Oneighty Ministries

New Blog

2010-08-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Check us out at ckconeighty.blogspot.com

Christmas Party (a little late)

2010-01-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

I realize this update is about a month late. But better late then never. These pictures are from our Christmas party. We had a white elephant gift exchange, a mystery dinner and played Bunco.

Christmas party

2009-11-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to make a quick announcement.

Our Christmas party is coming. It will be at church, December 19th from 4:00 to 8:00pm.

All you need to bring is a present - under $5.00 for our white elephant gift exchange.

We will feed you dinner and provide the fun.

Don't miss it! Here are some pictures from last years party.

I'm Back!!!

2009-11-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

I have not updated my blog in forever! I'm sorry to all of you who use to faithfully check for updates. I have made it my goal to update regularly. Since I have not updated in a long time, let me give you a recap of all that happened this summer and so far this fall.

In July we had our annual youth group camping trip at Honeyman State Campground. We spent the weekend sandboarding, playing in the lake, roasting marshmellows and having a ton of fun! Here is a few pictures.

All summer the youth group met for lunch and a Bible study on Wednesdays. We call it BYOL (Bring your own lunch). Here are some pictures from this summer

The youth group also traveled to Tacoma and went to Wild Waves. For those of you who have never heard of it, it is a theme park with roller coasters and water rides! It was pretty sweet. Even though it was a little cold and rainly, it was still a ton of fun. Here is a few more pictures.

We also went on an all church retreat this summer.

We had an Arizona Mission Trip reunion with Salem Heights Church.

This fall we started by up youth group (Oneighty) on Friday nights.

We also started back up our weekly high school Bible study (Wo-Man club) on Wednesday nights. In fact, last week our group went to the haunted house in Salem.

Twice this fall we have also has the "5th Quarter." Together we went to the football game at Crescent Valley High School and then came back to church after the game for pizza, games and worship.
The High schoolers also went on a retreat to Camp Tadmor with Salem Heights Church in October.

In October the entire youth group went bowling one Friday night.

As a church we celebrated our 30th anniversary!

We have also continued to meet on Sunday afternoon for church.

Charissa and I have been going to EPIC an asian college Bible study on the campus of OSU.

I think that is almost everything we have been up to lately! I probably forgot something, oh well.

Check back soon for more information about what is happening at CKC.

Arizona

2009-07-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

We have been back from Arizona for a week now and I haven’t said anything about the trip. So, here it goes…

First, it was exhausting. The whole thing basically consists of late nights and early mornings. We try to get six hours of sleep each night, but for some reason it rarely seemed to work out that way.

Second, it wasn’t as hot as normal. In fact, it rained a lot the last day we were there. The rain made for some interesting moments. Because there really isn’t any paved roads on the reservation (at least in the neighborhoods), the rain just made mud – and lots of it. In fact, we got a couple of our vans stuck in the church parking lot! It wasn’t a pretty picture. Tae-Han, Jae and I were out in the middle of a mud swamp, pushing a van at 10 o’clock at night! Took us a while, but we finally got it free.

Third, I attempted to catch/kill a rat with a plastic fork. Yep, you read it right. We had a few girls get sick during the week, so we had them sleep in a room off of the kitchen at the church. But, they thought they heard a rat moving around in the dark…so I went in and sat and waited with my fork…I’m not sure what would have happened if I had actually seen the rat. I never found the rat…but we moved the girls, so everything worked out.

Fourth, our students did an amazing job working with the Navajo children. We had 11 students travel with us this year, and it was great to see them work so hard. Angela and Daniel both shared their testimonies in the church service on Sunday. Which was pretty incredible! We played games, gave “piggy-back-rides” to the children, shared Christ, played basketball, and sang songs! I’ll try to put some pictures up here soon of the trip…the Internet at my house is super slow…so be patient.

Fifth, there was no hospital trips! After last year’s crazy hospital run at 11pm, we certainly didn’t want to do that again. Thankfully, for the most part, everyone remained healthy.

Sixth, going with Salem Heights was great, again! For the second straight year we teamed up with Salem Heights Church to travel to Arizona.

So there you have it…I could tell stories for hours…but my fingers would get tired. I’ll work on getting pictures up soon!

Ice Blocking

2009-06-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a going away party/birthday party for some of our students. It was Jessica's 17th birthday and it was a going away party for Michael, Veronica and Esther.

Michael left this morning for Korea, where he will spend the summer before returning to New York to go to College.

Veronica leaves tomorrow for Korea, she will attend an international school there next year.

Esther leaves tomorrow as well, for Switzerland where she will spend 6 months at a YWAM base.

So, in honor of them we had a party and went ice blocking. If you have never been before, its pretty fun. All you need is a block of ice and a grass hill. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. It was a fun and sad night. A bunch of students of Salem Heights Church came down to hang out with us which was cool.

As fun as it was, it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the night. I have to be honest and say, it is nights like those that make me hate my job. Well...hate might be a strong word. I love the relationship I have with students, but it makes it really hard when they have to leave.

Anyways, here are some pictures from ice blocking.

Scavenger Hunt

2009-06-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

"Time flies when you are having fun!"

We had our last youth group night of the year last Friday night. I feel like we just started the school year, and now its almost summer!

To end the year, we had a huge scavenger hunt all over Corvallis. The students were divided into teams and given a van with a parent driving. The point of the scavenger hunt was to take as many pictures of your team doing the things on the list.
Here are some pictures from the night.

"Take a picture reading a book"

"Take a picture on a fire hydrant"

" Take a picture pretending to be a rock band infront of Gracewinds"

" "Play 'duck, duck, goose' in a parking lot."

" Play football in front of Reser Stadium"

"Take a picture with another Korean who does not go to our church"

" Take a picture with your whole team in a phone booth."

"Take a picture in front of American Dream"

Graduation

2009-06-05T12:39:00.001-07:00

It seems like this past year has flown by! This year we have three seniors who will be graduating from high school. It's always exciting to see people graduate and move on with their lives, but its sad to know that these students won't be around on a regular basis. So, here is our graduating seniors: Esther Ha, Michael Kang, and Chanho Park.

This is a picture of Esther from last summer in Arizona. She will begin the next chapter of her life this summer. Esther is planning on attending DTS (Disciple Training School) this summer. She will be traveling to Switzerland at the end of June! She won't return until next winter! I'm excited for her to have the opportunity, but we will miss her while she is away.

This is Michael. I'm not sure what this picture is from, but it pretty much captures the essences of Michael. He will be traveling across the United States to attend Syracuse University next year! Michael has been an incredible part of the ministry here at CKC. He is a hard worker and always willing to serve. We will miss him next year.

This is Chanho at one of our Spring retreats. Next fall he will head north to attend the University of Washington. Chanho is part of the Korean worship team. Chanho arrived in America at the same time I started working for the Korean church. I am excited for him to still be close, hopefully he comes back to visit on occasion.

Top Ten

2009-05-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

After negelecting my blog for the past few weeks, I have decided to return. Sorry to all of you who faithfully read this... I promise to update a lot in the next couple of weeks.

So, in less then a month Oneighty will be headed for Arizona to work with the Navajo Native Americans. We leave on Thursday, June 18th and will return on the 28th. Here is a list of the students who will be going with us.

