The Advent Conspiracy

Season of Advent

Today is the 1st Sunday of the season of Advent.

Advent in Latin means 'coming' and in the Greek 'parousia' which means "Second Coming". Today we remember the First Coming of Christ and look forward to His Second Coming.

The four candles symbolise the 4 Sundays to Christmas. The purple represent 'anticipation or waiting.' The pink represent joy and the green wreath represent life.
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Dallas Willard Shares on His Spirituality

Dr. Glen Scorgie asks Dallas Willard to define spirituality. The clip was filmed at Bethel Seminary San Diego on October 9, 2008. For more information about Bethel Seminary please go to http://seminary.bethel.edu/

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Thomas Merton's Hermitage

Thomas Merton lived the last few years of his life in this hermitage... Filmed 5/31/08 using natural light on the finale day of Gethsemani III, a Buddhist/Catholic environmental conference... Web page - http://www.gethsemani3.info/ - Music by Fr. Cyprian Consiglio and John Pennington from the CD "Compassionate and Wise"

Love Story- Andy Williams

December is my Sabbath Month

December is my Sabbath month. Every year, I reserve December for a sabbatical rest from my hectic life. I know many of my friends think I am crazy to do so many things at one time. I am used to multitasking, one useful skill I picked up early in my medical and pastoral career. Personally, I feel that being bivocational is more demanding on a person. A Sabbath month is different from a sabbatical. I still continue to practice paediatrics and serve in ministry but I have planned to reduce my engagements to a minimal. For me December is a time for rest and refreshing in the Lord, reflection on the year past and the year to come, and to do some forward planning.

In December, I normally ask myself three questions:

(1) How have I loved and did I love well?
In this, I do not look at the things I have done this year; how many sermons or lectures I have given, how many retreats I have led, how many articles or books have I written or people helped in my medical practice. Basically these activities are incidental. I can tally them up and make an impressive curriculum vitae (CV). What I want to know is how have I loved God and other persons through these activities? And have I loved well? Do people perceive my love to be genuine?

(2) Where am I on my journey?
I shall be looking for spiritual and physical marker stones (Ebenezer) in this year. Where am I in my journey with God? Am I bearing the fruit of the Spirit? Am I being gentler with others and with myself? Am I growing old gracefully or am I getting grumpier in my old age? Am I helping others on their journeys too?

(3) How am I with God?
Have I grown closer to my Beloved or have I grown further apart? Have my activities done in His name distanced myself from Him? Have I learned more about my Lord? Do I appreciate Him for Himself as He has revealed to me or am I too engrossed with His gifts? Am I comfortable to being and resting in Him?

I am looking forward to my December Sabbath. Please pray for me as I enter it. Soli Deo Gloria.

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What Contemplation has to offer

From Thomas Merton's The Hidden Ground of Love

May It Be- Anya

Beautiful scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I love this video. I so identify with it.

May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home

Morni utli (Quenya: Darkness has come) [1]
Believe and you will find your way
Morni alanti (Quenya: Darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadow's call
Will fly away
May it be your journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun

Morni utli (Quenya: Darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way

Morni alanti (Quenya: Darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now...

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A Possible Cover for New Book

This is exciting!

Speak Softly Love-Andy Williams

If Ever I Would Leave You-Julie Andrews

If ever I would leave you
It wouldn't be in summer.
Seeing you in summer I never would go.
Your hair streaked with sun-light,
Your lips red as flame,
Your face witha lustre
that puts gold to shame!

But if I'd ever leave you,
It couldn't be in autumn.
How I'd leave in autumn I never will know.
I've seen how you sparkle
When fall nips the air.
I know you in autumn
And I must be there.

And could I leave you
running merrily through the snow?
Or on a wintry evening
when you catch the fire's glow?

If ever I would leave you,
How could it be in spring-time?
Knowing how in spring I'm bewitched by you so?
Oh, no! not in spring-time!
Summer, winter or fall!
No, never could I leave you at all!

Faiths in Creation (6)

Aspects of Environmental Ethics:An Islamic Perspective
Mohammad Shomali

In the final part of the Faiths in Creation series, Mohammad Shomali presents the Islamic texts that teach of the value of the natural world and the importance of our respect for it. He gives an Islamic perspective on how we should interact with the environment that surrounds us, and looks at the vices that we are most likely to succumb to.

One of the most important problems in today’s world is the environmental crisis. It seems that this problem started when modern man stopped understanding himself as the vicegerent and trustee of the All-Merciful God who must channel divine mercy to everything at his disposal or within his reach, and stopped understanding nature as a sacred sign and valuable trust from God. For the same reason, it seems that the best way to protect the environment from destruction and, indeed, to improve its condition is to revive these forgotten understandings by referring back to the teachings and instructions of divine religions and reviewing and readjusting our policies regarding the application of modern technology and in using natural resources appropriately. In this paper, I will try to briefly present some aspects of the Islamic perspective on environmental ethics in the light of Qur’anic verses and Islamic narrations (hadiths). The paper consists of four parts: nature; governing rules in Islamic environmental ethics; virtues related to human treatment of the environment; and vices related to human treatment of the environment.

