The reflecting theologian

Just decided to be cheeky and post such things in my blog for once, just for the fun of it. MARK but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is ; It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. Thou know'st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ; And this, alas ! is more than we would do. O stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, yea, more than married are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is. Though parents grudge, and you, we're met, And cloister'd in these living walls of jet. Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it suck'd from ...

Well... today's experience just brought back some memories. But it also reminded me something. It seems like it has been a long time since I crossed the line. It seems that I have been taking it for granted that I'm always ready to cross the line. But well... this is just all a myth. The truth may be that I was ready to say yes but it was never an easy decision. Perhaps the reason why I felt so elated and excited over what happened today is cos it really brought me back to the memories of that God-chosen day when I decided to receive Christ. Or maybe it's because this is the first time that I witness the whole process of a person's spiritual journey towards Christ, from the start to the end and the new beginning (other than myself, of course). I seems to have spoken quite a bit on the chronology of the events so I will spare my fans of the pain of reading my story again. But what really struck me is how we, before crossing the line, can undergo so much struggle for such...

I came down to school this morning... actually just a few hours before I write this post... feeling a bit sick... with a sore throat and a slight cough. I planned to go to the comcen to print my notes and then go arts canteen to eat my 'lunch' before I proceed to LT11 to do what I am going to do now: 'listening to a seemingly boring lecture from the JS dept.' Honestly speaking, to me... the bulk of the interesting part has to do with history... hahaha... Anyway, I printed my notes and went to HQ. I saw Calyn, Jitsy and .... Whoaz... God really have a way of saying: I have other better things for you than for you to go waste time at the arts canteen and LT11. I witnessed Zhen Zhu receiving Christ into her life. Healing... I never know getting excited over a new sister can heal a sore throat and a cough. Anyway, what a way to start a day. What a way to start a day than to see a new sister into the family. What a way.... God, You are great.

Actually, I thought my blogging would be the end for today after the previous posts... until I read some of the blogs that I frequent. To read about relative in need of help or the lack of understanding friends is often quite depressing at a level. I could not but help thinking about the love of God. Yes, the love of God, the love of Christ. Maybe because I have sort of entrusted Him with my life, and therefore, I remain openly optimistic about my future, cos I know He will have His perfect plan for me as quoted in Jeremiah 29:11, for the plan He has for me will not harm me but serves to prosper me. This I know that: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39 But reading some of the blogs today, I can't but felt the burden of God for them. Th...

To think that I have posted such an offensive previous post, this coming message from the weekly wisdom really speaks to me: If you're offended, there is only one answer: get over it. Offense is a stumbling block that Satan uses to keep many Christians from experiencing life to the fullest. You probably will not progress in your relationship with God if, every time someone hurts your feelings, you get offended. The word for offense that is used in the New Testament means "the part of the trap on which the bait lies to lure in its victim," and offense is part of Satan's trap to keep us from going forward in our walk with God. The apostle Paul was offended by other brothers in Christ, but in each instance he decided to leave the person with God. For example, there was a man named Alexander, who did Paul a great deal of harm. What's Paul's response? The Lord will pay him back (2 Timothy 4:14). In that same passage, Paul writes about how various people have left h...

I spent 1 hour in the afternoon from around 1530 to 1630 to do my book review, or to be a bit more accurate, to start on my book review on this book called Peoples and Empire, written by Anthony Pagden. In this book, Pagden attempted to present to us a short history of migration and European empires from Greece to the present day. But this is however not my main focus. My main focus is to evaluate how well Pagden answers the question whether imperialism was the most important force shaping the modern world. This is my job. And my evaluation is that being a bit too concise, it tries to answer a lot of thing in a mere 202 pages, and it is quite impossible for him to really address the issues on hand in just so many pages, considering that he has a lot more questions which he has to address. But nevertheless, the question is still in need of being address in an more adequate manner. In the meantime, while I was typing this, it also reminds me of an anime. It is an anime which I have watch...

I just received an interesting email regarding the bible. Now let's see, the shortest chapter in the entire bible is Psalm 117, and the longest is Psalm 119. Psalm 118 is smacked right in the center, and there are 594 chapters both before and after Psalm 118. And this adds up to 1188... And what is the centre verse of the bible??? You got it, it's Psalm 118:8. And guess what? This verse really tells us something significant about God's perfect will for us: It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. - Psalm 118:8 (NIV) It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. - Psalm 118:8 (NKJV)

Initially, this pic didn't struck me... but the more I look at it, the more funny it becomes. It is one classical example of what guys will become when they are 'old'...

