Hmm. I hear that students have discovered this blog.
I've been wondering when this would happen. I didn't exactly go out of my way to hide it.
I guess most people would advise me to take it down, or password-protect it, or something. But in my naive, idealistic understanding of integrity, I don't think I need to be ashamed of how I used to think, or who I used to be. Or may still be, for that matter. Prudence is not a virtue I hold dear.
Would people disagree with this action? Certainly. But I'm pretty sure I've mentioned to my students that holding fast to your ideals always comes with a cost, and that each person must decide if the price is worth it. Am I strange to attach such significance to such a small action? Read my blog - I've always been strange that way.
Having said that, we've also talked in PCCG about how stuff you leave on the Internet is out there forever, and can't be retrieved. This is living proof.
To the student who alerted me about this: Thank you for choosing to respect my privacy. The fact that I chose to do nothing with the information is my fault, not yours.
Jul 24, 2013
Jul 22, 2009
STP
Summer Training Programme has been good to me. It seems like everytime I appear, I somehow find something to take away, even if I'm in no mood to listen or receive.
Today's speaker was encouraging us, amongst other things, to make the Bible applicable to our daily lives. To consider issues that we are facing, ask ourselves, "What does the Bible say about that?", and then to go and look it up paryerfully. Then the Bible verses become relevant to your situation, and easier to remember too. It seems to make much more sense to me than trying to follow the arbitrary arrangement of the books in the Bible. Perhaps I will try this tomorrow.
Today's speaker was encouraging us, amongst other things, to make the Bible applicable to our daily lives. To consider issues that we are facing, ask ourselves, "What does the Bible say about that?", and then to go and look it up paryerfully. Then the Bible verses become relevant to your situation, and easier to remember too. It seems to make much more sense to me than trying to follow the arbitrary arrangement of the books in the Bible. Perhaps I will try this tomorrow.
Jul 15, 2009
two.
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine one year my senior had a big crash while riding his bike on Ubin. Two days after the crash, his wrist and lower arm had swelled up pretty badly, so he went to the hospital to get it checked out. It was x-rayed for suspected fracture, and put in a cast as a precautionary measure.
Two days after that, they discovered that flesh-eating bacteria had gotten into his bloodstream. Initial reports from the hospital put the mortality rate at 50%.
After much prayer, and some 3 or 4 operations later, he's out of danger. Every op, they slice open his arm from fingertip to elbow to clean out the wound, before shutting the wound with staples. He's got about 50 staples in his hand at the moment, and will probably be scarred for life, but he's alive. He's got another op scheduled for friday.
I was visiting him today, when another friend of ours popped by to visit. She had just gone for a dental appointment in the hospital that morning, and while taking an X-ray to check for cavities, discovered a large tumour in her jaw. I think she's 21 this year. As of this moment, she's at NDC undergoing further X-rays, and she's got an op scheduled for friday afternoon.
I was sitting outside his ward with his girlfriend, ruminating over these events. It was shocking enough to be reminded of our own mortality hardly two weeks ago. Did we need another reminder so soon? Will our prayers be answered once again?
As we were sitting outside the ward thinking about these things, I saw a juvenile woodpecker investigating the tree outside the window, and a strange lizard making displays with a flap of skin below its jaw. It was nice.
Two days after that, they discovered that flesh-eating bacteria had gotten into his bloodstream. Initial reports from the hospital put the mortality rate at 50%.
After much prayer, and some 3 or 4 operations later, he's out of danger. Every op, they slice open his arm from fingertip to elbow to clean out the wound, before shutting the wound with staples. He's got about 50 staples in his hand at the moment, and will probably be scarred for life, but he's alive. He's got another op scheduled for friday.
I was visiting him today, when another friend of ours popped by to visit. She had just gone for a dental appointment in the hospital that morning, and while taking an X-ray to check for cavities, discovered a large tumour in her jaw. I think she's 21 this year. As of this moment, she's at NDC undergoing further X-rays, and she's got an op scheduled for friday afternoon.
