citizenship

After almost 14 years of being in Canada, I became officially a Canadian citizenship as of yesterday.

It has been a very long journey, but time does feel that it passes very fast. Soon I might even have spent more years in Canada than in my country of birth in Guatemala.

How do I feel about it? Well, I cannot say I feel any different. Of course I am excited and happy with this milestone. But I think it take some more time to have my feeling settle about this event. One thing that I do keep in mind and I need to remind myself more often is God's faithfulness.

I don't think I could have come to Canada to study in the first place, if it wasn't for the blessings that God bestowed on me. He was able to keep me sharp and focused on my studies, and was able to blessed my parents with the finances to support me.

During my time in undergrad, there were many challenging times, ranging from academics to spiritual matters, and I believe I was able to survive by the grace of God.

Even after my undergrad, God granted me a job, so that I can establish myself financially and work towards my permanent residence, and then now to accomplished the requirements to become a citizen.

This is just a very high level summary of what God has done, and I don't think a blog post sufficed to express the gratitude I have for my God.

Being a citizen of Canada is very good, as it is considered a pretty good country, and you can travel to many places easily, and it was a good welfare and health care system (comparatively), and people are pretty nice in general.

Extrapolating a bit further, what is important it is to remind myself that it is just a transient thing, and that we are all citizens of heaven. To truly know that we are God's people it has great advantages for us, as we are protected by God, and we get to be recipients of His blessings, and get an identity in Christ.

There are responsibilities to be fulfilled as a Canadian citizen. Similarly, there are responsibilities as a citizen of heaven, to participate in God's Kingdom, to server others, to be God's ambassadors, to proclaim the word of truth, to love.

best film

Every year there are various films that are nominated by the "Academy" and through votes they select which one is the best in different categories (best picture, best soundtrack, best actor, best actress, etc) in a ceremony called the "Oscars".

I am not an expert movie critic, and I know a few friends who can analyze movies in much deeper ways that I do. I do enjoy watching movies a lot.

Perhaps it's because as a child I started to watch movies with my parents (whether at home or at the theaters). But I do enjoy it and I am usually opened to watch various types/genre of movie (action, comedy, drama, suspense, psychological). Depending on the genre, there are different aspects of appreciation towards the film.

This year I made a point to try to watch as many movies as possible from the list of nominated films for the 2017 Oscars. First reason of this is mainly to spend time with friends who share this interest. Second reason is to learn to appreciate the films that the "Academy" selects. Third reason is purely for entertainment.

So I watched most of the nominations for best picture, and I am going to write a few sentence to describe my thoughts on those films:

• Arrival: I like Amy Adams, and she was the center of the film. The pacing and storytelling was pretty good to keep the audience in suspense.
• Fences: Denzel Washington and Viola Davis showcased their acting skills in a movie that looks more of a play. It's very conversation-driven, slightly difficult to follow.
• Hacksaw Ridge: a pretty inspiring story of a man who stood firm on his beliefs. The start is a bit slow, but the final battle scenes are intense (probably comparable to Saving Private Ryan)
• Hidden Figures: complete package of a satisfying movie: great story with themes of good cause, a main character who we can cheer for, and a strong supporting cast, 
• La La Land: it's very pretty, it's attractive and nice, flashy but lacking a bit in substance. The ending was very well done.
• Manchester by the Sea: sad, dramatic, but real and acted masterfully.
• Moonlight: it's an unique film with an unique theme and unique storytelling. It was very well done as a film, but it is difficult to be entertained by the story.

I personally think "Manchester by the Sea" is the best film of this list, but my favorite is "Hidden Figures".

After watching "Hidden Figures" I was very happy. The story has many good themes to fight for, including civil rights, equal treatment, and merit-based reward system. There are many elements from the story I could relate to, including overcoming obstacles, being part of a minority ethnic group, feeling of being an underdog, overworking and underappreciated (lol), and of course the appreciation of mathematics! The movie is so nerdy, and I can't help but to laugh and reminisce my days in undergrad

The movie is centered on conflict between a system (NASA workplace policy) and the people who are fighting against this system (African-American who are treated as inferior in this workplace). And I think some of us can relate to that, as we are Christians, and we hold fast to a set of principles that are in constant conflict with the system (the world) that surrounds us, whether it is the school environment, the workplace, or family.

