How Do We Identify Ourselves? (Part 10)

Monday, 12th October 2026

PART 10: OUR TRUE IDENTITY 

The last 9 posts were about my 30+ year career, spanning more than half of my life, and what very much was used by society to define me as a person.

As you can see, it has been quite the roller-coaster ride with its ups and downs, mountain peaks and valley troughs. But through it all, I see the faithful hand of God's provision and protection.

Like what I mentioned in the very first post, man's identity is oftentimes tied to his profession.

In his Children's Day sermon on 4 Oct 2026, Ps Lawrence talked about how many parents hope their children grow up to become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer (he did not mention accountants or architects, but you get the picture).  But we should just be happy that they are our children, and wonderful gifts from God.  As parents we should love them for who they are, just like how God loves us because of who we are.

Classic cassette

It was thus also so apt that just 2 days later, on 6 Oct 2026, the Gospel Partner app's Day & Night Devo was on the very topic about IDENTITY!

The snippet for that day is from the sermon, "Your New Identity in Christ", a true classic, preached by Ps Prince on 7 May 2000.

A friend actually passed me the cassette version of his sermon to convert into MP3 format.

Ps Prince says it best, so I am reproducing the devotional in full below:

GP morning devo on 6 Oct 26

You Are More than Just What You Do

Let me ask you something that might catch you off guard.

If someone asked you, “Who are you? 

Not what you do, not where you work, not what your title is, but truly, who are you?”

What would you say?

It’s harder to answer than it sounds, isn’t it?

What we do is so deeply woven into the way we relate to one another. We meet someone new, and within the first few minutes, it comes up: “So, what do you do?” And without even thinking, we hand them a label. A title. A function.

“I’m in finance.”

“I’m a stay-at-home mum.”

“I run my own business.”

“I’m in full-time ministry.”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of that. The Lord gives us our vocations for a reason. Just as He put Adam in the garden to tend it, not as a punishment but as a gift, the Lord designed us to find real satisfaction in meaningful work. He knows exactly how we’re wired and what will bring us a sense of purpose and fulfilment.

But if we are not careful, we can let the gift become lord over us. Many people strive their whole lives, trying to ascend that corporate ladder or attain that prestigious office overlooking the city.

And it’s not just in the corporate world. Even at home, a mother can let caring for her children weigh on her so much that every parenting mistake, every difficult season with a child, can land on her like a personal verdict. It crushes her sense of self.

That’s why I want to remind you today: Don’t tie your identity to what you do. You are not just what you do. You are so much more.

After all, you are a human being, aren’t you? Not a “human doing.”

Here’s what I’ve noticed. When our identity rests on what we do, we become fragile in ways we don’t expect.

We take criticism of our work more personally than we need to. We compare. We compete. We feel unsettled when someone else seems to be doing what we do, only better. We cling to titles and positions longer than we should, because letting them go feels like losing a piece of ourselves.

That’s not what the Lord desires for you.

Look at this piece of wisdom from the apostle Paul about what we choose to build our lives with in 1 Corinthians 3:12–13:

“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”

Paul captures it so well here. He talks about two categories of building materials: wood, hay, and straw on one side; gold, silver, and precious stones on the other.

Now, the wood, hay, and straw? That’s everything you accumulate and build on the outside. The titles, achievements, and roles you occupy. These things are purely temporal… and when the fire comes, they don’t hold up.

But the gold, silver, and precious stones? That’s what the Lord has already established in you through Christ.

Your identity as a son or daughter of the Most High.  Your standing as a new creation. Your righteousness that’s been given, not earned. Your belovedness that’s not contingent on your performance.

These are things the fire cannot touch.

Now, I want you to believe this without reservation: The Lord absolutely wants you to flourish in what you do. He wants to give you skill in your vocation, wisdom in your decisions, and favor that opens doors you could never have pushed open on your own. He is not asking you to care less about your work.

But He doesn’t want you in a place that leaves you exposed and vulnerable. He wants the blessings in your life to endure and truly serve you.

A lady can say, “I am a mother,” but what happens when the children grow up and leave the nest? Will she know who she is when the house goes quiet?

What about the man who says, “I’m a banker.” What happens the day he leaves the bank?

Or consider the leader in ministry who has built their whole sense of self around their title. Who are they when the season of leading comes to an end?

Let me ask you this question.

When our position or our roles change… when the trappings of our fancy corporate titles are stripped away… who are we, really?

That’s the question the Lord wants to help you answer. Not just when the moment of crisis comes, but now, from a place of security and rest.

So today, whatever you’re walking into, whatever you’re carrying, will you take a moment to recalibrate?

You are not your job title. You are not your output. You are not the sum of what you’ve built or produced or led.

You are a son. A daughter. Loved before you did a single thing to earn it, and loved still on the days you feel like you’ve done nothing right.

That’s who you are. And that’s what will truly endure, even through difficult times.

And so dear friends, this is how we should identify ourselves.  We are new creations, sons and daughters of God the Father, highly-favoured and accepted in Christ, the Beloved.  That will never change, no matter what our station in life is.  Amen? 

