beyond myself

180

2011-12-02T15:31:00.001+08:00

The Mindset of Christ

2011-04-21T12:59:00.000+08:00

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:5-8

When we celebrate Easter, we’re not just celebrating a “story”, or just an event that happened 2000 years ago. Rather, we’re celebrating the accomplishments of a single person; Jesus Christ, who conquered death and hell for us. But beyond the story of the empty tomb is the remarkable story of a God, who was enthroned in majesty and glory, giving up His heavenly status and coming down in a form of a man, but not just any man, he became the lowest of all men, a servant. To imagine God serving us is like having the highest authoritative figure in our land such as our Prime Minister coming to wash our feet. Can you even imagine that? And worse, he subjected himself to punishments that were reserved for the worse of all people; slaves, traitors, and murderers.

If our only focus of the Easter story is Christ’s victory over death, then we’ve missed the more important points. While Christ conquering hell is important (it’s the foundation of our faith), its power is loss if we do not reflect that freedom which Christ have purchased for us in our lives. Jesus did not suffer and die on the cross so that we can continue sinning and live our own lives. Rather, He paid the high price so that we can be reconciled back to the Father, and start living for His will instead.

Paul in the passage above exhorts the church to have the mind of Christ. That means that we’re to act and live just has how Jesus lived here on earth. Paul said this in the following verses in Philippians 3:
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

My prayer for this Easter is that we can all have the mind of Christ. Let us strive to be more Christ-like in our thoughts, words and deeds; to the extent that the people around us can see Jesus living through us.

Christ's Resurrection Changes Everything!

2011-02-28T11:58:00.000+08:00

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. – 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

How would your life today be different if you were not a follower of Christ? Will your life be significantly different, in terms of your character, value systems, routine, and perception of life? Or would it be almost the same, minus the church attending on Sunday?

One of the biggest turn offs for non-Christians is seeing the hypocrisy in lives of Christians. So-called believers in Christ will say one thing but will do something that’s very contradictory. In events when life beckons our biblical reaction, such as, loss of: loved ones through death, financial properties through bad business factors, friends through betrayal, and own health through terminal or debilitating diseases, do we continue to proclaim in our words and deeds the peace of God that transcends understanding? Or do we panic, grumble, complain and murmur like everyone else? As Christian parents, do we prepare our children as though everything depends on their performance in education, or do we teach them about depending on God?

Paul in the passage above says that if the way we live our lives on earth is as though it’s the only one we have, then we are the most pitiful of all people. This means that if the hope of heaven is not real, then we should just enjoy all of life’s pleasure now because at the end, there’s nothing else. However, if the hope of heaven is real in our hearts, then the things on earth no longer become attractive because no matter how good it is, it can never compare with what we will have in heaven. This is the main reason why Paul declares over and over again, that to live is Christ, and to die gain. Why gain? Because he gets Christ in the fullness of His deity, being able to reign by His side for eternity.

I pray that God will enlighten your heart to His glory, and open the eyes of your heart so that you can truly see the riches we have in Christ Jesus.

Hearers and Doers

2011-02-17T14:11:00.000+08:00

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. – James 2:22-25

Sunday after Sunday, Christians around the world throng churches hoping to learn something from sermons that are shared from the pulpit. The 21^st century saw the explosion of information everywhere. At the tips of our fingers, we can get access via the internet to resources and knowledge that a man from a hundred years ago would only dream to attain. We have access to multiple versions and languages of the bible, along with its commentaries. Sermons today come in all forms of shape and medium. From podcast to videos of preachers teaching, all it takes a little know how to find these resources.

Yet, it’s interesting to see that despite the immense truth and revelations we can learn from these resources, we hardly almost see any, impact of these biblical principles on the lives of the believers. I believe that it’s possible that we can learn “too much” of the bible. I say this cautiously, as I’m not implying that we should tone down our thirst for biblical truths. Rather, I believe that it’s almost pointless that we study the bible but do not apply the truths in our lives. James warns us believers that if we only ‘listen’ to the word and not do anything about it, we are deceiving ourselves. Listening to a message about forgiveness does not exempt us from committing the sin of unforgiveness. Until unless we actively seek and pray that God reveal to us in our lives of any unforgiveness that we could be harboring, AND then make conscious efforts to forgive the people that God has reveal, we will then only be able to experience the blessing that James was referring. The same goes for all other biblical truths. May our lives move from just listening, but to deeds and actions. I pray that you will be encouraged to take this step of faith to review yourself, especially if you find yourself lacking in deeds in this area, and do what’s necessary to escape this deception.