I appreciate the ways that the African-American "fought" the system, as it did not incite any violent rebellion in midst of the unfair treatment, but they still submitted to the system and committed to hard work with the hope that their good results will change the situation for the better. In some instances, the characters were smart to find creative ways to "gain favor" from the system without incurring to any violent activity.

I find myself sometimes fighting a system in my workplace, and sometimes I kind of want to just leave or flip the table. But that is not necessary the right way to express my disagreement with the system. We are called to submit to our authorities and to submit to our bosses. And looking at examples of Joseph or Daniel in the bible, it is encouraging because they were put into very difficult systems that were contrary to their beliefs, but they persevered, they worked hard, they found favor, and God blessed them.

That's one of the beauties of being a Christian, that my ultimate boss is God, and that if I work hard to honor Him, He will indeed take care of you.

game of miracles

In the Champions League football playoffs, two teams will play each other twice. A game is held at each team's home stadium, and the results of both games is aggregated to see which team goes through the next round. In case of a "tie", the team which scored more goals in the away game will go through.

One of the most dominant team, FC Barcelona (Barca) faced Paris Saint Germain (PSG) in the round of 16. Though PSG is not a weak team, they surprised many by beating Barca 4-0 in the game in Paris. That's a big score, and in the history of the Champions League, no teams have overcome that deficit. (This means that Barca needs to win 4-0 to force overtime, or 5-0 or 6-1 to win)

Sure, Barca had the greatest player today, Lionel Messi, and many other great players like Neymar, Suarez, and Iniesta, so the idea of scoring more than 4 goals is definitely do-able. But of course, PSG is not a small team, and they could also score, especially since Barca will have go to all offensive, leaving gaps in defense.

I am myself a big fan of Barca, and I was not a "believer" of the "remontada" (Spanish for "comeback"). I was sure Barca will win the second game, but will not be able to overturn the playoffs.

I was on a trip (in Italy) when this game happened, and I was sitting at a restaurant, and from afar I was able to catch a glimpse of the game from a TV screen from another restaurant.

The game started, and in the first few minutes, Barca scores via Suarez. This is a perfect start, scoring early on the game to gain momentum. More scoring opportunities came by, but for the next 30 minutes, no more goals were scored. Doubts started to appear on Barca fans, until the last 5 minutes for the first half, Iniesta manages to fabricated a goal (thanks to sloppy defending) to make it 2-0. This is a great way to end the first half. Barca is half way there!

At that point, I started to believe "remontada" was possible.

Second half started, and in the first 10-15 minutes, Neymar falls in the area, and it is penalty kick! And of course Messi scores it with conviction for a 3-0. Now that is totally possible! You could see the fear in the eyes of the PSG players.

But 5-7 minutes after, on a long pass and a defensive gap lets PSG scores the 3-1. This felt like pouring a bucket of cold water to all Barca fans. We were in silence and shock. Now Barca had ~25 minutes remaining to score 3 more goals to make the comeback, which is very difficult. As the time elapsed, Barca players were out of sync and could not generate scoring changes, and many doubts started to cloud the fans.

PSG actually had 2 more opportunities to score, but they missed their changes to keep the hopes alive.

Now we are at the last 3 minutes of the game (+ whatever the referee adds on stoppage time), and I already left the restaurant and have given up on the comeback. But it is to my surprise that I probably missed one of the greatest football moment in history. This is what happened:

• 87th minute, Neymar scores a beautiful free kick for a 4-1. This awakens hope, but there are only 3 minutes remaining (+ stoppage time) for 2 more goals.
• 92nd minute, Messi gives a nice pass to Suarez, and he manages to invent a penalty kick, and now this has become intense. Neymar takes it, and makes it 5-1. Now this is getting serious. 
• 94th minute, Barca has long free kick, Neymar pass was blocked, but he recovers it and makes a long pass that is connected by Sergi Roberto to put the 6-1. Unbelievable. The whole city goes crazy, the comeback is happening. Barca players celebrate like they have just won a trophy, and PSG players cannot believe what had just happened.

I was in complete shock, but extremely happy.

