Is It Okay For Christian To Throw Ong Lai , Oranges And Scatter Salt And Rice

[rain 0]

I did not belittle anyone in the process of clarifying if throwing ong lai or sprinkle rice or salt is right for Christians. To be very explicit for those who can't read between the lines, what I had meant was: Christians who do not know if such acts are biblical should check with their pastors, because if one has gone to church often enough, you would have understood why it's not appropriate for Christians to do those things, because the sermons would inevitably mention how a Christian should or should not act. How ridiculous to equate that statement with self-righteousness! Ironically, it's often those who chide others for being self-righteous the self-righteous ones.

See some of the quotes I also want to laugh. If it's from the bible, at least be more accurate lah.

[kcwee 8]

Believing in God doesn't mean throwing away your common sense.

Steady la....agreed

[kcwee 8]

Salvation is by grace and not by works. Going to church and follow the scripture does not make u a Christian, just like priests in Jesus's time.

Ho Seh la.....bravo.....

[kcwee 8]

Hey guys, gals.....just my 1/2 cent ho boh....when a Catholic use beads and pray to Mary on an altar at home, I still go bowling with him. When a pentacostant pray in tongues, I just prepare ear plugs the next time we meet. When charismatic session always got people faint on floor....I just drink expresso, kopi kowkow before I go. Baptist always end up at the seaside especially got newborn, i just standby swimming trunk. methodist so cool man....i'll meet them when I can't sleep well (easy to fall asleep)......Lauer...where the song? Let it be....let me be....

[kcwee 8]

If feng shui is a religious practise....not so good for christians to involve. If feng shui is a science.....then there's no differnce with driving the car or switching on the Tv. Let them discern their own la...tio bo? Carry on buay liao wan nah......

[FatFatFamily 0]

Can anyone advise me what is the correct chinese traditional method when opening the door the first time? Roll pineapple, apples, oranges, green beans, rice with salt..etc?

Roll liao then put the fruits in the house or below a tallest tree?

Tomorrow is the day but I'm still confused..

Btw, I'm a christian. However, doing these is like a chinese tradition to me..not worshipping any other God. It really depends on one's mindset. It's just like christians cannot touch joss sticks as it is related to other regligions, but i hold them to respect the one who passed on.. Different intention.

I'm a chinese and its who I am. I receive & give ang paos.. "财神到" is what we always say since young, but you can't say I'm going against God. It's our tradition. If all these can't do then I don't feel I'm a chinese.. It's the same as saying "If you do not go church, you are not a Christian". I may have left church, but I have never left God.

As long you know which God you worship with your heart is good enough.

These are just my personal opinions & I have no intention to hurt nor insult any regligion. :cheers:

[Lord138 0]

hi

i find that whatever religion u r in they teach us to b good so if by throwing pineapple means u dun respect God

then can i ask did u follow THE TEN COMMANDMENT n not miss 1 of them (Jgal)?

my main point is that if we have GOD in our heart its ok to throw the ong lai.what counts is the heart n talking no offense

[rain 0]

To be a Christian doesn't mean attainment of perfection. To ask someone if he had followed the ten commandments is irrelevant in this discussion. You might as well ask if he had sinned and then say 'my point is ...'

Ya, have God in your heart by all means, but it's too easy to use it on the pretext of doing what you want instead of what God wants eg. I abuse drugs as long as I have God in my heart, I lose tantrums as long as I have God in my heart ...

The question to ask yourself is: what would Jesus do if it were him?

To sprinkle salt and rice to either appease or chase ghosts out of the house, hasn't God promised to "strengthen and protect you from the evil one" (2 Thess 3:3)?

To roll Ong lai for prosperity sake, isn't it promised in the Word that "my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philipp 4:19)?

We are called to "honor God with your body" because "you were bought at a price" (1Cor 6:20). To argue if holding joss sticks and carrying out rituals that have religious implications is right or wrong is senseless. The question/s to ask is/are 'Is what I am doing honoring God?' 'What kinda testimony am I serving to the non-believers?' 'Is God demonstrated thro me?'

Lastly, I leave those in Christ who "have God in my heart" with Hebrews 10:26

"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left"

Be assured that no Christian will judge anyone in Christ who continues to seek practices that are non-biblical. I just wish to highlight that there are differences between practices with religious implications/secular beliefs, traditions/customs and fengshui purposes.

[FatFatFamily 0]

This is really a wrong topic to start with. I have to stop giving or receiving ang baos since there seems to be a link to 财神. No want la.. Like that CNY no fun leh.. My other relatives bai bai the food during CNY..like that I also cannot eat le..?

