My writes

Mid-Week Musings : The Revolution of Love

2007-09-27T21:18:00.000+08:00

This is how we know God loves us. This is how we know the love of God, the way we perceive it, the way we understand it. He laid down his life for us. He died for us; he did something. He did not sit up in glory and sing, 'My earthlings, I love you, I know you are mine.' The did not do that. That is what we do. We sit in our meetings and sing, 'My Jesus, I love you,' and yet often we are not in speaking terms with the man in the seat beside us. Anyone who can sing that without going out from that meeting to show love in his life has passed through a religious pantomime that is an insult to Almighty God.

~George Verwer~

The Pitfall of Being Entrepreneurial

2007-09-23T19:02:00.000+08:00

When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark.... - 1 Chronicles 13:9-10

There are good things we can do, but only God-things we should do. Those activities not born out of the Spirit will result in wood, hay, and stubble. What seems good in our eyes may be an abomination in God's eyes. For instance, if you decide to build an orphanage but God has never directed you to do so, then God will not see that work as good; it was born out of your own strength, even though it was a "good work."

The most difficult challenge a Christian workplace believer will ever have is to know what things to be involved in and what things not to be involved in. Many workplace believers have a great ability to see opportunity. What appears to be a "slam dunk" may come back to haunt us if God never ordains us to enter that arena.

There are many good things we can be involved with. However, there are God-things we are supposed to be involved with. Uzzah was a good man in David's sight. It was a time of celebration, and David and the people were transporting the ark of God. However, the ark hit a bump, and Uzzah reached for the ark to hold it steady. He touched the ark, and he immediately died. David became very upset with God about this situation; he questioned whether he could serve God.

God's ways are not our ways. The most important quality God desires to develop in us is our dependence on Him and Him alone. When we begin to make decisions based on reason and analysis instead of the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit, we get into trouble with God. David later learned the importance of this principle in his own life. This encounter was one of the stepping-stones in his pilgrimage. David was an extraordinary entrepreneur. He ran the nation very successfully, but he, like each of us, had to learn the difference between "good things" and "God-things."

Are you involved in anything in which God has not directed you to be involved? Do you seek God about every decision, every action before you take it? This is where God wants you and me to be. Ask Him to show you how to walk with Him in this way.

~ Os Hillman ~

Do you obey or do you justify?

2007-09-19T23:33:00.000+08:00

Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than the fat of rams.1Samuel 15:22

Saul was given very specific instructions by God to attach the Amalekites and destroy everything that belongs to them - putting to death men, women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys (v3). However, Saul spared king Aga's life and kept the best plunder (v9). He justified how he can honour God with the plunder (v15 & 21). As a result, God's favour departed from him.

At times, we "justify" our actions under the pretense of bringing glory to God. Pursuing a relationship with a non-believer under the pretense of adding another soul into God's kingdom. Making money, at the expense of one's integrity (as mild as putting in 100-hr work week to as blatant as corruption), under the pretense of giving it away for God's purposes. If I could imagine God's face, it would be a sly smirk, one eyebrow raised with a sarcastic "Oh really?". More often that not, we fall away - the pilgrimage is diluted and we keep the money. It is the motive, it is the issue of the heart. God doesn't need anything from us - He is no one's debtor. He wants our love, and at the heart of our love for Him is obedience (1John 2:4).

The Call To Obedience

2007-09-10T19:19:00.000+08:00

Sometimes in the zeal of professing our faith about the many wonderful things about our relationship with God, it strikes non-believers as ludicrous at best and arrogant at worst. To claim to know God’s will surely sounds presumptuous; to claim to know God just a bit preposterous. And the claim that we are children of God is a double-whammy. What makes Christians so favoured and their claims true and not mere boasting?

On one hand, we are children of God hence we possess immense privileges by virtue of that relationship. On the other hand, we must be constantly reminded that we have definite responsibilities as God’s children. Here is an unequivocal stance to smugness and arrogance that implies superiority over non-Christians: it is in our conduct that we make our claims to be God’s children believable. The outward manifestation of our walk exhibits an inward spiritual integrity.

God in a box?

In this age of unprecedented wealth, consumerism mars our culture. In many developed societies, life is so good that “give us our daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer is just a pious uttering. We get to pick and choose what we want, and discard what we don’t. We are spoilt for choices. The sentiment is so strong that there is a new breed of Christians - McChristians. We open the bible, pick and choose the principles that fancy us and ignore the ones that don’t; and then carry on living life our way. Many Christians want to share Christ’s glory, but not his sufferings.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German martyr during the Nazi Occupation, penned this: “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate”. Cheap grace is living as though God ignores or condones our sins. But forgiveness means that sin is real, and must be dealt with. We cannot ignore it, because God does not ignore it. The denial of sin is not grace: it is a lie. Cheap grace means living without the demand of obedience upon us.

The Call to Obedience

If I were to summarize the Christian lifestyle into just one word, it would be obedience. The Bible is full of examples expounding obedient and disobedient characters. The underpinning principle is simple: God blesses the obedient, while the disobedient runs into problems.

Obedience is the conscientious efforts to live out God’s commands and principles, regardless of whether surrounding circumstances are favourable or not. It is a consistency of our discipleship that matters, and not individual acts taken in isolation.

Obedience is not a checklist of rules. Such hollow, legalistic approach saps the essence out of the life of faith and the pilgrimage loses its character. You know the difference between the cheerful obedience of an affectionate daughter or a dutiful son, and the forced obedience of a wretched drudge. One is spontaneous, hearty, affectionate, free, and is accepted as such; the other is extorted by fear, or given with an eye to the wages. We obey, not that it is a test to gain access to God, but rather it is the manifestation of our access to God.

No two-ways around it

There is not such thing as “I love God, but” in the Christian pilgrimage. And there is also no such thing as good intentions. Someone once commented that the road to hell is full of good intentions. Eugene Peterson once remarked that we don’t become whole persons by merely wanting to become whole, by consulting the right prophets, by reading the right books. Intentions must mature into commitments if we are to become persons with definition, character and substance.

Scriptures is blunt to state that if a person claims to know Christ but does not do as Jesus commands, he is a liar (1John 2:4). There are good reasons why God does not tolerate disobedience. Firstly, the psychology behind a disobedient act undermines faith. We know that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Secondly, as God commands to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 19:2), disobedience implies a sub-standard spiritual stance. Thirdly, it taints our declaration of love for God - only those who truly love Him will do as He says (John 14:23-24).

The call to obedience may seem like a lofty, unattainable perfection. However, as children of God, we can be sure that His grace is enough for us. If we love Him, we obey him - that is our part of the deal (1 John 5:2). God’s part of the deal is that when we obey Him, we are empowered to overcome (v3-5).

Of Conviction, Confession and Conduct

2007-09-05T23:12:00.000+08:00

With thy lips thou hath confessed

Where art thy conduct?

That reflects conviction of thy heart?

What good is thy heart's conviction?

If thou hath not confessed forth

Nor hath thou bring into conduct

What is worth of thy conduct?

Bereft of thy heart's conviction

Hollow confession of deceitful lips

O Lord heareth my cry!

Engrave Thy conviction within

Confessing Thee with my lips

My conduct are Thy ways

~Mel-Vern Toh~

Moving With The Cloud

2007-09-03T21:55:00.000+08:00

Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out.

~ Numbers 9:21b ~

Imagine living with the uncertainty of this situation. One day you work at getting your "house" in order, only to have to pick up the stakes and move. Your ability to plan is totally gone. But even greater is the temptation to move when the cloud did not move because you felt it was time to move. For the Israelites, perhaps the grass was no longer green. Perhaps the water was not easily accessible. Perhaps the bugs were a problem. Whatever the case, they were strictly prohibited from moving if the cloud did not move.

It is still the same today. We are not to move unless the Holy Spirit instructs us to do so. We are not to make that business deal on the basis of whether or not it makes sense, but on the leading of the Holy Spirit's "cloud" in our life. It is a difficult process to move only when we are directed, and to remain if we are not. The pressure is always upon us to move, to plan, to act. But if we act, we may move into a place where the presence of God may not be. Hence, the rub. The Christian workplace believer must learn to move when God says move; it is a sign of complete surrender and dependence on God's Spirit to direct our steps.

Ask God today if you are sitting under His cloud. Or, have you moved when He said stand still? He will show you.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

~Proverbs 16:9~

Mid-Week Musings : What Are You Prepared to Die For?

2007-08-29T20:34:00.000+08:00

Dietrich Bonhoeffer died for what he believed. Character for him was what was formed in his childhood days at his father and mother's table when they studied the Bible, sang hymns, and affirmed the creed. Deposited into his soul at the deepest levels was a belief that people should be free, that oppression should be fought, and that God was man's highest authority.

That was why it wasn't hard to understand Bonhoeffer's choice when in the late 1930s, he chose to leave a professorship at Union Seminary in New York and return to his German fatherland and almost certain persecution. His friends begged him not to go, as the friends of the Apostle Paul once prevailed upon him not to go to Jerusalem. But he insisted that Hitler-dominated Germany was where he belonged. At one point he wrestled with the genuineness of his character in a marvelous poem :

Who am I? They often tell me

I could step from my cell's confinement

calmly, cheerfully, firmly,like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me

I would talk to my warders

freely and friendly and clearly,

as though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me

I would bear the day's misfortune

equably, smilingly, proudly,

like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?

Or am I only what I know of myself,

restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,

struggling for breath, as though hands are compressing my throat,

yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds,

thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness,

trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation,

tossing in expectation of great events,

powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,

weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,

faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Whom am I? This or the other?

Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?

Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,

and before myself a comtemptibly woebegone weakling?

Or is something within me still like a beaten army,

feeling in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.

Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer died on the gallows at Flossenburg prison. There he commended his soul to God and died bravely. There was a character in his behaviour and attitude all the way to the end. A man of Godly valour.

Most of us do not know what we're prepared to die for. We've not lived in a time or a circumstance where death was required. The closest some of us have come to such a gutsy decision might be to lay a job on the line when a matter of ethics or legality is at stake.

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

2007-08-27T23:20:00.000+08:00

46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." 50Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." 52"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
(Mark 10:46-52)

In the days of Jesus, handicapped people like Bartimaeus are required to wear a cloak that identifies themselves to be needy people of society. These group of people rely on the mercy of the community for their welfare. In those days, people believed that if a person is afflicted with a disease, a griveous sin must have been committed by the afflicted or the parents of the afflicted. The cloak on Bartimaeus was his identity - an epitome of hopelessness, deprivation and despair. He is the personafication of a sidelined life.

Until one day, while he was begging, he heard that Jesus will be passing by. He cried out "Son of David, have mercy on me!". He shouted all the more "Son of David, have mercy on me!" even as the crowd told him to hushed up (v.47-48).

Verses 47 and 48 is where the essence of the story is being unfolded. With the kind of identity Bartimaeus had, it is easy to conclude that his self-esteem is almost non-existent. Ghis status in society, I am quite sure he didn't speak much to people around him and vice versa. Then, in that a tiniest fabric of time in his entire lifetime, he had the opportunity to come within the presence of Jesus. Conjuring up all the courage he had, he cried out "Son of David, have mercy on me!". That, itself, is a feat given his self-esteem. But to shout out all the more even after the crowd hushed him, that is amazing courage. He called out to Jesus.

Let's re-chew and re-enact in a more granular detail of what might had happened. At the first cry, Bartimaeus didn't get a respond, but a public shun. In that very fraction of time, in his mind, Bartimaeus would have thought he had lost it all. Jesus would have never heard him, walked on and he was probably subject to public ridicule even more. He would have retracted in for a little while, thinking that it was no use. In that split moment between settling with eternal shame and the possibility of healing, he conjures up everything within him and shouted again for Jesus.

Jesus stopped. When Jesus stops, entire reality stops. The crowd stopped following him. Everyone fell silent. In that very moment, Bartimaeus is in the same space with Jesus, with the rest of the world around him being shutted out. He would have all the time to have an audience with Jesus. He threw his cloak aside and went right up to Him. The throwing aside of the cloak shows that Bartimeaus expected a redefinition of his being by believing for the restoration of his sight.

It is interesting to note that people around Bartimaeus switched their stance towards him. At first they shunned him. Then when Jesus stops and call him, they told him to cheer up!

We all have a Bartimaues in us - the individual who, for the longest time, have been sidelined in life. Some of us have been sidelined in terms of job promotions. Some, for the longest while, have been denied the joy of a wholesome relationship. Some crave so much for acceptance in a family. Some of us did things with regrets that make us cringe and entrapped us. But when we called out for Jesus, He stops for us. We have an audience with Him. As Jesus responds, it is time to throw our cloak aside.

The emphasis of the Ps Michael's message was about calling out to Jesus, with very little mention about the outcome in verses 50 and 52. While the outcome is probably noteworthy, it is the relationship with Jesus that should be accentuated first. And rightly so.

Mid-Week Musings : Primary Wonder

2007-08-23T15:00:00.000+08:00

Days pass when I forget the mystery
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; cap and bells.

And then...

once more the quiet mystery is present to me, the
throng's clamour recedes; the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all, let alone
cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed One, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.

Denise Levertov in Sands of the Well

Loyalty to God, Death to Self

2007-08-08T20:33:00.000+08:00

"The golden rule of understanding spirituality is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide, but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience. If things are dark to me, then I may be sure there is something I will not do. Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance, spiritual darkness because of something I do not intend to obey."

~ Oswald Chambers ~

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

~ Romans 6:16-18 ~

Five Psalms in To The Green Man

2007-08-01T22:09:00.000+08:00

First forgive the silence
That answers the prayer,
Then forgive the prayer
That stains the silence.

Excuse the absence
That feels like presence,
Then excuse the feeling
That insists on presence.

Pardon the delay
Of revelatioin
Then ask pardon for revealing
Your impatience.

Forgive God
For being only a word,
Then ask God to forgive
The betrayal of language.

From Mark Jarman, 'Five' Psalms' in To the Green Man

Are You a Laodicean?

2007-07-29T22:43:00.000+08:00

So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out from my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)

Abraham Lincoln once said that if you want to test a man's character, give him power. I believe even as the Lord blesses us with a good life, along with it He seeks to test our character. For a lot of us, we are fortunate enough to be living in places that we are free to worship our God. We are blessed sufficiently that "give us our daily bread" appears to be a pious line in the Lord's prayer.

In our little comfort zone, we grow busy spinning the wheels of our world - career, family, entertainment, etc. We reduce God to a genie-in-a-bottle. We reduce church and fellowshipping with His people to just an optional extra curricular activity. We blissfully skate through life with spiritual amnesia, with disregard for what God had done for us once-upon-a-time-not-too-long-ago when we receive Him into our lives. We take the matters of the Lord for granted. Our prayers are shallow and self-serving. We become complacent and indifference sets in.

In this generation fueled by consumerism, many of us want to share Christ' glory, but not His suffering. Funnily but true enough, the pews will only be filled during prayer meetings when there is an economic downturn.

It is time that we cease all shallow talks, crass nonchalance and distasteful lukewarm responses that we are guilty against the body of Christ. God is, has always, and will always, beckon us to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him. Stop being a Laodicean. Be a genuine Christ-ian. For the willing soul, He constantly stirs up our hearts, challenging us to greater heights in our walk.

The Doors in Our Lives

2007-07-27T22:23:00.000+08:00

This is supposed to be a mid-week thing. Since landing in Hong Kong last Tuesday afternoon, I spent the days talking my throat dry during training, which didn't do justice to my throat which already feels like a sandpaper. At night, I hit the bed early in attempt to rid off the flu bug.

I got this musing as I was pushing the door open into the gentlemen's washroom in the office, with stuffed up nose and watery eyes. Yes, God is very opportune when choosing the time to inspire me...

I'm sure we're all very familiar with the expression "open doors" in our prayers. We pray for open doors in our vocation, for evangelising etc. I reckon different doors are presented to us during our walk with God on earth. I would sum it up this way :

1) Open doorway - The door leaf is flung open, inviting us to just walk right through. This represents a firm confirmation from God, and all we got to do is just walk right through.

2) Closed and unlocked doors - Just a little effort to turn the knob, and we're on our way.

3) Closed and locked doors - Doors are locked either temporarily or permanently. A temporary locked door means that the timing is not right. God uses temporarily locked doors to develop a long-suffering character in us and teach us how to wait upon Him. A permanently locked door is also an answer - the answer is NO.

4) Brick wall with a mirage of an open doorway - Need I say more?? Only a fool will only see what he/she wants to see with disregard for the actual truth. It sure puts the expression "hitting the wall" (or "long phiak" for Hokkiens) into perspective! I have walked, briskly, into glass walls a few times in the past. The pain and embarassment is quite humiliating.

