Saturday, April 28, 2012

Cat and Dog Theology

Sometime ago, I heard of a book that captured my attention.  Two reasons could be 1) I'm an animal lover and 2) I'm a Christian.   The title of the book is Cat and Dog Theology by Bob Sjogren and Gerald Robison.   My interest was piqued.

Click here to read a short excerpt of the book.

"It is said that a dog thinks to itself regarding his master, “He feeds me, he shelters me, he cares for me, and he loves me.  He must be god!”  The cat makes similar observations but says  “He feeds me, he shelters me, he cares for me and he loves me, therefore I must be god!"

Looking at my own life, the people I've met and continually meet, and even some that I've counseled, there is some truth to the statement above.   

I created this short test for fun.  Click this link to answer the Cat or Dog Personality Test.


Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

What was your result?  Are you a dog or a cat? 

Kidding aside, most of us tend to switch between the dog and cat personalities, depending on what the situation is.  Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until you put her in hot water."   The same goes for Christians who experience trials and testings in life.   Our true character comes out.

However, when it comes toward our relationship with our true Master (Jesus Christ), we need to embrace the trust, loyalty, and faith of a child towards his Father.   Many of us fail to realize that God is the ultimate loving Master who cares for our littlest and grandest of needs.


Hebrews 13:5 says Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

God indeed will never forsake us if we submit our lives to Him that He, above anything else, must come first.  But many of us panic and refuse to wait for His goodness.  As soon as problems arise, we ask God for the solution ASAP as if God existed to please and cater to us, and not the other way around.   God created us for one and one thing alone.  To worship Him and praise Him for who He is, for what He has done, and what He will continue to do in our lives.

Exodus 7:16  (God speaking to Moses) 16Then say to him (Pharaoh of Egypt), ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 

I, for one, am listening  and two, would always like to imbibe a Dog Theology towards my true Lord, Savior, and Master, Jesus Christ. 

*Note: If this entry has touched you and you know God is personally talking to you, you might want to say a similar prayer like this: Dear God, help me to trust You more and more each day.  Forgive me for those instances where I blamed You and demanded solutions right away.  Help me increase my faith. I want to worship You and praise You with childlike faith. Amen.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Family Outing in Boracay

It takes a great event to gather great people for a cause. In this case, my mom's 70th birthday.    


For the first time in almost 20years, we as a family, finally took time off to spend four wonderful days together in Two Seasons Resort Boracay.   


Day 1 was spent shopping for basic groceries (which constitute 99% snacks and water) to fill our always hungry tummies.


Day 2 was an adventurous banca ride and walk towards the Crystal Cove Island.  When the tides were high, waves would crash into this small hole splashing water all over you.  





We also went snorkeling which was a first for my five (out of nine) pamangkins.   Even the youngest who was only five years old refused to stay in the banca. 


Day 3 
More swimming of course!  More posing for picture taking...






And of course, surprising my mom with a video presentation in the evening.  Video was filled with messages and clips of her grandchildren singing and dancing. 
Happy birthday Mom! We love you!



Day 4
Time to go home...... :(


I realize that spending moments with family is never a waste of time.   Time flies so fast.  Memories like these are worth treasures to keep.   




Monday, April 16, 2012

The Good and Beautiful God 002


Chapter Two: God is Good
After reading the "assignment", a few images automatically crossed my mind. The above pictures were actual photographs I took many many years ago (year 2005 I think).

The first one was a tree I saw in one of the parking lots in Ortigas Center. I was on my way to work and had just parked my car. The tree looks dead but it's artistry looked so alive at the same time. I just found it beautiful.







The second picture I took on my way home. I just got home and was about to park in the garage when I looked up and saw this beautiful full moon. Sigh... reminds me so much of God as to how beautiful God is.



And the last picture, I took while on vacation. I can't remember where I was. Tagaytay? Cagayan de Oro? Baguio? Anyway, it isn't obvious in the picture but the street the dog was on was very very long. He was just sitting there. Alone but confident. Calm. At peace. I wondered, what could the dog be thinking? So I took his picture instead. :)
God's goodness can be seen through creation...



Romans 1:19-20 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Excited for this week's Soul Training!


