The life of a boyfriend.

So, I have been in a serious, committed, intimate relationship for a few weeks now with this girl. Her name is Christina Yu. I don't know if you readers know her, or if there are readers out there, but who cares. Life is really good right now with her. She's fun to be with and she's fun even when I'm not with her. I haven't been in a relationship for about 6 years and it's pretty nice being in one again. It's going well. A lot of fun, a lot of drama, a lot of laughter, and a lot of sad times as well. But, we're chill haha. I'm learning a lot too. A lot about myself as I learn about her. It's interesting because I never thought that I would be in this situation or position ever, but here I am. It's amazing I gotta say. She's amazing. I thank God, I really do, because with Him leading me here, I wouldn't be here. On that note, I have to say that it really is hard to please God when your focus is not centered on Him. Now that I have a girlfriend, a lot of time and thought is placed on her, which should not be the case. God doesn't change for us, so neither should we towards God. In fact, I should be growing deeper and closer to God through this time.

Just wanted to update ya'll with some love because I rarely get time to update my blog anymore (the lady takes up too much time haha). I'll write to you peeps soon. Until then, stay safe.

Oh yeah, here she is.

Isn't she mega cute? ;)

Peace and love,

Charlie.

Fast life.

So, to start off, Benjamin Oh, my brother from another mother, is backkkk. What's goooood!? So we all had our reunion yesterday and it was like he was away for 3 weeks. No biggie. It was great, seriously. I shall take you through my day yesterday. Did the usual, wake up, gym to do cardio, came home, and showered. Then I was bored so I went to Bayside to get Mark from the trio MBC. I picked him up and wow did it take long to get there. Traffic on the Belt Parkway, on the Van Wyck, on I-678, and all over Northern Boulevard. Nonsense, but I wanted to see Mark, so it was all good in the lovely hood. I stayed at his house a bit as he got ready to leave. (Mark has a really comfortable and nice white leather couch). Ask him about it haha. Left to go eat and we went towards Northern. We ended up at Mad For Chicken, obviously, for chicken. Got the chicken and fries mm. T'was yummy. Then we went to Paris Baugette? I definitely don't think I spelled that right, but whatever. A new bakery lol. Enjoyed some good talk time you know the deal. Man to man, bro to bro. Then we went to Modell's at Douglaston Plaza so we can check out sparring and fighting gear for our MMA vision haha. Waste of time sheesh. The Modell's in Kings Plaza is so much bigger and nicer. Wack. Went back to Northern to meet up Jason at Koryodang, where we spent like 2 hours laughing and talking mad loud haha. No control. This whole time we thought that Benjamin was gonna come to Flushing to eat Kalbi or whatever because that's exactly what he told me the night before when he called. But noooooo. He was going to Pho Hoai at Avenue U back in Brooklyn. Good game fellas. We got owned once again. So we rushed back to Brooklyn, and by rush I mean me and Jason were racing home haha. That was exciting, right Jay? Haha. Biggest smile on Jason's face everrrrr. Went to Viet and saw Ben for the first time in 5 months. Not much changed. It really felt like he was gone for 3 weeks or something. But, for him it was probably mad weird. Everyone came through after. Jungmin and Brandon came out and man it was like a big happy 90 family. The good old days man. Until the fights and arguments and instigating came out hahaha. Instigating... You know who was doing that lol. I missed them good days when we were in our youth times in the summer.

Currently, I am in Hunter College's Writing Lab. Two computers away from Christina because I am too lazy to move over. But, I'll move after I post this up. I'm not that lazy you know. At 4 I'm going to leave to Baruch to meet up with Brandon and then we're off to 32nd street to hang with Yejin! It's been too long chingu. It's seriously gonna be a great night. Nice weather too. Life is so good right now. Oh yeah, I realized that I'm leaving to Haiti in 4 weeks. Crazy no? I don't feel ready, but as the time draws closer, it'll become more real. Until then, SAYONARA!

Hi, Christina Yu.

Drawing near.

I've been so bombarded with so much school work and other junk in my life these days that I've totally the most important thing in my life, my God. It's so funny, but more sad, how I can just easily forget and put aside the One that gives me life everyday. Not thinking and not thanking Him enough. But, finals is over and school is over. I'm really stress-free right now, but now theres no more excuses. I can't say that school is making me stressed out and making me so busy that I've been losing my focus. School is over now and I'm drawing near.

