Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Earthquake again!

Hoping and praying that there won't be another series of tsunami's coming our way... it's been barely 3 months since the last one hit indonesia and other islands around southeast asia. My prayers go out to God to ask for His mercies and grace...

Sunday, March 27, 2005

The dark side



Dive into the world of black and white portraiture where lighting makes all the difference in the picture. Two main tones of color - black and white. These two colors can bring senses to life, cause emotions to run wild, make you sit and think. The amount of light needed is only that which is enough to highlight your subject enough for people to make out who or what it is. The dark tones tell a story that doesn't want to be totally revealed, giving a sense of mystery. The highlighs show all that is needed to be revealed and nothing more. Light is amazing. Light can bring a flat picture to life. Black and White photography... an art.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Sprained Fingers

GOt my middle and ring fingers sprained today... not gonna type a lot.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Miso Soup or Noodle or "Miso Horny"...?



I came back to my room this afternoon to find this sitting on my desk... my pack of Sapporo MISO flavored noodles was vandalized - a post it was stuck on it reading "horny".... how funny. haha :) Quite funny actually! hahahaha...

"MISO HORNY"... hahaha

Monday, March 21, 2005

Is there a standard, structured way to worship God on Sabbath?

*Disclaimer - this article was written in response to what is happening in the at Mission College, Thailand and is in no way directed to any other SDA church around the world.

"Our church is going back in time" I overheard someone mention on Sabbath just two days ago. Why so? I took a look at the bulletin in my hands and figured it out in about two seconds... It was really structured. Really structured. There was a start time and an end time, with everything that was going to happen in the service documented; from hymn numbers, song leaders, preacher's name, elder's name to the time. I haven't seen a bulletin like that in a while.

Bulletins nowadays just put in the main outline of the service... ie:


Worship
Welcome and introduction
Praise (name)
Prayer (name)
Offering (name)
Song "title" (name/s)
Scripture "text" (name)
Sermon "title" (name)
Benediction/Prayer (name)


They don't have time or details included and such. The last time I remembered seeing something like that was a really old bulletin that someone had kept from the 1980's, and that's over 20 years ago (presuming it was from the years between 1980-1984).

A question I'd like you to ponder over as you read this article is "Is there a standard, strutured way to worship God on the Sabbath?"

Word Definitions:
1) Standard: A basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated

2) Structure: The manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts

For years this has been a hot topic for debate in the Adventist church. Traditionalists are all for hymns, pipe organs, silence and reverence in the church. The more liberal contemporaries are all out for choruses, guitars, drums, the clapping of hands and shouting for joy; all in the name of Jesus. Those in-between with one foot on either side have trouble deciding which side they're on because people from either side are pulling them by each arm to be on their side. Is there a way, a biblical way to worship? What will God accept and what will God not accept?

Lets have a look at what the Bible has to say about worship. In the book of Leviticus, where pretty much all the rules and regulations and commands can be found, we can find all the 'rules' that the Israelites had to abide to when worshipping God. There were three basic types of worship..

1. Sacrifice (5 types, 3 groups)
2. Festivals (7 festivals)
3. Mass Assembly on Sabbath

SACRIFICE OFFERINGS
There were a variety of sacrifices that could be offered (5 in total, distinguished in three groups or kinds). Burnt, Meal, Peace, Sin, Tresspass offerings as commanded by God.

1) The first two (that is, the burnt and the meal offerings) are forms of dedication by which the surrender of the offerer to God's perfect service is expressed.

2) The third (the peace offering) is really an offering of thanksgiving by which the offerer expresses his praise to God and communion with Him.

3) The last two (the sin and the trespass offerings) are those of expiation, and deal with the removal of sin and pardon of its guilt.

Festivals
There were 7 festivals that God commanded the Israelites to observe. These festivals were all different and they were considered worship. They had to be done as God had specifically commanded.

1) The Festival of the Passover of the Lord
2) The Festival of Unleavened Bread
3) The Festival of Firstfruits
4) The Festival of Pentecost
5) The Festival of Trumpets
6) The Festival of the Day of Atonement
7) The Festival of Tabernacles

Note that God had specific details and rules to follow for the two types of worship mentioned; sacrificial and festival type worships.

Mass Assembly on Sabbath
There is much spoken abou Sabbaticals in Leviticus, but the Bible employs what is known as narrative silence when it comes to how the people of Isreal were to observe the sabbath. There is no specific order on how to observe the sabbath other than to observe it, which was (and is) a command from God.

Notice how God has directions for how sacrifices were to be made, what could and could not be used in sacrifices, how festivals were celebrated, including the number of days they should last... but He did not give any directions/instructions to how the Sabbath should be observed. Should we then limit our worship by having a standard structure in our services? Don't get me wrong here, I am not against structure, for without structure comes chaos. What I am questioning is the need to standardize the way we worship God on sabbath. Is there only one right way to do it? If God didn't have any ground rules for us to follow, apart from "Observing the Sabbath", why are we limiting ourselves week after week with the same structured format that is apparently so "HOLY" that we cannot change it?

