Liberation

Today at CG:

Finally...after a whole lot of agonising and excuses, have finally come to expose what should be exposed, and to humbly ask for help in the fight.

But that doesn't mean that it's over, but rather that the real fight's only just begun...

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Sit straight!

Upon buying a new laptop mouse today, I realised that there's a pretty big focus on ergonomics, one of the reasons being it reduces the occurrences of RSI (not CSI lah).

In an age where computers are used by almost everybody around at some point of time (or at all times), such things are worth taking note of (not excessively though) in the light of taking care of our bodies, to be a good steward of what's not ours to waste away.

Seating Ergonomics: A free guide to ergonomic seating
Some other things to take note for laptop users
Or alternatively you could Google using the keywords RSI or ergonomics.

Fight!

Rom 7:13-25

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. [ESV]

Although one of the more confusing passages to run through in the course of studying Romans, but it was certainly heartening to hear that pastor, like the rest of us, like Paul, also have to struggle with sin whilst in this world, even though we're no longer under it's mastery and power. On the other hand at the same time, it's sad to realise that at some times I have compromised and simply given up fighting sin in some areas of my life....

Well, on being reminded of this again, it's no time to mope about the past but rather to look forward, pick up the rifle (not literally lah) again, and carry on with what's important: carrying on as a disciple of Christ, and to help others on their journey also. =)

(Who said that Christians never fight? Heh heh)

Processor utilization = 100%

Thinking in process...
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*hung*

SUO: The aftermath

My face~~...my face~~~...it's crackinggggg~~~~ ouch.

Anyway, some pics taken by various pple from the SUO are up.

• Addie's

• Victor's

• Official photographers' site, not all pics are up yet though (Can order prints from them)

[Edit: ACH's pics are up also...finally =P ]

• ACH's
  

SUO 来 SUO 去

Went for the SUO over the weekend as a participant with my friends from PLMC, and it surely was a new experience for me, for actually joining in a competition for ultimate frisbee as opposed to playing for fun only (although we sort of played for fun there also anyway lol), and also to see the tip of the iceberg in how many people actually play this game.

It was certainly nice to see a few of my friends around there also, and to have a short chat with one of them there. Also with more visitors joining in our team, we ended up with more peope, which meant that we didn't get ourselves tired out so fast as compared to the team without the additional people (like the PE teachers heh heh ;) )

At the end, it was a bit sad that we couldn't/didn't join the rest of the people there to get to know them better as friends too (a beer party/dinner probably isn't the best place to try to get to know people), but what disturbed me more was the kind of 'true colours' that showed in the duration of the games.

In the duration of the games, many heated words/espressions were exchanged (mainly in the form of shouting and screaming) amongst the team (including myself) probably due to the heat (stress) of the game, but most weren't really considerate of the person's plight that he/she probably was really tired, or just disorientated, and had been trying his/her best anyway...in the end, D blew his top at one more of such a comment being directed at him. In the end, things were patched up: an apology made in front of everybody, and just as quickly as it blew it disappeared from sight (or the minds seemingly) as if it never happened.....

I think BS (the one who apologised) was really brave then...but it also showed me how stubbornly proud I still am in wanting to save face in front of others there and then, for what I've transgressed against others was no different from what he did, only difference was that no one was visibly affected by it (nothing 'bad' came from it so to speak).

(It's one thing for a person to realise that he's proud, but it doesn't mean that he/she'll be humble for sure from then on.)

This may or may not be the best place to do so (or the best timing), but to those whom I've done wrong against in one way or another (including CL) during this weekend, I'm sorry.

Hope that I'll be able to change this, with God's help...but this one won't be easy for me personally.
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Whatever the case, I hope to be able to make good use of the precious little time I have with them on sunday evenings, whilst enjoying the ultimate frisbee games =P

(PS: for those who've read up till here and are still wondering how on earth does the subject title link to this post, you can stop now: there is no link)
(PPS: kena sunburn'ed from the weekend of sun, if you're wondering what (part of) my msn nick means)

...

It's no joke when your parent's (chronically) in bad health, and is starting to become a bit on the old side, and is now planning to engage a lawyer to write a will and all...(even more for those who have relatives already on the deathbed)

For many people the natural response to it would be to stop looking at the temporal things of the short term (for a while) and start to see what should be done for the good of the long term: as chinese, probably some would think about respecting their parents (for many that would be the first time in a very long time) so as to not antagonise them, or worse to try to 'earn' a place into their wills, etc etc etc. Or for professing christians the thing they'd probably do is to try to 'talk-gospel' with them either by themselves or maybe (even better?) calling on the pastor (who seems holier) to come down to talk to them, maybe in the hope that they'd grab the seemingly last chance for the 'dying' to come to believe in Christ, or for some: so that their guilty consciences are appeased if they come to accept and believe before they go(or as seen in the flipside, the time of self-rebuke and guilt-striken uncertainty that comes if the person didn't accept in any sense/form before he/she left this world).

