The Randomness of My Mind

2006-07-31T14:49:00.000+08:00

2006-07-31T14:46:00.000+08:00

The more the merrier

2006-05-10T10:35:00.000+08:00

I'm not talking about good company here; these are my thoughts on prayer.

as E.M. Bounds says,

More praying and better is the secret of the whole matter.

and again,

More time for prayer, more relish and preparation to meet God, to commune with God through Christ - this has in it the whole of the matter.

And that is the reason why I am going to memorize Scripture and saturate my life with Christian thoughts and literature. When I think about what I'm missing because I get satisfied too easily (5-minute prayers just don't cut it), I'm cut to the heart. All the promises of God, all the comfort, wisdom, knowledge, strength and deliverance we long for...are unlocked by prayer. I wonder what we are waiting for then.

My Girl and Lee DaHae

2006-05-05T22:12:00.000+08:00

just finished watching My Girl, and it's the funniest and most entertaining Korean drama I've watched yet! turns out Lee DaHae won the Best Actress Award for her performance here. She deserves it. She was really good! She is now one of my favorite Korean actresses. Lee Dong Wook (actor) was an excellent partner for her. These two will probably be famous (or already are) after My Girl. Bashya!

Files, files, files

2006-04-20T09:19:00.000+08:00

I have to organize the files in my laptop and the ones in my external hard drive, because I can no longer live with a messy desktop, redundancy everywhere and filenames that don't stand for anything. I also want to arrange my mp3s according to genre, album, artist, rating, etc... (good luck to me!)

on with the show!

Dating Now

2006-04-08T11:21:00.000+08:00

Dating Now is such a great korean drama (or comedy). I laughed so hard and even shed a few tears for the characters even though I don't usually cry (for reference, I didn't cry while watching Stairway to Heaven even when Choi Ji Woo became blind and wept bitterly for her love - a most heartbreaking scene) while watching these things.

There were so many nice lines and quotable quotes. It was fun to see how all the men in Ho Jung's life played key roles in helping her find who she was and who she wanted to be. Her first crush led her to a cool new friend. Her first boyfriend (the unfaithful liar) inspired her to re-study for college entrance exams until she made it. The psycho who courted her next introduced her to photography, which turned out to be what she loved doing. Finally, her childhood sweetheart (Gun-u), after courting her aggressively and causing many misunderstandings, still somehow led her back to her true love, Gyu-In. On the side, Kwon Sang Woo's (Ho-jae) love story with Suji was also nice to watch. From being a chauvinist playboy with absolutely no plans for the future, he turned into a famous model/actor with eyes only for his plain but kind and loving dentist wife.

What a fun show! I'm thinking of watching it again. Hehehe. too bad these plans normally don't push through because there are just too many things to do...

like my graduation speech for example. ho-hum.

26 Beautiful One-Liners

2006-03-15T18:11:00.000+08:00

I didn't exactly find everything beautiful but I LOVED #15 and several others. this is an interesting read, a keeper!

26 Beautiful One-liners (an e-mail)

1. Give God what's right -- not what's left.

2. Man's way leads to a hopeless end -- God's way leads to an endless hope.

3. A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.

4. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

5. In the sentence of life, the devil may be a comma--but never let him be the period.

6. Don't put a question mark where God puts a period.

7. Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to the church for a face-lift.

8. When praying, don't give God instructions - just report for duty.

9. Don't wait for six strong men to take you to church.

10. We don't change God's message -- His message changes us.

11. The church is prayer-conditioned.

12 When God ordains, He sustains.

13. WARNING: Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.

14. Plan ahead -- It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

15. Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory position.

16. Suffering from truth decay? Brush up on your Bible.

17. Exercise daily -- walk with the Lord.

18. Never give the devil a ride -- he will always want to drive.

19. Nothing else ruins the truth like stretching it.

20. Compassion is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.

21. He who angers you controls you.

22. Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.

23. Give Satan an inch & he'll be a ruler.

24. Be ye fishers of men -- you catch them & He'll clean them.

25. God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

26. Read the Bible -- It will scare the hell out of you

Enjoying WAP

2006-01-22T15:22:00.000+08:00

did it actually happen? I'm not ecstatic about it but I was pretty happy while doing it. didn't get any kudos but my pianist & my backup singer seemed quite pleased with the outcome. Lord be praised. I hope those kids don't forget that God alone satisfies. Be exalted, Jesus!!!

