Asking ... Seeking ... Knocking

I'm currently in the middle of studying, filing and praying through Dallas Willard's "Hearing God", Henry Blackaby's "Hearing God's Voice", and Mark Buchanan's "The Rest of God". Instead of just reading and taking notes, I wanted to apply Charles Spurgeon's advice on digesting the books I read ... focusing on a few ...

"Master those books you have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and reread them, masticate and digest them. Let them go into your very self. Peruse a good book several times and make notes and analyses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed. Little learning and much pride comes of hasty reading."

Seeking Wisdom and Prayer ...

In the midst of praying through a lot of big decisions I need to make in the coming months, I wanted to walk beside proven men of wisdom. The books on hearing God have provided some much needed words of encouragement in my days of "seeking" ... and Buchanan's book on the Rest of God has been a great guide for me during my sabbatical. I never realized I had to learn how to rest properly.

Please pray for clarity as I seek God's next step for me in the coming weeks. I approach the final stretch of my sabbatical and I sense God requiring new steps of faith to be taken. Any time a step of faith is needed, I know a new adventure awaits ...

Podcast Update

And my podcasts for sermons and weekly memory verses have been updated on iTunes. And if you haven't checked out my "Interviews and Insights" podcast yet, check it out and listen to the first 2 episodes. Take care ... and please keep me in prayer. Thanks.

Currently Reading Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God By Dallas Willard

Our First 5 Years

Next in Line ...

Oh man, I feel SO bad for Drew Bledsoe who got benched in Monday night's game against the New York Giants. I was really hoping he could win a Super Bowl with him as their leader. He's had such a tough career. After leading the Patriots to a great season, he got injured and then had to see the new kid (Tom Brady) lead the team to (several) Super Bowl victories. Then left for the Bills ... struggled ... and then rejoined (his former coach) Bill Parcells with the Cowboys.

Sorry, but I just had to comment on the Quarterback issue with the Dallas Cowboys. Without a doubt, Troy Aikman (my favorite football player) was a tough act to follow. Since his retirement, there have been 10 players trying to fill those big shoes. The latest is now Tony Romo. If somehow they do win it this year, it's going to be bittersweet ...

Post-Aikman QB's
Name	Year Acq.	Starts	Released
Anthony Wright	2000	3	2002
Quincy Carter	2001	31	2004
Clint Stoerner	2000	2	2003
Ryan Leaf	2001	3	2002
Chad Hutchinson	2002	9	2004
Vinny Testaverde	2004	15	2005
Drew Henson	2004	1	2006
Drew Bledsoe	2005	22	???
Tony Romo	2003	On Deck	???

Deep Surface Photo Shoot + DS Interview

Deep Surface | CB

EDIT: DS Interview

Together

Together with DJ Chuang

I had my first podcast interview (through Skype) last night with a leading thinker for the Asian-American Church, DJ Chuang. Visit his blog for some great discussions and resources concerning 2nd Gen issues. He often writes about issues the 2nd generation Asian-American faces concerning faith and ministry. He was also on a semi-sabbatical this year and I was interested in finding out what God was doing in this season of his life. To hear the interview, click on the link below, and to subscribe to future episodes of "Interviews and Insights", click on the link here.



I definately want to do more interviews with him to discuss the current and future situation with the Asian-American Church, but for now, I was thankful that he set aside time to talk with me about his recent sabbatical. (So thank you DJ!) I'm planning on doing more interviews with various Christian leaders to learn from their years of experience on a variety of topics. If there's an issue you'd like to hear discussed, send me an email and I'll try and get it for a future episode.

It's pretty cool what we can do now through the wonders of technology ... partnering together and helping each other out, even though we're on the opposite sides of the globe.

Together with Team Hoyt

And concerning the video ... some of you may know the story of "Team Hoyt" (see video above), a father and son team who run marathan races. For 27 years, Dick Hoyt (the father), pushed his son's wheelchair in races because that's what his son dreamed of doing ... running in a race. They're going to be entering their final Iron Man race this year. You can read the article here. What an inspirational story! Have a great weekend in His presence, as we run this race ... together.

Currently Listening Walk On By U2 Walk On

Books and Verses

My podcast for memory verses is finally up and running on iTunes. For my blurb on this and my other podcasts, you can read my previous blog entry on this topic. For the next 4 weeks, I'd like to encourage you to try and learn a new verse per week, using your MP3 player and see how it goes. If you can review it during your free time or "down-time", I think you'll find it very do-able.

Looking for a good read? Christianity Today just listed their view of the Top 50 Books That Shaped Evangelicals in their most recent issue. Some great, all-time classics are on that list. #5 on that list was a big reason I ended up going to Regent College, #10, 13, 21, and 26 equipped me for evangelism, #43 taught me how to pray for missions, #39 and 42 kept me focused, #17, 18, and 19 shaped me as a disciple of Christ ... just to mention a few that I'm thankful for on the list.

And finally, I'll leave you with some links to some "pretty" clips. The first clip is "pretty" cute ... this next one is "pretty" ugly ... and this last one is "pretty" cool. Enjoy =)

Currently Listening Jars of Clay By Jars of Clay He

No More Computers for Me! [EDIT]

Well ... kinda. Thanks to Google and all their very cool programs that keep coming out, I'm almost at the point where I won't be dependent on any "one" computer anymore, especially when traveling. One of the reasons I liked portable hard drives was that I could back up my whole computer on it and take it with me when I travel. Then all I had to do was plug it into a computer and I'd have everything at my figertips.

