"But someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again" - CS Lewis to his Goddaughter in the preface of the lion, the witch and the wardrobe.

ok, the lowdown of ptbc. the main issue was whether Christians could fall away. Which simply goes against John Calvin who once said, "Once saved, always saved." the two speakers were ray galea and peter o'brien. both are great speakers who do know their stuff and give all credit to the bible. they depend on the bible, calling themselves bible-reading christians. cute term. it was a good reminder of God's assurance that His children are His. i lost count of the number of times i nearly burst out in tears, biting my lip, trying not to get too emotionally involved. it was a cauldron of emotions: anger, disappointment. guilt and rage at myself, relief, joy, happiness with God.

how true it is! it's 100% God's will and 100% human response. mathematically unsound but theologically true. it's a struggle for many of us to grasp it and we are still continually challenged by it that we will continue to learn more and depend on God. God's soverignty or our free will? the reason why it's so mathematically unsound and why us, as humans, cannot grasp it, is the fact that truly, we try to use human logic to reason out God logic. nevertheless, it's the beauty of God's word and His world, isn't it?

as for the main issue of Christians falling away, we'll look at the parable of the sower and the seeds. some were eaten by the birds, some sprang up on rocky ground without depth and were burnt by the sun, some fell among thorns and were choked while growing. the last fell on good soil and grew, reaping a harvest. true christians are those seeds that fall on good soil. for the first one, the word was never even on them. but for the other two, they symbolised people who had the word. but while the word grew in them, it didn't last. true christians don't fall away. then why would the author of hebrews warn the christians about falling away? 'cos the epistle was written to the whole church. it would have been unreasonable for the author to judge the people to decide who was Christian or wearing a Christian facade, right? so there were non-christians who thought they were christians, thus could fall away if they let themselves be tempted. this is 'cos they aren't really christians. so there you have it, solved.

anywayz, i'm barring myself from secular bookstores for now. walked into MPH before bible study on tues.. Dragons in the Archives by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Unfinished tales and The hobbit by JRR Tolkien, War of the Worlds by HG Wells, The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, the series of unfortunate events by Lemony Snickets (only missing book 1). argh. i want i want i want... (i bought narnia in the end. $38.75 for 7 books.) and then there's God's big design by Vaughan Roberts, Tyndale NT letters of John by John Stott and Revelation: Now and then by Paul Barnett. these 3 i definitely want to get. and there are other books like Forsyte Saga, Frank Miller's sin city, The Mummy by Anne Rice. even if i found all that money to buy those books, i have no space in my bookshelf. it's flooded with my books and toys. did i mention that i still haven't bought book 6 - 12 of Rekka no Honnou and waiting for the next Saiyuki reload to come out. i need a new bookshelf. anyone want to sponsor me?

Btw, The Young Co. is putting up Macbeth at the DBS Arts House. 4 - 6 Aug. $21, inclusive of $1 Sisitic charge. anyone wanna go?