Black Friday

Unlike last year, I did not go to Best Buy 3 in the morning to buy the items on sale.
I realized the futility of such effort because I knew that I won't be able to get any of the items on sale unless I camp out outside Best Buy the day before Black Friday.

So, I did most of my shopping this year on line. I was actually quite productive. I pored over all the deals on line for three days and I decided on purchasing several education games for my nephew. And then I did myself a favor by buying a TomTom One 3rd Edition GPS. While at it I bought one more for my brother-in-law's Christmas present.

I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping, but this morning I had this urge to buy 24" LCD monitor. I checked out on line deals, but I settled on Samsung 24" wide screen LCD monitor.
It was $439 plus tax and recycling fee, however it came with $120 rebate. So, I decided to purchase it and pick it up at a nearby Circuit City store. Unfortunately, there was no store in the vicinity which had the monitor in stock, so I ended up driving down to Fremont to purchase the monitor. As soon as I arrived at Circuit City, I walked toward Customer Service desk. There were several people waiting in line. I waited for about 20 minutes and then it was my turn to give my confirmation printout to one of the desk workers. The desk worker inputted the order number to the inventory software and it turned out that there were no monitors in stock.

The lady at the desk apologized profusely, but I told her that I did not come down to Fremont to get a refund. I was very firm that it was the fault of Circuit City that I had to drive down to Fremont despite the indication from their website that Fremont store had the item in stock. I then instructed her to check out the Circuit City website to see whether I could still buy the monitor from their website. It turned out that the monitors were sold out and now there was no way for me to purchase the monitor at a discount.

By this time, the lady at the desk got a bit tired of my insistence and pleaded me to get a refund rather than demanding her to get the monitor. So, I ended up talking to her manager and the manager's manager. Meanwhile, the lady at the desk found that the Dublin Circuit City store had several monitors in stock. So, after haggling with the desk workers at Fremont Circuit City, I drove to Dublin Circuit City. So, there I was able to purchase the monitor at discount.

As I was driving back home, it got me thinking. Was this worth it? Was it worth 4 hours of my time haggling and driving to get $120 discount on $440 monitor (well including tax and recycling it was nearly half-grand). I am not sure whether I would be doing this again next year. Although I have recommended to a very dear friend of mine that he will be able to get steep discount and best deal on Black Friday (surprising he bought 50" Samsung plasma TV for $900 which was a great deal!), I wasn't so sure anymore.

I told myself that I will never do this again...but I am not too sure whether I would be able to restrain myself from making an impulse buy sometime next year...

Ephesians 4:17-32

17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

As a believer, you should not go back to old ways of living. If you were to harden your hearts, your understanding and knowledge of God will diminish. In the end your ignorance will distance you from living the life of God. If you continually sin, your sensitivity to sin will become numb. So, why should you strive for sinless life? It's because the life of God satisfies whereas the life of sin thirsts.

20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

If you continually live in sin, you can not know Jesus Christ (i.e. God). If you were taught in Christ through the truth of the word of God, at first you will change your life style and that will cause your attitude of minds to be renewed. Moreover, you will have a new self, which was initially created by God to be holy and righteous.

25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin"^[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Do not speak untruthfully to brothers and sisters in Christ since we are all members of one body which is church. If you dwell in your anger over a day, you may fall prey to sin. If you steal you must stop stealing and put your hands to a good use otherwise you may fall prey to sin

29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Unwholesome talk is not edifying to the body (believers in church). Thus, we should choose our words carefully so that it does meet the needs of the body and it does benefit those who listen. When we were a prisoner of sin, God redeemed us. If we were to abandon our sinful ways (if we decide to come out of the cage of sin) and respect the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), it will please the Holy Spirit of God.

Ephesians 4:1-16

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Paul states in next three verses what some of the prerequisites are for living a life worthy of the calling. When you are called by God, God has certain tasks in mind for you to perform. The Son of God was sent to the earth as a flesh to reveal the mystery of God.

At the same time, the Spirit of God was sent to us as a gift so that we can carry out the message of the good news. Are we actually living a life worthy or are we just paying a lip service?

2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

As a man of God, you should be completely humble, gentle, patient, and engage with one another in love. In addition, you should make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit with love. There should be one church (the body of Christ) and one Spirit to which each of our spirits defers. And we have one hope in heaven. One Jesus Christ, faith in God and born-again experience… There is one God who is the father of all and oversees us all who are his children. Keeping unity and being one in God is not a simple task and it takes a lot of effort and struggle. If we discontinue this struggle, our faith drifts, so does the unity of the body.

