Religion and Christianity

Over the past few months, I have encountered a number of occasions when it's necessary for me to define what religion is in my conversations with others. Every time I just dodged it. today I faced with the same problem again and eventually I decided to do some research on it and found a website that contains a very resourceful answer to my question. I've quoted some below: http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_defn.htm:

The English word "religion" is derived from the Middle English "religioun" which came from the Old French "religion." It may have been originally derived from the Latin word "religo" which means "good faith," "ritual," and other similar meanings. Or it may have come from the Latin "relig©re" which means "to tie fast."

Defining the word "religion" is fraught with difficulty. Many attempts have been made. Most seem to focus on too narrowly only a few aspects of religion; they tend to exclude those religions that do not fit well. As Kile Jones wrote in his essay on defining religion:

"It is apparent that religion can be seen as a theological, philosophical, anthropological, sociological, and psychological phenomenon of human kind. To limit religion to only one of these categories is to miss its multifaceted nature and lose out on the complete definition." 1

Dictionary definitions:

Dictionaries have made many attempts to define the word religion:

1)Barns & Noble (Cambridge) Encyclopedia (1990):
"...no single definition will suffice to encompass the varied sets of traditions, practices, and ideas which constitute different religions."

2)The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1990):
"Human recognition of superhuman controlling power and especially of a personal God entitled to obedience"

This definition would not consider some Buddhist sects as religions. Many Unitarian Universalists are excluded by this description. Strictly interpreted, it would also reject polytheistic religions, since it refers to "a" personal God."


3)Webster's New World Dictionary (Third College Edition):
"any specific system of belief and worship, often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy."
This definition would exclude religions that do not engage in worship. It implies that there are two important components to religion:

one's belief and worship in a deity or deities
one's ethical behavior towards other persons

This dual nature of religion is expressed clearly in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) in Matthew 22:36-39:

"Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

4)The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry (CARM):
"An organized system of belief that generally seeks to understand purpose, meaning, goals, and methods of spiritual things. These spiritual things can be God, people in relation to God, salvation, after life, purpose of life, order of the cosmos, etc."

There are still many other definitions given on the website, by academics and others.

However, at the end of all these searches, the important point is not what religion is or how Christianity can be argued to fit in the different definitions or even why christianity is the only true religion. The truth that has to be reminded is that Christianity is in fact all about relationship, a relationship with God.

This is probably also why Christianity is so important and it's something that we can't live out. That's the purpose of life.

"The human heart is drawn to fall in love--a quality placed within our soul by God. Marriage is the human picture or illustration of the divine relationship we are ultimately destined to experience for all eternity with God once we’ve entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (NIV) (Mary Fiarchild)

Our faith actually rests on our love for God. Therefore, if we are reminded that God is with us always wherever we go (Joshua 1:9), all the troubles, worries, disappointment and fear will not disturb or harm us.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)

In addition to this vertical relationship that we have with God, God also commanded that we should love one another, the hotizontal manifestation of the love that God has given us. However, it's sad that many people cannot practice this and thus results in unforgiveness, grudges against each other or awkwardness among each others. If one does not focus on the outcome and expectations of the human relationship, but on following God's command, that we are doing so as a way of building our relationship with God, I am sure human relationship can be much more genuine, comfortable and harmonious.

"Relationship can be thought of as a ship carrying some cargos that you need in order to answer your prayer. This ship in most cases is a person. Therefore, very often, God sends people among us to lead us to the fulfillment of our prayers." once said a preacher. I would further this analogy to the relationship with God. Our disorientation in many circumstances in life can be redirected, if we have found God to be the "ship" to guide us and sail us through and lead us to the destination.

