Livin' the life...

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!

I haven’t posted stuff related to Visual Basic Development in ages but no time better than the present eh? Here’s a great article – titled Custom Tab Control Layout - I found on customizing the layout of the Windows Forms TabControl so that the tabs are placed horizontally on the left (believe it or not, the TabControl does not allow this by default!).

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...

Malware 2.0? Social network spam? Mobile computing hacks? Here's an intriguing prediction for top threats for 2009. See ITPro's Top 10 security predictions for 2009.

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.

Like a thief in the night... IE8 has been released. There has been very little hype, and marketing. Unlike with IE7, I actually had to be told by word-of-mouth, that it had been released. No big ads on Yahoo!, no huge publicity stunts, nothing. I wonder why it’s been that secret. Is it... worth the download? Worth the switch from IE7? Comparable to the now somewhat bulky FF3? As sleek as Google Chrome? Hmm? ... I wonder! Interested in finding out, check the office IE8 site.