Sunday, May 28, 2006
9:51 pm
My final entry for the day will focus on Zhuang Mao's 2 questions.
Q1. Firstly, if all were to be saved, surely many will enjoy eternal bliss, rather than suffer for eternity? In this sense, we do not know just how many people will actually be saved. How then can we say that God's creation has caused the suffering?
Secondly, we can never fathom existence outside of time, in the same way that a 2D object (hypothetical living thing, for the sake of illustration) will never understand the concept of volume, perspective and 3D trigonometry. Therefore, we do not know God's plan, at least not in its entirety. The ending has not been revealed. However, one thing we know for sure - we hold the key to His Kingdom in our hands, as co-inheriters of Christ's legacy. Our job, then, is to ensure that God's promised eternal bliss will be shared with as many as possible. By our very limited nature, we can never fully comprehend the ways of our Lord, unless He tells us (and even then we may be confounded).
Rest assured that our God will explain these things to us eventually. Also, God is a righteous and just God. No deserving person will be denied a place in Heaven. His judgement will surely be beyond our imaginings, and will definitely be above reproach!
Q2. From the perspective of a Christian, the answer is as follows. Link up with the Lord, and listen to His voice. God's Word (the Bible) is a useful resource. His Word is complete, meaning all the answers one needs lies therein. People will always deceive and be deceived. Yet, by testing information against the Word of God, we can ascertain the veracity of the information. If there is no way to verify certain facts, then perhaps we want to ask ourselves this - is this piece of information critical to the foundations of our faith? Will the uncertainty associated with it cause any real problems? If we were to confront these things critically and not based on our preconceived notions or romanticised imageries of reality, then we realise that at the end of the day the information is probably NOT important. Take, for example, the question of whether Jesus was married. Honestly, is it a problem? If Jesus were married (which is not to say that He was. I personally believe He wasn't), does it detract from His holiness? No. Getting married is a God-ordained ritual. Is it foul? Is it sinful? Perhaps only in the hearts of the wicked is sexual intercourse a thing of taboo (how do the first humans multiply if they did not perform intercourse?). There is
nothing dirty about it, except that which we choose to associate with it. Numerous examples I can cite to you, but they are really the pursuits of the worldly man. This is probably the type of wisdom that the Teacher in Eccelsiates calls meaningless - knowledge and information without a focus on God!
There are so many other things that can be said of the second question, but we remember a few keypoints. 1.) The truth will not contradict God's Word (there is of course the problem of metaphorical expressions); 2.) Pedantic approaches to God's work and His Word will result in meaningless pursuits. Instead, focus on the spiritual aspects which are often neglected; 3.) A faith based entirely on knowledge and information is akin to a house built on sandy ground; it will not stand when the waves come against it. Build the house on a foundation of stone, which is grounded in the Truth and based on a spiritual relationship with God, doing His will as He commands us.
I am sure there are more things to talk about with regards to these two questions. Feel free to comment! I think this is a good chance to clear up doubts!
Regards,
Cyrus
You were blessed by Cyrus
Hihi!
I shall now attempt to reply to Zhuang Mao's response. Indeed, I believe that you have several of the key ideas in the question sorted out, namely - 1.) we deserve nothing; 2.) we should not always pray
only for mundane things (the keyword is, of course, ONLY); 3.) we should never limit God.
Now here are some thoughts I have. Firstly, how do we limit God? Is asking for small things limiting God? Have you ever thought this way before, "This is so trivial, I better not bother God with it"? If you have, then perhaps you will immediately recognise now that God can be limited by us in many ways. We seem to perceive God as a very busy person - too busy to bother about little things. Yet, we often forget that God does not need to conform with the limitations of time. He exists outside of it and He knows all things and has accomplished everything according to His perfect plan, even as the world was created. The bottomline is this - while everyone knows that nothing is too great for our God, we often forget that nothing is too small for Him too.
Secondly, when our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil He replied thus, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Once again we must take care that even as we ask of things from the Lord we must not fall into the trap of
testing God. God's Word and promises to us is sufficient. By faith, we ask of Him; by lack of faith, we
test Him. Therefore, prayer should not be a tool to affirm our lack of faith.
