If God is Next to You, Why Aren't You Talking to Him?

An old mate stopped over in Singapore from Hong Kong and the usual suspects met for a chat and some tea at Goodwood Park Hotel. (The usual suspects, that is, except the one in a rock band who, at 3pm in the afternoon, had yet to recover from the previous night's shenanigans and another who, after graduation, quickly descended into the bowels of yuppie-dom, having acquired in rapid succession a backbreaking career, a wife, some property, a car and an absurdly-spoilt pomeranian whomwhich he and his wife have taken to cuddling and calling their precious baby.)

What a strange universal phenomenon "meeting-up" is. Christians are encouraged to keep meeting up for mutual encouragement in the faith (Hebrews 10:25). Non-believers enjoy get-togethers as well. There are the obligatory annual family gatherings and dreary school reunions, but also gatherings of strangers who may very well not share common interests. Leaving aside all other sociological/moralistic theories, pure meet-ups (as opposed to communal activities like watching a movie or spearing a mammoth for dinner) appear to be for communication that builds relationship, whether in starting a new one or in perpetuating an existing one, whatever the reason for such relationship-building (cynics say such networking is for the future, just in case the other people prove to be somehow useful).

What about meeting up with the king of the universe? In the Old Testament, the Israelites met with God in the tabernacle or in its slightly-less-temporary successor, the temple (after having cleansed themselves with the blood of animals). But as Jesus said to the hapless woman at the well in John 4, God isn't just found in a specific geographical location; God is spirit, he is omnipresent, so we can meet with him anywhere, at anytime. And the reason why we sinful people can even approach him and enter his presence is because of the cleansing blood of Jesus and his continued high priesthood in heaven (Hebrews 4 - 5).

If we have this tremendous free access to the most powerful man in the world (hint: his family name is not "Trump" and he does not spot a dead (but well-groomed) pomeranian on his scalp), why, then, do we not with confidence draw near to God's throne of grace?

We do not pray possibly because of several intertwining reasons:
(1) we forget the reality of God!
(2) we forget the presence of God!
(3) we forget that our life's endeavour and the reason for our existence is to please God!

It is not, of course, that we somehow, through fasting and repetitive chanting, brainwash ourselves into believing that God is here. If the Bible is true, and there is enough evidence for that (and as William Lane Craig rightly puts it, there is more to it than evidence), then God is really omnipresent. He is spirit and he is everywhere; he is next to you and he is next to me, his Spirit is in us.

If he is near to us, then tis a bit odd to profess to have relationship with him when we aren't actually keen on chatting with him.

Prayer then, is not a good-to-do-if-we-can-pencil-it-into-our-schedule Christian-ish task. We may have our theology down pat, we may be able articulate and even persuade others of the rightness of the gospel (and half a dozen difficult doctrines besides), we may be first-class biblical scholars and witty charismatic evangelists and courageous missionaries, but prayer, private prayer, is an inevitably authentic reflection of our view of God and our relationship with him: is he really real? Is he really powerful and omnipresent? And finally, are we really eager to fulfil our the potential of our saved humanity by serving and pleasing him? If we are, do we recall our weak sinfulness? And in recalling our low position, how can we not ask God, who can and will give good things to his children, for all help to us keep on keeping on in him and in his salvation plan in human history?

Jesus' Tomb and "The God Delusion", Eh?

Le sigh.

Jesus' Tomb
Another year, another futile attempt to disprove the historicity of the biblical Jesus. This year, so far, it's the alleged tomb of Jesus & co (Discovery Channel site here).

Others more competent and patient than I have responded. A brief listing replete with corny titles:

• The comprehensive internetmonk with Resources and Responses to the "Tomb of Jesus and His Family" Story.
• The Jesus Tomb? "Titanic" Talpoit Tomb Theory Sunk from the Start by Ben Witherington III.
• Oh Brother, Here We Go Again--or Do We? by James R White.
• Bryan's Titanic director aims to sink Christianity.
  
• Tales from the Crypt by Texas Rainmaker.
• Richard Bauckham on the alleged "Mary Magdelene" inscription.
  
• The Anchoress thinks We must be getting close to Easter.
  

The God Delusion
In other news, Alvin Plantinga says of Richard Dawkins' attempt at disproving God in The God Delusion:

You might say that some of his forays into philosophy are at best sophomoric, but that would be unfair to sophomores; the fact is (grade inflation aside), many of his arguments would receive a failing grade in a sophomore philosophy class.

Le yawn. Can we have a real fight, please, people?

(Alright, attempting to disprove the Father and the Son might be so two millennia ago. But these so-called "controversies" also give us opportunities to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15), for their salvation, and to the glory of God.)

Wake Up To A Day In Tioman

C'est magnifique.

40 minutes away from Singapore's Seletar Airport by Berjaya Air's 48-seater Dash 7s are the white beaches and azure waters of Tioman Island, gleaming off the East coast of Malaysia. The days were nothing less than hot and sunny right through. Unusual, we were told, for a monsoon season.

The tide was high in the mornings, good for sand in the underpants before breakfast (doing our bit for the Singapore construction industry, no doubt), smiling in sunnies and straw hats, the excitement of suntan oil on hot skin, swimming snorkelling with fishes, giving a wide berth to sea urchins clustered about like sea mines, and diving whilst beset by jellyfish. And also for chapped lips from one regulator too many in the gob.

