Can I Grow Up To Be Obama?

There were times when I would sit down and start wondering about different things in life, and I think to myself... what a wonderful world ♫

"Wouldn't it be great if Jesus was just sitting beside me, and I can ask him a million questions!"

Well, obiously, I can't actually do that. Certain things are just not in the Bible, like...

I would be praying,

"Dear God, I wonder who will I marry?"

(silence)

(more silence)

(even more silence)

zzzZzzzZZ

So, the next best thing you have is your pastor. When you have dinner with church mates along with your pastor, you start asking difficult questions. If God doesn't tell you, and if you can't find it in your Bible, and if your pastor doesn't know - it is probably some mysterious thing you shouldn't know.

LIKE WHO YOU WILL MARRY A FEW YEARS DOWN THE ROAD

WHY IS YOUR LECTURER SO BORING

WHY DO WE HAVE 2 EYES AND NOT 3 EYES

WHY CAN'T MEN GET PREGNANT

WHO WILL WIN TOMORROW NIGHT'S SOCCER MATCH

Well, only the first question. The others were just cover up questions. Its funny, when I hear a peer asking for advice from Josh.

Peer:

"Josh, what do you do - I mean, I have a friend, and he wants to ask a girl out but he doesn't know what to do, if you were him, what would you do?"

Josh:

"You mean you want to ask a girl out..."

But yeah, I asked Josh about American politics.

I shared to Josh that the tone Obama used before and after his victory was very different. So did Mccain and his defeat.

Before Obama won, we said so many "positive" things.

Together, we will bring change to Washington.

Open up possibilities.

Inspire the crowd.

Before Mccain lost, he said things like

"We will definitely win this race"

"We won't let a Socialist run this country"

After Obama won, it went like

"It (the change) might not be seen in a year, not even a term"

although things like

"Yes, we can!"

were still around.

Joel:

"Those speeches, I know he wants to inspire the crowd. But speaking in such a way as though they can literally do ANYTHING just isn't true. I mean, yes, ALL things are possible, IF you vote me, IF the cabinet is very cooperative, IF no other regular disasters strike America, IF this and IF that - there are a million conditions"

" Just like Mccain talking about winning - I know they (Obama and Mccain) wants to win and they want to persuade the crowd to vote for them. But how can they possibly both win and speak in such a way? It feels like lying - all the promises before and after the election"

"It seems as though, if they didn't said such things which were very much like those 'self-fulfilling prophecies' (you pronounce a wish, and you do your best to keep to it, and if you succeed, then you have fulfilled your own prophecy... part of the trick is to pronounce the wish in such a way as if it must happen, IT MUST HAPPEN! and hope that you will somehow be inspired to persevere - it is just another word for self-motivation I think) - IF they didn't say it, forget about being President, they might not even get to become a Senator. With that in mind then, how can it be possible that a Christian who wants to be true to his conscience and to God - speak truthfully to the crowd?"

" I know that in the speaker's mind - he knows the million "IFs". But in his speech, he mentions almost none of the little footnotes! I know the people who listens to Obama are not entirely stupid, and they - to some extent - know some of the footnotes. But the whole thing about not mentioning the little warning signs just feels very deceitful"

"To take it to a more personal level. If you are the coach of a soccer team - you gotta tell them ' WE WILL WIN THIS MATCH GUYS! YOU CAN DO IT!' its the kind of pep talks you just gotta say

(some of the words were actually by Josh, I just wrote them as everything said by me as it is hard to type out a full 10 minutes conversation)

Well, that wasn't exactly the conversation. But that was the idea. Josh agreed on the fact that it also happens when you want to encourage your son - "Go Jordan, you can do it!". He pondered over the fact if saying such things that Obama spoke : can it be considered an outright lie? or not?

This scene reminds me very much of Batman - when Two-Face held the wife and the kids of Mr. Inspector-Guy in ransom.

Two Face said something like:

"Tell your kids everything is going to be fine. LIE! LIE AND TELL THEM EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!"

The fact is this. Nothing is fine. Batman could have arrived 1 second late. Well, of course, in movies, he can't. But in real life, sometimes somebody dies because the ambulance arrived a little to late. A bank is robbed and robbers get away because the police is too late.

In a real world, certain things just can't be promised for sure.

Josh said that he will think through it. I look forward to his answer.

Worship in New Testament

Foreword:
This sermon is originally preached by Paul Grimmond (former UNSW Chaplain, director of Campus Bible Study) - I have attempted to rewrite as much as I can remember from this sermon and have added my own words in different areas. All quotations are taken from NIV.

In light of Christians identifying that our life exists for worship, and that worship is a lifestyle and not mere random events in our life (singing, helping the poor, going church - but worship as Paul said: Glorify God even in our eating and drinking) - What we are getting at is indeed important since if we can glorify and honour God in our daily activities in seemingly trivial things such as eating and drinking, this leaves us a lot of room for dishonouring God when we limit our definition of worship to mere songs and church activities.

Before we talk about giving God our heart (within the church context of singing songs of praise), we learn from the Bible that God makes no such distinction - when God demands His people to give Him their hearts, God always expected a turn in actions. For example the passage in Isaiah about true fasting - surely we know that fasting as we understand both in the Old Testament does mean abstaining from food and such, but one thing we see more striking throughout the passages was the fact that God stresses on righteousness in their daily lives, not so much their abstinence.

