Malaysian Christian Writes

     So now, for the Malaysian scene as a Christian. What is the point of calling myself Malaysian if I choose not to use  a Malaysian like analogy? For non-Malaysian readers, Nasi Lemak in direct translation is called fatty rice.  Lemak is fat. Nasi is rice. But it actually is Rice cooked with coconut milk and pandan leafs with the usual  condiments of hard boiled eggs, anchovy, ground nuts, cucumber and sambal (a form of chilly paste).  But for the rest of the terms I may be throwing out, well, there is Google. How everyone argues which ingredient is  important varies and you will know why I am using Nasi Lemak as a means of analogy to describe the kind of  Christians I observe in Malaysia. But my hopes as I lay this before you is that you come to understand as a whole  the kind of battles Malaysian Christians may face and the kind of questions they may be asking.  Because then these are the battles and questions that a...

We need more Philips Disclaimer : I am not saying Peter wants the center stage. I am using him as an analogy that these days in the age of the digital world emphasising the ATTENTION ECONOMY where everything is drawing our attention away and the church is trying to get the attention of its members, comes the rise of celebrity pastors and wanting to reach the millions to share the gospel.  Is that an issue? Something for you to ponder. My thesis today is to state that " There are too many Peters and too little Phillips"  To me, it is easy to be a Peter in the context of reaching the millions. It is easy to have the fame get in to your head and justify we need to reach the masses. You get evangelism programs that market their effectiveness by the number of sinners prayer being said. But truthfully what do these figures and numbers mean? What can the masses indicate?  Perhaps they indicate that at the very least, whatever the church/pastor/program is doing is rel...

   Has anyone felt that as a Christian you see one denomination and you cannot fully agree, yet their answers fall short and you go to another Christian community and see gaps in their theology but are more loving. Then you enter another, and see their high level of orthodoxy but the orthopraxy aspect of their lives are a lackluster, lack for a better word. Then another who is so focused on fighting and speaking out against injustice like the days of the prophets. The list goes on. But you get my drift. Along the years of being part of all these communities I have deconstructed my theology and faith and reconstruct it with new convictions but yet such convictions never truly fit in any one community. And I felt like a Theological Orphan (T.O), not fitting in and not being able to be free to share some thoughts for fear that I may be seen as an outcast who is not "one of us". Before any of you jump at the usage of Theological Orphan (T.O), I humbly ask you listen to the contex...