Right or Wrong - The Moral Standard According to Ancient Chinese

For  Ancient Chinese, the moral standard of right or wrong is determined not by man but by God as revealed in the created order of heaven and earth. It can be seen in the ancient writings like i-Ching and more obviously in idiom, such as "天经地义" which is presented here.

For something that is fundamentally so right and obvious, the Chinese has an idiom "天经地义" (translated, God's or Heaven's Way and Earth's Rightness) to describe it. It is taken from a history book   左传 written around BC 350 The Warring Period, documenting the Chinese history of BC 722-468. It shows the source of Ancient Chinese Moral Standard.

Unlike Adam (who rebelled against God by taking the forbidden fruit to want to be his own god, see Knowledge Tree of Good and Evil ...), and modern and post-modern men who think right or wrong is situational and relative to be determined by man, the Ancient Chinese let God be the absolute moral standard and consider His laws as revealed in the creation order of heaven and earth as the commandments to be followed by all men.

If we look up a Chinese Dictionary for the idiom, we will get the following definition and explanation:


天经1地义2 （天經地義）

1. 经：规范，原则；Norms, Principles
2. 义：正理。correct principle or valid reason or plain truth

Explanation:
天地间历久不变的常道。
The unchanging principles or pathways within heaven and earth.
指绝对正确，不能改变的道理。
Referring to absolutely correct, cannot be changed principle or rationale.
也指理所当然的事。
Referring to a matter of course. i.e. it should be so.

Source: 《左传·昭公二十五年》：“夫礼，天之经也，地之义也，民之行也。”
The way to behave, the ritual, ( 礼) is from the principles of heaven and of earth, the ways that people should walk in.

Synonyms:
理所当然 - as the matter of course
千真万确 - absolutely true and correct.

Antonyms: 天理难容 - Heaven/God cannot tolerate it.
岂有此理 - Outrageous

Hence, we can see that Ancient Chinese were God fearing and God's laws abiding people. They also seems to have the concept of repentance and sacrifices to the God of Heaven as seen in their history and even many buildings and layouts that still exist today. For example see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Heaven. 

Meditations on Easter - Understand & Live Out What Jesus has done

God's love for us in action is the accomplishment of Jesus' death for our sins and His resurrection for our new life. Jesus' resurrection shows that death has been defeated and we all can have the new life in Him. Our response to such great love is not just merely saying we love Him but to truly understand and live out what Jesus has accomplished for us. That is to know that we are bought and we are His forever  that in living, we live to Him and in dying, we die unto Him. Our lives are no longer our own but to live to glorify God through good works empowered by Him.

On Good Friday, Jesus paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross for us. That was part 1 of God's love for us. If Jesus merely paid the debt for our sins, then His work was only half done. His payment for our sins could just be a license for us to continue in our sins without the fear of punishments. 

The total work of salvation is only completed on Easter Morning when Jesus was raised from the death to take on the new life that He gives to everyone who receive Him. With this new life of rebirth, we are then empowered to live the life that we should - the godly life that we are created for. Grace is not just forgiveness but also power of God to live out the new life. 

Here is the mind-map that summarized the meditations for Easter Morning - The Great News of Victory over Death and the New Life of and in Christ for every believers.

1. Our Response to God's Love is not simply to love God back but to fully understand His accomplishments for us and to Live Out the things that Christ has obtained for us.

2. To know that now we are truly His and we live and die unto Him. We should be able to say with Paul that for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. There is no fear in our living because dying brings us to a better place.

3. We are no longer our own but we are bought with a price. Our purpose of life is no longer to serve man but to serve God, to glorify God in our body and spirit, through the good works of His empowerment.

4. The way to live is then best summarized by Paul in Gal 2:20....

     My old life is crucified with Christ on the cross;

     The life that I now live in the flesh is by faith and of the faith given by Christ.

5. I am confident of my future too in Christ as in:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” ― Jim Elliot

May we live this life well and die well in the Lord and for the Lord.

Lim Liat (C) 31 March 2013

Chinese New Year Yu-Sheng and the Aaronic Blessings

The Yu-Sheng dish is a great opportunity for us to get together and proclaim blessings on one another. The process is called Lo Hei, mixing and bringing up the best wishes and blessings. Here is the list in the order of the serving and blessings. It matches well with the Aaronic Blessings and hence for believers, consider using the Aaronic Blessings as well when you next partake in this dish.

In this 2013 Chinese New Year period, most of us would have partaken at least four to five times in this recent invention of "Yu Sheng" 鱼生 Dish. It is a dish of blessings that we enjoy together with our family, in-laws, colleagues, friends, and business partners throughout these fifteen days. There are a particular order and protocols for serving this dish. As each ingredient is added, a word of blessing is pronounced and finally ends with everyone putting their chopsticks and mixing up and stirring up the ingredients as high as possible signifying the height of great blessings.

This reunion type of lunch or dinner reminds me of believers' holy communion as well. I have always tried to see if we can relate Chinese blessings to biblical blessings as well. The blessings are like the Benedictions of a Church Service. So most of the benedictions can be considered. I also try to search for the relevant biblical verses. Eventually, I found that the Aaronic Blessings of Numbers 6:22-24 shockingly matched the Chinese Blessings, 6 parts blessings to the 6 ingredients to be added to the main salad. Here is the mind map giving the details.

For the final blessing, I think it is good that we give thanks to the Lord God, our Heavenly Father, the source, and giver of all our blessings.

So, in your next Yu-Sheng together, besides the Chinese Blessings, maybe you can consider reciting the Aaronic Blessings as well, especially if you are with believers.

For this Chinese New Year,
  May the Lord 1 bless you and 2 keep you.
  May He 3 make His face shine upon you that you may know his great treasures for you,
                4 be gracious to you putting your life in order and beauty.
  May He 5 turn His face towards you and receive you fully
                6 and give you peace and wholeness of health, wealth, and relationships.
  May His Name and His Kingdom be exalted forever.

Lim Liat (c) 19 Feb 2013

《Updated 1 Feb 2016》
Here is the shortened version of Aaronic Blessings on Yu Sheng Preparation:

Yu Seng is the Aaronic Blessings. See http://christianity-rediscovered.blogspot.sg/2013/02/chinese-new-year-yu-sheng-and-aaronic.html

1 Squeeze Lime on the raw fish and say 大吉大利
The Lord bless you with great fortunes and profits - Num 6:24a

2 Put the fish on the main plate and say 年年有鱼
The Lord keeps you always with having fish to eat &
guard you with a hedge of protection - Num 6:24b

3 Put in the peanuts, and sesame seeds, and say 五福临门  (长寿, 富贵, 康宁, 好德, 善终)
The Lord makes His face shine upon you with blessings that come like the sands of the beaches and the stars of the sky. - Num 6:25a

4 Sprinkle the pepper & spies power & say 招财进宝
and bring in the wealth and precious treasures.
(Some versions use 鸿运当头 Great Fortunes are pouring down on your head.)

