I Will Praise The Lord At All Times

Dear Devil,

I know how you cringe everytime I sing worship songs to my God in church on Sundays. I know especially how you laugh and howl whenever I proclaim at the top of my lungs and from the bottom of my heart that I will praise the Lord at all times. Sometimes when I worship, I find other thoughts entering my mind. Like that time I was really feeling myself entering into the sanctuary of God, this question popped up in my mind,"Check out the girl infront, isn't she hot?" and then more thoughts,"How can you be lusting while worshipping? Are you worshipping properly then? Get out of this place you sinner!"

I know how often when the going gets bad, I get down. I remember the days where I feel so down, that I refuse to speak to God. Those days that I chose instead to indulge in other activities like watching Desperate Housewives, or even in reading other people's blogs rather than reading from the word of God. I know how frequent it is that we rant and rave and demand answers from God, asking persistently "WHY GOD? WHY ME?" I know how down we feel and go about our ministry sulking and feeling stressed out and stretched out. And then I wonder why is it that no one around cares, what happened to love your neighbours? Then i decide that if they ain't showing me love, I won't show them none too. Distorted the truth from the bible, then I feel guilty, and the vicious cycle repeats as I refuse to repent.

I know how silly we look to you sometimes. We silly limited creatures of creation who live both in the spiritual and physical realms at once, claiming to be spiritually fulfilled and holy, yet living a hollow life in our physical existance. How with our lips we praise our God, and with the very same lips which praise God, put down His creatures, our friends. I know how silly we look at church camps, claiming that the passion of God has been ignited in us, and that we will go to the ends of the earth to spread His gospel, and then when we return to school we're too cowed to even speak about God to our sitting partners.

I know how you laugh at us. Mock us. Put lies in our minds to distract us and then take pleasure in seeing that we believe more in your lies than in the truths we've seen from the life of Jesus and the word of God.

But guess what. I realised that you're just very much like us.

Like us, you're a created being. Were you not a creation of God yourself? Like us, you're limited. You cannot be everywhere at once like God can. You're not omnipresent. You only pretend to be. Like us, you're weak. You try to do your work on your own, but you always come to realize that when God is working, your work falters before His hand and submits to His will.

You think that you are winning the battle because you claim more souls. You think that because you can plant lies in our minds and take us so easily away from God, you're the victor. You think that because you managed to tempt souls away from God at various intervals in their lives, you're mightier than God because He can't keep a hold on us.

But guess what. You're wrong. God doesn't hold on to us using various means and tricks like you do, with you pleasurable sins of all sorts, because He DOESN'T have to. We CHOOSE to follow Him. God gave us choice, and with this freedom, He crushed you.

And what else? You ain't strong. You ain't winning. I know that when Jesus died on the cross, He said that His work was completed. You have been defeated. Through the word of God, we know that You have already lost, and now you're acting the part of the feeble loser, trying to drag down as many souls as you can with you. It's the last 10 minutes of your ball game, you're losing, and God has won.

And so what if you can plant lies in our heads? God can plant truths in our lives. And when it takes root, it blossoms into fruit, and with the fruits of the Holy Spirit, we repel you with our prayers, we defeat you with every repentence. With each forgiven sinner we add to our kingdom, God has shown a greater capacity to love than you can. With each forgiven sin that the blood of His son has washed over, the weaker your hold over us becomes.

I know I'm not perfect. I haven't loved God with all my heart. But I know more importantly that my life has a price. That God loves me.

I know that my heart has felt the presence of the living God and that everyday I pray to be humbled before His feet. Knowing that by believing in your lies and trying to preserve my life, I lose it. I choose to DIE in order to LIVE.

You're such a dirty liar when you tempt me with your sins. Tempting me to choose short term pleasures over an eternity with my creator. But I know, that I possess the truth of life. That Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And in Him, I possess a He who's greater than the you who will not be within me.

And though this might not be my life all the time. I will still praise the Lord at all times. And thwart you and your plans from taking me into hell, and removing me from the sweet presence of my God, despite all the trials, He has given me life, peace,power and joy which you can never hope to offer.

I will praise the Lord forever.

