Greetings from London

I might as well write a new post ...

"Yups! It's all very nostalgic ... dunno what to make of it. It feels familliar and alien at the same time. It's like I'm a tourist who does not need a map in a new place. "

"... so will be taking pictures yup yup! I got the aeros and flakes dee...hopefully it wont melt on arrival... i hope i can make it for service on sunday!!"

"I have been tempted to purchase a lot of stuff from my shopping trips but they're stuff that I really dun need. So I sought refuge in Borders today and guess what I found? 'Jesus Among Other Gods'"

It's the black and maroon book by Ravi Zacharias which I always see on the makeshift book booth, outside the auditorium. Curiosity of the Qu'ran took me to the Religion section today and I was feeling my way around Muslim scholars and KJV, NIV Bibles until I saw the familiar book sat at the bottom corner of the bookshelf. I had a fleeting desire to better understand my muslim brothers but then realised that I should master my own faith first before I make any comparisons and arguments about Christianity. So I grabbed the book and started reading it. It's very easy to get into and I was quite engrossed with it (no doubt helped by my growing boredom with the materialistic world) and finished the first chapter of 20 pages. I flipped the book to its back and saw the price tag -- ten pounds and 50 pence. I was sure that they sell it cheaper in SIB what do you guys reckon? I'll know this Sunday for sure.

I suppose I could have waited until I got back and bought the book ... but I was afraid that the moment wld be lost and I'll just continue to put on hold or totally forget about the moment. It felt like I was putting God on hold all the time. I could spend hours wandering the streets of London aimlessly and walking in and out of stores looking at all kinds of material things that scream "buy me!" and yet ... and yet I still hesitated on buying this book because of a possible 2-5 pounds difference. I could spend 6 times this amount on a pair of jeans and still dun need to squeeze my brain this hard to justify the purchase. Granted I still dunno for sure whether this book is necessarily honest in what it says about Jesus Christ. However, you'll never know unless you finish the book and it's about prioritizing God first and foremost, making that effort to seek Him and putting your intuitions to the test.

It boils down to how I spend my money (my parents' money to be exact.) If it is to improve my knowledge about God then I should not even hesitate -- granted it has to be within reasonable means. I'm just sharing something about myself really. I'm probably putting material things ahead of God sometimes even without me realizing it. It's a bad habit and I just want to slowly change for God. However, this is not easy to do and it can be dangerous. In a world of religious fanaticism, "putting God first" can be a rubberstamp for all kinds of malevolent deeds. It's the risk that we all have to take.

Geez, it's late and I'm getting way ahead of myself here ... After all this talk, I better make sure I finish reading the book!! :P

Kitt