Owner: Joie de Vivre URL:http://www.sicarii.net Join Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:43:28 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A Wretched Man's Quest To Follow In Jesus Christ's Footsteps Site statistics:Click here
Being Acquitted Of Sins 2007-10-08 04:52:47 Have you ever faced or imagined this scenario where you stand before a judge in court, and they read out all the charges to you and you stand in trepidation wondering what sort of punishment will be meted out against you?
I have.
Now I have never been to court to answer a charge prior to a few months’ back, but I was served summons to appear in court for non-payment of some fees I owe to the Town Council during the time when I was desperately unemployed for more than 6 months.
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Where Does The Bible Teach That? 2007-10-07 01:45:36 I just watched a sermon at a church’s web site, and have been frantically searching for the Biblical basis for what the pastor preached on tithing and prayer.
To emphasize the point, the reading was taken from Malachi chapters 1 and 3.
Anyhow, one point that the pastor made about how men can have their prayers answered was that they need to present gifts to their wives (which is one form of honoring one’s wife).
Excuse me, but what?
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Come, Let Us Pray 2007-10-06 00:45:47 Shabbat Shalom.
This Shabbat, I have learned of two prayer requests that I hope you will help bring to God our Father in your prayers.
Two of my dear sisters and a brother are facing trials in their lives right now, and they need all our help to bring their cares unto the Father in prayer.
I hope, that even if you don’t know them, that you include them in your prayers, for we are one body in Christ Jesus, and our prayers are like unto God a sweet incense when we pray together.
Michelle’s daughter Jacqui is terribly sick, and I know how much Jacqui is precious to Michelle and a blessing unto her. Shalene and Bobby are facing a difficult pregnancy; they have been so happy about this pregnancy but now there have been some uncertainties.
Lord God our Father,
We give praise unto you for you are God who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, the stars to shine, the sun to shine, and by your word everything came into being. You are Lord of all that is in the heavens, and on the ea
How Great It Is To Be Saved By Grace, Not Works! 2007-10-05 01:22:16 I just came across this story of A.J. Jacobs, an agnostic, who did the crazy thing of trying to follow all of the rules set out in the Bible in a single year.
Did you know that there are, apparently, more than 700 rules ranging from the familiar “Love thy neighbor as thyself” to the more obscure part about not trimming one’s beard?
Jacobs’ experience will be published in a book titled The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, which will be in bookstores Oct 9, 2007.
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Read more:Great
, Grace
, Works
The Silent Majority Speak Up 2007-10-18 21:52:33 And it’s about time too!
As an apparent and deliberate response to an ongoing public online campaign calling for Section 377A to be repealed, a group in Singapore calling itself “the Majority
” has set up a website with an open letter to the Prime Minister urging for the retention of the law instead.
Section 377A states that homosexual acts between men is a punishable crime. If apprehended and charged in a court of law, the guilty can be sentenced to a maximum of 2 years’ imprisonment.
In the letter, the group notes that
Section 377A is a reflection of the sentiments of the majority of society. Most Singaporeans hold conservative family values and do not accept homosexuality as the norm. Repealing Section 377A is a vehicle to force homosexuality on a conservative population that is not ready for homosexuality.
No doubt there will be detractors wondering if the group has the right to call itself “the Majority” or to claim to truly represent the “ Read more:Silent
Our Rewards When We Overcome 2007-10-18 11:06:58 Have you ever wondered what rewards we shall all receive if we are the faithful who overcome the evils and the trials and tribulations of the Last Days?
I was reading Revelation (again!) just last night, and it’s funny that this thought has never come into my meditations on Revelation before.
Before we continue, I must first state that this came to me at this moment when I am facing a little crisis where I am struggling a little in my walk with God, so I have absolutely no doubt that this is God speaking to me and telling me about His promises to me and all of us when we overcome.
And I must also share with you this little bit of information before I move on to the rest of the post — that during the past few days whenever I flip open the Bible it will, without fail, open to a passage about sin and faith whether it’s in the Old or New Testament.
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Read more:Rewards
I’m An INFJ 2007-10-18 03:36:05 I just took this personality test (props to Robert at Mulled Vine for sharing), and it seems that I’m an INFJ, or an “INtroverted Feeling Judging” person.
Some might not trust this kind of personality tests, but I personally feel it’s about 90% accurate about me.
