All religion is full of a sense of uneasiness and need of deliverance; every great student of human nature has echoed as true the words of the great Latin poet Ovid, who testified that we all approve the better things, but often follow the worse; all peoples and nations have put their golden age in the past, when the chosen ones of their race once walked with God.
What is this universal testimony of humanity but the witness to the fact of original sin? Our lives are like the great unfinished Gothic cathedrals of Europe, ever testifying that our ideals are never completely realized here below. The conjectures of anthropologists about primitive man are nothing compared to the solid fact of the sense of human sin. By its nature, the evidence of Eden is something we cannot find. By its nature the evidence of Eden is something one cannot help finding. As a matter of personal experience something has happened - we are not what we ought to be.
There are ultimately only two possible theories to account for the nature and the origin of man; one is that the life of man is a push from below; the other, that the life of man is a gift from above; the one is the man is wholly on earth, earthly; the other, that he is partly of the heavens, heavenly.
The second is the Christian conception; man is not a risen beast, he is rather a kind of fallen angel. His origin is hidden not in the slime and dust of prehistoric forests, but in the real daylight of paradise where he communed with God; his origin looks back not to cosmic forces, but to divine grace. On this conception man is supposed to act not like a beast because he came from one, but like God because he was made to His own image and likeness.
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
So now we must ask explicitly: is Christian faith also for us today a life-changing and life-sustaining hope? Is it "performative" for us - is it a message which shapes our life in a new way, or is it just "information" which, in the meantime, we have set aside and which now seems to us to have been superseded by more recent information?
In the search for an answer, let us begin with the classical form of the dialogue with which the rite of Baptism expressed the reception of an infant into the community of believers and the infant's rebirth in Jesus Christ.
First of all the priest asked what name the parents had chosen for the child, and then he continued with the question: Answer: "Eternal life". According to this dialogue, the parents were seeking access to the faith for the child, communion with believers, because they saw in faith the key to "eternal life". Today as in the past, this is what being baptized, becoming Christians, is all about; it is not just an act of socialization within the community, not simply a welcome into the Universal Church.
The parents expect more for the one to be baptized; they expect that faith, which includes the corporeal nature of the Church and her Sacraments, will give life to their child - "eternal life." Faith is the substance of hope. But then the question arises: do we really want this - to live eternally???
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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
In the search for an answer, let us begin with the classical form of the dialogue with which the rite of Baptism expressed the reception of an infant into the community of believers and the infant's rebirth in Jesus Christ.
First of all the priest asked what name the parents had chosen for the child, and then he continued with the question: Answer: "Eternal life". According to this dialogue, the parents were seeking access to the faith for the child, communion with believers, because they saw in faith the key to "eternal life". Today as in the past, this is what being baptized, becoming Christians, is all about; it is not just an act of socialization within the community, not simply a welcome into the Universal Church.
The parents expect more for the one to be baptized; they expect that faith, which includes the corporeal nature of the Church and her Sacraments, will give life to their child - "eternal life." Faith is the substance of hope. But then the question arises: do we really want this - to live eternally???
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Faith is a "substance" of things hoped for; the proof of things not seen. In order to understand more deeply, this reflection on the two types of substance - hypostasis and hyparchonta - and on the two approaches to life expressed by these terms, we must continue with a brief consideration of two words pertinent to the discussion which can be found in the tenth chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews.
Its refer to the words hypomone - Hebrews 10:36 - and hypostole Hebrews 10:39 - Hypo-mone is normally translated as "patience" - perseverance, constancy. Knowing how to wait, while patiently enduring trials, is necessary for the believer to be able to "receive what is promised".
The word hypostole, on the other hand, means shrinking back through lack of courage to speak openly and frankly a truth that may be dangerous. Hiding through a spirit of fear leads to "destruction". "God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control" - that, by contrast, is the beautiful way in which the second letter to Timothy- 2 Timothy 1:7 - describes the fundamental attitude of the Christian.
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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Its refer to the words hypomone - Hebrews 10:36 - and hypostole Hebrews 10:39 - Hypo-mone is normally translated as "patience" - perseverance, constancy. Knowing how to wait, while patiently enduring trials, is necessary for the believer to be able to "receive what is promised".
