Today's Scripture Reading

[Slymer]

Sorry but christianity can never convince/convert me.

-King solomon did a lot of shit but god forgave him. Moses made 1 mistake and he was condemn


Your god is a jealous god. Your god had sin cos jealousy itself is a sin


"Thou shalt not kill". Your god had urges his believers to go to war and killed thousands of people. contradiction. period.


There's more but too lazy to state..the list goes on

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

Sorry but christianity can never convince/convert me.

-King solomon did a lot of shit but god forgave him. Moses made 1 mistake and he was condemn


Your god is a jealous god. Your god had sin cos jealousy itself is a sin


"Thou shalt not kill". Your god had urges his believers to go to war and killed thousands of people. contradiction. period.


There's more but too lazy to state..the list goes on

the truth is.....................


there's no one to convert......................


and nothing to convert to...........................




as the Buddha said...................''all physical forms and spiritual truths are NO-THINGS''

 

[Psalm23]

Today’s Scripture Reading [August 28, 2011]

And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? [Matthew 12:25-26, KJV]

Today we witness the election of our new president. He will serve six years as Elected President. Many might not have remembered the last time we had our presidential election but, for sure, I can never forget though it happened almost 20 years ago. That was our first presidential election and there were two candidates, a former deputy prime minister and a retired accountant-general. I remembered that few days after the election results were announced and the winner declared, I happened to visit my family doctor for a routine medical check-up. Because I knew him personally, he struck a conversation with me and asked me this question: What do you think about the just-concluded presidential election? I just frown my eyes and wondered why he asked the question. Before I could reply him, he answered the question himself: This is one of the most comical elections the world has ever known. I can’t disagree because I was about to tell him the same. It indeed was – one of the most comical presidential elections that the world has ever known. One of the things that made our presidential election so comical was the process of the selecting and qualifying candidates. Among others, people did (and still do) find it very comical that candidates have to get a special certificate of eligibility in order to stand for the election. To make the system even more comical, the criteria are simply quite embarrassing. Personally, I tried not to discuss about our presidential election with my overseas colleagues because it is simply embarrassing and I knew I would be ridiculed and poked fun at. Sadly after almost twenty years later, I can’t help it but I continue to hold the same view that our presidential election is really comical. In fact, it now looked more comical then the first one! As citizens, we have no choice but we are dragged into these comic drama stripes because by law voting is compulsory. When I went to the polling station, my mind was not really about electing who is going to be the president to best represent the country but rather who should I vote so that the results will end up even more comical than what many would expect! My second thought was am I voting for a super-accountant, a super-corporate chief executive, a super-banker, or a super-investment adviser? The thought of electing a person to well represent Singapore with dignity, integrity, honesty and to heal social and racial divide had never cross my mind. Frankly, in most honest opinion, whoever is being elected as our president, our lives will not be affected by the results. It is the government of the day who has the executive powers to execute and implement the policies will have great impact on our lives. Like in many heads of state across the globe in which the position is largely ceremonial, presidents simply shake hands and shake legs and receive foreign dignitaries, and frankly many people can accept it because that’s the way it is in all parliamentary democratic nations where presidents are mere figure heads. At most, they are called to gracing some so-called important occasions like cutting ribbons for an international trade convention, kissing babies in a national baby contest, and hugging old folks in a fund-raising event.

In my message today, I am not referring specifically the presidential election process, how comical it was because I think many of you know this better than I do. Rather, my main concern is being drawn to a Bible warning that “a house divided itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25). Given this warning, it is extremely essential that a nation must be united. A nation is no different from individual household because common sense tells us that a divided family due to frequent squabbling and lawsuits will collapse one day, and so how could a divided kingdom continue to stay strong if the people are not united? Also, we can observe that in team sports it is critical that the team play as a unit, each doing their part to help the team win the game. But if the team is divided, and all you need is just for one member to act selfishly and refuse to work together as a cohesive unit, they will lose every game. Likewise in the business world today we often see division amongst the key shareholders. It is disruptive and destructive to families, businessses or governments when ‘the house is divided’ which will lead to all manner of issues and problems. As we are blatantly warned by the Bible, they will either be ousted or plunged into chaos. We must also be reminded that it is also equally true of churches today because the mere facts that there are hundreds (or even thousands) of denominations (Methodist, Angelica, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, etc) is a great cause for concern that the body of Christ is divided many times over! There is very little unity amongst Christians today. Another aspect of the warning can be impliedly inferred from the next verse (Matthew 12:26) is that satanic forces are involved when a house is divided. And we all know that satanic forces come in various forms such as pride, greed for more wealth, more power, covetousness, selfishness, boastful, call good evil and call evil good (2 Timothy 3:2).