5 Pour in the oil and say 顺顺利利
The Lord be gracious to you making sure all goes well with you - Num 6:25b

6 Pour in the sweet sauce and say 甜甜蜜蜜
The Lord turns His face toward you to have intimate relationships with you and that all your relationships may be sweet - Num 6:26a

7 Spread the crackers and say 满地黄金
The Lord gives you shalom peace of abundance everywhere - Num 6:26b.

8 Everyone stirs up the ingredients resulting in 风生水起 (the wind blows and the water is stirred up meaning all things start to grow and make progress) and says 恭喜发财 "wishing all great joy and riches."
Praise the Lord. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever" Mat 6:13
For you are our glory and joy. 1Th_2:20

The Essence of Christianity - Reflection in Chinese New Year 2013

Chinese New Year is an annual reminder for us to clean the house, pay our depths, close the past nicely and prepare to welcome the new. A key verse is 辞旧迎新 （ or 送旧迎新 or 弃旧迎新）translated as sending off the old and welcoming the new. The old badness is hopefully replaced by the new goodness. But with time, the new will decay to old and we repeat this cycle of life.  It will be great if the new will remain and we add newness yearly breaking free from this vicious circle to a greater height of newer life.  But the Spring of the new year is the abundant growth of new lives. The lifeless winter is replaced by the life of spring, hinting to us the possibility of new life. Giving New Life to remove the lifeless and badness is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The essence of Christianity is best captured in the quote "Jesus did not come into this world to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live!" preached by many famous preachers. We will benefit much by meditating on it.

Here is a mind-map:

1. Not about Making Bad Men Good
This is the differentiating factor of Christianity from all other religions. Religions, in general, teach a set of codes for good conduct and men shall be saved by following the codes. Another form is a summation of good works minus the bad works to give a positive result that qualifies one to enter heaven. But Christianity is gutsy enough to face the fact that while men are created in the image of God with goodness and greatness within, men still suffer from this great sin of wanting to be his own God and wanting to define their own standard of right and wrong. When men could not be right, they legalize it to be right! e.g. abortion. It is in fact because of man's ability to be good that we over qualify ourselves thinking that we are not that bad after all. Paul recognized this righteousness from his flesh is nothing but dung. Philippians 3:8. 
Calvin said that men are so bad that they will not know to seek God. It is by the grace of God that we realize our badness to seek for God. The hope is then not on man to try to be good but to realize man's hopelessness to save himself. The goodness of man is a stumbling block of self-righteousness. The better we become, the more self-righteous and godlessness we become!

2 Making Dead Man Alive!
The solution to man's problem is a transformation of rebirth by the Holy Spirit, and to acknowledge and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (John 3:16-18). Our decaying body is but a simple and sure proof that we are in fact dying and will one day be fully dead. Rom 8:19-22 tells us that the whole creation is 'groaneth and travaileth in pain' waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.

The needed strengths for the new life comes from God through His Spirit and not of our flesh.

See Flesh vs Spirit - Flesh is Not Body by Mapping Rom 8.

May your Chinese New Year be filled with the truly New Life.

 See also Eat, Drink & Enjoy - A Reflection on Sunday's Chinese New Year ...

Flesh vs Spirit - Flesh is Not Body by Mapping Rom 8:1-16

There is much confusion about flesh and body. While flesh and body are closely related, they are not the same. This can be made clear by a study of Rom 6 and 8. In this post, a mind map of Rom 8:1-16 is done. A visual map rather than a paragraph of text help clarify the understanding. The flesh is used in contrast against the Spirit. The body could be ruled by the Spirit or the Flesh which leads to two very contrasting end points of life and death. It is then better to classify our status as either the New Man in Christ or the Old Man in the flesh. Whether New or Old, we have a spirit and soul(mind) that live in a Body. Body per se is the creation of God and is precious. Rom 6:13 tells us to present our body, not for unrighteousness but as instruments of righteousness, and Rom 12:2 tells us to present our body as a living sacrifice to God. So we need to take good care of our bodies.

Here is the visual map of Romans 8:1-16.

A great advantage of a visual map is that it shows the relationships among concepts very clearly. We proceed from higher-level concepts and drill down to finer concepts to increase our understanding. Another good thing about a visual map is that you can start from anywhere and trace it back to gain an increased understanding of the concept.

I have a number of concepts so that you can follow them. It is just a starting point. You may start with any concept you like.

The Key Concepts

1. New Man.
1. The difference between a believer and a non-believer is the concept of a born-again New Man by the Spirit of God. Our spirit is rebirth and is connected to the Spirit of God.
2. Our body remains the same. 
2. Old Man.
1. The key differentiation between old vs new is that old is ruled by the Flesh whereas the new is ruled by the Spirit. 
2. The Flesh has sinned because the Flesh wants to be his own God and does not recognize the true Creator God as God. Rom 8:7-8 tell us clearly that the will of the Flesh is against God.
3. This sin of the Flesh causes the body to walk in unrighteousness and brings forth death.
4. The only way to get rid of sin in the Body is through Jesus Christ 8:3 and be rebirthed into Christ (Node 6) and then we become children of God.
3. Spirit of the New Man
1. The Spirit of the New Man is life and peace (with God too).
2. It has the righteousness of Christ (not the self-righteousness of our Flesh).
3. It is freed from sin and fear. 
4. It is a child of God. 
5. We know God as our Father in our spirit and we cry through our body to call God as Abba (an intimate way of addressing our loving father).
4. Body
1. Can be led either by our Spirit or by our Flesh.
2. If led by our Spirit (rebirthed of God), our body does work of righteousness and brings forth greater vitality of life and eventually eternal life with God.
3. If led by our Flesh through its passion, we walk in unrighteousness and is a living death or dying and eventual to eternal death.
5. Flesh
1. Is not the body but of a mind, mind of the Flesh.
   Tim Keller defines Flesh as the mindset of a man wanting to be his own god and to be in total control. See The Keys to Peace and Joy - Learning from Tim Keller
2. It is against God. Cannot please God, Actually rejects God, and wants itself to be God. Adam's partaking in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is essentially telling God that he wanted to be his own judge of what is right or wrong. He does not want to be accountable to God but to himself.
3. The consequence is death - existence in separation from the Source of Life --- God.
6. In-Christ - Our New Membership in the Body of Christ
1. We shall have no condemnation.
2. We have fulfilled the Law in Christ.
3. We are sons of God.
4. We follow the new Law of Life of God.

