A New Chapter Everyday

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33:22)

Just a week ago, the study area is filled with students burying themselves in their books. And now, it is becoming more and more empty. You could even hear the slightest sound of a piece of paper dropping on the floor (metaphorically speaking). My mid-term test just ended last Friday and it's the April batch turn now to sit for their exams tomorrow (please pray for them).

The days past by like a racing car completing its laps over and over again at a great speed. Praise God for the good weather everyday. The drizzle early in the morning brings in the mist, covering the mountains behind my campus. The surrounding temperature is just alright and you could feel the really cool breeze hitting against your face. It was a good feeling when I wake up every morning. My head just seem too heavy to be lifted up from my pillow (I still have to get up though). I reckon it's natural for everyone to have problem waking up early every morning especially when the weather is so fine.

Outside, birds chirp around us and the nearby trees on the mountains sway from side to side, producing a harmonious melody. The wind seems to hum and whisper to the human ears. All sounds like a grand Orchestra performance under the conduct of our Creator. How magnificent!

My everyday life (routine) in the campus is almost the same, but it comes with different experiences and obstacles that I have to overcome. With God's guidance and Him giving me strength, I can do all things through Him. Praise God! (I can do anything through him who gives me strength!) Philippians 4:13.

As the year 2009 is just around the corner (approximately 38 days), so is my end of term. Projects and assignments are starting to mount up real quickly and they need to be accomplished before the deadline arrived, so I may not be able to blog as frequent as the last half of the year.

Till then, please pray for me and take care.

God bless.

Jesus loves you! :-)

The Lord's Prayer

'One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' " (Luke 11:1-4)

The video below is entitled 'Our Father' by Don Moen. It is a song on prayer.

Hear our prayer

We are your children and we're gathered here today

We're gathered here to pray

Hear our cry

Lord we need your mercy and we need you grace today

Hear us as we pray

[CHORUS]

Our Father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Our Father hear us from heaven

Forgive our sins we pray

Hear our song, as it rises to heaven

May your glory fill the earth like waters in the seas

Clean our hearts and remove anything

That is standing in your way

Of loving us today!

[REPEAT CHORUS]

And though we are few

We're surrounded by many who have crossed that river before

And this is the song we'll be singing forever

Holy is the Lord

[x2][REPEAT FIRST VERSE AND CHORUS]

Please pray for me for my coming exams. Till then, take care and God bless.

Jesus loves you! :-)

HHHEEEELLLLLOOOOO there, gamers!

To hardcore gamers out there, this is a game that I strongly recommend you:

Developed by EA games, Medal of Honor: Airborne will definitely take your breath away with its immense battle across Europe and the Allies' relentless enemy, the Germans. Gamespot gave it a 7.0/10


These are some of its screenshots:

I tried it and was really caught up in the crossfire. The gameplay is quite realistic and it will get on your nerve sometimes when you keep throwing grenades at the enemy and they still keep coming towards you! Overall, your eyes will definitely be glued to the screen once you are airborne!

In the single-player mode, the player takes on the role of PFC Boyd Travers, a paratrooper in the US 82nd Airborne Division. Missions include various insertions into Italy, northern France, the Netherlands and Germany, each one beginning with a jump behind enemy lines, and success requiring completion of given objectives. Airborne also features a multiplayer mode available for online play, where users have the choice of fighting for the Allies and parachuting down to the battlefield, or fighting for the Axis and starting on the ground, defending the position from enemy paratroopers. - Wikipedia

Whereas for less die hard gamers, this is another game that I recommend you:

In Spore, you get to create your own creatures, vehicles, buildings, planes and even UFOs (all from a wide selection of cool gadgets and whole lot more)! You can change the size of your creature according to your taste and also create a creature with one or a pair of eyes....or even more! You also get to share the things you created with other people online. The gameplay is really cute and fun as well as interactive. From a small prokaryotic cell, you eventually evolve into a galactic commander! Try to go watch the gameplay on YouTube and you'll get what I mean. Gamespot gave it a 8.0/10

Spore is a multi-genre massive single-player online metaverse video game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. It allows a player to control the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a unicellular organism, through development as an intelligent and social creature, to interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture. It has drawn wide attention for its massive scope, and its use of open-ended gameplay and procedural generation. - Wikipedia

Till then, take care and God bless.

Jesus loves you!

US Presidential Election 2008

'Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.' (1 Peter 2:13-17)

Source: (abcnews.com)

Barack Obama cruised to victory Tuesday night in an historic triumph that promised change, overcame centuries of prejudice and fulfilled Martin Luther King's dream that a man be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.

