Ever wondered...

...why reading and sitting on the toilet go together so well? I haven't. 'Til recently, like a few days ago. Man, bathrooms are pretty awesome once you think about it!

Anyway this post isn't really about toilets n' bathtubs. It's about me. Because you all should know, It's ALL about me! (Not really, duh.)

I just wanted to talk a bit about what's been going on lately in my life, since well, this is my blog. Lately I've been receiving the message from Heaven over and over "to sing a new song," and "to sing the sweeter song," and "to do something different". Since this message is fairly "new" for me, I'm still going about doing life and asking God what he means by that. With a message that important, it's going to be a gradual learning process for me, I'm sure, so I am not expecting any answers right now. Patience is needed for God's lessons and that's another good lesson for me to learn since I tend to be a pretty impatient person. So far what I've learned from this process is that God is taking me a different direction than I expected. For example, ever since I could hold a pencil, I've been an artist. I love to draw, paint, sculpt with clay, and create things with my hands. I thought that maybe that natural talent would be a part of my future, like my career, etc. But lately it seems that God has introduced me to another talent that I apparently have that He wants me to use for His glory instead. I had no idea He would want me to do something other than what I've been doing, but that's the way God is. Of course, this doesn't mean I give up art completely or that it's NOT used for His glory, HECK NO, but He just simply wants me to do use another medium to send His messages to others. And that's ok. Use me the way you want to, Father.


But besides that, something else occurred to me.....

.....Sing to the Lord a new song....  I feel like God has been telling that to all of His children for a loooooong time. Because, like the book of Ecclesiastes says, nothing is NEW under the sun!!! Sure, we're living in "the future" right now, with technology, etc., but honestly, what hasn't changed over time? Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, there has been war, famine, world hunger, poverty, disease, hatred against our brothers, separation, broken love, and confusion on what's right and wrong! Why? Because of our OWN choices! People always test Christians by asking "If God is really good and loving like you say He is, how come (insert bad event here)?" Many "Christians" don't even know how to answer. This, my friends, has been going on forever. You can even look in the Bible and see that even God's most loyal prophets have screwed up. Yes it's true, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and sometimes we really make fools of ourselves. When I get to college there's constant pressure to party, have sex with a hundred guys, and to "live it up". This has been bearing down on me hard everywhere I go. So what happens if I give in? EVERYONE'S doing it!

*yawn* BOOOOORING. Heard all THAT before......

My mom told me once that what the world really desires is someone who's different. I don't know about you, but I think the coolest people in the room are always the ones who wear the artsy clothing and don't care what others think, the ones who would rather play the bagpipes than the electric guitar, the ones who do math for fun, and who aren't afraid of who they are. They're weird. I've found that people generally are  naturally attracted to that kind of person. These are the ones who, in high school, were probably made fun of or put down by others.

The ones who don't change despite the constant pressure are the strong ones. They're not afraid of the world, because, honestly, what could the world possibly do to them besides destroy them only if they were to give into its pressures?

What automatically turns the cool factor WAY up with any person is when they are not afraid of who they are because God fearfully and wonderfully created them, thus they are not ashamed of the gospel or of God. They never miss an opportunity to share what they know to be true to others, and they expect persecution, but WALK onward anyway. That's what the world really has been longing for. Now I'm not talking about the "team Jesus" cheese that "Christian" teens sometimes do, especially when they wear their Christian shirts and count that as evangelizing or expressing their faith. Hey, Christian tees are cool and all, but people should be able to tell you are a Christian by your very presence, not by what you wear on the outside.

So now, moving onto something even more important. Here is the REAL question that is connected to the title of this post... (not the toilet question)

Ever wondered...
...what your song sounds like?

When I get to Heaven, I want to see God's works in my life orchestrated through every fiber of my being, woven perfectly into a pleasant song, because I want to be perfect as God is perfect. Others will tell me perfection isn't possible, and that's true, well, on the world's standards. God gave us forgiveness and redemption for when we do mess up, and He died so that we can BE like HIM!


