Thursday, November 12, 2009

Halloween Holiday

In one of my recent posts, I talked about Halloween and the party that we had on that day. A reader asked whether if Christians can or should celebrate Halloween. This topic is of course closely link to topics like Harry Porter and Sun’s Music.

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In fact, Christianity Today (A mainstream Evangelical Magazine) also gives it’s views on Harry Porter and Halloween. Focus on the family has an article about it as well.

The issue of Christians and Halloween is a much debated topic in the States, and if you do a search on google, u will find people on both sides of the fence.

With Halloween parties becoming more popular, I think it is good to form an opinion on the matter.

IMHO, I would choose to engage rather than to ignore the holiday. Not engaging the subject is giving the day to fear, and it does not not help that more and more people are getting involved in such parties.IMG_8398

halloween collage Non engagement is not helping anybody, as we are told to win the lost, and not ignore them.

Halloween does have it origins with the occult and it has to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition.

In the fourth century, Christians attempted to redeem the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. That is why the day is also called “All Souls Day”, with some members of the Catholic Faith going to the cemetary to pay their respect to the dead. IMG_8744

This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences.

IMG_8736 Personally, I think the parties are fine, as I don’t think our parties involve any worship to any pagan God or and child sacrifices. In fact, all we have is music, party and games. In fact, we met a lot of new people for the 1st time. Some of our friends from the Czech Republic even thought that the event was professionally organized! :)

IMG_8515 I feel that we are supposed to  "become all things to all men so that by all possible means" we might save some? (1 Cor. 9:22)

Christians should not respond to Halloween like superstitious non-christians. Non Christians are superstitious and are afraid of black cats, walking under ladders. They need to chase away “nian” at Chinese New Year and wear Red for auspicious good luck! 

IMG_8777 Christians are enlightened by the truth of God's Word. We are not bound by superstition. Evil spirits are no more active and sinister on Halloween than they are on any other day of the year; in fact, any day is a good day for Satan to prowl about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).

IMG_8985 But "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). God has forever "disarmed principalities and powers" through the cross Christ and "made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them through [Christ]" (Colossians 2:15).

Christians have the freedom to either observe Halloween or not do so without fear of sinning. However, no one should be forced to participate who still believes that doing so is wrong - this would be sinning against one's conscience: Romans 14:14 -- "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." (see Romans 14:22-23; see also Romans 14:3a, 5-6).

IMG_8806 On the flip side, the Christian who abstains from Halloween for conscience' sake, should not condemn the Christian who chooses to participate. For the Scripture says, "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ" (see Romans 14:3b, 5-6).

Essentially, we should withhold judgment and  be able to live peacefully with each other, and choose to agree or disagree when it comes to issues that are debatable. 

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I for one, am focused on the partying aspects and on meeting new people!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Your View on Masturbation?!?

If you are looking for a Christian discussion on Masturbation…Yes..I said Masturbation!

Then, check out Ps. Kong Hee’s blog, as he discusses the topic!

It amazes me how Pastor is not afraid to discuss controversial topics like Masturbation, and yet write boldly about it on the Internet! (Strong Admiration for the mind of God :P)

It has really educated me about the topic as well…as I discovered that the bible has been inconclusive about the actual act, and Pastor’s deliberate attempt to end the post abruptly shows us that:

choices

He wants us to decide for ourselves, and that there are dangers about the act! 

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Giving and Prospering in God

Besides the upcoming Asia Conference in Nov, all the church members are facing a very important event next week.

The first week of Nov is our Building Fund Pledging Weekend.

It is going to be a weekend of great sacrifice for our members, as everyone of us will be aiming to bring our best to the house of God - to build God a church in the marketplace, for the marketplace.

Everyone remembers Building Fund season...the songs...the lifting up of envelopes...the tears....I am sure that many of us can relate.

I guess more so, during this time of economic crisis....

Yes..my friends...Christians are not immune to the economic crisis and definitely not immune to trials and tribulations.

But the Good news is this:

As we are faithful to the promises of God, and as we keep on walking in obedience:

We can expect to reap what we have sowed.

As we obey God, we can expect to prosper in God!

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In fact, this Prosperity is not limited to our finances. But it applies to all areas of our life: spiritual, physical, emotional and material.

