Misconceptions about Christians and Their Faith

From the Jul 15, 2005 post ...

Yesterday, we had a great time in our young adults cell tackling the topic, "Misconceptions about Christians and Their Faith".

It all started on Monday [4th July 2005] when I sent out this invitation,

“…

We are tackling “Misconceptions About Christians and Their Faith” this Thursday at Sea Heng’s place.

So If you have heard any questions, any question at all, (just make sure it’s from your heart hehehe), no matter how outrageous and totally out of this world, bring it to the forum this Thurday. If you have your personal answer/biblical view to answers the question, by all means share it! Encourage your friends to drop by for the visit. 
…

Here are some that I can think of my head now just for you all to have a 'feel' of it.

1. Christians tends to be so pushy and tends to force down their 'religion' down ppl's throat with out being sensitive.
2. Christians are so ... into their "Only one true God" and all are condemned! What makes you think you are so so right?
3. Why Christians drink Jesus's blood one ah ... eeek.. so geli.
4. Denominations?
5. Isn't Catholics Christians?
6. Is the Holy Water so 'powderful' one ah? Like in Constantine?

As you can see, hopefully I managed to demonstrate, it can be any whacky misconception you have came across!”

As a follow-up to the invitation, I later sent out two mails to the rest of more 'senior' young adults cell member to give a feel of where I stand in the midst of all these and the objectives of discussion:-

 
"The objective is to have the member to feel open to ask any questions they have in mind. Not to be shy and be troubled by it, that may even hinders one’s spiritual growth and rather having hear the ‘answers’ else where."

AND

"The bottom line will not be answering the question it self
But cultivate a open discussion and interest
Sure . .it might end up with more questions …
But at least they will feel .. ‘I am not alone’ …"

This topic came up because I personally feel there are a lot of misconceptions by the non-Christian community in general and even some in the Christian community itself especially with the explosion of information through Hollywood and the Web. It was an attempt to recognize and to acknowledge the problem that we are facing today with all these ‘false messages’ rather than ignoring and ‘sweeping it under the carpet’. I am being asked some of these questions occasionally when I am sharing Christ. These are real questions and not question to provoke our faith or to attack and ridicule what we believe in. It was to encourage fellow cell member to express their doubts and open a platform for them to voice out or to cry out even.

Then in order to gather more misconception to share with the rest of my cell members and to facilitate the discussion I posted a request in of ex-CF members with this offer.

“If you have heard any question directed by Non-Christians or even Christians themselves no matter how outrageous and totally out of this world you have come across, appreciate it if you can share. If you have your personal answer/biblical view to answers the question, by all means share it! Here are some that I can think of my head now just for you all to have a 'feel' of it.
…
[the six by now infamous questions :D]
…
… hopefully I managed to demonstrate, it can be any whacky misconception you have came across!”

And it stirred up a great discussion there. Which to a point I felt oblige to post this to the group: -

“… I glad that this has paved way for a healthy discussion. Had a great response from some of you that actually increased my pool of misconceptions, thank you to all that contributed. Frankly, I don’t mind being put in the line of fire in attempt to stir up interest, but I think I some time exercise extra caution and have some damage control mechanism in place just in case things get out of proportion.

Quoting [erased out intentionally]:
Apologies if I'm wrong
in interpreting what Goofy said.

The fact is email is not the best mean of human communication; it comes after voice and full contact view. Just like reading a book versus watching a movie, it leaves the reading far too much room for his or her own imaginations and interpretations … heheheh…

Things can be misrepresent, for example, the emotions that we have at the moment of writing the email are not captured in the email it self (that’s why we have emoticons!) so some times a serious note can sound funny or vice versa. There is also a danger of taking statements out of context without following the email chain. (I know it’s been a long chain!) But let’s constantly remind ourselves how ‘powderful’ our tongues or in this case fingers can be. …”

I believe a lot of us are in middle of our spiritual journey, for me personally I have just began mine, and there are a lot of questions that we seek to have answers which we may never find it in our time on this earth. So let’s take all the opportunities to, instead looking down, condemning each other but take this time to nurture, to help, to encourage one another as we will continue this fellowship when are reunited again in the presence of our Lord.

