Steak and Root Beer

Awung (A1) and A&W Root Beer :)

[awungsteaksauce]

Thoughts on the election

It’s time to put my word vomit somewhere.

I didn’t support Trump. I also didn’t support Clinton, or Johnson, or Stein. I went into the polling booth confident that I was going to vote one way and after praying voted in a way I didn’t expect.

Did my vote matter? Almost for sure not. That’s the way the electoral college system works. That doesn’t mean it should be thrown out. Much has been said about Clinton winning the popular vote, but she didn’t have a clear majority (50%). Most elections in this country require a majority of something (either popular vote or electors).

Plus, we can’t know if Trump would have campaigned the way he did if it was a straight popular vote. Trump won according to the rules of the game. A Washington Monthly writer compares it to another game, saying “You can make that argument, but the team with more runs will point out that they weren’t even trying to get more base hits, and they would have tried if they had known that those were the rules.” [1]

There’s always the extreme case of an election like 2000 on the national level. Imagine a nationwide recount. We may never find out who wins that election.

The more realistic concern is that certain areas will be marginalized. Why campaign in Dubuque, Iowa, when there are way more voters in Los Angeles or Dallas. Either Republicans in CA and Democrats in TX get marginalized, or all of the rural areas get marginalized.

The concerns of Southern CA natives is not the concern of those in the Pacific Northwest, or that in New England, or in the Deep South, or the Midwest. The electoral college maintains the value of each state, and by virtue, their values.

Don’t get me wrong, the electoral college is broken. But a straight popular vote isn’t the solution. Maybe we should adopt Nebraska and Maine’s proportional system [2]. I don’t know if that’s the best solution.

Anyways, the electoral college is written into our constitution. Until an amendment is written and ratified, any ideas are that, just ideas.

As for Trump’s campaign, from a pure historical and political science perspective, it was quite intriguing. Trump won because he built a multi-ethnic, broad coalition with an unified message [3]. Somehow.

The Latinos came out to vote. And many of them voted for Trump [4]. Women, as expected, voted less often for Trump, but not as much as expected (only 2%). And Trump did as well or gained with blacks and young people [5].

But obviously, that’s not why Trump won. He won by saying a clear message and continuing to attack the establishment.

I’m not saying I agree with him. But he does make several good points.

I heard anecdotal evidence on the radio that some voters in PA voted Trump simply because Obamacare rates increased. Trump has never stopped attacking Obamacare. He represents change for many people dissatisfied with the establishment.

Any future grass-roots populist movement needs to watch what Trump did. He is rewriting textbooks. Trump, from the beginning, ran his campaign like a product. He found short memorable nicknames (”Little Marco”, “Lying Ted”, “Crooked Hillary”) and slogans (”Make America Great Again”) that people on both sides were talking about. Anyone who read the tea leaves shouldn’t have been surprised. Trump is good at what he does.

Washington missed it. The media missed it. The pollsters missed it. Trump won because the working-class American (mostly white males, but also black, Hispanic, Asian, and female) was fed up with the way the system was.

Clinton was not in touch with her base. Trump was. That is why he won.

Crazy prediction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LibRNYJmZ-I

More links:

1. http://washingtonmonthly.com/2015/06/15/the-popular-vote-is-a-bad-idea/

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/curtis-gans/national-popular-vote_b_1189390.html

3. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-election-day/trump-did-better-blacks-hispanics-romney-12-exit-polls-n681386

4. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/09/why-the-latino-vote-didn-t-save-america.html

5. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/09/hillary-clinton-failed-to-win-over-black-hispanic-and-female-vot/

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"But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." -Isaiah 40:31 We made it to the top of Angel's Landing. What a heavenly view. Good hike #aacf2016 (at Angel's Landing Peak - Zion National Park)

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First apartment dinner #apt109 #cooking #apartmentlife

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Nice rustic view #roadtrip #latergram

