Oh be careful little ears what you hear:

So I can't help but post another blog.

See back when I was in middle and early years of high school, I couldn't help tuning in to my favorite hip-hop and r&b stations....You'll find me in my room, doing homework, and listening to Eve, Eminem, Brian McKnight, Nelly, etc....My parents would repeatedly tell me to stop, and I eventually sort of did and moved on to "pop".  I knew hard rock & roll was horrible.  My spirit just couldn't settle well with all the clashes of sounds..but hip-hop, hip-hop,...hip hop was just catchy, and lively....and all that. I'd bypass the cuss words, and try to keep up with the beat... but eventually I began to analyze the words...(there's always more to it, not to mention those degrading women, right?). Once you start listening to the words, everything else starts falling apart...there's no way I could condone this when my standards were far above it. Even POP is questionable. For the most part, I have given it all up, except for a few artists that I listen to every now and then...even though sometimes it's hard to listen with a "blind" ear. Anyways, it's beyond obvious, I think, that devil is using music in general to destroy us, humans,  mentally, intellectually, and physically, not only as a people, but also as individuals. There's nothing no longer fun (ny) about it.That's why I find it a step to victory when I see that more and more people beginning to catch the drift...the reality drift...Check this out:.

Disclaimer: Although I don't agree with every blog posted by the following blogger, I came across this while doing a research and thought that this was a pretty interesting revelation.

http://thelatterdays.blogspot.com/search/label/beyonce



Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.- 1 Corinthians 10:31.

IF

I remember when I was young, my dad wanted me and my elder sister  to memorize this poem....To motivate us, he even told us he'll give us mula.....too bad, I wasn't interested =( but I came across it again: Love it.  I don't forget special moments/memories easily  =). I'm thankful for family...I am thankful for my [oh so wise] parents.

If ... by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

& this is what makes me mad.......

Okay, so I am on the phone with a person. Smart high school student...high GPA, right? Went to the school counselor to ask some advice about his/her :) future....and tell me why the school counselor advised him/her to GO to a community college (not even mentioning other options)?.....k, before I go further, I'd like to say that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with community college, at all. In fact, I wholly value the education and the choice of going there. HOWEVER, here is where my problem comes from:

1) The field in which that person wants to go into is not fully available in that community college...just like with any types of colleges (2-year, 4-year, university), if the college does not have a solid program, why spend money going there?

2) The reason she told him/her to go into that field was not because the COUNSELOR herself VALUES the community college education, but because [and she blatantly said this]
                  a) the classes are easy and it's convenient....but excuse me? Who says s(he) was looking to go to a college to take EASY classes, first of all (and mind you, she's making the feeble assumption that community college courses are all easy! wow.)?
                 b) what about all the other schools in that area that DO have a good program in the field?....and would you believe she told him/her that the school s(he) was considering was TOO ADVANCED for him/her.....!??!?!!?!?!? These assumptions and stereotypes offend me...

see, this is what makes me mad.......(lol now you know what makes me mad!!:))


Institutionalized-prejudice (my own term based on Carmichael's concepts) that is still present but are happening on the down-low.

Funny thing is, one of my sisters had a similar experience...Smart and producing the grades...yet when she went to her counselor, she was also told to consider going to a community school (didn't even provide other options) and even went on to encourage her minority friends to get a job after graduation (what happened to high expectations?? what? minority children can't succeed in college? are not capable of applying to "prestigious" schools that you are advising the other students to apply to?). When my sister told me that, I was THIS close to going to the school and having a talk with that counselor as well as the principal. NO joke. Too bad time would not permit.....bummer. :)

Anyways, LOW expectations and stereotyping are what are affecting our minority children today. Of course, there is definitely much more to this, but I think I can safely say from these anecdotes that school counselor positions are undermined and rarely investigated. I think it's extremely important that all school counselors be evaluated and assessed before being placed in a diverse environment. Lack of understanding and knowledge and pre-conceived beliefs are factors preventing some counselors from doing their job and doing it effectively.
That being said, schools should have more than one counselor and/or at least ONE to represent the minority groups in that school.

That is why I sincerely WISH that students would take serious responsibility of their own education and that parents would play greater roles in supporting and maintaining high expectations for their children and their successes. I  know that there are many students out there who are not that naive and can see beyond these words, but still the fact that it's happening under the DL frustrates me because I know that there are many others who are victims.

I strongly dislike it....................but I should add that I do acknowledge that not all counselors from the majority group are like that. My counselor was awesome!! I liked her...she was a very supportive, helpful and encouraging counselor!!...[besides, I don't think she would've gotten away with it even if she fell under the other category though, ha ha :)]

On a HAPPIER AND POSITIVE NOTE:  Mid-term week is over and I think  am sure I did well. YAY. God is awesome!!! :)

The Leading Man.

