Random Spiritualities from a Doctor's Chair

What Might Happen

2011-08-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

There's an old Egyptian story about a little boy named Miobi who came to a village where the people were very strange. They did little more than moan and groan about almost everything. The fires didn't get lit, the goats didn't get milked, the children didn't get clothed, and the crops didn't get planted, all because the villagers were expecting any time to get eaten by the monster that lived on top of the mountain.

Miobi looked up, and behold — the monster was real. He had a head like a crocodile and a body like a hippopotamus and a tail like a very fat snake. Smoke and fire came from his nostrils. The villagers lived in dread that any day the monster might come down and devour them.

Miobi said to the villagers, "I will go up the mountain by myself and challenge the monster." The villagers pleaded with him not to go, sure that he would never return. Miobi began to climb the mountain, and as he climbed higher and higher and got nearer and nearer, the monster looked smaller and smaller. "This is a very curious phenomenon indeed," thought Miobi. "When I run away from the monster, the monster gets larger, but the nearer I get to it, the smaller it becomes."

When at last Miobi reached the cave, instead of a gigantic monster, he found a quiet little creature about the size of a toad. It purred. Miobi picked it up and put it in his pocket and headed back down the mountain.

When the villagers saw Miobi safe and sound, they wanted to make him their god for slaying the monster. Miobi explained exactly what had happened and how he had brought the "monster" back down the mountain as a pet. He showed them the little-toad like creature. "What is your name?" the villagers asked. The monster answered, "I have many names. Some call me famine, and some pestilence; some call me war, and some cancer." Then the little creature yawned and added, "But most call me What Might Happen."

— R. Wayne Willis in Hope Notes

The Size of Our Problems

2011-06-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

LOOK at the camels first and then read the message below.

This is a picture taken from directly above these camels in the desert at sunset. It is considered to be one of the best pictures of the year. When you look closely, you can see that the camels are the little white lines in the picture.
The black images you see are just the shadows!

Sometimes, our "problems" seem to be as big as the shadows...but they are little.

Attitude

2011-05-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

Attitude

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror,

and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today.'

So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror

and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

'H-M-M,' she said, 'I think I'll part my hair down the middle today.'

So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed

that she had only one hair on her head.

'Well,' she said, 'today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail.'

So she did, and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and

noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

'YAY!' she exclaimed. 'I don't have to fix my hair today!'

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary,

for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly, and reflect continually. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...

It's about learning to dance in the rain.
Its about Enjoying the rain while it pours on our faces.

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.

Love the people who treat you right and be kind to the ones who don’t.

Making Life a Prayer

2011-05-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

From Weavings Newsletter April 2011

Making Life a Prayer

The nature of the soul is aptly compared to a very fine feather or very light wing. If it has not been damaged or spoiled by any moisture falling on it, it is borne aloft almost naturally to the heights of heaven by the lightness of its nature and the aid of the slightest breath. But if it is weighted by any moisture falling upon it and penetrating it, it will not only not be carried away by its natural lightness into any aerial flights but will actually be dragged down to the depths of earth by the weight of the moisture it has received.
So also the soul, if it is not weighted with faults that touch it and the cares of this world or damaged by the moisture of injurious lusts, will be raised by the natural blessing of its own purity and borne aloft to the heights by the light breath of spiritual meditation. Leaving things low and earthly, it will be transported to those that are heavenly and invisible.

So we are well warned by the Lord's command: "Be on your guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkeness and the worries of this life." If we want our prayers to reach not only the sky but what is beyond the sky, let us be careful to reduce the soul, purged from all earthly faults and purified from every strain, to its natural lightness. Then our prayers may rise to God unchecked by the weight of any sin.

Cassian uses the image of feathers to describe the soul in prayer. What images of prayer and the soul are meaningful to you?

[1] John Cassian, Making Life a Prayer: Selected Writings of John Cassian, ed. Keith Beasley-Topliffe, Upper Room Spiritual Classics, (Nashville: Upper Room Books), 49.

Abide in Me

2011-03-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Abide in Me

"Abiding" has its roots in a love of God so great that all other loves fall by the wayside, a love that fills the heart so completely that it leaves no room for any other love. This love first arises as a response to God's own creating, redeeming, and sustaining love. It springs up in those who have found the hidden treasure and the pearl of greatest price, and have gladly abandoned all else for the sake of this: the love of God at the center of all things.
It is when we have been taken captive by this love that we learn to "abide in Jesus," to open ourselves constantly to his presence and to be constantly present to him, and to persist under any pressure and against all other inducements in this inexhaustible devotion and joyful allegiance. We have found something we can no longer do without, and whether it leads us to the desert, to ministry among those most in need, or simply to a deepened and transformed sense of our choices in daily life, it will ultimately always lead us in some sense apart from the world. There, in our own forests and caves (whatever these may be), let us remain persistent, resolute, constantly abiding in him.

[1] This excerpt comes from David Rensberger's article "Persisting in Presence" from Weavings "Abide in Me" XXII/2, March/April 2007.

In Thinking, Just Thinking

2011-03-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

When you close your eyes, start watching your breath, and random thoughts start popping up.

You will them to stop, but they don't.

At some point you realize... those thoughts aren't you. They can't be, as your intent/will is that they do not arise and they pop up regardless. They're conditioned arisings, and they belong to no one.

The internal monologue in your head isn't you thinking, it's thoughts that are perceived in your body's voice, because you think that they're you, that they represent your self/soul.

Try changing the voice to any other voice, and immediately it's just thought (not self).
Same goes for feelings, for perceptions, for the body, and eventually for all forms of consciousness/awareness itself. It all goes eventually (as being thought of as "self"), seen as belonging to no one and arising/passing due to conditions, causal interactions with the other aggregates internal and external.

There is thinking, no one thinking

There is hearing, no one hearing

There is seeing, no one seeing

In thinking, just thoughts

In hearing, just sounds

In seeing, just forms, shapes and colours.

HT: Punna

Forest Monks and Dhutanga

2011-03-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Dhutanga (Known in Thai as "tudong") is a group of thirteen austerities, or ascetic practices, most commonly observed by Forest Monastics of the Theravada Tradition of Buddhism.

All Forest Monks will observe at least one of the dhutanga austerities. The dhutanga austerities are meant to deepen the practice of meditation and assist in living the Holy Life. Their aim is to help the practitioner to develop detachment with material things including the body.

The thirteen dhutanga practices

1. paµsukúla (Abandoned Robes) - this is the austerity of using any cloth found on the road as material for making robes.

2. tecívarika (Three Robes) - this is the austerity of only using the three robes of a bhikkhu as garments.

3. pišðapáta (Begged Food) - this is the austerity of eating only what one gains on almsround (pindapata), whether it be a little or a lot or even nothing at all. NB: bhikkhus do not beg per se, since they are not allowed under Monastic rules (Vinaya) to ask/beg for food. He gives an opportunity for laypeople to OFFER food to him for the good of both the Monk, the laity and the sasana. The bhikkhu observing this dhutanga declines invitations to take meals at the houses of Lay people.

4. sapadánacárika (Regular Alms round) - this is the austerity where if a bhikkhu gains tasty food from a particular house on his almsround, then he avoids that house in future

5. ekásanika (One eating) - this is the austerity where the bhikkhu will eat only in one place and not eat a little in one spot and then eat more in another.

6. pattapišðika (Measured food) - this is the austerity of eating only a certain measure of food. The bhikkhu sees fault in indulging his appetite.

7. khalupacchábhattika (no longer accepting any extra food after having started to take the meal) - this is the austerity of no longer accepting any extra food after having started to take the meal

8. áraññika (Dwelling in a peaceful place) - this is the austerity where the bhikkhu does not dwell in a village or noisy temple. This is meant to help with meditation, as it is very hard to meditate in a noisy place.

9. rukkhamúla (Dwelling under a tree) - this is the austerity of not dwelling under a roof.

10. abbhokásika (Dwelling in a dewy place) - this is the austerity of dwelling neither under a roof or a tree, but in the open

11. susánika (Dwelling among the graves) - this is the austerity of living/dwelling in a cemetery. NB cemeteries in Ancient & modern India often have corpses left out in the open or only partially cremated. Also places where ghosts & malevolent spirits were known to inhabit...a frightening place.

12. yathásantatika (Any chanced upon place) - this is the austerity of at the end of a days walking/wandering to sleep wherever the bhikkhu happened to be so long as it was safe.

13. nesajjika (Always sitting and not lying down) - this is the austerity of not sleeping stretched out. Usually the bhikkhu sleeps propped against a wall or even in the meditation posture.

HT: Punna

Priorities

2011-02-20T19:34:00.001-08:00

There was a monastery that was renowned for its hospitality, a welcoming place for many weary travelers in need of rest. One day while the abbot was deep in prayer, an angel appeared, surrounded by golden light. The abbot gazed in rapt contemplation and was filled with a peace beyond measure. Suddenly a series of heavy knocks resounded on the front door. "It is some weary traveler come to find shelter," the abbot said to himself. "What should I do? If I go and answer the door, the angel might disappear. If I stay, who will care for the traveler?"
Reluctantly the abbot rose, looked resignedly at the angel, and left the room in order to attend to the needs of the dust-stained traveler.
When he returned to his cell, the angel, to the abbot's great surprise, was still there. The angel said to him, "Had you not gone to help the needy traveler, I myself would have been compelled to leave."

— Joan Chittister in 40 Stories to Stir the Soul

The Spirituality of Body Talk

2010-07-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

Talk to Your Body

The body is your only home in the universe. It is your house of belonging here in the world. It is a very sacred temple. To spend time in silence before the mystery of your body brings you toward wisdom and holiness. It is unfortunate that often only when we are ill do we realize how tender, fragile, and precious is the house of belonging called the body. When you visit people who are ill or who are awaiting surgery, you can encourage them to have a conversation with the body area that is unwell. Suggest that they talk to it as a partner, thank it for all it has done, for what it has suffered, and ask forgiveness of it for whatever pressure it may have had to endure. Each part of the body holds the memory of its own experience.

Your body is, in essence, a crowd of different members who work in harmony to make your belonging in the world possible. We should avoid the false dualism that separates the soul from the body. The soul is not simply within the body, hidden somewhere within its recesses. The truth is rather the converse. Your body is in the soul, and the soul suffuses you completely. Therefore, all around you there is a secret and beautiful soul-light.

— John O'Donohue in Anam Cara

Animals and Us

2010-07-16T15:24:00.001-07:00

Honor the Dignity, Beauty, and Wisdom of the Animal World

The animals are more ancient than us. They were here for millennia before humans surfaced on the earth. Animals are our ancient brothers and sisters. They enjoy a seamless presence — a lyrical unity with the earth. Animals live outside in the wind, in the waters, in the mountains, and in the clay. The knowing of the earth is in them. The Zen-like silence and thereness of the landscape is mirrored in the silence and solitude of animals. Animals know nothing of Freud, Jesus, Buddha, Wall Street, the Pentagon, or the Vatican. They live outside the politics of human intention. Somehow they already inhabit the eternal. The Celtic mind recognized the ancient belonging and knowing of the animal world. The dignity, beauty, and wisdom of the animal world was not diminished by any false hierarchy or human arrogance. Somewhere in the Celtic mind was a grounding perception that humans are the inheritors of this deeper world.

— John O'Donohue in Anam Cara

Inner Wellspring

2010-07-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

You can never love another person unless you are equally involved in the beautiful but difficult spiritual work of learning to love yourself. There is within each of us, at the soul level, an enriching fountain of love. In other words, you do not have to go outside yourself to know what love is. This is not selfishness, and it is not narcissism; they are negative obsessions with the need to be loved. Rather this is a wellspring of love within the heart. . . .

If you find that your heart has hardened, one of the gifts that you should give yourself is the gift of the inner wellspring. You should invite this inner fountain to free itself. You can work on yourself in order to unsilt this, so that gradually the nourishing waters begin in a lovely osmosis to infuse and pervade the hardened clay of your heart. Then the miracle of love happens within you. Where before there was hard, bleak, unyielding, dead ground, now there is growth, color, enrichment, and life flowing from the lovely wellspring of love. This is one of the most creative approaches to transfiguring what is negative within us.

— John O'Donohue in Anam Cara

Anam Cara-Soul Friend

2010-07-07T00:17:00.001-07:00

In the Celtic tradition, there is a beautiful understanding of love and friendship. One of the fascinating ideas here is the idea of soul-love; the old Gaelic term for this is anam cara. Anam is the Gaelic word for soul and cara is the word for friend. So anam cara in the Celtic world was the "soul friend."

In the early Celtic church, a person who acted as a teacher, companion, or spiritual guide was called an anam cara. It originally referred to someone to whom you confessed, revealing the hidden intimacies of your life. With the anam cara you could share your innermost self, your mind and your heart. This friendship was an act of recognition and belonging. When you had an anam cara, your friendship cut across all convention, morality, and category. You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the "friend of your soul."

The Celtic understanding did not set limitations of space or time on the soul. There is no cage for the soul. The soul is a divine light that flows into you and into your Other. This art of belonging awakened and fostered a deep and special companionship. In his Conferences, John Cassian says this bond between friends is indissoluble: "This, I say, is what is broken down by no chances, what no interval of time or space can sever or destroy, and what even death itself cannot part."

— John O'Donohue in Anam Cara

more about this in my musings The blessings of spiritual friends

Embrace Your Inner World

2010-07-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

Embrace the World that Lives Inside You

It is strange to be here. The mystery never leaves you alone. Behind your image, below your words, above your thoughts, the silence of another world waits. A world lives within you. No one else can bring you news of this inner world. Through the opening of the mouth, we bring out sounds from the mountain beneath the soul. These sounds are words. The world is full of words. There are so many talking all the time, loudly, quietly, in rooms, on streets, on television, on radio, in the paper, in books. The noise of words keeps what we call the world there for us. We take each other's sounds and make patterns, predictions, benedictions, and blasphemies. Each day, our tribe of language holds what we call the world together. Yet the uttering of the word reveals how each of us relentlessly creates. Everyone is an artist. Each person brings sound out of silence and coaxes the invisible to become visible.

— John O'Donohue in Anam Cara

More about John O'Donohue here and here.

Eliot on Waiting

2010-07-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.

— T. S. Eliot, from “East Coker,” The Four Quartets

Impermanence

2010-04-13T10:33:00.001-07:00

ONCE in Persia ruled a king
Who upon his signet ring
‘Graved a motto true and wise,
Which, when held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance
Fit for any change or chance.
Solemn words, and these were they:
“Even this shall pass away.”