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John MacArthur on Christians and Yoga

Can a Christian Practice Yoga?

Can a Christian Practice Yoga? It depends on the individual Christian and the extent of his or her deep longing for union or Yoga that may lie deeply in the mind and heart. If one practices physical posture without the higher goals, it can hardly be called Yoga. It may be physical fitness, but it is no more Yoga than drinking wine and eating bread alone are Christianity. The point of this video is utterly simple. It is in support of Christians who would not want their communion practices with bread and wine denigrated. Practitioners of authentic Yoga also do not want their practices denigrated. Yoga is simply not a physical fitness program. It is a spiritual path or process. Nothing in this video is telling Christians to change their religious practices. It is suggesting that if one seeks the authentic goals of Yoga, then do it. If not, then don't do it. But don't distort and denigrate the true goals and nature of Yoga so that it matches your religion.

Do Christians has a Fatwa on Yoga?

I visited ancient Corinth earlier this year. In front of the ruins of the temple of Apollo is a large area where the altar once stood. On festival days devoted to Apollo, hundreds of bulls were slaughtered until the gutter, specially built under the altar flows with blood. The priests cannot consume all of this meat so a lot if it ended up in the marketplace or agora, further down in the town. There is so much meat that butchers will not slaughter any more animals. Hence if anyone wants to buy meat, one will have to buy meat offered as a sacrifice to Apollo. This is the dilemma of the Corinthian Christians; buy meat offered as sacrifice to a false god from the agora or become vegetarians.

The ancient Corinthians believed that meat offered to the gods have special powers. Thus it is a blessing to consume such meat. Imagine if you are an ancient Corinthian Christian and do not believe in the god Apollo. How will you feel about eating such meat? Knowing that this contaminated meat will be digested and incorporated into your bodies. So what should you do? You ask your guru, St. Paul. “No problem,” St. Paul said, “meat from the altar is just a piece of meat and it will taste just as good going down. If you believe in the One true God, you will be okay. However, if you think it will a bad influence on other Christians then become a vegetarian” (1 Cor. 8: 1-13 my paraphrase).

In our religious worship and Christian traditions, there are many things borrowed from the different religions and cultures of different times and ‘sanctified’ as Christian practices. Ancient Mesopotamian religions tell of a ‘great flood.’ The Mithras cult from Persia which predates Christianity taught about baptism, table fellowship with bread and wine as blood and body of Mithras and even the fact that their god would die and rise from the dead in three days. Even the Greek word, logos, was adapted by St. John to mean the incarnate God. Many of our great Cathedrals were built on ancient pagan sites and even now, many of our churches face the east-west axis. Our church services are on Sunday (Sun god day) and Christmas on December 25^th (ancient Roman pagan solar festival) which were also pagan holy days. So there always has been a tradition of adapting existing cultural and religious forms and ‘sanctifying’ them to become ‘Christian’ traditions. The foundational understanding is that everything is created by God and there is only one true God.

Yoga has its roots in ancient Indian philosophy. Its development and embrace by Hinduism may be traced to the earliest manuscript of the Brahmanas. In its long history, it has undergone many transformations. The yoga often referred to in our context which involves various standing postures (asana) is the Hartha Yoga as opposed to Raja Yoga which emphasise the seated posture (Padma-asana). The various postures of Hartha Yoga or the seated position of the Raja Yoga are but the beginning stages of the other seven limbs of yoga meditation. Hartha yoga, like the martial arts have a physical component and a deeper spiritual component.

As Christians, we should be able to practice the physical components as long as we are aware that that are deeper spiritual components that we should avoid. It is possible to do so. Many Christians practice Pilates without any problem, not knowing that the postures in Pilates were derived from yoga and stripped of all its spiritual components and repackaged as purely a physical and psychological exercise.

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Human Organs for Sale

Organ donation has always been regarded as an altruistic act. Thus all government, professional societies and ethics committees regard it as unethical to allow for sales of kidney. Altruism is implied that a person donates an organ (usually a kidney) without coercion and receiving any compensation including financial ones. Their only reward is satisfaction in their self-sacrificial action. Unfortunately there are not many altruistic persons around. Most organs for transplants come from brain dead or dead donors (cadaveric organ transplants). Very few living persons come forward as donors. The result is a scarcity of organs for transplants which results in thousands of deaths for want of organs.

By not allowing sales of organs, these organisations have unwittingly created a black market for organs sales. Unscrupulous middlemen have arisen to take advantage of the needs of organs. In countries where the laws were not so stringent, a commercial transplantation trade of transplant tourism has arisen where one may buy a kidney if one is willing to pay and not ask too many questions. There is no protection for donors. Horror stories abound of people being kidnapped and their kidneys removed, the poor exploited or prisoners forced to donate their kidneys. The middlemen reaped large amount while the donors were given pittance. In a recent court case in Singapore, the donor received $23,700 for his kidney out of the $300,000, magnate Tang Wee Sung paid the middleman. This is the unregulated free market!