Friday, April 13, 2012

Only God knows the number of our days

Job 14:5 says A person’s days are determined; (God has) decreed the number of his months and has set limits he cannot exceed.


The article below just proves it. God has decreed the number of months the jumper still has. And God has set limits on the number of days the fisherman has not.


http://ph.news.yahoo.com/suicide-try-leaves-another-man-dead-031104491.html

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Good and Beautiful God 001

While sorting through the books that was delivered to CCF, a colleague of mine suggested that I buy this book. The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith. He was all raves about it so I decided to give it a try.

As the author puts it, the book is a "curriculum for Christlikeness". At the end of every chapter you'd need to apply the main idea, journal your reflection at the end of the week, and share it with your accountability group (if you are all reading the book together).

Chapter One: Sleep
As early as day one of the first week, it surprisingly dawned on me that I was hard-headed. I couldn't believe it at first but the fact that I was resisting to sleep early as the book suggested made me see how rebellious I was.

1 John 2:16 says For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not form the Father but from the world.

I realized I was becoming worldly. Almost every night, I'd sleep at two o'clock in the morning. I know it does nothing for my health but I didn't mind. What surprised me last night was when the Holy Spirit reminded me to sleep early, I actually said no, I didn't want to. Then I suddenly realized how stubborn and anarchistic I was.

In a way, week one day one was successful because it made me see how not of a good person I really was. It made me see my true self and not the good person I thought myself to be. Additionally, I slept 12:00 midnight, instead of my usual 2am. Not there yet but it's a start.

Anyway, it's almost 12mn again. Time to go to sleep!

Note: The Good and Beautiful God is the beginning of a series of three books by the same author. The second is The Good and Beautiful Life. And the last of the series is The Good and Beautiful Community. The book is published locally by OMF and costs P250.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Smarty Pants also known as THE RAT


Meet Stuart Little's cousin. I call him Smarty Pants. Unfortunately, Smarty Pants isn't our pet. He (I assume it's male) fell off the roof and into our aquarium garden. I call it an aquarium garden because the top has an open roof and it sits in the middle of the house surrounded by 3 walls and one glass door. So there was Smarty Pants, trapped inside the aquarium garden since Sunday without a way of getting out. Or so I thought. By the way, the picture on the right is an actual picture of him on top of a ladder.


I never realized rats were THAT smart. Now I know after doing a little reading.




In a famous experiment, Pavlov taught dogs to associate dinner with the sound of a bell. The dogs would salivate whenever a bell rang regardless of whether food was given to them. This indicates that a dog considers a simple association of events happening closely in time to be necessary.

In the new experiment, the rats were also taught to associate a sound with food. But then, instead of just listening to the sound, they were allowed to provoke the sound themselves. The researchers found that when the rats produced the sound themselves they didn't go to look for food. Thus, it is clear that they understood that food is not necessarily associated with the sound. And if they had caused the sound, it was obvious to them that food would not be available - because they weren't the cause behind the distribution of food.

"When it rains, you expect that both your lawn and your neighbor's lawn will be wet," says Michael Waldmann, an experimental psychologist at the University of G�ttingen, Germany, "but if you water your lawn, you wouldn't expect your neighbor's to also be wet. And this is the type of reasoning the rats are using."



Well you guessed it. Today, Smarty Pants ate through the wooden panel of one of the walls and got out. Just as I was placing the rat trap inside the aquarium garden, I saw the wood chips on the floor. That's when I had my "Uh-oh and Oh No!" moment.


Now my mom and I are trapped inside closed doors. Every room we go into, we can't leave the door open anymore for fear that Smarty Pants might get into one of the bedrooms.


If Smarty Pants can just talk, he'd probably say, "Look who's laughing now!"


Well, we'll see! Tomorrow my mom will get in touch with the pest control. Let's see who's laughing by then!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Thankful for my Dgrp

Kahit hindi kami nag lesson, it was good meeting again with Prex, Bel, Lorrie, and Malou this afternoon for dgroup.


Women are really relational. Sharing stories is what bonds them. While for men, it's activities that bonds them... like basketball or playing sports.