Living with Aliens

Hi all, its been quite a while since I posted anything for this blog, however, I thought that I would like to share this article, produced with permission, about the experiences of a missionary from Sarawak, Borneo. Some of the language and terms used here are Sarawak localized. Be encouraged.

Living with Aliens
Rev. Lenita Tiong, Bintulu

For years I have been living with aliens, but actually I was the alien. The Khmer word for foreigner is "boh-re-teh". The older folks however use the word "barang" which mean French as the only foreigners they knew were the French who colonized Cambodia from 1863 till 1953. I was called "barang" by my first landlady.

As a "boh-re-teh", I was well respected as I lived in a big house and drove a car. At the market, I represented economical advantage and so I was addressed "madam" even by hawkers who know only two English words "madam, buy buy." In the Christian circles, I represented the church leadership and so with the ecclesiological and academic status, I was the "neak krew" (female teacher) and I received "kow-taos" every where I went.

Local Yet Live With Aliens

But now, back in Sarawak, I am a local, but I still live with aliens. At first, they were the Indonesian maids in my brother's house in Miri. I was "kakak" to them. In a house of two maids, one teenager, an elderly ailing lady and this kakak, we had to be a family. We had meals together and I bought treats (ice cream, chendol, kuehs etc) for all. What mum ate, we all ate together. Initially, the maids insisted that the fruits and treats were only for "nenek" since they were given to her by her friends. One maid even cried when she shared with me about her first employer who insisted that she ate in the kitchen only after the family had eaten.

I took all to the beach and my sister commented that I "spoil" the maids. My response, "I spoil them so they can spoil mum." I realized then that I reflected one with an ulterior motive for caring for the maids. My love was not unconditional. Now that we are in Bintulu and live in a big house in an Iban community, we are aliens and yet locals. The neighbors know my parents as "uncle and auntie Cina" as we are the only Chinese family in this community. I am merely "anak uncle or anak auntie". A few ladies call me "madik Dicky", identifying me as Dicky's sibling. I have become a commoner, with no social standing and no more "kow taos".

But word somehow got out that there is an alien in the house and last week a group of kids stood outside the kitchen window and saw Kosal, my Khmer helper. They stuck their tongues out at her and went "neh-neh-neh- neh-neh-neh". I was shocked that even kids would know how to treat foreigners differently. Living with foreigners allows us to see how racist we all can be. Like a mirror, we see our true inner self. Unlike the kids who would shout and stick out their tongues, we are more sophisticated in our reaction and disguise our true feelings well.

Another Experience With an Alien

This week, I took a whole set of documents to be photocopied. The worker at the shop was a Bangladeshi. Soon after he started copying, an original document was stuck in the document feeder. I then asked him to copy the conventional way and not to use the feeder. Then I realized that he was doing only one set when I need two. His explanation: do one and then use the copy to go thru document feeder! I told him that the copy of a copy would not be as clear. But he was already half way thru and I asked if he remembered which he had done and which he hadn't. He confidently said yes. Then I realized that he had rearranged my original documents. They must be in the right order for the submission of the work permit! What can I do but laugh! The boss then commented that the worker is always like that, he has his own idea about what to do and then passed a racist remark on his skin color. Immediately I found myself on the side of the worker and defended him.

Treat Your Aliens God's Way

As a missionary, I lived among the foreigners and the aliens, people very different from me, people who do things in ways which baffled and often times frustrated me. Now I am a local, but I still live with foreigners. They still baffle and frustrate me or is it now the other way round? They have come to our land and they live among the aliens. Do we frustrate them with our ways? I am sure we do.

As I reflected on what God wanted the Israelites to do with the aliens living among them, I realized that, to the aliens, the Israelites' ways must be equally frustrating and baffling. No work on Sabbath, not even the animals. Who had ever heard of animals needing rest? The land resting too? How odd.

And when it came to harvesting, they were supposed to leave some for the foreigners to harvest. What were the workers of Boaz thinking when their boss told them "pull out some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to pick." (Ruth 2:16) What an odd boss, not just allowing this foreign widow to pick the leftover grains but purposely dropping some good stalks for her!

