:: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 ::

We got our UWO Dentistry Shirts! I've been waiting oh so patiently for these sweats to come in. They're BEAUTIFUL! Above is Jesh and I. As you can see, we're delighted. I was afraid that I was going to be the most immature in my class... but thank God I was wrong. Thanks for Jesh :) He always brightens the day with his fobby comments and squirms of joy.


Well, Asian Posse went ahead and got them personalized.
Jesse - Jermukpong: This was a joke back from Fall Retreat. We needed to think of a food that began with our letter... like Rambutan Rob or Beef Brian... so I came up with Jermukpong Jesse. Ya know... Geoduck (pronounced Gooeyduck) which cooks in under 8 seconds when you have hotpot. Well, interestingly, it's not pronounced Jermukpong but actually Jerng Buk Pong. Oh well... things remain the same to me.

Jesh -Big Head : We all laugh at Jesh because he has a big head. Nuff Said.

Billy - Bolus Yu: One day in oral physiology we were studying the swallowing reflex. The definition of a bolus is a soft mass of partially broken up food due to mastication combined with saliva and mucous from the oral cavity, formed between the tongue and the soft/hard palate when chewing food. Billy looks like a bolus so we call him Bolus Yu.

Derek - Porage: One day, one of the crew asked Derek what he ate in the morning. This is how he still continues to spell Porridge.

Krista - Terminalis: Yet another term we learned in school! Funny thing is, I remember what a Crista Galli is... but I can't remember what a Crista Terminalis is...

Ellen - P-iggy : Oink Oink.


Biily and I in our new found quiet LAW library. Sad thing is... they're all finished and all the libraries close now at 4:30pm. Yeesh... what on earth are we dental and medical students going to do?

:: Jesse 1:04 AM

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Yay... it was Billy, Ada and my birthday yesterday! What seemed to be a simple, cozy meal for 7 blew up to a 30 person surprise party. What was peculiar was that the grand piano that was in the mall for the last 4 years decided to get up and walk out... I really wanted to have a time of worship together with all my beloved friends to give thanks for all the Lord has done for us, but too bad... it wasn't there. Oh wells. I'm 23. Billy's even older... he's 24. Yikes! When I was 12, I thought I would be married and have 2 kids by then (24 that is...)! Well the Lord has been good for this last year... the last summer seemed even closer than Christmas. I was reminded of how the Lord really blessed me last year in providing a job, challenging me to trust Him in whatever plans I would make and He proved me He was faithful in the end. This summer is up in the air again, but all arrows are pointing to Toronto already. That's if I can get through the next 3 weeks of exams and school. Yikes!!!


Front: Me, Cal and Canaan
Back: Kendrick, Billy and Caleb
(for more images, click above to access the gallery)

I had the honour and privilege in welcoming next year's potential dental students during the interviews at Western. Incredible, it certainly does feel just like yesterday when I was at those interviews, shaking the same legs, sweating the same tears, praying the same prayers... and well... God has brought me already one year into dentistry and it feels like bliss. :) Let's just see if I can say that next year. Yikes!

:: Jesse 2:57 PM

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Wow. I just finished my first exam. I've been studying like a dog for this one course, and now the terror is just about to begin. 6 more exams, 2 more practicals... yeesh... never thought it would end. Luckily, I've discovered a beautiful oasis to study, now that all the university libraries are in such disguisting conditions.


Welcome to my new home. I used to study at Weldon. Now I study at Central Library. This beautiful library allows you to eat and study at the same time... and it was just built last summer. Leather couches, fresh new tables, beautiful views and wonderfully clean windows to let the gorgeous sun come through.



This is the intersection of one of my most beloved areas in London. This is where I spent most of my time in the summer when I worked at Pathways. Across the street is an incredible arcade called ACE ARCADE where you'd get 20 laps of daytona for a dollar, and DDR 4th Mix for a dollar. Also, the Burger King hosted me to countless jr Whoppers with Sam Chiu every Monday at lunch for a dollar... and a camera store across the road entertained my photo delights.



