... we can see his hand crafting connections behind the scenes. Nothing in the modern life encourages us to see the invisible links binding together all of life. We have no sense that we live in the presence of a loving Father and are accountable for all we do. The marketing slogan of Las Vegas - "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" - describes how our secular world views life. You can come to Vegas, have sex anonymously, and return home to your spouse as if nothing happened. There is no link between Vegas and the rest of your life. You have unlimited freedom to pursue feeling good about yourself.

Baloney. This is my Fathers World! Everything you do in Vegas is connected to the rest of your life. Everything you do is connected to who you are as a person and, in turn, creates the person you are becoming. Everything you do affects those who love you. All of life is covenant!

- Excerpt from A Praying Life - Paul Miller.

Everyone's different and what works for one doesn't for the other. This is a list of what works for me!

- Drink lots of water - 8 cups a day at least.
- Just one coffee in the morning. Teas only later on.
- Count every calorie! - Even the snacks and little bites.
- Limit Calories to 1500 a day. (7 days a week). Track it!
- Breakfast - A tortilla and an egg starts you off good.
- Before you start eating, make sure your plate has only what you intend to eat. The rest goes in your doggie bag before you start eating.
- Lay of rice as much as you can.

- Measure your weight everyday - first thing in the morning.

(Will update this post later on after I figure out a exercise regimen that works for me.)

Forgive Us Our Debts,
As We Also Have Forgiven Our Debtors.

This is an extremely dangerous prayer to pray, but it contains a principle that the New Testament takes very seriously. The supreme warning from Jesus is that God will judge us according to how we have judged other people. Since man is saved by grace, what better evidence could there be of a man's salvation than that he offers others the grace he himself has received? If such grace is not conspicuous in our lives, we may validly question the genuineness of our own alleged conversion. We must take God seriously at this point. ... It is an insult to God for us to withhold forgiveness and grace to those who ask us, while claiming to be forgiven and saved by grace ourselves.

There is another important point to consider here. Even in our act of forgiveness there is no merit. We cannot commend ourselves to God and claim forgiveness merely cause we have shown forgiveness to someone else. Our forgiveness in no way obligates God toward us. ... We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.

The bottom line of what Jesus is saying is this: "Forgiven people forgive other people".

- Excerpt from Does Prayer Change Things - by R.C. Sproul.

The moment Jesus was on the cross, the sin of the world was imputed to Him as it was to the scapegoat. He became the incarnation of sin, the absolute paragon of obscenity.

Once sin was concentrated on Jesus, God cursed Him. When the curse of the law was poured out on Jesus, He experienced pain that had never been experienced in the annals of history. I have heard of graphic sermons about the excruciating pain of the nails in the hands, of hanging on a cross, and of the torturous dimensions of crucifixion. I am sure that they are all accurate and that it was a dreadful way to be executed, but thousands of people in world history have undergone the excruciating pain of crucifixion. Only one man has ever felt the pain of the fullness of the unmitigated curse of God upon Him. When he felt it, He cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). Some say that he did to quote Psalm 22. Others say He was disoriented by His pain and didn't understand what was happening. God certainly did forsake Him. That is the whole point of the atonement. Without forsakenness, there is no curse. God at that moment in space and time, turned His back on His Son.

In the midst of His forsakenness, I doubt He was even aware of the nails in His hands or the thorns in His brow. He was cut off from the Father.

- Excerpt from Who is Jesus - by R.C. Sproul.

If anyone other than the divine knows your ins and outs better, it is your spouse. My wife, she knows me well, sees the changes in me and has the loving will to remind me to be a better person. She bought me a book and wrote the words below on the inside cover of the book. The book? Amusing ourselves to Death - by Neil Postman. This letter also reminds me of how far I had drifted from the things of God and the desire to seek his will. Praise God! Its Him who is the author and finisher of our faith!

Dear Anil,

I earnestly and strongly (if I may add) want you to read this book, this month. Please understand that I am not giving you this book because you are seeing TV. I heard pastors message and he recommending reading and has also mentioned how good this book is. I know in my heart that God gave you a brilliant mind. According to me you are real capable of becoming a theologian/philosopher/author and it hurts me to see you not reading any books. Like pastor says I don't want you to be an intellectual/spiritual pygmy. In our first years I used to admire your habit of reading. I wish and pray that God renews your desire. This is just an attempt of mine to get you started again. Maybe its the small step towards you writing books someday :), but not my desire but His will be done.

"The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
    and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
    and give you peace."
- Numbers 6:24-26

with lots of love, your wife,
Sunila.

My God surely knows me! My dear wife knows me too!

We argue endlessly over matters of religion and philosophy, about ethics and politics, but each question must ultimately face the personal issue squarely: "What do I do about my sin?"

That I sin and that you sin is debated by none save the most dishonest of men. We sin. We violate each other. We assault the holiness of God. What hope do we have in such dreadful turmoil? We can deny our sin or even the existence of God. We can exclaim that we are not accountable for our lives. We can invent a God who forgives everybody without requiring repentance. All such avenues are established in delusion. There is but one who qualifies as Savior.

