Happy Lunar New Year! For all the Chinese worldwide who are celebrating the new year with their families, may it also be a time of reflecting of our walk with Him with respects to our family in Christ.
Reading the below link made me reflect on my relationship with my siblings-in-christ, what I'm doing with respects to His great commission and the reminder of the importance of doctrine I know and am living by. May you be as edified as I had been in reading through it.
http://www.carm.org/church.htm
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Monday, January 16, 2006
Lessons learned from "Gospel of John"
Rented the "Gospel of John" from a nearby video rental store because our church will be covering John's gospel during this season. John's gospel holds a special place in my heart because it was in the studying of this gospel in that (oh so far off) 3-4 years ago that brought about my true conversion of my heart and mind. That truly started my journey of recognizing and acting out of Jesus Christ as God and Lord of my life.
Barring the danger that the video may contain subtle deviations in the details of history, I thought it was a pretty good movie for clearing up certain chronology of actions and events in my mind. When the movie presents Jesus appearing to His disciples that very same day He was resurrected from John 20:19; Seeing His wounds, visible marks but obviously fully healed, my heart couldn't help crying out "How can people believe that Jesus did not die on the cross but that He simply swooned and woke up later and appeared to His disciples? His old perishable body would have been a bloody mess with all those raw gaping wounds and it would have been so obvious to His disciples!" Of course this sore throbbing of my heart was soon, unfamiliarly, mixed with unsuppressable laughter when Jesus' breathing on His disciples as a symbol of receiving the Holy Spirit was absurdly depicted (Having said this, I must admit I can't think of a better way to express this on video). It is also good as it makes some of the events and bible verses come to life for me given that it is a word-for-word literal expression from the Good News Version of the bible. (Hmmm.... evangelical event centering around this video?)
It is always so amazing to see how we could apply His word in our specific circumstances. Going through a period where I feel that injustice had been done against me and what brought me through with some tattered remains of grace and peace was the continual, conscious reminder to "leave room for God's wrath" on them. I thank God that although these events, which are worrying and nerve-wracking, could have turned me into a bitter, vindicative woman (an eye for an eye!), that I may and am depending on Him, day by day, on His sovereignty over everything and care and that verse kinds of bring me through all these. Also thankfully, are my siblings-in-christ who rallied around me and gave me their time and energy sometimes to wait for me so that they can be with me, listen to me, sometimes for nothing better to do than to do the boh liao thing of speculating of alternative lifestyles and different lands. For all that precious time when they could be doing something else more interesting or for more productive things for themselves that they have dedicated to me and my worries, I am truly grateful. May this gratefulness not just end here but result in true real service and prayers for them.
But I'm digressing, the Gospel of John even speaks to me in this period. The first wrench occurs when John the Baptist proclaimed in John 1:29 "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (I'm using the ESV bible because I'm not able to find the Good News version) My heart rebelled because I am reminded that rather than wishing for God's wrath to come to them NOW, what I'm called to do is to pray for them and pray for them to be saved. For no one can bear up to God's wrath when it comes, it will be a lake of burning sulphur that will burn ETERNALLY. Even should they be our worst enemies, do we really (truly in our deepest spirit of the Spirit that God gives us) want them to suffer forever? Frankly, I do want them to feel the threat that I feel and to go through the unease that is in my heart, I want them to experience the full measure of the anger, the bitterness, the insecurity that they've stirred in me and it is the verse "leave room for God's wrath" that gives me a measure of peace and not pursue vindication and destruction. But to pray for their salvation, that they may escape God's wrath, even for the wrath against them for what they've done against me, is a real struggle.
John 14:27 further consolidates this lesson “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you…. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” When Jesus comes again, His peace will be with us. We will not see the flames and the judgement He has reserved for all who do not believe in Him. Ultimately, I have what matters to God, and I need not be afraid of what the world can dish out to me.
In worrying and thinking about the direction in my life and how it will affect my lifelong retirement bread, John 4:34 comes to me "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." The meaning and struggle for this is obvious isn't it? Rather than worrying about "What shall we eat or drink?", our focus should be on doing what He tells us to do and to go on in that.
