A bit of light hearted Christmasness - My top 10 movies

As it's coming to the end of the year, and notwithstanding that my previous topics have been a bit on the serious side, I thought I'd go completely 180 degrees and do something different; maybe a little of the light side instead. So, below are my top 10 movies in no particular order and the reasons for why I like them

(I have an interesting time when I was doing this. Some of those movies that I thought would stand the test of time after making a huge impact on me in Uni for example fizzled out after reviewing them much later on )

I guess this goes to show that nothing stays constant, except change

1. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY

The quintessential rom-com. Smart and sassy in a way that preceded all New York relationship dramas with a mixture of big city angst, loneliness and ultimately redemption. The jazz tracks meld perfectly with the mood of the picture

2. BLADE RUNNER

My first noir sci-fi movie post Star Wars. Before that, I thought it was all lasers and medals all around from a cute princess. The religious themes and questions about what humanity is still bugs me to today two decades after i watched the movie. Even with Harrison's Ford wooden voiceover

3. DOLORES CLAIRBORNE

A real surprise. What turns out to be a simple crime movie turns out to be a cry in the night for salvation from brutality and evil. It's almost faustian, straddling the region between black and white while untimately giving that rarest of commodities; hope. And all this on a claustrophobically small island

4. PRINCESS BRIDE

The quotes. Over and over again. Never play death games with a Sicilian and never understimate this movie It's a classic

5. WALL STREET

My friend once said that the movie was weak because they looked like characitures. After working in the industry for over 10 years, I can honestly say that he was wrong. The chillingly accurate representation of power, the lure of it and the bitter way it smashes you once you worship it too much should make this requisite viewing for every aspiring Donald Trump wannabe

6. THE BIG LEBOWSKI

The Coen brothers are geniuses for giving us the hero that is not quite a hero: the Dude. It's a journey into a labyrinth of weirdness and fun that ultimately resolves nothing save for the fact that we should be much better off if we stuck to bowling all day instead.

7. LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

I will bet that very few have actually seen this vastly superior Thai version of 'Lost in Translation'. Forget the latter's weak attempt at minimalism. This is the real deal in dislocation and separation of the human condition via language, culture, background and human instincts. Don't believe me? Then imagine how a japanese speaking yakuza gangster and a thai speaking bar girl communicate across vastly different universes. It's a classic

8. THE FOUNTAIN

Darren Aronofsky's visual tome of three separate time lines and parallel universes will blow your mind and emotions away while retaining the essence of what it's all about in even in all this vastness and incomprehensibility: Love

9. THE CHRISTMAS STORY

No sweetness and light here. A dark yet hilariously funny tale of a young kid craving for a Red-Ryder BB gun has become a holiday classic; which makes me wonder why because the themes it explores are a lot darker than the normal sugar-and-sweet christmas candy that is shown on TV over the period. I guess this is why it works

10. PULP FICTION

Film Noir at it's most accessible (that is, if anyone could actually call Tarentino mainstream). It's violence was not operatic or balletic in what was homage to John Woo. It was cruel without an ounce of remorse or guilt; functional and utilatarian. An incredible portrayal of a tired society and even more weary participants in it. This is a real claasic

Are you ready for eternity?

As I worship led today, one thing that struck me were the empty seats amongst the congregation. Now I am not saying that numbers are a sure sign of holiness or effectiveness but I have noticed a disturbing trend amongst churchgoers in the last few years - that many people do not want to commit to anything, be it a church, an ideal, a ministry or for that matter..a belief system

Maybe it's a postmodern effect. I think that's giving Derrida, Foucalt and Co. way too much credit. My observations have led me to think that this is something that is not post, or even modern. In fact, it's as ancient as time itself. The problem?

It's called worshipping the god of your glands

When you wake up on a Sunday and stare blearily into the alarm clock, the decision isn't so much to go to church or not, although you might think it is that simple. Rather, it's asking yourself what you have set your thoughts for this life and the afterlife to be ( if you believe in an existence beyond this realm ,that is).

How I live this life, the manner in which I treat my neighbour, the reality of God in my life - all these point to a road map which you've laid out for yourself and it is map depicts your version of what life is all about. And if it does not involve a God, and negates all manner of thought of a deity or anyone else and it's all about me and me alone - then I worship the god of my glands

It means I bow down to the desires of my heart and my eyes and whatever else that drives me. So it's not a late Saturday night that was to blame for waking up late today. You wanted to stay up late. It was you that made that decision to come back at 3am and it's you who made that decision to hit the alarm and roll back to sleep

All this points to a simple fact that God probably isn't that big a deal for you. It is at this point that people get defensive or sheep-faced and start defending themselves by saying things like "you don't know my heart...etc etc)

What you do reflects what's in your heart. You love someone, there's nothing on earth that will stop you from buying the most expensive gifts or doing the daftest things to woo him or her. That's not an effort. It's not a chore. But getting to church, preparing yourself to worship God and interacting with his community of believers is a reeeaaaalll hassle somehow.

These are the same people whom you will never get to say these words honestly: Maybe I'm just not into God that much. As I said, they will completely live in a world that relegates God to somewhere between second and third last but they will happily proclaim the most extravagant statements during the few worship sessions that make it to in a year - " Oh, God, I'd die for you", " Jesus, you are the King of my life" etc etc. See the inherent contradiction?

So does anyone belive it? I don't know if they do. But I can bet that they've never asked themselves the above question - are you ready for eternity?

Because eternity is more than trillions and trillion of years in the presence of God. It's worship, it's adoration and it's that desire to be with him totally fulfilled. If the mere thought of doing a infintesimally small fraction of that on a Sunday even fails to stir you - why bother about the charade or saying that you can't wait to see God? Your actions are contrary to your words. Pardon me for saying that, but that kind of eternity (and it is the one depicted in YOUR bible) is probably hell to you

Which is why C.S Lewis wrote that sending people to hell may be an act of mercy instead of judgement, that there are people to whom an eternity with God would be unbearable pain and that it is better for these people to be placed away from him and his followers indeed. I may not go as far as to say that, but I do mull and observe that for some people; their idea of heaven may be an eternity of lazing around shopping malls satisfying their every whim and craving - and then I think that maybe they are not ready for eternity just yet. Their heaven is here on earth so there's no reason to yearn for something more

If God indeed gives you the desires of your heart, he might just do that - but the answer might surprise the heck out of you.