Anna

Chruch Life

Now,, church community life becomes somewhat like a boxing ring where we come into the center for periods of time and then go back to our corners to get patched up at the end of the day. Is that harsh? I don't think so. I don't think so. I listen as I travel and hear story after story of broken lives and shattered optimism. Is there an answer here? Yes, I believe there is. Here I borrow from a metaphor used by a former Muslim. He described for me the two ways of looking at life and religious commitment. “ In the West, if life is illustrated by a circle, then a small dot somewhere inside that circle is religion. Life is the ends, belief the means. For the Muslim, by contrast, religion is defined by the circle and a small dot somewhere in the middle is life. One's personal faith is the ends; life is the means.” In other words, what defines what? What circumscribes what? Until we see reality ordered in the way God has designed it to be, we will always become imitators of the world with a pseudospirituality and a cosmetic faith. - Ravi Zacharias

saw this interesting except from the book I am reading

- Ed -

Bible and Whiskey

I came across an interesting sentence from a book (a novel) this morning:

"Sometimes, a Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of ---" (fill in the dashed line yourself with whoever you know has drinking problem.)

How vivid is the description of the situation when we misinterpret the Bible! Well, maybe whiskey is not a very good analogy, perhaps red wine is a better one, at least in my opinion.)

Anna

Reflection on the devotional comment on Colossians 3:23

I think it's very true that very often we get too absorbed about ourselves that we have failed to take a helicopter view of everything, especially with regards to relationship.

A lot of times when we love or hate a person, we get too emotionally involved to that extent that there is only this particular person in the whole world. In effect, the position of God in our hearts has been compromised, diminished or even taken over. And things will get out of hands because we no longer allow God to pacify our hearts.

Once there was a radio interview with an old lady whose husband has just died. The couple have lived most parts of their lives together and everybody knew that they were loving couple. So, the interviewer asked her whether she was very sad and whether she would be able to overcome this lost. She replied that she would be able to let go without problems, because as a Christian, the one that she loved most was Jesus Christ.

That old lady illustrates very well that as long as we rest our human relationships in God, even the husband and wife relationship, we will not be too carried away to the extent that we lose our senses.

In the same token, in employer and employee relationship, sometimes we are too absorbed that our bosses did not really justifiably reward us. But if we put God in the picture, we won't be angry that much. Once a friend told me that he used to work under a supervisor that was very good in his work, but his boss did not appreciate him. This supervisor always told him that "God is with me." so that supervisor was not angry. Of course when it's time for that supervisor to move on, he did move on. But during that time when he was unjustifiably treated, he was still at peace with God and did not let the human relationship bother him much. I have been practising this for the past few months and it works well. Sometimes I forget but still I keep trying.

Important reminder that it's not about me and him/her, but about putting God in the center of our lives.

Anna

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men

I lifted the below from a website:

The concept of serving God in one’s vocation may at times seem overwhelming. The key to success in this endeavor is to do it one day at a time. Last night I caught the final set of the U.S. Open tennis match between Andy Roddick and Fernando Gonzales. Roddick won in straight sets to advance to the quarter finals. In the interview after the match, Andy was asked about his hopes going forward. He responded that he has tried to approach the tournament “one point at a time.” This is the approach of every great champion, and it is also the best way to ensure success as you seek to honor God in your vocation.

Purpose in your heart that you will glorify God today in the performance of your duties, in your interactions with co-workers, superiors, employees and customers. Pray for grace to enable you to exalt your Savior from your first interaction to your final transaction of the day. As you encounter each challenge to your contentment, pray again for God to glorify Himself through your response, and remind yourself that you represent Him and that your reactions will either honor Him or dishonor Him in the eyes of men. And be thankful, today, for the grand privilege of carrying the testimony of Jesus into your place of business.

- Ed -

Jonah

I was on this book of Jonah for the past few days and have been thinking about it for quite some time. It's not quite easy to believe that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. However, Isn't Jesus' resurrection equally unbelievable and yet I believe and that forms the very basis of my belief in Christ? From first asking myself what my attitude toward Jonah's experience should be to now believing it, it's quite an amazing journey but my faith is definitely renewed and my trust in God affirmed. In fact, this is probably a good reminder of our faith in God.

