Generosity

Psalm 150 from the Liturgy of St. Cyril

grabbed from Bob Kee

الليلويا الليلويا الليلوي
سبحوا الله فى جميع قديسه، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام عنا اربعين يوماً و اربعين ليلة.
سبحوه فى جََلد قوته، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام عنا اربعين يوماً و اربعين ليلة.
سبحوه على مقدرته، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام عنا اربعين يوماً و اربعين ليلة.
سبحوه ككثرة عظمتِهِ، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
سبحوه بصوت البوق، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
سبحوه بمزمارٍ و قيثارة، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
سبحوه بدفوفٍ و صفوف، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
سبحوه بأوتارٍ و ارغن، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
سبحوه بصنوجٍ حسنة الصـوت، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
سبحوه بصنوج التهليل، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
كل نسمة فلتسبح اسم الرب الهنا، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
المجد للآب و الإبن و الروح القدس، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
الآن و كل أوان و إلى دهر الدهور أمين، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
الليلويا، الليلويا، المجد لإلهنا، الليلويا.

يسوع المسيح صام...
الليلويا، الليلويا، المجد لالهنا، الليلويا.

يايسوع المسيح اين الله، إسمعنا و إرحمنا.

Translation

Allelulia. Praise God in all His saints.Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted for us forty days and forty nights.
Praise Him in the firmament of His power Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted for us forty days and forty nights.
Praise Him for His mighty acts.Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted for us forty days and forty nights.
Praise Him, according to the multitudes of His greatness. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Praise Him with psaltery and harp.Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Praise Him with timbrel and chorus. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Praise Him with strings and organs. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Praise Him with pleasant-sounding cymbals. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Praise Him upon the cymbals of joy. Allelulia.

Let everything that has breath praise the name of the Lord our God. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Glory to the Father and Son and the Holt Sprit. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Now and ever and unto the ages of the ages. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Allelulia. Allelulia.

Glory to You, our God. Allelulia.

Jesus Christ fasted...
Allelulia. Allelulia.

Glory be to our God. Allelulia.

O Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hear us and have mercy upon us.

Pujilah!

Pujilah, pujilah, buatlah dunia

Bergemar, bergemar mendengar suara-Nya

Datang pada Tuhan m'lalui Anak-Nya

Dan b'ri puji pada-Nya s'bab hikmat-Nya

-- Fanny Crosby

Food of the Week

Chee Cheong Fun with BBQ Pork

Prostitution and the Christian

Today we talked about Fiona (named changed) the old lady whom came to our church once in a while for hot chocolate. She is a prostitute along the red light district which is near our church.

Through conversations with her, we found out that she's been living a terrible life. She's married with an unemployed man who lives with government aid who misuse her to earn money through prostitution. Her husband never provided for her. They are homeless since they can't afford to pay rent in the inner city. She's often abused by her husband and also her clients, but she couldn't fight for herself since she's so dependent on her husband for companionship and her clients for income.

She's been in the industry for 10-20 years, and leaving it is almost impossible. She faced so much hardship, abuse and rejection that she do not know the meaning of love, being loved and loving people. Through all the kind deeds and acceptance that we all gave to her, she did not respond to our love and God's. Will she be able to understand God's grace one day?

She is now shelterless. She asked for our help. What should we do?

Lord, we admit that we do not have all the solutions for everyone. Help us to make sense of the sufferings of this world, and be a light that shines through the darkest alleys. Amen

21st Birthday Dinner

Click here for more info

Jewels of India

Chicken Korma

Ron Sider; An Evangelical Theology of Liberation

"The third aspect of the biblical teaching that God is on the side of the poor and oppressed is that the people of God, if they are really the people of God, are also on the side of the poor and oppressed. Those who neglect the needy are not really God’s people at all -- no matter how frequent their religious rituals or how orthodox their creeds and confessions. The prophets sometimes made this point by insisting that knowing God and seeking justice for the oppressed are inseparable. At other times they condemned the religious rituals of the oppressors, who tried to worship God while continuing to oppress the poor.

Jeremiah announced God’s harsh message that King Jehoiakim did not know Jahweh and would be destroyed because of his injustice:

Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice;
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing, and does not give him his wages; . . .
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
says the Lord [Jer. 22:13-16, RSV].

Knowing God necessarily involves seeking justice for the poor (cf. also Hos. 2:19-20)."

-- Ron Sider

Sexuality and the Christian

I was sharing with a brother yesterday night through MSN about my struggles in areas of sexuality, temptation, and living out faithfully as a Christian who forsakes fleshly sin and pursuing Godliness. It was really good to have someone to share the deepest corruption of of my human nature with someone who are suffering from the same corruption as well, and upholding each other in prayer and encouragement.

Today I am reminded with a few more friends, relatives and loved ones who are struggling with their sexuality and sexual identity. Some are struggling with low libido, physical incompetence, divorce, prosmiscuity, fornication, pornography, lust and also a confusion of their sexual identity.

For the Christian, these issues are not foreign but very real to each and everyone to live out holy lives. Jesus said that if someone look to someone of the opposite sex and lust, that person is already committing adultery. But we are glad that our sexual failures do not affect how God sees us, sinners forgiven through grace, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although we are forgiven, our sexuality is still an integral part of who we are and what we are doing.

I am blessed to read a blog here about Henri Nouwen and homosexuality. A famous Catholic priest who was found out to be a homosexual only after his death of which he faced "enormous emotional, spiritual and physical toll on his life and may have contributed to his early death", according to Ford. But Nouwen took the tough and excruciating way by denying his flesh and celibate.