In an effect to address the scarcity of organs for transplantation, the Singapore government has taken the bold step of legalising the monetary ‘compensation’ for kidney donors (The Straits Times, Nov 1, 2008). The amount which may be in five or six figures will compensate the donors for their kidneys. It is also suggested that all transplants be regulated through an independent organisation to ensure that the donors will not be taken advantage of. Singapore sidestepped the ethical issue by allowing monetary compensation rather than sales. This is the semi-regulated approach to organ donations.

A third alternative is the Iranian model which the fully regulated model. In Iran, all organs transplants are done through a state-sponsored body which regulate organ transplant in a transparent, non-commercial, and middle-man free process. Donors are paid by this government sponsored agency. It has worked well so far and in Iran there is no waiting list; all patients (rich, poor, educated, uneducated) have receive their transplants. Iran has a government sponsored healthcare system so the model may not work in other countries.

Is there a difference between a sale and compensation? A sale is a business transaction while a compensation is something given for something lost or given. However when it comes to human organ, it is a thin line between the two. It is interesting to note that while it is unethical to sell one’s kidney, however it is acceptable to sell one’s sperms or eggs or in some countries, blood. The moral ethical basis that lies behind the forbidding of sale of human organs come from the group of moral theories called virtue-based theories. The virtue-based theories are based on the premise that human beings are basically good and altruistic. Reality has however shown how far that is from the truth. It may be time for us to review the ethics of human organ sales.

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Faiths in Creation (5)

Coping With Insecurity, Uncertainty and Risk
Helen Freeman

Why do we sometimes find it difficult to display humility and responsibility in our relationship with the rest of the natural world? Helen Freeman traces the history of Jewish thought on this issue, and advocates that a deeper understanding of consumerism and the need for rootedness and security will help us to see our relationship to the created world in a new light.

For Jews, our understanding of engagement with the created world goes right back to the creation story in Genesis chapter one. Once the beautiful world and its life forms have been created, God says, in verse 26:
’vayomer Elohim, na’aseh adam b’tzalmaynoo kidmootaynoo u-rdu vidgut hayam, oov’of hashamayim, oovab’haymah oov’khol ha-aretz oov’khol harems haromays al ha-aretz-And God said, let us make Adam in our image and likeness, and he will rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heaven and the cattle and all the earth and all creeping things that creep upon the earth.

The word for human being, adam, is related closely to the word for earth, adamah, and conveys the earthiness and closeness of the relationship between human beings and the soil of the ground.

The later rabbinical commentators understood the human right to rule over the other creatures to be an ethical imperative; if they did not do so justly, then terrible things would happen. Using a play on the word ’u-rdu – and rule – the fifth-century midrash in Genesis Rabbah 8:12 says this:
‘And have dominion (u-rdu) over the fish of the sea etc.’ Rabbi Chanina said: If humanity merits it, u-rdu (it will have dominion); and if humanity doesn’t merit it yirdu (it will descend/fall). Rabbi Ya’akov of Kfar Hanan: That which is ‘in our image, according to our likeness’, u-rdu (it will have dominion), and that which is not in our image according to our likeness yirdu (it will descend).

The challenge to humanity is then how we conceptualise our place of dominion over the created world.

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Redeeming Your Time and People

Hebron EduCARE

Main Objective:

It offers an educational outreach platform – a church-based primary youth community project. It is designed to reach out to youth of ages 10-18 in the vicinity of the church through life skills, training and Christian education. It is also an educational center of continuous study for school leavers, school dropouts, unskilled young adults, adults, and senior citizens.

Recognizing that: "The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) also pointed out an estimated 25% of Chinese students dropout before reaching the age of 18; the annual dropout rate is estimated to be over 100,000 and worsening. Certain dropouts become apprentices in workshops, picking up skills like plumbing or motor-repair. Others eager to make a quick buck find themselves involved in illicit trades, such as peddling pirated DVDs or collecting debts for loan sharks.[6]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_Chinese#Education

Campaign Plan & Strategy:

Hebron EduCARE will be embarking on a fund raising program (by way of sponsorship) to help 20-50 school leavers/dropouts or more to learn life skills at our center this coming months commencing this November.

Goal:

To raise fund to sponsor 20 to 50 or more school dropouts within Skudai areas in particularly TUTA (Taman Ungku Tun Aminah) in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

1. Target Fund: RM20,000 to RM50,000 from the media industry or individuals.
2. Cost: RM1,000 @ Student; food, allowance, insurance and course fee (subsidized-1/3 of normal fee est. RM1,500).
3. Course module: Basic Communication English, Graphic, Web Design and 2D Animation Or b. Basic communication English, Illustration, Video and Sound Editing.
4. Course duration: 4-6 months; 4 hours x 3 days/nights.
5. Target Student: Remove/Form 1 to Form 4 dropouts, PMR/SPM school leavers; jobless or unskilled youth or unemployed graduates.

a. To provide Life Skills as an option for Education and Employment opportunities.

b. School Leavers/Dropouts: Life Skills and U Turn/Second Chance Opportunity.

c. Unemployed (unskilled including graduates): Life Skills.

d. Christian Leadership Development: Basic Communication English, "The Little Shoots" - 7 Habits & Habitudes.

