Welcome to Belly Buster's

Hi, I'm Bryan and here are some ballerific facts about me:

1. Out of my whole family, I'm the only grandson in my family.

2. Though I'm only a decent cook, I help out my cousin's boyfriend during his catering services. I'm basically a professional chef. (He works for Wolfgang Puck)

3. I'm on my school Swim and Water Polo team. The Varsity Polo squad can get a bit weird....

4. My church squad that make my day.  We've been through it all since who knows when.

5. Finally, I'm also maybe future owner of Belly Buster's YAY!

With this year's Hikoi theme of On Fire, I'm reminded of being in love with Christ doesn't only have to be on Sundays, Friday Nights, or Camp retreats.  It's just like this year's Arizona trip during our final day on the reservation.  We worshiped all night and you could definitely feel the intensity in the chapel. At the end of the day we should strive to be passionate with God everyday.

Here's a word of encouragement to finish the week strong 

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.   

Philippians 4:13

It's Just Josh

Hi, I’m Josh and here are 10 fun facts about me:

1. Though I was never formally trained, I enjoy cooking.  I learned by watching my grandma, my mom and The Food Network (of course).

2. I frequent the top 2% of the NA Ladder in Hearthstone.  I don’t want to put the effort into getting legend though.

3. Coffee, soda and energy drinks have never been my cup of tea, because I enjoy drinking tea.  So much so that I need my own tea stash at work.

4. The instruments I play are the piano, violin, bass, cajon, guitar (only a little bit) and I can sing okay.  I began serving in worship in 8th grade, where my friends and I played in Super Worship (Children’s Worship).  That eventually lead to youth and english speaking worship and playing at weddings.

5. Let me preface this by saying I am not a runner.  I did not do track or cross country in high school, but despite only having 10 weeks to train, I successfully ran a marathon with my friends Matt and Stu.

6. I enjoy biking, but the ~70 miles I rode with Caleb (he did 100) in the San Diego Century Ride was quite traumatizing.  I don’t bike anymore.

7. In college, senior projects were optional for my major.  But I did one anyway by building a robot.

8. Generally speaking, I like all foods, but my favorite type of cuisine is Japanese.

9. Except for Chemistry, I resented all math and sciences throughout middle and high school.  Needless to say, I performed poorly in those subjects.  The irony is that in college, I ended up loving those subjects.  I minored in Math and consequently became a nerd.

10. I enjoy eating my cuties by sticking the whole thing in my mouth.

With the Hikoi theme being On Fire, I’m reminded of an analogy.  As Christians, we are called to be a light, to be Christ-like and to show God’s love to others.  There may be times where we may feel like our “light” or presence is inadequate or irrelevant.  The interesting thing about darkness is that even if you were in the pitch darkness, you can always see the faintest light, even if it’s 500 feet away from you.  Even if we are going through dark times or areas, our “light” will always be a point of interest if we allow it to shine.  Food for thought. Always be on fire.

“13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:13-16

HELLO BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF HI KOI!!

Gloria here! I hope you're all having a great week so far. Here are 10 random facts about me  from the top of my head that you probably don't know. 

1. I like to do artsy things. I can go on Pinterest looking for ideas for hours!

2. I took Chinese school from about 1st grade to 7th grade...then I took mandarin from freshmen to junior year. But if you ask me to read an article that's in Chinese, I'll probably only know like 10 words!

3. I am the first and only person in my family (including relatives) that's born in America

4. I have a sweet tooth. I just love to eat sweet things

5. I hate spiders! If I see one, especially in the shower, I stare at it so I know where it is and try to stay far away from it

6. I'm left handed but I eat with my right hand

7. I am part of HSMT (High School Missionary Team) at church and NCH (National Coalition for the Homeless), swim and water polo at school  

8. It's hard to make me angry because I just don't like being angry

9. I've been to 8 states (not including California) and I've been to Hong Kong and Korea

10. I loveee animals especially dogs and cats. I don't have any pets but I've always wanted a dog

So as you probably already know, the theme for Hi Koi this year is ON FIRE (Mark 12:30). Whenever I think about this theme, I think of my most recent HSMT trip to Arizona, which was this past summer. I remember on Thursday night we were all gathered together to worship God as one team. We were all exhausted from the first few days of VBS and all we could think about was showering and sleeping. That night was different from other nights. Darren Lo gave us a serious talk about spiritual warfare and it only motivated us to give it our all for the last day of VBS. When we worshiped, everybody was ON FIRE for God. We sang with all our hearts and I'm pretty sure people could hear us from miles away. I was so amazed by what God could do to us in just one night. I definitely felt him watching over us that night. When we are ON FIRE for God, we can see how God is working in people's lives and we can feel his presence more greatly.            

