God Blesses Neverendingly: Perfectly Perfect, Grace upon Grace, Lavishly (GBN 7755 L)

Sunday, 12th July 2026

At the end of every year, our church has this annual practice of getting her members to write down 3 prayer requests for the upcoming year, which we then bring before the Lord as a corporate body on the first Sunday service of the new year.  

Just this week, the 1st prayer request that I had jotted down back in December 2025 was answered.  Thank you Jesus!

Through God's wonderful divine arrangement,  my son was able to accelerate his learning journey and was assigned to a team of elite driving instructors.  That all culminated in him obtaining his Class 3A licence on 8 July 2026.  Hallelujah!

Over the past few months, I would happily fetch him to the driving centre and back for his lessons (he was my "captive" audience, so to speak), and as a consequence, we have gotten much closer because of the time spent together :-)

In fact, he and I went on our maiden father-son bonding trip to UK from 24 to 31 December 2025 (primarily to watch Chelsea v Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge), and will be going on a second trip together to Hong Kong from 4 to 8 August 2026 to watch both our favourite teams in pre-season action (Chelsea v Juventus and Aston Villa v Bayern Munich).

On to the title of today's post.

Separately, I have been monitoring COE prices and noted that one particular vehicle category typically lags behind the rest by around $30,000, which is Cat C meant for commercial vehicles such as vans and lorries.  I have also observed an increasing number of minivans (what the Japanese term as kei cars) such as the Suzuki Spacia and Nissan N-Van plying our roads. It appears that drivers are switching from Cat A cars to Cat C kei cars, and saving at least $30,000 as a result of doing so.

In August 2025, when Cat C COE was at $70,000, I purchased a Suzuki Spacia Base XF for $91,800 so that I could give it to my son to use upon him obtaining his driving licence.  But I kept it under wraps until he did so, so as not to put unnecessary pressure upon him.

Meanwhile, Cat C COEs just hit a record-high of $95,000 (and is likely to breach $100k before the year's end).

Thank God for His prompting then because it has saved me $25,000 :-) 

Indeed, God's Blessings are Never-ending.  They are perfectly perfect (77), filled with grace upon grace (55).  Lavish.  In other words, GBN 7755 L.  Amen?

By the way, I had initially bidded for GBN5775S but someone else beat me to it.  Thankfully, GBN7755L was available.

For those of you also considering doing a switch from a Cat A car to a Cat C kei car, do take note of the following:

- the vehicle has to be G-plated and purchased using an ACRA-registered entity (for which, a sole proprietorship suffices at an annual fee of $30). It cannot be purchased in your own individual name.

- unlike passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles are subject to annual LTA inspections (yup, EVERY year).

- the vehicle technically cannot have rear passenger seats, so they will need to be removed every time before it is sent for that annual inspection.

- the speed limit is 70km/h (although you do see some of them travelling faster than that).

- the vehicle technically cannot be driven into JB (unless you first register a Malaysian business with a director that is also a director/owner of your Singapore business)

Having said that, the above are tolerable "inconveniences", given that you will be saving at least $30,000 on COE.  There is also excellent fuel efficiency -- you can get at least 20km per litre.

Bridges: Buttress Baby Buttress (Part 2)

Sunday, 5th April 2026

Today I shall conclude with part 2 on buttressing bridges.

Yesterday, I gave 3 specific incidences which were God's way of placing in my heart to take steps to strengthen the bridge between my ex-church and my current one.

(1) James Tham pointed out that my daughter and future grandchildren would likely continue the Methodist tradition.

(2) Rev Reuben Ng was promoted to TRAC President because he chose to be a unifier rather than a divider between the Methodist churches and New Creation Church.

(3) God brought a key leader from Faith Methodist church to cross my path.  This key leader knows every single one of the Methodist pastors who were overtly against the gospel of Jesus Christ (Peter Koh, Barnabas Chong, etc), and how their star has faded as a result of kicking against the goads.

Today I shall conclude with Incidents 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Incident Four

James Tham invited TRAC President Rev Reuben Ng to guest-speak at a Men's Ministry organised event called "Blueprints for Success" on 28 February 2026. It was held at, yup, PLMC.

At the breakfast session before the talk, I exchanged pleasantries with the senior leadership who were there, namely Rxxxxx Cxxx, Rxxxxx Txx and Cxxx Cxxxx Sxxx. But what caught me totally off-guard and (momentarily speechless) was when the current PPRSC Chairman Sxx Fxxx Jxx arrived, warmly shook my hand, and said, "Welcome back."  

Was it meant to be prophetic when he used the word "back"?  Why did he not just say, "Welcome"?

At least he didn't say, "What are you doing here?  You are not welcomed back." :P

I quickly composed myself and replied, "Oh, I am here to support President."

