Mi Choza De Nipa: 07/22/2007

Have you ever noticed that food is now tastier, and the vegetables greener?

Have you now noticed that the table is rendered empty after every meal?

Maybe, the kids are growing and they consume more.

Or maybe, the cooking has improved dramatically.

Or maybe, the amount prepared and served is less than before…

Or is it all maybe due to the 2% GST increase? Now 7%?

Remembrance of National Day

For a few nights now, I’ve been seeing the news, and before the cast is ended,

there is always the Quiz that is given to all viewers, but only applies to citizens.

It is the whereabouts and whatabouts of this year’s celebration.

Of course, those who answer correctly, and are selected when their SMS is received,

also get a prize, either a ticket to the program, or some other tangible items.

It was then that I realize the organizers’ reason behind for their throwing this

Quiz, which is, if I can recall correctly, every year. Year after year, they hold this quiz.

It is not so much on the prizes. It is not so much on the head knowledge of the people.

It goes much deeper. It is their appreciation of their independence. It is about their

involvement and participation. It is, on top of it all, about their citizenship.

The government is on the right track of educating and promoting to their citizens

the sense of being a patriot – even to some extent, nationalist. My ethics teacher

differentiated many years ago a patriot and a nationalist. He knows very well

the meaning of these 2 words; he was a nationalist, having studied in UP…

Patriot – one who loves his country

Nationalist – one who loves his country, and harbors contempt on other countries

I feel jealous about this country where I am currently in. As for my home country,

honestly I can’t recall something like this, or maybe, I’m not paying attention anymore.

The news usually dwells on the blunders and problems of leaders. The radio announcers

are very much adept in attacking the personalities found to be doing wrong. Most of the

time, it is the poor side of the government that is receiving the limelight. The good,

the achievements, the accomplishments, the feats, they are usually given a line or two.

Or, they would be shown on special programs. I think it will be better the other way around.

Who can save my homeland?

Purity...

Today, I told my eldest daughter to pass in her second application for exemption

from offering mother tongue language to her school admin. I was joking her, that,

were she asked further, she’d take Yalam instead of the Oriental tongue she is now

taking. To top the joke, I imitated the way these guys talk – which is very emphatic!

Then, I remembered a very famous singer from this race. She is indeed a good singer.

She is SN. Here is Gapor, where the races are mixed, we have various artists in the

different entertainment industries as well. So you can take your pick. Naturally, our

pretty miss have her own fans, and the artists have theirs as well. Recalling one article

that was written about Ms SN, she is compared alongside the other so-called singers

of the other skin color. She was favored. Because of this, because of that, blah, blah, blah.

The punch line is this; her fame is due to her purity onstage. She doesn’t need to ‘undress’

to attract her spectator fans, to draw a big crowd, and so on.

She is good, indeed. She has staged performances here and abroad. She has released many

albums. She is a consistent stage performer here in the other land. Her face is almost always

a common sight in TV shows, like Najip Ali in Malaysia, and Gurmit Singh in Singapore.

And this for years that I’ve known her since I came here in this foreign land.

Except that, a year ago, when the time came for her to receive a marriage proposal,

some things simply don’t tie up with her supposed purity. The stage was divided right

in the middle. Her proponents said that she did that because she is pure, the opponents,

on the other hand, is attacking her so-called ‘purity’, as to ‘why’ of her doing that.

The issue? The guy is already married, and, notwithstanding that their belief allows them

to have multiple wives, our Ms SN simply does not like being Number Two. The antagonists

roared, “How can you say she is ‘pure’ when she can destroy a marriage by demanding

that the man divorce the present wife?!”

Well, as Murphy’s law dictates, anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

The present wife was divorced. No problem for the man – very, very rich.

He marries our Ms SN, not as second wife, but First Lady. The she got pregnant. And so on.

Maybe, just maybe, the meaning of purity is subjective after all…

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

How to Recruit the Right Person for the Job

Well, it might sound serious, but this is a joke…

HOW TO RECRUIT THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB

Put about 100 bricks in some particular order in a closed room

with an open window. Then send 2 or 3 candidates in the room and close the door.

Leave them alone and come back after 6 hours and then analyze the situation.

If they are counting the bricks –

put them in the accounts department.

If they are recounting them –

put them in auditing.

If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks –

put them in engineering.

If they are arranging the bricks in some strange order –

put them in planning.

If they are throwing the bricks at each other –

put them in operations.

If they are sleeping –

put them in security.

If they have broken the bricks into pieces –

put them in information technology.

If they are sitting idle –

put them in human resources.

If they say they have tried different combinations,

yet not a brick has been moved –

put them in sales.

If they have already left for the day –

put them in marketing.

If they are staring out of the window –

put them on strategic planning.

And then last but not least.

If they are talking to each other and not a single brick

has been moved. Congratulate them, and –

put them in top management.

Best Explanation Ever!

BEST EXPLANATION EVER!

This is one of the best explanations of why God allows

pain and suffering that I have seen:

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and

his beard trimmed.

As the barber began to work, they began to have a good

conversation. They talked about so many things and

various subjects.

