If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:8-9 NLT)
Showing posts with label bible study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bible study. Show all posts
Saturday, January 22, 2011
1 John 1:8-9
I've heard this words many times and I hadn't realized it's in the Gospels. I've got read/study the Bible more.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
the on-line church: Sword Project
Setting up a Unix (http://www.unix.org/) server can be a pain, but at least you know the server will work properly -- something that I can't say about other operating systems. Said this, I've trying to set up an Apache (http://www.apache.org/) web server running Sword (http://www.crosswire.org/sword/) with at least one Bible module. So far, I haven't had much success. I know I'm making a silly mistake, but I'm not sure where I'm messing up. Anyway I want to achieve this out of curiosity and maybe put it on-line for Bible study.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
friends from other books
As a continuation of http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/07/friends-from-afar.html I wanted to emphasize that distance doesn't always mean geographical position of two object or persons.
After living abroad about one third of my life and living in NYC for the other two thirds, not all my friends are Christian of whatever denomination.
For example, my friends I-An and I-Chun (sisters) are Buddhist.
Coto is atheist or so he calls himself. After all, his wife is Christian (Catholic perhaps).
Julian is non-practicing Jew and married to a non-practicing Christian.
Several of my friends are Muslim. As a matter of fact, my friend Sheila converted to Islam after spending most of her life as a Christian.
Of course, many are Christian although they don't practice their faith. If they do, it might be limited to several times a year.
After a while, religion is not too important when making friends for life. Nonetheless I must admit that some (if not all) the friends whom I've made in church might be my friends (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-church-friends-unexpected-fellowship.html) for the rest our lives.
After living abroad about one third of my life and living in NYC for the other two thirds, not all my friends are Christian of whatever denomination.
For example, my friends I-An and I-Chun (sisters) are Buddhist.
Coto is atheist or so he calls himself. After all, his wife is Christian (Catholic perhaps).
Julian is non-practicing Jew and married to a non-practicing Christian.
Several of my friends are Muslim. As a matter of fact, my friend Sheila converted to Islam after spending most of her life as a Christian.
Of course, many are Christian although they don't practice their faith. If they do, it might be limited to several times a year.
After a while, religion is not too important when making friends for life. Nonetheless I must admit that some (if not all) the friends whom I've made in church might be my friends (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-church-friends-unexpected-fellowship.html) for the rest our lives.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
no need to read the Bible!?
Today I was talking to a good friend of mine who's been enduring a deep and long depression since her ex-boyfriend called off their engagement. She told me that she felt as if God has no time for her problems and rants.
I told her that we all feel that way once in a while. It's weird that she told me this merely two days after (Sunday the 27th) Reverend Kate Dunne at FAPC (http://www.fapc.org/) talked about this same issue in her sermon (http://www.fapc.org/component/eventlist/details/1475-The%20Rev%20Kate%20Dunn%20%E2%80%9CAsking%20for%20Directions%E2%80%9D). She mentioned that we all need to "ask for directions" to find God and that such guidance comes from the Word of God (the Bible). Hence reading and studying the Bible can surely lead us to God.
As I tried to cheer up my friend of over two decades, I asked her if she read the Bible. As a "good" Catholic girl brought up in a Catholic home and taught in an all-girl Catholic school, she told me that she doesn't read the Bible at all. This comes as no surprise.
Growing up Catholic meant not reading the Bible and taking whatever came from the altar as true and law. As a Catholic, we weren't even required to have a copy of the Bible. This might be biggest mistake in the Roman Catholic Church -- other than sexual abuse, theft, murder and other crimes that no one wants to talk about.
I've learned that every person who calls him/herself Christian should read and/or study the Bible alone and/or with others. A person should question and learn from the Word of God. Only in this constant questioning, a person's faith can really grow. Further more this spiritual growth should also be lived out by serving others as a means to serve God.
Anyway I sent her the reading of this past Sunday, on which the pastor had written her sermon. Hopefully it'd help her somewhat to read key verses of the Bible.
This whole process of reading that sacred book that we weren't required to read would be like forgetting everything that we were told growing up and "learning" to be Christian all over again.
What troubles me is that she was the die-hard Catholic growing and I was the stray. Now it seems that the roles have changed. It'd be different if we could just share jokes without the void in our souls that religion had left us with.
After all, it took me thirteen (13) years to go back to church. I probably spent three (3) of those years dying in that void where no drug or religion could rescue me from (the words I often used). In all it could easily have been twenty (20) years in a godless state. That's almost half of my life as a stray in a godless land, but at least I've gone to church every Sunday for close to two (2) years.
Now it's time for me to help her (for a lack of a better expression). I just hope I can do a good job. One thing that I must consider is that I shouldn't try to "covert" her to Protestantism.
I told her that we all feel that way once in a while. It's weird that she told me this merely two days after (Sunday the 27th) Reverend Kate Dunne at FAPC (http://www.fapc.org/) talked about this same issue in her sermon (http://www.fapc.org/component/eventlist/details/1475-The%20Rev%20Kate%20Dunn%20%E2%80%9CAsking%20for%20Directions%E2%80%9D). She mentioned that we all need to "ask for directions" to find God and that such guidance comes from the Word of God (the Bible). Hence reading and studying the Bible can surely lead us to God.