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50 Shades of Grace

Warning: the following contains information about specific sins I struggle with. Your view of me may or may not change after reading this. Originally, I was gonna title this black and white to emphasize the black and white nature of dealing with sin. But that ignores a major part of the Christian walk. The movie 50 Shades of Gray come out in theaters today. I know very little of the story, but what I have heard and read is that this is not a movie to be watched. From the Christian arena, there is an emphasis of the deviance of sexual practice that is depicted in the movie. From a secular arena, their is an emphasis on the male chauvinistic and misogynistic view apparent in the movie. It is safe to say I will never watch or recommend watching this movie to anyone. Many of the Christian articles on this movie emphasized the dangers of sexual sin. Personally, I can attest to how harmful something that seems this innocuous actually is. They give different numbers on how many men struggle with pornography, but whatever number it is, it affects much more than that. Pornography, and sin in general, has the capacity to change your behavior, destroy relationships, and change your view of the world. Sin is something that needs to be actively rooted out because of its harmful effects. It is for these very reasons that I fully understand and support the general condemnation for 50 shades. At the same time, there is something that is often ignored. It is often difficult to balance killing sin and grace, but both are crucial parts of the Christian walk. Many of the comments on the different articles mentioned how judgmental and unnecessarily critical they are. To these people, I would like to say that sometimes it seems as if we Christians are judging others, but this is not our intent. We continue to preach the dangers of sexual sin because we have seen its effects and we want to protect people in whatever way we can. Nevertheless, I cannot emphasize more the importance of grace. In high school, I used to beat myself up because I kept struggling with pornography and as much as I tried to stop, I was not successful. And sin escalates, more quickly than you expect. At first, it begins with lust, but the things you look at might not be inherently sinful. Some females in video games look like they might need more warmth in the winter, but that's not really sinful. There are men who can still avoid lust in these situations. Then gray turns more toward black. Then it proceeds to "softer" pornography, then eventually you find things that you never imagined you would ever look at. And you can no longer argue it away; this is definitely sin. For me, I started being wracked with guilt. I condemned myself because of this issue and I started to withdraw from people a little. I felt like I had something to hide and if they knew then they wouldn't want to be with me anymore. I was very sneaky and deceptive with my family and learned all sorts of ways to hide what I was doing. Even worse than the effect of sin was the self condemnation because of it. There were even times i questioned my salvation. But what I forgot was the gospel. Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Galatians 5:1 says, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Now, realizing that I do not have to let myself fall into this trap of sinning and feeling condemned, I can fight sin knowing that God will preserve and protect me and continue to sanctify and change my desires. And although I may stumble, Jesus has already died for my sins. I need not punish myself more. For those who have not struggled with sexual sin, avoid it completely. As Romans 6:1-2 says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Sin pains God and as his children, we should not continue to willfully hurt such a loving Father. Do not even begin to corupt your mind with such things as watching 50 shades. But if we do sin, he is gracious and will forgive us of our sin. There is nothing, not even our sin, that can separate the Christian from the love of God. Believer, if you struggle with pornography or any other sin, there is no need to "clean up" before coming to God. He wants you as you are, honestly trying to change and rebuild your relationship with Him. On this Valentine's Day, it is good to appreciate your significant other, but even more so appreciate the God that is the source of love. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

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I'll be home for Christmas, by the grace of God

This is a story about a college student, a family, and a great God. It is a story about the power of prayer, the graciousness of God, and the sovereignty of God. And the best part is everything is real. And by the way, it’s also about me.

The past 3 weeks have not only been some of the most challenging and crazy, but also the most grace-filled weeks of my life.

For many of you who don’t know, my grandma was hospitalized on December 4. She was feeling dizzy and at the time, they didn’t know what had caused her to feel like that. There she went into cardiac arrest.

For me, it was Thursday of 9th week of one of the most difficult quarters I’ve had in college. First, I was adjusting to changing majors from bioengineering to chemical engineering. I needed to find out what internships to apply for, who to know, what classes to take, and how to graduate. Next, I was taking 3 upper division courses simultaneously, when I had previously struggled through 2 quarters of only one each quarter. One of the classes I took, I was sure I was going to fail. Lastly, there was the increased responsibility of being an upperclassman and having others look up to you for advice and leadership. Alone, each would have only been a small, albeit significant, burden, but together, it was a lot to overcome.

Then some amazing acts of grace happened. For my grandma, there were two coincidences that happened. First, she happened to be in the hospital when she coded blue. Had she been admitted a day earlier, the hospital may have sent her back and she might have been home, possibly even alone. Second, a nurse was in the room trying to fix an IV tube that wasn’t working. He was able to begin CPR right away. Even so, it looked as if she wouldn’t make it.

It was very sudden and it looked as if she would leave without even a goodbye. I had thought back to Thanksgiving, where she looked healthy enough that it was a foregone conclusion that she would be home for Christmas. One amazing thing that happened was that many church people rallied to pray. Many visited her hospital room to pray and leave quietly. My aunt spoke with the hospital workers, and they said this was quite unusual, even though this was Orange County, where there are churches at every block. Even so, when people first heard that she woke up, they were very shocked because they didn’t think it was possible.

Meanwhile, I was struggling through my classes and looking forward to the day that I would finally be able to go home for break. My finals started the Wednesday of 10th week, and it was for the class I thought I would fail. The next two were soon after, on the following Monday and Tuesday. God had something to show me still.