Jae Kwon
Clayton Kwon
Jane Kim
Angela Ahn
Jessica Hong
Veroncia Min
Daniel Ha
Tae-Han Yeo
Michael Kang
San Yoon
Sun Yim

Plus me and Charissa!

So, in an effort to get everyone excited about trip, Angela made a "Top Ten List" of reasons she is wants to go to Arizona this year. Here it is.

Top Ten Reasons to go to Arizona
By: Angela Ahn.

10) D-Teams
9) Van Rides
8) Encouragement Cards
7) Canvassing
6) AZ T-Shirts
5) Picking up kids/walking them home
4) Lake Powell
3) Youth Group Bonding (salem kids)
2) Vaction Bible School
1) Navajo Kids

So there you have it. If you know Angela, tell her happy Birthday...it's Saturday!

Wordle

2009-04-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

I came across this cool website today. It's called "wordle." Basically, you can submit a paper and it will take all of your words and make it into a poster. The words that are used the most will appear larger. So, I submitted my blog and this is what came back. It's kind of small, but if you click on it you will see a much larger version.

Easter

2009-04-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

This past Weekend was Easter!
At CKC we always have a baptism service on Easter, which is always really cool. This year Stephanie Hong was baptized! Here is some pictures from her baptism. Ask her sometime to tell you her story about how she was saved. It's pretty cool.
Angela and Sun sang a special song for us too...I wish I had that on video, it was pretty awesome. Oh well, enjoy the pictures.

Arizona...Last Year

2009-04-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

So, Sun requested that I put up some pictures from last years trip. So, here are a few pictures.
Basically, for those of you who don't know, our church went down to Arizona last summer to work with the Navajo Native Americans. We spent one week running a Vacation Bible School for the children in the two of Kaibeto.

BreakAway!

2009-03-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

Despite the rain, lack of sleep, and our first ever broken leg...we survived another year of BreakAway!

We had only been at the camp for like an hour when Do Kuen broke his leg while playing basketball. We didn't think it was broken so he actually stayed the night at camp...and the next morning when he was still in pain, Mr. Ha took him back to Corvallis to see the doctor. Turns out...he had broken his leg in THREE places! In retospect, I would say he was a pretty tough kid.

So, in three years of BreakAway we have only had one causalty...but it broke in three places...one for each year. Luckily he won't need surgery and is in a cast.

As for the rest of the weekend, it was awesome! My dad came and spoke which was really cool. The twins, Daryl and Ryan along with Sun and Angela led worship. Charissa's parents cooked amazing food all weekend.

I'll try to tell some cool stories over the next week...so check back...for now, here is two pictures of our group.

Risk

2009-03-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sitting above my desk at church is a Calendar that my sister gave me for Christmas. Each month has one or two pictures from the youth group. There are two pictures for the month of March. The first is a funny one of Lois, Seihwa, Jane and Angela all looking scared and worried. There picture is taken with a sign that reads, "Ride at your own risk." Here it is...

It makes me laugh every time I see it. It was taken at Thril-ville two summers ago. You can find that same sign throughout Thril-ville in front of nearly every ride. I'm sure there is some risk when you get on the different rides. Some of them are pretty old and look like they may just break at any moment. Despite the risk, how much would we miss out on if we looked at that sign and said, "I'm not willing to 'take a risk' and go on this ride."

There are a lot of things in life that are"ride at your own risk." There are numerous examples that come to my mind.

Sharing Christ with a friend is a risk. You might be rejected.

Standing up for truth is a risk. You might be rejected.

Choosing to live a life that is "set apart" is risky. You might be rejected.

I've read stories of countless people who have given up great, well-paying jobs to be a pastor or missionary. Pastor Paul Kim, our pastor, has a PhD in something crazy like nuclear science... but he gave it up to be a pastor...what a risk!

Someone once said, "the greatest risk is not risking anything at all." I'm not sure who said it, but its true.

The second picture on my calendar for the month of March is of me and Joe on a ride at Thril-ville. Here it is.

It was a pretty fun ride. I guess you could say, "the risk paid off."

The Bible is full of risk takers.

Moses going before Pharaoh.

David standing before Goliath.

Peter stepping out of the boat onto the water.

Paul giving up his life to preach the Gospel.

God didn't save us to sit behind a sign scared, he saved us to take a risk and live a life for him. I wonder how different our church would be if we were willing to risk everything to reach everyone. I wonder how different our lives would look if we were willing to risk our pride to serve others.

I wonder how many of us are sitting behind the sign sacred. You're probably risking more sitting there, than if you were out doing something.

2009-03-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

We are less then three weeks away from BreakAway! If you haven't signed up yet you better get on that! If you still aren't sure if you want to go, watch this video of the top ten reasons to go on BreakAway. Maybe it will convince you.

I told everyone at church yesterday it is 80% wierd and stupid and 20% funny...

Last Weekend

2009-03-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my wife, Charissa, was out of town. She went to the beach for a women’s retreat with Salem Heights Church. So, I invited Daniel, Jae and Shane over for the weekend. They came home with me from youth group Friday night and I took them back to Corvallis on Sunday for church.

It was a pretty awesome weekend! I didn’t get a lot of sleep though. The three of them actually got less sleep than me.

Basically, the weekend consisted of us playing video games, Shane drinking Mt. Dew, playing basketball, eating Tater Tot Casserole, and making a crazy video (that we will show in church next Sunday).

The crazy thing about working at CKC is that we get new students all the time. In fact, a year ago, I had never met Jae. He was somewhere in Korea, but this past summer he moved here with his family. The sad part is, he is only here for one year. The cool part is, he’s a pretty cool guy. I feel like he has always been a part of our youth group. So, it was fun to hang out with him this weekend!

This next weekend Charissa has invited all the high school girls to come hang out at our house! What a difference a week can make.

Here are some pictures from this weekend…I stole them from Jae’s facebook.

BreakAway 2009

2009-02-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

BreakAway 2009 is almost here!

Just in case you never pay attention at church, check your email or mailbox, here is the information again.

When: March 27-29
Where: Molalla Retreat Center
Cost: $70 or $50 dollars if you bring a friend

Sign up by March 8th and you get a free t-shirt!

Here are some pictures from last year...

Our Sunday

2009-02-16T15:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an exciting day at CKC.

It was Danny's last day at church. He is (or was) our worship leader but is headed to do missions work in China. It has been awesome to get to know him over the past two years and watch him lead our students. He will be greatly missed! However, I am excited that God has brought along other people who will be leading our worship team.

We also had an Arizona mission trip meeting.

We will once again be working with the Navajo Native Americans. We will run a Vacation Bible School for the children in the area.

We have now had two meeting to prepare for the trip. In order to go on the trip each student has to share their testimony with the rest of the group. So, yesterday Sun shared her testimony with us. It was awesome! I want to just type it up and put it on here but I wont steal her thunder...

I'm excited to hear everyone else share their stories!

Finally, Charissa and I stopped by the 50th wedding anniversery of a couple I know. I don't knwo if you caught that, but I said 50th wedding anniversery. Thats a long time! Its pretty rare today to see people who stay married at least 20 years, yet alone 50 years. Its pretty cool to see a couple who honors God and has been faithful to him and each other that long.

Anyways...it was a busy day...but a good one.

Florida pt. 4

2009-02-11T06:30:00.001-08:00

The conference ended last night. So, over the past five days I have heard 28 speakers!

I'll be flying home today! I'm ready to go home. As much as I like the weather, I'm excited to see Charissa.

