Think
Social egg freezing
In October 2014, Apple and Facebook made the headlines by announcing that they would pay the expenses of women employees who wished to freeze their eggs. This unprecedented move has revived debate on the ethical issues surrounding this particular use of assisted reproductive technology, as well as its possible social ramifications and consequences. Mature oocyte […]
Think
Thin places
There are other places with similar spiritual significance. The ancient Celtic Christians called such places “thin places”. Some places are rich with spiritual memory and meaning, and they seem to be conducive for reflection and prayer. For instance, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (marking sites where the Lord Jesus was crucified and […]
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Our hiding place – God
You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalms 32:7 As I began writing this short message, it was already the third day since AirAsia QZ8501 disappeared while on a flight from Surabaya to Singapore with 162 passengers on board. We now know that the […]
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‘Neither’ or ‘Either’?
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” John 4:21 Neither?! I wouldn’t have expected Jesus to say that! I thought he would have said “Either!”, not “Neither!” The woman at the well had asked him where the better place to […]
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When God opens the way
Photos courtesy of Methodist Missions Society God opened the way for the Methodist Missions Society (MMS) to operate a place of worship in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in July 2010. International Christian Fellowship (ICF) – HCMC was born after almost two decades of laboring in love to build relationships and earn the trust of […]
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Religion and violence?
The beheadings of American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and the British aid worker David Haines by the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 have not only shocked and outraged the world, but they have also revived the debate about religious violence. Both President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron were determined to […]
Expressions
The Commencement
Dead Sea Scroll background …and the angels sang; all Nature stood on tiptoe, and Man for whom He came sat in wide-eyed wonder speechless at His commencement as He, the desire of all Israel proclaimed the fulfillment of this prophecy made six centuries earlier in this acceptable year of the Lord – a man, the […]
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The meaning of membership
On a typical Sunday, there will be three categories of people making up the church congregation: members, non-members with no church affiliation, and non-members who belong to another church. There is one more category, but they are not in church. They are the missing members. Where have the missing ones gone? Some may be happily […]
Film / Book Reviews
BOOK REVIEW: Christmas: The Rescue Mission
Dr Ho Boon Tiong is Lay Leader at Bedok Methodist Church, and is married to Diana with three children. Christmas: The Rescue Mission 30 Daring Devotions About God Saving the WorldDads Lead Series: Devotions for All Dads to Lead by Stephen Chan Published by Genesis Books (2014): An Imprint of ARMOUR […]
Expressions
Faith
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen… By faith we understand that the worlds Were framed by the word of God… But without faith it is impossible to please Him, For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder […]
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Beware of Distractions
The real Joy of Christmas is in the Person of Jesus Christ and not in those externals.Preparations are underway everywhere for Christmas celebrations. The commercial world is well ahead of us in their preparations to lure all of us in the name of Christmas (not Christ). Every year, business people come up with new ideas, […]
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Growing old, ageing well
Kwa Kiem Kiok is a local preacher at Trinity Methodist Church, and teaches missions-related subjects at East Asia School of Theology. She and her husband, a Trinity Annual Conference pastor, enjoy walking in the outdoors. We can always greet each day with child-like joy in the gifts it brings and maintain a youthful curiosity about life […]
Expressions
Another Kind Of Water
How strange that he should ask me, a Samaritan, for water from the well of our Patriarch, Jacob to slake his thirst, this man from Galilee, this Jew, with whom we have no truck. He has such quiet princely dignity, such orchards of peace in his countenance, and eyes that read the chronicles of my […]
Soundings
Fabricating life
According to an article in the May issue of The Scientist, an international team of researchers has successfully synthesised from scratch one of the sixteen chromosomes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Despite altering one-sixth of its base pairs, the scientists found that the yeast cells from artificial chromosome SynIII were indistinguishable from the original version. […]
