Christ Hacks

It just occured to me to start a new category called Christ Hacks. Not that I’m saying that Christ is a hacker. In geek terms, a hack is basically a ’secret software’, mini-software that geeks write for themselves to get them through the day, or to make things easier for them.

A movement for life hacks started as a result, where like geeks, people share little ‘trade secrets’ on what helps them in their productivity or efficiency. Many are simple and common-sense tips, but it just so that we lack them these days. Take for example, putting a hook near the door to hang your keys, so that you don’t forget them on the way out. Or certain handy lists to keep around (suggested by guru David Allen), like

Might wanna buy… – could be one mega-list, or (more commonly) grouped by the type of thing it is: cds, cigars, wines, books, videos
Might wanna do when… – possibilities when you’re in a certain location or doing a certain activity. By city, country, or region (things to do/think about when I’m in Napa Valley, London, Santiago.) Or by activity (Web surfing places to visit.)
Quotes – “Cool Quotes – where I can jot down quotations I come across that I like.” (Joel Millican)
Restaurants – for business or pleasure, to review for ideas instead of same-old same-old.
Style or product numbers I may need when I’m buying things – oil filter, vacuum cleaner bags, labeler cassettes, etc.

You get the drift.

So i thought, why not have Christ hacks – Tips, trade secrets of Christians use to help themselves in their walk with Christ towards greater godliness.

I venture to say that Jesus was the hack master. Take for his Sermon on the Mount. Great hack tips there. In giving to God, He says don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. While the lesson is that we should not give for the sake of looking good in front of others, but should give wholeheartedly for God, his tip in helping us do that is to give in secret, to the extent that your hands do not know what the other is doing. Because of our sinful nature, the intent for God’s glory is not always there, but this tip he gives clearly helps us towards that direction, because it removes any possible temptation of giving to gain praise. There are many other hacks he gives as well, like “If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out” etc. BUt I’ll leave it right there.

So what I would like to offer is simple Christ hacks. How you ensure you pray regularly and purposefuly, do your QT wholeheartedly, get your family to do QT together, planned giving, cool bible study aids/websites etc. It’d be great if we could share. If you have a blog, maybe you might want to blog about it. Or drop me a line and I’ll put it up. That way, we can all spur each other on to good deeds and become more like Christ.

I’ll start with one.

For a short devotional everyday, i personally find the Daily Reading Bible by Matthias Media a great help.

Its for sale on the Matthias Media Website at http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au, or at ARPC Bookends at $8.50. Well worth the money.
There are a total of 60 readings in each volume. Each reading contains the actual bible passage (along with cross references if necessary), and 3-4 questions to spark your reflection and thinking. It also gives some insights and prayer points to focus your prayer. Each reading should take about 20-30min including prayer, so its a good package to take to the office to do before you start or during lunch time.

I have tried Don Carson’s For the Love of God before. While Carson has many good insights to offer, I find the Daily Reading Bible good in that it leaves the interpretation with you, so you don’t take the lazy route out by reading what the commentator has to say (that’s purely my sinful self of course). Also, everything is provided in a compact package, so you don’t need to lug a huge devotional book, and a huge bible around (so i’m lazy).

Better still, I have bought it for a couple of friends, so we can sort of spur each other on and do it together. Sarah’s got one as well, and we’re trying to start discussing the readings together.

Now that I shared one Christ Hack, its your turn.

Update: Now you can go to http://Christhacks.blogspot.com and share your hacks. Indicate your email in the comments col. or send me an email at my gmail acct if you would like to contribute to the blog!

Civil Servants

I don’t like to link to webblogs usually, but I just had to for this one.  I was telling my colleagues that it is only a matter of time before a civil servant starts blogging about his work, so here it is.
Scholar I am Not
What is being said is not far from the truth, I assure you.

My first Taoist funeral

I went for another funeral wake recently, this time of a distant relative – my grand uncle.  As far as I can recall, it was the first funeral wake of a relative I had been to, that wasn’t a Christian one.  This is rather remarkable when you consider the fact that my family is not Christian, but somehow, by God’s grace, the ones who have passed on accepted Christ before the Lord called them home.