Unless the process of nation healing must begin right now, we are in danger of a fall because the word of God can never fail. Even secular writers have expressed deep concern for the ‘great divide’ that our nation is facing right now because of the two elections – the May General Election and this month’s Presidential Election, although I think most Bible-believing Christians who have some understanding of Matthew 12:25-26 must be praying very hard that we must unite as a nation because ‘a house divided itself cannot stand’. An article appeared in the Straits Times is an excellent message in summarizing the current state of the presidential election (Process too politically charged? By Ho Kwon Ping, the Straits Times, August 26. 2011.) As noted in the article “The future of Singapore politics is of vital concern for every Singaporean, but the battle of the minds of the electorate properly belongs in the realm of parliamentary elections. Having it spill over into presidential election cannot be good for us a nation – it can further divide us…” What best way to conclude the ill-effect of the process of elected presidency that those few words “it can further divide us.” In fact, from the very start of the nomination, the writing is already on the wall that whoever win the election, though he will be the president, it will be very difficult for him to walk with this head up. As head of state for a country it is extremely essential that the head of state must be able to walk with his head high up otherwise, how could he unite the country when he is walking like a poor beggar with head hanging down? Sadly, just few days into the campaign there were many establishments from unions, to banks to clan associations that were supposed to be political-neutral had found themselves supporting and endorsing candidates. This so-called endorsement has in fact further divided the establishments and the people. Perhaps we need to now quickly modify our National Pledge to the following: We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, dialect, sub-dialect, union-affiliation, industry, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.

Our newly elected president (and some may prefer to refer him as: your newly elected president) has a big role to play, and taking care of our national reserves must, in my opinion, the last thing he should do. Rather, he must try to rebuild and to reunite the people as one nation regardless of “race, dialect, sub-dialect, union-affiliation, industry!” The problem is, given that about two-third of the people has technically rejected his appointment, is the shoes too big for his feet? Regardless, he must wear even if it is an oversized shoes and he must find ways to unite the people because a house divided against itself cannot stand!

One of the most famous speeches by an American president was a speech by Abraham Lincoln in 1858. The title of his speech mirrored exactly that of the Matthew 12:25: A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand. This speech that was part of his presidential debate won the heart of many Americans and he was finally elected president of United States, one once but two terms, the maximum terms that the U.S. constitutions allowed. The unity of the American people since 1858 was the envy of other nations. It was noted that one hundred years ago, American presidents had governed the nation based on the principles and doctrines found purely from the Bible. It was not until 50 years ago that the society of America started to erode. The main reason was that the Congress has decided to abandon God and the Bible. Literally, they have thrown God out of America. The nation now is one of most dysfunctional and divided nations in the world comprising broken families, unruly youngsters, racial tension, unprecedented debt both at national and individual level, decline industry output, unimaginable social problems, unemployment, homeless, and President Obama is finding that the shoes he is wearing is really too big for his feet. Furthermore, churches all over the United States are divided and separated and often over insignificant issues. It was the trick of our enemies – Satan and his angles - to bring such contradictory structure and government into the church. Business meetings, power positions, and controlling factions have so hurt the cause of Christ that instead of reaching the world, they have turned them away. Denominationalism has built more barriers. City after city they fight over each other’s members, compete for programs and show uniformity while refusing to really work together. Even inside the denomination they fight over issues already settled in God’s word.

