It's that season!

whas good yall,

dang, where to begin...

since my last post, it's been a crazy season thus far~ thanksgiving was awesome as we started the morning preparing some care-packages for those in need as just a token of how we were able to serve the community!

brother Elliot doin his thang in the subway

thought this was an interesting take...

caption would run something like

"two worlds collide"

question is.. which worlds???? hmmmm ;P

Turkey Bowl 2011!

(Yugun & his championship belt, lol wow

Turkey Bowl Champs!!

HOORAHH! :D

went to my aunts place as usual afterwards... ain't a thanksgiving w/o some kimchi~

nam sayinnnn :D 

this was round 3 for thanksgiving dinners!!

thx Jina for hosting after Turkey bowl!! :D 

no joke....

round 4....

finished my student-teaching @ Newcomers HS this week!!

Christopher Gill is an amazing Social Studies teacher and
as much of pain i probably was to him, 

i learned alot from the dude~ thanx for everything Chris! :D 

Some of the students

(will miss yall!) 

man, i probably say this every year but this year has already come & gone so quickly...

it's December already & i'm ready for 2012~ even if Christ actually does come in 2012!! o_O
i'm excited about all the new chapters God is writing and seeing His hand work so magnificently in my life and the people/communities around me!
les do this fam

it's that time of the season yall~ i'm excited :)

JPeaceout*

Discipleship: Extreme or Expected?

This past weekend was great~ !

had an awesome time with Agape Mission Church @ Keswick (one of the best retreat centers yet)
& i'm blessed to have shared those moments with the fam, suchas this:

(during our morning devotionals... :D)

as u can probably tell, my sleep schedule has been altered and Monday started @ 11 AM for me... -__-;;

the guest speaker Pastor Isaac spoke on discipleship, which has been an ongoing theme for AMC these past couple of months.

every Christian asks themselves, "Is discipleship an extreme or expected aspect of Christianity?",

 what this means to me.... is the question,  "does being a follower of Christ require deep sacrifices/decisions or not?"

and i would say, "of course!"

to me, it's both extreme and expected~

as C.S. Lewis states:

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, 

and if true, of infinite importance. 

The only thing it cannot be is moderately important"

as followers of Christ, we are called to make the hard decisions for God and make sacrifices and even suffer for Him,

                                     "However, if you suffer as a Christian, 

do not be ashamed, 

but praise God that you bear that name."

1 Peter 4:16

what an awesome truth.

being a disciple of Christ goes beyond checking off the title "Christian" on a census religion question,

but actively being fed the world-changing word of God and applying it into a world that needs change... whether it's your own world or someone else's.

discipleship is both extreme & expected, do something about it.

Tribute to Sam Balmores

this past weekend, i found out my friend and brother in Christ drowned @ Lingayen beach, Philippines, trying to save another friend, Ate Weng, who also drowned from massive waves.

when my sister in Christ Mel called me @ 1 in the morning, to tell me the news, i was pretty much stricken with disbelief...or shock, grief...just super sad.

 once i heard the news i really didn't know what else to do but pray.

i've lost loved ones such as my grandma this past year, but never really a friend....

i served w Sam during the Philippines mission in 2010, planting EMC Dagupan... and this unique dude, served and dedicated his life to the Lord which transcended to his ministries and his communities... definitely loved. and both Ate Weng & Sam will be sincerely missed.

he was a seminary student & Pastor Ferdinand's eldest son, the head pastor for EMC Dagupan.

28 years old. man... had so much in store for him...so gifted.

i know that whether he lived or died, he'd want God to b glorified

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, 

who have been called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28

we are already planning for our 2012 Philippines mission & it's still so surreal to know that they are not gunna b there with us.
nonetheless, there's peace & joy to know they are with God and one day, we'll see them again :)

God bless u Kapatid, u da man. ty for everything ....

@ a worship service with Sam & i :)

the church does not have much funds to prepare a proper burial and we are taking up donations & offerings for anyone who{d like to contribute, otherwise please keep the families & friends in prayer! ty

(there is a paypal setup on this page if u would like to send donations to the church!)

here is a link to a blog dedicated to EMC Philippines,
http://emcphilny.blogspot.com/

October is ober

Kathryn Scott is the artist of the week y'all,

powerful irish female vineyard worship leader, das wsup.

ne how,

October has been a pretty eventful month~ actually blogged once every week atleast ;)
hope to regularly do so~

went to Max Brenner the other night w a "special friend"
Happy Birthday Mandy! ;D
they decided to stick a candle in a piece of chocolate for her... how sweet & stingy of them......

place was dumb expensive, but good experience overall~ their fondue's are a must have :)

this past week actually has been a blessed one...

although there is still so much ahead of me, i feel as if today has so many things i can walk away with by itself....

recently ive been tremendously blessed and stressed with my church.... but its a good kinda stress...

the kinda burden u wana carry not only for your family in Christ, but for God. 

not carry God's burden kinda burden, but a holy type burden, whereas instead of feeling overwhelmed by the journey, ur overwhelmed by the blessing of the journey... even with all that baggage.

As a Christian there's so much to learn...

so many times we try to meet God by our own means.... but u come to realize its end sooner than we'd hope.

