The Good News

Had a bad bout of coughing fit the whole of the previous week. Was so tired from coughing that on Wednesday and Thursday (my morning shifts), I had more than 12 hours of sleep each day, and that wasn't enough. Still haven't recovered from it yet. My coughs last long. Tried three different type of medicines, and the traditional Chinese kind. All to no avail. Just succeeded in reducing phlegm and inflammation, but still couldn't prevent me from turning into a human machine gun. 

Anyway, as I told Jon (who is also coughing), this is a good chance for us to practice our gospel sharing while having a cough. We'll be flying to Philippines in mid-July to do classroom sharing of the gospel. And it would do good to practice doing so while having a cough, because who knows what we might get over there. We are still having practice sessions fortnightly and every time I go through the gospel in my mind, it is still as sweet as ever. The message that saved me.

The gospel is not about what Christians do and do not do. Not about going to church. Not about 'believing' in principles and stories. Not about doing the right thing over the wrong because God is watching and so on. Not so much even about going to heaven and hell. 

The gospel means 'good news'. But instead of giving you a set of ready-to-go directions on how to reach heaven, the gospel is really about God. God. God. And it's amazing that just by portraying Himself as who He is, the gospel has the power of salvation unto those who believe.

God is holy. And by holy we don't just mean 'sacredness', or 'aloofness from the world' or I don't know what else people associate holy with. God being holy simply means God is perfect. And perfect not in beautiful sense (which He is), but in terms of righteousness. God is good, God has no sin, God has perfect righteousness. If the standard for holiness/perfection is 100%, God is the 100%. If the standard is 1000%, God is is that 1000%. God is the standard for perfection. Not only He has no sin, but He hates sin. The Bible says God is of purer eyes than to behold sin (Hab 1:13). And God's standard for us is that we be perfect too, for He says, "Be you therefore, perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48).

But the Bible has also said, "All men has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Rom 3:23).  There is no one righteous, no not one (Rom 3:10). And not only God is holy, but God is just. God is the creator of the world, and He is also a judge. And according to the Bible, the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Wages indicates something one deserves because he has worked toward it. And death in the Bible refers to hell, or else referred to as 'the lake of fire', or the 'second death'.

What is sin? Murder, stealing, lying, taking drugs? Have you hated someone so much that you wish he'd die? The Bible says by doing so you have committed murder in your heart. Have your eyes lusted after someone's wife? The Bible says by doing so you have committed adultery. Such are God's high standards for perfection that no man is able to attain, for we are sinners by birth, and sinners by choice. And just like a person only has to kill once to be a murderer, to lie once to be a liar; a man has but to sin once to be a sinner deserving the wages of death. Heaven or hell isn't a state of mind. Nor is it a perceptive reality (it's as real as you think it is). It is not whether you think you are going to heaven or to hell that matters. It is the real state that matters, the absolute truth. Simon always quoted that truth is arrogant. In a way, it is, because everything 'else' has to make way for truth.

God could have just been holy and just and condemn the world to hell. Rightfully and justly so. But God is also love (1 John 4:8). The Bible does not just say God is loving - but it says God is love itself. And in John 3: 16 it says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life." God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live a sinless human life on earth, so that He would become the perfect sacrifice/ atonement for our sins. To satisfy the justice and appease the anger of a holy God.

You see. It couldn't be anything less than God's only Son. To demand for a sacrifice less perfect and less worthy would demeans God's holiness and justice. It was the only way. And Jesus took all our sins on His shoulders on the cross, and said there, "It is finished." There on the cross were our sins: past, present, future. And on the cross God the judge dealt with His beloved Son bearing the sins of the world, our sins - thus Jesus' cry: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?". 

But that was not the end. Three days after His death and burial, Jesus was resurrected from the dead, conquering sin, death, and hell. Thus we see the greatness of the power of salvation - the same power that rose Jesus from the dead, can free us from sin, death and hell; and instead gives us the righteousness of Christ. For then we are righteous before God, not because of our goodness, lest any man boast, but because of Christ's own righteousness we wear when we put on Christ.

