thanks

i thank God this week for
1. two great nights of food with friends
2. free skis and skiing lessons
3. a light workload week
4. warm jackets
5. a good nights sleep
6. health during winter
7. msn messenger
8. reminding me
9. money to travel
10. God

sword and pen

last week in church the pastor took his bible out and used it to hit one guy for fun.
the guy went 'ouuuch'
pastor went 'its a weapon you know, a sword!'
the guy went 'dont make me take out my pen'

i laughed.

thank God

From a journal i recently read (P= patient):

P12b developed immune thrombocytopenia and hemolytic anemia
on D+30 and D+36, respectively. Anti-platelet antibodies
were present, while his hemolytic anemia might be
mediated by isohemagglutinins directed against recipient
red cell antigens. Donor marrow had been plasma depleted,
so the source of anti-A and anti-B antibodies could be other
plasma containing products. Both resolved with IVIG.

P19 had delayed erythroid (D+35) and platelet (D+43) engraftment
with partial donor chimerism (66% on D+29). There
was a major ABO mismatch, the post-transplant blood
group was persistently of recipient type (O Rh+), and direct
anti-globulin test (DAT) was all along positive. However,
on D+78, platelet and Hb dropped to 10×109/L and 7.3 g/dL,
respectively. DAT remained positive, and broad specificity
auto-antibodies were identified in indirect anti-globulin test.
At the same time, he also developed hypertension, ascites,
raised serum creatinine, hypoalbuminemia, and nephroticrange
proteinuria, but without fever or neurological symptoms.
The overall impression was an overlap between
autoimmune hemolytic anemia and transplant-associated
thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). He received two courses
of plasmapheresis followed by pulse methylprednisolone and
mycophenolate mofetil but response was suboptimal. Rituximab
375 mg/m2 weekly for four doses were then given.
Improvement in hematological and renal parameters was
observed after the third dose and normalized at 5 months
post-transplant. Upon last assessment, all patients had normal
hemogloblin level, platelet count, and MPV.

Sometimes I'm just thankful I'm normal.

heaven and hell

I stumbled upon this illustration of heaven and hell.

A man visited both heaven and hell. In hell, everybody was strapped to seats at a table and everybody only had one arm, and at the end of this long straight arm is a spoon like appendage. In front of the people was laid out a huge feast of food, but everybody was angry and going hungry because they could not feed themselves with that arm.
The man was then brought to heaven. He was shocked that everybody had the same spoon like appendage but everybody was happy and cheerful, feeding each other.

So if you want to experience heaven, you got to first be a person willing to be part of the group and share. There is no guarantee that people will reciprocate but you have to be the first to make the move, feed your neighbour, not only physical food, but soul food: a listening ear, a reassuring hug, a word of encouragement. And spritual food: prayer. In this world we want guarantees. For the stuff we buy, and even our own lives are guaranteed in the form of insurance. But no one can assure you of a wonderful heaven-on-earth future or for that matter, present. Its up to you to work it out.

Give and it will come back to you. Thats the kingdom of God.

Signboard

I have friends and family whom I respect and look up to. But people are not infallible. They will fail and sometimes when they do, I question and ask why they are not more like Christ, growing from glory to glory and being more perfect everyday. Why must they fail when its for ME. How dare they call themselves Christians, ‘little Christ’, when they are not as kind as him or as generous, or faithful or understanding. Its then when I realize I’m not perfect myself, and why the church exists. Because none of us are perfect but together in the bond of love, love will cover a multitude of sin, and when we are gathered in one accord, it is the strengths that become obvious and not the weaknesses. Each one is to be like a signboard that you often see leading to a resort, each ad displays a beautiful picture of the beach, or dining room, or smiling waiters, or sunset. We all have a beautiful side but none have all. And a forlorn brother, travelling along life’s potholed lane, will look up and see these signboards all pointing towards paradise. The signboards are not paradise itself, but just a reflection of it. If you think the signboard is heaven, you are a fool and cheating yourself. The weary traveller is not interested in the ugly side of those signboards, but the hope it brings through its cheery picture and clear direction to get there. 1 km away!

