Livin' the life...

As Mr. Waters, the cartoon's creator comments, "This world can seem as a dark, impenetrable jungle of various doctrines and beliefs. But, we have the map of God's Word, and we have a guide, the Holy Spirit, to help us find the path of truth." (Joyful 'toons)

Let's keep both - the Word and the Spirit - close in our hearts and minds today. Have a great week.

The plot looks somewhat similar to previous versions, but hopefully the action saves it. We'll see!

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!

Everything from email, to wikis, to the Internet, and even pac-man. Check out the  Top 25 days in computing history.

It's been the case for as long as I can remember, I wonder if this report will make any difference..

In their recent Living Planet Report for this year, the World Wildlife Federation is suggesting that this planet's resources won't be enough for us.

"The Earth’s biocapacity is the amount of biologically productive area – cropland, pasture, forest, and fisheries – that is available to meet humanity’s needs.

"Since the late 1980s, we have been in overshoot - the Ecological Footprint has exceeded the Earth’s biocapacity - by about 25%.

"Effectively, the Earth’s regenerative capacity can no longer keep up with demand – people are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources.

"A moderate business-as-usual scenario, based on United Nations projections of slow, steady growth of economies and populations, suggests that by 2050, humanity’s demand on nature will be twice the biosphere’s productive capacity [graph]."

Science fiction writers have worked out the answer - agricultural worlds like those envisioned by Isaac Asimov's 1951 classic Foundation (Source)

*hmph!

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. :-)

Ever wondered how the iPod, BlackBerry, Firefox, Twitter, Windows 7, ThinkPad, Android, Wikipedia, Mac OS X, and Red Hat Linux, got their names? Check out this informative article on CIO.com - How 10 Famous Technology Products Got Their Names. The BlackBerry in my opinion has the best story.

Rafa, Gerrard, Carragher, Owen and Crouch Impersonations..

Lol, this guy's good! Stevie G was the best one.

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!

I once was into Web designing lots, and for those of you who are in the field, I'm sure some of these tools will be quite appealing. Especially for quick, remote jobs!

11 Free And Helpful Web Based Tools That Every Designer May Want To Know!

At first glance PatternCooler, and Colors on the Web (minus the millions of google ads) seem most useful.

Google pushing Chrome via Youtube - really, it was only a matter of time... I also note that G1 is advertised on Google.com as well.

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!