As an analytical person, I tend to think a lot and look at different possibilities. When I looked back on how I analyze the situation of Barca before the second game, of course the possibilities for them to win the playoffs were very slim. And I was totally skeptical that this would happen.

But the result was a good lesson for me, to have "more faith" on unusual and unexpected outcomes. This was a game of humans, and these humans managed to made this "miracle" of a comeback to occur.

Similarly, when it comes to spiritual matters, being too analytical can affect my faith by constraining in a box on what God can do in people's lives. For example, many years ago, my grandma had a stroke. She was not a Christian. As a matter of fact she would scold me for going to church, because she had a bad experience with a religious organization before, and always blamed them for asking for money and being fake. She was well advanced in years, and she also had a tough life, so physically she was not in good condition.

Many of us were did not think she would recover. Even when I was praying, I felt many doubts.

But against all expectations, she woke up, and slowly recover certain physical responses with her eye sight and head movement. That was very good news!  What happened was a miracle, but the greatest part of the miracle is what I gonna explain next. The pastor's wife from my home church started to visit her at the hospital everyday. And God led her with the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel to my grandma, with lots of patience, explaining all the details of the salvation plan of Jesus. And to my surprise, my grandma accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.  I was shocked. I never though that would be possible (theologically, I know God can change people's hearts, but in my limited analytical mind, I was skeptical. I am not saying being analytical is bad, it is actually very important for bible study! But it's about not letting that mindset constrain my belief on how God can work).

It was very joyful news to see my grandma as part of God's family, a precious miracle and a valuable lesson for my faith. By grace, I was able to visit my grandma a few months after to see her one last time.

strange phd

Marvel movies are still coming, and we can see a progression on what type of superpowers and greater powers, and crazy stuff is going happen next...

• a high school student from public school Spiderman protects his friends in New York 
• students from a special private school, the X-men fights for the protection and integration of mutants in society
• a team with people from different educational levels, which we can average as undergrads called the Avengers show up when Earth is in danger of threats
• a masters in planning named Star lord, leads the Guardians of the Galaxy to keep the universe safe
• PHD, actually a doctor show saves lives, but due to an accident lost his abilities, and had to go onto a journey to be come part of a group of "sorcerers" to protect the"multi-universes" from evil forces, and his name is Dr Strange.

I watched Dr Strange on the weekend, and it was fun to watch. I am a bit of Marvel fan, so I will probably not get bored with superhero movies. Dr Strange is indeed a good origin-type movie that explains the background of a superhero before he became one, and the sequence of events that mold his character and solidify his resolve to fight for good.

The effects and the fighting was pretty interesting as it had some inception sauce and matrix spice. The character development was good, and I enjoy the comedic relief.

** spoilers alert **

One of the cool things about the movie is that there is a bunch of religious overtones. I mean, Dr Strange belongs to a group of "sorcerers" from Nepal, who draws power from other universes to create teleportation gates, shields, and weapons. The fact that it draws power from some sort of impersonal force, it has influence from the pantheistic worldview.

Another interesting concept shown is the art of "surrendering" when Dr Strange first was having issues with generating a teleportation gate, as he was trying to use that force to bend his way, but instead he had to surrender to it to use his power accordingly.

There are interesting characters who has very different motivations:

• You also have the "Ancient One" who always looked very wise, and she was a person with very good intentions who unfortunately had to break some rules and use the power of  evil to do good things while forbidding others from doing so. 
• This lead to a rebellion from a talented student who went ahead to practice the dark arts since he probably thinks the Ancient One is deceiving him. 
• Then you have Mordo who is self-righteous, and shows not much grace to those who "breaks the rule", and unfortunately due to his self-righteousness he now wants to annihilate other sorcerers. 
• There is also the guy who was paralyzed, and was able to recover by learning the "arts", but chose not to use if for a greater good, instead kept it for himself.
• Dr Strange started with been very self-conceited and proud, and shifted to be self-less and willing to sacrifice his own time and life to protect the earth

The villain's motivation was not portrayed as clear, but he did expressed the he abhorred the reality of "death", so he wanted to seek the dark arts to gain the eternity. That's not a bad start to start a spiritual conversation, because indeed the bible does speak about "eternity is written on our hearts" (Ecclesiastes), and there is a human longing for such concept, and we know that through Christ we are able to access to God our Father be able to spend an eternity with Him.

