Spiritual Journey with God

Moving Away

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:21:00 +0000

This blog will be shut down by the end of this year. Please proceed to the new blog for your continued support.

Christian Migrant

https://christianmigrant.wordpress.com/

The Bread of Wickedness and the Wine of Violence

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 04:31:00 +0000

Proverbs 4
v14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.
v15 Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.
v16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

v17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
v18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
v19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

Proverbs 4:17 is one of those verses that mention both bread and wine together, and specifically one that comes with a negative metaphorical tone.

Starting in verse 14, the sage who wrote Proverbs, warns us against entering the path of the wicked and walking in its way, which is evil. As walking comes natural after learning to walk and is part of our life, it warns us against carrying out and breathing wickedness and evil, as if it is in our nature as to walking. Even more so, it warns us not to consider entering or starting such path to begin with. Instead, as exhorted in verse 15, we are to avoid it like a plague, in as much as it is within our control to avoid it. And if we are confronted by it in our face, we are to turn our back against it. Pass on to other wicked and evil persons who would go on it, but we do not go on it ourselves.

In verse 16, the sage describes some characteristic of the wicked and evil ones. They have insomnia, unless they finished what they have set their heart on. This is much like chasing episodes after episodes of our favorite shows or writings, or like restlessness before we complete that mystery, puzzle or game level. In a positive sense, we call it perseverance. But in a negative sense, as is intended in this verse, we call it addiction. And they are not satisfied with committing the wrong themselves alone, but wish to afflict the wrongness on others, and even to influence others to join them in their path. More importantly, their insomnia is not something within their control to prevent. They thought it was their own doing but their sleep is robbed by the Destroyer, who seeks to destroy them by luring them further into the path of one who will be destroyed by God ultimately.

And in verse 17, the sage provides a metaphorical picture of them eating the bread of wickedness and drinking the wine of violence. Like bread that symbolizes food that provides strength for our life, they are sustained and draw strength from incarnating wickedness and manifesting violence, as they cheer and revel in their wayward way, while sipping and savoring the blood of their victims. In this perverse picture of us, the Spirit reveals the love of God and the Gospel of Righteousness. The Messiah bore the whole weight of our sins at the cross, and whenever we see the breaking of bread, we are reminded that His body was broken for our sins. In fact, He broke the sins that hold us captive. And as the perfect sacrificial Lamb without sin, Yeshua poured out His life and blood, as an innocent, for the forgiveness of sins under the New Covenant. Indeed, He suffered a violent death under the hand of His enemies. This is a beautiful painting of the redemptive act of God, who turns the bread of wickedness and wine of violence into the holy bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord's death, resurrection and coming again.

Lastly in verse 18 and 19, the sage contrasts the path and way of righteous against that of the wicked. The wicked are in total darkness and blindness. They are like the blind leading the blind, they do not where they are going or what have tripped them. And we were once like them, before we understand that the righteous shall live by faith. The faith of the righteous is not blind, although it involves things not seen but hoped for. Unlike the path of the wicked, the path of the righteous is progressive, starting with the transfer of citizenship from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. As migrants to the new nation of royal priests, we are continually being washed and sanctified day after day, enabling us to see, in the faith, more clearly as days go by. Christ is the source of our Light, and in Him there is no darkness. So shall one day, we will see as if under the brightest of day, soaking in the Light of Life Himself.

The next time we partake the holy bread and wine, remember the bread of wickedness and wine of violence, which Jesus overturned and redeemed with His saving act in history.

A New Commandment

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Mon, 05 May 2014 10:19:00 +0000

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” ~ John 13:34

In Matt 22:37-40, Mark 12:29-31 and Luke 10:27, Jesus summarized the Law and the Prophets into two commandments. First, we shall love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength. Second, we shall love our neighbour as ourselves. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. This is a concise summary of the Old Covenant and there is no novelty in the two commandments. In fact, the first commandment can be found in Deut 6:5, while the second commandment can be found in Lev 19:18. There is nothing new in them when Jesus endorsed an authoritative summary of them in the New Testament pages.

However during the Last Supper, right after Judas had left to carry out his hideous scheme, Jesus gave the disciplines a new commandment. He said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 13:34). But where exactly is the newness of this new commandment? Afterall, the Law and the Prophets have already provided that we should love our neighbour as ourselves. If we do compare these two statements carefully, we will notice the similarity and differences.

Old Covenant: Love our neighbour as ourselves
New Commandment: Love one another as Jesus has loved us

The similarity is love, for God is love (1 John 4:8, 16) and we being created in the image of God (Gen 1:26) are supposed to exhibit the love of God. However, the key difference lies in the reference point of love. Under the Old Covenant, we love others as ourselves. If we think about it deeper, the fact is that everyone loves themselves with different intensity and in different ways. If we love ourselves very much, it works fine to apply the same measure of love to others. But even then, we may not love them in the most appropriate manner as our love languages are different. And if we love ourselves very little, then we would also correspondingly love others little too. We could say that the loving of others under the Old Covenant is subjective, and is anchored to the self. This is also demonstrated in the Golden Rule (Matt 7:12): “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Nevertheless, with the introduction of the new commandment, we are to measure ourselves against Christ the Ruler. We are no longer the reference point, but Christ. So we love one another just as Jesus has loved us. The reference point is no longer multiple subjectives but one objective, as there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. And so we cease to measure ourselves by one another and compare ourselves with one another (2 Cor 10:12). Instead, we look to Jesus to know what love is. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:12-13). And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16). It is about having the same mindset as the Lord, in our relationships with one another (Phil 2:5).

Hence, this is the new commandment. It couldn’t be new before Christ came, suffered and died on the cross for us. But when He came, the Old Covenant found its fulfilment in Him. And He not just fulfilled but also raised the bar of the Old Covenant. The Parable of the Good Samaritan shows the higher bar when a question was posed on who exactly is our neighbour (Luke 10:29). Under the Old Covenant, most would be contended to love our neighbours and hate our enemies. But Christ said to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:43-44). Love enlarges our hearts and prompts us to go the extra miles.

With the new commandment serving as the foundation, of which the New Covenant is hang upon, outflows the rest of the New Testament teachings. Consider Eph 5:1-2, which we are exhorted to follow God’s example to walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Christian obedience then is always appealed on the basis of the love of Jesus for us, and not out of obligations or sense of duty which in that case would become legalism. And such appeal should rightly rouse our voluntary response towards Him, which we know this unfettered antiphony by the name of love. We keep His commandments because we love Him (John 14:15). And so we submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21), husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph 5:25-27), and wives submit to husbands as unto the Lord (Eph 5:22). It is all about Jesus, and loving Him.

In summary, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Gal 5:6). The object of faith is Christ, and we expressed our faith by loving Him and others. Let us then run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:1-2). And as we carry each other's burdens, we will fulfil the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).

The Ancient Adversary of Marriages

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 04:10:00 +0000

"And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'” - Genesis 2:16-17

In Genesis 3, the serpent asked Eve if God really said that "You must not eat from any tree in the garden"? Eve replied that they may eat from the trees in the garden, except the one in the middle which they must not touch as well. If we compare Eve's reply to the command given by God to Adam in Genesis 2, we will notice that there are some differences between what God said in Genesis 2:16-17 and what Eve said in Genesis 3:2-3.

God to Adam: "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."
Eve to Serpent: "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must touch it, or you will die.'"

A careful reading reveals that there are additional information in Eve's reply, as compared to what God commanded Adam in Genesis 2. The additional information in Genesis 3:2-3 are (1), the fruit of the prohibited tree and other trees are mentioned, (2) the prohibited tree is in the middle of the garden, and (3) it is also prohibited to touch it. Hence, a reasonable question would be whether Eve has correctly represented God’s command regarding that tree.

The issue became even more complicated when we realised that God’s command to Adam regarding that tree, took place before God took Eve out of Adam’s ribs (Genesis 2:21-22). While it is possible that God may have repeated and expanded the command to Eve between Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 (unrecorded), it is more probable that Eve heard the command from Adam. This is because God did not indicate that He has commanded Eve regarding that tree (when he could) in Genesis 3:17 when God rebuked Adam for listening to his wife and disregard the command given to him. Further, if Eve was also given the command directly, it makes little sense why Eve was considered as deceived and not also guilty of disobedience like Adam. And if we will to take a strict reading of Genesis 2:16-17, it would appear that the additional information came from Adam/Eve rather than God.

The additional information tells us about the importance of fruits. While Adam and Eve fell because of eating the wrong fruit, we are called to bear the right fruit that is of the Spirit. And while we cannot be dogmatic about the physical location of the prohibited tree in the garden, it certainly was in the dead center of Eve’s mind, despite God’s abundant provisions. The additional precaution not to touch the prohibited tree also appeared to single out the harshness or pettiness of God’s command, coupled with the fact that Eve did not emphasize that they were absoultely free to eat of any other trees. Otherwise, the rule of no contact could be a self-imposed discipline that did not turn out well. It is also interesting to note that Eve addressed God as simply God (Elohim) following the serpent’s leading question, as opposed to addressing God as LORD God (Yahweh Elohim) as used in the narratives of Genesis 2 and 3.

More importantly, if the serpent aimed to plant doubts in Eve who received information of God's command from Adam, the serpent was effectively asking Eve to doubt whether Adam had withheld something good from her intentionally (ie Adam hide the truth from her etc) or unintentionally (ie Adam misunderstood what God said etc). And we can see how doubts along these lines of thinking (ie doubting our spouses' intentions, being critical of our spouses' abilities etc) is still active in today’s marriages, which often leads to disagreements and misunderstandings, and ultimately separations. In other words, the serpent reveled in causing distrust and mistrust within the first God given marriage and subsequent marriages.

