Hey You!

This wonderful poem is from Heart to Heart with Holley blog.

Hey, you...

...the one who's had a hard week,
or who's dreaming that dream,
or who's somewhere in-between.
I'm praying for you today...
asking God to come into
the middle of your circumstances,
the middle of your road,
the middle of your life,
and do what only He can do.
I'm asking Him to wrap
His arms around your heart,
fill you up with love from deep inside,
give you peace that passes understanding,
and set your heart free in new ways.
I'm praying He gives you
everything you ask...
and more than you can imagine
because I believe He's got good plans for you
and I know He's going to see you through.
So know you're loved...
and keep holding on to the One who will never let go of you.

HT: Anna

Praying with your Imagination

Our imagination is God's gift for our enjoyment and to enhance our creativity and appreciation of the greatness of God’s creation. It is possible for us to pray using our imagination. This type of prayer is also known as contemplation, contemplative prayer, “imaginative prayer,” or Ignatian prayer. While Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is not the first to use it, he recognized that it is a powerful form of experiential prayer if used appropriately. He had made it the central form of prayer in his Spiritual Exercises.

One of the ways to pray this prayer is to imagine ourselves being part of a scene from the Bible. Here, we must be passive rather than active participants. We are not here to be a Hollywood director or an avatar in a virtual world. Our desire is to imagine ourselves to be present at the scene to see and note what is going on. We are with our imagination use our fives senses in order to better appreciate what is going on in the scenario. We are not to create characters or change the happenings.

One of my favourite uses of this prayer is imagine myself to be present at the mountain slope when Jesus preached the beatitudes (Matthew 5). There was a crowd at the valley. Jesus walked up the mountain slope and sat down. His disciples came and sat with him. Then he began “Blessed are the…”

I imagine myself near the disciples on the windy mountainside. It was late afternoon and the sun was not too hot. While the sound of Jesus’ voice was clearly heard, I felt the warm sun on my face and felt a slight stirring of the wind. I smelt the fresh grass and fresh air there. I reach out and touched the grass I am sitting on. I tasted the faint tang of my lunch of fish and bread on my tongue. And my attention was draw to the voice of the man speaking which was clear to my hearing, “…poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,”

By imagining myself there with my five senses and reading Jesus’ sermon, I felt closeness to him and also a better appreciation of his words. I also felt that he is aware of my presence and may have even looked at me directly. I can feel his love for me. This act of imagination and reading of the word is prayer.

We can also use other scenes from the Bible. Some good scenes are Jesus stilling the storm (how fearful we must felt), healing the blind, at the cross at the time of the crucifixion and at his resurrection. Maybe even be there when Jesus showed Thomas his wounds! Other scenes from the Old and New Testament may be used.

By placing ourselves into Biblical scenes with our imagination while limiting ourselves only to what was written and not to introduce or change the scenarios, the prayer of imagination is a powerful experiential prayer we can use to deepen our spiritual life.

picture source
.

The Heart of Worship

A meaningful song about worship.




Michael W. Smith - The Heart of Worship

On Obedience

Obedience is a 'dirty' word in this age of rugged individualism and personal autonomy. Nobody wants to be under 'obedience' to any one anymore. James Martin is right to point out that many people including Protestants view obedience to a 'Superior' in a religious order with deep suspicion. This suspicion in Protestant circles also include spiritual direction. Spiritual directors should not have so much power over their directees they say misunderstanding the whole concept of spiritual direction.

However, as Martin points out, no one is completely free and not under control of others. We are under control of our boss, Presidents, lawyers. spouses etc. I like his comparison of a religious order to an multinational corporation. The superior (called CEO etc) still send people out on 'missions' and they go. So
much for not been under obedience.

I like the gist of his section on obedience. It is dying to self and submitting our selves under the authority of another. It is submitting to the call of a new day as in Walter Ciszek's "the reality of the situation." (Walter Ciszek was a Jesuit who was imprisoned in Russian for his faith). It is submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I like a twitter I received from Rick Warren (author of the Purpose Driven Life). In his twitter message he wrote that in the centre of the word obedience is the word die i.e. obeDIEnce. That resonates with what I am thinking about obedience. It is dying to self and taking our crosses and follow Jesus.

.

Everything is Precious

Those who have abandoned themselves to God always lead mysterious lives and receive from God exceptional and miraculous gifts by means of the most ordinary, natural and chance experiences in which there appears to be nothing unusual. The simplest sermon, the most banal conversations, the least erudite books become the source of knowledge and wisdom to those souls by virtue of God's purpose. This is why they carefully pick up the crumbs which clever minds tread underfoot, for to them everything is precious and a source of enrichment.

Jean-Pierre de Caussade
The Sacrament of the Present Moment

Book Review: A New Kind of Christianity

My friend Alwyn reviewed Brian McLaren's book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith for Amazon.com (posted here with his permission)

The Faith is the Quest is the Tension - is the Faith,

August 17, 2010

By

Alwyn Lau

This review is from: A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith (Hardcover)

A gripping introduction, swash-buckling hermeneutics (they're not exactly going to roll out the red carpet for McLaren at the next Inerrancy convention), wonderful metaphors and charts (McLaren plays his role of cultural popularizer very well; you won't read many better explanations on how the book of Job throws spanner after spanner into the idea that 'everything' the Bible says is true), heavy borrowing from the New-Perspective-of-the-Mosaic-Law and post-foundationalist theologians, lots of touches of vintage McLaren creativity (e.g. on eschatalogy, on 'fundy-sexuality', etc) and a very personal and timely call for Christians to go on a bold yet compassionate quest for, well, a new kind of faith.

McLaren declares that the Christian church is in a mess despite being the custodian of a priceless tradition; there is something wrong in the midst of something real. He locates the chief cause of the problems in perceptive flaws borne of the evolutionary nature of the faith-community's understanding of God's revelations. The writer of Genesis presumably worshiped the God who sent the Flood but McLaren can't find it in himself to do so, almost declaring (therefore?) that the writer of Genesis lied about who God was. So earlier equals wrong-er and/or more deceptive cum deceived. Does that really fly? Wouldn't it be more responsible to ponder the complexity of God's role as cosmic meta-governor, a responsibility no human can shoulder and thus no human mind can fully grasp? Wouldn't it have been more philosophically robust to question how the God-made Flood differs from man-made genocide and how in fact the story of Noah presents wondrous divine mercy and initiative despite a divine right (due to divine governance) to refuse any of the sort?

