Dec 21st 09
Posted by Arnold in the Life!
Read this blog then come back for my thoughts…
* * *
Ok, now wasn’t that an eye opener? I mean, we know this, but we’re just sucked up inside this holiday tradition.
- we spend way too much in seasons of Christmas
- we buy people stuff that WE like but THEY don’t need.
- we feel guilty for not buying people presents
- we even feel annoyed for receiving gifts with lesser value than the gifts you gave!
Commercialism on Christmas season simply sucks. I mean, really sucks. We lost it. This is not supposed to be. Giving generously is fine. But obliged, guilt-driven, price-tag focused giving is not. Sadly, this is Christmas now a days.
So, friends, it’s ok if you’re not giving us gifts this Christmas, you don’t have to feel guilty about it. We, however, sincerely thank those who gave and sure appreciates whatever you gave. We’re giving away simple gifts this Christmas to some friends — but will not to others. That doesn’t mean we don’t love you, we simply want to save and wouldn’t want to spend a lot this Christmas.
The best way to celebrate this season is to be with the family, worshiping Jesus for who he is — a God who decided to be a man on Christmas morning in his love for us all.
Dec 20th 09
Posted by Arnold in Theology
Question: Should Christians celebrate Christmas?
Answer: The debate about whether or not Christians should celebrate Christmas has been raging for centuries. There are equally sincere and committed Christians on both sides of the issue, each with multiple reasons why or why not Christmas should be celebrated in Christian homes. But what does the Bible say? Does the Bible give clear direction as to whether Christmas is a holiday to be celebrated by Christians?
First, let’s look at the reasons why Christians do not celebrate Christmas. One argument against Christmas is that the traditions surrounding the holiday have origins in paganism. Searching for reliable information on this topic is difficult because the origins of many of our traditions are so obscure that sources often contradict one another. Bells, candles, holly, and yuletide decorations are mentioned in the history of pagan worship, but the use of such in one’s home certainly does not indicate a return to paganism. While there are definitely pagan roots to some traditions, there are many more traditions associated with the true meaning of Christmas—the birth of the Savior of the world in Bethlehem. Bells are played to ring out the joyous news, candles are lit to remind us that Christ is the Light of the world (John 1:4-9), a star is placed on the top of a Christmas tree to remember the Star of Bethlehem, and gifts are exchanged to remind us of the gifts of the Magi to the baby Jesus, the greatest gift of God to mankind.
Another argument against Christmas, especially having a Christmas tree, is that the Bible forbids bringing trees into our homes and decorating them. The passage often cited is Jeremiah 10:1-16, but this passage refers to cutting down trees, chiseling the wood to make an idol, and then decorating the idol with silver and gold for the purpose of bowing down before it to worship it (see also Isaiah 44:9-18). The passage in Jeremiah cannot be taken out of its context and used to make a legitimate argument against Christmas trees.
Christians who choose to ignore Christmas point to the fact that the Bible doesn’t give us the date of Christ’s birth, which is certainly true. December 25 may not be even close to the time Jesus was born and arguments on both sides are legion, some relating to climate in Palestine, the practices of shepherds in winter, and the dates of Roman census-taking. None of these points is without a certain amount of conjecture, which brings us back to the fact that the Bible doesn’t tell us when Jesus was born. Some see this as proof positive that God didn’t want us to celebrate the birth, while others see the Bible’s silence on the issue as tacit approval.
Some Christians say that since the world celebrates Christmas—although it is becoming more and more politically correct to refer to it as ‘the holidays’—Christians should avoid it. But that is the same argument made by false religions that deny Christ altogether, as well as cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses who deny His deity. Those Christians who do celebrate Christmas often see the occasion as an opportunity to proclaim Him as ‘the reason for the season’ among the nations and to those trapped in false religions.
As we have seen, there is no legitimate scriptural reason not to celebrate Christmas. At the same time, there is no biblical mandate to celebrate either. In the end, of course, whether or not to celebrate Christmas is a personal decision. Whatever Christians decide to do regarding Christmas, their views should not be used as a club with which to beat down or denigrate those with opposing views, nor should either view be used as a badge of honor inducing pride over celebrating or not celebrating. As in all things, we seek wisdom from Him who gives it liberally to all who ask (James 1:5), and accept one another in Christian love and grace, regardless of our views on Christmas.
Lifted from GotQuestions.org. Thanks to abugian, ministry leader of The Bereans Apologetics and Research Ministry for forwarding this very relevant article.
Dec 18th 09
Posted by Arnold in General
Here’s my first theory: corruption is caused by poor government service systems.
