Christian parody of MAC/PC commercials

Three thought provoking Christian parodies of the "Hi I'm a MAC... and I'm a PC" commercials. The comments are interesting, too. Enjoy.

Jesus and Alexander

Jesus and Alexander

Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three;
One lived and died for self; one died for you and me.
The Greek died on a throne; the Jew died on a cross;
One’s life triumphed seemed; the other a loss.
One led armies forth; the other walked alone;
One shed a whole world’s blood; the other gave His own.
One won the world in life and lost it all in death;
The other lost His life to win the whole world’s faith.

Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three;
One died in Babylon; and one on Calvary.
One gained all for self; and one Himself He gave;
One conquered every throne; the other every grave.
The one made himself god; The God made Himself less;
The one lived but to blast; the other but to bless!
When died the Greek, forever fell his throne of swords
But Jesus died to live forever Lord of lords.

Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three.
The Greek made all men slaves; the Jew made all men free.
One built a throne on blood; the other built on love,
The one was born of earth; the other from above;
One won all this earth, to lose all earth and heaven.
The other gave up all, that all to Him be given.
The Greek forever died; the Jew forever lives;
He loses all who get, and gains all things who gives.

- Charles Ross Weede -

Prayer Before Starting Work

工作前的禱告

My Heavenly Father, as I enter this workplace,
I bring Your Presence with me,
天父,我將祢的同在帶進這工作場所.
I speak Your Peace, Your Grace, Your Mercy,
And Your Perfect Order into this office.
我宣告祢的平安,祢的恩典,祢的憐憫和祢完美的規律進入這辦公室.

I acknowledge Your Power over all that will be spoken, thought, decided and done within these walls.
我承認今天在這形成的每一句話,每個念頭,每項決定及每一件事,祢都掌權.
Lord, I thank You for the gifts You have blessed me with.
主! 謝謝祢賜給我才能.
I commit to using them responsibly in Your Honor.
我承諾要為祢的榮耀,盡職地使用它們.

Give me a fresh supply of strength to do my job.
請賜我新的力量投入職場工作.
Anoint my projects, ideas and energy so that even my smallest accomplishment may bring You Glory.
恩膏我的專案,點子和體力,甚至使我最小的成就,也能榮耀祢.
Lord, when I am confused, guide me.
主啊!當我困惑時,求你引導.
When I am weary, energize me.
當我厭倦時,求祢激勵.
When I am burned out, infuse me with the light of the Holy Spirit.
當我枯竭時,求聖靈的光注入我.
May the work that I do and the way I do it bring faith, joy and a smile to all whom I come in contact with today.
願我的工作和做事的方法,可以為今天所接觸的人,帶來信心,喜樂和笑容.
And oh Lord, when I leave this place, give me traveling mercy.
還有當我離開辦公室,主,求祢保守我路途平安.

Bless my family and home to be in order as I left it.
也賜福保守我的家與家人.
Lord, I thank You for everything You've done, everything You're doing and everything You're going to do.
主. 為所有祢已經成就的,正在做的,和將要成就的,我感謝祢.

In the precious and holy Name of Jesus I pray, with much love and thanksgiving.
謹以深深的愛和感恩,奉耶穌的名禱告.

Amen.
阿們!

如何為你的孩子禱告

我們雖不能成為完美的父母，但是可以成為禱告的父母。

• 網上閱讀（或下載）簡體中文版 - 如何為你的孩子禱告


• 網上購買英文版 - The Power Of A Praying Parent

Daily Devotion in Chinese

Daily Devotional Pages in Chinese,

• Daily Bread of Life - from Bread of Life Church in Taipei
• Daily Devotion - from Chinese Christian Evangelistic Association

Chinese Devotional Bible

• Online Version
• Download Version

Chinese Sermons On The Net

NetSermon.org contains a huge audio file collection of Christian sermons and teachings spoken in Mandarin or Cantonese from all over the world.

「講道錄音及專題講座資料庫」包含了全球各地許多華人教會牧師及傳道人的講道或教導，以傳揚福音、造就信徒為目的。

Which Theologian Are You?

Take a simple quiz of 30 questions to find out which theologian are you?

