Church service thoughts

As I went to church today, there were a few things that were on my mind. Usually, the funny thing is that I seldom pay too much attention to what the speaker is talking about. More funnier is the fact that I actually STILL be able to learn things without paying attention to what has been said. Often, I'll pick up a few things here and there from the speaker and which will launch me into my 'day-dreaming' manner of pondering different issues in my life.

Few interesting thoughts about today's Church service:

1. The speaker mentioned the very same verse that I was sharing with the Navigators last Friday. I spoke about Luke 9:23, where Jesus has asked us to abandon our selfish ambitions and take up our crosses daily and follow Him. And the speaker mentioned a story told by the founder of the Voice of the Martyrs, Richard Wurmbrand. And just the Friday before, the whole Tea n' Talk time was dominated by readings about Christian martyrs in various countries across the whole world.
It seems that God is highlighting again to me "SELFISH AMBITIONS", not so much of taking the cross daily, not so much of following Jesus. Selfish ambitions....this two words sums up the very reason why many people had refused to follow God. They have selfish ambitions. They have their own agendas. They couldn't be bothered about serving the kingdom of God first. The verse "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness"(Matt 6:33) has never entered their minds. It never governed their behaviour. They are only concerned all about themselves. What does this selfish ambitions include?
My list is as follows:
(a) Get rich and have a comfortable life
(b) Strive for power in the society so that you have a high standing in the society
(c) Get famous (which can be done by getting filthy rich and obtaining political power)
(d) Get a good husband/wife and enjoy the family life that entails.

I think all the things mentioned above are not bad. However, when the focus is not on God, they become very destructive. Why do you want to get rich? So that you can rely on your riches for comfort and security and not on God? So that you can command power and admiration from others? Why do you want to be powerful? Is it so that you can do whatever you like without consulting anyone at all (including God)? Why do you want to get famous? Is it so that you can say to yourself, "ohhh...how good am I...so many people know me and adore me." Doesn't that spring from your own desire for significance? Why do you want to get a husband/wife? Is it due to your loneliness? Is it due to the desires within you which you cannot control?

We are often fools. We seek comfort and security in possessing money. We seek significance in obtaining fame & power. We seek independence in having power. We seek to get rid of our loneliness by marriage. Whoever that goes down this route is bound to only face disappointments. Because this is just not what reality is. Reality is that we can find all of these in God. Ponder about it...

2. Many speakers often say "God is good...all the time(response from believers)...and all the time, God is good". Well, sometimes when you repeat the same words too often, you'll get bored of them. Is it so hard to believe in God's goodness? Is this the HARDEST thing to believe about God? Is it so hard, so much so that we have to hypnotize ourselves or brainwash ourselves constantly by shouting out loud to ourselves that "God is good...all the time...."?? More importantly, is this what the ministers intend to do? Are they trying to make sure that no one doubts God's goodness to them? That may be true. But I refuse to believe in short-cuts. It isn't going to work if you keep on mentioning God's goodness to someone when the person is feeling that God has forsaken him and has not bestowed any goodness to him. And sometimes, I think the minister's way of requiring a response from the congregation "God is good all the time and all the time God is good" is ridiculous. When the congregation has gotten used to proclaiming things that they don't ever mean in their hearts, the people become more phony. They become fake proclaimers of truth. The proclamation of truth without sincerity and ownership of the truth becomes VERY obnoxious to the ears(umm...at least to my ears... =P )

3. Somehow this thought entered my mind during the service. One person's view of human nature, i.e. what does it mean to be a human being? or "who is Man?", dictates how he lives his life. If we wish to enter into a dialogue with people about God, the point of contact can be through the understanding of what a human being is, or to be more exact, WHO do they think they are. Hence, I need to get in tuned with all that the Bible says about who a human being is. Think my brain is frozen in this matter for quite some time. It's time to "lubricate" the rusty parts of my brain...