** end of spoilers ** 

making leadership great again

Yesterday night was a long night, as after more than a year of election campaign started on the US, the election took place. I am part of a whatsapp group with some old friends from CCF, and the activity is very sporadic, but on yesterday it skyrocketed as we followed the election results.

I didn't started to follow until like after 9pm when I came back from work. So the timeline was like this:

• 10pm - Trump is ahead, making me a bit nervous, but I knew a bunch of the stronger Democrat states were still not counted.
• 11pm - uh oh, Trump got Florida. Losing such a key state!
• 11:30pm - Clinton got California, so you think the tides would change. But it takes grade 2 math that Clinton needs to win in most of the remaining states to win. It's hard, but realistic.
• 12am - The odds look bad for Clinton, she needs almost a miracle to stand a chance.
• 01am - Mathematically, Clinton still has a chance, but it is not very likely so I went to bed.

It is almost shocking. As an outsider, I did want Clinton to win, even though she has many faults as a candidate, I feel she was the more capable candidate (if not the only) to lead the US. It would have been historic to see the first women president for the country.

There are many reasons that could explained why Trump won, like the recent FBI inquiry on Clinton's emails, or lack of participation of young voters (who would have voted for Clinton) on key states, the old electoral vote system that might not represent what the voters want, or Gary Johnson "stealing" 200,000 votes on Florida... well I gonna move on.

But it is very interesting to see how many Americans find neither of the candidates compelling, as they do lack many key characteristics of what a leader look like. From what I see on the news, I just have to say that the elected leader is one who lacks most of the traits of a leader, and only time will tell if America actually made the right choice.

Here are some key traits I think the elected leader lack:

- Proficient at the area/subject you are leading
- Model for others to follow: lead by example, walk the talk, possess a character that influences others positively.
- Understand that it is not about you, but about the people you lead.
- Respect to everyone no matter their background, ethnicity, etc.
- Track of record: proven from past experiences that he has been successful on areas of leadership.

many nations

So the Olympics has ended, and part of me is kind of relieve as now I have less distractions in my day to day.

There is a good article about the "stats" of this Olympics: http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/37148372, and it talks about how US is still a powerhouse in the medals count, and how Great Britain did very well reaching second place. It also shows how certain countries have most of their medals on one type of event (e.g. Jamaica won a bunch in track and field). Canada also did pretty well.

It goes on with talking how Michael Phelps did very well, and as well Katie Ledecky (she is beast), and one of the best gymnasts Simone Biles winning many medals. Of course Usain Bolt is on a league of his own, winning the 3 golds (100m, 200m, 4x100m) in the last 3 Olympics. Probably it is not the number of medals that made him so good, but it's how he dominates the race and how he draw the crowds to roar for him.

These are all achievements that most people have heard about as they are the main starts of the past few weeks. There are other great achievements that might not appear in the main headlines that I would like to note:

• Anthony Erwin from the US, the oldest swimmer at age of 35 to win a gold medal (50m freestyle). He had won a gold in Sydney 2000 (16 years ago!), and then had a tough life of depression and even had suicide attempts, but he was able to recover, and even get a gold medal.
• Oksana Chusovitina, is the oldest female gymnast to compete at the age of 41. She is already a well accomplished athlete, but she never gives up. She participated on the vault apparatus, and even though she did not win any medal, she attempted the "Prudonova" which is the hardest level of difficulty of vault (and is very dangerous). Though she did not landed cleanly, the fact that she tried to such a high level routine with the ambition to clinch a medal is worth admiring.
• Monica Puig, won the very first gold medal for Puerto Rico in its history, by taking first in women's tennis. It is an achievement that brings much joy and unity to a "nation" that is going through a really bad economical turmoil.
• Juan Martin del Potro, Argentine tennis player who used to be in higher ranks a few years back, but due to injuries have not competed well in the recent years, had a wonderful journey of battles by defeating #1 tennis player Djokovic in the first round, and defeating former #1 Rafael Nadal, to get into finals and lose to Andy Murray. The silver medal is a fantastic prize for him on his comeback. He is even surprised to get that far, especially when he knew his first match was against Djokovic.
• In indoor volleyball, the relatively new nation of Serbia, went to its first Olympic final in women's by defeating the favorites, the US in 5 sets. Eventually, they did lose against the talented and very tall team of China in the finals, but their accomplishment is admirable.