Thanks for reading my post!!!! Here are some pictures for you. Enjoy:)

Just walking around at camp















Me with my church squad:)

Me with my swim squad :P 

At Arizona with my kid!!














Baiii! See you at Hi Koi!!!

Better late than never, but never late would’ve been better

I wanted to understand our theme verse (Mark 12:30) this year, so I reread that chapter of Mark one day; here are some take-away and random observations:

-It’s the second part of Jesus’s response to a scribe (a really, really educated scholar dude who has something like a PhD in Old Testament law studies)

-Jesus’s answer to what is the greatest commandment comprises of a two part command of knowing and responding (28)

-First, we must know that God is one and that there is no other God or object that is worthy of a Christian’s worship. (29)

-Second, we must act on this knowledge and love the Lord with all our Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength; in a sense that’s all we have, those are the only facets of humanity that we can control (like there’s not much else we can do). We must give our all to God if we truly believe that there is no other God to worship, or is worthy. (30)

-We’re also given a warning, to beware of fakers who look the part and do certain things outwardly (with their all… some of their strength?) but are not genuine (with not all their) mind, heart, or soul are being actually there. Basically avoid this, because the punishment is deadly. (40)

-Then we’re presented with an actual illustration of these fakers contrasted with someone who’s genuine. There’re these people who glean from their comfortable surplus; whereas, there’s a widow who gives all she has, “two small copper coins”. (41-42)

‘Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”’ (43-44)

tl;dr: In the passage, Jesus teaches about the greatest commandment, gives some words of cautions, and points out a person who lives out what Jesus has just taught.

Also, some miscellaneous trivia:

1) My penmanship is pretty illegible; once, a TA had me read out my midterm answers so she could score it.

2) My favorite punctuation mark is a semicolon ( ; ) because it can be used to connect a string of thoughts, can sometimes take the place of because, and it's stronger than a comma, but not weaker than a period. Plus, it’s used for conjunctions and I really like conjunctions.

3) I really like the book East of Eden because it invokes a pastoral, peaceful vibe.

4) At restaurants, Starbucks, or places that ask for your name I usually use a single-syllabic name (e.g. Fred, John, Tim) because it’s easier to pronounce and spell than Enoch. But one time, the employee asked me for my name name because I looked familiar, so I told her “Um, my name’s actually not Fred” and she was like “Oh, yeah Fred, that's such a serious name.”

5) Two of my good friends became engaged last weekend, so really happy for them:

6) I messed around a lot in class during high school, so almost couldn’t graduate:

7) Eating lunch at Mark Keppel:

8) My brother from another mother (actually Josh's brother):

8) Random picture of Jacob:

Racing to Post this Blog (you'll understand the title later)

Racing to Post this Blog  (you’ll understand the title later)

Hi everyone, ni hao, hola :D That’s all the languages I know how to say hello in without using google translate….yeaaahhhhn I’m Maxton :)

I don’t know how to introduce myself so I’ll just talk about my week :)

BTW like my life isn’t really interesting so don’t expect much XD

SUNDAY

I played for worship on Sunday and I loovvveeee drumming even though I’m not that good at it *cries*. I think I have a problem because I would always use my fingers as drumsticks and hit them on anything that makes a sound. People find it annoying but it’s obviously because they don’t know how to appreciate music HAHAHAHA :p Yes I know I laughed at my own joke don’t judge :/

MONDAY

I didn’t have school on Monday (GO SOUTH PAS) which was awesome but I forgot what I did that day…I think I just slept until like 1 in the afternoon and went on Youtube or something. I didn’t do my homework until 10p.m. because almost all teenagers procrastinate heh.

TUESDAY- Green is my favorite color :))))))

I had a math quiz that day and I took a nap during it. I was really tired and I also had the whole period to work on the quiz so why not sleep. I don’t think I bombed it but uhhh yeh….Don’t ever sleep while taking a quiz because it's bad y’all.

