tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62951772011-08-30T20:47:37.179+08:00From a watcher's point of viewAlainnoreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-20641639868187706582010-12-03T16:52:00.000+08:002010-12-03T16:52:05.757+08:00

Duh. The title is, of course, a play on the popular phrase and title of a series of publications by John Gray, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. I hate those publications. They are unbiblical, baseless, culture-bound and promote stereotypes. Allow me to explain. First off, people assume that John Gray has authority to speak on the subject matter because he’s a “doctor” in Psychology.

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-56108601120291534212009-12-21T13:06:00.003+08:002009-12-21T13:17:06.251+08:00

I was at an internet shop waiting for a friend check his email when I glanced over at the monitor besides his. The girl sitting next to him was tending to her account for a social network, and at the time had pictures of her at the screen. I barely looked at the screen, but I saw that the picture on the screen was cute. I don’t mean to be superficial, mean or condescending, but I need to mention

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-44495935083102533142009-07-24T09:03:00.003+08:002009-07-24T09:19:32.528+08:00

Some Christians do not believe Peter was called rock. From where I came from, the teaching was most prominent in what were called Chick tracts, which were published by J.T. Chick, and their other publications. These publishers have publications which I do really like, but they also publish the Alberto Rivera series. (See my other article Why I Don’t Believe in Alberto Rivera)Matthew 16:18 states,

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-41204987868779653522009-05-06T13:26:00.004+08:002009-05-06T14:21:02.510+08:00

Although I was born Catholic, I am no longer one, as I have been a Christian for several years now. Even so, I do not believe Alberto Rivera’s testimonies against the Catholic church, and I believe his “testimonies” do more harm than good to Christianity.Alberto Rivera, according to published books and an illustrated series about him, is a former Catholic priest who reveals many of the Catholic

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-36266034271281648452009-04-17T12:31:00.001+08:002009-04-17T12:33:20.036+08:00

First off, I am not about to say that premarital sex or extramarital sex is ok. The Bible clearly states that any sex outside of marriage is a sin. So I will not go into that discussion here. When I say birth control, we can now presume that this applies only to married couples. So if you’re looking for something naughty, you’re looking at the wrong place. This will be a mature discussion.

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-35009530696733903432008-10-28T18:54:00.001+08:002008-10-28T19:17:30.827+08:00

I don’t celebrate many holidays because I see many holidays, some of which I will specify, as a way to relegate tasks to a neat little corner in the calendar, tasks which should be observed everyday, instead of once a year. Also, there is this effect in people’s mindsets, albeit held unconsciously by many, that nonholidays are days that are less important or are days to be less enjoyed than

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-32119931570317108842008-06-27T11:30:00.003+08:002008-08-28T17:00:42.978+08:00

If you’re going to criticize this article, then read it completely first. We would often say, “do not judge a book by its cover”, but how we can easily criticize a piece of writing we have not completely read.There is a belief that everybody has drunk, or even at least tried an alcoholic beverage, at least once in their life. That belief, which at times is used to try to prompt nondrinkers to at

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-81489089695081865712007-12-13T14:58:00.001+08:002008-04-29T18:18:49.986+08:00

A sister in the Lord asked me if I ever considered becoming a full-time programmer. I’ve been teaching since I graduated, and although one of my administrative tasks was to develop systems for the school I currently teach in when they first hired me, I currently teach with a full teaching load, as I have been doing for the past few years now.I enjoy teaching. I realized too late in my college

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-21858118478887035762007-02-28T17:14:00.000+08:002007-02-28T17:37:41.875+08:00

When I was still in college, under a Christian umbrella, I, along with several brethren from various Christian organizations, ran for University Student Council. The student leadership then in our University saw us as a credible threat, so we were told by various witnesses that a wide smear campaign had been launched specifically by them against us. The different lies about us of course reached

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1170757049663024342007-02-06T18:16:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:10:20.925+08:00

I received a text message (SMS) one day about a missionary who was supposed to be sentenced or punished because of his Christian work. The text message relayed urgency on the matter and presented itself as a cause of concern, and of course asked to be passed on. A quick search on the Internet showed that the message is one that had been circulating for over a year then, and the missionary named

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1156494123520426722006-08-25T16:19:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:17:26.333+08:00

Lying is not fair, to those being lied to. And it is a cowardly way out to those who would not like to take responsibility for their actions. Lying deprives people of making informed and intelligent decisions and therefore liars rob them of their freedom to make an informed decision.Lying has its own difficulties, though. Those who lie have so many stories they must remember, and to whom they

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1154951874576346872006-08-07T19:35:00.000+08:002006-08-07T20:04:35.576+08:00

As a teacher, apart from cultivating how their minds will function, it is my job to impart knowledge to my students, to give information, to give facts. This information can be used as a foundation for which they can base their decisions upon when solving problems and situations, so that their decisions would be wise. It would be wise because it had factual basis. It would be wise because it was

