Power comes from a barrel of a gun? Hmm... Enjoy!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
The Monster & The Abyss Part 2
Well I posted some comments I had about the situation in the middle east inspired by a quote I read from Friedrich Nietzsche which goes like this, "he who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." That post attracted some comments written by "Anonymous". Although I know who "Anonymous" is, she wants to remain "Anonymous." This was the exchange we had.
Anonymous wrote, "This post of yours came just in sync :) My friend posed me this question at the beginning of this week: " If God writes in 1 of His laws to not commit murder, why did He justify wars against Israel's enemies?"Maybe you might want to help me to answer this question of his? "
I replied, "Oh. Tough one. Well I am not going to comment on why God justify wars against anybody. Maybe He did, maybe He did not but he is God is has His reasons. But the wars of Israel are not the only ones where the name of God is involved in. Christians in the crusades used it to justify their war. The terrorists today are using it. Perhaps we are misusing the name of God. If that is the case, then Israel is obviously not the only culprits. So perhaps we should not judge what God is doing. We can't even understand the half of His divine purpose. Just have faith that it will work out for good ultimately. By the way, who are you?"
To which Anonymous replied, "I agree with you that God has His ways but I think my friend was talking more about the territory given to Israel and the land He promised to their forefathers to conquer. What about that? Why did God ask them to claim the land and pronounce war in that sense?oh btw forgot to add my identity so I'll leave it as anonymous :p You should know..... "
I think it is a good exchange, which is why I brought it forward to this post. I like to reply to the above comment by saying that
I don't know.
God and God only can give you an answer to that question because He is the only one with the divine perspective. There are a lot of injustices in the world, some of which I dare say are allowed to happen by God Himself, read my post on Job. I don't pretend to have an answer to all the injustices of this world whether done by ancient Israel or by those who are living now. But I do have faith that everything will be made right in the end. God is a good and great God not because the Bible says He is, but because He has PROVEN Himself to me that He is good and great. So live your life in His will and leave the universe running to Him.
By the way, anybody else got any other comments, I will be happy to hear them.
PS. There is no need to be so mysterious Anonymous. Please sign in next time. Ha! Ha! Ha!
:p
Anonymous wrote, "This post of yours came just in sync :) My friend posed me this question at the beginning of this week: " If God writes in 1 of His laws to not commit murder, why did He justify wars against Israel's enemies?"Maybe you might want to help me to answer this question of his? "
I replied, "Oh. Tough one. Well I am not going to comment on why God justify wars against anybody. Maybe He did, maybe He did not but he is God is has His reasons. But the wars of Israel are not the only ones where the name of God is involved in. Christians in the crusades used it to justify their war. The terrorists today are using it. Perhaps we are misusing the name of God. If that is the case, then Israel is obviously not the only culprits. So perhaps we should not judge what God is doing. We can't even understand the half of His divine purpose. Just have faith that it will work out for good ultimately. By the way, who are you?"
To which Anonymous replied, "I agree with you that God has His ways but I think my friend was talking more about the territory given to Israel and the land He promised to their forefathers to conquer. What about that? Why did God ask them to claim the land and pronounce war in that sense?oh btw forgot to add my identity so I'll leave it as anonymous :p You should know..... "
I think it is a good exchange, which is why I brought it forward to this post. I like to reply to the above comment by saying that
I don't know.
God and God only can give you an answer to that question because He is the only one with the divine perspective. There are a lot of injustices in the world, some of which I dare say are allowed to happen by God Himself, read my post on Job. I don't pretend to have an answer to all the injustices of this world whether done by ancient Israel or by those who are living now. But I do have faith that everything will be made right in the end. God is a good and great God not because the Bible says He is, but because He has PROVEN Himself to me that He is good and great. So live your life in His will and leave the universe running to Him.
By the way, anybody else got any other comments, I will be happy to hear them.
PS. There is no need to be so mysterious Anonymous. Please sign in next time. Ha! Ha! Ha!
:p
Saturday, June 24, 2006
The Monster & The Abyss
I was watching Steven Spielberg's "Munich" a while back and in the scene where the top ministers of Israel were deciding whether to go after the terrorist responsible for the massacre at the Olympics, the then prime minister of Israel Golda Meir said, "We have been treated brutally in history, therefore we have to be brutal in order to survive." After that she gave the green light to go ahead with the operation.
It is sad that a single race of people have been singled out and treated so brutally throughout history. What makes things worse is that this race of people now think that they have the right to treat others with that same brutality. The saddest thing of all is that this people are God's chosen, holy and set apart.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said that, "he who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Therefore when you are fighting an enemy, you have to be careful not to become the enemy yourself because that will defeat the purpose of fighting in the first place. A classic example of this happening is in the middle east where Israel is fighting terrorism with terror, murder with murder, cruelty with cruelty and the list goes on. Other than a few overtures of peace, there appears to be no end to this vicious cycle. Israel has effectively lowered themselves to the level of the very terrorist they are trying so hard to fight. They are becoming terrorist themselves. Israel has become the monster they are fighting.