I'm drawing near to the throne of grace. A place that desperately wants us, but does not need us. God is calling me back to a place where I once worshiped with passion. I miss those days dearly. No more excuses, no more playing around, I'm back. The song, Heart of Worship comes to mind whenever I'm in these situations where I've been backsliding. "I'm coming back to the heart of worship, where it's all about You, Jesus." It's a great feeling.

On the way home from the gym tonight, I was listening to a sermon on Star 99.1 and the pastor said how you know when you're full of the Spirit when you are enjoying God, but when you're not enjoying God and living for Him, you're not too sure what you're doing. Those are the times you need to just sit back and think. The questions keep coming and you realize that you're not running at the pace you should be. That was me.

I'm running towards the prize and my eyes are fixed on You. An intimate relationship is needed. An honest approach as well. When I'm falling, I need to realize I'm falling. It's only then that the provider will provide. God, I'm coming back.

Pray for Haiti people.

Stuck in the Moment.

Just some of the lyrics from a song by Justin Bieber that speaks my mind (Yeah, I like Justin Bieber).

You and I both know it can't work,
It's all fun and games 'til someone gets hurt,
And I don't, I won't let that be you.

Now you don't wanna let go, and I don't wanna let you know,
that there might be something real between us too, who knew?
Now we don't wanna fall but, we're tripping in our hearts and it's reckless and clumsy,
'cause I know you can't love me.

See we both fightin' every inch of our fiber,
'cause in a way,
It's gonna end right but,
We are both too foolish to stop.

Faith apart from works is dead.

James 2:14-19.

14What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed ad lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith and I have my works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder!

So, I have recently started to continue my quiet times and Scripture readings again. I have been reading and praying, but there is a difference when you genuinely and deeply read and pray and when you're just doing it for the sake of doing it. So, I have begun to really dig deep into the Word again and hopefully my prayers will be of the same intensity.

Previously, I was reading through the Major Prophets and before starting the book of James, I was reading Ezekiel. I guess the prophetic books made me get sad and down because of the Israelites in constant transgression against God and being in exile was no happy story. So I decided to jump into the New Testament which I haven't been reading for a long time (I love the Old Testament). So it's James now and it's doing me well I think.

The above passage strikes me because it is one of those topics that every Christian has fallen into, or is currently and continually in. We profess Christ, "Jesus is my Lord and Savior!" But, what happens when we go home? What happens when we're alone? Do we still worship? Do we still praise? What about when someone is in need of a little change? Do we help? Do we assist elders to cross the street? Do we give up our time and our energy for those that might need our "precious" time? A lot of questions came to my mind when I was reading this passage.

Verse 19 says that even the demons believe. What use is it if we merely just believe? There must be more to it than that if the demons and the devil believes. The works. The action that results from faith. That's what is necessary.

I am currently in this situation. This situation where I go to church, serve, but I'm not sure if it's real. I feel like I'm living this life out of duty as of right now. This whole year has been a weird detour in my life. Transferring schools for a few reasons, being home, and I'm not surrounded by a community of believers right now that can encourage and edify me. But, it's not other people to blame, it's myself.

James speaks to me today because in a few weeks, I'll be ending school, and then I'll be on break until my missions trip to Haiti. But, do I have to wait until Haiti to show my faith? I feel as if my church and I wait until the summer and until retreats to "live it up for Christ". What a problem. It's a messed up mindset, yet we all think like this. Real screwed up.

So I guess what I'm saying is, I don't wanna be complacent. I don't wanna be a bystander or a spectator. Living for the Messiah is not a sideline sport. I want to be a player, the MVP. I wanna do more than just watch, I wanna participate. I wanna be that guy, at the end of the game, the coach will come up to me and say, "Good job, son".

It's gonna be a great day.

Charles

Support me in my short term mission trip to Haiti 2010!

Friends, family, lovers, and whoever.
So guys, I am going to Haiti once again for the third time this Summer.
I am going to Haiti on a short term missions trip.
I have to raise all the money by myself in order to go on this trip that I have committed to.
I have committed my summers to go to Haiti and 2010 is no different.
As you all know, Haiti has suffered a huge earthquake so this summer will be a slightly adjusted agenda for my team and I.
We will be rebuilding Haiti physically, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually.
Last year I asked many of you guys to donate to me. To donate as much as you can and want.
I sort of felt bad asking for money, but it had to be done for me to go on last year's trip.
I also thought maybe next year I can do something else.
So the time has come and I need to raise money once again to go to Haiti.
This year I have decided to give you guys something in return for your donations.
I have created this shirt and I am asking for donations from you guys.
The cost of each shirt is roughly $20.
I am asking that you guys could donate at the minimum $25 or more at your own will.
I will not be making that much from this fund event, so I probably will have to do something else as well.
But, if you guys would like to donate to me and receive a shirt, please tell me how many shirts you would like, sizes, and how much money you guys will be willing to give me.
I really need you guys on this and I'm asking for support.
If you guys cannot support me financially, please support me by praying for my team and I.

