Hypocrisy (Part II)

Hypocrisy, like white lies, intentional lies, are part of the "Flesh" that stil resides in our body. Sgt Panda said it best: "Everyday, christians are at war with the Devil". The temptation of the Devil is real, but know that His tangible powers (e.g. to say make you drop dead at a snap of the thumb) are removed because the battle IS already won by Jesus Christ. All that remains in the Devil is just the ability to input lies & temptations into your heart. The Devil seeks to only condemmn you.

To counter the Devil's lies :believers, understand that we already have the righteouness of God through Christ's death & sacrifice on the cross; having the righteousness of God means we can stand tall before God now, today, tomorrow & forever. Sure, we may still sin daily, but appreciate that all of our punishments for our past, present and future sins have already been borne by Jesus on the cross. When you appreciate and understand that despite of all the sins you have done, Abba still forgives you and embraces you in his grace; do you seriously still have the heart to commit that particular sin? Would you not be so touched that there is now a fundamental change of heart in you to stop commiting that sin? Some "under the law" christian will counter that "Oh hence, you could go just go ahead and kill, rape, someone and still be forgiven right?"

To best answer you, i quote from my good friend Ms Lim MY.

"1) When you know that an innocent man died for you on the cross because of your sin, will you want to sin again? 2) If every sin we commit means another stripe on this innocent man's body, will you want to sin again? 3) in terms of analogy, its akin to when say your natural father canes your siblings for your wrongdoing, will you want to sin again? 4) When you truly believe that Jesus has come to this earth 2000 years ago to bear your sins, do you still want to sin?

This is the story of LOVE . The world began with and survives because of LOVE . And we LOVE him because He first LOVED us. The very fundamental of our life - LOVE, is Abba Father. What other "truths" are we seeking in this world? Isn't it all in vain when we choose to ignore the most fundamental of life? The Bible is nothing, but a book of LOVE."

Dear abba, i thank you for all the non hypocritical friends i have, and i also ask you to comfort the hearts of those friends whom i have been hypocritical to. My upmost apologies to them especially Xuefen. Im so sorry. Amen.

Hypocrisy (Part I)

Sometime ago, a bro spoke of his failed relationship. He said, "Everybody can possibly fail you, no matter how much promises, affections, emotions, time, commitment given to u. Only Jesus will not fail you." Oh I am not telling you to boycott your friends, family, spouse or your colleagues. As Dorlisa said,"God sanctions and want us to have blissful relationships such as friendship, kinship and marriage."

I have commited hypocrisy throughout my 26 years old of life (I am still a mortal, not perfect, and i do sin daily.) For e.g., during NS, everyone in my unit curry-favored to our tempermental childish & emo officer. I did it too because failure to do so, means you are more likely to get that extra duty, that less chances of getting your ORD leave approved etc etc.

Sure i encountered my share of hypocrisy commited on me. For e.g, some friends never ever bothers to initiate a chat online, or sms/call me; but they do so when they need help. Or when they were actively seeking my advice on a matter, but then decide not to tell you their final decision. Or worse, after digesting your good advice and benefiting, your friend disappears. The worst one can swallow is when you think the other party truly enjoys chatting with you online or offline; only to discover at the end, this other party confesses in other channels (e.g. his/her own blog, forums, or chats with your other mutual friends) that in fact they hated talking to me; but didnt want to sound unpleased. That's hypocrisy at its best?. Before you think of berating me, I admit that i commited some of these "atrocities of hypocrisy" too. No one is perfect except for Jesus for we still have the flesh in ourselves.

Self Discovery of filial-ship

Well, today, i accompanied my mum to Gleneagles Medical Centre for a day surgical procedure, ultra scan and consultation with a senior consultant regarding a medical condition. Well, with the Glory and Praise to Abba, she is fine. Amen. The results are very good.

Well my mother has always been a very tough lady. In her 50 years of life, whenever she needed to go see a doctor, or visit the hospital, she would insist that she go alone. I never bothered to volunteer to tag along because its either i had classes, or there were the long and late nights project meetings. Moreover, I kinda took it for granted that she can handle it on her own.

Abba prompted me to accompany her today bah. I realized that almost every patient came with somebody, usually their children. It then dawned on me that all these years, how lonely she must have felt when she went for any medical appointments alone. It is then at that moment, i realize my mum has actually aged, and yeah she is not as fiesty and independant as she is in her younger days.

When she woke up from the anesthesia at the end of the surgery, she was a little wobbly and i instinctively held her arms and supported her. I start to wonder if i had not bothered to come today, maybe she would have fainted along the way.

