The slumber is over!

The worst thing about sleeping is that u have to wake up. The worst thing about holidays is that it's going to end.

It seems only a moment ago when I was packing my stuffs, looking forward for a "looong" holiday in malaysia. And today I wake up, only to find that it's over. Time flies, if u havent already relised that.

It's been awhile since I last blog. Retreats, meetings, orientation, cleaning house, preparing for uni reopens, working...that basically summarizes what I've been doing since coming back to melbourne.

I am anticipating a busy year ahead, one fill with challenges. All I have to do now is to keep my mind focus, pressing on towards the goal which is ahead of me, and to do the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Phew, the slumber is over!!

IMPOSSIBLE

I remember my previous cg leader, Peter Chang, asked us this question a long time ago: what do see in the word 'IMPOSSIBLE'?

Here are some interesting answers we got:
1. Impossible lol...(duh)
2. I-M-POSSIBLE
3. You can see the possible in the imPOSSIBLE (but you cant see the impossible in the possible)

I particularly like a scene in 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' where the defendent made her final appeal to the court. And I quote her, 'Facts leave no room for doubt. But this trial is about possibilities'. The prosecutor failed to establish any concrete facts that Emily's strange illness was caused by epilepsy or pyschosis. He also could not ascertain that Emily's failure to continue with her medication resulted in her death. When all facts were exhausted, the trial could only explore the possibilities. It may be 'outlandish' to assign spiritual forces as the cause of Emily's illness in a courtroom setting (a court only corroborates empirical evidence), but does this make it 'impossible'?

It is interesting to note how different people view a situation. The bottle could be half empty to some (the pessimists) or half full to others (the optimists). Even in the toughest situation, some people can see the possibilities.

In Mat 19:26, Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." When faced with a seemingly impossible situation, look to God, and you will see the possible in the impossible.

Unbelievable (Impossible?), believe it!

6 Guiding Principles in Doubtful Situations

Can I go clubbing? Is smoking wrong? What about drinking? These are few examples of questions often asked by Christians. Some would call them the 'grey areas'. Oswald Sanders listed 6 questions which we could ask ourselves when in doubtful situations like these, in his book 'Problems of Discipleship'.

1. Will it bring glory to God?
"So whether u eat or drink or whatever u do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31)

2. Is is profitable?
"Everything is permissible"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is constructive. (1 Cor 10:23)

3. Does it edify?
"...for building u up rather than pulling u down..." (2 Cor 10:8)

4. Does it tend to enslave?
"...Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything"
(1 Cor 6:12)

5. Will it strengthen me against temptation?
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
(Mat 6:13)

6. Is it characteristic of the world or of the Father?
For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he does-comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:16)

Lets take clubbing for instance...Will I, by going clubbing, stumbles another brother? Will I be exposing myself to temptations (ie lust of the eyes, drunkeness)? Could I possibly be addicted? How can I benefit from it? Am I bringing glory to God in anyway, or just merely satisfying my worldly cravings?

I could not give a direct 'yes' or 'no' answer to whether we should go clubbing or not. But ask yourselves those questions, and make a wise decision. You may find that the world is not so grey after all.

Jesus, fully God or fully man?

During an inter-faith dialogue which I attended a few weeks ago, one probing question that the muslims raised was concerning the dual nature of Jesus Christ. How can one be fully God and fully man at the same time? The theory of noncontradiction tells us that we cannot 'be' something and 'not be' at the same time. If Jesus is God, then he cannot be man, because man is not God.

The complexity of the trinity is indeed hard to comprehend. Even theologians over the centuries, could not give a definite description of the Godhead. One seemingly reasonable argument is as follows:

In Phi 2:7, we read that Jesus 'stripped himself of all privilege' (PHILIPS), 'made himself of no reputation' (KING JAMES) or 'emptied himself' (RS). Emptying is derived from the Greek word 'kenosis'. Bishop Gore argued that Christ emptied himself of some divine qualities (ie. omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience) when he became incarnate, while retaining his moral attributes (ie. justice, holiness, love).

However, this argument is flawed in a few ways. Firstly, if Christ has reduced some qualities of deity, he cannot be fully God. Secondly, if Jesus has renounced his divine knowledge, he could not claim that all his teaching is from God, thus rendering some of his teaching to be fallible. Besides, Jesus did show that he possessed some divine qualities by commanding the storm to cease. He also knew that Lazarus was dead before being told.

The road seems to be heading towards dead end when J.I. Packer in his book 'Knowing God' enlightened me with an interesting way of looking at the Godhead. The keyword here is 'total submission'. And I quote him, 'it is not so much one of deity reduced as of capacities restrained'.

