Thomas Merton on Finding God

The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.

Thomas Merton

Buying Soft Copies of Bible Commentary

Logos bible software was having a 12 days of Christmas sales, offer one sales per day. There are some good bargains here.

Prices and coupon codes are good through December 31st, 2009.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
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Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
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Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible
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Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon
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Word Biblical Commentary (WBC 59 Vols.)
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The Drama of Scripture
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Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, 2nd ed.
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The Essential IVP Reference Collection Version 3
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Jesus in Context: Background Readings for Gospel Study
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Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
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An Exposition on Prayer in the Bible (5 Vols.)
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1 year subscription to
Bible Study Magazine
PLUS a free copy of
The Unexpected Adventure
SALE – $19.95
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No Coupon Code Needed

I have my eye on the Word Biblical Commentary (56 vols) for some time. My problem is that I have most of the hard copies. So is it good stewardship to buy the soft copies for my computer.

What do you think? Shall I buy or not?

Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care Fall 2009

I will regarded this peer reviewed journal published by the Institute of Spiritual Formation, Talbot School of Theology at Biola University as the single most important contribution to the study of spiritual formation in the last two years. Since it inaugural issue two years ago, it has been featuring scholars and writers who are working hard to lay the foundational basis for understanding , defining and researching Christian spiritual formation.

While there has been much discussion of spiritual formation on the Internet, much of it may be considered bias opinions and nebulous thinking rather than dealing with a foundational epistemology of spiritual formation. There is a great need to really define what spiritual formation. This journal is a major contribution. My only complaint is that its articles are not freely available on the Internet and its subscription is expensive to those in the poorer countries.

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Who is Jesus' Grandfather?

GOOD QUESTION Why Jesus' Genealogies Don't Match Up What the two genealogies of Christ, found in Matthew and Luke, are really trying to say. By Grant Osborne

Is Jesus paternal grandfather Jacob (Matt.1:15) or Heli (Luke 3:23b)?

Interesting answers from Prof. Osborne. Grant Osborne is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Matthew's list resembles those used by rulers to justify their rank and status, and by families to determine connections to a common ancestor. Matthew arranges his genealogy into three groups of 14 names each. In Jewish gematria—a kind of numerology stemming from the fact that letters of the Hebrew alphabet were also numbers—names have numerical value. The three consonants for David add up to 14. So Matthew underscores Jesus' kingly ancestry by working in groups of David, or 14.

Read more

Stem Cells to Treat Heart Attacks

I am glad to learn that there are some Phase 2 studies being done for stem cell therapies. After the great hype by stem cell research, it is time we see some useful applications. And this is from adult stem cells which makes most of the controversies about embryonic stem cells moot.

Stem cell therapies for hearts inching closer to wide use

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

December 18, 2009 9:34 a.m. EST

Dr. Joshua Hare at the University of Miami works on stem cell therapies for heart attack patients.

(CNN) -- If you've just had your first heart attack, doctors may one day be able to reverse the damage done with stem cell therapy.

An intravenous method of injecting stem cells into patients who had experienced heart attacks within the previous 10 days suggested that this method works to repair -- not just manage -- heart damage, a recent study found.

read more

The Blessings of Spiritual Friends

Spiritual friendship, according to the great twelfth century English Cistercian Abbot, Aelred of Rievaulx is “mutual harmony in affairs human and divine coupled with benevolence and charity” (Aelred, Spiritual Friendship, Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications). What he meant is that spiritual friendship is the love of the Christians given by God that combines goodwill and charity and is only possible between those who resist sin and seek to follow Jesus. There are certain characteristics that make up spiritual friendship.

Firstly spiritual friendship has ‘sacred space’ that allows each of us to grow in our relationship with the Lord, with other people and with ourselves. The ‘sacred space’ is a safe space where we are free to make mistakes. It is also a space where we are to be non judgmental about each other. Therefore this ‘sacred space’ allows us to be ourselves, without the burden of putting on our false selves and trying to be someone else. In spiritual friendship there is an understanding of ‘agreeing to disagree.’ This meant that it is possible to hold differing opinions about politics, theology, lifestyle preferences, and cultural heritage without the need to prove ourselves right or to tear down the other person’s opinion. In many subtle ways, this will enrich our lives.

