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

Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD. And he said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it.

There are many qualities to becoming a MIGHTY MAN, but there are two that can be discovered from this event: Courage and Loyalty.

Courage
These three crazy men sure did know what they were doing for a cup of water. I am encouraged by their courageous move of breaking the Philistine garrison. They were full of faith, determination, and muscle, I bet =D

Loyalty
I don't know what David was thinking when he said, "hmm... I'm thirsty... I wonder who would go to Bethlehem, where I was born, and get me some water... and by the way, a garrison of Philistines is there." David was testing the loyalty of his men, and surely three stood out of the bubble and risked their lives because they are loyal to David.

I really enjoy reading about David's mighty men because I can always depict the storyline and the words would become vivid pictures in my head! I want to be a Mighty Man for Jesus. I want my name to be remembered because I go into the enemy's camp to get a cup of water for my King, and conveniently, risking my life to kill the enemy (and win, of course).

Johnny

ps. some pictures from LOVE TENT Cal State Long Beach. I love their set-up: simple. The Lord is on the move =D I beleive that Long Beach will see a greater measure of who Jesus is!

I woke up at 6 this morning with this dream. I know it means something, but I cannot tell what it is! Somebody help me! Holy Spirit, I need Your revelation and interpretation! I also highlight some important things w/ color.

Here it goes:
Impact people (I remember Annie especially) were on the 1st floor of a hospital. Somehow Abby and I walked up to 3rd floor which is a restaurant. I remember asking those who are having steak, "Is the food here better than Lawry's (a high-end prime rib restaurant)?" But here's the weird thing, the steaks they're eating WERE from LAWRY'S because there's an big L sign on every steak! The L looked like a removable sticker on the steak which shows that the steak is from LAWRY'S, and the alphabet "L" itself had a beautiful font that's GOLD and very decorative. Well, cutting the steak, one of them said, "the other restaurant is Japanese but this is more American." (Something like that... maybe after all it was Lawry's all along?)

Suddenly we heard someone shouted in the restaurant, "she's giving birth to the baby NOW!" And I saw a lady on the floor with her legs wide open, ready to roll. And then someone else said, "I see the head!" I also saw a little bit of the head as the baby was being delivered. Immediately I called Annie on my cell and told her what is happening, and asked her to go look for a doctor!

Then somehow there were elevators by the restaurant and the doors of one of them opened up. And at the same time I heard someone said, "I see the neck!" Anyhow, Peter (somehow was in the dream) went in and held the door open as people carried the lady into the elevator. I then heard someone said, "we should take her down to room 000 (I think that's the room number for the ER)!" They went down in the elevator.

Still in the restaurant, I saw Avinash (my ex-suitemate from India). Abby (someone from my suite last year) went up to him, and he was about to give Avinash a hug because they hadn't seen each other since June, but somehow they ended up not hugging. I went up to say hi. Interestingly he said to me, "I cannot touch Christians because 25% of..... (I forgot....this should be something important... but 25% of something).... And if I touch you, you would explode." As he was saying it we were kinda playing around; however, he was not joking about the exploding part, but he was making gestures at poking me. So I said to him playfully, "boom!"

Behind Avinash, I saw Christians lining up to get into another elevator to go praise the Lord. And then I woke up.


I really do not understand ANY part of this dream!!!!! ARGH!
Lord, I want to know WHAT YOU WANT ME TO KNOW!!!

Johnny

5 Reasons Why We Prune Trees

A. Safety
Pruning for safety involves removing branches that could fall and cause injury or property damage, trimming branches that interfere with lines of sight on streets or driveways, and removing branches that grow into utility lines. Safety pruning can be largely avoided by carefully choosing species that will not grow beyond the space available to them, and have strength and form characteristics that are suited to the site.

B. Health
Pruning for health involves removing diseased or insect-infested wood, thinning the crown to increase airflow and reduce some pest problems, and removing crossing and rubbing branches. Pruning can best be used to encourage trees to develop a strong structure and reduce the likelihood of damage during severe weather. Removing broken or damaged limbs encourages wound closure.

C. Aesthetics
Pruning for aesthetics involves enhancing the natural form and character of trees or stimulating flower production. Pruning for form can be especially important on open-grown trees that do very little self-pruning.