So it felt a little uncomfortable when I attended the wake.  My mom didn’t allow Sarah to go.  Apparently, pregnant women should not attend funeral wakes or misfortune will befall them.  There were Taoist rites and all, and a tape recorder played taoist chants on repeat mode.  My distant relatives were also rostered to watch over the body 24 hours round the clock, until it was time for the service (chu bin).  When you leave the wake, you are supposed to take a piece of red string back with you.

It just dawned on me that my grand uncle (whom I don’t know very well at all), is not going to heaven.  Even though I’d been a Christian for some time, the consequences of death did not hit home previously.  Without Jesus, Death is final.  There is no way back.

As I just watched the activities around and spoke to my relatives, it
all seemed out of place.  One of my distant cousin is training
in France to be a Catholic priest.  His family is Catholic.  His sister told me that when they participated in the rites, she forcefully turned down the Taoist Priest who was rather insistent that she offer incense.  Yet, regardless of what they believed, it made no difference because the funeral wake was a taoist one.  The proceedings went about relentlessly, like clock-work.  The incense needed to be offered.  The ribbons needed to be tied.  The chants needed to be made.

I can only imagine how difficult it is for them to lose their loved one, knowing what they know about Death and its finality, and the futility of the rites that were administered.

The passage on Lazarus and the rich man is particularly poignant.

¹⁹"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

    ²²"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In hell,^[a] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴So
he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to
dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in
agony in this fire.’

    ²⁵"But
Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your
good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted
here and you are in agony. ²⁶And besides
all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that
those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over
from there to us.’

    ²⁷"He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, ²⁸for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

    ²⁹"Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

    ³⁰" ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

    ³¹"He
said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they
will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "

All along, by God’s mercy, I didn’t grieve much over my Grandpa’s passing or my Great-Grandma’s passing, because I knew they were up in heaven.  The Lord is warning me to take heed, and watch out for my parents and my grandma, who are not Christian.  It is only a matter of time before Death will hit my close ones.

I don’t want to be in the same situation.  I don’t want my Dad, Mom and Grandma to die a death that is final.  Worse, I cannot and will not give offerings to the gods during their funeral wake. 

Naming a Kid

My wife is about 5 months pregnant.  We don’t really know whether its a boy or girl yet.  At the last scan, we spied a little white dot in between the baby’s leg.  For all you know, either its a boy or she might be sticking out her little finger. 

Still, we have been thinking about the baby’s name.  My wife at first wanted Joey, given that it could be used for both boys and girls.  I objected, as I didn’t want my baby to become androgenous.  We were considering Nathan, but we heard Hanniel just named his 2nd kid that. 

So what’s in a name?

1)   It has to be special and unique.   All of us have like 4 or 5 Pauls and Johns in our address book.  We want something distinctive, like Atomic, or Sunshine.

2)   But, it must not be susceptible to jokes.  Kids can be cruel.   I was told never to name my kids Carl, or Monica.  Imagine Carl Chng, or Monica Chng.  For similar reasons, even though I like the name "Naomi", i’d better avoid it or she’d be known as "I moan". 

3)  It has to be something biblical that the kid can aspire to become. Someone like Paul would be a good bet. 

I just chanced upon the Baby Name Voyager.  It maps out the popularity of names and I decided to try my hand at some preferred names.  In the past, people were quite taken with John, Mark, Paul, Peter etc.  (key people in the NT).  Now, we seemed to have moved away from that.  Some of the more popular names now are Nathan, Ethan, Alyssa, Bryan etc.

Surprisingly, Ruth, Esther, Mark, John, Paul are actually dropping in popularity.  I didn’t want to consider these names at first, but now that the voyager has mapped it out, maybe I will.  It could turn out to be special in 10 years. 

Meanwhile, anyone has any suggestions?  I will find out whether its a boy or girl hopefully next week.

Listening to every blade of Grass

Reading Neonangel’s exploits with TissueAuntie and StutteringUncle, I felt a sudden urge to blog.  I’ve been challenged and Humbled.  I will blog about humbled at a later time.

Challenged because it reminded me that there are people at our doorstep who need God’s love, and God has chosen us as his vehicles of his love to touch others.  Ravi Zacharias reminded me of Thomas Carlyle’s definition of History "History is the essence of innumerable biographies".  TissueAunty and StutteringUncle are prime examples.  Neonangel’s story shows that behind every person there is a story, that is written by our Creator, that forms His-Story.  That’s an amazing idea. 

