There was a time when I experienced the youthful angst of love. I read books and listened to sermons on honouring the woman and her father, how courtship is better than dating, and how a man should initiate the relationship. Looking back, I was thinking "if I do all these things then I will get the girl I like".
There was something odd about my mentality, perhaps I misunderstood the point of all those books and sermons, because my mindset about marriage wasn't under grace.
One day I watched a sermon on dating by Kevin Williams, and that opened my eyes to see the freedom God actually allows in this matter. (You can find it here)
The biblical model for dating is unpredictable. People found their wives/husbands in a variety of different ways: From waking up and finding your wife beside you (Adam), to winning a beauty pageant (Esther). Sometimes the man initiated, sometimes the woman advanced first (Ruth.), and sometimes a parent found the mate.(Isaac). Even all the stories of my married friends are different. Although there is a need to honour one another and our parents/guardians, doing so does not guarantee success. Bringing two people together is a work of God. Perhaps that's why Jesus says whatever God joins together, let no man separate.
Singleness is hard, but it's encouraging and freeing to know I don't have to find a wife by following a formula or jumping through hoops.
Perhaps I'm still ignorant in some areas regarding this topic, any feedback is much appreciated.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Nightmares and troubled sleep
I don't dream much, but sometimes I have nightmares that leave a bad taste in my mouth after I wake up.
I find these 2 types of nightmares to be the most disturbing:
Perpetually stuck in school
- In these dreams I'm about to graduate, but find out that because of some oversight (like forgetting to go to 1 class for an entire semester), my graduation will be delayed by at least 1 year. Sometimes these dreams skip to the next year and I still won't be able to finish school...
No more heroes
- Witnessing the dark side of someone I admire. Yesterday John Piper was yelling like a mad man, and then I woke up...
Perhaps these dreams reveal some of my past trauma and fears that go unnoticed.
Perhaps these dreams reveal some of my past trauma and fears that go unnoticed.
Friday, June 17, 2016
The God who wounds and heals
"No one will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes from the law. But now, apart from the law, God's righteousness has been revealed, attested by the law and the prophets - that is, God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction." - Romans 3.
There are many aspects of God's character and work that are alien to us. One of which is His work in salvation.
In a sense, God saves us from himself by himself, and He does this by first wounding us and then healing us.
God first wounds us through the law (What was given through Moses in Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy). Contrary to a popular notion that "If I act a certain way then I can be considered a good person", the law describes in specific detail what it means to be righteous in God's eye, and in turn shows how every single person fails to meet God's standard, this is especially evident if you try to obey the law on your own. Our human standard of good is too low and often times too lenient on ourselves, the law in this sense wounds and humbles us.
But fortunately God doesn't stop there, He also heals us by revealing to us a way to be good apart from the law, a way which the law bears witness to (especially the laws describing the sacrificial system), that is faith in Jesus Christ.
Everyone who trust in Jesus are united with his death and resurrection, dead to sin and alive to the God who both wounds and heals.
The law brings death to all who are under it, but Jesus brings life to all who are under Him.
What a strange and wonderful God we worship!
There are many aspects of God's character and work that are alien to us. One of which is His work in salvation.
In a sense, God saves us from himself by himself, and He does this by first wounding us and then healing us.
God first wounds us through the law (What was given through Moses in Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy). Contrary to a popular notion that "If I act a certain way then I can be considered a good person", the law describes in specific detail what it means to be righteous in God's eye, and in turn shows how every single person fails to meet God's standard, this is especially evident if you try to obey the law on your own. Our human standard of good is too low and often times too lenient on ourselves, the law in this sense wounds and humbles us.
But fortunately God doesn't stop there, He also heals us by revealing to us a way to be good apart from the law, a way which the law bears witness to (especially the laws describing the sacrificial system), that is faith in Jesus Christ.
Everyone who trust in Jesus are united with his death and resurrection, dead to sin and alive to the God who both wounds and heals.
The law brings death to all who are under it, but Jesus brings life to all who are under Him.
What a strange and wonderful God we worship!
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Over emphasis on trying harder to commit to Jesus?
There are trends in churches when leaders discover the congregation is not up to a spiritual standard, so they challenge the congregation to truly commit to Jesus, and to surrender all to Jesus, to serve God more, or something similar to these lines.
I doubt the effectiveness of these methods, because they are seldom, maybe even never used in scripture, sometimes they will only drive people to rely on their flesh out of ignorance.
It seems a real root of the visible church's weakness comes from the fact that wheat and tares are sown together, yet important truths from the Bible are never taught.
People need to be taught the truths about the need and evidence for regeneration, to believe in the Father,Son,and Holy Spirit's work of salvation in their lives, to find strength in their identity as children of God, and salvation is ultimately an choice of God's will and not human will. This way wheat will be encouraged because they will learn to examine themselves and see they are indeed in the faith and have great confidence and joy from assurance to serve God, and tares will be convicted in there own heart, the mask of deception of some tares may fall off, maybe some will even turn into wheat.
Besides, weakness is alright, Paul learned to glory in his weakness because through them, God's strength is shown
I doubt the effectiveness of these methods, because they are seldom, maybe even never used in scripture, sometimes they will only drive people to rely on their flesh out of ignorance.
It seems a real root of the visible church's weakness comes from the fact that wheat and tares are sown together, yet important truths from the Bible are never taught.
People need to be taught the truths about the need and evidence for regeneration, to believe in the Father,Son,and Holy Spirit's work of salvation in their lives, to find strength in their identity as children of God, and salvation is ultimately an choice of God's will and not human will. This way wheat will be encouraged because they will learn to examine themselves and see they are indeed in the faith and have great confidence and joy from assurance to serve God, and tares will be convicted in there own heart, the mask of deception of some tares may fall off, maybe some will even turn into wheat.
Besides, weakness is alright, Paul learned to glory in his weakness because through them, God's strength is shown
Saturday, January 23, 2016
No need to live with guilt all the time
Guilt and shame can cripple Christians very badly, but the good news is that we shouldn't live with constant guilt and shame, but with constant joy because of what God has provided for us in Jesus.
This article explains it very well, I hope you will be encouraged by it.
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