Merdeka!

Happy Independance Day! :P

37-21

Yea! Great game! Our guys beat the South Africans by 4 points...scoring in the last 5 minutes O O...I know ONE extra name...lol...Luke McCalister..Belinda...try googling him...I think he's your type ;)

Assimilation?

I don't know what countries compete in the Tri Nations, I can only name 3 All Blacks, and yes, today, after almost 3 years of residing in NZ, Im watching my first ever rugby match entirely. From start to finish. Hehe...no waiting till the last 30 mins and then catching the final score. I gotta admit, it really gets your heart racing more than American football....sometimes wonder how those rugby players NOT get brain damage with all the banging and crashing.

Ah well, my 3rd step towards being a permanent resident of NZ? Hehe...wat were my first 2 steps? I think it involved me changing how I pronounced restaurant and usage of the word 'heaps'. Also, NZ has pampered me with clean public toilets...lol..something quite rare in Malaysia. :P

Holidays...yay! yay. yay?

YEA! 2 weeks of holidays begin in a day with tomorrow being the LAST day...countdown....wooo....but but......hehe...I was 'inspired' by someone to write down this list...heh...things I have to do before the 11th of September...hey..not that im a holiday pooper, but I gotta set my track straight.

THE list
Particulate Technology - 2 Tutorials
Mathematical Modelling - Notes, 2 Tutorials, 1 Assignment
Process Dynamics and Control- Notes, 2 Tutorials, 1 Assignment
Process Design - HUGE Project
Lab Journal

MY list
Go outdoors and enjoy the SUN!
SLEEP
Watch all the movies I missed out on
Go for a drive (heh...petrol prices dropped a BIT)
Stay up playing Diablo 2





Hence, my mood transition from :D to :) to :| to :/ to :( to :'(

*Takes tissue

Another C n P

Last one for the week. Hehe.
Q.If I die with unconfessed sin will I go to heaven?
I took this question from a quiz on a Calvinist Web Site in which 19 true or false statement are presented in what they call the "basic doctrine quiz." I took the liberty of cutting and pasting the twelfth one from their web site along with their answer. I would like to get your response to their answer so as to be able to counter it. Here it is:

12. If I die with unconfessed sin, I will not go to heaven.

A. FALSE. This is a Roman Catholic belief from which the doctrine of last rites, and purgatory stem. Protestants, however, have objected to this idea because of the nature of the work of Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. For those in Christ, all sins have been forgiven, past, present, and future (Heb 10:10-14; Rom 8:1, 29-39). Not only that, but those who trust in Christ are also seen as perfectly righteous in the sight of God because of Christ’s own righteousness and conformity to the law (Rom 5:19). And Christ also intercedes for us when we do sin (1 Jn 2:1-2).

Answered by Peggy Frye,Catholic Answers Apologist
We can agree that Christ nailed our sins to the cross. But neither Christ, nor the Apostles, nor the early Church Fathers ever taught that after our redemption (baptism) we remain free from sin (there are exceptions-infants, the retarded etc.) and will go to heaven immediately when we die or when Jesus comes for us.

Rather, Paul in Romans 6:22 says: “But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.” He’s saying that after baptism, there’s on on-going process of sanctification that ends in eternal life. Sanctification is a process….not a one time event.

To believe that all sins have been forgiven, past, present, and future by simply “accepting Jesus into your heart” is to presume upon God’s mercy.

Venerable Louis of Granada warns against presuming upon the merits of Christ's death:

“Many presume upon God's mercy, persuading themselves that they can be saved by faith and hope without charity.

If you rely upon His goodness to pardon you, notwithstanding your innumerable offences, what can be more base than the ingratitude with which you presume upon His mercy, which, instead of exciting you to love Him, only leads you to offend Him?

You say that God's mercy is great, since He died on the cross for the salvation of sinners. It is indeed great, and a striking proof of its greatness is the fact that He bears with the blasphemy and malice of those who so presume upon the merits of His death as to make His cross, which was intended to destroy the kingdom of evil, a reason for multiplying sin."

