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Showing posts from May, 2007

Bullet in the Head

For more than 60 years, Jin Guangying of Jiangsu , China suffered a terrible headache. Jin is 77 years old. Her family thought Jin had a tumor in the brain. But since they are so poor, they could not afford to bring her to the doctor. But then Jin would also foam in the mouth and talk nonsense as if she was insane. So when they could no longer bear it, they had her head examined. Believe it or not, the doctor found a bullet lodged deep in her head! After a brain surgery to remove the bullet, experts identified it as vintage World War II. Suddenly, Jin recalled that in 1943 she went to see her grandfather who was a guerilla fighter at that time. But a Japanese patrol intercepted her and fired at her. She lost consciousness. When she came to, her head was already bandaged. She never knew until recently that there's a bullet in her head. (Source: Yahoo! News) What's worse than a bullet in the head? Bitterness and other negative emotions lodged deep in the heart. That's why Pa

God’s Will on Coffee

“Latte.” Brian Rutledge was ecstatic. Finally, God revealed to him the much-awaited answer! Brian sought God’s will for several months on whether He prefers latte or cappuccino in the morning for him. Bryan explained, “I believe God is interested in the minutiae of my life. He knows every hair on my head. Surely he has ideas about my actions throughout the day. Why not ask his opinion?” Then he heard a still, small voice saying, “Latte.” Thus, Bryan rushed to a nearby Starbucks and bought a guilt-free grande latte. He enthused, “It was one of the great moments of my life. I knew without a doubt that I was in the very center of God's will.” Now, Bryan is asking if God minds if he adds sugar to his latte, how many packets God prefers him to use, and whether he should use white or brown sugar or Equal. He is still waiting for God’s answer. Maybe you are scratching your head right now. This is from http://www.larknews.com , a tongue-in-cheek website that spoofs Christian extreme behav

Spidey in the Ears

No, this is not about Spiderman 3. It’s not about that creepy movie, Eight-legged Freaks either. Nine-year-old Jesse Courtney kept on hearing faint popping sounds in his left ear. “Like Rice Krispies,” as he described it to Yahoo! News. Then, it became painful. The ear doctor saw there’s something in his ear. So he flushed it. Out came (believe it or not) a dead spider! Then he flushed it some more. Another spider came out—still alive! Both spiders, about the size of a pencil eraser, squatted in his ear. “They were walking on my eardrums,” the fourth grader exclaimed. Yahoo! News went on to say that Jesse kept the spiders (now both dead) as souvenir and showed it in school. Even his mom took it to work to show it to her friends. Talk about show and tell! Now, what’s worse than having spiders in your ears? James wrote, “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (1:21, NIV) In the Greek, th

Pursuing "Happyness"

Last December 2006, Columbia Pictures released the movie “ The Pursuit of Happyness,” starring Will Smith and his son Jaden Christopher. Christopher Gardner inspired the movie. He was a salesman struggling to provide for his family until he finally makes it big in the stock brokerage business in San Francisco, USA. Before he became successful as a stockbroker, he and his son slept in homeless shelters or parks or even in the bathroom of the train station. To survive, they would eat in the soup kitchens of Glide Memorial Church. Now I would not tell the movie plot so as not to spoil the fun in case you want to watch the movie. But, at the beginning of the movie, Chris Gardner shared how he doubted that he would ever be really happy: “Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I thought about how he knew to put the ‘pursuit’ in there, like no one can actually have happiness. Maybe happiness is some

One Week to Go

A week from now, next Monday (May 14), Filipinos will cast their votes for senators, congressmen and other elective local officials. Again, let me remind you that this mid-term election is very crucial for our country. This will spell out what will happen to the remaining three years of the present administration. Here are some helpful guide questions to help you make your choices (From http://www.bagongbotante.com/ ): 1) Decide what issues matter to you and what qualities you want to see in your candidate. By voting based on a clear idea of what we want government to address, and on what sort leaders we want, our elections become truly meaningful exercises of our sovereign will rather than just shallow popularity contests. 2) Learn everything you can about the candidates. It is very easy to be swayed by appearances. To make sure that you are not misled, be more discerning. Take the effort to know as much as you can about the candidates. 3) Do you agree with what the candidates stand

Vote and Make a Difference

On May 14, more than two weeks from now, we as a nation will be casting our votes. This mid-term election is very crucial for our country. For this will spell out what will happen to the remaining three years of the Arroyo administration. It is sad that some religious leaders are endorsing candidates. There’s even an open letter circulated over the internet and published in major dailies from a megachurch declaring support for a certain senatoriable who profess belief in Christ. Now don’t get me wrong. I am happy for that candidate’s supposed conversion. But remember that there are other factors to consider in voting for a candidate. Charles Colson in his article “Is Being Christian Enough?” put it wisely: “Our leaders have to be those who are best-suited for carrying out these tasks, the most confident and responsible. …some non-Christians may be better prepared to carry out government’s biblical mandate than some Christians. Does this mean that we shouldn’t encourage our fellow be