Let me jot this down. Pentecost is 10 days after Ascension. On Ascension, Jesus was lifted up to Heaven. Before He left, He assured his apostles that they will be baptised with the Holy Spirit. And on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit rained down like bolts of fire and fill them with the Holy Spirit.

That much I know. Anyway, Pentecost is also my church feastday and it is celebrated with novenas for nine days and on Pentecost, we will have a big feast and a big celebration. These few days, priests and bishops from other churches will come to my church and give us extra long sermons.

The problem with these long sermons is they can sometimes be too intellectual for me and I feel breathless trying to grasp the history of the church, the Old Testament and Jesus’s preachings. Sometimes, I lost the plot in midway and my mind wandered.

But I have put my mind to attend these nine days novenas and I forced myself to listen. I think the sermon is 45 minutes long but I get only one message. Or rather, revelation.

Father FA made things very easy to understand and he is always such a motivating and engaging speaker. He said the Bible is God’s way of revealing Himself to us. I have no problem grasping that. But I found enlightenment over something.

If you have never touch a Bible, you probably aren’t aware that it is one of the most scandalous book around. When I first read it, I went, “OMGAWD!!!! They did that?”

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You see, the Bible has a lot of stories of incest, murders, cheating, war and all kind of extremely sinful people. Even King David himself was the sly, horny man. King David is one of those more ‘glamouros’ characters. Everyone knows David and Goliath. This little David grew up to become God chosen one. But you know what he did? He found a woman bathing in the garden. He peeped. Then, he found out that she is married. So, using his power, he sent the husband to war and instructed his people to make sure that the husband get killed by putting him in the front line. The husband died. He sapu (steal) the wife.

There are many other characters in there. Even Abraham, the father of all nations, a man who is very faithful to God has his shares of stories. His wife, Sarah sent the pregnant woman whom Abraham has fathered the child (because Sarah couldn’t) to the desert. Yes, the poor woman got ditched. All because Sarah also got pregnant after that.

All the while, I have how other folks have accused the Christians of doctoring the holy book. And I have wondered, if really that is the case, then, why don’t they take out all those less pleasant parts? But no, the fact is the Bible is a book authored by God’s guided people. All the good and bad are left in the Bible.

I realised that these unsavoury characters and ugly incidents were all reflections of us. We may or may not be as bad as those people. But some part of us are. And though they are really jerks, God still find a way to use them. Some turn over a new leaf. Some never did. Some had to struggle through but they will find their straight and narrow paths.

I see the Bible as a complete message from God. There are good and bad parts. I am going to see the whole picture.