At Renggis Island, where underwater visibility was excellent though surface current was strong, a vibrant reef system spread out its colourful wares in glorious magnanimity. I proved to be a clumsy oaf amongst the dense nimble schools of Scissortail Sergeants (closely followed by crescent warusses) who came alongside for a look and a peck on the goggles, then left me far behind with a few nonchalant swishes of the tail. Small sting rays fluttered along the seabed, countless clownfish(?) flirted with the corals, and everywhere swam silver and bluefaced angelfish, butterflyfish, yellow pufferfish, rather stonyfaced groupas, golden trevally escorts, gaudy napoleanfish...As Faithless said (but in a completely different context) so much more than I thought this world could ever contain. The dive centre enthused about Boris the barracuda who was resident in those parts, but didn't see a fin of him.

Drowsy afternoons, when the tide was low, were for alternately lapping in the pool and reading and throwing frisbees on the beach. One day, we managed to rouse ourselves enough for a speedboat sea taxi to Salang, where there were 3 dive centres, monitor lizards lounging in the river, milkshakes and fruit juices at Salang Dreams Café and passable fare from the little Ramly burger hut nextdoor.

Nights were for being "deceived, by trees!", and beers (yay, dutyfree island) and seafood dinners at Barbura Seafood Restaurant, next to the black nothingness of the wide calm sea. There, cats curled round your shins in calm lazy search of a scrap of black pepper crab, and ravenousness sated, you were welcome to lie back on the weathered planks outside and gaze up at the glistening constellations above, unknowable lightyears away, the twinkling, perhaps, of now-dead stars.

"Look," said someone,"is that an airplane there, under the moon?"
"No lah. It's the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. With flashing lights."

Some nights, there were also arcade games and countless rounds of pool and karaoke (all before the clock struck 2 in the morning).

Public karaoke sessions in rank smoky bars meant loads of drinks, Swedish girls singing ABBA, German boys whopping La Bamba, crazy dancing to Senggol-senggolan, drunk boorish Teutonic retirees befuddledly blocking the karaoke screen, and trying to shake a particularly sticky dance cover of Moonlight Shadow (Shadow) out of our ears.

After karaoke, the party continued into the early hours on the edge of the cliff, courtesy of makeshift stalls touting murtabak, satay, and roti john for supper, teh tarik for a washdown, a strolling Filipino band with a vast repertoire, and an enthusiastic crowd of pop-collared frat boys and girls living up their year out.

And we cannot forget this: departing from the tiny Tioman airport, someone went in search of ice-cream and managed to return with a 1-litre bottle of Glenmorangie.

Trust John Piper for a pithy quote (though his theology is, at times, vague and therefore questionable). This one, purportedly from "In The Godward Life", has been making its rounds:

Jesus Christ is refreshing, but flight from him into Christless leisure makes the soul parched. At first it may feel like freedom and fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the Word, but then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit.

Thank God for the luxury of time out to catch up on sleep, faff about, and think clearly away from the muddied hustling and bustling, and to get my bearings right and home in on his kingdom. It sux arse to, in the clearing air, gaze upon the continued corruption of my own sinfulness. But sin is sin and there is no excuse of exhaustion or self-righteousness for what is ultimately rebellion against God.

Thank God salvation is by grace and not works! How completely undeserved it is.

Thank God, also, for his kingdom that is infinitely and vastly more than me and my timeout; his vast ordered kingdom chugging along to fulfilment in human history which is ultimately to his glory, for who else is worthy of such majesty?

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8)

Not meant to be a naff inspirational pic

(In other news, David Jackman will be back in Singapore this year for Project Timothy's Ministry Matters. Details here.)

Magnify the Lord

We are sorry there was w00ting from the back of the hall at service this morning. It was for this old chestnut written in response to ARPC's studies on Nehemiah in 2000:

Magnify the Lord
In trouble and disgrace,
I come to You and bow before Your throne.
Laying bare my inconstancy,
surrendering my sin,
I yield to the mercy of Your love.
And I ask for redemption
that I do not deserve.
Then I wait upon the knowledge of Your grace.

Magnify the Lord, who strengthens feeble hands.
Magnify the Lord, who stays the trembling knees.
Glorify the King,
who in His hands holds victory.
Servants of the King, magnify your God.

When enemies surround,
my strength gives out, I stumble in my fear.
But when I lean on Your constancy,
Your faithfulness, Your might,
You graciously restore me to Your hope.
And You pour out Your blessings,
past what I know to ask,
then I find Your strength sufficient for my need.

Chorus

When earthly things crowd round,
temptation slides a veil across my sight.
Yet in You my sufficiency, in Christ, my only hope.
Forgetfulness, oh, let it not obscure,
that my life has no meaning but to seek Your face,
Lord please break me down 'til I see only You.

Chorus

© Li Sa Ng

Trip-Hop for a Trip, Bad Boys Stay Sharp To The Bottom of the Glass and The Wandering Stars of Luke 11:33 - 12:3

Warning: Boring conference calls cause inane doodling and the making of packing lists*

Tasked with providing the mix tape for our dive trip, and under duress to avoid all things "noisy" (goodbye pierced punk derivatives, nice knowing you indie striped cardigans), dug out an old stash of trip-hop.

(Massive Attack? Your bass looks phat in that.
Tricky: what are they - Stomp cast-offs? I love you man, but too industrial for this gig.
Thievery Corporation? Wait over there and we'll have a look at you. Unless of course, you've got you some lovely downtempo bossa nova and a pinch of dub, then you can go right in.
Woocha Zero 7. Bring on the Salt Water Sound.
Hey, aren't there any ambient popsicles around here?
Non, not you, Hotel Costes.
Oh, sorry to trip over you, Brian Eno. Didn't notice you there.)