Incident Five

My dad kept lots of PLMC memorabilia which I uncovered as a result of clearing out his bedroom and the study room.  I passed an entire box of these stuff to James Tham at the tail end of February 2026 to pass to the PLMC Archivist, but for some strange reason, James sat on it for weeks and did not do so.  Getting slightly impatient, I went to his place to take back the box to deliver the items myself.

I went to PLMC on 12 March 2026 and was pleasantly surprised by the very warm reception I got from 2 of the senior staff -- the Head of HR/Finance/Admin ("HFA") and the Head of Operations.  I did not need to introduce myself; they recognised me straightaway because they said that my daughter looks exactly like me haha.

The HFA Head showed me the room that my wife and I had donated towards (it was previously called Nebo, where weekly tithes and offerings were counted in, but has since been merged with Zion, the room next to it).  I took a photo of the plaque that remains there.  The enlarged space now houses the HR, Finance and Admin departments.

PLMC will be undergoing very major renovations in a couple of years' time and the Operations Head assured me that they will return the said plaque back to me before the building is torn down.

Incident Six

I was a member of the PLMC Choir and the then-choir director, Mr Danny Koh, knew both my parents.  He played the keyboard to provide songs and entertainment at my dad's 75th and 80th birthday celebrations.

On 11 March 2026, Mr Koh called me when I was golfing, sounding very desperate. He told me that his wife had an ear infection, and they had gone to what was my late dad's clinic, only to discover that it was no longer in operation. I told him that I would provide him with the name of a doctor who used to work for my dad.

To cut a long story short, his wife was attended to and she recovered.

Mr Koh was so pleased and thanked me profusely, and also had wonderful things to say about mom and dad, which I reproduce for your reading pleasure.

That night as I reflected upon what had happened, I realised God had used me to reach out to yup, yet another Methodist.

Incident Seven

Now this is the most crucial and critical of them all.

I have recently gotten very much closer to Rev Alvin Chan.  

We had an unexpected "qarah" encounter on 19 December 2025 at Oka Restaurant, and then golfed on 19 March 2026.

What is truly amazing is he sincerely accepts me the way I am, warts and all!  He knows about my previous encounters with Peter Koh, Barnabas Chong, etc, yet he does not look at me with suspicion or disdain the way a handful of members from my previous church do.

If he is indeed posted to PLMC next year as her PIC after he completes his sabbatical this year, then that is a sure sign from God telling me it is time to cross that bridge back.

And it will also be at a very crucial time in PLMC's history.  In anticipation of her turning 100 in 2032, the Covenant Centre block (and perhaps even the Sanctuary itself!) will be completely torn down, and a magnificent multi-storey, eco-friendly building will be constructed in its place.  Just like how my dad and his dad (ie. Robert Chan) worked very closely together in the previous 2 building projects, God has actually given me a vision where I look forward to Rev Alvin and myself continuing the legacy in their honour when 2028 comes around.

During my golf game with Rev Alvin, I joked with him that his delayed but long-awaited return to PLMC in his glowing years was not for him to relax and retire, but for him to take pastoral charge of the re-building of the church office, kindergarten and all ancillary services haha.  His sabbatical was for him to fully recharge his battery to prepare for his second wind.

In conclusion, I sense stronger and stronger the Lord telling me not to grow too deep roots in New Creation Church, because He wants my wife and I to ultimately return to the church of my forefathers.  I had turned down my previous CG leader's request to submit my name to her overseer as a potential CG leader.  I have also been very contented to be just a server driver in the Logistics & Transport ministry.  This is so that when the time eventually comes for us to cross back, it will be a relatively commitment-free transition.

But I told the Lord that the PIC of PLMC must also be grace-based, like how Rev Reuben Ng is.  That is the pre-condition to me returning, (just like how Gideon gave God the pre-condition that the fleece be wet while the ground remained dry, and vice versa).

New Creation Church does not have a monopoly on the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ and His complete and finished work on the cross; it is a Pauline revelation that God wants every single church in the world to have.

I also realise I have been too forthright and forceful in my approach and dealings with Methodists.  It is not God's way to force-march people across the bridge.  It sure did not work on my own children, so how much lesser should I expect this approach to work on others.

God is telling me that I should instead be focusing more on fortifying that bridge, to find common ground between the two, such as the centrality of Jesus, in the magnifying, exalting and glorifying of Him.  This is something that both the 45,000+ Methodists and 50,000+ NewCreationers can definitely agree upon.  Amen?

Now just imagine how much we 95,000+ believers can do for the Body of Christ if we combine forces against our common enemy, the devil, instead of allowing him to sow discord within ourselves.

The gates of hell cannot prevail when we align with Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, that same confession that Jesus establishes His Church upon.

Bridges: Buttress Baby Buttress! (Part 1)

Saturday, 4th April 2026

I shall conclude the series on the topic of bridges with a post today and a final one tomorrow.

