Salvation of Jesus Christ

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

Man sinned, the wages of sin is death, the price that you have to pay for you sin is DEATH!

'Death' is not simply the ''dying of your flesh'', life is not just about your body, what matters is your SOUL!
'Death' here means that You are separated from God.

Sin separates us from God.
Sin against a holy God separates us from Him, bringing judgment and spiritual death.
An unholy being cannot live in the presence of a Holy God.

We have no way to repair this relationship because all of us have sinned, we are all sinner.
And 'death' is the price that we all must pay for our sin.

But God don't want us to Die! HE love us and want to reconcile this relationship.
Therefore He sent his Son, Jesus Christ to the world to die for us, he died on the cross and was resurrected.
Jesus Christ took our place and receive the punishment that our sins demanded.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Our relationship with God is therefore reconciled!
The power of 'Death' no longer have authority on us!

Through the blood of Jesus Christ, our sins were forgiven!
This is what salvation is all about.
All we have to do is just BELIEVE in HIM and we ''shall not perish but have eternal life.''
Perish means eternal death--eternal separation from God.
Eternal life means your relationship with God is recovered, and you will live forever with God.

For it is BY GRACE you have been saved, THROUGH FAITH—and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

We're still sinner because we are still bound by this material world, we still sin.
Yet, we are saved because Jesus died for us upon the cross and our sins were forgiven.

Being saved, means your sins no longer count against you and you are spared from an eternal death sentence. Instead, they are forgiven by the grace of God, and you are given the free gift of eternal life. Being saved does not spare you from earthly troubles, but it does save you from eternal punishment.


Lastly,
How can we be saved?

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

<sup>This is the greatest gift God could ever offer -- life in a perfect world -- is absolutely FREE!
You just have to accept it by:
1. agreeing with God that you have sinned,
2. acknowledging that your sins cuts you off from God,
3. asking Jesus to forgive your sins, and
4. believing that Jesus is Lord over everything and He is the Son of God.

The gift is yours.</sup>

Jesus die for you and me

4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

(Isaiah 53:4-9), NIV

4 他 诚 然 担 当 我 们 的 忧 患 ， 背 负 我 们 的 痛 苦 ； 我 们 却 以 为 他 受 责 罚 ， 被 　 神 击 打 苦 待 了 。
5 哪 知 他 为 我 们 的 过 犯 受 害 ， 为 我 们 的 罪 孽 压 伤 。 因 他 受 的 刑 罚 ， 我 们 得 平 安 ； 因 他 受 的 鞭 伤 ， 我 们 得 医 治 。
6 我 们 都 如 羊 走 迷 ； 各 人 偏 行 己 路 ； 耶 和 华 使 我 们 众 人 的 罪 孽 都 归 在 他 身 上 。
7 他 被 欺 压 ， 在 受 苦 的 时 候 却 不 开 口； 他 像 羊 羔 被 牵 到 宰 杀 之 地 ， 又 像 羊 在 剪 毛 的 人 手 下 无 声 ， 他 也 是 这 样 不 开 口 。
8 因 受 欺 压 和 审 判 ， 他 被 夺 去 ， 至 於 他 同 世 的 人 ， 谁 想 他 受 鞭 打 、 从 活 人 之 地 被 剪 除 ， 是 因 我 百 姓 的 罪 过 呢 ？
9 他 虽 然 未 行 强 暴 ， 口 中 也 没 有 诡 诈 ， 人 还 使 他 与 恶 人 同 埋 ； 谁 知 死 的 时 候 与 财 主 同 葬 。
(以 賽 亞 書 53:4-9)


Therefore,

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
(2 Corinthians 5: 14-15) , NIV


¹⁴ 原 来 基 督 的 爱 激 励 我 们 ； 因 我 们 想 ， 一 人 既 替 众 人 死 ， 众 人 就 都 死 了 ；
¹⁵ 并 且 他 替 众 人 死 ， 是 叫 那 些 活 着 的 人 不 再 为 自 己 活 ， 乃 为 替 他 们 死 而 复 活 的 主 活 。
(歌 林 多 後 書 5:14-15)




How Great is this Love!
How Amazing is this Grace!

Have you accepted it?

