Goodbye folks

This short entry will be my last post.

To my dear blogger friends - Really appreciate your faithful readership.

Why am I stopping? Well maybe I'm tired of blogger. Maybe I need new stuff to do. Maybe a lot of things ... keke...

If you need to reach me, you know my email.
If you don't know my email, you probably don't need to reach me.

My Sanctuary

A photo of my toilet roll.

Both Daleerius? and Kito think I'm being ridiculous.
But I think it is a nice photo :)

Purposely titled this piece My Sanctuary because very often it is in the toilet that I get my quietest undisturbed moments. Not to mention my moments of brillance.

Time Discipline

Do you have Time Discipline?

I learnt this concept from a colleague. Essentially it just means setting aside an allocated amount of time for a task and sticking with it, regardless of how much you manage to accomplish within that amount of time.

Like a website I read on home management for housewives.
...For daily cleaning, you should spend no more than 15 minutes in a room clearing the things there. Use a timer so that once 15 minutes is up, you move to the next room...

Such ruthless focus and discipline is simply unheard of and unseen in naniecheng's universe. My eyes have been opened to another way of doing things.

Because of my very strong P trait (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), I am wont to spend inordinately huge amounts of time and effort just pottering in a specific task until I'm completely satisfied with it, regardless of deadlines and other taskings.

In other words, there really is no sense of timing in my world.

Of course that makes me a wonderful artist but a very very inept civil servant. Wonder how I managed to survive in this job for so long. Then again, it is the civil service. Everyone survives here.

Hmm... Time Discipline. Think I shall plunge into perfecting the art of it over the next few days ;)

Morning everyone!

The delicious prata this morning certainly perked my spirits up, especially from the horrid day I had yesterday both at work and home.

Sigh...

Anyway do you ladies out there have problems fixing stuff at home? It seems that whenever I try to help Hubby with household repairs, I end up making the problem worse.

Yesterday we tried to change the water heater casing (the on/off button with a red light). Sounds simple right?

1) unscrew
2) put new casing
3) screw back

Simple until mua came into the picture.

Well because of my "insistent intervention" & "bright ideas", we ended up spending 3 hours on that blasted little white box without any successful outcome. Worse still, I spoilt 2 items so now the case is really beyond repair.

It was a pathetic sight. Two of us sweating in the dark, holding a torch and a screwdriver fumbling along. Me trying to be innovative and Hubby trying desperately to keep his calm. I think it definitely was the love of God that restrained him from shouting at me.

I spent the rest of the night well out of his sight. (kinda like kaizer and kobe when they have done something wrong, like pee in the hall)

So now we have a heater case dangling precariously from the wall.

Well, at least I have my hot shower running now. Keke...

a

BLESSED BIRTHDAY

to

TehPeng

&

Pamda Superfly

!!!

End of Lutheranism Class #3

Verdict: More confusion esp regarding the theology of the Holy Communion. It was enough trying to grapple with Luther's differences with the Catholic Church. Today we learned his differences with the other protestant reformers.

Wow I really need time to think through Luther's points and come to terms with his arguments.

Well at least one thing I do know for sure from today's class.

Lutherans believe that man, if left to their own devices, will never choose Christ. Our ability to believe in God comes from Him first in the form of grace.

So in other words, there is no free will. Luther calls it "bondage of will".

I'm sure you can appreciate the ramifications of such a stand.

Questions like the following will arise inevitably:

1) Does God choose who he wants to save? (i.e. does He impart grace selectively?)

If no, then how do you explain people who die without ever knowing God?

If yes, then isn't God really unfair? Are some of us just damned from birth?

2) Can one who has received the grace of God ultimately choose to reject Him? Because if they can, then why does Christ say no one can snatch us from God's hands? Jn 10:29

3) What then is the role of human will in terms of salvation?

4) Do we still go around preaching and asking people if they would want to accept Christ? (as if acceptance was up to them to decide according to their own free will)


But let's not jump the gun and straightaway say that Luther believes in predestination the way the Calvinists do. I think there is a difference between Lutherans and Calvinists. Read somewhere that the difference is Single Predestination (lutherans) vs Double Predestination (calvinist).

Well, I look forward to the lesson on predestination according to Lutherans.

TO MY LUTHERAN BLOG READERS -

Now you know that you did not choose Christ.

Rather, Christ chose you.

Your will had nothing to do with your salvation.

beanbean >> There is this book on the history on Lutheranism that u might be keen to read. Let me go find the title first. Also, I'll fwd you the weekly lecture notes too if u like. But I'll need your email. Please email me at naniecheng@gmail.com if u want to receive the materials.

Last night I dreamt I died

Last night I dreamt I died.

Funny how death has been popping up frequently in my mind these days.

Some nights I lie in bed wide awake, wondering what life would be like if one of us (b/w hubby and I) died. It's quite unimaginable.

How badly would we take it? Everyone dies some day. Some sooner than others. Will we move on? How will we move on? How will we cope?

Whenever I have such thoughts, I would turn and look at Hubby's sleeping form and then I would weep. I guess it is only when I’ve truly learnt to love that I truly understand loss.

Recently I attended the wedding of a man whose wife died just about a year ago. Now he's remarried (happily I presume). Is it really that easy?

