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LOVE and relationships...

Just had a conversation with 3 friends, one whom i chat with not-so-irregularly but yet not-so-regularly (err... i think you kinda get what i mean...), one whom i've met and chatted infrequently and superficially but haven't met for quite some time, and one whom i've never met before. Well, actually 2 conversations took place, the first between myself, A and B, and then A left and C arrived (the 2nd conversation). But all that aside...

Just thinking aloud... pondering over the content of both conversations left me thinking, and coming to a conclusion -- "Lack of CAPABLE Spiritual AUTHORITY" (in certain parts of the church).

Quoting a pastor who said something, but completely unrelated to this issue, "Those who have the power to make the changes don't care... those who really care don't have the power to make the changes..."

(The following is aside from the above-mentioned conversations... incase A/B/C are wondering if we really did talk about these...)

Eventually when we get to Heaven, its not how much we've done on this world that matters (NOT that it DOESN'T matter)... its not how many people we bring to receive Christ that matters (NOT that it DOESN'T matter)... its not even how well we live our lives as a Christian that matters (NOT that it DOESN'T matter)...

We're called to make relationships... we're told repeatedly in the Bible to love one another... (just below loving God... but yet we're told to love each other JUST AS WE LOVE GOD...)

But... the way we're treating our earthly relationships... yes, i know that man is flawed... the relationship between man and man is flawed... ever since Adam was told NOT to eat from the tree, and he told Eve not to eat, and Eve ate, and offered to Adam, and Adam ate, and then when God asked Adam "Why did you eat from the tree?" the first thing Adam said was "she did it!"... and when Eve was asked, the first thing she said was "the snake did it!"...

And ever since, we've been treating our relationships like disposable tissue papers... when its useful to us, we treasure them... when its not-so-useful to us, we keep them... when its no longer useful to us... we throw them... when its a bother to us... we despise them...

If our relationship with God becomes a bother to us... if our relationship with God becomes no longer useful to us... WHAT will we do? Will we do the same? Apparently, the Bible says that if we do that with our relationships with man, its EQUIVALENT (read: SAME) as doing it to God...

if we treasure ALL our relationships with everyone, with whom we love, and with whom we choose not to love, and with whom we choose to hate... we are doing the SAME to God... does it paint a picture?

some people will say "but that's the IDEAL model... its not possible here... not possible now... not possible... just not possible..." well... my say is... that's why we're still on earth... that's why we still have to live our 60-80yrs down here on earth... LEARNING to love each other BEYOND logical sense...

SACRIFICIAL LOVE... AGAPE LOVE... loving BEYOND logical sense... loving BEYOND anything in this world... loving each other like we would love God...

then again... by this time... some people will say "ok, i will... BUT there are some people whom i will NEVER love... or at least NOT passionately..." well... to them... "that's how your love for God is..."

hmm... oh God... teach me to love EVERYONE... should somebody stab me, in the front or in the back... teach me to look him in the eye... and say "i forgive you... i love you... even though you do all this to me... God... forgive you for you know not what you are doing... may this love fill you and change you for the rest of your life..."

Rules, rules, rules

Its human nature that we tend to "challenge" rules. The more we are reminded of the rules, the more we want to challenge them. Our attitude has become a severly objective-based one. Our bosses will tell us "do whatever it takes you to do, but get the job done."

The SAF has instituted "7 core values" among their soldiers, but sadly, integrity isn't one of the 7 core values! A well-known saying among them is "do whatever you want to do, but don't get caught".

We know that rules are put in place to protect us, but so often we find the rules restrictive when we encounter problems. We want to "bend the rules", or work around them. Sometimes, if we do not forsee any repurcussions, we choose to break the rules altogether.

For example, when was the last time you crossed the road at pedestrian crossing when the "Red Man" was lit, just because there was little or no traffic on the road at that time? Or do you recall the last time you decided to jaywalk across the road underneath an overhead bridge because you were too tired to climb the bridge?

What about those who drive? When was the last time you made an illegal U-turn, or sped above the legal speed limit just because you thought it was safe, or because you were in a rush?

