Salt and Light

The Harvest

2007-06-22T09:18:00.000+08:00

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."- Luke 6:38

Give and it will be given unto you. During the retreat at Dad's place last week, he was wearing a shirt from 1995, which was the year of harvest.

For the same measure that you give, it shall be given unto you. As I prepare myself to enter the 100K challenge to bless people. I pray that the seeds of life and blessings that I sow into the people will bear fruit for the harvest. The fruit that I sow may not be seen or known by me but by the Father above.

Without waving, let us hold tightly to the faith that we say we have, for the lord can be trusted to keep his promise.- Hebrews 10:23

Last week, I have been busy going to the hospital as Victor had a high fever and was hospitalised. During the time, I went up to help pray for some of the patients there. One of the patients was Victor's friend who wished to be known by Ong.

He was diagnosed with leukemia 2 years back and has been in and out of the hospital for 2 years now. Although his facial expressions was happy, I could sense that deep down inside, there was great insecurity for his future and finances to carry on his treatment. To him, he was trying his best to be happy and live each day to his fullest since the future seems hopeless to him.

I pray that my time and prayers for him would plant a seed of security and of a future for him even if the future seems bleak as the Lord's plans for him is of good and not of disaster, for a future and for hope.

I believe in the lord that this seed of hope planted in him will continue to grow till the harvest when he will become truely joyful as he knows that the future for him is not bleak but shining brightly for the Lord.

Until then, I pray that I will be strengthened by the Lord's glorious power so that I will have all the patience and endurance I need and I will be filled with joy to continue watering and tending to Word I've planted into peoples' lives till the harvest comes.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

Battlefield 2007- Day 1

2007-06-13T10:01:00.000+08:00

Hudson Taylor

Missionary statesman Hudson Taylor had complete trust in God’s faithfulness. In his journal he wrote:

Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning… He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all… Depend on it, God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.

Our Daily Bread, May 16, 1992

Yesterday, I was reminded of God's providence for the people in Egypt. Today, I was reminded that God's work done in his way will never lack his supply.

The main fight for today was going to be the preparation of starch in the afternoon for the night walk that night. Logistics was going to be a big headache. We had to prepare at least 4 pails of starch for the night walk with just 3 kettles and just a few people. The worst thing was that we did not have a car to bring the equipment to Touch Centre to make the starch.

We had to make the starch by about 5pm to ensure that the starch would cool down for the walk in the night.

So at about 3, we made off for Touch Centre carrying all the pails to touch centre to make the starch but when we reached there, to our horror, we realised that we missed out on the most important part of the plan. THE STARCH!!!

Immediately, I got a trolley from NTUC and we ran all the way back to campsite as by now, we were really in a rush for time. The distance back to campsite was about a 20 min run from Touch Centre. I was really impressed by the dedication Shawn had as he ran all the way back with the trolley. But even then, by the time, we started on the starch, it was already about 4pm.

However, as we were making the starch, we came upon a problem.

No matter how we tried, we could not produce the transloosen glue that Julee wanted for the night walk. It was getting late and it was kind of frustrating as no matter how hot the water was or how much flour we used, we just could not get it. Eventually, we had to make do with the pastey white 'starch' we had.

Thank God that we did not have to transport the pails of hot paste back to the campsite by NTUC trolley again as Nick came to our rescue with his car and he helped to move the starch back to camp. Eventually, we just managed to pull it off by the time allocated. Time for part 2 of the battle which was to make sure that there was enough starch throughout the night.

During the walk, Sean started up a some fire by the drain to cook water to make more starch. Julee was adamant that we can make the transloosen glue for the night but similar to the events in the afternoon, it just could not be done.

But by God's grace, we kind of produced something out of some weird freak accident that seemed to be worse than the glue that we meant to make in the first place. It was more of an extremely sticky muah chee made of tapioca starch and it totally served the purpose in the camp as many were using it in the camp to create the effect that we wanted.

By the end of the day, I was totally beat but I could see that the whole day could not be possible without God's intervention. God provided us with strength to last the day and the starch from heaven. I could see that God has a plan for the camp. It is not my will but his will be done. The night walk was a great success although from our end, it was a big mess. Things was not organised. We forgot the starch. There was no arrangement for a vehicle to transport the starch but through God's grace. Everything came through.

I'll end this with another famous verse in the bible.

Mar 10:27
Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, but not for God; all things are possible for God.”

P.S By the way, the transloosen glue had to be made by either corn flour or rice flour which none of us bought. We used corn flour and plain bread flour instead. :)

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

Battlefield 2007- Day 0

2007-06-13T09:11:00.001+08:00

Exo 14:15-16 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.And as for you,lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so thatthe Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground.

Its Day zero of Battlefield 2007. Being in charge of logistics, we had to be at the campsite a day earlier to set up the logistics and take care of the equipment for the night.

We had to take turns in the night staying up to keep guard over the equipment.

To be truthful, that night, I was quite worried over the logistics for the camp as I was unsure whether all the equipment was throughly prepared for the camp and if I had left out anything. I decided to take a short break and left the pavilion to sit by the seaside.

I used to stay at East Coast so I had seen the sea many times. But that night, God reassured me as I took a break by the seaside.

' Son, do you remember Moses?' He split the Red Sea that was much bigger than the one that you see before you now. And all he had to do was to lift his staff and extend his hand over the sea. I did the difficult part. I parted the Red Sea.'

Right then, I knew that I could trust the Lord for everything in the camp when I remember the magnitude of the logistics that Moses had to deal with when he left Egypt.

Moses and the people were in the desert, but what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed, and feeding 2 to 3 million people requires a lot of food.

The people needed 2,000 tons -- four million pounds -- of food each day.

To bring that much food each day, would require three freight trains each a mile long!

In the desert they needed firewood to cook and keep warm. Each day this would take 4,000 tons -- eight million pounds -- of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long.

Of course, they needed water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 11 million gallons each day, and a freight train with tank cars 1,800 miles long, just to bring water!

And then another thing: They had to get across the Red Sea in one night. If they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would require 35 days and nights to get through.

So, there had to be an opening in the Red Sea, 3 miles long so that they could walk 5,000 abreast to get over in one night.

Each time they camped at the end of the day, they needed a campground two-thirds the size of the State of Rhode Island, about 750 square miles.

They journeyed in the desert forty years.

Do you think Moses worked all this out before he left Egypt?

The Lord is Jehovah Jireh. Our Great Provider. As he provides for his people that many years ago in the desert, what more will he provide for the camp.

What more will he provide for our lives!

As I stand in awe at the beach, I stand secured in his arms as I know that the Lord is the Great Provider of my life.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

Brokenness

2007-05-24T22:29:00.000+08:00

Ok, to start Liverpool lost to AC Milan 2-1 last night. Firstly, I would like to thank Gabriel for offering to pray for me last night. Really appreciate it but I understand God's hand in the whole game even in soccer.

To start, for Liverpool to enter the Champion's League Final ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United who finished the league 15 and 21 points respectively ahead of them (ahem) is already God's Grace and I thank him for that.

Secondly, the Lord is showing the team that it is necessary to be humble and be broken in order for greater works to appear in the team. Recently, I have noticed that the team have become arrogant in some aspects of the game and I believe God has to do some surgery in them as well.

This then brings me to ponder upon the issue of brokenness which has been mentioned by PS Khong last Sunday.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." -Psalm 51:17.

Have you been injured in sports before?

Maybe a broken ankle or a dislocated shoulder from tennis?

I know I have injured my ankle many times when I was playing basketball in the past. But if you ask anyone, they would tell you that the worst injuries suffered in sports would be a broken part of the body. In the case of Cisse, it is a broken leg.

Years back, my brother suffered from a broken hand due to soccer when he was in secondary school. My father used to console him that a broken hand when healed will become stronger that what it used to be and this theory has actually been confirmed by doctors in the hospital.

Praise the Lord!

When God breaks you, he makes you stronger through his grace. I remember how I came to know the lord in the army. It was also due to a broken bone in my body, a broken finger to be exact.

Through a broken finger, the Lord took me out of BMT and put me in a situation where I had the time to come to know the lord through the people that he put around me and the opportunity to be a blessing to others in my camp. Through a broken finger, he showed me that I could not just rely on myself to get myself places in the army, not my results or my physical fitness.

When I tried on my own strength to go for my recourse and be a commander during my NS days when I recovered, the lord had to show me again that that was not my purpose in the army by giving me chicken pox during my first book out in my recourse, ( ironically, it was spread to me by my friend whom I brought to
church over the weekend), forcing me to return to Hendon camp to be a storeman for the rest of my army days.

When I came to realize that my results or achievements mean nothing as opposed to the greater designs that God has for my life, I understood that my calling and purpose in life can no longer be fulfiled by just achieving good results. I had to place my life in God's hands and just trust him for my life.I had to accept that God has a plan for me by placing me in the Commando Camp and I thank God for the blessings and I had to be broken not once but twice by God to show me his plan for my NS days.

Have you had a time in your life when you wanted something but the lord gave you something else? Maybe the Lord has something better for you and he just wants you to circumsize your future to him.

I know and I thank the Lord for the time of brokenness that he gave to me during my army days and I know that the continual breaking and repairing of my spiritual bones will make me stronger spiritually just like how a broken bone becomes stronger when healed.

I thank God for breaking me and I pray that the Lord will give you a powerful experience too. Amen.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

Obedience and Legalism

2007-05-18T23:04:00.000+08:00

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:28)

Even so faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:17)

What is the difference between obeying God and legalism?

Legalism is following the word of God but so is obeying the Lord but why does the Bible always carry a bad annotation to the word legalism?

Reading through Romans today, I came upon the answer to the question.

The difference is in the heart. Obeying the Lord comes from grace. Works done in obedience is an expression of Love to the lord because you have been saved by the grace of God. However, legalism is works done to earn the grace of God.

Sometimes, I feel that I am doing some things out of legalism rather than out of obedience. Why do you spend your weekday nights for youth meetings or weekends for church and meetings? Is it because you have to do it like how Maybelle and Jess feels that if you do not believe in the bible you will go to hell?