(To my defence, I suspect that each of those glass walls I walked into are treated with some anti-reflective coatings.....ok ok...you're probably laughing too hard now to listen to what I have to say. Go ahead, laugh at my expense...)

While the rest of my CG members are having a good time fellowshipping at David Leong's residence tonight, I am determined not to miss out. I shall engage some form of fellowship between the Holy Trinity and this broken trinity (me, myself and I). And since I will be spending the weekend in sunny Hong Kong, I shall come up with a list of things to entertain myself.

Uncompromisingly Yours, Oh Lord!

2007-07-23T16:15:00.001+08:00

When Sarah got impatient, Ishmael became a household problem. Conspiring with Rebekah to steal Esau's birthright, Jacob found himself to be a runaway man. In both cases, Abraham and Jacob had astounding promises from God. But because both compromised in some shape or form, they had to deal with undesirable consequences. Interestingly, compromise has snowball effects. Jacob got cheated in return, married (or mis-married) a woman he didn't love, on a runaway again and had a dysfunctional family. Ishmael has been a problem to mankind every since - just watch CNN.

In our Christian walk, whether or not we compromised God is reflected by the choices we make - that little overchange by the cashier, that shot of whisky, that unequally yoked relationship. Compromise stems from our yielding to temptation, impatience or fear. Pathetically enough, some Christians seek to justify compromises using scripture as a pre-text for their justifications. If we look hard enough at the issue and cannot say "because God says so" with a straight-face, we simply have got it all wrong. The choices we make is an outward indication of an inward spirituality.

There are good reasons why God does not tolerate compromises against His Words. Firstly, the psychology of compromise undermines faith. We know that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Secondly, as God commands to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 19:2), compromise implies a sub-standard spiritual stance. Thirdly, it taints our declaration of our love for God, because only those who truly love Him will do as He says (John 14:23-24).

Mid-Week Musings : Take a vacation!

2007-07-23T16:13:00.001+08:00

Be still and know that I am God': the Latin imperative for 'be still' is vacate. God invites us to take a holiday [vacation], to stop being God for a while, and let him be God. Too often we of prayer as a serious chore, something that must be scheduled around other appointments, shoe-horned in among other pressing activities. We miss the point. God is inviting us to take a break, to play truant. We can stop doing all those important things we have to do in our capacity as God, and leave it to him to be God. Prayer allows me to admit my failures, weaknesses and limitations to One who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy.

Phil Yancey in Prayer-Does It Make Any Difference?

Of Paradox and Faith

2007-07-23T16:11:00.000+08:00

I had quite a lively discussion last Friday night with some of the CG members. We took quite a while to warm up, we didn't had much time to really delve much, not withstanding the fact that I tend to talk too much! Nevertheless it was interesting conversation with the little time we had. I thought it would be worthwhile to pen it down...and perhaps invite some response from you all to this.

The topic of conversation was what is the greatest stuggle we have with our Christian walk. My answer to that, almost immediately, is that the Christian walk is a premium level of paradox. The Bible is full of such examples. From the beatitudes to the many examples on how Jesus associates himself with the sinners of His days. I reckon these stories make good bed-time reading material or even a good sermon material. I could agree to them in principle, nodding my head in 100% agreement.

However, I struggle mightily to agree to them experientially. At times, I get so worn down living out paradox principles that my head spins in hurricane proportions and sanity hangs by a thread. How do you, for instance, obtain victory by surrendering? Or the weak can say 'I am strong'? Or to die is to gain life? Principly, and perhaps doctrinally, it is probably easy to understand and even appreciate. Experientially, it is super-difficult to reconcile. It's one thing to question God why His principles are so when things are calm when you're sitting out on the bench, it is another kettle of fish altogether when you're in a midst of a situation where you are shoved to put into the experiential spot and is forced to deal with it. Suddenly God becomes the problem.

In the midst of my struggling attempt to put things in perspective, I was reminded by a dear sister about Isaiah 55:8 where the Lord declares "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither you ways my ways". Perhaps God is offering a solution...something which could appeal and beckons for reconsideration. It appeals to that measure of faith that we already have within us.

The Bible is explicit in stating that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Having said that, I think what Paul is basically giving us a choice : either I choose to be a smarty-pants and analyze until I paralyze, complain until the cows come home. Or I could choose to please God by having faith in Him, believing that He exist and rewards those who earnestly seek Him. At the end of the day, I reckon it is just a matter of choice and focus.

True, the Christian walk is a premium level of paradox. Therefore, the Christian walk requires a premium level of faith.

So What? Then What?

2007-07-23T15:58:00.000+08:00

As young adults with the fuelling desire to take on the world, we all start off with our conceived ideals, dreams and ambition unique to each of us and bring it to the world with the hope that we could make a difference for God out there. Since each of us are unique children of God, I would like to think that we set out with Godly purposes and intentions, whether full-time service in His enterprise or His marketplace ministers. So off we set into the world, with great verve.

But there are two issues- it is a fallen world, and we are fallen beings. Left uncheck, our ambitions become our obsessions. The initial focus we set out with becomes shady and blur. We crave for recognition, power and money. Once we achieved that illusion of what the world defines as success, we become proud, boastful, ego-centric and often insatiable. We want more. The Lord gently taps on our shoulder and ask, "So what? Then what?"

Jesus asked what good is man who gains the whole world but loses his soul (Matt 16:26). After lamenting that all the riches and glory in the world is useless, Solomon was right when he concluded that we must fear god and keep His commandments with emphasis that it is our duty to do so (Ecc 12:13).

An initial slight off-tangent angle can set a course of an airplane into a very different direction. Keeping perspective of purpose and direction is crucially important. We are bombarded with massive amounts of information every day and how we respond to them will set the direction for us. In the human psyche, there are 2 elements to which we respond to measurably : greed and fear. I have learned that it is very easy to stir up discontent and paranoia. Only through thanksgiving and surrender that we can keep life in perspective.

As we embark on each milestone in our lives, remember the Lord will always ask "So what? Then what?". We don't need to a life of worldly success. We need a life of Godly significance - for the Lord, for our family and for our church.

In memory of our beloved Elder Dr. Koh Eng Kiat, who has returned to be with the Lord on 29 June 2007. You are the epitome of a life well-lived for God, the family and Full Gospel Assembly. You will be greatly missed.

Mid-Week Musings: A Franciscan Benediction

2007-07-19T20:20:00.000+08:00

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war
So that you may reach out your hand to comfot them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our childer and the poor.

Mid-Week Musings: A Franciscan Benediction

2007-07-19T08:46:00.000+08:00

Mid-week Musings : Keeping Company with God

2007-07-05T08:37:00.001+08:00

Here, I believe, is the key to understanding what is most personal in prayer. We do not pray to tell God what He does not know, nor to remind Him of things He has forgotten. He already cares for the things we pray about…He has simply been waiting for us to care about them with Him. When we pray, we stand by God and look with Him toward those people and problems. When we lift our eyes from them toward Him, we do so with loving praise, just as we look toward our oldest and dearest friends and tell them how we care for them, though they already know it…We speak to Him as we speak to our most intimate friends - so that we can commune together in love.

Tim Stafford in Knowing the Face of God

Ability Vs. Availability

2007-06-04T23:06:00.000+08:00

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love. - Psalm 147:10-11

Do you ever feel so skilled in what you do that you require little help from others? Perhaps you may feel that you are more skilled than any other in your field. Does God need your skills and abilities in order to accomplish His purposes on this earth? The answer is NO.

One thing God does not need is our skills and abilities. However, He does give us the privilege to exercise our gifts and abilities for His service. That service may be as a computer technician, a secretary, an ironworker, or even a lawyer. God calls each of us to our vocations to work unto Him. To believe that He needs our skills to accomplish His mission on earth would be to lower our understanding of an all-encompassing and all-powerful God. The psalmist tells us that His pleasure is not in our strength and ability, but His pleasure is in the attitude of the heart. It is what we find in the heart that helps determine whether ability is translated into availability. You see God is looking to and fro throughout the earth for a man or woman who is fully committed to Him. A man or woman who is committed to fearing the Lord and placing his hope in His unfailing love is the person God seeks to support. "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chron. 16:9a). When our agenda becomes His agenda, we can expect God to fully support all that we do.

If we want to see our skills and abilities multiplied a hundredfold, then we must make them completely available to His service. Where are the opportunities in which God is calling you to be available to Him? Next time someone asks you to be involved in some activity, before you say yea or nay, make sure you check in with the Master of our decisions to ensure that your gifts and talents are being used, as He desires.

Os Hillman

Mid-Week Musings : The Greatest Test

2007-05-31T08:56:00.000+08:00

I know, my God, that You test the heart and are pleased with integrity. - 1 Chronicles 29:17a
God tests His children to know what is in their hearts. God's desire for each of His children is to walk in relationship with Him, to uphold His righteousness and integrity. It is a high calling that we will fail to achieve without complete dependence on Him.

The greatest tests come not in great adversities, but in great prosperity. For it is in prosperity that we begin to lose the sensitivity to sin in our lives. Adversity motivates us to righteousness out of a desire to see our adversity changed. Prosperity fails to provide this motivation for obedience. We fall into a satisfaction and confidence in life that is based on our prosperity rather than on God.

Hezekiah was a great godly king. He was a faithful, God-honoring king most of his life, but toward the end he became proud. God wanted to find out if he would still honor Him and recognize His blessings in his life. He failed the test when God sent an envoy to his palace to inquire about a miracle that God performed on behalf of Hezekiah. The test was designed to find out if Hezekiah would publicly acknowledge the miracle performed on his behalf.
But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart (2 Chronicle 32:31).

Hezekiah's failure resulted in his children failing to carry on as rulers of Israel, and the nation would eventually be taken over by Babylon.

The lesson of Hezekiah is clear. If we are to remain faithful to our Lord, we must remain steadfast in our obedience to Him. Prosperity can be our greatest test. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to be a faithful follower during times of prosperity.

Os Hillman

Mid-week Musings : Wisdom for Leaders

2007-05-11T11:45:00.000+08:00

Chapter 46 - Wisdom for Leaders in Richard Exley's "Man of Valour" intrigues me. According to Pastor Gordon MacDonald, a leader has to deal with four basic types of people :

VIPs (Very Important People) - They are today's leaders. From them, a leader receives strength and encouragement.

VTPs (Very Trainable People) - These are tomorrow's leaders. They are like VIPs in talent and temperament, but they lack their experience and maturity. To achieve their full potential as men of God, they must be trained and discipled

VNPs (Very Nice People) - They like to be seen with the leader and count him as their friend. Usually generous and kind in nature. VNPs are fun to be with, but by the same token, they seldom make a significant contribution to the accomplishment of the leader's vision.

VDPs (Very Draining People) - Tend to be insecure individuals with a long history of rejection. Since the leader is a compassionate man, they are drawn to him, demanding more and more of his life. Their neediness wil consume him.

The trouble with a great many men is that they spread themselves out over too much. They fail in everything. If they would only put their life into one channel, and keep it, they would accomplish something. They make no impression, because they do a little work here and a little work there...lay yourselves on the altar of God, and then concentrate on some one work.

D.L.Moody

Yes Lord!

2007-05-07T08:49:00.000+08:00

I am afraid of saying 'Yes', Lord.
Where will You take me?
I am afraid of drawing the long straw,
I am afraid of signing my name to an unread agreement,
I am afraid of the 'yes' that entails other 'yeses.'
O Lord, I am afraid of Your demands, but who can resist You?
That Your Kingdom may come and not mine,
That Your will may be done and not mine,
Help me to say 'Yes.'
Anonymous

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

The Narrow and Wide Gates

2007-02-07T22:56:00.000+08:00

Jesus today has many who love His heavenly kingdom, but few who carry His cross; many who yearn for comfort, few who long for distress. Plenty of people He finds to share His banquet, few to share His fast. Every desires to take part in His rejoicing, but few are willing to suffer anything for His sake. There are many that follow Jesus as far as the breaking of bread, few as far as drinking the cup of suffering; many that revere His miracles, few that follow Him in the indignity of His cross.

Thomas à Kempis

Re-establishing Priorities Through Prayer

2007-02-04T21:10:00.000+08:00

In this time and space of human history, I reckon there is an unprecendented amount of "happenings" that constantly vye for our attention. Generally, our working hours are longer these days, a family to care for, our constant need to be entertained (sometimes ludicrous and unsatiable), wondering why I'm not upgraded to Business Class, serving in a ministry and the list goes on. When we spread ourselves too thin, we are effectively reducing our availability for God's power to work in and through our lives. No wonder we often suffer from burn-outs.

When we come before the Lord in our usual prayer, we are often quick to throw in our complaints and lay endless petitions. If you recall my last email "Before My Lord", I too am equally guilty. However, a good look at Matthew 6:7-8 is where Jesus tells us not to babble on like pagans, and that our Father in heaven already knows our need.

Jesus goes on to teach us how to pray. Let us look closer at the Lord's prayer : Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Note the order of the prayer : saluting God, praising His name, desiring His Kingdom and seeking His will. Only then the rest of the prayer was about our needs, forgiveness and our protection.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God before all these things shall be added unto us. Do note that "all these things" also includes His gifts that He promises us. It is an issue of sequence. God and God alone has to be desired above everything else. I am not suggesting at all that we should drop all that we are doing right now. By no means! I believe Jesus is constantly challenging us about the issue of priority sequence in our lives. You and I may need to reshuffle the sequence of priorities, and where necessary, may be challenged by God to give something up altogether.

The next time you and I come before the Lord in prayer, invite God to speak into our hearts as we open our prayers with "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name".

Of strength and sensitivity, of firmness and feelings

2007-02-01T21:02:00.000+08:00

The thorough integration of strength and sensitivity, of firmness and feeling, is rare. We sometimes see sensitive people who are unstrung most of the time. They bleed profusely at the sight of blood. Their sensitivity incapacitates them for action in the rough-and-tumble cruelties of the world. In constrast others are rigid moralists, ramrod stiff with righteous rectitude. There is never any doubt about their dogmatically asserted position. But their principles are hammers that crack skulls and bruise flesh. The world makes a wide circuit of such persons. It is dangerous to be in their company for very long, for if they detect any mental weakness or moral wavering in us, we will be lucky to escape without at least a headache.

Eugene H. Peterson

Before My Lord

2007-01-29T21:52:00.000+08:00

As my bended knees touch the floor, elbows rested on the bed and hands clasped together, my journey begins with "Oh Lord, my God!". There I was, a mere speck of existence in His vast universe, feeling utterly small about myself. Yet, being the selfish man that I am, always quick to put forth complains and petitions, sometimes slow to praise Him, sometimes forgetting to confess sins and trespasses. There is too much within me to say to Him, too little words to describe them, too pre-occupied with my own carnal reasonings while conversing with Him. I am entrapped by a contrasting struggle of saying-it-all against being totally being still before Him and praising His Name. Often, I feel like a praying schizophrenia.

Then, I just smack against this invisible wall of grace, a point where I am beyond reasoning, completely lost for words and numbed towards the environment around me. Beyond words that can describe, my spirit groans and my lips break out into foreign tongues. As that happens, I feel an awesome sense of connection between myself and God. The cogs engage, spinning and properly oiled. Every cell within my body, every fibre of nerve, every sensation within my gut and every uncried tear screams for the glory of God. There I was, a mere speck of existence, engulfed by His radiant love.

I often wondered, how and why does God ever put up with all this nonsense from me. I asked for an audible voice, He's silent. I asked for dreams and visions, He gives me excellent blank black sleeps. I asked for signs and wonders, nothing happens. For all those unanswered prayers, what do I do with them? Lethargy wears me down to keep praying them. Or should I still keep praying for them? I never had the privelage of being granted the foresight. But in hindsight, I can see His remarkable works in my life. I can only pray that His will be done while I cast myself into the unknowns of this world day after day. After all that is being said and done, I finally come to a realization that I just want to draw ever closer to Him time after time.

Book Review : Finishing Strong

2007-01-17T10:27:00.000+08:00

A man with continuous valor for his wife, children and his Lord is a rare commodity these days. Steve Farrar gives a shocking statistic that only one in ten men finish strong. We are all familiar with race metaphor the Apostle Paul spoke of in the epistles. This book expounds into great details, with myriads examples of actual live, what it means to be finishing strong.