This is a view from the bus stop looking at the beautiful library. Other than the numerous strip clubs and erotic stores, the town is quite amible and "city-like".



This is a shot standing outside of Vicky's townhouse. Her neighbourhood is quite safe and quiet compared to other areas in London. The night was absolutely clear and the stars were burning bright in the sky. London has one of the best night skies I have ever seen on a regular basis. Priscilla and I shared our first shooting star in the summer of 02.

:: Jesse 7:23 PM

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MY GOODNESS! The picture album has skyrocketed past the allowed transfer of my web server... so for the rest of the month the gallery will be down... sorry about that... you'll just have to wait until May. I think the formal pictures caused too much traffic.

:: Jesse 11:46 AM

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Yay. What a nice weekend. Priscilla came up and visited me. Yay. Even though she was so busy with exams! Easter has been quite a nice and blessed weekend, remembering the wondrous thing our Christ did, celebrating with children, eating lots of food, and well... studying lots of anatomy! Nothing like hours in front of cadaver photos. Full colour. Yippee.

Oh, gallery is updated with pictures from Cora's birthday, this past easter weekend, and some random dentistry pictures too. Enjoy. Warning... lots of summer joyness in these shots.

:: Jesse 11:57 PM

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We know. We know and we claim the truth. Praise God.



For he that is dead is free from sin. Hallelujiah!!! (Romans 6)



Did you know that we are sons of God? That we are not in bondage to fear but we are children of God? That means Satan can't harm us!!! (Romans 8)

Yes... read Cora and Sonja's pages... they've come to this realization too.

:: Jesse 4:37 AM

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It's Easter. Ironic. I was on the bus today and the bus driver told the person who got off, "Happy Easter". The person shrugged at the joy of a holiday and got off. A classmate of mine asked me what the purpose of Easter was, and I told them that it was the time when Christ died on the cross. His response was, "Oh, I thought that was Christmas. What's Christmas about then?"

Year by year, Easter comes and goes. I never used to care much for it, perhaps I would be asked by the church to play some violin or lead a few songs about Easter, so I'd whip out the infamous Nicole Nordeman song "Why", or "Worlds Apart" by Jars of Clay... and I would observe the Lord's supper with reverence and according to my pastor's words, "a solemn heart".

How once I was so blind, now I see the wonder of this day. Cora wrote in her blog about how today was gloomy according to the weather. EXACTLY. Easter was a day in which the world saw a tragedy... our Saviour, crushed and killed by us. But did you know? Did you know that on this day, 2000 years ago, not only Christ died on that old rugged cross? We always focus on Christ's death and resurrection, and we MISS the point of it all. Christ didn't die and resurrect only to forgive our sins so that we could go to heaven? NO!!! Somehow... some way... we don't know exactly what the methodology was, but Easter was when WE DIED in him! That somehow, we were included on that cross, and our bodies died.

How different I look upon Easter... that 2000 years ago, the sinful, fleshful, selfish, utterly helpless, prideful, lustful and unloving Jesse Wong died. I died. I needed a funeral.

Pris told me something interesting today. She said that a friend of hers once said, "During baptism, there should be a coffin instead of a tub of water. Because our old man died. And we arise from that as a new creation." When Christ died, we died. Every desire that we thought was in us to sin died. We no longer have sin as our master! Praise God!!!

Now if the Easter story ended there, it would be so sad. But it didn't! Christ arose, victorious! And you know what? So DID WE! As new creations! As ones who have Christ living in us, enabling us to fulfil the law in him and thus, loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind!!! Recall the words of this song:

When Satan tempts me to despair,
and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
to look on him and pardon me.

FREE. FREE. END TO ALL MY SIN. How often we feel overcome and defeated by our sin. That is a LIE. Christ brought an end to all my sin. Not when he comes again, for in scripture we are reminded time and time again that we can be pure and blameless until his second coming! Claim that promise! Don't let Satan tempt you to despair! You are victorious in Christ! YES! AWESOME! PRAISE GOD! WOOHOO!!!!

