.: What’s Bruin :.

I’ve decided to cancel my Netflix subscription so I can give the $20/month for our church’s More Than A Building campaign for the next three years. I been prayerfully considering “shifting” that expenditure to the church’s important venture. And I figure that since I’ve been thinking about it a lot, it must be God’s way of giving me the go ahead to put the money there.

Additionally, I figure that giving up watching 6+ hours of movies per week or so will free up a lot of time to spend more time with Josephine, read books, and expand my photography skills. So starting February 22, 2006 - no more Netflix until either the building campaign is over or my monthly income increases.

Tags: Announcements, Christian, church, faith, Movies, Netflix, Spiritual

Found this meme while reading @ Eliot’s–

Four jobs that I’ve had

• Busboy
• Writer/Editor
• Teacher/Coach
• Instructional Systems Designer

Four movies I can watch over and over

• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Special Edition)
• Office Space - Special Edition with Flair (Widescreen Edition)

Four places I have lived

• Quezon City, Philippines
• Stockton, California
• Whittier, California (Interestingly, Google earth got it wrong by three houses. My old house is where the blue arrow is.)
• Los Angeles, California

Four TV shows I like to watch

• Smallville
• E.R.
• Surface
• Malcolm in the Middle

Four foods that I like

• Mexican food (carne asada burrito)
• Filipino food (kare-kare, pancit, lumpia)
• Greek food (Josephine’s Greek salad, chicken and orzo)
• Baba ganoush and pita bread

Four web sites I visit daily

• Drudge Report
• Daily Bruin
• Challies.com
• Jesus Creed

Four things I want to do before I die

• Adopt and raise a son
• Write a book
• Travel to all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments
• Swim with dolphins at Sea World

Four people I’m tagging

• Dave
• Andrew
• Neil
• Greg

Tags: Participation

THE HEART OF THE FRIEND is a loving heart. It is a caregiving heart. Passionate, yes. But more. Compassionate (”I will be with you”). The friend in a man is a commitment-maker. And a promise-keeper. His is “the energy that connects men to others and to the world” (Moore and Gillette).

Stu Weber, Tender Warrior : God’s Intention for a Man, p. 43

Lord, make me a promise-keeper. Give me your heart.

Tags: Books, Christian, faith, Prayer, Reflection, Spiritual, Tender-Warrior

Amelie Mauresmo, won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this year by “defeating” two Belgians, first in the semifinals and then in the final. Rather, the title was handed to her without a fight, without a chance for her to do her normal “Look at me, I’m a choker.” You see, both Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne defaulted in their matches to Mauresmo. Additionally, her third round opponent also retired in the middle of the match. Does this title even count? I guess it does, but it definitely was not earned. I seriously doubt Mauresmo has earned any respect as a champion for such a cheesy victory. Granted, it was not her fault her opponents quit in the middle of their matches. But let’s hope she doesn’t go parading around with huge victory parties. It’s interesting to note that now that the Australian Open is over, there is not one noticeable story link from the front page of their web site detailing the results of the lackluster women’s championship. Glad, I missed that one on TV– what a yawner.

Tags: Australian-Open, Mauresmo, Sports, Tennis

This marks the premiere of a new series on What’s Bruin, called the Pourpa Letters, establishing a legacy from a dad to his son on life, work, and faith. Pourpa is the adopted stepson of JoeBruin88.

Dear Pourpa,

How have you been? It’s been a long time since we last talked. I hope you are well and school is going well for you. How are classes?

Being Thankful
Mom and I were at bible study the other night. We prayed for you, for your studies and your spiritual growth. We also gave praise for how God is blessing our family through a good start on my new career. It’s important to remember to give thanks and praise to God for his blessings, not just to always ask him for things. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” (James 1:17).

Using Your God-given Spiritual Gifts
As I was reviewing the work events of the other day, I was thankful for my work environment and the current manager I have. I was on a conference call with another design team in Florida. My manager, F, was telling these other people on the phone that if they have further questions they should “contact ***** [me] because of his expertise”. Later on during the call, she praised me for my advanced planning, thinking ahead, and organization skills.

