Actions speak louder than words

The latest yoga fatwa issued by the National Fatwa Council have caused opposing views to be expressed by various quarters and confusion.

Azmi Sharom in his column 'Brave New World' said, it is quite ludicrous to try to control human private and intangible trait : faith. We can't control what another believes because no fellow human being can truly tell what is going on in the mind of another.
You can control a person's actions but can you control his or her faith ?

So we Christians must be careful in what we indulge ourselves into, may it be yoga, karate, qi gong, meditation, line dancing, karaoke, night-clubbing, tattooing, body piecing, etc. because our action may cause confusion and raises questions among one another. We should check with the Word of God and elders of the church on what is beneficiary to us or not. Whether or faith will be eroded or strenghten ?

1 Corinthians 8 : 9-13 reminded us to - Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

The Bible teaches us to be grounded in His faith through Romans 10 : 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

'Small Dragon' Pau

Last week I took my parents to New World Park [Sin Sei Kai] along Burmah Road for dinner.
Our initial target was Starview Restaurant, but because we forgot to place a reservation, the place were fully booked. [despite the gloomy economic situation !!!]We then proceed to Shanghai Ding House of Dumpling to sample 'shanghai siew lung' pau (small dragon pau), yam cake, guo tie (like japanese gyoza), cong you ping (fried spring onion biscuit), mang guo chun juan (mango spring roll), por lor cha siew pau (pineapple pork meat bun), nai wang chi wei (porcupine bun), kang shi q q fun (hongkong style q q rice), various ramen and rice with pork ribs and vegetables.
Our favourite are 'small dragon' pau where you need to suck up the juice before chewing the pau and the pineapple pork meat bun. The place are cozy and prices are also reasonable.

Special treatment

Mary Schneider wrote in The Star today (24-11-08) that sometimes a parent favours a particular child without realizing it. I believe it can be true, as sometimes we parents just brushed aside the complaint or did not see the imbalance in our affections.

Favouritism, such as extra pocket money, special dishes cooked because he or she liked it are some of the actions of special treatment.

Sometimes, parents also favoured or attracted to one child due to intellect, looks, personality, etc. So parents we should always be careful with our words and actions because our children or the younger generation is always watching us as a living example.

Game draws crowds out

The launch of the much-awaited new extension World of Warcraft in Europe and United States yesterday should awaken we Chrstian from our slumber because our youth may also be drawn into this popular online role-playing game.

Top video game maker Activision Blizzard claimed there are already 11 million players worldwide and I wonder how many are Christians ?

The fantasy online entertainment game is subtly drawing Christian, young and old, away from praying and reading the Word of God.

My son was into this video game few years ago. Initially, he would spent short hours, about 1/2 to 1 hour on the computer daily. After a few weeks, the time spent would increased to 1 to 1.5 hours daily. Despite reminding him about getting addicted to the video games, he always reply that he can control himself. Initially, we took it as just a game or entertainment, slowly, because we try to master the game, we would spent more time and effort to indulge in it. These warcraft games are also into demonic activities because it involves supernatural beings like dwarves, orcs and trolls. Eventually, this 'one-eye monster' will be our idol and our priority in life.

We, parents are always concerned and worried about our children not spending time wisely. After much talking and sharing with other parents in church, we started to pray and ask God for deliverance because we believe this is Satan's ways of drawing youth away from God.

The book of Solomon 2 : 15 reminded us to " Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom". So we Christian young and old alike must always watch what we do daily as Psalm 1 : 1-2 said, "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. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."

Anything goes

An Australian holiday resort will hold a month-long, nude "anything goes" party to combat an expected economic downturn, media reports said on 13 November in Camberra, Australia.

The controversial "clothes optional" resort, made headlines three years ago when police called to end partner-swapping parties after a swathe of public complains. You've got to wonder what sort of people go and why. Where is the moral and code of behaviour of todays ....

As Christians, we should be prepared to resists any temptations to evil. We must hate sin and be so serious about not giving in to its allurements that we are determined to deny our desire to participate in it. 1 Thess 5 : 22 reminded us to "Avoid every kind of evil" while Jesus warned against adultery and lust in Matthew 5 : 27-28.

The book of Jude reminded us of the sin and doom of Godless men. The Bible also says we have a role to play in overcoming evil and doing what is good. We are to "flee sexual immorality" (1 Corinthians 6 : 18-20), "flee from idolatry" (10:14), and "flee also youthful lusts" (2 Timothy 2:22).

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 10 : 1-2

Change

Latest headlines on most newspapers are on the election victory of Senator Barrack Obama, the 1st African-American President. His theme was 'CHANGE'. Likewise, during March 8th, 2008 General Election the opposition parties theme were also 'CHANGE' and they won 5 states out of 13.

The same goes with our Christian walk with Christ. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

So the question we need to be asking ourselves now is whether people notice that we have been reborn (changed). Can anyone tell that there is a positive difference in our lives?

One of the greatest witness we can have as Christians is to leave a positive impression on others.

We need to change to be more Christ-like. If you have no idea how, below are some steps that you can start with:-

We can start reading now, if we have never read the Word of God before; if we seldom pray, then we must set aside time to pray daily.

Are we contented by just being a Christian? If we have being a follower of Christ for many years and your old habits are still prevalent in your daily lifestyles PRAY and ASK God to transform you to be more like Him. When a person accepted Jesus as His Saviour, he is a new creation.....

ONLY WHEN WE ARE CHANGED, CAN WE HELP OTHERS TO CHANGE

Watch Your Eyes

My mum just came back from a surgery to correct her cataract [and thickening of the lens which may lead to glaucoma].

Human being are such that, when we are about to lose something, then we only start to appreciate and treasure it. Likewise, we should remind ourselves never to lose sight on the important of our relationship with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ in our everyday life.

Matthew 6 : 22 said "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light."

The ability to discern between good and evil is determined by the things on which we focus our spiritual eyes. If we set our eyes on money, for example, we may have the good life for a while, but our judgement will become clouded. We'll make choices that defy our own values - choices that may devastate our families and destroy us in the end.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4 : 18