Facebook

I think it's been a year since I first registered on Facebook. To date, I still don't quite know what to do with some of the applications. Friends sometimes send me various gifts, and I haven't quite figured out how to view the actual gift. Sometimes, I press on "view my gift" and it takes me to a new page that says I don't have any gifts yet.

Very puzzling.

And how come my friends have to much time to be playing with all these different applications? I find I don't have enough time during the day.

If God were to grant me a superpower, I would like to be able to stop time. Chances are, though, that God would only allow me to slow down time for other people, but not myself. For example, I could slow down time for an old lady who is dying on her hospital bed, and allow her favourite grand-daughter to arrive in time to say their last "I love yous." But, if I needed more time to prep a lesson before I had to teach, my superpower wouldn't work. God would want me to use the time He has given me in a fruitful way so as not to be idle and waste it.

I thank God for all the gifts He has already given me.

Links and Topics to Study

https://www.cbmw.org/Journal/Vol-9-No-2/Gender-Roles-and-the-Glory-of-God
I've always wondered about the two books, Corinthians I and II.

http://www.sharperiron.org/2007/08/10/who-is-counseling-our-women/
I became interested in this after hearing what my Pastor said on Saturday at the end of our potluck dinner.

Online Bible at Bible Gateway

Faith Journal

I have thought to myself countless times in the past how I would like to make this blog my faith journal. I never did end up following through it, partly because my faith wasn't growing, at least not very much. My two good friends, Vr. and S2. have been telling telling me about how one's faith needs to grow, and not to let ourselves become complacent in our comfort zones after we've been baptized. I agree with them, and I've been trying to find different ways to enable my faith to grow. Of course, I have been praying about it as well.

I am part of a Care Group that meets every Friday for Bible study, evangelism and general group support. Once a month, my group will go out into the public and they will evangelize. I know that S2 and her husband, Av., are hoping that I will take on evangelism training and join them sometime in the evangelistic work that they do. However, to be honest, I don't think that my faith is mature enough that I could, or even should, take on something as important as evangelism. I have only been baptized for a year...not even; it will be a year on April 27th. I haven't read enough of the Bible. I'm only starting to become more involved at church, and I have only been attending APC for a little over a year; less than a year at Ling Fu. So, I really don't feel ready for that yet.

God, with His love and grace, has presented me with other options. Yesterday, I went to the Ling Fu Fellowship potluck. There, I had a talk with Vr. and she told me that she is going to start a course on discipleship for members of the Ling Fu congregation. Vr. will only be able to conduct this in English, and so many will be excluded for now. Later on, when Kai Hong comes to Toronto for her internship, she will conduct it in Mandarin. I will pray to God that the language will not be a barrier for me. Through discipleship training, I will learn how to improve on praying and serving God. I'm really excited about this.

I give thanks to the Lord for bringing Vr., Rk. and the members of my Care Group to me at this point in my life to help my faith grow.

Re-post

This entry first appeared in the May 16, 2005 entry.

Prof. Eric Reeves on "The Sunday Edition," CBC Radio One

On the drive to church on Sunday morning, Bro and I were listening to The Sunday Edition broadcast. It featured an interview with English Lit. Prof. Eric Reeves about the genocide that is going on in Darfur, Sudan. At one point, Michael Enright, the host, asked Prof. Reeves if Darfur is the next Rwanda in the making. Prof. Reeves responded in a way that really made my heart ache. He said, and I paraphrase:

Darfur is Rwanda in slow motion. It's as if the Gods of History decided to give us another chance, a chance to redeem ourselves for our neglect of what happened in Rwanda. It's as if they said, "we'll give you as much time as you need, and this time there should be no excuse not taking action."

Our second chance is passing us by, and do we even notice it?

http://www.sudanreeves.org/

First Day After MB

So, today was not bad at all. I wasn't as tired as I was afraid I might be.

The morning was easy because my two ESLC classes had a work period. In the afternoon, my Applied History class was very engaged and productive. They weren't as hyper as usual, which may well be a symptom of post-MB lethargiosis. They were my most enjoyable class today.

In the office, we celebrated D.'s birthday today with a strawberry shortcake that N. bought from M&M's. D.'s birthday is actually on Saturday, but we decided to celebrate earlier.

While I was cooking dinner (pork roast), I read a little bit more of Remember Me, a novel by Christopher Pike. In it, a group of teenagers were trying to communicate with the spirit world through one of their friends. One of the boys at the party, Jeff, thought that the spirit they were communicating with was his late brother. Shortly after the "sceance" ended, the girl who was the conduit, Shari, died mysteriously. I'll have to read more to see what will happen.

Growing up, I've always been fascinated with the supernatural, ghosts and haunted places in particular. Many a time have my friends and I considered playing with a ouija board, and I've only done it once with two friends I had in grade five or six, I can't recall exactly. I honestly believe that one of them was moving the pointer, and not a spirit.

Thankfully, I have learned over the years that this is an activity that should not be treated as a game. You never knows what "spirit" is in communication with you. It could be a benign ghost, or it could be the Devil. Once you invite a spirit in, you cannot ask it to leave or even kick it out as you wish. It is actually a dangerous game to play. So, I will never get to try it out again and see if it really works. That makes me feel a bit sad, sad that I won't be able to know for myself. On the other hand, I've learned that some things are better left unknown.

Favourite YA Fiction Writers

My bro-in-Christ at Ling Fu asked me for a reading list. So, I started thinking about who are my favourite YA fiction writers and which are my favourite novels?

Authors:
Robert Cormier
Katherine Paterson
Susan Cooper
Lloyd Alexander
John Wyndham

Novels:
The Chocolate War
Jacob Have I loved
The Grey King
The Midwich Cuckoos

Pope Benedict, What Planet Are You From?

"Condoms are not the answer to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa," Pope Benedict said Tuesday ..."You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the Pope told reporters. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

While health workers — including some priests and nuns working with people with AIDS — advocate the use of condoms to curb the spread of disease during sex, the Catholic church promotes fidelity within marriage, chastity and abstinence.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/17/pope-africa-condoms.html

Maybe Pope Benedict should join the priests and nuns who are living and working in Africa. Learn what real life is like. Learn what problems Africans face daily, especially the women. Examine the causes and the possible solutions. Then, he should speak out.

A seven-day visit only benefits the media and people who don't live in Africa.

Afterthought:
How can people, well, Catholics all around the world, revere someone as ignorant as Pope Benedict?