Revisiting nostalgia. Music from a previous life of post-clubbing lounging; of post-midnight English urbanity; of the camaraderie of university halls; of dismantling smoke detectors in rooms; of Marmite toast and sipping gin and tonic from teacups and bantering Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, swathed in a swirls of smoke; and, when everyone else had fallen asleep on couches and beds and carpets, of being wide-awake and gobsmacked by the wonderment of Portishead's sonic noir, whisky abandoned in a dirty snifter, spellbound till the dark magic dissipated with the dawning light.

Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved, the blackness of darkness, forever. (Portishead, Dummy: Wandering Star, also Jude 13. There is no magic at all in this Wandering Star youtube snippet. "Etoiles vagabondes" indeed. Heh.)

A lifetime ago, a description embraced with fatalistic identification. Now, total anathema.

However.

Because the season for terrible-tasting heart-shaped chocolates was upon us, we were discussing the reasonableness of a S$100,000 diamond ring if amortised over 70 years of marriage and the cheesiness of the plots of romantic sitcoms: usually, girl who loves a bad boy; a bad boy who pretends to love the girl but actually uses and abuses her; and a good boy who waits in the wings, nursing true but unrequited love. In a feel-good show, the girl gets clued in and rides into the sunset with the good boy. (In an arty show, the ending is postmodernishly vague and the fate of the three characters, unknown.)

A dozen eyes rolled at the blatant unrealism of it all: surely, if she'd known she wouldn't have gone with him!

Yet, whole branches of criminal and family law and psychology are fed by the fact that human beings (and not just those in Stockholm), when faced with a choice between the obviously harmful and the patently beneficial, will sometimes, illogically, choose to remain in an abusive relationship.

Similarly, despite overwhelming and conclusive historical and internally corroborative evidence, when faced with the choice to remain in God's judgement and the assurance of eternal death or to trust in Jesus' death to save us from God's wrath, many people baulk at the latter and choose to remain on course for eternal misery. The silly reason for this demonstrative lack of the self-preservative instinct?

people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

But the mere perambulation into the light is hardly effective. If the eyes are unhealthy, the body will still be full of darkness. (Luke 11:33 - 12:3). Woe to us who call on the Lord's name but do not rightly perceive Jesus, who is the light, and do not allow the truth of his words permeate our lives, and still look back with illogical nostalgia upon our pagan days of yore, like the Israelites complaining against God in the desert; living lives that are Christ-flavoured not Christ-centred; attaching ourselves him, because, for at least a little while, it is interesting to attach oneself to a celebrity:

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day - just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Yet in like manner these [false teachers]...blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him." These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favouritism to gain advantage.

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions." It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:5-25)

_________________________________________________________________________

* in case of a complete washout, we will also have in our backpacks: Immanuel Kant, David Hume, Alasdair MacIntyre, Iris Murdoch, Mary Midgley, JC Ryle and...err...David Sedaris and TS Eliot. Best.
** ironically, Zouk generously handed me two acoustic Faithless angpows tonight: the "Greatest Hits" DVD and "To All New Arrivals". "God is a DJ"? Hmm.

A Cracking Good Weekend with "Just Looking" Studies

A cracking good weekend. The bee's knees indeed.

Saturday, we were completely knackered from banging up nosh for a DG social. (At 1am, not only do the cashiers at the 24-hour Cold Storage at Holland Village hand you Marlboro Lights without your asking and for free, but you also walk out with oregano in your pocket and don't find it until, legging it back to the kitchen, you wonder what could possibly be prodding at you in the most uncomfortable of places.)

However, it was well worth it for the happy bellies, fellowship and buckets of laughter, and there was a lovely apple spice cake and rootbeer floats for afters.

Later, a birthday surprise where the birthday boy surprised the birthday surprise planner. And a wee nipper had a go at the birthday cake.

Later later, racing round sharp bends, the Dino 246 GTS was a real slowcoach and the F50 - a Speedy Gonzalez. But the Testarossa, when floored, smirked,"Eat my fine dust particles, me lads."

A few games of pool later, it was Sunday, a real scorcher.

Time enough for late brekkie and bubble tea after church and then a session of Just Looking.

Six hours of tripartite chin-wagging and I was most pumped for the glories of frisbee in the wide open expanse of Bishan Park. (Unfortunately, not all was well with my soles.)

Just Looking is supremely chuffable. It is excellent stuff for demonstrating the claims of Jesus and showing how it can be seen from a plain reading of Scripture. And the guys were simply brill - enthused about the awesomeness of God's reality and passionate about helping their mates come out from the darkness into the saving light. Time went like a very good cuppa'cha. God's word is amazing. Must have done this passage a double dozen times over the last 4-5 years and every time, another piece of the multi-dimensional jigsaw falls into place, strobelights strobing in the darkness of my mind.

Since I can't seem to get me mitts on them notes when they're most needed (on account of forgetting whom they've been lent to), will be storing a copy on this site. The Shadow version.

Just Looking Study 1 (John 20:30-31, John 1:1-18)
Just Looking Study 2 (John 3:1-21)

Just Looking Study 2 : (John 3:1-21)

From A Cracking Good Weekend with "Just Looking" Studies.

