blind eyes open
-1 Corinthians 6:19~20-

As I was reading Jack's blog aobut Chuck Pierce's interpretation of 2008 for the second time, I felt the strong connection between this 2008 prophecy and LTC. Our vision is so aligned with this prophecy and so was LTC!

Here's the summary of the 8:
1. Manifestation: In every aspect in your life and every area!
2. Dominion: Rule where you have been positioned. We'll have great authority over the enemies!
3. Return and review our covenant roots: Realign with God and start going. Little by little, take your land!
4. Momentum: And enemy's force will be trying to stop the momentum!
5. Superabundant Grace: Double Portion of miracle working power!
6. Overcome: Stay in the secret place of intimacy!
7. Circumcision: All the past shall roll away!
8. Feast of Tabernacles year: Remember your past wildernesses, but celebrate your way into your new beginning and enter into a rest!

Woah. God You're amazing. I really cannot wait to enter into a whole new level with You! I want to gain new fruits in the new year. And I believe that everyone in Impact will encounter all eight issues above. Oh Lord how we want Your kingdom to come and live within us! My God You are so good! I can't wait to see how deep, how high, how long, how wide Your kingdom is!

Bring it on!

Johnny

Just finished it. I'd say it's just alright. Nothing very innovative, but I still have a heart for this.
Anyhow, time for bed and I'm very excited for tomorrow. It's gonna be a good retreat and I really expect something new and refreshing in the next 4 days!
Jesus, I love You and I know that You love me too.
I don't want to leave You. Ever.

Johnny

And here's the REAL manger:

The real manger: Dark, wet, and, of course, smelly, full of cows and horses' crapper! I'm glad that the manger was empty!

So no one in the car could remember the day that they were born. Then Enoch said, "I bet the mom would remember." I was like hmm.....OH right, Mom's the one who gets the pain! Lol. Sorry Mary but I bet You would never forget how incredible and amazing the night sas despite the smells!

Jesus. It would be really funny if Your Coming is on a Christmas day!

Merry Christmas everyone, be blessed and have a great new year.

Johnny

Thanks to Jack--had a great steak dinner! Thanks to Annie--won the monopoly and totally dominated her males. Thanks to Enoch--for all the killing and beating. Thanks to Andy--still the best partner in HALO 2! Banana v. Dim Sum!

Congratulations to Shin! You're made new again and tied together with Jesus forever with your commitment through baptism. Nice. Welcome to the GodChicks, as Annie said.

I gotta say.....you all were fantastic today! We totally did it!
I knew that things would totally get done when the Wang sisters and Jasmine are in charge.
And all those who came over and helped--from decorating to cooking, from scrapbook making to violin playing, or from simply brainstorming to coming over and pray for them. They really loved it and there's really nothing more that would be as sweet as this tonight from all of us.

I mean, they totally deserve a surprise, yea? For those who have been with them since the beginning of Impact Youth back in summer 2004: see how much you've grown-both spiritually and mentally. And how many days have we talked to Jack/Annie over the phone during this past year? J, George, and I were jamming and praying for this surprise party that it would really be a surprise to them. And surely it was! Thanks Jesus, You were there with us shedding tears of happiness! You're a joyful God!

Everyone prayed for them cept those who weren't able to make it. It was all good.

Anyhow, I'll spend more time updating tomorrow. I need to go to bed now so that I can wake up at 7 for my 8am driving test appointment! Please keep me in your prayers. It would be a great Christmas present for myself. Just pray that I would drive safely and get to share God to my instructor. Amen.

God You taste sweet. Really sweet actually. Sweeter than the chocolate cinnamon bread that I ordered online which is totally amazing.

=)

MONDAY

If this does not excite you, I'm sorry that you missed out a cross-nation miracle.
Cuz I'm extremely excited at what God did on Sunday-Monday.

Here's the summary:
I spent Monday night with Sam and his parents Rick and Marianne. I heard from Marianne that after they got home from Chemo, the therapist called Sam up and told him that today's result was TERRIFIC. It seems like his kidkeys are once again healthy and working normally!!! I told them that on Sunday everyone at Impact prayed for Sam's healing and we declared God's victory over Sam. Moreover, we expected a different result that would blew that therapists away.

And God moved.

He moved in our deparate cries for a brother.

This is his 3rd Chemo(once every month since October), the goal is to have 6 Chemo, hoping to better his kidney condition and eventually slow(or stop) this lethal disease that has been bothering him for quite a while. God I believe that You have healed Sam already. And the therapist will be totally in shock when he found out that Sam is miraculously cured! God thank You for everything, for all we've done is to walk by faith and not be sight. God You blow me away. I don't care what others think, for I know that it is You who healed him. And I'm going to tell the world what You've done. I was totally in awe when Rick told me that the result was not expected by anyone. But I told him that actually a group of young people in LA expected. God You never fail. You totally rock my world!

That was my crazy Monday night. I really want to encourage you to EXPECT heaven come to earth EVERY DAY.


TUESDAY

Woke up at 6:40am, took a good hot shower at the Corrigans, and ready for the big day--seeing lots and lots of people, giving hugs and smiles, and of course, enduring the Zero degree weather. It was CCCCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so glad to have that big winter jacket. If I didn't, I think I would freeze and die! Nonetheless the white fields cheered me up.

Simply beautiful. So I spent the entire day--from 7am to 11:30pm--walking around the campus, attending a french 4 class, chilling at the library, saying hi to people......and all that jazz. By the end of the day I was totally exausted. I couldn't really understand French anymore but I got a free cupcake and some cranberry juice(sweeet.)!

Here are two highlights of the day:
1. I went to the Admissions Office looking for Naomi, my class parent and my freshmen year's dorm head, but the only lady there told me that she went on a break and won't be back after new year. So that was a little bit frustrating, but I started to talk to the lady. I don't think I've ever seen her anywhere but my instinct told me that I knew this lady. Anyhow, after talking to her and asking about her Christmas plan, I asked her THE question. She said that she's going to the doctors and have a check up on her disease which she did not wish to reveal.
"How can I call you?" I asked.
"I'm Deb Wright," she replied.
I was shocked. "You're Deb Wright?....wait...You are?....what?" How come she looks so different now?
"I lost a lot of weight, that's probably why you didn't recognize me," she answered.
"I see," I ceased to ask more, realizing the seriousness of her disease.
So I prayed for her healing and a full recovery from her disease(whatever that may be), and that her doctor would be surprised at her condition. I also prayed for her trip to her sisters in Chicago over the break. She was very touched and she appreciated my prayer because the prayer was "right in time." God I believe that You will definitely heal Deb. You feel her pain and suffering from this crazy disease that caused her weight-loss.

2. Later on that night at 9:30 I had a long talk with Spencer, a graduating senior and one of the leaders of Breakaway; I basically asked him what his life has been like and how he feels about his position at Breakaway. Not going into too much detail but basically he was totally carried away by the school work and sports(for he was the captain of the varsity soccer team this fall). He wanted to walk with God yet the world kept on drawing him away from Him. He really opened up and shared about his concerns and desires for himself. So I shared with him the revelation I received at Onething 2006: I was at the Prayer Room when people around me were laying hands on me and praying for me as I stood, this man right in front of me started to talk to me.
"Don't stop running. Keep the fire burnning. Let those left behind be lead by other lights. Don't let it be your burden." Right then I thought about Breakaway. I was very worried about next year, but through this prayer God wanted me to know that he has prepared leaders to rise up after I ran on. And I believe that the leaders are Spencer, Becky, and Britt.
I then started to tell Spencer what potential I see in him--a powerful speaker who encourages his peers. I know that God's has a purpose for him by putting this gift inside of him. I then told him to start thinking about his relationship with Jesus and really put everything else aside and let God take over your life--every single minute and problem. I told him that I've been setting goals after goals to accomplish, and every day I'm refreshed because I can taste God differently! We spent an hour talking, and before he went in to his dorm, I prayed for him(guess what? in the COLD!). Lord would you just cover Spencer under Your wings and let him find rest in You(Matt11:28).

