Quote of the Day

"It's better to burn out than rust out for Christ"

A simple pleasure in life

I don't know about you, but I love going to the barber. Its kinda... theraputic and relaxing for me :p

Hehe... why? Well, I just find sitting in a comfy chair, closing my eyes (with my 700+ degrees for both eyes, there's no difference even if I opened them!) and letting someone do all the work somewhat pamapering :) Yes, call me wierd but I also enjoy the gentle humms of the electric shavers, the lightning-fast snipping of the scissors and the smell of the icy-cold shaving cream wafting through the air :p At the tail-end of the hair cut, I anticipate with glee the 10sec or so of hot air from the hair-drier, coupled with the barber running a brush through my hair whilst massaging my scalp.

For that short 20min, stress just ebbs away...

Wierd? I call it a simple pleasure in life ;)

Sentimentalism

Are you a sentimental person? I know I am.

'Sentimental', as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:
1a. "marked or governed by feeling, sensibility, or emotional idealism" and
1b. "resulting from feeling rather than reason or thought"

I first thought about this when I was reading a friend's blog... and I was thinking about how the Cross of Calvary is often sentimenalised. About how its dramatized into a overwhelmingly rich and powerful self-sacrificial love story that overstimulates our senses and pulls at our heartstrings.

I'm not implying in any way that the Cross isn't about love and I'll be the first to shout out that the love of God has touched me deeply in ways that my limited vocabulary cannot express. The Cross IS about love. However, I will also be the first to shout out that its more than that.

Sadly, sentimentalism has numbed our zeal for true knowledge and reduced us to people who react only to the latest fad or experience.

Paul the apostle recognised this danger of over-sentimentalism and therefore prayed this prayer in Philippians 1:9-11...
"⁹And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

Paul prayed that the Philippian's love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. He didn't want the Philippian's love for one another to just be the sentimental, love-ballad, romeo-and-juliet kinda love. He wanted their love to be the original 1 Corinthians 13 kinda love (sad that 1 Cor 13 is often reduced to a sentimental passage to be read during weddings... sheesh..) As stated here, their love was to be bolstered and reinforced by knowledge and discernment. Don't just feel... think! This isn't to say that Paul was a cold, hearless human being. On the contrary, Philippians is the most heartfelt and personal letters that Paul ever wrote! (and personally, that's one of the reasons why its one of my favourite books in the bible... now you know why I'm a sentimental person :p) And why the need for this love? So that they might do what's excellant, to be pure and blameless till the day of Christ (v10).

Besides the Cross and Love, Fellowship has often been sentimentalised too. How? I won't elaborate but ultimately, true fellowship sources from partnership in the gospel. And being partners in the gospel is often more about work than enjoyment. Its about labouring on despite the tough circumstances, its about the self-sacrificial support that you need to provide for your brothers and sisters, its about suffering for the sake of Christ. Blood, sweat and tears... that's partnership in the gospel.

So is there any room for sentimentalism? Of course there is... Being sentimental is what gives that spark in a romance, its often the thing that puts that smile on our faces. But sentimentalism doesn't give rise to love... nor does it lead to joy.

Love comes from knowing our Heavenly Father. Not an intellecutual stimulatation, but an intimate knowledge of his character. Joy comes from seeing fruit that results from the fellowship of believers participating in the work of gospel, united in proclaiming the name of Christ... till He comes again.

sub specie aeternitatis

Righteousness

During the sermon yesterday, I was embarrassed to say that I had no idea how the Mandarin character above is read :p (though to those who know me well, it doesn't come as a surprise at all ;p in fact, it would come as a greater surprise if I did know how to read the word!)

