Livin' the life...

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!

Like me, I'm sure you've seen it. Well, if you're interested, here's a BBC article that discusses the possible thinking behind this simple favicon.

These photos are simply exquisite. A must see!

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

Today's the day...

"Legoland presents a replica of the 56th [USA] presidential inauguration, including the Capital building, more than a thousand mini-figures, the presidential motorcade and the Obama family."

Who ever did it, hats off to them! Here's the link for the photos.

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.)

With a salary of £70,000, just 12 hours work a month and a free home on a palm-fringed island, it's hardly surprising it's been called the "best job in the world".

Tourism chiefs in Australia are advertising for the post of caretaker of Hamilton island, in the Great Barrier Reef, the "jewel in the crown" of the Whitsunday islands, where work requires "minimum effort" and involves "relaxed" duties such as feeding turtles, watching whales, and picking up the island's post.

Applicants require no academic qualifications, but must possess good swimming skills and a love of snorkelling, scuba diving and other water sports, say tourism chiefs who want to raise the island's profile as a holiday destination.

The successful applicant will live in a three-bedroom house with "unbeatable" views, ringed by white sandy beaches. (Full story)

Anyone interested?!

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Lol!!

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!

Here's an interesting article on 13 Predictions for 2009. It's focused mainly around technology matters, and includes predictions on the beloved Google, Twitter, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Facebook.

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..

I wish you and yours great things for 2009! (photo from here).