From a guidebook, it has been pointed out that Jonah is a type of Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. And Jonah is a type of Israel in his disobedient to God, swallowed by nations of the world, but will yet give her up when Christ comes and be witnesses of God everywhere. Jesus also pointed out Jonah to the scribes and the Pharisees as the only sign (Matthew 12:38-40) when He was asked. A short book, yet significant! So is the Christian faith, concise yet profound!

PS At the end of the book, it was recorded that Jonah was angry that God was compassionate and gracious towards Nineveh. Jonah found it hard to love the city (Nineveh) of that hostile country (Assyria) to Israel (his own country). In the devotional material, it pointed out that God's love has a bit of irrationality in it, because it's across all creatures and all circumstances. I wonder whether this is consistent with the agape love in "The Four loves' written by C.S.Lewis. This agape love is unconditional, but I wouldn't link it to irrationality. On the other hand, Eros, is the type that most people associate with irrationality. Or is love in general irrational across the board ?

Anna

What wounds has God left you with that make you constantly dependent upon him?

I was reading Genesis 32 on the account of Jacob being transformed completely and finally convinced that blessing can only be obtained from God. His total change of characters from Jacob to Isreal was brought about through costly personal struggle.

The question, "What wounds has God left you with that make you constantly dependent upon him?" was the question asked in the devotional material relating to this passage. When I asked myself this question, I instantly thought of my BGR (boy-girl-relationship) in the past. To cut the stories short, all of them just turned away all of a sudden, or maybe they just "dumped me", so to speak. That made me wonder or even conclude that there was something wrong with me. This has definitely left scars on me, making me numb and phobic. But the healing came from God. The experience made me realise that no matter what I do, I am not in control but God is. In fact, these are occasions when God drew me closer to Him step by step and sent people around me to show His love for me. All these have left me dependent on God completely and not to take matters into my own hands.

That question also reminds me of a testimony that I heard from a church friend few years ago. Though it may not really be a wound for her, but it's a struggle that made her depend on God thereafter.

She is a talented, capable American. A mother of four, obtained scholarship to study African language, worked as a translator for the embassy, can speak fluent German. She said that God has always just been the icing on the cake. But one winter, her view changed completely. It was snowing heavily. Her son was having high fever and she needed to send him to hospital urgently. However, she couldn't start the car because of the cold, there was no one in sight, she couldn't contact her husband and it seemed that it's the end of the world. She said she was so helpless and clueless but it's at that particular point that she realised she was so powerless but God was powerful. Eventually her prayer was answered and everything was fine.

Reluctant to admit, but it's true that through ordeals that we learn to depend on God.

Anna

Nissi: Pls take some time to read

Hi everyone,

I understand that there has been some concern regarding the state of our cell group recently. Please take some time to read my thoughts when you are free.

Personally, as I continue to serve the cell group, I would like to state my stand on certain issues.

Cell group future

I sincerely hope that the topic of splitting will not be raised within cell group for the time being as we begin this rebuilding process. We have worked hard to make the cell group what it is today, please do not destroy what we have built by requesting for the cell group to split once again.

With regards to whether cell group carrying on or not, I am not entertaining any ideas of splitting and will definitely plan as if Nissi will carry on to function. The idea of a merge is also out.

Let me explain the rational.

Our strength is not only in numbers. As Hebrews 10:24 states, the community of believers are called to spur one another on is love and good deeds. The function of the cell group is for believers to spur one another on in their love with God and good deeds. If our cell group has a large number of people but still does not serve to encourage one another, I guess we have missed the biblical basis for cell group.