Romans 4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous,his faith is credited as righteousness.

Do you always have to find time in your life for God? Whether is it to do your quiet time early in the morning or finding time to read the bible?

I believe that the key issue is not the reading of the bible in the day or the doing of the quiet time that determines your relationship with God? It is the attitude or the heart that draws you to read the bible or do your quiet time in the morning. Why do you do your reflections or for me, writing this blog in the middle of the night? Sharing my daily thoughts and reflections to people that maybe reading the blog, maybe my friends, my people in the cell?

I'm praying that its coming out of a heart of gratitude for the lord who has saved me through grace and me wanting to share the faith with others that are reading rather than just trying to glorify myself or trying to get into God's good books by earning salvation which is in fact already given to me due to God's grace.

My prayer for the day is that the people of Christ would do good works out of grace that overflows from them rather than being forced to do good works to earn their right to heaven. And that the lord would bless us whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered ; whom the lord will never count against sin.(Romans 4:7-8). Amen.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

Bridge to Terabithia

2007-05-17T00:39:00.000+08:00

Today, I went to watch this show with my dad at Golden village today expecting it to be another graphic based children story like Chronicles of Narnia. In some aspects, it was similar but largely different.

About the background of the movie:
The show was based on a story written by Katerine Paterson in 1977. Paterson won a Newbery award for the book and there were surprising moments of spiritual dialogue in the film. I looked up her wiki profile, and found that she’s born to missionary parents. And thinking back now, there are much to ponder about regarding the story.

Spoilers Alert:

It’s a story of two young teens, Jess and Leslie, who don’t fit in at school in small town USA. Leslie recently moved in beside Jess and they become friends who imagine an alternative reality called Terabithia in the forest behind their houses. Through the movie, there is a constant conflict between imagination and realism of life.

At one point in the movie, Leslie accompanies Jess and his family to church (she’s never been to church before). After church, the scene is Jess, Leslie, and Jess’ younger sister - Maybelle in the back of a pick-up truck driving home.

Here’s the conversation:

Leslie: I’m really glad I came, that whole Jesus thing, it’s really interesting, isn’t it?

Maybelle: It’s not interesting, it’s scary. It’s nailing holes through your hands because we’re all vile sinners. I made Jesus die.

Leslie: You really think that’s true?

Jess: It’s in the Bible, Leslie.

Leslie: You have to believe it and you hate it. I don’t have to believe it and I think it’s beautiful.

Maybelle: You gotta believe the Bible, Leslie.

Leslie: Why?

Maybelle: Because if you don’t believe in the Bible, God will damn you to hell when you die.

Leslie: Wow Maybelle, where did you hear that?

Maybelle: That’s right, huh Jess? God damns you to hell if you don’t believe in the Bible.

Jess: I think so.

Leslie: Well I don’t think so. I seriously do not think God goes around damning people to hell. He’s too busy running all this (arms wide open, stretched out to the sky).

What do you see in the picture above? Ugliness or Beauty?

Some times I wonder, why do we believe in Jesus? Is it because we fear what after-life has for us, that we will be 'damned' to hell if we do not believe in him?

Just recently, I was chatting to a friend over the phone. He had been a Christian for some time but he had a similar thinking as to Maybelle in the story. He felt that God was 'sadistic' and we had no choice but to believe in him or else we will go to hell. Its either God or Hell. No choice at all.

I remember the first time I came to service when I was in secondary 3. It happened that that day, the sermon was on Revelation. It was of the signs that the world was coming to an end. During that sermon, there was a conflict within me.

The same question kept on popping up in my mind.

Heaven or Hell?

Jesus or Satan?

Redemption or Death?

Not much choice there isn't it. But what if we see the story of Christ from another aspect just like Leslie in the story.

The bible suddenly becomes beautiful or what Christ did for you on the cross and that through his death we have received salvation. Isn't the idea and concept of him sacrificing himself to save you just beautiful. The open mind of Leslie had helped her to see beyond the physical brutality of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. If we see the story from her view, doesn't it just make you want to come to Jesus.

Another key theme in the story is about imagination and realism of life.

Quoted from an interview with the writer Paterson:

There's a trend lately to provide books and films for Christian audiences that are "safe for the whole family." Perhaps your books have been challenged because they're not necessarily "safe" for children. What do you make of the idea that children's books should be "safe"?

Paterson: Well, don't give them the Bible, then, because it's certainly not a safe book. Safety and faith are different things. If you want everything to be safe, then you can probably just totally do without the imagination. If you're so afraid of your imagination that you stifle it, how are you going to know God? How can you imagine heaven?

Maybe in Singapore, this is a question that we all have to ask ourselves. Are we stifling the imagination of children when they are young?

We have been forced to go through an education which is extremely results-orientated with no room for creativity. We experience the realism of life before the beauty of life itself. We see the realism of the crucifixion before the beauty and significance of the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross.

We are safe if we do not trust God for the miracles in our lives. We are safe if we do not take the step of faith. But if we go deep, we will be able to look far with an open mind, we dare to imagine of heaven on earth and that would lead us to dream big.

Think, for a moment, of our Lord’s wounds on the cross. They are beautiful. The crown of thorns on Jesus’ head is beautiful because of why Jesus wore it: he wore it for love; he wore it so that we could be forgiven for the sins we commit in our thoughts. The holes in his hands are beautiful because they bring us forgiveness for the sins we commit with our hands; the holes in his feet are beautiful because they bring us forgiveness for the times we’ve walked willingly into temptation and failed to avoid the near occasion of sin; and the hole in his heart is beautiful because through it we can be forgiven for the many times we’ve put other things before God—for the times, in other words, when we’ve allowed something else or someone else to occupy the first place in our heart.

It’s incredibly beautiful when people like you and me make tough, personal sacrifices for others; but it’s infinitely beautiful when an eternal God sacrifices himself for his imperfect and sinful creatures—as Jesus Christ did for us.- Fr. Ray Suriani

In the movie, Leslie who had come from an unbelieving family saw this beauty beyond both Jess and Maybelle who came from a believing family because she was able to see the story with an open heart and an open mind.

My prayer for the day is that may God help us to do the same and that we will dare to imagine for the greater miracles in our lives. To be able to see the beauty of the life rather then the mundanity of life. To see the beauty of God shining through our lives.

And to conclude: This show is highly recommended. Do place this show in your must-watch shows for the month along with the other blockbusters like Spiderman 3 (highly recommended as well), Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Shrek 3.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

The Rich Man

2007-05-14T23:24:00.000+08:00

10:17-27 Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”The mansaid to him, “Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyedall these laws since my youth.”As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the moneyto the poor, and you will have treasurein heaven. Then come, follow me.” But at this statement, the man looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.

ThenJesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them,“Children, how hard it isto enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needlethan for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Thenwho can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans,but not for God; all things are possible for God.”

How pertinent that my daily bread today was about the story of the rich man and it was just after the talks by Jackie Pullinger over the weekend.

Over the week, Victor asked me for money to help his mother pay her medical bills. I have been thinking about this for quite some time till this weekend when I heard the talk by Jackie Pullinger. She is a very down-to-earth lady who believes in giving generously to people in need even if she may not see the returns, although giving may not be monetary but it means sacrificing something in return such as time, sleep or effort.

During the 2nd lecture on Saturday when she asked if we Christians are just soul-hunters, a chord struck in my heart. I asked myself, am I just after the soul of Victor to bring him to the lord? Or am I truely a friend to him, willing to bless him even if I may not see the returns.

Immediately, I heard the Lord telling me to reply him about lending him the money for his mother's medical bills. I just decided to give even if it was going to inconvenient me and even if it means I'm going to have to save on my meals for the next few days.

But I decided to do it on two conditions:
1: That I was allowed to visit him and his mother and pray for them for healing.
2: That I was allowed to hand the money over to Victor's mother directly.

In the verses above, I felt that the lord really cares for the world.

Firstly, he loves the rich man who wholeheartedly followed the law both inwardly and outwardly as God can see the attitude of the person in following the law.

Secondly, he cares much for the poor. Although the man followed the laws wholeheartedly, he lacked the generousity and heart for the poor. He was unwilling to sell all he has and give to the poor.

When reading through the verses again, I come to think that sometimes as Christians, we talk about serving God, reading the bible and following the law. However, do we love the world?

Joh 3:16

For his is the wayGod loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perishbut have eternal life.

God loved the world so much that he gave his son to die for our sins. And Jesus died for the greatest sinners in the world regardless of whether they believed in him or not. It was all the same.

Remember the Balestier Rapist in the newspaper recently?

Yes, Jesus died for his salvation.

Remember Osama bin Laden who caused the 9-11 or even Hitler who started the Halocaust?

Yes, Jesus died for their salvation.

On the other extreme, he died for all the poor people in the world too, just like the homeless children in the papers in Iraq or the beggar on the road without a leg begging for food every morning at your MRT stations.

Yes, Jesus died for their salvation.

We, as Christians, are told to be imitators of Christ. We do not have to die for them as it was done when Jesus died on the cross. But do we have a heart for all these people? Do we turn away when we see someone coming up to you for donations?

But lord, we do not know if the money will go to the children or will it end up like another NKF.

But lord, someone else will help them.

But lord, I am not self-sufficent.

My prayer for today is that we will stop looking for excuses to turn away from the poor and needy but do our best to bless them either monetary or even by giving a simple prayer to the beggar that you see on the road. Lord, I pray that you would soften the hearts of our people so that we will always remember the poor and not be indifferent to them.

Lord, although Victor have not replied me regarding the message yet. I pray that he would understand that no matter what, I would try within my means to help him even if it means just praying for him. I pray for your grace over your people to always have a heart for the poor in the world. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

2007-05-11T11:52:00.000+08:00

Forgive me Father, for iSinned

Posted on: May 10, 2007

The iRosary is a pretty cool concept that helps make the rosary more attractive and flexible to younger believers who own an iPod. This is made possible by using the iPod's famous white earphones cable which comes with a single bead that can be shifted. The position of the bead can be measured and heard as audio beads along the sensitive range of the cable. Thus the iRosary will be able to help young uns learn the prayer, with appropriate mysteries inserted automatically in between. Heck, you can even choose the level of difficulty, depending on where you are now in your spiritual life.

