How Much Should You Spend?

I'm at the lobby of the Radiology Room now, waiting for my wife to finish her Mamogram. We had a little discussion regarding how much should you spend for your loved one? Especially on a birthday, which is once every year?

She had got me thinking. These questions now are running through my mind:

1. How do you define love to your loved one, is it measured by money, or is it measured by your willingness to spend?

2. Should your willingness to spend overrule your rationale for saving money?

3. Am I stingy, if measured by the definition of stinginess according to my wife?

My daughter asked me a question, a few minutes before I turned on this laptop, "Papa why don't you want to spend for Kuya?" "Well its not the idea of not wanting to spend..." I answered her. But then I paused, thinking what to say next. Then she continued to answer her question, "Just spend a lot. Because you need to buy cake, balloons, ice cream and everything and spend to make Kuya happy!" There, she's answered it.

I love my family, both of my kids and my wife. Maybe my wife's right, sometimes I am too stingy to spend for my loved ones. This attitude should eventually be removed from my life.

My daughter's right, I should follow my willingness to give rather than give in to my rationale. This attitude is going to ruin my wife's love for me, eventually. Money could be earned and sometimes find its way into my pocket, but my family's happiness is not something that I should overrule out of my rationale.

Well, this is me thinking out loud. I hope if anyone's reading this, which I doubt, learn from my mistake. You should not limit on how you spend for your loved one, may it be time, money or resources. As long as you can afford it, don't hesitate to spend.

The Seminary Forum

I've been up since 4 am trying to finish the Sabbath School translation and to input my questionnaires into SPSS. I tried to get some sleep but was unsuccessful. Well, I thought I'd try posting something on my blog. After all, it's been a while since I'd posted anything useful here.

The past week has been quite a busy one. Attending the Seminary Forum was just one of the activities. Then I had to drive some people to the Airport, which was good because I got to earn some money out of it.

The Forum was a good one, with the theme of "Current Trends in Adventist Theology" the BRI people presented several papers that dealt with the current trends in the church. Dr. Angel Manuel Rodriguez, the director of Biblical Research Institute, presented his papers on several issues. He presented about current and recent trends in Adventist Theology and Soteriology. He reminded us of the theological and philosophical influences on SDA Theology. Process theology of Whitehead have influenced some of our SDA theologians, such as Richard Rice. Regarding the doctrine of creation, he said that "Today SDA opinions in the area of creation and evolution range from literal six-day creation to theistic evolution." That is surprising for me! On the Doctrine of Salvation he said, "Traditionally SDA's have taught that Jesus died on the cross as our substitute. Several SDA theologican can no longer accept that." So many revealing things that are hapenning that I may not have heard of before.

Dr. Ekkehardt Mueller discussed more on divorce and remarriage issues. Several interesting questions were asked on Sabbath afternoon that might have required more time to answer. Anyways, he'll still be around AIIAS. I'd like to know his opinion about a case that happenned in a church where I was serving before.

Present was also Dr. C. Wahlen. His paper was about Sabbath and Sunday, Laodecia and Adventist Eschatology, and Charismatics and NT Charismata. Interesting papers that Dr. Wahlen presented. I have heard a little about him when I arrived in AIIAS, he was described as a strict professor, which gave me a picture of a huge, always frowning guy. Actually when I saw him, he was nice, soft spoken, had a nice smile too!

On Sabbath, the typhoon Santi hit AIIAS. The acting president sent out an email cancelling all Sabbath programs. It was really raining hard. The wind was quite strong too! A coconut tree was uprooted, some trees fell and there were rivers of waters everywhere. But around 9a.m the rain stopped, and the sun came out. So the Forum continued at 11a.m.

Dr. Woody Whidden gave a very animated and thought inspiring sermon regarding the deity of Christ. He described how theologians have held on the post-fall and pre-fall state of Christ.

Well, I guess I'll have to continue this at a later time. This is my weakness, I lose interest easily when I'm blogging. Anyways... Its nice to have blogged today.