When was the last time you couldn't find a rubbish bin, so you just threw the piece of tissue or sweet wrapper into the nearest available receptacle which is not a designated rubbish point? Have you eaten that sweet in the MRT train in spite of the "No Eating or Drinking" signs prominently put up in each cabin?

Did it ever occur to you that sometimes when people try to follow rules so strictly, that the people end up breaking them instead? Its that "sin nature" in us, coupled with satan's never ending temptations, trying to cause us to fall into sin. Everytime there's a chance for us to fall into sin, there satan is, trying to make us fall for it.

The only solution to this is to keep praying, that God would deliver us from sin, and keep watch over us, constantly reminding us of what is right and what is wrong. I pray that we will one day be able to triumph over all of satan's temptations for us to sin. In that day, satan will be defeated and his reign over us would be over. Hallelujah!

Law and Order

Disloyalty is the greatest sin of the end-times. This was the message preached in our church. How do I view disloyalty? It is the backstabbing of the church leadership because of things preached which we do not agree, it is the decision to obey some things, and not obeying some things.

Over the years, God raised up many chosen men, to lead His people to the "promised land". God placed these men in command of many people, and increased their numbers. But because of division, people tend to decide not to obey instructions passed down. As a result, the church was divided into many parts.

In the end-times, God will raise up many leaders. Satan will also through deception raise up his own leaders, whose sole responsibility is to cause the people to disobey God's command. Who are we loyal to? God's people, or satan's?

Is it that hard to discern who is God's side, and who is not? I believe that it isn't. God's people will live by His Word, and will seldom sway from it. Satan's people will challenge God's Word, and try to sway others to believe that it either no longer applies to them (in this age), or that it is "not exactly correct".

Does that sound familiar now? When people try to "bend the rules", justifying that "that rule was in the past, and no longer applies to us", or that "that does not apply to us any more because now and last time is different".

True, we used to be judged by (Moses) Law in the old testament, before Jesus was sent to completely and totally absolve our sins on the cross. That we no longer go to hell because we are judged by our sins, but are judged by grace because of His sacrifice. But NOT TRUE, because we are no longer judged by law, we can go ahead and break them.

True, we "used to" have 10 commandments and had to follow them strictly. But NOT TRUE, "in this age, after Jesus died for us, we no longer need to obey all of them". Jesus said in Matthew 5:17:

(5:17) Teaching about the Law " Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them.

What many people seem to be blinded from are the follow 2 verses in Matthew 5:18-19:

(5:18) I assure you, until heaven and earth disappear, even the smallest detail of God's law will remain until its purpose is achieved.
(5:19) So if you break the smallest commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Do these 2 verses tell us anything? It tells us that the laws that God gave Moses still applies to us. Jesus didn't come to undo the laws which God gave to Moses. He merely came to take the brunt of the judgement which came with breaking the laws! This means that every law which appears in the Old Testament still applies to us, but we do not have to bear the punishment (by God) as a result of breaking them.

Now does this give us the joy of breaking the laws? Of course not. Breaking the law is no longer punishable by God, but is punishable on this land which we live in. If we steal, rob, or kill, because of Jesus we will be forgiven in Heaven if we are repentant, but we will still be punished in this land as the rulers here are given the authority to punish us.

That is unless somebody absolves our sins on this earth (and takes our punishments for us like Jesus did), we will still have to take all the consequences and punishments dealt to us! Now I hope that clarifies whether we should still obey the laws in the old testament, for they still DO apply in this age.

How harsh is harsh?

Recently, our senior pastor preached a series of sermons meant to restore discipline in our church, and make known the "house rules". The sermons were preached to the point, speaking to those who have the intention to challenge the rules, and telling them that if they do not like the rules, they should move on to another church where such rules are not instituted.

Some fellow church members with whom I chatted, however, felt that the messages were preached too harshly. They felt that too harsh a message might cause the congregation to rebel more. I seeked God in an attempt to see why our senior pastor preached the sermons the way he did, and this is what I felt.