To cite an example... I recently visited an Anglican church and they still use a little book of prayers which was written some 600 years ago. There have been updates over the years, but simply to update the english, not the liturgy or structure. Everything is read from the book straight out during the service and there is no room for anything out of the ordinary. (Are we limiting the Holy Spirit from working in the congregation as we worship if we too are 'too structured' in our worship?) After the service, it was a good service, my professor had a chat with the reverend of the church and we learnt that there were three services that the church held each sunday.

7am - Traditional Service
11am - Contemporary Service
5pm - Youth service

This pastor preached in all three services and he explained that the contemporary service was catered to those who prefered contemporary styled worship.

The youth service was more casual (as the word 'youth' implies) and was a lot louder than the traditional service that we had sat through.

Sitting in the *traditional service, everyone was silent, noticeably 'reverent' and very very very cold - to some extent. We didn't have a chance to experience the other services, but this was what we were told... and I quote "if you want to see the real christians, come at the 5pm service". It was quite a surprise... but, enough said. He saw the difference in the people he preached to. Sure, he did mention that there were really sincere worshippers in each of the services, but the most sincere ones came where there were "no rules" on how they should worship God, or what God expected of them in worship.

So, is there a standard, structured way to worship God on the Sabbath? I've made my decision. Now you decide...

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Yellow Flowers


If you've know me for a while, you'd know that I kinda like the color YELLOW. I grew attached to this color when I was in primary school... I was always on the YELLOW team... somehow or another. Always YELLOW. YELLOW in primary school, YELLOW in College... well, okay, so there were a few years where I wasn't in YELLOW... but I still learnt to love yellow.

I saw this YELLOW flower just today and I thought to myself... wow what beautiful YELLOW flowers they are! So here they are... wonderful YELLOW flowers for you to enjoy! Have a great evening!

Ning!



Wow wee! That's ning, my roommate's girlfriend - doesn't she look absolutely stunning? hehe~ Took this candid of her in church yesterday after service. Time has been going by really slowly for me... or maybe too quickly? I can't decide really. Stephen and William are back for a week - had dinner with them last night at the Fanwar's! Wonderful food... lets see... we had spaghetti, sour-dough bread, salad, chips, fruit punch, potato salad... oooh! The bestest dinner I've had in a long long while! We even watched Arsenal vs Blackburn live on ESPN! haha! How good can it get! Things I'll be working on this week... writing ONE sermon (with exegesis), studying for upcoming examinations and most of all improving my photography! People say I'm a guitar/camera nutcase. Yeah... I think I am! Hmm... what lens should I acquire next? heehee... I just saw my brother benedict post a thread selling his new lens... wondering why too. Oh well! Enjoy the pic of ning - she's really photogenic dont u think? :) yeahhhh! ehehhe cheers!

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Today was Tyler's birthday... yes i'll post his picture up in a while... here's the food that was served for his birthday party! Now... anyone wanna guess where we ate at? Was it a road-side foodstall? a fancy restaurant? a road-side restaurant? school cafeteria? GUESS!!

Lessons Learnt

A lesson learnt is a lesson learnt. It doesn't matter how easy it was to learn or how tough it was to learn. It is a lesson learnt. People rant and complain of how they went through this or that and how "you'll never understand". Have you heard yourself saying that before? I have. I've learnt that you can't really say that because there'll always be a situation you can pretty much relate to, no matter how different the circumstances. I learnt a lesson in the past month and I've learnt it well. It's a lesson well learnt - only when I've put what I've learned into use. Life is about learning - learning through ups and downs that life hurls at you. Be it a problem doing 5 miles an hour or 50 miles an hour coming at you in the face, it's still a problem, and a new oppertunity to learn. Just learn, don't regret. Regretting is for people who never learn anything from any situation. Live strong, live life, learn and grow. Learn. I've learned... have you?

Thursday, March 10, 2005


http://pbase.com/nathanieltan <--- thats a link to my photogallery! I do weddings, events, birds and more! hehhehe~ yeah, just posting this to show my gear for birding. Simple but effective setup! SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT!


doggie! dogs... i love dogs. i took this picture at the theology camp-out. its a stray dog but it still looks so cute! man's best friend... hmm... doggie dog dog! how many of you think this dog is cute? I think he looks so cute! One ear propped up and the other down! i love dogs! doggie dog dog! :)