Where is the love? - Part 2

Two real life stories

A very intelligent and humble man of God, someone who I call my spiritual mentor (not a title I give out easily at all..) has a falling out with another member of church who is known as a sacrificial worker at church. Both start off as friends, now they hardly speak to one another

A choir leader one day passionately cries out to her assembled choir after having an emotional meltdown: "Where is the love?!?". An elderly matriach stands up, and bitterly says in front of everyone: "In this church ? - there is none!".

I am not making these events up. They happened and it is more than sad. It is tragic because by the edict laid down in 1 Corinthians 13..as a church, we stand condemned. We can be known for our great music, talented musicians, fine programs or deep pockets...but if we have not love, we are nothing.

Nothing. Go think about that for a moment

It means all that we talk about and pat ourselves on the back is all for nothing, it is in vain.

People come to church because of the people. And they hope to find love from those people. When they don't get it - they leave. The music, the sermons, the big carpark...they are fine but they don't do one bit about addressing that hollow area in the human heart that cries out for meaning and fulfilment. As Christians, we should know that this area is exactly a fit for God. Not an inch too small or big. Just right. And as representatives of Christ on earth, we should be reflecting that.

But do you know what I see?

I see a church that is filled with back stabbers. People who don't have the guts to say stuff to your face but to whisper their frustrations to each other. I also see people with skin as thin as Filo pastry. Offend them once - and they consciously tick you off their list of Christian brethren. What? You think you and I are going to be able to avoid each other in heaven for eternity?

There is no reconciliation because it is not preached from the pulpit. No one takes it seriously. Exhortations to love each other fail because we conveniently read that as " I love who I want to". This can only be remedied when we have a culture of reconciliation. Nelson Mandela did it for South Africa - preventing bloodshed. Unfortunately, he's not likely to preach at my church anytime soon

It needs hard preaching, a mixture of love and wrath. A serious call to repentance and a reversal of what has been the dominant culture for decades in this church; apathy, coldness, inauthencity, a lack of veracity, cowardness, a lack of faith. It's all there. Harsh words? Nothing even remotely compared to what our God will say to us on the day of judgement when we stand in front of him

Things you can learn from the Charismatics

Look, I'm never going to be mistaken for someone who channels Big hair or Benny Hinn in church. I can't even speak proper Cantonese, let alone tongues. And I don't go around mapping cities for areas of spiritual darkness; it's tough enough finding my way around Cheras in daytime.

But I do find some useful things about the charismatic church that we should emulate. The traditional church has become a little smug and stale; and a little humility in learning wouldn't hurt. However, this is not be taken as a sign that I am going to be joining the Really Full Gospel Tabernacle of Shekinah Glory Rapture awaiting full signing and wonders church of God anytime soon...

What we can learn:

1) Prayer

Charismatics pray. Sure, they may pray for weird stuff like gold dust or the ability to laugh for hours (tip: go watch a comedy on TV) instead of world peace, but they pray. They believe in the power of prayer and that God can answer prayer. This is something totally biblical and somewhere along the line when we got a little too smart and self-reliant; we may have forgotten the fact that we are "but dust" and that God created us. It's something for us to go back to

2) Joy in worship

You may not like 20 choruses of "I could sing of your love forever" but there is no denying that for most parts, there is joyous worship in a charismatic service,give or take a little bit of over the topness. I know my uncle is fond of saying that hymns in a traditional sense can be sung just as joyously but when was the last time you saw people in the first service weeping or raising their arms with joy when they were singing? I am biased. If there is one part of me that is pseudo-charismatic ; it's my worship style. I don't mind singing 20 choruses...heck, let's make it 21!

3) Not being afraid in engaging the youth

The charismatic churches have a demographic that is youth heavy and why not? These churches came from the Jesus movement in the '60's. Their founders, once they got off LSD and Marijuana, got high on Jesus and brought rock and roll to christian music. In other words, they made an attempt to connect. They were rebellious youth and they knew how to reach out to the same group.

I appreciate the fact that some churches criticise this for being too worldly and giving in to dumbing down certain things. I agree to an extent. Some churches are no different from 'kem motivasi's and the sermons seem not to use any words longer than 2 syllables and no harder than what is required to enjoy a Barney the Dinosaur show.

However, this doesn't detract from the fact they love youth and want them. Your church might have more PhDs and large steeples but where is the love for the kids? You don't have to become an cool hip church, just a church that wants to accept them

4) Going back to the Bible

Sad to say, traditionalists who once were mighty defenders of the Word have deteriotated into a bunch of liberal, well read know it alls who have read everthing except the Bible. Worse, they may have read everything else stupid.

When you have people saying that the Da Vinci Code is true and at a time when they think Billy Graham was one of the four apostles...something needs to be done. While I do not agree with charismatics on their theology of the Holy Spirit, their mostly ignorant whole hearted acceptance of creationism ( I can't even call it science lest I faint) and dangerous stance on the End times; I admire that they are willing to defend the inerrancy of the Bible

I just wish it was a brigher group ;-) (Sorry, I couldn't resist the last dig)

So, there you go. Proof that I am not totally against my babbling, breakdancing in the spirit brethren, I love you all, you represent and rock for J.C..even in your weird way...and that's a cool thing

Where is the Love? - Part 1

Frustrating.

That's one word to describe how I feel about church at the moment. A while ago, a speaker once said that church was like a hospital; where people go to get better. I disagree, because no one wants to stay in a hospital; no matter how good the food is or the facilities are. You want to leave as soon as you get better

But church is another proposition. You get your sick people, but they find that it's a good place to hang out; not necessarily to get well. And soon, they thrive in their neurosis and hangups instead of dealing with them. The more appropriate place that corresponds to this would be an...asylum

Harsh words? To be sure. I have never minced words and lately, the increasing weariness of dealing with the same old cra..wait, this is a Christian blog so let me use a Greek word that Paul used: 'skubalon'. It means rubbish, dung,etc etc. Hmm..not any nicer than the expletive that I had to stop myself from using.