Composition of Sponsorship:

a. 50% to Block 62-66 TUTA (we may roll out to sponsor at least 5 students in these areas during Christmas Carol in Dec 2008-good tiding flyer distribution).
b. 50% to the rest of TUTA/Skudai Areas.

Target Industry on graduation: Printed media-publication, advertising and events management; eMedia-Web design, Web development, multimedia ad, Sound and Video. digital photo stereo, PA and Broadcasting stereo, visual sound production etc.

Employment Contract: 1-2 years, salary: RM1,000 to RM1,500 per month.

Who Can Contribute? Individuals, group sponsors or Corporate.

a. How much: RM50, RM100, RM500, RM1,000 and above. We welcome any form of cash/cheque contribution payable to Hebron Presbyterian Church (please write at the back of your envelop/cheque 'Hebron EduCARE' or 'Campaign - Redeeming Your Time'. For those who wish to send by post, you may mail to HPC, 2 Jalan Temenggong 10, TUTA, 81300 Skudai, Johor OR to deposit at CIMB 0102-5001-4400-50, please eM/send your receipt to danielsinhf@gmail.com or the said address for reference.

b. How to get involved: Adopt them (individually or in group/s) and pray for them (name/s of sponsor/s will be assigned at later stage) and inform of their development and progress during and after training.

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You Can't Take It With You

The first thing that come to mind when someone says, “You can’t take it with you” are our jewelleries, companies, fame and fortune. Very few of us think of our bodies, those vessels which have embodied our souls for so many years. Our bodies are being discarded as our souls move into the hereafter. Like discarding a dirty shirt for a clean one, we exchange our mortal bodies for immortal ones.

How many of us ever think of the mortal bodies we leave behind except to think of its disposal-cremation or burial? Yet our mortal left-behind bodies may still be of use to others. Yes, I am talking about organ donation.

Every year thousands of people are in need of organs for transplantation. They are quite happy to receive the organs from dead bodies (cadaveric organ donors). These organs can save their lives. People with kidney failure and on dialysis can tell you about their ordeals. A person with kidney failure will need to be dialysed on the average 2-3 times a week. Each session last 4-6 hours and incur financial cost. In between dialysis, they are tired and lethargic. They may be alive but there is no quality to their lives. They need kidneys.

There is such an acute shortage of organs for transplant that a black market exists to supply this need. People are going to countries like China, India, Turkey and other poorer countries to buy kidneys.

Personally I believe all Christians should be organ donors. After all we are going to get a new body! At least let the discarded one be of use; our final legacy to this world. Even better will be if we are to donate one of our kidney when we are alive. After all God gave us two kidneys and the body function equally well with only one. That will be truly self-sacrificing love.

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Random Glimpses of my Desktop (8)

Some more model spaceships. Man, I must have been really stressed.

Trachea from Adult Stem Cells

From Christianity Today liveblog
November 20, 2008 12:32PM
Adult Stem Cells Score Again
A trachea engineered from bone marrow stem-cells makes ethical research more appealing.
Susan Wunderink


Claudia Castillo, whose lungs had been ravaged by tuberculosis, has a new trachea. She made it herself . . . sort of.


Doctors in Spain took stem-cells from Claudia Castillo's bone marrow and had them form a section of trachea based on the trachea of an organ donor. The scientists transplanted the 2.75-inch piece and published the results in The Lancet:

The graft immediately provided the recipient with a functional airway, improved her quality of life, and had a normal appearance and mechanical properties at 4 months. The patient had no anti-donor antibodies and was not on immunosuppressive drugs.
The results show that we can produce a cellular, tissue-engineered airway with mechanical properties that allow normal functioning, and which is free from the risks of rejection.

Castillo is the first person to have an engineered trachea transplant, The Guardian says. She has had her new windpipe for several months without immunosuppressants—a breakthrough in surgery.

Besides giving hope to those who need transplants, Castillo’s case is also important to the debate over whether to allow stem-cell research which destroys embryos.

"Engineering new tissues and organs from stem cells has long been a goal of researchers, because it would help overcome a chronic shortage of donor organs.” NPR says. “But controversies over the source of stem cells have slowed research in the United States."

However the transplant, rather than highlighting limitations, is another victory for ethical (and legal) stem-cell research. In its Q&A on stem-cells, CNN says “In the past, because adult stem cells were considered stuck in their ways, the focus had been on embryonic cells but now scientists and doctors will be wanting to see if adult cells can be used to treat a wider range of conditions.”



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Faiths in Creation (4)

A Faith Perspective on the Economy
Makbul Rahim

Today marks the anniversary of Black Tuesday, a crucial date on the timeline of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, and in similar times of financial uncertainty our attitudes towards the economy are under the spotlight. Makbul Rahim describes how religious ethics can inform economic pursuits, asking particularly how a religious perspective might view the economy as a tool for tackling climate change.

In the modern economy and the business world, faith and religious ethics generally are often regarded as being of only marginal relevance. For those considering business transactions and activities, the primary factors and drivers are profit maximisation, market efficiency, maximization of shareholder value and the capital asset pricing model. Economic activities are seen as essential bread-and-butter matters – sources of one’s livelihood – with faith and religious ethics as leisure or part time activities for society and its members. In other words faith is not seen as an integral part of economics or business life. The emergence of investor protection and transparency and good corporate governance in the business world has not come about voluntarily out of faith considerations. Rather it has had to be imposed upon it by law and other means and is more related to sustainability of the confidence which drives and maintains the economy. Religious ethics, on the other hand, emphasise factors such as human flourishing, the good of society and human happiness, the nature of the human person, the demands of community and solidarity. These are not considered as critical drivers or important determinants by market players in the economy.

