Livin' the life...

As we haven’t had any comical articles lately, today I intend to resolve that! Below are a few amusing church signs that I found. I hope they bring some joy to you and yours today and this coming week!

 

Before ending this article, I’d like to ask you to remember Chile in your prayers. The recent earthquake has left hundreds dead and seriously affected the country’s infrastructure. Today also officially begins a 3 day period of mourning (Link).

Have a great week, and God bless.

Let me see the devil beat that!

Garbage Truck.

One day I  hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving  in the  right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space   right in  front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and   missed the  other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his  head around  and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved  at the guy.  And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and   sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now   call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run  around full  of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of  disappointment.

As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and  sometimes   they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish  them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other   people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take  over their day. Life's  too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,  so..... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray  for the ones who don't.'

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a great week!!

Countless times in the past, I have written the TFTW based on something not-so-great that has happened to me, and has thoroughly tested my patience and even faith. By sharing these experiences, I firmly believe that this allows God to work through me, and us all to benefit (maybe you can learn from my mistakes, silly choices, or my occasional impatience regarding God’s word!). Well, last week, guess what? Nothing “not-so-great” happened! Actually, last week was a fabulous week, and tomorrow’s one of the biggest days of the year for me. Here enters the problem – What do I write for this week’s TFTW?! Lol. *Brief panic attack*

Well actually, no. Not a problem at all – let’s not forget who our God is! After some quiet reflection, the topic of for this week’s article was as clear as a bright summer’s day. The topic? The Good and the Bad.

Have you ever recognised that sometimes you cruise through life and everything’s great, and other times, life is just plain rough? Why can’t it always be great? Why can’t we always get what we want, how we want, when we want? .. Simply put, that’s just not how it is suppose to be (in this word anyway). You won’t always have good times, but you’re also unlikely to always have bad times. Life, and especially a Christian life, is about taking the good with the bad. Job is one of the most perfect examples of this fact. Defending the Lord, to his wife, Job said “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10). This is an amazing passage, because even as Job was being tested beyond anything anyone had ever imagined, he still defended the Lord’s actions with an undying faith. His eyes remained focused on the Lord in times of prosperity and times of hardship. He accepted the good and the bad/adversity. No wonder the Lord could say, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” (Job 2:3)

May we all strive to be like Job, and accept the good and the bad/adversity. And through it all, give thanks and praise to the most high. After all, admittedly, bad times purify us, build character, transform us, and ultimately, make us ready for our eternal homes.

“MENTAL health experts say there could be a link between surfing the net and depression.

British scientists found that the longer people spent online, the less likely they were to be happy.

But it was not clear whether using the internet causes mental health problems - or whether people with mental health problems are drawn to the internet.

Ironically, psychologists at the University of Leeds used the internet to quiz more than 1300 people aged between 16 and 51 over their web use.

Study leader Dr Catriona Morrison said: "There was a high correspondence between the amount of time spent on the internet and levels of depression.

"The internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side."” Full Story

*eek..

“If heat rises, wouldn’t heaven be hotter than hell?” – I saw this quote a few days ago and I can’t help but say that it made me chuckle. After all, heat does rise, but I’m sure hoping that heaven isn’t hotter than hell! Apart from this obvious reaction, this quote lead to me reminiscing about times as a teenager in Sunday School, when we hotly debated topics such as (i) the existence of heaven and hell, and where exactly they might be (for example, is heaven above the clouds? The upper mesosphere maybe?); (ii) whether people spend eternity in hell, or if God gives them a break after a while (we *did* debate this!); and even, (iii) where do we go when we die – do we stay in a ‘waiting area’ until Judgement Day, or do you get judged at the moment you die?

All these were very interesting topics for discussion on Sunday mornings, and indeed still remain somewhere lurking in the back of my mind, and maybe also in the back of yours. One thing I’d like to point out however, is that right now, we have much more pressing matters to attend to. For example, our ministry and mission in this world. Rick Warren captures the meanings of these two words aptly in his statement, “Your ministry is your service to believers, and your mission is your service to unbelievers” (Purpose Driven Life). Fulfilling these aspects are critical purposes for our lives. These require us not to get unduly preoccupied in topics that add little value, and might be considered esoteric (such as the positioning of hell, or the temperature of heaven!). Instead however, we are to focus on living for Christ now, in everything we say and do, and our service to others is a key part of that.

I leave you with a few questions for this week therefore: Who can you serve in this coming week? Whose life can you touch in a Christ-like way? What is your ministry for this week? And what is your mission?

Hey all! Hope you had a nice, peaceful weekend.

This week’s article links to a set of photos from Haiti that I came across a few days ago. I found them very moving and I know you will too. I implore you, if you can help, please do.

Haiti 6 days later (in pictures)

I read a quote recently saying, “Before the earthquake, Haiti was one of the poorest nations in the world. About 70% of Haitians live on less than $2 a day, and now they have lost everything.” (Ref)

I can help, you can help, we can help. If we truly believe in the Body of Christ and our duty to our fellow man - we must help.

Here are a few inspirational stories regarding Haiti, people’s efforts for Haiti and amazing rescues.

Seven-year-old raises £30k for Haiti | Telethon raises 'record' $57m for Haiti victims | Haitian man rescued from rubble after 11 days | Earthquake survivors get solar-powered audio bibles | Haiti quake: Survivors' stories

Have a great week and God bless!

I won’t even pretend to focus on anything else. Let’s face it, all of our eyes and hearts are focused on Haiti. The earthquake that ravished Port-au-Prince, has resulted in thousands of deaths, millions of dollars in infrastructure damage, and now, likely even more dire situations as disease takes hold of the survivors. I don’t intend add to the BBC, CNN, and AP by giving you yet another recap, I just want to point out two things.

First, the sudden nature of death, or rather fickle nature of live. How many persons you think knew that was their last day alive? That a magnitude-7.0 earthquake, the country's most severe in over 200 years would strike and end their live? My point? None of us knows when we will die, or when Christ will return. Thus, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Mat 24:42-44. Watch, be ready!

My second point speaks to the response to this disaster by countries and individuals alike. At the international level, I’ve been elated to see the response from countries that these days, can’t see eye-to-eye on much in terms of foreign policy, or international relations – I shall call no names! Maybe I am naive in thinking that this situation wasn’t used as a publicity stunt, to show-off to countries’ skill sets or the size of their wallets, but regardless, I was very pleased. I heard about teams from all over the globe sending supplies, doctors/nurses, medicine, search-and-rescue dogs, and specialist search tools. I imagine some of the most skilled folk in search-and-rescue from all over the world are in Haiti right now, working together! How amazing is that? This care for human life reminds me of the words in Mat 25:37-40:

““Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

Let’s join in these efforts for Haiti, and contribute whatever we can. Below are a list of sites you can use to donate online or via a mobile phone.

American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Disaster Emergency Committee, Digicel Haiti Relief Fund (Facebook link), Amazon.com, and the UNICEF Appeal. I’m sure there are many, many more links so please give what you can. (A warning however is to ensure you give to a reputable organisation/website! I’d advise you stick with well-known names.)

Have a great week, and remember Haiti and all the other places in this world where there is suffering and constant pain, in your prayers.

This week’s article has a bit of a Caribbean twist to it. It’s a song and I hope you will enjoy it. It’s from Donnie McClurkin and called Caribbean Medley, I’m sure some of you know it. The lyrics however never get old!

Have a great week!

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.

Have a great week! And I wish you God's richest blessings in the new year!

This week is a game. Yep, a game! I list Bible verses and you get try to guess where they are from! I’m generally using NIV. All the best!

1. "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."

2. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the..."

4. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

5. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

6. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

7. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"

8. "Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."

9. "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

10. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Right! That’s it! How did you do? Feel free to look up the ones you didn’t get. But of course, the most important thing is to remember them, not where they are from. They are particularly useful in situations where problems arise and you need reassurance that God will handle it. Every day, of every week, of ever month, of every year, I try hard to remember #5 i.e. "Trust in the LORD..". I believe He will direct my paths and yours.

Have a great week! And, may God be with you!

Hey all! Hope you are well. This week’s article uses a joke of sorts, to convey one of the main tenets in our faith. I hope you enjoy BUT most importantly, I hope that you get the message!

A man dies and mets St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. Peter says to the man, "Here's how it works. You need to have one hundred points to get into heaven. You tell me about all the good things you've done. They are all worth a certain number of points. If your total is one hundred or more, you can come in."
"Well," says the man. "I was happily married to the same woman for 52 years. I never looked at another woman. I was attentive and loved her dearly."
"That's great," says St. Peter. "That'll be two points."
"Hmmm," says the man. "This is going to be harder than I thought. Well, I attended church regularly, volunteered my time and tithed faithfully."
"Wonderful," says St. Peter, "That's worth another point."
"One point!" says the man. "Okay, okay. I was involved with a prison ministry for twenty-five years. I went into the prison, at least monthly, and shared Jesus with them."
"Wow!" says St. Peter. "That's another two points!"
"Only two points!" says the man. "At this rate, it'll be by the grace of God that'll I'll ever get into this place."
"Bingo!" says St. Peter. "That's one hundred points! Come on in."

Remember, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Have a great week and God bless!

The TFTW is a song, or rather a video featuring a song by Tim Hughes called We Must Go. I heard the song for the first time last week and I think it's amazing. I hope you enjoy it, and accept its challenge to go out in the world and work for Christ.

The video:

 

The related verse:
"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
      "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
      Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
      He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
      Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
      Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. " John 21:1517

Come on people.. We must go. May the Lord be with you.

One of the biggest misconceptions I had when I was under the age of 16, was that “church” was the well-architectured, highly decorated building, which you visited for a few hours on Sundays. I say ‘misconception’ because, as I’m sure we all know, “church” actually refers to the gathering of people for fellowship and worship. Therefore, there is a clear difference between “church” (somewhat conceptual) and “church building” (very physical!).

I began with this brief background on the word because I’ve noticed that many people seem to be constantly missing the underlying purpose of church, and how pivotal it is to our Christian lives. After researching this topic for a while, I found a very interesting article titled Why go to church? In that article, the author looks at the key reasons why people don’t go to church and debunks them one-by-one with some pretty strong counter-arguments. For example, a number of people cite that church is boring (however, arguably so is your life – it is up to you to make it more enjoyable), or that church hints towards a hypocritical ‘one-day-a-week holiness’ for church-goers (however, what others do should not deter you, and for you personally, it’s your own decision to act holy once a week, or everyday!).

My favourite excuse is “Church is unnecessary since private prayer and Bible study can be done without others.” This excuse completely misses a key fact of Christianity. Hebrews 10:25 states, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” The fellowship side is CRITICAL in our lives, and Christian walks. By meeting for church, we share common beliefs, share ways to overcome problems, and support and encourage our brothers and sisters in their walks. I can’t count the number of times, I have been lifted by hearing that someone else is going through what I’m going through. Or, even better, that they’ve been through it and I can handle it by doing X, Y or Z. Each one of us has a part to play as we all constitute the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-27) and fellowship is one necessity in practising this membership.

Reflecting back on the article, the author states, “There are three spiritual pillars to have a strong Christian life: personal prayer, Bible study and fellow believers. To rely on less than all three is like trying to sit on a one or two-legged stool. Three legs are needed for a firm foundation and proper function.”

There is a need for church, or Christ would not have emphasised it time and time again in His teachings. Anyone remember, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18).

Could you imagine a Christianity where everyone did their own thing individually, and never met for communal fellowship or worship? *Shudder* I couldn’t!

How true! Have a great week!

Hey all!

Hope you had a great week, and you're relaxing a bit today in preparation for the new week starting tomorrow! It would do you well to recognize that I'm sending the TFTW one day earlier than usual. There's no particular reason for this, I just thought I would mix things up a bit. After all, I don't want you to view the TFTW as a Sunday-based, boring thing! It's due to be fun, eye-opening and a blessing not only for the week ahead, but for the week passing.

The TFTW is based on a nice poem I read previously, and the Bible verse that complements it. I hope you enjoy.

God’s Word was given for our good
And we are to obey,
Not choose the parts that we like best,
Then live in our own way. —Hess

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (New International Version)

Living to Please God

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

 

May you have a blessed week!

Hope you enjoy story chosen for TFTW this week.. It’s title is A Teenager’s View of Heaven.

17-year-old Brian Moore had only a short time to write something for a class. The subject was what Heaven was like. "I wowed 'em," he later told his father, Bruce. "It's a killer. It's the bomb. It's the best thing I ever wrote.." It also was the last.

Brian Moore died May 27, 1997, the day after Memorial Day. He was driving home from a friend's house when his car went off Bulen-Pierce Road in Pickaway County and struck a utility pole. He emerged from the wreck unharmed but stepped on a downed power line and was electrocuted.

The Moores framed a copy of Brian's essay and hung it among the family portraits in the living room. "I think God used him to make a point. I think we were meant to find it and make something out of it," Mrs. Moore said of the essay. She and her husband want to share their son's vision of life after death. "I'm happy for Brian. I know he's in heaven. I know I'll see him."

Brian's Essay: The Room...

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have Laughed at ." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents.

Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.

I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

And then I saw it.. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.

No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own.

He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side.

He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."-John 3:16. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Phil. 4:13.  If you feel the same way, forward it so the love of Jesus will touch their lives also. My "People I shared the gospel with" file just got bigger, how about yours?

Some weeks ago, I remember hearing about some floods in the Philippines, I think it made headline news. I must admit however that I did not investigate into this news any further. It is not that I didn’t care, but rather that I was quite consumed with my own life, the various tasks to do, issues and problems faced, etc. I’m sure you all can empathise with the busyness of our modern-day lives!

To my surprise, this week one of my friends (thanks PP) forwarded me some photos from those floods and I was simply gobsmacked. Here I am thinking that my life is so busy, I have so many things to do, and almost every other week some huge problem arises that demands to be handled immediately. Yet, people in the Philippines are having to wade through muddy water (often polluted!) up to their chins, lose everything they own (houses, cars, furniture, clothes), and just barely hang on to their lives and lives of their family members. And to think that events such as this, and even more catastrophic, happen in some areas every few months!

This made me pause for some time, and reflect on my life and how thankful I should be for the lifestyle I live and the ‘problems’ I have. Actually, a comment of one of my friends comes to mind: We were walking through the shopping center, and I was moaning about course assignments and getting pretty down on myself (if you know me, you know how I can get!). To reply, my friend pointed out a man in a wheelchair passing us by, and said very kindly, “Jason, you don’t have problems, you see that man? He has a problem”. Life in many ways is based on our perspective of it. Often we give little things too much importance and forget the blessings God has generously placed on us and those around us.

Below I have included some of the photos from the tragedy in the Philippines (hover over photos to see descriptions). I ask that you mull over these photos for a while, and use them to (1) remember all the people in this world who faced real problems and ask God to help them and give them the strength they need, and (2) give thanks for your lives and the blessings that are, as the song goes, ‘new every morning’.

 

 

Take care and God bless! Hope you have a fabulous week!

The TFTW is based on one of my favourite passages in the book of Hebrews. Take a read below..

Hebrews 4:14-16 (New King James Version)

Our Compassionate High Priest
"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Can you imagine that Jesus faced the same temptations that you faced? Really, think about it for a few minutes - the Son of God, whom we pray to and who presents us with a way back to the Father, faced similar problems and temptations that you face. Jesus felt what you felt! And because of this, Jesus can sympathize with each and everyone of our weaknesses. To me, this is actually a bit comforting, as when I’m going through some *real* pain, I know that Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, can appreciate how I feel.

Jesus, and God the Father know the trials of our lives, the pains we will face, and the times we will tend to stumble and lose our way. Knowing these issues/weaknesses, and the need for reconnection to the Father, Jesus was sent to provide forgiveness for us all. He was the pure, unblemished, lamb (who was tempted, but without sin) that was sacrificed to provide a path to eternity. That was Jesus’ purpose. Through Jesus, the new covenant was created, a new lifestyle outlined, and a clear path of forgiveness for all who believe in Him, laid down.

To conclude, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Thanks be to Christ!

Have a great week!

Roughly three years ago, I became an author within the Blogosphere. So far, so good I think. Blogging is a great way to release you thoughts, feelings, and almost everything you're interested in, to everyone on the Internet. Some may argue that this is what Facebook is for, but Facebook typically limits your content to “friends”.

Well, take care, thanks for visiting, and I look forward to many more years to come!

I quite enjoyed this email, sent to me by a good friend. It caused me to stop and reflect on my life and what I wanted to get out of it. That was the first real peace I’ve felt in a little while now. I hope you like it.

Life Explained

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen
on the quality of their fish and asked
how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long." they answered in unison.

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

The fishermen explained that their small catches were
sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children,
and take siestas with our wives.
In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends,
have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted,

"I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day.
You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring,
you can buy a second one and a third one
and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man,
you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants
and maybe even open your own plant.

You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City,
Los Angeles, or even New York City!

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?"

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting,"
answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big,
you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!" 

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

"After that you'll be able to retire,
live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children,
catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife
and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral of this story is:

........ Know where you're going in life...
you may already be there!! 

 

 

Have a great week all!

This week’s TFTW is a simple, yet very important Bible passage. I hope you can set aside some time to meditate on it, and remember it in times of frustration and bewilderment.

Matthew 7:7-11

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

This is the word of the Lord, .. Thanks be to God!

Have a great week all!

For this week’s TFTW I’ve chosen a comical article, I trust you will like it. I chose it hoping to put a smile on your face and gear you up for the new week. Secondly, I want to stress the fact that as  Christians, laughter isn’t to be avoided. It fits perfectly into our lives and God loves a joyful heart.

Now the TFTW..

Most of us have now learned to live with voice mail as a necessary part of our lives. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing the following:

Thank you for calling heaven.
For English press 1
For Spanish press 2
For all other languages, press 3

Please select one of the following options:
Press 1 for request
Press 2 for thanksgiving
Press 3 for complaints
Press 4 for all others

I am sorry, all our Angels and Saints are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line.

If you would like to speak to:
God, press 1
Jesus, press 2
Holy spirit, press 3

To find a loved one that has been assigned to heaven press 5, then enter his social security # followed by the pound sign.

(If you receive a negative response, please hang up and dial area code 666)

For reservations to heaven, please enter JOHN followed by the numbers, 3 16.

For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, life and other planets, please wait until you arrive in heaven for the specifics.

Our computers show that you have already been prayed for today, please hang up and call again tomorrow.

The office is now closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday.

If you are calling after hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local pastor.

Thank you and have a heavenly day.

 

Lol. Have a great week all! . The joke above was taken from Christian jokes site.

“The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.

In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.”

Read more.. at http://internationaldayofpeace.org/ and http://www.peaceoneday.org/

Last week, I watched to one of Joel Osteen’s broadcasts online titled, Being fully persuaded (you can get it here if you’re interested). In Joel’s sermon in that session, he emphasized the need to focus on Your God (and His omnipotence), instead of your problems. When tough times come, don’t focus on them and analyze them and identify every way in which they will destroy you, or your health, or your life. Focus on your God! Is it not your God that controls time, built the universe, and knew you even before you were born?

Apart from focusing on your God when you face your problems, another thing one must also do is keep the right company. Other people’s constant negativity will bring most of us down. Note however that I am not saying/suggesting to abandon friends when they are at low points in their life, you should be right there to help them up! Love your neighbour as you love yourself!

What I’m referring to above is constant negativity, which regardless of your attempts, ends both of you in the same depressive state. People have to be willing to be helped, and have to have a willingness to change or adapt or trust for themselves. If not, to be honest, there’s not much you can do besides to keep them in your prayers.