If you asked me what a church should look like. I would say that it's a place where people are honest and authentic, or can be without being condemned. That's not to say that you can't be rebuked lovingly, but that you can bring up something and it's okay to do so.

What prevents this is fear. The fear of being ridiculed, rejected and run out of the group. Three R's that Satan has used to great effect to build a nice church with a myriad of walls internally. All the rallies, all the revivals and restorationist movements will not help. These have been the church's typical responses to Satan's 3 "R"s. Unfortunately, the church's little r's would make much of a permanent dent. Why?

Because the church needs a transformation from the inside out. That's how the Holy Spirit works. Not outside in like so many of these churches like to think. All the programs, all the techniques and all the whizz bang speakers and music will amount to nothing more than a light 5 minute drizzle on parched desert land. The water must come from the underground and it must saturate the soil from down to up. Then, and only then will you see sustaining growth

Will this happen to my church? God, I hope so.

Some thoughts on Prayer

Initially, I wasn't going to write on prayer but this was sparked by a very good piece written by Ian on his blog and further interesting and intelligent observations by Chris and the Walking Disaster. So, I thought I'd thrown in my take on this

Ian has quite rightly pointed out some misconceptions about prayer. I hope to expand a little by highlighting what I see as two misconceptions about prayer as it is practiced today

1)Prayer as incantation

This is the type of prayer that sounds no different from a "Money come, Money come" plea to the money gods above. In a sermon given by Chris to the youth one day, he mentioned that we make the mistake of seeing God as an ATM machine - that all he is good for is giving things to us. So, it is no surprise that we we see him as a big Santa Claus and our prayers reflect that

This is why the Prayer of Jabez flies off the shelves in a Christian bookstore. We want secret techniques, ways and words of tweaking God to do our will; not his. An incantation is a series of things you say to get something done according to what you want. This is not Christianity, this is paganism, which is why we told not to babble in prayer like the pagans do (Matthew 6:7)

2) Prayer as a two way communication

I get worried when I see things like people journalling stuff like " God had a one hour conversation with me, and he told me to get my car repainted and to floss more often. Oh! the angel Gabriel said 'hi' to me as well..".

Please don't get the idea that I said God never talks to you. He does - through his Word primarily (Colossians 3:16, 2 Timothy 3:16, Acts 17:11). What he does not do is engage in some Neal Walsch 'Coversations with God' episode with you. There are people in mental institutions who take this too far. Or on the other hand, you can make lots of money with this..

Prayer is you talking to God. Period.

It's like talking to God on a walkie-talkie. You press the button down and talk - then you hang up. He then communicates to you through your reading of the Word, circumstances (both good and bad), people, the weather etc etc. So, in totality, far from limiting God's way of communicating with you - it's much greater than you think; but you need to have some objective way of measuring this - and this is the Word.

If God engages in a two-way conversation with you, then Biblically, you are a prophet. I don't claim to be one. But if you do and if you don't fulfill those requirements of what a prophet is...well, we all know what happens to false prophets, don't we?

3) Prayer as a weapon

This is one of the most abused ways in which prayer is used. Usually seen in bad versions of charismatic church back room deliverances, they involve phrases such as "Get out! In the name of..etc etc). You know what I'm talking about

So some people get the idea that once they throw in a few strong phrases here and there. Satan's going to run away and cower in fright. That's it's your words that send him scurrying...and I'm not so sure about that

Listen. Prayer by itself has no intrinsic power.

What?!? Heresy,you say...


If you were being beaten up by bullies, it's not your weak cry of "Dad, help!" that makes them stop wailing on you. It's the big, strong angry man who hears your plaintive cry and comes running down the road to help you that will.

It is not prayer that has the power. It is God. Remember those times you nearly came to grief and suddenly were delivered through God's mercy and grace? Did you pray before your car skidded off the road? I think not. God's providence ensures that you remain in him. Prayer is a means of thanking him, pleading to him, intercedding for others, crying in grief to him..but it is not a weapon to be wielded to make the congregation do YOUR will,to control others through fear and not to make you look like some superhero, just because you sound all Elijah-like.


Look at Ephesians 6:13-17. The armor of God is composed of numerous items but there is only one offensive weapon: The Sword of the Spirit .

And what is the Sword of the Spirit? The Word of God

In the next verse (v:18), Paul then exhorts us to pray, all kinds of prayer. Prayer is the walkie talkie. Putting on the armor just means you have your gear on. But if you don't talk to HQ, how are you going to know what your marching orders are?

Dismissed, soldier!

One cessationist's perspective

Imagine this scenario.

You are about to fly to the U.S. Suddenly, over the intercom, you hear the pilot’s voice:

“Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. I’ve had…a leading from God. He told me that I shouldn’t take you to the U.S. Yes, I heard his voice while I was shaving. You know what? We aren’t flying to Los Angeles today. We’re going to Moscow. How about that?”

What would you do? That’s the last time I fly Shekinah Airlines, that’s what I would say!

Over the years, I have slowly seen the dominating influence of the charismatic movement across all denominations and churches. In fact, the rise has been meteoric and wide-ranging. Music is the one such vehicle of this transmission. When I heard “Shout to the Lord” in a conservative Catholic church one Sunday, I knew that it wouldn’t be far long before the Vatican would have it’s own version of the televangelists on TBN (But being Italian, they’d have a lot more style, I presume). In fact, the Catholic Charismatic movement, by some estimates, far exceeds the number of Protestant Charismatics.

In the past, I was content to keep quiet because the raging debates between myself and some of the more vocal charismatics in my own family were so divisive that my grandmother banned all theological discussions at the family dinner table for a while.

Yes, I know, I have a weird family; others fight over money, we fight over Theology.

But now I’m taking a stand because of what I see as an almost patronising and arrogant view by charismatics in general that their view is that dominant, and therefore correct hermeunetical view. This disregards the fact that their movement is only about a hundred years old, and other views have had a longer and more traditional base to claim on. Might, numbers and being the newest doctrine on the block doesn’t always equal righ

Who of us that have maybe questioned the validity of what charismatics believe have been accused with these lines:

“ You are trying to quench the Holy Spirit’s power. That’s a sin!”

