Dreamy

From Panorama Camping

The picture above was taken on December 26th, 2008 at Panorama Hill (peak) of Sg. Lembing.

Conve-norance

1. Park your vehicle by the side of the road wherever fits (or not), despite it being a non-parking slot; despite knowing it'll be a nuisance to other drivers.
2. Light up a cigarette whenever you wish; despite being in non-smoking area, despite knowing that it'll kill both you and others around you.
3. Insist to go for dinner while in accompaniment of friends who bluntly refused and objected.
4. Walk away from responsibilities to self-pleasing agendas, knowing the fact that others are willingly helpful to finish what you started.
5. Join the rest of the world to condemn someone whom you barely know, without the slightest effort of objective reasoning and research.
6. Shut yourself from news of suffering in a faraway land and live your life unsympathetically.
7. Mourn for 2 seconds over a stranger's tragic demise, and start cracking jokes 5 seconds later.
8. Have zero respect and appreciation for food despite being in full knowledge of Mal-nutrient, starving, famine-stricken children in another corner of the world.
9. Embrace A.D.I.D.A.S syndrome; All Day I Dream About Self-pleasures.
10. Sub-consciously but evidently, and definitely unapologetically thinks this way:

"It's always about me. And i ought to think so, or else i'll be left out. My interests and wishes would be unattended and unfulfilled if i don't. And that's sad. So me first."

I wonder how long i can go on.

Well, in case if you have not realized; they are based on the 2 latest secrets to happiness:

Convenience.

Ignorance.

Truth is, when you fuse both together; the destruction that entails may far exceeds any weapon that has ever been created (or probably to be created).

Is that not pathetic, what one would do to suit his/her own convenience? And is that not heart-breaking, how one would ignore the rest of the world and center-staged oneself? These 2 WMD penetrates through culture, race (i'm rascist towards my own race for being in the front-line), nationality; even faith. It is in fact, double the pain; to see my brethren in Christ to uphold and embrace the 2 timeless evils.

I am not entirely excluding myself by proclaiming that i am free from them. They are extremely enticing and addictive. And most of the time, sub-consciously they crawl up to my mind and whisper convincing arguments to prove themselves right. They win, sometimes.

But in each battle that i lost, for at least i am aware of it, i admit it, and i tirelessly attempt to win the next.

After all, is that not what we all ought to strive for? Not perfection (neither will we ever be), but rather the conscience, the will to repent and change, and the strength to do so.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing."

By Sir Edmund Burke.

Kudat - KK - Islands - Mount KK - KK - Rafting - KK

All photos below are taken by me. I believed there were enough to depict my ascent to 4095.2m; hence only a few for that occasion.

From KK Trip_Mine

Kudat's Waterfront / Esplanade at night.

From KK Trip_Mine

Kudat's traffict-light-less roads; roundabouts everywhere.

From KK Trip_Mine

Kudat's Esplanade at 6 a.m..

From KK Trip_Mine

Tip of Borneo; Tanjung Simpang Mengayau.
The northernmost of Borneo.

From KK Trip_Mine

SHE posers.

From KK Trip_Mine

Staircase-like solid-sand formation.

From KK Trip_Mine

More posers.

From KK Trip_Mine

.....

From KK Trip_Mine

Notice the sand formation.

From KK Trip_Mine

Open sea.

From KK Trip_Mine

Panoramic view of Island-i-forgot-the-name.

From KK Trip_Mine

Snorkeling at Pulau Sapi.

From KK Trip_Mine

View from UMS's Canselori.

From KK Trip_Mine

Painted sky.

From KK Trip_Mine

Breathtaking.

From KK Trip_Mine

South Peak. The favorite shot of Mount Kinabalu.

From KK Trip_Mine

Mount Kinabalu, anyone?

Hike

Mount Kinabalu. Conquered on the 7th of Dec., 2008. The best birthday present indeed.
As proof, i present you - our hike.
(BTW, the photos are dedicated to Nm. Simply to maker her jealous.)

From KK_Derrick

The Beginning.

From KK_Derrick

The Pre-Warm-up.

From KK_Derrick

The changes.

From KK_Derrick

The Warm-up.

From KK_Derrick

The Path.

From KK_Derrick

The Resthouse.

From KK_Derrick

The Real Hike.

From KK_Derrick

The Final Pit-stop.

From KK_Derrick

...

From KK_Derrick

... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ... ... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

From KK_Derrick

............................................

From KK_Derrick

The Shadow of the Peak.

From KK_Derrick

The Reward.

From KK_Derrick

The Proof. The "I made it!" Moment. The Vertical Limit.

From KK_Derrick

The Descent.

From KK_Derrick

The View from 4095.2 m.

From KK_Derrick

The Absurd.

From KK_Derrick

The Celebration. Cheers~

I don't like to post alot of photos of a single event.
But this exceptional journey surely deserves an exception.


*None of the photos above were taken by me.
They were Derricks'. Priceless masterpiece indeed.

Testing the Eyewitness Evidence: Do the biographies of Jesus stand up to scrutiny?

