Homeschoolers in Pune

This is so hopeful.

Also, check this.

random thought

To serve is to be free

Random Thought

One day there was Faith.

Then... there was Knowledge

Blowin' in the Wind

For Dylan, and the part of him that I really like. 
c/o Joan Beaz

God is good.

God is good. I will say that till I am blue in the face. 

12 Days of Christmas

Want Jesus

When you want heaven, you want an escape from hell and pain.

When you want Jesus, you want everything, all at once. 

That's why some are willing to pay everything else for it. 

Wanting Jesus, is wanting more. It is being unsatisfied with everything else. It's a smarter choice. When you ask for Jesus, you dare to ask for the most precious thing in the whole universe. And today God is gracious to give Him to you at His expense. I think it is a good deal. I think you should take it!

Random Thought

God works through people, not institutions or mission statements.

Some Happiness for Mathematicians/Physicists/Computer Scientists

These ones made me laugh. Enjoy!

source: http://xkcd.com/824/

Random Thought

Humility is the thing that frees you to look straight into the eyes of the person in front of you

Borderline Heritical

If your preaching of the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ does not provoke the charge from some of antinomianism, you're not preaching the gospel of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ

- Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Why so serious?

There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes

- C. S. Lewis

Journal Entry

Journal Entry: Nov 12, 2010

Faith in fortune cookies continues to grow... Today mine read, "One day you will be an accomplished writer". There is something about those cookies... either someone is closely watching me and trying to communicate a message, or the universe is just in dire need of me. Oh the weight of being so gifted! I guess people like me can only dream of having a simple normal life. 

Random Thought

Some people look at the depressed and wonder what's wrong with them… You know, may be something is right with them and wrong with us. May be their souls got the real taste of this world, unadulterated by the attractive wrapping - and they did not like it. 


Considering how much joy we are created for, and what we have fallen to, depression seems to be just about the right response.

If - Rudyard Kipling

My Relationship with Theology

My relationship with theology is similar to the relationship a spoilt kid of a rich father has with money. He does not understand the importance of it. 

However, it is also true that some people have a relationship with theology similar to that the rich father of the spoilt kid has with his money, if he had to earn all of it. He gives it more importance that it deserves. 

Random Thought

A good leader is also always a good follower, because he is motivated not by a desire to lead, but by a desire to be somewhere.

Of Probabilities, Information, Intelligence and Faith

Once, a normal unbiased die was rolled inside an box and so nobody could tell what number was rolled. 

One person was told to give the probability that the number 6 was rolled. The person was intelligent. So he calculated correctly. He said the probability that 6 was rolled is 1/6. That is also the same probability that 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, were rolled. 

The die was not rolled again. Nothing about the experiment was changed. 

Another person was asked the same question... "What is the probability that the number 6 was rolled?" However, this person was given some more information. He was told that an even number was rolled. Since this person was also intelligent, he concluded correctly that the probability of 6 being rolled was 1/3rd. 

The die was not rolled again. Nothing about the experiment was changed. 

A third person was asked the same question, but he was given more information. He was told, that the number rolled is even and is not less than or equal to 3. The third person also happened to be intelligent and so concluded, that the probability that 6 was rolled is 1/2. 

The above simple story was written from an experiment that my advisor Carl Sturtivant told me to make his point about the importance of information. 

Note that every intelligent man had faith that the information given to him was true. He trusted the source. 

I want to respect the beauty in the simplicity of the experiment by not writing explicit conclusions from it except allude to one. I recently read a quote I found agonizingly painful. Here - "Actually faith and intelligence are alternatives. You can't have both of them at the same time." This experiment probably brings out why I find that statement so painful. 

Phir Dekhiye

Love this song: 





I can't wait to be in heaven. 

Carl Sagan on Atheism

An atheist has to know a lot more than I know.

- Carl Sagan (Agnostic)

Random Thought

To 'get' the gospel you should try rattling hard against the bars of  "but what about?"s, "how-come?"s and "but that's dangerous"s, that incarcerate you... and you will realize that they do not break. Then try bending your knee, and praying that the Holy Spirit would break them... and... He might just do it for you. He  might take you to the world where there is a sea Joy, where Christ is far exalted and you are far more thankful. That's when you are closer to 'getting it'.

