So using EHT (Event Horizon Telescope) technique, the first black hole image was remarkable. It's said that they could even take a very clear image of a donut on the Moon. EHT is not your conventional telescope with lenses. It's a network of radio telescopes or rather observatories, synchronized to produce such images.
I guess the next time I'm out, I'll with my own telescope look at Sagittarius A* and pretend I saw the black hole as well.
A long time ago, I've observed one common thing interracial marriage today shares (particularly Asian & Caucasian, regardless of which gender side): That at least one of them has to be a liberal. I've rarely encounter, in fact, I cannot call a single one from my memory, where both of them would be conservative, or not liberal. Had I married one of such, I believe I would be the liberal one, at least for a while and would perhaps be smart enough to look for a liberal one as well.
The conservatives/non-liberals may not consider interracial marriage as an option, unless the opposite side is very confident and consistent in his pursuit. In general, not universal. It is the mindset genetic encoded within the Western culture particularly in America. If they are opposites, then the marriage may not last. For the non-liberal one may begin to see the destructive problem of the liberal and may not tolerate further.
Now if they are both non-liberals somewhat, then there may be a chance for a lasting marriage. But they would have to both come from a rather open family background or there maybe struggles with the in-laws, not just in the common in-laws problem, but in political manner as well. Political not as in politics of the country, but politics of human nature, of family, of life.
I believe there those who are both very conservatives. Such is rare and of my curious interest to study, should I meet one.
The common liberal directions of xenophiles are: the more different the better - belief in evolution, hence my Caucasian counterpart is of a one branch of species beyond human family tree, while myself another offshoot of a different ape, humanoid ancestry from a different branch of species originated somewhere else on the planet. Heck, let's imagine intergalactic relationship if it is possible - inter-alien relationship from outer space - Star Trek went there already. Superiority, unique, etc. White folks love Asians for specific reasons. Marry a Japanese wife, they behave better as a wife, they cook, they do all the chores, etc. while a German or American wife would ride on you instead. I've heard of such sayings more than once, from a white Russian student in Arkansas to an Palauan In-Law (indirectly) of a German church lady.
If that is their pursuit, then they would be very disappointed by the truth. Their creativity against it would destroy themselves. I know of a Malaysian (half-Taiwanese perhaps) woman, very conservative, divorced her white husband, who's probably very liberal. Two beautiful girls. Now today, I saw one of my Arkansas friend, a Japanese posted on Facebook his divorce with his white wife he married from Arkansas. I am quite certain he's the liberal one. A son and a daughter. The son grew and committed suicide in his teens. He called himself not him but "they", influenced by today's very problematic gender confusion of the liberals. I do not know the reason behind the divorce. Is his wife too conservative to handle his liberal take on life? He once tried to challenge me that there was another religion that also claim monotheistic other than the Abrahamic faith when I tried to preach to him saying there's no such idea. It appeared that he became "Christian" when he got married. I don't know. Below is an excerpt of his post. I simplified the names for privacy:
D and I are now divorced. It's been a tough year, and it is not something that I wanted nor expected, but the decree has been issued as of this morning. D and I are committed to becoming good co-parents for M, and we will both remain in B at least until M graduates high school. D was renamed back to DW. I was very fortunate to have met D and got to be her husband for all those 20+ years. I am thankful that we got to have our beautiful kids together and the wonderful memories that I get to keep for the rest of our lives.
I private messaged him because I care and I shall pray for him and hopefully get to chat with him again. On importance of the Gospel and hopefully, reconciling his marriage.
