unlimited bladeworks

"I am the bone of my sword,
 Steel is my body, fire is my blood,
 I have created over thousand of blades"

There is a very popular anime series called "Fate Stay Night", that has 3 different stores, and one of them is called "Unlimited Blade Works". The overall story consists on 7 selected mages, and each of these mages summon a specific warrior to fight one another. The last one standing gets to win the "holy grail", which grants any wish.

One of the interesting aspects about this show is the substance in the dialogue. There is a big emphasis on elaborating on each of the characters' ideals and their reason to fight on this war.

One of the main characters, Shirou, has a noble ideal of wanting to save and help everyone, to the extend that he does not care about his well being. He has a kind heart and is always offering his help to everyone around him. When the bad guys show up, he is the first one who stands up to offer protection.

But his peers consider him to be very naive and idealistic, as it is not possible to save everyone. There is a cost associated with a choice (helping personA means I might not be able to help personB). And his peers (especially those who care for him) are irritated when Shirou becomes impulsive to help others but does not take care of himself.

But his future self, who is portrayed by another character (summoned on this timeline, don't ask me why) tries his best to stop Shirou from pursuing his ideals. The reason is because his future self has gone through many disappointments and frustrations while trying to follow his ideals on saving everyone. His future self realizes that it is not possible to save everyone with his efforts, and bitterness grows on his heart as he is not able to protect everyone from getting hurt by bad people.

The is a major dilemma in the life of Shirou, who after various internal struggles, concludes that he will continue pursuing his ideals, even if it is not realistic and may bring many disappointments, because the desire to save everyone brings him hope.

I remember when I was part of the CCF Welcome Team, that a few of us had a common desire to care for everyone (specially the newcomers), and we wanted to reach out to every single person who attended CCF at least a few times, and wanted to make sure they would attend fellowship so that brothers and sisters would look after them. We did many initiatives in order to maximize a "safety net" so that we can "save" everyone from falling off in the cracks of now been able to integrate into CCF. I vividly remember that we even made a very elaborated spreadsheet with all the newcomer's names, and information about their program and what they like to do, and their potential as leaders, etc... (now that I look back, it feels slightly stalkerish haha).

In reality, no matter how hard we tried, there would be people who might not respond to our goodwill. Some people will choose not to join any fellowship, some will get distracted by other priorities, and some might even forget and not appreciate the investment (care and time) that you spend on them.

It is very easy to become disappointed and discouraged at the lack of results when serving at a ministry. This experience has taught me various lessons about serving:

• First priority is my relationship with God. If my main focus is on a ministry, then I am valuing my performance and the results over the greatness of the love and grace of God. 
• Understanding that God loved me first, and that God's love is unconditional (no matter how much I failed or how much I tried to prove myself, His love does not depend on that) enables me to love others. If I fail do understand this, then my serving becomes more transactional rather than serving out of love.
• It is not up to me. It is up to God, His own timing and providence, to save people (God might use another servant to minister to this person). The results are not up to me (for sure God has given us wisdom to make good decisions and execute on them, but ultimately God is the one who can transform hearts). If I fail to understand this, then I would take the matter with my own hands and will grow frustrated if no results are seen.
• Persevere in prayer. Do not lose hope when good work is not rewarded with tangible results. If God has given you a vision, then let us put our trust in Him, that He will carry you through to accomplish what He intends for.

second place again

Yesterday was the soccer final for the Copa America (it's like an equivalent of the Euro Cup, but for South America), and Argentina played against the host team of Chile.

This was an excellent chance for Argentina, captained by the best player of the world Lionel Messi, to make up for the loss of last year in the World Cup against Germany. Argentina have not won a major tournament since 1993, and Lionel Messi (who has broken crazy records with his club Barcelona) has never won a major tournament with his national team.

Considering the talent that they have in their offensive front, they should have no issues in scoring: Di Maria (key player for Real Madrid to win the UEFA Champion League last year), Aguero (led Manchester City to win Premier League in 2012), Pastore (helped Paris Saint Germain win the French league since 2012).

Plus, they have above-average players in the defensive front: Romero (goalkeeper that has proven to be reliable), Otamendi and Demichelis (solid defenders), Biglia and Macherano (gladiators in the midfield). This team is really a monster.

But they lost against Chile in penalty shootouts, and once again are got a second place.

I have been a fan of Argentina since 1994, when I first watched them defeat Greece 4-0, I instantly fell in love with the Albiceleste. I was very sad when they lost against Germany last year in the World Cup (especially because I was in Brazil, watching the game on a big screen in the beaches of Copacabana, after getting bad night sleep at the airport and standing for more than 4 hours). This time I was really hopeful but ended up being disappointed again.

A major portion of the disappointment comes from the fact that Argentina did not play to its maximum capability. They beat Paraguay brilliantly 6-1, showcasing their offensive weapons. Against Chile, they only had one very good chance to score (I even jumped from the couch and slide onto the carpet, causing a small laceration on my left knee).  It's true that Chile is a really good team, and that they played smart and rough, but most key players in Argentina under-performed or failed to deliver on the most decisive moments (some argued that it is the pressure or anxiety or that they are not "sweating the T-shirt" enough).

This reminds me of how Christians should behave at decisive moments. We spend a lot of time studying the bible at church and in small groups, and we learn a lot. But when opportunity comes for us to help the needy, to share the gospel, to provide a reason of our hope to those who do not believe, to serve the church community, to reconcile with someone, to confront someone about the truth of the Word of God, or any other activities that pushes us outside of our comfort zone, do we act well on these decisive moments?

It is so easy to just not do anything about it and have the easy way out, but our mission is a different one as salt and light of this world. And once we take the step to do the right thing, I am hopeful that God will provide and equip us with the right words and actions.

why I care about the remake of FF7

This week it was announced there will be a remake of video game called "Final Fantasy 7". It is an old RPG (role-playing game) that came out on PlayStation 1 in 1997.  The announcement of the remake of this classic game has a deep impact on many of the fans of this series. People were shouting and screaming of joy when they saw the trailer. My housemate was also screaming too, and when I saw the trailer I was also yelling.

The announcement actually increased the stocks of Square Enix by 2.9% (highest since 2008). This is insane.

Final Fantasy 7 is the first game I played from this series, and I proudly own an original copy of the PS 1 game. The game is highly excellent, a great story, very likeable characters, awesome soundtrack, and unexpected twists on the plot, a classic. There is huge debate among FF fans between which game is the greatest, and it is usually between 6 or 7. FF6 is a very solid game, but 7 is always my personal favorite as it was the first game I played, and it has influenced me to play various subsequent games from the series.

Why is this such a big deal? Mainly because many of the people from my generation grew up with this game. This was the first pseudo-3D RPG that came out and it was revolutionary, plus the story is so compelling. Also the recent installments of the series have been fairly mediocre, so this remake of the classic series is definitely a big deal.

The reason why I like RPG quite a bit is because it involves a journey, where a character goes about on the following activities:

1. there is some sort of evil, and the main character can get involved to save the world
2. saving a damsel in distress or helping dear friends
3. collect a bunch of weapons important items that are useful in the journey
4. made comrades who join in the journey
• each party member has a special set of skills, each member's strengths make up for other's weaknesses, and when all combined it is very effective in battles
5. explore the world and find information to figure out what to do next in the journey
6. fight battles to acquire more level and skills
7. use a super flashy final move to finish off the main battles

Gaming usually tend to have a negative connotation as many people use it as a way for escapism or it can be a stumbling block for time stewardship. I think some of the elements from gaming that attract us to it, tells us about certain longings we have as human. And I think we should try to satisfy these longings and bring the battles into real life (and not just fight them in the game). Each of us have a journey of faith, that involves:

1. there is much evil in the world, be proactive in getting involved to bring good (participate in furthering God's kingdom)
2. serve in your local community
3. collect knowledge from Word of God that will equip you for every work
4. get to know solid comrades in your journey, comrades who will pray for you, will encourage you,  whose strengths make up for your weaknesses, especially in serving
5. life is not always certain, trust God as you explore different possibilities
6. as you go through challenges and trials, your faith is strengthen each time, and your character is molded to be more like Christ
7. as you matured in the faith, God will enable you to do more than you can ask or imagine, and bring great victories in big struggles

champion's thirst

Recent weekend, the UEFA Champion League Final took place, between Barcelona (Spanish champion of La Liga) and Juventus (Italian champion of the Serie A).

I read various comments about the game and saw highlights multiple times, and I can conclude it was an excellent game. I was not able to watch it, because I chose to spend time with friends in Toronto, which is also very precious.

Barcelona won the game 3-1, and for many that was an expected outcome due to their formidable world class strikers and of course, the best player of the world, Lionel Messi. But Juventus did put a good fight, and had its chances as well. The Italian press have commended the Juventus team, and stated that they lost but they have nothing to regret from.

