SO WHAT? – IT’S PASSION WEEK AND EASTER

Let me quote my daughter –

Hypocrisy in the church is so subtle it blends in with the auto-spritzing air-freshener things. What is the point of holding a week-long spiritual performance if, for the rest of the year, no one lives like He's alive?

My response to her was this: “Well said and keen observation. Why not be the minority who shows the difference by turning the week-long spiritual performance into a week-long spiritual revival?” Sometimes, out of the frustration of not seeing things change for the better but the same old same old, that we get so jaded that we give up, let out some frustrated frown, and move on with our own agenda. But I would like to suggest otherwise. Throughout history revival started because there were a few people who dared to believe, dared to be different, and dared to pray till…. It is interesting to note that the majority of the people were not interested, had care-less attitude, and pretty much do their own thing.

I can only hope that our intention of holding prayer meeting for the whole week during the Passion of Christ does not conjure the idea of any special spirituality that we can gain but that it would just be the laying of a pathway for our spiritual experience and growth. I think her statement may stir some people to think she’s being critical or judgmental. That’s alright if people felt that way. I have being teaching my children to speak out and to do it boldly what they are thinking but make sure that it’s a personal opinion and observation always allowing others to disagree or to rebut. I can’t really fault her for her statement because by and large that’s the attitude many people have in relation to their Christian faith and believe.

Think with me, many people still don’t give priority to God in their lives. Sad to say but it’s true that only when we get into a jam that we start running to Him for help and when things are fine we jolly go on our way and do our own thing. Maybe it’s good for us, at this time of the year when the church solemnly reflect Christ’s vicarious death and celebrate His victorious triumph over sin and death for us, to take time to reassess, to reexamine our lives in light of His unconditional love for us. We need to do more than just spend a week in solemn reflection but uses it as a starting point for a life-long living out the truth of God, the reality of God, and our need for Him every day of our lives.

Let us make sure hypocrisy does not blend in subtlety into our daily lives that we think we are spiritually in-tune with the Father but we are actually religious in our rituals and in our duties. Let us make sure that our devotion to the Lord is a daily thing, our intimacy with the Father is an on-going relationship, and our piety is not ritualistic but vibrant, passionate and contagious. Let us be grateful people for all times because Christ paid it all for us!

Praise God He rose from the dead – our Christian faith is meaningful, real, and relevant! 

LIFE WITHOUT FAIRY TALE ENDING

Just went to watch Cinderella and came away feeling good that the story ends well like all fairy tale story should. I wish that real life would be the same but unfortunately that’s not always the case. And just because it’s not like a fairy tale story does not mean it is not good. I think a little of difficulties in life, a little trouble and suffering would do us good after all.

The Word of God informs us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Notice James said that our attitude should be one of rejoicing when we face trials and testing in life. According to him trials and testing has a way of developing patience in all of us. Someone said that “patience is a virtue, possess it if you can; seldom found in women, never found in men.” How true, how true! We all need patience, otherwise we are incomplete – not matured and still lacking. But lacking in what? I think we can say lacking in love and kindness. After all isn't the prophet Micah tells us that the Lord requires us to walk humbly, show kindness and do justly.

One of the phrase I found fascinating in the dialogue of the show is when Cinderella’s mum was very ill and gave her daughter a last piece of advice: “you must find it in your heart to love and be kind.” All her troubles, all the injustices done to her, could not break her promise made to her mother to always be kind and that includes the animals. Does she holds to her dream? Yes. She did not resign to her misery though she gets frustrated and sad. But at the end she still rises up from her misery and finds some goodness.

I am reminded of the verse that Paul spoke of in Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. As far as we are concern as children of God all things work together for good. As long as we love God and walk in his perfect will for our lives, all troubles, trials, and suffering will move towards a goal that shall be called in divine language “GOOD”. Only those who live with eternity in his heart would understand that no situation on earth has the final say regarding his state, his lot, and his meaning in life but only just a piece of the puzzle!

Whether my ending would be a fairy tale ending like Cinderella does not matter. It only matters how I see life through my suffering and beyond my suffering into the very face of the true King of king and Lord of lords. It is there that as I behold the beauty of my King that nothing in this world – the good, the bad, and the ugly - matters anymore. I would gladly give my all to be in the presence of my Abba Father gazing into his love, his majesty, and be embraced in the most secured arms of Him who loves me unconditionally. 

OVER AND ABOVE ALL THAT WE DARE ASK OR THINK

Last week I was down with flu, cough and fever. It was one of those days you feel awful – can’t sleep, cough like mad, and all your bones are aching like an eighty year old suffering from rheumatism. The downside of it all is that I don’t have better half to care for me, cook broth for me, and pray for me. But not all is lost – I have a wonderful younger son to serve me with water and medicine, eldest son to nag me to see a doctor, and a daughter to take me to see one. Well, I did get better and now up on my feet again.

