In the estimation of Heaven, what is it that constitutes greatness?
Not that which the world accounts greatness; not wealth, or rank, or
noble descent, or intellectual gifts, in themselves considered. If
intellectual greatness, apart from any higher consideration, is worthy
of honor, then our homage is due to Satan, whose intellectual power no
man has ever equaled. But when perverted to self-serving, the greater
the gift, the greater curse it becomes. It is moral worth that God
values. Love and purity are the attributes He prizes most.... Unselfish
joy in the ministry of Christ presents the highest type of nobility ever
revealed in man. Desire of Ages, p. 219

With this excerpt, my mind has been realigned of what a christian is required to be. Besides knowing about God's existence and knowing that we can rely on Him, God wants us to have moral worth. Of course i've heard about a christian doing the right things and saying the right words. But still, it's all outward in expression. And what matters more is what's inside you. If you've been excellent outwardly but have filthy insides, then you don't pass and need a detox. If you've been giving a dismal performance outwardly and having filthy insides, then you're really in need of help or at least recognise that you need help. If you've been excellent outwardly and clean inside, then halleluiah to you and hopefully you stay that way.

Heaven's work never ceases, and men should never rest from doing
good. The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity.
The law forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that
gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit
is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and
rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the
occupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to
healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds. Desire of Ages, p. 207

yesterday was a pretty cold and busy day. In the morning i was at chai hee's place for a meeting and after that me, boon and jeff went to watch The Chronicles of Narnia. For me, it was an amazing show in a looooong while. It started off with 4 kids that had to leave their hometown and settle in some professor's house because of the war. In there, they find a wardrobe that is a magical portal to another domain - Narnia. The whole film is basically focused on their adventure in Narnia with their struggle with the good (Aslan, King of Narnia and his forces) and the evil forces (Evil witch Self-proclaimed queen of Narnia).

Throughout, there were pockets of allusions to the biblical account of Jesus' final hours. CS Lewis might have created this fantasy tale with this popular bible theme in mind and it's hard to dismiss the associations. For example, one of the kids, out of desire for power, broke off from the group and traversed to the evil queen's lair only to find that the queen isn't so nice as she was the last time he met her. After being held for some time under her tyrannical government, the good side came to rescure him and brought him back to their camp. The evil queen then went before Aslan to demand release of this kid as according to law, whoever willingly disregards following what's good and "enters" the dark side is hers. This figures in with Satan demanding the right to the fallen human race from Jesus according to law.(The law had been in place before sin happened) Thereafter, we come to the realisation that Aslan, who was supposed to prepare his troops to fight against the evil queen made a deal with her that allowed the kid free. When dusk came, Aslan walked straight to the Queen's lair with hordes of orges and whatever-their-names-are expected his arrival. As he walked up the long stairs to the sacrifical altar, he was spit upon, beaten and verbally abused. "Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before its shearers, He did not open his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).
As he drew near the altar, the queen ordered him to be bound and shaven. Until now, he had not uttered a word. They shaved his mane and dragged him on the altar where the queen stood with knife in hand. Aslan locked eyes on the two kids who had followed him unnoticed. Here, although it isn't a reference, but it reminded me of when Peter locked eyes with Jesus after denying Him 3 times while He was in the court of Caiaphas."While the degrading oaths were fresh upon Peter's lips, and the shrill crowing of the cock was still ringing in his ears, the Saviour turned from the frowning judges, and looked full upon His poor disciple. At the same time Peter's eyes were drawn to his Master. In that gentle countenance he read deep pity and sorrow, but there was no anger there." DOA pg 713

The next day, as the two kids headed back to camp after staying by the altar for the night, he miraculously arose. He mentioned that the queen didn't understand the prophecy about sacrifices where if a willing sacrifice were to offer himself up for someone else, he would be ressurected. I don't think there's such a "law" under God's dominion, but Jesus did rise up with his own power ("I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." John 11:25-26).

Back in camp, neither side knew Aslan had arisen and the battle between the two forces took place. To cut a long story short, the good side was losing until finally Aslan came back with a whole army to defeat the evil queen and her forces. This gives reference to our own daily battle with Satan and his forces and it's only when we enlist the help of God that we can overcome.

k gonna stop for now..until next time...peace!

I'm Brown!!

Brown
You're brown, a credible, stable color that's reminiscent of fine wood, rich leather, and wistful melancholy. Most likely, you're a logical, practical person ruled more by your head than your heart. With your inquisitive mind and insatiable curiosity, you're probably a great problem solver. And you always gather all of the facts before coming to a timely, informed decision. Easily intrigued, you're constantly finding new ways to challenge your mind, whether it's by reading the newspaper, playing a trivia game, or composing a piece of music. Brown is an impartial, neutral color, which means you tend to see the difference between fact and opinion easily and are open to many points of view. Trustworthy and steady, you really are a brown at heart.

You can take this test here.

"Whatever may be our situation, we have a Guide to direct our way; whatever our perplexities, we have a sure Counselor; whatever our sorrow, bereavement, or loneliness, we have a sympathizing Friend." COL 173.

Notebooks

The Acer Ferrari notebook that came out in late 2004 has the following specs which are quite impressive:

Model Ferrari 4005WLMi
Processor and Core Logic AMD Turion™ 64 ML-37 (2GHz, 1MB L2 cache)
Operating System Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional x64
System Memory 1GB DDR333
Upgradeable to 2 GB using two soDIMM modules
Display/Graphics 15.4" WSXGA+ 185-nit color TFT LCD, 1680×1050, 16.7M colours
ATI® MOBILITY™ RADEON® X700 with 128 MB of external DDR VRAM
Storage Subsystem 100GB ATA/100 HDD
DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
More

I also found one that hit the shelves last november. It's the hummer but the specs aren't that good. Perhaps it's main feature is the ruggedness.

Lastly, the lamborghini branded notebooks caught my attention. They'll be out first quarter of 2006.

Based on the next generation Centrino platform codenamed "Napa", this line will have dual core processors capable of splitting tasks between two computing chips. Codenamed "Yonah", the new dual core processors will have three distinct technologies to increase performance. The Intel Digital Media Boost improves multimedia applications while the Advanced Thermal Manager better manages heat buildup. Dynamic Power Coordination optimizes operations between the two processing cores for greater real world performance. The Lamborghini laptop will likely leave other notebooks choking in its dust during performance tests. Currently warming up at the starting line, this speed demon is set to pulverize the competition next year. Read more

I'd intended to get a notebook first but i've decided to wait for this baby so i'll get my desktop first then this.