Why Do We Fast?
2007-09-09 23:27:51
I have to admit: I have never ever fasted. Not once, not even for a short duration of time.
However, I have been giving it some thought. Not fasting itself per se, but the act of fasting.
Just the other day in the study, my wife popped her head past her monitor, looked at me and asked, “Dear, why do Christians fast?”
(We have 2 PCs in the house, both set up opposite the other back-to-back)
Honestly, I was stumped and couldn’t give her an answer simply because I have never done it, nor really explored this aspect of faith and prayer. In the end, I had to ashamedly fire up Google for a few good articles on why Christians fast.
The Bible seems to indicate that fasting is not only good, but quite necessary for faith.
In Matthew 17, we find that the Apostles were unable to cast out a demon while Jesus was away. When they asked our Lord Jesus Christ why they couldn’t, Jesus replied:
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you,
A Love Letter
2007-09-09 12:26:02
Here’s inspiration and encouragement for the week ahead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dksXPBCl_I
God bless, and Shalom!
Encouragement, Father, God, Inspiration, Love
Read more: Letter
, Love Letter
The Faith To See It Through
2007-09-09 01:48:59
Often we pray to God and set forth our requests for His help in many things, but when God answers them, have you ever considered that it will take continued faith and trust in God to see your prayers fulfilled?
Many pray and fast for some aspect of their lives to be changed, but when God does start changing those aspects of their lives, they falter.
Simply because they start doubting thereafter when they face trials and opposition, with little faith that God shall see them through.
In Matthew 14, we read of the account of our Lord Jesus Christ walking on water.
(more…)
Faith
, Risk, Trust, Walking on Water
Speed Linking — Week of 9 Sep 2007
2007-09-08 13:55:16
It’s Sunday, and time for a round-up of my favorite blog posts over the past week:
Run! He’s Going to Shoot! Not!
The big news in Singapore the past week has been that of the National Service (NS) man who managed to get away from his camp while on guard duty with his service rifle — a SAR21 — and an estimated 5 rounds of ammunition.
Naturally the local blogosphere was abuzz with many taking the copy and paste approach to ‘reporting’ the news on their blogs. Quite a good number were also adding fuel to the fire by speculating why the NS man, Dave Teo, would do that, with many pushing forward outrageous and childish alarms which I shan’t repeat here.
(more…)
blogging, Central Provident Fund, Christianity, CPF, Cycling, National Service, Opposition Party, PAP, Parody, Peoples Action Party, Podcasts, Politics, satire, Savings, Singapore, Speed
Linking
, Workers Party
Men Being Criminalized As Sexual Predators
2007-09-08 10:49:38
What’s happening to this world of ours, really?
In this series of reports at the Wall Street Journal, Jeff Zaslow examines the phenomenon where men are so readily criminalized as sexual predators in the United States to the extent that many men today are afraid of being seen with children.
Citing three men as examples, Zaslow amply illustrates how bad the situation is.
(more…)
Children, Men, Mens Rights, Safety, Sexual
Predators
, Wall Street Journal
Microsoft Zune Clobbers Apple’s iPhone
2007-09-07 13:52:43
I don’t usually write about technology but I thought I need to share this, badly.
As most of my friends and colleagues know, I totally dislike Microsoft
, and am a huge fan of Apple
.
So it almost comes as a surprise that I now say I am not going to get the Apple iPhone
if and when it arrives in Singapore, but the Microsoft Zune
.
For what other phone is there on the market that can provide the classic features that remind me so much of the 70s and 80s when I was growing up? You know, like the pulse dial, small little cube flashbulbs and Polaroids?
Ah… nostalgia, it’s a wonderful and powerful marketing hook, isn’t it?
Just check out these great features that the Microsoft Zune
offers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRKIDdIaFyE
Picture of Microsoft Zune taken off Technology-blog.com.
Apple, iPhone, Microsoft, Mobile Phone, Technology, Zune
Lesson In Faith From A Roman Soldier
2007-09-07 12:30:08
I was re-reading the Book of Matthew on the train yesterday evening on the way home from work, and in the Gospel of Matthew, I read of this account:
Matthew 8:5 (KJV) And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
Matthew 8:6 (KJV) And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Matthew 8:7 (KJV) And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Matthew 8:8 (KJV) The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Matthew 8:9 (KJV) For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Matthew 8:10 (KJV) When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Matthew 8:11 (KJV) And I say unto you,
Read more: Faith
, Roman
Picture Of The Pope That Made Me Go Hmm…
2007-09-07 10:06:08
I usually don’t post these short little posts that do nothing but showcase a picture, video or audio clip but (with much apologies to my readers) this is too funny to pass up.