And John 3:16 says 'whomsoever believes in Him shall not perish but have ever lasting life'. And in Romans 10:9 it says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved." Believing is not just mere head knowledge. Supposing you believe that chair A is able to hold your weight. Yet when sitting down you pull chair B alongside chair A and let both chairs support your weight instead, just in case one collapses. This doesn't show your belief in chair A. To say you believe in chair A, you rest your whole body, your whole weight on the chair. To believe in Jesus Christ, you surrender to Him your whole life. For Jesus himself said, "I am the way, the truth, the life. No one can go to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

If you believe in Jesus yet rely on fate, works, activities, people, other faiths, whatever other means to find reconciliation with God and to earn salvation, you do not believe. Believing is putting your hand on the plough and not looking back. Surrendering your life and your soul to Jesus, because you believe, you know, only He is able to save you from your sins.

Salvation is a gift from a gracious and loving God. And a gift, however highly priced cannot be earned, but is received undeservedly. And unless one receives a gift, the gift cannot be called his own. And so - God has given the gift of salvation to 'all who believe'. Everyone in the world. No matter how hopeless a sinner, how evil a man, what he has done in the past. If you repent and believe that Jesus can save you of your sins, you can receive this gift of salvation from God. It is not your call or prayer that saves you, but it is God who does.

Do you believe God can save you from your sins?

Do you believe God wants to save you from your sins?

Do you want God to save you?

The Bible says "Those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." He is just a call away. He has already seen you and loved you undeservedly and prepared salvation for you. Will you call out to Him?

困扰

很多认识我的人,都认为我情绪淡定.
的确,我没有什么所谓的大喜大怒.
不会哭得稀里哗啦,也不会在日记里面乱骂人.

然而,发现自己还是潜意识的会被情绪影响.
虽然不怎么强烈的情绪.
可是仿佛一股暗潮, 在不知觉中澎湃.

今天在工作的时候一直出错.
虽然不时什么严重的大错,
可是忙碌中不自觉的惊诧自己竟然招架不来.
没有人责怪我,可是我已经知道,
自己今天不专业.
把自己潜意识的情绪带到工作里,
因此影响表现.

回家审察自己,才懂.
原来我心理埋葬很多的愧疚.
觉得亏欠家人.
亏欠我的男友.
亏欠自己.

一年的时间只有那么多.
回家也太少,留下也太少.
阿公生日,我第一次不能回家.
我心里也知道,多数不会是最后一次.
解决方式是否是换工作?
可是又觉得没有换工作的平安.
就是没有平安.

到底是自己得不到了解,
还是我太固执太坚持自己的主见.
自己的选择,也应该了解当付出什么牺牲代价.
可是一定要这样吗?
不能被成全吗?
有人说我回家的次数太多.
又有的认为太少.
可是,勉强的套一句:人在江湖,身不由己啊.

我是否不适合作外地工作的游子?
我还在寻找这个答案.

小记: 虽然心情有点难过,
可是朋友煮了意米水,
竟然意外的让我心情舒服一些.
竟然有一股由神来的安慰,
仿佛说无论多难过,
生命总会有感恩和喜乐的理由.
你只要看见.

Unmovable Culture

The next chapter of Liar game has been out, but unfortunately they stopped at some cliffhanger. =.= But one unexpected development has arose! The naive Nao Kanzaki has suddenly imbibed some brains and a lot of common sense! It is wonderful.

Anyway I was just thinking about a few things after catching up with Mei and asking her about her new job. Apparently her organization has a very different and modern culture, and they try to use that culture to heighten employee creativity and productivity. 

I remember as an intern I used to pay a lot of attention to Merck's efforts to shape a new culture after the merger of Merck and SP. I used to re-read my IA reports (yes I do things like that), and note my own mentions of such efforts. Changing the way people work, and their attitudes toward their work. In my HR lessons we do take note of such things. 

