Jason 2010 Birthday Cake

Photo by Jason


The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthday celebrations in Western cultures since the middle of the 19th century. Certain rituals and traditions, such as singing of birthday songs, associated with birthday cakes are common to many Western cultures. The Western tradition of adding lit candles to the top of a birthday cake originates in 18th century Germany. However, the intertwining of cakes
and birthday celebrations stretch back to the Ancient Romans. The development of the birthday cake has followed the development of culinary and confectionery advancement. While throughout most of Western history, these elaborate cakes in general were the privilege of the wealthy, birthday cakes are nowadays common to most Western birthday celebrations. Around the world many variations on the birthday cake, or rather the birthday pastry or sweets, exist.

信仰的能力

Photo by Jason
13/5/2010-15/5/2010
古晋
Stephen Tong
唐崇荣博士布道会（信仰的能力）




Stephen Tong (Chinese: 唐崇荣; pinyin: Tang Chongrong or Lau Tong; born 1940) is an Indonesian Reformed evangelist, Theologian, and Christian philosopher. In his ministry spanning 50 years, he has preached to more than twenty million people since 1957.[1] As an evangelist, Tong has preached in Asia, Europe, Australia, North and South America, and guest lectured at many theological seminaries in Asia. He is the founder and the President of the Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International (STEMI) which has established offices in the US, Europe, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Taipei. Stephen Tong was born in 1940 in Xiamen, China, to a Chinese father and an Indonesian mother of Chinese descent. His family migrated to Indonesia when he was 9 years old. The family had seven sons (Tony, John, Peter, Caleb, Solomon, Stephen, Joseph), five of which would became Christian ministers later on,[2] and one daughter (Mary). He was also known as a bright, attentive, passionate, and rush man [3]. At the age of 17, he dedicated his life to Christ after hearing a sermon by Andrew Gih at a youth conference near Surabaya.[4] His mother, who was a widow since he was 3, was instrumental in his spiritual life. He said of his mother, "When I was small, the first words I'd hear in the morning were those of my mother while she prayed. She prayed for each of us children by name, and asked God to guide us."[5]Stephen Tong obtained his Bachelor Degree in Theology (B.Th) from Southeast Asia Bible Seminary in Malang, Indonesia, where he later served on the faculty, teaching theology and philosophy for 25 years. In 1985, Stephen Tong was awarded an honorary doctorate in leadership in Christian evangelism from the La Madrid International Academy of Leadership in Manila, in the Philippines. Since then he has been usually formally referred to as "Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong". In May 2008, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the Westminster Theological Seminary.[6][7]Stephen Tong names his brand of theology as Evangelical Reformed, which is said to be aimed at meeting the challenge of the Charismatic movement as well Liberalism.[8] It emphasizes on the importance of the Bible as the sole word of God and actively encourages evangelism. Tong also frequently mentions the need for churches to attend to the Cultural Mandate. Besides this he is also a fervent creationist, having promoted his creationist ideas in rallies held in Taiwan and Singapore.
Among his listeners, Stephen Tong is known to possess a unique flair of rhetoric in his preaching, often linked to influences of George Whitefield and Charles Spurgeon. Many of his sermons have been published into books.
Tong's ministry is mainly conducted among Mandarin and Indonesian-speaking audiences. Since 2000, Tong has preached expository sermons on the Gospel of John, Romans, Hebrews, James and other topics in Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and Taipei every week. Every year, Christmas and Easter mark the occasions for evangelistic rallies in these cities, in addition to other rallies in these cities and others which he visits less frequently. As an evangelist, he is said to have influenced hundreds of thousands to become full-time ministers of the Gospel.[9]Stephen Tong founded the Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia. The church subscribes to the Reformed confessions generally accepted by Reformed churches, but it has its own unique confession of faith.[10][11]
The church has expanded to include branches in various parts of the world including Germany, North America, Asia and Australia. A new building for the Reformed Evangelical Church in Jakarta, the Messiah Cathedral (which includes a 4600-capacity auditorium[12]) was finished in 2008. It took 16 years to persuade the Indonesian government to issue a permit to build the church.[13] The church building was personally designed by Tong himself. It is one of the largest Chinese Christian evangelical church facilities in the world, with 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) of space.
The Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia and its affiliated institutions have female evangelists, lecturers, and church council members. They are allowed to preach and assume authoritative roles, although they are not ordained.[14]Tong has composed numerous Mandarin hymns and chorus, popular among many Christians [15]. Other than preaching and teaching, his activities revolve around conducting choirs and orchestras, and educating the church in the appreciation of sacred music. His other interests include arts and architectural design, having contributed to the design of many church buildings in Indonesia. He is also known to have interest in classical music especially in Baroque era, watches, and antiques.[16]