The Protestant in me made me do it.
Christian, Humor, Pope, Protestant, Roman Catholic
Read more: Picture
Strangers At My Mother-in-Law’s
2007-09-07 01:25:00
Two strangers recently arrived at my mother-in-law’s, decided to make themselves really comfortable and stayed for good.
Both are Caucasians, blonde, and rather tall.
The man’s quite pleasing to the eye, and the woman, whom the man claimed to be his mother, looked young and couldn’t have been older than 25 years of age.
I must admit that though they intruded without as much as asking permission of my mother-in-law in any way, they are rather good guests. Their business was love, they claimed, and all they needed was a wall to hang themselves on.
(more…)
Christianity, Images, Ten Commandments
Read more: Strangers
Understanding The Symbols In The Book Of Revelation
2007-09-06 11:25:40
The world we live in is filled with symbols that are accepted universally and mean the same thing wherever we might be.
Traffic signs are a perfect example. When you see a triangular symbol which has a red border and an exclamation mark within, you recognize right away that that means danger is ahead.
The same applies to the symbolisms we find in the Bible and the Book of Revelation
. Throughout the ages, God utilizes symbols to make His message known; Our Lord Jesus Christ taught the multitudes with parables so that it is easy for people to quickly grasp the lessons behind the stories.
God doesn’t just speak to us using symbols, but provides us with the explanations so that we might understand what the symbols stand for. While some explanations immediately follow the introduction of the symbol, others require that you have a good knowledge of the Scriptures in order to understand what they mean.
Let’s start looking at some of the very basic symbols used in the Bible in gen
Read more: Understanding
Blessed Fellowship
2007-09-28 00:19:16
Dear Brother, Dear Sister,
I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I feel every time you leave me a comment with words of encouragement, or point me in the direction of truth, or join me in prayer.
Because since I started my blog in June, I have grown much in my faith in God and understanding of God’s Word, thanks to all your encouragement, support and most importantly, your friendship.
And it is amazing that though some of us are thousands of miles apart, there is so much common ground!
There are some people that I have never really thanked for all the encouragement and support that they have given me since day one, and I’d like to mention them here.
With a big, big hug, here’s my thanks to you all:
Casey at Casey’s Critical Thinking for all the encouragement and help. Thank you, brother, for even taking the time to help me troubleshoot problems with the blog crashing on some browsers.
ChannelofHealing at Channel of Healing for all the encouragement and k
Read more: Blessed
, Fellowship
Yes, I Am A Substance Abuser
2007-09-27 11:05:59
Writing about child abuse for the blogging event “Bloggers Against Abuse” prompted me to come clean about an aspect of my life that I am not really proud of.
I am a substance abuser.
In fact, to be brutally honest, there’s more than one substance — there’s tar, hydrogen cyanide, acetaidehyde, eugenol, formaldehyde, methanol, and a host of other chemicals. (more…)
Read more: Substance
, Abuser
They Know No Childhood
2007-09-27 01:21:44
Though I do not have children, nor consciously plan to have any, I am deeply concerned about the plight of children in parts of the world suffering from abuse, hunger, slavery and exploitation.
In the time you take to read this post, there would have been dozens of children around the world who would suffer all forms of abuse at the hands of people whom they thought loved them, and whom they had the utmost respect for.
And it all becomes a vicious cycle — research and studies have shown that children who have suffered one form of abuse or another are more likely to abuse both their own and other children when they themselves become adults.
About the most heinous form of abuse would be sexual abuse, because in as much as 90% of reported cases involving sexual abuse, the perpetrators are people that the child knows, trusts and respects.
Then there’s child labor and exploitation, where children in poor countries are lured, forcefully taken or worse, sold into all forms of sla
Read more: Childhood
Paul, The Hypocrite?
2007-09-26 03:01:15
Daniel at Messy Pastor mentioned that in our zeal to observe the Sabbath on the proper day as sanctified by God, we shouldn’t fall into the danger of still being bonded by the old Laws as did the Galatians.
Previously, I have written quite a lot on the importance of observing the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week just as God had sanctified it.