How can one enter the Kingdom of God?

Re-cap:
Q: From our last study, does the Bible claim that God exists?
Duh. Yes.

Q: If we assume that God exists, how can anyone know God?
• only one way: through Jesus.
• because he is the only one who is qualified to tell us about God. No one has seen God but Jesus (John 1:18)
• Jesus is God, Creator, was there in the beginning with God
• Jesus has come to earth as a man (John 1:14) to reveal God to us (John 1:18)
• Jesus is called the "Word" because he is God's communicative tool to man; or God's Word to man
• Jesus is the true light (John 1:1-9)

Q: How does this affect us?
demands a response
• Jesus offers people the right to become children of God if they believe (John 1:12-13)
• if reject Jesus, the consequences are unknown for now. But we will see in this study why it is so important to believe in Jesus.

[Aim:
(1) To show that no one can enter the Kingdom of God (Heaven) unless he trusts in what Jesus has done on the Cross
(2) Rejection of Jesus shows that we are rebellious and do not want Jesus to rule over us]

Ice-breaker: (write down answers on a big piece of paper)
(1) What do you think is wrong with the world?
(2) Assuming there is such a thing as heaven and hell, what do you think determines if a person goes to either destination?
(3) Why do people (not just you but also other people) reject Jesus?

Read John 3:1-21

Terms to explain:
• Pharisees - Jewish sect of religious teachers
• Rabbi - Jewish term for a religious teacher
• Son of Man - a term Jesus often used to refer to Himself; it is also an Old Testament term referring to the person who will rule over all creation at the end of time (Daniel 7:13-14)

1. What do you learn about Nicodemus from v1-2?
• A Pharisee - Jewish sect that welded an enormous influence in those days. They were authoritative in the teaching of Jewish texts.
• Member of the Jewish ruling council (v1).
• In other words, Nicodemus is equivalent to the most religious person that we can think of in today's world.
• Came to Jesus at night; called Jesus "Rabbi"; thinks Jesus is from God (v2).

2. According to Jesus in v3 & v5, how can one see/enter the Kingdom of God?
• No one can enter it unless he is born again (v3)
• Jesus expands on this and says that this means that no one can enter it unless he is born of water and the Spirit (v5)

3. The Kingdom of God is a term that needs some unpacking. What are the different elements that make up any kingdom?
Elements of Earthly Kingdoms:
King
Subjects
Place/Territory

So what do think are the elements which would make up the Kingdom of God?
Elements in the Kingdom of God:
God
Believers/Those who are born again
Heaven/Where God dwells

4. So what is Jesus saying in v3 & v5 about how Nicodemus and we can qualify to be subjects in the Kingdom of God?
• People who are born again (v3); born of water and the Spirit (v5)

5. In the light of who Nicodemus is, why is what Jesus saying to Nicodemus in v3 and v5 is shocking?
• Because Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council - If anyone should know how to get into heaven, if anyone could be good/qualified enough to already have gained entry into the Kingdom of God, it would be Nicodemus.
Even Nicodemus needs to be born again!

6. Jesus uses a harsh term - "born again". In using this term of total rebirth in order to get into the Kingdom of God, what do you think Jesus is saying about Nicodemus'/our current state?
• That there must be something seriously wrong with us at the moment.
• Born again does not mean turning over a new leaf but a complete overhaul - throwing away the old and starting over with the new.

7. How does the fact that we need to be born again of "water" and the "Spirit" add to our understanding of our current state and what needs to be done to make us fit for the Kingdom of God?
• Water: suggests that we are unclean and need to be cleansed.
• Spirit: suggests that we are not born of the Spirit and need to be.

What is the default position?
• there is something wrong with us
• we are unclean
• we are not born of the Spirit
• we cannot get into the kingdom of God
*We do not have a choice. We have a problem. We are already in trouble. We are going the wrong way. We are already drowning.

[This problem isn't new. God already told his people that this is what was needed to enter his kingdom. Look up Ezekiel 36:24-32. What three things did God promise that He would give to His people in the future in v25-27? What is the significance of each promise?
Verse: V25
Promise: Sprinkle clean water
Significance: Cleanse from all impurity and idols

Verse: V26
Promise: Give new heart
Significance: Remove heart of stone (hardened hearts) which was unable to obey God

Verse: V26-27
Promise: Give new spirit
Significance: To follow God's decrees and keep His laws

*Note how God's people will obtain these things.

How do the promises in Ezekiel help us to see what Jesus is promising in John 3:5-8? What does it show about our state before God?
• Jesus is fulfilling all that God had promised He would do in Ezekiel
• It also serves to underline our total inability to follow and obey God unless we are cleansed and made new by Him.]

8. Looking at v6, two different types of birth are mentioned. What are they? (write out on a piece of paper in a table format)
First Birth=Flesh=Physical (v6)
Second Birth=Spiritual (v6)

Who is born physically?
• Everyone

Where do we end up after we are born physically?
• This world

Do we have any choice in being born physically?
• No

According to v3-6, who is born spiritually?
• Only those who are "born again"; in other words, not everyone

According to vv3-6, by being born spiritually, where does one gain entrance to?
• The Kingdom of God

John 1:12-13 refers to the same idea of spiritual birth. Looking at John 1:12-13, do we have any choice in spiritual birth?
• Yes, it is based on whether we believe in Jesus
(born again = born of the Spirit = receiving Jesus (remember first study) = believing in him.