[FatFatFamily 0]

Anyway, all religions have good intentions & teachings to make us a better person. No one's perfect.

[rain 0]

I don't remember giving and receiving Ang Pows got any link to 财神 leh. Pray enlighten how they are linked. As far as I recall, giving and receiving Ang pows is an act to bless the younger generation to 平平安安长大, but gradually we also give angpows to the elderly in the family to show our appreciation and love. As long as there isn't any idea to conflict with the idea that I only worship one God, there is no reason why we can't adopt certain practices. I don't hold joss sticks because it is a form of worship. If it isn't, why wouldn't the toaists and buddhists go through water baptism, or raise their hands at church services, or kneel in church? It is precisely because these acts are forms of worship. Even non-Christians believe that, so why shouldn't I?

As for eating food offered at bai bai, there is always the grace that we say over the food, although I know there are Christians who really don't eat them. My aunt and mother used to set aside food for me before they offered them.

I am not sure why you don't go to church. Even if you do not want to belong to a church, it's always good to listen to the sermons and worship with his people.

[FatFatFamily 0]

I don't remember giving and receiving Ang Pows got any link to 财神 leh. Pray enlighten how they are linked. As far as I recall, giving and receiving Ang pows is an act to bless the younger generation to 平平安安长大, but gradually we also give angpows to the elderly in the family to show our appreciation and love. As long as there isn't any idea to conflict with the idea that I only worship one God, there is no reason why we can't adopt certain practices. I don't hold joss sticks because it is a form of worship. If it isn't, why wouldn't the toaists and buddhists go through water baptism, or raise their hands at church services, or kneel in church? It is precisely because these acts are forms of worship. Even non-Christians believe that, so why shouldn't I?

As for eating food offered at bai bai, there is always the grace that we say over the food, although I know there are Christians who really don't eat them. My aunt and mother used to set aside food for me before they offered them.

I am not sure why you don't go to church. Even if you do not want to belong to a church, it's always good to listen to the sermons and worship with his people.

Well, it's simple. I hold joss sticks to respect the one who had passed on..as long I do not worship other gods as mentioned earlier. I do not believe in doing what others do. Its just like saying, "If he/she does not forgives me, then why should I forgive him/her?"

It is okay if other non-believers do not respect my religion, but I do not see why I should not respect theirs. This is what separates all of us. I believe in standing from another perspective to gain a better understanding.

Actually My grandmother passed away this afternoon & we are holding a christian wake. My other relatives are from other religions, they respected & they did not burn any incense etc according to their religions, they actually attended the christian service in due respect to my grandma. They were not worshipping my God.

I attended a buddism school in the past (my godma drags me there last time).. I had learnt many good values & still remember them till today. Although my conviction is still with Christ, at least I know that every religion has good teachings.

Why I left church? Many reasons.. I will back off if someone tries to force something down my throat.. But I do hear online sermons by pastor prince once in a while.. He is a good preacher..

Anyway, what you shared is not incorrect either.. You have your stand & beliefs.. God will bless you & your family abundantly in all your commitments..

[rain 0]

Most people back off when someone tries to shove something down their throat. Again, there's a difference between having disequilibrium in what you always believe and a conflict of beliefs.

Being a first-generation Christian, I have to constantly ask myself if what I hear or see is biblical especially if I feel uncomfortable with the new ideas. Is it me refusing to move out of my comfort zone or is the idea self-serving to the pastor? Of course, I wasn't capable of questioning the ideas or beliefs when I first became a Christian. That's why age helps and experience counts

I left my first church when my equilibrium was disrupted to the point of disillusionment. What they had practiced was contradicting what they preached. It was too disturbing to ignore so I left the church.

I was an 'extremist' when I first believed. It was until I threw the talisman my mother placed on my baby's chest away and saw the hurt in her eyes that I realized that my mother also wanted the best for my baby despite using different methods. She fed my baby with burnt talisman in water when my baby fell sick, but it was what she had believed to be the 'best' method to cure my baby. She took my baby to Chinese temples to pray to the deities because she wanted her to have the blessings of the best gods, exactly what she did for us when we were young.

I participated in this discussion because I didn't want any new believers to be stumbled, especially if non-Christians are also sharing what they think without knowing the biblical implications. I think it's important to get the fundamentals right first before we tamper with the methods to go about getting things done.

