text:
* about be your digital best
* about me
Facebook has been the king of Philippine digital marketing for the past two-three years. I don't think this will change drastically next year, but I think we will have to start moving past this gated community.
The Philippine digital branding ecosystem skipped a stage when brands went straight into social media and skipped building the "Web 1.0" assets - websites with sound SEO, e-commerce portals, etc. Most "motherbrand" FMCGs (the Nestles, P&Gs or Unilevers, even the San Miguels or Universal Robina Corps) do have properties but it is not rare to come across a brand without a local and content-rich dot.com. Many marketers we were working with in 2009-2010 were hesitant to build websites. There was no social ad equivalent back then, and banner ads were expensive to produce, optimize and place. So, many brands skipped building these sites. Luckily Facebook came along, and saved marketers from having to pay for programming, CMS, database management. Even social ads are much more cost-effective than the usual banner ads.
But I think that next year will one to go back to digital basics that we might have skipped in the rush and excitement to build Facebook communities.
Because for brands looking to create a deeper layer of utility and engagement beyond the Wall, apps may not be enough. Many clients have started to ask us to start think about what comes after Facebook. What happens to our community when people stop signing up or frequenting the social network? I don't think there will be another Facebook after this (just like nobody really succeeded Google), but there could be a new trend after social networking. And while we have the Likes, brands don't necessarily own the database of their hundred thousand-to-million fans.
*Note: This is completely based on personal experience and observation.
Ultimately the issue is one of ownership. Many brands don't necessarily own their databases, unless they've secured additional contact information through an app. Most of all, brands are subject to each of Facebook's changes and re-designs. We once developed an app for a client to give fans a feature missing on Facebook, only to have that exact feature launched as we were programming. So brands looking to be more content-heavy may start going back to the dot.com. Content will probably always best-propagated on social network sites but this doesn't mean that wholly-owned properties cannot work complementary to communities.
This might be too old school for brands and agencies in more developed markets. But a lot of us might have room and occasion to build and/or improve on these foundational assets.
Posted by bea at 9:47 PM
Labels: be your digital best, bea atienza, digital marketing, digital marketing philippines, facebook marketing
This post makes people really inspired to know better more on digital networking. Thanks for sharing and keep on posting.
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QUESTIONER: Hi, John. My name is Al and I praise God for being here tonight. And I also want to thank you for your teaching and for the ministries of Grace Church because it was through Grace Church and my beautiful wife that I came to know the Lord 10 months ago into obedience.
Q: I want to read a couple of verses first and then ask you a question. The first one is in Mark 11:23, Jesus is saying, "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him." And now in Romans 10:10, it also says, "For with the heart man believes." And then in Mark 12:30 it says, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind and with all your strength." And I don't want to doubt with my heart, and I want to believe with my heart, and I definitely want to love the Lord with all my heart.
JOHN: That's good. Yeah, it's terrific. What is a heart? You know, we've got so much cultural garbage piled around the heart in our world. You see them on the bumper stickers...you know, with Beagles and dogs and parakeets, you know, "I" and then a heart, love, "K-Mart" or whatever it is. We associate the heart, you know, with emotion, that's our problem. We associate the heart with emotion. I love you with all my heart, means...whoom...you know, whatever, more than something that's cold and decisive, it's something that's emotional.
But that is not the biblical use of the term "heart." And the best way to understand it, to simplify, you know, your question is this, the heart is the core of our being in the Scripture. It is that part of us which knows and thinks and feels. The Old Testament says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." I believe the heart is really the equivalent of the mind. And I think when you look at loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you cannot sort out all four of those things and say, "This is this, and this is this, and this is this, and this is that," and we've got four little deals in us all going independently. I think what he's doing is simply trying to get the message across that we have to love God with every fiber of our being, in every perceivable and imperceptible dimension of existence. But the heart is the composite essence of my thinking processes. I think there, I know there, I understand there, and I feel there. And so, it is not emotion without mind. That's what I'm trying to say.
Now if you want to talk about emotion...you're going to find in the Hebrew culture that the emotion is in the Bible, translated in the Authorized version, bowels. And you go back to Song of Solomon and when his lover comes to the door and he's at the door and he says, you know, in effect, "I feel my love for you in my bowels," that doesn't sound too, you know, romantic, frankly. And if you try that on some girl, she'll probably slam the door in your face, but...the viscera.
And you know, the truth of the matter is that that's where you feel your emotion. That's where you feel your emotion in your...you know, you have, 1 John 3:16, if you say you love God and your neighbor has need and you shut up your bowels of compassion. In other words, you don't feel any emotion, you're not hurting over his need, how dwells the love of God in you? So I would say that in a general sense the Hebrew understanding was that the heart was representative or equivalent to the mind...to the thinking capabilities. That means that you can only love God in the sense that you know God or know about Him. Therefore the more I know about God, the more capable I am of loving and adoring and praising Him. The more I know about God, the more ready I am to believe Him for everything because I know Him. I cannot know God...I mean, I cannot trust God for something in a vacuum of ignorance. You know what I mean? I can't believe He'll deliver me unless I know He's a God whose proven to be a deliverer. I can't believe that He'll strengthen me unless I know He is a God of great strength. I can't believe He'll comfort me unless I know Him to be the God of all comfort.
But when I know that, it is my knowledge about God that controls my responses. I mean, that's where Habakkuk was in chapter 1, he's crying out to God, "How long am I going to keep crying, God? Come down and judge this bitter and hasty nation, the Chaldeans, and come down and revive Your people Israel." And then God says I'm going to use the Chaldeans to judge the Israelites. And he says I don't understand it. Why don't You revive Your people? Why are You judging them? And how can You judge them with this bitter and hasty Chaldean nation? And he's got a terrible problem. And so he steps back and starts to recite what he knows about God. And he says, he uses the term "Almighty God," he talks about God's eternity, that is He was before the problem, He'll be after the problem. He uses the term of God's covenant-keeping character. He says God's too holy to look on iniquity, cannot look upon sin. And God doesn't make mistakes. Therefore... And as he begins to recite in his own mind his theology proper, his knowledge of God, it begins to control his emotion and his feeling so that finally in chapter 3, after he's recited all the history of what God has done, he says, in effect, "If everything in the world goes to pieces, I'll continue to rejoice in the Lord of my salvation." I mean, if all the crops die, he says, and everything goes whacky in the world, I'm okay...I'm okay because of what I know.
So, loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, believing in God with all your heart, trusting God with all your heart is a question of knowing God in your heart.
And then that has the effect of, you know, effecting your feeling and your emotion. But that's the distinction you want to make.
And we could say more about that but that's the basic distinction that the heart is the center of thought and attitude and understanding and knowledge. It's the mind, really. Okay?
QUESTIONER: My name is Steve and I've had many people ask me this question and they would like to know what the Christian attitude should be to the California State Lottery?
J: I told somebody the other day, don't buy those lottery tickets but if you win, give the money to Grace Church. And..let me give you an answer to that. It's a good...I'm glad you asked that, Steve, I was going to bring that up tonight.
Personally, personally, I don't see gambling as a legitimate expression of my stewardship of what God has given to me. There is no verse in the Bible that says "do not gamble." Somebody always says, "Well, I mean, even the disciples cast lots."
Right, that was a means by which they were able to determine the will of God because God spoke through that method. That's a little different.
I do not believe that the Bible legitimizes gambling as a means of stewardship. I also feel that on the social end of it, I think the lottery is a disaster and I'll tell you why. The people who buy the tickets are the people who can least afford to buy the tickets. And an already poor populace are literally consuming those things. It plays into the hands of the people who need to learn how to work productively and not hope against hope. And it's another expression of they that would be rich fall into many snares and hurtful lusts.
I heard on the radio today something that is a bizarre illustration of this. I couldn't believe what I heard. There was a guy, a Midwest, I don't know if you heard about it, a bank manager who embezzled ten million dollars out of his bank, went to the Caesar's Casino in Atlantic City, deposited on account and gambled away every cent...ten million dollars that he had embezzled. And they have now...they're going to punish the Casino by making them stay closed for one day. Now that...that tells me several things. One, that's a joke. But, two, it must be a significant punishment, you can't even imagine the kind of money they take in. When you create an environment in which people can gamble away what they have, they will do it. And if it's legalized, you know, it's a tragic thing to think about.
And these are the people who can least afford it. And they are the people who most need to learn how to be productive by working.
You know, the Bible advocates gaining money by inheritance, that's fine. You know, the Bible talks about that. By hard work, by wise investment, but it never advocates getting rich by gambling, fast money. So I just...I mean, I'm not going to tell you it's a crime to pay a dollar and, you know, you're curious.
JOHN: You were reading where?
Q: And I came across verse 7:12 and I was wondering, if the Bible is the Word of God, then why does Paul say, "This I say, not the Lord?"
J: Right. He's talking about marriage and singleness and, you know, it's amazing, I can go all the way back to my seminary days when we were studying this passage and it...it continually is a question of people but all you have to understand is one basic thing, what he is saying is, very simple, to the rest speak I, not the Lord. Now all he means is I'm saying this, the Lord didn't say this.
Now there were a lot of things that Paul said that Jesus didn't say, right? In fact, Jesus didn't say anything in the book of Romans, Paul said all that. All Paul is saying here is this, I'm saying this, not quoting Christ...that's all. He's not saying this isn't inspired. He is saying I'm not quoting Christ, this is not something that Christ has taught.
See, go back to verse 10 and, "Unto the married I command, yet not I," I'm going to tell what my command is, don't divorce your husband, but the Lord said this, too, and he's reaching back to where the Lord said that. Don't divorce, Matthew 5, Matthew 19. So all he's doing here in his discussion of marriage is at one point he is quoting the Lord and at another point he's saying now I'm saying this, this is not a quote from the Lord. But he is not saying it is not the Holy Spirit speaking through him in inspiration. Okay?
QUESTIONER: Hi, John. My name is Jeff. I had a question on Isaiah 7:14 through verse 16, on the context. When you read it, it sounds as though the child had to be born during the time of the prophet whereas Matthew refers it to the birth of Jesus.
JOHN: Right. That is a...that's a difficult passage and I was reading not long ago on this passage and I would commend for your reading, if you can get a hold of it, several things. My dad has recently done an awful lot of work on this passage. It's too complex to dig into there, there is, I think, a legitimate prophetic application here. And I think he's done a good job.
What I'll do is if you'll give me your name and address, I'll send that to you, cause I think you'd enjoy reading it.
The other view that I've heard recently and I heard this at the inerrancy congress when we were discussing these passages.
Dr. Walter Kaiser who is...I don't know what he is at Trinity, what is he? Dean or...Dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the Chicago area. He believes that this is an analogy.
In fact, he believes that the word plereo(??) when it even says being fulfilled can legitimately be related to something that is no more than an analogy. And his illustration of that is Matthew 2 where Matthew's gospel says that Jesus, around the time of His birth, went to Egypt and then left Egypt. And it says out of Egypt have I called My Son. And you go to Hosea 11:1 and when you get to Hosea 11:1 there's no way it can mean Jesus, no way, it has to mean the nation Israel. And so Kaiser says we have to see in the word plereo or the word "fulfilled," we have to see the latitude to understand analogies. And that everything that is fulfilled is not fulfilled in the sense that we think it is a direct prophecy with a direct fulfillment. It may mean nothing more than an analogy.
So Kaiser takes 7:14, if I remember correctly, and says it is simply an analogy. That is to say like a virgin had a child, so a virgin had a child. I really can't give that one away. I feel there is a direct prophetic indication here. But to do a complete answer, let me send you that material so you can see the full historic picture and then you can see its application.
J: Afterwards, give me your name and address and I'll send that to you.
QUESTIONER: Gee, Dr. MacArthur, it's Philip Ortiz and I just wanted to ask you if I quote a verse of Scripture and cross reference it wrongly but the concept is okay, expressed in words, would that be okay? Is that acceptable as far as I'm concerned and the hearers?
JOHN: Let's see, Phil, if I understand what you're saying. If you quote a Scripture and then try to elucidate or make it clear by quoting another Scripture but the other Scripture is out of context, is that okay?
Q: I give two different verse numbers and they are slightly different but the concept is biblical that I was trying to give to somebody. And I was wondering if that would be acceptable inside of me and in my love towards those that I'm speaking to.
J: You're welcome. Okay, over here.
JOHN: Now wait a minute, you've been reading The Day Christ Died, Jim Bishop's book?
J: The Death Christ Die...yeah, I don't know that one.
J: Yeah, the impeccability, okay. Sometimes when I'm watching you speak and your mouth is right behind this microphone, I can't make out your words cause I can't hear the speakers too well.
