"Better"

I love the word "better". It suggests something absolute against which to compare against. In what sense is Western Ethics better than Hitler's Ethics if there was no "Best" Ethics, the Absolute Ethics? In what way is "Alive" better than "Dead" if there was no "purpose" to live for, "Sentient" creatures better than non Sentient ones if thoughts are "merely" chemical occurrences of the brain? There are no "logical" grounds for these!

But no one rejects these premises.

Sorrow.. Joy..

The Christian walk is quite interesting.. There are 2 parts to it. There is the sorrowful part. It is where we come before God contrite and small. Its where we view the Almighty, the I AM, when we say How Awful is this place. It is the Holy of Holies. Its where we see our sins. Its were we have the "fear" of the Lord. Its the intercession on our knees. Its the journey of the valley of shadow of death. Its the silence of God. Its the cry of My Lord, my Lord, why have you forsaken me?. Its taking up the cross of Jesus. Its the death of the flesh. Its the seed falling into the ground. Its repentance. Its when we work out our salvation in fear and trembling.

There is a second part. Its the part of joy, its the part of victory. Its the part where we claim things in the name of Jesus. Its when we see our forgiveness. Its where we stay in the embrace of the Lord. Its the still small voice that is heard. It is His rod and staff comforting us. It is when we see answered prayers. Its when Grace and Mercy pours out. Its the rebirth of the seed. Its the worship of Adoration. Its the Prayer of Praise. Its when we consider "it" pure Joy. Its the Holy of Holies too. It is the New Heaven and the New Earth. It is the arrival of the Messiah. Its the realization that the Yoke was light. It is the Peace of God which surpasses all understanding. It is the God of Peace who is with you. It is Emmanuel, God with us. It is the Healing of God. It is God who works in you to complete His Good, pleasing and perfect will.

Both parts, dare I say, are from God. And dare I say too, that Sorrow precedes Joy. Intercession precedes Victory. Death precedes Life. Repentance precedes forgiveness. Taking up the cross precedes the light yoke. Tribulation (I think) precedes the New Heaven. The Valley of Shadow of Death precedes the Rod and Staff (except for some). The Holiness of God precedes the Love of God (I think).

No wonder it is said that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains a seed.

And yet, no wonder, it is said that (when the seed does fall), it grows up and bears fruit 30, 60 and 100 folds the original..

COS

Taken from COS(MP) website, FAQ:

1. What is the Denomination of Church of Singapore

COS is formed with the concept of a local church, we do not belong to any denomination neither do we form any denomination. We believe that our church is part of the body where Christ is the head. We call ourselves as an independent local church.

Taken from About us, Our Beliefs:

Our Beliefs

1. We believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God given to man. It is the final authority in every area of our lives.

2. We believe that there is one God, eternal and existent in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

3. We believe in: the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. His virgin birth, His sinless life, < and power in return second His Father the of hand right to ascension resurrection, bodily blood, shed death. atoning substitutionary miracles,>

4. We believe that receiving Jesus Christ as one's personal Lord and Saviour is the one and only way for salvation of lost and sinful man.

5. We believe in the ever-present ministry of the Holy Spirit, who indwells a believer upon receiving Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour and in the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which empowers the believer to be a living witness for Jesus Christ.

6. We believe that there is one universal Church, which comprises the body of all believers everywhere, with Jesus Christ as the Head.

7. We believe that all believers in any particular locality are members of the local church through which the character and power of Jesus Christ may be expressed.



Cool? ;) I think so

Happy

I am happy :)

Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus!! (alright, fine, I know people get the dates mixed up here and there, but we celebrate it today k? :))

Had I known Caroling was so fun... Lol

Zhu4 Da4 Jia1 Shen4 Dan4 Jie2 Kuai4 Le4

=p

Where

"Dear God, where were you when the Tsunami hit? And where were you when the planes crashed?"

"My child, I was thinking of asking the same question.."

Carolling

Yay! My first! I can go!!

Recall

When thinking back on my earlier Christian years, there was this one person that I had almost forgot what he had done, and that I did not appreciate that much then. No, not that we were not on good terms, its just that I didn't feel particularly thankful.. And this person is none other than.. Drumroll... My first cell leader, cell leader of Tsikenu, Daniel Yan!

