About Christianity

cameras are a wonderful invention. it allows us to capture moments of our lives which our memory may not be able to store. it tells us the life we had. the pictures we had reminds us of the memories we had and bring a smile back to our face, if we use them correctly. i am not telling you to use a camera and take pictures of other people's private life. so, what has this got to do with what i am saying today? actually... nothing.

i got my camera, finally, after days of searching. it is a nikon s52 camera. 9 megapixel. i know you are not interested to know that.

ok so here it goes. i want a camera, and researched on the web. canon, olympus, sony, nikon. these 4 brands are the most popular brands and most recommended by others. after going through hours of selection and research, i had decided on one. that is the nikon s52. it was released in april. now it is june.

also, there is this great singapore sale going on. everything is going on at a promotional price. so what i did was go out happily, thinking i could come back with the camera i wanted. crap. no stock. one retailer chain said they did not take in any because there are too many (other) stocks they could not clear. the other retail chain had no stock. what made me mad was they put it on the advertisement saying they are selling it and what? no stock and did not even take in any stock? i was kind of pissed. everywhere i go i could not find it. of course maybe other small shops at the street did sell, but i did not really trust them.

i went all over the retail chain stores to look for it (because they don't answer their phones!!), but there were no stocks too. i was asked if i wanted other models. i said no. i only want the one i want. back in my office, i did a bit more research on other brands. i know what you are thinking. personal research during office hours? shut up. don't say a thing.

i thought if this model is so hard to get maybe i should get other brands or models. i researched more into others, but could not find one that can match the model i want. forget it. either i get that model or i will not get anything. it is my money. i want to buy what i want.

what i did finally is i went through a list of authorized dealers in singapore nikon has. there were large retail chains as well as small shops. i did not trust small shops, but if the advertisement put the name of the small shop there and said it is authorized to sell, i guess i would go for it. and there, i found it at a small shop. hooray x 1/2. where did the other 1/2 go? different colors of the camera were available in different countries. for example america has green, i think. i hate green, so i don't care. but i was kind of disappointed that singapore did not have black color. i had to go for silver, out of the 3 colors - silver, gold and pink (i think, i forgot). and i got it at a discounted price because that shop imported too much stock.

moral of the story? our christian belief is just like this search for the camera. only that we have searched and found it. i knew what camera i want and would not go for any other. i searched long and wasted time, but in the end i got it, and at a discounted price. what about our christian life? we knew Jesus is the Way. we have to follow Him. it is hard, tedious and we have to spend time. we cannot go for any other alternatives, because we all know where it lead to (bad cameras). just like how i thought i might search for alternatives, there may be times we are tempted to go for alternatives in our christian life too. but remember, just as i could not find any other cameras that i like and suited for me, there is only one Way for you and for me and for all others. but if we have patience, and preservere, in the end, we will get a much better reward (discounted price). so, don't give up if it is hard. the end result is worth it. or should i say, you definately don't want to try hell.

i have always hated studying. and because of that, i usually put off studying till the last period, around 3 months or so, and cramp either one or two year's worth of work into that few months, depending on which examination i take. the result is that during that 3 months or so i have almost absolutely no play, and practically stay at home to study every free time i got. after the exams i would be very exhausted, and took very long to recover from the mental tiredness.

i don't like studying, and i still study. i know it is no fun, yet i still try to score for examinations. why? everyone knows, it is because we have to score to have a better future. not that scoring for academic examinations will ensure a bright future, but it gives a headstart. a headstart makes a lot of difference. that is why people work hard for it, to widen the headstart between oneself and other people. nothing wrong with it.

is there even a lesson from this story? yea i guess so. the same thing can apply to chrisitianity. walking the narrow way and the broad way. it is hard sometimes to do the right thing. i hate that feller and i don't want to forgive him, but i have to. i want to pay him or her back for what he or she had done to me, but i can't. i have to keep my mouth from saying swear words. i cannot engage in sexual immorality like other people did. there are a ton of things i cannot do and another ton of things i need to do.

