Alvin's Blog

Hit by another crossroad

2009-07-19T03:27:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I was into two meetings, with both made me stand on a brand-new crossroad.

Yesterday morning first. At around 2 months ago I was referred by my pastor regarding ... um, something that I cannot mentioned yet. (By the way, I will be cryptic for the rest of this blog entry. Last time I did this was when I created my first blog I had used to deliberately hurt people back when I was a backslider. This time I foresee the potential for some people to get hurt. Just to let everyone know that this is not my intention as I will remain respectful to people that could get hit, and I would apologize in advance for this.) Last Thursday my pastor arranged a meeting with a certain brother in church. Yesterday morning was our date at a local coffee shop.

I have been briefed before with the concern, the reason for the meeting, by my pastor. But when our conversation with this brother continued, I was overwhelmed with what really was happening at his place. With those revelations, I have been thinking of the how's and the why's those happened, but most especially on what I could offer to help.

After the meeting that morning, I went to the next meeting in my day's event list, did some arrangements and stuff. At some point in time, a bittersweet scene happened. It hurt me deep as I have plans I have yet to execute but wouldn't, because I have been making sure I have the coasts cleared. Unfortunately, my haunch turned true...

I was in emotional pain the whole time since that meeting started. I kept reminding myself I could be happy for them, and currently I continue to ask for God's strength so that I really could, as I have decidedly chosen to continue building them up despite this.

Overall, I know He will never leave me despite these times. I will trust on Him to guide me what I will do out from these two meetings yesterday.

Goodbye, Yahoo 360...

2009-06-15T02:44:00.000+08:00

Lately I have just found the beta service Yahoo 360 is going to be suspended permanently. I am having a nostalgia right now. That site is the host to my first blog site. Soon it won't be. They had sent me an e-mail notice that they are going to shut down this service sometime in July this year.

What actually triggered the sentimental yearnings is what I have been posted (or had posted) there as of my latest entries. Ok, the latest entry, which was as of February 2008 last year, is really not deserving the term "latest". If I may use these words for lack of English words at the moment, I'm afraid I have in essence "abandoned" this site. I have not posted entries here lately. I have reasoned that I took some "rest" in doing blogs, which I may have done, but I never promised myself when I'd come back. I never told myself to go back to my first yearnings when I became rededicated as a Christian. Obviously, my drive towards my first mission has changed... See the thing is, I got to see myself again who I was when I reread my entries at my first blog site. I'm still a rededicated Christian, though I have some struggles lately, and I never went back to who I was when I was a backslider. But to all the Christian folks reading this, I am admitting I have sort of "abandoned" my mission of defending what we believed in. I am feeling some sort of remorse at myself for this. Though I have not backslided, I have undergone some spiritual dryness that when I looked at myself when I wrote those blogs I have thought of myself a different person.

Of course, I cannot wallow myself on self-guilt for a long time. I thank God for this godly guilt of what has been happening between me and this mission. I have just asked God for forgiveness for this particular digression. Now, I am resolving to go back and pursue this mission once again. The banner will be raised, and this time within this week, I am going to retrieve my lost notes of Christian apologetics that I used to have and recompile those. To be practical, I may post a new blog entry at around 2 weeks time. But I'll try to hurry things up. Besides, as I have reread some of my entries there I need to edit some words and post those as new but republished blog entries. Of course not to mention that I have my duties also that would factor in as to how things will progress, I am not going to make this as an excuse this time.

But for the moment, I also have to start packing in for my duty today. So I guess I'll have to stop writing for now. So I guess that's it. Wish you all well and God bless us all.

Back to the Social Sites

2009-06-06T09:40:00.000+08:00

That note I posted before this was somewhat of a journal to what I have been feeling during that day. I really do not know what I have gone through, but it's just that I don't know what I have been feeling that time... Anyone reading that could present their own thoughts and theories about it. The worst case scenario I'm having a visual right now is that people would think I was sick.

Having thought of those, I may have just undergone some kind of stress. In those times when I was weird, I was under pressure over many things. At that time, I was pretty unsure what was that I'm feeling... I mean I know what stress is. It's just that I don't know many others of its forms that I start to describing here as detailed as possible here for reference.

Anyway, I'm not saying that social sites are evil and they get you to feel weird things like I did. Pardon me if I appear to have suggested that. Far from it but I was already under pressure when I was doing those surfing ways. But, I still have to limit myself going over those sites on specific times. At least I knew other ways where I could get stressed so that I could manage myself better next time. I mean we get mature over time when we learn something new, yes?

Incoherent...

2009-06-04T16:34:00.000+08:00

What I initially planned around 2 hours ago was that I will only go open this laptop, open only Skype just in case a colleague at work would need to contact me, and surf only Multiply to record this stuff has gone partially awry. What is happening now is that I did what I had planned, yes I should have congratulated myself for that, but I also went two of my friends' portal pages, left a message as a reply to a message from one of them, opened Yahoo Messenger appearing online only to a special someone, and peeked at Facebook for some new notifications. Just that; I did nothing else online. Though normally I should have browsed more on Facebook, Multiply and Friendster, checked more on the IT news, go back to Facebook, and view each of my close friends' status messages, beginning of course to that someone special and making whatever comments. But all those normal things I'd do in front of this laptop I am suspending those for tonight.

So what on earth happened. To put it plainly I am having a crisis of emotions since 2 hours ago. Since the start of the day I felt happy, brave, courageous, guilty, vindicated, aroused, jealous, curious, suspicious, unsure, foolish, contemplative, timid, childish, child-like, hard, cold, furious, depressed, lonely... And oh yeah right now I'm sleepy. But the deal is I have been acting more like a teenager today...

To be honest I'd like to write more, but I'm starting to feel sleepy....

Standing At The Edge of The Earth

2009-05-29T02:38:00.000+08:00

I knew that this moment would come in time
That I'd have to let go and watch you fly.
I know you're coming back, so why am I dying inside.

Are you searching for words that you can't find?
Trying to hide your emotions but eyes don't lie.
Guess there's no easy way to say goodbye.

So I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping that someday you'll come back again.
I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping for someday...

Don't misunderstand what I'm trying to say.
I don't want to let you leave this way.
I want you to know that I stand right by your side.

And I know this may be
The very last time that we see each other cry.
But whatever happens know that I'll....

I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping that one day you'll come back again.
I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping that someday you'll come back to me.
I'll be praying for whatever it's worth,
Believing that one day you'll come back to me.
I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping for someday...

And I know this may be
The very last time that we see each other cry.
But whatever happens know that I'll....

I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping that one day you'll come back again.
I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping that someday you'll come back to me.
I'll be praying for whatever it's worth,
Believing that one day you'll come back to me.
I'll be standing at the edge of the earth,
Hoping for someday...

Waiting for someday...
Believing in someday...
Praying for someday, I'll be....
Longing for someday...
Clinging to someday...
Cherishing someday, I'll be....
Thinking of someday...
Dreaming of someday...
Wishing for someday, I'll be....
Living for someday...
Counting on someday...
Knowing that one day....

I will see you.

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

Performed by Blessid Union of Souls

Random thoughts on my study Bible

2009-01-07T02:12:00.000+08:00

This is in response to my own promise to have this entry posted. A couple of entries ago, I had posted a hint regarding my own study Bible whose "sticky notes" or commentaries were written by John C. Maxwell.

To those who have not known him, he is one of the topmost sought-after speakers on leadership. He has written many books that hit the best-seller list including The 360-Degree Leader, The 21 Irrefutable Qualities of a Leader, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and others. Man, almost a month ago following that leadership training we had at the office I had heard he is at least a top speaker on something a topic about management. At least this is one of the best things the Internet has to offer that you get to know about a certain famous people the moment you start to get interested. You start to go to Google, then Wikipedia, then his own website, then you would start wanting to read those books.

One of those books, his The Maxwell Leadership Bible, registered into my memory. At that time, I did not think it was a study Bible until I went to a bookstore, then started to have second thoughts. After much thought, I finally bought it and I never regretted, actually thankful, to God for the book and for the circumstances that lead to me to buy that book. Currently I'm not in the mood to create a critical review about this book, so I would like to refer you to this link for a review.

Actually, my interest in learning leadership skills started to heighten on mid-December last year 2008 when I went to a Christian bookstore. To put it short I'll just try to outline succinctly the following reasons why I thought God's hand led me to that bookstore:

that I had wanted to have a personal study Bible since I became rededicated,
that day was the last day of them offering discounts,
that book was the only copy they had procured to sell,
the money I had was just enough to buy it not on its regular price but on its discounted price,
I had the impromptu desire for no apparent reason (at least at that time) that I left immediately after my work shift to check out the bookstore,
and if I had left the office taking all the time in the world not in a hurry I would not be able to arrive in time as the store was closing when I arrived.

I have been thinking God must have wanted me to have this book. Not that I was hearing whispering voices or "a booming voice from heaven", but this is pretty much my guess because of the string of reasons presented above.

Oh by the way, this study Bible is the first book I bought that is authored by Dr. Maxwell. I am planning to buy more of the books he authored hoping that I can afford it. Like the new book I bought last Monday, The 360-Degree Leader. I may not buy all of them, though. It is one thing to invest on books about leadership, and quite another to spend only within the constraints of one's budget.

But then again, there is also this faith that can move mountains, and I believe God is still the ultimate source of wisdom whose insights, for instance among many, sustained me how I should deal with my colleagues for the past year that some had thought I had already read a management or leadership book.

2008 Year End Personal Report

2009-01-04T16:55:00.000+08:00

Ok, the long vacation break will be over officially by tomorrow. I'm almost sleepy writing this entry. But I promised myself that I would do this tonight...

So here it is, about what happened to me during the previous year 2008. Well, nothing much, really. I had not been on other places than I usually did. Most of the year, I had been just around the house most of the time besides those times at work. 2008 was the year we have undergone major house renovations, upgrading our house from version 1.0 to 1.5. As such there were some parts of the house that -- well, to condense everything into a phrase -- needed to be "guarded", requiring at least a member of the family to be present. Most of the weekends, I was just in house for the same reasons as mentioned.

On weekends, other than being the guard and also on going to the usual places I had gone to, I had just one notable beach tripping with some friends and it was fun. This happened mid-August, and I have been hoping that similar excursions would happen.

At work, I got promoted to a supervisory level, with occasional "immersions" on tasks that I would usually delegate. This was the first time that I had seriously managed a team, and it felt rewarding.

At the church ministry, I had been less active on voluntary tasks that I usually did during Sunday service since 2007. In fact those days, I was not in church because of the house renovations. And with all due humility, I have to admit that this is not an excuse on my part not to attend. Rather it should not be, I just realized. In those days, I did not realize I should have done extra efforts. Failing to contact spiritual siblings in the Church -- notice the capital C of this word at this instance! -- in regular intervals would make me fairly more susceptible on shifting my focus away from God. Along with this enlightenment, I will strive to be more active this year.

So there I have covered it all, I guess. These were the major parts that have happened to me the previous year. I am hopeful for the best what this new year will offer. I may -- emphasis there, to imply I'm not promising -- post this on a new blog entry. But I have to reread and review my other blogs regarding the items that I had promised I will get back. I would like to close some unfinished business on those entries, so I think that will be the focus on my next posts to come.

We Are The Reason

2009-01-03T16:14:00.000+08:00

As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys we knew we'd find
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives.

We are the reason that He gave His life.
We are the reason that He suffered and died.
To a world that was lost, He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live.

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day, a man hung crying in the rain
All because of love.
All because of love.

We are the reason that He gave His life.
We are the reason that He suffered and died.
To a world that was lost, He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live.

I finally found the reason for living
It's in giving every part of my heart to Him
And all that I do every word that I say
I'll be giving my all just for Him,
For Him.

