Thinking about Divine Healing

I will be preaching on 'gifts of healings' tomorrow and have discovered these books useful for my research.

Reading Biographies

Visted the SKS Christian bookstore in Singapore yesterday and am surprised that there are fewer new biographies being published. I wonder why.

Illustration by Amanda Duffy

Let us Tell You a Story Recovering the lost spiritual discipline of reading biographies. By Chris Armstrong The Mushroom Hunt How to find a good biography. By Chris Armstrong

John Piper and President Obama

Humanizing Physician Learning

The November issue of Virtual Mentor from the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics is on Humanizing Physician Learning

Educating for Professionalism

In 2003, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mandated that residents could work no more than 24 consecutive hours and limited resident hours to an average of 80 per week over the course of 1 month. The creation of this policy was prompted by the 1984 death of Libby Zion, an 18-year-old who was admitted to New York Hospital for a high fever and died while under the care of overworked and fatigued interns. The incident led to a critical reevaluation of resident work hours. The possible harm patients could experience under the traditional training system was serious enough to provide the impetus for a large-scale reform of residency education.

Clinical Cases

The Ethical Dilemma of Duty-Hour Reporting
Commentary by Mary E. Klingensmith and Katrina S. Firlik
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2009; 11:835-841.

Can a Pass/Fail Grading System Adequately Reflect Student Progress?
Commentary by Bonnie M. Miller, Adina Kalet, Ryan C. VanWoerkom, Nicholas Zorko, and Julia Halsey
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2009; 11:842-851.

Should Applicants’ Ethnicity Be Considered in Medical School Admissions?
Commentary by Will Ross
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2009; 11:852-858.

Medical Education

The Winnowing Fork of Premedical Education: Are We Really Separating the Wheat from the Chaff?
Raymond G. De Vries and Jeffrey Gross
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2009; 11:859-863.

The Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship
Ann N. Poncelet, Karen E. Hauer, and Bridget O’Brien
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2009; 11:864-869.

Helping Those Who Need It Most: Medical Education Focused on Poor and Disenfranchised Communities
Charles Vega
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2009; 11:870-873.

Virtual Mentor. November 2009, Volume 11, Number 11: 829-926. Full Issue PDF

Belief in an Age of Skepticism

Noted pastor and author Dr. Tim Keller discusses the place of exclusive truth in a pluralistic society in Wheeler Auditorium, followed by a Q&A session.

Hosted by Reformed University Fellowship, Dr. Keller's talk is part of The Veritas Forum at Cal, following Francis Collins' lecture in February on Christianity and science.

St Kevin and the Blackbird

This is a remarkable comment by Liz Budd Ellmann of Spiritual Director International, published in the newsletter Membership Moments November 2009

For more than a thousand years, pilgrims have visited Glendalough where Saint Kevin played, prayed, and discovered his purpose. One day, the legend tells us, while Kevin the monk was praying with outstretched arms, a blackbird landed in his hand and built her nest. Imagine holding a prayer stance -- in Zen stillness -- long enough for a blackbird to build a nest and raise her young. The Irish poet Seamus Heaney beautifully teaches us about the spiritual companionship between the blackbird and Saint Kevin,

And then there was St Kevin and the blackbird,
The saint is kneeling, arms stretched out, inside
His cell, but the cell is narrow, so
One turned-up palm is out the window, stiff
As a crossbeam, when a blackbird lands
And lays in it and settles down to nest.
Kevin feels the warm eggs, the small breast, the
tucked

Neat head and claws and, finding himself linked
Into the network of eternal life,
Is moved to pity; now he must hold his hand
Like a branch out in the sun and rain for weeks
Until the young are hatched and fledged and flown.

And since the whole thing's imagined anyhow,
Imagine being Kevin. Which is he?
Self-forgetful or in agony all the time
From the neck on out down through his
hurting forearms?

Are his fingers sleeping? Does he still feel his knees?
Or has the shut-eyed blank of underearth
Crept up through him? Is there distance in his head?
Alone and mirrored clear in love's deep river,
"To labour and not to seek reward," he prays,
A prayer his body makes entirely
For he has forgotten self, forgotten bird,
And on the riverbank forgotten the river's name.

