Since I watch TV so much

The Stories We Tell: How TV and Movies Long For and Echo the Truth

by Mike Cosper

I have a confession to make. I am a TV addict! Or at least I think I am with the number of hours I spent watching TV. 

So when I saw this book in Amazon, I immediately bought a copy and started reading with the purpose of seeing if I can "theologize" this thing of me watching so much TV.

And it is also in very good timing because I have started thinking and reflecting on what I watch to find lessons and learnings through the vicarious experiences in what I watch. 

In this book, Cosper has reflected on quite a wide range from sitcoms to movies, and classics to even reality shows. And what he see is the creation story and redemption story being played over and over again. 

It is comforting to know that the stories we tell are stories of us seeking for love, for justice, for meaning, for hope and for life. Sure there are many un-Christian ways in the stories told but they still point to the ultimate human's sense of need and search for perfection and salvation. 

For example, even in dark series like Dexter, what the protagonists are looking for is meaning and purpose in life. It all reflects where we come from and where we hope we will go.

We have many stories to tell and many stories to listen to. I will be good not to just watch to pass time or to just watch to be entertained. Look into the heart of the stories and see the Gospel story time and again seeping through. 

Pearlie

How big is your God?

If was saying that I had a really good week and that it all began when I decided to fast TV for one week.

Let me admit that I have recently gotten addicted to Korean dramas real bad though that’s another story for another day. It’s just that I have been spending so much time on them that I knew that if I didn’t do anything about it, I’d soon be buried in them with no chance of reprieve. 

Hence the 1-week fast, which began 8 days ago on Saturday. I wanted to read and started checking out on my Kindle what I have bought, and this stood out. 

Not God Enough: Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems

by JD Greear

This is a gem of a book. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to be serious about God. 

The book began with a quotation by Evelyn Underhill, “A god small enough to be understood is not big enough to be worshipped.” And that practically summed it all up. 

Greear says that “those who understand their forgiveness tremble more, not less, in God’s presence.” 

I can see that we now live in a world where we think we are relatively quite good. We go to church and we listen to the Gospel preached and we go through the confession prayer, but we don’t really feel or acknowledge very much our depravity. We know it, but we don’t feel it. 

We fail to see how big and holy God is and, how small and bad we are in comparison.

I like this section where he tries to help us understand just how bigger than big God is. 

He says, “We prefer a God who is small and domesticated, who thinks like we think, likes what we like, and whom we can manage, predict, and control. We only have to glance upwards at the night sky to see how ridiculous that is.”

He used the universe to explain how distorted our view is of God. Do you know the size of the universe? To cut it short, we can only see 9,096 stars with the naked eye and that is only about 1/100,000,000,000,000,000,000 of what’s actually out there. Scientists have estimated the number of stars to be about 3 septillion and the number is constantly expanding. That’s a three with 24 zeros after it. 

Greear then makes it even clearer. He says, one million seconds ago takes us back about 11 days. A billion seconds ago takes us back 31 years and eight months. A trillion seconds? It will brings us to 29,672 BC! He doesn’t even continue on to septillion and these are in seconds!

Imagine that about the universe and know what? God measures off the heavens with his fingers! (Isaiah 40:12)

He is more than huge. And we are but a tiny drop of a septillion. And we think we are on the same playing field. Think again.

So the next time we think we so great, remember he is bigger than big. 

How about the fact that we always think we are not so bad, that we are pretty good?

Greear says it well: suppose you are getting a blood transfusion and you find out that 1 percent of it was contaminated with HIV. Would it help if the nurse said, “Don’t worry; it’s only 1 percent”? “No!” we’d shout back, “There is no such think as only 1 percent! One speck contaminates the whole lot.”

We are that one speck and we cannot survive the holiness of God. 

I was soon reading another book about the Islamic Sharia law. To the Muslims, they are taught to see themselves as the most perfect people, the perfect race. And the writer said this one thing that really strikes me. 

When she heard Christian pastors saying “We are all sinners”, she said that it was “one of the most comforting, liberating, uniting, and humbling expressions” she has heard. 

