Don't shortchange thy neighbour

I know Christians are commenting on why we are 'obsessed' with being against same-sex 'marriage' and not other sins.
I pray that you understand that no one or rather no group is pushing aggressively for acceptance of divorce, greed, wrath, sloth, pride, envy, gluttony or even explicitly to be sexually immoral.
And I assure you, all of us are just as concerned about all matters in God's heart, just that you don't see it being done before your eyes.

No one issue that God is concerned about is above the other unless it is so obvious that people see it as not an issue.
Homosexuality is packaged as 'love' and 'freedom' and and they are attractive terms until you strip it to its barren form which is total brokenness and using of fig leaves to cover the hurt.
As true followers of Christ, we are causing great harm to people by endorsing it.
As disciples of Christ, we grieve the Holy Spirit by going against the word of God.
As ambassadors for Christ, we stumble and mislead people into thinking that this is love and freedom when we ourselves experience the love and freedom of God in the most authentic way.
We are shortchanging our loved ones.
We are deceiving ourselves outrageously.
It's not that we want to focus on homosexuality.
It's the fact that people think so little of this issue, care nothing of its consequences both in the spiritual and physical realm and thoughtless about the first casualty who is our innocent children.
The least that you and I can do now is to run to God's word and get the facts right about the heart of God regarding this matter.

The account of a suicide survivor

Thoughts of suicide invaded my mind since I was a teen.
Or rather I often threatened my late mum with suicide cos I was miserable that I could not go out with my peers because she was rightfully protective of me.
As a teen, I understood a little yet I was very lonely and being an outgoing person, to be shut up at home was great torture.
As a teen, I could only go out with my mum and a friend that my mum trusted.
That was then I realized how different I was from my peers in quite a few aspects.
They were all shooting up whereas I remained the same.
I went through what every teen went through, with an added bitterness.
When mum passed away suddenly and tragically, my first thought was to commit suicide so that I could be with her forever.
Nevertheless I was guarded by everyone during her funeral, reluctantly went through two more papers for 'A' Levels, had my last fracture and had to spend 6 months recuperating and after that, busy university life for 3 years.
Family structure took a drastic change, unresolved grief took its toll and like a volcano, it erupted in me this desire to die again.
I left home, with just a backpack.
I led a nomadic life, felt unwanted and ingrained in my mind was this thought that my world, that was my mum, collapsed and I had no reason to live.
And so one day, I went onto the road, waiting for cars to knock me down.
Then I realized that the road was a quiet one and so there was almost no car.
Angrily, I went home and swallowed half a bottle of a certain medicine that was poisonous in nature.
As I swallowed the pills, I vomited them out at the same time cos my body was resisting it.
I gave up and suddenly felt afraid.
I didn't want to die!
I just didn't know what to do with my life.
I asked my brother's girlfriend to bring me to the hospital.
There, the doctor inserted a tube into my throat all the way to my stomach to wash out the medicine.
I was conscious and my throat was so painful.
I was in Intensive Care Unit and when my family members came to visit me, I saw tears and shock in their eyes.
That was when it hit me that my life is not my own.
I am a survivor of a suicide attempt and I live to see the hurt that I had inflicted on my family members.
I thought no one cared for me.
No one can probably love me like how my mum did BUT my family members love me, in their own ways, perhaps in ways that I couldn't understand and accept but they love me all the same.
I think of people who committed suicide and never live to see the sorrows of their family members.
I cannot imagine the grief of the parents of the teen from Damai Secondary School who hanged himself.
I have heard of people committing suicide after someone they know did the same.
I thank my Lord every day that I'm alive.
I know why I'm alive.
I'm here with everyone to promote a culture of life, not death.
To live takes courage.
That's what I have learnt.
Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) : 1800-221 4444 (24-hr)

Let me shout it out from the rooftop!