9. Why should we trust what Jesus says? What right does Jesus have to say such arrogant things? Look at vv10-13.
• Jesus speaks of what He KNOWS (v11)
• Jesus testifies to what He has SEEN (v11)
• Jesus claims His authority to speak from being the ONLY PERSON to have ever seen Heaven because He comes from Heaven (v13)
[Son of Man - Jesus' most common description of himself. In the Old Testament, it is a reference to the glorious heavenly figure who will rule over creation at the end of time, forever (Daniel 7:13-14)]

10. All well and good. Very interesting stuff. But why should this affect us? Why can't we just mind our own business, God can mind his own business. If we don't worry about God, God shouldn't worry about us. Why can't we just ignore each other?
remember that having to be born again suggests that our present situation is dire. Something is wrong, seriously wrong, with us at the moment. Something so wrong that requires a complete overhaul, replacement of the old with the new.

We will understand the danger of our situation with a narrative that Jesus draws attention to from the Old Testament (Numbers) in v14. Read Numbers 21:4-9. Context: God rescued the Israelites from Egypt by parting the Red Sea (remember Prince of Egypt?) to bring them into the Promised Land. But the Israelites grumbled against God and as a result, had to wander in the desert for 40 years before entering the Promised Land. Numbers 21:4-9 is set in this time when the Israelites are wandering in the desert on the way to the Promised Land.

11. Looking at Numbers 21:4-9, why did God send the snakes to the Israelites?
• Because they spoke falsely against God.
• They doubted God and His character. So they doubted his word. They didn't trust that he would protect and care for them. They were sure that he meant to harm them instead by rescuing them from Egypt.
• So God was judging them for their sinful behaviour. Rebellion against God is sin (Numbers 21:7). Sin is not just murder, adultery, jealousy, lust or theft. It is more than that (those are just symptoms of sin): it is not acknowledging God as God who is the epitome of good; it is doubting his character and not taking him at his word.

12. What does this show about the character of God?
• God is holy. He cannot tolerate sin.
• God is just and righteous and so his must punish sin.

13. Why does God provide a way out for them? What more does this show about the character of God?
• The people called for God's help; God is merciful

14. What must an Israelite do in order to be saved from the snakes?
• They must trust in God's word/solution by looking at the bronze snake to be saved.
*Note that there is nothing in the Bible that is magical. The bronze snake is not a magical object.

15. What is the difference between what the Israelites asked for and the solution God provided?
• They asked God to remove the snakes but instead he asked them to look upon the bronze snake.

16. Why do you think God does this? What does this show us about God?
• But He saves us on His terms, not theirs (or ours).
• God alone provides the solution, not the effort of the Israelites.
• God does not remove the snakes because the Israelites sinned and deserved to be punished; he is just and righteous so he cannot take away the punishment and still be true to his own character.
• But God is also merciful and provides a way out for the Israelites if they trust in the solution He has provided (the bronze snake).
*Note that this is repentance, doing the opposite of what they were doing when they sinned. The solution is to now trust in God's character and take him at his word that looking at such a stupid thing as a bronze snake will save them if they have been bitten.

17. Jesus likens the lifting up of the snake to the lifting up of Himself on the Cross in John 3:14-15. In so doing, what is Jesus saying about our problem?
• That we have sinned and rebelled against God like the Israelites. We have doubted God's character and word.
• That the consequence of sin is that God must punish sin against him because he is holy and because he is just and righteous.
• All of us stand condemned already. We are not a clean slate. We are not at a fork in the road when we can choose to go either on the road to heaven or the road to hell. We are already on the road to eternal condemnation. We stand condemned already (v18).
* There is a real God, real anger (v36) and real punishment. This is death beyond death (Revelation 20:14), eternally separated from all good things (2 Thessalonians 1:9). It is not a Halloween party.

18. By alluding to Numbers, what is Jesus saying about the solution to the problem?
• That God will provide the solution. It will not be our own work. We cannot work our way out of hell and into heaven.
• That we must believe or trust in God's word that his solution is that Jesus' death on the Cross will save us from our sins.
• If Jesus did not die on the cross, we would have no way of being saved from eternal death and destruction.
*We always see signs that say "Jesus saves". But what does he save us from? This is what he saves us from! Not from poverty or from bad relationships. He saves us from eternal condemnation.

[Why did God send his Son into the world to die for us? (v16)
because he loved the world (v16)

What does this say about God's character?
• He is holy and just and righteous: so he doesn't take away the punishment for sin.
• He is loving, merciful and compassionate.
*God's character is trustworthy and consistent through the ages!]

19. Look back at ice-breaker questions. What is the most major thing that is wrong with the world?
Sin - eternal destruction.

20. What determines if people go to heaven or hell? Why is belief in Jesus necessary and important to people?
• Because rejecting God's solution would mean that we have rejected the only way that we can be made right with God (v16-18)
• Because if we do not trust in what Jesus has done for us, God's condemnation and wrath (John 3:18, 36) is already on us and remains on us

21. What do you think the Bible means by "believe" or "faith"?
• Trusting in a SPECIFIC and OBJECTIVE act of rescue by God which really happened in history
• It is NOT some inner feeling but a Real Trust in the Real Work of a Real Person which has Real Consequences

22. Since God has given a way out and for free, it seems silly for people to reject God's salvation. According to v19-21, why do people still reject Jesus?
• Because we are naturally evil, our instinct is to run from God and not let our deeds be exposed.
• We are rebellious and we want to remain rebellious even to our own detriment. So we reject God's solution.