(continued interview with Craig L. Blomberg)

1.         Intention Test – to determine whether it was the stated or implied intention of the writers to accurately preserve history.

The gospel of Luke:

            Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled

            among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were

            eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully

            investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an

            orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the

            certainty of the things you have been taught.

Luke clearly stated that he intended to write accurately about the things he investigated and found to be well-supported by witnesses.

2.         Ability Test – to be able to reliably record history.

In the early days, rabbis became famous for having the entire Old Testament committed to memory. In a setting without computers and press printing; books or scrolls of papyrus were rare enough, education, learning, worship, teaching in religious communities were all done by word of mouth. So it would have been well within the capability of Jesus’ disciples to memorize the details of the events as well as the teachings and miracles of Jesus himself.

In maintaining the integrity of the message being passed on, the community would constantly be monitoring what was said and intervening to make corrections along the way.

3.         Character Test – to look at whether it was in the character of these writers to be truthful; evidence or possibility of dishonesty or immorality.

For a group of people who were put to grisly deaths for their beliefs despite renouncing their faith, their honesty, truthfulness, virtue and morality were never in dispute.

4.         Consistency Test – to test for dead contradictions that nullify the gospels’ credibility.

Simon Greenleaf of Harvard Law School, one of history’s most important legal figures and author of an influential treatise on evidence; upon studying the consistency among the four gospel writers, said:

            There is enough of a discrepancy to show that there could have been no previous

            concert among them; and at the same time such substantial agreement to show

            that they all were independent narrators of the same great transaction.

German scholar / classical historian Hans Stier has concurred that agreement over basic data and divergence of details suggest credibility, because fabricated accounts tend to be fully consistent and harmonized.

Contradictions

1. In Matthew it says a centurion himself came to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Luke says the centurion sent the elders to do this. In the ancient world it was perfectly understood and accepted that actions were often attributed to people when in fact they occurred through their subordinates or emissaries. Similarly, we hear a news report that says, “The president today announced that…” when in fact the speech was written by a speechwriter and delivered by the press secretary.
2. The discrepancies between the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke. 2 options of explanations: first being that Matthew reflects Joseph’s lineage (most of his opening chapter is told from Joseph’s perspective and Joseph, as the adoptive father, would have been the legal ancestor through whom Jesus’ royal lineage would have been traced – important themes for Matthew ) while Luke, then, would have traced the genealogy through Mary’s lineage. Since both are from the ancestry from David, the lines converge then. Second option is that both genealogies reflect Joseph’s lineage; one is Joseph’s human lineage (gospel of Luke) and the other is his legal lineage, with the two diverging at points where somebody in the line did not have a direct offspring. They had to raise up legal heirs through OT practices.

5.                  Bias Test – to analyze whether the gospel writers had any biases that would have colored their work.

6.                  Cover-up Test – to test whether the gospel writers made up stories to make themselves look good, conveniently forgetting embarrassing / inexplicable details.

7.                  Corroboration Test – to corroborate / identify / assess accuracy of testimonies through other sources.

8.                  Adverse Witness Test – to check for contemporaries of Jesus of complains that the gospel accounts were just plain wrong.

To avoid the post from going too absurdly long and uninteresting, I decided to leave out the details of the 5^th to 8^th tests, but assuredly the gospels passed. With high distinction, undoubtedly.

Testing the Eyewitness Evidence: Do the biographies of Jesus stand up to scrutiny?

(continued interview with Craig L. Blomberg)

1.         Intention Test – to determine whether it was the stated or implied intention of the writers to accurately preserve history.

The gospel of Luke:

            Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled

            among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were

            eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully

            investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an

            orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the

            certainty of the things you have been taught.

Luke clearly stated that he intended to write accurately about the things he investigated and found to be well-supported by witnesses.

2.         Ability Test – to be able to reliably record history.

In the early days, rabbis became famous for having the entire Old Testament committed to memory. In a setting without computers and press printing; books or scrolls of papyrus were rare enough, education, learning, worship, teaching in religious communities were all done by word of mouth. So it would have been well within the capability of Jesus’ disciples to memorize the details of the events as well as the teachings and miracles of Jesus himself.

In maintaining the integrity of the message being passed on, the community would constantly be monitoring what was said and intervening to make corrections along the way.

3.         Character Test – to look at whether it was in the character of these writers to be truthful; evidence or possibility of dishonesty or immorality.

For a group of people who were put to grisly deaths for their beliefs despite renouncing their faith, their honesty, truthfulness, virtue and morality were never in dispute.

4.         Consistency Test – to test for dead contradictions that nullify the gospels’ credibility.

Simon Greenleaf of Harvard Law School, one of history’s most important legal figures and author of an influential treatise on evidence; upon studying the consistency among the four gospel writers, said:

            There is enough of a discrepancy to show that there could have been no previous

            concert among them; and at the same time such substantial agreement to show

            that they all were independent narrators of the same great transaction.

German scholar / classical historian Hans Stier has concurred that agreement over basic data and divergence of details suggest credibility, because fabricated accounts tend to be fully consistent and harmonized.

