Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.



Lord, let that ring truer now than ever before.

Majesty

Your grace has found me just as I am.
Empty handed, but alive in Your hands.

Sin Is Not A Mistake

“Jesus didn’t die for our imperfections. He didn’t die for our mistakes. God brushes off our mistakes and imperfections just like we do, even more easily, in fact.

Sin is not a mistake. Our sin is our willing unlawfulness,our purposeful breaking of God’s law. In attitude and in deed, we rebel against God, and we have for that reason forfeited our right to live. We deserve to die for our sins. That’s what the death of Jesus is for. For our deliberate unlawfulness.”

- David Hansen

I ask you to put on Christianity like a pair of spectacles and look at the world with it. See what power it has to explain what we know and see.

— Timothy Keller. In “The Reason for God”

I feel like my fear of God has vanished.

What a terrible feeling.

What promise has gone unfulfilled in your life so far? Marriage? Pregnancy? Healing? A particular promotion or position? Salvation for a loved one? Will you, like Habakkuk, quietly and humbly wait for God's fulfillment on His promise? If Habakkuk can wait quietly for divine action on the grand scale he had in view, then surely you and I can calmly yield to God's timeline in our relatively little lives. Please don't misunderstand this. Waiting is not resignation; waiting is an active trust in God to provide fulfillment in His perfect timing, according to His ultimate purpose of glorifying His Son. Yes, the righteous person shall live by faith (2:4)--and that faith requires waiting.

Humility, by C.J. Mahaney

I am completely and utterly disappointed in myself. Boy, do I need grace.

"Our use of the tongue is the hinge on which the door in our souls swings open in order to reveal our spirit. In effect, our words are like so many media people rushing to file their reports on the condition of our soul." - Sinclair Ferguson

I realized that I won't see a lot of my friends and classmates for several years, if not ever again. Awkward silences are easy, goodbyes are difficult.

Today, I was reminded just how depraved people are and just how much we need grace.

faithfulness like none other

"you run away, He runs after you.

you don't love Him, He loves you anyway

you don't live for Him, He dies for you"

Finishing finals early is bittersweet. I'm basically a pariah now because nobody wants to hangout with me.

reflections, part 2

Yes, yes, yall and you don't stop...

Sorry, every so often my brain switches to a new genre of music. I tend to listen to seven specific genres: classical, jazz, alternative rock, hip-hop, christian, and mo-town/funk, and right now my brain has switched to hip-hop. It seems to always coincide with the last couple weeks of a quarter.

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege to attend the senior banquet held by my church, the Vine. And when my time came to share my thank you's, I froze for a little bit but this time I remembered what I wanted to say, thankfully.

A couple years ago, I tried to transfer to some snooty conservatory of the east coast, and was consequently rejected. I remember feeling so dejected, as if the world was simply telling me that my efforts and I weren't good enough, after all, this conservatory was cream of the crop. This is where real professionals were trained, but I wasn't allowed into the figurative VIP club of my craft. Dejected, I wondered whether I could be a part of that world. And no, that is not intended to be a Little Mermaid reference, but I guess it became one anyway.

Two years later, I stood in front of my church congregation, realizing that God had kept me in Los Angeles for those two years to continue nurturing my heart in ways I could have never imagined. He pruned me, placed me in the fire, and continued to nurture me in a way that wouldn't have happened had I left. One of the themes and yearly goals we had at The Vine a couple years ago was implementing a kingdom perspective. That is, a perspective that goes beyond the temporary whims of this world, and lasts for eternity. And it was through that I realized that while the world had rejected my efforts, God didn't reject me. Because in the end, our brokenness is made new through His infinite grace, and that means that I do have worth in the eternal kingdom, not the temporary world.

And without this realization, I wouldn't have realized that all this time, God's been faithful to me, patiently teaching me that His plan for me is much greater than the one I had for myself.

danny: so i noticed that today in my picture with you

danny: i looked a little chubby

d0l1yy: i look funky

danny: so i decided to start exercising again

danny: ran 2 miles

d0l1yy: HAhaha wow

d0l1yy: tha'ts good

danny: and

danny: i

danny: want

danny: to

danny: die

d0l1yy: i ate a red velvet cheesecake cupcake

d0l1yy: -_-

reflections

Last night was CCM-LA's senior banquet. When it was time for me to say something, I was caught with "deer in the headlights" syndrome, and I didn't get to properly say what I had on my mind.

