Installing Love... Via Tech Support/爱的安装……附技术支持

Taken from seule的家庭主妇笔记. Thanks, Mandy!

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?
技术支持：你好，我能为你做什么？

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?
客户：嗯，经过反复考虑之后，我决定安装“爱”。安装过程能得到你的指导吗？

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
技术支持：行。我能帮助你。你做好开始的准备了吗？

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?
客户：嗯，技术我不是很在行，但我想我准备好了。我该如何开始？

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
技术支持：第一步是要打开你的“心”。你找到你的“心”了吗？

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?
客户：找到了，可是有其它几个程序正在运行。在它们运行的过程中安装“爱”可以吗？

Tech Support: What programs are running?
技术支持：运行的都是哪些程序？

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
客户：我看一下，有“过去的伤痛”、“自卑”、“嫉妒”和“怨恨”。

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?
技术支持：没问题，“爱”会逐渐把“过去的伤痛”从你当前的操作系统中抹去。它可能会一直留在你的永久内存里，但不再 会妨碍其它程序。“爱”最终会用它自己的一个叫作“自尊”的模块取代“自卑”。不过，你得完全关闭“嫉妒”和“怨恨”。这两个程序会妨碍“爱”的正确安 装。你能关闭它们吗？

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
客户：我不知道怎么关闭。你能告诉我吗？

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.
技术支持：乐意效劳。打开开始菜单，启动“宽恕”。重复这个步骤，直到“嫉妒”和“怨恨”被完全清除。

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
客户：好了！“爱”开始自动安装了。这正常吗？

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.
技术支持：正常，但要记住，你只有基本程序。你需要开始与其它“心”建立连接以获取升级。

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, 'Error - Program not run on external components.' What should I do?
客户：糟糕！我已经收到一个错误信息——“错误－程序无法在外部组件上运行。”我该怎么办？

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.
技术支持：别担心。它的意思是，“爱”这个程序设置的是在“心的内部”运行，但还未在你的“心”里启动。用非专业的话说，它的意思就是，你应该先“爱”你自己，才能去“爱”别人。

Customer: So, what should I do?
客户：那我该怎么办？

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
技术支持：打开“接受自己”，然后点击选取以下文件：“宽恕自己”、“意识到自己的价值”和“认识到自己的局限”。

Customer: Okay, done.
客户：好了。

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the 'My Heart' directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
技术支持：现在把它们复制到“我的心”目录。系统会覆盖所有冲突文件，并开始给出错程序打补丁。你还得从所有目录中删除“不断的自我批评”，然后清空“回收箱”以确定该文件彻底清除不会再回来。

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?
客户：明白了。哎，“我的心”里正在填加新文件。“微笑”显示在我的屏幕上，“平安”和“喜乐”正在“我的心”里自我复制。这正常吗？

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before We hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
技术支持：有时是。其它模块可能得等一会儿，但最终一切都会在恰当的时间运行。看来“爱”已经安装好，也开始运行了。挂电话前再告诉你一声。“爱”是免费软件。请一定把它和它的各种模块跟你遇到的每一个人分享。他们也应该与其他人共享，这会给你带回一些很酷的模块。

Customer: Thank you, God.
客户：感谢你，上帝！

seule附言：这是今天从朋友那里收到的邮件，觉得实在太酷，一定要与人分享！所以翻译出来，大家都来安装“爱”。

Oops ... no sermon notes this week

Sorry, I wasn't there so I didn't take notes. According to the Lifeway Explore the Bible Series, we are supposed to examine John 1:1-18. The topic is to Accept God's Promised Saviour. It concludes unit 1 of Genesis entitled Divine Creation and Human Corruption.

I share with you what I got from Founders' Ministries.

Accept God’s Promised Savior

Explore the Bible Series

December 23, 2007

Background Passage: The Gospel of John 1:1-18

Lesson Passage: The Gospel of John 1:1-18

Introduction: All four Gospel’s emphasize “beginnings.” Matthew and Luke provide moving nativity narratives and genealogical accounts, thus focusing on the birth and lineage of Jesus. Mark, on the other hand, began his Gospel with a description of the initial stages of Jesus’ ministry. Of course, the Gospel of John adds a distinctive understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ, a perspective that predates the incarnation and even the creation of the world.

