Bryan in AIIAS

It took us approximately 8.5 hours to reach Sipocot from Philtranco Pasay Terminal. However, our journey started from AIIAS, which took 2 hours, to Pasay. The bus we took was a nice one, the most expensive among the available buses going to Naga. The fare was P850 and the driver told us that Philtranco currently operates two such buses. The bus was a Japanese bus, converted to left hand drive. It had two rows on the left and one row on the right. It looked luxurious and spacious. It boasts a reclining chair, similar to the Lazyboy chairs. It was raining in Pasay when the bus left the terminal. We arrived in Sipocot at 3.45 am. As soon as we met the team, they immediately invited us to join the morning serenade. Its where they go from house to house singing songs and eventually having morning worship with the Bible study interests. Although still very sleepy due to the long travel, we joined them. It was quite an interesting experience. Yesterday we visited four houses, today we visited...

This song reminds me of what happens to most of us when asked to go do God's work. This could be true with AIIAS graduates. Would you be willing to accept "menial" responsibilities when you're a PhD or a DMin graduate? Would you be willing to go to the isolated islands in Indonesia, to minister to the indigeneous tribes? Would you be willing to teach in a small unknown school, far away from the city? These questions, among many, are questions that we should answer truthfully when we graduate from AIIAS and return to our respective countries. Dear heavenly Father, aren’t you glad to know that you can count on me Wherever You lead me, I’ll serve you patiently I’ll face any danger, hardships and pain To answer the great commission I gladly will suffer and never complain But only on one condition I’ll be happy to teach in Christian schools When I get my PhD And I’ll be happy to give a little time and pray’r After I watch TV And if you want me to sail acro...

Selamat berjumpa kembali di dalam ruang Tanya jawab. Pertanyaan kali ini adalah pertanyaan yang sempat muncul di dalam Milis Pendeta Advent dan kami berusaha menjawabnya. Pertanyaannya adalah: Apakah Rasul Paulus merupakan salah satu anggota Sanhedrin? Pertanyaan ini akan dijawab dalam dua bagian. Yang pertama mencari tau syarat anggota Sanhedrin dan yang kedua melihat apakah Alkitab menulis secara eksplisit bahwa Rasul Paulus (Saulus waktu itu) adalah anggota Sanhedrin. Semoga bermanfaat . BAGIAN PERTAMA: PERSYARATAN ANGGOTA SANHEDRIN Di dalam research yang kami adakan, kami t idak menemukan kwalifikasi tertulis bagi anggota Sanhedrin untuk menikah, seperti “Anggota Sanhedrin harus memiliki seorang isteri.” Kecuali dengan beberapa kutipan yang sepertinya memberi indikasi bahwa mereka harus memiliki anak. Dengan demikian mereka akan mempunyai kemampuan untuk mengerti orang lain. Orang-orang mandul atau sudah terlalu tua juga tidak diijinkan untuk menjadi anggota. "Mereka...

You've been smiling since you were babies... To be beautiful when you grow up... Even when your beauty has faded, but you still look happy.. . Even if bad things happen to you, KEEP A SMILE ON YOUR FACE!!!

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...