive even with practicing Christian values. Not only do they generate profits for the company itself, they also serve their customer, employees, and communities with Godly business principles. These show that secular business and Gospel can go hand in hand to create more impact and spread the good news to many people. If we believe God is the owner of everything, He himself can turn anything, including business, to His glory.

Why God allows disaster to happen in this world ?

Looking at recent natural disaster in Japan, it is a heartbreaking situation and comparable to Haiti, New Zealand, and Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami years ago. I know many people (and even myself) sometimes ask "If God is a loving and powerful, why He allow disaster and tragedy happened in this world? To be honest, I really don’t know. No one can comprehend His mind & His plan because human has limited understanding.

When my mind made up every possible hypothesis after I saw my friend was posting "this question" on Facebook, KLove radio answered this question just in time! *yay* God hears my confusion! Here I also compiled the answers from www.carm.org. So everytime you encountered people who is wondering about it, you can share the answers. :)

1) Suffering is the result of human sin. The world is not the way that God created it and because of that, all are vulnerable to the effects of sin in the world. Why does one person suffer and another does not? Why do catastrophes happen to some and not to others? It is because sin is in the world. But there will come a day when the Lord will return and cleanse this world of all sin and all suffering.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away," (Rev. 21:4).

2) It is possible that God has reasons for allowing evil to exist that we simply cannot understand. In this the Christian can have confidence in God knowing that His ways are above our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). As the Bible says, the just shall live by faith (Hab. 2:4).

3) God may be letting evil run its course in order to prove that evil is malignant and that suffering, which is the unfortunate product of evil, is further proof that anything contrary to God’s will is bad, harmful, painful, and leads to death.

4) It's quite possible that God uses the suffering to do good. In other words, He produces patience through tribulation (Rom. 5:3). Or He may desire to save someone through it. Take for example, the account of Joseph who was sold into slavery by His brothers. What they did was wrong and Joseph suffered greatly for it. But, later, God raised up Joseph in Egypt to make provisions for the people of that land during the coming drought of seven years. Not only was Egypt saved, but also his family and brothers who originally sold him into slavery. Joseph finally says to them, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good" (Gen. 50:15-21). Of course, the greatest example of God using evil for good is the death of Christ. Evil people brought him to the cross, but God used that cross as the means to save the world.

5) My personal view : if everything in this world is perfect and there is no evil, how could God show His glory and power? Imagine if the world is full with good people and superhero, who need a superhero anymore? the same question, if the earth is not vulnerable to natural disaster and any suffering, who will even think for a second about God's existence and the need for 'someone more powerful' to cling on? people will be self-sufficient and think that nothing is stronger than themselves. I think we should not challenge or complaint to God about those things. Just walk by faith and not by sight. God bless.

I Am a Friend of God

I know it's a tad long, but Israel Houghton testimony below is worth to read..!! Personally I loveee his music because of the gospel and jazz influence behind it. But I began to see the meaning behind his lyrics and song and how his life is a living testimony until I read his biography. Fyi, he won Grammy awards for Best Contemporary Christian Artist this year, it proves that God is powerful to proof that His sons and daughter are talented in the eyes of the world ! Clear messages that I got are "racism is a foolish" and "say no to abortion" because God our creator has plan for every humankind that He created, including you. So never say "I feel unloved or unworthy" cause God loves you so much, more than you could ever imagine!

For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! - Psalm 139:13-17

 
I recommend you to play this video while reading... Have a blessed day everyone! Share the Love :) - Jez

 

Skype Wedding? Why Not!

Ever thought that Skype can be used to exchange wedding vows? I couldn't help myself to not to post this, too adorable to be true.. just like Korean drama! - Jez   

Couple overcomes groom's illness with Skype wedding

Before Kim fell ill. Photo courtesy of Reuters.com

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES | Sun Mar 6, 2011 8:04pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California couple whose wedding plans appeared thwarted when a lung infection landed the groom in the isolation ward of a hospital got married anyway over the weekend, in a ceremony conducted over Skype.
Samuel Kim and Helen Oh, both 27, had friends and family members traveling from as far away as their native Korea and from New York to their planned wedding ceremony in the southern California city of Fullerton on Saturday.
So when Kim began spitting up blood last week, he was initially too nervous to tell his bride for fear of causing her grief, he told Reuters.
When he finally did tell Oh later in the week, the couple improvised a solution by holding the wedding via the Web video conferencing system.
"Guests said it was inspirational, they really admired my fiance for being able to stand at the altar in the manner that she did, alone and not crying the whole time," Kim told Reuters from his bed at UCI Medical Center in Orange.
“Helen, my wife, I’m very very sorry for not being able to walk you down the aisle or stand at the altar, but today is just one day,” Kim told his bride over Skype. “We’re going to live for a very long time… I promise to be the perfect husband from now on to make up for this.”
"She was able to hold her ground and I was able to hold my ground, not crying or anything," he said.
Oh said the Skype wedding was not the perfect way to have a ceremony, but that guests were happy.
The Saturday afternoon wedding utilized five live cameramen at the couple's high-tech Korean church capturing the ceremony for guests watching on jumbo screens, and for Kim himself watching on a laptop with his tuxedo in the hospital's isolation ward.
Kim's hospital is less than 10 miles from the church, and he said he did not feel distant from the ceremony and the 500 guests there.
The professional-style presentation included split-screen images and an audio crew that gave Kim his cue, before his face was to appear on screen.
Kim's hospital room was decorated with flowers that nurses bought with their own money, he said.
Oh said that she does not credit Web technology alone for making the wedding a success. "I couldn't have done it without God," she said.
Up next for the couple: the honeymoon. Kim surprised Oh with plane tickets to Europe, where they will visit Paris and Prague, after he recovers from his lung infection.
click here for original article

What A Powerful Song...

Surely children weren't made for the streets
And fathers were not made to leave
Surely this isn't how it should be
Let Your Kingdom come

Surely nations were not made for war
Or the broken meant to be ignored
Surely this just can't be what You saw
Let Your Kingdom come
Here in my heart

And I will live
To carry on compassion
To love a world that's broken
To be Your hands and feet
And I will give
With the life that I've been given
And go beyond religion
To see the world be changed
By the power of Your name
By the power of Your name

Surely life wasn't made to regret
And the lost were not made to forget
Surely faith without action is dead
Let Your Kingdom come
Lord break this heart

Your name
Is a shelter for the hurting
Jesus Your name
Is a refuge for the weak
Only Your name
Can redeem the undeserving
Jesus Your name
Holds everything I need

 

Lincoln Brewster ft. Darlene Zschech