Childhood

I had forgotten the lessons learnt in my childhood.. St Michael's did teach quite a lot of principles that.. one would do well to keep ;)

Stuck..

In my head :P The song that is..

I love you Lord
And I lift my hands
To honor you
Oh my soul, rejoice

Take joy my King
In what you hear
Let it be a sweet sweet sound
In your ears


Its so simple.. Yet so sweet.. The first is so child-like, so innocent, so pure.. The simple declaration that I love my Lord, and I delight in my Lord..

And the second, the hope that my Lord will delight in me, in what I offer as well.. That it will please Him..

Has some mood of Nehemiah eh? When he keeps repeating "Remember me O Lord".. And isn't it so?

Beautiful..

Some musings..

I am ready. I think :)

It was said of Hudson Taylor that when he was older, at times, his face looked like that of an angel.. That is really such a wonderful picture.. I love it. Reminds us of Stephen doesn't it? The first Martyr. He saw the Most High when they described him as having the face of an angel. As for Hudson.. They described it as him looking to heaven so often that they saw heaven in his face.. When will I ever, if ever reach that man..

When I get to heaven, I won't want to be the gatekeeper, though it is an honorable job. Nor will I want to live in a Mansion, though it is probably quite a nice place to be in.. Nor would I want to judge angels, or to be part of the Lord's army, though those are glorious places. Instead of these, just give me a job as a cleaner in His Throne room.. For there is His presence manifest.. In His presence, all things are made right..

The more I look at the Bible, the more I see that really, it paints a very beautiful complete picture / story. For instance, if you bother to look at Christ's ancestors according to Matthew, you will find many many many familiar names. There is David and Solomon and Hezekiah, and Josiah and Zerubabel and all the other famous people.. If you also look at the ending of 2 Chronicles, you will find the starting of Ezra. If you look at the sayings of Christ, you will find how often He quotes from the Law and Prophet.. Such a wholesome picture, how could anyone imagine it to be anything but true? Compare it to the mythologies which seems to be more interested in the powers and abilities of the gods.. Ours has more the flavor of a divine poet.. With a consistent story.

The old wall of Jerusalem has 10 gates - the New wall will have 12. The old has a temple, the New will have none - He will be the Temple Himself. The New wall's foundation will have the names of the 12 apostles on it. Great and wonderful things happened in the Old testament. Greater things happened in the New. And the apostles probably did more things than Christ (look at the extent which the gospel spread, and the miracles they did). And the best is yet to come! Certainly, Christ came to redeem us. But the work doesn't stop there.. The New Creation will probably surpass even Paradise without sin..

Oh man.. can't wait :P

Be Strong!!

Been away a lot this month, just to let you all know, I'm always blessed when we gather as a group to share matters on/from our hearts. It seems to me that many of us are going-on to a different phase in life. Dealing with issues that will challenge the strength of our walls. How much are we willing to compromise before saying enough is enough?

I hear and feel the group's cry.. being around people whose values & ideals are so different from ours most of our days. Being different is difficult. Definitely. See where being different led Christ to? But let us hold on to what is true and what we know is good.

Let us focus on where we are headed... Let us run as one winning the prize. We are heading to the eternal hope which is a much better life than this one.

Be an example in life, in love, in faith, in speech and in purity.

We hold on to each other ok?
If one is faltering, let his brother/sister pull him along.
That's what this family is for.

ARE WE THERE YET? not yet... :) soon.

Searching

People are constantly searching for things. Oh, they may not know what they are searching for. In fact, usually, they do not know what they are searching for. Perhaps they find some of It in Nature, some find some of It in pleasure, some find some of it in Wealth (position, power).. Some may want to fly round the world... Others to do charitable deeds, to help the poor..

Good. Because in reality, we are all searching for things. But these barely scape the surface of what we search for! Do we not want security more than money, joy more than pleasure, freedom more than travel, peace more than Nature, to Love more than charity (in the modern sense of course).

Sometimes.. I have this idea that we would desire none, except that it has some shadow of Heaven in it (and of course, in the long run, God in it). Even our darkest lusts, our deepest shadows - surely they must have parts which are desirable - and are shadows of Heaven. Its difficult to explain, but one example I can think of was the Fall of Man. They sinned because they wanted the Fruit, which was of itself, good. Is it not? To become like God, knowing good and evil..

If only we can see beyond things of the present to see what it is we are truly seeking for.. When the perfect comes, the imperfect disappears. Where Perfect Love is, Fear cannot exist. Where Security is, we would not need Money. Where Peace is, we would not need to escape into Nature.. When we see a Sunset, the mere painting of it pales in comparison. When we see our glorious heavenly body, all our grandest clothings will perhaps amount to nothing...

May we always keep in mind what we are seeking for..

Religion

All religions are meant to teach morals. At least, that is quite a popular view adopted in this age. The Hindus especially believe in the supremacy of values or ideas as compared to truth (of course, it is maintained that the values and ideas are true, what this means is that it may not even matter if the "Gods" are true). Closely related to this idea is that religions are meant to be a support, a source of hope for people. In the same way, it need not be true. And finally, a conclusion may be drawn that all religions are the same.

Take a most basic look at Christianity and you will find that none of these views stands. Paul put it quite directly, saying that if the resurrection had not really occurred (as in, it was perhaps a symbol - though I do not mean he was talking about that, the date was too close for things to become symbolic - or perhaps not a literal resurrection), then Christians of all people are to be the most pitied. Why so? Simply because the Grand Miracle of Christianity is the resurrection! Granted, the Incarnation and the Sacrificial Atonement (ie: Death of Christ) are also 2 other important events. That is besides the point. The point is that if none of these had not Actually happened in 1st century Israel, then our Faith is pointless.

Indeed, the central teaching of Christianity is not Good morality or good deeds, but a Good News. Certainly, morality has a part - Christ did preach the sermon on the Mount. But he came and told people to repent - as if they had something to repent of in the first place. Morality was already somewhat in place before Christ. That is not the central message. The central message is that we are taught that somehow, by the life, death and resurrection of Christ, we are made right with God, and can be reconciled with God..

In that case, if Christ had not lived, then what are we learning? Simply, the central message is not there! There is no reconciliation with God if there was no Christ - He declared Himself to be the Way, not any method of living or whatsoever..

...

To deal with the side issue about religion offering support and hope.. I must say, certainly. As in, it does offer both. But it makes little sense to say that even if we know it to be false, it still can offer support and hope. You might as well hope in a fairy Godmother of your imagination. No, certainly people do not come to religion for comfort, and finding comfort, believe it. The believing will have to come first, comfort as a result of that..



Just some thoughts ;)

PS: THANK YOU JOY!!!!
PPS: To all people who are not there yet: The Lord be with YOU!!

YO!

this is something for Zhuang Mao...


*BIG HUG*

*BIG SQUEEZE HUG*


He is good, He is good
His Love endures forever
Give thanks to the Lord
For He is good

And i thank God for everyone of you. For everything you're going through, good or bad, happy or sad. Because I know that all things work out for good for those who love Him. And yes... Don't forget to talk to God.. cos he wants to talk to you too!

*big hug* for everyone at AWTY.

Ooh =)