Three aviation accidents in an eight-day period this month claimed a total of 210 lives.
Air India Express Flight 812 Type Boeing 737-8HG traveling from Dubai UAE to Mangalore India, crashed on May 22. It attempted to land at Mangalore Airport, when it overran the runway, slid down a ravine into a wooded valley and burst, killing 158 out of 166 people on board, making it the 58th worst fatal accident in the history of aviation.
Five days before that, May 17, a plane had crashed in Salang pass, Afghanistan. Pamir Airlines type Antonv An-24B killing all 44 people on board and still, on May 15 another plane crashed into a forest due to poor weather 10 minutes after taking off from Godo Olo Air Strip – Blue Wings Airlines Type Antonv An-28, killing all 8 people on board.
Three aircraft with about 210 people on board, plunged into death within 8 days. There were passengers, including Christians perhaps. Christians who had prayed for a safe trip, and who had family who prayed for them, were killed.
Where is God when accidents happen? Does He lose control? Doesn’t He care?
Jesus answered this question surprisingly. He did not apologize for the incidents. God did not lose control. Nor He is to blame. In a fallen world like ours, there are no guarantees. Jesus Christ did not promise His followers a long life, good health nor material riches. In fact, Christians will most likely find trouble, trials, oppositions and adversities but they shall inherit the kingdom of God.
The news we hear everyday cannot help but cause us frustrations. We always think we are privileged and are God’s favorite child, and are exempted from trouble…while others are not. We try to forget the terrible things that happen to others and isolate ourselves from their sufferings. However, sooner or later we will have our time of facing our own mortality and that of our loved ones…because no one is exempted.
God, in His merciful ways, do not inflict troubles and accidents. Disasters do happen to an individual because of his alienation from God. If God is the Source of all blessings, life, love and health; setting a distance from the Source, makes us vulnerable, causing adverse things to happen to us as a consequence.
A close relationship with God is the only refuge of Christians… something more valuable than any secular wealth combined. Jesus said that the most important move is to repent from our sins and gain a beautiful relationship with God. Though we will die in this life, we will live in His kingdom.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Being Perfect In an Imperfect World
Imperfections fill the world. Being perfect is far from reality. There are too much selfishness, hatred, chaos coupled with murder, crime, poverty and terrorism in this imperfect world. We dream of peace, love and harmony to prevail that it remains an elusive dream forever.
As we hear the saying “The grass seems greener at the other side of the fence”, we feel our neighboring society or country does not have the problems we have in our own. So we move from one part of the world to another, only to find out that the place is just the same or often worse than the ones we left.
Then we try to create an ideal world of being perfect, with the people around us – making our family and friends ideal. However, as the kids grow we find them in an imperfect world despite our efforts. Our entire life passes with the hope of living in a perfect world. For that perfect world, we sacrifice our present life and we accuse others for our unhappiness. Yet, the world continues to be what it always been – imperfect.
As we come to the end of our lives, we realize that all our attempts to make this life better hardly resulted into any tangible change.
The concept of an ideal world is full of myths. Consider non-violence. It forbids harm to any person, including your enemy. The myth of being perfect presumes that any form of violence is not necessary and that any problem can be solved through non-violent means. However, in this seemingly imperfect world, it ignores that the very element of anger in man is part of his character as designed by the same God.
God did not design man to be nonviolent. He can get angry when he sees injustice. This is intended so human beings follow the right path. Otherwise, they will suffer the anger of their fellow men. Violence has a purpose and this cannot be washed away by any theory. People usually follow the right path for fear of violence against them.
The perfect and ideal world is supposed to have only love and everything seems to be being perfect. Apart from this notion in the imperfect world, love is dependent to hatred. They are a pair and complement each other. They are both present in everyone. To hate doing wrong is a virtue. It keeps the man in the right path. A man who hates nothing does not know how to love.
For example, democracy presumes that everyone is equal. Yet in reality, democratic countries have the largest disparities in the world. While some people are wealthy, many are in poverty. Socialism that preached a classless society and equality has in fact created biggest dictators in the world like Hitler, Stalin and Mao.
