DAD

Last Saturday marked the 7th-year of my dad’s death anniversary, which incidentally falls on the same weekend as “cheng beng.” I was reminded of the song ‘Wake me up when September comes’, which sings…“like my father comes to pass, seven years have gone so fast”. Indeed, how fast time passes us by. Here’s just a little reflection of the man who means so much to me (and my family).

1. Dad is one of the humblest persons I’ve ever known. He never boasts about his successes. He’s a ‘do-er’ rather than a ‘say-er’; a man of little words. He always maintains a low profile, but yet gains the respect of many.

2. Dad is a very handy man; the ‘inspector gadget’ in the family. His skills range from carpentry to electrics to piping, painting and even botanic. If we lose him in the hypermarket, the best bet to locate him would be the hardware section. At the age of 60, he’s still climbing up and down, fixing things along the way. This is something that my siblings and I have yet to fully emulate.

3. Dad cares to do the little things that count for much. He often comes into my room in the middle of the night to reduce the fan speed and pull up my blanket. Even if I am still awake, I would voluntarily allow him to do that. After all, it’s good to feel loved.

4. Dad gives me ample opportunities to develop myself at a very young age. He stresses on all-rounded development and allows me to express myself in an array of activities such as taekwondo, organ, art, badminton and chess. It must have cost him a lot to pay for all the lessons.

5. Dad takes interests in my welfare and delights in my successes. He would come and give his support when I am involved in any sort of competitions and performances, whether it’s public speaking, chess or taekwondo. His very presence makes me feel important. What a child really longs for is to gain the parents attention, and I certainly had the chance to experience that (defying the middle child syndrome).

6. Dad likes to use reverse psychology to challenge and spur me on. Even if I score a 99 for my exams, he would pull my legs and say, “I won’t sign your report card, because you never score a 100”. While he meant it as a joke, I sometimes take it as a challenge to do better.

7. Dad may be small in stature but he has always been my security blanket. With him, I feel safe and protected. He is usually quite composed and exudes a lot of confidence in the midst of calamity.

8. Dad is also quite funny at times. He’s a bad dancer; but yet he likes to entertain us with his badly choreographed moves. Well, the good thing is…it brings laughter to the family.

9. Dad is my most faithful chauffeur (besides mum). Despite having to run a business, he tirelessly fetches me to school, tuition, church and for other extra curricular activities. Complains and grumbles I hardly hear of.

10. Dad works hard to provide for the family. He puts the family above himself. He would willingly spend on us, but for himself, he would not waste a dime.

Here is only a little excerpt of the story of a great man. When dad was called home on the 5th April 2001, he has left behind a lot of things; and so carved the writings on his tombstone…

 

 

 

Have You Ever?

Have you ever wondered what are the motives and agendas of the multitude of people who swarm to church every Sunday morning? Are they there for social networking? Or is it to merely seek attention and find companions?

Have you ever become sick of outreaches which have turned into performances; and servants, artists?

Have you ever wondered if those who come up to share the Word or pray every week actually know what they are saying? Are they merely regurgitating what they’ve become so familiar with?

Have you ever been frustrated with lukewarm Christians/pew-warmers, who only know how to suck up the church resources, but not lifting a finger to contribute?

Have you ever been turned off by overly-pious people who only know how to judge and condemn; like a 24-7 watchdog that is ever so eager to pounce on you for the slightest mistake made. Even their unspoken gestures make you grimace in disgust.

Have you ever been offended by over-zealous Christians who can’t wait to force their beliefs and convictions into your throat; as though your voice and opinions do not matter at all?

Have you ever seen people who on one hand profess to be a Christian but on another live a life filthier than a scum?

Have you ever witnessed people lifting up their hands and voices to worship God, but as soon as the worship ends and ‘reality’ strikes again, they are back to their old self and the weight of the world overwhelms them once again?

Have you ever questioned the practices in church and wondered if the lines between traditions and the essentials have been blurred?

Have you ever wondered if the truths have been distorted by human’s fallibility; from the compilation of the Bible to the interpretation of it?

Have you ever wondered why you believe in what you believe?

Have you ever doubted your faith, and questioned its credibility?

Have you ever been to camps, only to come back feeling more lost than before?