The book is divided into 3 main parts. The prelude chapter to the first part is filled with live examples of people who started off strong, but failed to finish it strong. It is captivating when Steve compares the outcome of Billy Graham, Chuck Templeton and Bron Clifford, all started strong and all failed the mark but one - Billy Graham. Steve was quick to point out that finishing strong doesn’t mean finishing perfect or unblemished. Also, one can still finish strong even if he had a poor start. In the remaining chapters of Part I, Steve went on to warn us about ambushes that prevent us from finishing strong : ambush of another women, ambush of money and ambush of a neglected family. To stay on course, Steve gave four underpinning “stay” principles : stay in the scriptures, stay close to a friend, stay away from other women and stay alert to the tactics of the enemy. Do Note the emphasis of staying away from the lure of other women. There are biblical accounts of man who threw it all away - Samson, David and Solomon finished so-so because of their philandering ways.

Part 2 grips the readers with a list of “not-to-do” list for a man who intends to finish strong. A fascinating analogy and lesson was drawn from the Titanic on how sin will take you further than you wanted to go, longer than you wanted to stay and cost you more than you are willing to pay. One chapter discusses about pride at length, using the life and times of King Uzziah as an example of a man who started off very strong in the Lord but finally spirals out disgracefully. Steve was very detailed in explaining how that happen, quoting both from scriptures and supported by contemporary examples. In the final chapter of the part, a man is called to be a leader in their family and community they are accountable to. It is outlined what marks an “unleader” which should be avoided - being unservant, unteachable, unjust, unhospitable and an unhappy family.

As the closing part to the book, Part 3 compliments Part 2 by providing prototypes of what it means to be finishing strong. One chapter is dedicated to explaining at length that it doesn’t matter how we lousy we start, as long as we finish strong. There were myriads of examples being expound, and it is comforting to know that the Lord is still on a lookout for men who is willing to un-equate their past lives and move on to enter His glory by finishing strong. Another chapter describes how God uses failures to mould man into His image to be used for His glory. Steve uses a humorous way of likening failure to a degree called Masters in Character Acquisition. He expounds tastefully the degrees core courses at great lengths using biblical examples. The closing chapters speak about the vision for the finish line and the endurance to keep pushing oneself closer to that line.

The entire book is filled with accounts of characters from the bible and contemporary examples, which makes the read both appealing and relevant. Unlike many books which are probably more abstract and philosophically inclined, Steve Farrar’s straight-to-the-gut style and a tendency to outline core messages meant that this an easy book to read and comprehend. A must read for all men out there who wants to live a significant life for Christ.

The Godly Man's Picture

2007-01-14T21:21:00.000+08:00

I am currently working on book review - I am reviewing "Finishing Strong" by Steve Farrar. It is still work in progress, but I need to get that out very soon. So while I am weaving words around that, here's something I've come across from Thomas Watson, who gave twenty-four characteristics of a godly man in his book "The Godly Man's Picture", dated way back in 1666 :

1. a man of knowledge

2. a man moved by faith

3. a man fired by love

4. a man like God

5. a man careful about the worship of God

6. a man who serves God, not men

7. a man who prizes Christ

8. a man who weeps

9. a man who loves the Word

10. a man who has the Spirit of God residing in him

11. a man of humility

12. a man of prayer

13. a man of sincerity

14. a heavenly man

15. a zealous man

16. a patient man

17. a thankful man

18. a man who loves the saints

19. a man who does not indulge himself in any sin

20. a man who is good in his relationshops

21. a man who does spiritual things in a spiritual manner

22. a man thoroughly trained in religion

23. a man who walks with God

24. a man who strives to be an instrument for making others godly.

It's a breath-taking list...quite literally. I took a deep breath after punching those out on the keyboard. I admit...I have problem with Number 8.

I cringe in embarassment hearing complains from our sisters that chivalry is a rare commodity among men today. The epitome of a godly gentleman is a man complete with excellent manners, courtesy and social refinement. Beneath that demeanour is a heart of sincerity, kindness, faithfulness and generosity. A godly gentleman exudes the aura of Christ that is in him and radiates love and compassion outwardly to people surrounding. So gentlemen, make no mistakes. We are, after all, recognized by our fruits.

Mid-Week Musings : Learning to Wait

2007-01-09T21:43:00.000+08:00

If I was asked to single out one big issue I struggle with, I would have said "waiting". Even when there were circumstances in my life where I actually see the value and benefits of waiting (like the nice condominium I acquired below market value after waiting for about 18 mths in search of a property), I still struggle massively with the area of patience. To some extent I'm convinced that I'm a man of action, and when I do things, I do it now, and I want to see results now. Now now now. I don't want to wait until kingdom comes. Impatience to me is like caffeine, which makes my heart pulsative. And that is unbiblical - I know it is. In the process I sometimes end up creating a mess of a probably perfect outcome with a horribly imperfect timing due to lack of patience.

I thank God that He is gracious, and He is the one who is patiently working in me, and He works things out for the good of me, because I love Him and I am called according to His purposes.

I've came across some good quotes about patience and waiting :

Lewis Smedes writes :

Waiting is our destiny as creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for,

We wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light,We wait in fear for a happy ending we cannot write,

We wait for a not yet that feels like a not ever,Waiting is the hardest work of hope.

M. Scott Peck writes :

Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.

Daniel Goleman writes :

At the heart of emotional intelligence is the ability to delay gratification and not live at the mercy of impulse.

A Child's Faith

2007-01-07T19:57:00.000+08:00

When we were young children, we hardly have problem with faith. When was it when you saw a child, when he/she learns to walk, fall and said "I will never walk again." Never! Instead, he/she gets up and toddle again. As a parent, we delight in watching our baby boy/girl take the first step. Children are so adorable simply because they are so childlike in their approach. They laugh because they feel happy, they cry when they feel hungry; feed them and they laugh again. Our hearts melt when we see our little ones snuggle up peaceful to sleep, without a hint of worry on their faces.

As we grow older, things seem to change. Life doesn't appear to be as simple as it seemed. Things got greyer by the years. The world snares at us to comform and compromise. Our hearts grew cold and hard with each fleeting disappointment. Our integrity stand grew soft as we are become more short-sighted thus giving in to immediate gratifications. As we become supposedly more educated, we justify and analyze. Too much of that, we nullify and paralyze faith. We become consumed with ourselves; we are embittered by our circumstances. The problem is simply because we "grew up". That doesn't necessarily mean that we mature.

The Bible says very clearly that it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). To make giant strides for God, a ginourmous faith is required to match that. It is at places of extremities where God meets His people to make giant strides for Him. Abraham was challenged to leave his homeland; Moses did some time in the wilderness; Elijah ran away; Peter had to get his feet wet.

Jesus said, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 18:3-4). Having a childlike faith is the single most important element to move into the glory of God. Having a childlike faith means that we need to renounce all that we are - our intellect, power, money etc to humble ourselves to a position that we are able have faith and receive accordingly. We need to unlearn what we have learned.

As I peer over the boat, my head screams in retaliation, my muscles tense up, my heart races. It is in places of extremities that God meets His people. It is a childlike faith that God is pleased with. I know in my spirit that this feet is going to get wet. I reckon, a minute on stormy waters with Jesus is better than hours in the boat.

Mid-week Musings : Not giving a foothold

2007-01-03T20:45:00.000+08:00

A certain man wanted to sell his house for two thousand dollars. Another man wanted to buy it very badly, but he was a poor man and didn't have the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house to the man for one thousand dollars. But the reduced price came with a stipulation. The owner would sell the house, but he would keep ownership of a large nail protruding from over the front door.

Several years later, the original owner decided he wanted to buy the house back. Understandably, the new owner was unwilling to sell. As a result, the original owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog in the street, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became unliavable, and the family was forced to sell to the owner of the nail.

If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it. You may own the entire home, but if you give the enemy access to just one nail in your life, it definitely puts you in the high risk bracket.

Embracing 2007 with Christ

2007-01-02T20:47:00.000+08:00

I was asked by a friend what my new year resolution was. I told her that there is no such thing as a new year resolution for Christians, because we do daily resolutions. That was what Jesus had in mind when He said "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) It speaks of an attitude of submission, and it suggest focus and sustainability. We all need to do that conscientiously because we are called to conform to the image of Christ.

Nevertheless, we all love milestones. I would agree that the closing of 2006 is chronologically convenient to pause and reflect upon the year. We thank the Lord for all His grace and blessings in abundance that He has flourished our lives with. We seek His mercy and forgiveness for our trespasses for we are not perfect, and we do stumble along the way too. By His strength, we are able to win by surrendering to Him alone. We pick ourselves up again to continue the race He has set before us.

As we chart our way into the unknowns of 2007, Jesus has got to be our priority numero uno - no compromise. If you claim to love God with all your hearts and with all your soul and with all your mind, you will know what it means by putting Jesus first ahead of everything else in your life. And He has a promise to match that : "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, it shall be done onto thee" (John 15:7). Keep Jesus close by communing and internalizing His words.

Begin to stride forward in faith. Step out of the comfort zone. Many of you would agree that God's favourite meeting place with you and I is in places of extremities. Unless we push ourselves to that sphere of extremities, we will never be able to experience God in His full power and glory. Faith, like muscles, needs exercise - it needs action. I am completely convinced that faith and action exist together, and that faith and non-action is an oxymoron. It's really that simple : if I don't dare to do, that means I don't have faith. And what would that mean? God will not be pleased with me, for without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Hey...if you wanna walk on water, you gotta step out of the boat, mate.

There is a race set before us that we're all participating. A race that will take the entire lifetime for us to run it. A race where at the end of it, we will exchange our cross for our crown - with a condition that we finish it, and finish strong. Therefore we need to keep the end in mind : finishing the race, and finishing it strong. 2007 is just another insignificant strip of the time fabric of your existence on this earth. What we do in this insignificant block of time has significant eternal consequences.

Jesus Christ is Lord!

2006-12-24T22:21:00.000+08:00

We live in a society that glorifies individuality. We demand our rights ahead of our responsibilities; service instead of serving; gratification above sacrifice. Society glorifies the unholy trinity : Me, myself and I. Christmas is a call for us to stop being immature and start gaining perspective by diverting the focus from ourselves to God and His perfect love for us.

Christmas is the epitome of love so perfect - so humble that He arrive at a manger; so demonstrative that He chose to walk amongst us sinners; so graceful that He is able to touch our hearts; so sacrificial that He died a criminal's death to redeem you and I into the Kingdom of God; so merciful that He will write-off our sins if we choose to believe. Christmas is God's best gift to mankind. We are saved for good works, not by good works. There is nothing more than we could do to make God love us more. There is nothing so lacking in us that out of God's gracious reach. That is why it is called a gift...we have just have to receive it with childlike faith.

Cheers to you Lord Jesus. We glorify you, and may our worship be a sweet scent that pleases you. We thank you for your grace in this lifetime, and we look forward to the day that we shall meet face-to-face.

Conquering 2006 for Christ : Look back

2006-12-21T20:48:00.000+08:00

I've wrote "Conquering 2006 for Christ" in Week 1 of January 2006. I must admit I don't really refer back to my archives as much. Given that 2006 is coming to a close very soon, it's probably worthwhile looking back at this piece of article, asking ourselves :

How have I grown in the Lord?
Did I grow into a deeper relationship with Christ?
Could I look back at 2006 and praise God, IN SPITE OF some difficulties that I may have encountered?
Have I been conscientiously committing my thoughts and actions to the Lord?
How have I edify the lives of the people around me?
Was I being obedient to God?

Some of us has definitely made wonderful strides as far as you and God are concerned. It makes a remarkable testimony to demonstrate to people about God's grace and power in our lives.

Maybe for some of us, our walk with God isn't all too peachy, so much so that we dread answering those questions. Let me say that the above is not a report-card like assessment where God stands at a distant with a whip waiting to judge us. He is more faithful than us...there is nothing more or nothing less that we could do to make Him love us. He loves us anyway.

Regardless whether 2006 was good or not-so-good, we all have a race that is yet to be finished. It is a race that we need to press on and ensure that we finish it. 2007 will just be again another strip of the our earthly time fabric. We press on and on...and one day we exchange our cross for a crown.

Mid-Week Musings : Unanswered prayers - Living with a mystery

2006-12-13T23:39:00.000+08:00

I've come across what John Baillie wrote :
Let me use disappointment as a material for patience.
Let me use success as a material for thankfulness.
Let me use trouble as a material for perseverance.
Let me use danger as a material for courage.
Let me use reproach as a material for long suffering.
Let me use praise as a material for humility.
Let me use pleasure as a material for temperance.
Let me use pain as a material for endurance.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
~Isaiah 55:8~

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
~Isaiah 55:9~

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weaknesses."
~2Cor 12:9~

"You do not have because you do not ask"
~James 4:2~

"Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened."
~Matthew 7:7~

"...Christ in you, the hope of glory."
~Colossians 1:27~

At times I am dumb-founded and simply find it very hard within my spirit to reconcile all these...Ignorance is truly bliss. Ironically, knowledge is power. Probably it is the wisdom that I'm lacking...

The Type of Person God Uses

2006-12-10T21:39:00.000+08:00

There are 3 attributes of a person whom God uses for the glory of the Kingdom :

1) Desire to do His will. We live in a flesh-driven world where we are limited by our culture pressures, our own self-gratifying nature and our inability to perceive the beginning from the end. Peter felt worthless and ask the Lord to leave him. Mary feared when the angle appeared and more so fearing about what people would perceive of her if she was found to be pregnant. Jesus asked for the "cup" to be take away from him. We all have fears have Ps Tan would put it : fear of criticism, fear of the supernatural, fear of inadequecy and fear of change. I would add one more : fear of rejection. It is tough to do God's will, I can ascertain to that. The last time I cried "Thy will be done" was in an emotionally wretching circumstance.

We are familiar to with Peter's response to Jesus when he was asked to leave his vocation and become fishers of man. Mary's response was "Let be it done unto me according to your Word" (Luke 1:38). And we are very familiar with Jesus response at Gethsamane : Not mine but Thy will be done. They have gone to be people used mightily by God to accomplish His purposes.

2) Willing to pay to price. To be used mightily by God, we must be willing to pay the price. Expounding on Mary's case, she risked her reputation, risked losing her fiance and had to be uncomfortable during her pregnancy by travelling to Bethlehem and giving birth to Jesus in a manger so that the prophecy would be fulfilled. There was a certain guy who wanted to get something for his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but didn't want to fork out too much dollars for it. He decided to buy her a bottle of perfume. The salesperson brought out a bottle of perfume from the glass showcase and quoted 50 dollars. "It's too expensive," he said. The salesperson brought out a smaller bottle each time he was not satisfied with the price until the salesperson had to bring out a really small sample bottle which cost 10 dollars. "You don't get it, I want something really really cheap. Show it to me the cheapest you've got!" he boomed. Finally the salesperson brought out a mirror. Moral of the story : don't be a cheap-skate.

3) Dare to trust His promises. In September 1859 was a historic moment at Niagara falls. Blondin was the first man to walk across the tight-rope from one bank to another, to and fro. Not only that, he did many other stunts like walking across blind-folded, cycled on a bicyle, fried an omelette in the middle etc. With each of these illustrous version of stunts the crowd was estatic and cheered on and believed that he could accomplish each and everyone of them. Finally he asked who would volunteer to be carried by him to walk on tight-rope across the Niagara. The crowd fell silent. After a while, a young man came stepped forward. A lot of us are like the crowd. We believed in Jesus, we cheer upon him and we praise him. But how many of us are willing to step out in faith to claim the promises of God?

Jesus, though Son of God, has became man and he understands all our struggles and infirmities, yet without sin. That is why, until Kingdom comes, Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14).

*Adaptation from Ps. Tan Ye Peng of City Harvest Church, Singapore on 10-Dec 2006*

Mid-Week Musings : A Habit of Attention

2006-12-06T21:38:00.000+08:00

'Be still and know that I am God'. I read in this familiar verse from Psalms two commands of equal importance. First, I must be still, something that modern life conspires against. Ten years ago I responded to letters within a couple of weeks and kept my correspondents happy. Five years ago I faxed a response in a couple of days and they seemed content. Now they want email responses the same day and berate me for not using Instant Messaging or a mobile phone.

Mystery, awareness of another world, an emphasis on being rather than doing, even a few moments of quiet do not come naturally to me in this hectic, buzzing world. I must carve out time and allow God to nourish my inner life.

On a walking pilgrimage to Assisi in Italy the writer Patricia Hampl began to make a list in answer to the question, what is prayer? She wrote down a few words. Praise. Gratitude. Begging/pleading/cutting deals. Fruitless whining and puling. Focus. And then the list broke off, for she discovered that prayer only seems like an act of language : 'fundamentally it is a position, a placement of oneself.' She went on to discover that, 'Prayer as focus is not a way of limiting what can be seen; it is a habit of attention brought to bear on all that is.'