We are the reason that He gave His life.
We are the reason that He suffered and died.
To a world that was lost, He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live.

He is the reason to live.

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

The title of this blog entry is eponymous to the title of this lyrics sung by Avalon, though I heard the band is not the original singer of this song. This is what I think Christmas should be, and I have chosen this time to tell anyone interested to avoid all the Merry-Christmas phrases and sayings, not that I'm against that, but with the intention of reminding the reason why we are having this holiday for the season. And also with the hope that we will also be reminded of this reason for the rest of this new year.

God bless you all.

Now, I am 29 years old.

2008-12-29T17:07:00.000+08:00

Alright, before I am going to highlight anything what happened to my life this year. Let me be frank and honest as to how I made this entry... In one of my previous posts, I made an impromptu note to myself to write three things about my holidays, my Year-End Report, and my birthday. I also made half-baked resolution to plan what I will have to say for today. Well, it's my 29th year already starting... ehem!... today, and to be honest, there is a plan, yes, but it's not that I am going to pre-compose the actual words I am supposed to key in for tonight. The plan is now an outline, and I am sorry to those whom I have given a wrong impression as it was originally preconceived to produce the actual composition itself at first.

But ok anyway as I had mentioned earlier, there are many things that I would like to divulge here. But for confidentiality reasons so as this time not to hurt the persons involved, I will not mention the actual circumstances. Those were quite the gray phases in my Christian life as I had been "caught in the middle" between the backslider I was and the man more of His character God wants me to be. (Or us, for that matter.)

For the past 28th year, I was not the backslider that I used to be as, just an example of many other things, I had been re-upholding the vows to go back being chaste again. Quite admitting, I may not be a virgin anymore because of my "misadventures" from the previous years. But I have not touched a flesh again since I became rededicated.

Then again of course, that does not mean I was or will be invulnerable to temptations. As much as I had not succumbed physically -- alright, not yet but praying for His strength to will not -- I have to admit that there were "episodes" of compromise existing at my realms of thought. (I am not going to expound what I meant by that as I am assuming the readers are mature enough to understand what I meant. And also so that I will not entertain un-Christian thoughts to those who are prone to what I had undergone.) This may be a small thing compared to those of my former years, and I may be categorized as just like having the thought of an average guy still chaste enough not to have touched again, but occasionally reading this link would have me sometimes think otherwise.

I may not (yet) be the man God wants me to be at the moment, but I know He is still at work in me. Just like those proverbial phrases about attempting on something to grow up overnight, having a Christ-like character is not an instant milestone, but a character work in progress with God's provision and with the person himself willing to let God do His thing. So in leiu of these things now that I am 29 years old, I am praying for more of this character for the rest of my year and beyond.

Project Management: Case 1

2008-12-22T18:51:00.000+08:00

Um... ok, that is a hasty title that I can think of at the moment. Just trying to be spontaneous and impromptu again...

But anyway, it was not my intention to post any blog today as it has not passed my thought what to post... I was merely glancing around the Internet for some Bible resources, and I've come to read about this. This guy, the editor Sean Harrison, is posting about the lessons about project management. Ok, the project is about creating, editing and publishing a study Bible, which is still a Bible but with scholars' notes for those who want to study the Bible thoroughly. To those who don't know what is that, think of it as a Bible with Post-It notes.

Obviously this guy has learned a lot about project management. I'm going to keep tab at this link. Hopefully, when I'd find similar links to these real examples, I would post it here also to share.

Well, I'm not minding to check my syntax and grammar for this blog...So adios! And God bless to you all...

And oh by the way, I have no time to post another blog. It just happened right now that I also want to tell something about my own study Bible I just bought a week ago. This is my favorite personal book at the moment... Ok, let me give you a hint first... Remember that hyperbole earlier about this book being with sticky notes? Imagine those sticky notes written by John C. Maxwell himself. Now, what have we got?

Um... ok, that blog entry is for tomorrow. I am about to go to sleep.

New Pictures

2008-12-14T03:18:00.000+08:00

I guess nobody noticed the new stunning pictures I posted last Friday and the days before then. So I might as well announce it that I have those. Please feel free to browse at those pictures that I discovered.

A quick note though: those pictures are not mine; I did not shot those pictures myself. I found it in the Internet, but I will make it a guessing game first (^_^(.. I had an effort searching for these and I would like to make it worth a game to tell where.

Anyway, the link is here. To view the latest pictures, start browsing from the last picture then move backwards.

Have a nice day everyone.

Pre-year-end report

2008-12-12T12:40:00.000+08:00

Ever had the feeling that it's the last month of the year already? Yes, I do. And still am.

A lot of things happened this year, and I wished I had the time to post those here in my blog site. Oh yeah, I also wished I had been more motivated to do that. But hey, things happened along the way, and -- zap! -- I (almost) got burned out doing the blogging thing that I just did these things intermittently.

Ok, this is supposed to be a pre-Year-End Report (or something -- along with the wonder to myself why I capitalized that). So I'm not supposed to tell anything yet. It's just that I am planning to make a major -- and that means lengthier -- blog post in the last days of this year. It's also the holidays, so I might delegate some contemplative time to myself the reason why He was born (though the actual date does not matter) and why I am doing everything for His glory, and what I've done the whole year for that I am going to write about that also. Coupled also with my birthday at the latter part of this month -- err, this year -- so what have I done during my 28th year of my life I might include that in this endeavor.

Oh boy, me saying that implies that I'm already thinking like a 29th year old! But that does not matter. Soon I will be, so why not prepare myself for that.

So that's it for now. Time for me to go. And time to start planning this major composition.

A sign of things to come...

2008-12-01T17:40:00.000+08:00

I recently heard about a law that is in effect in Colorado that would make it illegal to anything against homosexuality. This is just an impromptu blog and I have not researched anything about this yet from other sources, but I'd like you to read this one, especially at the latter part of the item.

...

To admit, when I am writing this entry at the moment, I've been thinking of a better title so as to imply that these events are foreshadowing, if not the direct sign, of the things prophesied in the Bible that will happen in the last days... But I'm running out of titles to write. (Must be the blogger's burn-out or something. We'll in fact I haven't done any blogs lately, so maybe that must be it.) So pardon me, but I hope the inference is fairly obvious and that the dots have been properly connected.

I hope I do not turn you off, but I hope that the warning is heeded. Read the Bible while you can before reading that will start to become illegal.

Meeting with an old friend...

2008-10-31T00:59:00.000+08:00

Last Tuesday this week, I received an invitation from a friend to meet again. She wanted us to meet last Sunday, but I was unable to meet her. She had wanted to bring her niece along then, with her sister's family including. And she planned to do so again tonight at our meeting time.

It's no big deal for me that we meet tonight. But ask me how I had thought 4 years ago when I just met her, and I'd say it is -- sorry, was -- a big deal. I had a crush on her then, even when I had maintained a "relationship" with another girl with a complicated love life. (You know, the one with a daughter involved, coupled in with her boyfriend who was a driver/bodyguard to an actress who married a businessman primarily selling bananas. Wondered how I got involved? Long story.) This one whom I will meet again tonight had confessed to me her secret last July... For tonight, I pray that I will be able to do something about that confessed secret.

I would like to ask for the readers to also pray for a productive meeting. I am not into Halloween and stuff like that because of its pagan roots, but at least I'm weighing on the thought of her invitation, having recalled that proverbial phrase about what is it that really counts. And I pray that I will be able to tell her my counter-thoughts on these stuff...

Somewhere In The Middle...

2008-10-24T19:52:00.000+08:00

Somewhere between the hot and the cold,
Somewhere between the new and the old,
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be,
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me.

Somewhere between the wrong and the right,
Somewhere between the darkness and the light,
Somewhere between who I was and who You want me to be,
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me.

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender
Without losing all control?

Fearless warriors in a picket fence,
Reckless abandon wrapped in common sense,
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle.
With eyes wide open to all differences,
The God we want and the God who is,
But will we trade our dreams for His, or are we caught in the middle?
Are we caught in the middle?

Somewhere between my heart and my hands,
Somewhere between my faith and my plans,
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves...

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar,
Somewhere between the altar and the door,
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more,
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me.

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender
Without losing all control?

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side,
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle.

-------------------------
Song by Casting Crowns

...

2008-10-16T03:06:00.000+08:00

Despite my excitement on the release of this favorite browser of mine, I would like to extend my condolences to a friend whose uncle has just passed away...

Flock 2.0 Browser

2008-10-16T02:41:00.000+08:00

Finally, it has come out from its beta phase...

My favorite browser is currently now in Version 2.0... Lots of features have been integrated in this, mind. Especially the under-the-hood thing, its internal browser engine Firefox 3.

It still have the features why I liked this browser very much. For one, it still have this integrated blog editor. For two, it still have its RSS for all those news I wanted to know. For three, it still had this People sidebar that lets me monitor my Facebook friends. For four, it still has this Media Bar that also updates me for all those beautiful images that I've gathered and dumped in some of my photo albums here in Multiply.

I have been using Flock 2.0 Beta 2 prior to it being released... It was very stable, even for a beta. And now that it has come out of its beta phase, I'll definitely appreciate the improvement of its features that I have come to like and redefine what an internet browser should be.

Picture Album Updates

2008-10-11T02:32:00.000+08:00

Well, I have uploaded pictures as of late. Last night, I gathered all the pictures of my house before it was renovated. I've uploaded those to my photo album "Previous House Pictures". Check that out and see how my house looked before. How I missed that when I'm feeling nostalgic.

And just around 30 minutes ago, I have uploaded a second set of pictures regarding the current house renovations that we were having. So far, I have shown how our house looked at the moment. I've showed off my bedroom, the living room and the kitchen, all from the ground floor. I could not show yet the second floor, 'cause that's where we are renovating for the rest of this year's last quarter. (Believe me, we are also setting up milestones for our renovation as if our current endeavor required a formal project management process! With my dad as the "project manager", sort of.) So ok, better check that also. I've gathered these in the album "Current Renovation Pictures".

The banner bearer has stumbled...

2008-10-06T09:47:00.000+08:00

There is just like another round of things that I'm opening up in this entry...

You see, I'm kind of down again at the moment... Makes me feel like I'm in the wilderness, or something like that. Again. I'm sure I'm the only one who could have only caused this months ago; I have nobody to blame for this...

I'm not regretting this. Or at least, not yet at the moment... It's as if I cannot experience also being down. I feel guilty at the moment, and understandably a godly guilt also. But contrary to the pop psychologies preached by Oprah or whoever else, I'm not denying this guilt I have. I'll assume responsibility for the emotional rounds I'm having since months ago. Denying that means that I will not assume responsibility, because that precludes that I have nothing to assume for.

I'm raising my guilt up to God, knowing that He will deal with me as He sees whatever fits... And still I will trust in Him, whatever that will be... To whoever can understand what I'm going through at the moment, one thing I'm just asking is for your prayers. The banner bearer may have stumbled, but still my Banner is there.

Updated photo album

2008-09-30T08:39:00.000+08:00

I've updated a photo album here in Multiply. Check that out, and see the sentiments I'm having as I view these with nostalgia...

On religious freedom...

2008-09-28T03:10:00.000+08:00

I've read news that Christian professionals who held deep faith in God were under attack, and got beaten in this morally changing world... I'm at a loss for words now; I'm not sure if I can get my grammar right...

Ok, let me just forward this e-mail I just read now...