That led me to earnestly read Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
(more…)
Worshipping Idols
2007-09-25 03:01:33
We often think of idols as graven images of humans or animals fashioned by machines or human hands and which people worship.
Yet, here’s another definition of idols that I was just mulling over.
You see, in a broader sense, idols can be anything in our lives that takes us away from serving God with all our minds, our hearts and our souls.
(more…)
Read more: Idols
A Most Powerful Testimony
2007-09-24 23:00:43
I love reading testimonies from other Christians.
Because nothing is more real and inspirational than reading about how God has worked miracles in someone’s life, turned it around, made it better or how they themselves overcame trials and tribulations in their lives.
Some think that their testimonies are nothing to shout about, but my belief is that no matter how mundane you think it is, your testimony shows just how God can work in anyone’s life.
(more…)
Read more: Testimony
Mega-Churches, Wealth, And Spirituality
2007-09-23 10:02:13
It is funny how just last week there was a talk about the topic of wealth as the world defines it.
First off, there was the buzz in the office that everyone should go get their Toto tickets because the prize money for the week was S$5 million (US$3.32 million).
I did not buy any tickets for the draw because I never had the habit of “buying hope” as I call it. Besides, I have never thought that I’d win one of the prizes — it is not in my personal history to have won anything that involved the ‘luck’ of the draw.
Then there was a letter in the Forum page of the national daily, The Straits Times, from a concerned parent about how mega churches adversely affect students, which naturally led to a rather lively debate on whether churches should be as rich as mega churches.
Now I don’t have anything against mega churches per se.
(more…)
Read more: Churches
, Wealth
, Spirituality
The Shabbat — It Is NOW An Issue
2007-09-22 03:03:05
Dear friends, have you read this?
No, no, don’t click it and go away yet! Let me first tell you what it’s about.
Pope Benedict XVI, at the end of his tour of Austria earlier this month, warned that the observance of Sunday worship was “not just a ‘precept’ to be casually adhered to, but a ‘necessity’ for all people.”
Did you notice he said that Sunday worship was a “necessity for all people“?
Does that send alarm bells ringing in your head? It did for me.
(more…)
Read more: Shabbat
Attacked
2007-09-21 22:08:05
My blog was down for a good many hours from last evening to early this morning (Singapore time, GMT +8) due to a Denial of Service attack on the data center where the blog is hosted.
It was a situation that I couldn’t do anything about that left me really frustrated, but I thank God for the fact that nothing was lost and things are back to normal now.
I just pray the attackers do find something better to do with their lives soon rather than launching such attacks on data centers.
Shabbat Shalom.
Read more: Attacked
Ee-Taow! Ee-Taow! The Mouk People Share Their Testimony
2007-09-20 12:42:27
I came across this video quite by accident, and it is simply amazing because it is just so inspirational.
I would strongly urge you to watch all 20 minutes of it, and see for yourself how a whole tribe believed unto salvation! It truly is awe-inspiring the belief and faith that God had put into the hearts of these people whom we will by our industrialized and “enlightened” societies call primitive and uneducated.
Watching it really reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:19-25 (KJV).
1 Corinthians 1:19 (KJV) For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1 Corinthians 1:20 (KJV) Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1 Corinthians 1:21 (KJV) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1 Corinthians 1:22 (KJV) For the Jews requi
Read more: Testimony
, Share
How Many Versions Are There Anyway?
2007-10-02 02:59:19
One of the many blessings my wife and I have received from my starting this blog is that today, she is again reading the Bible.
You see, as some of you might have known from my previous posts from way back, my wife comes from a Roman Catholic background but stopped believing in the church from a good time back.
So it was quite surprising that just last week, she told me that she’d like to start reading the Bible again and learn more. She also told me that she’d like me to lead in Bible study.
(more…)
Read more: Anyway
God Chooses Whom He Shall
2007-10-01 07:09:32
Many times I doubt if God has hearkened me to go into ministry and to be unto the lost and His flock a minister, because I know myself well. Yet since I was a young Christian, I have had this gnawing feeling inside me that I was called to work in ministry.
You see, I do not possess the hardiness that a ministry shall demand, for I am weak with the comforts of this world. And there are yet so many financial obligations that need be fulfilled and repaid, else litigation come upon me.
(more…)
How Often Do You Cast The First Stone?
