BELIEFS
The Christian faith is not merely happy-clappy Sunday morning rituals, weekday Bible reading, prayer, and meditation
It is much more the daily, persistent articulation of upbuilding words and loving deeds that actualize the teachings of the Bible. As we live “in Christ.” we begin to usher in the restoring Kingdom reign of God. The big reason for the present lethargy in the Christian community is the lack of exuberance in deliberately and earnestly living what they believe. Numerous Christians regard their faith in God as a comfortable Sunday service ceremony, securing them an eventual spot in heaven. However, the intent of Christ’s coming into the world and subjecting Himself to a very torturous and shameful death sentence was to liberate us from sin. What is sin? It is the destructive, self-centred way of living when we ignore the Creator and His norms. It is doing what is pleasing in our own eyes. Christ came to renew us in a right relationship with God, to share good news with the poor, to bind the wounds of the brokenhearted, to liberate us from captivity to hateful feelings or self-satisfying addictions. On a daily basis, we should want to show our gratitude to Him by offering ourselves in other-centred living, loving God wholeheartedly and others as much as we love ourselves. Such loving obedience and sacrificial living will begin to heal our inner brokenness and will also begin to restore our relationship with others. As we thus put the main biblical teachings into practice in very earnest and intentional ways, the Kingdom of right and loving deeds is actualizing God’s reign in and through us. When we follow His norms for personal and communal living in our families, workplaces, businesses, schools, and all our public activities, the new life in Christ will blossom all around us. This restorative new life in Christ is to be the main focus of our existence here on earth. This is the good news that we are to share with others.
In the Mission Statement, I touched on a number of questions that we tend to ask when we are young. Yet, from time to time we may also ask them as we get older. There may not be easy answers, however. First of all, as humans we view reality in different ways. Some believe that the universe came into existence by accident. This means that there is no intended purpose to our life, except whatever purpose each one of us chooses to give it.
Others believe that only an extremely wise and caring Being caused this universe to come into existence; therefore, life must be meaningful and full of purpose. Our view of the nature of reality, then, makes a big difference as to how we answer the deep-seated questions that bubble up in our minds. But how can we know with certainty which view is true? Which view makes actual sense and which doesn’t? What is the authentic nature of reality? How do we determine the accuracy of our existence? Nowadays we claim that only science gives us reliable answers, but science is a human activity that can reach conclusions only about whatever can be seen, measured, or weighed. Humans cannot use science to know something about the unseen world.
Science knows nothing about any existence before the universe came into being. And what reliable facts can science tell us about anything unseen in the universe (e.g., our emotions, our will, our conscience, our mind, our consciousness)? Science cannot provide us with trustworthy results if the universe is a mere accident or some fluke. If we humans are the result of some haphazard, accidental process, how can we know anything dependable? Our existence makes sense only if a wise, loving Creator called the universe into being in an amazingly regulated, reliable, purposeful way. Orderly organization does not arise from chaos. Scientific predictability is possible only within a stable, constant, coherent structure and is not possible in a random, haphazard, disorderly universe. Careful research indicates that there is much more evidence for a well-designed cosmos than for an undirected chaotic one.
When we ask the question, “Who am I?” we are confronted with a mystery. We can see ourselves as an object in the mirror and can describe ourselves outwardly, but what can we say about the unseen subject inside? We know that we have visible internal organs, but what about the invisible entities? We know that there are emotions within us. Also, we talk about an inner entity such as a soul or spirit or will or character or conscience or imagination or mind or intellect or consciousness. We know that these elements exist inside of us, but we cannot fully fathom them. This is the fascinating intra-personal world within us. We cannot entirely understand it. Yet, this outwardly noticeable person with an inwardly invisible reality can interact with another, similar person and can form an interpersonal relationship that can be close or distant. And these interrelated persons organize communities (e.g., marriage, family, clan, tribe, race, church, business, soccer club, orchestra). Each of these communities has an intra-communal existence with its own norms. At the same time, these communities impact other communities in intercommunal ways. These people and their organized communities today form the intra-national structure of a country. We can also relate to people at an international way. Thus, humans are organized in six major types of relationships
Understanding the intra-personal within us
We know that there are various elements deep inside us. We name them (e.g., spirit, conscience, mind, soul, etc.), but we do not clearly know what they are. Moreover, sometimes we are happy or annoyed or afraid or sad. We recognize these as feelings. We know by observing infants that our emotions are formed early, long before our intellect matures. We realize that over time a reservoir of positive and negative emotions forms within us in reaction to the way we relate to others When in our connections with others (perhaps our parents) we have been hurt somehow, negative emotions may build up in us. These adverse feelings could be a true reflection concerning what others are saying about us, but it could also be that for some reason we imagined these feelings to be true. If we should feed these imaginary thoughts, we might become convinced that this is what others are saying about us. However, if we would express these thoughts with the person whom we regard as having a negative view of us, we might discover what the true state of affairs is. We will never discover the truth if we don’t develop the courage to explore our emotions with other people. Unfortunately, because of this negativity within us or between us and others, we generally don’t express our hidden feelings in positive, upbuilding ways. As a result of such negative feelings, our hidden thoughts can become self-harming and further strengthen our negative perceptions.
Here is an example. After my wife and I were married for about 12 years, I began to wonder whether she loved me. This thought or feeling irritated me, but the more I contemplated it, the angrier I became. For seven years I easily got upset with her. I also disliked myself for being easily angered. One day a thought entered my mind, “You cannot change your wife, but you can change yourself.” (I believe that God touched my spirit in this way to straighten me out.) When I began adopting a different attitude toward my wife, I could feel the anger drain out of my body in about a month. Later, our second daughter gave us a video about the Five Love Languages. That video opened my eyes. I then realized that my wife loved me by “acts of service” rather than the “words of encouragement” that I liked. We all ought to appreciate the different way in which we are loved. Yet, our friend or spouse should also know the way we want to be loved. (You should check Gary Chapman’s helpful book or video on the Five Love Languages.) And these adverse perceptions about ourselves (and others) influence our interpersonal relationships with those around us. If our inner emotional reservoir has many negative feelings, it can easily affect our relations with others in negative ways. Other people are sensitive to our positive or negative feelings and usually will react negatively to us when we give them negative vibes. We must remember that we are all imperfect human beings (both as parents and as children). This is a truth concerning reality. However, the more aware we are of our own imperfections (also of our negative emotions), the more we can counteract our own negativity.
Developing greater self-discipline in interpersonal relations is a significant Kingdom characteristic. And that certainly involves a willingness to fight against our negative emotions. If we are unable or unwilling to combat such interpersonal emotions, we will not be able to improve intra-communal issues either. The more people are involved in some communal efforts, the more complex the issues will be.
Our vision’s core values are five major Bible teachings woven together into a vibrant tapestry.
When you are young, you are curious what this life is all about. You certainly know something about it, because you’ve experienced it already for a while