Saint Kevin’s whole body became a prayer of love that recognized God in an ordinary blackbird. Now imagine me, standing across the lake from Saint Kevin’s cave. Gazing into the lake, I contemplated the blackbird resting in Kevin’s hand and the call for contemplative action in today’s world to become responsible stewards of all God’s creation. Suddenly, my soul felt seen by Saint Kevin, staring out from his cave. In that instance, a robin started singing from a branch just over my head. In that thin place, I felt Saint Kevin’s love encouraging the kind of singing presence that sees God in all things.

Logos Bible Software 4

Just when I am getting the hang of Logos Scholar with Libronix, this comes out...

Introducing Logos Bible Software 4

Today we are announcing the all-new Logos Bible Software 4, designed from scratch to accomplish our goal of helping more people do more and better Bible study.

The leading Bible software products available today (including our own Libronix DLS 3.0) are powerful tools designed 10-20 years ago. Most Bible software companies were started in a day when users owned screwdrivers for opening their computer case and knew what a DIP switch was. Our software was designed for people who liked technology and were comfortable with it...

and where have I hear this before

Logos Bible Software 4 is not an upgrade. Logos 4 is Bible software re-imagined. To help you do more and better Bible study.

Oh, yes. Windows Vista, man I hope that is not another 'Vista'

read more
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Martin Luther and his theses

Luther Posts the 95 Theses
An obscure monk invited debate on a pressing church issue—and touched off a history-shattering reform movement.
By Dr. Eric W. Gritsch

Sometime during October 31, 1517, the day before the Feast of All Saints, the 33-year-old Martin Luther posted theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.


Finish this article from ChristianHistory.net.

Cough in Children

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The Lost History of Christianity

Seaver College W. David Baird Distinguished Lecture Series presents Dr. Phillip Jenkins, lecturing on "The Lost History of Christianity".

Jenkins is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities at Pennsylvania State University. His specialty is Christianity in the southern hemisphere, and he will explore the myths surrounding the history of the religion.

CNN on Bible Seizure in Malaysia

Bibles seized as Malaysia minorities fear fundamentalism

By Saeed Ahmed, CNN

October 29, 2009 -- Updated 1254 GMT (2054 HKT)

Non-Muslims in Malaysia fear that Islamism is seeping into the moderate nation's fabric.

(CNN) -- Authorities in Malaysia have seized more than 20,000 Bibles in recent months because they refer to God as "Allah," Christian leaders said Thursday.

The seizures have fed fears among minority groups, which see signs of encroaching Islamic fundamentalism in the predominantly Muslim but multi-racial country.

"There is a growing sense of Islamic assertion, yes," said the Rev. Hermen Shastri, general-secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia. "There is some concern."

The Bibles were written in the country's official language, Malay -- in which the word for God is "Allah," as it is in Arabic.

However, Malaysia's government says the word is exclusive to Islam.

Its use in Christian publications is likely to confuse Muslims and draw them to Christianity, the government says. So it has banned use of the word in Christian literature.

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Parenting Seminar

Helping Hands

In light of the recent natural disasters in Indonesia and the Philippines, the Johor Bahru Pastor Fellowship is initiating a relief project. Please help.

The Perfect Paediatrician

Who is a Bioethicist?

This post from blog.bioethics.net contains an interesting argument between two famous bioethicists, Arthur Caplan and Zeke Emanuel on who may be claim to be a bioethicist.

Facts alone won't suffice for the field of bioethics
by Arthur Caplan

When you get old enough as a practitioner in any field young people seek your advice about what they should do if they want to do what you do. Given that my age seems to be increasing exponentially this has been happening to me with increasing frequency. Undergraduates, high school students, medical students, those pursuing degrees in law and nursing and even those interested in a mid-career change have been asking me what they need to do if they want to pursue a career in bioethics.

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The Literary Bar in Malaysia

There are a lack of serious writers in Malaysia and National Laureate shares his thoughts in the Star newspaper. Interestingly he thinks that there is no racial bias in awarding the National Laureate when he is the 10th and all ten are Malays.

Sunday October 25, 2009

Raising the literary bar

By ANDREW SIA

Our new National Laureate talks about the need for more serious works and an alternative media.