Happy Easter.

:: Jesse 1:28 AM

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So this is what it was like to run around and proclaim the good news.

I AM FREE!!!! I AM FREE!!! I AM FREE!!!

My sins were not just forgiven!!! It disappoints me so much when people say "You're bound to sin. God doesn't expect you to be perfect. You're human."

YEAH RIGHT. "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thes 5:23. I discovered something. Something incredible. Something exhilerating. Something that I thought I always knew but really never truly did... and it came by revelation only from God. Not from my own understanding, not from my own logic and assumptions... no. From God. Let me quote you something really cool from The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. (from Chapter 4: The path of progress: Reckoning). Reckoning means realizing and accounting for it.

When we know that our old man has been crucified with Christ, then the next step is to reckon so.
Unfortunately, in presenting the truth of our union with Christ, the emphasis has too often been placed upon this second matter of reckoning our selves to be dead, as though that were the starting point...whereas it should rather be upon knowing ourselves to be dead. God's Word makes it clear that knowing (Rom 6:6) precedes reckoning (Rom 6:11). The sequence is important. Our reckoning must be based on knowledge of divinely revealed fact, for otherwise faith has no foundation which to rest. When we know, then we reckon spontaneously.

So in teaching this matter we should not overemphasize reckoning. People are always trying reckoning without knowing. They have not first had the Spirit-given Revelation of the fact; yet when they try to reckon (to know that they are dead by themselves to their sins) soon they get into all sorts of difficulties. When temptation comes they begin to reckon furiously. "I am dead; I am dead; I am dead!" but in the very act of reckoning they lose their temper. Then they say, "It doesn't work. Romans 6:11 is no good." And we have to admit that verse 11 is no good without verse 6. So it comes to this. Unless we know for a fact that we are dead with Christ (by divine revelation), the more we reckon, the more intense will the struggle become, and the issue is sure defeat.

For years after my conversion I had been taught to reckon. I reckoned from 1920 until 1927. The more I reckoned I was dead to sin, the more alive I clearly was (in flesh that is). I simply could not believe myself dead, and I could not produce the death. Whenever I sought help from others I was told to read Romans 6:11, and the more I read Romans 6:11 and tried to reckon, the further away from death I was. I could not get at it. I fully appreciated the teaching that I must reckon, but I could not make out why nothing resulted from it. I have to confess that for months, I was troubled. I said to the Lord, "If this is clear, if I cannot be brought to see this which is very fundamental, I will cease to do anything. I will not preach anymore; I will not go out to serve Thee anymore; I want first of all to get thoroughly clear here. For months I was seeking and at times I fasted, but nothing came through.

I remember one morning- that morning was a real morning one I can never forget - I was upstairs sitting at my desk, reading the Word and praying, and I said, "Lord, open my eyes!" And then, in a flash, I saw it! I saw my oneness with Christ. I saw that I was in Him and that when He died, I died. I saw that the question of my death was a matter of the past and not of the future, and that I was just as truly dead as He was because I was in Him when He died. The whole thing had dawned upon me. I was carried away with such joy at this great discovery that I jumped from my chair and cried, "Praise the Lord! I am dead!" I ran downstairs and met one of the brothers helping in the kitchen and laid hold of him. "Brother," I said. "Do you know that I have died?" I longed to go through the streets of Shanghai shouting the news of my discovery. From that day to this I have never for one moment doubted the finality of that word: "I have been crucified with Christ."

