Freddy Lam > Recent Status Updates

I need to hear the truth, and stop the lie. False everything is the bane of Christian existence.

I need a better story

Centred, bounded, and fuzzy. It reveals so much about whether Jesus is the centre of our discipleship, community, and mission. How we treat people, especially those different from us and those we want to either judge or condone. There’s a third way. Jesus’ way.

Chapter 7 speaks of the Shummamite woman who may be a beneficiary of owning her land, having agency in a patriarchal society to make decisions and offer Elijah hospitality, and blessed with a son she didn’t necessarily need. The other half is about Job who through his suffering, the author argues, learned empathy and compassion so the prologue and epilogue reveals his transformation from patriarchy to reform.

Chapter 6 on Manasseh’s descendant Zelophehad five daughters could easily be overlooked but plays such an important role in showing the faithfulness of the second generation despite Korah’s rebellion to God’s covenant and their determination to ensure the promise land and father’s name is not erased. Moses seek God and amended the law, but these five names forever part of canon for us to study.

I forgot to track reading this book, but from the start until now this is fully enjoyable and inspiring. The author redefines the household and role according to scripture and now its focus on application on our formation as families and what might it look like, from an Anglican perspective. So much to glean, so many good suggestions.

Chapter on Divine Scripture and God: Good and Great is wetting my appetite for reading theology again. One concept is paradox, that two things can be true is the key to many of the tensions which our of fear, tend to pull us apart to extremes at the expense of the other. God’s goodness (immanence) and greatness (transcendence) rest in perfect essence or God ceases to be he who is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Dense yet enlightening, Olson takes each doctrine and attempt to break down the walls of fear and miscommunication and caricature of how Protestants. Roman Catholics, and Orthodox sees them and unifies what they all held in common, while separating heretical thoughts out of Christian norm.

The book of names is fully tested on the reason for the unnamed women, who are nameless because of their subversive role in Moses’ deliverance from death as an infant. Be it his mom, sister, and Pharaoh’s daughter, they show a pattern of rescue in full view of the harsh policies and God himself the one who is unnamed allies and orchestrated rescue. Miriam in Ex 15, Zipporah, another rescue type, completes it.

The book of names is fully tested on the reason for the unnamed women, who are nameless because of their subversive role in Moses’ deliverance from death as an infant. Be it his mom, sister, and Pharaoh’s daughter, they show a pattern of rescue in full view of the harsh policies and God himself the one who is unnamed allies and orchestrated rescue. Miriam in Ex 15, Zipporah, another rescue type, completes it.

Chapter 3 on Shiprah and Puah’s subversion of Pharaoh’s plans to eradicate the Jewish population is rich with credible reasons for why these Egyptian women would go to great lengths to subvert the blind and hostile Pharaoh, who is unnamed. Names is Exodus’ Jewish title, and the named are honoured godfearers. Their heroic act against injustice and credibility to foil Pharaoh is a blueprint against oppression.

I just read the introduction and I already like the premise: how to live on earth as it is in heaven, and not have this escapist mentality that plagues evangelicalism. For this, Nijay turns to Bonhoeffer and his letters from the Prison speaking of a holy worldliness, religionless Christianity not for the elites but the common human, not ascent but descent, not the good life but participate in Christ’s suffering.

This first chapter opens up narrative in a fascinating way, through narrator, setting, plot, characterization. Who knew land can say so much about a story, or characterization of flawed or imperfect followers is a feature, not a bug, and the presence and absence of a name can mean dishonour or honour, depending on the context. Genealogies, Judges, Ruth, Kings, and the gospels all have purpose portraying women too.

So far, just reminding me as a male pastor how easy we overlook the women in the Bible or applications to both is worth the introduction. But the examples of common misreadings outside of story, larger narrative and context is eye opening. And how we mistreat or mishandled women and have double standards compare to sinning men reminds me I am often a more functioning mutalist, lots to unlearn and relearn.

Skipped writing for a number of chapters. There are three exams so far which need further interaction. This chapter after baptism is about temptation and how Jesus relied on attachment to God to prevent moving into protection mode, maintaining connection. First test is about alleviate distress of hunger, second test about faithfulness (availability) of God, a struggle for jungle, and finally, test about love, desert.

This chapter on the reign of death, not just individual sin, and reign of life found in Jesus who gives life in the Father through the Spirit enters the former in order to defeat it from within. The temptations and work of Jesus all point to how he can defeat the reign of death (I am what I do, I am who other say I am, I am what I possess). I love: Jesus not only saves us from death, he also saves us for life.

I believe in a jungle God, and I live the life of a jungle of anxiety. My go to is maybe so i am indecisive. Because everything is maybe, I pay extra hard to read people non-verbally, and dislike rules, logic. Relationship is most important and I can smother congregants and think for them, though I am learning not to do that. But I can also overread what’s not there, and beat myself up and feel shame easily.