Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
the other day, a foreign friend asked me to share my testimony via youtube for his christian online magazine, onfire. i was all of delighted, humbled and nervous about fulfilling his request. unable to relate to contemporary christians, i have — for so long — felt disconnected from the christian community. the youth group i once belonged to had disbanded many years ago as our small church drama caused our families to scatter to new churches, and i have since been unable to find a group of christian friends i can emotionally connect to. consequently, seeking a new church on my own while being inherently shy hasn’t helped much. so without any accountability, i’ve lived my life teetering in between a Christ-centered and self-centered life.
i am human, flawed in every way imaginable, but in Christ i have a reason to strive for perfection — to be more like Him. i believe in the one true God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost whom He left to dwell within us. i believe in christian apologetics, defending the faith through logical reasoning. not everyone will understand christianese or respond to aggressive “fire and brimstone” evangelism, but everyone understands logic, and logic can open the door to a real relationship with Christ.
a few years ago, i had slowly drifted from an every-sunday-church-goer to an every-once-in-a-while-church-goer. i was living on my own, and without the daily pressures of my overbearing, baptist mother, i became lax with my spiritual life. with an insufferable night work schedule at a low-paying job, i lacked a social life and became lonely and depressed in my tiny los angeles apartment. in 2009 i made a few new years resolutions. out of all the wishy-washy resolutions i had ever made in my 20-some-odd years of living, i was committed to taking these seriously.
- go to church every sunday
- tithe
- run
and i did. and when i did, inexplicable things started happening in my life. every single sermon spoke to me, not because i was searching to be spoken to but because the Lord knew i would finally listen. with as little money as i made, i committed to giving the small sum He asks for, and suddenly opportunity for overtime and a raise came flooding my way. i ran, literally, 5 times a week, but as i started to notice the evidence of God’s grace in my life, i realized where i was running to. the more i continued to live for Him, the more my eyes were opened to the blessings that had always been there. i wanted to change my life, run to Christ and never stop. this world, however, is filled with distraction. the christian life is not without struggle; we draw near and fall away until God breaks us again. i am human, flawed in every way imaginable. but despite my shortcomings, God continues to make Himself shown regardless of how well i pay attention.
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
calling someone your ‘best friend’ is like saying ‘i love you’ for the first time. you don’t want to say it unless you’re certain the other person feels the same way. when you call someone your ‘best friend’ you’re saying they mean the most to you out of all your other friends. revealing this can make you a bit vulnerable, which can potentially lead to jealousy if others claim your best friend as their own (eg. bridesmaids).
mark and i have known each other since he befriended my brother, lance, at caroline tran’s birthday party in 3rd grade. soon enough, he was coming over to play sega genisis, and when lance became too cool to play with little kids, we started to hanging out on our own. many years of pogs, comic books, park swings, “clueless” quotes, naps, joy rides, fights and late night car talks followed. we became permanent fixtures in each other’s lives, and i’m pretty sure i’m still the only person outside of his family who calls him by his middle name.
i’m content with saying that jeff mark munar is my best friend even though i know he holds that status in other people’s lives. i mean, come on. who wouldn’t call him their best friend? his magnetic personality and boyish, yet salacious, charm harbor nothing less than genuine sincerity. it’s easy to spend hours talking to him because intimate conversation is so natural with him, and before you know it you are telling him the most visceral details of your life. his zest for life and charisma are captivating; his work ethic and determination are admirable; he’ll tell you how it is and call you on your shit. and he’s one of the most devoted friends you will ever have. he lives in san francisco now, pursing his career as an art director for a top advertising company, but hanging out after long gaps of time remains the same. i tell him i love him every time we talk, but that still doesn’t quite express how dear he is to me.
highly illogical 