John 8:48-59 shows an account of Jesus' (a Jew) showdown with other Jews. Their dialogue shows that Jesus is either a liar, a madman or truly the Son of God. By the fact that Jesus is a Jew, He cannot possibly mean himself being the Son of God the way that New Agers mean. It is an eye-opening exercise to read that portion with the full understanding of the context of what Jews believe and know.
There are actually plenty more things that I've learned that was shown in this movie. If you have around 3-4 hours to spare, this is really a good movie to see, not only for a visual representation of John's gospel, but to be better able to understand the context of the various events written in the gospel. Highly recommended.
Barring the danger that the video may contain subtle deviations in the details of history, I thought it was a pretty good movie for clearing up certain chronology of actions and events in my mind. When the movie presents Jesus appearing to His disciples that very same day He was resurrected from John 20:19; Seeing His wounds, visible marks but obviously fully healed, my heart couldn't help crying out "How can people believe that Jesus did not die on the cross but that He simply swooned and woke up later and appeared to His disciples? His old perishable body would have been a bloody mess with all those raw gaping wounds and it would have been so obvious to His disciples!" Of course this sore throbbing of my heart was soon, unfamiliarly, mixed with unsuppressable laughter when Jesus' breathing on His disciples as a symbol of receiving the Holy Spirit was absurdly depicted (Having said this, I must admit I can't think of a better way to express this on video). It is also good as it makes some of the events and bible verses come to life for me given that it is a word-for-word literal expression from the Good News Version of the bible. (Hmmm.... evangelical event centering around this video?)
It is always so amazing to see how we could apply His word in our specific circumstances. Going through a period where I feel that injustice had been done against me and what brought me through with some tattered remains of grace and peace was the continual, conscious reminder to "leave room for God's wrath" on them. I thank God that although these events, which are worrying and nerve-wracking, could have turned me into a bitter, vindicative woman (an eye for an eye!), that I may and am depending on Him, day by day, on His sovereignty over everything and care and that verse kinds of bring me through all these. Also thankfully, are my siblings-in-christ who rallied around me and gave me their time and energy sometimes to wait for me so that they can be with me, listen to me, sometimes for nothing better to do than to do the boh liao thing of speculating of alternative lifestyles and different lands. For all that precious time when they could be doing something else more interesting or for more productive things for themselves that they have dedicated to me and my worries, I am truly grateful. May this gratefulness not just end here but result in true real service and prayers for them.
But I'm digressing, the Gospel of John even speaks to me in this period. The first wrench occurs when John the Baptist proclaimed in John 1:29 "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (I'm using the ESV bible because I'm not able to find the Good News version) My heart rebelled because I am reminded that rather than wishing for God's wrath to come to them NOW, what I'm called to do is to pray for them and pray for them to be saved. For no one can bear up to God's wrath when it comes, it will be a lake of burning sulphur that will burn ETERNALLY. Even should they be our worst enemies, do we really (truly in our deepest spirit of the Spirit that God gives us) want them to suffer forever? Frankly, I do want them to feel the threat that I feel and to go through the unease that is in my heart, I want them to experience the full measure of the anger, the bitterness, the insecurity that they've stirred in me and it is the verse "leave room for God's wrath" that gives me a measure of peace and not pursue vindication and destruction. But to pray for their salvation, that they may escape God's wrath, even for the wrath against them for what they've done against me, is a real struggle.
John 14:27 further consolidates this lesson “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you…. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” When Jesus comes again, His peace will be with us. We will not see the flames and the judgement He has reserved for all who do not believe in Him. Ultimately, I have what matters to God, and I need not be afraid of what the world can dish out to me.
In worrying and thinking about the direction in my life and how it will affect my lifelong retirement bread, John 4:34 comes to me "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." The meaning and struggle for this is obvious isn't it? Rather than worrying about "What shall we eat or drink?", our focus should be on doing what He tells us to do and to go on in that.
