The Real Treasure…

Posted by Mike Lopez under Faith and Religion
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Jul 2004
31
01:05pm


Once there was a king who had presented his daughter, the princess, with a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. Some said a bird may have stolen it. The king then asked them all to search for it and put a reward for $50,000 for anyone who found it.

One day a clerk was walking home along a river next to an industrial area. This river was completely polluted and filthy and smelly. As he was walking, the clerk saw a shimmering in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it so that he could get the $50,000 reward. He put his hand in the filthy, dirty river and grabbed at the necklace, but some how missed it and didn’t catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again, this time he walked in the river and dirtied his pants in the filthy river and put his whole arm in to catch the necklace. But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling depressed.

Then again he saw the necklace, right there. This time he was determined to get it, no matter what. He decided to plunge into the river, although it was a disgusting thing to do as the river was polluted, and his whole body would become filthy. He plunged in, and searched everywhere for the necklace and yet he failed. This time he was really bewildered and came out feeling very depressed that he could not get the necklace that would get him $50,000.

Just then a saint who was walking by, saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn’t want to share the secret with the saint, thinking the saint might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell the saint anything. But the saint could see this man was troubled and being compassionate, again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk mustered some courage and decided to put some faith in the saint. He told the saint about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing.

The saint then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the filthy river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was dangling on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to capture a mere reflection of the real necklace all this time.

Moral of the story:

Material happiness is just like the filthy, polluted river; because it is a mere reflection of the TRUE happiness in the spiritual world. We don’t achieve the happiness we are looking for, no matter how hard we endeavor in the material life. Instead we should look upwards, toward God, who is the source of real happiness, and stop chasing after the reflection of this happiness in the material world. This spiritual happiness is the only thing that can satisfy us completely.

May the Lord help us LOOK UP TO HIM.

God Bless Us All

Thanks to Sos Manuel for sharing this story.



When Linux becomes a Christian Ally

Posted by Mike Lopez under Faith and Religion
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Jul 2004
29
08:00pm
I have been a Microsoft Windows user for many years and I find Microsoft’s flasgship OS to be very appealing. It has thousands of hardwares supported and a multitude of applications available to meet whatever a computer user’s need is. I’ve used it to create business cards, invitations, posters, newsletters, websites, applications, and thousands of documents ever since I started using it back in 1995. I was only using Windows 3.11 by the time. Then came Windows 95, then 98, then ME, then 2000, then Windows XP. I admit, all of them were great tools for business and personal work.

However, there was one big problem - I never spent a single cent in acquiring all this OS versions and its accompanying applications like Microsoft Office (oh yes, I’ve used all versions of MS-Office too). In other words, I was using pirated software. The worst part here is that I am a Christian and almost every Sunday, I lead the Praise & Worship (or choir as some would say) in church. I also handle Bible Studies and if given the opportunity, would even speak on the pulpit on Midweek and Sunday Services. Oh yes, I was such an active Christian.

Early this year, while I was praying for my ministry, the Holy Spirit raised a very distinct conviction in my heart. As you may have already guessed, it’s the issue of using pirated CDs - VCDs, DVDs, Audio CDs, and Software CDs. The conviction was so great that I immediately went into action. At this point, I was so determined to take them all out. All these years I knew it was illegal but I played blind and deaf. I kept on justifying my mistakes by saying, “Licensed CDs is so unbelievably expensive,” and “I’m using it for God’s greater glory” and yet, the urge remained. So now was the time. God won’t allow another day to pass by without me surrendering to His will.

I had a choice, buy licensed versions of all the software I am using which easily totalled to around US$630.00! Imagine that! That would be enough money to buy me two more computers and one astronomical telescope to support my hobby. So I settled for the second choice - find an alternative way of doing things.

I started out by looking for all the pirated VCDs and Audio CDs I have. It was easy to throw them away. I smashed them and threw them in the garbage. What a relief. My wife agreed with me about this matter and it was easy to explain it to my two daughters who loved watching cartoons on these pirated CDs. Next came the harder part - pirated software. My work is mostly computer based - website development, encoding, layouting, and the like. I need to find an alternative and here comes Linux to the rescue.

I liked the idea of Linux being free. Also, most Linux-based softwares are also free. Wow! A free way of doing things! Also, it won’t be illegal to burn them on CD or borrow them from a friend. I’ve heard about it and I seemed to like the idea way back then. But now is different, I will be using it myself.

Late May 2004 was the start of a new computing world for me. Everything will be different. Everything will be clean. Everything will be flawless - or so I thought. I quickly borrowed a set of Redhat 9 installer CDs from my friend Benj Arriola. I was determined to give it a try. I have a 40GB harddrive which was divided in 4 equal partitions so I had no problem with partitioning. I decided to install Redhat 9 on one of the partitions and leave Windows XP on another. Initially, I had a dual boot system as I didn’t delete WinXP yet - just in case things go wrong. Installation was great and since I am viewing Linux from a poweruser perspective, it was easy for me to understand the basics. The Redhat 9 installation CDs even came with OpenOffice (MS Office Counterpart) and Evolution (MS Outlook Counterpart). So far so good.