Thanks guys for your love,
Charles Chung

Check out the videos here and the rest of the info. Thanks.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104434552923669&ref=ts

Brabes is coming down!

YES! BRABES IS COMING DOWN!

He gets one whole post for him.

That's all folks.

Happy birthday, Annie Li!

Here's a video for you. Hope you enjoy it.

ONE WHOLE POST FOR YOU ANNIE LI!

Happy birthday, Jungmin Choi!

Currently I am on the Q train going home. I'm about to reach Dekalb Avenue to be exact and I just wanted to post. Half boredom half inspiration lol. It was my homie, Jungmin's birthday yesterday. March 2nd. I didn't get to do anything with him yesterday but we're gonna go eat at Brennan and Carr's in about an hour. His friendship is really something to me.

Without Jungmin in my life I don't know where I would be. Not saying he saved my life from death or anything but I'm here where I am because he was the invitation to the life I have now, and the friends I have now. I know God has his way with everything an has everything worked out for us beforehand. He knows the best for us and he proceeds by puttin us in certain places at exact times. There's a verse in Scripture that says that almost exactly but I forgot where it is haha. But I used to be a goon and I'm still a goon. I'm sneaky and I'm a little snake inside. I'm a trickster and I could probably steal whatever I want if it wasn't for my obedience to Christ.

Jungmin has been one my closest friends since 4th/5th grade. We went to P.S. 255 together and that's where a great friendship started. We graduated from elementary and went across the street to Cunningham together. This is where we really got close and hung out all the time. Then Brandon came into the picture in our 7th grade but that's another post haha. We have so many memories together and experiences that it's ridiculous. From having the same girlfriend to beating up a deaf kid that was humongous haha. Sorta mean but it happened. I'm here now and the person I am because he invited me to FKCB in 7th grade and from there on my life was flipped. I didn't accept Christ right there and then but I made the friends, brothersand sisters I have now. Without them, who knows where I'd be. Maybe I'd be out smoking up every hour of the day. Maybe I'd be having sex with every girl I'd encounter. Or maybe I'd be locked up? Who knows, but I'm grateful to Jungmin's friendship. Without his friendship and invitation to where I am now, I'd be stranded.

Happy birthday nigga and I'll see you in a few minutes.

P.s. Jungmin and I used to have a huge addiction to hoodies in JHS. We used to buy and collect like every Ecko hoody that was out there. Every color, every design. I got him a hoody from uniqlo that reminded me of the good old days. It was cheap but it would be useful for balling in or comfy chilling. Bringing back the hoody era haha. Watch out NY!

Love,
Charles, your brother.

Renovation.

So I just finished renovating/moving my room around. I went to Staples today to buy a computer desk because the table i was using were one of those huge plastic church table thangs and it was bugging me out. It took up a lot of room and it just wasn't convenient. So I bought a nice little computer cart/desk for $40 today and I assembled it like the man I am. Haha. Change my room around and now it looks cooler than before.

Here are some really bad pictures of my room from different angles. It's small, but I like it. It's very personal feeling.

Peace.

It has been 2 days since I came back from Gloria Retreat 2010 and it's been great. I'm not saying that I'm like spiritually high or like I'm so hype for GOD right now or anything because of the retreat, but the retreat let me experience God in a very solitude way once again. Just to meet God away from everything else. It's really sad that it was only 2 days and 1 night long, but I definitely got the most I possibly can out of it. It was good, real good.

So from this retreat, I got many new insights on the way my life and how my mind should work. The sermons from Pastor Ken were not some philosophical, intellectual, well-thought out sermons, but they definitely hit home for me and most likely for everyone else. The series of questions. The way the words and everything just had to do with my current situation. My stress. My problems. How do they get solved? Where is God in the midst? How can there be PEACE when there is NO peace?

For the past year I have been living from home and going to school in Manhattan. The reason being is because I felt like i needed to stay home and solve issues going on with my family and such. It has held me back from doing what I really want and possibly what God is leading me to. It has been a huge distraction and beyond that, it has been my stress/idol. Many people know where my heart is and what I want to do after I graduate. I want to be involved with the less fortunate and homeless within cities. Going to school in Pennsylvania and being 40 minutes away from Philadelphia just made everything so accessible, but now I'm home and I began to get really involved within my church and it's ministries since the beginning of this school year, but it's not what i planned.