Now that is not to say that there are no good interracial marriages. The truth that a lot of these "childish" interracial ideas is that they think they are progressive enough, but actually not. I wonder how they would wonder in denial knowing the fact that Genghis Khan had already popularized the idea of Eurasian 600 years ago. Moreover, there is no such thing as different races (Caucasian, Mongoloid, Negroid) branching of from different non-human species from the evolutionary tree. There's no such tree to begin with. Noah was the progenitor of us all. All races come from him. I also believe that there's little evolutionary trait between different races. The colors in different races come not from weather, but simply natural selection. The darker skinned would go with darker skinned, and the fairer with the fairer from Noah's time. It's a prejudice of fallen men, regardless of good or bad intention. The different colors of the races only proves that Noah and his predecessors were incredibly more diverse than we could ever imagine. There's no evolution of genes in different races, they are all inherited from Adam to Noah. That includes colors. Those that say otherwise believe they are more scientific, but when you look closer to their "scientific" notes, they are mere speculative at best.
Now knowing the truth, if they could still be a good married couple, I would marvel at God's creation in the sense that I get to see the original design of mankind, a slight glimpse into the days of Noah, my great ancestor. If not, at least their children will do just fine for my gratitude of such glimpse. Of course, there are those lasting interracial marriage that are nonchalant to all these, but they are only into themselves, they build a wall around themselves, like any selfish, those in self-denial, oblivious and indifferent to their surrounding. The view where there's only you and I, everyone else are jerks, everyone else is hell. I have no interest in those folks as well.
Pronunciation:
dahy-uh-trahyb
Definition:
verbal attack
As used in a sentence:
I felt I was reading a diatribe from someone with a personal ax to grind, rather than a scholarly or well researched biography.
Dr. Stephen Tong once asked, years ago, in the seminary class I took: Is it possible that some regular Christians in the church know better/more than the pastor? Yes. Then in what manner the pastor pastors them? What authority? Seminary certificates? ordination? majority vote? title? etc.
The answer after 10+ years that I come to conclusion is: Love. I can't believe such an easy answer took me so long to come up with. The love of a parent. The prodigal son's father's love. The love of a shepherd. Not a hireling's sense of responsibility for the hireling is affected by financial and material wage. This love will be tough. Sure, a pastor should be as theologically equipped as possible, but more importantly, it is not the preaching on the pulpit, but the fatherly love which was shown even in St. Paul, who suffered tears from the elders at Ephesus and many more.
This parental love, is in the form of feeding the sheep not just with words, but with life, even where you don't want to go. And the power behind it which the Holy Spirit charges: "Do you love me" was what the Lord asked Peter (John 21:15-19).
True the son can be better, smarter, etc. than the parents, but the reason the son will still listen and honor the parents is not just one: Honor thy parents - and in this case the ordination of pastoral shepherdhood one a person in a church, for David never harmed Saul; but secondly, is because of the love of the parents. The child knows, despite his rebellion, disagreement with the father, when in trouble, there is always found love and comfort in the father's house. The father's love for the son is undeniable. This is how a pastor pastors a church. Not as a hireling who is so smart at preaching in the pulpit, but actually, more importantly, feeding them in all manner, self-sacrificing, no strife, instilling trust and love from them. This is not a competition between pastor and pastor, this is simply a true sacrifice.
And if these or this member, who is blessed by God in so many ways (in theology, biblical knowledge, hermeneutics, wisdom, theology, history, geography, management, speech, preaching, etc.) more than the pastor, behaves as if even in the matter of love, he needs to exceed the pastor's, then by all means, because it can only be ever more beautiful, if this love is true and holy. By all means, strive for it, both pastor and saints. But the pastor has no excuse to fall behind. He could be slow, struggling in jealousy, frustration, but he should not be waiting.
I would sure like to confirm with Pak Tong on this if I see him. (Added to my Question List for pak Tong entry) Because when he asked the question in Manhattan, no one answered (or perhaps the "certificate" answer was from one of the classmates), and Tong didn't really answer the question either, as if it is unanswerable or he didn't want to reveal his answer.