The malaise of Malay literature starts from schools, Anwar says. “In the school system, we don’t encourage too much serious discussions. It’s about following the format or scheme to answer questions. So when they grow up, there is the lack of a critical mind. ”

After writing for over 40 years, Anwar Ridhwan still believes in quality over quantity.

read more

15,000 bibles detained by Malaysian Government

In the Religious Liberty Watch blog, nkm notes that 15,000 Bibles are detained by the Malaysian authorities and gives his opinion.

15000 Bibles Detained by Malaysian Government this Past Year

By nkw

It is bad enough that Malaysian government officials continue to seize and detain the Al Kitab (Malay Bible) at their whims and fancies. It is worse as the government is supposed to have a gentlemen’s agreement dating from the mid 1980s with the leaders of the Malaysian Church that allows the Al Kitab to be used within church premises.

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Sorry Your Book is Banned!

Elizabeth Tai highlights in the Star newspaper about book banning in Malaysia and what a sad state of affair it is.

It’s arbitrary, my dear

By ELIZABETH TAI

Given broad, vague guidelines that keep changing, publishers and authors are hard- pressed to decipher what books get banned.

ON March 9, 2001, a day after the start of the Kampung Medan clashes in Kuala Lumpur, Suaram chairperson K. Arumugam was chased by 20 motorcyclists when he drove into the area.

The experience affected him so much that he decided to write a book about it.

Right to Read, held in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago, aimed to get people to ask why books are banned, and what happens when access to information is restricted.

After spending two years on research and RM10,000 on printing, 5,000 copies of March 8 (written in Tamil) rolled off the press in April 2006.

Nine months later – on Jan 19, 2007 – Elizabeth Wong (now Selangor exco member) informed Arumugam that his book, which had sold about 3,000 copies by then, had been banned.

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Shanghai Bund at Night

Memories of Shanghai 2009 #4: River Cruise

The Bund (simplified Chinese: 外滩; traditional Chinese: 外灘; pinyin: Wàitān) is an area of Huangpu District in central Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The area centres on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas. The Bund is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai.

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Mystical-Political Theology

The latest from Thinking Faith...


Book Review: The Relevance Of Bernard Lonergan’s Notion Of Self-Appropriation To A Mystical-Political Theology by Ian B. Bell
Reviewed by Gerard Whelan SJ
In outlining his project for a ‘mystical-political theology’, Ian Bell offers a summary of some representative thinkers in both mystical theology and political theology and seeks to relate the thought of the Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan to each of these currents. The book addresses issues of paramount importance with answers of real significance, and I hope it will whet an appetite to study further this remarkable thinker, Bernard Lonergan, whose thought has the widest of applications and potential importance today.

Read more >>

Walking the Yu Garden in Shanghai

Memories of Shanghai 2009 #3: The Yuyuan Garden- The Garden of Peace and Comfort

Yuyuan Garden (Simplified Chinese: 豫园; Traditional Chinese: 豫園; Pinyin: Yùyuán), located in the center of the Old City next to the Chenghuangmiao in Shanghai, China, is considered one of the most lavish and finest Chinese gardens in the region.

The garden was first established in 1559 as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan, who spent almost 20 years building a garden to please his father Pan En, a high-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty, during his father's old age. Over the years, the gardens fell into disrepair until about 1760 when bought by merchants, then suffered extensive damage in the 19th century. In 1842, during the Opium Wars, the British army occupied the Town God Temple for five days. During the Taiping Rebellion the gardens were occupied by imperial troops, and damaged again by the Japanese in 1942. They were repaired by the Shanghai government from 1956-1961, opened to the public in 1961, and declared a national monument in 1982.

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Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 11, Number 43

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 11, Number 43 (October 25 to October 31, 2009), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
God’s Word as His Meaningful Authority
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

1 Timothy 6:1-2
A Sermon
By: Scott Lindsay
Webpage PDF Word

Befriending the Soul to Live the Good Life, Part III
An Article
By: Mark A. Pinson
Webpage PDF Word

A Basket of Fragments, Part VIII
An Article
By: Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Webpage PDF Word

The Old and the New Man in Believers
An Article
By: Thomas Boston
Webpage PDF Word

The Ten Commandments, Part III
Sermons from the Heidelberg Catechism
By: G. Van Reenen
Webpage PDF Word

Freedom of the Will, Part XXIII
An Article
By: Jonathan Edwards
Webpage PDF Word

Food, Glorious Chinese Food

Memories of Shanghai 2009 #2 : Food, Glorious Chinese Food!

steamed pork with fermented bean curd- Suzhou style

look at the fat! positively sinful

Shanghainese Hairy Crabs

and Canadian lobsters too!