I'm not being morbid. I just don't want Hubby to be all alone and sad when I do die one day (assuming I return to God before him). I can't stand to think of the pain he would have to undergo when I’m gone. Who will comfort him?

That's why I've started writing and leaving him little scraps of daily notes / scribblings / ramblings / grumblings (basically anything that represents our daily lives) so that when I do go finally one day, be it tomorrow or in 50 years time, he would have all these writings for remembrance.

For him to know how much I loved him and for him to be comforted and reminded of all that we've shared together. I hope all these will help to ease the pain for him and bring healing to his heart.

If he goes first, then these notes will remind me of him so I don’t feel as if I’ve lost him totally.

These notes also help me to remain cognizant of our love today, at this moment, lest I fall into the trap of taking him and what we have for granted.

It is a beautiful thing to pause in life and whisper “Thank you darling”. In that moment, time stands still for the 2 of us and the memory of what we have shared becomes a small monument of love. The more you take time out to do this, the more monuments of love you’ll accumulate and the richer you will be as a united body.

Funny how I've already started preparing for the end.

I should really be in the Insurance business. Don't you think?

A photo to share with you. Life ultimately converges in death before we are truly liberated to live as God's own.

Dinner with Dr Castro

Dinner with Dr Felipe Castro on Sunday at Ivins was great. The food was delicious and the company very comfortable.

(for the more technically inclined, this was taken with a 10mm lens. Cool sia!)

For me, in many ways this current mission team (the younger ones that is) is like the group of church friends I never really had. I mean I do have good friends like visinvis but not really a group of friends that I can communicate so freely with.

Even with the church youth fellowship in the past, I've always felt sorta out of place. But I'm so comfortable in this group.

It's a nice feeling :)

Love Cambodia Exhibition

Yesterday marked the first of our exhibition runs on Cambodia. I'm so glad everything went well and our church members and friends showed so much support.

It was also an opportunity to meet up with pfong and his wife.

Both Shutterbug and lil ms snooze have blogged about the event so you can read up more about their thots at their blogs. Shutterbug, btw, has some really cool shots of the event, like the 2 I've posted here. So check them out at his blog.

Everyone in the organising committee really worked hard to make this happen. Let's see, there was lilmssnooze, tehpeng, mighty mouse, little brother of mighty mouse (mini mouse? keke) kito, visible,invisible and yours truly.

The road ahead is still long as we endeavour to bring this exhibition to various churches. Call it a labour of love for it truly is one.

Have I ever explained the aim of this exhibition? Well, it's a Christian Missions Awareness Programme. Because the photos TehPeng took during our latest Cambodia trip were so evocative, the idea of using them to create awareness and interest among our church members came up. As lil ms snooze rightly puts it in her blog -

Yes, the exhibition is never about us.
Not the team that put this together, not the photographer and not even about who went on mission trips.

The photos tell the story of the need of the Cambodians and to encourage people to support mission work in their own ways - through financial support, prayer support or going on mission trips.

Dr Felipe Castro, the Filipino missionary who works in Cambodia, visited us yesterday in Church. He gave a message on true religion. What is true religion? Is it a set of rituals? Is it a set of codes of dos and don'ts? No. Let's hear what the Bible has to say about true religion.

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard."
(Is 58:6-8)

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27)

Halfway through the sermon, Dr Castro nearly broke into tears as he recounted the struggles and doubts he had about his ministry in Cambodia. He said that all his counterparts had migrated to Canada, Australia etc and were all very successful in their careers, now enjoying the fruits of their labour. But where was he? Dr Castro had his dreams too. He wanted to be renowed highly-sought-after-surgeon. He wanted to build and run hospitals. But God has instead called him to build churches, leading a humble life of labour and love. There is very little monetary rewards in this line. Sometimes his patients have no money to pay him so they give him bananas and eggs.

Dr Castro ended his sermon by saying all he ever looks forward to is a simple "Well Done" by our Lord Jesus when he finally returns home to heaven one day.

That's the spirit of missions! It's not motivated by our own charitable heart. It should be motivated first by a love from God for God and then love for people who are made in His image. Missionaries have self-doubts too and struggles. But they press on, because they know they are working for greater rewards and a satisfaction that nothing on this earth can ever give them.

And such is the aim of this exhibition.
To let our church members get in touch with this part of God's work. To be part of something much greater than themselves.
To be part of the global work that the Christ is doing.

A saturday at the concert

Just the other day I attended a concert at the invitation of my church friends.

It was so delightful.

I am just reminded of the good old days when I was in the school band and how, through my instrument, I would become one with the music and the audience.

I love playing in a band. The feeling of being part of something bigger. When the music rises, the individual musician ceases to exist. There is only the music and the exhilarating thrill of riding with the song. It is simply quite magical.

All that familiar nostalgic feeling came rushing back to me last Saturday as I sat through the concert.

It was wonderful.

BB Sunday

Once a year, our church will have BB installment and enrollment service. It's quite a grand affair where the boys will conduct parades in our church, hand out new ranks and awards, and install or reconfirm leaders among the boys. The church will in turn renew her vows to support and help the boys to grow up in the ways of God.

Evangelical Blindness on Lebanon

This is another thought-provoking article sent to me by Hubby. Against the backdrop of the Israeli strikes into Lebanon, I feel myself struggling with what is truly right and what is truly Godly.