THe D70 with the vertical grip. Looks impressive? I wish I had a D2H - looks something like that but it's a lot quicker than what I have. Well, I don't think i should covet owning a D2H... I'm thinking of a reason why... hmm........................................Im a photographer, not a cameraman. What's the difference? I create photographs. Create? Don't I TAKE photographs? No, I create them. Digital works of art that stop time in either a digital form or in the form of a printed image oh photo-paper. They are works of art that combine the elements of skill and technique mated with the tool... the camera. Whats the difference between a photographer and a cameraman aka person with a camera? Well, a person with a camera is just another person with a camera. A photographer however, can use that same camera and create works of art that will forever linger in one's memory. I own a camera. I am not someone who simply owns a camera. I am a photographer. I create works of art. Period.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

An exegetical look at 2 Cor 6:14 "Do not be yoked with unbelievers"

This question has been discussed many times and I recently was involved in a little debaete regarding this text. Here's my exegetical review and conclusion to this text :) Feel free to argue or question! Cheers!

2 Cor 6:14 is always quoted within churches (im particularly going to single out adventist churches)by pastors, elders and even youth who counsel their friends and peers of not entering relationships that are "mixed". What I mean by "mixed" right here is that one party is adventist and the other is not - he/she could believe in anything or nothing - aethist, buddhist, catholic... whatever.

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" NIV - Does this text really point to relationships in particular or does it have a broader context?

Lets have a background check on the city of Corinth and Paul's association to the church.

PAUL
----
1) Paul started the church at Corinth
2) He stayed there for about 1 1/2 years
3) Paul wrote 4 letters to the Corinthians. 1st Cor is the 1st letter and 2nd Cor is the 3rd letter.
4) Paul did not have a very good relationship with the church of Corinth
5) His letter to the Corinthians in 1st Cor was basically telling them of how bad they were - read 1st Cor to really get an idea of the relationship between Paul and the church of Corinth.
6) 2nd Corinthians is more of an apologetic writing to try and make peace

The City and church of Corinth
-----------------
1) It was a commercial hub - situated near Olympus and was 'sandwiched' between two seas - the Aegean sea in the east and the Sea of Adria in the west.
2) Being a commercial hub, the city was very prosperous
3) The city of Corinth held the largest temple in that day and age. It was, however, dedicated to the Goddess Athena (Diana), the goddess of fertility.
4) Along with worshiping the goddess of fertility came temple prostitution which was widespread in the city.
5) The city was also known as the "City of Sexual Pleasure"
6) Corinth was essentially a city of wealth and entertainment - they had so much money that they had something to the equivalent of the Olympics.
7) The church in Corinth was struggling with idolatry and immorality - refer to point 3 and 4.
8) Legal litigation (bringing someone to court) was common - Paul was very against this. - Read 1 Cor 6

Ok, now that we've looked at the backgrounds of Paul and the City and Church or Corinth, we can go on to find the start and end of this unit, where verse 14 is found. A unit is basically a bunch of texts that hold together as "one unit". One thing to note when reading Corinthians or other letters of Paul is that Paul was not a very structured writer. He wrote as inspiration came along and mostly wrote of personal experiences... almost all his writings are of his experiences. His thoughts usually wandered form one to another, then going back to the first. It is the same here and what we are looking for, to begin and end a unit are similar phrases that Paul mentions. Looking at the beginning of chapter 6 and reading on, I have placed the unit from 2 Cor 6:13 to 7:2.

6:13 reads "...open wide your hearts also" - Opening of unit
7:2 reads "... room for us in your hearts" - Closing of unit
Paul opens and closes with apologetics mentioning "... your hearts".

Lets break down the unit and summarize what we find in this unit from 2 Cor 6:14 - 7:2.

6:13 - Opening of unit
6:14 - 6:16 --> Comparisons - Compare/Contrast
========================================
6:14 - Righteousness vs Wickedness
6:14 - Light vs Darkness
6:15 - Christ and Belial (another name for Satan in the NT)
6:15 - Believer vs Unbeliever
6:16 - Temple of God vs Temple of idols
========================================
6:17 - 7:2 --> OT Quotations
========================================
6:16 - Quotation from Leviticus 26:12 - Sanctuary
6:17 - Quotation from Isaiah 52:11 - Messiah
6:18 - Quotation from 2 Samuel 7:8 - David's covenant
7:2 - Closing of unit

Looking at the unit summary, i would like to put forward the two structures... The first idea that there is a concentric (chiastic) structure to the main point in this unit. For thos who don't know what concentric or chiastic is, think of a burger. The bread is on the outside and you've got lettuce and tomatoes and onions etc.. but the main part of the burger IS the meat. So here, the main point is in the middle! lets see...

-> Righteousness and Wickedness
----> Light and Darkness
--------> Christ and Belial <- main idea: holiness and unholiness cannot coexist.
----> Believers and Unbelievers
-> Temple of God and Temple of Idols

The Second idea is that Paul moves from an ABSTRACT idea "Righteousness vs Wickedness" to a CONCRETE idea "Temple of God vs Temple of Idols". Something that hit really close to home for the people in Corinth. Taking into consideration the lifestyles that the people in the church of Corinth were leading, the second idea of Abstract to Concrete makes more sense if applied to the situation then.