Yours sincerely,
XXXXXXX

Learn To Be Still

Patience is a seriously under-rated virtue. (And also something which is seriously lacking from the roads of Singapore. Grrr.) It's importance in our daily living is always much overlooked. Consider the fact that it does indeed take a tremendous amount of patience and determination to actually excel at most things! Or to put it in another way, let's take a slight and simple examination of how much time we spend waiting in the course of our lives, and then we might all get a clearer picture of just how important this "patience" thing is to us.

Let say, everyday we wait for our buses to come (for those who take public transport), we wait for traffic jams to clear (for those who DON'T take public transport), we wait to use the toilets, we wait for the traffic light to turn green, we wait for our food, we wait for our movie tickets, we wait for the movie to start, we wait for our turn to get promoted, we wait for our time to graduate from school, we wait eons to get a driving test date, we wait for our lunchbreaks to arrive, we wait for the sun to set and for work to be done for the day, and the list goes on!

Imagine if you were an EXTREMELY impatient person. You would definately be suffering every single day of your life! After all, waiting is one thing which we can't hardly seem to avoid anyhow. But more importantly, is not patience for these small matters which I'm concerned about, but rather, the need to learn to be still (a nicer way for being patient) and awaiting the anointed time of God to fall upon our lives.

Often in our lives, we push so hard for that promotion, for that improvement in our golf games, for the next big church programme coming up, and all these while we spent and expediate all our energies just pushing on and pushing on, moving inevitably towards the next major burn out season. In fact this happens so often that we have come to the point where we view burn outs as a natural process as well! But is this how it is supposed to be?

The key issue then is, what are we pushing so hard for? For the church mice, we inevitably pop up with the holier-than-thou retort, "Oh we're expanding God's kingdom and doing God's work! You haven't had burnouts? You have no meetings to attend? Oh then you must not be an active Christian I see." But is that necessarily true?

On a personal note, i hardly think so. Burn outs (in my opinion at least) is an inevitable consequence of relying on self-might. We, humans, are created beings and are therefore limited in many sense. We can't physically be at two places or more at the same time (the internet fuzzes this up a little, but u get the drift.), most of our brains can only contain THAT much information, we can't run at our full speed all the time (imagine running 400 metres at 9.5 secs per 100 metres.) and we definately DO NOT have the energy to run on full steam all the time. Which therefore explains burn outs! We experience such mental and physical burn outs when we're drivin to the very limits of our existance, after all there is only so much of ourselves that we can pour out endlessly! We, unfortunately like machines, need rest, need oiling. Therefore we see burn outs as inevitable.

I, on the other hand, think that burn outs are only a necessary outcome IF you're self-reliant. When you're pushing for the next big church programme, do think, is this idea from God? If it is, am i drawing from His ceaseless power? If I AM drawing from His ceaseless power, why do I feel like I'm burning out?

Often times, we labour for noble reasons, of extending God's kingdom, of developing future leaders in church, the reasons we give get better and better, but sometimes, the work we do get less and less. First things first, are we denying the soverignty of our Lord when we declare ourselves pouring out all of ourselves for the work in church? Doesn't it occur to us then, that the God who made this world, can do whatever He wants even WITHOUT us? Why then, are we doing His work for Him? For the very simple reason that God wants to include ALL of us in His plans!

Consider this: does it make sense for you to hire a contractor to build your new home, and then REFUSE to provide him with the financial means to build it?

Likewise, God is waiting to invest His power in us, His energies in us! He promised us in the book of Isaiah that that we will run and not be weary! (Isaiah 40:30-31) So why then do we still need to experience burn outs? We DON'T! You just have to know that if you are indeed doing the work which God has called you to be doing, and then DRAW from Him!

But how then do we know if we're doing God's work? This is where we have to learn to be still, to be patient and seek God through prayer, the reading of His word, and through re-affirmation with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! I'll have more of this later on... but for now...!

And therefore, to all who read this, if you're feeling weary, know that God is willing to carry you on His shoulders and send you soaring through the skies. If you're feeling like you're gonna go deep into a burn out, know that God is the provider of fuel (and know that inflation in the real world WILL NOT raise the price of God's fuel) which will never run dry. Receive His power today, and then when you do His works, people will look at your hands, and praise God.

An Interview With The Devil

Please note that the following interview is purely fictional and reflects the cranky musings of me and me only. Please do not notify the authorities. I am perfectly sane at the time of writing.

