Speak and Listen

Isaiah 50:4-5 says,

The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away. 

The above verses have reference to the coming Messiah, who will provide hope and comfort to the people of Israel and all who believe in Him in the time to come. 

When I read these verses the first time, I did not notice the capitalized 'M' in the words "Me" and "My", hence I had thought that they referred to us, the disciples of God. But it is also true, that as God's servant, I must know how to comfort those who needs it and to listen wisely to the world as well as to God's word. 

It requires wisdom to speak the right word at the right time, especially to those who are in distress because we may not truly understand what they are going through. It is easy to say, "I understand your predicament", but often I question myself how much do I really understand if I have not experienced the same. Empathy is a feeling often misquoted.

The world is bombarding our ears with its views daily, and who amongst us can claim that we listen to God more than we listen to the world? Let's say, if I spend 30 minutes on my daily bible reading, I would be spending  15 hours and 30 minutes listening to the news, CSI: New York, Desperate Housewives, the radio, conversations of colleagues, the latest goings-on of family members and other what-nots, on the assumption that I sleep 8 hours (which is a luxury) a day. I am now asking myself this question, "Who influences my thoughts more? God, or those around me?"

Indeed, to speak and to hear as the learned is not as simple as I think it was.

Doing Good

Titus 3:1-8 reminds us who have been justified by Jesus Christ through his grace to do a few things. Among them are:

• To be subject to rulers and authorities
• To be obedient
• To be ready to do what is good
• To slander no one
• To be peaceable and considerate
• To show true humility toward all men

Verse 8 caught my attention, where it says, "... so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good."

An interesting word in this verse is "careful". I used to think that when I read His word, pray to Him daily and serve in ministries, doing good will come automatically to me. I thought that my character would somehow be mysteriously transformed (either overnight or as time goes by) to do good. However, the phrase "be careful to" seems to imply that I am to take an active stance and consciously work to do good. If this particular phrase were omitted from this verse, do you think that it will make a difference to its meaning? As we tend to be careless and forgetful, the phrase "be careful to" tells me that by just praying in the morning to ask God for His guidance is inadequate. Just like in an exam, "be careful to" means I have to constantly remind myself to do good and double-check if I have missed out any opportunities to do good, or if I have committed the error of not doing good. Of course, not to mention, I should also learn from previous mistakes.

To Win The Crown

Someone once posed the question, "What is your ultimate goal in being a Christian?" And someone answered, "To win the crown."

In 2 Timothy 2:3-16, Paul wrote to Timothy about the characteristics of an approved workman and the requirements to win the crown. Paul likened the journey, or the race, to the following three persons:

• The soldier (of Christ Jesus). Serving as a soldier involves hardship and rigorous discipline. A soldier must be focused and not be distracted by worldly affairs. The solider's focus is on pleasing the commanding officer, and our commanding officer is Jesus Christ Himself.

• The athlete. An athlete competes according to the rules and whoever breaks the rule will risk being disqualified. An athlete must also train hard and do not give up even when he may be getting discouraged.

• The farmer. A farmer works hard, waking up early in the morning and probably getting a rest only in the evening. And a farmer is patient, waiting for his crops to be ready for harvest while continuing his work in his field.

Such are the three persons we have to emulate if we are looking towards the crown. Are you?

9 a.m.

What do you do at nine o'clock in the morning? When I was working full-time, by 9 a.m. I would be in the office, doing whatever that I am supposed to be attending to at the time, on that day. Now that I am no longer employed full-time, sometimes I wake up at 9 a.m. On some days, I would be at my study desk, doing my devotional at 9 o'clock in the morning.

The title of the book caught my attention - Nine o'clock in the morning by Dennis J. Bennett. I was browsing through the shelves of the church library while waiting for the weekly bible study sessions to start when the book caught my attention. The author's story took place in the 1960s in U.S. It is a Christian book, written by Father Bennett who is a rector of an Episcopalian church. The author narrates his own encounter with baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues, and he gives great testimony on the work of the Holy Spirit both in the churches he served as well as in his personal life.

