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Jan 29, 2012 • In Christianity, Reverent Sundays

Reverent Sundays: Why Don’t We See Biblical Miracles Today?

Welcome to today’s installment of Reverent Sundays, where I write about an aspect of my faith. This can deal with recent books I have read on Christianity, my thoughts on religion and current issues, as well as particular messages I find touching and/or powerful. I am aware that most of my readers are not religious, and that is fine — you are more than welcome to not read these posts if they make you uncomfortable, enrage you, or bore you to tears. I am open to debates and discussions in the comments section as long as everyone remains respectful. Enjoy!

The parting of the Red Sea. Joshua stopping the sun. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

The Bible is full of miracles such as these, and whether you believe that they actually happened or not, you can’t deny that they are magnificent stories that can only be classified as miracles.

But as people who live in this modern world, we can’t help but question: if there are no awe-worthy miracles happening today (and if they were, they would surely be covered by Fox News 😉 ), why should we even believe that they happened in the past?

(image source)

There exists a common misperception behind this question. And it is the belief that the miracles of the Bible occur continually throughout biblical history.

While it is true that the Bible is filled with miracles — about 250 of them — most of these miracles occur in very small frames in history, and during three time periods in particular: during the times of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus and the apostles.

So why then? It is because those were the times when God was confirming new truth and new messengers with that truth. It is during these times when God was creating new covenants with mankind.

And during all the other times in the Bible? There actually exist huge gaps where there are no recorded miracles from God — sometimes even hundreds of years! And the reason for this is because there was no need to confirm messages from God, and miracles usually acted as ways to confirm new word from God.

Thus brings the explanation behind the lack of biblical miracles today: because if the Bible is true and complete (which we believe), God is not confirming any new revelation and, as a result, does not have this main purpose for performing miracles. In other words, there is no new word from God that needs to be confirmed by God.

Now, I am not saying that God cannot perform miracles today, or that He never does. Being God, He can conduct a miracle anytime He wants. It’s just that He may not have a reason to publicly display His power the way He did during biblical times because all of the truths He wanted to reveal have already been revealed and confirmed.

I personally believe that smaller miracles continue to take place today, but that they almost always take place with people who have been forsaken or forgotten by the rest of the world — those who need God’s help the most, and are usually cut off or shunned from society. (And, as such, news of these miracles do not reach us.) Or, in places where Christians are persecuted for their faith, as in the case of Brother Yun.

Besides, do we not witness small miracles every day? 😉 I know that I do, whenever I look upon the faces of my daughters.

Helping Mommy Out

My mother has been telling me ever since Aerin was born that the best way I will survive the next two decades is by getting both girls to help me out as soon, and as often as possible.

Obviously this is still an unreasonable request to ask of Aerin, but now that Claire is walking — and growing more curious and precocious with each passing day — we have slowly begun to teach her little ways to help around the house, and with her little sister.

For example, yesterday as I was cleaning I made a little game of it by pointing out dirty spots, making an overly exaggerated disgusted face as I said, “더러워!” (“Dirty!” in Korean), then wiping up the dirt, showing her how the dirt was now on the paper towel and not on the floor, making another disgusted face as I pointed to the soiled paper towel, then throwing it away in the trash can. And every time a dirty spot disappeared I made a big spectacle of it by clapping and saying “Yay!!!” Soon, she caught up and wanted to help out too.

It goes without saying that she wasn’t much help — if anything, she slowed down my cleaning time significantly as I needed to wait for her to slowly and deliberately wipe, and go over the dirty spots myself again because she did not get everything — but just the fact that she wanted to help out, and was so proud of herself for doing so, made it all worthwhile.

Claire’s latest word is “Juice!”

It is also evident that Claire loves Aerin and wants to help out with her as much as possible, because she will almost always learn copperative activities on the first try, or the first time we ask. For example, the very first time that I made a bottle for Aerin and gave it to Claire, telling her “Go bring this to daddy so he can give it to your little sister,” she did it right away. And the very first time that we asked her to bring us one of Aerin’s diapers from the other room, she did that without hesitation too.

And heavens forbid that we even burp Aerin without her — every time that she hears the telltale “patting on the back” sound, she will practically run into the room and insist on burping her little sister too.

J rolled his eyes at me when I told him of our little cleaning game yesterday. “You’re not gonna turn our girls into neat freaks like you, are you?”

“Of course I am! Wouldn’t you rather have a clean house than a dirty one?”

I also like to remind him that whenever his mother plays with Claire, she always ends playtime by putting toys back in the toy box, so that Claire will know that that’s where they belong when they’re not being used.