What started from a seemingly normal prayer meet turned out to be quite a fruitful one for me today. Attended Hope's quarterly prayer meet this evening. It was my first and it will not be my last... but to be honest, I was quite clueless about how it will be like and how God will touch me. QP asked us to set some objectives which we want to achieve in the meet, and sure I went in with some objectives. But it is an understatement to say God acts in a way that is way beyond logic. During the meet, while we were having praise and worship, God revealed his answer to the objectives which I wanted to achieve. A simple, fundamental and yet striking revelation, which helped me understand quite a lot of things. God told me, the answer in achieving what I asked for, is to humble myself before Him.... to humble myself before Him and put down all pride and honour so that He can use me to achieve the objectives. It's such a simple thing. By humbling myself to Him, in the process, I will lea...

It's Tuesday and I still have not recovered from the fatigue of the night cycling. Seems like my body charges a very high interest rate for borrowing on sleep time. Even as I type this, I can feel it, I can just drop onto my bed and enter the dark abyss of sweet dreams. I was looking at the weekly wisdoms. It wrote there: Your level of living depends on your level of giving. How incredibly true is it. Indeed conventional wisdom tells us that the best way to live our life is to keep everything for ourselves. This is actually reflected in our educational system, where we see a lot of students in the secondary schools and primary schools jealously guarding their own knowledge in the hope that they are able to outdo their peers. However, God clearly says otherwise: Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap etern...

The time was 18 March 2006, 2330Hr. We were all geared up, ready to set off. Set off for the night cycling from East Coast Park. Set off for a 'morning' of thrills and experience and a complete messing of biological clock. Just came back from the night cycling in the morning 1000Hr. I was shagged and tired and in need of a shower. I must admit that it was quite fun and quite happening at times. Also learnt that I have a problem controlling my bike in narrow pathways. But maybe let all ask, what exactly happened? 2230Hr We reached East Coast Park and got ourselves changed up for the ride and of course, at the same time, linked up with the rest of our friends who were joining us. Then, we took about one hour to settle the bikes with the uncle from Kit Runner who happens to know us (so we managed to get a discount). We rented out 20 bikes, 3 double bikes and 17 single bikes. It could have been 23 single bikes... if 3 of us know how to cycle (it does not include me). But then, by 2...

I thank God for 1) dying on the cross for our sins 2) placing me in a loving family, both biological and spiritual 3) being forever faithful to me even when I'm not faithful at times 4) giving me the means to pursue what You wants me to achieve in this lifetime 5) a lot of other things which You have given me Just suddenly want to thank God for all these things when I read this verse during my quiet time today: Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" - Luke 17:17-18 Sometimes, it just stuns me that God is so willing to give us so much. And sometimes I'm just so amazed by His ever-ready willingness to give us. Then this phrase just comes into my mind: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 Yeah, it makes sense now. He loves the world, that's why He is ever so will...

I didn't realise that this is mentioned in the bible until one of my friends told me yesterday. She showed me this: Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail [b] sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. - Job 40:15-18 Well, somehow or rather, anyone realised that this is actually referring to the dinosaur? Well, interesting, isn't? Well, here's another one: Can you pull in the leviathan [a] with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bi...

Have you ever asked yourself why is there sufferings and tragedies in this world? No, dun mistaken me, I'm not here to address that question. For me, this issue has been widely addressed by theological experts. But then... one of the answers they provided sorta touched it a lot. As it can be argued, there are tragedies and sufferings in this world. However, are these necessary bad? Are these necessarily not beneficial for us? I guess not. Although it can be said that sufferings are not meant to exist in the first place as I quote from God: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. - Genesis 1:31 As can be seen, when God created this world, there is no evil, no sufferings, nothing that has to do with God's perfect nature. But because of God's love, God gave us free will, and thus created the possibility of sins and thus the possibilities of sufferings through sins. But then you may ask, then how come He al...

Before I really get started, may I retell this story of an interview between Lee Strobel and Charles Templeton, a Christian-turned-agnostic. This interview was found in the book 'The Case for Faith' and the reason why I want to retell this here is because of the way the whole interview ended. Basically, Lee Strobel was examining the objections for faith in the book and the interview with Templeton was his first stop in this spiritual journey. Now I'm going to start at the point when they started talking about Jesus: 'He was,' Templeton began, 'the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I've encountered in my life or in my readings. His commitment was total and led to his own death, much to the detriment of the world. What could one say about him except that this was a form of greatness?' I (Lee Strobel) was taken aback. 'You sound like you really care a...

What do you do when someone gives you something which you ask for? Will you thank him and praise him for his goodness? Certainly... otherwise, you might as well be some ungrateful geek out there who probably never expresses your gratitude to things and believed that all you have is what you have worked for. Recently, I had to do a mid-term take home essay for my Empires. And I decided to pick the question which was more difficult. I was supposed to watch this film called 'The Mission' and evaluate how it reflects the basic issues of empire building - my first time doing a film evaluation as an essay. Not knowing how to go about doing it, I prayed to God for wisdom and really, I had inspirations on how to tackle the essay. Today I got back my essay from B.P Farrell, my tutor for this module and one of the most demanding lecturers I have seen in the history dept. I got an A-!!! Whoaz... what a breakthrough... first time I got an A for my essay in NUS. And at this point, a verse c...