I was sitting outside his ward with his girlfriend, ruminating over these events. It was shocking enough to be reminded of our own mortality hardly two weeks ago. Did we need another reminder so soon? Will our prayers be answered once again?
As we were sitting outside the ward thinking about these things, I saw a juvenile woodpecker investigating the tree outside the window, and a strange lizard making displays with a flap of skin below its jaw. It was nice.
Jul 14, 2009
"Make it your goal..."
"Make it your goal to read through the entire Bible..."
Something I heard someone share yesterday which got me thinking.
Somehow, taking this kind of a focused attitude towards bible-reading has never crossed my mind before. I've had some good experiences with goal-setting this break, so I'm thinking about using that on my christian education too...
Something I heard someone share yesterday which got me thinking.
Somehow, taking this kind of a focused attitude towards bible-reading has never crossed my mind before. I've had some good experiences with goal-setting this break, so I'm thinking about using that on my christian education too...
Jun 27, 2009
Been watching Michael Jackson videos on Youtube. Amazing singer, amazing dancer. I'm quite tempted to pick up one of his albums now, actually. I kinda regret that I never got to see him live in concert.
you've always told me that you support me unconditionally. i'm learning to interpret that as love.
you've always told me that you support me unconditionally. i'm learning to interpret that as love.
Jun 23, 2009
Dead and alive.
Jerry Bridges writes about how Christ's death on the cross achieves for us two distinct purposes - firstly, payment of the penalty for our sin, and secondly, freedom from the dominion of sin. The wages of sin is death, after all, but it is only through death that we can be released from the kingdom of sin in which we once lived, freeing us once and for all from the rules and attitudes of that kingdom, allowing us to live a new life in the kingdom of God.
He tells the story of a Russian air force pilot who, during the height of the Cold War, flew his aircraft to an American airbase in Japan and sought asylum. He was flown to the US, given American citizenship, and allowed to begin a new life in the United States. To quote liberally from the book,
"This former Russian pilot, however, was still the same person. He had the same personality, the same habits, and the same cultural patterns as he did before he flew out of Russia. But he did have a new identity and a new status."
"As a result of his new identity and status as a citizen in a free country, he now had the opportunity to grow as a free person, to discard the mind-set of someone living under bondage, and to put off the habit patterns of a person living under the heel of a despotic regime."
And so it is with us. We live in a new country now. We have died to sin - it is a fact, a done deal so to speak - and we are no longer driven by the old urges and temptations. We are also alive to God, fully responsive to His voice and eagerly yearning to walk in His will, for Christ dwells in us and we in him. We still have to get round the old habits of the old regime, but that doesn't change the fact that we ARE in a new kingdom.
When we die, we go to heaven where we will fellowship with God forever. But in one sense, we have already died, and are already enjoying fellowship with God in the midst of this garden that He created for us.
Amen.
Rom 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
He tells the story of a Russian air force pilot who, during the height of the Cold War, flew his aircraft to an American airbase in Japan and sought asylum. He was flown to the US, given American citizenship, and allowed to begin a new life in the United States. To quote liberally from the book,
"This former Russian pilot, however, was still the same person. He had the same personality, the same habits, and the same cultural patterns as he did before he flew out of Russia. But he did have a new identity and a new status."
"As a result of his new identity and status as a citizen in a free country, he now had the opportunity to grow as a free person, to discard the mind-set of someone living under bondage, and to put off the habit patterns of a person living under the heel of a despotic regime."
And so it is with us. We live in a new country now. We have died to sin - it is a fact, a done deal so to speak - and we are no longer driven by the old urges and temptations. We are also alive to God, fully responsive to His voice and eagerly yearning to walk in His will, for Christ dwells in us and we in him. We still have to get round the old habits of the old regime, but that doesn't change the fact that we ARE in a new kingdom.
When we die, we go to heaven where we will fellowship with God forever. But in one sense, we have already died, and are already enjoying fellowship with God in the midst of this garden that He created for us.
Amen.