Trains of camel through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarkand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to rival these.
Yet he counted little gain
Treasures of the mine or main.
“Wealth may come, but not to stay;
Even this shall pass away.”

‘Mid the revels of his court,
In the zenith of his sport,
When the palms of all his guests,
Burned with clapping at his jests,
He, amid his figs and wine,
Cried: “Oh, precious friends of mine,
Pleasure comes, but not to stay —
Even this shall pass away.”

Lady, fairest ever seen,
Was the bride he crowned his queen.
Pillowed on his marriage bed
Softly to his soul he said:
“Though no bridegroom ever pressed
Fairer bosom to his breast,
Mortal flesh must come to clay —
Even this shall pass away.”

Fighting in a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield,
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent.
Groaning, from his wounded side,
“Pain is hard to bear,” he cried.
“But, with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away.”

Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his status grand in stone;
And the king, disguised, unknown,
Gazing on his sculptured name,
Asked himself: “And what is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay —
Even this shall pass away.”

Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Standing at the gates of gold,
Spake him this, in dying breath:
“Life is done, and what is death?”
Then, in answer to the king,
Fell a sunbeam on the ring,
Answering, with its heavenly ray:
“Even death shall pass away.”

HT: Punna

Stations of the Cross (15)

2010-04-03T09:20:00.001-07:00

JESUS IS RISEN

Where is my Lord?
They have taken Him away.
All I see is a tomb, a place that is empty.
And just when I need Him,
and long for His voice,
even His body would not wait for my tears.

Shut away in a box, He has occupied their coffin.
Shut away in a book, He fulfils, Living Word.
Shut away in our concepts, He shatters such shackles.
No prison can hold Him; no tomb thwart the miracle.
His life is our liberty; His love changed my life.
No dying can rob me of what He has given:
once blind, now I see.
Hallelujah! His promise:
‘In the day when the hearts of men
fail them for fear, then look up, little flock,
your redemption draws near.’

Let all creation
give thanks to the Risen Lord.
Give thanks to the Risen Lord!

Filled with His praises,
give thanks to the Risen Lord.
Give thanks to the Risen Lord!

He is our Shepherd, and we are His sheep.
Give thanks to the Risen Lord.
Give thanks to the Risen Lord!

Stepping out boldly, we claim resurrection.
Give thanks to the Risen Lord.
Give thanks to the Risen Lord!

Stations of the Cross (14)

2010-04-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

JESUS IS LAID IN THE SEPULCHRE

Laid in a borrowed tomb, awaiting the sign of Jonah
- the only sign that would be given to His generation
- that after three days and nights in the womb of the earth,
the belly of the fish, the grave and hell,
He would come forth to do His Father’s will
- Jesus the humble Son of God, the exultant Son of Man,
the eternal contradiction, the Blessed One.
The end is not yet. Weeping endures for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
The good news – ‘He is risen’ –
will burst on the Son-rise.

Therefore with joy shall we draw water
out of the wells of salvation.

When all is dark,
and Hope is buried,
it is hard to trust His words
that promised, before the pain:
He died that I might live.
He died that I might live.

In His death is my birth.
He died that I might live.
He died that I might live.

In His life is my life.
He died that I might live.
He died that I might live.

My Jesus! He died that I might live.
He died that I might live.

Stations of the Cross (13)

2010-04-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

JESUS IS TAKEN FROM THE CROSS

Jesus could now feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. And with a loud voice He cried: ‘It is finished.’ His mission of atonement had been completed. Finally, He could allow His body to die. With one last surge of strength, He once again pressed His torn feet against the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath, and uttered His seventh and last cry: ‘Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.’ A while later, the soldier pierced a long spear into the side of the dead man, to His heart. The watery fluid and blood that flowed out show us He had literally died of a broken heart – not the usual crucifixion death of suffocation. The friends of Jesus were allowed to remove His holy body, and for a moment his mother held Him again upon her lap, cradled in her arms.

Let Him sleep now. It is finished.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet?
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
It was for me.
It was for me.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ my God.
All the vain things that charmed me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood:
It was for me.
It was for me.

Stations of the Cross (12)

2010-03-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

As Jesus slowly sagged down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain. As He pushed Himself upwards to avoid this stretching torment, He placed His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is searing agony as the nail torn through the nerves. As the arms fatigued, great waves of cramps swept though the muscles, knotting them in deep relentless, throbbing pain. Jesus fought to raise Himself, in order to get even one short breath. ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’

To the thief dying at His side: ‘Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.’

To His mother and His closest friend: ‘Woman, behold thy son’ - ‘Behold thy mother.’

In the words of the psalm foretelling the death of Messiah, He cried: ‘My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’

Father God, You waited
through the long hours of agony,
when He was robbed even
of the sense of Your love, Your presence,
when the sin and disease and hatred
and darkness overwhelmed Him so greatly.
He was wounded for my transgressions.
He was wounded for my transgressions.

Father, what love is this of His?
What love is this of Yours
that His dying love reflects?
Your forgiveness for me,
as we gaze upon His sacrificial death,
is truly an underserved gift
as the pardon He spoke to the dying thief.
It is mine if I will only receive:
He was wounded for my transgressions.
He was wounded for my transgressions.

Stations of the Cross (11)

2010-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS

The journey was at an end. Jesus was quickly thrown backward with his shoulders against the wood. The soldier felt for the depression at the front of the wrist; he drove a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly he moved to the other side and repeated the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly. The title ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’ was nailed into place, and the crossbar lifted into position. The left foot was pressed backward against the right foot. With both feet extended, toes down, a nail was driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed.

The victim was now crucified.
‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’
He is our peace.

Jesus, our sin put the nails in Your hands.
It was love that held You there.
It was love that held You there.

Jesus, our sin put the nails in Your feet.
It was love that held You there.
It was love that held You there.

The soldiers hoisted Your cross on high.
You were their prisoner;
but no one took Your life away from You.
You gave it willingly, freely.
It was love that held You there.
It was love that held You there.

You were lifted high upon that cross,
even as You had prophesied when You promised;
‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to Me.’
It was love that held You there.
It was love that held You there.

Stations of the Cross (10)

2010-03-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS

At the place of death the King of life is stripped of His clothes. Naked, He came into the world; naked, He is taken from the world. Vulnerable, exposed, God became man. He was a crying helpless, dependent baby. Now, vulnerable, exposed, His heart, His life, His body all bared before the world. He will be hung up to be mocked. But God is not mocked- His very nakedness is a parable, a sacrament, a picture of the Father’s hurting heart exposed in love to us.

Lord, You were stripped of the robes You wore,
but You were the same - it didn’t change You.
Things meant little to You; You never hide behind them.
You showed us the Father’s heart,
so open and broken:
may we be open to You, and to each other.
May we be open to You, and to each other.

Lord, for our sake You left the riches of heaven
and became poor.
You came within our reach.
May we be open to You, and to each other.
May we be open to You, and to each other.

You did not hold on to even the little
You had left to call Your own.
May we be open to You, and to each other.
May we be open to You, and to each other.

The nakedness of God was exposed before the world,
Lord, O lovely Christ,
may we be open to You, and to each other.
May we be open to You, and to each other.

No robe was left now upon Your tired shoulders,
just a crown of mockery on Your head.
You are still a King.
You loved, and won rejection and pain-
but You still loved.
May we be open to You, and to each other.
May we be open to You, and to each other.

Stations of the Cross (9)

2010-03-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME

Jesus fell again. Oh God, how many times must I fall and pick up that cross again? As many as seven times? Or seventy times seven times? For ever; until this never-ending road is ended; until the impossible is completed, the unbearable borne through all eternity.

For the sake of My children. My sons. My loved ones. My bride. My people, I must go on. I will not, I must not, give up now. The way of sorrows, the way of pain, the way of self-renunciation, the way of My cross.

How long the road You came for us, Lord,
with Your smarting burden! O Lord.
Your love have no limits.
Your love have no limits.

You picked up the weight of Your cross,
the weight of our sins,
We are Your burden, an overwhelming burden;
but that burden is sweet to You
because of the love You also bear to us,
an overwhelming love.
Your love has no limits.
Your love has no limits.

Lord, I know You can forgive me:
Your love has no limits.
Your love has no limits.

Stations of the Cross (8)

2010-03-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

JESUS MEETS WITH THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM

As Jesus continued, painfully stumbling along the road to Calvary, a group of women joined themselves to the procession, wailing in the manner normally considered appropriate for a funeral procession. But Jesus told them to cry out to God for themselves and their own children.

Lord, some of us are never far from tears,
and some of us have forced ourselves not to cry.
Bring our tears into Your captivity and direction,
that they respond to Your voice.
You have the words of eternal life.
You have the words of eternal life.

Lord, You have the words of eternal life.
You have the words of eternal life.

Stations of the Cross (7)

2010-03-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME

The pain, the exhaustion, the love that drives Him on-but the cross is so heavy. Again He falls beneath the weight; and in bitter resolution-Thy will be done-and in fatigue, Jesus again drives Himself up against the cross, and carries it on towards the fateful Hill of Death.

Will it never end?
I'm not as sure as when I started.
I never knew it would be like this.
But this is my firm choice:
Lord, I will go on with You.
Lord, I will go on with You.

Lord, often I fall,
and the temptation is not to rise again
and continue with You.
When I fall and others watch and laugh,
or say, 'I told you so, you'll never make it,'
give me the strength to fulfil my promise:
Lord, I will go on with You.
Lord, I will go on with You.

amen

Stations of the Cross (6)

2010-03-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

An act of compasssion. A woman called Veronica places a cool cloth on His hot and tired face. He feels the coolness of the cloth, and the love with which it was offered. And through His pain He smiles- a smile never to be lost, never to be extinguished. She reaches out to touch His face, and He leans His head into her hands, within her reach.

Oh, blessed day! The Master touched her life, her heart, her outstretched hands. What faith! What lovely face! What timeless meeting...O blessed Christ.

Christ of the human road, let us,

like Veronica, reach out to touch You,

and, sweet Christ,

show us Your lovely face.

Show us Your lovely face.

Legend or living person, Veronica, by example,

teaches us to be Your witness,

and others may gaze into Your loving eyes

and know Your smile.

Show us Your lovely face.

Show us Your lovely face.

As we see Your face by faith,

we learn to become like You, Lord Christ.

That the world may see Your glory:

show us Your lovely face.

Show us Your lovely face.

amen

Stations of the Cross (5)

2010-03-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

THE CROSS IS LAID ON SIMON OF CYRENE

Simon carried the cross of Christ. At first it was just a tiresome and unwelcome task he was forced into by the soldiers; only later did he recognise his privilege in shouldering the burden of the One who made the worlds.

He was compelled to carry the cross part of the way for Jesus. Simon, himself a stranger, an outcast, often misunderstood, perhaps identified with Jesus, and felt the gratitude of this Man above all men; and amid the pity Simon felt for Him, he felt a burning compassion flowing back to him from Jesus, a burning, life-changing love. Simon carried the cross of Christ.

As Simon took the weight of the cross from Jesus,

You have taught us that we must bear one another's

burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

May we carry Your cross.

May we carry Your cross.

Simon was one just passing by,

but suddenly he was compelled to change direction,

and, with all his strength given

to the carrying of the cross,

pressed through the crowds

to the place of the Skull.

Golgotha, Calvary

Sweet Jesus, like Simon,

may we carry Your cross.

May we carry Your cross.

amen

Tokens of New Life Beyond Death

2010-03-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

In his book The Jesus Creed, Scot McKnight shares the moving story of Margaret Ault. When Margaret was just about to complete her Ph.D. at Duke, something unexpected—but quite welcomed—happened: she fell in love. She went on a date with a man named Hyung Goo Kim, and the proverbial sparks flew. But almost as quickly as the sparks became a fire, they were doused with water. Hyung Goo informed Margaret that he was HIV positive. Needless to say, Margaret was devastated. In her own words, "I'd just met someone I liked, and we were definitely not going to live happily ever after. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut by the biggest boot in the world."

Still, she and Hyung Goo were married. In his book McKnight asks the question many of us would ask: "Why would anyone invite into the core of their being so much pain?" He then goes on to share that the answer unfolds in the rest of Margaret and Hyung Goo's story. He writes:

When Margaret was in graduate school at Duke, she and Hyung Goo loved to walk in the Duke gardens, and so knowledgeable did they become of its plants that they "supervised construction" of a new project. They walked through each part of the garden routinely and had names for some of the ducks. In their last spring together, the garden seemed especially beautiful [to them].

Hyung Goo died in the fall and Margaret returned to the gardens in the spring where a memorial garden of roses was being constructed in his honor.

McKnight then points the reader to a series of quotations from Margaret's book Sing Me to Heaven, where she reflects on the days she returned to the gardens. She writes:

Where peonies were promised, there were only the dead stumps of last year's stalks; where day lilies were promised, there were unprepossessing tufts of foliage; where hostas were promised, there was nothing at all. And yet I know what lushness lay below the surface; those beds that were so brown and empty and, to the unknowing eye, so umpromising, would be full to bursting in a matter of months.

Is the whole world like this? Is this what it might be like to live in expectation, real expectation, of the resurrection?

Was not Hyung Goo's and my life together like this? Empty and sere, and yet a seedbed of fullness and life for both of us. He died, and I was widowed; yet in his dying, we both were made alive.

After quoting Margaret's words, McKnight concludes:

Where does she find strength to grip such faith and such hope? It is found in [her question]: Is the whole world like this?

The answer, "Yes, the whole world is like this: the whole world offers us tokens of new life beyond death and disasters." It offers the promise of new life beyond the grave, a life of renewed love in the presence of God. Why? Because Jesus was raised from the dead.

Scot McKnight, The Jesus Creed (Paraclete Press, 2005), pp. 286-288

Stations of the Cross (4)

2010-03-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

JESUS IS MET BY HIS BLESSED MOTHER

As Jesus again shouldered the cross and bore His burden, He glanced ahead and saw His mother. He could not stop to talk, to explain, to gather her in His arms and comfort her. All His energy was being soaked into that cross.

Who are My mother and brothers? Those who do the will of My Father.

Not My will, Father, but Yours.

Lord, You had to leave the security

of home and family, twice.

You left Your Father to be a man with us,

and left Your human family to die for us.

You had to pray to Your Father:

My God, I trust in You.

My God, I trust in You.

Lord, when we leave all and follow You
and it hurts those we love,

help us to know that You have been there, too;

but is more than rewarded in the end.

Help us to pray:

My God, I trust in You.

My God, I trust in You.

