Sungai Nibong Gospel Hall
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Looked up my old Sungai Nibong church on the web. Where I also attended kindergarten. I can't believe it's a brethren assembly. I had always thought it's presbyterian. I wonder if it's pertaining to Watchman Nee or Witness Lee.
Kepler's late salary
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Finally found a source to Kepler's back payment situation since I first read of it in The Galileo Connection (Perhaps I should also look up the citation in this book as well):
"Before 1628 the great astronomer was court mathematician to Ferdinand II, Emperor of Germany. The Emperor's exchequer being low and Kepler's salary 12,000 florins in arrears, arrangements were effected by which the back salary was to be paid by Wallenstein, and Kepler was to move to Wallenstein's dominion, Silesia, and there, in the town of Sagan, to continue his studies in astronomy and astrology...Moreover, the 12,000 florins back salary remained unpaid and Kepler found it difficult to support his large family. So..." Source: A Letter of John Kepler by Cajori, F. (Journal: Popular Astronomy, Vol. 30, p.217)
Blinds installment in my room
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Finally put up Blinds I bought from HomeDepot, dumped old fat verticle blinds. Silly me, always taking extra steps to have such things installed. Should have made checking how the blinds work as priority before putting it up so I don't have to take it down to check it when it got stuck and didn't work.
Reading the old of the local, understand the generations of today
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Re-read CCCNY Geng 2009. Founding pastor's article drew my attention especially at one point he narrated how one of their former Western church host kicked them out for not disciplining their children who disturbed the Westerners' services and the shocking response of their pastor as pastor Li tried to explained to him how children are the same because even their children interrupted the Chinese's activities, their pastor replied: Our children is ours, yours are adopted.
I supposed he's referring to how they are the owner of the church and those who rent it are outsiders (adopted) and therefore cannot have their children be treated the same as the "owner's" children.
Why any non-aristocratic Christians would greatly be furious at such response.
I began to wonder again, how impossible the Western traditional churches have become (even though this happened more than 40 years ago). How they could still keep going? Today, these churches are only filled with old folks and some loyal youth whose rare interest in the classical arts is so underappreciated these days except in these churches. Was there some great inheritance? I could only link their source of survival to aristocratic elements: classical musics, classical arts, etc. If this is so, it is no wonder how many of these cannot tell their own churches and the Roman Catholics apart, and their knowledge is just for academical purposes-not conviction. And they have to be loyalist enough to actually discern or reject arts that follow the classical pattern but aren't Christians.
I would not disagree, if one is to link these to the Pharisees and scribes. Although I have often call out the shallowness of those who are jealous of others simply because they cannot stay holy themselves and so find calling others pharisees would make them feel better, and I am more obliged to view the NEW pharisees and scribes as today's Ameristians-those who think their love is more than God's.