Real and Relevant Faith

Is my faith real? Does my life reflect what I preach? Am I preaching the Gospel or simply my version of it? Does my life as a Christian match what I read in the Scripture? Are people put off by what I say because my life doesn't match up and they cannot relate to my faith? Have we set ourselves up by preaching some kind of happy-all- the-time, prosperity message only to find that we cannot reconcile when things don't quite work out the way we thought it would? When people observe Christians behaving and relating to one another, will they see any difference being a Christian? How do we fare on issues of morality, integrity, character, and in terms of being gracious, kind, generous, patient, etc? Earlier I posted the question on whether the list of Beatitudes is a prescriptive or descriptive list. I guess it troubles me a great deal that my life seems far from being able to live up those standards. How do I close the gap??

Another thing that has always troubled me is to see how many Christians have fallen over the years. Some of them grew up with me in the youth fellowship and served together as leaders; they were once very fervent and used greatly to win others to the Lord. Today I know a few who have walked away from the faith, want to have nothing to do with the church and even chosen to convert to another faith! I dare not boast of where I am today for I know not where I will be tomorrow, save for the grace of God.

This post was not written because I had answers to give but to provide food for thought. Do these things trouble you? Would you like to respond?

More stuff to chew on from this article:
The Evangelical Scandal

Personal Post

The past two days have been a bit rough and stressful. Besides helping my friend with her father's funeral, my little brother had to visit 2 different doctors during this time. He has a very bad sore throat and my mum's been quite concerned about his health. Things have been a bit tensed at home. To top it off, I met with a nasty car accident yesterday. The worst I've had so far and the car is in pretty bad shape. Will have to claim my insurance. Sigh. Guess I am grateful that both parties did not suffer any serious injury (I hope). Taking some muscle relaxants for my neck and backaches. Expect them to disappear in a couple of days. Hope it's not anything as bad as a whiplash.

Have lots on my mind and many things to look into with my imminent move to Canada. Yet to hear from the Canadian High Commission with regards to my student permit application. I have applied to begin my studies with summer school in Regent. The college has informed me that I have been accepted to begin my studies in June. However having said that, the letter is simply not forthcoming despite both the College's attempts to post it. So far I've only received the official letter of acceptance for the September intake, which I have submitted in support of my student permit application. Just have to wait and see. If I am only granted a student permit to start later, it will mean deferring my departure. I guess since I've asked Him to be in control, this would include His timing in this matter.

For now, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Liverpool will beat Chelsea at the Champion's League semi-finals tomorrow morning - with more than one goal margin!!

Ed: I think this is one of my more personal posts...

Tribute to a Friend

Last weekend I had the privilege of being with a close friend of mine through her father's last moments. It was tough watching someone close to you lose a loved one. She was very attached to her father and I know she will miss him dearly. As the only child, I knew that she meant everything to her dad and he would have given his life for her if it was required of him. Words cannot express the lost my friend is feeling now.

As I sat and listened to different stories recounted by family members of how uncle took care of his nieces and nephews like his own children, I was amazed. He assumed the role as their father figure when their father died (he had 7 siblings) and looked after everyone of them, to the point that my friend refers to some of her cousins, as 'sister' and 'brother'. A teacher and government servant for many years, uncle may not have been rich materially but he gave fully of himself and I believe he was truly rich.

I am so thankful that in the last few years of his life he came to know the Lord. He loved the Lord tremendously and was always eager to come for Sunday worship service even when he was feeling very ill. At times he got up as early as 4am to get ready because of his limited mobility. He always coveted prayers and spiritual blessings. This is indeed an amazing change coming from a hardened self-made man that he was for so many years. He never wanted anything to do with the Christian faith and used to stop his family from attending church! This is a miracle only God can wrought in a man's heart. I praise God for His grace and mercy in each of our lives. I know it is grace that helped uncle finished his race and finished it well, full of faith. As I look ahead, I don't know how many days I have left and how much of the race I have the opportunity to run. I pray for His grace to keep me and help me finish well.

The Christian Mind

Some excerpts from The Christian Mind to ponder on... the loneliness of a Christian thinker. ;-p

It is not lonely to disagree with other people. It is not lonely to meet in the same field of discourse with men and women who reach conclusions that contradict your own. But it is desperately lonely to occupy field of discourse which no one else will enter, even if you are surrounded by people who have reached exactly the same conclusions as you yourself.

Idealists are the most tortured people in our midst. … But idealists – those people who insists on logically relating principle to practice, end to means, purpose to process, goal to route – we have no time for them. Literally no time. There is too much to do. Their misgivings would slow us up, prevent us even from making a start. Besides they would set us all at each other’s throats in fierce controversy if once they were allowed a sober hearing. The best thing is to shut them up.

In our culture generally, we are rich in scholar but poor in thinkers. The nature of our modern educational system is such that this happy combination arises ever more rarely (combination of first-rate scholar and first-rate thinker). ... Potential thinkers are being turned into mere scholars by the pressures of conformity so strong both in the educational world and in society at large. The thinker challenges current prejudices. He disturbs the complacent. He obstructs the busy pragmatists. He questions the very foundations of all about him, and in so doing throws doubt upon aims, motives, and purposes which those who are running affairs have neither time nor patience to investigate. The thinker is a nuisance. He is a luxury that modern society cannot afford. It will strive to keep him quite, to restrict his influence, to ignore him. It will try to pretend that he does not exist.

Reevaluate

I've been reading a book entitled The Christian Mind by Harry Balmires. Given me more thoughts on the Christian view of suffering and pain.

But, in a sense, death is relevant to every human issue, every earthly activity, since it raises the question of the significance and status of all that transpire terrestrially. And if death is universally relevant, then it follows that the Christian’s eternal perspective is universally relevant too.
Disease and suffering, in so far as they reduce man’s total experience existence here to something not worth having in itself, cannot be reconciled with the demand of the human mind for justice and meaning in things, unless there is that beyond this life and outside this world which both compensates for suffering and transforms its total significance.
Eternal well-being is the final aim and end of things here - for Christians anyway.

I've been really challenged by his writing to think Christianly about issues and to be aware of how subtly I have been won over by secular thinking in considering daily issues of life. A lot of my wondering about death and suffering must be reviewed in light of eternity. No, that will not not change anything as in there will still be injustice and tremendous suffering that cannot be explained. It is simply to put things in perspective. Thus my focus is not to discover the reason for every painful experience because its significance is not in the experience itself. I realise that I have been trying to find the meaning of life by observing life itself, which is a secular way of thinking, allowing the material and physical world to define my existence. The truth is Life, my life, can only derive meaning, value and significance from the One who is beyond this life and outside this world.

The above realisation alone has made my recent efforts to work through some of these issues as seen in the many blog entries on this depressing topic of suffering and pain, totally worth it!