Lord, when Your cross pierces

our own desires, and make us call out,

let our cry be, through our pain:

My God, I trust in You.

My God, I trust in You.

amen

Stations of the Cross (3)

2010-03-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

JESUS FALLS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Jesus has willingly embraced the cross, but His physical body was weak from lack of sleep, from the pressures of arrest and trial, and from torture and beating.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Jesus say, Yes, but His holy body hesitated and He fell to His knees, determining to rise again even in His weakness.

Lord, You embraced and shouldered Your cross,

but Your body was weak.

Your Body is still weak:

Your people shrink from the weight of suffering.

In our weakness, Lord, let us pray:

Your will be done.

Your will be done.

Jesus, You were first a carpenter:

build us into what You desire,

and secure every joint tightly,

that we may hold together.

Plane the rough surfaces of our relationships.

We are Your workmanship-

Your will be done.

Your will be done.

Jesus, You said 'YES' to the Father's will;

and only Your body hesitated.

May we, Your Body, no longer hesitate,

but follow You in Your obedience, saying:

Your will be done.

Your will be done.

amen

Stations of the Cross (2)

2010-03-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

JESUS RECEIVES THE CROSS

Jesus was scourged. The whips cut His back until it was shredded and bathed in His blood. A crown of thorns was set on His head in mockery. Then they returned His robe to Him, and brought Him to the cross on which He was to die.

Jesus embraced the cross, resting it painfully on the smarting wounds on His back.

Lord, You were scourged and wounded;
You deserved no punishment.
but were punished in our place.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.

When You were already hurting,
You embraced the cross.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.

amen

Stations of the Cross (1)

2010-03-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH

His accusers brought many false charges against Jesus, but He spoke not a word in His own defence. 'crucify him!' they shouted.

Pilate washed his hands, to show the decision was not his own, but he did not dare to side publicly with Jesus; instead, he was willing to content the people.

So Jesus was condemned to death.

Lord, when You were misunderstood,
You silently forgave;
but we so often respond in anger.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Lord, You gave us opportunity to choose Jesus,
but for so long we have chosen rebellion
that demanded Your death.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

amen

Book Review on The Noetic Universe

2010-03-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Dean Radin (1997, 2009) The Noetic Universe: The Scientific Evidence for Psychic Phenomena (London: Transworld Publishers)- originally published as The Conscious Universe (1997) by HarperCollins Publishers.

Noetic Science was mentioned in Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and is currently the context of J.J.Brahms' television series Fringe. Noetic science is the science of the paranormal. Popularly called PSI studies, noetic sciences studies the phenomenon of telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, precognition, ESP and OBE (out of body experiences). In this well documented book, Dean Radin relates the numerous research studies that have already been done on these phenomenon. These studies were done using the strict scientific criteria and tools as in other studies in physics and biology. In this book, Radin highlights the scientific methodology and its limitations. He laments the biasness of mainline scientists when it comes to noetic sciences.While the results of these researches in noetic sciences are not as clearcut as in other sciences, there is enough to show that there is something there that cannot be discounted or dismissed easily.

Personally I believe there are phenomena that cannot be explained because of the limitations of the scientific method and the scientific language. Another area of interest is whether some religious phenomena such as glossolalia (speaking in tongues),prophecy, spiritual gifts of word of knowledge, and spiritual (or divine) healing may be explained by noetic science. Prophecy may be some form of precognition and spiritual gift of word of knowledge may be some form of clairvoyance. It will be interesting to watch for further development in this field.

The Role of Doctrine in Spiritual Formation

2010-03-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

Illustration by James Steinberg

COVER STORY
The Mind Under Grace
Why a heady dose of doctrine is crucial to spiritual formation.
By Darren C. Marks

Bonhoeffer knew, as did Calvin, Augustine, and many others, that dry, seemingly irrelevant ideas like the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, and eschatology are crucial elements of our spiritual formation. Theology helps map a reading of Scripture as Scripture interrogates its readers under the guidance of the Spirit.

For the past 200 years, many parts of Western Christianity have labored as Schleiermacher's children. The mainline traditions have hoped to achieve relevance. The evangelical and free-church traditions have hoped to read the Bible unadulterated and alone. Both traditions, however, have made our feelings—which are, by definition, slippery and transitory—primary. Mainliners have eschewed theology for fear that it imposes another's context and assumptions, while evangelicals have eschewed theology because it might compete with the pristine Bible or become a rigid boundary. Both traditions forget that theology is a kind of memory that allows us to hear God's Word by clarifying our experiences.

COVER PACKAGE
The Lost Art Of Catechesis
It's a tried and true way of teaching, among other things, Christian doctrine.
By J.I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett

Thinking Faith on Post Modern Prodigal Son

2010-03-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

The latest from Thinking Faith...

The Prodigal Father - A Postmodern Homily
The familiar parable of the Prodigal Son traditionally prompts us to reflect on the love and forgiveness of the father who welcomes back his younger son. But what if we focus on the effect of the father’s generosity on the relationship between the two brothers? Desmond Ryan argues that if we look at this story in a new way we see the harmful consequences of prioritising relationships based on authority over those based on a sibling model. Read >>

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Global Atheist Convention 2010

2010-03-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

The BBC news online reports on the Global Atheist Convention.

Atheists meet in Melbourne to celebrate lack of faith

More than 2,000 atheists from around the world are gathering in Melbourne, Australia, to celebrate their lack of religious belief.
It is thought to be the world's largest gathering of atheist thinkers.
They plan to issue a statement on what they say are the negative effects of religion on society.
All 2,500 tickets were sold out earlier this year, but a religious gathering at the same venue in December attracted three times as many delegates.
The Global Atheist Convention is bringing together scientists, philosophers, writers and comedians, says the BBC's religious affairs correspondent Christopher Landau.
They will be joined by bestselling author Richard Dawkins and discuss Islam and terrorism in a session titled The Cost of Delusion.

read more

And here is a lecture by Richard Dawkins in 2002 on Militant Atheism

Silence...

2010-03-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

silence...
pen in hand, reading, writing
river flow to sea

What Does the Church Teaches about Death and Dying?

2010-03-11T14:06:00.000-08:00

Lent is a period for meditation on dying and death. The focus is on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. However after the recent passing onto glory of two ladies in my church due to cancer, I cannot help but meditate on our own mortality. As a Christian I find there is hardly any teaching in our churches about death and dying. The emphasis is on living a victorious Christian life and in receiving all the grace and gifts (health, wealth, prosperity) that God has promised us. I find that churches teaches us how to live well but not how to die well. I wonder why this is so when the symbol of our faith is a man dying on the cross!

Does our attitude towards death affects our pastoral care? Do we Christians learn how to die well? An interesting research paper Religious Coping and Use of Intensive Life-Prolonging Care Near death in Patients with Advanced Cancer (The Journal of the American Medical Association - JAMA.vol.301, No.11, March 18, 2009) shows that people with terminal cancer who have a high level of positive religious coping (belief in God, be at peace with God) are more likely to receive intensive life-prolonging medical care near death. Of the people with positive religious coping in the study; 60% are Christian (Catholic, Protestant, Baptist), 10% others and 10% atheists. This is curious as I will expect that high positive religious copers will be more at peace and ready to leave this life than to hang on by accepting intensive life-prolonging medical care near death.

Michael Balboni, M.Div.Th.M., a researcher at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute when interviewed by Rob Moll on Christianity Today March (web) 2010 in The Medical Hazards of Spiritual Care speculates as to the reason why,

Do you know what pastors and spiritual caregivers are telling their congregants who are sick with cancer?

We really don't know what's going on with clergy. But the kind of support they're offering is probably leading patients to choose more aggressive care. We can only hypothesize why. I'm guessing it has to do with some misunderstandings about the ability of medicine. Fighting cancer is not necessarily the best thing to do spiritually. When people have metastatic cancer, it would appear that they are not being accompanied in quite the right way regarding their medical decisions.

Balboni published a research paper Provision of Spiritual Care to Patients with Advanced Cancer: Associations with Medical Care and Quality of Life Near Death (Journal of Clinical Oncology Dec 14, 2009) in which his team finds that patients with high positive religious coping that are treated by medical professionals who are religious tends to end up with hospice care rather than intensive life-prolonging medical care near death. Is there a difference between spiritual care provided by the clergy and the medical professionals who have religious affiliations? Balboni speculates,

On the other hand, there are certain doctors and nurses who simultaneously understand and/or share beliefs and practices with the patient, and they understand the complexities of the disease and the disease process. Having an understanding in both areas, they seem to be able to offer spiritual advice when engaging medical decisions.

I believe medical professionals have a better view of the disease processes and healing. See my thoughts on healing here. Some clergy and Christians has a different expectation of 'supernatural healing' from God. Even in very terminal cancer patients they are expecting God to work his miracles. The problem with this approach is that while waiting for a miracle, the patient is not preparing for his/her death. Thus when death approaches, everyone is in a panic and the patient ends up with intensive life-prolonging medical care near death (which actually causes more suffering). A better approach will be to accept that one has terminal cancer and prepare for death while waiting for the Lord's deliverance-one way or another.

what do you think?

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Thinking Faith on The Prodigal Son

2010-03-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

The latest from Thinking Faith...

The prodigal son and his jealous brother
Jack Mahoney SJ continues to explore the ways in which Jesus teaches about God’s forgiveness in Saint Luke’s Gospel, from which our Sunday gospel readings for this Lent are taken. In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus illustrates to his listeners the joy of forgiveness, both on the part of the penitent sinner and of God. But do we not feel a sneaking sympathy for the faithful and jealous elder brother? Read more

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Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 11

2010-03-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 11 (March 14 to March 20, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
The Necessity of Scripture
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

The Current Intellectual State of Affairs in America
An Article
By: Tim Keller
Webpage PDF Word

Introduction to 1 Corinthians
A Sermon
By: Scott Lindsay
Webpage PDF Word

Original Sin
Depravity Infects Everyone
By: J. I. Packer
Webpage PDF Word

The Rent Veil
The True Veil
By: Horatius Bonar
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, Part II
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

Role of Worship in Spiritual Formation (6)

2010-03-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Conclusion

Liturgy, a grateful community, a communal sense of time and the sacraments are important characteristic of the Christian faith communities in their worship of the one True God. These elements also have an important role in the Christian spiritual formation of Christians who are involved in these formative processes. Worship is not only communion partaking but also transformative as worshippers are gradually being transformed into the character of those who worship in Spirit and in Truth.

Soli Deo Gloria

read whole article here

biomedical ethics & the contemporary church course

2010-03-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

I will be teaching a course on biomedical ethics in East Asia School of Theology (EAST) in June 2010. I invite you to come and join me for this course.

biomedical ethics & the contemporary church

East Asia School of Theology
1 Dorset Rd Singapore 219486
3rd-Quarter 2009/10 Class

Dates: 18, 19, 25, 26 June

Fridays:
2.00 to 6.00 PM;
Saturdays:
9.00 AM to 4.00 PM

Synopsis of course
Advances in medical treatment modalities, biotechnological innovations, and geneticmolecular manipulations have brought about unique challenges to the church today. In this class, a pastoral-theological approach will be used to examine, reflect and develop responses to difficult moral and ethical issues such as test tube and designer babies, facts and fallacies of stem cell therapies, cloning, abortion, mercy-killing, living will, gene therapy, and aesthetic surgery.

Lecturer
DR TANG is a senior consultant pediatrician in Johor Bahru and adjunct teaching faculty of Monash University School of Medicine in Malaysia. His interest in neonatology, respiratory medicine and biomedical ethics has led him to speak widely in churches and seminaries on issues this class will cover. Dr Tang is the author of Random Musings From a Doctor's Chair, A Good Day to Die: A Christian perspective on mercy killing, Live and Let Live: A Christian perspective on biotechnology, and Spiritual Formation on the Run. An avid community service worker, he started the Rotary Club of Tebrau Heart Fund to sponsor children with congenital heart diseases for corrective surgery in India, and developed the Calvary Autistic Centre project
for Autistic children in Johor Bahru.

Register at www.east.edu.sg or call Ms Wong at tel: 62919744 ex 202 for enquiries.
East Asia School of Theology 1 Dorset Rd Singapore 219486

download brochure here
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Frederica Mathewes-Green on the Jesus Prayer

2010-03-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

"The topic was the Jesus Prayer but I expanded it to Eastern Christian spiritual disciplines in general, and said a bit about the Christ of Sinai."

Role of Worship in Spiritual Formation (5)

2010-03-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

Spiritual dimensions of the Sacraments

The sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion are important spiritual formation object lessons. In the act of obedience of being baptised, and indeed baptism itself, people may learn that they are set aside for God. In many Christian faith communities, this occurs after a person has gone through the catechumen or baptismal classes to learn the basic of their beliefs.

During the Holy Communion, the action with the bread in “take, bless, break, share” are again important reminders of Jesus’ sacrifice and redemption and the Christians’ responses.

The Reformed worship incorporates the spiritual formation processes found in the early catechism in liturgy worship services. These processes includes the focus on the praise and adoration of God, the participation of worshippers in worship rather than as spectators, a Word-centered liturgy, emphasis on preaching as a means of grace and the presence of order, dignity and grace (Weaver, 2002 , 33-34). The Holy Communion, baptism and confirmations are also important aspect of the Reformed worship. Therefore spiritual formation takes place as people are reminded weekly of the creed, prayer and rules governing the Christian faith. “Formative worship” is an important dynamic process for Christian spiritual formation.

Works cited

Weaver, J. D. (2002). Presbyterian Worship: A Guide for Clergy. Louisville, KN: Geneva Press.

Role of Worship in Spiritual Formation (4)

2010-03-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

A communal sense of time

Closely aligned with a community’s worship of God is its sense of time[i]. The Christian calendar gives a sense of the liturgical year which has bind Christian faith communities together in a common tradition of worship through the centuries[ii]. It serves the function of marking time, and “continually orders the pattern of our spirituality into a remembrance of God’s saving deeds and the anticipation of the rule of God over all creation.” (Webber 2004, 27 italics author’s). The activities of the events commemorated are important because it reminds Christians annually who they are and their place in God or the Christian story.

