olymp-noodles

nonchalant and disarming.

bulbasaur

 i realize when i say "i got a bubble sword,"
it may sound like "i caught a bulbasaur."
but it's true, i'm 18 and i still play with bubbles.

prideful anonymous

yesterday, my family got into another quarrel about something
meaningless- except this time, i, the kid, intervened and apologized.
one of the signs that your sibling relationships are awesome is
when you realize that you were at fault literally seconds after
an offense. i smirked at my brother, asking him to help with the laundry
using a i-know-you-are-not-going-to-help tone and in response,
he shoved me to the wall a little bit more aggressively than usual.
my mom, not understanding that i totally deserved to be pushed
suddenly got protective of me and angry at him. knowing that i was a jerk
and wanting to avoid further conflict, i said sorry, then he said sorry...
but my mom was still mad at my brother for some reason.
anyways, after my brother and i made up in record speed, everything,
at least in my opinion, became nothing short of a sitcom.
basically, my mom was arguing about how my brother treats me
worse than his friends (actually, it's quite the opposite; my friends,
if i treated you worse than my brother, most of you would not be
my friends). meanwhile, my brother was telling her that he was
showing me tough love- which, in most cases, is true. and little
me, i was just doing the laundry listening in on their conversation
and offering my counterarguments from the corner. i think the only
time they heard me was when i shouted out to my brother.
me: "hey! i love you!" smiles* (no response) squints eyes* (silence)
"do you love me?!-"
my brother: "yes! okay?! stop saying that! it's freaking weird, you gaylord."
me: "hehehe...you said you love me." continues doing laundry* scene ends.
alternate ending- dad: "i don't want to do this, david, but if you continue
being mean to your brother, i will charge you rent." smiles*

1 john 2:1-17

v.1- "my little children, i am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
john addresses his readers affectionately to draw their attention and then states his purpose. as a continuation of chapter 1, john intends to turn readers from their sins (repentance) and towards Christ. also, he reassures genuine believers that Christ is their mediator (1 timothy 2:5). 
v.2- "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
this does not mean that everyone in the world is saved, but rather that everyone could be saved through repentance and trust in Jesus. 
v.3- "and by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments."
those who are born again will obey God's commandments, because they know Him. 
v.4~5- "whoever says 'i know Him' but does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. by this we may know we are in Him:"
again, john points out that obedience of a believer is evidence of true conversion (although there are other proofs of being saved). however, faith must come before works (ephesians 2:8-9). therefore, an outward confession means nothing without an outward action- and an outward action means nothing without an inward conviction and transformation.
v.6- "whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked."
Christians are called to reflect the love that Jesus showed to His disciples through the cross. and we are able to show God's love by sharing the good news of salvation with the power of the Holy Spirit (1 thessalonians 1:5).
v.7- "beloved, i am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. the old commandment is the word that you have heard." 
john is referring to the greatest commandment: to love God and others. "the beginning" may refer to OT times (deuteronomy 6:5), but considering that there may have been gentiles among the audience, it is more likely linked to when Jesus gave the commandment in the gospels (matthew 22:34-40).
v.8- "at the same time, it is a new commandment that i am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining."
Christians are entrusted to continue God's work on earth by the power of the Holy Spirit (v.6).
v.9~11- "whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. but whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
hatred blinds us from the presence of God and prevents us from enjoying the fullness of His perfect love. Specifically, we must love others in a way that brings glory to God. to non-Christians, there are many ways to show them love, but ultimately, we love them by bringing them to know our Lord. to brothers and sisters, we must do everything for the sake of edifying one another so that everyone within the fellowship would grow and worship in unity. and this unity is not to be obtained, but rather maintained (ephesians 4:1-6)
v.12~14- "i am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. i am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. i am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. i write to you, children, because you know the Father. i am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. i write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."
whether or not "little children," "fathers," and "young men" refer to different levels of spiritual maturity, john writes to bring reassurance to all believers- meaning this is an encouragement to all stages of the Christian life. thus, all Christians are able to obey God's commandments and all are empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome evil.
v.15- "do not love the world or the things of the world. if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
john does not tell his readers to reject everything in the world and become isolated from community (because some material possessions can be blessings from God), but rather to devote themselves solely to the Lord (matthew 6:24). and to acknowledge that everything they own is His.
v.16- "for all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world."
there are certain desires and passions that we should abstain from and there are others with which believers can have that bring glory to God.
v.17- "and the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 
material possessions, social status, power, things of the flesh, and even human love are all temporary. so, the only hope for eternity comes from God.                        