Have you ever wondered if you could ever be touched by God as much as the drug addict who had his life transformed inside out?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you wake up the next morning to find that the entire value system to which your life depends on is wrong?

Have you ever wondered if the parting of the red sea and the resurrection of the dead are but a fraction of the humans’ imagination?

Have you ever been so distant from God that you no longer feel Him anymore? And you begin to question his existence or relevance.

Have you ever challenged the current belief system or the dogmatic views of Christianity, as Martin Luther did during the reformation?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you were brought up in a non-Christian family? Or what would happen if you decide to take a month off from being a Christian and allow your sinful nature to reign?

Have you ever wondered what your family members and church friends would say if you backslide and turn atheist?

Have you ever wondered what kind of attention you would draw from posting something like this in your blog?

Have you ever been ignorant?

Have you ever been cynical?

Have you ever?

Random thoughts on election

The much anticipated and hyped-up election has finally come to pass. It feels weird, now that the election fever has slowly dwindled down. All eyes are now fixed on the nomination of cabinet members, chief ministers and the delivering of the promises made. Having followed the news/blogs, listening to ceramahs and discussing with friends and families, here are just some random thoughts I have gathered on the election.

1. The ‘rakyat’ have spoken! The message to the ruling coalition party was clear. The people wanted change. Almost all the hot seats have been grabbed by the oppositions. Even some rookies like Tony Pua, Nurul Izzah Anwar, P.Ramasamy beat giants like Chew Mei Fun, Sharizat and Koh Tsu Koon. This is akin to the famous story of David defeating Goliath. I think this election is more of a retaliation against Barisan National, rather a vote for the oppositions. It doesn’t really matter who you field as the candidate, as long as s(he) wears the right badge, s(he) is almost certain to win.

2. The oppositions really have to work hard (extra hard) this time as all eyes are on them do deliver the promises made in their respective manifestos especially in the five states won (Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor). BN is definitely not going to give them an easy time. What they do in this next 4-5 years will determine if they will be re-elected in the next general election. The pressure and onus is on them now. The drastic swing of voters to the oppositions has caught many by surprise. Candidates who contested, expecting only to be an extra voice in the opposition, suddenly find themselves having to govern the states; some with little or no experience at all in this whole area of governing. Hence, we as responsible citizens who have voted for them should give them whatever support we could and not immediately point fingers when they fall.

3. Malaysians have shown a high level of maturity in this election. Candidates who lost have conceded defeat in a very honourable way (except maybe for Uncle Sam who is still living in denial and being so adamant to stay in MIC to make ‘changes’ despite having lost his relevance and support). Leaders of the winning parties also urged its supporters to go home and not have any public celebrations. Everyone, especially those who are old enough to live through May 13, can still remember vividly the bloodshed that occurred back in 1969.

4. The swing in votes was especially evident amongst educated, urbanized people who now have access to alternative medias. For instance, the oppositions won 10/11 of the parliamentary seats in the federal territory and 17/22 of the seats in Selangor. This is a stark contrast compared to the older generations who are very much influenced by the mainstream media (ie NST, The Star, Utusan) which are very biased towards the government. It irks me sometimes to read of the news in the NST as they are so many watered-down stories and cover-ups. I strongly believe that what people read will influence how they think. With the emergence of e-media like blogs, youtube and other online news, people can and should access to these information in order to make a more informed decision. The government should be more transparent with the people and restrictive laws like the Official Secrets Act (OSA) should be abolished. I am glad to hear that the new Selangor MB, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, is actually making the proposal to remove OSA from the State legislation.

5. Although BN is only short of 8 seats to having a 2/3 majority, the gap between the number of parliamentary seats held by the government and the opposition (140 to 82) is in fact much smaller if we were to discount East Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan), making it 85 to 80. If we look at it this way, the simple majority held by BN is really very simple indeed. The strong support for the government in Sabah and Sarawak is most likely due to the large population of rural citizens who are less educated and have less access to alternative media, thus being stuck still in the old way of thinking. If these people could rise up to the occasion and break the old mindsets and habits, today we would probably witness a change in government.