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Random Glimpses of my Desktop (7)

I find building plastic model spaceships very relaxing and therapeutic. Here are some of the models my daughter bought for me to assemble from Hong Kong.

Faiths in Creation (3)

The Place of Humanity in Creation
Martin Poulsom

The way in which we think about ecological issues depends to a large extent on whether we consider humanity to be entirely different from, or fundamentally the same as the rest of the natural world, argues Martin Poulsom. How can we navigate a path between these two positions to gain a better understanding of our place in creation, with respect to God and to other creatures?

In order to investigate the role that Christianity might play in current debates about environmental and ecological concerns, it is vital first to substantiate the claim that Christianity has something useful to say. After all, in the minds and stated opinions of some interlocutors, it is Christianity that is the problem. Its way of thinking has led humanity inevitably to the disaster on whose brink the globe is now teetering. At the outset of this paper, what is often called the Dominion thesis will be briefly examined and compared with the position taken by Deep Ecologists. It will be seen that, despite first appearances, these two dia­metrically opposed positions are actually somewhat similar to each other. The possibility of finding a path between these extremes will be raised, a possibility which will be shown to fit remarkably well with one mainstream way of articulat­ing theologically what it means to be a created human being. On the basis of this understanding of creation, humanity will be able to be placed in creation, both with respect to God and with respect to other creatures, in a way that can both respect the unique value of humankind and, at the same time, avoid denigrating the value of everything else. On the basis of this account, some possible contri­butions to current debates will be mooted as a way of opening up an exciting possibility – that Christianity might well have something of value to say.

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My New Book

My new book will be published next month by Armour Publishing, Singapore in time for the Christmas season.

Spiritual Formation on the Run

Meditations to Grow the Busy Life

If you are thinking of a Christmas present for a loved one, friends or colleagues, may I suggest my book.

We are a people in a hurry. Having survived the dangerous rush of parents hurrying to pick up their children after school in Kuala Lumpur; the dangerous crush of Japanese salary-persons during peak hours in a Tokyo subway; and the dangerous dash of diners heading for a free buffet meal in Singapore, I can attest that many of us live our lives very much on the run. Is there a place in the midst of busyness for spiritual formation, a discipline often associated with monks in their mountain-top monasteries, free from the cares and rush of the world, devoting themselves to Bible reading, meditation and prayer? Is spiritual formation simply out of the question for the rest of us mortals? It is my conviction that we can be spiritually formed to the “image of Christ” in our busy, hurried lives. What we need are habits of spirituality.

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Faiths in Creation (2)

Judaic Models of Social Transformation
Jonathan Gorsky

In the first of a series, Faiths in Creation, Jonathan Gorsky argues that responsibility for our environment falls on us all, at both a personal and social level. How can the models of social transformation advocated in Jewish tradition help us to change our approach and become reliable stewards of the environment?

In the case of Judaism, the Hebrew Bible records the many vicissitudes of an attempt to construct a new form of political community that was to be an inspiration and a blessing for all the world. The concept of a model community that would serve as a light for the nations is one that might touch all of our faiths: it is not only a matter of persuading individuals among us to pay at­tention to their carbon footprints, rather it is imperative that our respective communities seek to nurture cultures in which people do not feel that they need to keep up with every high street fashion in order to be accepted by their friends and neighbours.

Consumerism is often inspired by a need for such acceptance in an envi­ronment where the bonds of community have become so attenuated that our superficial social connections demand rigorous material conformity as the sole guarantor of status and acceptability. If we become poor or lose our em­ployment then social life rapidly disintegrates: consumerist culture carries un­spoken assumptions that are unexpectedly demanding and highly disciplinary. Parents’ frantic endeavours to get their children into the right schools speak volumes about the social pressures that accompany relative prosperity. Pope John Paul II’s vision of a civilisation of love that would transcend individual­ism can be seen as an ultimate response to current perils – a new form of deep environmentalism that is beyond the reach of purely political endeavour.

The Hebrew Bible yields two other prominent models of social transforma­tion; one is dependent on law as the instrument of its efficacy and the second is the prophetic tradition which draws on the language of inspiration and creativity.

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Faiths in Creation (1)

Faiths in Creation: An Introduction
Catherine Cowley RA

Dr Catherine Cowley introduces Faiths in Creation, a collection of papers from the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life – the fruit of a bold experiment in inter-faith conversation – which will be serialised on Thinking Faith...

These papers, though different in style and emphases, demonstrate ways in which the three traditions speak both to each other and to the secular debate. The questions they raise about the nature of the human person and our place within the world are ones which every society needs to address. They also dem­onstrate that rather than adopting a purely secular agenda, it is by living out our deepest religious insights that we have most to contribute.