John 8:48-59 shows an account of Jesus' (a Jew) showdown with other Jews. Their dialogue shows that Jesus is either a liar, a madman or truly the Son of God. By the fact that Jesus is a Jew, He cannot possibly mean himself being the Son of God the way that New Agers mean. It is an eye-opening exercise to read that portion with the full understanding of the context of what Jews believe and know.
There are actually plenty more things that I've learned that was shown in this movie. If you have around 3-4 hours to spare, this is really a good movie to see, not only for a visual representation of John's gospel, but to be better able to understand the context of the various events written in the gospel. Highly recommended.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Concept of Trinity
A couple of people I've talked with seemed to be genuinely confused about the concept of trinity. I'm sorry I was unable to give an adequate response there and then but this web-site helped me to concretize some of these concepts in my mind. I hope these references are as helpful to you as to me:
http://www.carm.org/doctrine/trinitylook.htm
http://www.carm.org/doctrine.htm
Or if like me, you're one of those people who like to prop yourself within warm blankets with a good book, you can read "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis and focus on the chapters of "The Three-Personal God", "Good Infection" and "Two Notes". (I'd really recommend reading the whole book through because C.S Lewis really illustrated Christianity logically and rationally through with down-to-earth examples.)
For seekers, I know that this is a concept that appears to confuse matters, making our search for "How can I know and get close to the true God?" appear to be difficult.
For me, my previous search to know God was blessed by the fact that I was only focused in exploring if Christ is really God when questioning "How can I know and get close to the true God?" The questions I asked were:
- Is Jesus a real historical person, not a myth?
- Is he really who He claims to be: God, and the only way to know God? Can He just be a prophet or a teacher, similar to other teachers and prophets, who only teaches good morality but who has no real power to bring us to God?
- Is the bible reliable? Can the eyewitnesses accounts in it (Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, first 4 chapters in the New Testament) be trusted?
- Even if He is who He say He is and accounts of Him in the bible are accurate, why should I get right with God through Him now? Are there good reasons why I should hurry?
For me personally in my walk with Him, I'd only find the above instrumental in my rational decision of whether He is God before I'm willing to place my trust in Him but of course, there may be other unique questions (including the above question on Trinity) that you may need answered before you can trust Jesus as the only way to God, that is perfectly ok. In which case, do find the answers to these questions quickly. :)
http://www.carm.org/doctrine/trinitylook.htm
http://www.carm.org/doctrine.htm
Or if like me, you're one of those people who like to prop yourself within warm blankets with a good book, you can read "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis and focus on the chapters of "The Three-Personal God", "Good Infection" and "Two Notes". (I'd really recommend reading the whole book through because C.S Lewis really illustrated Christianity logically and rationally through with down-to-earth examples.)
For seekers, I know that this is a concept that appears to confuse matters, making our search for "How can I know and get close to the true God?" appear to be difficult.
For me, my previous search to know God was blessed by the fact that I was only focused in exploring if Christ is really God when questioning "How can I know and get close to the true God?" The questions I asked were:
- Is Jesus a real historical person, not a myth?
- Is he really who He claims to be: God, and the only way to know God? Can He just be a prophet or a teacher, similar to other teachers and prophets, who only teaches good morality but who has no real power to bring us to God?
- Is the bible reliable? Can the eyewitnesses accounts in it (Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, first 4 chapters in the New Testament) be trusted?
- Even if He is who He say He is and accounts of Him in the bible are accurate, why should I get right with God through Him now? Are there good reasons why I should hurry?
For me personally in my walk with Him, I'd only find the above instrumental in my rational decision of whether He is God before I'm willing to place my trust in Him but of course, there may be other unique questions (including the above question on Trinity) that you may need answered before you can trust Jesus as the only way to God, that is perfectly ok. In which case, do find the answers to these questions quickly. :)
Monday, January 09, 2006
Love in Action
Visited Mandarin Ministry on Sunday and was surprisingly rewarded by V's sharing on the trip to Israel in late November/early December.
