hishandmaiden

When we see a murderer, a rapist, or a mobster, our first reaction is to be disgusted by what these people did. It is natural. God created us with conscience, and it seemed that these people have no conscience or they would not be doing what they did. Our knowledge of what good and evil is made us despised these people who seemed delighted in only doing evil and not good. We think they deserve to go to jails and even to go the electric chairs! What we often forget is that while our own sins may seem small in our eyes, they are large and big in God's eyes. We may think we are good people, but we are sinners, too, in God's eyes, just like the murderer, rapist, mobster we despise. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8 ESV Before we know God or receive Jesus into our lives, we are just as hopeless as the mobster, rapist or murderer we despise. Yet, God does not think we deserve to go to eternal jail, hell but deserve to be blessed with Him in our eternal home, heaven. God gives us a second chance. Jesus died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins. God did not give us what we deserve. So, it is important that we do not look with disdain at the murderer, rapist or mobster but we look at them with compassion, instead. We also ought not to give to them what we think they deserve--jail or electric chair but our compassions. "Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor." Proverbs 14:21 ESV God loves these hopeless scums we despise. God do not want them to perish without knowing Him. If they repent and receive Jesus into their lives, even they can be saved. They can turn from a life of crime and live a righteous and blessed life, just like us. "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." Isaiah 1:18 ESV Let us care for these rapists, murderers and mobsters like the way God wants us to. Let us look at them not at what they currently are, hopeless scums but see them the way God does--- His beloved sons and daughters, who Jesus came down to die for. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10 ESV No sin is too great in God's eyes. Every murderer, rapist and mobster needs to know Jesus. Let us not judge them for their sins, but pray fervently for their salvations, instead. Let us not think we are more righteous than them, but remember that we are sinners like they are, until God saved us. "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Matthew 7: 3 ESV We need to look at these prodigal sons and daughters from a different perspective, not as scums that deserve to be judged for their sins but as precious human beings, made in God's image, who deserve to be reconciled with God!

When we see a murderer, a rapist, or a mobster, our first reaction is to be disgusted by what these people did. It is natural. God created us with conscience, and it seemed that these people have no conscience or they would not be doing what they did. Our knowledge of what good and evil is made us despised these people who seemed delighted in only doing evil and not good. We think they deserve to go to jails and even to go the electric chairs! What we often forget is that while our own sins may seem small in our eyes, they are large and big in God's eyes. We may think we are good people, but we are sinners, too, in God's eyes, just like the murderer, rapist, mobster we despise. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8 ESV Before we know God or receive Jesus into our lives, we are just as hopeless as the mobster, rapist or murderer we despise. Yet, God does not think we deserve to go to eternal jail, hell but deserve to be blessed with Him in our eternal home, heaven. God gives us a second chance. Jesus died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins. God did not give us what we deserve. So, it is important that we do not look with disdain at the murderer, rapist or mobster but we look at them with compassion, instead. We also ought not to give to them what we think they deserve--jail or electric chair but our compassions. "Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor." Proverbs 14:21 ESV God loves these hopeless scums we despise. God do not want them to perish without knowing Him. If they repent and receive Jesus into their lives, even they can be saved. They can turn from a life of crime and live a righteous and blessed life, just like us. "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." Isaiah 1:18 ESV Let us care for these rapists, murderers and mobsters like the way God wants us to. Let us look at them not at what they currently are, hopeless scums but see them the way God does--- His beloved sons and daughters, who Jesus came down to die for. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10 ESV No sin is too great in God's eyes. Every murderer, rapist and mobster needs to know Jesus. Let us not judge them for their sins, but pray fervently for their salvations, instead. Let us not think we are more righteous than them, but remember that we are sinners like they are, until God saved us. "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Matthew 7: 3 ESV We need to look at these prodigal sons and daughters from a different perspective, not as scums that deserve to be judged for their sins but as precious human beings, made in God's image, who deserve to be reconciled with God!

I just finished Run, baby, run and enjoyed it very much. Are there other Mafia to Christ biographies or autobiographies which you can recommend? I am currently reading the Cross and the Switchblade.

Do you seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit or do you seek to be His friend? The Holy Spirit is a person and not just a power or force that we seek to improve our Christian ministry. Too often, we seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit and do not seek to develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit. We need to see the Holy Spirit as a person and cultivate a relationship with Him, like we did with the Father and Jesus. We need to remember that we ought to talk to the Holy Spirit and love Him, and not just want the gifts that He can give to us. Do not seek ONLY after the Holy Spirit's gifts. Rather, be a friend of the Holy Spirit.