As our callings become more evident in our lives, never fail to seize the opportunity to do what God has set out for you. The world needs Him. Help light the way.


Bye bye my keyboards! God bless you all.

You know what I despise????

Whenever you take the time to type something really meaningful but it's a tad long and then you send it to/post it for someone, and then they write/comment back and as you're reading their comment you're thinking, they totally skipped over all this. They were probably intimidated by all dem phat paragrafs*....


Or when you recommend a book/article for someone to read, and then you ask them if they've read it, and they say yes, and then you tell them about your favorite part, and they "don't remember" that part at all. **







                                                             Liar!!!

And yet I am so guilty of this. Perhaps if I change my ways it will make a difference in this crooked reading world. I could learn a valuable lesson from this. Now I am going to "read" a book.... Bye you fools. You know I love you.



*On purpose case you wer wundderinghkn




**YOU HAD BETTER HAVE READ THIS WHOLE ARTICLE. It was frikkin short!!!!!! It was only 144 words, actually, not including these last notes. 


If you skipped over the article just to find the little stars, I'm lolling because.... the irony...

ANIMALISTIC part 2: Why we love celebs

Why do we like celebs so much? Let's start small and work our way up. (CLAIRE I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE)

First and most arguably the easiest identified reason is that celebs are entertaining. They make us laugh, cry, and they keep us engaged. They intrigue us, inspire us, and keep us wanting more of them. Simple

Celebrities are also unrealistically sexy. Good-looking. We think they're cute. Oddly enough we can be attracted to someone without ever meeting them or seeing them in person. We then can get to know them and understand their personality without them ever knowing who we are. We can fall for them as a person or fall for their performance, either way, once we figure out that we like them (or how in love with them we are) we'll daydream about them and think about them, because after all we do "know" them.

If only I could meet them, we'd be such good friends. 

Some of us pursue a celeb because of a crush we may have on them, others because they admire that particular person's work, some because, well, the bottom line is that celebs (or their works) are, simply put, appealing.













Celebs are always under the eyes of a critic. They can be publicly reported for anything. They are praised or brought-down by the world because they either excel or screw up. Either way, celebs are a hot topic for what they do.

Celebs have status. They are well-known, thus it is fun to know who they are along with everyone else. A celebrity's job is attract as many eyes toward them as possible. They've got to look good and do good to "be" good. The public's opinion matters to them. They are fun to talk about.

The way so-and-so portrayed that character? What an excellent performance. His new single is so fun to dance to. That guy is so talented, he's got a good voice. Her performance on America's got Talent just blew me away! How entertaining! 

But there is also a backwards method of gaining attention that is just as (if not more) effective than the latter. And that is being the bad guy. If you are bad enough, you'll be talked about enough. This could be the playboy with a million girls on him or the girl who's known for sleeping around. It is cool to be bad, to break boundaries, to be a rebel, to appeal to the crowd sexually. It sets a statement, and it brings forth the unfortunate general fact that girls like the bad boys and that guys like the bad girls. 

The other side to that is being a total jerk. They screw up so we don't have to.

What she did was so scandalous! I can't believe that guy did that to his wife. Last night's performance was terrible, he ought to be kicked off the show. She got so drunk at that party she was dancing in the streets in her lingerie. How embarrassing!

Celebrities also happen to also be very influential. Why? Well, because they are the action figures in the media industry. There will always be the writers, directors, coordinators, etc., but there has to be someone there to stage it, to sing it, to bring it. Those who bring it are the ones who are seen. The ones who are seen are the ones who are followed. The ones who are followed then get paid. The ones who are paid have status. The ones who have status are living the dream. We are always encouraged to chase our dreams, could chasing a celebrity be linked to that? Think about it. We are fueled by envy in a way.

We also look up to celebs because of our own selfish desires to be sexy and have all the money and be loved by others. We want what they have. It keeps us wondering, wishing...