Source:http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/05/forgive_me_father_for_isinned.html

Just wanna share this in the morning.

Family

2007-05-10T23:44:00.000+08:00

Today, we were supposed to have a Mother's Day celebration at about 7pm in the night with my brother and my sis-in-law.

Before I left the house, there was an email by my spiritual dad, Chris, about the family appreciation dinner last night which I did not go to as the Mother's day celebration dinner was actually supposed to be held last night but was postponed as my brother had to prepare for in-camp this morning.

In the email, I was particularly touched by this particular verse again.

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." ~ Malachi 4

Just before we left the house, my mum took quite a long time preparing herself as she thought that we would be going to a big restaurant for dinner tonight. However, we were rushing for time as we were supposed to meet my sis-in-law, Serene, at Eunos Mrt at 7 and it was getting late. On top of that, my sister had to prepare for her physics test tomorrow and she wanted to just get the dinner over and done with and was rather harsh to my mum in some instances.

The whole atmosphere became quite bad when my mum realised that we were only going to have a simple dinner at the food court as Serene had to pass a rabbit to her spiritual daughter. My mum was quite unhappy with the arrangement at first but it became better as I talked to her in the mrt to my brother's place. Thank God for that.

On the way there, I received an sms that my brother had actually booked out of camp and would join us for the dinner. I was quite surprised at that as he was supposed to be in-camp and was not supposed to be out till 2 weeks time but praise the lord for arranging him to be with us tonight to celebrate mother's day.

When we finally arrived at Eunos mrt, I was already 7.20pm and we just had to wait for a while for Serene to hand the rabbit over to her spiritual daughter. After that, we took a cab over to Black Canyon Cafe next to Tanjong Katong Shopping Centre to have a Thai Mother's Day dinner. The food there was good and quite reasonably priced at around $50 for 5 dishes and rice.

I enjoyed the time with my family there and I had a good time talking to my mum.
She was having some worries that she could not handle her job at a printing company next Monday as she is computer illiterate but I know the our Lord is a good and faithful God and he would guide her through her week in her new job.

What initially felt like it was going to be a bad evening eventually turned out to be a great time and a good Mother's Day where we reflect and appreciate my mum for what she has done for us in our lives. I will not be who I am now if not for my family at home and my spiritual family at church.

Right now, my sister is still struggling with her work and her studies as the dinner dragged till about 9 and her work in JC is totally draining her. But I just know that God will guide her through the day tomorrow and grant her the wisdom and strength to get good results in her Physics test and her project work as our Lord is a faithful God.

I pray that the lord will continue to show himself in our family and reconcile the family through him and him alone. I know that by this time next year, my family would be able to sit down on the table together and say grace before having a simple dinner.

A simple vision that only God can fulfill. Amen.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

Broken Promises

2007-04-25T13:58:00.000+08:00

Psa 18:30
The one true God acts in a faithful manner; the Lord’s promise is reliable; he is a shield to all who take shelter in him.

The last 2 days, victor have been messaging me saying that he wanted to leave the church due to conflicts between him and someone in the church. Also, there had been many misunderstandings and problems between him and some people in the church as well.

One of the issues that he raised was that a promise made to him by someone in the church that he felt was important was not fulfilled.

I do not know the details and will not attempt to pass any form of remark or judgement for it may not be the truth.

I'm not sure whether I should be blogging about this and I'll just pray that my words here will be guided by the holy spirit and do not seem hurtful to anyone that may be reading my blog.

Psa24:3-24:6
Who is allowed to ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?
The one whose deeds are blameless
and whose motives are pure,
who does not lie,
or make promises with no intention of keeping them.
Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord,
and vindicated by the God who delivers them.
Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,
Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him.

Our God is a God that honour promises. Not a single promise that he had made to Israel or to Moses was left unfulfilled and the verse above repeats that we as Christians should not make promises with no intention of keeping them and we should try our very best to honour every promise that we make to people and to God.

Definately, we are not God. We are only human that are prone to errors with limited time and limited capabilities and God knows about it.

I'm sure that at some point in your life, some one have disappointed you or betrayed your trust by not fulfilling his promise to you. It could be missing a dinner appointment or failing to produce a report that he promised to do.

The issue here I hope to address is not about how to honour your promises to God and people around you but how to make sure that you do not make empty promises to people.

I for one understands that when a promise held strongly by a person is unfulfilled, it could easily lead to conflict or resentment due to a sense of betrayal and lost hope. I am trying my best not to make commitments that I may be unable or unwilling to carry out. Instead of saying I will do it or I "promise", I do not wish to hurt people by saying something that I do not mean from the bottom of my heart or I may not fulfill due to constrains in time or capability.

I know that I do not have the capability or the heart for people around me now to make many promises that I know that I can and will keep. But I pray that God will soften my heart for the people around me to care for them and to value their needs more than mine.

Just now, Victor messaged me again and said again that he would like to leave the church. I just pray that God will guide him in the right path that he has meant for him and that as much as I would like him to join our church, I believe that there are some issues that he has to resolve at his old church. Whether or not he eventually becomes my spiritual brother in the church is of secondory importance as long as he finds himself closer to the lord.

It is often not of our will and ways but of God's will and timing to bring someone closer to them. All we can do as Christians is to be living testimonies of God in our lives and in other people's lives.

The rest is up to God.

Put on the helmet of salvation.
We have hope in our lives.
We have a destiny to fulfill for the Lord.
We are overcomers.

Size of Faith

2007-04-18T09:14:00.001+08:00

And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, worth less than a penny. He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. For they all gave out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.” -Mark12:42-44

I came across this verse in my quiet time this morning and it really hit me once again that what this verse was really talking about was not the amount of money that you give but rather the amount of faith you have when you give.

When the poor widow gave, she must have struggled within her as the money she gave could have feed her for a meal but she gave out of faith. She believed that the lord would bless her with more in her life as she gave out all she had to the lord.

Giving out of poverty and not of wealth, isn't this a great show of faith to the lord?

The Lord wants us to sarcrifice the most important object that you so hold dearly to your heart before you can draw closer to him, and he closer to you. Only then can his blessings for you come through.

Another story to share:

As a young man preparing to go to China, Hudson Taylor determined to learn to live by faith alone while he was still in England. His resolve was “to learn before leaving England to move man through God by prayer alone.” He worked for a doctor and was paid quarterly. When the time drew near to receive his salary, Taylor was disturbed that his employer said nothing about it. Taylor had only one half-crown piece, but he determined not to break his resolution and ask for his salary.
While visiting a needy home on the Lord’s Day, Taylor felt led of God to give his last coin to the needy family. The next day he received an anonymous gift through the mail, four times what he had given to the poor! The following Saturday, the doctor finished up his work and said, “Taylor, is not your salary due again?” Taylor told him that it was and became disappointed when he learned that the doctor had forgotten about the salary due and sent all his funds to the bank! He prayed about the matter (for he had bills of his own to pay) and left it with the Lord.
That evening, the doctor visited him and said that one of his richest patients had come over after hours to pay his bill! He gave the money to Taylor, who rejoiced. He had learned he could trust God and therefore go to China as a missionary.
Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 240

I have just received my pay this week but I'm a little tight as I was in the hospital for quite long last month and did not work much so my pay for this month is low but I will still set apart some money for my family and for my monthly tithing. I pray that the lord would also show me people to bless even with just $400 as I know and place my trust in him to provide for me.

I'll just end this with a famous phrase.

“If the Lord bid me fly, I should trust Him for the wings.” John Wesley

Perserverance of Faith

2007-04-17T13:23:00.000+08:00

Matt 6:25-34“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Last Sunday, P.S Eugene repeats this famous part of the bible before the sermon by P.S Khong. I believe that many have heard of this or some version of this part of the bible even if they are non-believers.

But as believers, do you have faith that God will grant you your needs if you seek his kingdom and righteousness first or do you just say it but do not complement it in action?

Just to share with you: Initially, when I just became a Christian a few months back, I was also skeptical about this. I had my own reservations about tithing and giving to the lord. I felt that my family ( or I myself) needed the money for our own daily expenditure. Even when I received my 1st pay-check of about $800, I did not consider tithing 10% of the money to the lord but only wanted to tithe what I thought was reasonable.

The time, my dad had some problems with his business and had just started being a property agent and business was not really looking good at that time.

One night, when I was coming back from a dinner with my friends, I walked past an AXN machine next to the 7-11 below my place. God just spoke to me to tithe 10% of my salary to the lord and my father's business would improve. Immediately, I decided to just tithe to him using the AXN machine.

When I reached home, I received news that my dad had closed a room! Hallejuleh!

This continued for a few days and I praised the lord for blessing us in the family.

However, my dad credited the deals to his own capabilities rather than to the Lord's help in the family. I was sad but I never stopped tithing or praying that my dad would understand the glory and grace of the lord in our family.

For the next 2 months, we had a little problem financially as my dad had difficulty closing rooms. He learnt that it was less of his capability but more of luck (God's grace as I see it) that he could close the rooms. Nevertheless, I believed that the lord will bless us as he is a faithful God.

Just this month, prayers were answered. My dad had more opportunities in his security businesses and things were looking brighter in the family financially.

Yesterday, when I reached home, my dad thanked God for helping him financially for the 1st time. I was shocked. When I talked to him, I realised that he was busy with some security business in the morning, yet he was able to close 2 rooms in the night for $900. He finally starts to realise that it was God that was helping him all along.

I believe that our God is faithful to his word. But we must be patient to wait for his timing and not ours. Even when we face difficulty in life, we must have faith that God will come true at the end if we seek his kingdom and righteousness first. Below is a story to share.