The word hypostole, on the other hand, means shrinking back through lack of courage to speak openly and frankly a truth that may be dangerous. Hiding through a spirit of fear leads to "destruction". "God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control" - that, by contrast, is the beautiful way in which the second letter to Timothy- 2 Timothy 1:7 - describes the fundamental attitude of the Christian.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
"Hope", in fact, is a key word in Biblical faith - so much so that in several passages the words "faith" and "hope" seem interchangeable.Thus the Letter to the Hebrews closely links the "fullness of faith" - Hebrews 10:22 - to "the confession of our hope without wavering" - Hebrews 10:23 -
Faith tells us that God has given His Son (Jesus Christ) for our sake and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true. Therefore the Christian message was not only "informative" but "performative". That means; the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known - it is one that makes things happen and life-changing.
The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the true shepherd who knows even the path that passes through the valley of death; one who walks with me even on the path of final solitude, where no one can accompany me, guiding me through; he himself has walked this path, he has descended into the kingdom of death, he has conquered death, and he has returned to accompany us now and to give us the certainty that, together with him, we can find a way through.
The realization that there is One who even in death accompanies me, and with his "rod and his staff comforts me", so that "I fear no evil" - (cf. Psalm 23 [22]:4) - this was the new "hope" that arose over the life of believers.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Faith tells us that God has given His Son (Jesus Christ) for our sake and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true. Therefore the Christian message was not only "informative" but "performative". That means; the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known - it is one that makes things happen and life-changing.
The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the true shepherd who knows even the path that passes through the valley of death; one who walks with me even on the path of final solitude, where no one can accompany me, guiding me through; he himself has walked this path, he has descended into the kingdom of death, he has conquered death, and he has returned to accompany us now and to give us the certainty that, together with him, we can find a way through.
The realization that there is One who even in death accompanies me, and with his "rod and his staff comforts me", so that "I fear no evil" - (cf. Psalm 23 [22]:4) - this was the new "hope" that arose over the life of believers.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Monday, July 27, 2009
Love or Charity, cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism. Love is free; it is not practised as a way of achieving other ends. But this does not mean that charitable activity must somehow leave God and Jesus Christ aside.
For it is always concerned with the whole human being. Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God. Those who practise charity in the Church's name will never seek to impose the Church's faith upon others.
They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love. A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak. He and she knows that God is Love - cf.1 John 4:8 -and that God's presence is felt at the very time when the only thing we do is to love. He and she knows - to return to the questions raised - that disdain for love is disdain God and human being alike; it is an attempt to do without God. Consequently, the best defence of God and human being consists precisely in love.
With regard to the personnel who carry out the Church's charitable activity on the practical level, the essential has already been said; they must not be inspired by ideologies aimed at improving the world, but should rather be guided by the faith which works through love - cf.Galatian 5:6 - Consequently, more than anything, they must be persons moved by Jesus Christ's love, persons whose hearts Christ has conquered with his love, awakening within them a love of neighbour. " the love of Jesus Christ urges us on " - 2 Corinthians 5:4 -
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
For it is always concerned with the whole human being. Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God. Those who practise charity in the Church's name will never seek to impose the Church's faith upon others.
They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love. A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak. He and she knows that God is Love - cf.1 John 4:8 -and that God's presence is felt at the very time when the only thing we do is to love. He and she knows - to return to the questions raised - that disdain for love is disdain God and human being alike; it is an attempt to do without God. Consequently, the best defence of God and human being consists precisely in love.