WEDNESDAY

I forgot what I did on Wednesday uhhhh. It probably wasn’t important but here's a picture of my dog to fill in this space.

THURSDAY

Thursday was a horrible day for me because people kept on tickling me :/ I have no idea why though....I’m super ticklish so if you poke my sides I will like jump out of my chair...not even joking lol. Don’t know why I told y’all this because I don’t want anyone to come up to me and poke me.

FRIDAY

Today was color day for our school and basically we all dress up in black/ orange to show off our spirit :). My friends and I decided to make a costume centered around a NASCAR theme sooooooo now do you get the title? Like we were NASCAR racers and ya know “Racing to Post this Blog”....It’s good I know thank you, thank you. Also, I was supposed to post last week so the title kinda is ironic hehe. Man I’m just so funny.. right?

Alrighty, so the theme for Hikoi this year is ON FIRE and I can think of a couple times where I felt pumped or like really caught up with God’s presence. Worshiping through music is definitely a way for me to express my praise to God. There’s just something about singing praise to an  all-powerful AND loving God that just makes me hyped :) I have so many reasons to give God praise and for me, I enjoy expressing my praise through music.

Throughout my life, I’ve experienced multiple instances where I felt totally on fire for God. Being on fire, to me, means to be excited about your faith and to constantly want more of God. There was a moment in my life where my views as a Christian were challenged, and that event changed the way I thought as a Christian. This happened during WiRe (winter retreat) and I was presented with different questions regarding the basis of Christianity. The questions attacked the reliability of the Bible, the resurrection, and stuff like that. Those questions made me doubt my faith, like what if the resurrection never happened? If the resurrection was false, then that would mean that my entire life was centered around a lie or something that never actually happened. I had so many unanswered questions running through my mind and that prompted me to look for answers. In Revelations 3: 15-16, it says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth. This passage scares me because it is basically saying that God would rather want a person who straight up rejects him, than to have a “lukewarm Christian.” I re-examined my life to find out if I was a Christian who was living for Jesus or just an unfaithful servant. This passage became a wake-up call to me. I wanted to feel reassured that  Jesus is real and that

I was living a life pleasing to God. I devoted a huge chunk of my time to re-reading the gospel and also learning about apologetics. Never, and I mean NEVER in my life have I felt so passionate towards something. My search for a deeper understanding caused me to seek God more. I aim to be a Christian who is “hot” and constantly seeking God. James 4:8a… Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. :)

THANKS FOR READING THROUGH MY ENTIRE BLOG...y’all are awesome!!!!

Alright I’ll be quiet now and I’m gonna reward you with some pictures :D

The Asian squad… yeaahhhh

Tigers decked out in orange and black... rawr… Be scared

Yay for afternoon naps :D

{a little about me} -hannah au \ (•◡•) /

hello freunde! ich bin hannah und hier sind etwas Fakten uber mich. 

1. I speak German, in case you couldn't tell what on earth I was speaking above. It sounds pretty funny to other people I've heard but I suck at Chinese, a looot (ask anyone who's heard me try to speak it) and Spanish didn't match with my schedule freshmen year, so yeah taking German! 

2. TCHS GO RAMS!!  I'm super into school spirit and dressing up for spirit week, like spirit week is the only week I bother to actually get up and decide what to wear to school (kudos to the people who wake up early and choose their outfits and look bomb.com)

3.  love, love, love sleep. although I've barely been getting like five hours each day this week :(( more specifically I love and am super transfixed by dreams. I love it when I remember my dreams the next morning, it just makes my day. Idk if other people have these kinds of dreams too, but often times my dreams are like an adventure that continue in sequels throughout like a certain time span. who even knows. 

 4. at school, I'm in Red Cross (co-president) and Interact (activities director) working with both clubs is super fun and y'all should join the ones at ur school!!! (btw if ur friends with me, so sorry for all the spam about aids walk lol) 

5.  I've been baptized for almost a year now. Right when I was about to go into the water and was just standing there in my white robe was probably the most joyous moment in my life. I couldn't stop smiling and probably looked pretty stupid, but its ok. 