What is described above is quite familiar to us when we look at our own country. Over the last five to seven years, our social and political landscapes have changed drastically, and sadly all for the worst! There is now an urgent and great need that as a nation, it needs be united at every level of our nation. This will only come as we recognize the ill-effects of divisive public policies. Sadly, political leaders have failed to recognise this and thought that our problem is nothing but only money. Yes, money is important, very important indeed but a divisive nation because of divisive public policies will negate all our hardwork on whatever things we tried to excel in. As an individual, we must actively pursue reconciliation when up to now some of our politial leaders have failed. We must begin right away this reconciliatory process in the home and in the church. It has been said the home is the church in miniature. As can be read the prophetic words in Psalm 133:1: ”Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” we must hold to these true prophetic words that tell us there is still hope if we live in unity in our family unit. Let us not be discouraged by the failure of some of political leaders after all they are just as human, as sinners.

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

i ask you ah....................




### did God create evil ???



### how does the soul look like before you were born ???

 

[Slymer]

未成生我谁是我？
生我之时我是谁？


@Psalm23
Where did the bible come from? who wrote the bible?

i ask you ah....................




### did God create evil ???



### how does the soul look like before you were born ???

 

[wtttw]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVr9bJ8Sctk&feature=related

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

未成生我谁是我？
生我之时我是谁？


@Psalm23
Where did the bible come from? who wrote the bible?

the bible was written and revised by hundreds of people over hundreds of years.......................


it's nothing more than a joke-book.................and a lousy one too at that.................



### read up the part about Noah having kids with his own daughters after the flood.................LOL


### and also how god had a foreskin-fetish and wanted to kill Moses becoz he never circumcise..................LOL

 

[guy-uninterrupted]

Similarly Siddharta Gautama never told anyone to call him the Buddha and worship him. Yet what do we see at Buddhist temples? Huge statues of him and devotees all bowing down to worship him.

Care to comment Doggie?

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

Similarly Siddharta Gautama never told anyone to call him the Buddha and worship him. Yet what do we see at Buddhist temples? Huge statues of him and devotees all bowing down to worship him.

Care to comment Doggie?

not worship lah...............people confused with Taoism liao..............end up anything also worship................sigh........


Buddha even said not to cling on to anything.................not even his teachings................becoz there's no such thing as teachings................


that's why those very senior monks use words like ''stupid'' and even ''shit'' to refer to the Buddha.................so people will not cling to the word ''Buddha''................

 

[Slymer]

I'll suggest TS to some research on the Enuma Elish & Epic of Gilgamesh.

Also find out how many gospel was left out of the Bible, Who compiled the bible and for what purpose./agenda.

 

[guy-uninterrupted]

not worship lah...............people confused with Taoism liao..............end up anything also worship................sigh........


Buddha even said not to cling on to anything.................not even his teachings................becoz there's no such thing as teachings................


that's why those very senior monks use words like ''stupid'' and even ''shit'' to refer to the Buddha.................so people will not cling to the word ''Buddha''................

then why do you cling on to the word the Buddha as if he is a divine being? dont kid urself you mean to say that the Buddhists in Sri lanka and India and Thailand all influenced by Taoism and start to worship statues of Buddha?



seriously

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

then why do you cling on to the word the Buddha as if he is a divine being? dont kid urself you mean to say that the Buddhists in Sri lanka and India and Thailand all influenced by Taoism and start to worship statues of Buddha?



seriously

brudder.............there is no worshipping of the Buddha...........true buddhists know that.............


we only use the word ''Buddha'' as a figure of speech...........nothing more............

 

[Psalm23]

Today’s Scripture Reading [September 4, 2011]

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. [Ecclesiastes 12:13. KJV]

