Thank You Jeremy!

As promised, I want to give credit and say a quick thank you to Jeremy Myers of TILL HE COMES Blog. He has kindly given me the permission to reproduce the "What would you say?" article in my previous post. I highly recommend his blog (now linked to mine) for the much needed teachings on the unconditional grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for sinners (which is the theme of my blog). You will also find solid teachings on the Bible, Church, and Theology there. So far, he hasn't written anything I would consider heretical... yet. Ha! Just kidding Jeremy :-) Keep up the good work brother!

What would you say?

Imagine yourself in church, and as the service starts, a young couple sits down in front of you. You are a bit surprised to see them in church, because you know one of them from work. He is not the kind of guy you think would come to church. But here he is!

As the service starts, the worship leader invites everybody to stand and greet those around them. You do, and warmly greet the couple in front of you. The guy you know from work says they came because you are always talking about how great your church is. You are excited he came because of that, but are a little nervous because you know he isn’t the church type. The couple isn’t married, but is very sexually active, and don’t have any qualms about public displays of affection. You hope they don’t hold hands or kiss during the service.

But wouldn’t you know it…as the music starts, each puts one arm around the other and they hold each other close. Then, after a few minutes, they start holding hands. You look around nervously. Not even many married people hold hands when they are in your church, and you are afraid how this couple’s affection will be taken, especially since you know most people know that they are not married.

During the sermon, they sit close enough to each other that they are touching, but that’s about it. After the service is over, they turn around to greet you again, and say, “You were right! We really liked attending here. I think we will come again next week.”

What would you say to them? Who would you introduce them to? Would you tell them to not hold hands next week? Would you tell them about a six-inch rule for unmarried couples? Would you tell them that sex before marriage was a sin and God did not approve of fornication?

Oh, and before you answer, I forgot to tell you… The couple is gay. It’s two guys. Now, with that information, what would you say?

(I got this from another blog. I've been talking about inviting people to church, so I think this is relevant. I really want to know your answer, so please leave your response by clicking the "comments" below. I'll tell you where I get this from later because I don't want you to read people's responses there.)

I'd rather have a messy son...

Just in case you read this and you don't know, Hulda and I've been married for 10 years before we finally have Jayden in January 2006. He truly is a miracle baby because doctors told us that the only way we can ever hope to have a baby is through IVF. I guess God had other plans.

So Jayden is almost two and he's at a stage where he knows how throw tantrums, blows at people he doesn't know, and generally disobeys our orders. I have to be honest that it can be frustrating at times and I often wonder if I could return him to where ever he came from. JUST KIDDING!!!

A couple of days ago Jayden had terrible fever. His temperature was high (39.6 deg c) but his hands and feet were cold. I rushed back from the office to take care of him as it was too late for Hulda to cancel her teaching. I gave him panadol and put cool wet cloth on his forehead to keep the temperature down. Later that day we took him to the doctor and the doc said he has gastroenteritis. I thank God for concerned friends who prayed for him and for us.

That afternoon, seeing Jayden just laying there helplessly in my arms made me realise how much I love him despite his tantrums and his disobedience. I'm sure I'm not the only parent who feels this way but I really wish it was me who was sick.

As our heavenly Father, I'm sure that's how God feels when he sees us suffer or struggle with sins. He's not the God who just can't wait to punish us every time we made a mistake. Exodus 34:6 says that The LORD is "the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." Similarly, Numbers 14:18 says "The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion."

We waited 10 years before we had a son. Yea, Jayden frustrates me at times. But, I thank God that I even have a son. I wouldn't trade him for anything. I think that's exactly how God feels about me and you. The message of the well-known story of the prodigal son who decided to come home to his father after living a life of sin is loud and simple but clear. God is saying to us "I'd rather have a messy son than have no son at all."

Quote of the Week and apologies for Lack of Updates

I want to apologise to my few but faithful readers out there in the blogworld for the lack of post in the last couple of weeks. I'm not making any excuses but I've been preoccupied lately with work and my son Jayden has not been 100%. Praise God things are looking up now and God willing, I shall post a new entry soon. Meanwhile, here's a quote for you to ponder. "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's Beautiful

I was reading from John's Gospel this morning and came to this verse. I realized once again why I love this verse so much. Bob Wilkins from the Grace Evangelical Society wrote a nice article called "Whoever Means Whoever" explaining why this verse is so wonderful. Here's an excerpt from that article.

John 3:16 is special in its brevity, beauty, and breadth--all spoken by the Lord Jesus well before His death and resurrection and the birth of the church.

BREVITY: Just 25 words in the English text. If anyone ever asks you to share the gospel in 25 words or less, quote John 3:16.

BEAUTY: Look at the words. God. Love. The world. His only begotten Son. Whoever. Should not perish. Has everlasting life. All of the themes of a great novel are present: a Lover and His beloved, a self-sacrificing death, deliverance from a terrible fate, and living happily ever after" (i.e., living joyfully forever). Whenever I read this verse or hear it read I warm up inside. This is such a beautiful verse.

I lied

I said in my earlier post that I was going to test drive my new head shaver this weekend and post a review here. Well, I LIED. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to try the shaver, so I guess my review is gonna have to wait. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the cartoon.

I feel Good...

Last Sunday I got this awesome gift from Ming and Carol. It's a shaver. Not just any shaver. It's an ergonomically-designed razor made for shaving the scalp. It's apparently so good that it's been voted Top 10 Design of 2000 by the TIME Magazine. I'm looking forward to TEST DRIVE this baby this weekend. I will write my review of it here, so watch this space...hahahahhaa.

I'm not gonna lie, receiving gift makes me feel good, but receiving gift from a friend is that much sweeter. It's never about how expensive the gift is, but the thoughtfulness is what makes your day. So thanks Ming, Carol, and all of you who've been friends to me. You're awesome and I thank God for bringing you into our world.