Burning a bridge presupposes the existence of that bridge to begin with. It was built by people who came before us.  For example, schools such as ACS/MGS and SJI/CHIJ were established in Singapore because Methodist missionaries and Catholic priests/nuns wanted to build bridges to reach the unreached via educational institutions.  The numerous Methodist and Catholic churches we see across our nation today stand as living testimonies of the bridges built by those from England and the Vatican.

In the last post, I ended with the question, "If cannot burn, then how?"

Let's look at the picture below which I found on the Internet.  What do you see that is common to all 18 bridges?

They all have structures that hold them firmly grounded.

Even suspension bridges like the famous Golden Gate Bridge in California  are not "suspended" in the true sense of the word.  

It has structures called "piers" that are piled deep into the bed of the ocean.  

There are also "anchorages" and "abutments" at each end of the bridge to secure it onto land.

To keep consistent with the words "build" and "burn" starting with the letter B, I shall refer to these support structures (ie. piers, anchorages, abutments, etc) collectively as "buttresses".

I have recently become very fascinated with buttresses because God has placed something very deep inside my heart, through a series of 7 seemingly unrelated, yet related incidents -- because they all concern the people called Methodists.  

Incident One

It all started about a month ago when I was having a conversation with James Tham, who stays just around the corner from me, and attends PLMC.  His family was invited to our daughter's wedding and they are in the extreme left in the photo below.

Out of the blue, he suddenly told me, "Bro, your grandchildren will be running around in Sunday School in PLMC."

Now, that REALLY got me thinking. It was no longer just about me being a 4th-generation Methodist escapee worshipping in NewCre, full-stop, end of story.  It was also going to be about a 5th-generation PLMCian (ie. my daughter) and potential 6th-generation PLMCians (ie. my future grandchildren).

Incident Two

And then a week later, I was on an hour long video call with Rev Richard Tan, an ex-PLMC pastor who has a similar background to me of discovering the grace gospel, yet remaining somewhat rough around the edges. As a member-on-trial ("MOT"), he stood up to the then-TRAC President Rev Dr Isaac Lim.  That took real guts, and made my standing up to Peter Koh and Barnabas Chong pale in comparison.

Rev Richard resides in Perth.  On 26 January 2024, he was so kind to come over to pray for my late dad when he was in Singapore. That's the 3 of us in the photo on the right.

Anyway, during the course of conversation with Rev Richard, we spoke, inter alia, about how Rev Reuben Ng had so boldly invited Ps Lian to guest-preach at Toa Payoh Methodist Church on 26 April 2015 when he was her PIC.  Yet Kow Shih Ming had conveniently left out inviting any pastor from NewCre leading up to PLMC's 90th anniversary in 2022.

Rev Richard concluded, "At that point in time, Rev Reuben had "nothing to lose" as the PIC of a relatively-small church. He never expected that one fine day he would rise to become TRAC President!"

It then dawned upon me that the bridge between the Methodist Churches in Singapore and New Creation Church has been rather precarious and requires much fortification.  After Rev Reuben was posted to TPMC as her PIC in 2012, he played that crucial role of buttressing the bridge in 2015 when he invited Ps Lian to preach, and God rewarded him by promoting him to District Superintendent in 2018, PIC of Faith Methodist in 2021, and finally to TRAC President in 2024.  (Anyone else notice God's fingerprints via the 3-year gaps separating these 5 significant events -- 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2024?)

Incident Three

I used to have a regular Wednesday morning golf game at the New Course of Singapore Island Country Club with 3 octogenarians, but that stopped after they one by one pulled out due to health reasons.  I still golf every Thursday afternoon at NSRCC Kranji, but I yearn and try to golf at SICC more regularly so as to make my monthly subscriptions worth the while.

When the Old Course was re-opened recently after nearly 2 years of renovations, I discovered that I could book 9 holes of morning golf on Fridays (that is when my wife works from home and I have no chaufferring duties).  It was during one of those golf games that I got to know a Mr Lim Boh Chuan, and discovered that he is the LCEC Chairman of Faith Methodist Church! Mr Lim and I shared notes on Rev Reuben Ng, Rev Alvin Chan, Peter Koh, Barnabas Chong and Kow Shih Ming, all who somehow uncannily have connections to his church, either as ex-pastors or ex-DSes at some point in their pastoral careers.

Tomorrow, we will continue (and conclude) with Part 2 of the topic of buttressing bridges, whereby I will relate Incidents 4, 5, 6 and 7 so stay tuned!

Bridges: Cannot Burn Then How?

Friday, 3rd April 2026

In my previous 2 posts, I spoke first about how people left their previous churches very decisively (and oftentimes acrimoniously), effectively burning their bridges behind them.

I then followed that up by saying that we who are part of the Body of Christ should not do so because we are cutting our nose to spite our face, as it were.

Truth be told, I very much had wanted to do the same thing (ie. burn the bridge) when I went to see Rev Dr Jonathan Seet (who was the then Pastor-in-Charge of Paya Lebar Methodist Church) sometime in January 2018, when my wife and I finally made the decision to leave PLMC to join New Creation Church because the Theme for that year, Hesed Wisdom, resonated greatly with her.