Plus, looking at the names of the people who are also INFJs, it is no wonder that I’ve always thought I should adopt the name “Nathan” as my middle name (it’s true, as my wife will testify!).
Here’s what the test says about people like me who are “diagnosed” as INFJs (taken from the analysis page, which has a longer analysis as well if you wish to read more):
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When Things Go Well, We Forget 2007-10-15 12:36:01 I was having an MSN chat over lunch with a Christian acquaintance and we were just asking each other how life was.
It seems that both of us are doing alright.
Then he asked me this — how do you keep God continually in your life when things are going all fine and dandy? Because it seems that we usually only call upon the Lord when things aren’t going well.
I didn’t have a straight answer for him, because to be honest, I am often guilty of the same sin that Israel of old was.
Forgetting God when things are going fine.
It also reminded me of a lesson I learned a long time ago, when I first backslided and asked my Bible Study leader why I was facing so much trouble, that sometimes the trials and tribulations we face are there not just to test us and make us stronger, but also to bring us back to Him.
Our God is faithful indeed, even when we are unfaithful!
While we are beaten by the trials, we will be strong in our prayers, in our thanksgiving and in our faith, and God w
Conviction In Speech And Actions 2007-10-23 10:11:51 I saw the following video on Daniel’s blog and, after watching it, immediately agreed that it’s so true that most of us nowadays do not really speak with conviction when it comes to defending our faith.
Yea, you might see some people you know or have come across in the video. Perhaps you will even see yourself in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4
So why are we so afraid to speak our mind?
I can think of two good reasons:
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Read more:Conviction
, Speech
, Actions
An Abundant Life 2007-10-21 03:00:03 I have been seeing and hearing this verse in my head throughout a good part of the past week. It’s in my head when I ride on the train to work and on the way home from work, it’s in my head when I read the Bible and am compelled to turn to it, and it’s in my head so often I cannot but already etch it deep into both consciousness and sub-consciousness.
Now, I don’t know why God is reminding me so strongly of the verse but I know the reasons for it shall be revealed to me one day.
As I ask God for the “why”, I believe He has revealed to me the “how”.
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Read more:Abundant
Be Thou My Vision 2007-10-19 17:41:43 It is fast beginning a ‘tradition’ of sorts in our household that we have a song also for each Shabbat.
This Shabbat, as we rest let us (my wife and I) both share with you one of our favorite hymns of all time.
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord.
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not nor man’s empty gain,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven’s joy, O bright heaven’s Son
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
Shabbat Shalom.
Who Am I? 2007-10-27 09:43:03 This is now my favorite song and I’ve been repeating it ad nauseum on GodTube. Just read the lyric and meditate on them; I hope they touch you as much as they did me.
Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.
Bridge:
Not because of who I am,
But because of what you’ve done.
Not because of what I’ve done,
But because of who you are.
Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I’m calling,
Lord, you catch me when I’m falling,
And you’ve told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.
Not because of who I am,
But
God’s Love And The Family 2007-10-26 02:46:58 It has been a really busy week at work and I do apologize for the lack of updates to the blog. And I must also apologize if I haven’t visited some of your blogs till recently because of the hectic schedule.
Being quite occupied with work doesn’t mean I haven’t got things whirling in my head on what the Christian life is and one of the things that spoke most to me this week was God’s plan for the family, which I shall share with you today.
Do you ever wonder why God made man and woman and ordained the institution of marriage, along with the commission to be fruitful and multiply, i.e. have children?
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Read more:Family
Summer Is Nigh: Are The Watchmen Awake? 2007-10-31 10:37:53 I have come across many Christians, though strong in their faith and their obedience to the LORD, are not keen on reading or watching the daily news with regards to events happening in the world today.
It’s important to be joyful and fill one’s heart with the fullness of the LORD and fellowship and prayer and even to go out to the streets to evangelize, but do you know also that we are the Watchmen? And without knowledge of what is happening in the world, especially in the Middle East, we cannot be effective watchmen!
Do you know what Iran is doing? Can you put down in point form what Condoleeza Rice is proposing in the Middle East with regards to our beloved Israel and the “Palestinians”? On which day did Israel become a nation again?
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Read more:Summer
Goodbye U2, John Mayer And Others… 2007-11-04 10:38:29 Bono of U2 left, along with John Mayer
and a host of others just this afternoon. Well, they left not of their own free will, but because I decided that it was time to kick them out.
Out of my iTunes collection.
