Labels: 2009, me

Labels: 2009, me

Labels: 2009, me

Labels: 2009, me

Labels: 2009, me

Labels: 2009, me

...But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Labels: 2009, me, reflection

Thesis: We have the tendency, left without theological discipleship and accountability, to make God into who we think he ought to be. When that version of him fails, it is not as if the true version has failed, but only the version we created. Therefore, we have not really left God in a proper sense, but we have left the God we made. Sure, this God may be called “Jesus” and he may have died on a cross for our sins, but, for some people, these form secondary characteristics that are not foundational.

The lack of theological discipleship in the Church has created casualties by friendly-fire.

Let me explain.

The “My will be done” type of God named “Jesus”

Imagine a person who finds God through some sort of deathbed experience. They may have been terminally ill and then they pray to God for the first time in their lives. Suddenly, they are healed. Based upon this, they accept a version of God who heals when trouble comes. Ask and you shall receive—according to your will. Their theology may allow for the name “Jesus”, the atonement for sins, and a belief that Christ is God, but they only believe this because God healed them. But what happens if they never grow with regards to their understanding of who God is, his sovereignty to take a life or to spare a life, the ultimate hope of the resurrection, and many other foundational theological issues? What happens when their spouse gets sick or their child has cancer and their version of God does not come to the rescue? Often, these will become disillusioned and skeptical of the God who brought about the previous miracle. If their belief in God is based on his healing intervention according to their will, then this belief no longer has a basis. Therefore, God no longer has a basis.

The personal promise maker God named “Jesus”

My mother went through a theological disillusionment when my sister Angie committed suicide four years ago. She wanted so badly to be assured that Angie was going to be okay and that the depression would not ultimately take her life, so she read the Bible the way that she wanted to read it. She found a passage that, in her mind, said Angie was not going to kill herself. It was in the Psalms. The problem was that this passage said nothing about Angie and gave no promises concerning her life. But my mother was determined enough to find a garuntee to alleviate her fear. She trusted in God and “Took him at his word.” When Angie did take her life, my mother was totally disillusioned with God. She never left Christianity, but there was a version of God that failed her. This version did not exist. God had made no such promises and was not obligated to fulfill promises never made.

The “I am primarily concerned about your success and stability” God named “Jesus”

This is a very common type of God today, especially with the health and wealth Gospel. The health and wealth Gospel essentially creates a God named “Jesus” who died on the cross, but who’s primary purpose in existence is to make sure all the bills are paid and everyone in your family is healthy, including you. Pain and suffering and financial troubles are a sign that you do not have enough faith. This type of God lives and breaths to make you successful and stable. Yet this is not the God of the Bible either. When you do suffer, when the bills cannot be paid, does God fail or simply your version of him?

The “I am about your glory” God named “Jesus”

Although this is a variation of the others, often we create God in such a way that he is concerned only about you and your temporal gain, whatever that may be. I see this often. Sadly, I have seen this from ministers who are being trained for ministry. It was about them and their success. It did not matter whether it was the success of their ministry or their overcoming temptation. God was about prioritizing their glory. When their glory was not attained, where do they go? Their verion of God failed and they seek glory elsewhere.

The “Jesus” who said the world was flat

There are also those who accept Christianity based upon false requirements for Christianity to be true. For example, there are some who believe and teach that if you don’t believe in the pre-tribulationist rapture of the church, you are not a Christian. Others believe that the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope is central to the Christian faith. Some believe and teach that true Christians will not ever struggle with homosexuality. And we all know the story of institutionalized Christianity who said that the earth was the center of the universe and anathematized any who would dare to disagree. At one time Christians all believed the earth was flat. This form of legalism creates dogmatic boundaries that are unbiblical and become part of the Christianity that people often accept. But what happens when a person does continue to struggle with homosexuality? What happens when they are convinced by a college professor that there is a historical error in the Bible? What happens when the Pope says something wrong? What happens when Galileo’s telescope indicates that the earth is not the center? What happens when we discover the earth is not flat? They can either surrender their intellectual integrity and believe according to these “Christian” boundaries (cognitive dissonance), or they can find another option besides Christianity.

The problem is that these versions of Christianity do not represent true Christianity. If they leave, did they really leave Christ or the version that their bad theology provided.

My question is this: If we allow people to remain undiscipled “Christians,” what do we expect? Are we about making disciples or making converts? If we continue in the same vain, we should expect more disillusionment, more doubt, and more leavers.

We must teach people that God is God, his promises are his prerogative, and we do not dare add to his requirements for Christianity. We must get back to theological discipleship.

In summary, the church needs to look long and hard at its current Gospel discharge methods and see that the lack of intellectual viability presented and the bad theology allowed, form the bed that we have made. From a human perspecive, we may be suffering such loses due to friendly-fire. We need to make sure that if people are leaving Christianity, they are not doing so for all the wrong reasons.

Labels: 2009, thoughts

重生 - fool4jesus/約書亞樂團 (趙治德)

我需要的一切
一直都在身邊
也許是我不停裝作看不見
或者不願意去發現

祢一直在這裡
是我執意離去
每當我辛苦找到終點
卻發現我又回到了原點

我承認 我自己
有時很懦弱
我承認 我自己
有時太衝動
或者我 試著讓自己不再放縱
今後也許日子會更好過

隱藏在痛苦背後的是笑容
幸運的話就能看見一道彩虹

這些碰到太多謊言欺騙
以足夠我分辨是是非非
將來一定還會碰到更多試煉
期待仍能保有起初的純真

隱藏在偉大的背後是永恆 (藉聖靈重生)
如果妳願意相信上帝創造永恆 (美麗永恆)

障礙物會像北極冰山 不斷溶解下沉
生命如撥雲見日般得到重生
妳會慶幸這輩子真的沒白活
真的沒白活...

Labels: 2009, music

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- Some 45,000 workers in the manufacturing sector may temporarily be out of job soon with most factories in the country to cease operations for the Chinese New Year celebration.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S.Subramaniam said this would happen because the factories would shut down operations for two or three weeks and the workers were asked to take leave, either on paid or unpaid leave, depending on their respective employers.

"This (shut down) is because of a drop in demand for their products and because of that they (factories) have to temporarily terminate their workers," he told reporters after opening the Agro Explosion 2009 Seminar & Workshop, here today.

He said that as of Jan 12, 14,000 workers from various sectors lost their jobs because of the world economic slowdown, but that there were some 15,000 job vacancies in various sectors registered at the ministry.

On the protest by the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) and the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) to the government's plan to have a pension scheme for private sector employees through the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Dr. Subramaniam said it happened due to a misunderstanding.

"Actually, the ministry is thinking about the senior citizens who can no longer work and fend for themselves having used up their EPF money. We need a system to help this group of people," he added.

He said the government was studying the scheme and would gather feedback from various quarters before deciding the matter.

-- BERNAMA

Labels: 2009, malaysia

Labels: 2009, me

Labels: 2009, movie

Labels: 2009, malaysia

Labels: 2009, malaysia