I'm sorry, don't...you're speaking clearly, I just...my fault.
Q: All right. I had somebody telling me about that, you know, I stand and I believe that Christ could not sin when He came into this world, but somebody has come to me and they say, "Well, if you say something like that, you are robbing Christ from something. You're robbing Christ..." Well, you know, they try to make Him...they put Him in their box and they said that if He didn't sin well, you know, what is the purpose of...well, something like, if He didn't sin, I cannot acquainted with a God that who could not sin because He doesn't really know my sins, you know, kind of a deal...I don't know.
J: Yeah, well, that doesn't make much sense because the fact is He didn't sin. So if you're going to make His ability to understand you the fact that He had to understand your sin, then whether He could or couldn't have sinned wouldn't be an issue because He didn't sin.
J: So what's the point?
J: The point is a moot point. But the thing that you're driving at and I know people bring this up is they say, "Okay, do you believe Christ could sin?" Of course he couldn't sin. He was impeccable. He could not sin. He was in all points tempted like as we are, Hebrews says, but He could...but He did not sin. He did not sin because He could not sin. But that's a ridiculous question anyway, the fact is He didn't sin. So what is the argument about whether He could have or couldn't, He didn't. So who could ever say He could have anyway.
Q: Well in His humanness He could have sinned.
J: You can't sort Him out. What would humanness have done that He didn't do?
J: Well, what does your humanness do that you don't do?
Nothing. If your humanness did it, you did it. And I did it.
J: No, here's the point. The question that people always struggle with is if He couldn't sin then how could temptation be legitimate? That's really the issue. And the answer to that is very simple. Have you ever been tempted and not sinned? Have you ever been tempted and not given into it? Say yes.
J: I'm not trying to put you on the spot. You can ask...have I ever been tempted and not sinned? Of course. Yes, and I have been tempted and sinned. But there have been many times when I was tempted and not sinned...did not sin. Now was that temptation illegitimate because I didn't sin? Of course not.
Sometimes that temptation was very strong. In fact, if I can push the point a bit, it just so happens for Christ who never sinned, He must have known temptation to its limits because at some point in the temptation when we give in, the temptation is over because its accomplished its purpose. But in one who never gave in, temptation would literally run itself to its extreme limit every time. I mean, when have you ever sweat great drops of blood? When have you ever been so tempted as to tears and strong crying and sweating great drops of blood in the agony of stressful temptation?
Well, the answer is...I mean, Hebrews doesn't it say that?
We have not yet suffered unto blood. I'm not sure...the parallel's there, but the point is the same. We give in long before that. So to say that because Christ couldn't sin He couldn't experience temptation is just opposite the truth. The fact that He didn't sin meant that He endured temptation at extreme levels, especially when you realize the fact that if there was one creature in all the universe that Satan would want to have sinned, it would have been Him. I mean, he may fuss with us a little while and if we don't give in, if that temptation is an external thing, leave. And in Christ's case, there could be no internal temptation so it was always external. But Satan would stay, believe me, and besiege that fort unendingly. And so, I think the fact that Christ did not sin is not only a statement that He could not sin but it is a statement that He endured temptation to its absolute limit. Okay?
Q: Thanks. I'd like to ask another question concerning witnessing to cults also...a friend already asked before...I had a friend when the Jehovah Witnesses come, both...well, two friends, they're both females. One of them when they see somebody coming, the Jehovah Witness or Mormons, whatever, she says, "Close the door, don't let them in...hide." Okay?
J: I can understand that. Sure.
Q: And I've got another friend who when the Mormons come or the Jehovah Witnesses, she experienced this about three weeks ago, some Mormons came in and she opened the door and they say, "Hi, we're the saints..." you know, they introduce themselves and they said, "You are fools, you're liars, you're going to hell, repent from your sins, get away, I don't want to listen to you, I don't want to talk to you." And they persisted.
Finally she said, "Okay, now you're going to listen to me."
And my question is, shall you go like this, boldness to this people? I mean, say for instance you...here comes an old lady, well maybe I'll listen to her and share with her...but two young guys in the Mormons?
J: You know, I think it depends who you're talking to. I've done all of those and more. I've...I've invited them in and tried to love them and sit them down and I guess maybe you sort of experiment with them. And then I've labeled them that way.
I've said, "You false prophet, you viper, you wolf, you whatever, bound for hell," and I've given them the whole prophetic shot.
J: I mean, I have done that. I remember there was a guy in our church that got ripped off by the Mormons and I went over to the house because somebody told me the Mormon bishops were at his house. So I went to the house. And I just decided I would, you know, make a whip and throw everybody out, in effect. I just really told them what they were. And I hope that I did it at that time, I don't know whether I...I thought the Spirit was leading me to do that, but at the time I thought, you know, I wanted to impress upon their minds so unforgettably how serious their error was, their damning heresy that I wanted to speak to them in terminology that the rest of their lives they would never forget, to plant in their mind this lingering reality that this might be true. I guess the one thing I don't want to do is give them even a small sense of acceptance.
I can also understand the "lock the door, turn out the lights, and hide" approach. Because there are times when you just don't want to get into a situation. So again, I don't know that there's any right answer on that. As I said earlier, you know, obviously the best thing to do might be to, first of all, try to negotiate an opportunity. And if there's no opportunity there and they are completely closed, this would be my approach, and you can't negotiate the opportunity to communicate the truth to them at that particular point with graciousness, you might want to tell them the truth about what they are.
J: Okay, I think we have just time for the three, four folks that are left, okay?
QUESTIONER: Yes, sir, Pastor Jim...Pastor John, I'm sorry, my question is in reference to new-born Christians. And one of the problems that I'm confronting right now and hopefully you can give me some insight on to all of us an insight in how to deal with this problem. Obviously when we're not reborn Christians, we walk around in this world with our own mixed personalities.
And right now because my eyes are open to witnessing the good and the bad, I've been subject to seeing the goodness and also being conscious of the badness as well. And it's closed out my personality in a tremendous sight to where I'm walking around and basically trying to hold that world up into my hands, you know, and take care of everybody. But yet in front of my job, every one is looking at me like, "Oh, what's wrong with him, he's not talking anymore," and this is something that's causing a lot of problems and yet also I'm very concerned because as Christians we're supposed to have a smile on our face, we're supposed to be happy and we're also supposed to show the world how beautiful it is to be accepted by the Lord, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in a way that we should be happy. But yet I've always been...recently especially I'm walking around like I'm sad and I'm always thinking about what I can do to possibly help these people.