After that I went to see Grace & Andy Abel(who picked me up from Hartford), and their son Nathan. Grace is the Chinese teacher at NMH who is a firm believer of Christ, and Andy is a sociology proffesor at Keene State College. It was great to see them, but I was so exausted. So after a good talk we all prayed together--Grace has been the ONLY Chinese teacher at NMH until this school year and she has been so overwhelmed by her work. Andy is looking for new jobs and hoping to get a decent one, and he's just praying for God to open doors. So after the prayer Andy took me to the Tierney's and I stayed over there for my second night.

WEDNESDAY

Woke up at 6:30, got all my stuff together, and I was on my way to the dining hall for some breakfast before the buses' 7:30 departure for Christmas Vespers in NYC. On my way to the dining hall, I called Sam up, hoping to see him at breakfast so I could pray for him but he was still asleep. I started to say a prayer for him in his voicemail, and then *beep*...I reached the maximum of the voicemail! lol...so I continued my prayer by calling him again(and not waking him up). I was a bit sad that we could not spend much time with each other and talk because he has work to do, and I only could stay for one day.
I saw Grace Booth at the dining hall and I was overjoyed! She's an '07 grad living just a mile away from NMH. We talked and listened to the Hogappella CD(WOOHOO!!) during the bus ride and it was really cool to hear about her live and all--she's actually taking a year off, and she just got back from a 3-month theatre bootcamp and she's going to the Navajo reservation in Feb for a month to become a shepherdess! It's great to hear about her life and how different it is from mine.
Anyhow, that morning I told Britt and Becky(the other 2 core leaders of Breakaway) that I would like to have a talk with each of them. So after we arrived at NYC and during choir/orchestra's rehearsal at St. James, I had a good chat with Britt. She basically told me about her life so far and how she view herself in Breakaway. I then told her that how amazing she was and how she has the ability to organize, plan, and to be creative--Wipe A Tear would be the perfect example. I also told her that she needs to make a choice--to let God take control of her life instead of herself. She really longs for a relationship with God! It's awesome. So I prayed for her(once again in the cold....grrr), and I will keep on praying that God would break her and mold her again and again until she is a perfect vessel. God loves You very much, Britt. His love never fails!
So after that me, Grace, Britt, Spencer Hattendorf, and Ralph Craig walked around the city and my feet hurt like crazy!! Nevertheless it was a good walk. But I wanted a Starbucks coffee so badly, but we didn't see any. So I got cappuccino from 2 different cafes but I threw both of them away--nothing like Starbucks. I'm an addict lol ! Finally, Michael Corrigan, NMH's Chaplain and the host of my first night and who lived in New York for a long time, took me to the nearest Starbucks(which is like 10 blocks away!), and we had a great talk about my life and school. It was raining hard in NYC! Anyhow, He's simply a man of faith, wisdom, and encouragement, and I believe that God would use him to impact more students on campus!

Thanks for reading this super dooper long entry. And it's only the first part!
That's it for now. I'll update the second part tomorrow. Yeah the second part wouldn't be as long as the first, but still pretty cool.

God is simply KABOOM!
Johnny

Lord, I want to yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I want to yearn for You
I wanna burn with passion over You
And only You
Lord, I want to yearn
-Shane Barnard, Yearn

God thank You for today. Really I couldn't have asked for anything more than Your presence to break me apart. I longed for Your presence. And every day You answer my longing. Yeah Jennifer's sharing today was some good stuff, and that's what my heart longs to be--a passionate heart for Him and Him alone. For the past 14 days my Lord You have shown me yet another world of Your love and mercy. And I want more during the next 14 days. Tomorrow is the day of breakthrough God. I know that You have healed Sam and I really do not want to see him to go to the chemotherapists weekly. God I declare the virus to leave his body riht now as I type and I believe that Your victory has won inside of Sam because our prayers shaked the heavens, and Your Kingdom has fallen upon Sam. I was thinking of sharing about this last Sunday yet I thought today would be the better day to share since it's the day before my departure. This whole trip is for Sam, I'd say. Going to Christmas Vespers is totally an extra which I'm very glad to attend, yet nothing is as important as Sam's condition over there. I wanted to go back since I heard about his kidney infection back in September/October.

I was reminded again how devastated my heart was the night I heard about this Lupus disease from Marianne(Sam's awesome mother. Simply a great woman of God.). The night I went back to my room, I Google'd "Lupus", and I couldn't think about anything else that night. I finally let all my enotion out when I went to take a shower. It was a night I will never forget.

GOD, WHY? THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!
HEAL HIM GOD. I KNOW THAT YOU HEAL!
YOU MADE SAM! YOU LOVE HIM! LOVE HIM!!!
ARE YOU HEARING MY CRY?

I was crying to an extent that I couldn't even stand. Never have I cried like that before. And right now as I'm typing, the cry of my heart is growing stronger and stronger. I've got tears down my face. God I WANT TO SEE SAM HEALED DURING THIS VISIT! I want to just follow You and I believe in Your unfailing promise, and I know that You will fulfill Your promise.

You promised.

Heal the sick who are there and tell them, "The kingdom of God is near you."
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions
and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
Luke 10:9 & 10:19

I now declare that starting tomorrow a new season will start; springs would burst out from the desert place and flowers would bloom in the coldest winter in Your Name. For the next 14 days, God You lift me up to another level for I want to see You. I long for You, Jesus. Nothing else can satisfy. Nothing. I ask You to be there tonight during my meeting with Sam and Marianne. I ask for a clear mind and God I know that You'll be there taking control and make everything better. I love You!

Jack was totally right. Where are the 20-year-old leaders right here right now? I believe that today another mark was made in history that this group of young disciples are leading a movement of Spirit wherever they are just like Paul. God would You strengthen our hearts and let us turn to You and ask for more when we realize over and over again that we are weak and needy. And how awesome of You to enjoy us while we are weak!

The worship today was full of Your presence. You are very sweet today, God. I felt like a kid who just got a lolipop after crying for 2 hours because someone pushed him on the ground as he was eating a candy. The candy fell on the ground and since then nothing has benn right. He was devastated. Someone tripped him. He started to cry...louder and louder. Have you ever heard a baby cry? If you haven't, let me tell you: DON'T! The cry of a baby usually gets louder and louder(maybe because of our impatience, but who knows) until she gets what she wants. Woah. I just realized that today Jennifer prayed for me after service and she said something like, "God You made him like a children...." something like that.

Yeah Father, I won't stop crying until I have what I long for--Sam's complete healing. I know Your heart aches when my heart aches because Your heart is in me. I ask for a safe trip over to NMH, and I can enjoy Your tangible presence every second during my trip.

You are a faithful God.
You are the Prince of peace.
You are the Healer.
I once again declare Your supernatural healing upon Sam.
He will be a living testimony of Your love and grace.