「神采飛揚」網站

Lessons on Life

生命的功課

There was a man who had four sons.
He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly.
So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
有一個人，他有四個兒子。
他希望他的兒子能夠學會不要太快對事情下結論，
所以，他依次給他四個孩子一個問題，
要他們分別出去遠方看一顆桃子樹。

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring,
the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.
大兒子在冬天前往，二兒子在春天，
三兒子在夏天，小兒子則是在秋天前往。

When they had all gone and come back,
he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
當他們都前去也都返家之後，
他把他們一起叫到跟前形容他們所看到的情景，
大兒子說那棵樹很醜、枯槁、扭曲。

The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
二兒子則說，不是這樣子，
這棵樹被青青的嫩芽所覆蓋，充滿了盼望。

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
三兒子不同意，他說樹上花朵綻放、充滿香氣，
看起來十分美麗，這美景事他從來不曾見到過的。

The last son disagreed with all of them;
he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit,
full of life and fulfillment.
小兒子不同意他們三人的說法。
他說樹上結滿了果子、累累下垂。
充滿了生命果子與豐收。

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right,
because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.
這個人就對他四個兒子說：你們都是正確的。
因為你們四個人是在這棵樹的四個不同季節前往，
並且只看到其中一個季節的風景。

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
他告訴兒子們不可用一個季節的風景來評斷一棵樹或是一個人，關於構成一個人是怎樣的一個人的要件，還有一個人生命的 歡愉、喜樂、愛，只能在他生命的盡頭時候來做衡量。

If you give up when it's winter,
you will miss the promise of your spring,
the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
當你在冬天時候就放棄，
你就會錯過你生命春天的盼望、夏天的美麗、秋天的收成。

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
不要讓一個季節的痛苦毀掉其他季節的喜樂。

Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.
不要因為一個痛苦的季節就對人生下結論，
持守忍耐度過這段艱難，美好的日子將在不久之後來到。

詩意中，蘊含豐富哲理
要作為每一個人心中的提醒
免得輕看了上帝給的豐富人生

PEERS Test

The PEERS test, developed by Dan Smithwick of the Nehemiah Institute, measures the Bible's influence on a person's perceptions of the world in five areas: Politics(P), Education(E), Economics(E), Religion(R) and Social Issues(S). The complete test consists of 70 questions and a mini version with 20 questions is available on line.

Click here to take the mini PEERS test

The results of the PEERS test taken by Christian students attending public schools and Christian students in typical Christian schools from 1988 to 2000 are available in the chart below. The chart shows the downward trend in Christian worldview scores for Christian students in both school systems. However, the good news is that Christian students who have received home school or classical Christian, or Principle Approach training are scoring at consistently higher levels.

Click here to view the chart online

Interpretation of the PEERS test score:

Biblical Theism worldview- 70 - 100
Moderate Christian worldview- 30-69
Secular Humanist worldview- 0-29
Socialist worldview- less than 0

Below are two articles with different views about choosing schools to educate our children,

• Education Our Children
• Nine Reasons for not Using Public Schools

You Raise Me Up

"You Raise Me Up" is a beautiful music video, featuring missionaries in Central Africa, performed by one of my favorite Christian praise and worship groups - Selah. If you would like to help building a hospital in Congo Africa, you may visit Laban Ministries.

You may view this music video by clicking one of the links below,

You Raise Me Up

• (WMV, Window Media Format)
• (rm, Real Media Format)

Mother Poem

M - O - T - H - E - R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell
"MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.

- Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

What Is Mom's Job Worth? - Working Mom vs. Stay at Home Mom Salaries For 2006. (from Salary.com)

Breaking the Da Vinci Code

I finished reading the Chinese version of "Da Vinci Code" last weekend. The story is fascinating. The theories behind the story are somewhat unbelievable. For those of you who just want to know the "Code" but do not have time to read the whole story. I suggest you could visit the following sites:

• Everything about the Da Vinci Code (from Wikipedia English version and Chinese中文 version）


• Criticisms of The Da Vinci Code (also from Wiki - MORE interesting than the Code)


• 揭開「達文西密碼」的面紗 (from a Chinese Christian site)

Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark is one of the favorite Bible stories ever told in children's Sunday school. It is also the predominant theme in many baby-oriented products that are sold on the American market. I just came across a site called WorldWideFlood which could have the most complete information about Noah's Ark. If you're interested in anything about the Ark, you should not miss WorldWideFlood.com.