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

August 21, 2008 Dear Friend, The California Supreme Court, which recently legalized same-sex marriage, has ruled by a 7-0 vote that homosexual rights trump religious freedom. The ruling barred doctors, because of their Christian beliefs, from withholding unnecessary medical care to gays and lesbians. The ruling says that under state law sexual orientation rights trump religious freedom. Justice Joyce Kennard wrote in the ruling that two Christian fertility doctors who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian have neither a free speech right nor a religious exemption from the state's law, which "imposes on business establishments certain antidiscrimination obligations." Doctors at the Christian clinic referred the lesbian to another clinic, but the lesbian refused their referral - demanding that the Christian clinic perform the procedure. When the Christian doctors refused to violate their religious convictions, the lesbian sued and the Supreme Court gave her the victory. This ruling will affect every business in California. If a similar victory in a federal court is won, every business in America will be affected. For example: Alabama Fertility Specialists (AFS) has begun a campaign to bring Honda of Alabama to its knees because Honda will not cover artificial insemination for a lesbian in it’s insurance. Honda advised their insurance carrier to "exclude domestic partners (same-sex partners) from ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) benefits including diagnostic services related to fertility/infertility..." If this doesn't work, then count on AFS to sue. Alabama Fertility Specialists alerted the media, their supporters and gay groups about Honda’s actions and called on supporters and gays to bombard Honda with phone calls and letters.
Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

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

Ok, I may be all gloomy right now... I forgot I should not focus on the gloomy parts of what will happen in the last days... I should focus more on the positive.

We knew that God had told us that the moral atmosphere will degenerate to its all-time low in the last days. And we are at now seeing this degeneration taking place.. I have suddenly remembered I should focus more on an another prophecy that should these happen, He will come again....

But ok, let me get this straight. I do not personally hate those who practice homosexuality. It's the act and thought of doing it makes me feel sad. I still would respect them gay & lesbian people... I would just like them to see that homosexuality is a condition of sin. They can still ask God for forgiveness and peace of heart.

For You Alone Deserve All Glory

2008-09-22T20:34:00.000+08:00

You are the peace that guards my heart
My help in time of need
You are the hope that leads me on
And brings me to my knees

For there I find You waiting
And there I find release
So with all my heart I worship
And unto You I sing

For You alone deserve all glory
For You alone deserve all praise
Father, I worship and adore You
Father, I long to see Your face

For You alone deserve all glory
For You alone deserve all praise
Father, I love You
And I worship You this day

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This is the lyrics of a Christian song that is catchy to me at the moment. This lyrics motivates and reminds me that everything that I do, think and feel is not about me... All of these and beyond is about Him... I'm just bringing this up to remind myself of something that weighs on my heart at the moment...

Anyways, I leave that up to God now... And God bless you all.

Other Comments During Leadership Training

2008-09-18T18:19:00.000+08:00

Ok, if you have been reading my entry prior to this one you should get an idea what I'm trying to post here :-)

Alright, this has something to do with my growth areas. The previous one highlighted my positives; in this entry, I'll share to you what they think I should improve next. Let me remind you, to those who have read the previous, this is how selected peers thought of me. Peers, because they came from the same company I worked for holding at least supervisory positions. Selected, because I choose these 4 people for their opinions value very much to me. To those I selected (you know who you are!), consider yourselves complimented. :-)

So ok, here it is from the same photo album as before... Click this link if the image below is not that readable.

To the one who made the upper left comments, thank you very much. Though all of their thoughts are appreciated, this one really hit the cherry. He knows how to be objective and neutral on matters, but when the dart is fired off, he usually hits the mark accurately.

To the who wrote the upper right side, thanks also man. I choose him because of his frankness, him being opinionated on almost anything, including those that make you feel uncomfortable. Hehehehe.. peace.. But thanks again, dude.

To the charming lady who made the lower left, though we don't talk that much at work, I know that you are also opinionated and frank just like the previous one. But since we could not get to talk that much, I would like to hear how would someone like her think of me when things and situations made us distant to each other. But then again, thanks. You can buy coffee from me at a discounted price. Ok, that's a joke :-)

Well lastly to the lady who made the bottom right, I chose you because I have this admission to tell: I have been taking notes. One thing I liked about her is that she always speak what she do not want. I value it very much when she would say she don't like my shirt, for example, and I am challenged not to wear that again (which, maybe to her horror, I still do mostly). People like you help the world (or the office!) be a better place to live by pointing out what needs improving, and for that, I'm thanking you also.

So that's it, thank to you all again.

Comments During Leadership Training

2008-09-18T02:20:00.000+08:00

Ok first things first, I wanna show you the positive side of me according to them. But before that, just a short intro what this is all about...

The leadership training seminar was held in our office and, of course, sponsored by my current company I am working for. This was held last Friday, September 12. I learned so much from our invited speaker, Mr. Toyditz Conseco. He is more into training for church staff members, but he accepted my company's invitation to teach us more into leadership. Last Friday, I was one of those invited, along with my peers at work who held supervisory, managerial and executive positions.

And here is what they said about me. For now, I am showing you the positives that they found in me. For one thing, I have modified these images so as their full names will not be shown as I intended, because I have not asked their permissions, and also for their privacy's sake. If you are one of those peers who commented and you wanted to be recognized, please tell me so that I will update the image and "unmask" your names.

So ok now, here it is...

What had happened since.

2008-09-12T03:29:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since I posted something meaningful...

Last time I posted, I was reminded of what I did almost 11 years ago, and I forgot I was already forgiven by God about that. And by the respective people involved, I suppose and hope. I don't know if it was evident, but on the last time I posted, I had been problems with myself being emotionally intact. Thankfully, my sanity still have been intact, but I had been carrying myself a wound that hurt me pretty deep.

For one thing, I have this to admit also: there are days that I stopped reading the Bible for almost a month now. Go figure out what I am trying to imply here. If you can spot a correlation between this admission and me being emotionally down, I can only wish for prayers over there.

I hope I am speaking about my hurts in the past tense, as right now I have been recovering, thanking God. I would like to post something here Bible verses* from last night I opened the book with what felt like ages ago...

The blameless will be rescued from harm,
but the crooked will be suddenly destroyed.

A hard worker has plenty of food,
but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.

The trustworthy person will get a rich reward,
but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.

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* Proverbs 28:18-20 NLT

On Billie Jean

2008-08-29T08:57:00.000+08:00

There is this time sometime yesterday that I became curious to know about the lyrics of the song "Billie Jean", originally sung by Michael Jackson and revived by David Cook. When I read the lyrics, I started to remember back the time when I was about to turn 17...

There is something in that song that hit me deep and hard... Makes me remember the life I had when I was in UPLB. It also made me remember the reason why I left from that campus...

Ok, I have to admit it's not easy to bring it up here at the moment regarding what made me remember those... Painful past is past, as they say.

Who am I?

2008-08-18T02:55:00.000+08:00

I received this poem from a group e-mail I subscribed from. I would like everybody to read this so that people who thought I'm perfect, sinless and better than anybody else would think I am just like them. I invite you all to understand what it means to truly be called a Christian.

Christians
By Maya Angelou

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering 'I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian'
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

My Personality Assessment (Secret)

2008-08-07T13:45:00.000+08:00

Ssshhh... be quiet...

From where I am right now, I managed to get the partial summary of that Manchester psycho test I took at about a month ago... This is supposed to reflect who I am so... well, here it is. Well, it's as if I'm talking this all as it is... I still have God to answer for what I do and think.

But, sshh... please don't tell others about this... (^_^(

Um.. I may be at my funny self sometimes but... well... you can never know... (^_^(

And, um... no time to edit further... and no time to check this entry... So here it is...

PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT

1 : Originality Though this person comes up with original ideas every now and then, such ideas are generally limited to his task at hand. He may occasionally try new approaches and generate new ideas although he may not verbalize and contribute these unless he is called upon to do so.

2 : Rule Consciousness A risk-taker. This person would be willing to question convention and challenge established assumptions. He is likely to make things up as he goes along, preferring new approaches to established procedures.

3 : Openness to Change This person could come up with imaginative thoughts and ideas. If he experiments with a procedure, he would do so to satisfy a need or a request. He would like to have some variety in his work to remain interested.

4 : Assertiveness This person would rather give way to others than assert himself, especially in the presence of authority or more assertive personalities. He ventures his ideas to support an approved stance and holding back when he suspects that people would not agree with what he has to say. He is generally deferential to people in charge.

5 : Social Confidence This person tends to avoid large social functions and when forced to mingle with others, he feels uneasy and ill prepared. He may act or give advice but he is hesitant in his decisions and actions. He encounters difficulties in putting other people at ease and lacks the social graces to lead others.

6 : Independence This person rarely opts to work on his problems alone except in cases of delicate or personal matter. He believes that he himself has the capacity to work on his own and prove his self-worth. He needs the proper motivation and orientation from his superiors to make him aware of his leadership capabilities.

7 : Competitiveness His drive to achieve is quite remarkable. He wishes to satisfy his desire for status by achieving success in business or in community life. He does not allow challenges to work against him; instead, he finds the challenges as opportunities to gain prestige, attain power or a higher standard of living, or to become socially prominent.

8 : Perfectionism This subject attempts to improve the quality of his work or projects but sometimes gives up for lack of time or insufficient knowledge. He aims to produce standard quality performance level, but needs pressure or follow up from superiors. He would benefit should he be required to take refresher courses or attend seminars for growth and development.

9 : Creativity The subject likes to devise and conceive new ideas. He is comfortable in coming up with imaginative ideas and putting these into action.

So... um.. that's it... So long... Time to disappear... (^_^(

But before that, God bless you all guys... Never stop praying.

A Disturbance, Yes, But...

2008-07-20T15:52:00.000+08:00

Um... first before I want to say something about the topic for this entry, I would like to tell that I've been sort of "away" from the blogsphere and other Internet social stuff, with my reasons naturally inclining to being busy from balancing my time from work, the Bible, and personal researches on technical things programming geeks and project managers would be interested, and on world events relating to Biblical prophesies, and on stuff relating to Christian polemics and apologetics. So there, I was busy these days, and I still am.

But what prompted me to post something here is about an Internet link from what I've read through e-mails from my online friends regarding an alternative explanation to the end of days as prophesied by the Bible. (Alright, the second coming of Christ then, to make ourselves view the positive side associated with those events.) And first, I have to explain that, as an apology, I cannot share that link I've read from, as it contained potentially faith-shaking materials. I believe on the viewpoints of Christianity, so other viewpoints that are anti-Christian are definitely a no-no to me. I can explain those viewpoints in due time, but right now I think it would not be helpful if, by sharing that link, I mix this entry with trash.

So ok, my point now, the materials with an alternative explanation to the end days. It is quite obvious that it definitely is not Christian, though they spiced it with some passage from the Gospel according to the apostle Matthew. The proponent said something about "sacred" geometry, "sacred" music -- other "sacred" things, by the way, that I have to put it in quotes -- government-funded psychic projects, the Illuminati, convergence of consciousness, ET, planetary alignment. You know, trash... I wish I could say more of this, and some relevant Bible passages that talked about these things happening in the last days. But I have to be honest, I cannot recall the Scripture quotes at the moment.*

But there is one thought that is hanging in my mind as I was attempting to logically disassemble this alternative yet anti-Christian viewpoint of the last days: they can also explain if or when the Rapture will happen. Consider the scenario that the Rapture will have just happened, people saved by grace will have already been taken to Heaven, and with those who have left behind will have wondered why some people mysteriously vanished. Some of those left behind will have heard of the Christian viewpoint, and will start believing to Christ, them being the will-then-be-new Christians to spread His Word to other people. At this time also, the other people will also hear about this alternative viewpoint, and will also start believing on those heresy. It would be hard for the will-be-then Christians to explain these things to them, especially with the predicted persecutions. That is, hard to explain if they do not ask help from God about how to speak about these things...

I wish I could say more, but I'm out now. And I'm hoping to get back here to this topic.

God bless you all.

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* I am currently somewhere else, and this entry is sort of an impromptu, so the Bible resources and commentaries are not available to me at this time.

On Relating With Subordinates

2008-06-24T00:29:00.000+08:00

You know, a situation the other day reminded me to post my thoughts about what or how we relate to those that are under us.

