As part of my training over the past week, I've been taking a module on correctional knowledge. Here are some random thoughts on the topic.
Human Responsibility
The circumstances someone is in may lead him to commit a crime. But they should not cause him to commit a crime (assuming that he has (libertarian) free will). For example, someone may end up stealing because he is poor. But just because he is poor does not mean that he will end up stealing.
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
Deterrence
There are two ways to deter potential criminals from committing crimes and coming to prison. One way is to make prisons harsher such that no one wants to suffer a conviction. The other way is to make society more caring such that no one wants to forfeit being a part of society.
Rehabilitation and Prevention
By definition, rehabilitation is about correcting mistakes and putting things right. Meanwhile, prevention is about ensuring that mistakes do not happen, that nothing goes wrong in the first place. To this end, rehabilitation will always be a step behind prevention. (Nevertheless, reducing reoffending - though not as effective as preventing offending - is still better than not doing anything about offending.) As the saying goes, 'prevention is better than cure'.
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." - Romans 6:1-4 (NIV)
Sunday 27 February 2011
Sunday 20 February 2011
Back to Training School
Having completed my first phase of residential training at the Home Team Academy last month, I've been undergoing on-the-job training (at a prison) over the past 4 weeks. Since I've been staying out of camp during this period, I'm thankful for the extra time to catch up with friends, go for my church's midweek prayer meetings and even celebrate my first Chinese New Year in Singapore since 2007. I've also been able to look around for a second-hand car and eventually get one :)
"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." - 1 Timothy 4:4-5 (NIV)
Tomorrow I book back into camp and begin the second half of my Basic Officers' Course. 12 more weeks and we'll be through!
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." - 1 Timothy 4:4-5 (NIV)
Tomorrow I book back into camp and begin the second half of my Basic Officers' Course. 12 more weeks and we'll be through!
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Saturday 19 February 2011
Luther and Calvin on Baptism
Baptism... means to plunge something completely into the water, so that the water covers it... This usage is also demanded by the significance of the baptism itself. For baptism, as we shall hear, signifies that the old man and the sinful birth of flesh and blood are to be wholly drowned by the grace of God. We should therefore do justice to its meaning and make baptism a true and complete sign of the thing it signifies.
- Martin Luther, quoted in Tom Wells, Does Baptism Mean Immersion? A Friendly Inquiry into the Ongoing Debate
But whether the person being baptised should be wholly immersed, and whether thrice or once, whether he should only be sprinkled or poured with water - these details are of no importance, but ought to be optional to churches according to the diversity of the countries. Yet the word "baptise" means to immerse, and it is clear that the rite of immersion was observed in the ancient church.
- John Calvin, quoted in Tom Wells, Does Baptism Mean Immersion? A Friendly Inquiry into the Ongoing Debate
- Martin Luther, quoted in Tom Wells, Does Baptism Mean Immersion? A Friendly Inquiry into the Ongoing Debate
But whether the person being baptised should be wholly immersed, and whether thrice or once, whether he should only be sprinkled or poured with water - these details are of no importance, but ought to be optional to churches according to the diversity of the countries. Yet the word "baptise" means to immerse, and it is clear that the rite of immersion was observed in the ancient church.
- John Calvin, quoted in Tom Wells, Does Baptism Mean Immersion? A Friendly Inquiry into the Ongoing Debate
Monday 14 February 2011
On Love
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
Monday 7 February 2011
Creation and Procreation
Why would a triune God create a world? If he were a unipersonal God, you might say, "Well, he created the world so he can have beings who give him worshipful love, and that would give him joy." But the triune God already had that - and he received love within himself in a far purer, more powerful form than we human beings can ever give him. So why would he create us?
There's only one answer. He must have created us not to get joy but to give it.
He must have created us to invite us into the dance, to say: If you glorify me, if you centre your entire life on me, if you find me beautiful for who I am in myself, then you will step into the dance, which is what you are made for.
You are made not just to believe in me or to be spiritual in some general way, not just to pray and get a bit of inspiration when things are tough. You are made to centre everything in your life on me, to think of everything in terms of your relationship to me. To serve me unconditionally. That's where you'll find your joy. That's what the dance is about.
- Timothy Keller, King's Cross
"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." - Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)
Just as God created His children in His image, so we have children (which, ultimately, are His children) in our image. Incidentally, a child usually resembles one or both of his or her parents.
More importantly, if God created to give and not to get, how much more should we enter into relationships (and have children, God willing) out of love and not out of need!
There's only one answer. He must have created us not to get joy but to give it.