I think Claire is definitely starting to catch on. Because now, whenever she sees a dirty tissue anywhere, she will pick it up and throw it in the trash. 🙂

This Is How You Look When You’re Drunk

Danish bus company Movia runs a night bus service which caters to the Copenhagen party crowd and other nocturnal creatures. This double layered video (which activates on mouseover) acts as a reminder to the folks who continue to party late into the wee hours of the morning when taking the night bus might be a better option. Or, as the copy says: “Is it time to get home?”.

Wait for the below movie to load, then move your cursor over the unfolding scenes to see how you think you look versus how you actually look when you’re drunk. Having been in the situation myself numerous times in my younger years, I can attest to the hilarity of each scene.

(Ed. note: I have decided to hide the rest of this post from the front page so that the movie doesn’t automatically start playing for those who do not want to see it. Click the link below to see the entire post!)

Happy Birthday to My Best Friend!

J turns 34 today. I see no reason to hide his age, because he becomes more handsome, more delightful, and more lovable to me with each passing year.

A snapshot of my handsome husband as he waits for me on our wedding day.
(Photo by Danny Weiss)

Circa 1997.

We look SO young here! Our bodies may have aged, but we still love each other with a
childlike giddiness.

Thank you for sharing your life with me. Thank you for all that you are and all that you do. May all your wishes come true, and more. 🙂

Hugs for Peace: Pop Culture Enemies Hug It Out

It’s been a long day. Looking at these sugar-sweet illustrations from Berlin-based artist Ingrid Aspöck is exactly what I needed — I hope that they put a smile on your face too!

Via Bit Rebels.

Bloggy Thursdays: Backing Up Your Blog

Welcome to this installment of Bloggy Thursdays, where I share with my fellow bloggers tips and tutorials to maximize and better your blog. While I do not consider myself an expert, I do like to think that after 10+ years of blogging — in addition to my technical knowledge — I know more than the average blogger when it comes to making your blog more appealing to readers.

Do you have any comments, questions, or topics you’d like to see covered here? Please send me a message via my contact form. Enjoy!

I have stated in an old WordPress Plugins post that I use WP-DBManager to backup my blog.

Well, times change and so do preferences. My current backup plugin of choice is BackWPup, which, according to their site, does the following:

Database Backup
WordPress XML Export
Optimize Database
Check\Repair Database
File Backup
Backups in zip, tar, tar.gz, tar.bz2 format
Store backup to:

Folder
FTP Server
Amazon S3
Google Storage
Microsoft Azure (Blob)
RackSpaceCloud
DropBox
SugarSync

Send Log/Backup by Email
Multisite Support only as Network Admin

Why do I prefer BackWPup to WP-DBManager? There are two reasons:

It has the option to automatically back up my files to any of the various cloud servers listed above (I use Amazon S3, but I think most people prefer DropBox).
It backs up both your database AND files.

Let’s back up a bit here. I’m sure some of you are thinking, “But what’s the difference between your database and files? Aren’t they the same thing?”

Not necessarily. In simple terms, your database refers to your blog posts, metadata, and comments. Your files refer to everything you’ve uploaded — including pictures and other media.

Can you imagine if you believed you were diligently backing up your blog all this time, only to have something horrible happen…and discover that while all your old posts are safe, your blog theme and all the pictures you’ve uploaded over the years are gone? 😯 I shudder just thinking about it.

As you can see in the above screenshot, I have one “Job,” which I (very creatively) named “Weekly Backup.” I have set it to run every Sunday morning at 3:00am EST — when blog traffic is usually very low so that the servers won’t get too worked up — and it is configured to back up my database and files, in addition to optimizing my database tables (optimizing your database ensures fast and smooth communication between your web server and the database).

This is all set up under my own personal preferences, of course. You can se it to run every day if you’d like, perform whichever functions, and there are even options to exclude certain folders from your backup (like plugins and themes, for example).

And if that weren’t enough, you can create multiple “Jobs” so that BackWPup performs different scheduled tasks at different times. You can even set a job not to run automatically, and only run it manually when you’d like.

Each backup location option lets you specify a maximum number of backup files, with the oldest files getting deleted first, so that your backup files do not take up too much space. (This is a great feature for people like me who use Amazon S3, because the more data we store, the more we pay!) Additionally, you can have a log get emailed to you so that you know right away if there were any errors.

I’m sure there are many other backup plugins and methods available for WordPress, but this was the first I’ve tried that actually WORKED on my humongous database and file size, in addition to it being practically effortless once set up!

Do you have other recommendations for backups? I’d love to hear them!

Truths for Mature Humans

Via In Web We Trust.

Cool Tool Tuesdays: What I Use to Clean and Protect My MacBook Pro

Welcome to today’s installment of Cool Tool Tuesdays, where I feature a favorite item from my life and spotlight it so that others who are not familiar with the product may also benefit from it. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, hardware, material, or website that I have personally tried and love.