Like the prodigal son, we are free to lose our inheritance, and walk away from the Father. He is always there to receive us, but we must repent before we come home. For, “we cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."1 John 3:15 ….To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state …is called "hell." Catechism no. 1033

Not only is there no scriptural evidence to support the belief that one can be saved without worrying about sin, there is no historical support for it either. If the assurance of salvation teaching is central in the Christian faith…then why had no one heard of it before the Reformation? We have thousands of manuscripts from the Early Church Fathers, and in them we find all the central teachings of Christ, but no mention of assurance of salvation. Clearly, it was not taught by Jesus or his disciples.

Instead the Bible says: "I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13)."

Cut and Paste

Some questions here raised by a protestant I've never really thought of myself. Note that the replies are not from a official apologist, but they do come from senior members who've been posting regularly.

The question:
I'm a Protestant investigating the claims of the Catholic church (honestly looking for the truth, not a fight), and I've run across some Protestant objections (from www.carm.org/catholic) to the doctrine of transsubstantiation that I've not seen addressed elsewhere. They are these:
1. There is no indication that the disciples worshipped the elements.
Now, I know that the Church can claim that the early church fathers believed in transsubstantiation, but why no New Testament mention of worshiping the elements?
2. The supper was instituted before Jesus' crucifixion.
How can Christ give his disciples his real body and blood before he has actually sacrificed himself?
3. The Roman Catholic view is a violation of Levitical law.
Yes, it seems a little picky, but isn't cannibalism and the drinking of blood still a violation of the law, especially considering that the particular dietary stipulation about blood was carried even into the new covenant?
4. It is a violation of the Incarnation.
Apparently, by nature man cannot be omnipresent, and so Christ's body cannot be omnipresent. This seems to be the crux of the argument.
5. The Lord's Supper is not a sacrifice of Christ.
I'll just quote the guy here: "In the Roman Catholic Mass, there is a sacrifice of Christ. In other words, in the ceremonies, is a reenactment and an actual sacrifice of Christ per the Mass. This is an obvious contradiction to the Scriptures which teach us that Christ died once for all and that by the one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. It does not state in the Word of God that the sacrifice of Christ must be repeated in order to forgive us of our sins or somehow help us to maintain our salvation by the infusion of grace. The fact that Christ died once and the sacrifice occurred once, is proof that it is sufficient to cleanse us of our sins."
How does the Catholic Church counter these arguments? The author of the website writes as though there are no counters, but I just can't imagine that with a 2,000 year history, the Church has never dealt with this.

The shortest reply I read:
John 6:51 - I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

John 6:53 - So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;

John 6:54 - he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:55 - For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

The reply I read (though there are others)
1. The answer to this is to shed your reliance on the unbiblical doctrine of sola scriptura--the false teaching that everything we believe as Christians must be explicitly in Scripture. After this you can see that, just because the Bible doesn't describe the early Christians doing something, doesn't mean they didn't do it. Most of the things they wrote down were in response to some crisis or erroneous teaching going around. The fact they didn't write about eucharistic devotion may only mean it wasn't an issue at that time. On the other hand, if they wrote that it was prohibited, we could not do it. As it stands, they are silent on the issue.

2.The same way he, as God. could maintain the universe and walk the earth at the same time. Jesus is God, never stopped being God, and as God, he is outside of time and space and not restricted by either

3.See the last question on this page:
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9505qq.asp

4.Same answer as to question #2 above.
5.The short answer is that Jesus is, according to Hebrews, High Priest forever. As a priest he has to have something to offer forever, or he is not a priest--he is an ex-priest. So what sacrifice does he offer? He offers perpetually the same one he offered once and for all at Calvary. This is the re-presentation of his sacrifice that we participate in at Mass, as we --every Christian ever--are also a nation of priests (1 Peter 2:9) and we have to offer a sacrifice as well.

The long answer can be found here:
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1990/9006chap.asp

:D

Yes, today, Im all :D :D :D :D :D and no :'(
Im so :D , a :) wouldn't suffice.


