A Common Misconception

In secular fiction, sometimes God is mentioned. Sometimes, the character is portrayed as a church-going Christian. But in all these books, there is a common, glaring error which immediately tells you that the authors aren't Christian.

This is because, without fail, the character always has the notion that by doing good deeds, s/he can go to Heaven.

Well, newsflash to the misinformed Christian: DOING GOOD DEEDS WON'T GET YOU TO HEAVEN!!!

Surprised? You should be.

JESUS is the only way you'll get to Heaven. That's the very foundation of Christianity. He came to die for our sins, our beloved Savior did, to reconcile men to God.

True, Christians are required to do good. But it's not because doing good is a ticket to Heaven. It's because we're called to love others with godly love, as God loves us. We do good because we're going to Heaven and want everyone else to come along, too.

I've also encountered people who do good because they expect something in return, sort of like a 'what goes around comes around' mentality. They do good because they want to save their asses from divine retribution. Well, newsflash: DOING GOOD FOR A SELFISH/BAD MOTIVE IS NOT GOOD. It won't save your ass, because God is great and He sees through all our B.S. and knows what's in our heart.

So if you're taking care of sick ol' granma with the thought that God sees and will reward you financially for your "good deed", think again. And if you're serving in any ministry just to gain God's blessing, boy, are you barking up the wrong tree!

Make no mistake - God knows us better than we know ourselves. And He is just and fair. So to all who just wanna gain the approval of men, or serve selfishly, or do good in hopes of gaining something worldly in return, you'd better start rethinking your life in terms of eternity!

Missing the CF

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It makes the heart twinge quite a bit, too!

I miss the CF so much, our fellowship, the true friendship, the craziness of us all.

You never realize the true value and blessedness of having good Christian friends until you're stuck with unbelievers.

A Christian's life is never complete until she has a Christian family - and that's what the CF means to me: family.

To you CFers, thanks for everything. I love you guys.

Evils of Music Channels

Having Astro at home, and nothing better to do, I channel-surfed MTV, Channel [V], and hitz.tv.

It was, to put it nicely, an insult to intelligence.

Maybe it's just me, but oh man, each channel had at least one skimpily-clad female trying to dance, more if it was a hip-hop music video. Watching the music videos, I wonder how they even passed the beloved censorship board.

Have the women no sense of dignity, no self-respect? The efforts of the feminist movement poured down the drain by just 3 minutes of stupid indecent exposure.

It's quite mind-numbing, the number of so-called 'artistes' out there who are popular with the masses. The fact that they call their tasteless work 'music' is astounding.

But the most disturbing thing is how so many people out there actually like them! At times like these, a certain thought keeps running through my mind...the tiny voice whispering 'If I ruled the world...'

No doubt I've earned the wrath and undying hatred of many of my fellow human beings for this little bit of unvarnished opinion, but I doubt that anyone who likes those 'artistes' has the power to wound my feelings by disliking me anyway.

Wuthering Heights

I know Emily Bronte is supposed to be this hotshot author. I know Wuthering Heights is considered a classic, and that many people worldwide have regarded it a fine piece of work.

I also know that it stinks, in my opinion.

Being bored, I dug out dusty boxes of old books and discovered a copy of Wuthering Heights I'd bought, but forgotten to read. So I started reading it.

Halfway through, I was beginning to get irritated by almost every character introduced. The only decent and likeable character in the whole book was Mr.Lockwood, the narrator.

Heathcliff won my sympathy but very soon managed to make me hate him. I felt sorry for him because of the dislike Hindley Earnshaw bore for him, but Heathcliff proved quite capable of retaliating. In fact, when the reader first meets Heathcliff, his attitude is such that it makes one wish him dead.

The female characteres - Catherine Earnshaw, her equally bratty daughter Catherine Linton, and Isabella Linton as well as Mrs.Dean are all annoying people. The first three named are nothing more than headstrong spoilt brats, with a vacuum where their brains were supposed to be. Petty, petulant and sullen, they made me wish I could slap some sense into them.

Hindley Earnshaw disgusted me with the way he conducted himself after his father's death. Joseph was such a freakin' Pharisee, I wish he would meet the Lord straightaway. Linton, Heathcliff's weak, petty son, was so obnoxious and deceitful that any sympathy I had for his weak physical condition was outweighed pretty soon by an intense desire to see him die soon.