According to Webber, “Christian-year spirituality” is a spirituality of being identified with the life and work of Lord Jesus Christ (2004, 23-24). However it does not stop there. It also allows the Holy Spirit to work in the Christians’ lives. Bruce Lockerbie, an educator, is convinced that the Christian calendar “has helped many Christians become spiritually more mature.”[iii] (1994, 141). Similarly Dubley Weaver, a Presbyterian pastor also finds that the Christian calendar is a “helpful way of helping children live the story of God’s love in Jesus Christ and emphasizing the distinctiveness of the Christian faith and commitment in the midst of a secular world.”[iv] (2002, 67). All this serves to remind English-speaking Presbyterian churches in Malaysia to go back to the liturgical calendar as many churches has abandoned it except for Easter and Christmas celebrations. Presbyterian/Reformed churches in other countries still follow the Christian calendar. For some unknown reason, this has been discontinued in the English-speaking Presbyterian churches in Malaysia. The Christian calendar is Christo-centric as is the process of Christian spiritual formation. Following the Christian calendar forces the English-speaking Presbyterian churches to plan their preaching and church activities around the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Works cited

Lockerbie, D. B. (1994). Living and Growing in the Christian Year. In K. O. Gangel & J. C. Wilholt (Eds.), The Christian Educator's Handbook on Spiritual Formation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Weaver, J. D. (2002). Presbyterian Worship: A Guide for Clergy. Louisville, KN: Geneva Press.

Webber, R. E. (2004). Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

White, J. F. (2000). Introduction to Christian Worship (3rd. rev. exp. ed.). Nashville: Abington Press.

Endnotes

[i] In Ancient-Future Time, Robert Weber writes about the Christian practice of time. He divides the church year into two cycles: a cycle of light (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany) and a cycle of life (Lent, The Great Tridium, Easter).(Webber, 2004) He calls it “Christian-year spirituality”.

[ii] James White indicates the presence of the Christian calendar indicates Christianity takes time seriously. Compared to other religions which did not take time seriously, Christianity shows a God who intervenes in historic time. (White, 2000) p.67-80.

[iii] Lockerbie make a strong case for observation the Christian calendar by giving six reasons.

“(1) Observing the Year provides each Christian with opportunity to fulfill one of the most basic human instincts, the chance to start all over again, (2)The Year’s cycle provides those principles and discipline each Christian needs, (3)We need to walk with God’s people through history, to “walk where Jesus walked,” by means of observing the year, (4) Observing the Year means marking a season of several days or weeks rather than just one day, (5) Observing the year sets believers part from secularists for whom the holy-day has become a mere holiday and (6) Marking the season gives time to develop a biblical understanding or theology of the season.” (Lockerbie, 1994)P.136-139.

[iv] This is particularly important because typically children and youth are left out of the Christian calendar year except for Easter and Christmas where they are expected to perform for the adults, in the form of song items, skits, and dances.

Role of Worship in Spiritual Formation (3)

2010-03-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

A grateful community in worship

A worshipping community acknowledges their identity in God, in their relationship in God, and in their expression of gratitude for what God has done. A grateful worshipping community will be the strongest weapon for the Malaysian Christians including the English-speaking Presbyterians to survive in a religious pluralistic society, and against the Islamisation program of the government. A grateful Christian faith community has a sense of identity as one who receives from a God who cares and gives. The sense of identity is important especially when there are efforts from another religious community to displace that sense of community. Worship reminds the Christian faith community that they are poor yet rich in Christ.

Worship may be done in churches, at their workplace or anywhere at all. While in church, worship is the participation of the whole community, not just the act of the worship leader while the rest of the congregation sit as passive spectators. However, as theologian Marva Dawn insists, worship is a performance for the audience of One, not for one another[i]. (1995, 82). Dawn is writing in response to some churches where worship has become a performance. Celebrity worship leaders lead in the singing backed by professional standard musicians. The problem arises when people goes to the service because of the performance of the worship leaders and the music. The worshippers are the audience watching the cues and leads of the worship leaders or the pastors. The focus is on the people on the stage. True worship is when the worshippers, the leaders and pastor all focus on God the subject of our worship, an audience of one. Dawn hasten to add that “because God is the subject, we always remember that we can only be actors because he acted first” (1995, 82). Dawn’s point is that everything done in worship should be for God alone.

Works cited

Dawn, M. J. (1995). Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for the Turn-of-the-Century Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Endnotes

[i] The worship service has become a performance or a theatre. (Dawn, 1995) p.82

BioLogos in the Creation/Evolution Debate

2010-03-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

The BioLogos Foundation was founded by Francis Collins as a result of the runaway success of his 2006 book The Language of God. Francis Collins, currently Chairman of the National Institutes of Health in the United States is a committed Christian who believes that it is possible to harmonies science and Christian theology. He led the International Genome Project in 2003. Collins coins the word "BioLogos" which is similar to theistic evolution.

Theistic Evolution, therefore, is the belief that evolution is how God created life. Because the term evolution is sometimes associated with atheism, a better term for the belief in a God who chose to create the world by way of evolution is BioLogos. BioLogos comes from the Greek words bios (life) and logos (word), referring to the gospel of John:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The difference between theistic evolution, intelligent design (ID) and creationism may be found here. The main work of The BioLogos Foundation is in its website which was launched almost a year ago on 28 April, 2009. The work of the Foundation to "reconcile God with science" was highlighted in the May 2, 2009 TIME magazine. I have found its resources useful in helping me to understand the relation between science and Christianity.

Some notable articles from the website on BioLogos are

"Biblical Creation and Storytelling: Cosmogony, Combat and Covenant"
by Brian Godawa
Download full PDF
"Science as an Instrument of Worship: Can recent scientific discovery inform and inspire our worship and service?"
by Jennifer Wiseman
Download full PDF
"Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution"
by Denis O. Lamoureux
Download full PDF
"Scientific Fundamentalism and its Cultural Impact"
by Karl Giberson
Download full PDF
"Evangelicals, Creation, and Scripture: An Overview"
by Mark Noll
Download full PDF
"Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: I. Concerns of the Typical Evangelical Theologian"
by Bruce Waltke
Download full PDF
"Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: II. Concerns of the Typical Parishoner" or "Creation, Evolution, and Christian Laypeople"
by Tim Keller
Download full PDF
"Barriers to Accepting the Possibility of Creation by Means of an Evolutionary Process: III. Concerns of the Typical Agnostic Scientist"
by Darrel Falk
Download full PDF
"Adventist Origins of Young Earth Creationism" by Karl Giberson
Download full PDF

Henri Nouwen on Relationship

2010-03-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

The Balance Between Closeness and Distance

Intimacy between people requires closeness as well as distance. It is like dancing. Sometimes we are very close, touching each other or holding each other; sometimes we move away from each other and let the space between us become an area where we can freely move.

To keep the right balance between closeness and distance requires hard work, especially since the needs of the partners may be quite different at a given moment. One might desire closeness while the other wants distance. One might want to be held while the other looks for independence. A perfect balance seldom occurs, but the honest and open search for that balance can give birth to a beautiful dance, worthy to behold.

HT: Paul Long

Role of Worship in Spiritual Formation (2)

2010-03-02T12:13:00.000-08:00

Liturgy as Formative Worship

Many theologians define liturgy as a sequential set of actions making up a “sacred structure or shape.” At the climax of this sacred shape is the Eucharist. Thus liturgy is what happens only in church services or mass. Anglican Samuel Wells (2002) concurs and sees each step or action of the liturgy as pedagogy[i]. Each action or step of the liturgy conveys a spiritual lesson to the people involved in the liturgy. Lynn Bauman explains, “The term liturgy comes from the language of the New Testament itself. It comprises of two Greek words, laos meaning ‘people’ and ergon meaning ‘work’ (Luke 1:23; Phil. 2:17; He. 8:6). Together these terms signify that worship is a work that invites the whole people of God in the transforming sacrifice of Christ” (Bauman, 1994, 103). Liturgical worship has a contributing factor in Christian spiritual formation because it brings the worship into the daily life of the worshippers. These understandings of the liturgy as work implies the participants are to live out the liturgy (in their workplace) the rest of the week. (Bauman, 1994, 103-107). Liturgical worship is a power dynamic process for English-speaking Presbyterians and other Christians because the experience of continuing worship in churches and in their work will have a powerful effect on their spiritual formation.

While some theologian distinguishes liturgy and worship, especially those from non-liturgical churches, Singaporean theologian Simon Chan see no difference between liturgy and worship. Chan defines liturgy as “the people’s common response to that word (God’s calling), their acceptance of the Word, which constitutes them as the covenant people.”(2006, 41). This definition narrows liturgy and worship to a covenant celebration, rather to a celebration of the outward flow of grace. However, it is better to expand its understanding to beyond the rituals of the liturgy. Australian educator Ted Endacott adopts a middle point when he points out the importance of Sunday worship in connecting “traditional Christian beliefs and current experience” (2005, 14).

Works cited

Bauman, L. C. (1994). Spiritual Formation Through The Liturgy. In The Christian Educator's Handbook on Spiritual Formation (pp. 99-110). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Chan, S. (2006). Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community (1 ed.). Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.

Endacott, T. (2005). "Working the Circles": A Fresh Look at Mission, Worship and Christian Education. Australian Missiology Conference Retrieved 7 February 2008, from http://www.groupsthatclick.com/files/missiolconf/Papers/Endacott.pdf

Keating, T. (1987). The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company.

Wells, S. (2002). How Common Worship Forms Local Character. Studies in Christian Ethics(15), 66-74.

Endnotes

[i] Thomas Keating however, sees each step as a powerful spiritual experience. (Keating, 1987)

Role of Worship in Spiritual Formation (1)

2010-03-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Leiturgia (prayer/worship) is an important part of the Christian life and an important formative process. Prayer and worship are the characteristics of God’s people. Worship may be understood as “pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit towards God in contemplation of his holy perfection” (Harrison, 1984, 1193). In a broader sense worship may be honouring of God with prayer and praises. Worship in its broadest sense is service for God. While there is worship in the “sing-spiration” part of the Sunday service, it alone does not constitute worship. Worship is the whole service with its rituals or liturgies, Scripture reading and preaching, fellowship, and the sacraments.

Presbyterian Dudley Weaver placed the Reformed/Presbyterian worship service between the “prayer-book liturgical tradition” groups of churches, where liturgy was strictly followed, and the “free-church tradition”, where there were no prescribed liturgical rules[i] (2002, 30). Singaporean theologian Simon Chan and others have been studying how liturgical worship influences spiritual formation (Chan, 2006; Chittister, 1990; Dawn, 1989). The Christian church has a tradition of using worship, liturgy and the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist as means of spiritually forming its adherents. While it is acknowledged that worship, liturgy and the sacraments is spiritually forming, the willing participation of the worshipper is also vital. The rituals can become a powerful spiritual encounter or it may be a boring, dull and routine. Another problem is the frequent repetition of the liturgy may be spiritually affirming, or spiritually deadening. Bauman (1994) highlights the role of liturgy in spiritual formation while Anglican Samuel Wells (2002) have examined how worship forms character. Chan sums it up well when he declares “worship could be said to be the defining characteristic of the church…This may be why in the Scriptures Christians are sometimes simply called worshippers” (Phil. 3:3; 1 Tim. 2:10; Heb. 12:28; Rev. 13:12-13; 14:11). Worshiping God is the “hallmark of the people of God” (Chan, 2006, 43). Worship does have its role as a formative agent in spiritual formation but it is also Christian spiritual formative process by itself.

Works cited

Bauman, L. C. (1994). Spiritual Formation Through The Liturgy. In The Christian Educator's Handbook on Spiritual Formation (pp. 99-110). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Chan, S. (2006). Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community (1 ed.). Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.

Chittister, J. (1990). Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St.Benedict Today. New York: HarperCollins Publishing Company.

Dawn, M. (1989). Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting; Embracing; Feasting. Grand Rapids, MI.: William B.Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Harrison, E. F. (1984). Worship. In W. A. Elwell (Ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (pp. 1192-1193). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Weaver, J. D. (2002). Presbyterian Worship: A Guide for Clergy. Louisville, KN: Geneva Press.

Wells, S. (2002). How Common Worship Forms Local Character. Studies in Christian Ethics(15), 66-74.

Endnotes

[i] Weaver mentions three major liturgical streams. The prayer-book stream includes the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran has a liturgy format for all their churches. All their churches are required to follow the given format. At the other end is the free-church stream, which does not have a fixed liturgy or rules for governing the context and conduct of worship. Weaver mentioned the Presbyterians as being in between without mentioning the name of the stream. (Weaver, 2002) p.30

photo credit

Tan Soo Inn on Counting the Years

2010-03-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Those who passed the the 50 years mark will begin to be aware that their bodies are not so strong and agile as they once was, their memories so sharp and there will be a general deterioration of health. When he reaches 55 my friend Soo Inn reflects on the counting of the years. Heel the wisdom of a wise man.

Commentary: Counting the Years

"It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple." (Isaiah 6:1 NLT)
By Soo-Inn Tan
February 26, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg). Reposted with permission.

On the first Sunday of the year, my friend Mark preached on Psalm 90. When he reached verse 10, he asked us to do a little arithmetic. If the verse were to be taken literally, how many years do we have left? I will be 55 this year, so 80 - 55 = 25. Still some time left, but not all the time in the world. The exercise was a good reminder of our mortality. Maybe there is something to be said for how Isaiah marks the years, by identifying a year with the death of a prominent person.

1963, the year that John F Kennedy died. 1997, the year that Mother Theresa died. 2009 was a difficult year for many of us. For many it was the year that Michael Jackson died. But for many of my friends, it was the year that Yasmin Ahmad died, the year that Anthony Yeo died. Some of us are still recovering from the many friends that we lost last year. When will it be our year? How do we confront the fact of our mortality? Isaiah gives us two suggestions.

First, root your life in God. Isaiah 6 finds Isaiah in the temple, worshipping the Lord. We are mortal. God is immortal. And God has made us this offer:

[Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this . . .?" (John 11:25-26 NLT)]

I believe. I have believed for some time now. The passing of the years reminds me that the central reality of my life is my relationship with the Almighty, "Immortal, Invisible, God only wise. (Walter C. Smith)" Indeed I know this God as Abba. My life is in His safe hands. I need not fret about my departure from this life. Dad knows best. And nothing in this life or the life to come can separate me from His love (Romans 8: 35-39). In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah is in the temple. May 2010 find us similarly rooted in our Lord.

To be rooted in the Lord brings us to the other thing that Isaiah teaches us about how we can face the passing of the years --- be faithful to your vocation. Isaiah 6: 1-8 is the record of Isaiah's call to his prophetic ministry. It reminds us of the vocational nature of life. If my time on earth is limited, I do not want to waste my days. I want to invest my life in what God has called me to do. Frederick Buechner puts it nicely:

[ . . in the year that King Uzziah died, or in the year that John F. Kennedy died, or in the year that somebody you loved died, you go into the temple if that is your taste, or you hide your face in the little padded temple of your hands, and a voice says, "Whom shall I send into the pain of a world where people die?" and if you are not careful, you may find yourself answering, "Send me."