Beautiful Thoughts for Meditation

HT: Punna

Shanghai at My Feet

Memories of Shanghai 2009 #1: Shanghai at my feet

standing at 1,500 feet

The Oriental Pearl Tower (Chinese: 东方明珠塔; pinyin: Dōngfāng Míngzhūtǎ, Official Name: 东方明珠电视塔) is a TV tower in Shanghai, China. The Oriental Pearl Tower is located at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district, by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund of Shanghai.

It was designed by Jiang Huan Cheng of the Shanghai Modern Architectural Design Co. Ltd. Construction began in 1991 and the tower was completed in 1995. At 468 m (1,535 feet) high, it is the tallest completed tower in Asia, and the fourth tallest tower in the world after the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, the Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia and the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower . It was also the tallest structure in China from 1994-2007, when it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center. The Oriental Pearl Tower belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers. (Wiki)

fooling around at the top of Shanghai- Malaysian tourist!

Shanghai skyline from the sky

reason why I was there

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Demarest on Mysticism

An interesting article on Mysticism posted on METAmorpha

Bruce Demarest: Mysticism: Peril or Promise?

What Do We Mean?

Satiated with consumerism, technological gizmos, and frenetic activity, people of all stripes are exploring the mystical realm. We all resonate with moments of elevated wonder triggered by a beautiful sunset, rapturous music, or the birth of a baby. In a depersonalized age, image bearers are searching for relationship with something or Someone larger than themselves that will ease the dullness of daily life and energize the soul. Christians, in particular, hunger for more intimate experience of Jesus Christ and greater awareness of the Spirit’s ministry within.

read more

To understand mysticism I find it helpful to distinguish between hard, occult, and soft forms of mysticism. Hard mysticism alleges the merging of human nature with the essence of the Absolute or God, in such a way that self-consciousness is lost. The Buddhist seeks absorption into Nirvana (an egoless state), and the Hindu, merging of the self (Atman) with Brahman (universal deity). Meister Eckhart (1260–1327) was one of the few Christian mystics who made statements that border on hard mysticism. Occult forms of mysticism (e.g., est, New Age, Psycanics) seek transcendent insights and experiences through mind-altering substances and/or esoteric practices. Both hard and occult forms of mysticism are fundamentally opposed to orthodox Christianity.

While I appreciate his division of mysticism into soft, hard and occult forms, I find that it is too artificial a division. To limit 'soft' mysticism to orthodox Christianity, 'hard' mysticism to Buddhism and Hinduism, and 'occult' mysticism to New Age is to limit our understanding of mysticism.

Demarest is right to point out the numerous mystical experiences in the biblical records. However, as he also points out, Meister Eckhart and the Rhineland mystics may be included in 'hard' mysticism and if I may suggest 'occult' mysticism (as defined by Demarest) too. The ascetic practices of the desert fathers and mothers are dangerously close to 'occult' mysticism. Would we exclude Meister Eckhart and the desert fathers and mothers from 'orthodox Christianity'?

Buddhist mysticism seeks awareness of the non-self rather than 'absorption into Nirvana.' Hindu mysticism seeks a transcendent insight that will leads to a better karma. Christian mysticism seeks intimacy with God. Personally, I will prefer describing mysticism as from the traditions such as Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, Native American etc rather than soft, hard and occult.

The taxonomy of Christian mysticism will include Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Lutheran, Roman, Orthodox, Pentecostal...

