Category My2centsWorth

My reviews and opinions on movies, food and anything that is worth recommending and sharing around for others to know. It’s just my two cents worth, nothing much.

Powerful Environments

andrewong2024 3 Comments

Taking this idea of environments a little further, consider the following ideas:

1. If you want your intelligence to grow: go to a library, a book store or a school

2. If you want your health to grow: go to a gym, ride a bicycle or play more

3. If you want your spirit to grow: go to a church, find a quiet spot and meditate or pray more

4. If you want your wealth to grow: go to a place where people are getting rich (like a real estate office or stockbroker’s office), join an investment club, or start a study group and meet new friends who want to grow richer.

5. If you want to expand your world: go to places you’ve never been before… do things you’ve been afraid of doing before.

In other words, sometimes the fastest way to change and improve yourself is simply to change your environment.

The Church: Renewed and Relevant

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I chanced upon an interesting entry written to describe the present state of the Church in this 21st century. If you love His Church, I believe you will find this a thought-provoking and soul-searching read:

Among the ranks of the frustrated are members of Christ’s fold seeking a deeper walk of faith. Other Christ-followers have doubt, unanswered questions and, quite frankly, do not feel fed by the current vision under which the Church is operating.

One of the most significant challenges to today’s Church is to find ways to address the legitimate needs of these congregants.

Church leaders can no longer afford to turn a deaf ear to the issues raised by Christians who are less than satisfied with the status quo.

Given the context of the post-modern culture in which the Church now exists, to minimize the spiritual needs of these well-intended seekers is to invite death.

The great paradox here is the fact that the world today needs the Church more than ever. However, it needs a vital, vibrant and service-oriented church that is committed to carrying out Christ’s work in this post-modern age.

As Christ-followers, we are called to continue incarnating his life in the world. That is the fundamental duty of the Church and I look around and see that, although well meaning, we are not doing a very good job of it.

Many churches and many Christians are anything but “living epistles” or a “pleasant aroma.”

Read the full entry here>>>

The No.1 World-wide Addiction: The Internet

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Here are a compilation of news that illustrates the growing prominience of the Internet has in our lives around the globe. Some good and some bad.

This only reasons that we cannot avoid it, but need to embrace it in order that we can master it to use it approriately or be mastered by it.

  1. British Addicted to Internet
    Over a quarter of British Internet users are addicted to the Internet, according to recent research conducted by TNS Global Interactive.
  2. Women prefer Internet to Sex: Survey
    Nearly one out of two women would rather give up sex for two weeks than go without the internet, according to a survey.
  3. Internet De-addiction Centers Open in China
    Chinese hospitals are to open specially designed psychiatric units to treat internet addicts which a recent survey has shown to be a whopping 42 % of the youth who are addicted to the net.
  4. One in Eight US adults addicted to Internet
    A study from Stanford University School of Medicine in California found that “problematic internet use” was present in a sizeable portion of the population.
  5. Online Sales expected to rise 17% in 2008
    Online spending is expected to rise a robust 17% this year, despite a sluggish economy that has bruised many brick-based retailers, according to an annual survey to be released Tuesday.
  6. 10 per cent British kids have had online sex chats
    A new poll has revealed that about 10 per cent of British kids have had sexually explicit chatting on the Internet.
  7. How Obama’s Internet campaign changed Politics
    The Obama campaign’s use of the Internet has been cited as playing a large role in upending how presidential races are fought.

Impetus of the Contemporary Church Movement

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During the Asia Conference, a well-known pastor called the leader of a local mega-church a driving force for the transition of the Asian Church from a traditional model to a contemporary one.

THE CHRISTIAN POST
By Edmond Chan

When the pastor asked Pringle about how the Asian Church can transit from a traditional church to a contemporary one, the latter replied, “Two words: Kong Hee.”

Kong, who founded the mega-church 19 years ago, is known for his emphasis on fulfilling the Cultural Mandate – a movement by which the Church attempts to penetrate society and transform it.

The pastor, who leads his church with his personality and gift of preaching, believes that the key to church growth lies in the importance of the leadership of the pastor. A pastor, according to him, needs to be effective in communicating the vision of the church to its members, and in motivating members through his or her messages.

Evangelism is also high on the agenda of the 44-year old church leader, who believes in mobilising his masses to spread the Gospel where they are based in the workplace and even in closed groups normally inaccessible to ordinary people.

He adapted this concept of “3rd Space” from author Erwin McManus, which explains Christianity in terms of space and how we need to connect with people in their space and help them to experience God.

Read the full article here>>>

More about Achievers

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Zooming in on Achievers, Dr Adele Scheele further explained that they have three qualities that set them apart from the Sustainers.

These are:

1. Self-Presentation

Success breeds success. Employers want proven winners. But Achievers are also able to demonstrate how their past knowledge and experience can be useful in their new assignment.

They are able to do this by translating skills and aptitudes- even when the past experience is not directly related to their present opportunity.

While Sustainers wait for opportunity to knock on doors- and it does not happen; Achievers have perfected the art of catching fireflies of opportunity- before the brief life of a firefly comes to an end.

2. Positioning

Achievers have the “knack of being at the right place at the right time”. Others may attribute this to luck, but it is not as simple as that.

They have a goal or goals. They know where they are going. They have a plan- sometimes unconsciously. Therefore, when an opportunity arises they are able to grab it and make great use of it.

Sustainers believe in a fair system- and they remain timid, on their best behaviour, waiting to be rewarded. And it does not happen.