I agree with Larry his blog very well that "there's no difference between being tempted with homosexual desires and any other temptation. The fact that Nouwen struggled with homosexual temptations doesn't diminish his legacy in any way. I'm always surprised when someone thinks that a temptation alone is enough to disqualify you (from salvation). Even Jesus was tempted." (bracket mine)

I am glad that I have friends and community within the church (and also through internet spiritual community) where I can safely share about my struggles and temptations, which Larry Crabb described as the Safest Place on Earth.

"A spiritual community consists of people who have the integrity to come clean. It is comprised of those who own their own shortcomings and failures because they hate them more than they hate the shortcomings and failures of others, who therefore discover that a well of pure water flows beneath their most fetid corruption." (emphasis mine)

May we find safe places and communities of which we can be corrupt as we are, and to support one another to come out of the corruption, or at least, listen to one another's story, and finally to be led to the greatest story of all; Christ died and forgave our sins.

Pantun Hari Jadi

Asam pedas ikan keli,
Bekal dibawa ke pantai Merang,
Bertandang tamu jauh sekali,
Berseri majlis hati pun girang,

Nikmat rezeki kongsi-kongsikan
Nikmat budi balas-balaskan
Rahmat Ilahi syukur-syukurkan,
Saudara ChoonWei kita raikan,

Merindu kasih beria-ria,
Hajat di hati ingin bersua,
Dua dekad hidup di dunia,
Pahit manis ditempuh jua,

Berkilat sinar tiara permata,
Molek dipakai si gadis Lingga,
Dewasa sudah saudara kita,
Bila pula berumah tangga?

Datang sekawan dari seberang,
Menghilai tawa bergurau senda,
Siapalah saya di hati orang,
Berharta tiada wajah pun tiada,

Manis sekali si anak dara,
Diusik teruna berpaling malu,
Buka dada tanyalah selera,
Pinta di hati janganlah silu.

About My Alma Mater

"Selagi saya di sini, saya tidak akan berkompromi untuk membuka UiTM kepada bukan bumiputera. UiTM ini antara peranannya adalah penyelamat bangsa. Saya fikir orang Melayu sendiri tidak akan mahu kalau bukan bumiputera diterima masuk ke UiTM kerana ini adalah satu-satunya tempat yang tinggal untuk membuktikan bumiputera mampu menonjol bukan sahaja dari segi akademik tetapi dalam pelbagai aspek lain.

Secara keseluruhannya kalau tengok di IPTA lain, orang Melayu adalah minoriti. Apa lagi yang mereka mahu kerana mereka juga mempunyai IPT masing-masing. Mereka kata terbuka kepada semua tetapi mempunyai syarat-syarat tertentu. Mengapa hendak dikacau satu-satunya milik Melayu ini?

Saya pernah mendapat e-mel yang mengatakan alasan mengapa saya tidak mahu membuka kemasukan ke UiTM kepada bukan Melayu sebab kalau dibuka nasib pelajar Melayu di sini juga sama dengan pelajar-pelajar Melayu di universiti lain semua menjadi nombor corot. Bila saya mengatakan saya ingin membuktikan UiTM akan menjadi yang terbaik bukan sebab saya hendak lawan dengan IPTA lain. Saya hendak membuktikan orang Melayu bukan corot. Kita boleh bersaing termasuk di peringkat antarabangsa. Ini telah pun kita buktikan dengan memenangi beberapa anugerah. Ini kebanggaan saya sebagai Naib Canselor UiTM.

Perdana Menteri sendiri mengatakan bahawa pelajar Melayu sebenarnya bukan bodoh cuma tidak diberi peluang. Jika diberi peluang, mereka akan buktikan kemampuan sebenar. Contohnya pencapaian pelajar-pelajar sekolah luar bandar dalam keputusan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia baru-baru ini ramai pelajar Melayu berjaya mencatatkan keputusan cemerlang. Sebenarnya peranan UiTM bukan sahaja penting dari aspek akademik semata-mata tetapi juga dalam usaha menjayakan Misi Nasional seperti yang dihasratkan oleh pucuk pimpinan – salah satu daripadanya ialah melahirkan modal insan." -- Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Abu Shah to Utusan

Lets Feast!

Ranum delima berbuah lebat
Terkopek harum manis terasa
Datang kerabat datang sahabat
Berjamu selera secukup rasa

Nikmat rezeki kongsi-kongsikan
Nikmat budi balas-balaskan
Nikmat makanan licin-licinkan
Nikmat Ilahi syukur-syukurkan

Villa Maria Pinot Gris Private Bin 2005

Pinot gris (or pinot grigio, as it is known in Italy) probably is the best-known "white" variant-clone of Pinot Noir. Ripe pinot gris grapes may be described as having colors from bluish grey to light pinkish brown. Clusters with a variety of colors are not unusual.

Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio is usually delicately fragrant and mildly floral with lightly lemon-citrus flavors. Depending upon ripeness at harvest and vinification technique, Pinot Gris can be tangy and light, or quite rich, round and full bodied. Made in an appropriate style, it is one dry white wine that may even age well.

This wine is filled with ripe pear, spicy cinnamon and stone fruit characters. The palate is soft and creamy with balanced sweetness, finishing with excellent length.

Weird

"Everyone seems normal until you get to know them" -- Bruce Patrick

We can always play safe by having skin-deep relationship with people, and avoiding knowing people fully. It is when we choose to accept people for who they are and love them unconditionally despite of their weaknesses and irritating quirks, where we truly live out what Christ meant for us to love one another as we love ourselves.

Giving Reason for the Hope - Juicy Bites

"Do we not find numerous biblical instances of reasoned arguments employed in the ministry of Jesus Himself? In His didactic dialogues with Pharisees, Sadducees and disciples, Jesus rationally answered objections, opened up hidden assumptions with well-placed questions and appealed to miraculous signs as evidence for His claims.

