An Epistemological Somersault

For whatever reason I found myself reading my blog entries in January this year. On January 21 I wrote “Can Losing Weigh be Part of a Christian’s Spirituality?” and the next day (the next entry) I wrote “An Epistemological Delimma.” In those two entries I was trying to rationalize my struggle in losing weight. I argued that knowing the need to lose weight is not enough a motivation even if that knowledge is critical. It takes one to know God who holds our life in His hand – a knowledge that gives one a clear understanding of what it means to live a life that is right in His sight.

Amazing! Months later I woke up with a sharp pain in my right leg and I knew I had gout. Well…I went to see a doctor and took some medication. Within two days the pain is gone and life can go back to normal. Yes? No…in fact, I suddenly felt that I should live my life with better stewardship than I have been thus far. It never dawn upon me that that thought would spark a new journey in my life of faith.

It has been about 6 weeks now that I have completely changed my lifestyle – eat only 1/3 of what I normally eat, sleep early, go to the gym or take a walk with my children, do not overwork in front of the computer anymore, and drink lots of water. I spend more time in personal devotion and prayer. I try not to get easily upset and angry but smile a lot more. Amazing how I came to this conclusion!

Anyway there is still a long way to go for me and I would be lying if I said it has been easy. It is not but I am not giving up except all the tasty hawker food like hokkien mee, char koay teow, beef, mutton, etc. etc. Oh….what’s going on. Before I started on my lifestyle change I weigh 102 kg and now (after 6 weeks) I weigh 97 kg. My gym couch keeps my body weight.

I have to tell you it is not knowing I need to lose weight that motivated me to change my lifestyle. It has to be the hand of the Lord. It is trully a part of my christian spirituality.

Constant Practice of the Word

The author of the epistle of Hebrews lamented the fact that his readers had ‘become dull of hearing’ (Hebrews 5:11). The author had wanted to tell them more about the eternal salvation that Jesus had accomplished. But he was not able to elaborate farther because it would involve a lot of explanation in order for his readers to understand. He was concerned that at a stage when they should be able to teach others the truths of God they still needed someone to teach them the elementary truths.

What are these elementary truths? Hebrews 6:1-2 answers that question. They are matters to do with repentance from dead works, faith in God, instruction about baptisms or cleansing rites, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. I wonder how many of us reading this now would say we have no idea what they are about nor what would be the significance of these elementary truths.

That is precisely the point that the author of Hebrews was trying to get at. Many of us have not gone very far in our understanding of the basic truths of the Christian faith. So we become easily influenced or disturbed when someone comes along declaring some new understanding or fresh revelations that they have received from God. Or we get perturbed by what someone claimed to be a truth of scripture because we are not sure if that is exactly how the scripture is meant to be understood. Or we are unsure about what is the right thing to do in a given situation.

Our memory verse for this week tells us that, “everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child…” What is this ‘milk’? 1 Peter 2:1-3 (week 5 memory verse) talks about the ‘pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation’ – if this ‘spiritual milk’ is that which will enable us to grow into a fuller experience of salvation, and since we were saved through our putting our faith in the word that was preached to us, then the ‘spiritual milk’ must also have to do with the word of God. It is that particular word of God that spoke to us of God’s grace, and mercy, that first made the Lord so attractive to us that it drew us to yield our lives to Him.

‘Milk’ is that aspect of God’s word which we find easy to understand. It is that which brings comfort to us or cause our troubled hearts to be at peace. But if we only want the ‘milk’ – the ‘comfort me’ message, Hebrews 5:13 says that we will remain unskilled in matters related to righteousness, unskilled in discovering what is the right thing to do.

Conversely, Hebrews 5:14 speak of another type of believer. This one is seen as a mature person and the mark of his/her maturity is the ability to discern good from evil. The verse actually says that this person’s ‘powers of discernment’ has been trained by ‘constant practice to distinguish good from evil.’ Such a person feeds on ‘solid food’.

Some parts of the Bible may be hard to understand and often we tend to shy away from reading them. But for the person who is constantly working at discerning good from evil, the ‘hard to understand’ passages become a resource from which he/she could draw on to form a yardstick for discerning what is good or evil. The author of Hebrews said that it’s by the constant use of this ‘solid food’, this word of God, that the person is able to distinguish good from evil.