With regard to the personnel who carry out the Church's charitable activity on the practical level, the essential has already been said; they must not be inspired by ideologies aimed at improving the world, but should rather be guided by the faith which works through love - cf.Galatian 5:6 - Consequently, more than anything, they must be persons moved by Jesus Christ's love, persons whose hearts Christ has conquered with his love, awakening within them a love of neighbour. " the love of Jesus Christ urges us on " - 2 Corinthians 5:4 -
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Sunday, July 26, 2009
By dying on the Cross - Jesus Christ "gave up his Spirit" - John 19:30 - anticipating the gift of the Holy Spirit that He would make after His Resurrection - cf, John 20:22 - This was to fulfill the promise of "rivers of living water" that could flow out of the hearts of believers, through the outpouring of the Spirit - cf, John 7:38-39 -
The Spirit, in fact, is that interior power which harmonizes their hearts with Christ's heart and moves them to love their brethren as Jesus Christ loved them, when He bent down to wash the feet of the disciples - cf, John 13:1-13 - and above all when He gave His life for us - cf, John 13:1, 15:13 -
The Spirit is also the energy which transforms the heart of the ecclesial community, so that it becomes a witness before the world to the love of the Father, who wishes to make humanity a single family in his Son. The entire activity of the Universal Church is an expression of a love that seeks the integral good of peoples; it seeks his evangelization through God's Words and the Sacraments, an undertaking that is often heroic in the way it is acted out in history; and it seeks to promote peoples in the various arenas of life and human activity.
Love is therefore the service that the Church carries out in order to attend constantly to people's sufferings and his and her needs, including material needs.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
The Spirit, in fact, is that interior power which harmonizes their hearts with Christ's heart and moves them to love their brethren as Jesus Christ loved them, when He bent down to wash the feet of the disciples - cf, John 13:1-13 - and above all when He gave His life for us - cf, John 13:1, 15:13 -
The Spirit is also the energy which transforms the heart of the ecclesial community, so that it becomes a witness before the world to the love of the Father, who wishes to make humanity a single family in his Son. The entire activity of the Universal Church is an expression of a love that seeks the integral good of peoples; it seeks his evangelization through God's Words and the Sacraments, an undertaking that is often heroic in the way it is acted out in history; and it seeks to promote peoples in the various arenas of life and human activity.
Love is therefore the service that the Church carries out in order to attend constantly to people's sufferings and his and her needs, including material needs.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, by the Lord Jesus Christ. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings.
Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in other an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern. This I can offer them not only through the organizations intended for such purposes, accepting it perhaps as a political necessity. Seeing with the eyes of Jesus Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.
Here we see the necessary interplay between love of God and love of neighbour which the 1 John speaks of which such insistence. If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God.
But if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be "devour" and to perform my "religious duties", then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely "proper", but "loveless". Only my readiness to encounter my neighbour and to show him and her love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much He loves me.
Love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who had loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a "commandment" imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in other an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern. This I can offer them not only through the organizations intended for such purposes, accepting it perhaps as a political necessity. Seeing with the eyes of Jesus Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.
Here we see the necessary interplay between love of God and love of neighbour which the 1 John speaks of which such insistence. If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God.
But if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be "devour" and to perform my "religious duties", then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely "proper", but "loveless". Only my readiness to encounter my neighbour and to show him and her love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbour can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much He loves me.
Love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who had loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a "commandment" imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Friday, July 24, 2009
Having reflected on the nature of love and its meaning in biblical faith, we are left with two questions concerning our own attitude; can we love God without seeing him? And can love be commanded? Against the double commandment of love these questions raise a double objection. No one has ever seen God, so how could we love him?
Moreover, love cannot be commanded; it is ultimately a feeling that is either there or not, nor can it be produced by the will. Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible seems to reinforce the first objection when it states; "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother and sister, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen" -1 John 4:20 -
But this text hardly excludes the love of God as something impossible. On the contrary, the whole context of the passage quoted from the 1 John shows that such love is explicitly demanded. The unbreakable bond between love of God and love of neighbour is emphasized. One is so closely connected to the other that to say that we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbour or hate him and her altogether.
Saint John's words should rather be interpreted to mean that love of neighbour is a path that leads to the encounter with God, and that closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God.
Page 1
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By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Moreover, love cannot be commanded; it is ultimately a feeling that is either there or not, nor can it be produced by the will. Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible seems to reinforce the first objection when it states; "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother and sister, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen" -1 John 4:20 -
But this text hardly excludes the love of God as something impossible. On the contrary, the whole context of the passage quoted from the 1 John shows that such love is explicitly demanded. The unbreakable bond between love of God and love of neighbour is emphasized. One is so closely connected to the other that to say that we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbour or hate him and her altogether.