During Paul’s missionary journeys, we frequently find him in synagogues persuading and debating Jewish religious leaders and pagan philosophers at Mars Hill on the validity of the gospel (Acts 14:15-17, 17:2-4, 16-31, 18:4, 19:8-9) . Since Luke took care to explicitly record that some who heard his presentation indeed chose to believe (Acts 17:34), the narrative does not function as an illustration of the bankruptcy of persuasion as taught by Watchman Nee. Even some of these converts’ names (Dionysius and Damaris) were mentioned, indicating that these men from Athens eventually made an impact on church life in later years. "

"Although there has been laudable work done by organisations like Kairos Research Center and NECF Research Commission, the Malaysian church remains generally shrouded by an anti-intellectual mood that substantially hinder the development of a robust inquiring spirit so crucial for the apologetic task. As many denominations were established by British and American missionaries, the confluence of inherited dispensational-fundamentalist theology, Holiness spirituality (“Let go, Let God!”) and Pentecostal-experiential instincts coloured much of our spiritual ethos. As a result, there is a common emphasis on “the dangers of the world, the comforts of the separated piety, the centrality of evangelism, and an expectation of the End.” Other sociological mitigating circumstances could be cited like pragmatic, populist and “immediate result” activism so characteristic of the enterpreneurial Chinese immigrants’ mindset.

Unsurprisingly, Noll’s critique of the ‘scandal of the evangelical mind’ for an American setting is largely relevant here as well, posing a formidable barrier against the development of an intellectual witness and cultural mandate for many complex and current religious and sociopolitical issues facing the Malaysian church."

"Could a humble and realistic approach to positive apologetics be sustained? In my humble opinion, there is enough room in the apologetic task to draw on the strengths from different methodologies to construct a positive, cumulative case for Christian theism. Since the gospel provides the most comprehensively plausible, logically coherent and existentially satisfying explanation of the universe and our human experience, we could rejoice in the convergence of many apologetic streams. From the classical apologists, we drink in empirical evidences that demand a verdict. From the Reformed epistemologists, we learn to trust in the Spirit’s ability to produce genuine faith apart from arguments. From the presuppositionalists, we discover that unique features of human life make sense only when interpreted through a biblical outlook. With the incarnational apologists, we live out the practical demonstration of the faith in a living, ecclesical community...."

"If the Malaysian church could thus demonstrate an alternative society that transcends ethnic, cultural, economic class and political barriers, the perception of Christianity as a Western colonial reality will be more effectively exorcised. Our apologetic should also take on board a faithful portrayal of Christ, as the Suffering Servant-King who laid aside His majesty and emptied Himself in humility to rescue and serve humanity (Matthew 10:28, Luke 22:27). The cross subverts every pretension to power by violence and de-legitimates manipulation and oppression. Although it does not guarantee innocence in its adherents, we find within the biblical meta-narrative is two inherent anti-totalizing inclinations - a radical sensitivity to suffering and God’s overarching creational intent over all, thus preventing a partisan abuse. Through the atonement of Christ, the way for reconciliation and forgiveness is made possible even for the oppressors." -- Chang Wei Hao

Interesting? Read the whole thing here.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Penulisan Bahasa Tempatan

Sejak sedemikian lama gereja Roman Katolik pada zaman Gelap telah mengamalkan penggunaan bahasa Latin dalam liturgi dan al-Kitab. Alkitab Vulgate, satu-satunya penterjemahan Latin yang disahkan oleh gereja merupakan kitab yang digunakan oleh orang-orang Kristian seluruh dunia, meskipun rata-rata masyarakat umum di negara-negara Eropah dan luar Eropah tidak memahaminya. Penguasaan Alkitab dan ilmu keagamaan hanyalah di tangan golongan elitist yang terpelajar dan kaya, dan tidak sekalipun mengubah masyarakat untuk mencapai kemajuan peradaban.

Dengan reformasi Luther yang menyaksikan penterjemahan Alkitab kepada bahasa German dan juga usaha William Tyndale yang telah menterjemah Alkitab ke dalam bahasa Inggeris, meskipun dengan tentangan hebat golongan pemerintah dan elitist agama, dan juga dengan penemuan mesin cetak telah menyaksikan perkembangan hebat syiar Reformasi Kristian di Eropah. Pengetahuan agama yang sebelum ini dikuasai orang asing yang berbahasa latin kini bebas daripada monopoli apabila orang-orang tempatan dapat menghayati keindahan Firman Tuhan dalam bahasa sendiri dan berkembang dalam kehidupan peribadi dan korporat.

Kewujudan Alkitab dan pengajaran agama dalam kepelbagaian bahasa pada hari ini, membuktikan bahawa Tuhan tidak terikat pada mana-mana budaya, malah menjadi Tuan empunya kepada semua budaya dan peradaban di dunia, dan setiap manusia berpeluang mengenali Tuhan melalui Yesus Kristus yang diwahyukan melalui Alkitab dalam konteks yang dapat dihayati dan difahami oleh orang-orang kaya dan miskin, terpelajar dan buta huruf.

Dalam konteks Malaysia pada hari ini, kolonialisme Inggeris ke atas masyarakat Malaysia telah menyaksikan perkembangan gereja yang walaupun berasaskan kepada budaya dan kepimpinan Asia, tetapi banyak berasaskan kepada penghayatan dalam medium Bahasa Inggeris. Mungkin ini adalah disebabkan demografi masyarakat Kristian di Malaysia yang rata-ratanya golongan kelas menengah di bandar-bandar yang menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa pertama. Di samping itu, sejarah gereja Malaysia yang banyak berasal daripada negara-negara berbahasa Inggeris menyaksikan kesinambungan penggunaan Bahasa Inggeris dalam ibadah dan teologi. Tambahan pula, kemajuan kegiatan pemikiran dan penulisan di negara-negara asing memberkati masyarakat Kristian di Malaysia apabila kita dapat menggunakan hasil penerbitan asing untuk perkembangan spiritual dan pengajaran agama kita.

