Tuesday, November 20, 2007
And ask and you shell receive..
Mantou at 12:08 AM
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Monday, November 19, 2007
Don't you wish you had a com like this..
Mantou at 11:58 PM
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What a close shave..
I am so glad I took a pic of the Wordplay last night! When I walked past it again today, it was down already! You won't always noe what you've missed but when you get an opportunity to capture a moment don't let it slip past man. It won't always be there for you. Haha..Mantou at 11:48 PM
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
It's only words
Sometimes it's amazing how little things amuse me. But I like the wall at the walkway to Esplanade. From time to time they always display interesting art. This is another of my pet fave; wordplay. Some other day when I'm free I shall attempt to post one combi as well. It's therapeutic sometimes. =) For now, I just am here to blog. The week's over, a new one's beginning. Soon the year will be over and a new one will be ushered in. How time flies. Next week is a week to gear up at work. I have a feeling that this week is for next week. Haha.. As in this week's rest and fun was to prepare me for a crazy week up ahead. I take comfort in the fact that I'm not the only coining next week as crazy. Practically half my cell is taking exams, and another half my friends outside are in the same boat too. Haha.. Let's all get through the week! Full steam ahead! Keep the pace people! We can do it if we try. We can ace it if we pray. So cheerleader hor.. Can't stand it.Mantou at 11:12 PM
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Friday, November 16, 2007
Food for thought; gastronomic analogy
"In Life, we basically digest experience; we walk through it, take it in, use what is useful, and eliminate the waste." How People Grow, Drs. Henry Cloud and John TownsendMantou at 10:54 PM
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The controversy of truth
Is God Schizophrenic? Why All Religions Cannot Point to GodUnderstanding the Law of Non-Contradiction
By Joseph Mattera
September 2006
Just the other day, I was having a conversation with someone regarding Christianity. He told me that all the religions of the world were true and equally pointed to God, and that he thought it absurd and arrogant for anyone to think that their religion was the one true religion. To this I responded by telling him that the statement "there are no absolutes" is itself an absolute statement. Thus, he really did believe in absolutes (the person was stunned by this answer and had no reply). You see, it is impossible to escape from the concept of absolutism; it’s only a matter of what absolutes a particular person believes in.
Furthermore, I told this person that his God must be schizophrenic if all religions point to Him, because all major religious belief systems have major fundamental differences between them. For example, both Islam and Christianity can’t both be true, because Christianity teaches that Jesus as God the Son died on the cross for the sins of the world, while Islam teaches that Jesus was merely a great prophet (not divine) and didn’t really die on the cross. To believe that all religions are true and equally point to God would be as foolish as saying there is no difference between a coke bottle and a ballpoint pen! If you really believe this, then logic would also dictate that you don’t believe there is right and wrong. Thus someone can come up to you and slap you in the face without any objection, because there really are no absolutes!
Moral relativism is really only a poor excuse to live in a world without accountability to a holy God, while at the same time believing in absolutes when it is convenient and beneficial (like trusting in the good morality of a salesperson when you buy a product and being outraged when you find out the product is a lemon!). Relativists have to borrow from the Christian worldview every time they experience a sense of right and wrong and do good works for fellow humans!
I have found that the greatest proof of the divine inspiration of the Bible is the fact that its laws and precepts perfectly point to the reality of the created order, while all other religious faiths and systems break down at the intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual levels.
Jesus said that He is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one can come to the Father except through Him (John 14:7). Jesus was the most narrow-minded human being the world has ever seen (read Matthew 7:13-14), whose incarnation bridged the gap between humanity and the mystery of God. (Jesus perfectly modeled the balance between compassion and truth.) In the past, knowledge of God was revealed in shadows and types. But now, God’s knowledge has clearly been manifest in Christ. His vicarious death on the cross as the God/Man paid the penalty for the sins of the world, reconciled all of creation back to the Father, while His resurrection imparted eternal life to all who believe in Him. This is something Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, and all other great religious leader can never say they accomplished for their followers.
