Unto Him Shall the Gathering of the People Be

Sunday, 28th September 2008

This morning, my wife and I, together with her elder brother Marcus and his family, gathered together with more than 20,000 other like-minded folks at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Nope, we were not there to attend the latest rock concert (even though the music and lighting may have given the impression it was so). Rather, we were there to celebrate and worship our Lord Jesus Christ and listen to yet another anointed teaching about Him and what His finished work has already accomplished for us as beneficiaries of the New Covenant.

Rather than having 4 services at the Rock Auditorium (and overflow rooms), a combined service was held at a separate location because the Formula One race that was being held here in Singapore had resulted in many roads around the vicinity of Suntec City to be closed to traffic.

My brother-in-law was early, so he got us front-row seats just about 14 rows or so from the front of the stage. Thank you Lord!

Because F1 was in town, the stage was decorated with such a theme. It featured a billboard with a race track making up the word "Jesus". Cool, don't you think?

There were also a couple of mock racing cars on stage that said Team Jesus :-)

One of the announcements that was flashed was that Ps Prince would be invited (again) to speak at the Hillsong Conference Europe, which will be held in ExCel London from 8 to 11 October 2008, and I took a snapshot of that too :-)

Speaking of London, last month, my dad's sister, who is now staying in London, came back to Singapore for my grandma's funeral. On the eve of her departure, she happened to mention that her church are made up of mainly Singapore emigrants, and many of them have also caught the grace message, because their relatives in Singapore have passed them Ps Prince's sermons!

She is also a cell group leader in her church, so on the day of her departure, I gave her a copy of Destined to Reign, the Grace & Favour audio CD album and the AlephTav DVD for her to bring back to share with her cell group members. May God continue to cause the gospel revolution to explode. Amen?

Anyway, we had a most awesome time, and when I looked around the stadium, I saw a glimpse of how things would look like when the church moves to One-North in Buona Vista in 2012.

Indeed, unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. Hallelujah!

Ps Prince preached a most anointed sermon on how Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the Law and how the blessings of Abraham is now upon us Gentiles. He also prayed for healing to be released.

Down Memory Lane

Sunday, 21st September 2008

I have mentioned before on this blog about how as a teenager with acne, I found comfort in the world of secular pop music -- and the music back then was that of the 1980s.

Even till now, I still prefer music from that era, which is curently known as "retro music". When my wife and I went to Europe for our honeymoon back in 1992, with our final stop at London, I remember how I would go into HMV, where I would pick up rarities not usually available in Singapore like the Best of collections of bands like Haircut One Hundred and The Nolans.

With the advent of the Internet and online music, even rarer songs like Twilight Cafe by Susan Fassbender and Tom Hark by The Piranhas could be found.

My wife also grew up on the music of the 1980s and her favourite band is Spandau Ballet. In fact, several songs bring back great memories to both of us because we were courting then. These include Waiting For A Star To Fall by Boy Meets Girl and Electric Blue by Icehouse.

Anyways, I am really digressing here, so to cut a long story short (oh that's the title of Spandau Ballet's debut release, by the way), I have set up another blog to cater to my other interest, ie. the music of the 1980s.

For those of who are not averse to this (because I know there are some Christians who refer to such as the devil's music), do check out 80s-Vinyls and how I recently bought a turntable to walk down memory lane.

Wouldn't It Be Good? Wishful Thinking

Saturday, 20th September 2008

Last week, I was just blogging about how God has prospered my career and how I have settled into my current workplace.

I have also begun to discover other colleagues who attend that "heretic" church, which I suppose should not come as a surprise since some 20,000 people congregate at Suntec every week.

I was talking to one such colleague recently, who commented on the transformation that has taken place in my department. I shared with her how I had come into the office early the morning after listening to that sermon on the anointing oil to say a prayer for each of my subordinates as I anointed their chair, pleaded the blood of Jesus for those who have yet to know Him and also invited the Holy Spirit to do His miraculous work in my department.

She could also tell that I enjoy coming to work each day.

But I told her that I would gladly give it all up at the drop of a hat to take up another job, even if it meant taking a 80% haircut. Her first guess was "To be a pastor?"

I chuckled at the irony of her remark, given what had happened in my own church over the past 1 1/2 years or so.

But I told her that what I would really love to do is to work in that "heretic" church. For example, the staff at the Rock Bookstore are always so warm and full of the joy of the Lord. When I first embarked on my JPM sermon collection, I went to the office at Noel Building to collect some of the stuff I ordered and again, I could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in there.

No wonder the Psalmist said, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere."

Wouldn't it be good to work in a place where everyone around you speaks the same language of grace and believes in Jesus and His finished work? Wouldn't it be good to be able to get Ps Prince's sermons at a staff discount? Wouldn't it be good to be part of a ministry where the unadulterated Word of God is being proclaimed not only to tens of thousands in Singapore, but hundreds of milliions worldwide?