. . . a man's vocation is a man's calling. It is the work that he is called to in this world, the thing that he is summoned to spend his life doing. (The Hungering Dark, San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1969, 27.)]

What is my vocation? For some time now I have believed that my calling is to teach God's Word with "relevance, accuracy, and passion" so that lives are transformed for Christ. In more recent times, there has been a further fine-tuning of that mission. I seem to be tasked to teach about the importance of relational transformation, how God's primary way of changing lives is through relationships. This year, I will be teaching on Spiritual Mentoring in two seminaries in Singapore, and leading workshops on the same subject in Malaysia and Canada. And we are receiving many invitations to teach on the subject from churches and Christian organizations. My 2010 planner is filling up fast.

There are many things I can do and many things I would like to do, but with the passing of the years, I must be focused on what I must do --- what God has called me to do. What has God called you to do?

Will I have 25 more years to live? More? Less? God knows. But in the year that _____ died, may I be found rooted in the Lord, faithful to my vocation.

Top Five Books on Desert Spirituality

2010-02-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

My Top 5 Books on Desert Spirituality

Jennifer Hevelone-Harper is associate professor and chair of history at Gordon College,

Here are her 5 selections from ChristianHistory.net

The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
Edited by Benedicta Ward, London: Penguin Classics, 2003.

Athanasius : The Life of Antony and the Letter To Marcellinus
Edited by Robert C. Greg

Harlots of the Desert: A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources
Benedicta Ward

The Desert Fathers on Monastic Community
Graham Gould

Barsanuphius and John of Gaza: Letters (The Fathers of the Church), 2 Volumes
Translated by John Chrysavgiss

What do you think? Any other suggestions?

A New Kind of Christianity

2010-02-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

Illustration by Daniel Chang

BOOKS
Review: Brian McLaren's 'A New Kind of Christianity'
Brian McLaren's 'new' Christianity is not so much revolutionary as evolutionary.
By Scot McKnight

Future Trends of Global Missions

2010-02-26T10:20:00.000-08:00

Learnings@Leadership Network suggests that there are

Eight Trends That Will Shape the Future of Global Missions

Many of these trends are very thought provoking.

Mutuality
Partnering
Investing in leaders
Combining good deeds and good news
Greater financial accountability
Business as mission
Focus
Technology

read article here

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 09

2010-02-25T22:15:00.000-08:00

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 09 (February 28 to March 6, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
Bible Problems
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

The Gospel in All its Forms
An Article
By: Tim Keller
Webpage PDF Word

Our Need of Scripture
An Article
By: J. I. Packer
Webpage PDF Word

Presenting Evidence within a Van Tillian Framework
An Article
By: Jimmy Li
Webpage PDF Word

The Rent Veil
How There Came to be a Veil
By: Horatius Bonar
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
THE NECESSITY OF KNOWING GOD AND HIS POWER, Part II
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

Random Glimpses of My Desktop (13)

2010-02-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

Star Trek candy holder

Global Conversation on Muslim-Christian Dialogue

2010-02-25T02:03:00.000-08:00

Christianity Today and the Lausanne movement have been conducting Global Conversation on certain important global issues recently. In March 2010, the Conversation is on

How should Christians who have a passion for evangelization relate to Islam? For North Americans, the question took on new urgency in the wake of September 11. But Christians in Muslim-majority societies have dealt with the question far longer.

Chawkat Moucarry, World Vision International's director of interfaith relations describes his commitment and mission in A Lifelong Journey with Islam.

I have never understood why some people look at dialogue and mission in either-or terms. In my experience, these words belong so much to each other that they should never be divorced. Evangelical Christians (whose theology I share) have shown an unwarranted suspicion of dialogue, simply because some have used it as a substitute for mission. Not only are the two words compatible, but they must shape each other.

more here.

David Shenks has this to contribute "My life motto as I engage in dialogue with Muslims is the same that Moucarry has highlighted (1 Pet. 3:15): Be clear in my confession of faith—Jesus is Lord. Give account of this reality to all who ask. Bear witness with gentleness and respect." more here in Experiencing Dialogue.

While dialogue seems to be the way to go, there are concerns. Evelyne A. Reisacher who had served for over 20 years as the associate director of a church-based organization in France called l'AMI, dedicated to facilitate Christian-Muslim encounters and assist Muslim Background Believers. She is assistant professor of Islamic studies and Intercultural Relations at Fuller Theological Seminary has this to say in Dialogue Shaping Mission Shaping Dialogue.

In conclusion: Has my perception of dialogue changed? Yes and no. The questions I raised prior to my first experience of dialogue in 2003 are still relevant and must be revisited each time I engage in dialogue. My commitment to Jesus Christ and the gospel has not changed. But dialogue is a constant reminder of the human face of mission: It helps us encounter Muslims as equal interlocutors worthy of being listened to and with whom we should respectfully share our beliefs.

How then does this dialogue translate to realpolitik?

Dr Ng Kam Weng, director of Kairos Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur shares about the situation in Malaysia "to explain the ambivalence of Christian minority groups toward Christian-Muslim dialogue" as a response in Building a Common Society.

Dialogue beneath the Gothic arches of Western universities should be welcomed, but surely genuine dialogue would gain more credence if it took place at the ground level, especially in countries where Islamic authorities do not feel the need to modulate their power so as to present an acceptable face, as they would when dealing with their Western counterparts. If indeed dialogue takes place, the Islamic authorities typically set the terms of engagement, reducing it to social rituals to confirm the dominance of Islam rather than to promote mutual understanding and respect. Naturally, local Christians lose enthusiasm for "dialogue."

It is not often so cut and dry about inter-faith dialogue in Muslim-majority countries as has been pointed out by Dr Ng. Read more here.

Nigeria is another country where is there had been violence between Muslims and Christians. Sunday Agang who is dean of the School of Theology and Ethics, JETS Theological Seminary in Jos, Nigeria comments on The Audacity of Dialogue.

The Transfiguration of Jesus

2010-02-24T19:02:00.000-08:00

The latest from Thinking Faith...

The Transfiguration of Jesus
This Sunday’s gospel reading is the account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Luke tells us that the disciples who witnessed Jesus’s encounter with Moses and Elijah were terrified by what they saw and heard, but Jack Mahoney suggests that this experience was one that nourished and encouraged them. What can we learn from this event, as Peter, James and John did, about the Christ towards whom we journey throughout Lent?

Read >>

Read also my sermon A Transfiguration of Love.

.

Will You Be My Facebook Friend?

2010-02-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Do you get irritated by people who invites you to be his or her friend on Facebook? Or are you happy to be invited. What if you decline? Are you worried about offending someone? Richard Baum of Reuters writes about How to decline Facebook friends without offence. He offers some suggestions

One is to accept the invitation and then use Facebook's privacy settings to limit the flow of information between you and your new "friend." To do this, you can create a "colleagues" list from the Friends menu and then add to it your new friend. Then navigate to the privacy settings and use the "Profile Information" section to control what information people on the "colleagues" list can see.
An alternative, says workplace etiquette expert Barbara Pachter, is to suggest to the colleague that you connect instead on LinkedIn, a social network for professional relationships.
"You can just go ahead and ask them to join you on LinkedIn and hope they forget they sent you a Facebook friend request," said Pachter, the author of New Rules @ Work.
"Or you can say, Thanks for asking me. I'm keeping Facebook for my family and friends. I'm asking you to join me on my professional network instead.'"
Pachter said that whatever you do, it's important not to offend your colleague -- and that's not just because politeness is good etiquette.
"The person you offend might end up being your boss next year," she said.

Ha. That's unlikely for me but I do like to make friends on Facebook. Each friend brings new aspects and perspective of humanity. For a student of human nature like me, that is a bonus. Some reveal too much of themselves while others reveal too little. Yet each life is of value and I am constantly being amazed at the diversity of my friends' interests. I am also amazed at how much time some of my friends spend online with Facebook. I assume they do have a life somewhere.

It is interesting that Facebook was started only 4 years ago according to Wiki but 6 years ago according to founder Mark Zuckerberg in his Facebook blog. This is because Facebook seems to be around like forever. Entertainment Weekly notes its value, "How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook?" This was also during the peak of blogging. Nowadays, many bloggers are Facebookers (yes, there is such a term. I checked).

Many Facebookers are also gamers. The top 5 games on Facebook today are Farmville, Mafia Wars, Cafe World, Fishville and Zunga Poker. CNN Doug Gross gives us the highs and lows of The Facebook games millions love (or hate). No, I have not played any of these games yet. I am still trying to figure out Star Trek online.

Facebook is a virtual watering hole for the gathering of the futurists, the nerds, the internet addicts,the technocrats, the lonely, the bored, the seekers, the gurus, the joyful and the sad. Facebook is a pub in L-space. It is also a place of interconnectivity for people to connect with one another, keep abreast of each others' activities, and retain a sense of control in our fast moving fragmented world. It is also a safe place to hide from intimacy and the emotional investments of a 'real' human relationships. As in the television series Cheers, it is a place where everyone knows your name!

Update

After writing this post, I read a blog post on Facebook Friendship by my Facebook friend Bob.

picture credit

Soulwork and Suffering

2010-02-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

Two interesting and thought provoking articles.

SOULWORK
Should Churches Be as Friendly as a Bar?
Perhaps people are looking for something else.
By Mark Galli

The End of Suffering
Finding purpose in pain.
An excerpt by Scott Cairns

Book Review Roland Chia Biomedical Ethics

2010-02-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor of Christian Doctrine and Dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies at Trinity Theological College (TTC) in Singapore. In this 2010 book which was jointly published by Genesis Books (imprint of Armour Publishing) and the National Council of Churches of Singapore, Chia develops his theological antropological approach to biomedical ethics. Chia has been instrumental in the writing of many of the National Council of Churches of Singapore's positional papers on biomedical ethics including organ trading and euthanasia. It is good that he now consolidate his thinking together in one book on biomedical ethics for the church.

This book is divided into three parts which is helpful in the way he develops his theological anthropology. The first parts deals with the theological foundations which he then applies in some current issues in bioethics in the second part. The third part is his suggestions for the role of the church in dealing with this complex problems.

This is a well written book and I am able to follow his theological discussion and appreciate his approach to these complex issues as a theologian. He notes,

The theological anthropology that we have been developing in these pages seeks to articulate a understanding of determinism and freedom proper to human beings who are self-transcending yet embodied creatures (p.51)

While it is understandable that this thin volume is an introduction to a complex number of issues, I have hoped that he has given more attention to the each individual issues rather than giving a general overall impression. For example, Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) was reckoned to be bad because of "medicalisation of procreation", "commodification", and "commercialisation of human beings". This is oversimplifying a complex series of procedures. ART includes In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). We have to examine IVF in light of his theological anthropology and to take into consideration the stigma of infertility in the Asian culture and whether IVF with the sperms from the husband, eggs from the wife and the fertilised ovum implanted in the wife's womb to be necessarily bad. The only shortcoming is that sexual intercourse is not involved. Yes, we do have to pay the doctors, embryologists and hospitals for the IVF services but could that be counted as commercialisation and commodification? (p.87-88).

In the section on abortion, Chia brings out the issue of whether abortion should be allowed in rape victims. While he makes a strong case that rape rarely result in pregnancy (which is not true), he however does not give the answer to this issue (p.99-100). I have hoped that he will.

The section on chimera research is well written and raises many questions. It is an area where more theological thinking must take place. Chimera research involves combining human and animal genetic material.

It is in the final section of the book that Chia gives us our money's worth. It is his call to the church to act, in being missional, teaching, counselling and being involved in public theology.

Public theology is based on the assumption that the creedal symbols and statements of Christianity have public meaning. Public theology therefore have to do with how the faith that Christian profess is linked with how they live and conduct themselves in society (p.200-204)

Chia argues that the church has a role in public policy. This is especially interesting to me as I have just read Tan Seow Hon's chapter on "Religion and Abortion in Singapore" from Issues of Law and Justice in Singapore: Some Christian Reflections (2009) which is published by Chia's seminary under their CSCA Christianity in South East Asia Series.

While the footnotes are helpful, it will be better if there is a bibliography and index to the book.

This is a significant book as this is the first book on the introduction to almost the whole field of biomedical ethics by an influential theologian in a respected seminary in Singapore. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who needs to understand biomedical issues (that means everyone especially pastors and church leaders). I will include this on the reading list when I teach my module on "Biomedical Ethics Facing the Contemporary Church" in June 2010 at East Asia School of Theology (EAST) in Singapore.

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Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 08

2010-02-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 08 (February 21 to February 27, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
The Phenomena of Scripture
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

The Gnostics and Jesus
An Article
By: Tim Keller
Webpage PDF Word

Incarnation - God Sent His Son, to Save Us
An Article
By: J. I. Packer
Webpage PDF Word

How Can I Be Sure
I Haven't Committed the Unpardonable Sin?
By: Richard Phillips
Webpage PDF Word

The Rent Veil
Open Intercourse with God
By: Horatius Bonar
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
THE NECESSITY OF KNOWING GOD AND HIS POWER, Part I
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

Movie Review on The Hurt Locker

2010-02-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

The Hurt Locker opens with a

"The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug."

This opening quotation for The Hurt Locker (2008) summaries the main idea of the movie. This quotation from War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, a best-selling 2002 book by New York Times war correspondent and journalist Chris Hedges.

The movie is about the experiences of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit in the early stages of the US occupation of Iraq in 2004. More about the story here. The title is slang for being injured in an explosion, as in 'they sent him to the hurt locker.' Bomb disposal is a very dangerous job and demands courage, knowledge and expertise from its practitioners. This is even more demanding in a post 'war zone' in Iraq where one does not know who is an enemy and who is not. It is nerve-wrecking just sitting through the movie and watching the actors in such situations. The movie is well paced and the actors are superb in their acting.

The concept that war is a drug may come as a surprise to some. It is not war itself but that war provides the opportunities for a being in a dangerous situations where fast actions and reactions are required. This is the adrenaline rush. These adrenaline rush where all our senses are sharpened, where we are in flight or fight mode, and where our mortality is at risk, is what some combatants describe as being 'fully alive.' Similar adrenaline rush are experienced by firefighters, police, doctors and rock climbers (and first person shooter computer gamers). And these adrenaline rush are addictive. The rest of living became mundane and boring by comparison.