I've been brought up with the idea that Israel is God's chosen nation and their return to Palestine in 1949 was Biblical prophecy coming true, nothing short of a miracle from the very throneroom of God. The Bible uses Israel as the central focus when foretelling the future, as if all events leading to the end of history as we know it will revolve around this little nation smacked in the middle of Arab hostility. Thus in all things regarding Israel, I can be said to be biased.

Yet I read this impassioned reflection of a Lebanese Arab Christian now suffering at the hands of the very Israel his God swore to protect and love. And suddenly I'm not so sure anymore.

So I post this article for you to read. It's taken from Christianity Today.

---------------------------------------

Note: When covering international crises, such as the current fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Christianity Today takes care to listen to evangelical Christian leaders in the places most affected. We may find their views corrective, provocative, or even abhorrent at times, but in each case we learn about areas where we stand together and areas where we disagree. In the case of this submission from Martin Accad, academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, there are many areas where we strongly agree, and there are some areas (particularly his characterization of Israel's history and U.S. diplomacy) where we strongly disagree. We present it here to illuminate at least one Lebanese Christian leader's perspective. —Editors.

* * *

By Martin Accad

It is normally easy enough for me to dismiss with a smirk some of the simplistic comments that I constantly read or hear from Christians around the world as pertains to events that are going on in the Middle East. These comments hit much deeper at a time when my country is once again hurting beyond pain, under the murderous aggression of Israeli armed forces for the past five days.

It is striking how normally highly reasonable and spiritually aware people can suddenly lose any sense of ethical, let alone Christian, balance when it comes to Middle East conflicts involving modern political Israel.

"Great. All we need is a nuclear-armed Iran led by a messianic president who hates Israel and believes that apocalyptic destruction is a precursor to global salvation," writes David P. Gushee in a recent Christianity Today online column, in reference to Iran's president Ahmadinejad. On the whole, Gushee's article is fairly balanced from a certain point of view, and I suppose within the limits necessary to avoid being attacked and branded by those in our churches who have but disdain for Arabs.

But how is it that he, like so many others, fails to notice that world events in the last few years—even decades—have had as their main catalyst tens of thousands of evangelical Christians with a "messianic" mentality who believe that apocalyptic destruction of all but their beloved Israel will be "a precursor to global salvation"?

"Nuclear-armed Iran"? How about the Israeli jet planes that are bombing, as I write, my country and its population, my sisters, my brothers, my fathers and mothers and grandfathers, my children and nieces and nephews? According to the Lebanese health minister, Israel is even using phosphoric bombs, which are forbidden under international conventions! Are my people to consider Iran more dangerous than this? Are we safely in good hands with such actions? Come with me to Beirut and see how inoffensive Israel is. Ask the thousands of Western nationals that are presently being evacuated by the shipload. Ask the hundreds of U.S. and other Western missionaries that are running for their lives from Lebanon as you read this, through the most dangerous routes. Ask them whether weapons of any kind are in safe hands in any bloodthirsty human hands. And if they were not bloodthirsty, why would they have them? Why would anyone have them?

In the past, tit for tat has been the only way for any Arab country or armed group to get anything from Israel. So once more last Wednesday, Lebanon's Hezbollah ventured into kidnapping two Israeli soldiers in order to force the hand of Israel into a prisoner exchange. "The actual result," Gushee wrote, "is predictable. Israel responds with massive (sometimes disproportionate) force; civilians get killed accidentally along with intended militants."

"Sometimes disproportionate"?! Talk about an understatement to describe a one-week—and still going—machine of annihilation that has destroyed in days what had taken 15 years of reconstruction. Civilians "killed accidentally"?! Explain that to the young mother squatting right now at my parents' home in Lebanon, having just heard her husband was torn into pieces by an Israeli bomb as he was carrying out civil relief in villages of South Lebanon! But of course these civilians were at fault, since they had been warned by Israeli flyers to evacuate their villages the previous night. But to go where? To my father's living room?! They are welcome, but it's getting really full. Tonight I had my finger hovering over my computer's "send" button for at least one long minute before I was able to bring myself to sending to a few friends who might care to receive them, some of the gruesome images of war, of torn infant flesh from my bleeding country.

And then this wish: that "our own government will undertake policies to help foster a reduction of tensions in the region." Oh what wishful thinking! When did it ever?! When did the U.S. ever use anything other than its veto power at the United Nations, precisely in order to prevent policies and resolutions that might potentially have been helpful to my people?

Please, Christians! Let's grow up and get over our childish wishes. If, like me, you had lived through the 17 years of Lebanese civil strife from 1975 to 1991 and were presently facing the real and gruesome prospect of another extended conflict, you'd be far from hoping and believing in any benevolent and sincere peace efforts of any external broker, supposedly neutral.

I'll tell you, if you care, what I think those governments will help foster. I think that some pseudo-biblically motivated Christians with decision power, who believe "that apocalyptic destruction is a precursor to global salvation," are presently working toward provoking a Middle Eastern conflict of regional significance in order finally to settle accounts with Hezbollah- and Hamas-supporting Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine, who have committed the crime, as Gushee put it, of making their hatred for Israel "crystal clear." And how dare they, since the said state has only been acting as an aggressor and racist colonial state with neighbor-exterminating tendencies from the moment of its inception?