There is probably a lot more of good things to talk about regarding the Olympics, and of course there will also be many negative things to speak about.


Rio Olympics started with great skepticism, because of many issues that Brazil as a nation is facing. From the economical issues, to political instability (its elected president had to stepped down, and she is getting prosecuted), to civil unrest (many people are really unhappy about the $ spent in the World Cup and Olympics), to the Zika virus (many health organization recommended to postpone it). Plus there are other concerns about how the clean the water is in Rio, about the unfinished residences (for the athletes), and the security (apparently a few athletes has reported robbery, some are true stories, some are not). Due to all this, there is a huge concern whether tickets will get sold as people might be deterred to visit. Despite all this, Rio Olympics went on, and seemingly it went relatively ok. Of course, that is from an outside's perspective, we'll still have to see how this will affect Rio in the next couple of years.

But for sure, there is also controversy when talking whether it is worth hosting an Olympics.

I found some youtube videos that shows top 5 interesting facts about the Olympics in general:

• reasons why it sucks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUaLWYUe12c
• reasons why it can be good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2OKrtxgeo

I was trying to think why I like the Olympics. What attracts me to spend a few hours a day watching many kind of sports event? In general I really like to watch sports, especially football (called soccer in North America), but I actually do not watch football in the Olympics (it's considered a minor event). 

There are certain sports that I grown to appreciate a lot like artistic gymnastics, pole vault jump, synchronized diving, and some of the sprinting events, some of the swimming events. There is actually World competitions that go on every year or two years for these sports, but I only follow them during the Olympics. So I think the Olympics does provide a "venue" to showcase all these great sports and athletes in set time, so that people can appreciate and admire (and learn the rules and points system about the sports).

One thing one of the major attractions about the Olympics that I like is to see people from many nations participating. My top favorite sports event is the Football World Cup, but there are only 32 nations, and most of them are European. Whereas in the Olympics, there are officially 207 nations (some of them not recognized by the United Nations, but who cares), and that is big number. Nations from certain geographic location tend to do better at some sports (e.g. East Asian countries are good for Table Tennis). Sometimes it is very nice to hear an athlete from a less known country winning something big (e.g. Fiji winning gold on rugby), It's very neat to witness many athletes from different nations, ethnicity, and culture competing together in the span of two weeks.

It is very pale, but really pale picture of what it could look like when all nations will gather together to worship God. Of course it is a stretched comparison. If I am elated by seeing people from all nations competing in a sports event, how much more joyful it will be to see all nations coming together worshiping God? 

A few other things from the Olympics that was nice to see/hear:

- David Boudia (silver in 10m synchronized diving, and bronze in 10m individual)  praying with his coach after his final dive.

- Almaz Ayana (broke the 10km record, and won gold) was accused of doping, and she defended herself with these reasons: "No. 1, I’ve been training specifically (for this event). No. 2, I pray to the Lord. The :ord has given me everything, everything. And No. 3, my doping is Jesus. Those are the reasons."

We should really be doped with Jesus.

good superhero

In the last couple of years there have been a lot of superhero movies from Marvel or DC comics. I still remembered when I was a kid, there were really only a few movies, Batman, and Spiderman, which happen to be on my favorite list.

But nowadays, there are like 2-5 movies a year on superheroes, and I am pretty sure some people are getting tired from them, whereas others are overjoyed to see the "less famous" superheroes come into the big screen. I personally enjoy good action movies, with a decent plot, and some comedic relief once in a while.

This year there were 4 big films that many were looking forward to:
- Captain America: Civil War
- X-men: Age of Apocalypse
- Batman vs Superman
- Suicide Squad

I think Marvel is doing way better job at storytelling. But in general many of these movies share similar issues of plot holes, saturating too many characters, lack of pace and transition, unlikable characters, etc. Still, I went to the theaters to watch them.

One common theme from these films is the conflict of "controlling" the superheroes. Most of these characters have amazing powers that can easily allow them to do whatever they want. Fortunately, most of them have "good" moral values, and humanity is safe. But what happens when they are not longer "good"? Would humanity be at risk? Remember, these superheroes are still imperfect humans, and there is no guarantee that they will not go rogue.