She's so pretty, I wish I looked like her. He's got all the ladies, I wish more girls liked me. What is it they have that I do not?

They are also perfect for influencing the government. When they support a certain cause, politician, or organization, and they gain much praise from the public for it, it is easy to gather up the votes, support, and money needed to get things launched. (Money makes the world go round, eh? eh?)

It is exceedingly rare nowadays for one person to NOT have thoughts cross their mind about being famous. Whether we necessarily want fame or not, we desire it. It is in our nature to be well respected and looked up at for who we are. With all this influencing, money-making, selfish-thought provoking, and makeup applying going on, you gotta think, what an effective and successful system America has constructed! It subtly digs into our innermost desires and lets out what we want to see happen! In the meantime we 'normal' everyday folk go about doing everyday jobs. Making everyday life what it is. Those in the high life hear from us and are lifted up for it. So what does this all mean for believers?



King Solomon in the Bible had it all, man. He was probably the guy who experienced the high life better than anyone else ever in HISTORY. But even he knew that none of it could satisfy. And he had it ALL. Or, so he thought. Our hearts constantly desire fulfillment and satisfaction through it. Worldly satisfactions therefore seem like fulfillment. It's not. It is like "chasing wind". When we don't know the Lord, the world is literally all we've got. We can't even stretch our arms around the world! It just doesn't work for us like salt replacing sugar in a cake. I believe chasing celebrities has to do with that.

PS

Personally I continually pray for celebrities that I like (or dislike) because well, I love em. Not the way the world does, but the way Jesus does. They are people, just like you and me, and instead of bashing and mindlessly praising, let's love em. The way God would. That's what celebrities don't get a lot of: love. We can do that, can't we? Let's lose the fluff and get lovin'.

Oh and , btw, I love you too :) *MUAH*

Up In Da Club With an Unintentional Worship Song

Hey there my Converse shoes!


Have you ever heard a secular song on the radio and thought it sounded like it was talking about God? I recently heard a song by David Guetta and Usher that sounds SO much like a surrender to God's love! The song is called, "Without You" and it's had huge hype and radio play, ya know, it being one of those generic pop/club songs, but the lyrics are definitely somethin' else.

Of course, neither Usher nor David Guetta are necessarily considered good "role models", and of course the song was written to whine about how Usher misses his girl desperately and needs her back. But let's set that aside and say that they have officially created a worship song (unintentionally). Here's what I mean:

The song opens up with Usher admitting his faults: 

"I can't win, I can't reign
I will never win this game
Without you, without you.
I am lost, I am vain,
I will never be the same
Without you, without you."

The Bible teaches that without God, we are nothing. In the "game" that life is, we "can't win" on our own. We may have talents and God-given gifts, but without God (who is also love) we are "lost" and we "will never be the same". We may also have power to rule over a nation, but compared to God, our "reign" is nothing. The heart of a follower will always be more powerful than the heart of a king.

-Jesus replied, "What is impossible for man is possible with God". Luke 18:27 NIV

- If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV

Usher also admits that he is "vain", which is true of everyone, we all deal with vanity one way or another. God is perfect, and He is the only thing worth lifting up. Without God we fail to recognize our own roles as humans and we tend to put ourselves higher than we should be. It's just as Ecclesiastes constantly repeats: "vanity of vanities, everything is vanity".

And as a fun little note, the lines "I am lost...without you" is almost like a wink at the chorus to the worship song, "Breathe" by Kathryn Scott ("And I, I'm desperate for you... And I, I'm lost without you").  

For such a simply worded verse there's a lot of meat in there. You can get a lot more out of that than I had written. But anyway, moving onward! Here are the most powerful lyrics of the song:

Pre chorus 1:

"I won't run, I won't fly
I will never make it by
Without you, without you.
I can't rest, I can't fight
All I need is you and I,

Without you, without you." 

