Last week’s sermon (Colossians 1:13-23) at Austin Stone Church was rather eye/mind opening. The speaker Pastor Matt Chandler was funny, straightforward, and serious, b/c that’s what it took to drive home the points. He tackled so many obvious issues and the best of it all, he did it without the typical “Christian fluff”. The Dominion of Darkness (Colossians 1:13) applies to both the religious and the non-religious. It involves things that both the non-Christians and the Christians who claim to know the truth struggle with every day. Here are some points that I managed to digest.

Religious Activities do not Save us, God does

Non-Christians often see Christians as rule followers, following the rules that the “invisible God” has set. If we followed the rules (go to church, pray, don’t drink/party/have sex, etc), we’ll be saved. If we don’t, we’re sinners. That’s of course far from the truth yet that’s how things are often portrayed. Sometimes we get so caught up with following the rules that the rules themselves become the source of blessing to us.

God knows X better than us b/c He made X

God created sex, which is an amazing/intricate/fascinating process in itself (have you ever thought of that?) He created sex to be fun and full of pleasure but in the context of marriage b/c that’s where the benefit (for a lack of better word) is maximized. Why? B/c He made it that way. Still, we’re ignorant and we listen to the world. Our puny human brains have determined that the physical act of sex is the same inside and outside of marriage, or that marriage doesn’t have to be between a man and a woman. Again, God created sex. We are really good at making up reasons to convince ourselves that our ways and our reasoning of how things work are “better” than God’s.

Just as a side note, have you ever heard married people saying, “I totally should have hooked up with more guys/girls before getting married!” or “Our marriage would be so much better if only we had started having sex earlier!” or “Watching pornography has made me a better spouse!” Maybe in a movie or a TV show but in real life? Didn’t think so. It’s always the other way round.

God wants us to be Joyful, not Happy

Happiness is fragile but joy is everlasting. God is after our heart and we need a righteousness that’s better than even our best days. The 10 Commandments laid out the process pretty clearly but we look at the list and setup our own standards for them. Colossians 1:21 says that we were “alienated from God” because of our “evil/hostile” behaviors. How can coveting be hostile to God? How can a lustful look be the same as committing adultery? How can smoking weed be bad if I only do it once a week? Whose standards are we looking at? 

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Pastor Matt Chandler addressed these points and many more in a very direct manner. They sounded rather depressing at times but they struck at the heart of the problems and made them real. They definitely struck me hard at different aspects of my life. I’ve embedded the sermon below and it’s definitely worth the time to watch it (starts 1 min in). Also, I really salute the men who continuously loved him and helped him find God b/c that process must have been such a pain, lol. Even he admitted to it himself.

The Explicit Gospel from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.

I’m not much a gamer growing up. I had Asian parents and I had motion sickness. I didn’t own a gaming console until I was 14, which was a PS1 when PS2 just came out. But that didn’t change the fact that I still liked games, and in the context of video games, RPG games. I’m very much of a story person and the storyline in a game has always mattered more to me than the actual game play. And even during my action-packed 4 years of college, I still managed to pick up the Mass Effect series (mainly due to a roommate who played games after games =P).

The Mass Effect trilogy, in short, was a revolutionary step for RPG games. The level of customization available was beyond anything we have seen. At its pinnacle was the ability to make hundreds of decisions (big or small) in each game and have those decisions be carried over throughout the whole series. It built on the idea that the players should be the co-creator of the games along with the game designers, and that the players should not be forced into one of the few given endings like conventional RPG games. This concept allowed the players to get really attached to the character they were playing (and everyone else in game) because the consequences and the outcomes in game reflected on who they were as a person in real life. It made the game very real. And on March 6, 2012, Mass Effect 3 was released. The epic ending to this revolutionary trilogy that somehow intertwined all the decisions you’ve made. You can ask Grace how excited I was with the release and how excited I was while playing it. Now that I’ve finally completed the game after clocking about 45 hours over the last 3 weeks, I felt that the game deserved a final review, a personal conclusion, from this loyal fan.

Note: Contains major spoilers! I do not want to spoil the game for anyone!

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Last week was my first spring break as a grad student. I was blessed to even have a spring break as the decision was totally up to my advisor. I worked double time to get all the research work done early so that I’ll have the rest of the break to play Mass Effect 3 and to visit Houston.

It has been 10 months since I set foot on Rice campus. It was my first time back since graduation. It would be an understatement to say that I simply missed Rice. As I strolled around campus with Grace, everything I set my sight on brought back memories. Looking back, what a blessing it has been that I was able to be part of this community for the past 4 years! The education, the fellowship, the friends, the squirrels, and even the servery food. Simply put, I felt right at home. Though some things have changed, Rice is still Rice. Unconventional Wisdom. There’s nothing like it.

The best part of the visit was definitely the reunion with both friends and mentors. It was such a special feeling to come back as an alum and meet up with Joyce (college coordinator) and my freshmen (Facebook Groupies). Hanszen will always be my second family here at Rice. And of course, there was CCF. It had been such a big part of my life at Rice that its absence have created a big hole inside of me. Seeing everyone again this time, it just felt… right. Even the loitering felt rather refreshing. All these feelings and emotions reminded me of the fellowship that I’m missing here in Austin and how important it was to my life. More motivation to get plugged in fast. And seeing the cell group grow, that was the cherry on top. I’m so proud of them! =)

