Everybody deserves a second chance, rem yellow ribbon, first chance was given to SInganews by TOC...maybe TOC not infiltrated but actually ish finally showing its true colors...
I think TOC Deputy Editor Terence Lee also a xtian and blogs too...anyone confirm?
Ask and you shall receive!
http://irreligiously.blogspot.com/
I WAS one of those born-and-raised Christian types who spent my childhood in Sunday School listening to Bible lessons.
My mom was the one that started it all. Born in Brunei but married to a Singaporean, her journey to the small island of Singapore proved to be a spiritual one as well.
She converted to Christianity, and started going to a local church. She brought along my brother and I, and started us on a path that would pretty much define our lives from then on.
And so I grew up, having always identified myself as a Christian. However, I didn't quite feel a sense of belonging in the Christian community, or anywhere else for that matter. I was shy and reclusive and I made few friends in school and in church.
Things started improving slightly once I entered junior college. I was determined to undo the mistakes of my past and shed away my old introverted shell. You cannot imagine my gladness then when a couple of my primary school classmates, who were in the same class as me in JC, remarked at how much I've changed.
"You used to be so quiet that no one will notice you in a room," said one of them.
City Harvest Church
Junior college also marked another milestone in my life -- that was when I started attending City Harvest Church. To use a popular catchphrase -- that was when I started becoming "on fire" for God. For those of you who don't know, CHC is a charismatic megachurch with a membership of 26,000 (as of January 2009), making it the largest congregation in Singapore.
It was in CHC where I started developing more confidence and self-esteem, thanks to the strong friendships I've built throughout the years in church. I started getting more involved in church work as well, first as a choir member, and then moving on to cell group ministry.
These past few years in the church have been what I call a "journey of self-discovery." One of the greatest lessons I've learnt so far is to accept myself for who I am.
I vividly remembered the day where I commited myself to serve God with my gift of writing. Basically, I realised that God has a plan and purpose for all of us, based on our own unique identity.
University days
It is this desire to write that propelled me towards enrolling in the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information in Nanyang Technological University. I thought that the best path for me to pursue my interest is to study journalism.
And what an eye-opening experience it has been indeed. I must admit, I had been encased in cocoon for too long. It didn't help that I was bombarded with nationalist propaganda for twelve years in the Singapore education system, with further reinforcement from the compulsory National Service in the Army which I did for two years.
Also, being in church all my life meant that I was constantly surrounded by "good people" who would always feed me with Bible doctrine.
University destroyed my naivety. While I won't say I've "experienced" much, I was given an intellectual kick-in-the-ass. I realised that the world isn't black and white, but many shades of grey. And there isn't any cut-and-dried solutions to real world problems.
With regards to God, it is a time where my faith is called into question. Doubts greeted me at every turn; in every textbook I study and in every assigned reading. Simple answers about God no longer satisfy me, and I was in need of something deeper, greater and more intellectually gratifying. But if there's something I've come to learn, it is this: true belief always begins with doubt.
It is only in questioning will we find the impetus to search out the answers. This thirst for knowledge is a never-ending quest; it is an itch that will forever be there for me to scratch.
So how do I describe my belief system right now? I see myself as a committed Christian, still as "on fire" as I was back then. However, that does not mean my mind is blind to everything else. Instead, I make it a point to constantly challege my own beliefs and those of others.
I foresee myself stepping on some toes pretty soon.
The itch to write
Right now, I'm still exploring my interests as a writer, and to that end I have already contributed articles for numerous Singaporean publications, including The Sunday Times, Mind Your Body, Journalism.sg, The Nanyang Chronicle, and My Paper.
This blog is an exploration of my intellectual interests in Christianity, religion and society. It is also a documentation of my faith journey. I hope you'll enjoy reading my blog as much as I love writing on it.