on grace

The story of Mephibosheth recently came up in a morning talk. King David was given supernatural grace to love his rival, the speaker pointed out, and this is something we should pray for too.

Now when I heard this I flew into a self-righteous rage (more on this later) over the seemingly man-centric conclusion, because I reckoned there’s a better way to look at it: we are Mephibosheth, standing before the King. By all rights we are dead men, not (it seems to us) by any virtue of what we’ve done, but simply because of who we are, the blood that runs in our veins. But someone before us has earned the King’s favour on or behalf, and because the King honours promises, he not only calls us friend, but brings us into his family, gives us a home, a future, and his own riches (2 Sam 9:6-7). Continue reading “on grace” →

09/27/2014 0

on the place of the ten commandments

What place would you say the Ten Commandments still has for us today?

It has always struck me that for many non-Christians, and not a few self-professed Christians as well, the heart of Christianity is the Ten Commandments: whether or not you adhere to them, the similarity of your life in comparison to the standards and ideas laid out on those stone tablets. The measure of how good a Christian you are seems to hinge on your ability to mold yourself based on the Ten Commandments, your ability to transcend your own nature and force yourself to become godly and Ten Commandments-y. Continue reading “on the place of the ten commandments” →

10/07/2013 0

on buying things

Money has to be one of the strangest human inventions ever. Back in the dim and distant past our ancestors operated on a barter economy, exchanging certain goods for others – I chop trees, you herd sheep, I want meat and cheese and you want to build a house, there we go – but over time money evolved. Continue reading “on buying things” →

08/09/2013 0

on elitism and inclusiveness

What happens when the Christian faith produces its own culture? Christian movies, songs, celebrities and cell groups with the Church stamp of approval, exclusively for Christian consumption so as to avoid secular culture? Or what happens when the Church holds out any group in particular as a special example of fallenness to avoid or resist, and leaves it at that? Continue reading “on elitism and inclusiveness” →

07/27/2013 0

on jesus being alive

Christ is risen – he is risen indeed.

Jesus is alive!

We’ll never need to fear falling out of God’s favour, because we are a part of the living Jesus, and God will always delight in Jesus and those in him.

Our faith is about relating to a living person, not about performance, rules or regulations.

We remember Jesus not out of sentiment, but because he is alive. Our faith and our lives are accountable to one who has the authority and the power.

We do not need to be pitied, because Jesus is alive. If he were dead our faith would be a lie, and Christians would be the most pitiful people on earth.

We follow the commands of Jesus because we love him, because he saved us, because he is alive. We are not following the commands of a concept, or an idea, or a long-dead preacher.

Our faith has direction, because Jesus is alive. He is alive, and he will come back one day and judge all people. And that shapes the way we relate to him and what we do with our time on earth.

Jesus is alive!

[More on this here]

06/17/2013 0

on connections

One of my good friends is an entrepreneurial, go-getter kind of marketer guy. I love the man dearly but there are a few areas where our ideologies are very different. He’s a dynamic, risk-taking kinda guy, I like to play it safe; he likes organising, I like following, etc.

So once when he explained the importance of knowing the right people, of connections, you can guess what I thought. It was something along the lines of “Pah! A man shouldn’t have to rely on connections, he should work for things!” Continue reading “on connections” →

05/01/2013 0

on what christians are best at

We are the Church. We are the bride of Christ. We are a light to the world, a nation of priests, a royal people who were brought out of darkness so that we could share the light with other people. We are God’s people, we are the children of Abraham, we are the co-heirs of the Son of God, we are the ones who can see in Christ the very image of the invisible God.

Yet how far short we fall! Continue reading “on what christians are best at” →

04/03/2013 0

on being a good man

Remember that scene at the end of Saving Private Ryan? An old James Ryan, having remembered all the hardships and sacrifices that were endured to bring him home, kneels in front of the grave of Captain John Miller, the man who saved his life. It seems Miller’s dying words to him, “earn this,” have stayed with him all his life.

Ryan turns to his wife and says “tell me I’m a good man.”

What if the answer had been “no”? What if Ryan had tried but failed? What if he had never tried at all? Continue reading “on being a good man” →

03/21/2013 0

on lessons learned

Some things I learned this past year:

• The importance of empathy cannot be overstated. Uncaring cold-heartedness, bullying and generally being a shithead can be cured in part by putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Continue reading “on lessons learned” →

01/01/2013 0

on organisation and self-righteousness

I’m what you’d call a regimented and organised person. A control freak, even.

I like things to be in order, possibly for this reason the military is an area of interest to me. I am a creature of habit. I don’t like surprises, and kids don’t often find me fun. Friends and family can find me cloying at best and controlling at worst.

On the plus side it makes me a very responsible person, very meticulous, and it also makes my desk one of the tidiest and best organised in the office. Continue reading “on organisation and self-righteousness” →

05/19/2012 0