It’s interesting how during bible study the other night we discussed spiritual gifts. Of course, you know my two strongest ones are servanthood and humility … J/K, obviously. But anyways, I believe the biggest reason I’m so happy in my current work is that I’m using my strengths–the gifts God gave me– which are administration and teaching.

Lesson Learned
While I was in business school, I had the opportunity to read a book “for fun”. I had chosen to read Jack: Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch, the very successful former CEO of General Electric. It’s a very good story, but as you know from reading good books as these, sometimes it’s difficult to process because there are so many good things to incorporate into your life. Well, I focused on one thing in the book that resonated strongly with me.

When Mr. Welch first started as a chemical engineer with General Electric, he struggled with the work for GE because he wasn’t being recognized, promoted, etc. for all his hard work. He had a tremendous work ethic. One of his work tenets was to always try to deliver something extra above and beyond what is expected. Well of course, someone finally did notice. And he retired as CEO of GE several years later.

On Friday, my manager had come by my desk to ask me to work on this updated project calendar. She wanted me to set up a review schedule to organize our efforts for this project because when it starts, it will be massive. Realizing this for myself, I had already begun analyzing the project calendar with respect to our efforts that will be required when the project ramps up. She specifically asked me to create a process organization chart in Excel similar to another one I had created earlier. Anyways, when she started talking to me at my desk, she realized that I had already started working on the very thing she wanted– I was thinking ahead, planning, basically using the strengths God gave me. She smiled when she saw I was already working on it. I was glad too because she knows that I’m taking initiative to do something important without being told.

Anyways, I hope you actually read this letters and enjoy them. Hope all is well.

Love,
Dad

Tags: Bible_study, Books, Career, Jack-Welch, Life, Pourpa, Pourpa_Letters, Prayer, Reflection, Spiritual, work

Sometimes in my line of work, I get to review some pretty funny stuff in some of the learning material we’re developing.

Comment from another reviewer: Why is there a midget standing so far away from the safe. The second person should have no more than an arm’s length distance away from the other person at the safe.

After laughing out loud, I get to “clean up” the comment so the person who created the graphic for the course does not get offended.

Sterilized Comment: Change graphic to show people in scale. The second person providing TPI looks like a midget. Additionally, the second person providing TPI needs to be next to the person opening the safe, no more than an arm’s length distance away. The whole concept of TPI is that each individual must physically see the other handling the material. Currently, the second person does not have an unobstructed view into the safe as it’s being opened.

BTW, TPI means Two-Person Integrity.

Tags: Career, education_and_training, Humor

Christian studio explains hiring of gay actor. Direct from Steve Saint’s mouth. Worth the read to see Saint’s heart.

Tags: Christian, End-of-the-Spear, faith, gospel, homosexuality, missions, Movies, quick_links, Spiritual

Tonight’s Smallville, Reckoning, was one of the best episodes ever! The much anticipated “death” of a major character… got my hopes up when Lana Lang’s character was killed. I don’t think she’s a very good actress as Clark’s girlfriend. Although, I do think she performs better when she plays an evil character on the show. However, Clark begged Jor-El to tell him how he could turn back time and stop her from being killed. So I guess Lana Lang is going to be around for awhile.

Not really that surprising, it was Jonathan Kent, Clark’s father, who was killed off the show. After all, there can’t be a Superman unless Clark learns how to get through life without his dad/mentor. I hope the series can continue for a few more years because now that Clark’s dad is dead, he will begin the transformation into the character that becomes Superman. And when that transformation occurs, the series will be over for sure because the show’s creators/producers have said they don’t want to do the flying around in tights thing.

Tags: Smallville, Superman, Television

After listening to John Piper for the last two and one-half weeks, I’m so pumped up. I’ve decided I want to attend the 2006 Desiring God National Conference, September 29 - October 1. This year’s theme is: Above All Earthly Powers: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World.