I understand that some people feel that the cell group is getting too small and wish to see a merge if possible. As we are in this rebuilding phase, I urge you to be patient and allow the Lord to add to our numbers once again. If however you feel that the numbers are too discouraging for you to grow spiritually, then I suggest that you leave for another cell group. Ultimately, I really pray that for any cell group a person attends, the cell group must enable him/her to grow spiritually and be spurred to love God and do good deeds. (back to the function of a cell group)

The idea for a merge is also out because I believe that our cell group will be divided when it comes to choosing a new cell to merge with. A merge will probably be as good as splitting up. This will create even more problems for the cell group.

Church events

Secondly, I do wish to see our cell group members be part of the larger community of Christ. As believers, we have not only a responsibility to one another( Heb 10:24), we also have a corporate responsibility.

Biblical basis:

1 Cor 12:27 tell us that “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

1 Cor 12:21 “ Now the eye cannot say to the hand “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet “I don’t need you!””

Drawing a principle from this verse, we as a cell group cannot flee from our corporate responsibility to the church. If we are part of COR which is the body of Christ, we cannot say that we do not want to be involved in the church events because they are not important. No, we are all part of the body Christ and each member has a role to play.

While I cannot enforce everyone to come for every church event, I sincerely hope that we understand why our presence at any church event is important. It is not only our corporate responsibility as a body of Christ but also our presence will affect the morale of other members as well.

Cell Attendance

As discussed on Sat’s cell group(18 July), we all have shared how critical each person is to the cell group because of small numbers. Noting this, I urge everyone to make cell group a priority. Remember that when choose to make cell group a priority, we are effectively obeying God and I believe that the Lord is pleased.

Final Notes

As we begin this rebuilding phase of our cell group, I urge everyone to make cell group and church a priority as Heb 10:24 and 1 Cor 12:27 commands. I pray that your presence in cell group will not be one out of obligation and rules, but because Christ has loved us so that we may be able love our neighbor as ourselves (2^nd commandment Matt 22:39). Let us strive to please the Lord in this area of our lives.

Some verses of encouragement

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Romans 12:9-10

Rgrds,

Ruijie

Waiting patiently on God's perfect timing

I've been joggling in my mind this theme of waiting on God's Perfect Timing for the past one week. It started off with my quiet time topic on John 11, talking about Jesus' withdrawal to a place a few miles from Jerusalem, with the possible interpretation of Jesus focusing on his father's timing to be the passover lamb. This topic just echos my current season of waiting: waiting for job advancement, waiting for the studies to finish, waiting for a relationship, waiting for people to change their hearts and so on.

"Everything has it's own timing; when it's time, it will happen." A well-known cliche, even in non-biblical context. But until this perfect timing comes, one just has to wait. Waiting is just a terrible thing, as miserable as receiving a bad outcome or sometimes even worse. Even though I perfectly appreciate, understand and am convinced that God's plans for me are in God's time domain, everything has it's divine order and I am to enjoy every season that God has given , I just find it hard to sail through this period patiently. I am just not the type of person who likes to remain inactive and wait patiently for something to happen. It gives me the feeling that I am really powerless (even though I really am) and I am at the mercy of external forces.

After some time, some research and some experience, I'm convinced that in order to complement this passivity with my restlessness, I can only actively trust, resist and pray. The three elements actually complement and work hand in hand. "Trust in Him at all times, O people." (Psalm 62:8) "I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.' (Psalm 130:5)

Trusting, because that's the basics of the whole beliefs. If He is not answering my prayers, it's not because He can't hear or He ignores me, but because He has a grand plan, in His time frame and in His way of answering my prayers. By trusting, it pacifies the restless heart.

Resisting, because there is always the temptation of taking things into my own hands. I want to expertise the whole thing, in the end I just show that I don't trust God and I don't listen to God. Pacifying my heart with the trust of my God will probably help me to be filled with patience and rest in God.