Reporter: Good afternoon Mr. Devil. First off I must say it's such a great pleasure of mine to be able to interview you today.

Devil: Oh no. The pleasure is all mine. I would be more than glad to grant you guys an interview any time.

Reporter: Well that will surely be appreciated by my editors. I must say for a devil you are pretty well decked out in fashionable attire! Quite different from the clichéd images of a devil carrying a pitched fork I must say.

Devil: That’s a false image of us that you get through comics and your media. We, Devils, do work which require a high amount of sophistication and devilish charms and subtleties which of course requires us to be decked out in the trendiest gear at all times. It’s largely an image thing, really. But this misconception of us does go a long way in helping us go about doing our work.

Reporter: You mean the idea that we, people, have of you guys as the vulgar and crude devils actually aid your work? How so?

Devil: Associating us with the crude image inevitably links us with certain acts like mere demon possession or mass murders. But these acts which are associated with us are merely negligible parts of our vast repertoire. Focusing on these actions linked with the ill-conceived image of us means that we get to do our real jobs with an excellent cover which no one takes any notice.

Reporter: So you guys actually get to go underground with your real work? So is the world truly missing your real impact and not giving you enough credit for the work that you guys have been doing?

Devil: I must say that we’re truly under-rated. Lots of the time our work is so subtle that people just miss it all together. We’re having a field day messing around with the lives and faith of people, and currently we’ve have done a pretty remarkable job of muddling up the identity of our Enemy I must say. It’s been a great couple of decades, what with the raise in living standards and all. People are getting more decadent nowadays won’t you agree? (Muffles a chuckle.)

Reporter: You do have a point there. But to the statement that you made earlier, then what would you consider as one of the most potent weapons and advantages that you possess in your line of work?

Devil: Subtleties are a great friend of ours. If you would just pay more careful attention, you would note that you human kinds are not very attentive to subtle changes and influences. You guys grasp the notion of general trends and distinctly observable influences very well and usually stop it in time. But most of the time, you are blind to the subtle influences and changes in your personal lives, whilst focusing on the immediate news of the outside world. Take the recent Tsunami incident for example. While the attention of everyone was focused on the survivors and the death toll, how many of you then remained focus enough on your personal life to continue taking note of the way you relate to people in your immediate vicinity? Whilst busily racking up dollars to aid the victims, we had a field day disrupting the personal lives of people, making sure that their immediate relationships took that subtle twist which worsen the way they related to others, and all this while they think that they’re toiling for a higher purpose, and not knowing that even as they toil and focus on the outside, the inside is actually of a higher priority. We always make use of subtle movements to move a person away from the Enemy.

Reporter: That sounds like a truly effective way! But even without a significant event like the Tsunami, what if it was just an ordinary day? How then do you employ this method?

Devil: On a routine day, it’s even easier for us. The instincts and senses of humans are easily dulled by monotony in daily living. They get bored, or over satisfied, and are easily lulled into a sense of false security. That’s when we act. They can still read their bible and pray, but with the lack of an immediate concern and sense of urgency, they’re no longer that sharp and close to the Enemy. In a sense, they’re straying slightly as they soon start to pray shorter prayers with not much depth. Or they read the bible without bothering to seek the truth from it. So in the prayers we distract them by planting thoughts of supernatural experiences in their mind. We make them plant their focus on the determination to experience the Enemy in a supernatural way, and pray according to an image of the Enemy that we subsequently proceed to mold in their heads. They start to imagine things of the Enemy and start to pray not to him, but to an image of their own creation. We direct them to focus on experiential events, and not on their actual knowledge of what the Enemy is really like. Thus their prayers are ineffective and impersonal, and are inevitably bitterly disappointed.

Reporter: So a mundane daily life has the effect of aiding you guys? That’s really an interesting observation to take note of. Effectively, you guys work best by shifting our attention away from what we know of who God really is, unto the idea that we pay more attention to the God that we think should be? Is that right?