Known placebos effective at improving IBS symptoms

Counter to widespread beliefs that a known placebo will not have clinical benefits, an open-label placebo trial demonstrated significant symptom improvement in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) compared to no-treatment.

Although placebos are known to be beneficial in patients with subjective symptoms, they are impractical in a clinical setting because they are thought to require deception during administration, which violates the ethics of patient autonomy and informed consent.

“Everyone assumed that you need lying (‘I’m giving you a powerful medication’) or concealment (‘you may or may not be getting a real medication’) for a placebo effect to happen,” said lead researcher Associate Professor Ted Kaptchuk, director of Complementary Specialties at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, US and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

“Our working hypothesis is that placebo (like the mind-body symbolic intervention that it is) will primarily modulate the experience of symptoms and not the basic pathophysiology.”

In the first randomized controlled trial of its kind, 80 patients with IBS were randomized to receive no treatment or open-label placebos described as “placebo pills made of an inert substance, like sugar pills, that have been shown in clinical studies to produce significant improvement in IBS symptoms through mind-body self-healing processes.”

[PLoS One 2010 Dec 22;5(12):e15591]

Patients who received the open-label placebo had higher average scores on the IBS Global Improvement Scale after 11 and 21 days compared to those receiving no treatment (5.2±1.0 vs. 4.0±1.1, P<0.001; p="0.002)." p="0.08).">The researchers noted that open-label placebo had comparable response rates to those of IBS patients in clinical trials treated with established drugs.

However, the response rate to placebo in this trial was somewhat higher than response rates in placebo controlled double blind IBS trials, which the researchers attributed to the open-label placebo status coupled with persuasive treatment rationale.

“It may be that 100 percent certainty that one is receiving the ‘treatment of interest’ (in this case open-label placebo) is more placebogenic than a 50 percent probability of receiving an inactive control,” Kaptchuk said.

He also highlighted the importance of ritual in therapy, in this case, taking a pill. Participants were given precise directions about how to take their open-label placebo. Kaptchuk suspects that such acts may be a potent part of the healing process.

Demonstrable efficacy of an open-label placebo removes the ethical conundrum that makes them inconvenient to use in clinical practice, although Kaptchuk noted that many physicians will prescribe treatments with no effect that are tantamount to placebos.
[BMJ 2008 Oct 23;337:a1938. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a1938]

“We can hypothesize that it may be possible, if more evidence supports our trial, that physicians can try to honestly prescribe placebo as a first line of treatment,” Kaptchuk said. “At a minimum, it allows nature to take its course and maybe even have salubrious effects.”

Radha Chitale

Source:http://www.mims.com/

Nothing's gonna change my love for you

Verse 1:

If I had to live my life without you near me
The days would all be empty
The nights would seem so long
With you I see forever oh so clearly
I might have been in love before
But it never felt this strong

Our dreams are young and we both know
they'll take us where we want to go
Hold me now
Touch me now
I don't want to live without you

Chorus:
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You ought know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love

Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You ought know by now how much I love you
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you

Verse 2:

If the road ahead is not so easy,
Our love will lead the way for us
Like a guiding star
I'll be there for you if you should need me
You don't have to change a thing
I love you just the way you are

So come with me and share the view

I'll help you see forever too
Hold me now
Touch me now
I don't want to live without you

Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2010

• Key Message 1
  • Eat a variety of foods within your recommended intake
    
    
• Key Message 2
  • Maintain body weight in a healthy range
    
    
• Key Message 3
  • Be physically active everyday
    
    
• Key Message 4
  • Eat adequate amount of rice, other cereal products (preferably whole grain) and tubes
    
    
• Key Message 5
  • Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables everyday
    
    
• Key Message 6
  • Consume moderate amounts of fish, meat, poultry, egg, legumes and nuts
    
    
• Key Message 7
  • Consume adequate amounts of milk and milk products
    
    
• Key Message 8
  • Limit intake of foods high in fats and minimise fats and oils in food preparation
    
    
• Key Message 9
  • Choose and prepare foods with less salt and sauces
    
    
• Key Message 10
  • Consume foods and beverages low in sugar
    
    
• Key Message 11
  • Drink plenty of water daily
    
    
• Key Message 12
  • Practise exclusive breastfeeding from birth until six months and continue to breastfeed until two years of age
    
    
• Key Message 13
  • Consume safe and clean foods and beverages
    
    
• Key Message 14
• Make effective use of nutrition information on food labels

http://www.moh.gov.my/v/diet

A talk with a foreigner

I was sitting at the 'pondok' opposite the guard house yesterday evening, waiting for the transport to SCMC fellowship, and a foreigner came and talked to me.