“ Sigh. I guess you don’t understand how the Spirit works..”

“ Why are you being an obstacle to God’s work?”

“ I think Satan has clouded your judgement. There’s demonic activity somewhere!”

“ You are only experiencing of what it feels like to be a Christian. If only you could feel what I’m feeling”

and my personal favourite:

“ You think too much. Don’t over analyse. Just let go, and let God!”

What if I told you that there were Christians who thought, felt, saw and tasted God more intently than ever before outside of the charismatic circle?

What if by leaving most of that goofiness behind, the authentic Christianity you would experience would render that a pale shadow?

Far from taking you into a ‘experience’ with God through a secondary baptism in the Holy Spirit ( a Biblically dubious contention), you become wrapped in world where self-worship sometimes becomes the norm, where you lay your God-given rational faculties down for superstition wrapped up in pseudo-Christian gift wrapping and where Gnostic patterns of ‘hidden knowledge’ suffuse it’s practice

I think one reason why people like me haven’t spoken up is that we didn’t want to look as though we were dividing the body of Christ. Maybe some of it was a low self-esteem; it could be that deep down, we thought we were missing out on ‘something’. And we wanted to be part of the good stuff, but really deep down, it didn’t sink right

Keeping quiet was okay until I realised that silence to some meant assent to them. And this was not definitely so.

And when I started seeing people’s life’s get bent out of shape by false prophecies, healings that were supposed to occur but never did; I wanted to address them

Also, and when the people who could one day run the world’s greatest superpower with nuclear weapons at hand could alter the course of my destiny, and my unborn children with policies that are dictated by your ‘leadings’, then you’ve crossed the line

It took me many years to work out why. It meant unloading all the rubbish that I had been fed and seeing again with the eyes of the Spirit. And this time, I understood what living in the Holy Spirit meant. It means that the focus is on Christ – and only him.

I am a Cessationist. This means that I believe that the more spectacular gifts in the early church, like speaking in tongues, ceased upon completion of the Canon (the Bible). I think that God still heals, and will always heal. He is the source of all healing – whether it’s from your white blood cell count stabilising on it’s own or in the form of a flying hospital giving you your precious sight back. He can work miracles outside of the natural laws, although all evidence points to the fact that for this time period; he has chosen to work within them.

I find the practice of ‘being slain’ downright goofy and not backed by scripture. Tongues as spoken today seems to be more of an auto-suggestive practice and until I find a healing incident involving the resuscitation of the dead and regeneration of a severed limb backed by the British Medical Association or some reputable scientific body; I remain sceptical

Desperate, Dateless and Faithless

What is a Christian to do when they are getting to that stage where they want to a long-term relationship with a view to settling down and their church is empty of choices? Do they keep praying or do they go to another place to try their 'ong'?

With the change in church demographics over the last few decades, it is evident that there is an obvious imbalance in the skew of certain groups. Teens prefer to hang around their kind so churches have sprung up catering to their preferences and needs. Ditto working professionals. They want a church where they can network with like minded professionals so they leave the traditional churches. This leaves the latter with an older congregation; which is the case in many western churches (and some in Malaysia).

Regardless of whether this is right or wrong, this is the case and what I want to ask is - what happens to those of us (the single ones who have stayed and find this not to be a land of plenty, so to speak?)

There are a few options:

1. "Go way west, young man"

Look, there are 99 non-Christian girls for every 1 Christian out there. So, do you want to go that route and hope that God will change that person and bring her to Christ. And everything will be peachy-keen? It's possible. But it's a risk. And while you may want to quote me story after story where so-and-so married a non-Christian and now, look..they are active church goers, the Biblical injuctions and directional bent is definitely not in that direction

Look at the old Testament prohibitions on intermarrying other tribes. It's not race issue,it's a matter of beliefs.

2. "Go east"

Not to Vietnam, dude. Another church. At least one with more options. It's a well known fact that large charismatic churches have young, single female attendees. So, your chances are better there. So far, so good

But say you hook up. What are the chances of her coming to your church? Slim to none. I have known many great guys who, once married, went over to their wife's church and let their wife determine the choice of church. I know this is contentious so let me lay it on the table - I am conservative. The man is the spiritual leader in the house , or should be. The decision on church choice should at least be a consultative discussion with the final say from the male.

The trouble is that when you join her church, your church dies just a little bit more. And soon, it might die completely. You may say "that's the survival of the fittest". Can I dare you to go say that to God directly? You might find his answer a tad different from what you were expecting

Now, you might say I'm being selfish. Sure, I am. But so is everyone for wanting their way. I just hope that when it comes down to that decision, you recognise the woman in the mirror and I see the man in mine. Okay?


3. " Lay and Pray"

In Mixed Martial Arts, there is an extremely defensive position called "lay and pray". it's when someone is beating the La Brea tar pits outta you and you can't do jack. Your only hope is that the bell rings to save you. Not a bad idea but, man, it's a heckuva way to live!

Sure, pray. But don't lay. There has to be an option out there, and God will provide one. Maybe a donkey will kick you in the nads and you'll be impotent. That'll take care of that. Hey! I didn't say it was the answer you wanted, just an answer.

I guess you see where I'm coming from. I want to see multi-generational churches where growth is organic but darn it, society just doesn't see it that way. And neither do the chicks, which is why I am desperate and dateless..

But faithless?

Not yet. Hey! Why is that donkey coming towards me?

The God who covers all

Sometimes, there comes a time in your Christian walk when you wonder if God is still there. These are those times when that Hallmark type poster on your wall about the one set of footprints just doesn't cut it anymore. What do you do? Do you pray? Confess sins? Go to a rally and have a spiritual experience? Read your Bible?

Yes to all and No to them

Huh? You say. What on earth are you an about?

