The Church's Accountability

My pa shared this gossip with me today:

"You know, it is romoured that X church and Y church are under investigations. Their cases may be similar to the recent NKF furore that had happened."

Although I was disturbed and frustrated on hearing it first thing this early afternoon once I've woken up, my reaction was just "Ok, ok" to acknowledge what my pa said without looking at his eyes (an evasive behaviour I'm already doing my best to overcome in ordinary circumstances). Although I don't belong to these 2 churches and my experience with them had led to me not concurring with their ways and views, the possibility of truth in these allegations is a poison to showing Christ's truth and light.

How can I explain to my pa that even if the allegations should prove to be true for these churches, it is the work of sinful men who allow their personal interests and glory to take priority over truthful biblical guidance? Most explanations would mean that I risk breaking up that real unity that Christ bought for true churches in my pa's eyes.

How can I backpedal in my spirited discussion with my aunt, who attends both these churches, some time back in the presence of my unbelieving ma as we talk through issues of stewardship of money?

People, who are in positions of influence in churches, and their accountability with the resources they were gifted with are in that thankless position of:
a) Not being acknowledged when they are faithful with what is given them within their official capacity. Most of the congregation just took it that spiritual leaders are uncorruptible as granted and given.

b) Should they be using these resources for personal gains, it will potentially make headlines in news which made believers disillusioned/wary of their church's leaders and potentially biblical teaching and unbelievers either trumpet about the hypocrisy of Christians/ Christian leaders or mock at the perceived lack of show of unity should Christians make explanations.

This is a reminder for me to show some sign of gratefulness and acknowledgement to our church leaders whom I have reason to believe are faithful with resources given. This may be one way to encourage them and give them impetus for continued godliness in this area.

This is also a good reminder of the care we must exercise in selecting godly authorities over our lives - whether they are churches, boyfriends/girlfriends (for their potential in becoming our spouses) perhaps even bosses or accountability partners. The chinese have this saying, “用人不疑，疑人不用” (trust those whom we have put our lot with, not to go along with people we are suspicious of.) For me personally, I've found that my assurance that comes from my church (which I'm a member of; where I belong) doing its best to live by biblical teaching means that I will choose to trust them to be faithful with my giving. True, I have no assurance that it'll never happen or even that it's happening right now, but even if they should stumble, I will trust that they will get back on the straight and narrow path with God's help.

On the other hand, how would you explain this issue if you are in my circumstances and your unbelieving family shares this rumour?

Younger Brother cheated at lot to give Elder Brother gift of Life

Heart-wrenching article written on Lianhe Zaobao today:

In Anhui province in China, two brothers named 大胡 (Da Hu, elder brother) and 小胡 (Xiao Hu, younger brother) lived in poverty. Their results and character are outstanding and they are very lovable.

In October this year, Da Hu was diagnosed with a malignant tumour and Xiao Hu was diagnosed with leaukemia not much later. To cure these 2 diseases will cost hundreds of thousands reminbi (approximately between twenty thousand to one hundred thousand sing dollars). Their poverty forced the family to try to borrow money and their school embarked on a donation drive for their students, even the local government donated thousands of dollars, yet after final calculation, there's only enough for one person's treatment.

Both tried to give way to the other brother to get treatment and the parents were also in a dilemma. After some discussion, they decided to go by lot to let fate decide who to get treatment.

Xiao Hu who immensely respects his elder brother wrote on both pieces of paper "treatment" and asked Da Hu to draw the lot first. As expected, Da Hu was "chosen by lot" to go to Beijing for treatment. Before he left, he told Xiao Hu, "We'll still be good brothers in our next life".

The article ended with the question that life should be priceless yet the decision of life or death fell on the drawing of a piece of paper. Are the lives of poor people so cheap?

I will update this post as and when I come across information on how we can help/contact the brothers as directly as possible.