That said, I'm not entirely pro-anti-McLaren either. I'm at a loss to explain why the likes of Mohler, Ware and Carson pay so little attention to the questions and issues McLaren raises, preferring instead to focus how much he diverges from traditional doctrines. These anti-Emergent folks embody an utter refusal to even look at where McLaren is pointing, they don't want to engage, they don't want a conversation. This is beyond missing the point; it's missing as a way of life.

Still, maybe the problem of Christianity today is less a problem of incorrect interpretations, evolving meanings and developing paradigms (and even less of heresy and apostasy) but one of irreducible dialectic. This is to say that there simply is no such thing as a God's Eye view of Christian/Biblical truth. Christian truth is in essence this phenomenon of opposing doctrines clashing with no clear resolution in principle (let alone in sight). The new kind of Christian has to listen and learn from the old kind and, quite critically, vice-versa too. It's the listening and learning (and admitting and correcting of mistakes) which matter, which makes, which manifests the kingdom.

The day the tension dies is the day there's no longer any uncertainty, no longer any openness, no longer any quest and thus barely any kind of faith at all.


Interestingly, this review has generated a three way conversation. Read about it here

.

Playing Halo:Reach on my XBox

Have been playing Halo:Reach on my xBox the last few evenings - man, what an adrenalin rush. It offers what the previous Halo games offered and more. The previous games are Halo 1 or Halo:Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and its spinoffs, Halo 3:ODST and Halo Wars, all of which I have enjoyed tremendously. Not to mention the novels and comics based on the Halo universe.



The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the alien Covenant on the human colony of Reach weeks prior to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Players control Noble 6, a member of an elite supersoldier squad, during the battle for the world of Reach. As the Covenant begin their assault on the planet, the UNSC begin their heroic yet ultimately futile effort to halt the brutal alien invaders.



I spent most of the time blasting away with my trusty weapons though recently I have found myself running away as fast as I can...where's my backup?

.

The Crying Need for Organ Donors

This article in the Star online shows the great need for kidney donors and the desperation of those who need donor kidneys.

Sunday September 19, 2010

Patient willing to pay RM50,000 for a kidney

By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI
sunday@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Desperate to have a transplant, a kidney patient has offered to buy a kidney for RM50,000.

A handwritten advertisement, put up at the busy Pudu area here, even provided a contact number for interested sellers to reach the buyer.

When contacted by Sunday Star, a man who picked up the phone said his cousin needed a kidney transplant and they were looking for a Chinese donor.

Desperate measure: The handwritten advertisement was spotted in a phone booth at the Pudu area in Kuala Lumpur.

read more

Are you an organ donor?

.

Redeemed by Fire: Christianity in China

Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China
Xi Lian
Yale University Press, 2010

An excellent review and article is written by David Lyle Jeffrey (Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities at Baylor University) published by Books and Culture (web version)

Numbering the flock is a concern of Lian Xi's Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China. More prominent is his detailed taxonomy of its variegated strakes and spots over the last century. This book will be an important source for Sinologists, church historians, and China-watchers among the Christian laity, even though it is limited in its scope to those movements which derive from or can be loosely associated with more or less indigenous Protestant popular movements of the last century.

read more

The Elephant in the Room

“Now let me tell you about the three blind men and an elephant,” Abba Ah Beng began his daily teaching session with his disciples.

“I know the story! I know the story!” disciple Ah Lian rudely interjects, “My father told me this story before.”

“Okay then, tell us the story,” Abba Ah Beng said with a gleam in his eye.

“A long, long time ago, in a country far, far away …,” begins Ah Lian.

“Sounds like the beginning of a Star War movie,” stage-whispered disciple Ah Kow.

“…there lived three blind men who have never seen an elephant. Why? Because they are blind, so cannot see, see?” continued Ah Lian while glaring daggers at Ah Kow.

“But they want to know what an elephant is because they have heard so much about the mighty elephant from their friends. So one day, their friends brought them to an elephant. ‘Why, the elephant is like a tree trunk’, said one blind man hugging a leg of the elephant, ‘and all along I thought the elephant is a large great animal.’

“ ‘No,’ said the second blind man feeling the elephant’s trunk, ‘an elephant is like a slimy eel. See it is long with a lot of mucus.’ The elephant was having a runny nose that day,” explained Ah Lian.

“ ‘Alamak,’ said the third blind man tugging at the tail. ‘It is like a vending machine with a rope. You pull it and something smelly falls out.’

“ ‘Ha, ha, ha’ laughs the first blind man. ‘What is so great and fearsome about an elephant? It is just something like a tree trunk.’ ‘No!’ the second blind man countered, ‘it is like an eel.’ ‘You are both wrong,’ the third blind man shouted, ‘it is a rope!’ The three blind men started arguing, shouting and pushing at each other.

“The elephant became exasperated and sat on the three blind men. They were squashed instantly. End of story.” Ah Lian looked up only to be confronted with the shocked and mystified expressions on his fellow disciples’ faces. “What?”

“The story does not usually end like that but it is a good ending anyway,” said Abba Ah Beng gently, “and you can close your mouth, Ah Kow unless you want to catch flies. Now, my disciples, what lessons about God can we learn from this story?”

“Our perception of God is limited by our senses,” volunteered disciple Muthu before Ah Kow can open his mouth again to answer. Muthu is part of the disciple-exchange program where monasteries arrange for their disciples to have cross-cultural exposure and to get rid of some their really troublesome disciples at least for a short time. “God is big and we can only perceive a small part of Him with our finite minds,” added Muthu.

“We can only know God through what we are familiar with and what our senses tell us,” Ah Kow adds, recalling the hilarious way Muthu is learning to eat with chopsticks. “But I don’t understand why the blind men have to fight.”

