Oliver's Twist

Heartfelt Condolence

2011-10-13T13:43:00.003+08:00

Heartfelt condolences to my dear friend Thomas for his father passed away unexpectedly on 11 October 2011.

May God grant His Peace, Love and Compassion upon him and his family members

Work Work Work!

2011-10-08T18:05:00.004+08:00

Paste of Work

Work has no end. Every living human being has to work at least to cover their daily survival. Thus there is no one who would disagree with this statement.

But, what kind of work one should choose? How much effort or time one should put in the work? These are the questions that most people struggle with. Here, the author has no intention of discussing on the kind of work one should choose but to explore the one’s paste or effort put in his/her work.

Some people argue that it is best to work as fast as one can to finish as soon as possible. It really releases the stress and one can proceed with other works, they added. You can achieve many works. Thus it is best to work as fast as one can.

Some believes that one should take much time for whatever work one is doing. Then the work will be produced professionally. It would be perfect. If one does not take long hours, the work that he or she produces will have many errors. Subsequently, the person has to revise the work and it will have been taken much time.

In between these two groups, the author would like to suggest that one should have proper understanding of his/her work. What does one really want from the job? What are the successes is he/she looking for? Once the person can identify it, the person should set a proper time frame. Within its time frame, the work should be placed. The time frame should be set according to the importance of the work. If it should be perfect, one should place long hours. If it is less important, one should not spend too much time on it. Having understanding of the how the work can be done also help to finish the work.

It is time for Blogging, Again!

2011-09-19T19:17:00.003+08:00

It has been more than a year. For various reasons, I wasn't able to post any. But now is the time.
Here, I come!

As We Pray

2009-07-26T01:04:00.002+08:00

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, as we await your second coming, guide us, nurture and strengthen our faith in You Lord. Thank you for your presence and guidance until today.

Lord have mercy on us and hear our prayer.
Amen.

A picture says a thousand words

2009-03-12T21:58:00.001+08:00

God is

2008-03-24T10:59:00.002+08:00

Most highest, most good, most potent, most omnipotent;
most merciful, yet most just;
most hidden, yet most present;
most beautiful, yet most strong;
stable, yet incomprehensible;
unchangeable, yet all-changing;
never new, never old;
all renewing...ever working, ever at rest;
still gathering, yet nothing lacking;
supporting, filling and over-spreading;
creating, nourishing, and maturing;
seeking, yet having all things.....

(St. Augustine, Conf. I:IV, 4)

It's a choice

2008-01-25T17:27:00.001+08:00

Once, there was a boy who wanted to buy an ice-cream. He had money in his hand. He knew where the ice-cream shop is. Yet, he could not get any ice-cream. He was so disappointed and sad. It was not the reason that the ice-cream man did not want to sell. But it was because the machine was broken down at the point of time. That is the reason that he could not get any ice-cream. He felt very sad that he set down and cried. He had money and was at the right place and right time yet he could not get any ice-cream.

At one point of our lives, we are in this kind of situation. We are like the boy in above story, we have everything but we could not get what we want or we did not even get what we deserve to get. We tried very hard but at the end of the day an outcome is very disappointing. We did not do anything wrong to be placed in this situation. When we are in this situation, some of us respond the situation negatively. They feel unsatisfied with everything. They mourn over what has happened over and over again. They put all the blames on people around them. They carry the hatred and unbearable feelings inside their heart. For some, they bear all these troubles and disappointments by themselves. They struggle through it until the end. The beautiful thing about them is they do not look for someone to blame everything although it is horribly painful. They are alone when they walk this road for no one can understand the circumstances. Yet, while they are struggling to overcome these obstacles, they still keep the hope. The hope that one day they would be in the place where they truly are supposed to be in.

It is a choice that one can choose how to react this kind of situation. One can choose to give up and react harshly. Yet, one can choose to deal with the situation with all the energy that one has and overcome it joyfully.

Nearer to Him??

2007-12-29T02:33:00.000+08:00

Don't ever give up!