Models of Noah's Ark: one of the many interesting pages in WorldWideFlood

JesusNet

JesusNet is the best network system in the world. It's FREE, no porn, no spam, no spyware, personal hotline, no system requirement, infinite speed ... please check it out.

Family Devotion

"How to lead a family devotion?" is a good article for all dads who want, but don't know how to start a family devotion time on a daily basis. There are more interesting short readings for Christian men in the "Man in the Mirror" site.

Devotional Hotline in Chinese

River of Life Christian Church provides ten-minute daily devotional messages in Chinese. You may listen the message by dialing a local hotline number or on the internet. In Washington DC area, the hotline is

703-923-1319

Other local numbers (in US and Canada) and messages of the month can be found at rolcc.net.

Pathway to Peace

Please view the beautiful presentation of

Pathway to Peace

The Devil's Beatitudes

Many people should be familiar with what has been termed The Beatitudes, the "blessed" passages of the Bible. Please read them in Matthew Chapter 5, verses 1 to 12.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
虛心的人有福了！因為天國是他們的。
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
哀慟的人有福了！因為他們必得安慰。
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
溫柔的人有福了！因為他們必承受地土。
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
飢渴慕義的人有福了！因為他們必得飽足。
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
憐恤人的人有福了！因為他們必蒙憐恤。
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
清心的人有福了！因為他們必得見　神。
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
使人和睦的人有福了！因為他們必稱為　神的兒子。
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
為義受逼迫的人有福了！因為天國是他們的。
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
人若因我辱罵你們，逼迫你們，捏造各樣壞話毀謗你們，你們就有福了！應當歡喜快樂，因為你們在天上的賞賜是大的。在你們以前的先知，人也是這樣逼迫他們。

Now, Take a look at The Devil's Beatitudes
「魔鬼八福」

Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend an hour once a week with their fellow Christians - they are my best workers.
「無暇聚會的人有福了！他們是我的部下。」
Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked - I can use them.
「期待別人稱讚的人有福了！我用得著他們。」
Blessed are the touchy who stop going to church - they are my missionaries.
「臭脾氣的人有福了！他們動輒不返教會，是我的宣教士。」
Blessed are the trouble makers - they shall be called my children.
「愛生事端的人有福了！他們得稱為我的兒女。」
Blessed are the complainers - I'm all ears to them.
「愛埋怨的人有福了！我必垂聽他們。」
Blessed are those who are bored with the minister's mannerisms and mistakes - for they get nothing out of his sermons.
「愛挑剔教會的人有福了！他們必繼承我在地獄裡的產業。」
Blessed are those who gossip - for they shall cause strife and divisions that please me.
「愛講閒話的人有福了！他們是我的偵探。」
Blessed is he who has not time to pray; for he shall be easy prey for me.
「無閒禱告的人有福了！他們是我的獵物。」

Blessed are you who, when you read this think it is about other people and not yourself - I've got you too!
「如果你聽了這些話，覺得我在說其他人，而與你無關的話，你就有福了！因為你已經是我的人了。」

Prayers for Your Family (in Chinese)

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Father's Love Letter

天父愛的信

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Unreserved Love

This heart touching theme song is from the movie "The Miracle Box (天作之盒)". The movie is a respectful portrait of Dr. Joanna Tse who was the first public hospital doctor to die from SARS in Hong Kong.

(Listen On-line - Cantonese Version)

(Listen On-line - Englishe Version)

愛是不保留
Unreserved Love

詞、曲：盧永亨
English Lyrics: Jacky Li

常聽說世界愛沒長久，
We've always heard that love could not last,
哪裡會有愛無盡頭？
Nowhere there's love everlast.
塵俗的愛只在乎曾擁有，
The love we have is just a short-while grasp,
一刻燦爛便要走！
A minute brilliance, burning blast.

而我卻確信愛是恆久，
Yet I believe God's eternal love.
碰到了你已無別求；
Meeting with you more than enough.
無從解釋、不可說明的愛，
Cannot explain, cannot be understood,
千秋過後仍長存不朽！！
It lasts forever through a million years.

誰人受痛苦被懸掛在木頭？
Who had suffered painf'lly hanging on the wood?
至高的愛盡見於刺穿的手；
Supreme love was reflecting by nailed-through hands.
看！血在流反映愛沒保留，
Hark! Flowing blood showed love was all to give
持續不死的愛到萬世不休！
With never dying love for ever more.