Namun begitu, satu hakikat yang tidak boleh kita nafikan bahawa negara kita merupakan negara majmuk yang didiami oleh pelbagai masyarakat, budaya dan bahasa. Penggunaan bahasa tunggal sebagai medium ibadah tidak akan efektif dalam meningkatkan pembangunan spiritual dan memperkayakan pengalaman ibadah kita kerana tidak semua orang mahu dan mampu berbahasa dalam bahasa Inggeris, Cina, Tamil mahupun bahasa kebangsaan. Kewujudan gereja Malaysia dalam pelbagai sidang yang menggunakan pelbagai bahasa mewujudkan satu keperluan untuk bahan-bahan pelbagai bahasa, khususnya penulisan dan penerbitan untuk refleksi teologi dan pendidikan di gereja.

Mahukah kita mengulangi sejarah silam gereja dengan terus-menerus mengiakan penguasaan dan kemajuan pendidikan Kristian dalam satu-satu bahasa tunggal?

Tidakkah kita ingin melihat Injil dan pembangunan spiritual bertumbuh dengan segar dalam bahasa-bahasa tempatan, yang akan menyemarakkan penghayatan agama di setiap lapisan masyarakat?

Bukankah Injil yang diperkhabarkan oleh Yesus Kristus, anti-elitis dan anti-Farisi?

Bukankah Injil yang difahami orang buta di tepi jalan, orang-orang kafir di Samaria, rabbi-rabbi Yahudi dan oleh orang-orang Yerusalem, Yudea dan seluruh pelosok dunia (Kis 1:8)?

Losing Face and Finding Grace

"Raised as one of only a handful of Asians in my Chicago suburb, I did not want to be part of the Asian culture. It did not seem relevant. Besides, I thought, "Other than skin color, we're all the same, right?"I remember hearing comments from friends such as "I don't think of you as Asian, but just like the rest of us [white]." These were meant as compliments (and I often took them as such), but they were confusing, since I, no matter how much I might have tried to deny it, was Asian and different. Though self-confident and socially adept on the outside, in my heart I felt ashamed of my parents' culture at times and ashamed of myself for being a part of that culture.At home my Western ideals of expressing love were not being met by the less physically and verbally expressive ideals of my parents' culture. Feeding me and checking up on my grades seemed to be all that they cared about. I felt as though I didn't belong in my parents' world or in my white friends' world. Where did I belong as an Asian-American?Face and grace. These are the themes that weave through Tom Lin's journey (recounted above) and the lives of many Asian-American Christians. How do we escape the trap of trying to earn our salvation? How do we handle the expectations of our parents in light of God's calling in our lives? What do we do with the shame that threatens to overtake our self-image?The inductive Bible studies in this guide explore these questions and much more. You'll find help and hope in Scripture--and you may even find yourself."

-- Tom Lin

Favourite Place of the Week

Bed!

Favourite Drink of the Week

Hot Chocolate with Marshmellows!

Three Mile An Hour Jesus

"I want a god that works on a quicker delivery schedule, like UPS or FedEx. Not a wasted step. Packages delivered on time, every time. The customer is always happy.

When you initially flip through its pages you might walk away with the impression that the God of the Bible is a FedEx kind of god, answering prayer, guaranteed, by 10:30 a.m. the next morning.

But that’s simply not the case.

Take the Book of Acts, for instance, the history book of the birth and expansion of the early church. It covers a span of 30+ years. You’d think that what was going on in those days was so important that God would have passed out miracles like a politician handing out campaign flyers. But He didn’t. We can count on two hands the number of miracle stories in the entire book.

God operates on a different timetable than we do. In the Bible, in Isaiah 55:8, God reminds us, “My ways are not your ways.” But we keep forgetting that, especially when we’re in a pinch and we need a prayer answered fast.

Theologian, Kosuke Koyama, gives us a glimpse as to why God keeps the schedule He keeps. Reflecting on his days as a pastor in the tranquil rice fields of Thailand, he wrote,

God walks ‘slowly’ because He is love. If He is not love He would have gone much faster. Love has its own speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed…It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice or not, whether we are currently hit by storm or not, at three miles an hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore it is the speed the love of God walks. (Three Mile An Hour God, Chapter 1)

God refuses to be the FedEx god we so desperately want because He loves us. His slowness to answer prayer, to move, to heal, to part the waters, is all a reflection of His love.

When He doesn’t answer our prayers right away we’re forced to trust Him more. When He allows us to suffer it brings depth and strength and compassion into our lives.

Thank God His ways are not like our ways.

If there’s anything we learn from the Bible, if we’ll slow down enough to take in its message, it’s this: God is always at work, but at a much slower speed than we impatient Westerners would like.

And that’s a good thing." -- Brian Jones

Pragmatic Leadership

One thing that I've learnt from many independant charismatic churches is their pragmatism. Thanks to my involvement in NLRC, and exposure to the big church scene in KL and also Equippers and CLCA in Auckland, I notice one stark difference between them and mainline churches: pragmatic leadership. My personal leadership role in Campus Alive two years ago and involvement with Extreme Life youth group exposed me to many contemporary leadership wisdom, which some proved to be very helpful.