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God's Preparation of the Church in China

Going to Ground
On the eve of World War II, John Sung swept China and South East Asia with revival, a final preparation for Christianity underground.
By Carolyn Nystrom

In 1935, a Chinese preacher in his mid 30s stood on a makeshift stage in Singapore conducting a Presbyterian-hosted revival. Chinese theologian Timothy Tow, a boyhood convert of that week, described John Sung as "attired in a light white Chinese gown . . . with a shock of black hair flapping his high forehead, he was jabbing away ... 'You ought to die, to die!'" Sung then proceeded to act out and shout out the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.


Finish this article from ChristianHistory.net.

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Eastern Christian Theology

Be Afraid-Be Very Afraid

First Thing, October 2009

Why is so many people fascinated by horror movies? David Goldman gives us his take.

Be Afraid—Be Very Afraid

David P. Goldman

The horror-film genre is multiplying like one of its own monsters, showing six-fold growth over the past decade—turning what used to be a Hollywood curiosity into a mainstream product. Not only the volume of films but their cruelty has increased, with explicit torture now a screen staple.

Why do Americans pay to watch images as revolting as the cinematic imagination can discover? Many things might explain the vast new market for uncanny evil. If you do not believe in God, you will believe in anything, to misquote G.K. Chesterton; and, one might add, if you do not feel God’s presence, you will become desperate to feel anything at all. Terror and horror create at least some kind of feeling. After pornography has jaded the capacity to feel pleasure, what remains is the capacity to feel fear and pain...

But the growing morbidity of America’s imagination as shown in the consumption of cinematic horror suggests we might heed the tagline of Jeff Goldblum’s 1986 remake of Vincent Price’s The Fly, made famous by Christina Ricci in the 1993 spoof Addams Family Values: Be afraid—be very afraid.

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Makes me wonder whether watching horror movies is escaping from personal pain and loneliness to experiencing artificial horror. Scary.

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Happy Deepavali

Wishing all a Happy Deepavali

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Spiritual Formation in the Priestly Life

I find this interesting and thought provoking as it reveals a facet of spiritual formation from the Roman Catholic tradition.



The latest from Thinking Faith...


The Hiddenness of Priestly Life
‘In the daily rhythm of receiving and being given, the priest allows himself to be shaped by the ebb and flow of grace, alive in the rhythm of the Spirit breathing in him.’ As part of Thinking Faith’s series to mark the ‘Year of the Priest’, James Hanvey SJ describes how the life of a priest is shaped by the relationships to which he is committed, yet is characterised always by the mysterious surrender of himself to the life of the Church. Read >>

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Miracles in the Middle Ages

In the period between 1150 and 1550 a number of Christians in western Europe made pilgrimages to places where material objects--among them paintings, statues, relics, and Eucharistic wafers--allegedly erupted into life by such activities as bleeding, weeping, and walking about. In this lecture, Professor Bynum describes the miracles, discusses the problems they presented for both church authorities and the ordinary faithful, and probes the basic assumptions about matter that lay behind them.

St Therese and Evangelism

The latest from Thinking Faith...


iWitness: St Thérèse: a mission of evangelisation
The tour of the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux has been an invigorating event for the life of the Catholic Church in this country, but has been met by curiosity and even scepticism in some quarters. Sr Janet Fearns explains the value of the visit as an opportunity for evangelisation, as she recalls her encounters with journalists and pilgrims. How has St Thérèse enabled the many thousands of people who have queued to venerate her relics to become missionaries? Read >>

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Playing Batman: Akham Asylum

As a fan of Bob Kane's fictional hero Batman, I have always been wary of computer games featuring the Batman. Batman: Akham Asylum was a pleasant and enjoyable surprise for me. It was not as dark and frightening as the movie The Dark Knight especially with the new terrifying Joker. This game hearkens back to the golden age of Batman where good fights evil but with a delightful sense of make-believe comic book like feel. Even the Joker looks like the comic book character. I played the game on Xbox.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure stealth video game based on DC Comics' Batman for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. The PS3 and Xbox versions of the game were released on August 25, 2009 in North America and August 28, 2009 in Europe., and the PC version was released on September 15th in North America and the September 18th in Europe.

