How do you take bad news? Reprimands? Being told that you were bad and need to pull your socks up?
Many of us don't like this. We like to think that everything is good. That we'd get top marks in our exam. That we are good at everything we try. We do not make any mistakes. Nobody experiences poverty. We can spend and enjoy life as we wish.
So when we are told that we have been spending too much, that our lives are not in order, that we have to tighten our belts and cut costs, we feel bad.
I think this is what happened when the recent Australian budget was announced. People did not feel happy about the cost-cutting that the Prime Minister and Treasurer announced. People like their affluent lifestyle, even living beyond their means. Borrowing more than what they can afford.
But people cannot live like that long term. We don't like to improve, we like to think we are already all right. We may not be good, but we like to think we are.
Does this sound true to you? Do you think that our human nature is like this? Please tell me what you think.
If this is true, then how should we cope with reality?
Is there anything we need to get right within ourselves so to be acceptable before God? To ourselves? Or are we already so good that we do not need God? God need not exist in our thinking?
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sin. Show all posts
29 May 2014
22 April 2014
Read the Bible seriously
Some friends and I read Psalm 19:7-14 together tonight.
As we came to understand the passage together, the following points seemed relevant to us:
But what do you think? Is there any other book that guides us towards God's way other than the Bible? Do other scriptures work also? Is God's way really relevant? Isn't our own way good enough?
What if we misunderstand God's way, and come up with many interpretations of it?
How do we get it right? What benefit is it to get it right? Is there really any right and wrong?
What do you believe? Why?
As we came to understand the passage together, the following points seemed relevant to us:
- We should take God's word seriously. Think it through. Understand it. Don't question it as something to be trifled with or for making jokes out of, but to understand it as coming from somebody with power and authority.
- Sometimes, we do not know what is right and true, unless another points it out to us. God's point of view is even more relevant than that of another person.
- We do not like to be corrected, but we will appreciate it when we see that it is beneficial.
- We may dread correction at first, but when can come to love it when we see how it changes us for good.
- We need to be kept from willful sin. The way this works is through constantly seeing things God's way, and choosing His way instead of our own.
But what do you think? Is there any other book that guides us towards God's way other than the Bible? Do other scriptures work also? Is God's way really relevant? Isn't our own way good enough?
What if we misunderstand God's way, and come up with many interpretations of it?
How do we get it right? What benefit is it to get it right? Is there really any right and wrong?
What do you believe? Why?
04 February 2014
Love or expose
What do we say on social media? Why do we say what we say? Do we think about the people we mention? Do our words become gossip? Do they give rise to malice?
Personally, I felt challenged while studying Luke 11:17 with some friends. We were considering Jesus' words "every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls", when our study guide asked how that applies to our home and our fellowship. I thought about that more broadly, and some of the things that Christians have been discussing on internet social media.
Things like Joel Osteen's beliefs about homosexuality. Like Rick Warren assimilating Islamic doctrine with the Christian faith. Like Brian Houston's income and tax-fringe benefits. (I am guilty for having discussed this last one on my blog.)
Why do we talk about these things so openly? Are we jealous of these celebrities? We shouldn't be. Are we exposing something sinful publicly? (If so, then we shouldn't. We should confront the person privately first, then bring it before the elders of the church, but not to the world-wide public.)
Is it because these guys are false teachers and the Church needs to be warned about them?
Is it because we do not realise the potential damage we cause in the public discussions that we have? Maybe somebody outside the Church started on a topic, and Christians continued it by forwarding, liking it or sharing it.
Maybe we might have been more sensitive if the issues were brought up at church, or if the contact had been more personal, but we have not been as careful on internet social media.
Or maybe, because these guys are such big celebrities, and we are so used to every media trashing celebrities that we joined in.
Maybe the ethics of the issue were worth bringing to public light and discussing that we have been doing so - without realising the harm we heap on those people and on the Lord.
Or might it be some other reason?
What do you think?
Should sin be brought to light? Or hidden to protect the sinner? How much of each should we do? What is the right balance, if there needs to be a balance? How do we handle these, and other similar issues well, as people who wish to honour God?
Does it hurt God and the Church's credibility to discuss such things in public? Does it hurt more if we didn't? How does love play into these issues?