Anyways, I'll see most of you soon!

Florida pt. 3

2009-02-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days I have heard some pretty incredible speakers. It is overwhelming at times. I feel like I have already gotten my money's worth...and I still have a whole day left tomorrow.

I have heard men who have been pastors for over 40 years. Pastors who have huge churches and pastors of small churches. I have heard seminary presidents, Christian leaders, and publishing company executives. I have heard messages on a variety of subjects, but common theme binds them altogether.

Passion.

Passion for Christ. Passion to know Christ and make his name known.

The thing is, none of them said that was their passion. I could just see it. I wonder if people see that in me? Their enthusiasm is contagious. The important thing is, passion isn't something you can make up. Sure, you can pretend, but most people will see right through that. What our world needs is passionate believers.

The conclusion that I have come to is that in order to be passionate about something you have to become a disciple of it.

One of the speakers quoted Soren Kierkegaard who said,

There was a time when one could almost be afraid to call himself a disciple
of Christ because it meant so much. Now we can do it with complete ease
because it means nothing at all.

Maybe that is why so many Christians lack passion for their savior...we have so few real disciples. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the freedom of religion we experience in America. Yet, that freedom allows for mediocre Christians.

My point, I want to be so passionate about my savior that everyone knows I am a child of the king. That doesn't happen by me yelling louder...it happens as I follow Christ and become his disciple. Being a disciple means something.

It means to take up my cross and deny myself.

Florida pt.2

2009-02-07T19:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was driving downtown to find the church. I have a GPS system with me, so I typed in the address and let it do the rest. It took me to the middle of downtown! When I got to where the GPS said I should be...all I saw was high rise buildings. I thought I was lost, but then I realized I was in the right place. These building were the church. In fact, the church takes up nearly 12 city blocks.

That's not a typo, 12 city blocks. I wish you could see this place. It is pretty incredible. There is three separate parking structures!

Anyways, the whole trip has been great so far! I think I heard 8 different speakers today! All of them were amazing! I'm pretty tired now. I can't even begin to explain everything I heard. It is almost too much for me to digest in one day.

Tomorrow will not be quite as busy. I'll go to church tomorrow morning and at night but I don't have anything scheduled for the afternoon. I think I might drive to the beach and check out the warm ocean.

It's getting pretty late here...so I'll write more tomorrow.

Florida pt.1

2009-02-06T11:24:00.001-08:00

I made it to Florida!

I love flying on planes, mainly because every time I fly it seems to be an adventure. Yesterday was no different.

Charissa and I got up at four in the morning and we drove to Portland. My plane took off at 6:50. After checking in, Charissa and I had a small breakfast in the airport before I had to walk through security. The flight from Portland to L.A. was pretty uneventful. However, I will say I had very bad luck with seating. I was actually excited because I had been assigned a window seat on all three of my flights. But, on this first flight, an old man had sat in my seat. He didn't know how to read his ticket right. He was already sitting when I arrived so I told him to stay and I took his seat on the aisle. Then, on my second flight, I had a window seat, but there was actually no window. For some reason, there was just no window in our row. So, that was a little disappointing. If I worked really hard I could see out the window in the row ahead of me, but it just wasn't the same. Finally, my last flight, from Atlanta to Jacksonville, I sat next to the window but it was right on the wing of the plane and I couldn't actually see much. Oh well...

Anyways...I sat in LAX for about two and a half hours waiting for my flight to take off. I basically just sat, ate some McDonalds and read some of my book. The flight was fine, a little long, but a movie and my Itouch kept me occupied.

My plane landed in Atlanta at 7:30pm and my next flight left at 8:15pm. So, I was a little crunched for time, especially when I don't know my way around the airport. As soon as I got off the plane I found someone to tell me where I should be. Turns out...I was about as far away as I could get from my gate. So, I quickly walked across the terminal I was in and down some stairs on caught the tram that circles the whole airport. My gate was in Terminal "E" and I got off my previous plane in the main Terminal. Thus, I got on the tram that had to stop at terminal "A,B,C, and D" before we ever got to mine. Finally, I got of the tram and walked up the stairs. As soon as I got up the stairs I heard an announcement over the intercom..."This is the final boarding call for Delta flight 332 heading for Jacksonville, Florida at gate E3." THAT WAS MY PLANE! I basically took off running. However, I was at gate E28 and I had to go clear to the other end of the terminal to get to my gate. So, out of breath,I made it to the gate and walked right on the plane, found my seat and we took off. It all happened so fast that I didn't really have time to be nervous, but I was pretty scared for a few moments.

After landing in Jacksonville I found my luggage and hooked up with my rental car and made it to my hotel. It was pretty cold last night! I thought Florida was suppose to be warm.

This morning, I slept in...mainly because my body has not adjusted to the new time zone. When I woke up I opened up the window and it is incredible outside. It is a little cold out, I had to wear a coat but it is still really nice.

Around lunch time I down to the church wear the conference is at and registered. There isn't any thing happening until 7:00pm tonight. So after registering I walked around the HUGE church for a little while and now have made my way back to my hotel.

So, I'm excited to get this thing started. Oh, and so far I have driven the wrong way on a one way street and spilled my coke on my shirt but I'm still excited to be here!

I'll keep you all updated on the rest of my trip...so check back soon.

A day for sporting

2009-02-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Me, Charissa and Sun went to the Cresent Valley vs. Corvallis High school track meet. We went to watch San, Daniel, Jessica, Veronica, Jae and Michael. Here are a few pictures from the meet! Great job! Sorry we didn't get pictures of everyone.

Here is Jessica
Then Michael. Then a couple of San. And a couple of Veronica.

My Bench

2009-02-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

The view is incredible from where I am sitting.

The sun is beginning to set and I can see the light reflecting off the snow covered mountains in the background. I’m not really good at guessing distance, but I bet I can see for miles right now. I can see across the valley- trees, roads, fields, and a few country homes.

It’s a peaceful place to be.

The cool thing is, it’s only a short walk from my house – in fact, when I’m really quiet I can hear my dog barking in our backyard.

I haven’t written in a while, I’m not sure why. I would blame it on busyness, but I was just as busy a month ago. I would blame it on a lack of thoughts, but I have still been thinking.

I do a lot of thinking.

It’s a big part of my job. In fact, it is one of the most important parts of my job. I get asked all the time how the Bible, written so long ago, applies to our lives today. It makes me think. I get asked how there can be so much pain and heartache in the world and still be a God. Why do bad things always happen to good people and good things always seem to happen to bad people? It causes me to think.

I have been asked how science and religion go together, why some Christians don’t act all that “Christian” and why God allows so much hate.

All of these questions and more, cause me to think.

It is here, sitting on a perfectly placed bench, on top of a hill, over looking a valley, that I like to think.

I don’t always come up with the best answers. To be honest, I usually only come up with only one. It isn’t the answer that seems more intellectually satisfying. But, it is incredibly comforting.

It is as if God is saying,
“this is my creation and you are my child. I created you, I saved you, and now I hold you tightly in my arms.”

Strangely, I’m satisfied with that as an answer. I don’t know why some kids are forced to live in homes that are abusive. I don’t know why helpless children die. I don’t know why a man would rape an innocent girl, a father would beat his child, or why families must suffer in the cold tonight because they have no home.

