christ_knight

Have you thought about dying before?

Where would we go when we die?

Would we go through a dark tunnel and then see Light at the end of the tunnel?

Or would we suddenly be engulfed in flames in seconds, in pain and suffering, only to find ourselves being burnt and burnt again and again in hell?

Or would we find ourselves in a place where there is peace, goodness, without suffering, without pain and tears?

Would we suddenly be filled with regrets at the moment we die, because we had done a lot of wrong things when we were alive?

Or would we suddenly be filled with joy because we know we are going to meet our Saviour, Jesus Christ in heaven?

THE BIBLE tells us some things about death:

Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (and God will judge us).

Acts 15:11
But we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved (into heaven), even as they.

There is a limit to what people can tell us what to do, because God gave us brains!

God wants us to think for ourselves.

If you are always following, listening to people, abiding to what people want YOU TO BE, then what is your brain for?

Then how original are you? Are you just a product of someone else's dreams? Are you just a product of someone else's expectations?

Then why did God spend that extra effort to create your brain?

Some things in life, NO ONE, absolutely no one, can tell you what to do.

Trust me on that.

Some fishes will never be caught.

christ_knight

• “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

This quote by Mark Twain does not only apply to traveling. It applies to our lives. God only gave us ONE LIFE. He gave us courage, He gave us passion.

Are we to always fear and wonder whether what we do is "correct"? Don't get me wrong. Read on and stop being biased!

Maybe God had wanted us to do somethings all our lives, to discover His beauty and majesty.

Maybe God had wanted us to do something we always thought was "wrong". God is too big for us to conclude quickly.

Well, but you can also continue to fear and wonder whether this thing is "good" or that thing is "correct" your whole life, and only realise that 50 years have passed, and we still have not done what we would have loved to do always. As for me, I am ready to discover His glory and beauty!

• "The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” - St Augustine

How sad it would be if I had this wonderful story book and I have only read a page of it! Just because I was too busy. Just because I had other things that came and distracted me.

Just because I failed to hear God say, "Go".

Imagine you were going to watch "THE DARK KNIGHT" or any other great movies you would wish to watch. The movie had barely begun and your friend tells you to leave. Would you leave and waste your money and time? Would you only read one page of your life?

Your life was meant to be more than this. Your life was meant to be more than WHAT YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE, because God made us and lavished upon us what He desired, of course with caution and discipline.

But do not let our paranoia get in the way of what God created for us for good!

• “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” - Mark Twain

How true is this quote by St Augustine. We might think about Americans as proud and as a nation of freedom.

We might think of India as dirty, backward and no beauty to offer. We might think that Malaysia is full of bell-bottoms "Ah Bengs". We might think that Iran is nothing but a terror country with fanatical muslims. We might be prejudiced and look at Russia as a land of mafia, guns and violence. We might even think Thailand has nothing to offer but only shopping and shopping.

But until we get our precious feet there, we only know the distorted little we know.
Its not just about traveling.

Having prejudices and narrow-mindness in our lives sometimes assure ourselves wrongly that we are more superior than others, when in fact, we are nothing but a sinner like anyone else.

Do we elevate ourselves when we are prejudiced and narrow-minded? Yes. We might be prejudiced against someone, against a situation, against a kind of dressing, a kind of look, a kind of culture, against a race, against a religion, against an idea etc.

So open up your eyes today and get down there to look and see. It might not be what you think it is! See what is really happening! In everything, don't assume with your prejudices and distorted views!


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A Prayer

Oh Lord, let us truely see through Your eyes about our lives, about the beautiful things You created in this whole universe. Remove whatver that causes us to see what ONLY we want to see, and henceforth to be trapped in a little well of ours.

God You are big, and You can remove our biasness, narrow-mindedness and prejudices.

If You created the world for us to rule over and the stars for us to marvel, if You created wisdom and therefore technology, if You created the greatest vineyards and wines, if You created CREATIVITY in building architecture, if You created love and passion, if You created rock music and lights and sounds and stage, who are we to say that what You created is evil and worthless? If You created EVERYTHING, my Lord, then should we think carefully and before we say that this or that thing is discouraged, evil and not godly?

My only cry to You is that we do not abuse what You created and that we do not speak evil of what You meant for good!

And Lord, if You created diversity, that has caused our world to be exceedingly beautiful, rich and wonderful, who are we to make all things uniform and cause all things and all men to conform to what we want?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"And Jesus said unto them ... , "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to younder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."Romans 1:17

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge..." Hosea 4:6

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Psalm 96:11-12

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. Psalm 104:14-21

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear ... "1 John 4:18

"Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged."1 Chronicles 22:13

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."Proverbs 3:5-6

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?"Isaiah 40:12

"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to your life's span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these."Matthew 6:26-29


+++++++++++++++++

My Lord, thank You. Jesus when You were on earth, You shook the earth, physically, spiritually and mentally.

You did things that were considered "out of the norm" in that patriachial, narrow-minded society. You approached women without qualms, You healed people on Sabbath, You told people things that "should have never" been heard. You showed us radical love and passion. You showed us what is passion.

You did things that incur's men's anger and that they would say things like, "God forbid!" and "You crazy fellow".

Now let me not water down Your love for God and all that He is. Let me not just stick to a systematic view of things in my life.