To end, I’ll paraphrase a joke story given by Joel to highlight the need for focusing on God and keeping positive acquaintances.

Fed up with life and the problems he faced, Larry climbed to the top of a bridge, intending to jump off and end his life. Trying to counsel him, Frank goes up on the bridge close to Larry and asks Larry to come down. Larry angrily shouts to Frank that he has so many problems, and life is just not worth it anymore. Frank then figures that maybe he can get Larry to talk about his problems and that he’ll feel a bit better afterwards. So, Frank asks Larry to tell him some of his problems. Larry quickly beings to list job issues, family issues, health issues, and so on.. After listening to Larry’s problems for about 3 hours, Frank is so depressed that they both jump!

 

Keep your eye on the prize folks. God is waiting!

I received this email a few weeks back, and I think it’s a good lesson for the TFTW.. hope you enjoy.

The Coffee or The Cup!

This really is profound, I am going to try and keep this in mind the next time I feel "stressed".....

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups.. . And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God brews the coffee, not the cups.......... Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything." Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

 

Don’t get caught up on what won’t last. Invest in your eternity. It’s what we were all put here for.

Have a great week! And thanks for the TFTW PP!

Bosses are planning to introduce limits on the amount of time employees spend maintaining their social lives when they should be working and are set to impose the breaks, similar to those granted to smokers.

It follows research suggesting that Britain's economy is suffering thanks to workers surfing social networking sites. (Full story)

If you can’t beat’em ..

Well, this doesn’t happen every year does it! 09/09/09. Actually, Yahoo! reports that “it also represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we'll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium (mark your calendars for January 1, 3001), depending on how you want to count it.” (Full story)

I’m not superstitious but I do find it a bit cool. Regardless of what you do on 09/09/09, have a nice day! And remember, the next one of these is in a thousand years!

This week’s TFTW is a Bible passage. As I read it earlier this week, I couldn’t help but be in awe at God’s love for us. Its words somehow made me feel peace, in knowing that our God is always there for us and His love transcends all. I hope this passage will bring you the same peace today and in this coming week.

Romans 8:31-39

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
   "For your sake we face death all day long;
      we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Have a blessed week!

Biggest Movies of Summer 2009 - I actually agree with most of the movies highlighted here. Ice Age 3 and Transformers, (Y)!

A short-term study of Twitter has found that 40% of the messages sent via it are "pointless babble."

Carried out by US market research firm Pear Analytics, the study aimed to produce a snapshot of what people do with the service. Almost as prevalent as the babble were "conversational" tweets that used it as a surrogate instant messaging system. ... [The study] found that 40.5% could be classified as pointless babble, 37.5% as conversational and 8.7% as having pass-along value. Self promotion and spam stood at 5.85% and 3.75% respectively. (Full story)

This is a surprise??

A new study by npower has shown that on average children spend nine hours and 54 minutes per day watching various screens – with two hours and 43 minutes spent watching TV. This suggests teenagers in the UK are spending the equivalent of four solid months a year in front of a mobile, TV, laptop or gaming console screen. (Full story)

10 hours a day.. I wonder where the other bit goes. I assume 8 hours for sleeping, that leaves 6 hours for..?

This is.. really, just AMAZING.. wow.. I guarantee you watch all the way to the end!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending some time with two of my younger cousins – one is 3 and the other, 8 years old. Beyond getting reacquainted with their almost ever-present energy store, one thing that astounded me, especially with the 3 year old, was her trust in me. I just had to stick out my index finger (her little hands would hold me there) and I could lead her just about anywhere – ok well maybe I would have to promise candy, or chocolate first. The relationship of my cousins with their mother was of course much more trusting, and at various times throughout the weekend, the kids exercised full dependence in mom to do some task, or make things right.

This complete trust, i.e. the trust comparable to that displayed by a child, is how Jesus expects us to come to, and trust in Him. In Mark 10:15, Jesus says, “Assuredly, I stay to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” To explain this verse, my study Bible comments, “The kingdom of God is only for those who come to Jesus in the humble dependence and trust of little children. The kingdom of God belongs to them, not because of merit, but because God wills to give it to the humble, and the apparently insignificant or unimportant.” Amazing isn’t it??

Therefore, when we’re faced with problems, hurtful situations, and in times of hopelessness, let us trust in Jesus to sort it out. Remember, the trust I mean here isn’t where you hand it over to Jesus yet still worry, and be anxious. It’s where you give it to Him and leave it with Him. As the popularly forwarded email notes, put your situation/problem in the SFGTD (Something For God To Do) box! Put it there and forget it.

To conclude, I can’t help but reflect on that popular Anglican hymn that goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Have a great week!

Well, that time has come and I have updated the main page of my website – i.e. http://www.jasonnurse.com/. As some of you would have recognized already, there are no longer the hand-chosen photos created and modified by me. The setup now feeds on the beast that is the Internet and pulls output from Web applications (largely via Google gadgets) together for display on my main page (Web 2.0 anyone??).

I won’t tell you directly how many different applications are used on the page, but I will guarantee you that you will never be able to tell what will load next on the main page! It’s all dynamic and in some cases, rather random. I will say however that it will appeal to a range of people including Christians, LOLcat fans, techies, photo addicts, news fans, and Liverpool FC supporters!

Hope you enjoy! A screenshot...

:-)

This week’s article is sourced from Our Daily Bread devotionals. When I read it on Wednesday, I knew it was definitely something I wanted to pass on. The article is titled He Is Enough, and you can read it here.

To reiterate its ending, “Whatever our circumstances, Jesus is present with His love, compassion, and grace. He is proof, presence, and provision enough to carry us safely through. - David C. Egner”

Blessed be to His name!

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine made the observation that she was spending more time on Facebook than reading her Bible, or generally, spending time with God. As I pondered over that realisation, I remembered the ubiquitous notion of Facebook. People can post messages to their “walls” at any time, about anything, and these days, from any device connected to the WWW. What this means is that people post messages at work, at the beach, at parties, at dinners, and belief it or not, even in the hospital! (You know who you are!)

Now, while this is all fine and good – hey I’m not against people posting every moment of their lives online for their friends to see – I can’t help but be concerned about the amount of time people put into sites such as Facebook, and now, Twitter, as compared to the time they spend with God (via Bible reading, meditation, evangelism, discussions, etc). I’m not saying that I know what time people do and do not spend with God, but as an outsider making informed observations, I am concerned! I’m well aware that FB can take up hours of one’s time, I even have a few friends that have closed their accounts because it was consuming too much of their time!

My point is that God values us, and the time we spend with Him. If one spends too much time being preoccupied with other things (Facebook or otherwise e.g. money, fame, pride), its just as if they are your fake idols i.e. you were replacing God with them. And even though I may be stepping out onto a ledge on this statement, I don’t think He’ll be too pleased.

I suggest we all consider these things, as in the end, God won’t ask you how many Facebook friends you had, or how many times a day you updated your status, or how many photos you had, or were tagged in on Facebook. Let’s get our priorities right! None of us know what time we have left. None of us!

Take care and God bless!

Thirteen things to remember:

0. The love of your God,

1.  The value of time,

2.  The success of perseverance,

3.  The pleasure of working,

4.  The dignity of simplicity,

5.  The worth of character,

6.  The power of kindness,

7.  The influence of example,

8.  The obligation of duty,

9.  The wisdom of economy,

10.  The virtue of patience,

11.  The improvement of talent,

12.  The joy of origination.

One million shoppers logged on to the new Woolworths.co.uk site in its first week of trading, the company said today.

The brand made its online comeback seven days ago and by the end of yesterday consumers had ordered more than a tonne of its pic 'n' mix sweets over the internet - with cola bottles proving the most popular. (Full story)

Woopie!!

You’ve all heard these already but I thought a “Bible shot” containing these verses, will be a nice reminder of the commandments we are expected – as Christians - to live by.

“The first of all the commandments is:  ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall  love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this:  ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

You can’t want it any clearer than that. Meditate on scripture, it was given for our edification.

Believe it or not.. It is, so hot!

Anchor -Hebrews 6:19
"Adverse circumstances surrounding us could easily drive us into despair. And yet we have a hope that keeps us from sinking. That hope rests on Jesus, and what He did for us on the cross” - Michael D. Waters (Source)

What more do we want!

This article was interesting...

“Most people don’t really know how many calories their every day food contains. Or how hard they actually have to work to get rid of that extra energy. So make 2009 a year when you make conscious decisions and stop the weight sneaking up on you (Source)”

Pizza is just ridiculous! Shessh!

Enough said! Have a blessed week, and thank you M.C. for sharing this poem with me.

This is quite nifty! Read below..

Customers at a new branch of Sainsbury's in Gloucester will generate electricity when they drive over 'kinetic road plates' on the entrance to the car park.

The devices will convert the motion of the cars into enough energy to power the tills inside the store, reducing the amount taken from the National Grid.
The Dorset scientist behind the idea predicted the devices would soon be seen in shopping centres, petrol stations and ports across the country. They are already being trialled at distribution warehouses but it is the first time they have been installed at a supermarket where they can be used by ordinary consumers.

You can check out the full story here.

I trust you’ll enjoy this little poem for this week’s TFTW.

Sometimes I ask the question,
"My Lord, is this Your will?"
It's then I hear You answer me,
"My Precious child . . . be still."

Sometimes I feel frustrated,
'Cause I think I know what's best.
It's then I hear You say to me,
"My busy child . . . just rest."

Sometimes I feel so lonely
And I think I'd like a mate.
Your still small voice gets oh, so clear
And says, "My child . . . please wait."

"I know the plans I have for you,
The wondrous things you'll see;
If you can just be patient, child,
And put your trust in Me.

I've plans to draw you closer.
I've plans to help you grow.
There's much I do you cannot see
And much you do not know.

But know this, child . . . I love you!
You are precious unto Me.
Before I formed you in the womb,
I planned your destiny.

I've something very special
I hope for you to learn.
The gifts I wish to give to you
Are gifts you cannot earn.

They come without a price tag,
But not without a cost;
At Calvary, I gave My Son,
So you would not be lost.

Rest child, and do not weary
Of doing what is good.
I promise I'll come back for you
Just like I said I would.

Your name is written on My palm,
I never could forget;
Therefore, do not be discouraged when
My answer is . . . "Not Yet"

(Author Unknown)

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV) says:
"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

 

Have a great week!

Last night, whilst watching a movie I saw a little boy, probably the age of 12, risk his life to save his younger brother. When asked why he did it, he simply responded, “It’s Alehandro [my brother], he’s family!”. This willingness to put another before oneself reminded me of a real-life incident in Barbados recently, where two young lads drowned, one trying to save the other. I don’t intend to take away from this tragedy, but really, how great a love is that! Love that was willing to sacrifice it all to come to the aid of another. Hmm.. wait a minute, that sounds like the story of Jesus’ sacrifice all over again! Actually, during His short time on this earth, Jesus spoke at length about such unwavering love. One of His most well-known remarks is, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13, NKJV).

Serving others, and putting others before ourselves was one of Jesus’ primary teachings. Don’t take my word for it, open your Bibles to Matthew 20:26-28, or Matthew 25:33-40. In whatever area you can imagine, we as Christians are expected to serve each other. Frankly put, it’s a very serious expectation of our lives here on this earth, and one I don’t think we should take too lightly as Rick Warren highlights in the excerpt below..

“At the end of your life on earth you will stand before God, and he is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life. The Bible says, ‘Each of us will have to give a personal account to God’ (Rom 14:12, NLT). Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others.
At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: ‘I was too busy’ or ‘I had my own goals’ or ‘I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement’. To all excuses God will respond, ‘Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?’ The Bible warns unbelievers, ‘He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves,’ (Rom 2:28, NLT) but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards.” (Rick Warren: Purpose Driven Life, pp.231-232)

Remember your purpose here and work actively towards it, none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. We are commanded to love and to serve, nothing should keep us from these tasks. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you have a calling, get to it!

Facebook today integrated OpenID, crossing a major landmark in the openness of social networks. The step is even more significant as Facebook, the biggest social network of them all with over 200 million users, was considered resistant to being "open" -- until now.

If you're planning on joining Facebook, then OpenID integration would make the biggest difference. If you already have a Google Mail account (which supports OpenID) then all you have to do is enter your email credentials and your new account will be populated automatically with your data.

Existing users get this benefit as well with an account-linking feature, so you can link your MySpace, Gmail, Yahoo and other accounts with Facebook, reaping the benefits of automatic login. This means a whole lot less passwords to remember. All your OpenID enabled accounts will use the same login credentials and all your contacts will be automatically searched on Facebook.

Another advantage OpenID integration in Facebook brings is that once you are authenticated into Facebook, you are automatically logged into into every site using Facebook Connect (including your blog, if you have one). So far, the big focus in on Google, helping you friend on Facebook all your Gmail contacts. (Full Story)

Interesting. It would get an A for convenience, however I wonder a bit about what statements such as “your new account will be populated automatically with your data” really mean. Exactly, what data is shared? ...

“What a mighty God we serve, what a mighty God we serve! The angels bow before Him, heaven and earth adore Him, what a mighty God we serve!” These are the words to a common jingle uttered by Christians all over the world. Personally, I know God is awesome, I know He is omnipotent, I know He is capable of wondrous works, but a few days ago I was blown away once again by what I think is an amazing, breath-taking scene – which I’ve included in this TFTW. I took it from a plane, as we were flying over what I believe to be The Alps. I’d like us this week to meditate on this photo and all of the other scenes you know about that help give an idea of how wonderful God and His creations are.

We can never fully comprehend God, or all His wonders, but we can definitely use them to appreciate our lives, and all He has put under our dominion. Thanks be to God!

Helen Slatter, a practising Catholic, says she is being forced to choose between her job and her faith after her NHS employers demanded that she remove the religious symbol, which she wears beneath her uniform.

Ms Slatter, a phlebologist who collects blood samples at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, in Gloucester, was told at a disciplinary meeting that her position was at risk if she continued to wear the one inch-tall crucifix.
The NHS Trust insisted that their demands were due to a uniform policy and not down to religion. ...

The mother-of-one, from Gloucester, added: "They have told me that for health and safety reasons and for infection control I must take it off or I will be sent home.

Full story.

Recently I’ve felt like there is a vicious, and epic battle going on in my mind. When it isn’t the common ‘good vs evil’-themed fight, it’s centred around doubt, frustration, anger, impatience, hopelessness, and feelings of injustice. There seems to be always something pulling me one way or another, and it really is one of the most frustrating things. So this week when I read the Daily Bread for Tuesday, I was quite shocked when it said, “In the book of Revelation, we read of the endtimes: “War broke out in heaven . . . . [And Satan] was cast to the earth” (Rev. 12:7-9). That future war is being preceded by an earthly conflict on the battlefield of our minds.” Wow, where did that come from? That statement is slightly comforting, because (i) I know what’s happening in my mind isn’t unique, and also I’m not going crazy! and (ii) these battles in our mind are quite real, but rest assured, in the end we know which side wins. But to be frank, that statement is also scary. It more-or-less states that we’re going to fight these fights in our mind possibly for all our lives. There will be this constant struggle, the flesh vs. the Spirit, if you wish.

If you’re like me, your next question probably therefore is, “Can anything be done to help it?”. And in reply, fortunately there is! We must strengthen the side we want to win! Prepare for the battle! I always like using the school analogy.. when it was exam time at school, how did you pass/ace an exam? By hoping your mind would recall all that happened the preceding term/year? Or, by hitting the books, pulling all-nighters, and burning the candle at both ends? The answer? You read the books, and studied them. Simply put, you prepared. With the battle in your head, the preparation is quite similar, instead of reading the textbook however, you read the Bible, and additionally pray for understanding and guidance. Supporting material such as guidance books, study Bibles, also are quite useful in helping you sharpen your wits. In some situations, the Bible needs no support or ‘middleman’ as it’s quite explicit. For example, the fruits of the Spirit in Gal 5:22-26 are stated as plain as day, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. These are the things we should aim for and try to always reinforce in our minds.

Directly focused on the mind and supporting God’s side of the battle, we can take courage from these words in Phil 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things.” Consciously focusing our mind on the good, and praying to God for His help is a must if any sign of peace is to surface in your mind, or mine.

Prepare with God’s word, because regardless of what you do, the battle awaits..

“Wolfram Alpha, the latest alleged Google killer, is not a search engine. Rather, physicist and software entrepreneur Stephen Wolfram's long-awaited new Web project is a "computational knowledge engine." The difference is important. A search engine tells you where to find stuff on the Web. Type "box office goodfellas" into Google, and you get a list of links; it's up to you to figure out which page to click on to find how much money the Scorsese film made in theaters. Wolfram Alpha, which launched over the weekend, tries to give you a direct answer—ask it the same question, and you get the result without having to look on any other site: $46.84 million. The site's best trick is its sometime ability to make calculations on the fly. Type in "box office goodfellas + box office casino" and it'll tell you that the movies made a combined $89.35 million. Think of it as a calculator attached to a reference library—or your own personal HAL 9000.” (Full article)

Good article! Really clarifies Wolfram Alpha (esp. as it relates to the “vs Google” topic)! I must agree with the author though, even though the concept is quite cool, at times.. it is quite useless in what it “knows”.

God blessed us with the ability to laugh, so it’s only right that I focus on that ability in a TFTW. Hope you enjoy..!

When Forest Gump died, he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said, "Welcome, Forest. We've heard a lot about you." He continued, "Unfortunately, it's getting pretty crowded up here and we find that we now have to give people an entrance examination before we let them in."

"Okay," said Forest. "I hope it's not too hard. I've already been through a test. My momma used to say, 'Life is like a final exam. It's hard.' "
"Yes, Forest, I know. But this test is only three questions. Here they are."
    1) Which two days of the week begin with the letter 'T'?"
    2) How many seconds are in a year?
    3) What is God's first name?
"Well, sir," said Forest, "The first one is easy. Which two days of the week begin with the letter 'T'? Today and Tomorrow."
St. Peter looked surprised and said, "Well, that wasn't the answer I was looking for, but you have a point. I give you credit for that answer."

"The next question," said Forest, "How many seconds are in a year? Twelve."
"Twelve?" said St. Peter, surprised and confused.
"Yes, sir. January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd .."
St. Peter interrupted him. "I see what you mean. I'll have to give you credit for that one, too."

"And the last question," said Forest, "What is God's first name? It's Andy."
"Andy?" said St. Peter, in shock. "How did you come up with 'Andy'?"
"I learned it in church. We used to sing about it." Forest broke into song, "Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am His own."

St. Peter opened the gate to heaven and said, "Run, Forest, Run!"

Have a great week!

As I read through the first few chapters of Acts this morning and saw the works of the apostles and disciples, I could not help but wonder about myself and my passion, and/or purpose in this world. This pondering also reminded me of the ‘lukewarm’ feeling that has come over me lately regarding my Christian walk. By ‘lukewarm’, I simply mean that at times my Christian life seems to be made up of just going through the paces – I don’t feel “on fire” for Christ, nor do I feel as if I neglect Him completely. For example, my days almost always goes like this: pray when I wake up; do a devotion from Our Daily Bread; during the day if/when I’m faced with problems I pause and ask God for help/guidance; in times of success or relief, I’m sure to thank Him for His aid; then, before I go to bed, I kneel and pray. On Sundays, I spice things up a bit and head off to church, read my Bible a bit more, and – as you well know – do the TFTW.