2007-10-26T01:23:00.000+08:00

A story from my friend,

One fine evening, I decided to quit. I decided to quit my job, my relationship and my spirituality.
I wanted to quit my life.

In despair, I went into the woods to have one last conservation with God.
'God', I asked, 'Can you give me one good reason not to quit?'
His answer surprised me. 'Look around', He said. 'Do you see the fern and the bamboo?'
'Yes', I replied.
'When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.
I gave them light. I gave them water.

The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor.
Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
'In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.
But I would not quit.
In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit.' He said.
Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6
months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.
I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.'

He asked me. 'Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots'.
'I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.'
'Don't compare yourself to others.'
He said. 'The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern.
Yet they both make the forest beautiful.'
'Your time will come', God said to me.
'You will rise high'
'How high should I rise?'
I asked.
'How high will the bamboo rise?' He asked in return.
'As high as it can?' I questioned.
'Yes.' He said, 'Give me glory by rising as high as you can.'
I left the forest and brought back this story.
I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.
Never, Never, Never Give up.
Because God never give up on you!

Church of the Trinitarian God

2007-10-14T02:10:00.000+08:00

Once upon a time, a man was looking for a place which he can joyfully live for the rest of his life. He searched for the place in many towns and cities. After searching for two years, he still found none. He was really upset and restless. His feet were getting heavier then usual. He was left with a ray of hope that one day he would find the place.

Later, he came to a little town called “Heaven”. There he found a huge house and a sign board in front of the house which writes “Welcome everyone! This is Heaven. You can stay here as long as you want and it is free.” He was very happy and he ran to the house door and pressed a doorbell straight away. Tin-Tong! Tin-Tong! A guy opened the door and said “Welcome my friend. Please, help yourself at home.” The man was so excited and said “Really? Actually, I have been searching this place all my life. Yes! Yes, I want to stay here. Thanks you very much, sir.” The man replied “You can addressed me as Bush, no need to call me sir.”

The next morning, he was introduced to many other people who were staying there. Bush told him that this place is the most special and joyful place in the whole world. Everyone here is very special. He continued by saying “In order to maintain the place, everyone has to follow the rules of the house. You are to eat, sleep and do your “toilet business” at the appointed time. For we believe discipline brings happiness.”

They had to participate in the house work and were asked to attend programs like fellowship, exercise and classes which teach them how to live a happy life. Each one of them was given a time table and there were many things they needed to accomplish. He was given a time table as well. For the first few days, he was comfortable with all the rules. Yet, he became very busy because of the work that sometimes he did not even have enough time to talk with others. He could only talk with them when he went to a gathering called “cell group.” Later, he started to feel uncomfortable. Although everything seemed fine but yet he felt that something was missing. He was not happy anymore and decided to leave the house.

So he hit the road again. He walked and walked until he saw disabled people especially those with Down syndrome, blind, deaf and mute going into a big house. That scene caught his attention and his curiosity led him to find out what they were up to. He slowly walked into the house. He noticed that people inside the house were busy talking and laughing. Everyone was trying his or her best to understand the person that they were communicating with. The man saw a deaf man and a blind man communicating. He saw a blind woman communicating with a deaf woman. A deaf man and a mute boy. A mute and a disabled boy. It was so complicating yet most of them seem to understand one another. But he could not understand.

While he was thinking, he heard a voice saying, “Hello! Young man.” An old blind man greeted him. He replied “Hello!” He could not wait any longer, he started to ask questions. The old man suggested him to stay there for a week and he agreed with it. On that night, he could not sleep. Something inside him was really disturbing him so he decided to go and see the old man. After he entered into the old man’s room, he saw the old man with another two old men. The old blind man said, “I knew you would come and look for me tonight. Alright, I will tell you the story of this house. Come, sit beside me.” So he sat beside him. The old man told him their story.

