Kam Weng Ng

The Miracle of Christmas Pt. 1/2: The Son of God Assumed Human Existence

The Miracle of Christmas Pt.1/2: The Son of God Assumed Human Existence

Speaker: Dr. Ng Kam Weng

You are welcome to view the talk at:
The Miracle of Christmas Pt.1/2: The Son of God Assumed Human Existence

At Christmas, Christ, the Son of God who shared the glory of the Father from eternity, assumed humanity but retained his deity throughout his life on earth. Christ in his human existence cloaked or veiled the form of God in the form of a servant. In becoming incarnate, the Son of God demonstrates to us what it means to be a perfect human being, one who is not only sinless, but is also able to sympathise and help his sinners. (Phil. 2:6-11: Heb. 4: 15)

Berry Cake House Not Allowed to Write “Merry Christmas” on Cakes?

The prohibition of writing of Merry Christmas or X’mas on cakes looks like a repeat of an earlier prohibition given by Jakim in 2020. Re: text quoted below.

But see conclusion at the end of this article:

Conclusion: The clarification from JAKIM only says that greetings like “Merry Christmas” are not allowed on cakes to be exhibited in premises that have been certified halal or on products marked with the halal logo. This does not prohibit the sale of cakes with “Merry Christmas”to personal orders by customers.

Prohibition of sale of these cakes in response to personal orders by customers would be an outright infringement of the religious rights and freedom of Christians and non-Muslims. Indeed, one may still wonder whether the standing order, notwithstanding the clarification still constitutes an unwarranted restriction of the rights of Christians and non-Muslims freely to buy and sell merchandise among themselves. These incidents give the impression that Christian celebration is on the wrong side of the law – another example of “Salami Islamization”?

[Clarification added on 17 Dec 2023] – I received several friendly suggestions that I could have committed a typo error – it should be “salafi”. But I definitely mean “salami”. You cut salami piece by piece. It was first used as “salami politics” in political discourse. I use the word “salami Islamization” to alert us to JAKIM’s long term strategy of Islamization of Malaysia slice by slice.

Perhaps Berry Cakehouse is going beyond what JAKIM requires. We hope that Berry Cakehouse would resume its sales to customers who order cakes with decorations like “Merry Christmas”.

Latest update added on 17 Dec 2023 in light of clarification by JAKIM.

———————-
Relevant earlier reports.

See the update in The Star 16/12/2023 at the end of the article
No ban on Christmas cakes for halal certificate holders, says Mohd Na’im

Continue reading “Berry Cake House Not Allowed to Write “Merry Christmas” on Cakes?”

The Great Divorce – A Bus Ride from Hell to Heaven By C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce (1945) – A Bus Ride from Hell to Heaven
By C.S. Lewis – Kairos Podcast Review on Books & Culture

Reviewer: David B.C. Tan
Discussant: Micheal Lim

You are welcome to join the discussion at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul5nyTLvruM

Quotes:
Milton was right,’ said my Teacher. ‘The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the words “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” There is always something they insist on keeping even at the price of misery.
——————-
‘Do you mean then that Hell—all that infinite empty town—is down in some little crack like this?’

‘Yes. All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World. Look at yon butterfly. If it swallowed all Hell, Hell would not be big enough to do it any harm or to have any taste.’

‘It seems big enough when you’re in it, Sir.’

‘And yet all loneliness, angers, hatreds, envies and itchings that it contains, if rolled into one single experience and put into the scale against the least moment of the joy that is felt by the least in Heaven, would have no weight that could be registered at all. Bad cannot succeed even in being bad as truly as good is good. If all Hell’s miseries together entered the consciousness of yon wee yellow bird on the bough there, they would be swallowed up without trace, as if one drop of ink had been dropped into that Great Ocean to which your terrestrial Pacific itself is only a molecule.’

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis (1943) – Kairos Podcast Review on Books & Culture

The Abolition of Man (1943) by C.S. Lewis
Kairos Podcast Review on Books & Culture

Reviewer: David B.C. Tan
Discussant: Micheal Lim

You are welcome to join the discussion at:

Book Review: The Abolition of Man

Please forward this message if you find the video discussion helpful.
—-
In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the importance and relevance of universal values such as courage and honor in contemporary society. “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts. The right defence against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments.” (C.S. Lewis)

By it [right sentiments] Lewis means “emotions conform[ing] to Reason.” As he explains it, “The heart never takes the place of the head: but it can, and should, obey it…For Lewis the ability to have right sentiments is what separates humans from animals…The failure to nurture right sentiments ultimately results in the abolition of man, Lewis contends, because modern education produces “what may be called Men without Chests.” (Enc. Britannica)

In Lewis’s template, “the head rules the belly through the chest”—the chest is the mediator between our animal urges and minds and is the mechanism for training and tempering the belly. Without the chest, our disordered loves run wild. (J. Kohm)

Series 3: The Prophecies of the Messiah and His Kingdom in the Book of Isaiah Part 7. Is the book of Isaiah a unified work written by the eighth-century prophet Isaiah?