Just exercise extra cautious and be tactful and of course be ready listen to others’ view point also letting everyone have the chance to say their piece, as long the discussion is under controlled and I am sure we are all ‘mature’ enough for this J

Now enough talk, let’s get back to the discussion holding on to the words in 1 John 4:1-3.

¹Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

1 John 4:1-3 (New International Version)

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Of Squares, Preps, Skater Punks, Goths, Techno-Ravers and the Tattooed Kids with Colored Hair

From the Jul 15, 2005 post ...

I caught this song 'Gift of Cool' by 'Rock ‘n’ Roll Worship Circus' song today on K-Live, and was attracted by they blend of fresh music. I went over to google for the song, just like wat i always do to look for the song that I never heard of. K-Live was playing the song but I did not catch the song title. Then I googled part of the lyrics that I could make out [lyrics "we will run and never stop" "taking everything we are" "praising him forever"] and was lead to this article.

Tears rolled down my cheek as I continue to read on how the Lord have shown Himself to the group which people in general will call the 'difficult' types, the "squares, preps, and skater punks, Goths and techno-ravers and the tattooed kids with colored hair" youth. Then it continue to share about how this youth came to know the Lord and how the Lord let them out of drugs and pornography. And how the Lord uses this bunch of talented youth to instead channel it to secular things but for His Glory!

It reminded me on how much the youth nowadays needs the Lord and how much He cares for each one of them and how He wants to reach out to them.

My prayer is that this small article will be an encouragement to all and youth workers specifically to continue to reach out to those individual eventhough some times the tendency to label them creeps in.

Jesus never gave up on them, why should we?

Worship Circus Recounts When God's Love 'Landed in Our Town'
Kelli Cottrell
Baptist Press

LONGVIEW, Wash. — "I remember the day when the love of God landed in our town / He took all the silent and broken hearts, fixed them up and gave them a sound / You had almost every different kind of kid from every different kind of social background / Taking all the cool they had and praising God, as He spun them around / When God came to town."

The lyrics by Gabriel Wilson, lead singer of a Christian band named the 'Rock 'N' Roll Worship Circus," recount a time when the Holy Spirit swept into the lives of teens in his hometown of Longview, Wash.

While doing a sound check prior to a performance in Las Vegas, Wilson began talking out loud to the band: "Remember back in the day ... when God came to town...." Although the song – 'Gift of Cool" – was birthed in a matter of minutes, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter said it had been 'brewing in me for awhile."

Justin Rossetti, then a teen in high school, was one of many teens who lived the lyrics of the song, which is part of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Worship Circus’ latest CD, "A Beautiful Glow."

"I was brought up Catholic but when I turned 16 years old I wanted to be extreme," Rossetti, a local Starbucks employee, said. He tried hardcore drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine and crystal meth before he started 'mixing combos."

Sporting 'messy hair" and a T-shirt, he also hung out at 'rave parties" where teens used drugs while listening to punk bands.

Meanwhile, a small group of area youth pastors, in praying for their youth, began to catch a vision for holding their own version of "raves" two to three times a month.

"We used our worship raves as an option for the teens to come to," said Greg Sanders, who served as youth pastor at Abundant Life Apostolic Church in Olympia, Wash., and is currently a worship leader in Colorado.

"We [the youth pastors] decided we needed to get outside our walls and we wanted to make a genuine impact on our youth.... We loved on those kids ... some guys came stoned out of their mind ... some had pink mohawks. But the churched youth would love on them. The [Gift of Cool] talks about the so-called freaks who got saved ... [as they] started to fall in love with the Lord."

'... And the people in our churches," Wilson’s lyrics recount, 'they were constantly amazed at the kids kneeling at the altar with their different fashion flavors / You had squares, preps, and skater punks, Goths and techno-ravers and the tattooed kids with colored hair / And they were all getting saved."

"God was doing something really unique," said Sanders, who saw the lives of a couple hundred teens change. "A lot of lines were crossed." At the worship raves, football players, cheerleaders and golfers stood worshiping God in song next to punk rockers and graffiti artists.

