FES Lecture Series (3)

This is the summary for the third lecture. The summary here is shorter than the other two, simply because I skipped the examples mentioned in the lecture and directly take note of the main ideas. As always, please do point out to me if there is anything wrong with it.

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Truth that can be Defended: Responding to Our Critics

Faith makes sense. It does not only appeal to our minds, but also to our heart. There is a book called “The meaning of life” published in the 1990s. The book didn’t tell the reader about what the meaning of life is, but it tells the reader that the true meaning of life should have a sense of urgency, purpose and value. All these are answered by the Gospel. We need to be assured that we matters to God and we need to find what we need to do in our life. Each of us needs to be salt and light in our life. Where does God want you to be?

We must never see the church as a place where we hide. We have to see the church as an oasis where we will be refreshed and renewed before we go back to the world. The church is not designed as a barrier to the world, but to energize us to do our calling in the world.

Apologetics means giving ‘an account of our faith’. It is important to us. It has two elements: (1) answering/meeting objection and (2) explaining and communicating of the enormous joy and peace that our faith brings. Faith makes so much sense and we must know why it is. There are answers to the objections of our friends, and we need to discover and search for it.

Psalm 34:8 (ESV) says that “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Tell to others: “Look! I have tasted the Lord and I can tell that He is good!” Invite them: “I want to invite you to taste and see that as well.” We don’t need to be a master of words to become salt and light, but we need to shine light to the world through our life.

The apostle Paul said this in his letters to the Philippians: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21, ESV). Paul is convinced that he has found what the meaning of his life is, life that is from Christ. We have that life as well, but there are many others who didn’t know about it. We need to share it with them, just like beggars who tell other beggars where to find bread.

The Christian Gospel is about the love of God. Martin Luther said, “He did that for me” when he imagine Christ suffering and dying on that cross. It is the proof of God’s love to us. This truth need to be shared with others.

The next point to be discussed is Grace. We can say that GRACE is an abbreviation of “God’s Righteousness At Christ’s Expense”. We can’t do anything good enough to earn merit in God’s presence. But He is a God that accept us for whoever we are – and that is how great His grace is. Before we resource others with His grace, we need to find an hold that grace ourselves which resources us.

We need to find the answer to the question: “What is so special about Christ that you have faith in him?” What is faith? Faith has a rich meaning inside. It is not an irrational, but it is so great that our mind can’t comprehend it. Faith is not just about believing. It is about trust and commitment. Just like Abraham from yesterday’s lecture, like all that cloud of witnesses before us (Hebrew 12). The prophets are speaking about God, Christ is speaking about God, and those accounts are trustworthy.

There are many dangers in our journey with God. Our experience is more than often wrongly perceive what is going on in our life. We often think that God doesn’t care about us. There are many things that we encounter and we don’t understand, but God came for us and He knows how we feel and what we are facing. Paul knew this as he gave his encouragement to the believers in Corinthians: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12, ESV).

Let us reassure ourselves that we really matters to God. Then, ask the question where God want you to be, what God wants you to do, and have joy in what you do.

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh-- though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:3-14, ESV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6-7, ESV)

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thes. 5:24, ESV)

Let there be light!

FES Lecture Series (2)

This is the summary that I made from the 2nd lecture. This one might be a little messy, since personally I think that the breadth of what Prof. McGrath talked that night was very large, hence I can’t take down all of them in the note. Again, please correct me if there is anything wrong inside the notes =). Anyway you can order for the video recording through FES as well.

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Truth that can be Trusted: How the Gospel can Change the World

In what way can I serve God? Let us turn to Mark chapter one, where we find the story of Jesus, when He call His disciple. He said these words and these words only: “Follow me.” He didn’t say anything else. Just a simple, plain “follow me.” What is so special about Jesus that made them follow Him and abandon everything only by that simple words? All of us may have different answer based on our experience. This answer reflects our understanding which gets deeper and stronger as we keep following Him.

This lecture wants to talk about the reality of God, that he is real and able to transform all of us. Look at Paul. Remember that he once prosecuted the believers, and look how God changed him, by simply having a relationship with God. We need to maintain relationship both horizontal (through fellowships, church, friends, bible study group, etc.) and vertical. Friends and community encourages us to follow Jesus deeper. Christianity is not a ‘lonely religion’ but a journey together. Vertical relationship keeps us reminded on who we are and who God is. Christianity is not about us, not about comfort, not about avoiding risk, but about having God throughout our lives, even in the midst of difficulty, as is expressed by the Psalmist: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4, ESV)

In talking about God we are not just talking about ideas. We are talking about living reality. Just like a house built on a rock is able to withstand the storm (Matt. 7), we are to build our house of faith on what is secure. We might build it based on status, academic result, financial or any other, but what is immovable, eternally secure, and absolutely reliable is God. The case of Marxism is a good example. Marxism was very common in the period of 60s to 70s, almost everyone is Marxist. But look at today – it is very hard to find them. It was like a mere passing wind compared to the word of God. God is the eternally secure foothold, because it is the truth. God’s truth.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Cor 2:1-5, ESV)

Paul is talking about the living reality of God’s Word; our faith should rest in it, not about human knowledge. These Words are where and what we can take as our stand. We can’t let the Gospel trapped in the previous generations; we need to keep reflecting it in our life.