Praying, because that's the way to let out all the anxieties and let God handles the whole matter. Very often, when I am troubled, or sad, I (well at least for girls) tend to look for someone to talk to, just someone to listen to my problems will lighten my burden. I don't even intend to seek their advice most of the time. Talking to God is probably the best source that I can ever find. For me, prayer is like a private conversation with God. It is very personal, very intimate and is also the best way of seeking to listen to God's reply. Every time I pray, my focus will be realigned and tuned. The prayer on the matter is different every time, though similar. It's like the Newton-Raphson method of getting to the closest solution through some iterations. It's also like finding the best recipe for a dish. How much salt and sugar to put, how long it should be baked and so on have to be refined through some trials. For every prayer, I check my heart, listen to God's answer and next time when I pray on that same matter, I can refine the prayer and I believe this will eventually tune my heart and make me aware of what God's plan for me. is

God always allows us to have the freedom to choose, to decide and to contribute to our own lives. I believe we are also given the honour to be a co-author of our lives. Even this is part of His plan. Sometimes we can just be easily lost as we have absolutely no idea how to exercise this freedom. We have the freedom to hasten the matters, but if we want to conform to God's time, trusting, resisting and praying persistently are probably good procedures to adopt.

Anna

Blessing for Blessing

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

My QT this week is on Ephesians. And I am really blessed when I read Spurgeon's sermon on this verse. Below is an extract:

Blessing for Blessing

How, then, do we bless God? Well, I should say, first, that this language is the expression of gratitude. We say with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," … We can bless God by praising him, extolling him, desiring all honour for him, ascribing all good to him, magnifying and lauding his holy name.

We also bless God in the spreading of his kingdom. We can win hearts to him through his mighty grace blessing our service. We can fight against evil; we can set up a standard for the truth. We can be willing to suffer in repute, and every way else, for his name's sake. We can by his grace do all this, and thus we are blessing God. Surely, dear friends, if it is well-pleasing in God's sight that sinners should repent, if it makes heaven the gladder, and makes joy in the presence of the angels that men should repent, we are in the best and most practical way blessing God when we labour to bring men to repentance through faith in Christ Jesus.

There is also another way of blessing God which, I trust, we shall all endeavour to practise; and that is by the doing good to his children. When they are sick, visit them. When they are downcast, comfort them. When they are poor, relieve them. When they are hard pressed by outward adversaries, stand at their side, and help them.

You cannot bless the Head, but you can bless the feet; and when you have refreshed the feet, you have refreshed the Head. He will say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." If they be naked, and you clothe them; if they be sick, and you visit them; if they be hungry, and you feed them; you do in this respect bless God. David not only said, "Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;" but added, "but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight."

You can be good to them, and in that respect you may be blessing God. He has done so much for us, that we would fain do something for him; and when we have reached the limit of our possibilities, we long to do more. We wish that we had more money to give, more talent to use, more time that we could devote to his cause, we wish that we had more heart and more brain; sometimes we wish that we had more tongue, and we sing,—
"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise!"

______

Blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ

-ed-

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2266.htm

Some Smokey Mountain Pixs

a boy playing with water







children playing on a mattress





Inside a typical house. The house is so small, about the size of 2 sofa sets









rubbish and mud strewn all over the place










familiar sight of rubbish and mud..sigh

Praying with perseverance by Bishop John Tan

There was an engaging sermon on Sunday by Bishop John Tan. He touched on the topic of praying with perseverance. As he has put it, it's a difficult topic because the topic itself is a mystery. However, he has put it in such an illustrations-filled manner that he has made his view clear to the audience.

He said that sometimes we have to pray many times, over a long period of time, maybe even over years for some circumstances before our prayers are being answered. Sometimes, we don't even seem to get the answer. That maybe because that is then already the answer given by God. We will never know what God has intended for us and God is sovereign. However, Bishop John Tan gave reasons on why sometimes, sometimes even Jesus has to pray several times or sometimes only the prayers of certain people (righteous people) are effective.

He said when we pray, it's actually a way of releasing the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes, we may not have prayed sincerely, whole-heartedly. So we didn't really release the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes, because the matter that we pray for requires more power to be dealt with and praying just once may not have released enough power. We have to keep on praying and allow the power from each prayer to be accumulated so that we have gathered enough power to deal with the matter.