Rom 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Jun 21, 2009
a friend of mine recently called me an approval-whore. :)
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Reading: The Discipline of Grace, by Jerry Bridges.
There's a chapter called "Preach the Gospel to yourself". It talks about how many believers have only a rudimentary understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ - sufficient to get them into the church, whereupon they begin an endless series of discipleship courses and stuff like that. He says that there is a general fallacy within the church that the gospel is meant to be preached to unbelievers, not believers. After all, the believers have heard it all already, right?
It's kinda similar to a previous complaint I had about how we preach good news to unbelievers, but fail to make known to them the depth of commitment and change that comes with a life in Christ. Here the situation is reversed, somewhat, whereby we emphasise discipleship and the disciplines of faith to the body of believers, but fail to remind them of the gospel by which they came to know God.
But the author encourages us to remind ourselves daily of the good news of Christ - that though we are by very nature incorrigibly sinful, Christ has fully paid the price of our sins, so that we are not merely pardoned, but justified before God. This is the full gospel of Jesus, which will keep us from regarding our "godliness" with pride, yet also keeps us from despairing of our sinfulness.
To quote, "we must measure ourselves against God's perfect standard and daily confess that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
This seems very hard to me. We love to think of ourselves as "doing alright", but alright isn't good enough. It seems that this author is calling us daily to tear down whatever self-esteem we may have, pulling it into rubble, and remembering that our worth, value, and righteousness is found in Jesus. Then we may relate rightly with God and each other...
------------------------------------------------
Reading: The Discipline of Grace, by Jerry Bridges.
There's a chapter called "Preach the Gospel to yourself". It talks about how many believers have only a rudimentary understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ - sufficient to get them into the church, whereupon they begin an endless series of discipleship courses and stuff like that. He says that there is a general fallacy within the church that the gospel is meant to be preached to unbelievers, not believers. After all, the believers have heard it all already, right?
It's kinda similar to a previous complaint I had about how we preach good news to unbelievers, but fail to make known to them the depth of commitment and change that comes with a life in Christ. Here the situation is reversed, somewhat, whereby we emphasise discipleship and the disciplines of faith to the body of believers, but fail to remind them of the gospel by which they came to know God.
But the author encourages us to remind ourselves daily of the good news of Christ - that though we are by very nature incorrigibly sinful, Christ has fully paid the price of our sins, so that we are not merely pardoned, but justified before God. This is the full gospel of Jesus, which will keep us from regarding our "godliness" with pride, yet also keeps us from despairing of our sinfulness.
To quote, "we must measure ourselves against God's perfect standard and daily confess that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
This seems very hard to me. We love to think of ourselves as "doing alright", but alright isn't good enough. It seems that this author is calling us daily to tear down whatever self-esteem we may have, pulling it into rubble, and remembering that our worth, value, and righteousness is found in Jesus. Then we may relate rightly with God and each other...
Jun 16, 2009
I think I'm learning more and more that people have rounded characters. That although they cause me offence on one hand, and do things which seem to me to completely undermine any moral authority they might have, this does not detract from their other strengths, and the other ways in which they continue to bless me. I think I can live with that.
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A friend of mine was lamenting how often it seems that Christians (the nominal ones, usually) seem to behave even worse than non-Christians. It occurred to me, mainly because this reflects my own experience, that it is very easy for Christians to apply our faith as a bandage - superficially covering our woundedness, while hoping that our own body can heal itself. While it is true that sometimes we must 'claim it by faith', and 'speak the truth into being', sometimes there are core issues that we simply have to deal with. Like what Jesus said, "This kind can only come out by prayer." One cannot simply believe that being a baptised Christian and doing all the Christian-like things will lead to life change, as I used to.
Even for those who are familiar with the weapons of faith, we cannot exercise faith over our problems if we have not truly identified out problems, we cannot speak deliverance over our issues if we cannot specifically identify the issue at hand. God will not deliver us when we have not accurately identified our problem, because then we will not have a full appreciation of our fallenness, nor can we give God the glory due Him for His deliverance.
