Konnect Magazine - Asian American news, features, opinions, and other miscellaneous ramblings
Asian American news, features, opinions, and other miscellaneous ramblings
Here’s an inside look into how the New York Knicks’ Jeremy Lin deals with temptation as a member of this team. As you can imagine, temptation lurks everywhere – for every man and woman. But think about what NBA players experience, playing at home and when traveling from city to city.
Jeremy Lin shares some insight into some of his deep rooted values and the things he witnesses during his traveling days. It’s also encouraging to read about the influence of his parents and his need for the Lord.
(By Garam Yun) As a recent undergraduate, I’ve often felt a yearning to belong in a close-knit community. I miss the familial manner in which I went about daily life back at campus, often meeting up with friends for a quick bite in between classes and reconvening with my roommates once a week to share our weekly highlights. Since moving back home and entering what most people title post-college life, aka ”the real world,” I’ve gravitated toward my Christian roots and searched to quench my desire for companionship within a body of believers at Calvary Vision Church (CVC) in Blue Bell, PA.
Like most other life lessons, I’ve discovered the value of authentic charity without planning for it. This real commitment to others— I’ve learned from the dedicated leadership of my pastors and fellow church and community members. While I had my own intentions of attending my church to engage in meaningful friendship, I received another gift of meeting inspirational individuals equipped with a real sense of caring for the needs of others.
(By Moses Yoon)
Dear Son,
You make me proud. I’m the proudest dad there is. You crack me up, and we laugh like crazy. We’ve been wrestling in something called a moon-bounce recently – it’s this bouncy thing where kids go inside and bounce around. We play this game called “King of the Hill” where the stronger one throws the other outside of the moon-bounce – the object of the game is to be the last one inside the moon-bounce. We like to roar at each other like Symba from the Lion King movie. We are like little children (you and me). It’s utter bliss.
I’m not sure why I wrote the above, but I guess I just want to remember some of the great times we had this past week. I hope that I never forget these precious moments, but I’m bound to forget because I have a very bad memory. Ask your mother.
Anyway, somebody on Facebook shared a YouTube video of a pastor named Francis Chan giving a message. When you get a chance, my son, take a look at this 4 minute video below. I know you can’t really read right now at your age, but one day, you will. I hope that you will soon bump into this article, and I most certainly hope that you take a look at this video and what it’s trying to convey. [Read more...]
(By Moses Yoon) I love church.
There is nothing better than people coming together to worship Christ, fellowship with others, and reflect upon one’s inner self. It is some deep, profound stuff I’m talking about here.
I also love the iPhone.
It is probably the most important digital gadget that I need and depend on the most – a to-do list, calendar, email, texting capabilities, internet, and the bible app.
Recently, I’ve been noticing a very disruptive trend during the Sunday worship service. The pastor would ask the congregation to open the bible to a particular chapter and verse(s). So I do – I’d turn on my spify iPhone and click on my Bible app.
(Bible app is loading) Pastor begins to read the verses.
(Halfway through his reading, the bible app finally takes me to the book via the iPhone app.) I then click on the chapter. [Read more...]
(By Sohyun Boo) When I first was introduced to a larger Korean/Asian American population on my college campus, I had a hard time keeping everyone straight (I’m Korean American by the way). I grew up in a predominantly Caucasian community. My eyes were not accustomed to a sea of black hair, round faces, slit eyes, 5 ft. 8 in., sub 150 lbs. soaking wet populace. I would play basketball and found myself passing the ball to the wrong teammates because I couldn’t keep everyone straight. So, I understand the generic stereotype that–we all look the same. Of course, eventually, I grew accustomed to the look and became much better at noticing the individuality within the look.
But what still remains the same are the names. David. John. Sam. Christine. Esther. Jenny. How many Korean friends of yours have the same name? I can see that a lot of these names are from Judeo-Christian tradition since many Korean-Americans consider themselves Christian. However, when I find out that “David Kim” also has a traditional Korean name, my ass gets chapped. What was wrong with their Korean name? Is it because a parent felt that it would be too difficult to pronounce by non-Koreans? Who were they trying to protect? Why make up a completely new name because one’s own personal name is difficult to pronounce? Is it part of the “dumbing dow”n of our multicultural society? I believe that this is inadvertently second-classing our culture to a former White America. This is unusual for a typically nauseatingly proud Korean culture. [Read more...]
(By Pastor Young Kim)
Grace Covenant Church (GCC) was founded in September 1996 with the purpose of reaching the campuses of the Greater Philadelphia area for Christ. At the time, there were just eight of us, including my wife and my one year-old daughter, embarking on this journey. I had no idea how to plant a church. Yes, I certainly had read books on church planting, but the more I read, the more I found out how wrong I was going about it. For example, most church planting books will tell you that you need to start with a healthy core group of members and to start planning at least six months to a year in advance.
We also had almost no financial backing. Because we were planting an independent church, we did not have any denominational support. On top of all this, during that first year, the only place that would allow us to use their facility was a church in North Philadelphia. So here we were, a church trying to reach the campuses, located nowhere near any actual college campus. I felt the only way that this church was going to survive and succeed would be by the grace of God and the promise that He had called me to plant a church. This is why I named our church Grace Covenant. Even to this day, it is the grace and covenant of God that has allowed GCC to exist and flourish. [Read more...]
(By: Tim Haahs - Calvary Vision Church) When I was in my 20’s, I struggled with the conflict between the Christian gospel and Korean culture. At the time, I attended a Korean church where a group of members clashed on a number of issues, and this turmoil spread throughout the entire church. Infighting became prevalent, as these arguments replaced the message of love. [Read more...]