(Of course, I will be accused of being an anti-Semite because of such words. But I will just shrug and sneer at that accusation and say: "What makes you a Semite anyway?" Having just read the holocaust account of Elie Wiesel's Night with tears and deep empathy, having Jewish relatives on my Swiss mother's side who fled Germany to Switzerland during the period of the rise of Nazism, being an Arab Christian with Lebanese paternal ancestry, I have more Semitic DNA in me than most who will be reading this. My ethnic heritage may be a mess, but I can still recognize ethical wrong when I see it!)

As an academic with a Ph.D. from Oxford University and specialist in Christian-Muslim and East-West relations, constantly seeking creative models of conflict resolution and better understanding, all of what I have just written is written in a manner far from what I would normally write or say with a cool head, far from what my Swiss-blood-flowing veins would normally permit me to utter. But then, perhaps academics sometimes owe their readers more genuine feelings, skin-level emotions gushing out of a deeply hurting, frustrated, desperate, and hopeless soul that has had enough of human arrogance and injustice.

Having come to the U.S. at the wrong time to teach a course for two weeks, I find myself at the wrong place at the wrong time, stranded after my country's airport was sent up in flames by Israeli jets. There are two Israeli soldiers imprisoned by Hezbollah hands, 10,000 Arabs in Israeli jails, and one poor soul imprisoned in the U.S. by human madness and bloodthirsty governments.

I am angry at self-centered Hezbollah, which has done the inadmissible of taking a unilateral war decision without consulting the Lebanese government of which it is part, never giving a second thought to the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of Lebanese who will perish as a result of its selfish decision. I am angry that citizens of a nation like Israel, who have so suffered at the hands of others, would allow themselves such an out-of-proportion reaction, oh-so-far from the "eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth" principle that we might have forgiven them. I am just as angry at—I have lost hope in—the international community that is keeping silent and not even budging with an official condemnation of this senseless instinct of extermination. By both sides, I would be lynched for what I have just said, if they had the chance. But what have I got to lose anymore?

Martin Accad is the academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon. He was teaching at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California, last week and is now unable to return home.

The Big Questions

I subscribe to this ecommentary called Grace at Work. This week I received this very thought-provoking message and I want to share it with you. I pray it helps you to begin to question the many de facto values we have been fed in this competitive Singapore society.

------------------------

"Please pray for my children, pray that they will do well in their exams."

Every year around the times of the major government exams, I will receive many emails/text messages that are variations of the above. Worried parents want divine help for their children, not just to pass their exams, but to ace them.

Families of the Chinese diaspora worldwide will recognize this scenario. It is an accepted conviction that education is the path for immigrant Chinese to do well in their adopted countries. It is the road to prosperity and social advancement. This is an accepted belief in many other racial and cultural groups as well.

Parents rarely ask for prayers that their children will discover their vocations, or grow up to be mature compassionate human beings, or be part of God's programme to make the word a better place. These concerns may be assumed or ignored. The real goals here are survival, prosperity, and social advancement.

And we wonder why, generation after generation, things remain very much the same. We have not given our children the encouragement and passion to confront the big questions.

Sharon Daloz Parks spent six years as senior research fellow and visiting professor at Harvard Business School. She was also involved in interviewing entering MBA students. In her article. "How Then Shall We Live?" she writes:

"...although some of these twentysomething young adults had come to business school with thoughtful purpose and meaningful commitments that they expected to live out in the world of ,our commercial institutions, the majority of these bright, talented young adults had been fundamentally cheated. They were already held hostage to assumed lifestyle choices.

No one had initiated them into the great questions of calling and purpose, their lives and their time. No one had asked them to consider: What do I really want the future to look like, for me. for others, for the planet? Why is there a growing gap between the haves and the have-nots?

In this (American) society, why do gross patterns of injustice continue to be legitimated by skin colour? Why are anti depressants being prescribed for an increasing number of children? Why is the prison population growing in our society? What are the reasons for climate change? How will we heal the rupture between science and religion? How shall we practice commerce and design governance in the life of the new commons?"

I am sure readers of this column can put together their own list of similar big questions wherever you may be on planet earth.

Parents encourage their children to excel for the best of motives. They know that life in the real world is tough. Immigrant communities in particular understand this. Yet, by not encouraging their children to connect with the big questions of life, parents are not doing justice to the world we have to live in, or to their children.

Christian parents in particular, who should know that life is much more than survival and prosperity, are doing a great disservice to the cause of Christ when we do not encourage our children to pursue the big questions of life.

Unconnected to God's purposes and vocation, our young adults graduate and work their butts off in the exhausting world of the new economy. Initially the thrill of making their mark in the world, and the rewards of money and status, keep them running. But you can run on vocational empty only for so long. Then you crash. Many burn out in their early thirties or even younger. No wonder "...one third of workers ages 25
to 39 already felt burned out by their jobs" (November 2005 Harris Interactive poll).

In my work I have the opportunity to befriend some of these young adults in their early 30s. Many are in different stages of burnout. This is due partly to their neglect of a healthy work-life rhythm. But a lot of it can be traced to exhausting work which is not linked to the big questions of life. Burnout comes because people work hard but are not sure what it's all for. They don't have time to reflect on the big questions nor are they encouraged to do so.

Christianity has the answers. We are called to enter into a relationship with the living God. We are called to give our lives to bless others. Christianity is a journey full of meaning.