We here in sunny Singapore can do nothing but pray that God will do something to improve the circumstances in that troubled region. But while we do that, maybe there is a new tactic we can try to combat the evils of this world. We can fight terrorism with love and understanding, murder with forgiveness, cruelty with mercy and the list goes on. That might just be the difference maker.
It is sad that a single race of people have been singled out and treated so brutally throughout history. What makes things worse is that this race of people now think that they have the right to treat others with that same brutality. The saddest thing of all is that this people are God's chosen, holy and set apart.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said that, "he who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Therefore when you are fighting an enemy, you have to be careful not to become the enemy yourself because that will defeat the purpose of fighting in the first place. A classic example of this happening is in the middle east where Israel is fighting terrorism with terror, murder with murder, cruelty with cruelty and the list goes on. Other than a few overtures of peace, there appears to be no end to this vicious cycle. Israel has effectively lowered themselves to the level of the very terrorist they are trying so hard to fight. They are becoming terrorist themselves. Israel has become the monster they are fighting.
We here in sunny Singapore can do nothing but pray that God will do something to improve the circumstances in that troubled region. But while we do that, maybe there is a new tactic we can try to combat the evils of this world. We can fight terrorism with love and understanding, murder with forgiveness, cruelty with mercy and the list goes on. That might just be the difference maker.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Yup... I am still here
Well this post is to reassure you guys that I am still alive. And I am still updating this blog. Sadly I am having some kind of writer's block and can't seem to find anything to write about. Right now I am going through some bilateral training with the Thai special forces in camp and we are going to an exercise tomorrow. Now those are the true blue soldiers. More on that on later post I hope, provided I can shake off this writer's block.
Got a new MP3 player, an Iriver H10 with a recording and playback function. My Creative MP3 which has been serving me well for the past 4 years burned. Thinking of experimenting with podcasts. But the Iriver USB cable seems to be damaged so I can't upload and download any files now (the annoying things with electronics), we shall see how that goes. Until next time!
Got a new MP3 player, an Iriver H10 with a recording and playback function. My Creative MP3 which has been serving me well for the past 4 years burned. Thinking of experimenting with podcasts. But the Iriver USB cable seems to be damaged so I can't upload and download any files now (the annoying things with electronics), we shall see how that goes. Until next time!
My new MP3 player
Sunday, June 11, 2006
The Calling
This must be my most honest post yet. So I guess it is best to get to the point. Whenever the question of God's calling in my life comes up one verse in the bible stands out over anything else. Matthew 23:37. It reads
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing"
That verse when it was first read to me stood out like a sore thumb, for lack of a better expression. I could almost feel God's lament and sorrow through the verse which weighed heavily on my heart. I feel that God wants to gather Israel back into His fold again. Yet I have not a clue what to do with it or how I was to proceed. With the future uncertain as it is, I feel that I should pray for confirmation and pray this calling into my life. Why?
There is a Talmudic quotation that says, "whoever saves one life saves the world entire." Christ echoes the same thing when He said in the bible, "when you do it for the least of my brothers, you do it for me." Both make the point that the smallest action can make a world of difference, so I guess if I believe (and I do believe) that this is a God given burden in my life I should just pray and let God guide and work through me to bring it to pass.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing"
That verse when it was first read to me stood out like a sore thumb, for lack of a better expression. I could almost feel God's lament and sorrow through the verse which weighed heavily on my heart. I feel that God wants to gather Israel back into His fold again. Yet I have not a clue what to do with it or how I was to proceed. With the future uncertain as it is, I feel that I should pray for confirmation and pray this calling into my life. Why?
There is a Talmudic quotation that says, "whoever saves one life saves the world entire." Christ echoes the same thing when He said in the bible, "when you do it for the least of my brothers, you do it for me." Both make the point that the smallest action can make a world of difference, so I guess if I believe (and I do believe) that this is a God given burden in my life I should just pray and let God guide and work through me to bring it to pass.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Fear
They say that the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. If that is true, I should be shaking in my legs with my pants down. Why do I say that? Well, since my university applications are down the drain and certain financial considerations, life after my national service has become a big question mark. So I am basically swimming in uncharted waters here. I guess I have good reason to fear the unknown.
So being a Christian, I turned to the only one I know can help me. God. Why? Because He is the only one who has produced the best results. Therein lies the complication, I always have a lot of difficulty following what I believe God wants me to do because I am unsure that that is Him speaking at all. What if God did not say what you think He said? Sometimes I honestly wish that God will appear in front of me and give me instructions of what he wanted me to do. Unfortunately thats not how God works.
Perhaps listening to God requires a balance of discernment and faith, discernment to recognize the voice of God and faith to have the guts to do what God tells you to do. Simple? It is, but I seem to find simplicity very hard to attain
So being a Christian, I turned to the only one I know can help me. God. Why? Because He is the only one who has produced the best results. Therein lies the complication, I always have a lot of difficulty following what I believe God wants me to do because I am unsure that that is Him speaking at all. What if God did not say what you think He said? Sometimes I honestly wish that God will appear in front of me and give me instructions of what he wanted me to do. Unfortunately thats not how God works.
Perhaps listening to God requires a balance of discernment and faith, discernment to recognize the voice of God and faith to have the guts to do what God tells you to do. Simple? It is, but I seem to find simplicity very hard to attain
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