Personal Computer Vs Personal Savior

Had a wonderful Pre-Xmas celebration with my care group beloved brothers & sisters in Christ. We had Pot luck kinda party where we each bring our best food to the table. I brought along a platter of fruits & a bowl of chocolate fondae, complimentary done by my younger sister, idea inspired by a sister in Christ, imagine chocolate with strawberry or Kiwi! The bad news is we over heated the chocolate in the microwave oven...so much so for the excitement!

We have a mass service on Sunday at Singapore Indoor Stadium for an English combine service as by the grace of God, the church is growing in an amazing speed, estimated to be at least fourteen thousand believers. Pastor preach about the secret to receive miracles, in short, believe in your heart, confess with your mouth & All things will come to a past!

He re-enforce the promises in Deuteronomy 28 where we are Bless with our basket , Bless shall we be when we come in, & Blessed shall we be when we go out. The Lord shall cause our enemies who rise up against us to be defeated before us; they will come out against us one way & will flee before us seven ways. We shall lend but not borrow. The Lord will make us the head & not the tail, & we only will be above, & will not be underneath! Amen?!

Let's talk about computers, our gateway to Internet access that leads us globally. Computers are a legalist, impersonal pragmatists. Push a button & get a response. Learn the system & get the printout. Blow the system & get ready for a long night. Computers are heartless creatures. Don't expect any compassion from your laptop. They don't call it a had disk for nothing. Some folks have a computer theology when it comes to understand God. God is the ultimate desktop. The Bible is the maintenance manual, the Holy Spirit is the CD & Jesus is the 1800- service number.

Call it computerized Christianity. Push the right buttons, enter the right code, insert the correct data & bingo, print out your own salvation. It's professional religion. We do our part & the Divine Computer does his. No need to pray . No emotional attachment necessary. And worship?. No kneeling. No weeping. No gratitude. No emotion. It's great-unless you make a mistake. Unless you err. Unless we enter then wrong data or forgot to save the manuscript. Unless we're caught on the wrong data or forget to save the manuscript. Unless we're caught on the wrong side of power surge. And then...tough luck, buddy, we're on our own.

Religion by computer. That's what happen when we replace the living God with a cold system; we replace inestimable love with pro-form budget; we replace the ultimate sacrifice of Christ with the puny achievements of man. When we view God as a computer & the Christian as a number-crunching, cursor-commanding, button pusher...that is religion by the computer. God hates it. It crushes His people. It contaminates His leaders, it corrupts His children. How do I know? He said so. Jesus condemns religion by the rules. With eyes blazing & pistols firing. Jesus rips hole after hole in the hot-air balloon of the Pharisees...

A person is made right with God through...Being good. A person is made right with God through goodness. Pay our taxes. Give sandwiches to the poor. Don't drive too fast or drink too much or drink at all. Christian conduct-that's the secret. Suffering. There's the answer. That's how to be made right with God-suffer. Sleep on dirt floors. Stalk through dank jungles. Malaria. Poverty. Cold days. Night-ling vigils. Vows of chastity. Saved heads, bare feet. The greater the pain, the greater the Saint...

No, no, no. The way to made right with God? All of above are tried. All are taught. All are demonstrated. But none are from God. In fact, that is our problem. None from God. All are from people. Think about it. Who is the major force in the above examples? Humankind or God? Who does the saving we or Him? If we are saved by good works, we don't need God-weekly reminders of the do's & don'ts will get us to heaven. If we are saved by suffering, we certainly don't need God. All we need is a whip & a chain & the gospel of guilt. If we are saved by doctrine then, for heaven's sake, let's study! We don't need God, we need a lexicon. Weigh the issues. Explore the options. Decipher the truth...

But be careful, student. For if we are saved by having exact doctrine, then one mistake would be fatal. That goes for those who believe we are made right with God through deeds. I hope the temptation is never greater than the strength. If it is, a bad fall could be a bad omen. And those we think we are saved by suffering, take caution as well, for we never know how much suffering is required. In fact, if we are saving yourself, you never know for sure about anything. We never know if we've hurt enough, wept enough or learned enough. Such is the result of computerized religion: fear, insecurity, instability. And most ironically, arrogance, making ourselves righteous without God.

That's right-arrogance. The insecure boast the most. Those who are trying to save themselves promote themselves. Those saved by work display works. Those saved by suffering unveil scars. Those saved by emotion flash their feelings. Dare we stand before God & ask Him to save us because of our suffering or sacrifice or our tears or our study? I dare not. "A person is made right with God through faith." Romance 3:28 Not through good works, suffering or study. All these may be the result of salvation but they are not the cause of it. How will we escape from God's judgment? Only one way. Through faith in God's sacrifice, His only beloved son, Jesus Christ. It's not what we do; it's what He did.

A personal computer would be different. In fact it wouldn't be a computer; it would be a friend. A friend who gives us what we need instead of what we request. A friend who knows more about us that we do. A friend who doesn't have to be turned off at night & on in the morning. A computer like that? Too much to ask, I know. A God like that? Still too much to ask. But that's what He is. Why else do you think He is known as our personal Savior?

Inspired by:

Max Lucado

The Fig Tree or the X'mas Tree?

The washing machine was washing as usual when I step near to enter the bath room for my shower after a late night work. My leg lost the grip on the floor & I fell as mum forgot to put the pipe in the drainage & the floor was flooding with liquid soap. The next moment, I was on the floor feeling great pain on my right ankle, in no time it swell & I shouted to my Dad for an ice bag. I applied the ice bag on my ankle before I bandage tightly applying simple first aid learning...