Batman: Arkham Asylum, written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini, is based on the long-running comic book mythos, as opposed to most other Batman games which are adaptations of the character in other media besides the source material. The Joker, Batman's archenemy, has instigated an elaborate plot from within Arkham Asylum where many of Batman's other villains have been incarcerated. Batman investigates and comes to learn that the Joker is trying to create an army of Bane-like creatures that threaten Gotham City, and is forced to put a stop to the Joker's plans. (Wiki)

The gameplay was easy with minimal training required. The storyline was also smooth and engaging. As in all Batman-Joker stories, there is good versus bad, good use of technology versus bad use of, virtues versus evil personality, and boils down to a mano-a-mano between two opposites of the same coin.

Until I played this, I did not realise how vulnerable Batman is. Even with his armour which one could upgrade during the gameplay, he is still vulnerable. This is more so in that he does not kill and he does not use a gun. Compared to other superheroes who can fly, have cosmic blasters and other weapons, Batman have to depend on his stealth and martial art skills. Sometimes during the gameplay, I wish he has something to shoot with.

Interestingly

The game received extremely high praise from critics, earning a 92% average on GameRankings, a game aggregator. This also earned it a spot in the Guinness World Records for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game". Sales were also high, selling over 2 million copies within its first two weeks of its console release. (Wiki)

This is a computer game with moderate amount of violence (but no gory scenes). I think I will play it again.

'nuff said!

Shanghai, China

Shanghai, here we come...

Praying Brother Lawrence

The Limping, Unceasingly Praying Brother Lawrence
How a 17th-century cook and sandalmaker still helps us practice the presence of God.
Compiled and adapted by Carmen Acevedo Butcher

Googling "Brother Lawrence" yields over 2,000,000 hits—astonishing for a person with an unremarkable biography and a rather thin writing portfolio, including one short essay called The Spiritual Maxims; 16 letters to several nuns, a spiritual director, and one or two laywomen; and four recorded conversations. Born Nicolas Herman in 1614 in a small village in Lorraine, France, he had a soul-altering experience at 18.


Finish this article from ChristianHistory.net.

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Tribute to Pastor and Mrs Nicholas Yeo

Tribute to Rev. Nicholas Yeo who retired as senior pastor of Holy Light Church (English) Johor Bahru, Malaysia on October 1, 2009. This video presentation, prepared by Michael Shim & Wong Chon Wah, was first shown at the Appreciation Dinner for Rev. & Mrs Yeo at New York Hotel, Johor Bahru on October 4, 2009.

Father Damien: The man became a saint

As a regular visitor to the Hawaiian island, the legend of Father Damien always fascinate me. I have read a few biographies about him. On this day that he will be canonized, it is good to be reminded that no man is perfect.

'We Lepers'

As the Roman Catholic Church recognizes Hawaii's hero as a saint, what should we think about his chief posthumous critic?

by Ted Olsen | September 17, 2009 (ChristianHistory.net)

It has been a good year for my old home state of Hawaii: it started the year with one of its own becoming President, and on October 11 one of its most famous heroes will officially become a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

Even among Hawaii’s most Protestant Protestants, Damien de Veuster is praised as a man who exemplified incarnational, sacrificial ministry. The Belgian priest did not first go to the islands to minister to the Hansen's disease victims of the Kalaupapa colony on Molokai, but in 1873 he eagerly volunteered to minister.

“My Lord, remembering that I was placed under the pall on the day of my religious profession, thereby to learn voluntary death is the beginning of new life,” he told his bishop, “here I am, ready to bury myself alive among these unfortunate people, several of whom are personally known to me.”

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Francis Collis-The Language of God

"The Language of God: Intellectual Reflections of a Christian Geneticist"
February 4, 2008, at The University of California, Berkeley

Presentation by Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. Dr. Collins presents a case for harmony between faith in science and faith in God. He also shares about his personal intellectual and spiritual journey from agnosticism, to atheism, and to Christianity.

Followed by an interview conducted by Jasper Rine, Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development at UC Berkeley.

Followed by audience Q&A.

The Gospel Conversation

THE GLOBAL CONVERSATION Whole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World We must believe, live, and communicate all that makes the Christian message staggeringly comprehensive good news. By Christopher J.H. Wright

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Spiritual Direction Videos

Here are some links to short videos about spiritual direction from Spiritual Directors International.