Some people may feel apprehensive towards the testimonies put forth in the book. Nevertheless, the book is a good read to refresh us Christians on the meaning of allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us. Living in a secular world, we often apply our secular perspectives on the spiritual, rather than apply spiritual perspectives on the secular. We may choose to interpret the manisfestation of the work of the Holy Spirit in different ways, but we must allow the work to take place in us. Perhaps learning to let go of certain things which could be a hindrance, could be the first step.

Speaking Up

Have you heard of the story of Naaman? Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was highly regarded and brave, but he had leprosy (or possibly some kind of skin disease). Eventually he was healed after seeking and obeying the advice of Elisha who was a prophet in Israel at that time. The story of Naaman's healing was told in 2 Kings 5:1-15.

If Naaman's story were to be shot into a movie, the lead characters could have been Naaman (of course!), Elisha and the kings of Aram and Israel respectively. Then we would see the supporting characters - Naaman's wife, the servant girl to Naaman's wife, and Naaman's servants. And if we were to read the story carefully, it was these supporting characters who played an important role in Naaman's healing. They were the ones who seemed to be unimportant, but they dared to speak up when the circumstances were right.

• The young servant girl who was taken captive from Israel could have kept quiet and let Naaman suffer. After all, Naaman and his subordinates had prevented her from having her freedom, so why should she tell him where to get healing?
• Naaman's wife could have kept quiet, for fear that the information given by the servant girl was false. If she led him on a merry-go-round, Naaman could have been furious with her. But she took the risk of being ridiculed, of being accused of giving false information, because first and foremost she wanted her husband to be healed.
• Naaman's servants could have kept quiet when Naaman refused to take Elisha's advice. Naaman was highly regarded, and his servants most likely would have feared him out of respect and just kept their mouth shut. But they spoke up, urging him to give it a try.

All those who spoke up played a part in Naaman's healing, but most importantly, Naaman listened. As today's Daily Bread have said, we must be willing to listen, to have a teachable heart. And we listen not only to those who are high and mighty, who are most likely to dish out golden words of success and motivation. We are to listen to those who doesn't seem to be capable (by worldly standards) to give sound advice, because God often use the most unlikely to accomplish His plans. Naaman listened to his wife, the servant girl of his wife, and his own servants. Who are we listening to, today?

The Good Neighbour

Most of us are familiar with the parable of the good Samaritan. In fact, this parable has been secularized so much so that even English-speaking non-Christians would know the meaning of a good Samaritan. I have heard of this term being used to describe kind-hearted, good people when I was still in primary school, not yet a Christian then.

So what does being a good Samaritan mean to us, the bible-reading and Christ-following disciples?

My first interpretation of the parable in Luke 10:25-37 is from the perspective of the person learning to love. The expert in the law was trying to test Jesus and subsequently justify himself when he asked, "And who is my neighbour?" (Luke 10:29) Similarly, we can ask the same questions, "And who is our neighbour?"

At first glance, the parable seems to tell us that our neighbour are those who helped us, i.e. the good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite certainly do not qualify. So when we love, we love the "good Samaritans" in our lives, or as today's Daily Bread puts it, those who are worthy of our love. The "priests and Levites" in our lives? Well, we don't have to love them, do we?

But if we are to be Christ-like, imitating Christ in His thoughts and actions, then have we been the "good Samaritans" whom are worthy of His love? Personally for me, my answer is a downright no.

Hence from a different perspective, the parable could be teaching us on how to be a loving neighbour. We are to be the "good Samaritans", not looking for the "good Samaritans". The Samaritan showed love towards the victim of robbery, despite the discord between the Samaritans and Jews.

It is not a difficult task to show love to those who love us, those who care for us, or those whom we are comfortable with. The challenge is to love those whom we disagree with, those who have caused some misery to our lives or even those whom we hardly know.

Working for Who?

The Disciple 1 class is once again coming to an end. As a participant last year, I had the joy of going through the materials and assignments for the first time. I started off with the beginner's enthusiasm to stick to the schedule and answer all the questions in the book. As weeks turn into months, I began to slack, sometimes doing last minute reading and finding myself falling behind the rest of the class who has obviously done their homework. Then the determination peaked again towards the end, and of course, the retreat was an unforgettable experience.