Ah, a habit of attention. Be still. In that focus, all else comes into focus. In that rift in my routine, the universe falls into alignment.

Stillness prepares me for the second command : 'know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.' Only through prayer can I believe that truth in the midst of a world that colludes to suppress, not exalt, God.

Philip Yancey

Peace

2006-12-04T22:04:00.000+08:00

Since the earliest recorded human history, less than 8% of the time the world, as a whole, experience peace. More than 8000 peace treaties were signed during that period and most of them were broken. It is an interesting piece of statistics. Today, with the going-ons of war on terrorism and the tension in the Middle East, the outlook does not seem to get any better. That is at the macro level.

At the micro level, in our individual lives, how many times did we catch ourselves thinking "If only I had more money, I will happy...", or "If I had a BMW, I will look more successful...", or "If only I was more good-looking and more money, girls will be attracted to me..." or "If only my in-laws are not living under the same roof, I will have more peace...". All too often we had that kind of thoughts. You see, we often base our expectations of peace as a intended resultant of circumstances around us. As long as we place our peace-worth in the worldly realm, we are bound to be disappointed.

True peace comes from a personal relationship with God. Jesus is aware of our nature, and He gave us a gentle reminder in John 14:26-27 : But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Reiterating "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives" from the lips of our Saviour, He grants us peace that passeth all understanding, peace that sustains us in the face of the snares of this world.

Rick Warren decides that life is unlike the usual metaphor of hills and valleys. That suggest that ups and downs happens one after another in series. His analogy of life is a like a railroad track. At any one time in our lives, there is always the good and the bad that co-exist together. So for those of you who thinks that all is lousy and gloomy, think again and reflect God's blessing in your life today. I'm very sure there is good to it. We have an eternal significance in His Kingdom, if we know where to place our hearts. God promises are written in Isaiah 9:6-7, 43:1-7 and John 14:1-3.

Personally (this is myself, not Pastor Ken), I have decided "rejoicing" is an attitude to be habitualized with. Rejoicing is a decision to be made, not to be an outcome of the favourable circumstances around me. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again : Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. God is more interested in our character than our comfort, in our holiness rather than our happiness. Our job is to obey, with the goal of being Christlike, rejoicing along the way.

*Adaptation from Ps. Ken Benintendi's sermon on Peace at International Church Assembly, Hong Kong on 3-Dec 2006*

Mid-week Musings : God first!

2006-11-29T22:05:00.000+08:00

Affluence is an easy habit to adjust to, and indulgence is easy to rationalize. What we need today are some radical Christians who will love for the Lord first and the world last.

~Larry Burkett~

Having a kingdom perspective is recognizing that God owns everything. Until that is rooted deeply in our beliefs, only then we can perceive that we are mere managers in God's enterprise, accountable for the stewardship of His resources.

Every Minute Prayer

2006-11-26T23:42:00.000+08:00

One of the common question I get is whether I feel lethargic due to frequent travelling. I know where this question is coming at : the perils of coping with different time zones and in transit movement to and fro airports come to mind. My usual answer is no. There could be 3 reasons to it : 1) Probably it is because I just started travelling frequently since 6 weeks ago. I guess it is still too soon to comment. 2) I don't fly across different time zone, so that helps a lot. 3) I've discovered how time-efficient those "in-between" transit times can be. I usually use transit time in taxis, MTRs, MRTs, airport lounges etc. to do simple task that could be accomplished with small amount of time which I call "quick wins". I make a work and personal to-do list, jot down thoughts and inspiration, read a book or pray.

And speaking about praying, the amount of my time spent in short prayers, especially when I'm in taxis or rail transits, has significantly increased compared to the times when I was working locally in KL. I find short frequent and specific prayers throughout the day sustains me better than the usual good-morning-Lord and only-before-bed prayers. The more I think about this, the more I feel that it is necessary to keep God close to me, and me to God every moment of the day. Think about it this way : the world is in a mess. We are bombarded with tonnes of information every second. We are also required to make decisions throughout the day. It really puts the narrow gates that Jesus talks about in Matthew 6:13-14. Only by His mercy and grace that we are able to walk in His will. The answer lies in 2 Chronicles 16:9, which says, For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthn those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. God is the every-minute CEO of my life, and I need to be accountable to Him every step of the way.

Think about those times when you find yourself bored and idling. It is true that an idle mind is the devil's playground. But it is also true that it is an opportunity to establish a conversation heavenward. Chat up with God today.

Mid-week Musings - Investing in His Kingdom

2006-11-22T22:54:00.000+08:00

Imagine for a moment that you are alive at the end of the Civil War. You are living in the South, but your home is really in the North. While the South you have accumulated a good amount of Confederate currency. Suppose you know that the North is going to win the war soon. What will you do with your Confederate currency?

If you were smart, there is only one answer to the question. You would cash in your Confederate currency for US currency - the only money that will have value once the war is over. You would keep only enough Confederate currency to meet your basic needs for that short period until the war is over.

The currency of this world will be worthless at our death or at Christ's return, both of which are imminent. For us to accumulate vast earthly treasures in the face of the inevitable future is the equivalent to stockpiling Confederate money.

The only currency of value in heave is our present service and generous giving to God's Kingdom. Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary, said it this way, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

~Randy Alcorn~

Self-Discipline

2006-11-19T20:44:00.000+08:00

The ability to test desire by reason...to be resolute and ever in readiness to end natural vent and pain.
~Aristotle~

I defined discipline in the beginning of life as the choice of achieving what you really want by doing things you don't really want to do.
~John C. Maxwell~

All worthwhile men have good thoughts, good ideas, and good intentions, but precious few of them ever translate those into action.
~John Hancock Field~

When we are foolish, we want to conquer the world. When we are wise, we want to conquer ourselves.
~John C. Maxwell~

The price of greatness is responsibility.
~Winston Churchill~

It is true - when you do the things you ought to do when you ought to do them, the day will come when you will do the things you want to do when you want to do them. Hard work is the accumulation of the easy things you didn't do when you should have.
~John C. Maxwell~

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.
~John D. Rockerfeller Jr.~

Success depends not merely on how well you do the things you enjoy, but how conscientiously you perform those duties you don't.
~John C. Maxwell~

It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required.
~Winston Churchill~

Everyone to who much is given, from him much will be required~Jesus Christ in Luke 12:48~
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
~Abraham Lincoln~

I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline.
~Vince Lombardi~

Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on
~Louis L'Amour, on when asked the key to his writing style

Mid-week Musings

2006-11-14T22:39:00.000+08:00

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there are those who suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to date;
I would be friend of all - the foe and the friendless;
I would be giving, and forget the gift;
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up, and laugh, and love, and lift.

~Howard A. Walter~

Sowing into people's lives

2006-11-12T23:23:00.000+08:00

Coming down to Singapore, I recently had a chance to meet an old friend and former course mate of mine during university. We had not been keeping in touch since he left for flying school 2+ years ago. He is now back in Singapore with SIA and will have his maiden flight to South Korea. Upon knowing that I will be in Singapore, one of the things we quickly did was to meet and catch-up.

We were amusing ourselves in reminiscing our university days. But more importantly, we are able to look back in awe of God's faithfulness in our lives. There is one point in our conversation where I mentioned that whatever he sees in me today is a reaping of what he had sown from the first time we met. I couldn't agree more with what Pastor Stuart said - people and relationships matter. No matter how good an evangelistic event, people will ultimately response because of the "you" factor - they know you well and seen the difference in you. During the early days of my faith, I had some not-so-good runs with a church that I was attending, which makes me less receptive to invitation to church events. I have always maintained that evangelism is not a sales pitch for Christ. I met this brother during Numerical Methods course in my 2nd year of uni. He strikes me as a person who is genuine with his friendship. Some of you may already know that I thoroughly dislike pretentious and hypocritical people, particularly those who some one thing and meant/acted the other way. I appreciate his honesty with some of his struggles, and deep down I know he loves God oh so very much. And in the earlier days, I also discovered something profound in him was his non-judgemental attitude towards me when I was cynical about a few issues in my life. All he did was just look into me and nodded his head. Not a word of refute. It was incredible...I can't do that myself, if I were him, I would have probably shot that person down.

The point that I am arriving to is this : never underestimate how God can exponentially increase the harvest of the small gestures of kindness you've sown in someone's life. It is by far one of the richest experience one can ever have. Today, I am who I am in Christ because one brother extended his friendship to me. Of course, along the way, I also cross path with other very good people whom I owe much of who I am today. How simple it can start. People and relationship matter - start sowing in someone's life today. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. God is faithful and will honour you with harvest according to the measure of faith you sow.

Captain Lee, cheers to you and God bless you aboundingly! God is so good.

Living in Anticipation

2006-11-07T14:51:00.000+08:00

What if you know that Jesus will return tomorrow? How ready are you to give an account of your life to Him? Would you be scrambling in the last minute to do all you can to renounce accumulated sins and make right all accumulated outstanding "wrongs" before the Lord? Unless it is your daily lifestyle to keep short accounts, chances are you can't do all those in 24 hours.

The question is simple yet so pivotal in questioning the fundamentals of our walk with Christ. It is true that the Bible says that we are justified by our faith in Christ. It is also true the Bible also says that we are saved for good works. These 2 elements are complementing, not mutually exclusive to each other. Christ would never ever suggest that we retain a complacent lifestyle knowing that we will all go to Heaven.

It is so important to adapt a lifestyle that is anticipative to His return. It is a lifestyle of obedience to His Word and is reflective the glory of Jesus Christ. There ought to be such a sense of peace, integrity and love, so outstanding that it attracts people to you so much so that they want to find out your formula to a successful live. When that happens, be ready to share the gospel of Christ. (bible verse).

Our position before the Lord ought to be that we are consistently ready for His return at any one time. How anticipative are you towards His return?

Mid-week Musings : Know the truth, and it shall set you free

2006-11-02T21:23:00.000+08:00

It is to him who masters our minds by the force of truth, and not to those who enslave them by violence, that we owe our reverance.

~Voltaire~

I can't help but reforwarding this previous article that I wrote 4 weeks ago when I came across Voltaire's quote today. In his book Letters on the English, Voltaire relates that during his stay in Engalnd, in 1726, he overheard some learned men discussing the question : who was the greatest man - Caesar, Alexander, Tamerlane or Cromwell? One speaker maintained that Sir Isaac Newton was beyond a doubt the greatest man. Voltaire agreed to this judgement with the quote above.

I am not sure whether Voltaire was completely convinced that Sir Isaac Newton was the greatest man who ever lived or was simply making a philosophical point. But the anecdote is so true, as if complementing John 8:32. We truly owe our reverance to Jesus Christ, who is the Revealer of the Kingdom Truth.

A couple of weeks ago, a brother requested that I share some of the reading materials which I've been reading lately. Well, here it is :

1. Your Work Matters to God (Doug Sherman)

2. Second Choice (Viv Thomas). Oh yeah, read this together with the Book of Daniel. It gives marvelous insightful depiction of what it means to be a servant of God in a secular world. Very relevant, very enlightening.

3. What is So Amazing About Grace (Philip Yancey)

4. Developing the Leader in You (John C. Maxwell)

5. God is My CEO (can't remember who the author is).

Mid-week Musings : Quotes on Attitude

2006-10-19T09:04:00.000+08:00

Leadership has less to do with position than it does with disposition.~John C. Maxwell~
What likes behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

~Walt Emerson~

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.

~John C. Maxwell~

A happy person is not a person with a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.

~Hugh Downs~

God chooses what we go through. We choose how we go through it.

~Anonymous~

Everytime you make a choice you are turning the control part of you, the part that chooses, ito something a little different from what is was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, you are slowly turning this control thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish one.

~C.S. Lewis~

As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to become. Take action on the behaviour you admire by making it your behaviour. Too many people want to feel, then take action. This never works.

~John C. Maxwell~

Motivation is like love and happiness. It is a by-product. When you're actively engaged in doing something, the motivation to keep on doing it sneaks up and zaps you when you least expect it.

~John Bruner~

You're more likely to act yourself into feeling than fell yourself into action. So act! What it is you know you should do, do it.

~Jerome Bruner~

Attitudes are nothing more than habits of thought, and can be acquired. An action repeated becomes an attitude realized.

~Paul Meier~

Radiating Christ At Our Workplaces

2006-10-15T19:16:00.000+08:00

We spend most of our waking hours at the workplace. Given the contact time that we have with our employers and colleagues, our workplace is naturally the most strategic arena that God could use us to proclaim His gospel. However, we can't go around the office cubicles and chanting "Jesus is Lord", else people around us will think that we have the license to be "indifferent" at the workplace just because we are Christians (or so-called). We need wisdom when evangelising at our workplace, and as promised the Holy Spirit is our helper.

One of the best ways to reflect the glory of our Lord is to put in an impeccable work quality with the highest integrity. We are to extend appropriate service to our earthly employers because, ultimately, it is Christ whom with are serving (Colossians 3:22-24). Meet and exceed expectations. People are more willing to listen to a person with good work ethics than a one who is sloppy with his/her work. As salt and light of the world, our workstyle is to be a demonstration of the character of Jesus and a reflection of His passion.

Work itself, without the softer skills of interpersonal relationship, reduces us to just another efficient and robotic employee. People cannot relate to a person who is cold, monotonous and void of feelings. Our identity in Christ is recognized by our character (Luke 6:43-44). Our mannerism, habits and relational skills must exude the fruits of the spirit that is of love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Such lovely attributes inevitably compels people around you. As Doug Sherman puts it : our greatest need in the workplace right now is for Christians whose lifestyle and workstyle is so unique and so distinctive that co-workers will want to know why.

This ought to be our daily standard operating procedure : Pray, lay and make way. Pray specific task prayers for wisdom at work, unsaved colleagues, grace to face ungraceful situations and deliverance from temptations. Lay every petition on the altar before God. Make way for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives, so that we may be vassels of blessings to the many lives that come in contact with us. Ultimately, we are the showcase to the world of what Christ in us means : an individual who is highly motivated, improvement-striver, impeccable leader, champion of creeds and a humble servant of God.

Mid-week Musings : Integrity

2006-10-11T08:05:00.000+08:00

In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence, the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in a office. If a man's associates finds him guilty of being phony, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.

~ Dwight Eisenhower ~

Know The Truth, And It Shall Set You Free

2006-10-05T23:04:00.000+08:00

We are, by default, reborn when we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. But that doesn't necessarily mean we are, by effect, reborn upon our confession. The experience of the total rebirth is more than just a confession. It is a wholesome encounter with our Creator and the truth about Him that ignites a great stir within us so much so so that our body, mind and soul is realigned to the full gospel of Jesus Christ.

Since last Monday, I have moved into a new role. However, the remnants of my previous role keeps haunting me. But that doesn't mean that I still hold my previous job title, because as far as I know, I am already into my new role with a new title, a new boss and a new future to look forward too. I also know that as I make a concious effort to give my best to my new role, the remnants of the old role will slowly fade into the background and in no time I will be totally immersed with the new job. I know I will never progress forward if I kept myself busy with the remnants even though I now have a new job title.

It is likewise with our walk with God. The reborning experience is sometimes hard to feel and appreciate because of past memories that keeps haunting us. Unless we make a concious effort to die to ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow him (Luke 9:23), we will never be able progress to be enter the freedom realm that God intends for our lives.

We are emotional beings, and knowing sometimes does not always tally with our feelings. It is interesting to note that Jesus says know, not feel, the truth, and it shall set you free. It is also interesting that God gave many examples of his servants in the Bible who struggle with the same issue that we face. If you notice, the Bible is not only a collection of wisdom sayings, but also a collection of characters' complaints and character pitfalls. In that way, the Bible is not mechanical in imposing dos and don'ts but it has a relational appeal that we may find it relevant.

As humans, our lives and its reality is built around a cognitive association of memory collections from as far back as we can remember. Every word spoken to us, anything that we've seen, what we've heard and all those information that is swinging by our way are essential building blocks to our memory. You are unique because your experiences will never ever be the same with the person sitting next to you. What determines how we feel today and our future achievements (or failures for that matter) is how we interpret and extrapolate our collective cognition to date. That is why trauma patients are often paranoid individuals who constantly paint a reality that does not exist and extrapolates a and off-tangent distorted future that encages themselves within it.

The keyword here is intepret and extrapolate. How we interpret and extrapolate begins with the model of the mindset. Change the model of your mindset, you change your how you interpret and extrapolate, you change your actions/behaviour pattern and you finally change your destiny. The world also provides a model through pop psychology and new age philosophies that profess to know the solution to mankind's mental struggle. The pitfall of current worldview model is...well...it is only current. It implies relativity to a specific group of people in a specific era. It has not absolute standards. Jesus came so that we may have life. He gave us a model - the truth of God's Word.