Most scholars propose a late First-Century date for the Book of John (Some authorities date the book before the Fall of Jerusalem, in A.D. 70). If we affirm, as I do, that the Apostle John wrote this book, then this Gospel records the reflections of an aged saint of God, moved, we believe, by the Holy Spirit. The old apostle had many years to study, pray, and meditate on the things he had seen and heard as a disciple of Jesus. His sublime Gospel expresses a ripe, sweet theology that satisfies the person who reads it with an open heart. Along, perhaps, with Psalms and Romans, no book of the Bible has helped and encouraged God’s people more than the Gospel of John. In the pages of this book we discover materials the other evangelists did not record: the story of the marriage feast in Cana, Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well, the raising of Lazarus, the farewell address of Jesus, and Christ’s high priestly prayer.

One unique theme that characterizes this Gospel relates to John’s concept of the “Word” (Logos), a theme that dominates our lesson for this week. Some New Testament authorities believe John borrowed this idea from secular, Greek philosophy (from Heraclitus, the Stoics and Philo), but the text seems to point in a different direction. The first words of the Gospel (“In the beginning…”) do not draw the mind to the Greek philosophers; rather, they reflect John’s familiarity with the Torah and the creation narrative of Genesis. Furthermore, the text contains other Old Testament ideas: creation, life, light and darkness, the role of John the Baptist as a prophet from the Lord, and the children of God. “Word”, therefore, carries Hebrew, not Gentile, connotations. Note John’s observations about the Logos (I owe a debt to George E. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament for this analysis).

1. John used “Word” to assert the pre-existence of Christ (v. 1a).
2. John used “Word” to affirm the deity of Christ (v.1b).
3. John used “Word” to reveal Christ’s agency in the work of creation (v. 3).
4. John, remarkably, used “Word” to claim the entrance of Christ into the realm of history, the Logos who took on flesh and dwelled among us (v. 14).
5. John used “Word” to denote that Christ became flesh to reveal God to mankind as life, light, grace, truth, and glory

Lesson Outline:

I. The Word (1:1-15)

A. The Word and God (vv. 1-2): These verses assert the pre-existence of Christ, the equality of the Word with God, and the Word’s transcendence (That is, he is outside of creation and stands before and above it).

B. The Word and creation (v. 3): He was the agent of creation (the world was made through him).

C. The Word and salvation (vv.4-5): The fall of Adam submerged the world in death and darkness, but Jesus came as the source of life and light. Recall our recent Sunday School lessons from Genesis. God warned Adam and Eve that eating of the tree would bring death, and the tragic summary of human existence leading up to the Flood reveals a world characterized by death and darkness. Jesus, the Word, came to bring life and light to dying, dismal world.

II. The Word and John the Baptist (1:6-8): In the Early Church, some seekers believed John might be the Promised One, and church history indicates that a “John cult” continued for sometime after Pentecost. All four gospels clearly portray John as an important witness to the Messiah, but just a witness. Perhaps the Apostle John included this paragraph to correct any misconceptions about the Baptist.

A. John the Baptist was a man sent from God (v. 6): Unlike the Word, John was a mere man, a great prophet, but just a man, nonetheless. This remarkable prophet was not a renegade, self-appointed prophet; rather, God sent him for a specific purpose.

B. John came to bear witness to the Light (vv. 7-8): The text makes very clear that John was not the Light, but he was a witness to the Light of the World.

III. The Word and the Salvation of Mankind (vv. 9-18)

A. The universal illumination of all men (v. 9): The grammar and vocabulary of the verse seem clear. Everyone (John uses a singular noun which may mean “every individual man”) has sufficient light to understand something of Christ. Men do not fail to come to the Light because he does not shine brightly. God’s common grace reveals something of the wonder and glory of Christ to all (This seems to reflect Paul’s more expansive thought in Romans 1:20).

B. The hostility of the world to the Light (vv. 10-11): The Word came into the world; yet the world did not receive him. Indeed, their rejection was so thorough that even “his own” (I think a reference to the Hebrews who served as custodians and beneficiaries of God’s Old Testament covenants and promises) did not receive the Messiah.