Now with the direction Google seems to be taking us, we won't need that portable hard drive either to access our files ... just any device with internet access.

For example:

You can open up Gmail accounts and then email key files to that account, so that you have it "backed up" and available to access any time. And you can use Google Calendar to add/edit dates and appointments without carrying your day planner around. Then you and save your pictures in Google's Picasa Web Album. But I won't go too much into this one since there are a lot of these kinds of sites available (e.g. Photobucket, Yahoo, Kodak, etc.). And since Google just bought YouTube, our online video storage will get an upgrade too I'm sure!

And this next one is awesome. You can use Google Docs and Spreadsheets to read, store, or create any document or spreadsheet file! Goodbye Microsoft Word and Excel; hello free stuff from Google that does the exact same thing! =) I stored so many notes, sermons, address books, etc. in this past year ... I feel so liberated! Whether I was in Korea, Australia or the US, I had access to all my files without lugging my computer around.

And if you have various things that are a "work-in-progress", Google Notebook is for you. You can take notes, clip, copy, paste from bascially anything on the internet and it'll paste the internet address automatically ... it's an awesome way to organize a lot of notes on one topic.

Then there's Google Reader. If you're still not sure what RSS feeds or readers are, think of it like the Xanga Subscription function (where you can subscribe and get updates on Xanga blogs whenever something new comes up) but it's for (almost) all websites, blogs and online newspapers. So for those who wanted a subscription function with Blogger or MySpace or even CNN or ESPN news, you can use Google Reader and have a one-stop shop for all your web surfing needs.

And finally (though there are more I could brag about), I'll close today with Google Groups. It's a cool way to create mini-communities centered around various passions, topics or functions. You can upload files and update members with one email address.

I'm really glad I don't have to be dependent upon one particular computer anymore to access my files or to get work done. And it's cool that Google is basically allowing us to have the internet as our virtual hard drive to store everything ... not to mention make it easy to find things through their search function. I better stop ... this is sounding like a Google commercial =P

[EDIT: A cool video about a cool project]

Currently Listening Wide Awake in America By U2 The Three Sunrises

Podcasting

I've been re-organizing my previous audio downloads I had on my blog (e.g. MP3 memory verses, sermons, etc.) while experimenting with iTunes and podcasting in the process. So now, if you want to get the MP3 memory verses or sermons I had on my blog before, there's a better place to download them. You can just open your iTunes store, do a search for "Eddie Byun" and get them there. Just to warn you, clicking on these links will ask you if you want to open iTunes.

I created these podcasts in iTunes for memory verses, sermons, and some songs I wrote awhile back. As of today, the sermons and song podcasts are up and running, but the memory verse podcast should be available later in the week. I'll try and upload things on a weekly basis when I can ... (Lord willing). In the mean time, I need to find a guitar I can borrow for the "background music" for future memory verses (and maybe even some new songs along the way as well).

One habit I've gotten into was to have the MP3 memory verses in my iPod and listen to them on repeat while exercising, driving, walking in the city, surfing the net, etc. It's a great way to learn new verses and review older ones. I hope these podcasts can help in your devotional life with Christ ... as we strive to keep our lives surrounded and saturated by His Word. I hope these resources can be a source of blessing and strength in our journey Home.

Currently Listening Rattle and Hum By U2 Angel of Harlem

Canberra

We went to our nation's capital over the weekend ... no, not Sydney (or Melbourne) but Canberra. Not to worry, I didn't know that either until I moved here. It was about a 2.5 hour drive (so about the same distance as Chicago to Champaign or Vancouver to Seattle ... not too bad).

Each spring Canberra has a flower festival at a park called the Floriade. I was just OK, but I think I liked visiting the Parliament House better. I loved the modern architecture and use of space throughout the building. I posted a few of our pictures below. You can click on the image to see the other pix.

2006 10 Canberra Tip

Oct 8, 2006 - 13 Photos

The weather was perfect over the weekend and we were so blessed listening to the album "This is Your House" by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir during the drive. There are some great songs on that double CD ... my personal favorite is the title track (This is Your House) ... it totally turned my car into a sanctuary of praise ... singing in His presence.

But it was a nice weekend getaway. It made me want to drive to more of the major cities in Australia ... but they're all so FAR away! Sorry Eric, I was even thinking about driving *a bit* further to Melbourne, but that 10-12 hour drive back wasn't very appealing to me. Maybe next time =P

Still Listening To ... Live...This Is Your House By Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir This Is Your House

Shirts Are Here

CB shirts have arrived! And they look (and feel) great! A big thanks goes out to Deep Surface for their hard work and sacrificial effort and partnership in this whole process. It definately would not have been possible without their service.

These shirts will be available from now on at all CB Australia events and presentations throughout Australia and New Zealand. If you are not able to attend a CB event to purchase one, you can do so through mail order (and online ... in the near future). These designs are a limited edition line to this region of the world, so for friends and partners of CB in other countries, feel free to order yours today! And be the first to wear it in your country =)

To view the various shirt designs that are available, click on the link here. And to download an order form, click on the link here. All the info needed for mail orders has been outlined in the order form provided. It's for a great cause (with 100% of the proceeds going to help refugees) so buy one for yourself and and one for a friend! And hey, get your Christmas shopping done early while you're at it!

And if you'd like to have a CB presentation done at your local church or ministry, contact a CB representative and we'd love to get you plugged in to what God's doing to help refugees and the underground church. Once again ... get'm while their hot! =)

Currently Listening Live...This Is Your House By Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir This Is Your House