I’m sure many of you can empathize with the set of daily tasks mentioned above, but is this all Christianity is about? Is this all we were put here to do? Just go through the paces? Surely not, we must have a bigger purpose or, if I dare say, passion! Regarding the word ‘lukewarm’ highlighted above, Jesus speaks strongly against it in Revelations, i.e. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” Rev 3:15-16. In reading the notes given in my study Bible for this passage, it states, “Avoid lukewarmness; stir up your zeal for the Lord.” To put it plainly, we must be “on fire” for Christ in some regard. Whether that be evangelism, prayer, teaching, administrators, etc. – all of which are identified as valid members of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27-28). All of which are important!

To believe in God, there is an implicit belief that we were put here for a purpose. We all have personal mandates to fulfil. Do you know yours? Are you working towards it? I think Christ will be very interested to hear about it on that Judgement day, which is coming very soon.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight, our Lord and our Redeemer. Amen!

Just a quote to ponder this week:

“The devil is content to let us profess Christianity as long as we do not practice it.” (ODB)

Think about it.

Analyst Opinion - It’s been two-and-a-half years since Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. At the time, the 18-month-old online video sensation was struggling to figure out how to convert its immense popularity into sustainable revenue. It’s still struggling. Which begs the question: Will Google’s patience eventually wear out? Full Story

I wonder this daily. Here’s a well-presented and reasoned article on that topic.

Today whilst in Church, I gazed outside briefly at some passers-by. Some seemed to be busily rushing to get somewhere, whilst others were taking their time and enjoying the great weather today (for once it’s actually sunny!). As I saw them, I remembered a question that had captivated my mind a few weeks back regarding people in general, but specifically our loved ones. The question was; If we go to heaven, and some of our loved ones don’t, how will we feel in heaven? Will it have any impact on our joy? Imagine you’re there, but a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, a close friend, a wife, or even a husband, isn’t. Will this affect us at all once through the Pearly Gates? Should it?

I don’t know how I would feel then, but based on my thinking right now, I’d surely like to know that they are all in heaven! So, what can I do about it? Well, evangelize! Tell them about the gospel, speak to them about Jesus! Great! Job done! .. With some people however, this is easier said than done. And of course, just telling them isn’t the real goal, it’s for them to believe for themselves.

I remember sometime ago conversing with a colleague about Jesus, His sacrifice, our salvation, etc, and, to this day I can call to mind their response, “you came to Christ and your belief in your time, I will do it in mine”. You know what? That’s exactly true. As much as it may hurt you as the believer trying to ‘convert’ someone (especially not knowing how long either of us have alive), you can talk all you want, but they have to make that conscious decision or, ‘no dice’ as they say. But, thankfully, all is not lost. Actually, we’re quite within our limits!

Our duty as believers is to spread the word, whether by mouth, or by actions – Mark 16:15 reads, “And He [Jesus] said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’”. Frankly put, I don’t think it is our responsibility to convert people. As much as we would like to, we simply can’t. I can send out these TFTWs ‘till the cows come home, and you could chose to ignore every single one. But one day, if you’re actively looking, searching to find real purpose in your life, God may open your eyes, and let one TFTW, speak directly to your heart. Conversion is God’s job. Knowing this, instead of being disheartened by the fact that all is not in our hands, let’s be comforted in the fact that God is in control, and let’s continue to do our part by spreading the word. I’m very sure, God is good for His part!

Remember Paul’s words.. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Cor 3:6-7)

Have a great week ladies and gents!

This article surely puts spam into context..

A study into spam has blamed it for the production of more than 33bn kilowatt-hours of energy every year, enough to power more than 2.4m homes.

The Carbon Footprint of e-mail Spam report estimated that 62 trillion spam emails are sent globally every year.

This amounted to emissions of more than 17 million tons of CO2, the research by climate consultants ICF International and anti-virus firm McAfee found. (Full story)

wow..

First let start off by wishing you all a Happy Easter! What a glorious day!

Around this time of the year, especially on Good Friday itself, I try to watch a movie centred on the ‘Passion of Christ’ theme. This extends a tradition practiced in my household for many years during my quickly abating ‘youth’. (I’m sure many of you would empathize - with watching The Passion, I mean!) As I watched The Passion (Mel Gibson’s adaptation) this time around, even though I squirmed and twitched at how Jesus was ‘butchered’, I could not help but wonder about the range of titanic decisions made (by Pontius Pilate, Judas and the chief priests), and the motivations behind these choices.

Starting chronologically..

Taking Judas for example, he was one of the first 12. Can you imagine being one of the FIRST 12? Sitting with Jesus, preaching Jesus’ word alongside him, being sent out by Jesus in the flesh? That is quite.. ‘wow’ to me. But yet, Judas chose to betray Jesus, and deliver him to the chief priests (we covered the 30 coins last week). I’ve been reading a bit on this and scholars have attributed greed purely for Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Quite frankly however, this scares me. Why? Because at times, we all can be greedy. No matter how holy we are, how many times a day we pray, how often we fast, or how many church services a week we attend. And, who knows what’s the real, long term cost of some of our greedy actions.

Considering the chief priests, I think they just could not accept that the Messiah could come in the form of a humble carpenter from Nazareth. They desired more splendour, and more glory. Therefore, they chose to ignore all the signs of Jesus’ majesty, His good works, and His teachings, and chose to have Him crucified as a blasphemer. I’m sure Jesus didn’t gain any points in their eyes when He spoke regarding them either, for e.g. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” (Matt 23:14). But now, once again, I wonder. When you think of the coming of the Son of Man, don’t you think of splendour and glory? Unimaginable splendour and glory? If your resident plumber (suddenly) claimed that He was Jesus at the Second Coming, what would your response be? (Not the greatest example but I’m sure you get my point.) In general, these really were some big decisions and in some regards decisions we shouldn’t overlook as being straight forward.

I would go on to Pontius, but you know what he chose to do, so I’ll [spare you the recap.

Generally, these three choices helped to shape our faith. We may condemn, or look down on these people, and maybe rightly so. However, let’s just make sure we see their choices, learn from them, and make the right choices when its our turn to make our big decisions, or simply in everything we do. Remember Paul.. “For to me, to live is Christ, ..” (Phil 1:21)

Have a blessed week knowing that Christ is Risen! The battle is won!

Live in Europe? Then this is definitely something you should be reading..

“07/04/2009 - Under the terms of new legislation from the European Union, internet service providers now have to retain details of all online communications.

According to the Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009, information relating to emails and internet telephone calls need to be retained for up to a year by ISPs.

Details to be stored include information of websites people have attempted to visit, the caller and recipient of internet telephone calls and information surrounding emails such as the sender, recipient, date and time.

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said: 'I don't think people are aware of the implications of this move. It means that everything we do online or on the phone will be known to the authorities.

'They are using this to produce probably the world's most comprehensive surveillance system.'

Police authorities, security bodies and local councils will be allowed to access the data by request to assist them with the investigation of crimes and counter-terrorism projects.” Source, BBC full article.

Big.. Brother...

Thirty silver coins (Matt 26:14-16). That was the price Judas Iscariot was paid to betray Jesus. That was the price put on Jesus’ head. To put this into context for you and me, I thought it would be interesting to check a few sites online to attain a rough value of how much 30 silver coins is worth today. Thus far, I’ve been presented with answers ranging from $240 USD (Wikipedia-assuming they were Tyrian shekels), to a month’s wages (Yahoo! Answers-assuming they were denarii). Since, the latter answer is higher, let’s be conservative and go with that one.

A month’s wages. That is the value that was placed on Jesus Christ back then.

Here’s a question, what is the value put on Jesus now? Or better yet, what is the value YOU have attributed to Christ today? We may not be offering Him up for crucifixion for a month’s wages, BUT in our actions, and our life, can a comparable meagre value be seen to have been placed on our Lord?

Is He viewed as the guy we meet on Saturday/Sunday, but by Wednesday, forget? Is He the one that will let us do as we wish for all our lives and then forgive us at Heaven’s gates? Is He the one we cry out to in tough times, “God why me”, and when showered with His blessings we forget He exists?

Or is He the one that demands that “'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment” (Matt 22:37-38). And also, don’t forget, loving and valuing our Lord goes beyond just Him, it also extends to all others: (1) “..And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'” (Matt 22:39); and (2) “'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me'” (Mat 25:31-40).

Remember, in your life, in every aspect of it, especially your actions, you show what Jesus means to you.

Have a great week.

Ah, life’s problems, issues, difficulties, trying situations.. There are so many of them! At work, school, or even when trying to relax, or go on a vacation. Even if we don’t have direct problems, sometimes it’s almost as we relish in the desire to worry, to think “what if”, to compare ourselves to more “fortunate”. I wonder, do we really want to be happy, and content? Anyway, this week’s TFTW is a simple cartoon picture. It illustrates that no matter what we have weighing us down, Jesus is always there offering to help us. Regardless of what it is, He is there. Our problems were not meant for us to carry alone (if at all!). Our bodies and minds are to frail.. heart attacks, strokes, and cases of depression clearly exemplify this fact.

Therefore during this week I beg you to remember these words.. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7.

Have a great week, and I beg you.. remember this verse when those problems, issues, difficulties and trying situations hit you this week.

I got this email a few weeks back, and I enjoyed it, I hope it will bring some joy and insight to your life as well.

The Healing Power of Laughter

One of the greatest stress relievers God has given us is laughter. It not only makes us feel better, but it actually releases healing throughout our system. When we laugh, it restores and rejuvenates what the pressures of life have taken out.

Proverbs 17:22 puts it like this, "A happy heart is like a good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing." Notice, when we're good-natured and full of joy, taking time to laugh and play, it's like taking a good medicine. That's what helps us to stay healthy. People that laugh regularly are 40% less likely to have a heart attack than people that don't laugh regularly. Laughter triggers the right side of the brain, which helps release creativity and helps us to make better decisions.

There is too much sickness in our world today. Much of it is related to sadness. It's directly related to the fact that we don't smile enough. We live uptight and stressed out.

But even during trials and hard times, God says to us, "I've got a solution. In difficulties, cheer up. In famine, laugh. Keep your joy." You can laugh your way to victory, to better health and to more energy.

God knows the end of the story. He knows the final outcome. The good news is you and I win. God always causes us to triumph. We should have a spring in our step, a smile on our face, joy in our hearts and unshakeable faith. God's plan for our lives is for good and He has the answer to our every question. Knowing this, we can laugh at the days ahead! (attributed to Joel Osteen)

More laughter people.. it has a very worthy purpose! Laugh Laugh Laugh!

Yep. I heard it was on the news about a week ago, but I’m now feeling the pinch of it. YouTube has cut U.K. viewing of TONS of music videos. More often than not when I visit youtube now, I get a “This video is not available in your country.” message. Well, that’s unless I’m playing some hidden, obscure copy of The Kooks, The Streets, Kate Nash or some other UK-based artist. If you want to know more about this, check out the excerpt below and the full story, if you’re really keen.

Google-owned video-sharing site YouTube is silencing music videos in the U.K. after negotiations with the country's Performing Right Society (PRS for Music), which collects licensing fees for artists and labels, failed.

"Our previous license from PRS for Music has expired, and we've been unable so far to come to an agreement to renew it on terms that are economically sustainable for us," a statement from YouTube read. "There are two obstacles in these negotiations: prohibitive licensing fees and lack of transparency. We value the creativity of musicians and songwriters and have worked hard with rights-holders to generate significant online revenue for them and to respect copyright. But PRS is now asking us to pay many, many times more for our license than before." (Full story) (or BBC article)

.. ah well. There goes a number of my playlists.

"Life is hard, and then you die", these are the words that I have been constantly tempted to confess over the last few weeks. It seems like every time things look as if they could go my way, a HUGE roadblock emerges that makes my life, just, plain HARD! Last Friday was the straw.. no wait, the last 200-ton brick, that broke the camels back. While attempting to get a necessary (and arduous) task done over the last few days, I made a silly mistake, which ended up costing me time, money, and "peace of mind". I prayed beforehand for things to go fine, after things flopped, I asked God all day that things would get better, but in my opinion things got progressively worse. And unfortunately, there will likely be setbacks from my mistake. At that time, what else could I scream but, "Life is hard, and then (..after a few years..) you die!"?

Some of you may comment, "But Jason, you write these TFTWs every week, and you have even commented on issues such as this before and highlighted options to help during these times; why didn't you call them to mind when in the scenario on Friday?" My reply? I tried. I tried very hard, but with barely any sight of light at the end of the tunnel, I simply lost it. I got frustrated, and lost it.

After explaining my situation to a friend on that same day, I got a text reply saying, "Just remember this. God is always in control. Whether situations go the way we want or not. He is in control." Guess what.. For some reason, this really helped. It proved an eye-opener, and I immediately started to think, well, then, there must be some purpose for my troubles, maybe a lesson to be learnt? The timing wasn't right? (God's time IS perfect!) Or maybe it is to teach me that when I'm faced with constant pain, instead of throwing my hands in the air and shouting, "Life is hard, and then you die", I should confess, "I have tried to do things right, however things have not worked out, but Lord, with your help, I'll try again!"

When we're faced with problems, or sticky situations, even when we think we've perfectly done "our part", or "all we can do", let's remember Bible verses like this.."but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:3-5) Yes.. there is purpose to our struggles and tribulations. Let's remember this well.

May we all have a great week, regardless of what is thrown at us!

It gets worse...

A psychologist is urging people to get off Facebook and other social networking sites, and get a life instead. Skip related content

Dr Aric Sigman says the amount of time we spend with each other has slumped dramatically and in turn is damaging our health.

He says our devotion to such sites could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, and the function of arteries, and influence mental performance.

Levels of hormones such as the "cuddle chemical" oxytocin, which promotes bonding, altered according to whether people were in close contact or not. (Full Story)

hmph!

I knew it!

People's health could be harmed by social networking sites because they reduce levels of face-to-face contact, an expert claims.

Dr Aric Sigman says websites such as Facebook set out to enrich social lives, but end up keeping people apart.

Dr Sigman makes his warning in Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology.

A lack of "real" social networking, involving personal interaction, may have biological effects, he suggests.

He also says that evidence suggests that a lack of face-to-face networking could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance.

This, he claims, could increase the risk of health problems as serious as cancer, strokes, heart disease, and dementia.

Full story here..

If you remember, a month ago I posted about a job dubbed the "Best Job in the World". It was for an 'island-sitter' post for 12 months, with a salary of £70,000. Well, the deadline for applications has passed and a reported 18,000 people from nearly 200 countries have applied for the post! In fact, the competition is so strong that, "Potential applicants have sent out press releases, sourced their own media coverage and established websites dedicated to their applications" (Ref). Well, what can I say but 'may the best'.. person win! (Full story here)

I'm well aware that in the hustles and bustles of life, we often forget a number of simple things that glorify God. Below therefore, I've slightly modified an email I received, to outline some "Daily Rules from God". They are quite short, but still rather critical to all our daily lives.

1. Wake Up. Decide to have a good day. "Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24

2. Dress Up. The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7

3. Shut Up. Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3

4. Stand Up... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10

5. Look Up... To the Lord.
"I can do EVERYTHING through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

6. Reach Up... For something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:5-6

7. Lift Up... Your Prayers.
"Do not worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING." Philippians 4:6

Wake up, dress up, shut up, stand up, look up, reach up, and Lift up.

Good day,

Researchers believe that the ability to understand and share the feelings of others is at least partly innate and built into our bodies at birth.

While upbringing and the environment can modify our behaviour, scientists believe that in extreme cases the gene or lack of it could play a key role in conditions such as autism where the ability to empathise is often non-existent.

The study by a team from the University of Wisconsin and Oregon Health and Science University, showed that friendly and gregarious individuals tended also to have the gene. (Full story)

Gotta love research..

Sometimes when you think you're guessing, your brain may actually know better.

After conducting some unique memory and recognition tests, while also recording subjects' brain waves, scientists conclude that some gut feelings are not just guesswork after all. Rather, we access memories we aren't even aware we have. (Full Story)

Nice read.

This week's TFTW is a simple photo. I wrote the words in the snow today, and I had the idea that this pic may be used as a desktop background (it's 1600x1200) for all of you who are interested.

I hope you enjoy!

This morning as I was walking home from my Sunday church service at Uni, I passed by a poster on one of the walls that read,

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." - Jesus in Luke 14:26

Warwick Atheists

These posters in general aren't unusual, but it's interesting every now and then to pause for a moment and have a read. In this particular poster, because they bolded and enlarged the font of the word "hate", I guess their aim was to make this passage seem like a rather nasty one. After all, Jesus, encouraging to hate one's father and mother, wife and children?

Fortunately, we don't have to worry too much about this passage, and view it out of context as done above, because we are fully aware of Jesus' two new commandments, i.e. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39.

In special response to their poster however, my trusty study Bible [New Spirit Filled Life Bible] had a few comments on that passage, that are of great importance. It notes "A disciple must subordinate all earthly relationships to loyalty to Christ. Jesus' remark is an example of Hebrew hyperbole to emphasize the subject being discussed. To hate one's family is therefore not a command or statement of face but a way of expressing the importance of allegiance to Him." .. let that sink in for a second or two..

Now, let's briefly consider the word "hyperbole". You being intelligent folks know what it means, but let's look it up in Oxford Dictionary anyway.. Ah! Found it! (I adore the Internet; oed.com!) It states, "A figure of speech consisting in exaggerated or extravagant statement, used to express strong feeling or produce a strong impression, and not intended to be understood literally" (Oxford). Hmm, need we continue? Especially noting that Jesus did so commonly speak in parables?

As stated in the comments section of my Bible (shown above), the aim of this passage is to express the importance of allegiance to Jesus. Jesus is not telling you to hate your parents, or friends and love Him instead! If that were the case, why would the Lord (i) have a commandment about honouring your parents? i.e. Exodus 20:12, or (ii) in the New Testament command that we love our neighbour as ourselves? i.e. Matthew 22:39. In this passage our Lord is speaking to the importance of following Him, being totally committed to Him, and allowing Him to work His purpose for our lives.

If you ever come across one of these posters, or any comments similar, which attempt to somewhat distort what you know to be true about Christ, take a moment to let it sink it, ask Christ to guide your response. He may ask you to respond to the poster/comment, or He may direct you to your Bible for further analysis of the topic. Listen for His guidance and allow Him to work through you!

Have a great week all!

Here's an informative little slide show on which part of your brain does what.

"My Comforter, my All in All, Here in the love of Christ I stand" - In Christ Alone hymn!

These photos are simply exquisite. A must see!

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/us_world/Inauguration_Day.html

Today's the day...

Peace, mercy, justice.

The world needs works of mercy and justice:

- 750 million people go to bed hungry each night
- 2.1 billion people live on less than £1 a day

.. not works of war and destruction:

- World military spending for 2007 was £680 billion - that is £102 for each person in the world
- 26 million people were forced to leave their homes as a result of conflict in 2007

Jesus said, "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; ... For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48.

Somewhere along the line, we all lost the plot. I beg you to light your candle for peace; peace in your life, and peace especially in war-torn areas where war, death, hatred overshadow Jesus's words, and any notions of peace, mercy, justice and love.

(Figures above sourced from a Pax Christi pamphlet.)

This week's article is very related to the one from last week. I cover this topic again because this week I had a very interesting conversation with a fellow Christian colleague in which the following question emerged, "How do I tell people about Christ, and about what they maybe should and should not be doing, when my life itself is far from perfect?" This is a good question because if you don't practice what you preach (in the general sense) how do you expect others to do take your words seriously? Hypocrisy I believe is the term!

