The "Transaction"

Here's a CBS report that really gave me chills through the spine:

House Of Cards: The Mortgage Mess
"60 Minutes" Reports On How The Subprime Loan Crisis Is Shaking Markets Worldwide
Jan. 27, 2008

Comments from the readers:

This is a symbol of irresponsibility in our country of people who have a sense of entitlement, which is "I have to have a house". You people need to grow up and learn to read the fine print of a loan, or get better credit before taking a loan out. Stop buying stuff you can't afford! As for "ruining your credit", if you bought a house with an adjustable rate mortage and no down payment, you probably didn't have good credit to begin with. Now b/c of your selfishness and irresponsibility you are making it harder for people who actually do have good credit to get a loan. This slows down business development, the economic sector, and everybody who is trying to stay afloat in middle class.

Genesis 3:4-6 And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you: For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.

While watching your episode, I realized as an investor this mortgage crisis is ultimately going to cost me something. What surprised me was your constant questioning of people about their willingness to walk away without feeling responsible or obligated. Have you not been watching your own show? We live in a country where corporations routinely operate without obligation or responsibility to their investors. Why would that not eventually become a standard belief system?

Genesis 3:11-13 ...Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take? And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it. And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.

feel a great sense of responsibility to pay bills which I've honestly contracted. However there are laws against usury for a reason and the mortgage brokers/banks/real estate agents/investment companies who participated in this incredible charade of selling people houses and mortgages at sub-prime rates and then jacking up the rates two or three years down the road deserve to lose their shirts. The more I've learned about lending practices in general (watch the movie "Maxed Out" if you want to understand how credit card companies operate) the more convinced I am that all lenders should be treated like vipers and kept as far away as humanly possible! Signing a contract without reading it is just plain stupid, but there are a lot of stupid people around and plenty of banks etc to take advantage of them. If you do take such advantage, you deserve to suffer. I don't think -any- of the people "walking away from their homes" envisioned that as an exit strategy when they bought. I can't say that the folks on the other side of the transaction had any scruples at all. They deserve what they get. (BTW, hubby and I are and will continue to pay all of our loans. We did not participate in this chicanery, so I am not writing with an axe to grind.)

Genesis 3:14 And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field...

But I'm disappointed to see that the folks in foreclosure have been grouped as idiots and greedy. Many of us were intelligent and honest people that had full intention of owning our homes forever. Unfortunately, we didn't all have a crystal ball.

Many of us were in conservative loans yet lost our jobs due to the real estate crash and were unable to pay for our homes any longer. Have you stopped and thought about how many jobs have been affected with this? Even my hairstylist and auto mechanic is suffering.

Many of us did not educate ourselves and trusted our realtors and mortgage brokers. We were convinced that the smart way to go was an adjustable rate loan. After all, realtors and mortgage brokers make the big bucks because

Regardless of the reason, these are human beings that were uprooted from their homes. I know firsthand how devastating and humbling it is. I've been a hardworking, tax paying home owner since I was 20 years old. I am now renting for the first time in my life.

I am not greedy; naive perhaps. ...But then again, wasn't the entire United States naive in this situation?

Luke 12:16-21 And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile: And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit. And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together? So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.

Our little inventions in the big picture

We were born with a creative mind. We can imagine things that do not exist and in ways that no second person has thought of. Would anyone disagree that creativity is part of our nature?

Pragmatically speaking, human beings invented many things on earth. The first working laser was demostrated in 1960. Henry Woodward invented light bulb in late 19th century. Fireworks have already been invented by the 12th century in ancient China. Sundials were invented thousand years ago. We, collectively as a species, never stop inventing new things. In fact, we have been making progress in inventing artifical lifeforms.

Figuratively speaking, human beings also invented many ideas in their lives--Harry Porter, The Lord of the Rings, and innumerable seas of written stories and tales, as well as hypotheses, philosophies, entertainments, rules, and customs. It seems that by definition a creative mind strives be different from anything else. Many of them were invented for the good of mankind. Many of them were invented for the good of our own selves.

Whereas it may seem by chance that some intelligent beings like us have dominance over the world, it is not by chance alone. If by chance, the whole earth might not have existed and we would be just fragments of thoughts in the void. Well actually, there might not even be such things as things, ideas or even the void. Whereas it may seem by our hard work that we have dominance over the world, it is not solely by our hard work. Without light, how could there be laser? Without fire, how could there be fireworks? Without a creative mind, how could there be inventions?