He said “In a little town, three strange men became friends. They were really strange: one was blind, one was deaf and one was mute. They enjoyed one another’s company so much that they agreed to stay together as long as they live. While they lived together, they realised that they could not understand what they were telling one another. Although they decided to learn sign language the problem was not really solved. There were many accidents. For example, when the blind man asked the deaf man to bring a cup of water, he would bring a cup of coffee. There were times that they decided to give up and live separately. But they could not do it. Later they found a new language. That language helped them to stay together even though they were strange. The language brought happiness, joy, care, patient, peace and understanding. That new language completed them. Later people were attracted in the way they lived and came to live among them. In the end, the house became bigger and bigger, and of course noisier.

The man curiously asked, “What is that language?” “Love, it is the language of love,” he replied. They were silent for a few minutes. Then the man realised that this was the place that he had been searching for. He decided to spend the rest of his life there with these strange people.

Theosis

2007-08-13T21:33:00.000+08:00

It is their strong will to be united with God. It is the love of Christ that has invited them to partake in Him to achieve “theosis.” It is the love of Christ that has attracted them to start the journey towards it. They had constantly pursuit to attain deification every single second through the help of the Holy Spirit. Some of them have a foretaste of it even in the present life.

She is Therese of Lisieux.

She is Therese Neumann.
They have set a good example before us. Thus, let us not forget who we are and our ultimate goal which is to become Christ. Let us strive towards it.

Eight Random Facts

2007-07-28T02:52:00.000+08:00

Tagged by Daniel. Eight random facts about me, myself and oliver....

1. Oliver is very quiet and does not like to be in big group.

2. Oliver likes to play piano, guitar and sing. (But he did not master any of those interests.)

3. Oliver loves to drink Tea Tarik.

4. Oliver has a problem manging time and discipling himself. (In the process of learning :D)

5. Oliver can hold chopsticks very well. (I know this is a very bold statement from indian guy like me. But I can prove it to u.)

6. Oliver treasures true friendship.

7. Oliver likes to play football.

8. Lastly, Oliver does not like to participate in unnecessary programs.

Better sermon...

2007-07-18T09:03:00.001+08:00

"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips."

Oliver Goldsmith (Irish Writer, 1728-1774)

Christ! in Her??

2007-07-18T01:54:00.001+08:00

This is a true story.

It happened in a little town which situated in the border of Myanmar and Thailand. There was a small church and the congregation was so small that everyone knew each other very well. They had good relationship with one another. There was an active lady who was never late for Sunday services and cell groups. Every Sunday, she would sit in the front row and sang hymns loudly as she could. She consistently tithed. She prayed and fasted during Lent seasons. She fully participated in every activity of the church. She liked to persuade people to come to church. She is like a model for the congregation.

Recently, she noticed a young girl who started to come to church and sat at the back. This young girl covered her head with black shawl and quietly sat in the church. She would leave church immediately after receiving the benediction from the pastor. This young girl did not communicate with any of the church members. As the lady was a good Christian, she looked for opportunities to persuade her to come to cell groups and to participate in the church activities and she did. Yet, there were no changes.

One fine day, the lady saw the young girl on the street. She greeted her. The young girl greeted her too. The young girl asked the lady to visit her because her house was nearby. On their way, still the lady was persuading her. The young girl stopped at small tent so the lady. The lady was surprised because the height of the tent was only 5 feet. It was made of bamboo. Both the lady and the girl had to bend in order to get inside. An 80yrs old man was lying on the bamboo floor covered with a thin blanket. He was on drip. Beside him was a 60yrs old lady. Then the girl said to her father, “Father, this is my friend.” There was no reply from her father at all. Then, the young girl looked at the lady and said, “Do you know that I am a prostitute?” The lady was stunned for a while and shook her head. The young girl continued, “Jesus died on the cross to give life, it is because of him that we have meaning to live. I sacrifice my life by prostituting myself in order to bring life to my parents. This is the best that I can offer to them and to Lord.” The lady could not say anything to her but was amazed for witnessing such great love and offering.

Are we trying to be a good Christian? Are we trying to represent Christ in our community? Are we willing to offer the best to our brothers and sisters, and Lord?

On the other hand, are we the one who is crucifying Christ-like people today? Are we still crucifying Christ?