Before answering this question, I must say that I reflected on my life, "am I perfect?" I asked myself. My reply? "No at all!" Then, I put forward my point to my colleague, "Well since I'm not perfect either, I guess I should stop my TFTWs (i.e. these weekly articles)! After all, how can I speak when I am a sinner?" Or maybe, let's go to the Bible, is it not Paul, one of the greatest evangelist that said, "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."? What if Paul, or any of the other evangelist had just given up because they knew they were prone to sin? Well, we would surely be lacking a few books of the Bible!

The point is that yes, we sin. But as was commented last week...

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

Beyond this, as I explained to my colleague, we must continuously work towards making ourselves better; evaluating our lives, seeing where we should be working on, and ACTIVELY working on these areas. One way to view it is that being a Christian is not an end in itself, it's more of a path we walk every second of everyday. Instead of not being able to talk to people because we ourselves are not perfect, lets (i) remember that no-one is perfect, (ii) take courage in the fact that we are working on our imperfections, and (iii) let the love and care we have for our friends, transcend our worries about being hypocritical in this regard.

Have a great week!

Want to see the crime levels where you live in UK? Check out this new service which provides online crime maps showing offences broken down by area. Just interested in a sample? The Metropolitan Police Service's crime map which covers London should prove quite interesting!

The following poem has probably been through millions of inboxes in its lifetime, but it thoroughly exemplifies my thoughts on being a Christian.. so I post it on the Internet once more below.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Being a Christian, is not easy. Because of our human nature we stumble and almost implicitly tend to do things contrary to what we should do. Often our hearts will convict us, and the Law (from the OT) condemn us, but in those times, let's remember that somewhere out there, in our grasps, is God's good grace through his son Jesus Christ.

I wish you the greatest of things in 2009. May the good Lord keep you.

Check this out...

Images from the same spot through one year. Audio captured at the same place.

Coool..

It's that time of the year again, when we start to have tons of "<input your term of choice> of the 2008" articles. To start us off, here's a link for the 2008 Pictures of the Year: People's choice (Pixcetera). My favs are 1/49 Chilean Volcano, 2/49 Mexico City, 38/49 Stilt fishing (this is amazing), and 43/49 Lightning off Lebanon.

One by one, my friends seem to be hanging up their boots (or high heels) and entering in to the marriage realm. "Tying the knot" seems to have somehow infiltrated its way into my generation! Rather appropriately therefore, a few weeks ago, a friend directed me to an article called Who Should I Marry? This article takes a Christian perspective (with references to the Bible) on the subject, and even though some of its points you may find debatable, it provides excellent food for thought on this very important matter. Some of the questions it seeks to address are: Should I marry at all? Must a marry a Christian? And, So who is a believer?

As some of you may be close to taking the plunge, or even just considering entering a relationship, I suggest a peek at this article, it may just help answer some critical questions.

Have a great week!

I'm sure most of us have heard the "being doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:21-25), but do you remember the passage in the next chapter which focuses on having faith, without works? Well, take a quick read below..

"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of  you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it  it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ... You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." - James 2:14-26

I find this part of Scripture profound because it emphasizes that faith in God is NOT enough; good works (or actions) must proceed from that faith. An interesting, yet scary analogy that is used is that even demons believe in one God (thus have faith), therefore if you just have faith (without works), what makes you different from demons!

Works, actions, doing, these activities together with faith are the key. You can be a hearer, and believer, but being a doer is a critical justification of our faith. James ends by stating, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also". This coming week let's concentrate on putting our faith and belief in our Lord in action. This will surely make our Lord smile.

One of the main reasons I use YouTube is for the playlists feature. I set up a number of playlists and depending on what I'm doing, I find one, click "Play All", and I'm sorted for the next hour. Well, actually, sometimes I'm NOT good for the next hour. Why? Because as videos are removed from YouTube for what ever reason, the playlist stops at those videos. I can understand this, after all the videos are no longer there, however for AGES I've wondered as to why YouTube, or rather GooTube just doesn't SKIP the removed videos and continue the playlist. After all, this is Google we're dealing with, I'm sure we all now expect the highest of standards and coolness!

Well my friends, today is that day! I'm pleased to announce that I've just seen the following message at the top of the web page with a pick background "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by a third party. Skipped to the next available video."

Woopie!! Ah, back to seamless music streaming. :-D

This week at Mass, I received a rather intriguing notice/reminder of Christian core values, and the likely prerequisites to entering the "Pearly Gates" come Judgement day. The reading supporting these core values is taken from Matthew 25:31-46, but I focus mainly on 33-40 below.

And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

From this passage I can see how an astute person might quickly conclude that one can get to heaven by just practicing these actions, as opposed to following the typical rule-base for heaven, I.e. religion, faith, or belief. Actually, my study Bible (New Spirit-Filled Life Bible-NKJV) has some notes on this scripture which also somewhat subscribe to this mindset. It states, "The return of the Lord will usher in a judgement, which will divide people. The judgement will be based on moral character, and the character is revealed by charitable deeds or the lack of them. Outward evidence demonstrates inner righteousness or unrighteousness."

Well, now, I'm a bit confused. If I am charitable, and maintain an upstanding, highly moral character, however don't explicitly subscribe to Christianity (for e.g. believing in the risen Christ), may I still go to heaven? Especially considering, for example the words of John 3:16 (which can be seen to stress belief in Christ)? Or, conversely, does brotherly love, which is so critical to our religion (God is Love, remember?), transcend these other precursors to entering the Pearly Gates? What about this.. Does a person's religious maturity and practices form the critical issue, or rather their innate care for their brothers, known or unknown?

This is a crucial issue in our religion, and therefore forms this week's food for thought.

Have a blessed week!

This week's article is an excerpt from "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I hope you enjoy.

"God's ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created your uniqueness, so he certainly doesn't want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.

God wants you to develop the kind of character described in the beatitudes of Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit, Paul's great chapter on love, and Peter's list of characteristics of an effective and productive life. Every time you forget that character is one of God's purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You'll wonder, "Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?" One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It's what enables us to grow. Remember, earth is not heaven!

Many Christians misinterpret Jesus' promise of the 'abundant life' to mean perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, full realization of your dreams, and instant relief from problems through faith and prayer. In a word, they expect the Christian life to be easy. They expect heaven on earth.

This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned or you will life in denial of reality.

Never forget that life is not about you! You exist for God's purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide heaven on earth when he's planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven."

I hope you found this excerpt of use, and that you'll remember it the next time you ask, "Why am I having such a difficult time?". Have a great week. :-)

Today, and in this coming week, I'd like us all to meditate on a few simple, but powerful lines of scripture. The Bible is so straight-forward in this regard, any commentary I make would only act to devalue its beautiful message.

Psalm 103:6-14 (New King James Version)

6 The LORD executes righteousness
         And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
         His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
         Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
         Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
         Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
         He remembers that we are dust.

Have a great week and God bless!

Sunday after Sunday, via the TFTWs, I try to send you some scripture-inspired articles for you to mull over during the coming week. Well, this week, instead of sticking to this one-way communication, I would like to mix things up a bit. I simply would like to know how you are, and how's life treating you. You can be as concise or verbose as you like.

I'm doing this especially because I've noted that the TFTW may be taking the dodgy path of a forward (email) i.e. something sent "just because". And, if you know me, you'd know that I don't particularly like forwards at all, particularly the seemingly Christian ones that sneakily try to guilt persons into spreading the word. I spread the word because I care, so once again I ask, how are you, and how's life treating you my friend?

Have a great week!

10 Social Networks and What They Say About the People Who Use Them - This is an excellent article, and from what I can tell, so so accurate!

It covers popular sites like Digg, Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Del.icio.us, and Myspace. Sites I'm sure that most of you guys subscribe to!

 

When things are good, we're protected, when things get rough, we're protected, when we think no-one else cares, He cares. We don't have to be the president, to be a VIP in His eyes! As Jesus said "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Matt 10:29-31).

Let's maintain faith and trust in God, He will never fail us. Have a great week!

This MSNBC post - Top 5 best video game quotes - is great! And just by the topic, I knew my guy below would HAVE to be included.

Duke Nukem ROCKS!!! This is probably the only game EVER, that I've managed to become somewhat addicted to! Anyway, out of those 5 games, I've played 3 - MK, Duke, Mario.

Good day! This week we focus on one, simple statement..

"For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required" Luke 12:48

This quote has pulled me through many a tough time and I know if you remember it, it will do the very same for you. To me it says, "Jason, you are greatly blessed, so be mindful that sometimes, much will be asked of you, in terms of patience, faith, hope, and/or strength, in varying aspects of your life." Therefore, when tough times come, I try to remember those great blessings that have been placed on me, and use them, and trust in God for things to be OK.

Have a great week all. :-)

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

I hope you enjoyed, and that you will take your candle and go light your world.

Recently on a visit to another city, I witnessed number of persons scattered about the main streets begging for money. At one point I passed by this gentleman, and noting his apparent ill-fortune, I decided that I simply must 'give'. As I headed back his way a few minutes later therefore, I fished in my pocket for a pound or two to make ready to deposit into his hat. As I got closer to where he was, surprisingly, up popped the guy, he put a beer can to his head, and then quickly walked away, leaving the few pence in his hat on the pavement. I really wasn't sure what to make of this i.e. whether the significance for me was in the consuming of beer, or in the small donations and hat left behind.

The point of me recapping this little story however is in neither of those two final observations. My reason for this story stems from us as Christians giving to others, freely and openly of whatever we have, even though, persons out there will be very willing to prey on the kindness of our hearts. I'm sure we all have read 1 John 3:16-20 at some stage but just to recap it states:

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

Now, please don't take this (i.e. giving) to the other extreme, but instead let's remember those out there in need, and how much brighter we could make someone's life by giving to them - of whatever we have, e.g. clothes, food, help, advice, or money - today.

Have a great week. :-)

Vint Cerf, the man who helped invent the system and one of the world's leading computer scientists, said that the web does not have enough unique codes that allow computers to communicate with each other.

He said that when the internet protocol (IP) addresses do run out, the connectivity of the internet will be damaged and some computers will not be able to go online. "This is like the internet running out of telephone numbers and with no new numbers, you can't have more subscribers," he said. Preparations had to be made now, he said, to switch addresses to a new system. 

When the internet was founded in 1977 there were 4.2 billion addresses available under the internet protocol version four (IPv4) system.

Each of the IPv4 addresses has a series of 32 binary numbers, but with the rapid expansion of broadband across the world, it is estimated that these addresses will run out by 2010.

A new system called IPv6 has been ready for a decade and is already used in Japan to connect thousands of earthquake sensors through a computer system that sends automatic alerts to television programmes and turns traffic lights red.

IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long and so provide a possible 340 trillion, trillion, trillion address space.  (Source)

I reiterate, the Internet is a monster.

In Britain, tea's definitely the way to go. Whether this is linked to the average temperature/weather, or the British natural taste for tea, I'm not quite sure. One of my mates even referred to it as "the answer to all your problems"!

Well in addition to drinking it purely for pleasure, I've found an article online from Reader's Digest that claims tea has many (23 to be exact) more uses! Of course, I'm not sure if all of these uses are true however, if they are, "wow"! These uses range from shining your mirrors and relieving tired eyes, to conditioning your hair and tenderizing tough meat! Read the full story - 23 Ways to Use Tea - I'm sure you'll be shocked at some of the uses!

Whilst taking the bus last week I overheard a rather thought-provoking conversation between a teenage girl and a bloke, likely in his twenties. At the point I got on the bus, they were discussing smoking, and the guy was commenting that he's fasting so he doesn't smoke before 7:30pm. The girl, being a smoker herself, was shocked at how harsh this was and inquired more about the guy's reason i.e. religion. When it was his turn to ask questions, he asked the girl, what religion she belonged to, and without much hesitation she replied, "Me? I don't have any. I'm just, .. normal".

For the remainder of the bus ride, her comments had me thinking about religion in general, and how un-normal and eccentric religious people really must be. After all, some of us believe that thousands of years ago God sent his only begotten son to earth to die for our sins. And that through that sacrificial death of one so perfect, we all would be forgiven (provided we repent and ask for that forgiveness of course!). Some of us even take it another step further and believe that things like adultery, fornication, idolatry, revelries, drunkenness, smoking and the like are sins, and can actually cause someone from inheriting the kingdom of God. "How crazy is that!" I thought to myself.

Well, I don't know about you, but I must confess, I'm one of those crazy ones, and to be frank, I love being un-normal. What about you? What side of the fence are you on?

Have a great week all. Love you!

As I suspected, photos from Women In Games (WIG) 2008 have been posted online at Flickr.. and as you can see from the photo below taken at the dinner at Warwick Castle, I was caught red.. or well.. blue handed, as an audience volunteer playing a tambourine along with industry icon Paulina Bozek (in the white) in the in-house  in-castle band.

Of course it was all in good fun, even though I must admit that sometimes I hadn't a clue what tune to play on the tambourine! Yes.. playing music was never one of my strong points.

Anyway, it was a great night out! (8)For Warwick and for glory!!(8)

Do you text whilst driving? This is especially for you to read...

Texting behind the wheel is more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol or cannabis, researchers said Thursday.

Research carried out on young drivers (aged 17-24) using a simulator found that reaction time slowed by 35% when they were writing or reading text messages while driving. In comparison, reaction time deteriorated by 21% for those under the influence of cannabis, and by 12% at the legal alcohol limit.

Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) -- which carried out the study for the RAC Foundation -- also found that steering control worsened by 91% for those who were distracted by texts, compared to 35% when cannabis was involved. ...

Nearly half of all drivers aged 18 to 24 in Britain admit to texting while driving, according to an earlier RAC poll of 3000 young drivers. (Full story)

Intriguing, and worrying findings..

Hi folks!

I apologise for not posting lately but I took a trip to Scotland with some friends, and only returned today. I hope to have pictures for you sometime in the near future including a full post on what touring we managed to get done.

Until then!

A few days ago, I had this overwhelming urge to document all the movies I've ever watched (I think I was trying to remember one and was totally lost :$). As a result, over the last couple days, I've been busy scouting sites and picking my brain to remember all the movies that have graced my eyes, and compile them into a nice little list.

If you're interested, you can check out that list here. Remember, it's a work-in-progress.

You would notice that it's on The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). I chose this as opposed to sites like Flixster mainly because IMDB just seems like IT when it comes to movies online. Also, they have an extensive, almost never-ending movie collection. I am yet to search and not find a title! What amazed me the most is that I found a title from 1938! Then again, that was staring Sir Robin of Locksley!

For some reason, I've never managed to get the native Vista weather gadget to work. I always get "service not unavailable" no matter what location I put in. Because of that I've downloaded and tried Met Office Weather gadget, and even though this works great, it does not give me an option to put in my exact location-I guess that clearly Leamington Spa, furthermore Coventry are not big enough for coverage.. ?

Anyway, today I report that I've found a great gadget that works lovely for weather. It is from Weather Underground and displays current temperature (F and C), the day's max and min, location, and also gives a nice pictorial representation of what it looks like outside (e.g. clouds, sunshine, etc).

I recommend you check it out! Also worth noting is that it doesn't seem to restricted to one country, thus far I've tried out UK, Barbados, Paris, USA and India.

Well, the Beijing Olympics has now (i.e. today) officially started and what an Olympics it intends to be! The official site states:

Program of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad - The Games will take place August 8-24, 2008, in Beijing. The Games will play host to the 28 summer sports currently on the Olympic program. Approximately 10,500 athletes are expected to participate in the Games, with around 20,000 accredited media bringing the Games to the world.

Out of all the sports, my favourite ones are diving, gymnastics, and water polo. I would watch these all day long!

Below there's one of the many photos of a Lego Sports City (apparently created by the The Hong Kong LEGO Users Group within 100 hrs), aimed at recreating the 2008 Olympic grounds.

As a past lego-maniac myself (I actually still have a box full of past 'projects', lol), I fully appreciate this Lego Sports City. Very cool and well done!

Anyway, let's all hope and pray that things go well this Olympics with regards to security, natural disasters and athletes doping up.

Along with the update to my blog, I've also updated the jasonnurse.com homepage - a snapshot of which is below.

The new links are:

1. Ph.D. Research - this links to my University of Warwick ePortfolio which gives a brief bio (mainly academics) and also outlines the area of research for my Ph.D.

2. Flickr - it was a hard decision, but I've finally abandoned the development of my own photo sharing web site and joined up with Flickr. In my opinion, Flickr is an excellent and very professional web site, and I'm glad to be one of its newest members.

3. Codeyard - the main purpose of this codeyard is to display some of the better projects I have worked on over the years, and in some cases to provide code for general public (but non-commercial) perusal/use. (Most of the stuff I'll try to put under some open source license.)

Bye bye old setup (see below)..

 

Hello, new setup!! (See current blog layout)

Ok ok.. so it's not that comprehensive.. but, I've been meaning to do this for ages and I'm glad I finally got the chance! Instead of having a photo of Barbados (even though the beaches really are picturesque), I thought it appropriate to have a photo of England - Royal Leamington Spa to be specific - as this is where I've spent the last year of my life.

So, please, leave a comment and tell me what you think. Which one looks better? Why? Is this one horrible? (You better not say that *grr) Let me know! :-)

As the writer correctly states, "If not for these shiny, happy inventions ... the past 25 years would've been a lot less fun"! Check out .. The New Classics: 25 Tech Innovations

My picks are the Gameboy (1989), Realistic Computer Generated characters (1991), Netscape Navigator (1994), Bullet time (1999), Body Motion Capture (1992), Amazon (1995), Polyphonic ringtones (1998) and last but not least YouTube (2005)! What are yours?

If you've ever spoken to me for any extended period of time, you would know that I love to mix in other languages in my speech. Other languages meaning French and Spanish! Well just now, I've stumbled across a rather worthwhile article listing 8 FREE online resources for learning languages. I must say that some of these are anything but extensive, but they provide a reasonable foundation. And, let's be honest, if you really want to learn a new language, you'll probably do a course!

So enjoy the article! I know I will. Adios amigos! Y, hasta la vista! Or.. En Francais; Au revoir, a bientot!

Even though a friend informed me that the trailer trumps the movie, because it was on my list of movies to watch for 2008 I decided to follow up on my post and watch Iron Man anyway.

My result? A wee bit too unbelievable. I think I would believe the Spiderman story, or even the Batman or Joker story of how they came to be, before I swallow the one purported in Iron Man. I must admit that I have no clue of if this is how he came to be in the comics, but regardless, I find it a little unbelievable. Being able to make an "Iron Man" prototype in a cave? Largely by yourself? That has a flame thrower? Probably I'm getting too old for this stuff to be accepted so easily!

Objectively however, it was an OK movie, but I would say one definitely for the teens or anyone who treasures any comic-gone-movie title from Marvel. In this right, I would give it 6/10.

Without a doubt, I can comment that I am introduced to a variety of new music mainly via my alarm on mornings. Some of the most notable of these in order of preference include: The Hoosiers - Cops and Robbers, Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars, Mika - Relax, Take It Easy and Scouting For Girls - Elvis Ain't Dead. These are all some great tracks.

My most recent tune, is "Jack Johnson - Better Together".. Below I've embedded a live performance of the song. I encourage you to listen to this track, I doubt you will be disappointed if you have good taste in music !

Tell me you didn't start singing along! (8)It's always better when we're togethherrrr(8)

PS. If you have not caught on already, I usually lay in bed for a WHILE after my alarm goes off, .. lol. Ah, the joys of being a student!