Guidelines on writing a Sermon

Never written a sermon before and came across this which seems to give pretty practical guidelines on writing sermons:

http://joshharrisblogson.blogspot.com/2005/12/for-pastors-preparing-sermon-with-john.html

For reference of those who may need them.

Radiantly in Love Part II

Longevity of our loving response towards our Lord comes from true, real knowledge of Him, His Word and His promises. With real, true knowledge as the foundation and a heart that is right with Him, songs will then become one form of expression of our love and gratitude.

This song occasionally expresses how I feel about Him (which I know is inferior to His, shown by His persistent search that led to Him finding and saving me as a shepherd for that one lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7))

Take Me Deeper

Verse 1:
There is a longing only You can fill
A raging tempest only You can still
My heart is thirsty Lord to know You as I’m known
Drink from the River that flows before Your throne

Chorus:
Take me deeper, deeper in love with You
Jesus hold me close in Your embrace
Take me deeper, deeper than I’ve ever been before
I just want to love You more and more
How I long to be deeper in love

Verse 2:
Sunrise to sunrise I will seek Your face
Drawn by the Spirit to the promise of Your grace
My heart has found in You a hope that will abide
Here in Your presence forever satisfied

What if the image of this blog is changed...

[last updated: 12/12/2005]
to this?

I'm wondering about your opinions of it? Thanks to sugar addict for doing up the blogskin. :) I like the general concept, may tweak some minor details. :) Really appreciated for all your effort.

Learning points in "A layman's guide to interpreting the Bible"

This entry is dedicated to my dear sister-in-christ, my non-DG J - the person who prayed 3 years for my salvation (despite overwhelming odds) prior to my belief.

Dearest J, thank you for being His instrumental helper in bringing me the greatest gift of all in this life - Christ, my sufficient be-all and end-all. May He always be your refuge and fortress, our God in whom we trust. Also, as you have requested, right here, learning points in this book. *You lazy bum ;)*

This looks like the type of book that is good for me but which I think I will never finish. I'm putting it as a blog entry to be updated periodically in order to have a public kick in the butt should I not continue studying this book for right understanding of the bible. On going a little further with the book, it seems that reading the book for yourself will be beneficial. Not only because Walter uses alot of succint, biblical examples (not covered in this entry) that will clarify concepts, his style of writing also inspires greater desire to know His word more.

"A layman's Guide to Interpreting the Bible" by Walter A. Henrichsen

This sentence in the foreword caught my eye, "Christianity used to be a trumpet call to holy living, high thinking and solid Bible study; now it is a timid and apologetic invitation to a mild discussion."

Guiding heart cry of a dedicated Christian - Ps 119:10-11 "I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Divided into 3 sections:
I) Interpreting the Word
II) Studying the Word
III) Improving your Bible Study Skills

I) Interpreting the Word

Basic Assumptions:

- Bible is authoritative
- Bible contains its own laws of interpretation, which when properly understood and applied, will yield the correct meaning to a given passage.
- Primary aim of interpretation is to discover the author's meaning.
- Language can contain spiritual truth.
[Updated 27 Nov 2005]

10 general principles of interpretation

1) Bible (not tradition, reason, experience etc) is the final court of appeal
- Person acts and passage goes on to say if the act is good or not
- Person acts and passage did not say whether the act is good -> See action in light of confirmed teaching/clear commands in bible
- Clear commands -> Only applied in immediate circumstances then? Or generally for all time?

2) Scripture interprets Scripture
- Do not add or subtract from scripture
- Unclear portions to be interpreted by other clear passages
- Cross-referencing -> Refer to other passages with the same context, circumstances first. After that, then less importantly by specific words or phrases
[Updated 28 Nov 2005]

3) Saving faith and the Holy Spirit are necessary for us to understand and properly interpret the Scriptures

4) Interpret personal experience in the light of Scripture and not Scripture in the light of personal experience - allow word of God to interpret and shape experiences but not the opposite.
[Updated 11 Dec 2005]

Radiantly in Love / 神采飞扬

An atheist colleague made an observation today, a repeated comment that she had been making for the past few months:

She: You're glowing, I don't know....., there's something about you. You must have met somebody, didn't you? *conspiratorial wink*
Me: I might have, he just hasn't introduced himself to me yet. *wink back*

This is despite the fact that my face is breaking out worse than ever and I'm feeling greasy and bloated.