For me, it is not so much as the inward sins I struggle with, but the outward sins. I am a liar and a glutton and I break the copyright laws by downloading pirated stuffs. I am able to forgive easily and I have joy and peace, but it is the outward sins that I struggle with. Please pray for me. I want to be a good testimony for Christ but with outward sins, it is hard to convince someone from my family to be a Christian.

Salvation is not an emotion or a feeling, but a choice. Regardless of whether you make that choice because you want to get right with God or because you are scared of hell, if you make the choice to accept Jesus into your life, and chooses from then on, to walk a Christian life, you are saved. Do not let your emotions overtake your mind's decisions to believe in Christ.

I can remember the gist of the message of the bible, but not the actual verses themselves. The Holy Spirit is my friend, yet memorizing the verses are hard for me. For instance, I know the bible taught about how we wage wars against spiritual forces of darkness and how we must put on the armor of God. Yet, the actual verses of where this is being taught eluded me. I cannot remember the actual verses or the verse name, I can just remember the gist of the message. Yet, when I want to encourage a Christian about spiritual warfare, I need to locate the exact verses but can't because I can't memorize where the verses came from.

I remembered a time when the story of Samuel encouraged me deeply. It was a time when the will of God for my life conflicted with what my mostly godly leader believed to be God's will for my life. God used this book to tell me to put His will first and not turned to the "Eli" all the times. It is important to obey and submit to "Eli" most of the times but sometimes, we must put God first. I really struggle back then, not to listen to the "Eli" and to listen to God.

Thanks for your tips. I truly, truly want to memorize scriptures. Also, how do we know which bible verses to memorize? What are the criteria for selecting a verse to be memorized? There are so many verses in the bible... I have a hard time selecting which verse to memorize.

When it comes to people like that, it is important to remember... that these people are the ways they are because they do not know Jesus Christ. If they had believed and accepted Jesus into their lives and make Him the Lord of their lives, they will be different. How many of us can claim that we are always righteous and never commit a sin in our lives? Before we know Jesus, we are just like the woman in this interview. We are thieves, murderers, liars. It is Christ who changed us, and if Christ can change us, He can change this woman, too. So, let not judge her but pray for her soul's salvation, instead!

I think Brother Andrew really is a man of God. Not many people are willing to care for the persecuted churches or risk their lives to help persecuted Christians yet this man, brother Andrew risked his life. Another person I recommend reading about is Paul Hattaway. He is the founder of Asia Harvest, an organization that helped persecuted Christians. You can read his story in An Asian Harvest: An Autobiography. He is another man of God, that specialized in helping persecuted Christians. Occasionally, I will give to Asia Harvest some parts of my income and I hope you do the same, too.

Who are your favourite recent heroes/heroines outside of the bible, particularly born in recent times and why? I will begin again. Mine is Samuel Morris and DL Moody. Samuel Morris is an African man who prays and even though he does not live long, he is a model for me in the area of childlike prayers. DL Moody reaches the lost for God with a passion and he is not very educated. I also like Billy Graham, Smith Wigglesworth, Catherine Booth. Too often, we honor the saints of the bibles without recognizing that there are modern heroes/heroines in our midst too. Let's talk about them here!

Whether the bible being taught in public school is a good idea or not, depends on the teacher teaching it. If the teacher teaching the bible is spirit-led, spirit-filled and loved Jesus, then it is a good idea. If not, it is a bad idea as it will only turn people away from God. The people taught by non-Jesus loving people will think they know all about God and Jesus since they had learnt the bible before and might not realize that what they have is mere knowledge that does not regenerate their souls. As such, a poorly led bible lesson turned, rather than drew people to Christ.

I need some tips on memorizing bible verses. Beside John 3:16, I could never seem to memorize any verses. Yes, I knew them roughly but I forgot the verses they came from. And when trying to encourage someone with bible verses, can have a hard time locating the verses I want to encourage the Christians with. So, share with me your tips. How do you manage to memorize bible verses? What tools do you use? Are the tools useful? Do you recite them until you can memorize them, or do you play bible verse games? What do you do? I tried to recite, I tried to play games, but they don't work. I can't memorize the scriptures. Maybe my memory is just bad... yet I can memorize John 3:16.

I remembered when I was first seeking to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I was a teenager, then, and I prayed for hours to be baptized. I remembered shaking visibly when the Holy Spirit descended on me. I also remembered being afraid of the Holy Spirit. I could understand that the Father and the Son is a person, but the Holy Spirit? I wonder what He is. I am glad that that period of fearing what the Holy Spirit is, is over now. Now, He is my friend, just like the Father and Jesus. It is important that we see the Holy Spirit as friend and not just some forces to get hold of.

