TJ Gong

One of the commercial slogans I’ve found most disturbing and devastating is that the more you buy, the more you save. The other day I walked into a Blockbuster store and rented two movies for class instruction. Before I checked out the movies, the cashier asked me to rent one more DVD that’ll be $150…

Once in a while my family will skip some delicacies in some restaurants or hearty meals at home and instead we’ll take out food from convenience stores where as the name indicates they offer ready-to-eat food in a quick and simple way. My younger daughter loves rice rolls in the convenience store particularly when during…

One day my daughters placed their school awards in sports, reading, academic achievements, and the like on display above the bookshelf where they can be noticed plainly as one walks through the living room. As I was wondering why those certificates came out of drawers, it occurred to me that we had a special gathering late…

Granny Chang, who is invalid, lying in bed all the time in her eighties, could barely speak and suffers some of her memory loss. Each time visitors come to see her, her daughters would explain to her who is who and Gramma would nod her head expressing her welcome or just look at her guests doubtingly without…

Master Sheng Yen, one of the greatest religious leaders in Taiwan, died of kidney failures days ago. His final words were “‘jimei wei lu’ dying out is joy” and ‘”ben lai meiyo wo, shen si jei ke pao’I no longer exist at the outset; life or death can be discarded. Undoubtedly, his philosophical way of…

This morning I turned on my computer listeningto the U.S. President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech on CNN.com. What struck me most in his speech was about the word “greatness” he marked, which “is never a given, but must be earned.” He said to his Americans to “set aside childish things”, to have hope and to…

The Arizona Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football Conference championship this morning to advance to the Super Bowl.  I am not a big fan of the Cardinals, yet they used to play the ball at ASU where I studied in the 1990s. I still have a strong attachment to the team. The…

“You are not aware of what kind of Christian you are until you are tested” is a reminder that we Christian should not be too judgmental as our brothers and sisters are in deep trouble or tribulation and you’re trying to comfort them by saying something like “having faith in God” or “rejoicing in the Lord.”…

Yesterday I was told from my colleague that one of the students under her mentorship had dropped out of college in preparation for studying in seminary to dedicate her life and time to the Lord completely.This girl was diligent and committed to her studies as she was taking a course with me last semester. On…

Gideon called his family and himself “the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh and the least in his entire family” as the angel of God greeted him, “a mighty hero, the Lord is with you.” Gideon didn’t believe what the angel said to him and started complaining about the horrible condition he and God’s…