& the truth that God comes to meet u... or the bigger truth of how God already came to meet us, on the cross, through Christ.... smacks u like a brick wall.

the song rings truth....

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood."

as a korean pastor who sounds jamaican when saying this likes to say,

"be killin sin or sin be killin u (mon)"

werd.

JPeaceOut

"Good Company"

"How good & pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!"

 Psalm 133:1

my brothers Bruce & Alex, have been staying over for the past couple of weeks, 

moreso the weekends than weekdays,

but Bruce attends QC w me and Alex lives in Brooklyn and sleeps over during the weekends cuz he attends EMC which is located in Oakland Gardens, Bayside. (http://ebenezermc.com/)

we've all played shows together or worship sets, conferences, revivals, etc...

i'm blessed to be in good company :)

& of course i don't mind them staying over, as long as they keep the steak comin & house clean! lol

they've been awesome in cooking for me & my roommates and stocking up our frig @ times, can't complain ;)

our korean brother from Uzbekistan 

cooking us some Russian omeletes~holla! :D

(btw, yall ever try Russian ketchup? offdahook! :)

there company has definitely blessed me in ways i wouldn't have expected...

we've been able to hold each other accountable in terms of studying & being good stewards of our studies and also our health!

Bruce & Alex are really fit & healthy people and they & Enrique encourage healthier eating habits & exercise.... but nonetheless my laziness gets in the way more than i'd like... T__T (u could preach witdat huh)

one thing id hope we be able to do is hold ea other more accountable spiritually.

will b praying that God uses our time together in a redemptive & sanctified manner~ afterall, we won't have too many moments like this left so i will do what i can to cherish it =)

ne how, das it for now, till next time fam ;)

stay blessed and stay fresh!

JPeaceout! ;)

_________________________________________

Chris Tomlin new single:
"How Great is Our God (World Edition)"
 Hindi, Indonesian, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Zulu, Africans, Mandarin

epic...

I am Second...

so i stumbled upon this site called, "I Am Second" cause ma man Lecrae was on it and was instantly hooked~
with its aesthetic & sleek designs and films, not to mention its Christ centeredness and mission to encourage those who struggle ~ i've become a fan of this movement !

athletes such as Sam Bradford & Tony Dungy,
actors such as Stephen Baldwin & Alex Kendrick,
musicians such as Jason Castro & Lecrae,
politicians such as Mike Huckabee,
and everyday ppl like u & me sharing their stories of how Christ became first, pretty awesome.

lotta things have happened this past week and it feels like this semester is in full cycle now...

with papers and midterms rolling in, planning and meetings for church, and soon my work....sigh*

easily overwhelmed but staying confident and pray'd up cause i kno God got ma back~

either way, here r some photos of my week :)

__________________________________________________

My roommate Curtis' BDAY

(we surprised him w some ice cream cake and Rosa's pizza after a hard days work, yall knoooo)

here's my silly sister on her birthday this past week~ o_O

Amanda & I on her birthday :)
(finally got her that pillow pet she literally dreamsss abouttt)

__________________________________________________________________

just for laughs :D

a video made on my spare time...

October October

Song of the Week!

Jamie Grace ft. TobyMac - Hold Me

AHHH IT'S ALREADY OCTOBER!! O_o

(Happy birthday Chunkit ;D)

it's been an eventful and victorious week thus far & i'm praying God would keep me in a positive and productive state-of-mind...

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward 

in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:13b-14

werd

"The Way" was awesome and it was really a blessing and encouraging to see random ppl fervently praying and worshipping God!

for our first prayer/praise night we were excited to see about 40-50 ppl in a sanctuary that fits 700+ because our usual Friday night discipleship classes avg 10 ppl! 

so we're sitting there like, "where'd all these ppl come from?"

it's not so surprising when we realize that prayer brings friends, family, & even strangers together~

it's a universal component that ppl from different walks of life understand, or do they?

we're only hoping, expecting, & praying for God to do His thang and for us to b faithful servants & we know God will continually fill those seats~

we were also excited to see 44 ppl in our first service/transition into the main sanctuary this past Sunday!! i thought the change would be too drastic or unnecessary due to the limited amt of ppl, but it was actually refreshing & very...spacious... hopefully all that space encourages hearts to worship bit more freely :)

either way, i have a long week ahead of me...

beginning my student-teaching @ Newcomers H.S. which is apparently #6 according to the U.S. News Report of 100 Top Gold Medal Schools, whereas Stuyvesant is #31 & Townsend Harris #33, go figure -_-;;

http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-high-schools/rankings/gold-medal-list

hope everyone has a great week as well :)

till next time,

JPeaceOut

The Way

"Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays."

_________________________________

Last Friday of every month AMC/KCPCQ will be hosting a prayer/praise night @ 7pm!!!

dinner will be served @ 6:30 pm

please join us if ur around the neighborhood! :)

church website

http://agapemissionchapel.org/index.html

fb event pg
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120698451366826

also starting from this coming Sunday, Oct 2nd, we will be having service in the main sanctuary which fits 700+ ppl (dream big! :D)

and it will also be the first Sunday i've become the official worship leader

it's definitely been a while since i've began leading worship on Sundays and only hope & pray that God would keep me humble and hungry for him.

i'm excited for these friday night prayer/praise nights that we're calling "the Way"modeled after the early Christians who were called "The Way" (Acts 9, 19, 22)

i'm expecting God to move at these prayer meetings and for peoples lives to be changed... it changed mine 6 years ago.

