Our 2 Girls from Vietnam

Vatican Bidding to Get Anglicans to Join Its Fold

VATICAN CITY — In an extraordinary bid to lure traditionalist Anglicans en masse, the Vatican said Tuesday that it would make it easier for Anglicans uncomfortable with their church’s acceptance of female priests and openly gay bishops to join the Roman Catholic Church while retaining many of their traditions.

Anglicans would be able “to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony,” Cardinal William J. Levada, the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said at a news conference here.

more on this in the link below
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/world/europe/21pope.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=vatican%20bidding%20to%20get%20anglicans&st=cse

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I got a shock when I see this news in the Straits Times a few days ago. I wonder what is our church's response to this.

-ed-

Jesus, lover of my soul

A lot of friends have tried to look out for potential partners for me out of good will that I should be dating someone. I think I should thank God that so far there is no one who is madly fasincated by me and like me to the extent that he is going all the way out to pursue me. That's because if he is someone that I don't like, I have to think of ways to diplomaticaly reject him; if he is someone that I really have chemistry with, I would definitely response. And by responding, it may eventually lead to the stage when I would hold tightly onto him just to make sure that I won't lose him. That's what I see in some of my friends' relationship. That's kind of suffocating. I thank God that He loves me so much and takes care of me so well and that I can respond to His love for me in such a free and easy way. I don't feel suffocated but I feel that I am being set free. Where on earth can I find such a person with whom I can be in love with in this way?

God has given me another way to feel secure, another much freer and ultimately certain way of security. As long as I open up the door of my heart to let Him in, He promised that He would come into our hearts. Having God in my life is really the greatest relationship I can ever have. I feel so filled and well-loved that I don't need any other thing. I should be thankful and treasure this amazing relationship that I have developed with God.

How I wish I can share this great feeling that is so deeply rooted in my heart with my loved ones who have yet to come to know God. It is my deepest desire to bring them to Christ. May God grant me the wisdom and the gift to draw them to Christ.

Anna

Are all born-again Christians fanatics?

My law lecturer has once said that all "reborn" Christians are fanatics. Well, that's definitely a sweeping statement but my first response was what he meant by reborn Christians. Did he mean those who were not born in a Christian family but came to know God when growing up and decided to commit their lives for God? Or those who were born into a Christian family or even those who came to know God later in life but back-slided? In any case, there was a period in their lives for this category of Christians that God was not well-regarded . So when they re-invite God to dwell in their hearts, they are "reborn".

I came from a non-Christian family and have always been surrounded by Taoists and Buddhists. I took me a long time and a long way to come to be fully convicted to allow God to take control of my life and be fully committed to God. Therefore, I belong to this category of reborn Christian. So am I a fanatic, at least in proclaiming the truth of God and to obey God's command for my life? Definitely! I wouldn't admit it right from the beginning, but when I search my heart deeper, I must say yes. If I was not so fully convinced and convicted of the fact that Jesus was the only way, the only truth and the only One, I would not still be a Christian by now and putting my priority for Him. It's because I have gone through a period of earnestly exploring and questioning and willfully disobeying and turning away from God's calling that made me a fanatic in defending what I believe in. I was also able to compare what it was like without God in my heart and what it is like now that I allow Christ to come in.

For those who were borned into a Christian family. They have been brought up with Christian education, knowing God and having God with them as they grow up. They know and have been taught how great and how important it is to obey God and to have God in their lives. But in practice, they cannot really compare. That's why as the preacher Benjamin Lee has said, it's really tempting to disobey God and just to see how it's like to lead a life without God in mind. In fact, I have heard a number of my German colleagues saying that the priests (most of them were born Catholics) always told them not to do this, not to do that because that's what God commanded...these "don't" teaching had a negative effect on them and as a child, the more "don't" teaching, the more they wanted to try and to disobey.

Even in our long spiritual journey with God, I'm sure there are many incidences when we are very tempted to close our ears to God's advice and calling because God calls us to do things that we don't want to obey. Very often we continue to indulge in this practice because we think that God is allowing this and still blessing us because He allows us to continue. But just as the preacher Rev. Dr. Simon Chan mentioned that sometimes God purposely take things that we thought are important to us and strike some sense out of us. Perhaps by doing so, it achieves the same effect of being "reborn".

I came across this quote from the confirmation class by J.C. Ryle, "Christ is never fully valued, until sin is clearly seen. we must know the depth and malignity of our disease, in order to appreciate the great Physician." This really strikes a chord in my heart.

Well, doesn't this leads to the conclusion that we learn best and most effectively through and from our negative experience? When I first became a Christian, one of my strongest desire was to bring up my children in the church environment, let them experience and be influenced by the goodness and love of God in this extended Christian family. But when I look at some of my friends who have been raised up in Christian families, not everyone of them really turned out to be fully obeying and listening to God. This fanatic flame doesn't seem to be burning in them. Maybe being brought up in a Christian family might not be that wonderful after all??? We all know what the standard answer to the question is, but how to defend your answer and be convincing for yourself, it's probably another big topic for discussion.

However, I do think that whatever kind of christian education that we have at any point in our lives, everyone's journey with the Lord is unique. God has a way to teach us, mold us and refine us. All that Christian education can do is just to set out a guideline to facilitate the individual to follow and ponder upon. I strongly believe that whether we are receptive of all the sermons, Bible discussions and our quite time, is really our willingness to hear and response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Fanatics will never be fanatics if they keep on denying that it's the wonders of God that they are experiencing.

Anna

Does Anyone Know about This?

