The reflecting theologian

And so the past weekend was the all too (in)famous Valentine Day. To the aliens reading this post, Valentine Day is simply a date (14 Feb of every year) designated by florists, gift shops and the jewellers for all the 'lovers' (a.k.a guys) to express their love to their girls in the most expensive ways possible. On this day, prices of flowers, gifts, and food at expensive restaurants will go up inexplicably while demand goes up inexplicably as well. Nothing a Hello Kitty can't fix on a Valentine Day Beyond buying a Hello Kitty with open mouth or a Chuck with guns and roses, I was just thinking about this supposedly very special day. Why does it seem 'so special'? Or would it even be special without all the commercialisation? Many girls act as if this is the only day their lovers express their love to them, and hence, the demand for more than extravagant celebration. I beg to defer from all this. Most of the times, guys express their love in the best way that ...

I was talking to a friend, who was telling me about a brother in Christ who was on the verge of leaving church due to a stagnation in his spiritual growth. A while after that, I heard of another sister in Christ who actually decided to leave her current church to another one due to the lack of growth opportunity in her current church. It got me thinking a bit. To give a bit of context, I think the grace of God has been upon me thus far in my own spiritual journey and hearing accounts of lack of spiritual growth in church is something that sounds like angelic tongues to me. Before I dwell further, let's look into the definition. What do we mean by "spiritual growth?" If I may give my own definition, it is the development of Christlike character and behaviour in the Christ disciple through a renewed mind and tested faith. It is the maturing of his faith, understanding, holiness and commitment. The ultimate goal, as we see, is Christlikeness and this is mentioned in Script...

This is a bit late, but I still think that I should make an effort to reflect on my year 2014 to give my readers a glimpse on what went on... especially since 2014 was my least productive year in terms of number of blog postings. The secret voice within my mind... For 2014, I am going to adopt something different compared to previous years. Instead of reviewing year by year, I will do it by major themes that happen, since this will be easier for me and less tedious for people to read. 1. Calling as a Christian minister In some sense, 2014 is a year when I was forced to clarify my calling as a Christian minister. By Christian minister, I don't mean a paid one, but I would define a Christian minister as a Christian who is serving God. This person needs not be a full time paid person in church or any other related organisation. In my context, I was serving concurrently as a lifegroup leader, in community projects as well as some education related stuff. 2014 signals a begi...

I was just reflecting a few nights ago. We normally like to criticise the church for its shortcomings, and that's probably what I am doing now. But can we talk about these shortcomings in a manner that is not 'critical' but instead be one that strives towards Christlikeness (save for the table flipping part although I think that will be quite cool). Here are five things which I think, as a Church, we can collectively do better: Just being random with my meme 1.  We can sing more biblically correct songs One of those things that irk me a lot is that we sing songs that are either theologically questionable or biblically inaccurate. Here is one of those lyrics that I think we need to be careful about: Through You, I can do anything, I can do all things, For it’s You who give me strength, Nothing is impossible This part of the lyrics combine two very well-known verses in the New Testament: Matt 19:26 and Phil 4:13. One talks about God making salvation of man possible...

Over the past two weeks, I was invited to attend a block class on "Learning to Teach." After two weeks of class, here are some reflections that I have. We thank God Bro Casey is a pretty humane teacher... :P  Firstly, teaching needs to meet the changing challenges of the 21st century. This is especially pertinent with all the advancements in technology as well as the worldview changes with the generation today. There is simply no room for the teacher to remain stagnant and not be able to keep up with times so as to engage their students and to facilitate learning. Applying to theological education and Bible school, we have to consider what kind of ministers we are training for the churches in the 21st century. If we are training ministers who are able to engage today’s generation, then we need to review the current methods of teaching and train ministers to be savvy in social media and technology and be able to make use of them in their ministries. Reflecting back on...

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” - John 6:66-69 The story took place at the backdrop of a very hard teaching given by Jesus after he fed the five thousand people with the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes. It was a point in time when many of the so-called disciples decided to turn back and stop following him, as they were unable to accept that hard teaching given by Jesus. Throughout my Christian life, I have seen many people leaving and joining the church, for various reasons. I remember one friend, who came to know Christ and within a few weeks, decided that he will no longer follow Christ because he simply cannot accept that as a Christian, he has to forgive people, given that he has someone in ...

Question: How many wise men were there when they visited Jesus and how old was Jesus back then? Most illustrations we have from traditions show that there were three wise men who visited Jesus when He was just freshly out of the womb.  However, why not take a closer look at Matthew 2: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:  “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israe...