Question: You have assumed the traditional view that the book of Isaiah comprises a unified work, in particular one written by the eighth-century prophet named Isaiah. But many scholars in academia argue that the book of Isaiah is a collection of many historical sources or “authors.” In fact, increasingly even “Evangelical scholars” reject the traditional view that Isaiah is the author of the book. Why do you still assume the traditional view is correct?

Discussants: Dr. Leong Tien Fock and Dr. Ng Kam Weng.

You are welcome to join the discussion at:
Part 7. The Unity and Authorship of the Book of Isaiah

Please forward this message if you find the video discussion helpful.

Series 3: The Prophecies of the Messiah and His Kingdom in the Book of Isaiah Part 6. Are the prophecies of Isaiah credible and trustworthy?

God in Isaiah: His Sovereignty and Glory (Isa. 40:5, 8; Isa. 55:10-12; Isa. 42:8-9; Isa. 43:10-12; Isa. 48:3-8; Luke 24:46-49).

Question: You have presented how Isaiah prophesies mind-boggling and outrageous truths: the human Messiah is God to be anointed by the Spirit; God is triune; God is born a human baby to die for human sins. As a prophet, does Isaiah provide his audience with credible evidence that what he prophesies is credible and trustworthy?

Discussants: Dr. Leong Tien Fock and Dr. Ng Kam Weng.

You are welcome to join the discussion at:
Part 6. Are the prophecies of Isaiah credible and trustworthy?

Please forward this message if you find the video discussion helpful.

Series 3: The Prophecies of the Messiah and His Kingdom in the Book of Isaiah. Part 5. Does the book of Isaiah indicate that God is Triune?

The Trinity in Isaiah (Isaiah 11:2; 51:9-10; 53:1; 63:7-14; cf. Micah 5:2; Daniel 7:7-10, 13-14)

Question: The good news or Gospel in the New Testament is that the Triune God has accomplished salvation in saving fallen mankind. If indeed, Isaiah presents the Gospel of Christ in advance of the New Testament, is there any indication in the book of Isaiah that God is Triune.

Discussants: Dr. Leong Tien Fock and Dr. Ng Kam Weng.

You are welcome to join the discussion at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDgVleUr-08

Please forward this message if you find the video discussion helpful.

Video Recording of Talk on Bible and Homosexuality by Ng Kam Weng

You can view the one hour video at:
The Bible and Homosexuality

Outline of Talk

A. Getting the Facts Right
– possible causes of homosexuality and homosexual life-style.
– Can homosexual change?
– What the bible says about homosexual practice.

B. Relevant Biblical Texts
– Matt. 19:1-6 – God’s creation order of heterosexual marriage.
– Gen. 19:4-8; Jude 7 – Judgment on Sodom.
– Lev. 18:22; Lev. 20:13 – Homosexual practice as an abomination to the Lord.
– 1 Sam. 18 – Were David and Jonathan in a homosexual relationship?
– Rom. 1 – Homosexual practice is “contrary to nature” or disordered desire.
– 1 Cor. 6:9-10. Homosexual practice, along with other sexual sins condemned..

C. Affirmation
1. Sexual complementarity is good.
2. Marriage is good.
3. Sex is good – Sacramental reminder of the joys of first love.
4. Family Reproduction is good. Learning to love and give.

D. Final Challenge
– Fulfilment in Christ beyond sex.
– We seek humbly to share the wholeness found in God’s grace that brings liberation and substantial healing to our brokenness.

Series 3: The Prophecies of the Messiah and His Kingdom in the Book of Isaiah Part 4. What is Isaiah’s teaching about the New Covenant?

Question: One defining element of God’s salvation is the promise of a new covenant between God and his people which Jeremiah & Ezekiel prophesied. What is Isaiah’s teaching about the New Covenant?

Discussants: Dr. Leong Tien Fock and Dr. Ng Kam Weng.You are welcome to join the discussion at:

Part 4. What is Isaiah’s teaching about the New Covenant?

Please forward this message if you find the video discussion helpful.

Series 3: The Prophecies of the Messiah and His Kingdom in the Book of Isaiah. Part 3. Why is Isaiah Called the Fifth Gospel?

Questions:
1.Why is Isaiah called the fifth Gospel? How is it a Gospel like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?
2. One of the most prominent themes of Jesus’ preaching is “the kingdom of God”, which emphasizes not so much the territory of God but the rule or reign of God. How would you compare the kingdom of God in Isaiah with the kingdom of God in the gospels?
3. If in the NT, the Messiah brings in the Kingdom of God. What does Isaiah tell us about the coming Messiah and his work of salvation?

Discussants: Dr. Leong Tien Fock and Dr. Ng Kam Weng.

You are welcome to join the discussion at:
Part 3. Why is Isaiah Called the Fifth Gospel?

Please forward this message if you find the video discussion helpful.