Given that God says that His Word shall not pass away, it is the same yesterday, today and forever, and given that His Kingdom to come is forever, it is a no-brainer that we should be adopting a model that is absolute and timeless. What is your reality? How are you extrapolating your live ensuring that it lands in the Kingdom of God?

Of rafts, flying foxes and "kayu"s...Camp Commandant's Top 10

2006-09-18T12:06:00.000+08:00

1) The mamak sessions at an obscure location in Port Dickson...seriously, it's hard to find another location nearby big enough to cater our group size. Trust me, I've searched prior to the camp.

2) Pastor Dennis' sermons...I had warned you, he keeps you at the edge of your chair, and if you're not careful, you'll just flip over! Especially his comments "the urge to merge".......HAHAHA

3) Sea rafting - that's where I got most of my sunburns. And seriously, I didn't think all the teams will make it back in once piece!

4) Flying fox - some of your expressions are quite amusing.....I recall Meng Meng was pushed off by the facilitator, I never knew Yuen Yee can screech her voice, and Don was just singing "Only You" as he jumped off.

5) Meng Meng's perpetual joy when she's able to complete 19 out of 20 obstacle course and flying fox. Her excitement vibes can be sensed tables away from her sharing epicentre.

6) Food - you've gotta admit, the quality is quite good!

7) Altar call - it's heartwarming to see some of you responding to the altar call. Bless you.

8) Obstacle course - I was wearing all white, and after the 1-ft barb wire, I was all brown at the front. Also, Soo Sze splashed water into me during the log-walk over the water and the tarzan swing! And I didn't think that we had the energy left for the 8-ft wall.

9) I've learned that "help coordinate" and "in charge of i.e. camp commandant" are the same meaning in Ps. Stuart's vocabulary.

10) The camp committee - fantastic group of people to work with. The quality of work put in by these people exceeds expectations.

Grace

2006-07-19T09:22:00.000+08:00

We creatures, we jolly beggars, give glory to God by our dependance. Out wounds and defects are the very fissures through which grace might pass. It is out human destiny on earth to be imperfect, incomplete, weak and mortal, and only by accepting that destiny can we escape the force of gravity and receive grace. Only then can we grow close to God.

- Philip Yancey -

Stock check

2006-07-09T22:27:00.000+08:00

One of the critical path on the project timeline was the stock migration from the legacy to the new system. Before that can happen, a full stock take is taken to ensure spot-on perfection of inventory accuracy. Although I was not directly involved in the stock migration process (the Finance people were, thank goodness it's not me!), but it affected every one else directly because nothing else begins without stock in the system. Although observing from the sideline, there are few learnings I can pick up :

Daily transactional data has to be diligently kept updated and discrepancies to be kept minimal.
Keep short accounts of discrepancies - settle it quickly and do not sweep it under the carpet
Do not "MacGyver" around with the system - come clean.
Regular full stock check is necessary - not only for audit compliance, but also for ongoing operational excellence.
Failure to comply results in obscene write-offs, difficulties to operations, reduced customer service levels, and of course, someone's head could end up on the chopping board.

I remember penning down some thoughts on Conquering 2006 For Christ. We are now into the 3rd quarter mark, and it's a timely opportunity to "stock check" our walk with Jesus. Have we been taking up our cross and pray daily? Have we been sweeping our sins under the carpet everyday instead of confessing them? Do we constantly try to justify ourselves out of a temptation, no matter how small it was? How could we described our walk with God - travelling light or with excess baggage? What are you to say to Jesus when He comes back tomorrow?

Love

2006-06-04T22:06:00.000+08:00

If you were to strip out everything else in the Bible, the heart of God is love. God created the world and all that is in it out of love. When man sin and fall short from the glory of God, He still love us so much that He sent His Son to die for our trespasses. But love must be reciprocated. Here, the greatest commandment of all takes a new wholesome meaning : to love God with all of your strength, and all of your soul and all of your mind. It strips away empty traditions and meaningless legalism of religion, as we move into a living relationship with Jesus Christ. We worship, because we love Him, and more importantly because He love us first. Love is the hallmark of creed. Grace is the demonstrative manifestation of love. That is why Christianity has the greatest gift to this fallen world.

Mid-week musings

2006-05-30T15:14:00.000+08:00

Lord, You have guided my path well all along and You draw me closer to you each day. I trust in You implicitly with all of my heart, and may my actions become explicit renditions of my faith in your faithfulness.

Of work, career and vocation

2006-05-21T09:53:00.000+08:00

What does work mean for us? Some of us view work as solely a vehicle to financial security of paying the mortgage and providing for the family. Some of us are attracted by the prospect of prosperity, thus do not mind clocking up incredible amount of hours. Some of us do actually enjoy the work we are doing. And for most of us, work is an identity that we associate ourselves with.

While each of these cases is valid, they are by no means wholesome by their own accounts. Working simply for the sake of paying the bills reduces work to a meaningless and mundane routine that extracts life out of it. We are guilty of idolatry if we were to work just for the sake of fame and riches. To build our identity around our profession will be futile, as economic environment is non-permanent, dynamic and volatile, rendering jobs obsolete while creating new ones at much faster rates.

Genesis 1 describes the nature of God as a worker when He created the world. Jesus Himself was a carpenter prior to His mnistry. The Bible is full of characters, with much diversity in the professions they undertook. Joseph was a butler, who would later become the prime minister of Egypt. David was a shepherd boy. Daniel worked with the Babylonian government. Tent making was Paul's business.

There is a peculiar perception among some Christians that work is a result from sin. When God designed us, He made us co-workers alongside with Him. Adam and Eve were to tend the Garden of Eden. God ordained work before sin. The institution of work in the Kingdom of God never changed from the original design that God had in mind. However, sin does render work more difficult.

While some of us may argue that a mundane job task, oblivious bosses and difficult colleagues are among the reasons that poses a difficult obstruction to us obtaining the ideal biblical worldview that we should adopt in our work. Here is a thought : 60-70% of our time is spend at work. That is a big chunk out of the time pie. If we lack grounding of our identity in Christ thus losing the purpose of the work we do, 60-70% of our lives go to waste. Most definitely not a very efficient use of resource we have in this one lifetime, and certainly not exhibiting good stewardship.

The key to any breakthrough is that the battle must be first won in the mind. Paul understood this almost too well in his letter to the Roman church : Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.

At the end of the day, when we stand before God at His throne of grace, He will ask: What is your worldview of work? Are you adopting My principles in your perceptions and attitude towards work? Perhaps, it is a good time to do a reality check on the mindset that we are adopting. A major overhaul of the ideas and perceptions that lies in between our ears is necessary if it is not streamlined with the Bible.

The Bible is a blueprint that contains timeless principles for us in this one lifetime we have. Our work is to be sown with faith, hope and love, with love as the hallmark of creed. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. Knowing that we ultimately serve the Boss in heaven, we ought to put in quality work for our employers, as we would for Jesus.

The Bible commands us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. As we progressively move Christward in our mindset and behaviour, we build within ourselves a reservoir of grace that overflows into the circle of influence around us. We are the demonstration of God's love to the people in the marketplace.

Work, in itself, should be pursued with the intended outcome of the highest quality and productivity. The vocation we pursue is also an extension of our evangelistic role in the Kingdom of God. As salt and light of the world, our lifestyle is to be a demonstration of the character of Jesus, reflective of His passion. The basic of hitting the sweet spot of this concept at is to have a workstyle that underpins an unwavering integrity that is grounded in the work of God. The workplace is the most strategic arena for Christian thinking and influence today. As Doug Sherman puts it : our greatest need in the workplace right now is for Christians whose lifestyle and workstyle are so unique and so distinctive that coworkers will want to know why.

Once this strategic thinking is established and engrained within our souls, the next thing is to operationalize our faith in work. These are some of the practical, and a-day-in-a-life things that we can do as Christians.

Task praying. Living through a job day-to-day can be tough on the sole. We are pressed with immediate bottomline pressures. We could all relate to the time where we needed to meet that elusive sales target, prepare for a big meeting with the board of directors, dealing with difficult colleagues and the list goes on. Such everyday occurrences could blur our thinking of the big picture we have about our work, thus reducing our overall effectiveness. It could be as simple as "Lord, there is a big presentation coming up. I need help with ideas and MS Powerpoint competency." By task praying, we are acknowledging that God is in control and that He is there to help us. It is also effecting His presence to work through us. Task praying is very specific to a task being undertaken.

Bringing Jesus to the workplace. There is nothing more comforting to know that someone close to our heart who understands is with us at the difficult points in our everyday lives. When God is present at your workplace, our whole perspective towards the circumstances around us would change dramatically. Look at how Peter could walk on water when he focused on Jesus.

Stewardship and consecrated financial planning. A person who earns RM10,000 per month, but constantly defaults his/her credit limit is worse off than a person who earns RM3,000 per month with clean credit records and spends way below his means. True that a person is entitled to enjoy the wages he earns (Ecc. 5:18-19), but whatever we do needs to be as glory to God. We ought to give our first fruits to the Kingdom of God as, firstly an obedience to His word, and secondly, to help the needy in His Kingdom. Basic and common-sense practices like saving, investing, not over gearing on consumer debts etc. should be the underpinning principles when it comes to managing our personal finance. Unfortunately, in a consumer-driven mindset environment we live in today, such common sense may not be too common after all.

As the saying goes, money is not everything. And so is the word stewardship should not be completely associated with the greenback. We live in a finite world of resource and time. In demonstration of good stewardship before the Lord, our time, energy and resource should also be channeled to the greater good in the Kingdom of God.

At times, operationalizing faith in our daily life could seem harder in the face of temptation. We are most vulnerable when we are hungry, angry, lonely or tired. All the black-and-whites in the Bible seem far-fetched and descends into shades-of-gray. Suddenly, everything we believe for appears to be so translucent. The moment of temptation is so overwhelming; the idea so irresistible, our twisted logic becomes so justifiable. But our response to temptation will make us of break us. We may think indulging in a little does no harm. Our fall from grace starts by giving the evil one a foothold, which eventually develops into a stronghold.

In one of his Sunday sermons, Nicky Gumbel gave practical to-do-list on how to defeat temptation :
1. Focus on Jesus - that takes the focus away from the devil and ourselves.
2. Keep short accounts with God - confess, seek forgiveness and repent immediately of every small trespasses that we may have everyday.
3. Trust God in difficult situations
4. Win the battle in the mind - changing of mindsets aligned to the Word of God.
5. Soak the mind with the Word of God - Notice how Jesus responded to temptation by beginning each of His responses with "It is written...".

In this journey of one lifetime of ours, we are walking through it side-by-side with the people of God. We are here together to encourage and uplift one another when times are tough for us. The fellowship we have among the people of God can provide a powerful base retreat for edification, rejuvenation and revival of our human spirit so that we can take on the world again. This concept cannot be undermined, thus the reason why the Bible places important emphasis on fellowship among his people.

Like how Lego is a new toy everyday, the gift of work is a wholesome learning experience if we are open to God's voice and sensitive to His Spirit. As we go about spinning our wheels in this world, work is a channel God uses to shape, mould and refine our character, slowly but surely transforming us into the image of Christ. Ultimately, we are the showcase to the world of what Christ in us means: an individual who is a highly motivated worker, improvement-striver, impeccable leader, champion of creeds and a humble servant of God.

About Grace

2006-05-14T21:21:00.000+08:00

The world can do almost anything as well as or better than the church. You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace.
~ Gordon MacDonald ~

2 major causes of most emotional problems among Christians : the failure to understand, receive and live out out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness and grace to other people...We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that's not the way we live. The good news of the Gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions.
~ David Seamands ~

O momentary grace of mortal men, which we more hunt for than the grace of God.
~ Richard Shakespeare ~

Grace is Christianity's best gift to the world, a spiritual nove in our midst exerting force stronger than vengeance, stronger than racism, stronger than hate.
~ Philip Yancey ~

Grace does not depend on what we have done for God, but rather what God has done for us.
~ Philip Yancey ~

A New Identity in Christ

2006-05-09T08:06:00.000+08:00

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

~ Ephesians 5:17 ~

By accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we are marked with a new identity before the Father in heaven. It is an explicit rendition that :

There is assurance for the forgiveness of our sins, and we are set free from the strongholds of life prior to Christ.
We stop living for ourselves and start living for God.
We have the privilege to be called sons and daughters of God.
We are given the Holy Spirit, who is our helper and counselor, during this lifetime on earth.
We have an eternal home with the Father in heaven that we could look forward to.

As a new creation in Christ, we have access to the glory of God. Moving progressively into His presence, a life-changing transformation begins within us. The secrets to an abundant life unlocks as we draw closer to Christ.

God forms us. Sin deforms us. Christ transforms us. From the moment we believe, we have an eternal identity in Christ. No longer are we victims of circumstances in this fallen world. We can capitalize on the challenges and emerge a victor together with Christ. It is the Christ in us, which gives the hope of glory.

The Great Maestro

2006-05-02T08:00:00.000+08:00

I stumbled on this story in The Edge week of May 1-7. The title of the article was "Choosing a Successor" and the first 2 paragraphs began with the below :

It was during one of Paderewski the Great's performances in America that the world-famous pianist displayed his true greatness. Among those present at the concert were a woman and her young son, who the mother hoped would be inspired by watching Paderewski's performance and would thereafter be motivated to practise the piano diligently. The two had arrived early and soon the boy begain to squirm in his seat. While his mother was chatting with some friends, the boy quietly left his seat and made his way to the grand piano at the centre of the huge stage. He innocently sat down, placed his small hands on the keys of the piano and gave his rendition of Chopsticks.

The crowded concert hall fell silent. Hundreds of stunned and embarrassed faces turned in the little boy's direction. It didn't take long before some people began to shout and angrily demand that the boy be removed. Backstage, Paderewskiheard the uproar and rushed to the stage as soon as he realised the cause of it. Without a word or even a bow to the audience, he walked up behind the boy and placed his hands on the keys at either side. Paderewski began to improvise a countermelody to the boy's simple tune. As the two made music together, the pianist kept whispering in the boy's ear not to stop playing. And the concert hall was filled with wonderful music.

Although the article went on about managing succession to family businesses, but I was more reminded on the analogy of the first 2 paragraphs to how God the Great Maestro can craft something beautiful out of our lives.

Sermon by Mike Constantine : How Can I Forgive

2006-05-02T07:43:00.000+08:00

I would very much wanted to go to the Connexions retreat in Genting Highlands. But one of the issues with project work is ungraceful timelines, made worse by waiting upon other people to complete their part of work so that you can continue with yours. But it's OK, cause I have set my own expectations from 2 weeks ago, and have already written-off my weekend. And for those who prayed for my, thank you very much.

Despite the work over holidays, I actually felt quite peaceful. Despite work, I feel isolated from noise and buzz. Probably it's the fact that colleagues are not around and the phone doesn't ring off the hook. During the times of the day when I am not working, it's catching up with reading materials, golf and exercise. I know that God is with me. These 2 days certainly felt like a Daddy-son away day.

It's just that...it's incredibly difficult to find someone for a meal on Sunday evening! One friend is in Tampin, the other in Raub, another in Johor, my former church pastor went up to Genting....finally, I just have to call a colleague out. Don't know whether to laugh or to cry. hahaha....

I wanted to write something about moving into the presence of God, but I think I shall postpone that to next week. Over the past 1 year, I struggled with lessons of grace, forgiveness and surrender. I would argue that God could have administered the lesson to me gentler, but He obviously has other plans. He seems to be beckoning me to do things that makes me go "WHAT?!". How do you forgive, when you are rejected? How do you demonstrate grace, where there is bitterness? How do you love, in such spite?

God has very odd ways to teach principles. At least that's what I think...I make no apologies...not yet. Mostly perhaps I can be quite a difficult student at times. And He is timely with lesson closures (hopefully) with Pastor Mike Constantine's sermon today on forgiveness at the 2nd service. Sharing from his sermon :

Eph 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Forgiveness Facts

Forgiveness is never based on a feeling, always on a decision
You can forgive, even though you still remember
We forgive wrongs. God forgives sins
If you are constantly offended, you may be overly-sensitive
Revenge is never the best choice, because revenge does not help.
We must forgive ourselves as we receive God 's forgiveness
We may think we need to forgive God, but we don't.