Saint John's words should rather be interpreted to mean that love of neighbour is a path that leads to the encounter with God, and that closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Nevertheless the profound con-penetration of the two Testaments ( Old and New ) as the one Sacred Scripture of the Christian faith has already become evident. The real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Jesus Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those concepts - an unprecedented realism.
In the Old Testament, the novelty of the Bible did not consist merely in abstract notions but in God's unpredictable and in some sense unprecedented activity. This divine activity now takes on dramatic form when, in Jesus Christ, it is God himself who goes in search of the "stray sheep", a suffering and lost humanity.
When Jesus Christ speaks in his parables of the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, of the woman who looks for the lost coin, of the father who goes to meet and embrace his prodigal son, these are no mere words; they constitue an explanation of his very being and activity. His death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which He gives himself in order to raise man and woman up and save them. This is love in its most radical form.
By contemplating the pierced side of Jesus Christ , we can understand that " God is love " - 1John 4:8 - It is there that this truth can be contemplated. It is from there that our definition of love must begin. In this contemplation the Christian discovers the path along which his life and love must move.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
In the Old Testament, the novelty of the Bible did not consist merely in abstract notions but in God's unpredictable and in some sense unprecedented activity. This divine activity now takes on dramatic form when, in Jesus Christ, it is God himself who goes in search of the "stray sheep", a suffering and lost humanity.
When Jesus Christ speaks in his parables of the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, of the woman who looks for the lost coin, of the father who goes to meet and embrace his prodigal son, these are no mere words; they constitue an explanation of his very being and activity. His death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which He gives himself in order to raise man and woman up and save them. This is love in its most radical form.
By contemplating the pierced side of Jesus Christ , we can understand that " God is love " - 1John 4:8 - It is there that this truth can be contemplated. It is from there that our definition of love must begin. In this contemplation the Christian discovers the path along which his life and love must move.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Scriptural/Biblical faith is shown chiefly in two elements which deserve to be highlighted; the image of God and the image of man. First, the word of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible presents us with a new image of God. In the surrounding cultures, the image of God and of the gods ultimately remained unclear and contradictory.
In the development of scriptural/biblical faith, however, the content of the prayer fundamental to Israel, the Sherma, became increasingly clear and unequivocal; "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" - Deut. 6:4 - There is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is thus the God of all.
Two facts are significant about this statement: all other gods are not God, and the universe in which we live has its source in God and was created by him. Certainly, the notion of creation is found elsewhere, yet only here does it become absolutely clear that it is not one god among many, but the one true God himself who is the source of all that exists; the whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word. Consequently, His creation is dear to Him, for it was willed by Him and "made" by Him.
The second important element now emerges; this God loves peoples. The divine power that Aristotle at the height of Greek philosophy sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every human being an object desire and love - and as the object of love this divinity moves the world - but in itself it lacks nothing and does not love; it is solely the object of love. The one God in whom Israel believes, on the other hand, loves with a personal love; His love, moreover, is an elective love; among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves her - but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human race.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
In the development of scriptural/biblical faith, however, the content of the prayer fundamental to Israel, the Sherma, became increasingly clear and unequivocal; "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" - Deut. 6:4 - There is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is thus the God of all.
Two facts are significant about this statement: all other gods are not God, and the universe in which we live has its source in God and was created by him. Certainly, the notion of creation is found elsewhere, yet only here does it become absolutely clear that it is not one god among many, but the one true God himself who is the source of all that exists; the whole world comes into existence by the power of his creative Word. Consequently, His creation is dear to Him, for it was willed by Him and "made" by Him.
The second important element now emerges; this God loves peoples. The divine power that Aristotle at the height of Greek philosophy sought to grasp through reflection, is indeed for every human being an object desire and love - and as the object of love this divinity moves the world - but in itself it lacks nothing and does not love; it is solely the object of love. The one God in whom Israel believes, on the other hand, loves with a personal love; His love, moreover, is an elective love; among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves her - but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human race.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
" God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him " - 1 John 4:16 -
These words express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith; the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, it also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: " We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us."