Announcement

Today I became a believer in Fortune Cookies. My fortune read:

"Sell your ideas - They have exceptional merit"

World, take note that this blog will soon become a paid site.  

Random advice - Rebellion

Rebellion is an inadvertent by-product of trying to reach a legitimate goal...  a means, that too one that is last resorted to...  it is NEVER itself the goal. It should never be the goal

New Middle Road - Francis Chan

I love Francis Chan

Universal Fact #55 Playing House

It is true. Trust me! It is not something we made up to look more masculine. In fourth grade, or pretty much all of our younger years, we guys find playing 'home' gross even though we might end up doing the real thing with one of you girls when we grow up. 

Oh, and I think we get the concept. We just don't get why you girls find it fun. :)

Growing Up

When you're a little kid you're a bit of everything; Scientist, Philosopher, Artist. Sometimes it seems like growing up is giving these things up one at a time.

- The Narrator (the grown up Kevin Arnold) from The Wonder Years 

Short Story

I was on my knees, upper body stooping down, nose almost touching the ground. I was still hot with the argument... with pain. I could feel it in my head. My face was still wet with tears.

He was on his throne and was giving the orders that had devastated me. I was not looking at him. After they were given, I could hear the others leave briskly, so that I knew we were left alone. I felt him turn his face to me.  With his same stern commanding voice he said,

"As for you... "

"Yes, my Lord", I said. I had given up trying to argue... trying to present my case. He was too strong.

But there was a pause... I was waiting to hear my punishment.... or a disciplinary action.  Even a beating couldn't be worse than his orders. And he continued,

"My son..."

The tone of his voice had changed. I looked up... to him...  I did not expect to see tears streaming down his face. He felt my pain. I couldn't believe it.  I kept looking at him and in sometime there broke a smile on his face and he said,

"You will learn to enjoy me."

Random Thought

Money is too quantifiable not to be deceptive.

One object of pursuit

There is ONE object of pursuit in life and that is Jesus Christ, and none other. Not Holiness, nor purity, nor security, nor goodness, nor generosity, nor any fruit of the Spirit- they are fruits - not objects of pursuit, not happiness, (it is a mind set, it can't be pursued), nor missions, nor ministry. All these are enjoyed as by products. They are enjoyed because they are good, but they are good because they are right. They are right because God has designed them that way. The best thing for a man to do is to bow his head before the Lord of the universe, Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, the solution, the origin, of all things material and immaterial. All the universe falls in place in looking at him. 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

...There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

1 Cor 8:6

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:36

The Cure or The Disease?

Cuz its my kinda humor:

Source: http://xkcd.com/56/

Random Thought

There are a few things I want to be known by. One of them is freedom. 

Random Thought

If it weren't for the doctrine of justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I would probably be an agnostic

Thoughts on Love - C. S. Lewis

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God’s will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness…We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break, so be it. What I know about love and believe about love and giving ones heart began in this

- C. S. Lewis

Questions

I know you would fight for your loved one,
But would you die for someone else's too?

There are people blinded by lies,
But would you love them before you give them the truth?

Cowards don't fight for justice,
But did you stand up for your friend when she needed you?

I understand your fight for uncertainty.
But then how were you certain that your abortion didn't kill a life or two?

Random Thought

What you believe is generally followed by what you feel. So if you feel incorrectly, perhaps you believe incorrectly.

Gianna Jessen

I can't believe I get the honor of calling her my sister....  :)

Can I say something? Being a part of this thing called 'Christianity' I have gotten to see the Christian God very closely. I have also gotten to see how he can transform people, very closely. There are few of them. There are never many... but there are. The God who works in them... woh kuch aur hai.... He is something else!

Random Thought

There should be a pointer that pops up, like a thought bubble in a comic would, pointing to you, saying "He's kidding!" everytime you make a statement that is a joke, but could be taken otherwise, so that you don't have to append the highly annoying but sometimes essential, '... just kidding' at the end. 




And then may be Microsoft could add some spice to life by make it pop up, when you aren't really joking.

My Heroes

Chris Williams taught me that God meant business when he decided to communicate to Human Beings through the Bible. That Christ was all consuming and not a Sunday morning game.  I may not be a very strong man, but a large part of the existing strength has been gained through his teaching. A lot of my theology comes from his teaching.  In a way, he attempted turning boys to men, we might not have, but thats our fault. I met my LORD through his teaching. I cannot stop loving him. 

