I need God

Been through another "vicious" cycle of work politics again. Petty squabbles at home again.  Money not enough, inflation, job security & stability issue, demotivated, low self-esteem, depressed, angry for the unfairness, etc. Sound familiar? Welcome to the world - a world ruled by the "prince".

Have you ever wondered, when will all these struggling stop? Will there really be a time of calm or do we really need to learn to take time now and then to stop and smell the roses along the highway of mayhem? A word came to my mind, "Be still and know that I am God." That's why I need God in my life. Just awesome. Studying the Word of God is not just for show or by being religious. God's Word is totally relevant to our day-to-day life. By reading it, we accumulate the Word bank in our mind and heart, then when the time comes, it'll just popped out like what happened to me just now. Cheers! 

Worship place or home?

Do you feel rested, peaceful and joyful when you're in your place of worship? Which in my case in church. Or do you feel more rested, more peaceful, and more joyful when you're at home, or golfing, or whatever your favourite hang-out place is?

Why do I ask? Because if the latter applies to you, your place of refuge is not God, your joy & peace is not from God.
But if you're a free-thinker, you might ask why do I want anything from God? Well, if you are in an uncontrollable life and death situation or if you have an incurable disease, who do you go to? What about your life? Where do you get it from? Anyway this is not a place to "convince" you. But if you really "see" what I'm saying, you might want to consider changing your priorities in life.

Do not crucify me for this epiphany of mine that I'm sharing out of goodwill but not of ostentatious virtue.

Reaction in the face of faith-related persecution

Persecute: to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically: to cause to suffer because of belief.

As a Christian, it's a familiar word to us because it's in the Bible. I'm not trying to say that I totally understand how those people who are persecuted because of their faith feels nor do I know what's the solution.

I think to be persecuted doesn't mean that we jump out to the front lines shouting slogans attracting attention and being shot down. To me that's meaningless sacrifice. Since everyone has got a purpose and with different designs in how they react to situations, facing persecution does not necessarily means being gung-ho. Take Paul for example, yes, he was jailed lots of times and eventually was sentenced to death but as long as he was alive, he did more significant things. The church that he planted grew and benefited from his epistles. Did anything was mentioned in the Bible when he died? So, I seriously believe that as long as we don't compromise our faith and as long as there're options or a way out, we can do more significant things rather than fighting & sacrificing unnecessarily.

Joy N Peace

No wisdom is useless. It has been always through somebody's experience that the piece of advice was given, thus it became wisdom. My utmost desire in life is to have joy & peace which eventually made me search for it in the Bible. Just to share bits of it here.

Proverbs 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil; but to the counsellors of peace is joy.
Proverbs 14:10 The heart knoweth its own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.
Proverbs 15:21 Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom; but a man of wisdom walketh uprightly.
Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth; and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!
Proverbs 17:21 He that begetteh a fool doeth it to his sorrow; and a father of a fool hath no joy.
Proverbs 21:15 It is joy to the just to do judgment; but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
Proverbs 23:24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

The reason why I only chose the book of Proverbs is because it is the advisory part of the Bible. To those who have read the Bible would know. Now lets go with peace.

Proverbs 3:1-2, 17 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments. For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace.
Proverbs 12:20 He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour; but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.
Proverbs 16:7 When a man's way please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

Not easy to interpret, but he who understands will have something to add-on to his wisdom-file :)


This is a very nice piece that gives me a peaceful mood everytime I listen to it without fail. Try it Dustin O'Halloran's Runner.

Self-Righteousness

I am a Christian. This word "self-righteousness" have a lot of meaning to me, but mainly negative. It's sad to say that hypocrisy is common amongst religious people. First and foremost I would like to describe my understanding about this "self-righteousness".

Nobody can claim himself or herself righteous except through God. It's because Jesus' sacrifice that we are once again accepted by God and that we can call Him, Abba Father. That all of our sins in the past, present and future are wiped clean before God.
We're all born sinners. Why? Have you ever been so angry at another person that you wished something bad might happen to him or her? Have you ever lust after others that you turn to pornography or paid sex? If you have wealth and power, have you ever thought of misusing it? God is holy. If it's by God's standards, even thinking about doing something bad is a sin. That's why Jesus, as God's only son came to earth to sacrifice himself before God to redeem us back to God. That's the gist of Christianity.

I believe self-righteousness is the core of evil, not money. It's because of self-righteous people who thinks they're in the right that they do what they do irregardless of whatever form of correction or advice from people around them. Eg. Suicide-bombers, Crusade war, Mass-raping in the name of God, etc. 

It's because we're incapable of knowing what is right from wrong, it's because we're incapable of helping ourselves during times of trouble (eg, Cancer, accidents, financial crisis, etc), it's because people will always dissapoint us, that we need God. It's because we're weak that we need a mighty God. Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship with God. If you follow everything from the do's & don'ts, deep inside you're still hollow and susceptible to the vileness of our heart's desires. That's why even the Pope falls into sexual traps. Pious people still succumbs to greed, power, lust, envy, rage, etc. I'm not saying that I'm a "good" person, that's why I need God in my life. A person who becomes a Christian do not become good overnight but unfortunately most people believe this and started living a live of false modesty. They begin to judge others and began to feel that they are the chosen ones to correct the world. NO! It's through how we live our daily lives that influences the others, not our judgement. When we accept Jesus into our lives, transformation begins but definitely not overnight. And from our effort to have a relationship with God, slowly but surely the fruits of goodness will develop in our lives. Then our lives will become a testimony by itself. The Bible has a saying "it's better for you to judge yourself rather than to judge others". So, a note to all the self-righteous out there, examine & judge yourself thoroughly or just accept everybody else as they are. Now may the peace of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us till we meet again. Amen.