Ever so often, I do something a bit different, and this weekend in particular was pretty extraordinary. Saturday was spent mostly studying, but on Sunday I took a trip to Star City complex in Birmingham. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Star City is a entertainment complex with everything from arcades to cinemas. With that said, you can appreciate that the first thing I hit was the arcades!

My first target was putting my driving skills to the test in an arcade racing game - one of the PROPER ones - called 'The Fast and the Furious'. All-in-all I thought it was a.. good performance by me but, sadly, even though I did not take my foot off the gas, I somehow could only manage a 5th place! Ah well, I'll get them next time!

Apart from the racing and a few other miscellaneous machines, I also played two games of bowling. The photo inserted in this post is of the bowling alley, and yes, it is really that fluorescent colour! (The pins are still white though.) That was good fun, even though I'm yet to find my 'perfect ball/weight'.

Today I finished up the long weekend (Monday was a holiday in the England) with a movie (Ronin to be exact; I give it 6.9/10) and as would be expected, some work!

For years, video games have been blamed for turning kids into idle layabouts who only venture off the couch to fill up on potato chips and soda.

Nintendo Co Ltd now aims to shatter that image with a game that aims to get players off the couch and lead them to stretch, shake and sweat their way to a healthy life.

"Wii Fit," which arrives on U.S. store shelves on Monday, is expected to draw new customers to Nintendo's wildly popular Wii video game console. (Source)

Numerous online social networks, 24/7 delivery (from almost every place; pizza shops to supermarkets) and now in-house exercise games? It's no wonder some people don't leave home.

This week's TFTW is related specifically to a comment posted on my blog regarding sin and forgiveness, and the fact that 'the blood of Jesus Christ covers all sins, ... and all we gotta do is turn to Him and ask for forgiveness and move away from the sin' (Source). To best exemplify this point, I have chosen the graphic below..

I think this fits some of us - myself included - perfectly at times, but we must learn to try our best to focus on the scripture and move away from that sin. I urge you to meditate on this thought during this week.

Somewhat random and likely inaccurate, but blog-worthy nonetheless.

Online source of image.

Tell me, what was your church sermon about on Sunday? Or.. if you did not make it to church last weekend, what about the last time you went! What was that sermon about! Surely you can remember! I've heard a few people say the sermon is one of the main reasons they attend church; the sermon is really the "meat" of that early morning outing. Therefore again I ask, what was your last sermon about?

To be honest, I personally do not remember pass the Wednesday in the same week! And this is not something I am too proud of at all! Actually, at times I it concerns me greatly. Once or twice I must admit that I asked myself, "well Jason, what's the PURPOSE of going!" Luckily I came across the following story sometime subsequently and it fixed me right up! Check it out below! If you have seen it already, please just give it another look over, it really is worth that at least.

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

"I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.  But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them..

So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor.  It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now.  In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.  But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.

But I do know this...

They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.  If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.

Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

Point taken indeed! So, I emphasise, don't give up because you seem not to remember or because at times, it all seems in vain. Our minds are amazing things and you'll be surprised what they remember when you find yourself in certain testing or difficult situations.

Have a great week!

Ah, Barbados is truly a paradise. I dare you to guess the beach where I took this photo!

A few days ago whilst browsing the Web trying to locate where a quote (i.e. "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion") I had heard earlier that week had originated, I stumbled upon a rather fascinating blog post titled "19 Eponymous Laws Of Software Development".

In that blog post I found the aforementioned quote - also known as Parkinson’s Law or the law of bureaucracy - and a ton of other pretty snazzy entries (not all related to software development). I especially like: Postel’s Law, Pareto Principle, Hofstadter’s Law, Linus’s Law and Wirth’s law. It's a nice article, I suggest you check it out.

Nice quote..

"People often say that this or that person has not found himself. But the self is not something one finds. It is something that one creates."

Thomas Szasz

 

Can you portray it any better than that? Have a great week!

I did these two simple dishes a little while ago and forgot to post the photos.

Pasta with a meat gravy

Pasta with chicken korma

Nice and most importantly, as I'm a student - QUICK!

Our Daily Bread April 18 2008: "We should never get the idea that our sins are taken lightly by the Lord. But when we acknowledge our guilt with true repentance, God is ready to forgive because of what Jesus did on the cross. It's up to us to accept it."

As I read this I thought, "well this is a bit vague, what really is 'true repentance'?"

Well, let's see what Oxford says about the verb 'to repent'.. "feel or express sincere regret". Ok.. 'regret', that's slightly clearer. Merriam-Webster takes this a step further and states, "to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life". Wow, well that's straight to the point! But I think both definitions are required for a complete discussion of 'true repentance'.

Now, to analyse our findings. In Oxford's definition, we note To Feel or Express Sincere Regret. At its core, this simply means, to say sorry. To Confess your sin AS a sin, to God. Then, to Sincerely apologise for it. In sincerely saying sorry, I think this is where Merriam-Webster's definition comes into play and provides some key points in examining 'true repentance'.

Firstly, it stresses, to Turn From Sin. To be honest, this is much, much easier said than done. Even Paul stresses this point in his epistle to the Romans when he writes, "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice" (See Romans 7:13-25 NKJV). As descendants of Adam and Eve, humans, are considered by some as sinful by nature (See Psalms 51:5 but also this insightful discussion). Personally, I believe that If God had left us to our own devices, by now the Earth - as we know it - would be no more! But anyway, note: Turn From Sin i.e. Set your back to Sin i.e. Do not do Sin.

Next, Dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life. This is self-explanatory, but be careful of just viewing it just as a sentence. The meaning goes considerably deeper than any normal sentence. Dedicating oneself to the correction of one's life, in my opinion means, putting your all into not doing that Sin again. I remember in a Sunday School session a few years ago, Mr. Best, our teacher then, said that to repent meant to make a 180 degree turn. In essence, whatever it was, DO NOT go down that path again. Again, I myself confess that this is far from an easy task. But, this I believe perfectly exemplifies 'true repentance'.

In closing, I think from this brief discussion that we've highlighted some of the most important tenets of  'true repentance'. These are: To Confess your sin; To Sincerely Apologise for it; To Turn From Sin; and finally to Make a 180 degree turn and NOT go down that path again.

I hope you find this discussion somewhat enlightening and even if you see fit, to spread The Word. Have a great week!

Ah to live in a country where there is Winter! You are almost always guaranteed surprises like the one I photographed below.

A bench in front of my church	Victim of snow assault
Jephson Gardens	Jephson Gardens

This was the sight as I ventured outside a Sunday morning. (Quality in the original photos is poor - i.e. why they these thumbnails are not links - I'm still working on the new digital camera thing :$.)

You should remember Jephson Gardens from my previous post.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a musical production in London titled, "The Lord of The Rings" (yes, the best trilogy EVER 'Lord of the Rings'). Some of you folks close by would have definitely heard of it but for others (likely my Barbadian readership) check it out here.

To be honest, it was fantastic! The acting and stage design/arrangement were great, but the script was exceptionally admirable as it kept very close to the LOTR movie, and as I was told, certain parts of this epic's book. As for the singing, well, I'm not at all a Mary Poppins kind of guy, however, a couple songs were quite catchy, and I do admit to singing a chorus or so on the ride home! One thing that especially excited the crowd, was when out of NOWHERE, an Orc appeared in the audience! He.. or it.. got up-close-and-personal with some folks and, let's just say, some ladies were quite jumpy in the dark after that, lol.

All-in-all, it was surely an unforgettable experience, where... then again, I'll let the real experts comment on it!

The Theatre Royal Drury Lane has been transformed into Tolkien’s Middle-earth with an awe-inspiring, mystical set that creeps into the auditorium while friendly Hobbits and terrifying Orcs roam the aisles. Extraordinary special effects, unforgettable music and heartfelt performances transport you straight to the core of a fantastical universe and sweep you along on Frodo and Sam’s epic journey to destroy the Ring in the fiery depths of Mordor.

Breathtaking, enchanting, terrifying, and spectacular... this is The Lord of the Rings as you’ve never seen it before. (Ref)

It was.. THAT good!

If you are in the London district, I do suggest you make an outing of it. If you are further away, I encourage you to visit the web site and view/listen some of the Music, Video and Photos from this great production.

Since I posted a Top 10 listing for 2007 yesterday, today I figured that I would drag us back to the present i.e. 2008. Therefore, here's Yahoo!'s 10 Most-Anticipated movies for 2008. My picks are Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Wanted and The Dark Knight. I can't wait!

"50 Top 10 Lists of 2007" - This is definitely one of the best articles I have seen in a while. TIME, (in partnership with CNN) has published 50, Top 10 Lists of 2007. These span categories from news and entertainment to science and technology. At first glance some of the ones which peek my curiosity are listed below.

News: Top 10 News Stories, Top 10 Underreported Stories, Top 10 Religion Stories, Top 10 TIME.com Most Popular Stories
Arts & Entertainment: Top 10 Movies
Science: Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs, Top 10 Scientific Discoveries, Top 10 Natural Disasters
Business, Tech & Sports: Top 10 Gadgets, Top 10 Websites
Pop Culture: Top 10 Quotes, Top 10 Buzzwords, Top 10 TV Ads

I would brand this article a 'Must Read' for anyone!

"According to Provine, early laughter researcher William Fry found that it took ten minutes on his rowing machine to elevate his heart rate to the same level provided by a good belly laugh, a finding that may have millions of Americans rationalizing their way out of the gym and back to reruns of Friends or I Love Lucy." (Ref)

I've always heard about this, and the "it takes more muscles in your face to frown than it does to smile" thing [see here] but it's nice to finally see that there is some research behind it. All-in-all, a rather intriguing article, especially the "Whole Body Benefits" section.

Hey there. I hope you had a good week!

This week I'd like to talk about giving thanks.

Now I'm the type of person that before every meal I either say a prayer of thanks, or say thanks in some other fashion. I remember sometime ago as I was about to have lunch with someone, whom I had also had breakfast with earlier that day, as I lowered my head - for the second time in the day, they remarked, "you ALWAYS say a prayer before eating?!". I think I replied, "I try to".

You see, in my opinion, the thing about saying prayers or giving thanks before every meal (or even snack), is just simply to express real, sincere THANKS. 'Thanks' here is aimed at the person who prepared the food, but also to God for providing it. Every time I am about to eat a meal, I want God to know that I fully appreciate Him putting it there. I think it's little things like this that make our God smile.

Now, I must also warn you! One thing you should be wary of is letting these prayers and signs of thanks become just a mundane, meaningless task that you just do out of habit. This, I don't think will make God smile. One tip I suggest is to do it differently, "spice it up" if you wish, keep things fresh.

So next time you're about to bite into that tasty or tasteless ________, try to remember who deserves thanks for it being there for you to enjoy.

Have a great week!

Feeling a bit better folks! Hopefully I'll be fully operational soon!

By the way... It bemuses me how students in previous times did research without the Internet... The thought is actually quite scary!

For this week...

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 - Everything Has Its Time

"To everything there is a season,      
A time for every purpose under heaven:
      A time to be born,
And a time to die;
      A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
      A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
      A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
      A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
      A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
      A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
      A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
      A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
      A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
      A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
      A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
      A time to love,
And a time to hate;
      A time of war,
And a time of peace."

Remember..

To everything there is a season,      
A time for every purpose under heaven.

Have a blessed week!

Sorry folks, I'm a bit sick at the moment hence no blog posts.

Well, even though the ending of the movie was "leaked" to me (thanks to a certain female- M!!), it was still a largely enjoyable experience! This Drama, Thriller, Western Adaptation is likely one of the better movies I've watched in a while, a bit.. gory and senseless at times but, pretty alright.

One comment I must make though is that I think some scenes could have been expanded upon, to facilitate a more 'complete' story (eg. how the Llewelyn Moss met his end). BUTT, I fully appreciate why such was not done - and no, not because the movie was already scheduled to be ~2 hours long!

My take is that it's all in keeping with the title of the movie.. *here I pause to let you ponder*. If you take the title, "No County for Old Men" at face value, you'll see that it was not really about Llewelyn (hence why his .. 'departure' was not shown), or about the Chigurh (and the fact that he got away scot free). As the movie progresses you can see that Sherrif Ed Tom Bell is just struggling to fathom the crimes, killings, and generally 'the times'. Lastly, look at how the movie ended with "Old Man" Sherrif Bell's reflections on his dreams. *pause for effect* .. get me?

I suggest you watch the movie once more - if you've watched it previously, keeping my comments in mind, I'm sure it will be better the second time around.

Last year June, I reported on a commandment listing from the Vatican which highlighted a list of Ten Commandments for drivers. Well, the Vatican is at it again, but not for drivers this time, now it's more focused on sins in the societal context as you can see below.

"VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight.

The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils.

Asked what he believed were today's "new sins," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics.

"(Within bioethics) there are areas where we absolutely must denounce some violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments and genetic manipulation whose outcome is difficult to predict and control," he said.

The Vatican opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning.

Girotti, in an interview headlined "New Forms of Social Sin," also listed "ecological" offences as modern evils.

In recent months, Pope Benedict has made several strong appeals for the protection of the environment, saying issues such as climate change had become gravely important for the entire human race." (Ref)

Some of the other newly purported sins include: polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs (Ref).

These sins of course are to be added to the old (more personal) list of: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.

To be fair.. New times.. new sins..

This person's post is simply excellent, exquisite even! (And it's not just me that thinks so, it's got over 800 diggs!) Here's an excerpt..

"Recently, the blogosphere echoed that sentiment with news of “Facebook fatigue”.

1. In January, The Register started by saying “Whisper it, but numbers from web analytics outfit comScore have confirmed what the chatter in bars and cafes has been saying for months - people are, just, well, bored of social networks.” About Facebook, they added that “behaviour seems much the same; join, accumulate dozens of semi-friends, spy on a few exes for a bit, play some Scrabulous, get bored, then get on with your life, occasionally dropping in to respond to a message or see some photos that have been posted.”
2. A few weeks later, Techcrunch also looking at ComScore data said “The number of people who visit Facebook has been leveling off over the past few months in the U.S., and even dipped by about 800,000 individuals in January. (…) Maybe all that friend spam has something to do with the decline. Will the Facebook fatigue get worse, or is this just a temporary dip?”
3. Adding his grain of salt, Rory Cellan-Jones from the BBC added: “The general feeling is that the kids, with their minute attention spans, have already tired of the social networking site and moved on to something more hip and happening. I think the opposite is true - that Facebook’s new wave of older users have decided it is just not worth the bother and are now leaving it to the kids.”

..." (Ref)

Cellan-Jones' comments (above) grab my attention the most and you can check his full post titled, "Facebook - back to the kids?".

This entire FB thing has been quite amusing I must say! But I do wonder if Twitter is.. really the next "best thing since slice bread" to invest in. To be totally honest, I'm more interested in the comments made about FB that I am in the original author's comparison of it with Twitter.

Anyway, in a couple months we will see the outcome (personally, I doubt Twitter will reign, it's quite limited in functionality and prospective audience compared to MySpace, Hi5 and their current successor, FB).  Whatever the grand result.. I'm sure MILLIONS of you out there are can't wait to hop on this cyclic bandwagon whatever tomorrow's new thing will be! No offense meant of course.

A blast from the past!

As you'll see the video I've embedded above is not the real music video, but on the positive side, it does have the lyrics! Anyway, I also suggest you check out the real music video! Seeing the guys and noting the year it was done - probably around 1995 - definitely adds more feeling and passion to an already great song. Enjoy!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with ALL your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13.

I can add nothing to this scripture to make it more perfect or pertinent. Therefore, I'd just ask you to take a few minutes out of your busy day and meditate on these words and their meaning, their implications for your life.

Have a blessed week!

I love photos, they tell exciting stories and capture a moment in time forever. Here are a few photos that a writer says, "Changed the world".

Just a few songs I like..

The Hoosiers - Worried About Ray

Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music

Kate Nash - Foundations

Basshunter - Now You're Gone

Blue October - Into the Ocean

(These links were all working at the time of this post but we all know how that goes. :\)

After seeing the poster I did guess that this was another "Scary movie"-like film and therefore, really should have avoided it! However, I am such an avid fan of 300, I simply HAD to watch its parody in Meet the Spartans.

But, as with the two Scary Movie films I watched (1 and 2), it left me totally disappointed. Rather than making me laugh, a great deal of it just seemed offensive and poorly done - also come on! A dance off?? A "yo momma" competition?? (n)!

In general, the movie mostly relied on vulgarity, especially "strong language", and anything that seemed even remotely "funny" to the writers/directors/producers.

But, to be honest, I did not expect much.. either from the movie itself, or from the 13 great Spartan warriors Spartans who set out to defend their homeland against the invading Persians (whose ranks include Ghost Rider, Rocky Balboa, and a hunchbacked Paris).

Rating: 3/10. The plot gave it that high score.

For this week I'd like you to approach life and all its challenges with the following attitude:

I can't, but GOD can.

Have a great week and tell me how it goes! Also, I'm sorry this post is late - ideally it would have been done on Sunday - but I was a bit busy but I also could not find anything that appealed to me soo much that I could share it with you. Finally, I thank Jamel for bringing this lovely quote to my attention, :-)!

Take care and God bless.

Cooking Experiment #3..

In the pot	Pre-oven shot
Straight out of the oven!	Ah Fini!

Enough said!

Well I had more ingredients left over from Experiment #1, so I figured, why not have another go! This time however, I took the opportunity to use a different 'main', as you'll see from the snapshots below. I think this one is a wee bit more traditional Stir-fry.

  

And how did I do? In my opinion and the opinion of a friend who dinned with me, it was quite nice! The only hitch I encountered was that I think I overcooked the noodles slightly! To be honest, I lost track of them whilst watching the veggies! Next time I'll keep a better eye and maybe a lower stove!

By the way, thanks for your help S! It was much appreciated!

Now! That's quite enough for Stir-fry! What next! Any suggestions for something to tackle? Then again.. I think I have an idea ..

"Jason, at least on Sundays, you should have a proper, filling, cooked meal!" These the words often uttered to me by my beloved parents. So being the nice son I am.. this Sunday I decided to go all out! I popped into the local Tescos and came up with the brilliant idea to make my first official Cooking Experiment/Masterpiece a stir-fry! And well.. the rest,  as they say, is History! Below are two photos of the finished product.

Stir-fry in wok	Stir-fry close up

And yes, it did taste pretty good, it even shocked me at first! Hey, anyone willing to guess the (main) ingredients?

Don't be fooled by "Doubt"! We're under God's promise! :-) Have a great day!

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner.

As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes" But

Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."

Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help" She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer.

He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Thought for the day and every day thereafter?

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done... and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is...You need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.

He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.

Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today. Share this with a friend and always remember:
God is at the window!

When Jesus died on the cross; he was thinking of you!

(That was excellent. Thanks J!)

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

So thank you all for that, and I also thank the other people for their best wishes on my "big" day. :-)

(By the way, does T.G.I. Friday's in Barbados serve this? And is it - i.e. the portions - comparable? It would be interesting to find out.. Anyone know?)

Well, today is certainly a milestone of sorts for me! (And NO, I AM NOT 50! :\) Anyways, happy birthday old chap! Thank God He's let me reach another year. ! Wait.. surely we can't have a birthday without the song! *eh hem*..

Ok.. that was not very .. "manly" but it was the best vid I could find!! (Thanks Grey Worldwide!) Ways, have a good day all! And I hope the weekend is great as well!

There is a reason Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it" (Mark 10:15). Check the clip below.

A real tear-jerker..  Have a blessed day! (Thanks for the tip M!)