Stephen Williams, taught me that a guy can be young, cool and in love with God. That Christianity trickled down to a daily living and was not a two faced thing. I learned to pray from him, to ask God for much better things... much richer things. 

Francis Chan taught me to be genuine. If I can believe God half as much as he does, I can't say I would be satisfied, but... I still want to be there. I love Francis Chan. 

C.S. Lewis: It is hard to do justice to what he has taught me because he has taught me a lot more than what I can tell you or put in words.  I have not read a lot of Lewis, but his direct and indirect influence is far beyond what I have read and heard about him. Some Men don't influence you in words but they involved in changing you. They make you like themselves so that the outflow of the result, whether direct or indirect is still an influence of them. That is what lewis does to me. Though there may be something I do, think or write tomorrow, that could qualify as original, there are good chances of it being an influence of Lewis. 

Some of the things that he taught me and come to mind are:

- People are souls not bodies or brains. 
- Sometimes, fiction is a better way of communicating truth. Infact sometimes truth is so overwhelming and out of this world, that the only thing that might do a decent job is fiction. 

Blaise Pascal: Unlike Lewis, what Pascal taught me could be summarized in his quote: 

"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves." There might be very, very few things, outside the bible, that have changed me as much as this quote has. Pascal taught me to look at the world differently... more clearly. He channeled my love for Jesus. 

Matt Reagan: Matt tends to have a freeing effect on me. He fights, not only for me to think a certain way, but also to feel a certain way. To feel the truth. If I am a Christian Hedonist at all, it was Matt that made me one directly, and not Piper. 

John Piper: I am going to make a big statement here. What Piper calls 'Christian hedonism' is, in my opinion, the most mature way to live. John Piper is like my spiritual grandfather. He has been in dangerous areas of thought and brought out from the deep mysteries, cool and satisfying waters so that some of us can have them freely. Even before I was saved, he has thought and written things that amaze me today. 

Priyadarshan taught me that a man can be an athiest/agnostic and still genuinely love people, trees and nature, far more than me a believer, and be willing to give his life for them. I find that amazing. 

My Uncle taught me that it is possible to love your brother's children as much as yours. 

Dad showed me that it was possible to love your family more than yourself, and sacrifice all your life for it. 

While I say, 'they taught me', I can't completely say, 'I have learnt these things'. Some success I have had, but not even that would be possible if God were not pleased in working in those men and in me to produce the change. 

If you happen to read this, here is the intention: I love these men. Theoretically, if death was painless, I would rather God kill me now and distribute my remaining life to some of these. I am not much of a man, but understand that if it weren't for these men, I would be far worse. So don't forget to invest in the lives of people around you.

Computer Science and Computers

Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes  

- Edsger Dijkstra

I want to grow old on the Gospel

A friend of mine once made a comment about dogs, when one continued to chase and bring back the bone he threw. He said, "It is interesting that dogs continue to do the same thing over and over again, with the same level of excitement". 

I look at human beings and myself completely differently. I need new and better things keep me excited. Things bore me quick. Living here for 26 years, I tend to find lesser things that excite, interest, and boggle me. I am unable to keep my mind fascinated... and please, gadgets are one of the least impressive things. However there is an anomaly to this. 

I have heard the gospel message over and over again. It is simple. I can put it in about 5 sentences using really simple words. Here: I am a sinner, and desperately so. I rebelled against a righteous and holy God who should justly punish me into hell. And when I was still and enemy of God he chose to die for me. He killed his Son for me... so that now, if I believe in his Son, I can have eternal life with Him. And his Son... he continues, even today, to intercede for me. 

This simple message that is stupid to some, that people stumble at because, it has in it no "wisdom" for them, is so powerful that it saved me and it continues to save me. My mind continues to get  boggled by it. Isn't that amazingly weird? I can't believe God can continue to boggle my mind with the same old thing. He insults my intelligence. I love it. 

Yesterday I turned 26 years old... and I want to grow old on that message. 

Dear Piper

Dear Piper, 


God has been gracious to you
He has shown you wonderful things
The awesome power that he is a source of. 
Please don't forget, as much as I do, 
That you are who you are because He is who He is. 