I have long thought about it, I'd wondered with no satisfying answer until very recently, I don't know, perhaps because of GCC and the fellowship of this church, motivated me to revisit all things spiritual once again. The pastor is not popular, in fact, he's 5+ years into his pastoral ministry and younger than I. But yet I could see him loving God's word more than most if not all pastors I've came across. I'm talking about all but Tim Keller at Redeemer, certainly the one at CCCNY, in fact, all Chinese churches I've been, Westfield Grace OPC's. As for MERF of NYC? I cannot say, it seems to be something good there but I did not get much opportunity to know them enough plus it appears that some of their secretary was prone to tribalism (if you are not member we are not interested to talk to you too much), hence I was kicked out of their mailing group more than once, I gave up, tired of complaining this to their pastor again.
https://www.facebook.com/TheReformedSage/videos/204722698066604
I do commend Frank for facing and able to deal with such challenge boldly and kindly.
However, as smart as Frank is, his limitation in focusing only on "you are borrowing from God's worldview" does not allow him to answer the question. He probably doesn't even realize that he was evading the question.
My answer is this:
Why there are rapes? and Why does God allow rape? are two different questions.
Why there are rape? Because men are fallen.
Why does God allow rape? Is it God respecting our free will? true. But more importantly, God allows it because He does not owe us anything else. There's no fault in God because He is the creator of all these: The same reason why I don't flood my backyard with pesticide everyday. The same reason why God doesn't create men and women in a way that one cannot rape the other.
The Dodo Men in Mexico learning from street chefs. Interesting concept for travelling.
James Webb Space Telescope's first image. The study of star birth.
What to do in Las Vegas suggestion lists (not mine)
Richard Pratt on Van Til, worth a read, haven't read it. Add this under Projects:
https://thirdmill.org/newfiles/ric_pratt/TH.Pratt.VanTil.1.html
https://www.thirdmill.org/files/english/html/th/TH.h.Pratt.VanTil.2.html
COMMON MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF VAN TIL'S APOLOGETICS
It appears that Indonesia's richest business is palm oil. It's exports have surpassed Malaysia's not long ago. I came across this after recent news about their government banning the export of palm oil because of lack of it. But many, Chinese included, rich folks, probably the richest, billionaires in Indonesia are into this palm oil business.
A church should be a role model of theological seminaries in every way. Not the other way around.
I have recently took on the fun activity of doing debates, conversations on Facebook using multiple personalities, i.e. multiple user accounts. Challenging Facebook community, especially the same strangers, from different users, personalities, tones, opposite attitudes, though with the same goal and context. It is both fun and interesting and even educational. It is my 2nd chief goal in Facebook, after the goal of keeping in touch with every old friends I know. This social media technology provides me one of the rare and unique opportunity to study anthropology and human psyche. It's amazing with different attitude under different username, I have complete different outcome with some people (i.e. Lorenzo Heighway...with my alter ego - Darien Lam shhh). This "involuntary" human experimentation is Fun!
Interesting also on when and why we suggest a terminology like compatibilism. Best is when someone's eager to learn, not when someone is closed and only interested to win. For these, there is no need to use terminologies for them to look up on, best is to use simple language to reveal their folly.
So GCC began delving into this report as a Sunday School topic, for a few weeks. It is a report formulated and presented in the 48th General Assembly of PCA. The report was done by 7 prominent figures of which Tim Keller & Kevin DeYoung were part of. Keller and DeYoung discussion were also presented in the report: https://livestream.com/accounts/8521918/events/9731338/videos/223474749
12 Statements in the report and we've done up to 6th Statement as of now. This report is basically on the conservative side and deals primarily against the problem heated by the Revoice Conference that was not of PCA but hosted by a PCA church. Concupiscence is touched on as well, announcing Roman Catholics' support of it, rebuked. People linked to Revoice and also Tim Keller is Scott Sauls, who appears to be struggling back and forth while still act as if Tim Keller is still his mentor. It's hard for him to fix his own objection to the Nashville Statements' 7th Article: We Deny that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God's holy purposes in creation and redemption.