23.What do you find difficult to accept about what we've learnt today? Why do you find it difficult to accept it?
• When we still do not accept Jesus, it just shows that we love evil more than good and do not want God to be in charge of our lives

Just Looking Study 1 (John 20:30-31, John 1:1-18)

From A Cracking Good Weekend with "Just Looking" Studies

Q: How can anyone know God?

Introduction
Read John 20:30-31
1. Why did John, the author of John's Gospel, write his book?

• To convince people that Jesus was the Christ, God's Son and that by believing in Jesus we can have everlasting life
• (Note: "Christ" means the messiah, the anointed one, the one predicted by the OT prophets and for whom faithful Jews are waiting)

2. What did the author John record for us to convince us of who Jesus is? How should this influence the way we read John's Gospel?

• Miraculous signs
  
• [Q: What are signs for? They point us to something. So in this case, the miracles aren't circus acts for our pleasure or so that we ooh and aah at the performer but they are signs to point us to something, someone - Jesus.]
• This means that we will have to pay attention to the signs recorded because these signs will help to point us to who Jesus is.
  
• In the Just Looking series, we will be examining some of these miraculous signs recorded for us. When we look at them, we must remember what they are there for.
  

3. Do you think that this is an objective account of Jesus' life? Why or why not?

• No, of course not! Don't have to be politically-correct about it. Don't shy!
  
• John himself says that his account of Jesus is not exhaustive as he has not included all the miraculous signs performed by Jesus.
  
• And he also states his aim: he writes to convince us of who Jesus is.
  
• But this does not mean that we should discount the book entirely. After all, all history/biographies, even the newspapers, are written with some kind of bias. Just because someone is biased doesn't mean that what he records is necessarily false. What we need to do is to examine what is written and to see for ourselves if the evidence is convincing.

[Context
John 1:1-18 is known as "The Prologue" to John's Gospel. It acts like an overture that introduces many of the key themes that will be raised and developed throughout the rest of the gospel.

Aim:

1. To teach that Jesus - God's Word to man - became a man to reveal God fully to all mankind.
   
2. We need to pay attention to Jesus because no one has ever seen God but Jesus, who came from the Father's side.

*the aim is not to introduce Christian vocabulary like some Christian language class, but to introduce the good news, the real world, God's worldview and the concepts of who Jesus is and what he has come to do. So there will be much that will not be understood from this passage. No worries. Just like as Christians we grow deeper and deeper in our understanding of even the basics of salvation, so knowledge and understanding is necessarily progressive. Just ensure you keep the aims as the main points.
*don't brush off questions, but don't let them disrupt the flow of the study. Write them down on a piece of paper and answer them at your leisure over a cuppa after the study.

Ice-breaker: (write down the different answers on a piece of paper)

1. Do you believe there is a God? What do you believe about God?
2. What is God like and how do you know? Where do you get your beliefs from?]

Read John 1:1-18
1. Look at vv1-4. What do we learn about the "Word"?
There with God in the beginning
• Was with God
• Was God
• Made everything
• Had life within himself

2. Look at v14. Who do you think the "Word" is and why?
• Jesus...because the Word took on human flesh and lived with human beings
• Jesus...because we know that he was supposed to have come from God the Father
• Note: If it is still not clear that the Word is Jesus, then compare John 1:15 with John 1:29-30. John the Baptist points Jesus out very clearly in these verses.

3. Now replace "Word" and "him" with "Jesus" and re-read v1-4. What then is John the author claiming about Jesus?
• There with God in the beginning
• Was with God
• Was God
• Made everything
• Had life within himself

4. Let's try to understand why Jesus is called the "Word". What do we use words for and what purpose do they serve?
• We use words to talk and communicate our thoughts/ideas to other people.
• Sometimes, our words can even reveal a little about who we are and what we're like.

5. Why then do you think Jesus is called the "Word"?
• Jesus is God's Word to us. He reveals God to us and shows us what God is like and what He thinks
• Jesus is God's communicative tool to mankind

6. Looking at vv4-9, what other words or ideas are associated with Jesus and what do they imply about Jesus and what he offers?

• He is the light (as opposed to the darkness) - Light often has good connotations while darkness is associated with ignorance and evil.
  
• [Q: How is this light described?] Jesus is called the TRUE LIGHT - This implies that all other religions (other "lights") are false.
  
• [Q: If Jesus is the light, who can take advantage of his light?] Jesus is the TRUE LIGHT that gives light to EVERY MAN - So what Jesus offers is open to everyone

[Note: Can just put aside John the Baptist for now. If you really need to explain who John the Baptist is at this juncture, don't spend too much time. The three crucial things to point out about John the Baptist are:

• He is different to John, the author of the Gospel.
  
• He's purely human but appointed by God.
  
• His role is to go before Jesus be a witness to Jesus, testifying to who Jesus is.]

7. Look at vv10-13. What two different reactions to Jesus are mentioned and what do we learn about the consequences of each reaction?
Response: Rejection (vv10-11)
Result:
[• in darkness]
• consequences unknown for now
• does not become a child of God

Response: Believe in Jesus (vv12-13)
Result:
[• in light]
• given the right to become a child of God

8. According to v12, what is the ONLY WAY to become a child of God?
Through believing in Jesus, receiving him. This connotes accepting him and being in some kind of relationship with him.