(spoiler alert)

In Civil War, the United Nations trying to pass a bill to impose certain restrictions on the Avenger's movement (a weak attempt to control them). Batman vs Superman has the dark night trying to kill the man of steel because he thinks Superman does not care about people's lives. Suicide Squad is about a team of powerful villains working for the government in case a "bad" Superman was to arise. Age of Apocalypse shows how it would look like if a crazy god-wannabe was to rule.

(spoiler ends)


The idea of a demigod been so powerful definitely scares people, because you never know if it will turn against you.

I think one of the attributes of our Christian God that sometimes we don't ponder enough is God's goodness. Sometimes I take it for granted, because I am so "used to" experiencing God's mercy and love, and He always take care of me. But as I think about deeper, God's goodness is huge and is a key point that makes our faith true and consistent. For example, because God is good:

• I know that "in all things God works for the good of those who live him" (Romans 8:28)
• His love for me is real and I can truly say "Because you love is better than life, my lips will glorify you" (Psalms 63:3)
• Even if I fail, God is faithful and keeps His promise (2 Timothy 2:13)
• Our hope makes sense despite the suffering, because we are assured that this will mold us and we renewed inwardly day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Romans 5)

There is so much more that can be written.

Now, I am going to make a side discussion. In my church, we had the opportunity to listen to a 2 session seminar from a Christian pastor who used to be Muslim. The seminar was about the persecution on Christians that are happening on Iraq and Syria (places were the Islamic State has a stronghold).  There was a lot of information, and I felt it was very beneficial for the church to know more about Islam, to be informed, to learn so that we can develop a good answer for the big issues on Islam and violence.

One particular point I want to bring out, is that the pastor said that true Islam is violent. This could mean that what the Islamic State is doing now might represent well what the Quran teaches. I myself am not expert on Islam theology to take a stance, and I don't think I am well informed to enter into a debate. So my intentions is to present facts and contrast them with our Christian faith, and glean lessons out of them.

These are external articles and interviews I read to gained more information:

• An interview with a former Muslim who is now a Christian: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-isis-represent-true-islam
• 9 basic things about Islam: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-islam
• Does Islam lead to violence: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-islam-inevitably-lead-to-violence
• John Piper's thoughts on why westerners are attracted to Islamic State: http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-is-radical-islam-alluring-to-westerners

These are a few points:

• Both religions have laws, and Islam focuses more on behavior on keeping them, whereas Christianity teaches about inward obedience in respond to God's goodness and love.
• Missionaries: Christians emphasizes on loving others and sharing the gospel, but never forcing our faiths to others, but trusting that Holy Spirit works in transforming unbelievers. In the history of Islam, there are examples of Muslims forcing others to believe (especially when they have conquered your land).
• Historical context, some of the chapters from Quran that speaks about inflicting violence to others were written when Mohammed (first prophet) had gathered a great number of followers, and was no longer just a prophet but also a political leader. So some of these ideology were used as a reason to conquer lands or retaliate to people who have taken land away from them.
• Violence on Islam is nothing new. It happened through history many times, but now we just have more media exposure.
• A strong focus on Islam in exerting power and dominion, in contrast of Christ's teachings on loving your enemies.
• Many of the people attracted to Islamic State share similar beliefs as Christians (dying for your faith, hope in the glory of God), but the root ideology is erroneous and twisted. 

Concluding thoughts

• Not trying to pinpoint Islam as the sole source of violence, it is a human issue due to sin. Christians themselves are as guilty in partaking in violence throughout history. No one is good, except for God Himself. Hence we can redemption in Him, that He will transform us from our sinful state into people who can do good.
• It is very disheartening to read the news and see the atrocities that are happening in other parts of the world, especially fellow brothers and sisters who are persecuted. Some ponder whether the world superpowers (a few countries) should help intervene and eradicate these terrorist groups. But not sure if that will spawn new groups in the future... (cycle of hatred, revenge, etc). It is a battle of ideology, and many believe that this is an opportunity for the Christian faith to shine the light in the places that is most needed, because we believe our is God is good.

"A certain ruler asked him, 'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
  
 'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 
 'No one is good - except God alone.' " - Luke 18:18-19