JOHN: Yeah, well I really identify with that. I really identify with that. I mean, to be real honest with you, when you become a Christian there is a tremendous sense of personal joy, but you do take on an instant sadness. You really do. Because for the first time you understand. I mean, before you went on in a drunken bliss of the typical person in the world that didn't know what was going on anyway. And it was just party time, basically, live for the next fun thing and try to milk every moment you can for everything that's in it. And all of a sudden, when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ and your life is transformed and your eyes are opened as you so well put it, now you begin to see the reality of people and their eternal destiny and their lostness and their sinfulness and the mess the world is in. And I confess to you that it is the legacy of a Christian to have a sense of overwhelming sadness, that's part of it. Paul confessed to having continual sorrow and tears, didn't he? And to being constantly burdened and constantly distressed.
But he also said rejoice always, and again I say rejoice.
So, you know, we live in that very strange tension of having a consuming joy. I think the best illustration of that that I can think of, just coming to mind standing here, is found in the tenth chapter of Revelation where in verse 8 John hears the voice and the voice from heaven says, "Go and take the scroll." The little scroll...and the little scroll is representative of the title deed of the earth which Christ is going to take the title deed and conquer the earth. And that means He's going to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. You know, in the Second Coming when He sets up His Kingdom. So He says take the little scroll, open in the hand of the angels standing on the sea and the earth. "So I went to the angel and said to him, Give me the little scroll. And he said, Take and eat it." This is a symbolic picture. So he eats it and, "It will make thy belly bitter but shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little scroll out of the angel's hand and ate it up and it was in my mouth sweet as honey and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."
Now what is he saying here? What he is saying is thinking about Christ coming to conquer the world is both...what?...sweet and bitter, isn't it? It's sweet because we say You deserve the glory, You deserve the honor, You deserve the praise, You deserve the rejoicing. You shouldn't continue to be dishonored the way You're dishonored. Like Henry Martine who rushed out of that pagan temple in India when he went there and said, "I cannot endure existence if Jesus is to be so dishonored." You know, you cry out that Christ should be exalted. And that's...that's a sweet thing the day that Jesus comes and we sang about it tonight, didn't we? We sing songs of the Second Coming and songs of being with Christ but at the same time we know our own joy we know the terrifying bitterness of the unredeemed in the judgment.
So, all I can say to you is that that is a tension that you will always have as a Christian. And I believe it is the unique work of the Spirit of God to bring balance to that. You will find in your Christian life things that will sadden you more profoundly than any things you ever experienced before. You will also find things that will bring you greater joy than any joy you've ever known before because they're ultimate things. And ultimate things have the potentiality to bring ultimate sadness and ultimate joy. Okay?
Q: Yes sir, well, I just wanted to say this, that definitely put an understanding on where I should think now and feel my new heart, but it's very difficult. The only time I really feel happy and that I'm very much satisfied within my heart and within peace within myself is when I'm here at the church.
J: When you're with Christians.
Q: When I'm with Christians.
Q: And when I'm outside there, it's really hard cause everyone's like looking at you...well, how should you be.
J: Cause they point up...right...I think...how long have you been a Christian?
J: Three weeks, I figured it hadn't been very long. Give it another couple of weeks and I think it will...the joy of the Lord will begin to charge you up. I really believe that.
Q: Okay, thank you very much.
J: Thank you, isn't that great? That's really neat. Wow...oh good.
JOHN: Did you enjoy them?
Q: Yes, they're a real joy to always have.
J: Thank you for doing it.
Q: Yeah, the question comes really from my daughter. She was studying the Word the other night and it's in 1 Samuel 18:10.
J: I can't hear you, can you step a little closer to that mike?
Q: I thought it was too close. Okay. "Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul."
And her question is the evil spirit...cause as far as she's concerned there is no evil coming from God, it only comes from Satan.
J: Sure and all you have to do to explain that is to let her know that no evil spirit and no devil and no demon any time can ever do anything except within the larger picture of God's allowing. That evil spirit was from God only in the sense that the devil was from God when the Lord allowed him to go and test Job. You remember when the devil came before God and said You don't have anybody on this earth who will be faithful to You if given the circumstances that I can create? And God said yes I have one faithful servant, Job, chapter 1, Job. And God said to the devil, in effect, you go and do whatever you want to Job and of course it was all within the limitations of God's will. And he did and, of course, as a result of that Job's faith was strengthened. And Job proved to pass the test.
That illustrates the same idea. An evil spirit comes from the Lord only in the sense that no evil spirit, no demon, no devil himself can act in this world independently of and outside of the allowing will of God.
Q: I'll try to explain that to her.
QUESTIONER: Hi, my name is Jennifer and this is the second time I've been to church in two years. I was a part of a very large, very active church in Dallas, Texas. My family was very involved with the church. My father taught evangelism for six years. One morning our pastor came up before us after he had been preaching on marital enrichment for more than two months and told us that he had been having an affair with one of the church women, one of the women that worked in the office at church. The church completely split and divided. The bishops sent him out of the church. My question is, where can I find forgiveness for this?
It's been very difficult for me to listen to someone time and time again, the man became such an incredible person in the church, he was almost looked upon as being God.
JOHN: You're looking for where you can find in your heart forgiveness for him.
Q: I find it very difficult to be comfortable in organized religion because I'm worried that that kind of thing goes on and it's not found. And it was a wonderful, wonderful, very fast growing church with so many wonderful programs.
J: Yeah, I'm glad you asked that question, Jennifer. That's a heart breaker because you see that's such a powerful powerful deterrent as illustrated by your own life to people to keep them out of the church. Because when somebody at that level falls, it's a total disaster. People are crushed, you know, all over the place, because if there's any one person in the world you put your trust in, it's the man of God. And when the man of God turns out not to be the man of God, you've been totally deceived.
I don't think that the devil, Satan, sin, the flesh, whatever can do anything in the church that is as devastating as that.
Nothing in the church is as devastating as the moral fall of a leader that people have put their trust in because it literally devastates not only their trust of that man but their trust of that position.
And I understand exactly what you're saying. The only thing I can say on the other side is that there have been men of God who have been proven through many, many years to be faithful.
And for every unfaithful man, God has His faithful men. And you have to, first of all, find it in your heart to forgive, I think, for the simple reason that Christ has forgiven you and forgiven me. In other words, who am I not to forgive someone else who myself, though not committing perhaps the same sin, am so in need of forgiveness?