911: Bible Emergency Numbers

When in sorrow…..call John 14
When people fail you…..call Psalm 27
If you want to be fruitful…..call John 15
When you have sinned…..call Psalm 51
When you worry…..call Matthew 6:19-34

When you are in danger…..call Psalm 91
When God seems far away…..call Pslam 139
When your faith needs stirring…..call Hebrews 11
When you are lonely and fearful…..call Psalm 23
When you grow bitter and critical…..call I Corinthians 13
For Paul’s secret to happiness…..call Colossians 3:12-17
For understanding of Christianity…..call II Corinthians 5:5-19

When you feel down and out.....call Romans 8:31
When you want peace and rest…..call Matthew 1:25-30
When the world seems bigger than God…..call Psalm 90
When you want Christian assurance…..call Romans 8:1-30
When you leave home for labor or travel…..call Psalm 121
When your prayers grow narrow or selfish…..call Psalm 67
For a great invention/opportunity…..call Isaiah 55

When you want courage for a task….call Joshua 1
When you need to get along with others…..call Romans 12
When you think of investments and returns…..call Mark 10
If you are depressed…..call Psalm 27
If your pocket book is empty…..call Psalm 37
If you are losing confidence in people…..call I Corinthians 13
If people seem unkind…..call John 15
If discouraged about your work…..call Psalm 126
If you find the world growing small and yourself great…..call Psalm 19

For dealing with fear…..call Psalm 34:7
For security… call Psalm 121:3
For assurance… call Mark 8:35

Beutler, Johannes. “Two Ways of Gathering: The Plot To Kill Jesus in John 11:47-53.”

Journal Article Summary Report #1 by Bryan Sumendap

Beutler, Johannes. "Two Ways of Gathering: The Plot To Kill Jesus in John 11:47-53." New Testament Studies 40 no 1 (Ja 1994): 38-54.

Summary of the Exegetical Steps by the Author. The author picked this text because it "has so far attracted mainly historical and text-historical interest." His main reason is "because the gathering of the High Priests and Pharisess, their reasoning, and the answer of Caiaphas are mainly attributed to pre-Johannine material, the reflection of the evangelist at the end of John himself or even a post-Johannine hand." This is due to the "idea of a death of Jesus for the 'scattered children of God' which seems to be alien to the earlier synoptic or synoptic-like material."

Beutler approaches the study by a synchronic investigation in the text, followed by a diachronic approach. Looking at the paper, he has conveniently divided it into three parts.

They are:

1. Context and Structure
   
2. The Tradition Behind the Section
   
3. Hermeneutical Reflection.
   

   In the Context and Structure he did a literary analysis which confirmed the limits of the passage. He summarized the things events that were taking place in the discussion among the Synedrion and the counsel of Caipahas. It is in this section that Beutler noticed the inclusion of the "gathering." He did a thorough examination of the structural analysis in John, to bring his main point of study. The first gathering was during the "calling together of Supreme Court of Israel at the time of the second Temple." The second gathering is right after the Caipahas' suggestion that the purpose of Jesus death, according to John, is "to bring them together and make them one."

   In the next part, The Tradition Behind the Section, Beutler explores the similarities of the synoptic Gospels with that of John. He states that "only Matthew and John know about a formal gathering of the Sanhedrin" for the purpose of plotting to kill Jesus. He gives a historical background of the composition of Sanhedrin. Whereas, in the account of John several composition of the Sanhedrin is missing. He also studies the occurrences of Jesus' dying "for" the children of God in John, in Isaiah and also in Pauline texts.

   The 'gathering' of the 'scattered children of God' by Jesus is linked with the Good Shepherd parable in John 10. He looks at the Q-tradition regarding this 'gathering of the children' and links it with texts of exilic and postexilic prophets. Therefore, this texts function as a preparation for the universal gathering of the 'dispersed children of God' in John 11:52.

   In the last section for the Hermeneutical reflection, the author concludes the study by considering the broader biblical and theological context. He focuses on the "different attitude of human beings towards power. The attitude of the Jewish authorities who were afraid that their power will be taken away from them, and the attitude of Jesus who was ready to give up his life for the sake of many. Here he concentrates on the 'scapegoat-mechanism' theme found throughout the Bible, since Abel in the beginning, to the suffering one in Psalms, and to Jesus as a scapegoat too.