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1153739042807796802006-07-24T18:59:00.001+08:002008-09-12T21:41:33.676+08:00

For some reason this seems to be a hot topic these days, and the punchline of many jokes. I guess because it’s a reality. Although just because it’s a hot topic, that is not the reason why I write about it.You might infer from the title that I am against student-teacher relationships. That would be incorrect.I am not against teachers being friends with their students. Actually, I consider that a

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1150367249984227882006-06-15T18:25:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:21:41.638+08:00

As a teacher, I’ve heard this story many times: Students well underperform in their studies; they don’t study very hard anymore; they have no passion for learning nor getting good grades; they would rather party and have a good time. Their reason: problems at home.I’m not saying problems at home are nothing. I should know. But to use that as an excuse to mope or underperform is not necessarily

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1133798208907951642005-12-05T23:55:00.000+08:002005-12-06T09:37:10.563+08:00

Dear students,It is a privilege to teach you. But remember that we can only teach you so much. A trimester, a semester, a year, or four or five, is still a short amount of time to teach you everything. We cannot teach you everything. To use the time efficiently, we determine which among the topics you need to learn are most essential, thus what you are getting is only a sampling of what’s out

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1132763362624339412005-11-24T00:25:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:23:27.531+08:00

Studying Japanese management, I learned that they had the concept of lifetime employment. As the term implies, the idea is once an employee is hired, that employee will be employed by that company for his whole life. For me, that’s such a simple but grand idea.If an employee is assured lifetime employment, therefore removing the threat of ever getting fired and becoming jobless, that employee

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1116313483602473022005-05-17T14:54:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:24:56.826+08:00

Almost everybody living in the Philippines has paid taxes. Even if you’ve never filed something for B.I.R., VAT ensures that even the smallest child does not escape taxation.Value Added Tax is the government’s way of collecting taxes from some specific products and services, as the good is purchased. The current VAT, at 10%, and what are charged with VAT, is fine.But now, the government has been

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1114497184483469092005-04-26T14:30:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:26:26.653+08:00

Although my favorite TV show is The Amazing Race, and I credit Survivor for hooking me on the genre, I also enjoy watching The Apprentice.The title of this article is a quotation from Donald Trump, from the second episode of the second season. Trump was referring to Bradford, who impulsively waived his exemption from being fired after winning the previous challenge as Project Manager. On this

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1113198444367477682005-04-11T12:11:00.000+08:002005-04-11T14:11:55.393+08:00

I was riding in a passenger jeepney that very early morning. I was running late for an early morning talk show that I then anchored at a local radio station.I started as a co-host, and was eventually entrusted to anchor the show. Our group hosted the show one hour a day, three times a week, once a month. We were tasked with the not so easy assignment of discussing current events in the light of

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1109729573571956172005-03-02T09:45:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:28:06.636+08:00

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1102899133867990782004-12-13T08:47:00.003+08:002008-06-12T18:24:41.616+08:00

When I was still in college, we had a churchmate whose house literally fell to the ground… well, the flooring anyway, apparently due to a weak foundation. Planning to go back to a province I suppose she came from, her problem was she couldn’t bring all her cats at once. So until she could take all her cats to their new home, our boarding house, which was also the ministry center of our

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1099993994448270822004-11-09T17:45:00.000+08:002007-05-07T19:27:43.100+08:00

“Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet that was scarcely any bigger than himself, and who had need of a friend…” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “The Little Prince”, as translated from French by Katherine Woods, chapter IV, p.16)As a child, I was very lonely. I was not sure if it was due to my circumstances, time and chance, or personality. You see, I am an introvert by

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1099022237725829402004-10-29T11:54:00.000+08:002004-11-05T14:08:23.986+08:00

It’s time to admit the truth. Many people would say (unconvincingly) that sin is not enjoyable. This would be their well-meaning attempt to discourage people from giving in to temptation. If that was true, then sin would have no appeal to anyone, and would provide no effective temptation. No, if these demons are to be beaten, we must confront them face-to-face. Yes, sin is enjoyable. The pleasure

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1098690039731869472004-10-25T15:24:00.002+08:002008-08-01T20:07:00.651+08:00

(Last updated: August 1, 2008)The contents of this website and the names Palainly Speaking, [sic] supposedly intelligent conversations, and Beyond Superficial Courtship are owned and managed by Alain Encarnacion.This website respects the privacy of its users and assures its users that personal information of its users gathered by this website will not be sold to third parties, including and

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1088660075989691162004-07-01T13:57:00.000+08:002007-10-03T17:42:26.598+08:00

(This was a paper I submitted for my Masteral class this Summer, 2004. I got a grade of 1.0 for it, the highest possible grade that can be given where I study, U.P. [University of the Philippines]. Minor edits made, mostly due to typos.)I searched the Internet for Philippine software copyright laws. I hardly found any appropriate. The closest and most common law that I found was the Philippine

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1087969930245506202004-06-23T13:47:00.000+08:002004-10-18T14:59:46.893+08:00