He must have created us to invite us into the dance, to say: If you glorify me, if you centre your entire life on me, if you find me beautiful for who I am in myself, then you will step into the dance, which is what you are made for.
You are made not just to believe in me or to be spiritual in some general way, not just to pray and get a bit of inspiration when things are tough. You are made to centre everything in your life on me, to think of everything in terms of your relationship to me. To serve me unconditionally. That's where you'll find your joy. That's what the dance is about.
- Timothy Keller, King's Cross
"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." - Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)
Just as God created His children in His image, so we have children (which, ultimately, are His children) in our image. Incidentally, a child usually resembles one or both of his or her parents.
More importantly, if God created to give and not to get, how much more should we enter into relationships (and have children, God willing) out of love and not out of need!
Sunday 6 February 2011
You give and take away
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." - Job 1:21 (NIV)
Trust God for what He has given, and trust Him for what He has taken away. Oh, that this would draw you closer to God!
"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God." - Psalm 42:5-6 (NIV)
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" - Romans 8:32 (NIV)
Still, my soul be still
And do not fear
Though winds of change may rage tomorrow
God is at your side
No longer dread
The fires of unexpected sorrow
God, You are my God
And I will trust in You and not be shaken
Lord of peace renew
A steadfast spirit within me
To rest in You alone
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." - Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)
Trust God for what He has given, and trust Him for what He has taken away. Oh, that this would draw you closer to God!
"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God." - Psalm 42:5-6 (NIV)
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" - Romans 8:32 (NIV)
Still, my soul be still
And do not fear
Though winds of change may rage tomorrow
God is at your side
No longer dread
The fires of unexpected sorrow
God, You are my God
And I will trust in You and not be shaken
Lord of peace renew
A steadfast spirit within me
To rest in You alone
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." - Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)
Creation and New Creation
"At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."" - Mark 1:9-11 (NIV)
For the Spirit of God to be pictured as a dove is not particularly striking to us, but when Mark was writing, it was very rare. In the sacred writings of Judaism there is only one place where the Spirit of God is likened to a dove, and that is in the Targums, the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that the Jews of Mark's time read.
In the creation account, the book of Genesis 1:2 says that the Spirit hovered over the face of the waters. The Hebrew verb here means "flutter": the Spirit fluttered over the face of the waters. To capture this vivid image, the rabbis translated the passage for the Targums like this: "And the earth was without form and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttered above the face of the waters like a dove, and God spoke: 'Let there be light.'"
There are three parties active in the creation of the world: God, God's Spirit, and God's Word, through which he creates. The same three parties are present at Jesus' baptism: the Father, who is the voice; the Son, who is the Word; and the Spirit fluttering like a dove. Mark is deliberately pointing us back to the creation, to the very beginning of history.
Just as the original creation of the world was a project of the triune God, Mark says, so the redemption of the world, the rescue and renewal of all things that is beginning now with the arrival of the King, is also a project of the triune God.
- Timothy Keller, King's Cross
(Thanks to Caleb for blogging about Keller's new book.)
When the rich young ruler asks Jesus, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" he isn't asking how to go to heaven when he dies, though people have regularly read it like that. He's asking about the fact that pretty soon God is going to turn around this world and fill it with justice and joy and peace and glory and delight - and who's going to be part of the team when that happens?
- N. T. Wright, Gray Lecture at Duke Divinity School (11 Oct 10)
For the Spirit of God to be pictured as a dove is not particularly striking to us, but when Mark was writing, it was very rare. In the sacred writings of Judaism there is only one place where the Spirit of God is likened to a dove, and that is in the Targums, the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that the Jews of Mark's time read.
In the creation account, the book of Genesis 1:2 says that the Spirit hovered over the face of the waters. The Hebrew verb here means "flutter": the Spirit fluttered over the face of the waters. To capture this vivid image, the rabbis translated the passage for the Targums like this: "And the earth was without form and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttered above the face of the waters like a dove, and God spoke: 'Let there be light.'"
There are three parties active in the creation of the world: God, God's Spirit, and God's Word, through which he creates. The same three parties are present at Jesus' baptism: the Father, who is the voice; the Son, who is the Word; and the Spirit fluttering like a dove. Mark is deliberately pointing us back to the creation, to the very beginning of history.
Just as the original creation of the world was a project of the triune God, Mark says, so the redemption of the world, the rescue and renewal of all things that is beginning now with the arrival of the King, is also a project of the triune God.
- Timothy Keller, King's Cross
(Thanks to Caleb for blogging about Keller's new book.)