but people still go through it. why? like exams, the life we experience now will determine where we go in the future. even in exams, we have to depend on luck sometimes. will i be sick on that day of exam? will the questions be set much harder this year? will they input the wrong results when they compute our scores? even if i get good results, will i definately get a good job next time? even with this much uncertainty, people still work for it. how much more, should we work for the goal, for the place in heaven that will definately belong to us if we work for it? of course, getting to heaven is by faith and by grace, but we still have to work for it. you cannot expect to get to heaven if you do not refrain yourself from every sin in the world, right?

like preparing for exams, we are preparing for eternal life. it is not fun, it is sometimes tiring. sometimes we want to give up. but then, is it worth it? like failing for exams, sometimes people cry. we know we don't want to fail. we put so much effort for something 'small' like exams when compared to eternal life. we should also, put in a greater effort to walk the narrow way. when we lack strength, all we need to do is to pray and ask to be strengthened, to be encouraged, to be refreshed. that way, we won't pile up our stress and tiredness like what we do during exams when we do last minute work. chrisitianity, shouldn't be last minute. we would'nt know when we will die, or when is this world going to end. we have to be prepared at all times.

i know i don't want to fail my exams. and this life, is something like an exam. if we pass it, we get to heaven. if we fail, we get to go to hell. and i know i definately don't want to fail. what about you? even if you don't like it, even if you see other people enjoying themselves, will you walk the narrow way? will you work for it, for the eternal life and treasure that will never fade away? not that examinations in our real life is not important, but if we can work hard for something that worldly and with so much uncertainty, can't we also work much harder for something promised and something with perfect certainty?

if you have lived for a certain number of years, you will have things that you regret. generally regret is separated into 2 categories, regret that you did something, or regret you did not do anything. a regret, i would take it as something which had already happened and that which cannot be turned back. example, hurting a person, not studying hard, commit a crime, did not appreciate someone.

me too, have my own regrets. i have already told myself that i will not do things that will make me regret. of course that is a near impossible achievement. well maybe at least i can try. what regrets do i have? quite a few. i made stupid mistakes, and did stupid things. well things a usual teenager would do. i was an idiot last time. i guess everybody is at one point of time or another.

luckily, many of our regrets are quite 'little'. as in, nobody really died, there are no long-term effects that will result in a dramatic turnover of our life for most of us. yes, it did affect us, maybe for a short while, maybe for a long while, maybe forever. maybe it is a big impact. but most of it, well i take it as decisions made up to the point of age 21, since i am 21 this year, most of it do not have that big of an impact to completely change us. meaning? life goes on, maybe with a few hurts here and there. no big deal. i dealt with it, at the expense of many sleepless nights and many moody days.

so i can say our regrets up to age 21 for most of us do not significantly affect us once a few years passed by. maybe we became more mellow, more cheerful, more able to hide and handle pain, whatever. everyone got changed, a little i guess. but there is another kind of regret that will happen to many of us, a regret that will affect us forever, one that we can never get over with, and that will happen when we die, or after we die. i'm sure you guessed it. this is a christian blog, you should know what to expect.

yes, if we end up in hell, there will be regret forever. reason 1, eternal pain and suffering. not 1 year, 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years. forever. no end to time. no limit. imagine being burn by fire forever. no rest, no peace, no relief. regret forever. what can we do then? nothing. you are dead, and you are gone, if you end up in hell. i dont know if you believe in the concept of hell. i do not have proof. but religion is about faith. i have not seen hell, not felt it, not heard it. but i believe it. i believe it exist and believe that i am not insane enough to want to go there.

i dont want to regret. do you? if you dont, be a good christian. as in, follow the way of Christ Jesus. do what He tell you to. repent of your sins, every single one of them. if you are not a christian, be a christian. i know it is weird to just join any religion. try to talk to your christian friends about it. dont regret forever because of the few years you spend here. instead, celebrate forever because of the life you spend here. it is only a short while. dont regret.

what is the value of life? some people say it is priceless. but as we look at the world today, life sometimes are treated dirt-cheap.

