Turn Your Eyes

Recently there is something that keep disturbing my mine. The is feeling or enthusiasm to do something, like organise discussion group, do some teachings, write a book on ECG, etc. However the is always a sound telling me something is not quite right. I always feel that something is holding me back. Not only so, sometime even when after doing those things, I found no satisfaction or peace in me.

There are also time when I was called to do something that I don't. Join the chinese small group, and even lead them, do translation work, take care of the technical stuffs, etc. Many times I just go through those things with unwilling heart, yet I found some satisfaction and peace in me after doing them.

Many times these dilemma and struggles going in me. Yet I can't define what are they. Yesterday I read an article in Desiring God website. Surprisingly this article, written by Lumma Simms, stuns me. Here are some main points that she wrote:

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. (Hebrews 3:1)

There is no better path to discouragement than to look within ourselves.

Instead, we are to look to our Savior. We usually want something that we can do, but the answer is what the cross gives us. This is where the gospel meets us — it gives us a new identity.

How true is it. Many time, I try to look for answer in myself. I try to look for my identity in myself. I try to seek the potential in my own talent. I try to use the gift of Holy Spirit in worldly thing, not to magnify God, but to magnify myself. The gift of teaching is great, yet it is like a double-edged sword. It can bring understanding to others, but also can bring pride to the teacher.

Hebrews 3:1 reminds me a hymn that was sang regularly in my church.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

We are never called to look upon our ownself in our pilgrimage. We are not the centre of our life. We are called to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). I will rephrase another point written by Lumma Sims: 

Worldly encouragement or exhortation builds on sand because it tells us to look at ourselves and find worth, honor and value in our ownselves. Our true worth and value is found in Christ Jesus.

In fact this is one of the theme of the book of Isaiah.

God’s people, feeling abandoned by God foolishly put their trust in worldly powers. The only hope of the world is bound up in one man—the promised Davidic king, the servant of the Lord, the anointed preacher of the gospel, and the lone victor over all evil. - Source: ESV Study Bible

Let us find our true worth, value, and identity in Jesus Christ, and do what He calls us to do.

____________________

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame,

and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

Libertarian Freedom vs. Compatibilist Freedom

Libertarian freedom is generally thought to include a freedom of choice that is self-determined and not caused by events outside the control of the agent. Thus, given a choice between competing alternatives, the individual can choose either way, and once a choice has been made, it is asserted that the agent could have chosen otherwise.                                          

Compatibilist freedom is generally thought to include a freedom of choice that is self-determined but may, in some instances (or in all instances), be causally determined by events outside the control of the agent. As Feinberg has put it, “an action is free even if causally determined so long as the causes are nonconstraining,” by which he means that the causes can be sufficient to bring about an action, but not contrary to the individual’s will, desires, or wishes.

Of course, the meaning of self-determination in each view is somewhat different. In libertarianism, it means both that the choice was made by the individual and that it was not caused by anything outside the individual. By contrast, compatibilism uses the language of self-determination to mean that the choice was made by the individual in accordance with his or her will, desires, or wishes, but there are sufficient causes for the action, and those causes are either external or internal to the individual.

So in libertarian freedom, if given the same condition as it is, he/she could have choose the otherwise. For example, in the court when the judge asks the suspect why he murdered this person. The reason that the suspect gives why he kills will be also the same reason why he didn't kill, because in liberalistic freedom, the given the same condition, he would have choose the otherwise, namely he won't kill. So in liberalistic freedom, there is no reason/cause/will/desire to do something. There is no cause/desire behind an action. This makes man's action an arbitrary choice, man just do something, without a desire that drives that action.

But in compatibilist freedom, an action is influenced by a cause (either external or internal), but still consider as a free action, since the decision was made by the individual. People will choose what to do what his desire wanted to do the most. So we, who are born as sinful men, will do what our sinful desire want to do the most, that is sinning, (in this case original sin is an internal cause that drives the human's action) and since it is a free action done by us, we are still accountable to God for what we have done.

Few examples for the parallel / symmetrical of both actions by God and man.
Genesis 45:4-8, Acts 2:23, 4:27-28, Isaiah 10:5-13, 2 Peter 1:20-21. 

I think the first few examples are quite clear. God uses sinful men as His tool to fulfill His wills, yet men still accountable to God for what they done. For the last example, if we think like a libertarian, then how can we be sure that the Scripture's writers will writing the Word of God, since if left on their on, they can do otherwise, that is act on their own free will, and write what they want to write. But if we think like a compatibilist, we can be sure that God is the one that making the Scripture's writers, to write His Word. In this case, God is the external cause that drives the human's action.

This sounds a bit academic / philosophical initially, yet this profound theology / doctrine explains the mystery of God's sovereignty and the accountability of man (though sounds like a paradox, but both are compatible truth) and it has huge impact on our life, and how we view God and everything else. Yet bear in mind that knowing this truth doesn't make us a better christian than other christians. The thief on the cross is unlikely to know about all these, yet Jesus says that he will be with Him in paradise on that day itself.

Last Summer Holiday

Resolution for Summer Holiday

[+] - Get a new ATM card

[+] - Get a new sim card

[X] - Get a new phone

[/ ] - Get books from Kamal's and PPUM

[O] - Get Bible and books from Su Fes

[O] - Get the most out from PPUM elective posting

[O] - Meet up with brothers and sisters

Here I Raise My Ebenezer

This grace has brought me thus this far,

and grace will lead me home.

- Amazing Grace by John Newton -

Sunrise at Hong Kong, viewing from airplane.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139:9-10

回到家了

已经习惯了没有用热水冲凉，

已经习惯了没有开冷气睡觉，

已经习惯了早晨起来读圣经，

已经习惯了没有看电视节目，

已经习惯了有个风扇在房间，

已经习惯了有个电灯在书桌，

已经习惯了要开房间的窗口，
已经习惯了没有蚂蚁的存在，
已经习惯了宁静黑暗的深夜，

可能就是这些种种的习惯

让我想念伏尔加格勒。

____________________

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. 

He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us." 

1 Samuel 7:12

只能

有一种朋友，很喜欢，但是只能做朋友。

____________________

I want to say,

"I Kissed Dating Goodbye"