I don’t know the answer, but I am satisfied with knowing that the God who created the mountains also created me. The God who holds time in his hands, has grabbed a hold of me. I also am reminded that this same God also deperately cares about the hurt and pain in people's lives.

I still have questions and I still continue to think, but I am left in awe of who God is. He is the Great I AM.

Maybe you think about the same things. Maybe you aren’t satisfied with the answer, “God is God, and I am not.” But if you have a moment, you can join me on this bench and maybe you will see what I see painted across the sky, whispering in the wind, and calling out from the depths of creation. It is the fingerprints of God saying, “you are mine – trust in me.”

Back Home

2009-01-21T14:43:00.001-08:00

Things are just about back to normal. I have been home for exactly a week and feel like I haven't slowed down. Macie still whines when I don't play with her, there never seems to be food in the cupboard, and gas prices seem to be rising.

Things are getting back to normal at church too! Last friday was our first Friday night youth group of the new year! It was fun to play games again, I think we took 5 weeks off if you count the two weeks of christmas skit practice.

We also had our first Arizona Mission Trip meeting on Sunday. It looks like we will be taking 10 students this summer to work with the Navajo Native Americans. I'm really excited and I think most of the students are too. It's different this year because about half of our students went last year so they kind of know what to expect. I'll keep you updated as we get closer to leaving. We have much planning and fundraising to do!

It was nice to meet with everyone at church on Sunday. Even though I only missed one week, I missed being able to worship with everyone.

Finally, tonight is our first "Man Club" of 2009. I feel like we haven't met together in forever! I am excited to hangout tonight, have our root beer floats, and study the Bible.

Anyways, its good to be home and get back in the swing of things.

Travel Adventures pt. 4

2009-01-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated in a couple days, mainly because not much has happened.

Tomorrow, after a brief class in the morning, I will began the drive home! I'm pretty excited to finally come home, I feel like I have been gone forever.

The class I am currently in is called, "Urban Church Planting." Urban means city. Honestly, I have never really thought about planting a church in the city. I have always liked big cities. I have even said I would like to live in a downtown area for a year or two...but not for a long time.

But, this class has been challenging. Did you know that worldwide there is now more people who live in the city than outside the city. This means there are more urban people than suburban or country people. Yet, in nearly ever major city in America, if you were to plot all the churches on a map, you would end up with what looks like a donut. There simply is not many churches in the downtown area. For example, there is about 1 million people moving to the city each week in the world. How do we expect to reach all those people if there aren't a lot of churches in those cities? Well, it goes to show that we need churches in the city.

Anyways, there are a lot of thoughts running through my head right now...and I'm not sure if means much of anything..but maybe it does.

So, I guess next time I write I will hopefully be safely back at home in Salem!

Travel Adventures pt.3

2009-01-08T22:23:00.000-08:00

This isn't as much of an adventure as it is a thought.

Yesterday morning, I got up a little bit earlier to go into town and get some Starbucks to start the day. Like normal, I ordered myself a white chocolate mocha and returned to school for my all day class. In the middle of class I noticed something that was written on my Starbucks cup. I guess they put quotes on many of their cups....I just don't usually pay attention. However, this time I did. Here is what it said, it was spoken by a guy named James Brown who is a sportscaster for FOX Sports.

"I have faith. Faith in our wondrous capacity for hope and good, love and trust, healing and forgiveness. Faith in the blessing of our infinite faith in the blessing of our infinite ability to wonder, question, pray, feel, think and learn. I have faith. Faith in the infinite possibilities of the human spirit."

At first glance, it almost feels heart warming. But, as smooth and feel-goody as it may be, he is placing his faith in the wrong thing.

He says twice that he has faith. But I question what it is he is putting his faith in. He ends by saying that his faith is "in the infinite possibilities of the human spirit."

Does anyone else find that interesting?

Does anyone else find that revealing?

It reveals a wrong understanding of life. I believe that the "human spirit" is something that is incredible. God created us with an incredible ability to wonder, question, pray, feel, think and learn. It is incredible because we were created in the nature of God. The problem lies in putting your faith in the human spirit. It is a failure to put your faith in the God who gives you the ability to love and do good. It is a a failure to put your faith in the God who is our hope and healer.

You see, he is missing the point. He is placing his faith in something that was created, rather than the creater.

Everyone puts their faith in something. I know you do.

People put their faith in education, relationships, jobs, money, and prestige assuming that all these things will bring fulfillment.

Others put their faith in love, hope, and joy without recognizing that God alone is love, gives hope, and provides joy.

Faith is a tough subject to understand. Yet, we all have it. What do you put your faith in? My faith is not found on a Starbucks cup but is written on the sunset, seen in mountains, and painted on the stars in the sky. My faith is in the creator of the universe.

Travel Adventures pt.2

2009-01-08T10:06:00.001-08:00

I have finally made it to the last day of my first class! By tonight I will have complete four days of all day classes. Class starts at 8:30 and ends at 5:30 each day. So each day seems to drag on forever! However, I'm taking a class called missions, which has been pretty interesting. I have a lot of thoughts running through my head, but I'll write later with those thoughts.

For now, I'll tell you about my night, last night. I did something I have never done before. Immediately after class, I went with three of my friends down to the Golden Gate Bridge. Our plan was to park and walk across the bridge. So, as the sun was just about to disappear over the bay, we began our journey. It was absolutely freezing. It was a pretty cool experience...but a little scary. Like I have said before, I don't like heights. Turns out, the Golden Gate Bridge is pretty high up.

Here's the interesting thing, there are many places on the bridge that have a phone that says, "please use for crisis counseling." Interestingly, the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most popular places in the world to commit suicide. They say that someone jumps every two weeks! That is absolutely astonishing. I also read that people travel from all over the world just jump and die. Frequently they find abandoned rental cars in the parking lots around the bridge.

I can't help but wonder about these people. I wonder what it must have been like to make that journey from their house to the bridge. How many people did they run into that never took the time to talk with them. I don't claim to understand suicide. But it must be lonely. As lonely as one might be, the bridge is actually a busy place. there are constantly cars driving, bikers riding, and people walking across.

Maybe it's because I am in a class about missionaries but I wonder if in their lifetime anyone ever took the time to share Christ. I wonder if their life would have been different if someone had told them. Maybe someone did and they ignored it...but maybe they never heard.

Well, I don't know what to make of it...but to say it is tragic that someone would jump.

After walking the 1.6 miles across the bridge, we decided to run back. It was really cold and we were pretty hungry, so we decided to run all the way back across the bridge. It was a crazy idea and kinda funny to picture. Four of us, dressed in somewhat nice clothes, raced across the bridge...getting strange looks by everyone we passed. Finally, we made it, tired and sweaty. We got back in the car and headed back to the dorms for another night of studying.

Trip Adventures Pt. 1

2009-01-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

I love to fly on planes. Even though I am a little scared of heights, planes don't seem to bother me. I like looking out the window, getting my free drink, and even watching the in-flight movie. It is interesting to me that so many people dread flying on planes. I ran into a few of those people yesterday.

Immediately after church, Charissa drove me from Corvallis to Portland, picking up Macie along the way. When I got out of the car, it was only slightly raining...if only it had stayed that way. I dropped off my luggage, got checked it, and found my gate with just under an hour to spare. So, I sat and listened to my new Itouch and waited to board. Then the series of unhappy people entered my life.