Hehe

EFTPOS Enabled

Electronic Funds Transfer (at) Point of Service. Thats how things are bought here in NZ. Your ATM card is also your 'credit card'. The moment I came here 3 years ago, I fell in love with it, though it does 'assist' you in spending your money and I think it's one of those things you lock up in a safe when it's sale season.

Last week, my dear old EFTPOS card cracked, all of my transactions were declined at the cashiers, and I had to pay by cash...after a week of waiting, HSBC sent it to me...ahh...a replacement card...which looks the same actually tsk...I thought they would redesign it after so long....o well. I have to admit though, having no ability to use my card did save me a lot of un needed spending. :P

Today's (Well actually yesterday's) Reading

Felt that I had to blog this down cos what Fr Barry said today made things so clear.

Matthew 14:22 - 31

Then Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people away. After sending the people away, he went up a hill by himself to pray. When evening came, Jesus was there alone; and by the time the boat was far out in the lake, tossed about by waves, because the wind was blowing against it.Between three and six o'clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water. When they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. "It's a ghost!" they said, and screamed with fear. Jesus spoke to them at once. "Courage!" he said. "It is I. Don't be afraid!"
Then Peter spoke up. "Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you.""Come!" answered Jesus. So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water."Save me, Lord!" he cried.At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him and said, "How little faith you have! Why did you doubt?"

Paraphrasing from Fr Barry, Jesus didn't explain in any of the gospels why there is evil in the world. Why innocent people die to acts of terrorists, tsunamis, starvation...the list goes on. But in this reading, the message in clear, when the waves are high, and the wind horrificly strong, and all you have is a tiny boat, with no radio to call for help, no life jackets, no rescue helicopter coming for you, Jesus is present. He is there with you, sharing your fear, anxiety, feeling of helplessness. All that He asks? That you have faith in him.

Note to myself: As I was copying out the verse from the bible, I noticed the phrase ".....At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him..." At once e.g immediately e.g. without hesitation.

Interesting Questions for Catholics

Please note, I got this from a catholic forum and I am directly copying and pasting it, though not entirely.

Q:Is a devotion to Mary required of Catholics?
Answered by Michelle Arnold, a catholic apologist:
Devotion is an emotional attachment, which cannot be required of anyone. All that is required is that which can be governed by an act of the will, such as assent to those doctrines that the Church has declared to be true and binding upon Catholic consciences. So, as long as you give assent of the will to the Marian doctrines, it is not required that you have any particular emotional attachment to the Blessed Mother.

That said, devotion can be developed just like emotional attachment to any person can be developed, and it is certainly a pious action for a Catholic to seek to develop a devotion to his spiritual Mother. One way of developing such an attachment is to learn more about the Blessed Mother. To start learning about Mary, please consider the resources linked below.

Recommended resources:
True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis De Montfort
The World's First Love by Fulton J. Sheen
Meeting Mary, Our Mother in Faith by Kenneth J. Howell
Mary, The Mother of God (video) by Stephen K. Ray

Q:How are Protestants' sins forgiven without going to confession?
The Catholic Church does teach that protestants are Christians, correct? But the Church also teaches that there is no forgiveness of sins without the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) - correct? So since protestants don't believe in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, what is the Church's position on how protestant Christians can go to heaven without having gone to confession?

Answered by Jim Blackburn, catholic apologist
Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation for the forgiveness of sins. It remains the only ordinary means of forgiveness of serious sins (cf., Code of Canon Law, 960). But it is not the only means. Those who cannot approach the sacrament, including non-Catholics, may attain forgiveness in other ways.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) is generally required for the remission of mortal sins committed after Baptism (which forgives all sins). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) explains, “Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification” (CCC 1446).

While sacramental confession of all sins is recommended (cf. Code of Canon Law, 988.2), venial sins may be confessed directly to God. Moreover, the Catechism notes, “[Scripture and the Fathers] cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of sins: efforts at reconciliation with one's neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one's neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity which covers a multitude of sins” (CCC 1434).

Perfect contrition also obtains forgiveness. “When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible” (CCC 1452).

Q:Why do bad things happen to good people?
The answer is found here. Great reading. Simple and to the point.
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0019.html