A Life of Grace

2011-01-24T11:29:00.000+08:00

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” – Matt 18:32-35

As Christians, do we truly understand the price that was paid for our sins? Everything that we’ve done, either by word or deed, against God’s divine majesty was not only repulsive to God, but it broke the very heart of God. Understand that when God through His grace gave His only Son to pay the price for our wrongdoings, it was as though we giving up our own children or love ones to pay the price for Hitler’s (or some other very evil person’s) crimes.

While we now live this life of redemption, do our actions and speech reflect that grace? Or are we still judgmental to the people around us, where there prevails in us a sense of superiority that we are better than everyone else? Do we feel that our sins are ‘lesser’ than others, or instead, do we understand that in the eyes of God, even the best of our good works are like filthy rags (Isa 64:6)?

Instead, we’re called to live a life of grace. This grace should emanate from every aspect of our lives at every single moment to everyone around us. This would mean that regardless of whether we’re dealing with difficult people, or people that have hurt us before, our love for them should be that of the love of God for us. Do take time to pray and ask God to reveal our hearts in this area, and may He capture your heart again with His grace.

The Dangers of False Worship

2011-01-17T11:21:00.000+08:00

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”– 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Casual readers of the bible will tend to associate the verse above with the description of a non-believer. Truth be told, Paul was actually describing what the church itself will look like in the end times. In the last days, there will be a surge of people that will come into the church, but instead of giving up their old selves and surrendering their sins, they see church as a means to achieve some personal agenda, may it be for wealth, health, or status. Paul warned Timothy that people will be lovers of themselves instead of God and His will. Sadly, this is already happening, not just here, but all over the world.

When we worship God to songs such as “I surrender all” or “You’re all I need”, is that a true declaration of our hearts? We tread dangerous waters when we offer up half true words to God. Ananias in Acts 5 paid a high price when he wanted to be perceived for something he is not. My hope is that if our hearts are not truly surrendered to God, let us not mock God with such words. May we put an emphasis to get our hearts right so that we can offer up true worship (John 4:24) to Him.

Knowing The Voice of God

2011-01-10T11:30:00.000+08:00

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” – John 10:27-28

We live in the world today where it seems that just about everybody has a good idea, a great tip, or the best advice. From magazines to TV shows, from the radio to your next door neighbor, and from the Internet to your friends and families, one thing you can be sure is that these sources will have a solution to your problem. While not every advice given is bad, it’s not the best either. Also while we can make use of advices to help us get things done faster or easier, we need to be careful with advice that impacts us eternally.

Jesus said that His followers know His voice. When we’re making decisions that impacts our futures; decisions such as which course to study, which career to pursue, which person to marry and so on, how much of these decisions are surrendered to God for His will? Often, our habit it to make the decision first and then pray to get God’s approval.

I pray that our desire in 2011 will be to really know the voice of God in our lives. God promises us that as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Also, as we look for Him, He will reveal Himself to us. Let us change the way we pray of telling God what to do, and have a humbled heart that stoops before His presence, and say “Lord, what’s Your will for my life?”

May you experience this great privilege and enjoyment as you bask in His presence.

2011 Aspirations

2011-01-03T13:35:00.000+08:00

2010 came and went in a flash. Just like that. And today, I stand at the dawn of a new year. Will this year pass just as quickly? I guess that's not the point. More importantly is whether I can capitalize on the time given in this year, not just to do more, but to 'be' more.
So here's hoping and praying by faith that as God being my guide, He will lead into the things that He has planned for me. My prayer is that the desires within me to fulfill my own selfish needs will decrease, as His desires to bring His Kingdom's reign and rule through me will increase. I pray that I can faithfully live out the life as Paul said "To live is Christ, and to die gain."
Am I fearful? Yes. In fact, I'm trembling as I write this. But with God on my side, who or what can be against me?

So, what are your aspirations for 2011?

How He Loves - John Mark McMillan

2010-01-04T11:12:00.004+08:00

How He Loves Me - John Mark McMillan

The Call Nashville John Mark McMillan How He Loves

Pat Wise Craik | MySpace Video

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath
The weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize how beautiful you are
And how great your afflictions for me

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

Yea He loves us
Oh how

We are his portion
And he is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meats earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart burns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

Yea He loves us
Oh how

I thought about you
The day Stephen died
And you met me between my breaking
I know that I still love you God
Despite the agony
See people they want to tell me you're cruel
But if Stephen could sing
He'd say its not true
Cause you're good

Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)-By Chris Tomlin & Ed Cash

2009-12-19T23:31:00.002+08:00

Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)
By Chris Tomlin & Ed Cash

Intro (6/8)
A / | D/F# / | A/E / | D/F#
Verse 1
A D2
What hope we hold this starlit night
E2 Asus A
A King is born in Bethle - hem
A/C# D2
Our journey long we seek the light
A/E E7 A
That leads to the hallowed manger ground

Verse 2
D/A A D2
What fear we felt in the silent age
D Asus A
Four hundred years can He be found
A/C# D D2
But broken by a baby's cry
A/E E7 A
Re - joice in the hallowed manger ground

Chorus
D2/A A E A2/C# D D2
Em - manu - el, Em - manu - el
A/C# D A/E Esus E
God in - carnate here to dwell
A E A2/C# D2
Em - manu - el, Em - manu - el
A/C# D
Praise His Name ...
A/E E A / | D2/F# /| A/E /| D2/F# (Verse3)
1. Em - man - u - el
A/E E F#m7 (Coda)
2. Em - man - u - el

Verse 3
A D
The Son of God here born to bleed
E A
A crown of thorns would pierce His brow
A/C# D Bm7/D
And we beheld this offer - ing
A/E D2/F#
Ex - alted now the King of kings
Bm7 E7 A /|E/B D/A
Praise God for the hallowed manger ground

Coda
A/C# D
Praise His Name
D2 A/E E7 A / | D2/F# / (Tag)
Em - man - u - el

Tag
A E/A-A | D2/F# /
A D2/F#
O praise His name
A/E D2 A
Em - manu - el

Stupid facts

2009-10-29T11:01:00.002+08:00

Thursday comes before Friday..

Note to self

2009-05-25T11:43:00.001+08:00

Note to self: Please update blog.

Soon. Very soon I shall.

Note to self 2: Please stop talking like Yoda.

Video upload from mobile

2009-05-20T10:29:00.001+08:00

Test blog from Mobile Phone

2009-05-20T10:26:00.001+08:00

This is my desk.

Test Blog from Yahoo Mail

2009-05-20T10:22:00.001+08:00

Just testing to see how this works.

Happy Weekend everyone!

2009-03-13T17:27:00.001+08:00

Toilet bowl that can meet the toughest challenge!

2009-03-10T17:14:00.002+08:00

null - Watch more free videos

I don't think I'll dare to use this one. One slip and I might end up on the other end of the black hole.

Cute Chick

2009-02-26T17:05:00.001+08:00

7 habits of a highly effective ah beng

2009-02-26T09:44:00.007+08:00

Just got this off a forwarded email. Farnee...

For some reason, the song "Ai pia, ai pia chai eh yarh" is ringing in my head. Darn it!

Don't Waste Your Life - John Piper

2009-02-24T13:23:00.004+08:00

Read it. You'll definitely won't waste time doing so.

Don't Waste Your Life - John Piper
(note: PDF link)

Love to hear your feedback when you're done reading it. Enjoy!

Forgiving in an unforgiving world

2008-12-10T16:13:00.003+08:00

Dong Yun Yoon lost everything on that fateful day when a plane crashed into his home. The tragedy took away the life of his 2 daughters, wife and her mother. Yet in the pain and anguish of such conditions, he still finds the love of Christ relevant.

"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," and "I don't blame him. I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could," said Yoon regarding the pilot that survived the accident. It doesn't take courage to say such words, but rather, I believe, it takes a man who has experienced the love of God through his Son Jesus Christ to be able to extend love even in such hurtful moments.

Is Yoon grieving over the lost of his family? Definitely. Yet the love of God is real in his life. I pray in our world where chaos and confusion clouds our vision of God's sovereignity, we will still be reminded of Christ's love as Yoon has faithfully reminded us.

As Christmas approaches, I pray for the joy of the Lord to be Yoon's strength, and may he be reminded that though his world is falling apart, yet Christ is still Emmanuel; "God with us".

An article by Orson Scott Card

2008-10-24T13:06:00.001+08:00

By Orson Scott Card

October 5, 2008

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

An open letter to the local daily paper -- almost every local daily paper in America:

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.

What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.

The goal of this rule change was to help the poor -- which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house -- along with their credit rating.

They end up worse off than before.

This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.

Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It's as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)

Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefitting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled Do Facts Matter? "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."

These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.

Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!

What? It's not the liar, but the victims of the lie who are to blame?

Now let's follow the money ... right to the presidential candidate who is the number-two recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae.

And after Freddie Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae who made $90 million while running it into the ground, was fired for his incompetence, one presidential candidate's campaign actually consulted him for advice on housing.