Like all addiction, we can develop tolerance and need more and more of the drug to give the same high. The soldier in the movie portrayed an addiction to the adrenaline rush. And what happens when his tour of duty is over? Where does he get his fix then? Also as in all addictions, other people may be hurt. The theme of addiction to the adrenaline rush in wars is seldom addressed in movies where the maxim seems to be "war is hell" and "let's show more of it." This thought provoking movie is about what is happening to the soldiers in ground zero of a warzone.

The question then arises on how do we treat the veteran adrenaline rush addicts? This reminds me of the movie The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalyse Now (1979) which deals with a similar issue by showing the consequences of this addiction.

Movies of 2009

2010-02-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

The Film Critics from Christianity Today online produces The 2009 CT Critics' Choice Awards
What do a war movie, a hot air balloon, and a post-apocalyptic father-son love story have in common? They're among 2009's best movies, as chosen by CT critics.
posted 2/17/2010

1. The Hurt Locker

directed by Kathryn Bigelow
The Hurt Locker is not so much a "war movie" as it is a movie about those who go to war. This character study looks at how the hell of war affects and even attracts those involved. Beautifully acted, written, shot and directed, this film goes beyond politics to show various aspects of the human condition.—Todd Hertz

2. Up

directed by Pete Docter
More than just another computer-generated cartoon, Up is a family-friendly fantasy that adults can love. Combining the whimsy of a Miyazaki feature with Pixar's acclaimed track record for storytelling, the film is brimming with humor and heart, resonating more deeply in a silent five-minute montage than most movies do in their entirety.—Russ Breimeier

3. The Road

directed by John Hillcoat
Less is more in this moving and terrifying tale of a father and son on a post-apocalyptic journey. Man and Boy cling to their humanity and each other in a desperate bid to stay alive, but not at all costs. In the face of temptations to trade their souls for survival, we see in starkly beautiful terms what being good requires.—Lisa Cockrel

4. Up in the Air

directed by Jason Reitman
Ryan Bingham, a frequent-flying professional hatchet man, gives us a searing and wickedly funny look at the effects of our jaded and relationship-wary society. With sharp dialogue, a surprising amount of heart, and one of George Clooney's best performances, the film wrestles with timely questions about commitments to work, family, and significant other.—Camerin Courtney

5. A Serious Man

directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
In this midwestern fable, the Brothers Coen make their most overt statement about the meaning—or lack thereof—of life. But it's emphatically non-pedantic, with a narrative you can't stop thinking about and knockout performances by a lot of actors you've never heard of.—Alissa Wilkinson

6. Summer Hours

directed by Olivier Assayas
An exquisite French film about the object- ness of art and the way humans interact with physical goods and spaces, Summer Hours overflows with observations that are delicate, simple and true, told with an aesthetic purity and humane sadness that is all too rare in contemporary cinema.—Brett McCracken

7. (500) Days of Summer

directed by Marc Webb
We're told up front that this isn't a love story. But like Tom, our erstwhile would-be romantic lead, we didn't quite believe it. With its finger firmly planted on the pulse of the twentysomething dating scene, the film is a clever tale of mismatched affections that manages to please cynics and hopeless romantics alike.—Lisa Cockrel

8. Star Trek

directed by J. J. Abrams
With six TV series and ten films, the Trek universe was so well documented that fresh, surprising storylines were rarer than quantum singularities. J. J. Abrams side-stepped into one of Trek's infinite possible timelines—and suddenly Star Trek was fresh, surprising, rousing fun again.—Steven D. Greydanus

see my review here

9. Avatar

directed by James Cameron
Not the year's best film, but hands-down the most visually spectacular, possibly of all time—especially in jaw-dropping IMAX 3D. But it's a good story too, with themes (if you look closely enough) of cross-cultural relations, of a love for creation, of compassion and empathy, and even of incarnation. And really cool special effects.—Mark Moring

10. Inglourious Basterds

directed by Quentin Tarantino
Dressed up as a violent Jewish revenge fantasy, Quentin Tarantino's bold and well-executed WWII rewrite is actually a smart, searing exploration of the power of story, cinema, and national pride. As you watch Hitler enjoy a bloody, one-sided propaganda film, it hits you that you're doing the same thing.—Todd Hertz

Question: What are your 10 favourite movies of 2009?

Michael Hyatt on Leadership and Delegation

2010-02-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers wrote an insightful post onWhat the Bible Says About Leadership and Delegation. This is a worthwhile reading and have important principles to follow.

Admit that working non-stop is unsustainable.
Understand your unique calling.
Select qualified leaders to assist you.
Give these leaders responsibility and authority.
Only do those things which others cannot do.

A Transfiguration of Love

2010-02-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

A Transfiguration of Love

Text: Luke 9:28-36

Sermon Statement

The transfiguration of Jesus Christ is a God-event which affirms who Jesus is and encourages him to the cross. We can draw encouragement from a God who loves us that he plans for our redemption through his son, Jesus Christ.

Anthony Egan on South Africa

2010-02-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

In 2-11 February 1990, a ‘long week’ that shook the world, beginning with the unbanning of the African National Congress and other political movements and culminating with Nelson Mandela’s release from Pollsmoor Prison. This is akin to the tearing down of the Berlin wall, events that we never imagine will happen. Here Jesuit Anthony Egan SJ reflects on the event.

iWitness: South Africa: Twenty years on
Memories of the seminal events that took place in South Africa twenty years ago this week, which ended with Nelson Mandela’s release from prison on 11 February 1990, will live long in the minds of those who experienced the atmosphere in the country at the time. Anthony Egan SJ describes the reaction to this crucial chapter in the struggle against apartheid. How did people of faith see these events as a sign of the coming of God’s kingdom?

Read >>

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Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 07

2010-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 07 (February 14 to February 20, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
The Inerrancy of Scripture
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

Tim Keller Reasons with America
An Article
By: Tim Keller
Webpage PDF Word

Knowledge of One's Sins a Difficult Question
An Article
By: Edward Payson
Webpage PDF Word

The Rent Veil
Preface to the Rent Veil
By: Horatius Bonar
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
ERASMUS’ SCEPTICISM, Part VI
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

Tiger Millionaires

2010-02-13T23:16:00.000-08:00

The sign of the Tiger is associated with money. So, it's always nice to know that you can relax and keep your money safe (especially when the tiger's looking after it!)

__________

Image Credit: bubblefriends@flickr.com

A Fascinating Box of Mandarin Oranges

2010-02-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Received this circular box of mandarin oranges for the Chinese New Year. The box cover has four movable parts.

the two eyes and horn may be moved to form the face of a lion

the eyes may be moved to form the symbol of a bat
which is considered lucky by the Chinese

the mouth opened shows the juicy mandarin oranges underneath

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Intelligent Design involves Intelligence?

2010-02-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

Creationists and Evolutionists are a curious mixture. Throw them together and there will be more fireworks than in a Chinese New Year celebrations. Along came Intelligent Design (ID) and some Christians gave a sigh of relief. This sigh may be too premature as Stephen Barr, professor of physics of the University of Delaware points out in The End of Intelligent Design? published in First Things online

It is time to take stock: What has the intelligent design movement achieved? As science, nothing. The goal of science is to increase our understanding of the natural world, and there is not a single phenomenon that we understand better today or are likely to understand better in the future through the efforts of ID theorists. If we are to look for ID achievements, then, it must be in the realm of natural theology. And there, I think, the movement must be judged not only a failure, but a debacle.

Very few religious skeptics have been made more open to religious belief because of ID arguments. These arguments not only have failed to persuade, they have done positive harm by convincing many people that the concept of an intelligent designer is bound up with a rejection of mainstream science.

He concludes,

I suspect that some religious people have embraced the ID movement’s arguments because they want “scientific” answers to the scientific atheists, and they know of no others. But there are plenty of ways to make a case for the reasonableness of religious belief that can be persuasive to many in the scientific world. Such a case has been made by a growing number of research scientists who are Christian believers, such as John Polkinghorne, Owen Gingerich, Francis Collins, Peter E. Hodgson, Michal Heller, Kenneth R. Miller, and Marco Bersanelli. I have addressed many audiences myself using arguments similar to theirs and have had scientists whom I know to be of firm atheist convictions tell me that they came away with more respect for the religious position. Religion has a significant number of friends (and potential friends) in the scientific world. The ID movement is not creating new ones.

Random Glimpses of My Desktop (12)

2010-02-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

Glazed porcelain figurine of Batman from the animated movie Batman/Superman: Public Enemies

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Cliff Richard's Twelfth of Never

2010-02-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

You ask me how much I need you, must I explain?
I need you, oh my darling, like roses need rain
You ask how long I'll love you, I'll tell you true
Until the Twelfth of Never, I'll still be loving you

Hold me close, never let me go
Hold me close, melt my heart like April snow

I'll love you 'til the bluebells forget to bloom
I'll love you 'til the clover has lost its perfume
I'll love you 'til the poets run out of rhyme
Until the Twelfth of Never and that's a long, long time

Until the Twelfth of Never and that's a long, long time

Reframing Discipleship, Spiritual Formation, Christian Spiritual Formation

2010-02-11T00:27:00.000-08:00

There has been much confusion about the meaning and usage of these words: discipleship, spiritual formation, and Christian spiritual formation. These words are sometimes used interchangeably by some teachers while others offered a more nuanced definition. Here I will offer some definitions of these terms.

Spiritual formation is the process of forming our inner spiritual beings (soul) which manifest outwardly as our character. This is an ongoing process which starts when we are in our mothers’ womb and continues until we die. There are numerous influences that affect our spiritual formation which includes our cultural legacy, our childhood experiences, our ethnicity, the socio-political environments in which we live in, the dominant culture in our society, and our social interactions with other people, including our family members. Often these influences act subconsciously by a process of socialization or enculturation. In other words, all of us are undergoing spiritual formation all the time, whether we are conscious of it or not.

Christian conversion (accepting Christ) involves a change in status by our justification by faith, and of the formative regeneration of our souls (sanctification). Christian spiritual formation starts after conversion. Christian spiritual formation is the process of the redemptive inner transformation of the character of a person to reflect the character of Christ himself. There are two components to Christian spiritual formation: (1) the work of the Holy Spirit, and (2) the willingness of a person to follow Christ in discipleship. Christian spiritual formation is a collaborative divine-human interaction. The influences that act on Christian spiritual formation are similar to those experiences by all living human beings. Additional influences are the formative practices of the Christian faith communities (Christian education) and the Word of God.

Discipleship is the part of Christian spiritual formation where we can be actively involved in. The Holy Spirit is ever willing to be involved but respect our choices and will not force us to be disciples. Discipleship is following and obeying the teachings of Jesus Christ and in doing so, we become Christ-like in our character. Jesus summarizes this by saying that, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). To be his follower, Jesus points out that there is a part about denying self, and there is another part about following him. Luke helpfully gives us some essential features on discipleship. These essentials are trust (Lk 9:37-43); suffering (Lk 9:44-45); humility (Lk 9:46-50); purpose (Lk 9: 51-56); commitment (Lk 9: 57-62); involvement (Lk 10:1-20), and prayer (Lk 10:21-24). However all these need the work of the Holy Spirit if Christian spiritual formation is to take place. We cannot will or discipline our bodies into spiritual transformation.

The purpose (telos) of Christian spiritual formation is three-fold reflecting the economy of the Triune God. Christian spiritual formation is (1) to restore image of God (imago Dei) within us so that we reflect the character of Christ; (2) to form a people of God –the body of Christ; and (3) to be part of God’s plan of reconciliation with all of creation (missio Dei). Christian spiritual formation is Trinitarian in basis as it is an invitation to join in the perichoresis or eternal dance of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So let us embark on the journey of Christian spiritual formation, availing ourselves to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, and intentionally becoming disciples of Jesus Christ with “informed minds, hearts on fire, and contemplative in actions” until “we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Self Whipping as a Spiritual Discipline?

2010-02-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

THEOLOGY IN THE NEWS
Why Pope John Paul II Whipped Himself
New book reopens questions on self-denial and "what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."
By Collin Hanse

It is fascinating to read about this action of the late Pope John Paul II as he seeks to draw closer to God. Most Protestants will deplore the act but I think we need to understand the context and theology before we pass judgment. We, Protestants have such a fear of 'redemption by works' that we basically are offering a truncated Christianity, what is often referred to as 'cheap grace.'
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Musings about the Transfiguration

2010-02-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

This Sunday is an auspicious day. Not only is it Transfiguration Sunday, it is Valentine Day and the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Like Paul Long's sermon preparation Let’s not miss the point of Jesus’ transfiguration, I am preparing a sermon I will preach this Sunday. Found some interesting facts about Raphael's painting, "The Transfiguration of Jesus."

The upper part The Transfiguration of Jesus by Raphael is an event reported by three of the Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upon a mountain (one is Matthew 17: 1-9). Jesus became radiant, spoke with Moses and Elijah, and was called "Son" by God. Peter, James and John were with Jesus upon the mountain. The transfiguration put Jesus above Moses and Elijah, the two preeminent figures of Judaism. The lower part is a different scene from the Bible, in which the disciples fail to cure a sick boy.

Half-Finished Painting
A. C. Dixon tells us that when the great artist Raphael died at the early age of 37, some of his friends and relatives carried his marvelous painting “The Transfiguration” in the funeral procession. It was only partially finished, and they felt that because of his youth and the limited time he was allotted to use his creative genius, it was a symbol of life’s shortness. But the completed picture has a deeper meaning—a message that should impress itself upon all of us: life’s sojourn is fleeting and death sometimes terminates even our best efforts.

Tan Soo Inn's Tensions for Youths

2010-02-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

I have enjoyed my friend Soo Inn from Graceworks' sharing on speaking to youth. I was given a similar topic to speak to youth on numerous occasions. Unfortunately it did not get easier with time. Like Soo Inn, I wish I could promise them the future is rosy without no trouble. Unfortunately that is not the world we live in and I believe the sooner they learn about injustice the better. I am reposting the whole post with his permission as I am not able to link to his website. I believe all parents should read this.

Spoke to a group of Anglican youth last Tuesday morning (Feb 2nd). The topic assigned to me was a mouthful --- and important. I was told to speak on "Preparing to live out your faith in a real and broken world" to a group of young people between the ages of 17 and 22. As I looked at the young souls before me, I wanted to say "you must listen to this. This is important. You do not know what a fallen world will throw at you as you grow up!" But I didn't. Most of them had not gone through any life crunching struggles. I could only hope that they would remember the things I shared when they needed to. I could only claim for them the promise that God would not let them be tested beyond what they could bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Still, I tried my best to tell them a few things from my own journey and from the Word. I told them that the world is broken because of sin. (Images from Haiti were still dominating the media.) I told them that God entered human existence in Jesus, and that He knows the human condition firsthand. I told them that Jesus had defeated evil decisively on the Cross, but that the fullness of the restoration must await His return.

