vendredi, mars 30, 2012  Without baggage, without angst, without hangups. I believe that this is something that God does call all Christians to do - to cast all our cares on Him, because He cares for us. Not to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, nor harbour grudges or envy. I've seen what happens when we don't take the time to curate and care for our lives: my father's recent illness has shown this clear well. Having no time to clean and do a health-check on his life is killing him - paralysing him with fear and self-loathing. It's a victim mentality, and I never want to be like that. God is in control: we are NOT victims of happenstance, or slaves to fortune. I believe that decluttering my life begins with the easiest: the physical. So I'm decluttering my room now. Books, clothes, papers, photos, mementos. Take a deep breath... and say yes if I want to give you stuff. Libellés : christian, personal [Declutter: 100 things] |
samedi, décembre 17, 2011 Book Review: Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow (completely revised and updated)  I picked this book out of a list that was available for free download at booksneeze.com, which gives free books in exchange for reviews (like this one, which I've also cross posted on Amazon). It seemed to address the problem of disappearing men from the church, so I thought, why not give it (and booksneeze) a go. Plus I wanted to see if booksneeze was really legit, esp if I wasn't in the USA, but could read/review from the kindle ebook version that they were giving out. First things first - the book's really about all the reasons why men hate going to church. The central thesis: poor preaching has led to a lopsided view of God (more lamb than lion), and have thus drawn more women than men. Women develop women-friendly programmes, and men are left out in the cold (or more likely, left out to be ushers.) Murrow is fairly comprehensive when it comes to listing down the things that church does to alienate men - and I have to agree with a good many of his thinly-veiled complaints, like when in meetings (oh the bane of the baptists!) where we have to be meek and conciliatory towards everyone, ensuring that everyone is "happy". Most damning is his painfully honest assessment of the ministries that we have in church - children, visitation, choir, vacation bible school - they're skewed towards women's skills, rather than the man's abilities. Murrow here skirts a very, very, VERY fine line between adroit observation of gender difference, and sexist attitudes when he prescribes - almost demands - that churches sit up and take notice that unless we start re-engineering and re-thinking some of our programmes (rather that stick with "what all the other churches are doing), we're going to lose men altogether - and be left with feminized, emasculated men. It was an interesting read - a little long-winded (could have been made much, much sharper with better editing; Murrow tends to ramble on with many stories), I was most disturbed that a lot of Murrow's prescriptions to "fix" the church tended to be predicated on a marketing fix, rather than one grounded in the Word. To give Murrow credit, I think he tried to ground in on observations of Jesus' behaviour: for example, he said that men are driven to challenges, which Jesus did give in the imperative "Follow me" when calling his disciples. Linking this to men's need for risk-taking was good, but not all men are risk-takers, and to draw a link between the imperative command and men's need to rise to challenge/competition seemed rather shaky. I don't think that these two inductions lead to a biblical truth being presented. This is not to say that it's a bad book - read the book if you want fresh ideas on how to make your church more appealing to guys (and girls). Just remember as you read the book that these are methods, not biblical truths - and the problem with methods is that it can never be "everything to everyone". Not every guy is a jock in the making, and not all guys are macho-men who work with power tools. In this information age, other methods of engagement need to be thought up for guys working in financial services and technology - aren't these the freaks and geeks who get picked on by the jocks in the first place? Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Libellés : books, christian, reviews [Book Review: Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow (completely revised and updated)] |
vendredi, avril 01, 2011 I'm planning my church's Maundy Thursday service, and I've been thinking of making a cross for the service for the longest time. I did it last night, and here are the pictures.Raw materials: 1. 2x wooden balsa blocks ($2 from Daiso) 2. 1x MDF board ($2 from Daiso) 3. handsaw ($1.90 from chapalang shop in AMK central) 4. electric screwdriver (in toolkit) Time taken: 1.5 hrs  Took out everything and laid it on the table  I was making a 2:3 ratio cross, so had to do the math... with a little help from Nokia calculator  Drew in the lines for the horizontal bar to be cut  Taking action (over the dustbin to catch the sawdust)  Fail lah, cannot match!  The final product - okay lah, not TOOOOO bad, still quite even  This is the machine-cut side  Now for the cross-bar: both the wood blocks need to be cut 50% through so that it'll fit together neatly  After some failed attempts at trying to cut it, I decided to abuse my electric screwdriver's drill function to cut "perforations"  It seemed to work at first...  ...but still cannot.  Time for the big guns - I went searching for my wood carving set which last saw light in 2004...  In the end I decided to use my screwdriver drill...abused it so badly that it broke off in protest.  After a couple more hard saws, success!  The whole chunk of block came off  But it was still kind of not smooth, so had to saw some more  this is how it looks like, one piece 50% sawn through  Not too badly done; a bit uneven, but this is an amateur job. My abused electric screwdriver is in the background.  Here's the attempt on the 2nd piece of wood (the longer vertical part of the cross)  After many "triangles" were cut off, it's always the horizontal edging is the hardest to smoothen  But hey! It fits together pretty well...  A bit of gap here and there, but not bad. Tonight I'll do the other bit with the MDF to secure the cross to the board, so that it can stand.