That sounds very exciting given that we now exist in a relativistic post-modern culture. It sounds like this conference could help Christian leaders help communicate the relevance of Christ in a world where most non-believers think that God is dead and has no relevance.

I plan on taking two days off from work. And since the conference ends at noon on Sunday, I’ll be able to fly home the same day and make it back to work the following Monday.

I’m hoping Josephine and Pourpa will be able to go, but especially Pourpa. I think it would be good for his frame of mind. The only problem with that is the conference begins on the first day of instruction of the UCLA Fall Quarter 2006. He would have to miss the first two days of instruction. But I think it’s doable since usually not much is covered on the first couple of days. He could get some friends who are in the class to get the handouts, readings, and assignments. Pray that he can go. I think it would be awesome, well worth the sacrifice because it’s something that I think can radically change a person’s his heart.

Tags: Announcements, conference, Desiring-God, John-Piper, Josephine_Bruin, Pourpa, Spiritual

I’m trying to install a I’ve installed the WordPress Email Notification Plugin. but it’s not working as I expected. I suspect there is a mismatch between the database prefix the plugin is using and the one that this blog actually uses. So I’ve requested With some assistance from the plugin author to install and configure it for me, it is now working. Hopefully, it will be It was relatively cheap and quick to get their help.

I’ll be I’m glad when this plugin starts is now working right. I’d like email notification mainly for Josephine and Pourpa, two people whom I’d like to see be reading this more regularly other than when I manually email them links.

Tags: email, plugin, quick_links, site_announcements, WordPress

I envy Steve’s experiences described below. I hope I won’t miss out on this in my life. Whatever circumstances have prevented Josephine and I from this, I know we are ready now.

The whole post is worth repeating in its entirety:

I love my kids. I have four 100% huggable and lovable kids. And whenever ministry gets tough, or I get distracted, or I just am in the dumps over my own apathy and sin, I often find great comfort in and rejuvenation through my family.

I remember times in 2004 when I was getting some heat from a few church members (who are now gone). It was really hard on me, and I would come home at the end of the day and just hold my daughter for five minutes on the couch, or play a game with one of my boys, or chase the kids around with a Nerf gun shooting their eyes out.

These things could be seen nice ways to distract me from the stressful things of life and ministry, and they are helpful distractions. But much more positively they are reminders. Reminders of who I am more than a pastor, more than a preacher, more than a sinner. I’m the pastor of my family.

Two nights ago we had our five year old pray for our dinner. He prayed and thanked God for the food to make us healthy and strong, and prayed for everyone in the world to become Christians, and prayed that when people become Christians they would become fishers of men. When I heard that, it made all the frustrations of life shrink.

I’m about ready to head home for the night. Tonight, as we do each day, our family is going to read some Scripture to learn about God and talk about what He is calling us to do. The kids will probably ask a half-dozen questions, and then we will hold hands in a circle and pray. We will pray for God to help us live what we have learned and to provide for what we need.

May God raise up in my home fishers of men who will turn the world upside down, and may he use this weak vessel to train them. I can think of nothing to do today that is more important for God’s mission and my own heart. [emphasis mine]

Steve McCoy, “The Pastor of My Family“

I’m praying for God and trusting in Psalm 37:4-6. I’m asking Him to change our hearts and minds to be united on this issue of having more children (via adoption). Lord, help me to be patient and wait for what You want and will. You already know what I want.

Tags: adoption, children, family, Prayer, Reflection, Spiritual

I received a forwarded email from one of Josephine’s co-workers regarding some initial reaction to the premiere of movie, End of the Spear after its opening this past weekend.

The following email was sent from Bearing Fruit Communications and Every Tribe Entertainment:

Dear Tribe,

Your support made End of the Spear among the top ten highest grossing films in the nation this last weekend. By doing this you’ve succeeding in bringing End of the Spear to the attention of more people than our marketing budget could ever reach. Now it is word of mouth that will extend this story into more and more hearts for as long as End of the Spear remains in theaters. Each day this week we will share how people like you became a part of this story by making contact. Here are the first few.

