Thank You (Jan 13, 2012)

Thank You Lord for:
* snorkeling ♥
* Iloilo getaway with friends from work
* Kenny's break-fast with friends from church
* letting me teach my fave subject once more
* the time, the money, the discipline
* my new home away from home ^_^
* more faith in the One who's in control

It's only the 13th of the first month and great things are already here. Here's to an awesome year! All glory to God ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Thanks to Bless, Resmond and Arvin for the pics :) )

He creates no pests

Have you ever wondered why God created pests like *that person*? Well, how about pests in general? ThinkChristian gives an insightful look at a child's question: "Why did God create mosquitoes?"

Who wants a mouse in their house? (Sorry Mickey.) From here. 

1. Well, who decides what is a pest anyway?

2. Whatever may be a pest to me may be a precious in His sight, a unique special creation.

3. I must admit the many times I was (am) a pest to God and to people... Thank God He hasn't sprayed divine insecticide (yet) in anger and frustration. Thank God He has not given up on me yet.

4. He can turn pests into precious children. Nay, that's what He has always intended for us to be, if we just continue to let Him do His work in us.

5. Makes it *much* easier to deal with the pests in your life, eh?

Natural science and supernatural God

"The scientific explanation for human origins does not admit a supreme being as the creator of life and humans. This is not a rejection or denial of God, merely an acceptance of the limitations of science. By its very nature, science is unable to deal with a supernatural being. Science deals only with nature, with the materials, processes, and life forms of the natural world. God is, by definition, beyond the investigative powers of science."
-  George D. Brown, Jr., "Human Evolution"

for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes

"I thank You God for this most amazing day,
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees,

and for the blue dream of sky
and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes."

- e.e. cummings :)

And a special thanks to Aspen Corp. of Caloocan City, which used that quote on the notebook I'm currently using. :)

No miracles needed?

"God never wrought miracles to convince atheism,
because His ordinary works convince it."
- Francis Bacon

must love dogs...more than humans?

Before anything else, let's be clear that i LOVE animals. We currently have six dogs at home, including my personal angel who comforted me while i was doing my master's thesis three years ago.

Now that that's clear...

Walking around campus (University of the Philippines Diliman) nowadays, i'm seeing posters of dashing-looking guys, similar to what you see for dating advertisements. Upon looking closer, it's a date auction for the benefit of PAWS (the Philippine Animal Welfare Society). Aww, that's cute, because it's a Valentine-esque activity for the benefit of animals, so everybody wins :)

But...

The posters around UP each show a picture of a guy with his name, looking like he's waiting for his date (of course, targeted at all girls reading the ad!)...i don't have a camera now but hope somebody reading this could send a shot of what i'm talking about.

i couldn't get a copy of the posters online. The official website has, in my humble opinion, a "tamer"/"less blatant"/"less exploitative"(?) image promoting the auction:

The site also gives the following information:

This donation drive will welcome pledges from concerned individuals of the university, one pledge being equal to Php20-Php25. This pledge also serves as a bid for an auction (please keep posted for the date)

The highest bidder will be awarded a free coffee date and a visit to the PAWS animal shelter with the person that she bid for.

Aside from the hastily glossed-over fact that the coffee date is obviously not free because it will be awarded to the highest bidder (!!!)...

...Would PAWS and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) object to the sale of animals for the sake of humans?

Of course. They would and they are.

So why are we now selling (renting) off these men for the sake of animals?


[Pause and think.]


...Let's all remember to give dignity where it is due. Respect animals, but respect humans too --- and even more so!

Especially for my fellow Christians, i quote:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:26,28)

Animal rights activists are known for making their voice heard, whatever it takes, for the sake of those they are seeking to protect.

i love animals, but let's just say i'm a human rights activist. (And i'll be sending a link of this blog to their site.)