I need more!
Johnny

Nothing can compare is greatness than today. So I was taken back to SD to take my last final exam at 3pm. Enoch took me, along with Momo, MQ, and Joshua(for the ministry meeting was a trip down to SD), and we took a car and got onto I-10 around 12:50. And guess what? W were stuck in traffic until we passed Knott's...which was 2pm already! When we reached Irvine, it was 2:20! So all of them were praying with me and for me and I also called up Garrett to pray for me. I got a bit frustrated so I said, "man I think the jamming wouldn't stop until we rach Irvine..." And immediately Enoch said to me, "don't say that." Thanks to him, I started to change my attitude and started to pray and give praises to Him. at around 2:50 I called one of my classmates and asked her to tell the TA/Prof that I would be late for about 15 minutes. I really hope that I could be there by 2:15 at the latest. Anyhow, I kept on praising Him for all He's done and He was doing right there as we were rushing on I-5 at 90mph(Enoch hit that mark twice and I was like....AHHH!) Anyhow, He's so good that nothing happened on our way to SD--no accidents and no pullovers. And by His mercy I got to my final @ 3:15 and I didn't have any trouble taking the test. That was simply His grace--to let me study just a bit more. I kept on asking God to pour down His favor over us, me especially. The econ final wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, so that was totally sweet. I think I've a good chance of getting a A- in that class! Thank You Jesus! I love Your favor over me! Don't stop!
So the moral of this story is: Southern California drivers do not know how to: 1.merge and 2. step on the gas. God bless them.....errr.
After I finished the test at around 5:20 I called up Jack and found out that 12 of them are at ISLANDS burger and was heading to downtown La Jolla, and would pick me up at 7. So I called up Garrett and asked him whether he wanted to hang out. After finishing packing at around 6, I went to look for Garrett, and on my way I called up Austin, another awesome bother leading the Bible study with Casey. He was just about to leave campus for Bakersfield. So I offered him a prayer that he would spent some time to look back on this year and reflect on what God has done in his life and all. And he also prayed for me that this break is only a pause from school but not from God. Austin's just awesome. So I hung out with Garrett and met two new friends-Brandon and Brian. I mainly just wanted to say bye to Garrett cuz I don't know whether I would see him again before he leaves for Chile in Jan. Before they heaad for all-you-can-eat sushi buffet, I asked him to pray for me. I just realized again that how wonderful it is to have someone pray for me. God You must have given the same feeling that I felt when Garrett prayed for me to all those I've prayed for! Woah. You're indescribable. I am in awe of You.
So that's that.
As I was walking back to Revelle(duh......) I passed by this ATM machine and saw this person on one crutch and a bulky boot on her left foot. I pretended to be in line waiting for her to finish her transaction. So after she was done I said hi and told her that I just finished taking a Saturday final and all that...so I started to ask her what happened to her left foot. This story was simple yet a bit crazy: She went to a party, and after she woke up, her cord on her pinkie toe side was broken. I was like.....WWWWHAT? Yeah that was crazy and she just started to use the boot with one crutches so her leg muscles hurt. So I asked her THE question, and she was cool with it. Before that I asked about her family: she was heading home tonight and spend Christmas with her family. She has 7 siblings and she's the 3rd. So I prayed for her foot's complete healing and a restoration in her relationship within her family, and also pray that she would start making good decisions. She really appreciated my prayer and she's also a believe yet she hasn't been going to church for a couple years. Her name is Nicole, a 4th year at Muir. She's a really cool and chill person with dreadlocks. Anyhow I just encouraged her to think about what it is that she is longing for over this break. I believe that in a week and half, as she told me, that she would be able to get rid of the boot and the crutch! Praise the Lord that He has had me prayed for 3 people who broke their toes--my roommate, Rose, and now Nicole. However I forgot one important thing: to ask her how she felt after the prayer!!!!! Oh Lord I know You've healed her already...should've asked. Oh well, He's Good =)
Just in case that I forgot about some details, I pulled out my cell and started to text out this testimony out! It was fun.
And then I got picked up at around 7:15ish. They all shared with me how good ISLANDS was since I did not eat anything lol....I love you guys. Anyhow, we stopped at McDevil and I got a fish sandwich, a chicken sandwich(the ranch crispy is the best!), 8pc McNuggets, and one apple pie. That was quite a dinner. We then spent about 2.5 hours at church cleaning up the mess and putting the puzzles back together. Good times. Andy, Shin, Sarah, Alice, Enoch, J-you guys are pretty great.
5 minutes ago Jack printer suddenly started to print out something. Yet both Jack and Annie are asleep. So I was like....wait....is this from God?? And when I saw the printed 2 pages, there on them were-----------Annie's house listing......ugh. So I just put that on Annie's desk and sat down, said to God, "it would be really cool if You would talk to me with printed pages at the most random moment..lol(added later)". I think God wants me to pray for Annie's listing in Arcadia right now. So that's what I'm going to do before bed. I'm excited for Sunday!

Time to rock the house and rejoice in the LORD!
Johnny

So today was pretty something else. Besides the fact that I spent the entire morning studying for my CAT final, I felt pretty good and cold...I really don't know why there are "seasons." This is SoCal! What's going on here?!
Anyhow, before the test I went to the cafe and got some breakfast, and on my way to the cafe I saw this costodian Russell whom I prayed for two times before. We chatted a little as he was getting some trash bins up via the elevator. I was very glad to see him. I told him that I was going to a final exam, and he said to me, "I'll be praying for ya." My heart warmed up suddenly since I've been studying for a while and did not really feel anything. We said goodbye and I went on. At the cafe I saw Judy, a sister from BOLSD, getting some food and studying for her finals too. So we chatted for a while as I quickly finished my egg, sausages, potatoes, and a biscuit. Before I left for my room, I was planning to pray for her but I ended up didn't...felt a bit guilty since I was like, "yeah so I gotta go back and get ready for my test," even though praying for her would not affect even a little bit of my studying. And a funny thing was that I saw Russell again as I was on my way back to my dorm! I said hi again. And that was that.
Praise Him for the test today--fairly short and not as hard as I thought it would be! Nevertheless I still couldn't answer some of the short answers and I just prayed that God would pour His favor over me! And I believe that He's been doing that for a long long time!
After the test I felt another burden relieved yet I was a bit worried about tomorrow's Econ final...dumb school that gives out Saturday finals, ugh. But anyhow, as I was walking back to my dorm(yet again...) I saw this lady, a graduate student rather, sitting there alone on the ground. I struggled for 5 seconds and finally decided to go up and ask her THE question: Is there anything that I can pray for you? She said, "oh no no...I'm just sitting here enjoying the sun, and I'm thinking music," in a semi-heavy Japanese accent. So I tried to deepend the chat by asking what music she composes--jazz(no surprise to me since Japanese artists are simply mind-blowing)! Anyhow, she gave her thanks and I went on. I always pass by this constrution site for this physics building that will be completed in next year, and today I saw this construction worker there filling up the mudholes with some dirt. So I started a conversation, thinking that he would be the person I could pray for today. However, just about a minute into our convo a truck arrived so he had to go and do his job. I left, saying to God, "Man, where's that person, God?" As I walked into the big plaza of Revelle, I saw Chanelle, a dormmate whom I met during orientation and I seldom see her, but whenever I saw her we would greet each other. She always has this great smile, at least when I see her. Anyhow, I said hi and we started to talk about finals for a while, and she was just about to head to the library to study for a final later tonight. Anyhow, after the yadee-yadah, I asked her THE question, and she said, "sure!" I was like......sweet God. I prayed for her and ask God's love to fill her up that she would still have the energy when she takes the test. I also told her that I belive God's with her right there and she doesn't have to worry too much. "I believe it too!" she replied. Twas good. So we bother moved on. And I don't know why but I took a detour back to my dorm after the meeting with Chanelle--a path that I usually take when I check mail, but I've already done that. And guess who I saw AGAIN? Yup, Russell the man. I'd say he's well over 60 years old who really has a soft heart, and I can detect that he's often ignored because of how he looks or the way he talks. Anyhow, I knew that I HAD to pray for him since I saw him 3 times in just one day! So we chatted a little about Christmas break and what we're planning to do. I asked him about his throat and his back(I prayed for his healing last time), and he's been feeling better and he can't wait to get some rest during the break! So I offered a prayer for him before break, and I once again prayed for complete healing over his body, mind, and soul. And his family. I felt like he's got some problems with his family yet I didn't ask much about it. I could feel that he loves his family very much though. So I prayed for his family in my heart.
Casey posted a note on facebook--When You Dream, Dream Big!, and it is simply inspiring. God You're going to use Him for Your Kingdom greatly! So I left Him a message of Mark 5:19.

****
Here's his note hope he won't mind me Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V it! I love the internet! Thank You God!

Hmm, I realize that my previous note needs a reflection. Haha, the more I live life the more I realize that I don't always fully know what it looks like to follow God the way I need to. The way I need to. I realize that I can tend to be one of those Christians that find it too easy to put God into a box. For me, this doesn't entail blocking out the power of prayer, or not seeing God show up, or thinking of my beliefs in an equation format. Basically, what I mean by putting God into a box is not daring to dream big things. Sometimes I forget that usually when He shows up it's not just to get me through the day. It's for something bigger. Something I don't understand. And I find that it can be to easy to forget how BIG my God is. I can see Him moving so perfectly and powerfully in so many areas of my life that I forget to let Him into certain areas of my life. That's dangerous. Usually these are areas that are easier to ignore, or things less noticeable and easily overlooked until it is somehow brought up. Somehow. By His grace. I need to remember the promises that God has. If we were all created to worship and know God, then where do I get off losing hope in God breaking through in some (certain) people's lives? Does their brokeness blind me of the hope God has in them? Do I let it? If God can see past that, and see their beauty, then why do I not always seek after seeing the same thing? What promises do I thirst after seeing fulfilled? I need to find that out first. Although God brings us to places from our past, and the past is something we need to deal with sometimes, I definitely feel that God sometimes calls us to leave the past where it ultimately is. Behind us. So, going into this coming year, what do you want 2008 to look like? What big prayers do you need to pray? What kind of selfless faith do you need to find inside yourself? Where are you finding it hard to trust God? What big dreams do you need to dream? I'm trying to figure that out. And I will.
And that's that--my day until 2pm.
****

More will be added. Time for bed and dreams!
Jesus You are good. I felt You tonight at the party!