6. “Undi itu rahsia”, which is translated to mean “Our vote is a secret” has been resonating throughout the election period especially amongst the older generations. I wonder why they don’t dare to speak up for the party that they vote for. Why did they have to support the party in secret? In fact, I think if we support a certain party, we should even campaign for them, formally or informally, and influence others to do the same. Maybe they are still traumatized by the May 13 incident, or maybe they fear that some of their privileges will be revoked (especially the government servants) should they support the oppositions.

7. Many have questioned the credibility of the oldest candidate, 89 year old Maimun Yusuf who contested in the Kuala Terengganu seat. Did she really think she could win the election? The only votes she could get are probably sympathy votes from friends and relatives. Why would she be so stupid to dump RM10, 000 to a course that is bound to fail? Does she even have that much savings in the first place to start with? Hence, here comes the conspiracy theory that she was paid by certain party to pull away some votes. Interestingly, as I observe the results, she probably have served that purpose. BN won PAS by 648 votes. Maimun Yusof managed to garner 685 votes for herself. If all her votes were to go to PAS, BN would have lost that seat.

8. The Barisan Alternative consisting of DAP, PKR and PAS has a lot to iron out in order to form a successful coalition. These three parties have very different ideologies; and until and unless a common ground is agreed upon, they will only head towards destruction. Can they do it? I seriously hope they could. I also wonder...if BN were to propose an Islamic law in the parliament, would PAS support it? After all, it is the goal of PAS to establish a conservative Islamic country. If it does, it will only nullify the 1/3 majority that the oppositions have won.

They are many thoughts lingering still in my mind. But maybe this will do for the mean time. May God continue to bless our country and the newly appointed government.

Catch-22

The term ‘catch-22’ has been quoted by many to indicate a ‘no-win’ situation. To be more precise, this term illustrates a self-contradictory circular logic or a paradoxical situation. This term dates back to 1961, based on the title of a novel written by Joseph Heller. The novel is set in the later stages of World War II and it depicts several bureaucratic catches that involves illogical reasoning. Particularly, ‘Catch-22’ is a military rule that is used to prevent anyone from avoiding combat mission. The paragraph below is extracted from the novel to illustrate the point:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

The best way to understand this term is to look at a few more examples.

1. Recently I watched a movie called ‘A Civil Action’, starring John Travolta. He was a personal injury attorney that got himself entangled in a legal battle. In order to win this lawsuit, he has to fork out a hefty sum of money even at the expense of his personal savings, career and reputation. The only way for him to recover his losses is to win the suit, but how can he win unless he has the money?

2. Many fresh graduates find it frustrating during job applications because a lot of companies require them to have experience first. How could they have experience unless they are given a chance to start somewhere?

3. “NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE”. Is this true? Now this phrase is bias in nature. The only logical answer is a ‘no’, that is to say that something must be absolute. If we answer ‘yes’ and agree to the fact that nothing is absolute, then the next question to ask is ‘Is this phrase absolutely true?’ In order for ‘NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE’ to be true, the phrase ‘NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE’ has to be absolutely true, thus indicating that one thing has to be absolute (that is the phrase itself) even if everything else is not absolute….think again!

I guess by now you should have gotten the drift on what catch-22 mean. Lets take a look at the electoral system in Malaysia. How come the coalition party (Barisan National) can sustain a 50-year ruling while the oppositions (combined together) fail to win even a one third majority? Countries like America, Australia and even Japan have seen a change of government. One would question whether BN is really doing so well in keeping its citizens satisfied when we have recently witnessed the Hindraf demonstration. If not, are we practicing real democracy? Is there something really wrong with our current electoral system? Are we stuck in a Catch-22 situation?

I have recently been introduced to two interesting terms called “mal-apportionment” and “gerrymandering” from reading my brother’s blog. He pointed out that our electoral system is inherently flawed, such that the voting always favours the BN party. I do not profess to be an expert in these areas, but from the little that I understand; “mal-apportionment” means the unequal allocation of seats to the various constituencies. By right, the number of seats allocated to each constituency should be proportional to its population size; instead the government has under-represented the number of seats in the opposition-dominated areas while over-represented the number of seats in the BN strongholds. For instance, Chin Huat posted in his blog that in the 2004 election, Putrajaya returned a parliamentary seat with only 5079 voters while Kapar (about 100km away) did so with 104,185 voters. “Gerrymandering”, on the other hand means redrawing the boundaries of a constituency so that the new constituency favours a particular party or candidate, typically the one in power. For more details, you can refer to this article.