"It brought tears to my eyes," said Todd Anderson, youth pastor at Longview’s Shekinah Christian Fellowship. "They didn't care what their friends thought of them."

Rossetti's curiosity and love of raves prompted him to attend one of the worship raves in February 2000.

"One night my friends invited me to go to hear the Rock N Roll Worship Circus with one of the best headliner punk bands, so I went," said Rossetti, now 22. "There were tons of people my age that I had seen around town. Then the Worship Circus got up and prayed and started [singing] worship songs and everyone was raising their hands ... something inside me broke open."

A few days later, Rossetti met with a friend from school who asked if he was saved.

"She put it so simply. If I believed there was a God and He forgave me of my sins, I should ask Him to be in charge of my life," he said.

That night, Rossetti asked God to make Himself real as he went to bed.

"If Jesus was real, I wanted to believe in Him," Rossetti said. "I asked Him to show Himself to me. I told Him I wanted to believe in Him but I didn't. I asked Him to forgive me of my sins and wash me clean. I asked Him to come into my heart."

Rossetti’s prayer was answered. As if on a film projector, he could see his life crashing before him with smoke and fire. "I was freaked out," but then he heard a calming voice speak the words of John 1:1, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me."

The next day Rossetti met with Sanders at Starbucks. After asking a number of questions, he gave his life to Christ wholeheartedly.

"I went home and threw away all the drugs and alcohol in my room," Rossetti said. "I threw away a stack of pornography and from then on served God."

'... Suddenly almost every kid in town had finally / Found the way to take all the gifts and talents and beauty they had and worship God every day," Wilson wrote. 'Man, you had all the high school parties, and / They were turning into worship raves / And the sounds of the underground in town had turned into praise."

With the term "gift of cool," Wilson said he means any type of influence a teen has, whether he or she is a skater, punk rocker or a golfer. 'It was amazing to see that all these different stereotypes were using their gift of cool to influence their peers to worship" and 'to bring others to Christ."

Popular kids also were among those getting saved, he said. 'The very best musicians in the town were getting saved, and going to a drinking party was uncool.... [The] raves were packed with worshiping teens."

"It was exciting, but scary," said Anderson, who experienced the revival in his 50-member youth group. "We have an amazing talent pool in our small town and all of a sudden all the kids who wanted to be rock stars now wanted to be worship leaders. They came crying to the altar. All of a sudden Jesus was the ‘cool’ thing."

'... You think the 60’s had good vibrations? / Well, check out my generation," Wilson wrote in leading into a chorus. 'We will run and never stop / Yeah, we all will stand together / Taking everything we are / And then praising Him forever / Well, anyone and everyone, come and join us for a good time / We are breaking all the rules by praising God / With your Gift of Cool ... / When your people sing, all of heaven sings ... So sing! Is that cool?"

On their CD, the group describes the song as 'Inspired by a move of God in our hometown of Longview, Wash. Lord, please use this song to encourage people of all ages to take their gifts and use them for the glory of Your name."

Wilson said he hopes to begin a mentoring program with area youth pastors to help raise up the next generation of worship leaders in Longview, a town of 35,000 people.

"The talent pool here is scary," Wilson said. "We hope to meet with potential worship leaders once a month and mentor them. We don't want to be selfish about the talents God has given us."

In addition to Wilson, the band, which records for INO Records/Epic Records, includes Wilson's wife, Blurr, who plays keyboard; drummer Zurn Praxair; and guitarist Eric Lemeire, nicknamed "E." They are currently on a national tour with Delirious.

[source]

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Do not be boastful that you have been saved

From the May 26, 2005 post ...

do not be boastful that you have been saved
it is by His grace that we are saved
it was He who have chosen us when we are unworthy and undeservingly
we are still and will continue to sin in this world as we are not perfect

so lets not live a life that is boastful that as though we deserve such grace more than others
but instead live a life of humility and full of humbleness that we are the unworthy recipients of His amazing grace
so that others will be able to see the Grace of God through us
and not be shun away or put off by our boastfulness/stackupness and i-don't-care-about-you-cause-i'm-saved attitude


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Lord Heavenly Father,


We want to thank you for Your grace that you have showered upon us.