If not for him, my TAG would probably never had started off. I remember there was this sheet of paper that he used to have, that would let the cell members tick which day they did tag in the previous week. And we would set targets. The very first time I saw this, Daniel asked for my target. And I was a little stunned, since I had never done consistent tag. And back then, opposition was still quite strong. But everyone had at least 1 on it. If I am not wrong, Joy had 4 or 5 days as her target. Daniel had 7. And he ticked everyday for himself for the preceeding week. There was someone (I think it was Victoria) who set (his/her) target as 1, but (he/her) was younger than me, so I decided that I would set it as 2.

And that was the start of my tagging experience. That first week, I managed to cover both days. So I felt quite happy and ready to tick the next week. Unfortunately, for some reason, we didn't do the ticking exercise. In fact, very rarely did I see that piece of paper again. But I continued to do it week after week. Sometimes, I would miss some days.. In fact, after that, quite often I missed the goal set. After a while, my tags got steadier...

After that, the thing that spurred me on even more was David's year of Old Testament. Like my peers, having grown up in children church (it wasn't called Solid Rock until I think the last year of my stay; was it Shalom who came up with that name?) I knew a fair bit of Bible stories. But it was never as coherent as when the 12+4 sequence was properly linked and presented.. And we were supposed to read certain books of the Bible before every session. So I did. Fine, I fell asleep sometimes while reading them. But I tried. Fine, it wasn't very deep reading. But it was in a way, one of my earlier Bible study (the earliest was Romans by Pastor Mark if my order is not wrong). Tsikenu studied the book of Nehemiah. I was tasked with the 9th Chapter. It was a brief summery of the Old Testament. So I did it. But I got scared off presenting, so I didn't attend the presentation (whoops, Joy, now you know=p). Which was a pity since I never got to see this work completed. But it was a proper study. After the 12+4 though, we did the prophets (and the presentations spilled over to the next year I think). The prophets were a mystery to me though.. Could not understand them very well.. Even after the presentations, I was still as mystified (now is not that much better actually, I can't make coherent sense of everything. Haven't got the big picture yet). Probably didn't help that around that period of time, I missed quite a few of the presentation of the prophets... Come to think of it, I wonder how the one who was tasked with Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel managed to do theirs.

Thats for the study side. Interestingly, I think my "knowing deeper" part came way before my fellowship part.. The the earlier days, my limited contact was probably with my batch people and even then, quite limitedly so. Kiam Nan was still around then, but he is at least as quiet as myself! We were together not so much because of communication but because of silence. But Marilyn reached out (and got an award for being the most approachable (or is it most friendly?) for that =p) by asking me along when they are going for meals.. It was not until after some time in Sett that I, well, started taking note of other people.

Welcome to my earlier years. One post won't do justice to everything that happened, but here is a portion of it ;)

Plenitude 2

Let me try to put the indescribable into words..

This is my 3rd camp so far (and my 1st full camp). The first was Hallius, with all the fish and all the networking on the streets of Changi Village (which made me now realize, hey, no wonder we had such trouble finding youths, since there are really few youths there). The second is last year's I-Faith. With all the 5 "I"s about God. Can't remember all the "I"s now, except for one particular one; that is, that God is an Invisible God, and so everyone who wants to come to God must first believe that He exists, and He rewards those who eagerly seek Him.

Unlike previous camps, I went into this one almost empty and bankrupt. Physically, the few days just prior to the camp was crazily busy in camp. There were times I was considering breaking camp on the 15th just to go back to finish my work. Somehow, I didn't. Instead, I decided not to bother about the unfinished portions. Alright, most parts had been done already, after the furious and mad rush the days before the camp.. But if you know me, I hate uncompleted things. They seem like heavy things over one's head.. I can't stand it. But for some reason, I just, let go. I just left camp. The other temptation would be to keep my phone with me. After-all, there was an inspection of my work on the 15th. And since I was not around, they would want to call me. And in fact, they did. But again, I just decided to put my phone into the plastic bag along with everyone else. If I had not, I would had split attention during the camp. Having to setting things left right and center.. that would totally spoil the mood of the camp. As it is, I could have those 3-4 days not needing to think about anything else. And the world did not implode in my absence. Spiritually, I was no better. For some time before the camp itself, QT suddenly became something of a drag, of a duty to me. There was no joy in it. In fact, I even missed a couple of days of QT, almost deliberately. It was not as if I didn't have time to do it. But I couldn't/didn't drag myself to it...