Devil: That’s prettily aptly put across over there. My main task is to distract. Because once people know and focus their faith upon their actual knowledge of the Enemy, my job is pretty much a lost cause. The Enemy has a way of holding the minds of people. After all, He is the Alpha and the Omega and lots of devoted people with the knowledge of his alleged greatness will know His true power. But we exploit the fact that an event in the lives of people mar their knowledge of God, and creates the need in them to worship a person whom possesses characteristics which they feel the Enemy should have. And these are often inaccurate and misleading. What’s more, this distortion separates the people from the enemy, and causes the fact that they would then be unable to receive the power of the Enemy. This thus further strengthens our hands in our struggle against the Enemy.

Reporter: That’s a lot of information for a day! I thank you immensely for your
Information and I will be looking forward to our next interview!

Excuse me, How much is your life worth?

How much is my life worth? This question came racing through my mind as I sat there on the bus looking at this startling scene unravelling before my eyes. To say the least i probably exaggerated the situation by a big deal when i describe it as being startling, but it was indeed a rare scene on a bus (as far as i am concerned) which shooked me a little, and sent several thoughts running through my head.

Two old men (aged 50 and above) were on the bus, obviously drunk and obviously don't give two hoots to what others think. They were merrily drinking on the bus from a can of Tiger Beer and a bottle of Heinekein which they swopped from time to time, being indeed very slovenly on the public transport. First thought through my head? The traffic police slogan, if you drink, don't drive. And for me to add onto that slogan, and if you don't drive (cause you drink), don't take a bus either.

Another image which engraved itself into my head. This time round, my friend and I spotted a young adult (probably in his early twenties) sitting at this table in a coffee shop at 1130pm, with a bottle of beer before him, just sitting there staring into space. Obviously depressed, downcast, and the silent image of him sitting there with his beer etched itself into the blueprint of my cerebral. His silence shouted out amidst the noise of traffic, and his loneliness an astounding declaration of sorts. He sat there. And in my heart, I cried.

How much is life worth? Can it even be measured? Do we value our lives enough, to know truly what was given for us to live? Do we know the true worth of our lives?

If we claim to know what we think we know, then my question is this. Is it then, worth it when we live our lives for merely the moment? For the exciting stimulation of the present? Is it worth it when we throw our lives about in promiscuity, in alcohol, in pornography, in loose flings, in swear words, in reckless abandonment? Even so, is it worth it to throw our lives into pop philosophies? To believe in the trendy beliefs?

Pop philosophies affected our very mode of thinking in ways unimaginable to most us, and un-noticed to us. Jon Bon Jovi's song goes "It's my life, it's now or never, I ain't gonna live forever" would be classified under the category of "Pop Philosophy". The idea that we own this life that we live, and the idea that we live for now, and so proceed to squeeze out every inch of life everyday, to live in abandonment, knowing that today's pleasure and joy is the most important. A certain cover up for a lifestyle which at it's very core is hedonistic in character.

Yet how many of us go through each day, not knowing truly that our lives have been paid for with a price. That our self worth is not measured by our achievements, nor our personal perception of what we can possibly achieve. Our self worth has been marked out by the act of one man: Jesus.

If you ever thought your life was cheap. That you were worthless. And that you were not worthy of any attention, love. Or if you live your life carelessly, not treasuring this life. Then you have not come to know the price that has been paid. The son of God who hung there upon the cross, His blood for your life.

For most, we forget the love of God for us. That our lives have been marked with a high price, and God chose to pay for it through a person treasured deeply by Him. Remember when Jesus was born in the manger, God Himself said that this was His son, with whom He was well pleased. Yet wasn't this Jesus, the one who hung there in the cross? Persecuted and abused by the people He came to save. He hung there. With blood dripping from his head. With pressure pressing onto his temples by the crown of thorns. God had paid the price, to redeem our lives.

We so often underestimate the value of our lives. We know it's important and that it's a gift from God to live. But often we ditch the unpalatable sight of Jesus' death as a symbol of how deep God's love for us goes. We forget that at the heart of the idea of redemption, God had paid the highest price for each and every one of our lives.

Jesus did not die merely for those who followed Him. He did not die for merely for His apostles, or for those who followed the ways of God. Jesus died also for the prostitutes, the lepers, the untouchables. He gave His life for the convicted murderer, the prisoner, the liar, the fraud, the heart-brokened, the eternal atheist, the lonely and even the sick. For each and everyone of us, even those we deem as worthless and unworthy, Jesus died. A lamb slain upon the cross for us.

