Broken & Poured...

Finished Rob Bell's "Jesus Wants To Save Christians". Yet again, Rob Bell's writings deliver the message with words so simple, yet so powerful that they leave a deep lasting impression on your heart that doesn't fade after you're done with the book.

While, I won't reveal too much, here's some of my favourite quotes. He makes reference to the Eucharist (Holy Communion)...

"God has made peace with the world through the Eucharist, the good gift, of Jesus. And so Christians take part in a ritual, a meal, a reminder of the Passover, called the Eucharist - also called communion or the Lord's Supper or Mass - as a way of remembering and returning to who God is and what God has done in Christ.

But the Eucharist, as it is with any other ritual, is about something far more significant than the ritual itself.
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***further on, Rob talks about Paul's letter in 2 Corinthians***

God gives the world life through the breaking of Christ's body and the pouring out of Christ's blood. And God continues to give the word life through the body of Christ - who Paul tells his friends at Corinth is them.

They are his body. The body of Christ.

The church is a living Eucharist, because followers of Christ are living Eucharists.

A Christian is a living Eucharist, allowing her body to be broken and her blood to be poured out for the healing of the world.
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It is written to the Ephesians that God's "intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms."

We have been given everything we need for the fulfilment of the story. And the act of loving the poor is an act of fulfilling, remembering; it's living our hope; it's the fullness of him who fills all things in all ways.

It's not a building, because no building can ever be big enough for that kind of grace.

The Eucharist is not fair.

Giving to those who can't give in return, that's not fair.

Serving those who have no way to serve in return, that's not fair.

Breaking yourself open and pouring yourself out for people who may never say thank you, that's not fair.

Because God is not fair. This is a God who is defined by action on behalf of the opressed. God is about giving the good gift. Jesus is God's good gift for the healing of the word. The church is Jesus' body, a good gift for the healing of the world.

It's for the benefit of others.

For the good of those who look different from us.

A church is an organisation that exists for the benefit of nonmembers (emphasis mine)."



WOW.... I love that last line. Have we as a church gotten it wrong then?

Naughty Naughty Puppets

So the 4 of us (Nettes + Walzy + me) went to watch Avenue Q. Those are some naughty puppets I must say. I can never watch Sesame Street the same way again.

Ok so here's the downer. To those who might be offended or will be think me a prude or something of the sort, errr I'm not quite sorry? Haha... ok anyway somewhere between songs that question whose life sucks more and about what the actual purpose of the internet is, a thought popped into my head, and refused to leave me for the rest of the night.

Ok so here's what bothered me: I was thinking about all sources of humour/comedy available to us in the media these days. How many of these rely on racism or sex to get people laughing? Must it be this way? Must we always laugh at the expense of demeaning another race? Or at the cost of reducing something that was meant as a beautiful gift to just a mere recreational act to be laughed at?

I admit, I did think the show was well put together, and that it was definitely creative in many ways. I laughed at many points. But there seemed to be this voice in my head questioning myself WHY I was laughing, at each of the things I was laughing at.

Has the human race degraded to such a point that only such things are able to make people laugh? What is clean humour in today's age? Would clean humour work? I don't have the answers, but I am thinking. Are these things that we as a generation should be working out?

When will people be able to laugh in joy, without whacking another person's race, ethnicity, skin color and their related stereotypes? When will they even come closer to seeing sex as it was originally intended? Do I even see it that way? Truly?...

Ok enough, I could go on...

(the Walzy take one)

(the Walzy take one)
(we were trying to look serious)

(we weren't really trying to do anything)

(the dustbin take one... Walzy's got a lightsaber through his head)

Kids...

I love kids...

Glenn

Haha... sorry just had to say it. I love kids... And I hope I get the chance to have my own one day. And if I do, and if I had a little girl, she'd be my princess forever (together with her mother of course... haha).

And I'll take photographs of her. Running... dancing... playing... like this

Haha... aiyah this whole post was triggered by this photo (by Daley Hake of course).

***Announcement***

Glenn will be on reservist training for the next 3 weeks.

As one is forbidden from bringing a mobile phone with camera into any of the military camps/bases of the Super Armed Forces, if you wish to contact him between the hours of:

7:30AM - 6:00PM daily...

... Please dial/SMS 9457 5284.

He will be contactable via his regular phone number at all other hours.... (incl weekends).

However, he will be on exercise next week. Things might change. Stay tuned...

Sleep in peace friends (and the rest of Singapore), Glenn's got your back.

=END=

A Word for the season...

"What are you afraid of?"

(God)