Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Selfish

I find it amazing sometimes how selfish a person can get, but I never fail to amaze myself at times.

Seeing things from my own perspective only, as opposed to considering others first, can only be self-centeredness manifested.

With my explicit promise to Fen to work towards marriage with her, I should change in the way I handle time for one.

It won't be easy...But it's been made possible by the kind of relationship we have with God through faith in Christ, and we must try to obey him in the way we live our lives.

Monday, October 23, 2006

No more Blackie

I don't have a dog anymore...Had to bring him to spca for euthanasia because he's really old and unwell for a while even with the medicine and all.

Was a bit depressing to see a pet for 10 yrs gone just like that, even though it's only a pet, not a human. My mum's sadder though, having spent far more time and effort in taking care of it.

On thinking about it it's quite sad that some of us do have better a relationship with the objects/animals than with the people around us. Especially those whom we're supposed to be closest to like family, spouse etc. After all it's mankind which was created in the image of God and not the animals; animals aren't supposed to replace man in certain things.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Promise!

Today I made a really big promise. A promise to Wai and Maria's kid (Elliot), acting also as a reminder to our promise to all the other children/people around.

What's the promise about? To love him by teaching him God's truths from the bible and by modelling Christian behaviour to him always, so that he not only may come to accept Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour, but also that he may continue to live his life for Christ.

If that wasn't a seemingly impossible task already, the time-span of the promise takes the cake: for the rest of my/his (Elliot's) lives!

Had to pause for a while before I said 'yes' together with the rest of the congregation, really seemed like a immense promise to swear before God and one another =P

Not as if without the promise made, I'm free to not love others around me in that way, since Jesus had already commanded his disciples (and thus us also) to love one another in the same way as Jesus did, in a sacrificial manner.

We like to make solemn promises before one another, eh? =P I know I will fail at times on this promise (as I have with many similar promises), but with God's help, I'll keep trying at it =)

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

For The Love Of God - Volume Two (Oct 18)

About Daniel 3, certainly a good reminder on responding to this great God who made everything, and saved us!

(You can suscribe for it to be sent to your email here.)

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THE IMAGE NEBUCHADNEZZAR SET UP (DAN. 3) was doubtless designed to unify the empire. That is why he ordained that all “peoples, nations and men of every language . . . must fall down and worship the image of gold” (3:4 - 5). Living as he did in a pluralistic culture where people could with impunity add gods to their personal pantheon, Nebuchadnezzar saw no reason but rebellion or intransigent insubordination for anyone to refuse to worship the image. The threat of the furnace, from his perspective, guaranteed conformity, and the potential political gain was incalculable. Furnaces in Babylon were primarily for the firing of bricks (cf. Gen. 11:3), widely used because suitable building stone was so scarce. Some large brick kilns have been dug up outside the ruins of ancient Babylon. Certainly Nebuchadnezzar would have had no scruples about burning people to death (Jer. 29:22).

The striking exchange in this chapter is between Nebuchadnezzar and the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, after their first refusal to bow before the image (3:13 - 18). The emperor’s final taunt almost dares any god to come forward: “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (3:15). Of course, as a pagan, he lived in a world of powerful but definitely finite gods, and in some instances he certainly felt that he was their equal or even their superior. From the perspective of biblical theism, this is monstrous arrogance.

But it is the answer of the three men that deserves memorizing and pondering: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in the matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (3:16 - 18). Observe: (a) Their basic courtesy and respect are undiminished, however bold their words. (b) They are completely unwilling to apologize for their stance. The wise believer never apologizes for God or for any of his attributes. (c) They do not doubt God’s ability to save them, and they say so: God is not hostage to other gods, or to human beings, emperors or otherwise. (d) But whether or not God will save them they cannot know — and the point is immaterial to their resolve. Faithfulness is not dependent upon an escape hatch. They choose faithfulness because it is the right thing to do, even if it costs them their lives.

The courage we need in this anti - Christian age is courteous and steadfast. It never apologizes for God. It joyfully believes that God can do anything, but it is prepared to suffer rather than compromise hearty obedience.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Lethargic

I hate feeling more and more lethargic these few months. End up not doing so many of the things I should be doing, especially those that are urgent...

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Was sick...but now I...

Had been quite a horrible 3-4 days since I last posted. All just from a badly infected throat (leading to a fever to a headache; and the antibiotics given leading to diahorrea). Ended up sleeping off most of the past two days at home, after two visits to the school doctor (do not go there, unless you're about to lose an arm from a rabid dog bite or something like that) and one more to a trusted doctor.

But thank God, am feeling a lot better already, though my sore throat's yet to fully recover.

Many thanks to my mum and Fen ="P though I don't think they'll see this, at least not my mum lah =D

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The test

Learnt this the hard way: playing soccer in 100 over psi conditions with a sore throat isn't wise. Being level-headed to take care of oneself and saying "no" even when pressured is.

Playing with my health in such a condition was stupid, ended up being horribly unwell, and others have to worry and put in effort to take care of me.

Another thing learnt from a negative example by myself =|

Monday, October 09, 2006

Lies

The allure of enjoyment,
without having to worry about anything else.

It promises a lot,
but in the end only destroys.

Living life apart's from God's way
can only mean death.

I hope I can be rid of this soon.

What seemed to be nice
only turned out to be a curse already.