We tend to make it an issue when we don't hear anything from God, forgetting that many people don't hear things sometimes..But, somehow, they get through life. They go to work, play with their kids and manage not to lose it. However, we as Christians somehow need some special revelation, don't we? If we don't get it, we 'lose it', get all anxious, and then feel guilty about being anxious. We then plead to God to 'show' himself to us - and pout like kids when he doesn't

The essence of common grace is that he has given certain things to the world that shout out this loud, unmistakable cry: " I AM "

And special grace, the saving grace, that includes us into his family whispers: " I am."

Both the same message in a way, yet different. To the world, he declares " I am the one who created the world in whose abundance you enjoy, gave you the soil you now till and poison and the seas that give you sustenance. " Everyone partakes of this.

But to the elect, he almost inaudibly speaks to their heart " I am your saviour, You are mine and I am yours". Only the elect partake of this

If you have been captured by God, saved from eternal damnation through the substitutionary atoning work of Christ on the Cross; then you need to know that there is a centre where the two "I am"'s become one . And your only response in the awesome crux of two meeting points should be:

You are

And the issue that befell you will slip away because you will see with mind, heart and soul that he is a God who covers all. If there is sin, it is the sin of limiting him to just covering that small patch of loneliness for a while like a band-aid.

God is not interested in being your handyplast. He's interested in doing open heart, totally invasive surgery on you. He want to give you a makeover that is total, not purely cosmetic.

He covers all, because the universe belongs to him. Everything, lock stock and barrel..including you.

You can do all the things above and not come to know God any better until you acknowledge that it is God who comes to you, not the other way around. Worse, don't think he obeys your bidding like some servant because you 'pull' the right levers or incantate the 'right' things

That's why I said - yes to all and no to all of the above prescribed remedies

The cult of personality

Recently, I was told that two very prominent leaders of large churches resigned suddenly. One because he lied about having cancer and God healing him whereas he never had it in the first place. (That alone should be something to be thankful to God for !) The other was very prominent teleevangelist who had to resign due to a relapse in his alcoholism and some sex related pecadilloes.It saddens me because in the wake of all this, there will be bitterly dissapointed, heartbroken, cheated followers who, for some of them, will turn into cynical opponents of everything that represents Christianity. There will be some who will doubt the validity of all said, done and prayed for in the name of Christ. There will be a fallout and someone will alwyas pay.It's why I found myself drawn to Calvinism in recent years. Years of man centered worship, people and youth centered activities led me to cry "Where is God?"And the answer was simpleGod was always there. We displaced him and made idols of ourselves and others. So, it's odd that he becomes almost the lender of last resort while he should have been the primary source of everthing ( to use to banking analogy)God was always there but we found him boring. So we preferred a repackaged God in a man who uses phrases like a religous Emeril Largesse (go watch the Food Channel!). Bam! Pow! We laugh and think the power of God is flowing through this man. We are titillated, excited, warmed in our hearts, tickled to our toes......for what purpose?We have become addicted to the repackaged God and the most blasphemous word in the modern church is "boring". But that is a perception, not a reality. And you make it your reality by reinforcing that. Think about it for a momentYears ago, this would have bothered me. It doesn't so much anymore, but as I said above; it saddens me.  Since I became a Calvinist, it's my opinion that as long as we displace God from total sovereignity; these sad episodes are as likely to be repeated as many times as movies are on HBO.

Megachurch? Nyet! Nyet!

It's not a secret among those who know me that I am not really a fan of large churches. The more I hear that your church is so big that it has it's own coffee chain or that it needs WiMax instead of Wifi due to it's size; I start furrowing my eyebrows. Now, you might say I'm prejudice. You're damn right about that.I like the little mom and pop shops in quaint villages that I grew up with, in Australia. I hate Mid-Valley Megamall. I like the slow food movement, and have boycotted Mickie D's quite successfully for close to a year. I like small churches where I don't have to worry if I've pissed off the 'Christian' security guy in black. Yes, I'm prejudiced.But I will say something about large churches: I like your large parking spaces. Small chruches are in the suburbs and parking is a nightmare at times :-)If I feel the need to worship in a large setting, I'll sign up for a rally, concert or an event like Passion; which I fully support..But that doesn't happen very much. And honestly, I used to be part of a large church in Damansara and it didn't do anything much for me. In the midst of that humongous crowd; there was this strange sensation that everyone was as disconnected with each other, as though there were all these electrons zipping around each other but none of them colliding or colluding. Honestly, it felt emptyI think the model should have these electrons circling a nucleus; and that nucleus is God: the centre of everything we do or zip aroundSo, while I appreciate the fact that large churches have large bands and the music sounds better because they have the resources and the talent pool, I can't help wondering if a bit of that magic (if I may use that word in a Christian context) is missing..Sometimes I wonder, that if we just decided that it was all about God first. And my brother and sister next,  and me last. That those wrong notes played, or luke warm coffee after service didn't matter a darn; we would be closer to the Kingdom of God....and that mom and pop shop which used to serve that great vanilla sponge cake.

A Mongo for Christ

Yesterday when I was worship leading, the worst thing that could happen to a Wleader occured - major stoning in the congregation. A sea of blank faces throughout the first set. Now, I know all the reasons; maybe there was sin in me, or my team, maybe we had too much pride, maybe we put the congregation's reaction over God's approval, maybe...

Then I stopped rationalising.

When I teach in the gym, I can be one of the most theoretical and patient teachers. I care that you learn. I want you to learn. Nothing gives me more pleasure as a teacher when I see that you 'get it.' But if you've seen me fight; you see a different side. You see a brutal, aggressive attempt to rip you apart. But oddly, there's no malice. It's just that I'm direct and efficient

And it was that side that came out yesterday before the closing song. I berated the congregation for that lack of response. And questioned their commitment to want to be at church, to worship, to whatever. I was direct and brutal; in short, I was a mongo, a lumbering thuggish guy with a club as my mediuim of oration

We live in a society that can be too nice and politically correct. And that has affected the church as well. As a consequence, we sometimes refrain from saying things that should be said for fear of giving offence.