Secondly, spiritual friendship is a relationship with trust. This trust is about spiritual friends respecting each other’s confidentiality and privacy. It is in our psychological makeup that we need people we can trust so that we can open ourselves. This opening of ourselves is cathartic and results in our emotional well being. We need to be able to be free to verbalise our fears and desires. Confession is an important part of the process of repentance. Confession helps us to avoid the temptation of sidestepping our moral responsibilities. We cannot do all this if we do not trust our spiritual friends with our confidentiality.

Thirdly, spiritual friendship involves accountability. Spiritual friends are accountable to each other because they are brothers in Christ. Much of the problems of the world are the results of lack of accountability. Many Christian leaders fail because they do not allow themselves to be accountable to other Christians. Christian spiritual friends hold each other accountable in their spiritual life, thought fantasies, marital fidelity, fulfilling of promises, and management of finances. We need these check and balances because we are prone to self deception. The bible teaches that our hearts are very deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9).

Finally, spiritual friends make very good prayer partners. There is a certain joy in praying together with someone we know and loves. Praying together reminds us of our dependence on the Lord. One of the highlight of my working week is the weekly lunch-time prayer with a spiritual friend. Spiritual friends are able to discern the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of one another other and to offer spiritual direction. This is especially useful when major decisions need to be made.

How do we seek spiritual friends? We start by becoming friends with others. Gradually we will come to be aware that certain people may become our good spiritual friends. We are comfortable with these people because they offer us ‘sacred spaces.’ We know that we can trust them to keep our confidence (not a gossip), are willing to be accountable to each other, and willing to pray together with us. The friendship of David and Jonathan is one such example (Isaiah 18:1-4). In my spiritual journey I am grateful for the friendships of many spiritual friends who live in many countries all over the world. I thank God for all of them. When you have a spiritual friend, hang on to them because they are very precious and very rare. You may even have to travel thousands of miles for them.

Soli Deo Gloria

Star Trek: The Romulan War

{contain spoilers}

The francise holder of Star Trek continues to restructure the Star Trek universe in the original and the alternative (Star Trek movie) timeline.

Moving backwards in the original Star Trek universe, the Star Trek novels are picking up where the Star Trek television series, Enterprise was unfortunately and prematurely canceled after the 4th season. The 5th season was supposedly to deal with the Romulan War.

According to the Memory Alpha website

The Earth-Romulan War, also known as the Romulan Wars, was a major interstellar conflict fought from 2156 to 2160 between the forces of United Earth and those of the Romulan Star Empire. Earth was assisted by its allies Vulcan, Tellar, and the Andorian Empire. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")

The two sides knew little of each other before the war, and little after the war. Based on the limited state of knowledge that still existed in as late as 2266, the war was summarized as "Earth believes the Romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous; and only the Romulans know what they think of Earth."

This novel continues the story after the novel Kobayashi Maru. The Romulans has perfected a technique of telecapturing Coalition (future Federation) ships and the climax of this novel is that Kobayashi Maru was destroyed. Kobayashi Maru went into Star Trek lore as the classical no win scenario.

The true situation was explained in this novel. Enterprise was escorting the Kobayashi Maru when they were attacked by Klingon ships telecaptured by the Romulans. The Enterprise has to leave the Kobayashi Maru behind in order to avoid being telecaptured. The telecaptured Klingon ships destroyed the Kobayashi Maru.


The novel The Romulan War tells of the early stages of the war. The Romulans are winning and the Coalition are having a hard time. Vulcan are abandoning the Coalition. One interesting note is that to prevent their ships from being telecaptured, earth ships are reverting from digital display to knobs and lights. This will make them look like Kirk's Enterprise which comes later. A very clever innovation for the continuity.

The novel makes for interesting reading but was draggy at times as if the author were trying to stretch it out for a few more books. I only wish authors will tell the story instead of trying for trilogies or multiple books. This novel emphasize the building of Daedalus class starship as a cheaper alternative to the NX series.

