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Showing posts from May, 2014

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John Locke - Essay on Human Understanding. Jonathan Edwards - Treatise Concerning the Religious Affections From Paradise to Promised Land - T.D. Alexander

Sermon Material for Youth Bible Conference

My previous post on the Inclusio of the Book of Matthew is shaping to be some useful material for GBC's Youth Bible Conference. Worked with some of the younger ones today. Thankful for the opportunity Lord. Please acconplish your work among us.

The Quality of Mercy - Merchant of Venice

The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea; Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

This is how we treat God

1 Kings 6:37-38 "In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it." 1 Kings 7:1 "Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house." Thirteen years to build our own houses and seven years to build God's house. This is exactly how we treat God.

The Inclusio of the Book of Matthew

From wikipedia: "In literature, inclusio is a literary device based on a concentric principle, also known as bracketing or an envelope structure, which consists of creating a frame by placing similar material at the beginning and end of a section, although whether this material should consist of a word or a phrase, or whether greater amounts of text also qualify, and of what length the frames section should be, are matters of some debate. Inclusio is found in various sources, both antique and new." The Inclusio of the Book of Matthew is that it starts and ends with "Immanuel". At the start, after the genealogies we are told that Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah (Matt 1:22-23). "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ā€œBehold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,     and they shall call his name Immanuelā€ It then ends with "Immanuel" being fulfilled in the act of discipling. "G...

Old Gospel tract explaining the Book of Daniel

I found this old gospel tract explaining thr Book of Daniel!

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

May 4th, 2014

On this day I ventured into one of the deep parts of the swimming pool. Lord please sustain me and my You be the one who is always speaking.

What is Home?

I am having a headache from all the noise downstairs but this is the unfortunate stuff we have to bear with as a result of living in shared spaces. Today I bumped into one of my ASEAN Scholar friends, we managed to have a little conversation, something I treasure a lot now. In the days of old, we all stayed together in hostels and such occasions were a common activity rather than the rarity it is today. "Would you stay long in Singapore?" She suddenly asked me. I asked myself that all the time. I didn't really gave an answer but since it sounded like she was thinking about it, I asked her what would make her stay and what would make her leave? As she was sharing her reasons, I asked her if she felt a disconnect every time she went back. I asked her this because for a while now, every trip I make home, I feel less and less that this home. It is not anybody's fault but it is the way it is. Home was a memory twelve years ago. Each time we head back we discover ...