An Ex-Credit Suisse Colleague

I have an ex-credit suisse colleague who had this on his facebook profile.

Religious Views: I don't like to pick a god.

He met with an accident and passed away about two years ago.

Don't play a fool with the eternity of our lives. 

The Mighty Acts of the LORD

"Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise?" Ps. 106:2

What has the LORD done that constitute His mighty acts?
1. He created the world and all that is in it including us.
2. He sustains what He has created it. Does the earth stop rotating? Do plants stop growing?
3. He loves and saves us. Not willing that we might perish, He sent His son to die for us that we might live.
4. He has prepared a place for us for eternity.
5. He sanctifies us that we can live for Him.

The Nature of Religion

The Bible informs us that man was created in the image of God. Notice that only man is created in the image of God. Animals, fishes, plants and other living things aren't. Among all the nations and tribes of the earth, men have demonstrated a tendency to worship a higher being. You don't see monkeys gathering around a bonfire worshiping. This is the sense of religion that is within men, because he is made in the image of God. This sense of religion touches the deepest springs of man's life and also controls his thoughts, feelings and desires.

But just what is religion? Religion is the fear of God. This fear is not a feeling of dread, but of reverent regard for God, coupled with love, confidence, faith and godliness.

In reverent awe of God, man is conscious of the absolute majesty and infinite power of God and of his own utter insignificance and absolute helplessness. 

In love of God, its a conscious and voluntary relationship to God, which expresses itself in grateful worship and loving service. 

The manner of this religious worship and service is not left to the arbitrary will of man, but is determined by God.

Ask Ourselves

What is our attitude towards God? Is it one of disinterest or going through ritualistic motions? Are we regarding God as center in our lives? Do we treat Him with love, faith, confidence and godliness? Or are we just going to church on Sundays and live our sinful lives for the rest of the week? 

May we resolve to love God, with all our hearts, minds, soul and strength by glorifying Him in our speech, our actions, our thoughts, our hopes and our decisions.

Is Each Breathe We Take the Grace of God?

Yes.

Ps. 104:29 "You take away their breadth, they die and return to their dust."

Does God Leave the Earth to Run on Its Own After Creating It?

No. He continues to sustains it. Provides for it.

Ps 104:14 "He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man that it may bring forth food,"
104:19 "He appointed the moon for seasons, the sun knows its going down,"
104:21 "The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God."

How Should We Respond When Our Enemy Falls?

Pr 24:17 "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles."

We should not gloat the failure of an enemy for that displeases God. In fact, God will discipline us when we do so.

Pr. 24:18 "Lest the Lord see it and it displeases Him, and He turn away His wrath from Him."

Is God Evil When He instructed the Israelites to Completely Destroy their Enemies when entering Canaan?

Actually, such a question is already disrespectful to God as we are not trusting in His sovereignty. But the bible also clearly tells us the reason why He does so.

Deut 7:4 "for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you."

If the Israelites did not destroy them completely, they would intermarry with the pagans and be influenced to idolatry and all other kinds of immorality associated with it.

One debatable point which others have also raised is that by killing those who have not reached the age of accountability, God is actually merciful to them by ending their lives prematurely before they are allowed to fall into sin.

What should we beware of when we seek to obey God's commands?

We should not fall into the trap where we outwardly obey the commands of God but yet in our hearts, its actually willful disobedience.

Deut 5:29 "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever."

With outward actions, we obey. More importantly, we obey in reverent fear to God in our hearts. We do this because He is God. And a added bonus is, He blesses us when we do so.

Are there other gods other than the one revealed in the bible?

No.

Deut 4:39 says "Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in Heaven above and on the earth below. THERE IS NO OTHER."

Deut 5:7, in the first of the ten commandments, "You shall have no other gods before me."

We don't have to waste time looking for false gods in our lives. The one true God, creator of the universe, of this world, of the lands, of the seas, and of you and me is revealed in the bible. Pick it up. Read it. Obey it. You will know this God. I can't describe the blessings that will be poured upon you if you do so.

How do false teachers deceive people?

False teachers are not obvious. Hence, only then are they able to deceive people as they are mistaken as true teachers. So how do they do it? They do not go around saying that Jesus is false. Such are blatantly obvious. What they do are secretly, subtlety, they infuse twists and turns into the Word of God.

Deut 4:2 says, "Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you."

False teachers slowly but surely add extra man made stuff into the bible. They will say, you should pray in detail what you want for, only then will God know what you want and thus will provide. If you are not detailed enough, your prayers will not be answered. One proponent of this is Cho Yonggi, mentor of Kong Hee.

Another way that false teachers tweak the bible to fit the interests of man is to subtract from it. They preach that God will cause prosperity. But they do not preach that He casts down woes as well. They preach that God will give. But they do not preach that He takes as well (Job 1:21). They preach that God saves, but they do not preach that God judges as well. One such proponent is Joel Osteen.

We should take the whole counsel of God. Not add to it man centered ideas, nor take away the works of God which we do not like to hear.

Hold Fast to a True Salvation (2 Thess 2:13-17)

http://technologyfortruth.com/jason/2thess(1).m4a

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Workplace Witnessing (Part X)

The Effects of Daniel's Workplace Witnessing

Nebuchadnezzar praising God. Daniel 3:28-30, 4:34-37
Darius praising God. Daniel 6:19-20, 26-27
Daniel's services were retained by the new Persian ruler, Cyrus the Great, and he probably played a part in persuading Cyrus to allow the Jews to return from exile to their native land of Judah.

The Pseudepigrapha

The Pseudepigrapha or False writings are writings whose authors fake other famous authors' names. e.g. include famous author names from the OT/NT. The aim is to let the work have more influence in the christianity circle.

Though like the Apocrypha, not in the canon yet has remained as the works of the early Christian church, but what's different with the Apocrypha is that its authority is below that of the Apocrypha. If we say that the Apocrypha is a reference to faith, devotion or doctrine related materials, then the Pseudepigrapha is just a religious literary work.

There are a huge quantity of such books. They were authored between 200 BC - 200 AD. What is worth mentioning is that the NT authors have used a portion of the Apocrypha. E.g., Jude 14 "It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying,“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, "


The Pseudepigrapha is not a devils' bible or heresy. They are literary works popular during the early christian church.

What Are The Apocrypha?

The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical".

The Hebrew bible does not include the apocrypha, but it was preserved in the Septuagint, which is the Greek O.T.

