Posted by: thaishin | May 6, 2013

Role model

I think children live in a reactionary mode. Their behavior is constantly copying what they have seen in their outside world and is constantly shaped by it. My son’s outside world consist of home, school, ipad and TV. He is constantly bombarded and shaped by what he sees in school and at home and also the games he plays on ipad and the TV programs he watches. He is influenced by his classmates, his teachers and other people in school and also by us father and mother in the family. In order to grow to maturity, he needs someone to look up to. He needs a role model.

Sadly, I am not a good role model for my son. I cannot be a person that he wants to copy. That is because if he grows up to be a person like me, he is going to be withdrawn and disengaged, which I do not want him to be. The world that I live in now is a much different world from what I experienced say 10 years ago, at least in Singapore. I am still living in the world 10 years ago in Singapore and I do not intend to change  the way I speak, the way I think as I was 10 years back in Singapore or else I will be a very different person. God has made me the way I am and I intend to live the way that I am 10 years back in Singapore probably up till I die.

Home is where the mind is trained. Maybe my son cannot copy the way that I speak or even in the way that I think. But I think I can provide some guidance along the way. I can still influence his thinking and his character even though I am not the role model. I can point to him the way to go by good old fashioned logical thinking and christian faith. It has to be expressed and  articulated and I need to consolidate these essentials probably through penning it down. He also needs to have the desire to learn logical thinking and the christian faith as well. Part of my job is to nurture that desire. The old fashioned logical thinking and the christian faith has to introduced and added to what society has molded him to be thus far.

Posted by: thaishin | April 28, 2013

Judgement

Hebrews 9:27

27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: -kjv

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, -nkjv

27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, -niv

Meditations

1) I am now living in an age where every movement of mine is recorded, broadcasted and judged by men.

2) I am not afraid of judgement by men.

3) What I am living now is just a foretaste of that judgement before God where not only every movement is recorded and judged but every motive will be laid bare before God. I tremble at that judgement. Do you?

4) Even that judgement by God will be made bearable because of Jesus.

Posted by: thaishin | April 12, 2013

Daily Grace

LIGHTbreak

“Give us today our daily bread.” – Matthew 6:11

A common Christian practice is to say “grace” before a meal.  Sometimes, the prayer is heartfelt.  Quite often though, the prayer comes out as a string of trite phrases, probably ones we learned as a kid or heard others say in their pre-meal routine.  That’s too bad, because saying grace is a profound way to remind ourselves of our identity in Christ.

Saying grace, in its truest sense, involves acknowledging that all we have comes from God, including the food set before us.  Stop for a moment and let that sink in.  Yes, God gave that food to you along with everything else you’ve got, not because you deserve it, but because He loves you for who you are.  Now, you may protest that you worked hard to earn a living.  But who endowed you with the strength, skills, and smarts…

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Posted by: thaishin | March 31, 2013

Jesus is risen!

All praise to God for Jesus is risen!

Posted by: thaishin | March 29, 2013

Forsaken by God

Prophecy of Jesus’s cries from the cross

Psalms 22

1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? -kjv

1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? -nkjv

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? -niv

Posted by: thaishin | March 24, 2013

The king comes to you on a donkey

Jesus foretold to come on a donkey to Jerusalem

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.   -kjv

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. -niv

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. -nkjv

Posted by: thaishin | March 13, 2013

By hearing

Romans 10

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. -kjv

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. -nkjv

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. -niv

Meditations:

It is clear. That is the way to go to plant the seed of faith. That means I have to make my son read the series on the bible history more often. Some words are difficult but he will get the gist of the story. Hopefully he will remember the stories in his heart and makes him want to read more. Generally he respects the bible and that’s a good thing. He’s also getting doses of bible stories fr0m school but he seemed to forget them when I asked him about it. Getting to know Jesus is a process and reading the bible history is only starting. He says he knows Jesus already. The next step is to trying to help him know Jesus better both in his heart and in his mind.

Posted by: thaishin | March 4, 2013

Welcome the storm

Tonight, we are going to experience a winter storm that is forecast to bring 10 inches of snow to the Chicago area. Underlying this is a drought condition that has been there all along this year and as the days went by, it makes us realize the seriousness of the drought and this storm is going to alleviate that condition and bless us.

Allegory:

Now, we are going to experience suffering . Underlying this is a sin condition that has been there all along and this suffering is going to help us rely on God’s strength and bring us closer to God and make us realize the seriousness of sin. The suffering will not alleviate the sin condition but will bless us.

Trying my best at the allegory.

Posted by: thaishin | February 17, 2013

Signs of end times

Matt 24:7-8

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. -kjv

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.  -niv

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.  -nkjv

Meditations:

1)  Don’t you think there are more and more earthquakes these days?

2) How about pestilences? Dictionary.com defines pestilence as a deadly or virulent epidemic disease.

Posted by: thaishin | February 10, 2013

Believe him

1 Corinthian 13:4,7

Charity … …, believeth all things, … -kjv

Love … …, always trusts, … -niv

Meditations:

Some times, I doubt my son’s words. Some times, I wonder if he is telling the truth. It’s not that kind of doubting because he has factual errors . It is that kind of doubting because I doubt his character, stemming from Romans 3:23 where it says for all have sinned. But here, it also says love is to believe all things. Though Romans 3:23 is true, 1 Cor 13: 7 is also true. I was not acting in love toward my son when I doubted his character. Sometimes it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that what we believe will come true. So, some day, I want to hear from my son: ” I succeeded because you believe in me!”

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