Many times during the Old Testament when the people of God strayed away from God, the sacrificial system was still "kind of there" and in place - meaning the priests continually bring the offerings, the songs are continually played - but the heart of the people is already far (the priests were corrupt, the people sang to God today and worship Baals and idols tomorrow), whatever God called them to do was only done mechanically.

The sad truth is this, in the midst of "church activities" ... the definition of worship was lost. It was true for the Old Testament, and we would do well to acknowledge that we are vulnerable to such a thing in our modern times.

What does the book of Joel say?

Joel 2:13
Rend your heart and not your garments, return to The Lord your God...

If worship is a lifestyle (and we know that it is not a particular chapter and verse that explicitly states that "worship is a lifestyle", but as we study the Scripture, we learn that worship is indeed a lifestyle) - we would be most familiar with the famous Sermon about a lifestyle of worship - Yes, it is none other than the Sermon on The Mount - by Jesus.

What we tend to do when we want to find out about worship - is to look up the concordance and find out wherever the word "worship" is found in the whole Bible (i.e.John 4:21, Romans 12:1-2, etc) - tie them up together, summarize all the verses into One Gigantic Principle and preach a 5 point sermon. But as we will soon see, if we actually think of worship as merely that, we will lose the most important sermon in the whole Bible out - lets turn to Matthew 5

Links to Bible Passages online:
Matthew 5

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=31

Matthew 6
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206;&version=31

Matthew 7
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207;&version=31

One thing before we start, let us look at the context of this BIG SERMON.

Matt 5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up to a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and he began to teach them, saying...

If we just look a few verses up, we read

Matt 4:23
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Jesus is getting famous! Miracles are being done - the crowds are following Him - but what does Jesus do?

WHEN JESUS SAW THE CROWDS... (Matt 5:1), Jesus started teaching his disciples.

It is easy for us to desire a BIG BLAST in church, a MEGA CONCERT that would draw BIG NUMBERS! and many a times, we think that Jesus would do the same. If you would like to look at another part of the Bible about what Jesus thinks about mere crowds - John 2:24. Jesus knows what crowds are - are they not also the CROWD that hung Jesus on the cross? In the midst of all the hype, all the rah rah... Jesus sets out the important things (it is as though Matthew does not want the reader (us) to misunderstand what is important - in the midst of fame, Jesus puts the first thing first)

If Jesus gave any instruction to the disciples, the sermon on the mount was definitely the longest.
If Jesus gave a model for lifestyle, the sermon on the mount is the lifestyle.
If Paul or Peter or John wrote anything on a worshipful lifestyle, is it not derived from the sermon on the mount (or a summary of it)?
If we learn anything about the Lord's prayer, isn't it Jesus' own words from his sermon?

SECTION 1 - The Blessed Man, Read Matthew 5:1-16

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;
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Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven...

Firstly, this blessed man is probably not talking about different persons but one same person. We see the same description for the blessed man in verse 3, we see the same thing for verse 10 - theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And is there a righteous man who thirst for righteousness (v6) but one that is proud(v5)? Or can there be a blessed man who is merciful (v7) but one who is a peace-hater(v9)? Jesus might be also quoting the Old Testament, one example is Matt 5:5, where Jesus quotes the psalm

Psalm 37:12
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

Psalm 37:29
the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.

The meek will inherit the land, the righteous will inherit the land. Such a blessed man's character and attitude is definitely one that is distinct from the world. Therefore Jesus moves on the salt and light. Is not salt distinct from anything that has no flavour? Is not light distinct from darkness? When salt loses its flavour, it is no longer distinct. The world is a dark and wicked place, one righteous man will shine distinctly and will be killed simply because he is righteous (v11-12) But what does Jesus exhort? Be righteous (and distinct) ANYWAY! We are called to be Christians, and we are called to holiness, shall we shrink back? Shall we be like the lamp hidden under the basket?

Jesus takes one more step to say that we not only should be unhidden, but we are meant to "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven". Did not Jesus (God) die as a righteous Man who did God's will? But we are reminded - They persecute the righteous, like the prophets of God who were persecuted - and Jesus the one who was most persecuted unjustly! but great is their reward in heaven!

BRIDGE TO SECTION 2
As Jesus talks more about the righteous man and righteousness - Jesus points us back to the Old Testament. Jesus introduces no new morality except the one that was God given back in the Old Testament. In section 2, we will see how the Pharisees (and many of us) treat God's standard of righteousness.

SECTION 2 - Minimizing Our Sins, Maximizing Our Righteousness - NOT THE RIGHTEOUS MAN

Minimizing Our Sins - God is not Fooled (Part 1) Read Matthew 5:17-48

From Matt 5:17 - 20, Jesus reinforces the law. Not the tiniest bit of the law is meant to be broken. A great thing to do is to obey and teach others God's Law, and bad thing to do is break the commands and teach others the same. Then Jesus moves to the Pharisees. There are some important things we should know about Pharisees:

We read the Bible so much (hopefully we do) that we are very accustomed to the idea that Pharisees are the worst guys around - That is true to a very large extent. But in those times, we also have to know that the Pharisees are considered the most righteous people around - if anyone obeyed God's Law, the Pharisees obeyed it. They made SURE they obeyed it. Jesus says in

Matthew 23:23

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Imagine going home today, and give God 10% of your groceries. Cut a tenth of your carrot, bring to church on sunday and put in the offering box. That is what Pharisees do - not to mention that sometimes we don't even tithe! The truth is that, if anybody was righteous, the Pharisees were considered the most righteous around by the society! If we are not MORE RIGHTEOUS than Pharisees, we are doomed - we have no Kingdom of Heaven waiting for us (which is what verse 20 plainly says) - let us see what is this righteousness that Jesus describes.

