Now I know quite a few people, especially those in the Christian circle, who love to ask this question: What does Christmas mean to you? Well, how I would interpret that question would be: what is so special & unique about the 25th of December which makes Christmas that magical day which happens only once a year?

So that would immediately rule out Christmas being about family and friends cause I meet up with them on a daily basis, thus one more time on 25/12 wouldn’t be a unique annual event.

Shopping for new clothes & gifts would also be quickly ruled out as I think the world would stop revolving if women could only do their shopping once a year.

Then another popular view is that Christmas is about remembering the birth of Jesus Christ. Firstly I would be very upset with many of my Christian friends if they remember that very important piece of history only once a year and secondly, our blessed Saviour might not have actually been born on the 25th of December. ( For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas. ) Nonetheless, the Christmas season is a great excuse to share the gospel story and I fully encourage doing so. In fact, I was part of a musical entitled ‘Christmas Is’ done by my church and it was a really fantastic experience and well worth all the 6 months of preparation. Sharing an old story in a new way should definitely be done during this time of the year, but please, not only during this time of the year. Anyway following my definition of what Christmas means to me, Christmas Isn’t this.

We get warmer when we start looking at Christmas as being the time of the year when my army company starts getting me really busy by making me hand write Christmas cards to the zillions of clients we had throughout the year. After writing ‘Thank you for your support to MDC, wishing you and your staff a Merry Christmas and Happy New year’ for the umpteenth time, I would have loved to think that this would be an annual & unique event fitting of my definition of Christmas. Sadly, I heard I’ll have to repeat this fiasco during Chinese New Year =(

So what the heck then is Christmas all about to me? What’s the magical event that happens only once a year which I so eagerly anticipate?



Yeap, Christmas is…about turkey =)

“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:28

Is tattooing indeed defiling your body, a.k.a. the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Firstly, its important to know that Leviticus 19:28 comes from the Old Covenant law, and if one wants to live by the law - the Old Covenant - then one must keep ALL of it and not just pick and choose whichever rule one likes to keep or break.

James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

So here are just some of the laws that one has to abide by according to Levitical law (Old Covenant Law).
We may not:
- eat the meat of rabbits or pigs (Leviticus 11:6-7), nor lobsters, crabs, prawns, oysters or clams (Leviticus 11:10-12).
- Hybrid breeding of livestock and mixing linen and wool in fabrics is prohibited (Leviticus 19:19).
- Shaving the sides of your head (being clean shaven) or disfiguring the edges of your beard (trimming) are also forbidden (Leviticus 19:27).
So - if you’ve ever eaten a char siew pao, Newton Hawker center seafood, shaved your beard in the morning or worn a wool blend suit - or have gotten a tattoo – you’re guilty under the law!
Thank God he provided a better way for us to be reconciled to Him. Under the New Covenant, we can come to God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour.

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:8-11 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Under the New Covenant, all the law is fulfilled in loving God with all your heart, soul and mind and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus came to earth and fulfilled the law and now if we accept Him into our hearts, we also accept His right standing with God. Therefore our righteousness with God is based upon His righteousness - not on the law

Matthew 22:36-40 - "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

So does tattooing defile your body?

In the New Testament, a similar issue was going around, which was about eating certain types of food which were against the Old Covenant law which some people in that day were harping about. Jesus & Paul both dealt with that issue.

Jesus said in Matthew 15:11 that it is what comes out of the mouth of a person that defiles him.

Matthew 15:11 - What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'.

Paul teaches that it is the attitude of the heart that is important. While all things were legal to Paul, not all things were without consequences. Paul affirmed the freedom we have in Christ, but he also warned us to beware that our liberty does not become a stumbling block for others. With liberty comes responsibility. A word of caution: do not flaunt your Christian freedom. One man’s freedom can be another’s downfall.
(Romans 14 & 1 Corinthians 8)

For example, it is perfectly ok for me to drink alcohol but if I do so in the presence of an alcoholic who is trying to quit, then I would be tempting him & causing him to stumble. Thus that would be sin on my part.

So, then tattooing is indeed ok for us unless God gives you a personal conviction not to. But why then is such a law, or any of those laws in the Old Covenant even mentioned in the Bible?

Here is one possible explanation. The Old covenant law shows us that it is impossible to reach Gods standards by our own effort, that’s why we need Jesus, to fulfill the law for us, and write it on our hearts.

Anyway if all else fails, just tell those critics of tattooing who want to follow the Bible word for word & not the Spirit behind what was written that Leviticus 19:28 clearly states: "You shall not... tattoo any marks on you." - this obviously means don’t tattoo yourself, go to a professional!



This article has been adapted from the information found from the Christian tattoo association website http://xtat.org/tattoosbible.php

On the last night of Sunday School camp, we were treated to a wonderful experience of worship as God graced us with His presence. Many who were normally motionless on Sunday mornings were enthusiastically praising their Creator & others were blessed with an emotional encounter as the Holy Spirit moved strongly in Winfield Hall. However, to a not too small group of youth, the memory they will be taking back from that night would not be the awesome work of God but the crafty work of the devil.

I was enjoying supper with most of the campers after the worship when a boy with a worried look on his face came up to me and asked me to get my dad to come back up to the worship hall immediately. We rushed up and found a boy sprawled on the floor with a large group of adults & youth surrounding him. Apparently an evil spirit was manifesting in him and was causing him much discomfort as he was coughing. The adult Sunday school leader who was present at the scene had requested for my dad as he was more experienced in this field. My dad, after spending a few moments to take in the situation at hand, proceeded to move in with great composure. (Although later he confessed to me he was actually quite nervous as well)

He recoginised the adult Sunday school leader who was praying at that time as being the main authority figure and proceeded to assist him. As my dad prayed for the boy, he noticed some strange reactions from him as prayers regarding a certain topic were said. That gave him a sense as to what was the problem afflicting the boy.