I told them that one of the skills they had to learn as they grow up is to be able to live with ambiguity and with tension. In this case, they had to be able to live with the twin truths that the victory over brokenness has already been won at the Cross ("it is finished" John 19:30) while the full experience of that victory awaits the new heaven and the new earth. They had to hold on to both truths. They had to be confident of the victorious power of God when the storms of life hit. They should confidently pray to their Abba Father and expect that Abba will never let them down. In a world that is increasingly secular, I wanted them to be confident of the reality, the character, and the power of the living God.

At the same time I didn't want them to be disillusioned if their prayers didn't get answered in the way they wanted or in their preferred time frame. They had to learn, as all of us have to at some point, about the utter sovereignty of God. He will still do what is best whether we recognise that best or not this side of heaven. I told the young people that there have been times in my life when I was totally perplexed by something that God did or didn't do. But I also told them that I had known God long enough to trust in His character even when I didn't understand His methods.

I wasn't sure if anything I said was getting through. As expected, with a group of young people, there was a lot of teasing and chatting while the talk was going on. I found this very distracting and I gave my usual spiel in such situations, that if the talk was not helpful they could leave the room and I wouldn't hold it against them. That worked for all of fifteen minutes. (Confession: I get stressed out speaking to youth which is why I prefer to speak to groups college aged and older.) I had some break out sessions with small group discussion, which resulted in more interaction --- and more noise. They did give me a thank you card after I finished. The card contained a number of notes which said that they had learned a lot from my talk, and had been inspired. I wanted to believe them.

In any case I closed by saying that there were two things they could do to fortify their faith for whatever lay ahead in their lives. They had to encounter the Lord on a regular basis through reading the Word. And they must have a few close spiritual friends to walk with. I turned to my favourite passage, the Emmaus Road Encounter from Luke 24: 13-49 and pointed that in times when God seems to have failed us, we need a friend to walk with, and we need to let Jesus sear our hearts with the Word. I hoped that if they got nothing from my talk, they would remember these two essentials of following Jesus: Scripture and spiritual friends. I think most of them did. And if they did, they would be prepared to live out their faith in a real and broken world. If they had these two things in place, they would encounter Christ in their brokenness, and in encountering Christ they will find healing, and meaning, and the equipping they needed to help others.
(Was I seventeen once?)

Befriending Our Inner Enemies

2010-02-07T23:16:00.001-08:00

Befriending Our Inner Enemies

How do we befriend our inner enemies lust and anger? By listening to what they are saying. They say, "I have some unfulfilled needs" and "Who really loves me?" Instead of pushing our lust and anger away as unwelcome guests, we can recognize that our anxious, driven hearts need some healing. Our restlessness calls us to look for the true inner rest where lust and anger can be converted into a deeper way of loving.

There is a lot of unruly energy in lust and anger! When that energy can be directed toward loving well, we can transform not only ourselves but even those who might otherwise become the victims of our anger and lust. This takes patience, but it is possible.

Tony Siew's Seminar on Revelation (2)

2010-02-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

Dr Tony Siew gave an interesting and insightful seminar on Revelation and the End-Times. The participants were very enthusiastic and excited about his chiasmatic division of the book of Revelation which helps in the understanding of this difficult book of the New Testament. His comments about the seminar is here.

SFI Seminar 2010/2

REVELATION & THE END-TIMES

Speaker: Dr Tony Siew

Date : 2.00pm- 9.30pm, Saturday 6 February 2010

Place : Berea, Holy Light Church, Jalan Gertak, Johor Bahru

A. Synopsis Of Training

Revelation is one book that understanding the form is vital in interpreting its contents. Like no other book of the NT, form and content fuse as in the book of Revelation. If we follow the literary markers used by John, then these patterns are not difficult to figure out. If we follow the temporal and chronological markers throughout the book, it is not difficult to figure out that John is concerned not only with the what (events) but also with the how and when these events will unfold leading to the coming again of Jesus Christ (cf. Rev 1:19; 4:1; 8:13; 9:12; 10:6-7; 11:14-15).

B. Areas to be covered

i ) Structure of Revelation, 7 Letters to the 7 Churches and the 7 Seals [Rev 1- 6]

ii ) 7 Trumpets and the Final 3 1/2 Years) [Rev 7-14]

iii) The Last Things - The 7 Bowls, World Economic System, Return of Christ, Millennium, Final Judgment and the New Jerusalem).

C. Speaker

Dr Tony Siew is an ordained pastor with Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Sabah, East Malaysia and has served the Church since 1994 before joining TTC as Lecturer in New Testament in July 2008. He holds degrees in law and theology, graduating with a PhD in New Testament from Otago University (NZ) in 2003. His dissertation on the book of Revelation has been published as The War between the Two Beasts and the Two Witnesses: A Chiastic Reading of Revelation 11:1-14:5 (LSNT 283; London & New York: T & T Clark, 2005).

Virtual Mentor February 2010

2010-02-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

Some goodies from this issue. What is informed consent for experimental procedures? Do patients really understand the risk? How will surgical procedures progress if there are no patients? What about the harm during the learning curve?

(For best results, view as HTML or request text version from virtualmentor@ama-assn.org)

Virtual Mentor. February 2010, Volume 12, Number 2: 67-142. Full Issue PDF

February 2010 Contents

Ethics and Innovation in Surgery

From the Editor

Responsible Progress in Surgical Innovation: A Balancing Act
Catherine Frenkel
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2010; 12:69-72.

Educating for Professionalism

Clinical Cases

New Devices and Truly Informed Consent
Commentary by Charles Rosen
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2010; 12:73-76.

Prophylactic Bariatric Surgery
Commentary by Robert E. Brolin, Bruce Schirmer, and Angelique M. Reitsma
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2010; 12:77-86.

Technical Skill and Informed Consent
Commentary by Robert M. Sade
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2010; 12:87-90.

Vinoth Ramachandra on Church Growth in Asia

2010-02-06T08:11:00.000-08:00

The article was posted in The Christian Post and deserves some thought.

Much Christian Growth in Asia is Superficial: Theologian

Edmond Chua
edmond@christianpost.com

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 Posted: 10:12:49PM HKT

The perceived growth of Christianity in Singapore and other nations in Asia is not an unqualified blessing in the view of an Indian theologian.

"Much of the numerical Christian growth in our nations is superficial," said Dr Vinoth Ramachandra in a series of lectures he gave at Trinity Theological College which the college compiled and published as a book in 2009.

This was the same year a South Asian Christianity researcher who was invited to give the lectures that year had concluded that the quality of the large number of conversions in recent years in Singapore is questionable.

“Large churches (including those that send out many cross-cultural missionaries to other parts of Asia) seem to have little transformative impact on their neighbourhoods and culture,” said Dr Ramachandra, stressing that the primary task of the Church is not ‘missions’ and discipleship – what he described as activism.

Rather the Church’s task is “simply being the Church; a radically new community in which social, cultural and economic barriers between peoples are broken down and men and women learn to love their traditional and personal enemies,” the Secretary for Dialogue and Social Engagement for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) said in ‘Church and Mission in the New Asia: New Gods, New Identities’.

Are We Transformed Yet?

2010-02-04T20:48:00.000-08:00

Any article by Mark Galli is worth reading. I wished I have thought of the title first.

SOULWORK
Are We Transformed Yet?
Why the spiritually mature don't talk about how God has made them spiritually mature.
By Mark Galli

Interview with Rob Bell on Preaching

2010-02-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

This is a good interview on preaching. Rob Bells also touches on good pastoring and preventing burnt out in pastors. We will all do well to heel his advice.

PREACHING
Tying the Clouds Together
Rob Bell's metaphors and references make his listeners stretch, but his wisdom for preachers is down to earth.
A Leadership interview with Rob Bell

He once planted a church by teaching through Leviticus. He can use a rabbit carved from a bar of soap to illustrate the nature of suffering. Google his name and the term "Sex God" will appear among the top entries.

| Finish this article |

Thomas Merton's Prayer

2010-02-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 06

2010-02-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 06 (February 7 to February 13 , 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
Scripture’s Authority, its Content and its Purpose
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

Night of the Talking Dead
Apologetics Dialogue
By: Donald Dewitt
Webpage PDF Word

The Pleasure of God in Justifying the Wicked
An Article
By: Matt Perman
Webpage PDF Word

An Earnest Ministry the Need of the Times
An Article
By: John Angell James
Webpage PDF Word

Joy in Heaven Over Repenting Sinners
An Article
By: Edward Payson
Webpage PDF Word

The Necessity of Word & Spirit in Conversion
An Article
By: John Calvin
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
ERASMUS’ SCEPTICISM, Part V
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

Gordon MacDonald on Missionalism

2010-02-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

Pastor and author Gordon MacDonald warns of the dangers of missionalism to committed Christian leaders. It's missionalism, not missional.

Dangers of Missionalism

Even the best causes can become cold, prideful, and all-consuming.

Gordon MacDonald | posted 1/01/2007 on Christianity Today online

I've added a new word to my vocabulary: missionalism. In fact I may have coined the word. All I know is that my spell-checker never heard of it before.

Missionalism defined: the belief that the worth of one's life is determined by the achievement of a grand objective. Key word: worth.

I don't know how long the word missional has been in use. I only began to hear it in the last few years as in "we're a missional church." Is missional really that different from being purpose-driven? I like both terms, but I know lots of churches (including ones I pastored) that were acting missional and purpose-driven long before the two words became popular. I remember thinking one day that missional sounds a bit Catholic, and purpose-driven sounds more Evangelical Protestant.

But missionalism is something else. It's a leader's disease. Like a common cold that begins with a small cough, missionalism catches on in a leader's life and seems at first so inconsequential. But let this disease catch hold and you are likely to have bodies strewn all over the place, the leader's and some of the leader's followers.

and then he highlights the lure of missionalism

Missionalism—the passionate need to keep things growing and growing so that one proves his/her worth—can catch hold from various sources. For some of us, it came early in life when we discovered that we got a lot of love when we went forward to dedicate our lives to Christian service.

We were awash with the call to a kind of heroism. If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times, "The world has yet to see what God can do through a person totally committed to Jesus Christ." It was an inspiring statement, and it conjured dreams of whole nations converted to Christ through preaching. How many times I knelt at altars and begged God for a fervency, an overcoming of the power of the Holy Spirit, a sense of abandonment that would make me willing to take up the cross to follow him. I wanted to be that one person.

Introverts for Jesus

2010-02-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

I am an extreme introvert so I find such books interesting.

Illustration by Amanda Duffy

BOOK REVIEW
Introverts for Jesus, Unite!
How to get along with the extroverts who populate the Western church.
By Christine A. Scheller

Counterfeit Medications

2010-02-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

Counterfeit drugs is one of my greatest concern when I started practising medicine. How can I be sure that the drugs I prescribed is the real stuff and not sugar water?

This is an interesting article from The Scientist that shares my concern.
The article is written by

Brendan Borrell

The Counterfeiter

The story of how one of pharma’s biggest enemies was nabbed in Houston, Texas

Stone / Getty Images

On May 25, 2007, Kevin Xu logged into his Gmail account and found a startling message from a man who could have been his biggest client.

From an office suite on the 28th floor of the Plaza Royale in Beijing, the baby-faced businessman had gone from selling shark cartilage and penicillin to Chinese hospitals and clinics to cashing in on the high-profit margins of the European and—he hoped—US pharmaceutical markets. Xu kept a list of 29 brand-name drugs he could deliver at cut-rate prices, from the baldness remedy Propecia to lifesavers like the antileukemia drug Gleevec. If it wasn’t on the list, Xu boasted that he could find a way to get it.

Sitting in Seats of Mockers

2010-02-02T01:19:00.000-08:00

Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man, who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers” (NIV).

The first verse of the first Psalm is an interesting sentence. The action words of walk, stand and sit indicates a sort of progression. This will parallel with wicked, sinners, mockers. Often we are able to identify the wicked and sinners readily, sometimes too readily. But mockers? Other bible translation offers scornful (NKJV), and scoffers (NRSV) as an alternative to mockers.

Many of us, as part of our job, have to identify problems in order to correct them. We develop a ‘problem’ sensor in our eyes, noses, and minds. This critical attitude is something necessary if we want to improve the quality of our work and our lives.

Unfortunately, all of us have a tendency to expand the definition of problems to include anything that does not correspond to our way of thinking. Somewhere along the way we become critical of the way others do things, especially if the way they do it is different from the way we would want to or normally do things. Then our tongues became involved and we start to criticize what we perceive is ‘wrong.’ There is nothing wrong with criticism as long as it is warranted and constructive. It is however a thin line between a critic and a mocker.

It is so easy to cross the line from a critic to a mocker, scorner or scoffer. It is so easy to criticize anything without knowing all the facts. There are so many things wrong with the world that there is never a lack of subject to criticize, or to mock. Mocking is criticism from a superior attitude with the aim to derogate or belittle. We look at all the wrongs in our country, our workplace, our churches, and our family and we offer our opinions on how to make things right. Our opinions are often unwarranted, non-constructive and often with a little flavour of ‘speculation’ thrown in to make it sound wise and good. It feels good doing it and sometimes we actually believe it ourselves as being true. We have to be careful that we are not sitting in the seats of mockers.

Mocking, scorning and scoffing are attitudes of the heart. And these attitudes are rooted in wickedness and sinfulness. These attitudes are fueled by our insecurity, jealousy, anger, and fear. We use our mocking, scorning and scoffing to put down others so that we feel more superior. We tear down others so that others can see how superior or better we are. Unfortunately mocking, scorning and scoffing poison our souls, and warp our spiritual formation. It will lead to disdain and bitterness.

Let us guard our hearts from the temptation of mocking, scorning and scoffing because we want to keep our hearts clean as it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23).

Kýrie, eléison.

picture source

J.I.Packer Unpacked

2010-02-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

From Christianity Today online

Packer, Unpacked

Timothy George attempts to interpret the great 'theologizer.'

Reviewed by Christopher A. Castaldo | posted 1/26/2010 09:43AM

J. I. Packer and Evangelical Future: The Impact of His Life and Thought
by Timothy George, Editor
Baker Academic, October 2009
253 pp., $15.99

When historians look back on the life of J. I. Packer, this volume may serve as a useful starting point. An accomplished group of contributors, including Timothy George, Alister McGrath, Chuck Colson, Mark Dever, and the late Richard John Neuhaus, come together in its pages to reflect on Packer's legacy. Their conclusion: the Anglican scholar should be seen fundamentally as a "theologizer," a "latter-day catechist," a Reformed prophet standing in the tradition of Irenaeus, Augustine, Calvin, Baxter, and Owen.

read more

J.I.Packer is one of my favourite Puritan and Reformed theologian and I look forward to reading this book.