In his wisdom, Rev Jon Seet told me not to transfer my membership.  Firstly, he said that Methodist churches operate under an itinerant system whereby pastors come and go.  Secondly, NewCre does not require any official "transfer of membership" letter from the previous church (some churches do so because they want to ensure that the previous church pastor has officially released that member from his coverage).

Rev Jon told me that just the month before I went to see him, a fellow member had insisted, against his advice, on transferring her membership out from PLMC to NewCre to follow the footsteps of her 2 children.  [I have been informed that she has since returned to PLMC after her own children moved on from NewCre to Kingdom City.  Some pastors can insist on such ex-members re-taking membership classes, not sure if she had to do so...]

Back to my meeting with Rev Jon.  I also shared with him my predicament about not being able to "pull" my daughter along with us to NewCre because at that point in time, she was actively serving in the Young Adult ministry and was also seeing a boy from PLMC.  Rev Jon replied that she, being an adult, (she was about to turn 22) had the right to make her own decision.  I countered that I was still giving her a hefty monthly allowance, and if she did not obey me and come along with us, I would cut it off.  Rev Seet smiled knowingly and said, " I don't think that you, as her loving father, would do that."

He was right.  I didn't.

Fast forward, and my daughter married that boy 6 years later, on 21 September 2024. In PLMC.  I walked her down the aisle.

And she is now even more actively involved in PLMC!  <--- Will come back to this point in a future post.

So what did I do after that meeting with Rev Jon?  I worked on my son.

Back then in 2018,  he would typically play online soccer games late into the night on Saturdays and wake up late on Sundays, typically missing church service altogether.

That same week, a few days after my meeting with Rev Jon, I told my boy, "Son, why not you come with us to Great World City this coming Sunday to attend service in the aircon comfort of Golden Village cinema?  After service, I treat you to a sumptuous lunch."

Call it bribery but it worked. He bit the bait and came with us.  For 2 consecutive Sundays.

And then he stopped.

I asked feedback from him as to why.  He said he preferred expository-styled sermons, whereby the pastor would systematically cover the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse.  Ps Prince typically jumps from the New Testament to the Old, and then back to the New, effectively linking the passages in the light of the person of Jesus and His finished work on the cross, and I enjoy seeing how that single scarlet thread weaves its way through the Bible.

But not everyone appreciates that, and I appreciate my boy for at least giving it a shot. It was 2 shots in fact.

Fast forward to today, and he currently works in and attends a Brethren church located nearby, which is very strong in the expository of the Bible. Sometime in 2021, he transferred his membership out from PLMC because his current church requires that above-mentioned official letter of release.  But to his credit, he still keeps in touch with his peers from PLMC and did not burn any bridges.

So cannot burn, then how?

Well, I found this quotation online and it is really apt.

In the next posts, I will conclude this series on the topic of bridges, so stay tuned!

Bridges: Burn Baby Burn (Part 2)

Wednesday, 25th March 2026

In the last post, I blogged about how people have crossed over from one church to another, or stopped attending church altogether, effectively burning the bridge behind them.

Let us look at such drastic behaviour in the light of the Bible.  Were there examples of God's people being told not to turn back?

Well, in the Old Testament, there is the case of God telling Lot's family that He would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and for them not to look back.

Unfortunately, Lot's wife did and she became a pillar of salt.

We also see how the Israelites complained and some even yearned to go back to Egypt, and God effectively judged them by them dying in the wilderness without entering the Promised Land.

Aiya, those are Old Covenant examples, I hear you say.

Let's go to the New Testament then.  Has there been cases of "no turning back"?

When Jesus called the 12 disciples to "Follow Me", there was effectively no turning back for them.  They followed Him till the very end.  Yes, Judas did betray Him but never did he "unfollow" Jesus, the way some on Facebook nowadays.  He regretted his action and hung himself.  10 other disciples died for the cause, except for John who was banished to the island of Patmos.

In the Acts of the Apostles and we see Luke recording incidences of the apostles shaking the dust off their feet, which was symbolic of leaving a place decisively and never to return.

Even in the epistles, we read of how Paul, Peter and John encourage us to leave past practices behind and only look forward to what lies ahead.

Fast forward to today, and we even sing songs during altar calls such as, "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.  The world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back, no turning back".

So brother Mal, are you condoning the burning of bridges?

Not at all.

In the examples cited above, the people of God in the Old Testament were asked to leave Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, which were pictures and shadows symbolising bondages and darkness. In the New Testament, the apostles shook the dust off their feet at Jews who rejected Jesus and turned to the Gentiles who accepted the gospel with gladness.  In the epistles, the writers encouraged new converts to abandon their previous hedonistic lifestyles because they were now new creations in Christ.

The burning of bridges and total severance applied because they were previously in an ungodly place full of darkness and bondages.  God had delivered them to a place of light and freedom.