“That’s the way of men who thinks that they know everything about God,” sighs Abba Ah Beng who is a veteran of many theological battles where the learned Abbas fight with words, books and kung-fu. “They forget that we ‘see through a glass darkly’ as St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13:12. They also forget that no one person can know God fully. All of us know God in different ways and even so, we know only a small facet of Him. So why do we act as if only we have the whole truth of God and no one else? And why do we fight insisting that our perspective is correct? Will God be pleased?”

“God will flatten them!” boomed a loud voice from the back of the hall as a large hand slapped the wooden floor. All the little monks literally jumped out of their skin. They all turned. Standing sheepishly at the back is the cook who had snuck into the hall.

“Maybe not,” said Abba Ah Beng. “Like the blind men arguing over their perceptions of the elephant, the elephant remains an elephant. If the blind men took more time to feel the elephant more rather than making snap decisions, maybe they would have widen their perceptions. Instead of opening themselves to discover what an elephant is, they have instead created an elephant in the image of what they know, like an eel, a tree trunk or a rope.

“So it is the same with us who try to know God. Let us make sure that we are open to learn of God’s greatness rather than remaking God in our own image. There is the danger of remaking God like us, for example like Santa Claus, that we commit idolatry.”

“What about those people who do not believe that God exists?” asks Iskandar, another exchange disciple from the Middle East.

“There are some people who claimed that God does not exist. Others said that he is dead. There are those who claim that it is impossible for God to exist and that he is a figment of our imagination. God waits and smiles,” concludes Abba Ah Beng, adding, “the elephant in the room.”

Reflection questions

(1) What are some of the ways we can use to get to know God?

(2) In what ways do we remake God in our own image?

(3) How do we keep ourselves from narrowing instead of expanding our perception of God?

.

Newman's Prayer: Radiating Christ

Radiating Christ
By Cardinal Newman
A daily prayer used by Late Mother Teresa and by the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come
in contact with may feel your presence in our soul.

Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus!

Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine;
so to shine as to be a light to others; the light O Jesus,
will be all from you, none of it will be ours;
it will be you, shining on others through us.

Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by
shining on those around us.

Let us preach you without preaching, not by words
but by our example, by the catching force, the
sympathetic influence of what we do.

The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.

Amen

HT: Jane Ward from my online Book Discussion Group

Comics the Best Medicine

I was very ill with a severe attack of influenza-fever, runny nose, myalgia, headache, lethargic and bronchitic cough. I was so ill that I cannot read which is very rare. However I still have my comics.

Batman/Superman: Day and Night
this collection of Batman/Superman comics may be the last as the writers have splitted up

a wonderful story line of a possible new member to the Batman family

the second best collection of Thor stories I have read lately

when Tony Stark fell from grace as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Norman Osborne took over H.A.M.M.E.R.

one of Osborne's primary objective is to get hold of the knowledge in Tony Stark's head

and Tony Stark's solution? Self-induced lobotomy! Hello. Did someone said he is a genius?

That's my weekend reading.

Nuff' said
.

Roger Tan's Too Much of a Good Thing

My dear friend and Christian brother @rogertankm wrote an interesting comment on Star online, Malaysia's newspaper today. I think it is timely and insightful. Hopefully it will help to defuse the escalating tensions between Muslims and Christians in Malaysia and elsewhere.

Sunday September 19, 2010

Too much of a good thing

By ROGER TAN

If we adopt a free for all, which includes the right to indulge in hate speech or a right to foment and incite hatred and violence, our beloved country will be torn apart in no time.

MANY of us have heard of the infamous Pastor Terry Jones – the bewhiskered preacher from the diminutive Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States who had threatened to hold “Inter­national Burn A Quran Day” on Sept 11. He subsequently backed down after worldwide condemnation against him.

This included our Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Anifah Aman, who called the act of burning the holy book of Muslims a “heinous crime”.

US President Barack Obama warned that this could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American or European cities, adding that it would be a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda.

As a Christian, I am ashamed by what Jones tried to do, especially when it came from a man of God.

But why were the US authorities, including the President, powerless to stop him from carrying out his threat?

The answer lies in Jones’ right to freedom of speech enshrined in the First Amendment to the US Constitu­tion.

read more.

.

Christians in Politics in Malaysia

This is an interesting article in the Sunday Star in Malaysia.

Sunday September 19, 2010

Christians & politics

By ANDREW SIA

Opinions are divided on Christian involvement in politics, but most people agree on the need to fight for justice.

starmag@thestar.com.my

SINCE the “political tsunami” of March 8, 2008, Christians have become increasingly vocal on national issues. However, according to the Malaysian Census of 2000, only 10% of Malaysia’s population is Christian, with the majority being in Sabah and Sarawak (where they make up 40% of the population).

But what Christians lack in numbers, they may make up for in influence. As one local Christian politician put it, “Christians may not be so numerous but we are usually well-educated, middle-class and well-connected, especially in urban society. The moment something happens, it will be widely discussed in cell group meetings or put up on the Internet.”

Malaysian Christians praying for the Pope John Paul in 2005. Prayer aside, Christians in the country have begun to speak up and take action to contribute towards nation-building. – File photo

read more.

.

Stackhouse' s Top Five Books on The Problem of Evil

From Christianity Today online

My Top 5 Books on The Problem of Evil

Picks from John Stackhouse, author of 'Can God Be Trusted?'

John Stackhouse | posted 9/15/2010 09:43AM

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume (Hackett)

This is the classic philosophical assault on the idea of God being all-good, all-wise, and all-powerful. If a book can answer Hume, it can answer most skeptics today. If it doesn't try to answer Hume, move on to one that does.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Penguin Classics)

Why does God allow evil, particularly atrocities? No book more effectively punctures philosophical and theological abstractions with the sharp end of real life.

The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis (Harperone)

Lewis's classic is still the most wide-ranging, accessible, and cogent response to the problem of evil. Don't let its analytical tone make you forget, as many do, that its author lost his mother in childhood and fought on the frontlines of the First World War.

A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis (Harperone)

This cri de coeur ("cry from the heart"), rivaled by Nicholas Wolterstorff's Lament for a Son, keeps any intellectual response to evil appropriately modest. Ideas are good; prayers, even angry ones, are better.