This then is the problem that many face. We attempt to cure the problem without first diagnosing it, or perhaps without going in deep to see the full extent of it. This takes much reflection, time spent in the quiet, and prayer. I am reminded of how the Word of God is likened unto a mirror, in which we can see ourselves more clearly.
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A friend of mine was lamenting how often it seems that Christians (the nominal ones, usually) seem to behave even worse than non-Christians. It occurred to me, mainly because this reflects my own experience, that it is very easy for Christians to apply our faith as a bandage - superficially covering our woundedness, while hoping that our own body can heal itself. While it is true that sometimes we must 'claim it by faith', and 'speak the truth into being', sometimes there are core issues that we simply have to deal with. Like what Jesus said, "This kind can only come out by prayer." One cannot simply believe that being a baptised Christian and doing all the Christian-like things will lead to life change, as I used to.
Even for those who are familiar with the weapons of faith, we cannot exercise faith over our problems if we have not truly identified out problems, we cannot speak deliverance over our issues if we cannot specifically identify the issue at hand. God will not deliver us when we have not accurately identified our problem, because then we will not have a full appreciation of our fallenness, nor can we give God the glory due Him for His deliverance.
This then is the problem that many face. We attempt to cure the problem without first diagnosing it, or perhaps without going in deep to see the full extent of it. This takes much reflection, time spent in the quiet, and prayer. I am reminded of how the Word of God is likened unto a mirror, in which we can see ourselves more clearly.
Jun 7, 2009
Asleep in the light
Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don't you care, don't you care
Are you gonna let them drown
How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done
"Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord"
You know it's all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear
But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds
And He cares for your needs
And you just lay back
And keep soaking it in,
Oh, can't you see it's such a sin?
Cause He brings people to you door,
And you turn them away
As you smile and say,
"God bless you, be at peace"
And all heaven just weeps
Cause Jesus came to your door
You've left him out on the streets
Open up open up
And give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries
So how can you delay
God's calling and you're the one
But like Jonah you run
He's told you to speak
But you keep holding it in,
Oh can't you see it's such a sin?
The world is sleeping in the dark
That the church just can't fight
Cause it's asleep in the light
How can you be so dead
When you've been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave
And you, you can't even get out of bed
Oh, Jesus rose from the dead
Come on, get out of your bed
How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done
Don't close your eyes
Don't pretend the jobs done
Come away, come away, come away with Me my love,
Come away, from this mess, come away with Me, my love.
As referenced today by Cadet Kevin during the sermon.
I wish he had talked abit more about the mechanics of disciple-making. About the how, and the technique, about picking disciples and picking disciplers, about building relationships, picking topics.
I am reminded of something I read in the book I'm reading at the moment ("Marriage takes more than love", Jack and Carole Mayhall), talking about 5 different levels of conversation. Conversational cliches. Factual Observations. Ideas and Opinions. Feelings. Connection. They were talking about marriage, but it applies just as well in any other relationship - the relationship doesn't really begin until at least level 3, and preferably level 4.
And then I'm reminded of the Johari Window, which I've heard about from two different sources, whereby one's self-knowledge can only be increased through self-revelation, as well as receiving input from others. Both are necessary to fully understand yourself even, and such conversations should probably be functioning at level 4 and up.
Without these, there is no real growth, and there can be no real freedom.
Jun 5, 2009
Just came back from a funeral service. Wept considerably more than I expected to. Not for the dearly departed, whom I did not know well, but rather for those left behind, and for the huge hole now left in their lives.
By all accounts, she was a godly woman, who loved unconditionally. That makes the hole bigger.
By all accounts, she was a godly woman, who loved unconditionally. That makes the hole bigger.
Jun 2, 2009
What then does it mean to walk by faith? It means to choose to see everything from the perspective which God has presented to us in the Bible. Even if it involves blatant rationalisation. Even if it seems self-contradictory.