Unfortunately many churches give the impression that the big questions only involve what is happening within the walls of the institutional church. Many churches function with a de facto dichotomy between sacred life and secular life. They end up giving little help to believers as they struggle with the great questions of life. We try to plug them into the church machinery but give them little help to connect their daily lives, their Monday to Saturday lives, with the big questions of life, and with God's answers.

Sometimes the world seem to appreciate the value of the gospel more than those within the church. In a recent article in Newsweek magazine ("Strength From Their Faith", International Edition, July 24, 2006, pp. 28-29) Sarah Schafer and Jonathan Ansfield note the growing number of political activists in China who are embracing Christianity.

They note that "These democracy and human-rights advocates embrace Christianity because they are activists and not the other way round." A young Chinese lawyer noted "Christianity's role in promoting freedom, democracy and respect for human rights around the world. He found that he believed in these principles too and realized that he'd discovered a deep system of values that resonated with his life and work."

The same article also mentions Yu Jie, a dissident writer who came to Christ through the influence of his wife. Yu "admired Jesus' philosophy of nonviolent resistance. And he liked the idea of change fueled by love rather than hate." Yu said: "I had to find a new belief. Democracy is only a political system. Of course I would fight to the end for democracy, but it can't bring spiritual happiness."

We live in critical times. The carnage resumes in Sri Lanka and the Middle East. The citizens of countries as disparate as the United States and Malaysia find themselves increasingly divided and with growing tensions accompanying the polarization. Daily we face new signs of global climate change. How can we, with any good conscience, let our children think it is business as usual and let them think that education is only a passport to prosperity and privilege, an endeavour totally unrelated to the big questions of life?

I am just thinking as to what I should do the next time someone asks me to pray for their child's educational success. I think I will first ask why.

Why do they want their child to do well in school?
For what purpose?
For whose glory?

tesing via gmail

testing from gmail acct.

tesing via email again

Message Classification: Unclassified

hope this turns out ok.

Transubstantiation

The other day in Lutheranism class I learnt about Transubstantiation.

Transubstantiation is a Roman Catholic Theology about Holy Communion, also called Mass.

I think only the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches hold to this theology.

Ok so what is it?

Transubstantiation teaches that during Holy Communion the bread and wine turn into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Transubstantiation finds its roots in Aristotle’s philosophy of a distinction between “substance” and “accidents”.

“Substance” is the unchanging essential inner reality while “Accidents” are the outward perceptible appearances.

Think of it this way – your soul is like the “substance” of who you really are. Even if you exist in a different body (“accidents”), you are still you.
So in Aristotle's philosophy, even non living things have substance and accidents.

Got it?

So in the theology of Transubstantiation, the RCC teaches that during mass/HC, the substance of the bread and the wine transforms into the real substance of Christ’s body and blood. But the accidents of the bread and wine remain the same.

So the person taking communion tastes normal bread and normal wine but is actually imbibing the real substance of Christ.

So now that Christ is present in the elements, the elements become very sacred and the fear arose that people might spill Christ's blood unintentionally. That would be desecration. So the Cup is witheld from the masses. That's why in catholic churches, worshippers do not drink the wine.

One question then often arises is WHEN exactly does the transformation of substance take place?

Answer: When the eucharist (person serving HC) utters the words “This is my body… This is my blood.” At that specific moment – the substance of the bread and wine is miraculously and fully transformed, replaced with the real substance/presence of Christ’s body and blood.

In Catholic church, it is the priest who has the "power" or "authority" to effect the transformation.

Hope this is not confusing.

Lutherans don't believe in Transubstantiation. So what do Lutherans believe? I have to study more coz our stand is a little confusing. Talk more about it in another blog.

testing via email

testing post via email

in the sanctuary of GOD

Lutheranism Class

Tonight I attended the second lesson of the Lutheranism Class.

Among the many subjects we touched on, the Sacrament of Holy Communion was one that generated a lot of discussion.

How do Lutherans see the Holy Communion?

OK even though I sat through 1 hr of this, I'm still a little confused. But I'll just pen down what I took away from class tonight.

1) Lutherans believe that the substance of Christ's body and blood are received into the bread and wine during Communion.

2) This process happens because of Christ promises in the Bible. Not because the priest has some magic authority to make this happen.

3) This means that the bread and wine we take on Sundays is not merely wafer and wine. It does contain the real body and blood of Jesus Christ.

4) The Apostle Paul also understood the bread and wine to mean the real substance of Christ's body and blood.

5) So when we partake the real body and blood of Jesus, we are receiving Him into our body. It is not merely a rememberance ritual, as many churches believe.

Ok. That's just the very basic. I still have much more to learn. Will write more when I learn more.

BTW you may ask what is a sacrament.

A sacrament is an outward sign of an invisible grace. It is an act commanded by Christ and it must have divinely instituted symbols and it must carry a promise. This promise is received by faith on the part of the christian.

So strictly speaking, to Luther, only Baptism and Holy Communion are sacraments.

More Superman trivia

This is a followup on my somewhat-related previous entry about the "S" found on Kal-el's chest.

That "S" that we see is actually NOT a letter in our human alphabet. Let me repeat. That "S" is not English.

It is instead a symbol of superman's alien family. It's is his family crest.

Ok now you know. Go wow your friends with this tidbit of info. keke...