7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it^[a] says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men."^[b] 9(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[c]? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The Son of God appointed some to be apostles, teachers, prophets, and so on (Notice that the appointed ones are the messengers of God). They are the ones who witness of Jesus Christ, that he is God and that Jesus Christ is the act of God’s love for us all. They should not be the only ones who carry out the works of service. Every one of us should be a minister of the good news. When we obey his commands and act out our faith, our church will grow in spirit and be able to reach out to the Gentiles who are ignorant of Jesus Christ. This process will continue till the day that we become the likeness of Christ Jesus.

14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

When we become God’s children, we are no longer infants. When you become a child of God, you become cognizant of who your father is (That is the essence of difference between an infant and child. An infant is not old enough to walk and talk nor can it make an independent judgment. If one is a child of God, that child is able to communicate with the father and love him back).

The recognition of our father is not realized unless we see the Son of God who is Jesus Christ who is in the image of God. In other words, we cannot know God by ourselves nor can we communicate with him because of the severance of our loving relationship between our father and us due to the wage of sin. That severance was bridged by Jesus Christ. God is loving and sinless. Unless we are packaged in Christ, so that our sin looks invisible to God, we cannot directly know God. Only in and through Christ, we can have a glimpse of how God is like and how much God loves us.

That is the reason that we study the Bible, which is about Jesus Christ (the Word was God and the Word became flesh). In the book of Genesis, we see the Word has the power to create the world as well as living things. As we study the Word, we are able to know and understand who Jesus Christ is because he is the Word which witnesses of God the Father. As we learn more and more of the Word (Jesus Christ), we can build the knowledge of God the Father.

Through the image of the Word (Jesus Christ), we become confident and free in knowing that our father will be with us and protect us from harm’s way. In order for us to have the loving relationship with God, we need to be in the body (i.e. church) of Christ and we need to be fed from Christ (the Head, the Word) spiritually and through the word of God (biblical teaching). When we are properly nourished, then we can grow as one body in Christ. When the works of service done by each body part is worthy of the calling, the body will build itself up in love.

Some random thoughts

I just got a call from my former roommate (Justin) back in SLO (friends from Cal Poly) days. He was the youngest among my roommates and also very unique. He was studying electrical engineering back then, but at the same time he was very much interested in oriental medicine. I thought he may become a chiropractor or acupuncturist, but he ended up graduating as an IME (manufacturing engineering).

Many of the graduates became very successful and some are struggling. However, all in all, it appears that most of them are doing fairly well. Interestingly enough, I am probably the only one who is not married at this point. I guess the Lord has some plan in store for me:)

I had to go down to my brother-in-law dental office today to troubleshoot the office network problem. Several days ago, he called me in rather distressed voice about the network problem at his office. I told him that I would be unable to drive down to San Jose during the weekdays, but I will be able to help him out on weekends. Thus, today was the day that I had to help out my brother-in-law. Initially, I thought it was going to take all day, but it turned out that I was able to identify the network problem right away, so the Murphy's Law was in my favor this time around.

As I was driving home, I got into a contemplative mode. And I tried to recall some of the things that I had read in Knowing God. It occurred to me that the Bible verses the author quote and how he explains what it means didn't really go hand in hand. Maybe, that was the reason that I had such a hard time following what he says about the deity of God and Jesus Christ, God the Incarnate.

He does acknowledge that one of the essential qualities of God is omni-presence. Yet, God sent his only son (God himself, God Incarnate) to the earth as flesh. However, here is the dilemma. How can he be omnipresent if he came to the earth as flesh? That means that Jesus Christ is not God. There appears to be some hole in his logic. It is hard to fathom who God is. We just seem to understand a side of God through Jesus Christ. Probably, that is the mystery that we should come to accept as the unknowable.

When you think ahead and do things for their well being

There are times in life when you have to make tough decisions for your family and in that process, you end up alienating yourself. Another way of saying this will be playing a "bad" cop (or villain) hoping that the affected person will realize later on that I did it for the sake of that person.