We have come to believe in God's love; in these words the Christian express the fundamental decision of his and her life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words; " God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should ... have eternal life " - John 3:16 -
In acknowledging the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence; " Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might " - John 6:4-5 -
Jesus Christ united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for neighbour found in the Book of Leviticus; " You shall love your neighbour as yourself " - 19:18; cf. Mark 12:29-31 - Since God has first loved us - cf. 1 John 4:10 -, love is now no longer a mere "command"; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
These words express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith; the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, it also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: " We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us."
We have come to believe in God's love; in these words the Christian express the fundamental decision of his and her life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words; " God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should ... have eternal life " - John 3:16 -
In acknowledging the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence; " Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might " - John 6:4-5 -
Jesus Christ united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for neighbour found in the Book of Leviticus; " You shall love your neighbour as yourself " - 19:18; cf. Mark 12:29-31 - Since God has first loved us - cf. 1 John 4:10 -, love is now no longer a mere "command"; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Monday, July 20, 2009
But there remain profound differences between the two men; Jesus Christ; claimed to be the one and only true God who came to suffer, die and rise again, establishing a unique and everlasting covenant with peoples.
Buddha; is believed is the one of many thatagata ( thus-come-one ). The historical Buddha is just one of several thatagata came in various ages to teach that life is an illusion and to remove human desires and attachments.
Jesus Christ; taught that He is " the Way and the Truth and the Life. " The way to what? " No one comes to the Father, " " except through me. " -John 14:6 - Jesus comes to reveal the Father the Creator of all things, so that peoples could have fullness of life.
Buddha; taught how people could escape suffering through loss of desire and personality. He held that every person must find his own path to nirvana, or the extinction of self.
Jesus Christ; preached the reality of sin, the nature of God the Father, and the need for repentance and salvation.
Buddha; preached the untenable nature of existence and the means to escape sufferings. Buddhism denies the ultimate existence of sin and the necessity of grace.
Jesus Christ; taught that God is completely other, but He also taught that God wishes to share his Divine life, given through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Buddha; taught that individually must perish and everything is one.
Jesus Christ; established a Universal Church, with a structure of authority, based on His Words and example. He said "I am the Good Shepherd," "Follow Me."
Buddha; left a teaching with each person must find his and her own path. He stated, "After my death, the dharma shall be your teacher. Follow the dharma and you will be true to me."
Jesus Christ; rose from the death only once and will return as the Kings of Kings. He revealed his own Divinity, saying, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" - John 8:58 -
Buddha; is a "model" regardless of whether he was a historical person or not. He suggests that "there is no 'self'." At his death, when he experienced pari-nirvana ( "final extinction" ), he stated that the question of afterlife was "not conducive to edification."
BY PETER KREEFT - Continue in November 2010, 8/11/10.
Page 2
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Buddha; is believed is the one of many thatagata ( thus-come-one ). The historical Buddha is just one of several thatagata came in various ages to teach that life is an illusion and to remove human desires and attachments.
Jesus Christ; taught that He is " the Way and the Truth and the Life. " The way to what? " No one comes to the Father, " " except through me. " -John 14:6 - Jesus comes to reveal the Father the Creator of all things, so that peoples could have fullness of life.
Buddha; taught how people could escape suffering through loss of desire and personality. He held that every person must find his own path to nirvana, or the extinction of self.
Jesus Christ; preached the reality of sin, the nature of God the Father, and the need for repentance and salvation.
Buddha; preached the untenable nature of existence and the means to escape sufferings. Buddhism denies the ultimate existence of sin and the necessity of grace.
Jesus Christ; taught that God is completely other, but He also taught that God wishes to share his Divine life, given through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Buddha; taught that individually must perish and everything is one.
Jesus Christ; established a Universal Church, with a structure of authority, based on His Words and example. He said "I am the Good Shepherd," "Follow Me."
Buddha; left a teaching with each person must find his and her own path. He stated, "After my death, the dharma shall be your teacher. Follow the dharma and you will be true to me."
