An Issue

Doctors have a huge responsibility. They need to have the courage to tell a patient the diagnosis, no matter how grave an illness it is. Lately, I have been feeling some form of discomfort not known to me before. More than that, it's in the area of the chest where the heart is. I run and cycle frequently, play badminton up to twice a week, eat plenty of greens and drink plenty of water. I would say that I am healthier than most Singaporeans I know.

'This is unusual for your age', the doctor says. 'At worse, IHD. Though chances are very slim given your profile. Let's wait for about a week and come back again. In the meantime, stop all medications and supplements and drink more water'.

Do I fear the possible diagnosis? How could I say no. I know how serious IHD is in terms of causing fatalities. It is going to be a hard week for me and I have to pay extra attention to any tightness in the chest and dizziness. What if things don't turn out well all of a sudden? Or if I can't tell the people I love about who Jesus is in time?

It's incredibly painful. If it is in the big plan of God that I give up my physical body right now, I will gladly and humbly follow.

Glory to God alone.

Worshipping Figurines

Singapore is a place full of diversity. We have 4 major ethnic groups and quite a number of religions, mostly dominated by the 'traditional' beliefs. They would include Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. I call them traditional because they usually run in the family are passed down the generations, largely in terms of what is practised. I grow up in a traditional Chinese family, which more often than not, as with other of such families, are confused between Taoism and Buddhism and lines tend to blur between the 2. Most who believe do not even exactly know what they are believing in. But that is not the main point of this entry.

One very significant characteristic of traditional Chinese religions is the worship of figurines. You would be able to fully understand what I mean when you observe the places of worship, namely the various Chinese temples. Stepping inside, one would immediately be drawn to the huge statues that resemble humans, and are often dressed up in gold. Believers offer up food of all kinds, fruits, incense, joss paper, money, you name it. Lots of money is spent in hope to please and appease these gods. Offerings usually follow after asking the gods for certain favours too, with the most common being wealth. There's no end to what believers would do so that they can earn their way to nirvana, as they would call it. In a way, they are working to get right with their gods, who come in the form of figurines they made with their own hands. It is saddening to see how they try in vain, and not understanding that they are actually not getting anywhere. There is no way that we can earn our salvation.

Let us now look at a different belief, one that is not centered on us but on a God who sent His Son to die for all of us. There is a marked difference between the traditional Chinese religions and Christianity in terms of idol worship. In Christianity, salvation is a gift from God through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He has to die so that we can be made right with God. We are sinful by nature and are in need of a saviour. God, being full of love, pure and holy, wanted to reconcile us defiled sinners to himself. No matter what we do, there is no way that we can erase our sins and work our way to God. That is how wretched and dirty and undesirable we are, so much that we cannot even rid ourselves of sin no matter how much we offer up to God, or how well we keep the festivities and vegetarian diets. No way at all! Despite our utter undeserving status, God sent his very own son to redeem us from the clutches of death and be in his kingdom. All that is required of us is only to believe.

As believers of Jesus Christ, we seek to live out a life worthy of the death of our Saviour. We know that no matter how much we try, there is no way that we can be right with God except through Jesus. We live in response to this gift we have received, knowing clearly that we are promised eternal life in Christ alone.

There is a choice for all of us. You can choose to continue worshipping figurines in vain, in hope that some miracle would happen one day such that you will get very wealthy. You can continue to burn offerings in hope that you will get a place in heaven and get right with your gods. Or, you can choose Jesus, through whom you will receive eternal life. It will be given to you free of charge, you don't have to burn stacks of paper so that you will be accepted into God's perfect promised Kingdom. 2 ways to live, it's up to you.

2013

As people from all over the world usher in the new year, how many actually begin the year with the end in mind? This end that I am speaking of isn't the end of 2013, but the coming of the promised Kingdom of God.