You see, I just did a purge of all secular music from my iTunes library and have invited musicians like Don Moen, Paul Baloche, Paul Wilbur and groups like MercyMe and Casting Crowns to take up residence in their stead.
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Read more:Goodbye
, Others
, John Mayer
My Wife, The Biblical One 2007-11-04 05:48:45 Some who know me well will know that I get very riled up when I see Israel sinning and her leaders giving away land that is rightfully God’s in exchange for false peace. I feel indignant when Israel is being condemned and maligned, and when the world turns a blind eye to her troubles.
Nowadays, my wife will be the one to calm me down with these words “Dear, if these things don’t happen, how then shall what God has ordained to happen come to be then?” (I am paraphrasing a little here, but the essence is there).
This coming from a woman who used to scoff at my “doomsday prophet” sayings as she used to call them, ha ha!
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Read more:Biblical
This Made Me Sit Up 2007-11-03 10:31:32 Have you ever been stumped and just left speechless by some of the ‘little’ nuggets of information and wisdom given to us by God in the Bible?
Here’s a confession: I often try to skip the genealogies in the Bible because, well, sometimes they can be a little dry. I did read the one in Genesis 5 and the one in Matthew 1 but that’s just about it.
However, I watched this little nugget of information presented by Steve Hadley, a pastor at Harvest Family Fellowship in Reno and when the punchline was presented near the end of the video, I was just simply floored.
Watch it, and I think you’ll be as amazed and simply flabbergasted as I am!
Our God is an AWESOME GOD indeed!
Halleluyah!
Let All The Earth Sing His Praises 2007-11-03 03:28:16 I love it when I come across music videos showing how all the people of the earth who love the Lord, though of different races and from different cultures but all of one voice, come to sing praises to Him and dance to celebrate His glory and majesty!
Here’s our meditation this Shabbat:
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
– Galatians 3:26-29 (KJV)
Hallelu et Adonai! Amen, and amen!
If you love Messianic praise music as much as I do, check out Ted Pearce, a former atheist who came to give his life to the Lord Jesus Christ and today composes and sings some of the most amazing Messianic praise music.
Read more:Earth
What In The World Are They Doing?! 2007-11-01 22:06:55 Has the pastor and his congregation lost their minds?
Listen up, Mr. Fred Phelps, our Lord Jesus Christ came to save the lost, not condemn them! And you are there with your daughters and the congregation that you lead doing exactly the opposite — condemning those who actually needs His forgiveness, comfort, and love most.
Did you think that by doing this that you are the light and salt of the earth?
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Read more:World
Her Song 2007-11-10 09:47:37 My wife requested that this song be our song of the Shabbat recommendation, and I agree with her totally, so here’s Hillsong with Hosanna:
Listen especially to the bridge, which I love.
On another note, my apologies for the lack of a voice at the moment; I’ll get to answering all your comments and a post soon as I am rested from a most strenuous week.
Shabbat Shalom from both of us to you and your loved ones.
Pre-destination Or Free Will? 2007-11-08 05:15:05 This whole debate on whether we have free choice to choose to believe in God or if He is the one who has chosen us prior to even our existence came into being is always an interesting topic, isn’t it?
Just yesterday during some down-time in our training schedule, I had one such interesting discussion with a couple of my platoon mates both of whom are Roman Catholics.
As it happens, we were having some pretty interesting discussions on what was happening in the world today and somehow the topic swung in the direction of faith and the question of whether we are pre-destined to believe in Christ Jesus or was it free choice that led us to Him?
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Lunchtime Discourse On Israel 2007-11-06 09:47:59 Today is the first day of my annual reserve duty or in-camp training with the Singapore Armed Forces. Once again I’ve somehow been drawn to be part of the advanced party with the officers and appointment leaders though I am just an NCO. Oh well…
Just a little background for those unfamiliar with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and this in-camp training obligation.
All able-bodied male citizens aged 18 or above have to serve in the Armed Forces for a mandatory period of 2 years (2.5 years in my time), after which they are discharged but are bound by law to report for duty and re-training every year till they are 40 years of age. Each training period can last up to 40 days by law.
With the background out of the way, what was interesting was that I had a nice little discussion with some fellow Christians over lunch about Israel
, particularly about the Israel Defense Forces.
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Read more:Lunchtime
, Discourse
In Pursuit Of A Christian Life 2007-11-20 04:34:46 How should a Christian
behave? How does one who is Christian seek to achieve living a life that is holy just as God our Father is holy?