The Old Testament prophets never cared about this. They called a spade a spade. Ezra pulled his own hair out at his people's lack of repentance. Jeremiah said in effect, "I'm not going to pull MY own hair out!", and pulled others instead. Jesus frequently offended...well, just about anyone. The gospel of Christ is an offence to some; remember that

In boxing, I have to hit you sometimes. And you will have to learn how to take a hit. It's the same for me. I can be molly-coddled by the darn nicest coach in town but someday, if he really cares for me - he will have to hit me. That's boxing

And that's the way of Christ. You are not meant to sit in your nice chairs rolling through five songs. It's my job to lead you to worship - but I can't make you drink the water. And my responsiblity is to take you there, point it out to you, shout at you if I have to because I love Christ first and his followers second. But I have to do it because I now see why God made me a mongo. A mongo for Christ

Deus Abscondus?

The latin phrase above refers to the notion that our God is hidden, or has removed himself from us. In the Bible, there are references to our sin being a reason as to why God might seem absent to us at times. Other times, he willingly chooses to do so to enable our faith to grow.

Sometimes it is difficult to see God at all in the world. In the movie, "Tears of the Sun", a U.S Navy platoon led by a cynical, battle hardened lieutenant is asked to evacuate a mission. When they set off, a priest wishes them " May God go with you". The lieutenant casts a wry small and answers: "God has left Africa"

When one looks at the atrocities in Rwanda, Sudan or Angola; one might come to the conclusion that God has left Africa. When a Georgian woman looks at her bombed out house and dead children; who can blame her when she says that God has left Georgia. Or when you walk the streets of an inner city slum and see the down and out of society; has God left our city? Or more personally, when you pray for healing and it just doesn't come; and your loved one passes away - has God absconded?

I admit I have a hard time telling people that God is still around in the face of all this. I have even less time for my fellow Christians with their loopy eschatology theories that promise a new earth after this one is razed. Raze this one? Dudes, it's already burning to the ground. And rather than doing anything about it, the ones who claim to be Christians are washing their hands off the whole thing and curiously acquiring material wealth; an odd behaviour for those about to meet King Jesus in the sky

If I was an observer from outer space, the most likely observation that I would have on earth is that they are a young race in need of careful supervision and intervention because they do not seem capable of running affairs properly. But who would run this? God? But where is he? Why is the God of the Bible, in terms of revelation, so..if I may use the word...fickle?

He storms in when he wants to but remains curiously private; revealing himself within a tribal semi-nomadic race. He does it through prophets, signs which require interpretation rather than appearing in person and succintly declaring and proving once and for all that he is God. So, even if he is not Deus Abscondus, he is remarkably shy for a large God

No one loves me but Jesus - debunking a few myths of a cell group

In my last post, I may have come across as a little Pollyana-ish with regards to cell groups. I have never said, and will never say that cell groups are certaintly the absolute sure-fire places where it's group hugs and back slaps all night long and everyone comes out feeling all warm and fuzzy.

Far from it.

I have been in cell groups in the past where I was tempted to fake a seizure just to get out (I decided against it because they would just start praying over me and that would have prolonged the agony...). I have been in one where someone tried to punch me. And i was the CG leader. (How's that for contending da faith, Balboa?)

So, not all CG's are equal. But somehow, people come in with certain assumptions , and I want to debunk these myths:

1. I will be accepted immediately

No, you won't. Not if you're a jerk. Not even if you are a Christian jerk. Because no one likes one and at the end of a hard week; rest assured that if you bring an attitude to a cell group, someone is going to want to Bible bash you; and not in the theologically approve manner either

2. There are no cliques

There are always cliques. There will always be. Get used to it. Your mum and dad is a clique. They take you everywhere, include you in most things, except when they...uh,you get the idea. The number one fear of someone going into a cell group is - rejection. You think that you when you walk in there, you'll see a couple flirting with each other, two guys talking about some obscure hobby that only they and 3 others in the world know anything about; and two other members who eye you up and down contemptously, judging you all the time.

In other words - they all have a clique and have zoned you out. As Christians, we try not to do this but we do mimic the world, and anthropologically, there are strong reasons for being cliquish. The 12 disciples - were they a clique? James and John? Jesus and Peter? The gospels talk alot about them both.

A good cell group will recognise that it has to have a balance of being both open enough to give the chance to an outsider to come in without compromising the integrity of it's aim: to focus on becoming more Christlike. Notice I said nothing about being warm, touchy feely or stuff like that. Why?

3. Acceptance is automatic

The seeker movement (with a great deal of influence from secular group therapy teachings) tries to convey the notion that a cell group should be openly inclusive and accepting of anyone that wants to come in. That notion is slightly falacious

When the church was being persecuted in the early days, they met behind closed doors and were very careful of outsiders trying to join as no one was sure if they were genuine or spies. Therefore, whoever wanted to join had to prove themselves as sincere, genuine lovers of Christ

Bearing the family name of Christ carries a responsibility. It is less a membership card to a country card and more of draft card to war. It's serious business. No one forces someone to go to a CG; it's an honour and a privelage. And we in recent times have devalued it so that it's sold so desperately like a 50% off pastry near closing time.

If you want in - show us you are serious. Now, in our society, we tend to value those who speak out more and a more assertive. The extroverted ones. What if you're quiet and are an introvert? But if you're an introvert -why do you want to be part of a group of extroverts anyway? :-)

Whether you are quiet or not. Everyone craves intimacy and acceptance. To do this, you have to open yourself up and run the risk of going against a fundamental human reluctance to be vulnerable. How you do this - is up to you

In a nutshell, cell groups are a perfect representation of the imperfect. Bickering, whining, weak, neurotic people who need grace more than anything. But hey, didn't that sound like the 12 disciples? It's all the more reason why I think cell-groups are so important. They give us an opportunity for us to depend more on God and less on ourselves. To take each other as crutches rather than live in denial that we have two good feet when in reality we are crippled.

But there is one who heals the lame

And his name is Jesus

Seegeephobia-what's the cure?

I have to admit that I suck at evangelism. Recently, a friend asked me what I was doing one Friday night and I told her that I was about to go to my small group. When I invited her, she politely declined, saying that she didn't function well in small groups

Now, mind you that this is someone who is no stranger to church stuff. She knows what a cell-group is and probably attended many in the past but now is not. But I also know that for many non-christians, the concept lands somewhere between somewhere between weirdsville and just weird. And the general impression, even for Christians, is that it's bunch of bored people talking Jesus stuff until they can go for supper.

