i am but the normal girl.

just in case anyone stumbles across this site and is contemplating whether to group me together with christian zealots, i just would like to say i do have a life. it revolves around my religion, work, relationships and...

SHOPPING!!!

that's right. i am a normal girl. =)

anyway, just showing off my latest shopping conquest...





♥!


ironic that i should be showing off something that is related to my religion when i profess that my life is more than religion.

it is true, my life comprises of elements other than religion. but it does not mean that Christ is not in the center of my life. it is possible to live a life defined as normal by society's standards and yet put Christ in the center.

blogging woes and whining...

i was just reading a friend's friend's girlfriend's blog. (check out that friendster link!) and i noticed she said she hopes to attain 5000 readers in the future.

future xiaxue to be? hmm.. shall not judge. =)

much as i hope to have this blog packed with comments, i shall not be overly ambitious. knowing the nature of my blog. let's set the aim for... 10 readers first!

"oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory" (1 Chronicles 4:10)

frivolous things aside, let's talk about praise.

the past few weeks were worry laden weeks for me. personal as well as minor financial problems plagued me to no end and i could almost never focus on worship and my private devotionals. i used to whine about it - "God, why is this happening to me??? is not my life hard enough?"

everyone has been through this. if our God is so good, why is He allowing bad things to happen to His children? why do we continue praising a God who does not seem to care about His people?

you know what, it is precisely because He is good that He allows some boulders to be put into our paths. for that, "we rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4)

like a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon, the man who took pity on the butterfly and cut open its cocoon ruined it as it now does not have the strength to fly. likewise, God understands that we need these sufferings to grow stronger and mature. this is what life is about.

if our life were really a bed of (thornless) roses, we would never experience God's goodness as we do not know the meaning of evil. we would forever be cocooned in our comfortable silk wrap, weak but overprotected, blissfully unaware of the big bad world we live in.

my friend was once posted this question: "would you still love God if He does something bad towards you?"

my answer will be an immediate yes.

i sense raised eyebrows. i sense people would think i'm being really silly.

in the light of how suffering eventually produces hope, i'll say yes, i'll love Him all the more when He places boulders in my path. because i know He has plans for me and it will be good (refer Luke 11:10-13). when i face difficulties, i know He will be there to help me (refer 1 Corinthians 10:13)

in adversity, i shall praise Him for giving me the opportunity to grow. in good times, i shall praise Him for His greatness and His love.

let everything that has breath praise the Lord forever!

urh.. erm..

i wanted to write something about xiaxue's newfound religion.

disgusted as i was, i found that i was unable to. i shall not judge.


i had other things in mind but i am kinda traumatised by xiaxue. God help me.

because you're of this world...

everyone should live in advertisement land.

in the wonderful land of advertisements, the people are gorgeous and happy. there are no such things as fat people, ugly people or pimples. the sun shines all day long and a frown is almost unheard of. because in advertland, there are solutions to every little problem. if you are fat, ugly or have chronic acne problems, there always is someone or some miracle cure for your woes.

in advertland, the food always looks good and appetizing. best of all, they are all supposedly cheap and fantastic and possibly of gourmet quality. you get plenty of opportunities to win cars, luxury condominiums, mp3 players and several other things that would have burnt a hole in your pocket in real life.

you are promised a comfortable future with lucrative investment and savings plans, together with the gurantee of half a zillion material objects to entertain you. you can travel the world at a cost it takes to maintain an ant, and have the best things in life.

live the material life. get your material satisfaction. come to advertland and be happy!

p/s: religion is not included. (for God and His children are not of this world.)

acting in love

there is something weird in her mannerisms. something about the way she walks, the way she talks and even the way she looks at you. it gives you the vibes that she is not like us. she wore a tee shirt with the "society for the physically disabled" crest.

she quietly observes the commuters and murmurs the names of the next station in her discordant voice. the commuters around her stared fixatedly in another direction.

she spots an empty seat. but it was quite a crowded train and somebody quickly got to it instead. you can sense the mix of disappointment and resignation in her response "aiyah!". nobody else on the train stirred.

her movements were obviously impaired and so was her speech. all she wanted during that train ride was a seat.

observing this woman from a distance of about 2 meters away, i cannot help but feel indignant about the way singaporeans treat the needy. we can give cash away by the bundles to charities that might well be bogus, but nobody bothers to give up a seat to someone obviously more in need.

how many times have we seen healthy men and women have sudden attacks of narcolepsy whenever a pregnant woman boards the train? how many times have we seen cases when the advertisements plastered around suddenly become a fascinating read when the elderly old man hobbles onto the bus?