From verse 21-48 ( it would be good if you can read it first)...

Here, Jesus talks about one thing we do most commonly in life... is that we try to make a check list of "righteous things to do", and when we successfully accomplish one, we tick the box saying "Yes, I have done a deed of righteousness!". We make the checkbox (requirement) for righteousness small enough so we can easily tick it - and this thing we do for almost everything in our life. Lets try some familiar ones -

Even if I don't go to CG, AT LEAST I TRY to go church on sundays.
If I don't meet up with other Christians (which the Bible commands), at least I try to read my Bible at home.
If I don't go to church on sundays, at least I pop in Hillsongs and worship God at home.
Although as a student/worker/whatever I am not faithful to God, but at least I don't steal and kill.
I'm not lusting for another woman, I'm just appreciating God's creation.
I'm not lying, I just don't want to hurt my reputation as a leader.

And much of such things we say in our heart - to make us more righteous in our sight. There is some very flawed theology about that habit - flawed is an understatement. Let us look at the Jesus definition of adultery.

Jesus says... "But I tell you anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already commited adultery with her in his heart"!

Instead of making the check box smaller, Jesus makes the checkbox the size it really is. Is Jesus making the checkbox too big? No, Jesus is just making the checkbox the size it should be - any smaller than that and we are like the Pharisees (and we usually are), makign the checkbox small enough to fit our whims and fancies, deceiving ourselves that we are righteous when we are acting wickedly.

What does Jesus say?
If your right eye causes you to sin, PLUCK IT OFF! It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

When I first heard this sermon preached (this is a summary of his sermon), the pastor speaking to a group of University students said this was addressing the issue that we face with Internet Pornography - the convenience of it and how we can easily delete our browsing history after that. Many of us struggle with the sin yet we are not willing to let it go.

" C'mon guys, you know this. If you need to, you can just throw your computer out of the window - you can always use the university computer labs to do your assignment. How much is your computer? 2000 dollars? 3000 thousand? What is a more important? 3000 dollars or righteousness before God?"

If we think that pastor was going overboard, Jesus has got to be crazy since we should not only be throwing our computers out of the window but plucking our eyes out! - and we know Jesus is talking in perfect sense. The question rings true - What is more important, our eye or righteousness before God? That is a question we would do well answering it.

There are quite a few areas that Jesus did talk about in verse 21-48, and for the lack of time, we will only look at verse 33-37 and briefly run through the others.

Speaking about oaths, these few verses are something we can identify with. In our world today, mobile phones are so convenient aren't they? We can tell our friends that we will meet them at 10 a.m., but if we come late, we can just call them by 9:45a.m. and tell them we will be 30 minutes late.

This is our culture. In court, witnesses have to swear by their Scriptures and tell the truth. The question is this -

Why can't we just tell the truth always? If we always tell the truth ( our 'Yes' being 'Yes' and 'No' being 'No" ), we won't have to say things like - I swear to God this time I am telling the truth! What do we mean? If we don't swear by God then we are entitled to tell a lie?

We are deep in a culture of unfaithfulness - where truth telling is not the best thing to do! Enough about the world - what about us as Christians? Are we like that? Some of us may not openly lie, but are our answers misleading to others? Do we practice unfaithfulness in our speech to others? Are we the people who tells God " God, I will do this and that", but when the time for action comes... we tell God "Maybe the next time". Jesus idea of righteousness definitely isn't the one that we are familiar with.

Reading through verse 21-48, we see the same pattern - different ways we humans try to minimize God's righteousness so we can pass the test. We say we don't commit murder, but do we secretly harbor hatred against our brother? An eye for an eye? Do we try to get equal with others in the name of justice - what about Jesus who turns the other cheek?

What does Jesus say about these things we do?

BRIDGE TO Section 2 (Part 2) Read Matthew 6:1-18

Now that Jesus exposes the wicked things we do and corrects our views, there is also another part of hypocrisy in trying to maximize our righteousness in the sight of others. Previously it was minimizing our sins so that we will appear NOT SINFUL, now we will see with what sort of righteousness is God pleased with.

SECTION 2 (Part 2) - Maximizing Our Righteousness - God is not pleased

As we read, Jesus says - don't do your good deeds FOR others to see. Don't blow your own trumpet...Don't let your left hand know what your right hand does.

The question to us is this:
When was the last time you did a good deed, and you start wondering...

"I wonder if anybody saw me doing this good deed - it would be such a waste if this good deed goes unnoticed! Nobody would have known I am such and such a good guy!"

It wasn't too long ago was it? Or when was it the last conversation when everybody is chatting happily... and you JUST HAD TO SOMEHOW mention that you donated a few hundred dollars for the.... earthquake fund in China.... or you SOMEHOW mentioned that you were visiting the orphanage last week...

The list goes on. And it is wickedly amazing the many ways we try to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others. How we choose to pray lengthy and eloquent prayers when we are called to pray in front of many people - when we neglect prayer behind closed doors.

Read through 6:5 - 13 again.

Sure, when we pray well in front of all, all men think highly of us. But who is the truly righteous man who is righteous in God's eyes? It is the one who knows that "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man" and goes behind closed doors and directs his prayer to God and not to man. Likewise with fasting as we see the same pattern from Matthew 6:16-18.