At times, a CG can be pretty boring. And scary. You are sitting in a group with a bunch of people, some of whom you don't know very well, that you are encouraged to go Dr.Phil sharing caring with. So, is this is the way to spend a Friday night?

Damn right it is. You see, part of the beauty of a cell group is that it's the only way you can get introduced into the incredible awesomeness of a christian community family safely. The key word is 'family'. You don't always enjoy being with your family, and you have disagreements at times but when it comes down to the crunch and you need someone to help you out..blood is thicker than water

So too, Christ's blood binds us in small pockets of family called a cell group. We learn about head the head of this family, Jesus, in study; sometimes it's interesting, other times, not so. We share, awkwardly at times, defesively others until we realise that those walls that we have so cleverly built up come slowly tumbling down.

There is no love when there is no authenticity. And there cannot be authenticity without love. A good cell group doles this out, and the measure of a good group is not so much what techniques the leader uses but rather how much the leader and the group loves Christ.

The cure for my friend is simple. She must take the plunge. There is no love without risk and no one can scuba dive without submerging first. If you don't, you'll always snorkel on the surface admiring the view from the top but never quite getting up close.

Youth ministry out of control - part 1

The title above came from a short video promo for youth ministry that I came across a few years ago. It spurred my foray into youth ministry on a large scale (because it was both inspiring and had a hot looking chick in it..:-) ) Ironically,it also describes how I see youth ministry these days.

When I look at youth ministry as it is done today, it is indeed out of control and definitely not in the positive vernacular of the phrase which the promo intended. One area of concern is the direction of which youth camps are conducted in general.

Youth camps…ah, what can one say about them? For some, it was the first time they committed their life to Christ. Cynically, I’ll then say and the next time round, recommitted again, and again, and again….

For others, it was a time of dread. One only has to read the excellent graphic novel “Blankets” by Craig Thompson to empathise with the loneliness and sense of exclusion suffered by many amidst the hypocrisy and regulated nature of a Christian youth camp. I know as many of those turned off Christ in a camp as those who turned to him as Lord and Saviour.

But I digress. What’s my beef? Here it is.

I think the concept of camps today is all wrong. Totally.

Camps are marketed as a place where you will get an ‘experience’. It’s also going to be ‘fun’, and the worship will rock your sox off ‘cause Lord knows we can’t get that at our church, right? You’re going to be able to spend time with God undistracted, save for the activity packed schedule. Maybe you can fit in some quiet time between brushing your teeth and changing into your pyjamas.

And wait, I haven’t even mentioned the speaker. Last year, they got this amazing speaker who spoke in a loud voice and made us laugh. Now that’s the spiritual test of a good speaker – they make us laugh (wonder where that is in the New Testament?) Of course, these days with our attention deficit disordered generation, we rely on something we can take back in experential terms which validates our attendance. How about….signs and wonders? Nothing like a personal prophecy to let me know that I didn’t blow 3 days of my leave and a hundred bucks to sleep in a cold, smelly bunk with people I don’t know.

I admit I was a tad sarcastic above. But tell me I’m wrong. Be brave and let me know you got the most boring speaker this side of Saddleback for your camp. I’ll bet even if he or she turned out to be a person who loved Jesus like nothing else mattered, and gave up all just to speak to people about his fame, I won’t be seeing him speaking anytime soon at your camps.

Why? Because you care about what the participants are going to write on their feedback form. You care about the senior pastor ragging you about numbers being down this year compared to last year when you got Mr. Rock Star speaker working the crowd. You care about your reputation in church, among the congregation, the youth..anyone else but the one to who matters.

At the end of the camp, when everyone is giving each other their last hugs and promising to see them on Facebook; they’ll reflect and go “ What a great time!”

Yes, it was. Because you went to Disneyland

In Disneyland, they want you to have a good time. That’s why grown men and women put on animal suits to amuse you by dancing and making funny sounds. See the parallel here? Heaven forbid that you should leave the theme park all sad, that would be bad for business.


Their training was bloody combat
And their combat was bloody training
- A Jewish historian commenting on the Roman Legions-

How do you prepare someone to sacrifice their life for the gospel if you give them three hot meals, five kick-butt worship songs in two sessions a day? How do you teach them to contend the word if all they get is a few photocopied pages from the latest insipid bestseller from a Christian bookstore to discuss in an hour? How do they learn to pray like Martin Luther when all they do is pray that they have a nice upper middle class life, so that they can go to University, get a boyfriend or girl friend, marry him or her and drive a Toyota Vios with a fish on the back?

Camps should be tough. Not brutal and sadistically tough for they breed hate, not love. But tough in the sense that when athletes enters the Olympic training center; they know they are not there to watch TV and order room service. They are there to train, to their utmost limit and the aim? To win the gold medal, or the crown, as Saint Paul would have written it.

At the end of the day, consider this fact. We sometimes forget that Paul constantly made many references to going into training and beating the body. Believe me, hard training in those ancient days was light years from the pansy body-pump sessions at your glitzy fitness studio. This may have something to do with the fact that maybe he knew the terrible price that the followers of Christ would have to pay one day in terms of persecution for that decision. To sugarcoat it would have been a lie.

If you enjoy camp too much, you keep wanting to go back to it. Like Disneyland. But it takes money and after a while, you get sick of the rides and you want to punch Goofy in the head. And when you’re seventy, it’s not for you. Your dentures may fall out on the Magic Mountain. After a while, even the initial perceived vastness of a theme park becomes too small. Maybe it is as their song goes; “it’s a small world after all”. Yes, it is. Their world is small

But it’s a big one in the real one outside.

Talkin' 'bout Revival

I had a discussion with my cousin M tonight. He's a very theologically astute chappie who, like me, is a little left of center when it comes to dealing with church and church people. I prefer to diplomatically say that we've grown up in Christian circles and we've seen, as Judy Collins would sing it, "Both sides now". Tonight, we were discussing the topic of 'revival' and what it meant

Now and then, you here this word bandied around. In Malaysia, invariably because of the huge Pentecostal/Charismatic influence; it is usually taken to mean manifestations of 'signs and wonders'. However, in the past, this was different things to different people.