Here's roughly the conversations between us:

Guy: Are you waiting for bus?
Me: No, I am waiting for car. (should be van..whatever)
Guy(point to my bible): Is that a bible?
Me: Yes.
Guy: So you are a Christian?
Me: Yes.
Guy: A Chinese Christian?
Me: Yes, Chinese Christian.
Guy(sat on another chair beside me): But there are not many Chinese Christian in Malaysia right? Most of them are Buddhist.
Me: Yea, not many Chinese Christian in Malaysia.
Guy: So why are you a Christian?
Me: Er..my parents were Christians, so...
Guy: Your parents WERE Christians.... (I realized my mistakes)
Me: They ARE Christians now.
Guy: So you are a Christian because your Parents are Christians..
Me: No no, that's because I believe too.
Guy: oh~ you believe. You know, I believe in Jesus too!
Me: Huh? You are a Christians?
Guy: I am a Muslims. I believe in Jesus, I can't be a Muslims without believing in Jesus.
Me: oh~ ok ok.. We Believe that Jesus is God, the son of God, but you all believe that Jesus is just a er...Nabi... (can't think of the word 'prophet')
Guy: A prophet.
Me: Ya ya, prophet~

Guy: (I forgot what he said, but what he meant was Christian believe in ONE God, but then there's another Son of God which is God too, he thinks that it is more than one God)

Me: Oh, that's the concept of Trinity. We believe in the Holy Father, Holy Son and the Holy Spirit, they are ONE God, but got different er.....位格(in a low voice, I seriously can't think of the English word of 'wei ge' ><, I failed to explain further, so I just end this with..) It is something that the Human mind cannot er..comprehend.

Guy: Do you know how many times Jesus was mentioned in the Quran??
Me: I don't know.

(Suddenly his phone rang, and he spoke very loudly with the language that I can't understand, but I can hear that he used a lot of 'Allah' in his conversation)
Guy: Sorry, my friend called just now.
Me: Never mind. (I continued) Which Country are you from?
Guy: I am from Jordan.
Me: oh~ Jordan~ (I thought he is an Iranian)
(After that he continue with his praise towards the Chinese and Indian, something that he likes the culture of Chinese as they are patience, hardworking, and the Indian too, and the SEA country..bla bla bla~)

Then he continued with his previous topic.
Guy: Do you know how many times Jesus was mentioned in the Quran?
Me: Don't know.
Guy: Jesus was mentioned 24 times in the Quran, compared to Mohammad which was mentioned 4 times only. So is like a 6*4....(he means 6 times more). Do this mean anything to you??
Me: Er.. Jesus is a very important 'person' for the Muslims? (I continued and emphasized) For the Muslims he is a person, but for the Christians He is God.
Guy: Yes, Do you know that Jesus actually mentioned about the coming of the Mohammad?

Me: =.=
Guy: There is a debate in America between a famous Pastor (I forgot his name le) and the Muslims about this.
Me: Ok~
Guy: The Muslims believe that Jesus will come again.
Me: Oh, for the Christians, we believes that Jesus will come again to Judge the world.
I continued: The Muslims believes that Jesus is Al-Masih right?
Guy (trying to recall): Yea..Al-Masih..
Me: Do you know that Al-Masih in English is called Messiah and it means Savior, he is the Savior God, the son of God

Guy: We do believe that Jesus is the son of God, but indirectly.

Me:Indirectly?

Guy: Everyone of us are the sons of God.

Me: oh~ =.=
Guy: Jesus was born 2011 years ago ??
Me: (I explained to him about the minor mistakes in the calculations, the correct years will be roughly 2016, 2017)
Guy: Ok, so is just plus minus 10 years.
Me: Yea.