You sent Your Son from His Heavenly Kingdom to die on the cross bearing all our shame, an action that we truly do not deserved.
Lord, we pray that you guard our hearts, speech and action that we may live a life that is in full humility and open up our eyes to see that there are still some many yet to know you. Let us not be boastful, instead be gracious to share the love that you have showered us. Let us be as gracious as you and not holding on to Your grace to ourselves.

Lord, use us.

In Your Son Jesus Christ most precious name.

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Lord, I am surrendering all these to Thee!

From the Aug 17, 2005 post ...

I have been contemplating a lot on posting this on this blog and i mean contemplating ALOT. It took me a long while to post the original comment.

It all started when I 'bumped' into Irene's few days ago.

It was one on her personal spiritual struggle with God against our own human fleshly desires, or in her own categorization "Sexual temptation". Well, before you start to categorize her, this is just a small category of her vast creative writings and posts and i really mean vast! And even a page dedicated to purity. Hey, check her out yourself will ya.

I was particularly drawn to these post, as I consider my own walk and pondering on how our generation and the younger owns deal with it. It was in a way a revelation, to hear it from HER side, but also and encouragement to see how faithful He is.

1. Porn is okay?!
   
2. It's not just a male issue
   
3. Don't know where it'll end

I must forewarn though, that her post are very frank and could be too revealing to some ...

I must forewarn though, that her post are very frank and could be too revealing to some, can I will personally suggest that you read it with a open mind, and of course exercise your maturity in discerning the information

As for how you define mature is up to you, considering the kind of information the internet and media that is accessible to the younger generations now, I can't draw the line. To me, maturity come when you have your set of values and you are ready to see how others think and how strong you hold to yours.

It's not just about the content of the posts, but comments where other Christians come together in Christ's love to support, was a real great encouragement to me.

Irene's frank disclosure and sharings, encouraged me to share my own experiences and struggles.
I have meant to set up this blog to share my personal struggle in Him, but time and time again, more often than not, I found myself refraining (chicken out if you must) from revealing too much.
I always wanted this blog to be as transparent as possible. Not just another holier-than-thou blog, that tells you what to do and try to force a view unto you, for a frank blog which hopefully and ultimately demonstrate His Love and Grace.

I am sure (sadly), in our personal walk, we stumble and He will lift us up again.
I am taking this opportunity to share especially to my precious youths.
I want them to know that they are not alone in their struggles. Even adults and their 'leaders' struggle with it.
But He always provides us with a way out. We just need to latch on to His hands into His caring embrace.

As we continue to strive to be pure before God, and letting ourselves put through the refining fire of God's furnace, let's not stop encouraging one another and hold one another accountable. In Him shall we draw our strengths.

kuancheen|munich

Here is my original comment as a response to her post on "Porn is okay?!".



"Hi Irene,

Hope that things are better for you now.
Saw a few newer post that you are begin to find more strength in Him. Will continue to keep you in prayers.

I 'bumped' into you blog, when I was browsing though sno's (hmmm... kinda weird to call her that but sweet at the same time :P). Then jumped to Leo Koo's (most of the time, i jump from blog to blog ... i dun even know who they are ... i just get lost!) and landed on his post on "The M issue", and finally to this.

It really have been inspiring ... your sharing and stuffs, think this could be an avenue for us to come to get to support one another, to encourage one another through our walk with Him.

Had the privilege and time to read your other posts, "It's not just a male issue" and "Don't know where it'll end", and can't describe how much I can relate to it.

I admire the frank nature of your post, always been looking for other in Christ that will share their walk openly and transparently.
That was one of the reason I started blogging. Although you may admit, I need more courage.
Which reminds me our call to bring our sins into the Light of God as sins only thrive in darkness.

I have been wrestling with myself and Him on what I am about to share. There seems to be a lot at risk for this exposé.

Whether I will be revealing too much and eventually being outcast. People that I know may not see me in the same light again; i may be labeled, ridiculed or prejudged.
But this is a risk I am willing to take, though it may make me vulnerable and easy target.