Religion accepts and celebrates the fact that we blatantly rationalise all things to fit our world-view. But if scientists do that, they have no excuse.
This was presented in the context of having died to the law - being thus crucified with Christ, and therefore set free of the law. So in all things we remember, believe, and act in the knowledge that the law no longer has power over us, but love must motivate us.
Religion accepts and celebrates the fact that we blatantly rationalise all things to fit our world-view. But if scientists do that, they have no excuse.
This was presented in the context of having died to the law - being thus crucified with Christ, and therefore set free of the law. So in all things we remember, believe, and act in the knowledge that the law no longer has power over us, but love must motivate us.
May 29, 2009
May 26, 2009
Salvo Audio
Someone has been putting Army songs online!!!
http://www.salvoaudio.com/
Band songs, Songsters, recordings from the congregation, sermons even. Super! I like.
http://www.salvoaudio.com/
Band songs, Songsters, recordings from the congregation, sermons even. Super! I like.
May 25, 2009
If I could give one piece of advice to young brides, and only one, it would be this: study your man. Study him as if he were some rare and strange and fascinating animal, which he is. Study his likes and dislikes, his strengths and weaknesses, his moods and mannerisms. Just loving a man is fine, but it's not enough. To live with one successfully you have to know him, and to know him, you have to study him.
Look around you and decide how many of the best marriages you know are ones where a wife in a deep sense actually knows her husband better than he knows himself. Knows what pleases him. Knows what upsets him. Knows what makes him laugh or makes him angry. Knows when he needs encouragement. Knows when he's too charged up about something and needs to be held back. Knows, in other words, exactly what makes him tick.
Look around you and decide how many of the best marriages you know are ones where a wife in a deep sense actually knows her husband better than he knows himself. Knows what pleases him. Knows what upsets him. Knows what makes him laugh or makes him angry. Knows when he needs encouragement. Knows when he's too charged up about something and needs to be held back. Knows, in other words, exactly what makes him tick.
- Mrs. Norman Vincent Peale, The Adventure of Being a Wife
(Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1971) pg 29.
(Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1971) pg 29.
Think it probably applies both ways. But I like the use of language here.
dad time
spending time at home means hanging out with dad more, which is nice.
went to get the car inspected today prior to renewing insurance and road tax. got the car washed along the way. spent time talking about the economics of selling free-car-wash coupons in stacks of 100 only. inspection centre was darned cool lah. all kinds of automated machines designed to test the functionality of the car, and lighted sign-boards indicating pass-fail. so government.
and a few days back we had an excursion to kranji to pick up a manual juicer. dad's been grinding wheatgrass juice for home consumption... tastes pretty good actually. :) although i'm fairly cynical about the purported health benefits....
went to get the car inspected today prior to renewing insurance and road tax. got the car washed along the way. spent time talking about the economics of selling free-car-wash coupons in stacks of 100 only. inspection centre was darned cool lah. all kinds of automated machines designed to test the functionality of the car, and lighted sign-boards indicating pass-fail. so government.
and a few days back we had an excursion to kranji to pick up a manual juicer. dad's been grinding wheatgrass juice for home consumption... tastes pretty good actually. :) although i'm fairly cynical about the purported health benefits....
May 18, 2009
Perfection
Our duty is to be more ourselves, not less - Thomas Merton
This phrase accurately sums up something that I've had to learn in order to accept myself better.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch
I am an introvert. This used to bother me, and it still does sometimes. It seemed to me that extroverts got so much more out of life - more friends, more experiences, more highs, more lows. I longed for some of those things too, but found that I simply did not have the emotional energy to keep up with that lifestyle. Hang out with me for two hours, and you will find that my conversation eventually fades away, and I begin to zone out.
Through articles such as the one listed above, through much affirmation from Jill and other friends, through the Bible, I have begun to understand and accept that I am as deeply valued as all the people whom I used to envy. The envy of others stems from the fallacy that there is somehow a perfection that we can each strive to - that there is a state which is superior to all others, which we must achieve to obtain happiness.
