Nothing is impossible

They Said… but God said :)
They said “your job is your source” – I scoffed and retorted “my God is my Source” and paid off my credit card AFTER I quit my job, went on vacations to Ireland, Trinidad and 7 day cruise – debt free while unemployed!


They said “we are in a recession right now so you won’t get a job for at least months”…. I went to an interview and started working a week later when my background check cleared.


They said it was impossible for me to get that extra $20K I negotiated for… I got exactly that and got a raise three times after!

With God, I am more than a conqueror – nothing is impossible – impossible is nothing!

Witchcraft

My outreach ministry partnered with a community in the Lower East Side to deliver an educational seminar on Obesity Prevention. I translated for the Chinese community in a very interactive manner and the children were so engaged! After our very successful event, I was chauffeur-driven to church.

There is a tendency to be extreme in our thoughts of sin. When the minister announced on Saturday night that he was going to be discussing “Witchcraft”, various images flooded my mind including ones of witches floating on brooms, the “obeah” woman or voodoo lady sticking pins into a doll, the Ouija board, etc. I was quite surprised when I realized that witchcraft by its very nature is much more habitual that sporadic occult practices.
Witchcraft is simply controlling people to conform to a false sense of authority. We are no longer enslaved, our choices should not be dictated because we have freedom. Witchcraft interferes with someone’s ability to choose. Witchcraft’s MO (modus operandi):
1. Manipulation - covert
2. Domination – overt (mainly by the use of guilt)
3. Intimidation – overt (mainly by the use of force)
The list below is not exclusive and one display should not be chalked up to witchcraft. Here are some tools of witchcraft. If someone is practicing witchcraft on you, they will seek to:
• Isolate you from your loved ones and insist that the two of you have a “special connection” that “no one else understands”
• Slander other’s reputation in an effort to draw you closer to them
• Use guilt as a tool of controlling you
• Create an atmosphere of dependency where they act as your only source
• Use fear (off an outcome- threats) as a mechanism to force you to act, usually by providing ultimatums
• Employ subordination and allow you to feel that no matter what you do, you can’t measure up or it is not enough
• Use religion as a tool to control you – legalism
Be careful that you are not practicing witchcraft in people’s lives. Know where your authority ends, be aware of what you can and cannot say and do not use force (manipulation, domination or intimidation) to try and dictate how people should live their lives. More importantly, do not allow someone to control your life, do not give them that influence.
Scripture References: Galatians 5:19-21 | 1 Samuel 15:23 | Deuteronomy 30:19 | 2 Corinthians 3:17

Space Shuttle lands in NYC!

NBC New York : Space Shuttle Lands in NYC

The space shuttle glided by NYC attractions such as the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and World Trade Center. A ceremony was held at JFK to celebrate the landing.

Work...
In bed by 7PM!

Faith in the Finished Work!

Minister Phillip Baker taught an awesome message on “Faith in the Finished Work” – the essence of the message is that everything we ever need from God has already been done, we just need to believe! Here are the highlights:
- Abraham is the Father of faith because He believed God
- God is El-Shaddai ~ He is everything I will ever need!
- God works in the supernatural realm. What He did in Abraham and Sarah’s lives was humanly and naturally impossible but with God, all things are possible.
- God has my back! It doesn’t matter what I am capable of doing. If God isn’t involved, it is merely a successful failure!
- My confidence is in God and what He did, not what I can or cannot do.
- In every circumstance, I keep my eyes focused on Jesus. He is my Source. He is the center of my life.
- Faith is a lifestyle, not a movement!

Google + + Reason for God + China ex-pats = grand evening

My girls Katie, Mary Beth and Jennifer started reading a new book “Reason for God – Belief in an Age of Skepticism” by Timothy Keller.

Google + + Reason for God + China ex-pats = grand evening

God got your back!

Isaiah 52:12 - "But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Got got your back!

As I finish up the last two chapters of Jentezen Franklin's Fasting, there are a few things I want to share.

 Does the Word really work?

People have said in frustration “the Word doesn’t work, I tried that and it didn’t work”. Here are some things to know about the Word of God, found in the Bible:

-          The Word of God is a seed (Mark 4:26| Luke 8:11)

-          The Word of God is incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23)

Like a farmer plants a seed, eventually a harvest comes. You can’t plant a seed today, stay in faith for tomorrow and then uproot it the next day. You are destroying the crop! The Word has to be planted deep in our hearts and must remain there until fully ripened.

If you don’t see the evidence of the “thing” you believe God for, don’t uproot it; simply employ faith and patience. Don’t question whether you really received a Word from God…only believe (Mark 5:36)

Jesus compares our faith to a mustard seed (the tiniest seed of all which yields the largest results).  If we have faith that tiny, nothing will be impossible to us! (Matthew 17:20) Put your faith in how great God is, not how great the problem is.

Jentezen challenges us and asks the question “Is your blade sharp enough?” He continues “The greatest thing fasting will do for you will be to break down all of the stuff that accumulates from this world that blocks you from clear communion with the Father. When you fast, mealtimes often become study time”.

Instead of focusing on feeding your flesh, you feed your spirit. That is where the power and the favor derive from. When you fast, your focus is on Jesus, when you eat that chocolate cake, your mind is on how you feel after devouring it. God will breathe life into your situation and lead you into open doors! “Fasting is a continual prayer to God”. Be specific in your prayers, especially when you fast. Write a list (Hab 2:2) of things you want to see happen in your life and in the lives of other people. 

