jopan's Xanga

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:40:47 GMT

http://jopan.tumblr.com for now. short blog-y things, lots of articles, musings, and interesting finds.

Last post

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:17:03 GMT

Apologies to my readers for my last post -- money is a sensitive thing and I'm sorry if I sounded flippant about the matter.

On the topic of last posts -- one last xanga post is coming. I think I'm going to comb through and make an archive of some of the significant posts from these past 7 years. I think that my time with xanga is done. Hello wordpress.

Notes on ministry & giving

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:23:50 GMT

Unabashed when it comes to talking about money:

The downfall of Detroit (gm, chrysler) also meant that many staff / people in ministry are taking drastic paycuts or leaving staff. Southeast Michigan is getting wiped out with the economic downturn. This doesn't just affect SE Michigan, but also the surrounding region (including Ohio).
The yearly budget for a campus staff in Cairo (Egypt) is $2,000. There are many people currently existing in the world that could cover this budget in one fell swoop.
85-90% of my donors don't come from local churches in Cleveland. They come from NY, CA, Michigan alum, and home church. I would really love to see people come on board to support and pray for the work at Case.
Overall, it seems that non-profit orgs in general are still doing ok.
Some of my colleagues in the region (though rare) have deficits in the order of $10-20k.
I love sharing fellowship with my donors (who really are my friends). It's one of the most wonderful things to see them and pray with them because I really long to! I will definitely treasure my most recent trip back to Rochester.

Brittany (dog)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:44:02 GMT

If my dog could have a myers-briggs temperament, it would be ENTJ. hehehe.

Temperament

A liver and white Brittany

The breed was originally bred as a hunting dog and noted for being easy to train, sensitive, and sweet-natured. Brittanies are all around sound dogs, as they are excellent family pets as well as working dogs in the field. The dogs are active and require frequent exercise and room to run, and a fenced yard is essential. The breed sometimes gets a reputation for being crazy or uncontrollable, but these problems are almost invariably due to lack of exercise and training, and are not commonly seen in well cared-for dogs. If not given sufficient exercise, love, and socialization, Brittanies can become destructive or develop compulsive or neurotic behaviors. The Brittany makes a good house pet as long as it receives daily mental and physical exercise, as well as superb socialization on a regular basis.

Brittanies can become very shy if not thoroughly socialized, and even among well-socialized dogs there is significant variation in levels of friendliness. Some are highly gregarious and actively seek companionship, others are more aloof.

All in all, Brittanies are a good family and companion pet, while still maintaining their original purpose as a fur and feather hunting companion.

via wikipedia

alex song is a clever dan

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:20:31 GMT

"king james version"

Quotes: home

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:54:03 GMT

1. My dog is beautiful, really beautiful... but he's also really disobedient. I think he just has so much energy and my parents are trying hard to keep up with him.

Neighbor: [Walking down the street with a poodle] Did your dog go to obedience school?
Dad: Yes, he went
Neighbor: ...Did he pass obedience school?
Dad: He got a certificate...
Neighbor: [Beat] ...I think he failed

Sigh. He has ADD.

2. One of the many funny, nerdy Dad quotes:

[In the middle of our conversation on predestination v. free will, apparently, they're talking about it at Men's Bible Study; primary doctrines v. secondary doctrines, etc.]

Joyce: I've talked to a lot of non-believers who keep asking about this issue. It's just really not the main point of it all!

Dad: I haven't seen so many brothers and sisters get so excited about an issue.
Joyce: Why?? [Shakes arm]
Dad: ...it's because they haven't understood God's sovereignty.

Haha.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

3. Corny jokes from an uncle at Phyl's bridal shower:

Mr. Yang: Do you know that when Phyllis and Dan get married, Mrs. Sa will get two degrees?
Bridesmaids: Ohh. What are they?
Mr. Yang: The first is Ph. D.
Mrs. Sa: Phyllis and Dan!
Mr. Yang: The second is a law degree. Mother-in-law!

[Mr. Yang arrives to help set up at the bridal shower]
Taiwanese aunties: Ah!! You're here, come help the shower!
Mr. Yang: What!! I already showered today!

