2006-07-25

Kindness 1st then Truth 2nd - Grace & Truth in Right Order

Pro 3:3 NASB Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.


Truth must be Package in Grace.
It is all too easy to point out the errors in others. But if our intention is to help, it must be done out of love. Correction without love and kindness only strengthens the bad behavior and defeat the objective of the correction. This is because a truth could expose our faults and weaknesses. Hence truth must be packaged in grace. Or, grace comes first before truth.

The recipient must first recognize that you are for him before he can receive any word from you. Hence, it is always relationship and trust first before any correction.

See also Tough Decision Making - Loyalty vs Righteousness

Be Selective
We must be wise in selecting the persons to whom we share.

Not all people want to know the truth or are willing to learn.

Pro 9:7-9 GW (7) Whoever corrects a mocker receives abuse. Whoever warns a wicked person gets hurt. (8) Do not warn a mocker, or he will hate you. Warn a wise person, and he will love you. (9) Give advice to a wise person, and he will become even wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will learn more.

Earn the Rights to Speak and be listened to

Why should anyone want to listen to us?

We may think the truths we want to tell, such a the Gospel of Jesus, is very important and valuable. But our audience usually does not share our enthusiasm nor believe in what we want to say. If he did not ask us and we just speak, then he will find out irritating and shut his ears off. He may not be so rude as to tell us off but he will surely close his ears. Then we lose the purpose of our telling.

The best way is to get him to be so interested to ask us. How can we do that? 

The answer is to show love and concern first. We observe and see if there be any help that we could offer him. We need to show love to earn the trust that what we want to say is beneficial to him.

Another way is to ask for help like Jesus did in the story of the woman at the well. Asking for help show our vulnerability and trigger the love in the other person. 

The Chinese way starts with establishing a relationship. A relationship is built through the heart and not the mind. So our speeches must start with touching the heart, then reason with the mind, and then draw out the plan for execution. Storytelling that touches the heart is always more effective than a scientific presentation of facts.

So it is always Grace first to gain the heart and then the Truth. Truth is hard and must be packaged with the softness of Grace.


2006-07-20

God's Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility

It is always a balance between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.

On the one extreme of God's sovereignty, man is entirely at God's mercy and has no responsibility whatsoever. God chooses and saves as He wills. On the other end, man is fully responsible for his own life and for saving himself.

In the parable of the Sower, we can see that man does have a part to play in determining the outcome of life. The seeds sowed on different grounds of man hearts are the same seeds. The potential to produce is the same for all the seeds. However the outcomes are determined by man's heart; or more specifically, man's reactions to external factors.

We have the hard heart that allows Satan to take the seed away.
We have a shallow heart that allows persecution to destroy our growth.
We have a choked heart that prevents the growth to produce fruits.
Lastly, we have a good heart that allows the seed to grow and produce harvests of different sizes.

The seeds are the same, but our hearts determine the harvest size.

God's love for everyone is the same, but our reception and response to God determine the abundance of life in us. Some Christians struggle through life while some live in great joy and success.

Related posts: God Initiates & Man Follows上帝主动先而人跟随 

是神还是人的责任?

这始终是上帝的主权与人的责任之间的平衡。

在上帝主权的一个极端,人完全处于上帝的怜悯之中,没有任何责任。上帝按照自己的意愿选择和拯救。在另一方面,人对自己的生命以及拯救自己负有完全的责任。

在撒种人的比喻中,我们可以看到人确实在决定生命的结果方面有一定作用。撒在不同人心田地的种子是相同的种子。所有种子的潜力是相同的。然而,结果是由人的心决定的;更具体地说,是由人对外部因素的反应决定的。

我们有坚硬的心,使撒旦夺走种子。
我们有浅薄的心,允许逆境摧毁我们的成长。
我们有被扼制的心,阻止生长产生果实。
最后,我们有善良的心,使种子能够生长并且产生不同大小的收获。

种子是一样的,但是我们的心决定了收获的大小。

上帝对每个人的爱都是相同的,但是我们对上帝的接纳和回应决定了我们生命的丰盛。有些基督徒在生活中挣扎,而有些人则在巨大的喜悦和成功中生活。

2006-07-13

The Really Good News

The Gospel - Good News, is not just about after life. It is about this life here on earth as well. Jesus came to give us abundant life now and forevermore. Do not forget it starts now in this present life. Eternal Life (original word is ZOE life - God's Kind of Life as compared to Animal Life and Plant Life) starts now. We don't have to wait till we die to enjoy the abundant life.