God, Freedom, and Evil by Alvin Plantinga (Eerdmans)

The most accessible statement of Plantinga's Free Will Defense, this argument revolutionized the modern philosophical discussion and helped make Christian thinking plausible in the broader academy.

Global Conversation on 21st Century Reformation

Photo by Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

THE GLOBAL CONVERSATION A 21st Century Reformation Leaders from Malaysia, Argentina, Nigeria, and the United States share their dreams for major changes in the global church. Recover the Supernatural (Hwa Yung's contribution) Return to First Principles Expand Our Embrace Be Agents of Reconciliation

Contemplative in Actions

I have been reading James Martin SJ 's wonderful book The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life for my online Book Discussion Group. James Martin is an excellent writer with the ability to poke fun at himself and his order, The Society of Jesus or the Jesuits. The SJ which comes after his name stands for Society of Jesus (SJ) but also as he relates it was applied to him as Stupid Jerk!

Basically the book is an overview of Ignatian spirituality. He defines Ignatian spirituality as
1. Finding God in all things
2. Becoming a contemplative in action
3. Looking at the world in an incarnational way
4. Seeking freedom and detachment
which is an excellent summary of the main teachings of the Jesuits.

With no offense to the Jesuits, I always think that it should be "contemplative in actions" rather than "becoming a contemplative in action." I guess it is a matter of which is the object and which is the subject or which is the one where the emphasis is. I can understand why the Jesuits chose "contemplative in action" because of the misconceptions that contemplatives are navel gazers who does not contribute to the real world by being involved in real "action". Contemplatives are those who are closeted in the monasteries, protected by thick walls from the corrupting influences of the unwashed masses and spend their time in beautific communion with God.

That is a misconception of contemplatives. First a definition. A contemplative is a person whose inner life is lived focused on God with imputed grace resulting in love overflowing into every aspect of their being. Note the definition does not specify where the contemplative lives. That person may live in a monastery or with 7 million other persons on the tiny island of Singapore. Not all contemplatives are insulated from the mainstream of human life. I am always inspired by the examples of contemplatives like Bernard of Clairvaux who started hundreds of monasteries, became a Doctor of the Chruch, advised Popes and even started the Second Crusade, and Thomas Merton who became an anti-war activist, ecumenist and spiritual writer. So the focus on the contemplative seem to imply that the Jesuits are encouraging contemplatives to be involved in "action."

However, not all of us are contemplatives. Many of us, by temperament are activists. We are trees cutters rather than navel gazers. Hence "contemplative in actions" where the emphasis is on the "actions." We can act contemplatively rather than be contemplatives who acts. Another definition: a contemplative action is one that is done to please God and to fulfill his perfect will. This action may be something "spiritual" or "religious" or as simple as making a cup of coffee. God created coffee and who is to say that He does not have pleasure in seeing his creature enjoying the aroma of a full-bodied dark coffee?

Now where is my coffee?

.

Spirit Seeking Light and Beauty

A wonderful posting from Helen's blog.

Spirit Seeking Light and Beauty

I may have shared Mother Stuart's song; the words are hers and so beautiful that I am copying them here for you.

Spirit seeking light and beauty,
Heart still longing for your rest
In your search for understanding,
Only thus can you be blest,
Through the vastness of creation,
Though your restless thought may roam,
God is all that you can long for,
God is all creation's home.

Taste and see God, feel and hear God,
Hope and grasp the unseen hand;
Though the darkness seem to hide you,
Faith and love can understand.
Loving Wisdom, guiding Spirit,
All our hearts are made anew.
Lead us through the land of shadows
'Til we come to rest in you.

.

Abba Ah Beng: The Strongest Rope

Another little monks story:

“Settle down,” said Abba Ah Beng as he sat down on his customary seat on a platform set in the front of the teaching hall in Sow-lin Monastery, “and I will tell you a story.” Looking across the sea or rather the pond (Abba Ah Beng does not have many disciples. He gives too much homework.) of expectant faces, Abba Ah Beng started his story.

“Makua Ipo is one of the human head-shaped giant stones on Easter Island. He loves his location at the top of a hill facing the sun. The warm sunshine and cool breezes during the day, and the soft moonlight at night makes him feel at peace. In fact he feels a sense of wholeness with the universe, a sense that this is what things should be. One day, a violent earthquake shook Easter Island. Makua Ipo toppled from his place on the hilltop to lay facedown at the bottom of the hill.”

“Aiya, so terrible-lah, in the mud,” sniggered disciple Ah Lek who flinched when he saw Abba Ah Beng’s piercing stare.

“The villagers from the nearby village tried to move Makua Ipo back to his original place on top of the hill,” Abba Ah Beng continued, “They pushed and they tugged with all their might but they cannot move the seven ton stone. They tried using a pulley and tackle contraption but the ropes always break.

“One day, out of desperation, they sought the help of their village elder. The kindly, beloved old man taught them how to make a special six strand rope. ‘It will be strong enough to restore Makua Ipo to his proper position on the top of the hill,’ he assured them. The villagers followed his instructions and made the rope.

“The next day, the whole village turned out to help restore Makua Ipo to his original place on the hilltop. Using a pulley and tackle contraption, and the special rope, they pulled with all their might. The strain on the rope was tremendous but the rope did not break. Inches by inches, Makua Ipo was pulled up the slope, until at the end of the day he was happily settled back in his original position on the top of the hill.

“The villagers celebrated that night, satisfied with a job well done. ‘Bapak,’ they asked their beloved elder, ‘what is so special about this rope that makes it so strong?’ The kindly old man replied, ‘The strength of the rope lies in the materials that make up each strand. Different materials have different strength. Each strand alone is not strong but woven as a rope, the combined strength of the rope is greater than the sum of its component strands.’”

Finishing his story, Abba Ah Beng looked directly at his disciples and asked, “My disciples, what does this story tell you about spiritual life?”

There was a sudden silence in the hall in which one can hear a pin drop or the mangy dog that hangs around the monastery scratching for fleas across the quadrangle. The silence grew deadly and deafening loud as the minutes pass. Finally, a hand rose. “Yes, Ah Kow, what do you have to say about this?” Abba Ah Beng asked his number one disciple.

