Day 1, God's work begun

A family friend of my dad's is a staunch Buddhist who will not hesitate to tell you what Buddha teaches. I believe so are many people out there.

I am a Christian. I have nothing against Buddha himself, but that is only as far as I will go, to acknowledge a good philosopher.

I used to be an inquisitive teenager like most other teenagers out there. Asking a lot of why and seeking answers. I was brought up in a Christian environment and was taught from the Bible. I had my doubts. I wanted to find out about other religions.

I didn't go too far, because I could never get past the Creation.

Most religions talk about peace and doing good to others, but none, except Christianity strongly teaches about the creation of time and space. After getting past the you-must-do-good-unto-others part of religions, I cannot help but probe deeper as to what makes me 'me'.

Why do others not talk about Creation? Only because they are religions formed from human beings. Buddhists have many gods, so does Hinduism. Gods for the fields, kitchen, earth, finances, health, etc. But none for Creation.

I'm a little more familiar with Buddhism, so I'm going to make some references to it.

Reincarnation. I don't like that idea at all. How tiring can it be to go through life again and again, based on one's good deeds? If I have done enough good, I can choose to be reincarnated to be a better person, perhaps born into a more affluent family. For how long? Does this not discriminate against the poor or sick who are not able to give financially or with their strength?

I chose Christianity eventually, only because I know where I came from. Right from the beginning of the Bible, it says that God created the heavens and the earth. All living and non-living things on earth are of His handiwork.

He made man. And woman. In His image. That's where I came from. Adam and Eve to Noah and his ark, to my parents and now me. The Big Bang theory didn't take root in me. I cannot believe that things can happen by such pure chance. It is already so difficult trying to 'bump into' a neighbour from the same street, how much more impossible it can be to have the universe and living things happen out of chance?

Why is it important to believe what you believe in? For me, it meant a life of hope, of eternity spent with my maker, praising and worshipping Him.

You know, the thought of mankind worshipping another man just do not attract me. It's as good as my descendants worshipping me, a mere mortal, who did nothing, but lived and died.

Or, what about worshipping animals and carvings out of wood or a story figure? I might as well cut out the prettiest-looking Snow White who came back to life after the Prince kissed her. One myth as good as another.

Why would man worship man who could not bring hope to life? Look to the Creator and let Him give hope.

A new church

I don't really know how to upload this video here, but here's the link to watch it.

"Sunday's Coming" video.

May our hearts, soul and mind be filled by the Holy Spirit as we learn to worship Him in truth and in spirit.

Aluminium foil people

Taught Sunday School yesterday and one of the crafts that we were supposed to make was aluminium foil people. We were on the topic of God creating man from dust and breathed life into him. The children were supposed to make their own people creation with aluminium foil. I came up with a sample first and after shaping it here and there, decided on a runner.

These are what the children came up with.. not very clear though..
There's a ballerina, two gymnasts doing splits, a swimmer, someone killing another person, a bodybuilder, a skateboarder, a skiier and some others, I can't remember.

It was a very fun and easy craft to do. With a 30x30cm aluminium foil, cut a slit at the halfway mark at the bottom about 1/3 into the foil. Then, mentally divide the foil into three parts, cut two slits at the top, also 1/3 into the foil. The top 3 portions are for the arms and head. The middle part is the body and the bottom two are for legs. Scrunch them all up and shape it into your desired person action.

Easter and its message of salvation

It's strange how special occasions make people think of certain things a bit more than usual.

Easter is one of those occasions. It's not just rabbits and chocolate eggs, but the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ever since I became a parent, I could relate a bit better to the sacrificial love of God. Well, not totally, because I'm not God, but a step closer to why God would send Jesus Christ to die for us.

At MOPS on Wednesday, we discussed about how we relate to Jesus dying on the cross for us. I shared this email that I read many years ago. I cannot remember who sent it and or if it is a true story or not.

It goes like this : A father and his teenage son invited the son's best friend to a fishing trip out at sea. While at sea, both boys fell into the sea. Unfortunately, the father could only save one child and without hesitating, threw in the life buoy to his son's friend. He watched his son cry for help and drowned. When the friend's parents heard about it, they were also saddened by the death of the son. The father responded that both he and his sons are Christians and will meet again in heaven one day. But this friend hasn't and his son would want the friend to hear the good news of salvation too.