Christmas in Other Lands

As Christmas comes closer, let us pray for Christians in other lands. A good reminder to pray from a Quaker.



The latest from Thinking Faith...

iWitness: Christmas in the West Bank
As we make the final preparations for Christmas, there are many Christians in troubled areas of the world who will be unable to welcome Christ into their lives with the same freedom that we enjoy. Hilary Browne describes what Christmas is like now in the place of Christ’s birth, where last year news of violence marred the celebrations in already difficult circumstances.
Read more

Out of China 2012

A movie review from my friend Andy who lives in Shanghai. A unique prespective from someone living in China.


Just when Hollywood seems to run out of box-office hits, Roland Emmerich’s 2012 succeeded in turning the tide. While raking in millions of dollars, the movie stands out in attracting the most disparaging reviews, ranging from “a total waste of time” to “two thumbs up”. Coming from the same Director of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, what makes 2012 so different from other disaster movies?

First, timing is everything. Unlike others catastrophic movies, like Armageddon or The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 predicts that the world is coming to an end within 3 years time. By adding an imminent period to the earth’s biological clock, the movie proves to work immensely well with an audience living under the sword of Damocles of the still unraveling global financial turmoil. From Wall Street to Main Street , bankers to brokers, fear has been the overriding emotion for the past two years – the fear of losing our jobs, our homes, and our livelihoods. Also, against the backdrop of “rain of biblical proportions” in Lake District , UK (as reported by BBC) and the recent talking heads reporting from Copenhagen , the time is ripe to take a hard look on earth-shattering disasters. Instead of providing a solution, however, 2012 deepens the fear, adding a twist to all the deliberation and empty talks. Sorry folks, this is it, there is no way of avoiding the end of the world.

Then, the place is the second twist. Unlike Armageddon, where the all American Bruce Willis joined hands with NASA to save the world, China played savior in this Hollywood sci-fi. Also, while the climatologist turned Whitehouse advisor (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) first discovered the world’s deadline in India and reported to the begrudging Whitehouse – as usual – it was China who acted on the delivery. At the end of the day, it was China who saved the world in 2012 – a new trick indeed! China , with her jaw-dropping technology and seamlessly orchestrated plan, not to mention her far-sightedness, patience, and inclusivity provided refuge for people from all nations, tribes and tongues. And in this case, China sacrificed herself in the process of saving the world. I was told that the original version has two scenes where the Great wall was swept away too but I did not see it in my version. Another trick inserted by the Director was, of the seventy over cities in China , it was not Beijing or Shanghai which was chosen for the secret location to build the ship but the mountainous Tibet . Three paradoxes are played out vividly here: (1) the strong and mighty like the Second-in-Command of the United States of America and the Queen of England came to seek refuge from the fragile, marginalized and often misunderstood savior; (2) In saving the world, the savior needs to sacrifice himself; (3) It was not in the capitol cities where the savior was hidden, but the quiet outskirt.

But what is the Plan? This, I believe, is what really distinguishes Emmerich’s latest flick from the rest, his previous ones included. Taking a leaf from Genesis – the first book in the Bible, the Plan is to have every living creature and some carefully selected people preserved in a very big ship when the world stops evolving following the deluge. In the Bible, the big ship was called the Ark , and it was built by a man called Noah (Genesis 6 – 9).

Had Emmerich been following China ’s aeronautical developments for the past few years, he would have named the spaceship Shenzhou ba hao. But, wait, why the Noah’s Ark Plan? The 54 year-old German director graduated from University of Television and Film Munich with a thesis entitled the Noah’s Ark Principles back in 1981.

Well, why then, did Emmerich choose China to play the unnamed Noah? Wouldn’t California – the hometown of Hollywood which is also governed by a Megastar-turned-Governor – the perfect blend to play savior? Pundits who suggest the quick answer of 1.3 billions cinema goers has got it only half right, for many – myself included – watched it through DVDs brought from the streets here in China.

Do the Chinese believe in the Bible? According to Emmerich, the answer is a resounding “yes”.