A True Perspective on Righteousness - Read Matthew 6:19 - 7:27

The wicked man is consumed with the here and now and he stores up treasures on earth - he lives in his delusions, not knowing that treasures on earth will be destroyed. Just a few paragraphs ago, we see how the wicked man makes himself feel righteous, then we see how he tries to make other people think that he is righteous - altogether forsaking the true righteousness that comes from God!

Even as Christians, we know that do such wicked things and continue in them at times.

We think we can serve our fleshly desires and we can serve God.
We think we can serve materialism and we can serve God.
We think we can worship the mirror and we can worship God.

What does Jesus say?
No one can serve to masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Money.

If we think we came up with a genius idea that we can somehow serve God and Money - the truth is that you are not serving God and you are serving money. The Bible cancels the possibility of serving 2 masters. Some of us might say -

After I finish my studies, I will serve God.
After I finish my work, I will serve God.
After I get married, I will serve God.

That is a truckload of self-deception. What makes you think that you will serve God after you serve your studies when you don't even serve God now? Honestly speaking, how many of us are using the statement "being a faithful Christian student" but are inwardly having selfish ambitions desiring to prestigious careers more than we want to serve God? Is it possible to sincerely say I am not serving God now, but I will serve God later - with integrity?

In fact, by using the phrase "more than we want to serve God" implies as though God comes first, then something else is second. But what does Jesus say? Seek first the Kingdom of God - seek second your career? No! Seek first the Kingdom of God. Full stop. Seek second? The Kingdom of God. Seek third? The Kingdom of God!

Let us take a look at 6:31-33. Many of us seem to find comfort in here when Jesus says God will provide. "Why worry about what you will eat or drink or wear?" Perhaps it was comforting to the people back then, but I doubt that it would be equally comforting for us.

The fact is this. Because of our wickedness - and the wickedness of this generation - what we ought to find comfort in is really a BIG INSULT to us today. Why? Let us read again 6:25-32. These early disciples that desire to follow Jesus are worried about their very own lives, their food, - the things we call BASIC NECESSITIES. Yes, the people were afraid following Jesus meant that they would lose such security - the security of basic necessities, but Jesus comforts them and says " Don't worry, God will take care of that"

What are we in our world today? What are we worried about? Some of us fear, if we truly become a Christian and therefore OBLIGED to be generous:

We will drive a smaller car!
We will live in a smaller house!
We will not be as dignified as we want to be!

WHAT?!

These early followers fear for lack of food on the table - so much so that Jesus uses the illustration of the worth of sparrows and comfort them. What are we in this generation? We fear that we live in a smaller house? The people back then feared that they had no FOOD. We fear we will be wearing non-branded clothes? The people back then feared they would have no clothes!

Honestly, so what if we don't wear Levis? So what if we don't wear some Nike or Adidas shirt? So what if we don't drive a big car? Look at Jesus! He doesn't even have a donkey! He had to borrow a donkey to enter Jerusalem as King! It is a worrisome thing about the prosperity gospel that we hear in the world these days - that if we love God enough He will give us worldly riches! Heresy! We wildly claim promises. In our greed, we want to claim Abraham's promise of having many lands. In our greed, we claim promises that God gave David, or Solomon. In our greed, we claim promises like "I will be the head and not the tail" - Truly, In Jesus Christ where God's promises are yes and Amen, we are already the head and not the tail in Jesus! But we interpret being the head and not the tail to mean getting Number 1 in class, being the upper class of society, being more beautiful looking than others. It is high time we repent of using Scripture for our greed!

If you want God's promises, these are some of the promises that Jesus gave: In James, God will give wisdom to those who are not double minded over the issue. In the Gospels, Jesus promises to be with us by His Spirit, and Jesus promises His friends (hopefully we fit in this category) trials persecutions in this world, and that Jesus has made room for us in heaven. Of course, Jesus promises that He will come again!

Not to be dragged to far fromt the central topic: After Jesus corrects our view that God is generous 7:7-12, Jesus continues in 7:13 that the way that leads to life is a narrow one. It is hard, it is narrow, it isn't the highway (the popular way that majority people go through), it isn't the easyway - and few find it.

A tree is recognized by its fruit. A Christian is known by the fruits he produce. Are the fruits of the Spirit evident in our lives? Or do we deceive ourselves into believing that a Christian is known by church attendance and church activities? or similarly worse - a Christian is known by the fact that they are people who are not as wicked as the person next to them...

The warning is grave. Jesus gave the warning.

Matthew 7:21-23

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

In the last day, who do we fool when we don't worship God in all that we do? Who is the man that is frantically recounting his "good deeds" before Jesus to only hear Jesus' rejection? If performing miracles cannot pass the test, what more empty Christian songs that does not reflect our lives?

Does Jesus owe us salvation because we publicized Him? So what if we yell out to Gods that we love Him and we desire to give Him our hearts in concerts and on Sundays? God owes us nothing, God doesn't need our publicity - Jesus knows what publicity does, and what publicity doesn't do. Jesus has an idea of righteousness that is true according to God.

Our ideas of minimizing our own sin and maximizing our righteousness, our folly of serving things of this world is not a new idea - Jesus has critisized it 2000 years ago.

CONCLUSION

So, what to make out of the Sermon on the Mount?

"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."

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one
For yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen

Death Wish and a Note

Content is mildly mad, mildly offensive - to myself.