Personally, I felt challenged while studying Luke 11:17 with some friends. We were considering Jesus' words "every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls", when our study guide asked how that applies to our home and our fellowship. I thought about that more broadly, and some of the things that Christians have been discussing on internet social media.
Things like Joel Osteen's beliefs about homosexuality. Like Rick Warren assimilating Islamic doctrine with the Christian faith. Like Brian Houston's income and tax-fringe benefits. (I am guilty for having discussed this last one on my blog.)
Why do we talk about these things so openly? Are we jealous of these celebrities? We shouldn't be. Are we exposing something sinful publicly? (If so, then we shouldn't. We should confront the person privately first, then bring it before the elders of the church, but not to the world-wide public.)
Is it because these guys are false teachers and the Church needs to be warned about them?
Is it because we do not realise the potential damage we cause in the public discussions that we have? Maybe somebody outside the Church started on a topic, and Christians continued it by forwarding, liking it or sharing it.
Maybe we might have been more sensitive if the issues were brought up at church, or if the contact had been more personal, but we have not been as careful on internet social media.
Or maybe, because these guys are such big celebrities, and we are so used to every media trashing celebrities that we joined in.
Maybe the ethics of the issue were worth bringing to public light and discussing that we have been doing so - without realising the harm we heap on those people and on the Lord.
Or might it be some other reason?
What do you think?
Should sin be brought to light? Or hidden to protect the sinner? How much of each should we do? What is the right balance, if there needs to be a balance? How do we handle these, and other similar issues well, as people who wish to honour God?
Does it hurt God and the Church's credibility to discuss such things in public? Does it hurt more if we didn't? How does love play into these issues?
04 October 2013
Arrested at a library
Ross was online with his notebook at the science fiction section of a San Francisco library when the police arrested him. He apparently had posted a question on a forum using his real name. He quickly changed to a pseudonym, but his "error" was enough to catch the attention of the police. The police had been looking for him because of some computer hacking, narcotics trafficking and money laundering activities.
How closely do the police watch what happens on the internet? How quickly can they act on this information? There are millions of routers on the internet, and millions more hosts. Each host may have several channels of data streams going simultaneously. Most of these are encrypted, especially if they run across wireless networks as public wi-fi services are. Even with the help of software to filter out keywords, I think it is impossible to track everything. Especially in a matter of minutes.
I am amazed to realise that internet traffic can be policed so quickly. We know that information stored on public servers such as Gmail is not private, as Google and the police have the ability to search these. But for them to find anything quickly seemed unlikely to me - until I read about Ross' arrest.
What do you think? Do police, hackers, data miners, etc. have the ability to track information that quickly? Or was finding Ross a fluke that happened in the police's favour?
In any case, the story reminds me that the Bible tells us to "be sure your sin will find you out". Do you think that is true?
Even if one can elude the police who has finite knowledge, it would be impossible to hide from God, who knows everything.
So what can we do? How can we handle our sin? Please share what you think. Thank you.
How closely do the police watch what happens on the internet? How quickly can they act on this information? There are millions of routers on the internet, and millions more hosts. Each host may have several channels of data streams going simultaneously. Most of these are encrypted, especially if they run across wireless networks as public wi-fi services are. Even with the help of software to filter out keywords, I think it is impossible to track everything. Especially in a matter of minutes.
I am amazed to realise that internet traffic can be policed so quickly. We know that information stored on public servers such as Gmail is not private, as Google and the police have the ability to search these. But for them to find anything quickly seemed unlikely to me - until I read about Ross' arrest.
What do you think? Do police, hackers, data miners, etc. have the ability to track information that quickly? Or was finding Ross a fluke that happened in the police's favour?
In any case, the story reminds me that the Bible tells us to "be sure your sin will find you out". Do you think that is true?
Even if one can elude the police who has finite knowledge, it would be impossible to hide from God, who knows everything.
So what can we do? How can we handle our sin? Please share what you think. Thank you.
28 July 2013
Legalise sodomy
Recent news have speculated that the Australian state of New South Wales may consider legalising same-sex marriages.
How do you feel about this? Do you welcome such news? Or does it fill you with dread?
Some of my other recent reading calls 'homosexuality' by a much stronger word - 'sodomy'. Apparently, sodomy was considered as a social and religious evil for many centuries. The Bible calls this kind of act as 'sin'.