I hope you got the message.. Enjoy your week!! :-)

I think these four lines are quite suitable for all those who need a bit of encouragement and direction right now.

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who built it,
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain." Psalm 127:1.

Have a great day and remember, try not to worry or to get overly anxious about whatever situation you are faced with even as daunting as it may look. Because, "When we trust the power of God, we experience PEACE not panic".!

I received this as part of an email and even though I found it slighly harsh, I think it's definitely worth sharing.

"God whispers in your soul and speaks to your mind. Sometimes when you don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at you.

It's your choice: Listen to the whisper, or wait for the brick."

Enjoy your week!!

Well, I'm back in my flat and it's back to Uni from today so can you guess what's the first surprise I get? Peek at the image below.

Snow? Sweet! *rolls eyes* lol! Enjoy your day and God bless!

If you are like me, you can't count the number of times your mother has told you that reading in dim light will ruin your eyesight. Or, probably you're one of the gents that was advised to shave his 'little strands of beard' to enable them to regrow faster and coarser than ever! Well, if you fit into any two of those categories or generally want to have an insightful read, check out the following "medical myth" list.

* Need to drink eight glasses of water (daily?)
* Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
* Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser
* Eating turkey makes you drowsy
* We use only 10 percent of our brains
* Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
* Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals

Check out the full article on Yahoo! to understand why these common beliefs appear to be nothing more than popular myths.

This is a rather interesting article I found on Christian site Crosswalk.com, especially for guys (note though that it is written by a woman). Gals, you can feel free to refute any of the claims! Check it out: 9 Lies Men Tell Themselves About Women!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

"Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he as no one to help him up.

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

We can go a lot further together than we can go alone... :-)

I Keep Six Honest Serving Men

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small-
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes-
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

by
Rudyard Kipling

Really nice poem eh? Believe it or not I came across it in an Enterprise Security text book!

"God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road." - Isak Dinesen

Today Friday 2nd November, culminates Switch it Off week, and we in Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire are asked to switch off all our appliances normally left on standby, between the hours of 4:30pm and 6:30pm – the period when we use most electricity every day.

I found the following quote rather compelling so I'll do what I can to switch off my gadgets and the appliances in my flat as well. (Probably turn everything off just before I leave home and stay in the library a bit longer.)

If everyone in Warwickshire, Coventry and Worcestershire stopped leaving appliances on stand by in their homes, in one year it would save more than £20 million pounds.  It would also prevent over 86 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide (one of the main causes of climate change) being emitted into the atmosphere through wasted electricity. (Source)

Serious business eh?

O help us, Lord, to heed Your Word,
Its precepts to obey,
And give us strength to quench the urge
To do things our own way. - Sper

Obedience is faith in action!

The key to getting a PhD is maybe 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration, combined with a liberal sprinkling of reflection...

Yes, to get a PhD you need to be bright, you need ideas and you need to do good research. But more than anything else you need persistence. You need to commit yourself to getting up and doing it again today.   ...

This gift of reflection, noting our actions and learning from them is one of the real characteristics of true intelligence, birds do it, bees do it and yet so often we fail to do it. It's so much easier to avoid reflection, to avoid action - and yet these are the keys to true success, in life, in business, in a PhD. (Source)

Really inspirational stuff.. I suppose one could apply this to other courses and even to life. For me though, I doubt that 10%-90% would do it, God is crucial to my, and one could even say, all of our success.

On the side: Hey Matt and Kat! I figure you're the only two other phd students reading this! So I hope you find it useful!!

One thing about researching, especially pondering over books and stats - you can find the most interesting of things! See quote below.

"Blogs have become a part of mainstream online culture. ... Bloggers tend to be male, young, broadband users, Internet veterans, wealthy, and educated." (Laudon & Traver, 2007, p. 408)

Hmm.. let's assess.. me. Male? Tick! Young? Tick! Broadband? Tick! Net Vet? Tick! Wealthy? I wouldn't say so. Educated? Am I? .. HMM! 4/6, not too bad a generalisation at all!

What do YOU think?

One year ago today I joined the Blogosphere. To be completely honest, it has really been a fun experience, and at times - believe it or not - even exciting! I thank you all who read my blog and I look forward to your continued subscription in the future. Especially since I'm scheduled to be in England for some time to come.

Take care! And thanks again.

T-1 day people .. woah!

From Saturday 22 September I've been crazzzyy busy and from what I can tell it will only get worse in the next couple days. On the up side of things, it has been a pretty enjoyable time (except for work–that's just been frustrating)! I hope to have some photos soon and when I do, I'll post'em and let you see what fun stuff I've been up to!

In helping me through these busy days, organisation is simply KEY! If you're faced with some busy days, I recommend this article - Five Tips for Getting Organised - that I peeked at to help keep everything under control/organised. Enjoy!

Here's a rather thought-provoking article I got in my feeds this morning - Top 10 Qualities to Look For in a Wife. Guys, I definitely suggest you read it, even though... to be honest, some parts sound rather utopian. Gals? Well... take a gander, this may just be the package most guys are looking for in you.

For me, I've already bookmarked it for later (like.. wayyyy later) reference.

Everyone that knows Jason Nurse, would know that I spend .. well, that I'm at my computer a lot. When I'm here it's either for work, chat or miscellaneous personal projects. Lately though, I've made the decision to look more into gaming. Interestingly there are only two games that have ever caught my eye, namely Duke Nukem 3D (pc) and Crash Bandicoot (playstation).. so straight away you can see I have very unusual appetite.

Anyways, in this pursuit of some good games I downloaded what has been dubbed the "crystal meth" of online gaming - World of Warcraft (see picture). So far it's been pretty captivating.. the graphics are Excellent, game play is smooth and it being an online multi-player game that boasts 9 million members worldwide isn't a bad thing at all! (Ref) The only problems I've had so far are that: (1) I think there could be a bit more .. direction to the game, instead of leaving new users to roam or hope they find a friend in the game who's willing to give tips (trust me, you can roam FOR HOURS, there's that much 'scenery'!) and (2) to continue playing it's about $14.99 USD per MONTH (Ref).. That's correct, $14.99 USD. That one definitely broke the camel's back for me and I'm back looking for another game.

Another game that was suggested to me was Half Life 2. I've just finished downloading that one so as soon as possible I'll give it go and let you know what I think. For now, see ya later!

What's all this about Peace Day you ask? Well, to explain I've including an excerpt from http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org .

"What: The International Day of Peace provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of Peace on a shared date. Use the International Day of Peace annually to highlight the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001 to 2010.

Established by a United Nations resolution in 1981, the International Day of Peace was first celebrated September 1982.

When: Annually, 21 September - The International Day of Peace

Where: Wherever you are.

Who: You and all who care about building Cultures of Peace for the children of this and future generations.

Why: To mark our individual and collective progress toward building Cultures of Peace, and serve as a reminder of our permanent commitment to Peace, above all interests and differences of any kind. " (Ref)

Now that you know what it's about, I'm sure you'll appreciate it's cause! Next step? Head over to Peace One Day and Make a Commitment and Spread the word! I'm spreading the word by using an IM display picture (the one I've included in this post) and I think I'll email a past.. friend just to say hi.

Enjoy the day and remember the focus is Peace. If you'd like, please leave a comment with what you're going to do today in the name of Peace.

After about two weeks offline, finally my blog has been restored! Partially anyway.. Sad to say, I've lost quite a few posts (and comments), actually, all of the ones from September and some from the end of August. Cool? Hardly! However, it really, was my fault but a lesson well learnt.

Since the blog was down, I actually was playing the harlot with quite a few of the other highly regarded blogging tools. I signed up for Wordpress and Blogger and downloaded ASP.NET 2-powered, BlogEngine.NET. Besides those, I was actually thinking about using a blogging tool I had developed myself as a little learning project-sadly it really isn't up to par.

After testing all of those options, I decided to return to the proven solution in DasBlog and just in time as well, to catch the new version 2.0, which has been fully migrated to .NET 2.0. Truthfully, DasBlog's a great blogging tool and even though I played around with the others, I don't think I would have ever left it completely. The allowance for the creation of new themes (GUI) PLUS the fact that it's open source (c# tho ) permits and encourages me to tweek as much as I want!!

Along the lines of tweeking, one of my main task now that I have the blog operational again will be to try to create macros or 'gadgets' for it. I've seen some pretty cool stuff that Wordpress and Blogger have implemented under the name of "widgets" so I'll be looking to create something like that to probably enable news, or del.icio.us favourites, etc to be shown on the blog.

For now, I bid you adieu and I will see you soon!!

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Eureka!!! I've done it!! It took me until.. *jason checks the clock* 2:17am but I'm finish! Don't bother asking what.. hopefully I'll have it ready to show you all tomorrow.. but now.. TO Sleep!!! For some well-deserved rest!

INSIGHT

Inherent within the human heart is a longing for peace, love, and joy. Among Christians and non-Christians alike, the desire is the same. Yet peace, love, and joy do not answer just any beck and call. They will come only by certain means; they are fruits on the tree of wisdom. Wisdom will bring length of days (v. 2), peace (v. 2), favor with God and man (v. 4), strength to your bones (v. 8), honor (v. 16), pleasantness (v. 17), paths of peace (v. 17), confidence in life (v. 26), and freedom from the snares of life (v. 26). Foolishness brings harm (v. 29), oppression (v. 31), and shame (v. 35). We all long for the benefits of wisdom. We must remember that she comes with a price: submission to the will of God and the truth of Scripture.

Source: Quiet Walk - August 3, 2007.

Here's a commercial that cracks me up every single time!! Everything about it is just hilarious!

Father: "You dance like an idiot", Daughter: "But he make my heart feel good"! Lol! LOL!! Hope you enjoyed!!

Well, I'm back from my sabbatical! And back safely, thank you Lord!

For those of you who didn't know, I took a trip to the land of many waters, aka Guyana. Sad to say it was mostly a business trip, so I don't have that many pictures to share. The few I have shown below are pictures of random streets (the first row) and the Guyana sea wall (the second row).

I especially like the one on the bottom left, that was a really nice photo, all the conditions were great! In that photo to the left, that's the Atlantic Ocean.. The sea wall is significant because since Guyana's coastline is just below sea level, there is the constant threat of the Atlantic Ocean swamping the place. The Dutch are credited for erecting the sea defense system (sea wall), extending for most of the coastline. (Ref) 

As usual, if you'd like a copy of the photos, let me know and I'll hook you up, . Bye for now!

Not 100% sure but I may be "offline" for this week. I expect to have pictures to show you why! :-)

I leave you with this snippet about my favourite TV show - 24:

The United States will have a female president next year -- on the Fox TV series "24."

Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones will play President Allison Taylor when the show about the exploits of counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) returns in January for its seventh season, the network announced Sunday. (Source)

And also this Photos of the Week from Yahoo! and Week in Review (Oct 29 - Nov 4 2004) from the washingtonpost.com.

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. [Not sure about that]

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! [I dare not spell-check this post though.. lol]

Humans are amazing creatures indeed. Got to thank our Creator for that one! Thanks for the mail M!

"Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully."

1 Peter 5:7

Have a great day!

Transformers. After getting two great reviews for this "old school" legend of a pic, I made my way to the box office this weekend to catch it for myself. Arg.. what can I say? It was.. good but, to me, not THAT GOOD (I liked.. Die Hard 4.0 more).

The story line was cool, and what I probably liked the most was that the Transformers were just like they were in the "old days".. just some fun-loving, crazy machines. The bullet-time action was More than welcome though!! The cinema went crazyy!!

I give it a 7/10. ESPECIALLY considering the first part with Bumblebee playing some VERY APPROPRIATE (music) selections and also fun quotes like, "It's a robot, like a super advanced robot, it's probably Japanese"! lol!

"Do you have a really bad memory, or past heartache, that you would prefer to forget?

Researchers at Harvard and McGill University (in Montreal) are working on an amnesia drug that blocks or deletes bad memories. The technique seems to allow psychiatrists to disrupt the biochemical pathways that allow a memory to be recalled." (Live Science)

Wow! That would be sommeethiinng wouldn't it! Being rid of all those bad memories that seem to stick in your mind no matter what. I can definitely think of a couple I'd like to DEL. One interesting thing about this story is that they have already tested it on humans and had somewhat positive results... It will be fascinating to see how this all goes!

Ah Monday, the beginning of another week! To be quite frank, I'm somewhat glad to see the weekend go! It was a tooth short of a totally disappointing weekend! Everything I had planned to do, failed to "come off" and in some situations even backfired! Interestingly as well.. that was going to be my busiest weekend in a while! Had Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon & the evening planned.

Alas! Nothing happened (except Sunday evening) and I'm left to assume it was all for the best.

On the bright side of things, I got to resume my affair with Ubuntu and familiarise myself once again with the cool Beryl packages and generally, Linux's shell commands. Speaking about shell commands though, the techies of you who're familiar with Linux should definitely check out this video. In essence it demos a Text-Based YouTube Video Player for Linux. Thanks for the link Ramal!

Here are some interesting reads...

First, all of us have heard about it and I'm guessing about 70% of my friends have probably used it.. but really, how does Bluetooth work? This article is sure to give you a good idea.

Maintaining a 'good diet' is no longer only a female thing, us guys have recognised that it is a requirement either to keep healthy or .. to help get the body that interests the females, . lol, Anyway! Here's an article that speaks to 3 common Diet Myths. I found #3 especially interesting... and worrying.. as I really had no clue! I.. was living a dream it seems.

This article from PC World was out for a month or so however, it displays some reallly good 'products', so just in the event that you missed it, here's the link!

My favourite 8 of the 100 Best products are: Google Apps (docs, spreadsheets); Canonical Ubuntu 7.04 (free OS with standard word processing, spreadsheet, email clients anyone? - did I mention that software is free too?); Google Gmail (I like the free POP forwarding the most); Google YouTube (my tube anyone?); Mozilla Firefox 2 (no need to have a genuine copy of Windows to run this baby! - [like with IE7]); Skype 3 (sweet for calling out of Barbados, not calling in!); Yahoo Flickr (great quality! Excellent photos are on here, if I didn't have my own photo site, I would definitely consider this); and Microsoft Office 2007 (it's pretty. ).

Richie Spice - The world is a cycle

(8)In everything you do, remember to pray, a prayer-a-day chase the devil away(8) !!

Just found a pretty "interesting" article on Yahoo! Tech titled Most Common Passwords. I REALLY think you should check it out as even I, a "renowned techie" (ha!), have used one or two of these passwords in the 'past'.

Some of the most common ones to me are:
1. password
2. 123456
3. jason

The benefit of course is that the are all sooo easy to remember which means almost instant access with little "scratching of the head". Hmm.. shoot.. now that I've shared these with you I'm going to have to do some quick password changing!! Probably I'll try.. password with two 'p's this time.

For those of you that are interested in making your password more secure, check out Password Makeover and How to Pick a Genuinely Secure Password. The main reason I've suggested those Yahoo! articles is that comments are allowed and therefore you can get pretty useful feedback from the 'general population'. Enjoy!!

I recognised that lately I have not been showing youtube much love so, here's a nice video which I've dubbed, "Tune of the week" - The Bee Gees - Night Fever.

That is the question!

Lately I'm hearing a lot of "loud noises" with respect to Facebook both from friends and from the tech-news community. If you know me, you know I'm rather skeptical about this online community thing but the attention Facebook has been getting has me rather curious! One thing I especially like is that it's a Login only thing, unlike Hi5 or LIKE '*Vibes';, so people have to have an account there to juST see your page.  

So.. in the light of all of this "loud noise", I'd like to know how much of you out there, if any, use Facebook. It'd be great if you replied to this post or drop me an email.. because.. the number of my friends on it will have some weight in the decision of me joining or not.

Check this link for some screen shots on the site interface for members.

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."

1 Timothy 4:1-5

I posted this passage especially because of an article a friend (thanks T!) directed me to in the EASY Magazine of last Sunday's Nation (May 27 pg 8 and 9) newspaper which spoke a bit on marriage. The article was titled, "Does living together [outside of marriage] ever really work?" and to respond, 3 (out of the 7 interviewed) - and notably 3 of the younger ones - made comments like, "I would live with someone, but I would never get married", "I'm not really into marriage. It's not worth it." and "I would not get married. Marriages today do not last very long, so what's the point?"

I think it's pretty sad that this is the view of some when it comes to marriage. Then again, I'm sure many think.."Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?". You know what I mean..  

So.. what do you think? Or is it just me.. :|

"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.

The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's. ...

Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces." (Ref)

Arg! This is just.. arg! Especially since my favourite fizzy drink is Cream Soda (contains E211)!!! I suggest you definitely take a look at this article though, anything that "switches off DNA" is no joke. For me .. I guess it's back to (the over-priced, 'all-natural') juices. Nothing like a good Bajan Cherry, Blackberry or Passion Fruit juice!

I just got back home from watching Pirates 3 and I... honestly didn't like it that much. It had it's good parts but.. overall, it was not as good as I expected. One of my biggest issues with it was the point that at times, it just seemed to disjointed. At one time you'd be at point X, then you'd jump to some other point (scene) and you'd be left saying, "huh.. does this follow on? .. ?!". Also.. the constant deceit by everyone (including the parrot!!) does not help much either!

Don't get me wrong though Jack Sparrow, oups, Captain Jack Sparrow did deliver his usual good performance, with all the laughs etc.. and the film does have an interesting twist with the boy Will Turner! But .. for some reason I was left wanting..

Counting all of this, I give Disney's "At World's End" a 6.9. This means that still, the best picture I have watched lately is 300. Shrek 3 is to debut next week so I'll see what that has to offer!

Wow! It's been ages since I posted! I'm really sorry about that but the last 2/3 days have been pretty hectic! And today I'm left with the task of catching up with all that I've missed i.e. reading tons of news, rss feeds, forum posts, emails.. fun oh fun! Add that with work and I've got another packed day.

Ways! Let's move on! Today is a big day.. why? Liverpool vs AC Milan in the Champions League final. *crowd goes wild*. AC will be looking for revenge and Pool will be looking to prove that their triumphant 2005 win was NOT a fluke. It will indeed be a battle! I believe that 2:45pm is the start time in Barbados, 7:45pm in the UK and 8:45pm in Greece (not 100% sure about Greece).

Of course.. I'll be backing you know who. REEEDDDDDDDDSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

During one of my "surf-the-web" breaks, I saw this photo and it shocked me and made me curious all at the same time. In my head I was thinking, "is this going to be us in the future?" I mean really, these days we spend hourrrsss at work glued to computer screens and some of us even go home and continue! Also.. last time I checked, we hardly burn any calories by just sitting on our bums all day long.

So.. what if one attempted to add some cardio in there and instead created a stand-up workstation (like in the photo) or even a cycling machine? Yea, at first, you're like.. "no way!" but think about its benefit to you.. Ideally for me, I wouldn't want to do it in a shirt and tie though! Probably in the future they'll relax how we dress as well?

The photo above was from Yahoo! but even today BBC have done an article titled "The nine-to-five treadmill" based on the same topic (exercising while you work).

I was reading an article titled "Why Google Is Making Us Dumber" a couple secs ago and I began to SERIOUSLY think about the truth in this.. The article suggests that because of us not having to remember thing such as web site addresses, capital cities or even conversion factors (because we can easily "google-it") that Google is making us Dumber.

Really, I don't agree with the suggestion that it's making people Dumb(er), but what I do agree with is that it moves a good set of "need to remember" for some of us. Actually, it probably removes some "need to think" too! For example, yesterday I was helping out someone with some code and instead of writing the code myself, I simply "googled-it", showed the person and cited the source. Why re-invent the wheel.. you know? ... 