Though in the times of Jesus and the apostles, the most popular version of the OT is the Septuagint, however, authors of the NT did not refer to the apocrypha books in it.

However, in the 4-5th century, many church fathers like Gregory of Nazianzus started to suspect the canonizing of these books. Jerome, accepted only the Hebrew bible books to be the canon. He felt that it was necessary to distinguish the books of the Hebrew bible and the other books. Thus, he started using the term 'Apocrypha' to refer to the books not canonized into the Hebrew bible. The Latin bible which edited, Vulgate did not include the Apocrypha books in the bible. because of Jerome, the churches of the middle ages suspected the legality of the apocrypha.

In the 16th century, in the council of trent, 1546 by the RCs, they announced the apocrypha had authority and included them into the canon, thus which became the RC bible of the Deuterocanonical books. The Protestants however denied the canon of the Apocrypha. Thus, the Christian OT has 39 books (same as Judaism) and the RC, 46 books in the OT.

However, Martin Luther when he was translated the German bible, included the Apocrypha books and included in his preface, that reading the Apocrypha has its benefits. But he did not place them on the same level of authority. In England, later, initally the apocrypha was included but then, the Puritans after it gained strength, pointed out in the Westminster Confession that the Apocrypha is just the work of man, and it cannot be placed on the same authority as the bible. This was accepted widely by the Protestants.

How Did We Get The New Testament?

Formation of the New Testament

The formation of the N.T. went through a long period as well. The four gospels as well as the 13 epistles of Paul were affirmed in about 130 AD by the church as having sacred authority scriptures. About AD170-220, they had the same authority as the OT canon. The rest of the NT books were canonized later. Amongst them which stirred greatest controversy were Hebrews, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation.

On the other hand, there were other works which were earlier recognized as having authority but later not canonized. E.g. Epistle of Barnabas and Shepherd of Hermas.

The earliest church NT list of titles was written in AD367 by Athanasius titled, the 'Festal Epistle'. The order in which he wrote was, the Gospels, Acts, Major letters, Pauline letters, Revelation. In AD 397, north africa in a meeting, they decided that the 27 books listed by Athanasius to be the canon which we have today.

After the 16th century, the Protestant church (新教／更正教) had a meeting and affirmed the 66 books of the NT, OT canon. The Roman Catholics in 1546 in the council of trent added seven more books into the canon. Thus, the RC's canon became 73 books. The eastern orthodox church in 1672 added 14/15 books in their canon which made their canon 80/81 books.

We have to note that this does not mean that the books were decided to be in the canon by these meetings, e.g. Jewish meetings, the Synod of Jamnia, Catholic Church, Carthage Meeting, because man has no ability to decide or judge which books' content are God's Words. Rather, the Holy Spirit led the Jewish rabbis to understand which books ought to be in the OT canon. Similarly, the Holy Spirit led the early church to understand which books's content were the word of God. God revealed His word to some Christian authors, and through their writings, presented the Word of God in written form.

Thus, before the period of Athanasius, various churches already knew and recognized which books were deemed to have authority. This is because they were moved by the same Spirit. Only till the 4th century, when the church met with heresies that the church decided in AD 397 to be the canon. The rest of the meetings similarly were just to re-affirmed what was already recognized to be the canon in the believers circle.

How Did We Get The Old Testament Bible?

The formation of scriptures into the bible we have today is termed as the 'canon'. Its original meaning is the carpenter's ruler or measuring tool. Later, this term came to mean 'standard'. In Christianity, the term canon came to mean holy scriptures which have absolute authority and is the highest standard of the faith.

The formation of the bible did not happen in an instance nor was did it dropped from heaven. Its was formed through a period of time. It was formed by the Holy Spirit moving through the Christian church. This process is the known as the 'Formation of Canon' or 'Canonical Process'.

Formation of the Old Testament

The Old Testament bible is also known as the Hebrew bible. It is received from Judaism and therefore thought as revealed and completed（达成） through the Jews. "First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God." Romans 3:1-2. Judaism is though of as the medium through which the O.T. canon came.

The Hebrew bible includes three portions. The 'Pentateuch' or 'Torah/Law', 'the Prophets' and the 'Writings.'

The Hebrew bible was formed firstly through oral communication/tradition. Later, the contents of the oral message was written down. The records were consolidated between 8th BC - 3rd BC. The Torah was consolidated around 4th BC. The prophets and writings were consolidated around 5th-3rd BC - 1st AD.

The confirmation of the OT canon began only after the second destruction of the holy temple in 70 AD.  It was done by  the rabbis who confirmed which books belonged to the canon. At the Synod of Jamnia in AD 70, it confirmed the 24 books in the Hebrew bible (??). We should take note, that though the OT was only confirmed then, in actual fact, many of the books were already affirmed by the Jewish community as part of the canon. For e.g., Jesus and the disciples used many O.T. verses and termed these as 'the Writings/Scriptures', Mt 22:29, Mk 12:24, Lk 24:32,45...

Thus, what we have discussed is the last confirmation（确立） of the canon (AD 70) and not to say that that is the date where it was accepted （接受）as the canon.

Essentially, the Rabbis used three principles to decide which book were to be in the canon.

First, it had to be authored before the time of Malachi. It had to be a work completed before 400 BC. This is because the Jewish rabbis felt that because of the disobedience of the Israelites, God's spirit left the Israelites, thus after Malachi, God did not reveal anymore.

Second, the books needed to be authored in Hebrew. A minor portion of text in the Hebrew bible was written in Arabic. The rest were written in Hebrew.

Thirdly, the books needed to be generally affirmed and accepted by the Jews and recognized it as having sacred authority. It also had to have general authority.

Thus, the rabbis chose form large amounts of books, and then affirmed it to be the OT we see today.

Workplace Witnessing (Part IX)

Acknowledge the Source of Strength 宣告智慧的源头

"The king asked Daniel, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.“
Daniel 2:26-30



Build Relationships and Conversations. Many people distance themselves from friendships at work. I think Christians should not do that. We should strive to do that. How can we lead someone to Christ when we are not even willing that we be friends with them?

Have conversations during breaks (morning coffee, colleagues, lunch). During such conversations, how do you start to witness? How do I start a discussion? e.g. someone asks you how is your weekend? Oh, i go to church. Have you ever been...In church we learn...

无私的关怀 Care beyond work. This is where sets us apart from non believing workers. Having built a relationship, we can get more in depth conversations and start to see the needs and problems of our colleagues which only God can resolve. We can pray for their need. We can tell them what the bible says of their problems.

