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Sunday, 18th April 2010

Dearest followers of ROOTSS

Just in case you are wondering, I have been rather busy of late and did not find the time to blog over the last weekend.  Going forward, I will only blog as often as the Lord leads.

Today, I want to give thanks to the Lord for the direct access He has provided from my home to Suntec City.  This morning, my wife and I decided rather than driving there, we would take the Circle Line from Lorong Chuan (CC14) to Promenade (CC4).  The entire journey took less than half an hour!  Upon reaching Tower 4, we were told that both the 4th floor and 6th floor overflow rooms were full, and were directed to the ground floor to take the shuttle bus to Gallery West.  Upon reaching Gallery West, we were told that it was also filled to the brim and then directed to the overflow room Hall 601.  Had we known earlier, we would have alighted at Esplanade (CC3) instead.

We were also at NewCre last week and I was amazed that Gallery West also had a long queue forming for the 2nd service.  When I attended the services two years back, queues were only the "feature" of those waiting to go into the Rock Auditorium.  have not read any update recently, but I believe the weekly attendance should have crossed the 25,000 mark by now. 

I read in the newspapers that City Harvest has now got 33,000 but going by the vision that God gave the owner of Hexacon Construction that he would "build the biggest church in Singapore", what this means is that NewCre would have to grow by at least another 8,000 by the time One-North is ready in 2012.
Today, Ps Prince preached another powerful and anointed sermon as a follow-up to last week's on Soul Prosperity.  I will leave it to Geri to provide all with the sypnosis (which she has! -- check out this link)

Anyway, back to the title of today's post.  Upon reading that the stations from Tai Seng to Dhoby Ghaut were officially opened yesterday, I updated my Facebook status as follows:

"yay, now got direct mrt from my home (cc14) to newcre (cc4).  thank you God for the circle line :-)"

An ex-colleague responded, "Tot that it's LTA or even PAP!"

A fellow grace embracer then responded, "Yea! I feel blessed by this newly opened circle line! Thank God for good government!"

And that would be my topic for a future entry whereby I am going to blog about religion and politics, so do stay tuned :-)

Oh ya, by the time NewCre moves to One-North, other parts of the Circle Line from Caldecott to HarbourFront would have been ready, so direct access from my home would still apply.  Hallelujah!

On My Radar

Saturday, 17th April 2010

Sometime in May 2009, my son took part, as part of a duo, in his school talent competition called "ACS Junior Superstars". He and his friend Joshua called themselves Blue Jumpsuit Apparatus and emerged as winners in the group category.  You can read about that here.

Well just last week, it was my daughter's turn to take part in her school talent competition called "PL Inspirations". She was part of a trio together with her friends Radiant and Dazale. They called themselves "Radar" (the Ra being from Radiant, Da from Dazale and the R at the end from Rachel). The competition was more intense as compared to the one my son took part in, in that there were no separate categories for group, soloist, dance, etc. Instead, all 15 finalists vied for the same glittering prize.

Anyway, the entire family turned up to support her and praise be to God, Radar came in 3rd!!! The ones that emerged 1st and 2nd played instruments, whereas my daughter and her 2 friends had relied purely on their vocals and stage presence.

Pictured on the right is she holding the trophy, accompanied by her proud parents and younger brother. Thank you Lord for blessing both our children with singing talents. May they use their voices to glorify your mighty Name!

Responses to the Unfair Exchange

Sunday, 4th April 2010

Yesterday, I blogged about the unfair exchange whereby let's say you win a lucky draw prize but the agent tries to exchange it for something worse in the first instance and something better in the second.

I also blogged about 4 types of responses. Let me go through them in turn to draw parallels to the way we as Christians respond to the unfair divine exchange:

1. It's okay. Anyway, since it's free, I'll take whatever I can get that you can give.

Some of us respond to the divine exchange this way. which I will call that of "the ignorant Christian". We are happy and contented with our lot in life. After all, we think that God has every right to not even give us anything, so we settle for whatever. On the surface, this seems a very noble response but the sad fact is that we are ignorant of what we are entitled to as beneficiaries of the New Covenant. We need not settle for anything less. After all, God had already not withheld His very best, so will He not in Him freely give us all things? If Satan prevents prosperity or health from coming our way, we should not resign ourselves but instead tell him, "hands off devil. This is mine. It was purchased by the blood of the Lamb!"

2. No way, Jose! The lucky draw said a trip to the Maldives, so at the minimum, you should give me something that is equivalent to S$5,000.

