There's nothing wrong with worshiping God...except worshiping the wrong god.[@more@]
I realized to improve, first, I need to be bold enough to take a deep look at myself.
With this, even the most minor matters could be improved.
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I learned that I must, at the very immediate time, rebuke erroneous matters; However, I must also be very forgiving and generous towards people.
Sin and people don't mix, for God is not the source of sin; But people are enslaved to sin.
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Hobby is an interest of the free time. To pursue logistic matter, I will study chess, but not as a reason of playing away free time. The same with other activities.[@more@]
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
传道书 3:11
神造萬物，各按其時成為美好，又將永生（原文作永遠）安置在世人心裡。然而神從始至終的作為，人不能參透。
Romans 1:19-23
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
罗马书 1:19-23
神的事情，人所能知道的，原顯明在人心裡，因為神已經給他們顯明。
自從造天地以來，神的永能和神性是明明可知的，雖是眼不能見，但藉著所造之物就可以曉得，叫人無可推諉。
因為，他們雖然知道神，卻不當作神榮耀他，也不感謝他。他們的思念變為虛妄，無知的心就昏暗了。
自稱為聰明，反成了愚拙，
將不能朽壞之神的榮耀變為偶像，彷彿必朽壞的人和飛禽、走獸、昆蟲的樣式。
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
希伯来书 11:6
人非有信，就不能得神的喜悅；因為到神面前來的人必須信有神，且信他賞賜那尋求他的人。
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Among all gods, they are of a common standard amongst themselves. They may seem superior to the lesser beings. But there is one above...one that has no common ground with any. If such is not bounded, such has no authority given, hence such is the authority of all.
Amaru: I have reached my boundaries and yet it is not enough.
Timidus: Perhaps it is time to stop!
Amaru: Stop? I have the ability to continue, I will not stop.
Timidus: It is not wise to do so!
Lacrimas: You are not supposed to go beyond that which you were told, it is wrong to do otherwise, despite your ability.
Amaru: Is it not right for me to strive? Is it not my nature to see pass the wonders beneath, towards the wonders beyond? If I have this conscience, how can I be wrong? Simply by not doing anything? I am not harming anyone.
Timidus: Sometimes you don't know if you harm anyone. For everything in nature, there is balance.
Lacrimas: That which is beyond our understanding, yes, it is wise to challenge and to strive, but not if we have been told otherwise.
Amaru: Do you listen to what you were told? or do you struggle to success?
Lacrimas: Not if we're told by the superior.
Timidus: This superior is never wrong.
Verti: How can you know that?
Amaru: It is not my interest to know if any superior is right or wrong.
Verti: Yes, so what if any superior is right or wrong?
Lacrimas: We are not free from such.
Amaru: If we strive, we will...we are conscious, such is our responsibilities.
Lacrimas: Do you not see a bigger picture?
Timidus: One must control oneself.
Amaru: I have the will to power, as long as I am conscious, I will.
Lacrimas: Your Purpose! Have you ever stopped to see where you are heading? Do you exist out of your own free will? Yet you do not see that. For you only see the freedom within yourself, a freedom if measured from beyond your existence, could very well be a slavery of sort. Inescapable suicide.
Amaru: That which is beyond me I cannot comprehend. But I will strive to what I am capable of, and perhaps I could reach that which is beyond.
Timidus: There is respect, there must be reverence. Despite causes and reasons.
Verti: Causes and reasons are what make principles. Can principles be denied?
Timidus: Order is higher than this.
Amaru: For there is order, there is also chaos. We cannot take in one, and ignore the other. One who knows the self, should know to explore all resources available. And make use, and benefit. After striving through all resources, then decide by oneself which is right, and which is wrong.
Verti: Yes. How can we know, if the ultimate wisdom in all these are not meant for us? How can we know if the final revelation of all these will not be our inheritance.
Lacrimas: If it is ours, there is no hurry.
Amaru: I see the path, I immediately stive to suceed. Carefully. I do it carefully, without causes of the despised.
Timidus: And if all go wrong? What do you do?
Verti: History has shown great achievements don't come cheap.
Lacrimas: Have you ever come to think, the ability to stop all these may have been rid of you? Why have you not strive for this ability?
Amaru: There is no such ability. Only such illusion. I have the power, I use it.
Timidus: Such ability is within ourselves. It is real.
Verti: Timidus, you're just playing it safe. We see a way to progress at a higher pace, why can't you understand that?
Amaru: As long as we have the controlling will to not be obsessed, we are on a good path. Lacrimas, you were like us, ignoring what was told, but you change your mind so swiftly when you hit the ceiling.
Lacrimas: I know when I must stop. And I know I could have done better than knowing when to stop, that is knowing not to start in the first place. You ignore my advice because you do not fear, you do not know your beyond. You think you do by stiving from beneath, everything expecting to burst through the beyond, but you never really do. You never will, for you are not of the beyond.
Timidus: There is a balance.