Science, Evolution, and Creationism

Very objective and respectful. The way scientists should be :) i gave a talk on this and i hope you will all be enlightened as i have :)

For the purposes of this blog (hehe!) and my target audience, i have focused on why faith need not be in conflict with science and excerpted selectively. The actual book and details are as follows:


Science, Evolution, and Creationism
Latest edition released 2008 by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine (both US-based)

Download the free PDF book here: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11876
(Summary, Podcast, Book Orders, and so on also available on this site)

Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for noncommercial, educational purposes, provided that this notice appears on the reproduced materials, the Web address of the online, full authoritative version is retained, and copies are not altered. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the National Academies Press.

==================================================================

Book Description [found in website]:

How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with which they are more comfortable.

In the book Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a group of experts assembled by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine explain the fundamental methods of science, document the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, and evaluate the alternative perspectives offered by advocates of various kinds of creationism, including "intelligent design." The book explores the many fascinating inquiries being pursued that put the science of evolution to work in preventing and treating human disease, developing new agricultural products, and fostering industrial innovations. The book also presents the scientific and legal reasons for not teaching creationist ideas in public school science classes.

Mindful of school board battles and recent court decisions, Science, Evolution, and Creationism shows that science and religion should be viewed as different ways of understanding the world rather than as frameworks that are in conflict with each other and that the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. For educators, students, teachers, community leaders, legislators, policy makers, and parents who seek to understand the basis of evolutionary science, this publication will be an essential resource.

==================================================================

[Why only evolution in the classroom?]

Hypotheses must be restricted to testable natural explanations. [The beliefs of creationists] cannot be tested, modified, or rejected by scientific means and thus cannot be a part of the processes of science.


[Why (not) creationism?]

But science cannot test supernatural possibilities...

Such appeals to the supernatural are not testable using the rules and processes of scientific inquiry and cannot be a part of science.


[Why (not) intelligent design?]

"Intelligent design is not a scientific concept because it cannot be empirically tested."

==================================================================

1968 US Supreme Court ruling

"Government in our democracy, state and national, must be neutral in matters of religious theory, doctrine, and practice. It may not be hostile to any religion or to the advocacy of non-religion, and it may not aid, foster, or promote one religion or religious theory against another or even against the militant opposite."

==================================================================

Acceptance of the evidence for evolution can be compatible with religious faith.

Science and religion are separate and address aspects of human understanding in different ways. In science, explanations must be based on evidence drawn from examining the natural world. Religious faith, in contrast, does not depend only on empirical evidence, is not necessarily modified in the face of conflicting evidence, and typically involves supernatural forces or entities. Because they are not a part of nature, supernatural entities cannot be investigated by science.

Attempts to pit science and religion against each other create controversy where none needs to exist.

[Excerpts of Statements by Religious Leaders Who See No Conflict Between Their Faith and Science] --- click here

[Excerpts of Statements by Scientists Who See No Conflict Between Their Faith and Science] --- click here

==================================================================

FAQ: Aren’t evolution and religion opposing ideas?

Newspaper and television stories sometimes make it seem as though evolution and religion are incompatible, but that is not true (see excerpts).

To be sure, disagreements do exist. Some people reject any science that contains the word “evolution”; others reject all forms of religion. The range of beliefs about science and about religion is very broad. Regrettably, those who occupy the extremes of this range often have set the tone of public discussions.

Evolution is science, however, and only science should be taught and learned in science classes.


FAQ: Does science disprove religion?

Science can neither prove nor disprove religion. Scientific advances have called some religious beliefs into question, but many religious beliefs involve entities or ideas that currently are not within the domain of science. Thus, it would be false to assume that all religious beliefs can be challenged by scientific findings.

Both science and religion are weakened by claims that something not yet explained scientifically must be attributed to a supernatural deity. It confuses the roles of science and religion by attributing explanations to one that belong in the domain of the other.

The study of science need not lessen or compromise faith.

==================================================================

CONCLUSIONS

Science and religion address separate aspects of human experience. Needlessly placing science and religion in opposition reduces the potential of both to contribute to a better future.

Answering the Atheists: Why I am a Christian

ANSWERING THE ATHEISTS
A Reader's Digest version of why I am a Christian.
by Stan Guthrie
posted 11/13/2007 08:33AM
Christianity Today



[EXCERPTS:]

Remembering Bertrand Russell's famous essay, "Why I Am Not a Christian," here is a Reader's Digest version of why I am.