First, as I was sitting there, one of the flight attendants came and sat right next to me. Our plane had not arrived yet so she had to wait to get on board. As we were sitting there, another flight attendant walked up and sat next to her. This one, a guy, told the lady that the plane was over booked by 25. They both began to complain. (My first reaction was fear...what if I there is no room for me on the plane!) They were saying how terrible of a flight it was going to be if it was full. The snow that was beginning to fall didn't help. I'll admit, I didn't actually talk with them...but the next three people I did. Oh, and luckily, I got one of the last seats available!

When we were finally able to board I as given an aisle seat and sat next to a middle aged couple. I sat down next the wife and we exchanged hellos. I was one of the last people to get on board and nearly everyone of the overhead bins was full. Luckily, all I had was a small bag that I could slide under my seat. However, there was a young lady who was sitting across from me who had a really large carry-on. By the time she got to her seat, there was no where to put her bag. One of the flight attendants came by and looked above my head and found a couple small bags. He grabbed them and asked whose they were. The lady sitting next to me immediately responded and the flight attendant asked if he could move that stuff up front and put this ladies bag in there. She said yes, but was obviously upset. The young lady who had the big bag could barely lift it above her head so I jumped up and helped put it in. As I was putting it in, the lady sitting next to me said a few, not so nice words to the younger lady. I guess she was upset that her stuff had to be moved. Basically she said..."Why can't you check your bags like the rest of us civilized people" but with some extra words added. It only got worse when our flight was delayed for over an hour as we sat on the runway. The snow was coming down pretty hard. We sat patiently, but the lady continually pressed the button for the flight attendant and would always ask how much longer it would be. Well, finally we took off and she was in a much better mood.

Finally, we made it to California and I made my way to the baggage claim area. Then enters lady number 3 (I promise this is not an attack on girls...it just happens that these three people were girls). So, I'm standing there waiting for my bag to come around..but only two bags keep going around the circle. To make this long story short, I stood there for 45 minutes before any luggage started circulating! It was a little frustrating, especially late at night. While standing there for all this time there was this lady next to me. She must have been on my flight, but I didn't recognize her. After a few minutes of standing and waiting, she got a phone call which I think was from someone waiting for her in the parking lot. She was obviously upset at the delay. After hanging up she began to complain to me. Basically, at one point she told me she was about to faint because she was so tired and frustrated...luckily for me, she didn't.

Eventually, I got my bag and made it to school! What a crazy flight! But I made it and I actually enjoyed it. Like I said, I like flying. Even if some people seem to hate it. So, My adventure in Cali has begun.

Nothing particularly interesting happened today...but my goal is to blog alot about my trip. So check back tomorrow or the next day for more exciting news!

Goodbye 2008

2008-12-31T18:47:00.000-08:00

As I look over my shoulder at 2008 which will come to a close in about five hours I thought I would remind you all of everything that has happened at Corvallis Korean Church in the past 12 months.

1. Last year at this time our English worship service met in the small "chior" room with about 30 people attending. In February we recognized the need for more space and moved to the Gym and just a few weeks ago we had over 50 people in our service! Moving to the gym has been a blessing and a curse. It is great because we can now have a full worship team with drums and a few more guitar players. However, it does require a lot more work as we set up each week.

2. In March we had BreakAway (our spring retreat). Once again we went to Molalla Retreat Center. It was a ton of fun and we all enjoyed watching Daniel and San attempt to dance and sing on Saturday night.

3. In the spring we also had four of our students get baptized. Personally, it was the first time I had ever baptized anyone. Angela, Jane, Stephen and Lois each got baptized. Angela will forever go down in history as the first person I baptized.

4. We graduated four seniors from our youth group. Chris, Jane, Wonmo, and Janet are each attending college this fall. Chris goes to the University of Wisconsin, Jane attends Baylor, and Wonmo and Janet both go to OSU. We miss having them around at all our events but I am glad they still stay in touch with us.

5. In the summer we went on our first ever mission trip. Eight students and three leaders drove all the way to Arizona to work with the Navajo Native Americans. The week was incredible and we look forward to returning in 2009.

6. During the summer we also went on a camping trip to the sand dunes of Florence, Oregon. The trip was awesome! We rented sand boards, ate walking tacos, and laid out under the stars on the sand dunes.

7. We also had an all church retreat in July. The whole weekend was great, especially because we found an air conditioned room to hang out in!

8. We successfully ran a SAT prep class on Monday nights this fall. Well, I say we, but Danny was the teacher...I just pretend to be in charge.

9. Through out the entire year we have continued our weekly high school Bible study on Wednesday nights and youth group night on Fridays. I look forward to both of those nights each week!

10. Finally, just over a week ago we baptized two more students, Sun and Young-i. It was a privilage to be a part of that too.

11. Oh...and just for the recond thats 52 Sunday services, 36 Friday night youth groups, 34 Man Clubs, and 8 BYOLs....and that doesn't include all the retreats.

Thanks for a great 2008...I'm praying for an even better 2009!

Baptisms and Christmas Produciton

2008-12-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we had two of our students get baptized. I baptized Sun and Yvette. For those of you who don't know them, they are sisters. Sun is a Junior and Yvette is a 6th grader.
Besides Sun slipping and falling while getting in the water, everything went great!

I was honored to baptize them both. It was especially cool to baptize Sun because I prayed with her a year and a half ago when she became a Christian.

Here are a few pictures.

Now for the Christmas production pictures. It was a pretty awesome skit, everyone acted really well. I won't try to explain the whole skit, but enjoy the pictures. There's also some pictures of the band that played a little.

Christmas Party

2008-12-22T21:49:00.000-08:00

What a weekend we had at CKC! Despite snow, freezing rain, and incredibly cold weather, we had our Christmas party, a baptism service, and Christmas program. This was our third annual Christmas party and every one seemed to have a lot of fun. We played bunco, ate dinner, played some team games, and had a white elephant gift exchange. Here is a bunch of pictures from the party. I'll get pictures up of the baptism and Christmas program soon.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

2008-12-20T13:15:00.001-08:00

WE ARE HAVING THE CHRISTMAS PARTY!

So be here at 4:00

See you then!

Oldie but a Goodie

2008-12-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

I love waking up and looking out my window at the snow covered fields.

I'm guessing most of you who read this like waking up and seeing the snow because it means school is probaby cancelled.

It's less than one week until Christmas, so I decided to bust out an old, but still great video.

Purpose

2008-12-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

Purpose.

Everything has a purpose.

A pencil is for writing, an umbrella keeps the rain off you, coffee gives energy (and tastes good), school is for learning and guns are for killing.

Some things have noble purposes, others mundane and some even evil.

Different things, different purposes.

What good is something if it isn't being used for its purpose. There is a pencil sharpener that sits on the corner of my desk. It has been there for the past two and a half years and I have never used it. Actually, I don't think I even own a pencil. Basically, that electric pencil sharpener serves only one purpose at the moment: a paper weight. It's a pretty good paper weight. When I put paper under it, the paper never falls off the desk. In fact, I don't think I have ever had a better paper weight.

As good of paper weight as it may be...its purpose is to sharpen pencils. And I bet it is a good pencil shapener too.

Isn't it tradgic when something doesn't do what it was made to do.

Isn't it tradgic when someone doesn't do what it they were made to do?

The natural question is, what was I made to do. I'll tell you some of the answer. You were made to be in a divine romance with the King of Kings. You were made to honor and glorify him with your life. You were made to worship. You were made to lead others to the Savior. The list could continue.

