Pride is an inordinate love of one's own excellence either of body or mind or the unlawful pleasure we derive from thinking we have no superiors. Pride being swollen egoism, it erects the human evil into a separate centre of originativeness apart from God; exaggerates its own importance and becomes a world in and for itself. All other sins are evil deeds but pride insinuates itself even into good works to destroy and slay them. For that reason Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says: "Pride goes before the fall".

Pride manifests itself in many forms: atheism which is a denial of the dependence on God, our Creator and our final end; intellectually vanity which makes minds unteacheable because they think they know all there is to know; superficiality which judges others by their clothes, their accent and their bank account; snobbery which sneers at inferiors as the earmark of its own superiority, 'they are not of our social status'; vainglory which inclines a man to seek honours and positions quite beyond his capacity; and exaggerated sensitiveness which makes one incapable of moral improvement because so unwilling to hear one's own faults.

Pride, it was that made Satan fall from heaven and man fall from grace. By its very nature such undue self-exaltation could be cured only by self-humiliation. That is why He who might have been born in a palace by the Tiber as befitting His Majesty as the Son of God, chose to appear before men in a stable as a child wrapped in swaddling bands. Added to this humility of His birth was the humility of His profession - a carpenter in an obscure village of Nazareth whose name was a reproach among the great. Just as today there are those who sneer at the humble walks of life, so too there were then those who lived: "Is this not the carpenter's son?" There was also the humility of His actions, for never once did He work a miracle in His own behalf, not even to supply Himself with a place to lay His head. Humility of example there was too, when on Holy Thursday night He who is the Lord of heaven and earth girds Himself with a towel, gets down on His knees and with basin and water washes the twenty-four calloused feet of His Apostles saying: "The servant is not greater than his lord...If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too should wash each other's feet". Finally, there was humility of precept: "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven".

But the supreme humiliation of all was the manner of death He chose, for "He humbled Himself...even to death, death on a cross. "To atone for false pride of ancestry: He thrusts aside the consolation of Divinity; for pride of popularity: He is laughed to scorn as He hangs cursed upon a tree; for pride of snobbery: He is put in the company of thieves; for pride of wealth: He is denied even the ownership of His own deathbed; for pride of flesh: "there was no beauty in him"; for pride in influential friends: He is forgotten even by those whom He cured; for pride of power: He is weak and abandoned; for pride of those who surrender God and their faith: He wills to feel without God. For all the egotism, false independence, and atheism: He now offers satisfaction by surrendering the joys and consolations of His Divine Nature. Because proud men forgot God, He permits Himself to feel Godlessness and it broke His heart in the saddest of all cries: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" There was union even in the separation; but they were words of desolation uttered that we might never be without consolation.

Two lessons emerge from this Word: (1) Glory not in ourselves for God resists the proud; and (2) Glory in humility for humility is truth and the path to true greatness.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN (1895 to 1979)

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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 -

By God's Providence or Divine Providence, God carries out His plan. Creation has its own goodness and proper perfection but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created "in a state of journeying" (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained to which God has destined it. We call "divine providence" the disposition by which God guides his creation toward this perfection:

By his providence God protects and governs all things which he has made, "reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other and ordering all well". For "all are open and laid bare to his eyes" even those things which are yet to come into existence through the free action of creatures. - CCC 302 - Wis. 8:1; Heb. 4:13 -

The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. The sacred books powerfully affirm God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: "Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases". And so it is with Christ "who opens and no one shall shuts and no one opens". As the book of Proverbs states: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established". - CCC 303 - Ps. 115:3; Rev. 3:7; Prov. 19:21 -

And as we see the Holy Spirit, the principal author of Sacred Scripture often attributing actions to God without mentioning any secondary causes. This is not a "primitive mode of speech", "but a profound way of recalling God's primacy and absolute Lordship over history and the world, and so of educating his people to trust in him. The prayer of the Psalms is the great school of this trusts. - CCC 304 - Is. 10:5-15, 45:5-7; Deut. 32:39; Sirach 11:14; Ps. 22, 32, 35, 103, 138 -

Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children's smallest needs: "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?'... Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well". - CCC 305 - Matt. 6:31-33, 10:29-31 -

God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creatures' cooperation. This use is not a sign of weakness but rather a token of almighty God's greatness and goodness. For God grants his creatures not only their existence but also the dignity of acting on their own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of cooperating in the accomplishment of his plan. - CCC 306 -

To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his providence by entrusting them with the responsibility of "subduing" the earth and having dominion over it. God thus enables men to be intelligent and free causes in order to complete the work of creation, to perfect its harmony for their own good and that of their neighbours. Though often unconscious collaborators with God's will, they can also enter deliberately into the divine plan by their actions, their prayers and their sufferings. They then fully become "God's fellow workers" and co-workers for his kingdom. - CCC 307 - Gen. 1:26-28; Col. 1:24, 4:11; 1Cor. 3:9; 1Thess. 3:2 -

The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes: "For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasures". Far from diminishing the creature's dignity, this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God's power, wisdom and goodness. it can do nothing if it is cut off from its origin, for "without a Creator the creature vanishes". Still less can a creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God's grace. - CCC 308 - Phil. 2:13; 1Cor. 12:6; Matt. 19:26; John 14:13, 15:5 -

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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 -

The Old Testament distinguishes between what is clean and helpful and what is unclean and unacceptable. To be unclean refers to foods that are unfit, to defilement of a moral or religious character and to spiritual impurity. The anoint and ordained priest was to teach the people the difference. - Lev. 10:10, 11:47; Ezek. 44:23 -

The teaching about uncleanness springs from the concept of God's holiness. - Lev. 11:44-45 - Freedom from uncleanness and guilt is possible through God's gracious work. Holiness within purity of heart is possible through the exercise of love and faith in Christ's redemption and obedience to His word of truth.

You are pruned already,
by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me. - John 15:3-4 -

You have been obedient to the truth and purified your souls until you can love like brothers in sincerity; let your love for each other be real and from the heart - your new birth was not from any mortal seed but from the everlasting word of the living and eternal God. All flesh is grass and its glory like the wild flowers's. The grass withers, the flower falls but the word of the Lord remains forever. What is this word? it is the Good News that has been brought to you. - 1Pet. 1:22-25 -

In the Gospels, the word unclean describes those who are possessed by undesirable or even demonic spirits. Jesus effectively rebuked them and the disciples were also given power over unclean spirits. Because of sin, 'we are all like an unclean thing' The word defilement described a sinful and unfit condition. The New Testament lists uncleanness or moral defilement along with fornication and other sins such as covetousness as works of the flesh. Believers are not called to defilement or uncleanness but they are to live in holiness. Christians are not to yield their brothers and sisters to defilement or uncleanness but to righteousness and holiness.

When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. - Gal. 5:19-21 -

That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life; fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; all this is the sort of behaviour that makes God angry. And it is the way in which you used to live when you were surrounded by people doing the same thing but now you, all people, must give all these things up: getting angry, being bad tempered, spitefulness, abusive language and dirty talk; and never tell each other lies. - Col. 3:5-8 -

We have been called by God to be holy, not to be immoral; in other words, anyone who objects is not objecting to a human authority but to God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. - 1Thess. 4: 7-8 - Rom. 6:17-23 -

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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 New Testament, the Greek word translated as hospitality literally means 'love of strangers' or perhaps 'love of neighbour'. In the Old Testament, Abraham was the host to angels, unaware; he invited strangers into his house, washed their feet, prepared fresh meat, had Sarah bake bread and later accompanied them as they left. - Gen. 18:1-15 -

Hospitality was specifically commanded by God. It was to be characteristic of all believers. Hospitality was an important trait in ancient times even until now. If a stranger lives with you in your land, do not molest him. You must count him as one of your own countrymen and love him as yourself-for you were once strangers yourselves in Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. - Lev. 19:33-34 -

Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit. If you have hope, this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trails come; and keep on praying. If any of the saints are in need you must share with them; and you should make hospitality your special care. - Rom. 12:11-13 -

Above all, never let your love for each other grow insincere since love covers over many a sin. Welcome each other into your houses without grumbling. 1Pet. 4:8-9 -

Several Old Testament personalities set a good example for all believers in the practise of hospitality(love of strangers/neighbour). These included Abraham - Gen 18:1-8 - David - 2Sam. 6:19 - the Shunammite woman -2Kin. 4:8 - Nehemiah - Neh. 5:17-18 - Job - Job 31:17-20 - Psalm 23 concludes with a portrait of a host who prepares a table for the weary, anoints the head of the guest with oil and shows every kindness so that the guest's cup runs over. The psalmist sees the Lord Himself as Host; His hospitality exceeds all others.

The New Testament also gives examples of gracious hospitality(love of strangers/neighbour). Jesus emphasized the importance of hospitality by answering the question of who should inherit God's kingdom.