Creation: The universe, far from being a howling wasteland indifferent to our existence, appears to be finely tuned through its estimated 13.7 billion years of existence to support life on this planet. Tinker with any one of scores of fundamental physical laws or the initial conditions of the universe — such as gravity or the cosmological constant — and we would not be here. As physicist Paul Davies has admitted, "I have come to believe more and more strongly that the physical universe is put together with an ingenuity so astonishing that I cannot accept it merely as a brute fact."

[teci --- (1) In fairness, this might also lead people to think that we are just accidents --- the opposite of a purpose-driven Creator! But looking at the universe's size and using math and statistics: shouldn't there be more life (outside earth)? And if life was just a random occurrence, shouldn't there be more variation to life (on earth)? So now we lean again towards concluding that life is more special than accidental.

(2) There are common bio-physico-chemical traits in living things: vertebrates all have backbones for example. Evolution reasons that this is because they have the same ancestor. Creation reasons that this is because they have the same Creator. :)

(3) If the universe just accidentally popped up, how come there are even fundamental scientific laws and constants in the first place? Did they exist before the Big Bang? Scientists and others who do not bow to the absolute God must still bow down to these absolute laws, and therein lies the opportunity for dialog. :)

(4) Even if i could now explain how water turns to clouds and snow and back again...i can't create water, in any of its forms, from scratch. Even if we could see backwards to when the universe began, we do not have the ability to do it ourselves. Should scientists lose wonder as they comprehend how the world works, or should they have greater awe over what they did not create and could barely recreate?]


Beauty: Beethoven's Ninth, a snowflake, the sweet smell of a baby who has been sleeping, and a sunset beyond the dunes of Lake Michigan all point to a magnificent and loving Creator. And isn't it interesting that we have the capacity—unlike mere animals—to gape in awe, to be brought to tears, before them? Truly did David say, "What is man, that you are mindful of him?"

[teci --- To elaborate: we may give scores to beauty pageant contestants but we cannot quantify beauty in the same way that we can simply count the contestants onstage. Beauty is universal and transcendent: like goodness, truth, peace. If there is a God who is universal and transcendent with characteristics like these, then it all makes sense. But if the universe "just happened", then values lose their meaning: bad is as acceptable as good, and beauty is just in the eye of the beholder. But please show me one person who chooses to eat human waste over candy!]


New Testament reliability: Compared with the handful of existing copies of seminal ancient works such as Homer's Iliad, the New Testament's provenance is far better attested. There are thousands of NT manuscripts in existence, some made within mere decades of the events they report. Scholar F. F. Bruce said, " The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar."


The trilemma: C.S. Lewis, commenting on Christ's claim to divinity, said: "You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being [only] a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

Jesus: Napoleon reportedly said, "I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance of infinity."

====================================

Mr. Guthrie went on to elaborate on the accuracy and reliability of Scripture, the Resurrection as concluded from Jesus' missing body and the courage of those who were willing to die to proclaim it, and entire institutions and societies that have progressed when motivated by love and obedience to God. Of course, there are the individual lives that have been undeniably changed and transformed for the better, and the proof in various ways of His existence and love every day. :)

There are different strokes for different folks, so my main reasons for believing and continuing to trust God (you can tell by what i excerpted and elaborated on!) may be quite different from someone else's. But, since i know that God as He revealed Himself in the Bible is TRUE, then it is just a matter of time before "every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord of All." (Philippians 2:10)

God unrestricted in music, 2: rock and healing :)

Thanks to Reuters :)


BAND TRIES TO HEAL KASHMIR WOUNDS WITH ROCK MUSIC
By Sheikh Mushtaq
Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:03AM EDT

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - The sound of a new rock band is soothing Kashmir which has been blighted by years of violence and a ban on entertainment by separatist Muslim guerrillas.

In a region where the boom of guns and bombs has drowned out all sounds for almost 20 years, a cacophony of melodies from guitar, drums and electric keyboards is now sweeping Kashmir's war-weary youngsters with a message of love and peace.

