The reflecting theologian

As I was meditating on some stuff at home earlier, God just reminded me of this verse, which He sorts of reminded me as well last night before I sleep. It was my first memory verse which I memorised as a new believer: Trust in the LORD with all your heart And lean not on your own understanding In all your ways, submit to Him And He will make your paths straight - Proverbs 3:5-6 I like the NIV2011 version. The NIV1984 said 'in all your ways, acknowledge Him', but I think submission to God is more than acknowledging but it's really entrusting God to lead us, even when we do not understand. His ways are after all higher than ours and there are mysteries which we cannot fathom. It is consistent with what Ps Jeff has shared earlier, when he said that he can serve as though everything depends on him but at the end of the day, it's God's work we are talking about. I guess in the upcoming 2013, it will be a year of trusting Him once more, and perhaps the fact that He h...

Our understanding of God must not be based on presumptions about Him or on what we want God to be like. Instead, we must believe in the God who is and who has chosen to reveal Himself to us in Scripture. Human beings tend to create fictitious gods that are easy to believe in, gods that conform to their own lifestyle and sinful nature. This is one of the marks of false religion. Some Christians even fall into the trap of ignoring the self-revelation of God and begin to develop a concept of God that is more in line with their personal whims than with the Bible. - Russell E. Joyner And I must say, this is a fairly accurate picture of what we see today in church. How many times do we see people walking into church to worship, only find themselves worshiping the God that they made up in their mind, rather than the God who is described and revealed in the Scripture? And hence, I highly suspect a lot of people lose their faith, or fall away from God precisely because of their experience tha...

Looking back at 2012, I think another big highlight of 2012 would be my second trip to Japan. That would prove to my final mission trip for the year. And I would have thought that God was done with me on Japan till later on. Apparently, the 'done with' part may last shorter than I expected, but it is true that God is done with me on mission at least during this season of my life, as I begin my studies. As I look back to Tono and Watanoha, what do I see there? I saw the need for God in a country which had missed its chance to turn to God a few centuries back. But honestly speaking, which countries had really turned to God in any case? It is the people who turn to God. The question we thus have to ask ourselves, wherever we are, is whether we are bringing people closer to God, locally or overseas? Looking back at 2012... more to come

I used to say this but for some weird reason, I am beginning to find that saying 'Happy Birthday, Jesus' a really weird thing. It seems almost that this is a phrase that belongs more to folk theology than any other things. I believe that it is theologically wrong to say 'Happy Birthday, Jesus'. And I am serious. Of course I don't go around Facebook pointing that out to whoever posted that on their wall. But the scripture just does not support the 'birthday' of Jesus. It more supports the coming of Jesus as the God incarnate on earth than anything. Why? Because in the beginning, there was the Word, and there was God, and the Word was God. For to us a Son is given - the Son is not born, the child was. If the Logos was with God and the Logos was God, can someone tell me how on earth are we going to celebrate the birthday of the Word? If the Son is given, not born, then what birthday are we talking about? I somehow have the feeling that I will talk about thi...

In this Christmas season, i can only remember one message: that God is good, God is very good. It comes across to me over the weekend. This Christmas weekend is perhaps the only weekend so far that I have attended all the three English services. In all the three services, I listened to the same message and I watched the same drama. But in all the three services, I never failed to be touched by the same drama and be touched by the message that God is good to have His presence with us, thru our Lord Jesus Christ. Amidst all the theological arguments and disagreements, I must say, any Christians who are worth their salt will have to admit despite theological dispute that God is really good. God is good.

And so, I expended 10 years worth of Christmas budget to get my new Christmas gift - the Line 6 JTV-89, aka the Variax. This is indeed a beauty of an electric guitar. Unlike its predecessor, it has its own pickup and can function normally as an electric guitar. But it retains its predecessor's unique feature and has around 29 guitar settings inside its digital computer system. This includes 6 acoustic guitar settings, which allow this baby to function as a normal acoustic guitar when plugged into an amp. Definitely a beauty. If my EJ160E is a baby in its own right as an acoustic guitar, this JTV-89 is a baby in its own unique way as an electric guitar. I certainly look forward to serve in weddings (the only setting today where I can serve on stage) and also in impromptu settings at work or during volunteer sessions.

For those who are not aware, I recently bought myself my first Christmas gift of the year (what I meant by first is that there will be a second). The Christmas gift is actually a bible research tool by the name of Logos 5. It supposed comes with a bible library, depending on the package you bought, and it allows you to add on books and commentaries and other materials in the library and will allow you to search the library when you are preparing for teaching or simply doing bible study. Quite a cool tool to have as I start my study in AGBC. http://www.logos.com/features I will post about my second Christmas gift, which I have not yet bought.

The below is an excerpt taken from a letter that I received from RZIM, written by Ravi Zacharias to the financial contributors of RZIM (yes, I contribute a monthly sum to RZIM): Angola prison is on the Mississippi line, sixty miles north of the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It comprises 18,000 acres and covers some twenty two square miles. It is larger than Manhattan Island. The total prison population is about 5300, 85% of whom are on life without parole. They will never see freedom again. Among these are about forty-five on death row. Escape is almost impossible: a large pack of dogs, some part wolf and part dog, with a heightened sense of smell are used to track a prisoner down should any date try. Until a few short years ago, it was known as the bloodiest prison in the country. When a prisoner was brought in, he was given a knife to protect himself while within the prison. Imagine that! Blood stains were visible on the prison floors and walls. The place was brutal and survival ...

Simply starting to muse about 2012 as the year comes to an end and I enter into a new phase of life in 2013. Some preliminary thoughts about 2012 - this year is the year of decision for me, as well as faith. It takes a lot of faith to make the decision to sign up with a bible college and take up a part time study in theology. This is by definition, a major decision as I do not know what this decision will lead to and whether it is going to direct me away from the original path which I believe God has planted in my heart to take. One thing I know for sure, is that the decision to sign up with AGBC is a God-driven and Spirit-led one as I saw God's fingerprint in the shadow as I made the decision.

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the...

Today marks my 7th year in Christ. At 9pm at Nexus Auditorium, I received Christ into my life. Since then it has been a fruitful 7 years with its ups and downs. I can’t imagine how my life will be like if I hadn’t made that fateful decision on that fateful night. What turned out to be an innocent visit to service to celebrate someone’s birthday turned out to be a landmark day for me, a day which I will forever remember in my heart. It was a precious day to me, because it was the day I met Jesus and I never regretted the decision since then. But looking back at the past 7 years, it was quite amazing how my mind was transformed by the grace of God to conform the pattern of Christ-likeness instead of the pattern of this world. When I made that decision, I seriously didn’t know whether I will regret or not. I remembered saying yes on the pretext of ‘trying out’. Of course, to me, trying out will mean to follow what the rest of the Christians around me did. That involved going to church o...