Noah's Arkhives

  I've been watching this series, The Chosen, now on its 3rd season, and each episode has not failed to hit hard on my heart.  I can describe myself as someone who society has hardened and I didn't cry for more than 10 years as everything was just numb and empty.  I felt nothing for anyone or for anything. The first episode of Season 1 which I watched because I had nothing else to watch completely melted whatever hardened my heart and each episode has been  a  tear jerker ever since.  The Chosen series had resuscitated my faith, it brings the gospels alive to me.  The apostles weren't one dimensioned saintly people, they were ordinary people like us who have many imperfections and have many struggles. Fast forward to December 2022 and The Chosen had just released their second episode and this hit the hardest so far because it deals with sickness and healing.  I have the experience of having a loved one deal with pain and suffering through sickness...

   When I was growing up, I didn't realize that the apostles were ordinary, imperfect people like most of us.  When I got to watch the series, The Chosen, the full humanity of the apostles and even Jesus were brought to life and it brings me to tears most of the time because it means that ordinary, nameless people like us can be part of God's inner circle.  Not one of them were born with halos on their heads, they were as ordinary as they come struggling through this rat race of a life. One of them was someone who'll bend the laws if needed. One of them had been in prostitution.  One of them was in a profession that is viewed more cut throat than what our Wall Street guys do now. One of them was someone who only trusts himself and another is even a trained assassin.  But one of them is someone who loves money and achievements more like many of us now. And way later, a mass murderer got converted to be one of Jesus' followers.  They weren't a flock of f...

  There seems to be an ongoing trend nowadays with junior basketball and I am confused whether this is something good or bad for basketball in the long run.  In the past, a lot of these basketball associations, specially the big ones, try their very best to get a coach that had no relationships with any of the kids in their teams.  I think the purpose of this was that every player was on a level playing field to compete for minutes. Nowadays, more and more associations are allowing parents to coach and I am starting to see that some parent coaches are obviously manoeuvring to give extra time to their offspring when they don't necessarily deserve it.  Even those in assistant coach positions do this by manipulating the substitution patterns and when the head coach is unavailable and they take over the team for some games.  Of course, if your son or your daughter are top level talent, they seldom will be affected by this.  Those that are of course that are jus...

 I grew up in a world looking up to great men and women who are selfless and who are willing to sacrifice for people other than themselves.  Heroes, real or fictional; they would always go out of their way, putting their lives in danger and even losing them for the sake of the many.  So when we see soldiers die in battle or firemen rush into a fiery blaze or a collapsing building, we admire their courage and remember and honor them for their sacrifice.  Selflessness.  For the happiness and the welfare of all.  Christ-like. A world without God is a world where mothers can opt to kill their own babies and call it choice.  A world without God is world where love  and happiness of oneself is the most important thing even if it meant it costs the happiness of those around them. A world without God is world where people choose to abandon truth and insist that reality is whatever they believe in no matter how obnoxious it is.  Congratulations, we ar...

  Shia is one of the most talented actors I've seen grace the movie screen and their was a point in time that he was on the rise and then suddenly people saw his descent to irrelevance. In the movie and entertainment industry where belief in God is frowned upon,  it is a breath of fresh air to know that still people would convert to being a Catholic and be spiritual.  I wish him well in his new role of portraying Padre Pio.  May his transformation inspire others to look beyond what this world can offer and look into God as the center of it all for there is really more than meets the eye. The video here is from Bishop Robert Barron Youtube Channel.  I am sharing his videos in hopes of spreading the word.

 Woke culture, cancel culture....you've probably cross paths with this terminology now specially in these days of social media.   My body, my choice.  I identify myself as a non-binary.  Whatever floats your boat as long as your happy.  If ever I become one.  The first thing I will do is sue the NBA.  Yes, you heard me right, the National Basketball Association.   Hear me out, if people can decide what sex they can be, then surely it will be easier for me to say what height I have.  Sex is a more complex issue than height, which like age, is really just a number.  So if people can identify to be a man or a woman in spite of the physical sexual organs disagreeing, it surely is easier for people to accept someone defying something like measurements which in my case is height. On normal standards, I am merely 163 cms but I would identify myself as a 180 cm instead and instead of being Asian, I would identify myself as an African a...

