Articles: Why God chose, charity and affection, dragons and holiness

Haha. This post is for archiving some good posts:

1. Why doesn't God save everyone even though He loves everyone?

Not everyone will believe the gospel. Why?

“God desires all people to be saved,” 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us. “God does not take pleasure in the death of anyone,” Ezekiel 18:32 says. Then why are there some who refuse to trust in Jesus and therefore die lost in their sins?

There are two different answers to this question.

But we should understand that these two answers go beyond making sense of God’s will of decree and will of command. Those “two wills” in God describe a biblical distinction that’s been expressed various ways in the Scriptures and throughout the centuries. God’s “two ways of willing,” writes John Piper, “implies that God decrees one state of affair while also willing and teaching that another state of affairs should come to pass” (Does God Desire All to Be Saved?, 16). This means that though God desires all people to be saved (his “will of command”), only those chosen in Christ will believe the gospel and be saved (his “will of decree”). But true as it is, this explanation still falls short of getting to the why. Why is this the case? Why does God not decree all that he prescribes?

And here is where we face those two different answers.

One answer is that there is something more powerful than God that is able to frustrate his will. It says that God is nice to desire all people to be saved, but he doesn’t have the strength to make it happen. The second answer says, in Piper’s words, “God wills not to save all, even though he ‘desires’ that all be saved, because there is something else that he wills or desires more, which would be lost if he exerted his sovereign power to save all” (emphasis added, 39).

The second answer is one that both Calvinists and Arminians can affirm. Both say that God doesn’t save everyone because he is committed to something more than saving everyone. The difference between Calvinists and Arminians is seen in what that higher commitment is.

Piper explains,

The answer the Arminians give is that human self-determination and the possible resulting love relationship with God are more valuable than saving all people by sovereign, efficacious grace. The answer the Reformed give is that the greater value is the manifestation of the full range of God’s glory in wrath and mercy (Romans 9:22–23) and the humbling of man so that he enjoys giving all credit to God for his salvation (1 Corinthians 1:29). (39)

So one explanation says that the higher commitment is God leaving the destiny of our eternal souls up to our own decision-making. The higher commitment is God securing our right to let our choices be the decisive factor in where we spend eternity. The other explanation — the Calvinist answer — says that God’s higher commitment is the full display of his glory. God’s glory wins, which means that his just wrath is poured out on all unrighteousness, and his mercy is lavished on all whom he loves.

God’s highest commitment — beyond his moral will that all people everywhere repent —is that the full panorama of his glory shine forth. That glory is his mercy, grace, steadfast love and faithfulness, and his refusal to by no means clear the guilty . . . so that the vessels of his mercy might know the riches of his glory (Exodus 34:6–7; Romans 9:23).

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/god-s-glory-wins

2. On Charity and Affection

Though Christian charity sounds a very cold thing to people whose heads are full of sentimentality, and though it is quite distinct from affection, yet it leads to affection. The difference between a Christian and a worldly man is not that the worldly man has only affections or ‘likings’ and the Christian has only ‘charity’. The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on—including people he could not even have imagined him- self liking at the beginning.

This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction. The Germans, perhaps, at first ill-treated the Jews because they hated them: afterwards they hated them much more because they had ill-treated them. The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become — and so on in a vicious circle for ever.

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.

From Mere Christianity
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewishttp://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/cs-lewis-daily/2013/10/28

 3. On the Power of imagination

Dragons and Holiness

by Tony Reinke

The incredible imaginative power of the human mind connects us. If I mention standing ankle deep in the ocean, many of you can picture this image (and maybe feel the dizziness as you watch the water rush past your feet and back). Or if I mention the feeling of floating free under water in a swimming pool with eyes open, many of you know this feeling, too. Or if I mention the muffled silence that blankets a neighborhood in a thick snowstorm, you can probably imagine it. Thousands of other scenarios we can enjoy together. This is the work of our imagination.

The imagination is a necessary component for reading fiction books, nonfiction books, and, of course, for reading the Bible. God’s book engages our imaginations by the parables of Jesus, the poetry of the Psalms, the adages of the Proverbs, and, of course, the apocalyptic language of the prophets. But what makes human imagination even more incredible is how we experience in our minds things we did not, have not, or cannot experience ourselves. The book of Revelation is one example.

In Revelation, we read about the Son of Man dressed in a robe, with a voice like the great falls, and a two-edged sword for a tongue, with a face bright as the sun. Then we see a throne in heaven, surrounded by a rainbow of brilliant color, with lightning and thunder pealing off the throne. On each side of the throne are six-winged angelic creatures in flight, ceaselessly singing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8). Bowls are filled with the prayers of the saints. And a Lamb stands as though it had been slain, whose blood makes white.

Can you see all this in your imagination?

