Tuesday, August 22, 2006

A Taste of Home

Came across a blog that had quite a number of recipes from home. The author is a free lance journalist and photographer from Malaysia. What really got my stomach juices going were the pictures that accompanied her recipes!

She has taken such good pictures of some of the dishes that I can almost smell the food! Of course for those of you who have never been to South East Asia, some of the stuff will be a little too exotic for your palates!

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

I can't wait for the season to start

I was just reading the American columnist for Fox Soccer Channel, Nick Webster and he predicted that Liverpool will win the premiership this season. He was right in predicting that Chelsea would win last season... but of course that wasn't rocket science considering how much they spent on building their team!

However I think that Liverpool's win over Chelsea in the Community Shield this last Sunday has really got the fans hopes up! We will see how things turn out, but what is important is that they start the season well. Last season, after the Oct 2nd game in which LFC lost to Chelsea 4-1, Liverpool amassed 75 points to Chelsea's 67 for the rest of the season. The title was essentially lost in the first month when Liverpool only earned 7 points to Chelsea's 21. So with Mourinho (some call him Moanin-ho) claiming that his team are only 50% ready, the tables may well be turned!

Like I said, I just can't wait for the season to begin!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Against the Flow

Being here in America, I have often felt discomfort at the level of politicization of the church. The following is an excerpt of a New York Times article about a pastor who felt the same way. Unfortunately the very fact that he made the news shows how prevalent this is in Evangelical circles here...

"Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.

The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

Mr. Boyd says he is no liberal. He is opposed to abortion and thinks homosexuality is not God’s ideal. The response from his congregation at Woodland Hills Church here in suburban St. Paul — packed mostly with politically and theologically conservative, middle-class evangelicals — was passionate. Some members walked out of a sermon and never returned. By the time the dust had settled, Woodland Hills, which Mr. Boyd founded in 1992, had lost about 1,000 of its 5,000 members..."

To read more, click here.