Who was United States Senator Edmund G. Ross of Kansas? I suppose you could call him a “Mr. Nobody.” No law bears his name. Not a single list of Senate “greats” mentions his service. Yet when Ross entered the Senate in 1866, he was considered the man to watch. He seemed destined to surpass his colleagues, but he tossed it all away by one courageous act of conscience. Let’s set the stage.
Conflict was dividing our government in the wake of the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson was determined to follow Lincoln’s policy of reconciliation toward the defeated South. Congress, however, wanted to rule the downtrodden Confederate states with an iron hand.
Congress decided to strike first. Shortly after Senator Ross was seated, the Senate introduced impeachment proceedings against the hated President. The radicals calculated that they needed thirty-six votes, and smiled as they concluded that the thirty-sixth was none other than Ross.’ The new senator listened to the vigilante talk. But to the surprise of many, he declared that the president “deserved as fair a trial as any accused man has ever had on earth.” The word immediately went out that his vote was “shaky.”
Ross received an avalanche of anti-Johnson telegrams from every section of the country. Radical senators badgered him to “come to his senses.”
The fateful day of the vote arrived. The courtroom galleries were packed. Tickets for admission were at an enormous premium.
As a deathlike stillness fell over the Senate chamber, the vote began. By the time they reached Ross, twenty-four “guilties” had been announced. Eleven more were certain. Only Ross’ vote was needed to impeach the President. Unable to conceal his emotion, the Chief Justice asked in a trembling voice, “Mr. Senator Ross, how vote you? Is the respondent Andrew Johnson guilty as charged?”
Ross later explained, at that moment, “I looked into my open grave. Friendships, position, fortune, and everything that makes life desirable to an ambitions man were about to be swept away by the breath of my mouth, perhaps forever.”
Then, the answer came -- unhesitating, unmistakable: “Not guilty!” With that, the trial was over. And the response was as predicted. A high public official from Kansas wired Ross to say: “Kansas repudiates you as she does all perjurers and skunks.”
The “open grave” vision had become a reality. Ross’ political career was in ruins. Extreme ostracism, and even physical attack awaited his family upon their return home.
One gloomy day Ross turned to his faithful wife and said, “Millions cursing me today will bless me tomorrow…though not but God can know the struggle it has cost me.” It was a prophetic declaration.
Twenty years later Congress and the Supreme Court verified the wisdom of his position, by changing the laws related to impeachment. Ross was appointed Territorial Governor of New Mexico. Then, just prior to his death, he was awarded a special pension by Congress. The press and country took this opportunity to honor his courage which, they finally concluded, had saved our country from crisis and division.
Courage - You Can Stand Strong in the Face of Fear, Jon Johnston, 1990, SP Publications, pp.56-58

What struck me the most about the story is that the rewards for his faith was not regonised till 20 years later.

Do not worry. Seek to please the lord 1st and then faithfully believe that he will provide.

Hebrews 11:1. “What is faith, unless it is to believe what you cannot see.”

I pray for those whose prayers may not be answered to continue preservering in your faith and do not give up and wait for his appointed time.

Our Lord is a faithful God. Amen.

Go Deep

Look Far

Dream Big

Walking in Faith

2007-04-16T09:16:00.000+08:00

I would like to share with all of you a story to start the day.

The Law of the Pedulum

In college I was asked to prepare a lesson to teach my speech class. We were to be graded on our creativity and ability to drive home a point in a memorable way. The title of my talk was, “The Law of the Pendulum.” I spent 20 minutes carefully teaching the physical principle that governs a swinging pendulum.
The law of the pendulum is: A pendulum can never return to a point higher than the point from which it was released. Because of friction and gravity, when the pendulum returns, it will fall short of its original release point. Each time it swings it makes less and less of an arc, until finally it is at rest. This point of rest is called the state of equilibrium, where all forces acting on the pendulum are equal.
I attached a 3-foot string to a child’s toy top and secured it to the top of the blackboard with a thumbtack. I pulled the top to one side and made a mark on the blackboard where I let it go. Each time it swung back I made a new mark. It took less than a minute for the top to complete its swinging and come to rest. When I finished the demonstration, the markings on the blackboard proved my thesis.
I then asked how many people in the room BELIEVED the law of the pendulum was true. All of my classmates raised their hands, so did the teacher. He started to walk to the front of the room thinking the class was over. In reality it had just begun.
Hanging from the steel ceiling beams in the middle of the room was a large, crude but functional pendulum (250 pounds of metal weights tied to four strands of 500-pound test parachute cord.).
I invited the instructor to climb up on a table and sit in a chair with the back of his head against a cement wall. Then I brought the 250 pounds of metal up to his nose. Holding the huge pendulum just a fraction of an inch from his face, I once again explained the law of the pendulum he had applauded only moments before, “If the law of the pendulum is true, then when I release this mass of metal, it will swing across the room and return short of the release point. Your nose will be in no danger.”
After that final restatement of this law, I looked him in the eye and asked, “Sir, do you believe this law is true?”
There was a long pause. Huge beads of sweat formed on his upper lip and then weakly he nodded and whispered, “Yes.”
I released the pendulum. It made a swishing sound as it arced across the room. At the far end of its swing, it paused momentarily and started back. I never saw a man move so fast in my life. He literally dived from the table.
Deftly stepping around the still-swinging pendulum, I asked the class, “Does he believe in the law of the pendulum?”
The students unanimously answered, “NO!”

Ken Davis, How To Speak To Youth, pp. 104-106

Does this sound similar to our faith in the Lord?

Every Sunday, we go down the church proclaiming that the Lord is alive, singing songs of worship. However, when we leave the church, we do not act as if the Lord is alive in us and in our lives.

What is Faith?

After hearing the sermon by P.S Khong yesterday, I was convinced more that works and faith goes hand in hand. With faith, nothing is impossible.

Works without Faith is dead but Faith without works is dead Faith.

I truely believe that by his stripes I will be healed and I believe that the miracle sunday on Easter have healed my sickness. I believe that the root problem have been cured. I do not just believe in it, I know I have been healed. (This does not mean I will stop taking my medicine, I would still have to raise my iron levels although my root problem is healed).

Yesterday, I came down to the altar again to ask for healing. This time round, it was for my bowel problems that have been plagueing me for quite some time. Due to digestive problems, I would have diahorrea every morning without fail and this have been sapping my energy and giving me lots of problems. Just to testify, I did not have diahorrea this morning and the cramps have stopped. Thank the lord for his healing.

A miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning "something wonderful", is a striking interposition of divine intervention by a god in the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified. - Wikipedia.

I know many people who come to churches just wanting to see miracles, see people stand up and walk. They want to see things happen supernaturally. Maybe a flying pastor, or the Lord appearing on the stage as the guest speaker for the day. Only then will they CONSIDER believing in God.

But truely, I believe that faith is the belief in God and acting because of that belief rather than seeing then "believing".

The Christian walk is a walk by faith and not by sight. The best miracle that people can see is not the miracles that happen for other people but miracles that happen for your own lives.

Will you stand up in faith and claim the miracles that God have prepared for your life and not just being contented to see miracles in other people's lives?

Stand firmly in the ship manned by the Lord and do not continue to try to row our own sampans full of holes.

Only then can we dare to look beyond the horizons and dream to reach the shores that the Lord have prepared for us.

Go Deep
Look Far
Dream Big

Weapon of Praise

2007-04-13T22:04:00.000+08:00

On Easter Sunday, I brought my friend Victor down to the alter and prayed for both my healing and his healing. And the Lord have indeed answered to us in a positive manner. My blood count have gone up (though my stomach is still giving me problems) and Victor, though have not told me about the actually results of his test but have been showing signs of recovery. Iwould start by 1st giving thanks to God and to the people who have supported me all along.

1stly, Thank God that my haemoglobin counts have gone up from 8.7 to about 9.6 and I pray that he would continue to heal me in this area. Thank him for bringing Victor down for service on Sunday and for bringing him back you as he rededicated his life to the Lord again.

2ndly, I would also like to thank my spiritual family for keeping me in prayers and for taking time off their busty schedule to visit me. I would like to give thanks to my biological family for the financial support and the concern they have shown me. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Starhub for taking time off to visit me and showing concern for me when I was not feeling too well the last few days. Really appreciate it guys.

(Psalm 9:1-3) "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name. O thou most High. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence."

I read this verse along with my daily bread this morning and I just felt touched by the message today. I then decided to read up more about the power of praise. I stumbled upon this story in the bible about the lord giving Jehoshaphat military success.

2 Chronicles 20:1-22 Later the Moabites and Ammonites, along with some of the Meunites, attacked Jehoshaphat. Messengersarrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea,from the direction of Edom.Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi).” Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to seek the Lord’s advice.He decreed that all Judah should observe a fast. The people of JudahLord’s help;they came from all the cities of Judah to ask for the Lord’s help. assembled to ask for the

Jehoshaphat stood before the assembly of Judah and Jerusalemat the Lord’s temple, in front of the new courtyard. He prayed: “O Lord God of our ancestors, you are the God who lives in heavenand rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you. Our God, you drove outthe inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possessionto the descendants of your friendAbraham. They settled down in it and built in it a temple to honor you,‘If disaster comes on us in the form of military attack, judgment, plague, or famine, we will stand in front of this temple before you, for you are present in this temple.We will cry out to you for help in our distress, so that you willhear and deliver us.’ Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming! When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands.They bypassed them and did not destroy them. Look how they are repaying us! They come to drive us out of our allotted land which you assigned to us! Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless against this huge army that attacks us! We don’t know what we should do; we look to you for help.” saying,

All the men of Judah were standing before the Lord, along with their infants, wives, and children. Then in the midst of the assembly, the Lord’s Spirit came upon Jachaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph. He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah,residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them asthey come up the Ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the ravine in front of the Desert of Jeruel. You will not fight in this battle. Take your positions, stand, and watch the Lord deliver you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! Tomorrow march out toward them; the Lord is with you!’”

Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face toward the ground, and all the people of JudahLord and worshiped him.Then some Levites, from the Kohathites and Korahites, got up and loudly praised the Lord God of Israel. and the residents of Jerusalem fell down before the

Early the next morning they marched out to the Desert of Tekoa. When they were ready to march, Jehoshaphat stood up and said: “Listen to me, you people of Judahand residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe!Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win.”He metwith the people and appointed musicians to play before the Lord and praise his majestic splendor. As they marched ahead of the warriors they said: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his loyal love endures.”