Barcelona won its 4th UEFA Champion League in last 10 years, which is a great accomplishment, and it has shown the dominance of the Barcelona team in Europe.

It is also worth mentioning that one of the symbol player and captain of Barcelona, Xavi (who is close to the end of his career) played the last game with the team. He is considered to be one of the best Spanish player ever, and he is a very classy midfielder who can direct the pace of the game with his precise and accurate passes.

There is a usual saying that it is hard to reach the top, but it is harder to maintain at the top. Barcelona has been in the top of club level soccer for a while. It is challenging because once you have conquered a trophy, the thirst for such victory might be quenched. And it is hard to find ways to refueled this thirst that will drive the players to give 110% of what they got to win the same trophy again tomorrow.

Analogous to Xavi, there is also a very classy midfielder in Juventus, Andrea Pirlo. He is good, like really good. Also near the end of his career, but he can still play at a very high level, building crazy passes, and he is considered one of the best free kick shooter in the world. After the game, there were pictures and video showing Pirlo crying. One would said this is normal, as they just lost the final, and they are disappointed. But one has to understand that Pirlo have a very successful career already; he won the World Cup with Italy on 2006, and he won the Champions League twice with his former team Milan. He had already experienced this type of victories. But in the end he cried, that shows that he is a winner, and still thirst for more.

I think both Xavi and Pirlo are great champions, who have a steadfast thirst for more.

Similarly, I remembered clearly the thirst I had for God when I first believed. But as I grew, due to struggles and busy-ness, it is easy to not have the same level of thirst for God, and one can easily become complacent. This is always a constant battle for me. 

I pray that the Spirit will cause me to thirst for God more and more.

"You, God, are my God,

    earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you,

    my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land

    where there is no water." - Psalm 63:1

breakfast of champions

Breakfast is such an enjoyable meal!

And there are many types of breakfast that I enjoy:

Traditional Chinese - congee with deep fried dough rolls:

HK style - very runny eggs with milk tea

Another HK style - Pineapple bun with a "thin" layer of butter and milk tea

Classic - McDonald's Sausage McMuffin with double hash browns and coffee

The picture from McDonald's breakfast was taken recently, as I was a groomsman of a good brother of mine, and we decided to eat this on the wedding day. Actually, McDonald's breakfast has always been a choice in my experience as a groomsman. Meaning my friends are real champions as they select the best breakfast possible!

I have been groomsman six times (one for a cousin, and five for brothers who I have met in university). And I will be a groomsman again in September. Some friends were joking that I am now a professional groomsman, and some work colleagues were telling me that I will be bankrupt soon. 

(Having a hard time coming up with right words here on how I feel...)

I feel very honored that these men of God considers me a close brother and I feel very privileged that I can witness their very wedding day as a groomsman. I am very blessed that I have met many brothers who I can just be myself and enjoy fun moments together, go to challenges and struggles together, study the bible together, serve together, confide in them whatever is on my heart, and pray together. We are all appreciative of each other in this "brotherhood". Now that we  are spread around different parts of Canada, we don't get to see each other that often, but still it is very easy for us to pick up from where we left.

Life is a difficult thing, and God has placed these brothers in my life to make it easier for me. 

I have quoted this verse many times, but will do it again:

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:3-6

- I thank my God every time I remember my brothers

- I always pray with joy when I pray for them because we shared a special bond on partnering together in the gospel

- I am confident that God will continue working powerfully in their lives even they live far away and I don't get to see them often

i am gundam

This is a Gundam.

It refers to a very famous mecha (huge robots) series in the Japanese anime universe. It's such a huge symbol, that there is a mall on Tokyo located at Odaiba (a bit far from the main area) that have a gigantic 1-to-1 model of the Gundam RX78 of the original series (late 70s).

Yes, on my travel in Tokyo, I took the public transportation (subway + some over-the-sea electric train) for 45 minutes to go there just to see the gundam (the mall was average). And yes, I did buy a gundam model (1/144 scale).

There are many Gundam series (I am definitely not a subject matter expert), and a gundam is a big deal. Gundam refers to the specific robot model that is usually faster and powerful that the average robot. In some cases, it has some sort of a special weapon or ability, and the people chosen to pilot it are usually an enhanced human being that has special mental and psychological abilities.