At the end of the day (although she didn't voiced it out), i could sense her sense of relief that 1) her test results are all clear, 2) today her son finally made the effort to accompany her today and 3) probably, today is the day of medical appointment when she FINALLY had a son with her to act as a translator, settle bills, queue in cashiers, buy food for her and support her in case she fainted. I will be a better son from today bah. Thank you Abba for today's revelations and yeah her complete clean bill of health. Thank you Abba.

Innovative Declaration of Love

Hmm, yesterday i watched a love romantic movie on Tv. An interesting dialogue transpired.

In that scene, the husband was pissed that his wife was always demanding that he buy her presents. In anger, husband retorted: "why are you so like this? Why do you always want me to buy things for you? Why can't you be independent? Where is your ambition? Where is your dream?

Wife: : Well, i merely want you to coax me and make me feel special by promising to buy a gift for me. But in reality, i do not need you to buy it.

Hubby: Stunned

Wife: You asked about my dreams and ambition. Let me tell you.. You are my dreams and you are my ambition.

Hubby: Melts and hugs her.

Although, it is a scripted movie, i must commend the scriptwriters. Wah to complement and tell your gf/spouse that "You are my dreams and you are my ambition". Awwwwww.

I think in this sense, the appreciation must be there for Abba. Abba in all his wisdom could have by force and by default brain-washed all mortals to recieve Christ. But he choose to give us free will. If Abba is already so gracious in giving us free will with his 1st Agape love, how more does he give us the free will to choose our spouse.

Forgiveness of Edison Chen

I am sure everybody who is remotely internet savvy would have heard or read about the Edison Chen saga. It takes a lot of guts to admit to one's mistake, not to mention speaking to hordes of reporters in a news conference telecasted live simultaneously in Hong Kong, China and Macau.

Each one of us, (including me) has our own dark past/secrets which were probably commited when we were in an ignorant, rebellious or depressed stage of our lives. Saying sorry, or apologizing for those mistakes is really difficult.

Through the mortal and secular eyes, Edison is beyond redemption. Through the mortal eyes, he is a sexual pervertic addict.

But we do not need to worry how these mortals judge us. In 1 John 2:12,

"12I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name."

The phrase "on account of his name" refers to the "name" of Christ. In Semitic thought the "name" stands for the whole person. To "believe in the name of the Son of God" (1 Jn 5:13) means, quite simply, to believe in Jesus himself. Similarly, forgiveness on account of his name means forgiveness for his sake, or for the sake of what he has done. What is in view is primarily the atoning sacrifice of Jesus' death on the cross (2:2). Because of Jesus' sacrificial self-giving, God forgives sins through him. Those who have experienced this forgiveness are the children of God, the author's own dear children, the congregation of faithful believers.Steadfast Knowledge of Christ (2:13a).

Edison, in Abba eyes.. you are already forgiven. ;-)

Woman: A Hysterical, Dynamic, Fluid, Volatile and Unpredictable species

Once upon a time, there was a very devout and dedicated young Pastor named Joe serving in the local community church. He was also an avid Harley davision Biker. One fine day, the Lord spoke to him and said, "Joe, for your hard work, i would like to reward you. Name me a wish and i shall fulfill it."

Joe replied, "Lord, I have always wanted to bike all the way to Hawaii Islands but its surrounded by seas. I want you to build a highway from my house to Hawaii"

Lord, "But Joe, you know son, building such a mega bridge is not environmentally friendly. It will consume a lot of resources, sweat and toil and make people suffer in the end. Can you propose another wish that will actually edify me?"

Joe thought for a while and said, " Ok Lord, i want you to give me a listening heart, so that i can always hear and peep into every woman's heart to know what the hell they are thinking."

Lord, "Hmm, ok Son, you want a 4 lane, or 5lane bridge?"

Freak Economics Macdonald Big Breakfast

I always ponder over the frenzy people accord to ordering Big Breakfast Macdonald meal compared to the other breakfast meals offered at Macdonalds.

People go gaga over the BiG breakfast meal because it is percieved as "BIG" compared to the rest of the meals. In a Big Breakfast meal, we have 1) the eggs, 2) 2 slices of bread, 3)one hashbrown, and 4) a piece of chicken sausage. These items are displayed spaciously on the plate. Now, this Seems a Feast!!!!.

But on hindsight, you do realize that, you could assemble the items 1), 2) and 4) together and it is actually a burger. In fact, a sausage egg macmuffin burger if you call it. So in reality, there is nothing "BIG" about Macdonald's big breakfast meal. It is merely about presentation and about decieving the eyes.

(these kids are sure adorable, but i hope my seeds will not be like them, so plump i mean. ;-) )

A very philosophical Statement

I would like to quote a memorable and significant phrase from one of my good and intellectual friend.