惟求奉上生命全歸主所有，
Wish I'd offered all my life to God my Lord.
要將一切盡獻於我主的手；
Everything of mine into your hand, my Lord.
我已決定今生再沒所求，
No more should I ask for rest of my life.
惟望得主稱讚已足夠！
But the appreciation from the Lord.

More Links:
Movie MV Version（電影版）WMV, QuickTime Format
Flash Animation （Flash 動畫）

Character Training is So Important

For parents who like to character training their children in a godly way, here is an interesting article written by a homeschooling mom. Many character training books and resources are reviewed in this article. Some of the materials could be used for children's Sunday School too.

You may also find this article from the author's website.

Top 100 Educational Web Sites of 2005

Homeschool.com asked their 7,000 product testers which web sites they found the most useful, both for homeschooling and for after-school help. From a statistician's point of view, 7,000 sample size is large enough to provide a good assessment of these web sites even though it's not a random sample. Their top 100 picks are now listed here.

Probably not many people know that this week (2/13 - 2/19) is Random Acts of Kindness Week, there is a great resource with stuff to print, activities and more in RAoK web site. All to inspire you and your children to perform random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.

釘十架過程身體變化的探討

（A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion )
從醫學的觀點來理解耶穌死亡那日所遭遇的痛苦

原作者C. Truman Davis醫師　　 編寫者：曾履元。

幾年以前我讀到Jim Bishop寫的〔基督死亡那日（The Day Christ Died）〕裡面關於釘十字架的那段敘述之後，開始對耶穌受難時身體方面所產生的變化發生了興趣。我猛然發覺這麼多年來竟然把釘十架僅僅當成一個事件，對那個過程中經歷的可怕情狀既沒概念、也缺少什麼特別的感覺。甚至，身為一個醫生，我從來也沒想過祂真正的死因是什麼。福音書的作者對這些都沒有清楚的交代。在他們的時代，釘十架和鞭打是很常見的事，過程人人都曉得，沒有必要詳細描述，因此聖經上只寫著：『彼拉多 … 將耶穌鞭打了，交給人釘十字架』。

雖然聖經上沒有紀錄細節，但是從生理和解剖的觀點，我們還是能夠深入看到主在受難過程中所必定經歷的事情。拿撒勒人耶穌的身體在最後幾個小時所遭遇到的怎麼樣的折磨呢？

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YCF Chinese New Year 2006 (Photos)

Dear YCF Members,

The photos were uploaded to Flickr. Please find the photo link from the "Recent Photos" section on the left side bar of this blog. 17 photos with 5 different sizes each are currently available for you to download (click "all sizes" on the upper left corner of each photo).

If you need sizes larger than 1280x960 (upto 2272x1704), please let me know the photos and size you want.

If you do not want your photos to be viewed publicly as they are now, please also let me know and I will remove them.

CW

So Why Did God Let This Happen?

The following is the complete part of the story I shared during our last YCF meeting on Jan-20.

Billy Graham's daughter was being interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?"

And Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said

"I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to Give us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?"

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The Christian Paradox

- How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong?

Please read this interesting article from Harper's Magazine.

Bless Your Children Every Day

by Dr. Mary Ruth Swope

This is a book which "shows you how to activate God’s blessings in the lives of your children and grandchildren by proclaiming verbal blessings over them. A must read for every mother and grandmother!" (from BCCN).

Now you may read or download the book in Simplified Chinese.

You may also purchase the book in English or in Traditional Chinese.

「蒙福的兒女」是一本幫助您天天藉著禱告給您孩子祝福的書。在此分享給願孩子蒙福的父母 ...

「簡體中文版」在線閱讀、下載

「繁體中文版」在線購買

「英文原版」在線購買

20 Things God Won't Ask

- Author Unknown

God won't ask what kind of fancy car you drove.
He will ask how many people you took to church who didn't have transportation.
上帝不會問你開甚麼牌子的汽車，祂會問你：「曾經載過多少沒有汽車的人？」

God won't ask the square footage of your house.
He will ask how many people you helped who didn't have a house.
上帝不會問你住多大的房子，祂會問你：「歡迎了多少人進入你的家？」

God won't ask how many fancy clothes you had in your closet.
He will ask how many of those clothes you gave away.
上帝不會問你在衣櫥裡有那些衣服，祂會問你：「曾給多少人送過衣服？」

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