1st Lesson: In the midst of enjoying the presentation, there came an unexpected moment when my throat choked with tears when she showed a picture of a tree that was apparantly the tree climbed by Zacchaeus, the tax collector who was trying to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
Luke 19:2-10 "A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.""
Up till now, I still have no idea why I was so touched. Perhaps it was the immediacy of Zacchaeus's response once Jesus stayed with him, perhaps it was the reminder that in His graciousness, He had shown me how wretched, how far away from Him I was and am, yet how low, how long and how deep He had to go in order to call me out of darkness, to be found in His wonderful light. It made me ponder if I'm responding as rightly, as quickly and as lovingly as Zacchaeus to Him as He condescends to make His home in me?
2nd Lesson: Later, talking to a brother-in-christ, Y, and fighting to express myself as well as I could in Mandarin my concerns, he suddenly stopped me and asked me pointedly, "Are you showing your faith through your daily living?" Confronted so abruptly and so suddenly, I have the strong urge to deny his charge and justify the correctness, the reasonableness of my conduct when he strongly went on, “信心不只是用口说的，最基本是用生活活出来的。” (Faith is not something you just talk about, it's most basically lived out in your life.)[These may not be the exact words that Y used, but the approximate meaning is like this.]
My conscience condemned me from making any defence towards this, so I was only able to meekly manage, “是的，在我生活里，我真得没活出神的爱。” (Yes, I really did not live out God's love in my life.)
On my way to ARPC from SBC, I was reflecting on the words 信心 that brother Y used in his charge towards me. You see, in the way that I habitually use the words 信心，I traditionally use it to express "confidence", a synonym for 自信 (self-confidence)，yet Brother Y used it to mean "faith". I marvelled at the subtleness of the mandarin language as my mind makes the connection and the hairline shift in beliefs that will probably have a huge effect in the way I think in the future. True confidence (and our ability to live out His love no matter the circumstances) can only come from faith in our eternal and unchanging God.
3rd Lesson: As if He is not convinced that I really got it, I got another dose of "What's love in action" when Pastor C preaches on 1 Cor 13, the traditional love passage, which leads to some other personal reflections.
1st Lesson: In the midst of enjoying the presentation, there came an unexpected moment when my throat choked with tears when she showed a picture of a tree that was apparantly the tree climbed by Zacchaeus, the tax collector who was trying to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
Luke 19:2-10 "A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.""
Up till now, I still have no idea why I was so touched. Perhaps it was the immediacy of Zacchaeus's response once Jesus stayed with him, perhaps it was the reminder that in His graciousness, He had shown me how wretched, how far away from Him I was and am, yet how low, how long and how deep He had to go in order to call me out of darkness, to be found in His wonderful light. It made me ponder if I'm responding as rightly, as quickly and as lovingly as Zacchaeus to Him as He condescends to make His home in me?
2nd Lesson: Later, talking to a brother-in-christ, Y, and fighting to express myself as well as I could in Mandarin my concerns, he suddenly stopped me and asked me pointedly, "Are you showing your faith through your daily living?" Confronted so abruptly and so suddenly, I have the strong urge to deny his charge and justify the correctness, the reasonableness of my conduct when he strongly went on, “信心不只是用口说的，最基本是用生活活出来的。” (Faith is not something you just talk about, it's most basically lived out in your life.)[These may not be the exact words that Y used, but the approximate meaning is like this.]
My conscience condemned me from making any defence towards this, so I was only able to meekly manage, “是的，在我生活里，我真得没活出神的爱。” (Yes, I really did not live out God's love in my life.)
On my way to ARPC from SBC, I was reflecting on the words 信心 that brother Y used in his charge towards me. You see, in the way that I habitually use the words 信心，I traditionally use it to express "confidence", a synonym for 自信 (self-confidence)，yet Brother Y used it to mean "faith". I marvelled at the subtleness of the mandarin language as my mind makes the connection and the hairline shift in beliefs that will probably have a huge effect in the way I think in the future. True confidence (and our ability to live out His love no matter the circumstances) can only come from faith in our eternal and unchanging God.