Launched October 2009

To learn from The Rev. Mary Earle, Episcopal, Texas

To learn from Joseph Tetlow, SJ, Roman Catholic, Texas

Launched September 2009

To learn from the video of Rabbi Ted Falcon, Jewish, Washington

Launched August 2009

To learn from video of Kristen Hobby, Uniting Church of Australia, Melbourne, Australia.

To learn from video of Therese Taylor-Stinson, Presbyterian, Washington, DC area

To learn from video of Pegge Bernecker, How to find a spiritual director, step-by-step

Launched July 15

To learn from video of Jamal Rahman, Sufi Muslim, Washington

To learn from video of Janet Ruffing, RSM, Roman Catholic, New York

Launched July 1, 2009

To learn from Ron Rolheiser, OMI, Roman Catholic, Texas

To learn from Mary Ann Scofield, RSM, Roman Catholic, California

Blogging is Bad for You?

October 7, 2009

Blog ... The Devil Wants You To

Why the uber-bloggers encourage fasting from their task

by Drew Dyck

For one of the first Catalyst lab sessions, three of the top Christian bloggers took the stage to talk shop: Ann Jackson (www.FlowerDust.net), Carlos Whittaker (www.RagamuffinSoul.com), and Jon Acuff (www.StuffChristiansLike.net)

So what wisdom did these titans of the blogosphere impart?

Stay away from blogging.

read more

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 11, Number 41

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 11, Number 41 (October 11 to October 17, 2009), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
What is the Word of God?
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

God's Foreknowledge
An Article
By: Loraine Boettner
Webpage PDF Word

Befriending the Soul to Live the Good Life, Part I
An Article
By: Mark A. Pinson
Webpage PDF Word

A Basket of Fragments, Part VI
An Article
By: Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Webpage PDF Word

The Ten Commandments, Part I
Sermons from the Heidelberg Catechism
By: G. Van Reenen
Webpage PDF Word

Freedom of the Will, Part XXI
An Article
By: Jonathan Edwards
Webpage PDF Word

A Retirement and Appreciation Service

Reverend Nicholas Yeo Tai Peng

On My Pastor's Retirement
Johor's Longest Serving Pastor Retires New Straits Times (Malaysia)

Pictures taken by Li Yeo & Chng Wee Lee.

My Top 5 Books on the Emerging Movement

Christianity Today, October, 2009

My Top 5 Books on the Emerging Movement

Scot McKnight, Professor of Religious Studies, North Park University | posted 10/06/2009 10:11AM

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier By Tony Jones This intelligent and informative book is the only insider story from one of the leading lights of the more progressive wing of the emerging movement, the former national coordinator of Emergent Village.

* * *

The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations By Dan Kimball Kimball, who gets credit for first using emerging in a book title to describe the movement, articulates the nitty-gritty of what goes on among these Christians, and does so from an evangelical basis.

* * *

Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures By Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger A richly documented survey of what emergent churches believe and practice, this book sketches emerging congregations around the globe.

* * *

Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications By D. A. Carson Carson offers the first thorough critique of the movement; he demonstrates where some have wandered from biblical revelation and focuses on the postmodern threat to the biblical concept of truth.

* * *

Why We're Not Emergent: (By Two Guys Who Should Be) By Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck This hard-hitting analysis of the liberal tendencies of some in the emerging movement is theologically informed, biblically alert, and pastorally concerned

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A Good Day for Books

Recently I was feeling a bit weary and indulging in a bit of self-pity about not being appreciated. Suddenly, all on the same day and out of the blue, I receive...

these two books from a dear fellow spiritual pilgrim who is journeying with me




and from the mail, arrived a book from someone whom I do not know but who is interested in spiritual formation. She came to know me from my blog and website. I think we are going to be good friends.



and this is also from another friend who came to know me from my blog and website. We have corresponded and, gracious me, she sent me a gift card which arrived today.



and the final surprise, MPH Bookstores sent me a voucher for a certain sum based on what I have spent at their stores from Jan-July 2009 and the amount is enough to pay for these two books!




What a good day for books.

Spirituality and Culture

Sister Joan D. Chittister, a Benedictine nun, discusses how culture changes and the implications those changes have for contemporary spirituality. She focuses on the stages of revitalization, global definitions of the seven capital sins, and American society as it moves into the 21st century.