One area of our pragmatism is in the way we treat our visitors. I remember walking into NLRC to be greeted and handshaken by almost 25 people when I first visit the service, and felt immediate warmth of fellowship. Another hometown friend, Joel, while he's in KL starting his studies, got a phone call from a church member of CHC inviting him to attend a cell group. Recently, my friend who had just arrived in Auckland, was brought to sight-see the whole city by one church member from Equippers, though they never met before. Pragmatism makes us take the extra effort to go all out to reach people.

Another area is the area of pastoral care. Good pastoral care ensures that believers and pre-believers are well-taken care of, and are brought into fellowship with a small family group. We do not wait for people asking to join cell groups, but instead we hunt for people to join cell groups. Those who are in contact with a close knitted family are more likely to grow and to be discipled. Recently I just got a birthday card from CLCA, though I just visited them only once last year. Though the church is big, its pragmatism try to ensure that personal touch is not lost, and people are still being cared and being loved in a community.

Thirdly, is in the area of decision making. Pragmatic leaders take risks, and dares to invest their resources on things that can bring result. I remembered making decision to rent the whole McD restaurant for a night to welcome our newcomers in college, spending a large sum of money from my own pocket. NLRC spend great amount of energy and finances to host community events like the recent Christmas carnival. Some other churches invest in good sound system, nice chic ambience, great architecture etc. Though it is good at times, overpragmatism and over dependence on human effort can be quite unbiblical. It can also lead to misguided priorities, for example the neglect for the poor and also for world missions. What we need is a healthy tension between pragmatic leadership and accountability to Biblical standards and the community.

When I compare it with some more mainline churches that I am currently attending, I can see that my church is still weak in reaching their visitors and also bringing people to fellowship with one another. Though the mainline churches that I attend are slightly smaller than the megachurches, I do not see the smaller size being much helpful to form warmer communities. Only after 7months attending the church in Auckland, I was brought to join a cell group. Through my discussion with Hedonese, he felt that our churches need a healthy dose of good pragmatic leadership, and contemporary leadership principles that do not contradict the Bible is worth applying into the way we run ministries.

Though the church that I am currently attending lack pragmatism in certain areas, I like their commitment towards multiculturalism, world missions, race reconciliation and environmentalism.

Well, there is no perfect church-lah. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to be one.

Bored?

found it here, found it amusing

"Dear reader,
Firstly, thank you for even bothering to visit my blog this part of cyber space. I trust you find nothing of interest to you here.

I am sure that 99.9% of you are already too bored to tears to bother a comment. (But of course you are curious enough to read this page, after which, you’ll definitely switch off half-way through, I guarantee)

To the 0.1% of my readers who by some great cosmic cataclysmic event happen to share the same keen interest in the areas that excite us both and who cannot find within themselves to resist initiating a conversation by way of leaving some heartfelt thoughtful comments, thank you for succumbing to your inner demons...."

Blog Rohani Bahasa Malaysia

Saya telah menjumpai dua lagi blog rohani Bahasa Malaysia di Warkah Pascamoden dan Kebaktian. Sangat-sangat digalakkan untuk mengetahui bahawa initiatif refleksi teologi dalam bahasa kebangsaan oleh kami di Cahaya Nusantara tidaklah keseorangan.

Bibit-bibit sedap untuk makanan rohani kita,

"Pemerintahan Allah dapat dialami terutamanya sekiranya kita berakar dalam amalan dan kebiasaan yang menjadi tema pokok dalam kehidupan dan pelayanan baginda seperti: makan bersama dengan orang yang dianggap sebagai kafir, menjadi teman dan mendatangkan penyembuhan kepada mereka yang sakit - dari segi fizikal mahupun dalam hati, menentang penindasan dan ketidakadilan dan pada masa yang sama juga, merehat sejenak dan berdoa dalam senyap. Pemerintahan Allah itu bertujuan memulihkan manusia (dengan Allah dan sesama manusia sendiri)

Ya, Tuhan melibatkan kita dengan memberi peranan dalam pengkhabaran Berita Baik ini dengan menjadi agen-agen perubahan untuk mengubah dunia demi kebaikan manusia sejagat melalui pembentukan sebuah umat yang baru." -- Warkah Pascamoden, 7 Mac

"Misi Integrasi yang disampaikan beliau memberikan ilham dan perspektif di mana ia mengembalikan maksud sebenar misi pelayanan kita. Kita dicipta untuk dunia ini. Dunia ini menjadi medan pelayanan bagi umat Kristian tidak kira dia tu pendita atau pekerja sekular biasa.

Sebagai warga kerajaan Allah di bumi ini, kita boleh merealisasikan Kerajaan Allah di muka bumi ini atau di tempat kerja serta di komuniti kita sendiri. Kita kembalikan hak asasi, pelajaran, ekonomi dan keadilan untuk orang asli. Kita boleh menunjukkan realiti kerajaan Allah dalam tempat tinggal mereka walaupun ia jauh dari arus pembangunan.

Berita baik atau injil bukanlah hanya melalui percakapan sahaja tetapi juga bagaimana kita membantu memenuhi kehendak mereka seperti mana Yesus yang berbelas kasihan melihat mereka yang sakit dan miskin. Kita mahu melihat semua dimensi dan aspek iaitu kebudayaan, sosial, ethnik ditransformasikan mengikut kehendak Allah yang asal.

Kesimpulannya, marilah kita merealisasikan kerajaan Allah dalam komuniti kita dan perkerjaan kita.

Biarlah kerajaanMu datang, Biarlah kehendakMu terjadi di bumi seperti di syurga ... doa yang diajar Yesus" -- Kebaktian, 5 Mac

Friday is for friends

Its so refreshing to be able to go have curry mee, pool game, and Esquires coffeeshop Double Fudge hot chocolate with Malaysian friends from OCF. Feel relaxed, stress relieved, connections made and spiritually nourished. What a day!