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Dilemma: Making Ethical Decisions

Judith Allen Shelly, 1980, Dilemma: A Nurse's Guide for Making Ethical Decisions, Downers Groove, IL: InterVarsity Press

Judith Allen Shelly was a nurse and was with the Nurses Christian Fellowship. In this book, she outlines a step-by-step Christian decision making process that is very useful.

Public Forum on Bioethics

in conjunction with the above November Institute
Malaysia Bible Seminary (MBS) and City Discipleship Presbyterian Church (CDPC)

invites you to a

Public Forum on Biomedical Ethical Issues in the Contemporary Malaysian Church

Time: 8.00pm-10.30pm

Date: Thursday 20th November, 2008

Place: City Discipleship Presbyterian Church (CDPC)
W-10-2, Subang Square Business Centre,
Jalan SS15/4G
Subang Jaya 47500
Selangor

Speakers and Panelists:
Dr Alex Tang (doctor)
Rev Wong Fong Yang (pastor)
Rev Dr Eddy Ho (theologian)
Mr Lee Swee Seng (lawyer)

Contact:

(03) 5621 2844 (CDPC)
(03) 3342 7482 (MBS)

If you are in the Klang valley, do come and join us for this public forum. I look forward to meeting you

God, Medicine and Suffering

Stanley Hauerwas, 1990, 1994 , God, Medicine, and Suffering, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans. First published in 1990 as Naming the Silences: God, medicine and the Problem of Pain.

Stanley Hauerwas is professor of theological ethics at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. In this book which has become a classic, Hauerwas engaged the question of suffering.

Drawing from stories of sick and dying children to clarify his discussion of theological issues, Hauerwas shows that medicine is not the answer to the silence cry of suffering and pain. Instead he shows that a God and his caring community "can give a voice to that pain in a manner that at least gives us a way to go on."

Random Glimpses of My Deskstop (6)

Help, my desktop and house is taken over by Ironman babies!

At The Beginning of Life

Edwin Hui, 2002, At the Beginning of Life: Dilemmas in Theological Bioethics, Downers groove, IL: InterVarsity Press

Edwin C. Hui is professor of biomedical ethics and Christianity and Chinese culture at Regent College, Vancouver and adjunct professor of philosophy and religious studies at Peking, Fudan and Sichuen Universities. Hui's original training was as a medical doctor.

Hui approach to theological bioethics was through the Christian understanding of personhood and how that applies to the beginning of human life dilemmas.

Rethinking Peter Singer

Gordon Preece (ed.), 2002, Rethinking Peter Singer: A Christian Critique, Downers Groove,IL: InterVarsity Press

Four fellow Australians of Peter Singer set out to critique his theories and work. They are Gordon Preece, director of the Centre for Applied Christian Ethics, Ridley College in Australia; Graham Cole, principal of Ridley College and teaches theology and ethics; Lindsay Wilson, vice principla of Ridley College and has degrees in law and Old Testament studies; and Andrew Sloane is a medical doctor and teaches Old Testament, theology and ethics at Ridley College. They claim to be the first group of Christians to publicly critique Peter Singer's theories.

Looking from a Christian perspective, I agree fully with their critique on Singer's views on abortion, animal experimentation, euthanasia, allocation of healthcare resources and Christianity. Peter Singer is a non-practicing Jew and an atheist. However I am uncomfortable in the way these Christians do their critique. Peter Singer was liken to Herod, killer of children in the New Testament. And they question why Peter did not euthanize his mother when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Along the way, their critique of Peter Singer has become personal attacks and lack grace. The greatest lesson I learned form this book is how to be graceful with people who holds different viewpoints from me.
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Rethinking Life and Death

Peter Singer, 1994, Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics, New York: St. Martin's Griffin.

This book, together with his earlier Practical Ethics are his best works. Here Singer outlines his consequentialist theories about human life and death. His theories stand only if one is a true atheist and a fully detached human person living outside of human society.

Peter Singer: Unsanctifying Human Life

Helga Kuhse (ed), 2002, Peter Singer: Unsanctifying Human Life, Essays on Ethics, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing


Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp professor of bioethics at the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University.

Helga Kuhse is Honorary Research Fellow at Monash University and Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Peter Singer is regarded as one of the world's most famous or infamous philosophers with huge followings of people who loved his teachings or hated them. He advocates animal rights, infanticide, euthanasia, fair allocation of scarce healthcare resources, embryo experimentation, environmental responsibilities, and reflections on how we should live.

This book is a collection some of Singer's best and most challenging articles from 1971-2002. As the man is a prolific writer and speaker, I find it helpful to have some of his more diverse work in one volume.

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What will you do? (10)

It is the year 2020. Darren and Kylie are a young couple married for two years. Darren works for a large insurance company in Sydney, Australia and Kylie is a kindergarten teacher. They attend an independent evangelical community church,where they lead a Bible study and fellowship group. Kylie and Darren have decided it is time to start a family, so they visit their local Reproductive Clinic for the preliminary tests, which routinely include genetic testing. At their interview with the doctor, she tells them that if any genetically transmitted disease is found in either of them, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) will enable them to make sure they do not pass the disease on to their children. This technique involves producing a number of embryos in the laboratory using their own sperm and eggs. The embryos are then tested to identify whether or not they carry the disease gene and only disease-free ones are implanted.