Of course you must realise that I'm getting all these information from 2 colleagues who are absolute comic book fans. I consider them the wikipedia of the comic book universe.

Bad dream

Woke up after a nightmare.

Dreamt of my boss telling me how badly I'm faring at work.

Darn! I think I'm really under stress.

They say that dreams are the consciousness of your soul when you're asleep. It is quite true. Recently I've been feeling very disorganised and very disoriented. I scramble to work in the mornings and come home late in the evenings, only to scramble the next morning again.

I'm constantly sleepy at work.

There is a lack of peace and inner space and that really bothers me now.

I'm definitely way off balance.

Feel like crawling into some hole and disappearing for a while. Closing myself off to the rest of the world.

Guess that will have to wait until after the trip to Russia and the exhibition.

Superman's Super tight shirt

Ever wondered why Superman likes wearing his spandex outfit?

Question: Why is Superman's clothes so tight?
Me: Dunno. Why?
Answer: Because he wears size "S"!

*can laughter* - *Slap forehead*

Ok now for the REAL reason.

Superman's cells have a forcefield shield protecting them from harm. That's why Superman never gets hurt. In order for Superman's clothes to also be super indestructible, they have to be as close to his cells as possible so that the forcefield can shield them too. Hence they are so tight!

Got it?
Smart hor?

Wrong number

Got a call on my hp this morning.

Me: Hello.
Stranger: Hello?
Me: Hello? Yes? Who is this?
Stranger: Hello?
Me: Yes?

Kapomb. Stranger hung up.

So rude of this person. The least she could have done was say "Sorry wrong number."

I called back with half a mind to chide the person for being so rude. An Indian man answered. He asked around to see who called me and said, "Oh it was a wrong number." Kapomb.

Me: ......???

Russia Here I come!

Yipee! Can't wait for August :)

Saying Goodbye
Today I finally sold my CP5000. Brought it to cash converters in Toa Payoh.

It felt slightly painful to part with her. Afterall she did accompany me in the beginning phases of my photography journey and she was such a trusty companion, albeit temperamental at times.

Well, that's life I guess.

Goodbye CP5000. I will always rembember you.
As a final tribute to her, I've uploaded some photos seen through her lens.

Fun Evening

I had so much fun tonight.

First we caught Superman, the world's favourite superhero, and may I add, the most dashing?

It was quite thrilling really. When I saw him try to stop a plane from spiralling into a baseball park full of spectators, or save Lois Lane from drowning in a yacht, I yelped loudly in excitement. Wow. What a ride!

I do slightly regret not catching it in Omni theatre instead. Would have been far more heartstopping I'm sure.

Brandon Routh, the star of Superman shares my birthday! keke...


But of course I must say I didn't miss the allusions the producers made between superman and Christ - Superman was referred to as the "son" and the "saviour" of the world. Told Hubby I found the show rather blasphemous. But of course when Mr Routh flashed that million dollar smile, I forgot all these theological mumbo jumbo.

We later stopped by an arcade where we played Puzzle Bobble ( dun larff lah...) and lost a few dollars there. I'm very very bad at Puzzle Bobble. Hubby was much better even tho it was his first encounter with the game.

The basketball shooting machine was super cool. I could not stop giggling as I practised my shots. Got a bit better with time and soon I was shooting baskets like Kobe Bryant :) Of course when the basket started moving, it was a different story altogether.

When was the last time we had such a fun date? Can't recall.

Mental note: Should do this more often.

A Change of Regime

Came into work early today.

Got a stern sacarstic email from the top boss.
Our group report was rejected. Totally decimated by her.

What a way to start the day. Sigh...

The thing is, I agree with her. That report was really crappy.

Well at least I'm glad she's the discerning type. Very good for our unit but bad for individuals who can't make the cut.

Our previous boss was so undiscerning, you could submit a GP essay and she wouldn't know the difference. It was easy working under her.

A Korean I like

I'm as busy as a bee today but still must take some time out to blog. Think this qualifies me as Blogging Addict? Do you reckon they will start a BA (Blogger Anonymous) soon? keke...

Anyway, my dear sis-in-law, Lil Ms Snooze, recently seems to be going ga-ga over Korean actor Daniel Henney. I've included his pic here for you so you know why she finds him totally hot. Then again with a face and toothy grin like that, who wouldn't? Even my 90-year-old grandma will find him appealing.

But the entrée of this entry is really about another Korean actor that I like. I woke up this morning thinking about him. Weird huh. So I thot I should share him with the rest of the world, my blogging world that is.

Jeong Woo-seong. That's his name. Simple name. Nothing fanciful like ... Henney =P

In case you're wondering, he's 33 this year.



So far I've only seen 2 movies he's starred in.

In Daisy, he was a professional assassin who was secretly in love with a young street painter. Even as he could only love her from a distance, he still tried to find ways to express himself, primarily through acts of service and love. He left a pot of daisies outside her shop every day without fail. Hence the title of the show. It's a beautifully made film. Very lyrical in some parts. You should catch it if you haven't yet.

In A Moment to Remember, he was a renegade who found hope and self-worth through a girl only to later find that she had developed Alzheimer's. He then became that faithful relentless husband who abandoned everything to be with her, even when she did not remember him anymore. I remember weeping unabashedly when watching A Moment to Remember. One of the best Korean movies I've ever watched. Good stuff.