Anyway, check out the article and let me know what you think. Or at least.. If you don't think Google is making you Dumb(er)... Do you agree it removes the "need to remember/think"?

Iraq.. May 11th: "The bombings at the bridges, which cross the Diyala River, a Tigris tributary, killed 23 people, including 11 police and 12 civilians, and wounded 57 others, including 26 police, police said." (FoxNews); May 13th: "A homicide truck bomber crashed the offices of a Kurdish political party in northern Iraq and detonated his explosives on Sunday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 60..." (FoxNews); Today: "BAGHDAD - Gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint, and mortar rounds struck an outdoor market, killing eight people..." .. "Two policemen and four civilians were wounded.." (Yahoo!)

Like about 70% of the world, I watched Part 1 and Part 2 and now it was time to catch Spiderman 3. Usually the flick starts around 6.30pm so, I can leave home around 6 and get in to see the movie within good time.. This Saturday however was unlike any other Saturday! Cars were backed up to get into the drive-in from soo far it was ridiculous! THEN when I finally got in, almost all the spots were gone! To be honest I was pretty frustrated however, what could I do? (I didn't feel like getting back my $ and leaving like I saw a couple other people do.)

Now.. the movie itself left much to be desired.. at times I found Peter way too cocky even before he got "infected" by the mysterious black guu. Fight scenes between himself and Venom were probably the most fun to watch. Especially since Venom is played by Topher Grace, aka Eric from one of my favourite TV shows, "That '70s Show". Overall, I give the movie a 6.5/10.. some other critics aren't so generous. Regardless of the critics thoughts OR mine though, "“Spider-Man 3,” smashed box-office records with $148 million in its first three days, according to studio estimates Sunday." (MSNBC.com) Crazy huh? Anyway I'm sure this is because: (a) it's a classic; (b) kids can watch; and (c) if you watched the first two, you can't help but watch part 3. Well.. hit up here for the official site and if you've watched it, drop me a comment, tell me what you thought!

Iraq.. May 6th: Car bombs cause 56 deaths in Iraq (FOXNews); May 7th: "Homicide Car Bombers Kill 20 Near Ramadi..", about 40 wounded.. (FOXNews)

I've got to take myself away
from all these things that's hurting me
I've got to make my life so free
seems you don't want nothing good for real

Really nice song... Take My Self Away (Greedy) - Sizzla.

For the last three or so days, I've been constantly jumping between XP and Ubuntu.. and now I'm starting to recognise why del.icio.us, online RSS aggregators and the "My " homepages have grown so much in popularity - no one (except me) only uses 1 pc!

Soo.. now that I've got two "PCs/OSs", I'm thinking that it's time to make serious use of My Mashup project. Therefore.. as soon as I can I'm going to rebuild it to allow easy addition of RSS feeds, bookmarks, interaction with web services and even some MOTDs/QOTDs if I find them!

Then again... I could always use Google homepage.... but really, what fun is that!

There're so many things I want to post about, I'm lost where to start! Topics range from 300 (which I watched this weekend) to the trials I've had while trying to get Ubuntu to work "for me".

Anyway, for this post I think 300 will take the floor (as you guessed from the topic!). This picture is G R E A T! On Saturday I got a chance to watch it and I was not disappointed at all. The action, the dialogue, the entire plot: (y)(y)! If you're considering this pic, I surely recommend it, I think it's even a contender for me to purchase the dvd! (.. lol, I just remembered when the Spartans fought the "immortals", lol, yea.. that name was really suiting.. lol!)

I'll leave you with a couple links: Official site (where you can get wallpapers, screensavers, photos, a synopsis of the movie & lastly, even preview the PSP game) and a Yahoo! site (for more photos). (Of course both these sites have trailers.) .. So now... to end this post fittingly...

Madness? ... THIS IS SPPPPPPARRRRRTTTTTAAAAAAA!!!!!!

It's 2.21am and I'm up working on some "good ole" asp.net and reading some pretty interesting articles on MSDN. Today I managed to learn some real good stuff mainly in the area of URL Re-writing in asp.net (without IIS configuration!! I might add!). That was some headache at times though, there are tons of people claiming to have "the right solution", but usually it just gives you PAIN attempting to make it work.

Fortunately for me, I found two solutions and I used one to tweek the other, and *presto*, it works! For some reason though, I don't think it's an ideal solution but, like I said - it works!

I'm tempted to blog on "my" solution now, but as I write my eyes are slowly closing and I'm making too many typos, so I'll leave that post to another time.

Right now, I'm going to head back to work, see if I get an issue resolved then it's off to sleep!

You can tell I had somewhat of a busy weekend as I haven't posted since Thursday! Whether it was football, TV, meetings, etc.. it all was pretty cool. Definitely different to my usual day-to-day schedule.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as well, but also, and more importantly that you remember WHY you had those 2 days (Good Friday and Easter Monday) off.

I'm a bit late in posting however, I think it's only fair to say "HAPPPY ANNIVERSARY" to this Blog!

Today's 6 months since I wrote my first post back on October 4th 2006. And.. by now you should be able to tell what I've done to "celebrate" it... yep! A new Blog Design (as you can see on the right)!

This one took me forever to come up with, I'm sure my Dad would attest to the tons of different designs and graphics I flipped through before I got here.

I can honestly say after all that "worK" playing with designs and graphics, I'm completely satisfied with this one. One of my main goals at first was coming up with a nice, lively header (you know, to liven up my sometimes boring posts! ).. Then after fiddling with some graphics, I remembered the photos of Barbados I took back in 2005.. and the one you see above kinda.. fit Perfectly in.. So I ran with that and.. well, *ta da*!

Anyway, as usual, I'd love to hear your comments, and once again, Happy Anni Blog!

The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called Failure, a loop called Confusion, speed bumps called Friends, red lights called Enemies, caution lights called Family. You will have flats called Jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination, an engine called Perseverance, insurance called Faith, a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called Success.

Thanks for the mail J!

Here are a couple movies I would like to watch sometime soon..

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	300
Wild Hogs	Shooter
Ghost Rider	Night at the Museum
Eragon	Children of Men
Babel

Yea.. I know, I heard about Eragon being a waste... and yes, I can't believe I haven't watched Night at the Museum yet either! Soon though.. soon! I wonder if DVD rentals are still around that rip off price of $5...

Hmm... this post is just to serve as a little note that "98.1 The One" seems to have given up their original site i.e. http://www.981theone.com/ for a spot that more falls under the CBC web site. So if you're like me and have the site there bookmarked, you'll probably want to replace it with this link.

Enjoy! This is especially for you Bajan folk studying overseas.

When I was a kid, one of my favourite cartoons was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I believe I watched all the movies and I also had a small collection of books on the mutant heros.. I'm sure at some time they won your hearts over too..

Well, guess what?! THey're back! And back big with a flick hitting the big screens on 23rd of this month! I urge you to check out the Official TMNT Warner Brothers site, view the trailer!

One thing about this site though, it is a perfect example of how powerful a tool Flash is on the web.. To see this site and how transitions are made, the sound effects, the entire design.. it's truly a work of art! Check it out for real peoples, you won't be disappointed!

These days.. everyone is on some network, myspace, hi5, wayn, facebook, msn live spaces wow.. It's amazing.. well then again, that's not right, everyone, except me..

Just at the beginning of this week one of my friends directed me to hi5 and told me just to look around a bit.. so under her advice, I did.. My response? I was shocked at the amount of Bajan groups set up!

There were groups for UWI students, "bajan massive", "bajan msn messenger ppl" etc etc. I think the search returned 208 hits when I searched for "Barbados groups". That's ... crazy...! There're even groups titled Rihanna and... I've found one called The Lodge School of Barbados (BIG UPS to the Lodge peeps!! ).

As I did some browsing, I saw a couple people I knew, mostly old friends or class mates.. either from The Lodge School or UWI.

Anyway, it's good they're on.. and I guess it helps people to keep in contact.. However, if it's so good, why am I not on it? Don't I want to keep in contact with old peeps or link with new people?.. I do. but I.. just haven't found a network I like or.. am really drawn to!.. (ChristianVibes came close though.)

As I browse hi5, every now and then I see some leud pictures.. and I'm really shocked as to what people put up on their sites! On one girl's site, she's on a bed laying down with a tiny shorts a sports bra as a top. Now I mean.. really? Generally, girls on it dress OK (from the little I've seen) but a good set just dress skimpy, I wonder what's their answer to the "Looking to" profile question. *hint *hint.

One other thing that disappoints me about these sites is the POOr POOr graphic design of them. I mean.. gez, it's down right ugly.. And OK, I know that everyone doesn't have an eye for design but it's not only me that thinks this way.. many other sites (1, 2) express this feeling about myspace and the like.

Anyway, enough ranting.. I'll join something sooner or later, but for now, I'm happy with the forums I'm registered with and my blog. Whatever I join though, it will be "top-of-the-line", . Stay tuned!

My PC seems to have some type of cancer thus I haven't been on MSN or blogging from Sunday. Right now it is undergoing heart and brain surgery, I hope to have it back up soon.

PS. I would've taken pictures... but... it's too gruesome to show online.. :\

Found this site while browsing..

Top Web Tools for College Students

Personally, of these I've only used Wikipedia but I can definitely see how the others could come in handy, whether you're a student here in Barbados or anywhere else in the world.

Hmm.. I think it's about time I gave Del.icio.us a twirl though.. This weekend!!

Over the last couple days I've had the opportunity of visiting another Caribbean island, namely Antigua (hence why my MSN nick was <nick>.ag as opposed to .bb) and even though it was a pretty OK trip, I'm glad to be back on "home soil". One thing I must say though, if ever you think that you've never experienced God's beautiful creation in this world, try viewing it from 21,000 ft above sea level! I kid you not!

As I was going up, and the plane was flying through the clouds it felt a bit.. scary at times, I mean these are the clouds I usually look up to!, and 20mins into the flight, I'm looking down at them casting their shadows on the ocean!

Barbados from that far up looks pretty populated in some parts, but in others just puuuree greenery. Sorry I don't have any pics to show but the camera was knackered.

Another interesting thing that hit me up there (or actually when we were descending) was that I was able to pick out a Banks logo on the roof of probably some "bar" located somewhere in Christ Church! Now I wonder... a logo on the roof.. this must be advertising targeted for airline passengers! I can't imagine many people will get to see the roof of that building in normal day-to-day transactions!

Anyway, sometimes seeing the world or.. at least where you live from soooo far up can put a perspective on things. That far up, you get a glimpse of "the bigger picture".. but also you say to yourself.. "Hmm.. if anything happens to this plane... it's curtains for me (especially when the plane shakes at times )".. but two things must come into play then.. 1. Your trust in God that everything will be how it should be, and 2. Your knowledge of being saved and thus, there being no worry about if you will be called home. Yes that's blunt but... that's how it is. Enjoy life people but remember, there is a "bigger picture".

Bless up ppl. :-)

Ah so, Thursday was my birthday and as is customary, I went to dinner! This time I tried out the Lukcy Horse Shoe. All in all the food was pretty ok, there was a refreshing live band as well so that kept the night interesting.

The highlight of the night however was the burger I ordered. For some reason I had to have the most expensive burger on the list... and that was the Hulk Burger, a 12oz choice ground chuck steak. My My My.. that... was... huge. The burger easily dwarfed the sesame bun, "no joke!". I tried to catch a picture of it, and that is what you see there to the right.

To finish off the night (btw, I didn't eat all of the burger, it was simply .. too much.. with that the fries, some wings, fishcakes, salad.. it just was too much), I had a Lucky Cocktail called a Three Wishes. It... wasn't all that great but it was sweet while it lasted. (You should note, of course I was NOT driving.)

All in all, a great night out! A good way to close out #24 celebrations.

I just had this chat with a friend on MSN, I thought it was a bit 'fun', or at the least, 'interesting'.. so I thought I'd post it. (OF course I got the person's permission first! I'm a 100% legit character you know!). Enjoy! ... I did!

Jason says: mate, I'm online so much
Jason says: I mean, is there another world out there? Really?
Jason says: *jason starts to refLect*
benedict says: lol, there is, but, I've heard that you can't block and delete ppl that bug u
Jason says: , blasphemy!
Jason says: so u have to.. co-exist?!
benedict says: yehhhhhh ... pretty much
Jason says: how... 'cave man'-ish
benedict says: and when people give you viruses ... a system scan doesn't help
Jason says: !!! What a scary place to live! Online may definitely be the place to be! At least if anything happens here I can go and buy new internals/peripherals! . Those poor poor real-world people!

Well today, some.. many.. many years ago, I was brought into this world. So far, I've fallen and gotten up many a time but I've continued the journey towards Life Everlasting... I hope to see you there too.

The Lord has brought us to another month. Give thanks!

Also.. as a lady friend of mine used to do.. "a *pinch* and a *punch* for the first of the month!"

Wait though... I've been told that this is the birthday month for me! I hope some nice things are in store...

It's not easy to keep up with the shorthand that accompanies today's fast-paced, youth-oriented electronic communication. In IM-speak (Instant Message talk) or text-message language, "laughing out loud" becomes "lol." "By the way" is "btw" And regrettably, some people use "omg" for "Oh, my God!"

This last phrase seems to be on the lips of many who receive startling news. But as Christians, we need to stop before we utter this or any other phrase that flippantly uses God's name.

In Matthew 6, when Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, the first thing He told them to say was this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name" (v.9). Clearly, God's name itself is special. It encompasses His nature, His teachings, and His moral authority. To speak the name of God is to call on the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

In every way possible, we should honor and protect God's holy name, preserving its use for those occasions when we are speaking of Him or addressing Him in faith.

Let's be careful never to turn the hallowed name of our awesome and mighty God into just another flippant phrase on our lips or in a text-message. - Dave Branon

(This was taken from: Our Daily Bread by RBC Ministries.. date: Sunday January 28.)

Well another weekend has arrived.. I think this one may be an active one!

On the agenda for me is some planning, some football (I hope), a movie or two - maybe cinema, I'd also like to catch any footie games I can and I think I'll taste a bit of the Bajan night life.

One thing I also plan to try to do is visit my cell phone service provider to get "the net" activated on my phone. I would have liked to get that done tonight but I lack transp. I believe the cost is 26c a day or so, which is about $8 a month... that's not too bad for the amount I plan to be using it. I just hope it gives reliable service! Or it will be coming out RATHER soon after.

Ways, its 6.30pm so let the weekend begin!

Life at times can be soo... sooo busy. And life without the Internet can be soo... sooo strange. bbs though folks!

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it"

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Just a little forward I got a while back, I hope you enjoyed it.

Well, I've never really been a fan of 24, but... after yesterday and today's season premiere shows.. I'm hooked at least for a while more!

The only krappy thing about it is the amount of ads they push.. but other than that the show's great! Action, suspense .. and don't think you're going to guess that ending!!! I thought I had gotten the ending for tonight's show, but when I saw that nuke explode.. wow, that was definitely a shocker for me..

Great show though Fox, great show, I'll try to remember to tune in next week! Monday it is? If I hadn't already missed 5 Seasons (5 x 24 = 120 episodes), I would consider watching them all to get "up-to-date".

Ways, see you next week Jack!

This is the day the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! You do too!

I found this nice thing on Happiness this morning and thought I'd share.

Ten Rules for Happier Living

1. Give something away. 2. Do a kindness. 3. Give thanks always. 4. Work with vim and vigor. 5. Visit the elderly and learn from their experience. 6. Look intently into the face of a baby and marvel. 7. Laugh often - it's life's lubricant. 8. Pray to know God's way. 9. Plan as though you will live forever - you will. 10. Live as though today is your last day on earth.

(By Richard De Haan)

Well, no posts either Saturday or Sunday, quite a shocker for me really..

For some reason, this weekend, I wasn't really "at my pc" as usual at all. I watched that disgusting Liverpool / Arsenal FA Cup game (Pool got beaten 3-1 at home.. frustrating!) here using an online TV. Then I got frustrated again with some CSS and AJAX, so I just retired to watch tele.

After tele was the 'now standard' Saturday LLP soccer, then after that more tele! Sunday was kinda the same but this time I didn't even touch my pc! That's the first time in monnthsss I haven't been on it. Instead I enjoyed some dvds and feel asleep after the LLP soccer to some episodes of CSI.

And now Monday morning has arrived, Christmas is officially over and "Happy New Year" is outdated! So have a blessed week everyone!

OH wait, I forgot to say; 'Congrats' to Billy Kincaid for winning the Best Rap / Hip-Hop Single Award at the Barbados Music Awards. Good show mate, good show!

Happy New Year! and God's richest blessings for 2007!

Oh and for the New Year, I just spent it pretty quiet. Went to church, came home watched a bit of tele, got a nap then went to watch the sunrise with a few mates.

Actually, as opposed to just talking about it, I'll do you one better, below I've included some of the photos I took... enjoy!
 

Much thanks to 'the driver'.

Tomorrow may never come, For you or me, Life is not promised

Sometimes I get discouraged I look around and, things are so weak People are so weak Sometimes, Sometimes I feel like crying Sometimes my heart gets heavy Sometimes I just want to leave and fly away (fly fly fly, like a dove) Sometimes I don't know what to do with myself (ow!) Passion takes over me I feel like a man Going insane Losing my brain

Trying to maintain Doing my thang Hey hey hey hey hey Put my heart and soul into this y'all I hope you feel me Where I am, to wherever you are (ha ha ha ha) Sometimes I don't want to be bothered Sometimes I just want a quiet life, with Me and my babies, me and my lady Sometimes I don't want to get into no war Sometimes I don't wanna be a soldier Sometimes I just wanna be a man, but...

My Umi said shine your light on the world, Shine your light for the world to see

Mos Def - Umi Says   ... Tune.... simply, tune.

Well, simply put, I'd say that Youtube is the place for videos (aka vids), whether you're looking for comedy, music vids, science + tech or even sports clips of the latest Liverpool game! So with all that considered and also because I'd like an easy way to keep track of the vids I like besides weighing down the load time of my blog, I've signed up!

So far I've already started working on various playlist and a huuugee favourites collection. But, I hear you ask, could this mean I'm going to start uploading vids as well? ... Wellll.. for some reason, I doubt it, for now I'll leave that to my pal Ramal! By my count, he's got 5 up already and its only been a month!

Now... I'm sure some of you mischievous persons would like to know what's the URL for my account, you know .. to have a peek at what videos I'm checking out.. Well, you'll have to guess because I'm not telling!

On Christmas Day, I did a Merry Christmas post, wishing all my readers the best for the season. In reply to that post a friend of mine posted the following comment:

"Actally Grandad, Christmas is a pagan holiday... and, Jesus probably hates you for celebrating it." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuS9_Cy9l3A

Well, now I've finally got time to reply to this comment and I decided it was best to put it as a new post as opposed to just adding another comment where people may overlook it.

Now first thing, Christmas is not a pagan holiday, CHRISTmas as I've been trying to highlight is a season in which we (as Christians) celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The confusion here seems to come about in Huey and others because Christmas is celebrated around (or possibly on, depending on which history book you read) the day(s) on which persons celebrated pagan holidays.

Another way people (and Huey) look at it is because Jesus could not have been born in the winter time, thus the entire celebration of Christ's birth is 'wrong'. This first part of this thinking is very very true as Huey shows. HOWEVER, as a Sunday school teacher pointed out to a group of kids lately, if my birthday is on a Tuesday however because of whatever reason, I decide to have a birthday party Saturday, am I not celebrating my birthday on Saturday? IE the day that is NOT my birthday? Come Come people, let's be real and logical.