So it was time for my triennial renewal of driver’s license. Admittedly, I screwed up a lot of times in those 3 years. So my LTO renewal process was cut off, I had to go to MMDA to settle my differences with their traffic personnel — well, basically to pay violation fees.
My dad and I went to MMDA. (Why my dad was there is another story. Let’s just say, I miss my dad. I acted like a freshman college student who needs their parents with the enrollment).
Let’s cut to the chase: we spent 4 hours just to pay for 2 tickets — one of which is legit, another is an error they made. 4 hours. If you’re a busy man, or even if you’re not, 4 hours is just too much.
Why is this inefficiency causing corruption? Let me tell you two things why:
1. The day before, we saw the huge number of people lined up. A guy outside, apparently a fixer, told us that it will take 4 hours for us to finish the job. (He was accurate, we later found out). So, he offered “help”. He said he knew people from the inside that can work on our papers and bypass the process. For a “fee” of P1300, we’ll get our papers done in 30 mins. and we’ll go home happy. Ah, there were employees INSIDE the office that works this way, eh?
If the process inside this office is efficient, do you think fixers will exist? Do you think this crooked MMDA employees will have their way into corruption?
There’s Window #2, the process where they will check your name on the computer for your violations. It took us the whole 2 hours to wait for that. Within the first 30 minutes, the people waiting for the result swelled to a hundred — enough to start a worship service for traffic violators.
Can this part of the process be improved? I think so. If they know the volume of people that needs checking of papers, why will them employ just a couple of people on that station? (To think that these same guys are the same people that deal with fixers! Oh yeah! We saw it ourselves how they accept the papers from the “outside”.) In my assessment, if the process is efficient, you can have your papers done in less than 30 mins! No fixers, no corruption inside this office — Bayani Fernando’s former office, the same guy who says he has the political will to stop corruption. That’s another story.
2. Corruption starts on the streets too! I know this first hand — I’ve rejected it a lot of times, and honestly, sometimes I got sucked into it, too. If the apprehension is valid, the driver is tempted to bribe the apprehending officer. Sometimes, if not most of the times, though, the apprehending officer is just cocky and will apprehend motorist for the sake of the bribe. Both ways, bribing happens. Why? Because the driver knows the hustle of lining up and paying for your violation fees. The more convenient way is to bribe. And everyone, and I mean everyone inside this organization wants bribe.
If the process is simple and efficient, the motorist will just pay the violation honestly. No bribing the officers. No officers will receive the bribe. No apprehensions just for the sake of bribes. (Don’t say the Metrobank payment process is efficient. I have a 2007 ticket paid at Metrobank, and still their records show I haven’t paid it. Of course I lost the receipt already — no choice but to pay again. Imagine the hustle when you renew your LTO license and be redirected to MMDA because of their inefficient payment system?)
This office reflects most of the government offices. Imagine if every government offices will be efficient in their services? Could we say that we can eradicate corruption, at least on the ground? Let see if the new president starting 2010 can fix that.
All said and done, I’m going to LOOVVE my driver’s license from now on. I’m NOT going to give it to any cocky MMDA officers especially if I know they’re just in for the bribe. I’m always going to bring camera phones to scare them off. :D
Dec 15th 09
Posted by Arnold in Blogs, etc., Webby
I have downloaded today marketing guru and “great thinker of the simplified” Seth Godin new e-book “What Matters Now”. A book with collaboration with great thinkers, it’s a great way to start a new year. Download yours, like right now!
Now, more than ever, we need to shake things up.
Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around. I hope a new ebook I’ve organized will get you started on that path. It took months, but I think you’ll find it worth the effort. (Downloadhere).
Here are more than seventy big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. From bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert to brilliant tech thinker Kevin Kelly, from publisher Tim O’Reilly to radio host Dave Ramsey, there are some important people riffing about important ideas here. The ebook includes Tom Peters, Jackie Huba and Jason Fried, along with Gina Trapani, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber.
Dec 14th 09
Posted by Arnold in Theology
About 10 years ago, I dealt with the issue of Saturday sabbatarianism as I journey out of Seventh-day Adventism. I studied, research, debated, spoken about in symposiums, cried, poured my heart out into this subject. I’ve spoken through emails with theologians and pastors like Dale Ratzlaff, Clay Peck and read their respective books. I read the works of famous sabbatarians and former sabbatarians in the area of theology like Dr. Desmond Ford and Robert Brinsmead. I prayed, journeyed and decided.
