what are your fault-lines?

so i was in Covenant today. was nice.
Pr. Edmund Chan was speaking. WOOTS~ (:

Text: Nehemiah 13:23-29

fault line - (geology) line determined by the intersection of a geological fault and the earth's surface
(geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other

ever seem them before? they are major cracks on the ground. those are tectonic plates shifting positions.

fault-lines encompasses spiritual differences between two people

A. FAULT-LINES ARE SUBTLE(v23-24)
Spiritual fault-lines are basically compromises...
we compromise, a fault-line appears.
the more we bend the bigger the fault-lines
private fault-lines have public consequences
as Daniel used to say, "you can choose your path, but you gotta face the consequences"
(something along those lines..)
in verse 23 and 24, the children mostly only knew how to speak the language Ashdod and did not know how to speak in their native language of Judah.
small problem right? NO!
they forget their own language, they forget their culture, they forget their roots, they forget how God saved the Isrealites countless times.

B. FAULT-LINES ARE NO RESPECTERS OF PERSONS(v26-28)
King Solomon in all his wisdom married foreign wives that led him asray
the High Priest Joiada's son married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, enemy of the Isrealites.
Nehemiah gave these examples to tell the people that even Kings and High Priests can have such fault-lines in their lives.
How can someone so high drop so LOW???

if you ever have the mentality "I can handle it", think again.
don't fool around with fault-lines. little compromises can be grave problems later.

C. FAULT-LINES ARE DESTRUCTIVE(v29)
How can something that feels SO good be SO bad??
the one word in v29 that strikes is the word DEFILED

then Pr. Edmund Chan talked about a few practical considerations

1. Pay attention to fault-lines in your life
- don't ignore the fault-lines. search them out and get them ironed out
- if you have the Heart for God, you will not let fault-lines stay

2. Build spiritual Oneness in your relationship
- Intimacy... not just sex. emotional, spiritual intimacy too
- look to God. he created marriage to last.

3. If your Spouse is an Unbeliever..
- if you love the Lord, knowing your spouse is an unbeliever hurts.
- one thing. serve God and your spouse.
- there is healing and redemption

4. If you are Dating an Unbeliever..
- Start and Stop
- Start following God. Honour Him
- Stop Rationalising
you don't understand, the good ones are taken, the ones not taken are not good!
don't worry, God will provide.

one of the nice things of the Sabbath is not only rest.
as Pr Edmund says, "why be so kan cheong, take rest for I will certainly provide"

what are the fault-lines in our lives? are we taking care of the root of the problems or are we pasting plaster on cancer?