[Cross-Making] |
jeudi, mars 31, 2011 Could you just tell people the Gospel, Rob Bell? Utter complete illogical dissembling by Rob Bell - in response to the question: does God care about the Japan tragedy? "It's a paradox" - COME ON Rob Bell, God is love. 1 Jn 4:8. Talk about God's will of decree vs will of desire vs will of direction. But I suppose it's too difficult to discuss theology, when you're discussing God. In response to questions on his book "Love Wins", Bell says that it's about how God will win everybody over in the end through his love, even after we die without accepting Him. OH FOR THE LOVE OF....you can't have it both ways - that we reject God, and that we still get to go to heaven cos "God wins" POSTMORTEM. Bell, the critique by MSNBC host Martin Bashir is right: "you're amending the gospel so it's palatable to contemporary people..." Gospel=Good News of Salvation [see 2ways2live gospel presentation here] Libellés : christian [Could you just tell people the Gospel, Rob Bell?] |
mercredi, mars 23, 2011 Food for thought (too long for fb status) Jesus told His followers, "If you abide in my Word then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32 NIV). Abide means to continue in, to tarry, to dwell, to remain. It is not reading the Scripture for information, but for transformation.Libellés : christian [Food for thought (too long for fb status)] |
mercredi, mars 09, 2011 Enough already - let's talk about things that matter  I attended a "business and social enterprise" discussion today, and thankfully missed most of it. Every time I sit through one of these things, it just makes me feel like I'm sitting in a room full of idealists (which is good) who want businesses to behave responsibly to their stakeholders (which is unrealistic.) I keep wanting to say - enough already about "Social Enterprise", and stop embracing it like it's the thing that will save the world. It's just Corporate Social Responsibility/CSR repackaged into a more "sustainable" and "holistic" form, and even that is just good public relations. Instead, let's talk about character. Ethics. Morals and virtues. Integrity. Authenticity. Let's talk about the thing which drives you and I. Let's talk about motivations, and whys. Let's talk about the Golden Rule (or God's commandments), and then let's build these intangible things... then see how enterprising a social spirit innate can be. 2 Timothy 1:7 - For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. Libellés : christian, personal, thinking, working life [Enough already - let's talk about things that matter] |
vendredi, janvier 28, 2011  Why is it so hard to walk in God's path, keep His precepts and basically remember how to be what we are - Christ-followers? Seems as if the path's getting a little narrower to follow as life plods on, and the pathlight that Jesus offers isn't offering much in the way of illumination...Libellés : christian [rocky road] |
lundi, janvier 10, 2011  How do you balance "You don’t need to know where you’re going if you know God is leading" (ODB 10 Jan 2011) with the responsibility of planning your life somewhat, so you don't come off as totally irresponsible and hedonistic? Libellés : christian [Knife's Edge: Life's Balance] |
mercredi, novembre 03, 2010 Today, I put my future in God's hands  Today, I put my future in God's hands, in what to me is the most tangible way yet.Imagine being offered - nay, quite literally headhunted - and offered an interesting position, with passionate people interested in the same crap you are (professionally), with a regional level organisation. Imagine having your workload cut, with more resources at your disposal. More autonomy. More travel. Imagine having all that unveiled (even though you sort of suspected it was coming) on your plate at 11pm at night - and then saying no. I'm not having second doubts about the decision (although I might have in the morning). What I was surprised at was that all I could think of was that I had made certain commitments to God in church which were confirmed by God, and that there were certain things which would not be a good testimony to the way I live my life should I leave my present organisation now. All these basically culminated in the rather simple conclusion that I don't think God's set this situation up for me to leave at the moment, as there doesn't seem to be an upside for His glory. I'm writing all this down so that I won't forget it, which you (all ten readers of this blog, incl myself) can remember this day with me that I took a rather scary, calm leap of faith. Not for my own glorification, but to share with you what happened in my day, my way, this evening. I'm not sure if I'm delighting myself in His way (Ps 37) - but most certainly I am not delighting in His way just so that I can obtain the "desires of my heart" - perish, perish the thought! Today, I put my future in God's hands, again. I feel it's like freefalling (but with potential bitching at the side.) Libellés : christian [Today, I put my future in God's hands] |