Guy: What do Christians believe before Jesus was born.
Me: (Explained to him about the old and new testaments, and also the prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ in the old testaments)
Then I asked: The Old testaments is also in the Quran right?
Guy:You know that the old testament is written in the (don't know what language)..bla bla..I don't really understand..I think he was trying to deny that the old testaments was originally written in the Hebrew.
Me: The old testaments was written in the Hebrew language, new testaments in Greek.
Guy: You see, the new testaments was written around 100 years after Jesus..?? (I think he wants to deny the validity of the new testaments)
Me: It was written by the disciples of Jesus Christ and it was like around 50 years after Jesus (I meant after the birth of Jesus, but I think he thought that I mean 50 years after Jesus was gone)
Guy: Ok, 50 or 60 years...bla bla bla (I saw the van came and I wasn't concentrate of what he was saying)
Me: Sorry, I have to go..
Guy: ok ok..
Me: Nice talking to you...
Guy: Nice talking to you~ What is your course?
Me: Dietetic.
Guy: Oh~ Dietetic, I am in the Nutrition Department, I am taking my PhD in nutrition. What is your name?
Me: Er...Lee, What yours?
Guy: Hen (that's what I heard)
Me: Ok, Hen~! (=.=), Bye.

Let's Hope for Him!

但那等候耶和华的。他们比如鹰展翅上腾，他们奔跑却不困倦，行走却不疲乏。

（以赛亚书40：31）
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.They will soar on wings like eagle; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

To everyone, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
When I look at my blog archive, I noticed this:
2007(1)
2008(82)
2009(93)
2010(29)
If I were to plot a graph of the number of my blog post against year, it will be from the lowest point, then suddenly shot up, and up again, and then decrease 'dramatically'. haha~
It was during my form 6 time, that 2 years, were the time that I enjoyed writing the blog, I recorded part of my life here so that I can read them back perhaps 10 or 20 years later.
After that, I became lazy, another reason is that I feel insecure, ar.....whatever.

Since today is the first day of the new year, and I have nothing to do..*sien*.. so let's see what can I write here.
Definitely I can't write about the year 2011 as it is still an 'unknown',it is the 'future', unpredictable future, anything can happen.
Perhaps some new year resolutions?
Frankly speaking, I don't have any and I am afraid to set any because I never achieve them. So this year, I will just let it to 'happen naturally'~~ =.= .

What about last year? Last year was a blink, you know, is like you just blink your eyes for less than a second and the year is behind you.
I worked, I knew a bunch of 'cute'*ahem* kids.
I started my uni, I knew a bunch of ladies, and few guys.
By the way, when I was working as a teacher, ALL the chinese teachers were ladies/aunty as well. Only 4 pathetic guys, 3 malays and 1 chinese (me) 'exist' as teacher in that school.

After my primary school, my friends' gender never balanced.
I studied in the boy school from form 1 to form 5, all boys no girl.
I continued my form 6 in the same school, they accept girls in form 6, and then it became 90++% girls, few guys. Same thing happen for my Uni.

Why suddenly I talk about this? @@"
Somemore what?
2010, 2010, 2010... few more things, but I don't feel like writing it here, and I don't think I will write them in this very public place.

I will need to go back to UPM and start my 2nd semester, by tomorrow.

Complicated feeling.

I want to go back cause I feel that I've wasted my time for so long.

At the same time, I am reluctant to be back to that life, that kind of feeling...I don't know how to describe it..sometimes boring, or lonely, or want to find somebody to talk to but found nobody.

I don't know.><

What about the bible verse that I wrote in the first paragraph??

That was the verse that was shared by Rev. Yeoh last night.
In life, we walk. But sometimes, too many things we need to cope up with, so we have to run, and sometimes, we can't catch up even we run.
We tend to get tired, grow weary or become exhausted as we 'walk' or 'run' through this life.
However, God gave us His Promise!
He said:" Those who HOPE in the LORD will RENEW their STRENGTH!"
In chinese, the word '等候'（wait/await/waiting） is used，which means we need to TRUST, HOPE and LIVE for the Lord.
And He promised that we will walk and not be faint, we will run and not grow weary and we can SOAR ON WINGS LIKE AN EAGLE, we can FLY from the strength we get from HIM by Hoping in the Lord.
This the the promise made by the Lord!