It is crucial to take the Kingdom of God seriously. Let us first look at who is God. In the very first book of the bible, Genesis, this is the God who has created the world.  By saying created the world, I do mean everything that we see around us, including you and me. God has a perfect plan for all of humanity. However, because of the weakness of Man, we fell to sin. Sin is rebellion against God. Adam defied God's orders to him. This sin defiled the human race and we were thrown out of God's perfect kingdom in the Garden of Eden. God is ultimately a God who cares about us. He created us in His image and want to reconcile us back to Him. Because of our utter sinfulness, there was no way that we could be right with God again. The Kingdom of God promised to Abraham seems like too far a dream for the people in the Old Testament of the bible. God did not lose control, He has always been in control. In the New Testament, we read about Jesus, God's son. Jesus Christ, in very nature God, came from heaven to Earth to redeem us from slavery to sin. For the price of sin is death, Jesus, being an obedient Son, went to the cross (a humiliating way to die in ancient Rome) to die, so that we can be reconciled to God again. Sin was defeated at the cross of Christ. Jesus was then resurrected and brought to life again, and ascended to the right hand of God. In the book of Revelation, the last book of the bible, John speaks of the new heaven and the new earth, where God's perfect world would be restored. Christ will be coming again. The Kingdom of God is at hand.

As we begin a new year, take time to stop and consider Christ. It is only through the death of Christ that we can be made right with the God who has created us. This is unconditional love and immense grace, for we are sinful and alienated from this almighty God.

Have a blessed 2013. Remember grace.

A Closure.

The year is coming to a close in just a few days. Just a few thoughts on my mind. 

1. God is gracious

God has been tremendously gracious, as He has always been. There were plenty of rather significant events that have happened in 2012–joining The Crossing Church, the commencement of a 4-year ministry in NUS, loss of a relationship I held so dearly that I got it all wrong. Through joining the church, I have learnt much more about Jesus than I used to, and have made some close Christian friends whom I know are committed to lead a life worthy of the Gospel we believe in. Uni ministry has been a challenge, but I am glad that I’m working alongside fellow workers of the gospel, and people who are keen and eager to spread the good news of the gospel to the non-believers. I got a better look at myself through the eyes of a love lost due to my blindness and immaturity. I still have a long way to go, and there are many areas that I believe I need to improve on. Not so much to get back the relationship, but because it reflects my inner-self. 

These events have molded me into who I am right now, standing before God, with nothing but a soul that needs to be saved. I’m not worthy of the salvation God provides, I’m utterly sinful–in thought and deed. The bible tells us that Jesus came to save the sinners, not the sinless. Jesus Christ, the perfect and sinless, came to earth and took our sins to the cross in His death, so that we can be made right with God through His blood. Grace, great and wonderful grace of God. It is beyond all measure, beyond our wildest imagination. 

Being human, I have turned against this gracious God countless times. I am as terrible a sinner as you who reads this. Not once has God turned away, but all the time, He calls me back. I am assured of a God who listens, a God who seeks me and pulls me out of darkness, a God who is willing to send His one precious Son to die on the cross. A wretched me doesn’t deserve it, not a single bit. 

2. Pride/ego is a stumbling block

Unsurprisingly, I’m a victim of pride, or you can call it ego. Pride can be loosely defined as the desire to take control of our own lives and put God out of the picture. I would say that pride has caused me to stumble once and again, yet I do not learn from my mistakes because I was unwilling to become humble and admit my weaknesses. 

Pride is scary. It comes in different forms and it’s more subtle than we think it is. But when it strikes, someone will get hurt really bad. I am a victim of the effects of my own pride. I was unwilling to admit that I did not understand because I did not want to look ignorant. I did not want to turn down tasks and made empty promises because I did not want to be perceived as incapable. The image that I have of myself is ideal, and it is not the real me. I cannot expect myself to know everything and be able to do everything, but pride tells me that I can. 

This scary inner-self has cost me great losses. It is something that I see in myself and feel utterly disgusted about it. At least I see it now, and know that I should head in the direction of God, and no longer seek to depend on self. 

