So many thoughts

There have been a few things on my mind lately. They might come off as rants, interesting topics or offensive. 

1. I dislike cold weather because my joints always freeze up. Since I was in kindergarten I've always had joint pain, particularly at night and when it is cold. So I dislike this recent cold weather in Melbourne. I rub Dencorub or Voltaren and keep my joints warm to ease the pain away.
It generally starts with my ankle joints and if I don't rub it, the pain will spread to my knee and hip joint. In my teens I sometimes get it in the upper extremities, starting from the wrist and then to the elbow. In the last few years before I started taking krill oil and fish oil, my third DIP joint hurt a lot and it wasn't the normal dull pain, but like..sharper pain. It came suddenly and would throb with pain for quite a while. It was annoying because it came and went spontaneously.
Lately I've noticed my fingers stiffening more and losing strength in cold weather. I suppose I should see a doctor, but they told me to come back when the joint was actually hurting. That's hard because I can't predict when it hurts and make an appointment.
I suppose one little worry I have now is not being able to play piano when I'm old. But my piano teacher is really inspirational because she's pretty old and has arthritis in her fingers. Of course she can't play like she used to, but I'm glad to see she hasn't given up.

Having aches and pains reminds me of the sin wrecked body we all have. We were created perfectly before sin entered the world, but when sin entered the world, so did death and disease as a consequence. The whole of creation is groaning with travail. But this body is a tent and this world is not my real home.

John 14:1-3

1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 

2. I've been studying the brain at uni and it's soooo interesting. I actually love it and am really enjoying the subject. The brain is divided into various sections which control different things.
Some cool facts about eyes and vision:
- Phineas Gage had a iron bar through his skull and survived. But this part of the brain is where your personality/ behavior/ emotion/complex thinking occurs, so his personality went haywire.
- The image you see is replicated over 30 times in different visual areas of your brain. But each section focuses on different details. I.e. one might look at colour/space/recognition/ etc.
- Only humans have the special language areas - Broca and Wernickes area
- A Mantis Shrimp can see about 16 photorecptors (compared to 3 in humans) so their world must be super colourful.
- Damage to the V5 visual area will disrupt your perception of motion in the world. So your world becomes static. E.g. if you pour water into a glass, you can't see the water filling in the glass, it will suddenly appear to be full.

Phineas gage replication

Mantis shrimp

Our brain is so freaking complex it's crazy. And that is just one organ of the body. The more I learn about anatomy and bio the more I believe that nothing could be constructed by chance. There is clearly structure and design in every organism/organ/cell that it's mind blowing. To me, believing that we evolved from non-living particles to living particles is impossible.

This next part is to Christian readers.

3. I watched Insight on gay marriage tonight. I know that the world is embracing same-sex marriage, but I'm against it and hope that it will not be legalised in Australia. I've thought a lot about expressing my opinion on my blog or staying quiet. I was scared of backlash and hate, but as I continue to hear things from the media the urge to say something has been growing.

2 Cor 13:8 
8. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 


It is commanded that we be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

I'm not oblivious to the sufferings of gay people. They cop a lot of shit and hate which needs to be stopped. But I will not acknowledge that their love is right. But who am I to deny that their love is right or wrong? It's not me, but God who has said it in the bible.

Romans 1: 25 - 28. 
25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 
26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.
27. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, and burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. 
28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. 

Nowadays it seems hard to believe this because homosexual love is portrayed as something natural. But any Christian that denies this passage, please seriously dig deep into the bible for answers. To promote false doctrine in the name of Christ is a serious sin.
Of course there are saved Christians that struggle with homosexuality, but it is no different from another person struggling with other sins. Just because this sin feels good and feels like love doesn't make it right. God made us perfect, but when sin entered the world, we became imperfect. Hence the argument that God made me homosexual is not true. Because they already rejected God in their hearts, God allowed them to do what they wanted. You can't blame homosexuality on God and say God made me this way.
He did not create sin for he is holy. God did not purposely make humans to make them suffer. He created us to be loved.

I guess I will never understand what it feels like to struggle with homosexuality, but I know what it feels like to struggle with sin. To constantly be tempted and follow after the lust of the world and fall deeper and deeper into sin. But by God's grace my sins are forgiven because of what Jesus has done on the cross. It's by Jesus' sacrifice that I'm forgiven of my sins and am counted worthy of being a child of God.

Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.