That's all! Have a Blessed New Year! =D

Journey to become a Dietitian: First Semester

The title sounds weird for me

It supposed to be Journey to become a Dietitian in UPM.

But it will sounds more weird with the UPM there.

Ok , cut the crap!

Basically, you learn ALMOST NOTHING related to your future career in the first semester.

You are given a list of subjects that you ought to take in 4 years and you must follow what is written above. This subject for this year and this sem, that subject for another sem.

So, for the 1st year and the 1st semester, we need to take 6+1 (cocurriculum) subjects:

COURSE CODE COURSE NAME COURSES STATUS LEC GROUP CREDIT HOUR ACT2112 INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNTING YW 8 4 MGM3180 BASIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP YW 8 3 PKK3200 PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN NUTRITION YW 1 3 PRT2008 AGRICULTURE AND MAN YW 32 2 QKK2101 COMMUNITY SERVICE EL 13 1 SKP2101 MALAYSIAN NATIONHOOD YW 20 3 SKP2203 ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION AND ASIAN CIVILIZATION YW 1 2

Practically all subjects are useless except for Principles of Human Nutrition.

And perhaps the knowledge for accounting can be useful in the future.

The others are just crap...crap and CRAP!!

The University and the government thinks that you are too YOUNG and you have too MUCH TIME and therefore they want you to WASTE 1 semester or to be more precise, is actually 1 whole year for the crap thingy. (We're taking 3 more crap subjects for the next sem and few more in the following sems).

In another word, they are afraid that you will go out earlier and contribute to the increase number of jobless university graduates in Malaysia.

Ok, I know this point is not valid enough, but somehow it is acceptable.

*Complaint finished.* =.=

So, that's what a 'Dietitian' will do in the first semester.

You are actually very FREE compared to other courses.

The heavy ones, I guess is real heavy de, will be coming very soon, starting from the second year.

Therefore, play and enjoy as much as you can for the first year, that's what my seniors told us.

And this time, I'm really really relax, I am surprised that I can be so relax, it is just not me.

I didn't study consistently, didn't concentrate during lecture, didn't do homework, even during exam also I don't really study. I just can't treat my exam as serious as last time, I tell myself to get serious and study seriously, but somehow I can't get rid of the 'relax' feeling. ><

So, the consequences is apparent, didn't study properly=can't get a 'proper' result.

I wish that it won't happen to me again next semester.

I must always remind myself that I do everything for one purpose, that is to Honour God.

I must be serious as I am responsible to God, I need to answer to Him in the future.

That's all for my first semester

All the best for the next semester, to everyone. =)

Another blink

Yo world!
Long time didn't post something here, and now I think I've forgotten how to write blog d. ><

In another blink of eye, my first year first semester is coming to an end.

Time really flies........Nono, it teleport. Fly also need some 'time'~ lol~

Thank God for bringing me through this sem, a rather peaceful sem for me.

Bla bla bla, I really don't know how to write le..forgot the 'way' of writing a blog.

Maybe I have a lot of things to share, or maybe nothing, but currently I can't think of what to write.

Just write for the sake of writing, to clear the spider web, or to 'pick' the mushrooms all over the blog or whatever as I am bored now, and tired of studying for the exam on next Monday. (8th Nov)

Essay ar~~~ come on!! I am not afraid of you!! Haha. *Say only~~*

All the best to everyone.

Grace - Laura Story

Once again, I am touched.




GRACE

My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused.
I see the things You do through me as great things I have done. And now You gently break me, then lovingly You take me and hold me as my father and mold me as my maker.

Chorus:
I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abound?"
And you answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face, You'll walk in the pow'r of My daily sufficient grace."

At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged, knowing that someone, somewhere could do a better job. For who am I to serve You? I know I don't deserve You. And that's the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on.

Chorus*
I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abounds?"
And you answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face, You'll walk in the pow'r of My daily sufficient grace."

You are so patient with me, Lord.

As I walk with You, I'm learning what Your grace really means. The price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary. So, instead of trying to repay You, I'm learning to simply obey You
by giving up my life to you For all that You've given to me.

Chorus:
I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abounds?"
And you answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face, You'll walk in the pow'r of My daily sufficient grace."

Laura Story