In the second part of this unit where Paul quotes the OT texts, Paul writes to the church reminding them of what he has taught. Reading the book of Acts, we can see that Paul was very aggressive in teaching - he made sure he got the message across. We can expect that he did the same for the 1 1/2 years in the church of Corinth too and hence, he was using these texts to remind the corinthians that holiness and unholiness cannot be mixed. Look at the contrasts... Christ and Belial cannot live in harmony, Light and Darkness is another classic example stated in the unit.

In CONCLUSION, this unit is basically telling us that our lives, our lifestyle has to be one which is that is lived like Christ. Singling out verse 14 of chapter 6 to throw at couples who are of mixed religious beliefs is very narrow minded. Sure, i beleive that this unit encompasses the need for people to know that it applies to marriage and relationships too, but one has to look at the broader perspective. This unit tells us that we should separate ourselves from unholiness in all aspects of our lives. It sounds impractical with "contextualization" techniques that we employ sometimes for evangelism, but give it a second thought.

In summary: This unit is summed up by saying... "No holiness with unholiness".

ps... i took a long time on this one! hope it's a good read! :)

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Here, There and Everywhere...

spoke to a close friend of mine just and somehow i feel like my world is collapsing around me just because of a decision i made a few weeks back. i really dont feel like going back home anymore... its home but right now, the thought of home haunts me. its tormenting and nerve-wrecking. im glad i've got an avenue to voice all this out here where i guess the whole world can read.

this song thats playing on my computer is just making me crumble to a mess of tears but i like it... sounds sadistic? i don't know... i feel so much better letting the tears run. coincidentally, its the same song that i'll be singing in a few weeks, accapella with a group of friends...

Here, There, Everywhere
-----------------------
To lead a better life
I need my love to be here

Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with a wave of her hand
Nobody can deny that there's somethere there

There, running my hands through her hair
Both of us thinking how good it can be
Someone is speaking but she doesn't know he's there

I want here everywhere
and if she's beside me
I know I need never care
but to love her is to share; each one believing that love never dies

Watching her eyes
and hoping I'm always there
I want here everywhere
and if she's beside me
I know I need never care
but to love her is to share; knowing that love is to share
each one believing that love never dies
watching her eyes
and hoping I'm always there
To be there and everywhere
Here, there and everywhere
--------------------------

'here' right now is comforting because i'm away from what is haunting me right now; a feeling of loneliness that somehow feels as if it is inevitable when i step on home soil.

'there' haunts me too... i dont know what people are saying about me. i know i shouldn't worry but i am. people ask me, msn, email, sms... do you regret? Why can't 'there' be more forgiving? maybe i've caused too much hurt to have anything forgiven and forgotten. i don't wish to be 'there'... ever... maybe not ever, but at least not for now.

'everywhere' is where i want to be... but i can only be at one place at a time... making each day of the year count as i study to get my first degree... to get myself a job and secure a future for myself and my special someone - if i ever have a special someone in my life. i'm taking a class in psychology and counseling and looking at myself, i'm one miserable wreck. i'm in no shape to love because i haven't found true love in the one who loves me the most... God. this is a bold statement but i feel that i've lost touch and me trying to get back is like clawing my way out of quicksand which is pulling me deeper into itself. being in a christian school theoretically is supposed to get you more christian... its not exactly working for me at the moment. perhaps its just a downside and there's a big possibility that i'm looking at life from a MICRO perspective and not believing in God's MACRO view where he sees everything. It's always so much easier to say things to make people happy than to be the person who's the emotional wreck trying to find his way out of the wreckage. Just a thought for anyone who's reading this... "have you really thought about where you are spiritually right now?"


Another update! Here's the picture of Randy and Ning coming into the restaurant - Randy is so surprised but he tries to act as if he kinda knew it! haha! Just look at his face - "i knew it!! i knew it!" Things have been better for me this week... i weighed myself on the scales and i put on a good 2 kilos! OMG! I'd better watch what I eat... maybe time for me to go on a diet again. I don't want to be Mr Fatso anymore... yeah. Oh well! I shall post sooner... oh. My dream camera... the Nikon D2H. I wonder when I'll be able to afford one. hee~ I don't really need it at the moment - I've got a D70 right now and it's pretty much the best DSLR on the market right now. We'll see how things progress! Cheers!

Monday, March 07, 2005

Today was Randy's birthday... my roommate- he turns 22 today and i'm a few months behind :D not that I wish to grow older, but I'm just about getting there soon. Well.. What can i say? it was a surprise! We rented a van and went to the waterfall restaurant where we made a reservation - without him knowing!!! haha~  Posted by Hello