NOT that that's the reason to make us start to seriously consider what's REALLY important in the long run: that others be encouraged to continue in Christ, be it for the first time, or to carry on running the race. Why? For in further understanding of the bible as time goes by, it already shows that salvation IS the most important thing this fallen world needs, and a response to it simply is to acknowledge it's importance with what we do in our speech/actions/thoughts/lives, and not consider it only when we're about to lose something dear to us like a relationship(from death).

For those who already understand this, the challenge would be not to fall into the things 'they' do(para. 2) whilst keeping focused on these reasons. For those who have yet to come to understand one way or another(not to condemn, for in simply knowing or even understanding it doesn't make our standing before God any better), I urge you to find out and understand and test it against how we've been living our lives, and respond accordingly in your contexts...

Of course, I'll still continue to see how(and carry out the plans I've already made) can I encourage my mum (and my brother...) in godliness...
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But even with recognising God's sovereignty in everything, including when and how we go, all the 'simulations' that ran through my head(more like daydreams of what would it be like when THAT happens. Ok, I daydream at times.) all ended up with the same result(immense grief) and the future being uncertain.

But to us humans, the (near or far) future is uncertain anyway, and whether all this really happens, whether exactly as I imagined it to be or not is of no matter. The only certain thing that WILL happen in the future is the Judge's return to judge this earth, and the end of all things, and the beginning of the new world then. And that is the thing to keep focused on, as we live in this current world.

Keyboard clicks can lead to security hacks

Keyboard clicks can lead to security hacks | CNET News.com

An audio recording of an individual's typing can be transposed into a transcript of what was typed, according to University of California at Berkeley researchers. The technique works because each key makes a distinct sound when hit, and users, who typically type about 300 characters a minute, leave enough time between keystrokes for a computer to isolate the individual sounds.

Maybe they'll start banning all sound recording devices soon, heh heh heh.

A taste of heaven

Came back from the 3 day/2night retreat with my NTU group yesterday, and it was a good time of both getting to know one another better, to talk about things both regarding christianity and not, and also to teach them/learn together about the overview of the entire bible. Am really glad that the whole group went, even though none of the people outside of our group came and joined us in the end =( (except for Yifen who joined us for the last talk and dinner)

Personally, having to teach the thing meant that it also made us (TYC and I) understand this more, and also the fact that I had my first chance to give a few talks/workshops this time. Am glad that it didn't go way too awry and that they did manage to catch the geist and learn, although I do have room to improve on my presentation for sure.

Unlike my dog who has to stretch like mad to get a taste of the grape, we certainly are blessed in having the priviledge of building one another up whenever we meet, all by God's grace and not by our own merits.

(will post more pictures when I can in Flickr)

Random

The questions that rage on in my mind, all meet up with dead ends, not because there's no answer, but simply because I haven't come to realise yet.
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Seeing the effects of sin in people's lives from talking to various people, and the kind of 'needless' pain they undergo (if only...they had heard and understood the gospel...but that's up to God's sovereignty to reveal what to whom at which place in time) from nothing but lies...saddens me no end. But I'm not God, else I'd have done as I wished...

Looking at myself, seeing no difference between my past and the pagans that are around in this world...the punishment was justified, the salvation undeserved, but yet... and the only response I can have to this massive turning point in life (being transferred from the realm of death to another realm) is Gratitude, and living a new life in the light of this new status. =)

The new life, still hard to live in the continued presence of sin, although being no longer under it's dominion...still needs progress...as many old habits still need to be weeded out (no thanks to having loved lies, and still loving it sometimes, for the past dunno-how-many-years). Still fighting sin, but still sometimes getting tripped up.

But there's also cause for joy also, for the growth and potential in the youths that have the massive priviledge of hearing the bible taught faithfully at such a young age, and the fact that they're thinking also. Great opportunities to mature them(by God's grace, of course), and great opportunities for partnerships in the ministry. And also applies for the congregation as a whole too~

Looking at it all, the work continues(with God's help also; we only continue to encourage others with the gospel, both in understanding and it's outworkings in our lives) as we await the Perfected Kingdom to arrive fully, and one (tiny) part of it starts tomorrow: the retreat to Changi Aloha, where we'll (the NTU group) be doing GBP (not exactly the same material, but the same content). =)

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Image(115)
Originally uploaded by gunblad3.

Blackie! Very old now, but still alive...

Three Faces of the Church

Taken from here(without permission =P ). I am a slow reader alright.

Good reminder on what we should aim to focus on as a whole, and a good start to thinking again about what we ourselves truly focus on as a church.

