God Stoops to Turn Our Resignation to Restfulness

[Life must be imbued with meaning if it is to be worth living. But how can meaning be sustained when the end of life seems pointless? Even if one diligently gathers wisdom for three score and ten years, life must still go the way of the grasshopper. It is hard to keep faith in a good God who orders providence when misfortune strikes and one loses everything that has been regarded as blessings of God. Faith clings precariously to a thread worn thin as one suffers unbearable pain caused by terminal illness…

The defiance of the hard core skeptic or Stoic in the face of pointless and overwhelming suffering seems heroic when he counsels that the best way to find peace is to renounce any hope of finding meaning in life and to submit to fate. But is not the resignation of oneself to everything without complaint nothing more than a capitulation to inscrutable fate? Is life not reduced to groping in the dark where all things are colorless and grey? Without beauty and meaning, one loses the desire to act and sinks into paralyzing resignation.

The Christian believer may seem to share the same kindred spirit with the Stoic when he prays through his suffering, the immortal words of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, β€œThy will be done.” But his prayer is a reposeful confession of faith rather than an utterance of despair or resignation. For he knows something that a person without Christ cannot know. He knows that he is entrusting his life into the hands of the heavenly Father rather than capitulating to impersonal and capricious fate.]
Continue reading “God Stoops to Turn Our Resignation to Restfulness”

Knowing God With the Heart of Love

π•Ύπ–”π–’π–Š π–™π–π–Šπ–”π–—π–Žπ–Šπ–˜ π–†π–—π–Š π–˜π–•π–‘π–Šπ–“π–‰π–Žπ–‰ 𝖆𝖓𝖉 π–˜π–”π–•π–π–Žπ–˜π–™π–Žπ–ˆπ–†π–™π–Šπ–‰ π–‡π–šπ–™ π–˜π–” π–”π–‡π–›π–Žπ–”π–šπ–˜π–‘π–ž π–”π–šπ–™ 𝖔𝖋 π–™π–”π–šπ–ˆπ– π–œπ–Žπ–™π– π–—π–Šπ–†π–‘π–Žπ–™π–ž 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 π–”π–“π–‘π–ž π–ˆπ–‘π–Šπ–›π–Šπ–— π–•π–Šπ–”π–•π–‘π–Š π–ˆπ–†π–“ π–‡π–Šπ–‘π–Žπ–Šπ–›π–Š π–Žπ–“ π–™π–π–Šπ–’. β€œπ•Ώπ–π–Š π–Šπ–žπ–Š 𝖔𝖋 π–™π–π–Š π–œπ–Žπ–˜π–Š 𝖒𝖆𝖓 π–˜π–Šπ–Šπ–˜ π–œπ–π–†π–™ π–Žπ–˜ π–™π–π–Šπ–—π–Š, π–‡π–šπ–™ π–™π–π–Š π–’π–Žπ–“π–‰ 𝖔𝖋 π–™π–π–Š π–ˆπ–”π–“π–ˆπ–Šπ–Žπ–™π–Šπ–‰ π–ˆπ–”π–’π–•π–”π–˜π–Šπ–˜ π–π–žπ–•π–”π–™π–π–Šπ–˜π–Šπ–˜.” 𝕡𝖔𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖓 π•Ώπ–”π–‡π–Žπ–†π–˜ π•­π–Šπ–ˆπ– (πŸπŸ–πŸŽπŸ’-πŸπŸ–πŸ•πŸ–)

β€œLove must first open the door of the heart so that it may be persuaded of the truth of God’s grace and glory.”

Mine is just a feeble echo of a much wiser, spirited & courageous man – β€œIt is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ― Antoine de Saint-ExupΓ©ry, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 π‘³π’Šπ’•π’•π’π’† π‘·π’“π’Šπ’π’„π’† Continue reading “Knowing God With the Heart of Love”

Did Albert Camus finally become a Christian?

As the conversations continue, Camus begins to read the Bible, sometimes he confesses not to have done before. In fact he does not even own one; so Mumma gets one for him, and Camus starts with Genesis. This raises the issue whether the Bible is to be taken literally, especially the story of Adam and Eve. When Mumma interprets it as a parable of the origin of the conscience, in short, a tale putting the origin ofΒ  evil in the attempt of human beings to make themselves gods, Camus find the story to ring true.

