The Batmans Return

"My challenge to my blog friends is this: write 8 of your blog friends names in a unique way and post them. Then come back over and let me know. You must write the blogger's name that tagged you, then add 7 others. Be creative and if possible use the natural wonders of the world!"

pearlie who tagged me, as the original golden age Batman. (Sorry, I do not have any figurine of Batgirl.) Calvin will love your secret identity.

kar yong as the Batman in Infinite Crisis. A battle weary Batman, having to constantly battles in a local seminary.

sora, one of my two sidekicks in the adventure of life. Sora is Robin in the process of becoming Nightwing.

sivin as the Batman from Crisis on Infinite Earths. A Batman wearing many hats but one spirituality.

sherman as the Batman in Gotham by Gaslight, a elsewhere (what if) story about a Batman in the nineteen century. A Batman who lives in many centuries.

alwyn as the Thrillkiller, a Batman in another elsewhere story. He battles very intelletual foes.

bob k as the Batman in Knightfall. Actually it is Azrael fillling in for Batman who was injured by Bane. Azrael sees himself as an avenging agent for social justice.

paul long as the Batman in Kingdom Come, a dark knight who have come out into the light.

The Batmans Return

"My challenge to my blog friends is this: write 8 of your blog friends names in a unique way and post them. Then come back over and let me know. You must write the blogger's name that tagged you, then add 7 others. Be creative and if possible use the natural wonders of the world!"

pearlie who tagged me, as the original golden age Batman. (Sorry, I do not have any figurine of Batgirl.) Calvin will love your secret identity.

kar yong as the Batman in Infinite Crisis. A battle weary Batman, having to constantly battles in a local seminary.

sora, one of my two sidekicks in the adventure of life. Sora is Robin in the process of becoming Nightwing.

sivin as the Batman from Crisis on Infinite Earths. A Batman wearing many hats but one spirituality.

sherman as the Batman in Gotham by Gaslight, a elsewhere (what if) story about a Batman in the nineteen century. A Batman who lives in many centuries.

alwyn as the Thrillkiller, a Batman in another elsewhere story. He battles very intelletual foes.

bob k as the Batman in Knightfall. Actually it is Azrael fillling in for Batman who was injured by Bane. Azrael sees himself as an avenging agent for social justice.

paul long as the Batman in Kingdom Come, a dark knight who have come out into the light.

Exegesis or Isegesis

In order to properly interpret biblical literature. We need to first establish the rules of interpretation. Essentially, there are two types of Scriptural renderings. There is Exegesis and there is Isegesis.

The literal interpretation of Exegesis is to "read out of the text." In other words, What is the text saying to it's readers in its literal sense. What was the intent of the author? Who was the Author's audience? What was the cultural and political climate of the day like? How did this impact the Author's perspectives? Isegesis is "reading-into the text." What is the text saying to me personally? How does it relate to my circumstances?

Most Christians practice the latter form of interpretation. Although this is can be a nourishing spiritual experience; It can be very dangerous. For instance, when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter said, Jesus if it is you, tell me to come." Jesus said, "come." Peter then walked on the water.


There was a case I heard about several years ago of a team of Chinese missionaries who ran into a problem crossing a river that led to where they were ministering. They couldn't get a across the river so one of them qouted the above passage regarding Peter and Jesus. The missionary read into the text (Isegesis) and claimed the verse for himself. Well, the end result was that he drowned. Perhaps if this missionary knew the difference between Exegeting and Isegeting, then he may have not died.

On the other hand, there is a correct way of Isegeting a text. For example. Paul said regarding the subject of Marriage that, "Husbands are to love their wives, and wives are to reverence their husbands." For all practicable purposes, there is relatively no danger in this. It is a simple command to love your wife. Now, don't misunderstand me. You can read into anything just about any way you like. Someone could interpret "loving" your wife as beating her.


So you see, "this is subject to further interpretation." At this point it is fair to Exegete the passage. In other words, who was Paul writing to? What was the culture of the day like? What was the family culture of the day like? For the sake of brevity I won't expand on this, but from a historical perspective the family was comparable to modern day standards.

In conclusion, it is fair to say that proper interpretation of the scriptures involves both Exegesis and Isegesis. Once can properly exegete a passage without isegeting it. On the other hand, it is not proper to isegete without exegeting. As discussed earlier, this form of interpretation can be dangerous. It is my contention that when interpreting scripture, to get the full flavor of it's meaning, one should both exegete and isegete.

source Richard Martinez

Exegesis or Isegesis

In order to properly interpret biblical literature. We need to first establish the rules of interpretation. Essentially, there are two types of Scriptural renderings. There is Exegesis and there is Isegesis.

The literal interpretation of Exegesis is to "read out of the text." In other words, What is the text saying to it's readers in its literal sense. What was the intent of the author? Who was the Author's audience? What was the cultural and political climate of the day like? How did this impact the Author's perspectives? Isegesis is "reading-into the text." What is the text saying to me personally? How does it relate to my circumstances?

Most Christians practice the latter form of interpretation. Although this is can be a nourishing spiritual experience; It can be very dangerous. For instance, when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter said, Jesus if it is you, tell me to come." Jesus said, "come." Peter then walked on the water.


There was a case I heard about several years ago of a team of Chinese missionaries who ran into a problem crossing a river that led to where they were ministering. They couldn't get a across the river so one of them qouted the above passage regarding Peter and Jesus. The missionary read into the text (Isegesis) and claimed the verse for himself. Well, the end result was that he drowned. Perhaps if this missionary knew the difference between Exegeting and Isegeting, then he may have not died.