Because of these systemic flaws, it is no wonder that opposition party leader (DAP), Lim Kit Siang kept emphasizing the need to destroy political hegemony in this coming general election. The phrase ‘makkal sakti’ has been coined to emphasize that the country’s ruling should be based on people’s power, not by the manipulation of the democratic system to gain majority votes. Unless these flaws are rectified, our voting will always be skewed towards the BN party, making it a lot harder for the oppositions to win over.

Are we in a catch-22 situation? You decide for yourself.

C-H-A-N-G-E

 

Change: the very word that draws resistance. Not many people like to leave their 'comfort zone' to walk through unchartered territories. Most would live each day trying to maintain the status quo. Yet, history has proven time and again that in order for nations to progress, reformations to occur, things to happen, change must take place.

Recently, the political stage around the globe has been dramatically shaken. Oppression, poverty, social injustice, corruption and dictatorship have taken their toll on many. While those in authority refuse (or fail) to address the outcries of the affected segments, for fear of compromising their power and status; the others are becoming more and more aggressive in venting their anger and disproval of the present governance. One may view these groups as advocates for trouble, but without them, change will never occur.

Australia has recently witnessed some significant changes with the newly-formed Labour government under the leadership of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. A public apology was finally made to the aboriginals for the pain of the 'Stolen Generations', after so many years of ignorance. The Kyoto protocol to reduce carbon emission by 2012 was ratified, in a concerted effort to fight global warming. Besides, Australia is also working towards improving social justice and industrial relations by increasing funds to the homeless and replacing the Howard's Workchoices. On the global scale, the government is planning to pull out the Australian troops in Iraq as well as to strengthen economic ties with China. This is change!

America has also recently seen a beacon of light with the emergence of Illinois senator Barack Obama with his “message of change”. The Bush government has made several miscalculated judgments during his reign, notably the US-led invasion of Iraq which has drawn several oppositions around the globe. Also, despite being one of the greatest consumers of energy, America has refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol, making it the only major developed country that is yet to join the pact. As long as the Republican still rules America, one can only expect the situations to exacerbate. Will Obama be able to deliver his promise of change, should he be elected President of the United States come this November? One can only hope; and to hope is certainly better than not to.

Now lets talk about something closer to home, the Malaysia’s 12th general election. Having been ruled by the coalition party, Barisan National for over 50 years now, how much change have we witnessed? Are we satisfied with the developments thus far? Could a different government do better? Our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, has always talked about ‘report card’. I guess it’s time we start evaluating the country’s report card to see how far we have progressed since 1957. While I don’t deny that several improvements have been made to the economic and social environment, some persistent problems remain unresolved. Corruption is rife, racial segmentation is prevalent, public delivery system is deplorable…just to name a few.

I was personally impressed when I first read the 9th Malaysian Plan, among which is to develop 1st class mentality (Islam Hadhari concept), to improve the public delivery system, to fight corruption as well as to curb socio-economic inequalities. But no matter how good a plan is, it remains only a plan until it is being executed. Four years have gone by, but what have we accomplished? Frivolous efforts were made, but to no avail. Could DAP, PAS or PKR do better should they be elected? I don’t think so; at least not for now. Then why vote for them? To increase the voice of the oppositions in order to pressure BN to move. One will often not budge until he is challenged. And our government certainly needs that now.

In conclusion, I wish to quote a significant dialogue between the father and the son in the movie ‘Ratatouille’. The father has just shown the son an appalling scene of dead rats hanging on the wall. He warned his son not to get too close to the humans or he’ll end up being one of the victims. Here is how the dialogue goes:

Son: No dad, I don’t believe it. You are telling me that the future is…and can only be more of this?

Dad: This is the way things are, you can’t change nature.

Son: Change is nature, dad…the part we can influence…and it begins when we decide (and he started to walk away)

Dad: Where are you going?

Son: With luck, FORWARD!

All the best Malaysia!

Is God fair?