I may be referring this to in our household or in the workplace, but would also be applicable in situations with those people who are "in our mercy" -- an aptly-termed phrase, by the way. I know situations are now blooming in your mind, like how an employer treats his/her employees or a mother henning in her children or a captain reining in with his shipmates. But how a customer relates with the waiter or how a company representative is treated by his/her client are also two from this type of a situation where there is one in the upper pedestal with others below him/her relatively helpless with whatever actions he/she can do.

Ok, I'm not the expert for these ideas, so better spare me the questions whether this is right or wrong, or those that start with "what is" or "how about". I would just like to post my thoughts on what I read last year from a Yahoo link which I cannot recall at the moment.

Ok, I'm starting to lengthen my post here so let me get to the point. From that link, I recall that the true test of one's character is on how one would treat his/her subordinates. From a common-sense perspective, if we approach those that are superior to use we tend to show our best faces. But to those who are under us, tendency is we don't care about this. In fact, we began to drop down our beatifying front and show the real us.

Let me just present these questions for us (myself including) to ponder on.
Suppose in a fancy restaurant with all the waiters greeting after their customers, consider yourself the waiter. When the customer tend to irritate you, maybe by shouting at us or made their orders confusing, do you shout back or be rude to them?

Of course we should not, this should not even be a question. It is an innate imperative in our common sense to be kind, presentable and gentle with our customers. They are the indirect sources of our salary, so this is the motivation at the back of our heads when dealing with them. Note that there is this minimal and suppressed degree of our innate selfish selves to that kind of motivation.

Now, time to reverse the roles. Let us now be the customer from the same scenario. Suppose the waiter did not deliver your order right, perhaps forgot that gravy you explicitly specified should be there, do you shout at him or be demeaning to the poor guy?

Think for yourselves what typically would be our first reaction. First, you are not obliged to be gentle or nice because you simply are not obliged. This was our first thought before anything else, like ethics or morality, would start to factor in, isn't it? So if you are not obligated to be gentle or nice to the lowly waiter, do you have to be?

The response to the latter question will show how strong or, sad to say, how weak your character is.

Then again of course, all of us here are big boys or girls now who understood what should be the proper attitude towards the not-so-fictional waiter. But seeing that this is prevalent, we tend to forgot this particular what-should-be. Or we tend to ignore, sadly. As just an example, I'm not just only referring to the waiter.

And in my case as of the other day, I was the figurative "waiter" from a similar situation. That is why I want to post this blog to air what I had thought about this.

Firefox 3 Download Day Today... err, yesterday

2008-06-18T02:34:00.000+08:00

Ok, they announced that it will be on June 17 but last time I checked (which was this morning at the time of this writing actually) they made it available today June 18. Well, actually this is both true and false, depending on your respective GMT location.

But the thing is I have downloaded this on a separate computer in my house, and this is very, very good. So far, I have been RC versions of this browser, the latest being RC3 as of yesterday, and I like it. They were truthful in their claims that Firefox 3's major improvements are under the hood, as I had attested to their improvements on browsing performance. And now this morning, I am posting this using Firefox version 3.0.0.

Then again, the thing is I am still a Flockstar. I view, surf and interact things in the Internet world using the Flock browser when I'm using my laptop, which I do most of the time. And them guys at the Flock HQ had said they were excited on Firefox 3, saying also things that hinted they would like (sorry, love) to have this latest Firefox as the new internal engine for my most beloved browser. I cannot wait for them to release a new, and I bet major, release of Flock. And when this happens... well, I guess it would be expected of me to download this thing right away as soon as they start to breath "now available".

What's happening in Egypt?

2008-06-11T02:15:00.000+08:00

There is this news clipping that I have received from an online buddy. I want to share this here, hoping that someone be able to understand what is happening in that country at the spiritual layers. I hope this is readable...

My Secret-for-Success Book

2008-06-02T02:36:00.002+08:00

I am willing to bet on this one. I have been reading this book for months now, and I encountered varying degrees of success in whatever I do.

For weeks now, most people observed a change in the way I do things. Some have observed me being able to anticipate what would happen, and I am not talking about clairvoyance here. It's just I knew most of the possibilities that some people (that I will not mention) could not see. They found themselves wondering how I knew about those things, thinking that maybe I had inside information. They started to accuse me of being the favored one. They started wondering, saw a pattern, and thought that that was it, my secret how I came to know in advance.

Well, this entry is about clarifying those wrong perceptions that they have. They have been right in one thing that I was able to anticipate some things in advance. But this knowledge did not come from me, and in this entry I want to share this secret.

I have been reading a book repeatedly for months now. This book has 31 chapters, and I read a chapter a day, representing that day of the month. (Or doing some compensating on those months that do not reach the 31th day.) This book has the following purposes for its inception:

To receive wisdom and instruction;
To receive teaching in wise dealing, righteousness, justice and equity;
To help the simple gain prudence and the youth gain knowledge and discretion;
To increase learning and to acquire skill in understanding;
To understand parables, proverbs, wise sayings, and riddles;
To provide skill for (successful) living from the two perimeters of natural order and God's word;
To enable its readers to learn and apply the fear of the Lord to their lives; and
To learn the fear of the Lord itself

So what was that book? First, let me indulge you on these verses* from the Bible:

"Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,

to help them understand the insights of the wise.
Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
knowledge and discernment to the young."

These lines are the introductory words of the book called the Book of Proverbs. Of course, being part of the Bible, this is actually a book in itself among all other books.

So now my secret is that as I do my daily devotions every morning, which included reading the Proverbs, I would ask God for His daily Bread. And wherever I will be whatever I will be doing, I would ask God for His wisdom to guide me. You don't have to see me clutching my hands in a praying position. Believe me last week, I surprised myself that there was an announcement (that I will not say) I anticipated would happen. The surprise was that I found myself being on the head start without anyone telling me clues that this would happen.

Well, except that I prayed for His guidance and leading in my life.

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* Proverbs 1:2-3. English translation used was New Living Translation 2nd edition.

About settings here in Multiply

2008-06-01T12:31:00.001+08:00

As much time as I can spare, I have been tinkering around on some links and buttons here in our host blogging site. I've tried the secret PIN way and cross-posting to my Blogger account. And so here are my thoughts on what areas Multiply could improve.

First, on using the secret PIN. The good thing here is that I can (clandestinely) post blog entries here by sending an e-mail message to myself using my Multiply PIN as my own recipient. So in places where Multiply is restricted, little do the network security guys know (maybe until now) that I can still do the blogging thing. The bad thing is that I cannot be informed when people are responding to those entries. So this is an area where Multiply can improve. The bottom-line is that I will still use this but only as an alternative measure when I will be restricted. Me posting this entry is a testament that I am composing this message within the Multiply site, as the over-restrictive and extremely meticulous network administrator, who is (ehem!) yours truly, in my house allows access to wholesome social sites save the underground ones.

Second, on using cross-posting feature with, at least, Blogger. I really like this feature so as whatever I'm typing here appears in my Blogger account (alvinvillaflores.blogspot.com). It makes me in sync with my other blogs. Of course, not all blog sites are supported yet. At the end of all things, I still will use this when I can, will continue to be vigilant on those sites that support cross-posting and will set up and configure new accounts there.

On areas that intersect between these features, I think Multiply has to find a way also to configure cross-posting via the secret PIN. As of this moment, I have yet to see this happen.

So that's all for now... I have to exhaust yet what else do I need to improve the blogger in me without discarding my other sides, especially on using whatever else I can for God's glory.

PS. Another improvement on cross-posting is that it should check also changes on edited blog entries. Those entries must be in sync when edited or corrected.

My Testimony for Our Intercell Group

2008-05-26T02:36:00.000+08:00

Last Thursday May 22, I delivered the testimony of my life so far and how I came back to God, emphasizing "came" -- that's past tense -- and "back". Those emphases imply that I came, then spiritually digressed, and was back again.

For days, I drafted that testimony, typed it on this laptop, so that I would just read what I had written when it was my time to deliver that in front of the congregation, where the event at that time was an intercell group. That draft was just the condensed version of my "I am not" blog series, you know that series I started from my entry "I am not a 9 year old anymore" and ending with the entry "Now, I am 28 years old". You can read that from its entirety here in my Multiply account. I may show you that draft, but my "I am not" series is the more detailed.

And I admit my blogs at that time were quite lengthy. But at least I'll show you where to start by clicking on this link: I am not a 9-year old anymore.

Anyway, I prayed about that draft and how God would use my testimony to encourage someone. I was trusting in Him that He would somehow use what I have just told my church about my life and testimony so far.

Cross-Posting My Blogs in Multiply and Blogger

2008-05-22T00:29:00.001+08:00

Um... so that you will know, this is a test on how cross-posting works between my Multiply and Blogger accounts. If you see me flooding some blog posts, I humbly ask to pardon yours truly. This is another of my experiments of organizing my blog entries, keeping it in sync with my other sites. I will continue to do these experiments with my other blog sites, nevertheless.

Having said that, please note the date of my flooding posts. These do not necessarily reflect my latest blog entry as you can see. And please note how I posted this, something to do with "blogged with Flock." (^_^(

May God's blessings and continued provisions of grace be with you all in Jesus' name.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

When the Rapture comes…

2008-01-09T16:40:00.001+08:00

Honestly saying, I'm one of those who believe in the rapture of the Church. Note the capital C in Church. And maybe I should also capitalize the R then, as in the Rapture. The Church I'm referring here is the Body of Christ, not the structure itself. Otherwise, I could have said that it would be a rocket then. Well, I'm not talking about that. This requires a different topic then… I have some comments on some church buildings that look like there were rockets installed, but I have to shush myself. So ok, I'm cutting this paragraph now.

What I'm trying to say is that even though I believe on the Rapture event, I am not closing my ears on other theories regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ. These theories stemmed up because of different points of view regarding His I-shall-return moment. I seriously respect how they interpret the second coming, but my theological position at the moment inclines more on the pre-tribulation Rapture event.

But ok, I'm not talking about those other points of view. This is the Internet; one can obtain virtually any information here, so feel free to search for yourself about those views. My point here is that if – and I mean the big IF – the rapture will happen "at the blink of an eye", what would be the logical explanation for that?

Well, don't ask me. I have no answers for that either. The thing is if this will happen, what would our decision will be then?

Riddle me this…

2008-01-08T18:43:00.001+08:00

For some reason, I am compelled to post this blog entry. I would like this post to be a guessing game… try to guess who said these lines. The clue will be posted right after.

"If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.

"You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life."