Johnny

Just thought a little bit of Christmas spirit would brighten up this blog. I'm still looking for 20 more minutes of Christmas music for tomorrow night's dance party!!!

Woah. Thank You God that I found my laptop right where I left it in the library!

Yeah, I was just about to go to bed before I realized that I actually forgot my laptop at the library?! Yeah I'm a little slow since I've been studying for tomorrow's final since 6. Anyhow, praise Him that I found it =) Or you wouldn't be reading this post!

Anyhow, today Brian stopped by and gave me a bag of boost-up: a banana, granola bar, apple juice, some goldfish and japanese peach candy. Thanks bunch Brian. Then he prayed for my health and just God favor over me when I take the tests. Man he's a great prayer comrade. Anyhow I also prayed for him and his fast recovery, for God has been healing him since yesterday. All the good stuff. Brian's been struggling whether he should go to Onething because the plane is extremely expensive. I prayed that God would provide his children when they're in need. I told him that Onething was a turning point for me last Christmas, and I just prayed for him that even if he cannot go this Christmas, he will still have many chances to go to IHOP.

I called Mr. Tierney, Mr. Corrigan, and Sheila back at NMH to make sure that I've a place to stay and a seat on the bus! Praise that God that I actually will be dropped off at Hartford after Vespers so that I don't have to worry about a ride! Thank You m'Jesus, You provide!

Then I started to do some Econ and CAT reviews until 6ish when Casey called to ask me whether I wanted to go study w/ him at Geisel library, so we met up. I actually saw Brian there on 6th floor! Crazy eh! At around 9 we went to Oceanview Terrance Cafe for Casey didn't have dinner. I kept on studying and making notes for tomorrow's test as he was finishing this huge burrito. After a while I was like....hmmm I would like some smoothie, so I asked him to get me a strawberry smoothie. He came back with a really peach-colored smoothie. All I could taste was the "MEMORY BOOST" that was added into it. No strawberries. Not even peach....It was quite disappointing but funny. Anyhow, as we were heading to the shuttle stop we went into this lounge where there was a piano. So we were just chatting and I practiced God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Winter Wonderland/White Christmas on it. We shared with each other about music and how Casey's mom plays piano too! Afterward as we were waiting for the shuttle he started to share with me what's been going on in his family--quite a drama. Anyhow, I'm going into detail but basically his parents got divorced when he was 5 and he was raised by his mom here in Anza, CA. Over the summer he was over in Colorado with his dad and he's going over again via Greyhound on Monday. Anyhow he shared with me a lot about how he used to feel guilty about his family situation, but he's now relieved from that burden since that's really not his burden. So I started to suggest him to dream big for his family-his mom, his dad, and his relationship with both of them-because God's going to use him as a blessing to the rest of his family. So he prayed for me and I prayed for him. God you're just so amazing right there in the cold(YET AGAIN><...). God, You seem to let me pray for people in the cold every time! You're crazy!! As I was on my way back to Revelle, Michael from Bread of Life San Diego called because he does not know my number(for I sent him a Happy Thanksgiving text msg before). We chatted a bit and he told me that he's going to Onething with some people in BOLSD! And he longs for a breakthrough and a change. He's expecting something new at Onething. So I prayed for him over the phone and I believe that God's going to blow his mind with this year's Onething conference. I'm still praying for Casey because he wants to go to Onething but there are many obstacles before him. I pray that his dad and grandma would let him go, and he would receive so much. If he happens not to go, I still pray that this Christmas break would be a time for him to build an intimate relationship with Jesus. Amen. So, that's that. And after the talk with Micheal I went to the library to print out stuff, and then I left my laptop there....and you know the story. Praise the Lord indeed for all He's done today!

Thanks Jesus. I right now ask Your presence to be at Temple City Live Oak Community Center, and everyone who goes in there would be filled by Your Holy Spirit!

You're a good God!

Johnny

Day 10

Woke up at around 11:30 and started to check on this HUGE thread that I started on facebook. All these awesome people just crack me up. Every one of them is simply amazing! I called up Jeff(not Jim anymore! Jeff's his real name.), making sure that we would hang out later tonight. Anyhow, I went online and listened to WNMH(NMH's radio station) live over iTunes since my friends were holding a show from 1-3pm PT (4-6pm ET, of course). It's great to hear their voices and I got to listen to Hogappella's CD! It's finally out! I can't wait to put my hand on one this coming Monday!

So I went to Plaza Cafe after listening to the radio show, and I actually called in and said hi to those amazing DJs! No one ever called in during my radio show with Sam back in Junior year, so I want the DJs to be blessed by simply calling in all the way from California! It was quite fun. From 3-5 I was eating my late lunch/early dinner/afternoon meal and reading some Econ materials. I wasn't really reading, you see, since my brain was not functioning properly for I had quite a bit of food. Anyhow, the 2 hours passed by fairly quick, and I left the cafe for my Econ review session. I was very glad that I went because this TA is really good at explaining concepts and solving problems step by step. Thanks a lot Aren.

After the review session, I received text msg from Brian telling me that he felt sick because he pulled an all-nighter so he couldn't come to campus today(for he had told me last night that he would stop by and visit me today). I then called back to his voicemail and prayed a simply prayer of healing.

I went back to Revelle and met up with Jeff at 7. He had a car and we went to UTC since he did not want to eat any school food anymore(not really healthy...). UTC is the mall that's just a mile down the road. He started to tell me more about his life since our last Tuesday night talk--he's all done with finals! Crazy........anyhow, he cannot attend Christmas Party because he will be driving his suitemates back to OC late Friday night. However, I've already reserved him to go to Impact this Sunday! Good stuff. So we were walking around the strip mall and chatting about life in general. He ended up getting a really warm jacket from AE. I got some Godiva for my trip East Monday. I really do enjoy getting off campus and walking around the outdoor mall. He shared with me that he went to a Catholic mass this past Sunday with his suitemate--he enjoyed the music, at least lol. He's glad to hear that Impact's service only last for about 2.5 hours since usually a Catholic mass goes on for four hours(woah). After UTC we went to Islands and got something to eat(yum...). Then he started to share with me that how his life and his friends back in Arcadia High(he's a '07 grad) were all a big lie. He shared with me how his life really changed when he came to college for his suitemates are genuine, open, and caring. He felt loved. However those bad memories would come back and haunt him every single day. I shared with him that some of my bad memories also appear every day, and what I did was to pray to God that He would remove those thoughts inside of me and install peace and joy; moreover, I told him that it works every time!

"I think I'm meant to become a Christian, man." I was like...WHAT DID YOU JUST SAID XD!!!! "I usually wouldn't stop and rest when I'm on my crutches heading back to my dorm, but that night I stopped and then you appeared!" I couldn't amen more than that. God really has start a fire inside of Jeff, and that fire is growing stronger! "Yeah I told you about how after the concert I prayed to God that He would give me a random person to pray for, right? And yeah man, that was all Him." And I also shared with Him that how when we start to believe in Christ, old things are gone and everything is made new again! I once again told him that it's his choice whether he wants to try this strawberry milkshake(for I shared my conversion testimony with him last time). Amazingly I actually ordered a strawberry milkshake, a really good one in fact!
Anyhow, I gave him the book The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning and encouraged him to read it for it really explains the Gospel in a heart-touching way. "What does Gospel mean?" he then asked. I then explained to him how this word came about--Good News, after all, about how God became flesh in Jesus and He died for all of our sins so that we may have eternal live. John 3:16 sums it all up. We finally got back and before he went back to dorm I prayed for him--for his final grades and his left foot--his next check-up is on January 9. I told him that his foot would be healed before then and he wouldn't have to use the big boot anymore after the check-up because God is healing him--physically and emotionally.