6.  I believe I'm the youngest person in my grade. My bday's December 28, 1999 and technically I'm supposed to be a sophomore rn. Actually, I think there's a number of sophomores that are older than me #awk. so pretty much I celebrate my birthday @ wire every year. (psst go to wire) 

7. I'm in the SOAP team, which stands for Salvation of All People. Going on missions trips throughout the past summers have been some of the greatest experiences in my 15 years of life. We've been blessed to be able to go to Hong Kong, China, Macau, Canada, and Korea to share Jesus with others.

8. I love adventure and traveling. I like rock climbing, high ropes/obstacle courses, kayaking, paddleboarding, skiing, parasailing, etc. I love going on vacations and have been in 4/7 continents. 

   

here's some pics bc why not 

                                                                      

       

 wearing mismatched hair ties and rockin it

soap 2014 @ canada church

family @ cancun

juniors <3
(lmao when you still haven't posted camp pics oops) 

after i made it to the top!

yooo :) HELLO FRIEND if you missed this week of hikoi or you thought it was so great that you need to relive it, here's the general rundown of the night.

As always, the night started off with prayer. We prayed for Dan as a body to ask God to bless him in his daily life, growing family, and ministry at our church. Nathan guided everyone in the first devotions of the year by emphasizing the power of the gospel and the amazingness known as God. After, we played a series of mini games involving balloons led by Gloria and her pairing, Charmaine. Small groups worked together to complete the goals. HiKoi ended with a time of bonding and fellowship in our small groups. Check out last week's recap to find out your small group leader and friendsies!

kinda chey ;)

hiii i'm cheyenne :) hope the week went well for you!

DO YOU WANNA KNOW ABOUT ME? here are some facts :) (because i'm such a trendsetter wow)

• i don't like capital letters if all the letters aren't capitals (like above)
• i'm reaaaally clumsy. like one time, i thought i was gonna trip on something so i tried to catch myself and ended up falling and hitting the thing i was gonna hold on to...
• i get scared really easily. over a year ago during like spring break or something, i watched a chick flick with my sister (it totally shouldn't count as one because it was terrifying) and i'm still not over it now
• my texts with my sister basically consist of me sending her pictures of cute baby animals
• a few people have brought up how i'm not shy (like chey-enne) but i'm actually kinda shy around some people
• one time i wrote an entire report on a movie without ever watching it. i still got a good grade! :)
• i like strawberry cake if it's made from cake mix
• when i go out to eat and i get a soft drink, i usually fill a little over half my cup with raspberry iced tea, a little bit of sprite, and the rest is lemonade.
• one time, i found a song that i was super obsessed with so i listened to only that song for two hours straight.
• i was gonna stop two facts before this but i don’t like the number eight so i had to do two more :/

anywayyy this past may, i went to an event hosted by people our age from schools around the sgv called hearts as one conference. that night's worship was by far the most passionate worship i had ever experienced. it was really a blessing to see people our age so unashamed and ready to worship our God. one of the most apparent ways of showing your passion and faith is through worship, and i find it absolutely amazing when you’re so impassioned and completely immersed in offering a song or prayer up to God. everything that took place that night from fellowshipping to worship to praying for others showed how on fire so many people were for God, and it was absolutely amazing to be able to see people so readily live out their faith.

Fun(g) Riddles and Pun's Puns ON FIRE

Hi guys! This blog is brought to you by Ethan Fung and Nathan Pun. We thought it would be best to just list out a whole bunch of fun(g) riddles and puns to try to brighten up your day a little (hopefully), but these will probably just get you mad at us and have you facepalming the entire time or questioning why you choose to continue reading. If you want an explanation, feel free to come up to us and ask us. Or if you just got so upset that you want to yell at us, do that too. So sit back, relax and enjoy.

Ethan Spits FIREEEEEE!

1) I am wise, and for wisdom I am known.
Yet one proceeds me in wisdom. He is a king.
Thus, my song for centuries, sung
"I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations."
I am...

2) With no voice I speak to you.
My leaves hang, but from not a tree
My spine is stiff and my hinges creek,
Yet I am not man or door.
I've told you all, no more can I tell.
I am...

3) No life have I to live or die.
I have no legs, but I dance.
I have no lungs, but I breathe.
If I eat, I will grow.
If I drink, I will die.
I am...

Puzzled? If not, this one, if truly thought about and meditated on will flip your mind inside out:

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
What are the spiritual blessings you ask? The answer to this puzzle is found in verses 4-14... it's craaaazy!!