Contrast this to the churches of today.  Even how law-based or works-based a denominational church may be, all the pastors still fundamentally preach SOLUS CHRISTUS, ie. that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone.

When God looks upon the earth, He sees 3 groups of people: the Church, the Jews and the Gentiles.

He does not see New Creation Church, or Paya Lebar Methodist Church, or XYZ Church, but THE (definite article) Church.

I am reminded of another song that goes like this, "I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together.  All who follow Jesus all around the world, yes we're the church together."

In conclusion, the burning of bridges should only apply to cases when we were previously outside the Body of Christ.  Within the Body of Christ, we should instead preserve harmony, and not cut off our nose to spite our face.  

Jesus Himself said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples."

When George Ong constantly finds faults with Ps Prince, he is unfortunately being used by the devil to be a bad testimony to the pre-believers out there.  If we as followers of Christ cannot even get along with one another, then why would they want to be Christians?

I myself have been guilty of criticising other pastors, questioning how Trinity Theological College could produce graduates so lacking in revelation knowledge.  In that aspect, I am no better than George Ong, so we are all still a work-in-progress.  Let us keep one another in constant prayer.

Bridges: Burn Baby Burn (Part 1)

Monday, 23rd March 2026

The past month has been filled with many God-appointed kairos moments and circumstances that have caused me to do some serious reflection, and to start a series on the topic of bridges.

Let us start off with the "burning" of bridges, and the various categories of such a drastic action.

(1) Other (Denominational) Churches --> New Creation Church

I know of individuals who have crossed from other / denominational churches over to NewCre and burnt the bridge behind them.  They speak badly of their former church and put the sole blame for their past failures on the lack of New Covenant-based preaching.

(2) Denominational Church --> stop going to church

I also know of individuals who grew up in a Christian environment who totally stopped attending church when they came of age, because the concept of God painted to them was one that was judgemental, vengeful and impossible to please, and they would thus rather not have anything to do with Him.

I reproduce below the sentiments shared by one such person, whose identity I am not at liberty to reveal because she is someone very, very dear to me.  She wrote this on 23 May 2020, and shortly thereafter, her dad suffered a stroke upon reading it :-(

(3) New Creation Church --> Other (Denominational) Churches

This category intrigues me the most. I know of some who spent decades in NewCre, yet decided to made the trip in the opposite direction, effectively burning the bridge behind them.  They accuse Ps Prince of portraying God as a genie, or of raising their hopes too high regarding health/financial breakthroughs, or of easy-believism (ie. no need for "discipleship" or "spiritual formation").

[By the way, I have addressed the topic of Discipleship in this post entitled "Lazy Christians?"
Lazy Christians?]

There is one particular individual called Nick Tan (whom I know personally), whose "testimony" was showcased on 29 Nov 2023 by Gospel Light, his current church, which I reproduce in full below:

These individuals unfortunately also become cannon fodder for the likes of George Ong, who has his fair share of rabid followers who just cannot wait to see NewCre fall :-(

Ps Prince made a very interesting observation before: Jealousy and envy usually happens between people sharing the same profession.  A pastor is usually jealous of another pastor, an accountant of another accountant, a real estate agent of another real estate agent, and so on. Rarely is a pastor jealous of an accountant, or an accountant of a real estate agent, or a real estate agent of a pastor.

This explains the animosity that Kong Hee, Lawrence Khong, Ho Chee Sin, George Ong and even KSM (the current PIC of my ex-church PLMC) have towards Ps Prince.

I would add that it happens also between people sharing the same life circumstances too.  A sibling is envious of another sibling who is favoured by their parents,  a mother of another whose kids are doing well in school, a husband of another man whose wife is submissive and demure, etc etc.

Sorry for digressing. Let's get back to the topic of bridge-burning.  

(4) New Creation Church --> stop going to church

This category is the most heartbreaking of all.  I can understand why people may leave churches that depict God as angry and demanding.  But if God is portrayed as loving and forgiving, then it not so much the message that turn people away, but the message-bearers.

There is one such individual that not only stopped attending NewCre, but even went so far as to declare war against it on 12 March 2023.  Thankfully, he took down his Instagram post about an hour later after being counselled. Unfortunately, he currently lives quite the secular lifestyle, which includes smoking, drinking and swearing :-(

Another stopped because she was previously in a very exclusive care group for several years, and then when it had grown too big and had to multiply, the CG leader allowed the exclusive member to choose who could stay and who had to leave.  The person in question was one of those who had to leave the CG, and her bitterness caused her to leave church altogether. 

Anyway, what does the Bible have to say about the act of burning bridges?  Were there cases of God asking His people to cut ties?  We will look at some examples in the next post, so stay tuned!

Thir.st Resources to Bridge the Divide

Wednesday, 18th March 2026

Yesterday, I mentioned about the "Rhema images" that Dn Doug shared with me.  They were from the Instagram account of Thir.st, which frankly speaking, I had never heard of up till then.