When we were conducting the Leadership Training Course last Saturday,one question raised by the participants was about the fairness of God. Just because a person does not believe in Jesus, he cannot go to heaven no matter how good he lives his life. I myself struggle with the Calvinism teaching on the 'unconditional election' and 'limited atonement'. Did God predestine whom to be saved? Isnt this unfair when we take a first glance at it? And yet in 2 Chronicles 19:7 we read that "...with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery".

Now,lets talk about fairness in more detail. God created men and women after his own image, and gave them a freedom to choose. But they chose to rebel against God. We can blame Adam and Eve for the original sin, but are we any better? Would we also make the same mistake if we were the first person God creates? We were by nature objects of wrath (Eph 2:3). The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jer 17:9) We have all missed the mark of perfection.

The bible says that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) So is it fair if God chooses to do nothing at all and leave us to the path of damnation? I think it is. He created us without blemish or defect but gave us the freedom to choose, and we chose to turn away from Him. And now we have to pay for the consequences of our sins, that is fair!

Here is when grace comes in. By definition, grace is an unmerited favour: God giving us what we dont deserve. If God chooses to save some and not the others, He is still fair because we have already established that God is fair even if He chooses to fold his arms and do nothing bout our salvation.

I know this is hard to digest on our human level. But if we were to question God's fairness, let me just say that it is COMPLETELY UNFAIR for Jesus to die for our sins, and yet he chose to do it.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I was once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. Lets ponder over this amazing grace as Easter approaches.

Closed Brethren

I sat next to this guy in the plane on my way back to Melbourne 3 weeks ago. Had a pretty interesting conversation with him regarding God and brethren stuffs. Guess the world is pretty small after all, he attends a church at South Okleigh runs by uncle Oh Boon Lian's son (those of u from Elim should know who I am talking about). It's a closed brethren church, pretty much like Paramount Gospel Hall in Msia.

Here are some interesting issues we talked about:

1. U must be baptized before u are accepted into their church (though he agrees that baptism does not save u)
2. Newcomers who attend their church must sit at the back rows-separate from the other believers
3. Women cannot participate in worship
4. The use of musical instruments are seen as bringing worldly influence into the worship-which makes it unnecessary (though he says its not absolutely wrong).
5. We'll have the same physical body in heaven as on earth (He wasnt sure of this though)
6. That all supernatural gifts (ie tongues, prophesies) have seized since perfection came: which he claims is the bible, not the 2nd coming of Christ. Reason for this is because the greek word refers perfection to an inanimate object (Pls enlighten me those of u who study greek!)

What I gathered out of this chat with him is this:
1. Firstly, he is very knowledgeable in the Word (he just quoted scriptures offhand)and he basically knew every passage of the Bible that I refered to, considering that he is a pretty new Christian (bout 2 years old I think)
2. He is very firm with the closed brethren's teachings, some of which were mentioned above, and he regarded their interpretation of the bible as the right one (claiming that they read in context, and studied the original language).

While I admire his knowledge, but I also disagree with several teachings that their church holds fast to (albeit being a brethren myself). Are those issues merely human's interpretation, tradition or really the truth? Something for us to think about...

We exchanged contacts, and he invited me to his church. Oh well, we havent been in contact since then.

The slumber is over!

The worst thing about sleeping is that u have to wake up. The worst thing about holidays is that it's going to end.

It seems only a moment ago when I was packing my stuffs, looking forward for a "looong" holiday in malaysia. And today I wake up, only to find that it's over. Time flies, if u havent already relised that.

It's been awhile since I last blog. Retreats, meetings, orientation, cleaning house, preparing for uni reopens, working...that basically summarizes what I've been doing since coming back to melbourne.

I am anticipating a busy year ahead, one fill with challenges. All I have to do now is to keep my mind focus, pressing on towards the goal which is ahead of me, and to do the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Phew, the slumber is over!!

IMPOSSIBLE

I remember my previous cg leader, Peter Chang, asked us this question a long time ago: what do see in the word 'IMPOSSIBLE'?