It was a good night. While I was at UTC I received calls from Sarah, Annie, J, Casey, and Parkie. It was the craziest night ever! So many people called me!!!! Hm...I guess I'm somehow important hahah.

As I was walking back to my dorm and on the phone with Casey, I saw Rose (I mentioned her in last Friday night/early Sat morning's entry. Go check it out!) sitting by the steps, just chilling out I guess. After the phone, I started to chat with Rose about life and eventually about her right foot--for she has been on crutches since mid Oct. However I didn't see crutches or boot on her! She said that she doesn't need crutches now and she's just taking a break from the boot. So very frankly I told her that I have been wanted to pray for her healing because I believe that God really heals and I've experienced healing myself. "Sure," was her reply(my heart was like...God I praise You!!). So I just prayed for her that when she head home over the break and have check-ups, the doctors would told her that she's completely healed. I believe that she's healed. Totally. I then shared with her how I broke my left arm after falling off a bus back in 7th grade. It was a good and funny story. Twas a great night. Actually I've been praying for her healing since the day she hurt her foot, and today God let me witness that she's really being healed! Woohoo!

When I got back to my room I received a facebook msg from Brian:
God used your prayer to strengthen me! I felt some cold symptoms: headache, drippy nose, and my eyes are sore/itchy from not sleeping much. And my mouth has some canker sores. After taking long naps and eating more, I feel better. My eyes are not as itchy and my headache is much less, and canker sores hurt less. Appreciate your prayers bro!

Then Casey stopped by and gave me, Sal, and Micheal each a little bag of Christmas cereal and a Christmas card. Casey actually got me a new backpack! You rock, man! I'm so blessed. Then I walked him out and told him a bit about what happened tonight and he was encouraged! He also shared with me that last night he was reading the book Onething by Dwanye Roberts (which I lent him over the Christmas break) He said he learned a lot about how to be like children after reading just Chapter 1! He went to worship on this mountain where a bright cross stands. He said that he could see the entire San Diego county and it was super amazing.

All in all, today was yet another fruitful day.
God tasted like a food that tastes even stronger after swallowing it--all the people I prayed for today appeared in my previous entries!

GIG!
Johnny

Crazy stuff happened today at our school's Sierra Summit dining hall. At around 12:30 I met up with Garrett, just the coolest guy ever and a junior who's heading to Chile for a year of studying abroad in January, just to catch up with him and give him a copy of Heart Songs by the Hendricksons, a copy of Impact's 2nd year DVD, and a mix of all the oily worship songs.

A bit of background:
The first time I met Garrett was at the Why Not Here? Lounge at Revelle College, for he works there selling snacks, renting out pool table and bikes. Yeah it was on the afternoon after I lead Kevin to Christ(the Kevin I wrote about yesterday!), I saw him on library walk and started to tell him all about what happened that night--how Kevin called me and we had a two-hour talk until 2am. He was really encouraged and asked me to stop by the lounge after my Econ class at 5pm. So I did and ever since I've been stopping by and saying hi or simply chill around, or sharing life with one another. I remember we looked at the beginning of Saul's conversion--after he was blinded for three days, Ananias was called by God to heal Saul and baptize him with water and Spirit. He gave me some tips of how to disciple--like Ananias did to Saul. Even though we've only met for two months, we both felt that we've known each other for a really long time. God really connect us together in our spirits.

Back to lunch:
Then we just started to chat about our lives over the past couple weeks since our last talk. I shared with him my A Person A Day challenge and I told him that he was my Day-9 person(he was very honored lol)! After just chatting and all that I started to share with him Jack's message two weeks ago about building foundation on the Rock and also Pastor David's heavy-loaded message on Rev. 7 & 20 this past Sunday. I also shared with him about end time. He was curious about this since this idea of "Jesus coming in our lifetime" is completely new to him. We looked through Rev. 7 and understood more of the content. I felt really heavy when I was sharing for the message itself really carried loads of undiscovered fruit. He asked me why I would think that the end time is coming in our generation. I tried to answer yet I couldn't find the right chapter.

Garrett, if you're reading this right now, I found the chapter-Matthew 24. These are the Words that have come to pass in the present time--false prophets, wars between nations like never before, the #'s of martyrs have reached a new high year after year all over the world. And I would say verse 14 is the critical one--preach this gospel of the kingdom in the WHOLE WORLD as a testimony to ALL NATIONS, AND THEN the end will come. I cannot really explain it well, but I hope you've now got some idea about it! If you wish more explanation about it, go check out International House Of Prayer's Conference Notes. There are just so many goodies from that website. Go surf around! There are so many treasures in it!

Anyhow, as I kept on eating(he didn't eat so he was laughing at how I ate with my mouth open lol oh well...)he read the Beatitudes(Matt. 5) and started to share with me how he's been feeling these days--sometimes up and sometimes down. He also told me that I have a pure heart and I'm really open up, simply want to pour out God's love and presence. I was very much encouraged. And then I also told him that he is a man of faith and encouragement; he also has the skill of making different types of friends. Moreover, he's changing people's lives by just saying hi and joking around; I felt that more and more will just turn to Christ because they want to be as happy and encouraging like Garrett every time they see him. No joke. That was how I felt. After I finished eating, we then read aloud Jeremiah 31 and then Isaiah 61--both talk about God's promise of healing and bringing His people together as one. What's really powerful is that we both found out that both chapters are not only connected with each other but also strongly connected with Revelation 7:14-17! God will wipe away every tear from their eyes(Rev. 7:17b, Jer. 31:16, Isaiah 61:3)!

Then we started to be still and just asked more of His presence to fall upon us. I then started to pray for Him to give me revelations and visions He has for Garrett. As I was asking God, Garrett started to pray. I did not pay much attention to what he was praying since I was also praying inside.

It wasn't until he started to confess his sins before me and God out of a sudden that I started to focus on him, with a surprised heart and spirit.

After he has confessed what he's done, I prayed for him and told him that I used to have the same struggle that he has right now and I was freed from the heavy chain when I went to the Supernatural Conference a month ago. Then I also confessed my sins before him and the Lamb. Sometimes I would really have this "hate" thoughts coming into my mind and I would start to judge others by their so-called "worldly" behaviors. I asked God to forgive me once again and grant me His eyes and heart because I cannot see the beauty inside of others unless through His eyes of mercy(Jasmine, that's your poem!). We started to sing Shane & Shane's Vision of You and Jason Upton's In Your Presence. We were once again filled with his spirit as we were praying in one accord, in tongue and in words. This is really my first time to confess ALL sins before a brother and ask for prayer of healing. It felt weird in the beginning, yet when God's presence overwhelmed us, I couldn't help but raise my hand and praise him. Man, I love Your presence. All fear is gone in Your presence. Woah.

I also pray that God would not stop revealing Himself in new and refreshing ways to Garrett and to me as he did today. And I really do hate to see Garrett leave for Chile! He told me that I would definitely find a brother to pray with and confess sins with in the future year, and he told me that right there he really felt his chains broken and free from the bondage of the worldly things. Jesus I just want to give you all the credit, cause all we did was to "put Your Words into practice" as You said in Matthew 7:24! We adore Your love and Your Words!

If more and more believers would start and confess their sins before one another and to Him, the Day would come faster than we could ever imagine. It's through bonding all believers' hearts together and strengthening one another through prayers and forgiveness that we can be more prepared for His coming.

I once again thank You Jesus for a BREAKTHOUGH in my life(of course, this year of breakthrough is not over yet!) Praise You for all You've done and what You're doing in me and in Garrett. Please let us be with You just a bit longer. We MUST have You every minute because without You, we are so vulnerable to the world and to the Devil. Lord I ask for new wineskins in our lives that we will not be afraid of Devil's accusation of our past sins because You have made us new and washed our robes with the blood of the Lamb over and over again. You are soooooo good!