On the other hand, there is a correct way of Isegeting a text. For example. Paul said regarding the subject of Marriage that, "Husbands are to love their wives, and wives are to reverence their husbands." For all practicable purposes, there is relatively no danger in this. It is a simple command to love your wife. Now, don't misunderstand me. You can read into anything just about any way you like. Someone could interpret "loving" your wife as beating her.


So you see, "this is subject to further interpretation." At this point it is fair to Exegete the passage. In other words, who was Paul writing to? What was the culture of the day like? What was the family culture of the day like? For the sake of brevity I won't expand on this, but from a historical perspective the family was comparable to modern day standards.

In conclusion, it is fair to say that proper interpretation of the scriptures involves both Exegesis and Isegesis. Once can properly exegete a passage without isegeting it. On the other hand, it is not proper to isegete without exegeting. As discussed earlier, this form of interpretation can be dangerous. It is my contention that when interpreting scripture, to get the full flavor of it's meaning, one should both exegete and isegete.

source Richard Martinez

St John of the Cross on Equaminity

Distress and worry ordinarily makes things worse and even does harm to the soul itself. The endurance of all with equanimity not only reaps many blessings but also helps the soul to employ the proper remedy.

St John of the Cross

DA Carson on Nehemiah in Singapore

Register online here

DA Carson on Nehemiah in Singapore

Register online here

Another Postcard from the Heart

Another Postcard from the Heart

The Destroyer Never Dies...

I wonder how many of you remember the series of kungfu/secret agent/assassin action novels of Remo William Remo Williams, the Destroyer?

From the 1970s, Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir has been writing about the adventures of this man who does not exist. There are about 150 books about Remo, the Destroyer. Remo is the United States top assassin, a black opts unit outside the jurisdiction of the government and directly under the command of the President. Remo was assigned operations that other agencies cannot handle.

Remo was trained in the ancient art of Sinanju by his Korean master and partner Chiun. He has been saving the world from destruction for three decades. Using the martial skills of Sinanju, he is Bruce Lee, James Bond, and Mission Impossible rolled into one and I have enjoyed his adventures. These novels are easy reading.

I discovered this omnibus, The Best of the Destroyer in the TIMES bookstore in One Utama, KL on Monday. Published in 2007, it contains 3 novels voted by the fans as the best of the destroyer books. They are

(1) The Destroyer: Chinese Puzzle (1972)
(2) The Destroyer: Slave Safari (1973)
(3) The Destroyer: Assassins Play-off (1975)

I am so looking forward to reading these as I have a long plane journey ahead of me at the end of this month.

The Destroyer Never Dies...

I wonder how many of you remember the series of kungfu/secret agent/assassin action novels of Remo William Remo Williams, the Destroyer?

From the 1970s, Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir has been writing about the adventures of this man who does not exist. There are about 150 books about Remo, the Destroyer. Remo is the United States top assassin, a black opts unit outside the jurisdiction of the government and directly under the command of the President. Remo was assigned operations that other agencies cannot handle.

Remo was trained in the ancient art of Sinanju by his Korean master and partner Chiun. He has been saving the world from destruction for three decades. Using the martial skills of Sinanju, he is Bruce Lee, James Bond, and Mission Impossible rolled into one and I have enjoyed his adventures. These novels are easy reading.

I discovered this omnibus, The Best of the Destroyer in the TIMES bookstore in One Utama, KL on Monday. Published in 2007, it contains 3 novels voted by the fans as the best of the destroyer books. They are

(1) The Destroyer: Chinese Puzzle (1972)
(2) The Destroyer: Slave Safari (1973)
(3) The Destroyer: Assassins Play-off (1975)

I am so looking forward to reading these as I have a long plane journey ahead of me at the end of this month.

The Spirituality of Parenting

Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, In the Midst of Chaos: Caring for Children as Spiritual Practice (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Who will think of parenting as a spiritual practice? Who will think of parenting as being spiritual? For most of us parents, parenting is just basic survival, living day to day. Bonnie Miller-McLemore’s book catchy title, In the Midst of Chaos captures the messy aspect of parenting exactly. It also throws a new perspective on parenting.

Bonnie is no ordinary mum. She is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Pastoral Theology at Vanderblit University Divinity School. I wonder what it will be like to have a theologian as your mother. In this book, she invites us to “…(by) rethinking parenting as an invitation to discover God in the middle of our busy and overstuffed lives…” Taking the ordinary task and routine of parenting, Bonnie shows us how to be “contemplating in chaos.” She invites us to take kids seriously, dealing justly with them, playing the field (Xbox, soccer etc) with them, read from Seuss to Scripture and finally to blessing and letting go.

This is a good read for parents who are struggling with being parents in the midst of chaos.

God, have mercy.

The Spirituality of Parenting

Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, In the Midst of Chaos: Caring for Children as Spiritual Practice (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Who will think of parenting as a spiritual practice? Who will think of parenting as being spiritual? For most of us parents, parenting is just basic survival, living day to day. Bonnie Miller-McLemore’s book catchy title, In the Midst of Chaos captures the messy aspect of parenting exactly. It also throws a new perspective on parenting.

Bonnie is no ordinary mum. She is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Pastoral Theology at Vanderblit University Divinity School. I wonder what it will be like to have a theologian as your mother. In this book, she invites us to “…(by) rethinking parenting as an invitation to discover God in the middle of our busy and overstuffed lives…” Taking the ordinary task and routine of parenting, Bonnie shows us how to be “contemplating in chaos.” She invites us to take kids seriously, dealing justly with them, playing the field (Xbox, soccer etc) with them, read from Seuss to Scripture and finally to blessing and letting go.

This is a good read for parents who are struggling with being parents in the midst of chaos.

God, have mercy.

Postcard from the Heart

received this postcard from a dear couple, my anamcara, this evening

Postcard from the Heart

received this postcard from a dear couple, my anamcara, this evening