The Son (Christ) does not act 'independently' as a divine person, but as a 'dependent' person who thinks and acts only as the Father (God) directs (John 6:38). The Son's knowledge and actions are bounded by the Father's will. Although he is co-equal with the Father in eternity, power and glory, he chooses to submit to the authority and good pleasure of the Father. The fact that he needed to eat and sleep is because the Father wills him to. Similarly, he did not know the time of his second coming because the Father wills that he does not possess that knowledge while he's still on earth. All he did was SUBMIT.

This may not be the best description of the trinity ever, but at least it sheds a new light to me on the dual nature of Christ. Is Jesus fully God or fully man? I would say, with all certainty, that he is both. And the key to this is his submission. If you are still in doubt, just marvel at the mystery....

God vs Ghost

All eyes were fixed, all ears were opened when my aunt shared of her encounters with the supernatural being-ghost. I can think of no better way to still the vibrant energies of 17 excited souls during CNY than a conversation involving ghosts. Before long, everyone started recalling their own experiences. If only a classroom can reproduce such attentiveness and responsiveness from its audience...

The subject about ghost has fascinated many as far as time can tell. Almost everyone believes, to a certain extent, their existence. I hear people saying, "Even though I am a 'free thinker' (a word which I dont quite understand...can one really be free in his thinking?), I dont mess with ghosts because they are real." Another one says that even though she's afraid of the subject, she wants to hear it nevertheless.

It makes me wonder why people are so intrigued by the topic of ghosts, and less so with God, when both involve the supernaturals.

One reason could be the fact that ghosts manifest themselves in a more obvious form compared to God, who often reveals Himself through scriptures and testimonies of the saints. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.

Secondly, the element of fear also piques the curiosity of human beings. We may not have the guts to join Fear Factor, but this does not stop us from watching the participants deal with their fears. People fear ghosts more than they fear God. This lack of fear and reverence for God is becoming more evident in today's society, even among Christians.

The subject of God (or theology) becomes more like a discussion of the intellectuals. While laymen thrill themselves in ghostly talks...

Moderate or Extreme?

When ask to fill up a feeback form, very rarely will I tick the extreme columns. It seems so hard for me to give an 'excellent' or 'very bad' in my evaluation.

I am interested in many things. Guitar, piano, badminton, photography and travelling to name a few. But I am not passionate enough to pursue them. In fact, I am good in many things, but not an expert in any. 'Jack of all trades, master of none'.

When people ask if I like Chemical Engineering, I would answer 'I dont hate it, neither do I like it. It's OK!' Until now, I still dont know why I chose what I chose.

Amidst a crowd of people, I would not go around socialising as some people do, nor would I hide in a lil' corner all by myself. Instead, I would find myself with a small company of friends.

These are but a few symptoms of a moderate person. One who hardly chooses the extremes. The line in the middle often (it's not ALWAYS though) takes precedence. Is this a good trait to behold? Maybe yes, maybe no. I dont know. I often envy the extremists....they seem so convinced of what they want. But then again, I'm glad I'm not as ignorant as them on 'the other side' of things.

If ever there is an extreme thing in my life, it would be the fact that I am extremely moderate...

Chaos or Cosmos?

When you read the title of this blog, you may get the impression that the words are chaotic, meaningless. They cannot be found anywhere in the dictionary. Yet, the surprising thing is that they are completely comprehensible.

The following paragraph explains how this works...

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amazing isn't it? The reason for this is because the words are not actually chaos, but rather cosmos. A cosmos is orderly, chaos is not. Cosmos requires a designer, chaos does not. R.C. Sproul says in his book 'The Consequences of Ideas' that we need to probe the elements of 'apparent' chaos to discover patterns of order that lurk beneath the surface.

In his famous book 'COSMOS', Carl Sagan affirms that the world is cosmos, not chaos. To say that life happens entirely by chance and the universe, with its intricacy and self-sustaining capability, comes into being solely from the 'Big Bang', would be almost impossible. The probability of such an event occuring would be lower than one striking a jackpot 7 times in a row, within a week.

Take a look around and you will see the hand-prints of The Designer all over. Chaos or Cosmos? I choose to believe the latter...

Conform or Differ?

Decisions are made everyday, some harder, some less. Before a decision is made, we must be in a state of dilemma. Very often, the underlying dilemma in a given circumstance involves the question of whether to conform or to differ. Should I keep up with the Joneses or be different?

I once told my brother that 'blogging is not my cup of tea'. My idea of blogging is one which involves sharing your life with the entire world, making known your lil' diary to the public. Most people do that, but I chose to differ.

But later on, I discover that blogging can do more than just that. Communities were formed based on similar interests, ideas were discussed, issues were raised, knowledge was gained. The power of the pen becomes more and more evident. I chose to conform this time.

Here I am, writing my first posting. Blogging, I'll give you a try...