This stress, this storm, this idol, in my life was really just killing me inside. Only a limited few know of this issue fully and it kills me inside because it's holding me back from living. I know I'm a silly, energetic guy, but deep down inside and behind the smile and the laughs, I have a lot of pain stored up. A lot.

So we learned about peace and false peace. The difference and how we can replace one for the other in our lives. Is peace the absence of stress? The answer is no. The passage that Pastor Ken was preaching from the for the first message was Jeremiah 6:13-19 and I also used it for my Bible Study yesterday as I tried to bring the same message to my students.

¹³"For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

¹⁴They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,'when there is no peace.

¹⁵Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,"
says the LORD.

¹⁶Thus says the LORD:"Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'

¹⁷I set watchmen over you, saying,'Pay attention tothe sound of the trumpet!'But they said,'We will not pay attention.'

¹⁸Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

¹⁹Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.

So this passage is Jeremiah speaking to the people of Israel that are in exile in Babylon. They've rejected the Word. They rejected the Law. They rejected God. God is saying, "Look to the ancient paths. Look, people have gone before you. That is the road. You have read and seen the great guidance of God. Why do you not take the road? Open your eyes." But, they did not look, nor did they walk on the road that God has shown. We do this all that time, but if we just took a step of faith. If we just listened to God when He tells us the truth, we would have peace.

Peace is not the absence of stress. No it isn't. Peace is in Christ. Peace is when Christ is overflowing from you, so that NOTHING else matters. All the stress, the sins, the problems that you are dealing with becomes so minor compared to Christ. Christ is always on your mind and because of that everything else has less worry. We worry about being Christ-like, we worry about being holy, and being obedient to the calling. Peace comes to us when we just give it to God and we are so indulged in the life of God. Peace comes to us because Christ covers all.

Christ is called the Prince of Peace.

Now how has this began to shape me for the past 2 days? I've been thinking about all the people that I love, the people that I hate, and the people that I don't even know. As I said with my family problem and all, I'm starting to let go. I'm letting God have His way. I do have an influence on it, but if it is putting a hold on my life to glorify God then it must not be right. I love my family and all, but I think my family in Heaven must come before all things and it has begun to give me peace. Not that I don't care, but I'm letting go. Also, I'm starting to think about the friendships and relationships with people I have and had. The friends that I have are so dear to me and I don't wanna lose them. I don't wanna fight with them. I was talking with Jessica yesterday on oovoo and we were just talking about relationships, marriage, and FRIENDSHIPS. Half of my conversations were about Ben, but it made me realize the "niggas" that I have in my life. How much they mean to me. Because when I'm 80 years old, Ben, Mark, Jungmin, Will, and Jason will be smoking a nice fat pipe with me on rocking chairs on one of our front porch. It's gonna be amazing. And our wives are gonna be hanging out together and we're gonna grow old together. Just the thought of that gives me peace because right now I feel like I'm growing too fast and I wanna be a kid again. The friendships and relationships that I've lost or are on pause need to be mended and I've begun to sew. A few minutes ago, I confronted a friend about how we're not friends anymore and it's awkward and all that and now we're straight again haha. So praise God because I've missed that person. There's still a few more I must get to as well, but I will get to them. Trust me.

Life is peaceful because Christ is within me. It's how i feel. That's truth.

So all in all, retreat was great and I've learned a lot and took away a lot. Thanks Pastor Ken and Phil for teaching me and revitalizing me. Now pray that I won't fall away and that I'd be like this from here on out.

The boy with the smelly feet and the dirty stache,

Charles Chung

Fashion.

Shalom peeps. I'm in my sociology class right now and as you can see, I'm very bored. This class is so bad and it definetely is not a class that I expected when I chose it. A friend of mine dropped it after the first class and I shouldve done the same haha. But I'm sticking around so we'll see how this goes. After this class I have to go to work, but I'm thinking about stopping by soho to buy some stuff.

Clothes and the such are such a drug. Just like alcohol can consume, just like weed can be addicting, or even gambling and betting can be a problem. Shopping an spending money on material things are a drug in itself. We all know but to what degree. Don't we all have enough clothes, enough shoes, enough bags? I know I do and I don't even shop or buy as much as some other people I know. On top of that, I'm a super cheap dude so I probably spend a lot less money than others, but I still have way enough. And you do too.