Pre chorus 2:

"I won't soar, I won't climb
If you're not here, I'm paralyzed! 
Without you, without you.
I can't look, I'm so blind 
I lost my heart, I lost my mind! 
Without you, without you."

Here's what the B-I-B-L-E has got with the lyrics "I won't run, I won't fly.... I won't soar":

-"...but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

-"You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself." Exodus 19:4

The Lord is a deliverer, and sends his help like a soaring eagle. Those who believe will also fly with those God-sent wings. Without God, you ain't got no wings to fly! 

With "I'm paralyzed":

-"Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”" Matthew 9:2

Without the forgiveness and love of God and the faith of those men, the paralyzed man would've stayed paralyzed for the rest of his life! 

With "I'm so blind... I lost my mind":

-The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. Deuteronomy 28:28

That wasn't very cheery, but we cannot forget that God is a God of both love and justice. He does indeed have the power to take anything away from people, including their sight and sanity. However, the Gospels have recorded the healing miracles Jesus made on people who were blind, demon possessed, insane, etc. Without God's healing, where would they be? Where would we be?

And finally, "I lost my heart":

-"Scorn has broken my heart  and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
    for comforters, but I found none....But as for me, afflicted and in pain—

    may your salvation, God, protect me." Psalm 69 verses 20 and 29

In this book, David writes of how his broken heart isn't something that he can fix on his own, the feelings of pain alone hold him down. He searched for comfort through others, but was unsuccessful. Later he begs for God to protect him through his time of need, and that was all it took for his heart to be found healed. God also asks of us our hearts, when we give that to him, we gain a heart out of it! When we refuse, we lose our hearts.  

I dunno about you, but that's pretty crazy how coincidental that is. Maybe God was being a little bit sneaky.... You how in my previous post about the Avengers I mentioned how in media sometimes you can find "golden nuggets" and signs of God's love? With this song, it didn't take me long to recognize that these signs were present, but when I went Bible surfing to find deeper meanings in the song, it's incredible what can come out it! Remember, there are reasons behind everything and symbols are everywhere, so always guard your heart. And when it comes to media and your everyday choices, remember:

"Chew the meat and spit out the bones"

                                      -John Boyle

And to send you off, here is David Guetta's official "Without You" song and lyrics video (complete with colorful artsy visuals!!!).

Do' da da go' hv i!!!!!! Keep on dancing! You know you want to!

Fangirls: The Cool, the Dumb, and the Ugly

Howdy partners! Good to be here with Y'ALL!

Being a fan of something can be SO cool. It's fun to really get into something and to choose your favorite characters and to gain inspiration out of it. It's even cooler when you have a friend or a bunch of friends who are into the same things as you, and exciting conversations can be made from that as you anxiously anticipate the next upcoming part of the series. Sometimes it's also really awesome to see the fun ideas and creativity that can be brought forth from fans!

Sometimes.


When you are a fan of something, say that really cute anime emo guy that never talks to anyone but is still frickin cute because he just is, you can basically take the way you view that character and "change" him around, or rather, re-design his characteristics to match your own personal preference.

For example, this emo boy just so happens to not be interested in dating any girls currently, and he probably feels that he just doesn't have time for them, being busy sulking around and thinking about how much life sucks and all. Sadly that's just the way the cartoonist created him. But the way his slanted, narrow eyes and shaggy black hair are drawn is just far too much for your brain to remove from its memory and your heart does a little jump every time he speaks in that deep, smooth voice (yeah you, fangirl, you know what I'm talking about). Even though he's fictional, you just somehow can't stop thinking about him. So what do you do???