When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attackedthe Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

Our church for the past few weeks have been talking about being victors and warriors of the light and using the full armour of God to achieve the aims. I believe that another weapon that we can use is the weapon of praise.

I was not really feeling well and was suffering from periods of fatigue due to my sickness a while back. To be honest, I did not really had the strength or the motivation to seek the lord during these times. So as I read the story during my quiet time, I felt the Holy Spirit talking to me. Telling me to draw closer to the lord even in times of distress or even when I was not feeling well and experiencing fatigue.

In the daily bread that I read in the morning, Pastor Gloria Copeland was suffering from fatigue due to ministering long hours. She did not even have the energy to close the service after the meeting. Her solution to the problem was to praise the lord with her whole heart, mind and body. The tiredness left her and she was energised by the presence of God.

Similarly in the verses, when the people of Judah faced an adversary that they could not overcome, they turned to the Lord and started praising him.

They could have always ran away or submit to their fates.

They could have tried preparing by stocking on weapons or even spending time with their loved ones.

Instead, they praised the Lord as they knew the blessings that the Lord had for them that the people of Judah had inherited through Abraham. And the Lord came and struck down their adversaries for them.

From this day onwards, whenever I am feeling sick or tired, I pray that I would always be reminded to seek the Lord and praise him for he had taken away all our sicknesses and diseases by his stripes.

I also pray that when Guowei and Huiman are feeling tired and lethegic from the training in Pulau Tekong, they would also be reminded that the Lord have given us a weapon of praise to combat the aches and fatigue from training.

Sit Tight
Walk Right
Stand Up and Fight

Good Friday

2007-04-06T23:09:00.000+08:00

The Way of the Cross

Some of us stay at the cross,
Some of us wait at the tomb,
Quickened and raised with Christ
Yet lingering still in the gloom.

Some of us ‘bide at the Passover feast
With Pentecost all unknown,
The triumphs of grace in the heavenly place
That our Lord has made His own.

If the Christ who died had stopped at the cross,
His work had been incomplete.
If the Christ who was buried had stayed in the tomb,
He had only known defeat,

But the way of the cross never stops at the cross
And the way of the tomb leads on
To victorious grace in the heavenly place
Where the risen Lord has gone.

Annie Johnson Flint

First of all, I apologise again for the late message, been in and out of the hospital for checkups regarding my anemia for the past few weeks. Been struggling with this sickness of mine for 2 whole years, till date have not really found a real reason behind the problem but I will continue to have faith in God and be patient with him as I believe that although physical healing is important, but I believe that the healing of the mind and spirit is of greater priority to him.

Thinking back, it was on the Good Friday 2 years ago where I decided to raise up my hands at TCT at Bukit Merah during the Good Friday Program to receive the Lord. Since then, I have faced many problems in my NS life, with my superiors, with my health, with my family and I had to change houses due to financial issues in the family. To say the truth, I really struggled with the problems I had at that time. At that period, I always told myself that it was a test that the Lord was putting me through to test my character and he was showing me that there are some things in life that cannot be controlled by my own free will. No matter how well I perform at work or in school, no matter how hard I worked to maintain my health, there are things in life that are planned by God that may not go your way and I have learnt to accept that during my ordeal during that period but I think I would share a bit about my own testimony in posts to come.

Now, I'll just focus on today itself.

Today, I went down to my spiritual father, Chris's, place to celebrate Good Friday.

Firstly, we started of with some icebreaker games to get to know each other better. I have to thank Nat ( not sure whether its the correct way to spell it), Annabelle and Leonard for the preparations.

After that, we watched a japanese movie called " Jesus is my Boss".

The show was about the true life story of a man called Hiroyuki Suzuki.

About Hiroyuki Suzuki:

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1955, Suzuki became a member of the Yakuza, Japan's organized crime groups, at the age of 17. With the tattoos of carps and mythical beasts all over his upper body and conspicuously missing pinkie fingers, he was involved in hoodlumism for the better part of two decades.
In 1989, a potentially fatal error led him to flee for his life from more than 5,000 Yakuza members, including his fellow brothers. He was in constant fear of being killed, and living as a fugitive completely wore him out. In the following year, with the support of his Korean wife's prayers, he repented to God and joined a church in Tokyo.
In 1992, Suzuki along with a handful of peer Yakuza converts led a six-month evangelical march throughout Japan, lugging a huge wooden cross. Similar walking tours took place in South Korea and Hawaii, which eventually developed into Mission Barabbas, a missionary group organized by Suzuki and other Yakuza converts.
Suzuki gained enough attention to earn a speaking engagement at the President's Prayer Breakfast at the White House in 1998, along with President Bill Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham, which generated extensive media coverage internationally.
The 49-year-old convert is currently a pastor of the Siloam Christ Church in Chiba, Japan, and continues to deliver his life story and the Gospel of Jesus to various non-Christian and charity groups all over the globe.
Suzuki has authored memoirs and self-help publications in Japan, including "Anyone Can Start Over" (Asuka-Shinsha, 2001), "Beloved, Forgiven" (Raiin Shuppan, 2000), "The Tattooed Christian" (Waseda Shuppan, 1998), and "How To Start Over From Living Below The Breadline: A Memoir by the Tattooed Pastor" (Kodansha, 2002).

What was also added in the movie was about the reconcilation of the family between him and his wife at the end and the people he touched not because of what he has done but what God has done to turn his life 360 degrees around.

After the show, I heard 2 testimonies about my brother Saysern and Annabelle on similar works of God in their lives.

As I heard the testimonies, I began to ponder about my personal issues too. I believe that God is in fact changing my life slowly. I never really had a great relationship with my parents and my siblings in my life. My dad and mum were always at loggerheads at each other regarding lifestyle differences and financial issues. They always used the children as a reason why they do not divorce. Initially, I was sad and angry at such remarks when I was younger. But as time pass, I grew numb and emotionless to such remarks and my parents. Like what Annabelle mentioned, the worst thing that can happen to a person is the numbing of the emotions. After the encounter weekend, I pray that my heart will never be hardened like that again that I no longer feel any emotions to people around me or worse, to myself.

During that period when I was growing up as a teenager, I always felt resentment towards my brother for not really being there for me when I needed a listening ear in the family as my sister was too young and my parents were juist impossible to talk to (I'm sure some of you think the same way too). I never really had a great relationship with my brother as I felt that he was too distant, busy with his church (another reason why I did not join the church earlier), always taking care of his cell members before the family. Basically, he was never there when I needed him the most till the point that I just treated him to be non-exsistent in the family. There was this sense of jealousy as well as my mum would compare me with my brother with him always being superior in results and in physical fitness ( I used to be overweight and would pant after running 400m). So even now, I do not want my sister to go through the same situation I did ( I hope not as now she has her spiritual family behind her) and I always try my best to just be there for her when she needs me the most.

But I sense that God is slowly showing me the reconcilation of the family through him. My relationship with my brother is improving as now I am spending more time with him and I'm starting to understand more about the reponsibilities and problems he too was facing at that time as I juggle with work, my personal hobbies, church, family, my health and soon to come, studies in the NUS. But God has been good and I can see my relationship with my brother improving by the day.

For my parents, I no longer feel resentment towards them but rather I start to appreciate them more in my life and my parents seldom quarrel with each other anymore. In a way, there is more peace and quiet in the family but in another aspect, I fear it is the numbing of the emotions for each other after so many years of quarrelling. But I'll continue to pray and hope that God will do miricles in theirs lives just like what he did for the yazuka and his wife in the movie.

As I close my post for the day, I pray that every Good Friday I will be remembered of what God did on the cross for me and that he keeps my heart soft and never allow them to harden and be emotionless to the people around me again.

Eph 6:10-20 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual force of evil in the heavens.For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your groundon the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvationand the swordof the Spirit, which is the word of God. With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak – that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

G12 Conference

2007-03-19T10:34:00.000+08:00

Sorry, I know it may be a little outdated. But I'll still post it anyway.
Had a bad stomach flu for the past few days and haven't been really updating my blog. But I'll update all those people that have been reading my blog about the G12 conference that was held from Thurday to Saturday.

Over the 3 days of conferences, there were many topics spoken that i felt were extremely relevant and touching to me.

One of them was talking about a man named Cornelius.

Acts 10:1-4 Now there was a man in Caesareanamed Cornelius, a centurionof what was known as the Italian Cohort.Hewas a devout, God-fearing man,as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the peopleand prayed to God regularly. About three o’clock one afternoon, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of Godwho came inand said to him, “Cornelius.” Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Corneliusreplied,“What is it, Lord?” The angelsaid to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charityhave gone up as a memorialbefore God.

Apparently, he was not a Jew but a gentile. However, he managed to unlock the power of God through 2 secret weapons. Prayer and Generosity.

As Pastor Cesar was talking about this on Friday, I was thinking to myself. Yes, I have been praying hard for miracles to happen in my life. My family, my workplace, my health, even my friends but they have not been successful till date. Maybe its just not God's timing yet. Or maybe, it has to do with the other weapon that Cornelius used, Generosity.

Earlier, Cell leader Daniel Khong was talking about a famous phrase used some time back WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). Thinking back, I realised that I have not done many things that Jesus
would have done.

Would he have joined in with racist jokes or comments?
Would he have shunned the beggars or the poor that have asked for donations?

As he was talking about that, I realised that I have lacked generosity in my life. I have not given when I should have given. Every morning, I would avoid people who ask for money on the roads or those that are handicapped on the roads. There was a string linking from my heart to my pockets. I have been lacking in generosity. Is it what Jesus would have done?

Thinking through, I went back and prayed that the Lord would open up my heart and give me a heart of generosity. Not only to the people close to me or my friends but to anyone who is needy or just anyone who requires my help.

Just today, I was given a simple test to test my heart.

I took the day off and was sleeping for the whole day due to my stomach flu again. But in the evening I decided to go to the gym for a short workout as I was feeling a little better.