Pun's Puns
I went to buy some camouflage pants the other day, but I couldn't find any.
The doctor told me I had type A blood, but I think it was a Type-O.
Did you hear about the guy that was hit in the head with a can of soda? He's lucky that it was a soft                 drink.
My grade in marine biology is below C-level.
The witch book was useless because she didn't want to use spell check.
Velcro is such a rip off.
When you dream in color, it is a pigment of your imagination.
I use to be a banker, but I lost interest.
I think the laziest mountain is Mount Ever-rest.
You don't know what the apocalypse means!? Don't worry it's not the end of the world.
Claustrophobic people always like to think outside the box.
I'm glad that I learned sign language. It's so handy.
Why does Peter Pan never wins a fight? Because his punches Neverland.
Have you heard of the new broom? It's sweeping the nation.
People who do acupuncture can never be trusted because they are back stabbers.
I was going to look for my watch, but I could never find the time to.
Sleeping comes so natural to me, I can do it with my eyes closed.
I met this girl with a taser. She was stunning.
I'm giving away my dead batteries free of charge.
The magician got so mad that he pulled his hare out.




I can't believe you actually read all of that. I know what you're thinking, "These puns are so bad, you got to be kitten me!"

First Night of Small Groups!

Friday night we started off with a talk from Charmaine about the gospel and how she has applied it in her life. (The beginning of Philippians 1 is definitely rich with this!) We then had community time where everyone was given an animal and had to make animal noises to find whoever else was in their group. Cheyenne then celebrated September birthdays where the people born in September serenaded a person of their choice. Small groups were then revealed and SG leaders played Jeopardy! to determine the rooms with categories such as "FCBC history" and "Hi-Koi Sponsor".

In case you weren't here, here's the list of SG leaders and the small groups!

Bryan G:
Naomi L.
Jacob W.
Wesley M.
Stepfan N.
Josh N.
Clarissa C.
Arturo G.
Sarah C.
Briana L.
Hannah W.
Caleb H.
Caleb
Brenton L.

Gloria K:
Charmaine Y.
Sheeny N.
Summer
Jenna
Betty L.
Joann G.
Charlotte K.
Jared L.
Ben L.
Jonathan Z.
Matthew N.
Evan C.
Matt W.
Emmanuel C.
David S.

Bradley W:
Hannah A.
Kristen W.
Jessica C.
Esther Q.
Christina L.
Melody K.
Brandon Z.
Josh L.
Charles V.
Eric C.
Henry H.
Michael C.
Eugene L.
Trenton G.

Kristy W:
Nathan P.
Joseph K.
Kayley K.
Courtney Q.
Casey W.
Austin C.
Curtis L.
Joon C.
Spencer M.
Ben Y.
Chelsia W.
Josh C.
Zhi Jian

Samantha L:
Cheyenne L.
Jocelyn G.
Megan T.
Courtney W.
Rachel L.
Kristin Y.
Jenny Z.
Patrick C.
Peter C.
Justin Q.
Ryan Y.
Christian F.
Calvin H.
Abel K.
Dylan C.

Nikki L:
Maxton L.
Kylie Y.
Chelsea F.
Kristen T.
Danielle G.
Tiffany L.
Jung Y.
Anthony V.
Nathan S.
Mikael
Simeon L.
Austin W.
Ivan L.

Do tell us if you aren't in a small group yet :)!

Le'Anna misunderstands the point of a blog post

In keeping with the theme, here are a few things I've set on fire over the years -

Marshmallows, my hair (just to see if it would smell), my name in flammable gel, black widows, ants, the toilet in the boys bathroom at San Gabriel Christian School in 3rd grade*.

When I think of being literally on fire, I think "wow, how uncomfortable". When I think of being figuratively on fire, I think "wow, how uncomfortable". I LOVE being comfortable. A few examples would be that I have not worn jeans in 4 years (too constricting, I don't care if it's an American Classic!) and all my pants are elastic waisted. My favorite pair of pjs have no elasticity in the waistband because they're so old and shapeless. I also hate praying and speaking in between songs when I'm leading worship because I'm terrified of speaking in front of people. Yet I know that if I'm going to be passionate about God, if I'm going to live like I love Him, I'm going to be uncomfortable and that's ok! Because my old self is dying. Because He empowers me (us) with the Holy Spirit and I (we) live under His grace. 