By now, a large crowd of youth were gathering around and they all wanted to lay hands and pray for him as well. My dad was not too comfortable with this as he heard a theory from a pastor that if you are going through similar problems as the person who has an evil manifested spirit and you lay hands on him, the spirit may affect you as well. That may have happened as a young girl who was praying for the boy suddenly broke out in tears and ended up requiring other people to pray for her. My dad took the opportunity to take the boy aside with the other adults so that they could pray for him without the crowd. The other reason for doing this is also because the person being prayed for may be required to confess certain issues which he may find very difficult to do if a large crowd is gathered around him.

Away from the crowd, the adult Sunday school leader prayed against the specific problem which my dad sensed was affecting the boy and his response was favorable. Finally, with the authority that comes from Christ, he commanded the spirit to leave and then requested for the Holy Spirit to come and fill him so he won’t be left empty. The boy regained consciousness and managed to get up, free once more.

The boy is ok now but the damage was already done as the evil spirit accomplished his purpose. His job is to distract the people from the work that God is doing and unfortunately for those youth who had gotten themselves involved, that’s what happened to them as chances are they will remember that devil event far more vividly than the God event which occurred prior to that. That’s why such incidents should be kept from grabbing the spotlight by taking the affected person away from the crowd ASAP, so the people won’t get distracted from what God is doing. It is good that we learnt that.

Clever & sneaky, like a snake in the grass is the evil one.

We played this most excellent game during the recent Church Camp which I attended.

It’s basically a simulation of life and its available choices. Each person starts with a small sum of cash & a "lifesheet" which contains all you need to know about the different things you may do (Education, jobs, pleasures, stock market, gambling, buy a house, go to church). It also keeps a record of all the things you have done & accumulated in “life”, which lasts for a total of 15 rounds, 8mins each.

The playing field is a big hall with the different stations (School, job market, pleasure market, stock market, gambling den, house dealer, church) situated in various locations within it. Also, hanging from the ceiling, is a large projector screen which shows the round time & displays the news in “life”, such as the stock market prices & various happenings.

We had some time before the first round began and so I carefully studied the “lifesheet” and meticulously drew out a detailed, minute by minute plan to the fastest & most efficient route to get a kick ass high paying job – which was to become a movie star.
My aim was to get that job in as quick a time as possible so that I could be rich & enjoy the rest of “life”, like marry a pretty wife, buy a sports car & go on a long holiday. So as the seconds ticked down for the preliminary round, I stood, along with all the 70 other campers in eager anticipation for the starting whistle, ready for an all out chiong.

Round 1

Never have I seen so many people so enthusiastic to rush to school! Well no surprise actually, considering there are only 30 slots available and without an education you can’t qualify for almost all jobs. Well, thank goodness I made it, or else my master plan would have been foiled from the start. Speaking about the master plan, I felt quite bad today, this poor girl came up to me and asked for a donation, said something about her house being struck by a tsunami or something like that. Unfortunately for her, the master plan requires me to utilize every single cent I have in order to progress lightning fast and so I had to turn her request down, but I promised her I would make it up to her once I became a Super Star.

9 tiring rounds later…

Round 2 - 9

I am so excited! I’ve almost fulfilled all the requirements needed to get my dream job! But I tell you It’s been no easy task. The master plan required me to squeeze every second out of each round and for the past 9 rounds I’ve been running non stop from school to work, from work to the church to get married, from the church to the house dealer to buy my condo, from there to the plastic surgeon I need to go to in order to change from looking like an armpit to Brad Pitt. In fact I’ve been so focused that I’ve not had time to enjoy any of the other aspects of “life” nor read the news displayed on that big screen.

If only I had seen what was being said in the news, then I might just have noticed the warning signs of a diabolical threat that about to turn my world upside down...

Round 10

I had finally achieved all that I wanted to in “life”! I filmed my first movie, bought a Ferrari F430, married a pretty stock broker, and treated that poor little girl from Round 1 to a holiday in Langkawi, she was so happy! And so am I! Can’t wait to film the sequel to my film in the next round. My wifes shares are expected to rocket next round too! Whoo hoo!

Round 11
Spirits were sky high as we waited for the signal to start the 11th round. And then everything went black. The lights in the hall went off and only 2 big words appeared on the big screen.

JUDGMENT DAY

A deep voice was heard over the microphone as the gamemaster spoke through it
“Christians on my right, the rest on my left”

OH SHUCKS! What a sneaky game! I was so caught up in all the rushing about I did not even realize that Christianity existed in this “life”. Stupid me, this is church camp after all.

As I see a small group of people gather on the gamemasters right, I also notice the much larger group of people sitting on my side – the side that’s going to downtown hell. Sitting next to me was my idol in this “life” who was this multibillionaire investor who had women flocking to him as though he was some Zara sale as he was giving away sports cars to them like free.

After the game came to a close & having shared a few laughs with my ‘idol in life’ over our pointless successes, a thought struck me. There I was, sitting on top of all the wealth I accumulated in the 10 Rounds of “life” but in the end eventually taking my seat on the wrong side of grace. If in this life, I really had the power to plan my life to “success” so well & choing after it with all my heart & strength, would I choose to do that and end up forgetting all about my relationship with God? This game made me remember that if I do solely go after all the pleasures that this world has to offer, I am going to end up falling from grace, and driving my F430 straight to downtown hell.

GG