There is some element of truth in this, but not in the way that we expect. The Bible, talking about the body of Christ, speaks plainly about the variety that God has imparted into His people, and make it clear that this is part of the plan. As the body of Christ, we are called to move towards perfection as a body, not as individuals, leaving room for the infinite variety of ways in which God has created us. I begin to realise that God is an artist, and that one design cannot adequately express perfection, because each design is different and beautiful in its own way.
Would the perfect body be characterised by having no disagreements whatsoever? I am not sure. Perhaps the perfect body is simply characterised by the ability to settle disagreements in an amicable way.
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I don't take teasing well. I don't agree with casual flirting, and I hate bargaining and haggling over prices, even when it's considered part of the culture. But I'm learning.
I'm learning that these things should not be taken seriously, which is tough because I take everything seriously. I've begun to realise that all these things are games of a sort, games that people play with each other in full recognition that the words being bandied about are not being said in earnest. The trick now is to transfer this mental understanding into my instinctive reactions.
This phrase accurately sums up something that I've had to learn in order to accept myself better.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch
I am an introvert. This used to bother me, and it still does sometimes. It seemed to me that extroverts got so much more out of life - more friends, more experiences, more highs, more lows. I longed for some of those things too, but found that I simply did not have the emotional energy to keep up with that lifestyle. Hang out with me for two hours, and you will find that my conversation eventually fades away, and I begin to zone out.
Through articles such as the one listed above, through much affirmation from Jill and other friends, through the Bible, I have begun to understand and accept that I am as deeply valued as all the people whom I used to envy. The envy of others stems from the fallacy that there is somehow a perfection that we can each strive to - that there is a state which is superior to all others, which we must achieve to obtain happiness.
There is some element of truth in this, but not in the way that we expect. The Bible, talking about the body of Christ, speaks plainly about the variety that God has imparted into His people, and make it clear that this is part of the plan. As the body of Christ, we are called to move towards perfection as a body, not as individuals, leaving room for the infinite variety of ways in which God has created us. I begin to realise that God is an artist, and that one design cannot adequately express perfection, because each design is different and beautiful in its own way.
Would the perfect body be characterised by having no disagreements whatsoever? I am not sure. Perhaps the perfect body is simply characterised by the ability to settle disagreements in an amicable way.
--------------------------------------------------------
I don't take teasing well. I don't agree with casual flirting, and I hate bargaining and haggling over prices, even when it's considered part of the culture. But I'm learning.
I'm learning that these things should not be taken seriously, which is tough because I take everything seriously. I've begun to realise that all these things are games of a sort, games that people play with each other in full recognition that the words being bandied about are not being said in earnest. The trick now is to transfer this mental understanding into my instinctive reactions.
May 12, 2009
Reflections
It was a good retreat. My term is just about over, my involvement will scale down to nearly nothing. It was a strange and difficult year. The new team made decisions that were exactly opposite to mine, yet I feel that both decisions were correct. Perhaps it was one of those situations that God gives us sometimes whereby either choice will do. It was for me a time of fixing relationships, of closing the ledger of accounts on an old year, with hopefully no outstanding debts to carry over into the new.
During one of the devotions, I came across an old highlighted verse in my Bible. Isaiah 55:5 says, "Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." I am amazed at how God has done this for me. I had initially wanted to turn down the exco role to concentrate on this very thing, yet God himself has done it for me, so that I may not boast.
Now I step down into my personal rest. My personal disciplines had melted to nothing this past year, and I must find them again. I am glad that you have shared with me deeply, and accepted what advice I could impart, but all the relationship in the world will have no value if God does not do His redeeming work through that love, and for this, I must pray. I pray that God will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; that He will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh; that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul as well as strength.
During one of the devotions, I came across an old highlighted verse in my Bible. Isaiah 55:5 says, "Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." I am amazed at how God has done this for me. I had initially wanted to turn down the exco role to concentrate on this very thing, yet God himself has done it for me, so that I may not boast.