Whether this theory is indeed true, the outcome is the same as Adam had started to blame Eve (Gen 3:12). The devil is all out to destroy marriages since the beginning. Therefore, we will need to guard our marriages against the enemies who will tempt us and sow discords in all ways possible (eg parenting issues, financial difficulties, in-laws problems, extra-marital relationships etc), so as to destroy sacred marriages and the future generation. However, we can only guard our marriages by first growing closer to God who will change us and give us wisdom to cultivate and protect our marriages. The threat is real and imminent. So be prepared to guard.

Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 10:41:00 +0000

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” - Galatians 5:22

One of the characteristics applied to fruit of the Spirit is “patience”. The Oxford Dictionaries defines “patience” as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. I acknowledge that I am not a patience man by nature. Even in the flesh, there are different levels of patience a man can possess and I am not among the few who are endowed with an abundance of this gift. Exacerbated by my sinful nature, which knocks at the door and tries every opportunities to force its way through, my impatience or rather lack of patience actually turns me into a recovering patient capable of relapsing. But the fruit of the Spirit is patience.

The Greek word for “patience” in Galatians 5:22 is “ makrothumia”. It is also used in James 5:10, where the Scripture refers us to the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of patience (makrothumia) in the face of suffering. Hence, the use of “long-suffering” by the older translations in lieu of “patience” may not look as weird as it may first appear. While patience often appears in the context of suffering or tolerating something negative in the Scripture, what would patience look like in the absence of these negativities? James 5:7 seems to provide a positive portrayal of patience. In that verse, patience is painted as a farmer waiting for rains and the land to yield its crops in due time and finally the harvest. The emphasis is on waiting.

Patience is being able to wait, even though we do not know if the rain will come or if the land will yield its crops ultimately. Patience is also about resting. It is about not getting worked up or worried under any circumstances, when facing any nuisances, crying children, irritating weirdo or any mess we may find ourselves stuck in between. A lack of patience will likely lead to worry but more often than not, anger. This is because the cause of a lack of patience is due to pride or self-righteousness as Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 put it, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.” So the self-righteous is a fool who lacks patience and gets angry easily. On the other hand, wisdom yields patience as written in Proverbs 19:11.

According to 1 Timothy 1:16, Jesus possesses the perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. It would have been unachievable, if we were left to our own devices to replicate that perfect patience. But today, the same Spirit of Patience who is with Jesus, also dwells in His believers. As long as we have the same Spirit as Jesus, the Spirit will train us into Holiness, Godliness and Christlikeness. We only need to pay attention to what the Spirit is speaking to us, and repent whenever He convicts us of our sins and weaknesses. And be thankful that God is first and foremost long-suffering towards the stubborn and stiff-necked, like ourselves. The fruit of the Spirit is patience.

Review: The Message of the Cross (by Jaerock Lee)

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 09:08:00 +0000

“The Message of the Cross is a powerful and touching message that has awakened countless souls around the world from their spiritual slumber and given them the taste of a true life in Christ! Creation or evolution? How was man created from the dust? Why did God place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden? Why did He allow Adam and Eve to sin? Why is Jesus our only Savior? Why did the "God of love" have to prepare hell? In The Message of the Cross you will find spiritually satisfying answers to fundamentally important questions for all Christians who had never been given thorough and accurate explanations.” – Amazon

Introduction

“The Message of the Cross” is authored by Jaerock Lee, founding and senior pastor of the Manmin Central Church in South Korea. MCC is one of the largest churches in South Korea, and claims to have 120,000 members throughout the world in 9,000 member churches. The book has been published in many languages including English and Chinese. It is an easy read because of its verbatim style, which should take less than half a day to complete.

Based on the outline of the book, it attempts to refute evolution and introduce God, the origin of sin and Jesus who is the way to salvation. It aims to be a concise introduction or foundation to the christian faith for its readers. There are many good analogies and illustrations used in the book that are culturally relevant to the modern world, as you would hear in an engaging sermon.

However, Jaerock Lee is not without controversy in his homeland, South Korea. The last section of the book did briefly mention about his series of trials from accusation of heresy. Since doctrinal fault lines could be one of the most serious forms of fault lines given that beliefs systems are often deeply held, I can empathize with the experience that one has to go through for being labelled as a heretic. Regardless of the controversy, we should approach each book and the ideas in it, on their own merits objectively.

Random Thoughts

When reading the book, it provoked me to think deeper about the broad issues that came to mind as I read. And I have attempted to discuss a few key random thoughts arising from my reading below. However, the quality of the English translation is a concern, as I would have to re-read some parts of the book. Hence, I am not dogmatic over whether the choice of words represents the author’s understanding. If it is a matter of the quality of translation, the publisher should review it.

(1) Interpretation of the Word

On page 234, the book suggests that we should not interpret God’s Word literally, but spiritually by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I agree wholeheartedly that we should approach the Scripture under the illumination of the Holy Spirit. This does not necessarily mean that we have to pray every time before we read the Scripture. More importantly, we should trust the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and reveal more of the Lord to us, not just in the Scripture but also in everyday living and things happening around us.

However, I think there is a common misunderstanding between a literal interpretation and a literal application. For example, when Jesus taught to gouge out the right eye and cut off the right hand in Matthew 5:29-30, He literally meant the right eye and not the left eye, right leg nor kidney. To be sure, He did not intend for us to apply it literally since a blind man could potentially still sin. Therefore, while we should interpret the Scripture under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we should also interpret the Scripture literally besides spiritualizing the significance of some passages. An example of spiritualizing the Scripture would be typology, a Christological interpretative framework with an emphasis on the Lord and therefore minimize the risks of eisegesis.

Interestingly, on page 182, the book attempts to reconcile the apparent discrepancy between the Synoptic Gospels over the account of the two criminals crucified on the left and right sides of Jesus. In Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32, both criminals heaped insults on Jesus, but in Luke 23:40-43, one of the criminals rebuked the other and asked Jesus to remember him. The book suggests that it is more likely that the environment was rowdy and only people standing close enough to Jesus could hear the conversation. Since the criminal rebuked the other criminal, probably with a bad facial expression, those standing far away might have easily thought that the repenting criminal was rebuking Jesus in the middle. Hence, the apparent discrepancy.

Granted that this is indeed an interesting theory, it nevertheless has an inherent weakness to the approach of interpreting the Scripture. To be exact, the theory calls the accuracy and reliability of the Scripture into question, because if the biblical authors had wrongly documented an incident because of their perception, we would have absolutely no clue as to whether there are other such errors, especially for passages without parallel accounts. This boils down to our view of the Scripture and its inspiration. An alternative theory is that both criminals did heap insults on Jesus, but one changed his mind eventually.

(2) Trinity

On page 34, the book says that at some point, God divided into the Trinity. If the translation did justice and is faithful to the original meaning, this is certainly not a biblical understanding of Trinity because at no point did God divided Himself into Trinity but has always existed eternally as the Trinity. If this is indeed a harmless speculation, it should be qualified as such and should not be projected as the underlying reality. I say this because the understanding of Church is extended from the understanding of Trinity, but we shall reserve it for other times.

(3) Garden of Eden

On page 73-76, the book suggests that Adam had produced many children in the Garden of Eden before the Fall, in order to account for the many fossils that dated several hundred thousand years ago. This is in part because the book assumes that the history of human race is 6,000 years but only starting from the Fall. The book also says that men then could communicate with all living creatures including, beasts, birds, flowers and trees.

Reading that men could communicate with living creatures brought me smile at the start of this new year, as C. S. Lewis’s "Chronicle of Narnia" came to mind. However, I noted that the book goes a step further to include the flowers and trees, which brought J. R. R. Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings" to mind as well. Obviously, this is mere speculation as the Scripture is silent on whether other creatures had spoken in intelligible language.

While I appreciate the book’s intention to refute evolution and uphold the existence of God, and His Creation, I think the author may not have understood that the dating methods of fossils is itself questionable and may not be as old as what the evolutionists would like them to be. Therefore, there is no need to impose a gap between the Garden of Eden and the Fall, in order to accommodate the fossil claims by evolutionists. And if indeed there is a gap between the Garden of Eden and the Fall to account for the dates of the fossils, the logical conclusion would be that death existed before the Fall. However, this is clearly not biblical because death entered into the world not before but because of the Fall. Interested readers on the topic of creationism could further explore Creation Ministries International and Answers in Genesis.

With reference to Revelation 5, the book also suggests on page 104 that “the scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals” indicates a contract that had been made between God and the devil when Adam disobeyed God and became a sinner. While I can appreciate the spiritual warfare type of interpretation that is prevalent in charismatic churches, I am not entirely sold that the portrayal of God striking a deal with Satan in the form of a contract sits well with the Scripture. After all, a strong government does not negotiate with terrorists.

(4) Name of Jesus

On page 127-128, the book says that there is a great difference of power between “Jesus” and “Jesus Christ”. It is explained that ”Jesus” is the name before the cross and the devil is not afraid of this name as much as “Jesus Christ” which would imply the redeeming blood, resurrection from death and eternal life. It is before this name (ie “Jesus Christ”) that Satan trembles in fear.

I am pretty sure there will be difference in orthopraxy on the ground (eg exorcism) if we perceived the above to be true. However, “Jesus” or “Yeshua” which means salvation is the name, while “Christ” which means the Messiah is not the surname but used as a honorific title. So technically speaking, “Jesus Christ” is not the first and last name. In fact, in Philippians 2:10, every knee should bow at the name of “Jesus”. It is about understanding who Jesus is, the one from Nazareth and was crucified, died, resurrected and ascended, and is the one who is able to deliver us, that is more important. It is not important whether you refer to Him as “Jesus”, “Jesus Christ”, “Yeshua” and in what mother tongue. It is about understanding who He is and our faith in the Son of God that is more critical.

