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Monday, December 20, 2004
Malaysia's Christmas Celebration - Ban on using the word "Christ "
Dear Friends .
Wow , I must have missed quite a number of mails flying about . And I am sure by now you would have heard the news that there is no official ban on this , only done by " overzealous lower ranking officials" .
I remember talking to a brother 2 weeks ago who commented in frustration on why his church leaders always seemed 'graceful' , you know.. Always forgiving , agreable , suffer through difficulties without complaining etc. I think this is somehow a 'dilemma' facing some Christians today . Whether we should stand up and make out statements loud and clear , or to 'turn the other cheek". Should we like Mr Bush who invaded and kill in 'his faith and believe' of a 'just war' or the 5 Christian aid workers who were helplessly murdered while helping in Afghan refugee camp. ( ok , so I am pretty much biased against the war in Iraq . Haha )
Anyway , here are a summary of my views
1. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of selfdiscipline." Can we sincerely be able to say that we had stand up with our voices ( and action ) when it is required ? In school , in varsity , in your neighbourhood , in your church , in your working place ? I agree with James on this and there is just certain things that we got to stand up to in our position and place. Certainly , Christians are not put disappropriately higher percentage in the profesional bracketts ( than the Malaysian national average ) to sit down and live a 'happy' life only. People like OC Lim , Pastor Paul ( Chow Kit ) , Dr Max Ongkillii and my senior Andrew Wong are some examples of people who went beyond . But do it with spirit ( wisdom?) , LOVE and self discipline . Reminded me to a real event where a group of Christian demonstrated along a cemetary for a gay who died of AIDS . Even I was disgusted when I watched this news clip.
2. And eye for an eye ... Or love our neighbour as ourselves . ( the muslims! ) ".... context makes clear that Jesus means to pray good things for our enemies. Old Testament prayers for vindication (such as 2 Chron 24:22; Jer 15:15) still have their place (2 Tim 4:14; Rev 6:10), but our attitude toward individuals who hurt us personally or corporately must be love (Lk 23:34; Acts 7:60). Again, Jesus' words are graphic pictures that force us to probe our hearts; they do not cancel the Old Testament belief in divine vindication (Mt 23:33, 38; Rev 6:10-11), but summon us to leave our vindication with God and seek others' best interests in love." ( NIV commentary ) .
Boycotting an event that is specially allocated to Malaysian Christians as a sign of their 'respect' to us and multiculturism is not in the best taste. Sure , it is great injustice to be subjected to such skewed politics. But this 'bad faith ' will only reinforce certain people biasness towards us. And this cycle of hate and disrespect will continue on. In addition , Christians in Peninsular are 'known' to be generally more distant if an event involves the whole community . Sure , we like our YF , church gangs , Planet shaker concerts etc. but surely there is more to the society than this . Take a bus to a small town / kampung ... And you will see that the 'world' is actually broader and complex than it seemed. Btw , want pre-christians to come to your church ? Do a rumah terbuka.
Anyway , to summarize - I would like to suggest my approach to this issue. I will seek out understanding with the relevant authorities that Christ is central to our belief and this Christmas is an occasion to remember his Birth. Even if the highest authority refuses to budge , I will still ask the Christians to support this occasion . Forget about the Christmas songs/ gospels /hymms , go and sing Malay / Chinese / indian folk songs la. Once the news got out about this ban and how the Christian responded , people will then be able ' to see the Christ in us" . Maybe even then the outpouring of criticism will make the minister sorry ( dun think so la ) . Haha . But that is the 'power' of Christ's teaching , in meekness there is a real strength through Christ.
Lastly , do hope that those who are reading this will spare a thought to the "Christian ' bodies who are representing us . I think they are certainly suffering due to our neglect. Whether CCM , NECF , CFM , CWM , M&Ms ( kidding ) , it has not been easy . Lets pray for them
1. For a real unity of the body . If not , one day we will be divided and conquered through all these factions. 2. Christian leaders who will make a stand and be respected for the choices made.