The whole novel sucked, the characters were mean and selfish, so full of malice, that whenever they met together the atmosphere was just so hellish.

I was glad to reach the end of it, but quite sad that not all died.

If I had the honor of rewriting Wuthering Heights, a fire would raze both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange to the ground at the beginning of the story, leaving no survivors.

Reading it was extremely trying to patience and good sense.

Golf!

Say 'Golf' and what do I think? *yawn*. Boring. It's for old people. I'll never play golf.

And what did I just do? Yea, you guessed right.

I. Played. Golf.

Well, I am turning old, after all. And staring at the walls wasn't much fun. So when my parents bugged me to 'get my lazy butt up and go exercise', I went with them. (Don't laugh. "Exercise" for a pig like me means walking. I can't run, I have no stamina whatsoever. Yes, Trish, that's why I won't go to your beloved CF! Now the secret's out, huh?)

The first day, I only succeeded whacking the air (and making my parents snigger behind my back, no doubt!). Thank God for the lack of golfers that day! Apparently, there was a technique to golfing, with which I am as familiar as with the etiquette of a Martian speckled-squoogle. What's a Martian speckled-squoogle? I don't know, either.

The next time I went, I managed to hit some golf balls.......straight into the streams and ponds, so innocent looking and so strategically located as to lull beginners like me into a false sense of confidence. Yea, right. But I went home triumphant - I got some of the 'lil white suckers up in the air! Though, admittedly, not far.

Yesterday was a red-letter day. I finally got acquainted with the Martian speckled-squoogle! =) It was immensely satisfying to see those 'lil white golf balls whizzing through the air, that much I can say.

But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?" ~ Jonah 4:4

Jonah, according to the Scriptures, was greatly displeased that God did not bring about the promised judgment against the inhabitants of Nineveh. They had reacted to God's message, and repented; God accordingly withheld the punishment due to them.

I love the Lord's reply - Have you any right to be angry?

I've always had an anger problem. It's better now, but at times, especially when I am caught unawares, it bursts forth. Not a healthy thing, but I'm working on it.

Anyway, I get angry easily. And I have to admit, I can be pretty self-righteous too!!!

There was an instance where I came across some Christians who acted so selfishly and sullenly, you'd think they weren't Christians! I resented their attitude, the way they were so caught up in the rat race. I was indignant - how could they sully the image of Christ like that?! They were Christ's ambassadors, yet acted like the devil's minions!

Yes, I burned with righteous anger...but in fact, the way I reacted showed that I was no better than them. I lost my temper and complained about their attitude, not seeing that my attitude fit in exactly with theirs!

It was indeed a lesson in humility. I must remove the plank in my eye before I can rightly remove the speck in my brothers'. I had no right to be angry, because so often have I been less than perfect an ambassador myself!

Then there are the nonChristians, who love to use catastrophes and evil as evidence that God does not exist, or if He does, that He is not love, and Christians whose faith are shaken by some mishap and question God bitterly or worse, blame Him.

Have we any right to be angry?

None, whatsoever, if our anger is grounded in self-interest and based on pride. None, if it arises out of a sense of wounded ego. None, if it is based on human wisdom, on Man's idea of right and wrong, good and evil.

We have only righteous anger - a hatred of evil and sin, but a fine distinguishing line here; we are to hate sin, not the sinner. To erase this line is to cross the boundary between righteous anger and self-righteousness!

Depressing!!!

Dismal. Lacklustre. Lethargic. Pathetic.

I could go on and on, but you get my general drift. What is it, you might wonder, that I'm talking about?

BRAZIL!!!

The way they lost to France. The matches they played this World Cup. In fact, the only relatively good game they played was against Japan.

No doubt they won the other matches, but it wasn't through brilliant moves.

I am so disappointed.

And with the Netherlands out as well, this World Cup'06 has, for me, become meaningless. =(

Soledad's Coffin Nail

she traced the air with smoke

(cigarette calligraphy),

air-writing secret sorrows

the fag does not erase

in lacy curls and whirls,

watching her life evaporate

like the stinking fumes.

she drew her last puff

and threw the glowing butt

onto the gas stove

marked 'ON'.