For more information on the name of Jesus, which was a common name during the New Testament time, you may like to explore “Call His Name Yeshua” by First Fruits of Zion

(5) Financial Blessings and Healings

Let me state categorically that I believe that God can choose to bless us financially or heal us physically on this side of earth. But I also believe that the same God can choose to withhold financial blessings and physical healings, so that greater glory can be accomplished through the path of suffering, cross bearing and dying to self. There can be abundant life and victory as we overcome in the midst of “suffering”. And even for those who are blessed financially or healed physically, they would still have to face physical death anyway and are unable to bring any earthly wealth along with them.

The book says, on page 141-142, that poverty is a curse manifested after the Fall. I agree that today’s poverty is a result of sins after the Fall, made worse by greed of people and the economic structures the people in poverty are in. The book goes on to say that because Jesus lived in poverty to redeem us from poverty, we can lead an abundant life. Depends on how one defines poverty, many of us would not fall under today’s definition of poverty, and are not in poverty by any standard. The matter at heart is whether we are contended with what we already have. There is nothing wrong to want to improve your living condition through financial gains to be reassuring, but the crux is not to chase after riches of the world but Christ instead. It is also a reasonable question whether Joseph’s family could be considered in poverty since carpentry appears to be a trade in demand at that time.

And on page 145-147, the book says that the Bible tells you that diseases come upon you because of your sins. Hence, if we discard our sins and do what is right is the sight of God, no disease will come upon us, because God protects us from them. As mentioned earlier, God is able to heal us physically or protect us from diseases, but He can also choose to allow it, according to His wisdom. In John 9:1-3, Jesus explained that it is not because of the sins of the man or his parents that he was born blind, but so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Hence, it is not necessary that diseases come upon us because of sins, though our sins can court diseases. The insistence that diseases is only because of sins, is one of the charismatic excesses. It can be subjected to abuses when healing does not take place after one is being prayed for.

If you are among those who believe or want to believe in supernatural miracles but are lost in the charismatic waves and practices, “Post Charismatic” by Rob McAlpine will probably interest you.

(6) Salvation and Works

Perhaps the biggest gripe I have regarding the book pertains to the relationship between faith and works. On page 214-215, the book says that if we read the Bible carefully, we will find that some people who claim to believe in God are not saved (referring to the parable of ten virgins). So even if people may claim to have faith, not everyone may be saved as indicated clearly in the Bible. Hence, we would then know the kind of life we have to live in order to be saved (my emphasis). It is phrases like this that makes me wonder whether the quality of translation is questionable.

The biblical and protestant understanding of salvation by faith does not throw out good works or fruit of Spirit, but insists that such works or fruits are the necessary result and evidence of faith. In short, you don’t do good works or bear fruits in order to be saved. Rather, you do good works and bear fruits because you are saved. To say that we have to live a certain kind of live in order to be saved, is mixing faith and works together as Catholicism does. While I can appreciate the exhortations to produce fruits and works, it is extremely important to distinguish between between faith and works and their relationship, because of its downstream impact in christian living. For example, can we say for certain whether our good deeds are motivated by love or self-interest?

Such mixing of faith and works can be further seen on page 228, where the book says that salvation can be lost. To illustrate, the Holy Spirit fades in the hearts of those who commit sins deliberately, and these people will lose their faith and do evil under the influence of the devil. Eventually, the Holy Spirit will completely disappear, and they cannot be saved because they cannot repent and their names will be erased from the Book of Life. Alternatively, if we view such persons through the lens of faith alone, one would have to question whether such persons were genuine believers to begin with.

A good place to start with, regarding the genuine and false conversion, would be Ray Comfort’s “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” and “True and False Conversion”.

Concluding Remarks

As mentioned earlier, “The Message of the Cross” by Jaerock Lee provided me a chance to reflect on the various topics regarding the christian faith, and it’s a good personal reflection for starting this new year. Since the book will probably be translated into many more languages in time to come, I hope the publisher will give more focus on the translation works.

This late review is based on the free copy graciously given by Joseph Park from the Manmin Central Church some years back, and I am ashamed to honour that commitment only now.

A copy of this blog post can be downloaded here.

He Rolled The Stone Away

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 07:44:00 +0000

When Jacob came to the land of the eastern peoples in Genesis 29:1-3, he saw a well with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. There was also a stone over the mouth of the well, and the stone was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

It is interesting to note that there were three flocks of sheep, especially if you recall what Jesus said in John 10:16, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” So who are the three flocks of sheep? In my view, one of the flocks is referring to the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) prior to the crucification of Jesus. These are people who were commended for their faith (Hebrews 11:39-40), but did not received what had been promised back then. If they are living today, we could probably addressed them as followers of the Way. The other two flocks would be the messianic Jews and messianic Gentiles, post-crucification. Together, they are actually one flock with one Shepherd, but separated by time and ethnicity.

Another interesting description to note is the watering of sheep from the well. This parallels John 4:5-13, where Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink, offered her and offers us the spring of water welling up to eternal life. And if you haven’t noticed, it is by Jacob’s well that John 4 unfolds.

John 4:5-13
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jacob, a type of Messiah, when he saw Rachel and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep (Genesis 29:9-10). This is a striking foreshadow to the rolling away of stone to the tomb of Jesus. The only difference: Jacob rolled the stone away and had to put it back, but the stone to the tomb of Jesus was rolled away forever. Jesus doesn’t need to put it back into place, and the living water will continue welling up for eternity, for all who will believe (three flocks).

Matthew 28:1-2 - After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

Mark 16:2-4 - Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

Luke 24:1-3 - On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

John 20:1 - Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

So even as you are busy making preparations for your parties and celebrations this Christmas season, have you received the spring of water welling up to eternal life? We all need water to survive and at some point in time, our thirst will be greater felt for different things at different stages of our lives. But while we may be thirsty for various things in life such as career, acceptance, romance etc, and indeed they may satisfy us for some time being, none of these things that we chase after will be able to satisfy us forever. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can truly satisfy you and offer you water that you will never thirst. He rolled the stone away forever, so that you could partake the living water. As you come to Jacob’s well today, do you desire this living water?

The Stone

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 09:04:00 +0000

In Genesis 28:10-22, Jacob saw in his dream, the majestic stairway to heaven, angels of God ascending and descending, and even the Lord Himself, during his travel to Haran. While reading “The Concealed Light” by Dr. Tsvi Sadan, a book about the names of the Messiah in Jewish sources, it brought to my attention regarding the stone mentioned in this passage.

It was mentioned in Genesis 28:11 that Jacob took of the stones [plural] of Bethel as pillows and lay down to sleep. And in Genesis 28:18, Jacob took the stone [singular] and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. It is interesting to note that before the dream, the reference to stones is plural. And after the dream, the reference to the stone is singular. If you check the various translations, you would notice that the literal and older translations tend to follow this trend, while the newer translations tend to harmonize Genesis 28:11.

One way of harmonizing, is to suggest that Jacob merely took one out of the many stones prior to his dream. But we would not know for certain whether this is indeed true. What we do know is that Genesis 28:11 referenced itself to stones [plural] even if Jacob took one out of many, while Genesis 28:18 referenced itself to stone [singular]. After reading a Jewish commentry in “The Concealed Light” regarding the stones and stone, the apparent inconsistency may not be so inconsistent after all, but telling a story instead. In my view, it is telling a story about Christ and His Church.

According to 1 Peter 2:5, believers are living stones being built into a spiritual house. Bethel in the context of Genesis 28 is about the presence of the Lord (Genesis 28:16), and more specifically the house of God (Genesis 28:17, 22). Do you think that the plurality of stones in Genesis 28:11 is a scribal error, or is it a subtle hint at believers (many living stones) being the Church (spiritual house of God)? And if indeed the Church is the spiritual house of God, the Church also has the keys (Matthew 16:19) to the gate of heaven (Genesis 28:17) as seen in Jacob’s dream.

In this light, the stone in Genesis 28:18 emphasizes that there is only one Church, which is the Body of Christ. There is only one Church or Body, regardless of the numbers of living stones (believers). The Stone is also Christ Himself, being the chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), the living Stone (1 Peter 2:4) and stumbling Rock (1 Peter 2:8). And as allude to in Genesis 28:18, He is also the pillar of the Church, or the Head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). Not forgetting the anointing oil (Genesis 28:18), the oil symbolises the empowering Spirit who consecrates and sets the Church apart for Christ (Genesis 28:22).

While Jacob, a type of the Messiah, had stones to laid down his head, Jesus explicitly expressed that the Son of Man has no place to lay His head (Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58). It is an inviting statement for you to be part of the spiritual house of God, a place for the Lord’s Headship to rest upon. As the Lord speaks into your life and opens your eyes to see the stairway to heaven, will the living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, be your God today and forevermore?

Biblical Evolution: From Fish to Sheep

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 01:46:00 +0000

Breaking News – Richard Dawkins was right when he said that your very distant grandfather was a fish.

According to the Scripture, human beings are fish in the sea (Hab 1:14). They are a clueless, ignorant and messy school of fish. And the Wicked Foe pulls all of them up with hooks and catches them with net (Hab 1:15). The New Testament concurs that human beings are fish because Jesus sent out the disciples to fish for people (Mark 1:17, Matt 4:19). There was even a description of the Kingdom of Heaven to be like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish (Matt 13:47). The fish are of many kinds in terms of size, shape, colors and flavours, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea (Ezek 47:10). So it was right to say that our forefather were fish.

