69. Babylon the Great

Guess what?  Babylon the Great is in Revelation chapters 17 and 18.  Ka Apaz, the platform of the spirit of Ama, said who Babylon the Great is.  Revelation 18:4 says that we should not be partakers of her sins.  We have to come out of her.  I believe Ka Apaz.

 

 

29 – Right vs wrong

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Who can tell us which is right and which is wrong?  It is only the true God.  So, we better search for Him.  And when we find Him, we make Him our king.  We follow His commandments and stick to Him until our last dying breath.

Is stealing one dollar and stealing a million dollars different?  Both are stealing.  Is it right to lie?  Is it right to kill or maim our fellowmen?  Is it right to commit suicide?  Is it right to rape a woman?  We may hope that in the afterlife, we would be forgiven for these by asking for forgiveness.  Unfortunately, it will be too late.  We can only ask for forgiveness while we are still alive.  So we have to avoid committing any sin.  We have to be perfect, to be sinless, like the true God in order that we can be admitted to His kingdom.

28 – Tap toothbrush

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I share with you what I do and believe in.  They may be trivial matters to you but to me, I find them practical and down-to-earth.

One of the things that I do is forcibly remove the water from my toothbrush after brushing my teeth.  I do this by tapping it twice on the side of the lavatory sink to dry quickly.  I know that if I leave it moist, bacteria may grow and make the base of the bristle black or discolored because of this growth.

 

 

27 – Prolong your toothpaste

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When we brush our teeth, we notice residue as we rinse our mouth, don’t we?  The residue is broken-down unused toothpaste.

What I do to prevent wastage of toothpaste as residue is to press the toothpaste against my tongue.  This way, the toothpaste sinks in-between the bristles.  No more on top.  This is important.

By doing so, not only is wastage prevented but also a tube of toothpaste will last longer because you don’t have to put toothpaste through the length of the brush.  Half may be enough.

Also, I use the toothbrush handle to push the toothpaste towards the neck, and then fold the end and clip it with a clothes peg.  When nothing comes out of the tube anymore, I cut the body near the neck to scoop out the remaining toothpaste which maybe for four brushings or more.

26 – Date and time

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The international convention of writing the date is spelled out in ISO 8601.  It is YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD where YYYY is the four-digit year from 0000 to 9999 for AD or CE years (0000 is equal to 1 BC; other BC years are written as –YYYY, as -0001 for 2 BC and -0099 for 100 BC), MM is the two-digit month from 01 to 12, and DD is the two-digit day from 01 to 31.  I usually use the latter way.  Hence, today is 20110613.  I usually do not use the + sign for AD or CE years.

The time used in ISO 8601 is the 24-hour time.  HH:MM:SS or HHMMSS, or HH:MM or HHMM, where HH is the two-digit hour from 00 to 23, MM is the two-digit minute from 00 to 59, and SS is the two-digit second from 00 to 59.  Hence, 11:30pm is 2330.

Under the convention, the date and the time are separated by the capital letter T.  Hence, 20110613T2330.  However, I usually use the decimal point to separate the date and the time as shown above to get used to it.

25 – Difference between dead and living

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What is the difference between a dead person and a living person, the body in the coffin which is being waked upon and the living who is attending the wake?

The difference is spirit.  The spirit of the dead person has already left his body while the spirit of the living person is still in his body.

The physical body came from the inanimate soil.  The life-giving spirit comes from God.  From the Holy Bible, here are some verses: Genesis 2:7, 3:19; Ecclesiastes 12:7.

24 – Roof over our head

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As long as a person lives, he needs a roof over his head. 

A family could save a lot from rent if he had a place to stay at.   What if he is incapacitated due to illness or accident, how would he pay his rent?  If he becomes old, how would he continue paying rent just to have somewhere to stay?  He may end up as a squatter or homeless. 

If he had his own place, he just would not be evicted.  There is more permanence in his address.  There would be no need to move to new addresses.  The house could be the family home.  The family could become closer to their neighbors.

What I suggest is for the parents to buy a unit, even a one-bedroom unit.  Once a child marries, he/she has a place to stay to start married life.  The couple saves until they can buy their own place.  If another child marries, then the newly married couple can stay at the unit.  The maximum tenure that a couple can stay in the unit is five years.  Hopefully, within the period, a couple will have saved enough money as deposit for their own home.

23 – One false move

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One false move may cause us to regret such action forever.  For example, doing an armed hold-up, raping a person, killing a person, etc.  We may or may not be caught.  If we are caught and proven guilty, we may languish in jail for years or for life or even sentenced to death.  If we are absolved because of technicalities or whatever, and we know that we are guilty of committing the offence, we are not free yet.  There is the highest court which knows everything that we did or said.  It will give us a sentence that is just and fair.  That is the court in Heaven.

We know that we will all die one day and leave behind all the things we try to accumulate on earth.  So what for do we have to step into the lives of other people.  It may cause our downfall.

What do we do?  We live simply and righteously.  The one who can tell us which is right and which is wrong is the true God who created us.  We listen to Him and follow His commandments.  He not only created us but He can provide the things we need to live.

22 – Know the usual price

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Know the price of what you usually buy.  For example, the price of banana can go as low as a dollar a kilo.  If the price were $10 a kilo, I do not buy.  I buy cheaper substitute.  Am I craving for that item like a pregnant woman’s craving?  But when it is on sale and at about the usual price, then I may buy it.

For example, I don’t have any onions left.  I know that it can cost about a dollar a kilo.  If the price is about $3 a kilo, I don’t buy it even if the recipe calls for it.  I just cook my food without that ingredient or I may use another recipe not calling for that ingredient.  But when it is on sale and the price drops to about a dollar a kilo, then I buy.

What are the other items that may go on sale?  Toilet paper, ground beef, corned beef, soft drink, breakfast cereal, ice cream, pasta, rice, laundry powder, noodle, kebab, petrol, etc.

21 – Binge drinking

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Binge is an informal word for a heavy drinking bout or a drunken spree.

Men do binge drinking.  Women are also now binge drinking.

Why do they do that?  So that they may say that they are too drunk to have sexual intercourse?  And what are the consequences of having sexual intercourse?  AIDS?  Babies?

Do binge drinking just make brewery companies grow richer?

I say, drink beer or wine in moderation.  Better still, refrain from these alcoholic beverages.  There are substitutes, like water, juice, and soft drinks which will not make you drunk.