May you find more riches in our Lord, 
May you find all your healing, 
May your family find its healing, 
May you decrease as He increases, 
May you have eyes to see through the deception of this world, 
To see through the deception of fame, 
May you be blessed with health, wealth and the prosperity that is our God. 


So that you can come bless us in return. 


On my knees for you. 

Why I don't Like Blogging

There weren't many reasons... but each of them is huge . 

1. Just as as mirror, it reflects you, and so, just like a mirror, it has a strong pull towards narcissism. 

2. History can start limiting and defining you. The same, I think, can be said about well document thoughts. They can start limiting your future thinking or biasing it. 

3. Every human has a strong desire to be known and understood. Blogging can be an unhealthy expression of that. 

4. If at all your blog makes you "known" by many, being known by many is a dangerous thing. Not many handle it well. 

Mad World

Scavenger

My story is that of a diseased and incomplete soul in a junk yard that once used to be a perfect garden. My soul, restless and thirsty, scavenges for something... ANYTHING that completes it, satisfies it, heals it. There are few things it does find in the pile of trash, that seem precious and that satisfy indeed… but only temporarily. It is just a matter of time before my soul realizes its find is defective, incomplete, not trustworthy… or just that its longing is for more.   The piece does not fit it. Then all it does is look sorrowfully at its "precious" just to throw it back in the pile of junk.

Then magic happens! Suddenly, it gets a taste of God, supernatural... from out of the junkyard and my soul realizes, not that God just completes it, but more, that its existence is in God. 

From then on, all it has been doing is begging for and being satisfied in more of Him. It refuses to be satisfied with junk again. 

"... and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17

Random Thought

There was a time when I found it hard to get that in Heaven, we will singing of the Lamb who was Slain for all eternity. 


Now I find it hard to get that we might not be doing that all the time. 

Random Thought

To be a good quality mathematician, and a well respected one at that, you should learn to use the word 'arbitrary' quite arbitrarily. How frequently you use it determines how well you do at math.

Random Thought

We don't communicate words. We communicate spirit. Sometimes, we use words to do that. 

(Not So) Random Thought

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. - Romans 7:21

A Sermon A Week

Why should we have a sermon every sunday? What if a pastor stands up, goes to the pulpit and says 'I have no sermon for you today'? 

What is/should be/ideally has been the role of pastors? How much of it is expositing what the bible says and how much of it is modeling for the church what it means to be a man who is led by God, and out of that having sermons preached, may be twice a week? Shouldn't a shepherd be more of a man who is walking and leading the sheep and preaching being only one of the several ways he leading them? Or does a shepherd look at his responsibilities as, "If i give the sheep 5 whacks a day, give them to the waters once a week, then my responsibilities are over "

I find it hard to believe that every Sunday God wants the church to gather in a building, sit in the pews, and to listen to a pastor preach, and then go back home. I find it hard to believe that a pastor is called to preach every sunday. Don't get me wrong. There is a place for sermons, there is a place for preaching. However, as of today, I stand unconvinced that it needs to be done every sunday. 

Delhi - 6

... cuz I love this song.

The Unsaid Exception to the Unsaid Rule

If you wear multicolored boxers then an ABCD offence will not be counted against you.


Someone should blog about ABCD, so that I can link to it. 

The Decline

The First said, "Thank You"

The Second chose not to. 

The Third asked, "Who are you?"

The Fourth said, "We don't know you"

The Fifth asked, "Do you exist?"

The Sixth answered, "He does not!"

Why I like blogging

1. It is creative. I like creativity.

2. The world, with all its messages, talks to me all the time. ALL THE TIME. This is my way of talking back to it. I love the fact that the world has access to it. 

3. There are so many things to say, but whom are they to be said to? Who is the audience? Friends? But there is only so much you can talk with friends, only so much you can burden them with / bore them with. Blogging lets the audience decide if they want to continue listening to you. 

4. When you write, you preserve a mind. It can be helpful in the future.

5. Though biased, it is a semi-decent reflection of who you are - to yourself and to the world. 
6. Writing/blogging is like crying in that It is an emotional release. You stay less complicated once you write.  

Random Thought

I desire, therefore I am.

The best part of, "Life of Pi"

I am not a big fan of the book. There isn't much to get from it... but this is the best part.