When our senior pastor needs to pass down a message to his congregation, he has 2 methods to do it. Either to tell them himself directly in a sermon, or to tell the pastors who are under him, who will pass on the message to those who are under them, and the message eventually gets passed down to the general congregation at the bottom.

Logically, the second method seems to be the more preferred method, having the individual leaders of the congregation tell their people at their own pace. The problem with this method? Well, as humans, we tend to take a message from someone as it is, but if we feel that its "too harsh" for our members to take, we add a buffer to it so that "its easier to achieve". Then we pass down this message with "a little buffer. By the time this message goes down a few levels, the amount of buffer has increased significantly, and becomes a watered-down version of the original.

That's when the senior pastor should decide if the message is important enough for him to convey to the congregation directly to prevent the watering-down of the message. The good thing about it is that the congregation will receive the unadulterated full-force version of the message.

The problem arises when some of the leaders do not agree completely with the message. The senior pastor needs their assistance to enforce the message among their members. If they do not share the same vision, and assist in enforcing what was preached, we end up with a group of people who are not obedient to the instructions of the senior pastor.

That is also one of the reasons of church division, which should not happen in this day. I pray for our leaders, and all who do not yet share the vision of our senior pastor, to renew their minds and re-think the messages preached, and to enforce them in their lives.

The power of Praise

Praise... something we can all do. It doesn't cost us any $ to give somebody praise. It won't take a lot of time either, but it will make that person's day a happier one knowing that they are appreciated.

As quoted from the prologue of "I No Stupid Too", "When was the last time you praised somebody?" When you do recall that occasion, try to remember what the response from the person whom you praised was? We don't usually see anger, frustration, or irritation on their faces (unless it was done at the wrong place and wrong time). Instead, we see the person smiling, beaming, or just plain simply shy because they didn't expect it.

The average person does not grow up in an environment filled with praises. No, we were brought up in a nit-picking envrionment instead. Everything that we do, somebody is there to find the tiniest mistakes or problems, and criticize on them instead. We find it easier to criticize what somebody did not do, or did not achieve.

Have you ever improved in your grades by 5 marks, but gotten criticism because you did not improve significantly? Have you ever done something you felt was good, but gotten criticism because it was not "good enough" by someone else's standards Haven't we gone all out of the way to do something for someone, then find that no due acknowledgement was given?

We often hear the term "Praise God", and sometimes we struggle what to Praise God for. Why? Because of the circumstances and situations we are in? Sometimes we let the fact that "what is happening is more serious, and I don't have the time to think about God" creep into our minds. But what can be bigger than God? In fact, did it ever occur to you that in bad circumstances when we acknowledge that there is nothing bigger than God, and praise Him for the situation, it almost always turns better instantly?

The NIV Bible has 351 occurrences of the word "Praise" and 59 occurrences of the word "Encourage". God praised Jesus "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." on His baptism. Is this not enough for us to see how important praise is?

Why don't we all do this for a month and see if there is any improvement in the people around us -- Give somebody around you praise for what little things that you notice that they did, or improvement that we notice.

Praise somebody today! Make their day! I appreciate you (yes you!) for taking the time to read my lengthy posts, and hope that they will mean something to you. Some people have told me that my posts are too long, but that's the way I write. :)

Sometimes God is good...

This statement leaks out of our mortal mouths occasionally. Visibly it may be true, but theologically it is wrong. Of course it is wrong!

Let me put it straight, God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. A cliche statement?

We look to God for things when we want them, and blame Him when we don't get it in time. On whose time? Our time? We know that all things, good and bad, happen because God allows it to. And it happens on His timeline. But yet most of the time, we want things to happen now, and when it doesn't, we wonder if God is listening to us.

When things go well, we thank God. When things don't, we withold the thanks. Why? We should recognise that He is soverign, and He _IS_ in control. He knows what is going on in our lives, and He knows what is good and bad for us.

God works on His own time, and He allows things to happen so we can learn from them. Is this too hard for us to learn? Obviously. We need to learn this fact, and get it into our thick heads. Too hard? That's why we're still on this earth.