Early in the morning at about 7 am, I just woke up, my eyes remain closed - and the first thing that came to my mind was "Joel, even if you don't roll out of your bed now, start utilizing time and not waste it - lets start by thinking about important things in life"

And so, I started thinking of the upcoming Welcome Dinner by FOCUS (Fellowship of Overseas Christian University Students), inviting people to go to be introduced to it - and prayerfully coming with a desire to know the God of the Bible, would come to know God for eternity.

And so my mind raced through different aspects of evangelism, and I was thinking about myself dying one day. It seems that dying people can always play the "power cards" and have virtually everything they wish for - that in mind, may my power card be useful and may the reader discern that this 'power card' is indeed good medicine for the soul.

I wish that should I die one day suddenly - i.e. in my 20's or 30's of course hopefully till an old ripe age - but should I just die by tomorrow...

My wish is that the people who are close to me (my closer friends, my family) who are not yet Christians would come to simply read the Bible and find out who Jesus is, and perhaps trust in the God I call my Saviour.

My highschool friends - much of you I knew through Christian Fellowship, but you have departed far from the faith: Please do sit down once again and hear God speak through His Word. 5 years ago, we might be all "on fire" by concerts and motivational camps alike, but we have walked to a stage in life where we know our desire for ... WHOLENESS... is not an external source of hype. But this I assure you, in the quietness, even as the Bible is read, God's Word is heard. Please do read your Bibles again, it is God's Word, the Word that is all about Jesus, the Giver of Life, who is the Lord of the Universe - to which we owe our very existence to.

This is my wish, that as much as I love all of you from my heart (some of you have seen my days in highschool) - what I truly desire for you is not simply that I may see you in heaven, but that your souls might be filled with goodness and your lives might portray the glory of Jesus who is able to transform the most wicked soul.

To you my friends(some since primary school, some in high school, some in college and uni), every now and then I look through the photos you put in your facebook. I love you - and your photos tell me a lot about what goes on in your life - though you may not know, I appreciate that little contact that I think I have, but what saddens the heart is when I know my friends have departed from the God they once called Lover while there are some who stay in the faith have soaked themselves in a church that spends more time eating and playing music compared to reading the Bible, praying, and sharing the Gospel all combined together.

My wish, if you will care to fulfill - is something I will never see in this life. I would not know it if nobody fulfills it, but I hope in the moment of my death: not only I will look forward to seeing God face to face, but that my heart will be happy to know that somebody will read the Bible and know God as a result of my death.

Honestly, I have many plans for the future. The fact that I plan for my death is a testament - but as I grow up and as I see the harsh realities in life through the lens of the Bible, I know I am not bullet proof, neither am I germ/bacteria proof. I have plans for church, for country, and for the world - and I am all out to see it come to pass - i hope you would rejoice if you see my day coming, but if that day does not come, nobody really needs to know the details of the dream, for my dream is summed up in my death wish.

I am now reaching the prime of my life, within a year or two - I think I would have reached the maximum potential - from then on, the later parts of my life will build on what I have already built within these few years. If I lose - I have all to lose, but really I have nothing to lose. There are moments in time when I browse through my life and see the worthless things I have done - the fleeting moments of youthful ignorance, I now know this - what better use is there for my life than to spend it for the gospel's sake? I have heaven's joys to gain and all the world to lose.

Being 20 now, when virtually everything is accessible to me - the world has too little to offer. The glitters of this world has reached a point - something like eating too mcuh cheesecake, so much and too much of it. I invite you into my life - not so much mine, but this life I share with Jesus... and the truly good and fulfilling life is yours - so much good that (though I have not faced much yet), I will know - what are persecutions? what are rejections? Is not the narrow path that leads to salvation filled with such troubles?

But broad is the highway that leads to death, and many go through it. But narrow is the path that leads to salvation - few find it. Its an uphill slope, and knew what uphill slope meant along with a cross to carry.

What note do I have left? For some of you Christians, my brothers, who are feeling dry in church, find good materials to help you read the Bible. Much has been destroyed by various institutions who substitute the Word of God for fanciful teachings that seeks to convert men through parties - but the Word of God holds true and is not undermined by human inventions. Even Jesus finds some measure of strength within God's Words in times of temptation, in times of battle, in time(s) of death.

The merry world is fun but for a moment, and many indulge in it their whole lives. But when the show is over, the curtain is closed - and God the Director of the whole show walks up the stage... Everything is over. The show is over. Who then is it that I choose to please on the stage?

Up till now, I still have not spoken anything substantial about any teaching in God's Word - the reason is that I know my time is short... compared to 2000 years of church history where we read of Christians pouring their lives for the Gospel. The center of it all is the Gospel, and within the Gospel is where God's people place their mind, their hearts and lives... They! They have written much, all deriving from eternal truths within the Bible, read their words in light of God's Word and much teaching, precious teaching there is!

When I die (should I attain much achievements personally, let me never be remembered as a wonderful student, nor a brilliant teen, nor a curious person, neither wise nor good - for in the darkness, God knows what lurks within - He who sanctifies me cleanses not a clean thing, but a dirty one )... but let my grave and my tombstone be a signpost the points to God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth - to Jesus Christ, God who loves me and gives Himself up for me.

Puberty

It porbably sounds a little off to put the title that way because I'm used to associate the word with growing up in biological terms - like getting to a certain age. But this time, I'm talking about growing up in my thoughts, maturing to arrange priorities in life, etc.