Chapter 13

So you see, if you fall into a lion's pit, the reason it will tear you into pieces is not because it's hungry - be assured, zoo animals are amply fed - or because it's bloodthirsty, but because you've invaded its territory.

As an aside, that is why a circus trainer must always enter the lion ring first, and in full sight of the lions. in doing so, he establishes that the ring is his territory, not theirs, a notion that he reinforces by shouting, by stomping about, by snapping his whip. The lions are impressed. Their disadvantage weighs heavily on them. Notice how they come in: mighty predators though they are, "king of beasts", they crawl in with their tails low and they keep to the edges of the ring, which is always round so that they have nowhere to hide. They are in the presence of a strongly dominant male, a super-alpha male, and they must submit to his dominance rituals. So they open their jaws wide, they sit up, they jump through paper-covered hoops, they crawl through tubes, they walk backwards, they roll over. "He's a queer one," they think dimly. "Never seen a top lion like him. But he runs a good pride. The larder's always full and - let's be honest, mates - his antics keep us busy. Napping all the time does get a bit boring. At-least we're not riding bicycles like the brown bears or catching flying plates like the chimps."

Only the trainer better make sure he always remains super alpha. He will pay dearly if he unwittingly slips to beta. Much hostile and aggressive behavior among animals is the expression of social insecurity. The animal in front of you must know where it stands, whether above you or below you. Social rank is central to how it leads its life. Rank determines whom it can associate with and how, where and when it can eat; where it can rest; where it can drink; and so on. Until it knows its rank for certain, the animal lives a life of unbearable anarchy. It remains nervous, jumpy, dangerous. Luckily for the circus trainer, decisions about social rank among higher animals are not always based on brute force. Hediger (1950) says, "When two creatures meet, the one that is able to intimidate its opponent is recognized as socially superior, so that a social decision does not always depend on a fight; an encounter in some circumstances may be enough."  ...

It's a question of brain over brawn. The nature of the circus trainer's ascendancy is psychological. Foreign surroundings, the trainer's erect posture, calm demeanor, steady gaze, fearless step forward, strange roar (for example, the snapping of a whip or the the blowing of a whistle) - these are so many factors that will fill the animal's mind with doubt and fear, and make clear to it where it stands, the very thing it wants to know. Satisfied, Number Two will back down and Number One can turn to the audience and shout, "Let the show go on! And now, ladies and gentlemen, through the hoops of real fire ..."

Chapter 14

It is interesting to note that the lion that is the most amenable to the circus trainer's tricks is the one with the lowest social standing in the pride, the omega animal. It has the most to gain from a close relationship with the super-alpha trainer. it is not only a matter of extra treats. A close relationship will also mean protection from the other members of the pride. It is compliant animal, to the public no different from the others in size and apparent ferocity, that will be the star of the show, while the trainer leaves the beta and gamma lions, more cantankerous subordinates, sitting on their colorful barrels on the edge of the ring.

The same is true of other circus animals. and is also seen in zoos. Socially inferior animals are the ones that make the most strenuous resourceful efforts to get to know their keepers. They prove to be the ones most faithful to them, most in need of their company, least likely to challenge them or be difficult. The phenomenon has been observed with big cats, bison, deer, wild sheep, monkeys and many other animals. It is a fact commonly known in the trade.

Universal Fact #48

Chacha Choudhari's mind works faster than a computer.

Random Thought

The best thing  a person can do for himself, all humans around him and the human race in general is to pursue God for himself.

Desire v/s Discipline

Discipline cannot produce a desire in you. It can only help channel or stregthen a desire, and avoid others choking it. If there is no desire at all, then there is no need for discipline at all.


Desire 2 : Discipline 1

Thoughts on Humility - C. S. Lewis

The following is a modified quote from 'The Screwtape Letters', by C. S. Lewis. It needed to be modified because the context of the book makes it difficult for a direct quote to make sense to those who do not know it, and it would have been a pain to explain it. 

"Thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools. 

Humility is not a certain kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of your own talents and character. Some talents your really have. Don't fix in your mind, the idea that Humility is trying to believe those talents are less valuable than you believe them to be. No doubt they are infact less valuable, but that is not the point. 