When I left my house, it was pouring heavily so I decided to take public transport to the gym. When I arrived at the entrance, there was a group of teenage students leaving the premises. One of the girls were using vulgarities and was just crude in her mannerisms. I decided to just ignore and walk past her. But as I did that, she turned around and asked me if I could lend her my umbrella as she wanted to walk to the bus stop which was about 500m away.

At that time, the rain was stopping and it was actually quite fine to walk to the bus stop without an umbrella (I was doing so by the way). I really did not want to part with my umbrella, I did not even want to lend her the umbrella as it would mean I have to accompany her to the bus stop.

However, at that moment, I heard the Lord speaking to my heart. He wants me to give my umbrella to her. I said Lord, please do not make me do it. It could be raining later and I may have to go home in the rain.

Just as that thought entered my head, another thought came in as well.

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

Immediately, without any questions, I gave the umbrella to the girl and blessed her to be on her way. Surprising, I did not find it difficult to do. I felt good after it actually.

After that, the rain stopped and there was no rain for the rest of the night. Bless the Lord.

This is just a simple scenerio that happened just today and it was just a small object, an umbrella.

But as I write this blog, I came to experience a little more of God's Love for us. It is already difficult to give up an item to someone in need especially if it is someone you do not know or even despise or dislike. Imagine the magnitude of God's love for us that he was willing to sent his only son to die for us on the cross for all the sinners in the whole world. Those sinners include the ones that hated him, who plotted to inflict all the pain to his heart like Judas or those who plotted to inflict pain on him on the body, the Pharisses.

I pray that as I continue with my walk with God, he would continue to touch me and widen my heart to give as he has so freely given to me. Amen.

Go Deep
Look Far
Ask Big

Forty Men Died on Ice Rather than Renounce Christ.

2007-03-09T13:35:00.000+08:00

Governor Agricola of Armenia was confronted with "mutiny." Forty soldiers refused to offer the sacrifice ordered by emperor Licinius. The forty who stood before him that wintry fourth-century day in Sevaste were fine specimens of manhood who radiated an aura of courage. He was determined to make them see reason.
Traditional icon of the forty. Christ awaits above to receive them.
But the soldiers were adamant. They refused to sacrifice. To do so was to betray their faith in Christ. "But what about your comrades?" asked Agricola. "Consider--you alone of all Caesar's thousands of troops defy him! Think of the disgrace you bring upon your legion!"
"To disgrace the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is more terrible still," replied the men. Exasperated, the governor threatened to flog and torture them. The soldiers stood firm, although they knew he would carry out his threat. In the fourth century, there were few civil rights. Boldly the men answered, "Nothing you can offer us would replace what we would lose in the next world. As for your threats-- we despise our bodies when the welfare of our souls is at stake."
Pairs of guards seized each man and dragged them out into the cold where they were stripped and tied to posts. Whips laid open their backs and iron hooks tore their sides. Still the forty refused to surrender. Agricola chained them in his dungeons. Finally, he commanded that they be stripped naked and driven onto the ice of a pond below Sevaste.
The "rebels" did not wait for the sentence to be imposed, but tearing off their own clothes, ran to the pond in the raw March air. "We are soldiers of the Lord and fear no hardship," they said. "What is death for us but an entrance into eternal life?" On this day, March 9, 320, singing hymns, they stood shivering on the pond as the sun sank.
Baffled, Agricola ordered hot baths around the pond. Surely the warm water would lure the men off the ice! But the crisp night air carried a prayer to all ears: "Lord, there are forty of us engaged in this battle; grant that forty may be crowned and not one be wanting from this sacred number."
One of the men did lose his nerve, however, and crawled off the ice to a bath. He died the instant he touched the hot water. That was too much for one of the guards. He shucked off his clothes, marched onto the ice and took the place of the man who had failed.

Source: http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2002/03/daily-03-09-2002.shtml

Wow. I was surfing the Net yesterday when I came across this article about Christian history. I was utterly amazed by the determination and the strength of these forty men. I start to ponder, in modern day context, when we are faced with dillemmas in our lives whether to follow the lord or succumb to the ways of the world, are we able to have the strength of these forty men to reject the ways of the world and follow the lord?

Sometimes, I struggle with the ways of the world as well, especially if it is pressure from a higher authority like your boss at work or my parents.

One of the main reasons why my mum is very against me and my sister getting baptised is due to the fact that my brother had once made a statement that he would not pray and offer joss sticks to my mum if she so passes away and that actually broke my mum who is a devout taoist that believes that the offering of joss sticks is a form of fillial piety.

At that time, I had already accept Christ but had not been consistent with reading the Word of God. I could not understand why my brother could not compromise and give in to my mum's request.

It's Just ONE small issue. The lord will forgive you.

When I stumbled upon this article yesterday, I finally understood why. It would be betraying his faith in Christ. It is like the forty men who refused to sarcifice. "To disgrace the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is more terrible still," that was how the men replied. They placed their faith above that of their lives and their pride as a roman soldier. I believe that my brother also placed his faith in the lord greater than giving in to authority (my mum) who wants him to walk away from his faith.

I'm not saying that you should renounce and go against authority in our lives but I hope that we as christians will be given the wisdom and the strength to do the right thing for the lord even if it means going against the higher authorities in our lives.

Ecc 5:8If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in the government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them!

Know your place in the kingdom of God, know who is in charge of your lives. It is not the way of your superior on earth but the one that sit high in heaven watching over all of us.

"Nothing you can offer us would replace what we would lose in the next world. As for your threats-- we despise our bodies when the welfare of our souls is at stake."

Who is the authority in your life?

Men or God? Will You renounce Your faith under pressure from authority?

This is the key to be able to sit tight in the kingdom of God before you can walk right and stand up to fight for the lord.

GO DEEP

LOOK FAR

ASK BIG

The Belt of Truth

2007-03-05T12:29:00.000+08:00

If you all remember from my first post,

Sodium is an extremely active element found naturally only in combined form; it always links itself to another element. Chlorine, on the other hand, is the poisonous gas that gives bleach it offensive odor. When sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is sodium chloride—common table salt—the substance we use to preserve meat and bring out its flavor. Love and truth can be like sodium and chlorine. Love without truth is flighty, sometimes blind, willing to combine with various doctrines. On the other hand, truth by itself can be offensive, sometimes even poisonous. Spoken without love, it can turn people away from the gospel. When truth and love are combined in an individual or a church, however, then we have what Jesus called “the salt of the earth,” and we’re able to preserve and bring out the beauty of our faith.

David H. Johnson

This was where I got my inspiration for my blog.

The sermon this week was from Pastor Khong regarding the belt of truth. During the sermon, he was talking about his wife, Pastor Nina who would just speak out the truth in front of Pastor Khong if he was not consistent with his walk with God, shooting him right between the eyes.

Many times, as a Christian, we would see many things in the world that do not conform with our doctrines in the Bible such as scolding vulgarities, sexual immoralities, stealing, cheating ,etc. These things may be present in our family members or even people in the church. This is where we are told to be the salt of the world, to be in the world but not of the world. To not only put on the belt of truth but to speak of the truth to people that you love the most.

As a new christian, I struggled with this aspect of my christian walk. When I saw my dad becoming conceited with his achievements at work, I was quick to remind him that the glory was to be to God and to be humble. However, that led to a few days without allowances and a scolding.

When my sister was coming home late, I chided her for that without first listening her out although sometimes she would have a good reason for doing so. This eventually led to a small scale cold war between us.

What went wrong, didn't I tell the truth?

Eph1:15-16 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

I prayed and went to the bible and the Netbible, searching for answers. I stumbled upon the passage in the beginning of the blog and the verse above. I finally realised that I was saying the truth but I did not think about the feelings of the people who I was telling these to. It was just chlorine. Also, I lacked the wisdom from God. It was not the right timing of God to say those words. I should not be hurrying God's plan into my life but falling into his plan for my life.

The fact is the truth is painful. Sometimes, telling someone the truth cannot be avoided if you want the person to improve or break free from bondages in his or her life. By witholding the truth from a person, you may be actually hurting that person. However, by telling the person, the truth, he may even experience more pain and reject you in the process.

Slowly, I learnt the the truth will be eventually revealed to that person but I believe in the manner of telling the person the truth. Whether you do it in a harsh or soft manner would depend on the situation and the person that you are speaking to.

In my instance, I should have waited for the correct moment when they were in a better mood to talk to them and I should have used a softer manner to do so instead of immediate rebuttal without reason.

I am still learning how to cope with this aspect of my walk and I pray that I would always be able to be salty for the lord.

Sit Tight,
Walk Right,
Stand Up and Fight.

Then you can
Go Deep,
Look Far,
Ask Big.

Dead or Alive: Jesus or mankind

2007-02-28T23:25:00.000+08:00

I was surfing the forums today and came across a very heated argument on whether Jesus is still dead or not.

Reference to Jesus being dead:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1593441,00.html

Reference denying the article above: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1593893,00.html?cnn=yes

Seriously, I do not want to start a discussion about these 2 articles which have been seriously blown up by the forum I read today by both believers and non-believers. ( Just check out the forum at hardwarezone.com.sg).

Recently, there have been many controversies regarding Christianity caused mainly I believe due to some things that have been said in Dan's Brown movie The Da Vinci Code. Basically, I just regard it as a movie.

Actually, I have read all 4 of Dan Brown's books and the 2 books which stirs up the most issues are The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. I don't think I wanna go into the details. (Anyone interested can borrow the books from the library or google it).

I am in fact pretty glad that there have been a greater interest and greater number of people reading up on the Bible or Christianity as a whole due to the conspiracy theories raised in the books and movie. ( I just treat the movie and books as fiction by the way)

Many churches have in fact used the publicity to spread the word of God.

Phi 1:15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that i am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

In the same way, Paul rejoiced when the gospel was preached for whatever reason, I rejoice for people wanting to learn more about the truth about Jesus and the Word of God for whatever reasons and by so the gospel is preached. And every step taken bring you closer and closer to the truth.