[Q: Why would you want to bother being in relationship with him? Well, what do we know about Jesus so far? He is the Word - God's communicative tool to us. He is also the Light - he illumines the darkness.

We are always eager to go and see people who can do something well. Play the piano, sing, juggle, swing 100 metres in the air, sports. We are always eager to have a listen to self-promoting gurus who promise to make your life better in some way.

But Jesus is more than that...]
9. Look at v18, what are we told about God and Jesus? Has anyone seen God?
• God - No one has ever seen God
• Jesus - Only Jesus (Note: "God the One and Only" is a term used for Jesus in v14) has seen God; Jesus is at God the Father's side; Jesus has made God known

10. How does this fact that Jesus is the only one to have seen God and makes God known add to what we said earlier about why Jesus is called the "Word"?
• Because only Jesus has seen God.
• Therefore Jesus is God's communicative tool because only Jesus is qualified to reveal God to us.

Why then is it important to pay attention to Jesus?
• If I told you that God wanted to tell you something, wouldn't you want to listen? Especially if you weren't a hoodwinking me?
• If God is so great etc, why would he want to talk to me unless it was really important?

Summary and Application
1. What have we learnt about the following: (write on a big piece of paper in a table format)
God
• God was there in the beginning with Jesus
• No one has ever seen God, except Jesus

Jesus
• There with God in the beginning
• Was with God
• Was God
• Made everything
• Had life within himself
• He's the True Light that gives light to all men
• He became a man to reveal God to us
• The only person to have seen God
• You can become a child of God if you believe in Jesus

Us
• Made by God/Jesus
[• can choose to be in darkness or in the light]
• can only become a child of God if we accept, believe in Jesus

2. "I like to think of God ..." is a common statement we hear. If we want to know what God is like, where should we look?
• We should look to the person and words of Jesus because only he has seen God and therefore only he is qualified to tell us anything about God

3. How has what you've learnt today challenged your view of God?
(Compare with initial answers to the ice-breaker questions. The key point of contrast is that God EXISTS and can ONLY be known through Jesus. This is because only Jesus has seen God and only Jesus reveals God to us when he became a man.)

Most religions know God by thinking about him intellectually, or feeling him experientially. But if God is really God, the greatest being in the universe, we cannot ever use our human faculties to understand him. Instead, he must reveal himself to us, through a trustworthy communicative tool, in a way that we, finite beings, can understand.

4. Jesus claims to fully reveal God to us. What difficulties have you got in understanding or accepting this? What holds you back from believing this for yourself?


Onward to Just Looking Study 2 (John 3:1-21)

Novus, Guilty Pleasures and Displeasures, and The Why of Prayer

An absolutely brilliant weekend.

The Celebratory One bought a celebratory dinner at Novus. In a wing of the National Museum of Singapore, there was a wonderful high ceiling marred by squares of blue lights (leftovers from someone's zhng-ed white Subaru WRX?), large room mirrors for gossiping about other patrons discretely, gazpacho topped with shredded crab meat, very good pan-fried foie gras and a crisp strip of prosciutto, and seared scallops with braised pork belly and chestnut puree, and slow-roasted veal cutlet with poached slipper lobster and potato gratin, and slabs of tender wagyu beef poached and then seared, with crisp bone marrow and braised lyonnaise potatoes.

("What's so special about wagyu beef?"
"The cows drink milk and listen to classical music."
(Buying more than just dinner!)"Issit?"
"No lah, actually, they drink sake. To make their meat more tender."
"Oh, so they're like: MoooOOOoooOoo *hic* MmmmOOooooOOooo *hic*!" [This probably only makes sense to people who've heard the mad cow joke. But then again...]

Well, apparently, wagyu is none of the above.)

Having ascertained that Ang Song Ming's Guilty Pleasures (nothing to do with suburban Massive Attack, Dave.i.d, more like The Guardian's list) had been well and truly put to bed, we sat curbside, U2 and Bruce Springsteen (and a very poor cover of The Killers' Mr. Brightside) throbbing from Timbre, swigging and catching up some more.

(Farcical photo thing, with apologies to Trevor Nunn:
Midnight


Not a sound from the pavement.


Has the moon lost her memory? She is obscured by cloud cover.


In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet.


And the wind, begins to moan (sound of Lamborghini contingent zipping into Fort Canning Tunnel).)

We discussed how evangelicals are given to talking about God as a concept, not a person; a wonderful abstraction, not a concrete entity. Then we said,"Ah, we must pray together!".

Prayer: Guilty Displeasure
A common (but guiltily unconfessed) view of prayer, especially congregational, combined prayer is that it is one of those good-to-do but really boring chores, akin to changing a senile old man's soiled diapers. "We'll have a short study today," says the DG leader,"and then we'll have more time to pray at the end." and the group looks distinctly uncomfortable. When it is time to share prayer requests, there is an awkward silence and everyone avoids eye-contact. Some excuse themselves and make a quick getaway. Finally, finally, as the closing prayer crawls to an end, the last "Amen" resounds like a collective sigh of relief, and shoulders unknot, fists unclench and everyone starts interacting happily.

If this is our discomfort in public prayer, what of our practice of private prayer? Do we pray at all?

None can answer this question but each of us, individually. Whether we go for weekly service or not, our pastors and friends know. Whether we pray in small groups or in prayer groups or as a family or not, our mates and relations know. But whether we pray in private or not, is a matter solely between ourselves and God.

Sometimes, snug under the covers at night, we think, wearily, that we really ought to say our prayers...then fall asleep without bothering.