Water

Photo by Jason

箴27:19 水中照脸，彼此相符；人与人，心也相对。

Water is a chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is vital for all known forms of life.[1]
In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface.[2] On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation.[3] Oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes and ponds 0.6%. A very small amount of the Earth's water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.
Water on Earth moves continually through a cycle of evaporation or transpiration (evapotranspiration), precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Over land, evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation over land.
Clean drinking water is essential to human and other lifeforms. Access to safe drinking water has improved steadily and substantially over the last decades in almost every part of the world.[4][5] There is a clear correlation between access to safe water and GDP per capita.[6] However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability.[7] A recent report (November 2009) suggests that by 2030, in some developing regions of the world, water demand will exceed supply by 50%.[8] Water plays an important role in the world economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70% of freshwater is consumed by agriculture.[9]

天道堂

Photo by Jason

天道堂

Cross

Photo by Jason

加2:20 我已经与基督同钉十字架，现在活着的不再是我，乃是基督在我里面活着；并且我如今在肉身活着，是因信上帝的儿子而活；他是爱我，为我舍己。

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run diagonally, the design is technically termed a saltire.
The cross is one of the most ancient human symbols, and is used by many religions, such as Christianity. It is frequently a representation of the division of the world into four elements (Chevalier, 1997) (or cardinal points), or alternately as the union of the concepts of divinity, the vertical line, and the world, the horizontal line (Koch, 1955).

SKY

Photo by Jason

诗89:6 在天空谁能比耶和华呢？上帝的众子中，谁能象耶和华呢？

The sky is the part of the atmosphere or of outer space visible from the surface of any astronomical object. It is difficult to define precisely for several reasons. During daylight, the sky of Earth has the appearance of a deep blue surface because of the air's scattering of sunlight.[1][2][3][4] The sky is sometimes defined as the denser gaseous zone of a planet's atmosphere. At night the sky has the appearance of a black surface or region scattered with stars.
During the day the Sun can be seen in the sky, unless obscured by clouds. In the night sky (and to some extent during the day) the moon, planets and stars are visible in the sky. Some of the natural phenomena seen in the sky are clouds, rainbows, and aurorae. Lightning and precipitation can also be seen in the sky during storms. On Earth, birds, insects, aircraft, and kites are often considered to fly in the sky. As a result of human activities, smog during the day and light radiance during the night are often seen above large cities (see also light pollution).
In the field of astronomy, the sky is also called the celestial sphere. This is an imaginary dome where the sun, stars, planets, and the moon are seen to be traveling. The celestial sphere is divided into regions called constellations.
See extraterrestrial skies for descriptions of the skies of various planets and moons in the solar system.

Snail

Photo by Jason

Snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. Otherwise snail-like creatures that lack a shell (or have only a very small one) are called slugs. Snails often live up to 10 years. Some species have lived for at least 25 years.[citation needed] One snail, the Giant African Snail, can grow 15 inches (39.3 cm.) from snout to tail, and weigh 2 lbs.
Snails can be found in a wide range of environments including ditches, deserts, and the abyssal depths of the sea. Although many people are familiar with terrestrial snails, land snails are in the minority. Marine snails constitute the majority of snail species, and have much greater diversity and a greater biomass. Numerous kinds of snail can also be found in fresh waters. Many snails are herbivorous, though a few land species and many marine species are omnivores or predatory carnivores.
Snails that respire using a lung belong to the group Pulmonata, while those with gills form a paraphyletic group; in other words, snails with gills are divided into a number of taxonomic groups that are not very closely related. Snails with lungs and with gills have diversified widely enough over geological time that a few species with gills can be found on land, numerous species with a lung can be found in freshwater, and a few species with a lung can be found in the sea.
Most snails have thousands of microscopic tooth-like structures located on a ribbon-like tongue called a radula. The radula works like a file, ripping the food into small pieces.