Jesus Christ; rose from the death only once and will return as the Kings of Kings. He revealed his own Divinity, saying, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" - John 8:58 -
Buddha; is a "model" regardless of whether he was a historical person or not. He suggests that "there is no 'self'." At his death, when he experienced pari-nirvana ( "final extinction" ), he stated that the question of afterlife was "not conducive to edification."
BY PETER KREEFT - Continue in November 2010, 8/11/10.
Page 2
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Sunday, July 19, 2009
In his Fundamentals of the Faith, Peter Kreeft writes that "there have been only two people in history who so astonished people that they asked not ' Who are you?' but ' What are you?' A man or god?'
They were Jesus and Buddha". He then contrasts the striking differences between the two. "Buddha's clear answer to this question was; 'I am a man, not a god', Jesus Christ's answer was; 'I am both Son of Man and Son of God'. Buddha said, 'look not to me, look to my dharma', Jesus Christ's said, 'Come unto me'. Buddha said, 'Be ye lamps unto yourselves', Jesus Christ's said, 'I am the light of the world'.
Yet as we've seen and knowing , it is quite common to find Jesus Christ reduced to the level of "philosopher" or "great teacher" just as Buddha sometimes is elevated to a state of divinity. Certainly, there are some laudable ethical teachings of Buddha; Resist greed and anger, be compassionate, and so forth. But there remain profound differences between the two men; .....Con't in 7/20/09, 8/11/10
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
They were Jesus and Buddha". He then contrasts the striking differences between the two. "Buddha's clear answer to this question was; 'I am a man, not a god', Jesus Christ's answer was; 'I am both Son of Man and Son of God'. Buddha said, 'look not to me, look to my dharma', Jesus Christ's said, 'Come unto me'. Buddha said, 'Be ye lamps unto yourselves', Jesus Christ's said, 'I am the light of the world'.
Yet as we've seen and knowing , it is quite common to find Jesus Christ reduced to the level of "philosopher" or "great teacher" just as Buddha sometimes is elevated to a state of divinity. Certainly, there are some laudable ethical teachings of Buddha; Resist greed and anger, be compassionate, and so forth. But there remain profound differences between the two men; .....Con't in 7/20/09, 8/11/10
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Saturday, July 18, 2009
While there are many world religions, there are only three that call worship of one God; Christianity, Judaism, Islam. All of the major religions, from Hinduism to Buddhism to Shintoism, etc, don't really deal with the issues of salvation as we understand it, of heaven and hell. For instance, Buddhism is really more of a philosophy than a religion, primarily concerned with reaching "enlightenment".
While Hinduism worships seemingly infinite gods, and looks at life as a kind of wheel, where we return, time and time again to "try and get it right". If we reach the summit of perfection, we become "Brahma bull". Conversely, if a person fails to live as he and she ought, he and she can expect humiliation in the next life. This is a "try and try again" idea of life.
As for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam believe in the same God and the same revelation they do, Christians are all "spiritual Semites" ( spiritual united with the Jews and the faith of Abraham) Basically, Christians are what you could call "Messianic Jews", that is, Christians are "adopted" Jews who believe Christ Jesus was the long awaited Jewish Messiah....the Saviour.
Christians has been grafted into the family tree, of course, the Christians faith has grown considerably from there as well. While Christians has significant theological differences with traditional Judaism ( primarily revolving around the Lord Jesus Christ ), the understanding of morality is of the same basic cloth. In fact, most of the Jews rejected their own Messiah, ( rejecting Christ Jesus ) as prophecy foretold, and while there continue to be Jews who come to accept Jesus the Jewish Messiah throughout history.
Perhaps, we should try to evaluate and analyse what Christians: Faith, Hope, Love, can do for us and help us.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
While Hinduism worships seemingly infinite gods, and looks at life as a kind of wheel, where we return, time and time again to "try and get it right". If we reach the summit of perfection, we become "Brahma bull". Conversely, if a person fails to live as he and she ought, he and she can expect humiliation in the next life. This is a "try and try again" idea of life.
