"There is no God," he said.

His argument is amazing, to me at least...

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying that it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.
--C.S. Lewis

A Long Time Coming

The other day I saw these magnificent cloud patterns in the sky as I walked home from work. I did something I haven't done in a very, very long, long time: stop and look at them for a while.

I think if we allow life to become so stressful that we forget to relish in the beauty and glorious creation that our Father has created for us to enjoy, then we miss out on a great deal of abundant living that is promised to us. The world I take no note of, the earth, however, is my Daddy's playground for me to enjoy. And I like having fun every now and then...

(...would to God there was a mountain or lake around here...haha)

LOVE & COURAGE

The Singapore Mountains

It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui. --Helen Keller

I think that of all the diseases in the world, the disease that all humankind suffers from, the disease that is most devastating to us is not AIDS, it's not gluttony, it's not cancer, it's not any of those things. It is the disease that comes about because we live in ignorance of the wealth of love that God has for us. –Rich Mullins

To fall in love is easy, even to remain in it is not difficult; our human loneliness is cause enough. But it is a hard quest worth making to find a comrade through whose steady presence one becomes steadily the person one desires to be. -- Anna Louise Strong

If you have love, you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have. --Sir James M. Barrie

You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget. --Jessica - age 8

Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.—Mark Twain

Everyday courage has few witnesses. But yours is no less noble because no drum beats for you and no crowds shout your name. --Robert Louis Stevenson

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. – Plato

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is -try to please everybody.--Herbert Bayard Swope

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. -- Henry David Thoreau

From here: http://www.tentmaker.org/Quotes/quotesindex.htm

Recent Observations

chairs.

1. My hopes for spatial awareness is waning here in Singapore. I was carrying an injured friend towards the only bench in site at Hong Lim. Lo and behold a child (bless his heart) saw us coming and...in a quick flash of magnificent reasoning...proceeds to move "out of our way" right in front of the bench totally blocking our entry trajectory. It wasn't until we were about to sit my friend literally on top of this kid that he really moved out of the way.

2. The past few days have been really, really beautiful at night. I've slept like a baby..I mean rock hard. Ok sure, I've used my aircon too, but it tells me something: hot weather + me = oxymoron.

3. It's weird working at a Japanese school. I'm a foreigner in Singapore. Then, I'm a foreigner working at a Japanese school. A foreigner in a foreign school that is foreign to the country it's in. eh? Sometimes I look outside the fence from my school and see Singapore "over there." I leave one country to enter another when I leave work. Weird feeling. Now when people as me where I'd like to go on vacation I say, "Home."

4. I've come up with a new definition for what a blog is: a place where long-winded, heavy-handed, slow-speaking, way too wordy, pensive, wanna-be writer, too lazy to use a paper and pencil people can exercise their ability to be themselves for a little while. No wonder I think about things during the day within the context of, "hmm...I should blog about that." I created an online journal once when I was in America that consisted of church friends and other interested parties. We'd throw out a question to the group via email and everyone would respond either by email or on the group site (R.I.P MSN site). I still have print-outs of our discussions and they were looong and many. Oh, how I miss those discussions! If I had it my way, I'd love nothing more than to have a group of people to study, discuss, and deliberate on the Word of God all day, everyday. I suppose that's why Proverbs is my favorite book. What else really is there to talk about except Jesus Christ, His purpose, and our future homes...while eating pepperoni pizza and sippin' on ginger ale. :-)

5. People start acting really funny around you when you are slapped with the title of "boss" or "manager" or "head." I bet it's not unlike the feeling those teenagers got in that movie "Nightmare on Elm Street" when Freddy Kruger would show up. Yea, something like that...

6. I think one of the most difficult things to do in life is to be yourself. I think one of the easiest things to do is to misunderstand those who do so. A quote to consider:

We do not learn to know men through their coming to us. To find out what sort of persons they are, we must got to them. –Goethe

7. It's getting hot again as I type this...

8. Except for the expensive shoes, pressed shirts, and buckets of make-up, people are just like sheep when boarding buses and trains all over the world. The beeps when we get on the buses just crack me up even more. It's like an assembly line! I'm going to start carrying a sound FX machine and play some sheep sounds when getting on the City Hall MRT at 6pm...haha.

9. I just found out there is a new Subway shop opening really, really close to my house. I knelt down in front of it and said, "Thank you Jesus." (no really, I did)

10. It always tickles me when I see people googling at themselves in the windows at the MRT stations or wherever they can steal a glance at themselves. I always think, "What are they looking at? They've seen that their whole lives."

11. I miss my students of my first year teaching back in the states. I was thinking about them today and how we all got to the point where I felt comfortable telling them that I loved them. I mean, this was a public school. Teachers don't go around telling their students they love them. But I did. And they knew it. And they trusted me, and I them. We became a family in the grandest sense of the word. It was the most beautiful, profound, and challenging year in my life up to that point. I know for a fact...A FACT...that each and every one of those kids remember room #108 in 5th grade. There was nothing that could have come between us....nothing.