Next, I searched the internet for a good alternative to Macromedia Homesite. Tell you the truth, I was disappointed as I found nothing to come even close to Homesite when it comes to functionality and ease of use. I tried Bluefish but it seems to crash often so I resorted back to good old text editor. In Linux, I have a bunch to choose from - vi, emacs, gedit, etc - so it’s not a problem. Then there is Gimp, a wonderful replacement for Photoshop. Again, so far so good. By the way, at this point, I was still doing all the internet stuff in Windows XP.

Then came the problems. My Canon BJC-255SP won’t work. My modem won’t work (It was a Conexant modem). My Intel Pocket PC Camera won’t work too! Ahhhhhhhh. I booted on WinXP and searched the net for answers. The printer problem was easily fixed by updating CUPS (the Linux print manager) and the modem was fixed by downloading a demo driver from Linuxant.ORG. But my camera - no good. It ain’t supported by the well known Linux GPhoto but I can live with that. So I downloaded what needs to be downloaded and switched back to Linux, installed the stuff, and all went fine - except of course for the camera.

Since the Linuxant demo modem driver was only running at 28.8kbps, I decided to get a DSL connection. DSL installation on Linux was very easy. I then found a fix for my camera - a JAVA program to download pictures from my camera. Thanks to David Morgan for the cool JAVA program and for all his help in making it work on my PC. All things are going well again.

Now that I’m on DSL, I found the chance to download Redhat’s Fedora Core 2 Linux distribution. I now have it installed on my PC and Windows XP and all pirated software on my PC is gone. All pirated software CDs have now been smashed and thrown. The final frontier on cleaning my house from all pirated CDs has been conquered.

So what’s my point? Why go through all the trouble when I can simply use pirated software (knowing I can’t afford to buy licensed ones)? Simple. As Christians, it is our duty to radiate the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Let us not trample on the wounds of Christ by stealing music, movies, and software. Yes, just in case you don’t know, buying and/or using pirated CDs is theft.

I challenge you - all you who profess to be Christians - take the step and do the right thing. My decision was not easy to make. The problems I went through in migrating my PC from Windows to Linux is not chicken-feed. But if Christ went through all the sorrow and pain just to save me, then I will do the same to glorify Him in my life. So brothers and sisters, either you buy licensed copies or do what I have done.

Thanks to all the Linux guys, to its author, and most of all to THE MOST HIGH GOD for leading me to digital righteousness.

Thou shalt not steal. - Exodus 20:15


To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

Posted by Mike Lopez under Faith and Religion
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Jul 2004
29
04:28am
What was in the mind of Apostle Paul when he said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”? Why such a statement in his epistle to the Philippian church? I pondered for a few moments and attempted to put my feet into the apostle’s shoes (or sandals as you may say) and tried to visualize. I reviewed Philippians 1:21 to 26 and came to a simple and clear conclusion.

Yes, I said. It would be far better for me to pass away because I will be once and for all be with my Creator in a state of peace and happiness. No more joy, no more pain, no more problems, no more bills to pay. On the other hand, I still have work to do in this world. Work to bring more people to the saving power of God. Work to tell the world that once upon a time, God took the form of man, was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world, died on that same cross, and was resurrected from the dead on the third day. Indeed, for me to live is to do what Christ wants me to do. To do the work that He started. The same work that He Himself will finish.

At this point, I felt what Apostle Paul felt. I am in a crossroad - on one hand is doing God’s work and the other hand is to be with God Himself. But what? Where should I go. Ahhhh, it doesn’t really matter. One way or the other, I will glorify God. So as long as their is life in me, I will continue to do everything that God tells me to do until the day I die.

How I pray to God, a request from the bottom of my heart, to allow me to die while in service to Him. No, I don’t want to die in bed or in a place of physical comfort. How I desire for Him to call me while I’m on duty. Am I afraid of death? No. Am I afraid of life? Not either. Wherever I go, I know God is there and thus there is nothing for me to fear.

God bless you all…

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.”

- Philippians 1:21-26


Holy Spirit Calling…

Posted by Mike Lopez under Faith and Religion
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Jul 2004
28
04:52am
Have you ever came to the point when you suddently realize that sin has started creeping in unnoticed. All of a sudden, you see yourself in a state of weakness against the powers of darkness and that God no longer seems to be the center of your life? Well, I come to that point regularly and I know I shouldn’t. Today was the latest that I came into the same cycle but this time, it’s different. This time God told me how to handle things. The Spirit of God told me exactly what I should do to live in victory and with faith, I am now in front of my God - on bended knees - because that’s what HE wants.

This day forward, I came to realize how to finally WALK - not just claim - in VICTORY and I will keep on walking this way until the Lord calls me to rest.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!


Digital Evangelism

Posted by Mike Lopez under Faith and Religion
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Jul 2004
26
06:26am
Have you ever experienced Digital Evangelism? I mean, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ via the internet. I do it all the time and I just want to share it to you.

I do digital evangelism via e-mail but most of the time, I do it via Yahoo! Messenger. Doing it via YM adds the advantage of interactivity. So what were my experiences? They vary depending on the person I’m talking too. Some don’t believe in God, others won’t agree, and yet most will decide to have Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Now, why am I talking about this? Simple. Most of us simply let the opportunity of sharing the gospel pass us by when we chat, send e-mails, or do video-conferencing. I find the internet to be a powerful medium to talk about the SAVING POWER of our SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST!

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” - Matthew 28:19-20