3. Funding - enough of building super-duper-mega churches or buying more lands and divert some fund to these institutions. Can churches be challenged to be simple ? Kesianle Scripture Union , GCF .. ;)
Posted at 06:53 pm by amoker
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Tuesday, November 09, 2004
My view on Rev Rick Warrens Advice to US voters
I have much respect for the man who did so much for the Christian
movement in the States and elsewhere , but I will have to disagree on
his advice and focus in the vote. And yes , i am a nobody . hehe .
But hear me out.
On one hand , it is important to focus on abortion , stem cell
research etc . At the other hand , it is a vote for unneccessary
killing and war mongering . I realised that the issues of abortion ,
stem cell etc. are important and must be protected , but i believe
that the life ( of a Muslim brother/sister) is as important or more.
And definitely their faith and countless billions outside US who sees
a "Christian" Bush + Army killing other people. I certaintly don't
see this argument from Christ who urges us to have turn the other
cheek and love our "despised Samaritan" neighbour. It is not a sign
of weaknesses , but in obedience to the Creator.
Are Christians turning a blind eye to such injustice just because
Bush support these 5 issues ? In fact , Karl Rowe ( Bush election
strategist ) demands those 11 states to put in the referendum on gay
marriage to entice the church goers to vote. He got their vote and
Christians were celebrating ( I am happy too ) . But reflecting
back , are we not duped by politicians who may care less to change
their decision when it suits them?
Luke 14:1-6 . One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a
prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2There in front
of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3Jesus asked the Pharisees
and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?"
4But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him
and sent him away.
5Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son[1] or an ox that falls
into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him
out?" 6And they had nothing to say.
No laws and legislation is more important than the intent of the
message to the heart of the suffering man. That God loved that men
and healed him , as to the whole world.
Christianity is a message of peace with God and men , men and men .
We do not have war and killing in our doctorine ( supercedes the
warring time in OT). But are we behaving like a righteous men ? Is
it not the same intent that Holy War was waged , or the colonisation
of countries in the name of God? One Australian writter posed a
question that "How are the US Christians able to still go to church
and pray when they support war ?" . I have no answer but the bible
does.
To Rev Rick Warren , it is time for evengelical Christian to flex
their muscle again to demand the President that they support to cease
killing innocent lives. Stop the wheel of hate for " Do unto others
what you would like them to do to you". Killings will not stop unless
one party has the 'extra' in them to do so. And the 'extra' is God.
This message will be the strongest that none of the bombs will ever
hope to achieve.
Posted at 03:44 pm by amoker
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Thursday, November 04, 2004
Nov 4 - Congratulations to George Bush on being nominated again as the President of the US .
Wish you well , and more God fearing than Godly fearing . We look forward from today with a renewed hope ( or hopelessness ? ) that mistakes will be acknowledged and wrongs will be put right. We pray for you to be wise in choosing friends , those who will give you the right , wholesome view .. and those who knows the sovereign of God. For He giveth , and can taketh away.
Ironic that the best choice of a US president is one who kills , lies and is arrogant about it. Oh wait , it may not have sink in yet and believed that he did everything right. But time to let it rest. ? Eh? An authrority has been picked and all authorities are responsible to answer to God at the end.
Updates - after lunch
Surprise surprise. We had lunch just now and somebody's boss said the same thing . 4 years ago it was a fiasco and they elected a somebody whom nobody knows . Now that we know he is less smart than an ape being controlled by the VP and co , they still voted for him . We all realised that Americans are fundamentally 'different".
To this Sally replied : There is a Chinese Saying - If it is not your fault, and is not my fault so is the SOCIETY's fault.
Posted at 10:57 am by amoker
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Monday, November 01, 2004
Hey , it is one day before the Nov 2 election in the States . If only resident of US who vote , the chance is that Bush will be reelected. But if other nations nations are allowed to vote , he would have lost by a big margin . The logic is that since US is either invading militarily / economically , the rest of the world that is invaded by this country should be allowed to vote as well.
And guess what , majaority of them hate the US guts now.