I could feel the father's pain when he had to save his son's friend. To a certain degree, I could feel God the Father's pain when he sent Jesus Christ to earth. To be born a God-man. To be charged, judged and paraded to the cross and nailed to death. For what? To save us, those willing to be Jesus' friends, from sin.

Jesus died. He died a terrible death on the cross. He died, but he didn't stay dead. He was resurrected. He was alive 3 days later. That is the hope that I can have in the Lord that I will be resurrected when He comes again.

The condition is simple. Those willing to be His friends, to receive Him as an infant and His death and resurrection on the cross will receive the gift of salvation. To be able to stand blameless before God and be with Him in heaven for eternity.

What I learnt from "The Blind Side"

Watched "The Blind Side" with hubby two nights ago. To be honest, I hardly ever keep up with movies, let alone English movies. This one caught my attention one day while browsing the internet and it came up as an advertisement somewhere.

Did a search on it and read the synopsis from IMDB. Sounded like a great movie and decided to watch it with hubby.

"The Blind Side" is a true story of Michael Oher, an African-American NFL player in the States whose background was not worth anyone's notice. Somehow he was adopted into a white family by the name of Touhy, was accepted and loved by them and was given the opportunity to realise his talent and potential.

I know nothing about NFL, so when it came to scenes where they were discussing the sport, I almost nearly had to run a dictionary, except hubby was next to me explaining.

What hit me was the start of friendship between SJ and Oher in the film. All SJ did was suggested that Oher smile a bit more and he'd not scare little children away. SJ wasn't afraid of Oher, otherwise known as 'Big Mike'. He took the first step and spoke to him with a smile.

For me, starting a conversation with someone I know is really difficult, but a lot of times, all it takes is that first step of smiling and saying, "Hello, how are you?"

Then there was mum Leigh Ann's motherly instinct that led her to take Big Mike into their house for a night out of the cold. They do not know each other, but she was willing to clothe him, give him food and talk to him. What was it about Jesus telling us to receive those who are not as well off as we are? She did it. And when I thought about that first invitation into the car, then into the house, I couldn't help but admit that I probably would not have done it. Yes, there is the element of doing good to others, of sympathy, but I also worry if my daughter would be safe with a total stranger in the house.

The Touhys aren't big strong looking people, but they didn't seem afraid, nor did they reject Big Mike. There is something about being family to those who need it that can be learnt from here.

I'm sure there were many more lessons to be learnt, but I can only remember this much for now. I'll be working on that first step, that first smile to say hello.

Pre-Easter Thoughts

Two more weeks to Easter. The shops are already filled with chocolates, rabbits, and hot cross buns. Haven't bought any of them and probably will not buy them anytime in the future. If I have it my way.

The reasoning is :
1. I do not eat chocolates.
2. Rabbits and eggs do not go together.
3. The hot cross buns are rarely hot by the time they're eaten.
4. I prefer savoury breads.
5. Everything is doubled in price and not worth it.
6. I take on the Biblical Easter story of Jesus dying for our sins and rose to heaven on the third day.

Sang this song at Sunday School Worship this morning. By Colin Buchanan :
God our Father sent His Son
To die for sinful man.
After three days Jesus Christ
Was raised to life again!
So come to Him confess your sin
And bow before the Lord.
God will honour Jesus' friends
With life forevermore!

Teaching Faith to Children

Had MOPS today. We had a panel discussion on "Teaching Faith to Children". It was a great encouragement to know that good modeling with Biblical teaching guided most mums to Christ.

We all agreed that no matter how much we teach in theory, if we do not do what we teach, or as the saying goes, "Walk the Talk", then chances of children coming to receive Jesus Christ as their personal saviour is slim.

At our discussion tables, we talked about how our parents influenced our faiths and how they did not. Some of us came from Christian families and we had our parents to thank for bringing us up in the Word of God, giving us solid foundation to deal with life's challenges and coming to the realisation that God is so big and great, that He is aware and able of everything and anything.

I remember that when I was in school, there was this popular slogan that says, "Christian - Without CHRIST, I Am Nothing".

It was, to me, a hip thing to say in those days. But, as I grew to know Christ deeper personally, I have also come to appreciate and understand that statement a lot more. And truly, without Christ, I am truly nothing. My life would be absolutely meaningless if not for the hope of eternal life with the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is probably the greatest gift for any Christian parent to see their children grow in the knowledge and grace of God. And I pray too that all my children and yours will also become children of the kingdom of God.

How do you teach faith to your children?