A Nation makes contact:
Mia Doerksen became a champion for making contact in Guam. She got local TV news to do a review. She organized youth to pass out flyers. Mia told us, “Let’s just say that when I started this, when I’d ask Christians (or not) if they heard the movie, only one said yes. Now, everyone has either seen the paper, TV, etc.” She got two other radio stations to promote the film and give free tickets from the Micro Mall movie theater. She even got government sponsorship and endorsement of her efforts because of the indigenous population reconciliation and anti-violence message of the film. Guam was among the markets where End of the Spear performed the highest. Thank you Mia.

A school makes contact:
Lane, a teacher from Hopkinsville, KY dared to make contact by incorporating the story into her high school curriculum. She asked those who had been truly changed during or since the emphasis of this story to come forward. Three-fourths of 6th-12th grade students responded. Some were still crying after lunch. Lane provided us pages of personal expressions from her students after seeing End of the Spear. Thank you Lane.

An individual makes contact:
Marj Pals writes, “When I was selling tickets for our Bethany Community Church showing of End of the Spear on Jan 19th, I noticed a lady walking by and asked her if she wanted to go. She broke down in tears and said ‘I would like to go… but I am all alone and don’t know anybody.’ That gave me a chance to give her a hug and share just a little from my own experience of going through a divorce and feeling all alone…..and how the Ladies Bible Class that I teach is a safe place, and I invited her. Many hurting people like this whose lives need God’s grace……….that’s what This Story is all about.” Thank you Marj.

As you continue to experience End of the Spear and share this experience with others, please be sure to share them also with us. Send your stories to groupsales@everytribe.com We rejoice in these stories with you, and are deeply grateful for the heartfelt connection around End of the Spear.

Bearing Fruit Communications and Every Tribe Entertainment

The movie entertains and it helps change lives.

Tim, I still agree with you that the producers erred. But I think the film is bringing honor to the Lord.

Tags: Christian, End-of-the-Spear, faith, gospel, missions, Movies, Spiritual

After reading some of the few, yet popular, faith blogs on my Blogroll this morning, I have to express my disappointment in the closed-heartedness of some of the people leaving vitriolic comments regarding the movie, End of the Spear. Let me first clarify three points before I delve into my commentary.

1. I am not a gay-rights supporter or an advocate of homosexuality.
2. I believe the producers, director, casting personnel, and writers and whoever else SHOULD have picked a different actor to play the starring role of this movie instead of a homosexual activist.
3. Given my previous two points, I believe this movie is worth seeing for all.

My opinion is:

While this movie is just that, a movie that entertains, I believe the gospel message is preached loudly and clearly. Despite the fact the main actor in the film is openly against the God that I know, who sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of the universe, God uses this fallen, unregenerate actor to demonstrate the power of the gospel to change sinful men and women and transform lives. The movie amazingly demonstrates 2 Corinthians 5:17. All people should see it.

The premise behind what I believe is best stated by the Apostle Paul:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.

Paul, Philippians 1:15-18

1. This movie is about entertainment, but it also has another purpose.: Movies entertain. I tire of Christian commentators on these faith blogs ranting. People, this is a movie, let’s not forget that. Lots of people will go to this movie because they thought the trailer was interesting and they will expect to be entertained. But … I do want to point out that all who see this movie will be encouraged in their Christian faith. Yes, if you pay attention during the movie, you will hear God’s message and plan for salvation. You’ll see the power of God to transform lives.
2. God is glorified, not mocked.: But the actor in the starring role is a homosexual activist. Yes? And ….? “But God is being mocked,” the ranters cry. Who is being being mocked? I contend it’s the homosexual activists. Yes, the actor was used in this film to communicate God’s love and plan for salvation through Christ. I’ve seen the movie. I know. Here’s what you see in the movie:

   The sin problem — These Hourani natives were killing “foreigners” and killing each other.