Obama, a first term senator with little experience on the national level, made history by becoming the nation's first black president and defeating Sen. John McCain, one of the country's most experienced politicians and a bona fide war hero.

In his acceptance speech before some 150,000 supporters in Grant Park in Chicago, Obama complimented McCain on a hard fought campaign and promised that a "new dawn of American leadership is at hand."

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama said echoing a key theme of his campaign.

Looking ahead to an economic crisis and turbulent foreign affairs, he told the sea of supporters, "There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face."

Obama was joined by his wife Michelle and daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, and he mentioned recognized his grandmother Madelyn Dunham who died Monday on the eve of his historic triumph.

Obama's history making victory was fueled by his soaring rhetoric, his themes of change and hope in uncertain economic times, as well as deep dissatisfaction with the last eight years of the Bush administration.

Obama's campaign was historic for reasons beyond his skin color. He raised more money than any other candidate in U.S. history, and had to first defeat Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was the party's favorite to win the Democratic nomination.

Article taken from abcnews.com (5 Nov. 2008)

'Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.' (Romans 13:1-7)

Cookies and Thoughts

'God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.' John 3:16

My housemate went back to his hometown to celebrate Deepavali and brought back some of these:

'Muruku' is its name

This one tatsted like pineapple

Tasted nice with nuts

Tasted like chocolate

I attended English class just now and we were touching on the topic "Culture". We were given a task to discuss about weddings of different races and festivals celebrated by races in Malaysia and all over the world. While my group was having our discussion, I came across a word - reincarnation (related to Deepavali celebration and Buddhism). I then remembered about an article I read in the Internet and decided to share it with you:

Reincarnation, Karma & Life after Death

Do you have a choice regarding what happens after you die? Is reincarnation real? Is there life after death?

by Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D.

People have always wondered what--if anything--lies beyond the grave. Is death the end of existence, an entry into eternity, or an intermission between earthly lives? Some teach that the soul reincarnates in many different bodies, and approximately 25 percent of Americans believe it. Why are so many people drawn to reincarnation?

Is Reincarnation The ChanceAt A 'Do-over'?

Reincarnation offers hope to many. If we don't get it right in this life, we have another chance the next time around. Yet, even those who believe in reincarnation admit that the vast majority of humans do not remember their previous lives. How can we learn from our past mistakes if we cannot remember them? We seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. Given the moral failure rate of human history, do we have any reason to hope that we will get it right in a future lifetime?

Reincarnation also claims to insure justice. According to the law of karma (an unbending and impersonal rule of the universe), we get what we deserve in every life. Our good and bad deeds produce good and bad results from lifetime to lifetime. With karma, there is supposedly no unjust suffering, because no one is innocent. All suffering is deserved on the basis of bad karma. The baby born without legs deserved it, as did the woman who was raped. We all carry our karma into each life. There is no grace, no forgiveness, no mercy. Not only is this is not good news for those burdened down with the weight of a troubled conscience, but karma also conflicts with our moral sense that some suffering is undeserved and deserves our pity and our actions to alleviate it.

The Limitations of Reincarnation

Can reincarnation realistically offer hope and a sense of justice to a troubled world? And what comfort does it offer regarding the nagging problem of death? The law of karma is unmerciful. Yet the message of Jesus Christ is different. Jesus did not deny there is unjust suffering. He offered forgiveness for those who inflict it and comfort for those that experience it.

Jesus taught that no one can keep the moral law. The human heart is impure, given to wrong attitudes and actions which are offenses against a loving and absolutely good God. Jesus said he offers us forgiveness as our saviour, himself paying for our offenses against God. Jesus spoke of people receiving either eternal reward or eternal punishment according to whether they accept his forgiveness during their ONE lifetime on earth (Matthew 25:31-46; see also Hebrews 9:27). Jesus explained that he came into the world "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). He said that he "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Jesus showed his forgiving love even while being executed on a cross. A thief on a cross next to Jesus confessed his sin and asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus responded, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Only faith in Jesus was required for paradise, not lifetime after lifetime of working off bad karma and building up good karma. As Jesus announced: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). That, indeed, is good news--for this life and beyond.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. teaches philosophy at Denver Seminary and is the author of Jesus in an Age of Controversy.

P/S: Please pray for me and the other students in their 2nd year of Medicine for our coming exams.

Take care and God bless.

Jesus loves you! :-)