To the Church of Some-Big-Tech Company

When I would visit Christian PhD, grad, and med students around the Bay Area, I’d always wonder what God’s message to that place would be– to the church of Stanford, Berkeley, Santa Cruz… etc. Outside of the University, I’ve recently … Continue reading To the Church of Some-Big-Tech Company

The Heart of Worship, No Brains Allowed!

I was nervous, but I didn’t know why. Two of my dear friends were leading worship for the IV Grad Winter Retreat. The one where PhD students from the bay area get together once a year around Valentine’s Day.  So, what does it feel like to worship God with people getting PhD’s? We’ll often it feels like worshipping with people who are passionate about music, sometimes it feels like worshipping with people who just want to sound good for the things that need to happen when Christians gather, and rarely has it ever felt like worshipping with people, passionately in love with God.

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"He’s Singing in Korean," Lost in Translation, but not in Music

It was a Sunday, just like any other. God was convicting me of not getting to service on time. I come in right as they’re about to sing: “Lord, You Are Welcome in this Place.” Tiffany gestures for me to join in for the next song, and as I was praising, I notice two Asian guys in the congregation. The only Asians at this church are typically me and D. Le, so yea, these guys stood out a little. Later, when asked to introduce themselves, they didn’t speak much English. All I got was that they were from Korea.

Turns out they are on tour with their choir from this musically prolific church in Seoul: World Blessing Korea. They were up north from the others in LA to visit friends. It was obvious they were tourists because they took so many photos/video.

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Top Aspiring Experts and Professionals Gather at Stanford to Pray

On October 16th, over 30 students (and some who’d already received their degrees) from Stanford, Berkeley, UC San Francisco, and UC Santa Cruz gathered at Stanford’s Old Union building for a “jam session.” These are people studying at the best research and trade schools in the world, getting medical, dental, PhD, and masters degrees. Types of research and professions was anywhere from medicine, computer science, philosophy, to chemical engineering. I’m certain that I shared an evening with the most well educated, if not some of the most talented and intelligent people in the world.

If you want to know a bit of the history, here’s a general introduction. Logistically, this started coming together at the InterVarsity Graduate Student Winter Retreat where I met Ethan and heard about his Multi-Faith Forum at Stanford. I went to that, and there, the thought occurs to me that UC San Francisco wasn’t at the last two retreats (which consisted of grad students fom Stanford, Berkeley, and UCSC). I asked the Grad Fellowship leader at Stanford why UCSF has never been, and the rest of story can be found here:

My last post was about chillin’ with my Stanford friends, and while we were there, I realized that we have no contact with those at UCSF. I asked the Stanford InterVarsity grad director, Pete, why UCSF never comes to our grad retreat (over the winter). He says that they’re invited every year, but never come. Invitations don’t make things happen though, relationships do, and that’s where this story begins.

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