Guess by now everyone would have heard about the tidal wave that hit many parts of asia and caused massive destruction. I first saw about it on tv mobile. It din dawn upon me then the impact the wave had. I was shocked as i followed the news and saw that the death toll kept rising. To date the death toll's around 40 000.. and they're expecting that it'll rise beyond 50 000... Omg..

At the same time i'm very much amazed at the fact that Singapore is left unaffected by the earthquake. Geographically, Singapore is very near the spot where the earth quaked, but because Singapore is shielded by Indonesia, so we din get experience the effect of the earthquake, and the wave couldn't reach us..Feel so blessed on this small island..

Christmas '04 was really busy nonetheless exciting and memorable.. I really enjoyed this season, not cuz' of the programs or the plain idea of christmas.. but cuz' of the company of people i spent it with. May sound idiotic but i'm serious! I reeeally enjoy the people around me, my unit ppl, and the ppl in church.. :D It's amazing how we see one another grow together, spiritually and (for most of us) physically.. Love you guys!

The drama during service was really funny. And the carols were around 5 noches better than usual ones. The breakdance was super cool, and as usual, it din fail to inspire me to continue pursuing dance. The most amazing thing is, all in all, for the 2 weeks of Christmas services, NED saw a total of 14 souls being saved!! I'm so awed by God. And for 2 consecutive weeks we broke 50 for service attendance! I really appreciate all my girls and all they've done during this christmas season. Every one of you matters a lot..

Also thank God that when we did our carols for the neighbourhood, everyone's all so friendly and hospitable to us. We were offered drinks and food by almost every household we visited, and many gave us chocolates, chips, etc.. There was this particular household that we visited. After carolling, all of us walked out the gate while daniel, strangely, left behind to talk to them.. It so happened that one of the women in the house is his grandaunt.. Haha.. what a small world.. And his grandaunt kept calling him An-an.. Haha..

To all who received notes and messages from me during christmas.. I sincerely mean every word that i wrote. And i thank God for placing every one of you into my life. I'm really blessed to be able to touch your lives in one way or another. Merry Christmas!

Rebuttal 2: Why the 10 Commandments? Part 2

Commandment 2:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou salt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

(in New International Version)
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to a third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

To only analyze verse 4, which is "Thou salt not make unto thee any graven image" and ignore the rest of the verses before the 3rd commandment is totally unreasonable and unfair. This whole chunks of words make up the 2nd Commandment which we will analyse in detail.

Argument (c): Any representation of God is an image of God. Hence the Bible should be burnt, no temples should be built, blah blah blah...
Rebuttal (c): The temple doesn't represent God (like 'duh', you don't see believers worshipping the bricks of the church building do you?) It does, basically, represent the dwelling place of God in the Old Testament. Hence, i don't see why we can't build temples. In the New Testament, God dwells in the hearts of His believers, ie. the believers make up God's temple. The Bible does try to provide an image of God. However, the Bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), therefore is not 'made' by man.

Argument (d): What about sculptures and posters?
Rebuttal (d): I did a simple comparison of the coefficients in the two equations above (betw NIV and KJV) as taught by my math teacher in sec 2. Upon comparing, one would realise that 'graven image' is being translated to be 'idol'. Hence, there is a connotation of worship involved with respect to the image. This is further supported by verses 5 and 6. Therefore, by mathematical induction, i am free to put up my fav creed poster as long as i don't worship the band.

It's getting late, pardon me.

Commandment 3:
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD your God in vain

Argument (e): Can't i say, "In the name of Jesus may you be healed"?
Rebuttal (e): Prolly the lousiest argument. Note the term 'in vain', or rather, 'misuse' in NIV.

Commandment 4:
Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy

Argument (f): God needing a rest doesn't mean that i need. What about hospitals and police?
Rebuttal (f): The rational behind this commandment is to rest and remember God, for God knows that man may get caught up with what they're doing and so, He instituted a time-out for us. The important thing is to have adequate rest and a constant awareness of the presence of God. In the New Testament, even Jesus Himself worked on Sabbath. It's not the strict obedience of Sabbath that God demands, but an understanding and appreciation of the rationale behind this commandment. In the New Testament, Sabbath is spending time with God through prayer, songs and hymns, and also reading the bible.

