The reflecting theologian

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I was reading the book of Matthew after the Life of Christ seminar held last week. Then I came to Matthew 6:19-21. This passage is a bit interesting and I decided to meditate a little bit on this passage. Jesus talked about storing up treasures not on earth but in heaven and once we do that, the implication is that our heart will be with heaven also. The question lies with us is why didn't he say that our treasure will be where our heart is? I believe this is simply impossible to our sinful heart. Think about it, how many times would people say that they are surrendered to God but insisted in doing their own things? We raise our hands in church, but once after service, it...

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." As I was praising and worshiping God earlier in the evening just now, God spoke to me about this verse. It's not about the usual emphasis on God's word, but He emphasized on the building part. To make it easier, let's look at the whole process as having three ingredients: the builder, the rock and the building material. The builder represents us, the rock represents the Word, and the building material represents our lives. The thing is that we c...

Who cares about a fake ‘Ark of the Covenant.’ Stephan Huller has an academic article coming up which proves that this: http://therealmessiahbook.blogspot.com/ is the original Episcopal throne of Alexandria, mentioned in the Acts of Peter the Patriarch, Origen, Clement and other sources and dated to the first century. I read the book. I loved it but I want to know what everyone else thinks? I think its very important but I am not an expert. His blog with additional information is http://www.stephanhuller.blogspot.com. Maybe you can tell me if this for real. This guy commented on one of my post with the above text. I am not going to try to convince him (if he's still reading my blog) of Christianity. One problem with this kind of post online is that people have already formed their own conclusion before they seek the evidence. He loved the book, ie it means he likes and is convinced of the conclusion. However, in case he's reading this, I will respond to his challenge by approach...

In accordance with the LORD's command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah—Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai—descendants of Anak. From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage. One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?" She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. And we do see Caleb making the effort to get rid of Anakites in Hebron. I was just ...

The allotment for the tribe of Judah, clan by clan, extended down to the territory of Edom, to the Desert of Zin in the extreme south. Their southern boundary started from the bay at the southern end of the Salt Sea, crossed south of Scorpion Pass, continued on to Zin and went over to the south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it ran past Hezron up to Addar and curved around to Karka. It then passed along to Azmon and joined the Wadi of Egypt, ending at the sea. This is their southern boundary. The eastern boundary is the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan. The northern boundary started from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan, went up to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. The boundary then went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor and turned north to Gilgal, which faces the Pass of Adummim south of the gorge. It continued along to the waters of En Shemesh and came out at En Rogel. Then it ran up the Valley of Ben Hinnom...

9 August, we saw people coming together to celebrate the national day of Singapore. Why national day on this day? Because we were kick out of Malaysia 44 years ago on this day. And we are still celebrating the kick out. This is understandable. We have come a long way from being the helpless puny island that we were to a global city hub that we have today. It is understandable that we want to take this day as the starting point of our success story and celebrate our success and survival as a nation together. It is indeed a joyous story for us. Here comes the birthday cake... What??? Birthday cake? What the heck? I never understand this part about 'Happy Birthday, Singapore'. What about happy birthday? The hype about this is entirely stupid. Physically, Singapore was already there for a long long time, and the island was not formed on 9 August 1965. In a more spirit sense, a nation is not borned on 9 August 1965 when we were kicked out of Malaysia. So what's the birthday cake...

I prefer the chinese version. This is my all time favourite. Champion.

I like this version.

I cannot resist but post this up. It's quite a cute song.

This is a nice video. Got some vulgarity but I think got censored a bit. But worth a laugh. This is one crappy video by Yes933 DJs. But I like the lyrics. I cannot resist but to post up this follow up video from the first one. Lastly.... I think this is really interesting, I mean the MV.

"Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said." Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war. Perhaps amidst of all the land allotment story, Caleb is one that should cause ...

Yesterday while I was having an outing with my army friends, one of them said something that provoked me to think about things. He said that he was just casually catching up with one of the gang and found out that he kena cancer and was undergoing treatment. That stunned him and caused him to start messaging everyone to find out how they are doing, and I am one of them. I was touched by that comment. It caused me to think a bit. He is not a believer, and he is not exactly flawless. But one thing that caused me to admire about this guy is that he is super loyal. He even promised to help me keep a lookout for jobs. I just wonder how many people in church are able to be such a friend to one another. The bible teaches a lot about how we treat friends, but do we actually practise it? Do we show concern to people whom we have not been in touch for a long time? Do we keep within our own holy comfort zone and cuddle in our own holy lovey fellowship? This is some food for thoughts.

A song that touched me during service last week.

This is the best class in NUS for the year 2009 and perhaps in its entire history. Historians certainly make better dates =P