"Be nice to people on your way up because you may see them again on your way down."
From Nicholas Cheong


This statement though secular, holds great truth and wisdom in the way we should handle our colleagues in the workplace, or in general your family and peers around you. Kudos to his Wisdom. Amen... and thank you Abba for surrounding me with wise men.

My favourite song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT88jBAoVIM

Powerful vocals...Must listen.! ;-)

My great sympathy to the PRC kids

• Hmm, this article appeared on the 21st Feb 2008 issue of Mypaper. The title translated in English means "Chinese teens are obsessed with Online Virtual Marriages".
• The latest craze to hit the China teens is to get married in the virtual world. Subsequently, the newly wed move into their "matrimony house" and they are engaged in all the mundanes of marriage life from "raising kids" , "making a living" and yeah even handling "divorces".
• Although all these events take place in the online virtual world, it is not free mind you. Just the wedding ceremony alone in the virtual world will cost you cold hard cash of $40-S$197. Moreover, in the event if you are divorced in the virtual world, the men have to pay alimony in real cold hard cash as well.
• I just feel that it is really saddening to see these teens engage in the virtual world but not in the reality world. Perhaps the realities of life is indeed too harsh, hence, they seek refuge in the virtual world. Perhaps these teens lacked love, they lacked the simple hugs and kisses from their parents when they were young. Hence they grow up to be apprehensive of the real world...
• Abba please help them..

Inspirational Quote

http://www.markhankins.org/

Well 2 weeks ago, my church invited Pastor Mark Hankins and his lovely wife to preach to us. I just want to comment on one significant statement made by him. He said..

"You may get what you want but you may not want what you get"

This line seems kind of vague-ish but if you meditate on it, you may see some light in it. At least it suggests that sometimes, Abba may indeed grant us our prayers and wishes, but at times you do not get what you ask for. Instead you get something else from Abba instead.

For e.g., you ask Abba for a winning big sweep ticket of $2 million dolllars. Instead, you do not get it; but your neighbour's Dog has just given birth to many puppies. As a result, you get a cute puppy instead of the winning big sweep ticket. Maybe Abba feels that you are not ready to handle the $2million bucks yet, but he wants you to handle know to take care of a puppy first. Well Ha. its Abba's mysterious ways of doing things.

Let me know your thoughts k?

Funny Incident on MRT train.

Well, just last week i was in the MRT train heading for Cityhall. There was this mother and her young daughter (abt 4 years old) seated in front of me, while i was standing.

I have a habit on trains. Whenever, i see very cute babies or kids, i will like to tease them, make funny faces and try to make them laugh. So yeah, this young little girl was no exception as well.

Hmm, i got the little girl to laugh so happily from my smilely faces that in great joy, she stretched her arms wide open to me and blurted, "Daddy!!".

Ha.. her mum laughed incessantly and reminded her little girl not to anyhow call strangers daddy. But this incident made my day bah. Because i know i brought warmth, joy and kinship to that little girl, regardless that it may be shortlived. Yeah.. i became a God Daddy for that day.. It was nice.. ;-)

My affair with cockroaches and Lizard

I have an affinity with roaches and lizard. They always seem to have an ability to sneak into my mouth around 4am in the morning.

[Cockroach Incident]: It occured in year 2000. I was mugging late during my A levels exams. I fell asleep on my chair with my head leaning backwards. My mouth was wide open. It was 4am when i felt a sharp pain in my mouth. Naturally, i gagged and my jaws shut tight before i spit out the content. It was a baby cockroach Yewww, for the remaining hrs left, i brushed my teeth until dawn arrived.

[Lizard Incident]: It occured on 16 feb 2008. This time round, i wasn't mugging. But i was playing online game till early morning. It was also around 4am, when i walked into the kitchen. It was only after drinking 3 big gulps of water from the water flask that i realize there was a live lizard wriggling in the wwater flask. Hmm, again, i brushed my teeth till dawn...

As an introductory post, i would like to explain briefly why i name my blog as Big Agape Kid.

I recently signed up to serve my church's children ministy. Well, deep in my veins, i always felt that i am like a big kid. Hmm, as the years pass by, i realize i have this desire built in by Abba for the children bah.

I believe Abba's will is confirmational not directional. I still remember in the application form i was asked to state why i wanted to serve in the kids ministry. I replied that i want to ensure each and every little precious ones will grow up to know that they are Abba's princes and princess. Indeed, i was posted to the Agape Kids section, where the logo meaning of Agape Kids spoke of the same desire i.e. to let the kids know they are Abba's princes and princesses. I believe great things will come my way serving in Agape Kids. ;-)