Many a times we look around us, and ask why aren't we being given the attention that we ought to. More than often or not, we look at the person at the stage and ask why we are not the one standing up there. Quite often, we read the newspapers, and thought that what we have done deserve the headline. Usually, these are the reasons why some of us like me, choose to write blogs... so that we can make it up to the headline for being the most controversal blogger around. All these boil down to the fact that we want attention, we want acknowledgement from people, we want their recognition, we want people to see what we are doing, we want to outdo the rest of the people... It all revolves around ourselves. It all centers upon ourselves. And some succeed and some fail. But some miss the entire point. It's not about other people. On the 18 Dec 2005, not long after I received Christ, I was on board a bus heading towards Genting Highland. I was sitting alone, away from other people at the...

One of the weekly wisdoms from Christnote this week is dun trust the God for things, trust God in things. I think that website made an excellent point: Too often, we fall into the trap of trusting God to give us more things—a new car, a bigger house, a better computer. We turn God into little more than a supernatural Santa Claus, who gives us what we want. More often than not, I think I must admit that I fall into such a trap, that I failed to entrust my life to God, who consistently has the big picture in mind, who has his own big plan for me. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11 More than often, we failed to trust Him in faith, that in tough times, He will work all things out for good, that in tough times, He has a larger plan for us than what we envision. If I can only learn to entrust my life to Him... maybe I can have even more peace at mind. I think all ...

Today had a birthday celebration with lady boss QP and gang and yeah, it's QP's birthday on 6 March. Though we have already celebrated on Saturday, the CG decided to cook her a good dinner to celebrate it with her on the actual day. And so, we all decided not to say anything to her in the morning when we meet for morning QT about her birthday... After nation-building lecture, we went down to NTUC Fairprice Clementi to buy the ingredients. Jit was actually kind enough to lend us her transponder so that we can get access to a PGP kitchen. After hours of preparation, we are finally ready to serve. I'll describe the event through the photos I have taken: This is the kitchen we used: This is layout of the table before the start: Now we surprise the female lead: Some group pictures before we started: In case you guys are curious, the 4 pretty girls above are, starting from the right, Claramae, Jessie, QP and Christine. And in case you people are still wondering who we are, starti...

I just remembered a conversation over lunch just now that I felt I should blog about it (despite the fact that I have just blogged). Over lunch, my cousin mentioned that the reason why I decided to receive Christ in spite of declaring that I will not do so was because I was not determined enough, that I was too easily influenced (the implication was as such). Hmm... the reason why I decided to receive Christ? I think I have mentioned it in this blog before, so I won't be revising them in this post. Now, assume a force which you cannot control exist, a force which moves all the things in this world, a force somebody may wanna give it a name called fate, a force somebody like me called God. Note that force in this argument is not the force we define in physics. By saying so (from my cousin), she's actually implicitly denying this assumed fact logically speaking. In fact, she actually denied that there is God out there, waiting to strike the closed door with a dose of thunderbolt,...

I learnt how to fold a paper aeroplane since young. And it only requires a piece of paper, and it doesn't matter what kind of paper it is. More than often, the paper aeroplane can fly and sometimes it flies high. Sometimes, I got hit by the paper aeroplane that I made, what silly me. And sometimes, if my friends throw me a paper aeorplane and I got hit by it, I get angry and sometimes bitter. Sometimes, they hit me with a lot of them, then run away, without saying anything. Given the kind of person I am, I tend to get angry, bitter, sad, and a lot of emotions will just flow in. And certainly I know that they are not Christ-like attitude. So I decided to turn to the Bible for advice... By the way, for those who dun know, the Bible is called the Bible because we believe that the Bible is the Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. Yeah, and so, I decided to turn to the Bible and think about it. I realised that I need to adjust my own attitude and temper. I know that the Bible teaches...

There are things in life that when you see it, you know that it's God. Try reading the newspapers on 3/3/2006. The Oscar for tourism in Singapore was held on the previous day, and I attended it, with my mother... to witness my father receiving the Tourism Host of the year for Taxi driver. This is the moment when I said, 'man, it must be God.' Years ago, when my father started driving a taxi, who would have thought that he will make it to the newspapers for being the top taxi driver for 2005. But what impressed me was the words of the Ms Jennie Chua, the CEO of Raffles Holding Ltd, winner for the Outstanding Contribution to Tourism award (her photo with my father is on the Straits Times for 3/3/2006). She told Adrian Pang this: 'We are in the serious business of having fun'. This is a good line, man. This is a good line. But I think she makes a point too lah. More than often, we have fun without thinking much about what comes next, and more than even more often, we b...