Here are some interesting answers we got:
1. Impossible lol...(duh)
2. I-M-POSSIBLE
3. You can see the possible in the imPOSSIBLE (but you cant see the impossible in the possible)

I particularly like a scene in 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' where the defendent made her final appeal to the court. And I quote her, 'Facts leave no room for doubt. But this trial is about possibilities'. The prosecutor failed to establish any concrete facts that Emily's strange illness was caused by epilepsy or pyschosis. He also could not ascertain that Emily's failure to continue with her medication resulted in her death. When all facts were exhausted, the trial could only explore the possibilities. It may be 'outlandish' to assign spiritual forces as the cause of Emily's illness in a courtroom setting (a court only corroborates empirical evidence), but does this make it 'impossible'?

It is interesting to note how different people view a situation. The bottle could be half empty to some (the pessimists) or half full to others (the optimists). Even in the toughest situation, some people can see the possibilities.

In Mat 19:26, Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." When faced with a seemingly impossible situation, look to God, and you will see the possible in the impossible.

Unbelievable (Impossible?), believe it!

6 Guiding Principles in Doubtful Situations

Can I go clubbing? Is smoking wrong? What about drinking? These are few examples of questions often asked by Christians. Some would call them the 'grey areas'. Oswald Sanders listed 6 questions which we could ask ourselves when in doubtful situations like these, in his book 'Problems of Discipleship'.

1. Will it bring glory to God?
"So whether u eat or drink or whatever u do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31)

2. Is is profitable?
"Everything is permissible"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"-but not everything is constructive. (1 Cor 10:23)

3. Does it edify?
"...for building u up rather than pulling u down..." (2 Cor 10:8)

4. Does it tend to enslave?
"...Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything"
(1 Cor 6:12)

5. Will it strengthen me against temptation?
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
(Mat 6:13)

6. Is it characteristic of the world or of the Father?
For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he does-comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:16)

Lets take clubbing for instance...Will I, by going clubbing, stumbles another brother? Will I be exposing myself to temptations (ie lust of the eyes, drunkeness)? Could I possibly be addicted? How can I benefit from it? Am I bringing glory to God in anyway, or just merely satisfying my worldly cravings?

I could not give a direct 'yes' or 'no' answer to whether we should go clubbing or not. But ask yourselves those questions, and make a wise decision. You may find that the world is not so grey after all.

Jesus, fully God or fully man?

During an inter-faith dialogue which I attended a few weeks ago, one probing question that the muslims raised was concerning the dual nature of Jesus Christ. How can one be fully God and fully man at the same time? The theory of noncontradiction tells us that we cannot 'be' something and 'not be' at the same time. If Jesus is God, then he cannot be man, because man is not God.

The complexity of the trinity is indeed hard to comprehend. Even theologians over the centuries, could not give a definite description of the Godhead. One seemingly reasonable argument is as follows:

In Phi 2:7, we read that Jesus 'stripped himself of all privilege' (PHILIPS), 'made himself of no reputation' (KING JAMES) or 'emptied himself' (RS). Emptying is derived from the Greek word 'kenosis'. Bishop Gore argued that Christ emptied himself of some divine qualities (ie. omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience) when he became incarnate, while retaining his moral attributes (ie. justice, holiness, love).

However, this argument is flawed in a few ways. Firstly, if Christ has reduced some qualities of deity, he cannot be fully God. Secondly, if Jesus has renounced his divine knowledge, he could not claim that all his teaching is from God, thus rendering some of his teaching to be fallible. Besides, Jesus did show that he possessed some divine qualities by commanding the storm to cease. He also knew that Lazarus was dead before being told.

The road seems to be heading towards dead end when J.I. Packer in his book 'Knowing God' enlightened me with an interesting way of looking at the Godhead. The keyword here is 'total submission'. And I quote him, 'it is not so much one of deity reduced as of capacities restrained'.

The Son (Christ) does not act 'independently' as a divine person, but as a 'dependent' person who thinks and acts only as the Father (God) directs (John 6:38). The Son's knowledge and actions are bounded by the Father's will. Although he is co-equal with the Father in eternity, power and glory, he chooses to submit to the authority and good pleasure of the Father. The fact that he needed to eat and sleep is because the Father wills him to. Similarly, he did not know the time of his second coming because the Father wills that he does not possess that knowledge while he's still on earth. All he did was SUBMIT.

This may not be the best description of the trinity ever, but at least it sheds a new light to me on the dual nature of Christ. Is Jesus fully God or fully man? I would say, with all certainty, that he is both. And the key to this is his submission. If you are still in doubt, just marvel at the mystery....