Abundant life begins now with Jesus in and with us. He forgives and empowers us. He reconciles us back to Him and to our Father in Heaven. He came to set us free; free us from sin, sickness, poverty, and bondages. He empowers us now to live a victorious life. But we need to accept Him into our life first and to change our mind with the Word of God. Our degree of our abundant living depends on our commitment in practice to His teaching. As we yield our life to Him, we get to live this abundant life now! His yoke is easy - for we just yield to His power.

The Good News is also about God, Jesus, breaking into this world to be with us (to those who choose Him). It is about bringing Heaven on Earth through us and touching others. It is not just Jesus and us, but Jesus and us and others.

2006-07-12

Surrender Means

Surrendering to God's will does not mean that we kill off our desires.
Desire is not wrong or sinful. It just needs to be directed.
In fact, we want to pursue God's will with great intensity and passion.
A better phase for surrendering or obeying God's will can be "As you wish" or more precisely "As God's wish".
We serve Him as he wishes. This gives a sense of willingness and a motivation of love.


29 Jan 2011 add..... 
So surrender does not just mean giving up of oneself but of adopting and following another - the one we surrender to. It is the transfer of our Lordship, from self to Jesus.

2006-07-11

The Greatest Moment is ...

What is the greatest moment of your life ?
Birth ? Graduation ? 1st Job ? Wedding Day? etc....
The Greatest moment according to John Ortberg (Author of "God is Closer than You Think"), it is NOW!

The past is gone and we can never go back. Living the now in the past only trapped you.
The future is yet to be. In fact, the future is influenced by what you do now.
There is also no point in trying to live in the future by worrying now.

Now is the best moment - to live with the Presence of God.

What is the The Greatest Commandment?

In the OT, we have the 10 commandments. They are summarised as "love God and love others as oneself" (Mat 22:37-40).

In the NT, we come across other commandments. Below is a list:

Mat 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Mat 28:19-20 The Great Commission
(19) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

1Jo 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. (Joh 13:34)

Joh 13:34-35 NASB
(34) "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (35) "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Mat 22:37-40 (37) And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' (38) "This is the great and foremost commandment. (39) "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' (40) "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

The "LOVE GOD" part in the OT is now "Believe in His Son Jesus Christ" of 1 Jo 3:23 and then love one another with His love.

So which one is the greatest of all ? How are they related ?

Luk 10:40-42 (40) But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." (41) But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; (42) but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

The Only One Thing is to be at Jesus's feet. i.e. to be with Jesus all the time as His disciple. To know and to have intimate relationship with Him.

There are other Supporting Verses:
If you go through Paul letters and his prayers for the Believers, you will find that he often prayed that they know Jesus more. Phil 3:8 Knowing Jesus is the most valuable thing of all.

Eph 1:16-19 (16) ... making mention of you in my prayers; (17) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. (18) I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (19) and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.

Eph 3:18... to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God

Col 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Conclusion

To know Jesus Christ intimately is the basic and greatest commandment.
  1. The knowing is not just mental but with the heart and with experience through following His will for us. 
  2. It is to know of His love for us that we may trust and obey His will for us. 
  3. Being rooted in His love, then we could love others as He loves them. 
  4. We can then execute the Great Commission to go to share the gospels and mentor them to be a like-Christ too.
John 13:35  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

2006-07-10

The fellowship of the like-minded

The fellowship of the like-minded
This is the summary of our Bible Study Group.
We like to share what we learn and also want to learn from others.
Please gives us your comments.

(29 Jan 2011)
It becomes the Friday Bible Study Group.

The Singapore Pledge & Christainity

Every student in Singapore has to recite the following pledge every day.
As Christians, perhaps we should have a similar pledge to remind us too.
Below is the "Singapore Pledge"

We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language, or religion, to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity, and progress for our nation.

There is a slogan too: "One people. One nation. One Singapore."

Propose The Church Version:

We, the citizens of Heaven and Children of our Father-God,
commits ourselves as one united body of Christ,
regardless of race, language, or religion /1
to build a victorious/2 community
based on Christ and His love
so as to bring forth Heaven on earth,/3
giving love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

notes:
/1 Christianity is a relationship with God, not man created religion. It reaches people of different religious backgrounds.
/2 Victorious: free from sin, sickness, poverty,... empowered to love, good works, etc.
/3 His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. It is of people's hearts and not a political kingdom.