This year I was involved in Disciple 1 as a facilitator. Going through the materials for the second time, I should be gaining more insight and learning more than last year. However, I often find myself struggling as I prepare for the week's lesson. I still followed through the reading assignments, as during the facilitators' training I was told that the reading is the basics of the class. But I struggled with the questions asked during the class. I struggled with getting more information about the particular book or chapter that we are discussing. After the class on Tuesday nights, I often kicked myself for not having done enough; for not being able to provide the answers or the perfect motivation to the participants.

I know that at the end of the day, the answers and the motivation should come from the Holy Spirit. It is God at work, not me. Nevertheless, I am aware that I have not done my best. Colossians 3:23 says,

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

The above verse applies in all areas of our lives - be it in the ministries which we are involved in, our jobs, our household affairs and our relationships. But it is easy to slack when we think that nobody is watching. Men may not be watching over our shoulders all the time, but God is.

 Image linked from http://hoaxnewshere.wordpress.com

I have the weakness of starting off highly motivated, but the motivation does not last. Deadlines and external motivation will spur me on, but these two factors are not tangible when God is concerned. And that's when brothers- and sisters-in-Christ come into the picture - to hold each other accountable so that at the end of the race, no one misses the deadline or the mark of excellence.

Knowing Him

We read about Areopagus in the book of Acts 17:22 , where Paul saw an altar with the inscription: "To an unknown God".

Today we as Christians know God; we as Jesus' disciples know who God is and what God wants from us. Or do we?

In Acts 17:27, we read that we are God's creation and He has a plan for us. Our reaction is to seek, and perhaps reach out for him and find him.

As we keep ourselves busy and occupied in our daily chores and routines, take some time off to know our God. Just like any other relationships, we may not be able to know Him overnight. But over time and with some effort, hopefully we will be able to know Him better. And this is what Christianity is all about -- a personal relationship with our one true God.

Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:7-18 (ESV)

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Becuase I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

One of the most common questions concerning gifting would be, whether the gift is from God, or is it just mere talent or passion. Many of us would like to possess certain gifts, and along the way we convinced ourselves that we do have such gifts. But are they real, or just our well-intentioned desires? One way to distinguish is the affirmation of the church, i.e. fellow brothers- and sisters-in-Christ. This is simply because at times others see us better than we see ourselves.


As I read the Scripture passage above, three questions came into my mind:

1. Are we aware of what are our gifts? (Identification) Living in the secular world could have blinded us that we failed to see our gifts, or we misidentified our gifts. Those who could write, may not have the time to write and hence the gift is suppressed. Those who could extend warm hospitality to others may forget how to do so because life in itself is too demanding already without having to take care of others. So we missed our gifts, or we deceive ourselves into thinking that we don't have one, or we choose to have convenient gifts, if there is ever such a thing.
2. Are we using the gifts for the common good? (Commitment) In this world and these times, it is every man for himself. How many of us thought of others first when we receive our paycheque every month? How many of us use the resources which we are being blessed with to help others first, before satisfying ourselves? I am equally guilty.
3. Are we uplifting each other as we use our gifts? (Encouragement) Reality TV and our urban culture could have drilled some of us into perceiving judging and criticizing as cool. Constructive feedback and critique is the way for improvement and a better society, not demeaning and putting others down. As we use our gifts, others should feel motivated, not discouraged. As we give comments and feedback, others should see the opportunities for excellence, not feel belittled.

So as we ponder upon our gifts, let us remember 1 Corinthians 12:7. For a more professional view on spiritual gifts, click here .

Poco Poco, Pika Picu

It seems that nowadays a lot of things have elements of Christianity. A couple of months ago it was reported that Valentine's Day is a Christian celebration, when I laughed out loud at the suggestion because this "celebration of love" was not mentioned anywhere in the bible. And then, now this poco-poco dance has elements of Christianity because it's steps and movements trace the shape of the cross. Out of curiosity, I searched for videos on the dance and this one particular video has 800,837 hits as of the time of this post. Not surprisingly, a number of Malaysians commented in the post.

Since this dance purportedly has elements of Christianity, perhaps we should make this our home fellowship's official dance. So every time we meet, we'll start off with a poco-poco dance. This could help a few of us lose some weight too, I believe.

God Has a Wife?