Contradictions

1. In Matthew it says a centurion himself came to ask Jesus to heal his servant. Luke says the centurion sent the elders to do this. In the ancient world it was perfectly understood and accepted that actions were often attributed to people when in fact they occurred through their subordinates or emissaries. Similarly, we hear a news report that says, “The president today announced that…” when in fact the speech was written by a speechwriter and delivered by the press secretary.
2. The discrepancies between the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke. 2 options of explanations: first being that Matthew reflects Joseph’s lineage (most of his opening chapter is told from Joseph’s perspective and Joseph, as the adoptive father, would have been the legal ancestor through whom Jesus’ royal lineage would have been traced – important themes for Matthew ) while Luke, then, would have traced the genealogy through Mary’s lineage. Since both are from the ancestry from David, the lines converge then. Second option is that both genealogies reflect Joseph’s lineage; one is Joseph’s human lineage (gospel of Luke) and the other is his legal lineage, with the two diverging at points where somebody in the line did not have a direct offspring. They had to raise up legal heirs through OT practices.

5.                  Bias Test – to analyze whether the gospel writers had any biases that would have colored their work.

6.                  Cover-up Test – to test whether the gospel writers made up stories to make themselves look good, conveniently forgetting embarrassing / inexplicable details.

7.                  Corroboration Test – to corroborate / identify / assess accuracy of testimonies through other sources.

8.                  Adverse Witness Test – to check for contemporaries of Jesus of complains that the gospel accounts were just plain wrong.

To avoid the post from going too absurdly long and uninteresting, I decided to leave out the details of the 5^th to 8^th tests, but assuredly the gospels passed. With high distinction, undoubtedly.

The Eyewitness Evidence: Can the biographies of Jesus be trusted?

The first interview: Craig L. Blomberg, Ph.D

He received his doctorate in New Testament from Aberdeen University in Scotland, later serving as a senior research fellow at Tyndale House at Cambridge University in England. For the last dozen years he has been a professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary.

Authorship

The oldest and probably most significant testimony comes from Papias, who in about A.D. 125 specifically affirmed that Mark had recorded Peter’s eyewitness observations. Then Irenaeus, writing about A.D. 180, confirmed the traditional authorship of all the 4 gospels.

Dates

1. Standard scholarly dating, even in very liberal circles, is Mark in the 70s, Matthew and Luke in the 80s, John in the 90s. That’s still within the lifetimes of various eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus, including hostile eyewitnesses who would have served as a corrective if false teachings about Jesus were going around.

Comparison: 2 earliest biographies of Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch more than 400 years after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., yes historians consider them to be generally trustworthy.

Gospels being written within a generation of eyewitnesses; 60 years from actual events, are compared to biographies of Alexander the Great written 400 years after actual events. The gap is evidently too short for any mythology or legends to taint the reliability of the gospels.

2. Book of Acts (written by Luke) ended unfinished – Paul being under house arrest in Rome. The abrupt halt without further indication of Paul’s fate was most probably because the book was written before Paul was put to death. That means Acts cannot be dated any later than A.D. 62. Acts is the second of a 2-part work, so the first part; the gospel of Luke, must have been written earlier than that. Luke incorporated parts of the gospel of Mark, which means Mark is even earlier.

Hence, Mark might have been written no later than about A.D. 60, even the late 50s. If Jesus was put to death in A.D. 30 / 33, then the gospel of Mark is within a maximum gap of 30 years.

3. Perhaps the most important creed in terms of the historical Jesus is 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul uses technical language to indicate he was passing along this oral tradition in relatively fixed form.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for

our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the

third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to

the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same

time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He

appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

If crucifixion was A.D. 30, Paul’s conversion was about 32. Immediately he was ushered into Damascus, where he met with Ananias and some other disciples. His first meeting with the apostles in Jerusalem would have been about A.D. 35. At some point along there, Paul was given this creed, which had already been formulated and was being used in the early church. This creed may very well be dated back to within 2 to 5 years from the events.

A good case can be made for saying that Christian belief in the Resurrection, though not yet written down, can be dated up to within 2 years of that very event. And the event; Resurrection, is indeed the crowning confirmation of Jesus’ divinity and atonement for humanity.

The Case for Christ

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Finally completed. Picked up this book years back but didn't manage to finish it. Now that it's done, i shall write a summary on it. 14 chapters altogether of solid arguments on building a case for Christ; i hope this would bless you as much as it did to me.

Based on interviews with highly authoritative experts in various fields and issues, the book questions the reliability and credibility of the gospels and the truth behind Jesus Christ. Delving into 14 types of evidences, nothing uncommon to the court of law and legal affairs, Lee conclusively laid down a case too strong for any skeptics to doubt.

Coming up next: The Eyewitness Evidence - Can the Biographies of Jesus be Trusted?

MIA

Okay. I admit. I am slow in posting blogs. Just as Nm always kutuk me of; my postings are months after the real event. Fine, she wins this time.

Well, i am simply finding excuses to postpone my post on the exceptionally extraordinary and fantastically fabulous trip to Sabah.

Coming soon. Hopefully real soon.