Floodgates.visual.6.FA

Features
Features
day. In this account of sin’s
pioneering entry into man,
the devil, in the form of a
serpent comes to Eve to
confuse her. The serpent
is magnificently subtle in
his tugging and prodding
of Eve’s heart away from
God-centeredness to selfcenteredness.
A reading
of Genesis 3:1-4 reveals
the crafty devil’s gentle
and gradual tests to Eve’s
confidence and integrity,
until he finally succeeds to
tantalise Eve’s desire to be
God-like. This desire to “be
like God” (Genesis 3:5) is
mankind’s smug desire for
autonomy from God; Eve’s
eating from the tree of
knowledge of good and evil
is then a premeditated and
deliberate move away from
God’s control.
In the serpent’s temptation
for Eve to eat from the
tree of knowledge of good
and evil, we see mankind’s
envy of God’s position to
dictate and determine good
and evil. Whilst the pursuit
of knowledge itself is a
commendable endeavour,
the post-modernistic
worldview mankind adopts
in his conceited craving
to retain autonomy for
determining that which is
good and that which is evil
has inevitable blurred the
lines so that mankind today
(and many Christians too)
subscribe to the notion that
there are no moral absolutes.
Indeed the safest road to Hell
is the gradual one--the gentle
slope, soft underfoot, without
sudden turnings, without
milestones, without signposts...
C. S. Lewis
As Christians, look to live
a Christ-like life, we would
justifiably need to address
a myriad of sins we fall
guilty of and to repent from
them. Nonetheless, unless
we understand the ultimate
cause of our sinful nature, our
medicating these symptoms
do not address the cancer
of the matter. Pride remains
stubbornly in the background
of most of our repentance.
Against the will of the devil,
pride needs, for the sake
of our spiritual walk, to be
brought to the forefront and
addressed unashamedly.
So the next time you feel
glad or proud over your
accomplishment or when
someone compliments
you for a job well done, be
sure to look heavenwards
and give Him the credit for
working the accomplishment
through you.
My pride, my ego,
my needs, and
my selfish ways,
caused a good
strong woman
like you to walk
out my life. Now
I never, never get
to clean up the
mess I made, oh,
and it haunts me
every time I close
my eyes.
Bruno Mars
Singer, song writer
• This article quotes heavily
from C. S. Lewis – in
particular, from two of his
books, Mere Christianity
and The Screwtape Letters.
• The final quote from
Bruno Mars comes from his
Grammy Award nominated
composition When I Was
Your Man.
“ENCOURAGE
each other and build
each other up…”
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Staphanie Mun Chen, KL
Becoming a mother might be the most significant transformation
in a woman’s life. One day we are women, knowing, and pretty certain
about most decisions that we make —not least being a person who
could take a shower or use the bathroom pretty much whenever she
wanted. Then we become a mum, and it feels like the world we have
known is over, and a new one, one we are not fully prepared for, has begun.
That sounds dramatic, I know, but it is the way most new mums might feel
during those first few weeks of motherhood. DUMC W2W New Mummies Ministry
(NMM) was birthed to give support to this very special group of women, the new
mums. Here, we interviewed eight special women who lead this new mothers
support movement since 2016.
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03/02/2018 12:53 PM