*sings* what the world needs now is love sweet love... it's the only thing that there's just too little of...

you're christian = you cannot blog properly

i remember that once i was talking to raymond about blogging. we came to a conclusion that all the popular blogs (i.e, xiaxue, ms. beautifuk, mr. brown, etc...) none of them are christians. or at least they do not openly declare their religious inclination. it nearly seems that christians cannot write.

my retort? "why? just because you're christian it means you cannot write properly?"

just today my friend (also a prominent blogger) mentioned to me that he wants to set up a blog for "christian stuff". but he wisely observed that "nobody would read a christian blog."

and thus the really saddening realisation that my blog will never be as big as xiaxue or ms. beautifuk dawned upon me.

is it because i'm not as sarcastic as ms. beautifuk? is it because i do not have great photoshopping skills like ms. wendy cheng? dear oh dear.. maybe i'm in denial or something but i'm more inclined to think that it is because of the nature of my blog.

i'll not be ashamed to be christian. and i'll not be ashamed to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done in my life. but if i want hits, a christian blog is definitely not the way.

because of two main factors - content and readership:

1. face it. controversy and gossip draws readership. bitching and sarcasm entertains the idle internet surfer with nothing better to do. we love to pick on those hopeless blogs wItH sTickYy cApPz and what not, laugh at their stupidity. personally i do not want to slam anyone unnecessarily - we are not acting in love. for Jesus has said "you shall love one another, and by this the world would recognise you as my disciples". if i do not act in love, i'd rather keep my religion a secret.

2. and so this brings me to my second point: people might think we're too goody goody on our blogs. marilyn says she will not bitch about people. oh come on and get off that moral high horse. you're human. do not tell me that you never grumbled about that irritating idiot who got in your way? but that's exactly what being christian is about - to act in love even in the face of unlovable people (which is really tough).

3. some people might have had bad experiences with christians - be it those arm twister evangelists talking your ear off or people who give christianity a bad name. and thus, the entire unfortunate group becomes blacklisted and labelled as the "group which you should stay at least 10 meters away from".

4. living in a multi racial society wherein the only reason why we live in harmony is mainly due to tolerance and not understanding, it's really hard for a reader of a different faith to accept such content. and religion being a sensitive issue, it is always easier (and safer) to do political or social commentaries.

this is just from my personal point of view.

anyway i've got quite a lot of material that got me thinking. more blog entries coming up soon. will just give this entry a few days to settle in.

till next time, God bless.

the sinful dyeath.

i have heard that it is sinful for christians to read harry potter, do body piercing and dye their hair.

uhh.. dang. i'm damned to hell if that is so.

harry potter: check. read all 6 books and waiting for the 7th.
body piercing: check. pierced my ears last year.

maybe i will be saved if i kept my natural hair colour. but...

i just highlighted my hair...

=(

talk about extreme legalism. *sighs*

there is something about christians...

let's do a headcount, shall we?

she wrote about it. she also wrote about it.
i think somewhere in the vast blogosphere a couple of guys also wrote about it. or at least something about the topic. heck, even i wrote about this before.

oh tssk. religion has always been a touchy issue.

it's always the christians. it's always those bible thumpers who approach you with that oh so dreaded but familiar line "would you like to know more about Jesus?" it's always the christians who are crazily trying to shove 3 million bibles down the poor non believer's throat, preaching in the name of "good intentions and love". you'll never get a muslim preaching the koran or the buddhist asking you if you know buddha. it. is. always. those. insufferable. christians. sheesh.

and so the prophecy is kinda coming true, isn't it?

"but before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. they will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. this will result in your being witnesses to them." luke 21:12-13, backed up by matthew 24:9.

of course, we do not get thrown into prisons and etcera. but face it, nobody really enjoys being told to their faces that they will go to hell because they do not believe in this guy we call Jesus Christ. nobody really likes sitting through a lecture on biblical history and christian morals when all they really want to do is go home and watch tv.

i've been through this before, and it is an experience that i do not wish to inflict on anyone. i used to feel insulted by people who come up to me to preach the Word, and (maybe) unwittingly conveying the impression that because i do not believe, i am on my way to hell. joy.

what made it worse was when i told them i was catholic, they conveniently forget that i already believe and continue to give me a zillion reasons why Christ exists and why He is "the Way, the Truth and the Light".

makes you want to tear your hair out and scream "i know all that already! shut up!"

nobody really is at fault here. but all these frustration could have been minimised if both sides really understood what is going on.

some non-believers say they understand that we believe salvation is through Christ, and it was out of love that we preach the Word to them. oftentimes it is accompanied by sarcasm and cynicism.

they might not truly understand our intentions. i was like that once, and i certainly did not understand why i am constantly a target for arm-twisting christians who are convinced i'm damned to hell. what i did not understand is the great commission Jesus gave to His disciples: to go out and save the non-believers. (see matthew 28:19)

but in my opinion preaching should be done with tact and consideration for the other party's feelings. forcing the gospel on someone who is barely aqquainted with the text and insinuating that they will go to hell unless they know what we do, especially on the first few meetings, is a wee bit too much. it was already quite bad when a friend of 8 years tried to do it to me, needless to say if a virtual stranger tries to do so.

it takes two to tango. and if one is unwilling or overpowering, there isn't any point in dancing anymore, is there? besides, all things will happen in God's good time.