How do I prevent sleepiness in lectures?

Call back home - Mom eagerly waiting for your call

Wei,

you've not call back since you arrived at NZ,

sent you email but you've not yet reply

Call her when you are ready.

Love from pa...
Henry Wee

What are Rights?

Many people fight for their rights. Workers fight for decent wage. Residents fight for good safe clean environment-friendly neighbourhood. Schoolchildren fight for education. Tenants fight for fair tenancy deals. Patients fight for rights to health care. Victims fight for the rights to justice. bla. bla.

What are rights anyway? Who give rights? Who take away rights?

Legal right is a right given by law, which imposes a legal duty on other to abstain from intefering with it or to provide it. For example, if I marry my wife, no one else can take away my rights to live together with her, and my in-laws must allow my wife to move out from her previous home to live together with me.

Moral right is a right not necessarily enforced by law, but deemed important to human interest, that should be met by others. For example, a right to stay alive, a right for healthcare, a right for education

..........................

If I have a right to health and I am not healthy, then I do not have my rights fulfilled. The health system is legally and morally guilty for not ensuring, providing and sustaining my health.

But if supposedly, one day I walk down the street and accidentally tripped down and sprained my leg, I suffer from ill health. Who is responsible then? Clearly no one.

When I die one day, and that's a grave shortfall of health - has mortality (or even God) has infriged my right to health and life? Who am I to demand life when I certainly do not own my own life?

.........................

Conclusion

Healthcare legal rights, or any rights at all is not absolute. It may be granted by the law, the government or the society. Even moral rights like gender equality, freedom of religion or speech, are socially relative.

But ultimately rights and privileges of important human interest such as the right to live, the right to health is God-given and God-sanctioned. The Bible says "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own Greek poets have said, For we are also His offspring."

We do not deserve it, but it is given out of God's sovereign will and grace. Let us then appreciate them, and when situation arises, give up our rights for others.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." -- Christ

How to overcome smelly foot?

to be like this one?

Help me!

Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa

Yang kurik itu kendi,
Yang merah itu saga,
Yang cantik itu budi,
Yang indah itu bahasa.

Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa

Swimming

Went for a dip in the pool. Its refreshing.

Why I don't blog about my life?

I often ask myself, why I don't write about personal stuff on my blog. Why don't I talk about my problems and emotions? I think its because I don't have both of them, supposedly. Hehe. Or rather I have very little of them that none of them would give me lasting impression, that I would have make the effort to blog about it.

Some people will find my blog rather hard to understand, or being too technical in some parts. Or too religious, so to say depending on how you define religiousity. Some people will find it very detached and emotionless. Some people will find it insulting and provocative. Some people will enjoy it.

Well, sooner or later you will have to accept it as it is. :D

Pantun Masa Bosan

Seharum markisa tiada terkata,
Harum lagi kemboja terasa,
Masa ibarat emas permata,
Jikalau hilang jerih terasa,

Bersimpuh duduk bawah pohonan,
Redup terasa menggamit rasa,
Ditebus Yesus itulah kehidupan,
Damai di hati, riang terasa,

Nun di sana berarak mega,
Terbang lelayang saujana memandang,
Marilah berserah jiwa dan raga,
Menyembah melayan Raja di sidang,

Siul merpati siul kenari,
Bertenggek sama di dahan jati,
Berhati tekad pantas berlari,
Menuju Firdaus nikmat sejati.

Karl Barth on Resurrection

“The goal of human life is not death, but resurrection.”

-- Karl Barth thanks to Alex

Peter or Christ?

“So if the church is founded on Peter, it is not founded on his person but on his faith... The foundation of the church is Christ. (For he was not told ‘You are the rock’, but ‘You are Peter’, and the rock was Christ), this sentence shows that the Christ (petra) accepted in faith (Petrus) is the true foundation stone of the church”

- A 26 year old doctoral student writing on Augustine’s ecclesiology in 1953 shortly after his ordination. His name was Joseph Ratzinger. Copied from Alex.

Gustavo Gutiérrez

"I am firmly convinced that poverty—this sub-human condition in which the majority of humanity lives today—is more than a social issue. Poverty poses a major challenge to every Christian conscience and therefore to theology as well.

People today often talk about contextual theologies but, in point of fact, theology has always been contextual. Some theologies, it is true, may be more conscious of and explicit about their contextuality, but all theological investigation is necessarily carried out within a specific historical context. When Augustine wrote The City of God, he was reflecting on what it meant for him and for his contemporaries to live the Gospel within a specific context of serious historical transformations.

Our context today is characterized by a glaring disparity between the rich and the poor. No serious Christian can quietly ignore this situation. It is no longer possible for someone to say, “Well, I didn’t know” about the suffering of the poor. Poverty has a visibility today that it did not have in the past. The faces of the poor must now be confronted. And we also understand the causes of poverty and the conditions that perpetuate it. There was a time when poverty was considered to be an unavoidable fate, but such a view is no longer possible or responsible. Now we know that poverty is not simply a misfortune; it is an injustice.

Of course, there always remains the practical question: what must we do in order to abolish poverty? Theology does not pretend to have all the technical solutions to poverty, but it reminds us never to forget the poor and also that God is at stake in our response to poverty. An active concern for the poor is not only an obligation for those who feel a political vocation; all Christians must take the Gospel message of justice and equality seriously. Christians cannot forgo their responsibility to say a prophetic word about unjust economic conditions. Pope John Paul II’s approach to the phenomenon of globalization is a good example. He constantly asks: “How is this going to affect the poor? Does it promote justice?”
-- Gustavo Gutiérrez, founder of Liberation theology

more of him

How do different people break-up?