On retrospect, I probably should have responded: Yes, I've met the love of my life, the lover of my soul, Christ my Lord. Wanna meet Him over wine and nibbles* tonight?

For it's true, in terms of circumstances, I feel that I'm undergoing the most uncertain time since I've started working (midlife crisis??) and it feels that things cannot go any worse.

Yet God showed His grace and His providence especially through this trying period. At times when I feel so low, I felt like just breaking down and wailing like a baby even in the public, He brought sisters-in-Christ to me who met me by chance right there and then, just when I need them and agreed to my suggestion for lunch/dinner. I meet them at all the funniest places, E from ARPC (Thanks E (I know you're reading this), what can I do without you?) in the lift after work, SIC while going for lunch. They ministered to me by listening as I talk through my problems and possible alternatives, giving me a fresh perspective when I'm unable to get myself out of my moods and be objective.

Thank You for Your family in Christ, how can I not be in love with You? Prayerfully I can rest in Him as I trust that He'll walk me through this valley.

It also gave me the realization that most times, nothing beats just being there for people when they need me. Even if you feel you're no help, even if you feel totally redundant. Of course all these must be put in perspective of our ultimate service in Him but the importance of being there for people cannot be underestimated.

In terms of our relationship with Him, below are also suggestions that I've done at various points in time when I'm dating Him privately:

1) Having a prayer journal, the love letter with Him. It's amazing to see how our prayer priorities change as we grow, it's also a mirror for how we're transformed and a reflection of our new creation in Him. This also helped in the examination of ourselves and our hearts which are liable to deceive us.

2) Praying on bended knees. Hello, this is God you're talking with. Nothing brings home the reality of His majesty and His deserving all honour and glory than this simple act when alone with Him. In serials especially those dealing with ancient times, even the wife of the king must pay her respects to him before speaking with him. What more our God, who's King above all kings, Lord above all lords?

3) Total honesty. When talking with Him, sometimes I'd find myself trying to hide certain unsavoury details in my feelings towards people or circumstances. On reflection, I'm really just trying to hide these from myself in my ill-fated quest to convince myself that "Hey, I'm not that bad." I'd only find inner peace when I bare everything to Him, faults and all. In quiet prayer within my mind alone with Him, I'll burn with anger, wallow in self-pity or exult in pride before I could fully recognise where I have been sinful in my thinking, confess them, pray for help to be truly free from them and ask for forgiveness and clarity to see the blind spots that my heart may not see.

May all of us have a real relationship with Him that we may have an inner peace that can never be taken and which may be a light to people still shrouded in darkness. And may I be there for family and others when I should - even if such interraction may cause emotional pain to me.

*Wine and Nibbles: Aioli @ 5 Boon Tat Street, 1930hrs onwards tonight. E-mail me if you'd like to go and find out more about Christ.

Getting to the root of problems?

While confiding my problems to a SIC who hails from a chinese presbyterian church (and who incidentally also has a very rich charismatic background), she gave me some simple words that gives me food for thought:

“在哪里跌倒就在哪里爬起来” (Pick oneself up from the same place one falls)

What do you think her words mean? Is there biblical support (and the supporting biblical passages if applicable)? If so, what are possible biblical applications?

Pray for my eyes to be open with wisdom and a heart that is still in trust of Him.

Significance of Worship

This follows the idea in Definition of Evangelical

I was looking at this article Worship: Evangelical or Reformed

Although I hesitate to agree with the author's definition of evangelical vs reformed, the below quotation got my attention:

"....((F)or evangelicalism), God is present in worship basically to listen. He is not far away; rather, he is intimately and lovingly present to observe and hear the worship of his people. He listens to their praise and their prayers. He sees their obedient observance of the sacraments. He hears their testimonies and sharing. He attends to the teaching of his Word, listening to be sure that the teaching is faithful and accurate.