lundi, novembre 01, 2010 May God bless you with discomfortAt easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, So that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war, So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them And turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness To believe that you can make a difference in the world, So that you can do what others claim cannot be done To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen From http://michaelhyatt.com/the-blessing-of-discomfort.html A number of years ago, I heard a sermon on this exact topic, where the preacher narrated the story of how a poor, crippled, blind lady, upon hearing the cruelty meted out to believers in closed countries, cried, "How blessed are they that encounter such hardship and discomfort to test and grow their faith; woe to us in comfort of little faith!" Libellés : christian [The Blessing of Discomfort] |
mercredi, septembre 15, 2010  There seems to be colossal confusion over what you need and what you want. Wants have become needs - eg my mom, when looking at the Starhub brochure, became confused over buying cable tv set-top box - in the end, it took all my logic to convince her to ask herself - do you really NEED a HDTV set-top box WHEN WE DON'T EVEN OWN A FLATSCREEN, much less HDTV? Will the purchase do a Numbers (heh) on us a beget other purchases? And honestly, how much more pleasure will it give you seeing Celine Dion’s (airbrushed out) pores on a blue-ray DVD?This is not to condemn those who have decided that they want these things - things are rarely evil in and of themselves (unless you’re talking about maybe...guns or weapons which only have one use) - but rather to examine your motivations when you obtain stuff in the world - is it really necessary for you to have them, or are they merely something you think you need? This message is not new, nor is it innovative - but we are a forgetful people, and need to be reminded time and again of how fickle our hearts and minds are. I think we need far less than what we have. Libellés : christian, issues, thinking, writing [The iWant Generation] |
dimanche, août 29, 2010  Somehow I don't see the makers of Grand Theft Auto making a God-Themed Adventure anytime soon. Libellés : christian, geek, technology [GTA & A Nice Christian Girl] |
samedi, août 21, 2010 Being babysat is a fun experience. I was babysat by two friends on Sat, from 230pm-1030pm, and this is my activity diary:2.30-3.00 - Tea Time! - I drank bubble tea at Novena Square - I had some exercise time: walk back to church 3.00-4.00 - Home Time - Then we went to my babysitters' new house, still being renovated, to play in the mud and muck for a while. We even had a visualisation exercise on "Let's Imagine What The Room Will Look Like", as well as a lesson on measurements with rulers and measuring tapes on the floor! We also had a bonus art lesson, on how to make a Screed Floor, and what makes it pretty. 4.00-5.00 - Making Money Light - We had a short lesson on mathematics, as we sat in a hot pink place full of lights, and worked on the object lesson for that time: budgeting and money. It was a good time because we learned that sometimes, going to further locations means cheaper deals! 5.00-7.00 - Cultural Exchange - Because it is the Because it is the month of Ramadan, it is a good time to visit Geylang Serai, to explore the festival that they have going on along the streets. It was a good time of eating putu piring, looking at really really really really cheap cushions and cushion covers, plants, and all sorts of other items on sale in the carnival! Along the way, we also explored some interesting surprises along the way: .JPG) 7.30-8.30 - Independent Project Time - My babysitters allowed me some time to work on my independent project, a tiramisu ice-cream cake, while they went to discuss some other matters with their uncle. I went shopping for cake boxes and trays, and cocoa powder. (Post coming up next about how to make this.) 8.30-10.30 - Dinner! - We ended the day with another semi-cultural exchange, eating dinner at Gurney Drive restaurant at AMK central. Not too expensive, and yummy to boot! Libellés : christian, church, humour [Being Babysat] |
samedi, avril 03, 2010 I've got something to say It's been one of those days When I'm finding it hard to believe in You I've got something to say I've forgotten how to pray And I'm finding it hard to believe the truth I've got something to say Right now it feels like You are slipping away Like I am drowning in a crisis of faith Like I'm alone I've got something to say What was black and white is gray And I'm finding it hard to believe in You I've got something to say Right now it feels like You are slipping away Like I am drowning in a crisis of faith Like I'm alone And faith might mean there won't be answers And hope might mean enduring through the night But help me not forget in darkness The things that I believed in light I've got something to say Right now it feels like You are slipping away Like I am drowning in a crisis of faith Like I was found, but now I'm lost in the fray I've got something to say It's been one of those days When I'm finding it hard to believe in You [Something To Say] |
vendredi, février 05, 2010  definitely not theologically-correct (Adam was not that smart to smell a trap), but funny anyway! Libellés : christian, comics, humour, technology [The Fall: No back button] |