C. The receptivity of those who believed (vv. 12-13): The passage makes clear that receiving Christ means to believe in him, to embrace him as the incarnate revelation of the person of Jehovah. Those who receive the Word gain rights (status, full authority) as God’s children and heirs. John used the analogy of new birth to describe these children of God. They, of course, were not his physical offspring; rather, they were born but the sovereign prerogative of God.

IV. The Word and the Incarnation (vv. 14-18)

A. The Word became flesh (v. 14a): This phrase translates an Aorist tense that denotes an action that takes place at a particular point in time. During the later years of the First Century, an early form of Docetic Gnosticism circulated through the Mediterranean region. These false teachers affirmed the deity of Christ, but they questioned the true humanity of the Word. John made clear that the Word became flesh (in the Greek, an earthy, blunt expression). The pre-existent creator became a human being.

B. The Word dwelled among us (14b-17): The word “dwelled” translates a term that means “tabernacled”; that is, the Word sojourned with man. This intimate identification with humankind must have conjured, for John’s Jewish readers, memories of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The glory of the Lord dwelled in the Holy of Holies, and symbols of the Lord’s presence, the pillar of cloud and fire, comforted the Lord’s people. Christ, in the incarnation, became the visible manifestation of the God’s presence. Grace and truth meet in Christ, and John the Baptist bore witness to the supremacy of Jesus. John, in a sense, was the last and greatest of the prophets of the Old Covenant, but the majestic images and prophets of the Old Testament yielded to the surpassing glory and sufficiency of the Word. John summarized the intent of this section, “For the Law was given by through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

C. The Word’s unique relationship with the Father (v. 18): This verse reveals the high priestly office of the Word. In the Tabernacle rites, only the high priest was allowed, once a year, into the Holy of Holies. The seat of God’s presence, closed to all the people, served as a symbol of the unapproachable, impeccable presence of God, and the people could not see this holy scene. Unlike the earthy priests, the Word dwelled at the side of the Father, and he came to the world to make the Father known to men.

Next week, we will embark on unit 2 called Divine Grace and Human Opportunity. I will preach from Gen 8:15 to 9:22 on God Gives New Opportunities. It's appropriate that we look at new opportunities when we are drawing to the end of the year.

Has it been a good year for you?

Movie Ticket Stub

Different people have different ways of looking at life. Forrest Gump's mom told him life's like a box of chocolates and that we never knew what we are going to get. (Just give me any chocolates, I take them all, black, white, with almonds, with raisins, with alcohol, etc.)

To a certain extent, we can liken our encounter with others as a transaction. The exchange of ideas, thoughts, feelings, emotions, passion is a transactions. Sometimes you get a receipt in the form of a movie ticket stub. Some people stick the stubs in their diaries. Some people just get rid of them on the way out of of the theatre. Some like me will keep everything (movie ticket stubs included) until I have too much and I have to start throwing things away.

To be true, the movie ticket stubs can help bring back memory. Do you remember we watched this together? I remember the 20+ of us went to see the first installment of the Chronicles of Narnia together? (I presume no one remembers I almost had to go watch another movie because one of us decided to invite a friend at the last minute.) Some people can retain the memory without the aid of the movie ticket stub.

Way before the movie ticket stub became an object that triggers memory, it is a pass to get into the theatre. With the advance in technology, we no longer have to get behind the long queue to get our tickets. We still can do that. But we now have options to book the tickets online, via SMS or even a phone call. Then we are given a time to pick up the tickets. This indeed is unfair to the faithful queuers. I experienced this first hand when I arrived rather late in Singapore one Sunday night. There was a long queue at the Harbourfront Centre. I took my place in the queue with my notebook and luggage in tow. I noticed many people call taxis and got their taxis almost immediately while squares like me waited in the queue. It too me more than 1 hour to get on the taxi to go to my hotel.

Was it fair? Perhaps not. But those who called for taxi (and jumping ahead of all others) paid extra. Ok, what about those who book movie tickets? They didn't pay extra.