Church

2007-07-04T09:13:00.000+08:00

The church is a foretaste of Kingdom of God. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is already here. It has started. It is a present reality. But he also declared that the Kingdom is to be found perfectly only in the future. How this already/not yet character of the Kingdom can be embraced in churches today? Then, firstly we need to know what the Kingdom of God is. What are some characteristics of Kingdom of God in perfect form? When the Kingdom of God exists in its fullness there will be no sickness, wars, man’s fallen nature and no poverty. All the relationship between Man to God, Man to Man and Man to Creation will be in perfect love, which is the fundamental nature of the Trinitarian God. How can these qualities of the Kingdom can be found today, if we declare that the Kingdom is here?

Woe! The church has such a great responsibiliy and yet most of our churches are busy organizing evangelical campaigns. We are busy choosing which clothes to wear when we go to church. We are busy being involved in programs, for example, men or women's fellowship, youth fellowship, cell groups and special celebration programmes. One ought to note that it is not wrong to participate in these programs. But if one observes carefully, most of us are rushing to finish one programme after another. In our heads, we are thinking how to organize or run those programmes perfectly. Obviously, this kind of environments dose not gives space to love one another. Thus before we start to plan for campaigns or programmes, we ought to practise the fundamental nature of the Trinitarian God. By genuinely loving one another, we can embrace the Kingdom of God in our church.

There will be different types of people in our churches. Among them, let us focus on those who are weak in health, education and wealth etc. Let us take our first step to talk to those who are quiet, shy and those who dare not speak. Let us befriend those. Let us love them as a friend. We may say that we do not have enough time and the congregation is too big. Yes, there is a price to pay for living out the Kingdomic life. But we have no choice but to live the Kingdomic life because we are chosen to be his followers. It is our responsibility. This is what the church is for. Let them taste what the Kingdom of God is like.

Prayer

2007-07-03T20:37:00.000+08:00

Truth #2

Assurance of Answered Prayer
Let us look at John 16 and see what it says on Assurance of Answered Prayer.

In verses 23-24 Jesus says: "...I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ... Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." Amen.

"The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." (Verse 27)

Our previous reading Assurance of Salvation affirmed that anyone who believes in the Son of God has the testimony that God has given him eternal life. Those who accept God's love and believe in Jesus Christ, by following His command to love one another, are given eternal life. Once we have fulfilled the requirement and become a Child of God, we can turn to the Father. If we ask, we will receive. I want to caution everyone when asking our Father to make sure that what we are asking for is in His and our best interest. "God, Your will be done."

Remember, God's plan comes from His love for His children. For this reason my most important request is for strength to serve the Lord. God loves me and knows what I need, just as a father knows that children need clothes and food.

Dear Father God:
Please give me the attentiveness to follow Your will and equip me with the tools to do it. Amen!

Question: Do you keep a Godly checkbook register and do you know your balances? Can you repay Him?

NO - I am in debt to God so much that I will never be able to repay Him.

My Reflection

Throughout the centuries, people have varieties of expression or understanding on how to pray and what to pray. For the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics, they appeal to the long traditions and learn from them. For example, Roman Catholics practice the Sign of the Cross as an expression of prayer. This is an important part of their Spiritual journey. Eastern Orthodox has richer traditions. For them the Sign of the Cross has great powerful effect on demonic power and tremendous spiritual power. It helps to build up their spirituality.

Sadly, Protestants throw away all the traditions. We do not hold the Sign of the Cross as an important part of personal and public prayer. For most of us, prayer is just asking things that we want from God. It focuses on things that we want although we sound like we are praying for our needs. Our prayers are generally concerned with confession of sins, thanksgiving and asking help. Then we will end by saying to God, “God, Your will be done.” Do we really mean it when we say those words? Do we really know the impact of it? For Jesus, obedience comes in and after his prayer. In Gethsemane, Jesus was so tired that he prayed for God to take away his pain and remove the suffering that he had to go through. He ended the prayer with God’s will and he really meant it. Despite all his sufferings and weakness, he took the painful path. He obeyed God’s will. We may say that we do not know what the will of God for us is. But do we notice that we do not make an effort to know God’s will for us? Do we?