Do you have any questions about today’s cool tool? Would you like an item featured in the future? Please leave a comment to this post, or send me a message via my contact form. Enjoy!

Some people like to rough up their gadgets, add personalizations, and give it some character.

I am not one of those people. In fact, I am the complete opposite: I like to keep my gadgets looking as new as the first day I got them.

(This also helps tremendously with their resell values. I was able to sell my old 4-year-old PowerBook for $500!)

Loyal readers may remember that my beloved MacBook Pro died on me last fall. And when I finally got a replacement, I knew that I wanted to protect my investment. After all, it was THE biggest purchase I had made in years, in addition to being a fragile item I knew I would be using every day.

1. Protecting the Keyboard

One of the reasons I was so sad to have my old MBP die on me is because I vastly prefer the old body design of the MBP over the newer, unibody construction. (Anyone else with me?)

And the thing I hate the most about the unibody MBP? The black plastic keys.

A comparison between the unibody MBP (left) and the older model, which I had (right).
(image source)

I loved the silver keys on the old MBP — a design which carried over from the PowerBook days, which was actually my first Apple computer back in 2001 — and believe that the black keys have a cheap feel to them compared to the silver ones. (Although to be fair, the silver keys were made of plastic too. However, they were sprayed with a matte silver finish that made them look metallic.)

And wouldn’t you know it — my fears were confirmed when, just TWO WEEKS into using my new MBP, shiny spots began to appear on the space bar and a couple of other most-used keys.

These shiny spots were not oil spots. Instead, they were “wear and tear” spots, from the matte finish on the keys wearing away.

A brief perusal of the web told me that indeed, this is a common problem among unibody MBP users and that the best course of action is to purchase a keyboard protector.

NOW YOU TELL ME!

I quickly discovered that best keyboard protector for the MBP is the Moshi ClearGuard, which is advertised as the thinnest keyboard cover/protector on the market at 0.1mm thin, or one-fifth the thickness of silicone protectors.

You might think that the $25 price tag is pretty steep for a piece of plastic. But I freakin LOVE this thing. It creates a bit more traction for typing, it allows for the keyboard lights to shine through, and I no longer need to worry about small spills, tiny particles entering the inside of my MBP through the keyboard cracks, or the dreaded shiny wear-and-tear spots on my keyboard.

The best part? It is washable and reusable!

As for the existing shiny spots on my keyboard? They were bothering me so much (yeah, I’m OCD with my gadgets) that I tried a potentially dangerous remedy: the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Because the Magic Eraser is a very fine abrasive, and because I would be wetting it before use, there was some potential for disaster.

However, I squeezed out all but the teeniest amount of water from the Magic Eraser before use, and very gently rubbed the offending spots. It took about 5 minutes of rubbing per key, but it worked. My keys looked brand new again. Problem fixed. 😀

3. Protecting the Body

What about the rest of the MBP? I certainly wanted to protect it from scratches as well as dinges and dents, which are all very likely with a very clumsy owner and two young children at home.

I decided that a hard case — despite the extra girth it would add, in addition to covering the beautiful design of the MBP — would be best suited for my needs and decided on Speck Products’ SeeThru Satin Case.

Installation was a snap — literally — and I love that the material is a smooth, rubbery texture. It has already protected my MBP from a number of incidents which would have surely left ugly scratches on the beautiful aluminum finish, and the case doubles as a sleeve for travel purposes.

It is also transparent enough to let the lighted Apple logo softly shine through:

3. Cleaning the MacBook Pro

When I replaced my PowerBook with a MacBook Pro in 2008, I purchased an iKlear Cleaning Kit along with it.

And if you too, own an Apple product, you should get one too.

iKlear is the only brand that is used by Apple in its stores to get its products clean. It is both ammonia and alcohol free — both of which are chemicals that can damage your screen. (This isn’t false information to boost the sales of iKlear and other products like it. I have a friend who used an alcohol-based wipe on his MacBook Pro and it left a permanent streak.)

There are various iKlear kits available for sale, but all you really need are the basic three items: the spray, the antimicrobial microfiber cloth, and the chamois cloth. (The microfiber cloth is to clean the entire product in conjunction with the spray, while the chamois cloth is used dry, to buff the screen.)

If that isn’t incentive enough for you, I am still using the same exact kit I purchased in 2008. This stuff lasts a loooong time, and is completely worth every penny.

Which products, if any, do you use to keep your laptop — as well as other gadgets — clean and protected? Can you recommend any alternatives to the three I’ve listed above?

Chinese Girl Transforms Herself into 13 Different Girls with the Magic of Makeup

…and the use of circle lenses, wigs, and double eyelid tape/glue.