So, anyone already guessed who? If yes, great! But if not, then here is the clue. This passage is taken from the Gospel according to the Apostle John, chapter 5 verses 31 to 40, using the New Living Translation. I'll have to make it convenient for anyone reading to figure out who said this, by clicking on this link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%205;&version=51;

Reflections: 01-08-2008

2008-01-08T18:20:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Deuteronomy 9
- [Moses was quoted as saying,] "… You've heard the saying, 'Who can stand up to the Anakites?' But recognize today that the LORD your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the LORD has promised." (vv. 2b - 3)
  - The Anakites were a tribe of people with towering heights. But God had been with them, just as the LORD has promised. Have faith in God, and fear nothing else except Him.
- [Moses continued,] "After the LORD your God has done this for you, don't say to your hearts, 'The LORD has given us this land because we are such good people!' No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way… You must recognize that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not -- you are a stubborn people." (vv. 4, 6)
  - This showed the reason why the neighbouring tribes of Israel have to be removed from the land God promised for the latter people -- the former were wicked in His eyes. Moreover, the Israelites also were not perfect -- they were stubborn. Ironically however, God still chose them because of the faith displayed by their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 11
- [Moses had said,] "If you carefully obey all the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the LORD your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, then he will send the rains in their proper seasons -- the early and late rains -- so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil. (vv. 13-14)
Deuteronomy 12
- [Moses had said,] "Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods… You must not worship the LORD your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the LORD hates." (vv. 4, 31)
- [Moses continued,] "So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them. (v. 32)

Psalms 86
- Teach me Your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor You. (v. 11)
- But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. (v. 15)

John 5
- [Jesus was quoted as saying,] "If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything that he says about me is true." (vv. 31-32)
  - Witnesses are necessary for one's testimony to be valid. This particular "someone else" was John the Baptist. Everything that John had said about Him is true, Jesus had said.
- [Jesus continued,] "Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved… But I have a greater witness than John -- my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me." (vv. 34,36)
  - As if witnesses are not enough, Jesus had greater witnesses regarding His testimony of who He is -- His teachings and miracles. Many people were astounded by both of these.
- [Jesus continued,] "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life." (vv. 39-40)
  - Point taken. Sad but unfortunately true, some people chose not to believe in Jesus.
John 6
- When Jesus saw that they [-- the people whom Jesus miraculously gave bread and fish to 5,000 people --] were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself. (v. 15)
  - It is very clear from here that Jesus' earthly reign is not yet time. As it was stated in the Old Testament, Jesus' first coming will be a kingdom based on the forgiveness of sins, and not yet Him setting up an earthly government.
- [Jesus had said,] "But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." (vv. 54-56)
  - Jesus Christ should be our "bread and wine", representative of food to nourish our physical bodies and water to replenish our spiritual thirst. The idea here is that Jesus should be our only sustenance.

Reflections: 12-20-2007

2007-12-20T19:44:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Luke 13
- [Jesus said,] "Work hard to enter the narrow door to God's Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Lord, open the door for us!' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' then you will say, 'But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' And he will reply, 'I tell you, I don't know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil. (vv. 24-27)

Reflections: 12-19-2007

2007-12-20T19:40:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Numbers 11
After a period of time since their departure from Egypt, the Israelites began to whine about the food provisions of God. These manna should be enough for them, but some Israelites became oblivious that God can provide for them as they began to crave for meat. The idea here is that that we should be satisfied in the provisions God alone can give us. We must not try to defy God by actively seeking other things apart from His. As a result, through God's permissive will those who whined were given what they wanted -- and they became cursed with a plague. Similarly, God will allow us to do things that are even against Him. Remember what the God had done with these Israelites, lest we fall on God's anger.
Numbers 12
Another instance of discontent was displayed by Aaron and Miriam, siblings of Moses himself. What really happened here is that Aaron and Miriam also wanted to get the credits for themselves. They became jealous of Moses anointing, and they wanted God to give them the same anointing from God, something that God alone has the right to give. Aaron and Miriam started to think in terms of "not God's will, but mine be done" attitude. As a display of God's anger, Miriam was set aside because of the leprosy she acquired as a punishment.

Psalms 69
Even people who are deep in his faith to God can still commit sins. After all, no one is really righteous and we are all sinners. This psalm describes the pains of a man of great faith. Having falling into sin, people started ridiculing him. His enemies, those who are actively living in sin, used this opportunity to defame this man of great faith through lies and scoffing, amplifying the moment of sin by the man of great faith. He caused the name of God to be tarnished. Yet these sinful people will not be excused for these evil things that they did to him. They will still be punished, as stated in the latter part of this psalm.
- Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck. Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can't find a foothold. (vv. 1-2)
- O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you. Don't let those who trust in you be ashamed because of me, O Sovereign LORD of Heaven's Armies. Don't let me cause them to be humiliated, O God of Israel. (vv. 5-6)
- When I weep and fast, they scoff at me. When I dress in burlap to show sorrow, they make fun of me. I am the favourite topic of town gossip, and all the drunks sing about me. (vv. 10-12)
- But I keep praying to you, LORD, hoping this time you will show me favour. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation. Rescue me from the mud; don't let me sink any deeper! Save me from those who hate me and pull me from these deep waters. (vv. 13-14)
- Let the bountiful table set before them become a snare and their prosperity become a trap. Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see, and make their bodies shake continually. (vv. 22-23)
- The descendants of those who obey him will inherit the land, and those who love him will live there in safety. (vv. 36)

Reflections: 12-18-2007

2007-12-18T14:27:00.003+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Psalms 68
- Praise the LORD; praise God our saviour! For each day he carries us in his arms. Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign LORD rescues us from death. (vv. 19-20)
- Tell everyone about God's power. His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens. God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God! (vv. 34-35)

Proverbs 18
- The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe. (v. 10)

Luke 11
- [Jesus said,] "So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." (v. 13)
  - Be persistent in prayer! Be assured also that God is working about it. If the prayer is not yet fulfilled, it is not yet on God's time to have that fulfilled. If the prayer is not granted, that means that God had something much more in store for you. We must follow God's will, not ours. He is not a genie.
- [Jesus said,] "Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me." (v.23)
  - There can only be two sides in the ongoing war in the spiritual realm: God's and Satan's. There are no neutral sides. If one thinks he is not working for God or even tries to remain neutral, then he or she is working for the other side whether he or she knows it or not.
- [Jesus said,] "Make sure that the light you thing you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light." (vv. 35-36)
  - Make sure that our convictions about God are not actually that of the devil. The latter could appear as an angel of light trying to deceive many that they were from God. But a careful study of the Scriptures can expose their deceptions. That is why we must continue reading God's word, take it to the heart, and apply it in our lives so what we safeguard ourselves by God's protection and strength from the attacks of the Enemy.

Reflections: 12-17-2005

2007-12-18T14:27:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Psalms 67
- May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you. Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world. (vv. 2-4)

Luke 10
- The man answered, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'" "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"

Reflections: 12-16-2007

2007-12-18T14:26:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Psalms 66
- You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. (v.10)
  - In order to purify gold and silver, as the latter is mentioned for this verse, it must be subjected to heat. The impurities will then be removed, and pure material comes out. The psalmist compared us to silver as God tested us. Similarly, impurities will be removed from us, and we will come clean, pure and without blemish before Him.

Proverbs 16
- Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest. (v.8)
  - This verse meant it as it is, that it is better to have godliness than being dishonest whether you are rich or poor. It does not mean that poverty is favoured than having a rich life.

Luke 9
- He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, "Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?" But Jesus turned and rebuked them. (vv. 52-55)
  - Jesus rebuked his own apostles for doing what they should not be doing. In contrast to Elijah's case, God had made a leading for the prophet to bring down the fire. It is clearly not God's will at that time for them to do this. But this is not to imply that we should not be doing this. Rather, God has His own purposes why and why not some things are not happening that we expect it to. He had His will, and His must be done for the fact that the LORD is God and He knows best.

Reflections: 12-15-2007

2007-12-18T14:25:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NIV).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Psalms 65
- You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas… Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy. (vv. 5,8)

Proverbs 15
- A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. (v. 13)
- A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash. (v. 14)

Luke 8
This chapter shows the accounts of Jesus as He told the parable of the farmer scattering seeds, the parable of the lamp, who His true family is, and the calming of the storm. He also healed a demon-possessed man and a woman who suffered from constant bleeding.
- Then Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn't get to him because of the crowd. Someone told Jesus, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to see you." (vv. 19-20)
  - These verses show a reference to the earthly family Jesus had. He had a mother, which was Mary as we know her. It is also said here that He also had brothers born from His earthly mother. This meant that Mary did not remain a virgin after Jesus was born, as she was married to Joseph the carpenter. However, this does not change the fact Jesus was born from Mary when she was a virgin, having conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Reflections: 12-14-2007

2007-12-14T19:54:00.003+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Psalms 64
- O God, listen to my complaint. Protect my life from my enemies' threats. (v. 1)
- The godly will rejoice in the LORD and find shelter in him. And those who do what is right will praise him. (v. 10)

Luke 7
Highlighted in this chapter, we were shown the extreme faith of a Roman officer that Jesus will heal this highly valued slave. Jesus was also shown to raise the son of a grieving widow. Conversations happened between Jesus and John the Baptist's disciples were also recorded. The most amazing story for me that this chapter has shown is the remarkable repentance of a sinful woman giving it all for Jesus as He visited the house of a Pharisee.
- But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, "Lord, don't trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honour. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers…" When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, "I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel!" And when the officer's friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed. (vv. 6b-8a, 9-10)
  - This is an example of great faith that Jesus was amazed and that heals. The Roman officer knew that Jesus can heal his servant because, as someone who is used to receive and give orders, Jesus had authority over afflictions that a mere command from Him diseases will heal. The officer is not even Jewish so he has no reason to believe nor be involved in anything Jewish, but having heard that Jesus can heal he chose to believe anyway. Seeing also that he is not worthy to compare himself with Jesus, his extraordinary belief in Christ moved Jesus to heal his servant.
- When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there [at the house of a Pharisee], she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them… [Jesus said,] "I tell you, her sins -- and they are many -- have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love." Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven… Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (vv. 37-38, 47-48, 50)
  - This is an example of repentance with great faith that forgives and saves. The immoral woman saw her need to be forgiven for her sins. Having brought an alabaster jar which was expensive by itself then filled it with expensive perfume, she gave all that she had along with her weeping silently so as trying not to disturb anyone in that prominent house. She used her tears in washing Jesus' feet kissing it so as to give honour to Him despite her at risk of being subjected to disgust and being labelled as unclean. She did this all knowing that in deep sorrow and repentance, Jesus will found her worthy to be forgiven. And thank God, Jesus did. Her faith in Jesus Christ saved her, and I believe she had found her peace.

Reflections: 12-13-2007

2007-12-14T19:54:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Leviticus 25
It is here that God commanded the Israelites to observe the regulations of the Sabbatical year. Basically, people must not till their farmlands during this year, and anything growing in these lands must be taken as food. And also they are also commanded to observe the Year of the Jubilee, where everything owned and acquired will be released to be reacquired or will be returned to their original owners. Regulations for slave and debt release are outlined here.
Leviticus 26
In this chapter, God gave promises to bless those who are obedient and faithful to Him. Conversely, He also made known the consequences of disobeying Him, seeing that He is also the God of justice and holiness. But God gave provisions of restoring those who come back to Him to truly repent, as His mercies are ever abundant.
- I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. (vv. 11-12)
  - To summarize the various blessings outlined in the earlier verses for obeying God, He will live among them by making them feel His presence among them, not that He has really left them.
- Yes, I myself will devastate your land, and your enemies who come to occupy it will be appalled at what they see. I will scatter you among the nations and bring out my sword against you. Your land will become desolate, and your cities will lie in ruins. (vv. 32-33)
  - This is one of the punishments God will strike to Israel for their disobedience. Indeed this had happened, as He was sending tragedies and defeats to the Israelites. The Jews are the exception to the rule that a conquered nation will dissolve to their conquerors. (Greeks exhibited a similar exception but their culture was adopted by their captors, the Romans.)
- But despite this all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the LORD their God. For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD. (vv. 44-45)
  - Despite everything that Israel has done, God will not completely reject them. He has His will for them and the role that they will be doing throughout history. One must notice that, considering how much conquerors they have been through, their identity as Jews has not been dissolved. This should be a miracle by itself, considering that God had made this promise to them even they had undergone rebellions before.
  - Having said that, look at the current world events and see how modern day Israel came to fulfil God's promises for them.
Luke 6
In this chapter, further discussions regarding the regulation for Sabbath was discussed here, as He also healed a man with a deformed right hand at this day. Jesus had selected 12 among His disciples to be His apostles. Jesus imparted who are those that are blessed in what we have come to call as the Beatitudes. He also imparted His thoughts regarding judging others but lacking in introspection.
- One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be his apostles. (vv. 12-13)
  - Before Jesus Christ made an important decision, He goes up to a mountain to pray alone. And He did that throughout the whole night. Although fasting is not mentioned here, I think this should not discount as fasting is complimentary to praying. After much prayer, He chose who among His disciples 12 who will become His apostles.
  - We must learn something about prayer and how to do it, as shown here by Jesus Christ Himself.