Let's get back to the movie tickets scenario. Was it fair to the people queuing up that they could not get their tickets? If the tickets are sold out and we could get some tickets (good seats no less) because those who booked did not pick them up, we'd probably be very happy. Was it fair for the tickets? It's paid for, either by the people who booked it or the old faithfuls who waited for a miracle in front of the counter. Either way, the tickets serve their purpose of bringing people entertainment they seek.

What if the tickets were not picked up by those who book and no one bought it from the counter? Well, then there would be empty seats in the show. Not every show is full house. This is life.

This is reality. We may not like it. The tickets, which get paid will have no say over whether it is fair to them or not.

This is a free market, there is a willing buyer and a willing seller. We use our skills, talents, time and labour to exchange salary for our living. (And when we give to God, it's such a wonderful thing. Remember, he owns everything. We are keeping 90% of what He gave for ourselves. We don't give him 10% of what we have.) There are many things we can do. The most blessed people are those who are doing what they enjoy, followed closely by those who enjoy what they do. These two groups of people may should similar but there is a fine line between them. The 1st group of people found something they like doing, The 2nd group learned to love what they do.

There are others who don't like what they do. There are some who don't even get to do anything not that they don't want to.

If we are unfortunate enough not to fall under the 1st group, then at the very least let's try to belong to the 2nd group.

Whatever it is, our principals should not be compromised.

In most things, it's always easier said than done. There is no exception here.

So, what are you going to do about it?

p.s. I am one of the poor souls who have not watched the Transformers movie. That ticket stub is not mine.

Before and after wedding

I got this from the wall of Teresa Kok's Facebook page.

<結婚前>往下看↓

男：太好了！我期盼的日子終於來臨了！我都等不及了！
女：我可以反悔嗎？
男：不，你甚至想都別想！
女：你愛我嗎？
男：當然！
女：你會背叛我嗎？
男：不會，你怎麼會有這種想法？
女：你可以吻我一下嗎？
男：當然，決不可能只有一下！
女：你有可能打我嗎？
男：永遠不可能！
女：我能相信你嗎？

<結婚後>從下往上看↑

Read on (top down)↓

Man：Wonderful! I've been waiting for this day! I can't wait!
Woman：Can I back out?
Man：No, don't you even think about it!
Woman：Do you love me?
Man：Of course!
Woman：Will you betray me?
Man：No, where did you get that idea from?
Woman：Can you kiss me?
Man：Of course, and not just once!
Woman：Will you hit me?
Man：Never!
Woman：Can I trust you?

Read from bottom up ↑

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

I give you the 2 stanzas of the song that are not normally seen. Solid theology.

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conquering seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.

Now display thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to thine.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface;
Stamp Thy image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.

Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the life, the inner Man:
O! to all thyself impart,
Form’d in each believing heart.

---

Sermon Notes - Aspire to Walk with God (16 Dec 2007)

In the movie I am Legend, the protagonist found out that everyone else was infected by a virus. He is the only one living normally. He also found out his blood could save the others.

If you found yourself to be the only one willing to obey God, what will you do?

In God’s creation, God save man to the last. Everything was created for God’s pleasure especially man. In a family without child, something is amiss. This is the same with God. He wanted something that is created according to his image.

Walk with God

Gen 6:9 挪亚的後代记在下面。挪亚是个义人，在当时的世代是个完全人。挪亚与神同行。

Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Enoch is 7 generation away from Adam. He walked with God and God took him up. He didn’t experience death. He is the great grand uncle of Noah. Enoch’s son, Methuselah is the grandfather of Noah. Methuselah’s name means the flood would come once he died.

Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth.

2Ti 3:1-2 你该知道，末世必有危险的日子来到。 (2) 因为那时人要专顾自己、贪爱钱财、自夸、狂傲、谤　、违背父母、忘恩负义、心不圣洁、

2Ti 3:1-2 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. (2) For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

At that time people will love themselves. Just as today, the people then were evil. We see all kinds of evils today – same sex union, rape, pre-marital sex, murder, riot, etc.

The people were evil and violent but Noah was righteousness and blameless in the eyes of God. Noah had no Bible, there was no preacher and no books to read. He had a simple faith in God.

At what age did Noah’s forefathers get married? As early as 65 and as late as 187.