“Well, the rock being pulled uphill by the villagers may represent spiritual growth, and, and the villagers may represent the helpful teachers and fellow Christians,” stammered Ah Kow thinking of his friends and teachers at the monastery. “The rock on hilltop and fall down…ah, I know, it’s the fallen image of God,” Ah Kow finishes triumphantly.

“Good, good” said Abba Ah Beng with a smile. “But what of the rope? Why do some ropes break?”

“Made in China?” Ah Lek burst out only to receive a whack on the head from Ah Lian.

“What about the rope? Anyone?” asked Abba Ah Beng. The silence this time is even more deafening and the disciples could hear the cook singing a hill song in the kitchen (this hill song has nothing to do with what comes out of Australia. It is about Alisan and the beauty of its maiden).

“Ah Kow is correct about the spiritual life being a process of becoming or restoring what we already are. Makua Ipo is enjoying his commune with the universe when he fell. Yes, the villagers are people who help us in our spiritual journey. Yet sometimes we fail in our spiritual growth because these people do not know how to help us. The weak or incorrect rope breaks. The only rope that is strong enough to pull us upwards in our spiritual life has six strands. Alone these strands are weak. Weaved together, they can lift a seven ton rock.

“What are these strands? Well, they are worship, biblical learning, community, serving, mission and prayers. Remember them well, my disciples. These are the components that will make your spiritual journey strong. Makua Ipo is Polynesian for God-lover.”

Abba Ah Beng finished his teaching with a blessing and dismissed his disciples.

Reflection points

(1) What is the present state of your spiritual life?

(2) What are your thoughts of the image of God in relation to your spiritual life?

(3) In what ways can you strengthen your spiritual life?

(4) Name one way you can do to strengthen your spiritual life and focus on it for the whole coming week.

Soli Deo Gloria

RPM Volume 12 -September 12 to September 18, 2010

RPM Volume 12, Number 37 (September 12 to September 18, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

Inward Witness
Scripture Is Authenticated By the Holy Spirit
By: James I. Packer
Webpage PDF Word

My Almost for His Highest
A Book Review
By: Joseph R. Nally
Webpage PDF Word

Covetousness, Part V
Of the Heinousness of Covetousness
By: William Gouge
Webpage PDF Word

The Word of Men and the Word of God
An Article
By: JC Philpot
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
EXORDIUM, Part IX
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

RPM is available online in the recent issues archive at Third Millennium Ministries.

From South Africa wth Love (6)

Jackass Penguins also known as African Penguins are so named because their their donkey'slike barking.Two colonies were established by penguins in the 1980s on the mainland near Cape Town at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town and Stony Point in Betty's Bay. Mainland colonies probably only became possible in recent times due to the reduction of predator numbers, although the Betty's Bay colony has been attacked by leopards. This is the colony near Stony Point.

Sze Zeng Interviews Roland Chia

Roland Chia: Life as a systematic theologian in Singapore

Sze Zeng conducted an interview with Roland for his blog. Roland Chia is currently the Chew Hock Hin Professor of Christian Doctrine and Dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies at Trinity Theological College, Singapore. His doctoral studies was done at King's College London under the supervision of the late Colin Gunton.

It is an interesting and informative interview and worth reading.

Some quotes that I like

I believe that a theologian is first and foremost a servant of God, who serves him by serving the Church. A theologian should not hermitically seal himself from the life and witness of the Church, cloistered in the impenetrable fortress of his ivory tower, keeping the rest of the world from entering. Some of the most significant theologians in the history of the Church – Irenaeus, Athanasius, the Cappadocians, Augustine, Maximus the Confessor – did not lead idyllic lives as academic theologians, but were actively involved in the life of the Church and the society.

and about his foray into biomedical and social ethics

I am of course not suggesting that theologian should present himself as a pseudo-expert in these other fields. The theologian who thinks in this way is deluded and immature. But I think a theologian should have enough familiarity with these broader topics to reflect on them intelligently and theologically.

This of course requires much effort and time (the latter being a very scarce commodity indeed). But I believe that a theologian must make this investment in effort and time if he is to be of service to the Church. I think Rowan Williams, Wolfhart Pannenberg and Robert Jenson are the kind of theologians I have in mind who because they are steeped in theology and philosophy are also able to address other issues, like politics or the economy, thoughtfully.

Thank you Sze Zeng. Hope you will interview more of the Singaporeans theologians because we will like to know them too. Hope you interview those who are not teaching you so that you can ask more provocative questions.

.

Remastered Original Star Trek

The remastering of the three seasons of the Original Star Trek Series has been completed and is for sale. I am wondering whether I should buy it. A showcase by the masters at CBS Digital containing the effects they recreated for Star Trek: Remastered.

Star Trek: 44 years of Awesomeness

On 8 September 1966, NBC aired the first episode of Star Trek in an episode named The Man Trap. That launched the phenomenon known as the Star Trek Universe.



Live Long and Prosper!

.

Malaysia Bible Seminary has moved

致全体马圣之友，主里平安：

马来西亚圣经神学院已经於2010年8月23日起，迁移至轰埠新院舍。地址如下：

Lot No. 728, Jalan Kundang

48050 Kuang, Selangor

目前敝院的联络电话暂用 012-2234527 ，传真03-60371728。不便之处请多多包涵， 谢谢！

Dear Friends of MBS:

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With effect from August 23, 2010, Malaysia Bible Seminary has shifted to our New Campus at Kuang. Our new address is as follows:

Lot No. 728, Jalan Kundang

48050 Kuang, Selangor

Our temporary telephone line is: 012-2234527. Fax no. 03-60371728.

The Writing Life

Prolific writer and blogger Scot McKnight on The Jesus Creed (now on new host) gave some of his own thoughts on The Writing Life.

Here’s a good (and typical) day, and it would be every day if my school somehow got the idea that funding a professor to write without teaching would be a good idea, and if they’d point my finger at me when they called forward the one they wanted to assign to The Writing Life. Until that day, and I’m not waiting on it, I do this when the day permits.