A car without an odormeter still runs. But a car without carbon, metal, or even a design may not. Those of us who defy the idea of creation but worship the idol of chance shall come out of their world of little inventions. Those of us who believe the ultimate freedom were to break apart from everything else shall understand that they have no soil to plant themselves within. Those of us who think they have full power over their lives and their world have no idea where they end up going. The physical and mental worlds we live in, after all, were neither created by mere chance nor by our ancestors. Our existence, after all, cannot be explained without the existence of a Creator--He who has given us a creative mind and dominance over the world.

不惜明天的太陽

寒冷的日子裡，被鬧鐘喚醒。在暖暖的被窩中，祂叫醒了我的心，身子卻賴著不從。
醒了的我知道當好好利用時間。正和這段歌詞不謀而合：

"不惜明天的太陽，因明天或許陰暗"

當知道耶和華是賜生命的主。受造之民，當好好利用自己手上的時間。所以，身子你要起來。雙手也不要只顧寫blog。

The Dangers of Half Faith

Knowing while not working towards the highest priority makes you either a hypocrite or a stray person (probably both).

* * *

Believing in someone but not the testimonies through which you know about him means one of the three things:

1. You have personally met him and you know that the testimonies are off the mark; or
2. You have not personally met him. Who you believe in has got no testimony. Rather he is a fragment of your imagination, like Peter Pan; or
3. You pick and choose what you believe. You listen to only what you like to hear.

None of us on earth is perfect. May mercy and blessings come to those who seek the truth.

不貧窮也不富足

我求你兩件事，在我未死之先，不要不賜給我：求你使虛假和謊言遠離我；使我也不貧窮也不富足；賜給我需用的飲食，恐怕我飽足不認你，說：耶和華是誰呢？又恐怕我貧窮就偷竊，以致褻瀆我神的名。 (箴言30:7-9)

永不落空

無論甚麼困難，都要勇敢面對。因為基督耶穌的話，永不會落空。我們既然口裡承認祂作我們的主，心裡便當滿有信心去走面前的道路。我們親身經歷了祂的恩典，確認祂揀選了我們，要我們得生，並要在世上作鹽作光，活出豐盛的生命。祂以自己慈愛的手撫平我們的創傷，原諒了我們信祂的人的過犯。這並不等於我們不用承受過犯在地上的結果。我們信祂的，沒有一件事可以在祂面前誇口的。過犯的結果，我們是當得的。同時，我們在祂的道裡面漸漸順服扎根。從前的我不完全明白，現在卻明白了：最要緊的，就是我們做每一件事，都當照著祂的真理。祂是愛我們的。若祂願意額外開恩予我們，給予我們更美好的事，我就更是要好好守住祂吩咐我們的道。在此訓勉自己，也衷心向天父感恩。