Was the reformation a revival? When Constantine instituted Christianity as the main religion in the Roman empire; was that a revival? I would argue "Yes"

Now here is the crux. And it is a contentious one. A revival brings about change. Duh, you say. Of course it does. But most Malaysians have a one-dimensional view of a revival. It goes something like this:

1) My faith gets revived
2) My CG is energised
3) My church and other churches get revived
4) My country gets revived

Sorry, folks. It's a tagline. A slogan. It means beans. You may personally feel revived. Great, so does a group of stressed out office professionals after a motivational course. And lets take it one step further, let's say people are streaming into your church and it's filling to the brim. Now, you say, the country is ripe for a revival. Okay, so why are your numbers still a single digit percentage of the population?

It's because in any true revival, no tells you of the nasty pain and problems that follow. During the reformation, we had the 30 year war. Brutal, nasty stuff. People died as a result. Revival in the U.K, puritans were chased to the New World. In most cases, a real revival is not followed by a period of peace or prosperity; but chaos and strife. Why?

Because anything that is truly of God is offensive to the world. The gospel is offensive to the world because it pokes it's eye and thus engenders a spiteful response. And this only happens when it deems the people who are revived to be a threat.

If all I do is claim that a revival is at hand when my fillings turn to gold; then I run the risk of claiming something that is counterfeit as real. How do I know this? Simple - the world will ignore you as a kook. It will continue to regard the church as irrelevant and inconsequential. You will be shunted out of discussions regarding world affairs, the environment, geopolitics, bio-ethics and the like. You are a primitive child to them and they will be happy to leave you alone in your corner messing about with 'signs' of blessings or the coming rapture or whatever.

Because your voice is inconsequential.

You will know a true revival when there is cost. Unbelievable cost. And what follows will not be the light drizzle that dries up as soon as the clods clear and the scorching sun comes out. It's the rain, the water that goes all the way down to the roots of the heart. And it makes it grow.

That is a true revival.

Stop! Don't pass Go first...

Stop.

Breathe.

Think.

When was the last time you really thought about where your ministry at church was going? No, I'm not talking about the time you got together in a huddle, prayed for a 'Word' or heard a goofy 'still, small voice'. I'm talking about a time you sat down, used your grey matter and said " Hang on, what are we doing here?"

We have some seriously smart people in Church. The historical church had some superb contenders of the mind. For example,mI love D.A Carson's writings and sermons. I don't get all of it but what little I get knocks me away. And some of the smart people we have in church have professional qualifications up the wazoo and jobs to match, which begs the question:

Why do they leave their brains outside the church when they go in?

The gym where I train Jujitsu has this motto:"Leave your ego outside before you come in". Anyone who's ever served in a ministry capacity at most churches know that some of the people you work with usually left the wrong stuff outside.

When did the sudden ostracisation of the rational process and the deification of the 'experience' come in? Some of it may be due to the era we live in - a postmodern self-seeking oriented media fed culture. Some say this started when existentialism took off in popularity. I'm not sure but this will be addressed in later posts

The separation of the mind from all of this has dire consequences. It means that decisions regarding religious matters are more likely to be made based on all emotional based receptors; a dangeorous propostion for a pilot will tell you that there's a reason why a plane is flown with the aid of hundreds of objective gauges and instruments, and not a pilot's "gut feel"

So how do you engage the mind? The answer is simple. Stop. Just stop.

Emotions are like eating potato chips. They taste good, so you eat more. The trouble is that you don't know how much you've eaten until you've become large enough to have your own postcode. So if you want to cease eating - you've got to stop first

Take a breath. Go for a walk. Are you really hungry after that? Chances are that you weren't and you were just greedy. Same with some church experiences. You aren't really in communion with the Lord, that was maybe 20 minutes ago but you say " I'll keep singing that chorus 20 times to get that feeling of closeness nback and there's people crying on the floor, so I'll keep doing it till I get there'

You aren't really hungry. You've been filled, you just don't know it

Think. Think. Think.

For example, who told you to 'let go and let God?'. Your spiritual mentor? What's his authority? When did you last question the content of a sermon or did you just laugh at the jokes and file away three Joel Osteen-like points from it?

Thinking is hard work. It involves upsetting your own apple cart so a lot of people hate to do it. But when you take the time to do it, your Christian walk becomes so much richer and deeper. I am convinced that when we surrender our minds, the world will corrall us into a corner and happily zone Christians out of any influential decision making processes that affect the world at large. My deeper fear is that Christians will accept this demarcation and adopt a form of tribalism where they will only concern themselves with matters of a pseudo-religious nature; which the world happily tells us is our domain

Pretty soon, the church will end up like one of those houses suspended in water, where you shake them and the snow falls on it. The type you get at Christmas. And that's what we'll be - a small plastic representation of the real thing; brought out only once a year.

Stop. Breath. Think

SDG

Under the chestnut tree

It's not easy being different.

I am not Emeth

He is a Calormene warrior in C.S Lewis' "The Last Battle". When the Pevensie's find him, he is under a chestnut tree. Pauline Bayne's artwork is spot on. She captures him pondering, wondering and a peace with himself. For why not? He has met Aslan himself.

Now a little about me...

I am a 5 Sola, TULIP, cessationistic, Amillenianist, Covenant Theology Reformed Calvinist in Malaysia; where 99.999% of Protestant Christians hold opposing views to the above. (Okay, I exaggerate, it's something like 99.2%.

So I am kind of used to being a different kind of Christian. And this is frustrating to some of my dear brother's and sisters in Christ who just wish I would stop thinking and theologising so much, just 'let go and let God', wave my hands in the air like I don't care and just stick to the Purpose Driven life

Nope. Sorry. Homey don't do dat :-)


I'm going to share my opinions about certain issues relating to Christianity and the church on this blog. If you don't like them, please keep in mind that this is my garden and no one has forced you to come here. But you are welcome to visit and I do appreciate civilised behaviour from genteel guests, so a little respect and courtesy when commenting will be the rule for the day. Ok? :-)

Sola Fide