And here lies the greatest secret of the Scripture, the fish had evolved biblically to become sheep! You have to appreciate the scientific fact that it is hard to find an example of evolution from kind to kind. Based on the pro-evolution Scripture, Jesus is the great Shepherd (Heb 13:20) and believers are sheep who listen to His voice (John 10:27). Once we were fish lost in the massive sea, but now we are transformed into fluffy sheep and have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Pet 2:25). This is truly divine evolution, from fish to sheep. The greatest show on earth. Bah.. baa.. meh…

Review: Amal (Movie)

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 07:26:00 +0000

“Sometimes the poorest of men are the richest.”

AMAL is an excellent movie filmed in New Delhi, provoking thoughts on wealth, greed and contentment. The lead character was an auto-rickshaw driver whose name was Amal Kumar. Amal was a satisfied and honest fellow who went by the metre rates, despite his poor family background. At one point in the movie, Amal sold his rickshaw to a local gangster, in order to pay for the operations of a beggar girl who was knocked down by car. The girl died on the operating table, despite Amal’s care and concerns.

The movie began to flow when a disguised rich man boarded Amal’s auto-rickshaw one day. The rich man took noticed of Amal’s good character during the ride and was surprised that Amal would reject the insignificant fare change as tips. The rich man was impressed with Amal and subsequently willed his estate to Amal, on the condition that Amal be found within one month. Otherwise, the estate would be distributed to the rich man’s two sons who were good-for-nothing. As the story developed, one of the sons murdered the rich man’s business partner when the business partner decided to withdraw from their earlier agreement not to locate and identify Amal as the preferred successor to the rich man’s estate. The movie progressed between the struggle of the rich man’s two sons, business partner and lawyer, and the love story of Amal and Pooja who did not spared her dowry to help Amal fixed an abandoned auto-rickshaw so he could continue his trade.

Towards the end of the movie, the lawyer managed to find Amal and passed him the rich man’s letter to read. However, the lawyer was distracted by a phone call regarding the death of the business partner, and did not notice Amal’s leaving. Amal’s mind was pre-occupied with his date with Pooja, which was about to start soon. When returning to his auto-rickshaw, Amal gave that letter to a homeless girl on the street when she asked for some paper to draw on. The homeless girl noticed the writing on the paper and thought it might be an important document. And then it was revealed that Amal could not read and would not have known what he had missed. The movie ended with Amal and Pooja both smiling in the auto-rickshaw, and the rich man wondering what the man who did not want the meagre tip would do with three billions.

The biggest strength of this movie, lies in the superb performance of the cast and especially Amal. Given the script, the lead character tend to appear as idealistic and unreal, and it will be difficult to portray the lead character as convincing as possible. But Amal was simply natural and reflective of the image demanded by the script. Amal’s acting make it believable, that such a person could exist! And this actually allows the viewer to ponder more deeply on the issue of wealth and a person’s contentment. Twists of events at key points of the movie, also made the movie unpredictable and more enjoyable. The movie is suited for family viewing as there is no sexual scene or extreme violence in the movie (even the murder scene was filmed indirectly and without blood).

As I watched Amal’s misfortune, most of which he willingly burdened upon himself, I confess that I took pleasure dreaming on what I would do if I inherited the three billions. But I am also reminded of the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12). Is it possible for a person like Amal, to have such great humility to the extent that insults from client were not taken to heart, and still provide excellent customer service from the heart? Is it possible for a person to accept a reduction in agreed fair fare and then to reject a small tip? Is it possible for a person to care for a stranger to such an extent that huge debts were shouldered and mortgaged with the trade tool depended on for a living, in order to cover for the stranger’s expenses? Is it possible that such a person exists altogether? It is beyond a reasonable person, but perhaps, maybe, a Christ follower should be like this down the Indian road? I am reminded of the book, “The Christ of the Indian Road” by E. Stanley Jones.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Overall, AMAL is among my top must-recommend favourites.

Love, Lambs and Sheep

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 06:48:00 +0000

In John 21:15-17, Jesus reinstated Peter three times. Many of us are familiar of the reinstatement, and could recall that Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times just earlier (John 18:13-27). The best of all, Jesus foresaw Peter’s denial (John 13:38). However, most English translations would not do justice to the subtle meanings between the conversation of Jesus and Peter in the original language. If we look at the Greek, we would realise that the English word “love” was translated from two different Greek words. I have rendered the two key pairs of Greek words as below.

Jesus: “Simon, son of John, do you love (agapas) me more than these?”
Peter: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love (philō) you.”
Jesus: “Feed (boske) my lambs (arnia).”

Jesus: “Simon, son of John, do you love (agapas) me?”
Peter: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love (philō) you.”
Jesus: “Tend (poimaine) my sheep (probatia).”

Jesus: “Simon, son of John, do you love (phileis) me?”
Peter: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (philō) you.”
Jesus: “Feed (boske) my sheep (probatia).”

Jesus used a strong word (agapas) when He asked if Simon Peter loves Him the first two times. The agape love is an unconditional love, the kind of love that Christ modelled for us. It is a love that is self-sacrificial with a willingness to lay down one’s life if necessary. This divine love is different from storge (natural liking), eros (sexual), and philia (friendship), as illustrated in the book “The Four Loves” by C. S. Lewis. It is no wonder that Jesus chose such a strong word precisely because Peter thought he could and would lay down his life for Jesus earlier (John 13:37). John 21:15-17 is essentially a continuation of that conversation they had before the cruxification and resurrection.

This is in contrast to Peter’s response who consistently used a word (philō) that is of a lower intensity. Having not been able to live up to what he had spoken, Peter gained an awareness of self and understand his weaknesses better. Perhaps, we should learn from Peter’s humility and not overrate ourselves, consciously or sub-consciously. Peter learnt it the hard way, but we could learn from him instead. And Jesus, as loving and comforting as always, chose to cease using such a strong word (agapas) but a word (phileis) that Peter could more readily identified with. Peter would have realised it immediately, besides the point that he was asked three times in parallel to his denial of Jesus. Peter was certainly affirmed when Jesus spoke about the kind of death (John 21:18-19) he would face, hinting that Peter would possess agape love.

And each time Jesus asked Peter if he loves Him, He gave a commission to Peter. The commissions were in relation to Peter’s declaration of his love for Jesus. In John 14:15, Jesus said "If you love me, keep my commands.” And in John 14:23, Jesus also mentioned that "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” So Jesus was essentially asking Peter to walk the talk, and guided Peter on the things to be done if he truly loves Him. Because anyone who does not love Jesus will not do these things (John 14:24). But this does not mean that anyone who does these things truly loves Jesus. For it is possible to go through the motion of outward actions, without an inward experience of love that motivates and powers our actions. The first love (Rev 2:4) is the key to everything else.

Interestingly, Jesus used the word (boske) to illustrate feeding the lambs (arnia) in the first instance. This is in contrast to the third instance when He used the word (boske) to illustrate feeding the sheep (probatia). A reasonable question then would be to ask about the difference between a lamb and a sheep. Another question to ask, is the difference between feeding (boske) and tending (poimaine) mentioned in the second instance. And why is tending associated with the sheep rather than the lambs. The obvious difference between the lambs and sheep would be the age. Lambs are younger sheep or sheep are grown up lambs. In spiritual terms, lambs are young believers and sheep are matured believers. In physical terms, lambs refer to the children, sheep refers to the adults.

Of interest, the word (boske) was used only a few times in the New Testament. And when they were used, they were all referring to the feeding of swine or pigs in the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 8:30-33, Mark 5:11-14, Luke 8:32-34). The Gospel of John is the only book that associated it to lambs and sheep. Since it is the nature of swine or pigs to gobble down anything that you throw at them, even pearls, I would like to suggest that perhaps John was hinting that it is the same with the believers in the sense that the true lambs and sheep are hungry for spiritual food. The commission to Peter was to feed them, not with earthly food, but with the spiritual word of God and especially the Word of God - Christ Himself.

As for the word (poimaine), it was used on occasions pertaining to Jesus being the Shepherd or actual shepherding of sheep. In two particular instances, it was referring to the shepherding of God’s flock. The two instances are in Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2. The latter is more informative than the former since it is an epistle of Peter, of which Peter felt it was necessary to also mention the right characters of the shepherds to God’s flock. The commission to Peter then, was to watch over the sheep and not to lord it over them. The shepherds are not to take everything upon themselves, but to supervise, watch over and guide the sheep in the right direction where necessary.

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” ~ Acts 20:28

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve.” ~ 1 Peter 5:2

Putting together, Jesus charged Peter to feed the children and young believers with spiritual food. They need the spiritual food to grow up and mature in Christ (Eph 4:11-16). Through the feeding, they will also be equipped for good works. And they will require advices, guidance, feedback and support in their various area of ministries. But more importantly, even as they are now mature, they still need to be sustained with spiritual food. They still need to see the vision of Christ in order to be encouraged and empowered by the Spirit in their walk with God. They still need to be reminded of their love and passion for Jesus. Just like when they were children and young believers.

At the end of the day, the questions that Jesus posed to Peter are relevant to everyone. Jesus was not asking Peter only, and only Peter, to love Him and to feed/tend the lambs/sheep. It was an offer of privileges to everyone who love Him. What would your response be, if Jesus asks you today, “Do you love (agapas) me?”

Horse Riding

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 03:10:00 +0000

I do not know about your credentials in equestrianism, but I was a virgin during my maiden ride last May in Hunter Valley (New South Wales), Australia. I remember the instructor was a lady and she had assigned a gentle, light brown mare to my wife who also had no prior riding experience. I could vividly recall that my wife had ease mounting the mare with the support of the guide and a plastic drum. But not for me. The instructor had allocated a black sturdy-looking stallion named Ben Ben (or sounds alike) to me, and I had some challenges when mounting Ben Ben. That was the harbinger of my death ride.