I never had the concept that being called a sinner is most comforting and liberating but the contrary. 

But she has a point. If we think we are so good and perfect, then living a life in this broken world will bring us into a reality we will never survive in. Being called a sinnner and being forgiven by God would then be the most comforting and liberating thing of all. 

Our God is bigger than big. We are but a speck of a septillion and a sinful bad speck at that and yet he loves us to death on a cross. 

How can we even understand that. Find him out and find out why. 

pearlie

It’s so hard to find forgiveness

I learnt a big lesson about forgiveness today. Something happened and I realised how lightly have I taken God’s forgiveness. 

For one, I take myself too seriously at times and I don’t easily forgive myself.

And secondly, I find that people at work do not forgive, nor are they emphathetic when you make a mistake. 

With this, I realised how much I have taken the forgiveness of God for granted, that I don’t think too much of it.

But the things that I have done wrong and how I have sinned against my God is so much more in comparison to the mistakes I have made where forgiveness is so hard to come by. 

Imagine if God were like the people we encounter with everyday, who are judgmental and unforgiving, how can we live without God’s forgiveness?

I am now so grateful that God forgives. And I’m forever grateful for he died for me on the cross, in my place for my sin, so I may live. 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

~ 1 John 1:9 ESV

I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. [26] Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

~ Isaiah 43:25-26 ESV

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

~ Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV

Amen. 

pearlie

Why was Jesus born?

We celebrated Christmas Eve today at church and it wasn’t the usual Sunday service. After praise and worship, there was a short skit where three men talked about what Christmas is in Starbucks...

...followed by the same three guys playing the three wise men having a discussion about the birth of Jesus in Starbeth Cafe in Bethlehem. 

Then pastor gave a very good sermon about Christmas. 

I didn’t get the chance to take any notes but I remember a couple of new things I learnt from him:

1. The Jews knowing that the prophecy of the coming of Messiah was about to be fulfilled did not welcome the birth of Jesus but the magi who weren’t Jews were so excited about it they wanted to not only go and visit and give gifts, but to worship him. 

2. The virgin Mary was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by sexual relations with a man, and with that  Jesus did not inherit the sinful nature of man. And what the Holy Spirit did to “overshadow” Mary—the same way he overshadow the world when it was created—was when he prevented the sinful nature of Mary to be passed on to Jesus. 

The birth of Jesus more than two thousand years ago marked the history where God became man to save us from ourselves, from our sins.

Even if you do not believe him, this happened in history and therefore you do need to ask the question, why?

pearlie

Mary Did You Know?

We were practicing the song Mary Did You Know for worship service tomorrow and I found this version by Anthem Lights that was very well done. 

Mary Did You Know, Anthem Lights

pearlie

Why do we keep seeking for perfection in life?

Have you ever thought that we always want and expect good things to happen all the time. 

And we want it now. 

Healing, solutions, answers, riches, success, any kind of good things you name it. 

We want it now. We want it more. 

Have you ever thought that as human beings, we are made to have a consciousness and mind of our own, and we have this desire for perfection. We desire all things to be good in our lives. 

Do you know that we were created in perfection? But we are far from perfect. We know it and yet we seek for perfection in our twisted imperfect ways. 

And until and unless we acknowledge our own imperfection, we are doomed to spiral into an endless search for perfection but never finding it. 

And until and unless we recognise Jesus as Lord, we will forsake the very perfection we are looking for. 

The sermon today was based on Colossians 1:15-23 on The Preeminence of Christ. 

It’s an crucial message to learn that when Christ came and removed our imperfection, he substituted it with his perfection through his death on the cross and through his resurrection. 

So what we have is Christ’s perfection and not ours. 

Then why do we still strive for it in our own imperfect ways?

We may not realize it but we may feel that Jesus is not enough. We want more. 

And do we know who he is and what he has accomplished?

Until and unless we do, we will not be able to see life to its complete purpose. 

What is your only comfort in life and death? I am not my own, but in Christ in both body and soul, in life and death.1

pearlie

1 Heidelberg Catechism

Christ is risen indeed

I finished reading Köstenberger's book, The Final Days of Jesus, and found it excellent as a companion to reading the Scripture on a day-to-day basis during the Holy Week.