While Mumma’s answers are broadly speaking neo-orthodox, not quite those of an evangelical would likely give, the theology is traditional at heart, and it is in line with Camus’ own understanding of human nature.

Source: Camus the Christian? A pastor describes how the great existentialist atheist asked him late in life, Do you perform baptisms?
by James W. Sire 23 Oct 2000

Often times we find God in our distinctive ways, some intellectually, some emotionally, some through insights of wisdom, some through hard lessons of life and some even find God in ‘silly’ ways. Conversely, maybe it is more accurate to say that God reaches out to us wherever we are and touches us where it matters most. He will then take us further on from there.

** This is a Retro post taken from my Facebook (4 April 2020) which will be closed in due time.

Biblical Justice and Black Lives Matter. Review and Comments

I posted in Facebook some of Tim Challies’ observations in his review of Scott David Allen’ s book, Why Social Justice is Not Biblical JusticeΒ  (Credo House Pub., 2020).

Social Justice Redefined:
Scott David Allen notes the contemporary redefinition of β€œjustice”: β€œDeconstructing traditional systems and structures deemed to be oppressive, and redistributing power and resources from oppressors to their victims in the pursuit of equality of outcome.” It is obsessed with power, privilege, oppression, and victimization; it uses pragmatic tactics to cow dissenters into submission; it fixates on identity markers such as class, race, gender, and sexual orientation; it is openly hostile to Judeo-Christian religion; it is militant against the natural family and traditional sexuality; and it focuses on the redistribution of wealth and power by means of a powerful state apparatus…

Scott Allen Contrasts this New Definition with Biblical Justice:
Conformity to God’s moral standard as revealed in the Ten Commandments and the Royal Law: β€œlove your neighbor as yourself.” [Its two components are:]
Communitive Justice: living in right relationship with God and others; giving people their due as image-bearers of God.
Distributive Justice: impartially rendering judgment, righting wrongs, and meting out punishment for lawbreaking. Reserved for God and God-ordained authorities including parents in the home, elders in the church, teachers in the school, and civil authorities in the state. Continue reading “Biblical Justice and Black Lives Matter. Review and Comments”

How I Left the Social Justice Cult

Virtue signaling in solidarity with β€œsocial justice warriors” is becoming popular among Christian social activists. β€œWokeness” is sweeping across mainline denominations and some conservative seminaries. Even the Southern Baptist Convention (historically the bulwark of theological conservatism) is experiencing division as some of its influential leaders eagerly join the bandwagon.

We are puzzled when highly intelligent and idealistic people are caught up in the ideological madness of crowds currently sweeping across the USA. We are troubled by incidents when some social activists who started their mission with righteous ideals end up becoming self-righteous and judgmental towards people who don’t share their avant-garde views. Continue reading “How I Left the Social Justice Cult”

Prophecy Within the Bounds of Scripture

Introduction: Shortcomings prophetic movements in history
Richard Lovelace acknowledges that while it is difficult to frame strong biblical arguments for limiting prophetic utterance to the apostolic period, nevertheless it cannot be denied that various revival groups which exercised the gift of prophecy such as the Montanists (2nd century), the Zwikau prophets (16th century) and the Great Awakening (18th century) often ended up β€œtreating the Scripture as an addendum which was more or less unnecessary once a Christian obtained direct access to the mind of God through the Spirit…People who begin by being open to extrabiblical revelation will give Satan an opportunity to wean them gradually from Scripture and establish himself as the ultimate authority.” These β€˜prophets’ became incorrigible and fell into error. Failed prophecy brought despair, leaders abandoned carefully planning. Indiscreet zeal led followers to act without prudence or discretion and to do unseemly things that discredit both revival and Christianity.

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The common denominator of all of these aberrations is a reliance on subjective experience divorced from the objective control of reason and the written Word of God. Continue reading “Prophecy Within the Bounds of Scripture”

Practical Guidelines For Testing Prophecy in Church

Prophecy in this post does not refer to predictions of future events. It is (1) the speaking forth of what the Holy Spirit has spontaneously brought to the mind, (2) with the purpose of edifying, encouraging and comforting God’s people (1 Cor.14:3). It is noted that there is no succession of apostolic and prophetic office since the closing of the biblical canon (Eph. 2:20). While Christians should be open to occasions when the Spirit gives a prophetic word to guide the church, nevertheless, there should be no institutionalization of prophetic office today. Believers, especially leaders who exercise authority are profoundly aware of human fallibility. As such, the sharing of any prophetic word must be subject to the supervision of local church leaders (elders in the New Testament) and all prophetic claims must be tested by Scripture.