In the class I thought I would fail, he helped me focus and study, and I got an exam score that was exactly average (which doesn’t sound so good, until you realize how poorly I was doing in that class—the score was easily higher than both my midterms scores combined and almost 5x larger than one of my exam scores). I now had hope I would pass this class. And then shortly after, I was humbled again. I had a final project to do and no matter how much I tried, the code I ran didn’t work. After my last final on the Tuesday, I took a short break, then spent hours trying to finish the project, only stopping to talk to people and get food. On Thursday night, I had almost given up and resigned myself to failing the class. Then I was reminded again on Hebrews 4:14-16, a verse a had encouraged someone else with not too long before.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Remembering that Christ was able to sympathize with me (even though I’m sure finals were different then; I mean there’s no way Jesus failed his Hebrew final) helped give me hope enough to try to finish the project. I told myself, “Just do what you can. Don’t let what you can’t do affect what you can do.” Even so, I wanted finish more so I could say I did my best, not because I thought I would pass the class.

Then this Monday, I checked my grade, and it was a B. There was nothing I could say, there was nothing that I had done that deserved it. For whatever reason, professors and TAs saw enough in my homework and exams and projects to give me a ‘B’.

As for the timing of my grandma’s hospitalization, for the first time in many years, God brought together our extended family together. All of my mom’s siblings came from out of state and country to visit and we were able to have Christmas as a family. And some of my cousins came from out of state. Through this we were able to hear how all of the families were learning more about how God was working in their lives. Even the timing for something like the insurance was grace. Starting in January, the insurance changed and would not cover a similar hospital stay. God was clearly watching over our family in ways we didn’t see till later.

I hope you learned from this testimony that prayer actually works, that God is gracious to us, but more importantly, that he acts in ways greater than our own and greater than we can imagine. Even as I continue to watch my grandma continue this long road to recovery here at the nursing home, I know that God is with us and will be here to sustain us.

EDIT: as mentioned before, there were times my family did not think that my grandma would make it. As Christians, we believe that if she had passed away, that heaven is a better place, free from pain and with our God forever. We believe that God chose to keep her here for a reason. Perhaps, part of the reason may be so that you could hear this testimony and be encouraged.

EDIT 2: I realized I never explained the title. When I was struggling through my finals, I was able to persevere because like Christ (Hebrews 12:1-2), I looked to the end, to the prize, which for me was going home. At the same time, my grandma is spending Christmas away from home. But both of us are home for Christmas because we are with our loved ones.

[awungsteaksauce]

Listen carefully for the female voice.

I just realized it's Kari Jobe o.O

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Conspiracy theory of the day

Steve Nash and Mike D'Antoni planned to take down the Lakers organization from the inside by joining the team and crippling it with bloated contracts and poor coaching because they are Suns for lyfe...

jk. But I've been seeing way too many "Lakers fans" on the Internet ripping Steve Nash and saying that he intentionally tried to screw the Lakers. Not fair to blame him for it. It's more on management and ownership.

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Return to Tumblr

It's been a while since I've used Tumblr, and realistically I probably won't read other people's posts. So yeah, there's no reason you should read mine either.

But yeah, I'll probably try to blog/post about what I'm doing.

Also, I forgot why I made two different pages on Tumblr because they seem to be melding into one.

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Inner City Missions Trip Thoughts

It's been a while since then, but I've been thinking about the missions trip often this week. Maybe it's especially since I have to share this weekend. Anyways, this trip was really helpful in changing my views on a few things.

The first and maybe most important is it changed my view on God. Well, more like it solidified ideas of God that I had heard before but never saw in action. I've heard a lot about God's grace, His love, His sovereignty, and all these other attributes, but that week I saw them come to life. I could see His sovereignty and grace evident by Him giving us good conversations after hours of difficulty. I could see His wisdom and sovereignty when He would break us down when we had good conversation after good conversation, not letting us get proud. When we felt as if we were in control, something would come up to show that we were not in control. When we felt tired and frustrated, something encouraging would come up to show us that we were not alone.

Next, my view of the world, and specifically the homeless, changed. Previously, I thought that with homeless people, there was some reason why they were that way: either they were poor at managing money, had character issues, drug issues, unmotivated, had mental issues, or something similar. However, talking to them, I realized that they were not too different than we were. Many were well-educated college graduates who had just fallen on hard times. It was amazing how encouraging they were to me. Many of them were Christian as well, and they gave a lot of advice, such as "Keep your head up" or "Don't worry about rejection". Even for those who had mental issues, I realized that much of the time, they only wanted someone to listen to them and not put them into some sort of box.

And I saw myself change on this missions trip. I saw other people living out the call to evangelize to the world. I saw people who were living on much less than me, yet still giving glory to God. And I saw a way to love others, some who couldn't repay me with anything. I learned that sometimes the most loving thing is to be available to let them talk. Most people just ignore the homeless. I learned that people don't want to listen to others with an agenda. They just want to feel welcome.