The world has been designed to be perfect by a perfect Creator. Being perfect is His nature. Yet man, in his own limited wisdom, thought that he can make this imperfect world better. He then defined a model and forced the world to fit into this shape. As it goes along, the world seems to change constantly as if leading to the ideal world as man expects.. However, the world is so strong, powerful and stable to be changed. It then came back to its original shape.
Great prophets and God in history came - Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Allah and Mohammad who gave hints to make a perfect humanity. If everyone follows their preaching, the world shall be perfect like Heaven, Swarg or Paradise. Apart from being perfect, humanity forgot their messages soon, followed the opposite, did not achieve the promised heaven and continue living in the imperfect world.
It can be easily seen with simple reasoning that all models are inadequate and deficient. Theories are designed by man based on his inadequate knowledge of the world, and they are convinced foolishly that they know the truth. Then they develop these theories ignoring the law of nature…and failed.
Therefore, what we believe to be perfect is a model far from reality. Perfection lies in reality itself. The world has always been perfect and that is reality.
The challenge is to understand the world and enjoy living in it. Being perfect in an imperfect world is to live in this world that has always been perfect like you. In the words of Khalil Gibran, “Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the self-same well from which y our laughter rises was often filled with your tears.”
As we hear the saying “The grass seems greener at the other side of the fence”, we feel our neighboring society or country does not have the problems we have in our own. So we move from one part of the world to another, only to find out that the place is just the same or often worse than the ones we left.
Then we try to create an ideal world of being perfect, with the people around us – making our family and friends ideal. However, as the kids grow we find them in an imperfect world despite our efforts. Our entire life passes with the hope of living in a perfect world. For that perfect world, we sacrifice our present life and we accuse others for our unhappiness. Yet, the world continues to be what it always been – imperfect.
As we come to the end of our lives, we realize that all our attempts to make this life better hardly resulted into any tangible change.
The concept of an ideal world is full of myths. Consider non-violence. It forbids harm to any person, including your enemy. The myth of being perfect presumes that any form of violence is not necessary and that any problem can be solved through non-violent means. However, in this seemingly imperfect world, it ignores that the very element of anger in man is part of his character as designed by the same God.
God did not design man to be nonviolent. He can get angry when he sees injustice. This is intended so human beings follow the right path. Otherwise, they will suffer the anger of their fellow men. Violence has a purpose and this cannot be washed away by any theory. People usually follow the right path for fear of violence against them.
The perfect and ideal world is supposed to have only love and everything seems to be being perfect. Apart from this notion in the imperfect world, love is dependent to hatred. They are a pair and complement each other. They are both present in everyone. To hate doing wrong is a virtue. It keeps the man in the right path. A man who hates nothing does not know how to love.
For example, democracy presumes that everyone is equal. Yet in reality, democratic countries have the largest disparities in the world. While some people are wealthy, many are in poverty. Socialism that preached a classless society and equality has in fact created biggest dictators in the world like Hitler, Stalin and Mao.
The world has been designed to be perfect by a perfect Creator. Being perfect is His nature. Yet man, in his own limited wisdom, thought that he can make this imperfect world better. He then defined a model and forced the world to fit into this shape. As it goes along, the world seems to change constantly as if leading to the ideal world as man expects.. However, the world is so strong, powerful and stable to be changed. It then came back to its original shape.
Great prophets and God in history came - Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Allah and Mohammad who gave hints to make a perfect humanity. If everyone follows their preaching, the world shall be perfect like Heaven, Swarg or Paradise. Apart from being perfect, humanity forgot their messages soon, followed the opposite, did not achieve the promised heaven and continue living in the imperfect world.
It can be easily seen with simple reasoning that all models are inadequate and deficient. Theories are designed by man based on his inadequate knowledge of the world, and they are convinced foolishly that they know the truth. Then they develop these theories ignoring the law of nature…and failed.
Therefore, what we believe to be perfect is a model far from reality. Perfection lies in reality itself. The world has always been perfect and that is reality.
The challenge is to understand the world and enjoy living in it. Being perfect in an imperfect world is to live in this world that has always been perfect like you. In the words of Khalil Gibran, “Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the self-same well from which y our laughter rises was often filled with your tears.”
What Can Christians Expect from God When Disasters Happen?