Many in the workplace have never known the love of Christ. You might be the only one they ever meet who can introduce them to this love.

Jesus modeled love and service in the marketplace. His ministry was also in the workplace. Of 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had a workplace context. Of 40 divine interventions recorded in Acts, 39 were in the marketplace. He modeled servant leadership and taught his disciples that serving others was the central focus of his life and should be the central focus of their lives as well.

People do not care what you know; they want to know that you care. When you genuinely take an interest in another person in the workplace, you will become a credible person in their eyes. You will stand out among the crowd. Recently I took a phone call from a CEO of a company. The man shared how he was impacted by the TGIF devotionals a family member began sending him. I recognized the man was not a Christian. We began to talk, even though I was pressed for time as I was leaving town that afternoon. The man ultimately prayed to receive Christ over the phone. Later, the man commented on how impressed he was that I took time with him on the phone when I was pressed to get out of town. As a busy executive, this man equated time with love and service to him. That is what the world is looking for.

Workplace Witnessing (Part VIII)

Prayer for self and others

"He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of Heaven concerning this mystery... " Daniel 2:18

在见证主当中，我们要指向人到这一位听祷告的主。他们带着人生的忧虑，重担，罪孽。我们需要进一步的和他们谈话，关怀他们。多了解他们，以致才可以介绍听祷告的主给他们。

我们也要记得我们有了尊君祭司的名份，需要在他们当中代表神，与他们分享主的身份，主的话，并且，为他们祷告。

所以，我们可以和我们的同事一起的祷告。让他们经理到他们可以向这一位神祷告。也鼓励他们给进一步的认识这位神。

分享带领学生与她母亲的见证。他们这么样认识主，就是从一起祷告开始。

Workplace Witnessing (Part VII)

Show Concern for Co-Workers

"The Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends ..." Daniel 2:17

Care beyond work. This is where sets us apart from non believing workers. Having built a relationship, we can get more in depth conversations and start to see the needs and problems of our colleagues which only God can resolve. We can pray for their need. We can tell them what the bible says of their problems.

Many in the workplace have never known the love of Christ. You might be the only one they ever meet who can introduce them to this love. 

Jesus modeled love and service in the marketplace. His ministry was also in the workplace. Of 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had a workplace context. Of 40 divine interventions recorded in Acts, 39 were in the marketplace. He modeled servant leadership and taught his disciples that serving others was the central focus of his life and should be the central focus of their lives as well.

People do not care what you know; they want to know that you care. When you genuinely take an interest in another person in the workplace, you will become a credible person in their eyes. You will stand out among the crowd. Recently I took a phone call from a CEO of a company. The man shared how he was impacted by the TGIF devotionals a family member began sending him. I recognized the man was not a Christian. We began to talk, even though I was pressed for time as I was leaving town that afternoon. The man ultimately prayed to receive Christ over the phone. Later, the man commented on how impressed he was that I took time with him on the phone when I was pressed to get out of town. As a busy executive, this man equated time with love and service to him. That is what the world is looking for.

Workplace Witnessing (Part VI)

Work Excellence - Willingness to Face Problems 

"When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. He asked the king's office, 'Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?' Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him." Daniel 2:14-17

Workplace witnessing involves not running away but facing problems when they arise. When all the wise men were ordered to be executed what was the response for Daniel? He didn't avoid it, he didn't run away from it. He wanted to resolve the problem as long as it is in his means.

He enquired, identified about the problem first by asking Arioch, the commander of the King's guard. Note that he did it with wisdom and tact. He faced the problem head on. Once having identified the problem, he went in to the king!

Though he does not yet know how to resolve, he was willing to face it. To shoulder it. Do we do likewise? We often avoid it when we should face it. We often procrastinate and put it off till it hurts. May we learn from Daniel his willingness to face problems. And we can learn from his wisdom that often when we don't know how to resolve a problem, ASK FOR TIME!

Workplace Witnessing (Part V)

Work Excellence 卓越精神

"In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in the whole kingdom." Daniel 1:20

"Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” Dan 6:3

在工作，品格上卓越

Workplace witnessing involves excelling in your work and character. Excel in your product or service. Be helpful. Help solve problems. Be a team player （具有团体精神）.

But note that it is not enough to Excel, for even the pagans do that (eg. Japanese) and we might be doing it for ourselves (eg promotion, pay raise). While excelling in our work, we MUST make known our identity that we are Christians (straight telling them, bible on your desk, refrain from pagan practices like 4D, drinking, entertainment). 回到第一点。

And then, we can tell them the reason why we excel is because our God demands excellence, hardwork. He Himself is a God of excellence. Look at His creation!

Character Excellence 品格上卓越

"...tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent." Daniel 6:4

Be trustworthy, not corrupt, not negligent.  It naturally attracts people to you and wonder why you are doing what you are doing. And this is where you can point them to a perfectly righteous, trustworthy God.

Don’t Cut Corners! 不要偷工减料

The reason why we display integrity is because our God is a righteous God of integrity. We love, we help because our God is a loving God who commands us to love our neighbours as ourselves. We should not cut corners. Don’t lie. Don’t take a bribe. Be righteous in your dealings.


I believe Satan’s number one strategy is to defeat Christians in the workplace, make them ineffective in their workplace witness. This is why many cite they would rather not do business with a Christian. 

I believe this trend will change as we become better equipped to see our work as a ministry and calling. We have so segmented our work lives from our faith lives that we have allowed the culture to encourage us that ethics and integrity are not important when compared to the bottom line. That is why we got into the problem with the Enron’s and Worldcom’s of the world. Remember, integrity is defined by what you do when no one is looking.

Workplace Witnessing (Part IV)

Not Compromising Yet Providing Alternative Solutions 

不妥协，却找出和解的办法

"Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." Daniel 1:12-13

The wise Christian worker not only stands resolute in his christian values. Although he knows that he should not compromise his christian values and do anything that might bring God's name to shame, he does not just reject and risks others calling him stubborn, inflexible or cause the work to come to a halt.

We should be wise to provide alternative solutions to co-workers/superiors that still will get the job done yet not compromising our faith. When Daniel was asked to eat the royal food and wine, he refused. However, he provided an alternative solution that he was to be fed vegetables and water to drink and after ten days, compare his appearance with the others.

找出和解的办法需要付代价

Now, coming up with an alternative solution involves wisdom and a price to pay. We have to pray for wisdom to think of these alternatives. We have to also be prepared to pay a heavier price like in the case of Daniel where he had to eat vegetables instead of meat and drink water instead of wine.