However, homosexuality has been popularised through media, and people against this concept have been labled as 'homophobic'. They have been considered as narrow-minded, and not inclusive in their thinking.
It seems that rejecting the act of sodomy has been equated with the rejection of the people who practice such behaviour.
Actually, the church has struggled, but seems to have understood that it is to love the people, but to reject the sin. The sin is not to be practiced, but people can be forgiven. Such is my understanding of where the church stands anyway.
What do you think? Where would you stand in this debate? Is homosexuality sodomy? Why are more and more nations accepting of same-sex marriages if sodomy is bad?
Have we been tricked by the 'world's most successful brain-washing'?
How can we change our course if the present course is wrong?
How do you feel about this? Do you welcome such news? Or does it fill you with dread?
Some of my other recent reading calls 'homosexuality' by a much stronger word - 'sodomy'. Apparently, sodomy was considered as a social and religious evil for many centuries. The Bible calls this kind of act as 'sin'.
However, homosexuality has been popularised through media, and people against this concept have been labled as 'homophobic'. They have been considered as narrow-minded, and not inclusive in their thinking.
It seems that rejecting the act of sodomy has been equated with the rejection of the people who practice such behaviour.
Actually, the church has struggled, but seems to have understood that it is to love the people, but to reject the sin. The sin is not to be practiced, but people can be forgiven. Such is my understanding of where the church stands anyway.
What do you think? Where would you stand in this debate? Is homosexuality sodomy? Why are more and more nations accepting of same-sex marriages if sodomy is bad?
Have we been tricked by the 'world's most successful brain-washing'?
How can we change our course if the present course is wrong?
24 June 2013
Learning to live
What do you think it means to live? What is life all about? How are we to live our lives?
I am sure many, if not all of us, asks these questions as we live our lives. Sometimes, we take for granted that we have life and the way we do what we do are the way we are supposed to. But is that right? What if our culture and what we have learnt is mistaken in what they have taught us?
Max said something that means got me thinking. I don't remember his exact words, but what he said meant this: Deceiving hearts eventually harden. Bad habits develop. These things happen gradually, and we think it is okay. But really, they are not.
Romans 1:18-2:16 says the same thing more strongly. It says that people have substituted truth with unrighteousness; Godliness with other things that we think to be reasonable even if not exactly right. We exchange the truth of God for a lie. Then, as we ignore God, we live out greater and greater depravities until eventually, we heap serious judgement on ourselves.
We have become vile and inexcusable, and God will be our judge.
Ephesians 4:17-5:7 says that we need to live in the truth. We need to live out the things we have learnt from Jesus. We need to speak truthfully gracefully, be kind to our neighbours, live without sexual immorality, impurity or greed.
Are these the things you think of when you think about living? Or do you think about acquiring wealth and prestige, empires and abundances for yourself when you read the opening paragraph?
How are you living your life? How should you live it? What do you need to do to make it right, if you don't already have it right? What do you believe?
I am sure many, if not all of us, asks these questions as we live our lives. Sometimes, we take for granted that we have life and the way we do what we do are the way we are supposed to. But is that right? What if our culture and what we have learnt is mistaken in what they have taught us?
Max said something that means got me thinking. I don't remember his exact words, but what he said meant this: Deceiving hearts eventually harden. Bad habits develop. These things happen gradually, and we think it is okay. But really, they are not.
Romans 1:18-2:16 says the same thing more strongly. It says that people have substituted truth with unrighteousness; Godliness with other things that we think to be reasonable even if not exactly right. We exchange the truth of God for a lie. Then, as we ignore God, we live out greater and greater depravities until eventually, we heap serious judgement on ourselves.
We have become vile and inexcusable, and God will be our judge.
Ephesians 4:17-5:7 says that we need to live in the truth. We need to live out the things we have learnt from Jesus. We need to speak truthfully gracefully, be kind to our neighbours, live without sexual immorality, impurity or greed.
Are these the things you think of when you think about living? Or do you think about acquiring wealth and prestige, empires and abundances for yourself when you read the opening paragraph?
How are you living your life? How should you live it? What do you need to do to make it right, if you don't already have it right? What do you believe?
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