Then the King will say to those on the right hand, "Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me". - Matt. 25:34-36 -

But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbour?' Jesus replied, 'A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. "Look after him" he said "and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have". Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands' hands? The one who took pity on him, he replied. Jesus said to him, 'Go and do the same yourself'. - Luke 10:29-38 -

On the way he came to the Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well is there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink'. His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, 'What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink? - Jews in fact, do not associate with Samaritans....... - John 4:5-42 -

One of these woman was called Lydia, a devout woman from the town of Thyatira who was in the purple-dye trade. She listened to us, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying. After she and her household had been baptised she sent us an invitation: 'If you really think me a true believer in the Lord', she said 'come and stay with us'; and she would take no refusal. - Acts 16:14-15 -
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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 Gospel of Mark 10:44-45 - Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many. - SERVICE vs. AUTHORITY? -

I live on a university campus where the division between the servers and the served is very marked. Most of the served are still in their teens. They arrive in school every day brought there in a large SUV, driven not by their parents but an employed driver. It is said that this man's job is also to act as a bodyguard in case the student becomes a victim of kidnapping. The windows of the vehicle are also blacked out so that the occupants of the van cannot be seen. Some of the vehicles spend the whole day on the campus waiting until the end of school.

While the student is attending class, the driver just hangs around all day doing nothing except chatting and smoking with other drivers. For me, it is not a very edifying sight especially in an institution dedicated to promoting faith and justice. It is very vivid picture of the haves and have-nots(to which some would add a third category, the have lots). When one goes outside the campus the picture becomes even more striking with tower blocks looking down on ugly slum housing.

All in all, it is not really the picture that Jesus painted of what a world based on the reign of God should look like. The reign of God exists wherever God's will is being done. And God's will clearly involves a world where as we wrote about earlier, where people live in the world and not off it.

Jesus spoke a number of times about service and said that he himself had come to serve and not to be served. Do we really take this teaching seriously? Even where Jesus himself is concerned?

Actually our world is full of service. I often think there are kinds of service - service from below, service from above, service of brothers and sisters.

Service from below is the one we normally associate with the world. It is the conventional way of looking at our society. There are people 'serving' us everywhere and sometimes we actually call them 'servants'.

It was very clear in the television series of many year ago called 'Upstairs, Downstairs'. This series spoke about a well-off family living in a big house somewhere in London in the late 19th or early 20th century. It was a typical house of the time with about four storey - three floors and a basement. The 'ground' floor was actually the first floor and reached from outside by a flight of steps and the main front door. On this floor were the dining room and reception rooms of the house. On the upper floors were the bedrooms. This whole area was the 'Upstairs' and where the family lived, ate and entertained.

At the bottom of the house was the basement, reached by a separate 'trade-men' entrance. Here was found the kitchen, the pantry and the bedrooms(such as they were) of the staff. Such a house had quite a large staff in those days including the butler, the cook, the various maids with different chores assigned to them. This, of course, was the 'Downstairs' the area of the servants. The distinction between the two groups could not be clearer.

Perhaps, in our day it is not quite so marked but it is nevertheless very much the scene in most parts of the world today, even though there may be a veneer of democracy. Among the services from below are the thousands of people who look after us and whom we so often take for granted - the people working in our supermarkets, stores and shopping malls; the people who take care of our deliveries, of removing our waste, of cleaning our streets...The list is endless. They are the people 'below' who make life comfortable for us all.

There is then what I like to call service from above, although it may not always be seen as service or some of those engaged in it might not like it to go by the name. I am thinking of all the professional people who are engaged in providing us with different kind of needs. I am thinking of the doctor, the lawyer, the architect, the banker, the engineer and so on.

We need these people at various times to 'serve' our needs in various ways. The big difference between them and the service from below is that often are far more prosperous than those who call on their 'services'. As an example: I go to his place perhaps by walking or by public transport; he, on the other hand, will go home at the end of the day driving(or even being driven) in an expensive car, something which the patient could in no way afford.

It is clear that, when Jesus spoke about 'service' he was thinking about neither of these. What is service according to the mind of Jesus? For me, the service that Jesus gave was what I would call 'love in action'. And by 'love' I mean here a deep concern for the well-being of the brother or sister. It is a relationship of equals, neither from above nor from below. It is put very well by Jesus himself when, at the Last Supper, he got down on his knees to wash the feet of his disciples, something that would normally be done by a 'servant from below' when people came in to the house from outside.

The disciples, especially Peter(who saw himself as a leader?) were very upset. It turned their world upside down. But Jesus was not debasing himself. On the contrary, he said to them: "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord - and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you". - John 13:12-15 -

It means that no matter what our position in society, we are called on to devote our energies and skills to the well-being of our 'superior' brothers and sisters. We do not just 'serve' to scrape together a living nor do we 'serve' in order to enjoy a high lifestyle(literally)at the expense of others, our 'patients' and 'clients'.

And it is here I would like to include an aspect of service which I believe to be very important. A number times in Mark's gospel especially he tells us that Jesus spoke and acted with "authority". We read, for instance: "The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law". - Mark 1:22 - Now, of course this can mean that Jesus, unlike the Scribes, spoke with a power emanating from himself. But there is another meaning to the word which I learnt of many years ago and which I would like to share with you.