When I was a little boy, I loved to sing along to this kiddie song about counting from one to ten.  It helped me a lot in learning quickly to count and that is all that mattered to me.  I am not sure if you are familiar with this song but the lyrics are like this: One, little two, little three, little Indian, Four, little five, little six, little Indian, Seven, little eight, little nine, little Indian, 10 little Indian boys I just recently realized that if you mix a little bit of wokeness into it and then the following questions could arise: Isn't this song racist to Indians? Isn't this song demeaning to call Indians little? Isn't this sexist because it excluded girls? If sang by an older person, isn't this encouraging pedophilia? This would be an example of why I think a lot of people are overthinking a lot of stuff nowadays and it sometimes becomes too ridiculous.   ---------------------

      “You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one master and love the other. Or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time.”   The Pharisees were listening to all these things. They criticized Jesus because they all loved money. Jesus said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people. But God knows what is really in your hearts. What people think is important is worth nothing to God. - Luke 16:13-15   30 lost lives is 30 lost lives.  It doesn't matter much if it is 30 out of a 100 or out of 300,000.  30 people will no longer be able to hug their loved ones anymore.  For the past days, on average I think, at least 30 people die daily because of our drive to learn to live with the milder Omicron variant of Covid-19.  The Australian government and other first world governments have recently decided that we must not do lockdowns anymore b...

  I’m not a warrior I’m too afraid to lose I feel unqualified for what you’re calling me to But Lord with your strength I’ve got no excuse Cause broken people are exactly who you use. So give me faith like Daniel in the lion’s den Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness Give me a heart like David, Lord be my defense So I can face my giants with confidence You took a shepherd boy And made him a King So I’m gonna trust you and give you everything I’ll be a conquerer Cause you fight for me I’ll be a champion claiming your victory So give me faith like Daniel in the lion’s den Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness Give me a heart like David, Lord be my defense So I can face my giants with confidence I’m gonna sing and shout and shake the walls I won’t stop until I see them fall Gonna stand up, step out when you call Jesus, Jesus So give me faith like Daniel in the lion’s den Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness Give me a heart like David, L...

  In this very short review video by Durbania, I am reminded of my shortcomings where I felt disappointed that God didn't seem to be listening and answering my prayer.  So I am not really surprised that whenever I remember this scene in its entirety, my eyes become teary almost everytime. Jesse has been a cripple since he was a young boy.  He has a brother whom he dearly loved but left him to join the Zealots movement.  Feeling abandoned and wanting to walk again, he goes to this pool in Bathezda where people believe that has healing powers if you can get there in time when it starts to bubble.   Jesus one day came to the pool and approached him and asked him, "Do you want to be healed?".  At this point and for so many years, he was so fixated to just getting first to the pool, that he asked Jesus instead, "Will you take me to the pool?" And Jesus' answer was a heartbreaking no.  Jesus wasn't doing this to be cruel but just to point out to Jesse that t...

    Basketball is growing in popularity here in Sydney and I've observed that there is an increase in number of boys (and girls) trying out for representative playing spots across all associations well at least it looked that way for the 3-4 associations that I know about. January has started and most associations have finished their tryouts for the 2022 Waratah Junior and Senior season.  The final rosters are now being published in social media to the delight of those that have secured spots but relatively opposite to those that didn't secure them. Well, of course, ideally the expectation of most is that representative basketball is for the most talented basketball kids but sadly it is not always the case. Sadly, even in first world countries, politics and economics still plays a significant role in tainting everything even in the world of junior basketball.  I hear that its not just basketball but also other junior sports like soccer, rugby, netball, etc. Yes, you ...