The reflecting theologian

A calling is simply God's shaping of your burden and his beckoning you to your service to Him in the place and pursuit of His choosing. Finding your home in your service to Christ is key to noticing the threads that God has designed just for you. When you find it, you inevitably feel that hand-in-glove sensation. Finding it gives you the security of knowing that you are utilising your gifts and your will to God's ends first, not yours. When you align your will with God's will, His calling on you has found its home. A true call of God puts a tug on your soul that you cannot escape, no matter how unattractive the cost of following it may feel. And what is the starting point of this process? The Bible leaves us in no doubt: do what you know to be God's will, and then watch how He will lead you into what you do not yet know. You are God's temple, act like it. God reinforces His call as you respond to His nod. - Ravi Zacharias, in his book "The Grand Weaver"

I was reading on the instructions that God was giving to Moses on the construction of the Tabernacle. It is very interesting (but very boring and tiring) to read that God gives such meticulous instruction to Moses on how to construct the Tabernacle. I think most people would probably skip through the entire process or just skimp through. I, for one, am not a person who can sit down and admire the precision of the design of the Tabernacle, although I think a civil engineer or an architect would most likely be marveled at the level of instructions given (which has allowed scholars to reconstruct the design). What I was really intrigued by the whole passage is that during the end of the passage, God said to Moses this, "Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God." (Exodus 29:45). And at the end of the construction of the Tabernacle, this happened: Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter t...

Being in the Uni-YA group in Hope Church, one reality that the LGs often faces is the frequent restructuring of LGs across the different groups. This means that LGs may see new people coming in, old people going out, or even see the whole group broken up to join other groups. Sometimes, the situation necessitates the need to restructure, like new people joining from other ministries, or people graduating etc etc. I think in this post, I want to give some thoughts over this system. My stand may not represent the official stance of the church regarding restructuring, or may not reflect the viewpoint of my leaders, neither does it seek to undermine their authority, though it may be a bit provocative and I may be seen to be shooting myself in the foot for some of my views.  Now, what do I think about restructuring? As a basic principle, I think I often want to start from the purpose why we gather as a LG, or even as a church. The bible is very heavy on this idea, but often, we don't...

Ever wonder what coffeeshop uncles and taxi drivers will talk about at the coffeeshops if they are Christ believers? What will they lament, complain or share about? How will they approach the issues of family, work and friends over a cup of kopi or teh? How would it look like? You see, if you are not from Singapore, we have this place called the coffeeshop, where people will generally gather to have their lunch and dinner. Late in the night, you see people gather for a beer or something. Generally, a common scene is to see retired men and women gathering to talk about anything under the sun. And in Singapore, I can be sure almost all of them are not Christians. And yet, what would they have talked about? What are the kind of issues if we Christians decide to gather at the coffee table to discuss? How would we encourage each other? This will be the series of kopi talk that I will be having with my LG. We will talk and discuss about issues that we generally don't talk about in a ...

I randomly decided to step into the ArtScience Museum and paid $24 to go in and see the exhibitions a few days back. Must admit the exhibitions are quite interesting. Here's some photos which I have taken from the exhibitions:

So apparently Steve Jobs passed on just right after Iphone 4S was released. It was so surprising that I almost thought it was a prank by Apple or a marketing stunt to increase the demand for 4S. As incredible as his life was, unfortunately, I do believe that his legacy will outlive him. It is a bit disturbing to see people commenting that the innovations of Apple will fall together with Jobs but this may not necessarily be the case. Perhaps other companies will see the chance for them to finally catch up with Apple in terms of their product offers but a few things one has to bear in mind. Firstly, Steve Jobs did not operate in vacuum although one can see the influence of his ideas and visions in Apple. Yet companies like Sony and Microsoft have and will continue to outlive their founders to push the boundaries of innovation. Such historical precedents show me that it is not impossible for Apple to die off with Steve Jobs. Of course, keeping my fingers crossed, I am hoping that t...

I was travelling back home last night after a brief round of brainless fun with my LG in the arcade after dinner. Along the way, while I was travelling in the train, it suddenly flashed upon me (I forgot how that thought came to me) that there is a discontentment within me. It is not about discontented with what I have currently, since I know God has blessed me with a lot of things and I have learned to live with what I have. But it is a sort of discontentment that says 'I still need to grow more and more in wisdom and understanding'. It is the kind of discontentment that makes me feel that I still have a long way to go in terms of understanding the word of God and the intricacies of biblical principles, as well as the realisation that I still want to know more, learn more and yet have such limited resources to do so (but the Holy Spirit is an infinite resource). What more is the limited capacity within ourselves to apply the knowledge and principles that we often sieve from ...