Wednesday, April 04, 2007
this week's sociology lecture was on religion. i have also done my readings on religion. adding these two up, i found myself feeling very uncomfortable and speechless. sociology has always had the effect of showing us very liberal, contentious and radical ideas. Religion was one of them. Here are some disturbing things that i found in my readings and said during the lecture:- women are more likely to be religious because it is their role to care for other family members, and therefore they are raised to take responsibility for their religious needs as well.
- Jesus was a cult. (*gulps*)
- Rodney Stark asserts that it is a religious economy. presence of market and firms-supply side of religion-we are the consumers.
- Polytheism: Belief in many Gods. Refers to Hinduism, but also, Christianity. We have the Holy Trinity you see.
this weekend, we are going to commemorate Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In light of all these post-modernism/revisionists views about what religion is, can i still say for certain that my God is real? That my belief is not a form of compensation, or to give up some form of immediate gratification of the self so that i can go to heaven?
After thinking about this issue for many days, i've come to realise exactly why we need to go for encounters. Yes, we can argue that in this present world, science explains it all. according to logic, all these miraculous things cannot happen.
if only the world will stop arguing and go for a personal encounter with God. Because i am confident that only this encounter can change the way we think and our personal relationship with God. Last night, Pastor Julie spoke on the cross. Do we know what it means? that the vertical plank represents the many things we try to do to reach heaven, and the horizontal plank represents the hands that were nailed to the cross for us. The intersection of the cross is the mercy and grace of our Lord so that we can find salvation.
i know that my God is real and that he is no cult. I have experienced his abundant love; I know that he listens to my prayers and that he is alive.
i may find it hard to write an essay on religion-i might not even choose that topic.
But his amazing love for me is something that touches me deeply. I experienced that last night but even through all these words, i cannot convince YOU how real he is to me.
you may not understand what a personal relationship with God means-you may not want it.
but if you do, you need to take that step yourself because he is always there waiting for us to run into his arms.
no matter how good or bad the preacher is, no matter how charismatic or un-charismatic the church is, no matter whether the church building is nice or not, all it takes is for you to say that simple prayer of faith to allow him into your heart. That is the beginning. A beginning that can transform your life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes i him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands comdemned already... Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
John 3:16-21
As little children
We would dream of Christmas morn'
Of all the gifts and toys
We knew we'd find
But we never realized
A baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives
We were the reason
That He gave His life
We were the reason
That He suffered and died
To a world that was lost
He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live
As the years went by
We learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves
And what that means
On a dark and cloudy day
A man hung crying in the rain
All because of love, all because of love
I've finally found the reason for living
It's in giving every part of my heart just to Him
In all that I do every word that I say
I'll be giving my all just for Him, for Him
We are the reason
that He gave His life
We are the reason that
He suffered and died
To a world that was lost
He gave all that He could give
To show us the reason to live
He is the reason to live....
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS
4:41 PM
this week's sociology lecture was on religion. i have also done my readings on religion. adding these two up, i found myself feeling very uncomfortable and speechless. 