"Immersion", a five-member rock band that also includes a woman, says the purpose of its music is to try to erase the scars and trauma of young Kashmiris.

"They have suffered a lot and they are hungry for entertainment," Amit Wanchoo, the band's 28-year-old lyricist, told Reuters. "We are trying to heal their wounds."

Every word of pain and suffering Wanchoo pens is dipped in the blood of his own family -- his grandfather, a prominent social worker, was shot dead by separatist militants in 1992.

The revolt has killed tens of thousands of people since 1989 and rape and torture have become a way of life.

Any distraction from the violence was blocked by a separatist ban on cinema, music and concerts in a region with great natural beauty that once provided romantic settings for Bollywood films.

But with time, the militants' hold over daily life has lifted, a single cinema has reopened, traditional theatre and music are being revived and alcohol is available in a few shops.

"There was no source of entertainment, so we decided to form a music group which will entertain youth who grew up with violence," said keyboard player Bilal Matta.

The band, which began performing last year, says initially it faced threats, but accompanying a fall in violence now more people attend their shows.

Last month, hundreds of Kashmiri youths swayed to the band's music. One of the songs said: "We pray to God for a soothing rain of happiness."


Kashmiri rock band "immersion" performs during a show in Srinagar August 5, 2007. The sound of a new rock band is soothing Kashmir which has been blighted by years of violence and a ban on entertainment by separatist Muslim guerrillas. In a region where the boom of guns and bombs has drowned out all sounds for almost 20 years, a cacophony of melodies from guitar, drums and electric keyboards is now sweeping Kashmir's war-weary youngsters with a message of love and peace. Picture taken August 5, 2007. REUTERS/Danish Ismail


Overall violence has ebbed in Kashmir since India and Pakistan, which claim the region in full and rule in parts, began a peace process in 2004, officials say.

However, people are still killed in daily firefights and occasional attacks by suspected militants.

Encouraged by the response, the multi-lingual band -- which performs in English, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi -- hopes to turn professional soon. The band members now hold shows in between doing odd jobs.

"They can mesmerize everyone, the whole audience listens to their music with rapt attention," Mohammad Saqlain, an "Immersion" fan, said.

The band, its members mostly dressed in jeans, T-shirts and overcoats, performs for NGOs, government agencies and charities. Only recently they began paid shows.

"We have also organized concerts to entertain and help orphans, the poor and the ailing," said Mahmmeet Syed, the band's only female singer.

Saying that they are "aiming very high", King Paul, the lead guitarist, strings his instrument before strumming to his favorite song -- "Will change the picture of the world, we the youngsters of Kashmir."

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

come as you are

Come as You Are
Performed by Jaci Velasquez
Music by Rudy Perez
Words and Music by Rudy Perez, Judith Volz, Loren Balman


You are the reason
For blue in the sky
Yes, you are the reason why
Snow covers winter
And melts into Spring
And rivers meet the sea

God is here for you
And you were made for Him
He'll give you more of everything
'Cause He has always loved you
His promises are true, so true
If you

Come as you are
Don't change a thing
Open your heart
He'll walk right in
Come as you are
No alibis
His love for you
Will never die

There is a heaven
Open your eyes
And there you have no disguise
He'll never leave you
No need to hide
He's always by your side

If you just believe
There is a way you'll see
It's just one step to eternity
And He will always love you
This promise will be true, so true
If you


Come as you are
Don't change a thing
Open your heart
He'll walk right in
Come as you are
No alibis
His love for you
Will never die

for scientists and everyone else: honesty is the first step in the search for truth :)

from TOP scientific journal "Nature"
Published online: 11 April 2007; | doi:10.1038/446709a

Physicists question model of the Universe

The search continues for a non-standard theory.

Jenny Hogan

Cosmologists gathered in London last month to voice their concerns over the current 'standard' model of the Universe. "There is a sense of desperation," says participant Douglas Scott, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. "The standard model is horribly ugly, but the data support it."