I get up somewhere between 5 and 5:30am, spend some time pottering around the house doing all the things that folks like me do to rev up the engines for the day, like eating breakfast (Greek yogurt and raw oats), making a cafe latte, saying my prayers and reading the news online, checking on the blog and making sure the tweets are ready for the day. By 7 or 8am, with a second cafe latte in hand, I descend into the bowels of my house (the basement) and get to my desk and sit there — with normal breaks and interruptions — until I’m done, usually by 3pm and occasionally not until 4pm. If I go past 4pm I get a headache.

read more

That sounds wonderful. I wonder how I can live a writing life like that?.

Walking Together

So often this journey through life
can feel like a daily struggle,
a race to accomplish more,
buy more, be more.
Today we pray for the wisdom
to take a step back and look
at the bigger picture.
The true meaning of our journey
is not about earthly things but about
matters of the heart
and longings of the spirit.
We open our arms to those companions
who join us on this pilgrimage of love.
We recognize that we are not meant
to walk this road one by one,
but side by side.

Walking Together: Discovering the Catholic Tradition of Spiritual Friendship by Mary DeTurris Poust, Ave Maria Press, 2010.

.

Project Timothy

I have always been fascinated by Dr Ron Choong's The Academy for Christian Thought and his Project Timothy. The write-up below is from their website ACT-Asia. The link to The Academy for Christian Thought is here. Project Timothy has their own blog Project Timothy Community.

What is PROJECT TIMOTHY?

This is a program for a community to study the Bible at a level much deeper than regular Bible study groups. While the revelation of God is specially given to us in the witness of the Scriptures, God has not been silent elsewhere. God invites us to understand what can be known about God by observing the things He has made through fields of human inquiry such as the natural sciences, philosophy, mathematics, music, literature, art, history, geology, archaeology, sociology etc.

PT takes its participants systematically through the Bible in six 5-session semesters. The semesters run from Feb-June and Aug-Dec each year. The entire Bible is covered over three years if done continuously. The curriculum is designed by apologist and theologian, Ron Choong.

The goal in PT is to disciple and stretch the Christian mind. Through the close reading of the Bible as a devotional exercise and an important form of worship we invite men and women to develop a responsible apologetic, a spirit of intellectual charity, a heart for evangelism and missions, as well as a deep interest in discipleship of others.

Project Timothy is Growing!

• PT1 (2002-2004) was led by Rev. Ron Choong
• PT2 (2005-2007) was led by Rev. Ron Choong, Mr Gene Yuan & Mr Vivek Mathew
• PT3 (2008-2010) is led by Dr. Ron Choong, PhD, Ms. Summerlee Staten, Ms. Catherine Penn, Mr. J. R. Randall, & Mr. Demian Repucci. They are assisted by Mr. Dan Bartz, Mr. Danny Lee and Ms Harrigan Bowman.
• PT3-Asia (2008-2010) is led by Elder Stephen Choi, assisted by Pastor Alexa Ho and 7 other tutors in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

The Anti-Lesbian Drug?

Newsweek recently published an article entitled The Anti-Lesbian Drug concerning the use of a steroid named dexamethasome by doctors to prevent female fetuses from developing congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). With this provocative headline, the author Sharon Begley (July 02, 2010) writes,

Mike Kemp / Corbis

Genetic engineers, move over: the latest scheme for creating children to a parent’s specifications requires no DNA tinkering, but merely giving mom a steroid while she’s pregnant, and presto—no chance that her daughters will be lesbians or (worse?) ‘uppity.’

Or so one might guess from the storm brewing over the prenatal use of that steroid, called dexamethasone. In February, bioethicist Alice Dreger of Northwestern University and two colleagues blew the whistle on the controversial practice of giving pregnant women dexamethasone to keep the female fetuses they are carrying from developing ambiguous genitalia. read more

While there is a need for bioethics watchdog centres such as The Hasting Center's Bioethics Forum, there is also a need to be careful while examining the evidence or the lack of it. Alice Dreger, Ellen K. Feder, Anne Tamar-Mattis (06/29/2010) posted Preventing Homosexuality (and Uppity Women) in the Womb? , the article which was picked up by Newsweek.

While everyone has been busy watching geneticists at the frontier of the brave new world, none of us seem to have noticed what some pediatricians are up to. Perhaps it is because so many people are fascinated by the idea of a “gay gene” that prenatal “lesbian hormones” have slipped past public scrutiny. In any case, we think Nimkarn and New’s “paradigm for prenatal diagnosis and treatment” suggests a reason why activists for gay and lesbian rights should be wary of believing that claims for the innateness of homosexuality will lead to liberation. Evidence that homosexual orientation is inborn could, instead, very well lead to new means of pathologization and prevention, as it seems to be in the case we’ve been tracking.

Needless to say, we do not think it reasonable or just to use medicine to try to prevent homosexual and bisexual orientations. Nor do we think it reasonable to use medicine to prevent uppity women, like the sort who might raise just these kinds of alarms. Consider that our declaration of our conflict of interest.

Read more

The official responses are below

LETTER FROM THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
LETTER FROM THE OFFICE OF HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTIONS

Discovering God's Will

In his online Christianity Today's article "Did the Spirit really say..?" Mark Galli shares his thoughts about how to discover God's will in our decision making. The article is worth reading.

I've concluded that God often does not lose sleep over whether we guess his will correctly. If this were his highest priority, I think he'd be a lot clearer about making his will plain! A higher priority for him seems to be this: humble and contrite hearts that are willing to risk, to step into the unknown just because it might be God's will. He honors the heart as much as the execution.

read more

.

I.S.S. Enterprise in the Mirror Universe

The Mirror Universe opening title from Enterprise episodes "In a Mirror Darkly" Parts 1 and 2.




A combat video with TOS U.S.S. Defiant as seen on Star Trek Enterprise.



I enjoy these two episodes in the fourth and final season of the Star Trek: Enterprise television series. I really like the twist at the end of the story.

.

Reminder for Surgeons

a notice outside an Operating Theater door in a hospital which caught my eyes.




.

