ROOTSS: "Reflections Of One That Says So": 2024

Wednesday, 20th November 2024

The title of this post is not named after that K-Pop band that was in the news for all the right and wrong reasons. (right reason = they made it to the top 10 mainstream charts of both US and UK with their song Cupid; wrong reason = they attempted to sign a deal with Warner Music but had previously signed a watertight long-term one with a local Korean company and finally had to disband prematurely).

Rather, 50-50 describes 2 events that took place yesterday.

[1] Chelsea's survivability - nope, not referring to the football club in the premier league, so read on

Firstly, that was what the vet said of the chances of our pet chinchilla, Chelsea, surviving the general anaesthetic ("GA") given to her in order to perform teeth-trimming surgery. We have had her since 20 July 2012, and she has been a relatively low-maintenance animal. Once a year, we would send her to have her fur de-matted and there was an occasion when she needed eye drops because the sand we used for her bath caused some minor irritation. But in recent weeks, her appetite and level of activity dropped significantly, and when we brought her to the vet, she was found to have overgrown teeth that poked into her cheek, which led to the loss of appetite, and the build-up of gas and bacteria in her gut.

Long story short, she had to be syringe-fed food and medication prior to her surgery, and on the day of her surgery, the vet told us frankly that some pocket animals "do not wake up" after being given GA because it slows down the organs, and Chelsea's survivability was 50/50.

Both my son and I were mentally-prepared for the worst eventuality. Thankfully, Chelsea is a fighter. She got up shortly after her surgery and the nurse sent us this video of her moving around and even standing up!

Post-op, Chelsea has been responding tremendously well to the treatment of antibiotics, sodium chloride and semi-solid food. Her recovery has been so miraculous that she has even started jumping around inside the cage and eating the hay on her own. Hallelujah!

[2] Meet El Presidente - nope, not referring to the 45th/47th POTUS, Donald J. Trump, so read on

Regular readers of my blog know about my journey of discovering the grace gospel. Well, my wife and I finally made the decision to change church in 2018. You can read about that in the link found below.

My Journey of Grace Through Faith (aka How I Ended Up Changing Church)

At the lowest point of my journey in 2007, after being made to step down as both Treasurer and CG Leader (and having my CG disbanded without the decency of channelling me into another CG), God brought a wonderful fellow new-covenant believer into my life - the then-Pastor (now-Rev and soon to be President) Reuben Ng. He was the sole reason I stayed on in PLMC, with my wife and I choosing to only listen to his sermons and attending the youth service whenever he preached there. When he was posted out to Toa Payoh Methodist Church ("TPMC") at the end of 2012, we would look out for when he would be preaching and attend services there. On one particular occasion in 2014, he even invited Ps Lian to preach at TPMC!

His own upward journey has been nothing short of spectacular, the only equivalent I can think of in the Bible is that of Joseph). Very soon after becoming the Pastor-in-Charge ("PIC") of TPMC, he was appointed a District Superintendent ("DS"), of which there are only 4. And that is only one step away from becoming President, and 2 steps from becoming the Bishop.

I happened to lunch with Rev Reuben two weeks ago, I asked him how high were the chances of him being appointed President. He said theoretically, it was 25%, because typically one of the 4 DS would be put up for the post. But history has shown that only a DS who had also been the PIC of a large church (ie. Wesley, PL, Faith and Barker) would get the job. That effectively reduced the odds to yes, 50/50, because 2 of the current DSes has never been PIC of those 4 aforementioned churches.

Well, at the 49th Annual Session yesterday, Rev Reuben was voted to become the next TRAC President after 6 rounds of ballot. He assumes office on 1 January 2025. Congratulations dear Sir!

In our earlier interactions, we would meet up for meals regularly (at least once a month) for a time of fellowship. In recent times, we only meet maybe at most four times a year because of his extremely busy schedule. Yet, he remains the same humble brother-in-Christ I first met 17 years ago. He told me that he just wants to preach, has never had ambitions of becoming a PIC or DS, let alone President. I replied that it is not what he wants, but what God wants of him haha.

I golfed with several ex-churchmates some time last year and was asked when I would return to PL. I told them when I walk my daughter down the aisle (which I did on 21 September 2024) or when Rev Reuben gets posted back. Now with him as President, the latter will definitely not happen because it represents a demotion. God has greater things in store for him, and if (or dare I say when) the day comes of him being made Bishop, you read it here first. Praise the Lord!

Saturday, 9th November 2024

PLMC will be hosting the 49th session of TRAC's Annual Conference from 18 to 21 November 2024.

I will avail myself for the event, since it is open to the public.

I will also be wearing this beautiful tshirt, which was custom-made to celebrate the accolade bestowed upon this blog by someone I will only refer to as Pastor B.

I have not met Pastor B in ages, so I look forward to doing so at the Conference, and to get him to autograph the shirt, and then for both awarder and awardee to take a selfie together, and for our brotherly photo to be uploaded onto this blog.

Someone once said "never the twain shall meet", but may God allow the awarder and awardee to meet. Amen?

ROOTSS: "Reflections Of One That Says So"

Fifty-Fifty

The Awarder and The Awardee Shall Meet

ROOTSS Resurrection