You may also randomly pick any concept and trace it back to learn more.

Hope your knowledge and understanding of this key concept of Flesh, Spirit, and Body are enlightened by this visual map.

Lim Liat (c) 8 Feb 2013

Update 26 Jan 2023

David Jeremiah defined flesh as Self-centredness. It is FLESH minus the H and read backward. You get SELF without Him.

Beatitudes - The Ways of His Kingdom

The Beatitudes as recorded in Matthew 5 give the virtues of the Children of His Kingdom.  They are also the ways of His Kingdom. Here is the process is shown on the map below:

1. Desires for His Righteousness and Jesus
   The poor in spirit is not about a state of poverty but a realization of one's poverty and the desire to seek true spiritual wealth. Spiritual desires are to focus on Jesus and His righteousness. Jesus is the personification of righteousness.
   
   
2. Compassion for the Sufferers
   Mourning comes from witnessing the sufferings of those under injustice and the evils that were done. It creates the desire to right the wrongs and saves those under bondage and suffering.
   
   
3. Motive of Pure in Heart
   Purity is about the singleness of purpose and cleanliness of the heart. Focus enables us to endure under persecutions and distractions of the richness of the world. (e.g. the unfruitful plants in Matthew 13:21-22 of the Parable of the Sower)
   
   
4. Methods for Achieving the Objectives of Righteousness and Jesus.
   
   Three key approaches are suggested.
   
   
1. Meek - Changing and Touching the People with Love rather than by force or violence.
   It is winning their hearts to obey and follow rather than forcing them to fear punishments. It is reaching out rather than condemning and judging.
2. Merciful - Forgiven by Jesus and extending forgiveness to others.
   Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
3. Peacemaker - Resolving conflicts and amending and restoring relationships.
   It is not about covering up the conflicts but revealing them and facing them directly. It is about showing the benefits and reasons for togetherness. It is about working out the visions of the future that all can share and benefit from.
   
   
5. Endurance under persecutions for Righteousness and for Jesus
   
   
6. Objectives of attaining Righteousness and Fullness of Jesus
   When we share Jesus and pursue righteousness in a world that has evil, we shall be persecuted, in various forms, to cause us to abandon our work. But our objectives shall not change or waver because of the persecutions.

The blessings of the beatitudes are the rewards and comfort of rest in His Kingdom. 

Lim Liat (c) 5 Feb 2013

Warning Signs of a Marriage

Ps Oh Peng Kee preached on our Mandarin Sunday Service on "The Warning Signs of a Marriage". It is a pity that I could not capture the very interesting stories and illustrations that he told. But the essence of his message is mind-mapped as follows with a little additions of my own:

I constructed the above mind-map using Mindjet on the Android on a LG 4X HD smartphone and edited it using the mindjet on my laptop later.

Demands of Eternal Life - Love God & Men

It is well known that the Laws and Prophets can be summarized as using the least number of words as "Love God & Men" or may be just "Love God" as loving men is contained in loving God because God love man even to die for them. Those that love men may not know God. But those that love God cannot don't love men for loving men is our expression of loving God. This post present related Biblical references to this famous verse of Luke 10:27 to give a better understanding of what that verse means.

Luke 10:25-28 described an incident when an expert in Moses Laws challenged Jesus. Jesus's behavior, like healing on the Sabbaths, reaching out the sinners seems to run contrary to the Laws of Moses. The expert wanted to expose Jesus seemingly disobedience to the Moses Laws. But in end, he was enlightened to the real meaning of Moses Laws .... not about separation of people and condemning them but about embracing and loving of people besides and in-spite of their sins. Yes, the sins are pointed out clearly by the laws but only loving the people and transforming their heart can help them breakout of their sins. The laws is to reveal sins and condemn the sinful deeds that man be awaken to their needs for salvation and for God. That was the passive ways of viewing the Laws. The positive way is to stress on the Love to break free from not only from sins but be empowered to do good.

The interesting point is that even this legalistic Laws expert recognized positive intention of the Laws that he summarized well with Jesus' approval.


Luk 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

It shows not even unbelievers can discover the truths. Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

It is such an important verse, the summary of all Laws and Prophets, that we should study it carefully. Here is mind-map with the verse broken down in parts and each part augmented with relevant verses to highlight the key teachings.

The Demand of Eternal Life

The demand of eternal life is to love God and men. It is easy to see that we have failed. If we don't know God, we fail immediately. If we know God and not love him totally as shown in v27, we also failed. So this statement just tells us we have no hope to have eternal life. There need to be another alternative way, as revealed in John 3:16. God have to intervene and gives us the eternal life separately from such a demand. So we receive Jesus as our Savior. Being saved, however, does not mean we don't love God and men but rather we are empowered to do more. The demand is just a reflection of what eternal life should look like. It should be something that we do naturally out of the new Zoe Life of God that we are re birthed to become.

(1) It Becomes Natural for the New Life Believers to LOVE

The evidence of our reborn nature is the ability and the urge to LOVE. We become sensitive to God and to the needs of others. Our mind has shifted from self only to awareness of God and of others.

(2) Yours - Personal

The relationship is not an indifference or a general love of some kind. It is 'your' God and 'your' neighbor. We don't say we love the people far away from us. That is easy because we will never meet the people far away. Our love is to be expressed in our direct relationship with God and those in our contact.

(3) God - Our God and the Lord

God is our personal God those God is the Lord of all including us. As God is my Lord, we should obey and worship Him. I have to internalize God's will as my will. Joh 4:34b My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

(4) How to Obey or Do God's Will - With My ALL
We obey and do His will with all of your heart of passion, our will of determination, our full body strengths and capabilities of our mind and thoughts.

(5) Love Neighbor as We Love Ourselves- Any in Need in Our Contact

1. Our neighbor is not just those we know but those that have needs that arouse our heart. 
2. How we love them begins with how we love ourselves. If we are in their position, what do we expect others to help us. Mat_7:12 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
3. Confucius teaching bring in additional light. "己欲立而立人，己欲达尔达人“ We must stand up to help others to stand. We must succeed to help others to succeed". So, our own growth is important. In our growth, we must also help others to grow up as well.

(6) God and Men are Together
The way we serve God is usually through serving men. In the judgement day, Jesus said that God is in the least of men! Mat_25:40b 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' and Mat_25:45b T... as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' We cannot say I love God but hate man! 1 John 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

See also Christianity Rediscovered: Gospel in One Word

Lim Liat (c) 1 Feb 2013

Paul's thorn in the flesh and weakness are not his!