3rd Lesson: As if He is not convinced that I really got it, I got another dose of "What's love in action" when Pastor C preaches on 1 Cor 13, the traditional love passage, which leads to some other personal reflections.
"Love... keeps no record of wrongs....."
Partly inspired by another blog entry, I thought through what it means to love by not keeping records of wrongs. I was known before as a person who you will not want to mess with, a person who will definitely return tit for tat, no matter how paranoid you are, how well-defended you are, you can run, but you can't hide. Should you do wrong to me, the very moment your defenses are relaxed.....
But since spending time with Him, being able to pour out all my grievances to Him, being able to trust that He will right every wrong I have to endure, especially if it's in His name, that one day He will wipe away every tear I have had shed, I'd learn that it is a relief to give up the necessity of building a reputation of speedy, definite retribution and entrust my protection into His hands.
For me, it is the clear recognition, "Ooh, that really, really hurt me.", placing that hurt into His hands, entrusting that somehow, God will call all these into account (including MY account against others) one day, praying through the way I am to actually, wisely continue to practise "loving him/her as myself". Most importantly to continue in my life, my God-given life ministry to bless those He had called me to bless, no longer carrying that incident as a baggage.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Another Show of God's Faithfulness
My decision to share the history of Christ's birth at my organisation's Christmas celebration proved to be a nerve-racking 3 weeks from the time I was tasked with it such that I could hardly sleep well. Politics, navigation of religious/racial sensitivity and personal concern over how I will be perceived by colleagues in the future all made me highly irritable and easily annoyed.
So nervous was I that by the lunch time of the day (30th Dec 2005) I was supposed to share, my fingers were frozen from the cold and my hands were shaking badly. I scurried away from practising on the keyboard to finding a quiet corner with my trusty Palmie as I cried out in my heart to our Lord and prayed for deliverance as I whined about how I'm tasked with all the unpleasant, politically charged tasks.
Somehow, in all the emotional wreckage I was plowing through with prayer, it came to me to read the 'Verse of the Day' from the Losungen I had loaded into Palmie a week before. Although I had only loaded the 2006 version, I decided to check the verse for that day. This was what it turned out:
"Saturday, December 30, 2006
I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. - Ps 40:17"
No matter how many times it had already happened, the seeming full answer to my prayer still always catch me by surprise. Thus I hungrily, thirstily turned to Ps 40 for the full chapter and this was what turned up:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced ;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.
7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart."
9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
as you know, O LORD.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.
12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.
14 May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say,
"The LORD be exalted!"
17 Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
Somehow, this reassured me that God is with me. Although even up till right now, I am still wondering about the wisdom and perhaps not ready for the natural, worldly consequences of my decision, yet I am at ease that God is with those who seek to glorify His name even should the actions be foolish and without wisdom - not that He will definitely shield us from all the consequences, but He knows our motivation and will be glad at that.
God is with us, even if we are going about work which we think are for His service in foolish ways. This doesn't imply we should just dash blindly into the thick of things without thorough thought but that He is our faithful God who is true to His Word ""Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"" - Heb 13:5-6.
So nervous was I that by the lunch time of the day (30th Dec 2005) I was supposed to share, my fingers were frozen from the cold and my hands were shaking badly. I scurried away from practising on the keyboard to finding a quiet corner with my trusty Palmie as I cried out in my heart to our Lord and prayed for deliverance as I whined about how I'm tasked with all the unpleasant, politically charged tasks.
Somehow, in all the emotional wreckage I was plowing through with prayer, it came to me to read the 'Verse of the Day' from the Losungen I had loaded into Palmie a week before. Although I had only loaded the 2006 version, I decided to check the verse for that day. This was what it turned out:
"Saturday, December 30, 2006
I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. - Ps 40:17"
No matter how many times it had already happened, the seeming full answer to my prayer still always catch me by surprise. Thus I hungrily, thirstily turned to Ps 40 for the full chapter and this was what turned up:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced ;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.
7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart."
9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
as you know, O LORD.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.
12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.
14 May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say,
"The LORD be exalted!"