We are meant to constantly live out the word of God in our lives, constantly use it as our guide for living, for discovering what is good and what is evil. In this way we are training our discerning power.

What would be the result of our failure to do so? I believe Hebrews 6:4-8 speaks of those who have failed to constantly practice the word of God in their lives. The end result is that of falling away to the point of no return. This is the worst scenario of what could happen to one who neglects God’s word. There is no anchor for their soul and temptation will soon over power them so that where once they had proclaim the goodness of God, now they turned away and ‘crucify the Son of God’ anew. Sad to say, there may be no returning for such as these.

May we take heed and be forewarned. So let us work at hiding the word of God in our hearts and living by them, and in the process training ourselves to discern what is truly good and what is evil.

by Pastor Cheng Kin

What’s Wrong with Cognitive Learning?

I just cannot understand why is it that there are some among us who thinks that informing the mind would not help in changing them at all? I think it is really amounting to disrespect to hold the view that God cannot use propositional truths and empowered it with His Spirit to cause a renewal of the mind and a revival in the hearts of people.

If we all take note of Church history we would soon realized that much of the changes in society, in the world has come from those who are willing to educate the masses, to teach the uninformed and illiterate, and to preach powerful sermons of commitment. Those who uses the supernatural, the emotional appeal does not last that long. Look at people like Luther – his writings changes the face of church history. How about Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Wesley brothers, and many more? Printing of bibles and the churning out of massive amount of literature not only educate the people about the truth of God but does change entire nation and society. Ideas do have consequences. Teaching – informing of the mind is the first step towards a renewal and a transformation of the hearts.

If we were to argue from the fact that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to change then might as well we just hide in the mountain to do deep reflection for all of life. I think we need to draw the line. I firmly believe that the knowledge of God and the truths of God facilitate the Holy Spirit to work that truth into our being. That’s why we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is because we need the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis as we progress in our intimacy of God. We need to gaze upon God but we cannot possibly gaze into the unknown and hope to get revelation. God has revealed himself through His word so we use the knowledge of God as revealed in his word to come to a place of intimacy.

We cannot appreciate God’s love if we don’t first understand cognitively why he loves us. It is not impossible to know that because he has revealed his everlasting love for mankind through the Incarnational Word (Jesus) as written in the Holy Scriptures.

I get very agitated when we keep chanting that teaching is not enough. Yes it is not enough but it is the beginning of wisdom. How does wisdom come? Does it come from supernatural revelation? No. It comes from a seeking heart wanting to know the truth. A seeker for truth will go anywhere and do anything to find it out. God had put that in man and when he found the truth he will fall down on his knees and worship.

Well….go and figure it out what I am trying to say.

The Effects of Postmodernism (1)

Well…I have finally finished my first draft of my major research project – “A Study of the Effect of Postmodernism on the Christian Teenagers age Between 13 – 19 in FGA Centre.” I want to give a big shout!! Finally. So looks like I will be able to graduate come November 13 – haha

Tell me what you think…just a little excerpts:

What Best Describe Their Worldview?

What was their idea of truth? The survey shows a rather worrying percentage of youths, to be exact 43%, believing that there is no absolute truth. To these people truth is what you believe strongly about. This is worrying because many of these teenagers would be going into tertiary education overseas in a few years time and they have no foundation for objective truths. Their faith is on shaky ground because without a firm belief in absolute truth there would be room for different shades of truth. When truth is relative then it follows that morality is what is espoused by the majority and not what ought to be.

In trying to extract some ideas about what they hold ethically and morally or in other words, to try to see how much of Christian truth is embedded into their worldview I asked them to tell me whether this statement is true or false. I gave them a rather tricky quiz. Basically the statement is “I believe Jesus is my Savior and I love Him but I also hold to the view that we are free to choose what we want to believe like gay rights, assisted killing, free sex and abortion.” More than 90% said that the statement is false. What that translates for us is that there is an agreement that being a Christian means holding onto a prescribed ethical law rather than the law of the jungle. The other thing to consider would be that loving Jesus and freedom to choose what we want to believe are mutually exclusive. There is a certain ethical stand required for a believer or for one who professed to love Jesus.