The weakness that Paul refereed was not the deficit weakness(e.g. our sins or defects) that we usually attribute it to. On the contrary, it was his strengths that were inadequate for the challenge so that he needed the grace and power of God. Even his strengths is not enough. We must develop our strengths and not boast our deficit weaknesses. Our strengths, better called gifts. are of the Lord and we need to steward them carefully. We need to build and use our strengths under the direction of the Lord not for our own glory but for His glory to benefit the community of His body. It is about our strengths not being enough for the God's appointment that we may grow up further in the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Verses that tell us our Weakness is Good! Do they really say that?

2Co 12:9 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2Co 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Why was the thorn given?

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, of his success in surviving and overcoming the beatings, shipwrecked, toils, hardships, hunger, thirst, sleepless nights etc in 1Cor 11:23-29, that may cause Paul to proud 

What is the 'thorn' ?

To understand the real meaning of any word, we need to see it in the context.  The purpose was to stop Paul from being proud and forget about God. The origin of the thorn is from the devil as Paul clearly stated and it is to harass him.  The Greek word for harass is G2852 kolaphizō, Thayer Definition:

1) to strike with the fist, give one a blow with the fist

2) to maltreat, treat with violence and contumely

Hence, it is obvious that the thorn refer to the persecutions that were incited by the devils. Wherever Paul went, the persecution seems to follow him shortly after. He was not able to shake them off. They just came after him. This view is further supported in 12:10 where weaknesses are lumped together with insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities (his life story in chapter 11). 

Some famous preacher put it well. He said 'the thorn of the flesh' in modern term is 'the pains of the neck' or the 'pains of backside' referring not to sickness but to people that irritate us.   

What is then the meaning of weakness?

Weakness then does not refer to our deficit or sins. It actually refers to our strengths, especially in the case of Paul, that are seemingly insufficient to meet the challenge that God has called him. Who can bear what Paul had went through? While Paul could take good charge of his talents and positions as given by God, he could not control the behavior of the people that went after him, from city to city. There are many great preachers nowadays with a great following, enjoyed great popularity and prosperity but for Paul, his life was filled with challenges and persecutions, imprisonments and eventual martyrdom.  They have what the Chinese called a smooth sailing kind of life. Paul had it the rough kind. 

Therefore, the meaning of weakness is not about deficit but about lack of enough strengths for the challenge. Putting it another way, if we think we can accomplish something easily because of our strengths, it only means that the something is too low a goal. To make sure our strength can grow, God will give us challenges greater than our present strengths that He may bring us to a greater height. The weakness is defined from the external challenge or mission that God has assigned us to. The weakness does not refer to our deficit but on the contrary to our strengths.!

What should me our attitudes to our strengths and weaknesses?

We should be discovering our strengths, more appropriately called our gifts,  and developing them for use by God. Strengths and weaknesses are not to be defined internally but according to the external missions or tasks that we are given to accomplish. God will assign us tasks that we may develop our unique gifting (strengths) for His greater use. We must therefore diligently steward our gifts and not to boast of our deficits as if they are a glory for God. We must correct our deficits and often draw upon the complementary gifts (strengths) of others, to form a team that together work effectively for the glory of God, with each contributing our gifts to the work.

See for example Spiritual Gifts, Grace & Ministry - Learning from Tim Keller.

Lim Liat (C) 26 Jan 2013

What is True Worship?

Worship is more than going to church and singing hymns. Paul tells it is offering ourselves as the living, not dead, sacrifice. It is becoming like Jesus just like the common saying of  'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' ! Now is set our vision of becoming like Jesus into motion.

Last week in our discussion, we discover the meaning of true worship. It was stressed in our Sunday service too.

What is worship? What is your understanding?
If you say it is singing hymns, you got the common surface level understanding.
Praise is a key element of worship. (Heb_13:15  Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. )

Some may worship is more than singing. It should including the hearing of surmons too. Aren't church service called worship service?

But true worship is much more. Let's go deeper.

If you say we must worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:23),
then you are giving the textbook answer.

But how do we really do that?
We will usually say that we worship God with our whole heart and in sincerity.
Message Bible:  “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth and are  simply and honestly yourself before God.

Paul tells us more the true worship is about becoming like Him.

We are to be

(1) the living sacrifice with our body, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.... Rom 12:1

  This means more than with just our mouth of praise, but our whole life, our total living, as a offering to God.

  What kind of life? Holy and acceptable to God.
  It is God's definition of Holiness and not our own.

(2) to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29)
The measure and target of our worship is be like Jesus - feel, will, think, behave like Jesus.
The common people language: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

(3) Then we need to convert the vision of becoming like Jesus into practical steps.
What will these steps be? What will you do? How will you live?
See  Christianity Rediscovered: Five Habits for Effective Christian Living

Did the Midwives lie? Exo 1:15-22

Exo 1:15-22 told the story of Hebrew midwives not obeying the Pharaoh's order to kill the male babies at birth and they were blessed by God. Most people thought that the Midwives lied to Pharaoh and thereby got into the difficulty of trying to explain that Biblical teaching of "the ends do not justify the means".  This post tries to show that the Midwives did not lie at all and therefore such contradiction does not exist. 

We will get to see a better picture by asking some questions.

1. How many midwives did Pharaoh command?

There could not just be these two midwives Shiphrah and  Puah for the large Hebrew population living with them.

2. Why then only these two were mentioned?

Because only the two of them did not obey Pharaoh's command to kill the male babies at birth,

3. What was the reason given to Pharaoh?

The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.

4. Could this be true?

Yes. Woman working in the fields daily tend to give birth easily to babies. 

Gill's commentary on this verse said that "it is said women will go aside from their work, or from the table, and bring forth their offspring, and return to their business or meal again; and especially in the eastern and hotter countries, women generally bring forth without much difficulty, and without the use of a midwife". My friends said that such births did happen in the farming families in China.

5. Is Pharaoh wise or stupid?

Yes. Pharaoh would not just believe what the two midwives said. He would surely check with the other midwives and they must have confirmed the midwives story. If their claim was not true, Pharaoh would have them killed.

By taking a system approach, and relating to the actual and bigger environment that our story usually could not cover well, we get a better understanding of things. The Bible does not contradict itself. It is usually our lack of understanding that creates the contradiction. When we come across such seemingly contradictory verses, we should take a wider look at things, especially the environment surrounding the story.

So we get back to the conclusion that "The ends does not and should never be used to justify the means." Looking at it another way, God cannot act out of His character to accomplish His work. God will surely not ask us to cheat our ways to achieve His purpose. Never use the Name of God to justify the evil and illegal methods that we use to achieve our own desires. That is one form of using the Name of God in vain. Illegal and evils ways will never be the will of God. 