The scripture for me this week was from Ephesians 3:20 (AMP Bible) - Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do super-abundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—

This bible verse is one of the most positive verse that I have come across in the entire Word of God. It is full of hope, full of possibility, and full of God in it. Sometimes it scares me to think that God would be able to do all that for me – the poor, wretched, sinful me – yet, somehow I want to believe it, to live in it, and to see it happening in front of me. Don’t you want to? Look, the verse said that God is always working within us in consequence of the action of his power. He is so powerful that when he works to accomplish something it will always be done – no question about it. He is so powerful that he is able to carry out his purposes for your life and mine without interruption, without delay, and without mistakes – and he can do it super-abundantly, far over and above all that we even dare to ask and think infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes and dreams. This sound almost crazy but yet it’s what he said and what he promise! God has our best interest in his heart – he knows our every desire, he knows our very thoughts, and he held in high honor our hopes and dreams. Imagine that! Ponder on it! Hold it within your breath and embrace it tightly to your heart what the Lord has said about each one of us!

What is my dream? What is it that I am thinking about? What is my desires and hopes? Wow……

A GREAT ROCK IN A WEARY LAND

Since I came back from my needful holiday I found myself working non-stop. I love getting back into the game, so to speak but little did I know that I was once again caught up in the monotonous drag of a daily grind. If I am not careful I will grind myself to a spiritual halt – a burn-out! Honestly, there’s so much thing to do and so little time BUT life is not to be lived with such drag. I need to back off a little. Perhaps that’s why I am down physically – forced rest from work. I have been sick for the last four days and have not been eating well. Today I am much better therefore I write. Ha-ha.

Isaiah 32:2 - Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

Reading within context, the Messiah, the God-Man Jesus Christ will be a hiding place from the cold penetrating wind of wintertime; he will be an impervious shelter from the unpredictable storms of life; he will be like streams of fresh and refreshing water in a dry place and the shade of a great Rock in a weary land. How true! Just by the very description of our Messiah and Redeemer Jesus Christ gives us the sense of assurance that there can never be any situation, circumstance or condition of life that God is NOT there in the midst of it to protect, to lead, and to supply!

There are many situations in my life that could make me question his existence, his love and reality BUT at the end I found that if I am not focus on “poor me” and allow him to speak through the circumstances and even the harsh condition of life I would finally be able to hear him speak – in stillness or even in the midst of the cacophony of noises. But if I choose to concentrate on WHY this and why that I would end up making an impatience demand for answers that I least expect and that could destroy the very reality of who God is! God is no-man’s debtor. He cannot be cowed into giving us what we want to hear but what we need to hear.

I know there are people who ended up with the picture of God as a monster – an image that they have painted because they were unable to relate with the Creator because they wanted answers on their own terms. There are some things that we may never be able to fully explain, to grasp, and to comprehend fully about Him and His work. There will forever be questions on the problem of evil, the judgment of God, why He hated Cain and love Abel. There will always be mystery about the work of salvation.

But for me my love relationship with the Father is simple – all that I need to know about Him is plainly written in His word to us (the Holy Bible); accept it, believe it, and apply it. The revelation of God will be made clear each day through the power of the Holy Spirit as I walk in obedience in my daily life. But if I choose to only understand if I can make complete sense, beyond reasonable doubt, and answer to every question succinctly then I have closed myself to any revelation from God who is the very source of my inability to know and explain everything!

MY BUCKET LIST

There are so many youths who have a bucket list - a list of things they want to do or experience before they die. Reading some of the things in their list is amusing because it's out of the ordinary, challenging most of the time, and an experience they wish to enter in, good or bad, smart move or not!

But I decided to have a bucket list too - not the type young people who are full of energy and zest are gravitating towards - but one that would shape me into a man of God, define me as a child of God, and be as close as possible to what God destined and purpose me to be here on earth. I am not a cockalurum (a little man having a high opinion of himself), for sure, but an idealist trying to achieve God's best for me. So here it is......ROMANS 12:9-18

01. Exhibit genuine love
02. Hate evil
03. Hold fast (tightly) what is good
04. Love others with brotherly affection
05. Outdo other in showing honor
06. Be diligent and hardworking - not lazy as far as passion is concerned
07. Serving God with fervency of spirit
08. Be happy - stay positive because I have hope in Christ.
09. Don't lose my cool when I encounter trials, problems or difficult people
10. Be a prayerful person - do it constantly
11. Be generous - see a need, meet a need
12. Show hospitality - welcome people into my home at all times
13. Bless people all the time with my words, attitude and actions - even people who back-stab me.
14. Be empathetic - rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
15. I must live in harmony with everyone
16. Never be proud - associate with all levels of people as precious people of God.
17. I must never think even for a second that I am smarter than everyone else - that actually makes me look stupid!
18. Only repay goodness and mercy NOT evil for evil.
19. Think honorable, good and wonderful thoughts - I am what I think!
20. I will strive to be a peacemaker in all situation.