Then behold the dragons, full of power and rage. A red dragon with seven heads is followed by another beast that has a nasty scar on one of its seven heads and a mouth full of blasphemies calling forth for idolatrous worship on earth. And then there’s another beast that speaks like a dragon, with the power to command fire from heaven. Finally, there’s a scarlet beast on whom rides a woman, the mother of all prostitutes and sexual sin, carrying a cup of sexual immorality.

Late in the story, one breaks in on a white horse. The rider’s name is Faithful and True, and the Word of God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He makes war. Under His crown blaze eyes like a furnace. His robe drips with blood, and from His mouth He bears a sword to strike down beasts and rebels. He treads the winepress of God’s fury. The images of Christ permeate the book.

So why all this imagery?

Imagination is what one theologian calls “the power of synoptic vision” (Vanhoozer). It allows us to order the world, and to see things collected together as opposed to the fragmented way we typically perceive the world. Dragons embody evil. He who is called Faithful and True embodies holiness and justice. Revelation engages our imaginations until we see reality through radical images, images that push us past the dominant worldly ideologies we simply assume and naturally ingest daily just like the air we breathe.

The images in Revelation expose us to the world again, but they stun us in new and shocking ways. They break into our imaginations (sometimes with violence), but they also give to us new and alien ways of looking at the world that enable us to transcend our loud cultural environment. This cultural transcendence is possible because God has given us imaginations. Revelation works to purge and refurbish those imaginations, providing us with a profoundly fresh theological angle on the world that we have grown comfortable with. Here in Revelation, our imaginations are engaged to see the evil in this world, not as a scattered random acts of evil, but as a collective whole. By collecting the evil, we see the superiority of Christ over all. And we see that all victories of Christ over evil are tied directly to his death.

How do we respond to such imaginative literature? We read and heed. This is called forth at the beginning and end of the book (1:3; 22:7). Through the imagination, we are called to wake up and to put off lukewarmness. Revelation invites us to see ultimate reality through our imaginations in breathtaking, earth-scorching, mind-stretching, sin-defeating, dragon-slaying, Christ-centered, God-glorifying images intended to change the way we think, act, and speak.

Irrespective of the literal meaning of these imaginative dramas in Revelation, and irrespective of their literal timing and prophetic fulfillment, they remind us in stark images that the times are too evil and time is too short for us to slumber lazily. Our imaginations are stretched, awakened, and shocked from spiritual lethargy. Such is the life-altering power of imaginative imagery for those perceptive readers who understand our desperate need to see dragons.

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/dragons-and-holiness/

Civil leadership

Reading this article, I am reminded about how good the government of Singapore is at serving her people.

Five youths awarded President's Scholarship 

• By Sharon See
• POSTED: 16 Aug 2013 23:07

SINGAPORE: Five young Singaporeans have been awarded the prestigious President's Scholarship this year.

They are Joshua Jesudason, Stephanie Siow, I Naishad Kai-ren, Timothy Yap and Scott Ang.

The scholarship is given to outstanding individuals who wish to take up a career in the Public Service.

They were picked by the Public Service Commission for their outstanding academic and co-curricular achievements, character, and leadership potential.

President Tony Tan Keng Yam reminded the scholars that they bear a heavy responsibility.

He said: "As recipients of the President's Scholarship, you bear a heavy responsibility. Your peers and fellow Singaporeans will look to you for such leadership to bring Singapore forward.

"Beyond excellence in your academics and careers, each of you will have to work hard to nurture both unity and diversity in our society.

"The policies you create and implement must be done not in an ivory tower, but through strong connections and engagement with the community."

A passion for the community

If there is one thing in common among the five scholars, it is their passion for community service.

Until he was eight years old, Joshua Jesudason's spent his formative years in Papua New Guinea, where his parents did missionary work. He was home-schooled until he returned to Singapore. However, the experience of living in a rural village has shaped his world view, said the Anglo-Chinese Junior College student.

He said: "Despite the fact that people there were not well-to-do by our standards, we were still very welcome there. There was a very strong sense of openness and 'welcoming-ness' and even gratitude to my parents for doing literacy... work there.

"I remember one time, despite the fact that these people were eating like potatoes three meals a day, seven days a week -- out of the blue sometimes, they'll just come over to my parents' house where they lived and they'll just give us a chicken...

"It's a really big deal to them because it's something that is not in their normal diet and it's something that they could feed their family with and they just give it out of gratitude to my parents for being there.

"You see how small things like that can mean so much to them and yet they're still willing to sacrifice that. And in the setting of a place where there's no supermarkets, there's no convenience stores, it really changes your perspectives and how you see people. And I think that's really what has shaped me up to today."

Joshua's parents' involvement in community work has also seeded his interest in public service. He will be heading to the University of Oxford in UK to study history and politics on a Singapore Police Force (SPF) Overseas Scholarship.

Similarly inspired by her parents, Stephanie Siow from Raffles Institution remembers a rough period in secondary school when her mother was ill.

Stephanie Siow, who was awarded an Overseas Merit Scholarship (Open), said: "Even though she had this illness, she didn't stop there -- her life really just moved on from it, she went for the treatment and recovered. So when she recovered, she actually turned around to help other patients, and now she's a counsellor in various hospitals.