First of all, this article was written for Christians. Unbelievers [a Biblical term], or those who only claim they are Christians but do not truly live the Christian lifestyle may not be able to appreciate what I wrote about here, and may only be dumbfounded at what they read which they may consider as extreme unnecessaries or comments coming from a repressed being. I tell the Christian that this

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1086841249461128352004-06-10T12:18:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:31:41.722+08:00

Sometimes we feel we are so boxed in by the situations we are in. We feel that we have very few alternatives, and worse, we believe that we are in the position we are in ultimately as a result of our actions. Sometimes, we regret past decisions that seemed wise at the time, or even if it didn’t, we still chose it. Now we feel we’re stuck with the consequences. Some people may say, we learned

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1086148679723207382004-06-02T11:55:00.000+08:002007-02-12T20:33:57.425+08:00

Things happen to us by chance. It is a common belief to many, but to many Christians, they will say that there is no such thing as chance, saying that it is unbiblical. They would be wrong. The principle of time and chance is in the Bible. Actually, that’s where I got the phrase.Ecclesiastes 9:11 says, “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1085547235568156942004-05-26T12:51:00.000+08:002004-05-26T12:53:55.570+08:00

It’s the choices we make that carve our life. But what if we make the wrong choices. Sure, as Christians, we have to avoid making wrong choices, but from time to time, although it shouldn’t happen, it does. So what do we do? We turn away from our wrong and humbly choose the right one. But what if it’s not that simple? Can an unwed mother just throw away her baby and get back where she left off?

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1084947782371067702004-05-19T14:21:00.000+08:002004-05-19T14:23:02.370+08:00

The question was posed by a TV show Debate. It was based on a thesis that showed people who were good-looking got higher starting salaries than their not-so-good-looking counterparts. Is it important to look good? The answer isn’t as simple as you may think. Although people shouldn’t base judgment on physical appearances, what should be isn’t necessarily what happens. We’re not even talking

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1083818011398303922004-05-06T12:25:00.001+08:002005-07-08T08:38:11.753+08:00

Eddie Villanueva for president. Absolutely. I’ve been suggesting it to friends even since the previous presidential elections. Many of them would just dismiss it as unrealistic. Nice to see it actually happened.Bro. Eddie has the leadership skills, wisdom and honesty to govern our nation, to say the least. The credentials of this former college instructor, former activist, and current evangelist,

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1080110206597420012004-03-24T14:32:00.000+08:002007-05-07T19:41:41.143+08:00

Of course, God is always with us. He never leaves us, nor forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). But even God Himself said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18).I’m not talking about having a girlfriend or wife. Usually, when people sense this feeling of loneliness, that’s what they look for... without realizing that their need can be addressed some other way. A way that’s less dangerous

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1078297720427472632004-03-03T14:49:00.000+08:002004-03-17T16:22:38.013+08:00

It can be hard being a college instructor. Earlier today, a student let me overhear that she wouldn’t want to take computer subjects anymore because the teacher was merciless (walang awa). Of course, she backed up by saying she hoped I would be nice to her ‘cause she would be nice to me. It still annoyed me. How dare she ask, nay, demand mercy! I remember a co-teacher say that consideration is

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1077603175091150072004-02-24T14:05:00.000+08:002004-02-24T14:33:25.483+08:00

(The first three paragraphs were written during the supposed People Power 3) The people in Edsa protesting in favor of the former president Estrada are claiming what they are doing is People Power 3. It isn’t. The distinguishing parts of the previous People Powers, what stood our country apart from the others and made a mark for the Philippines on the other countries, is that they were

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1077082894505605652004-02-18T13:39:00.000+08:002004-02-24T14:06:45.013+08:00

(Originally written in 2001) Used to be, parents had to tell their kids to turn off the TV and go out and experience the world. As it is, it looks like that admonition is becoming less necessary. Although there are more channels on TV these days, without even mentioning cable, as an old pop song said, “99 channels and nothing on”. Ok, I’m not sure about the 99 part, but even with the influx of

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1076652021143352502004-02-13T13:56:00.000+08:002004-02-17T15:40:26.076+08:00

(Originally written before the 2001 elections) During campaign season, it is already expected that the streets will be flooded with pointless posters from people who ordinarily may not even give you the time of day. Ok, that’s not a fair description of those people. But what is fair to say is that most of the time their posters are meaningless. Politicians spend thousands to millions of pesos

Alainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6295177.post-1076490209004567832004-02-11T17:01:00.000+08:002004-06-29T15:22:39.216+08:00

I originally wrote this on 2001, April 14, 7:46 pm. I just thought this would be a nice introduction. (Edited for blogger) “My life had not been worth recording again until now” I wrote that in my journal on August 4, 1997. Then again, I actually didn’t start writing again. I kept a diary before, starting sometime when I was in High School. Most of the entries actually weren’t good, but some

Alainnoreply@blogger.com