We can be skeptical about what humans preach or practise, but when in doubt, prayer should always be the first thing we turn to rather than the last resort. I remember my churchmates used to invite their pastors to say prayer of blessings over their new flats - that I thought is the Christian way to bless the house rather than roll ong lai and sprinkle salt.

[bepgof 20]

Gd sharing.

- Holding joss stick equates to form of "worship"? If so, to whom u deem fit? All these "actions/worship" which can be observed by naked eyes, are superfial. Don't be bothered by human pressures(peer, relatives....)But in actual fact, we do face sure pressures. Be appreciative and kind to the loved ones, would never go wrong, same go to the "hate" ones. Big Mouth said "ppls have TVs, we don't want to have, we want to have something ppls don't have" - try read history bk, will understand what i mean.

Real challenges to christians are "worshipping" somethings/situations that they're unaware of, or semi-aware and "fall in love" with,

like wealth, power, control(OT, promotion, change job, start commercial business, step shoulder at work, stab back at work.......too many examples to raise).

Bottom line is : Spirit need to be worshipped by spirit. Certain "actions" can bring ppl closer, do it, of course not forgetting the prime motive of doing so.

We are living within different cultures, each has their long-existed norms of "patterns" of "behavioural actions" towards to and of course their "intents". We do the same "behavioural actions" but with different intents - this is the key.

I experienced African christians' worshipping to God, body rolling on floor, bared footed, one foot up, one foot down jumping like certain "animal", 2 hands up keep shaking, head also shaking....so, can i conclude they are "seow", surely not.

I don't roll pineapple on floor under "normal circumstances", but if a "non-beliver" invite me to his "first door opening" and invite me to roll, I will roll. I'll till Father to guide him and give my invisible blessing. I "help" my mil to burn the what paper before she believed. She shared that my daughter's "ah ma what if i don't see u in heaven, how?" arrowed directly into her heart and made her "wake up" despite our years of efforts.

I give bible to people whom I deemed have "hope", before bk exchange hand, I make sure the receiver "promise" to me(or Father?)that they will read the John, Luke, Mark & Mathrew, but NEVER ask them by WHEN they must finish reading. I sow seeds on different grounds, and water it if possible, the rest leave it to HIM.

Last, I keep reminding my son who is 17 this yr, be brave to face the crowd, but don't to be coward to walk into the crowd. He'll experience it one day and "recall" what I said. We give them root, not wings. We hack at root, not at branches or leaves.

[FatFatFamily 0]

Gd sharing.

- Holding joss stick equates to form of "worship"? If so, to whom u deem fit? All these "actions/worship" which can be observed by naked eyes, are superfial. Don't be bothered by human pressures(peer, relatives....)But in actual fact, we do face sure pressures. Be appreciative and kind to the loved ones, would never go wrong, same go to the "hate" ones. Big Mouth said "ppls have TVs, we don't want to have, we want to have something ppls don't have" - try read history bk, will understand what i mean.

Real challenges to christians are "worshipping" somethings/situations that they're unaware of, or semi-aware and "fall in love" with,

like wealth, power, control(OT, promotion, change job, start commercial business, step shoulder at work, stab back at work.......too many examples to raise).

Bottom line is : Spirit need to be worshipped by spirit. Certain "actions" can bring ppl closer, do it, of course not forgetting the prime motive of doing so.

We are living within different cultures, each has their long-existed norms of "patterns" of "behavioural actions" towards to and of course their "intents". We do the same "behavioural actions" but with different intents - this is the key.

I experienced African christians' worshipping to God, body rolling on floor, bared footed, one foot up, one foot down jumping like certain "animal", 2 hands up keep shaking, head also shaking....so, can i conclude they are "seow", surely not.

I don't roll pineapple on floor under "normal circumstances", but if a "non-beliver" invite me to his "first door opening" and invite me to roll, I will roll. I'll till Father to guide him and give my invisible blessing. I "help" my mil to burn the what paper before she believed. She shared that my daughter's "ah ma what if i don't see u in heaven, how?" arrowed directly into her heart and made her "wake up" despite our years of efforts.

I give bible to people whom I deemed have "hope", before bk exchange hand, I make sure the receiver "promise" to me(or Father?)that they will read the John, Luke, Mark & Mathrew, but NEVER ask them by WHEN they must finish reading. I sow seeds on different grounds, and water it if possible, the rest leave it to HIM.

Last, I keep reminding my son who is 17 this yr, be brave to face the crowd, but don't to be coward to walk into the crowd. He'll experience it one day and "recall" what I said. We give them root, not wings. We hack at root, not at branches or leaves.

I respect you. You are wise.