The Gospel should never be watered-down. But we can relate to the person, listen to their experiences, try to understand how they feel. Then share the Gospel, in as loving a manner as possible. Be gracious and understanding, dealing as much with the physical shortcomings (food, illness) as possible they may have as well as the spiritual aspect of sharing the gospel.

So we didn't really change the world much. Obviously, God doesn't change. But what changed were our hearts and our views of the world. By cultivating a heart toward mission, a heart for the world, God's mission can be accomplished. It's not about one person, but everyone impacting the world in the way that God has called them. Each person has a different mission field, but when we all work together, we can affect the world.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

--Romans 10: 13-17

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Faithfulness not Fruitfulness

I am totally guilty of being impressed by the measurable quantities: numbers of people that come out to events, numbers who say they are seeking, numbers of friends with connections to fellowship members. However, I need to realize that we are blessed to have so many people who are seeking. This is the exception, not the rule. Most of the greatest missionaries wait years with no result and here we are, with barely enough patience to wait one year. What little faith we have!

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That is why I believe it is more important for you and me to read Leviticus than it is for us to read the best Christian book ever published, because Leviticus has a quality and produces an effect that no book in the Christian marketplace can compete with.

Radical, David Platt

[aacfinnercitymissions]

Day 2- The Plot Thickens, or Gospel in Action not Words

(Thoughts by Andrew Wung)

Today was kinda rough, at least for my group.

Read More

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Ehh, awkwardly reblogging myself. Oh well, you should read this anyway. More info on what we're doing for spring break missions.

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Inner City Missions

After one day of evangelizing, I'm pretty tired, kinda sore, and have a lot on my mind. I think I'll post more detailed updates later.

[tastefullyoffensive]

Stop the discrimination. [x]

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WINTER RETREATTT!!!

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Fall Quarter and Christmas/Winter Break Updates

Finally, this quarter is over. Considering I only took 14 units, I can’t believe how difficult that actually was. I made some stupid sacrifices and decisions, some that I wish I could take back, but hopefully, I will be able to look back and see how God has grown me. Just too many crazy things have happened.

I failed my first class. I got a D+ in organic chemistry, and now I have to retake it. I guess that’s a good thing because after the test, I had a very hard time actually remembering what I learned throughout the quarter. The other grades haven’t come back yet, but I’m afraid that I didn’t do too much better in the other ones either.

I remember I thought that if I should spent more time by myself and less time with other people. I thought I could study better without people to distract me, which was true, to an extent. The problem was that I didn't need others to distract me: I was already a master at distracting myself.

And also, not being with other people hurt me more than helped me. I realized I don't function very well when I spend the majority of my days holed up away from other people. As hard as it is sometimes and as uncomfortable as it may be, I need to talk to other people at more than a superficial level. Hearing other people talk about their problems takes my mind off of my own problems and helps me focus on the One who loves me in spite of everything I do.

The thing is I need people. Not just to hang out, but I need people to fellowship with, to share what they've been learning, so I can share what I've been learning, for accountability, and just spending time with the body of Christ. As an introvert, I naturally don't like spending time with people, but I realize it is an important part of the Christian faith and well, my life would have no purpose in isolation.

Oh well, what’s done is done. Worrying about the past doesn’t change it. I can only focus on what I can change. Now, it’s break and I had already made a list of things I wanted to do during break. As a result of failing chemistry, some of that may change, but hopefully I can finish most of it.

I already watched The Hobbit, so the rest of the list is:

Watch Frozen- I heard a lot of good things about this movie. Hopefully, it can match up to the hype. Besides, I want to build a snowman, too. :)

Read Worship Matters- I bought this book for myself toward the end of the quarter. I'll be playing worship at winter retreat for my church and I'm hoping it will help me get a proper heart and mindset toward worship.

Practice for winter retreat worship- This one is self explanatory, I think.

Study chemistry- I sadly had to add this one. Especially, since now I have a quarter's worth of lecture notes and all the materials needed for this class, I don't want to fail again.

Finish the Pauline epistles- I've been reading a lot and learning a lot from Paul, but it's been at a really slow pace. I'm setting a goal for finishing that, so that hopefully I can finish the New Testament at some point.

Start on that stack of books- Since my birthday, I've had a bunch of books that I wanted to read, but I haven't really got to any of them. Hopefully, I can start reading some of them. The books I have are: Radical by David Platt, I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever, and of course, the aforementioned Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin. I'll probably want to add some fiction novels to the list, but those are the books I have so far.

Blog a bit- It'll probably be a lot on what I've been reading, either verses or excerpts from books.

There's so much here that I don't think it's possible that I finish all of it. But hey, a plan is better than no plan at all.