The value that is stamped upon our lives are worth so much more than we can imagine. That despite the sins that cover us and grieves God, He placed His judgement upon His beloved son on that cross. He judge His innocent son, His son who had led a sin-less life, His son who knew Him and followed Him. He placed the judgement upon the world upon the shoulders of this fair Nazarene, who took the weight of sins upon His shoulder. Jesus did not merely took upon His human body the pain of flesh, but the pain of emotions, and the pain of spiritual separation. His pain was total, His anguish real. Yet all this was done, for the mere redemption of our lives. For the ability to enter the inner courts of God.

Truly, no single act ever in the history of humanity can compare to the act performed upon the cross. The perfect sacrifice. The single act which freed us from our enslavery to the thing which haunts us: sin. The single act which reconciled us to our Holy Father. The single act which enabled us to enter the kingdom of God as His sons, to share in His inheritance. If God were to pass His judgement upon us, all us were be deemed guilty in His courts. But Jesus had bought our freedom with His death, through His penal substitution, He has bought us an acquital verdict. To live with victory, to live knowing that we can approach God in every intimate aspect of our lives.

The power of the cross is not exclusive to Christians. Even to the people around us, open your eyes and see. That the "elusive" power of love performed on the cross that we've come to embrace is missing from the lives of many. Is it elusive? It's not meant to be. Jesus had the courage to pick up His cross when He was innocent. He chose to die for us when we were yet sinners. At the time of His death, we all turned away from Him. In His face drenched with blood, His body of torn flesh, and His wretch heart. In his most downcast state, we had all failed to see through the despair of the flesh, into His heart, we had all failed to see the beautiful soul of the son of God who looked down upon the cross, and prayed that we would be forgiven for we did not know what we had done. Are we then ashamed to carry His gospel? Are we then ashamed to carry our own cross?

Don't be. And in all things. Know that God has deemed you as the most precious in His eyes. Precious enough for Him to give His son to redeem you to Him.

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" - 1 Peter 1:18-19

10 Ways To Losing Your Date Before V-Day

Everyone single and available around you at this moment is probably pondering upon some essential life and death questions, like, how do i get a date for Valentine's Day? For those who are pondering this issue, sorry, wrong blog to check out. (I could, however, refer you to www.datingfast.com, they've got advice on this if you require their expertise) For me, let's be light hearted today and ponder about the most effective ways to lose a date! (For whatever selfish reasons you have! This entry is strictly for my entertainment's sake, any consequences of taking up my advice has absolutely NOTHING to do with me.)

1) Be Late For Your Dates With Her (Prior to V-day)
Be late for your appointments. Let me change that a little, be VERY late. Strive to be at least an hour late, and spice it up by coming up with a seriously LAME excuse. Try excuses like, "My dog ate my shoe, so I tried feeding it laxatives to get my shoe out before it got itself digested by my dog, so of course i had to hang around to wait for the laxatives to kick in to get my shoes back." or "Aliens abducted me on my way here! These green flying spacecrafts which looks like thin-panned pizza swoop upon me in the bus and kidnapped me! They did nasty things to me you wouldn't even want to hear about..sob sob.." May I add at this juncture, always look like you genuinely BELIEVE that she will buy into your excuse, and attempt the rest of the day to CONVINCE her that whatever you said truly DID happen.

2) Forget To Call Her Up When You Said You Would
Yes. Tell her everyday that you will call her up at 11pm to chat because you would be missing her so much by then. Then deliberately NOT call at 11pm. Ok, make it, DO NOT call until she calls you herself. And when she does call you, feign an innocent voice and go "Oops! Did i say i would call you? Gee, it must have slipped my mind." Make it sound nonchalent. Apologize. Apologize alot. And when she's simmered down, slam the nail into the coffin. Say something like,"Hey anyway I've got to go. Watching a football match now! It's exciting stuff and I can't multi-task! See you tomorrow! (And then you turn up late tomorrow. Haha)" That'll piss her off.

