in Perspective

Can life be meaningless for the Christian? Can you have a personal relationship with God, be sure of salvation and eternity in heaven by grace through faith in Christ's finished work, yet live an empty, unfulfilled life. These questions come to mind when we read what Ecclesiastes 1 has to say about the meaning of life.
The book of Ecclesiastes is not your typical motivational book. You won’t hear a lot of positivity from its author. It doesn’t sugar coat its declarations. In fact, it throws itself into discussing the deep and heavy stuff about life.
Most agree that King Solomon indeed wrote this book and probably did so sometime during his old age.
From an initial reading of chapter 1, we learn that the author has lived a long life by the time he wrote the book. He’s done a lot, accomplished a lot, and learned a lot. With all those in view, he pens the book.
From the way he perceives life, we can catch that he’s speaking from a position where one is far from God or living in disconnec…

Filipinos call it puto or steamed rice cakes. It comes in different shapes, sizes, and flavors. It uses varying ingredients. Commonly, it's made using a regular food steamer.
But this puto or steamed rice cake recipe lets you use either a steamer or an oven. This easy puto recipe also lists substitutes so you can bake with what you have or just vary the taste and texture whenever you want to serve it.

Puto or Filipino steamed rice cakes go well with coffee or tea. You can bake these less sweet and have them with grilled meat, saucy dishes, or stew.
For your Easy Puto Ingredients 2 cups Flour (Rice flour, all purpose flour, cake flour, or self-rising flour)1 cup granulated sugar (lessen or add a bit more as you prefer, use other types of sugar you like)1 tbs baking powder (omit this if you're using self-rising flour)2 to 4 tbs butter (use max if you want it buttery)3/4 cup milk ( full-cream, buttermilk, coconut milk, etc.)1 cup water1 eggoptional additional flavour (drops of vanill…

1 Peter 5:7 is a short and simple verse that carries a lot of truths. If you are filled with troubles, this is one rich verse you should meditate on. 1 Peter 5:7 in different translationsReading Scripture in different translations broadens our understanding. Let's look at 1 Peter 5:7 rendered in different Bible Translations.
a. From Holman Christian Standard Bible:
"casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you." b. From Amplified Bible Classic:
"Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully." c. From New English Translation:
"by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you." 2 Main Truths from 1 Peter 5:7From a simple reading of the verse, we can clearly see 2 main truths.
1. There's an action step we should take. 1Peter 5:7  says what we should do:
'cast all your cares upon God' and
2. There's…

A.W. Tozer talks about complacency and too much religiosity in Chapter 1 of The Pursuit of God. Here are my reading and reflection notes on the Chapter.
Marked: How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of “accepting” Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire.Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.
Thoughts: Complacency kills any relationship. When you are complacent, you are falsely satisfied. You become lazy with the situation. You don't put in the efforts to deepen the relationship.Important relationships need efforts. You need to put in the time for meaningful communication and togetherness. You can't be complacent if the relationship is to grow stronger.Instant prayer books, instant devotional books… this is the trend. Supplementary works created by others h…

So, the "Last Dance" finally dropped on Netflix this April 21 in Australia. It premiered on ESPN on April 20, 2020. For Michael Jordan fans (and Chicago Bulls fans), that was a long wait. The documentary received its green light from Michael Jordan and the others, way back 2016.
Sitting through episodes 1 and 2, I have to agree that there could have been no better time to air "The Last Dance". I really missed seeing His Airness execute his majestic plays. I missed seeing that particular Chicago Bulls team playing games on screen. I had a trip back to memory lane. And it was a pleasant one. An inspiring one. There's no better distraction than to sit, listen, and stare through a motivating, confronting, and inspiring documentary.
Michael Jordan was not the number 1 pick in the NBA draft. He was number 3. We see from the documentary that the Chicago Bulls higher ups were not that ecstatic about their choice. It's like they had no other choice and that Michael Jo…

Did you choose God or did He choose you? What is God's role in the choosing and where does man's choosing start? A.W. Tozer discusses a bit of this in "Following Hard After God", which is chapter 1 of The Pursuit of God. Here are my reading and reflection notes on the section.
Marked: a, Christian theology teaches the doctrine of prevenient grace, which means that before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man.
b. Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him.
c. We pursue God, only because He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. “No man can come to me,” said our Lord, “except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” 
d. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand.
e. God is always previous. In practice, however, man must pursue God.…

A right opinion doesn't always lead to a right response. A.W. Tozer talks about this in his Preface to the Pursuit of God. Here's part 2 of my reading and reflection notes on the section.
Marked: "Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of Godwithout either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is proof of this."
Thoughts: a. To know who God is, most superior, most holy, most loving, most good, and yet not be moved to make the right response in spite of what you know, is very possible.
b. This still happens today. You and I know God is all-wise and all-loving, yet we doubt Him at times. We refuse to yield to our powerful, trustworthy Father.
Marked: a. "There are today many millions of people who hold “right opinions,” probably more than ever before in the history of the Church. Yet I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb.…