Everyone knows I am God-crazy cos 99.9% of my posts on Facebook are about Jesus.
Friends who knew me in the past, I think they don't know me now.
I wonder how many want to associate with me or even read any of my posts.
Do I care?
I care not because I need anyone to like or read my posts.
I care because as a friend, all I want to do is to share how God has transformed my life.
Who doesn't want to share the best with friends, even strangers?
Everyone seems to be leading a good life online but we know otherwise.
We are all struggling with issues, we are all trying to cope with the demands of life.
Sharing online may not be the best way to share about life but it is one way.
The best sharing that any human can have with another is a face-to-face meeting, where eyes can be met, hands can be touched, hearts can be stirred and prayers can be heard.
Alas, people have no time.
And so here I am, believing that we don't just edify our family in Christ but that we reach out and involve people who may question our faith though they will want to know more if we are willing to share the victories of our lives through Christ with them.
I did ask God.
It's hard, You know, to be open about the struggles in our lives.
People will think I love to expose myself, I'm 'boasting' about how good my life is so as to 'promote' Christ, I'm imposing my faith on others etc.
Our God does not need us to 'promote' Him.
He created us and is obvious to all. 
When I said Yes to Christ, I already don't have certain privacy about my life anymore.
My story is His story and now His story is my story.
My victories belong to Him, just like my battles.
My mind is full of His word cos if it's not, it's full of negative things about myself and others and they are mostly lies!
It's not that I'm religious, holy holy...
But one thing is true, we are to be holy like Him!
My struggle lies in how to help people see that the thoughts of everyone comes from somewhere and that mine comes from my Lord.
How do I proclaim my faith to you, letting you know that I had and do have real struggles and it's my mind that changes the way I now see things?
Someone changed my mind and heart and He is Jesus.
Just like how you allow your thinking to be fixed about me, about the issues of your life, about why you exist.
Where did your thinking come from?
Before I received Christ, my family, friends, books, circumstances etc shaped my thoughts and hardened my heart.
I was cynical, insecure, couldn't trust anyone except myself.
Now I want to always trust God and honestly trust myself less cos I know my heart can deceive me too easily.
I learn to give people the benefit of the doubt.
I learn to be more strict with myself rather than with others because our God searches our minds and hearts.
I want to have the fear of the Lord rather than of man.
Everyone used to say that I was too sensitive to people's remarks and actions and that was the main cause of my misery before I received Christ.
I remember I lamented on why I'm so sensitive such that I get hurt easily, I hurt others and friendships were lost as a result.
Recently I realise that God actually has a purpose for me being sensitive to others.
He harnesses it for a good use and He gives me the boldness to call out human weakness for what it is.
Nice words for sexual immorality?
Sugar-coated words to cover irrational fear and self-centredness?
Mind our own business?
Sorry, that's saying I don't care about you.
If Christianity is real and I truly believe it to be so, let me shout it out from the rooftop and not be ashamed of my faith.
Whether you believe it or not, you have no excuse that you have not seen nor heard.

Christianity is for the common good

Leading people to Christ without manifesting the power of God in our lives FOR THE COMMON GOOD is fruitless.
Christianity is not just about God and me. If it is purely that, then it's god and me and that god is me.
Living in this world claiming that our eternal home is in heaven and that we don't have to bother about what's happening now is self-denial.

Every day, you will have people coming to you, struggling with marital problems, juvenile delinquency, depression, criminal issues......
Do you just say, "I pray with you. God will help you."?
Worse is to pray that and go away, leaving the person alone because you yourself don't even bother to help that person in practical ways.
God helps us in sending the right people, the needed resources at the right time.
Who will do the work?
People like you and me who are in this world but not of the world.
People like you and me who impact the society as a whole, not people who are just 'god and me'.
Telling people 'God is good' is very vague.
Showing people how God works in our lives is great.
Journeying with that person and showing how the goodness of our Lord impact the society for the common good is what each one of us should do.
After all, we are all affected by what's happening in the society, whether we believe it or not.
I know of people who say, "God had already said that times are going to get even worse so why are we trying to stop it?"
Then I think, "We are going to die anyway, why live a better life each day?"
His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray His kingdom on earth.
That is what Jesus wants us to pray and see it fulfilled ON EARTH.

I was that lost sheep

Life is sharing about our lives.
From 9+ am to 7+ pm today, my full-time, very important mission was to share about God's work in my life with a new believer and my ex-students.
Working as a tutor is my ministry and a source of income.
Always tell people that I don't need a lot of money.
I have never been in lack, praise the Lord!
I desire His pleasure in me, His 'well-done', His rewards and to share His burden as His daughter.
My life has been turned upside down.
The more I walk on His path, the more I don't recognize myself.
I think I literally sense God's grief inside of me towards His people.
My heart becomes so heavy that I want to scream, "Why God? Why am I thinking and feeling so differently? Am I weird?"
Maybe there are people who think and feel the same.
I need clarity.
I need to know if I'm wrong.
I tried to analyse my train of thoughts, if I have overreacted, if I have been slow in listening to others......
Then, yesterday He filled my mind and heart with this parable in Luke 15.
Haven't been reading this part of His word so when I was reminded of this the whole day, my heart became very heavy.   
When many turn against one person, when it seems logical that I should think and do likewise, I grieve with that one lost person.
Finally I sense a little of what it's like for God to treasure one lost sheep over ninety-nine other sheep.
All the sheep were safe, no food-poisoning.
God allowed me to go to developing countries whereby I honestly don't know what unhygienic food I have eaten unconsciously but hey, I'm alive, strong and healthy, by His grace.
I do not say this to negate any preventive measures that should always be put in place.
After all, doesn't God call for excellence in us?
I am reminded of how we have all sinned and yet God sent His only Son to die on the cross for us. 
But we, we cannot even tolerate a mistake made by a fellow being.
Not just in this case but in many other cases whereby everyone throws the first stone at the sinner cos we all presume that none of us has sinned.
I know what it's like to be self-righteous cos I was exactly like that many years ago.
So it's very painful to see myself in so many people.
Am I still self-righteous?
Yes.
That's why we need God's righteousness!
We are nothing apart from Him.
The pathetic thing about us is we think so BIG of ourselves that I imagine God looking down at our swollen heads and hearts and shake His head.
Why have they not learnt their lessons?
Why are they not like Me?
To stay humble is a very difficult thing.
The moment we think we are not proud, we are already proud.
The plumb line: God's word
Who is supposed to remind one another to stay humble?
Shouldn't it be you and me?
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
I truly would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen the hearts of you and me;
Wait, I say, on the LORD! (Psalm 27)