I found such deep purpose and meaning and fulfillment in seeking Christ that I was compelled to ask the girl who led me to Him, "Does anyone else know about this?" She laughed, "Of course," she replied "why do you ask?"

"You mean all those people sitting in church knew about this and they never went out of their way to tell me?"

I have never recovered from the shock. How anyone who truly knows Christ can ever sleep more than four hours a night beats me. How can we who know the answers to the eternal why in people;s hearts do anything other than continually share it with others? we myst "go into all the world" and tell what we know. How can I wtch people filling their lives with water when I own the wine cellar? How could I find the cure for cancer and keep the secret to myself> Not me! The fact that we have the answers is just too exciting, too important not to share

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The above is quoted from a book i am reading now. These paragraphs struck a chord of guilt within me. Why am i not actively sharing the greatest treasure from others? What is holding me back?

This has been my struggle for a long time. I have to admit evangelism just do not come naturally to me. Often, the gift of the gab fails me when i engaged in spiritual or christian conversations with people. Sometimes, it can be that I lack the desire to share. And this could be due to fear of men, bo-chup attitude or simply lack of motivation.

However, i can see the reason why it is so important to engage in evangelism. Firstly, it is very clear in the bible. John 3:18 "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." Definitely, God has made it very clear. There is going to be a distinct line drawn between the believers and unbelievers. There is no middle ground.

Secondly, believing in Jesus promises eternal life and blessings. It is the greatest treasure that one can ever possess and guess what, this treasure can be given freely to anyone who wants it. Women can crave for diamonds and men can dream of getting a Ferrari. But, nothing beats having Jesus in your life.

So, it does make a lot of sense to share the gospel. But, one has to be wise in going about in this. You cannot always use a one-size-fit-all approach of always proclaiming the gospel. In this post-modern world, we cannot force the gospel down the throat of unbeliever. Constant proclaimation can turn out to be a turn-off instead of being fruitful. We cannot separate the message from the methods. The end does not justify the means. We have to pray and seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in evangelism.

To conclude, evangelism is such a massive portion of God's heart. It is also not easy. However, I pray that we will not give up. I pray that God will constantly enlarge my heart; to have the desire for the lost. May God help us!

-ed-

e-sword

Much has been discussed about "sword" recently in our cell because our dear sister Brenda's name means "sword' and she is a bit fastidious about it. No doubt the inituitive interpretation of the meaning of sword is a bit negative, yet I think I am compelled to write something positive about "sword".

I've been introduced to a Bible study software called "e-Sword" from my keyboard worship class for quite awhile. I wasn't drawn to using it immediately, neither have I appreciated its value at all. This is mainly because I've tried to search for software to have a PC version of the Bible and though there are many free software available on the web, I was just not drawn to either one and in a way, I have given up on this. So when I downloaded this version because I wanted to check out the meaning of a word in the Bible from that software, as instructed by the facilitator, I didn't really spend time exploring it.

Until this morning, I suddenly remember that the facilitator has mentioned that the word "Shema" means "hear intelligently" as stated in the Srong's definition in that software. So I decided to just check it out out of curiosity. I can't remember how eventually I ended up going to the e-Sword website and ended up finding the "treasure" hidden inside this software (I downloaded the application file from the school website so didn't check out the website of this software). I found that there are really quite a number of Bible commentaries offered by this software and they are FREE! What's most attractive is that the software enables me to cross-reference the different versions of Bible available for downloading and the different Bible dictionaries and commentaries as compared to me opening so many windows as what I have been doing previously. That's exactly what I want and what I need now!

The website is:

http://www.e-sword.net/index.html

I believe that other software offers similar things, just that I didn't explore them because I have to pay before I can explore them. This e-Sword offers many resources for free, not even a trial period is stipulated and it definitely helps to facilitate understanding the Word of God.

So hope you will check it out.

e-Sword's long definition is "the Sword of the Lord with an electronic edge". My perception of "Sword" has definitely changed after today's discovery of e-Sword.

And this "Sword of peace" as in "Brenda Shiloh" or "Shiloh Brenda", probably another positive connotation of "Sword", I suppose.

Anna

Pascal Wager

I came across this article on Pascal’s famous Wager and decided to blog about it.

Pascal argued that it is pragmatic to believe in God even if one cannot conclusively determine the existence of God. This make sense as the benefit of living with a belief in God far outweighs any disadvantages. In another words, this is a sure-win wager whereby we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from holding that belief.

From a pragmatic Singaporean mentality (together with my trader's instinct), this is a no-brainer. I will surely show hand as I have nothing to lose by believing in God. There is no downside. Only upside. Surely, if there is such a bet on the table, I will take it on.

However, as I got past the exuberance of the bet, I realize that mankind is not merely a jackpot machine. We cannot and should not use sheer willpower to believe in something just for its benefits. We cannot live a lie just because it is pragmatic. We cannot merely subscribe to a capitalistic mindset and let money and power (benefits) to determine God. We need evidence, revelation, morality, meaning, etc to determine the truth.

Having said that, there is also no harm for a non-believer to take the first step of determining God by going to church, reading the bible and praying. He can put God to a test by coming on God's terms and determine if God does exist. If God does exist, I believe God will lead that any honest seeker to Him. In fact, the wager is now on God to find him. If God is one who loves us and desires to be found by Man, this wager will also be a no-brainer too. He will conclude that there is God. Either way, the seeker has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

-ed-

Evaluating our walk with God

Here's the snapshot for our welcoming session for this week's cell...should have taken all of us in....

God's pharmacy

An interesting presentation on God's amazing creations.

God's Pharmacy

Anna