Forgiveness Does Not Mean:

We have to like the person
We have to trust the person.
We must reconcile with the person.
We automatically restore all privelages

He goes on to elaborate each and every point. But what ministered to me the most was the first 2 bullet points of Forgiveness Facts. If we were to be driven by how we feel, we may never ever want to forgive a person who has deeply hurt us. It should stem from the decision for us to forgive the person, whether we like it or not. Why? Because Christ forgave us first. Ultimately, it has very little to do between you and the person who hurts you, it has more to do with making that decision before God. That decision is an explicit demonstration of obedience before the Father. It states in the Bible that if you do not forgive, God will not forgive you.

The second bullet point hit me like a golf ball nailed on the sweet spot of Tiger's Nike driver. Many of us could relate to an incident when we forgive someone who hurt us deeply. And when the nagging feeling comes back, it throws us into doubts of whether we have actually forgiven the person. Pastor Mike shared about his childhood experience of falling off a slide from 6 ft high in which he broke his arm quite badly and leaves a scare that remains. Over the years, he felt pain at times, but the intensity lessens with time. He said, "The scar is there to remind you that healing has taken place." I have never ever thought about it in that way, I felt that my mind was like a sock turned inside out. I don't pretend to understand it now, but I am trying to (understand, not pretend). It's a valuable piece of idea I walked away with.

Bullet point 4 and 7 made me laugh, especially 4. It's hilarious.

I think Pastor Mike was very down to earth when he shared what forgiveness does not mean. But he did concur that forgiveness opens He way to liking, trusting, reconciling and restoring. Just as God forgives our sins through Christ, it opens up the path for us to come into His grace again.

If you're spiritually weighed down, chances are you are holding excess baggages of resentment and unforgiveness. So if you want to be spiritually light and nimble, forgiveness is the ultimate Marie France Bodyline (or is it Spiritline?) treatment.

Psalm 13

2006-04-25T08:29:00.000+08:00

Contemplate on the first and last 2 verse of Psalm 13 :

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?How ling must I wrestle with my thoughts, and every day have sorrow in my heart?
...
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.

This time, I choose not to elaborate. I'll let you chew on it, and tell me what you think. You could reply to all (which is best, cause you're blessing everyone), or you could reply to me alone, or better still, you could post a comment in my blog.

Task Prayer

2006-04-23T16:04:00.000+08:00

Remember that I always have "standing instruction" prayer request for my work which is constantly shifting in higher gears? At this stage of the projects, I'm running on afterburners (if you don't know what an afterburner is, look at the engine that propels the F-14 fighter jet. If you don't not what a fighter jet means, I can't help you...). I just need to be careful not to get burn-outs. I am aboundingly delighted that I could endure all through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).

For most of last week, work activities were stressful that I was beginning to feel very hard pressed on every side. I remember Pastor Andrew Evans once gave a sermon about task praying quite some time back in church. I was preparing for a telecon with 2 of my stakeholders who were not very happy people from the outcome of my colleague's telecon the week before. I retreated to the toilet (don't know where else to go actually) and prayed specifically on what I was going through, the outcome I needed and after that thanking God. After that prayer, I felt an uplifting sensation and a clear head as I walked out from the toilet cubicle. I thought, "Hey, this is neat! Should do this more often." I was both at peace and surprised at this manifestation. Needless to say, the telecon went on well. And I have some important deliverables this week as an outcome (hooray.....).

We are all familiar with the prayer we make during church services and Wednesday night prayer meetings. We pray for work, healing, salvation etc. I call these strategic "blanket" prayers. (Blanket because it is general in nature). We go through plenty of ordeals every day at work. This is where task praying makes the difference because it is a very specific extension of those "blanket" prayers into a particular situation where faith needs to be operationalized. Try it. It could be as simple as "Lord, let there be parking. In Jesus' name, amen!" You'll be surprised.

God is the Lord of all. He is omniscience, omnipotent, and omnipresence. He loves you and is every bit interested in your life. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:18).

Mid-week Musings

2006-04-19T07:57:00.000+08:00

The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.
- D.L Moody

Of sermons, preachings and testimonies...

2006-04-16T18:22:00.000+08:00

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be given equal emphasis. We serve a risen Lord. There are too much media that depicts the death of Jesus, so much so that I cannot imagine in my head how the resurrected Lord would be like. I know He is risen, but I can't imagine it. How will he look like? The Bible describes it vividly in Revelation 1:13-15, yet I struggle to form it in my mind. The reason why is because I had no associative cognition before (either from any media or caught-up-in-paradise experience). When I watch Ian's testimony on DVD, I said, hey.....this could be it...just extrapolate it infinitely and voila.....I have some form of idea how Jesus looks like in all His heavenly glory.

I love hearing testimonies (and teachings/preachings as well), especially powerful ones like Ian's. You could read the Bible forwards and backwards, inside out, and committed all verses to memory. Nothing beats aving someone to testify gives a refreshing perspective to the word of God. I have a re-juvenated idea about the Lord's Prayer, forgiveness, love, grace and Revelations 1:13-15. It's a whole new perspective.....it's absolutely amazing.

For this reason, I have refrained from underestimating any speaker of God who takes the pulpit from the first day I attended church regularly. For those who know me closer, I used to be an arrogant, cynical and difficult person when it comes to intellectual arguments. (I still like to argue nowadays, and being pseudo-difficult.....but more for the fun of it and for more learning from others). My addiction to hearing God speak thru His started in Kajang AOG when I was searching for answers to life's despair. When the pastor spoke on a certain topic (gosh...I can't remember what it was), I felt I was spoken to directly. Amazed, but cynical, I dismissed as a coincidence and give it another shot the following week. In the following week, the message spoke directly to me again. And I thought....nah, it cannot make it to a hatrick. But God did. And since then, I could count with my 10 fingers the number of times I didn't attend church (mostly because of unforeseen circumstances). That was back in late 2001.

More often than not, God choses to speak through other people into our lives. Very early in my Christian walk, God personally educated me with the myriad preachings of his servants.....different styles, different ministries, different slangs etc. They are all so colourful. I see the value of the cultivating a humble, listening and keen spirit. Often, people only want to hear what they want to hear. Church sermons are not there to re-inforce what you want to hear so that you could walk away with a feel-good feeling. So if you come to a meeting expecting to be blessed by the speaker, you will sometimes be disappointed. But when you come to a meeting in anticipation for the Lord of Host to minister, you will always gain regardless. So know where to place your cards, and place them well.

From Friday to Sunday, 3 times I hear Ian testify the same thing (by Sunday, I was able to almost predict the next word he is about to say). Same testimony - but 3 times God impressed different things upon me. Personally, I really like his style of preaching. He has comical twist where appropriate. But WHERE appropriate, did you noticed that Ian speaks half-sentence, gasps, closes his mouth and eyes blinking with tears? Some may not grammatically understand what he is trying to say, but I deeply share his sentiments and emotions. I gasp too whenever I am touched by God and try to speak (actually, I simply can't speak). 26 years on, he speaks as though his experience in paradise was just yesterday. I thought, such is the power of God to leave such a lasting impression upon his soul.

You could read the Bible forwards and backwards, inside out. You could attend all seminars listed in the directory-of-christian-living. You could have Billy Graham preach to you everyday. You could have all the above and yet still miss the point to learn about the Kingdom of God. Without keen learning and humble spirit, we are reduced to educated fools. I would rather be a fool before God, than to be wise in the world.

Reminiscing the Cross

2006-04-12T17:16:00.000+08:00

The passion of Christ who gave his life on the cross can be best described in 3 words : Forgiveness, Grace and Love.

In the cross, there is forgiveness. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, and that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. God offers forgiveness for our sins through the shedding of the blood of Christ. Jesus Christ died once and for all for the sins of the world so that all may come to the Father.

In the cross, there is grace. To die for a loved one is grace. To die for an enemy redefines grace. We all fall short from the glory of God, and there is nothing we can do to re-earn that. While we were sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). Grace is a gift given to us while we are not eligible. That is why it is call a gift.

In the cross, there is love. We sometimes do incomprehensible (sometimes silly) things when it comes to love. God does the incomprehensible when He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross because He loves both you and I. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Without love, forgiveness and grace reduce to mere charity. We love because God first loved us (1Jn 4:19)

At Calvary Jesus Christ gives the word Forgiveness, Grace and Love a splendorous re-definition. We may not, or ever will, fully comprehend breath of His forgiveness, the height of His grace and the depth of His love. Not all things require comprehension. In all things from God, it requires faith.

Early-week Musings

2006-04-10T11:16:00.000+08:00

Conviction is useless until it converts itself into conduct.

Mid-week Musings

2006-04-06T12:30:00.000+08:00

The moment of temptation so overwhelming, the idea so irresistable, our twisted logic so justifiable. Your response to temptation will make you or break you.

Beating the Stereotype of Christianity

2006-04-03T13:14:00.000+08:00

Christianity is not just another religion. I define religion as legalistic traditions and rituals that are associated to a particular faith. Jesus Christ, in the many examples told in the gospels, has pushed beyond the legalism of the religious framework during His day by offering the love of the Father. Christianity is therefore a living personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ which grants us liberty from legalism. We are empowered by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have a God who is interested in our lives and responds to our prayers.

Christianity is more than an institutionalized faith. The church is more than a premise where Christians come together for religious ceremonies. It is a refreshing atmosphere of belonging to the family of God, where love, care, support and accountability reign supreme. It is the communal powerhouse that focuses on meeting the needs of the society and blesses the nation at large.

Christianity is beyond scripturial study. The Bible is not just plain history book and a manual for holy living. It is about learning His Story. It is about internalizing God's commandments with the goal of explicitizing them through the obedient walk with God. The manifestation of a true scripturial understudy is the experience abundant life in the presence of God, not just a highly educated theologian.

Christianity worship is above beautiful songs and hymns. There are just a form of expression of our worship to God. Matt Redman truly understood this when he wrote The Heart of Worship. Our lifestyle, stewardship, work, time, talents etc are all worthy of worship to God, as long as they are directed towards Him. Surrender epitomizes the heart of worship, as explained by Rick Warren.

Christianity redefines grace and love. We don't do charity to earn good karma. It is never about earning brownie points to get into heaven, because we all fall short from the glory of God. Out of love, God sent Jesus to die for our sins. In response to such mighty grace, we love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind, and we love others as we love ourselves. We forgive others because God forgives us first. We do charity based on God's principle of grace and love.

Reflective Evangelism

2006-03-28T02:00:00.000+08:00

The human race is no doubt getting more sophisticated. With information technology breaking new grounds each month, it pushes the borders of communication into an almost infinite dimensions like never before. Marketing brilliance pushes new concepts and ideas to the people at break-neck speeds. People are more well-informed and have myriad of choices at an unprecendented levels like never before. What this also means is that people have moved from the "tell-me" to the "show-me" mentality. Shareholders are no longer satisfied with blueprints, but are more interested in implementation plans that translates into shareholder value. Consumers want to be demonstrated the value and sustainable benefits of whatever they are buying into. Citizens want tangible results from the government that they elect into power.

Likewise, the "show-me" mentality applies to spiritual sphere. Rattling off Bible verses and vocally proclaiming in the streets that "Jesus loves you" is no longer cutting edge. Dangerously enough, the surging of new age teachings with demonstrative results to boast have appealing effects. What are we doing in response for the sake of Christ? You may argue that most of us are no Billy Grahams and the thought of evangelism is quite daunting. But Jesus has called all of us to proclaim the gospel. So, the responsibility does not only lie on full-time workers to be front-runners of the gospel. As everyday Christians, we need to realise that the evangelical powerhouse lies within our own Christians livelihood : 1) lifestyle that you lead and 2) the life message that you bring.

Your livelihood hinges heavily on the fact that you love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and that you love others as you love yourself. When these basics are right in place, it radiates through your lifestyle. Your mannerisms, habits, blessings, financial stewardship, relational skills, and the choices that you make reflect how well you uphold these commandments. Your lifestyle speaks volume louder than mere words. Your lifestyle compels people.

Every borned-again Christian has a story to tell. Some may not be the nicest to tell. Most would agree that life in itself is sometimes not the most pleasant thing to endure. We stumble and make mistakes. But there is always the element of Jesus in each of these stories that gives the aura of difference which compels. That makes up the life message that you bring. People need to know that it is alright to stumble. People need to know there is forgiveness and reconciliation. People need to know there is something worthwhile to look forward to. You live message gives hope to people.

The MSG translation of 1Th 1:18 goes like this : Your lives are echoing the Master's Word...The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore - you're the message! By striving righteous livelihood, we are rendering ourselves as a polished mirror that reflects the glory of Christ. It is a foolproof method of evangelism that defeats the "no-action-talk-only" hypocrisy. It is reflective evangelism.

Our lives' anology to Joseph

2006-03-13T10:13:00.000+08:00

There are 4 main theme in Joseph's life :

1) Immaturity

In Genesis 37, Joseph clearly demonstrated that he had a gift of interpretation by God. However, he was foolish about relating his dreams to his siblings and parents and much to his disadvantage, was plotted against by his brothers to get rid of him.

I believe each of us has a unique gift from God. But that doesn't automatically mean that we are immediately wise. At some point in our lives, we too stumbled with our own foolishness. We may have gifts of articulacy, but wrong application results in a venomous sarcasm that destroys the soul. Some have high degree of intelligence, but render ourselves foolish by not seeking God's wisdom.

It's important to note that we are never too far from the glory of God. Joseph didn't lose his gift of interpretation. Likewise, when we respond to God, He will use the gifts He imparted within us mightily for His purpose.

2) Working in a bottomline world

Genesis 39 continues to describe how Joseph goes around in the bottomline world. If you put yourself in a-day-in-a-life of Joseph, you could probably appreciate the something quite familiar and relevant to ours. He has to run his boss' household. Could you imagine the pressure and stress he experience whenever Potiphar wishes to throw a party where all the high profile personalities of Egypt is invited? In our lives, if you are a plant manager, you need to make sure that we run the plant with maximum efficiency, meeting production plans and keep tab on safety records. If you're in finance or accouting, monthly, quarterly and yearly closings are madhouse rush. Those in sales would know what it means to meet volume and margin targets.

Joseph seeks to glorify God. And the Lord bless him, and Potiphar's household because of him. It was mentioned 3 times in verses 2, 21 and 23 that the Lord was with him. Truly, the Lord is always with us too. Like Joseph, when we seek to glorify God, He will bless the works of our hands and it will become blessings to people around us.

However, there are trying times when we are being challenged to our core belief in Christ. Joseph was tempted multiple times, but notice his response in verse 9. He made a decision to walk away. Sometimes we need to do just that if the situation warrants us to do so.

3) Baptism of fire

The time in prison was a time of preparation by God to hone Joseph into the man he will one day become . It was evident that he matured compared to Genesis 37, judging from his response in Gen 40:8, where he says "Do not interpretations belong to God?". Like diamonds, God knows the exact temperature and pressure and time to exert upon on us in order that we mature in Him and become more and more like Him. Proverb 3:11-12 says : My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves. Time is also of the essence. Joseph spent an additional 2 years because the cupbearer forgotten about him.

4) Growing from glory to glory

In Genesis 41, the Bible describes how Joseph rose to power as the Number 2 man of Egypt when he was just 30 years old. By our current standard, 30 is a very young age to be in a position of prominent. Thus Joseph was very successful by that comparison. More importantly, Joseph has significance in his role before God, that is to prepare Egypt for the influx of the Hebrew people into the fertile land of Egypt.

At this point, it is important to remember that when we are successful in our lives, we need to move into the realm of significance where God beckons us. Many of people are successful by material standards, but that doesn't mean anything. What good is a man if he gains the world but loses his soul? Hence, it is inherent that we always seek the Lord's perspective and move according to the pulse of His Spirit.

All of us have experienced the 4 themes above to a certain degree. I am sure you can associate yourself with it. And there is always Christ in you the hope of glory, and know that God is always able to make the best out of the good, the bad and the ugly of our lives. In all things, God works for good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

2006-02-20T23:50:00.000+08:00

"Enterprise First" was the corporate tagline coined by Jeroen Van der Veer when his team took over management of Royal Dutch Shell Group in response to the eroding shareholders' confidence when Shell declared that her reserves are overstated by 20% a couple of years ago. Enterprise First is to drive the future culture of Shell group of companies to ensure that all management staffs are driven by a common goal contributing to the greater good of the company, above individual departments and agenda.

In his sharing "Making Space for God", I was intrigued how Pastor Rennie Tan likened our "contract" with God : Our deal is to keep His house in order, and it is His deal to bless our lives. Also drawing the anology from Shell's Enterprise First behaviour, it gives a refreshing perspective on how we ought to live our lives as born-again Christians - that is to seek first His Kingdom Enterprise.