What about our Spirituality? Does our prayer help to build our Spirituality? From my observation, our prayer has nothing to do with our spirituality. It does not build our Spirituality. What is our Spirituality?

She Rocks!!

2007-06-28T23:03:00.000+08:00

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts,

there can be no more hurt, only more love"

Mother Teresa

My Church

2007-06-24T23:03:00.000+08:00

I have attended the Baptist Church since I was young. I used to be proud of my church for not imposing any rules upon people. I used to think that the Roman Catholics were still under the law. They were bound by rules like Pharisees. They were busy walking according to the rules and forgot to love one another. So I started to go to the Roman Catholic Church and made friends with many youths. Whenever I had the time, I would share my beliefs. My ambition was to encourage them to become like me.

But later I realized that I had nothing. My faith was only 500 years old. My Church had nothing. It is so sad and frustrating to know that we almost do not have doctrines and old traditions. Thus it shows our lack of understanding of what the church is and what the church is for. It is so sad to know that I am not a part of a 900- (Roman Catholic) or a 2000- (Eastern Orthodoxy) year traditions. I do not hold a faith that is 2000 years old. I feel lost because I do not know what kind of faith I am preserving and perpetuating.

Every Sunday, when I go to the church, the pastor or deacons preach from the pulpit. The pastor will always conduct the communion. The whole congregation prays and sings together. Church programs are run according to the decision of the church council. They have power to change or to continue. Whatever you want to do you have to get permission from them. Those who have a conflict with the committee members would always find it easy to leave the church and go to another church. It is perfectly fine to do it. I do love the people in my church but I wonder if it is a church or some kind of organization.

It would be beautiful if we united with the Mother Churches! It would be wonderful if we humbled ourselves and learned from them! How I long to see that happening.

love

2007-06-23T11:33:00.000+08:00

I got an email from my friend which said as follow:

I will share with you my perception of five different truths that every Christian should know. The dictionary defines truth as a spiritual reality. What does it mean?

Truth #1
Assurance of Salvation

Let us look in 1 John where we find information on Assurance of Salvation .

"This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we may live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:11)

"Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. ... And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life..." (1 John 5:10-12)

What a powerful message! All we have to do is accept God's love and believe in Jesus Christ by following his command to love one another.

We, Protestants, like to be assured and secured. We have been preaching our assurance of salvation since Luther’s time. We like to be reminded again and again of God’s salvation to us every single Sunday. We enjoying saying God loves you that why He saved you. Now you are loved and saved. All you have to do is love one another and preach the gospel. That’s all. This is what we Protestants believe. It is true that it is because of the love of God, we are saved and yet for us God’s love is to only cure our sins. God has never fail to love us before and after we are sinned. For Him, love always comes first. But we Protestants revised it. We put sins before God instead of love. We commit sins and that is why we come to see Him. Our sins brought us to obey Him not our love. We are afraid of going to Hell. If we do not accept God’s love we will go to Hell because we still are sinners. It is our second main focus. Salvation! Not love. It is not the love that makes us wanting to be saved. It is not because of the un-separable love that we have for God giving us the desire to be saved. It just simply because we afraid to go to Hell. Thus we really do not know God’s love for us.

Sadly, we apply this rule to our fellow brothers. As we do not know God’s love the same way we do not know how to love our neighbours. When we meet people the first thing that we seek is the person’s weakness or sins in his life. Love does not come first. Once we find the person’s weakness or sins we try to point out all sins that he has. Then we will point out all his weakness and convince him to say a sinner prayer. Where is love? When dose it come? We might say that it is because of the love for the person, we preach gospel and point out his sins. Yet, if we think clearly our emphasises is more on man’s fallen nature rather then loving him. Initiatively, Jesus shows his love to the adulterous woman and Zaccheus without condemning them. It is love that changes their lives and to love one another.

Thus, let us truly understand God’s love and let it change us. Then secondly let us genuinely love one another.

Give Up....?