Lacrimas: balancing things around is not enough. For there is nature, there is also beyond nature, for there is time, there is also beyond time. How can beyond nature and beyond time be another nature and time? For they are beyond? And we are all in agreement with the infinite of the beyond eventhough we do not grasp the concept. But we do know that such beyond is the beyond of everything we understand. Therefore, we are bounded. If this beyond is beneath another beyond, how can it be boundless? It cannot be beyond. No, the beyond I am talking about is the ultimate beyond. Beyond of all. And our connection to such is that we are beneath, always. For if we say we reach the beyond, one would say he is too ignorant, the other would wonder a greater beyond. Such, is always beneath.
Timidus: Then it is our duty to seek what relationship we have with that which is beyond.
Lacrimas: This much is revealed. And more is coming. It is inevitable. Rules and commands have been set. Sovereignty has been expressed. How is it that you heed not? Do you not know the responsibility of time? Everything you have ignored has been taken by time. So you see, time is with you, what you've ignored is still with you. Hence your choice is accountable. It is an illusion otherwise, an illusion of the illusion of will defeats conscience. But conscience and will work hand in hand. It is not about seeking power, it is about seeking the truth. It is inevitable. A freedom by the truth, is more permanent satisfaction than that of the power.[@more@]
The fastest growing religion in the United States and in the world seems to be Islam. Although second largest to Christianity. Any search method could prove this statement.
So does it mean christianity is not working? Of course not. Since the beginning, the Bible has taught us that it is not the quantity but the quality that matters. For example, Gideon's army, Jesus' sermon which caused thousands to leave him, etc. And yet, the truth, God, requires not the satisfaction of men. But the glorification of His Soverignty. Men's seeking after Him.
Am I saying this to comfort Christians? No. For one must seek after not just quality, but quantity as well. For the sake of abundance of the glory of God. Paul understood this, and so did all the apostles and disciples.
I came across a funny website today. www.free-minds.org. It tries to uphold Islam but also takes in some biblical verses to convince christians of the similarities between Quran and Bible.
The Bible existed prior to Quran. The Quran does have similar statements with the Bible. But we know from the accounts of the Bible that God's word, God's revelation to men, is always prior to that of Satan's deception. In the order of time. For God is greater than Satan. God is above all things. God is the Alpha and Omega.
[@more@]I couldn't sleep. So I picked up the Quran and read on the account of Jesus. The degree of submission here is obviously less than what we see in the Bible.
Be bold, go out and preach the good news, serve the Lord. In the visible church, in communities, in reality. Do not just post blogs, internet mails, newsgroups on what you feel, your grace, your testimonies, your arguments, in a closed environment. For such is an act of a coward.[@more@]
I'm not sure how beautiful Bathsheba is. But I would say one of the ancients, Sarah, wife of Abraham after being reminded by Pastor Stephen Tong of what happened in Egypt. I would also like to see how beautiful she is some day. How an 80-90 year old woman could be wanted by Pharaoh and others who could practically have any woman, and to a point where it scared the life out of Abraham.[@more@]
If illegal = sin, then let me ask you this, is sin = illegal?
Many would say no. Good.
Now, is legal = sinless?
Many christians who have studied their Bible would say no. Good.
So
we can say that doing something legal does not mean you are not
sinning. Hence there are legal lust, legal lies, legal cheats, legal
murders, legal robberies, etc. This proves that no legal system can
replace what defines a sin, an act against God.
Now, if legal
does not mean sinless, then we need to ask ourselves again, does
illegal mean sin? From the Bible, we learn of submission to higher
authority. We christians are not rebellious. The children of God are
faithful to God and recognize the submission to a higher power. And God
is the highest power. Hence, conflict of one lower authority will
challenge us.
If so, how can illegal be sin? Nevertheless, we
cannot shame the name of God, thus we cannot submit to rebellious
temptation, nor can we cease to serve God due to legal system. Hence,
one must know when to act, when not to act. This is wisdom. To act, or
not to act.
Is piracy a sin? That is, piracy of softwares, movies, videos, etc.
Obviously, it is illegal. But is it a sin? I would say yes and no, for
the term itself is not definite. No, because of the simple conclusion,
illegal does not mean sin. Yes, because of the sinful intentions of
piracy: rebellious act, gluttony, time wasting, lazy(Lazy because one does not strive to show one's own work). But not because
of "stealing". Hence I said the term is not definite. Piracy is not
stealing. Piracy is a term re-created to disguise stealing or stealing
of ideas(stealing of ideas is an act of laziness, hence sinful), and
such is made illegal in order for the party on the opposite side to
profit with lesser responsibilities. Such intention is itself,
gluttony, power-hungry(in fact, any slight desire to power for oneself
is sinful, the opposite of desiring selfless power for the glory and
power of God), hence sinful. Thus, a legal act of sinning.
Stealing means transference of ownership without the permission of the original owner. Since this cannot be defined in piracy, for there's no transference of ownership but "expansion" of ownerships, "piracy" was the term used in the legal system.
So in conclusion, we can see that the act of piracy is rather useless.
I am glad to
be able to clarify this. Otherwise, when will be the time when quoting
famous quotes without payment is illegal too?
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