Enjoy the journey!

Happy Birthday Fallon

Some girls from Theta Phi Gamma met up at Haveli's Indian Restaurant in the Lower East Side in celebration of Fallon's birthday. 

	Nini, Fallon, Ro, Christina, Magda

Happy Birthday Adrienne!

Dinner at Houston's/Hillstone (54TH & 3RD) to celebrate Adrienne's birthday

Adrienne and Sam

Adrienne and Victoria

I had the delicious sea bass with wilted spinach

The girl drooled over their juicy steak with potato

You had to be there...

The birthday girl

Devils v Panthers

Hockey Stanley Cup Playoffs

The energy at Prudential Center was vibrant. There were decorations, mascot, die hard fans and activities for all 

Objective: hit the target and cause this guy to fall in the water

Mission accomplished!

A bird's eye view of the stadium

Jason is a HUGE Rangers fan, thank God he did not wear his jersey because there would be huge rivalry from the very outspoken Devil's fans

Jason and I arrived early to watch the practice

All the fans arrive to support the Devils

Fight fight fight - I must say I was a tadbit disappointed that there were no major fights lol

The NJ devils defeated the FL Panthers 4-0!

Knicks v Nets at Prudential Center

After work, we headed over to NJ to support the Knicks.

Knicks fans eagerly await their entry to see the Knicks defeat the Nets. (I am a Knicks fan but let's put it on record that once the NJ Nets become the Brooklyn Nets, I will have to switch my allegiance!) You heard it first.

Arrived early, it was packed by the end of the night.

NJ Nets dancers

How do you get booed in your own stadium? The Nets come out ready to play and get booed by the Knicks fans. Humpries had it the worst, just the mention of his name would send the crowd booing.

Nets Senior dancers woo the crowd to "I'm Sexy and I know it!"

The Knicks!!!

Congrats Knicks on your victory!

A New Way to Pray

If God rested on the 7th day, that's means He is no longer "moving" or orchestrating things to work on our behalf. This is because He already did everything that He will ever do since the foundation of the world. Everything we ever needed, need or will need has been taken care of since Creation! When sin came in the world, God sent His Son and Jesus died on the cross leaving His last words, "It is finished".

With that in mind, shouldn't we pray differently? Instead of hoping and praying that something works on in our favor, shouldn't we thank God that it's already taken care of and just wait/rest patiently for the manifestation?

{Picture taken on Sunday 4/15/2012 at Battery Park - notice the eagle spreading its wings?}

My prayers have changed from "Lord, I really need you to work out this situation for me today" to "Lord, thank you so much that you have already worked out this issue".

21st Century idolatry

Idolatry is commonly thought of as worshipping pagan or created gods. While this definition is not incorrect, its surely incomplete. When you view things at surface level, it is easy to be blindsided. In Taffi Dollar's "Your Spiritual Makeover" we learn that "worshipping idols can be much more subtle." Simply because it means giving our devotion to that.

Anything tha distracts us from God or pulls us away from Him is an idol. Has sports, social networking, mates, work taken the place of God? What's your first priority? This is not to condemn you, let's talk about me...

One of my favorite people in this world is a guy I have known for a really long time. We've had bouts in our relationship where we would speak several times a week to once in a while to every opportunity we received (which was quite often!) I would wake up thinking about him, talk to him throughout the day, rush home to be in a quiet place to talk to him, he would be the last person I spoke to before going to bed and tg then I would think about him before falling asleep. I know that I love him so it seemed natural that He would be on my mind but my devotion to him was unhealthy because he was my first priority. He captured my heart, mind and attention. I realized that I crowned him King in my life so I needed to make the necessary adjustments. I still love Him. I just need to be balanced and make sure that I dont love him more than I love Him!

He already did it!

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are so thankful that God worked out everything at the last minute? While God is powerful enough to change things around on your behalf even though you think you waited too long to pray, that is not necessarily how everything played out.

Lets take this very recent example:

Jingjing had a presentation in DC so I went to support her. She introduced me to one of the organizers who then informed the staff that they should print a guest badge for me.The conference costs $400 and in a matter of seconds I was issued a participant's badge at no cost! God did not "work this out" at the moment I realized it needed to be worked out.This was planned before I arrived in DC, before I even met Jingjing and before I was born! (Jeremiah 1:5; 29:11). God is no longer moving, He already "moved" on our behalf from the foundation of Creation! Everything you ever needed, need or will need has been taken care of. He took care of it from the beginning of time. When He rested on that seventh day, He did so because He was finished. He quit. He's done.

Your job: only believe (Mark 5:36; 11:23,24, Mark 9:23, Luke 24:25)

All good things must come to an end

Leaving Jingjing

Leaving the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Leaving DC

JingJing 我爱你 (I love you)

Jingjing and I met in China in 2008 and she moved to America in 2009. I moved back to New York in 2010, went to visit her in Cleveland and then she came to visit me the following year. So when Jingjing told me that she would be in Washington DC for the National Chinese Language Conference, I decided immediately to meet her there. Jingjing is the Chinese version of me, her birthday is the day before mine and we are soooo similar. Check out some of her pics.