Let me see through Your eyes, Your everlasting Kingdom and Your beautiful creation.

Today, if someone tells me, "You should not be doing that!", I will look to You first, just as how You look to The Father in the face of criticisms and ridicules!

christ_knight

http://www.allthroughtime.blogspot.com

New blog. Still changing, still adding.

Blogspot is just amazing.. I mean I have been using tabulas for up to 4 to 5 years...and tabulas is not able to upload song properly..

So I guess...haha

christ_knight

http://www.frenszone.com/?idAff=18401 Join today. Its like friendster.

christ_knight

In alot of ways, I think my christian cousin is a great exemplary for other christians.

I am always amazed at how I, a christian who speaks in tongues, can pray, talk about God with a christian (my cousin) who does not speak in tongues.

I hold my cousin in high regard because, though she does not speak in tongues, she displays love, and she displays the goodness of Christ.

For the Bible is true about this,

1 Corinthians 13

Love

 1If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Though she does not speak in tongues (which is contrary to what I believe), she has love. She has love for my family members who are christians and non-christians. She displays the characteristics of love (being patient, kind, not boasting and envying, not proud, not easily angered etc).

And now these 3 remain : faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I always believe that as a christian, I can do many things, and profess many things, and behave in a right way, but if I have no genuine love for people, then I am nothing but an empty shell.

My cousin, in this aspect, is far more Christ-like, than many christians who speak in tongues and yet not show love.

For God is the perfect expression of Love, and in essence, God is Love.

John 4:16b - God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

We who love God, must love His people too. Yes, even those who are unlovable.

christ_knight

I realise most Singaporeans have this mentality : When troubles come, "SIAM", in other words meaning, "When troubles or inconveniece come, get out of the way, and not do anything to help.

Sometimes, when we are on the bus and we see an old woman boarding the bus, we pretend to be asleep. We sleep, and we do not care about her need and we give ourselves a whole load of excuses of not giving up the seat.

I talked to a number of my friends who are Singaporeans about fighting for Singapore in the context of a war or conflicts with neighbouring countries. They told me they would run away, and not fight, because a fight is not worthy of their time, money and lives. It was more about themselves, than the nation.

I have seen an old man collapsed on the bus due to heat and exhaustion. All the passengers in the bus could do was to watch, or pretend not to see, and do nothing or just talk about it. I went up and help, and shouted for someone to help too. It was just a basic compassion moment, I thought.

The problem is, in any case of a need for public assistance, and if I do step up to help, I know there will be some people at the back of the bus or crowd, muttering, and criticising what I am doing.

"Oh, why is that young lad so kaypo?"

"Oh what does he think he is trying to do...act kind and concerned?", some will mock.

"Can't he just leave it to the bus driver??"

"Can't this guy just leave it to the people that are coming?"

"He's blocking the way of alighting passengers by helping the guy and creating a commotion!"

These people are typical self-centred Singaporeans - Watch and do nothing when a need arises. And when its too inconvenient or deemed too dangerous for them to help, they will pretend not to see, and prevent others from helping by discouraging and muttering under their breaths so as to hide their own selfishness. They will back down.

At the end of the day, Singaporeans as a nation did grow up with the mentality of "Big Brother is watching, and he will take care of everything."

christ_knight

The night when my grandma passed away, my mom, my brother, sister and I rushed down to her house to gather with the rest of the family.

Along the way, I could hear my mom sniffing at the back of the cab.

When we reached the house, the atmosphere was solemn, and everyone looked sad. As we approached the bedroom, fear gripped my heart. You know, its the kind of feeling when you approach a lifeless body, no matter how close you were with the person. 

There on the bed, was my grandma, motionless, but looking as if she passed away peacefully. Soon word reached us that she passed away while being fed, because her heart failed her.

Hours passed, and as my relatives started making the necessary arrangements, my cousin, who brought me to Christ, called her pastor to come to the house.

When her pastor arrived, my cousin gathered the christians in the family first and then all my relatives, big, small, young, old in my grandma's bedroom.

I knew what she was going to do. She was about to give a testimony of how my grandma actually received Christ into her life months before she passed away.

And as she went on about how grandma would pray with her, and how she received Christ, and confessed Jesus, and how she herself told my grandma about the Book of Life, I was really encouraged.

I was encouraged by her courage. I was encouraged by her faith, and I admired her love for my grandma and for Jesus our Lord. As she spoke, our relatives who are strong Taoist uncles and aunties, devoted Buddhist cousins and aunties stood there in the room and listened to her intently.

I knew at that point of time, that strongholds were being broken, that light was shed in darkness, and that the seed of the gospel was planted. What was amazing was that, she went on to share about how Jesus died on the cross for all of us, and how if we believed in Jesus, that we would see grandma in heaven again.

Such valour, such faith. To stand in front of a group of christians to preach is already challenging, much more a group of taoist and buddhist relatives. After she shared the testimony, her pastor led all, ALL of our relatives in prayer.

Though we tried to ask for a christian funeral because of my grandma's confession but was rejected, we (the christians in the family), know that grandma is already in heaven. We also know, that God will be the One who will save our family.

He saved my grandma, He will save the rest of my relatives too.

As for my cousin, I really thank God for her.