The first thing that I noticed when I looked at the post was that my daughter (she uses the Insta handle hollecar (which is her name Rachel Loh spelt backwards) liked it.  Of course Dn Doug (Insta handle dougtheman75) liked it too, and subsequently, my wife (Insta handle socks109) read it and liked it too. 

I did a Google AI search on Thir.st and this was the result:

Thir.st (thir.st) is a faith-based digital platform in Singapore that functions as a space for the next generation of believers and seekers to have honest conversations about faith, life, and relationships. 

The name "Thir.st" is a metaphorical reference to spiritual longing or hunger for God. It draws from biblical imagery where "thirsting" represents a deep desire for truth, purpose, and the "living water" found in Jesus Christ. 

Key Facts About Thir.st

• Mission: Its goal is to use storytelling and digital media to inspire hope, strengthen community, and share the Gospel.
• Organization: It is the flagship platform of the Thirst Collective, a non-profit media group that also includes other titles like Salt&Light (faith-at-work) and Stories of Hope (evangelistic testimonies).
• Origin: It was founded by Ps Edric Sng and launched in December 2016.
• Content: The platform publishes articles, videos, and devotionals covering topics such as mental health, dating, career, and Christian theology. 

What I have noticed of late is that because of the way many other churches in Singapore have labelled our church as "preaching hypergrace" or "lacking discipleship", we have responded in kind by labelling them "law-based" or "having an old-covenant mentality", and this back and forth only results in deepening and widening the divide :-(

When I spoke with Ps Ed sometime in July 2025 (shortly after my dad went to heaven and I was contemplating returning to my ex-church - see At The Crossroads, Part 3 ), he said that he himself was from a denominational church and had to watch himself not to become judgemental and self-righteous whenever he read comments made by his ex-church members in the various Whatsapp chat groups he was in.

Jesus Himself said that those who are not against Him are for Him (see Mk 9:40), so we need to be careful not to place negative labels on fellow believers.

It is ironic that when I was a CG leader and Treasurer in my ex-church, I would quote that very same verse to defend Ps Prince's teachings, and now the re(verse!) holds true from the other side.

Thank God that Thir.st is a non-denominational platform that seeks to bridge that divide, such that members of both NewCre and Methodist churches can find common ground.  In fact, I checked to see who follows their account and there are very familiar names from both...

NewCre: Annette Lee, Ps Lawrence, Dn Lip Kee, Dn Doug, Ps Joe Purcell

Methodist Churches: Ps Glad, Morgan Zhou, my daughter, Melissa Mak, Dennis Yue

Anyway, I did a search on "cell groups" at Thir.st and 2 articles popped up that address the very situation I am currently in.

https://thirst.sg/what-can-we-do-about-cliques-in-our-cell-group/

https://thirst.sg/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-perfect-cell-group/

These 2 articles really blessed me because 

• the first directly addresses the PLQ holy huddle that currently exist in my CG; and
• the second debunks the myth that I had joined the perfect CG

May these 2 articles bless you the same way they have blessed me, if you find yourself in a similar situation.  There are also lots of other testimonies found therein, so do check them out if the Lord so prompts you to :-)

Chats with Brother Loh

Tuesday, 17th March 2026

Back in the 1990s, Dr Aw Swee Eng wrote a book called "Chats with Uncle Loh" and gave several copies to my dad.

While de-cluttering the Study, I came across those copies, and have kept one for posterity.

Fast forward to the 21st century and God has brought a dear brother into my life, Douglas Loh.  I got to know him way before he was appointed a Deacon, and we meet up regularly for lunch to fellowship and chat.  

He introduced me to King of Fried Rice, Uptown Nasi Lemak and Sando, amongst others. 

In return, I have introduced him to Prof Brawn Cafe, Boh Geh Uncle Canteen and Little Pond.

Prof Brawn Cafe, May 2018

Sando, Sep 2024

Little Pond, Oct 2025

Because of the great kingdom friendship that we have, God has frequently used Dn Doug as a channel to give me His rhema word.  For example, I only knew about the existence and use of washpots because Dn Doug shared that with me back in 2018 when I encountered friction with my then-ministry team leader CY.  You can read that blog entry here

Thank God for Washpots

Well, God again used Dn Doug to bring me His rhema word (or rather a series of 9 Instagram images) when I shared about what happened recently in my "perfect" CG.  I reproduce these 9 images below to encourage everyone to be part of a CG, not be discouraged by setbacks, but continue to look to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith.

I truly am blessed by my chats with Brother Loh.  May God continue to bless His ministry as a Deacon overseeing the Sunday Experience at the Star!

Holy Huddles

Friday, 13th March 2026

I was chatting with a dear brother of mine the other day about how my previous CGL had what she herself had termed as her "coveted" members. In Aug 2022, when Covid restrictions were lifted and our church encouraged CGs to meet in person again, she told me that she would still keep having Zoom-based meetings on alternate fortnights as she did not want to lose them.