烹調法 生字

久不久就在電視上看到普通話的烹飪節目，現發有不少不明白的生字。碰上這篇文章，正合時宜。

[hk.news.yahoo.com] 烹調法字典
(明報) 01月 10日 星期四 05:05AM

DongHaeng

a heartfelt cartoon site

兩把刀

願這兩段經文常常指導我們。

路12:13-40

12:13 眾人中有一個人對耶穌說：夫子！請你吩咐我的兄長和我分開家業。
12:14 耶穌說：你這個人！誰立我作你們斷事的官，給你們分家業呢？
12:15 於是對眾人說：你們要謹慎自守，免去一切的貪心，因為人的生命不在乎家道豐富。
12:16 就用比喻對他們說：有一個財主田產豐盛；
12:17 自己心裡思想說：我的出產沒有地方收藏，怎麼辦呢？
12:18 又說：我要這麼辦：要把我的倉房拆了，另蓋更大的，在那裡好收藏我一切的糧食和財物，
12:19 然後要對我的靈魂說：靈魂哪，你有許多財物積存，可作多年的費用，只管安安逸逸的吃喝快樂吧！
12:20 神卻對他說：無知的人哪，今夜必要你的靈魂；你所預備的要歸誰呢？
12:21 凡為自己積財，在神面前卻不富足的，也是這樣。
12:22 耶穌又對門徒說：所以我告訴你們，不要為生命憂慮吃甚麼，為身體憂慮穿甚麼；
12:23 因為生命勝於飲食，身體勝於衣裳。
12:24 你想烏鴉，也不種也不收，又沒有倉又沒有庫，神尚且養活牠。你們比飛鳥是何等的貴重呢！
12:25 你們那一個能用思慮使壽數多加一刻呢（或作：使身量多加一肘呢）？
12:26 這最小的事，你們尚且不能作，為甚麼還憂慮其餘的事呢？
12:27 你想百合花怎麼長起來；他也不勞苦，也不紡線。然而我告訴你們，就是所羅門極榮華的時候，他所穿戴的，還不如這花一朵呢！
12:28 你們這小信的人哪，野地裡的草今天還在，明天就丟在爐裡，神還給它這樣的妝飾，何況你們呢！
12:29 你們不要求吃甚麼，喝甚麼，也不要罣心；
12:30 這都是外邦人所求的。你們必須用這些東西，你們的父是知道的。
12:31 你們只要求他的國，這些東西就必加給你們了。
12:32 你們這小群，不要懼怕，因為你們的父樂意把國賜給你們。
12:33 你們要變賣所有的賙濟人，為自己預備永不壞的錢囊，用不盡的財寶在天上，就是賊不能近、蟲不能蛀的地方。
12:34 因為，你們的財寶在那裡，你們的心也在那裡。
12:35 你們腰裡要束上帶，燈也要點著，
12:36 自己好像僕人等候主人從婚姻的筵席上回來。他來到，叩門，就立刻給他開門。
12:37 主人來了，看見僕人儆醒，那僕人就有福了。我實在告訴你們，主人必叫他們坐席，自己束上帶，進前伺候他們。
12:38 或是二更天來，或是三更天來，看見僕人這樣，那僕人就有福了。
12:39 家主若知道賊甚麼時候來，就必儆醒，不容賊挖透房屋，這是你們所知道的。
12:40 你們也要預備；因為你們想不到的時候，人子就來了。


路22:24-38

22:24 門徒起了爭論，他們中間那一個可算為大。
22:25 耶穌說：外邦人有君王為主治理他們，那掌權管他們的稱為恩主。
22:26 但你們不可這樣；你們裡頭為大的，倒要像年幼的；為首領的，倒要像服事人的。
22:27 是誰為大？是坐席的呢？是服事人的呢？不是坐席的大嗎？然而，我在你們中間如同服事人的。
22:28 我在磨煉之中，常和我同在的就是你們。
22:29 我將國賜給你們，正如我父賜給我一樣，
22:30 叫你們在我國裡，坐在我的席上吃喝，並且坐在寶座上，審判以色列十二個支派。
22:31 主又說：西門！西門！撒但想要得著你們，好篩你們像篩麥子一樣；
22:32 但我已經為你祈求，叫你不至於失了信心，你回頭以後，要堅固你的弟兄。
22:33 彼得說：主啊，我就是同你下監，同你受死，也是甘心！
22:34 耶穌說：彼得，我告訴你，今日雞還沒有叫，你要三次說不認得我。
22:35 耶穌又對他們說：我差你們出去的時候，沒有錢囊，沒有口袋，沒有鞋，你們缺少甚麼沒有？他們說：沒有。
22:36 耶穌說：但如今有錢囊的可以帶著，有口袋的也可以帶著，沒有刀的要賣衣服買刀。
22:37 我告訴你們，經上寫著說：他被列在罪犯之中。這話必應驗在我身上；因為那關係我的事必然成就。
22:38 他們說：主啊，請看！這裡有兩把刀。耶穌說：夠了。

Outlook 2008

A few things I am very grateful about:

• knowing a friend who feels the same as those close to her
• being someone who brought joy to his friends
• still alive the first day of 2008
• I've let You down so many times, yet You are still with me

How's 2008 going to be? I am sure there will be more problems around the world due to the greenhouse effects. And I am sure there will be conflicts, scientific progresses and people who are scornful of the Gospel. Yet, I am sure You always stay in our hearts and come back for us one day. Would I long for you like a bride for her groom?

"Truly, I come quickly. Even so come, Lord Jesus." - Revelation 22:20
「我必快來。阿們。主耶穌阿、我願你來。」－啟22:20