Lim Liat (c) 6 Jan 2013

The Lord is my Banner - God or Me for Victory?

What is the meaning of the "Lord is my Banner"? Is the victory due to me marching with the banner or God's supernatural power? The right answer should be both. This is the world that both God and man got engaged in and excluding one from the other does not make sense. It is more important to find out the parts or roles that each play and do the part that belongs to us, man and leave God to be God. While the right order is God initiates and Man responses, God has given man a good mind and a free will to response to Him and the options, staying with God's values and will,  are a plenty to choose from and we are to use our mind with His further strength and favors to accomplish the mission that God has created and given to us for. Don't just split but integrate too. God's love for us ensure His ways for us are good and the outcome are for us and Him because God is glorified through us and when we are most accomplished so will our God (Mat 5:16) because we raise the banner of God.

"The Lord is my Banner" can be found in the story recorded in Exodus 17:8-15. Here is the mind-map and please go through the points carefully:

A typical danger of inductive Bible Study (generalizing from specific instances) is to over extending the meaning of the particular instance. Most instances are situation specifics and are not meant to be generalized. To guard against over generalizations, we need to find other similar cases and discover the pattern. A typical humor shared  by preacher is that someone notice that Jesus healed by spitting and then form the healing school of spitting,

For this case, I am assured that this is meant to be a lesson for us because of v14-15 when God commanded that this story be remembered and especially for Joshua's and an Altar was built with titled "Jehovah Nissi - the Lord is my Banner". I also cited two other similar examples where God supernaturally acted with man asking and supporting and defeated their enemies. 

The Key Lessons are:

1. This is a Dual World of Spiritual and Natural and God has given man authority to influence both worlds.
2. Lift up the Name of God by worship and trust. Do all things from, with, and in Him. Know that we are sent by Him.
3. We are to find out first the Will and Values of God.
4. We are then to execute, with His strength, and with our mind (See the smartness of Aaron and Hur to use a stone for Moses to seat and to lift Moses hands with theirs)

Hope you are clear about you are with God in living out your life on earth.

Lim Liat (c) 3 Jan 2013

More than a Good Wish for the New Year 2013 from Psalm 65

To have abundance and joy at the end of year 2013, then begin the year with knowing, following, returning if we ever stray away, and back to trusting and obeying God throughout the year. God is great and He is good. He saves and cares for us and our surroundings to ensure we are abundantly blessed when we dare to live righteously as He taught us.

To just wish you a prosperous and happy new year 2013 may not add any more good things to you as you have received many many such wishes by now.  I was reminded to read Ps 65 for this coming year.  It is telling us about how we can end the year well with abundance and joy. It all begins with knowing and acknowledging our God. He is a God that is fully engage with us ---- saving us from our sins, restoring us to His fellowship, answering us our needs, blessings even to our productive resources --- the environment; converting deserts into pastures!

Therefore let us come into His house with praise, keep our promises to follow Him and treating Him as our Lord and not just our Savior. When God says it is a sin and then it is. We only need to acknowledge is as sin and seek forgiveness from Him. He forgiveness is certain and He invite us back to live in His temple. Only by living with Him in His temple that we may enjoy and become what God created us for. Don't take justice into our own hands. God will be our judge and He will truly vindicate us with awesome deeds! The world may laugh at His ways and consider Him dead whereas He was patient and loving waiting for us to repent. But all such disobedience and shouts against Him will be silenced. All the evils will be punished.

But to those that trust and obey Him and stay in His righteous paths, even the non-productive resources like the deserts will become a pastures for flocks and fruits! Even your enemy will become your supporters (Prov 16:7).

Here is a mind map that summarize Ps 65.

Praying that you may start the year well and continue in His ways for a good 2013 ending with abundance and joy --- in all aspect of your life ---- spiritual, health, wealth, relationships, family, career etc.

who shared the following verse:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

So we need to find out the plan that God has for us and to follow His plan ... this is summary of this Ps 65.

Lim Liat (C) 1 Jan 2013

God will render to a man according to his work.

In Christmas season, we stress on the love of God. The giving of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son to save the world. By why? Can't God just save everyone? Yes, God can't just save everyone by a command because God is a God of justice too. For all the evils done to us and to the innocence, we demand justice that the evil ones may be punished. We cry, why does God allow all these killings if there is a God? Yes, there is a God and God will render everyone according his work Ps 62:12. Someone has to pay for all the evils. The only one who is able and worthy is only God Himself. And that is the reason for Christmas. 

I am surprised that the meditation for this Christmas Eve is from Psalm 62. It is not about having a loving and peaceful time but rather about a time of difficulty, a time of persecution, a time of sabotage and betrayal, and a call to trust God shown by keeping silent! Keeping silent in the meantime also means we wait patiently in calmness with no bitterness and anger or revenge!

The attacks have been long and fierce. They planned and even succeeded in bringing me down from a high position. They praise with their mouths but their hearts planned evils. They are ruthless and continue to attack even if one is already a slanting tower or falling walls. Evils know no limits and they will attack even if you are down. Against such evils, God wants us to keep our calm and trust Him to render justice?!

We are to go back to the basics - God is both powerful and loving. He is not only willing but is more than able to save me. Therefore, God is my rock, fortress, tower, refuge, and salvation. I shall not be moved. Shall not be provoked to act out of God's will nor shall I take revenge myself. Instead, God wants me to pour out my heart to Him. Let Him comfort and assure me. He is powerful and loving and yet He is a God of justice as well. So, let me be calm and be at peace with myself and not angry with my enemy. Because God will render everyone according to his work. God will judge the evils.

Let those evil ones repent and come back and find salvation in the gift of God's Son that took away the sins of the world.

This is the right time and season to escape from the wrath of God by receiving the Gift of Eternal Life Himself - Jesus Chris and have a really peaceful, silence of the heart, and a blessed Christmas Eve.

Here is the mind map for Ps 62:

Lim Liat (C) 24 Dec 2012

The Parable with the Christmas Spirit of Generosity

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard is the best example of generosity. Generosity is about giving what they deserve not. Let's us not be red-eyed and complain about the generosity of others. Let's rejoice in the generosity of others and be generous ourselves.

It is generally agreed that Christmas is the time of giving. The spirit of Christmas is then about generosity - giving much more than what one deserves or doesn't deserve. Among the parables that Jesus told, which one do you think exhibits this generosity best? For me, it is "The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matt.20:1-16)".

It begins with ""For the kingdom of heaven is like" showing us that "Generosity" is the working principle of God. The vineyard owner went out to the market at 5 different times to hire the laborers. The first one is at the official working time of the 0th hour (likely 6 am in the morning). Then he went out again at the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 11th hour.