God's love for the foreigners and aliens is truly out of the norm and must have been so odd not only to His own people, the Israelites and I am sure to the aliens who lived and worked among them. God's command to His people was "Do not mistreat the alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt." (Exo. 22:21) The word "alien" is used in NIV while KJV and NLT uses foreigners and strangers. God's command to His people was to ensure that the foreigners living among them have certain rights as well as limitations. They were to be loved, treated fairly and generously and were to be provided asylum when in trouble. The psalmist went to the extent of saying that God watches over them as He sustains the fatherless and the widow. (Psalm 146:9)

A Question For Us

My question and thought is that for the aliens now living among us, do they find our love for God and for them odd and out of the norm? Is there a difference if our Indonesian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Chinese, Myanmar and even Cambodian helpers and workers work for a Christian? Is God's love for humanity through us obvious to them? My prayer is that it would be and so to all Connection readers who live with "aliens", let's make a difference. (The author is currently on leave and at home in Bintulu to care for her paralysed mother who had a stroke 8 months ago.)

Rick Warren: Author of the book "Purpose Driven Life"

I had the opportunity to hear Ps Rick Warren, author of the book "Purpose Drive Life" last Friday, 7 July 2006 at my church in Trinity Christian Centre, Singapore. What struck me was the humility of the man who wrote the New York Times #1 Best Seller. Rick basically gave us an insight into how he and his wife Kay (here's their story in Wikipedia) were called by God to start a small church in Los Angeles, the Saddleback church, which grew from just 3 people to the 20,000 strong congregation today. Rick also talked about the peace plan which is his God-give vision to eradicate the fiv global Goliaths of today.

Heand his team has also created several websites which drive home the message that "you are not an accident" ! www.purposedrivenlife.com is one of them.

Back from my June holidays and business trip to Osaka Japan

Hi everyone,

You might be wondering why I have not posted any thing since 17 June, well its because I was on holiday in Sarawak with my family, and then it was off to a business trip to Osaka Japan. Well, I am back once again. The photo you see above was taken at the Marriot in Miri, Sarawak, Borneo Island. The sunsets there were really beautiful.

Error #3: The Gnostic Gospels present a positive view of the feminine

The Gnostic tests are said to picture a human sexualised Jesus who embraced the sacred feminine. Actually the Jesus presented in the Gnostic materials is often simply weird, and the underlying ideology tends to be radically anti-feminine. Consider this bizarre passage from the Gospel of Thomas:

"Simon Peter said to them, 'Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life'. Jesus said, 'Look, I will gide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.'"

In today's context, it would seem that the Gnostic texts, which some modern historians and theologians take to be authoritative Christian texts, are similar to the internet's blogs; they cannot be taken too seriously. Hence the early church fathers and elders have taken pains not to include them in the canon.

God's Book of Life and the World's Kings List

Taking a short break on posting about factual errors in the Da Vinci Code novel, I found an interesting post on Russel Smith's blog about The Book of Elites vs. The Book of Life. Arousing my curiosity, I actually did some very quick research myself on how the ancients kept lists of kings. There's this internet article on Lists of Kings or Pharaohs or other monarchs which indicate that many ancient civilisations such as those of Egypt, Rome, Assyria and so on meticulously kept lists of kings.

But what struck me most is that our King, Jesus, meticulously keeps a list of His subjects ... US ! And that list is the book of life. What a constrast. Indeed we have a King who knows us all by names and loves us. Quoting Russel Smith:

While ancient pagan religions honored the elite – the powerful and clever and strong, Christianity honors the humble and the faithful. While pagan religions had imperatives to goodness based mainly upon philosophical notions, Christianity based its imperatives upon right relationship with the living God.

Error #2: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospels were the "earliest Christian records"

Dan Bown's novel mentioned that the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospels were the "earliest Christian records". Bible historians say that this is not the case. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 and were dated from 250 BC to AD 100. However, these documents have virtually nothing to do with Christianity but with various Jewish groups, rituals and ideas before and during the time of Christ.