If that presidential candidate had been John McCain, you would have called it a major scandal and we would be getting stories in your paper every day about how incompetent and corrupt he was.

But instead, that candidate was Barack Obama, and so you have buried this story, and when the McCain campaign dared to call Raines an "adviser" to the Obama campaign -- because that campaign had sought his advice -- you actually let Obama's people get away with accusing McCain of lying, merely because Raines wasn't listed as an official adviser to the Obama campaign.

You would never tolerate such weasely nit-picking from a Republican.

If you who produce our local daily paper actually had any principles, you would be pounding this story, because the prosperity of all Americans was put at risk by the foolish, short-sighted, politically selfish, and possibly corrupt actions of leading Democrats, including Obama.

If you who produce our local daily paper had any personal honor, you would find it unbearable to let the American people believe that somehow Republicans were to blame for this crisis.

There are precedents. Even though President Bush and his administration never said that Iraq sponsored or was linked to 9/11, you could not stand the fact that Americans had that misapprehension -- so you pounded us with the fact that there was no such link. (Along the way, you created the false impression that Bush had lied to them and said that there was a connection.)

If you had any principles, then surely right now, when the American people are set to blame President Bush and John McCain for a crisis they tried to prevent, and are actually shifting to approve of Barack Obama because of a crisis he helped cause, you would be laboring at least as hard to correct that false impression.

Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That's what you claim you do, when you accept people's money to buy or subscribe to your paper.

But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie -- that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain, and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad -- even bad weather -- on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.

If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth -- even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.

Because that's what honorable people do. Honest people tell the truth even when they don't like the probable consequences. That's what honesty means. That's how trust is earned.

Barack Obama is just another politician, and not a very wise one. He has revealed his ignorance and naivete time after time -- and you have swept it under the rug, treated it as nothing.

Meanwhile, you have participated in the borking of Sarah Palin, reporting savage attacks on her for the pregnancy of her unmarried daughter -- while you ignored the story of John Edwards's own adultery for many months.

So I ask you now: Do you have any standards at all? Do you even know what honesty means?

Is getting people to vote for Barack Obama so important that you will throw away everything that journalism is supposed to stand for?

You might want to remember the way the National Organization of Women threw away their integrity by supporting Bill Clinton despite his well-known pattern of sexual exploitation of powerless women. Who listens to NOW anymore? We know they stand for nothing; they have no principles.

That's where you are right now.

It's not too late. You know that if the situation were reversed, and the truth would damage McCain and help Obama, you would be moving heaven and earth to get the true story out there.

If you want to redeem your honor, you will swallow hard and make a list of all the stories you would print if it were McCain who had been getting money from Fannie Mae, McCain whose campaign had consulted with its discredited former CEO, McCain who had voted against tightening its lending practices.

Then you will print them, even though every one of those true stories will point the finger of blame at the reckless Democratic Party, which put our nation's prosperity at risk so they could feel good about helping the poor, and lay a fair share of the blame at Obama's door.

You will also tell the truth about John McCain: that he tried, as a Senator, to do what it took to prevent this crisis. You will tell the truth about President Bush: that his administration tried more than once to get Congress to regulate lending in a responsible way.

This was a Congress-caused crisis, beginning during the Clinton administration, with Democrats leading the way into the crisis and blocking every effort to get out of it in a timely fashion.

If you at our local daily newspaper continue to let Americans believe --and vote as if -- President Bush and the Republicans caused the crisis, then you are joining in that lie.

If you do not tell the truth about the Democrats -- including Barack Obama -- and do so with the same energy you would use if the miscreants were Republicans -- then you are not journalists by any standard.

You're just the public relations machine of the Democratic Party, and it's time you were all fired and real journalists brought in, so that we can actually have a daily newspaper in our city.

The Way I Was Made - Chris Tomlin

2008-10-14T13:50:00.000+08:00

Caught in the half-light, I'm caught alone
Waking up to the sunrise and the radio
Feels like I'm tied up, what's holding me?
Just praying today will be the day I go free

I want to live like there's no tomorrow
I want to dance like no one's around
I want to sing like nobody's listening
Before I lay my body down
I want to give like I have plenty
I want to love like I'm not afraid
I want to be the man I was meant to be
I want to be the way I was made

Made in Your likeness, made with Your hands
Made to discover who You are and who I am
All I've forgotten help me to find
All that You've promised let it be in my life

Solar Powered Ham Sandwiches

2008-10-10T16:24:00.003+08:00

Lazy to blog, but posting comics can be fun too!

Pearls classic

2008-09-18T16:54:00.001+08:00

Pearls from 2005: