Are You Worth 2 Billion?

I like sports. And as many sports fans, i have favorite teams too.
In the NFL, i root for my beloved Redskins. Though many disagree that you can have 2 teams you root for, i still am a Patriots fan. Every year i want the Skins and Pats at the superbowl with the Skins taking it all. Of course, that's just never going to happen. At least for a long time.

In the NBA, no one beats Agent 0 and his "HIBACHI!" with the Washington Wizards.
For MLB, i don't like to watch baseball much... but i just felt that i needed a team to root for. I didn't want to go along with the Nationals. I don't like the Yankees, and since i like Tom Brady and the Pats, I decided to root for the Red Sox.

And there's soccer. I've been watching a lot of soccer, because there's a soccer channel available. Outside of Korea, i root for England in the world cup. And the team i've taken a liking to is Chelsea FC. Wow, this was the longest and most pointless set up to my entry.

So the owner of Chelsea FC has been married for 15 years and has 5 kids. But lately, he has been seen with this woman:


So reports have it that the owner gave his wife 2 billion (yes, 2 BILLION) dollars to divorce her so that he can be with the woman pictured above. (Daria Zhukova).

I personally don't think the new lady is worth 2 billion dollars.
Is anyone? Perhaps..

But it's almost funny (or rather, sad) of the state that we live in. I'm sure there are many out there who may now feel, "man if i had that much money, i'd buy out of my marriage too."

It's sad that marriage doesn't have the same meaning as it once did.

Just in case you're wondering,
2 billion may be just enough for me to get interested in your offer.
I'm priceless, baby, priceless.

=)

Monday, Monday, MONDAY

I got up early today so that i could get down to Kailua, meet my mentor and take my first psychological assessment test.
I had to answer many weird questions, but it only took me an hour to do both the booklet and the "Finish the Sentence" questions. I hope they don't think i'm crazy. At least not more than i really am.
But the drive to and back from Kailua was what i enjoyed the most.
It was just marvelous.
I know in my heart that i will not be in Hawaii forever. I'll probably leave when i get ordained... and that has at times, caused some mild island fever. But days like today tell me that Hawaii is forever my home and why i like it so much.
It wasn't a beautiful sunny day. it was cloudy and about to rain. but how the clouds just lingered right below the mountain tops.. i just loved it. Where else in the world can you see beautiful green mountains on your left and look on to your right and see a bright blue and clear ocean waters?
It's amazing.



In other news, i went to see 300 today.
It was really really good and i enjoyed it thoroughly. The visuals were fascinating and i was absorbed into the story. I didn't think the Wife would enjoy it, but she loved it, which made it even better.
(out of 5).

Good day off.
I'm ready to start my week.

Where the Grass is Green

So every Wednesday (so far this year) i've been sitting at Starbucks getting work done before our Wednesday service begins. The Starbucks is right across the street from the church, so it's convenient. I invite the kids to come and study with me, and so far only one has taken up on that offer. It's better that way, because then i get work done. And the youth that comes in, he's quite introverted, so he just sits there and does his work. I once in a while interrupt him to see what he's working on and how he's doing. I like it better this way.

So i was reading my friend's blog and she was writing about the "Secret."
And i posted a comment, but it got me thinking.

We are very jealous and envious creatures. I guess that's why Jesus tells us to guard our hearts against all kinds of greed.
I notice how it seeps into pastors and ministries.
Too many pastors put emphasis on the size of their ministry: The size of the church building, the size of the budget, the size of the members. For a church to be successful, it seems like it has to be big. (I don't think a church should be defined as "successful" in my opinion. I like the term "effective. But that's just me.)

When the church across from you is blessed with a revival and growth, it's easy to get envious of that church and that pastor. It's easy to say, what is she doing that i'm not? What's he got that i don't? And then it's easy to think, well if i had what she has, i'd be just as effective...

I think that's why so many people just end up leaving churches for others.
We compare with other churches, and see what that church has to offer compared to the current church.
That church has a lot of people, and this one doesn't, i think i fit better with that church.
This church has some political problems, that church seems to get along, i'd better switch.

But we never realize that when we move to a different church or a different job, we switch old problems with new ones. We turn in one set of problems at the old site only to receive a whole new set at the new site.

It's sad how we can't be happy with what we have. And i speak for me too.
We always want something newer, something bigger and something faster. The problem with that is, the new gets old and there's always going to be something bigger and faster.

Too many times we count what we don't have, and we missed how blessed we truly are.

And when we have God, God is more than enough.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.
And how true are those words. When we have God in our lives, what more could we ask for?

We always think that the grass is greener on the other side.
But the truth is, the grass is greener where we water it.


(Thoughts from Max Lucado and Doug Fields are interwoven with my thoughts on this post. Just thought I'd let you know.)

Another Update

today, we got a call saying that our application for the house we wanted were accepted and that we could move in this weekend.
We originally wanted to buy a house, but that proved to be too expensive, especially in Hawaii. it's ridiculously expensive. So we decided to rent, and this house was the best one that we saw.
So starting this weekend, no longer in our parent's house and no longer have to share a twin size bed.

On another note, today at Ala Moana, we saw the guy that plays Sawyer on Lost. he was walking really fast. i didn't have a camera. so we just stared at him and his Asian date walking away from us. He was walking fast.

=)

Superbowl XLI

Ah.
Well, i was rooting for the underdog, but oh well.

I'm just bummed that football season is over.
At least the Wizards are doing well (Gilbert Arenas, MVP?)

I have hope for next season of the NFL.
Jason Campbell had a strong finish. The Defense played better at the end of the year. Sean Taylor continues to be a monster as a safety.
The Redskins will definitely do better than this disappointing season.

I'm happy for Tony Dungy.


Well, this week will be spent at Waikiki and Ala Moana in hopes to catch a glimpse of NFL pro-bowlers.

Couple of years ago, my brother got me a football with LaRoi Glover (Cowboys) and Pisa Tanoimosa (Rams) autographs. But most impressive? that football also has Chad Johnson's.

We will see how Operation NFL Pro Bowl will fare this week.

John Wesley

I've been trying to better myself in anyway possible to become a better and more effective preacher.
So recently, i started reading out loud Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermons from Strength to Love. I've been preaching it to myself, as if it was my own sermons.

Then this past week, in my bookshelf at the office, i saw a blue book that i completely forgot about: John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology.

I remember not really paying attention in my Methodist History and Doctrine class in seminary. (I never was a good student, even in the graduate level). And i also remember just skimming through the sermons just enough to write papers on it.
So i figured, why not?
And it will do me good to "reread" this book and to (hopefully) remember somethings i learned in the Doctrine class.

So i opened up the book.
Instantly i realized why i didn't pay attention in class.

It's not that the sermons are boring, there are things in there that i can quote and use in my sermons to the youth. But, i don't know what it is.

I, however, thought that this "punishment" would help me in the long run (like when i have to write all those papers in the candidacy process).

Today, i tried using the book as a daily devotion.

Hopefully, i have the discipline to keep going.

it's for the best...