Sunday, June 19, 2005
very well-written post. I fully agree. :)
Saturday, June 18, 2005
YO SUP MAN!
I hope some of us can take time to read this and edit it where it ain't good so we can come up with a good article which we may be able to make use of when defending our faith. If you're reading it, please read slowly, otherwise it may not make sense. I know this belongs to chunkk but if I put it there you may read it next year.
I wrote this after my classmate plus caleb's friends plus david's friend asked difficult qns about christianity. I think it looks like it's answering the qn how you know the bible is true. But basically, in christianity there are many basic qns to which we cannot give an ans. So this entry explores the need for faith and why it is not just an excuse which Christians use when they dunno how to ans a question.
Before I begin, i just wanna say woe to me if I write this with the attitude of a pharisee. "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? If i were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of God." Gal 1:10.
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If someone had proven that the Christian Bible is true, there would be no Christianity. (I’m not trying to joke here.) Because it would no longer take faith to believe that the Bible is true, and without the aspect of faith, Christianity cannot stand.
(If you’re a Christian, this implies that God has made it such that it is impossible for someone on Earth to prove that the Bible is true.)
Why, without the aspect of faith, Christianity cannot stand?
In Christianity, the basic doctrine is that God loves us and in response we love him. If God were to spill out all evidence to show that He is true, we would have no choice but to believe. But then, our relationship with God would not be one of love. There would be plenty of people whose “faith” would be on the basis of logic or i-had-no-choice-but-to-be-dragged-into-it, rather than love. God doesn't give us all the evidence because if he did, we would not have a freedom of choice, and love has to be out of a choice.
Look at Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” This verse says that by looking at nature around us, it is extremely reasonable, if not convincing, that there is a God as a creator, and this is the God Christianity speaks about. If you believe that God is the creator, it follows that you believe the Bible, which professes that God is Creator.
The point is that God left enough evidence on Earth for it to be reasonable for us to believe in him. But, he left some evidence out so that we have to have some degree of faith. By taking a step of faith, we are expressing our love for God. Why?
By taking the step of faith, we acknowledge that God loves us, as the Bible preaches. Human nature is such that when one feels loved, he feels a need to love in return. Hence, by taking a step of faith, we acknowledge that God loves us, and if our step of faith is sincere, we are also acknowledging that we love God in return.
Hence in Christianity, when one believes through faith, he can engage in a loving relationship with God. This is what Christianity is about. Therefore Christianity cannot do without faith. And when the answer "just have to have faith" is given to a question questioning Christianity, it may not just be the easy-way-out answer, it can be the truth. And this truth actually makes Christianity logical.
Now with this same faith, Christians go on to believe what the Bible says about other things, such as the Holy Spirit. When Christians enter into a relationship with God, the Bible says that they receive the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:9 “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”) The Holy Spirit strengthens this faith and convinces them that what they believe is true.
Hence, Christians have a deep conviction that their God is alive and that their faith is true, but they may be unable to explain to a friend why he should believe so. Hence, other people are not convinced. (Romans 2:14 “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things which come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”) The only evidence Christians have with them, if they are true Christians and not those who merely profess to be Christians, is that they are experiencing a loving relationship with God which is extremely real. But such evidence can never be convincing to someone who refuses the faith.
So there is no way we can convince pre-believers through an intellectual debate. God has already made it such that no one on Earth can prove that the Bible is true. Faith is a must. For the pre-believer to take that bold step of faith, praying for him is a must, because no one in his right mind would want to bet his life on something he can’t be sure of.
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I hope some of us can take time to read this and edit it where it ain't good so we can come up with a good article which we may be able to make use of when defending our faith. If you're reading it, please read slowly, otherwise it may not make sense. I know this belongs to chunkk but if I put it there you may read it next year.
I wrote this after my classmate plus caleb's friends plus david's friend asked difficult qns about christianity. I think it looks like it's answering the qn how you know the bible is true. But basically, in christianity there are many basic qns to which we cannot give an ans. So this entry explores the need for faith and why it is not just an excuse which Christians use when they dunno how to ans a question.
Before I begin, i just wanna say woe to me if I write this with the attitude of a pharisee. "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? If i were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of God." Gal 1:10.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
If someone had proven that the Christian Bible is true, there would be no Christianity. (I’m not trying to joke here.) Because it would no longer take faith to believe that the Bible is true, and without the aspect of faith, Christianity cannot stand.
(If you’re a Christian, this implies that God has made it such that it is impossible for someone on Earth to prove that the Bible is true.)
Why, without the aspect of faith, Christianity cannot stand?
In Christianity, the basic doctrine is that God loves us and in response we love him. If God were to spill out all evidence to show that He is true, we would have no choice but to believe. But then, our relationship with God would not be one of love. There would be plenty of people whose “faith” would be on the basis of logic or i-had-no-choice-but-to-be-dragged-into-it, rather than love. God doesn't give us all the evidence because if he did, we would not have a freedom of choice, and love has to be out of a choice.
Look at Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” This verse says that by looking at nature around us, it is extremely reasonable, if not convincing, that there is a God as a creator, and this is the God Christianity speaks about. If you believe that God is the creator, it follows that you believe the Bible, which professes that God is Creator.
The point is that God left enough evidence on Earth for it to be reasonable for us to believe in him. But, he left some evidence out so that we have to have some degree of faith. By taking a step of faith, we are expressing our love for God. Why?
By taking the step of faith, we acknowledge that God loves us, as the Bible preaches. Human nature is such that when one feels loved, he feels a need to love in return. Hence, by taking a step of faith, we acknowledge that God loves us, and if our step of faith is sincere, we are also acknowledging that we love God in return.
Hence in Christianity, when one believes through faith, he can engage in a loving relationship with God. This is what Christianity is about. Therefore Christianity cannot do without faith. And when the answer "just have to have faith" is given to a question questioning Christianity, it may not just be the easy-way-out answer, it can be the truth. And this truth actually makes Christianity logical.
Now with this same faith, Christians go on to believe what the Bible says about other things, such as the Holy Spirit. When Christians enter into a relationship with God, the Bible says that they receive the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:9 “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”) The Holy Spirit strengthens this faith and convinces them that what they believe is true.
Hence, Christians have a deep conviction that their God is alive and that their faith is true, but they may be unable to explain to a friend why he should believe so. Hence, other people are not convinced. (Romans 2:14 “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things which come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”) The only evidence Christians have with them, if they are true Christians and not those who merely profess to be Christians, is that they are experiencing a loving relationship with God which is extremely real. But such evidence can never be convincing to someone who refuses the faith.
So there is no way we can convince pre-believers through an intellectual debate. God has already made it such that no one on Earth can prove that the Bible is true. Faith is a must. For the pre-believer to take that bold step of faith, praying for him is a must, because no one in his right mind would want to bet his life on something he can’t be sure of.
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Saturday, June 11, 2005
hey my phone calendar says christopher's birthday is next friday.. my word, that is like, fast? can like, anyone check cos i got weiying's birthday all wrong like, a few days ago?
YEAH! west ham's my second favourite team. i dunno why.
sorry, didn't answer your question. haha.
ryan
YEAH! west ham's my second favourite team. i dunno why.
sorry, didn't answer your question. haha.
ryan
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Our blog is dead? This must be the resurrection...
Ooh, yeah, a meetup this month is a must. Take some time off ya busy schedules, you know.
anyway a question i was pondering: why is west ham's everybody's second favourite team?
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