She also had her "favourites", and the irony is that her facilitator (the one who whistleblew to MAS and the police on her) and I were among the numbered few.  During one conversation with her, she even asked whether she could nominate me to be a future CGL, but I politely declined, telling her I was very contented to just be an ordinary CG member.  I  did not want any added responsibilities, and was afraid of being stumbled by any politicking further up the organisation, like what happened in the political party I was previously a member of.

My current CG is led by a wonderful godly couple, but I have also observed what some would consider the formation of a "holy huddle" of those who attend services at PLQ.  

My wife and I currently attend the 1st service at Star Vista (what we affectionately call HQ).  When we first changed church in 2018, we attended services at Golden Village, Great World City.  Then Covid hit so we pivoted to watching online.  When her dad went home to be with the Lord in August 2022, she told me that she would like to make it a point to visit her mom weekly.  Her mom stayed in Bukit Batok so we would typically visit her after attending service.  

When we first got married, we would visit her parents weekly.  After the kids came along, and as time went by, our visits became less frequent.  It was reduced to every other week, and then every month, and then to just once every quarter. 

Her mom moved to Siglap about 2 months ago, so I asked my wife whether we could join the "PLQ holy huddle", but she declined, so we remain HQ attendees.

In my last post, I blogged about an unpleasant encounter with this particular fellow CG member, which I refer to as VX.  Two fellow members have reached out to me and I really appreciate their good intentions.  But when I ask these same members whether they have similarly reached out to VX, for some reason, they avoid answering me directly and/or change the topic.

I have reproduced parts of our conversation, but have redacted their names to protect their privacy.

In Conversation with PLQ Holy Huddle Member #1

In Conversation with PLQ Holy Huddle Member #2

This is puzzling because VX was the one who provoked me and I retaliated. If anything, he was the perpetuator and I was the victim.  An objective person would see that both of us were at fault (him more so, I would add), but somehow they seem to place the entire blame squarely on me :-(

The only explanation I can think of is that VX is part of the "PLQ holy huddle", and it sadly reminds me of how the ruling party operates.  PSP representatives Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa went through many baptisms of fire, whereas their own representatives hardly got a rap on their knuckles for their fumbles.

This "us and them", "inner and outer circle" mentality is very unhealthy, and it troubles me to see it happening inside what I had until now considered to be the perfect CG.  Please do keep us in your prayers, that what is not of God, He will deal with.

Maybe Shaw Organisation will jack up the PLQ rent such that it becomes no longer feasible, or cease operations (just like what happened at Seletar Mall), so that everyone will return back to HQ :-)

Name-Calling and Name-Dropping

Monday, 9th March 2026

Recent and regular readers of my blog will get the impression that I am currently in the perfect CG led by a truly godly couple.

Well, yesterday morning, something happened that totally blindsided me.  A fellow CG member (let's call him VX) openly challenged me on our CG group chat and unfortunately, instead of just ignoring him, the flesh inside me rose up, and we ended up sparring in the chat group for a good hour.  Thankfully, the 8:30am service started, so I put my phone away.

But the damage was already done.  Both CG hosts reached out to me, and I thank God for them.

Up till yesterday morning, VX and me have been civil to each other.  We have had our minor differences before, but what caught me totally by surprise was him opposing me not privately but openly and publicly in the chat group.  There is some underlying hostility on his part, and unfortunately, I took the bait.

He accused me of name-calling and name-dropping.  What is ironic is that he name-calls too, but that's not the main point of this post.

Nonetheless, let's start with name-calling.  

I frequently joke with my golfing kakis that ever since I retired from the corporate world, my face has gotten smaller and whiter, and that I eat soft rice. I frequently refer to myself as "吃软饭的小白脸", which literally means "the small white face that eats soft rice".

In Chinese, a 小白脸 is someone who relies upon a woman to support him, while 吃软饭 is the act of relying on a woman to support him.  Combining both gives added emphasis.

Most of them will laugh in response, but one particular kaki said, "Not everyone got this kind of kang tau (opening) hor, got people want but also cannot have."

Name-calling?  Guilty as charged, and I even direct it at myself.

Now onto name-dropping.  Is that something that I do?  Come to think of it, it does come across that way.

I do know personally

• my MP Mr Seah Kian Peng, because he invited me to serve in his MPS
• a particular Mayor (which I will not name to protect her privacy), as we were in the same CG before she even became an MP. I recall us praying for her when she told us that LHL had approached her.
• several pastors and senior leaders in various Methodist Churches
• quite a handful of pastors and deacons in New Creation Church
• Mr Pang Hoe Sang, the one who built both NewCre and PLMC
• Mr Gilbert Lee, the audit engagement partner of the Lodge I volunteer with, because he was the same partner-in-charge of the listco I was working in 
• etc
• etc

But I got to know them (and they, me) purely because of God's divine arrangement.  I take absolutely zero credit for that.

