I thank God for the two South Koreans who were released by the Talibans. I will continue to pray for the remaining 19 still held captive. Someone asked me before about my feeling on this incident - whether I am angry with the Muslim extremists? Frankly, I am not. I feel more sadness than anger - not just with this particular group of people but with human beings, in general.
I am sad that one fellow human is killing another just because one holds a stronger belief in something which then leads him to commit an extreme act.
All these taking of innocent lives and wars and religious and political differences will continue to persist from one generation to another so long as two parties are not willing to seek peace and understand each other better. Impatience, pride, judgmental spirit, hatred, bitterness and unforgiveness are always the cause of this strife!
I know it is never easy to deal with the differences of humans but do not because of this, cause one to believe that it is okay to kill just so that the message can be put across strongly to another party. Let us look back in history - many lives have been taken, have the differences been solved? No! Why can't then we learn from these past experiences? It is a vicious cycle. Are we blind to this? Or are humans too slow in realising?
I would love to bring in my religious stand on this since these South Koreans are my brothers and sisters-in-Chirst but I am not going to because that is not the point. The point I want to bring across is this - let us stop being childish and start waking up our foolish ideas. I have never been in the political scene and I do not know what the leaders of governments are thinking but one need not be a politician to know that everything takes time to resolve - one just need to be patient and have the willingness to give and take. We can never always have a win-win situation but so long as we keep trying, this world will be a better place to live in. Lives of our fellow humans will be preserved and peace will prevail. Let us let love cover over a multitude of sins and differences. My thoughts may be idealistic. Will it work? Yes! The question is - are we willing to wait to see things change by the effort we put in to settle matters peacefully?
Well, just my thoughts as a commoner.
Anyway, I am actually trying to prepare for the songs for this Sunday's praise and worship session but unable to do so because I have yet to hear from the preacher for this Sunday. I have listed a couple of songs which I think can be used but I guess I can only confirm them after I have received the sermon outline.
It is actually quite frustrating but I quickly channelled that feeling to God - knowing that I do not want this waiting to lead me to sin against Him and the preacher. I also do not want to open avenues for the devil to lay a foothold. The reason why I want to finalise the list soon is so that I can send it out to the Worship Team - to allow them to practice on their own first.
I am now in Millennia Walk Coffee Bean - decided to come here to listen to some music, read a book and also to let God inspire me as to what songs I can use for this Sunday. It is a quiet and nice place to be at as compared to the one in Ngee Ann City.
I guess I shall end here for now.
Peace to all mankind!
"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14
"When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." Proverbs 16:7
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord." Romans 12:17-19
"For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 1 Peter 3:10-12
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8
I am sad that one fellow human is killing another just because one holds a stronger belief in something which then leads him to commit an extreme act.
All these taking of innocent lives and wars and religious and political differences will continue to persist from one generation to another so long as two parties are not willing to seek peace and understand each other better. Impatience, pride, judgmental spirit, hatred, bitterness and unforgiveness are always the cause of this strife!
I know it is never easy to deal with the differences of humans but do not because of this, cause one to believe that it is okay to kill just so that the message can be put across strongly to another party. Let us look back in history - many lives have been taken, have the differences been solved? No! Why can't then we learn from these past experiences? It is a vicious cycle. Are we blind to this? Or are humans too slow in realising?
I would love to bring in my religious stand on this since these South Koreans are my brothers and sisters-in-Chirst but I am not going to because that is not the point. The point I want to bring across is this - let us stop being childish and start waking up our foolish ideas. I have never been in the political scene and I do not know what the leaders of governments are thinking but one need not be a politician to know that everything takes time to resolve - one just need to be patient and have the willingness to give and take. We can never always have a win-win situation but so long as we keep trying, this world will be a better place to live in. Lives of our fellow humans will be preserved and peace will prevail. Let us let love cover over a multitude of sins and differences. My thoughts may be idealistic. Will it work? Yes! The question is - are we willing to wait to see things change by the effort we put in to settle matters peacefully?
Well, just my thoughts as a commoner.
Anyway, I am actually trying to prepare for the songs for this Sunday's praise and worship session but unable to do so because I have yet to hear from the preacher for this Sunday. I have listed a couple of songs which I think can be used but I guess I can only confirm them after I have received the sermon outline.
It is actually quite frustrating but I quickly channelled that feeling to God - knowing that I do not want this waiting to lead me to sin against Him and the preacher. I also do not want to open avenues for the devil to lay a foothold. The reason why I want to finalise the list soon is so that I can send it out to the Worship Team - to allow them to practice on their own first.
I am now in Millennia Walk Coffee Bean - decided to come here to listen to some music, read a book and also to let God inspire me as to what songs I can use for this Sunday. It is a quiet and nice place to be at as compared to the one in Ngee Ann City.
I guess I shall end here for now.
Peace to all mankind!
"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14
"When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." Proverbs 16:7
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord." Romans 12:17-19
"For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 1 Peter 3:10-12
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8
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