Consider Matthew 6:32-34 - For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows you need them. But seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Sometimes, we are too smart for our own good. This is evident when we find ourselves striking a negotiation with God on how we want to run our lives. Many times, we use God as a means to our ends. The "I will serve you, if you bless me" syndrome is all too common and there is a fundamental flaw in that. It is a flaw because the "if you bless me" part effectively relegates God to No.2. Sometimes, we are too smart for our own good, effectively rendering us foolish. Which is why there is Proverbs 3:5-7 as a reminder. What we need is a childlike obedience and humility (Matt 18:3).

Seeking first the Kingdom of God doesn't readily means that we should all quit our day jobs and dive into full-time ministry. As Pastor Rennie Tan rightly points out, it is minding about God's business is the outmost priority. How we run our lives hinges heavily of how we truly understand the meaning of how to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and how to love your neighbour as yourself. When we truly understand that, we no longer work to serve our lust to prosper materially, but to honour and glorify God is whatever vocation that we are pursuing. We set apart quality time to understand His word and to discern His voice. We are concern with the affairs of the church and care for the welfare of His people.

We all have our desires in life. As finite human beings, we may not know or comprehend that some of these desires may have a detrimental effects to us. Our Father in Heaven knows the beginning from the end. He has the hair on your head numbered. He knows you before you were born. He knows that we have needs in our lives. Hence, He knows what is beneficial for us. Knowing this, the golden key to unlock a life of abundance is to commit every desire, every thought and every emotion into His hands.

We are all employed into His Kingdom Enterprise now on earth. The portfolio (i.e. our live) which we are entrusted to needs to be streamlined to meet the objectives of the Enterprise. No more wayward "pet projects" that takes precedence over the Enterprise. Only when we have a mindset of "God First", only when we say "Thy will be done", then it will be revealed to us the riches of His Kingdom.

Christ in you, the hope of glory

2006-02-13T10:52:00.000+08:00

It was timely, by divine appointment, that Fabian shared about knowing our identity in Christ last Wednesday's prayer meeting through Romans 5:17 - For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reighed through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision og grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Thanks bro. And thanks Pat for letting me have your envelope to scribble on.

We are in constant need to be reminded our identity in Christ, no matter how young or (old??) Christians we are. As young adults who are embarking on this exciting journey of adulthood (I know some of us are quite senior, and thanks for being there as a senior figure for the rest of us), which constitute largely career, church (I certainly do hope so), family, social life and for some of us, starting to build a family of our own. As we journey through life spinning our wheels, each of these elements have demands that can exert significant pressure on us. As finite human beings, we sometimes can't help feeling lost, helpless or even pushes us to the edge of bitterness and resentment. Sometimes, we also question our own salvation.

This reminds me of the event where Jesus calms the storm in Matthew 8:23-27. Drawing the anology of the storm as challenges (or problems, whatever you may want to call it) in life, I do not at all blame the disciples for panicking. And notice how Jesus replies : You of little faith, why are you so afraid? I thought it was harsh rebuke...I mean who could possible stay calm when you're in a boat that is on the verge of capsizing. But His rebuke was valid. Here He is the Son of God amongst them, and they are striken paralyzed by fear due to the circumstances around them. Of course He would be displeased, because without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). But God never gave up on them. Even up to the point of His cruxifiction, the disciples were a disappointment. Peter even denied Jesus. But eventually, they were the frontrunners of the Great Commission in proclaiming gospel.

Consider Paul's statement in Ephesians 1:11-14 : In him we were also chose, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.

Nothing is too far out of reach from the grace of God. Even your life is miserably stained with scarlet sin, it will be as white as snow by the grace of God (Isaiah 1:18). Very often, life's disappointments are God's appointments. Knowing that we have a heavenly Father we can always turn to, the change of mindset will trigger us to gradually move from being victims of circumstances to capitalizing on challenges to eventually emerge as a victor in life. From the moment we believe, we have an eternal identity in Christ. That is the hope of glory.

Prosperity Message?

2006-02-03T12:05:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year auspicion is often splashed with prosperity messages all over. Apart from all other well wishes towards health, relationship etc, material prosperity seem to have the weighted emphasis. The measure of success in life is directly proportional to the money one makes. Materialism is the order of the day. People go to obsessive length to "secure" their prosperity. It is intriguing that people actually place their trust in the art of odd furniture arrangement of porcelain and plasticwares to reflect moonrays, thanks to advice of some "prosperous" lady on TV (I am referring to the physical attribute of course).

On the other hand, there are people amongst us who denounce prosperity messages. It is as though money-making is some form of a disease. Many are quick to pour cold water when another friend he/she expresses their desire to reach a certain sosio-economic status. To denouce it quickly to the extend that it boast self-righteousness is just as bad.

Both the views above are sub-biblical. Perhaps, consider the 3 myths about money that is sub-biblibcal pointed out by Dr. Tan Khian Seng in his book "Keys to Financial Breakthroughs" :

Myth

Money is the root of all evils
To be poor is to be spiritual
You are worth the money you possess

Truth

The love of money is the root of all evil (1Tim 6:10)
Not true. This is a pagan thinking of Diocetism
Money does not equal to worth

It is important that we obtain a biblical view of money and seek the wisdom for secular application. While the world judges us by the amount of money we have, God judges us by the quality of our stewardship. There is a 3-structure framework in God's system of financial stewardship :1) God is our Provider...and your heavenly Father knows that you need them (Matthew 6:32)...put your hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment (1Tim 6:17)2) God bless us, in turn, we can bless others Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. (Malachi 3:10)You will be made rich in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion. (2Corinthians 9:11)3) God to be glorifiedSo whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1Corinthians 10:31)The Lord loves a cheerful giver (2Corinthians 9:7)

Financial bondage manifest itself as get-rich-quick scheme, keeping up with the Jones and indebtness. When 25-Dec-2005 approaches, half the Londoners were still paying their 2004 Christmas bills. National credit card debts is pilling up faster than you can finish reading 2 John. Easy credit means that people have more access to the many things than entices them, be it fancy cars, lifestyle penthouse, exquisite dining and travel packages. This gives rise to a new generation of people who, subconciously, subscribe to the idea on pseudo-prosperity. How sad.....

You are the CFO of YourLife Enterprise. And if Jesus, the CEO, walks into your office today asking for a quick account of your financial management, your readiness level speaks volume of your stewardship. And if you're not ready, not too worry. He won't fire you. If your financial report lacks lustre, re-evaluate all the financial elements. Cut unneccessary OPEX (operational expenditure). V-Power doesn't make significant difference in city driving than Regular Super. If debts exceeds 30% (or whatever is comfortable with you) of net income, downsize/divest your problematic assets. If it requires you to trade in your BMW for a cheaper Proton, or your penthouse for an apartment, to free up cash and improve cashflow, do it. Use credit cards like a debit card, pay all statement balances within the interest-free period. Pay your dues on time. Invest wisely. Write cheques to the orphanages. Give away money for Chrismas productions. Sponsor part of someone's education. When God choses to materially prosper us, He does so not primarily to raise our standards of living, but our standards of giving.

Of course, there is no guilt that God imposes on us if we wish to earn more money. So go ahead. Work hard and aim for that red Ferrari and a golf-holiday at St. Andrew's. God delights in that. But be very certain of whom you are serving, because God does tolerate any of His subjects shifting their worship to mammon. Christian living is a radical lifestyle. Hence certain elements in financial stewardship has to be radical as well. We need to move from just merely existing and earning a living to serving a purpose, and sky-rocket from success to significance.

Quotes from Christian Literature

2006-01-23T07:05:00.000+08:00

The weekend seems to whiz by so quickly. I was running here and there, and attend church, have a couple of meals with a few people, recuperated by sleeping, did some work and it's already 2318 hrs Sunday night 22-Jan-2006 already. I was deeply impressed to write on something, however, I lacked sufficient time his weekend. I apologize that I couldn't turn it around quickly enough this weekend, as I don't want it to be a rush job. So I'll save that for next week.

As for this week, I like to share with you excellent quotes from some of the books I am currently reading up. Enjoy :

Disunity never takes place because of disagreement. It is because we go beyond disagreement to critisism and judgement.

- Floyd McClung, The Father Heart of God

Be careful: self-pity can be a counterfeit of real repentence

- Floyd McClung, The Father Heart of God

Faith has not begun until we believe God for the impossible

- Floyd McClung, The Father Heart of God

The secret of spiritual success is not just in acquiring individual knowledge--it's in combining that knowledge with love in all our relationships.

- Mart De Haan

God loathes idolatory (which hurts him) and immorality (which hurts those he made)

- David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible Omnibus

If you have the idea that your job is simply a means to the greater end of evangelism, then you have devised a peculiar understanding or work, a view not found in the New Testament.

- Doug Sherman, Your Work Matters to God

Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of obtaining it

- Dr. J.I. Packer

When I run, I feel God's pleasure

-Eric Liddell, Scottish Olympic runner in the 1930's.

God did not call us to work the majority of our lives just to survive, earning a paycheck and existing from weekend to weekend. God created each person for specific reasons, taskes and purposes and He equiped each one of us with the perfect combination of talents, skills and abilities required to find fulfillment for our lives.

- Larry Julian, God is My CEO

God's wisdom, your spiritual core, provides your source of strength, purpose and direction and balances and leverages your skills and abilities. Your character is the aggregate sum of who you are as you couragrously follow through and do what is right over time. Your productivity is the legacy you leave behind.

- Larry Julian, God is My CEO

Don't confuse the acts of God with the facts of life. The acts of God can redeem the facts of life

- Robert H. Schuller, Life Is Not Fair But God is Good

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of loive and of self-discipline.

- 2 Timothy 1:7

In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

- Romans 8:28

You could more a less put forth a reasonably accurate educated guestimate of what I have been reading la. ;)

2006-01-16T07:36:00.000+08:00

As an ice-breaker during our first 2005 supply chain management meeting, our supply chain manager went around the team asking each one of us our new year resolution. One of the line managers simply said this : complain less, compliment more. Just 4 words, but it resonated among all of us in the management team. Coming out from that meeting, all of us have added that to our list of new year resolution, including the supply chain manager himself.

As I was reflecting those words, I came up with this : complain less, contemplate more. We are living in a very interesting fabric of history when life demands so much from us. As we keeping running these cogs at high speeds, and as finite human beings, we naturally get tired and weary. You could probably relate to the last time (which may not be so long ago) when you felt easily felt irritable and kept complaining. Complaining doesn't have to be aloud. It can be happening right now in between both your ears. The scope of complaining that I am referring to here is not the reaction to the occasional breakdown of the neighbourhood ATM, but to structural circumstances of our daily lives. It could be an unfulfilling job, a naggy spouse/partner, a health condition or whatever it may be.

Have you notice the dynamics of a whirlpool? That is how the human mind functions. Feed anything closer to its core, it will just spin faster and faster around the vortex and then finally sinks in. Complaining is closely associated with negatively charged emotion like anger, worry, disappointment etc. I don't think that complaining by itself is a sin, it does, however, reinforce certain negativity deeper into our minds. And because of that, more often that not complaining exaggerates the situation, blowing it to unreasonable proportions. Prolonged complaining provides certain foothold, rendering ourselves spiritually vulnerable. God forbid that in Eph 4:27.

Contemplate more. That ought to be our automatic response in face of live's adversities. This is one area for drills when we are practicing the presence of the Holy Spirit. Here are some Bible verses which we can start with :Be still, and know that I am God (Ps 46:10)Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Phil 4:6)My grace is sufficient for you (2Cor 12:9)For I know the plans I have for you, plans to propsper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jer 29:11)Contemplation should also go beyond personal boundaries of just prayerful attitude and reading the Word of God. Sharing with His people and seeking counsel of godly individuals in church is another form of contemplation. God speaks into our lives via different approaches. Hence's it is important to get that synergy for breakthroughs.

Too often too much energy is spent on complaining and is truly wasted in such an entropy. So, the next time you are about to burst into fits of complaints, pause for a moment and do a quick audit of the yourself and the situation. Say a quick prayer if you must. It elevates us from being a victim of circumstances to a position of empowerment.

Conquering 2006 for Christ

2006-01-11T12:00:00.000+08:00

Time surely whizzes by and 1.5 weeks of the 52 weeks of 2006 has already being consumed. Almost half of January is gone. That's almost 3% of 2006. And I'm getting nowhere with maths and chronology.
There were a few things which God has impressed upon me for the past 2 weeks or so. Although we're already 0.5 way thru January and consumed 3% of 2006, I think the new year is still relatively fresh for many and cheers to 2006 :

Urshering a new year has been a significant event in many areas of our lives. Far from just wee hours partying, much preparation goes on in all walks of life preparing for a new year. Managers have their TnR (targets and results) planning for their sales, budget and cost reduction goals, teachers have their classes to prepare, finance executives scramble for year-end closing and many many others.

I sense very strongly the similar occurance in church life. Along this Gregorian calender timeline, the period around the new year is a good milestone for us to pause and reflect on our walk with Christ in 2005. I am greatly encouraged by some of your sharings about the many blessings and favour that the Lord has poured out in your lives. For some of us, 2005 could be a year you may want to forget. Nevertheless, no matter whether 2005 turned out good or bad, it is important that we further developed our characters on whatever learnings we may acquire. For God is ultimately interested in our characters, not our circumstances.

While I strongly advocate a constant healthcheck on our personal walk with God, the new year is a convenient time-measuring milestone for us to do just that. Whatever our blessings that we have were in 2005, thank God and build upon it so that we may radiate those blessings to those around us as well. For the not-so-nice-things of 2005, if we are a victim of circumstances, be comforted because the Lord is our Comforter and it is unwaster opportunity the Master Craftsman uses to shape our character. Having said that, any bitterness should be surrendered to God at the alter and never to be taken home again. If we have sinned, confess and seek forgiveness from the Lord, for He is faithful in forgiving our trespasses.

All in all, make it an personal commitment with Christ in 2006 to grow more deeply rooted in the Word, for He has clearly stated : If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7). Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your sould and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). Love Him so much like a little child clinging to His Father oh so tightly, never letting Him go. Love Him so much that it almost ache within you. Be transformed by the renewing of your minds (Romans 12:2). Be spirit-filled and resonate to the pulse of the Holy Spirit. Burn within thy spirit a whiter flame, almost fervently pyretic.

One famous preacher (sorry I forgot his name) once quoted the irony of Christians are the ones who shoot their own soldiers within their camp. It is very possible that salvation in Christ can give rise to an arrogant and "holier that thou" behaviour. We begin to start judging people with reference to our our spiritual standards and righteousness. On the other hand, bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with any form of malice (Ephesians 4:31) is a sure formula for disunity among the members of Christ. Floyd McClung, in his book The Father Heart of God, rightfully points this out when he says that disunity never takes place because of a disagreement. It is because we go beyond disagreement to criticism and judgement. Jesus warned about judging others (Matthew 7:1-6). All we is need is grace. All we need is compassion, kindness and forgiveness. Because Christ forgave us first (Ephesians 4:32). As John Lennon brilliantly wrote the song "All we need is love", it is also in God's interest that after the greatest commandment, the Lord has commanded us to love others as we love ourselves.

There is a power synergy between our personal walk with God and the livelihood His people that should radiate brilliantly outwards to others, regardless of whether they are our unsaved family members, friends or even the market place. When we are called to God's Great Commission, He is looking at the outward mobility model in our livelihood to gain grounds for His Kingdom. As civilization evolves, bringing people to Christ is an obsolete model that no longer works (unless you're a feudal lord who imposes Christianity in your territory). Being relevant in today's society is the name of the game to bring glory to Christ. It's now about bringing Christ to the people. There are many needs to be met out there where if we responsively tap into them with the badge of Christ, quick and effective wins are within grasp. For the larger force that we battle against, we need to seek wisdom so that we can be as shrewd as serpents but remain as innocent as doves. What we need is to be arming ourselves with the belt of truth buckled, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, competently and accurately handling the Word of God.

2006 is really nothing but another insignificant strip of chronology in your lifetime. 3 years is about the timeline we can spend for a degree. 3 years is a long time to mend a heartbreak. 3 years is the average time from one promotion to another. But 3 years of Jesus' live changes history forever. Given this one year, how will you choose to signify 2006 for Christ?

Relationship with God

2005-12-28T07:56:00.000+08:00

It's been over a week since I returned from London. One of the few things which I searched for after touched down was chilli sauce. No chilli sauce in London. Makes the food taste so much better. Nevertheless, it was a good 1-month trip to Shell Centre. Plenty of learning and resolved a lot of project issues. Some of the things I will miss London for are the tiramisu (it is so good, so pardon me if I say it is bloody good) in the cafe outside my office, the Phantom of the Opera and the beer selection at Belgo's in Leicester Square.