Bee Lay, You will be Missed

2010-01-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

Attended a wake last night for a dear sister in Christ who was called to glory on Saturday. The emotional tributes by her children and friends are a stirring reminder of letting Jesus shine through our lives. This is her legacy and I believe this living legacy are more significant than any number of properties and companies. She taught us to invest in people who are eternal rather than temporal things. We gonna miss you, Bee Lay.

ONE DAY AT A TIME

Cristy Lane

Also recorded by:
The Alexander Brothers; Judy Collins; Phil Coulter; Floyd Cramer;
Carlene Davis; Florida Boys; Tennessee Ernie Ford; Foster & Allen;
Bill Gaither; Don Gibson; Arthur Greenslade; Lee Greenwood;
George Hamilton IV; Sharon Hardman.

I'm only human, I'm just a woman.
Help me believe in what I could be
And all that I am.
Show me the stairway, I have to climb.
Lord for my sake, teach me to take
One day at a time.

Chorus:
One day at a time sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking from you.
Just give me the strength
To do everyday what I have to do.
Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine.
Lord help me today, show me the way
One day at a time.

Do you remember, when you walked among men?
Well Jesus you know if you're looking below
It's worse now, than then.
Cheating and stealing, violence and crime
So for my sake, teach me to take
One day at a time.

(Chorus)

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 05

2010-01-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 05 (January 31 to February 6, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
The Content of Scripture
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

The Greatness and Miserableness of Man
An Article
By: Herman Bavinck
Webpage PDF Word

Inability
An Article
By: A. A. Hodge
Webpage PDF Word

The Authority & Power of the Word upon the Heart
An Article
By: J. C. Philpot
Webpage PDF Word

The Iniquity of the Fathers visited Upon Their Children
An Article
By: Edward Payson
Webpage PDF Word

Selected from the Writings of Martin Luther
An Article
By: Martin Luther

The Bondage of the Will
ERASMUS’ SCEPTICISM, Part IV
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word

Henri Nouwen on Unceasing Prayer

2010-01-28T06:07:00.000-08:00

From Unceasing Thinking to Unceasing Prayer

Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream, or dream. There is not a moment during the day or night when we are not thinking. You might say our thinking is "unceasing." Sometimes we wish that we could stop thinking for a while; that would save us from many worries, guilt feelings, and fears. Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain. Do we have to become victims of our unceasing thoughts? No, we can convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuing dialogue with our God, who is the source of all love.

Let's break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds.

Paul Long's Keep in Step

2010-01-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

My blogger friend Pastor Paul Long is back with another installment of his lectio divina with my book. Paul's meditation and 'ramblings' are always insightful and interesting reading. His blog is Paul Long Ramblings. Paul has generously allowed me to repost his post here.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Keep in step (spiritual formation on the run).

It's been a while since I last posted a reflection from Alex's "Spiritual Formation on the Run" ...

For this post I have chosen Chapter 25: Keep in Step.

First, the chapter in blue italics, and followed by my reflections and of course ramblings :-) Please be forewarned about the ramblings! :-)

Look at a herd of sheep. You may be able to get them to move together in one direction, which farmers in Australia use sheep dogs to do. The sheep dogs will herd the sheep, but the sheep will never be able to march in a precise and coordinated manner. They will trip over and run into each other, and make a lot of noise. A herd of sheep does not exhibit teamwork.

An emperor of China decided to see if his people could work together. Were they capable of teamwork? He issued a decree that everybody must eat with four-feet long chopsticks; they were not allowed to eat with their hands. The decree must be obeyed on pain of death. After six months, the emperor wondered how his people were responding to the decree. So he sent out his great captain to see what was happening. In the first village that he visited, the captain saw that the people were starving. They had a lot of food, but were unable to get the food into their mouths with the long chopsticks. The captain visited other villages and encountered the same situation. People were starving and dying, even though there was an abundance of food. One day, he came upon a village that was happy and well fed. He asked the people, "How is it that you are happy and well fed while others in the country are starving?" The villagers smiled and said, "When we first tried to eat with the long chopsticks, we just could not get food into our mouths. One day, we decided to feed each other." That was teamwork.

Teamwork is working together - whether you are feeding each other, or marching together in drill, or doing a project together in school. We need each other. To succeed in any enterprise, we must work as a team.

Even Jesus Christ had a team. His team was made up of 12 men called disciples. He told them, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19).

I remember that I first read the chopsticks story many years ago in Readers Digest (a filler humorous (?) story of a dream). In this version, it was a story about heaven and hell. It was about how the situation in both realms were the same. There was plenty of food but in hell people were selfish, so everyone was miserable and starving. No one was willing to feed the other. In heaven, because people were selfless and caring, everyone was well fed because each would feed the other.

As I reflected afresh on contents of this chapter, and the chopstick story (both versions), a very "unspiritual" thought came to my mind. "What if I were to feed the other person, but when it came to my turn, he refuses to feed me?" It was a hypothetical question of course but the mere fact that I though of that question made me realize how sinful my heart still is. (Although I did try "arguing" with myself that I was just being "realistic" as I have been taken advantage of way too often when I am nice to others.)

It has been an interesting "lectio divina" exercise for me. Upon deeper reflection, I then felt that if I were ever in such a situation, I would do the right thing and not think so selfishly. That was a relief. But then later upon even more further reflection, I thought that I would probably want to come to an agreement first with the "other party" so that it would be clear that "I will first feed you, but I am doing this with the understanding that you will then also feed me." Oops ... my selfishness and insecurity wells up again! :-(

*sigh* Jeremiah 17: 9 comes to mind! "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

Yes, I know some of you might be asking, "Isn't this chapter / meditation about teamwork?" I haven't forgotten ... this is just one of my rambling tangents. I will get to the teamwork part later ... or eventually ... :-)

Anyway ... it was back and forth and back and forth as I tried to examine closer my motives and attitudes, and entered into the old debate of whether human beings are born essentially good or essentially evil. Then it got more complicated as I revisited the problem of many Christians not living the way they know they should ... should not a good tree bear good fruit? And even back to 1990 to my B.Th thesis topic that was part of my wrestling with the then "LORDSHIP SALVATION DEBATE".

Crazy really as earlier this week I watched an episode of FRASIER that I taped. (The sitcom with the psychiatrist brothers, Frasier and Niles Crane) and one of the debates they had (weaved into the storyline) was over their conflicting beliefs. For fans, Frasier held that people are essentially good, while Niles thought otherwise...

Then I had a conversation a couple of days ago during a pastoral visit to a church member in which we discussed (among many other things) a problem she faced where after years of trying to be nice in her approach to getting a solution about a defective service (which has been causing her so much inconvenience and money), she has had to go to court to rectify the problem. Fast disappearing are the days of a person's word being his or her bond. Then it made me think of the few courses I took on Law. Isn't a verbal agreement / contract still considered a binding contract? I think so but then I guess the problem is not the verbal contract but proving that there was such a verbal contract and how one interprets the contract.

So many questions, so many turns. Though in the end all these thoughts gave me a bit of comfort in that I do have a good reputation of being a man of my word. Not sure if I have a final conclusion to my messy thoughts but Romans 7:18-25 sure helps!

18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25 Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Now back to the teamwork part ...

I think about teamwork very often. Stuff like how the many parts of that make up the body of Christ should function, the spiritual gifts Christians have been etc. And I do agree wholeheartedly that to succeed in any enterprise, we must work as a team.

And I like the chopstick story as it made me think of what I think is an oft neglected aspect team work - that of "taking turns to feed and be fed".

Anyway ... as I reflected on aspects of team work, I realised that some of the best experiences has been when other team members cheerfully cover for a team member who is temporarily unable to function due to illness, needing a break etc. It means a lot of extra work for the rest but when the unwell team member gets better and returns, he / she is even more energized and the contribution is amazing. I have noticed that this happens often and in the long run it results in greater team work and stronger relationships. Many examples come to mind.

For example, on our last short term mission trip, one of our members was not well for the first two days. We covered for her and made her rest. We were down one key person and we had to do more work but when she recovered, it was almost as if she was doing the work of two.

Last year, a key ministry person asked for time off (one year) from some of the areas he was doing so well in. It was tough to let him take time off especially since we lost a number of key ministry leaders and active people due to migration. His year off meant a key ministry area would suffer. But some of us felt it was the right thing for him to take time off. This year he is back, re-energized and taking on bigger roles and doing such a greater job!

There are so many more stories like those above! It made me realize too that my "policy" of allowing or even asking people to take time off from ministry and taking over for them temporarily has been the right thing to do.

This year a few people have stepped up to spearhead some ministry projects that I helped start and so have normally taken charge of. They are taking these projects to a new level by their own initiative and it is exciting. And so now the "chopsticks" are in their hands and I am getting some much needed food (and rest) in those areas.... and allowing me to spend more time in other needful areas.

Feed others and you will be fed by them! :-)

Other Paul's reflections

Why the Hulk should be red not green
How expensive is your church?
How heavy is your burden?
Shout to the world
The silence in the noise
Omission and Commission
A Burning Bush

Preaching is Soul on Display

2010-01-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

From Leadership Journal online, a wonderful article by Gordon MacDonald about preaching and spiritual friends.

Soul on Display

Eventually your preaching turns you inside out.

Gordon MacDonald | posted 1/25/2010

He's not well known today, but in his time—the 14th century—John Tauler was the premier preacher in all of Europe. Each time he stood in the pulpit at the Strasburg Cathedral, large crowds gathered anticipating a great sermon. Rarely were they disappointed.

Tauler was described as "a learned and eloquent man [with] a loving and tender heart. He spoke from his heart, not from his head only." Who wouldn't be pleased to be described that way?

Nevertheless, there must have been a time when something—not easily discerned by a crowd—was lacking in the popular preacher. Humility, perhaps? Perhaps there was too much Tauler and too little Jesus in his preaching.

The only person who cared to speak into Tauler's life was a mysterious Christian layman known as Nicholas of Basle who, many years later, would be burned to death in Vienna as a heretic. Apparently Nicholas and Tauler often visited.

James Sire's Naming an Elephant

2010-01-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

James W. Sire (2004) Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept, Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic

James Sire, Christian author and philosopher in this interesting book shares an interesting view of worldview. Aptly titled as naming the elephant, it goes back to the familiar story of three blind men and their perception of an elephant. How will they name the parts of the elephant they felt without knowing the whole animal?

The history of this book goes back to 1976 when Sire published The Universe Next Door where he describes seven types of worldviews. He defines a worldview as

A worldview is a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously or inconsistently) about the basic makeup of our world.

When I first read the book then, I find his definition very cognitive and cerebral. Very chim-lah.

28 years later in this book, Sire offers us his hopefully definitive definition

A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being. (p.122)

I like his new definition better. Sire acknowledges here that knowing is not just a learning a set of presuppositions but also there are other ways of knowing such a learning through the heart by a story. The constructed reality in which we live in is not just cognitive or cerebral but also involves living out our understanding and commitment to it.

In other words, building a worldview is learning , assimilation and commitment to live out the reality that we build. There is a lot of similarities between worldviews and spiritual formation. Spiritual formation also involves learning, assimilating what we learn to build a reality to guide us to live it out in the real world.

.

Ron Choong's Question of Origin

2010-01-25T09:52:00.000-08:00

Ron Choong's new book is available. I have not read it yet so I cannot offer you a review. Ron is the founder-director of ACT (Academy for Christian Thought)

Title: The Question of Origins (Special 3-in-1 Edition)
By: Ron Choong, PhD
Price: RM49.90
Description:
When you read any book with a title such as The Origin of the Universe, or The Origin of Life, or The Origin of Man, you end up with a single conclusion – we have no scientific idea. Cosmogony, biogenesis and anthropogenesis are relatively new fields of research that depend on the findings of many other fields.

On the question of origins, these sub-fields of physics, chemistry and biology all hit their epistemic limits and enter philosophical speculation. While the sciences and philosophy help theological reflection, they cannot themselves be the basis of truth. They function to explain what we can observe: the sciences offer the best explanations drawn from testable hypotheses and philosophy considers coherent possibilities. But theology offers the most comprehensive framework because it is methodologically inclusive and has always been informed by other fields of human inquiry.

Truth corresponds to reality. But we have no cognitive access to its fullness - both natural and non-natural realities - this side of heaven. Theology has two advantages over science and philosophy. It draws from the Word of God and with insights from science and philosophy, achieves an increasingly holistic understanding of reality. As this book explains, this is especially so in the question of origins.

Dr. Ron Choong's new Book is now available for sale online! BUY ONLINE NOW for our exclusive price of RM49.90. (you will be directed to Canaanland website for online payment)

Alternatively, you can buy it from any Canaanland stores, or at MPH 1 Utama (new wing).

Extraordinary Measures - the Movie

2010-01-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

From Summer Johnson on blog.bioethics.net, a review on the movie.

"Extraordinary Messiness"

Hollywood has taken up orphan diseases before--remember "Lorenzo's Oil"? And bioethics movies generally have been increasingly common, even just in the last year. Think "My Sister's Keeper". So why all the fuss about "Extraordinary Measures"?

But maybe its the star power, maybe it's actually that it's a decent movie (although very few have said so except New York Magazine), but Extraordinary Measures is getting a great deal of attention as the father-turned-biotech startup investor-turned underdog against the pharmaceutical industry story has hit the big screen.

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 04

2010-01-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 12, Number 04 (January 24 to January 30, 2010), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
The Inspiration of Scripture
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

Give us Faith So We’ll Be Safe
A Theological and Pastoral Response to the Tragedy in Haiti
By: Michael Milton
Webpage PDF Word

The Fall of Man
An Article
By: J. Gresham Machen
Webpage PDF Word

The Active Obedience of Christ
An Article
By: J. Gresham Machen
Webpage PDF Word

Free Will and Man’s Four-fold State, Part II
An Article
By: Ernest C. Reisinger
Webpage PDF Word

The Guilt and Consequences of Parental Unfaithfulness
An Article
By: Edward Payson
Webpage PDF Word

THE IMPUTATION OF THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST
An Article
By: John Owen
Webpage PDF Word

The Bondage of the Will
ERASMUS’ SCEPTICISM, Part III
By: Martin Luther
Webpage PDF Word