*the fire in the boys bathroom at SGCS was not caused by me.   If I were a great detective like Nancy Drew or Cam Jansen or Encyclopedia Brown, I would guess Eugene Lew did it. 

never forget...what happened at hikoi

Hi everyone! If you were on the same boat as me (not at HiKoi :/ last night), here’s a recap of the night to catch you up!

Like last week, the night started at 7:00 with prayer led by Maxton. He reminded us that all the concerns and problems that we face have nothing on God because His power is made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When HiKoi officially started at 7:30, Hannah led an introductory game called Noah's Ark in which people got into groups based on her directions. After a time of getting to know each other, this year's counselors introduced themselves through a crazy game of chubby bunny, but with sandwiches instead of the classic marshmallows. Following that, Nathan had everyone categorize themselves into groups and answer random questions.

Everyone split into pseudo groups for the rest of the night. Nikki and her group played apples to apples, where a judge picked the best card that fit a given category. Bradley played ballislife, in which people sat in a square and tried to score goals for their team while a goalie rolled around to defend the team. Those in Gloria's group competed in intense games of relay dictionary while Kristy and her group played balloon stomp. Sam led a game of Never Have I Ever combined with Fruitbowl. Bryan discovered the talent of the people in his group through a game of Secret Dancer, where one person leads everyone else in dance sequences and one person guesses the leader of the dance.

We hope to see you next week!

Cheyenne

But God

What does it mean to be on fire? What does it look like? What does it take to say that you are passionate for anything, much less God?

We often talk about wanting to be on fire for God. We sing it. We pray and seek it for ourselves. On the rare occasion, we even pray it over other people.  

We are so often enamored by the idea of being on fire that we forget exactly what it is that we desire for ourselves and, more importantly, where it comes from, or what fuels it. I fear that, should Satan ever place something in our lives that looks like being on fire and feels like being on fire, we would be thoroughly and utterly fooled. I fear that we are completely content to look like we are on fire on the outside and to feel as if we are on fire on the inside, all the while being unknowingly led further from God and His purpose.  

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 2:1-8

I think that this passage should stir our understanding of salvation. It’s not that Jesus sees us drowning and waving, swims out, and brings us back. Paul doesn’t write that. Paul writes that we weren’t flailing and struggling in our sin. We weren’t yelling out to be saved. We weren’t doing any of those things because we were dead in it. The accurate picture is that we were dead in our transgressions and Jesus dove into the water, pulled our lifeless bodies out, and breathed His grace into our lungs so that we may come back to life and live for something more. 

In looking back at my life, I notice moments where I see now that I was dead and I didn't even know it.  I had grown so comfortable with sin in my life that I was okay with living in it. I didn't want to change. I didn't want to leave some relationships. I didn't want to stop abusing substances. I didn't want to leave my addictions. And little by little, Satan was taking me out to sea. But God made us -- made me -- alive together with Christ.

BUT GOD...how beautiful is that. That in the midst of our trials, in the middle of our misery, in the depths of our sin, God interrupts with His love. 

In high school, my family fell apart and my grades were shot. I was unmotivated and depressed and I was about to give up BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy, brought me out. 

In college, I struggled with my identity and finding community. I was drowning in lust and addiction and I felt like all the progress I had made in high school was disappearing BUT GOD, because of His great love, pushed me forward. 

After I graduated, I was confused with God's will for my life and I wandered away from Him seeking my own way to what I thought was success, BUT GOD, even when I was dead in my wanderings, showed me that He had a plan and purpose for my life.

If you were to ask me today where my fire and where my passion for God comes from, I would tell you about my BUT GOD moments. I would tell you how, while I was dead in my transgressions, dead in my sin, in the pits of it all, Jesus dove in and pulled me out. That while I wandered from Him and was lost in my own path, He walked in and led me out. That is where my passion for living for God comes from.

What are your BUT GOD moments? Can you say that you were dead and God saved you? Or do you still not know that you're still dead, still in sin, still comfortable in your plan and your ambition? 

We ask to be on fire for Jesus an awful lot. But can we be on fire without truly knowing who lights it? Can we be on fire when we're drowning in an ocean?