God wants you, in the end to be so free from any bias in your own favor that you can rejoice in your own talents as frankly and gratefully as in your neighbor's talents - or in a sunrise, an elephant or a waterfall. God wants each man, in the long run, to be able to recognize all creatures (even yourself) as glorious and excellent things - when you have really learned to love your neighbor as yourself, then you will be allowed to love yourself as their neighbor. "

Blog Announcement #4

What this blog does not come close to doing justice to, is reflecting how evil I am and have been. While only a subset of my thoughts are documented here... many others I do not dare document or try to capture in words.

They are known and felt by God and me only. May be one day He will show it to all of you... so that there are no secrets any more, and you will know that when I say I am evil I mean the word and probably much worse than what the word tends to mean in its mild form in the christian religion or your imagination.

Slow Dance

I am probably for the slow movement




Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done!
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,’Hi’
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift..
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.


- Don't know who wrote this one

Calvin

Nobody messes up as bad as calivn... but this is for all the times I have... (and that's a lot of times). 

I love this game

Random Thought

God was more kind to man in His Curse than man is kind to himself in Sin

One Way Relationship

The fall has marred us so that we believe in a give and take relationshp so bad, that we, without help cannot accept a one way, get get relationship. We, by ourselves, are both unable and unwilling to let truth and perpetual gain coincide in one relationship

When you meet God you will enter a relationship in with you get, and you get - it is one way. I do not have such a relationship with any other being. 

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

   "'In him we live and move and have our being';

as even some of your own poets have said,

   "'For we are indeed his offspring.'

- Acts 17: 24 - 28

Gai

For the marathi in me:

Harry Potter - The deathly hallows

Can't wait to watch it. 

Bible - Hard to understand ?

If anyone says that the bible is hard to understand, I will give it to them.  But I know of nothing in this world so tangible and so committed to giving you the Truth, and the simplest understand it. 

Random Thought : Vessels of grace

We aren't sources of grace. We are vessels of grace. If we don't get it, we cant give it. So lets make sure we take a lot of it. 

Teachers' Day

I got this recently - it is one of the first letters from one of my first students. It reminds me of teacher's day celebrations in India. 

"Dear Mike, Daniel, Gagan and Media guys, 

Thank you for letting me come and learn about what you guys do. It was a great experience. I had a lot of fun learning about what goes up to create a webpage. Thank you for patient" (yep that's what she wrote) "when I didnt understand. You have a very friendly work environment which I was glad to get to see. Work hard and I hope to see your work on the Desiring God website. 

From, 

Ashley K"

Outsourcing

I came across this today: 

:)


If it helps... I feel a little sorry. 

Corollary to Pascal's quote on Happiness

Human Beings seek happiness above survival. If they get too convinced that their Happiness is not in survival, they kill themselves.


Pascal's quote on happiness here

Seeing Him

Seeing Jesus the first time (and every time after that) is a little like entering a different medium, or a different world. (I would have liked to say its Lewis's Narnia, but in this world there is no Sin). Have you jumped into water and noticed the noises on land become subdued? Its something like that. You are suddenly pulled into a different medium and all the noises of the world, the cares, the arguments, the desires will be far away, unable to reach you.  You will know they exist, but they are too muffled and you are least interested in them... because you are here, in His presence.


You don't physically see him... but you know he is there... his justice, his holiness, his wrath, his love , his hugeness, his grace and his mercy, co-existing in one being... One Being! In perfection. It is the first time you can dare to lift your head boldly to gaze directly at him, covered by the love the same person, yet it is also the first time you want to bow it down. And whether you choose to bow your head or look straight at him you will survive - because his justice is satisfied by his love.  He is pleased.


There you are changed. Transformed back to the person he created you to be. If it were up to you, you would never leave this place. Never. You don't want to go back to your world, no-matter how promising you thought it was. You want to stay here in His presence gazing on His beauty like the angels, and you long to be there with them.


But then something comes knocking - your job, your meal, your telephone call, your parents, wife, children, pulling you back to the bazaar... Then you hear noises, hawkers screaming  fake promises of joy - the "I will please you"s. The exact things your flesh would crave for.  This time though, your soul is too drunk on pure joy to want any from the world. You have a smile on your face - the kinda smile that fades only after a long time, and will not if you keep visiting him. You can see through the deception in the world and in you. And you only long to get back... as much as, and as often as you can.