Love

Hi guys! :)

To start the week off, I'd just like to share with all of you a passage that really spoke to me during my quiet time today :)

Ephesians 3: 17-19

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all of God's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled with the measure of all fullness of God"

I was sitting on the swing in my garden reading my bible in the evening and when I read this verse and the paradoxical phrase of knowing God's love which surpasses all knowledge, there was a sudden rush of air around me and the cool breeze swept across my face in a gentle, reassuring way which reminded me wonderfully of the miracle of God's love :)

We are so vastly, immensely, irrefutably loved by God our Father :) His love for us knows no limits, no boundaries and cannot be tainted by anything in this world- be it sin, doubt, bondage, pain or fear. So many times we hear how amazing God's love is for us, it enters our brains, we process and understand the informatoin and go "Ok that's great! I know that now!"

But the concept that Paul presents to us here in Ephesians is something more abstract, profound. The concept that Paul presents to us is that this love the Father has for us, can only be fully understood by us by the experential aspect of our spiritual lives. We cannot completely understand this love by dissection or analysis of bible verses, nor can we claim to know this love fully just because we possess knowledge of the details of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for us. We can only truly know what the love of God encapsulates, when we experience this love for ourselves, in a tangible way that goes beyond the understanding, logic and rationale of our human minds, and dives right into our hearts, to touch us in a way that we cannot explain or condense coherently into words. The love of God is transcendental, and it is impossible to be captured in a sentence or even distilled into an EE essay. It exceeds our comprehension, our reasoning, our thoughts, our understanding and the only way to fully embrace this love is to open our hearts to God and ask with earnestness that He bless us by sprinkling dew drops of this great love on us more and more each day, that we may experience it to understand it more and more and more and MORE! :)

Let's make it the earnest prayer of our heart, to cry out to the Father everyday that He may give us a little experience of His love, be it through people or situaitons around us, that we may begin to know this love that surpasses all knowledge. And when we finally begin to know this love more, in ways than surpass knowledge, that is when our lives truly begin to be saturated with fullness; purpose.

This wonderful, heart-warming verse will rest in my heart for the rest of the week, and hopefully for the rest of my life. I hope that it will in yours too :)


In His love,
Soph :)

Good Friday & Easter(:

Hi everyone!

Hope you're having a meaningful Good Friday and Easter(:

I'm not sure how you feel about Good Friday and Easter. In the recent years, I've felt some sort of indifference towards these days. Like not feeling so thankful for what He did on the cross for us. I knew I was taking His sacrifice for granted, but I didn't know what to do about it. Maybe some of you have felt this way too.

But yesterday, my brother brought up this interesting point. Remember Barrabas?

Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

- Matthew 27:15-17

And the people asked for Barabbas. Barabbas was involved in a rebellion against the Romans, and he was a murderer too. Instead of being punished for his crimes, Barabbas was set free. Instead of Barabbas, Jesus was punished. And ironically, Jesus was crucified for what Barabbas was guilty of (being involved in a rebellion against the Romans).

So in many ways, we're like Barabbas. We didn't lead a rebellion, we didn't murder, but we're still sinners. And instead of bearing the punishment of our sins, Christ took our place. He took our place!

So let's not forget that we are set free because of His love that He showed on the cross. Let's remember that we don't deserve this grace. We've been set free from darkness, and let's live a life worthy for Him in gratitude(:

See you on tuesday!

- ding

Woot! Blogpost! again.

Hello people!

Once again, the amazing blog of the fireac of the of the. Okay i lost my train of thought. Oh wells.

But hey people who read this blog, and are actually taking time to read it! heh. Okayzzz. Me turn to share this week.

Its been a crazy week for me, as a year 6, and in the middle of the week i decided, well, since im down and rostered to write i might as well write now.

EASTER IS COMING! ARE YOU EXCITED!!! :DDDDDD. Cause I am.

Funny how we all seem to trivalise these events. Like me. Oh easter, another holiday, another presbyterian convention, etc. etc. For crying out loud, Hop is in cinemas! The easter bunny on a big screen! Delivering eggs. (Don't get me wrong, the movie was quite cute).

HELLO! JESUS ROSE FROM THE GRAVE PEOPLE! THATS WHAT EASTER IS ABOUT!!!

Rose from the grave! Rose from the grave! Not from his bed leh, From the Grave! Why arent we on our knees giving thanks! Easter is the ultimate proof of God's power, and his sovereignty in our lives.

Ephesians 2: 1-10

Made Alive in Christ

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Don't you see! Don't you realise! God has a MASTERPLAN! Because of Easter, we are alive in christ! Because, we were all dead once, in our sin, in our sinful nature, but now we live! Forever!!!!!!

Grace. Faith. Love. Such amazing words. But they simply represent what God has done for us, in our lives!

Grace - an unmerited favour

Faith - Belief in what we cannot see

Love - God.

Love, in his Grace, came down for us, and died to remove our sins, so that by faith all who believe shall not perish but have eternal life. AMEN.

And so how. Because of Easter, because we are safe, what do we do????? Sit back and relax?

NO! MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS NO! CANNOT!

Look at verse 10! We are created to do good works! (c.f. James: Faith without deeds is useless) Because of easter, we are saved, and hence, are called to do good works in our LORD Jesus Christ. To go out, to spread his love, and to preach to the masses.

Well, FireAC, how can we do this? Very easy.

REW is coming. We can encourage others, and we can pray for them.

Therefore, if you are convicted, i invite you to pray. Pray for the speaker, pray for the people serving in the REW itself and the followup. And more importantly, PRAY FOR A NON-CHRISTIAN FRIEND TO BE IMPACTED. We never know how God will move. But, we can always pray.