The exact same goes with me. When Christ revealed this to me on Friday, April the 11th, I knew. I knew that I was no longer just saved, or that I was forgiven, but that I had a new body! I was dead and I was anew in Christ! That he lives in me! This goes beyond all the years of serving him, loving him, striving for him, singing praises to him, even evangelizing him! Look! Watchman Nee was a preacher and a devout Christian before he knew this!!! I have been with the Lord for 10 strong years, but it was only now, and by his divine revelation that I know that I am FREE!!! I don't need to go on sinning anymore! It is not of my nature!!! No... I REFUSE to listen to those who tell me, "Jesse, you are crazy. Don't you know that God doesn't expect you to be perfect." NO!!! We ARE MADE PERFECT BECAUSE CHRIST LIVES IN US!!! Let me as you a question. Can Jesus ever sin? No. What if Jesus lived in you. Not just lived in a part of you (like what I was used to, asking God to give me power when I needed it)... he lives in all of you!!! All of him and all that he is is in you! That includes all his strength, all his love, all his patience, all his FRUIT (not plural) of the Spirit ... ! ITS THERE!!!! I have died!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

PRAISE GOD!!!! HALLELUJIAH!!!!

:: Jesse 9:01 AM

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Yay!!! What a beautiful weekend! (Paul, Owen and Me above)... Paul came to visit me all the way from Toronto this weekend... though everyone is busy and such, Paul just got his Engineering ring and soon he'll graduate! We had so much fun today... I discovered a new place to study... CENTRAL LIBRARY... it's beautiful (a panoramic shot is in my updated gallery) where we can actually eat food and study and not feel bad... nor do we need to fight to get a place to study! Yay! We started off studying hard, then went to the Market to have some yummy good food (Bureks) and after a short but effortless study period, we went to catch the rest of the crew playing some roller hockey! Let me tell ya... Chinese people weren't made to play hockey. It was chilly I must add.

It was so good seeing everyone blowing off some stress by getting active and sweating a bit... me... I didn't play... I was too occupied in getting some action shots for the day. Karyn's parents came up and I ended up chatting for quite a bit with her dad, who looks like Alfred Sung and is an orthodontist. :P Her sister's name is Jessie, and it drives me mad when people call for her and it's not me, but a sister who gets called by her parents in a "parental way"... I guess that's reserved for my parents to call me.

We found ourselves at Rockwater, a restaurant that has a pretty sweet deal. Buy a full rack of ribs for 20 dollars. However, buy the same rack of ribs, and a movie ticket, and it costs 16 dollars. Doesn't make sense... but oh wells. It was Cora's birthday and so other than embarrassing her, we just got the pianist to sing a song about her... almost asked him to sing "Under the Sea".

Movie... well the girls we gotta cherish and respect so they wanted to watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 days... nuff said.

:: Jesse 2:57 AM

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Cool... the wonders of wireless technology... I'm sitting here on the first floor of Weldon library, typing an entry for my blog on Cora's new laptop. Yay. So fun. Me so excited. It's much faster than those Javascript run sunray machines that crash everytime you publish a blog!

Cora's eating some stale croissants right now... they're due to expire tomorrow and she wants me to help finish them. That means I will get sick once more.

Everyone's finished class today except for the Dental and Med students, who pretty much go until May (we finish on the 16th of May, while the poor med students go until June 1st!). The library is packed, everyone is in exam mode, and well, the sky opened up at just the right time to warm us with her sun. I remember exam times... there's those moments when you feel like running outside and jumping on the grass playing frisbee, then there are those moments when you want to strap on your blades and go play some roller hockey... or those other times when you go and see a movie... sometimes 2 in a day... but then there are the moments that you actually do study and think of nothing else. I'm so glad this year that all the frosh need to suffer and go until April 30th. I remember when I was the only person left on my residence floor and it was so lonely. At least they will all be together... and when school comes down to the final stretch, we're all going to be ready to go out and play... except that for this time the Dental students are just starting their exams beginning in May. :( Oh well.

:: Jesse 2:21 PM

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About the gallery... there's A REALLY cool function... the slideshow. it's quite smooth and fast... and it lets you see all the pictures without having to click back here and there. The slideshow option is in the top right corner of the album you're looking at!

:: Jesse 12:05 AM

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yeesh!!! After a few hours of grumbling and hairwrecking stress, I finally got the gallery up online!!! YAY. There's some pictures from our ACF Banquet that we just had yesterday, as well as some funny pictures from the Relationships workshop today. There's more to come...

:: Jesse 10:53 PM

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