When I was in the army, the senior warrant officers would often urge the younger specialists to go with them to KTV lounges during the nights where they would indulge in drinking and women. Often, they lie to their spouses that they are having night training and have a valid excuse to come back late at night. When i was asked to go with them, it was a simple decision for me to make. No. i made a vow to be faithful to my wife and more so to God, to obey His word. So do you think they saw lesser of me just because i didn't go with them?

I worked harder during training, helped them when they needed it, chatted with them on the daily concerns of living, and i believe that i forged a closer and truer bond then those who had gone to the lounges with them. Though these involve paying a price, you have to spend time, effort, but its worth it.

当和解不了。。。你尊容神，神必尊容你

Once in the polytechnic, i was offered a chance to go to MIT on a exchange course for five weeks. I was supposed to learn some best practices there and bring it back to be implemented. However, during that time, my baby was just two months old. Both mother and child needed my support greatly. I wanted to go, get the exposure, but I had to fulfill duty to my wife and child. I tried to think of alternatives. Its not easy sometimes. I wanted to bring them along but it was winter then and it would be too cold. I thus knew that bringing them wasn't the solution.

I tried negotiating for a shorter duration and do more video conferencing to make up for it but management refused. It was to be five weeks. Sometimes, you cannot compromise and others also will not accept your alternative suggestions. It is in these instances that you just have to stick with your resolve and forego some things. Till this day, i don't regret my decision not to go. In the end, there were several many other projects/chances for me to show my contributions and also balance fulfilling duty to my family.

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. ” Daniel 3:16-18

记得Eric Liddel 的例子吗？

Workplace Witnessing (Part III)

Don't Compromise Your Christian Values

"But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way." Daniel 1:8

In Daniel 1, we know that Nebuchadnezzar had successfully invaded Jerusalem. He then selected qualified man from amongst the Jews, brought them to serve in his palace. Among them were Daniel and three of his good friends.

He resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine that he was offered in the palace because he knew that there was the possibility that they had been prior offered to idols or that there were unclean components in the food. Though immersed in the Babylonian culture, he resolved to maintain his Jewish culture because in his heart, that was God honoring. In his workplace, he resolved not to compromise his God honoring values.

Similarly, in our workplace, the first step to workplace witnessing is to establish our identity as Christians amongst everyone. Establishing our identity is not just wearing a cross, placing a bible on our desks, or tell people that we go to church on sundays. That is important. But truly establishing our identity is resolving to our Christian values when the call for compromise arises.

When you are asked to bring a client to entertainment spots which involves sexual immorality or drunkenness, what values do you hold on to? If you often have to miss sunday service because of work, what alternative arrangements do you do? When colleagues are engaging in gossip, do you add fuel to the fire or do you act as the peacemaker? When there are unrighteous dealings in your company, how do you react to it?

Workplace Witnessing (Part II)

Why don’t we witness at the workplace?

We know we are supposed to witness for Christ 24 by 7. But we just do not do so. Here are some reasons why we don’t do it.

- We have a bad testimony in the workplace
- We are not burdened with the call to witness for Christ.
- We are afraid that we will be viewed as weird.
- We are too busy with our work that we overlook it.
- We cannot find chances to do so.
- We are afraid that it might affect our working relationship with colleagues/managers/subordinates.


So exactly how do we draw strength to witness at the workplace and be a victorious Christian? We will learn lessons from a favorite character of mine in the bible. His name is Daniel.

Workplace Witnessing (Part I)

Why do we have to witness at our workplaces? 

At the end of all the four gospels, it is always a command to preach the gospel. We always concentrate on Matthew, but actually, the rest of the gospels end with a command the bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. Do you realize this?

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” Matt 28:19
“Go down to the ends of the earth and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15
“The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:46-47
“Feed my sheep.” John 21:15-17


Therefore, the command to preach the gospel is crystal clear. 


Preaching the gospel involves time, effort, talking to people, leveraging on relationships with people. Where and when do we do these most? At the workplace. In a week, five/six out of seven days are spent at the workplace. If we don’t witness at the workplace, when will we do so? We have wasted too many opportunities to bring someone closer to Christ. May we make the most of chances from now on.


Witnessing at the workplace is the main means of bringing people to the church. Workplace witnessing is also the main objective of working other than as a livelihood and supporting the ministry of God.

Dealing with Jealousy

F.B. Meyer told the following experience to a few personal friends. 

"It was easy," he said, "to pray for the success of G.Campbell Morgan when he was in America. But when he came back to England and took a church near to mine, it was something different. The old Adam in me was inclined to jealousy, but I got my heel upon his head, and whether i felt right toward my friend, i determined to act right."

"My church gave a reception for him and i acknowledged that if it was not necessary for me to preach Sunday evenings, I would dearly love to go and hear him myself. Well, that made me feel right toward him. But just see how the dear Lord helped me out of my difficulty. There was Charles Spurgeon preaching wonderfully on the other side of me. He and Mr. Morgan were so popular, and drew such crowds, that our church caught the overflow and we had all we could accommodate."


Jealousy shoots at others and wounds herself.
Jealousy is misery's companion.
Those who are green with envy often become red with anger.
But what if all were like me? The world would come to a certain end.
So trust in the Lord's sovereignty, that He uses all people for His glory. 

Dealing with Discontentment

There were two fields divided by a fence. Both fields were about the same size and each plenty of grass, green and lush.

In each field, there was a sheep and each sheep had his head through the fence eating grass from the other sheep's pasture. All around each sheep in his own field was plenty of grass, yet the grass in the other field seemed greener or fresher, although it was harder to get.

In the process, the sheeps were caught in the wires and were unable to free themselves.

Are we often discontented with what we have? Does it seem that others have it better?


"But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Tim 6:6

If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.

"Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Luke 12:15

How Should a Christian Respond to the CHC Saga (Part 3)

Lastly, we should discern if we are following a Pastor blindly or we are truly following God. Days after the fraud has been revealed, it is shown that there are many who still support the pastor even when there are things revealed which are contrary to the bible as shown in the previous posts.
http://jasonljq.blogspot.sg/2012/07/how-should-christian-respond-to-chc_09.html
http://jasonljq.blogspot.sg/2012/07/how-should-christian-respond-to-chc.html

We have to be careful if we are treating a particular pastor in a position which is above God as revealed in the bible. We have to be careful not to treat a pastor as an idol. This is particularly if he teaches contrary to the bible.