He (Jesus) alone has the ability to solve our most abysmal dilemma. He alone has the power of life and death. He alone has the credentials to offer atonement, to triumph over death, to reconcile people to God.

- Excerpt from Who is Jesus - by R.C. Sproul

"The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
    Can crush and kill," declares the Greek,
"The tongue destroys a greater horde,"
    The Turk asserts, "than does the sword."
The Persian proverb wisely saith,
    "A lengthy tongue - an early death!"
Or sometimes takes this form instead,
    "Do not let your tongue cut of your head."
"The tongue can speak a word whose speed,"
    Says the Chinese, "outstrips the steed."
The Arab sages said in part,
    "The tongue's great storehouse is the heart."
From Hebrew was the maxim sprung,
    "Thy feet should slip, but ne'er the tongue."
The sacred writer crowns the whole,
    "Who keeps the tongue doth keep his soul."

- Illustrations Unlimited - James S. Hewitt
(via Disciplines of a Godly Man - by R. Kent Hughes.)

The year 2009 has been quite eventful. A watershed year for the Levi finances.

Looks like the wind of change
has slapped you in the head,
your emotions jaded,
and memory seems to have faded.

The clouds of gloom,
still over us loom,
the cloak of darkness I pray
be lifted with the dawn of day.

Alas O history,
its still a mystery,
For each other we still hunker,
instead of heading for the bunker.

The emotional scar,
is way too far,
after all this pain,
there still is no gain.

My lovely wife is so dear,
her well being is all I fear,
she'll make do with a blog
and mp3s on her ipod.

Broken is the record,
with all this discord,
I think its time to put an end,
to this Shahiri my friend.

- A poem by yours truly.

Life with my son Daniel is amazing. It is a blessing I cannot explain. Seems like me and Sunila cannot comprehend what life would be without him. Life before he was born is a distant memory. There are times when Danny comes up with some very funny and/or thoughtful comments. I guess I've already forgotten many but I'd like to start saving some memories in these pages.

Some from the past ...

(April 2009)

• My middle name is "Kookintow".
• To Mom - "I love you so much. As a flower".
  

(March 2009)

• Eating at the dining table, "Dad, why don't bikes have seat belts?"
• Mom is surfing the net. Danny comes over and asks, "Mom, are you going dot com on me?"
• Early in the morning Danny comes over to Mom in bed and asks, "Wanna wake up Sweety?"
• Danny - "Mom why are you vegetarian? Is it because someone killed the goat?" Mom - "Yes". Danny - "But we didn't kill the goat, Daddy didn't kill the goat, its already dead."
• Mom's eating a boiled egg and Danny goes - "Mom you are eating a baby chicken!".
• Early in the morning - Mom encourages him to brush his teeth, "Danny you need to keep your teeth white, you need to brush". Danny - "Why do teeth have to be white? I want black teeth!"
  

- (Feb 2009) - Shopping in an elegant "ladies" perfume store, the mood was very peaceful, very serene. Danny suddenly blares, "Dad, why is blood red? I want my blood to be black!"
- (Jan 2009) - Out of the blue in the car, "Who is older than God?"
- (Jan 2009) - Dan had to stop playing his DS to go to the potty. Sitting on the potty eager to get back to his game, he asks me, "Dad, why did God have to make butts?"

- (Dec 2008) - During Christmas on finding out that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus -"How old is Jesus?"
- (Nov 2008) - Mom making conversation, "Do you play with girls at the daycare? If you do, be nice to girls, they are gentle. Be nice to Brooke, she is just like Sarah baby." After a pause, Danny says, "Yes, she is like Sarah baby." Mom, "Why re?". Danny - "She shows her butt."

- (Sept 2007) - Writing A-Z, small a-o, numbers 1-30, learning to add.
- (Sept 2007) - His first awana class was Sept 9th and he cried entire time. Mom asked him why he cried after the class and he replied - "I was sad and my heart was broken for you!"
- (Sept 2007) - Mom complained of headache and he immediately started pressing her head. Mom said, "God bless you re" and he retorts, "... and also save me from hell!".
- (Sept 10th, 2007) - Mom was troubling him and he responds "Don't irritate me mom".
- (Aug 2007) - Told Anil - "Tell your coworkers you are naked". We were surprised by the use of the word "coworkers".
- (Aug 2007) Before we went to sleep, he said "I like mom better than you dad" but was sorry that he was hurting Anil by saying that.

- (Sep 20th, 2006) - Writes from A-L.
Favorite song: My Savior, My God - Aaron Shust.
Favorite food: Noodles made by Anil
Favorite shirt: Superman shirts
Troubles: Eating omelet in the mornings gets pinched and raises BP for both of us.
Calls Mom: Sweety pie.

- (2005) - Mom was narrating the story of Adam and Eve, talked about them being banished from the Garden of Eden after they sinned. After some thought he asks, "Mom, did God gave Adam and Eve a timeout?"

- (about year and a half old) - We passed by a farm everyday on the way to his daycare. One day he saw a cow going poo poo out in the field. He thoughtfully said, "Mom, the Moo Moo needs a diaper."