frogs out

to my brothers and sisters, i've never stopped loving you.
it was me. i held bitterness that i did not know about
against myself. if you noticed that i was colder, that i
stopped talking to you and stopped asking for prayer
requests, it was not because of you. it was my weakness.
i could not forgive myself for hurting a sister in the past
due to my insensitivity and in turn, i doubted my gifts.
when He told me not to worry, i worried. when He told
me to trust Him, i trusted myself. and in fellowship,
i was not present, i was withdrawn. when some of you
were in need of support or words of edification, i turned
away, because i no longer wanted to be involved. and
when some of you wanted to offer me support or blessings,
i arrogantly refused your teachings, thinking that i knew
everything already and was oblivious to your spiritual growth.
i knew God would meet me this weekend. i knew He would
not let me continue walking around in circles of disappointment.
by His grace, i was able to spend long drives in prayer,
meditation, and reflection. by His grace, walls of pride and
isolation were broken as i began to listen to some of you.
by His grace, i am no longer fearful (in fact, i ate my fear)
and i can trust that He who began a good work in me
will finish it. and i no longer worry about you all as well,
because in all circumstances you are in, God has already
sealed you, your salvation is secure in Christ, and nothing
in all creation can separate you from His love. amen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to all of you who want to have bible study, let's do it.
time to be decisive. spontaneous hangouts, begin!

han, burt, and david

a week has flown by since i returned home from orientation.
i wonder what happened to me during those three long days.
at first, i was excited. forty miles away from anyone that i knew.
an exciting kind of loneliness. but then, it got hot. really hot.
a person like me is not one for complaining, with the exception
of heat. i can get really cranky when it's hot and probably seem
even more condescending than i normally seem to those around me.
but aside from the heat, there was a tremendous amount of walking!
half of the orientation was walking. literally, they made us walk
all the way across the campus just to dismiss us. usually, i don't
mind walking as long as there is someone to talk to, but my
crankiness from the heat must have left a bad first impression
on my orientation group (barely anyone talked to me). well,
i can't help being an introvert, so...anyways, the food was not bad.
not healthy either (i ate a cheeseburger everyday), but i've never
been much of a picky eater. hopefully, my stomach will tell
my mouth and hands to choose a few salads here and there.
and my legs will bring me to the gym at least once a week.
i must say though, my school chose to serve my favorite food
(alfredo pasta) on the first night- that pretty much sealed the deal.
now, what about the Christian fellowships? meet any Christians?
yes, in fact, my roommate was a Christian hoping to major in music
to write worship songs in the future. we actually talked about
our churches back home and he told me about his struggle with
cussing and falling into peer pressure. of course, by the time
we got to know each other, orientation was over, but fall is not
that far away. as for 'fellowships', i approached four of them:
Christian students, destino, chi alpha, and cru. not thinking
about joining any of them. it's times like these when being a skeptic
is a really good thing- never can be too careful when it comes
to cults nor alert when it comes to bad theology. well, i'm not too
worried about finding a good fellowship out there. a good
church is more of what i'm concerned about.

popcorn frenzy

i watched the amazing spider-man tonight and i must say,
it was only alright. pardon me, girls (and some guys), but
i didn't really fall in love with andrew garfield...nor ms. stone.
their acting was somewhat generic- not to say that i know
anything about acting, but i wasn't exactly drawn with emotions.
as for the villain, i can't say that i loved him, can't say hated.
it was more of a passive pity, so when spidey saved the day,
i wasn't overjoyed that the villain lost. of course, contextual
wise, i thought the movie pretty much hit the mark as much
as a comic book movie could. i mean, everyone is saying how
accurate it is to the original story compared to the previous trilogy,
but half of those people haven't even read a single spider-man
comic in their lifetime...well, kids, gwen stacy dies. and the
life of peter parker just about goes downhill from there.