Thursday, December 21, 2006

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Thursday, December 07, 2006

3 Biblical "E"s

Everybody knows they refer to the Creation story of Eden, Eve and Evil.

Nah, just kidding, I just attended a youth leader conference, and the speaker states Equipping, Evangelism and Encouragment as the 3 basic Es of a church, and youth ministry in particular. Equipping should lead to Evangelism and Evangelism leads to Encouragement. All is done as a means to glorify God in the end.

WoW8: The importance of an Objective

Though it may appear to sound biblical, but most "results" are purely a matter of strategic management. In Jubilee, teachers go through great pains to bring the best Equipping with little result on the Evangelism. In some other equally respectable Church, dubious Equipping yield strong Evangelism impetus. (The speaker uses "Obedience requires Pain" to explain Circumcision. Cute but far out IMO.)

Why the difference? Objectives. If the youths have the impression that they are there to just learn something, (or worse to pass time), then no equipping will lead to evangelism. You just end up with lots of spiritual overweights with bigger and bigger diets. But if they know the purpose of equipping, then however little the spiritual food, it will be channelled towards strength in the right direction.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

O holy night

This is my Xmas gift to you.

A time to die

Wow7: The transient beauty of time

Funerals are always a time of reflection for me. I experienced a moment of truth while following the hearse to the Mandai crematorium. The truth is that the hearse is never in a hurry. At its appointed time, it sets off from its departure place carrying its client to its pre-determined destination. To bring out the full contrast of the situation will be to compare a hearse to an ambulance. An ambulance is always in a hurry because it is about preserving life. But when the time has come to die, when life has given its place to rest, the nature of time has changed.

I just taught a bunch of people to seize the day. Thank God for his lesson to rest and pray.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Making up for lost time.

My readership here has doubled. This means there is one more person reading. I think I will follow the example of another Blog I like, and contribute more when I can.

WoW6: A community defined by an event

In the apostles' creed is the line "I believe in ... ... the resurrection of the body." In my mind, I have never doubted this statement of faith. However, recently, with the numerous revisiting of 1 Cor 15 (because of teachings and other stuff), I have begun to re-wrestle with the topic. What does the resurrection mean? What is its impact on the individual? What is its implication on the Christian community?

The resurrection is a bodily one. Many translations use the word "spiritual body" as opposed to a fleshly body, but it is largely misleading, because it strays from the emphasis of Paul that there is a physical body form. The contrast with our former body, is that it is eternal instead of decaying, it is honored instead of humiliated, and it is Spirit animated instead of earthly-desires-driven. It has impact on the individual because it speaks of a transformation which we all eagerly anticipate, especially so when we are in sickness. It has implication on the Christian community because we hope for an eternal reunion as a family justified.

This re-wrestling is hence an important one even though my faith has never doubted. Because believing is never just believing until the full weight of the belief is manifested in your life. The resurrection of the body is founded on the resurrection of Jesus. One event that changed the inevitable route to death. Let that be your badge of pride in your daily living. "O Death, where is your sting?"

Courage to live. That's real believing.