The second half of the question is for you to answer.

Someone may be called to be a doctor. Great! Now honor and glorify God in that.

Someone may be called to be a student for the time being. Great! Now let your life be a worship service before God.

Someone may be called to be a janitor. Great! Now serve God as you work.

The tragedy is when someone misses one of the two parts. Either they don't glorify God in what they do...or they are not doing what God created them to do.

So, may our prayer be that we live the life God has called us to live, nothing more....nothing less.
In doing that we will live with purpose.

Everyone has a purpose. Don't get caught living out the wrong purpose.

Christmas Party

2008-12-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we have our huge Christmas party coming up on the 20th. Just to remind all of you how fun it is, check out these pictures from last year.

Jane, Sun, Angela, and Eddie at the Bunco Table

Bunco Maddness

Daniel, Kevin, John and Stephen enjoying the mystery dinner

Veronica and Henna

Lois giving the camera some attitude

BUNKO TIME!

Some white elephant gifts!

Daniel being Daniel

Asian (thanks Tae-han) fun

Joe, Angie, Jane, and Timothy playing bunco

A Few Things

2008-11-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't read my wife's blog, our camera broke a while back so we have been without a camera. It's currently in the shop getting fixed and hopefully we will get it back soon. Sorry for not having any pictures to put up recently.

I do want to remind you of two things...

1. The Oneighty Christimas party is coming! The party is Saturday, December 20th from 4:00-7:00 at Corvallis Korean Church. All middle school and high school students are invited to be at the party. We will be playing bunco (a really fun game!), having a mystery dinner, and having a white elephant gift exchange. So, if you are planning on coming please pick up and wrap a present for under five dollars.

2. The all church Christmas service is scheduled for Sunday night, December 21st at 7:30. The youth group will be helping with the service by preparing a short skit and a song. All youth group students are encouraged to be a part of the choir. Even if you aren't a good singer please come...I sang the last two years and I'm terrible...so you have no excuse. We are going to have two practices. We will practice on Friday, December 12th and Friday, December 19th. Both times we will meet from 7:30-9:00. Please plan on being at the practices!

Thats all my annoucements for now. I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. Oh, and Go BEAVERS!

Fear of Stairs

2008-11-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

This story has nothing to do with the English ministry at CKC, but it is kinda funny...

Charissa's parents have a dog that recently had puppies, twelve of them to be exact. On Saturday Charissa and I stopped by thier house to check up on them. We bought along our dog, Macie, to see the puppies. Macie is a funny dog because she is desperately scared of stairs. Charissa's parent's house is a two story house, so Macie was forced to face her fear of stairs. She did a terrible job. After calling for her to come up the stairs, she refused. I ran up and down the stairs to prove to her it was safe...but nothing happened. So, I walked down the stairs, picked her up and carried her half way up. I then set her down on the stairs hoping that she would just run the rest of the way up. It seemed like a great plan at the time but turned out to be terrible. She just froze. I probably could have left her there for hours and she would never of moved. However, I knew that if she could take a few steps she would conquer her fear. So I took her foot in my hand and attempted to move it up one step. She wasn't going for it. I gave up and picked her up and carried her the rest of the way up the stairs. When I made it to the top I realized my pants were wet. Macie had peed all over me. I wish I had a picture to show you. I guess she got so scared she couldn't do anything but pee on me. So the moral of the story...when your dog is scared of stairs, don't force them to climb, they may just pee all over you.

A Thank You

2008-11-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

You ever look back over your life and see God at work?

I wanted to take a moment and just mention three people who I am absolutely convinced God placed in the right place at the right time.

The first is Chris who is actually in Wisconsin right now at college. But about two and a half years ago he moved to Corvallis, Oregon from Korea. Coincidentally, he moved to Corvallis just two weeks after I started working atCorvallis Korean Church. He lived with host families for two years while finishing up high school. Last spring his mom came over from Korea to be a part of his graduation. She pulled me aside and mentioned that she was thankful for me and being a part of Chris' life...I immediately told her, it was just the opposite. I am the one that is thankful for him. You must understand, if it were not for him, the English ministry at Corvallis Korean Church would not be where it is today. He helped to start and lead our English worship team and was a constant encouragement to me. I thought I was being hired to encourage him...but he encouraged me. We miss him, but know he is doing great things on the other side of the country.

Secondly, Jane, who is currently at Baylor,but will be returning home this weekend, moved to Salem from Kansas just weeks after I was hired as well. Ironically, her family moved into a house just minutes from mine and Charissa's. Her family became active in everything that happened at Corvallis Korean Church. When I first met her I never would have guess that Charissa, Jane and I would spend countless hours driving back and forth from Corvallis to Salem. She too was a constant encouragement. There were Friday nights when we first began Oneighty that I would be worried that no one would show up..but I could always count on her and Stephen (her little brother) to be there. She was also a part of our original English worship team and is a big reason for why we are where we are today.

Finally, a guy named Danny returned to Corvallis after spending some time in the Phillipines on a mission trip. Sometimes you don't realize how important people are until they are gone. Danny normally leads our worship time on Sunday mornings. He has taken over after Chris went to college and has been a great leader of both the worship team and others who come on Sundays. Last Sunday, he went to speak at a church in Portland which meant we were without him. Luckily, worship has nothing to do with who the leader is...so we were still able to worship God, but it just wasn't the same with out him leading. I'm thankful that he will be back this Sunday, but am sad that he will be going to China in the spring. I will miss his leadership, his love for God, and his ability to worship God.

Thus, I will say this....I am pretty sure that two and a half years ago when God told me to head to Corvallis and work in a Korean church, God also called Chris, Jane, and Danny to Corvallis because God knew that a new, young, inexperienced pastor would need their help.

So, in the spirit of thanksgiving, Thank You.

Is there someone in your life God has used to impact you? Why not let them know.

Scary Stuff

2008-11-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

Prayer is scary.

Yep, you heard me right. I'm a pastor and I think prayer is scary.

I want to rethink prayer. Well...maybe "rethink" is the wrong word. I want to understand what it means to pray. I'm not talking about praying before dinner or before an important test...I'm looking deeper than that.

Today, one of the men who spoke at the conference I was at said, "I challenge you to pray for the impossible." Pray for the impossible?

That's stupid.

By definition, impossible means it can never happen.

Lets rethink the impossible.

A child born of a virgin mother...impossible.
A blind man, lame man, and deaf man instantly healed...impossible.
A man beaten, nailed to a cross, and buried in a tomb dead, yet, rises from the dead...impossible.

Maybe God is all about doing the impossible.

Thus, I come full circle...I'm scared to pray for the impossible...what if God actually does something incredible. For the impossible to happen it will mean that I have to give up trying and allow God to do all the work. It will mean that I am stretched, broken, and left with only God to sustain me...and thats a scary thought.

As scared as I am...I might be more excited. What if God does do the impossible?

So, here is my new prayer...

I pray that our youth group will grow to be too big for our building.
I pray that our students will not just show up on Sundays for church but will be the church every day as they interact at school.
I pray that our students will share Christ with every person in their school.
I pray that every week new students will come to Christ.
I pray that 100% of those at oneighty will live sold out lives for Christ.
I pray that all 100 college students who came to the opening night of EPIC will come to know Christ if they do not already.
I pray that lives will be radically changed and eternally altered.