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Three Faces of the Church

Taking some license with Stephen Covey's best selling tome, "Seven Habits of Higly Effective People", here are three very different, but apt discriptions of church models that exist today. These lists are not exhaustive... and they were written with a broad brush strokes, intentionally, to include a wide variety of church "experiences" in each category. In fact, I would like to know what would your lists comprise of? Read Ephesians 4:11-16 to get a glimpse into the church that glorifies God. Seven highly effective habits of the Contemporary Church that almost always guarantee church growth with very little spiritual impact: 1. Go political, not biblical 2. Go pragmatic, not theological 3. Go psychological, not discipleship 4. Go anthropocentric, not Christocentric 5. Go postmodern, not transcendent 6. Go “share your story”, not “all for His glory” 7. Go sickness, not sin; go disease not, disobedience Seven highly effective habits of the Traditional Church that almost always guarantee church stagnation with very little spiritual impact: 1. Go traditional, not spiritual 2. Go legalistic, not grace 3. Go corporate, not community 4. Go “count converts”, not “make disciples” 5. Go pastoral/elder ruler, not shepherd/servant leader 6. Go more information, not Christlikeness 7. Go programs, not prayer Seven highly effective habits of the Biblical Church that almost always guarantee God’s blessing and spiritual impact: 1. Go supremacy of God and His glory in worship 2. Go sola fide, sola scriptura, sola gratia, solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria 3. Go The Great Commission and the Two Great Commandments 4. Go take care of the poor, the widow and the orphan 5. Go discipline of sin 6. Go pray without ceasing 7. Go equip the saints for the work of the ministry

Taken from Audience One.

Keyboards

Optimus keyboard
When this becomes available I'd certainy love to own one~~

Unless I intend to try to increase my typing speed (really?) with this instead.

And the best part? I use a laptop currently =D

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Urban Cage

Living for others

It's hard to make the distinction:

When should we be tough?
When should we be soft?
When should we be forthcoming?
When should we be more discrete?
When should we point out errors?
When should we just hold back for the time being (and continue to pray)?

When all these should be decided upon(sometimes at that point in time), all for the sake of others.

Heard one answer to it: "We cross examine our motives, and see whether our motives are to tear them down instead, which is the opposite of what we aim to do." Possible at times, impossible in other situations, to be able to think so objectively on the run. (Thinking back about some past events, it looks like the action taken should've been different, and the outcome probably would've been different, but the thing here is not to wistfully hope to be able to change the past, but rather see what needs to be changed)

Another way is to observe those who're good models and see what's their motives for acting the way they do, deciding whether it's really an example to learn from that's the result of biblical understanding/conviction. And this one will take time, and (of course) the fact that there are godly people around whom we can observe.

But...so...when, should we be which?
(to be continued, hopefully not at another 3am)

Plucked from the jaws of Death

Do you remember the scene from Star Wars, near to the end of The Return Of The Jedi? The Millenium Falcon has just destroyed the main power reactor of the Death Star, and as the entire base starts to blow up, the Millenium Falcon starts to make it's desperate attempt at escaping the base along with another comrade and an enemy TIE fighter, lest they blow up along with the entire death star. In the course of escaping, the flames engulf and destroy the hapless TIE fighter and the allied fighter(was it an X-Wing?), and just as the flames start to engulf the Millenium Falcon itself and they look as if they're all about to be matyred, the ship shoots out of the Death Star, and the crew heaves a great sigh of relief. (Of course, the Death Star blows up, and the Rebel Alliance celebrates the end of the enemy along with their new found furry Ewok friends.)

Exactly the impression I got when I heard today's sermon on Romans 5:12-21. Having seen the bad news of God's anger on ALL men because of their unrighteousness(Rom 1:18-3:20), and the perfect solution solution given by God at the right time(Rom 3:21-26), and now one of aspects of this salvation, I can't help but heave a sigh of relief looking at the doom that we've left(Rom 5:12) and be thankful to the 'rescuer' that plucked us out from this doom into the promise(Rom 5:15-21).

All this, available to anyone who receives it simply by believing in what has been said in the bible, sometimes seems far too good to be true...but that's what grace is about, right? (God never owed us anything, let alone our salvation, but yet He gave his only son to do so.)

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Meow...

Ga-brah

Led another BS today, and I think it was bad.

Not being able to manage group dynamics is one, although that is not that important, except for helping the rest to be able to concentrate without distraction.

But the real prob comes when you end up confusing people along the way, and the thing is not explained clearly. Then the point of the study probably is defeated altogether already, isn't it not?

Not that it's the first time that this has happened, but (in a way) thankfully it doesn't always happen all the time.

A whole lot to be worked on regarding this...a whole lot.