Coming back from Mid Year Conference, a few things I am considering more serioiusly.

Learning what it means to worship God - has given me much more framework to consider one big question...

Joel...

What will I do with God's life?

For the 5 days, the question becomes more and more serious as I realize that my life here is temporal, it is technically wrong to say "my life" - it should be more like... God's life that He gave me to steward.

I have been thinking about becoming a pastor some day - and preach the gospel for the rest of my life - as the glitters of this world dims.

Tears have been shed, as I see how trying to run my life my own way has caused much destruction wherever I go. I no longer have the leisure of time, though I catch myself squandering this thing that money cannot buy.

I pray, as God transforms my mind and corrects my priorities - I will no longer regard a selfish personal reputation a thing to be concerned with, and much of the concerns that I have ( which so often disguises itself as a noble intention ). But through the lens of a clear mind, the so called good motives I thought I had are really selfishness in its best form.

Now I am thinking -

I have slightly more than a year left in Australia, how will I utilize this time well to be equipped for God's work in the coming days?

How will change be brought to Malaysia?

How will I learn to regard God's work as the highest priority of all works?

I'm not so much stressed as to the things external to me, but more so that I will be faithful from now till then...


There is this funny shirt I used to see:

Lead me not into temptation, I know the way already


Is a phrase that I hate to see manifest in my life - The battle within the heart. Some go around yelling against demons, but what can Satan do? Satan can hang Jesus on the cross, but he can't stop Jesus saving all mankind.

Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart.

Rubbish Talk

One thing about being in FOCUS Bible Study Group - I have come to realize that the "extra knowledge" that I have fades in comparison with reading the Bible properly. Knowing a little bit more about psychology, philosophy, and history certainly did help me understand certain concepts better in the world...

But I couldn't help but notice how sometimes this knowledge distorts what is obvious and simple before my eyes. Just like my frist exam paper - the question was exactly like the past year paper... the difference was the guy changing the values from 5mm to 6mm. I overanalyzed (with some pretty flawed logic) and with some wierd understanding... I wrote in the paper that there was a problem with the question, and started deriving basic formulas to get the answer...

Which, was obviously wrong.

As the discussions in Bible Study continued, I was glad that I kept my mouth shut at certain times - or else I will start looking like some glorified smart alec.

What I am being exposed to is that the Bible is sufficient for an average person to learn about God. We just have to read it for what it is.

As I learn more, it irritates me more and more how I hear of people over-spiritualizing the Bible for what it is not, preaching revelations that God never heard, majoring on the minors and minoring on the major (issues).

I had a talk with a lecturer recently, and I have come to understand the term "liberal" and "conservative" more.

Of course their views do not fully represent the whole group's thinking...

but a liberal might think of the Bible as a "guide book" instead of a "rule book". More of a story rather than history. A moral lesson and not a historical fact. i.e. they are more "liberal" with their theology. Liberals would call conservatives "fundamentalists".

of course, fundamentalists/conservatives would argue that they are just simply following the Bible. They say that liberals don't take God's Word as God's Word.

I have never really thought of this dimension of conflict before.

The ones that I have encountered before are:

Mainstream Christianity vs Christian Sects (Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Science)
Protestant Christianity vs Roman Catholicism
Intelligent Design vs Evolution
Arminianism vs Calvinism
Christianity vs Other Religions
Christianity vs Atheism
Book-by-book Biblical Preaching vs Topical Biblical Preaching

now, I can add to the list:
Liberal vs conservative

I looked up to my liberal lecturer. He lectures in Math and also New Testament Greek. This was one of the things I wanted to achieve.

One who masters the science and the arts.

Leonardo da Vincci. but he was a polymath, a genius. I probably won't get there, but if I could get near... He was the model of the "Renaissance man". Ever curious, ever learning, GENIUS!

but today I learnt one thing from Joshua. He said this:

"Really, knowing a lot of things does not mean that you know the Bible well. It is that attitude that we have when we come to read God's Word, isn't it? to be humble ..."

I used to have the logic, if I become a "glorified man" in the eyes of people, that is - to have good reputation, superior knowledge, perhaps what I say might have more impact. For example: Albert Einstein is so often quoted as saying "God doesn't play dice". Intelligent Deseign proponents so often use this line to say that Albert Einstein does not believe in Evolution.

I have to agree - people are normally convinced by very few things.

1) What a lot of people say
2) What some famous person say ( or so they think of as authoritative figures )

But I have known a few things about myself - to know that sometimes I crap about things I don't know. To keep up with the image. I mean, come on - I may know a little bit about people to guess motives and analyze people like I would analyze some cell - but who am I to start speaking authoritatively about many other things? Politics? I know nuts. Education? I know nuts.

I have read some politicians blog, seemingly exposing injustuce, they also blog about religion. As a person who is interested in religion ( and I think I know a fair bit about the issue ), I read his flawed explanations and lousy arguments that only wold convince ignorant people. Like I used to think sleeping together ( that is... just sleeping ) somehow creates babies.

Arguments that fool innocent ignorant people. But since they are famous, they are perceived to be authoritative - and the culture around us is teaching us to be stupid.

WATCH MORE DRAMAS!

THINK LESS!

JUST BE ENTERTAINED!

GO WITH THE FLOW!

A few things I have to know. Though I am somewhat proud of studying engineering (to which when asked why I study engineering, I tell them it trains my thinking), yet I need to know that being good in logical thinking (as much as it is helpful), this knowledge does not commend me before God.