Jeong Woo-seong is not exceptionally good looking. Not your regular run-of-the-mill hunk. Neither is he some urbane metrosexual. But for me he exudes a kind of raw charisma and magnetism. There's something very appealing about him. A kind of "come-what-may" attitude that I find totally sexy.

He feels like a man who is in touch with nature, not in the new age snag sense but in a very earthy swarthy sense. I can easily imagine him in fadeout overalls working as an artist or farmer. Keke... my heart goes all mushy and fluttery when I think of him in the 2 movies mentioned above.



I will definitely be catching more of his movies. Btw, his acting is very good too. Very intense. Exactly the way I like it :)

Lunch

Lunch today was lovingly prepared and packed by Hubby.

Softmeal Roast Chicken Salad Sandwich

topped with savoury Japanese mayo.

Sluurp. Simple but Delicious.

Savoured every crumb of it.

Going back to school

Tonight I'll be attending my first ever lecture at Trinity Theological College (TTC). Can't recall the last time I attended a lecture. Would Pastor Chang's sermons count?

Actually I'm not too excited about the class tonight because I've been super duper busy these past few weeks and the thought of spending another precious night out just doesn't do it for me.

The topic of the lecture: Lutheran Distinctive.

Yep, I'm sure you know how I feel.

Well I initially signed up for this course because I really felt I should be learning more about the theology of the Lutheran Church. I've been attending a lutheran church all my life and I don't know what lutherans believe in. Plus speaking to calvanists like Beowulf has made me realise how little I know about my own christian heritage. Heck, I think I know more about the African Savanna than I do the Lutheran Church.

Thankfully mum and Hubby will be attending too so I'll have company. Mum is super motivated and Hubby has no choice because it's an examinable topic for him.

See how I surround myself with people who will keep me going when I'm feeling down and out?

Oh I do hope Dr Truscott will be an interesting lecturer.

Tonight I embark on a journey of lutheran discovery. I hope I like what I find.

Post World Cup drowsiness

It is so quiet at work today. No cookies for guessing the reason. Half my office has taken leave to rest from the post world cup excitement.

Arrgghh...I'm finding it hard to concentrate at work now. The long match early this morning, which went all the way to penalty shootout, really tested my endurance. My eyelids are so heavy now i need toothpicks to keep them apart. And it certainly doesn't help that I'm rehashing a colleague's report that is so badly written.

So Italy are the new World Cup champions.

I was not rooting for either teams in this WC so the match was not as exciting for me but I sure beanbean is ecstatic at Italy's victory :) If I really had to choose, I would have supported France. Felt they had more control of the ball overall and therefore deserved to win.

The Zidane head butt was a real shame. I wonder what triggered him off to use his shiny crown on another man's chest. With his head he brought glory to France and with it he brought disgrace. Bald heads are such a double-edged sword... ok ok that was lame.i know.

Enough of a break. Now it's back to the report.... *faint ah*

sigh...

Federer wins his fourth Wimbledon!

I am so happy :)
Hubby is so sad :(

It was an excruciatingly painful match to watch with Nadal being such a strong opponent. But I'm glad it's finally over.

Nadal is definitely a player to watch. That young matador is like a force of nature. His play was unbelievable and his dogged determination and mental prowess are definitely a plus to his powerful strokes. Look at those deltoids. I'd bet there isn't an inch of excess fat on this 20 year old's body.

Rush

I was suddenly overcome by a rush to work with photoshop.

A feverish drive pushing me, sustaining me, draining me - all at the same time.

Now I'm spent.

Art is both love and friendship and understanding: the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of things. It is more than kindness, which is the giving of self. It is both the taking and giving of beauty, the turning out to the light of the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit. It is a recreation on another plane of the realities of the world; the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men, and of all the interrelations of these.

- Ansel Adams

dum dum de dum...

Just returned from a wedding of a couple I do not know. Don't ask.

So funny...when it was time for the groom to kiss the bride, he kissed her so passionately on the lips and looked set to deepen the lip lock but the bride pulled away in embarassment.

Chuckles from the audience.

It's ok. I'm sure she'll make it up to him tonight. keke...

Cinderella

Popped this 1950 classic in our DVD player last night.
Sigh...the magic of some things just never fade away.

Why dogs attack their owners

Thanks to Green Tea for the images :) keke...

Strange Encounter

 

Hubby and me walking to mum's car.

 

Stranger: (aggressively hokkien) Hey! is this your car? your car?

Us: *huh? look. talking to us?*

Stranger: your car?

Us: er... yar (?)

Stranger: Come out 4D last week ah!

 

This guy could even tell us which cars in the carpark had numbers that always appeared in 4D draws.

 

It's a different world out there man!

Post Reno Ramblings - My bed

 

We threw away our bedhead so now we only have a skeletal bed frame with a mattress on it.

This unit is parked right in the middle of my master bedroom, far far away from the 4 walls.

 

I LURVE the feeling of sleeping on a large king size bed that is not flushed against some wall and is not framed by a bedhead. When I lie on it, I can dangle my arms and legs from any side and I won't hit a thing.

 

Plus my bed linens are the same colour as my wall and my cabinet (sheer milky white). So everything seems to flow into each other, creating a seamless harmony to the room.

