Am I the right one?

Time flies doesn't it? (super cliche, I know!) My fairer-sex peers from JC are now graduating! Oh man... and here I am going on to my 2nd year! :p Met up with a good JC friend on thursday for lunch... talked a lot, suan each other a lot... think we could have gone on for hours if not for time keeping a stranglehold on us.

And like most 20-something's we ended up talking about relationships. Haha... she's facing a time in her life where she's wondering whether the guy is the right one for her. . Think that's the wrong question that we often ask ourselves when we're contemplating the next final step of marriage. Having gone through a painful, but nonetheless wonderful relationship myself, I conclude (with 1 cents worth of experience) that the question I/we should be asking is this-- "Am I right for him/her?"

Human love is at the core, selfish. No doubt about it. No matter how we try to sugarcoat it, our love for one another is sometimes pretentious and self-gratifying. And it will continue to be so till perfection comes in the form of Jesus' second coming (however, let's work towards perfection, being transformed by the love of Christ).

Asking that question of "Is he/she right for me?" is a lose-lose situation. The answer will never be found and I'm quite sceptical towards the "you'll know, you'll just know" answer that romantic comedies often give toward meeing Mr or Ms Right (don't get the wrong idea, I'm a sucker for romantic comedies. Go Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan! ;p)

As i commented the other day about love (its a different kinda love i'm talking about now but the essense remains unchanged), true love isn't about self. Its about others. On a similar note, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends... is your relationship emulated after that same relationship between Christ and the church?

Idealistic and impossible my thinking may seem to be, I think that before launching myself into a relationship (if I ever get into another one), I will seek to ask myself and my partner that question... "Am I the right one for you?"

In the meantime, singlehood is best used in the service for God. So to all the singles out there... press on!

Lost in Translation??

I just watched 'Lost in Translation'... great film. (I very backdated in my movie-catching, I know :p) Yes, I call this a film... think 'show' or 'movie' doesn't give this intelligent potrayal of life credit. Hehe... and yes, its one of those "arty, farty" kinda films. However, the humour gives it that bit of life that will make you sit up and give it the attention it deserves. I won't go through the part about excellant acting, chemistry between actors, blah, blah, blah.... rather, what first drew my 'easily-divided attention' to the film was the title-- LOST IN TRANSLATION.

What in the world did that mean??

A blog title of a close friend of mine read, "Literal translation". It involved someone literally translating 'fishball' to 'yu qiu' instead of 'yu yuan'. That was a great laugh! :) However, what I also saw, besides the humour, was that with a translation, the meaning of a word can be quite different from what it was originally intended to mean or portay. (This concept is very important when choosing a good bible translation, and I may just talk about the semiotics involved another time :p)

That funny story helped a lot in understanding the term LOST IN TRANSLATION (I'll leave the movie review to you ;p ). After thinking about all this, I realised (and was reminded) that essentially, I'm in a period of translation as well. In fact, I have been in this period of translation for a long time and I will remain to be so till my death.

As a Christian, I often fail to realise that because of Jesus Christ, no longer am I of this world. That what i'm going through on this Earth is a time of transition (note the difference) that will lead towards heaven and eternity. However, I'm not there yet. I belong to a heavenly world, though I'm still on Earth. And the mission while i'm still here? To tell others of the gospel. That's the commission my Lord has given to me. That though my words are of a different "language" (they should be motivated by the Agape love of our Lord), I pray I'll have the wisdom to translate this message in its completeness and in all its truth, bringing the fragrance of the gosple to those around me.

Now, the thing is... have I begun to give up the "citizenship perks" of this world for heaven? (Cos while i'm still here on Earth, a loss of these "perks" will equate to suffering, no doubt about it) Or am I still holding on to the bits and pieces of life, being a heavenly citizen in name but a worldly citizen in my ways?

Secondly, am I being faithful in my translation of a heavenly message? Or have I diluted its truth to blend in to a society which loves the melting-pot? Am I lost in this translation of the gospel because i refuse to rely on the Holy Spirit's strength?