   Strength and Contribution of the Article. For me, I understand this article to reemphasize that Jesus was willing to die for the sake of many. I think it contributed to remind readers that the first gathering was of the authorities who were afraid to lose their seat and authority. The idea of 'scapegoat' theme reminds us the basic characteristic of humankind. Beutler took a quite straightforward approach.

   Weakness or suggestions. I think that the title does not really coincide with the hermeneutical reflection of the article. At the first reading, I was under the impression that he would emphasize on the implication of the oneness that Jesus will bring by the second gathering. Because it seems to me that the author was trying to bring out the concept of gathering, therefore to emphasize the second gathering of the people. But in the end, he concluded with a simple "the gathering of the mighty in order to maintain their rule of violence, and the gathering realized by the powerless one, who as a victim unites humanity." If he were to emphasize more on the outcome of that final gathering that will "unite humanity" then I feel that this article will become more meaningful. However, I think that the direction that he took was to emphasize that in this world there is always two classes of people, the one taking advantage and the victim. So in other words, he concluded that Jesus became a victim to bring the people to be united.

   If only the author have extended the 'oneness' idea of the gathering resulted by the death of Jesus, it will bring another conclusion that will have a bigger implication for the readers.
   

The Word "Monogenes" and our Paper Topic

I'm in class now, we're selecting passages for our Exegesis paper. My friend, AT, is having a difficulty justifying his passage in John 3:16 "monogenes" the only begotten. Our professor's concern is that we have to find out an interesting passage where we have never thought about before.

Our professor says:

"We have to make sure we have a problem, and this problem is worthy of solution. It would be more beneficial or doable if we find a passage"

My topic will be about the concept of Oneness in John. When Jesus prayed for His disciples, "that they may all be one." What kind of oneness is He talking about? Hmmm... this is interesting.

Remembering Timothy Polii

Today Perry Clement Timothy Polii was buried. He was born on November 10, 1984. I remember when I was still in middle school, whenever I go to Yordan I would meet him with his brother, Terry, in front of their house, near Om Utu's telaga.

The next time I met him was when I started working as a Bible Teacher in SLA Tompaso in June 2002. He was in III IPA, together with all the bright young kids striving to become doctors and scientists. Actually, during the first day of class, I saw him seating in III IPS.
He was a leader among his batchmates. Although looked upon negatively by some teachers. My first impression of him was a smart guy, with a photographic memory (reminds me of Marto when we were in high school). He was an adventurous fellow, a sportsman.

The first weekend I spent in SLA, he invited me to climb Mount Soputan with him and his friends. I told him that I was not capable of going such distances anymore. But he encouraged me. So I tried hard and reached the foot of Soputan. It was an all-night hike. Unfortunately that dawn, I could only make it halfway to the peak. Every step I took, would bring me down 3 steps because of the loose volcanic gravel.

Later, I found Timmy, as his friends call him, to be a bass singer. He'd be my right-hand man whenever we go out on Sabbaths to visit other churches. I'd usually assign him to lead a team that will take care of teaching the Sabbath School lessons, take part in the Divine Worship, and does an AY program in the afternoon. He was so capable of doing all those things.

After graduation from SLA, he joined his parents in the Philippines. I met him later on when my family had our vacation here. After that, I lost contact, only occasional hi through electronic means.

Sunday, May 31, 2009, I read from Facebook that he died. On the way home from the airport in Manado, on Saturday night, a Toyota vehicle bumped him from behind and dragged his body. He survived the night, but breathed his last at dawn at Manado Adventist Medical Center. I wish there was a way that they could have done to save him. But in the midst of everything, God has His will for Timmy.

I called up his father at 11.45 today. He immediately answered the phone. There was singing at the background, they were starting the funeral service. I just said hi, introduced myself, and he started to cry. I told him that we're all sad but "God will help us all to be strong, especially you, your wife and Terry. He'll help you go through this dark hour of life," and he replied, "Thank you, thank you, Bryan."