I'm talking about today, January 22, Sunday and the church's youth fellowship. I was 'songleader' and we had group activities after worship and praise time.

It was difficult standing before those teenagers. I felt as though I'd lose them if I stopped talking for a moment. But the Spirit was there. (You are here) And though some of them came giggling and chatting, I prayed for them and the Lord answered - if at least from my point of view. they were singing quite earnestly from where I stood. (I hope it was the same from where You stood, God) I was at peace, I wasn't conscious about myself, and I didn't stammer oh so much during prayer time. But because the Lord seeks and deserves perfection, I must confess this: there were moments when my mind wandered off into areas where pride and folly are masters. The good part is that when I saw a guy smirking, I looked at him without anger and wished only that he would see God. And when I looked again, the smirk was gone.

I just want to love You more and more Jesus. To love You more tomorrow than I do today, and then, when I love You most, to get a glimpse of Your glory, drink from Your fullness, and be forever satisfied.

Desiring God

2006-01-20T12:04:00.000+08:00

And here is my favorite book, Desiring God from John Piper, God's beloved pastor - http://www.desiringgod.org/dg/id6.htm

It's a free online book, so Christian or not, make sure you set some time to read this gem! And may God give you "good discernment and knowledge" (Psalm 119:66)

WORD - soporific

2005-12-19T18:07:00.000+08:00

soporific adj.
- sleep-inducing

usage:

Wasn't his speech terrific?
Actually, I thought it was rather soporific.

The Most Read Author

2005-12-10T13:29:00.001+08:00

Who's the most read writer in the history of the English language? William Shakespeare? Geoffrey Chaucer? Charles Dickens? Nope. The answer is William Tyndale--the man who first printed the New Testament in English.

In the Beginning . . .

William Tyndale was born into a well-connected family in Gloucestershire, England, just before the turn of the 16th century. We don't know much about his early life, but we know that he received an excellent education, studying for some 10 years under Renaissance humanists at Oxford.

By the time he left Oxford, around 1521, Tyndale had mastered Greek, Latin, and several other languages (contemporary accounts say he spoke eight). He had also become both an ordained priest and a dedicated proponent of church reform--a "protestant," before that word existed. All he needed now was a vocation. He found one, thanks in part to Desiderius Erasmus.

Sources of the Word

Erasmus, one of Europe's leading intellectual lights, had caused a stir in 1516 by publishing a brand-new Latin translation of the New Testament--one that departed significantly from the Vulgate, the "common" Latin translation the Catholic church had used for a millennium. Knowing that many readers saw the Vulgate as the immutable Word of God, Erasmus decided to publish his source text--a New Testament in Greek, compiled from sources older than the Vulgate--in a column right next to his Latin translation.

It was a momentous decision. For the first time, European scholars trained in Greek gained easy access to biblical "originals." Now they could make their own translations straight from the original language of the New Testament. In 1522, Martin Luther did just that, translating from the Greek into German. Around the same time, William Tyndale decided to publish an English-language Bible--one so accessible that "a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the scripture" than a priest.

One problem: the Catholic church in England had forbidden vernacular English Bibles in 1408, after handwritten copies of a translation by John Wyclif (an earlier Oxford scholar) had circulated beyond the archbishop's control. Some of the manuscripts survived and continued to circulate, but they were officially off-limits. Translating the Bible into English without permission was a serious crime, punishable by death.

The Word Made English

Undeterred, Tyndale tried to win approval for his project from the bishop of London. When that didn't work, he found financial backers in London's merchant community and moved to Hamburg, Germany. In 1525, he met briefly with Martin Luther in Wittenberg. Then he went to Cologne to begin printing his new translation. When authorities in Cologne shut him down, Tyndale fled to Worms. There, in 1526, he finally completed the first-ever printed New Testament in English.

It was a small volume, an actual "pocket book," designed to fit into the clothes and life of that ploughboy. That made it fairly easy to smuggle. Soon Bible runners were carrying contraband scriptures into England inside bales of cloth. For the first time, English readers encountered "the powers that be," "the salt of the earth," and the need to "fight the good fight"--all phrases that Tyndale turned. For the first time, they read, in clear, printed English, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."