17 Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
Somehow, this reassured me that God is with me. Although even up till right now, I am still wondering about the wisdom and perhaps not ready for the natural, worldly consequences of my decision, yet I am at ease that God is with those who seek to glorify His name even should the actions be foolish and without wisdom - not that He will definitely shield us from all the consequences, but He knows our motivation and will be glad at that.
God is with us, even if we are going about work which we think are for His service in foolish ways. This doesn't imply we should just dash blindly into the thick of things without thorough thought but that He is our faithful God who is true to His Word ""Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"" - Heb 13:5-6.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Reminders from Chronicles of Narnia
Happy New Year! A new year, a new beginning, a reminder again of how in Christianity, we can rejoice logically, with strong justification, that we can love our God with all our heart and mind. That our worship of Him as led by the heart need not be divorced from rational, logical thinking from the mind. (Thanks Pearls for the book "Confessions of St Augustine": I've only read the foreword and already it reminded me again of this additional reason to rejoice).
Watching the movie 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' led me to re-reading the books in 'Chronicles of Narnia' again. Have just finished the 3rd book 'The Horse and his boy' and already selected passages have led me to blubbering like an idiot. These are the most moving passages from each book and my thoughts after each passage:
The Magician's Nephew:
""Son of Adam," said Aslan. "Are you ready to undo the wrong that you have done to my sweet country of Narnia on the very day of its birth?"
.....
"Yes", said Digory. He had had for a second some wild idea of saying, "I'll try to help you if you'll promise to help my mother," but he realized in time that the Lion was not at all the sort of person one coul try to make bargains with. But when he had said "Yes", he thought of his mother, and he thought of the great hope he had had, and how they were all dying away, and a lump came in his throat and tears in his eyes, and he blurted out:
"But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure mother?" Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his mother than he was himself.
[Aslan task Digory to get a fruit from a garden that is very, very hard to get to]
Inscription on gate into the garden:
Come in by the gold gates or not at all,
Take of my fruit for others or forbear,
For those who steal or those who climb my wall
Shall find their heart's desire and find despair
[White Witch's temptation of Digory]
"Do you not see, Fool, that one bite of that apple would heal her? You have it in your pocket. We are here by ourselves and the Lion is far away. Use your magic and go back to your own world. A minute later you can be at your mother's side giving her the fruit. Five minutes later you will see the colour coming back to her face. She will tell you the pain is gone. Soon she will tell you she feels stronger. Then she will fall asleep: hours of natural sleep....."
"Oh!" gasped Digory as if he had been hurt, and put his hand to his head. For he now know hat the most terrible choice lay before him.
"What has the Lion ever done for you that you should be his slave?" said the Witch. "What can he do to you once you are back in your own world?".....
"I've brought you the apple you wanted, sir."
"Well done", said Aslan in a voice that made the earth shake. Then Digory knew that all the Narnians had heard those words and that the story would be handed down from father to son in that new world perhaps for ever."
For those in the know, Aslan in Narnia is really the allegory for Christ. I was touched because it immediately showed to me the pettiness of Digory's concerns (although they're godly concerns) in relation to Aslan's plan for Narnia, yet how concerned Aslan was towards Digory's concerns! Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
There was also no doubt in my mind as I read the story that even if Digory should succumb to temptation and go back to the real world, Aslan will still bring the fruit back some other way to Narnia. (Esther 4:14 "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?")
It is a reminder of my right attitude towards ministry work. Not doing God's work for me will not impede Him in His ultimate plan, yet sometimes, it is simply given as an opportunity for us to gain His praise that He may be pleased with us and receive our inheritance in heaven. (The story ended with how Aslan gave Digory a fruit from the tree (planted from the fruit Digory picked from the garden) that grew in Narnia.
My last thought was that when faced with temptation, sometimes, we may think that our way (not God's way) is also right (re: Digory's godly concern for his mother when faced with the terrible choice) yet not doing what He had explicitly commanded us to do is definitely not the right way.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:
"It was all Edmund's doing, Aslan," Peter was saying, "We'd have been beaten if it hadn't been for him. The Witch was turning our troops into stone right and left. But nothing would stop him. He fought his way through three ogres to where she was just turning one of your leopards into a statue. .... He was terribly wounded. We must go and see him."