This makes me ponder in life. Life is fragile. One minute you're alive, the next minute you're dead. How frail is humanity! How short is life, and how full of trouble! Like a flower, we blossom for a moment and then wither. Like a shadow of a passing cloud, we quickly disappear. (Job in 14:1-2).

Jokes for Today

I just could not resist pasting these jokes here.

I. Sehari setelah membeli Toyota Kijang, Ridwan kesal bukan kepalang. Pasalnya, mobil tersebut mengalami gangguan mesin yang sangat fatal. Tidak bisa pindahgigi dari 1 menuju ke gigi 2, maka yang terjadi mobil tersebut langsung loncat ke gigi 3.

Esok harinya, Ridwan pergi ke salah satu bengkel resmi Toyota. Tetapi pada saat Ridwan komplain, sang mekanik hanya bengong dan tidak merespon sambil mengerjakan mobil lainnya. Kesal dan geram menjadi satu seketika itu juga saat montir tersebut tidak juga memperhatikan Ridwan. Merasa dicueikin akhirnya Ridwan membentak montir tersebut dan minta penjelasan mengapa di bengkel sebesar ini konsumen tak diperhatikan.

Namun montir itu tetap santai, kemudian mengatakan itu sudah resiko memilih mobil Kijang. Kontan saja Ridwan naik pitam. Tapi lagi-lagi si mekanik tetap tenang sambil berujar, "Di TV dan koran kan sudah dijelaskan kalau KIJANG MEMANG TIADA "DUA"-NYA."

II. Globalization

Question: What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer: Princess Diana's death.

Question: How come?

Answer: An English princess with an Egyptian boyfriend crashes in a French tunnel, driving a German car with a Dutch engine, driven by a Belgian who was drunk on Scottish whisky, (check the bottle before you change the spelling) followed closely by Italian Paparazzi, on Japanese motorcycles; treated by an Spanish doctor, using Brazilian medicines.

AND

This is sent to you by an American (using Bill Gates's technology) and you're probably reading this on your computer, that uses Taiwanese chips, and a Korean monitor, assembled by Bangladesh workers in a Singapore plant, transported by Indian lorry-drivers, hijacked by China, unloaded by African longshoremen, and trucked to you from Malaysia by Indonesian
illegals.....

III. Bahasa Korea

1.Apa Kabar? = Anyong Aseo
2.Sampai Jumpa = Anyong
3.Kurang Ajar = Monyong
4.Tidak Lurus = Men Chong
5.Pria suka berdandan = Ben Chong
6.Tiba-tiba = She Khonyong Khonyong
7.Gak Punya Duit = Nao Dhong
8.Pengangguran = Nong Krong
9.Belanja = Bao Rhong
10.Merampok = Cho Long
11.Saringan Botol = Choo Rhong
12.Kendaraan Berkuda = An Dhong
13.Jual Mahal = Gheng Xi Dhong
14.Ngelamun = Bae Ngong
15.Mulut = Mon Chong
16.Sosis = Lap Chong
17.Suami dari adiknya Papa = Ku Chong
18.Kiss me = Soon Dhong Yang
19.Sweet memory = Choo Pang Dhong
20.Mobil mogok = Dho Rong Dhong
21.Lapangan luas = Park King Lot
23.Nasi dibungkus daun pisang: Lon Thong
24.Cowok Cakep Kaca Mata: Bae Yong Jun
25.Cowok Cakep Rambut Lurus: Jang Dong Gun
26.Cowok Cakep Rambut Keriting: Ahn Jung Hwan
27.Bagian belakang = Bho Khong
28.Masih muda = brondhong
29.Punggung gatal = Ga ruk dong
30.Telur asin = Ndok A Chin
34.Sendok Gede = Cen Thong
31.Clana Sobek = Bho Long
32.Kepala Botak = Kin Clong
33.Lagi Menyanyi = Me Lo Lhong
35.Orang Hitam = Goo Shong
36.Bibir Ucup = Mo Nyong
37.Berbulu = Ge Ran Dhong

He'll Find A Way

This morning after coming home from the market, I tried to recall this song on the piano. Finally I went to the internet to look at the lyrics. I was hoping to find the guitar tabs too, but I didn't. Anyways, here's the lyric to the song. I found it from http://half12.blogspot.com/2008/12/last-night-i-had-dream.html, a response from Leslie.