As for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam believe in the same God and the same revelation they do, Christians are all "spiritual Semites" ( spiritual united with the Jews and the faith of Abraham) Basically, Christians are what you could call "Messianic Jews", that is, Christians are "adopted" Jews who believe Christ Jesus was the long awaited Jewish Messiah....the Saviour.
Christians has been grafted into the family tree, of course, the Christians faith has grown considerably from there as well. While Christians has significant theological differences with traditional Judaism ( primarily revolving around the Lord Jesus Christ ), the understanding of morality is of the same basic cloth. In fact, most of the Jews rejected their own Messiah, ( rejecting Christ Jesus ) as prophecy foretold, and while there continue to be Jews who come to accept Jesus the Jewish Messiah throughout history.
Perhaps, we should try to evaluate and analyse what Christians: Faith, Hope, Love, can do for us and help us.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Friday, July 17, 2009
"All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to 'unveil' the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, feng shui, interpretation on omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power overtime, history, and in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect and loving fear that we owe to God alone".
"Under the influence of demons, people form the material of their apostasy. For, having shown them a plan of the position of the stars, known planets and animals were named after gods, like dice players, they introduce Fate, a flagrant injustice. For the judge and judged are made so by Fate, the murderers and the murdered, the wealthy and the needy - ( all are ) the offspring of the same Fate".
"Such are the demons; these are they who laid down the doctrine of Fate. Their fundamental principle was the placing of animals in the heavens ( as constellations )...... these they dignified with celestical honor, in order that they might themselves be thought to remain in heaven and by placing the constellation there, might make to appear rational the irrational course of life on earth.
Thus, the high spirited and he who is crushed with toil, the temperate and the intemperate, the indigent and the wealthy, are what they are simply from the controllers of the nativity. For the delineation of the zodiacal circle is the work of the 'gods'.....But we are superior to Fate, and instead of wandering demons we have learned to know God's " who wanders not ".
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
"Under the influence of demons, people form the material of their apostasy. For, having shown them a plan of the position of the stars, known planets and animals were named after gods, like dice players, they introduce Fate, a flagrant injustice. For the judge and judged are made so by Fate, the murderers and the murdered, the wealthy and the needy - ( all are ) the offspring of the same Fate".
"Such are the demons; these are they who laid down the doctrine of Fate. Their fundamental principle was the placing of animals in the heavens ( as constellations )...... these they dignified with celestical honor, in order that they might themselves be thought to remain in heaven and by placing the constellation there, might make to appear rational the irrational course of life on earth.
Thus, the high spirited and he who is crushed with toil, the temperate and the intemperate, the indigent and the wealthy, are what they are simply from the controllers of the nativity. For the delineation of the zodiacal circle is the work of the 'gods'.....But we are superior to Fate, and instead of wandering demons we have learned to know God's " who wanders not ".
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
"We are commanded to live righteously, and the reward is set before us of our meriting to live happily in eternity. But who is able to live righteously and do good works unless he has been justified by faith?".
"God bestowed forgiveness; the crown He will pay out. Of forgiveness He is the donor, of the crown, He is the debtor. Why debtor? Did He receive something?.... The Lord made himself a debtor not by receiving something but by promising something. One does not say to him, 'Pay for what you received,' but 'Pay what you promised.' "
"What merits of his own has the saved to boast of when, if he mere deal with according to his merits by which they were made just". "What merit, then does a man and woman have before grace, by which he might receive grace, when our every good merits, crowns nothing else but His own gift to us? "
God's enabling grace always produce faith and repentance in the sinner, anyone who sincerely teaches that faith, hope, love, and repentance are gifts of God.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
"God bestowed forgiveness; the crown He will pay out. Of forgiveness He is the donor, of the crown, He is the debtor. Why debtor? Did He receive something?.... The Lord made himself a debtor not by receiving something but by promising something. One does not say to him, 'Pay for what you received,' but 'Pay what you promised.' "
"What merits of his own has the saved to boast of when, if he mere deal with according to his merits by which they were made just". "What merit, then does a man and woman have before grace, by which he might receive grace, when our every good merits, crowns nothing else but His own gift to us? "
God's enabling grace always produce faith and repentance in the sinner, anyone who sincerely teaches that faith, hope, love, and repentance are gifts of God.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Every man and woman has an intellect and a will. The intellect is oriented to knowing the cause of all things which we experiences as effects in this world. By an ascent of truth. It is possible (and some human beings have been able) to ascend to the knowledge that God exists and is one truth, love, Creator and provident. Of course, this can be known through reason. Yet, it is not enough for anyone.