A problem of mines last year while I was attending PBU was always trying to look good and making sure I had attractive clothes on. People would walk by me and say, "Hey Cheech. You're looking spiffy today!" or "Looking good Cheech." It goes on and on, but towards the end of the spring semester my closest friends and I had an intervention. It was called "Hot Seat." We told each oher everything that bothered us about the person in the hot seat. The problems, the sins, and the things that that person most likely did not want to hear but needed to hear. When I was in the hot seat, I got hit hard too as the rest did. One of the issues about me was how I try to look good too much with clothes and accessories. Very true, but it hurt a lot because I didn't think about it back then.

It still hasn't fully gone or even gone a bit at all. I'm still trying to look good. I'm still tring to impress eveyone that I encounter. Maybe it's a NYC thing but it's something that I still struggle with.

What if we all just went back to the days where we could just walk around naked. No shame. No clothes. Just leaves. Haha. That would be crazy.

Well I'm about to go on break now so imma go eat some Subway because they got any regular footlong for $5 baby. Now I can get something else besides oven roasted chicken breast. Lol. And after class I might go to soho and buy something or I might not. There's a lot that might go through my mind within an hour and a half so who knows. We'll see what happens people.

Hope you enjoyed me being vulnerable haha. Food for thought my hungry brothers and sisters.

Later gators,
Cheech.

Yo no se.

So currently I am at work doing absolutely nothing. Literally. I've been on my phone for the past hour just facebooking, emailing Benjamin, and texting with Hannah. So I work from 11:30am - 6:30pm today and i'm wondering how im gonna make it if there are no customers. But I'm really bored and I just felt like typing some more to kill more time so here I am typing on m iPhone. It's my first time writing a blog post on my phone but I always wanted to do it since I have the blogger application that allows me to do so.

I just finished writing an email to Ben in Espana. There's supposed to be a squigly thang above the "n" but too lazy to do all that on this phone. As I was writing to him I realized how much this fool means to me. No homo but seriously. We've been through everything together and without him here in the states and mark in Pennsylvania, it's hard to get around. One, I don't have a girlfriend or even a real close buddy here in Brooklyn that I can confide in. Now for those that know me personally might ask, "what about Jungmin?" But Jungmin is a different kind of dose friend. Jungmin is like my nigga that would die for me. A genuine friend but not a friend to confide in and feed off of. It's nothing personal, but it's not his personality to me. But yea back to my point of missing my bros. It's wack haha. I miss this nigga Will too dang. Cracking jokes all the time and just making me laugh and giving motivational speeches randomly on our way home from Queens haha. Good times with some good people.

I guess the reasons why my post is titled, "yo no se" is because I don't know what this post was about. For those of you that don't know Spanish it translates to "I don't know". The next reason is because Ben is in Spain right now and this post is coming as a result of emailing Ben in Spain. The last reason is because I'm working with my Ecuadorian dude which is in the back doing his thang. We have simple conversations in Spanish which is pretty cool.

People listen to my favorite song right now.
Dynamic Duo - 왜 벌써가 (Be my brownie).
It's such a nice and soothing song especially the chorus.

Out and about,
Charliooooooooo.

Sovereignty of God.

What's good Brooklyn and others that are less important. Haha just joking people. I love you all dearly. How have ya'll been? I know I've been missing for the past however amount of days. I haven't posted a post on either one of my blogs in a while and I can blame myself for that. Just got a bit lazy and I got more on my plate these days. Spring semester 2010 has begun and it's been a tad bit busy and all since I'm in school one more day than last term, but one less class. It's a good time, learning a lot and struggling as well. Knowledge + Resources = Power. Remember that one people, it's true.

I finally got a job! What's really good baby? Woot. To be honest, it's a low paying job and it's not a great job at all. I'm going to start working tomorrow at BBQ CHICKEN on Nostrand Avenue, so if you guys wanna come by, you can. I just ring up orders and take orders off the phone and stuff. Easy job, but I hope the owners aren't so anal about everything you know. I already know that they're really cheap people and think about profit, profit, profit, profit, and more profit. All they think about is profit and how they can save more and more money. I guess that's business? But, yea I got this job and it's gonna be real nice because I can finally have some sort of income and have money coming into my pockets on a weekly basis.

How'd I get this job? Well let's go through it physically. I was looking for a job and I told my bud Jungmin about it a while ago. He then asked around and asked another friend Danny if BBQ CHICKEN was hiring and at the time they weren't, but a month later they were. So I got hollered at by Danny and I got it. Good deal I would say.