Today we are living in a post-modern world where argument, unlike in the modern world, are not how we can show the truth to others. Just look at the TV advertisements today; it is not giving argument anymore – they are focusing on image. Today people are more interested in stories, story about who we are. Let others hear your story! Why are we telling our story? There are at least two reasons for it. First, when we tell our story, we are telling on what is real in our life, including the joy, happiness and transformation. Secondly, by telling our story, we are telling them that this story about God is real. This implies that when we are talking to others we are saying: “This could be your story.” We are not needed to be good with words; we just need to tell our own story. Show it not only by your words, but with your life. Let others see the difference between the world and Christ even before you start to talk.

However, we need to also talk about the attractiveness of our life in this post-modern world as well. John 4 tells us a story about the Samaritan woman sitting beside the well. The conversation between Jesus and this woman tells us that people are thirsty and they are looking for something that can satisfy them. Christ is able to give it to them – and actually, only He can give it to them. Similar story are found in John 6:48 where Jesus proclaimed that “I am the bread of life.” Other food may satisfy us for a while. But He can keep us going and going. Christian Gospel can answer their question abundantly. Christian Gospel is the truth and is relevant. We don’t need to make it relevant or make it a truth anymore. It already is.

Christian faith meant to take a journey. All of us is in a journey. We are growing wiser a deeper about our understanding of God. Remember Abraham when he was called out to an unknown land? He kept on following Him even though he didn’t understand it. Why did he do so? Abraham knew that God has a reason on why He wants him there, and because he knew that God is with him in his journey. God is guiding and using us as we journey. We don’t need to finish our journey for God to be able to use us.

Remember also the story of the Israelites. They need to wander in the wilderness before they can enter the Promised Land. Why did God want them to wander first? Because this wandering enables them to grow; it teaches them about the understanding of God and finding their identity as the people of God, preparing them for what is ahead. We may encounter difficult times in our lives, but through them we grow, and remember that He is with us.

Remember as well the Israelites when they are in exile. Psalm 148 reflects the condition of their hearts so perfectly, where they are wondering whether they will be able to go back to Jerusalem. Many Christians use this framework to make sense of life. Our original home is Heaven, we are in exile in this world, and we are longing for the future when we are able to go back. Here in the exile, we need to spread that hope to everyone around us.

All of us need to go deeper in our faith. Remember the film Titanic where the ship hit an iceberg and sinks? An iceberg may look to be small in the surface, but what we see above the water surface is merely 10% of what it originally is. Most of the ice is located below the sea water. Christian faith is just like this iceberg. There are so many wisdom and knowledge hidden beneath it. The message of the Gospel is simple: “God loves you.” But when we go deeper we see that there are a lot of things we discover, and it may be hard to understand, or even impossible for us to understand. But through these hard things we can get the full view of who God is, what He has done, and what He will do. Yes, God is a mystery. But He is not irrational. Rather, God is so big that we can’t grasp Him completely. We are not able to grasp the living reality of God. But it will enable us to stretch our minds.

Go deeper in your faith, explore things, and find out more about the truth. In example, think deeper about the cross of Christ. What does it mean? It symbolizes many things if you search about it in the scripture. Find what it meant in our life. There are many in our culture that hasn’t experienced life because they are too afraid of death. What can we give to them? Christ’s cross deal with human sin. That’s the message our culture need to hear.

Our life is a journey, a journey with others and with God. We need to help each other grow upwards. We need to help each other discover what God wants for us. God loves each of us passionately, and He wants something from each of us. We need to find out about it. Whoever you are and wherever you think God wants you to be, remember that He equips us and He is always with us. Just like what he said to Joshua.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9, ESV)

Let there be light!

FES Lecture Series (1)

Fellowship of Evangelical Students (FES) Singapore is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year. I am involved in the committee for the series of events that will be held within these two weeks, so I know that if you can come to these events you will be very blessed. We are having 3 series of lectures this Thursday to Saturday in St. Andrew Cathedral by Prof. Alister McGrath (you can see his biography here). Today, the lecture is on “A vision for our lives: How the Gospel inspires us”. It has been a talk full of blessings to me, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t share it with you =). There will be a video recording as well if you’re interested haha..

I write the summary of this lecture especially for those who can’t come today. Please pardon me if this summary is hard to read since it is very hard to listen and write in details at the same time =p. For you who came to the lecture today please correct me if there’s anything wrong in what I write =)

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“A Vision for Our Lives: How the Gospel Inspires Us”

Gospel was not only a set of ideas, it is more. It opens up our mind and it brings live changing experiences. Gospel to believers became a vision, it became something that inspires us, give us a new horizon, inspiration on what we can do and sense on who we are. As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3, the Gospel gives us total rebirth from our old nature to one that is of Christ.

