I was having lunch with friends one day. I was really getting hungry but couldn’t start eating because my friend who was blessing our food was saying a litany of prayers. Then I heard a little girl from the other table saying a simple yet poignant prayer. “Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the fries, the burger and the Coke, and for giving Mommy and Daddy the money to buy
them.” “Amen,” I replied, to the surprise of my friend who was still praying.
God takes no account of the quantity of words we use when we talk to Him. The one thing He looks into is our motives and the state of our hearts when we pray. We should never utter one syllable of prayer, either in public or in private, until we are sure that we have come into the presence of God and are actually praying to Him.
The greatest acts of worship are acts of simple obedience to God each day of the week.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
JOY
We sat outside in the waiting room on a long wooden bench. Big metal, double doors separated us from our final destination. The familiar warning signs indicating that radiation was prevalent in the area was posted along several walls and on the big doors. Week after week we took our seats, almost silently. Sometimes the same faces would nod to one another, but usually there was a stillness and the endless time spent waiting until a name was called......then the doors would open briefly to allow the patient to enter. This was the routine.
As the holidays approached, someone in the hospital decided it would be "cheery" to decorate these doors with Christmas wrapping paper and run ribbon up the middle and across to simulate a present. It was a genuine gesture of kindness, but somehow it seemed oddly peculiar.
But, one day, as we all sat there in silence, I saw a small corner of wrapping paper still taped to the door. Someone had forgotten to remove all of the paper. Here it was nearly Easter, I thought, and Christmas paper was still in our presence. So....I reached down to remove the torn and tattered corner.
Then, something caught my eye. The word "JOY" was imprinted on this small scrap of paper...paper barely large enough to contain these three letters. I was weary and tired and drained. How, I thought, could one find "JOY" in any of this? Certainly, I felt no such feeling. There was no trash container in sight, so I put the scrap of paper into my purse, thinking I would discard it later.
Months passed. There were good days, and not so good days. Consultations, decisions, hospitalizations, appointments. Then one day while waiting outside these same doors I decided to go through my purse and discard some of the items that so mysteriously seemed to collect in my handbag. At the bottom of my purse, I found the small scrap of Christmas paper. "Joy" it said. Yes, I remembered where it came from.....from right over there on that big metal door. Here it was nearly Easter. It seemed years had passed since Christmas. How strange that I still had this paper in my purse.
As I held it in my hand, I prayed: "Dear God, please be with my son today as he takes his final radiation treatment." It was a simple prayer, but sincere. A few moments later I was escorted into the doctor's office, and subsequently joined by my son. It was evident the news was good, for there were smiles on the doctors' faces. There would be no further radiation treatments. The scans indicated the tumor was gone. I've kept that small scrap of paper in my wallet as a reminder. God had sent me a message.....months before. I just didn't know it.
As the holidays approached, someone in the hospital decided it would be "cheery" to decorate these doors with Christmas wrapping paper and run ribbon up the middle and across to simulate a present. It was a genuine gesture of kindness, but somehow it seemed oddly peculiar.
But, one day, as we all sat there in silence, I saw a small corner of wrapping paper still taped to the door. Someone had forgotten to remove all of the paper. Here it was nearly Easter, I thought, and Christmas paper was still in our presence. So....I reached down to remove the torn and tattered corner.
Then, something caught my eye. The word "JOY" was imprinted on this small scrap of paper...paper barely large enough to contain these three letters. I was weary and tired and drained. How, I thought, could one find "JOY" in any of this? Certainly, I felt no such feeling. There was no trash container in sight, so I put the scrap of paper into my purse, thinking I would discard it later.
Months passed. There were good days, and not so good days. Consultations, decisions, hospitalizations, appointments. Then one day while waiting outside these same doors I decided to go through my purse and discard some of the items that so mysteriously seemed to collect in my handbag. At the bottom of my purse, I found the small scrap of Christmas paper. "Joy" it said. Yes, I remembered where it came from.....from right over there on that big metal door. Here it was nearly Easter. It seemed years had passed since Christmas. How strange that I still had this paper in my purse.
As I held it in my hand, I prayed: "Dear God, please be with my son today as he takes his final radiation treatment." It was a simple prayer, but sincere. A few moments later I was escorted into the doctor's office, and subsequently joined by my son. It was evident the news was good, for there were smiles on the doctors' faces. There would be no further radiation treatments. The scans indicated the tumor was gone. I've kept that small scrap of paper in my wallet as a reminder. God had sent me a message.....months before. I just didn't know it.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Is Masturbation a sin for Christians?
Matt 5:28-29 "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
For some psychologies said it a human behavior that you cannot control or some says it is a parts of behavior.