Thirdly, nothing shall be sought except that which is in the will of the Lord. For many, this is something that is very clear and obvious on paper, but close to impossible to accomplish in real life. This is because many people really don't know the will of the Lord. Therefore, like Marilyn says, we have to constantly maintain a relationship with the Lord, lest we fall into the trap of asking out of our own desires. The biggest danger is that this may become a foothold for the devil, with which he will cause us to contend with our Lord's will.
I will reply asap to any further comments. I hope we have all learned something from the exchange! :)
In His Love,
Cyrus
You were blessed by Cyrus
Hello!
I will attempt to reply to Marilyn's answer in this post.
Firstly, I would like to thank Marilyn for a very prompt reply. Next I would like to note that your first paragraph is very true indeed. There is nothing that we deserve. Everything that we have comes from God, as a gift. However, suppose we were to take it a step further, and consider this. Now, God has given us talents and abilities. We can quite safely say that although one may or may not excel if he/she were to depend wholly on these, he/she will have some level of capability to achieve
something. So using this
something as the basis of what we term
deserving, is one justified in asking for more than this
something? As a more concrete example, suppose I were to work with 50% effort on a test. I expect myself to get a B+ for it. Is it necessary to ask God to give the B+ to me? Is it justified to ask for an A+ from God?
Also, Marilyn is right to note that communication forms the core of our relationship with God. Indeed, it is impossible to maintain a relationship with someone whom one has never spoken to, or with whom one has not spoken to for a long time. To ask of God is to communicate with Him, and that can strengthen our faith. But it may not necessarily
stretch our faith, since there is no real test of it. On the other hand, if one were to go beyond mere communication, but were to ask for something impossible or unlikely, and
if this prayer were actually answered, then the faith will indeed be stretched (not so much after it is answered, but when one is praying for it) and increased.
Finally, I would like to challenge Marilyn to think about God's gifts to you, deserving ones as well as underserving ones, and to ponder on our Father's goodness. Do you dare to ask more than what you deem you deserve (based on your abilities, efforts, as well as relationship with Him)? Is it right to do it?
Rgds,
Cyrus
You were blessed by Cyrus
Saturday, May 27, 2006
6:01 pm
I have 2 questions as well. These were asked by a friend of mine. And I feel quite unable to answer them.
Firstly, it is the question of why God will create people whom he knows will not accept him. I know, God foreknew but did not predestine. We have the freedom of choice. But still, by their creation, they had been caused to suffer for eternalty. Why can't God just not create them in the first place?
Secondly, it is that it is so difficult to tell what is true in this world. My friend quoted the example of "
like in DVC the historian guy can say things in such a matter of fact. if ppl dun do more research.. they think that is truth. its the same for the DVC talks/ discussions.. how can u tell if what the speaker says is true." Which is quite true. If Dan Brown can twist facts, what is stopping all those speakers in the DVC code talks from doing the same? David illustrated it that Saturday, right? I know, this problem can be partially overcome by knowing more yourself. But Who can know enough (not even talking about everything) that they can be confident of not being fooled? Who can discern between false teachers and those who teach the truth? Even if a person does not have the intentions of lying, it is possible that the teachers are decieved. What then?
Seek the Truth.
I am the way, the truth and the life.
You were blessed by P{ZM}
"There is no need to pray to God for what you deserve, because you will get it. Be brave and ask for more than you deserve. That will stretch your faith!"
Actually, in a strange sense, there is some truth in it. No, not totally, because it is true that we do not deserve anything. All things are given to us only by grace.
However, it does not seem to be "correct" to be only praying the normal "bless me" type of prayer. It is a little like making sure that our prayers do not fail - such that our faith will not be shaken. We ask God only for little things so that we will not be too worried.
No, I am not saying that we should not pray for little things. Neither should we not pray for things which would most probably happen, because even the most "normal" way of things happening, require God's grace to do so. But at the same time we should start praying for greater things. Let us not limit God by asking small.