As an intern I noted these efforts, but now as a permanent employee, I notice the difficulties of implementing a new culture on something that has already more or less been hard-set. They've are doing it through the easiest way of implementing change: changing first the behaviors of people before working up to their attitudes and finally their convictions. But it is hard to change attitudes (although you can forcefully change behaviors) when these new changes are initially viewed with skepticism. The discussions of these barriers are very realistic after all, especially when people don't realize the necessity of making changes; or just take them as new fancy names for old things. No wonder now people take personality tests before going into a job. If you're not suited for a certain culture, it would be more useful for the organization as a whole not to hire you despite you having the required core competencies.

I still remember at Year 4 I was seriously contemplating going into HR at some stage of my life. Right now I'm still keeping my options open with regards to that, although I currently enjoy doing something that is related to what I've studied, and gaining new skills and knowledge in the process. But my perceptions of how HR policies are rolled out are now different. I'm glad to be working somewhere that I can observe how these policies of change making are carried forward. And the difficulties they go through. We've been harped through the '12 inclusive behaviors' for a year now, and still, the only behavior people probably really remember (and do not take very seriously) is the first one: 'Say Hello'. That's how difficult it is.

I used to think it was easy to hammer things into people - to get them to understand something or develop certain attitudes that are useful to themselves or to an organization. But I realize now it is very difficult. Visual reminders, examples by leadership, constant mentions and setting them as performance objectives: all these seem to not have their required impacts to move the inertia of the past. And no wonder certain things I've tried to do as a leader in the past has had its hitches. I'd never came up with creative ways to handle such obstacles, nor considered the background of people who are different from me.

May I continue to learn how to be an agent of change through example and be more willing to embrace change myself. Thank God for these lessons I can learn.

Some Comics I've Read

I usually don't go for comics, but I've started off with two.

The first is Gunnerkrigg Court, which I am currently reading. 

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/index2.php

Jon and Jerome like this quirky comic, and I think it gets better as you go deeper in the story. The plot isn't really stable, I must say; it branches out in different directions. It mainly revolves around a girl, Antimony's, school life in Gunnerkrigg Court, a place where things happen and where advanced scientific technology co-exists with 'ethereal science' (read 'magic'). 

As I said, the plot branches out in side-plots here and then, and I wouldn't say it's a really first class plot, although it's engaging enough. But what really sticks me to reading this is the improved drawings and characterization of Antimony (she gets prettier as she grows up), and the improved graphics. And of course, Antimony's special gifts develop and she learns more about her background and those of the people around her. It's still being updated 3 days a week as of now.

It's weird to say that Antimony's being pretty hooks me to the comic as well as it's storyline, but well, it does.

The second comic which I've read is Liar Game 

(Free chapters here :http://www.mangahere.com/manga/liar_game/)

It is also being updated but they've stopped for a while (on hiatus). I wish they would get up and continue on with it.

In contrary to Gunnerkrigg Court, it is Liar Game's plot that makes this comic superb, rather than the characterization. To be honest, the main character Nao, is so naive and good to others that she is positively irritating. It is the other characters (enter the brainy and charismatic Akiyama, who looks even better in the movie than in the comic) that redeems whatever destruction Nao's character does, and the interesting intellectual and psychological qualities the book provides that makes it a wonderful read. 

The themes of the games are simple enough. Musical chairs. Yes or no votes where minority votes win. All easy-to-understand rules, but you'll be surprised by the amount of intellect and psychological tact required to win, and how the plot develops in most unexpected ways (how many ways can you win musical chairs). The drawing is intricate, and the plot is well thought out. In fact, the plot itself for all the sub-parts of the Liar Games are pure genius. This is by far the most interesting comic I've ever read, because it requires readers to think of solutions out of the box. I do wish the writers get out of hiatus soon. This is too good a work not to be finished.

There's a movie version of the comic out last year (storyline not lifted from any of the comic volumes), and several drama clips in Youtube. The lighting of the movie is quite bad (everything seems to be either dark or too neon-lighted), but the Akiyama is actual quite good looking as well as brainy. He's Mable's type of cool guy.