Bryan in AIIAS

It's now February 18 and this is my first post for this year. I just wonder why my interest in blogging fluctuates ever so often. There are times when I want to blog, but I just don't know what to say. I'd rather put in the lyrics of Air Supply, "I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say...." I'm almost finished watching a History Channel special "The Sook Ching Massacre." This show revealed how cruel the Japanese occupation was to the Chinese peopel in Singapore. They systematically killed men between the age of 15-40 by making them "disappear." Thousands of people were killed and years later, when Singapore was at the height of its infrastructure development, construction people discovered mass graves where thousands of full skeletons were found. Today they are "burried" in a special memorial provided by the government. The Narrator emphasized that even today older generation Chinese still can't forgive the ...

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...

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 h...

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…....

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:...

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.

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 S...