I am totally aghast that some churches have acted like Malaysian political parties, eliminating dissenting opinions using dictatorial means :
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/21/nation/5906253&sec=nation
Guess it will end up in court.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Being sorry only after you get caught ??
A famous married American golfer was reputed to be 'sorry' after articles of his sexual-adventures with numerous women was exposed by the press. He expressed 'sorry' over them.
A famous Singaporean married movie producer was exposed by his lover, who is half-his age, 22 concerning all the sexual activities they had in his custom-furnished car. Soon, various women stepped forward to reveal that this producer used his position to try to get aspiring models and actresses to sleep with him. After his immoral antics were blown, he and his wife held a teary-jerky press conference to express "sorry" for his action. The latest news now is that he plans to make a movie out of what happened to him. Talk about making money out of being sorry.
My former married Petaling Jaya pastor was seen holding hands and vacationing with his young worship leader in the island of Penang by some church members. The church got a wind of it and finally he was forced to resign. He went to the pulpit and said that he had wronged against God and the church and asked for forgiveness. That's it. He did not even confess about the whole affair.
My point is .. do we need to be caught red-handed first before we start expressing regrets over our actions? Are our 'regrets' and 'sorry' because of the personal damage our actions have caused us OR Are they because we truly realized we have sinned against God?
Are you sorry because you got exposed ? Or are you really sorry because you have sinned against God?
There are definitely people with lots of hidden skeletons in their closet who are currently not sorry at all until they are publicly-exposed ! Shall we call them hypocrites and fakers?
A famous Singaporean married movie producer was exposed by his lover, who is half-his age, 22 concerning all the sexual activities they had in his custom-furnished car. Soon, various women stepped forward to reveal that this producer used his position to try to get aspiring models and actresses to sleep with him. After his immoral antics were blown, he and his wife held a teary-jerky press conference to express "sorry" for his action. The latest news now is that he plans to make a movie out of what happened to him. Talk about making money out of being sorry.
My former married Petaling Jaya pastor was seen holding hands and vacationing with his young worship leader in the island of Penang by some church members. The church got a wind of it and finally he was forced to resign. He went to the pulpit and said that he had wronged against God and the church and asked for forgiveness. That's it. He did not even confess about the whole affair.
My point is .. do we need to be caught red-handed first before we start expressing regrets over our actions? Are our 'regrets' and 'sorry' because of the personal damage our actions have caused us OR Are they because we truly realized we have sinned against God?
Are you sorry because you got exposed ? Or are you really sorry because you have sinned against God?
There are definitely people with lots of hidden skeletons in their closet who are currently not sorry at all until they are publicly-exposed ! Shall we call them hypocrites and fakers?
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Sometimes the 'holy' have to learn much from the 'not-so-holy'
Sometimes people from religious organisations need to learn from the world.
We always hear about charity, respect , love , fairness and others from the preaching of clergies and people. But sometimes, we find that the world is much fairer than the religious organisations.
A pastor-intern receives less wage than a construction labourer while a mega church senior pastor receives much more than a multinational CEO. You may call this 'trials and testings' (former) and 'blessings for the man of God' but i call this a violation of human decency !
How can we give a pastor a such meagre salary that he has to do part-time sales to compliment it? Or how can we give a senior pastor a five-figure salary plus free housing , transportation and scholarships for his children and preach that love of money is the root of all evil. At least the world gives employees a decent salary.
We see monks driven by chauffeurs in Mercedes or BMW in the city. Aren't they suppose to live a life forsaking worldly things? Or that is only for his followers?
Some religious organisations expect free things from its members. It is good for members to volunteeringly give but to coerce them is not morally-right.
They talk much about doing the right thing in religion but when a religious figure does the wrong thing, it's so hard for him to adhere to his own preaching.
The greater a person, the hard for him to correct himself.
We always hear about charity, respect , love , fairness and others from the preaching of clergies and people. But sometimes, we find that the world is much fairer than the religious organisations.
A pastor-intern receives less wage than a construction labourer while a mega church senior pastor receives much more than a multinational CEO. You may call this 'trials and testings' (former) and 'blessings for the man of God' but i call this a violation of human decency !
How can we give a pastor a such meagre salary that he has to do part-time sales to compliment it? Or how can we give a senior pastor a five-figure salary plus free housing , transportation and scholarships for his children and preach that love of money is the root of all evil. At least the world gives employees a decent salary.
We see monks driven by chauffeurs in Mercedes or BMW in the city. Aren't they suppose to live a life forsaking worldly things? Or that is only for his followers?
Some religious organisations expect free things from its members. It is good for members to volunteeringly give but to coerce them is not morally-right.