Anyway, the mandarin word above means 'Righteouness' and from the diagram above, it further consists of 2 words--Lamb & I. In summary, the Mandarin character for righteousness suggests that righteousness isn't really about doing what's "right". Ultimately, righteousness is submitting and surrendering to the Lamb--Jesus Christ :)

Intersting yeah? ;)

^"20But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- ²¹assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²²to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Ephesians 4:20-32 (ESV)

Now, if you have noticed, I have not revealed how the Mandarin character in question is read ;) Hehe... well, 'Righteousness' in Mandarin is read as... *drumroll*... yì :)


Now, be honest here, how many of us knew how the word is read before explanation? ;p

Dear God...

Not sure how many of you received, via email, this reel of pictures containing what kids would write to God about... And I must say that some of them are indeed hilarious! Kids really say the darnest things! ;) Below are some of my favourites... enjoy!

Dear God...

"... I went to this wedding and they kissed right in front of the church. Is that okay?"
-Neil

"... thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy"
-Joyce

"... please put another holiday-- between Christmas and Easter. There's nothing good in there now"
-Ginny

"... maybe Cain and Abel wouldn't kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother."
-Larry

"... I want to be just like my Daddy when I get big but not with so much hair all over"
-Sam

"... We read that Edison made light but in Sunday School they said you did it. So I bet he stole your idea."
-Donna

"... I bet it is very hard to love all of everyone in the world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it."
-Nan

Purity (Ruth 3)

See the cute animal on the left? Its called an Ermine. Part of the weasel family.

And legend has a very interesting tale about this cute animal.
The ermine isn't usually white but it turns that colour in the winter to better camouflage itself in the temperate climates where it lives. When white however, the ermine treasures its coat so much that it'll rather die than see itself soiled. Hunters used this characteristic of the ermine to better hunt it down. They would dirty the entrance of the ermine's burrow with soil, dirt and the like. Therefore, when the ermine races back to its burrow to seek refuge and safety, it'll stop short at the entrance, stand there stunned at its dirty home and refuse to enter. That's when hunters swoop in to make the kill.

This legend (no real scientific record of it being totally true) made the ermine a symbl of purity in the 15th & 16th century.

This quality of purity is vast lacking in the world today. And I'm referring purity in all senses of the word, not only in the sexual sense (though this aspect of purity is most often abused). I mean, with movies like the 40 year-old virgin and a slogan like "Better Late Than Never", it does display about how the world view sex and purity. And if you're saving your virginity for your marriage, well... that's being viewed as cutely naive.

The Bible's view on purity is of course totally different. And both Ruth and Boaz display this quality in their interaction in Ruth 3. Personally, Boaz displayed tremendous righteousness when he literally pushed away a lady who "came on to him". This might not be the main theme of Ruth, but it was something that I was really reminded about.

How we as Christians should learn to be pure in all that we do. We've been bought at a price. And by that, we're now righteous in God's eyes. Will we belittle the work of the Cross by choosing temporary ecstasy than eternal purity? (and this applies to both mind and actions). I end of with this famous and well-used passage:

^"7Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come... ¹¹Command and teach these things. ¹²Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. "

1 Timothy 4:7-8, 11-12

23 years of God's faithfulness

23 years of God's faithfulness. Thank you dear Father :)

And... I love this song...

The Birthday Song
Corrine May

Don't worry about that extra line
That's creeping up upon your face
It's just a part of nature's way to say you've grown a little more
Trees have rings and thicker branches
Kids shoes get a little tighter
Every year we're getting closer to who we're gonna be
It's time to celebrate the story of how you've come to be

Happy Birthday, my friend
Here's to all the years we've shared together
All the fun we've had
You're such a blessing
Such a joy in my life
May the good Lord bless you
And may all your dreams come true

So light a candle on your cake
For every smile you've helped create
For every heart and every soul you've helped to grow
A little more
A few more pounds, a little more grey
Don't count the years, just count the way
It takes a little time to go from water into wine
Don't ever lose the wonder of that child within your eyes

Happy Birthday, my friend
Here's to all the years we've shared together
All the fun we've had
You're such a blessing
Such a joy in my life
May the good Lord bless you
And may all your dreams come true

P.S. if you didn't get the link above, you can click here to listen to her entire 2nd album online. Enjoy :)