A sister in Christ who had worst experience calmed me down for that night. X-ray showed hairline fracture & the swelling was caused by the sprained. I refused to look at the X-ray film, telling myself not to look at my own flesh but the perfect work on the cross. As I refused to be admitted for observation & being in cast, the doctor ordered for a review on the next day, 14th of December, 2006.

16th of December was my much awaited Christmas celebration with the new care group, to fellowship with beloved brothers & sisters in Christ. I would not be able to attend if I am put on cast or hospitalized & it will be a dreadful Christmas & the worst New Year to come. I applied ice therapy through the 13th & 14th, pray in spirit & focus my pain & swelling on the old rugged cross. In the evening of 14th for review, a second X-ray was taken.

The first question of all was, "What did you do Godwyn with your ankle?" I told the doctor I prayed & applied ice therapy as I have no medical knowledge beyond that. I experience Divine healing, as I look at the first X-ray in comparison with the second, my ankle was completely healed! Halleluiah! I remembered in Matthew 21:21, it says in short, if you have faith, it will happen...

Our God wrote the book on making the impossible possible! In the scripture, it said, Jesus saw a fig tree on the side of the road. As He approached the tree, He noticed that though it had leaves, it had no fruit. So He denounced the tree. "You will never have fruit." The tree immediately dried up. The next day, the disciples saw what had happened to the tree. They were amazed. Just twenty-four hours before the tree had been green & healthy; now it is barren & dry...

"How did the fig tree dry up so quickly? They asked. Jesus gives them this answer," Truly I say to you, if you have faith & do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up & cast to the sea,' it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Matt 21:21-22 [NASB]

That is the way God intended it. He intends for all of us to live out our vows but with our own particular accent. For some, it is with an accent on the sick. For others, it is a concern for the imprisoned. Still others have a burden for scholarly research or giving. But whatever our accent the message is still the same.

The message of the fig tree is not for all of us to have the same fruit. The message is for us to have some fruits. Not easy. Jesus knows that. "If you have faith & do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree & even more." Faith in whom? Religion? Hardly. Religion is the hoax Jesus is out to disclose. Faith is not in religion; the faith is in God. A hardly, daring faith that believes God will do what is right, every time. And that God will do what it takes-whatever it takes-to bring His children home.

He is the shepherd in search of His lambs. His legs are scratched, His feet are sore & His eyes are burning. He scales the cliffs & traverses the fields. He explores the caves. He cups His hands to His mouth & calls into the canyon. And the name He calls is yours! God is the father pacing the porch. His eyes are wide with His quest. His heart is heavy. He seeks His prodigal. He searches the horizon.

He examines the skyline, yearning for the familiar figure, the recognizable gait. His concern is not His business, His investments, His owning. His concern is the son who wears His name, the child who bears His image. YOU. He wants you home. It is only in the light of such passion we can understand this incredible promise: "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Matt 21:22 [NASB]

The fruit God assures is far greater than earthly wealth. His dreams are much greater than promotions & proposals. God wants you to fly. He wants you to fly free of yesterday's guilt. He wants you to fly free of today's fears. He wants you to fly free of tomorrow's grave. Sin, fear & death. These are the mountains He had moved. These are the prayers He will answer. That is the fruit He will grant. This is what He longs to do: He longs to set you free so you can fly...fly home!

Inspired By:

Max Lucado

Excuse me, are you a Christian?

I will never abandon my blog neither I will forsake it, as faith comes from the listening/reading of the good gospel of Christ Jesus. Amen? Blogging allows me to fellowship with brothers & sisters in Christ from the World! I feed on the words & share as I believe Right believing produce Right living...sharing is loving as God is love...

Godwyn, how do you explain your sudden halt? Many medical issues had arose during past few weeks & my workload sank me down like the Tiatanic. I had two day surgeries done for my tootache, the surgeon did a Root Canal procedure. As my gums are truely sensitive, it took long while to stop the bleeding.

It was a highly painful event I doubt I will not forget. Things got more challenging with bad news that my Godpa's elder brother passed away peacefully with cancer on Friday morning. The next is the wake, sorrow & grief. Recent days fixing of my ingrowing toe nails make me limp daily to walk...these are the days. Daily, I told myself to put my eyes on the Perfect Finished work on the cross & looked away from my own flesh...it works as Christ always heal...

I'm not a religious person, I just believe in our relationship with our Abba in Heaven. When we think God is too busy for little people like us or too formal for poor protocol. When people are refused access to Christ by those cloest to him, the result is empty, hollow religion. Ugly religion!

God always hears those who seek him. The right heart with the wrong ritual is better than the wrong heart with the right ritual. Ideally, we approach God with the right motive & the right method. And sometimes we do. Sometimes the words of our prayer are as beautiful as the motive behind the prayer. Sometimes the way we sing is as strong as the reason we sing.

Sometimes our worship is an attractive as it is sincere. But many times it isn't. Many times our words falter. Many times our music suffers. Many times our worship is less than what we want it to be. Many times our appeals for God's presence are about as attractive as those of blind men on the Road. "You will seek Me, & find Me when you search for Me, with all your heart. I will be found by you." Jer.29:13 [NASB]

Ironic. of all the people, the blind turned out to be the ones with the clearest vision - even before they could see...

Inspired by:

Max Lucado