..... God is indeed present to hear. He listens to the praise and prayers of his people. But he is also present to speak. God is not only present as an observer; he is an active participant. He speaks in the Word and in the sacraments. As Reformed Christians, we do not believe that he speaks directly and immediately to us in the church. God uses means to speak. But he speaks truly and really to us through the means that he has appointed for his church. In the ministry of the Word—as it is properly preached and ministered in salutation and benediction—it is truly God who speaks. As the Second Helvetic Confession rightly says, "The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God."

God is also actively present and speaking in the sacraments, according to the Reformed understanding. The sacraments are much more about him than about us. He speaks through them the reality of the presence of Jesus to bless his people as he confirms his gospel truth and promises through them.

The effect of this understanding of Reformed worship is that the stress is on the vertical dimension of worship. The horizontal dimension is not absent, but the focus is not on warm feelings and sharing. Rather, it is on the community as a unit meeting their God. Our primary fellowship with one another is in the unified activities of speaking to God in song and prayer and of listening together as God speaks to us. The vertical orientation of our worship service insures that God is the focus of our worship. The first importance of any act of worship is not its value for the inspiration of the people, but its faithfulness to God's revelation of his will for worship. We must meet with God only in ways that please him. The awe and joy that is ours in coming into the presence of the living God to hear him speak is what shapes and energizes our worship service."

Constant Practising and Stage Fright

People who only know me in the previous 4-5 years (but not people who know me from my youth) will probably laugh at this but I'm really a painfully shy person, socially inept and who used to have a whisper of a voice.

The change was catalysed by a decision made about 5 years ago to overcome this by subjecting myself to making public speeches every week. It's hard to overcome my fundamental personality though because till today whenever I'm faced with the prospect of appearing in the limelight, adrenaline will pump through my body. Mostly it is manageable and I'm able to synergise it to influencing the audience to interest and excitement as well as a staccato delivery.

Sometimes though it manifests itself into paralyzing fear which happened yesterday when I was tasked to accompany singing on the keyboard. My hands and right foot (which was used in the control of pedal) went numb and pins and needles could be felt attacking my 10 fingers and foot. I was frozen in mortification as my mind kept screaming, "I'm paralysed! I'm paralysed!"

I went through the session just on the strength of the numerous practises I have had beforehand, which programmed my fingers to hit the right notes and my right foot to press the pedal at the right time once the first phrase has been played. Even the musical enhancements, naturally and spontaneously placed in when I was enjoying the music during private practise, were there more by automatic command than by conscious design. All the time, my hands and legs were shaking uncontrollably which must be noticeable to the people if they were not so busy burying their faces in the song sheets and my mind was just stuck like a broken record at "I'm paralysed!"

At the end of the session, people were clapping and patting me on my back:
"Well done, CD!"
"Wow I really love the passing fills you placed at the end of <1> line."
"The introduction is inspired."

Although I was grateful for the encouragement they have given me, the positive comments felt unreal to me because the truth is I was not paying attention to what I was playing. My mind was fully focused and simply stuck at "I'm paralysed!"

There were also moments when stuck at stage fright, I had simply frozen from occasions I would have breezed through if I was relaxed. The difference is always the amount of practice I have had before.

With numerous (and sometimes redundant) practice, even if I was stuck, my mind, previously programmed, will kick in and move my body or my words to what will move the event towards its successful conclusion. Without practise, when stuck, the result will be up in the air depending on the chance of what my body or my words express.

Isn't this the same reason why we are asked to persevere on in our walk towards godliness (2 Pet 1:10) and be constantly reminded of our faith (2 Pet 1:12)? It is this constant acting out of our faith that we are best living out the promise of His second Coming and in this sense, are practising on our answer should the ultimate temptation comes to us. This will ensure that our salvation is sure - no matter what our circumstances may bring.

