On American Conservative Christians' attitude towards Covid-19

I waited to see, to learn, in humility, the news of this country as well as the world. To listen to preachers of different background whose messages are affected by this pandemic.

There are famous preachers like John MacArthur, who take the opportunity to proclaim social disobedience against the government, saying "We should obey God rather than men", photos of his church services where congregants gathered in great numbers without social distancing and about 99% wearing no masks. Despite providing special sanitizers against the virus at the door, I still say that they covered their pride with false piety, anti-intellectual obstinacy with fake care, irresponsibility with fake legalistic actions.

I shall move among them as if some of them are still truly desiring God's kingdom, for there surely are some, despite a feinting a Gospel-centered work, one that even they fooled themselves with. But as for the protocol of things in this pandemic, I am leaning towards to Left on this. Despite the opposing claims, I've witnessed more cares from the Left than the Right in my lifetime. Perhaps the Right only look for the rich for numbers or falsely consider non-rightist donors rightists.

And if they claim that they are not infected in what they do, not wearing masks, not following social distancing rule, then I would ask about the circle of people they hang out with, do they preach to the poor in dirty streets, do they socialize with those of other cultures, of those outside their circles. Otherwise, I have no need to debate with these "inbreds".

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Vocab: Arduous

Kathy’s Word of the Week

Weekly Brain Food brought to you by our CHRO

arduous

Pronunciation:
ahr-joo-uhs

Definition:
involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.

As used in a sentence:
Running ten miles without stopping is an arduous feat.

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Sermon - Stephen Tong Sunday Service 10/11/2020 Matthew 6:14-18

1Ki 18:36 - Best witness: Let them know you are God and I am your servant!

Per Luke 18:11 Lots of churches today love to praise and proclaim the blessings of God out of a sinful motive. Which is actually praising themselves.

My note: Had it been just Luke 18:11, then one would assume the hypocrite's prayer was alright, that he gave the credit to God, though still with reservation for the language looks down on his neighbors, but v.12 clarifies the hidden motive.

Why Christians fast? Not to rely on physical forces.

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Saturday Event (10/11/2020)

So we finally drove to Greenwood Lake around noon time. Early Fall foliage drive. It's a huge long lake cut half by state line between NJ & NY. Takes about 1.5 hours from home to lake.

Was planning to hike State Line Trailhead near Greenwood Lake Marina, but parking's full and Nadia was afraid of the allegedly 4-mile hike. Despite reading it having great NYC & lake view from top. So we ended up parking at Thomas P. Morahan Waterfront Park.

I also used my Gladius Mini underwater drone POV for the first time. Although getting underwater plant stuck in the propellers wasn't fun, cut short my cruise time and had to clean up the freshwater weeds at home.

I'm going to try to use more drones like, with the kind of schedules I have, like what I did at Conaskonk Point, Union Beach, NJ.

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When a Church is not Gospel Centered

Two outcomes:

  1. getting smaller, probably end up being shutdown.
  2. mutation - accepting heretical views.

And that would be the only outcomes. So when a church falsely denies she's not gospel-centered, usually with the excuses like that gospel-supporting = gospel-centeredness, or nobody listens, etc. then one can see if the church is not reducing in number, then the church must be mutating in doctrines.

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圆桌跨越派 EP02 5G 2020,欢迎来到未来 20200106

My dad shared this with me. At first glance, it seems informative, so here's my summary:

It's an hour long, had it not been my Chinese de-proving, I would have finished this in 20-30mins. But it was fun looking up and learn modern Chinese terms.
邀请吴晓波、周轶君、吕廷杰、马家辉共话“跨越”主题

3 primary resources on communications:
1. Spectrum 频谱 (frequency 频率 reservations)
2. numbers
3. Satellite orbital reservations

5G = IMT2020 (International Mobile Telecommunication 2020)

Every 10 years, a level of G. 1990 = 2G, 2000 = 3G, etc.

China's radiation approval limit is only U.S.'s 1/50.

Since higher freq. (viz. 5G) means shorter distance, thus needs more towers.

It's possible to build a 5G hybrid on a 4G network, but with some limitations, such as: can't reach time delay of 1 ms (our nerve synapse travels at around 10 ms to the brain), can't do 1,000,000 connections every km square, etc. Thus, true 5G must be built independently, viz. SA.

In Blockchain of Bitcoins, 5G's speed helps avoid long global update of the an account's savings.

Odd level 1G, 3G, 5G are revolutionary upgrades. 2G, 4G are merely forced.

1G problem, crosstalk problem.
2G digitized. Solved crosstalking problem.
3G Web capable.

The rest of the talk is philosophical discussion, ie. possibility of A.I. like terminators, Matrix, man should be master of technology or the other way around, Musk's TESLA, etc.

Interesting intro to Daniel Kahneman's thoughts (possibly from his book "Thinking, Fast and Slow") on two system of thoughts: 1. Fast, emotional, instinctive. 2. Slow, analytical. If strong on #1, then one is easily affected by the fades.

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Sermon - Stephen Tong Sunday Service 09/27/2020 Matthew 6

Bahasa Indonesia:

How to grow a church:
1. Willing to receive persecution. Pujian dari Allah, bukan orang.

2. Evangelism

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Sermon - Stephen Tong Sunday Service 09/20/2020 Matthew 6:13

Satan loves to encourage us to rely on ourselves. Especially when we're most free, most comfortable. We tend to take a vacation from God for a short time to walk with Satan.

The last part: For Thine is the kingdom...is not part of the supplication, it's a confession of fact.

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Vocab: Magniloquent

Kathy’s Word of the Week

Weekly Brain Food brought to you by our CHRO

magniloquent

Pronunciation:
mag-niluh-kwuhnt

Definition:
speaking or expressed in a lofty or grandiose style; pompous; bombastic; boastful.

As used in a sentence:
The actor delivered a magniloquent monologue, peppered with metaphors and obscure words.

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Sermon - Stephen Tong Sunday Service 09/13/2020 Title: Who is a true Christian Matthew 7:21

Covid19 is God's way of testing, cleansing the world and churches.

Tong introduced a new University project with some 3D printed model. Rather grand.

Today's sermon does not follow the Sermon on the Mount series, which will continue next week.

Examine yourself: 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Peter 1:10-11

Tong used a testimony from 30 years ago, where in Minado, a pastor's refusal of membership to a rich guy due to his 3 wives, became the opportunity for another church to accept this guy's membership as well as some of his financial support.

Psa 18:25-26 ...乖僻的人,你以弯曲待他

How much you listened (read), know, remembered, believed, preached, is not your spirituality. It is how much you do everyday, that is your spirituality. Loving each other in the Church, bear fruits.

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