King David. I dedicated this past month to re-reading the books of Samuel (encouraged to do so after hearing a sermon on 1 Samuel 14 awhile back). For the longest, I've always held King Solomon and Joseph as my Top Leading Men of the Bible (aside from [King] Jesus of course :)); however, after re-reading Samuel again, Mr. David made his way up to possibly being my #1 Leading Man (though it may change since I'm back to re-reading Kings....where King Solomon enters the picture again! :)).

Anyways, King David's story is intriguing. Although David is famous for fighting the Giant (Goliath) and for his beautiful psalms, the truth and the reality is I feel as if his unbelievable faith in God throughout his entire life is not emphasized as much as it should, aside from him and Goliath. There's more to David. David, in my opinion appears to have had an 'arrogantly' beautiful and humble soul that deserves a long overdue spotlight. Sounds contradictory? Maybe, but I found arrogantly to be a suiting word for now. Read why. I'll try to make it short, though. Finally, it was obvious that the relationship David had with God was unique.

Check this out:

 1. Faith/Fear of God:

         a. When Little David heard the words of Goliath "defying Israel", instead of losing courage and being terrified like the rest of Israel (1 Samuel 17:11), David responded, "Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (Verse 26b). Be reminded that David was the youngest of them all.....In other words, David was saying "Are you serious? How can you allow a man like this, who is not even part of the chosen people of the living God, to talk to us like this!? You've GOT to be kidding me!" Solid Deepness #1. [Continue reading the chapter and the book, you'll find more Solid Deepness of his Faith]. [Message to us: If you believe that you serve a Mighty God, show through your words and actions]

2.  Personality

        a. Looking back at his story, I'd say that the reason I would describe his character as being beautiful, would be because of his genuine and respectful personality that resulted from his fear and faith in God. As you may know, it did not take too long for Saul to start envying David's status (Chapter 18 now). King Saul became furious at David because of his accomplishments (in modern day's word, we would call him a "hater" and righteously so). To make a long story short, King Saul spent the rest of his life pursuing David, seeking to kill him. Yet, watch this, when  David had the chance to take revenge and kill Saul,the Bible says "[after cutting a corner of Saul's robe] Afterwards, David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men: I swear before the Lord; I would NEVER do such a thing to my Lord, the Lord's anointed. [I will never] lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel 24: 4-6). David knew to respect the Lord's anointed (even though, the Lord regretted that He made Saul king over Israel, 1 Sam.5:34). He left King alone. After all, didn't God say "revenge is His?!"  [Message to us: Respect your parents, elders, teachers, people period.  Respect should be required from us, not given based on how we feel. It won't hurt you, I promise. In fact, it will do you MORE good than you think or even expect.]. Solid Deepness #2.

And surely God proved so. If you noticed, after reading the books of Samuel...All of David's enemies--even though he cared about all of them, respected them and didn't even want them to die--the Lord blessed Him by wiping out all his enemies. When God is for you, who can be against you?. I guess instead of a beautiful character some might consider David to be a coward (or weak) now that I think about it...maybe? not in my opinion. I believe all of these were a product of his faith and trust in God.

In addition, because of his humble and genuine character, King Saul's own son (Jonathan) loved David SO much that the Bible said that he loved David even more than he loved his own self. Isn't that powerful? As Christians, Paul advised us to (can't remember the verse) always do the right thing so that no one will find any unjust things to say about us. Solid Deepness #3.

3. "Arrogantly" Beautiful Soul and Faith

      a. Finally to conclude, towards the end of his story, we find David singing praises to the Lord. 2 Samuel 22 (read it first!!). Okay, so I was reading the chapter, I caught myself re-reading verses 22-25. Had a triple take. I couldn't believe it. I was thinking to myself, "How could you boldly say something like that, David? Weren't you the one who slept with someone's wife, then staged his murder so that he wouldn't find out that you impregnated his wife? and and weren't you---" Then I caught myself. ha. Unlike me, apparently, [Praise God I am  not! the Judge], once David sincerely repented, he believed in the power of forgiveness (aka the Power of the Cross). His sins were washed away, never to be found again. He came boldly before the throne of God to obtain mercy and grace. He knew he was a sinner, but he also knew of God's grace and mercy. Solid Deepness #4.

How far is the East from the West? From one scarred hand to the other.....[Casting Crowns]

What can we learn from David? A whoollllle lot. In three sentences: As children of God, our actions and words should testify  our love and faith in our Lord. If we follow  and believe His words, He will never fail us. Don't let your past sins overshadow the Power of the Cross.

Happy Friday!!!

How many kings would give up their sons?

If I ever doubted this verse for a minute, shame on me!...............Mark 10: 9. [Praises.]

Ok, I really dig the Prayer of Jabez and I have been praying like Jabez for real. This week is definitely going to be an interesting one. Why is it that when there's a break...I actually take the BREAK? it's a trap, and I fall for it everytime....*sigh*....Your prayers for me this week would be amazing.

I heard this song last week, and fell in love with the words :).  yeah yeah it's suppose to be a "christmas" song...but "christmas" should be everyday, right? right!

Don't focus on the video, just listen to the words.





