Lift up your eyes all you people, to the left, to the right, to wherever!

Well, to start off, this blog entry is based on highly controversial information pertaining to a conversation I had with ______ and _______ last night, or rather this morning. Indeed, I am amazed at how _____-ism has its ability to impact lives, and yesterday, he probably had won over a new convert. The basis of the above title is simple: The people of today are simply too narrowminded. Remember about the story we were told when we were toddlers? The one where the frog was in a hole and couldnt get out? All it could see was within the boundary of that circle.

If we are living in the last days in this generation, I have every reason to believe it will likely come to pass. Look at what the global recession is doing to people everywhere and anywhere! The poor are getting poorer, unemployment increasing. The jobless find it even harder to source for jobs as companies adopt what seems to be similar to a live firing range. If Obama is to be our God-sent Shamgar (quote from Xinhong's blog) to the world, then he'd better have a solution to change the world one country at a time. Certainly the world is watching his moves to remedy the economy, but listen to me, do not pin your hopes based on one man alone. To be very honest, I think his speeches are awesome, it captivates the hearts of the people. But what if Obama fails to save the world? People say that this man is our only hope, and till today I am not afraid to say that I am still apprehensive of him as the President of USA. No doubt he is black, I've no qualms against it as long as he saves the world.

Furthermore, everyone is so focused on the credit crisis and recession that we fail to keep a tab on environmental and resource affairs. The issue of global warming is always our Achilles heel, and will continue to haunt us if we dont do anything about it. Our ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, the very existence of humanity is threatened. Scary? DUH. I dont see how this is less important than the recession. Resources. Our Oil supply is being depleted like never before. AND YET. yet most of us Singaporeans prefer Arts and Social Science degrees rather than Engineering. I am not saying that it is wrong to take up such bachelor's, but I am glad that I am enlightened and I am glad I took up Chemical Engineering. How on earth can one person having a Bachelor's in Law or Masters or PhD, go out there and look for alternate sources of energy? We need to pick our choices wisely. In university now? its still not too late!

Lift up your eyes and look EVERYWHERE. Seriously I pity those taking Commerce, Business, whatever. The world is SATURATED and INFESTED with them! Yet every year universities across the world still take in ridiculously LARGE amount of students for these courses. What makes YOU think that you can change the world when you graduate? Do you really think that setting up a business in Singapore is that easy? Do you really think that by entering the Big Four, you have arrived? I sincerely doubt so because it is the cold hard truth. My friends laugh at me because Engineering is easily ranked among the top hardest courses in tertiary education. But I dont care because eventually when I come out, the globe has a need to be met. If I can find a source of energy, or find solutions to help save the environment, I'll probably be richer than Bill Gates/Warren Buffett/whoever's rich, and use million dollar bills to wipe my backside whenever I use the toilet.

I plead with you. Stop looking within your own boundaries and start looking out of your boundaries. Likewise, my very own CHC Senior Pastor is not God. He is as human as you and I! FOR EXAMPLE. Lets say one day he steps down from the Leadership board of CHC and leaves to become a monk at some ulu temple in Taiwan, what would you think? THIS IS REALLY AN EXAMPLE. and God will definitely not allow that to happen. Would you still follow God whole heartedly? or would you be a flaky Christian and backslide. Our youths of today face a major problem: Conformity vs Maturity. Rules are simply guidelines to GUIDE us in life. Not life principles which we should hold on to like a dog does with its bone. Die also dont let go. Then it becomes a mindset which will probably stay with them for the rest of their lives UNTIL someone enlightens and renews his/her mind. Whatever happened to the liberty in the church? From what we are seeing, there is an exchange that the wrong is becoming right and the right becomes wrong. It is NO WONDER that people are finding the Christianity weird, boring, out-of-date, irrelevant.

Its all in the mind, are you willing to be set free? HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO DATE! (Disclaimer: This does not dictate my own love life to be like Romeo and Juliet) How shallow it is, to slam people from doing the "supposedly" wrong thing? Imagine if I have a girlfriend and she wants to stay over, by all means stay! I am perfectly fine with that, my house is so big that I can have the whole cell group over! So what if someone catches me alone with a girl, sharing popcorn and drinks, laughing in the cinema. So what if someone catches me sending my "girlfriend" all the way home, kissing her at the doorstep, giving flowers and chocolate, and stuff for her family. After 22 years of age, dont you tell me that I dont know what is right or wrong, or it is not "standard church protocol". Where is the maturity?! Like in the Bible, the Old Testament was only relevant for the people during THAT time. We are living in the NEW COVENANT now, so we dont see during service the security brings in the lamb to place on the altar and then Pastor Derek comes up to light the altar to offer the lamb as a burnt offering?! NO! Guidelines are placed upon our life only to mean as a guide. Not to bind us for life. As you mature, and grow in the Lord, if you dont need those guidelines anymore, by all means dont follow!

Pastor Kong's messages on kristos kai kosmos dont only affect the marketplace culture, it affects the church culture as well! I have seen people that give the weird expression when they find out that I drink, or I go to pubs, or I develop relationships with various girls to find the right partner. Does it mean I am an alcoholic and a flirt? NO. Firstly I draw my lines very clearly. Drink, dont drive. Drive, dont drink. And I dont hold my alcohol very well, so I drink quite little. Secondly, there is nothing wrong with making more female friends! It does not mean EVERY GIRL I meet means I would want to engage in a passionate BGR with them?!! If I did I would be the olden day Emperor with thousands of concubines! Truly, our narrowmindedness needs to be broken down!

If there is one thing _____ , ______ and I would hold close to my heart among all the guidelines, it would be our spiritual disciplines. And DEFINITELY not rigid, stupid, rules that people place upon their lives just to appear "right" before others. If you need it to keep in check for that season in time, by all means, go ahead. But PLEASE. when the winter season is OVER, dont you ever walk around in your ESKIMO suit when summer comes.


** I would like to apologize if people are actually offended by this post. But before you actually pass judgement on me even when I'm overseas, I beseech you to think through what I've blogged AND THINK HARD. Perhaps then, the world would be a better place to live in with another person with a free-ed up mindset. Thank you for your valuable time.**