The Vienna Boys choir in Genting Highlands was the hightlight of the week. Since they were here only for a day , the rest of the Malaysian *ahem* cultured population seemed to throng over the hill resort to check out these adorable folks. They were good .. honestly splendid. And to cap out a memorable performance with a local song ( Can mali chan ) and a few goodies from the evegreen " The sound of Music " , Johann and Joseph Strauss , the got the crowd standing in acknowledgement of their impeccable performance.
however , low grades to Genting Resorts for the choice of venue. The aircon duct sounds lounder than the biggest of those fellas. And the air con seemed redundant as the whole "Arena of Stars" felt stuffy and hot. The worst is the sound system . At some part , the were not audible or are not properly balanced. Not only that , some of the boys were not miked up during their sketch .. which left the audience bewildered as the sketch progresses. How do they expect a crowd of 6000 to clearly appreciate the orchestra of voices or performance with such cheap investment in AV equipments ? Or is the performance only for the few VIPs that we sitting just below the stage ? And the cardinal sin for Genting is that they DID NOT apologzed. Hey , we understand if they don't have the expertise to support or if somethings went wrong. But they could have offered an explaination or at best an apology at the intermission . Is it an Asian thing ? Shame on them as the Austrian conductor diplomatically apologised for his boys after the intermission which i think is no fault of theirs. It was a moral victory for the troupe .
Shame on Genting.
Posted at 04:07 pm by amoker
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Friday, October 29, 2004
My Tribute to the America Elections 04 - Lesser of 2 Evils
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - George W. Bush
"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'." - Governor George W. Bush
"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future." - Governor George W. Bush
"The future will be better tomorrow." - Governor George W. Bush
"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world." - Governor George W. Bush
"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." - Governor George W. Bush
"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe." - Governor George W. Bush
Posted at 04:28 pm by amoker
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Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Hi , Tired of reading stuff ... cause starting from this week till the next 3 weeks is when i will be assessed on what i have learned this semester. Instructional Technology - everytime that is mentioned , it will almost immediately bring a blank face to the the next person .
Wanna make a guess who is not a key person in this discipline
1. Piaget
2. Rowntree
3. Johnassen
4. William Hung Easy rite ?
Btw, this cult hero is back in Asia Pacifc - visiting his preferred country Singapore . Apparently , some minister in Taiwan called this country a hard taik hidung . ( nasal phelgm ) and backed up by burnining of the Singaporean flags by its citizens. i think that is too much , from one US loving country to another . They should talk and pat each others back like their master .. or is it becoz the master is too busy trying to win some elections. Sheep
Posted at 06:42 pm by amoker
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United Nations after 7 years
Nothing can be more interesting than to have a bunch of old pals together. We were called the "United Nations" group in UPM .. cause the group consists of a plethora of socio economic combinations.
1. Me - the handsome one , Chinese Male
2.Conrad - the more handsome and muscular national hockey player , Chindian Male
3.Chris - the kuricacik - Chinese Hakka Female
4.Yee Lu - our east Malaysian friend who is fluent in BM . Chinese Female
5.Marina - ole tennis pal from Muar , very pretty and increasing in La " " - Chindian Female
6.Sherinder - ever grinning and blur - our Sikh Femal friend
7. Julie - the motherly figure who is of a mix of ethics ( no idea ) - semua taruk .
Our first gathering where everybody is present .. after 7 years . There were 2 camps ... with national border intact. The Marriage - babies - pampers group and the happening Single - dun- say -"Mar " - or -else !!!! group . But it was fun turning my head and talking different things at the same time . And the best things are the part where Conrad takes out his laptop to show his collection of photos . Yep , we have all grown up .... at least chorologically . Nice to chat with you people . Lets do it again ... !
Posted at 06:40 pm by amoker
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Freedom of religion but not freedom of choice ? The Malaysian Dilemma
Court orders checks with NRD on "Islam" in IC
Putrajaya, Tues. – The Court of Appeal today ordered Senior Federal Counsel Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid to seek clarification from the National Registration Department on the Practice of putting the word "Islam" on identity cards.
The order was issued by head of the three-member panel, Justice Datuk Gopal Sri Nam, as the court questioned whether the word "Islam" on the identity card was mandatory under Malaysian law.
Sri Nam, who sat with Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamed and Datuk Arifin Zakaria, adjourned hearing of an appeal by a woman seeking a declaration that she was free to practise the religion of her choice as enshrined in the Federal Constitution to Oct 14. The appellant, Lina Joy, whose original name is Azlina Jailani, is appealing against the High Court' decision rejecting her application to drop the word "Islam" in her identity card.