And of course, the camp itself was fraught with... Seriously, how am I supposed to lead a group? I think I can find just as many reasons or excuses as Moses lo...

But the camp went on. And some of you would have seen this many times already. It was a camp of giving, not receiving. The sessions I could understand, but they did not speak directly to my situation. The worship was wonderful, but it remains worship - adoring God. A total of one person prayed for me (to whom I am exceedingly grateful for). But I prayed for a few people. And though the giving seems to be more than the receiving, by the end of the camp, I was still filled up once again. It was just amazing... This is the first time that I dared to stand up and pray for people in these manner.. And its also a joy for me to see changes in my group members, as well as other people after the sessions..

But there was one scene which really touched my heart. It was the skit by the super Cambodians. Maybe its just for me, because this response is by no means universal (in fact, quite to the contrary). I fell in love with the first scene, that of creation, of God delighting in the girl and the girl delighting in God. The second scene of the parents quarreling and the girl trying to help by giving them the love that God gave her made me sad, when the parents crushed the heart and threw it on the floor. The next 2 scenes totally broke my heart, with the friends asking her to smoke, then tearing out a corner of the heart, and later, the guy who pushed her, snatched the soft toy from her, and tore her heart to many pieces. And God was just standing in the background, ignored. But when the next scene came, the people all surrounded the girl, and the girl was just in distressed. And God stepped in. He stopped all the other people. And he replaced the torn up heart with a new one...

I don't know why that skit touched me so much.. Its not like I never saw it - in fact, I still remember the original, which was by the Korean Group (I think the name was Joy) which came to our church when we were still in Chancery lane. But I felt very much for the whole thing.. Maybe the picture is just so tragic, and yet, beautiful...

Dear friends, when we descend the mountain of Transfiguration, and go back to the plains, please remember the visions and heart that was on the mountain. For while God is real up there and in all His glory, it is in the everyday that His love can be expressed, it is in the everyday that everything is actually done.

If camps have a keyword, it would be "Remember"

Plenitude

Until I get better inspiration.. here is my description:

Awesome

Word

In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.. The Word became flesh..

We owe so much of our Theology about Jesus to John..

The Word came from Logos, which is sometimes translated into Logic. It also contains connotations of the Creation Power, as God created by the Word of His power. But the clearest interpretation comes from the end of the verse - that the Word was God (Later verses clarify it even more, that He was the One and Only, that is, there is only One God). And yet, this is not just a concept or a power. The Word was a Person. See the next verse, which used the pronoun "He". He has a real personality..

This person, this Word is Timeless - He was there In the Beginning. He caused the Beginning. Yet, it is interesting to note that the word used is "in" the beginning, not "before" the beginning. Which makes perfect sense! How can there be anything Before there was a beginning?? Time itself began "In the beginning", how could there be a reference from time about Before Time? If there is a reference, it must be greater than Time. And indeed, this verse tells us that the Word is Greater than Time itself, for He was there In the Beginning, not as one who came into being because of the Beginning, but rather as one who caused there to be a Beginning. It takes us back to Genesis 1, where God created Heaven and the earth, even before anything "Began". It is only a beginning for the Universe as we know it - For God, it was no beginning, He had no beginning. He is everlasting, immutable, the eternal source.

And you know what? This is no mystery. Go far enough into science (with some philosophy) and you will reach some conclusions that echos of this. Alright, perhaps not the part about there being a God. But at least the parts about Time and Beginnings. Go into Religion and you will find elements of "God" who created, who is unchangeable (granted, not all religions give you that, but that is the popular idea of God anyway).

This is the Mystery. The Word became flesh. Only in Christianity do you find this. That the Power that created, that the everlasting, that the Timeless, became Flesh, entered Time, and in a sense, Changed. And yet, though Flesh, was still the Everlasting, the Beginning, the Power. This is the key mystery of Christianity...

Think about it. Even taking the less weighty concept of Logic to translate Logos, can you imagine Logic becoming flesh? You can say that a person is very logical, that the argument is very logical, even that this person represents logic to a large extent. But that this person is Logic itself? What on earth is that supposed to mean? It hardly makes sense, does it? It is hardly.. Logical.

No wonder the Christ was denounced as Blasphemous.