It is a shame, we all say, that we think so poorly of prayer, or that we don't pray enough. Well, hey, at least we try, right? Haha.

But the horror of such a middle-finger-to-God deserves far harsher treatment.

Why pray?
David F Wells points out, simply, that theology without prayer is idolatry:

Theology without trusting, submissive prayer is no longer good theology; it is merely an academic exercise which may itself pose as a substitute for the process of knowing God. Where this happens, the means has become the end in a kind of perverse idolatry.

Trust the Puritans to be far more garrulous and slightly less polite:

It is the manner of hypocrites, after a while, in a great measure to leave off the practice of this duty. We are often taught, that the seeming goodness and piety of hypocrites is not of a lasting and persevering nature. It is so with respect to their practice of the duty of prayer in particular, and especially of secret prayer. They can omit this duty, and their omission of it not be taken notice of by others, who know what profession they have made. So that a regard to their own reputation doth not oblige them still to practice it. If others saw how they neglect it, it would exceedingly shock their charity towards them. But their neglect doth not fall under their observation; at least not under the observation of many. Therefore they may omit this duty, and still have the credit of being converted persons. (Jonathan Edwards, Hypocrites Deficient In The Duty Of Prayer)

Prayerless friend, I can only warn you; but I do warn you most solemnly. I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If you die in your present state you are a lost soul. You will only rise again to be eternally miserable. I warn you that of all professing Christians you are most utterly without excuse. There is not a single good reason that you can show for living without prayer.

Oh, prayerless man, who and what are you that you will not ask anything of God? Have you made a covenant with death and hell? Are you at peace with the worm and the fire? Have you no sins to be pardoned? Have you no fear of eternal torment? Have you no desire after heaven? Oh, that you would awake from your present folly! Oh, that you would consider your latter end! Oh, that you would arise and call upon God! Alas, there is a day coming when men shall pray loudly, "Lord, Lord, open to us," but all too late;—when many shall cry to the rocks to fall on them, and the hills to cover them, who would never cry to God. In all affection I warn you. Beware lest this be the end of your soul. Salvation is very near you. Do not lose heaven for want of asking. (J.C. Ryle, Practical Religion - A Call to Prayer)

But J.C. Ryle is no Armenian:

I hold salvation by grace as strongly as any one. I would gladly offer a free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived. I would not hesitate to stand by his dying bed, and say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ even now, and you shall he saved." But that a man can have salvation without asking for it, I cannot see in the Bible. That a man will receive pardon of his sins, who will not so much as lift up his heart inwardly, and say, "Lord Jesus, give it to me," this I cannot find. I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot find that without prayer anybody will be saved.

Prayerfulness as a mark of God's people

A habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian.

It is one of the common marks of all the elect of God; "They cry unto Him day and night." (Luke 18:1) The Holy Spirit, who makes them new creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry, "Abba, Father." (Rom. 7:15) The Lord Jesus, when He quickens them, gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb no more." God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They cannot do otherwise than they do. They must pray.

I find it mentioned as a characteristic of the godly, that "they call on the Father," that "they call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I find it recorded as a characteristic of the wicked, that "they call not upon the Lord." (1 Peter 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:2; Psalm 14:4)

And I say furthermore, that of all the evidences of real work of the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most satisfactory that can be named. A man may preach from false motives. A man may write books, and make fine speeches, and seem diligent in good works, and yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless he is in earnest.

I know that the elect of God are chosen to salvation from all eternity. I do not forget that the Holy Spirit, who calls them in due time, in many instances leads them by very slow degrees to acquaintance with Christ. But the eye of man can only judge by what it sees. I cannot call any one justified until he believes. I dare not say that any one believes until he prays.

A Christian by definition is one who knows that he is completely dependent on God for every aspect of his puny existence and so submits to God in everything (how can he not?). His natural expression of this dependence is prayer, communicating with God, out of the fullness of his heart, just as a baby naturally cries when it is hurt or a child laughs when it is happy. Prayerlessness, then, is an indication that something has gone horribly wrong.

(If it is out of our relationship with God and our understanding of our relationship with God that we pray to him, then Bible-reading/study and prayer cannot be parted. Without knowing God's word to us in the Scriptures, we would not have a relationship with him, nor will we know how he wants us to relate to him. So theology and prayer must walk together, hands clasped tightly, into the sunset. Or something.)

The next day, we sat on the green grass of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, beyond Mr. Tumnus' Narnian lamppost, planning the next few months and praying. Later, the Fluey Ones cooked pasta and we sat around talking and rebuking and encouraging, late into the night. And it was good.

Yet while sermons, and Christian books, and ministry meetings, and praying together, and the company of men who love God, are all good in their way, they will never make up for the neglect of private prayer.

This week, an ennui of mendaciousness will descend when we are foisted onto fine private dining establishments, black-suited like the mafia, and lean against the starched white tablecloth, and swirl wine and talk earnestly about antique watch-collecting, the utter reasonableness of US$10,000 psf housing, yachting and marinas, sale-and-leaseback facilities for Cessna fetishes and the delightfulness of power and ruling countries and moving financial markets; things that will soon pass away.

Where we continue to be in danger of being tempted by the illusory playthings of this world, constant immersion in God's word will remind us of their valuelessness. And we will pray that God will lead us away from temptation to harden our consciences to such idolatry and keep us on his road to his kingdom.

To be continued...