Pray about it. Pray that God gives you the wisdom and the courage to make a decision which He favors. Discern the scriptures and examine yourself if what the pastor has taught is biblical.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Tim 6: 6-10

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2: 15


"There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" 2 Timothy 3: 2-4

将你最好的献给主

神在利未记多次的强调，当我们奉献给神的时候，不应该随便。所奉献的，应该是我们所拥有的最好的。就如献上没有残疾的公羊，奉献初熟的果子，我们有没有奉献我们最好的给神吗？

愿我们在一切事情上，把最好的献给神。

Making Sense Out Of Suffering

I recently visited a good friend of my mother. He's a great golf companion (taught me some swings before), and always in high spirits. He has been fighting cancer for a few years now but has always mustered enough strength to play golf on Saturdays.

However, in the recent Saturdays, he has been missing in action. It is suspected there is a growing tumor which is pressing against his spine. As a result, it is causing severe pain for his entire right leg up to the hips. The pain is so severe to the extend that he has to administer morphine for pain relief. To counter the tumor growth, he has to undergo 12 sessions of radiotherapy.  The doctor however has pre-cautioned that there is no guarantee that it would remove the pain. This is because the strain on the spine if its caused by mechanical reasons, i.e. slipped disc, then removing the tumor growth would not solve the root of the problem.

He shared that it is most painful in the morning when he attempts to stretch himself. When sitting down or driving, he has to find his 'sweet spot' for the position that his pain is most relieved. His days now involve going to radiotherapy sessions, countless hospital visits and regular administration of pain relief. Its just not too long ago that he underwent an operation in which his wife shared that he almost lost his life.

When I chatted with him, i will always remember his first words, 'Count my blessings'. He is a devout Christian who has great faith and submission to God. He says, 'I pray for a miracle, that God will heal me. But if He has another plan for me, may God help me to submit to His good will.' He quotes Romans 8:28, "For all things work for the good of those who love Him."

I told him that he reminds me of a modern day Job. Job as recorded in the bible, was a God fearing man, blameless, upright, and shunned evil. He had many children, had many possessions and servants. However, one day, God allowed Satan to test Job. Overnight, all his children died, his servants killed, his possessions stolen. Job, tearing his robe out of extreme sorrow, shaved his head and fell to the ground worshiping, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked i will return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:20-21) Through all this, Job did not blame God for his misfortune. He held his faith and submission to God.

That wasn't the end of Job's sufferings. Some days later, Job was inflicted with sore boils on his entire body. Even his wife said, "Do you hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" Job however replied, "You speak as one of the foolish woman speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:9-10) To make things worse, some friends of Job came and blamed Job that the reason he was under so much suffering was that because he had sinned against God though he had not. He was not only under physical pain, more so, he was undergoing emotional hurt.

Job complained, questioned, and challenged God's wisdom and justice. And finally, God Himself spoke. God spoke of His mighty power, "Where were you when I laid out the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding." (Job 38:4) "Have you ever commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place," (Job 38:12). God spoke of His authority over nature and its beings. "Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?" (Job 39:19) "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?" (Job 41:1-2)

God does not give us a direct reason on why there are sufferings. But He wants us to know that it is all in His sovereignty. It is in His good will. All things, good or bad, work out to God's good will. He just requires that we trust in Him.

In the ending of Job, it records that God gave back to him double of what he had lost. He restored his possessions, healed him, and give him children again. However, God does not promise us the necessity of health or wealth though He often blesses it to us. We cannot be eternally healthy or eternally wealthy. Even if we are healed now, we will one day have to face death too. Even if we are in prosperity now, there will be one day when we have to leave all that behind. There will be a time when we just have to let go and let God. God might not necessarily resolve our problems in this life time, be it healing our illnesses, or our state of poverty, But He assures us that in heaven, there will no longer be pain nor suffering. Every tear will be wiped away. We just have to trust in the good God Himself. Our satisfaction should only be in God Himself.

Uncle Timothy has a living hope. A hope based on earthly matters will diminish as death nears. But his hope is a living hope which does not diminishes as the days to death nears but one which grows livelier and  livelier  till he actually sees Christ face to face. He himself said, he no longer fears the sting of death. Christ abides in him, and he abides in Christ.


It is certainly not easy at all, to go through suffering. We are all weak people. But may we rely on prayer to Him, to help us in our difficulties, and to trust in Him that He knows best what is good for us.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

The question is often asked, "If there is a God, a loving, merciful God, why does He allow people to suffer? How can He allow humans to experience the terrible accidents, illnesses, crime, wars and troubles that are so common in this world every day? Doesn't He care?"

God does care

He knows when humans suffer. He is God. His perspective is infinitely greater than ours. He sees the "bigger picture" - that our experiences as mortal humans, however painful or unhappy, will be to our eventual benefit. 


When a parent takes an infant to the doctor for a regular vaccination to prevent some childhood disease, it's because the parent cares for and loves that child. The young child however will almost always see things very differently. When the doctor's needle goes into that little arm, the child will often cry out and howl from the pain. It may look up at the parent, with those big innocent eyes, in the most pleading and pitiful way, as if to say, "Look at the horrible thing that's happening to me! Don't you care about my terrible suffering? How can you just stand there and allow this to go on? Don't you love me?"


The parent however knows better. He or she is aware that everything is going to be all right in a very short time (even though it almost always has an emotional impact on the parent to see the child distressed in such a way). A minor, brief pain is the price the child pays for a healthier life later.

God's Good Will in the Midst of Suffering

Just as an infant cannot possibly understand the motives of its parent while it is still only a child, so too we cannot appreciably comprehend God's will for us while we are still as we are. It's a matter of perspective - the brief few years of a physical human lifetime, versus the eternity, time without end, that will follow.


God is our ultimate parent. He knows all about the problems we often have, but He also knows that our experiences with pain and suffering, along with all of the good experiences that we may have, will, help mould us into the kind of person that God wants us to be.

God's Offer of Life, Christ

God is not about to willingly abandon any of His children for whom the price of life has been paid. Loss will only occur as the result of a knowing, deliberate refusal to accept God's offer of life,
Jesus Christ Himself, who died for our sins, even though He had lived a perfectly sinless life, and had committed no crime, was brutally beaten, flogged and crucified in great agony.


Let's remember that even the longest human life is merely like a single grain of sand on the infinite beach of the eternal life to come. After we have become immortal, even a century of the worst human pain and suffering would seem to us as almost insignificant, a momentary jab with a vaccination needle, and we will surely be the better for having experienced it.