I have driven a sedan, a bigger locomotive than a sedan and a tank running on tracks. I also have driving experience in both local and overseas. Though I confess that I am not good at unicycle and bicycle, I have sufficient confidence to harness and control creatures that move on four wheels. So I thought, what’s so hard about riding four legged mammals. I was terribly wrong. After mounting the horses, the instructor guided us along the designated path for a leisure ride. The instructor led the way, and my wife followed in the middle, with me at the back.

During the ride, Ben Ben appeared hungry and was being distracted many times by the grasses at the sides of the trail. Ben Ben left the group on many occasions to graze at the sides, leaving me far behind the main forces. It was sure tough and took a lot of strength to pull back the reins and manoeuvred Ben Ben back on the trail. It was a tricky thing to do because Ben Ben needed to speed up to close the gap, but he had a tendency to overtake and take the lead instead. I was pulling back on the reins most of the time to restrain his speed and I could sense that Ben Ben was extremely unhappy with me. After all, an hungry horse is already an angry horse.

When we left the plains and entered a more forested area, something unseen scared the horses, and Ben Ben suddenly speeded up and almost did a full rearing, at about 70 degree standing on his hind legs. I almost lost my balance and risked landing on the ground on my back. It was quite an experience but definitely not a pleasant one. I thought I could have really die out there. For the rest of the trail, Ben Ben also seemed eager to jump over small water flowing and ledges. I just had to continue holding on tightly to the reins and be prepare to pull back hard, I mean really hard.

On the way back to the ranch, just some horse steps away in the open area, Ben Ben did not fail to exhaust me. As there was a large amount of space, Ben Ben attempted multiple times to speed up and ovetake. For the last time, I had to hold on the reins very tightly and consistently to keep him under control because once I loosed the reins a little only, he would start to go wild. I hanged on until I was safe within the enclosed area. And my legs were having sea sick and were shaking faintly but uncontrollably when dismounting, which the instructor took noticed and gave me a smile.

Through this memorable experience, I now better understand why horses and chariots were a key factor in ancient warfares. There is great horsepower within each horse waiting to be harnessed. Yet the Scripture says that we should not place our confidence in horses and chariots (Psa 20:7). Psa 33:17 says that a horse is a false hope for victory and it does not deliver anyone by its great strength. Ben Ben sure did almost kill me instead of delivering me, but I could not deny the strength of the horse. And yet, the horse is false hope of victory.

This must surely means that the true hope for victory would be so much more powerful and stronger than horses. It is not man (Psa 147:10) but the Lord who alone can deliver us. Isn't true that most of the times, we were like Ben Ben, unwilling to follow the Master's leading at times, distracted from the narrow path other times, and relying on our own horsepower and instinct to do whatever we want when the reins are let down. We are afterall not too much different from Ben Ben in the eyes of God.

It is no wonder then that powerful horses are mentioned in Revelation 19:11 when John saw heaven opened. "And behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war." At the end, we will celebrate He who sits on the white horse, but I am sure that horse will not be Ben Ben.

Shema Yisrael

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 03:56:00 +0000

Deuteronomy 6:4 – "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.”

The Shema is an important prayer recited in the Jewish synagogues, and often the portion of Scripture that are first taught to the Jewish children. Jews would also recite the Shema in the morning and evening on a daily basis. All these practices reflect the significance that the Jews place upon the Shema. The Shema starts with “Shema Yisrael” which literally means “Hear O Israel”, requiring Israel to pay attention and listen up to what comes next. The Hebrew phrase for Deut 6:4 is “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad." Since a lot of blood has been spilled over the doctrinal meaning of “echad”, I would instead focus more on “Shema Yisrael” here.

Most believers would be familiar with the transfiguration of Jesus as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 17:1–9, Mark 9:2-8 and Luke 9:28–36). Briefly, Jesus was transfigured on some high mountain emitting radiance and white light in the full sight of Peter, James and John. Moses and Elijah also appeared and seemed to be talking with Jesus about His departure. When Peter suggested to build tabernacles for the three of them, a bright cloud overshadowed all of them and the Father spoke out of the cloud, testifying about His Son Jesus. The specific words of the Father were:

“This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” (Mark 9:7)
“This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35)
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matt 17:5)

Based on the above verses, we could tell that (1) the Father views Jesus as His Son, (2) the Son is His beloved, (3), the Son is His Chosen One, (4), the Son is pleasing in His sight, and (5) the rest of us are commanded by the Father to hear and listen to the Son Jesus. Peter in 2 Peter 1:17-18 also collaborated that this incident was no hallucination and what the three scribes had documented in the Synoptic Gospels is correct. But what has the transfiguration incident got to do with the Shema?

If you recall the backdrop for Deuteronomy 6, the Israelites were just given the Ten Commandments from God through Moses, who went up the Holy Mountain to receive the commandments. Moses acted as an agent to relay the commandments to Israel as a nation. Similarly, when Jesus went up to a high mountain and became transfigured, one wouldn’t need much creative imagination to see the parallel between the experience of Moses and that of Jesus. Also remember the manna in the wilderness, and the two loaves and five fishes? And there was the heavenly command for all to pay attention and listen to Jesus.

I often wonder if there was a divine play of words here, such that God was asking the nation Israel to listen to Jesus who is the true Israel. Was it a coincident that Jesus gathered 12 disciples when the nation Israel had 12 tribes? In Isaiah, Israel was portrayed as God’s servant, a light unto nations, and salvation until the end of the earth (Isa 42:6, Isa 49:6, Isa 60:3). Messianic believers would readily confess that Jesus fits all the descriptions and had done what the nation Israel did not manage to accomplish. He is the Suffering Servant, Light of the world, and Salvation to Jews and Gentiles. Now, who is Israel?

Deuteronomy 6:5 – “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

The Shema continues to instruct us that we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It doesn’t take long to recall that Christ said exactly the same thing about the greatest commandment and the greater commandment in the New Testament (listed below).

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matt 22:37-40)
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Mark 12:29-31)
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” (Luke 10:25-28)

Before we get away thinking that Christ had invented and expanded the scope and definition of loving God to cover the neighbours, God had already commanded in Leviticus 19:18 that “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." There was no new element introduced by Christ. Loving God and people was in fact a good summary of the entire Law and Prophet, endorsed by Christ. This goes to show that while the Old Testament is about the Old Covenant, the Old Covenant is not entirely void of love and grace, something which stood out even more under the New Covenant in the New Testament.

Deuteronomy 6:6 – “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart."

And the Shema continues to paint the future picture of the indwelling Spirit, something that the prophet Jeremiah and Joel saw post-Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9). A brief survey of the Scripture is more than sufficient to show the fulfilment of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ.

"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jer 31:33)
"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” (Joel 2:28)
“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Cor 3:3)

At the end of this reading, you would have to agree that even within the three short introductory verses of the Shema, there is an abundance of treasures buried within to be discovered. The rewards is Eternal Life (John 17:3). Apparently, Deut 6:4 was not the first instance where Israel was asked to pay attention and listen up. It just happened that this portion of the Scripture forms the Shema. But definitely, it is not the last for all of us.

Shema Yisrael, Shema Yeshua.

Paradox of Prayers

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 03:58:00 +0000

In the book of Philippians, Paul encouraged the believers to pray and present our requests to God with thanksgiving. It is easy to give thanks for something that has already been settled, be it God’s providence in meeting a financial crisis or physical/emotional healings received. But how do we give thanks for something that has yet to be resolved, amidst all the worries, anxiety and onslaughts by the enemies? What exactly should we be thankful for?

“The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:5-7

As I ponder over this question, I realise that first and foremost we should be thankful that we can turn to God whom we could pray to. In the beginning of verse 5, it was declared the Lord is near. Since Paul was still alive when he authored the book, we can be sure that the Lord was taken up not too long ago (Acts 1:9). In Paul’s timeframe, the Lord is near in the sense that He will be coming again very soon for the believers and hence He is near. The Lord is also near in terms of proximity since He is omnipresent. But He is all the more near in the sense that He loves and cares for us, as if He is standing right next to us or even carrying us though our difficult moments. So the near-ness could be seen in the light of time, space and divine relationship confounded together into the simple word - near. We can be thankful that we could pray to God who is near.

In Phil 1:13, we understand that Paul was imprisoned for the sake of Christ when he authored the book of Philippians. And this prisoner would soon be put on death row. It is in this life threatening context that Paul encouraged the believers to give thanks when we present our requests to God. What is in the mind of this great man of God when he said that? If we could peep into the mind of this godly man, we could learn much and better respond to the life challenges that we are facing. As I think about it, I wonder if Paul had an eternal frame of mind when he said that. Let me unpack what I think is the case.

As we read Acts 19:21, we know that Paul had indicated his wish of going to Rome for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, the Lord revealed Himself to Paul that indeed he must testify about Him in Rome (Acts 23:11). Paul knew very well that going to Rome to preach about Christ was his personal life mission. Rome was the very place that God called him to. We could easily pick up the scents throughout the book of Philippians. And Paul did not fail to mention the fruits of his works, that even those who belong to Caesar’s household had come to faith in the Lord (Phil 4:22). He mentioned it in order to encourage the believers. In short, when the roman parliamentarians were debating over what to do with him, and probably with the Jewish leaders cheering behind his imprisonment, I think Paul was as calm as a toad in the sun. Paul was contended because he knew he was in the will of God (Phil 1:12). He had the eternal frame of mind and understanding, and was not distracted by the environment and happenings. Hence, he could say that, “in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Being in the will of God, means seeing the bigger picture from God’s perspective and realising the purpose of our lives. It means having a sense of the right direction that you are heading towards. No doubt there will always be ups and downs in our lives, yet you can still take comfort in the fact that you are heading towards the right direction, and be thankful for being in the right direction. It is something that we can be thankful about, even as we pray over the finer details and struggles. Isn't true that there will always be opposition for being in the right direction? Even Jesus faced opposition during His rescue mission on earth because of the Enemy, and I am sure it happened to Paul's missional trips as well. While it does not render the struggles and challenges any less real, it does provide a new perspective of looking at earthly things, drawing strength and grace from the spiritual realm. Hence, we can always give thanks for something that we are still praying over.

