Because it matters

Here at Taksuyama.com we reported the tragic breakdown of toilets at the International Space Station (ISS) earlier and we even prayed for those poor souls that were facing unimaginable possibilities in the middle of NOWHERE (see the post). I'm happy to report some good news regarding the ISS this time. Internet access on the ISS went live this morning! The crew now has full browsing capability (they've even tweeted). But on the other hand, I'm worried about the astronauts' productivity at ISS... Oh, I should get back to work, too.

Glyn Moody at Linux Journal reports:

Today is the birthday of Linus. Although that's essentially a private event for him, there's an interesting historical link to the creation of the Linux kernel, too.... To this student loan, Linus added what he termed “Christmas money”. As anyone who has a birthday very near Christmas will tell you, such “Christmas money” almost invariably includes money for the birthday bundled in too, so it's likely that some funds for the PC arrived in the form of birthday presents. Significantly, Linus wasted no time in buying the new computer after Christmas – and hence his birthday. As he told me in 1996: “ I remember the first non-holiday day of the New Year I went to buy a PC.” Read the rest of this entry »

Christmas songs. They may be sweet to our ears, but too many of us don't spend time meditating upon the lyrics, which (in most cases, but not all cases) teach great and true things about how the Word of God became flesh to dwell among us for the work of salvation on the cross. If we can just forget all the "holiday season" things (ie presents, big dinners, eggnog milkshake -- ohhh), and focus on Jesus in these songs, they're just great worship songs that can minister to your hearts. They do for mine! Hallelujah!
What Child is this?

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!

Read the rest of this entry »

From Wikipedia, "Why We Fight is a series of seven propaganda films commissioned by the United States government during World War II to demonstrate to American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war." I do hate that they used Koran and other false books in this film, but it is made by a government. What can I expect? Anyways, despite some grievances I have with the film, I do think that this propaganda film was a good idea. In order to encourage the citizens to enlist in the armed forces, the reason for the war needs to be made clear.

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. (2Timothy 2:3-4)

Many church-goers (like me sometimes) today fail to understand that we are literally in a war. They know it in their head, but their behaviors don't show it. I've been guilty of this myself. However, the Scripture corrects us by saying that each of us "must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ". Read the rest of this entry »

BBC news reports that "the main toilet has broken down on the International Space Station (ISS), currently home to a record 13 astronauts, Nasa said." That must be the worst nightmare of all time: you are all isolated in space with a dozen other people who have urgent priority needs (#1 and #2) and the only toilet breaks down!!!
Fortunately, they have a backup toilet on the Russian side of the space station, I have heard. But if I were one of them, I'd have anxiety attacks about the backup toilet breaking down before the main toilet comes back online. I never thought I'd be motivated to pray for the astronauts in the ISS, but now I am.

For more information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8158350.stm

Let's not take things for granted here on earth.

I was going through the notes in my "Ministry" folder on my computer and came across this document that I put together a while ago for putting it on the website for a church. If you are not sure how to become a Christian, if you have no idea, or if you're like me, you would like to reflect upon the Gospel just because it is so refreshing! Thank you, Lord for the Gospel!!!

How to become a Christian

If you have just decided to become a Christian, please let at least one Christian friend of yours know about it. They'd love to pray with you, I'm sure. Or you can let us know and we'll pray and rejoice with you!

With Love,
Tak

So June 19 was my "defense" day and I defended my PhD dissertation. +6 years ago, when I wasn't a believer, I thought it would be the biggest day in my life when I obtain the doctorate status. However, it is amazing how a brand new world view changes how you feel about things. In the eternal perspective that I now have thanks to the Holy Spirit, this is an insignificant thing and every time people asked me how I felt about getting this degree, I had to be honest: Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, it's been ~2 months since the last post!
This time, I have a good reason: I am defending my PhD on June 19th and my dissertation was due on May 29th. All of the PhD stuff has been keeping me busy.
However, I just wanted to at least post this one thing mainly so that I will remember what I recently learned from the 1st book of Samuel.

Morever as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way.

1Samuel 12:23, KJV

Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since I read through the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus.... Deuteronomy; the first 5 books in the Bible), I always wanted to see a life-size model of the tabernacle. When I read through Psalms, I wanted to more accurately relate to the psalmists who spoke of the holiness of the Lord's presence in the tabernacle. Today, because of what the Lord Jesus has done (died for our sins and rose again!), we can go boldly before the Lord's throne in Heaven. However, it must have been amazing to have the awesome Lord's manifest presence right there in the tabernacle.
Read the rest of this entry »

I suppose I should have posted this yesterday, but here it is.
I used to not know what St. Patrick's day was about at all until I watched this VeggieTales episode. Then I bought this book. Yes, you may be having some doubts now about my intelligence and the source of information I post here. I must admit, I haven't done enough background research to confirm the details, but the posted information comes from people that I trust (the book was published by "the Voice of the Martyrs").

He was not called Patrick at birth, but his name was Maewyn Succat. When he was 16 years old, he was abducted by pagans from Ireland. Maewyn was enslaved for 6 years. Read the rest of this entry »