This is the typical response of "rights-based Christian". They are better off than the ignorant Christian in that they know what their rights are and will not allow themselves to be shortchanged. However, their mentality is that of the worker in the parable of the vineyard who was labouring since the morning, or that of the elder brother of the prodigal son who was with their dad since day one. They have a strong sense of "deservedness" and as a result, cannot come to terms with a God who operates on the frequency of "undeservedness".

3. Paiseh leh. Let me pay you for the difference of S$10,000.

This is the response of a "obligations-based Christian". They are also better off than the ignorant Christian but are no better than the "rights" Christian. While that Christian insists on his rights because he serves in the church, or fasts twice a week, the "obligations" Christian feels he needs to earn God's favour. He feels embarrassed to take from God or to enjoy God's blessings. But the sad truth is that such feelings of undeservedness is actual an indication of pride. It actually takes great humility to accept a gift. Well, how much effort we may want to put in to earn God's blessings still come way short. All our righteous deeds are but soiled sanitory napkins in the sight of God, and the sooner we realise that, the better.

4. Thank you! This is really an unexpected but pleasant and wonderful surprise! I am really grateful for your generosity!

Finally, the fourth type of Christian is what I would term the "informed Christian" or botug (believer operating totally under grace). When God blesses Him over and above what He can ever ask or imagine, he responses with a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving.

What is your response when God blesses you with His unmerited, unearned and undeserved favour? May it be that of the botug. Amen?

An Unfair Exchange

Saturday, 3rd April 2010

Supposing you took part in some lucky draw and happened to win the 1st prize, which is an all-expenses paid trip by Economy class to an exotic destination such as the Maldives for a week, costing more than S$5,000.  When you go to the travel agent to claim your prize, he tells you, "Sorry, sir/ma'am.  This package is no longer available".  And then he goes on to say, "In exchange, how about a trip to this neighbouring country on a budget airline?" (which cost maybe S$500).

What would your response be?

1. It's okay.  Anyway, since it's free, I'll take whatever I can get that you can give.
2. No way, Jose!  The lucky draw said a trip to the Maldives, so at the minimum, you should give me something that is equivalent to S$5,000.

Now imagine instead of the above, let's say the agent says, "Sorry, sir/ma'am.  This package is no longer available.  In exchange, how about we fly you Business class, add another week to it, at no additional costs?" (even though it will cost at least another S$10,000 more)

What would your response be?

3. Paiseh leh.  Let me pay you for the difference of S$10,000.
4. Thank you!  This is really an unexpected but pleasant and wonderful surprise!  I am really grateful for your generosity!

We may read the above illustration and smile, especially at response #2 because that's a typical Singaporean reaction.  But let's just take a step back and reflect upon this.  2,000 years ago, an unfair exchange took place.  Jesus who knew no sin, was punished for our sin, so much so that God the Father had to turn His back on His own beloved Son.  In exchange for that, we who were sinners, can now go right into the very presence of God the Father and stand before Him as righteous and uncondemned because the veil was torn in two.

Yes, it was an unfair exchange.  Consider the following:

(1) We deserved death, but God, through the death of Jesus, has given us abundant life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

(2) We deserved curses, but Jesus by dying on a cross, took those curses upon Himself, so that we can be blessed with the blessings of Abraham.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree, He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Gal 3:13,14)

(3) Jesus who knew no sin, became sin so that we can be made the righteousnes of God in Christ.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21)

(4) Jesus agonised in the garden of Gethsamane (which means oil press). He was under so much stress and pressure that His capillaries burst and mixed with His sweat which fell to the ground.  By doing so, He redeemed mankind from the curse that God pronounced upon Adam in another garden (the garden of Eden), whereby work would be stressful and backbreaking.  We of the New Covenant should be working from a position of rest.

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Lk 22:44)

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (Gen 3:19)

(5) Jesus took those lashes upon His body, so that by His stripes, we are healed and can now walk in health and wholeness.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa 53:5)

(6) Jesus, who created the heavens and the earth and owns the cattle on a thousand hills, was stripped totally naked on the cross, after the soldiers gambled for His robe.  He was made poor on the cross for our sakes, so that we might be rich.

 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Cor 8:9)

(7) Jesus was abandoned by His Father at the cross and thus cried, "My God! My God!  Why have you forsaken me?" so that in exchange, we can cry to Him, "Thank you my Daddy God, for I know that you will never leave or forsake me." 

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46)

Great is the measure of our Father's love!  Amen?

Tomorrow I will blog about the responses to the unfair lucky-draw-prize exchange and the lessons that we as Christians can draw from this because they actually typify our response to the unfair divine exchange, so stay tuned :-)