Review: Fallen Pastors (by Ray Carroll)

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 03:19:00 +0000

“Approximately 1,500 pastors leave their assignments each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention within their local congregations.” - Fallen Pastors

Ray Carroll was a former Southern Baptist pastor who fell from grace by committing adultery. He subsequently authored the book “Fallen Pastors: Finding Restoration in a Broken World” based on his experience and is extending help to other fallen pastors and hurt churches. Ray currently works as a sports medicine professional. He is now married to Allison and have two daughters and one step-daughter. Ray blogs at Fallen Pastor while Allison blogs at Fallen Pastor’s Wife.

I can’t remember where I chanced upon the book title, but when I first saw the title I told myself that I had to get the book and read it. So, I did exactly that and devoured the unclean book within three days before the first day of the week starts. I am ~~disappointed~~ glad that even though there were 12 real life case studies documented (including Ray’s), there is absolutely nothing inside which is sexually obscene by my conservative standard. The life stories, in various contextual challenges of their own, were factually bearing witness as standalone chapter each and are proven to be sobering and powerful monuments for lessons to be learnt and reminded of when we are facing the same temptation. After all, we are all depraved beings capable of committing the same evil as Hitler did, not to mention moral failures.

Some illuminating statistics from various researches and surveys, extracted from the book, are listed below:

Work Challenge
- 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses are discouraged and dealing with depression
- 71% stated they were burned out and battle depression beyond fatigue on a weekly and even a daily basis
- 70% say they have a lower self-esteem now compared to when they started in ministry
- 57% said they would leave if they had a better place to go (including secular work)
- 40% of pastors and 47% of their spouses report they are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules and unrealistic expectations

Marital Challenge
- 81% of pastors report insufficient time with their spouse
- 80% believed pastoral ministry affected their families negatively
- 77% said they felt they did not have a good marriage
- 64% report communication difficulties

- 46% report sexual problems

- 37% confessed to having been involved in inappropriate sexual behaviours with someone in the church
- 30% said they had either been in an on-going affair or one-time sexual encounter with a parishioner

People Challenge
- 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend
- 40% reported serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month

In the book, Ray highlighted some common patterns or red flags of becoming fallen pastors. I believe the main ones are (1) Isolation, (2) High Expectations, (3) Poor Relationship with Spouse, and (4) Original Mistress. In my opinion, (1) and (2) are tied to work nature of the pastoral office as generally pastors have little real friends and face high expectations, which are often catalyst to (3) and subsequently leads to (4) and for some, ultimately consummate in adulterous relationships. Ray described it perfectly in the book, and I have extracted a summarized portion below for your sampling.

“Many pastors enter into a harmful culture where they are esteemed for their talent and eventually idolized. The pastor is given high expectation and over exerts himself to meet those expectations. In doing so, he strives to meet the needs of the church over all else in his life to please her. The church becomes his first mistress. Over time, as he pushes himself to find acceptance and appreciation from the church, he finds that his spouse does not give him the same amount of accolades for him at home. Their communication breaks down as he may view her as moving in a different spiritual direction. He spends more time fulfilling the needs of his ministry than his family, or that may be the perception. This is the trap that many ministers fall into as they chase after their first mistress, the church. As the church eventually runs out of praise for him, he may become burned out, angry or fall into sexual temptation.”

I would recommend for every believer to read the book, including those aspiring to be pastors, newly appointed pastors, and senior pastors alike. If you think that it is not possible for you to fall, remember that pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov: 16:18). While not every pastors or ministers will fall from grace as did Ray, which later shine on him again, the statistics themselves are mind-staggering. I hope the hard cold statistics will move more people to rethink about the current church system and the pastoral office which is generally perceived as biblical.

If you have ever looked at some of the elaborated advertisements for hiring pastors, including the detailed scope of being an aspiring visionary, firey preacher, persuasive evangelist, wonders worker, wise counselor, to visiting the sick, marrying the alive, burying the dead, comforting the sad, counselling the weak, encouraging the depressed, reconciling conflicts, confronting the strong-headed, perseverance to do all the mentioned, being able to sing and play musical instrument as preferred etc, and not mentioning being expected to be theologically sound (according to denominational party lines), have strong prayer life, solid faith and absolutely no doubts at all, and also expected to be immunized against any forms of temptations and above reproach etc, you will immediately gain enlightenment that political leaders and CEOs of great companies would not fit the bills of these advertisements. Even though the Scripture talks about different spiritual gifts for different people (1 Cor 12) such as the five-fold ministries (Eph 4:11), it seems that these advertisements are trying to squeeze every worth out of the monies down to the last cent by asking for people who are 5-in-1 and the more the merrier. If that is a picture of an ideal, it is an ideal intended only for the church as a whole who alone will exhibit the full range of spiritual gifts on a sustainable basis, as the Body of Christ. The advertisements aim to recruit Jesus, but pastors are mere redeemed sinners with imperfect personalities.

Perhaps we are doing a great disservice to our brothers and sisters who sacrifice themselves into the current ministerial positions which are not meant to be what we think they are. And to the brothers and sisters who enter into formal ministries (secular or not) with less than honourable intentions, God is able to change our hearts and we can always start anew. May the heavenly Father lead us not into temptation but Christ, and deliver us from the evil through the power of the Spirit. Amen.

Review: Groundhog Day (Movie)

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 03:15:00 +0000

Groundhog Day is not a christian film, nor is there any explicit reference to the christian faith. However, it is a classic variant of the time travel genre that explores the meaning and purpose of life, allowing the viewers to reflect on life meaning and purpose, and about the consequences of the choices made.

In the film, weatherman Phil Connors went to a small town in Pennsylvania with his crew to feature the annual celebration of groundhog day on 2 Feb for the third time in a row. Being an egoistic guy, Phil didn’t really like the assignment nor the town. After finishing his job, he found himself stuck in the town due to a surprise blizzard. So he stayed overnight and woke up at 6am exactly in the morning, only to find 2 Feb repeating and looping itself, even if he died. As in all time travel movies, Phil retained the memory of “yesterdays” while the other characters did not. There is no explanation given in the film as to why 2 Feb will keep repeating itself. There is also no indication as to why groundhog day is that special day. However, the story progressed well without the need to resolve the logic behind it, all thanks to the good plot and acting of Phil.

Without going into the details, we can see that Phil initially went through a phase of confusion, disbelief and anxiety, as he found himself encountering the same irritating persons and boring events every same day. He started to lose self-confidence and became less sarcastic in the way he talked, when he had accepted his fate of no escape. During a conversation with two drunkards, he henceforth gained enlightenment to do whatever he desired without the fear of consequence (since the day will restart itself), including womanising (slight sexual reference), reckless driving and robbery for which he was thrown behind bars. But soon he started to experience an emptiness in his soul after going through the same backward life over and over again. All these times, we could sense the difference in his attitude towards life in his reporting content of the groundhog day (yes, he still did his job every same day).

Since it is a part romance genre, Phil was attracted to his producer Rita in the middle of the movie. Phil made use of the repeating day to build his knowledge on Rita’s likings and preferences with a mental checklist. Phil schemed to seduce Rita using these information, but without success at each attempt. Phil was so disappointed that he started to take more drastic actions, including snatching the groundhog by force and committed suicide with it. But even subsequent suicidal attempts, such as tossing an electrical toaster into the filled bathtub, could not resolve the time loop.

Because it is also a part comedy, the ending turned out alright. Phil became more positive and started to use the time loop for the purpose of his skill development, including piano lessons, ice sculpturing lessons, french lessons, visiting the library and helping the townsfolk who were in need each same day. Phil ultimately realised the meaning of life and the source of satisfaction and joy. Phil understood that the biggest necessary change, was to change himself. And as in all good ending, Rita became attracted to the changed Phil, and Phil perfected 2 Feb and the day continued to tomorrow.

While Phil initially perceived the time loop as a trap of which he was the victim, I think the alternative is to perceive the time loop as a gracious chance to redo everything in the past, in order to achieve the ideal outcome on hindsight. In the real world, we do not have such privilege of undoing our pasts, so we have to be very mindful of the choices we made. It calls us to reflect deeper about the values behind the choices we made and their consequences, whether they have eternal values.

Overall, it is a very comedian time travel concept that will appeal to both fans of time traveling and comedy, but with profound implications on the reflection of our lives.

Fireworks in Heaven

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 09:48:00 +0000

One starry night when I looked out from the balcony, I saw beautiful fireworks beyond the foresty horizon. The fiery sparks were dancing in rhythm and their glory shining in the distant night sky. It was a pretty sight and captivating moment even though I was too far away to hear and feel the rippling explosions. It was so awesome that words could not describe fully the sight I saw.

As I broke free from the gaze, I observed that it was business as usual on the ground floor. People were strolling along the pathway, joggers hustled passed them and dogs barked occasionally. And of course, there was the bustling expressway with locomotives zooming passed relentlessly just beside the forests. All of them failed to notice the marvelous choreography pieced together by the fireworks, like a young girl performing on stage for the first time. The people did not realise the brilliant show on air, and the effort put in by the young girl to please them.

And so I thought, this is the perfect picture of the spiritual realm. In the Scripture, it was revealed that God raised the believers up with Christ and seated them with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). This has already happened in the heavenly or spiritual realm, even while the believers are still on earth. Elsewhere, the Scripture expounds on this truth and shows the way the believers should live their lives (Col 3:1-7, Eph 1:3-14).