The question is: What signal are we getting from the answers given where 90% believed that some form of ethics is required as a Christian and yet there is a high percentage who don’t subscribed to the idea that there is absolute truth.? Are they related or are they separated?

Of all the survey statement the ones relating to authority is the most interesting yet the most important ones to seriously ponder as Christian educator, youth pastors, and parents. While 46% believed that Christian teenagers need to follow a set of rules that will guide their lifestyle in order to be genuine Christians, 70% said that it is ridiculous for the school authority to set rules on length of hair and uniform, 67% said we should question parents and church leaders about setting the standard of dressing, and 54% are not in favor of the limit set by those in authority to internet usage, movie and music, hanging out with friends and even the time to sleep. A high percentage of 70% believed that everyone has a right as an individual. Their individuality gives them the right to make their own decision in everything that comes their way. Ironically 61% said that parents should set the rules and teenager should listen and obey, of course with the freedom to question it. 70% said that parents, adults or the school should not dictate to how they choose their friends, interfere in their lifestyle and taste unless consulted or they want their opinion. Now that is telling!

Postmodernism is a reaction towards modernity. Modernity equals rationality, logics and reasoning, translated to rules, forms and conformity. Postmodernism is also a reaction towards status quo and therefore towards authority. Postmodern teens liked to believe that what is true for you may not be true for him. Inadvertently, they project that to also mean that they can choose and decide for themselves and that there is really no right or wrong way of doing things. With that we could see the tendency to want to decide, to go against the grain of authority that is seen to hinder, to block, or to curb their freedom of expression.

The whole notion that everything must be questioned; doubt being the essential element of truth, and uncertainty is an integral part of faith, we have slightly more than 50% of the youths agreeing to it. This idea of questioning and skepticism and the notion of no truth with a capital “T” formed the basic tenets of postmodernist idealism. So we do have a situation here at hand because quite a high percentage doubt that there is such a thing as objective truths and their assumption is that we need to question everything! So how do we help in shaping the believing teenager into having a biblical worldview that includes a belief in objective, absolute truth in Jesus Christ and that without faith it is impossible to please God?

I gave a couple of statements to probe their view regarding the meaning of life and faith. Well, a high 97% responded that there is meaning to life. How deep they understood the ramifications of it all is not solicited but at least they were all saying that there is life more than birth, study, work, death, and heaven. Perhaps that could be an indication of a certain measure of openness in wanting life to mean something, to do something that is worthwhile and significant. Perhaps life in the youth group does teach them that there is a plan and purpose of God for each individual within the community. I am assuming that this is true because 91% said that the church, which I take it to mean the youth group they are connected with, does meet their needs and does understand them. In fact, they also agreed that the sermons were relevant. While I had the intention to define church as the people who gathered each Sunday I am afraid the participants most probably take it to mean their youth meeting. So I am going on the assumption that they meant their youth meeting on Saturdays. 97% of the youths believed that Christians should be real and not fake their spirituality. They were saying that authenticity and honest faith must be seen within and without the church.

Time Is Running Out On Me – Help!!

I have just received an email from the Academic Dean (MBTS) and I can feel the heat …. I need to graduate this year and all my assignments must be completed by end September. Wow…that’s really “hot” man.

I have to do a project paper (30 – 50 pages) on a study of the effect of postmodernism on christian teenagers in FGA Centre. That’s a tall order. I am trying to gather my thoughts together and trying to figure out how to start. On top of that I have to write a three 10 pages assignments on (1) Christian worldview in discipleship, (2) Pentecostal-Charismatics and the intellectual life of the mind (loving God with our mind), and (3) Pastoral Care and the issue of the problem of evil.

Now you can see why i am feeling the heat!! Well…that’s not all. I have to do the following:
1. Complete the reflection on christian spirituality and the reading of six books
2. Self-study on Spiritual Warfare and Evangelism (VCD study)
3. Self-study on Church History A & B (VCD Study)
4. Get cracking on Greek!!

If that is not all …. I still have teach bible classes, preach, and oversee the work on saturday. I think I am going to drown real soon. I must say that I am a little short these few days. Do you think I can finish the assignments end september? I have to take a long leave to do just that. Please whisper a pray for me whenever you remember my name.

Well…forgive me…i need to de-stress myself!!