A holy place?
By Not Known The place where Jesus died was not much really. The kind of place that every town has,where idlers come to gawk,unwanted people find their home,and tired soldiers do their duty, while others make a quick buck trading on death’s misery. Far from the pleasing form of the temple with its gold and purble fabric, neat symmetry, fine furniture, tidy ritual,…
The Holy God
By Not Known Today’s Bible reading confronts us with the holiness of God. The prophet Isiah thought he was in a temple of doomwhen he ‘saw’ God in a vision (Isa 6:5). This doom arose from his awareness of the vast gap between him and God. The gap between people and God is a reflection of his holiness. The essence of his holiness is that God is different…
Knowing God’s Will
By Not Known We sometimes have trouble knowing what to do. We want to do God's will in everything. But how do we know what God wants us to do? Let's start with some basic teachings. The Bible teaches that God is master over everything and manages everything to fit into his plans (Eph. 1: 11). Indeed, Christian people find that God works out everything for their…
The Message
By Not Known This is a day of instant communication. Within minutes of an event happening anywhere, SMS, email and Internet carry text and visual reports all over the world. We call it ‘Information Technology‘ but it is more ‘Communications Technology‘. But, how much of our communications is empty, repetitive or banal? We have the medium but not…
Becoming a Christian
By Not Known Some people become Christians by a dramatic conversion experience rather like that of the Apostle Paul (Acts 9: 1- 19). Perhaps they were living a dissolute or godless life, or were avid devotees of another faith and violently opposed to Christianity. But then they heard about Jesus and had a compelling personal encounter with him, such that they made the…
Singapore – 40 Years On
By Not Known There is much to appreciate on the 40th anniversary of Singapore’s independence. Singapore has set a stunning example of nation building from a small resource base and in often challenging circumstances. Let’s be grateful for such things as : social stability; security; good government; hightly functional public infrastructure; economic…
Living without God
By Not Known How would you define ‘sin‘? Many of us would define sin in terms of outward acts such as theft, physical violence or sexual relationships outside of marriage. Or perhaps some of us go deeper and refer to the inward attitudes of greed, hatred, lust and such like that lay behind the outwards acts. The Bible certainly labels these outward acts and…
Being Sheepish
By Not Known The Bible talks about sheep and shepherds quite often. God is described as the shepherd of his people (eg. Ps 23:1; Is 40:11). This title is specifically applied to Jesus in the New Testament (eg. Jn 10:11; Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25, 5:4 ). The idea of God being a shepherd speaks of his personal and complete provision for his people. It is a most attractive…
The Light of the World
By Not Known The Temple precincts at Jerusalem were brightly lighted up by four great candelabra to celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles. It was against this backdrop that Jesus proclaimed: “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8: 12) Earlier in John 7: 37-38, Jesus had barely…
Those Who Know … Are not Talking
By Not Known If you have an opportunity to travel to Israel, you would not miss the sight of the orthodox Jews at the Western (Wailing) Wall. Their constant rocking motion, the incessant chanting of the Talmud (Law) or from the book of Lamentations, their donning of the prayer shawls over their heads, the leather bands around their arms, the small wooden boxes on their…