I recall how some Methodist pastors were wary of offending me because they thought I was on very good terms with BE Rev Dr Wee Boon Hup when he was their TRAC President.  But he and I only met up once for lunch circa 2007, because Philip Ng and I wanted to know what was the Methodist Church's stand on the grace gospel.

So why did the pastors think that?  That was because Catherine Wee (his wife) went around telling people that she was good friends with my wife!!!  Mrs Wee was the name-dropper haha.

Having said all the above, is name-dropping biblical?  What if I told you it is?

We read in Acts 22:25-29 how the apostle Paul was about to be whipped.  

23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,

24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 

25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered.

28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

Notice how Paul himself dropped the biggest name back then by telling the commander that he was born a Roman citizen.  That would be the equivalent of telling people he was a White Horse in the Singapore Armed Forces, or that he was the son of the ex-PM of Singapore (oops maybe that is not quite a good example) :P

As I was reflecting upon what happened, I felt the Lord telling me, "Son, extend forgiveness to VX because he is envious of you." 

"What Lord, he envious of me?  I am an unemployed accountant whereas he is a renowned professional who runs his own firm."

"He has to work very hard to get connections, whereas I have connections bestowed upon you. That is why he called you a name-dropper".

After reflecting upon this, I repented and said. "Sigh, you are right Lord, I forgive him and I will likewise look for the opportunity to seek his forgiveness."

So dear readers, please do keep VX and me in prayer.  I have had enough of washpots in my ministry and I really do not need one in my CG.

God is S(o) GOOD

Friday, 6th March 2026

Yesterday, I attended a full-day session that is meant for board members of charities and non-profit organisations, called SGOOD 2.0, which is a collaboration between the Singapore Institute of Directors ("SID") and NCSS ("National Council of Social Services").

Per the Singapore Institute of Directors' website, 

https://www.sid.org.sg/SGOOD

SGD 2.0 - Governance for Outstanding Organisation Directors (SGOOD) 2.0 Programme

Effective governance of nonprofit organisations starts with informed and empowered board leaders. Serving on a nonprofit board requires not only a strong foundation in governance and strategic oversight but also the ability to drive meaningful impact while balancing diverse stakeholder interests.

The SGOOD (Governance for Outstanding Organisation Directors) 2.0 Programme provides nonprofit organisation board members with the necessary governance tools to lead with confidence. Developed in collaboration with the National Council of Social Service, it is part of GovernWell: Excellence in Charity Leadership, an initiative launched by the Commissioner of Charities and Charity Council.

How did this begin? When I changed CG in October 2022, one of my fellow CG mates Wayne Soo, who is also a Chartered Accountant, noted that I was kinda retired and had the capacity to do volunteer work. So he roped me into serving at a nursing home meant for people with dementia called Apex Harmony Lodge as one of her Management Committee member (the equivalent of its Board).  My term began in April 2023 and after 2 years, my role is now as her Assistant Treasurer, with Wayne as the Treasurer.

The Lodge is deliberately built to look like a chalet resort, so that long-term residents (yes, we call them "residents" rather than "patients") feel like they are on a staycation, rather than in a nursing home of sorts. In fact, some of them feel so comfortable that they do not want to go back to their own homes.

The Lodge even employs 2 in-house musicians to entertain the residents daily.  At their CNY gathering last month, they were so kind to invite the ONNB (oi nang noob bassist) to jam along with them.  Here is a picture of us, with me holding onto my bass ukelele.

Back to the SGOOD session and the title of today's post.  When I agreed with Wayne to come on board, I had no agenda of any sort.  Not only is this an unpaid volunteer role, we even have to pay the Lodge $12 a year in membership fees!  The constitution requires one to first be a member of the Lodge before he can become a management committee member.

But God is so good and this is why.

At my table yesterday were sat other like-minded individuals who want to give back to society, while still holding onto daytime jobs in the corporate world.  One is an accountant that heads up risk and compliance in a commodities trading conglomerate.  Another is a lawyer working as the general counsel to a family office.  Yet another is a lawyer working for a venture capitalist fund focused on the life-sciences industry.

Those close to me will know that I currently rely very much on passive income (being kinda retired), and is heavily vested in the private credit space.  By the grace of God (and more so because I have been tithing faithfully), I will very soon be receiving a significant inheritance, and leading up to that day, have been asking God how to best steward what He will be bestowing upon me.  The earlier promptings has been to go into private equity, and God confirmed it yesterday by placing those 3 individuals to sit at the same table as me!!!

What do commodities trading, family offices and venture capitalists have in common?  Yup, they all operate with private companies.  Hallelujah!

Yesterday, the 4 of us (2 accountants and 2 lawyers) connected with one another via Linkedin, and I am so looking forward to the much more that God has in store.  Amen?