Commandment 5:
Honour thy father and mother

Argument (g): No qualifiers!! What if i have a drunk as a father, prostitute as a mother and both abandoned me when i was 11?
Rebuttal (g): Precisely that's why there's no qualifiers. What is it based on that we should honour our parents? Is it based on what their moral values are, or how they live their lives, or whether they're responsible in bringing up their kids? Honour them not for what they do, but for who they are. Our parents. Moreover, what's the difference between lying and prostitution? They're all acts of sin. And the emotional hurt caused by a lie may not be less detrimental than the physical degradation inflicted upon a prostitute.

Commandment 6:
Thou shalt not kill

Argument (h): No qualifiers!! What about self-defense?
Rebuttal (h): If one was to spend a lil more time going thru' the bible, he'd realise that God did elaborate on these commandments and how they should be implemented. There are, what is known as cities of refuge, where people who killed another out of self-defense or unintentionally can run to and seek refuge.

That's all for today. It's more tiring and tedious than i thought to actually pen down the rebuttals i have on my mind.

Rebuttal 1: Why the 10 Commandments? Part 1

Hmmm. Why are they commandments? Doesn't that make God sound like a tyrant? Let's look at it this way. Wad else can they be? If they are suggestions, it would imply that these 10 points are secondary. One can obey, one can choose not to obey. However, these 10 points include sins like lying, stealing, adultery, and even murder. And God takes sin very seriously. In order to bring the message across that these 10 points are important and have to be obeyed, the term commandments have to be used. Does the usage of this term make God a tyrant? No! Because the term tyrant suggests a oppressive and unreasonable authority. These 10 Commandments are not created to oppress people and to deny them their rights, but rather to protect their rights in the same way law works. And these 10 Commandments are not unreasonable. Firstly, they're within man's capability. And secondly, they are justified. This i will go on to show..

Commandment 1:
Thou shalt have no other gods before me

Argument (a): If God is the only God, how can there be other gods before him?
Rebuttal (a): Logical, but not practical. Man can make their own gods, just as how in the bible Aaron and the people of Israel made a golden calf to worship, and just as how in the world now there are so many different gods different peoples are worshipping. These gods may not take over God's place as God the Creator and Sustainer, but they are god in the hearts of worshippers. These gods can also come in intaangible forms such as money, career, etc..

Argument (b): If God showed himself to be the only God, why would we think of having other gods before him?
Rebuttal (b): In the same way, why do crimes take place? Don't murderers know that murder is a criime? Because man is sinful.

I'm getting tired.. so that's all for today.. yawns.. btw,

Merry Christmas!

Rebuttals from a fundamentalist

I have been a christian for over 6 years. Yes, i am a fundamentalist.. yes, i am a staunch christian.. but, no, i do not see wad's wrong. Wad is it to be a fundamentalist anyway?

taken from dictionary.com
fundamentalism: A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

So, basically, as a fundamentalist, i live my life according to my values, and these values are based on the fundamental principles derived from the bible. As far as i am concerned, i don't see why lukewarm christians don't get the knocks fundamentalists get. Because the reference (the bible in this case) is the same, and the foundation upon which the gospel is built is the same as well. Why is that fundamentalists are often viewed as extremists, nutcases that bomb themselves up in order to get their message across. And lukewarm christians, because of their lack of fervor to stand firm for what they believe in, and their failure to commit totally because of worldliness, get to be accepted by the public. Aren't we all believing in the same God?

I do accept people from other religions and i do have friends who have entirely different values from me. Coincidentally, i do have an atheist friend.. and we often have debates over wad we believe. I seriously don't know much. But i deeply believe that if God is real, there'll be logical arguments leading to its justifications. And i am ready to search the earth for a balanced argument justifying the presence of God. Should i fail, i'd have to face myself.