Some people cannot understand why God wants us to prosper. Here are reasons on why God wants you to prosper:

1. God wants us to prosper, so that we be a blessing to others (Deut. 8:18)
If we are in lack, we can't help the poor or the needy. As we prosper in our jobs due to our continual obedience, we can be a bigger blessing to our community and to the ministries that we are involved in.

As we prosper, It is also our duty to be financially responsible for what God gives us.

This leads us to point 2:

2. Prosperity is not an end in itself, but the result of a life dedicated to service to God.

As God blesses us, we must always remember what God teaches us: that "to whom much is given, much will be demanded" (Luke 12:48).

As we prosper, we are expected to keep on sowing!

3 John 2

2Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

It's clear that God wishes that his children prosper. When we live a life of devotion, dedication and action that corresponds with the Word of God, we will prosper.

Furthermore, the verse does not speak about  a momentary or passing phenomenon, but rather a CONTINUAL and PROGRESSIVE state of good success! This comes through continual obedience!!!

Of course, breakthroughs involve times of trials and tribulations. But I am very confident that through our continual obedience, we will end up on top of any economic situation - in our families and & in our lives!

As I have served God, I have never experienced a day of lack. So during this time of sacrifice and giving, I am looking forward to a time of even greater breakthroughs in my life.

Building Fund?!?

Here we come!!!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Theology - Gnosticism 2

Some readers have been asking me for a final installment to Gnosticism.  So after some research, here are some things I uncovered about this heresy.

  • Firstly, they do not believe that God created this world. This is because there are evil and imperfections in this world. Therefore,  a perfect God could not have created it.
  • The ultimate being in the whole universe is called "the One" - who is a perfect being.
  • World was instead created by the Demiurge (A by-product of the entity called the One. This process is creation is called to emanate - where the next being is not as pure as the first)
  • The world is therefore created by the Demiurge where everything material (objects and things we can see) is bad, and everything spiritual is good.

As this theory originated from Greek philosophers such as Plato, there is a bit more mumbo-jumbo to the next part.

The Demiurge then decides to create another being (Remember: this process is called emanation) He wants to do this as he wants to imitate his creator. 

He steals the power to create from his mum Sophia, and as a result, Sophia's power (Which is more powerful and a higher form) is trapped in material man.

The Goal of Gnosticism is therefore thru "Secret Knowledge" release this spark within us & return ourselves back to the higher form.

In today's context, I think the theory is a bit far fetched, especially with the decline of people reading & being schooled in the teachings of Plato.

It was probably interesting to the intellectuals, as it offered an interesting alternative to Christianity (Kind of like Evolution today)

It also made the intellectuals feel superior to the common people, as they had more "secret knowledge".

Well, I hope you guys are still there after that long elaboration....

Here's a video to keep you entertained, if historical theology is not your cup of tea.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Theology - the Gnostics

Decided to blog about something different today.

Currently, I am doing research on my theology paper, and as a result, I decided to write something about it (It also helps me to think through about what I have learnt!).

Christian theology started only after the the first apostles who walked with Jesus died.

As these apostles actually walked with Jesus and dined with Him, their remembrances of Jesus' teaching and deeds were sufficient for the everyday discipleship of the church.

Hey! You won't argue with Simon Peter, when he actually knew the person Jesus?

When they died, the next generation of disciples had to think and  reflect upon Jesus' and the apostles' teachings on their own. As a result, theology was born!

After the death of the first apostles, deviant and wrong theologies also began to develop.

The 1st group of people were the Gnostics.

In Summary - The Gnostics believed that they were a special breed of people who knew more than the local bishops. They believed that they possessed a SPECIAL SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE that no one else had.

They also believed that Jesus is only a messenger who is sent from an unknown God to release our spiritual beings.

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They are considered a heresy, as they do not believe that Jesus is the son of God. Furthermore, their belief about God the father is vastly different from us. The Father God which they "know", is far too holy and superior to be bothered with us.

It is interesting to note that heresies (wrong teachings) that have evolved through the ages, mainly deal with the following questions: 1. Who is the man Jesus?

2. Is Jesus God?

3. Did Jesus really exist?

4. What is Jesus like?

Kind of a natural development don't you think, considering our whole faith is based on Jesus' death and resurrection.

In fact, differences like this eventually led to the spilt in the church...which is another big topic...

Ok, better sign off, before this post gets too boring...

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