I find this amusing

Atheist: The burden of proof is on you to establish the existence of this so-called "god" but I believe that if there was any such divine entity "it" would not want us to continue dating.

Intelligent Design Theorist: Our relationship bears the marks of irreducible complexity making it too difficult to explain by way of natural causes. Therefore, there the most reasonable conclusion is that we were designed to break up since things have gotten so complicated.

Calvinist: We were predestined before the creation of the world to break up according to God's good pleasure. I am, on my own power, unable to break up with you apart from the irresistible draw of God's sovereign grace which leads me to end this relationship. Those that truly break up will not get back together in the end.

Arminian: While you love me and have a wonderful plan for my life, I have the power to resist your will. If I did not, love would not be possible. For our relationship to be loving it needs to include the possibility of breaking up--something I am doing right now.

New Perspective on Paul Scholar: Rather than earning God's blessing, it is established on the basis of our covenant courtship (I asked your dad to date you didn't I?) which requires the proper response of an intentional and deliberate pursuit of marriage. Yet there is no such pursuit, therefore God's blessing on or relationship is no longer maintained.

Open Theist: I am not really sure if we are supposed to be together, because neither is God.

Theistic Evolutionist: The beauty and rhythm of random variation and natural selection over long periods of time has presented us with a world where God has shown us that our relationship is too biologically expensive to maintain and is destined for extinction.

Young Earth Creationist: No, I do not believe we have been going out for that long. Our relationship is only six days old and the on the seventh God rested. I think we need a rest too.

Emergent: The question if whether we are in relationship or not is mired in Modernity's obsession with propositional truth. A better a way to look at this is to enter into God's story about how he lead us together and is now leading us apart.

Catholic: Honey, I think the Virgin Mary is leading us in different directions. I think it is her will that we break up. You know, I’ve always wanted to be a priest…

Lutheran: I want our relationship to continue, but first there are a few things about you that God wants to change. Here is a list of 95 that I made. What? OK, then, I guess we're done.

Episcopalian: Ummm... I'm gay.

Fundamentalist: You have tarnished the pure nature of our love by incorporating such heathen elements as "dating" and "fun." I am afraid I can no longer court you--yea, even speak to you--until you repent of this apostasy.

Mormon: Honey, I can’t see you anymore. My other wives don’t approve

Mennonite: At that holiest barn raising two weeks prior to this conversational exchange, I realized as I drove you home at sunset in my best carriage, that there are other falsettos in the choir; some that art willing, with all fervent spirit, to trimmest my beard and even my eyebrows on such special occasion, and would, though it hurts me to spake this, make a more holy match

Heresy of Intellectualistic Scholasticism

Focus on the articulations themselves and forget the life, and indulge in mere intellectual battles in the absence of relational depth, and we would have exhibited evidence of a subtle heresy called intellectualistic scholasticism.

One sure evidence of intellectual scholasticism is observable when “scholars” seek to present propositional theology in a language people cannot understand just so no one knows how to refute them. Linguistic sophistication is a facade for insecure scholastic endeavours which seeks to present ideas beyond the reach of the people. If the people are not high enough to grasp that which is articulated, then the articulation stands beyond reproach (or so they think).

In contrast, relational propositions are unsophisticated and yet possess a power of depth unbeknownst to intellectual scholasticism.

We can believe in propositional theology only because we have a relational life. Be rational, but be relationally rational. -- Sherman Kuek

The Woes of the Medical Student

The Christian Mind

"The mind in its greatest and deepest reaches is not cared for enough. But intellectual nurture cannot take place apart from profound immersion for a period of years in the history of thought and the spirit.

People who are in a hurry to get out of the university and start earning money or serving the church or preaching the gospel have no idea of the infinite value of spending years of leisure conversing with the greatest minds and souls of the past, ripening and sharpening and enlarging their powers of thinking. The result is that the arena of creative thinking is vacated and abdicated to the enemy. Who among evangelicals can stand up to the great secular scholars on their own terms of scholarship? Who among evangelical scholars is quoted as a normative source by the greatest secular authorities on history or philosophy or psychology or sociology or politics? Does the evangelical mode of thinking have the slightest chance of becoming the dominant mode in the great universities of Europe and America that stamp our entire civilization with their spirit and ideals?

For the sake of greater effectiveness in witnessing to Jesus Christ, as well as for their own sakes, evangelicals cannot afford to keep on living on the periphery of responsible intellectual existence"

-- Charles Malik, Lebanese theologian

Separation of Church and State - Malaysian experience?

Can a Christian support a qualified secular state and remain consistent in our belief that the Christian faith is a comprehensive way of life? I believe so, provided we are clear on what that means.

Kam Weng posted a helpful way of framing the issue here

"The qualified-secular status of the Malaysian Federal Constitution is been challenged in current debates on religion and society... It is granted that religion (this includes all religions and not just Islam) is an integrated worldview and way of life. As such, practicing religion entails engagement with social life. It is futile, if not wrong to dichotomize these two spheres of human activities.

When we talk about separation between Church/Mosque and State, we are not suggesting a dichotomy between religion and society as spheres of human activity. We are suggesting the need to separate religious institutions from state institutions. We are calling for institutional separation. The separation is necessary both to protect state authorities from exploiting religion for their own political agenda and to prevent religious authorities from exploiting the state apparatus for their own (sectarian) religious agenda."

copied from Hedonese

No Pok

Deitrich Boenhoffer

Joey de la Paz dedicated a post of his to remember Deitrich Boenhoffer and 'cheap grace'. A certainly worth read. Quoting from Boenhoffer,

Cheap grace means grace as doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian “conception” of God… The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, ipso facto a part in that grace. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin.