Justice Datuk Faiza Tamby Chik, in rejecting her application, had said as a Malay, she could not renounce Islam.
In his judgment on April 23, 2001, the judge also refused to decide on Lina’s wish to renounce Islam on the grounds that the issue should be decided by the Syariah Court.
Before the adjournment, the Court of Appeal heard a submission from Lina’s counsel, Datuk C. V. Das, who argued that the High Court judge failed to distinguish between the jurisdiction exercisable by two bodies that played a major role in Islamic law enactment, namely the Islamic Religious Council and the Syariah Court.
He said the distinction was important as the council was dealing with administrative matters while the Syariah Court dealt with legal matters.
Das said except in Kelantan and Pahang, all matters involving the Islamic law enactment were under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Religious Council and not the Syariah Court. He also told the court that the declaration was important because Lina, who is in her 40s, wanted to register her marriage under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976. – Bernama
Posted at 10:36 am by amoker
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Monday, September 20, 2004
Praise to God !! That was an awesome time of worship that S2S had in St Andrews on Saturday . Of course , we had a lot of planning hiccups and worship practise non-moments. But God has use the group in the most amazing manner ... . All praise to him.
It rained cats and dogs and sinks that day . Before that , almost half of the worship team was up from early morning till afternoon for S2S Q4 planning meeting . On top of that , we had the last worship + practise till 2 plus . And Chiao and I then adjurned to the Beyond headstart group - which was intellectually challenging ( jealousy , envy , self image and self concept .. wowo ) while the rest were lunging the equipments and setting up for the night worship .
When i arrive , detected that most of the youths are in the early teens group . The fast songs will get the moving , but the worship part may wear them out . But i guess the major worry i had then is when i was introduced to the new American pastor .. Pastor Tom . He has the strongest handshake for any pastors and I tot that the worship may be too different that what he had last time .
Anyway , all praise to Him . It went on without much fuss , better than our practises. And we had another jamming session after that. It was just youthfy thing that I could have done and enjoy if my age starts with '1x'. Tired , yet refreshed. And went back to church and to mamak .. biggest mamak group for some time now .
Sunday worship was also good . Too tired and not too prepared , but God is in control . Somehow , the songs has much more significant connection than when i choose them originally . Of course , gota stressed out my pianist and musicians .. then introduce pscyho-motocally challenged hand movements to confuse the congregation. But a few times when i peek , notice some individuals are actually singing .. and even praying . Wow , hope it inspires them to have a closer relationship /worship on their own .
Now , gota go back to my assignments . Tonight , Don Carson is going to speak on Revelations . May just go for one day . Mother is coming up .. important. hehe
Posted at 11:52 am by amoker
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Tuesday, September 14, 2004
To the article that " Is Bush God choosen? "
Interestingly , God does put people to power in his big universal plan . Nebucanezzer was installed into power when Israel decided to rely on Egypt than God - to teach about obedience ; though jerusallem was pillaged etc. For Israelites at that time , Mr N was an evil person. But he is the 'necessary' evil .
Mr Bush is technically part of the greater plan too . And he won in a most 'amazing' manner .. which some do attribute it to God intervention and approval. Yet , my thought has changed over time as i realised that this "Godly" man has gone against some of the basic principles of Christ's teaching. He authorised revenge and killings in foreign lands , lies and crafted his agendas etc. He may have a faith based platform in US , but the rest of the world does not see his 'God'. I cannot be judgemental but in comparison to other God fearing person that i come accross , their behaviours do not match . Thus , can it be that Mr Bush is now a "Saul" . Saul was chosen by God , a king that never was . Saul was rejected because of his disobedience. Saul was a 'big' man , 'one head taller' than anyone else , handsome - yet his greed and selfish decisions corrupts him .
Being popular and able to be seen as a spiritual person does not make one "God appointed". In fact , I was very surprised when i came accross some articles on Adolf Hitler. He too , is a faith based person and I am sure that his people then see him as "God" sent. This does not equate both Bush and Hitler together. But it is a fine line between obedience to God and self righteousness. Mr Bush , be very careful.
Posted at 11:05 am by amoker
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