some stuff to think about

YOYOYO

So like most of us would have thought about creation and stuff. And i have a few questions.

Are angels bound by time? is there time in heaven? or does time only exist on earth?
Initially i was thinking God just created angels and they existed without time. but then i was thinking how do they praise God if there is no time? If angels fell from heaven, then there must have been a time when they were "good". Is this and answerable question or is this another question that cannot be understood by a finite mind?

Another question is why did God create humans?
Ok. So like my original thoughts was that God created humans because he wanted to share life with more beings because life is good. But then i thought, why not just share life with more angels? did he not create angels to share life with them as well? Don't angels have free will as well, which would be why some chose to disobey God? Why create Humans on a place called earth in a physical reality, when he could have just created more angels? What differentiates humans from angels appart from the fact that we can be redeemed and angels can't?

Where does it say that there are different levels of hell?

Here are some other things to think about that i read in the case for Christ. This is mainly for those who have not read it, and a reminder for those who have forgotten when they read it.

The question is, 'If God is really good, why would he create a place for humans to be eternally punished just because they did not believe in Christ?'
The answer was that God initially created humans to have God at the centre of their world. Then sin entered the world and people started putting themselves in the centre of their own world. As a result of humans being self centred, we began doing bad things just for ourselves, like killing, stealing, lieing and stuff like that. It might not sound that bad, but bigger sins are things like genocide and war. So if God did not punish people, would he not be an amoral God? So he created hell to punish them. The guy in the book also said that there were different degrees of punishment, so people like Hitler would be punished the harshest (hence my question above).

Also some ask why didn't Jesus go and tell everyone to stop slavery.
The response was that telling people to change is not very effective, and what reason would they have to listen to Jesus anyways? So the idea is that to stop slavery, you first have to change people's hearts their actions will follow suit. And we can learn from this by allowing God to change peoples hearts, and that will affect their actions, instead of just telling people not to sin.

THANKS FOR READING THIS LONG MESSAGE. IT TOOK ME 1.5 hours to write. Hope you all have a good time at uni.

look at my name! ISAA C:

GRACE'S BIRTHDAY ON THE 14TH!!!!!!!!!!!

also, when you answer the questions, please copy the question and paste it on top of the paragraph with the answer so that it is more clear and seperated.

Little Things

Hello everyone! Just something that hit me and I thought I'd share. It's really kind of trivial-like so don't expect too much haha!

Anyway, it started off with me enrolling for my units these coming 2 semesters. The process was a lot longer and more complicated than it ought to be but to cut a long (and unnecessarily so) story short, I simply listed a bunch of units just so I wouldn't be fined for late enrollment and all that jazz.

A month after, Allocate Plus (Monash has it. I don't know what the other universities call em :D) was opening up so I realised that I couldn't slack anymore and had to get serious about choosing proper units to err shape my future haha. After like 2 hours of viewing, reviewing and comparing units...wouldn't you know. After constant changes and re-enrollment of units, I ended up with exactly the same units that I started out with.

Okay I know it seems really silly and maybe I'm reading too much into it but at that moment I suddenly laughed when I thought like hey that's so ironic! And then I thought of how God provides for us, and His timing and stuff. Like even way before things happen or the need for anything arises, He has and is paving the way for those things to happen. And He really does know what's best for us.

I was suddenly inspired to post this after such a big um lapse of time from that moment of 'epiphany'  to now because...
frankly I'm not looking forward to 2009 at all! I know I'm in 2009...but not exactly cos right now, it's like I'm in this timeless holiday zone lol. So I guess in a sense, my life starts when I hit the big Down Under again. And there's just going to be so many changes. So many new things. Like how my parents will be staying back here in Malaysia in my little brother while us 3 older kids stick around in Wantirna South. This totally has it's pros, but it has it's cons too. It's something new alright. And then of course I think I told 1 or 2 people that I'll be cell-leading next year for CF which is something completely new to me and exciting, but terrifying too. And then there's the job-thing, something I really want to do but terrified too cos I've never worked before (I know right I'm such a brat HAHA) and then there's learning how to drive at age 19...and worst of all uni. I hate uni actually. Like really. It makes me depressed lol.

So all these things are just making me so uncertain and apprehensive about 2009. And there are times when I think about it and I just feel like 'God, am I really going to go through with all this? It's impossible...I want out...blablabla' and then after which it will hit me once more that hey hello I'm like talking to God and asking redundant questions. Duh He'll walk me through! I've definitely seen that in 2008. Definitely, and I know He'll do it again.
So anyway today I had another one of those moments and I was writing this somewhere so I thought I'd share this with you guys too in case anyone is feeling not so good about this coming year. He has encouraged me yet again and hopefully this will encourage you somewhat too? :)
He'll really be there. Honest :D

I really love our LG. Okay I'm not sure if we're still calling it that but it'll always feel like la. Haha :)

re: ellejay

thanks for sharing your epiphany jen :) two praise points to make:

firstly, it is soo true that this year is overwhelming! the subjects are big and im feeling the tug already. but it is so essential that we as christians still smile at the world because OUR GOD IS IN CONTROL AND HE SETS AHEAD OF US THE PATH THAT IS BEST FOR US:)

nathan brown once shared with me that as christians, christ bore our sins and shame on the cross, so we should not have any reason to be ashamed of anything or afraid of anything. in the same vein, if anyone has a reason to smile, that person is a christian because that person is the only person who knows that God is in control :) and when we acknowledge that he is in control and we smile at the world in light of that fact, those around us can only wonder, why the calmness?

SHARE THE REASON WITH A SMILE :)

secondly, thanks for remembering the epiphany so that it could be shared :p hahaha

Because I have been MIA for far too long.

Ok, Ok. I know it's late but it's here.

I don't really know what I'm going to write about. I just know I'm going to write.So be forewarned.

I was thinking about writing about that last chapter in the 'Pray Big' book but I can't for the life of me remember what it was on. And it doesn't help that I left it on my shelf back in Melbourne.

"Payper lama, tut tut tut tut tut tut, sao tao po chi. Ow nus-payper, payper lama..."

Sorry, I couldn't resist. The truck that collects old newspapers just wheezed-by my area and all the dogs in the neighborhood started howling. I realise that I haven't heard that in a while.

Well, on to more significant things.

It has always amazed me how God is with you anywhere you are. Whether you are stuck in K.L. traffic, wanting to artfully murder the person in front of you, or at some H.K. cafe at Glen Waverley paying for an overpriced bowl of hor fan (kuew teow or the white flat noodles); He is there.

And just knowing that, even when I don't feel it, is enough. It makes me pray when I am aware that God is here-wherever that here maybe. And I don't always hear something. I don't always feel something. But believing that he's around makes all the difference.

Something about his omnipresence makes me want to smile. It's like I can feel comfortable with him around. We can just be quiet and not feel obligated to do or say a certain something.

So yes, today, I will choose to enjoy, treasure, and just bask in God's presence. :)


p.s. I miss you guys! And I will pay for overpriced hor fan in Melbourne just to spend time with you! :D