The Gnostic gospels offer a twisted and heretical version of the Christian faith, but they didn't come into existence until about a century or more later after the death of Christ. The earliest Christian records are the writings of the New Testament.

Error #1: The Bible was invented by Roman Emperor Constantine

The Bible consists of 66 books which were written over a period of around 1,500 years by 40 different authors in three languages; Hebrew, Aramic and Koine Greek (Reference: Bible facts). The Old and New Testaments consist of 39 books and 27 books respectively (Reference: Summary of the Books of the Bible). The 66 books of the Bible vary in size from one page to almost a hundred pages. The English word "Bible" comes from the Greek term which means "book." The Bible is the divinely inspired record of God's revelation, and as such it is the final authority for both Christian faith and practice. The Bible teaches its own completeness (Revelation 22:18,19) and sufficiency (II Timothy 3:16,17). (Reference: Origin of the Bible).

The Da Vinci Code mentions that "Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible", one that left out the Gnostic texts and included the four traditional Gospels. In fact, Constantine had nothing to do with the making of the Christian Canon. The traditional gospels were recognised by virtually all Christians 150 years before Constantine. The canonicity of a book (that is, its right to be part of the canon) is dependent upon its recognized authority. This is important to understanding the canon of Scripture:

• Many people think the books are considered authoritative because they are included in the Bible; the historical truth is the opposite; they are included in the Bible because they are considered authoritative.

The canon of Scripture is the result of the collecting together of the various writings which Christians of previous times recognized as authoritative. The Biblical canon is thus an exclusive list of books written during the formative period of the Jewish or Christian faiths; the leaders of these communities believed these books to be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people (although there may have been secondary considerations as well).

20 inaccuracies in the Da Vinci Code novel

Over the next few posts, I will be putting out some more thoughts about the Da Vinci Code. This time, I will comment on and take some excerpts from an article entitled "20 Big Lies in the Da Vinci Code" by James A. Beverly, who writes from the evangelical Christian perspective.

Within a short timeframe of three years, Dan Brown's novel became one of the best sellers of all time. It has also come under fire by many people within Christiandom because of some of its radical claims. "But its just a work of fiction right?" is the refrain from many who have read the book. The only problem with that statement lies in page 1 of the novel where the author asserts that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

Many critics, however, have noted its inaccuracy and mistakes in many areas or subjects it addressed in the story. Thus, it would be important that people get to hear another perspective of the ongoing argument; that of the critics of the novel's historical inaccuracy. We will examine these inaccuracies over the next 20 articles.

Stay tuned !

The Holy Alphabet

Just to take a little break from the more serious topics of the Da Vinci Code and other stuff that were featured recently, someone sent me the link to an interesting little website called the Holy Alphabet. The person who did this must have had some divine inspiration to come up with such a beautiful poem. Read it and enjoy !

The character and choices of Moses

Excerpts from the Walking in the Word series by Trinity Christian Centre, Singapore.

Sunday, 05 Mar 2006. Preacher: Ed Pousson of Trinity Christian Centre, Singapore

Title:

The Heartbeat of God - The character and choices of Moses

Verses:

Heb 11:24-27

Lesson:

1. The book of Hebrews is a call to commitment in a time of crisis. Some people in the early church were wavering, but this was written to encourage the church during difficult times. Chapter 11 tells several stories about faith and the definition of faith. It tells of God's message of missions for his people.

2. Moses was faced with several difficult choices. But by faith, he turned from royalty to suffering servanthood in order to serve God. In vs 24, we see that:

Mission of Man - status
Mission of God - servanthood

3. It came into his heart to come to see his brethen, the Jews who were Egypt's migrant workers. He turned from royalty to servanthood, faith requires self downgrading. In vs 25, we see that:

Mission of man - pleasure
Mission of God - pain

4. Moses also turned from affluence to abuse, this is seen in vs 26:

Mission of man - affluence
Mission of God - abuse

5. What do we truly value? The world's wealth or Jesus' sacrifice? Things of the spirit far outweigh the things of the world. We must also choose because we cannot serve both God and mammon. We cannot make affluence our ambition in life.