Who knows, one day, we may be facing satan, the father of lies, himself, and we may be paralyzed, beguiled by him and the choices that are open to us. For all we know, the programming we obtained from our repetitive "saying yes" to our faith (be it through church ordinances or our daily obedience in everyday life) may determine our answer at that crucial moment and thus potentially where our final destiny ultimately lies. For all we know, this constant boring repetition may be God's way of choosing us and thus determine our destination.

Who we are (especially in God) is part of a function of our daily decisions in everyday life - whether we're saying "Yes" or "No" to obedience with His will. Be not bored by "this same old thing" which is ultimate truth and the only knowledge that really matter but let it be doctrine that sinks in, into the deepest recesses of our mind.

Definition of Evangelical

This definition of "Evangelical" that newly popped into my radar is found in a Christianity Today article, C. S. Lewis Superstar

Evangelical Experience: Personal encounter with the God of the universe

"At the end of the day, (Lewis believed that) in Christianity you are confronted with a person that you either say yes to or no to … and that is very evangelical."

Unsure about the theological soundness of this statement, but good food for thought ay?

Songs before Christ

Some of you are curious about the songs that were composed before I know Christ. Because they were composed in my pre-mp3 player days, I don't have them on audio record. These are some of the titles of these songs in a by-gone age:

1) 幻想 (Fantasy)
2) 友谊 (Friendship)
3) 无奈 (Helpless)

And this is the lyrics of 《友谊》, a sampling of what was composed then. This was for a friend at a time when I thought that my friendship with her was over.

在那黑暗的生日天 我们最后一次见面
(In that dark birthday, we meet for the last time)
表面虽然和气 心里却空虚
(Although superficially fine, feeling empty inside)
因为找不到共同话题
(Because we weren't connecting)

在这黑暗的雨天里 我不禁又想起你
(In this dark rainy day, you, I can't help thinking)
想起我们的友谊 可能就此结闭
(Thinking about our friendship, possibly ending)
心里觉后悔 却无能为力
(Full of regrets but helplessly standing)

为什么我们以前不结伴同行
(Why were we previously not always agreeing)
却能毫不费力的保存友谊？
(Friendship still effortlessly keeping?)
现在距离愈远 思想愈异
(Now the further we drift apart, more we are incompatible)
这是结束的前奏曲
(This is the beginning of the end)

我知道倘若我们勉强在一起
(I know that even if we force our time together)
也会不知不觉地保持距离
(Unconsciously we'll keep our minds apart)
现在你走你地 各分东西
(Now you'll walk your way, different directions we'll take)
七年的担子放下 坦然分离
(7 years of burden I'll put down, walking away open-heartedly)

Looking back, I thank God for the joy I have in Him. My viewpoint of the world was so dark and my dependence on people and relationships so much more clingy that my sense of happiness and depression is a direct correlation of how well the people around me are treating me. Still unable to shake this off entirely but at least, I know and thus can remind myself of the reality that in Him entirely, I place my life, and thus my emotions.

May we always walk fully in Him.

Stephen Tong in Singapore

Stephen Tong - a pretty competent apologist will be in Singapore for a Christmas Gospel Rally.

Title: 神与人之间 (Between God and Man)
Date and time: 11 Dec, Sunday, 7:30p.m
Location: Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre (Near Dover MRT)

I've gone to one of his rallies before and it is very good for intellectuals and sceptics who wants rational reasons proving God exists. The con (for ARPCians)? It's all facilitated in Mandarin.

I'm praying to be able to invite my dad. I believe it'll fulfill a few presumptions at the same time:
i) Christianity is not a western religion - Chinese (race) intellectuals are also in the faith.
ii) Intellectual justification - All religions do not lead to God, a relationship with God is not just good feelings or achievements in this life. There are rational, historically true reasons why Christ is the only way to the Father.

Do pray for me in this.