Let me give you an illustration. Matthew 18...there was a king and this king had a large territory and he had apparently some provinces and some provincial governors. And it was time for him to collect from them the money they had collected in their own provinces for taxes. So all these governors came in and it was a time for them to account for what they had done with their responsibility.
One of those men came before the king and it says that he owed the king an unpayable debt. He owed him, it uses murion which is the highest Greek term for a number, so it's an unnumbered amount, unpayable amount. Even if it translates ten thousand talents, it's astronomical because the whole national debt of Galilee for one year was six hundred talents, so it's...he owed ten thousand talents or he owed an unpayable sum.
So he falls on his knees before the king and he says, "Have patience with me and I'll pay everything back," and he means well. And the king looks at him and says, "I forgive you." Now that king is God. And that man is any sinner. And any one of us who come to the Lord and fall on our knees before Him and recognize that we have defrauded God and we have sinned against Him and we can never pay for our own sin and God then forgives us, we're in the same situation.
Then that man who had been forgiven an unpayable debt who deserved hell, in fact the king said I'm going to sell him and his whole family and get all I can get out of them, which is what hell is, not getting what God deserves but getting all He can get, the guy who was forgiven then went out, found a guy who owed him three hundred denarii, a few hundred dollars, grabbed him by the neck, strangled him. And the guy says, you know, "Be patient, I'll pay, I'll pay." Instead of forgiving him, he threw him in prison.
So here's a guy who has been forgiven an unpayable debt by God. He goes out and he won't forgive some guy that owes him a few bucks and he throws him in jail. And then the parable says that some others who knew about it, other servants, went and told the king what he did. And he went back and punished that guy.
And the whole point of the parable is this, and that's just it in a nutshell, the whole point of the parable is this...who do you think you are not to forgive someone who has offended you when you have so offended a holy God as to be in debt to Him to a level that you could never ever pay? So on the basis of God's free and comprehensive forgiveness of you, you ought to be able to forgive another brother who is a sinner like you.
So you need to understand both those points. One, you have to find it in your heart to forgive because God has forgiven you.
Secondly, I agree that that kind of sin is a devastation that leaves scars and may I add particularly on young people who are very, very vulnerable. And I also want to add that there are men of God, there are faithful men of God that you can trust and you can believe in. And you need to put yourself in the care of those men and I think God can restore the confidence that you lost.
Q: Do you think he should have been allowed to go on in the ministry?
J: No. Not at all.
QUESTIONER: My name is Craig Tanama(?) and I want to ask you a question about the term "the day of the Lord?" I always was looking forward to that in a sense as a good thing to come, and then as I started looking at it I...don't think it's very good.
J: Yeah, let me tell you just basically and I'll give it to you as simply as I can. We're going to have to break at this point.
We're losing our people cause they've got to go pick up their kids and all. Let me put it this way, Craig, simply. The day of the Lord is any day when the Lord moves in wrath and judgment.
It is not purely an eschatological term related to the Second Coming. It is a broad enough term when referring to the Second Coming to encompass some good things...like the Rapture of the church and the glory of the saints. But the day of the Lord is primarily a judgment term. It's as if it's contrasted to the day of man. You've got your day, buddy, but God's going to have His day. And in His day, the essence of it, is judgment.
Now I believe there have been in the past many days of the Lord. Every time God moved in in a holocaust of judgment to one degree or another, that was the day of the Lord. And I think there is coming in the future a great day of the Lord which will have some good features to it. But which by virtue of the title "day of the Lord" really puts an emphasis on judgment.
J: Okay? Good. Why don't we stand for a word of closing prayer. I hope it's been helpful tonight. We've had a great time. Good questions.
Father, we thank You for the just the joy of being together.
We thank You for the testimony of our new brother in Christ and his desire to have joy along with the sadness he feels for the first time in his life over those who don't know the Savior.
Fill his heart with joy, Lord. We know that the Kingdom is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And we want that joy and that peace. And we pray for this young girl who has been burdened and scarred by an unfaithful pastor. And we wonder how many other people in that same situation have grieved and have departed from the assembly of the redeemed and lost the ability to be healed because they left that environment of healing. We pray for any who might be enduring that kind of anxiety.
And we pray, Lord, for the questions that weren't answered tonight but are on the hearts of many. We know Your Spirit is able and Your Word is true and so we commend ourselves to the word of Your grace which is able to build us up. And we thank You for it, how...how unthinkable it would be if we didn't have Your Word. How grateful we are. And we thank You for our fellowship in Christ's name. Amen.


text:
Oct. 11, 2005 / 11:20 AM
UPI Thoroughbred Racing Roundup
As the Yankees hung on in their cross-country division playoffs, horses hoping for a trip to New York and a spot in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships also did battle around the country during the weekend.
From a defending champion to brash newcomers, some final pieces fell into place for the big show in eight equine divisions Oct. 29 at Belmont Park. The highlights:
$1 million NetJets Mile
-- At the Oak Tree Meeting at Santa Anita, Singletary moved into position to defend his championship with a workmanlike victory in Saturday's $250,000 Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile. The 5-year-old son of Sultry Song trailed five rivals before coming out for room on the second turn, then angled in again during the stretch run to win by 1 1/2 lengths over Designed for Luck. Buckland Manor was third and the favorite, We All Love Aleyna, got home fourth in a rough finish. Singletary, with David Flores in the irons, ran the mile on firm turf in 1:34.54. "This is exactly what we wanted," said trainer Don Chatlos Jr. "I didn't expect him to get squeezed out in the first turn like that and be last but I'm glad it happened because that's how I wanted him to run." Flores, asked about the Breeders' Cup, said, "He's ready."
-- At Keeneland, Host led a string of upsetters across the wire in Saturday's $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile. After tracking the pace, the 5-year-old Chilean-bred horse came wide into the stretch and just got to Vanderlin at the wire. Gulch Approval, after pressing the pace, held on for third, completing an $11,210.20 trifecta. The favorite, Three Valleys, finished fifth. Host, with Rafael Bejarano aboard, ran the 1 mile on firm turf in 1:37.67. "Even though he usually shows speed, he relaxed for me," Bejarano said. "When I asked him to run, he just exploded."