Mantou at 4:23 PM
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Monday, November 12, 2007
tongue in cheek
Mantou at 10:51 PM
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Thursday, November 08, 2007
first cut is the deepest
WARNING: THE POST YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ CONTAINS BRUTAL HONESTY. INTERNAL DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. ONLY SUITABLE FOR CERTAIN AUDIENCES.Self examination, by far, is perhaps the toughest examination one could ever take. Forget year end stress, A levels, ECAs, wat have yous.. Those are still considered minute next to this. Before I get bombed by readers going through exam stress, let me explain. I am not going through any formal exam in this season. Not yet, at least. What I am going through, however, I'd rather trade formal exams for it. At least it only tires your intellectual abilities, and you can find solace in many forms of de-stressing techniques. Not so for self-examinations. They tire your whole being, and there's no way to escape from yourself now is there?
And what's more, you can't ever prepare from self-exams! They just happen to you, especially if you're introspective by nature. Anything could trigger it, but failures would be the one catalyst proved to be the most effective. So you fail in order to take the exam. How amusing.
First cut is the deepest. It's truer than it first appears. I find that after I realized that my dad is not who he made himself out to be, and denies who he really is, the disappointment that comes with it resonates with everything or everyone else that gives me that same sense. In fact, I begin to develop a fear or a dread that people in general are like that, and lo and behold, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever you try to prove right would in the end be right to you. God already warned us; the way of a man seems right in his eyes but God weighs the heart. I can't even carry out a proper conversation without that nagging sense of disappointment in the people I dearly love from time to time, when they share what appears to me to be worldly pursuits, or faulty beliefs. It resonates the sense of helplessness that I feel with my parents' issues. It resonates that sense of false responsibility; perhaps it's my fault, I should have done this or that. I have formed a statement in my mind that has shaped my worldview; a question, really. 'Why is it that people are always blind to something that is harmful to them?' I even apply that question to myself.
If I don't deal with the root issue about my disappointment with my dad, I guess my worldview would never change, and the way I interact with people will forever remain the same. On the contrary, what does it look like on the other side?
Mantou at 10:15 PM
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Sunday, November 04, 2007
My secret pastime revealed
Since I have been posting so much text based entries, thought I'd liven it up a bit by displaying some of my artwork that I've been working on recently. It's called vector art, and since I discovered it this year I've been experimenting on different designs and inspiration and trying to get familiarized with the techniques. This is my third piece of artwork only, so excuse its amateurish look. In my free time this is how I unwind, apart from the sports that I do. Honestly it's the only thing my computer is good for. I tried installing games but it didn't ever work. Maybe it's a blessing. I've never been a gamer.
Ok, that aside, I went to my TLBC classmate's church today, Bethesda Bedok Tampines Church (hope I got it right). They had just built a new building and were holding a thanksgiving service. It was truly an awesome time of worship. Really refreshing. I went down after a cell fellowship over karaoke, and while the fellowship was fun, there was definitely a marked difference in the way the songs were sung. The place was really huge to me, and the sound system (rigged by another classmate of mine) was really good, save for the muffled drums. Most importantly, the vibrant worship atmosphere was really encouraging and I truly thank God for giving me this opportunity to look around at other churches and see how He is moving in the big picture.
Working chronologically backwards, was at karaoke with my cell today. Albeit it was a bit of a rush cos we spent too much time at SMU, I thought it was quite a relaxing time. Warren Country Club has good rates for karaoke. =) Sang all the old school songs, while Chris and Alvin sang all the high pitched happening Chinese pop. Esther did her debut single, wo yuen yi wei ni. It got a much deserved round of applause. Linfeng went Old School MLTR today. Not bad! Guorong won the Best Lyrics Assistant of the day, when all who couldn't sing cos they couldn't read the chinese words were saved by his chinese prowess. Haha. I restrained from choosing the oldies today cos I realized the MTVs were really nothing worth watching. Haha. So I sang the chinese songs that I learned back in secondary school. XD
Before that we were at SMU and they had a weekend bazaar fair today! My best catch? Peanuts Comic at 3 dollars. heh. The book stall owner had quite a good selection of books. Some christian ones too, which surprised me. The next fair he will be at will be on the 15th to 25th Nov, at Bras Basah Complex. I just might visit it again.
Right, that's all the time I have today. =) Check back soon. Oh, it's raining outside. The air feels nice and cool when there are night rains. Looking forward to sleeping soundly tonight.
Mantou at 11:08 PM