_________________________________

"if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 

2 Chronicles 7:14

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." 

Matthew 11:28

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

James 5:16

"pray without ceasing" 

1 The 5:17

____________________________________________________________________

Chris Tomlin - I Lift My Hands to Believe Again (2011)

September September

seems i've been only posting once a month =\

will do what i can to post more frequently

my friend, now brother in Christ, JACK in the above picture to the left accepted Christ not too long ago & the EMC family & friends have been psyched! ya gotta believe me when i say, that only an act of God  couldve changed this brothas heart!

 i roomed with him for a few months and he didnt really want nething to do with Christianity, by the time i moved out... he supported me on my missions trip that summer which i was very moved by....

someone who doesn't even believe in God would support someone who does~ i'd only encourage Christians out there to follow the exemplary heart of Christ for both jews & gentiles, & go beyond judging or condemnation.... but "love covers a multitude of sins"

i found some pictures that i thought id post,

 sega genesis on mac, epic.

these are pictures of my roommates @ Enrique's photoshoot @ Kissena park

has ne1 ever heard of this game? 

Settlers of Catan?

played for the first time not too long ago, pretty fun game, but gosh long.

 this is Pastor Stephen holdin down his table @ the college fair KCPCQ had, 

(don't be fooled by the treats and welch's)

 acclaimed golfer & Stanford student, Michelle Wie,

 came thru to the college fair as well, she is super tall (6'1)

had a great opportunity to c my cousin get married!

prayin that God would continually bless Stephen & Cara :)

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Jo! :D

well nothing else much to write, been trying to keep busy & keep up w ma studies until i begin teaching @ Newcomers High School in October!

God has been putting alot of things on my heart that i can't quite yet share now or here.... but in time =)

stay blessed y'all

JPeaceout!

passion 2012 ne1?

"Transitions"

this was a shot taken @ Basileia 2011 that i took w my camera phone (not bad eh? :)

we laid down our crowns b4 the throne of grace and written inside were the things that were holding us back from doing so.... (apologies to the privacy of this person)


but i felt that this was a great depiction of what everyday looks like for me.....


in this new season of transitions, i'm constantly learning to give things away to God and for God, ultimately for His glory.


my last Sunday @ EMC was about 2 Sundays ago and it was of course, bittersweet.
my EMC family will always be taken w me wherever i go, how could we separate? i live with 2 EMCers..... HA!

i shared a song i'd written 2 days prior to its debut called, "Epitome", which spoke about the things in this world u can or can not control, but nonetheless our God is the epitome of everything, not ourselves.

& so we exist for greater things than ourselves...

this past weekend, i invited the NWB to come over to my humble yet cozy place...
the NWB have always had a special place in my heart, and these guys have done so much to make my experience @ Ebenezer a blessing... including a thick skin!
they will always have a special place in my heart :)

2009

2011

a 2010 photo will come soon, but not here right now.....

ne how,

my new family Agape Mission Chapel, AMC.... go figure.... EMC to AMC -__-;;

we recently had a revival night on the 19th, August... & it was truly an amazing night of worship

and i was super happy my EMC family came to join me :)

i was able to grow relationships & bonds w the worship & leadership team, & enjoy some MAPO GALBI wit em, probably one of the best Galbi's ive tasted, its' that serious!

i am truly anticipating how God will move in this next season w AMC, 

for God's glory, les do this!

so many transitions happening in my life right now, it's ridiculous.
i'm having trouble carrying different burdens, preparing for a new season, school, work, family, girlfriend....

this is Amanda, my girlfriend for alittle over 2 years~

we've been through ups and downs and she has been such a blessing and example of God's love and provision in my life!

im unworthy....

we decided we'll b parting ways (for now) to focus on our relationship w God & the ministries He's placed us to serve in, whether church, campus, school or family...

she was my first relationship after coming to Christ & she has spurred me on to claim the man of God He's prepared(ing) me to be, & i can only be thankful & humbled.

TE QUIERO MUCHO JAGITTA! :D

this last pensive picture of serenity was taken w my brothers in DR... it reminds me of new beginnings and a hopeful future.... ready for what the world has to throw @ me....

i know in the midst of storms, the anchor that holds is the wisdom of the cross....

"In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! 

I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Small Change Big Change

haven't really updated here but nonetheless i'm still makin moves and God is moving even more as life progresses!

started another blog with my brother Bruce called "smallchangebigchange.blogspot.com" and it's vision is, "to connect the people of New York City in building God's kingdom in different parts of the world"..... show some love ya'll =)

the blog and subway ministry has been a blessing and we've just arrived back from Santo Domingo, helping build the churches, relationships and communities....

will be updating but am super fatigued and overwhelmed....

God is so good

"A SU NOMBRE!!!!" :D