Learning for Transformed Living

SFI Seminar 2009/2

Learning for Transformed Living

Learning strategies for disciples of Christ, and relevant approaches for those who teach them.

Speaker: Dr Allan Harkness

Date : 2.00pm- 9.30pm, Saturday 3 October 2009

Place : Berea, Holy Light Church English (HLCE)

Synopsis of Seminar

1. Learning that transforms: the nature, features and ecology of life-long and life-wide learning to be a disciple of Christ; and strategies to enhance that learning.

2. Teaching for transformation: principles and strategies for those who encourage others to be effective disciples of Christ, whatever age they are.

3. The Bible and prayer as transforming agents.

Speaker

Dr Allan Harkness, from New Zealand, has lived in Singapore for some years. A member of OMF International, he is currently heading up AGST Alliance, a SE Asian regional post-graduate theological study venture. Allan has a passion to see God's people of all ages formed and equipped together for effective service through the creative expressions of the Christian disciplines and through informed educational strategies which enable life-long and life-wide learning.

The 100 Best Business Books

Apparently 11,000 business books are published in the United States every year. These books pile together will stand as tall as a nine-story building. So what do busy executives do? Read a condensed 'Reader's Digest' version of these books. What do really very busy executives do? Read the abstract of these condensed books. And what do a busybody like me do? Read a book of abstract of 100 best business books of all time.

This 2009 book offers the best summaries of many of the business books I have read. Hey, don't ask me why I read business books. I am just a ignorant provincial doctor in a small town. It also make accessible to me, many of the business books I have wished I have read.

check out their website to download an extra chapter not found in this book.
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Human Character Under Fire

Courage Under Fire is a 1996 film directed by Edward Zwick, and starring Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips and Matt Damon. It is one of the first films to depict the 1991 Gulf War. The film uses the same cinematic concept as the 1950 Japanese film Rashōmon, wherein the truth of an event becomes difficult to verify due to the conflicting accounts of different witnesses.

Synopsis of the movie plot is (spoiler)

Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) was involved in a friendly fire incident in Al Bathra during the Gulf War. He was an M1 Abrams tank battalion commander who, during the nighttime confusion of Iraqi tanks infiltrating his unit's lines, gave the order to fire, destroying one of his own tanks and killing his friend Captain Boylar. The details were covered up (Boylar's parents are told that their son was killed by enemy fire), and Serling was reassigned to a desk job.

Later, he is assigned to determine if Captain Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan) should be the first woman to receive (posthumously) the Medal of Honor for valor in combat in the First Gulf War. A Medevac Huey commander, she was sent to rescue the crew of a helicopter that had been shot down. Finding them under heavy fire from an Iraqi tank and infantry, she had her men drop a fuel bladder on the tank and ignited it with a flare gun. Shortly after, her helicopter was also hit and downed. The two crews were unable to join forces. The survivors were rescued the next day, but Walden had been killed in action. More here

Aside from a very thoughtful 'what really happened' movie, it is also a movie about forgiveness. Is there a crime you can commit that is so hideous that you cannot forgive yourself? That what Lt. Colonel Nathan (played excellently by Denzel Washington) thought he did when he accidentally blew up his best friend's tank in the heat of battle. It was classified as 'friendly' fire when there is nothing even remotely friendly about it. On reassignment back to the States, Nathan is haunted by dreams, driven to drinks and neglecting those he loves. Investigating Captain Karen Walden proved to be a cathesis for him. It is surprising to see Meg Ryan in this role. One always associate Meg Ryan in a romance, superbly attired with not a hair out of place. Seeing her dirtied in combat fatigue is as surprising as seeing Roger Moore in a German Colonel's uniform in Escape from Athena (1979).

In his investigation of Captain Walden's death in a combat situation, he comes to know of the evil in the hearts of men and the subsequent consequences of these men - hardened or guilt ridden and driven to drugs, severe emotional suffering and even suicide. In doing so he is forced to face his own demons of self-guilt. Although all actions have consequences, Nathan learns that he has a choice in how he deals with these consequences. Forgiveness, even self-forgiveness is a choice. This is especially true in situations where one have no control over.

Redemption or atonement is not something that we should take lightly.

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