Something is happening up there in the invisible realm, just like the fireworks. Yet how many people down here have realized the workings in the unseen? Most of us live as if nothing has ever happened in the spiritual realm, and we struggle a lot in our lives regarding various relationship challenges and life decisions. Sometimes it is an issue of self-control and other times the lack of wisdom. The point is being ignorant of the powers available to us as believers seated with Christ in the heavenly realm, we suffer and waste our lives unnecessarily on this side of heaven.

Are we able to see the victory that Christ had won and secured for us? Do not fall into the devil’s deceptions, which veil us from the truth. The good news is that the Holy Spirit is here to help and reveal things of God to us (Eph 1:17). Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” I would humbly suggest that we should stand on the shoulders of Christ, in order to see spiritual things better. We need to stop walking our own way and start looking up towards Him, and He will show us marvelous things.

Are we able to see the spiritual fireworks? Are we standing on high ground? Christ is the High Ground that allows us to see further and better, and much more. He is also the Holy Ground that sanctifies us and empowers us. And we are called to live in the most Holy and most High, what am amazing privilege given to us by grace!

Dying Like Christ

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:34:00 +0000

There are two deaths and two resurrections that the believer will experience. Firstly, the spiritual. Secondly, the physical.

When we first renounced our sins and place our faith in Christ the Messiah, we are called to die a spiritual death and to be raised up spiritually through the indwelling of the same Spirit who raised Jesus (Rom 8:11). In christian sub-cultures, we may sometimes refer to this spiritual death and resurrection as being born again (John 3:14), saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8), a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), or transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Col 1:13) etc. Basically they all mean the same thing, that Christ lives in the believer (Gal 2:20). And this spiritual death and resurrection is witnessed outwardly by going under the water baptism (death) and coming out of the water baptism (resurrection). The water baptism is actually a re-telling of Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom 6:3-5).

Then there is the physical death that all of us have to face some day, unless of course if you are living in the last of the last days. The other known exceptions are Enoch and Elijah, who did not face death, because of their intimacy with God. And there is a third death mentioned in the Scripture known as “second death” (Rev 2:11, Rev 20:6,14, and Rev 21:8), which the believer will not experience. So we always see that death precedes resurrection. Resurrection comes only after death. Even in God’ creation, the light came after the darkness. And there was evening, and there was morning. Likewise, when Jesus was hung on the cross, darkness was over the land. And this order of light after darkness applies to our christian living, which is primarily about dying to self so that Christ may increase.

Sometimes the duration of dying to self seems longer than usual, other times the deliverance comes almost immediately. But if there is no dying, there is no resurrection. If there is no brokenness in our spirits, there is no power from His Spirit. As pearls are formed though irritation, the journey of dying is a prelude to abundant and victorious living, just as how Christ emerged victorious after the crucifiction. If we want the victorious life offered in Christ, we will have to walk through the narrow gate and continues on the path of dying to self. There is no other way. The paradox of life and death can only be understood fully when we arrive in the kingdom of heaven proper.

Are we dying like Christ did voluntarily? The rest will follow.

Review: Blue Like Jazz (Movie)

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 04:30:00 +0000

Amazon’s Product Description

Based on the New York Times best seller that swept the nation, Blue Like Jazz is a groundbreaking film about finding yourself. Don (Marshall Allman), a pious nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, impulsively decides to escape his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at Reed College in Portland, one of the most progressive campuses in America. Reed's surroundings and eccentric student body prove to be far different from the environment from which he came, forcing him to embark on a journey of self- discovery to understand who he is and what he truly believes.

Blue Like Jazz is a movie based on the novel with the same title that is written by Don Miller. By mentioning Don, I am very certain that there are only three kind of responses, (1) have never heard of him before, (2) have read about him but not necessarily agreeing on everything, and (3) have concluded that he is not a christian or at least not in the traditional sense. Whether you like Don or not, the movie has generally been well received because it has an earthly element of realness rooted in the messy real world we that live in.

If you have been watching christian films for a long time, you would know that they tend to be censored, allowing only the right or wholesome words and idealistic in the flow of events such that you can predict what comes next almost all the time. But this is not the kind of world that we live in, right? The good news is that Blue like Jazz is not another christian film in that sense. Most of the time, I have difficulty guessing how the plot will develop or have speculated wrongly. Blue Like Jazz exposes you to the real world out there, especially for those cocooned within their own safe worlds.

“You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” - Morpheus

But this also means that it is not a family friendly movie, and I would advise parents to watch it first before they decide if their kids should be allowed to watch. There is no obscene filming, but one needs to be mature enough to practice being in the world but not of the world, in order to better appreciate the message behind the movie. Even if Blue Like Jazz is not about a movie exploring the christian faith, I would recommend it simply because of its cinematic and song tracks. It is a very good job done and I commend Steve Taylor for that.

Without significant spoiler, Blue Like Jazz follows the traditional unfolding of a story in the format of Setting, Conflict, Climax and Resolution (SCCR) which is mentioned in the movie itself. It is a basic concept and how powerful the story is depends largely on your interest in the story’s content or theme, the effectiveness in the ways of unfolding that story, and the perceived attractiveness of the characters. If we apply SCCR to the Scripture, we have the Setting and Conflict as early as in the garden of Eden, Climax in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Resolution in the last two chapters of the book of Revelation, and all the minor SCCRs sandwiched in between.

If I will to pick my number one film in 2012, it has to be Blue Like Jazz. I hope it is the same for you.

The Irreligious God

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Some time back during one of the gatherings, a brother was teaching and sharing with us on the life of Elijah. As the brother is a missionary to India, the sharing was sprinkled with life experience and testimonies of real situations. Below is an expanded version that is part of the sharing that the brother expounded using the life of Elijah.

In 1 Kings 17:1, we read that the prophet Elijah boldly declared a prolonged drought to king Ahab, which cannot be undone except by Elijah’s own word. How cool can that be? While it is not entirely clear whether the announcement was sanctioned by God, it was a bold statement to be made to the king or prime minister of the day. We could barely visualise how Ahab’s face would look like when he heard Elijah. By reading this verse alone, we could say that Elijah had a grand entrance to the hall of biblical fame, and one can probably expect more adrenaline-rushed events to take place after this verse, such as a cinematic clash between Elijah and the king’s royal forces with state of the art special effects.

But in 1 Kings 17:2, God commanded Elijah to run away and hide! It is an abrupt change of direction from the preceding introduction of Elijah. This is just not how we write scripts for novels or films, or expect to see, unless it’s a flashback technique perhaps. Who in the right mind will blast off with a big bang and hold back the horses at the same time? And it seems that from this moment onwards, even Obadiah had a difficult time convincing himself that Elijah had ceased his escapist hobby (1 Kings 18:9-14). What a dramatic turn of event!

And it was told to Elijah that he would drink from the brook and feast on the food supplied by ravens. If providing a brook for Elijah in the context of a prolonged drought does not amaze you, Disney-trained ravens probably will. Where else would you see ravens feeding human (no pun intended)? To make matter worse, the ravens were declared as unclean (Deut 14:14, Lev 11:15). Got it? They are unclean. Elijah, being an Israelite who understood ravens to be unclean, had to come to terms with the unclean birds supplying him food, under the direct commandments of God. I figure that Elijah’s face would not be too different from Ahab’s face. Elijah either had to conclude that the words were not from God, or leave his religious logics and perspectives at the altar and follow God without arguments.

It would have been a side episode in a long serial, if Elijah came out of hiding after this. But the brook dried up because of the drought. Did it come to Elijah as a surprise? Probably, because God had already given the brook to Elijah earlier. So did He change His mind or turn back His word? Shouldn’t the brook be the only blessed place overflowing with abundant water amidst the drought? After all, even the ravens were at His service. Surely, it wouldn’t be too difficult for God to perform such small acts. These must be playing in Elijah’s mind many times before the word of the Lord came to him to go to a gentile district (1 Kings 17:9). And there, from unclean birds to unclean gentiles. Shouldn’t Elijah take refuge in the homes of some faithful Israelites who did not bow before Baal, instead of taking refuge in the home of gentiles? It takes more than Windows 9 or OS X Mavericks to process the logics of God (Isa 55:8-9).

To complicate matters, God told Elijah that He orchestrated a widow there to supply him with food. I am not sure of your cultural context, but even within a more liberated cultural context like mine, people generally do not approve a man, who is a total stranger, to come under the roof of a widow. It speaks negatively about the widow’s reputation and her chastity, if not the man’s reputation for taking advantage and living off a widow. Even worse if the man claimed to be God-directed when the widow had already indicated that she planned to die with her son after their last meal. The police will probably classify it under cheating cases. And what’s more, the widow can be considered as one among the lowest social economic status back in the biblical days of Elijah. It can be akin to living off beggars or those who require financial assistance. Nevertheless, the widow’s faith is to be commended and indeed it is hard for the rich to enter heaven (Matt 19:23).

Until this point, it must be really hard for Elijah to reason and obey God. But both Elijah and the widow reaped a huge investment gain in the form of a jar of flour and jug of oil, infinite versions. It does pay off to obey God. Imagine the amount of money they could make by selling all those flour and oil! But the tragedy came as swiftly as the magical jar and jug appeared. The widow’s son contracted an illness so severe that he died (1 Kings 17:17). Surely, this is not the approach to evangelism and discipleship making. Elijah could have asked the widow to bring out the miracle jar and jug for display to the townsfolk. The widow could have given a testimony before Elijah fired off a sermon and finished with an altar call. And then Elijah could have setup a church and start bible study programs. No matter what, God forbids the son dying, leaving Elijah's credentials subjected to questionings. In fact, we read in 1 Kings 17:20 that Elijah had his share of doubts and he cried out to the Lord. It is not easy at that moment to understand the ways of God. If God will to lay out his cards and provide a detailed brief on His strategies and a glimpse into the future outcome, anybody can be a willing candidate to play the role of Elijah. But He is looking for those who walk by faith, just as the righteous shall live by faith (Heb 10:38).