Gen 5:28-29,32 拉麦活到一百八十二岁，生了一个儿子， (29) 给他起名叫挪亚，说：「这个儿子必为我们的操作和手中的劳苦安慰我们；这操作劳苦是因为耶和华咒诅地。」(32) 挪亚五百岁生了闪、含、雅弗。

Gen 5:28-29,32 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son (29) and called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands." (32) After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Noah had his children when he was 500 years old. He was working hard for his parents. Noah was a filial son. Noah got married so late because the world was corrupted, he didn’t want to simply take a wife. A man who waits on the Lord will not be shamed. Do we dare to wait on the Lord for everything in our life?

Noah didn’t care whether he would have a wife or not. He believed in God. Marriage is in the hands of God. Noah placed God in the first place.

God gave Noah a wife and 3 children so that after the flood, there would be people left.

In Gen 4:17vv we saw Cain’s descendents were talented people. In Gen 5, we saw the descendents of Seth. There was nothing of note. This is a lineage of righteous people.

A blameless person is someone who other people could not find fault in him.

Noah is a person with the following characteristics.

1. Trust God
2. Blameless life
3. Fear God
4. Preacher (he only led 7 people to follow God)
5. Intimate with God

The people didn’t listen to Enoch and they didn’t listen to Noah.

How much time do we spend intimate time with God in a day, a week or a month? If we were more intimate with God in the past, what happened? If we are intimate with God now, will we keep this up in the future?

Noah spent many years building the ark. He didn’t want to build a magnificent building for the others to remember him. Noah put aside all his personal interest. He had close fellowship with God and that helped him to stay on course.

Beware the Judgement of God

In Noah’s time, God destroyed the world with the evil people with flood (i.e. with water.) In the tsunami a few years ago, thousands died. That was in a day. The flood in Noah’s days covered the whole earth and it covered the highest mountain of the earth. Noah believed it would happen. But the other people didn’t believe. They still ate, drank and be merry. They had never seen any rain. The Bible never mentioned rain before the flood.

Today, when we tell others that God will one day use a great fire will consume the earth, some will not believe because they have never seen it. Only when and if we believe can we preach this message.

The many Christians in the world are like the Noahs of today. We need to tell the others that the wicked will be destroyed.

Gen 6:14-18 你要用歌斐木造一只方舟，分一间一间的造，里外抹上松香。 (15) 方舟的造法乃是这样：要长三百肘，宽五十肘，高三十肘。 (16) 方舟上边要留透光处，高一肘。方舟的门要开在旁边。方舟要分上、中、下三层。 (17) 看哪，我要使洪水泛滥在地上，毁灭天下；凡地上有血肉、有气息的活物，无一不死。 (18) 我却要与你立约；你同你的妻，与儿子儿妇，都要进入方舟。

Gen 6:14-18 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (15) This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. (16) Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. (17) For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. (18) But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

If Noah merely preached and warned the people and neglected to follow God’s instructions to build the ark, he and his family would perish when the flood came. The ark is a symbol of Christ and the church.

Only one pair of unclean animals entered the ark while the clean animals came in seven pairs. This is a small world. Could the animals live together in harmony?

Imagine our church as the ark now, there are people with different personalities and background. Could they stay together?

Noah’s family and the many animals stayed in the ark for 1 year. Even though the ark is as big as a 3-storey soccer field, it must have been still difficult for the animals to stay together. If they leave the ark, they die.

Jesus gave his commandments for his church to love one another.

There are Christians who started to build haven and store up supplies in anticipation of the end of the world. We should focus on preparing the church as a united and mature body. We want to prepare the church as the bride as mentioned in Eph 5.

Noah used more than 100 years to build the ark. Jesus used more than 2000 years to prepare his church. And the preparation is still ongoing.

When will Jesus come again? When the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem? When the sin is fulfilled? The key is whether the church / ark are ready.

The flood came seven days after Noah and his family and the animals went into the ark. Calamities will come when Jesus comes again. But the purpose of Jesus coming again is to save those who are redeemed.

Follow God’s Instructions

Gen 6:22 挪亚就这样行。凡神所吩咐的，他都照样行了。

Gen 6:22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

The flood came when Noah was 600. He had his children at 500. There was a span of about 100 years.

