Week #4

• Ski trip with +Benjamin Shyong +Muyi Li +Lucy Shi +Frank Fang +Harry Subramanian +Jeff Shiao +David Zhang +Connie Jiang +Steven Chen +Vivian Chow 
• Breaking lesson with +Heidi Lee 
• Retreat food shopping with +Samuel Yang +Cindy Wee 
• Photo op with +Peter Chace +Susie Ahn 
• Snow adventures +Joseph An +Zehua Li +Megan Lui +Hon Lui 
• Retreat games +Charles Han +Gloria Kim +Alex Nguyen +Richard Lee +Christopher Chi +Jamison Lied +Esther Eunjin Kim +Emily Jun +Joon Y. Lee +Christopher Pham +Mike Jung

Secondhanders

Excerpt from John Piper's sermon titled, "The Author of the Greatest Letter Ever Written":

We get the phrase "secondhanders" from the character Ayn Rand in the novel Atlas Shrugged. He despised secondhanders. That is, people who have no vision and values of their own for which they live triumphantly and are always looking over their shoulder wondering, "What are they going to think about this?" And they live their whole lives secondhandedly, always trying to get into other people's good graces and be liked and stroked and praised and complimented and paid. That's a horrible way to live.

Paul says he is owned by another, bought and ruled by Christ Jesus (Romans 1:1). Christ chooses to be friends with a murderer like Paul, give life to one who has taken it. The phrase "pro-life" extends far beyond issues of abortion for me; to conduct life by pleasing others is death, but to submit everything to Jesus is freedom.

Week #3

• Church cleanup with +Joon Y. Lee +Ji-Young Ham +Charles Shin +Jenny Shin
• Les Misérables with +Esther Eunjin Kim +Harmony Li 
• World Café Live 
• Iron Chef with +Gloria Kim +Christopher Chi +Rachel Miao +Jeremy Chang +Heidi Lee +Richard Lee +Alex Nguyen +Samuel Yang +Emily Jun 
• Freaks "elections" +Edem Attikese 
• Lingering after CG with +Hon Lui +Megan Lui +Christopher Pham +Corrie Park +Judy Chan +Zehua Li 
• Haircuts with +Susie Ahn +Kristine Fu +Ernest Tam +Joseph Oh 
• Loooooong Veritas meeting with +Matt Pershe +dalton banks +Ellen Williams 

Broccoli

+Esther Eunjin Kim +Susie Ahn +Ernest Tam +Joseph Oh



What exactly do you think is the focus of this video? It's like the subject of a film major's dissertation.

QQ | DC Adventures

Dope +Daniel Park edit! Consider this the behind-the-scenes look at the film edited by +Angi Kwak  and +Euna Kim :]

Week #2

• Soondubu with +Jamison Lied  +Samuel Yang +Esther Eunjin Kim 
• Halo troubles
• Bowling and Chinatown with +Stephanie Nam +Christopher Chi +Dan Whang +Kun He Lee +Timothy Kim 
• Ditching +Josep Folta at HMart with +Rachel An +Joseph An +Samantha Shen +Ernest Tam 
• Jamming with +Benjamin Shyong 
• Philly MC^2 hangout with +John Zhang +Muyi Li +Vivian Chow +Steven Chen +Harry Subramanian  +David Zhang 
• 6AM prayer
• Course shopping with +Gloria Kim 

Week #1

Film project: short video blurb of every week's events for this year. This is week #1.

• Hiking with family in Cockeysville at old town house and elementary school (+Yolanda Z)
• Drinks and Deadspace with +Kevin Tran +Daniel Park and +Danny Shin 
• Eric's shindig with +Sam Ock +Eric Stishan +Albert Chu +Sarah Stevens +Minh Pho 
• MD District Court with +Jenny Lee 
• Messing around at UMBC

What's Your Expression? [HD]

Finished product! Sick video produced by +Euna Kim and +Angi Kwak featuring me and +Daniel Park dancing in DC.

I forgot how to write

But talks with +Brian Han always get me thinking though. +Samuel Yang knows that I tend not to write on the blog when things in life are going decently and I have friends around to pass the time (which is why I write more at school).

So in this respite I have before engaging in more fun friend&family stuff, I thought to synthesize main winterbreak takeaways just as a chronicle.

1) Humility brings life into relationships.
The fact that I love talking to my dad and him to me is too novel. Gone are the days where I think my family and friends are an obstacle to my agenda, and instead they now are the agenda. Notice the difference in thinking a) I must preach the gospel to my parents so that I can convert them, versus b) God will give me the words to say and he will soften their hearts. Second prayer has been more effective, and the first will naturally manifest itself in love should I continue to personally cling to the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16). I am nothing without the gospel.

Do any of these ministry activities surprise you? Watching TV, learning Chinese, gambling, drinking, karaoke-ing, gchatting, bboying. I've been humbled to learn these activities are not a waste of time if I aim to build relationship. Engaging these things with prayer make the episodic apologetics (yes, should and always will be there) more meaningful. Though the episodes have been less frequent, they have been more powerful because of the built relationship.

2) God is pleased by Christ, so he is pleased with me.
No reason to be, however. I exaggerate, I continually wake up with hopelessness, I fail to consistently feast on Christ. But in the moments when I submit to the first commandment, my soul rests in divine freedom (Galatians 5:1). How can I fear what tomorrow will bring if God has, is, and always will be for me (Matthew 6:34, Romans 8:31)?

Kingdom work is tiring but it is freeing (Galatians 6:9). We are free to do what we were made to do and so our souls, as well as the heart of God, brims with joy. But the moment we take any credit is when we stand condemned, existentially and eternally. So we now view Matthew 25:31-46 in light of the gospel, whereby the benefits afforded to us by Christ's death can only give us sheep God-praising attitudes in the midst of our work as opposed to self-praising.

Can you believe it? Everyday your heavenly Father says, "Well done, good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23)." The little everyday affirmations I receive from church leave me completely speechless. I can't see how God's working in my life, but you can? Yet even these are just a sweet but shallow foretaste of the commendation to come (1 Corinthians 4:5).

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So Willis, where do we go from here????
STAY HUMBLE.
KEEP REACHING OUT AND RELATING.
CONFRONT IF YOU HAVE TO.
PRAY HARD.

Penn, after all these years, your mountain of expectations still scares the crap out of me. But on team Jesus, I'll stay on the offensive til the very end (Matthew 16:18).