I have also concluded the daily readings everyday with the videos provided here, with this video on the Resurrection Day:

I will do this again next year, and make the passages of the Passion Week, of the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus the focus of my thought, meditation and commitment. 

pearlie

Can God die? What does it mean for God to die?

In reading and meditating on the portion of Scriptures on Good Friday--the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, the Jewish trials, denial of Peter, the Roman trials, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus--I suddenly began to wonder and ask a question I realized I haven't asked before.

Can God die? 

Jesus is God and he died. I am not sure if that really answers the question. Let's say it does, but it then begs the next question. 

What does it mean for God to die?

I googled for any answers but could not find anyone that provides a good or satisfying one. This article by Veronica Neffinger, Crosswalk seems the best, but even then, she does not fully answer the question. 

She says, "This is a question that can easily get into the deep waters of theology," and I wonder why haven't it been picked up by the scholars. Maybe it's me who have not come across them, and so if you do know of any good books on this, please let me know.

Some explained that Jesus is both divine and human, and it was the human side of him who died. But I agree with the article that said, "Sproul reminds us that this would be a 'mutation within the very being of God.' The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that three separate and distinct persons make up the Godhead, and yet these persons are one." Sproul further explains it here. 

So I think it boils down to what Jesus cried out to the Father when he was on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34). 

Death is not becoming non-existent. Death, even to us mere human, is the experience of a separation. Where we are at this separation stage is still yet to be known. In that case, Jesus is experiencing a separation from the Father, while still maintaining his relationship with him in the Trinitarian Godhead. 

Jesus took the separation that will indeed be ours if we die without him. But now that Jesus has taken the separation in our place, we are reconciled and are in abode with the Father for eternity, for all time.

But of course, like Sproul suggested, that may even be the wrong question to ask.

Is it?

The article aptly concludes with a quote from Greg Laurie, "This message is so deep and profound that you could spend the rest of your life studying it and still not grasp its full significance. Yet it is so simple that even a child can understand it.  Still, many people do not understand the significance of what took place on that Roman cross 2,000 years ago.  Jesus died so that we might live."

Amen.

pearlie

Psalm 118: a fitting psalm before the darkest hours

I have been following Köstenberger's Final Days of Jesus since Monday and I was at the Maundy Thursday section today:

1. The preparation for the Passover

2. The Final Passover

3. The Last Supper and Jesus’s Cleansing of His Community 

4. The Farewell Discourse Begins 

5. The Farewell Discourse Continues 

6. Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denials 

7. Jesus Issues Final Practical Commands 

8. The Garden of Gethsemane

I learnt that at the closing of the Last Supper, "the last meal that Jesus would eat with his disciples, the last meal that Jesus would eat in his pre-glorified body, and the final Passover meal of the old covenant", "Jesus and the disciples sing a hymn together and then depart toward the Mount of Olives. Jews traditionally sang Psalms 113–118 during the Passover celebration, culminating in Psalm 118, so it is very likely that this was the final hymn sung by Jesus and his disciples before leaving the upper room and walking to the garden of Gethsemane."

If we take a look at Psalm 118, you can imagine how and what Jesus would have drawn from it as he prepares for the dark hours ahead: his steadfast love endures forever...out of my distress I called on the LORD...I will not fear...it's better to take refuge in the Lord...all nations surround me...I was pushed hard...glad songs of salvation...I shall not die, but I shall live...the stone that the builders rejected 

has become the cornerstone. 

What a fitting psalm to be sung at this time of such heaviness.  

Psalm 118:1-29 ESV

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; 

for his steadfast love endures forever! 

Let Israel say, 

"His steadfast love endures forever."

Let the house of Aaron say, 

"His steadfast love endures forever." 

Let those who fear the LORD say, 

"His steadfast love endures forever." 

Out of my distress I called on the LORD; 

the LORD answered me and set me free. 

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. 

What can man do to me? 

The LORD is on my side as my helper; 

I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 

It is better to take refuge in the LORD 

than to trust in man. 

It is better to take refuge in the LORD 

than to trust in princes. 