When the rich young ruler asks Jesus, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" he isn't asking how to go to heaven when he dies, though people have regularly read it like that. He's asking about the fact that pretty soon God is going to turn around this world and fill it with justice and joy and peace and glory and delight - and who's going to be part of the team when that happens?
- N. T. Wright, Gray Lecture at Duke Divinity School (11 Oct 10)
Saturday 5 February 2011
The Best Is Yet To Be
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." - Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more." - Isaiah 65:17-19 (NIV)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."" - Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)
"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more." - Isaiah 65:17-19 (NIV)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."" - Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)
Friday 4 February 2011
Out of the Harbour
"A ship is safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for." - William Shedd
What will you do if you are standing at a crossroad in life and God calls you to leave familiar surroundings for an adventure with Him?
In this book, Out of the Harbour, Jiamin Choo reveals her most intimate and candid moments from 25 handwritten journals penned over six years to share the life of a young person who, fresh out of school, obeyed God's call to choose the path less trodden and serve in full-time missions... on board Doulos, the World's Oldest Ocean-Going Passenger Ship built in 1914.
- outoftheharbour.com
I happen to be in the same church (and cell group!) as Jiamin and I've had the privilege of getting a sneak preview of the book. It is a powerful testimony of God's protection, provision and providence in the life of one who seeks to do His will. It is also quite cool to know a published author personally :)
Captains of Lives
Incidentally, I first came across the quote by William Shedd (who by the way was a Presbyterian theologian) during my very first internship with Prisons way back in Nov 06 to Jul 07. I think it was used in one of the Department's ship-themed posters or something.
I wouldn't say that the quote made me decide to join Prisons, but it led me (at 20 years of age and fresh out of NS) to reflect further on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
And so the journey
*****
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot
Thursday 3 February 2011
New Creation in Advance
Good works are our response to what Christ has done to rehab, renew and restart creation. More than that, they are a reflection of what kingdom living in the new heaven and the new earth will be like.
Good works do not add to Christ's finished work - His life, death and resurrection, but they finish God's (not Christ's) new creation in and through us, by the power of the Spirit and not of ourselves.
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
"For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet."
"Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." - 1 Corinthians 15:22-28 (NIV)
Finish then, Thy new creation
Pure and spotless let us be
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee
Changed from glory into glory
Till in heaven* we take our place
Till we cast our crowns before Thee
Lost in wonder, love and praise
*the new heaven and the new earth
Good works do not add to Christ's finished work - His life, death and resurrection, but they finish God's (not Christ's) new creation in and through us, by the power of the Spirit and not of ourselves.
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
"For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet."
"Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." - 1 Corinthians 15:22-28 (NIV)
Finish then, Thy new creation
Pure and spotless let us be
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee
Changed from glory into glory
Till in heaven* we take our place
Till we cast our crowns before Thee
Lost in wonder, love and praise
*the new heaven and the new earth
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Promise and Fulfillment
All God's dealings with man are characterised by two stages. There is the time of preparation, when command and promise - with the mingled experience of effort and inability, of failure and partial success, with the holy expectancy of something better that these awaken - train and discipline men for a higher stage.
Then comes the time of fulfillment, when faith inherits the promise and enjoys what it had so often struggled for in vain. This law holds good in every part of the Christian life and in the pursuit of every separate virtue. This is because it is grounded in the very nature of things.
In all that concerns our redemption, God must take the initiative. When that has been done, man's turn comes. In the effort toward obedience and attainment, he must learn to know his weakness. In self-despair, he must learn to die to himself, and so be voluntarily and intelligently equipped to receive the promise from God.
The Father will complete what man had accepted at the beginning in ignorance. So God, who had been the beginning before man rightly knew Him or fully understood what His purpose was, is longed for and welcomed as the end - as the all in all.
- Andrew Murray, Humility
Then comes the time of fulfillment, when faith inherits the promise and enjoys what it had so often struggled for in vain. This law holds good in every part of the Christian life and in the pursuit of every separate virtue. This is because it is grounded in the very nature of things.
In all that concerns our redemption, God must take the initiative. When that has been done, man's turn comes. In the effort toward obedience and attainment, he must learn to know his weakness. In self-despair, he must learn to die to himself, and so be voluntarily and intelligently equipped to receive the promise from God.
The Father will complete what man had accepted at the beginning in ignorance. So God, who had been the beginning before man rightly knew Him or fully understood what His purpose was, is longed for and welcomed as the end - as the all in all.
- Andrew Murray, Humility
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)