He brought out a very clear illustrations for this release of power. He said that our prayers are like the ingredients for making a chemical, for example water, H2O. You must have enough molecules, two molecules of Hydrogen and a molecule of oxygen before a molecule of water can be formed. If we do not pray enough, there are simply not enough ingredients to cause the chemical reaction to take place. But when we have the right ingredients and the right quantity, the chemical reaction can then take place in heaven and the power of the Holy Spirit can be released through us (Revelation 8:3-5).

Bishop pointed out that our God is present, He listens and He cares, that's why we pray. Our prayers are being stored in "golden bowls" (Revelation 5:8) in heaven. They are highly valued. Every prayer counts. God also looks at the quantity of our prayers and it sometimes requires a certain level of quantity for prayer before God answers.

In fact, Bishop John Tan has given a lot of examples in the Bible and explained them clearly. I really think that it's valuable to check it out. A record of the sermon should be out on the COR website in a couple of days, I think.

Anna

One man’s waste is Another man’s treasure

I have returned from a trip where i visited the Smokey Mountains in Philippines. It has certainly awaken my senses to the poor and their real needs.

The New Smokey Mountain is a dumpsite whereby the poor ravages through the trash to salvage any sellable items they could, just for that few pesos (a few cents) for their meals.

The New Smokey Mountain Project brings a little glimmer of hope to the needy here. Groceries are distributed, games are played, clothes are given and most of all a heart to share the grief. (please refer to http://www.oikoshelpinghand.org/ for more info).
______________________________________________

Personal Reflections:
(an excerpt of my diary)

This is unacceptable. The air is pungent, mixed with choky fumes from nearby charcoal-making wood. This has been a day of great sunny weather but it seems that is the only good thing.

Everywhere you see is landfills of rubbish. It is a graveyard of waste. Somehow, the items that are found irrelevant by others have settled here, beneath my feet. This garbage has nowhere to go. Their final destination is Smokey Mountain. Daily, rubbish trucks make a pilgrimage and place them among their brothers. Likewise, Smokey Mountain is the final stop for the poor. In this rubbish, they found them relevant. They live and thrive on this trash. It breaks my heart. My discards turn out to be treasures for them. How can this be?

The hardy children are scavenging the garbage, hoping to find something useful. Buzzing flies, instead of justice, are their constant companion. They climb on top of rubbish trucks. With their iron claw, they rummage through the trash. They dig and dig; hoping to find something to heal their starving stomach. The chains of poverty have ensnared them. There is no hope. They cannot get out. They must keep digging in order to survive.

What is civilization when we have this nonsense around, whereby one man’s waste is another man’s treasure? My mind cannot comprehend this. Just like the poor in Smokey Mountain, it is empty. It simply does not make sense.

- ed -

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Last Saturday, we did Psalms 37:1-7 and we focused on Psalms 37:4. Till now, this verse has a deep impact on me. I am still meditating on it in my daily life.

I would like to share this verse to those who did not come to cell. Have a great week ahead.

-ed-

My life, a Cross

Recently, I drew the below picture out when i was doing my QT.

Basically, it shows that i am a see-through screen whereby my life and behavior will just be a display of the cross behind me. In another words, I will just be a transparent medium to depict Christ.

It is definitely a challenging thought for me. Just thought i share this with everyone

-ed

God's Love for us

Hi cell group,

I would like to share a beautiful verse with everyone. A verse I read during my quiet time which reminded me of the great love Jesus has for all of us.

Jesus fulfills Isaiah's prophecy of the Suffering Servant.

Isa 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

The reason we can worship and have peace in our lives was because Jesus took the punishment for us.

May this verse remind us of how much Jesus loves us and the extent that he was willing to go through for us. In light of God's great love for us, Do you trust in the Lord today?