6. The throne of phaaroh was designed to be so intimidating that it created fear in all who approached it. But Moses feared God instead. He went there and demanded phaaroh to release the Jews, the entire migrant workforce of Egypt. In vs 27, we see that:

Mission of man - fear of man
Mission of God - fear of God

Most Meaningful Statement:

Things of the spirit far outweigh the things of the world.

Thoughts:

1. The mission of God is contrasted with that of man as follows:

Mission of Man: status, pleasure, affluence, fear of man.

Mission of God: servanthood, pain, abuse, fear of God.

2. I think most of us would not mind the servanthood and fear of God bit. But I am sure all of us would be a bit more concerned about the pain and abuse part. Yet character is built only when we go through difficult times. And in order to accomplish a mission from God, a large dose of character would be in order !

3. What is important is not the mission per se but our relationship with God as we walk the journey. Remember that the mission itself is still subservient to the giver of the mission, God Himself.

Peeking Light

Lord let me commune with You so that I can thrive in You

Peeking Light, originally uploaded by Ozone71.

What should Christians do about the Da Vinci Code movie?

Excerpts from "Debugging the Da Vinci Code" by Dr. Mark D. Roberts.

Given that the book and the movie are supposedly or purportedly fictional, what should Christians do? Should Christians "back off" and stand back without some response to the movie? Inaction will multiply misperceptions of Jesus. Yet, we are all concerned about the potential from some well-meaning Christians to over-react to the film, thus losing an opportunity to speak clearly about Jesus in the larger world. If we believers focus our efforts negatively, conduct protests, or worse take part in riots, damaging people and property, then we will end up looking foolish because of how we act in public.

Though we all strongly disagree with the portrayal of Jesus in the Da Vinci Code, I think we must take the release of the film as an opportunity to get people talking about the real Jesus. Of course we prefer if the film did justice to the real Jesus, but eventhough it doesn't, we should not be so strident in our criticisms that we lose the chnace to talk about Jesus to those who aren't believers yet.

Rathan than public protests, riots and impassioned denunciations, I hope Christians will take the opportunity to speak clearly, sanely and persuasively about who Jesus really is.

Have a nice day.

Develop Opportunities to Reach People for Jesus

Excerpts from "Debugging the Da Vinci Code" by Dr. Mark D. Roberts

We need to look for and develop opportunities to talk with people about Jesus during this time when Dan Brown's book and Ron Howard's movie are all the rage. There will be lots of conversations about Jesus around the time the movie is launched. Christians need to be ready both to respond and to initiate discussions about Jesus. Plus, churches can seize this opportunity by sponsoring public lectures or discussion groups. Careful planning will give birth to events that are helpful to both believers and seekers. Just as there are some whose faith is challenged to the core by the concepts put forth by the book and the movie. Yet there will be some that are drawn to Jesus because of the book and the movie.

Individually and together, let's pray that:

"Lord, may You use the release of the book and Da Vinci Code movie to open a door of opportunity for us to tell others of the truth of Jesus Christ. As this happens, what might have caused harm, may You turn it around and use for Good. Amen".

Beliefnet: 'The Da Vinci Code' Faith, Doubt, and the Search for Truth

Of late, I have been digging up some very interesting resources that relate to the Da Vinci Code and well as articles on the historical facts supporting the traditional Christian teachings on Jesus. This website is a very concise and comprehensive resource for materials that debunk all the concepts purported by the Da Vinci Code novel. What I like here is that the historical facts are presented in bite sized chunks as a series of questions and answers. Excellent layout.

Beliefnet: 'The Da Vinci Code' Faith, Doubt, and the Search for Truth

But it's just a work of fiction !

Excerpts from "Debugging the Da Vinci Code" by Dr. Mark D. Roberts.

One common response to Christian concern over the Da Vinci Code focuses on the book's genre: "It's only a novel," many have said. "It's fiction. Why get so worked up over something that isn't meant to be historical?"