I could continue...but you get the idea. Will you pray for the impossible?

Bowling Night

2008-11-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

Currently I am in Portland at a Pastor's conference. I have a lot of thoughts to share..but I'll hold off till the end of the week...

Last Friday night Oneighty ventured off to the bowling lanes in Corvallis. Everyone seems to love bowling. We always have more students show up for bowling night than we expect. This year was not exception. We had a ton of fun...some people were good, others not so good, but I won't mention any names.

Here's a couple of pictures from Friday.

What a day...

2008-11-08T17:07:00.000-08:00

I'm currently sitting at a Starbucks in Portland, waiting patiently for my wife to arrive. It might be awhile, she is just leaving Salem. It feels like it has already been a long day! I got up around 5:30 this morning and drove to my parents house and jumped in their truck and headed for Seattle. My little brother was running in his final cross country meet of his college career so I went to cheer him on. It was fun, just an early morning.

After stopping for Coffee and a Donut shop in Seattle we were lucky to watch the whole race with no rain falling on us! That was amazing since it rained the whole car ride to Seattle. After the race we loaded back up in the truck and headed home.

Which leads me to this Starbucks (where I have purchased my second coffee of the day). My parents dropped me off across the street actually at a McDonald's. In just over an hour I will be heading to a wedding for Darren and Sarah. So, I have time to waste as I wait for Charissa to show up to go to the wedding. After changing into my nice, wedding clothes in the bathroom of McDonald's I walked over here. So, I wait.

In the mean time...It's gotten pretty dark out and I love big cities at night. Some of you know I would love to live in a big city just to be able to look out the window at night. You see so many interesting people. There's a lot of interesting people in this little Starbucks. I have already (in like 20 minutes) been asked if I am Tyler and Derick. Once by a guy and the other by a girl. I guess they are meeting people here...oddly as I look around, they are both still waiting for Tyler and Derick.

If you are actually still reading this, congradulations, because this post is pretty much about nothing. But I will end by saying, I'm excited for church tomorrow. We're talking about humility for the second straight week. It's not really a fun topic to discuss...mainly because I'm not that humble. You could probably accurately discribe me as a pridefull person who is persuing humility but continually fails. But I'm excited for church because I actually like church. I like getting together, worshiping, eating, and simply hanging out. I feel bad for people who sneak in the back of a church just before it starts and quickly exit at the end...they don't really experience church. Considering that church isn't a building or a program but people...If you don't interact with people it really isn't church. So,

Choir Concert

2008-11-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night Daniel, Veronica and I went to watch Jae's choir concert at Cresent Valley High school. Jae is a Sophmore in our youth group and moved here this past summer from Korea. I think he has been to every single youth group even since he moved here. I don't think he has missed a Sunday morning, Wednesday night, Friday night, or retreat. That's pretty incredible when you think about it. The concert was pretty fun, OSU's choir was there and sung a couple of songs which was pretty amazing.

I am always amazed at how many songs they sing that talk about God. Its interesting to me because it seems like in today's society people are so eager to take God out of the class room. People have tried to remove the "under God" phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance and teachers can rarely speak of God in the class room. Yet, the choir can sing over half of their songs about Jesus, God, and Heaven. It is really cool, but kind of strange.

To take it even further, I wonder if people realize what they are singing out or if the people listening are really listening. Songs are sung about the blood of Christ, about salvation, and the hope of eternity. I'll be careful not to judge people's hearts, but I wonder if every member of that choir really thinks Jesus died for them, conquered death, and has gave them eternal life.

Anyways, just a thought I had.

In the end, Jae sang great...or his choir did, its kind of hard to hear just his voice.

Halloween

2008-11-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

I feel like it has been a long time since I last updated. Sorry for the long delay, I've been really busy.

Last week, on Wednesday night, Man club (our high school Bible study) went on a road trip to Salem. The Corvallis School district didn't have school on Thursday, we used the oppurtunity to do something fun! We went to the "Nightmare Factory" at the Salem Deaf School. I think Sun holds the prize for the most scared, I don't think she ever opened her eyes while in the haunted house. John was probably the least scared as he led our group.

Here are two pictures from the night.

Here is our group and a creepy guy who was walking around scaring
people while we waited in line.

I'm not sure what is wrong with Sun in this picture.

To Obey or Not Obey

2008-10-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

She can be really annoying at times. It feels like I continually have to say the same things over and over again, "stop, get down, leave me alone, don't bite." I guess she is only a puppy and I should be more understanding. Macie (my puppy) just doesn't seem to get it sometimes. Sometimes I wonder if she will ever grow up and understand the difference between what I want her to do and what she would rather do.

Every night when me and Charissa head to bed we put Macie into her little kennel. It certainly would be a terrible idea to let Macie have free roam of the house at night. We would most likely wake up to find things chewed, torn and destroyed. We also don't want to leave her outside in the cold and rainy Oregon weather. Therefore, we put her into her bed for the night. The problem, Macie hates it! It's not like she is doing much late at night anyways. In fact, most nights as Charissa and I watch TV she sleeps quietly in the room with us, you wouldn't think it would be a big deal for her to sleep in her bed. When we get up and call her and point to her kennel she rarely comes. Most of the time she plays that game where she stays on one side of the kitchen table and I try to catch her. If I go one way she moves the other. When I try to turn around and go back the other way, she turns around as well. The worst is when she makes it into our bed room and hides under the bed. I'm not really sure how she does it, she's getting kind of big to fit under there. It is nearly impossible to get her out. I have to reach under the bed and grab her by the feet and drag her out. There are glimpses of hope when she willingly goes to her bed for the night but those are few and far between.

To continue my complaining tirade, she also is in the bad habit of jumping on you. I don't know how many times I have pushed her off me saying, "Down Macy!" She still jumps right back up. She is getting better about not biting but still has her moments. It drives me crazy sometimes. I just wish she would learn how to be a good dog and not such an annoying one.

The funny thing is (bear with me for a moment) I think I'm a lot like Macie. I wonder if God ever views me like I view Macie. Certainly he doesn't look at me as annoying and He certainly loves me more than I could ever love a dog. I wonder how many times he has said to me, "stop" and for a moment I quit but eventually I return. I wonder how often I run hiding under the bed thinking that if I can't see him he must not be able to see me. I see glimpses of hope in my life but I am reminded continually of how rebellious I can be. Does God ever say, "I wish he would just grow up and understand the difference between what he wants to do and what I want him to do."

Maybe someday I will figure this life out. By the grace of God, I am eternally secure not because of my ability to obey, but Christ's ability to save. Still, I struggle to do what is right in the eyes of God. Maybe one day, I will learn what it really means to obey. Who knows, maybe even Macie will figure out someday.

Friday night

2008-10-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in Greek class right now (we are one a 10 minute break) and I thought I would put some pictures up here from last Friday night. For all you middle school and high school students remember that we will be having our own Halloween party this Friday night, which basically means we will have lots of candy. Also, in a week and a half on Friday, November 7th we will be going bowling.

Lois and Young-i playing the "pushing game."

Veronica and Alicia

More "pushing" game. Chi-ho isn't in youth group...but he likes to play games.

"Do you love your brothers and sisters."

One more from the "pushing" game.

Eddie and Jason practicing Karate

Joe trying not to get caught. It looks like Alicia is about to

have her arms pulled off in the back ground.