I end with this quote:

. . .if we wait for the moment when everything,absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.
-Ivan Turgenev

So you call yourself a Christian, huh?

See, that's God in the middle.

As the moon reflects the sunlight, so too should we reflect the Son's light.

Being that our God is perfect in holiness, ultimate in creativity, sovereign in action and absolute in character, it behooves us as his people to render unto him our best in all that we do. This not only applies to our prayers, offering, testimonies and praise, but also, and more emphatically, to our everyday lives. What we wear, where we go, how we speak, what we purchase, our church attendance and countless other taken for granted actions show to the world who and what God is. If we accept the title of Christian, as defined by scripture, then we know that we are commissioned to carry on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in our present world. And what was the work of Jesus except to show to all of mankind the nature of Almighty God?

It follows then that since we have Christ the Lord God within us, working and living in us, the life we lead shows forth to the world God’s attributes, personality, character, and holiness. Ultimately God’s holiness is the defining characteristic of His immortal being. It is His holiness that sets Him apart from any other being in the universe. His holiness is absolute in purity, righteousness, cleanliness, and power. There is none other like the God of Abraham, Jacob, David, and the church of Jesus Christ. He is self-sufficient, in need of nothing. His glory is manifested not only in the physical created world, but now through the people of his kingdom, namely, the church. The church is the express image, the imago dei, of God himself. It is common sense, or, if not, common consent that actions speak louder than words. No where does this truth ring more clearly than in the life of a redeemed man. He knows all eyes are looking to him and at him because his life is different. He lives under a different kingdom than the unredeemed man and, thus, is under not only natural eyes but also the spiritual eyes (angels, demons, and man’s own spirit) that lie behind and beyond the natural. They observe rightfully so. The Lord himself said we are the light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hid. Thus, when one is quickened by the Spirit (receives salvation, that is), he is automatically placed in a position of being one who is no longer of this world. He is now a part of the kingdom that he was originally created for: the kingdom of God.

Consequently, his life will have changed and be set upon a new course of glorifying God through his newfound life. Because of this, unregenerate man cannot help but look and wonder at this quickened individual. If a candle is set in the midst of total darkness, no matter how small or weak the candle may be, the darkness surrounding it takes note and flees in all directions. So we see that by virtue of the man being saved he is, whether he wants to be or not, a representation of God on this earth. An ambassador who not only represents his God and God’s kingdom, but who, through his lifestyle and everyday actions, shows forth the very essence of God and what life is meant to be under God’s sovereign rule.

That being the case, it we profess to be baptized believers, filled with the Holy Ghost, then our lives should manifest our profession. "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ”, is a powerful testimony not ever to be taken lightly or for granted, but must be carefully considered by both speaker and listener. If we confess to be that which we are not in truth, then we become hypocritical, bringing the witness of our lives down to the level of the Pharisee who cleans only the outside of the cup while leaving the inside filled with filth and spoil. Jesus has called us to first clean the inside thus allowing the greater light to shine forth, believing that the outside will follow. Why must all these principles be taken seriously? An old adage comes to mind: “You are the only Bible some people may ever see.”

If we are quick to become angry at situations, we show forth a God who is impatient and unapproachable; when we continually boast of ourselves and our abilities, we show forth a God who is arrogant and haughty; when we allow our worship to be half-hearted and haphazardly put together, we show forth a God who lacks integrity or purpose; when we fail to address the needs of our fellow brother and sister, showing a genuine concern for their well being, we show forth a God who is apathetic and uncaring; when we live a life that is not in sync with what God has commanded us to live as redeemed human beings, we show forth a God who is not God at all, but who is a mere man as we.

Is this what our God has called us unto? Is this the way we have come to understand and experience our great God? Do we serve an apathetic, prejudice, impatient, arrogant, lazy, inept, unholy God? Quite the contrary is true. Our Lord God is one of majesty, glory, perfect-ness, creativity, holiness, power, greatness, unmatched goodness and a host of other qualities not worthy of being embodied with words. Thus, we as his chosen people should embrace these very same attributes and characteristics in every part of our lives.

Historical Considerations
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” –Romans 12:1. In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed by reasoning of a man’s sins. The Jewish people were commanded by God to sacrifice an animal without spot or blemish; one that was of the utmost health and ability, a strong body and clear eyes, one that had all the signs of the perfect sacrifice God demanded.

Of course, the person seeking the sacrificial animal had many to chose from (the nation of Israel was by nature a shepherding nation and therefore livestock was common). But they had to search and find the best sacrifice from the thousands of animals in their stock. How were they to go about this daunting task? What would set one animal apart from the others? How could they identify a most perfect representation of a sin offering unto God? The only way one animal was to stand out from the rest was by its life and actions. Those animals that were lethargic, diseased, weak and lacking in form were overlooked. Only those who were characteristic of God’s standards were chosen.