Let's see this in a spiritual matter now, because I believe everything goes through the one and only God (Deuteronomy 6:4). I knew this was a blessing from God because I really needed it and it was bugging me for so long because I couldn't support myself. Going to school in the city, driving, being involved in so many things require money. I got it, but why? I thought about it and I didn't pray about it really. Maybe once in the span I was looking for one, but it was an "eh" prayer anyways. There could have been only one thing that really stuck out to me. Someone was praying for me. I didn't know who it was, but I knew someone did. There are a lot of people and friends in my life that are currently committed and involved with Early Morning Prayer at my church and it's amazing to me how they can do it every single morning. I tried and I've failed, big time. But I've been witnessing and hearing all these testimonies of how God is answering their prayers and I just had to think back to prayer and how God has everything under control.

I found out who was praying for me this past Sunday, but I won't say who it is. Just for the sake of keeping it confidential between me and that person. I owe this person a lot of thanks and love for being my support and praying for me. It's so encouraging and uplifting when someone is praying for you, especially when you didn't even ask them to. Thanks _____ _____.

But, you guys must be wondering why the title of this post is called, "Sovereignty of God"? Maybe? Maybe not? Who cares because I'm going to tell you anyway.

So, I currently have one professor that I have taken before in my previous semester. His name is Professor Dongsu Kim. He has been my New Testament professor and he is currently my Romans teacher. At times I disagree with what he says and sometimes I enjoy what he says, but he probably knows way more about the Bible and Bible history than I do.

I bring him up because this post is dedicated to him and to the work God is doing in his life and for my witness. I have had the class of Romans twice with Professor Kim so far. In our last class together which was on Monday we were going over Chapter 2 of Romans and we came to a discussion where we were talking about election and predestination. I don't know how it got there, but you know somehow every theological discussion turns to that one. Haha. (That was probably only funny to a few people). Anywho, moving on. We were talking about that subject and the class ended. He was speaking to another classmate of mine and I was also on the side just hearing the conversation out of curiosity and location. Professor Kim was saying how he doesn't know if his father really believes in God. He said that his father professes that he does believe in God and all, but then ones actions should follow as well, but he did not know for sure. Either way God was the final judge as Professor Kim said. God knows everything and all he could do was pray for God's mercy and saving grace for his father.

The next day, I get an email from Professor Kim and class is cancelled. The email further explained that he would be attending his father's funeral service in Korea so he would be absent for the next class. He would return the following week.

It just made me think of how God gives and takes away. After hearing what Professor Kim had said about his father merely a few hours before his father's death. Just crazy. The way Professor Kim handled himself through the email and all must have been just a glimpse of his feelings, but I felt like he could be relieved. Just the fact that we were talking about his father just prior to his death is just crazy. It might be freaky to many people and it sort of is to me, but anything divine is crazy.

We should all think and re-evaluate our lives and the lives we are connected with. Where do we stand in the eyes of God? Are we just bystanders or are we the ones deeply involved? When people view us, do they see the image of God? Are we walking the path of righteousness or are we drowning in wickedness? Do we think we're bigger than God?

That is why this post is titled, "Sovereignty of God."

We've all fallen, fallen real hard.

I went to the gym today with my mother and after I was done with my workout, I got my belongings and waited for my mother outside of locker room so we could meet up and leave. As usual, I was waiting for her for a while so naturally I took out my phone and started playing with it. (iPhone's are the most useful thing on the planet).

I decided to check the recent news and situations (especially Haiti). So, I did and there was an article put out today about how Haiti is asking for $3 billion to reconstruct and rebuild the nation of Haiti because of the earthquake. It was to make permanent homes for the 200,000 people that currently have no roof over their heads, other damages (ex. roads), and also for other governmental issues. Currently the U.S and the other nations that are involved in the rebuilding of Haiti are having meetings and such to see what they can possibly do with this request. Canada has been and is the longest and biggest aid to Haiti thus far. Canada is a dominantly French speaking country and many Haitian communities are scattered throughout Canada. As for the U.S., Hilary Clinton has said that she would be holding meetings and discussing this request with other government officials and the U.S. would have a concrete answer for them in the next 30-60 days.

I honestly think that that is a long time to think, but then again it is a big request. Also, the other 14 or so nations that are helping out need to be on the same page and they all need to collaborate together as well. Think swift, think hard.