The doctor also mentions that if they wish, they can select either male or female embryos for implantation. In addition (since they have private health insurance) they could use gene modification on their selected embryo to enhance qualities such as intelligence or athletic ability. ‘For instance’ she says, ‘I couldn’t help noticing both of you are on the short side and a bit overweight. Why not help your children avoid these challenges?’

Darren and Kylie go home with lots of thoughts and questions, as well as some worries about what they might be doing. The next evening Kylie raises the topic of sex selection and genetic enhancement at her book club group. Most are very enthusiastic and encourage them to ‘do the best for your children.’ But they are still confused and doubtful whether this is the sort of thing Christians should do. They visit their pastor, but when they explain the situation, he admits it is not an issue he knows anything about and he has no idea where they can get any material from a Christian perspective. ‘Why doesn’t the church have any resources about this?’ they ask.

What issues does this story raise?

What will you do?
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The Dilbert Cartoon

I love this opening credit from the Dilbert cartoon.

It gives so much information in just one minute. Fantastic!

Dogbert



Dilbert and Computer



Dibert and the Theory of Evolution



Dilbert and Star Trek



You get the idea :)

A Christian Response to the Life Sciences

National Council of Churches of Singapore, 2002, A Christian Response to the Life Sciences, Singapore: Genesis Books

Bishop Dr Robert Solomon was asked by the National Council of Churches of Singapore to form a Life Sciences Study Group to study the rapid development of life sciences in 2000. There were 14 members in the Study Group; comprising of doctors, scientists, theologians, ethicists and pastors. The Study Group identified three areas of study:

(1) the human genome project

(2) cloning and stem cell

(3) genetically modifed food

This book is good reading with contributions from members of the Study Group (Dr Roland Chia, Rev Dr Tom Harvey, Dr Mark Chan, Rev Dr Danile Koh, Dr Anthony Ang, Prof Kon Oi Lian and Dr Soong Tuck Wah). It shows a high level of scholarship and engagement with current issues. However IMHO there should be a more contextualised approach. I am interested to know what will Singaporeans Christians do?

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Shalom Makers

Christianity Today, November, 2008

Wrestling with Angels
Our Shalom Vocation
Peacemaking is more than not making waves.
Carolyn Arends posted 11/10/2008 10:17AM

Shalom, the Hebrew word for "peace," has expansive connotations. It means harmony, wholeness, and right relationship with God, others, self, and the earth. Isaiah offers prophetic pictures of shalom: the wolf lying with the lamb, weapons turned into farming tools, deserts blooming. Julian of Norwich must have glimpsed shalom when she said, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

Jesus promises that kingdom people will be not just shalom lovers or even shalom keepers, but shalom makers. God wants to include his children in the family business. Peacemaking is a mandate each of us is called to live out inside our own skin and circumstances, whether we work for the UN or not.

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Death Before Birth

Harold O.J. Brown, 1977, Death before Birth, New York: Thomas Nelson Inc, Publishers

Harold Brown was professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He was one of the few Christians who sounded the alarm and called attention to the increasing rate of abortion in the United States. I remember reading this book and the impact it has on me. It must have been horrifying to Professor Brown to know that in the years to come since his book, abortion has been legalised and now regarded as a woman's right in his country. And millions have died before birth.

Random Glimpses of My Desktop (5)

I love this limited edition hand painted, cold-cast porcelain Batman statue, sculpted by Korby Jukes. It shows the new costume as seen in the movie, The Dark Knight.

What will you do? (9)

Mary and Theng Huat have been undergoing treatment for infertility for over a year. Recently, they went through a round of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Mary’s fertility doctor retrieved 12 eggs and fertilised them with Theng Huat’s sperm, which resulted in ten embryos. Three were transferred to Mary’s uterus: the other seven were frozen in the clinic for later use. None of the first three embryos implanted resulted in a pregnancy, but on the second cycle of treatment Mary became pregnant with twins. A year or so after the birth of a healthy girl and boy, Mary’s gynaecologist sent a letter asking whether or not she and her husband had decided what they wanted to do with their four frozen embryos.The letter indicated that if they no longer wanted them stored, they should call Mr Tan at the clinic.

‘What do you think?’ Mary asks Theng Huat after opening the letter. They haven’t made up their minds whether they want any more children, but they are also unsure about what happens to the embryos if they say they don’t want them. So Mary calls Mr Tan and asks him about this. ‘If you remember, we discussed this when you signed the consent form for the treatment’ he replies. ‘Of course, you can simply have us throw the frozen embryos away, if you no longer need them, but it would be much more sensible for you to donate them for embryonic stem cell research.’ ‘What’s that?’ Mary asks. Mr Tan explains, ‘It is research that uses embryos to develop new medical treatments. We think this research holds tremendous promise for treating conditions like diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.’

That evening Mary discusses donation with her husband over dinner. Theng Huat observes that his father has already benefited from experimental stem cell treatment for his heart disease, so donating their embryos for further stem cell research would probably be a good idea. ‘I would agree with you’ says Mary ‘but I seem to recall they used your father’s own cells to develop the treatment for his heart condition. We would be letting them use embryos instead. Is that really the same thing?’