RPM (September 5 to September 11, 2010)

RPM Volume 12, Number 36 (September 5 to September 11, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

1 Corinthians 3:18-23
A Sermon
By: Scott Lindsay
Webpage PDF Word

The Ministry of the Spirit in Discerning the Will of God
An Article
By: James I. Packer
Webpage PDF Word

Covetousness, Part IV
Of the Practice of Covetousness in Spending
By: William Gouge
Webpage PDF Word

Man in His Original and His Lapsed State
An Article
By: Edward Payson
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
EXORDIUM, Part VIII
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

RPM is available online in the recent issues archive at Third Millennium Ministries.

Preaching at First Baptist Church Kuching, Sarawak

Here is a post about my preaching at First Baptist Church Kuching (reposted with permission). It is a privilege to share with them and it was wonderful to be received so warmly into their fellowship. Met some Facebook friends and also some old friends there. Thank you, First Baptist Church Kuching. Love the photos!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Run with Horses

Last Sunday, our church had the honour of Dr.Alex Tang, medical doctor, author, famous blogger to share with us the above titled sermon.

Dr.Alex Tang worship at Holy Light Church, Johore. He is also a pediatrician working in Johore Specialist Centre.

His sermon referred mainly to Jeremiah 12:5

"If you have raced with men on foot and they worn you out how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"

Basically, his message was to encourage us even as we stumbled. Do not give up, at least if we ran with men on foot we have started running. Do not give up easily. God will help us in our struggles if we turn to Him.

More about my sermon here

.

Paul Long Warns "Beware the Dark Side"

Another reflection from Paul Long from my book, Spiritual Formation on the Run from his blog posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010.

Ramblings on Parables and "Beware the Dark Side" and "You become what you do"

It has been a busy period for me. And it looks to be just as busy for the next three weeks. So ... it is time once again to "re-center" lest I lose my focus.

Chapter 31 of "Spiritual Formation on the Run" and chapter 40 both seem like ideal chapters to reflect and blog on especially in the light of my current sermon series on Parables of Jesus, the concept of "righteousness" and the theme of "choosing" has been very prominent. Have been thinking a lot, among other things on these two areas. Anyway, first the chapters ...


BEWARE THE DARK SIDE


George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith was one of the most awaited summer releases of 2005. The Star Wars movies - six in total - represented a significant milestone in movie making as the computer became as important as the actors and cameras. This futuristic intergalactic war epic started off in the middle of the story with Episode 4-A New Hope. To get an idea of the storytelling, imagine reading a book from the middle and finding out the ending, and then reading it from the beginning. Revenge of the Sith tied the beginning to the end, which is already known. In Star Wars, the underlying philosophy of power is the Force, an energy that sounds suspiciously like the Tao of Taoism. The Force inside the Jedi Knights seems similar to the Chi in Chinese religions. Before watching Revenge of the Sith, we already know that Anakin Skywalker will be seduced by the dark side of the Force. The movie revealed the reason for Anakin's choice. When he chose the dark side, Anakin became Darth Vader, who was powerful in many ways, yet was in bondage to the Emperor.


There are certain similarities between the Star Wars series and another movie, Kingdom of Heaven. In the Kingdom of Heaven, a movie about the Crusades, one of Saladin's (a famous Muslim general) deputies said, "In Islam, God said `submit' In Christianity; Jesus said "choose". Both stories are about the choices that people make. Choices that destroyed a fictional intergalactic empire and a historical Jerusalem. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of conscience, as the narration in the movie so eloquently put it, "We choose with our minds and our hearts to do what is good and we do it" Choices that could seduce a soul, or redeem it. While the violence may not be edifying, the basic tenet of these movies resonates with our Christian faith.


In our Christian life, we are asked to choose daily. To choose to walk with Christ or to walk for ourselves and away from Christ. Our God is a God who gives His people the freedom to choose. We are not puppets on a string, manipulated by a master Puppeteer. We are given the freedom to choose, even to say "no" to God. Joshua, the military leader of the Israelites, declared at the beginning of the conquest of Canaan that he would choose Yahweh and fight his battles following the Lord's strategy. Jeremiah chose to follow the Lord even though he was asked to do some funny things to illustrate God's message. Jesus chose to drink from the cup of suffering in Gethsemane and died a humiliating death on the cross. There are also those in biblical records who chose badly. Lot chose the rich plain where Sodom and Gomorrah were. His home was destroyed and he committed incest with his daughters. David chose to lust after Bathsheba, leading to adultery and murder. Judas chose to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.


We are asked daily to choose. We must learn to do it with wisdom. That is why knowledge of the word of God is important. The Bible is a manual for decision-making. It helps us to be in the light rather than in darkness. So choose wisely. Beware the dark side.

YOU BECOME WHAT YOU DO

Brother senior disciple Ah Meng is so pious that he will be made Abba soon,' observed Ah Lek, as he continued to knead dough to made mooncakes. Every year, the Sow Lin Monastery would make mooncakes for the poor in the surrounding villages. The mooncakes were eaten to celebrate the Mid-Autumn or "Mooncake" festival held in the middle of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

p/s This "Black Knight" is a Marvel Comic
character and actually a "good guy" :-)

"He prays so fervently that his pew often shakes and so many tear drops flow down his face that he wets his Psalter. He has memorised large chunks of the Bible too. And he is Abba Ah Beng's favourite."

"I don't like him," said Ah Kow, as he put a piece of dough into his mouth. "Yuk;' he said, spitting it out. "Senior disciple is always picking on others, looking for faults. He likes to point out my mistakes and always insists that I spend time confessing them."

"You are right. Just this morning he hit me on the head during morning prayers. Who does he think he is?" complained Ah Lek. "You were falling asleep:'

"Was not:'

"Yes, you were. I heard you snore"

"The other day he told Abba Ah Beng that my cell was dirty;" said Ah Lek, changing the subject. "That tell-tale. Abba Ah Beng made me scrub my cell and his too."

"The young disciples are ill-disciplined and not fit to be in this monastery;' Ah Meng pointed out to Abba Ah Beng during his time of spiritual direction. "They don't know how to pray, how to read the Bible properly, how to be forgiving and how to help others. I want to help them so much. I want them to be holy. I want them to good disciples. I want them to give up their selfish desires and bad habits. In fact, I feel so strongly about it that I cannot sleep at night:'

"Yes, I have been hearing stories from the young disciples about you. It is good that you are so concerned about their spiritual formation. However, be careful that in your zeal you do not cross the line to become the opposite of what you are fighting. Let me tell you a story;' said Abba Ah Beng.