Two Types of Contracts.
However, there are only two types of contracts.

1. Type 1 Negotiated Agreement - Performance Base:
   1-day work for 1 day-wage (1 denarius) Mat 20:2.
   The 0th-hour workers bargained for and got it.
2. Type 2 Trust: "Whatever is right I will give you" Mat 20:4
   The 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 11th laborers were happy to be hired and trust the owner to pay them accordingly.

The Timings and Don't miss the 11th Hour Boat:

At first, the owner went out every 3 hours to look for the idling laborers. But at the 11th hour, he broke the earlier 3-hour interval and tried to catch those last-hour laborers. God will try His best to save as many people as possible, but there is a limit. Don't miss the last-hour call and invitation of God to receive Jesus as Savior. After the day has come to an end, there is no more opportunity to be saved.

The Time of Judgment & Rewards

When the day ends, it is time to calculate and pay the wages due. 

The 11th-hour workers were paid first. 

Now come their big surprise - for their 1-hour work, they got a full-day 12-hour pay (1 denarius)!

Then came the 9th-hour workers, and they were paid a full-day work too - 12 hours pay for 3 hours work. They did not complain because they got more than what they thought they deserved.

So the 6th and 3rd-hour workers also made no complaints as they were all paid more than what they put in.

Is it Fair? What do you think? Do you agree that their complaint is right?

Then came those that worked for the full day. They thought that they would be paid more and should be paid more since they worked longer than the others. But they got paid the same amount as the rest, 1 day wage of 1 denarius. They got angry and complained about the owner.

Don't Forget the Original Agreement - The Owner Adhere to the Terms of the Contract.

Most people will sympathize with the first batch of workers because we think we should be paid more for more effort. However, we must not forget that there is a contract signed earlier. The agreement was 1 day's wage for 1 day of work.  The owner did no wrong. He paid them as per the agreement. There is actually no basis for complaints.

The Red-Eye Syndrome & Jealousy Against Generosity

The red-eye syndrome is about wanting what others have no matter what. If the other guy got 1 day's wage for 1 hour of work, I should get more. Gifts of generosity become entitlements and past agreements were negated. People with such thinking will never be appreciative because everything will be considered as entitlement. They will be watchful of what others are getting. They will be demanding, calculative, judgmental, filled with anger, and full of complaints about being exploited and not treated fairly enough.

Such jealousy can also be seen in the way we criticize others' spending. We are so good at telling others how they should spend the money that they have earned. Jesus encountered such a man in Luke 12:13 “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” We think the guy who drives a Porsche or a Ferrari should not waste their money on such fancy cars but give the church more or the charity more. But when we are rich enough to buy a Ferrari, will we be thinking of giving to the church or the charity? 

We should reflect on ourselves. Do we suffer from this Red-eye syndrome?

Let's be Fair - Recognize the Generosity

Let's hear the Owner's view .....

• Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? (Mat 20:13)
• Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. (Mat 20:14)
• Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?
• Or is your eye envious because I am generous?' (Mat 20:15)   

The owner is entitled to spend his own money as he wishes.

It is extremely good that he is generous and gives more than what is due.

Let him decide who he wishes to give to and to rejoice with those who receive his generosity.

After all, the full-day workers actually got exactly what they bargained for in the first place.

God's Generosity Extends to You today and He Recovers all Your Lost Hours

The best part of the parable is the Full-Day wage for those who started work late, especially for the 11th-hour worker. They could not start at the early hour because they were at the wrong place when the owner went out to look for the workers. They missed the opportunities. Some may have other problems at home so they show up late to the market. Some may have over-slept. Whatever the causes, due to us or to others, there is no need to blame others, because God is able to pay us well enough, One Full-day wage, to recover all our lost hours and missed opportunities. The only thing we need to do is to respond to God's invitation and call immediately. It does not matter whether we have lost 3 hours, 6 hours, 9 hours, or even 11 hours. God pays us the full-day wage. But don't delay as to miss the 11th hour!

Extend God's Generosity to Others

For those of us who have enjoyed and continue to live in the generosity and grace of God, let us be as generous as God, and extend our generosity towards others, our family, our colleagues, our friends, even to strangers and to our 'enemies', especially in this Christmas seasons of giving. It is better, of course, for us to be always generous because our God has been extremely generous to us. God gave his best, only begotten son, to us that we may have the very best, His eternal life, through Jesus.

May your generosity bring joy to you and to many in this Christmas season.

Lim Liat (C) 21 Dec 2012

Beyond God's Perfect and Permissible Wills

Going beyond the thinking of God's perfect and permissible will saves us from the stress of questioning whether we are in His perfect or permissible will. We are to know that life is both a destination and a journey. The journey is as important as the destination. The destination is our unique upward call of God for us to be in His-image. The journey is our growth process whereby we be molded into His likeness. So even in difficult times and failures, rejoice always, give thanks, and follow the leading of God to see how it works for good for you and Him.

His Perfect & Permissible Wills

When I was growing up in Christian faith, I was taught, in books and sermons, by many pastors and famous preachers, that God's will can be divided into two types --- His perfect will and His permissible will.  When we walk in His perfect will, we will be greatly bless, especially in terms of wealth, health, power, reputation and success. But if we insist on doing our things, God will give in and permit us to walk in His lesser will for us. It is called the permissible will. The result will be little or no blessings. We will have a difficult time but still not too bad or as evil as being disobedience. 

Its intention is good. It tries to encourage us to seek higher, the better, higher and perfect will of God. It explains why our life at present is not so good because we are only in the permissible and not the perfect will of God. 

Are Such Concepts True & Useful?

On reflection and from experience in life, I am not sure these concepts of perfect and permissible wills of God is true or even useful. Firstly, look at the outcome. If one follows the argument that blessings will come from God's perfect will, then we need to understand what blessing mean. Usually people use it to means good life of wealth, health, favors, etc. In which case, consider Paul. In 2 Cor 11:23-27, we find Paul was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, stoned, imprisoned and finally killed. Going by our argument, Paul was the most disobedient of all. In truth, we cannot judge a person by the outward sufferings alone. Similarly, Joseph was sold as slave, wrongly accused and imprisoned and forgotten for a few years which extended his stay in the prison. Was Joseph walking in the perfect or permissible will of God? What good do such concepts help Joseph? Was it not better for Joseph to realize that in whatever circumstances that one fine oneself , God is still in-charge and is aware and one needs to follow and uphold God's standards and trusting His care and deliverance in due time.

Using the example of marriage, one can disprove the perfect will of God. It took only one person's disobedience to spoil the grand and perfect match-making plan of God. 