What issues does this story raise?

What will you do?

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Genetics, Theology, and Ethics

Lisa Sowle Cahill (ed), 2005 , Genetics, Theology, and Ethics : An Interdisciplinary Conversation, New York: Crossway Publishing Company.

This book represents the findings of a group of Catholic theologians and bioethicists from America, Europe and the developing countries who met annually for five years (1996-2001) to study the questions of "Genetics, Theology, and Ethics."

A highly readable book, it represents the interactions of Catholic theology and contemporary science.

Frank Capra: Filmmaker of Faith

Home > Movies > Commentaries
FILMMAKERS OF FAITH

I like Frank Capra's movies because he deals with desperate men; men who are on a mission.

It's a Wonderful Filmography
From Mr. Deeds and Mr. Smith through George Bailey and his Wonderful Life, the films of director Frank Capra show goodness triumphant in a brutally fallen world—with faith as the key.
Frank Smith posted 12/05/06


A man is hunched at a bar, alone in the midst of a raucous holiday crowd. Tears trickle down his cheek; his sweaty hands are restlessly locking and unlocking. He bows his head and prays for help. But when that help takes an unexpected form he angrily rejects God's messenger, and bitterly proclaims that it would have been better if he'd never been born.
Very few scenes in movie history are as powerful—or unforgettable—as this one from Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life.












George Bailey, at the end of his rope

Voted the Most Inspiring Film of All Time by the American Film Institute, the movie tells the story of George Bailey: a big dreamer in a small town who has watched life, as he perceives it, painfully pass him by. Sacrificing his dreams as he looks out for others, his hopes ebbing as the years slip past, George ultimately reaches a dark night of the soul in which both his hope and strength fail. But when all seems lost, God miraculously intervenes. And an hour (and a lifetime later), George's eyes have been opened to the countless ways God has touched his life—and other lives through him.

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Related:

• Other Filmmakers of Faith

Asian Forum for Christian Education

Asian forum for Christian educators

An invitation to participate in …

Until Christ is formed in you…

Asian Forum for Christian Educators
Bangkok, Thailand2-5 July 2009

An opportunity for meeting – encouragement – networking with educational colleagues

more information

SEA Forum Registration MSWord Form.doc (Word Document - 44k)

Fukuyama and Our Post Human Future

Francis Fukuyama, 2002, Our Post Human Future: Consequences of the Biotechnological Revolution, London: Profile Books

Francis Fukuyama is Bernard L Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University. A social scientist, Fukuyama published The End of History and the Last Man in 1989 which which he proclaimed that due to the exhaustion of alternatives to liberal democracy, history as we know it has come to an end.

Ten years later and we are still here; he revised his theories to that history has not ended yet because we have not reached the end of science. Fukuyama asks an important question: How does the ability to modify human nature affect liberal democracy?

Fukuyama examines how the changing understanding of human nature -from Plato and Aristotle to the present- has affected society. Then he extrapolates into the future on how the consequences of genetic manipulation will affect society especially liberal democracy. The foundation of liberal democracy is based on the concept that all humans are created equal.

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Agapē Care-The Way of Christian Love

Agapē Care-The Way of Christian Love
Text: Luke 10: 25-37

Sermon Statement
Agapē caring or Christian caring is allowing God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit to care through us.

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Related post:

Read my other sermons

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Bioethics: An Islamic Approach

Abu Bakar Abdul Majeed (ed), 2002, Bioethics: Ethics in the Biotechnological Century, Kuala Lumpur: Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia.

The contributors to this book offer ideas and perspectives on the rise and challenges of biotechnology in the 21st century. The contributors include philosophers, ethicists, scientists, doctors, religious scholars and policy makers from Malaysia, Japan, Germany, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Green Fields: The Brothers Four

John Ford: Filmmaker of Faith

Home > Movies > Commentaries
FILMMAKERS OF FAITH

I love John Ford's movies. There is a sense that people's character matters and people do make a difference.

Print the Legend:John Ford

The great director John Ford's American pilgrimage included many films informed by his Catholic roots, even though he found biblical stories "pretty dull."
Eric David posted 11/04/08


When asked to name his three favorite directors, Orson Welles answered, "John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford." Ingmar Bergman dubbed Ford the greatest director who ever lived. The only director to win four Best Director Academy Awards, Ford was also the first recipient of the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, both in 1973, the year he died.

Ford claimed to be a practicing Catholic all his life, though his bouts with alcoholism caused his devotion to waver. But his faith evident as late as the 1960s when he gave his rosary beads to an interviewer who described himself as an atheist and communist. Ford's grandson and biographer Dan Ford states that Ford's "simple faith in Jesus Christ was a comfort to him in his last days."

But when it came to making films, Ford was no Bresson ascetic, but wholeheartedly a man of the flesh, depicting with relish feasts, saloons, barroom brawls, dancing, and music. Especially music. Music inspired him. He played period music as he wrote and planned his films, and even played some songs on the set to capture the tone; many of the songs wound up on his soundtracks and even in the titles of the films.

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