I believe the sons of God in Genesis 6 referred to angels, in particular fallen ones. That is why giants are produced as their offspring. How can mere men produce giants? Only angels, sexually interacted with mortal women, can produce giants. Goliath and many giants are offspring of sexual interactions between angels and mortal women. That is also why these angels are locked up, they are dangerous as they can sexually interact with mortals.

It is important that we put on the armor of God at all times, for the devil is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. If we do not want to be devoured, we need to fight him, and we do so by going on our knees in intercessory prayers. We also need to test the latest teachings with the Word of God, and not fall to every doctrine that comes our ways. Our warfare is not physical but spiritual.

God is hard to understand at times, yet it is crucial that we know He is three persons, but one God.

I like to read christian biographies/autobiographies as they tend to encourage my faith. I have the complete Christian heroes now and then series, the Heavenly Man etc. What other books can I look up for in this genre?

If Judas had repented, and asked Jesus for forgiveness, he... yes, even he will be forgiven. The truth is, he never asked Jesus for forgiveness. He trusted in money, and then, later on, his own righteousness. Yes, he might be remorseful, but he never asked for forgiveness. He chose to hang himself instead.

Every day, many christians from around the world are persecuted for their faiths because they believe in Jesus. They are imprisoned, tortured and killed, and their wives and children are left to fend for themselves. As Christians, we are called to love one another as Christ has loved us! Indifference or not being aware of our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ's plights are no excuses for our sins of not helping the persecuted church of God! Not long ago, I downloaded logos software and told God I wanted to go deep into His Word and study various commentaries of the bible. I wanted to purchase some of the commentaries at logos bible software because of that. However, I felt a prompting by the Holy Spirit to give my money to Asiaharvest.org, an organization which helps the persecuted church instead. I really struggle with this decision as I desire to be knowledgeable about God. But the Holy Spirit reminded me that many christians in the persecuted countries do not even have a bible of their own. Why am I seeking so many extra christian resources for myself while christians elsewhere do not even have the very basic--the Holy Bible. After some struggles, I give in to the Holy Spirit. I also feel convicted to encourage other believers in Christ to spare a thought for the persecuted church, and contribute in whatever ways they can, whether financially or through prayers. We are a body of Christ. Let us remember our suffering brothers and sisters.

From the very first verses of the Bible, a profound mystery unfolds: the plurality within God. The Hebrew word for God, Elohim, used in Genesis 1 and throughout much of the Old Testament, is strikingly plural. This plurality is not merely a grammatical curiosity—it carries deep theological significance. In the opening lines of Genesis, God is distinguished from the Spirit of God (Ruach Elohim) in Genesis 1:1–2. Then, in Genesis 2:4, the text introduces another layer of distinction, identifying the Creator as the Lord God (Yahweh Elohim). As the story of humanity begins, this Yahweh Elohim emerges as the One who interacts—often in physical form—with His creation (e.g., Genesis 3:8; 12:1). This divine figure, who walks with Adam in the garden and calls Abram out of Ur, is sometimes referred to as “the angel of the Lord” (Genesis 16:7–11; 22:11–15; Exodus 3:2, 4) and even, on occasion, as “a man” (Genesis 32:24–30). These early biblical references hint at a profound truth: there are three distinct Persons who are one in essence and equality—God, the Spirit of God, and the Representative of God to humanity. While the term representative is not explicitly used in these texts, it fittingly describes the role of this particular Person within the Godhead. This triune nature of God is what we now understand as the Trinity. Given the complexity of the idea that God is one yet three Persons, various alternative explanations have emerged. Some have proposed that the three-ness of God implies three entirely separate gods—a polytheistic interpretation of the Trinity. Others suggest that the three-ness refers merely to three different expressions or modes of the same Person—a modalistic view. While these interpretations aim to simplify what is often seen as a challenging concept, they do not align with the biblical witness. Scripture consistently presents God as three distinct Persons who are fully one in essence. This unity and plurality are so vital to the identity of God that He declares it to the Israelites: “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh is our Elohim. Yahweh is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The triunity of God is directly asserted in Isaiah 48. The One who called Israel speaks in Isaiah 48:12, identifying Himself as the same God who renamed Jacob as Israel after their mysterious encounter in Genesis 32:28. There, Jacob wrestled with a “man” who blessed him, and Jacob recognized this man as God (Genesis 32:30). This same One, speaking in Isaiah 48, refers to Himself as “the first and the last”—a title He had previously claimed in Isaiah 44:6, where He identified Himself as Yahweh, the King of Israel, the first and the last, and the only God. He also claims to be the Creator (Isaiah 48:13). Importantly, He adds in Isaiah 48:16, “now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his Spirit.” Thus, God is sent by the Lord God (Adon Yahweh) and by His Spirit. The New Testament reveals that all these declarations in Isaiah 48 are fulfilled in Jesus. He is the Yahweh who interacted with Abraham (John 8:56–59). He was born to be the King of Israel (Matthew 2:2). He is the first and the last (Revelation 1:17; 2:3; 22:13). He is the Creator (John 1:3). He was sent by His Father and empowered by the Spirit (Matthew 3:16–17; John 1:32–34; 5:23). In Isaiah 48:12 and 16, the preincarnate Jesus identifies Himself as God, yet distinguishes Himself from the One He calls His Father and from the Spirit—just as He does again in John 14:15–16 and in Matthew 28:19. The triunity of God—one God in three Persons, the Trinity—is not just a theological concept but a central truth of the Bible, woven throughout the Scriptures. It is a cornerstone of Jesus’ own teaching and a revelation of the divine mystery that invites us into a deeper understanding of who God is.