Floods are striking again. This past week, the heavy rains which occured for several days caused flash flooding in Texas, Utah and Wyoming. The rain swamped the central portion in Texas alone. Texas health officials warned of water contamination when the flood overran a sewage treatment plant and advised downstream residents to wear protective clothing especially when cleaning their homes.
Many times, the onset of tropical storms, earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions would claim numerous lives in a wink of an eye. These would cause an insurmountable grief to those who lost their loved ones, a terrible headache for the local government officials and enhance cooperation from neighboring locations.
While man can de-explode a patriot, can block an unknown mail sender, can move a cloud to avoid rain, he cannot stop Mother Nature when it gives out disasters. It just seems to be unstoppable. Man is deemed helpless when nature strikes.
Disasters cause terrible sorrow, discomfort and hardships to those directly affected. How can we protect ourselves when nature strikes? As Christians, why does God let it happen to us? Why can’t life be just smooth-sailing all the time?
Jesus’ teachings show us how to deal with disasters.
Jesus was once asked about a tragedy which happened in the Jerusalem temple when Pilate brutally killed many devout Jewish worshippers and their blood mingled with that of the sacrificed animals at the time of the temple’s daily sacrifice.
He said not to fear those who can kill the body, but fear to commit sin which can apart us from God and therefore make us be thrown to hell…which can kill the spirit. (Matthew 10:28).
Jesus did not promise to stop these disasters, but instilled in us not to fear them. Disasters are nothing compared to committing sin that can cause us to be thrown to hell.
As to our properties or belongings, Jesus told a parable about a rich man who worried where to store his crops. He said to himself, he had to be happy for his goods are abundant and will last for many years. However, God told him that his soul will be taken from him that very night. Therefore, any material thing we have in this life, we cannot take with us. We should have to worry about these things less and put more importance to the things that we do that can gain God’s favor.
Disasters can take away our properties and anything we worked hard to possess. Disasters can do just that. They should not take our spirit away from the mercy of an All-Powerful God Who exactly knows what we really need.
Signs of His second coming?
Jesus once spoke of the time between His two advents. He mentioned that on His second coming, there will be famines, earthquakes, wars and natural disasters. He said these will just be the start of the end of the world and the actual pain is yet to come. (Matthew 24).
Whatever it is, we just have to be prepared all the time like those brides who did not sleep for the night to prepare for the coming of their bridegroom. (Matthew 25:10). What Christians can expect from God is the fulfillment of His promise of an everlasting life.
Many times, the onset of tropical storms, earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions would claim numerous lives in a wink of an eye. These would cause an insurmountable grief to those who lost their loved ones, a terrible headache for the local government officials and enhance cooperation from neighboring locations.
While man can de-explode a patriot, can block an unknown mail sender, can move a cloud to avoid rain, he cannot stop Mother Nature when it gives out disasters. It just seems to be unstoppable. Man is deemed helpless when nature strikes.
Disasters cause terrible sorrow, discomfort and hardships to those directly affected. How can we protect ourselves when nature strikes? As Christians, why does God let it happen to us? Why can’t life be just smooth-sailing all the time?
Jesus’ teachings show us how to deal with disasters.
Jesus was once asked about a tragedy which happened in the Jerusalem temple when Pilate brutally killed many devout Jewish worshippers and their blood mingled with that of the sacrificed animals at the time of the temple’s daily sacrifice.
He said not to fear those who can kill the body, but fear to commit sin which can apart us from God and therefore make us be thrown to hell…which can kill the spirit. (Matthew 10:28).
Jesus did not promise to stop these disasters, but instilled in us not to fear them. Disasters are nothing compared to committing sin that can cause us to be thrown to hell.
As to our properties or belongings, Jesus told a parable about a rich man who worried where to store his crops. He said to himself, he had to be happy for his goods are abundant and will last for many years. However, God told him that his soul will be taken from him that very night. Therefore, any material thing we have in this life, we cannot take with us. We should have to worry about these things less and put more importance to the things that we do that can gain God’s favor.
Disasters can take away our properties and anything we worked hard to possess. Disasters can do just that. They should not take our spirit away from the mercy of an All-Powerful God Who exactly knows what we really need.
Signs of His second coming?
Jesus once spoke of the time between His two advents. He mentioned that on His second coming, there will be famines, earthquakes, wars and natural disasters. He said these will just be the start of the end of the world and the actual pain is yet to come. (Matthew 24).