One last note about a verse we also looked at today:

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
-1 John 1:7-

Isn't it fascinating to notice that this verse doesn't say that if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with God; rather it says that we have fellowship with one another. Still don't quite understand the meaning of this verse. I'll definitely spend more time pondering over this. God Your thoughts are mind-boggling(and mind-opening too!)!!

****

Praise the Lord! I passed the Writing Exam(which means that I don't have to retake the course again)! Thank You for all the prayer supports! He is truly faithful! I had my math exam tonight and it went quite alright. Before the exam I prayed a simply prayer that God would pour His favor over me. I ended up, after 3 full hours of having my brain drenching, feeling pretty good about the exam even though I was very uncertain about 4 questions....but anyhow, still praise Him for two exams are over! Lord now I just pray that You have favor over my grades for I really want at least a B+ in math! I also pray that I will utilize tomorrow and Thursday efficiently for studying, hanging out with friends, and spending time with You. I can't wait for tomorrow!!!! Hmm....I'd say God tasted like a new cuisine--unexpected!

Give me more of You!!
Johnny

If you've read the post from yesterday(actually this early morning), I slept at 5am. And I woke up at 2pm! Praise the Lord! When I woke up I got a text message from Sam, my best bud over in MA. He asked me to pray for his friend's college ED and the result should come out today. So I prayed for his friend and text messaged back the prayer to him. I was like...thank you God that Sam's opening up to ask me to pray for him. I am honored.

Around 5pm I got a call from Kevin, a great friend whom I led him through the sinner's prayer about two months ago(Praise Him! I'll put that testimony up sometime later). He's at U Wisconsin right now studying Civic & Environmental Engineering--in other words, he's captain planet. For real I haven't talked to him on the phone for more than a month and half and I've been praying for him that he would find a good fellowship that he can grow in faith and experience God in daily life. He actually called because of his final project-a survey. I was like....what the...but anyways I simply praised God that he actually have some time to call people and catch up with some friends. He told me that his life has been a lot better since the chaos happened two months ago. He's been busy with school work and is quite stressed out. So before handing up I offered a prayer for him--his school work, finals, relationships with friends, and his searching for his purpose. God won't You come and touch Kevin's heart and reveal Yourself to him in a way that no one can imagine! And after the talk I got a text from Sam, saying that his friend got the ED and thank God! Praise the Lord indeed. Woohoo!

God You're so good. I didn't have to look for anyone to pray for; you prepared three people for me to pray for--Sam, Sam's friend, and Kevin. You are just out of my imagination already! I just want to keep on experience you in a fresh way every day as I'm moving along on the road of A Person A Day challenge. Today's DAY 8.

God's prepared a person for my challenge tomorrow already! And I'm very excited. And now it's time to study some math for tomorrow night's final! Please keep me in your prayers. I need to focus on school work just for one more week, and of course I would love to do well and really understand what I've learned this quarter. Thank You all reading my blog and may my words here be unto you a blessing.

GIGATT!
Johnny

ps. Shane & Shane's music is simply full of oil! I'm loving it!

Where You Go I'll Go by Brian Johnson
Where You go I go
What You say I say
What You pray I pray
What You pray I pray

How could I expect to walk without You
When every move that Jesus made was in surrender
I will not begin to live without You
For You alone are worthy and You are always good

Though the world sees and soon forgets
We will not forget who You are and what You've done for us

****
It's 3:30am. I am about to head to bed after this entry.

Yesterday(Sat) I was looking for someone that I could pray for, but I didn't really find anyone. I was with Annie at McDevil...I mean McDonald's late at night after 12, wanted to get some food for we did not have dinner. The crazy thing was that there was only one worker and she looked like a college student, maybe a graduate. We weren't sure. But we were both surprised at her working at such late hours alone(she's got friends hanging out with her inside). But anyhow I felt this burden upon me and I prayed for that worker at my seat and so was Annie. As we were waiting at the drive-thru window and since I didn't have a chance to pray for someone that day and the McWorker did not seem to be the one, I asked Annie that whether I could pray for her. Actually, it was more like, "Annie, I'm gonna pray for you right now(the sixth person)." So I prayed for her career and her open houses coming up and all that jazz. 'Twas good. So that was that.

****

First of all I just want to praise that I actually woke up at around 8:30 this Sunday morning! For those who know me, when I sleep, I'm basically dead and nothing can wake me up besides some annoying alarm clocks. I did a simple prayer asking God to wake me up on time the night before! GIG!
Anyhow here comes the Sunday celebration. Right before worship, I suddenly found out that my top keyboard's effect PR-A 017 was altered in some way that I could not fix in 30 sec. I was like....what is going on here? I don't remember I did any changes to this really amazing effect. Oh well, worship had to start so I only used the bottom keyboard today unlike other times. Anyhow, the worship had to start. Usually I would started to feel His presence during the first song, if not, the second. But today was very weird. I really did not feel His presence AT ALL during the worship, even when Jack took over. I kept on looking at the congregation, thinking are they feeling His presence? Why aren't they dancing and shouting to God? If I'm not feeling God does it mean that the music was not helping people to feel His presence? Anyhow, the worship seemed quite short to me.
Before Pastor David Tai's message today, I shared the testimony about Jim, the really cool guy I prayed for--go check out the entry a couple days ago if you want to know what happened! So, as I was sharing, I felt a bit of Hie presence. After all, He was the One glorified. Good stuff.
Pastor David shared about Revelation Ch7 and Ch20--the end zones(the goal and purpose) of our lives. The sharing was simply mind-boggling. Such a radical thought yet a powerful revelation directly from the One to Come. If you wish to know more about it, go check out Alice's blog: She takes fabulous notes and post them on her blog every week afer service! A faithful note-taker she is.
It was such a heavy-loaded sharing that Pastor David was not able to finish sharing some details yet he still blew me away with his talk. I felt His presence in the room throughout the talk and my heart was stirred up once again. I haven't had a stirring heart for a while--I've always yearn for and long for God's presence yet nothing like this. A heart stirred by Him and Him alone. I started to understand the reason why I'm at what I am right now. I found out this indescribable end zone of my life and I am ready to go for the touchdown.
After Pastor's talk, Radical Jam went up and started to sing Where You Go I'll Go by Brian & Jenn Johnson. Through the words and the notes I once again commited in a relationship with Him--to love His presence and follw all His ways. Many felt convicted to come to the front and receive prayers for their hearts were also stirred. After praying for them, Pastor actually came and prayed over me as I was still playing. I really forgot what he said since I was just soaking into God's overflowing presence right then; he said something about the importance of the positions of the musicians at that time. The moment Pastor Tai laid his hand on me, I felt like every muscle and organ of my body was being stirred! After his prayer I started to pray in tongue and kept on worshiping. Man that felt so good. Suddenly a hand was on my back as I was playing with my eyes closed. The first thing the brother with his hand on me said was, "God says that His presence is with you. Somehow He entrust you with His presence. His presence is inside of you, for you to carry." Woah. I didn't realize how confirming the prayer was until I just typed it out. Totally insane. Woah. God, You entrust me with Your presence? Just two hours before I was asking God why I did not feel Your presence in the room?

I still don't know why. But one thing I know now is that I am humbled again because who am I that He is installing His presence in me? Moreover, He trust me! God You are simply out of Your mind(guess not!)!!! You are so good my Jesus. Anyhow, the bother then said to me that even I've playing other people's songs, I am using my heart to make them new songs to God. Yeah he was right. Since summer I've been wanting to compose and write more songs but so far all I have are fragments of different things...However I really do love and appreciate other musicians'/worshipes' works very much. During and after his prayer, my right wrist started to hurt so much that I could onlt play with my left hand for a while. Anyhow, I really pray that God would look over me and my hands--my worship instrument--to keep my hands from hurting when I play the keys.
Amen.
****

The service ended at around 4:30(crazy huh) but it ended more like atound 5 since many were still in the front. After that I offered a prayer to my bro Eric(my seventh person!). A wonderful guy who is always unexpected in some ways. I prayed for God's control of his life since he's been struggling within whether he should quit his current job and find a better one. I also prayed that God would keep him focused on what's important--His life purpose for him--and not to go off track. I just felt this heat around us as I was praying for and laying my hand on him. I knew God was there at the right moment to talk to Him through my prayer. Praise You Jesus. You are great.