The word 'authority' comes from the Latin verb 'augere' which means 'to make something grow'. So one can say there are two kinds of authority - overpowering and empowering. The first is the kind we associate with all kinds of dictators and so-called 'authoritarian' figures which may be anything from the president of a country to a bossy school teacher. But clearly that was not the authority of Jesus.

Jesus' was an "empowering" authority - the result of his authority was that people were stronger, better, were healed and liberated, enabled to do things they could not do before. As a result of Jesus' authority, they were bigger than before.

And so that is exactly what we are called on to do and to be. To be empowering servants, to use our particular gifts and talents to make life better for other people, to help them be everything that they can be. Wouldn't our world be a wonderful place if we all acted in this way?

BY REV. FR. FRANK DOYLE S.J. (1931 to 2011)

                                                                     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 prophecy of Isaiah is a trinitarian preview of the working of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Looking forward to the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit inspired prophet Isaiah to prophecy: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him" - Is. 11:1-5 - The Holy Spirit inspired Jesus with wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, faithfulness, piety, fear of the Lord. Thus, we come full cycle to the New Testament where Jesus fulfilled this prophecy Himself. - Is. 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19 - No clearer reflection of the intimate inter-working of the triune family and the Spirit's powerful role can be found in the Old Testament than in this prophecy. It ties God's grace in the Old and New Testament, together in remarkable harmony.

But to sin against the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the "unpardonable sin" because in the words of Jesus, "He who blasphemes[speaks evil] against the Holy Spirit never have forgiveness and is subject to eternal condemnation.

'I tell you solemnly, all men sins will be forgiven and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of eternal sin'. This was because they were saying, 'An unclean spirit is in him'. - Mark 3:28-30 -

The context of Jesus' words about the sin against the Holy Spirit provides a clue to its nature. When a demon possessed man came to Jesus, he was healed. The multitudes were amazed. But the Scribes and Pharisees said He was healing through Satan's power. Jesus had cast out the demons by the power of the Holy Spirit; His enemies claimed He cast them out by the power of the devil. - Matt. 12:22-24 -

Such slander of the Holy Spirit, Jesus implied, revealed a spiritual blindness, a warping and perversion of the mortal nature that puts one beyond hope of repentance and forgiveness. Those who call the Holy Spirit, Satan, reveal a spiritual cancer so advanced that they are beyond any hope of healing and forgiveness.

                                                                     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 word Theophany does not appear in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Theophany refers to any direct, visual manifestation of the presence of God. The word is visual, since God makes His presence and power known. But even in a theophany a person does not actually see God Himself. This is an impossibility. What a person sees are the effects of God's unmediated presence.

Moses said, 'Show me your glory, I beg you', And he said, 'I will let all my splendour pass in front of you and I will pronounce before you the name Yahweh. I have compassion on whom I will, and I show pity to whom I please. You cannot see my face', he said, 'for man cannot see me and live'. And Yahweh said, 'Here is a place beside me. You must stand on the rock and when my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with my hand while I pass by. Then I will take my hand away and you shall see the back of me; but my face is not to be seen'. - Exodus 33:18-23 -

Theophanies proper are limited to the Old Testament. They are most common in the books of Genesis and Exodus; but they also occur in the writings of the prophets especially in connection with the calling of a prophet. The most frequent visible manifestation of God's presence in the Old Testament is the "Angel of the Lord". Other theophanies are the burning bush, the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, the cloud and fire of Sinai and the glory of the Lord. - Ex. 3:1-6, 13:21-22, 24:16-18, 40:34-38 -

The Shekinah glory that dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and the Temple may also be thought of as a specialized, permanent theophany. Theophanies are never given for their own sake, to satisfy a curiosity about God but to convey some revelation or truth about Him.

In the New Testament, Jesus as the physical expression of God is a kind of theophany. But such is the uniqueness of His incarnation that the word is not entirely appropriate. The word Theophany does not appear in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible.

The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John appears as a witness. He proclaims:
'This is the one of whom I said:
He who comes after me
ranks before me
because he existed before me'.

Indeed, from his fulness we have, all of us, received-
yes, grace in return for grace,
since though the Law was given through Moses,
grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God;
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father's heart,
who has made him known. - John 1:14-18 -

'Have I been with you all this time, Philip' said Jesus to him 'and you still do not know me?'
To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, "Let us see the Father"
Do you not believe?
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work. - John 14:9-10 -

No one has ever seen God;
but as long as we love one another
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us. - 1John 4:12 -

who alone is immortal,
whose home is in inaccessible light,
whom no man has seen and no man is able to see:
to him be honour and everlasting power. Amen. - 1Tim. 6:16 -

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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 -