Infuriated, the bishop of London confiscated and destroyed as many copies of Tyndale's New Testament as he could. Meanwhile, English authorities called for Tyndale's immediate arrest for heresy. Tyndale went into hiding, revised his New Testament, and--after learning Hebrew--began translating the Old Testament, too. Before long, copies of a small volume titled The First Book of Moses Called Genesis started showing up on English shelves.

Spreading the Word

Tyndale never finished his Old Testament. He was captured in Antwerp in 1535 and charged with heresy. The next year, he was executed by strangulation and burned at the stake. Yet others picked up his work, and Tyndale's version of the Word lived on. In fact, practically every English translation of the Bible that followed took its lead from Tyndale--including the 1611 King James Version. According to one study, 83 percent of that version's New Testament is unaltered Tyndale, even though a team of scholars had years to rework it.

The reason is simple. Tyndale's English translation was clear, concise, and remarkably powerful. Where the Vulgate had Fiat lux, et lux erat, Wyclif's old version slavishly read "Be made light, and made is light." Not exactly stirring. But Tyndale's translation of the same passage is still familiar to nearly every reader of English: "Then God said: 'Let there be light,' and there was light." Subsequent English writers may have been more original, but none wrote words that reached more folks than these.

Steve Sampson
December 8, 2005

-- Source: Knowledge News

WORD - bona fide

2005-12-06T19:04:00.000+08:00

bona fide adj.
- authentic, genuine
- carried out in good faith or sincerely

Others:
in good faith - with perfect sincerity

WORD - hypertrophic

2005-12-05T13:38:00.000+08:00

hypertrophic adj.
- (medical term) nontumorous enlargement of an organ or a tissue as a result of an increase in the size rather than the number of constituent cells

- To grow or cause to grow abnormally large

Usage:
hypertrophic scars

"Why is American masculinity so hypertrophic?" Source: Daily Blague (A Google Search Result)

Others:
n. hypertrophy
intr. , tr.v. hy·per·tro·phied, hy·per·tro·phy·ing, hy·per·tro·phies

WORD - pursuant

2005-12-03T12:08:00.000+08:00

pursuant adj
- in accordance with

usage:
"pursuant to..."

e.g.
"pursuant to the dictates of one's conscience" Source: WordNet 2.0

WORD - aplomb

2005-12-01T17:53:00.000+08:00

aplomb n.
- great composure and coolness under strain
- great self-confidence / self-assuredness
- poise
- assurance of manner or action

sample usage:

Then, unexpectedly, she picked up a microphone and began to sing. She sang several songs, handling herself with the aplomb of a professional entertainer.

--"Rediscovering Japanese Life at a Bike's Pace," New York Times, April 24, 1988

Eta Carinae

2005-11-22T15:40:00.000+08:00

500 million times brighter than the sun... also in the Milky Way Galaxy

Be with You

2005-11-21T23:06:00.001+08:00

How refreshing to know You don't need me
How amazing to find that You want me

I'll never get by living on my own ability

-- Casting Crowns, In Me

I tried, but without You, everything is meaningless. without You, I am weak. People say they can be strong without God. Well they'll willfully pretend but the truth remains... there is a gaping hole within all of us that can only be filled by the One who made it, and was meant to fill it: Jesus.

I love You Lord. before the world was born You knew me. Before I acknowledged You, You died for my sins. When I cursed You, You loved me. When I turned away from You, You remained faithful. Though You need not further prove the riches of Your grace, You continue to do so day by day, and You fill my heart with immense gratitude. Though I forget You, You remember me and care for me.

Everytime I ask of You, You listen and help. Lord, be Lord. Help me remember, obey & love You, dedicating my life to You to the glory of Your Name.

Musical Notes

2005-11-15T11:20:00.000+08:00

After making invitations for my choir's concert, I'm feeling a little musical, so here are some nice pictures of musical notes...