Ten years fast forward, I moved on and outgrown that issue. And, instead of joining holy huddles, debating about all these non-essential topics and becoming spiritual obese, I decided I need to flex my spiritual muscles and honor and give glory to Jesus by following his important instruction before he left – to make disciples.
These days, however, I’m attracted again to talk about that theological issue, this time with the other end of the pendulum – the Sunday Sabbatarians. Sunday sabbatarianism, for those who might ask, is a belief that Sabbath observance was transferred from Saturday to Sunday. I don’t really want to dive into it as my energy’s best placed in other things. But since this topic is dear to my heart, let me deal with it anyway.
I know the arguments used by Sunday sabbatarians, but I’ve not talked with anyone before – until now. One thing I realized, refuting Sunday sabbatarianism is far EASIER than refuting Saturday sabbatarianism. Here’s why:
1. The Bible NEVER said that the Sabbath was transferred from Saturday to any day, much more to Sunday. Never. How easy can that be?
2. Now, for a Sunday sabbatarian to justify his belief, he has to use two twisted approach:
a) Make a lot of assumptions. For instance, they would assume that “sabbatismos”, a unique kind of sabbath mentioned in Hebrews 4 is a DAY. Nowhere do we see that though. Not in the context around the verses nor the context of Hebrews as a book. Hebrews talks about how everything in the Old Covenant was fulfilled and pointed to Jesus.
b) They will appeal to tradition. They would argue that since the early church worshiped on Sundays, therefore, it must be the new Sabbath. Wrong. First of all, the early church did not claim that Sunday is the new sabbath ACCORDING to the Bible. Some church fathers claim that Sunday is the “sabbath” for Christians just so to differentiate it from the Jewish sabbath. But this claim is not based on clear instructions from the Bible. Secondly, I respect Christian traditions, but I don’t use it to go above what the Bible did or did not say. Otherwise, I’ll just be a Roman Catholic and make traditions part of my irrefutable belief system.
Old Covenant sabbath?
Together with Adventists, a Sunday sabbatarian actually agrees that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant practices. What they missed though is the opportunity to be true to that statement. What a Sunday sabbatarian will do is insist on adopting an old covenant practice of observing a sabbath DAY but then also insist that it has been changed to Sunday to be “new covenant-friendly”. In this regard, the Seventh-day Adventist is even more consistent than a Sunday sabbatarian. At least, the Seventh-day Adventist holds on to true Biblical sabbath and tries to explain that it remains as the Christian sabbath. The Sunday sabbatarian, however, not only adopted an old covenant practice, it even tries to add something to the Bible!
The verdict
For Christians, is Saturday the sabbath day? No. The Jewish sabbath at its very essence is the very center of Jewish laws, identifying the Jews as a people. It has its very special purpose. (see. Exo. 20 and Deut. 5). The old covenant, to which the ten commandments are part of, fulfilled it’s requirement in Jesus.
Is the sabbath then transferred to Sunday for Christians to observe? No. Nowhere in the Bible do we see such important doctrine. You will have to twist the scriptures and hide under intellectual arrogance to prove that such a doctrine exist.
What, or who, then is the Sabbath? Jesus. He is our rest (Matt. 11:28). He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the fulfillment of the law. He is to be worshiped everyday through our life (Rom. 12). He is “sabbatismos”, the new sabbath mentioned in Hebrews 4. Jesus is our Sabbath, everyday.
The question for both camps is not actually what day is the Sabbath day for Christians. The real question is what has changed from the Old Covenant to the New that makes the sabbath in its real essence and intent become more than just a day.
Physical rest and weekly meetings
I still believe that the principle of a sabbath day of rest is a good practice. In fact, Saturday is STILL my physical sabbath rest. On that day of the week, I got to sleep in until 10 am and be with the family for the whole day. Sunday is NOT my physical sabbath day as this is one of the busiest day of my week. And honestly, Sundays are not the days where I feel closest to God. Yes, I got to serve him and corporately worship Him on Sundays, but I’m more technical on Sundays than any other days. However, everyday, that 30 minutes in a day when I’m quiet in the presence of God, is my heaven on earth. Those moments when I got to be quiet and listen to him, worship him with his words and sometimes with a song or two. Those time of the day when I got to exercise my trust and dependence on him. When I got to worship him through the way I let him live in me and I living out his life.
While I hold that sabbath is everyday, Christians should choose a day, most of which chose Sunday, Christians in the middle east choose Friday, to be their corporate time to meet together and worship God as this is what the Bible instructed us to do.
Page 3 of 194«12345»...Last »