Worse, even people in marriage when encountering difficult will question whether he or she had married the right one according to the perfect will of God and then divorce the other on this ground that he or she had married the permissible but not the perfect one!

Here is the mind-map that give more details ....

The Better way - Seeing God's Will as a Destination and a Journey of Life

I propose that we see God's will as a unique calling for everyone of us and a journey of life to reach that destination of our calling. The journey is but a growth through hill tops and low valleys into greater maturity and likeness of Christ. It is a journey to experience and know God in an intimate way and to grow in faith and understanding of Him (Eph 3:16-20).

No matter how tough life is God is with us - It gives us Hope.

No matter and especially in difficult and tough times, we need to know that God is with us and it is his will. We are to be aware of His presence in all that we do and be sensitive to His leading. The high top and valley experiences are all parts of His will and we are to rejoice in them. 

1Th 5:18  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Php_4:4  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Trust God that He is more than able to save us from our sins and weaknesses

We are to trust God to be able bring us to our destination despite our weaknesses and our sins. So, don't be stuck in our sins and in regrets but wise up and get up to continue this journey with God. Through hard times and failures, we get to be more sensitive, forgiving and less judgmental and at the same time learn to rely on His strength and become tougher. 

You don't need to sin to have suffering

This is not an excuse for our sinning but rather have the faith in God that God is able to save and more than recover from our sins and mistakes. We don't need our sins or mistakes to find persecution and sufferings. More often than not, it is our walk in righteousness and our refusal to compromise with the world that bring forth the attack, scorns and failure in worldly viewpoints. The sufferings and persecutions of Paul were not due to his sins but rather due to his walk in righteousness to fulfill the call of God on his life. 

However, if we do sin or make mistake, we know that God is greater than our sin, and we just need to face our sin directly, confess it and repent from it. Don't let the regrets drag us down but stand up from our fall and walk forward towards our destination that God has planned for. 

Php 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Hebrew 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus,the pioneer and perfecter of faith.... 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Therefore ....

So.... Yes, you are in His will for your present state of affairs. Now, spend time with Him and His Word to see what the next step that you are to take. Go on with His upward call of your life.

See also:

• Our Calling of Life - Destination or Journey?

• You are a Masterpiece Created in Christ 

• Perspective - How You Start is A Key to Success.

• Journey of Life - Victory or Defeat?

• Bible for Business Seminar#4 Personal Mission & Journey

Lim Liat (c) 10 Dec 2012

Etymology of Christmas & The Meaning of Life

Christmas is one of the seldom seen English compound words that is made up of two words.

What are the two words?

Understanding them will give you the complete meaning of your life.

Compare your answers with mine in the comment....

"Christmas" ="Christ's Mass".

Christ = Greek Khrīstos = Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah"=the anointed one=Emmanuel=God with us

Mass= Latin missa=celebration of the Eucharist.=Holy Communion=Covenant between God and us, sealed in His blood for our wholeness as His sons.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

The Purpose & Meaning of Life
The purpose and meaning of Jesus' life is to bring us back to God.
The purpose and meaning of our life is to receive His completed mission for us and to be joined back to God. The remaining days of our life on earth is to reflect or express this new relationship to others.

Lim Liat (C) 8 Dec 2012

See also:

• The Meaning of Life from the Wisest, Richest and Most Powerful.
• The Meaning and Cycle of Life from Psalm 23.

Living Rightly in a Deceptive World

In this world filled with deceptive voices, what is so obvious and good may not be right!
The greatest deception is done in the Name of God and come from within us. Let us wise up and spend the effort and time to discern and discover the truth. And then to follow on by walking in the truth. Then we will find the true life  and joy to build up the strength to walk rightly even under crisis and pressure.

It is a deceptive world.

What seems so right, feels so good, sounds so attractive and chosen by so many, the broadway actually leads to destruction and death! The way of life, with the narrow gate, needs to be searched and discovered. Yet even in passing through the gate, the way is still very squeezed and hard. It is so easy for us to just take the easier side-track and go off the path. Yet in following this narrow path, we find strength, a joy, and freedom. It is not just a freedom from sins and bondage but freedom for the good, pure, righteous deeds. It eventually leads to eternal life.

Life is a Journey of Choices
Life is a series of choices that we made. What we are today is the result of our past choices. What we will be will depend on the choice that we make today and the actions that we take from now on.

Choose Life - Enter through the Narrow Gate
Jesus tells us in Mat 7:13-27 to choose the way of eternal life.
The gate is narrow and we need to find it. It is not a popular choice. It is not automatic nor natural for us to find it. Jesus said in John 10:9 "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture." While the gate is narrow, we have the freedom to go in and out and find rest and strength. On the other hand, what looks good on the outside and so popular, the broad gate and way lead to destruction! Hence, deception is the offer from the world and we need to learn to discern the real from the false voices.

Discern the Truth and be not misled
How can we tell the truth from the false? Jesus tells us to look at the fruits - the outcomes, the lifestyles of the people. Even Confucius also taught us to not just hear but also to look at the behavior of the people before you can trust them. We should not too quick to accept and follow the talk. Let us wait and examine whether their walk follows their talk. Jesus warned in v19 that the tree that bears not good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. He follows with a scary warning ....v21

Even Those who Did Great Things in Jesus' Name Enter not Heaven 
It is not just those who call Jesus Lord will be saved! They must back up their claims with work that follow God's will. The greatest deception comes from the Church itself in Jesus' name! The deception is great because they are branded with the name of Jesus. They did the following 3 things in Jesus' Name:

1. Prophecy - Teachings, Doctrines, Messages.
2. Casting out Demons - Display of Spiritual Power.
3. Might Works even Miracles.

But in verse 23, Jesus said that they are workers of lawlessness or evil. Jesus said that He never knew them at all. The motivation and the power behind them, even though under Jesus' name, are not from Jesus but from the evil ones. These people are actually using Jesus' name to benefit themselves and extending their evil. They have no relationships with Jesus but know how to use the power of His name. They are the enemy within the church. They are the wolves in sheep clothing. They are so hard for us to detect. Yet we cannot go to the other extreme of suspecting everyone of our brother or sister to be them as well. Such extreme suspicion will cause troubles within the church. It is difficult to detect them early. 

Hence, the following advice will help in the appointment of leaders ---- always check references, check past records, check their presence behaviors, their friends, test them, .... and let time do the revealing --- never appoint someone to leadership position without checking and giving time measured in terms of years to try them out. See also The Con Artists and their Scams - How can you tell?