 

It feels like I'm suspended in the middle of nowhere. Like I'm floating on a platform boat in the middle of an ocean.

 

It's a wonderfully free feeling.

But I must admit that this also creates a strange sense of insecurity.

So the combination of both is simply exhilarating.

 

Strange how a simple bed reorientation can create such wonderous experiences.

 

(But Hubby hates it.)

A thoughtful encounter

 

Death.

 

A subject not many people like to think about.

 

In the daily living of our lives, most of us are removed from this subject, this eventual reality we all have to face one day. Death is not an experience that can be shared or recounted, like cancer. Once a person dies, he dies. No one knows what it is like to be there, to cross over from the realm of the living to the eternal. To put it cheekily, for all of us, death will be a novel experience. A once-in-a-lifetime, never to be repeated encounter.

 

Yesterday as I stood at the foot of a hospital bed watching a ninety-year-old man hovering between life and death, I wondered what was going on in his mind. Doctors said he would not survive the night. Did he know that? Was he afraid? What is it like to just stop breathing? As his relatives crowded around his bed, I could tell he was trying very hard to respond to them, but he was physically unable to. It must be such a torment to be conscious of your surroundings and yet not be able to respond to it.Was his inner man screaming out to be heard? Did he have any last words he wanted to convey?

 

A more important concern I had was whether this old man knew Jesus. Did he know of the saving grace of God? At this crucial moment where he may cross over to eternity in the twinkling of an eye, all the grand philosophical arguments about religions and pluralism fade into the background. There simply was no time to be wasted in convincing the relatives about the rightness of Christ.

 

The eternal destination of this old man lies in his acceptance of Jesus right now, right here.

 

Even if it means we (the christians) will be forcibly dragged out of the room by the non-believers, or be treated with contempt by people who see us as unscrupulous opportunists, we WILL still share the gospel because it's not about us or our reputation, it's about the reality that this old man may die without knowing about God's forgiveness.

 

The choice between heaven and hell has to be made NOW. This was no time to be politically correct or to be polite and "gracious". It was no time for passive observation. If we truly believed in what Jesus says about heaven and hell, then the reality of this man's very precarious situation will compel us to do something drastic to tip the scale in favour of eternal reunion with God. And that was to share the gospel with this man.

 

I could literally hear the seconds tick, amplified; the countdown of his bioclock before he met his maker.

 

Well it turns out that this old man had believed in Jesus before his condition had deteriorated. That was enough for us. Even if the majority of his family objected and would insist on a pagan funeral, it's ok with us. The important thing is his soul is with God where there is eternal joy and peace. That's what is truly important.

 

Christianity's obsession with conversion is not about control or an obsession with numbers as some would believe. It's not about promulgating a certain worldview so as to gain increasing political and social clout.

 

Christianity's obsession with conversion is simply the hope that a human being can be reconciled with his maker and spend eternity with God. It's that simple.

 

What would you do if you witnessed an accident and the victim was in very bad shape? Being a good fellow citizen, the first thing you would do is to call the ambulance and try to make the victim as comfortable as possible. But after calling an ambulance, would you share Christ, just in case the ambulance doesn't arrive in time? Would you stop at just being a good citizen or would you also remember you are a Christian too?

Yet another Lomo

Experimental Lomo

A lomo (or otherwise known as cross-processing) effect applied to a photo. Has a very retro urban feel?

World Cup hangover

It's almost 1 am. Why am I still up? Why am I not sleepy?

Looks like my nocturnal habits have been altered by the World Cup.

One-ninetyfour

Finally I'm seeing the end of the tunnel, the light of day.

Nopz not referring to World Cup though my sleep schedule has been majorly disrupted by it.

It's my reno! It's finally finishing. Tomorrow the cleaners will come to wash up the place and the plumber to put the finishing touches on the sink. Then one-ninetyfour is finally home again.

Tonight I'll be moving back to my place and it does feel a little weird. For those of you who know, I've been bunking at my parents' home for the last 1 month. Now that I'm finally moving back to one-ninetyfour it feels like I'm getting married all over again and I feel so sad to leave my parents' place. While I enjoy the independence of having my own home, I think I miss staying under mum and dad's roof, being their daughter again.

OK one-ninetyfour is an official mess. There's like dust everywhere and all my stuff is strewn all over. Not unlike the aftermath of a hurricane storm. Since I'm never good at cleaning up messes like this, I'm just relying heavily on Hubby who is the Commander-in-Chief :) of this project. He barks out the instructions and I follow. No questions asked. But thank God Hubby is the hands-on type of Commander rather than the talk-only type. I dun think the vacuum cleaner has been used this much since we got married 5 years ago. Everyday Hubby's just working up a good sweat doing all the heavy cleaning work. Wow! I married a great guy!

Dan, Mark and my favourite pianist all came over to help us shift some bulky monsters. Thank God for such strong enthusiastic young men :)

Actually with this reno work and Love Cambodia both taking place around the same period, I'm surprised I could actually cope. Not to mention heavier-than-usual work commitments. Thank God.

Guys, please pray for the Love Cambodia exhibition. Pray that the Lord will use it to His Glory and His Work. This exhibition is really a labour of love that the mission team is offering to the Lord. We hope He is pleased and He would multiply the works of our hands.

OK going for dinner now. Then it's back to the broom and mop.

...

England

is

going

home

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