When they eventually touched on the subject of God,

the barber said:

"I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

The said, "Well, you just have to go out in the street

to realize that God doesn't exist.

The barber went further, tell me, if God exists, would

there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned

children? If God existed, there would be neither

suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who

would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond

because he didn't want to start an argument.

The barber finished his job and the customer left the

shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man

in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an

untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The

customer turned back and entered the barber shop again

and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do

not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I

am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist

because if they did, there would be no people with

dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man

outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when

people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point!

God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people

do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help.

That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the

world."

BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

Believing and Seeing

Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.

--St. Augustine

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Service, Humility, and Bowing Down (literally)

After reading on the article about the characterisitics of eagles and how it relates to Isaiah 40:31,

I am reminded of what my ‘diko’ always say, when it comes to keeping your cool, especially at times

when the person you are having quarrel with is a family member:

“When you are getting full and about to spill out, stoop and bow down. That will empty you out.”

That is an amazing precept. Especially if you are hearing it from a drunkard…

Now, to the point itself.

Having gone through the Discipline of Service, we have learned that the most conducive discipline

to the building up of the virtue of humility is none other than the discipline of service.

1. When you serve, you become lowly.

2. When you serve in secret and hiddenness, it is a fatal blow to pride.

In most cases of serving, especially when it comes to serving in physical terms, you don’t assume a

position of king, but a servant. That means you are stooping and bowing down most of the time.

This is very much in contrast to a king’s proud and lofty posture; a king is most of the time in an

attitude of ‘lording it over’ his subjects. Not so with the servant. The servant serves all – even

fellow servants. Why? Because when a servant is stooping down, and bowed down, the eyes

is no longer looking across, horizontally, but is looking down, vertically, but down. The focus

is no longer on who is being served, but, in all the pureness of the act, at the service being rendered.

So how can a servant be hyped up, become proud and arrogant? In no means! A person can be filled up,

become proud and conceited, if he never bows down no matter what. But a servant who has assumed

the lowly position of stooping and bowing down, does not, in any moment or chance, even gather up

a trickle of pride in himself. Not a drip of arrogance is accumulated in his head and heart. Not in

any moment. So long as he continues with the servant stance. Furthermore, a servant does not

look at the master in the eyes; he looks at the master’s hands, awaiting the slightest signal or summon.

In the end, service ties up with humility, which is regenerative of the servant spirit and attitude.

Having chosen the bowing position, a servant is never in a position to gather pride, and even then,

in the act of serving, the servant spills out the prideful spirit, in turn, increases his humility.

Isaiah 40:31 and Characteristics of an eagle

It helps us understand Isaiah 40:31 more after reading this.

Characteristics of an eagle:

Eagles are the most long-lived bird in the world. By the time they reach 40 years old,

their claws start to age, losing their effectiveness making it hard for them to catch

their prey. The lifespan of an eagle is up to 70 years old. But in order to live this long,

the eagle must make the toughest decision when it's at 40.

Their beaks begin to grow long and curvy to the point that it reaches its chest.

Its wings are extremely heavy due to thickened and long feathers making flying

extremely difficult. The eagle is left with 2 choices - do nothing and await its death, or,

go through a painful period of transformation and renewal.

For 150 days, it will first train itself to fly beyond the high mountains, build and live

in its nest and cease all flying activities. It then begins to knock its beak against granite rocks

till its old beak is completely removed. When the new beak is grown, the eagle would use it

to remove all its old claws and wait quietly for all new claws to be fully grown. When the

new claws are fully grown it would use these to remove all its feathers, one by one.

5 months later, when the new feathers are fully grown, with renewed strength,

it begins soaring in the sky yet once again and is able to live for the next 30 years.

In life, an individual, in a ministry, or even in an organization, sometimes, we have to

learn to make difficult decisions so as make room for changes. Changes bring about renewal.

And the only way for us to soar again is to let go of old ways, old habits, and old life.

For as long as we are prepared to put aside all our old baggages (past glory or shame,

past success or failures), be willing to become zero, with an empty cup mentality,

we will be able to discover our potentials and head towards a renewed perspective

in any aspect of our lives. Yet at the same time, I am also reminded of Isaiah 40:31,

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings

like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I used to wonder why the Lord would associate those who wait upon him with the eagle

and not other birds like peacocks, chickens or turkeys (he, he). It's only when I read this

that I know - God has intended that we should soar on wings like eagles, run and not be weary,

walk and not faint. But this could only be possible when we hope and wait in Him

to renew our strength and be prepared to be molded all over again - be zero again,

be still again, and be quiet again. And the journey of renewal will be painful and

it requires an attitude of 5 words – “I want, I am willing”.

May this sharing encourage you all.

Finally, “be bold, be strong for the Lord Thy God is with You”.

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

Steamed See Bass

Steamed Sea Bass

Steamed sea bass is a very nice dish. The way that it is cooked ensures that

all the vitamins and minerals are locked in – the nutrients are preserved.

And this recipe is the simplest than can be.