I believe we are called to share the gospels with everyone. I tried to share my beliefs with others, whenever I am not timid. But I don't force my beliefs down on others. Others, however, especially my buddhist mum and uncle tried to force their beliefs down on me!

I agree that money is an idol. It is for me, at least. I struggle with not being greedy for money. We really need to trust in God for His definition of what good and evil truly is.

She was not here. The sanctuary was filled with men and women, boys and girls, people from every racial background. The worship leaders were standing on stage, preparing to lead the crowd that had entered into The Church of Our Savior for worship. "Everyone, are you ready to worship the King?" the main worship leader for the day shouted into his microphone. The people resounded with joyous "yes". The worship began. The music instruments were right, the people's voices resounded together in harmony, it was a wonderful worship experience. I felt like I was connected into this body called the church of God, singing with the people in the crowd, singing with the saints and angels in heaven. I could hear in my mind the beautiful voices of the angel joining us in worship of the King of kings. How wonderful, how great it is to be in His presence. I wanted to remain here, forever, to praise and worship Him for all eternity. But something bugged me. It ruined my wonderful moment of worship. It destroyed a little bit of that joy I had, worshiping Him here in the presence of His saints. She was not here, she was not here, she was not here. The voice nagged at me, again and again. It gave me no peace. She, Wang Yi Hui, had not been here today. She was not here last week. Or the week before. Or the month before. Or months before. She was one of the most joyous people; she was always the one to give her best in worshiping the Lord. She was always at the front row; she was always so absorbed in her worship of Him that she became oblivious to everything else. But she was not here today. I tried to forget her absence, I tried to forget her. People fell away from the church, often. Why should I let the absence of a mere lady affect me in my joy of worshiping Him who saves me? But the voice refused to let me off. She was not here, she was not here, she was not here. It was almost as if someone was sobbing, someone was crying within my heart. Someone missed her. She was not here, someone cried. I could not take the nagging voice anymore. It was affecting me in a greater manner than I wanted it to. I got out of the sanctuary, and went to the toilet to take a break from the worship. I wanted a break from the nagging voice that bugged me. Her son died in a car accident, I heard. He was unsaved. No one had bothered to attend his funeral, he happened to die on Christmas and no one wanted to spoil their joyous mood by attending the funeral of the son of a woman they hardly knew . Was that when she stopped attending the service? Was that when her joyous dance and beautiful voice began to disappear from our church? She was not here, she was not here, she was not here. The nagging voice followed me on and on. It was almost like a cry from somebody who missed her lively dance, her beautiful voice. I went into one of the cubicles in the toilet. A vision of a past event flashed before my eyes. It was a time when Yi Hui and I were at the house of another Christian sister, to enjoy some moments of female fellowship. We were trying to piece together a set of jigsaw puzzles that had the face of Jesus. We worked for hours, it was a difficult puzzle. We almost completed the face of Jesus. Almost. One puzzle was missing, it was lost somehow, and we could not complete the jigsaw puzzle. The other 999 pieces were there, but this 1 missing piece made the face of Jesus incomplete. I burst into tears inside the cubicle. He was the one crying. He was crying for His 1 missing puzzle. Corporate worship was not complete unless she was here. But she was not here today. I repented of my sins for not being there with her last Christmas when her son passed away, and I prayed for her to come back. I wanted to dance and worship Him together with her.