This is where intellectuals might disagree. When they try to rationalize that God accepts just about anyone into heaven ( playing down the issue of sin ), they say that God looks at the heart ( though it is full of wickedness ). But when they are respected by men (though not by God) because of their advance knowledge, they are not willing that God looks at their heart only. They want God to look at whatever they look at. They want to make God see things their way.

And this is dangerous to me, because I have the tendency to do so even more, since I am a more dominant type of person. I will get my way. Even as an ordinary person not being Christian, thinking logically, we ought to know that one person who is good in Chemistry might be a sucker in History.

This is a message to myself that I ought not to be proud, because the Bible writes so clearly -

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up"

This is a terrible issue in the church actually. Pastors who have read the Bible here and there a little bit, after reading a few famous authors - approaches the Bible with a notion that they know it already. Using the Bible to support their private arguments. And of course, they learnt it from another person who spoke that way. I trust that they are still sincere, yet many of us Christians know the phrase that "one can be sincerely wrong".

Sometimes we use that line to describe a person of another faith - "sincerely wrong". I agree with that, yet we also have issues within the church that we can be (and are) sincerely wrong about. The same way we say that a Christian guy is no more immune to sexual temptations than a non Christian guy.

The society is filled with rubbish talk. It has been high time for a thousand years that we ought to be more sober than we are and understand that the world is not a neutral place. It is a battle. While half of America thinks that they are fighting in Iraq - A war against terrorism. Another half which thinks that there shouldn't be a war, are fighting in the white house for ceasefire ( or peace in their opinion ).

Peace is one of those things that won't naturally come. Peace have to be fought for. We might want peace, but we live with chaotic people in a chaotic world. It is high time that we grow up.

There has been much superstition, mythologies, and crazy notions in the world. Please don't let such things permeate the church. May the Word of God be preached for what it is.

For the sake of being truthful to God - preach the Word of God faithfully.
For the sake of teaching people sound logic - preach the Word of God faithfully.
For the sake of being effective in proclamation - preach the Word of God faithfully.
For the sake of understanding world issues - preach the Word of God faithfully.
For the sake of the satisfaction within our souls - preach the Word of God faithfully.

FOCUS and life thus far

It has been quite a while since I last updated, so before the long post, a few random stuff I find in Australia:

Butt Soup Flavouring

besides that, there are some other funny lines which I don't have photos with me now:

Real Estate Agency called L.J. Hooker with the tagline Nobody does it better

Plumbing Company, tagline We will repair what your husband fixed

Anyway, this post is mainly about a camp I just came back from, and the church I have been attending:

FOCUS

Fellowship of Overseas Christian University Students

I have been attending FOCUS for about 4 weeks now, and I will now introduce the cell group - which they call a Bible Study Group here. Currently the group consists of Kenneth (the leader) and his wife - and the rest of us.

I thoroughly like it here. Kenneth is a Bible College student in Moore Theological Seminary. It is quite Anglican - so I have to do much adjusting to the way things are run here. It is basically non-denominational, we sing hymns almost half of the time, and a couple of older or slower songs. There is nothing much to boast about the songs.

However, the most attractive thing is that the leaders that I am under (Kenneth my cell leader, then Joshua and Charles - the pastors) are very well versed in Scriptures. The Bible is preached in a very simple way - without all the extra revelations that God has never heard before.

When I ask questions, I appreciate their immediacy of answering it and their experience of knowing where I am coming from - some of you know that I don't always know how to phrase my questions well - then they answer it thoroughly. I will just write down 2 questions out of a few that Joshua has answered (I put them in blue, you can skip it if you want, but I recommend it)

Question 1

Is Limited Atonement biblical? (Yes, the question was only 4 words)

A simple background - and my explanation would be flawed, which illustrates the question I have. Limited atonement is a term coined by John Calvin, a famous theologian that says that Jesus' death is to pay off the sins of a limited number of people.

The argument is that if Jesus only died for the selected group of people, then it is interpreted that He paid off a limited amount of our debt, that there are a certain amount of people who is not "died for" by Jesus - therefore it cannot be said that He died for the world.

However, if Jesus did die for everybody - then the world's sins are washed away - whether we accept it or not - since it is up to God to wash us - He already either has washed or have not washed. Our acceptance of the gift is merely an outworking of of the enlightenment that God has given. Since God is Just, and that He does not punish the same sins twice (therefore Christians can rest in the hope that since God punished Jesus for our sake, He will not throw us into Hell). Following the argument that He died for all and that He does not punish the same sin twice - then nobody goes to Hell!

We have to look at the purpose of both arguments. The main point in Calvin's Limited Atonement doctrine is to let us know that not everybody goes to heaven, there will definitely be people in hell and we know that.

However, when it is written that Jesus died for the world - it would rightly be understood that His death was sufficient to save the world.

The same goes for election - predestination - preseverance of the saints (once saved always saved). Election ought to make Christian trust in God's salvation, not void us of personal responsibility.

Armenians and Calvinists all have their points and arguments which are thoroughly biblical with proper verses to back it. So the point is not to over emphasize each - that is we have to trust in God, and execute our personal responsibility.

The main point of Calvinists are to shut up those who play down God's sovereignity. We definitely cannot credit all to free will. Honestly, who has a free will? Adam has one, but after him all our desires are tainted by sin, what is free?