Today, the buzz word in the financial news is “double-dip recession.” It is simply defined as an extended decline in economic activity following an aborted recovery from a previous recession. Since the U.S. housing mortgage and loan bubbles burst just couple years ago that saw thousands of property foreclosures, economic activities and labour employment in the U.S. has been in a dire state even until now. Many economists, though they are the last to be trusted for what they said, nonetheless, have viewed that the last housing bubble bust and together with the turmoil in the financial industry, the U.S. economy has never recovered. In fact, the worst is yet to come and many people are losing sleep over the frequent warning that a “double-dip recession is likely”. We saw in today’s paper that this is indeed one of the headlines in the front page news! Just the first paragraph of this article can easily send a cold chill to most readers. It simply read “Business leaders and finance experts gathered in Italy have offered a downbeat assessment of the global economy – with several predicting another recession due to a calamitous cocktail of sluggish growth, euro zone dysfunction, and financial market volatility.” We pray and hope these ‘business leaders and financial experts’ are wrong! Basic economic theory tells us that a weak economic recovery will cause investors to worry about their investments, and due to the lack of confidence that the economy can be picked up, many investors will not be willing to invest in capital investments that are essential for the efficient and productive running of the factories thus putting greater pressure on the productivity and economic growth. Business confidence is one of the most important factors in reversing any economic decline and sadly this is something that is lacking very badly today. Today, both consumers and business leaders have very little faith in the immediate future of the global economy. Government can pour money into the economy, can print money to pay for the public expenditure but they cannot change people’s level of confidence.

So, what does all this mean to us as Christian, as children of God? Thankfully though the word of God, the Bible, is largely about God’s love for mankind and His sacrificial efforts to redeem the sinners, there are many writings in the Bible that give us life’s practical lessons and teach us how not to lose sleep over such issues like potential economic and financial turmoil. In particular, we can find these life practical lessons in the Book of Ecclesiastes which offers the Christian an opportunity to understand the emptiness and despair that those who do not know God grapple with. Those who do not have a saving faith in Christ are faced with a life that will ultimately end and become irrelevant. If there is no salvation, and no God, then not only is there no point to life, but no purpose, meaning or direction to it, either. That’s admit, apart from God, the world “under the sun” is frustrating, cruel, unfair, brief, and “utterly meaningless.” The process of life that all of us who are still living in this unfair world – happiness to sadness and back to happiness – repeats itself like a never-ending ocean current! But with Christ, life is but a shadow of the glories to come in a heaven that is only accessible through Him, and the wise man should understand this, and prepare himself for the ups and downs in life by not acquiring or pursuing material and worldly happiness but by fearing God and keeping His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Largely because of the financial news of the U.S. economy and together with the news of mounting debts in several European countries that are coming out every hour, many have sought safe haven in their investment in gold. The price of gold has gone all time high hitting to near US 1,900 per oz. In times of economic uncertainty, gold seems to be the safest investment, at least many people thought so! Can gold, and for that matter other worldly riches offer to fill up the vacuum, the despair and the emptiness? Can these ‘assets’ be our safe haven for our future while we are on this earth? If so, it would be contradictory to what the message we read in the Book of Ecclesiastes. So, how safe is gold and silver? Following is an article from a Christian writer: Gold: The best end-time investment strategy? I pray that this article will provide us some comforting words that the safest haven for our lives is not in gold or silver but our steadfast faith in Christ Jesus, and our true happiness can only come if we live in godly fear and obey His commandments.

------------------ Gold: The best end-time investment strategy? ------------------​

Fears of a “double-dip” recession, or an economic depression are growing. Some financial experts now urge: “Buy gold. Buy silver. Get as far away as you can from U.S. currency and the U.S. economy” (YahooFinance.com, August 4, 2011). Considering recent stock-market trauma, and recent record gold highs approaching $1,850/oz., many are turning to gold. So, what is a Christian’s best investment strategy?

While gold has always been precious, its rapid price gains are a recent phenomenon. Only in the last 40 years has gold been a high-yield investment - one that some believe may now be the only “safe-haven” (CNBC.com, August 18, 2011). For example, a $5,000 investment in gold in 1810 would have still been worth about $5,000 an entire century later! The price of gold gradually increased to about $35-$40/oz. during World War I and World War II, and it basically remained at that level until 1971 - the year when the post-war “Bretton Woods system” of international financial relations was dismantled, and the U.S. dollar became in effect the world’s reserve currency.