Praise You in this storm

2005-11-14T11:50:00.000+08:00

Casting Crowns - Praise You In This Storm

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as You mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth


Casting Crowns biography

Walking with God

2005-11-14T11:39:00.000+08:00

thinking about it now, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

is not very true in me. Am I in Christ? Then why do I keep sinning? Why do I keep turning away? Insofar as my decision is required I would like to follow after Christ unfailingly. I would like to long for you as You longed for me before I was created (like the longing of the lovers in the Song of Solomon).

prayer: Psalm 16:1
-- keep me safe O God, for in You I take refuge.
Deliver me from lawlessness and folly. Keep me safe in Your bosom, ever close to You, the Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 16:2 I said to the LORD,

You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.

v.3. the "saints in the land" = "glorious ones in whom is all my delight"
-- may it be so for the Chuch of the God, the bride of Christ. may Your people delight in each other as they delight in You. may they indeed be "glorious ones" according to the glorious riches of their Lord, following fervently after Jesus Christ so that no one can say anything against their faith.

v.4 (a warning to me) the sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.
-- forgive me, I have been stupid and foolish. I have made time for korean dramas, for pocketbooks, for downloading music I don't even like that much... I have made time for my thesis and physical fitness (worthy but not as worthy as You), but I have not allotted time for an appointment with the King each day. I have been running after other gods, sleep the strongest of them, sloth the cause of it.

RandomMind Returns: Drama Thoughts

2005-11-12T11:45:00.000+08:00

quite busy with my school project lately (and korean dramas as well). finished "A Wonderful Life" drama in less than a week. The kid there was really cute. Eugene was terrific as usual and the supporting actor's character (Tao Sien) was fantastic. If Eugene's character hadn't gotten married I would have liked her to be Tau Sien's beau instead. (sigh) Of course martyr/dedicated-supporting characters never win the girl's heart, just like in Princess Lulu (that rich guy), Full House (that rich guy), and now Wonderful Life (that rich guy). Hmm.. do I see a pattern here? Harhar! All of those characters made my heart twist with sorrow, as I knew that despite their sincerity, the depth of their love and commitment, they could never win the main girl's heart. Main characters go together. Well I'm tired of it. Dramas are becoming so predictable now that I've watched dozens upon dozens of 'em. Still I keep watching in the hopes that someday, I'll encounter another drama that touches my heart like The Sad Love Story with Kwon Sang Woo and Kim Hee Sun. I loved them both! This is my all-time favorite tear-jerking drama, and as a tribute, here is a song (to follow) from the drama that broke and captured my heart...

Buns of Steel

2005-11-10T12:33:00.000+08:00

Haha! Try the link! This is funny.

Was searching for information on original "Buns of Steel" workout video that Cher was using in Clueless but encountered this link instead. Humor Archives. Interesting find.

A Pure Heart - what I long for

2005-11-09T10:30:00.000+08:00

A pure heart - that's what I long for,
a heart that follows hard after Thee

A heart that hides Your word so that sin will not come in
A heart that's undivided but one You rule and reign
A heart that beats compassion and that pleases You my Lord
A sweet aroma of worship that rises to Your throne

- A Pure Heart

My Prayer:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

- Psalm 19:14, NKJV

Words...

2005-11-07T12:38:00.000+08:00

Decided to not be too hard on myself when I miss a day or two. Sometimes there are just more urgent and important matters to attend to. As much as possible I'll learn a word and memorize a verse, but when I fail to, I'll just continue the next day. I'll be especially loose on weekends when my schedule is more unpredictable.

E:

ebullient - (i-BUL-yunt) adj. overflowing with enthusiasm, bubbling with excitement
- boiling (liquid)

Source: Word Smart

noun:
ebullience

common uses:
1) roaring fans may be said to be ebullient when they see their favorite stars
2) ebullient liquid

synonym:
exuberant

sudden thought:
her constant ebullience was too much for my cynical/despondent/pessimistic/misanthropic self to bear. I often thought her fake and insincere.

other words:
misanthropic - marked by hatred, comtempt or mistrustful contempt for mankind

G:

garrulous - (GAR-uh-lus) adj. tiresomely talkative, chatty, babbling

common uses:
garrulous speech (wordy and rambling speech)

advice to self:
avoid garrulous speech/ being garrulous. is stupid, feel regretful for being ridiculous.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Langkawi Day!

2005-11-07T12:10:00.000+08:00

Picture of a room in Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort. Reverse the position of the sofa and TV cabinet with the beds and you've got exactly how my room looked.

Was featured in the newspaper today! Hooray! 2 pages with colored pictures. No wonder a friend of mine saw me. =)

It's raining cats and dogs outside. Love it. Without the kids around, I have no reason to wish for badminton-sunshine anyways. And I seriously looooovvvve the sound of rain. Cooling, relaxing, invigorating. Oh no. It stopped. Sigh. I hope the clouds will stay though. Love it when its' cool like this.