Joey added, "Boenhoffer contrast cheap grace with “costly grace”. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives man the only true life.

"Grace is free but is never cheap.

Reasonable Faith

Click on the picture for larger view

Reasonable Faith Training Program

Date: April 13 - 15, 2007
Venue: Hotel Puri Melaka, Malaysia
Contact: iching@rzimap.com.sg (IChing) for more details about registration

Exciting and Relevant Issue: "Jesus among other lords"

The experienced RZIM team will take you on a discovery exploration on Religion roulette: How can we know for sure?, Interactive Movie Discussions, Worldview thinking, How now shall we live?, Postmodern spirituality, Jesus then and now, Ecclesiastes, Communicating the gospel in a pluralistic society and so much more!

Without a firm foundation in Scripture and the uniqueness of Christ, we would risk being captivated by religious pluralism and postmodern spirituality which reduced the gospel narrative as merely one among many religious options in the supermarket. I highly recommend this camp to everyone!

Come and Rest

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Mat 11:28-30)

I am super busy with my medical studies and UMSA which took up so much of my time. I feel that I am not spending enough time for myself, for my flatmates and for God. I need to slow down my life as our three-mile-per-hour God. Help me.

I still have to deal with OCF camp, Rebelution bookwriting and the Tab.

Help me!

Is Flatfish 'unconsciously' emergent?

The Kawan dalam Perbualan with Brian McLaren seemed to go well, even though I wasn't there. It is interesting to note that Brian shared about 'the emerging church'. He starts by using Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger's 9 points descriptors of emergent churches:

(1) Identifying with Jesus

(2) Transforming secular space

(3) Living as community

(4) Welcoming the stranger

(5) Serving with generosity

(6) Participating as producers

(7) Creating as created beings

(8) Leading as a body

(9) Merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities.

It left me wondering, are my flatmates and I, in Flatfish becoming unconsciously 'emergent'?

We certainly do agree with point (1), (3), (4), (8), and a bit of (9).

1)We prayed over being Christlike, sharing love and joy, loving our enemies, loving our neighbours etc. We try to reflect and act upon, what we learned and convinced from the Bible.

3)We live as a community of four people, two girls and two guys, two whites and two 'coloured', one irish, one english, one indian and one chinese, two studying and two working. Very different persons, yet united together.

4)We welcome strangers and guests. We have people coming in and out our flat. We have our neighbours popping in to ask for help with legal advice, for food, for a chat. We have tourist from Canada dropping by for lunch. We had people from Laos, Hong Kong, Iran, Malaysia, Australia and Zimbabwe stepping through our doors. All within the past 2 weeks. Awesome.

5)We lend out our cell phone chargers to our neighbours, we offer our neighbour to bring them to see the lawyer for legal advice, we offer food and car ride back to their homes, we offer pastas, we offer friendship, we offer free holiday to Goat Island for snorkelling :) We are still learning to be more generous.

8)We make decisions as a body. We do not have a leader. Everyone has equal rights. Everyone has equal say. Everyone has rights to agree and refuse. Though we may have differences in opinion which sometimes may lead up to heated conversations, we end it through prayer and submission to God's will. We have mentors looking after our emotional welfare.

9)We pray in the dark, with a candle and scent in the middle. One day, there was a neighbour who came unexpectedly, and thought that we were in deep meditation. It was so funny. Never would I thought that he would suspect meditation. We also make note of the Lent season although we never really observe it. We are still learning in spiritual formation.

But we are not quite good in (2), (6) and (7).

2)Not all of us are good in transforming secular places. I am involved in the Malaysian club. Mel is indirectly involved in the Auckland Youth Council. Natty is working in a sales company and Alan is reaching out to his ex-hostel mates. We are frustrated with juggling our time with our different commitments. We don't know much and can't do much to change our marketplace. We want to learn.

6)We do not know what is participating as producers? Anyone care to enlighten us?

7)Creating as created bodies? What on earth does it mean?

Summary

Are we emergent? Quite, but not quite yet.

Satay Galore!

Barely Legal

Its 10minutes past 12.

I am barely legal.

I can now vote.

I can now rent cars.

I can now drink.

I can now go to casinos.

I am no more juvenile. I can be imprisoned and hanged.

I can now... lose my virginity?

lol. Happy Birthday to Me.

Hospitality for God's Glory

The ultimate act of hospitality was when Jesus Christ died for sinners to make everyone who believes a member of the household of God. We are no longer strangers and sojourners. We have come home to God. Everybody who trusts in Jesus finds a home in God.

And why did God do it? Why send his only Son to die so that sinners could have hospitality in heaven? Ephesians 1:5–6: "He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace."

He did it for the praise of the glory of his grace. It was the same reason that he rescued unworthy strangers in Egypt—for his own glory. This was grace in the Old Testament and it is grace in the New.

"By grace are you saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). The ultimate foundation of Christian hospitality is God's unwavering commitment to glorify the freedom and all-sufficiency of his grace. -- John Piper

Hospitality is: The divine enablement to share with others our home, our lives, our personal space and resources without communicating a need for performance or an expectation of return.....That hospitality includes sharing our home, lives, personal space and resources such as a bed, or food or time, that should be obvious. But one of the first characteristics of good hospitality is that it does not communicate a need for performance. By that is meant that the person we welcome into our home does not have to be a great guest, a great conversationalist, the life of a party. Some times we invite people over because they can perform socially very well. They have class. They have good character. They are intelligent. They are attractive. But if we invite people over with the subtle motivations of socializing in an upwardly mobile way, or for the purposes of personal entertainment and gain, we are expecting from them some performance. Good hospitality accepts people into our home no matter what their social skills are, no matter what their conversational skills are. Regardless of their performance, they are still very welcome.