You might decide to make your own OC (original character), draw her up and then pair her up with emo kid. In your imagination you are now somehow a part of the story and have full control over all the other character's emotions and decisions, especially the character you have a crush on. You two could have some sort of smoking romance and absolutely nothing could go wrong or get in the way of your "original" angst-y love story. Hey, it's a whole new world now! For you, anything goes. Until the next episode of that anime emo-kid is a part of comes on TV in English with a new character - a female who is destined to be his girlfriend. *facepalm*

Another typical thing that fans do that you could also do is save every single picture of him off Google and DeviantArt onto your computer. On YouTube you can make a million AMVs dedicated to that character and even make be the first to claim the username, emo_kidluver4ever. You can go to every underground nerd forum and post about your love for him and how IS (not how you wish he was) your husband and you will threaten anyone dare tries to disagree or argue back with a nasty type-tag-war (apparently you have such a convincing way with your words). After that no one will like you, but at least you've put all this effort into making claims to this character and now he's yours! Sorta. Happy now? Ppfft. Seriously, get a life.

You could also buy all the posters that have his face on it, buy all the t-shirts with him on them, buy all the tv show episodes, action figures, toys, video games, and costume items, etc. Basically you just need to stock up on as much of his merchandise as possible so that your can create your own custom museum or sanctuary in full dedication to him. You can brag to all your other emo kid-loving friends about how much of a bigger fan you are than them, and you can have them come over to your house so that they can marvel at the beauty of your emo-kid decorated dwelling. Soon enough you'll be flat-broke and you'll have to sell your prized emo-kid possessions. And possibly your house, too.

You might have been a victim of one or more of these fan situations until you met that creepy 45-year-old woman who can't stop obsessing over emo-kid (who's only 16 years old), and well, you back away from that situation.... very slowly..... and cautiously......

But thankfully there is good news for you. You can save yourself a lot of grief, time, money and disturbing mental images by just doing this: NOT. GOING. OVERBOARD.

There is fine line between a "you're an O.K. fan" and a "you-are-so-into-this-it's-really-creepy fan". I know some people who are crazy about Star Wars and collect their merchandise and watch their movies a hecka lot, but the difference between them and crazy fans is these guys at least have self-control. They can make friends with other Star Wars lovers and still go on living their normal lives without Star Wars being the only topic of conversation. Star Wars is a fun something  and they don't treat it like it's a someone. They know that nothing about Star Wars is more important than real-life experiences and people. They let Star Wars become a fun part of their lives without letting it be their lives. To put it all simply, what these people do is prevent an invasion from happening in their hearts.

Everyone has SOMETHING they can get all nerdy about! If you know me well enough, you'll know that right now I am crazy about the Avengers. Loki and Thor = awesome. And ever since I was little I've been a big fan of Sonic the Hedgehog. "You're too slow!" My absolute favorite TV show is Avatar: The Last Airbender, and lately I've been trying to keep up with their new spin-off series, The Legend of Korra! Look, there's not necessarily anything  wrong with getting into characters and whatnot, but you have to know when to prevent a mixture of falsehood being made out of your life. With as abundant as modern media is, it is WAY easy to get caught up big time in the mix. Your time is precious and it cannot and must not all be wasted on fiction. Know and understand what is real and let go of some of the things you cling to. They won't cling back. Remember that. You are in control of your own decisions, so be strong and don't let fiction become your new reality.

Bye bye, birdies! I'm going to bed. It's way too late. In fact, it's not even June 4th anymore. It's June 5th!!!! AHHHHHH!

Pop Music, Sex, and Guarding Your Heart

Hey there, my Euros!

Why does Korean Pop music make me so happy? I do not know. Last night I was cleaning the kitchen  listening to 2ne1 on my iPod singing, "nega je chahlaga bam ba ra tatata bae" and dancing around like an idiot. Hey, I can get into music so deeply, even if I don't know what they're saying, being Korean and all. XD

Which got me thinking... Music has a huge effect on everyone doesn't it? Catchy music can persuade you into tapping your toes, singing along, and dancing along. It can stick with you for the rest of the day, and have bars repeating in your head all day long. Music can also get you thinking about different things and can even give you certain emotions, desires, or concerns. Music introduces ideas, protests, preaches, teaches, influences, inspires, and brags. Well, if music alone does a lot for you, what about the lyrics?