There are so many guides and books out there that purport to teach Christians to live Christian lives. Some go as far as to read and follow a non-Biblical book written by a man who obviously has no fear of nor respect for God in his heart called “The Purpose-Driven Life”.
Not surprisingly, many new “modern” churches that seek to please the feeler-seeker crowd adopt it wholesale into their curriculum. To them, Christian living is no longer about God first others second, me last, but me first with God as just a facilitator and dispenser of favors. They talk about giving to God so that they can receive many-fold returns on ‘investment’ (ROI). Then there’s all these new-fangled New Age teachings that are creeping into the churches like breathing exercises and so on.
What in the world?!
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You Should Visit These Sites 2007-11-19 04:49:24 Though I have been too tired to blog in the latter part of last week, I have been spending time reading my favorite blogs and checking out new sites. It is something I haven’t done for some time now, just letting the mouse clicks take me to both duds and gems.
I have here three gems that I’d love to share with you; and I hope that you will find them enjoyable as much as I did.
Hebrew4Christians.com
I love, love, love Hebrew4Christians.com because I have always wanted to learn Hebrew. So far I have been able to catch a few words and trying hard to memorize the Hebrew alphabet, but I have also been blown away by how beautiful Hebrew is (to me at least).
And the best thing about the site is that it has Hebrew audio files of Biblical blessings and prayers like the Aaronic blessing, the Lord’s Prayer, and even Psalm 23!
There are also great articles on the Shabbat, the relationship between the Church and Israel, whether Christians should be circumcised, and interesting top Read more:Sites
What Would Jesus Say… To Me? 2007-11-18 11:30:10 This is a really interesting meme to do, and I have to thank Rachel much for it.
It is interesting because it got me thinking about a lot of issues in my life that I know the Lord will definitely want to sit me down and talk to me about. But perhaps the biggest thing that popped into my mind was this: will I even recognize the Lord if He came up to me today?
Perhaps not.
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Read more:Jesus
Blessed By Accolades 2007-11-17 11:04:23 Since I started blogging, I’ve been blessed with fellowship with some of the greatest people that shout out our Lord’s name in their blogs. And I am humbled by their generosity and constant encouragement in recognizing my little blog with two accolades that I know I don’t personally deserve, but belong to God alone.
As I wrote in a comment thanking Casey for giving me the Prudent Power Award, it is because that God is the author of truth in His Word that I am able to shout out the Truth. For we ourselves are without light till His light shines in us.
In return, I am going to pass it on to these Christian blogs that have touched my walk with God in so many positive ways:
Carol at The Bible Thumper’s Soapbox
ChannelofHealing
FreeIndeed
King’s Kid at Just the WORD Please!
Daniel at Reformata et Semper Reformanda
Sidharth at TWJ Ministries
Mike at Simply A Night Owl
There’s another award I’ll love to pass on, with much thanks to Michelle at In t Read more:Blessed
Where Have You Been?! 2007-11-17 09:30:23 I am sure that’s just about the number one question from some of my friends and readers of my blog this past week.
Honestly, I have been spending a good part of Friday afternoon and a great part today sleeping because I had only 4 hours of sleep in total from early Monday morning to Wednesday night.
And though I am one who always believes in keeping the mind young despite what my physical age is, my body is always the wet blanket at the party reminding me of just how much age has caught up with my ability to recover from strenuous activity like a once-a-year military exercise.
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From KJV To ESV 2007-11-25 08:50:43 For a long time now I’ve only been referring to the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible for reading, learning and quotes. At the same time, I was looking around for a modern English translation that I can use.
Finding one that is almost as reliable as the KJV isn’t easy.
Today, there are so many Bible translations on the shelf that picking one isn’t an easy choice. While some say that there’s no point in being picky so long as you can understand what you read, I beg to differ.
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Israeli-Palestinian “Peace” 2007-11-24 03:00:46 I know many brothers and sisters whose hearts are now heavy for Israel ahead of the “peace” summit in the coming week. We gnash our teeth and cry out for Israel to be strong and not let be taken in by promises of false peace.
Yet I tell you, that by the Word of God all these things shall have to come to be. So let not your hearts and spirits be troubled, but be encouraged that God is surely bringing to fruition His promises and He shall be for His people Israel.
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Read more:Israeli
, Palestinian
, Peace
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