When I look back on my four years of college, in CCM, the biggest difference I see within myself since my freshman year, is that I've come to understand just how depraved I am as a human being, and just how much grace I need to displace the sin in my life.

But how lucky am I, that through Christ and His abounding grace, sin has no sting, and death has no victory :) 1 Cor 15:55-57

3:55:03 AM Rei Halim: i'm signing up for ucla classes tomorrow

3:55:20 AM danny: nice

3:55:24 AM danny: need a sublet?

3:55:26 AM Rei Halim: yeah

3:55:27 AM Rei Halim: lol

3:55:29 AM danny: oh man

3:55:30 AM danny: we're dead

3:55:32 AM danny: hahahaha

3:55:33 AM Rei Halim: yeah f***

Sometimes I wish the next phase of my life would happen already. Then, I wish that it wouldn't.

a story of grace

"And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

2 Samuel 18:33

Father, I will be still, and know that You are God.

Psalm 46:10

11:12:39 PM Shaobo Liu: the journey is what makes the good times sweet

11:12:50 PM Shaobo Liu: too much easy living and you get spoiled :)

11:13:07 PM Shaobo Liu: makes you appreciate it when you do end up accomplishing

11:13:12 PM Shaobo Liu: and God is there with you through it all

11:13:37 PM danny: haha yeah fsho

11:13:48 PM Shaobo Liu: i learned this from Pursuit of Happyness

11:13:52 PM Shaobo Liu: not the Bible

11:13:57 PM Shaobo Liu: although i'm sure it's in there somewhere also

11:13:58 PM Shaobo Liu: HAHA

Matthew 6:34

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

I really wish I could live by these words right now.

sibling similarities

I've always looked up two my two sisters in various ways. I've always been able to call them for advice about anything, and have always admired them for their achievements. Sometimes I even try to live vicariously through them, bragging about their accomplishments as if it entitled me to some sort of special treatment, and it's mostly because I'm just so proud to have them as family. Most of my friends rarely bring up any mention of their siblings in everyday conversation but with me it's a good bet that one of the elder Sheu's will come up. My own admiration for them has helped shaped who I am, but in a peculiar way that doesn't speak so well about myself. Anytime they begin getting interested in something, there's a tendency that I will too. Things that they enjoy doing, I end up enjoy doing as well.

• Despite the wishes of my dad, they both pursued a career in music. Despite the demands of my dad, I'm currently pursuing a career in music.
• They love food, I love food (by love food, meaning, going to extreme lengths for it. Example, they've gone all the way to Vancover just for the dim sum. I've gone all the way to Berkeley for pizza, and all the way to San Diego for carne asada fries.)
• They like cooking, I like attempting to cook.
• They've both lived in New York while they've attended school. Now I want to go to New York for graduate school.
• La Verne has studied abroad for a year in Switzerland, and is mildly fluent in French. I'm considering applying to the Geneva Conservatory which, is in the French speaking part of Switzerland, for graduate school as well.
• They love traveling. Now I have an itch to go immerse myself in new cultures, my first experience of that being last year when I did go to France for a month, and I loved it.
• But on the other hand, I came to Los Angeles first, and then Connie followed me. Ha!

Is it because I'm unoriginal? Am I just afraid of trying new things for myself, rather waiting for people I trust to try it first and to see how they turn out afterward? Maybe I need to find an original hobby on my own or something.

What a dream come true. I never thought I'd ever get that many people to cheer for me like that, what a surreal experience. Thank you to all who came out to my senior recital, it really meant the world to me. Not to say that that's the reason why I chose to become a professional musician, but it sure is icing on the cake.

1 Corinthians 15:55

"O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?"

He has risen!

Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

Happy Good Friday. Remember.

Oh the questions

Someone pointed out to me that my blog has been rather neglected for the past three months, and asked me why. As I pondered that question myself, I began to wonder whether if it's because I'm afraid of the concept of blogging. The very nature of blogging assumes that the poster's audience is a conglomerate of anonymous readers. Faceless strangers who have no idea who you are, and yet know as many details about your life as you choose to convey. The blogosphere, or Web 2.0 as it is also known, is nothing more than strangers who leech off the lives of others for entertainment. Am I afraid of committing myself to this species of human, of entrusting them with details about my life despite the likely possibility that I'll never meet them face to face? Am I afraid of confessing the inner details of my mind to an anonymous audience instead of confiding in the loved ones within my life?

"Nah I think you're just lazy."

That's a likely possibility too.