Whatever it is, we just have to be prepared all the time like those brides who did not sleep for the night to prepare for the coming of their bridegroom. (Matthew 25:10). What Christians can expect from God is the fulfillment of His promise of an everlasting life.
How Does God Look at Money?
The Bilbe says that money is a root of all evils that it is hard to enter the kingdom of God when you are wealthy.
However, money is important. It answers most of the basic needs we have such as food, shelter, clothing, education of children, healthcare, debts, etc. King Solomon prayed in Proverbs:
"Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me; lest I be full, deny you, and say, 'Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs 30:8-9
Money is the essence of why we work in the first place. It helps us meet our obligations to our family.
God’s advice for using money
While others are content to sustain themselves, some are not. There are those who want to gain more money and wealth. God tells us to use money to gain friends and be worth the trust so we will deserve to have heavenly possessions. "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings... If you are not trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?" Luke 16:9-12 (NIV)
Being wealthy is not a sin in itself, God knows that. However, it is how one regards his money that matters. However, most of the wealthy people set their heart to their wealth. They are trapped to the temptations of their possessions, making money the culprit of grabbing their soul away from being good and kind.
For where your treasure is, your heart is there too. Rich people fall into a trap and are open to wicked and silly desires, destroying and ruining their souls. For loving money leads to all evil, and many in the struggle to be wealthy lost their faith and suffer untold agonies of the mind.
The Bible tells us to use money to show to our brethren that God loves them…through us, and we can use money as a tool to manifest that.
"But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." Luke 12:48 (KJV)
Saving money and planning
”On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.” 1 Cor 16:2.
God did not despise the idea of saving. He does not want His people to suffer. That is why He has rules set for His people to follow…for the good of everyone. However, many indulge themselves into breaking God’s rules and do vices that bring them insufficient money. Man’s fate is his own making.
The scriptures also tell us that God encourages hard work, earning, planning and budgeting, so that we will not experience poverty.
“Go to the ant, sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.” Proverbs 6:6-8
“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenty; but the thoughts of everyone who is hasty only to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5.
The Bible encourages to plan on things ahead so we will finish every endeavor that we undertake. God with all His wisdom, wants His people to use their heads, especially when it comes to money.
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it; lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all those seeing begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.“ Luke 14:28-30
However, money is important. It answers most of the basic needs we have such as food, shelter, clothing, education of children, healthcare, debts, etc. King Solomon prayed in Proverbs:
"Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me; lest I be full, deny you, and say, 'Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs 30:8-9
Money is the essence of why we work in the first place. It helps us meet our obligations to our family.
God’s advice for using money
While others are content to sustain themselves, some are not. There are those who want to gain more money and wealth. God tells us to use money to gain friends and be worth the trust so we will deserve to have heavenly possessions. "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings... If you are not trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?" Luke 16:9-12 (NIV)
Being wealthy is not a sin in itself, God knows that. However, it is how one regards his money that matters. However, most of the wealthy people set their heart to their wealth. They are trapped to the temptations of their possessions, making money the culprit of grabbing their soul away from being good and kind.
For where your treasure is, your heart is there too. Rich people fall into a trap and are open to wicked and silly desires, destroying and ruining their souls. For loving money leads to all evil, and many in the struggle to be wealthy lost their faith and suffer untold agonies of the mind.
The Bible tells us to use money to show to our brethren that God loves them…through us, and we can use money as a tool to manifest that.
"But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." Luke 12:48 (KJV)
Saving money and planning
”On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.” 1 Cor 16:2.
God did not despise the idea of saving. He does not want His people to suffer. That is why He has rules set for His people to follow…for the good of everyone. However, many indulge themselves into breaking God’s rules and do vices that bring them insufficient money. Man’s fate is his own making.
The scriptures also tell us that God encourages hard work, earning, planning and budgeting, so that we will not experience poverty.
“Go to the ant, sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.” Proverbs 6:6-8
“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenty; but the thoughts of everyone who is hasty only to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5.
The Bible encourages to plan on things ahead so we will finish every endeavor that we undertake. God with all His wisdom, wants His people to use their heads, especially when it comes to money.
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it; lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all those seeing begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.“ Luke 14:28-30
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