2007-04-27T22:20:00.000+08:00

This Journey is hard,
Yet it is harder to give up.

Guess Who?

2007-02-11T18:22:00.000+08:00

This is my sister and my nieces. I got this picture from her last week. They are so cute.

This is my brother-in-law. This picture was taken on his birthday.

Anthropology Reflection (2)

2007-01-31T15:55:00.000+08:00

All along my life, I identify people according to their positions, status, degrees, wealth, beauty and knowledge. I treat them according to their status. If a person has a higher degree I will pay respect and treat that person very well. If a person has poor education or poor, my admiration will be not same as the first person.After sitting in the theology class for two sessions, I came to realize that we, all human being are created according to the image of God. We came from one source, light and truth. I have forgotten who I am. So let us not forget who we are.

I want to say Namaste to all of you……..

Anthropology Reflection (1)

2007-01-31T15:39:00.000+08:00

Every living creatures has specific role to perform. Some of the plants have to reproduce oxygen and some animals help to transfer the pollen from one place to another etc,. They live and fulfil their tasks in a certain period of time. Most of them are actually bound to their environment. They do not do beyond and perform anything from their environment. Human are unique creature. They have ability to adapt in environment and also have ability to create new environment. Human being has difficulty in finding their exact role in this finite world. They are busy looking what ought to be done. They do not find any satisfaction doing things in this world. Although they have been in many places, they still could not find a good reason or purpose to perform it. Thus they came to expect things from beyond their imagination and this world.

All my life I have been searching the purpose of my life and things that I should achieve also. I have searched for wealth, position, status and many other things. Although I got them to certain level, I still want to achieve more and more. First I though when I get those thing will be satisfy but it did not work out that way. My search has continued again. I felt tired chasing after those things again and again.

“Our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee, O God.”
St. Augustine
After I read this, I have came to conclude that God is the one who I need most. He is only source that can give satisfaction to me. The meaning of live can be found only in God. They joy of the living can find only in God.

2007-01-08T23:33:00.000+08:00

For coming few days, I will be writing letters to my Burmese friends who are working or studying in foreign countries. I want to tell them about my holiday trip back to my hometown (Yangon,

Myanmar

) and I want to share what I have experienced there. I saw many people who are struggling to survive. Thus I want to encourage all of my friends to go back home and serve those people who are in need.

Before I start this, I want to say "Happy New Year To You All."

Christology Reflection (6)

2006-09-13T23:14:00.000+08:00

Jesus accomplished His mission which was to fulfill the His promises in the Old Testament hope; the mission being to proclaim the divine reign and to die on the cross. In In order to accomplish the mission he walked according to His Father’s will even though it meant giving up His life. Why did he obey God? Why did He want to complete the mission?
He went through the walk out of love for His Father and mankind. He came to live a communal life, forgive mankind and he died for mankind. We, as followers of Christ, ought to imitate Him and live a Christ like life. Like Christ God has also appointed tasks for us to accomplish. Therefore we must understand what our role in God’s mission is. It is important for us to obey God so that we can walk according to His will and complete our tasks. We should walk and obey God not as a bargain but because we love God.

“Lord, help us to love you more and more,
And help us to obey your will”

Christology Reflection (Weeks 4 & 5)

2006-08-08T20:41:00.000+08:00

In the Gospels, Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of God” as a declaration of his obedience to his Father’s will. In accordance with his obedience, he fully submitted himself to God so that his mission would be completed. Although he was afraid to go through the trials and suffering in the flesh he was willing to go through the torment because of his submission to his Father. For example, there was a time when he was in Gethsemane, he was tempted not to go through the suffering but he persisted due to his obedience to God.

As followers of Christ, we do not understand God’s will and purpose for us. Many of us often do things our way. We need to learn how to obey God as Jesus did. Whatever we do God must be the centre of our lives. Therefore, as we live in a community we need to learn to accept one another’s suggestions and be submissive to one another because this is the character of God. In so doing, we will be able to practise genuine relationships in community.

Here again a conscious effort is necessary. We will have to learn to accept suggestion from others much as we do not want to. To be humble is the most difficult thing to do in our lives, but that is the way it should be.