I felt the same way when I visited Payatas in Manila.  Payatas is basically a town built on a rubbish dump.  The villagers chose to live there because they can earn money scavenging from the rubbish heap.  It was the most economically viable option for them.  I remember going with apprehension and a bit of disgust.  I dressed my worst, and wore my dirty clothes, as my colleagues reminded me that the rubbish stench that comes from the heap clings onto your clothes even after repeated washes.  However, when we visited the church, even though I felt sorry for them, the people did not feel sorry for themselves.  The kids in the church were singing praises to God, and the Pastor, even though he wasn’t theologically trained, you could see his zeal for Christ.   Christ is the meaning of their lives and they showed it in their actions and their resolve to live their lives for him. 

But on the other hand, the  story reminds me of a dreadful incident in New York City I read about in the NYTimes. The sequence of events that befallen this young woman was almost indescribable.  To cut her long story short as it is too heartrending to repeat, she was a single mother who had just given birth to a baby born out of rape.  She was unemployed and basically lived on assistance.  When she was discharged from the hospital, she took a cab home and had to spend her last dollar tipping the taxi driver, who insisted on the tip and didn’t let her get out otherwise.  When she arrived in the house, her dog had not eaten for days.  So she decided to leave her newborn at home and went out to cash a check which she was given for the week. When she came back, she found that the dog had eaten her newborn baby.  Feeling the whole city’s silent pain, a senator agonized,
“How can so much go wrong in one life and nobody be aware of it?”  This can’t possibly happen in New York City.

A city councilman gave the only plausible answer. He said, “Life is too
busy and complicated for me to hear the cry of every person in my
community. I struggle to find time to even hear the cries of my own
family.” And then, echoing the words of a literary figure he said this:
“If I had to listen to the cry of everyone in this City, you may as
well ask me to listen to the sound of every blade of grass growing and
to the heartbeat of every squirrel. The noise would be deafening on the
other side of silence.”

But, reading Neonangel’s account reminds me that while the noise would be deafening for us mere human beings, God listens to every sound.  He doesn’t just listen, but he responds.  He’s done it with TissueAunty.  But HIs ultimate response is the sending of His son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins, so that we can be reconciled with Him in heaven.

To God be the Glory.

Husband and Wife – House Chores

I love this. This is a totally hilarious podcast from the Chris and Ponzi Show.  Its a podcast of a husband and wife fighting, over ironing, laundry, cleaning dishes, cooking etc.  Chris basically just screws up!  Just listen to the first 15 minutes or so.

Then again, maybe i find it hilarious because it is too close to home

Seth Godin on Writing

Seth Godin, in his blog, writes about 2 kinds of writing.  Its succinct, and to the point.  Often, when we write in blogs or at work, there is a tendency for clutter. I’m printing this out to remind me how to write properly. 

If you’re writing for strangers, make it shorter.

Use images and tone and design and interface to make your point. Teach people gradually.

If you’re writing for colleagues, make it more robust.

Be specific. Be clear. Be intellectually rigorous and leave no wiggle room.

Takeaway: the stuff you’re putting online or in your blog or in your
brochures or in your business letters is too long. Too much inside
baseball. Too many unanswered questions getting answered too soon.

Takeaway: the stuff you’re sending out in your email and your memos is too vague.

Figure out which category before you put finger to keyboard!

 

A letter to Christian Girl

Just in case you are wondering why a married man like myself is writing this, let me qualify by saying that this is not a letter for myself.  I’m writing this on behalf of the single guys.

Dear Christian Girl,

I think I am attracted to you.   I must confess that in the past and
even now, I’ve often liked girls because of their looks.  But I’m trying
my hardest to change, because I know it is Godliness that counts.  Proverbs 31 has taught me that. But in order for me to do that, I need to know you better; know what your hobbies are;
know what your likes and dislikes are; know your walk with Christ,  because I know these are the
things that matter.