This brings me to my point. Post reading this article, I was wondering about the issue of "money" or "currency". We all have money, some amount at least. Our parents have money and the world runs on money. The economy would fall if all of a sudden the biggest bank in the world was blown up and pretty much the whole world would be in ruins for a couple of years or even decades.

So, where did this all begin? I was pondering and hovering this idea of where currency even began because we know that it isn't a God-made thing.

"Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s." -Matthew 22:21b.

We also know that in the creation account of the world in Genesis, no where can we find anything about money or currency. To be more on point and more in detail we see that Abraham had "possessions", Scripture never mentioned that Abraham had "money".

This made me think of how money started. Did some man or woman just randomly say, "Alright. This is money and everyone needs to have it to gain anything material." I don't know how it started, but it seems to me like a religion.

Currency is definitely a man-made idea and it has succeeded exponentially.

Money runs the world. If one has no money, one pretty much has no life. We can all agree on that, no? What would happen if someone has no money? They end up on the streets, begging for it, and hoping to get lucky to get even one coffee to drink.

This also brings me to my second thought of "tithing" or "tithes" in the Church system. Tithing is definitely biblical and it can be found in Genesis as well.

"And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. - Genesis 14:20.

Abraham is at an altar of worship, and He gave to God a tenth of what he had. A tenth of his possessions, 10% of everything that He had.

So where does the church get this idea of 10% of our income or our salary? I can say for the most part, many Korean cultured churches run tithing or can explain tithing as this: Giving 10% of your weekly income. Don't misunderstand me, there are people that give 10% of their time and commit themselves to missions every year, and such, but where do we get this idea of 10% of our money going to the Church as "true tithing"?

I guess that article of Haiti requesting $3 billion just sparked my brain to go beyond and search for the deeper reasoning of money or currency. It was just a catalyst to it, but I know that this post or my thoughts don't change anything. Money still holds it's power and value (which sucks by the way).

But, Christ will descend in the same way He ascended into Heaven. He'll come down on the clouds with fire and the whole earth will shake.

Pray for Haiti my brothers and sisters.

Signing out,

Charles

Basketball, my first love.

I haven't wrote anything in the blog for a while. I don't know why, but life has been pretty eh right now. Not terribly bad or anything, but not anything spectacular at the same time.

I was going through some of my pictures and I ended up at the picture that is above this post right now. A picture of me and my boys after we won a basketball tournament in Queens. The first and last 1st place for me haha. It was a real fun time and I miss ballin' it up.

I guess this is going to be a detour post from my normal posts because it might be something that might not make you smarter or make you go, "Woah, that's crazy!" But this is one of my enjoyments and you can know a bit of my life right here.

I recently sacrificed playing ball for a few months so that I wouldn't injure my ankle for snowboarding. Every year I happen to sprain my ankle or mess up my ankle some way right before the ski resorts and mountains open up. This limits me from going all out when I ride and attempt to do tricks. It happens every year, so this year I decided to be a tad bit smarter. I guess it paid off too.

The whole time, I missed ballin' like crazy. At times I just wanted to go out in the middle of the night to Marine Park and just go shoot around a bit. Run around on the black top. Hear the swoosh of the net. The metal clanging from an overshot shot.

It's one of my getaways. It helps me to relax and just feel good. I love sweating and gasping for air after a series of fastbreaks and buckets. I feel so at ease when I'm playing, but at the same time there is the competition side.

Basketball can get very intense and competitive. A prideful person like me can really take a game seriously and it could get really heated easily. A mistaken call, an extra dribble. Whatever the case may be. But, I'm ready to ball it up again.

This has to be one of the weirdest posts I have ever written, but I didn't have to think much and the words just came out. The vivid images just came through my mind as my fingers did their work. I don't know, I feel good. I feel pretty peaceful right now. But Marine Park, I'm coming back to you soon baby.

P.S. I miss ballin' with the 1st place winners. You can see them up above.

Later,

CHUNG #3

Benjamin Oh, Europa 2010.

MBCJJ TV EPISODE #1220.

So my brother Benjamin Soobin Oh is currently on a plane to Europa. Get there safe and call me when you're there my homie. I'm gonna miss you for the next 5 months man, no homo. You're the closest friend I got and we can share clothes haha. Don't be too wild and such. Take care of Christina and grow up to be a sexier man while you're there. I'll see you in 5 months bro, you're in my prayers.

A few pictures from JFK Airport.

Love you bro,

Charles

My Haiti.

This is a video of the results of the earthquake in Port Au Prince, Haiti.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IySBl2aq-A

...And these are my little siblings.