"I think it's this kind of attitude that I really want to emulate and she has really modelled this way for me. If I face any setbacks in the future, if I can help the people around me, I would really want to do so. So I really think my mum is my role model."

Stephanie will major in Economics at Yale University in the US, and she hopes to be involved in economic or social policy work when she returns to Singapore.

I Naishad Kai-ren, who was also from Raffles Institution, remembers a community service programme he took part in which involved Tanglin School, which is for students with intellectual disabilities.

When the plan to teach the Tanglin School students drama did not pan out, Naishad and his friends decided to give the students lessons on life skills instead.

He said: "Throughout those lessons that we held with them, what struck us was that we are very blessed to be born with the faculties that we are born with. And many of them are just like you or me, just that they haven't been as blessed as we have been.

"So we learnt that for us, having been endowed with these faculties, we need to play a larger role in society. We really need to give back because we have so many opportunities to develop ourselves, and it's really about thinking of the greater good than just about the individual."

Naishad went on to organise his own projects, including initiating Raffles Community Day, a day dedicated to community service.

He will study liberal arts at Brown University in the US on an Overseas Merit Scholarship (Open).

The other two President's Scholars will read law in the UK. Timothy Yap from Hwa Chong Institution will head to the University of Oxford under the Singapore Police Force Overseas Scholarship.

Scott Ang from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), who is the only Singapore Armed Forces scholar among the five President's Scholars, is going to the University of Cambridge. 

- CNA/ac, source link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/five-youths-awarded/779686.html

In this article, a junior from my old school is awarded the President's Scholarship.
And this bright guy signed up to serve in the police force.
I can't imagine any of Malaysia's brightest talents going into the Malaysian police force.
Yet this is what Singapore intentionally does. They are pretty effective in planning for succession.

And notice also that this article did not discuss much about their achievements, as much as it discussed about the passion for the people.

I remember reading a book on leadership, where someone asked Lee Kuan Yew what kept the leadership so strong - and he said "Sacrifice". I think here when he says sacrifice, it's not just about the material things (because these bright people can probably develop much more profitable careers outside civil service, but can't enjoy some luxuries due to the less competitive nature of this career), it really is about the political effects on their own private lives (because they are now given a spotlight as "caretakers" of the nation, and so will their children suffer from having their every move watched - and being unable to make mistakes, i.e. problems of being a mini-celebrity). There are many ways to serve the nation without becoming a policymaker, without losing the luxuries. But I guess when the opportunity comes, when the talents match, it is like a calling to serve in this capacity.

Anyway when I read what GIC looks for in its applicants, it says: Values.
And when I read S. R. Nathan's biography, in the toughest moments, he comes back to the question: "what am I here for?" And then he keeps going, at serving the people in the capacity that he could - as a social worker to the marine people. (I did not know he graduated with just a Sociology degree.) His ability to handle people problems well, his humility, his simple way of life, his ability to connect his work to the core question of "what am I here for?" as a servant for God even as he holds his leadership position and influence are things I'd remember.

The Singapore government clearly looks beyond performance, into the person's character, on top of the person's competency, in recruitment. 


Hmm since I read a few books on leadership, maybe I should summarize some of the key points in this blog.
Hmm, some keywords will definitely be: integrity, servant heart, humility, tenacity, major on the major, passion, selfless, being rather than doing, appreciative, gentle, respectful.

What does Christianity say about non-Christians?

To those who like to ask me, "What does Christianity say about non-Christians?", I think C. S. Lewis answers this question best. 

Here is another thing that used to puzzle me. Is it not frightfully unfair that this new life should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and been able to believe in Him? But the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about the other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him. But in the meantime, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ’s body, the organism through which He works. Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man’s fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.

From Mere Christianity
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis

Taken from today's ODB.org

Benedict Cumberbatch

Haha. I find this actor interesting.

When asked what he wished he was asked;

I often feel in interviews people should ask about the culture and people that I engage with as an audience rather than the same bio or personal life details. Rough with the very, very smooth, these are high class problems. The best interviews evolve like conversation. They're not lead by journalists that are seeking to thrill their editor with predictable copy and questions that are basically answers. Sadly, that's the norm. But there are exceptions which sometimes make it worthwhile.

When asked "Is fame different from how you imagined it would be?"

You can't imagine fame. You can only ever see it from an outsider and comment on it with the rueful wisdom of a non participant. When it happens to you, it doesn't matter what age or how, it is a very steep learning curve. The imprtanot thing to realize in all of it is that life is short, to protect the ones you love, and not expose yourself to too much abuse or narcissistic reflection gazing and move on. If fame affords me the type of ability to do the kind of work I'm being offered, who am I to complain about the downsides. It's all relative. And this are obviously very high class problems. The way privacy becomes an every shrinking island is inevitable but also manageable and it doesn't necessary have to get that way... 

Source: reddit