-- Intercontinental led from gate to wire in winning Sunday's $400,000 WinStar Galaxy for fillies and mares at Keeneland. With Jerry Bailey up, the 5-year-old, British-bred daughter of Danehill was never seriously challenged and finished 3/4 length ahead of Wend. Katdogawn was third. Intercontinental ran 1 mile on firm turf in 1:37.40. "She's a great filly," said winning trainer Bobby Frankel. "If she would have run all her races like this, she would be undefeated. We may run her through the (Hollywood Park) Matriarch but we'll have to wait and see."
$2 million Distaff
-- Pampered Princess pressed the early pace in Sunday's $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, took the lead and was headed by Capeside Lady with a furlong to go, then came back to win by 1 3/4 lengths over Pleasant Home. Capeside Lady held third. Pampered Princess, a 5-year-old daughter of Indian Charlie, ran 9 furlongs on a fast track in 1:53.91 under Eddie Castro. "Even though she had a lot of pressure on her today, she handled it very well," Castro said. Shug McGaughey said Pleasant Home also likely will contest the Distaff.
$1 million TVG Sprint
-- Captain Squire jumped right to the front in Saturday's $250,000 Ancient Title Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, got a clear lead at mid-stretch and then held on to beat Zanzibar by 1/2 length. Indian Country was third. Captain Squire, a 6-year-old, Florida-bred gelding by Flying Chevron, was making his second start off a long layoff. He ran the 6 furlongs for Alex Solis in 1:08.85 after surviving a first-quarter speed duel clocked in 21.12 seconds. "I knew we were going fast," Solis said. "I wasn't sure how fast ... I'm sure he was tired but he has such a big heart that as soon as the other horse got next to him, he fought him off and fought him to the ending." Trainer Jeff Mullins said of the Breeders' Cup, "We'll talk about it." Captain Squire is owned by Bob Bone and Jeffrey Diener.
-- Elusive Jazz pulled off a minor upset in Saturday's $250,000 Phoenix Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, rallying from mid-pack to win by 3 lengths over Wild Tale. Premium Saltine finished third. Elusive Jazz, a 4-year-old son of Elusive Quality, bred in Kentucky by Richard Forbush and Richard Lueck, ran 6 furlongs on a fast track in 1:11.60. "The Breeders' Cup is coming up," noted winning trainer Bobby Barnett. "We'll see how he comes out of this race and then decide. Robby Albarado applied the winning ride.
$1.5 million Bessemer Trust Juvenile
-- First Samurai sat off a suicidal pace duel in Saturday's $500,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, then took charge in the stretch run to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Henny Hughes, part of the pace race, held on for second and Superfly was well up the track in third. The 1 mile on a sloppy track went in 1:36.29. First Samurai is a Kentucky-bred son of Giant's Causeway. "He's an undefeated colt," said winning trainer Frank Brothers. "He's done a lot of nice things. Hopefully he stays well." Both Henny Hughes and Superfly likely will go on to the Breeders' Cup, said trainers Patrick Biancone and Nick Zito.
-- Dawn of War, at 36-1, got the lead in Saturday's $500,000 Lanes End Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and coasted home a 3 1/2-length winner over Catcominatcha, a 21-1 chance. Stream Cat completed the $6,894 trifecta. The favorite, Laity, finished fifth after pressing the pace. Dawn of War, a Kentucky-bred colt by Catienus, got the 1 1/16 mile on a fast track in 1:48.77 with John Jacinto handling the reins. "It's always nice to have a speed horse at Keeneland, regardless of how the earlier races have been running," said winning trainer Dale Romans, who ought to know. "I'm sure Mr. Ramsey will want to go to the Breeders' Cup."
-- Southern Success won for the second time in as many starts by capturing Saturday's $100,000 Dover Stakes at Delaware Park. Leading every jump, the Kentucky-bred son of Dixieland Band from the A.P. Indy mare My Success got home 4 1/4 lengths to the good of Mister Alimony. Charming Image was third. Southern Success, with Kendrick Carmouche in the irons, ran 1 1/16 mile on a sloppy track in 1:46.71
$1 million Alberto VO5 Juvenile Fillies
-- Adieu bid goodbye to eight rivals after 6 furlongs of Saturday's $500,000 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park, drawing off in the stretch to win by 2 lengths over Along the Sea. Keeneland Kat was third. Adieu, a Kentucky-bred daughter of El Corredor, ran 1 mile on a sloppy track in 1:38.07 Under John Velazquez. She now has won four of five starts, losing only to Folklore in the Adirondack in July at Saratoga. "She has a 2-1 edge in her record over Folklore," said winning trainer Todd Pletcher. "It looks like the Spinaway and those races are holding up their form very good. But the way Folklore ran in the Matron and the way this filly ran today, hopefully (rival trainer and former boss D. Wayne Lukas) didn't outsmart me by running in the Matron and having more time for the Breeders' Cup." Trainer Ralph Ziadie said Along The Sea also is a possibility for the big race.
-- She Says It Best wasted no time getting to the front in Friday's $400,000 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland turned back a challenge from Ex Caelis to win by 2 3/4 length. Performing Diva was third. She Says It Best, a daughter of Stormy Atlantic, won for the fourth time in six starts. "She's a fantastic filly with a lot of stamina," said winning trainer Vickie Foley. "I knew she wouldn't have any trouble going two turns."
In other major weekend races:
Saturday's $300,000 Jamaica Handicap for 3-year-olds was rained off the turf and all but three of the nine entrants stuck around to run on the slop. Best of them was Watchmon, a Kentucky-bred son of Maria's Mon who was entered for main-track only. He stalked the pace, led and drew off to win when asked by jockey Javier Castellano, finishing 9 furlongs in 1:49.28. Crown Point and Woodlander completed the order of finish. Trainer Patrick Reynolds said the Discovery Handicap on the Breeders' Cup undercard is the next likely stop for Watchmon.
Rochester won the Sycamore Stakes for the third time on Friday's Opening Day, scoring by 3 3/4 lengths with Gary Stevens up. The 9-year-old gelding also won the Sycamore in 2001 and 2002. "He takes good care of himself and we try to take good care of him," said winning trainer Jonathan Sheppard. The son of Green Dancer came from off the pace and finished the 1 1/2 miles in 2:34.30. "I wish they were all that much fun to ride," Stevens said.
Sgt. Bert came from mid-pack to win Sunday's $100,000 Woodford Stakes in a four-horse blanket finish. At the wire, the 4-year-old Crafty Prospector gelding was a neck better than Atticus Kristy, who was a neck better than Midwatch, who was a neck better than Rockhurst. Sgt. Bert, with Rafael Bejarano riding, got the 5 1/2 furlongs on firm turf in 1:04.06.