As I tried to cheer up my friend of over two decades, I asked her if she read the Bible. As a "good" Catholic girl brought up in a Catholic home and taught in an all-girl Catholic school, she told me that she doesn't read the Bible at all. This comes as no surprise.
Growing up Catholic meant not reading the Bible and taking whatever came from the altar as true and law. As a Catholic, we weren't even required to have a copy of the Bible. This might be biggest mistake in the Roman Catholic Church -- other than sexual abuse, theft, murder and other crimes that no one wants to talk about.
I've learned that every person who calls him/herself Christian should read and/or study the Bible alone and/or with others. A person should question and learn from the Word of God. Only in this constant questioning, a person's faith can really grow. Further more this spiritual growth should also be lived out by serving others as a means to serve God.
Anyway I sent her the reading of this past Sunday, on which the pastor had written her sermon. Hopefully it'd help her somewhat to read key verses of the Bible.
51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God
- Luke 9:51-62 (KJV)
This whole process of reading that sacred book that we weren't required to read would be like forgetting everything that we were told growing up and "learning" to be Christian all over again.
What troubles me is that she was the die-hard Catholic growing and I was the stray. Now it seems that the roles have changed. It'd be different if we could just share jokes without the void in our souls that religion had left us with.
After all, it took me thirteen (13) years to go back to church. I probably spent three (3) of those years dying in that void where no drug or religion could rescue me from (the words I often used). In all it could easily have been twenty (20) years in a godless state. That's almost half of my life as a stray in a godless land, but at least I've gone to church every Sunday for close to two (2) years.
Now it's time for me to help her (for a lack of a better expression). I just hope I can do a good job. One thing that I must consider is that I shouldn't try to "covert" her to Protestantism.
Friday, May 14, 2010
my church friends, unexpected fellowship
When I started going to FAPC (http://www.fapc.org/), making friends was something I had considered. After all, that had never been my experience in any religious circle. As a matter of fact, my experience had been that of the individual sharing practically nothing in common other than considering ourselves to be "true" Christians.
During the first months, I read a lot of information on Christianity, divisions and differences in the Church, denominations, schism, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and anything else I could get my hands on. I wanted to make sure that what I had considered to be a "true" Christian would somehow fit into whatever new ideologies I was encountering in this different church. Nowadays Protestant Christianity makes more sense to me than my previous 37 years calling myself and/or being considered Catholic (born into a Catholic family/society and going to Catholic churches, all the while considering Protestants wrong).
Going back to the main subject, I started talking to other church goers asking questions here and there -- nothing special, nothing personal, other than the Christian faith. I then started going to these one-hour talks/classes. I slowly started hanging out in church with the same group of people and making friends there without realizing (fellowship). I also took several Bible study classes and met others and got to know some of the previous group of people somewhat better.
These new group of friends are guys whom I can talk, joke, laugh, eat (perhaps the favorite activity) and most importantly share a common faith (being Christian, perhaps with some differences in Christology -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christology --here and there). As a matter of fact, nowadays some of my dearest friends are from church. At the same time, I'm very grateful to some of them for helping me grow as a Christian and a better person (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/05/open-letter-to-my-friends-86-weeks.html).
I doesn't stop to amaze me how weird this one church is that these random people (myself included) have come together from different parts -- all coming to a common time and place in the universe. I don't think any of them is from NYC (myself included though living 27 years in this city).
During the first months, I read a lot of information on Christianity, divisions and differences in the Church, denominations, schism, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and anything else I could get my hands on. I wanted to make sure that what I had considered to be a "true" Christian would somehow fit into whatever new ideologies I was encountering in this different church. Nowadays Protestant Christianity makes more sense to me than my previous 37 years calling myself and/or being considered Catholic (born into a Catholic family/society and going to Catholic churches, all the while considering Protestants wrong).
Going back to the main subject, I started talking to other church goers asking questions here and there -- nothing special, nothing personal, other than the Christian faith. I then started going to these one-hour talks/classes. I slowly started hanging out in church with the same group of people and making friends there without realizing (fellowship). I also took several Bible study classes and met others and got to know some of the previous group of people somewhat better.
These new group of friends are guys whom I can talk, joke, laugh, eat (perhaps the favorite activity) and most importantly share a common faith (being Christian, perhaps with some differences in Christology -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christology --here and there). As a matter of fact, nowadays some of my dearest friends are from church. At the same time, I'm very grateful to some of them for helping me grow as a Christian and a better person (http://project05952381.blogspot.com/2010/05/open-letter-to-my-friends-86-weeks.html).
I doesn't stop to amaze me how weird this one church is that these random people (myself included) have come together from different parts -- all coming to a common time and place in the universe. I don't think any of them is from NYC (myself included though living 27 years in this city).
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