A Day Where There Will Be No More Suffering

It records in the last book of the bible, Revelation 21:3-4
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”


Suffering on earth will only be temporary. There will be a day when God will wipe every tear off our eyes. There will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain. Let's fix our eyes and faith upon Christ, who endured the greatest suffering for us that we have the hope of eternal paradise, a new heaven and earth when sufferings will be no more.

How Should a Christian Respond to the CHC Saga? (Part 2)

The financial fraud is a criminal offense in the eyes of the law and time will tell if Kong Hee will be convicted. Now however, what’s worse is that Kong Hee has not announced any words of apologies or repentance. In his tweet, he says, “Anyone can say anything but they cannot take away the belief of the countless whose lives were transformed as a result of the endeavour.” The endeavour was referring to the ‘Crossover Project’, where the funds were used to support the international singing career of Ho Yeow Sun. The reason Kong Hee had embarked on the project was because he had hoped that through the music of Ho Yeow Sun, the love of God would be made known to those listening to the music.

If Sun had been singing christian hymns and spreading the gospel, I think it would be more of a reason to embark on the project. However, just do a quick search on Google Images for her and it will be filled with many photos of her wearing revealing and sexy clothes. A music video of hers, entitled ‘China Wine’ has totally no indication at all in telling a message of God.

Remember that God is holy, and therefore, believers are to be holy. Now instead of telling a message of God’s love, you stir up the lustful desires in many men with revealing attire and sultry dances. Didn’t Jesus commands that anyone who lusts after a girl has already committed adultery with her in their hearts? How many have been lured into the sin of adultery by her?

What is the means by which the gospel is preached? Jesus commands His disciples, go and make disciples of all nations, and teaching them to obey everything that He had commanded. His commands are contained in the bible, the Word of God. There is no other way to proclaim the love of God other than to preach from the bible. The love of God cannot be proclaimed in a general message of love where there is no or implicit mention of God. The medium through which God is proclaimed is the bible and only through the bible.

Would Jesus favor the ‘Crossover Project’? That this is the right means through which His salvation be proclaimed? Why strive for a singing career in hollywood and not in more remote areas of the world where more would not have heard of the gospel? Why live in such a lavish house which is said that monthly expense go above $20,000?


to be continued...

How Should a Christian Respond to the CHC Saga? (Part 1)

I just got back from a Japan trip for a family tour and to visit a missionary couple in Fukuoka. Just before I left, the news of CHC pastor Kong Hee falsifying the church’s financial account was reported in the news. Many people came to his defense. Among them, many quoted Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” to criticise Christians who have given disapproval to the actions of Kong Hee.

Firstly, this is not the true meaning of Matthew 7:1. The verse does not mean that we should not point out from the mistakes of others. In the same chapter, Mt 7:15 records, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.” How are we to identify false prophets? Doesn’t that involve judging them to see if what they preach and do are what the bible approves of? Doesn’t it take careful judging to see amongst the sheep if one of them is a wolf waiting to devour the rest of the sheep?

Mt 7:16 goes on, “You will recognize false prophets by their fruit...” It carries on in 7:17-20, “every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, neither can a bad tree produce good fruit....So you will recognize them by their fruit.”  How do we recognize if we are not allowed to judge? The very nature of recognizing if someone is a true teacher of God’s Word involves judgement. It involves careful discernment. Careful discernment if a person who claims to be a teacher of the bible has produced good fruit. That is, if he has lead a life that God favours, by doing good, not only in outwardly actions where it is visible by surrounding man, but more importantly, having a truly pure heart with inwardly good intentions which only God can see.

Jesus in fact commands us to judge righteously. Jesus once went into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were astonished at the authority of His teaching. But yet, they began to reject His teaching and even claimed that there is a demon inside Him (John 7:20). Jesus responded to them not to judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement (John 7:24). To judge if He is in fact a demon, or the true Son of God.

So what did Jesus meant when he spoke the words in Mt 7:1? Jesus was speaking to his disciples to be on guard against the hypocritical, unfair, self-righteous, harsh judging by the Pharisees. The Pharisees judge others but they themselves are committing the same sin or even worse sin. They command people to do good but they themselves are not doing it (Mt 23). They impose overly self righteous moral standards and laws to the people which they themselves are not observing. They cheat the possessions of widows’ (23:14), did not exercise justice and mercy (23:23). Jesus condemns the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in a whole chapter in Mt 23.

Jesus is not telling us that we are not to recognize the mistakes of others if they have truly committed a wrong. He is telling us not to be the kind of people who would judge other people’s wrong and yet, ourselves committing the same kind of sin that they have just judged. This is the hypocritical judging that Jesus does not allow us to have. He says in Mt 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” He carries on in 7:5, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

An example of hypocritical judging is if someone is watching pornography, yet he rebukes another brother for looking lustfully at scantily clad women in a magazine. Isn’t the case of pornography worse?

Jesus wants us to first examine ourselves for any sin that we might have first before we rebuke the similar sin in others. Thus, in the case of Kong Hee, when we read of the financial fraud that he has committed, let us examine ourselves of any financial fraud that we might have committed too. Have we ourselves gain any dishonest profits or possessions?

But this is not to say that we can just take a neutral stance towards his case of financial fraud. Financial fraud in the eyes of the law already warrants a life imprisonment sentence to the convict. There were two previous large scale financial fraud cases in Singapore. The first one, involved an employee in Asia Pacific Breweries who falsified 117 million. He was sentenced to 42 years in jail. The other involved an employee in Singapore Airlines who falsified 34 millions and was sentenced to 24 years in jail. In contrast, Kong Hee falsified 26 million and the highest penalty is a life time imprisonment.

The secular law already warrants such judgement against Kong Hee. What more the bible which examines in the inner most depths of the hearts of man? We have to be on guard against greed. We have to be alert to judge and recognize a church leader who is involved in financial fraud.

to be continued...

Dealing with Anxiety

An article i wrote awhile back. Its based on a sermon by Pastor Don Green.

Hope it helps you to trust God fully, shift our focus unto Him and not on our worries, for He provides.

Click on the link below.
Dealing with Anxiety

Be on the Watch for Christ's Coming Again

Luke 21:34-36
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

We have to be on the watch for Christ's second coming, just like the watchman on the Titanic watching for icebergs. The thing is, like the watchman on the Titanic, we fail to keep watch. We weigh ourselves down with being drunk. We indulge in leisure to temporarily fill our hearts and neglect the Lord who is the only one who can truly fill our hearts.