Ingredients:

Sea bass, about 1kg

Garlic, just a small lump

Spring onion, about 4 heads

Tomato, 2

Sesame oil

Soy sauce

Salt

Aluminum container, round

Aluminum foil

Preparation:

1. Have the scales and gills of the fish removed. Rub salt.

2. Clean, then cut the spring onion into half.

a. The top half, cut further into smaller pieces.

b. Leave the bottom part as is.

3. Peel the skin of the garlic, then slice thin; can be sliced into thin sticks also.

4. Cut the tomato into small pieces.

Method:

1. Set the sea bass into the aluminum container.

2. Sprinkle a bit of soy sauce.

3. Add a dash of sesame oil.

4. Throw in the garlic around the container.

5. Scatter the tomatoes around the fish.

6. Distribute nicely the bottom part spring onion.

7. Sprinkle the top part spring onion.

8. Cover the container with aluminum foil.

9. Select a pot that can contain the aluminum container just right.

10. Put in a cup or 2 of tap water in the pot; making sure that there is enough for making steam.

11. Heat up cooker to about 180C, leave for 20 minutes.

12. Turn off the heat, and let the pot stand for about 5 minutes.

13. Serve!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Election vs Predestination

What does the Bible teach about election?

(also in http://www.gty.org/resources.php?section=issues&aid=176438)

Election is the act of God whereby in eternity past He chose those who will be saved. Election is unconditional, because it does not depend on anything outside of God, such as good works or foreseen faith (Romans 9:16). This doctrine is repeatedly taught in the Bible, and is also demanded by our knowledge of God. To begin with, let's look at the biblical evidence.

The Bible says prior to salvation, all people are dead in sin—spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). In this state of death, the sinner is utterly unable to respond to any spiritual stimulus and therefore unable to love God, obey Him, or please Him in any way. Scripture says the mind of every unbeliever "is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8, emphasis added). That describes a state of total hopelessness: spiritual death.

The effect of all this is that no sinner can ever make the first move in the salvation process. This is what Jesus meant in John 6:44, when He said, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him."

This is also why the Bible repeatedly stresses that salvation is wholly God's work. Consider these passages:

In Acts 13:48 we read, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."
Acts 16:14 tells us that Lydia was saved when, "... the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul."
Romans 8:29-30 states, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
Ephesians 1:4-5,11 reads, "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will ... also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will."
Ephesians 2:8 says even our faith is a gift from God.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, the apostle Paul tells his readers, "God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation."
Second Timothy 1:9 informs us that God "has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity."

Occasionally someone will suggest that God's election is based on His foreknowledge of certain events. This argument suggests that God simply looks into the future to see who will believe, and He chooses those whom He sees choosing Him. Notice that 1 Peter 1:2 says the elect are chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father," and Romans 8:29 says, "whom He foreknew, He also predestined." And if divine foreknowledge simply means God's knowledge of what will happen in advance, then these arguments may appear to have some weight behind them.

But that is not the biblical meaning of "foreknowledge." When the Bible speaks of God's foreknowledge, it refers to God's establishment of a love relationship with that person. The word know, in both the Old and New Testament, refers to much more than mere cognitive knowledge of a person. Such passages as Hosea 13:4-5; Amos 3:2 (KJV); and Romans 11:2 clearly indicate this. For example, 1 Peter 1:20 says Christ was "foreknown before the foundation of the world." Surely this means more than that God the Father looked into the future to behold Christ! It means He had an eternal, loving relationship with Him. The same is true of the elect, whom we are told God "foreknew" (Romans 8:29). That means He knew them—he loved them—before the foundation of the world.

If God's choice of the elect is unconditional, does this rule out human responsibility? Paul asks and answers that very question in Romans 9:19-20. He says God's choice of the elect is an act of mercy. Left to themselves, even the elect would persist in sin and be lost, because they are taken from the same fallen lump of clay as the rest of humanity. God alone is responsible for their salvation, but that does not eradicate the responsibility of those who persist in sin and are lost—because they do it willfully, and not under compulsion. They are responsible for their sin, not God.

The Bible affirms human responsibility right alongside the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Moreover, the offer of mercy in the gospel is extended to all alike. Isaiah 55:1 and Revelation 22:17 call "whosoever will" to be saved. Isaiah 45:22 and Acts 17:30 command all men to turn to God, repent and be saved. First Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9 tell us that God is not willing that any should perish, but desires that all should be saved. Finally, the Lord Jesus said that, "the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:37).

In summary, we can say that God has had a special love relationship with the elect from all eternity, and on the basis of that love relationship chosen them for salvation. The ultimate question of why God chose some for salvation and left others in their sinful state is one that we, with our finite knowledge, cannot answer. We do know that God's attributes always are in perfect harmony with each other, so that God's sovereignty will always operate in perfect harmony with His goodness, love, wisdom, and justice.

For further study on this crucial question, consider these resources:

J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1961).
John MacArthur, The God Who Loves (Dallas: Word, 1996).
John MacArthur, The Love of God

Mi Choza De Nipa

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Have You Ever Noticed?