Left to this sort of knowledge of God, we, is like the fox before the grapes. The fox goes away sad because he wants to taste of the delicious grapes, but he cannot. We want to grasp God, but our mind cannot fathom the depth of truth in God. Each thing God has made manifests His truth. But He communicates His nature in a special way to us, who is invited to participate in His nature, for instance, a natural relationships of love like marriage. (man with woman, male and female)
This action of both the intellect and will is called faith. Faith is unlike all other human knowledge. It is unlike human science, opinion and doubt because faith is not knowledge of the mind, convinced by the inner character of the evidence, but the mind convinced by the strength of the will adhering in personal reverence for the one revealing. Faith involves then the simultaneous movement of the intellect and will. Faith is a participation in a divine way of knowing in which we look at the world from God's point of view. It can never suffer a merely human explanation.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Left to this sort of knowledge of God, we, is like the fox before the grapes. The fox goes away sad because he wants to taste of the delicious grapes, but he cannot. We want to grasp God, but our mind cannot fathom the depth of truth in God. Each thing God has made manifests His truth. But He communicates His nature in a special way to us, who is invited to participate in His nature, for instance, a natural relationships of love like marriage. (man with woman, male and female)
This action of both the intellect and will is called faith. Faith is unlike all other human knowledge. It is unlike human science, opinion and doubt because faith is not knowledge of the mind, convinced by the inner character of the evidence, but the mind convinced by the strength of the will adhering in personal reverence for the one revealing. Faith involves then the simultaneous movement of the intellect and will. Faith is a participation in a divine way of knowing in which we look at the world from God's point of view. It can never suffer a merely human explanation.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Because God is infinite, there is no distinction between His attributes and Himself. This is difficult to put briefly, but we must try. Take knowledge, and begin with our own. My knowing is something that I do, but it is not myself. This may not strike us a limitation, but it is a considerable one. If only my knowledge were myself, I should be knowing all the time, simply by being. I should not have to make a distinct effort to know; I should never forget, But, as it is, my knowledge is less than myself; I am finite enough, heaven knows, but my knowledge is more finite still.
Now, God's knowing is not subject to this limitation. It is not distinct from Himself. It is Himself. If it were not, if there were really a distinction between His knowledge and Himself, then He would have something that His knowledge lacked. In that event His knowledge would not be infinite, and we should have to face the monstrosity of an infinite God with limited knowledge.
This applies to all His attributes. Just as God is knowledge, so He is love, He is justice, He is mercy, we have to think of them as distinct in order to think of them at all; but in Him they are not distinct from His very self, and therefore not from one another, whatever God has He is. And these attributes are not less themselves for being infinite. God's love would not be greater by being distinct from His very self as our is.
It is difficult ideas for our minds. But then God must be mysterious to the being He made of nothing. live with it, keep it in mind. Our feeling that the attributes must be distinct will grow less, and we shall begin to "see" their oneness in God.
Page 5
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Now, God's knowing is not subject to this limitation. It is not distinct from Himself. It is Himself. If it were not, if there were really a distinction between His knowledge and Himself, then He would have something that His knowledge lacked. In that event His knowledge would not be infinite, and we should have to face the monstrosity of an infinite God with limited knowledge.
This applies to all His attributes. Just as God is knowledge, so He is love, He is justice, He is mercy, we have to think of them as distinct in order to think of them at all; but in Him they are not distinct from His very self, and therefore not from one another, whatever God has He is. And these attributes are not less themselves for being infinite. God's love would not be greater by being distinct from His very self as our is.
It is difficult ideas for our minds. But then God must be mysterious to the being He made of nothing. live with it, keep it in mind. Our feeling that the attributes must be distinct will grow less, and we shall begin to "see" their oneness in God.
Page 5
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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