3. Assurance and Instructions from God

Colossians 2:6-23

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

  

It's like pulling off the scab and exposing the raw flesh. That's how it felt like. I wanted to know what it's like under that piece of hard skin that covers a healing wound, even though I know that it's going to be painful when I lift up this protective cover to expose what's underneath. It's bleeding again, and it hurts. It takes some courage to pull it off, and more to face the consequences. It will take time to heal, as wounds do. Even as wounds heal and do not become painful after some time, a scar remains. A scar reminds us of what we have been through, and it will ever be so clear in our minds. But, we don't just stay here and cry as the wound heals, we move on, and we grow up. No one said it would be easy. It's the journey that counts. We learn about what we want, and avoid what we do not want. I just hope that I still can have you as a friend.

O Lord, be my guide and pillar of strength.

Justification by faith

I believe that for many Christians, the term 'justification by faith' isn't new at all. It is one of the core doctrines of the Christian faith. However, as with other pillars of our faith, it is often overlooked and taken for granted.

We are counted righteous through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and are justified by our faith. Justification is the declaration of righteousness, or being right with God. Jesus Christ is enough and more than sufficient. Often, self-righteousness creeps into our lives and take over. It's persistence and subtleness makes it ever so dangerous for Christians. Some of us turn out to become like the Pharisees, pagans, prosecutors, or even performers. We think that we are right with God because we do certain things, or because we are better than other people in some ways. But the bible says that that isn't the case.

Works alone cannot bring about righteousness or justification. Works, or deeds, are responses to our faith in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and the cross, and it comes together with faith, for faith without works is dead. It is not by keeping laws that we are saved, or by the circumcision of the flesh. Only through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and putting trust in that, can we be made righteous before God, for the righteousness of Jesus has been imputed on to us.

There is nothing that we do that can make us right with God. All things amount to nothing. Turn to Jesus, for he is all that we need.

As the exam season draws to a close in a couple of days, I can't help but feel a slight sense of relief. Everyone's going to take a slight breather for 6 weeks before we start going full on for the second semester.

It has been tough preparing for exams, as I fight alongside my peers and against them. I'm learning together with them, yet competing with them at the same time.

It is important to keep my focus on Christ, especially at this particular stage. I have to, and I must continually remind myself to be in this world, but not of it. Results can only bring me that far in life. The certificate can only last till I get hired, and I will not be able to bring it along when Christ comes again, or when I'm returned to dust. These things mean nothing to God. It is through Christ that I receive forgiveness of sins and redemption from the jaws of death. I do not need good grades to be right with God. I only need Jesus Christ. If the results turn out bad, thank God, for he has given me something greater than anything that this world can give.

Thank you, God :)

Hits. And misses.

There have been plenty of times when things just don't go the way we wished they had happened. Tangible stuff, and intangible ones. It's as easy to misplace trust in someone as it is hard. Feeling hurt is becoming nothing more than a mere state of mind. The pace in which things move around us, we can never keep up with it.

Sometimes I wonder how it will be like if I could just live in a world of my own, I don't have to talk to people, I don't have to be concerned about what others are concerned about. That isn't any good either. Thoughts of being alone is unchartered territory, somewhere I do not wish to dwell for I am made to be relational.

Picking up from lessons I have learnt and moving on, I have resolved that it is pointless to put absolute trust in another person. I thought I trusted someone I knew well, but it was never trust at all. I am now full of doubt and skeptical with whatever is said, tainted with my perception of whom I've lost my trust to. It might grow into something malicious, or tables might just turn. It is beyond my control. I do not know what is going to come.

God has never failed. He has not failed and he will never fail. He is who I trust, He is who I have absolute faith in. You can beg to differ by all means, but you will not even shake me because I have my feet firmly planted. I will not move, I will just trust and pray.

I have met new people who are supportive and encouraging. God has placed me in a community of Christians in the midst of a mission field. Hand in hand we will put on the full armour of God and head out, not fearing because of our hopes in Christ. Can I trust those I fight alongside with? At the current stage, yes. We all start out trusting others till that trust is breached. The road is tough, but those who are in Christ are unbeatable.