Invitational rallied from well back to win Saturday's $150,000 (Canadian) Carotene Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 2 lengths over Silver Impulse. The Queen's Stamp was third. Invitational, by Peaks and Valleys, ran 9 furlongs on "good" turf in 1:49.39 for Jono Jones.
Sunday, Palladio rallied from last to win the $150,000 (Canadian) Ontario Derby by 1/2 length over New York-bred Gold and Roses. Ever So Free was third. The 9 furlongs took 1:50.67. Palladio now has five wins, including the Ohio Derby, from 11 starts. Trainer Roger Attfield said he next start isn't yet set but he will winter in Florida.
A.P. Indy
Bobby Frankel
Dale Romans
David Flores
Eddie Castro
Frank Brothers
John Jacinto
John Velazquez
Jono Jones
Nick Zito
Patrick Biancone
Rafael Bejarano
Robby Albarado
Roger Attfield
Todd Pletcher

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
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Didi and Uber's epic fundraising battle fuels merger talks
Jun 24, 2016 (WiC 330)
Jean Liu: the boss of Didi Chuxing and also the daughter of China's "godfather of capitalists"
When it comes to being victorious, Chinese history suggests it helps to have a Liu at the helm. The Liu family has produced the highest number of Chinese emperors (66, in case you're wondering, as well as former Chinese President Liu Shaoqi). One of the most prominent Lius, Liu Bang, founded the Han Dynasty and his descendants ruled China for more than four centuries.
Two Lius in modern China are also intent on building empires (though to be accurate, while their name is pronounced the same as the imperial Liu, the Chinese character they use is actually different). They are Jean Liu, president of Didi Chuxing, and Liu Zhen, a former Silicon Valley lawyer, who is Uber's most senior executive in China.
The two not only share the same surname but even come from the same family. Jean Liu is the daughter of Lenovo founder Liu Chuanzhi, who is also the uncle of Liu Zhen.
The Liu cousins have just taken their sibling rivalry to a new level this month as both Didi and Uber have completed another round of multibillion fundraising.
Didi's latest $7.3 billion fundraising was announced a few weeks after Uber's $3.5 billion cash infusion. That has led to reams of newsprint about where their rivalry is heading and how self-defeating it may prove if both firms continue to burn cash at their current rate by discounting fares and subsidising drivers. Who will win?
Let the battle commence
One of Didi's first institutional investors was Allen Zhu from GSR Ventures. He compares the scale of the current fundraisings to an actual war, citing the $60 billion cost of the first Gulf War.
He tells the Wall Street Journal, "Between them they've raised $20 billion. It's very much like a war, but they can't keep fighting like this. It's got to stop before it reaches $30 billion."
Uber's head of Asian operations, Allen Penn, acknowledged the China problem at a conference in Hong Kong earlier this month. "The scale of the opportunity and the scale of prior investment to address that, as well as the competitive factor, has really pushed the spend levels, at some times, to irrational levels," he admitted.
Both companies remain unlisted, but have been adept at alluding to their potential valuations without releasing detailed numbers to back them up. Over the past week sources close to Didi have variously implied a current valuation of between $25 billion and $28 billion. That's not bad considering the original entity, the Alibaba-backed Didi Dache, was only formed in 2012 before merging with the Tencent-invested Kuaidi Dache in February last year to present a united front against Uber China.
Didi's latest fundraising round comprises $4.5 billion in equity from a group of new and existing sponsors including Apple, Alibaba and Ant Financial. In a sign that some investors want to protect themselves from potentially frothy valuations, part of the funding was structured as debt incorporating a $2.5 billion syndicated loan led by China Merchants Bank and $300 million in debt from China Life.
Apple contributed $1 billion to the latest Didi fundraising in a deal announced in May. A number of newspapers say Uber had also been hoping to get Apple on board, but Didi beat it to the punch.
Jean Liu and Apple CEO, Tim Cook, share much in common, not least a fierce work ethic. Cook famously emails employees and sets up meetings at all hours of the day or night, while the Chinese press report that Liu was still on a conference call to Apple as she was about to be wheeled in for a breast cancer operation – and was back on the phone to the Cupertino company immediately after she came round from surgery.
As we reported in WiC325, there are a number of reasons why Apple may have made the Didi investment, not least rebuilding some bridges in China after being blocked from selling its music and films on censorship grounds. Looking further ahead the investment probably says something about its desire to lay the groundwork for an iCar too.
Earlier this month Liu spoke to the MIT Technology Review, describing the hook-up as a "speed date" and describing Didi's relationship with Apple as "still under discussion". One suggestion: it could involve using the latter's voice recognition technology.
The latest fundraising reportedly ups Didi's war chest to about $10.5 billion. One year ago, its last fundraising round raised $3 billion from investors including CIC, Temasek, Alibaba, Tencent and Hillhouse Capital. At that point, Didi had a post-deal valuation of $16.5 billion according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, nearly half its current level.
How much has Uber raised?
Uber has now raised more than Facebook at a similar stage in its history, making it the most expensively valued VC-backed company on record. Meanwhile, Uber China was established as a standalone entity last year in a bid to make sure Uber succeeds in a country where many Western corporations have tried and failed.
On a global level, Uber commands a post-money valuation of $62.5 billion according to S&P Global. Its most recent cash injection came from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which ploughed in $3.5 billion at the beginning of June and gained a board seat. Analysts believe the US firm could be sitting on as much as $15 billion in cash.
Some of the Saudi money is being redirected to Uber China, which is valued at about $8 billion according to various media outlets. CEO Travis Kalanick has previously said that if Uber China doesn't take part in the "fundraising bonanza" it will "get squeezed out by others buying market share".
He is also determined to make Uber "authentically Chinese," or Chinese enough so that the government won't favour its local rival. As such, many of Uber China's investors are state-affiliated entities such as Citic Securities, Guangzhou Auto and China Life. All three participated in a previous fundraising round that closed in January.
Some of the American firm's Chinese shareholders are looking for broader business opportunities. For instance, Guangzhou Auto and Uber China have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to provide auto loans and electric cars for drivers and passengers. (Didi, meanwhile, is partnering with China Merchants Bank to help drivers to secure car loans.)