What I've found based on my research about the date chosen to celebrate Jesus' birth is that "In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25." [1] [2]. See? So we celebrate it at a different time. Ok? ... Now that that's done. I would like to paste an excerpt from a web site that I stumbled across..

Origin of Christmas - What Really Matters?
The true origin of Christmas is filled with controversy and compromise... Christmas should be nothing more than a simple, yet wonderful reminder of Christ's humble beginning as a human child in this world. His birth merely set the stage for the power, glory, and salvation that would be revealed in His life, death, and resurrection! Whether it's December 25th, sometime in late September, or any other day of the year, we should use each and every opportunity to reflect on Jesus Christ and His message of hope for all of us. [3]

Well I just got back from Midnight Mass and I'd just like to officially say...

MMeeerrrrryyyyyyyyyyyy CCChrrrriissttttmassssssssss to all!

Have a blessed Christmas Season!

Ah.... Merry Christmas Eve! Just one more day now!

Well Liverpool just won 2-0 against Watford at Anfield so I'm pretty pleased by that. Other than that today looks like it'll be a pretty normal Saturday. Sad to say, the "football field" in my neighbourhood isn't quite 'up to scratch', so for the 100th Saturday, there will be no football in the LLP.

Speaking about that football field though, lately Do and I have been trying to get it into a better condition... to at least allow for some form of Christmas football. I want to take some pics and post, so I'll get on that asaP.

No movies this Saturday either for me, and interestingly, lately I've been hearing an increase in prices at the Olympus for the new year. I'll try to verify that and have more on my next posts. But for now... ta ta

Two of the best animated comedies I've ever watched are definitely Shrek 1 and 2. I mean Shrek is kix (kix = laughs), Donkey is kix, Puss-In-Boots is just class and from the time Princess put down that Matrix move in Shrek 1, she had my heart!

Well guess what folks, 3 years are (practically) gone since the last since the last Shrek which means its time for the final one! (Shrek 1 released in 2001, Shrek 2 in 2004) And now 'Shrek The Third' to be released in May 2007!

Ok, to the real point of this post, this morning I saw the trailer for Shrek the Third so I thought I'd post the link so you could check it out as well. So enjoy!

Ah, Christmas and Ole Yrs are soo close now... I wonder what people will be doing, I for one have no clue yet but I know a church service is in there somewhere, . Other than that thus far I've been invited to Baje.. and told "I had to go out" by another friend of mine.. We'll see!

Oh and I've just posted the 'what will you be doing' question on tech-barbados, so I'll be looking out for some responses to see what these Bajan folks will be up to.

Today as I was following the CL games on the net, I had a flashback to some of the times I've had during my undergrad studies. What am I talking about? It was those days when to "watch" CL football, I had to scamper into the nearest Computer Lab somewhere on the U.W.I. campus and "see" football via the IRC client I had saved on my drive.

If I think about it hard... I think the channel I used to hit up was #soccer, the guys in there were really great with the second-by-second commentary and of course some crazy fans that actually added to the 'atmosphere'. Ah... the good old days!

Now... I hardly use IRC even though of late I've seen some move by a couple dudes I know to revive the #sponger movement. (#sponger and #sponger2 by the way were 'great' bajan IRC channels 'back in the day' like 1999-2000ish.)

Footie: By the way!! Even Liverpool lost, so did PSV Eindhoven (Bordeaux trashed'em 3-1), so, Pool still top the group! Even though... It seems that a lot of big guns are coming 2nd in their respective groups... Barca (oh yes, Barca dealt with Werder Bremen sternly today as well - 2 - 0 to last year's champs), Inter, possibly Real... So, we'll have to wait and see what (2nd place team) awaits Pool in the next round.

It's 8.03pm, I'm late... however, I show my support for World AIDS Day by 'wearing' the red ribbon on this site.

 

 

 Celebrate life people. And remember, as I saw on a graphic online...

Ignorace = Fear,

Silence = Death.

How did that Buju Banton song go? "Raggamuffin don't be silly, Put some..."

For more information on today, check the official web site.

Monday morning thought...

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

Just got home watching the new 00 (BEFORE its official release date - 17th November - I might add! ) and it was... pretty nice. Casino Royale starring the new James Bond definitely was another classic Bond with M, some tough scenes, flashy car, near-death experiences etc. Two things that was left out though were 1) the lack of "cool gadgets"... that was a slight let down. Believe it or not, I think his car this time was only a car.. :\ no rocket launcher, no push-the-red-button-and-make-it-a-submarine, nothing.. And 2) I don't remember hearing the James Bond theme anywhere in the movie, even at the end... (I could be mistaken about the end as I left kinda quick.)

Ways, in general, I'd say an 8.5/10, even though James got his but kicked by that guy in the beginning scene. Then again, that guy was PRETTY HIGH-CLASS, he had the guys in the audience going wild (myself included)!

OH, and this is a Sony Production so I guess this makes up a bit for the Open Season and Zoom which I spoke about here.

For the trailer, you can check the official site.

Today for probably the first time since I got back from studying, I did some shopping! To be honest though, prices here a bit.. er... more than in at Tescos though! And yes, I did do the exchange rate conversion... it's what, $3.88 BDS to £1 GBP now? :\

Ways, on the bright side, I saw Rich Tea biscuits!!! I thought was an England only thing! Also, guess what Kat and Pano, I saw Noodles!!! 3mins too!! Aww, that brings back memories... sadly there were only chicken and shrimp flavours.. no beef or bacon.. *arG! Anyway... good memories..

Come with me to a third grade classroom....

There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet.

He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop, he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat."

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out.

All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk.

The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. "You've done enough, you klutz!"

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too."

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

 

Thanks for the forward N.

Sorrow Looks Back, Worry Looks Around, but faith... faith, looks up. (Got this from a forwarded email.)

Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

The Marine - 5.5/10 (although not "all that" when considering some parts of John Cena's acting..)

Gridiron Gang - 7.5/10 .. Touching stuff.. At first I didn't like it because it seemed a lot like Longest Yard, however, its a nice picture and also, is inspired by a true story. Between us... I almost shed a tear.. :\, but, that's JUST between us...

Ah great! I've completed the implementation of the change I mentioned in the previous post and also, did some basic testing and its running pretty well!

By now I hope you would've gathered that the change I made was in the layout and color scheme of the blog.. I played with the CSS and colors etc and found this to be a good mix of them all.

Well I hope you like the 'update' to the blog and it would be great to have some feedback (positive or negative, as is the case).

PS. I know there's an issue with this new layout and IE6 - issue being that the border lines around the posts sometimes disappear. I believe that this is the handy work of the IE6 'Peek-a-boo' bug... however, I don't think it's that big a problem to warrant the stress and hours needed to fix it, so... I've left it alone for now. Btw, good news, IE7 fixes that 'bug' and thus far is seeming more standards-compliant! Hopefully one day, I won't have to worry about creating a "beauty" in FF and then switching to IE and seeing a "beast" ! .. Here's to the future! *touches champagne glass

That's right! Its been one month since I made my first post!

I intend to do a little something special to celebrate so hopefully I get to incorporate it before the day is done.

PS. Thanks a lot to my readers (browser or RSS based), the support and comments have been pretty good and inspiring!

Does this picture remind you of yourself? Hum? Trying to fit in eating breakfast during your daily Internet ramblings? If it is, you're in bad bad shape.

For me its not looking good either, I finally got the courage to do the Internet Addiction Test and I scored a 52... and the Results box commented, "You are experiencing occasional or frequent problems because of the Internet. You should consider their full impact on your life." :\

Also, ... I think this blogging thing may be feeding my Internet addiction... *sniff, not good. I suggest you get tested too, probably we can start an IAA (Internet Addicts Anonymous) group or something... This is serious business people!!

Firstly, for those of you that don't know, I'm a Christian. Ya sike? Good. Now onto the posT...

Lately, I've received about 4 invites with the subject "Join me on christianvibes.com". These invites have come from persons whom I consider are pretty legit and serious about their faith. So I browsed to the site to see this thing for myself.

When I got there, it honestly looked like a good site, no banners, no ads and it even gives pictures of its members, WITHOUT one logging in or anything. BUT, with pictures and emails and all this other documentation it holds on its members, surely there must be some Privacy Policy link... Hmm.. I don't see one. BUT, probably one can check the About Us link to find out more about this place/site/online community... Hmm.. I don't see one.

Ok Ok, enough with the fluff, now to the meat of this post.

ChristianVibes is one of the online networking sites, belonging to a Jamaican-based company called Vibesnetwork (Ref). This fact in itself is cool, a regional company doing their thing, great! BUT the interesting thing to me comes about when I find out that Vibesnetwork also own another networking site called SmutVibes. Upon browsing to this site (please don't do it at work), you'll see at the bottom some links for porn sites. Yes, that's correct, Porn Sites. Also, if you were to just skim through the slide show they have there on the main site, you'll see some rather, .. "questionable" photos (aka people in the nude - partially or entirely). Remember, I haven't even logged in, this stuff is viewable by the public at large.

Now I ask, Christians, is this cool with you? Are you willing to subscribe with a site that is run by people who support porn etc. etc.? It's surely NOT OK with me. I'll be giving that one a miss.

Also, one may want to research BigChurch.com, another Christian network site, before you take the plunge there as well. ;It has been reported that that's owned by the Friendfinder Network, an organisation which also owns Adult Friendfinder (don't view this site at work). It also has been reported that they own another site called Out Personals (a gay site; don't view this at work either).

Now you see why we as Christians need to keep our eyes open, and do the necessary research instead of just joining anything that crosses our paths. Come on people, we will know them by their fruit, remember?

PS.1. I refused to put a link to SmutVibes or Adult Friendfinder on my site, browse to them yourself if you so desire.

PS.2. If this link is 100% accurate, that is a sad.. story.

PS.3. I'm glad I don't have Google AdSense on here yet, if ever. I can't imagine how much and what type of ads that content above with the word "porn" in it would put on my site. Hmm, to think of it, I guess that's a limiting factor of Adsense, ie you can only put stuff on your site which you want ads relating to. Never thought of that... Interesting. I'm sure GLAD I'm NOT constrained! (I'm not 100% sure that Google AdSense would bring back links on porn based on what I have in my content above, but, I think it would and I'm not up for taking that chance.)

PS.4. I hope I didn't come across too strong and offend you... it was not my intention, I just have very strong views on this topic.

Go to Google.com.

Search for: jason nurse

What do you see come up FIRST in the Results list?

!

And I did no registering, submitting a site, begging, writing threatening emails, nothing. Its all thanks to Google's sweet, efficient search technology.

Can you find me on Yahoo! ? or... Ask.com ? or... AltaVista? Nope, Nope, Nope. Why? Because I haven't yet gone through the tedious process of Suggesting/Submitting my site to their web crawlers.

You ask: Hmm, but, why should one have to suggest a site if it's a "web crawler"...? Shouldn't it just crawl the Web for the search term?

I reply: To consider it, it seems like, their web crawlers only crawl sites in their DB (of sites) and not sites directly on the Web itself.

You ask: But, that'd make it a "DB crawler" kinda wouldn't it...? 

I reply: No comment.

In Summary: This is why I use Google as my default engine for Web searching.

(PS. 1. No, Google has not sponsored this post; 2. I do not dislike Yahoo!, I actually like them a lot, they're the top portal on the Web! Just that their search technology isn't my cup-o-tea; 3. Ask.com - never used it; AltaVista - ... I like Babel Fish? ..)

Another Saturday night has arrived and this time the plan was to catch Departed and The Guardian. Like somethings in life however, that fell through (laziness on my part sad to say). As I sit here now though, watching the trailers of both these movies (Departed trailer, The Guardian trailer), I wonder though, was this a Saturday night lost, or one saved...

Departed, from the trailer, looks looks a bit complicated but with its star studded cast and seemingly interesting plot, may just be a good one. Plus, it has received pretty good reviews to back up that view. The Guardian however just... looks... 'not me' ie it's more of a Adventure/Drama flick as opposed to Action and Suspense (Yes. I AM A MALE ). Also, The Guardian hasn't received that good reviews either.

As a result of this... I'm not 100% sure if it's good I didn't go or what. In retrospect, I think my laziness got it right this time though. After last week, I still have the need for a good comedy. Probably next week something worthwhile will emerge... or, I'll have to go video store and get Madagascar and Over The Hedge!! Now that's some sweettt stuff right there!

One can also check Football:more than just a game. That is just beautiful. Enjoy.

PS. I'm trying out having MetaCafe videos on this blog (as you can see above). So I ask you to help me in this testing phase.. If this post (video mostly) takes a long time to load, just drop me a Comment letting me know please. Thanks.

PS #2. I thought that song that played to the video above was pretty good, my type of music (under the right conditions... *heh)!! Just in the event you share my taste, the song is 'Bushman - No One Else'.

Wow, this took a little while and one or two headaches but my first update to the web site is now complete! What's the update you ask?

Well, if you ever browsed to this blog via www.jasonnurse.com, you would have recognised the quote under my name... That's it!!!! ... Ok, you look puzzled so I'll explain.

Before, there was only one quote on that web page and no matter when you went to that page, you'd get that quote (kinda what us web savvy people call a static HTML page). Now, as opposed to that static system, what's happening is that a quote is being randomly selected from a set of quotes (which are stored in an XML file) and then, its being spit out onto the screen (with the XML content styling handled by XSL). Cool huh!

Last weekend, I decided to reunite myself with one of my favorite pastimes, watching movies. The lucky pictures that caught my eye this week were: a) the well publicized Open Season - animation - and; b) some flick called Zoom (where it came from, I have not a clue) but it stars Tim "the tool man" Taylor! aka Tim Allen. Both movies of which are from Sony Pictures. (One can see trailers for each at the sites mentioned above.)

To do a quick an dirty review (that is if the topic hasn't given it away already), both were (n)! I give Open Season 5/10 and Zoom 3/10.

I may be a bit cruel on Open Season because it did have its funny parts like the Scottish squirrels and the kung-fu trout, but I really thought it would've been better (ie funnier) as the cuts I saw alluded to (yes, those previews trick me every time!). And Zoom, oh my, I not even going there, when I saw it start, I said, well, at least there's Tim, but... even he couldn't save that.

Conclusion: Stay home and get kix from YouTube or MetaCafe, or get me to forward you some nice emails. PS, it's not only me that thinks Open Season was a -ve, check these big review sites, here and here. Also, as one would see from this page, Zoom not even rated by the critics! lol. I wonder why...

Just got a nice IM from SimplyDBee, reminding me how "cool" and accurate Google Earth can be. As a result, I took her lead and loaded the program and after about 2mins found my house (as one can see circled on the left - sky view & vertical layout).

Then it hit me, this will be excellent to give directions! So the next time some one wants to come by, they will be getting a screen shot! In the left there you can see my house with as good a quality as Google Earth currently supports.

If you're among the 10% of Internet users in the world without this prog, I suggest you get it, it's quite innovative and FREE.

20 SPAM emails a day! Needless to say, I am not pleased. What or who to attribute this to? Not 100% sure however, I have a sneeky feeling it's linked to the fact that some of my colleagues see it fit to give MY EMAIL ADDRESS to sites online that THEY decide to sign up to. Here, I'm mainly talking about these friend networks and community sites.

Honestly, and I mean no offense  whatsoever but I don't get this at all. If you (for eg) wish to be apart of these networks and decide to 'donate' your email addy, please please, ask me first before you donate/sell/contribute mine. Contrary to what seems popular believe, I do not like SPAM.

Well I blogged about it 3 days ago and now, it has come to pass... Search giant Google has bought video giant YouTube in 1.65 billion dollar stock deal (Ref). Now... I knew these vids were popular but '1.65 billion dollars'-popular... I did not see that one at all. Google is really going all out these days to get its hand in a lot of stuff (ex. images, vids, news, groups, chat, mail, maps, etc). Its becoming as household a name as Microsoft, but actually with a much more diversified portfolio. Doubt me? Check the Google Labs site... I definately will monitor this company, even if only to see who they buy next.

With YouTube gone now though, I wonder if MetaCafe, possibly YouTube's most known competitor will go next. Possibly by one of Google's competitors?

Anyway, in closing, I just want to mention a couple points about YouTube which I found fascinating. YouTube:
1. Launched from a garage (...)
2. Launched in February 2005 (yes, it's that young)
3. Has only 65 employees (must be hard workers... then again, there must be about 5 pcs to 1 worker!)
4. Claims that more than 100 million videos are watched daily by site visitors (wow)
5. To complete this rather cool rise to fame, they have just been acquired in a 1.65 billion dollar stock deal!!
(Ref)

OK, so today for some reason I found myself at the notorious YouTube and I must say today I stumbled upon a pretty good vid series! It had me absolutely cracking up and even on the edge of my seat at times. The vids I'm talking aout are the "Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager" episodes. I thought about posting them here however I prefer to avoid the extra page load time. The link to the first episode is here and trust me, this and the subsequent episodes are a much watch (thus far, 3 episodes out & episode 4 premieres on ABC's Good Morning America on Oct 11 - Yes, it's THAT GOOD).

Honestly, this "power to the people" thing in letting just about anyone post vids on the net is... abit worrying.. I mean, there's a lot of crazy funny vids on YouTube and MetaCafe, but gosh are there some horrid ones! Today I also had the "pleasure" of checking out some "dutty wine" clips on YouTube such as .. infact, I won't even go there... but gurls & guys on their heads 'dancing' or rather doing the "dutty wuk".

One imp't point about these vid sites is though that they seemingly get hundreds of vids A DAY and also have probably hundreds of thousands of site hits A DAY. With all this activity (and noting that "Ads by Goooooogle" plague the site) it is no surprise there have been hints that Google (even with its Google Video project in play) is in talks to acquire YouTube (Ref) - the suggested acquisition price in the ball park of $1.6 billion USD.

As one can see, it's big business. Hits these days make a site, as the more hits = more businesses pay to for advertising space on your site which in turn = more $ for you (or/and your biz). I recommend, if you have any bright ideas for a site which could attract tons of people (and which is LEGAL and ETHICAL), do it, get the publicity and *cha *ching, instant cash! Or.. so I read on page 61 in How To Make Cash Fast Online - Poor People's Edition.

Till next time! & POWER TO CHAD VADER (you would only get this if you watched the YouTube vid mentioned above)!!

So finally after about 3 days straight of trying to sort out some 'internal config issues', my blog is up and ready for its millions of visitors!! Ha Ha Ha (*cricket churps) .. or.. probably not..

Ways, so onto this thing called a blog... why do it? Well seems that everyone has one, esp. the IT guys! So I figure, why not me? .. So upon deciding that I wish to involve myself in this, the next step is to figure out, what's a blog! For that one can turn to good old Wikipedia, & after sieving out the important info, we get that a weblog (orginally web log) is a website that provides commentary/news on a particular subject but also can be and, is used as a personal online diary. (Ref)

For me and mostly because "us men don't keep diaries!!" this blog will serve mainly as a commentary on issues whether they be international, local or personal experiences.

OOKKK, now that all boring stuff is out of the way, I'll move on to more important issues.. such as this YouTube video which one of my mates msged me with on msn lately... This is... *sigh.. tragic, but... "All for the love of the Game" I assume.. Enough chat! on with the videO!

PS. A HUGGEEE Happy Birthday to JameL!! (uploaded that smilie just for you, you better be greatful! *grRr) She threatened my life if I didn't do this... beware of her!