If you had purchased $5,000 in gold in 1971, at about $35/oz., you would as of August 30 have an investment worth approximately $250,000 (assuming a price of $1,750/oz.). Had you purchased $5,000 worth of gold in 2005 (at about $445/oz.) your investment would be worth about $20,000 today. That sounds like an excellent return. So, is gold really our best investment strategy? The biblical account of the gold used in the Ark of the Covenant and in Solomon’s Temple reveals an important lesson.

The Ark of the Covenant and the “mercy seat” were beautiful. They were plated inside and out with pure gold. They were covered by solid gold cherubim (Exodus 25:10-11; 18-20). The ark was transported by two gold-covered poles running through gold rings (Exodus 25:15; 17). Beyond that, the Temple that Solomon would build would contain a phenomenal amount of gold and would be of unsurpassed beauty!

King David alone contributed 3,000 talents of gold (about 90 metric tons, or 2,893,500 troy ounces) and 7,000 talents of silver (about 210 tons) to the Temple project. At a conservative $1,750/oz., this would be $5.064 billion in gold alone! Scripture reveals that Solomon greatly added to this wealth. The Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9) brought Solomon another 120 talents of gold (3.599 metric tons, or more than $202 million at August 2011 prices)! Solomon accumulated additional vast amounts of gold through extensive trade and mining operations (1 Kings 9:11; 14; 10:22), much of which was put into the Temple of the Lord (1 Kings 6:18, 30; 7:48-49; 2 Chronicles 3:5).

God certainly was honored by this beautiful Temple. Yet, ultimately, gold or riches will not save us, and do not impress the Creator. Remember, because of Israel’s sins, God eventually allowed the Temple to be plundered (2 Chronicles 36:18-19; 2 Kings 25). Gold can be stolen or debased. A fortune based on gold can vanish in an instant. Even a diversified portfolio can crash, and may be lost or confiscated in times of war or national collapse.

But there is a resource that can last even when gold fails. Faith can withstand war, or famine, or national collapse. Moreover, it can yield immortality in the Kingdom of God (1 Peter 1:7-9)! Scripture warns us that, at the very end of this present age, gold will be worthless, because it will not be able to deliver suffering humanity from the Great Tribulation or the Day of the Lord (Ezekiel 7:19; Zephaniah 1:18)!

Moreover, no amount of gold, silver, euros, dollars or yuan can purchase entry into the Kingdom of God. A Christian’s best investment strategy is to develop a spiritual investment portfolio rich in the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), humble in God’s word (Isaiah 66:1-2), and full of “spiritual oil” - the oil of deep faith through Christ living in us. This investment strategy will survive the collapse of nations, and will yield as its dividend immortality in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 25:1-12)!

--------------------------------End of Article----------------------------​

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

don't tell those church-going goons that's been paying 10% of their monthly wages to the SCAM-pastors that they're not guaranteed a place in heaven pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee............................



you'll break their hearts...........................

 

[drifter]

psalm23 , Do you realize what you're saying? Let me just add a few remarks...

God is perfect...all knowing...all powerful...right?

Then WHY did he created an imperfect being...man?

Why IS there good and evil? Why not just make a PERFECT world with just good?

Why hasn't he admitted the "mistake" he made and use his "power" and make it right?

Why are there literally THOUSANDS of variations of religion?

Why was NOTHING written down about Jesus? Why didn't Jesus write anything down? Why didn't his disciples? Why are there NO Roman records of Jesus, his crimes, his punishment?

Why is God only active during the past? Why not today? Why is the judgment always "right around the corner" but never comes. It's been 2000 years and we're STILL waiting.

Your religion, along with EVERY other religion...is nothing more than someones fantasy. It's ALL made up...

If you believe in the fantastical, without ANY tangible evidence, then it's YOU that needs praying for...

Study your religion...REALLY study it, with an open mind, and I think you'll find that it's full of inconsistencies.

Your Bible was "crafted" by MEN, not a God. It is a collection of stories that were copied from other stories that are a lot older. The Canon is a collection of works that were picked and chosen for the benefit of those who did the picking/choosing. NOTHING in the New Testament is from the time of Jesus. It was ALL written long after his "supposed" lifetime. There is really NO concrete evidence that he even existed.