Want to know more about His timing? Spend some time having conversation with Him. Conversation. Its a 2-way thing. We talk and talk to God, and wonder why He isn't responding. If we don't hear from Him, we think that He's forgotten us. But its us who have forgotten to wait on Him and listen.

How does God speak to us? Sometimes He speaks to us in a soft small voice, sometimes He speaks to us through others, and sometimes we are reading His word, and a few verses suddenly take on a completely different meaning, and strike us. Well, this is how creative our God is, in His ways of communication with us.

Some of us have finished reading the Bible from front to back, and think that we're done with the book. Just like a novel. Once we've finished reading the book, we put it aside for a few weeks, months, or years. I believe that we should continue to read it again and again from front to back, as God will show us different meanings to the verses within, as and when things happen in our lives.

Some of us have tried reading the Bible from front to back, and failed. Failed? Not enough time? Not enough time for His Word? What if God tells us that He has not enough time for us? Would we be happy? I pray that we would continue to spend time reading His Word, at our own expense.

Mountain Movers Pte. Ltd.

When we talk about faith, a verse from Matthew 17:20 always comes up -- "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move."

Ever seen a mustard seed? I went to Cold Storage and found a bottle of mustard seeds. Its about the size of a sesame seed, but its rounded and not pointy at one end.

Ever seen a mountain? A natural mountain would probably be as tall (or taller than) the highest building in Singapore (think Westin Stanford or UOB Plaza), except that the bottom would be a lot wider than the top.

What do the two have in common? They're 2 extremes, 1 represents the word tiny, and the other represents the word HUGE! Other than that, they don't have much in common.

When we have a mountain blocking our way, we will have 2 options. Walk around it, which might take days if the moutain base is big; or climb to the peak, and climb back down on the other side, which might also take days if the mountain is tall.

But God tells us there is another way! As long as we have the tiniest itty-bitty size-of-a-mustard-seed (in asian context size-of-a-sesame-seed) sized amount of faith, we would be able to tell the "mountain" to move, and it will be moved.

What "mountains" can we move? Not just any "mountain" that's in our way, but mountains which are put there by satan to prevent our advancement, especially in God's Kingdom.

But God Why?

3 simple words, 3 letters each, and a question mark. We use these words individually in our everyday life, but when used together, they form a question that people have been asking God since the start of mankind. Scientists have been trying to give scientific answers, theologists have been trying to give theological answers, spiritual people have been trying to give spiritual answers, but nobody is able to give a definite answer to this question.

Why do innocent people (including children!) have to die? Why do the evil-doers run wild? Why do we exist to suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people?

All these questions don't seem to have a good answer. An answer which I personally received is "God allows us to go through all this, to build Character."

What is Character? After attending a course recently, I found that Character is what we are when we think that nobody's looking. How we act when everyone around us doesn't know us. What we really are when we take down our "masks".

We all wear "masks" in our daily life. Things that we put on to make us look like what we are not, and things that we do when we know that somebody is watching. Well, Somebody is watching us all the time. God is. He sees all that we do, and He knows all that we do. Things that people do when they say that they need some "private time" alone. Things that people do in the privacy of their own homes.

Is it starting to sound unrelated to what I was talking about earlier? Not really. Why does God allow us to suffer? What comes into our minds when we suffer? Does the question "But God Why?" come into mind at those times? God's reply is "For your own good, to build your Character."

Not good an answer enough? When we are put through challenges, we learn to rely on God's good planning. We learn to realise that He knows what is good for us. When we have to make a choice, we learn to stop and ponder the choices. "What would Jesus do?" Does that sound familiar?

When a building collapses in front of your very eyes, what would Jesus do? A typical Singaporean with a kiasee mindset would walk off pretending he didn't see, didn't hear, and it isn't his responsibility to act. A "hero" would go through the rubble to try to find survivors, disregarding his own safety. What WOULD Jesus do? I believe He would pray for the remaining survivors, that their lives would be sustained till help arrives, and until then, pray that a miracle would happen that all of them would be Saved. Not just saved from the rubble, but Saved from the gates of hell. Too spiritual? Not realistic enough in this world? Did the Bible not say that we are in this world, but not of this world?