sometimes workers or missionaries overseas are captured by terrorist or rebel forces and the group forced the government of the captured people to pay money to them or they will kill the hostages. in short, kidnap. families will pay kidnappers as much as they can to get back their loved ones. governement will pay and talk terms in order to take back their citizens. that is common knowledge. maybe their life is one million dollars worth, throw in a few hardcore prisioners in jail.

on the other hand, we look at africa and in middle east. civil war, genocide, suicide bombings, roadside bombings, all this nonsense. we look at the people, they did nothing but try to kill their own kind. fight for peace, fight for an overall religious world, all this bullshit. we look at the people dying everyday. how much are these lives worth? maybe nothing. maybe the cost of a bomb and a human life divided by the number of casualties. in short, dirt-cheap?

so what does the value of life depends on? who you are and where you live in? maybe if you are the president of a big country your life is worth a lot of money. maybe if you are just a commoner in africa nobody will care if you die. 2 people, created by God, created in His image, have such difference in the value of their life. maybe the one whose life is more expensive contribute more to the society? is that how we determine?

i would really like to say the value of life is priceless. but that don't seemed to be the case. even families and government has a limit to how much they are willing and able to pay. we know of cases where hostages are killed because families have no money. we know of government refusing to trade in hardcore criminals in exchange for hostages. then is life really priceless? no. their life is only more expensive than other people. maybe much more expensive. much much more. but it is not priceless.

maybe you have someone willing to die for you. a life for a life. the law of the world? no idea. but i realize, life is priceless only to the following: you yourself, the one willing to die for you, and God. let's not go into why you think your own life is priceless, that is a dumb topic to explore. the one willing to die for you, be it human or Jesus Christ, they gave up their own life for your sake. if a human die for you, it means his or her futures, hopes, dreams, everything is gone, in this world. Christ died for us too, yes we know He got resurrected, but that is a different point. and of course, God thinks you are priceless too. He loves you a lot, so much till He sent His Son to die for us.

maybe to most other humans, our lives are nothing. to some, they are worth a lot, and yet to others, our lives are as important or more important than theirs. so, the theory of life is priceless is only applicable to a certain area. in most areas, life is worth from dirt-cheap to very expensive. but the important thing is we ourselves know that God think our life is priceless. our soul is priceless.

if we die, where do we go? in christianity, you either go to heaven or go to hell. in summary, all non-christians go to hell, and disobedient christians go to hell too. let's not talk about why now. i will explain it some other time, if you even bother to read my blog. in hell, there is no end to the misery. how much will you pay to get out of it? how much will you pay to redeem your soul? everything. anything you can do. but the thing is, once you go there, you are gone. you can say you are a permanent resident there. our lives and souls are paid by the blood of Christ, so that we are able to escape hell, only if we are obedient to God. don't care about what other people think how much your life and soul is worth. think about it yourself. how much will you pay to go to heaven? how far will you go to avoid hell? i will pay with my life on earth. use your life for the Lord, be obedient to Him. the price is paid for by Christ, all you need to do is to give your life to the Lord. He will know what to do with your priceless life.

i was doing barbeque over at my friend's house the other day. it was my turn to cook prawns ( i have no idea why she would buy prawns for barbeque ). anyway, the flames got a little too strong as they all kept dumping charcoal into the pit. the flames did not reach me, but the heat did. my hand felt painful, and i pulled away. it was natural. no sane human would let his hand be barbequed.

but the point is, if a small fire which heat is enough to make me feel pain and make me drew my hand away, what would happen if i get thrown into hell, where the fire would be there to burn for all eternity. someone once said, if a seagull comes once every 1000 years to take a particle of sand from the beach, even that would have a hope of the process coming to an end. i forgot who said it, but i felt it is true. he was trying to say, if you are going to hell, it is game over for you. even when the seagull cleared the beach, you would still be there in the fires if you just get thrown inside.

i do not wish to go to hell. and i do not wish to see anybody i know going there. but then, that is an impossible wish, isnt it? anyway, i dont do preaching. because what i do does not tally with what i said. it makes me feel like a hypocrite. but i wouldnt want to just sit and do nothing. so, i started posting stories. nobody really read it though, except for one or two friends of mine. people are just interested in other people's life story.