3) Insist On Going Shopping With Her
The greatest love of a woman will often turn out to be her greatest weakness. Make yourself seem like the greatest boyfriend on Earth by insisting that you go along with her for a full-day shopping trip! But here's the catch, the moment you start shopping, look BORED. And after an hour of shopping, insist that you're tired and you want to call it a day. Suggest something else, like playing Counter-Strike at a LAN shop. Then when she gets mad, relent, shop somemore. But interrupt every 15 minutes of shopping with a whine which goes, "Can weee pleeeaaaaseeee sttooooopppp???"

4) Talk Only About Yourself
This shouldn't be too hard. For one day, pretend that you're the ONLY person who matters on this planet. Don't talk about anything else! (Or if you do, always bring it back to you) On this day, YOU are the alpha and the omega. Talk about your achievements. Brag. Boast. Make yourself seem macho and capable of superhuman deeds. And pay no attention to anything else the whole day. Today it's all about you.

5) Ask Dumb Questions and Make Irrelevant Statements
Make yourself a hardcore Him-bo today (the male version of a bimbo). Ask dumb questions as if they matter alot to you. Ask questions like "Why can birds fly and humans can't?" or "Is it insulting if I address an Indian as a Ah-Nei?" Then spice things up with irrelevant statements the whole day. When she asks you if she looks good in a top she's intending to buy, tell her about Stalin and the Cold War. When she tries telling you about her problems, delve into a philosophical enquiry about the reality of Human Nature. Quote David Hume when she asks about your day. e.g "How was your day?" your reply? "Adamn Smith once said...But i would disagree with that because Socrates was quoted as saying..." (you get the drift)

6) Insist On Giving Her a Lesson On Football Statistics
You know how guys dig into sports statistics? (Like how many goals did Alan Shearer score in his first premiership season? Honestly I don't care..at all.) These sports statistics come in handy now cause i know girls honestly just don't give a crap about it. It's a male fascination. So exploit it. Give her lessons on every player on your favourite football clubs. If you don't have one, make it up! (Do you honestly think girls are as into football as most of us are?) Tell them about the goal Pele scored in 1960 World Cup (Pardon me if i gotten the dates wrong). Tell them that Petr Cech just managed to keep a clean sheet for 760 minutes. Make it sound like it's the most important thing they should know.

7) Declare Yourself Gay
Today declare yourself gay. Check out every guy that you two walk past while hanging out. Or insist on talking about abs, and biceps of guys the whole day. Tell her how sexy you find Johnny Depp, or Arnold in Terminator. Tell her that you wonder how it feels like to kiss another member of the same sex (eew..this is wrong. I know i know..) Then flirt with your pals. That will seriously turn her off. (and your pals off too i reckon.)

8) Pick Fights and Squabbles The Whole Day Long
In everything you guys do together today, act the hyper-sensitive male part. Insist that she doesn't care about how you feel, say irresponsible things like "You never ever gave a shit about how i feel about things! You inconsiderate #*(@#&." Fight over things like carrying her purse. insist that it's not a manly thing to carry her bags (even though you've always been doing it). Tell her that her shoes are a mismatch with her clothes. Pick on all the small things. Like the fact that you're eating chicken for dinner when you don't like it at all. (Though chicken is actually your favourite meat)

9) Pretend That You're a Black (And a Rapper At That)
Attempt to say everything with rhyme and rhythm. Sing out your thoughts. Just make sure that firstly they DON'T rhyme. And secondly they sound like the mere clashing of cymbals so she can't understand ANYTHING you say. Then dress the part. Ditch your good fashion sense for over-sized football jerseys which carries names of people you've never heard of. (Think XXXL with a Joe Montana on the back. Who the heck is Montana?) Wear baggy jeans and Timberland boots as if they're the coolest things in town. (try a size 42 when you're actually a size 32.) Wear blings blings, and insist that the crystals on your pedantic cross are actually real diamonds. Be a hardcore rapper today. She be pissed. (If she isn't, someone else on the street will club you i assure you)

10) Act As If It's The End of The World Today
Panick. Drag her to super markets and buy items like oil, butter, mineral water. Insist that the End Days are here and that everyone is going to die unless they hide in a nuclear shelter. Insist that she believes you, and that once you two survives the disaster, you be left with the duties of Adam and Eve to fill up the world with your children. Drag her to a MRT shelter. Tell her to not tell anyone else, because you want the space all by yourself to ensure that you two leave. Act like you believe it's the End of the World. And when she's convinced (If you're that good, most of us don't even get here), laugh at her. Tell her that she's silly to believe you. Even if you don't get so far with her, trust me when I tell you that keeping this up for a whole day will seriously antagonize anyone. (Especially her, since she's your girlfriend.)