Be Wise - Do as Advised by Jesus

We only truly learn and master a subject when we do them. There is no use just listening to instructions on swimming without going for a swim. Under normal circumstances, we can't tell the strong from the weak. When a crisis comes, then the true strength can be seen. We build strength not by just attending churches and listening to sermons only. We must put what we hear through discernment of truth and then putting the truth we heard into practice. Truth can only be fully understood and internalized through practices and frequent practices into habits. Many habits formed out our values and beliefs make our character. It is then that the character that shows us the real self. Does this real-self reveal that we have Christ within? It is through our work and character that God is glorified in and through us. 

A Word of Comfort - Knowing Jesus as God is Enough to Start

Be comfort and be assured that it is the motivation, the mindset, that is the starting point for our work and that is most important. The deceptive work done in Jesus' name mentioned earlier begins without the relationship with Jesus. They are motivated by self and/or influenced by evil ones. The criminal that was hung with Jesus on the cross did not and could not do much. Yet from the words that he said, the only thing he could do, was his acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as God. He specifically requested Jesus to remember him in His kingdom Luke 23:42. Jesus' answer was immediate, Luk 23:43  And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Knowing Jesus as God is enough to start. But don't there at the start. Continue the journey and walk in this narrow road of righteousness and the will of God that leads to eternal life and shining out for God.

Lim Liat (C) 6 Dec 2012

I rejoice in my sufferings! Masochist Believers?

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, .... (Col 1:24)

Is this a contradiction? Joy in pains!

A psychologist will point out that this is a mental illness. The author Paul is a masochist!

What do you think?

Can you resolve the seemingly contradiction and discover the greater truth?

The "Either-Or" Mindset
This is because of the western "either or" mindset thinking.
The two polar cannot co-exist at the same time.
Hence, for a contradiction to exist, there may malfunction - i.e. sickness.

The "Yin-Yang" Mindset
But to the Chinese mindset of yin-yang, both poles can exist at the same time.
For the common thinker, it is a matter of different degrees of yin and yang.
For the higher level thinker, yin-yang are attributes that belong to the same object or person. Hence, there is yin in yang and yang in yin as they both come from the same object. Both should exist at the same time without contradiction.

Resolving the Contradictions
To resolve such seemingly contradiction, we must think at the next level of depth or dimension. Chinese philosophy stresses on 天时 地利 人和 of timing, position(space) and harmony. The Russian Problem Solving Method TRIZ tells us the way to break contradiction is by space and time too. Movement through space over time gives us direction or purpose. We should question this then.

What are the reasons for joy?

1) The reason is "for your sake" - because you can be better, you are my joy, I willingly suffer.
We know that my suffering is temporary but your growth, your betterment, will last.
v28 shows Paul's objective ... presenting everyone mature in Christ.

2) Christ empowers me: I am not suffering alone, I have Christ within me(v27) providing me the strength (v29).

v29 is a classic and powerful truth that enables to overcome and stand no matter what....

For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.  (Col 1:29)

The greater truth: 
Joy & Suffering can co-exist and in fact in the presence of one we get to know the other better.

For a student, after studying very hard and passing the exam, we feel great joy our accomplishment.

In a bereavement, we are sad for the departure but are comforted for the better place that they went.
We learn to treasure those around us more.

After a serious sickness, we learn to appreciate life more and live better.

Even Steve Jobs said, "Death is the best invention of life". In face of death, what are the truly valuable and meaningful become clear and we are grateful to know and work for the true meaningful life where we get the joy and satisfaction.

We can share the famous Chinese words on crisis 危机 - which is a combination of danger 危 and opportunities 机. There is opportunity in any danger and there is danger in any opportunity.

There is joy in pains and in pains we can find the joy. Our
There is pain in joy as we want to share our joy with those in pains and we know that our real joy have been obtained for us through the pains of the cross that our Savor and Lord Jesus Christ.

Lim Liat (C) 4 Dec 2012

The Con Artists and their Scams - How can you tell?

The ancient word for "Con Artists" is "False Prophets". Their scams are the false doctrines that they preach to trick people to give of their money and time to enrich these false prophets. The Bible warn us in many places about them. We are to discern and judge any prophecy or doctrine that claimed to be of or from God. They play on our desires and greed and are extremely successful.

One such popular doctrine is the "Prosperity Gospel". It is an extreme distortion of the word of faith. It is so easy to misuse the promises of God and to make God our genie to get all the nice things of life that we desire. The Prosperity God  财神爷  has been worshiped by the Chinese, especially on New Year Days, for many years. Be sure that this Prosperity God is only worshiped and liked because of the money he can give. He is actually a slave to those that worship him. It is an economic transaction of exchanges between worship and blessings (usually of money). The gospel of Jesus Christ, in a Chinese culture like mine, has the natural tendency to become the prosperity gospel with Jesus as the prosperity god that was told to me by an European friend.

Here is a good message shared with me on the Prosperity Gospel The Prosperity Gospel Message by Dr Paul Choo.  It gives a good summary of the main teaching of the prosperity gospels. Some quotes from the sermon include ... (See Prosperity Gospel - Learning from GLCC Dr Paul Choo)

• "This is not Christianity. This is not the gospel. This is a scam. Period. Using the name of God.
• Let's not go to the other extreme .... James 2:5, abundant life is not a fat wallet. The right place is God. ....Don't reduce God to an idol to give money.
• 1Tim 6:17-19 God give us wealth to do good and share ....bless others. ...."

While I don't fully agree with all he said, it is worth listening to someone with a different view. So enjoy and reflect on the sermon and form your own conclusions.

Older writings on this topic of "false prophets" are equally applicable and useful for identify today's Con Artist misusing the Name of God. Of course, they won't be called Con Artist, but are addressed as Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Evangelist or some other pious title. They are in our gospel community and use the name of God and Jesus Christ. That is why it is very deceptive. Here is a good book "Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices" by Thomas Brooks. It was written about 400 years ago! There is a chapter on false prophets that I summarize with the mind-map below:

The pattern is quite clear:

1. Appeal to your desire (actually greed or lust). Tell you what you like to hear.
2. Scorn and despite those true teachers. These true teachers will prevent them from deceiving you. So they will say that their doctrines are either wrong, or out-dated or ineffective.  Times have changed and the true teachings are no longer relevant. 
3. Ignore the real Truth. Take text out of context. Give a 'modern' interpretation of the Biblical text. Their authority is still and must be base on the Bible but their interpretation and extension are wrong. Imitation must look like the real thing in order to cheat it.  
4. Have their own Persuasive Story and Doctrine to replace the truth to win you over. Get testimonies to show and prove that their doctrines are right and effective. 
5. The true motive is actually to make money out of you and enslave you to work their cause, oops, their scams.

See also Spiritual Warfare - Learning from Tim Keller

Lim Liat (C) 1 Dec 2012