Edmund was the traitor that Aslan exchanged his life for, and at the time when Edmund was in the battle for Narnia, they were only told that Aslan was dead. They were unaware that He had already resurrected. What touched me profoundly was that even without the assurance of Aslan being alive, just the knowledge (of Aslan dying for him) alone, had Edmund dedicating his whole life to Aslan's service, even to the death. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
The horse and his boy:
""I do think," said Shasta, "that I must be the most unfortunate boy that ever lived in the whole world. Everything goes right for everyone except me. Those Narnian lords and ladies got safe away from Tashbaan; I was left behind. Aravis and Bree and Hwin are all as snug as anything with that old Hermit; of course I was the one who was sent on. King Lune and his people must have got safely into the castle and shut the gates long before Rabadash arrived, but I get left out."
And being very tired and having nothing inside him, he felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks.
What put a stop to all this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that someone was walking beside him. It was pitch dark and he could see nothing. And the Person was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale, and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature. And he had come to notice this breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there. It was a horrible shock.
The Person went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began to hope he had only imagined it. But just as he was becoming quite sure of it, there suddenly came a deep, rich sigh out of the darkness beside him. He had felt the hot breath of that sign on his chilly left hand.
"Who are you?" he said, scarcely above a whisper.
"One who has waited long for you to speak," said the Thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep.
"You're not something dead, are you? Oh please - please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh I am the unluckiest person in the whole world!"
"Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face.
"There," it said, "that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows."
Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of the ridesert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.
"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.
"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.
"There was only one lion," said the Voice.
.....
"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."
....
"Who are you?" asked Shasta.
"Myself:, said the voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again, "Myself", loud and clear and gay: and then the third time "Myself", whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with it.
.....
"At last they were going in single file along the edge of a precipice and Shasta shuddered to think that he had done the same last night without knowing it. "But of course," he thought, "I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time.""
The story ends with how Shasta, who had always been a slave, turned out to be King Lune's long-lost son. He wouldn't have found his father if he had not gone through all these 'unlucky' events. 1 Thess 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Shasta's whining reminds me of my own whining and how I harbour resentment that people always seemed to have life easier, smoother and more blessed than I. It's a reminder for me to trust that His will is done in every situation, whether good or bad, and that they are really worked for my ultimate good.
Watching the movie 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' led me to re-reading the books in 'Chronicles of Narnia' again. Have just finished the 3rd book 'The Horse and his boy' and already selected passages have led me to blubbering like an idiot. These are the most moving passages from each book and my thoughts after each passage:
The Magician's Nephew:
""Son of Adam," said Aslan. "Are you ready to undo the wrong that you have done to my sweet country of Narnia on the very day of its birth?"
.....
"Yes", said Digory. He had had for a second some wild idea of saying, "I'll try to help you if you'll promise to help my mother," but he realized in time that the Lion was not at all the sort of person one coul try to make bargains with. But when he had said "Yes", he thought of his mother, and he thought of the great hope he had had, and how they were all dying away, and a lump came in his throat and tears in his eyes, and he blurted out:
"But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure mother?" Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his mother than he was himself.
[Aslan task Digory to get a fruit from a garden that is very, very hard to get to]
Inscription on gate into the garden:
Come in by the gold gates or not at all,
Take of my fruit for others or forbear,
For those who steal or those who climb my wall
Shall find their heart's desire and find despair
[White Witch's temptation of Digory]
"Do you not see, Fool, that one bite of that apple would heal her? You have it in your pocket. We are here by ourselves and the Lion is far away. Use your magic and go back to your own world. A minute later you can be at your mother's side giving her the fruit. Five minutes later you will see the colour coming back to her face. She will tell you the pain is gone. Soon she will tell you she feels stronger. Then she will fall asleep: hours of natural sleep....."