Hence,
1) Prophecy must be submitted to the congregation for testing in order that the congregation may collectively discern the will of God (1 Thess. 5:19-22; 1 Cor. 14:29-35). Continue reading “Practical Guidelines For Testing Prophecy in Church”

Prosperity Prophets and Presidential Politics

Some Christians experience perplexity as they watched video recordings of Paula White, the faith adviser of President Trump prophesying over the pulpit. Their perplexity turns into consternation when they come across the following video in the social media. The accompanying message from a Muslim appears to be taunting Christians.

Hello everyone. My name is Ahmad and i have watch the video, my question is ” Is what Senior Pastor Paula White spoke is it from the bible?” If it is, show me where in your scripture? For example, she claimed that everywhere she stands the ground is holy, sounds like what God said to Moses. Is she equal to God? From my little knowledge but I know that when God is present the ground is holy and anyone not sanctified will be struck dead standing on the ground. How come President Trump who stood beside her is not struck dead? She said that if you are not voting for Trump you are going against God. It reminds me of PAS saying to Muslims that “if you do not vote for them, you will go to hell”. Did she received instruction from God to say this? on issue of offering, she said that there is a bank or treasury in heaven and if I give more I will get more in return. Is this true.? I am really interested in this as I have invested in the stock market and I lost quite a large sum. There are many more questions? But let’s deal with these questions first before you share with me about Jesus because she uses the name of Jesus. Continue reading “Prosperity Prophets and Presidential Politics”

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and the Sexual Revolution

Carl Trueman, a distinguished Reformed theologian and historian has just published a new book which has been described as β€œperhaps the most significant analysis and evaluation of Western culture written by a Protestant during the past fifty years,” – The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution. Not surprisingly, the book deals with the Western obsession with sexual identity and sexual freedom, that is, homosexuality and sex outside the bounds of marriage.

The controversy over sexuality in the West may seem far away and one wonders why we should bother with this Western obsession? But the reality is that many of our younger generation (including Christian youths) have bought into the same sexual revolution because of the dominance of the West ideas in the global media.

Trueman’s analysis builds on the writings of Philip Rieff (The Triumph of the Therapeutic), Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue) and Charles Taylor (The Secular Age), but he has the virtue of zeroing onto the roots of the sexual revolution – expressive individualism in an age of authenticity. To this we may add (1) the loss of divine transcendence which grounds objective morality. Morality becomes a matter of personal taste and manipulative power games, (2)Β  the death of the soul which historically served as the basis for human significance and identity. Human nature becomes devoid of intrinsic essence or meaning. Selfhood is focused on the inner life of emotions of the individual. According to Freud, our sexual desires are ultimately decisive for who we are.

With the triumph of the therapeutic and erotic, personal aesthetics replaces ethics, and the therapeutic β€˜self’ becomes a social construct which may be deconstructed and reconstructed at will, especially in the area of sexual identity. Based on Nietzsche’s genealogical approach to morality and Marx’s dialectical materialism, activists for transgenderism and sexual freedom reject Judeo-Christian morality (bourgeois family morality) as the source of sexual oppression and portray themselves as heroic liberators and champions of human rights. Continue reading “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and the Sexual Revolution”

Silence and Discernment in Midst of Political Cacophony

We are overwhelmed daily by information overload from the Internet. Brett McCracken explains,

The speed of information today is simply too fast. Too fast for sufficient vetting, fact-checking, prudence (should I really retweet this?) and commonsense critical thinking. This creates a variety of new problems that erode our collective trust in information: fake news, viral misinformation, conspiracy theories, and too-hasty reporting from otherwise reputable news sources.

The irony of the information age is that the more access we have to an unfathomable amount of information and accumulated knowledge, the less wise we seem to become. One problem with information glut is that it taxes our brains, forcing them into constant triage mode and sapping them of energy (and time) for the deeper, evaluative thinking necessary for wisdom. [ 2020 Proves We Don’t Need More Information. (We Need Something Else.)]

It is a strange sight to see some Malaysian Christians getting at each other in their heated debates about American politics twelve thousand miles away. Continue reading “Silence and Discernment in Midst of Political Cacophony”