China's largest privately-owned airline group, HNA, also participated in the January fundraising and in early June Uber China launched its Uber+Travel strategy. This aims to provide a seamless link between business or leisure travel and commuting. That also fits into Uber's grand plan to create a global alliance similar to those run by airlines such as One World.
Unsurprisingly Didi has a similar aim and is trying to break Uber's global hegemony through an alliance with Lyft and General Motors, which aims to create a fleet of autonomous on-demand vehicles.
Another Uber+Travel partner is e-commerce portal JD.com. Earlier this year, Zhang Zetian (aka the "Milk Tea Girl", see WiC231), wife of JD.com's founder Richard Liu, invested an undisclosed sum into the company.
Is Uber making headway?
Data from Analysys suggests Uber has grabbed significant market share over the past year mostly at the expense of smaller competitors such as Yidao.
As we reported earlier this month, the industry data for Chinese internet firms may not always be accurate (see WiC327). But it is widely reported that Didi accounts for more than 80% of local market share (i.e. for bookings of car rides online in China). Uber argues its China unit operates in fewer cities, but in them has one third of the market. Liu Zhen recently told a conference that Uber will overtake Didi within a year (her cousin responded by describing Uber's strategy as "cute"). Liu Zhen also said Uber now operates in 60 cities, with a near-term target of 100 compared to Didi's 400. However, much of the taxi hailing market is concentrated in a few major cities led by Beijing (14.2%), Shanghai (13.6%) and Hangzhou (12.1%) according to analysts.
Both companies emphasise that they are on the road to profitability. In fact, Didi claims it is profitable in 200 cities.
However, the duo has also been locked in a price war and an iResearch survey highlights how difficult it is for both firms to retain their customers: 63.6% said their decision is based purely on price. Over the medium term, analysts believe service quality may become more important and as we reported in WiC325, security is also an issue following the murder of a teacher who used a Didi cab in Shenzhen.
What does the government think?
The biggest uncertainty facing the car hailing firms, as with many other industries in China, is regulatory intervention. Many municipal governments have already passed regulations banning the use of private cars for chauffeuring services. The Ministry of Transport (MoT) got in on the act last October when it issued draft regulations, many of which disquieted executives at both Didi and Uber. These intimated that ministry officials want proper labour contracts for drivers, who will also be required to register with one booking platform. Were such rules to become law they would undermine the asset-light business model adopted by both Didi and Uber.
Forcing drivers to register their cars on a commercial basis – another proposed regulation – not only goes against the ethos of the sharing economy, but will also make the job uneconomic for part-time drivers (who will have to purchase a new car every eight years).
However, as the Financial Times points out the Chinese government does not itself present a united front on this regulatory issue. The MoT is keen to protect the rights of taxi drivers. But within other parts of the administration, Didi and Uber China represent icons of 'innovation' which policymakers want to encourage. "The State Council, China's cabinet, asked the ministry of transport to revise the regulations, sparking a debate that is ongoing," reports the FT.
The Chinese government is well aware of the sharing economy's potential. Figures from the National Information Centre estimated its size at Rmb1.95 trillion ($299 billion) at the end of 2015 and projects it could grow by 40% per year to 10% of GDP by 2020.
How about a Didi-Uber merger?
If Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, backed respectively by archrivals Alibaba and Tencent, could put their differences aside, why not Didi and Uber? Perhaps that's why some of Didi and Uber China's investors (China Life has made bets on both) are reportedly suggesting the two ride-hailing apps should consider a similar "merger" to prevent an escalating price war from burning through their cash.
Such a merger would require the approval of anti-trust regulators and it looks unlikely Beijing would want one company to dominate the entire sector.
The idea sounds not too unthinkable for Lee Kai-fu, the former head of Google China, who told the Wall Street Journal that combining Didi and Uber's China divisions would fit the trend of consolidation in the internet industry. This may not happen though, Lee suggested, if Didi believes it can crush Uber China and thus refuses to pay a premium to buy it.
In any case the Liu family might well have a big say were an audacious merger to happen.
The intense focus on Uber and Didi has left a third company trailing in their wake: UCAR, the leasing offshoot of CAR Inc, the country's largest car rental firm previously known as China Auto Rental.
Yet UCAR has certainly not given up the race. With a series of marketing campaigns last year under the slogan "Beat U", UCAR has rapidly grown its market share from 10.7% in the second quarter of 2015 to 14.9% by the end of the year, according to China Daily. But it is better placed to weather potential regulatory storms since its entire fleet is leased, mostly from CAR Inc.
Perhaps more importantly, UCAR also has the backing of the most senior member of the Liu family and the "godfather of Chinese capitalists", Liu Chuanzhi. Legend Holdings, the investment conglomerate chaired by Liu, is a major shareholder of CAR. Moreover, the Hong Kong-listed Digital China, another affiliate of Legend, is also a strategic partner of Uber in China.
So will Liu senior have a decisive say in the future of China's car hailing market?
The Beijing News posed this question to Liu last month. "Jean Liu and Liu Zhen made their own career decisions, it's nothing to do with me. From my own perspective I should pay more attention to CAR Inc. We all work hard for our own career. There is nothing special going on here, its purely coincidental," Liu replied.
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Hey all, just wondering if anyone actually uses apps to edit their photos if taken on a smartphone, or whether it's best to use a simple editor like on Instagram, as that's where the photos usally end up. Many of these seem to have the same functions as on IG, but perhaps someone knows something that can do more?
I use snapseed and Toolwiz.
Both do more than Instagram. They're ok.
Being jpeg format, there's very little one can do with these formats. Apps like snapseed are more than sufficient. Instagram and pixlr will give some effects, borders etc. I use pixlr quite alot for the effects.
When I took my SOTD photos on a iPhone/iPad I used both Snapseed & PicsArt, they have some really nifty features unique to each app so using them together give you lots of scope for editing.
If you just want one that does it all (especially if you properly learn how to use it) - go with Snapseed.


A totally adorable unicorn mini piñata favour decoration.
These cute white & pastel coloured tissue paper mini-piñatas are perfect to add a bit of magic to your wedding, princess party, baby shower or christening.
Fun to use as a little surprise at the table or hang in trees outside for the Easter egg hunt.
Please note: Intended as decoration only and are not suitable for children under 36 months.
They also do not include a flap and pull like a standard piñata but are easily converted with a bit of string and tape and will hold a handful of sweets easily.
Measures: 8.5cm(w) x 8cm(h) x 2.75cm(d).