3. Networking

Achievers have good people management skills that enable them to motivate, inspire and to lead people.

They understand the art of good human relations which depends on two important requirements- the ability to use empathy and the ability to communicate.

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and see the problem from his perspective. And the ability to communicate ensures good relations.

Our World of Sustainers and Achievers

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If we truly resolute to live a life that is full and making it count, I believe we (especially Christ-followers) need to move towards being Achievers.

In a book written by Dr. Adele Scheele, our world of working people divides into two distinct groups of Sustainers and Achievers.

As Achievers, we display a life of value-add and success (in stature and competence) as the head and not the tail; above and not beneath; victorious and not defeated.

Below is a brief description of the two:

About Sustainers

  • The consist of the majority in our world
  • They spend 70 per cent of their work life doing their job well- and 30 per cent unconsciously waiting for recognition for what they have done
  • They have the “school student mindset”- we work hard; we wait for compliments from our teacher; we get high marks as a result of our hard work; we get promoted to the next class; we win awards for our proficiency. There is a smooth flow; a direct resultant output from the input
  • Sustainers have ‘tunnel vision’

About Achievers

  • They are fewer in our world and they are more successful
  • They might be working as hard or even harder but better and differently from Sustainers
  • They do not fall inito the deadly trap of watching others move up (the corporate ladder)- and watching them with both envy and contempt
  • Achievers create a climate of what is now called ‘constructive disobedience’. They don’t just work harder- but look for innovative ways of doing the job better or easier or faster
  • They have ‘helicopter vision’

Christians Overtaking S. Korea, Buddhists Worry

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Worried South Korean Buddhists are protesting against what they perceive as Christianity’s increasing dominance over the nation’s politics, especially in the light of the current man in office.

THE CHRISTIAN POST
By Edmond Chan

Christianity’s rapid expansion in South Korea is due to the faith having brought modernisation with the introduction of Western medicine, education, and even democracy.

While Buddhism on the other hand with its focus on meditation, prayer, and seclusion in temples, “failed to play an important social role” according to a Religious Freedom expert, and is viewed more as a cultural heritage than religion.

South Korea has the highest proportion of Protestant Christians in Asia, at 29.3 percent of the 48,850,000 people. Buddhists account for 22.8 percent of the population.

Eleven of the twelve largest Christian congregations in the world are located in Seoul alone, including the largest congregation, Yoido Full Gospel Church, which boasts 800,000 members.

Protestant churches also stage all-night prayer marathons, and are known for their evangelical zeal, with the second highest number of missionaries dispatched all over the world, next to the U.S.

Read the full article here>>>

A Christian View of the Economic Crisis

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Is the economy really driven by greed?

CHRISTIANITY TODAY
By Al Mohler

Christians should think seriously about this economic crisis and ponder what it would mean to come to a Christian understanding of what it means to be participants in this economy.

As Adam Smith recognized, the economy is a moral reality. Human beings actualize their moral selves in making economic choices and through participation in the economic system — and we are all participants.

Indeed, one of the defining differences between the current crisis and the crisis of the 1920s and 1930s is that the vast majority of Americans are now, in effect, investors. Our retirement accounts are, by and large, mingled with the investments of the titans of industry.

Through their pension funds, school teachers are investors right alongside Warren Buffet. This was not the case in the run-up to the Great Depression. We all want and need the stock market to do well, and the outcome of any market crisis effects both Bill Gates and the worker in the local medical clinic.

Christians should look at the economy as a test of our values. The Bible values honest labor and dedicated workers, and so should we. The Bible warns against dishonest business practices, and we must be watchful. False valuations are, in effect, lies. Dishonest accounting practices are just sophisticated forms of lying. Insider information is a form of theft.

Read the full article here>>>

10 Reasons Why God Wants You to Prosper

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“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful“

Joshua 1:8 (NIV)

“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV)

  1. God wants you to prosper because it is His nature (Gen. 17:1-2)
  2. God wants you to prosper so He can establish His covenant in the earth (Deut. 8:18)
  3. God wants you to prosper so that you can provide for His church (Mal. 3:10)
  4. God wants you to prosper to keep finances out of the devil’s control (Mal. 3:11)
  5. God wants you to prosper so that you can help the poor (Pro. 19:17)
  6. God wants you to prosper so you can honour and glorify Him (Pro. 3:9-10)
  7. God wants you to prosper so that you can leave an inheritance for your family (Pro. 13:22)
  8. God wants you to prosper so that you can prove the sincerity of your love (2 Cor. 8:8)
  9. God wants you to prosper so that you can lead and influence society (Deut. 28:11-13)
  10. God wants you to prosper because He is a good God and He wants to bless His children (Ps. 35:27)

Creating Culture

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Our best response is to make something out of it.

CHRISTIANITY TODAY
By Andy Crouch

I wonder what we Christians are known for in the world outside our churches. Are we known as critics, consumers, copiers, condemners of culture? I’m afraid so.

Why aren’t we known as cultivators—people who tend and nourish what is best in human culture, who do the hard and painstaking work to preserve the best of what people before us have done?

Why aren’t we known as creators—people who dare to think and do something that has never been thought or done before, something that makes the world more welcoming and thrilling and beautiful?

The simple truth is that in the mainstream of culture, cultivation and creativity are the postures that confer legitimacy for the other gestures. People who consider themselves stewards of culture, guardians of what is best in a neighborhood, an institution, or a field of cultural practice gain the respect of their peers.

Even more so, those who go beyond being mere custodians to creating new cultural goods are the ones who have the world’s attention.

Read the full article here>>>