Jesus' prayer for his us (all believers) really spoke to me today... i hope that to whoever's reading, this prayer will speak to you too...

"My prayer is not for them alone(the disciples). I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

Jn 17:20-26

Windows

I wonder... who invented the window? These portals which allow us a glimpse into the reality that exists beyond our little room. Take a look out one now... go on, take a peek. What do you see? The neverending stream of traffic on that busy road? National flags swaying in the wind? People strolling home after a long day's work? Without windows, we're much like the frog in the well, not realising that there's a lot more out there than we can ever imagine. Our reality is influenced by the bigger world out there, but without a window, the poor frog thought that the whole world revolved round him.

A close friend wrote recently about returning to reality.  Think that happens to a lot of us. We get sick and tired of looking out certain windows that we close them, draw the shutters, pull down the curtains and throw the key to one side. Then we go sit in front of one that looks out to "paradise" and sigh at the wonderful sight, trying to forget the window we just closed. Delusional? Nah... Escapism? Perhaps... Human? Definitely.

By focussing on the reality of this fallen world, we'll feel discouragement. If the world out there can be transformed into a matrix code (those falling green letters you see in the movie) we'll probably see the words 'me', 'myself' & 'I' many, many times over. Now, THAT'S reality. At the end of the day, we do get troubled by what we see cos in the first place, we were never designed to see those three words.

The main window we're supposed to look out of, is the B,I,B,L,E (Who, in Jn 1 is Jesus Christ himself). For what we NEED to know about the world is all in there, not what we should/want/hope to know. The 'Jesus' window is one filled with instructions pertaining to how and what we should look out for through the other windows of life. For true joy (that's what everyone is looking for isn't it?) is found not by looking at creation, but at the creator.  

So, have I closed this 'Jesus' window? Have i pulled down the shutters, drawn the curtains and thrown the key aside? Has the reality of this world appeared so cold to me because i failed to look out the right window? Hmm...

 
 
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart"

Heb 12:2,3

the most excellant way...

Time to share a bit of what i've learnt during the conference... to whoever's reading, hope this helps...

Man, was the Corinthian (1 Cor) church bad... terrible in fact... phrases like "mere infants in Christ" (3:1) and "I have no praise for you" (11:17)  litter the epistle. Main problems? Arrogance in their own abilities and influence from wordly practices. Tsk, tsk... but wait... all this kinda sounds like me! Erm... actually, this is VERY like me. Oh dear...

However, everything culminates in the famous 13th chapter of Corinthians... for this is what our service revolves round. Love. "A wonderful poetic passage!" i always said. Boy was i wrong. Paul wrote this to CORRECT the Corinthians. I understood then that this passage WASN'T supposed to be there for us to quote at weddings.  No, no... it was placed there to remind us of how far short we fall of true love. The kind of love that is cross-shaped. The kind of love that will not pass away (13:8).

This love ain't for myself. The 2 greatest commandmants (Mk 12:30-31) are as follows: LOVE GOD and the second: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR. Hey God! What about the bit about loving yourself? You know, the part that says pamper yourself because you're worth it? (constantly qouoted by spas, etc) Sorry, it ain't there. (If the topic comes up in my life, maybe i'll talk about spas another time)

So, now... the questions that should pop up into our minds constantly is this: "Is God pleased with what i'm doing? Is my neighbour edified and encouraged by my actions and words?" Easy words to say... tough words to follow. I recently spoke words that not only un-edified a close friend, but stumbled that person. Sigh... i often wish words can be taken back, but they can't. I now have a better understanding of why self-control is a gift of a Spirit-filled life (Gal 5)--the tongue is often the hardest to tame(Jam3)  and only people who are controlled by the Spirit can hope to overcome sinful desires.

With this understanding, why write this blog? Or why write blogs at all? Well, i pray that this avenue of the media will be one where God can be glorified. That truth may be proclaimed. And that, God-willing, the words that come from my mouth will encourage a fellow brother or sister.