I have talked about the power of makeup before, and some of these Asian girls seem to take it a little too far!

Via Absolutely Fobulous.

My First Night as a Volunteer at the Homeless Shelter

This past Saturday, I left the girls with J and his parents and joined a small group of volunteers from our church to lend our hand at the local homeless shelter.

It was tiring. It was heartbreaking. And it was totally worth it.

Prior to joining this church, I had never even considered the possibility of a homeless shelter in the area. While J and I live in an city with great income discrepancies — and are exposed to poverty on a regular basis as a result — our church is located in Bergen County, NJ, which one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, and is even home to the most expensive zip code in the country!

There couldn’t possibly be as many homeless people in the county as to even warrant a homeless shelter…right?

As usual, I stood corrected as I entered the shelter, spoke to some of its employees, and learned that all of its 92 beds have often been filled to capacity since its opening in 2009, that they are always turning away people, and that a great number of those we would be serving tonight were only there for a warm meal despite not having a place to sleep for the night.

The Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services Center,
where the shelter is located (image source)

Our job was to bring and prepare dinner, set up the dining hall, serve the food, and clean up afterwards. We were to prepare enough food and disposable dinnerware for 160 people. Since the cost for all this came from our church’s budget, the night’s menu was not too extravagant: fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, string beans, and brownies and cookies for dessert.

However, so many people told us that this was the best food they had received in a while that I couldn’t help but be sad. This meal, which didn’t seem that great to me and was definitely subpar compared to what I usually ate for dinner every night, was the best that most of these people had eaten in months. 🙁

It was even harder to learn that the shelter required volunteers to oversee EVERY part of the dinner — even the sugar packets for coffee! The employees warned us that if we do not set a limit of 2 packets per person, and have a volunteer standing there to make sure that rule is followed, the sugar packets would quickly be snatched up by people who would want to sell them, or hoard them for the future.

But perhaps the most difficult part of the night was limiting one serving of dinner per person. This was a rule that was strictly enforced by the shelter, and they even had a member of the staff standing by the serving line, acting as security to make sure no one would cause us trouble about this rule.

We sadly had to turn down many people who asked for seconds, or even just an additional piece of chicken. We did our best to pile on as much mashed potatoes and string beans on their plates in order to make up for this, but we still knew it wasn’t enough.

The majority of the people we served were in their 40s and 50s, but there were some young faces here and there. The youngest person I saw that night was probably in their late teens. I think I probably would have cried if I saw a young child, but seeing a pregnant woman — who told me that she wished she had a choice in the meals because her bad morning sickness did not allow her to eat many dishes that were served — was close enough. I had to blink back some tears after speaking with her, and it took everything in my power not to offer her to take my health insurance.

Seeing a man wearing a Giants jacket, I asked him if he was a fan (knowing that they would be playing in the NFC Championship game the following night). He replied, “Oh, I don’t watch football. Someone gave me this jacket, and it keeps me warm. That’s all I care about.”

Needless to say, I felt like a complete idiot.

(image source)

After our duties were complete, I drove back home in silence. I knew that this shelter was one of the better ones in the country. I knew that what we were exposed to that night would probably be considered luxury compared to other homeless shelters.

I was reminded of how, when my sister returned from a missions trip to Haiti, she told me that it’s amazing how much we take for granted every day, even just having clean — not HOT, but just CLEAN — water available at all times.

I was sad that we couldn’t do more. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but be SO thankful for what we did have.

I am ashamed to say that I haven’t done ANY volunteer work since my college days. 🙁 As someone who used to regularly volunteer at hospitals, retirement homes, mental institutions, etc. since I was a teenager, I must admit that my night at the homeless shelter seemed like a rude awakening — like a cold bucket of water had been dumped over my head to make me realize just how complacent I had become.

You can be sure that will be returning to the shelter, and seeking more ways to help the less fortunate whenever possible.

Reverent Sundays: Why Don’t We See Biblical Miracles Today?

You may also like:

Helping Mommy Out

You may also like:

This Is How You Look When You’re Drunk

You may also like:

Happy Birthday to My Best Friend!

You may also like:

Hugs for Peace: Pop Culture Enemies Hug It Out

You may also like:

Bloggy Thursdays: Backing Up Your Blog

You may also like:

Truths for Mature Humans

You may also like:

Cool Tool Tuesdays: What I Use to Clean and Protect My MacBook Pro

1. Protecting the Keyboard

3. Protecting the Body

3. Cleaning the MacBook Pro

You may also like:

Chinese Girl Transforms Herself into 13 Different Girls with the Magic of Makeup

You may also like:

My First Night as a Volunteer at the Homeless Shelter

You may also like:

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