The ark was so big it was impossible for Noah and the wife to build on their own. His children must have helped. From here we learn that no individual can build the ark.

Noah had been giving warning about the flood for hundreds of years. The building of the ark took anything from 60 to 100 years. The people didn’t believe him and ridiculed him.

Mat 7:24-27 「所以，凡听见我这话就去行的，好比一个聪明人，把房子盖在磐石上； (25) 雨淋，水冲，风吹，撞著那房子，房子总不倒塌，因为根基立在磐石上。 (26) 凡听见我这话不去行的，好比一个无知的人，把房子盖在沙土上； (27) 雨淋，水冲，风吹，撞著那房子，房子就倒塌了，并且倒塌得很大。」

Mat 7:24-27 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (26) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave this warning. Only those who believe and obey would be safe.

Prayer meeting last night

I had time to go home to take a shower and had dinner at my parents' before I went to the prayer meeting.

It was raining. The traffic was bad. It started slightly later than scheduled. But once it got started, it went full force.

I like the new format of blending worship with prayer. This is the service of the harp and incense. They should go together. Always.

When worship is no longer something we want to get out of the way before we can start with the list of items to pray (which incidentally is something we want to get out of the way before it's time we go home) we allow the Spirit to move in us. We are free to sing and pray.

The flow was ok. I was the concierge for Charmaine. I tried to get her the music notes. I also joined in the singing and praying.

It was good. Wish you were there with us.

Say, I have been only blogging about sermons and prayers. I'll get back to other things soon.

Sermon Notes – Admit Your Sins (09 Dec 2007)

(I wished I have the schedule for the next 3 months so I can start preparing for my next sermon now.)

People have different perspectives on sin. Most people think they are good people. They relate sin to crime.

Gen 3:1-5
耶和华 神所造的，惟有蛇比田野一切的活物更狡猾。蛇对女人说：「神岂是真说不许你们吃园中所有树上的果子吗？」(2) 女人对蛇说：「园中树上的果子，我们可以吃，(3) 惟有园当中那棵树上的果子，神曾说：『你们不可吃，也不可摸，免得你们死。』」(4) 蛇对女人说：「你们不一定死；(5) 因为神知道，你们吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你们便如神能知道善恶。」

Gen 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" (2) And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, (3) but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (4) But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. (5) For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The serpent here is a symbol of the devil. The snake could speak. It is cunning. It created doubt in Eve's mind. Eve responded with her own exaggeration, "in the midst" and cannot touch. The serpent further tried to confuse Eve by telling her she "will not surely die." It also convinced Eve that not only she wouldn't die, she'd be like God.

Today, many will like to be able to tell good and evil and to be able to take care of themselves. No one likes to be told their right from wrong. Man like to depend on himself. This is especially so for those who are affluent.

Rev 12:3-4,7-9
天上又现出异象来：有一条大红龙，七头十角；七头上戴著七个冠冕。(4) 他的尾巴拖拉著天上星辰的三分之一，摔在地上。龙就站在那将要生产的妇人面前，等他生产之後，要吞吃他的孩子。 … (7) 在天上就有了争战。米迦勒同他的使者与龙争战，龙也同他的使者去争战，(8) 并没有得胜，天上再没有他们的地方。(9)大龙就是那古蛇，名叫魔鬼，又叫撒但，是迷惑普天下的。他被摔在地上，他的使者也一同被摔下去。

Rev 12:3-4,7-9 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. (4) His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. … (7) Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, (8) but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. (9) And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

The serpent appeared in both the first book and the last book of the Bible. The serpent is ancient. It is at least 6,000 years old. No man can match its wits. The world is deceived by the devil in many ways. It was an archangel, a most wonderful creature. However, he fell from heaven when pride took over him and he wanted to take the glory that belongs to God. He took 1/3 of the angels with him. His is no longer known as Lucifer but Satan (the arch enemy of good: - adversary, withstand.)

Satan deceives in many ways – music, money, education, etc. He is the king of the world for the time being. However, we who have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour are no longer subject to his rule. The Son of God won the victory for us by shedding His blood on the Cross. We are to testify on the change in our lives.