But hey, enough of that wishful thinking for now. I am called to be in the marketplace at this stage of my life, and to impact those that God has placed around me. So until the time God calls me out from here, I shall continue to work unto Him where He has place me. Amen?

P. S. Wouldn't It Be Good is the name of a song made popular in the 1980s by Nik Kershaw, while Wishful Thinking is the name of a song made popular in the 1980s by China Crisis.

The Secret of Success

Saturday, 13th September 2008

Hmm... Where do i begin?

Just wanted to testify that God has continued to prosper me at my workplace. He has granted me so much superabundant and undeserved favour with not just my two bosses (the MD and CFO), but also with peers and subordinates alike.

In fact, while many people dread going to work (especially those that work in a fast-pace environment like how it usually is in the heart of Raffles Place/Shenton Way), I actually look forward to stepping into the office each day because I know it will be filled with divine appointments.

Just yesterday, my CFO told me how much he appreciated me being on board. And two days ago, during my weekly one-to-one session with my MD, he commented about how I have managed to transform the Finance department from one which had the lowest morale to the one that it currently is where everyone is happy and motivated, and all that in a matter of just 5 months :-)

To tell you to the truth, never in my 17 years of working life have I experienced such rapid and successful results. It is really nothing short of a miracle and I can only give God the glory because He is the one behind it all. Just like how that teacher remarked when he saw Ps Prince preaching, "It must be God!", those of you who know me for more than 3 years would have a similar response :-)

So what's the secret of my success, you may ask? The answer is going to sound so ridiculously simple that there will bound to be those out there who will dismiss it as nonsense...

But for those of you who are willing to try it out for yourselves, here is the secret: have a good opinion of God, and believe that He is out to prosper you and bless you.

Because of Jesus' finished work on the cross, where He took upon Himself every bad thing that we deserved, we can now take upon ourselves every good thing which we do not deserve.

And because I have this good opinion of God that surely His goodness and lovingkindness hunts me down all the days of my life, when i pray with my wife in the car in the mornings, it is no longer, "Lord, please help me with this tough meeting or with that complex report", but instead "I thank you Lord that you have already gone ahead of me to flatten the mountains and fill up the valleys, so that the meeting is going to be a fruitful and productive. Your Holy Spirit within me is also going to give me the wisdom and ability to complete that report way ahead of schedule."

Prayers have now become statements declaring the certainty of outcomes grounded firmly on the sure and finished work of Jesus Christ, rather than tentative requests to a God who may answer "yes" one moment and "no" the next, depending on his whims and fancies.

After all, Paul did say in 2 Cor 1:20 that all of God's promises (which include those concerning prosperity, health, wholeness, peace, etc) are Yes, and in Christ, Amen! to the glory of God through us. So God gets the glory when His promises are fulfiled in our lives.

Amen? Yes!

Friendship Defined

Sunday, 7th September 2008

Those who have been following my blog would realise that I am a big fan of 1980s secular pop music. That was the era when I was a teenager with a face full of acne, and I would escape into the world of pop music. I even created my own music charts which I called Soundem (sound + M for Malcolm), and every single release by Kim Wilde would top the Soundem charts :-)

Well, twenty years on, I still find that there is no music that can compare to the music of the 80s. One such song that came about during that era was by a Christian artiste Michael W. Smith. He had a "crossover" (ie. a song released for the Christian music market that made the secular charts) hit entitled "Friends".

The chorus goes something like this

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Fathers' hands we know
That a lifetimes not too long to live as friends.

About a month ago, I was having a long conversation with a dear brother. He is fully aware of what I have gone through as a result of the grace gospel. At some part of our conversation, he asked me, "By the way, who are your friends?"

I paused for a moment, and then rattled out the names of those whom God had recently brought into my life -- such as Stanley, Douglas, Joo, Jeffrey, Kevin, et al.

[In fact, a handful of us had fellowship over lunch recently, and a photo was taken with my Samsung Omnia to commemorate that joyous occasion. ]

But it also dawned upon me that many others whom I had considered to be my friends even as recent as a year ago, can no longer be considered so :-(

I have blogged about this in The Cost of Discipleship.

Unlike my wife, who has friends that go back all the way to her Primary school days in Katong Convent, I have lost touch with most of my Primary and Secondary school mates. Sure, I have gotten reconnected with some of them on Facebook, but so many years have passed that we are no more than mere acquaintances.

As I reflected upon the situation, a tinge of regret started to come upon me. What if I had toned down my stand on the grace gospel? Maybe my cell would not have been disbanded. Maybe I would still be good friends with those in the 3L cluster.

Then I heard the Lord telling me, "Son, how do you think Paul felt when He first became my disciple?"