But just to clarify, our walk with God is always a walk in the spirit, a walk of faith. If we are absolutely certain of the truth as it was proven to be true by maths or scientific evidence, there will no longer be a need for faith.

To be more than conquerors in life, we have to sit tight, walk right and stand up and fight.

Liverpool vs Barca 2-1

2007-02-25T22:30:00.001+08:00

This week has been a great week with lots of juicy news and information in the newspaper.

It started with Britney Spears shaving off her hair to show her determination to reject drug abuse in her life before going for drug rehab. Then there was a fight of the millionaires in the wrestling world with either Vince Mcmahon or Donald Trump ending up with a shaven head too. But the greatest news must have came on early Thursday morning.

In the wee hours of the morning, amidst all problems at the club, Liverpool overcame all odds to beat Barca 2-1 at Nou Camp. Being an avid Liverpool fan, that was great news. But the greatest joke of all was the 2 unlikely heroes in the game. The men who were fighting over karaoke before the match, Bellamy and Riise.

When Riise scored the second goal from the pass from Bellamy, I was having a laugh of my life. Just hours ago, Bellamy was out to break Riise's leg with a golf club over K Box and now they were hugging each other as if they just got married!!!

What an unexpected turn of events. But as I was watching the game, the Lord started to speak to me. He wants me to see that God has a plan. It may seem to be a joke for Riise and Bellamy in this situation but I believe that this is a test of their conviction to the club and to one another as fellow team mates.

I believe that it is the same in the body of Christ. Some times we have arguments and disagreements in the body but as we begin to resolve the problems seen in the family, we will start to grow in faith and move from glory to glory.

Cor 12:14 For in fact the body is not a single member, but many. 12:15 If the foot says, “Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 12:16 And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell? 12:18 But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided. 12:19 If they were all the same member, where would the body be? 12:20 So now there are many members, but one body. 12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.”

In soccer, they are defenders, midfielders, strikers and the goalkeeper. Not a single member must be missing in the team for the unit to function properly. For each of them have different roles in the team. But I believe in Italian soccer, total football. I believe that although every one have different gifts in a team, such as defending or attacking, everyone must support the body when the need arises. That is unity.

When the eye is injured, the hand should help the eye by applying eye lotion. When the mouth is unable to talk, the hands should replace it as means of communication in sign language. This is unity.

Only when everyone is willing to go beyond their "prescribed" roles in the family such as providing laughter when the "joker" is not around or going the extra mile to play different roles in the family will there be unity in the family.

This is especially true as Riise had to play an attacking role to score the goal despite being a defender and that Bellamy had to provide for Riise despite being a striker whose main aim is to score goals. Both people were willing to interchange roles as the situation deems fit.

Questions to ponder:
Is the eye willing to play the role of the leg when the body needs to walk?
Is the arm willing to act as the means of communication when the mouth fails to talk?
Are you willing to exchange roles with another in the family because of God's timing in the body?

Only when we listen and obey the lord who can be personified as a brilliant manager of a team will the team be able to go from glory to glory and achieve great achievements beyond its abilities.

Thank God that God was a Liverpool fan for the night.

Go Deep, Look Far, Ask Big.

Emptiness

2007-02-21T09:21:00.000+08:00

Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world—yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, “I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed . It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.”
Becker is not the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One doesn’t have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens, author of such successful novels and The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.”
Our Daily Bread, July 9, 1994

SPOILERS ALERT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN PROTEGE

Yesterday, I went down to Century Square after dinner to watch Protege with my sister. There was this statement made by Daniel that gripped me a lot. He asked this question: I do not understand why people take drugs until now? It is because of the emptiness in our hearts. So the root of the problem drugs or is it the emptiness in the heart?

Till the end, he couldn't find the answer to this question. The two characters dealing with the emptiness in the show were two extremes in society.
One was played by Andy Lau as an extremely rich drug dealer who sought after the riches in life by selling drugs but had problems with his health and his family as a whole. He was rich, yes, but purposeless in his pursuits in life. He lived in self-denial, believing that he was not at fault for selling drugs but it was those who created the demand for drugs that is causing harm to themselves.

The irony about the whole thing is that he could never trust anyone in the show. He spent his life seeking the riches of life but his heart was empty, he was careful not to trust anyone for fear that they might betray him. Like Boris Becker, he had no inner peace.

Many times in life, we sought after riches, love, regonition just to fill up an emptiness in our lives. We try so hard to climb to the top of the corporate ladder just to find nothing up there. Even if we come in 1st in a rat race, we are still rats. Are we missing out something in life?

I believe that the answer lies in serving the greater purpose the lord has for me in my life. My brother once told me that a watch will never know its purpose on earth, only the maker knows that its purpose is to tell the time. The same goes for us, we will never know our own purpose in life on our own. An if we continue trying to achieve a meaningless purpose in our lives, we will never be able to fill that emptiness in our heart which I believe can only be filled with the purpose and love of God.

The other character in the show would be Ah-Fen who takes drugs due to circumstancial problems in life such as a drug addict husband and a lack of money.

Another key problem in our life that we face is escapisim. We are down and out, poor and sick. We feel that there is no way out. Some people in life choose to escape from the problem by filling themselves with other issues in life when the way to solve the problem is to tackle it head on.

I had a friend during my army days. He once attempted to committed suicide when he was younger by taking drugs. He told me that he had no purpose in his life, he had family problems, relationship problems, the only way to solve the problem is to commit suicide at that time. But since then, he had came to know the lord and have been a changed man since.

Jacob faced similar problems in his life, he escaped from his brother and rather be ill treated by his uncle than to face his fear, his brother at home. Fear I believe is the key problem to becoming more than conquerors. Ah-Fen was afraid of her husband, afraid of facing the problem, afraid of rejection from Daniel. She sought help and eventually died of drug overdose due to depression when Daniel would rather help a dog than her.

As for Daniel Wu, he had lost focus on his purpose in life . Initially, he started off as an undercover cop who was supposed to catch Andy Lau. Eventually, it ended up with a false sense of achievement in becoming a 3rd sergent and a handshake for being undercover and putting his life on the line for 7 years and betraying his best friend Andy and his entire family. Eventually, he decided to continue working undercover for the police as a drug lord. He no longer had a meaning in his life. Eventually, he even wanted to inject himself with the drug in an attempt to fill that emptiness in him.

Share with you all a true story of the Taj Mahal:
The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs ever built, but there is something fascinating about its beginnings.
In 1629, when the favorite wife of Indian ruler Shah Jahan died, he ordered that a magnificent tomb be built as a memorial to her. The shah placed his wife’s casket in the middle of a parcel of land, and construction of the temple literally began around it. But several years into the venture, the Shah’s grief for his wife gave way to a passion for the project. One day while he was surveying the sight, he reportedly stumbled over a wooden box, and he had some workers throw it out. It was months before he realized that his wife’s casket had been destroyed. The original purpose for the memorial became lost in the details of construction.

Dr. James Dobson, Coming Home, Timeless Wisdom for Families, (Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton; 1998), p. 122

Sometimes, we are so coped up with the flow of things in life like studying or working that we have forgotton the purpose behind all that. Do we study to gain knowledge or because of the fear of being percecuted by parents or teachers? Do we work to provide for ourselves and our family or is it for our personal fame and false sense of achievement for reaching the top of the corporate ladder? Do we sustain a marriage because of love for each other or because of a commitment to each other and the children?

Sometimes, in life, we should all take a break to reflect and ponder the reasons for pursuing a dream in our life.

There is one of my friends who is dejected as he failed to pass the test for becoming a pilot, he seems to have lost purpose in his life. In order to fill that emptiness in him, he diverts his attention to making money, to earn as much money as possible. What formerly was a dream to soar high in the sky as a pilot has become a dream to own a plane of his own and to earn the money to do so. We should look far, beyond our lifetimes and see that do the will of the lord as at the end of time, only 2 things remain, the Word of God and the Lives of Man. Nothing else in the world matters.

John2:17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.

We should look far, beyond our lifetimes and see that we do the will of the lord as at the end of time, only 2 things remain, the Word of God and the Lives of Man. Nothing else in the world matters.

So what is the main cause of tragedy in the show? Drugs which eventually led to to the death of the two people or the emptiness and fear in their lives to face their problems? What is the purpose in the lives of all three?

I believe that only the person who makes the watch truely knows what the watch is made for.

Go Deep, Look Far, Ask Big.

Happy Chinese New Year

2007-02-19T18:59:00.000+08:00

Before I start, I would like to wish everyone reading my blog a Happy CNY.

Matt5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’5:39 But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer.But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well. 5:40 And if someone wants to sue you and to take your tunic,give him your coat also. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks you,and do not rejectthe one who wants to borrow from you.

This is one of my favourite verses in the Bible.

In Lev 24:19-20, it was stated that If a man inflicts an injury onhis fellow citizen, just as he has done it must be done to him – fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth – just as he inflicts an injury on another personthat same injury must be inflicted on him. This has been the basis of the law that we follow in most societies. However, don't we realise that after a while there will always be a cycle of revenge, hatred and pain if we follow this model.

When I was young, I loved to watch chinese swordfighting shows. Those where there would be lots of blood shed in the family, when the hero have to take revenge on the ones who kill his parents and vice-versa. Most of the time, the show would end up in tragedy till one side decides to give up on revenge. Only then will the vicious cycle be broken.

When I was reading this verse again on CNY, I was reminded of many issues in our family especially during New Year.

Most families would go visiting on CNY for both the mother's relatives and the father's relatives together. However, in our family, my mum have not visited my dad's parents or relatives for the past decade and vice-versa due to some misunderstandings that happened in the past which caused much hurt and pain to my mum.

Due to the inability to forgive my dad's mum(to avoid confusion), my mum forbides my sister from visiting my dad's mum who is already 86 years old. She have not seen my sister since the day she was born. My grandmother is already so old and she may be called to join the lord in heaven before she gets to see my sister.

A little background story here: When my mum's mum (just not to be confused with my dad's mum) passed away, my dad did not allow my elder brother to go to the funeral as he had studies the next day. My brother was in primary school at that time.