They talk much about doing the right thing in religion but when a religious figure does the wrong thing, it's so hard for him to adhere to his own preaching.
The greater a person, the hard for him to correct himself.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Do differences of opinion means disunity?
Many people in big organisations e.g. corporations, companies, churches , comunities etc. view differences of opinions as a sign of disunity. Does unity only means everyone must adhere to only one opinion which is usually the official one sanctioned by the leader(s)?
I don't think so. In any organisation, there are sure to be differences of opinions and views. Even in authoritarian organisations, opininal differences are there though they are not openly expressed due to the fear of reprisals.
There can still be unity in the body despite differences of opinions. Unity , in my opinion , is an attitude. It is not a public display in show of force or in public adherence of an 'official' opinion. Even if people are afraid to openly express their personal views, public displays of supporting an 'official' view are merely a public show and not genuine in the hearts.
Unity means that even though we may have different opinions, we can still come together to discuss the differences and respect each other and not be bitter with one another.
However, it is so sad to see some leaders view differences of opinion as a threat to them and label these people who do not toe the official line as "rebels" and "traitors" and call their ideas "rebellious".
Yesterday night, my church cell group discussed 1 Cotinthians 1:1-14. St. Paul wrote that there were many following different leaders like Paul himself, Apollos and Cephas ( Peter ) in the Church of Corinth.
Why do people follow certain leaders? The possible reasons I thought of are :
Cliques becomes bad only when members forget the purpose of the whole organisation but start fighting for cliques' agendas.
Likewise, when people start to lose focus on Jesus Christ and start to focus much on the leaders, this is when cliques becomes personality cults. And this is when rivalry starts.
We can even have pastor personality cults. I remember when i was a youth, a sister kept using this phrase "Pastor said this .. " and "Pastor said that .. ". She should have said "God said this .. " or " The bible said this .. ".
A pastor wields a great deal of influence on his/her sheep. But a pastor is human too and is not perfect. The bible says if anyone claims to be perfect, he is a liar and the truth of God is not in him. For our rightousness is like a dirty rag to God.
The Corinth Church had lost focus on Jesus and its members are now focusing on church leaders. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to bring them back to the source of their faith , salvation and wisdom - God.
He did it gently in love by asking thoughtful questions i.e. "Were you baptised in Paul, Apollos or Cephas's name? Who gave you wisdom ? Who made the foolish to shame to wise?"
Thus, Paul redirected their focus back to God in love.
I don't think so. In any organisation, there are sure to be differences of opinions and views. Even in authoritarian organisations, opininal differences are there though they are not openly expressed due to the fear of reprisals.
There can still be unity in the body despite differences of opinions. Unity , in my opinion , is an attitude. It is not a public display in show of force or in public adherence of an 'official' opinion. Even if people are afraid to openly express their personal views, public displays of supporting an 'official' view are merely a public show and not genuine in the hearts.
Unity means that even though we may have different opinions, we can still come together to discuss the differences and respect each other and not be bitter with one another.
However, it is so sad to see some leaders view differences of opinion as a threat to them and label these people who do not toe the official line as "rebels" and "traitors" and call their ideas "rebellious".
Yesterday night, my church cell group discussed 1 Cotinthians 1:1-14. St. Paul wrote that there were many following different leaders like Paul himself, Apollos and Cephas ( Peter ) in the Church of Corinth.
Why do people follow certain leaders? The possible reasons I thought of are :
- People tend to identify more with leaders of the same wavelengths and views.
- People hope to benefit by aligning themselves with 'influential' leaders.
- People who are timid and less expressive hope that these leaders would be able to publicly express their grievance on their behalf.
Cliques becomes bad only when members forget the purpose of the whole organisation but start fighting for cliques' agendas.
Likewise, when people start to lose focus on Jesus Christ and start to focus much on the leaders, this is when cliques becomes personality cults. And this is when rivalry starts.
We can even have pastor personality cults. I remember when i was a youth, a sister kept using this phrase "Pastor said this .. " and "Pastor said that .. ". She should have said "God said this .. " or " The bible said this .. ".
A pastor wields a great deal of influence on his/her sheep. But a pastor is human too and is not perfect. The bible says if anyone claims to be perfect, he is a liar and the truth of God is not in him. For our rightousness is like a dirty rag to God.
The Corinth Church had lost focus on Jesus and its members are now focusing on church leaders. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to bring them back to the source of their faith , salvation and wisdom - God.
He did it gently in love by asking thoughtful questions i.e. "Were you baptised in Paul, Apollos or Cephas's name? Who gave you wisdom ? Who made the foolish to shame to wise?"
Thus, Paul redirected their focus back to God in love.
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