On one of the Sundays in London, I attended Christ Church in Aldgate East. Michael Ross-Watson was the speaker, and spoke on Zechariah 7. What captures me the most was his message about relationship with God in Zechariah 7:4-7 :

4Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me : 5"Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Kerusale and its surrounding towns were at rest and properous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settle?' "
Christianity is not just another religion. It is not hollow rituals and traditions, neither is it a charismatic speaker behind the pulpit with powerful influencing skills. Pastor Michael shared with us an episode of one of his earlier days preaching. He was at a church one cold winter evening. He was waiting outside a closed church door after waiting for 20 minutes pass the original service start time. As he was about ready to leave, he thought he might just knock on the door just for a final sanity check. To his surprise there were 2 elderly people in this church who enquired whether he was the preacher. The church inside was of magnificent architecture (as with many other old churches in England). Since there were only 3 of them, Michael suggested that they have a fellowship instead. However, they insisted that they must have a service. Quite oddly, they followed the each and every ritual step for singing hyms, collecting offering, taking the communion etc, even though there were just the 3 of them!
Of course it is laughable to many of us when he shared the story. But the underlying truth remains that in many areas of church life, hollow yet pompous rituals and traditions are being pursued. Also alternately, the opposite end of the spectrum also holds true. In the more charismatic setting, upbeat music and preachers with rich verbal charisma are another form of danger that is taking centre-strage, thus eroding the focus on Christ.
Matt Redman spoke about a beautiful story of restoration of his relationship with Christ when he wrote The Heart of Worship :I'll bring you more than a song,For a song in itself it's not what You have requiredYou search much deeper within, Though the way things appear,You're looking into my heart,I'm coming back to the heart of worship,It's all about You Jesus,I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it,When it's all about You Jesus.
Christianity is not just another religion. It is about God's love for us when He sent His only Son to save us. It is about savouring the father heart of God. It is acknowledging His sacrifice for us. It is about worshipping Him from the depths of our heart. It is about loving His people around us. It is about being in His loving Presence forever and ever. That is the essence of Christianity.

How to Defeat Temptation - sermon by Nicky Gumbel

2005-12-07T07:52:00.000+08:00

I must apologize again for not writing. What I'll do is to share sermons from the churches during my stay here in London, and inject my thoughts into some of the key points of the sermons. Below is a sermon by Nicky Gumbel of Holy Trinity Brompton on how to defeat temptation, expounding heavily on Ephesians 6:10-17 :

Ephesians 2:1-3 says that temptation comes from the world, the flesh and the devil. It is described as a triple alliance force that exist around us, within us and above us. As Christians, till the day of the Lord, we are inevitably exposed to temptations. Nicky Gumbel made a cute comment that if someone says that he/she does not struggle with temptations, it's either he/she is not a Chrisitian, or not human! Temptation creeps in very subtly, and if left unaddressed, then sin will eventually rear its ugly head. It starts subtly with a foothold, and develeps into a stronghold. "...do not give the devil a foothold..."(Ephesians 4:27). To win the battle of temptation, we as children of God need to take responsiblity ("...be strong..." v.10) and take action ("...put on...take your stand...stand your ground...stand firm..."(v. 10-13)).

Nicky proceeds to share with us the 6 good habits from verses14-17 :

1) Focus on Jesus "...with the belt of truth buckled round your waist..." (v.14)Do not focus on the devil It's amazing how we as Christians unconciously do that. I've heard of people who can blame traffic jams as the attack of the devil. It's absolutely ludicrous. Doesn't it ever occur that it's just simply bad traffic for the day? That has undoubtly shift the focus to the devil, conciously or not. One solution that I could think of is to blast Shout to the Lord on your car stereo and enjoy. That way, Jesus is glorified.Do not focus on yourselfNeedless to say, to many extend we are self-centred creatures. At one end of the scale, we are easily inflated by self-pride and self-righteousness through our successes, and the other end, we are vulnerable to self-pity through our failures. Both ways, we are focusing on ourselves. So, moving towards a Chris-centred life, render thanks and praise unto God for all our successes; surrender and have faith in the midst of our failures. All in all, worship God with our lives.

2) Keep short accounts "...with the breastplate of righteousness in place..." (v.14)Make your peace with God, and others. Personally, I believe that the quality of your life is the quality of your vertical relationship with God and your horizontal relationship with others. That is what the Cross is all about.
3) Get actively involved "...with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." (v.15)Nicky shared on how churches should be more reaching more outwardly to the world. Too often, many churches are too caught up with internally either with redtapes, office politics or traditions that it prevents effective outreaching to the harvest field. Personally, I have another thought when Nicky shared this point with me. Thoughts of my last writing "What good is a spark if nothing catches fire" comes ringing back. Too often people who appear to be fervent by their style of worshipping shrivel into a lame "I'll pray about it" excuse when approached to contribute to the body of Christ. I agree completely with Pastor Dennis Balan's during the prayer meeting ahead of the launch of Saturday evening service, that there is no such thing as "I'll pray about it". It's a responsibility for every Christian to be part of the body of Christ.

4) Trust God in difficult situations "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." (v.16)Nicky pointed out that we are most vulnerable when we are hungry, angry, lonely and tired. How true it is.

5) Win the battle in the mind "Take the helment of savation..." (v.17)At times, we may struggle with our own salvation. Bishop B.F Wescott, Regius Proferssor of Divinity at Cambridge offers the 3 tenses of salvation that might help us come to grips with our salvation with Christ :We have been set free from the penalty of sin through the blood of the LambWe are being set free from the power of sin through our daily walk with GodWe will be set free from the presence of sin when Jesus returns.

6) Soak yourself with the Word of God "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." (v.17)Read it, mark it, learn it, inwardly digest it. 4 simple, yet effective phrases offered by Nicky. I personally recommend the book "Unlocking the Bible Omnibus" by David Pawson. It is an excellent Bible commentary with very comprehensive insights.

How Badly Do You Want The Lord

2005-11-20T07:51:00.000+08:00

My church, Full Gospel Assembly, ran a 40-day programme between mid-June to end-July. The programme was titled "Purpose Driven Life", and it is heavily based on the book written by Rick Warren. I thought it was an excellent programme for Christians to rediscover the exhiliration of walking with God. Personally, I finished the book even before the programme started.

As I read thru the book, a word from one chapter did catch my attention strongly enough leave quite a lingering impression upon me for quite some time : dryness. Prior to programme, I was riding on a "spiritual" high where God has abundantly blessed me with an fantastic pay rise and a excellent new project assignment within based in KL that came along with the opportunity to travel to London quite a fair bit. I get to see the breakthrough in spiritiual progress of my family. Also, I was comforted so lovingly in His arms when I was heartbroken and that was good enough for me.

About a quarter way through the programme, I started to feel a little dry. Expounding on that, I could describe as a "rojak" feelings of confusion, fear, inadequecy and futility. I felt confused because I struggle to hear God's voice and the silence was was deafening. I felt fear because I thought I must have grieved the Holy Spirit, and can't imagine walking through life without God. I felt inadequate because I no longer feel God as strongly (or so I thought). I felt futile because that all the abundant blessings suddenly meant little to me.

Prayer became quite a chore, because it evolved to be a one way communication : me rambling on, and God's chilling silence. Interestingly in the same frame of time, temptations seemed to be stronger than usual. And I started to worry a lot, particularly about work. Will I deliver the desired results? Where should I go after the project? What if the project fails?

Somehow, there was still a small faction of me that holds deep conviction that the Lord will never forsake me. The lesser I felt, the harder I prayed. Reading through a Gideon bible in a hotel in Singapore on the night of 26-Jul, God impressed upon me the following verses, in the exact order :

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
James 1:5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

23:1 (A Psalm of David.) The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23

10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10

5 [Let your] conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord [is] my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Hebrews 13:5-6

15:1 (A Psalm of David.) LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. 3 [He that] backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. 4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. [He that] sweareth to [his own] hurt, and changeth not.
5 [He that] putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these [things] shall never be moved.
Psalm 15

3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth.
Proverbs 3:1-12

With a lot of answers pouring in, Matthew 7:7 became very real to me. The beckoning of the Holy Spirit is very sensable. It was a breakthrough experience, and I can ascertain that my walk with Christ today has mature tremendously compared to just 6 months ago. In hindsight, I conclude that it came down to a very fundamental question between you and God : How badly do you want Him? For me, badly enough to repeatly keep on asking, seeking and knocking.

The Void Only God Can Fill

2005-11-07T07:50:00.000+08:00

I've received some feedbacks about my past 2 writings, so I thought this week I approach it in a different manner by sharing my experience. Throughout last week, the theme which constantly resonates in my head was about "The Void". In the book Purpose driven Life written by Rick Warren, he has rightly structured his book to begin with the purpose to worship. In my own words, I would say that worship is a complete surrender of the totality of my life to God, being fully immersed with His Grace and aboundingly thankful for His Salvation. It is a feeling which I would describe as a fierce outpouring sensation from within, a warmth in my heart and a pleasant numbing of my mind.

God has created us with a pocket of void in our lives designed only to only fit Him. In recent weeks, I concluded by experience that no amount of any other pursuits of this world, material or immaterial, even for the cause of good, can ever fulfill that pocket of void except God. The Lord has been a good teacher and although I am not always a fan on how some of the lessons are delivered, He does get the point across well enough :

Through growing with the Lord and much prayer, I have seen His gracious hands at work in my life bringing me from the land of not-enough, to the land of just-enough, and to the land of more-than-enough. Although I am still no Donald Trump today, the setting was right for Him to make the lesson clear. When everything seems to be going all too well for me, He disappears! (For those in FGA, interestingly it co-incided with the PDL programme). The novelty faded away all too rapidly, and I was left feeling so void, lonely, aggitated and even a little depressed. That was intentional by God, giving me a full-blown real-life preview of Solomon's book of Ecclesiates.

There are also areas where I don't to have much joy handling it. I do struggle with feelings of anger, bitterness, sorrow and even revengeful vendetas. There were endless prayer hours petitioning for God's answer. When it was about to be seemingly answered, it was snatched violently away from me. I make no reservations saying that I had a hard time getting hold of God's comfort, even though I know He does that in 2Cor 1:4. Nevertheless, there were also a few items which God has impressed upon me to do which demands obedience. By faith, I started to heed His callings, and what follows can be described as the most abounding joy I have ever experienced. I don't pretend that I no longer struggle, because I still do. The difference now is that as I grow more abidingly in Him, His Spirit abides in me more, I am fulfilled no matter how inadequate I am. Simply fantastic.

Out of the 2 very contrasting experience, no matter how well or how bad the situation may be, there will definitely be voids in our lives because we as humans are hardwired by God into our DNA to seek Him. Hence, the void can only be filled by Him. Without Him, we will continue to loop around infinitely, which can render our life unstable.

I leave you with 2 points to ponder :
· Principally, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. Hence, if we proclaim that, no matter what the situation, better or lesser, we should first seek His Kingdom and all His Righteousness (Matt 6:33). I am not even attempting to finish the verse, cause we are all too often enticed by it, thus losing sight of God.
· Practically, do a spiritual health check and gauge how you stand before God. Start by surrendering your all to God and live out in obedience to His Word. Tip of the day - Be grounded in the bible. Bonus tip - Start serving.

Resonating to the Holy Spirit

2005-10-24T06:49:00.000+08:00

For those of you who remembered conducting a science experiment on resonance, you could probably recall how a plastic ruler offset at the edge of the table can violently oscilate up and down when being tapped/vibrated at certain frequency. That certain frequency is called the resonance frequency.

Our walk with God can certainly draw a very synonymous analogy to that simple science experiment. The Holy Spirit moves in a certain pulse that is perfect to the will of God. To resonate with the Holy Spirit is to tap into the harmonic motion of the Holy Spirit. It requires us to, first, be sensitive to the movement of the Spirit, next, to flow accordingly. When our own spirit resonates in synchrony with the Holy Spirit, you can be assured that the unleashing power is able to manifest a Christian life in its full abundance. God has promised that in John 15:7 ...If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Despite a powerful promise from God, yet sometimes we fail to tap into resonance. One of the most obvious reasons is disobedience towards God. I could probably write numerous more articles about the elements of disobedience. But for the simplicity of this article, being disobedient towards God encompass all things that are "not nice" in God's vocabulary i.e. sin, faithlessness, unrepentence etc. God has a warning about being out of sync with the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

However, despite the obedience on our part, sometimes we do feel that God has been awfully silent. Some may feel that things and happenings around them seem to be falling apart like a broken jigsaw puzzle. Feelings of fear, helplessness and inadequecy lurks from within. It can be an excrutiating experience, especially priorly we were on spiritual "high". When this period of dryness seemingly happens, it is because the Holy Spirit has begun moving at a whole new different level in our lives. Through a prayerful attitude, the beckoning of the Holy Spirit is sensable. By faith, we plunge ourselves into that beckoning. I would likened this to upgrading from springboarding into a pool of water to bungee-jumping into air from a mile high!

Because the Holy Spirit has drawn them to a higher level, and by faith, our elders have stepped out in obedience which resulted in the mighty works of God in FGA. I can personally testify the experience of dryness during the 40 days of Purpose Driven Life Programme, and God has brought me to a new level ever since. Lord Jesus Himself can ascertain that. In the gospels of Matthew, Luke and Mark, the patterns are consistent :
1) He was baptised - we can draw the spiritually "high" analogy here
2) He was tempted - shortly after that, His seeming period of dryness occur.
3) He is, thereafter, a powerful minister - He moves in a powerful newer, higher level that has impressed a resonating message to the world forever.

Catch the pattern? Period of dryness is a interface period during which God is telling us that His Spirit has moved on to another level. It also means that temptation is real. The choices we make will result in whether we resonate with the Holy Spirit at a new level, or simply spiral away from His presence. When the Spirit calls, we need to step out with faith towards His direction. For without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 6:11). Elders Dr. Koh and Bro. Ang had answered the call 26 years ago. Jesus subjected himself to the perfect will of God 2000 years ago. The same spirit still beckons us today to resonate with Him. As evident in many biblical accounts and modern testimonies, the results are simply sensational (it has to be...upgrading from springboarding to bungee-jumping wat). Will you today choose resonate to the pulse of the Holy Spirit?

Changing Mindsets

2005-10-18T06:45:00.000+08:00

While I have not (yet) met any Christians who experience the reborning experience without pain, most of us come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through a life experience that almost drives us to the point of fracture. Carmen's jots below shows some of the examples which are very real in our life walk.

In the book Purpose Driven Life written Rick Warren, he mentioned that out of the most tormenting experiences will birth the most powerful ministries. Cause God causes all things to work for good for those who love him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). Having said Romans 8:28, so why do we sometimes fail to capitalize on our experiences for God's glory? The environment that sometime causes people to just seemingly react waywardly, is an overpowering sense of helplessness in the face of life's adversities. It can induce a 2-prong outcome, one resulting in a behaviour which constantly lashes out at opportune time (what I call the bitter-bitter syndrome), the other an almost-too-willing-to-retreat response (what I call once-bitten-twice-shy-three-times-sure-die disorder). So, instead of what could seemingly unfold a magical story has pathetically spiralled in a badly written plot, as described by the 2 syndromes above.

We first need to learn how to think, react and pro-act differently. Sounds cliche, but it echoes in many secular self-help seminars in the market. Really, there is no reasons for us born-again Christians to learn how to think, react and pro-act differently. For Christ's sake (unlike pagans, no pun intended, I mean this for real), we have our Lord God with insurmountable and infinite resource of wisdom for us to tap into! (I'm hearing a hallelujah in a cresendo). There are numerous Proverb verses that can be quoted here about wisdom, but I'll leave it as a homework to all of you. By aligning to the pulse of the Holy Spirit, start challenging the mindset and changing the way we do things will result in the unfolding life's richness and abundance in the Lord. ...but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2). What could be more powerful than forging the alliance with the Holy Spirit?

Jesus' life is a testimony on how He was truly different in His thoughts and actions :
1) His seemingly comprehension of the word as a boy at the temple (Mark 2:41-50)
2) His reactions towards the devil's temptation in the dessert (Mark 4 :1-13)
3) His messages, ministries and miracles (articulated in all the 4 gospels)
4) His pro-action towards the cross (Matthew 26:39)

Some are in serious delay for a major reality-check overhaul spiritually. A simultaneous combination of reengineering of what's in between the ears and a thorough makeover of the heart is necessary to re-track the obedient walk with God, which unlocks life in its full abundance. God, in all His Glory, is in a business of re-inventing mindsets and rejuvenation of the heart to be more like His Son. But only if you invite Him to be your Senior Partner and CEO of YourLife Inc.