Thinking back, this may be the main reason why my mum was not willing to allow my sister to see my dad's mum. However, the one thing I do not understand is that why my mum is unwilling to forgive and let go after all these years.

I truely believe that the day my mum is able to release forgiveness to the family would be the day she would be able to accept Christ and vice-versa and leading to the healing of the family as an overall.I pray that my mum would be able to come down under the cross in the near future and comprehend the greatness of our God who is willing to sacrifice even his only son to redeem us, people who have persecuted Christ, denounced him and committed sins like adultery, murder, robbery, cheating...

In the Old Testament, any of the crimes would amount to death. But by sending his only son to die for us, he have redeemed us all. As God has so freely given us grace, we should show grace to others as well. I pray that my mum would be able to know our lord as the lord who has given us mercy.

Tit 3:4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measurethrough Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so,since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”

^{The Lord did not save us because of what we do but because he so gave us mercy and he justified us by his grace so that we can become co-heirs of Christ, sons of God. I truely ask that the lord will be able to bring about healing in my family. I pray for healing not only for this generation but for my mother and my grandmother's generation which feuds have persisted for up to 30 years. For my prayers to be heard and victory be seen in my family, I believe that I should and must follow in the vision and just believe in the lord for complete healing.}

As We step into the year of the Pig, I believe that this is the year of the victory. And to be more than conquerors in our lives and achieve miracles in our life, we must

^{Go Deep, Look Far, Ask Big.}

Breaking From The Circle

2007-02-15T22:56:00.000+08:00

Gal 5:1 For freedomChrist has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yokeof slavery.

If you've ever felt like you're just running around in circles, it may be because you are.

An experiment was once carried out by the great French naturalist, John Henry Fabray. He took a number of processionary caterpillars so called because they always march in unison, and lined them around the inner edge of a flowerpot, forming a complete circle. For 3 days, he monitored them as they marched around the edge of the pot. At the end of the 3rd day, he placed some pine needles in the centre of the pot. Now pine needles are what the caterpillars eat. But for 4 more days, they continued walking, never once breaking the circle to look for food. Finally, one at a time, they fell and died from starvation.

Source: Focus on the family TODAY 15022007

As I read through this article in the morning on the train, I was reminded of how my life used to be before I knew Christ. I was just like the caterpillar, following blindly behind others, always looking for affirmation from others, never breaking free from these chains. I was blindly seeking results, friends, escape from my life, when what I needed to sustain my life was the pine needles in the centre of the pot, Christ.

Do we need to endlessly chase things that will not last in our lives like success, money, love, recognition like the caterpillars without ever finding its purpose in life or do we want to take the step of faith and step out of the circle to feed on the pine needles?

1Jo 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world is not from the father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.

When I was in my teens, like many I sought after the purpose in my life. What is the purpose of my life? Is it just to study and pursue a degree? Is it just to seek worldly desires like money, houses, women that will eventually come to pass?

I did not have an answer then, I still do not have one now. But I believe that at least I'm starting to look out of that circle, starting to look at the Lord for the answer. And I believe that my greater purpose in life can only be found through him.
Only when we start breaking free from the circle and start feeding on the Word Of God, the pine needles, will we caterpillars find the true, greater purpose for us in our lives and grow into the beautiful butterflies that God has meant for us to be in our lives.

Go Deep, Look Far, Dream Big.

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T11:44:00.000+08:00

Cor13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 13:5It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 13:6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 13:7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Its that time of the year again for all lovers and friends alike. Valentine's Day. And just like the other 19 yrs of my singlehood, I'm free today as well.

As I started the day with my daily reflections, I start to reflect upon my life. What is the true meaning of love in my life?

Since I was young, I was pampered with material love, my parents would buy for me everything I wanted, be it computer games, toys, food... Anything that could be given they give. My mum would spend time with us, cooking dinner and my dad would spend time talking to us and driving us to school. However, I've never really felt that I have received love from my parents.

Just this morning, my father complained again regarding his work. Last week, he requested help from me to help him with his powerpoint, I was quite busy with church and my work so instead of giving him a false hope or a false promise, I told him that I may not be able to commit. But just this morning, he chided me for not helping him do his powerpoint. And he was threatening not to provide for us again. Then when I said that I do not need the money, he would just force you to take it so that he would have a reason to scold you or force you to listen to him.

Is providing monetary support to your children and wife love? Isn't it more like a bondage or a commitment?

When parents take care of their family, is it responsibility?

cor13:8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside.

When your boyfriend or girlfriend says that he or she loves you, is it neverending?

Looking back, I realised the only 1 true love in the world is God's love for us. His love is so great that he was willing to send his only son to die for us on the cross for all our sins, our shame, our pains and every thing that we suffer in our lives.

I would like to dedicate this valentine's day to my one and only lord who really loves me enough to die for me and my sins. Here is to my valentine, the king, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Go Deep, Look Far, Dream Big

The Importance of Unity in the Body

2007-02-11T00:41:00.000+08:00

Cor 12:12 For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body – though many – are one body, so too is Christ. 12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves⁴ or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit. 12:14 For in fact the body is not a single member, but many.

At cell today, Ah pa was talking about the importance of the unity of the body and that the spreading of 2nd hand news will never resolve the problem.

At the moment , God reminded me of the many incidents that happened during my secondary school days.

In sec 3, I was the chairman of Chinese Drama, I was indeed at that time proud of my position because I felt that it was a recognition of my contribution to Chinese Drama and that the members had put trust in me to lead them.

However, as time went by, I had many misunderstandings with my committee members. Rumors and accusations were flying around in the society. People lost respect in me and I felt hurt and rejected at that time. ( though hopefully, I have overcame these at encounter. Praise the Lord)

When I heard the passage 1 cor 12 today again, it came back to me. I realised that if at that moment I should have addressed the issue by talking to my committee members 1st. Den escalating to my teacher in charge and if it still couldn't be resolved, leave the society. Because of my immaturity, I caused a bigger problem in the society.

Firstly, during orientation, there was a miscommunication and disunity in the body. This eventually led to the disappearing of an entire batch of sec1 students for the year, having major consequences in the society for the next few years to come. Lesson 1: Disunity will eventually lead to the breakup of the whole body.

Secondly, my relationships with the members would have been much better when I left. Lesson 2: The pain when left untreated for a long time will fester and cause more pain to the body.

I really thank the lord for bringing back memories of the incident and that now I have the opportunity to reflect upon the events that happened long ago. I thank the lord for my spiritual father Chris for being able to stand out and address the various issues within the cell before things start to go awry because of disunity and distrust.

Only when there is unity in the body whether in the body of Christ or in any organization then we can expect to go deep, look far and ask big.

Suffering and Joy

2007-02-10T00:51:00.000+08:00

Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity?Curse God, and die!” 2:10 But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said.

Question to all: How many times in life have we felt that God have failed us in one way or another.

You felt sick and down, out of luck, jobless, did not reach your expectations in an examination.

Many times, people will ask, why is there suffering in the world?
Just look around us, floods in Indonesia and Malyasia have taken away many innocent lives and made many homeless and unemployed. Last year, typhoon rampaged across America, making millions homeless. Earlier back, there was the tsunami. Sars, bird flu, poverty in Africa, Aids, cancer......

The numerous examples cited is enough to make people wonder: its God the Lord almighty, why is he unwilling to help those suffering in the world?

This morning, I was pondering through the question and decided to spend some extra time in the train reading the bible. I came around this verse in the passage.

Job 2:10 But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said.

Many times in our lives, we only seek the lord when we are down and out. When we want to recive and take things from the lord. We treat God as a vending machine, just inserting money and he will answer to our every wishes. However, God is God. As freely as he gives he takes. When I was reading through Job, I realised that we will never be able to comprehend sufferings as Job is unable to comprehend his own sufferings. We should receive what is good from the lord and what is evil. As what may seem evil to us actually serves an unknown but greater purpose for the lord. In Job's case, it was a test from Satan. To us, it may be a test from God to mould us or a test of our faith to differentiate those he favours from the others. We may never know, but as we freely receive what is good from the lord, we should freely receive the evil from him too.

As some of you may know, during my days in the army, I suffered from anaemia and stomach problems. Till date, there have not been a conclusive reason behind these illnesses. But because of this, I was unable to serve my NS normally. I went in and out of CGH, had blood transfusions, had many follow ups. At a point, I had to go for mental check up as the doctor thought I had anxiety problems earlier on before realising the root was anaemia.

Prior to this, I fractured my finger during the 1st BMT when I had 2 weeks to go, so I had to be taken out of course and was not able to go on to be a commander. During my 2nd BMT, I caught chicken pox and had to be out of coursed as well.

I wondered too. Was the lord forsaking me? During my times of suffering, why didn't he hear my prayers? I lamented about it. I was dejected. I did not even want to go to church at that point.

Then the lord came to me. He told me that the suffering that I was going through was a test, a test of my faith. It was meant for me, I cannot continue in my old ways. I cannot walk away from him any longer. God wants to mould me, use me for greater purposes in his life, beyond what I can imagine. It was of his will that he chose to break me in NS.

And I will praise him for doing so just as Job praised him when he lost all his worldly possessions.

To implore all those who are suffering now, do not blame the lord or reject him. Have faith that he will deliver you out of the suffering just as he blessed Job with more in his later half of his life as he was able to show unwavering faith in the lord.

Go deep with him, look far and dream big.

Sodium Chloride

2007-02-09T17:41:00.000+08:00

Sodium Chloride
Sodium is an extremely active element found naturally only in combined form; it always links itself to another element. Chlorine, on the other hand, is the poisonous gas that gives bleach it offensive odor. When sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is sodium chloride—common table salt—the substance we use to preserve meat and bring out its flavor. Love and truth can be like sodium and chlorine. Love without truth is flighty, sometimes blind, willing to combine with various doctrines. On the other hand, truth by itself can be offensive, sometimes even poisonous. Spoken without love, it can turn people away from the gospel. When truth and love are combined in an individual or a church, however, then we have what Jesus called “the salt of the earth,” and we’re able to preserve and bring out the beauty of our faith.
David H. Johnson