   God loves the sinner — There’s no better demonstration of God’s love than how the five missionaries devoted sacrificed their lives because they had compassion on the natives who were dying and going to hell because they did not know Christ. These missionaries gave their lives to bring salvation. What greater love is that to lay down one’s life for his friends? (John 15:13)

   God sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins. He died in our place, so we would not have to die. — The movie explicitly states this: “Waegongi has a Son. He was speared so that we don’t have to spear anymore and so we can live well.” The ranters exclaim that it’s not explicitly using the name of Jesus Christ. People who use this argument really have no missionary or cross-cultural experience at all in communicating the gospel message to those who have never heard it before. I think that before one can say whether or not the gospel has been communicated in this movie should first experience what it’s like to talk to Russians oppressed by communism and having atheism forced on them for decades or trying to talk to Chinese in Hong Kong. I think it’s pretty ignorant for people to say this movie does not communicate the gospel message. I’ve experienced cross-cultural missions firsthand and I know how difficult it is to communicate God’s truth in a language you can’t speak to people of a foreign and strange culture. The movie shows Christ being communicated to the Hourani tribe in the way they will understand.

   Following God’s Son is the only way to salvation — The movie communicates this in the most effective way possible: changed lives. True faith produces changed lives. If you don’t believe what’s in the movie, then listen firsthand to Steve Saint in his own words from the 2005 Desiring God National Conference. He gives details about his father’s killer being the “grandfather” to his children. Now if that’s not evidence of a regenerated life, I don’t know what is.

3. You will miss out on a very uplifting, encouraging, and faith-building experience if you don’t see this movie.: So the actor is gay. None of his “gayness” or gay activism comes out in the movie. Get over yourself. This movie is not about “gayness.” Was the actor the best choice for this movie? Definitely not. But I believe God is glorified despite the mistake in casting.

Tags: Christian, Commentary, End-of-the-Spear, faith, gospel, homosexuality, missions, Movies, Spiritual

I decided to cancel my Blockbuster account. While I really really like the two free in-store movie coupons from Blockbuster each month, the Blockbuster web site just sucks big time. Josephine says that she doesn’t mind going down to the Blockbuster store to rent movies if she needs to.

Netflix has a larger selection. Netflix has an RSS feed I can use.

Tags: Blockbuster, Movies, Netflix

As I’ve been reading some Christian faith blogs, I often see ads for the new ESV Bible translation. After doing a little exploration, I’m going to make a switch to this translation.

I’ve used several over the years in the following order:

1. KJV: King James - Because I was a brand new believer in 1985. That’s all I knew, since it was most recognizable. And it was the translation that was used in my English class at UCLA, “The Bible as English Literature.”
2. NASB: New American Standard - Because it’s what Dennis, the person who led me to Christ, used (and I wanted to do everything he did); it was a literal translation (word-for-word); and it seemed to be more scholarly. This is my main translation. I’m very used to it and comfortable with it, even though it’s sometimes not easy to read or understand. Currently, I use an “updated” NASB, which basically has removed all the “old style” English words like “Thee, Thy, and Thou”, enhancing readability and comprehension.
3. NKJV: New King James - Because we used to go to Community Bible Church in Mira Mesa. And this is what the pastor used. I could never get used to it. It is more readable than the original KJV, but I never really overcame the barrier.
4. NIV: New International Version - Because it’s very popular and easy to read, making it easy to share with non-religious people. When I was involved with youth ministry, I often recommended and gave this translation to the kids because I knew they would be able to understand it the best. Currently, our pastor teaches from this.

But since I have so many unused bibles at home, I’m going to wait until the Study Bible for the ESV comes out in the Fall of 2008. I may download the Palm version of it for $14 from laridian.com to go along with my pocket-electronic versions of the NASB and NIV that I use on my Treo 650.

Tags: Announcements, Bible, bible-translation, Bible_study, church, ESV, KJV, Laridian, NASB, NIV, NKJV, Spiritual