note to self #250706

• praise the Lord that God's word is powerful and brings about changes in others. on the other hand, it is easy to be complacent as a cn at some stage, i think i am on certain aspects (i.e. inconsistent passion and patience).
• since the past week, i've been feeling sleepy, and ended up sleeping, each time i get on a bus ride to and from workplace. i mustn't be sleeping enough lately. there are more to be done as well in term of house chores, can't complaint!
• i got an HD for my church history 1. whooaA.. awesome! i swear i will never again repeat it! it almost choked me the other day. i think i've found the explanation for the other day, needless to mention.
• lately, i crave sweet stuffs (actually any snacks, even though i'm full) after a meal, that's scary, it could lead to type 2 diabetes! i think my blood sugar is on high, no exercise as well, miserable winter..
• i hate to procrastinate, but at the moment, my schedule is not as fixed as i like to be. i feel like doing many things at once, but it turns out i am outdone by things, helplessly slow..
• [i had better move on, i think i'm held up again this time]

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new arrival

the wangsaputra's clan is increasing by one!

caleb was born on last friday night, one week after dad's and the same day as grandma's birthday. his name means brave and faithful, combined with the middle name -emmanual, it says, he's brave because God is with him.

caleb has an older sis, kezia, the daughter of andreas' sister. the day he was born, she muttered, "ma, ntar eca mo telpon ng-kim hanny". then again, "botol susu cici eca ntar di-sterile buat dede caleb ya!", mind you, this girl is only 2.5 years old!

as for grandpa (me dad), two days after, he won a lucky draw of a toilet closet from a friend's birthday party. a toilet closet! how wierd. he had never won anything before.

mom and bub are doing well. dad is too, i guess.

aunty is recovering from birthing 1o1! oh, i'm feeling selfish.

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tip of an iceberg (2)

i have to say, had the subject lasted a little longer, i would have falled in love with it! i know, such a big claim. throughout the seven meetings, the legacy left had always been a big question mark on the significant of the materials taught. mark and jennie baddeley were lovely, for their patience and interests in learning themselves and teaching the subject!

but i was convinced, surely though slowly, of the importance of history (church). first and foremost, as mentioned by the lecturers, history prevents us from suffering from an amnesia, knowing why you are what you are today. besides, when you don't understand much of history, you most probably will have a difficulty in understanding why church seems to side on particular standpoints than the other on certain issues. and since human being is limited to time and locality, history gives us perspectives on what issues that seem to be important at certain time and place in the history. in order words, it provides resources that allow you to break yourself up for a better end having come to an understanding and taking some considerations onboard when facing certain issues. these are good reasons to know a little/much of history.

apparently there's such thing as the perpendicular of possibilities of priorities placed toward in interpreting the Bible.

scripture ----------------- experience
! ignore this. ignore this. ignore*!
! ignore this. ignore this. ignore !
tradition -------------------- reason

i.e:
a charismatic would emphasis on experiences before the others,
a catholic on traditions,
a liberal on reasons,
an evangelical on the scripture itself.

this is barely scratching the surface, yet it's quite an eye opener! perhaps it's right to take time to ponder why (with/without us realising it) we seem to place certain emphasises than the scripture itself when it comes to forming our theology, although it's no doubt that the Holy Spirit Himself is guiding and giving the understanding. due to the limitations mentioned before, certain values are imminent in clouding our understanding as a consequence of one residing in a certain time and locality. such values influence our thinking of God.

* i hope you have an idea of how hard it is to create a perpendicular using this editor! after not-sure-how-many attempts already, i have to let it be per the above.

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tip of an iceberg

this is a past-due post. had the exam for church history 1 subject three weeks ago.

thought i skipped quite a chunk of history for my inability to digest what's on the plate. on the exam date, the first 20 seconds, i couldn't stop laughing intensely inside as soon as the exam paper was revealed. i have yet to find an explanation for this.

there were three to attempt out of twelve questions, quite generous, otherwise have no idea how to pass this subject. still forgetting bits and pieces and thinking about the coherency when trying to answer, exactly what i meant by temporal disorientation, yet to grasp of the big picture, before an attempt into the details.

chose these three:
1. what's scholasticm? comment on the implications of the teaching toward the way salvation is understood during the medieval period.
2. explain the significance of Justification by Faith OR Scripture Alone according to the Reformed theology.
3. describe the challenges posed by the Enlightment and Romanticism era, and the usual responses from people as a result of those views.

by all means, i was avoiding the chronological or major events type of questions, yes, you are very right indeed!

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