God vs Ghost

All eyes were fixed, all ears were opened when my aunt shared of her encounters with the supernatural being-ghost. I can think of no better way to still the vibrant energies of 17 excited souls during CNY than a conversation involving ghosts. Before long, everyone started recalling their own experiences. If only a classroom can reproduce such attentiveness and responsiveness from its audience...

The subject about ghost has fascinated many as far as time can tell. Almost everyone believes, to a certain extent, their existence. I hear people saying, "Even though I am a 'free thinker' (a word which I dont quite understand...can one really be free in his thinking?), I dont mess with ghosts because they are real." Another one says that even though she's afraid of the subject, she wants to hear it nevertheless.

It makes me wonder why people are so intrigued by the topic of ghosts, and less so with God, when both involve the supernaturals.

One reason could be the fact that ghosts manifest themselves in a more obvious form compared to God, who often reveals Himself through scriptures and testimonies of the saints. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.

Secondly, the element of fear also piques the curiosity of human beings. We may not have the guts to join Fear Factor, but this does not stop us from watching the participants deal with their fears. People fear ghosts more than they fear God. This lack of fear and reverence for God is becoming more evident in today's society, even among Christians.

The subject of God (or theology) becomes more like a discussion of the intellectuals. While laymen thrill themselves in ghostly talks...

Moderate or Extreme?

When ask to fill up a feeback form, very rarely will I tick the extreme columns. It seems so hard for me to give an 'excellent' or 'very bad' in my evaluation.

I am interested in many things. Guitar, piano, badminton, photography and travelling to name a few. But I am not passionate enough to pursue them. In fact, I am good in many things, but not an expert in any. 'Jack of all trades, master of none'.

When people ask if I like Chemical Engineering, I would answer 'I dont hate it, neither do I like it. It's OK!' Until now, I still dont know why I chose what I chose.

Amidst a crowd of people, I would not go around socialising as some people do, nor would I hide in a lil' corner all by myself. Instead, I would find myself with a small company of friends.

These are but a few symptoms of a moderate person. One who hardly chooses the extremes. The line in the middle often (it's not ALWAYS though) takes precedence. Is this a good trait to behold? Maybe yes, maybe no. I dont know. I often envy the extremists....they seem so convinced of what they want. But then again, I'm glad I'm not as ignorant as them on 'the other side' of things.

If ever there is an extreme thing in my life, it would be the fact that I am extremely moderate...

Chaos or Cosmos?

When you read the title of this blog, you may get the impression that the words are chaotic, meaningless. They cannot be found anywhere in the dictionary. Yet, the surprising thing is that they are completely comprehensible.

The following paragraph explains how this works...

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amazing isn't it? The reason for this is because the words are not actually chaos, but rather cosmos. A cosmos is orderly, chaos is not. Cosmos requires a designer, chaos does not. R.C. Sproul says in his book 'The Consequences of Ideas' that we need to probe the elements of 'apparent' chaos to discover patterns of order that lurk beneath the surface.

In his famous book 'COSMOS', Carl Sagan affirms that the world is cosmos, not chaos. To say that life happens entirely by chance and the universe, with its intricacy and self-sustaining capability, comes into being solely from the 'Big Bang', would be almost impossible. The probability of such an event occuring would be lower than one striking a jackpot 7 times in a row, within a week.

Take a look around and you will see the hand-prints of The Designer all over. Chaos or Cosmos? I choose to believe the latter...

Conform or Differ?

Decisions are made everyday, some harder, some less. Before a decision is made, we must be in a state of dilemma. Very often, the underlying dilemma in a given circumstance involves the question of whether to conform or to differ. Should I keep up with the Joneses or be different?

I once told my brother that 'blogging is not my cup of tea'. My idea of blogging is one which involves sharing your life with the entire world, making known your lil' diary to the public. Most people do that, but I chose to differ.

But later on, I discover that blogging can do more than just that. Communities were formed based on similar interests, ideas were discussed, issues were raised, knowledge was gained. The power of the pen becomes more and more evident. I chose to conform this time.

Here I am, writing my first posting. Blogging, I'll give you a try...