CPK's Encounter + More!

Over the train ride Jeff and I read through the book Horton Hear's A Who! by Dr. Seuss and I shared with him a bit about the conference and about Lou Engle. He seemed interested yet he's never thought about the issue of abortion in the United States until today! I really do encourage everyone to read Horton Hear's a Who, the pro-life message is written all over Dr. Seuss' clever rhymes! I'll put this book at Impact library this coming weekend and do a little presentation about it, if I can.

A person's a person, no matter how small!

Still I was feeling quite weak today. Had two classes after coming back from LA with Jeff on Amtrak train. They were both just fine, quite dry. Anyhow, I reorganized my desk and read more blogs.

At around 7 tonight I hung out with Jeff again. Didn't want to stay on campus, we went to California Pizza Kitchen. I ordered the "California Club" pizza(which is super-fantastic! Got bacon, chicken, lettuce, tomotoes, and AVACADO!), and Jeff ordeered the fetuccini pasta. As we were waiting, Jeff asked me a question. It goes something like this:

"What should I give to you?"
I was stunned for a while, then he continued.
"I mean, what should I give back to you?"

My stirring heart began to calm.

I told him that I really don't want anything in return besides to see him growing in faith and having an intimate relationship with Jesus. So I told him why I chose him to pour out my heart. I also told him about how Mark Hendrickson, in October, suggested me to find someone I can mentor and pour my heart upon. I searched yet I did not think I found any--until I met Jeff. I basically told him that I want to give him whatever I have(freely receive, freely give) so that in the future he can give whatever he has to somebody else. God was right there moving in our conversation!

"I usually forget how I met my friends, but I will never forget how we met, man. It was just so random."
"Yeah. God's a creative God. He give each person different encounters!"

Peace came into my heart.

We then talked about parents and how we should start saying "I love you" to them. Words are powerful, especially in Asian families. I told him that not only the "actions" are important, but the "words" that comes out from our mouths have power that actions cannot produce.

Change in topic: Actually this morning on our way back to school he told me that one of his friends back in Arcadia had an car accident this past Saturday. He was hit by a NOOB driver who had just got his driving PERMIT that day! Fortunately that no one was injured. Anyhow, so his friend happened to call him as we were eating. When Jeff was talking with him on the phone, I was praying to God that Jeff would tell his friend that he would pray for him! However, Jeff didn't. After he finished the call, I asked him how his friend was doing and all that jazz. He told me that his friend is agnostic and doesn't believe in God. However Jeff has a heart for his friend but did not know how to approach. And then he told me this:

"Yesterday I told him that I would pray for him."
I was like.....WWWWWWWHHHHATT!!!
Jesus. You are so good.
So I told him, "Do you know that when you were talking to him over the phone, I was praying to God that you would tell him that you'll pray for him????"
Woooah!

Just wait, here comes the best part from Jeff:
"I also told him that I would pray for that guy who hit him. And he was like, 'since when you're into that? And why are you praying for that guy? He hit me!' So I told him that 'You never know whether that guy's injured or not.'"
COME ON!!!!!!
I was blown away by his pure heart!
"Man, I can't tell you how much I'm encouraged by you right now. And what you did was totally wonderful. That's the way to approach man! You're on the right track! It's like the oppsite of the "I love you" thing in Asian families--besides words we need to put forth actions! And by getting your friend thinking about WHY you're also praying for that kid, God's moving inside of your friend!"

Thank You Jesus.
You must have felt the same way too!!!

Then we talked more about prayer and worship. I asked him to say grace, so he did it out loud! He's just so courageous even though he's totally new to prayers! I told him about how he can pray anywhere at any hour of the day in any position as long as his heart and mind is focused on God.

If God says yes, you go.
If God says no, you follow.
If God says wait, you pray more.

I told him that and how important prayers are. And God loves specific prayers! I told him that prayer is our reaching up to God, and Love is God's reaching down to connect with the prayer in order to make a connection. That's some good word right there, Johnny. That was totally God.

Anyhow, we talked a lot and he really understood what I was talking about! We talked about searching gifts and anointings, going to a church that he feels like home and can grow in faith, and Impact's 3x6 vision.

"I really like Impact. I mean REALLY."

God I just pray that he would grow in faith and discover Your purpose for him! Thank You Jesus! So we talked about A LOT of stuff indeed. I haven't felt so peaceful and calm since the conference. I once again experienced how God really loves to hang out among His children when they hang out!

Jeff has been coughing and feeling a bit dizzy during dinner, so I told him that he can totally pray for himself. He was surprised, "wait. I can pray for myself? I feel selfish though." woah. God You really put an innocent spirit inside of Jeff(a good spirit, of course)! So I told him that many of the prayers recorded in the Bible are personal prayers. I told him about King David and how all the Psalms he wrote(I think) were personal prayers to God. And how in God's kingdom there's no sickness or pain. So I basically told Jeff to pray for himself RIGHT NOW. He prayed without saying it out loud this time, but I knew that God's right there laying His hand on him! And after his prayer I asked him how he felt, he was like..."it felt a lot better!" I was like.....wwwwoah! Nice! And then I asked him again, "How about now?" And he was like, "I feel the pain going away!" Come on! Divine encounter in CPK!

So after dinner we went to Starbucks(yeahyea!) and talked about more stuff. On our way there I offered him a prayer of healing for he was still coughing a bit. I laid my hand on him and simply thanking Jesus over and over again and asked Him to take away the pain. He felt much better! Give Him some praise!

So after the coffee we went to Blockbuster just to check out what's new. After that we went to the bus stop. This girl was sitting there and next to her was the Oxford Annotated Bible.

"I have that huge book too. I used it for my Biblical Interpretation class back in high school," I said.
We found out her name's Narisa. She has the Bible as one of the textbooks for her writing course. She's assigned to write a paper on the book of Job. I shared with her what I truly believe in. I told her what Kris Vallotton said--that I hate religion because it creates conflicts and wars, I believe in a relationship with Jesus Christ. She told us that she's agnostic, and her dad's Jewish and her mom's Buddhist. Woah. Anyhow, that was basically it because we arrived on campus but I hope her heart would be stirred up over this short conversation. We're facebook friends now and I just pray that through reading the Bible that she would want to know God more!

That's about it. Jesus You're so good.
I just want to love You!

Time for bed. My heart isn't aching now.
Thank You Spirit for hanging out with me =)

Johnny