"Once upon a time, during the time of the Crusades, there was a young, strong white knight who was very pious and devoted to God. He made it his personal quest to kill all black knights. The black knights were unholy and impure. Throughout his long life this white knight killed many black knights. One day, when he was old, he met a young white knight on the road. To his surprise, he was immediately attacked by this white knight. He fought valiantly but was unable to overcome the young knight. Throughout the fight, a question lingered at the back of his mind, `Why is this white knight attacking me?' Just before he was killed, he caught a reflection of himself in the shining shield of his opponent. The knight reflected in the shield was black:'

I noticed that there was a period of time this year where I stopped reading news about Malaysia. Not that I was not interested, reading the Malaysia news was frankly depressing and often made me angry on many areas and levels. So the "best" course of action for me is not to read and so avoid putting myself in such situations. Of course that was simply avoidance.

What I find interesting (to me at least) is that I am at peace with my move to NZ. This is because I "worked out" with God many conditions that had to be met before coming over so that I could be clear in my heart and mind my motives and calling. My calling to come to NZ was never in doubt and this has been confirmed numerous times in many ways since coming here.

So anyway, been mulling over my problem was more of "residue anger" which I realize has been simmering deep within me from unresolved hurts (like a volcano?), and the need to resolve it. I have noticed that Whenever there is a hint of "I am ungrateful" to abandon Malaysia (esp the church), anger would well up within and I would think, "And just what has the Malaysian church done for me that I should be grateful?" And a huge list would pop up in my mind ... a list I shall not list here :-) Needless to say, I had a huge list of grievances (and humanly speaking, a valid one too I might add) and how much I had done and yet not only unacknowledged but been even abused despite them. And when I think of the blessings of being in NZ and serving as a pastor in a great church, I find myself too often comparing my current experience with the many in Malaysia in not the healthiest of ways. I mean, I had great times in Malaysia and I have many wonderful friends who have blessed me and impacted my life ... but I don't thank God for them as often as I should. I have too often chosen to dwell on the negatives rather than the positives. This is simply WRONG!

Venting to God and even close friends etc is fine and often necessary to find healing but there has to be a time limit :-) and the need to move on! Basically I found God telling me gently this whole year that I have still pockets of anger and hurts (even residual resentment) that I needed to CHOOSE TO LET GO FULLY OR RISK LETTING THE DARKNESS OVERWHELM AND CHANGE ME INTO SOMEONE I SHOULD NOT BE.

I thank God I see more and more signs of healing of residual anger! And awareness is half the battle won.

I think of the many lessons I have been learning from my current series on Parables. Here's a partial sampling.

From The Parable of the Rich Fool - I need to share and find help in community and not "dialogue with myself". And this is a great quote from Kenneth Bailey that I did not develop on due to overwhelming material : "A naked cry for justice, unqualified by any self-criticism is not heeded by Jesus".

From The Parable of the Great Banquet - You can choose not to join in the banquet. But if you choose not to join, it is your fault and you will have to bear the consequences! And ... part of the incredible theology of the cross is how God chooses to turn his anger into costly grace! The challenge to see the reality of the power of this principle when applied in my life.

From The Parable of the Two Builders - Jesus is the foundation, and not to listen and obey Jesus is to have no foundation. It is really hard work to dig deep to get to the rock but it is necessary. Choice again ... to take the easy way out or take the tough but necessary route!

From The Parable of the Unjust Steward - A reminder of the importance of being wise as serpents but innocent as doves - my ethical foundation needs to be strong. But more important, to be wise and realize that the ultimate resource available to me is a gracious and generous God. It's a "risk" to bet everything on God but in reality it is the only "sure fool proof bet".

From the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector - The main issue is for me to have a right relationship with God. This is what righteousness is. It is a gift that comes through a relationship with God. And I can't understand and receive grace of I choose to compare myself with the failings of others rather than the perfection of God.

From the Parable of the Compassionate / generous Employer (Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard) - God is FREE to CHOOSE and He will choose to do what is right / just. The big question is, do I choose to trust Him in that "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?". Also, everyone is equally undeserving and has access to God's grace (if we choose to accept it!). And one more ... my attitude to service should be that which springs out of gratitude rather than motivated by rewards.

It is hard to describe my main point - hence my ramblings but it is along the lines of kingdom principles / values versus worldly principles / values are very different. And while some worldly principles I do feel are valid (all truth is God's truth), kingdom principles are on a higher level. The more I choose kingdom values, the more I will allow God's light to shine in me and through me. The more I choose to work just on the level of worldly values (even the valid ones), the greater the danger of my succumbing to the dark side - not because I intentionally want to but it will happen.

Hmmm, not a very clear conclusion even if it just a "ramble" - perhaps some quick Malaysian examples?

To fight for the rights of pastors that they should be treated with dignity and respect as one would expect to be treated is a valid principle. But kingdom principles would add the perspective of call and the example of Jesus who calls us also to expect suffering and to trust in God rather than men. Without the kingdom perspective, the slow unintended and unrealized crossing over to the dark side is a very real danger. I see now how there is a lack of pastors and also how there is a danger that more and more may be viewing being a pastor as just another job among many.

To boldly speak out and fight to end racism and racial politics, and to demand for a just government and the removal and punishment of corrupt government officials and politicians is a valid principle. But kingdom principle also warns us of the danger of going the way of "the ends justify the means". I get scared that PR option is looking to be just as corrupt and more people "seem" to just close and eye? I post comments on "Malaysia Today" and I get scared when I realize that I am one of the few who refrain from using foul language and make degrading remarks. Interestingly I realized that my last 2 comments while free from foul language etc were laced with sarcasm. The gentle slope to the dark side is very slippery....

Other Paul's reflections from Spiritual Formation on the Run

Why the Hulk should be Red not Green

How expensive is your church?

How heavy is your burden?

Shout to the world

The silence in the noise

Omission and Commission

A Burning Bush

Just do it

.