Read Rev 12-14 and we will find that the time for the devil is numbered.

Gen 3:6
於是女人见那棵树的果子好作食物，也悦人的眼目，且是可喜爱的，能使人有智慧，就摘下果子来吃了，又给他丈夫，他丈夫也吃了。

Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

We like to eat. The women found the fruit to be good for food. This is the first temptation here.

The second temptation was the look. The woman delighted in the fruit. We are tempted to buy things based on the look.

It is also something she wanted / desired.

Lastly, she wanted wisdom, even when it comes from Satan. We like to be wiser than others.

These are the fourfold temptation in the fruit.

Gen 3:7
他们二人的眼睛就明亮了，才知道自己是赤身露体，便拿无花果树的叶子为自己编做裙子。

Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Is it good for the eyes to be opened? Before this, they relied / depended / trusted God. Now that their eyes are opened, they were ashamed in their nakedness. They tried covered their shame.

Gen 3:8
天起了凉风，耶和华 神在园中行走。那人和他妻子听见神的声音，就藏在园里的树木中，躲避耶和华 神的面。

Gen 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Before disobeying God, they welcome God's presence. Now they hid themselves from God.

Gen 3:10
他说：「我在园中听见你的声音，我就害怕；因为我赤身露体，我便藏了。」

Gen 3:10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."

Adam said he was afraid when he heard the sound of God and that he was naked.

Gen 3:11
耶和华说：「谁告诉你赤身露体呢？莫非你吃了我吩咐你不可吃的那树上的果子吗？」

Gen 3:11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

When a person does something wrong, he is afraid.

Gen 3:12-13
那人说：「你所赐给我、与我同居的女人，他把那树上的果子给我，我就吃了。」(13) 耶和华 神对女人说：「你做的是什麽事呢？」女人说：「那蛇引诱我，我就吃了。」

Gen 3:12-13 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." (13) Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

When confronted by God, Adam chose to push the responsibility to Eve, who did put the blame on the serpent.

People today do not want to admit their mistakes. Christians in the market place should bear a good testimony.

FGBM organized gatherings with a few people giving testimonies. One sister confessed boldly she used to be a prostitute. When a Christian confesses his sins, the devil could no longer accuser him. We no longer fear our past.

Gen 3:14-19
耶和华 神对蛇说：你既做了这事，就必受咒诅，比一切的牲畜野兽更甚。你必用肚子行走，终身吃土。 (15) 我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇；你的後裔和女人的後裔也彼此为仇。女人的後裔要伤你的头；你要伤他的脚跟。(16)又对女人说：我必多多加增你怀胎的苦楚；你生产儿女必多受苦楚。你必恋慕你丈夫；你丈夫必管辖你。(17)又对亚当说：你既听从妻子的话，吃了我所吩咐你不可吃的那树上的果子，地必为你的缘故受咒诅；你必终身劳苦才能从地里得吃的。(18) 地必给你长出荆棘和蒺藜来；你也要吃田间的菜蔬。(19) 你必汗流满面才得糊口，直到你归了土，因为你是从土而出的。你本是尘土，仍要归於尘土。

Gen 3:14-19 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. (15) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (16) To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." (17) And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; (18) thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. (19) By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Gen 3:20-21
亚当给他妻子起名叫夏娃，因为他是众生之母。(21) 耶和华 神为亚当和他妻子用皮子做衣服给他们穿。

Gen 3:20-21 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (21) And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

The skins mark the first sacrifice in the Bible. Blood is required for the remission of sins. This foretold Jesus the lamb of God who would die for the sins of mankind.

Gen 3:22-24
耶和华 神说：「那人已经与我们相似，能知道善恶；现在恐怕他伸手又摘生命树的果子吃，就永远活著。」 (23) 耶和华 神便打发他出伊甸园去，耕种他所自出之土。 (24) 於是把他赶出去了；又在伊甸园的东边安设基路伯和四面转动发火焰的剑，要把守生命树的道路。

Gen 3:22-24 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--" (23) therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. (24) He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

God doesn't allow sinners to live forever. Adam and Eve were driven out from the Garden of Eden.