He'll Find A Way
Words and Music by: Donna Douglas
From the CD: He'll Find A Way
Artist: Billy and Sarah Gaines

At times the load is heavy
At times the road is long
When circumstances come your way
And you think you can't go on
When you're feeling at your weakest
Jesus will be strong
He'll provide an answer
When you found all hope is gone
He'll find a way

For I know that if He can paint a sunset
And put the stars in place
I know if He can raise up mountains
And calm the storm-tossed waves
And if He can conquer death forever
To open heaven's gates -
Then I know for you, I know for you
He'll find a way

And at times your heart is breaking
With a pain that's so intense
All you hold are broken pieces
To a life that makes no sense
He wants to lift you up and hold you
And mend each torn event
He'll pick up the pieces
That you thought had all been spent
He'll find a way

For I know that if He can paint a sunset
And put the stars in place
I know if He can raise up mountains
And calm the storm-tossed waves
And if He can conquer death forever
To open heaven's gates --
Then I know for you, I know for you
He'll see you through
He'll find a way

Annoying Creatures

Our class today have a new disturbance. There are two guys who keep on chatting all the time. They chatter in unknown language. They have become an annoyance. They show disrespect toward the professor. Because they keep on chatting even when the lecture is going on.

I've even asked our professor to kindly tell them to stop talking among them during class time. But our professor feels that they are adults and they know the ethics inside the classroom. So I guess if they continue this trend. I might have to reprimand them in class. Would this be a good thing to do?

Hey - Heritage Singers from Forgiven album

Hey what ya' gonna do
when the Lord comes back for his chosen few
Hey what’s He gonna find
will your heart be waiting or filled with gloom
Are you gonna be ready 'coz it’s gonna be soon

Hey what ya' gonna do
when the Lord comes back for his chosen few
Hey what’s He gonna find
will your heart be waiting or filled with gloom
Are you gonna be ready 'coz it’s gonna be soon

Can you see the clock how it ticks away
In a blink of an eye it’s the judgment day
There’s a great reward or its time to pay
Better make up your mind He could be on his way

Hey what ya' gonna do
when the Lord comes back for his chosen few
Hey what’s He gonna find
will your heart be waiting or filled with gloom
Are you gonna be ready 'coz it’s gonna be soon

From the book of life will your name be read
Will your soul be happy or your heart feel dread
There’s a straight and narrow or a path of sin
Well your time’s running out so I’ll ask you again
Again.. hey hey (hey hey)

Hey what ya' gonna do
when the Lord comes back for his chosen few
Hey what’s He gonna find
will your heart be waiting or filled with gloom
Are you gonna be ready 'coz it’s gonna be soon

Hey what ya' gonna do
when the Lord comes back for his chosen few
Hey what’s He gonna find
will your heart be waiting or filled with gloom
Are you gonna be ready 'coz it’s gonna be soon

Hey what ya' gonna do
when the Lord comes back for his chosen few
Hey what’s He gonna find
will your heart be waiting or filled with gloom
Are you gonna be ready
Hey!!

Another Lazy Sunday

My first entry for 2009. Wow.. it's been almost a year since the last blog. Anyways, today was supposed to be the day for the family to go to the beach. Unfortunately we all woke up late. But Joie was able to prepare our food for lunch in Matabungkay though. Edward's supposed to bring Raldy for this will be their final week together. Raldy's going back to Bandung next week.

After a lot of thought and discussion, we finally persuaded Edward that it would be better for him to just stay and join the picnic His friends were planning for Raldy. So that's how my Sunday turned out to be the lazy Sunday. Although lazy, I was able to finish reading some articles for tomorrow's class.