Let me focus more on my own strengths and use it for God’s glory, and let me see the beauty of others pointing towards the source of all things. I will not put my hope and goals in men for like signboards, they are just outposts pointing towards paradise and are not infallible.

givers and hoarders

A person with not-enough mentality thinks:
- there is not enough food for everyone, I better pig out at the buffet table.
- there is not enough knowledge around, I better not share my ideas or tell my friends what I know
- there is not enough wealth in the world, I need to steal, kill, or in any other way accumulate for myself.

but who owns all the cattle in the field, or the gold and sliver?
Ikea got rich selling tables and chairs, but Ikea didnt make the tree grow although they may have planted the tree and fertilized the ground, God made the plant grow.
Tiffany's carved and molded that beautiful diamond ring but they surely didnt make the diamond or gold, in fact, science has found a way to make quick and cheap diamonds, but purist scoff it as fakes.

So man wants and uses materials that come from nature, from the earth, but yet fail to see who placed it there in the first place. God.

Don't people realize that in Gen 1:1 it says, in the begining, God...
yup, whatever it is, if you trace it back far enough, you end up conforming to the singularity of God.
And...
No, you don't trace back to monkeys. Scientist try to reason out and say it was evolution but Charles Darwin is simply wrong (someone must have paid him peanuts, imho).

And because God has placed life in this earth, whatever that you withold from it, but clench in your fist will die and dissapear, but whatever that you bury, invest, or plant in the earth will grow.

Give and it will come back to you....

The story of the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. He gave.

I gave.
I gave to my church, to environmental causes, to mission work in disaster areas.
I gave time, knowledge, training, money.

...good measure, pressed down, and running over...

and I reaped.
my dictionary defines 'reaped' : to gather, as of natural products.
Yes, when you sow, its only a natural action for you to expect produce naturally returning.

I reaped a financially independant life from my parents since graduation 4 years ago.
I reaped friendships from different cities around the world.
I reaped scholarships, grants, publications; I have been a 'professional' student for the past 3 years and will be for the next 4 years - people actually pay me to study; how cool is that?
I reaped knowlegde with the countries I visited and the very diverse group of people I work with.
I reaped security, my parents are doing great, with my dad getting promotions when he should be retiring and mum really making a difference in people's lives through her ministry.
I reaped a loving and wise girlfriend to whom its about time I propose.

My 5 loaves and 2 fishes has multipled over.

stuck at God

I was trying to be studious and started reading a Bible commentary. Got stuck at 'God', at the first verse.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

A general definition of this great First Cause, as far as human words dare attempt one, may be thus given: The eternal, independent, and self-existent Being: the Being whose purposes and actions spring from himself, without foreign motive or influence: he who is absolute in dominion; the most pure, the most simple, and most spiritual of all essences; infinitely benevolent, beneficent, true, and holy: the cause of all being, the upholder of all things; infinitely happy, because infinitely perfect; and eternally self-sufficient, needing nothing that he has made: illimitable in his immensity, inconceivable in his mode of existence, and indescribable in his essence; known fully only to himself, because an infinite mind can be fully apprehended only by itself. In a word, a Being who, from his infinite wisdom, cannot err or be deceived, and who, from his infinite goodness can do nothing but what is eternally just, right, and kind.
(from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006 All rights reserved.)

I had to read that passage 3 times over to fully understand what the guy was writing. But here he is trying to describe what God is when he says 'indescribable in his essence'. Sounds like a futile exercise. A created being can never fully understand the creator, simply because you got to be on a higher level to create something, and whatever you create can never be above your intelligence level. Yet we sing songs like 'make me more like you', 'all of me for all of you'. Dude, you don't even know what the other side is like.
To me, it doesn't matter if God is very much or just a tiny bit more clever than me, the point is, He's above. Hey, an inch is as good as a mile right? What matters to me is that when I'm in trouble, he solves it. When I pray for forgiveness, He's ever ready to help me out.