It’s true. Just like our class said during graduation, thing will never be the same again. We’ll never be able to hang out like the way we did during college. But that… is just a sign that we’re going up, to become real adults. Our past - these memories - defined who we are today and set the foundation for our future. And how we built upon this foundation from this point on will define who we become. Instead of dwelling on the past, we need to set our sight on the future. Last semester, I dwelled so much on these memories that I forgot to make new ones. This home-coming has helped me to let go and move on. Even though I’ll always be an owl at heart, maybe it’s time for me to embrace the longhorn culture… a bit… Besides, these reunions are what make the memories so special. I mean how often do I get to see Jeff faceplant himself onto a mattress or see Dillon do his creeper face? =P

Work-life balance, something all of us try to strive for… or do we? Most of us understand its importance to a truly healthy life but do we actively strive for it? The sermon at Austin Stone today touched upon the topic of Sabbath but it became my main take-away point. Growing up in a competitive environment my whole life, my peers and I worked so hard that sometimes, it seemed as if we were competing to see who got worn out more. We took pride in how “well” we functioned with how little sleep we got. The Bible told us to work but it also told us to rest. We can only work as well as we rest. These 2 actions are interlinked. We live in a society where we often equate rest with laziness and incompetence. But sometimes, it’s actually more wise and humble to make the tough choice of resting and not finishing some work. Yes, work-life balance.

I think the most eye-opening thing the preacher said was that sometimes, rest could be God’s mission for us. Sometimes, God simply wants us to slow down, rest, and take care of our own body and soul. And that’s not being lazy or selfish. Especially for me as a graduate student, I need to strike a balance fast, to find my pace in this 6-year marathon before the limitless amount of research work consumes my life. So that when God calls me to rest, I will be able to draw the line and say enough is enough.

• Those who see God portrayed only as an angry and demanding judge are easily lured away by someone who emphasizes mercy.
• Those who see God as a kindhearted grandfather will reject that image when they need justice.
• Those who see God as an intellectual idea rather than a living, loving being eventually find other ideas more appealing.
• Those who see God as a best friend often leave Him behind when they find human friends who are more to their liking.

Today’s Our Daily Bread provided an interesting view on how we tend to paint a distorted view of God. In other words, a caricature of God. We pick and choose certain qualities of God that appeal to our needs and portray that as the whole God. The author presented 4 common attributes and their respective downfalls. As a consequence, these “caricatures of God” allow for Satan to invade our hearts and question our beliefs. Therefore, “we must worship all of God, not just what we like.”

On the evening of Feb 4, 2012, I proposed to my girlfriend of 50 months, Grace, on top of Mount Bonnell in Austin, Texas. It’s been a rough journey with lots of ups-and-downs but God has made the impossible… possible. After almost 2 years of agonizing struggles with parental issues, her parents have finally accepted me. I forced myself not to plan for the engagement before acquiring her dad’s blessing. I honestly didn’t know how he was going to respond. There was no backup plan if he said “No!” I hesitated a little by waiting on a “confirmation sign” from God but God said “I’ve already given you many signs. Now trust in me and go.” On Jan 8, 2012, I asked Grace’s dad for her hand in marriage, and he gave me his approval and blessing. Big check! 

The next task was deciding on a date. Actually, I had been eyeing a particular date for quiet a while. That date was Feb 2, 2012, 50 months after the day I asked Grace out. Since it was a Thursday, I moved it to Saturday, Feb 4, 2012. The biggest problem with this date was that it gave me exactly 3 weeks to plan for this big big huge day. It was also the beginning of a new semester of grad school. It was very tempting to just “shy away” and wait for a “better timing”. But inside me, I just knew that “the time is now” and with God, nothing was impossible. Therefore, Operation Peanuts… Initiate!

Many people have been asking me for “the story”. I would love to tell you the story in person but I’m a grad student after all… so here’s the summary of the operation, including some of the intricate details. Enjoy! =)

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In the vision system class today, we talked about the eyes in detail. While we were on the topic of the different kinds of “errors” that the human eyes could cause, I asked about whether the imbalance in the 2 eyes could contribute to motion sickness. I’ve had mild motion sickness all my life. The result? I can’t play any FPS or fast moving games. I can’t watch 3D movies. I can’t do anything besides doing nothing during transit, whether it was a car, bus, train, or plane. I probably won’t feel good if I rode anything in a theme park that has the motion sickness warnings. Therefore, over the years, I’ve been trying to learn about all the possible causes, in the hopes that I can “train” my body to overcome motion sickness one day (well, other than forcing myself to play a lot of video games).

I got an answer today that I’ve never thought of before. So I’ve known that the vestibular system inside the ears (inner ear) contributed to determining the spatial orientation for a human. It’s like a gyroscope for the human body. Previously, I just assumed that since I had problems with my ears as well (super sensitive to pressure change, infection, etc), something was just “broken” and caused motion sickness to happen. That’s partially true. One of the main cause of motion sickness is when the motion that one’s vision system sees does not match the motion that one’s vestibular system senses. When this mismatch happens, the vestibular system spazzes out and sends out a bunch of signals to the other parts of the body. Unfortunately, these are the same signals the body sends out when a person consumes something nasty (therefore, the vomiting sensation associated with motion sickness). But I guess in my case, my vestibular system just spazzes out a lot more than other ppl’s. Note: I’m an engineer student, not a med student, so don’t pick on my medical accuracy >.<

This explanation made a lot of sense to me. That’s why it’s hard for me to play 1st person games. B/c my eyes tell me that I’m carrying a gun and moving in a deserted factory while my body tells me that I’m sitting on a chair in front of my desk. That’s why I can play 3rd person games fine. B/c I’m looking at the game through a bird’s eye view, which reduces the mismatch. That’s why I can’t read a book in in a moving object. B/c my eyes see something static while my body feels all the accelerations and movements. As for fixes, he didn’t provide any =P