As I pondered over this, scales began to fall from my eyes. Saul was a Pharisee among Pharisees, and the most zealous upholder of the Mosaic Law. After his encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus, he began to understand what God's grace was all about and wrote wonderful epistles expounding on that. He had effectively crossed over to the "Grace camp", so to speak, and many of those who were once his friends in the "Law camp" considered him their number one enemy who commited high treason.

Paul had to make friends all over again, and I am sure that God more than restored the quality and quantity of friends that Paul had after he switched camp.

And likewise, I know that God is going to do the same for me. Yes, I had built up strong friendships in my previous cluster and was even the cluster leaders' blue-eyed boy. Yes, I was serving in the LCEC and had good rapport with fellow LCEC leaders. After I was removed from cell and church leadership, there are some whom I thought were my friends who now treat me like a leper.

Take for example the cell leader who borrowed my LCD projector for his cell member's wedding who refuses to accept my FB friend request. Or that of another cell leader who plays the drums who removed me as his FB friend when he heard about what happened. That's what being law-based makes people do, folks. When we meet in heaven, it will be fun seeing how they can continue to avoid me :-)

But through this, God has revealed to me those who are true friends who stick with me through thick and thin, and who were there only because I used to be in a position of influence, and run for their lives at the first sign of foul-weather.

God has since brought others into my life, some of whom I have mentioned above. These are "quality" friends because they accept me for what I am, warts and all. Besides friends of quality, there is also going to be a quantity of friends because in a church of 20,000 there is no reason why God cannot cause even 100 (or a mere fifty basis points, ie 0.5%) to come into my path :-)

So I no longer feel any more regret because again we are back to Rom 8:28, where in all things God works for the good of those of love Him and are called according to His purpose.

In closing, let me leave you with something to ponder over. Michael W. Smith sang, " Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them." So if a friend does not remain your friend because of adverse circumstances, then it begs the question, "Is the Lord the Lord of him or her?"

Pet Adventures

Saturday, 6th September 2008

Thought I'd blog about something more light-hearted today.

Back in December 2007, I got a pet hamster from VivoCity for my daughter, which she named Hannah.

Two months later, in February 2008, I decided to get another one for myself, which I named Henry, so that the two of them could mate and produce babies. I remember even humming the song by Natasha Bedingsfield entitled "I Wanna Have Your Babies".

Well, alas, it was not meant to be because Hannah decided to run away sometime in May 2008. Needless to say, my daughter was devastated and it was challenging for me to try to explain to her why God had allowed this to happen.

Well, whatever the reason may have been, Rom 8:28 holds true, because in retrospect, Henry's existence helped to soften the blow of losing Hannah.

In fact, my daughter has since gotten so attached to Henry now that she plays with him practically everyday and has also taken many snapshots of him!

I have uploaded about 50-odd of them onto a Facebook album entitled "The Adventures of Henry the Hamster".

Pictured on the right are 4 of them. Starting clockwise from the top left
1. Henry wrapped up in a $10 note (which is what he cost, by the way).
2. Henry posing for the camera
3. Henry standing up for Singapore
4. Henry nibbling on a biscuit

An Ode to My Proverbs 31 Woman

Monday, 1st September 2008

I have now reverted to just blogging on weekends (lest I be accused of spending more time blogging than anything else), but will make an exception today...

... because it is my better half's birthday.

This same time last year, I blogged about how much she has gone through. Our son was born with a kidney condition. Our marriage was on the rocks in the early 2000s. My career was in jeopardy, and I was also removed from church leadership.

Well, since embracing the grace gospel, God has more than restored the years that the locusts have eaten. Our marriage has never been stronger. Our son received the gift of a kidney transplant on 10 April 2008. My career has never been on more solid ground :-)

Sure, there are still darts that the devil tries to throw at us (for example, when I was called up by the police to be interrogated for a recent vandalism case, it affected not just me but my parents, kids and wife as well). But God has protected us because we dwell in the secret place of the Most High -- which is none other than Jesus and His finished work -- so even if a thousand may fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand, no harm will come upon us.

My wife is the one who had the foresight to name our kids such that they are established in grace, which I blogged about here. She now also enjoys listening to sermons coming from that "heretic" church. In fact, she went to the Rock Bookstore recently to purchase the sermon that Ps Mark Ng preached in English, when her elder brother Marcus mentioned that it was very anointed!

My aunt and uncles (two of which are based in UK but came back to Singapore for my grandma's funeral) and cousins all came together for a "reunion" dinner at the Bukit Room at Singapore Island Country Club.

We also took the opportunity to celebrate my wife's birthday.

And here is a photo of my fruitful vine and 2 olive plants :-)

Dearie, thanks for being a wonderful wife to me.

I know I have not the perfect husband to you. As the grace of Christ continues to fill my life, may that enable me to love you the way Christ loves the church.

A HAPPY AND MOST BLESSED BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MY DEARIE!!!