Free To Voice Your Choice?

Everyone craves for freedom. The freedom to be yourself (don't u hear people shouting this statement over their roof-tops on a daily basis now? the all-too-familiar "ALL I WANNA BE IS MYSELF!) The freedom to vote. The freedom to choose your marriage partner. The freedom to view any movie you deem pleasurable to view. We all want this freedom of choice, to know that we are truly free and beholden to nothing. And with this naturally imbued right of choice that we all possess, truly it does bring up a question or two.

Why does God allows us to choose? Why not just now give us a choice? Why tempt us with the Tree of Life and it's fruits when He probably knew that we would be tempted to eat? Why not just eradicate sin and save us all since He loves us? Why let so many people die in the Tsunami when He could just have saved them all with His legions of angels?

Too many questions. And so little answers. But let me just share some of my thoughts on this issue of choice.

Perhaps a short passage from Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" will help clear things up a little. The story talks about a protagonist named Alex, who is a real bad-ass, and currently undergoes prison reform which makes him UNABLE to be bad. In a sense it deprives him of the choice and freedom to do bad things! (at first glance it doesn't look like such a bad thing doesn't it) With this in mind, let's see how the book goes...

" 'Choice,' rumbled a rich deep goloss. I viddied it beleonged to the prison charlie (or chaplain). 'He has no real choice, has he? Self-interest, fear of physical pain, drove him to that grosteque act of self-abasement. Its insincerity was clearly to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature capable of moral choice.' "

Any thoughts? Isn't it more important to make the choice to do the right thing? Than to do the right thing, given that you had no choice, and no opportunity to choose the alternative? Men should be allowed to be like oranges, to blossom, to grow, to possess the Christian belief of free-choice (oh look! Jesus believes in democracy! ok jokes aside..) Should we be like Clockworks then? Mechanically fine-tuned to do good? To not be able to do the unenviable alternative? To never know the importance of choice?

Being Clockworks denigrate us. It belittles the beautiful creation of God, made in His likeness. To deprive us of choice, and reduce us to mere functioning bodies who do good because that's the only thing we know how to do, eliminates our capability of being moral beings. We will never then know how to bear the moral consequence of our decisions. We will never know what it means to be real.

And that's why God gave us the freedom to choose. Because God in His wisdom and knowledge, knew that it took MORE than a mere deprivation of our ability to choose for us to enter into a REAL love relationship with Him! Would u ever know what it means to love another person if you hadn't had the rights to make a choice? To choose to enter into a relationship with a person? What if you had to be in love BECAUSE that was the only thing you knew how to do? Would that relationship then be considered real?

God knew above all things, that we HAD to make the choice to love Him. Only then, would we truly be His sons, His children, His flocks. Even His son, Jesus, had the right to choose. At the moment prior to the beginning of His death, this was the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethesame.

"Abba, Father," He said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet now what I will, but what you will." Mark 14:36

The Son of God had a choice as well! And that's what made the act of dying upon the cross all that greater! That's what free will is all about! Because God knew, that to make all things in this world real and rich in meaning, we had to be able to choose and decide for ourselves!

So perhaps now we know why we're free to choose. From our schools to what we eat, we make choices daily. And between the eternity of future, and the eternity of history, we stand now in the cross-roads of time, and with each choice, lay down a moment to be framed in all of eternity. We have a choice to live. So choose it. Exercise it meaningfully. Comprehend the full actions of the work of the cross. Maybe now i'm a little clearer on why God allowed us to choose. hmm..

