Isaiah 41: 14-16 -- These verses needs a great depth of understanding

The LORD says,

"14 Small and weak as you are, Israel, don't be afraid; I will help you.I, the holy God of Israel, am the one who saves you.15 I will make you a threshing-board, with spikes that are new and sharp.You will thresh mountains and destroy them; hills will crumble into dust. 16 You will toss them in the air; the wind will carry them off, and they will be scattered by the storm. Then you will be happy because I am your God; you will praise me, the Holy God of Israel."

The interpretation of the God's words by Pastor Teju was outstanding.He described the mountains as the shortcomings of this world.He started with worldliness, lust, gossip and had a list which ran into pages.He discussed a select few elaborately and gave interesting anecdotes as usual.

The point here is that the Lord not only gives us the threshing-board(an instrument to crush stones) but also bless it with new and sharp spikes.It implies how the Lord will pour his Holy spirit to those who ask him; the mountains mentioned here are the devils/satanic temptations in the world.After crushing them into powder, he will give the power to toss them in the air.Hallelujah!!

These were the verses meditated on our Sunday Worship 'Yabes.'

Fear and Love

This is the day which I have been waiting for.My friend took me to a place of worship at Tambaram.The atmosphere was so alive and filled with the grace of God.I had the opportunity to listen to a sermon given by that church Pastor.It was all about Fear and Love.

The bottomline is Love overcomes Fear , but how and when?

'Fear' , I am talking about is fear to spread God's word.To make the world know about the man who died for all our sins , two thousand years ago! The Pastor narrated several anecdotes to explain how 'Love overcomes Fear?'.I have compiled some of the verses recited by him from the Bible.


1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

These words must ring in our ears forever.We should instill fear in fear itself because we are all servants of the only Holy God of Jacob.Nothing can shake us.Let us see what Bible says about the weapon carried by the army of Christ.

Hebrews 4:12
The spoken Word of God is like a living, powerful sword in our mouths.

This verse can help us cement our faith in Christ :

Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

The Lord cares for us and see how he expresses it :

Matthew 10:29-31

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

There are several quotations to understand that 'Perfect Love(for God) casts out fear'.We become oblivious of whats happening around and turn our ears to Christ alone.

Certain links which are worth a read:

• http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-fear.html
• http://christianity.about.com/od/prayersverses/qt/couragebiblever.htm
• http://www.hem-of-his-garment-bible-study.org/controlling-emotions.html
• http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/overcoming-fear-faq.htm
  

Apathy - Do humans still have the feelings and rational they boast of?

The Railway platform, tea shops , mechanic shops and above all the world have one thing in common -- Poverty ! Little children toiling for petty wages.
In this busy world, when someone asks for arms, less do we care for them.

Have we ever thought how futile and despicable their lives would be ? Don't we have a role in uplifting the quality of their life ? God has blessed us with good health and wealth not to keep and enjoy for ourselves but to share and make others happy.

You need not be like Bill Gates donating millions to an AIDS foundation.You can do that right from your pocket savings. I am happy to be an MITian (only)in this case since a lot of social welfare activities takes place. Think how pleasant it would be if every one who passes out of the college with a job/dream job supports a child in his/her educational activities?

The ailing children and society needs someone badly to render a helping hand.Why not be the redeemer yourself?

Its raining cats and dogs in my forest

I translated a tamil sentence literally.. Peripaetia , the sudden change of fortune or one's fate.I deem this semester as an eye opener for myself and my future life/career.I have gone through several agonising periods for the past two years in my college life.Still some 12-14 months remaining.I have heard people saying we have to wait patiently and pray steadfastly ro G-d since when His good time comes, we vanishes our troubles like mist and stands by our side in all our endeavour.He gives us courage which we would have never experienced in a mysterious way which we ourselves can't acknowledge.Once He showers like blessings, it just like an bolt from the sky.Everyone around us will know about it.It rains cats and dogs! Thats what I mean by the title :-)

Radio to computer interface

Imagine a computer that has an antenna and able to detect FM wave on its own.And then using its own Pentium processor to process the signals and provide a graphical interface like a lollipop to the user.You can store,record and even make an adaptive noise removal techniques based on the input.Geez, its too much for now.. I have other work to do before talking about things which I am not going to look after again(probably)... :-)

India Vs Russia - Information Technology

Its been a while I sent my last post.I came across an article on The Hindu page no.13 on the topic
"IT oppurtunities and Challenges in Russia" which triggered this post.

A country which started its IT firm inspired by Bangalore's "Silicon Valley" is all set to overtake us in the next decade.What is the impetus behind this behemoth growth? Russian Engineers generally spend five to six years before taking up their career.Moreover they are specialists in their own fields(Maths,Physics,Chemistry) besides equipping themselves with hardcore programming skills.I have come across an Russian Mechanical Engineering student Petr who stayed first in TopCoder Programming contests for a commendable period(even now he won't be far from the top 5 slot).I felt something strange and odd on what was happening. :-) .Now I understand after all!




President of Intel Russia said that the Russians are the best in tackling complex problems."The policy we have at Intel is simple",he said in an interview "If we can,we commit difficult problems to the US engg.If the task is very labour-intensive ,we assign it to Indian specialists.If the problem cannot be solved we offer it to Russians".A statement worth byhearting.

This point by Deutsche Bank's Daniel Marovitz vividly portrays the difference between Indian and Russian Programmers."In India , people want to say 'yes' to please and to follow instructions.That can create problem sometimes.In Russia people aren't afraid to tell you that you have a silly idea that makes no sense whatsoever.But thats what you need".
Though our Indian programmers are good at solving complex problems, it is the willingness to take risk that we lack."Job Security" is the ultimate goal of every Engineer who graduates every year( invariably), except for a few rare exceptions.This has hindered us from producing high end products.How long can we serve as someone's pleaser programming what they need(outsourcing)? We need to set a standard for ourselves in the IT market.What we need is not a big "Microsoft" in India rather the efforts put by Bill Gates before starting Microsoft.For the heavy IT workforce we have in India , have we produced anything superior or atleast something in par with top notch products? Its high time Indian IT companies take a closer look at the Global market.(Vladimir Praveen :-) ).

Recently seen movies and their comments(brief)

• Kingdom of heaven starring Orlando Bloom(2005) - 8.6/10

Directed by Ridley scott(Gladiator,Black Hawk Down) and written by William Manohan - starring big names in Hollywood like Bloom,Eva Green,Liam Neeson.Feast for historical movie lovers(Its a fiction anyway :-|)! The war to capture the holy city Jerusalem - Who is Saladin ? Get to know historical answers from this movie

• Forrest Gump(1994) - 8.4/10
  

Directed by Robert Zemeckis based on a novel by Winston Groom."Tom Hanks rocks" - Its still an understatement :-) . Won Oscar award for best acting , best direction and many more..Rated in the top 10 by imdb.com

• Shawshank redemption - 9/10

Rated the best movie next only to God father by imdb.com.The movie stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufrne and Morgan Freeman as Redding.The story happens in the milieu of the Shawshank prison located at maines.The dialogues are a class apart , sparing the narrations by Morgan Freeman which are extra ordinary.Directed by Frank Darabont based on a novel by Stephen King.

• Schindler's list(2.1/4) - 8.9/10

This is based on a real story which happened during World War II in Germany.It was the time when Hitler massacred countless Jews.Oscar Schindler , a german industrialist started a company and rescued the lives of some 1100 Jews.Directed by Steven Spielberg starring Liam Neeson.I haven't seen the full movie and wish to see it soon.