Hahahaha.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:24:35 GMT

"Of the many objections to Christianity, one that stands out in my mind as troubling is the argument that to be Christian is to withdraw from the world around us, to follow fairy tales with wishful hearts and myths that insist we stop thinking and believe that all will be right in the end because God says so. In such a vein, Karl Marx depicts Christianity as a kind of drug that anesthetizes people to the suffering in the world and the wretchedness of life. Likewise, in Sigmund Freud’s estimation, belief in God functions as an infantile dream that helps us evade the pain and helplessness we both feel and see around us. I don’t find these critiques and others like them troubling because I find them accurate of the kingdom Jesus described. I find them troubling because so many Christians live as if Freud and Marx are quite right in their analyses.

In our impervious boxes and minimalist depictions of the Christian story, we comfortably live as if in our own world, blind and unconcerned with the world of suffering around us, intent to tell our feel-good stories while withdrawing from the harder scenes of life. In fact, to pretend as if Christianity does not at times function as a wishful escape from the world is perhaps another kind of wishful thinking. There are some critiques of Christianity we ignore at our own peril.

In reality, the stories Jesus left us with are so much more than wishful thinking and his proclamations of the kingdom among us are far from declarations of escapism. The story of Rachel weeping for her slaughtered children and Lazarus waiting in agony at the gate of someone who could make a difference are two stories among many that refuse to let us sweep the suffering of the world under the rug of unimportance. The fact that they are included in the gospel that brings us the hope of Christ is not only what makes that hope endurable, but what proves Freud and Marx entirely wrong. For Christ brings the kind of hope that can reach even the most hopeless among us. And Jesus hasn’t overlooked the suffering of the world anymore than he has invited his followers to do so; it is a part of the very story we tell.

Thus, precisely because the faith we proclaim is not a drug that anesthetizes or a dream that deludes, we must tell the whole story and not merely the parts that lessen our own pain. We must also live as people watchful and ready to be near those who weep and wait--the poor, the demoralized, and the suffering. There are far too many Rachels who are still weeping and Lazaruses who are still waiting, waiting for men and women of faith to be the good news they proclaim."

- Jill Carattini, RZIM

10 things i'm thankful for at this very moment

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:57:25 GMT

week-long edition :)

10) spending time and sharing meals with parents, like the guos and the kuos. mr. kuo is hilarious! i'm very impressed that julia and theresa can joke around in mandarin.
9) appreciating some of the quirks of taiwanese aunties at phyl's bridal shower. still intimidating, but also fun. ny.
8) celebrating stephanie's birthday 3x, including all day thursday! happy birthday stephanie!
7) intimate and missional community at the house church i've been attending
6) psalm 107 - just beautiful
5) browsing sara's books & borrowing 2 of them :)
4) seeing phyl (from CA) and louann (from TX) and sara (in ann arbor)
3) moving bo-young's things across the street. it was a lot of fun to hang out w/ bo & some of the k guys.
2) balmy cleveland weather
1) having enough food to eat

WITNESS!

Sat, 30 May 2009 13:18:47 GMT

.
Originally uploaded by enufjames

car on euclid ave in cleveland

*Cleveland tourism video man was right. Our entire economy revolves around lebron james?
*I've stolen 2 pictures from enufjames already... thanks!

Summer schedule

Thu, 28 May 2009 18:54:00 GMT

Here's where I'll be in the next few months! I'm excited to actually spend some time in Cleveland this summer and this is the first year I'll actually be here for most of the month of June. I can't miss the best months of the year :) Cleveland is really beautiful when it's green and leafy.

June:
Fri 6/5-Tues 6/9: Rochester for Home, spending time with my parents, playing with my dog, fundraising hardcore, visiting my home church
Wed 6/10-Thurs 6/11: Wooster for an Area Team Planning Retreat for Ohio Fall Conf '09 (hollerrr!!!!)
Wed 6/17 (?): Ann Arbor for a Planning Meeting for Asian American Student Leadership Conference '10 (woooot)
Fri 6/19-Sun 6/21: Hotlanta for Wayne and Bindu's wedding

July & August:
Thurs 7/2-Wed 8/5: China for global project
Thurs 8/6-Sun 8/9: Metro-Detroit to stand in Dan & Phyl's wedding
Tues 8/11: Cleveland to welcome the Class of 2013 and returning Case studs :)

James' photo of shaker!