As a Christian I believe this because when we considered this thing as a behavioral habit, we constantly create a preparation for a bigger sin
But what if no illicit fantasies are included in masturbation? Is the act then sinful? By scripture, there is nothing to indicate that it is. Specifically, if the act is done merely as a hedge against temptation and as the body requires then there is no need for the above sinful "crutches". This is hardly exciting, and a rote act of keeping the body in submission. It cannot be done often, as the body is not that demanding if left alone by a perverted imagination. On the other hand, if we attempt a pent-up self-sex life, then we find that the body needs help from the soul through illicit fantasies, and then sin is clearly being committed.
I hope this is clear. Were it not for our perverted imaginations and lustful sense of expectation, our bodies would not cause us much trouble. It is our minds and hearts that need "treatment". It is like rev-in an engine near red-line at every traffic signal, and all the time it is running, and then complaining about the eventual engine failure. Sure the thing can rev, but not all the time. It was not made for that.
From Scripture, the line not to be crossed is the line of illicit imagination. And what a line! Minus the sinful fantasies, which are the fuel for most masturbation, all the fun and zest would be taken out of it. Thus, it would no longer be a topic of interest to you or anybody, any more than the act of going to the bathroom. It would be just "doing what was needed" to keep the body from exploding from within.
Sex was not created for this, you can be sure. That God allows masturbation to even work is a mystery (ever try tickling yourself?) and so it is reasonable to assume that it is a "gift" to keep ourselves from temptation.
Eph 5:3 (NIV) But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
Much like a person who is an Alcoholic must avoid any kind of drinking like the plague, where others can drink with moderation and without sin, the same principle applies here. So people might come to different conclusions concerning masturbation, and that is anticipated within our faith. Each man must live in holiness before the Lord in his/her own body, and this might mean different disciplines and personal leading in each case. What works for me or you... we should not impose on anybody else as a stumbling block.
For some psychologies said it a human behavior that you cannot control or some says it is a parts of behavior.
As a Christian I believe this because when we considered this thing as a behavioral habit, we constantly create a preparation for a bigger sin
But what if no illicit fantasies are included in masturbation? Is the act then sinful? By scripture, there is nothing to indicate that it is. Specifically, if the act is done merely as a hedge against temptation and as the body requires then there is no need for the above sinful "crutches". This is hardly exciting, and a rote act of keeping the body in submission. It cannot be done often, as the body is not that demanding if left alone by a perverted imagination. On the other hand, if we attempt a pent-up self-sex life, then we find that the body needs help from the soul through illicit fantasies, and then sin is clearly being committed.
I hope this is clear. Were it not for our perverted imaginations and lustful sense of expectation, our bodies would not cause us much trouble. It is our minds and hearts that need "treatment". It is like rev-in an engine near red-line at every traffic signal, and all the time it is running, and then complaining about the eventual engine failure. Sure the thing can rev, but not all the time. It was not made for that.
From Scripture, the line not to be crossed is the line of illicit imagination. And what a line! Minus the sinful fantasies, which are the fuel for most masturbation, all the fun and zest would be taken out of it. Thus, it would no longer be a topic of interest to you or anybody, any more than the act of going to the bathroom. It would be just "doing what was needed" to keep the body from exploding from within.
Sex was not created for this, you can be sure. That God allows masturbation to even work is a mystery (ever try tickling yourself?) and so it is reasonable to assume that it is a "gift" to keep ourselves from temptation.
Eph 5:3 (NIV) But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
Much like a person who is an Alcoholic must avoid any kind of drinking like the plague, where others can drink with moderation and without sin, the same principle applies here. So people might come to different conclusions concerning masturbation, and that is anticipated within our faith. Each man must live in holiness before the Lord in his/her own body, and this might mean different disciplines and personal leading in each case. What works for me or you... we should not impose on anybody else as a stumbling block.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
WHY SO MUCH SUFFERING?
Everyone has experienced suffering and pain. Physical, emotional and spiritual, Does the presence of suffering be necessarily mean the absence of GOD? Is this obstacle to faith and belief as a Christian? This Question came out from my thought when sometimes I see poverty and suffering. Why is there suffering and pain in this world? How could this question affect Christianity? Some question goes like this, if there is no GOD, why is there so much good? If there is a GOD, why is there so much evil? GOD gives us just enough answers to those question, those who want him can have him those who want to follow the clues will. If the Bible says, Seek and you shall find, It doesn’t say everybody will find him: It doesn’t say nobody will find him. Some will find. Who are those? Those who seek. Those whose hearts are set on finding Him and who follows the clues. In my own opinion, Suffering and pain can go both ways- it can actually be used in favor of GOD and GOD allow this for reason and the reason is “ freewill” GOD did create a world where people were free and yet there was no sin. That precisely what He did. After creation, he declare that the world is good: People were free to choose to love GOD or thru away from Him. However, such a world is necessarily a phase where sin is freely possible- and indeed that potentially for sin was actualized not by GOD but by people. Is it GOD who create evil? The answer is no, He create the possibility of evils. The source of evil is not God’s power but mankind’s freedom.
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