Qin’s commissioning service (26/1/25)

By -

 Photo credits to Joe and Kion ;)





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

QC and accountability (29/4/16)

By -
Joyce and I shared about our attending the wake of a son of a Christian couple I had known from my JC days. This young man had been having problems at work and had just broken up with his long-standing girlfriend. We saw the broken hearts of the parents and remembered also our own bereavement when Doreen died. Suicide is always the hardest way to die in how it affects the family of the deceased. I know we have spoken on this issue before, but we again affirmed that suicide is not an unforgivable sin - but one in which the sinner has no chance to repent. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is truly unforgivable, is when the sinner has no desire to repent.So the believing Christian who is truly saved should be saved even if he/she sins and takes his/her own life. Not every one of us will have the opportunity to confess our sins if we die suddenly, after all. We also did a brief recap of "why bad things happen to good people". Our response then is: 1. There are no good...
Read more

Study 42: "Self Dependence" 29/1/16.

By -
We discussed the difference between 'pride' and confidence'. Pride is thinking highly of ourselves in a self-centered way. It is wanting to take credit for what we do, whereas confidence does not need to take credit for our achievements. Pride is lifting up our self esteem. Confidence is the assurance of our own capability. Confidence that rests in God is appropriate. We said that we should be speaking an interacting with others in a way that affirms their effort rather than their nature or character when they do well  or need encouragement. This balance is especially difficult when we interact with our own children. Self-dependence, lukewarmness and loss of spiritual insight are linked (Rev 3:15-20). Christ's reproves and disciplines the lukewarm believers that He nevertheless loves. His prescription for lukewarmness is to  have us be zealous and repent. We cannot earn the gold and garments He urges us to buy - we can only receive them by responding to His knock on...
Read more

Paradigm 29: Discipleship and absolute surrender (31/7/20)

By -
Image
In this chapter Edmund Chan asserts that we have "substituted commitment for surrender". The committed life emphasizes what we must do for Christ; the surrendered life, what He has done for us. The Christian life "is not try, but trust". The first emphasizes what we can do, while being surrendered means we know we can do nothing apart from God. One is 'doing', the other is 'being'. One exalts our competence; the other, our character. One centres on operations, the other, on obedience. One issues out of good intentions, the other, out of God's intention.  We can be outwardly committed, but not inwardly consecrated and surrendered to the will of Christ. We must see that it is not we who work for God, but God who works in us. We said that commitment involves a choice, whereas surrender meant giving up choices. One was active, the other, passive. Commitment is to have a purpose with an end in mind. Surrender is to give up purpose. The word 'su...
Read more