Looking back at the fame Michael Liu or Alex Tseng gained, or anyone who once closely related to Stephen Tong in public, I see that it is important to distinguish one's fame from oneself or from connections. Famous or not, I believe God has kept me clean from the latter and I should be always thankful and humbled for that.
Interesting tweet from Tim Keller's Q&A on rural ministry:
I had a rural church for nine years. Very few people who went to college. I pastored them to earn trust, and because of that they would listen to my preaching. In the urban church, I had to preach to them first, to earn trust, then I could pastor them. https://t.co/FSJ5zzo5iQ Of course, I would wonder how Keller pastored before, because I don't see any example in the urban church.
Interesting to learn that the HR director (KB) at SP where I work has her favorite mentor set on C.S. Lewis. I wonder if this is a religious thing or an English literature thing (inklings). Likely the latter.
I had an entry before about the salvation of infant. ThirdMill has a very detail article on this: Psalm 58:3 is strong on justifying the sin of an infant and even the unborn. Though the reformers (Zwingli - all saved vs. Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc.) differ on this, but we are all clear that even the unborn infants are born sinners. Not just "contaminated by Adam's sin", like the FB discussion I recently came across. Responding to John Liem in the comments, I simply asked:
menurut argumen anda, kita tidak boleh membunuh jentik-jentik nyamuk atau lalat
According to your argument (that one is condemned as a sinner only according to what he has actually done), then we should not kill the larva of mosquitos or flies.
On the side note, interestingly, contrary to many atheist biologists' belief, mosquitos are known to be beneficial as pollinators: Even today mosquitoes pollinate goldenrod, grasses, and various types of orchids. If that is true, that mosquitos are now cursed to be bloodsuckers because of Adam's curse, then indeed we long for a perfect world. But I am not fully onboard with these fundamentalists' idea of death and curse, our definitions of these may not be tautological.
Personally, I do take Psalm 58:3 seriously enough to conclude an infant in the womb has already committed sinful acts by simply breathing or living. Adam's fall had made it so that we are all cursed this way and deprived of God's presence.