To think that quite a lot of people i know, reads your blog, and how others may eventually 'stumble' upon this give me second thoughts, with a certain reputation of youth 'leader' to uphold.

But, after keep hearing the Lord say, "Bring it out into the light, reveal it.", He pushed me forward, and now I even decided to post this comment on my own blog.

I have been sharing about my struggles with pornography to my youth, though it was not an easy one and comfortable revelation, but i felt compelled to share. I humbled down myself, prayed and asked Him for strength and courage and trusted Him to lead.

This however, will be the first time I ever mention this to anyone, which you mentioned somewhere in your other post, a 'natural progression' from indulging pornography. Something that I have been keeping to myself and hope that He will not need me to share though by my sharing on pornography might have implicitly suggested it.

However, I did find comfort from an unlikely source, sno's quote of Mother Theresa's poem

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

That quote loosely ties to the verses from First Peter, which i hold dearly in my own walk, 1 Peter 4:12-19.

Being a relative 'young' Christian, I read your struggles with full interest and anticipation. Hearing from you, how sometimes you can be so strong, and yet there will be the time you fall again. Then from the fall come back stronger, yet to fall again. You know very well what is wrong and what right. And yet, you like me and all of us struggle to do what is right.

Like you rightly pointed out, being a Christian is not a bed of roses, and really do make people wonder why we are still Christian any way.
But then again, not all are stayed on, and large number of us gave up, backslide and just left. But by His grace, and prayers we will eventually fall back to His arms.

Let me attempt to give you a 'male account' though you might have heard quite a few version already.

It all kind of came to me 'naturally'. I think I was at the age of 11 to 12 that I realized that I get 'aroused' when I see a scene two couple kissing on the TV screen.
Man ... you will think kissing?!! Just kissing!! Well, I will guess it have to do with the fact that it's biologically easier and more 'accessible' for a man to be aroused, but that is still open to discussion but we shall not go into that.

No one really told me what was going on. But when my parents noticed my 'reaction', I vaguely remembered them told me sheepishly it was 'natural'

Of course I was embarrassed!!

And I was not really sure what was happening to me.
All I know was ... doing 'it' ... feels nice, feels great
And it helps when there is 'some scene' on TV and I will be playing these scenes again and again on my mind.
Even romantic novels became a source of fantasy.
There was no internet at that time, pornographic was rare or not accessible. (thank goodness!)

Mind you, this was when I was a boy in his early teens, I didn't know it was 'normal'.
I was confused and scared and at same time 'enjoying' it.
So much fun that it eventually manifested itself and I slowly become addicted.

But some how, I felt that i was doing something 'dirty'
I felt it was something wrong ...
I felt it was sinful
I was doing it in hiding, in the dark, alone
I was afraid that some one will find out

Though there is a report saying 95% of man do it and %5 are lying, it does not seems to 'comfort' me

This carried me on till i came to know the Lord, five years back. Before that I have been reading about how it was consider to be sinful to do it and was attempting to stop it myself.
But when I came to Christ, the sin became more obvious. I tried and I tired on my own to stop. Reducing access to pornography, resist the temptations to open those attached emails.

But I was relying on my own strength. Till one day, when i was attending a conference that there was an altar to lay down our deepest secret sins.
I responded and i submitted myself to Him, asking Him to come to me to cleanse me and surrendering my body to Him.

Though, I am still tempted and occasional succumbed to it after that, but I find peace knowing He will be there for me, and I need to try harder next time. And each time it have been easier.

I am sure you all are familiar with 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

What a powerful verse.

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. ..."
-- Man, I am not alone!
"... God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. ..."
-- He is faithful and he never fails! He will always, ALWAYS NOT let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. And best of all, ...
"he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
-- There is a WAY OUT!!!

This is the verse it hold on dearly to ... owing there is a WAY OUT!!!
This verse have held me through, and almost in all occasion, i just need to hold out for a little longer and the temptation will go.
I will come back, but at least it's over now.
Although sometimes I wish I am actually tempted more than I can handle, so that I can have that excuse and 'do' it. See that is how the Devil is playing with me.