SO IN SUMMARY:

JESUS LOVES YOU. ME. AND EVERYONE. EVEN THE VILEST SINNER. SO LETS PRAY FOR THEM.

kthxbai.

God Bless

-

Jon Wong!

IT'S FRIDAY FRIDAY

GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY
EVERYBODY'S LOOKING FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND, WEEKEND

okay hello anyone who reads this blog!

Yes, it's Friday, and (although I wasn't in school today to see all the crazy fun ><) I'm sure you all got down. Whatever that means.

The purpose of this post is just to discuss the weekend (which EVERYBODY'S LOOKING FORWARD TO), because YESTERDAY WAS THURSDAY THURSDAY and TOMORROW IS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY COMES AFTERWARD which means that TODAY IS FRIDAY FRIDAY but anyway. I'm convinced that there is something to learn in everything. To quote Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros, "There are certain things which enter the minds of even people without one." Of course, he doesn't say whether these things are right or wrong.

To illustrate this, today's (and this week's) post will examine a song. A popular, popular song.

I'm sure everyone treats the weekend as a haven from school, or at least from schoolwork. For (the vast majority of) the BB people, Saturdays are something to look forward to; in some cases, the prospect of parade and its crazy fun are all that sustain us through the week. For other people, however, weekends are meant for introspection and for scholarly pursuits, like catching up on all the work one has accumulated over the week. Whatever the case, everyone looks forward to the weekend. The question I'll ask today is this:

why?

In the example of the incomparable weekend anthem Friday, the truly estimable singer goes "PARTYING PARTYING YEAH/PARTYING PARTYING YEAH/FUN FUN FUN FUN/LOOKING FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND". Why does the speaker "[look] forward" to the weekend? Simply because of the promise of "partying"; of social interaction and of merriment. Compare that to our sad, socially-dead IB lives, where the weekend exists for work (or is that just me?). In this regard, I would go so far as to admit that we should perhaps take a lesson from the incredible enthusiasm and high-spiritedness in the song -- were it not that the song is nothing if not trivial and contrived. If the bolding hasn't made it obvious, triviality and contrivance of enthusiasm are the two points I'll address in this post.

Firstly, our enthusiasm cannot be trivial, or for trivial things. It is no doubt that enthusiasm is ruled by a concupiscible desire (a yearning to gain), but whether this passion is directed towards the world or towards God is the true determinant of enthusiasm. Here is where Ionesco's wisdom comes into play. While it is certainly important to possess enthusiasm, and Ms Black has certainly demonstrated that quality remarkably, what she has is an excitement over such ephemeral things as parties. (See? Even those so completely incapable of intelligent thought may be correct about the fundamental facts of life.) However, she gets the specifics wrong. Simply put, the song shows a correct attitude in the anticipation of things to come, but focuses on the wrong things. Instead of yearning after the approval of, and stature among, men and the things of this world, we should set our sights on greater things; things the greatness of which we cannot comprehend. What use is partying for one weekend in the greater scheme of just this world? (the answer is: not very much.) If such frivolity -- fleeting in all its glitz and glamour -- is of no use even in this physical realm, and certainly far less so in Christian terms, are there not better things to yearn for?

Secondly, the song is so relentless in its pursuit that it sounds contrived and artificial. This is another area in which Friday gets things both right and wrong. Certainly, the singer's (or at least the speaker's -- it is important to differentiate the two, especially in English A1) dedication to partying must be commended, but whether it is right is another matter entirely. There is a lesson to learn here; that perseverance in pursuit of a goal is only truly, righteously correct when the object is the very opposite of trivial. This is linked quite clearly to the earlier point. When we yearn after Christ and our citizenship in His kingdom, then the effort we put into the pursuit is justified by His love. When we chase after the things of this world, well -- let's just say that everything in this world fades away, and nothing but God is worthy of our dedication.

Consider then Matthew 6:33, which reads "but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." While it might seem a bit daunting to run after Him with all our hearts -- to "pick up [our crosses] daily and follow [Him]" (Luke 9:23) -- we are given assurance that we are provided for simply because He watches over those who see His love and return it.

I'm sure you're all asking yourselves: what does this have to do with this week's theme of unity, or even with the weekend? I'm about to get to that.

Over the weekend, we're free of the social constraints which are an integral part of our identity as students. We can interact with other people not as students -- subconsciously seen as inferior, naive or immature -- but as equals. While it may be tempting to use the freedom from such pseudo-disdain to indulge in some PARTYING PARTYING, don't. At least, such thoughts should be far from the forefront of your mind. It's understandable to feel like a full member of society -- and hence somewhat more liberated -- when out of school, and of uniform, but the greater identity we should revert to on the weekend isn't one of a fully matured individual, but is one of an insignificant part of the body of Christ.

As a small cell in one of the tissues in one of the organs of one of the systems in the body of Christ, our thoughts should be focused on God, and not on this world. If we yearn after God, and those who are with us in God, as much as Rebecca Black yearns after partying, then our enthusiasm will be far contagious than hers.

Over this weekend, and indeed for the rest of your lives, I challenge you to live not for partying, not for work -- not even for yourself. My challenge to you is to live putting God at the forefront, and others close behind. When it comes to other Christians, remember that all your differences -- you might not even speak the same language -- are only things of this world, and that there is something greater that binds you like spiritual Superglue: the love that we all share in Christ. With non-Christians, have faith that the enthusiasm you show for God, and for the glory of His kingdom, will be far easier to relate to than Rebecca Black's enthusiasm for Fridays and the weekend.

Fridays (and weekends) will come and go, but God remains forever. It isn't hard to decide which we should show our utmost devotion to.

What say you?

-mong.