KCN Movie Review

Freewrite - I wonder

It's in that moment, when I see something that stirs my heart. The girl fighting cancer since she was born, the young teenager forced into sex slavery, or the homeless man around the corner that causes something to stir inside of me. Every action demands a response. In those moments, I have a choice. My heart cries out for the injustices in the world, but what do I do? Seeing an injustice demands a response, emitting questions into my conscious-stream of what am I going to do?

Maybe that's why people quickly change the channel when they see something awful on the news or turn the other cheek when they see the eyes of a homeless person zoning in. Have you ever looked eye to eye with a homeless man before? The need and desperation in their eyes. Yet it's so much easier to tune it out by putting on a set of earphones and turning the music louder on the iPod, pretending that you never saw the person. I knew you saw the person. The man was in plain sight on the street, holding his cup filled with change and a couple dollar bills.

And I know your heart breaks too when you see a person without legs struggling or hear stories about a 6 year old girl who's forced into prostitution. You grieve and say somebody should do something and then continue to live the hedonistic life that America feeds to you. Yea go ahead, fill yourself with more clothes, dreams of new cars and a big house. Continue to say that you're going to hook-up with the next b*tch and trophy her to your friends, making yourself look more manly. Meet your weekly quota of going to church on Sunday and occationally donating $10 to some charity, thinking that's all God demands of you.

I'm being judgemental and hypocritical because I am no different from you. I easily can tune out the problems of the world by hiding underneath a sea of Banana Republic clothing and my UCLA engineering degree. I can say that I'm doing something by obtaining a bi-weekly paycheck with a comma in it. I can say I'm significant by the car I drive or by the house I own, but still I know that something lingers inside of me. Something more lingers inside my heart, and I bet it lingers in yours too because the life you hide under is the path you didn't want to take, but took by convenience. The normal path that society treasures. Maybe your friends and parents are proud that you became the stereotypical doctor, lawyer, or engineer, but you long for more.

I wonder at the end of the day if I will live in a vicious cycle. Something that catches my eye gets drowned out by the superficiality of the world. I know it's tough and burdensome to take on the world's burdens. I wonder if I ever have the capacity or the compassion to even think about people who are suffering while I type on my Samsung netbook, lying in a cozy home.

Jesus sat with the leapers, the blind people, and the outcasts. He freaken ate with them and saw the crowds with compassion. And that's where the disconnect happens. What caused Jesus to do it? What was in His heart and mind to do the things He did? Why am I not like that?

And so I don't know where to go from here. I could continue living the life I'm living, pretending to be oblivious to the world or go do something about it. Lord, help me.

real moments

Brian Orme asked me the other night,

“What makes your faith real?”

It was an interesting question, mainly because I could not rely on simply regurgitating what others have told me or could I look in a textbook for an answer. It was a personal question with an answer.

He was waiting for me to answer, as I nervously tried to muster up something that would satisfy his inquiries as well as mine. I recollected the memories of which God has spoken to me in my life and the transformations I saw in other people. I remembered my trip to Mexico when I learned what God’s love was. I pondered on my daily conversations I had with Him when I was at work or when I was walking home to class, worshiping Him. Yet, as I told my friend my answer, something still didn’t sit right with me. And it dawned on me

When was the last time I had a real encounter with Him?

I’m a very idealistic person when it comes to thinking and planning. I love to think of ways I could improve every facet of life. When I talk to other PC people, I always talk about how I want to encounter God in a more real way or how I could reach out to people. However, talking too much about theory does not really do much if it doesn’t lead to action.

I was dry
I was weary
I didn’t know why I believed the things I did besides what has been taught to me

To be honest, I wasn’t spending my alone time with God or reading the Bible. Mix that with sinful habits such as falling into lust among other things, I felt like there was a barrier between me and God. I knew I needed rest in Him. I’ve heard of the miracles. I’ve seen Him move, but I couldn’t picture what He could do in MY life. And honestly, I didn’t want Him to move in me anymore.

That night was the first night of Greenhouse, a Passion Church event that attempts to explain how simple church works. By now, I’m a simple church planting expert. I knew what a Person of Peace was, I’ve heard Neil Cole’s corny jokes and puns, and I’ve seen that Helm’s Deep clip from Lord of the Rings at least 3 times.

I asked myself, “What is the point of me being here?” I’ve seen this, yet nothing’s happened in my life. I haven’t created a person of peace. I haven’t created a simple church. Heck, underneath the veil, I’m a terrible person. At this point, I was thinking, “Maybe God will move in me at this conference, but then I will probably be jaded in a month and be at square one again.”

Brian then stopped me and asked another question

Why do you declare false truths as if they are going to happen?
Why not declare the truths that are in His word?

I meditated on that thought for a moment.
Yes I know what His word says, but I don’t believe it in my heart.

My friend asks me another question

What does Jesus think about you?

I began declaring it
I am a child of God
I am holy in His sight

However, I couldn’t get myself to say the next one
He is p-p-p-rooo…

I don’t know why, bu ti couldn’t believe it
He is p-p-prooooudd of m-mum-meee, even in my shame

I repeated it
He is p-proud of me even in my weakness

After claiming that, I felt some clearing. I felt God was speaking to me. However, there was some blockage. Brian and Jennifer proceeded to pray over me some more. Suddenly, an intense wave of shame was brought upon me that caused me to shake uncontrollably. The devil was trying to use shame as bondage from preventing me from hearing. Brian starting praying for me again, and I felt the chains unravel as I felt less burdensome. Finally, I was able to clearly encounter God without the baggage.

You’re my son whom I love
I’m proud of who you are

It felt like complete freedom in Him. God is my savior. I began declaring things of who God was. These things that I was declaring weren’t fabricated out of prior knowledge from a Sunday school teacher, but from what I’ve encountered personally with God. These were truths that were made REAL.

I thank God for moments like these.
I thank God for the truths in His word
I thank God for real encounters
I thank God that He is the same always and still relevant today

Lack of Updates

Hey Guys,
Sorry for the lack of Vblog updates. My roommate, Jason Lee, has a dead laptop right now, so I'm letting him borrow mine. I don't have a webcam for the time being.

-Daniel

What is tafokints?

Q&A 2

1. What would you like to see happen this year? - Jason
2. How do you make money playing online poker? - Sam
3. How do you maintain your sexiness? - Andrew Hiah



-Keep posting questions guys

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