Why did an all powerful, all knowing, PERFECT God even DO the whole Jesus thing? What's the point? He supposedly dies for our sins? OK, so what? Why doesn't God just wipe the slate clean and let everyone simply start over? Why should HE (as perfect as he's supposed to be) hold a grudge against us? WHY?

Why does God even CARE what a bunch of insignificant "bugs" do with their lives? Why would he follow everything I do? So he can PUNISH me? Oooh...that's real mature. Why does God NEED to be prayed to? Does he have an esteem thing going on?

I could go on and on...but you'll ignore it or you'll say that "we can't know what God thinks". Real convenient...isn't it. Someone that can't be seen, felt, heard, or proven...but you're willing to bet your life that he exists! WOW...that's all I can say...WOW!

 

[drifter]

its great to see different religious delusion ppl fighting to see which religion is the true religion ...lol .

 

[Conqueror]

There Were Other People Around lah ..

### read up the part about Noah having kids with his own daughters after the flood.................LOL

People claimed Adam and Eve were the first man and woman of this world which is INCORRECT. Adam was formed (Not Created) by God in somewhere 4004 BC ? Human beings (Created) were there much longer than you can imagine. And Noah's case, the same lah. All these can be found in the Bible.

Talking about Noah ... an Indian man who drove a cab told me that my unique tongue (language) was probably Armenian. At first, I had doubt regarding his answer but he seemed to be quite positive ... "Yah, I think that sounds like Armenian". Wow ! You see, Mt Arat was the place where the Noah's Ark landed, is in Armenia.

 

[drifter]

Re: There Were Other People Around lah ..

Understand the difference between belief and truth.

consider the following examples:
a stranger comes to your door and tells you that your child has been killed in a car accident outside their school.
You would feel a pang of emotion, but this is a stranger. do you believe them? do they know who your child is? is this some sort of cruel joke? do you relay believe that your child has been killed? you will be inclined to harbor some strong doubts.two police officers come to your door, squad car in the driveway. they tell you your child has been killed. they need you to come with them to identify the body.
you will in all likelihood believe them, they are police officers. you will feel the emotion as as though you know for a fact that you child is dead. it will be real to you.you should notice that the difference between these two examples is the authority of the messenger, not the message itself. these examples are also chosen for their emotional content, because the emotional content is a large part of what makes a situation real to us.

the point is, whether we believe something based on authority, or emotion, or both, we cannot know it is true until we see with our own eyes. the highest authority you can imagine could tell you the simplest thing, and you may believe them, and they may believe themselves, but that does not in any way make it true.

 

[drifter]

understand the difference between scientific belief and religious belief.....

the difference between belief in a scientific theory as opposed to belief in a religious dogma, boils down to the difference between the institution of science and the institutions of various religions.

the underlying concept in religious institutions is that the nature of reality is known. the nature of reality is written in a book or scroll. this writing was originally done, or dictated, or inspired, by a god. religious institutions are primarily concerned with spreading information about the "known" nature of reality, because in their understanding of reality, that is what they are required to do. religious "facts" are not subject to testing, and in most cases cannot be tested. Religious "facts" are supported by evidence that is open to interpretation, or no evidence at all. religious "facts" are not reviewed by all religions to reach a consensus.

the underlying concept in the institution of science is that the nature of reality is unknown. the institution of science is primarily concerned with discovering the nature of reality without making assumptions. scientific theories must, by definition, be testable (falsifiable). theories must be published for review by other scientists with the intention of reaching a consensus. accepted theories are supported by evidence that is not open to interpretation, or is consistently interpreted by qualified scientists. if evidence is found that contradicts a theory, the theory will be abandoned.

one believes in a scientific authority, because they derive their authority from the review process, and because they have an interest in discovering truth. One believes in a religious authority, because they have been given authority by their superiors, who in turn get their authority from their subordinates. Religion has no interest in discovering truth because the "facts" are already known

 

[drifter]

consider your ethics and try to understand where they come from. you don't need a god/gods to be moral. Atheists are not unethical. like many theists, many atheists donate to charity and live lives that are morally similar to those of theists. atheists just might have different motivations for doing so.

with or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil , but for good people to do evil—that takes religion.