A link below for a graphical representation of what He has done for us. May our lives and all we do be centered around the love He has for us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG5PkU92vpw

Ruijie

Being Baptized in the Holy Spirit

Here comes the analogy of being baptised in the Holy Spirit:

The Greek word for baptize is baptidzo, which means immerse. The analogy used was making pickles from cucumber. One of the processes in making pickles is calling for the cucumber to be immersed and soaked in the brine and the pickling solution for several weeks. What happens during this soaking time is that the marinade or the pickling solution soaks deep into the flesh of the cucumber until it takes on the flavor of the pickling solution so that it no longer tastes like a raw cucumber. Every fibre of the cucumber will be transformed completely and takes on the flavor of the pickling solution. This is what it's meant by soaking. When someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit, he is being marinated in the presence of the Holy Spirit, soaking in the River of God, that he no longer "tastes" like his old, raw nature any longer, but he has taken on the flavor of the Holy Spirit.

I would say that it's also like allowing the Holy Spirit to fill your blood so that the Holy Spirit is circulated throughout your body and regulates and control your every move.

Anna

A glove analogy

I attended the workshop called "Not I but Christ" from the women conference. The speaker was an English and she spoke like a small stream of water, nice and tranquil and it's like music to the ears, yet a bit hard for me to concentrate. But still, I was captivated when she gave us an illustration for the idea of Christ being the power source inside us:

Gal 2:20 — “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

I may say to a glove, “Glove, pick up this Bible,” and yet, somehow, the glove cannot do it. It has a thumb and finger, the shape and form of a hand, and yet it is unable to do the thing I command it to do.

You may say, “Well, of course not. You didn’t tell the glove how to pick up the Bible.” However, I can instruct, and teach, and coach that glove until my patience is exhausted, but the glove, try as it will, still will not pick up that Bible.

Yet I have a glove at home that has picked up my Bible dozens of times…but never once before I put my hand into it! As soon, as my hand comes into that glove, the glove becomes as strong as my hand. Everything possible to my hand becomes possible to that glove—but only to the measure in which the glove is prepared to clothe the activity of my hand.

That is what it is to have Christ, by His Spirit, dwelling within you. You are the glove, Christ is the Hand! Everything that is possible to Him becomes possible to you, and with Paul you may say, “I have strength for all things in Christ Who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

(Illustration from The Saving Life of Christ by Maj. Ian Thomas)

There was another illustration on the idea of being baptised in the Holy Spirit. I will write on this...

Anna

Women's Conference

First of all, I would like to thank Sarah for inviting us to attend the Women's Conference. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from the conference but it turned out well. The speakers are really good.

One of the speakers, Wilma, she shared a few of her personal stories with us. One of the stories that struck me is the one about her personal experience in helping others. She shared that back in U.S., her cell has a nice practice of taking care of young mothers during their confinement period. So, the ladies in the cell group will volunteer to cook for young moms who are having their confinement. Despite Wilma's busy schedule, Wilma also volunteered to cook for one of the young mom. One day, when she was preparing the dinner for the young mom (Sally or something), she asked herself: Am I cooking for Sally because I care for her or am I doing it because of other reasons? personal reasons? She realised that she did that so that she can prove to others that she is good.

I was surprised that she can be so honest to admit things like that. Given our human nature, it is true that sometimes we are like her.

Today's quiet time is quite relevant to this topic. Thought I would like to share this. It's about having a Christ-like character - having a heart like Jesus and a mind that thinks like Him. Pray that I will grow closer to that. Same prayer for our cell group.

-Lishan

Promises of Strength in Times of Stress

Hi everyone, I would like to encourage everyone with verses that will help us in our times of stress and fear.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
Psalm 27:1

"Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord."
Psalm 46:1-3

"He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power."
Isaiah 40:29

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand."
Isaiah 41:10

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
John 14:27

"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7

Rgrds,

Ruijie