Krista Bontrager of TheologyMom gave a thorough review of all these:
Changedmovement.com and Andrew Comiskey were mentioned by Krista to better contrast the party that turn same-sex attraction into identity (product of fallen but not sinful in itself unless acted upon - concupiscence) rather than sin to be liberated from.
Rev. Jon Payne gave a gratified response to the report:
I do wonder where are those within the denomination who fervently object to this report, because Scott Sauls' seem to have tumbled, trying to argue his way left and right, wanting to object but at the same time, perhaps because Tim Keller's name was on it, Sauls found himself hitting a wall.
Peter Jones on the other hand, criticized the report from the other side. Jones was right on protecting the natural order and creativity of God...
as Paul says in Romans 1:26, it is “unnatural.” It is not “unnatural” just because most people don’t understand it or don’t identify as homosexuals. It is unnatural because it is out of order with the physical cosmos as God made it. It is thus both a rejection of the natural world and of God himself
Jones emphasizes on the otherness of God. Contrasting the otherness between creator and creature, between humans and animals, between male and female, man and woman. This is the essence in apologetics against the attack of the group that promotes "same-ness" against the foundation of God's creation. Against the true beauty and attractiveness of sex and gender.
I still need time to process all these, but certainly, not with the attitude of one lady who tried to confront our pastor last Sunday School on this with the judgment: Did you guys do Romans? Romans answers all of these. Such shallow, almost charismatics/non-denominational childishness is what a part of reports like this are trying to do away with.
There was a photo I took from the owner of Lee Orchard Garden's phone screen with the "recipe" of how to care for the tree. But I lost it when my phone's mini SDcard was damaged by my frustrating dealing with MetroPCS. Been trying to reach out to Mr. Lee (609) 799-4820
The below is the one I got in my notes, I'm not sure if I transcribed it from the photo or taken from his oral notes, I am leaning towards the photo transcription:
March
Chicken poop
April
Insecticide
Fungicide
Mix spray
May
10 10 10 (Fertilizer NPK)
Dec
Growmark
Fire blight
*** Update 5/1/2022, Finally Bob Lee emailed me what I asked him for:
Update: 9/3/2024 I received email reply from the owner that this tree is: The smaller pears are the 20th Century (green-skin) but we do not have this variety for our tree sales this year. I guess it's a kind of apple pear, AKA Nijisseiki.
In a recent FB debate, I am pushed to do this in depth research. In general, Calvin's view/analysis is the best. It's not transubstantiation of the Roman Catholics, nor consubstantiation (which is actually just transubstantiation but just saying that the flesh and blood are also bread and wine at the same time - as if they're very smart at that "supra-logical" statement) as Martin Luther puts it, nor is it just symbolic as Zwingli had it, which many evangelical and charismatics subscribe to.
Ligonier touched on Calvin's view, which Calvin largely discussed on in his Institutes, book 4, chapter 18: Of the Popish Mass. How it not only profanes, but annihilates. There are many more resources.
This is where I shall do in-depth study on.
It really depends, because of this verse in Acts 22:3..."was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day."
Those who are quick to say theirs is idol, theirs is not the same God, if it were the same God, then why would they believe that God => x, y, z..., are adhering to fundamentalist narrow minded ideals. They have never truly done evangelical works that matters. Their work is I preach the word by proclamation and my job is done per the Bible. They did not realize that the great commission has a lesson for us Christians, it is not just a work-base duty, it is that of grace, of love, of learning the creation of God, and these fundamentalists fail significantly in these areas and their pride covered them, their self-desire, self-vindication match that of the Pharisees in Jesus' time.
There is an appeal to the recognition of God that's built into everyone, even the very wicked ones. You may worship God, but you got your knowledge of God wrong. But to deny a connection of those to the true God, well that's just denying them sensus divinitatis and yet expecting them to not deny their sensus divinitatis.