2007-09-30 01:55:34
Some of my non-Christian friends have remarked that they don’t ever want to be Christians because they will turn into the most judgmental people on earth.
If someone does wrong according to the Word of God, many of us including myself can be, in the eyes of others, such nasty people who are quick to condemn and chastise, without thinking that we aren’t being good examples at all of God’s love and mercy, even unto us.
Just to sidetrack a little: Most times, when I am led to examine something in the Bible, I write them down and these then quite often become posts to remind myself of what I have learned.
(more…)
Read more: Often
, First
, Stone
A Greater Song
2007-09-29 12:54:45
It has been years since I have bought a single Gospel-oriented CD, but thanks to Shalene who has now earned the honor of being a great DJ (in my opinion at least), I added a new Gospel CD to my collection today.
Paul Baloche’s “A Greater Song”.
What drew me to Paul Baloche was the fact that I had the chance to sing one of his compositions “Your Name” at the church I visited on Shabbat a fortnight ago, and the song has become one of my favorites.
And when Shalene linked the YouTube version of it, I finally found out that Paul Baloche was the composer behind this wonderful song.
(more…)
Above All — Meditation For The Shabbat
2007-09-28 22:54:20
Lord Jesus, thou art
Above all powers, above all kings,
Above all nature and all created things.
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones.
Above all wonders this world has ever known.
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth,
There’s no way to measure what you’re worth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psp4ETP-I_0
1 Colossians 1:16 (KJV) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
1 Colossians 1:17 (KJV) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
1 Colossians 1:18 (KJV) And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
1 Colossians 1:19 (KJV) For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
1 Colossia
Read more: Meditation
, Shabbat
This Had Me In Stitches
2007-10-14 07:15:39
Presenting the CD set you have always wanted to own on the prosperity gospel.
Order today and receive a pair of gold plated prison chains! Hurry, limited time offer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUbkn882XBc
Tag, You’re It!
2007-10-13 05:00:30
I got tagged by Casey to reveal seven things about me that you do not already know, so here goes:
It used to be my ambition to be a radio disc jockey because I loved music so much. I actually had the Top 10 charts in the 80s clipped from magazines like Smash Hits and others.
I learned Japanese so that I could understand what the Japanese singers were warbling about when I was caught up in the Japanese music invasion in the mid-80s. Because of a lack of practice, I have lost most of my Japanese skills, but I can still write and read though understanding the words can take some time.
I prefer dogs to cats.
I spend more time in front of my PC than the television. About the only television programs I watch are House, CSI and CSI:NY, CNN, BBC News, and documentaries.
When I was a child, my parents got very exasperated with me taking apart every mechanical toy that my maternal grandmother gave me. I was trying to find out how they work, but could never find a way to put them back.
Though I
Thoughts On Repentance
2007-10-12 10:56:54
Except that we be cleansed and go to God our Father in perfect cleanliness, washed white as wool by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, God our Father will not accept our offerings nor hear of our prayers.
Isaiah 1:11 (KJV) To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isaiah 1:12 (KJV) When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isaiah 1:13 (KJV) Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isaiah 1:14 (KJV) Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Isaiah 1:15 (KJV) And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayer
What Say You To Decriminalizing Section 377A?
2007-10-10 10:57:17
The International press seems to have picked up the fact that hundreds of Singaporeans have signed a petition to ask the Government to decriminalize homosexual sex ahead of Parliamentary debates on Oct 22.
Though anal and oral sex between consenting heterosexual adults has been decriminalized recently, the same law, popularly known as Section
377A, continues to criminalize the same sex acts between homosexual men.
Homosexual men caught in the act can expect to be charged and serve a maximum of 2 years imprisonment.
I recently spoke to a few local Christians on what their stand is on the decriminalizing homosexual sex acts, and I actually didn’t get a unified response to the subject.
(more…)
Learning To Fear God
2007-10-09 02:59:35
Does the term “fearing God” equate respect for, and reverence of God?
This particular thought has been occupying most of my conscious thoughts on the train to and from work the past couple of days so I thought I would share what I’ve learned.
Today, many sermons focus on love, forgiveness, the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, grace, the end-times, etc, but I have read or heard very few on the fear of God.
Don’t get me wrong — it’s all good that we are learning about love, grace, forgiveness and even about the persecution that is to come, but there are very few teachings on the fear of God, and I wanted to learn more.
(more…)
Read more: Learning
|
Recommend Site To A Friend