We weigh ourselves down with the worries of this life. Worrying puts away our sight on God. And we can no longer keep an alert watch on the deck but rather look at distractions.

Thus, because of this, the coming of Christ to such people will be sudden and they will be unprepared.

Who will face Christ's second coming? For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Everyone.

Thus, how should we prepare ourselves?

1. But stay awake at all times, We have to be awake in Christ. Awaken to His Word. His Kingdom. His commands on us. His requirements on us. We have to be sensitive to His glory, His wrath, His coming.

2. praying that you may have strength We have to pray. We have to dear near to God daily in prayer. Prayer come with a promise. It gives us strength. Strength to live for Him.

3. Finally, know that we will one day stand before the Son of Man. We will one day have to account for ourselves before Christ. While we had the chance, did we serve Him, obey Him, love Him, proclaim Him? Do them now, to prepare yourself.

Reading the Bible

Reading the bible is a basic yet so important thing that a Christian has to do. Psalms 1:2 tells us that it is a source of blessing. Blessed are those who meditate on the words of the Lord day and night.

Psalm 119:105 tells us that its the light that shines forth and guides our path during times of darkness and uncertainty.

We need to read the bible to know God and His commandments for us. Its the source of our blessing, to be able to obey His commands for us as our highest standard of life, and through that, enjoy peace, hope and love in our lives.

Its also our shield against evil and temptations. With the understanding of His word, we need not tread unnecessary futile paths. We need not fall into the crevasses of ours and others' sin.

Read the bible daily. Read it often. Read it with understanding. Read it with application to our lives. Its a blessing.

Limited Lives

It is often worth knowing that our lives are limited. Not because I am a passive pessimist,
or that I am a defeatist, but because the bible says so. Psalm 90:12 teaches us, "teach us to
number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

When we know that our finances are low, we will be wise to spend on only the necessary
things that matter. When we know that we do not have enough ammunition for the
military operation, we will make every shot count. When we know that we only have a
week left before the exams, we will take time to revise and not go out. When we know
that our days are limited, we will not waste our lives.

The lead actor in Spartacus, Andy Whitfield, passed away last year, at the young age of
40. I am 30. What will I do with my life for the next 10 years? God willing, what will I
do with my life or the next 40 years?

James 4:13-15 says, "You who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, do
some business and make money.'Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say,
If its the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

James goes on further in verse 16, "As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such
boasting is evil".

Are we boasting our arrogant schemes? Not afraid of tomorrow, so certain that we
will live till next year and earn a lot of money? Is the entreprenuer so certain that his
net profits will continue to pour in tomorrow? Is the stock investor so certain that his
portfolio will continue to grow next year? Are we so certain that we will live till next
year? Or are terminal illnesses or accidents just lurking behind us? Well isn't that why
we buy insurances?

But yet we are still living arrogantly. We do not seek the True and Living God. We reject
Him. We don't acknowledge Him. We form our own opinions about a vague god rather
than pursing His divinely revealed Word, the bible.

I am not a defeatist. I do not live fearing about when my life will end. I am not worried
about the expenses of life. For i have the promises of God as my assurance. I do continue
to work hard, and strive to be the best teacher, programmer, author or whatever role according
to the grace God has given me. But I know that i am not to be arrogant about all this.
Rather, if the Lord wills me to live for another day, may i do it for His glory.

I visited a cancer patient recently. A good friend of my mother's. Though he is in much
trial and suffering, yet he knows that God is good and all things are in his control and all
things happen for the good of those who love him. This is faith. This is testimony. This
is being a witness. I wanted to encourage, yet was encouraged. Wanted to comforted, yet
was comforted. Ah, the power and amazing ways of God.

Good Friday is coming. Have you acknowledge the Lord who died for you? Be arrogant
no longer. Come to Him in humility as your Lord and Savior.

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The Tenacity of Yanosuke Hirai

The Tenacity of Yanosuke Hirai

The nuclear spillout crisis which resulted from the Fukushima nuclear was largely because the breakwaters at the plant was only 10m and thus unable to defend against the 13m tsunami wave onslaught. Because the breakwaters didn't work, huge amounts of water overflowed into the low lying cooling generators which pumped water into the nuclear reactors to cool them down.

The generators soon stopped working and water was not pumped into the reactors thus causing temperatures in the reactor to soar and an explosion which cause the huge amounts of radiation to be spread all over.

Why did this happen only to nuclear plant in Fukushima? It so happened that the same killer waves crashed onto another nuclear plant at Onagawa. However, because its break waters were 14.8m high, it could effectively protect the plant from the 13m waves.

Now why were the breakwaters at Onagawa 14.8m high? It was due to the tenacity of one man. Yanosuke Hirai. He passed away in 1986. But his sense of responsibility and integrity saved Onagawa. When everyone was against building a breakwater at 14.8m high, he stood resolved. Other engineers felt that 12m was sufficient and the additional costs of extending the height was unwarranted. Yanosuke stood resolved. His responsibility saved the region of Onagawa from a similar one like that of Fukushima.

In the face of opposition, he knew to do what was right. You can read more of the story below.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/column/news/20120319p2a00m0na020000c.html?inb=rs&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

It reminded me of us Christians, to do what we know is right. Joshua and Caleb knew that obtaining the land of Canaan in spite of the enemy was the right thing to do for that was promised of God. Inspite of opposition from the ten other spies, they stood resolve to obtain the land. As a result, they were the only two men of that generation to enter the promised land.

Today, as Christians, we know of the impending judgement of God. If we are not washed in the blood of Christ, we will have to stand in judgement before God. However, the good news is that through Christ, we need not stand before this judgement. Instead, we are assured of a place, Christ himself has prepared for us, where we enjoy eternal rest. This is our faith. Are we willing to have the tenacity to hold on to, to spread, to defend this faith?

The tsunami of judgement is coming. We need to have the break water of Jesus. Are we willing to stand before others and say, that the existing breakwater of man's self help is not sufficient? That we need the breakwater of Christ? In the face of opposition, we have to do what's right. And only what's right, can save us.

Do you question if God is worth giving up your all?

Do you question if God is worth giving up your all?

Jesus told us that the most important command, is to love your God, with all your mind, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Paul tells us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices.

Do you ever struggle with this command? The bible tells us plainly that its a command. Non negotiable. Like an officer to a soldier, its an order. We struggle. We worry. We question if its worth it. But when we obey as such, we will be remembered by God and He will honor us. Perhaps, a story can help us. The story is told in Matt 26, Mark 14 and John 12.