Today, we are the ones who must present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. When we exemplify the truth and power of the gospel in our lives, when we allow our hearts to be led by the Holy Spirit in every situation, when our actions show forth energy, vitality, pureness, righteousness, and love, when every iota of our being cries out, “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ!”, then and only then will we be fit for the Master's use as a willing living sacrifice.

-Duane T. Black

Match the Caption Activity Worksheet #52

Directions: Match the following captions with the appropriate picture above. Then, read sentences out-loud so your English teacher can actually hear sounds come out of your mouth that, if you're lucky, might be actual words. Please ask questions if help is needed. Refrain from having a blank expression on your face that says, "ubba ubba boo blork flagapoofenhoff." Instead, raise your hand, and say, "Teacher, I don't understand what to do." The teacher will understand if you are afraid to ask, but won't have mercy if you don't try. On the contrary, please make an effort to actually do this worksheet. In fact, if you at least make a sound your teacher will know you are alive and he will come rushing to assist you. In the meantime, don't smack your neighboor, but do block any incoming attacks. Good luck and always do your best! (Things this English teacher feels like saying sometimes...)

A. Different food + different people = different expressions.

B. "And in a shocking discovery, a black man was found to be related to the Miazaki clan hailing from Japan. He was found saying, "I always wondered why I had a fondness of raw fish..."

C. Sheesh..I can't play, can't sit, can't take my kid...what in the world is this thing for?! All I can do is stand? What a rip! I want my money back...I'm going to Disneyland...

D. Person A: "Did I turn off my oven?" Person B: "How do you work this contraption?" Person C: "What's that smell?" Person D: "..zzzz..." Person E: "This is Singapore Idol, right? Am I next? La la al al alll..."

E. "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US."

F: Keepin' It Real - the new fragrance from Singapore (by B&W)

Light, be! Kingdom, come! Faith, be! Thy will, done!

Look not to the shadow, look not inside,

Look to the light, in His glorious brightness hide!

Focus on His goodness, and then you shall see,

the truth of yourself, the truth of the shadow that shall be.
-db


Should I be bold enough to speak, in this moment?
A reverent heart must surely be, unbroken...

...with no regrets; should I be? lost in forgetfulness, with no regrets,
in my head.
Faithfully shed.

Should I be rich and poor and scattered, in my dreams?
While other figures that surround me, live unguarded...

...with no regrets, should I be? lost in forgetfulness, with no regrets,
in my head.
Faithfully shed.

And free, from the worry!
Free from the dark that lives in me!
Free to embark on the passions you've favorably fasioned in me...

...with no regrets, should I be? Lost in forgetfulness, with no regrets,
in my head.
Faithfully shed.

-Jennifer Knapp

But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death; if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I am pressing on, if I may lay hold of that for which I also was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. My brothers, I do not count myself to have taken possession, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
-Paul (Phi 3:8-14)

The Soul's Paradox of Love

... The upward view on the way to morning prayer...

We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. 'No man can come to me,' said our Lord, 'except the Father which hath sent me draw him,' and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for he act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: 'Thy right hand upholdeth me.' In this divine 'upholding' and human 'following' there is no contradiction. All is of God, for as von Hugel teaches, God is always previous.
- Tozer

Photo Time

In this post, I am too tired to write. So, I'll let my handy dandy Sony phone camera do the talking...(with some captions...the writer in me can't help it)

I made the correct mistake of going to this place on Saturday. It was a piano concert at a local music school. All the little kids who were taking piano lessons were giving a mini-concert. To say I walked down memory lane and teared up would undermind the enormity of emotion I felt standing there... I doubt I could ever put into words what music and playing the piano means to me. Perhaps the only way to express it is through music itself...

Ahh! My 15 minutes of fame has arrived! So I did this job for someone to record people coughing for their cough medicine advertising campaign. Gladly, I went around recording various people trying to cough. One things for sure: one never sounds as fake as when trying to feign a cough one doesn't really have. Anyway, after I got the job done my client (hehe...I like the sound of that) put up ads ALL OVER SINGAPORE like in the picture above. Now, what you don't see is that to the left of this picture is the bus stand with speakers attached above. When someone walks by this advertisment...voila!...my coughing recordings begin to sound. Now, my work is being known throughtout Singapore! I will become great in the long history of mass media masters! People will throng to the stores because they heard me and 3 of my friends cough at them while they were waiting for the bus! Hmmm...if this is so good, what's next? An anti-burping medicine? I'd love to record those... :-)

....I gotta keep reminding myself about this one... (minus the 3 cities underneath)

Praise our God, all nations; let your praise be heard. He has kept us alive and has not allowed us to fall. You have put us to the test, God; as silver is purified by fire, so you have tested us. You let us fall into a trap and placed heavy burdens on our backs. You let our enemies trample us; we went through fire and flood, but now you have brought us to a place of safety. I will bring burnt offerings to your house; I will offer you what I promised. I will give you what I said I would when I was in trouble.
(Psa 66:8-14)