The apostle Paul said to the believers in Rome: “Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is-what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.” (Rome 12:2, ISV). This is a wonderful verse for us who think about discipleship. It talks about renewal, to see ourselves in a new and authentic ways, since when we look at the Gospel, we know ourselves and we see the world around us. We need to remember that we are living in the same world as everyone else. The difference is that with Gospel, we see a life full of glory and meaning, while others who don’t know it will see a life without direction, life full of despair and meaningless. Gospel becomes our vision to help them see the hope.

“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep focusing on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Keep your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life is revealed, then you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.” (Col 3:1-4, ISV)

As this verse says, the one thing that keeps us going forward is “looking up” to God as our vision. He gives us hope, here and now. We need to introduce th

e Gospel to others for them to know what this hope is and why it can change our lives. Paul simply says that Christian life is a journey with hope to the future, by looking upwards where we get refreshed and refuge.

The New Testament is written in Greek. In Greek, there are two words to express ‘life’. The first is ‘bios’ (the same word which originates the scientific field, biology) which means the functional, day-by-day living of organisms. The other is ‘zoe’ which means life from Christ that has purpose, worth living for, with direction. A life that is from God. The Gospel gives us this ‘zoe’.

So to come back to our central theme, there are three main need of building vision in our life:
1. Building of vision of who God is
2. Building of vision of what the Gospel is
3. Building of vision of what we are and what God wants from us

As we celebrate FES 50th Anniversary, we need to see the future to find what God wants from us, to be able to know them more closely and intimately.

Why is worship important? There are many answers to this question, but one of them is to understand how great God is, with adoration and commitment. It might be surprising but there are many people that became believers through worships. Worship acts as a signpost, pointing to God. Isaiah 6 tells us the story of Isaiah who experienced a vision of God and His seraphs, how He cleansed Isaiah from his sins, God’s call for one who want to go for His purpose, and how Isaiah willingly accept his role as a prophet. God is not experienced as an idea, but as a living reality, not what we simply discover but we hold Him in our hearts. Worship can help us understand who God is, and by this vision of God, we are compelled to spread His Gospel.

Building a vision of God gives us spirit and focus. Building of vision of Gospel implies the need of not only discover and know about it but appreciate the Gospel as well. We need to let all the facets of the Gospel to flash and enlight on others, but for it to happen we need to be able to appreciate what that Gospel meant to us, like the parables of the pearl. Everyone in this world is looking for things that really matters. They search for many things and turns away with disappointment. Our job is to become the signpost, showing the world: “There! That is the endpoint of what you are searching for!” Evangelism is about pointing, about saying: “Come and discover!”

We need to build a vision for our life. Many of us think that we are inadequate. We realize that there are many things that need to be done, but we realize that we are not suitable, not the correct person, or don’t have what it takes. However, this lecture wants to say that: “All of us are special”. Christ died for each and every one of us. We can say to ourselves: “He died for me” and that means that we are special. That is why we can serve Him humbly and with confidence. Humility doesn’t mean that we say “I’m not good” at all times. Humility is about reflecting our weakness on the strength of the Almighty God, and admit that He is the one that enables us to do all we can do.

Many of us should be very familiar with the parables of talents. The talents are entrusted, it meant to be grown, but there are people who denied it by burying it. We need to ask ourselves: What are the gifts that God has entrusted to us? What are we good at? God give that gift that we need in order to serve Him. We know and acknowledge that the job is enormous, but we are not alone.

Joshua experienced the same struggle. After Moses died, he was chosen as the leader of Israel. He was asked to lead his people to Canaan. But he was afraid and felt insignificant, compared to Moses who have done so much before him. But God says to him otherwise. This encouragement from God is also directed to us. He is the Almighty God, and we are not alone, but we are serving under the companion of God who raises Christ from the dead. Christ said to His disciple when He told them to spread His Gospel that “I am with you each and every day until the end of the age” (Matt 28:20, ISV). The Scripture is full of people who are weak, incompetent, sinful and imperfect, but God made them matters. Build a vision for ourselves, on what is entrusted to us.

Individual vision is a big question but something that we need to think of. Look to God and we will find strength. Remember that God also said to Paul that “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12: 9, KJV). Remember that we are not struggling on our own! Take time to think about our vision. Forget for now about those that are around you. This is about you and God. Tell to yourselves: “God think of me as special”. He wants to do something through us, something that we can do. Grasp it, and go run for it.

Think of Joshua, Joshua who looked back at Moses who did so much, compared to him who must lead Israel. He had these challenge to be done and he need to face it. It’s the same to us. We need to do what God wants us to do. God said to Joshua “Have not I commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be you dismayed: for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9, NKJV) and He said that also to all of us.

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12: 9, KJV).

Let there be light!