For most in the field, that desperation stems from two unexplained ingredients in the standard model: dark matter, thought to help ordinary matter clump together to form galaxies; and dark energy, invoked to explain the observation that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

But physicists are increasingly questioning the model itself. Richard Lieu, from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, is one of those with doubts. He says he organized the meeting, at Imperial College London, "for scientists to come forward and present any misgivings they may have about the standard model", although he invited speakers from all sides of the debate.

A broad consensus over the standard model has emerged over the past decade. It is based on diverse lines of evidence, such as measurements of the radiation left over from the early Universe (known as the cosmic microwave background), the distribution of galaxies and the brightness of distant supernovae.

Scientists at the meeting were asked to re-examine assumptions made when these observations were analysed. For example, Subir Sarkar, from the University of Oxford, UK, argued that data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe (WMAP) — the NASA satellite that measured the cosmic microwave background with unprecedented precision — make sense without dark energy if density perturbations in the early Universe had a different pattern to that usually assumed, and if our patch of the Universe differs from other parts. This explanation might seem more complicated than the standard model, says Sarkar, but he counters that invoking dark energy is "a profound problem from the viewpoint of fundamental physics". Attendees were also asked to question the actual data. Speakers pointed out oddities in WMAP's maps of the microwave sky, such as the alignment of patterns on different scales along what has been cheekily dubbed an 'axis of evil', and the presence of more variation in the southern hemisphere than in the northern. Such unlikely effects could just be statistical quirks, but they seed uncertainty about how the measurements are being interpreted.

For the time being, proponents of the standard model say that they have yet to see a compelling theoretical alternative, but encourage those people who pursue them. "I doubt that anyone left that meeting convinced about some new idea," says Scott. "But having one's mind opened a little bit is healthy."

not just a pop song, 11: borrowed heaven

"Borrowed Heaven"
by The Corrs

(see concert video with Andrea's explanation)

All beauty all fade away, borrowed
All moonlight, return today, borrowed
All sunrise all shooting stars, borrowed
All earth bound bare feet in day
You know we're standing on

Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven

All heartache all rivers cried, borrowed
Don't stay out too late tonight, borrowed
I love You don't wanna die, borrowed
You taste like paradise, I know I'm breathing in

Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven

You have my life and I will give it back
But before I do, I'm gonna hold it tight
This is my prayer

All body, All skin all bone, borrowed
All silky, all smooth and warm, borrowed
Almighty I stand alone I know I'm living in

Borrowed borrowed heaven ...
All beauty will fade away

on eagle's wings

this is taken from the home page of ministersandevangelists@yahoogroups.com :)

The Eagle's Use of Storms.....

An eagle knows when the storm is approaching long before it breaks. It will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, it is soaring above it......

The eagle does not escape the storm; it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rides on the winds that bring the storm......

"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."
(Isaiah 40:31)

subtlety =)

[God] delights, it seems, in using trees, flowers, rivers, automobiles, friends, enemies, church buildings, paintings in order to announce His presence or to work out His purposes....There is something crude in the depiction of God intervening directly in the play, the clumsy deus ex machina interrupting the speeches of the other actors and upsetting the stage. How much more tantalizing the God who hints and lurks and cajoles hiddenly through and around the actors, even unbeknownst to them. It is the humble God who chooses so to act.
-- Robert Barron
=)
(written December 28, 2005)

Knowledge vs. Truth/Wisdom: A Warning, Not a Condemnation

From T.S. Eliot:
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness…
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

From Ecclesiastes 12:12:
So be careful, my son, about other teachings.
Of making many books there is no end,
But much study is wearisome to the flesh.

i don’t want to bite the hand that literally fed me for around twelve years (that’s a long time for a twenty-three year old!), that’s why this entry is entitled as it is. If i realized something, i shouldn’t boast about realizing it, but in the truth/idea/concept in itself…and the One Source for both the thought and my ability to grasp it. =)

From Max Lucado:
Who has more reason to worship than the astronomer who has seen the stars? Than the surgeon who has held a heart? Than the oceanographer who has pondered the depths? The more we know, the more we should be amazed.

=)

(written December 28, 2005)