We also have to understand that our decisions and God's sovereignity works together. One does not void the other. God's sovereignity rules over all, even Satan's deeds and actions work only under God's sovereignity.

I summarized his 10 minute answer into a few lines, so certain points might not be illustrated well. The next question is about work.

Question 2. What is work to a Christian? Is it merely a source of income?

Background - That question, or is there some Christian understanding that our work has other greater significance?

In Genesis when Adam was given his job, it was to till the ground. We work to sustain this world and environment which we live it. We work to provide for our family - to provide. The idea of finding fulfillment in work is a very pagan idea.

We have seen it in the Maslov's hierachy of needs, with the basic needs being food and shelter - then followed by other things like security and all, with the highest being self actualization. However, this idea is not Christian at all.

However, Christians have come up with the thing - to "climb the ladder" to the glory of God

...So what if you are the architect that built the best bridge in the world? When Jesus comes back everything is going to crumble.

It is how we do our work that honours God - not what work we do. For that will ultimately come to nothing. That is why in Titus 2:9-10 it says that even slaves can make the gospel attractive.

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive

The Gospel does not talk about success, but it does talk about faithfulness. Faithfulness pleases God.

After a few weeks being here, when I ask questions, I seldom ask them with a fixed answer in mind. I think I feel quite safe to be challenged here. Joshua -

Oh, Joshua always asks us not to call him Pastor Joshua ... Pastor reminds him of Pasta, which is spagetthi...

The middle guy with specs is Joshua

At my first encounter with Joshua, I had in mind that he could be one of those hermit like people, with a lot of biblical answers that are irrelevant to the world. So far, I have asked Joshua about politics, work, theology... and I think that when my answers differ from his, I prefer his answer. I am willing to submit under his leadership. I pray that I'll be faithful to be a good student, by God's help.

Oh besides that, Joshua graduated a medical doctor, but it has been long since he gave up that job and has been preaching the gospel among university students for a long time. He lives modestly, and though tempted - I think he and Pastor Daniel have this in common - that they would live in a humble way, drive simple cars and live in simple houses. Not because they couldn't have more, but that I think that they are convicted that that is the way to live and they have a good theology about money.

It is my ambition and my hope to honestly and happily and fully believe in what they believe about money. I forsee that my insecurity will be a hindrance - like the seed that grew up and was choked by the thorns.

Now I will go on to my next immediate leader, Kenneth. He graduated as an engineer, he is now 30 years old, married. A few years ago, he came back to study in Bible College. He is patient with me in an encouraging way, and his best help so far was that he helped me think.

There is Kenneth, his wife Vivian, and two other girls


When I ask Bible questions, very quickly he asks me a few questions based on the verses that I already know, make me flip a little here and there - guide me in my logical reasoning, and very quickly, I can get the answers that I want. I think this is helpful, because he is teaching me to fish and not only giving me fishes - I will submit to his leadership.

It inspires me to see people who know more about God laying down the "finer things in life" and work somewhat behind the scenes. I am more and more convinced that the greatest joys in life have very little to do with materialistic pleasures. I am taking into account public opinion. I wonder at times all the effects of insecurity.

When I ponder, I know that I have girl friends which I cannot be harsh in blaming them for their materialism - many of us, if not all of us do commit sin in that sense, in deferring degrees.


My studies are getting harder and harder. I realize that there is indeed a gap between Malaysia and UNSW. More things are expected. More skills. More initiative. More time.



My previously 14-week semester has been shortened to 12 weeks. It is probably part of UNSW board's plan to "Increase shareholder's value". Our academic excellence is their 4th priority. Syllabus is still the same, I have almost more than 25 hours of classes a week. Not to count the extra hours that will be spent studying on my own.



But for that, I must credit my wonderful housemates that has helped me with many things. Housing, guidance in studies, going to malls, taking me around, accomodating me, cooking, and the list goes on.



1. Kenny Lim Hsern Loong



2. Soo Ji Giap

The oranged shirt guy si Kenny and the blue-yellow shirt guy is Ji Giap

Without them, my life here wouldn't be as smooth as it is and I would have much to fuss over. My studies would be affected, my mood and all. So yeah, thank God for them.

I am also very glad to have wonderful lecturer's and tutors.


This is Mr Peter Brown. Quite formal guy. He is very helpful and very patient with his students. I have to mention that he put up with students that I would have probably killed... I mean slapped... nothing. He did not teach me no theology or anything. But the diligence that he put into his work, his faithfulness, and dedication - these are the kind of people that makes me want to be a teacher some time.

I have another lecturer. Funny guy. Once he brought a can of beer into the lecture hall. Of course he wasn't just bringing an empty can - well you know. He normally doesn't wear slippers. I have never seen him wear shoes. There was once that there was a problem with the sliding blackboards in the lecture hall - it keeps sliding up. So this lecturer put his feet on the blackboard, preventing it from sliding up. I really wanted to take a picture - but handphones always take picture with a loud snap... and I want to have good lecturer-student relationship.

There are still many other random things:

Attended Hillsong album recording for "This is Our God", probably released next year.

Went to Coogee Beach for Malaysian Student Organization barbecue.

Many other barbecues. Jelak sial.

But the most important ones deserve a significantly elaborate description. I think I will grow up well in FOCUS. I want to learn to publicly acknowledge people now.

Instead of writing about what I learn and construct sentences and paragraphs with an emphasis on me - I want to learn how to write about how other people around me are contributing to the society, one of them being me.