Black Bearer

Amidst the various shades of red adorned by the people present, in celebration of the Chinese New Year, sat a lone soul dressed in black, out of place and inauspicious, blasphemy emblazoned on a T-shirt – me. I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but I don’t believe in superstitions. I believe in Jesus Christ.

“How’s the harvest?”

That was the trick question of the season. I was about to reply “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” when I realised that the question was referring to amount of red packets I had collected over the new year.

I would be in trouble no matter how I answered it:

1. reply “Great!” and gloat about the number or amount of money I had collected, earning envious looks. 
2. reply “Poor.” and get side-eyed by people who think I’m an ungrateful brat.

In my dumbfounded state, I somehow managed to return a pathetic but neutral reply, “Ok lah.” Of course, I may have given off the wrong impression but that’s beside the point. In truth, I had gained a decent amount of red packets, like every other new year, but I hadn’t opened most of them yet. But it didn’t matter, because the fact that I had gotten any was a blessing in itself. It was an undeserved gift.

Jesus is our undeserved gift. We are sinners unworthy, yet for our sakes He died.

With the current happenings around the world, I think it’s safe to say that this year isn’t going to be smooth-sailing. Do not worry about it, pray about it. (See Stress Free Living at http://breatheliferadio.com/radio/) We will face persecution, but be strong. (See http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/kuwait-cristianesimo-christianism-cristianos-11709/) When God is with us, who can stand against us?

What is God/Jesus like?

His message is love. He is pure and just. Jesus does not condemn the sinner, but He condemns sin and forgives the sinner. God burns with love and compassion, but with that same fire He burns away the sin and impurities in us.

What does He ask of us?

1. To love others just as He loves us. 
2. Sacrifice. (Love Him more than the things of this world. Take up your cross daily and follow Him. Faithful obedience. Keep yourself holy. It’s not going to be easy, because trials and temptations are everywhere. But everything is possible with Christ.) 
3. To spread the good news of salvation in Christ.

Why does God allow suffering?

• so that people will depend on Him for help and not rely on their own strength. 
• God allows trials and tribulations to mould us into people we’re meant to become.

If God is love, why is He full of wrath?
He is righteous and just. Sin is evil, therefore He punishes sin.

Are you sure God is real?

• What are the odds that Earth, a tiny planet in a vast universe, has the right conditions favourable for life to exist? Add to that the possibility of millions of creatures (discovered and not discovered) adapting to the planet through insane combinations of adaptations and modifications. There has to be a perfect Creator who is this good.
• If there isn’t God, who then will judge our actions in our lives? We could all live any way we wanted, no matter how perverse, and die without accountability for them. We could ruin or end lives with any excuse and not face judgment at the end of our lives.

How can you say that we deserve eternal punishment?!

We, in fact, do deserve punishment for every sin we have committed. The seven deadly sins (pride, greed, gluttony, envy, lust, wrath, sloth) can manifest in many ways: physical, mentally or spiritually.

Eg. Murder

Physical: The actual act of killing a person.

Mental: Plotting murder or wishing a person dead.

Spiritual: Killing a person’s spirit (through discouragement, insults, condemnation, etc.)

According to a science magazine, there is a rapid firing of millions of neurons communicating with each other in the brain. So how many thoughts flash through our minds every day? How about a week, month, year? And how many of those tempting thoughts do we indulge in? We wouldn’t be able to count the number of sins accumulated since birth, because we wouldn’t remember them all.

Now what about the consequence of sin? Let’s use the above-mentioned example. (This is just a hypothesis, so take it with a pinch of salt.)

E.g. The consequence of murder

Physical: The loss of a soul (worth the number of years the victim had left to live); mental trauma caused to immediate relatives and community; negative impact on people around the world.

Mental: Loss of a healthy mind; increased self-indulgence

Spiritual: Increased pride and self-satisfaction gained from putting someone beneath yourself; mental depression of victim.

i.e. The cost of murder

Physical: Your soul in exchange (worth the same number of years); mental trauma of the rest of the people affected on yourself

Mental: A healthy mind in exchange, which the sinner (in possession of a contaminated one) would not have; you would also have to give up pleasure from the Lord

Spiritual: Humiliation; discontentment and depression on yourself.

The payment is difficult to pay, isn’t it?

To followers of Christ: We are one in the body of Christ. There are no denominations. Denominations are man-made inventions set to divide us. A kingdom divided against itself will not stand. Do not conform to the patterns of this world, brethren. United we stand on the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ.