Parenting Perspectives #1: Spending Time Together
How to achieve work-life harmony with a demanding job and 3 kids? Here’s a fun 3-in-1 solution.
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Joy in reading and 101 chimes at 9:05 pm
An account of the intersection of my life with books. Reading some odd things about Oxford, UK – in a biography of Dorothy L Sayers by Colin Duriez – made me recall odd things in books I’ve read. And made me think about how I started reading, what I read over the years, what endures, and my habit of acquiring books as travel momentos.
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The death penalty and the Christian
I begin with 6 reasons why I was reluctant to accept an invitation to speak about the death penalty. I explain why I accepted. I mention 4 true stories which I used to humanize my talk. I conclude by listing 3 Christian views of the death penalty.
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Of Egrets and Rest
One of my many childhood memories is of a time my father took me to Muar’s riverbank to watch migratory birds nesting in the mangroves at the end of the year. I chased after the herons and egrets to catch them. My father burst into laughter as he chased after me! Well, I was young!
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Public Theology: Black Liberation Theology vs Political Theology
Rothney Tshaka made me think hard about black liberation theology. Tshaka’s the Director of the School of Humanities in the University of South Africa (Unisa). In his 19-minute contribution to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) series on Public Theology, he introduces himself as an ordained minister, a student of black liberation theology, and author of
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Among famous slaves, Harriet Tubman’s my #1
Harriet Tubman was a 5-foot short, black, poor, illiterate, epileptic, divorced, remarried, and widowed, non-pacifist Christian who, in the 91 years of her life, was born into slavery, traded as a slave, hunted as a runaway, and called Conductor, Black Moses, Spy, General, Nurse, and Mother Tubman.
She conducted hundred of people out of slavery into freedom on the underground railway. She recruited and inspired hundreds of black men to fight in the American civil war (1861-1865) over slavery.
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The bird on a lamp
What’s so special about this Yellow-vented Bulbul on a lamp? Well, to me it is special, because this is my hailing bird! About a year ago, on 16 November 2020, I was woken up with a strong inner prompting to go watch the sun-rise downstairs. And so I heeded. I took the lift from the
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A story of German migrants
In this article I speak about German-speaking people who migrated from Europe three centuries ago. I discuss why they left, how they chose where to go, how the British government and public responded to them, and a survival strategy they adopted. I end by pointing out some key themes which can help us think about our responses to refugees. I provide three links to related resources and a link to a song recorded by Bangsar Lutheran Church.
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Public Theology: Be neither church in excess nor in defeat
The evangelical churches decided to raise money and, together with others, acquire a rescue ship and run a rescue mission. They operate with the hashtag #wirschickeneinschiff (#wesendtheship). A bishop speaks for them – and so the media write about the scandal of death on the high seas. The constant supply of bodies keeps the moral scandal on the radar.
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Ezra 1:1-11 The God who counts pots and pans
In this short post, I address the issue of biblical counts of pots and pans, Jeremiah’s ‘inaccurate’ prophecy of 70 years of exile, and the tension between human agency and God’s sovereignty. I consider what the Jewish historian Herodotus said about why Cyrus invited the Jerusalemites to “go home” and pose a question about appealing to Bible texts in matters of public policy.
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