Gundams can easily determine the fate of wars, and it often represents as a symbol of overwhelming power (Gundam Seed), a symbol of peace (Gundam Unicorn), a symbol of  hope, symbol of insanity y (G Gundam)....regardless, it is a big deal.

On a show Gundam 00, there is was a discussion among gundam pilots (they were a group that "enforces" peacekeeping) about what gundam meant to them, and the main character said the famous "I am gundam". That guy is a bit crazy, but I think he meant that his identify and sense of fulfillment is based on the gundam.

So the topic of fulfillment is an interesting one... I don't have much answers regarding this topic, so I am merely writing my current thoughts.

God has blessed me and many of my friends with the opportunity to choose what to study and what career to pursue. This can be daunting too because with more options, I find it hard to figure out which brings more fulfillment. My parents did not have the luxury to choose this, as none of them have an undergraduate degree, and their options were limited. My grandparents had even more limited options. So I wonder if they even had the idea of fulfillment when they were at work.

I am not saying that fulfillment has to come from work directly, but it is a place where we spend 40+ hours  a week, and I have experienced (both negatively and positively) how a day of work can affect my mood for the week. I understand that for my parents, it is likely the fulfillment came from been able to provide and have fun with the family.

Many of my friends and I are struggling with this question, because up to to finishing undergrad, the path of life was very scripted for most of us. We are told to finish high school, then choose a decent undergrad program, finish school, and then get a stable job. But from there on, it is harder to find clear answers that dictate the choices of life.

After many talks, I have got to known a few options that I could pursue the sense of fulfillment:

1. Work itself is fulfilling
• The work you do is something you enjoy, and you find satisfaction in been excellent at your job
2. Work is a means to fulfillment
• The work you do is fairly neutral, but work allows you to be an active witness of Christ, and as well allows you to provide for your family. Also, it enables you to support missionaries or charity organizations. These are very noble pursuits in life.
3. Fulfillment outside of work
• Work can be a life-sucking entity. You try to find fulfillment on activities after work. This could include leaning a new skill, further studying, volunteering, church ministry.

They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

I personally think option 1 is very challenging. It is probably my goal to understand how option 1 will look in my life. I know about that God has created us in His image, and He did work during creation and that He entrusted us with the earth, so this should include the aspect of working, cultivating the environment positively, and doing it with excellent as this brings glory to God. In trying to apply this, I  struggle.

I can definitely relate to options 2 and 3.

So what then?

I am still figuring out answers. But there are 2 things I need to keep in mind:

• Don't waste your life, gotta live it as much as possible to glorify God, so if I am on the wrong track, I need to redirect
• Worship God. I am currently reading a book about apologetics, and one encouragement I found is to focus on worshiping God. Paul writes a wonderful book called "Romans" with great exposition on what the gospel is, and on chapter 12, the "therefore" signals how we should respond in light of great theology from previous chapters, and the first thing is to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, as an act of worship. 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." - Romans 12:1

family

So last week was family day, and since my family is not here I got to hangout with a few friends. But then this made me think about my family in general...

I have been living away from my family for a long time, since I came to Waterloo for University. Of course, the first few months were tough, very homesick, but I got used to it and by God's grace I was able to find a very good community.

As well I was thinking on the several issues that both my parent's families have to deal with throughout the years. A lot of these issues are caused by money, pride or selfishness. Being away from home has its benefit as it "shielded" me from all the family drama that happening. But at the same time, it is unfortunate that I am not present to make some sort of difference.

On a recent family day, I went to hangout with a group of friends, and they decided to ask from a series of 36 questions that will lead you to fall in love with a person ( http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html?_r=0 ), of course we were discussing it just for fun as we wanted to make some sort of interesting conversation on the car. One of the questions chosen was "if you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?"

This is interesting, because I am pretty sure that there are many things on how I was raised by my parents that could have been better. But at the same time, I don't know if I would change anything. Because even if there are many imperfect factors on how I was raised, this "environment" has shaped me in some way on who I am now, and I also believe that God has used certain aspects of my "turbulent" childhood to teach me how important relationships are, how much should I care for them, how important it is to be gracious and generous towards others.

God is very gracious as He will situations that we think are bad for a good purpose.

In a Christian community, conflicts among members are bound to happen because we are all sinful. I don't think we can more conflict-free when comparing ourselves to a non-Christian community. But I think a key difference is that we as Christians are called to love one another, even if the other party offend us, and that's when we need to be extra gracious and generous towards others. And that cannot be done alone, but only by God's Spirit that live in us.