The Future of Bioscience and Healthcare

I have always been fascinated with future forecast especially in the area of science, technological, society and culture. I like reading books by futurists. Most futurists are system thinkers who sees trends in the present and are able to extrapolate these trends into the future. This book which was published in September 2009 deals with the future of biosciences. Most of us will appreciate that biosciences is the next wave of the future with its confluence into healthcare.

Bioscience is the new name for biological sciences that deals with the cutting edge technology of gene manipulation technologies, anti-aging modalities, cloning and pharmaceutical developments. The research and development of these technologies are expanding by leaps and bounds. It is not inconceivable that human life expectancies will be expanded to 120 years within the next decade.

The limitation to biosciences is not the research and development, the authors argue, but whether society can continue to support a large aging population especially if the life expectancy increase to over 100. The limitation is the resources for healthcare. There are four possible scenarios that can happen in the future. These four scenarios are the interactions of public perception of biosciences and healthcare resources. The public reception of biosciences can range from unconditional acceptance total rejection.

This is a well researched book on biosciences and healthcare resources. The discussion will be enhanced by a deeper discussion of globalisation and religious impact on social trends. However the authors are wise to limit their discussion to the North American context as their data are mainly from that region.

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The Beauty of New Zealand

Memories of New Zealand #7: Food for the Soul

Problem of Bible Knowledge in Malaysian Schools

PRESS STATEMENT

MALAYAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS’ COUNCIL

SHOCKED BY SPM 10+2 EXCLUSIVITY

The Malayan Christian Schools’ Council is shocked at the Government’s decision not to include Bible Knowledge in the 2 additional SPM subjects as announced recently.

This is despite repeated representations and memoranda to the authorities concerned since June this year.

In The Star Online news report dated Tuesday December 8, 2009 it was announced that the two additional SPM subjects are limited to Bahasa Arab, Bahasa Cina, Bahasa Tamil, Chinese Literature and Tamil Literature.

This decision appears to have been hastily taken without due consultation. It has unjustly excluded other subjects which are highly valued by ethnic and religious minorities in Malaysia.

Among these subjects are Bahasa Iban, Bahasa Punjab and Bible Knowledge. This marginalisation is a source of great consternation among the affected communities which constitute a significant percentage of Malaysians.

We urge the Cabinet, in particular the Minister of Education, to leave the choice of the two additional SPM subjects to the candidate. Surely, such an inclusive approach is more in line with the PM’s vision of 1Malaysia “People First, Performance Now”.

(signed)

YAP KOK KEONG

Chairman

MALAYAN CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS’ COUNCIL

Dated this 17^th December 2009

(The Malayan Christian Schools’ Council represents the Mission Authorities of the Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Brethren, Presbyterian and Basel Churches)

A Celtic Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine down upon your face.
And the rain fall soft upon your fields
Until we meet again
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand

New Zealand Food

Memories of New Zealand #6: Food for the Body

Fifty Eight Years of a Religious Vow

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 is the day 58 years ago my dear spiritual friend and mentor, Dr Helen Rosenthal, RSJC said her first vows to enter the life of a religious. RSCJ stands for Religious of the Sacred Heart in Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish. Sister Helen, as she likes to be called, still teaches Christian Spirituality at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida in the United States. She is 80 years old but look not a day older than 60 years. Her favourite book remains The Cloud of Unknowing.

She writes a regular blog making her one of the oldest blogger I know.

58th Anniversary of My First Vows

I remember this day so well. I had a marvelous private retreat before it and Jesus was so present to me and I kept asking Him to let me realize what I was really doing when I took my vows and consecrated my whole life to Him. As I had had all the sports for the high school and seventh and eighth grade for the whole of my second year as a novice, I was allowed to go talk to the children that afternoon. I still remember standing on a bench so they could all see me as they crowded into the locker room; they wanted to see my vow crucifix and. of course, they had been present that morning when we were given our black veils. It was the octave of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and I had several days before going back to St. Louis to begin my active life as a religious.

I am privileged to have her for my spiritual friend, mentor and prayer partner. She is always an inspiration for me in her devotion to Jesus and her love for her fellow man and woman. Helen, you are truely the salt and light.

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