"Oh!" gasped Digory as if he had been hurt, and put his hand to his head. For he now know hat the most terrible choice lay before him.
"What has the Lion ever done for you that you should be his slave?" said the Witch. "What can he do to you once you are back in your own world?".....
"I've brought you the apple you wanted, sir."
"Well done", said Aslan in a voice that made the earth shake. Then Digory knew that all the Narnians had heard those words and that the story would be handed down from father to son in that new world perhaps for ever."
For those in the know, Aslan in Narnia is really the allegory for Christ. I was touched because it immediately showed to me the pettiness of Digory's concerns (although they're godly concerns) in relation to Aslan's plan for Narnia, yet how concerned Aslan was towards Digory's concerns! Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
There was also no doubt in my mind as I read the story that even if Digory should succumb to temptation and go back to the real world, Aslan will still bring the fruit back some other way to Narnia. (Esther 4:14 "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?")
It is a reminder of my right attitude towards ministry work. Not doing God's work for me will not impede Him in His ultimate plan, yet sometimes, it is simply given as an opportunity for us to gain His praise that He may be pleased with us and receive our inheritance in heaven. (The story ended with how Aslan gave Digory a fruit from the tree (planted from the fruit Digory picked from the garden) that grew in Narnia.
My last thought was that when faced with temptation, sometimes, we may think that our way (not God's way) is also right (re: Digory's godly concern for his mother when faced with the terrible choice) yet not doing what He had explicitly commanded us to do is definitely not the right way.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:
"It was all Edmund's doing, Aslan," Peter was saying, "We'd have been beaten if it hadn't been for him. The Witch was turning our troops into stone right and left. But nothing would stop him. He fought his way through three ogres to where she was just turning one of your leopards into a statue. .... He was terribly wounded. We must go and see him."
Edmund was the traitor that Aslan exchanged his life for, and at the time when Edmund was in the battle for Narnia, they were only told that Aslan was dead. They were unaware that He had already resurrected. What touched me profoundly was that even without the assurance of Aslan being alive, just the knowledge (of Aslan dying for him) alone, had Edmund dedicating his whole life to Aslan's service, even to the death. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
The horse and his boy:
""I do think," said Shasta, "that I must be the most unfortunate boy that ever lived in the whole world. Everything goes right for everyone except me. Those Narnian lords and ladies got safe away from Tashbaan; I was left behind. Aravis and Bree and Hwin are all as snug as anything with that old Hermit; of course I was the one who was sent on. King Lune and his people must have got safely into the castle and shut the gates long before Rabadash arrived, but I get left out."
And being very tired and having nothing inside him, he felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks.
What put a stop to all this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that someone was walking beside him. It was pitch dark and he could see nothing. And the Person was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale, and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature. And he had come to notice this breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there. It was a horrible shock.
The Person went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began to hope he had only imagined it. But just as he was becoming quite sure of it, there suddenly came a deep, rich sigh out of the darkness beside him. He had felt the hot breath of that sign on his chilly left hand.
"Who are you?" he said, scarcely above a whisper.
"One who has waited long for you to speak," said the Thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep.
"You're not something dead, are you? Oh please - please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh I am the unluckiest person in the whole world!"
"Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face.
"There," it said, "that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows."
Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of the ridesert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.
"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.
"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.
"There was only one lion," said the Voice.
.....
"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."
....
"Who are you?" asked Shasta.
"Myself:, said the voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again, "Myself", loud and clear and gay: and then the third time "Myself", whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with it.
.....
"At last they were going in single file along the edge of a precipice and Shasta shuddered to think that he had done the same last night without knowing it. "But of course," he thought, "I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time.""
The story ends with how Shasta, who had always been a slave, turned out to be King Lune's long-lost son. He wouldn't have found his father if he had not gone through all these 'unlucky' events. 1 Thess 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Shasta's whining reminds me of my own whining and how I harbour resentment that people always seemed to have life easier, smoother and more blessed than I. It's a reminder for me to trust that His will is done in every situation, whether good or bad, and that they are really worked for my ultimate good.
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