When tempted, most of the time, the temptation drives me nuts.
Picture this, alone in foreign country, in a hotel with free porn channel. Far away from anyone you know and anyone you accountable for ... enuff said.

I have to constantly remind myself, resisting the 'natural' urge of the flesh.
"No, No, No! Not the TV, no ... not the remote ... run away run!!!"
I have to endure this daily; every night went by without submission is a victory by itself.

Yet, we are constantly tempted, thus, we need to be constantly alert. It is tiring!

When we let our guard down, being satisfied with our short victory; that is when he will attack.
That is when the devil will start whispering to you.

He will say, you have down well, now is time to relax.
You 'deserve' it.
No point resisting it.
Give yourself a break.
This is just too tiring.
Eventually you will fall again.
You will never win. You will surely fall again.
2 weeks, 2 months, that's good enough.
Just do it this time, are you going to struggle for another day, when you can do it now?
Just restart the count.
Just do it.
You know He loves you, you know He will for give you, you know when you repent He will take you back.
Just do it now!
It's so easy. No more struggle, and greatest of all it feels soooooooooooo goooooodd!
Do it now!
Get over with it!
Enjoy it now, worry about it later.
Now! Now! Now!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR... Man I get goose bumps just typing that!!!

See ... this is how he plays his game, he will even use the Lord's name for his purpose. Sigh!

But with His grace and His strength, I have been holding out, for a while now.
I am slowly but surely, gaining strength.
I can still hear him whispering, sometimes even shouting, but I pray one day I will grow deaf to his voice and only hear His voice.

One of the way I found helpful in my battle is to be conscious of His presence. Be aware He is around and He KNOWS.
Some one, pointed out, one of the way to overcome temptation is to run.
Yup, it's true, but i find it helpful when i force myself to run to Him.
Run to Him prayers.

We need to condition ourselves to pray when we are tempted.
We need to speak to Him when we are tempted.
This is the most critical point, we need to be in His presence.
Run to Him instead of away.
More often than not, we will run away from God when we are about to sin. Just like Adam and Eve, hid from God when He was looking for them after they have ate the fruit.
Well, the bad news is, we can run but we can't hide, as we read from Genesis, God knew where they were and what they have done.

God wanted them to confess and repent. He want to give us second chances. He love us so so dearly.
And what did God do to Adam and Eve when they came out?
Although He was rightly mad, He clothed them!
Can you picture that? The bible say that in Genesis 3:21, "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."
He made them clothes! Wow!

Another suggestion is to make ourselves accountable to someone we trust and know can hold us accountable. But for this case, I will say there are a whole community of bloggers you are accountable for!

Most Christians strive to live a Christ-like life. But more often than not, these 'secret' sins cripple us (though, I am not sure how much more secret this will be after i post this). There will always be a weakness for Satan to attack us, to exploit, our Achilles heel. He is the master of this. The thorn in our flesh.

There are times I was attacked, I start to doubt myself, question my worth, my 'right' to be serving in church
How can someone so sinful, so dirty serve? Aren't you a hypocrite? How can I help to spread His words, when I myself are 'unclean' before Him.
Well, some part of it is true, therefore, sometimes we need to take a step backward and deal with the sin before we continue. But i took heart that this is being faced constantly by each one of us, it all about how much you really care about the people you minister to. Do you want them to stumble by your action?

The fact is we are not perfect, we need to come to Him to be cleanse by Him, we may fall again and again, but each victory we come out from ... is a testimony to Him. A testimony of His grace and love.

You know, some of us, that are struggling now, may read this or other post and feel good and uplifted for a while, but then forget about it later.
Fall again, post another post.
He made us emotional being, ... hey ... He Himself is full of emotion (in His image)
We need each other for support and we in turn support one another.
Some of the posts and comments here maybe repetitive, but at least it is an assurance that He is speaking the same Words to all of us.
That itself is a comforting thought!

We are all going through this together; it is His love and grace that binds us together, as a Family in Christ.