It blows your mind off.

Welcome to the Real World. Welcome to Christianity.

Fullness

3 more days to fullness..

Happy.. And excited.. And thankful that I (most probably) can go..

Thank you Jesus :)

Sedition

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_310719.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_310849.html

In case you people still don't know about this.. 2 people are on trial for "Sedition". Now, lets have a look at the some of the issues involved..

Sedition means
1. incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government.
2. any action, esp. in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion.
3. Archaic. rebellious disorder.
(Source: Dictionary.com)

For the purpose of the Law, a Seditious Tendency is defined as a tendency to "promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore." Except if it aims to "point out, with a view to their removal, any matters producing or having a tendency to produce feelings of ill-will and enmity between different races or classes of the population of Singapore,"
(Source: Sedition Act, Chapter 290, Section 3)

I am of course not a lawyer, so anything I comment on will be based on not the law persay, but by Reason and Logic.


Firstly, I must say that a cursory search on "The Little Bride" and "Who is Allah" seems to uncover much much more negative comments than positive ones.. Seems like quite a lot of people agree that the material are offensive, and only a few believe the material to be largely true. Of course, that should be seen in the light that many believe the author's stand on homosexuality (as in, that it is wrong) to be controversial.

In this case, the publication might contain falsehood or prejudiced views. If that is so, I don't have much in defense for them (Unfortunately, I am quite unable to give my own opinion on whether the publications are true or false, since I can't seem to get hold of any...)

But this relates to the larger issue of evangelism and sedition in general. I have a friend who passionately believes that evangelism should be done in an agreeable and relational manner. This is so as to prevent the negative backlash, of unpleasant feelings of others towards Christians. I myself can bring examples which show this type of outcome - quite a few of my friend's objections are more towards evangelism methods rather than Christianity itself..

However, I somewhat disagree with this view. My disagreement lies not in this method itself. In fact, I believe that agreeable and relational evangelism is very important and should be practiced. That is what I do personally too. But I can't help noticing that there is another type of evangelism practiced in the New Testament. In the case of Peter and John, they just would not, and perhaps even could not stop proclaiming what they hear and what they saw and what they know. Even when brought before the lawcourt, they pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them, and respectfully disagreed with their judgment, saying that they must obey God, not men. In the case of our Lord Himself, He proclaimed Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees and He used a whip to drive out the people from the Temple..

This is not very agreeable is it?

It seems as though proclaiming the Truth is more important than anything else.. Forcing it down people's throat? Na, not really, its not possible to do that. You might as well call a teacher teaching a class about, say, evolution, or even organic chemistry "forcing it down her student's throat". It is still teaching about the Truth.

That, I believe is the most important characteristics of truth. Truth divides. Something is either true or not true. Its no use saying that you are being accepting and open to different opinions. You might as well respect my opinion that apples are purple and the sky is falling.

Which makes the Sedition act quite strange. It is the characteristic of Truth to have the potential to promote feelings of "ill will and hostility". I mean, look at Jesus.. He sure got plenty of Ill will and hostility.. At the same time, it can be said to have in view the reduction of ill will and hostility (I mean, if everyone believes what is true, then there is definitely reduced ill will right?)

Lol =p

Obedience

When God whispers... Obey. Immediately.

Mission

And so, they left for Cambodia.. Lets pray for them more...

Doulos

Our dear cell leader is featured in the News on Doulos, 5th Dec ;) And on it also have a very familiar girl's picture :)

Went there today.. On man.. the books are so super duper cheap!!! Its like, you can get things for $4, $8, $12... And many of them pretty good too!!

Oh ya, also met Ruby there with the bookshop.. Pity can't meet the rest of them though..

http://www.doulos.org/

We're in a fight not physical. We're in a war but not with this world.

So while danyan was being hammered left right center yesterday, I was wondering why I was quite alright. It was 3 days away from our trip. I didn't think the enemy would leave me alone just like that.

The sun set and the sun rose, and it was tuesday. A rather strange tuesday it was. It was one not so nice event after another. As if God was testing me, if I did this this this will you still praise me? How about this this this, will you still praise me? My answer is yes. If shaking my world would keep my eyes focused on You, then, shake it all You want.

2 days till we fly.
We're really in need of a lot of prayer! Most of us have unfinished business we need to settle before we can go in peace.