However, I don’t know where to begin.  While your Godliness attracts
me, sometimes it scares me.  I always hesitate when i ask myself "Can I match up to your Godliness?" or "Am I Godly enough for you?"  The reason why churches are so filled with girls is because girls
generally take God more seriously than us guys.  Left to my own, I
prefer to be a back-bencher.  I’m pretty laid-back you see, and it is
not my natural self to lead.  Hence, sometimes when you go on about
Christ and when I see how zealous you are for Him, it intimidates me.  It makes me wonder whether I should even
try to get to know you, because its a rather tall order to match up to
Proverbs 1-30.  I have 30 chapters to aspire to become, you only have 1.

I’m not asking you to be less Godly.  In fact, like you, I too desire to be a Godly man.  But it takes time.  I’m
willing to try if you are willing to give me a chance.   While I can’t do it on my own, God can change
me, and push me towards greater Godliness.  In fact, sometimes he uses
people like you to do so. 

So do give me a chance.  It is not my intention to lead you or anyone
on.  I just want to get to know you better.  I hope you would like to get
to know me better as well.  If i ever muster up enough courage to ask you out
along with a few friends, would you just oblige me?  After all, it is
not a marriage proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Christian Guy

Engineer’s Corner

I’m sure most of you haven’t heard of Wendy Cope.  She’s quite a talented poet from UK.  Being an engineer, this is one of my favourite poems.  She wrote this in response to the advertisement below.

"Why isn’t there an Engineers’ Corner in Westminister Abbey?  In Britain we’ve always made more fuss of a balad than a blueprint… How many schoolchildren dream of becoming great engineers?" – advertisement placed in the Times by the Engineering Council.

We make more fuss of ballads than of blueprints –
That’s why so many poets end up rich,
While engineers scrape by in cheerless garrets.
Who needs a bridge or dam?  Who needs a ditch?
Whereas the person who can write a sonnet
Has got it made.  It’s always been the way,
For everybody knows that we need poems
And everybody reads them every day.
Yes, life is hard if you choose engineering –
You’re sure to need another job as well;
You’ll have to plan your projects in the evenings
Instead of going out.  It must be hell.
While well-heeled poets ride around in Daimlers,
You’ll burn the midnight oil to earn a crust,
With no hope of a statue in the Abbey,
With no hope, even, of a modest bust.
No wonder small boys dream of writing couplets
And spurn the bike, the lorry and the train.
There’s far too much encouragement for poets –
That’s why the country’s going down the drain.

Sounds like Singapore.  Have a happy National Day.

Keeping it simple

Being an engineer, I have a penchant for watches.  I used to love automatic watches, and have like 6 of them at home, even though I have only 2 wrists.  On my 21st birthday, Sarah bought me a Tag Heuer and one of my engagement gifts was a pair of Omega Constellation watches.  Pretty expensive stuff. 

But I’ve started to wear the Swatch, a Classic Swatch Original for the past year.  Why?  It is to constantly remind me of my boss, who has taught me the value of keeping it simple.

The most apt description of my boss is that he is a simple and humble man.  Even though he earns quite a bit and can well afford a number of luxuries in his life, he keeps it simple.  When his car was due for a change, he changed it to the exact same model.  Ditto for his handphone.  Even though he is content with the simple things, he is exceedingly generous. He always insists on paying for all our meals.  I heard from other colleagues that when the government’s bonus was revised downwards during an economic downturn, he was prepared to top it up from his own salary if his staff were in financial difficulty.

My boss is one humble man.  He never refers to us as his staff, but his colleagues and friends.  I have never seen him put anyone down.  He always tries to see the good side in people, and always tries to see how he can help.

He never fails to give credit when its due.  Even though most of the ideas or analysis were largely based on his experience, he would always attribute the success to our work.  Neither does he shirk away from taking the blame.  I remember, when my colleague had made a bad call without seeking his knowledge, my boss stood up and took the blame, because he was the boss. 

We often have discussions at Ya Kun over coffee, on everything under the sun.  From work, to politics, to life in general.  I’ve always marvelled at how much he knew about philosophy and religion.  He knew the Sermon on the Mount, and regarded it as a great sermon by a great preacher.  But he also gave the Buddhist and Hindu scriptures equal regard.  That breaks my heart.

He’s almost like an uncle that I never had.  The watch I’m wearing therefore reminds me, of the values that he has taught me.  But, more importantly, it reminds me to share the gospel with him one day, that someday, he will come to know the Sermon on the Mount as a sermon not by a great preacher, but by the True and Living God himself.