An article implied that God has a wife, and this woman is supposedly non other than the fertility goddess Asherah. Just look at how unbelievers choose to interpret the Bible passages. It just sounds so ridiculous that I almost wanted to laugh out loud in the library as I was reading it.

An academic with a PhD in theology has apparently made this claim on BBC in the series "The Bible's Buried Secrets." Well, not suprisingly, she's an atheist. I just wonder how she could have done so much research in this area, read so much of the Bible (perhaps more than many Christians), yet she didn't hear the Holy Spirit. She reminds me of Pharaoh whose heart was hardened despite seeing many of God's miraculous signs in the book of Exodus.

Temptations of Jesus

Many of us are familiar with the story of Jesus being tempted at the wilderness after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting. This account was recorded in detail in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, and was briefly mentioned in the Gospel of Mark. The temptations were the first event being recorded after Jesus' baptism and God's declaration that Jesus is indeed the son of God and He is will pleased with him.

The three temptations were as follows:

1. Turn stone into bread
2. Worship Satan, and all the kingdoms of the world will be given to Jesus
3. Jump from the highest point of the building to see if God's angels would save Jesus

These temptations are all very close to our hearts, more so now in the modern days of materialism, power struggles and the hold of various religions that is taking on the world. What are we to do when we face temptations? What did Jesus do? Refer to your Bible for the account of these temptations, and you will find the answer.

The following is a YouTube animation video on the Temptations of Jesus.

Read more at:
Temptation of Jesus Christ by Satan at http://www.lifeofchrist.com/
Temptation of Jesus Christ in the Wilderness by Satan at bibleseo.com, which leads to a practical page on How to Overcome Temptation
#5 Jesus' Temptation at http://www.jesuswalk.com/

The Lord Has Prepared

Sammi Cheng is one of the most famous Hong Kong pop idol back in the 90s, when 80s babies like me were growing up, going through adolescence and the like. I remember that her songs ocassionally top the charts, along with names such as Faye Wong, Jacky Cheung and Aaron Kwok. Those were the days when Cantonese songs are just slightly more meaningful and Canto-pop was at its peak.

At that time, Cheng was known to be a trend-setter. Her hair was stylishly cut and coloured a bright red. One of her songs were heavily censored in this country due to elements which were deemed unsuitable for our culture here. Some of her songs were too upbeat to the tastes of some, but I liked her enough to have bought one of her albums. At that time, CDs were deemed a luxury and what I had was a cassette tape. I remember that my late mom was amused by the fact that I liked her.

Some time when I was in the university, it was reported that Cheng slipped into depression and she hardly appear in public anymore. I had stopped following Canto-pop by then, so I wasn't sure of what triggered the depression, exactly when it happened and how long it lasted. What I know was this few years back, she came back into the entertainment scene after having overcoming her depression, and most importantly, having found Christ.

Recently she released an album which claims to have elements of the Gospel within, and I found one of the songs on YouTube while searching for information on her world tour. She was in Singapore late last year and will be performing in Genting Arena of Stars in March, which I'm assuming is the last stop.

I am not certain if the abovementioned album proclaims the true Gospel, but I do like the song which I found, titled "The Lord Has Prepared". Perhaps due to my earlier memories of her fame and my own growing up, I find this song highly relevant and easily understood by people like me who sometimes tend to forget that our Lord has a plan for us and all we have to do is to follow His will.

Green Horse in Relevation 6:8

Someone sent me a YouTube video on the recent riots in Egypt, with a quick appearance of the green horse mentioned in Relevation 6:8. There are various comments and opinions in regards to this clip. What is your take on this?

Wicked Bible

Ever heard of the 'Wicked Bible'? If you haven't, don't worry, it is not a book trying to teach mankind all the wrong things. It came about when the word 'not' is accidentally omitted from the commandments in the Holy Bible. And this wicked book is on display now in Cambridge University.

Remembering our Covenant

Genesis 9: 14-15 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.

I have always find the scripture verse above beautiful and fascinating. This may sound dodgy to the faith, but let me explain.

Image above taken from http://www.radioanywhere.co.uk

I was a non-believer until my late teens, hence the idea of a rainbow was something magical to me when I was a child. When I studied science, the textbooks explained the formation of a rainbow with scientific jargons which I do not intend to use here. To put it simply, the rainbow is a colourful magical wonder until I found its true meaning in the bible; it is the remembrance of God's covenant with Noah.