Aphrodite's Fruit

The season of love, once again, is just around the corner. (you either love it or u hate it ay, this 14th of February which haunts us every year.) around this corner as you snoop around for your new clothes, new shoes, new socks, it's inevitable. you can't hide from it. you can't run it. in the corner of your eye you pick up this little red glimmering sign which reads: The Perfect Gift For Your Valentine
yes folks. for those who dread it, and those who think this is THE day, it's here again. 14th of February - Valentine's day. on this day, we celebrate *gasp* - love. a big word yes! we celebrate a big thing. we celebrate the red roses, the candle light dinner, the sweet kiss, the tight hug, the soft feeling of another hand in yours, the clear light clap of a laughter, the proverbial smile which launches a thousand ship (amazing how every smile from your lover turns heads this PARTICULAR day ay?), the gift wrapped with every ounce of you that you can muster, the puckering lips, the smooth gelled hair, the cologne, the perfume, and the mystical words mumbled from your lips - "i love you."

yes folks. i could never hope to put this more across in another way. love IS a big word. can u ever hope to wrap your hands around this issue? tell and declare to the world that you know what it means? to love? to embrace? to NOT hate? (i mean, honestly, can we NOT hate?) can u understand the nuances of love, the little twists and turns, the squabbles which comes, the smirk, the hurt, the PAIN. can u HONESTLY say that u know what it MEANS to love? to know and perform fully the obligations of saying "i love u"?

maybe some of us can. let's hear it from...

Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life. --Leo Buscaglia

or how about...

Love has its own time, its own season, and its own reasons from coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it or reason it into staying. You can only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you. --Kent Nerburn

or try this...

Love is eternal -- the aspect may change, but not the essence There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. The lamp was there and was a good lamp, but now it is shedding light too, and that is its real function. And love makes one calmer about many things, and that way, one is more fit for one's work. --Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

people crack their heads over this issue. and on valentine's day, we all pretend like we've got it all figured out! the movies. the dates. the flowers. the surprises. BUT wait a minute...

in a world filled with billions of people, souls, lives all intertwined on this huge round globe we termed "Earth", how many people celebrate this day in which all the rest of us intend to? would the Tsunami victims sit down in their washed-out attap huts and eat dinner (which consists of rice, rice, rice and more rice), sip muddy water, and armed with a lone candle (given courtesy of the Salvation Army) be celebrating this way too? (but they are, in a cynical sense, having candle-light dinner too.) would the citizens of Congo, Rwanda, Iraq, be embracing this day with the same zest that we do? (surely most of the world have something else to worry about, like where's breakfast gonna come from.)

14th of February. that's a luxury we never knew we had.

I like not only to be loved, but also to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same mind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear --George Eliot

appreciate it. be thankful. give your gratitude to God who has blessed your life, with the means to enjoy this day you put aside. celebrate the love you have in your life with passion, with meaning. ditch those damn flowers (they die the next day anyway), chuck the candle - lit dinner (there's no need to pay swanky restaurants an additional 30% on this day for a lousy candle you can bring yourself), spare the glitzy wrapping paper and mind-blowing gifts (after all what better present can u offer to the one you love than your heart? that my friend, money can't buy.)

on this day, be aware. that even as you are loved. there are many more out there who celebrate alone. many more who have no means to pay for electricity (and so enjoy the mystical candle-light dinner as well). many more whose husbands have left them behind. many more whose hearts and souls have been pierced by the careless words of others.

this day spread the love around. even as your heart is filled with bliss. share it. let the world know that you love. and are capable of giving more of your heart to people who need it. to those who believe in Jesus, even if you don't obey His commands to love (though i think you REALLY should), take this day, put some time aside, and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOURS. so much more people need it. so much lives to be touched. for a moment...just love, for all it actually means.

A Simple Caricature

Howdy's for ze furst porsting

What the heck is this? A blog? you disgusting freak. did you not look down on people who kept blogs? did you once hold the opinion that people who held blogs were deprived. lacking. starving. and were a bunch who simply had no better person to whine, bitch, complain, shout, scream to?

I cannot. I repeat. I cannot believe this.

So am i now a member of this "exclusive" group? am i now a person who starts a blog to bitch, whine, shout, scream,vent, express,release,growl,yelp, about life? about the sun? the moon? russian dancing bears? do i now expose my personal life to millions around the night?

I hope no one ever finds my blog.

But whatever. 1st one is out. there might be more. there might not be. this could be it. this might not be it.

I STILL cannot believe this.

To those who spot my first posting. cheerios. you spotted a chink in my armour. a momentous shifting in believes. to all those who ever thought they believed firmly in one thing, and then shifted their opinion. cheers. i'm now in the club.