Reflections: 12-12-2007

2007-12-12T18:30:00.001+08:00

All Bible citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Bible Reading Reflections:

Leviticus 23
God instituted various Jewish festivals to remind the Israelites of God's power among them. In this chapter, the following festivals are to be observed:
- Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
- Celebration of First Harvest
- The Festival of Harvest
- The Festival of Trumpets
- The Day of Atonement
- The Festival of Shelters

Luke 5
Jesus' first disciples were now being called. Later, Jesus healed a man with leprosy, but despite Jesus' instructions of keeping this private, the latter told everyone who would listen. As a result, vast crowds came to hear from Him preach, with those who came included Pharisees and teachers of religious law. Jesus also healed a paralysed man, challenging the religious elites and proving that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins. Later, Jesus called Levi (Matthew) to be his disciple. At one point later, Jesus defended his disciples for not observing fasting.
- But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. (v. 16)
  - Jesus Himself observed prayer. It is not the type of a Pharisaic prayer that everyone in the whole neighbourhood knows what was being prayed about. Jesus himself did this alone and by Himself.
- Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, "We have seen amazing things today!" (v. 26)
  - Jesus had indeed performed lots of miracles that day. Many had seen the God's awesome power demonstrated that day. But still, the religious elites found fault with that and with what Jesus claimed Himself to be.
- [Jesus continued to give them this illustration,] "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. 'The old wine is just fine,' they say.'" (vv. 37-39)
  - Why those who drink the old wine did not want the new wine? Is the latter supposed to be better and sweeter? Why cling in to the old wine? So what does the old wine represent? Are we just talking about winery, or something figurative that winery represents? Something like the Word of God in the Scriptures? Would we then be happy and just be content in that of what we believe in, rejecting fresh new words from God?

Reflections: 12-11-2007

2007-12-11T12:19:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (NLT).

Leviticus 21
Everyone had their tasks to share in these rituals for the Almighty God. The priests were not excluded. Even they had rules to follow regarding what makes them ceremonially clean or otherwise. Priests had high standards regarding the observations for holiness, but the high priest's were higher. Since we Christians
- No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God. (v. 21)
  - As the priests felt God's physical presence more than the rest of the Israelites, their physical attributes must also be found to have no defects, not that they were labelled unclean unless specified otherwise. It is therefore important for the line of priests from Aaron's descendants to be perfect, since they were God's representative.
Leviticus 22
Part of this chapter is a continuation of these ordinances from the previous chapter for the priests to observe. In the middle of this chapter, guidelines for worthy and unworthy offerings are mentioned.

Proverbs 11
- The godly can look forward to a reward, while the wicked can expect only judgment. (v. 23)
- The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. (v. 25)

Luke 4
After Jesus was baptised by John, the Holy Spirit led Him towards the wilderness for 40 days in preparation for His ministry, with attempts of temptation by Satan were thwarted. Recorded also in this chapter was Jesus' rejection in His own locality. Jesus casting out demons, with Him healing many people, and His continued preaching were also recorded in this chapter.
- Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, 'He will order his angels to protect and guard you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone.'" Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'You must not test the LORD your God.'" (vv. 9-12)
  - We have here an insight of a spiritual battle between Jesus and Satan. If the Word is the Sword of God, in these verses Satan is also using God's word to tempt Jesus into doing what He must not, twisting it to address his own devious schemes. We are shown here the Father of Lies at his work against Jesus Christ, with the former actually quoting from Psalms 91: 11-12. It is this kind of deception that is hard to counter that will make us confused when clouded from God's True Word, assuming that we remain ignorant to what Scriptures have written. But this kind can only be controverted by God's True Word making daily maintenance of the Scriptures in our lives. We are shown here an example of what Jesus did to counter Satan's deception by quoting from Deuteronomy 6: 16. Satan's best deceptions can only be countered by having one's faith put in God alone and loving Him with all one has (his heart, mind, soul and strength). Remember that insight on loving the Lord with all your mind? It is calling forth stock Bible knowledge, living it within us, as we use it in defence of one's faith in Him and in defence against these temptations and deceptions.

Why Not Showing It All?

2007-12-10T20:34:00.001+08:00

I have started a series of blogs in my primary blog site in Yahoo 360 (http://www.alvinvillaflores.co.cc or http://360.yahoo.com/alvinvillaflores_hubport). And a big question popped up when I started that series: Do I have to show all of the credentials for the Messiah or not? I felt compelled to publish it based on what I've read in a Christian apologetics book. I intend to share my convictions why this faith that I believed in is the most logical thing compared to others…

And maybe some of you here haven't opened that site yet. I encourage you to please do. It's not that I'm selling religion or what-have-you. But I'm sharing my faith in the Messiah by showing you that believing in Him is the most logical thing to do. Compared to other beliefs including atheism, this is the most sensible reason to believe. I am not saying that I have completely proven without a shadow of doubt
considering all and every case about this belief in the Messiah, I have to frankly admit that. But then, all belief systems could not also claim otherwise. However weighing the cases, I have reason to believe that this is the most believable. So please do visit my primary blog site by clicking on any of those links above.

Anyway, I'm not writing this entry to reiterate the reasons why I made that blog series. I'm just here to explain why I am not showing it all, choosing to limit the number only at around 10 to 20 credentials. After all, it would strengthen one's faith more if I would show more than 20, possibly making that number to over 200 credentials. And my reason is? Well, try to look at that number. It would take that many blogs to show it all, along with explanations on some of the most difficult to interpret. It would be impractical then to show it all.

However, what if I'm going to show just enough to convince (I hope!) anyone reading, especially those who have doubts about the Messiah, showing the most obvious to convince. It would be practical to do so. That is the reason why I will not have to show it all. And of course, you are free to search these credentials on the Internet by yourself. It's in there that I've found these researches anyway. That also includes the free Bible softwares that I've downloaded, and also the free modules for those softwares, that I've come to do my research. What I just did is to make it convenient for anyone to understand.

Reflections: 12-10-2007

2007-12-10T19:25:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (www.newlivingtranslation.com).

Leviticus 19
Israelites must observe holiness as a personal conduct. Although we do not follow these specifics anymore since these apply in setting the Israelites apart from the customs of the native Canaanites and also since we are redeemed through Christ's atonement for us, the idea here is that we must still heed the call to be holy in everything that we do.
- You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. (v. 1b)
Leviticus 20
The negative reinforcement implementations (a.k.a. punishment) for those who disobey are shown here. This disobedience take the form of sacrifice to heathen gods with explicit citations to Molech, practicing witchcraft or sorcery, trusting mediums and divinations, illicit sexual practices. God wants to punish people committing these acts by casting them out of the community or having them killed.

Psalms 60
Not everything in David's campaign is all victories and glory. In this psalm, it highlights David's dependence on God for help in this time of defeat. He acknowledges help from God, but in this psalm he calls upon Him for help, as His seeming absence is felt.
- … And Judah, my sceptre, will produce my kings. (v. 7d)
  - In verse 6, God has promises for the different tribes of Israel. In this verse, Judah in particular will produce the Davidic line of kings. A possible reference to the King of Kings is implied in this line, as is promised for Judah.

Luke 3
In this chapter, John the Baptist started to prepare the coming of the Messiah by calling everyone to repent from their sins, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah in chapter 40, verses 3-5. It is also recorded here that Jesus came to be baptized, but with the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended to him in a bodily form. Later this chapter, the lineage of Jesus was shown up to Adam.

Reflections: 12-9-2007

2007-12-10T19:21:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (www.newlivingtranslation.com)

Leviticus 17
Prohibitions for eating blood are given here in this chapter.
Leviticus 18
Many sexual practices are explicitly forbidden by the LORD, shown in this chapter. These include sex between family members, with animals, and with the same gender.
- Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. (v. 24)
  - This is the primary intention why these sexual practices are forbidden. God does not approve these as done by the native Canaanites. Think about the present situation today about people having done these forbidden activities, and reflect on what God thinks about these.

Psalms 59
This psalm is in remembrance of the time when Saul sent soldiers to David's house in order to arrest him.
- They have set an ambush for me. Fierce enemies are out there waiting, LORD, though I have not sinned or offended them. (v. 3)
  - The psalmist, attributed to David, have not sinned or offended them or against the LORD. These enemies have no justifiable reason for ambushing him. That is why this psalm calls for God to protect him against them.
- Don't kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield. (v. 11)
  - The idea here is for God's judgment to be prolonged in order for the people to understand such lessons. Justice met upon them with swiftness might be quickly forgotten.

Luke 2
In this chapter, we have a glimpse of Jesus' birth and childhood. During his birth, shepherds near the area, whom the angels have announced his birth, came to visit His birthplace, which is a mere manger. Also in this chapter, Jesus was presented to the temple with Mary following the Law of Moses regarding the consecration of a male firstborn. As if the angels announcing His birth and the power of God demonstrated through a former mute priest Zechariah were not enough, two contemporary prophets, Simeon and Anna, were praising God for the fulfilment of the coming of the Deliverer. Later this chapter, Jesus story of having lost then later was found in the Temple discussing with the religious teachers was also told.

Reflections: 12-8-2007

2007-12-08T12:54:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/).

Leviticus 15

This chapter is about ordinances on bodily discharges.
- [The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,] this is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise, they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them. (v. 31)
  - The reason why these rituals for purification, sacrifice and offerings is mentioned here in this verse. God's literal presence is visible and can be felt by the Israelites as He manifests in the tabernacle. That is why everything must be pure and holy in God's presence, or these will be an insult to God's glorious holiness.
Leviticus 16

Taken back from where it left off, Aaron has been given instructions on how to atone himself for the sins made by his sons Nadab and Abihu. Also here, the day for atonement is mentioned and must be observed as a holiday for these Israelites.

Psalms 58
- Then at last everyone will say, "There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth." (v.11)

Proverbs 8

Wisdom calls for attention and everybody must listen to what she says.
- Listen as Wisdom call out! Hear as understanding raises her voice! On the hilltop along the road, she takes her stand at the crossroads. By the gates at the entrance to the town, on the road leading in, she cries aloud… (vv. 1-2)
  - God's wisdom can be found in every accessible area, like an intersection, an elevated place, and at the gates, so that nothing can be said that the wisdom of God didn't reach anywhere. Everything is accessible to God, so nothing is excused by not hearing Him.
- All who fear the LORD will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech. Common sense and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine. (vv. 13-14)
  - What are those that belong to God's wisdom, and what are those that are His? Common sense, success, insight and strength! If we love God, these are our rights to claim! Of course, we have to acknowledge that these are provided by Him by His will. We have to thank Him when we have these, knowing that we will use these for His purposes and His glory alone.