It is important that Christians acknowledge that Dan Brown did indeed write a novel. When we treat the Da Vinci Code as if it's a non-fiction piece meant to disparage Jesus, we end up looking foolish. Yet there are reasons for engaging the ideals of this novel from a historical, and not merely a literary, point of view. For one thing, millions of readers have taken the "historical" revelations of the Da Vinci Code as if they were factual. This is alarming, especially when well-meaning readers begin to believe that what is contained in a fictional work is historical. A recent survey on the beliefnet website found that 22% of the respondents believed Jesus to have actually married Mary Magdalene.

The novel itself contributes to the pretext that what is revealed about Jesus and the Bible is true in fact when it is actually untrue. Sir Leigh Teabing, a fictional historian in the book, lays out the supposedly true story of Jesus and his marriage to Mary Magadalene. He bolsters its apparent historicity by saying things like, "the marriage of Mary to Jesus is a matter of historical record" (p.244 of the Da Vinci Code) and that the "vast majority of educated Christians know the history of their faith" (p.234), which in context is actually the "history" as related by the Teabing character. Moreover, the first page of the novel includes this statement:

"FACT: ..... All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in the novel are accurate" (p.I).

Since the "Jesus is not divine" theory is supposedly derived from ancient documents, it seems as if Brown is claiming that what Sir Leigh Teabing reveals is actually true (and in interviews, Brown himself admitted to believing many of these things).

So, given the impact of the Da Vinci Code on people's actual beliefs about Jesus, and given the way in which wild theories are presented as historical truths, Christians can't simply dismiss the Da Vinci Code as fiction and forget about it.

Debugging the Da Vinci Code

The release of the Da Vinci Code movie is both a concern and an opportunity for Christians to share the truth about who Jesus was --- and is. Dr. Mark D. Roberts.
Excerpts from Dr. Mark D Roberts article entitled Debugging the Da Vinci Code.

On 19 May 2006, one of the most popular books of all time hit the big screen. The Da Vinci Code, having sold more than 36 million copies worldwide, comes to life under the direction of Ron Howard. With Tom Hanks as the featured star, Dan Brown's riveting "who-done-it" will draw millions to the cinemas. Many are devotees of the novel; others will discover for the first time the secrets of the Da Vinci Code.

According to the book, it turns out that Jesus was not divine, and that the biblical gospels are filled with "historical discrepancies and fabrications". It also says that the truth about the merely human Jesus is to be found only in non-canonical gospels. Thus "almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false" (The Da Vinci Code p.235).

Its easy to see why many Christians are concerned about the release of the Da Vinci Code book and the film. It will popularise the book's controversies and undermine the Bible.

Over the next few postings, I will comment about these controversies (like the thousands before me) and also extract excerpts from Dr. Roberts notes on this wave that is threatening to divide many in society today.

Christian Sermons on the Da Vinci code

The furor among the Christians surrounding the movie on Dan Brown's book has not subsided yet. There are still many blogs and articles being posted around the internet about the controversial book and movie. Here are some sermons by Scott Hathaway on the topic. I have not myself heard his sermons, however, I am still posting them hear for your listening pleasure.

Waiting in peace

Lord let me wait on You

Waiting in peace, originally uploaded by gardawind.

The Elusive Holy Grail

The Holy Grail has been the feature of many writings and movies through the years. It was prominently featured in the story of King Arthur, Indiana Jones, and many others. Wikipedia has an interesting definition as well. Legend has it that anyone who drinks from it will live forever.

I think that sometimes, people focus too much on the tangible. In this instance, what is more important, the grail itself? Or the person who used the grail, the person of Jesus.

Let's look back at John 4:13-14, "Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.'"

The Opus Dei

Just who are the Opus Dei? Are they some secret sect with strange rituals? Are they some special group within the Catholic Church entrusted with its protection? Opus Dei has around 85,000 members, both men and women; 98% are laypersons, most of whom are married. The remaining 2% are priests, drawn from the Prelature's lay faithful. So what do they do? Well, follow the link in the title of this post to see who they really are.