Have you ever made promises to God and then forget about them? I have. God remembers his covenant, but we human beings are imperfect and we tend to forget when the things of the world seems to be closing in on us. Nevertheless, our imperfection is not an excuse for us to make a promise and forget about it the next day. We cannot fulfil the promise on our own, but with God all things are possible.

Now, do you see the rainbow of your heart?

How to Love?

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

When I was growing up, I watched TVB serials. In those drama episodes, love is usually the main theme and I learned that to love means to give unconditionally under all circumstances. I concluded then that the quantity of love (if love could ever be measured) was proportional to the amount of pain one had to go through. Hence this delusion shaped the way in which I handled my early relationships. Eventually I realized that the phrase "to love" is incomplete; it should be "to love with actions and in truth."

To love in truth means that we do not love blindly. We love unconditionally, just like how God love us without any reservations. Nevertheless, many are confused between 'loving unconditionally' and 'loving in truth'. We find it difficult to rebuke our loved ones. We aspire to accept all bar none about our loved ones, forgetting that this brings more harm than good. We offer various excuses when things go wrong in the relationship. If we think through carefully, are all these right? Do they make sense?

To love with actions is easier to explain than to execute. Lip service is convenient and offers temporary solutions to many of our problems at present. Not to mention, many who are at the receiving end do not mind the lip service. So what's the harm here? In the long run, lip service brings us to discontentment and disappointment.

It's a Brand New Year

A Happy New Year 2011 to all the readers of this blog.

We have not been very active in maintaining this blog for the past year, other than some random posts by a few of us who had some random inspiration to write. I don't know if it's a sign of getting old, but time is flying by faster than ever. Heck, today is already the seventh day of this new year and it's only now that I'm writing this post. Talk about being outdated.

It has been almost seven years since a few of us got together, with the intention and desire to know God's word better. Seven years. Since that fateful day in 2004, many things have changed. Partners, addresses, identity and acknowledgement (of the group), frequencies, body size, marital status, etc. Nonetheless, as I reflect upon writing this post, it is my hope that the very purpose of getting together should not and would not be changed - God's Word.

Time has this uncanny ability of making us lose track of our goals, making us lose sight of our dreams and making us lose faith in our God. Time takes away our innocence, our sense of control and at times, our sense of self. We forget why we are here in the first place. We forget how we could've ever been so motivated to do this. We forget when we start to forget.

As this new year begins, it is my hope that we start remembering the things which matter the most to us as a person, as an individual and ultimately, as God's child.

Our faith, our hope and our love.

God brought us here for a reason. God raised us up the way we are for a reason. Do not let others take away that reason from us, because at the end of the day, we are accountable only to God.

Harry Potter is Christ-like?

For those of you who have always felt that Harry Potter is dwelling on the dark side, you can read the opinion of Rev Dr Stephen Holmes, the Acting head of divinity at St Andrews University.

I personally don't quite agree with his explanation and views, but this would be something to debate about for those who has refused to be associated with this movie for its 'exaltation' of witchcraft and sorcery.

Slaves

Romans 6:19 ... For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

I used to find that the term "slaves" in the bible very difficult to comprehend. The message of the New Testament is being set free from sin through Jesus Christ who has died for us on the cross to redeem us, so why then does the word "slaves" appear in the very same book in the New Testament? And what does the term "slave" really mean here?

By our human nature, it is easier for us to sin than to be righteous. We were once slaves to sin, without realizing it. One of the definition for "slave" in my Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary is "a person who is completely dominated or influenced by something". For example, it is quite common nowadays for us to hear the term "fashion slave".

But now that we have believed in Christ, and walking in the newness of life (Romans 6:4), we are to be slaves to righteousness. To me, this means being dominated and influenced by all that is righteous. It also means taking the path of righteousness, whether we like it or not. After all, as a "slave", there is no choice but to obey.

To those who are result-orientated, which is the buzz-word nowadays in the corporate world, the results of being a slave to righteousness is fruit to holiness and everlasting life (Romans 6:22).

For another comment, click here.