“O lord, teach me to submit to and obey Your words and also to listen to my fellow brothers.”

Christology Reflection (Week 3)

2006-07-23T22:11:00.000+08:00

He chose to be a man! Christ, the second person in Trinity incarnated in flesh and blood to be part of this community. He, almighty God, chose to be as vulnerable as mankind although he could use his power to overcome all odds. Due to his obedience and submission to his father, he allowed himself to be abused, hurt, offended and crucified.

As I journey towards the kingdom of God, I may experience wealth, power and status. At this point, I may begin to question myself “Will I be able to overcome the temptation of such power and glory in order to submit myself to God?” The battle will be tough, I know, but I will be ready to carry the cross.

In this stage of submission, I would expect to be treated as an outcast in a normal society. For example, if I a need to minister to a drug addict, I will have to soak myself in his company. In so doing, I will probably be conveying a wrong message to the society about myself so I will suffer from condemnation. By God’s mercy and grace, I would choose to restore broken people and direct them to the Kingdom of God.

“O Lord, Let my desire be a reality for your glory”

Christology Reflection (Week 2)

2006-07-12T23:49:00.000+08:00

I have never thought that the biggest sin is to break the relationship with God and wanting to be on my own. All my life, I have defined sin mainly based on moral behavior. As an Asian, morality is very important for me and for all Asians. In our society, we gauge the goodness or badness of a person according to his/her behavior. This concept has been in my mind for so many years. This principle has condemned me and other people.

When I talked about sin, it remained something that I had learned in class. Jesus never condemned others and seldom talked about sin. Being God, he came into this world. He was incarnated in the flesh to rebuild the relationship between men and God and men to men. He liked to talk about love and shared joy with his disciples rather then condemning them.

All my life, I have been busy criticizing myself and others. Every time I ended up with sadness and hatred. Placing sin as my first priority has drawn me far from God. When I realized how God wants to relate with us, this realization has shaken me. I have been running away from God because I felt I have sinned against him so that I shouldn’t go into his presence. Now I can go to the presence of God without condemning myself. Then, with the help that comes from God, I will be changed and built into fullness of life.

Christology Reflection (Week 1)

2006-07-04T02:11:00.000+08:00

Christians are the followers of Christ. Christ is the core of Christianity. Therefore the identity of Jesus Christ is very significant for Christianity.

The identity of Christ has been debated among theologians. The deity and the humanity of Jesus have been exposed to various explanations by many theologians. Thus, most of them have tried to search the history and understand the historical Jesus. As a result, some of them portray Christology as “Christology from above” and others “Christology from below”.

Some of them consider that the Christ of the Gospel can be believed, and that history can be found in Scripture. The witnesses (from Scripture) of Jesus as divine and human can be trusted, and faith can be drawn from there. The other group emphasises much more the search of historical Jesus. For them, faith lies on the truth of the historicity of Jesus.

Listening to what these groups are saying makes me feel confused as it is complicated. It has shaken my faith and understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ. On one hand, it helps me to re-examine what and who I believe in. For me, I believe that Jesus Christ is fully divine and human. He suffered, died, rose again and ascended to heaven. Thus I will use both my understanding from Scripture and from history to comprehend Christology.

For me, understanding Christology lies in the proclamation of the churches. The historicity of Jesus will help me to understand more about the humanity of Jesus Christ.

At the Beginning...

2006-07-01T23:05:00.000+08:00

Everything has a starting and stopping point. Beginning and ending. Starting point is important as well as the ending point. Many people said that starting is very easy but it is difficult to maintian it to the last, the ending. I agree with that. In my life, I have started many things. I finished doing some of the things but some couldn't finish. I learn piano from many teachers but I didn't become a good pianist. Today, I have started blogging. Today is my birthbloggingday. The one who force me or help me to blog is Sherman. Hahaha.. well actually by blogging will help me to understand more about myself and things which are happening in my life. Thanks to you my big brother, Sherman. I hope, I can maintain it all the way till end.