All nations surrounded me; 

in the name of the LORD I cut them off! 

They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; 

in the name of the LORD I cut them off! 

They surrounded me like bees; 

they went out like a fire among thorns; 

in the name of the LORD I cut them off! 

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, 

but the LORD helped me. 

The LORD is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation. 

Glad songs of salvation 

are in the tents of the righteous: 

"The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, 

the right hand of the LORD exalts, 

the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!" 

I shall not die, but I shall live, 

and recount the deeds of the LORD. 

The LORD has disciplined me severely, 

but he has not given me over to death. 

Open to me the gates of righteousness, 

that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 

This is the gate of the LORD; 

the righteous shall enter through it. 

I thank you that you have answered me 

and have become my salvation. 

The stone that the builders rejected 

has become the cornerstone. 

This is the LORD's doing; 

it is marvelous in our eyes. 

This is the day that the LORD has made; 

let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

Save us, we pray, O LORD! 

O LORD, we pray, give us success! 

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! 

We bless you from the house of the LORD. 

The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. 

Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, 

up to the horns of the altar! 

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; 

you are my God; I will extol you. 

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; 

for his steadfast love endures forever!

pearlie 

It's challenging and costly to follow Christ

The sermon this morning was from Luke 9 on the theme of being active for Christ or being an active disciple of Christ. Rev Roger Bray talked about its call, cost and commitment. 

When someone addressed Jesus and told him that he will follow Jesus (v.57), Jesus replied most unexpectedly. He did not say "that's great" or "wonderful, let us fix a time and help you with your bible reading." Even though that is important, he cut to the chase and went straight to the cost of following him (v.58-62). 

It is costly to follow Jesus. It is putting him above everything in our lives, everything. 

Rev Bray quoted this scene from the movie The Fellowship of the Ring to stress on the cost and the commitment of following Jesus. 

Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened...

Gandalf: So do all who lived to see such times...but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

What do we do with our lives that God has given us here? What does it mean for us to follow him?

It is very challenging to follow Jesus. It is very costly; it costs our everything. We may not walk the paths of martyrs or missionaries or even pastors. Each of us have our own path to walk as ordered and directed by God. But the cost is high nonetheless. 

And for us to walk in that path, Jesus has committed himself to us to be his disciples. He had sent his disciples out with the Holy Spirit, he will do the same with us. Whilst we are not able to cannot carry the cross, he carried it for us. He died in our place and only he can do that for us. We can't do it by ourselves. He is the one who empowers us. 

The cost may be high, but he enables us.

pearlie

With the barest of words and emotions

 

The sermon this morning was from John 19:17-42, the passage about the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Pastor said that it unusual that after spending so many verses telling us what happened to Jesus who was before the Jews and Roman authorities after his arrest, the passage here on the crucifixion seem anti-climatic with the barest of words and descriptions.

But I find that most remarkable. With just a short passage, the apostle John gave us the most important facts about the crucifixion of Christ. With the economy of words, every sentence and verse, are packed and deep with theological truths. You can practically spend your whole life just studying each and every of these 21 verses in John, let alone the other parallel passages in Matthew, Mark and Luke.

When I watched movie adaptations of Jesus's crucifixion, I always thought it interesting that the Gospels did away with the emotions, feelings, and sensations of the event. 

With just two words in Greek, John wrote, αὐτὸν ἐσταύρωσαν, they crucified him. 

Was it not important how Jesus reacted, what he thought, and how he felt on the cross? Or was it something so painful and so unimaginable that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John chose not to describe it?

I don't know but I believe that even with the barest of words and emotions, they are so important and theologically packed that it is what I need to know and believe in: that Jesus died for me, so I may live.

pearlie

The Madness of the Christian Faith

The Madness of the Christian Faith

by Pastor Samuel Nesan 

The sermon today was about the Christian faith that may seem foolish or insane to the world, but to us believers it is the most wonderful news and reality in our lives. 

We have the assurance of salvation, we have the groaning for eternity and the hope of God's judgment. These may not sound spectacular at all but with deeper thought, these are the very things that a person need. 

pearlie