Now I step down into my personal rest. My personal disciplines had melted to nothing this past year, and I must find them again. I am glad that you have shared with me deeply, and accepted what advice I could impart, but all the relationship in the world will have no value if God does not do His redeeming work through that love, and for this, I must pray. I pray that God will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; that He will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh; that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul as well as strength.
May 7, 2009
Two stones...
A man should keep two stones with him at all times. On one should be inscribed, "I am but dust and ashes." On the other, "For me, the world was created." He should use each as appropriate.
Knowing. Understanding. Grasping. Comprehending. Not the point. Not relevant.
Transformation. Purification. Sanctification. Abasement. Worship. Mystery.
Knowing. Understanding. Grasping. Comprehending. Not the point. Not relevant.
Transformation. Purification. Sanctification. Abasement. Worship. Mystery.
May 4, 2009
iRead
Reading Programme: Book 1
Reaching for the Invisible God - Philip Yancey
I've been wanting to read this book for a long time, to see how others have coped with the doubts I struggle with.
I'm a guy who likes things black and white, and when I was young, I liked that about my faith. This is true, that is false, this is how the world works. I liked that about Physics too, which is why I'm studying Physics at NUS now. But as I grow older, the old certainty has been replaced by disconcerting thoughts about the way things are being done in some churches, and I have been struggling for the longest time to find out what exactly being a Christian means for me and the way I live my life. Physics has similarly betrayed me, as I have discovered that it's all very fuzzy at it's core. It's kinda funny, I guess, how my path in these two areas mirror each other.
As a science student, there was something I didn't like about the theology which I was learning, which was that it simply wasn't contradictable. If something good happens, you thank God. If something bad happens, you say that God is refining you. If you pray for something and it comes true, you thank God for answered prayer. If you pray for something and it doesn't happen, you say that perhaps it was not God's will. Under no circumstances can anything ever disprove God, because everything can be interpreted away accordingly. My logical mind was unhappy with that, because it sounded like a desperate delusion. Is God a testable hypothesis?
I am pleased that Yancey has included similar thoughts in his book. He tells the story of a man who steps off a curb and narrowly misses getting run down by a car. People praise God, saying that God was looking after him. The same man steps off the same curb a week later and gets run over, suffering serious injury. He spends months in hospital recovering, while people thank God for allowing him to live. A week after getting out of hospital, he steps off the same curb, gets run over, and dies. At his funeral, the pastor speaks on how God saw fit to call this man home.
Reaching for the Invisible God - Philip Yancey
I've been wanting to read this book for a long time, to see how others have coped with the doubts I struggle with.
I'm a guy who likes things black and white, and when I was young, I liked that about my faith. This is true, that is false, this is how the world works. I liked that about Physics too, which is why I'm studying Physics at NUS now. But as I grow older, the old certainty has been replaced by disconcerting thoughts about the way things are being done in some churches, and I have been struggling for the longest time to find out what exactly being a Christian means for me and the way I live my life. Physics has similarly betrayed me, as I have discovered that it's all very fuzzy at it's core. It's kinda funny, I guess, how my path in these two areas mirror each other.
As a science student, there was something I didn't like about the theology which I was learning, which was that it simply wasn't contradictable. If something good happens, you thank God. If something bad happens, you say that God is refining you. If you pray for something and it comes true, you thank God for answered prayer. If you pray for something and it doesn't happen, you say that perhaps it was not God's will. Under no circumstances can anything ever disprove God, because everything can be interpreted away accordingly. My logical mind was unhappy with that, because it sounded like a desperate delusion. Is God a testable hypothesis?
I am pleased that Yancey has included similar thoughts in his book. He tells the story of a man who steps off a curb and narrowly misses getting run down by a car. People praise God, saying that God was looking after him. The same man steps off the same curb a week later and gets run over, suffering serious injury. He spends months in hospital recovering, while people thank God for allowing him to live. A week after getting out of hospital, he steps off the same curb, gets run over, and dies. At his funeral, the pastor speaks on how God saw fit to call this man home.
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