ADD ON(thanks to Alice): Another part of Pastor David's praying over me--"the music you play will impact this generation, it will counter the satan worship during the end times..." Yeah. Whenever I worship, I just want to give Him the best worship EVER--and nothing can block me from doing that. I just want to praise You, Lord!

God thank You for entrusting Your presence to me. Surely I will cherish it with all I am. And I really don't have to worry about Your "not showing up" since I've got Your presence all over me already, right? =)

It's 5am. Time for bed. God is so good.
Johnny
****

Switch topic: today(Sun) was Northfield Mount Hermon's Christmas Vespers on campus!!!
I really miss it tons and tons. I bet the two concerts went smoothly and the singers were all proud of themselves! I can't wait to go back!!

Today has been quite a weird one, I'd say. From 2-5 I was stuck with Econ: TA section, then TA hours, then my last Econ lecture of the quarter. They were good and I was glad that I had a 3 hr boost of Econ. At least I understood more.

So before I went to bed last night at around 4am(children, don't learn from Johnny!) I was just meditating with music. And then suddenly my brother Brian came to my mind. He's the person who was with me during Supernatural conference. Anyhow, I immediately facebook messaged him (yay for facebook!) and I went to bed.

Here's what I wrote him:
Hey Brian I just suddenly thought of you and want to pray for you. God delights in you and He loves you with His everlasting love(right at that moment I was listening to Mark Hendrickson singing Everlasting Love!). He is Your Shephard to guide Your way. You are a faithful servant. He love You so much. You are His beloved and you have ravished His heart completely.
I don't know whether this prayer helps in any way, but I was just meditating and you came to my mind bro. Hope all is well and good luck with your studying. Peace and love, Johnny

And when I woke up today he replied:
Johnny !! :)
You're prayer is very prophetic! I am actually studying right now and a little stressed. Your prayer reminds me that God is real, and that He cares for me.
I'm pretty amazed that at this moment, 4 AM, while I'm studying I just get this prayer from you. :)
God unconditionally loves you Johnny. Just as for who you are. There is nothing you can do to make him love you more, nor make him love you less, nor nothing you don't do that will change how he feels about you.
He's raised you up as a warrior in his supernatural army.

******anyhow, let's talk about what happened later tonight.
I had a good dinner time with a great awesome bro Andy. He's just a great guy has a heart for prayers. A third-year who's now taking a year off and diving into Intervarsity ministry, and he's looking for his purpose that God has for him. After the dinner we went to Intervarsity's Christmas Party--gingerbread house, live music, cookies and snacks, make-your-own Christmas cards. All the goodies. Anyhow, I slipped out to attend the worship portion of Bread of Life fellowship, and it was great. God's presence was there with us as we were praying for the school, ourselves, and the fellowship. Anyhow, I went back to the party after the worship and joined the fun. Anyhow, after the party I walked back with Audrey(met her at the party tonight), Brian(doesn't really know him well), and Bryce. We all live in Revelle. My heart was longing to pray for Bryce but so many things were there to block me from talking to him one-on-one. So I was very frustrated and I asked God to once again let me pray for someone.

And I thought of Brian.

So outside of my dorm I called him up at around 12am, he picked up and we had a great talk. The first thing he said to me was, "hey Johnny thank you for the message. You really encouraged me! Today I just felt this energy upon me and I've been feeling less stressful. When you sent me that message I was just working on a final paper that was due today." Then we were just chatting more about how we've been and he offered to pray for me. As he started to pray for me over the phone, Rose walked out from the dorm. Rose is a friend who broke her ankle and then she has been using crutches for almost two months now. And today I heard that her bones are infected! So I wanted to just ran over and pray for her but I was on the phone with Brian. So I missed a chance. Anyhow, Brian saw a vision for me--a single blooming yellow sunflower. He told me that I am in the season of spring and many things would birth out. I then prayed for him and he was encouraged. We both praised God for His once again randomness and His awesome timing. So after I hung up I immediately prayed to God that His Spirit would fall upon Rose and she would be completely healed and would not have to stop school for next quarter because of her bone infection. Jesus thank You so much. I love You. You are just so faithful 24/7.

Friends please pray for me for tomorrow I've the most important final because if I don't get at least a C on it I would have to retake the class next quarter and it wouldn't be the thing I want at all. Pray for wisdom and creativity for I'll be writing an essay. Pray for efficiency and a focused mind. Pray for a body that's ready-to-rock. Pray for the Holy Spirit's accompany during my test.

Thank you my friends and thank You my Beloved One.
Can't live without You even for one minute.
GIGATT!!!!!!!!!!
I will keep all of you in my prayers and may God keep you focused right now on what's important. He's there. Just ask Him to reveal Himself to you once again.

Jesus is so good!
Johnny

Thank You Jesus that I got an A on my final project. It was shown today during the last class of the quarter. The prof even asked me to stand and be acknowledged!...Crazy stuff. Anyhow, the project is to make a clear and bold visual argument of my worldview. So basically I can do anything I want about this project. So I started brainstorming and Jack helped me a bit and we ended up talking about Apple--how it connects or separates people. My original plan was to have two people holding hands with an iPod on one side, and on the other side there are two iPods pulling two people away from each other, and with a big question mark in the center.
But after thinking about that, I didn't think that would be a strong statement; it would rather be very vague because I'm not taking a side.
So I decided to make Apple into a Nazi-like cult. Props to my great sister Annie who helped me to brainstorm my supports which I rephrase them into three parts: 1. iConize(ex.- Madonna), 2. iDolize(ex.- Hitler), 3. iDentify(ex.- Disney). I have to give props to my creative brain(Thank You God!) to make the three parts i_______.
The project counts for 10% of my final grade! Sweet.

***************
Anyhow, that's that.
So today after class(at around 2) I got a voicemail from Peter, a brother from Bread of Life Church SD inviting me to their weekly cell group prayer meeting. I've been there once and it was pretty awesome--in this small room with about 7 people simply giving Him praise and pray for the school and one another.

I didn't know why, but I started to text Peter back--"sorry man I don't think I can go I've got homew..." Then I paused. WHAT WAS I THINKING? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?I didn't know. The next thing I did was to delete my "lying in progress without any specific reason" to "sure man when can you pick me up?"

Wow. That struck my heart. I believe it was the Devil who tempted me to reject a heavenly invitation. I was alone in my room, trying to find something to do. And no matter how small the space is open, the tempter would try to get into my heart in all ways. Praise the Lord that He saved me yet again.

So tonight we prayed for the campus and proclaimed victory over UCSD because this quarter has really been a chaotic one--with wildfire, weird weather, heavy storm, I-5 closure due to a bomb threat, and YESTERDAY's bomb threat on our Medical School Campus' closure for the day. Still I will praise You, for You are faithful and lovely. I know You're in control, my Lord and King.
And afterwards I went and grab a bite with Peter and another brother Michael. Michael then took me back to campus and I was on my way to Intervarsity's Midnight Worship from 10-12. I love "simple worship", as I call it--just one guitar with people singing aloud, and the room was big and had great acoustic so the sound of our singing echoed and echoed. A great night it was.

During Midnight Worship I got to met this guy Jon who was actually leading worship on the guitar. I got to pray for him--he's longing to know God's heart and what His plan for him is. He's on the badminton team and has started a bible study among his teammates, yet now he yearns for a breakthrough. Yeah God! You are the Lord of the breakthrough. You Love Jon and You know his heart; would you just take him and mold him again!

Praise the Lord I shall once again! It's day 4!
Johnny

ps. Good stuff always comes from the least expected place. That's how God tasted like today-a random flavor =)

O Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
-Psalm 34:8-

God might taste sweet like Kisses, or maybe bitter like dark chocolate. What does God tastes like to you personally? Or have you tasted God? I cannot tell you how something tastes like because you are not me. So if you don't taste something then you will never know what it tastes like, eh?