There were several occasions when I had to do this and I ended up losing my mentor, putting a wedge between myself and the cousins that I grew up with, and tarnishing my own image so much so that I was perceived as a cold-blooded person. It is one thing to contemplate such action and it is another for you to go about executing your premeditated plan.

However, if you are a decision maker, you have to live with your decision whether the consequence of that decision is good or bad. If you make a quick decision and the outcome is not good, you will be considered careless and impulsive. If you take time to make a decision and it doesn't turn out the way you wanted, you will be considered indecisive and cautious. On the other hand, if you make a quick decision and it turns out to be right, you look decisive whereas if you take your time in making a decision and it turns out to be good, you will be considered thorough and thoughtful.

Likewise, how people judge one's decision is based on the consequence not on the process or the effort. It doesn't matter how thoughtful or forward-thinking your plan is.

Since I am not an omniscient being or a person with foresight, there is no way for me to know the consequence of my action, but I do know that the consequence of my action will involve heartaches and regrets which will end up haunting me later in my life. However, you do take such risk on the premise that a change is better than a non-change. You also do take such risk to cut your own losses.

Witnessing to a friend of mine

It is really odd that I am consulted by a friend of mine in regards to his marital issues because I am not married nor have I really "loved" anyone up until this point of my life. I think the reason that some people ask me for an advice is because they think that I would be more objective than themselves and I tend to be fairly blunt (or genuine) in my assessment.

However, it is very odd that God uses an occasion like this to witness to friends of mine who are not Christians. I never thought in my wildest dream that I would be saying something biblical to a friend of mine and he would actually concur and thank me for giving him an analogy which befits his current situation and how that analogy helps him understand his current impasse with his wife or his significant other.

When Dr. Iorg came for the revival, he had given us a message on a passage of the Book of 1 Samuel. During the message, he syas how Saul did not completely "obey" God's commandment and how that effected in God rejecting the kingship of Saul. On the surface, this is a typical example of God through the prophet, Samuel, judging Saul for not obeying his commandment. However, if you were to look one level deeper, you see this is how we view others in our relationships. We always feel like we are a "victim" like in the case of Saul and we give our selfish excuses, however that makes your counterpart even angrier because of the perceived breach of contract that you have made with that person.

I remember Colin Powell as saying to President Bush that if you break a vase, you own it in reference to the U.S. invading Iraq. In case of Saul, the damage was done when he disobeyed God and the relationship was beyond repair. Even if it were to be repaired, God could not have retracted his statement since whatever uttered by God has an eternal consequence.

Knowing this lesson, it is important to realize the consequence of our disobedience to God. Once you have disobeyed God, it can't be undone and it has an eternal consequence.

Have a blessing week.

Meditation on God's Love

What does it mean by loving someone?
Is there such a thing as a loving relationship?

In a Christian sense, the love that we strive for is Agape Love, otherwise known as unconditional love. We love our brothers and sisters "unconditionally" although that statement does come with some baggage because more often than not we say those words to be "correct" because anything else would not be "acceptable" and blasphemous.

How can we love someone or a group of people unconditionally because they happen to believe in the same God, even though we are not in any way blood-related? I hate to use the word, "love" because by uttering it so often in many different situations in a church or para-church setting somehow "cheapens" it. It somehow makes it less genuine. If someone says that he likes someone, craves some food, delights and congratulate someone getting wedded to someone else, you don't feel that strong obsessive and delusional aspect about that person's feeling.

However, as soon as you hear someone mention about someone's love for another you feel the obsession and infatuation with that person. And then your close friends or parents or siblings fret out loud that he or she is "drowned" in love (probably delusional).

So, how is God's love different from us? Is his love obsessive or temporal or conditional? Can we actually understand God's love when our understanding of love is vastly different from God's? Since our understanding of love is different, we don't actually "love" him if we were to love him like we love our parents, siblings, wives, husbands, so on. God will "feel" our love only when we love the way he wants us to love him.

Although God loves everyone equally, we know that his love for his only begotten son and his complete obedience (to his death) was what really pleased God and made God feel loved and glorified. Therefore, we understand that our love for God should be obedience to the teachings of his words in the Bible and Holy Spirit.

In the time of the Old Testament, it was the ministry of the Father through the messengers, aka the prophets. In the time of the New Testament, it was the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the present time, it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If we truly strive to have a loving relationship with God, we should strive for obedience more than anything else because that's how God wants us to love him and how he wants to be glorified.

God Bless!