Luke 1

From NLT's introductory to the Gospel according to Luke: "Like an investigative journalist compiling a story from several informants, Luke composed his Gospel from the accounts of several eyewitnesses of Jesus' life. Luke, a Gentile physician who travelled extensively with the apostle Paul, wrote his Gospel for a man named Theophilus (1:3), most likely another Gentile believer. After consulting several eyewitnesses and accounts of Jesus' life, Luke wrote this fresh account of His life and ministry. Since both Luke and Theophilus were Gentiles, it is not surprising that this Gospel has a very universal flavour to its stories and teachings of Jesus."
- Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. (vv. 1-2)
  - We have here four gospels and the accounts of the apostles reporting these events. Luke is telling us about these reports circulating in the Galilean region. Employing textual criticism with the books of the Bible, this introduction of Luke serves as a prelude to the incredible harmony between the Gospels written by different authors inspired by the Holy Spirit.
- Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I have also decided to write a careful account for you, most honourable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught. (vv. 3-4)
  - The intention of Luke to make his own investigation about these matters is for Theophilus to be certain of what he believed in. Luke is implying here that these verified accounts are shown so that what they believed in is true and had happened, and that their faith in Him is not in vain. The readers of this Gospel are shown that belief in Christ is logical and valid. Archaeology has later verified the people and places mentioned in this Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
- While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar… But the angel said, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John… He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly." (vv. 11, 13, 17)
  - The birth of the one who will prepare the coming of Him who comes. Ancient prophets have foretold of the coming of the Messiah, and one of those prophecies is the coming of the one who will prepare the Way.
- Then the angel said, "I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn't believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time." (vv. 19-20)
  - As a punishment for his unbelief, Zechariah was struck dumb. However, there is also a reason for him being struck mute. The angel Gabriel has told him his son will be named John. The angel is putting up a wager that this will happen, and he has to create a mute priest to prove his point.
- When it was time for Elizabeth's baby to be born, she gave birth to a son… They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, "No! His name is John!"… He [Zechariah] motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone's surprise he wrote, "His name is John." Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God…Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, "What will the child turn out to be?" For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way. (vv. 57, 59b, 60, 63, 64, 66)
  - This is the moment the angel Gabriel mentioned the name of the child will be. One must observe that Elizabeth has no prior coaching what the name will be. She had come to this name because of the Holy Spirit guiding her. When the name has been confirmed, Zechariah's impairment was lifted. "What will the child turn out to be?" That is a very good question.
- [Elizabeth exclaimed to Mary,] "You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said." Mary responded, "Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed." (vv. 45-48)
  - Mary's song of praise partly shown here literally means that generations will call her blessed, period. After much contemplation about this, the thought of praising her loomed over on the corners of my thoughts. She was blessed indeed and frankly I have agreed to that after much contemplation. But I don't praise her, for doing that I would violate the first and greatest commandment of loving God alone with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Calling her blessed for all generations does not mean that we should eternally praise her. That also does not mean that we have to share our adorations to God with her. Our knees should be meant for God alone, and no one else including Mary. Unfortunately, many people adore her along with God, some even adored her only not minding about God. I am not praising Mary, Jesus' earthly mother, but she sure was blessed for God choose her. As well as Moses and Isaiah were also blessed, for God used the former to deliver the Ten Commandments and instituted the religious rituals observed by the Jews, while the latter as a prophet being shown the revelations of Him Who is to come. If I will have to praise Mary, I will have to adore Moses, Isaiah, Esther, Elijah, Paul, Peter, and other great people of God. Can you think about that compared to what the greatest command of God is, and contemplate how would these thoughts be made compatible? I could not.

The 13th Post

2007-12-07T19:56:00.001+08:00

Ok, now another entry has been posted in my primary blog site (http://www.alvinvillaflores.co.cc or http://360.yahoo.com/alvinvillaflores_hubport). I praise God for His provision of strength and wisdom to have that out. And nope I'm not done yet, just for this round only. I could finally estimate how much I have progressed in this blog series, which is regarding the prophesies of the Messiah by the way. At first, I could not yet show an accurate estimate other than to say that I'm not yet 50%. Now, I could say with a greater degree of accuracy that I'm around 30% for this blog series.

To be frank, a part of me, that imperfect me, is clamouring for this thing that I'm doing to stop. I still have that desire, but I have more things to do that I have to delay this for the moment. I'm already done telling you this, but somehow I'd like to bring this up as a reminder that I should continue and hold on until I have finished the race set before me.

Um, no I'm not referring to an actual race. I'm referring to that spoken of by the apostle Paul about holding on to the faith. And truth to tell that at the time of this writing as I was searching for these passages referring to the race Paul mentioned, I had a sudden realization what it means to finish the race. Hallelujah! Now see Acts 20:24, Romans 9:3, 1 Corinthians 9:24, Galatians 2:2, Galatians 5:7, 2 Timothy 4:7, and Hebrews 12:1 about these.

Tomorrow, I'm planning for another credential to post, which would happen at around 2 to 3 days. It does take research to figure out these, you know. But it takes God's wisdom to piece these all together. And through God's strength I am doing these back for Him, despite my weaknesses and imperfections. Still I am doing these for His glory alone.

Reflections: 12-7-2007

2007-12-07T17:30:00.001+08:00

Bible Reading Reflections:

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/).

Leviticus 13
Basically, this chapter provides guidelines on how to deal with serious skin diseases.
Leviticus 14
Ceremonies on cleaning skin diseases are outlined.
- But anyone who is too poor and cannot afford these offerings may bring one male lamb for a guilt offering, to be lifted up as a special offering for purification… (v. 21 NLT)
  - An alternative to those who cannot afford expensive animal breeds and crops is a male lamb. Those who are poor, as it was said. No wonder Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, consider the poor in spirit blessed.
Psalms 57
This psalm is meant as a reminder of that time when David fled from a jealous and power-hungry Saul, and hid in a cave. Despite this, David still clings to God more, knowing and with the assurance that God will protect him.
- My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! (v. 7 NLT)

Proverbs 7
Well, another warning about an immoral woman. Not that this book is sexist, references to immorality were shown in a man's perspective. So immorality does not limit only to woman's actions, but also to man's.
- Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman. (vv. 4-50 NLT)
  - Comparing between a sister and a flirty woman, wisdom is compared against foolishness as implied. Just like a member of one's family, accept wisdom as one's own that may it find shelter in one's life.

Mark 16
This is the concluding chapter of the gospel according to the apostle Mark. Despite this chapter having difficulty resolving the shorter and longer versions on some manuscripts, it still does not change the central message on what Christianity is all about. Christ conquered death, so that those who believe in Him will not banish into eternal damnation.

Reflections: 12-6-2007

2007-12-06T21:12:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation (http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/).

Leviticus 11

Enumeration of animals that is ceremonially clean and unclean were shown here. Note the word "ceremonial". Elsewhere in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Peter was shown by God what is it that truly defiles a man. It's not on anything that enters man, but on what comes out of him.
- … You must be holy, because I am holy. (v. 45)
  - The call for holiness is a command. Must follow this nevertheless even when we are sanctified by the blood of Christ. If we truly love Him, the desire to be holy compels us to be holy.
Leviticus 12

Guidelines on purification after childbirth are shown here.

Mark 15

Jesus' trial before Pilate, the mocking of soldiers, and His crucifixion, death and burial are shown in this chapter. The whole deal about sacrifice and atonement culminated on the death of the Messiah.
- "Would you like me to release this 'King of the Jews'?" Pilate asked. (For he realized by now that the lading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) (vv. 9-10)
  - Not only this, Pilate realized that they are about to suffer an innocent man.
- Pilate asked them, "Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?" They shouted back, "Crucify him!" "Why?" Pilate demanded. "What crime has he committed?" But the mob roared even louder, "Crucify him!" So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, and then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. (vv. 12-15)
  - Pilate demanded to know the charges against Jesus. But the frenzied crowd still wanted Jesus to be crucified. Pilate doesn't really want to crucify Jesus, but it is possible he does this to appease the crowd. One must notice that rebels against the empire are held prisoners, so rebellion must have been happening at that time. To prevent these from going out of hand, Pilate, as a faithful Roman citizen and governor, had to concede to prevent them from rebelling.
- As evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. (Joseph was an honoured member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) Pilate couldn't believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for he Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. (vv.43-45)
  - Two men, who believed that the innocent man did not have to die, met to remove Jesus' body and have proper burial. Will that tomb remain occupied after a few days?
  - Joseph is a member of the Jewish high council, but he secretly watched for signs of the coming of the Messiah. He must have believed Jesus is now the Messiah.
  - Pilate does not really want to have Jesus died. He could not believe that an innocent man really should be hung on the cross gruesomely.

Supposed Link Between Christianity and Paganism?

2007-12-05T20:40:00.001+08:00

I've been scouring the Internet for any news related to religion. I've been a watcher of movements of various religions. And I frankly say that any good news relating to the advancement of God's glory is not that many. Most of the time, I read on dismayed and sometimes angry that things in the religion scene are things that should not happen. Despite these disappointments, I still want to praise God. It is in His omniscience that these will happen, and it is in His permissive will also that these should happen. My heart is grieving, but I want to let His will be done, not mine.

Not that I intend to be grievously dark and moody, but I found this article in the Internet. CBC-TV, a radio-TV station station in Canada, will air a documentary on Thursday, December 6, 2007 9 PM their time, about the book The Pagan Christ authored by Tom Harpur. Now, I have a new name added to my hotlist of authors to watch. Harpur asserted in that book that Jesus Christ may had been a myth and was borne out of the Roman Empire's obsession with a Jewish cult. (Try to guess what that was.)

And so here I am trying to contemplate what the Scripture means that in the last days scoffers will do their thing – scoffing – as what the apostle Peter said, with the Holy Spirit in him, in the second epistle of Peter (2 Peter 3:3). First, there was the bandwagon of the Gospel of Judas, then the novel of The Da Vinci Code. Now, we have The Pagan Christ. And I'd like to quote Harpur for saying this: "I think it [The Pagan Christ] provides a real way of seeing your Muslim friend or your Hindu friend below the level of the exterior of their religion to the heart of the fact that we're all saying the same thing – we are the children of God." By the way, this news was taken from this web link: http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Entertainment/9004780.html.

You may accuse me of being intolerant, but exactly how do they really tie up? Does Mohammed died as a sacrifice for your sins? And did someone make a count as to how many exactly is the number of gods in Hinduism, then remember what God had spoken how many there should be and Who would that be?

Ok fine, go ahead and find some common ground in all religions. The more you do it, the more you fulfil what Christ said the last days will be. And maybe as you do that, why not try to contemplate uniting all religions into a conglomerate one where all beliefs will find shelter under its wings. You will do this without realizing that these have been foretold centuries ago that these will happen.

Reflection: 12-5-2007

2007-12-05T19:37:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/).

Leviticus 9

Aaron and the rest of the priest started doing their work. Various offerings were done.
- Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community. Fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground. (vv. 23-24)
Leviticus 10

Nadab and Abihu did not follow the prescribed ways of doing the offerings. In front of God's holy face, such imperfections are not pleasing to God. In His holiness, he only accepts 100% of everything that He instructed. Anything that falls short are not acceptable. Knowing that God is holy, do we also have what it takes to be perfect in holiness? The answer is an unfortunate no. So what then would it take for us to be made holy? Look at Who died on the cross and try to guess whose imperfections did He atoned for. And try to figure also why He was called the Lamb of God in light with the Jewish sacrifices and offerings.

My Belief-O-Matic Scores

2007-12-04T15:17:00.001+08:00

You know what? I recently found this informal test in the Internet that had my feelings mixed. I don't know whether I should be alarmed with this or just laugh it out. I found this web application that shows the affinity of your deeply-held beliefs to a religion, whether what you deeply believe in about spiritual things share with adherents of a religion whether you are a member of that or not. This web application, called Belief-O-Matic, will ask you 20 questions about your concept of God, afterlife, humanity, death, eternity, and more, then the web application will tell you what religion you practice, if you have any, or what religion you ought to belong with. A part of me is alarmed because some finer points of what I think I believed with (not believed in) are not what I think they are. But another part of me also just wants to laugh this out because it's neither that serious nor anything authoritative so as to actually determine what I profess with (not what I profess in).

By the way, the web address is http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html. And now, here are my results, with screen clipped from the Belief-O-Matic:

Reading from that screenshot, the No.1 in the list is what Belief-O-Matic thinks most closely matched my beliefs, and my score as a "Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant" is a perfect 100%. Ok now, is it possible for someone whose No.1 religion in the list is not a 100%, maybe just a 95% or lower? I'm hoping somebody answers this question, but I'll dig more about these results myself later. Most probably, I'll post in my next blog what I'll find more.