D. Stimulate fruit production

E. Increase the value of timber

*****
All woody plants shed branches in response to shading and competition. Branches that do not produce enough carbohydrates from photosynthesis to sustain themselves die and are eventually shed; the resulting wounds are sealed by woundwood (callus). Branches that are poorly attached may be broken off by wind and accumulation of snow and ice. Branches removed by such natural forces often result in large, ragged wounds that rarely seal. Pruning as a cultural practice can be used to supplement or replace these natural processes and increase the strength and longevity of plants.

Trees have many forms, but the most common types are pyramidal or spherical. Trees with pyramidal crowns, e.g., most conifers, have a strong central stem and lateral branches that are more or less horizontal and do not compete with the central stem for dominance. Trees with spherical crowns, e.g., most hardwoods, have many lateral branches that may compete for dominance.

To reduce the need for pruning it is best to consider a tree's natural form. It is very difficult to impose an unnatural form on a tree without a commitment to constant maintenance.

All information from US Dept of Agriculture.

Man... I'm being rocked by this website! I'll go into the different ways of pruning sometime later. This is really awesome when we start seeing it with our spirit eyes.

Let me summarize the 5 reasons again:

Thanks Jesus for considering all these reasons when You prune me!
Thoughts?

Johnny

You know what happens when you listen to Bill Johnson's message.

Bill's words are always right there when I need'em. I believe I am going through a season of pruning on a personal level, and Impact is also going through a season of pruning that prepares for the fruit in the coming season. Cutting off some branches and leaves and get back to the root would be what this season's about.


This is real basic yet so important because the root needs to grow deeper in order to hold up the branches, the leaves, and the fruits on the way.


I've been thinking about the How To's regarding to breakthrough; trying to explain this season of pruning with my own interpretation and striving. I definitely do not want to see the end of growth because I watered the tree with the wrong water. It may grow a bit, but it'll die right away.

I'm still learning.

Johnny

ps. Listened to all my own doodling recordings and I realized that I need to dig them all out and start singing them. I really enjoy listening to these songs God gave me!

pps. I am one-seventh away from 21 days! I have so much time to spend now because I'm not going on facebook! Haha.... I'm glad I'm on this fast! Jesus, we get to spend more time together, aren't You glad? I am =D

Well, after all the turmoil studying about the lie of evolution for midterm, I found out my midterm got postponed until Wed. Should I say "WOE IS ME" or "HALLELUJAH"? I was so ready to take the midterm with 2 hours of sleep! Well, I guess God had something else planned...

So I went to Library Walk and hung out with Victor for a while. We started a conversation with Fred, a biology professor who, and every cell within him, is anti-God. He always argues with us (since we are the only group that is usually out there). And surely he started with his all time favorite -- "there is no historical evidence of the existence of Jesus". I truly believe there are many evidence that Jesus really walked on earth as a God-man. Then he started to say how he thinks Superman should be a god... I did not get his point. But anyhow, Fred saw another professor coming this way, so he invited him to join this spiced-up convo.

Here's where the conversation got interesting:
Basically this professor, who is an "atheist-Jew", started to talk about the Hebrew Bibel (OT) and the credibility it has. And Fred started to get all weird up because, probably, he thought that the professor would be on his side of the argument. So Victor and I basically stood right there listening to their conversation, and it was so obvious that Fred was losing it bceause all he was trying to do is to interrupt what the prof was saying with, "see, there's simply no evidence that Jesus ever walked on earth" or "it's all a myth, see". I was having heck of a good time because the Lord's using someone who believes in His words even though he does not believing Him to speak truth into Fred! Victor and I enjoyed every moment of it.

During dinner @ Islands, Jeff and I started to have a convo on Jesus. The Lord is onto something. He's always there for you, Jeff. And you especially need Him in the middle of a storm. Don't be afraid of attacks. They will come your way because God has a great plan laid out for you however the devil does not want that to happen. The bottomless pit is not for you, Jeff.

Lord has been teaching me how to love like Jesus did and how to have a Father's heart. I tear up almost every time I think about Jeff. I do not know what to do but to pray for him that he would look to Jesus for an answer for all of these and be set free from all the attacks.