Anyway, thanks for your site, your posts and the comment you attract
I will surely want to use some of these materials, to share with my youth or young adults cell.
Since, I noticed you 'disclaimer', I am going to ask for that permission now
And by the way, I am quoting this entire comment on my blog.

I am sure there is a reason, you are where you are now writing and journalizing instead of practicing law.
That make me suspect your involvement in sno's 'cameo' appearance in 'curious collectibles'
Hmmm ...

Well, as always, God Bless!

... btw blessed by this too!"

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My Response to "Christians Annoy Me at times."

From the Aug 6, 2005 post ...

I was directed to this post by Wei Shiung on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 by Joshua.

Well the title might seems harsh (well it eventually managed to generate more then 74 comments and several follow up post), it actually just a personal rant on one of his particular experience that he had (hey this IS HIS blog). As I came to know it was target to certain individual(s) but not the whole community. Please be rest assured, that being one of Joshua's good pal, I am sure he is a nice guy, but he like anyone else can angel to one and to somebody's else's pain the back, just like me.

After a series of sticks he gets from others from trying to defend their faith, to the rights to share and to condemnation of the unsaved, I decided to stop to "Say Hi".

I decide to share it know to give insight on how hypocritical we 'Christians' can some time be.

kuancheen: 07/01/2005 06:13 PM

Wow, I have just finished reading 1 post and all the 55 comments!

Wei Shiung (i am guessing this from the responses), think this is gonna be a best seller!

First of all, let me intro myself, I came to know about this amazing post from Joshua (with good intentions).

I'm intrigued by this post, on the discussion that's been put forward, although it was meant to be a personal rant which did not mean to hurt anyone! And I am sure you don't mean to hurt anyone. You have your thoughts and others will have their perceptions and comments hehehe ...

Anyway things may settle down lioa and you may very well be exhausted by all this 'hype', but me being human will like a chance to be heard ... hehehe ...

So if I may, ...

I am just like I said a human being. And imperfect human being, so I will apologies for any thing that might offend the rest but having said that does not mean I can say anything and not careful in what I am gonna say.

I know this may not be the time for you to hear this again, but I was once like you ...

(wah liao ... another Christian convert story ... wa lioa ... but bear with me bro if you choose to)

Before I accepted Christ I always perplex about why Christians, or for that matter even Muslims (I have a lot of close Muslim friends) are so eager to share to you about their belief and to some extend can be too pushy or down right annoying. Man, I mean ... hey, I got a brain also and I can figure things out myself, so why do you need to 'brainwash' me!

That was before I came to know Christ personally and appreciate that some one actually cared enough to share to me, although it's not the person effort that but me to Christ but God Himself can and seek and found me.

But this does not justify us ask Christian to go around and force Christianity down some one's throat.

In fact we are do this with gentleness and respect, the bible says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ...".

Sometimes we are too eager to share the wonderful news, we forgot about the second part. And sometimes we may just think we are better off then others and the rest are inferior, that others are hopeless; sometimes we carry the attitude of being superior because we know Christ and others don't. But God never asked us to be boastful, but to humble ourselves instead. (do read my post "Do not be boastful that you have been saved").

I know you have nothing against Christianity, or any other religion, but just some individual that may have been too eager. I share your thoughts; though I can't fully defend myself, because we are constantly tempted, and we need to be alert, but more often than not, we tend to loose our self-control, when we depend too much on our own strength and wisdom.

But one thing, if I may add is that Heaven is a gift. A free gift that none of us deserve and yet is it being offered to each one of us by the God that love us some much. You may at this point ask, so what la? So what is so good about "Christianity" and why is it so special. You know what? If you really really desire to know it, you can ask God Himself. Just ask. Really.

And Z ... you asked a good question:

"if you are good and nice and help for charity all the time yet are not religios/belong to no religion do you go to hell?"

I will be delighted to answer your question if you still curious :) just drop me a note at my blog, in fact I am sure Joshua will be happy to share it with you. : )

Take care people. And yea, it's not wrong to voice yourself up, just be ready to hear others out! A note to myself too so any comments are welcomed.

here for the original post.

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