And having said that, I do agree with the No.1 result. I would be shocked if the No.1 result showed a 100% which is not what I believed, and this blog would have a totally different content matched with half-indignant reactions. I have no further more to say about this, other than "mainline to conservative" should be more specific than generic. Maybe Methodism belongs to this… group, or maybe Calvinism, or Baptist. And how does this… group… differ with the No.10 "Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants"? What doctrines have they differ? No matter what those doctrine technicalities they hold but as an FYI, my belief system is not really religious in doctrine, so to speak, but if one uses religious nomenclature, mine could be categorically placed more as an Assemblies of God.

So why exactly I am alarmed? 95% of what I believed with (not what I believed in) is shared with Seventh Day Adventists when I anticipated only around 50-80%. It's alarming to me that I'm essentially almost an Adventist, contrary to what I thought I'm not. Not only that, 88% of my beliefs are shared with Eastern Orthodox guys, contrary also to what I thought. And what is it in my belief system that made it 51% Islamic, I kind of wondered. Having shown these statistics made me realize that I have much more to learn in apologetics. As another FYI, I had been self-studying Christian apologetics since July this year. For comparative reasons, I had also been reading a general overview of apologetics from other beliefs. Me being alarmed in these subjects means that I have much more to self-learn on apologetics. Remember that insight on "loving the LORD your God with all your mind" (Mark 12:29-31)?

Anyway yes, a part of me is just taking this for fun because, as I have said earlier, this is not authoritative. Imagine, everything can be determined by a set of only 20 questions? This should not be meant as a final word on the label for your own belief systems. Another thing also is that, after all, it is not that God will give you salvation if you are a member of a particular religion. I fundamentally believe that one can only be saved through the redeeming blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ that anyone who believes in Him will be saved in the afterlife. This is the only thing that God will look upon whether to accept you as His own or not.

Reflections: 12-4-2007

2007-12-04T15:15:00.001+08:00

All Scripture citations are taken from New Living Translation, Second Edition (http://www.newlivingtranslation.com/).

Leviticus 7

This chapter outlines further instructions on guilt and peace offerings, as well as eating the forbidden blood and fat and the portion of priests from these offerings. Imagine that we have to continue doing these if Christ had not come. Salvation and God's power then will be based on religiosity and rituals.
- These are the instructions for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, as well as the ordination offering and the peace offering. The LORD gave these instructions to Moses on Mount Sinai when he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai. (vv. 37-38)
  - This is a concluding statement of the various types of offerings, 6 types in all, shown from the previous chapters of the Book of Leviticus. One would really have to be extravagant in doing these when one commit some sins. I have realized that God relayed these instructions to show that sin is very costly. It requires various blood splashing and burnings to be done. Sin is very costly enough for God to send His son Jesus Christ to be the sacrifice for us.
Leviticus 8

Aaron and his sons were ordained following the ordination offerings instructed by God to follow for the rest of their generations.

Psalms 54

God is our defender, when we are attacked by our "enemies", literal or figurative. God is our helper, as He keeps us alive despite the evil plans of our "enemies". God is our rescuer, for He have delivers us from our troubles and helps us triumph over our "enemies".

Proverbs 4
- Don't do as the wicked do, and don't follow the path of the evildoers. Don't even think about it; don't go that way. Turn away and keep moving. (vv. 14-15)
  - I like the way they said it. Don't even think about those sins the evildoers are doing. Turn away from these and keep moving. This does imply not to even glance at it for the possibility of being tempted.

Mark 13

This is one of the prophetic parts of the Scripture that is yet to happen in the last days.
- As Jesus was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, "Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls." Jesus replied, "Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!" (vv. 1-2)
  - The Temple was still standing when this conversation happened. Jesus had predicted that the destruction will happen. Decades later, the Romans waged war with Jerusalem to quell the rebellion there, destroying utterly the Temple in the process to loot the expensive gold linings filling the holes between bricks. These verses show that Jesus knew what is to happen in a span of decades, to show that He knows what will happen in the last days at the second coming of the Son of Man.
- [Jesus continued,] "The day is coming when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing where he should not be." (Reader, pay attention!) (v. 14)
  - "The sacrilegious object" also means "the abomination that causes desolation", as the later is favoured in some Bible translations, in reference to Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. The words abomination and desolation convey a picture of utter hatred mixed with disgust to something that is in decaying or destroyed state. That thing being mentioned here is placed in places where it should not be. Probably in the Temple? To a Jew, this is unthinkable.
  - The reader is strongly warned to pay attention to this that will happen. When this happens, this is now a very strong sign that Jesus is coming very, very soon.
- [Jesus continued,] "The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip… Don't let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!" (vv. 34, 36-37)
  - Watch for Him. That is a command.

Preparing for the Messiah Credential No. 13

2007-12-03T20:38:00.001+08:00

Now that through God's will and providence I have published the 12^th credential for the Messiah in my primary blog site in Yahoo 360 (http://360.yahoo.com/alvinvillaflores_hubport or http://www.alvinvillaflores.co.cc), I am preparing for the next credential that I'd like to show in that site. Mind you that I'm not yet done in that blog series, though I could say I'm nearing halfway through that series. I may be able to publish it around tomorrow or the day after that, so stay tuned.

A Manga Bible?

2007-12-03T20:31:00.001+08:00

Ok guys, if you're here to learn tips and tricks in the manga art, look elsewhere. Err, rather look elsewhere later. Please finish reading this blog, though it's obvious that I won't be talking regarding anything related to the manga art. But if you're a manga enthusiast, you could try reading the Manga Bible.

So alright, it's a Holy Bible. So what? You enjoy reading manga comics, right? Well, at least it's all that comics and art thing that you like. Opening that, I know you'll find that a nice reading at least.

And you know what, some people find fault that the Bible is shown through manga art. If you'll ask me, I don't find any fault to that. Nothing is wrong with that being in manga as long as it is not the type of art that shows flesh, or that would glorify dark things, or that would show a bit of magic. But I think manga by itself is not heathen. Ironically, I'm the conservative type but I don't find fault in anything that uses a transmission that is not inherently dark or demonic. The important thing is the message being transmitted would reach the audience. See the analogy? The Manga Bible is the mode of transmission, and the message is the Good News of God's salvation.

For more information about the Bible done in manga art, click on this link: http://www.themangabible.com/index.asp?module=Pages&action=View&postId=19.

New Blog Entry Published In Primary Site

2007-12-02T22:07:00.001+08:00

Phew! Thank God I've finally made a new blog entry in my primary site. After more than a month of inactivity, I finally got to do some researching again. That's because lately it is my renewed desire to finish showing the relevant credentials for the Messiah. Want to know why I was lost in the blogging scenes? Please read that blog as I have explained it there. Um… oh, just click this link for your convenience. In case you will not be auto-forwarded, you can type http://360.yahoo.com/alvinvillaflores_hubport then read the blog entry dated December 2, 2007.

So this blog entry is the behind-the-scenes for that entry in my primary blog site – some background story that I don't have time to publish it there, or some miscellaneous items or events related to that. Maybe if I get comfortable with this setup, I would probably do this in my future blogs. To tell you frankly, I'm not sure why I had to do this behind-the-scenes thing. Maybe I just wanted to shake off some formalities or what, that somehow I miss being informal in my blogs, seeing that I look very formal there. Correction, I read very formal there. Or maybe I'd just like to have some miscellaneous topics for my blogs done in my other blog sites.

And you know what, that blog entry took me longer to publish. I have to do some researching. I am not a Bible scholar and I do not possess formal studies in the Bible – one that could have you called "pastor" – so I have to do this by myself, with a little bit of asking to those who have those titles embedded in their names. What had me delayed is who Asaph is. I have to know who he is because he quoted sayings that have been used as prophesies that link with the Messiah. At first, everything is kind of murky figuring out that lead or credential for the Messiah. It had me wondering why Asaph quoted things that the apostles used for Jesus. With the use of Bible softwares, I have finally known that Asaph was. The following could be said of him:

Asaph was a Levite. He belonged to that tribe of Israelites separated and called for the royal priesthood of the nation. They facilitate praise and worship, the presentation of burned offerings, and the periodic ritual of atonement and sacrifice.
Asaph was also a chief musician in the temple of God. Various references in the Old Testament point to this, most particularly the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles.
Asaph was a singer. A psalmist actually, using the proper vernacular for his station. That much can be found in the Book of Psalms.
And (using the cliché) last but not the least, Asaph is a prophet. He sings and plays music with the Spirit of God prophesying in him, as recorded 1 Chronicles 25: 1-2.

Days ago, I prayed for guidance as to what to write in that blog. I have read a credential, but I could not explain it plainly because I struggled with the identity of Asaph. After figuring these out, I thank God for showing me these. Truly, I am doing this not for my own glory, but for Him alone.

Yahoo 360 Blog Series Update: November 29, 2007

2007-11-29T09:40:00.001+08:00

Hello everyone.

I'm just dropping by to greet. I still enjoy using my blog editor, the one I'm using to compose and publish this entry. I feel somewhat sad that I could only use this indirectly for my primary blog site in Yahoo 360. (Kindly bookmark that please!) When I'm using this blog editor client for that, I'd have to do the copy-and-paste thing for everything I would write here. Or, if I find myself dissatisfied by doing just that, I would even retype everything. Not that I don't like to type.

Anyways, I am now preparing for a new blog entry to my main blog site. I am preparing for some Bible verses to support a new credential that I have been preparing lately.

Alright, I could not stay long at the moment. Until then, I'm hoping that that blog site be read as many people as possible. I'm hoping that you would be kind to visit that site. And you would enjoy reading then.

2007-11-28T13:03:00.001+08:00

This is not to surprise many, but I may consider shifting my primary blogging site to this one. I have a word processing editor that supports publishing to a blog site. This feature is integrated on the editor, and it's kind of convenient for me to do posting blogs. However, I could not disclose what the tool that I am using is. Try to understand why, because I do not intend to tell why.

Anyway, I somewhat rediscovered the beauty of blogging again. But, as I have said, I am still undergoing some sort of a vacation on blogging. This is the reason why this post is happening.

And I did say that I might – with an emphasis on that word – shift my primary blogging site to this one. This editor by way of publishing what I type here does not support Yahoo 360. But of course, I could be diligent of posting it there by doing the copy-and-paste thing. That is why the words are "I might change" not "I will change". Being diligent could help fulfil what was said in the Bible about being faithful to small things. (Apparently, I forgot the verses, so pardon me for that.)

So that's it. This is all that I can say for this blog. It's time to post this blog with a few clicks now.

This is a test blog post

2007-11-28T10:16:00.001+08:00

Hello guys. No blog, no view (^_^(. I was busy for a while. Besides, I'm having this thing called blog burnout. I plan to resume blogging next month. And at the time of this writing, that means next week. Although I may still have this burnout thing, I'll going to post anyway. I already have stated my reasons for doing this…

I am hoping that in the end, everything will acknowledge that there is only one God who sent His only Son to die as a sacrifice for us. And to Him alone, I'll continue doing this.

2007-10-29T19:10:00.000+08:00

Maintaining many blog sites are draining. But started last Saturday, I have reasons now in posting here and to my other blog sites...

After all, I'm still doing this for God's glory. I hope I have His will in doing this. I'm ready to drop this blog site if maintaining these will cause my living in the Spirit to lessen. I'm putting God first before anything else. Including my time writing these blogs.

So please watch out... I am planning something big here. (^_^(

My primary blog site

2007-09-13T08:09:00.000+08:00

Hi people.

Hmm... another blog site....

As much as I'd like to post here, I'd like you all to refer to my primary blog site. I'd like to focus all my blogs there. It's on http://360.yahoo.com/alvinvillaflores_hubport. I hope you visit my site there. I don't intend to write much on this site.

Thank you and God bless.