When a close (unsaved) friend goes through a terrible patch, what would we do? No, what would Jesus do? I believe that He would pray for them to grow from the experience, to learn from the experience, and to come out from that experience stronger, and be able to help others who will may eventually go through a similar or the same experience.

Brings me back to the Amplified translation of John 3:16. "For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life."

What hit me when I read this translation was that "believes in" is not enough. I believe that you can make it, I believe that Jesus died for my sins, I believe that the Bible is God's love letter for me. But does that mean that I (have complete and absolute) trust in Him? Cling (on tightly, never letting go) to Him (despite anything that happens?) Rely (totally) on Him (in all that I do)? Until that happens, will I perish (or be lost), or have eternal (everlasting) life?

Just something to ponder on...

God's way, or Our way?

Let go, and let God... This is something that rang in my mind after reading it on some website somewhere... Do we really let God show us the way to go, and we follow the way God leads, or do we actually engineer the way we want to go, and think that that is what God wants us to do?

In some way, if we think logically, both seem to be true, but in actual fact, God does have a plan for our lives, and He does have a path for us to go. Freedom of choice is but a fragment of our imagination, and whichever way we choose, God's way or our way, God still has the final say in things, and I believe that He will bless whichever way we choose (unless it delibrately goes against His doctrine).

How do we figure/distinguish/decipher/delibrate/discern His way, should be thru PRAYER... We should live a lifestyle of asking the Holy Spirit for directions, and go where the Spirit leads us. Whichever way we go, as long as the Spirit is with us, we will not go wrong.

I recently had to choose between working for church, or preparing my resume and submitting it to a dozen different companies to try to get a higher-paying job. The choice is simple, to try to challenge a few hundred other people contending for a decent IT job, or to just go and see how God can use me by working for church (and possibly earning a much lower pay than market rate).

As it is, I chose to work for church for now, and the first day I was on my way to work, an ex-colleague in my army camp gave me a sms, I called him back, and he told me that there's a $3000-5000 budgeted paying job in his wife's company that I might be interested in. Its an IT administrator job, involves "babysitting" their server which links to a foreign server, and making sure that all systems go. And he told me that the local boss of the company is a Christian, and that I should just try and send in my resume and see if I get the job. Should I try for it, or is it a ploy from satan?

My dad thinks that working for church is working for charity... I feel like telling him that I am working for A charity, and not working for charity, but somehow I'm prevented from doing so. Right now, I go to work 3 times a week (tue-thu), and am drawing a lower-than-expected pay, but I feel that God wants me here for a purpose, and I'm not about to give it up.

Is this God's will for me, or is it satan's lies again telling me to do opposite of what God wants me to do? ArRrRgH!!! How difficult is it to decide? After much deliberation, I decided not to send in my resume to my ex-colleague's wife, as I don't think I want to do it.

I pray that God will keep me in his courts, under the protection of his arms, and send me into battle when He needs me, but nourish and nurture me when I'm not in battle... God... Help me, I need you daily!

I can go on and on, but I don't think I'm going anywhere, so this is it for now...

To blog or not to blog, that is the question...

After not much consideration, not much prayer, lots of ideas, not much thought, I am still wondering whether to blog regularly or not... Anyways, after reading other people's blogs, I want to blog, but when it comes to blogging, laziness sets in.

Anyway, here's another entry...

Faith - Not a cat and mouse game

Faith.. Is not a cat-and-mouse game, when the cat is around, the mouse is good, but when the cat is not around, the mouse is naughty. Faith is about being good, even when authority is not around to watch.

Authority is present to ensure that we are under control, but we need to be accountable to authority even when they are not around, we need to be well-behaved when authority isn't around to watch over us.

What happens if they are not around to limit us? We grow out of control and might fall into sin. That's what happens when the cat is not around.

Why can't we all be well-behaved mice? *sigh*