It is only two days away from Jesus crucifixion. Jesus was in the home of Simon. Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, came with a jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard, broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

It is worth mentioning that the perfume was contained in a alabaster vial, made out of a special marble which is the best container for preserving expensive perfume and oils. The pure nard is oil derived from the nard plant native to India. That is was pure meant that it was genuine and unadulterated which made it so costly. The perfume was worth more than a year's wages, 300 denarii. In today's terms, i think it should be at least 30,000 USD.

Once you break the vial, it cannot be kept for reuse. It is meant only for a one time usage for a woman's most important occasion in her life, her wedding.

Mary then anointed Jesus feet with the perfume and wiped them with her hair. A woman's hair is her most prized possession. Washing a man's feet was the most looked down upon work.

This was an act of pure worship. A sacrificial act, yet done with a cheerful heart by Mary to our Lord.

Mary's symbol brings to live loving her Lord with all her heart, her soul, her mind, her strength.

In return, Jesus says, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.

This is an example for us to follow. Are we willing to give to our Lord our own alabaster vial of perfume, made of pure nard? Its worth it. For our Lord. Those who honors Him, He honors them.

Joy in Suffering

Psalm 31:7-8
"I will rejoice and be glad in your faithful love because you have seen my affliction. You have known the troubles of my life and have not handed me over to the enemy."

Being a Christian doesn't mean that we will not go through sufferings. But how can we have joy in them?

1. We have joy because of God's faithful love. Which means that in our sufferings, God has meant them to be beneficial for us even though we do not understand it. Think Joseph, almost killed by his brothers, sold to Egypt, maligned by Potiphar's wife, jailed, yet it was all in God's sovereign plan by God to make him prime minister for Egypt that through his God given wisdom planned for the coming famine.

2. We have joy because God cares for us in our suffering. Just as sick children who suffer in their illnesses, whenever their parents take care of them, wipe away their tears and embraces them, a smile breaks out on their face. Because they know that their parents care for them. Their parents know the pain they are going through. The same way, we are in the embracing arms of God who sympathizes and understands what we are going through.

Jesus cares for us. He cared for the little children. He care for the hungry people whom he taught. He care for a mother whose son was about to leave her. He care for the many sick and blind. He care for those whom had not God's truth. He cares for us till the point of laying down his life for us.

Content of Ministry

Mark 6:7-13 "And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed uthat people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them."

Often, we talk about preaching. But what exactly is the content of our preaching? When Jesus sent out his disciples two by two, we note some contents of preaching:

Jesus has authority over evil spirits (7): We need not be concern of idol or deities suppressing us, for we have the true Son of God with us. We need not be fearful because we know the one true God.

Whoever believes in Him, will welcome him. (10): One who believes in Him, will welcome Him into his life, his house, his work, his life and subject everything to Him as Lord and Savior.

Whoever rejects Him, wrath will be on him. (11): One who rejects Him, awaiting him is the terrible judgement and wrath of God.

We have to repent. (12): We have to rid the things and thoughts that God does not approve in our lives.

Jesus is our healer. (13): In Christ, we are healed of our sins. In His will, He may choose to heal physical illnesses too.

Only by Faith, We Experience God

Mark 6:4-6 "And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief."

Without faith, we will not see God. Without faith, we will not please Him. Without faith, we will not experience His power, His blessing.

One might say, where is God? I will only believe when I see Him.

But just as we can only truly feel the power of electricity, love or air when we believe, we can only experience God, when we first take the step of faith.

Acceptable Sacrifices

Acceptable Sacrifices

Lev 21:20 "You are not to present anything that has a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf."


When we present offerings to God, we are to present our very best to God for it to be favored. Just as Abel offered his best and was honored by God, we are to offer our first fruits, first salaries, to Him.

Perhaps we only offer when we have met all expenses/savings and give only what's remaining. Perhaps we only serve God when we have convenient spare time. Perhaps we only serve God only after we have given the world the best of our years.

Give the best to God now. In your finances, in your studies, in your work, do it for His glory.

Abram’s Fall in Egypt

Abram’s Fall in Egypt (Gen 12:9-10)

V9, Abram continued toward Negev. This is a drier area (lesser rainfall, thus needed wells to be dug), less desirable for raising crops but better for his vocation as a herdsman, perhaps engaging also in merchant activity. 

In verse 10, there was a famine there and Abram went down to Egypt. Famine was not an unusual phenomenon in Canaan. Two other major food shortages also occurred during Isaac's time (26:1) and Joseph's time (41:56). In Israel, the only river that flowed all year round was the Jordan river. Yet, it is completely below sea level which means that irrigation from it was difficult. Thus the growth of crops was heavily reliant on rain. When there was no rain, it means a famine. Egypt was the best location with water supply. 

Did Abram fail here by heading to Egypt?

Still holding on to God's promise, he did not return to Ur, though matter were extremely difficult. Heb 11:15 says, "indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one."

Abram's faith was patient and endured great hardships because they believed God had something better. They had no desire to go back to Ur, but did long for Heaven.

The Lying Half Truth (12:11-16)

In verses 11 to 13, Abram tells Sarai to acknowledge him as his brother. This is because during then, it was a time where man with physical superiority if they fancied a beautiful woman, could just snatch her and kill her husband. At 65, Sarah was still young and attractive, being only half her age (she died at 127). The patriarchs lived long. Abram lived till 175. 

To protect himself, he asked Sarai to identify herself as his sister. This is a lying half true as they shared the same father, but different mothers thus making her his half-sister and not truly his sister.

However, a half truth is still a lie as the Egyptians still took Sarah away to Pharoah. Abram did not tell the more important other half of the truth that she was his wife.

  

Do we tell half truths and neglect the other more important half?

I serve God. But only when its convenient for me.

I offer. But only when I have excess money.

God is love. But God is also a God who judges.

Jesus saves. But His salvation will bear forth repentance and holy living for Him.

Abram's Attempted Self Protection and Failure to Protect his wife (12:17)

The separation of Abram and Sarai was critical enough for the Lord to personally intervene (17). Abram used this ruse to protect himself. (13, "that I may live") apparently without too much thought being given to Sarai. But God's reaction focused upon the protection of Sarai.

Through God's protection, Pharaoh escorted him away with his wife and all that belonged to him. The exit would probably have the servants talking about it amongst themselves with some loss to Abram's integrity and reputation in their eyes which perhaps led to quarrels between Abram and Lot's servants.