For Elijah to obey God, he must have laid down every preconceived belief, preference and reasoning. The spirit of religiosity must be laid down, to allow the Spirit of God to move freely. If there is any spirit, it has to be His Spirit. To be able to think that God would use the unclean to support the supposedly clean, is clearly a leap beyond the boundary of the cherished religious traditions of the day. Even today, are we holding on to our pet doctrines and preferences regarding the non-essentials of the faith? Do we feel challenged when these beliefs are threatened? Are we upset when God interrupted our well thought out or implemented life plans? The thought of an irreligious God would probably unravel some to an uncomfortable state. For it is the human inclination to have something more predictable and repeatable. We are indeed creatures of habits.

However, most of the time we could only see the hand of God when we look back into history. If we have not obeyed at the specific moments, we would not be able to tell what could otherwise have been, not as though we could go travel back to the past to make changes. So it requires faith to put our trust in God when we cannot see the road ahead. It requires faith before we raise the knife to slaughter Isaac (Gen 22:10). And it requires faith to confront Pharaoh and leave Egypt (Exo 3:10). No wonder Elijah has the privilege of the cinematic departure with fire chariots, horses and whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11) and re-entrance with special lighting effect (Matt 17:3). Do we then have the faith to lay down all our plans and reasonings, and follow the irreligious God as we hear Him speaks to us?

10 Most Favourite Blog Posts (2012)

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:00:00 +0000

As I was looking back at the previous entries (more than 500 of them), I couldn’t recognise most of the writing as my own. A sense of regrets swelled strongly within me and I wish I could have done better for my General Paper during college. Nevertheless, I am extremely appreciative and thankful that through the past years of journaling, it has helped to sharpen my perspectives for clarity and better my writing skills. God certainly did not pass over me, even when my mastery over the english language was beyond heaven's realm during school days. I do hope to continue journaling, for as long as I am able to.

So here are the current ten most favourite blog posts of my choice (arranged in alphabetical order).

#1 - A Brief Survey on God’s Eternal Purpose
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2009/01/brief-survey-on-gods-eternal-purpose.html

#2 - A Layman’s Brief Guide to Evolution
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2009/03/laymans-brief-guide-to-evolution.html

#3 - Definition of Church
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2008/11/definition-of-church.html

#4 - Discerning God's Direction
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2009/07/discering-gods-direction.html

#5 - Escape from Christendom
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2009/05/escape-from-christendom.html

#6 - On Leaving The Institutional Church
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2008/11/on-leaving-institutional-church.html

#7 - Review: Corinthian Elders and Conversation with Jack Fortenberry (Author)
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2010/03/review-corinthian-elders-and.html

#8 - Tithing and New Covenant
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2009/10/tithing-and-new-covenant.html

#9 - When We Choose The New Wineskin
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2009/05/when-we-choose-new-wineskin.html

#10 - 10 Insightful Insights From My Wife
www.elvineve.blogspot.sg/2009/02/10-insightful-insights-from-my-wife.html

Call to Arms

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 12:51:00 +0000

“There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does know till he takes up a pen to write.” ~ William Makepeace Thackeray

It is coming to almost 3 years since my last blog post. Indeed, it has been an enduring period of tribulation with such intensity that it would attract converts to pre-trib rapture in masses. Mike Mason authored a book with the title “The Mystery of Children”, I figured part of the content was lost during transmission of the manuscripts. The lost chapter is called the “The Monstrosity of Children”. The irregular countable noun is plural because God is gracious enough to increase our heritage (Psa 127:3), so that we would pale further in comparison with the perfect Father above and whose beloved Son is the imago Dei.

Looking forward, I plan to reboot and restart the hard work of blogging as a spiritual discipline very soon. I don’t know about you, but finding time to write is hard for me due to my residency in the independent state of Languorousness (Google or Apple map may not be up to date). In boasting my weaknesses (2 Cor 11:30), I hope that God would grant perseverance and restore joy in the art of journaling. Stating the obvious, I also covet your prayers and supports, so that whatever written shall serve a tiny purpose in the greater Kingdom. Let’s heed the call to arms, for the darkness in the last days is encroaching, but Christi crux est mea lux.

Sabbatical & Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:18:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

If you are still reading, thank you for taking time to drop by and even leaving comments. I am well aware that I have not updated the blog for almost a year now, and I hope to continue writing soon. The past year has been challenging in terms of time and energy, because there is a little monster looming in the house and demanding all the attention you have barely left after a tiring day, weeks after weeks. It is not for the lack of inspirations that thoughts are not penned down, but surely it requires time to tame and rearrange the words, like you would to your home furniture. I greatly envy those who could write without giving much thoughts on the organization of words, and especially if they do not need much effort to edit the structure and smooth out the reading. When things at home becomes more stable, hopefully within the next few months, I plan to continue writing things that will bless the souls and spirits. Thank you for your gracious support.

Blessings in Christ to you.

The Battle Between Christmas and the Birthday of Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 03:05:00 +0000

Most may be busy shopping for the giving of gifts for this coming weekend, but have you ever wondered if Christmas Day is the actual birthday of Jesus? While most christians commemorate the birth of Jesus on December 25, it may come as a shocking news to many that December 25 is not the actual birthday of Jesus. Even Wikipedia collaborated with this fact. Below is an excerpt with emphasis.

"Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed generally on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is NOT known to be the actual birthday of Jesus…"

So, while Christmas is generally observed on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, there is nothing magical about the day in itself. In other words, take away the "fact" that December 25 is the actual birthday of Jesus, there is simply no way one could turn December 25 into a special holier day than any other days, no matter how good one's theology may be. For this reason, some chooses not to celebrate Christmas since no one knows for sure which day is the actual birthday of Christmas. I hold a different perspective towards Christmas though, as will be shown below.

While we have established the fact that December 25 is not the actual birthday of Jesus, I submit that the spirit behind celebrating Christmas, that is to commemorate the birth of Jesus, in itself is not wrong. Is there any strong theological ground to frown on commemorating the birth of Jesus? I haven't come across any. So there is nothing to suggest that it is inherently and morally wrong to commemorate the birth of Jesus by celebrating Christmas, anymore than celebrating our spouses' birthdays. And we sometimes do celebrate our family member's birthday on the non-actual birthday, as it is more convenient to do so probably because the actual birthday falls on a busy work schedule.

With no surprises, in an increasing trend Christmas is becoming a public holiday where even non-christians are celebrating, though they may not commemorate the birth of Jesus. This is the time when most people get a day off or two to retire from their busy work routine, and to be with their loved ones and friends. This time to rest, affords them to slow down their pace and rethink about their lives and the meanings behind them. This is also a time where songs and hymns about Christ could be sung openly in the public. So the celebration of Christmas is best seen to be God's common grace towards all mankind, in my humble opinion. Granted that while there can and have been abuses when consumerism takes the throne, because humanity is fallen, this in itself does not negate the best view that Christmas is God's common grace towards fallen humanity.

Nevertheless, christians and non-christians alike need to fight against the human weakness to regard December 25 as a special holy day and to always remember that we should commemorate the birth of Jesus every single day, and not just only on Christmas Day. In fact, we are supposed to commemorate as frequently as possible, His death, resurrection and second coming, besides his birth. And for those who see Christmas as an opportunity for increased evangelistic efforts, we need to remind ourselves that "today" is always the day of opportunity.

May you then be greatly enriched by the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus as you ponder about Him in this festive season, and looking forward to His second coming. Here wishing you a wondrous Merry Christmas, a joyous New Year and every blessings in Christ!

Review: The Chronological Guide to the Bible (Thomas Nelson)

noreply@blogger.com (Elvin) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:40:00 +0000

What is not frequently talked about is the fact that the various books in the bibles, that we used commonly, are not consistently arranged in their chronological order. Perhaps, beside being certain that the first book is Genesis and the last book is Revelation, we can only be certain that the other books in between the two are not arranged in chronological order. At this point in time, it is a good reminder to understand that while the Scripture is inspired, the order of the books is not. So there is no "the way" of arranging the books, lest we idolized the chronological fashion. Nevertheless, I submit that the chronological arrangement is a reasonable methodology and helpful addition, which will hopefully enrich the readers of their wealth of heritage in the lineage of faith. Interestingly, there seems to be a surge of interest in reading the Scripture chronogically recently and The Chronological Guide to the Bible by Thomas Nelson is among those works of chronological nature.

Looking at the size of this guide, it certainly cannot cover all grounds. But this also means that it will serve as a good introductory material, especially for new believers. Since it can be used with any translation, not to mention the colorful illustrations and materials which are pleasing to the eyes, it is a perfect gift for friends who may not be using the same translation. However, the book would be better if it can come with hardcover as the pages can be rather thin. But I hope this will not push up the price further, as the current price is already high priced in my opinion. And it is also hard to read this guide with the Scripture side by side because one will be flipping the Scripture back and forth. Unless one doesn't mind the flipping exercise, it will serve better as a standalone reading.

Overall, given that there are already existing commentaries, introductions, surveys and overviews of the Scripture and its historical, cultural and archaeological setting, not to mention the tons of study bibles and specialty bibles (is this a sign of the christian market being over-commercialized - if there should be one in the first place?), I will recommend going straight for one of the chronological bibles such as The Chronological Study Bible, NKJV (Thomas Nelson) or The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order (NIV) by F. LaGard Smith for more worth of value.

This review is part of BookSneeze, of which I have received a free review copy from the publisher.