*****This is what happened tonight (wed 120507)

Woah God. You take my breath away yet again.
So today after a large group gathering I had a chance to walk back to my dorm with this awesome bro Tom(not his real name). I just started to share with him all the stuff that God has done in my life during conferences and the past few days, and about Jim, whom I prayed last night.

So here's the first big miracle tonight, ready?
Last night I prayed for Jim and I prophesied over him that he would not have to use crutches anymore after his check-up today. So tonight he left a voicemail on my cell telling me that he really appreciate my praying for him and HE IS OFF THE CRUTCHES!!!Just like the woman in Mark 9, Jim got healed!!!

Praise the Lord or WHAT?! Wooooooah! I just want to get up and dance around, ya know.

So I shared this testimony with Chris and many more about how I deal with my roommates since he is struggling with his roommates and suitemates who swear a lot and just simply worldly. I later on prayed that God would give Tom His heart to feel how He feels for others and His eyes to see the emptiness inside of them. This is the third day of my A Person A Day journey.

*****
And what's even more amazing is that he wrote a note on his blog an hour ago:

okay guys, so my hands are cold from being outside for too long, so i'm sorry if i have a bunch of typos in here...
so today is 12/5-6/07 and i just came from large group...
we heard testimonies from a fellow brother and sister in Christ and they were just awesome! They were so encouraging because it showed me that God is truly working in the lives of people. I always wondered where God was? maybe because i feel like he was never apparent in my life (which isn't true, i just never took the time to see all that God has done for me, so sad) but it was so awesome hearing Him work in the lives of others!
people's lives can be touched in so many ways, I love how God reveals himself so specific to everyone's needs...He doesn't leave anything out!

alright so after large group, I ended up walking back to Revelle with a fellow brother of mine and he just started sharing his testimonies over the summer. He told me so many stories of people's lives being touched through prayer, especially street prayer. It was so encouraging to see how powerful prayer is! I never realized how important it can be in people's lives, even those who aren't Christian.

Thank you God for just revealing yourself to me tonight! I pray that I will not forget these stories and experiences that i've been able to hear about. Thank you for such an amazing first quarter of college where i can grow and learn about myself and you God! I pray these things in your precious Son's name, Amen.

thanks for reading! I hope that you have an awesome winter break! God bless and Merry Christmas if I don't see you until after winter break!
*****

Jesus You are lovely. You taste like the best wine ever made(John2:10). Thank You for letting us taste yet another heavenly flavor of Your love and grace.

Anyhow, GIGATT! God Is Good All The Time!
Johnny

Before I get into tonight's testimony, I just want to share what happened yesterday(Monday). I told God that I wanted to start praying for a person a day on campus. I was sitting on the side of this big plaza and I had an urge to pray for this guy sitting on another bench that is next to me. So I went over and simply asked him whether I could pray for him. "I'm a Muslim," he said. I was a bit defeated yet he did not mind my praying for him. So I prayed for his Physics test coming up and also his health during the final two weeks. I didn't have enough time to share Jesus with him because I was heading to class and he was ready to take a nap before his test.

Anyhow, GIG! God Is Good!

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My God is my Refuge and my Fortress, and I put my trust in Him. He will surely save me from death and cover me with His wings. I will find refuge under His wings, and His faithfulness will be my Shield.
~Psalm 91:2-4~

Tonight(Tuesday), I went to the Gospel Choir Concert alone, expecting a good time actually. Later on Casey joined me for a while and he left to study. This concert is full of God's blessings. The gospel music just turned me from sitting to swaying, then to clapping and singing along. These good ol' spirituals and hymns are still powerful nowadays. The simple words like I just can't stop praisin' had me gaze upon God's beauty once again right there as I sang along.

Gospel Choir, the only class that students can publically praising God without any burden or attack. The conductor is a great man of God, going around the world impacting people's lives with music.

Then he invited everyone to sing this hymn:

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee.
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee.
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Then this song turned into How Great Is Our God sung by two female singers.
I lifted my hands and once again was in awe of His greatness.

After the concert, I wanted to go up to the stage and pray for the percussionist, Bobby, who has cancer. However he was busy talking with many people so I prayed a prayer of healing for Him. I believe that God's doing His miraculous work in Bobby. So I was a bit depressed because I wanted to pray for someone. As I was walking back toward my dorm, I said to God that I wanted to pray a stranger before I sleep today. It was 10pm. I didn't have dinner so I walked toward the cafe and there in front of me was this guy putting down his crutches and taking a rest on the bench.
Right then I knew he was the one that God prepared for me to pray for. So I started the conversation by asking him whether he had just gone to the concert also, and amazingly he did! So we started to talk about music and how he's been playing viola for a very long time and wants to learn percussion. Then we introduced ourselves, and guess what's totally amazing? This guy, Jim(not his real name), who broke three of his left toes because of learning how to skateboard, lives in the same city that I live in, just a mile east to my house! So I talked about how I also write music mainly for God, and he showed interest in Christianity. "I'm looking into becoming a Catholic from a Buddhist," he told me. I asked him why Catholicism and he told me that he went to a Catholic school for two years when he was young, and he is not getting anything from those idols which his parents worship. Then I started to share what Christianity is all about--not about going to Hell or forcing people to repent and repent--but about love. This God of love. I shared my convertion testimony with him and also some stories in the Gospel to explain who Jesus is-the Way, Truth, and Life. I then shared the testimony at Supernatural Conference with him. He was very impressed of the depth of Christianity.
He started to share with me about his troubles. He once tried to commit suicide because he felt abandoned and unloved by everyone, even his parents since he has Alopecia, a disease that causes people to lose their hair and become bald. He was rejected and threatened and made fun of since 7th grade when the condition got very serious. He lost all his hair by 8th grade. "People in my high school were so materialistic. The entire school is based on lies," he said. I shared with him how in the beginning of October a good friend of mine called me from Wisconsin and devastated by the fact that his friends were all hypocrites and he was dumped by the clique to which he belonged.
I then shared with him the story of Jesus healing the sick woman in Mark 5:25-34. I told him how this woman was completely ignored and looked down upon. Women back then were deemed as the lowest of the hierarchy, especially a woman subjected to bleeding for 12 years. I told him that she was also rejected by everyone in town. Yet she was healed with a faithful heart. I told him that Jesus wants to heal his disease and have a personal relationship with him. I invited him to believe in Christ, but he chose to figure out more about it first. He was worried about his parents since they woship many idols like a traditional Taiwanese family would(and yes, he is a Taiwanese who grew up in the US yet speaks and writes Mandarin fluently). Anyhow, his friends took him to church when he was a freshman in high school because of his wanting to commit suicide. "No one has explained Christianity so clearly to me. My Christian friends always asked me, 'Hey are you converted yet? Are you?' and that's the only thing I've heard from them." I then told him that there is a difference between a Christian and a Chtistian-in-action. I shared with him that God desires to have a personal relationship with him because He loves him so much as His own. Furthermore I shared with him how Jesus ALWAYS went to the deserted, ignored, sick, lame, near death because they are the ones who cry out for Him. He loves to help out His beloved ones unconditionally.
I forgot what else we shared with one another, but I told him that I've found my purpose in God, and if he wanted to know what his purpose is, then he should totally ask God for it. God's the only person who never fails or deserts or lies. Before we started to head back to our dorms(we live in the same college!) I offered him a prayer of healing and blessing. He's having his left foot checked tomorrow and I prayed for God's complete healing for this awesome guy I randomly met. On our way back I also shared with him the testimony at Jesus Culture Redding about the knuckle that grew back. He was completely in awe.
I invited him to come to Impact's Christmas party on the 14th and I hope that he can make it and also sunday services.

************

I'm just speechless right now after typing what happened just a couple hours ago.
Isn't He great?
Father thank You for answering my prayer.
I prayed for a person before I go to bed tonight(I actually shared with him that I asked God to let me pray for a stranger before I go to bed tonight and he was like...woah that's crazy).
And Lord would You start stirring up Jim's heart and spirit that he would realize that believe in You would bring blessings to his family.

How lovely is Your Name, Jesus. Only You can satisfy my heart.
Can't wait for tomorrow!

Johnny

...can't believe it's 2:44am now. I started writing @ 1:09!
Time for bed!