That's a tall-order!

HOME ALONE

FB March 8 @ 1.45 am: I thought that it would be great to be alone while my children are out for various reasons but it turned out that a sense of loneliness came flooding in. I missed her very much. I drove into town hoping to stay away from the emptiness of the house and I ended driving for a long while not knowing where to go. I drove around in circle to finally find a place to stop for dinner.

It's moment like this that really rattles me at the core of my being. Quickly I prayed to the Lord for strength, for comfort, and peace within my soul. Lord, I need you to hold my hand and protect my heart once again.

FB March 12 @ 3.45 am:  I thought of doing something fruitful since I could not sleep - Life Group Discussion Material, Sermon preparation, planning for Palm Sunday and Passion Week, etc. etc. Let's see what happen but for now I need to write something to explain my last post that has caused some concern from people I know who loves me and cares for me.

Let me start by saying that the "loneliness" that I experienced that Saturday evening that caused my heart to feel the pain again was not a daily thing but a spur of a moment within the context of children being away and I was HOME ALONE. I did snapped out of it a couple of hours later. So for those who were worried about my emotional state be rest assured - it was just a moment of missing my wife BUT it was real. And that I don't deny it!

Someone whispered to me during the early days of losing my other half that the lost has never left her even after 10 years of her husband's demise and also the fact of being remarried to a wonderful man! I knew exactly what she meant. I have managed to move on with life BUT her face, her love, her scent, and her voice have all been edged into the very core of my being. After all we were married for 29 years through thick and thin, in need and in plenty, in sickness and in health, in disagreement and in laughter. We had shared many moments of laughter - laughing at ourselves and the silly things that we have done! We had raised three kids together. We were not absent parents. We worked very hard to feed them. We served God together and many times into the wee hours of the morning. We laughed together and we cried together. We defended each other's honor against lies, verbal assault in ministry, and incorrigible and unreasonable parents in the church. We cooked and served hot meals for families of the church, for the youths, and many times with the last 50 Ringgit in our wallet!

These were our stories, our tales - a history I hope my children will tell their children!

AMAZING HOLIDAY IN MELBOURNE

For everything there's a first time. My holiday to Melbourne, Australia last week was my first (sadly without my wife. *sigh*). I was like a monkey straight from the jungle of Malaysia. Everything was delightful to behold, to try, and to meddle. But it was great to have a fellow monkey coming along too!

It was a hectic 7 days trip but enjoyable all the way - the people I met up, the family I stayed with, and all the tours that we signed up for. I have never walk so much in my life. Probably Thean Khee would be laughing away because I had stopped going for our regular walk for more than a year. This is probably a payback time.

Let me relate one incident: I was standing on the pavement waiting for the city tram, and due to my carelessness of not paying attention when I step backwards that my right heel hit the slightly raised pavement that sent me falling down like the Jericho Wall. What happened next was the most disgusting thing ever - the embarrassment of being a Humpty Dumpty was minor in comparison - I fell onto the most smelly and dirty drooling dog ever. The drool was all over my shirt and my hand. The stench was beyond intolerable - cruelly intolerable. I had to go to the public toilet to have a thorough wash up, got rid of my shirt (threw it away in the dumpster), and ended up with wearing my wind-breaker jacket without my shirt underneath. Even with that I still smell awful. What an experience! I commented to Cowan that I had contributed a shirt to the City of Melbourne!

Well...more stories to come......

It looks like my plight (the dog story) has turned out to be a joke. Well, at least I made some people laugh. Today is the 15th Day of CNY (Chap Goh Meh) so the Chinese saying goes like this: Got 1st Day of the Lunar will definitely have the 15th Day of the Lunar too.

On a more serious note, the holiday has turned out to be very therapeutic for me - emotionally, spiritually, and physically too. I think this is the longest time I ever had where I didn't think of work, of ministry, and of people that I am concerned about. I was able to hang loose - eat heartily, enjoy the scenery with much appreciation of the wonders of God's creation, breath fresh air, fantastic weather, and great fellowship with friends. Where can we get all these at one time. I thoroughly enjoyed my one week of break. I am refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to continue serving God. Father, I thank You for making it possible for me to have this holiday.

One of the highlights of my trip was the opportunity to view the great Australian shore line named the 12th Apostles from a helicopter. Yes, you read it right - on an helicopter. The view was more than amazing. We knew that we would never have such opportunity to be on a helicopter back in Malaysia.

Let me list all the wonderful experiences - great fish and chips, good Vietnamese and Japanese food, great wild life, beautiful country farm house, amazing gold mining town, great shore line, cool weather, cute penguins, wallabies, kangaroos, koala and black swan - not to mention platypus. The fall, the dog and Pastor Cowan Yuen are just my "cross to bear" (just like Pastor Charles Curtis would say: JUST JOKING!) - cannot be compared to a most wonderful holiday that is God-given!