Many people know this but don't really know this: lyrics really do have an effect on you. You must be careful with what you let into your ears, because what you let in stays in, and can change the way you think and say things.

Generally, I don't really listen to pop music. Simply because it's all the same. The set-up and placement of the verses and choruses are the same, the beats are the same, and the (you guessed it) the lyrics are the same. They're all telling stories about their romantic relationships. It is usually one of these three:

1. The relationship they are currently in
              a. How sweet and great the other person is/or how much the singer is in love with him/her
              b. How they're relationship is unstable/How the other person is damaging or is a total nightmare, yet they choose to "love 'em" anyway for one reason or another
              c. How they hate each other, thus they are destined for each other

2. The breakup/being single
             a. How much the singer misses the other and longs for them back
             b. How much the other person wants the singer back, but they refuse because they're a "jerk" (and they go about listing why it is that him/her is a jerk)
             c. How happy they are that the relationship is off
             d. How they need someone better than jerk they just broke up with in order fill the void within themselves and not be lonely anymore

Aaaaand finally:

3. Sex
            a. How "amazing" the other person looks, thus they need sex with that person
            b. How "amazing" the singer describes himself, thus they need to have sex with someone else
            c. How "amazing" sex is in general thus they need to have sex with more than one person
            d. How drunk they were when they were partying, then they had sex
            e. How cheating on your bf/gf is cool and they will never know you had sex with that person
            f. How you need to drop your bf/gf because the singer is so much more fly than them

And with number three you will always see words like, "just for one night", "lose yourself", and well, you can guess the rest. Number three is sadly the most abundant in pop music. Seriously. Listen to the local pop radio for 15 minutes only and you'll see what I mean.

Isn't it strange how much we humans desire for another? We all need someone else there with us at all times, to comfort us, to have fun with, etc. etc. etc. It's really no wonder that relationships are the hot topic of everyday media. What IS shocking is how much relationships are viewed through a dirty, twisted view, and how often singers glorify that. Lately, it's been everywhere and easy to access.

Without going into a deep philosophical analysis about sex in music, I just wanna say that just because your music has some mild suggestive themes or even extreme themes (complete with the Parental Advisory sticker and everything), it really doesn't matter how well you can "filter" all that out. It really does effect you.


Here is an example:

Imagine that your brain is a crystal glass of pure water.

Got it? Is your brain a glass of water now? OK, Good.

Now imagine that the music you choose to listen to is either one drop of red food coloring or one drop of clean water. The water being good clean fun music and the red being "dirty" music. With every clean song you listen to, a drop of clean water is added to the glass. With every dirty song you listen to, a drop of red dye is added.

At some point, you are going have to drink that water. At the end of the day, you wind down and drink the glass, and whatever you "collected" in it will go down inside you, into your core. Red dye won't necessarily "change" the water or effect how it "tastes," nor will it necessarily effect how your core "digests" it, but over time, if you keep allowing red food dye in, you'll end up drinking pure red dye, which is not sustaining nor is it healthy. What your core receives is what will determine your energy level, what you think of, and what you do. If it is stained red, the red will eventually show through.

I know, I know, that was a strange example, but I hope it kinda made sense.... Sorta....?

Anyway my point is basically what comes in comes out, like with feeding your stomach food and drink, what you take in through your eyes and ears is what feeds your brain and your heart. So do me a favor and go through your iTunes and make a few deletes, ok? I'm not saying everyone needs to switch over to listening to Christian music only, what I am saying is guard your heart. It was made more delicate than you could ever know.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV 

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

     Remember to fill your heart with the "food" that God has provided you by reading His word and praising Him daily.

 

Proverbs 4:20 ESV

"My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings."

     If you feel that you are stained in any form of sin or trashy media, God offers cleansing, healing, and forgiveness for that:

Psalm 51:10 ESV 

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

Thanks for reading, guys! God bless, have a great Friday and weekend!!!!  

안녕히가세요 (annyeonghi gaseyo)!!!