Light saber wars...technically Young-i isn't allowed too use

two hands...

A White Guy, Seafood, and Koreans

2008-10-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

I am a white guy working in a Korean church. The first question that I get asked by people who find out what I do is, "do you know how to speak Korean?" I always respond with, "no." I have learned a lot in the past two and a half years working here. I've learned a lot about what it means to do ministry, but I have also learned a lot about Koreans.

Every Friday morning there is a moms group that meets for a Bible study here at church. Normally, around noon their Bible study is over and they all go home. Today was different. Together, they cooked lunch and asked me to eat with them. They had cooked a "seafood" soup. I'm not sure what the real name of it was but it was definately seafood and noodles in a bowl. Just for the record, I'm not a real fan of seafood. In fact, my motto is, "if it swims I don't eat it." With this in mind, Pastor Paul and I sat down for lunch with a bunch of Korean ladies. I'm pretty must used to being the only white person in the room at these kind of things. In fact, I have come to expect it on a daily basis. The funny thing is, my church knows me too well. They know I don't like seafood so they offered me a different soup. It wasn't as spicy and was a lot less seadfoodish. I thought it was really good - it tasted like chicken noodle soup to me. I was happy that I didn't have to eat something I didn't really like...but I was a little disappointed when I realized the soup I was eating was really the soup that was made for all the little kids. So, here I was sitting in a room with two tables. One table for the adults, one table for the children. All the children are eating the "chicken noodle soup." All the adults are eating their "seafood" soup, except for me. I guess if there is one good thing to take away from this story, it is that they didn't send me to the kids table.

Anyways, I thought it was kinda funny. But I also wanted to add, even though I don't speak Korean I rarely feel out of place. I may not fully understand what is being said, but language is so much more than just words. I can usually figure out what is going on just by paying attention.

So, I'm thankful to be working in a Korean church. I may not always enjoy the food, but they seem to understand and make sure there is food I will like, even if it is children's food. I may not understand eveything said, but I can still communicate. God works in amazing ways. If you had asked me 4 years ago if I would be sitting down for lunch on a Friday afternoon in a room full of Koreans to eat seafood soup...I would have laughed and said, "no way!" Now I wonder how I could be doing anything else.

Youth Group

2008-10-22T14:34:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting at church right now, drinking my dutch bros coffee and I thought I would post some pictures from Oneighty. I know some of these pictures are old...but they are still cool.

This was the first youth group night of the year. We had some fun with water balloons.

Jason and Angela had an "accident"

This is probably a year old...but still funny. We were making mummies for halloween last year. I'm not exactly sure who is under all the toilet paper. Maybe Joe?

Pie eating contest

Part of our scavenger hunt last year.

More scavenger hunt

Whip cream in Stephen's mouth...not sure why he has crutches?

I hope you like the pictures...I have hundreds more...they'll get up on the church website sometime soon...until then, this will have to do.

The Hospital

2008-10-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

I'm curious by nature. Some find it annoying, my wife does at times. When we are out to dinner she always tells me to quit staring at people. I don't mean to, I just can't help but wonder about their lives. Every face has a story to tell, every person a life they have lived.

I'm sitting in the hospital right now in Portland, visiting my sister. Don't worry, she's okay, she's just here for observation and a few tests. She calls it a "vacation in Portland." I don't know if I would go that far but I guess it is an escape from the busyness of life. She can't do much but lay in bed, hooked up to a machine that analyzes her brain.

I ventured out of her room not too long ago in search of food. There is a cafeteria on the first floor and I was hungry. I rode the elevator down, loaded up my tray with french fries and a cheese burger (you think they would make you eat healthier in a hospital. You would also think that being a hospital would make me want to eat healthier - both aren't true).

Anyways, I got in the elevator holding my tray of food along with a young lady. I can't help but wonder what her story is. She is clearly a patient in the hospital. She is pushing an IV cart, full of mulitple drugs that are being pushed into her system. I wonder what she's here for? She punched the button for floor six, same place I was going. We rode up the elevator and got off. I followed her down the hallway. Eventually I got to my sister's room and walked in but this young lady kept walking. I looked up to see a sign pointing in her direction, it said, "Cancer Ward."

We had gotten off on the same floor but the life she lives is vastly different than mine. Real people with real stories. Every once in a while an announcement goes over the intercom saying, "rapid response team to level 4." I can't help but wonder what that means. I wonder if there are other families in this hospital broken over the pain in thier lives. Real people, real stories. I'm thankful I haven't spent a lot of time here. But, I can't help but wonder about the lives of everyone else here. Maybe I'm just too curious...

EPIC

2008-10-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

Last night was one of the craziest nights I have ever been a part of at Corvallis Korean Church. The Asian Bible study on campus at OSU, called EPIC, used our building for their fall kick off. It was kind of a joint effort with the EPIC leadership and CKC. The church offered to cook dinner for everyone and EPIC brought their worship team.

Danny Kim and I spent the afternoon setting up all the sound equipment, tables and chairs. Honestly, I was hoping for 40 people to show up....and even then, I didn't think that many would show up. We set up enough tables and chairs for 64 people and then waited to see who would show up.

The dinner began at 6:30 and the worship time started at 7:30. To make a long story short, by 7:00 there was over 80 people in our little gym. It was absolutely incredible! We barely had enough room for everyone to eat...luckily we had plenty of food. Koreans like to make lots of food...and lots of good food. We had Korean BBQ which was amazing.

After tearing down all the tables we rearranged the room for our worship time. Danny's worship team did a great job and the guest speaker delivered a great message.

In all, it was an incredible experience. There was more people than I would have ever guessed would show up. Hopefully some of the students will return for church on Sunday.

Here are two pictures from the night, sorry they are such bad quality.

Unashamed

2008-10-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's kind of wierd typing into cyber-space. I wonder if anyone will actually read this.

Here is my thought for the day...

Recently we have started singing a new song during our English worship service. For some reason I can't get it out of my head. It's called Unashamed and it was originally by a band called Starfield. Here is the words of the chorus...

And I know I'm weak
I know I'm unworthy
To call upon Your name
But because of grace
Because of Your mercy
I stand here unashamed.

I like it for a couple of reasons, mainly because it's the story of my life. I know that I am weak...even though sometimes I pretend like I am strong and able to guide myself through this maze called life. Ultimately, it is in God's strength that I am able to live. I know I'm unworthy...even though so often I think I have done something to make my self worthy of salvation. It's a little bit of selfishness mixed with pride that causes me to think that I deserve all that God has given me. Yet, despite my inadequacies, God accepts me for who I am. Because of grace and mercy I am able to stand before God unashamed. My sin has been wiped away, no more guilt, no more shame. What an incredible thought, even though I am but a man, God allows me to approach him and I have the privilage of worshiping him!

Also....Because I know everyone loves pictures. Here is our worship team practicing before church a few weeks ago. Enjoy.

High School Retreat

2008-10-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new Oneighty Blog! Thanks for stopping by. I'll to to keep this updated with pictures, news, and my thoughts. Here are a few pictures from our high school retreat this past weekend.

The guys cooked dinner for the girls on Friday night.

This is by far by favorite picture from the whole weekend! I'm not sure what Esther is doing...but it's pretty funny.

A bunch of us on the beach

Some football

The girls got Daniel a birthday cake to celebrate his 16th birthday

The girls