That's what my desktop looks like at the moment. Cool?

How's life, everyone? I'm doing well. I'm sure some of you faithfuls who've been reading my blog in the last month or so have noticed some spiritual talk in the last few posts. Some of you might think these are religious rhetoric.

I prefer to think of them, as also this post, as an expression. I'm still learning how to express myself through scripture, so please be patient. Don't take it that I'm preaching. I'm not qualified to preach. This is my blog and I blog for myself, so I get to say whatever I like here.

If you find something offensive here, well, please know that it's not about you at all. But if you find that there is anything here that encourages you, share your testimony with me, so I can be encouraged too; so that as fellow believers, we may be able to strengthen each other.

Apostle Paul Preaching on the Ruins by Giovanni Paolo Pannini

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² singing with full voice,

"Worthy is the Lamb that wasslaughteredto receive power and wealth andwisdom and mightand honour and glory and blessing!"

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,

"To the one seated on the throne andto the Lambbe blessing and honour and glory andmightforever and ever!"

¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the elders fell down and worshipped.

~ Revelation 5.11-14, NRSV

Power, or not? I think quite power. For those of you familiar with Handel's Messiah, the King James Version of the text was used for the last chorus called, as you guessed, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain".

Anyway, Revelation 5.11-12 is the sevenfold praise of myriads (cf. Dan 7.10) in heaven honouring the sacrificial Lamb; and vv. 13-14 the universal praise to God and to the Lamb as equal in majesty, which, in a way, can be a kind of call to greater efforts in ecumenism.

So often, Catholics and Protestants get distracted in their own quarrel that they forget that they both are Christians. In recent years, steps have been taken to bridge the gap. After all, between each other, a spiritual war is fought; and Jesus said in the gospels that we all share:

9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

~ Matthew 5.9, NRSV

I am sure Jesus wants all His disciples to be united (see John 17.21; cf. Hebrews 7.25). That's why there is dialogue among theologians and meetings among Christians of the different churches and communities (cf. Unitatis redintegratio 4; 9; 11).

My mum says to leave ecumenism to the theologians and community leaders. But have those in positions of authorities not already called us to reach out to each other? Can the effort for unity not be acted upon on the level of the laity? So why not among friends? Among brothers and sisters?

These are the questions that hit me in the last week. I feel strengthened because I am honoured that God can reveal another mission in such a clear manner.

I pray that God makes me a channel of His peace, heal the wounds between societies - bridge the gap. For the unity of all Christians will show the world His glory and yet bring more believers into the kingdom. But may God give me the wisdom to say the right things and perform the right actions to the right people at the right time. And may God keep me righteous through faith, obedient unto His word, and seek first His kingdom.

Lord, God, make me a channel of your peace.
Grant me a servant heart to be Your child.
Amen.

Recently, I realised something about myself when I watch Ben-Hur. It's one of those classic unforgetable epics of all time. I don't have to go into the details though. Everyone has seen it - the message that manifests in the character of Judah Ben-Hur. It's no wonder it makes for such a perfect Good Friday film.

As I was saying: I realised something about myself - that the happiest parts of the film are the parts that move my heart to the brink of tears - not the sad, frustrating, angry parts of the film. But that's not all. Every time Jesus appears in the film, I sit up right and pay attention. Jesus' adult 'appearance' in the film, when he gives Judah Ben-Hur water to drink made me cry. But it wasn't because I was heart-broken. It was because I felt so much joy in my heart.

At that moment, I knew God was encouraging me by lifting up my emotions/heart. And though I know that this uplifting spirit does not last forever, my faith still carries on.

"So now: Fear GOD. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River (the Euphrates) and in Egypt. You, worship GOD."

~ Joshua 24:14, The Message//Remix

There is one thing about the world today that I feel is very close to what the world was like before Jesus came around: that people today pick and choose the religion they like, as it is convenient to them.

In the past, the Western World had a myriad of different gods. But from culture to culture, pantheons remain, more or less, the same, as with the myths behind these gods. More often than not, you have entire congregations worship one principal deity (exempli gratia, the prostitutes who follow Aphrodite/Ishtar/Ashtaroth/Venus in Corinth), but most of them sought petitions from other gods from time to time. At the same time, people were free to choose whatever god to worship as long as it did not offend others.

Let's say young a Thracian joins a Greek army. For protection, courage, luck, et cetera, would he not worship Ares, the Greek god of war for these things? Yet, when he returns to his father's fields, he would pray to Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. All the while, on the side, perhaps, he would ask Aphrodite for luck in finding his woman. And when the weather gets too hot, he might chance upon the use of "by Apollo, lessen thy gaze!"

In the Middle Ages, paganism was significantly less. People didn't really have the same options toward paganism.

What about today? Today, we see an entire generation of Christians who believe in the idea of "to each his own".

"God - my way," a friend tells me a few years ago. He worships God, sure. But to him, God is limited in the way he (my friend) sees God. God becomes an object that he (my friend) serves at his convenience. But does he live out the precepts of Christ? According to my friend, not God, he has his own set of Christian precepts - a special measuring stick separate from others. To him, this is also one of the many millions of ways to heaven. He feels, for example, that he does not need to go to church, because there's no point in going to church if one has God in one's heart. But, then, what about community worship? Accountability? He says that he is accountable only to God.

Recently, I heard that this friend is practicing both Kabbala and Christianity together, at home, at his convenience. He can quit whenever he wants and "pick it up" again later. It's kind of like wearing a top. Last year, pin stripes were in. This year, we should be going for solids. But that's phasing out too. It's better to go for something more original - like the filigree patterns so many men are wearing nowadays.

"Hey, you know, Kabbala is in. We'll try it this year. If we don't like it, we can always switch to Zen Buddhism."

Faith has no half measures. It's for real. Stake your life on it. Live it. No one part of your life is untouched by your faith. Because when God says He wants you, He means all of you.

Sonic Festival was awesome! Thank God. I was in charge of the headquarters this year. Sure, it's a little tiring to stay in the HQ, but I can assured that almost everyone else's job is harder. Yet, however tired everyone is, it is like being tired after a very good work out.



Just about the only band I caught was Sonic Flood (because I couldn't leave the HQ at other times, except for a few minutes each day, or when I went to DJ as part of SOL). I think they are quite good. Although the lead singer looked like one of those old rockers on drugs (but we know that's not so).

Signs Of Life had a very good set, as expected, despite the emotional trouble that we had to go through in the week prior to Sonic Festival. Well, I thank God for seeing us through in the most complete manner.



We had so many people come to Sonic Fest! And yet before the fest, we were afraid about not enough people turning up because we've sold something like 300+ tickets.

But it's really all quite cool. I don't really know what else to say except that in the last three days, God's presence has really changed a lot of people's lives at Fort Canning. Praise God, man. Praise God.