I don't have much words to say because even though I'm a Korean-American, these are my people. I love Haiti and the people of Haiti. Even though I'm a "blanc" to them, they're more than dark-colored folk to me. I miss them throughout the year when I'm not there. I miss the kids playing around until it got too dark to run. I miss the people waving at me when I wave at them and greet them, "Bonjour! Bonjour." You know it's sad that it happened to them. They're a very poorly constructed country and for an earthquake to happen there, it's just too much for them. There are a few people that are there that are very close to my heart, Pastor Brian and Etienne. I know that they are safe. I have faith that God has protected His people.

Now, we must have faith. I know I'm making it sound so simple and easy, but it's not. But, we must have faith. Our God is sovereign, He's in control. He knows what He's doing, and He's doing it well. We're too simple to understand a complex God, no, a perfect God. Let's just have faith in our good God people. God's good yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

P.R.A.Y.

Welcome to the Good Life.

Life has been so sweet these days. Nothing really negative has been going on. It may be because there are so many positive and exciting things that are overriding the negative ones, but hey thats cool with me.

Today, I went snowboarding and tomorrow, I will go snowboarding too. Haha. Life's good, no? Just that alone should tell you how awesome my life is. But, I shall go a tad bit deeper.

Besides snowboarding, besides good company, and besides a 4.0 gpa for this semester, God is good and He's been blessing my life all along. You know, so many times, we can dwell on all the negativity on our lives, but then when God sends some good times to us, we forget them so easily. Yet, the bad times we remember with such a passion.

My friend Matthew Walters used to say, "Let the good times roll!"

They honestly do keep coming, it's just when those bad times come along that we focus on those and forget about the good. That's a problem because God never brings the bad times upon us, but it is ultimately bringing the bad upon ourselves. So instead of us being all upset and grungy about bad times and terrible days, we should just blame ourselves. We did it. "Why God? Why me? What did I do to deserve this?"

Poop.

God loves us. He only does what is best for us. He showers us with gifts and blessings all day long and we breeze over them or forget about them when the bad times that we bring upon ourselves come along. What a bummer, huh.

As of right now spiritually, I am in a unusual condition. I'm walking with God, yes, but also at the same time I'm sort of complacent in where I stand. Odd a bit? I'm enjoying God and everything and I believe I am doing well and growing, no bad feelings at all. But, right now I am not doing much to spiritually enhance my relationship with my God, yet I feel good? Can it work out like this? I mean I won't be like this forever, but it's sort of a weird feeling.

I'll leave you fellas and ladies with this.

The Shema is the central confession of Israel. Any Jew or matter of fact, every Jew knows the Shema. The Shema can be found in Deuteronomy 6:4. This is Judaism's central verse and I also hold it dear to myself.

Shema - Deuteronomy 6:4

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one."

Focus on our ONE way.

Focus on our ONE love.

Focus on our ONE truth.

Focus on our ONE GOD.

Shalom brothers and sisters,

Charles

Charles Chung is moving?

Yes, Charles Chung is moving!

I have made another blog, but I will still be using this blog as well.

The other blog is a video blog.

Simply about my day and all that junk.

Check it out and smell you later!

www.charles-dailynews.blogspot.com

Let loose!

I haven't felt like this in a minute, and by a minute I mean about 5 years.

Staying away and pushing aside all the pain and the problems.

Not caring for such topics and experiences that many go through.

It's too much of a burden to handle, so I just locked it up in my heart.

But, these days it's been trying to climb out and it's doing a good job.

Something, no someone, sparked it to jump around in it's cage.

It's been a while since I've felt like this or even heard of itself in me.

Somehow, it found the keys and it started to unlock the cage, slowly.

It became loose and it's been wandering still in the deep parts of my body.

It became loose and it's been making me think about it.

It became loose and it's been waking me up at night because the dream is so unreal.

It became loose and it's been lighting a fire that was burnt out a long time ago.

Ponder that,

Charles

Commitment

I have a commitment, not a New Year's Resolution.

My commitment is to faithfully serve my church with my whole self.

And...

To become a prayer warrior, a never ending talking machine with God.

Please keep me accountable friends.

Urbana Day 3

Back from St. Louis, Missouri.

I'm sorry my fellow readers out there. I could not update everyday and such as you can see. I would like to apologize because I accidentally lied to you all. But, I am back. I am safe and sound. I will hit you guys up with more pictures and videos in the next few hours, but I am home now. Brooklyn, NY, where the obnoxious korean kids with the accent are from.

I'm BACK!