mercredi, novembre 04, 2009  "Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” Eventually, what dominates our innermost thoughts and imaginations comes forth as that to which we give our allegiance and worship. Indeed, long before Emerson, Jesus warned similarly that “where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also” (Matthew 6:21). " (SoI, Slice 2053)This is just so true. What we worship will out. This is where self-reflection is important - to out our deepest, darkest recesses of our hearts so that the truth will be laid bare before us - and then we can cry at our spiritual poverty, and then lay it at Jesus' feet, begging redemption. What an amazing thing that it has already been given! Libellés : christian [What am I worshipping?] |
mercredi, août 19, 2009 To listen to this song, just visit http://www.neverthelessmusic.com. It'll be the first track playing. I love the simple melody, the true words, and the harmony of four boys playing and singing together. This is the stuff that summer love is made of...I Can't Help It by Nevertheless Why would anybody want to fall in love? My hands get sweaty and I trip up on my words I tell bad jokes and I swear that I get on my own nerves Why would anybody want to fall in love? I can't help it, I can't help it I can't help it when I'm with you Why would anybody want to fall in love? Saying goodnight has never been so tough We talk until my cellphone's dead; I still can't get enough Why would anybody want to fall in love? Why would anybody want to fall in love? I'm doing all the things I never thought I'd do My friends all think I'm crazy, well I'm crazy about you 
[Nevertheless: I Can't Help It] |
samedi, août 01, 2009 Four non-cheesy Christian movies     I was at FOP yesterday, and they had these great deals for movies which I've wanted to watch for a while, so I bought the lot for the church library since I don't think DVDs go for anything cheaper than $20 each! I was very thankful for a complete Saturday off from any sort of committments to anyone, and managed to watch them all in a restful blitz, so here are my reviews and thoughts on each of them, one by one:
I did feel that the family life and relationships that surrounded Jay Austin (the protagonist of the movie) could have been emphasized more, but I really liked how they showed his conviction of his sin and his utter depravity before God, even as he decided to give up control of his destiny and live life the way God wants. [Facing the Giants] This movie's about a coach and a hopeless (American) football (aka rugby) team. Although this is your usual underdog-wins-the-championships movie, it was interesting because you can clearly see the technical improvement of the SBC team as they grow in their skills. More artful camerawork, better music (they start the first scene with strains of Casting Crown's "Stained Glass Masquerade"), better pacing of the movie, much more natural dialogue. I think this is more of an encouragement-to-Christians type of movie, since I can't see how the scenario described (coach motivating his team by basing his entire coaching and team philosophy on the bible) working except in an overtly Christian campus. Still, the ideas behind them - that one's belief in Christ is a lifelong philosophy, and not only when the going gets tough - is one which deserves more airtime than it currently gets - both on the screen, and at the pulpit.
This is a truly excellent movie - the videography is excellent, the sets are lovely, the dialogue is so real, the 40 Day Love Dare is real, and, in what I think is a truly commendable feat; the penultimate kiss scene between the protagonist (Caleb and Catherine Holt) was filmed NOT between the actors, but between the actor and the actor's actual wife! This was from a policy of the movie ministry, not to shoot any kissing scenes unless it was between an actual husband and wife. What was more amazing to me was the fact that I actually noticed the scene, and was thinking to myself (as I watched it) that (1) the movie did the reconciliation kiss scene very beautifully, and (2) the filmmakers really lost some credibility points by making two actors kiss on a movie about preserving marriage. Apart from all that, I think that SBC must have some kind of agreement with Casting Crowns by now - they used another favourite of mine: Slow Fade. Their movie soundtrack includes:
This is really a film that all husbands and wives should watch. And engaged couples. And people perparing for marriage. Ah heck, everyone should watch it!
Fiat justitia et pereat mundus - do the right thing, come what may (in Latin) was the core of the movie - will you stand up to what you believe, whatever the cost? Lawyers and debaters should watch this to see how the arguments they make inform their philosophies in life, which is what gives us motivation for the things that we do. [Four non-cheesy Christian movies] |
samedi, juillet 25, 2009 Something random I found scribbled in some semblance of a journal:"God will provide the peanut butter, but you still need to go shopping." I have no idea what the theological implications of this thought are.  Libellés : christian [Peanut Butter] |
mercredi, juillet 22, 2009 From a book I was reading earlier this year (I will come back and attribute when I remember where):Our strengths make us useful,  And another thought around the same time: Ends and Means: the methods we use to accomplish our goals are as important as the attainment of those said goals. Libellés : christian, thinking [Weaknesses and Strengths] |
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