Today, we can have the fruit of the tree of life. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We can have hope of eternal life because of what Jesus has done for us on the Cross.

To pray or not to pray

I have a penchant of skipping the corporate prayer. This is especially so when we met monthly.

Now that it's a weekly meeting, I attend more often. Still, sometimes due to work, sickness, mood, I'd give it a skip.

Last Wednesday, I was not feeling well. I had running nose and the beginning of a sore throat. However, I still went to the church because I didn't think I could walk home. I went there to get a ride from Kathleen who would go there with Jesse. They didn't turn up. I joined in the prayer and worship (these two should always go together, harp and incense mah.) I had a good time. I felt healthy. I got a ride home.

Yesterday, I had fever. But I wanted to go to the church to just find out if the projector worked. It didn't. By the time I tried everything, almost everyone was there. I moved the PC so everyone could see the monitor. (I always wanted to have worship without having to read words. Matt Redman once led a worship with NO singing. And he said it was good.) And once again I stayed because I didn't feel strong enough to walk home. K and Jesse came. I once again joined in the worship and prayer, helping in whatever little way I could. Again I had a good time. But I still didn't feel fully recovered.

If I were to go home both times, walk or taking a taxi, I would probaly go home feeling sick and wallow in self-pity. That's not good.

A few children prayed last night. We need to encourage them to seek the Lord themselves.

Of course, we ourselves need to pray.

You have to admire Mark Twain's wit

The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
~ Mark Twain

从惘然到惆怅

时光一去永不会，往事只能回味。

变了质的感情可以回复往日的甘甜么？

曾喜滋滋的希望，过了一段日子，事情淡了，就没事了。原来那只是一厢情愿。

虽然没有拒人一千里之外的“明示”，但是不苟言笑的专业态度已经说明了没有回头的机会。

玩笑千万不可以开的太大。玩得过火可能会后悔莫及。

或许李后主的《相见欢》是我此刻心情的最佳写照吧？

无言独上西楼。月如钩，寂寞梧桐深院锁清秋。剪不断，理还乱，是离愁，别有一番滋味在心头。

Sermon Notes: Affirm God's Good Plans (02 Dec 2007)

Hello.

I didn't take notes yesterday. I think it was hard to do so while preaching.

I'll just give you the gist of yesterday's sermon.

God created everything. It was good. (Then how do we explain war, sickness, deaths, cockroaches, mosquitoes, etc? Stay tuned. You'll get your answers next week.) The creation is designed carefully by God.

Man is unique. God saved the best for last. Man is the only creation based on God's own image. God is kind, good, love, wise, etc. Man has those attributes.

God gave man understanding so he can have the spiritual attributes of God. After the fall, he became darkened (Eph 4:18). Jesus the prophet came to bring light and establish the kingdom of truth.

God gave man will so he could decide to live a holy life and love. (You need will to love.) After the fall, he became evil. (John 3:19). Jesus the priest came to offer himself as the ultimate sacrifice to establish the kingdom of love and righteousness.

God gave man emotions so we can be channel of his blessings and joy. After the fall, he became wretched (Rom 7:24). Jesus the king came to rule over us and establish the kingdom of peace and joy.

God also gave man his helpmate. The process of making this helpmate is different from the one that made man. The helpmate is equal to the man, not inferior, not superior. They complement each other. Marriage is instituted by God for one man and one woman for life.

Applications:

Since we know God loves us so much by preparing and providing our every need, we should have a thankful heart. To quote Peter Parket in the Spiderman movie, with great power comes great responsibilities. God put us in charge of the world (the birds in the sky, the fish in the water, the beasts in the field!) We should be responsible. Use our resources wisely. Waste not.

Man is unique. We can relate to God. Respect life for life is given by God. Respect one another whether we like them or not. They are created in God's image. Abortion is killing since life is formed at the conception.

Marriage is for one man and one woman for life. No other options are available. We need keep it that way. We need to show a good example of a good marriage (according to God's design) in our community. Marriage is one subject to attacks by the enemy. We should also care and try to help those who are facing problems in marriage.

God's plans for us is good. Don't spoil it. Man is not invited to take part in the creation. Man should not ruin the product too. Follow His plans.