On a totally different note:

So I have in my possession the "More George W. Bushisms" little book....[do not ask why!!!!! k you can if you want :-D]

So here's the quote for this WEEK! This will be my motivational quote. BELIEVE me.

Beyond Belief--- "I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe--I believe what I believe is right"-- Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001.

re: Tithing LOANS!?!?

The title of my previous was a bit misleading in the sense that it was a mesh of 3 thoughts/questions put together;1) thinking of whether or not one should tithe on loans 2) me wanting to give/ "invest" and 3) focusing on the gains of giving tithes and offerings....HOWEVER,

I do want to take the time to thank PC for sharing the following regarding my previous blog because I know this topic may be a topic that many have/have been/are possibly wondering too!:

Publish Post

Many a Christian - including Seventh-day Adventist Christians have pondered the question you mentioned about tithing on loans. I am one of them. Did you discuss that question with anyone who might be knowledgeable about the topic?

Since the Bible teaches that we are to give a tenth of our increase - and that increase seems to be referring to earned income - it doesn't seem technically, Biblically possible to tithe on a loan since it is not earned income. Of course you know that a loan in borrowed money that you have to pay back plus interest. We essentially would be returning a tithe twice plus interest. I say that because you have to pay back the amount borrowed plus interest out of money that you earn later. And you will return a tithe on the money that you earn later. If you give 10% of what you borrow to the church then you will be giving 20% on it when you earn the same amount and then pay off the loan plus interest. No matter what anyone says you can only tithe once since that is how God set it up - anything above 10% on earned income is an offering. It is a problem when people talk about giving a double tithe. It usually reeks of pride and boasting. There is no such thing. We are welcome to give as much as is reasonable as cheerful givers in the form of offerings.

Consider these thoughts from some random person's blog:

Homeowners do not give out of their mortgage (ie. give a proportion of what the bank lends). Car owners do not give a sum to "cover" the finance they take out on a car. And surely no one, when taking out a personal loan from a bank, would straightaway give a proportion to their church. There is nothing stopping those people doing those things. But they understand the Biblical principles enough to know that it would be an entirely upside-down way of doing things. Could they give in this way if they so desired? Of course! But the reality is that they won't. Surely the student loan question fits into this same category. 

The person who wrote that doesn't believe in tithing at all but the above examples are good ones.

You could choose to give money to the church/ God from your student loans but it would have to be considered an offering and you should know that you would essentially be giving it twice plus interest. From a stewardship perspective that might not be best.

Tithes on Loans?!?!??

So I have been thinking for a while now....(yeah I tend to think alot...more than I should?)...."tithes on grad school loans?!?!"

Hear me out....
If it weren't for God, I wouldn't have good credits for loans (and scholarships too!), correct?
If it weren't for God, I wouldn't have made it to grad school, am I right?
If it weren't for the God-given breath, brain, hands, feet, ears and all that good stuff, I wouldn't be here, there with me still?


Listing out just a tiny bit of His blessings, this is nothing. 


With that said, I am definitely considering tithing on my loans...well, more like, I am considering putting aside a month's rent for tithes and offerings....scratch that. I am not "considering", I am going to go for it.

What have I to lose compare to what I have to GAIN!?

Money? Well, I definitely almost threw $20 in the trash today, thinking that the envelope was empty. So I just found out that I am $20 richer than I thought :)... I mean, really? I'm already a broke student, how much worse could it get? challenges/denials are great. lol.... PLUS the money will actually be doing something good (helping someone out!!), right!?.


Check out my potential gains though!!:

• Good health? YES, I'll definitely take that! [You know HOW MUCH HEALTH CARE COSTS?] getting sick will definitely be worth more than a rent's check.
• Safety? FOR SURE, I'll take that too....e.g. car accident cost > a rent's check.
• Saving money? Yes, there are many ways money can be wasted. Have you ever found yourself trying to save money, right? and then all of a sudden, everything started going wrong and you ended up spending mad money!! I may have more than one too many examples. :-/ .... :)
  
• Peace? I love peace!!
• FAITH!? yes yes yes please.
• ....and this could go on and on and on and on and on.

Bottom line is: I am going to take that challenge. join me? yea, you should!!! :-D

So, in other news:

1. I brought my Jaci Velasquez concert ticket this week. Yeah! Night of  January 30th, 2010 here I come...............

2. WISE words from my awesome professor: "if you feel the need to discriminate against an individual or a certain group of people, it's because you're struggling with your own identity." AMEN

3. Procrastination is not cool.

4. Praise God for FALL BREAK.

5. Tomorrow, I am suppose to accompany a friend to the Korean church. lol.........can't wait.

6. Praise God for Productive Fridays: did laundry, cooked somethings (yea yeah......), currently working, but room/apartment/car are in the process of being cleaned (will finish it when I get off work!).

7. My computer's on a break. :( Will be back "in commission" next week.

8. Praise God for the SABBATH.

 QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."-Thomas Jefferson.

 ~Patience works miracles.