You were blessed by P{ZM}
Thursday, May 25, 2006
10:59 pm
"There is no need to pray to God for what you deserve, because you will get it. Be brave and ask for more than you deserve. That will stretch your faith!"
there's no nid to pray to God for what you deserve? first do we know what we deserve. i don't think we will get it IF we don't pray and ask for it. we are bornt into this world with nothing. everything we have now, to me, is a blessing for God. although i do not deny, we actually might not have prayed for all this, but its a blessing. its God's gift to us. and not what WE DESERVE.
i don't know. but i think. do we deserve to "ask for more than you deserve". isn't asking praying as well? how can we ask if we do not communicate with the Father. and how can we communicate to God without praying and talking to him?
this is not a matter of bravery but whether we deserve to ask? we may do TAG everyday. and worship with all our heart. but if we do not talk to him, do not pray to him. we are jus like pushing God away and not giving a chance for him to talk to us in his special way.
we can stretch our faith by talking to him daily as well.
take it that doing TAG.worship him. pray to him. each hold 1/3 of our "results" by missing out one we are actually throwing 33 1/3 marks away. from a 99.9 we only get 66.6 which is A LOT OF DIFFERENCE. and yes this are not ALL the factors.
yup.its communication between you and God. like..i've come up with an analogy. haha.
if you and your best friend never talked for, let's say, 5-6 years. cause you don't wan to talk to him/her. do you deserve an expensive present from him/her? i noe this sounds lame. but it jus happened to pop into my head. haha.
yup. that's how i feel. haha
You were blessed by marilynHuang
Hello Cell Members!!
Firstly, I would like to thank God for giving me better results than I expected (4A's and a B+).
Secondly, remember to pray for James and Arlene (James' girlfriend) who are on a mission trip to Japan, as well as Melanie who will be having her examinations really soon (for details, check www.mel-anie.blogspot.com)!
Thirdly, I have a question for everyone which I hope everyone will consider and reply to on the Blog. My friend said to me, "There is no need to pray to God for what you deserve, because you will get it. Be brave and ask for more than you deserve. That will stretch your faith!" Comment on the above statement! Pleaaaaase reply to it? Pleaaaase? Otherwise I will reply to it myself, which is quite sad... boohoo!
Rgds,
Cyrus
You were blessed by Cyrus
Sunday, May 21, 2006
11:37 pm
Heya everyone,
I will be flying off this Wednesday night to Tokyo, Japan, for a mission trip with Campus Crusade for Christ. The duration of the trip will be from 24th May to 16th June. This means that I will be absent for 3 weekends and the CLCN camp (which I would really want to go for if not for the mission trip).
So far, by God's grace and wonderful provision, I have been able to raise $2380 of the $2700 (revised) needed for the trip. I am humbled by and very grateful to all who have so generously supported. I am trusting the Lord to provide the remaining amount needed for the trip. I am also still seeking for prayer support and I hope that all of you will be able to keep me and my team in prayer on one day every week from 24th May-16th June. This is important because we seek your support in helping us fight the battle against the forces of darkness in the spiritual realm. So far, I already have people praying for me on Thursday and Saturday; there's no limit to the number of prayer supporters each day. Do drop me an email or sms to let me know when you can keep me in prayer =)
If you are free this Monday night, I would also like to invite you for our Commissioning Ceremony. More details can be found here:
http://www.everystudent.com.sg/gen12iiDo let me know if you're coming k? Thanks! There'll possibly be quite alot of people so please come early.
Here are some additional details:
Team Blog Address
http://tokyo06.blogspot.com/
I am really looking forward to bringing the Gospel to the Japanese people. 120 million of them, but only about 0.7% are Christians. I will be praying for all of you also while I am there and I hope that everything will continue to run smoothly back in church. Till we meet again, take care and God Bless!
In God's Love,
James
You were blessed by EJ
Friday, May 12, 2006
9:40 am
Hello all!
Please note that we will be watching the second half of the Da Vinci Code DVD this weekend. So remember to get your popcorn and soft drinks ready before 5pm! See you all tomorrow!
Rgds,
Cyrus
You were blessed by Cyrus
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
11:54 am
Howdie~!
Take note that there is a series of documentaries coming up on Wednesdays, 10pm on ArtsCentral starting tomorrow, on the Da Vinci Code. There are also documentaries on Channelnewsasia on Sundays at 7.30pm starting this week on the origins and veracity of the Christian faith. Be sure to tune in! Don't be caught offguard when you're tested!
Rgds,
Cyrus
You were blessed by Cyrus
Saturday, May 06, 2006
1:51 am
Hiyo da4 jia1! Here's just a reminder that there's
cell lunch this Sunday after combined service! Cannot miss k? Just a short one cos I need to return home to transform into a bookworm, hehe. Last 2 papers next Monday and Wednesday! Place to be decided on Sunday itself. It'll be somewhere around Novena =)
You were blessed by EJ