How Do We Identify Ourselves? (Part 4)

Thursday, 1st October 2026

PART 4: FROM EXTERNAL TO INTERNAL

In my previous post, I blogged about the period of time when I worked under a great boss.

Now let me move on to the time when I had the most wonderful of colleagues.

(6) Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Jan 2005 to Feb 2008)

On 2 January 2005, I joined a German semiconductor company called Infineon Technologies on a one-year contract.  My salary was actually paid not by Infineon but via Recruit Express, a recruitment and placement agency.

My primary role as a Manager was to assist my boss with the documentation of processes, which was part of SOX-compliance requirements.  (Back then, Infineon was listed on NYSE and thus subjected to SOX audit).

I was to go around the office to interview various Finance colleagues on how they carried out their day-to-day work (fixed assets, accounts payable, general ledger, period-end closing, etc), document the work via flow charts and supporting narrations, identify and highlight what the key controls at each stage were, put everything together in a draft Word document, and then send the draft over to my boss for her review and refinements.

After several iterations, the finalised version would then be sent to the centralised SOX team to be "published" in PDF format, to be in time for KPMG, the external auditors, to look at and test as part of their SOX audit.

The above was thus supposed to be a one-off "project" and that was how my boss managed to get the approval of her boss, the CFO, for a 1-year contract headcount.  The email address given to me was malcolm.loh.external@infineon.com.  That "external" suffix was what IT used to distinguish internal employee headcount from those that were hired on a contractual basis.

But God, of course, had higher and greater plans for me.  The Head of Shared Accounting Services resigned some time in March 2005 after less than 6 months in the role.  The one before her had also resigned within a year of joining.  My boss had to find a replacement and it would take considerable time to recruit from outside the organisation.

I was called into the CFO's office and the vacancy was offered to me.  I recall the CFO telling me that it was a "hot seat" and to take some time to consider, afraid that I too would quit soon after.

Well, I did not need any form of hesitation.  My answer was an immediate "yes, thank you so very much!"  Not only was this a permanent position, it was a promotion, from Manager to Senior Manager.  The paycut I had taken when I left Tricor was not just restored, but much more -- there was even an increment to boot.  It was truly a miracle that only God could perform! Hallelujah!

And so on 15 April 2005, I moved from being an external of the organisation to an internal of it.  My email address was shortened to just malcolm.loh@infineon.com :-)

It was a win for Infineon too.  Their 1-year contractual arrangement with Recruit Express was shortened to just 3½ months, they found a stable replacement to sit in that "hot seat" for a good 3 years, paid the same amount to me as they did my predecessor, but with the additional bonus of me continuing with the SOX documentation I was initially hired to do.

I came across my Infineon name card while doing the recent decluttering, and I cannot but remember with gratitude how God orchestrated everything behind the scenes.

Truth be told, my wife and I had been praying in agreement together in the car on the way to work (something that we still do till this very day), calling for things that were not as though they were, that I had a good-paying, stable, permanent job and it came to pass in just 3 months.

It was also in Infineon that I was first introduced to the grace gospel by a colleague, Victor Poh, who attends New Creation Church, and would leave Ps Prince's CD sermons in the common pantry for anyone to borrow.   A shout-out to you, Victor!  Continue to be a vessel for His glory!

You can read more about that testimony here:

My Journey of Grace Through Faith

Ok, back to the point about having the best colleagues.  I had initially joined as a standalone staff and had to interact with colleagues from asset accounting, accounts payable, general ledger, etc.  After I took on the permanent job as Head of Shared Accounting Services, many of these "colleagues" became my "staff", but I treated them more like peers, and requested them to treat me likewise.

Our office was located in Kallang, parking was free for staff, so a good number of us drove to work.  I had upgraded from a Mitsubishi Lancer to a 7-seater Mitsubishi Grandis, so we would all go out to lunch together to nearby McPherson or Toa Payoh.  One time, we even travelled all the way to Changi Airport! Those were good times indeed :-)

The previous post was about a great boss.  This one is about wonderful colleagues. The next one will be about reliable and dependable staff, so stay tuned!

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 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: 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.

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!

Thank God for Washpots

Thursday, 5th March 2026

I have been enjoying the Day&Night Experience in the JP Gospel Partner app.

Yesterday, the morning portion of the devotional was based on Ps 60:8, and in particular about God using the nation of Moab as His washpot to refine the nation of Israel.

The modern-day equivalent of a washpot would be the washing machine.

I was first introduced to this ancient word by a dear brother of mine, Dn Douglas Loh, way back in 2018.  Back then, I had just started serving as a volunteer Logistics & Transport driver, and was assigned to Team B, under a leader I would only refer to as CY.

CY was somewhat of a control freak, who frowned upon me sending jokes to the Whatsapp chat group.  On one occasion, he sent me a private message, "Brother, how does this edify the rest?"  I was stunned speechless. He was a father of all control freaks.

I complained to Dn Doug and he told me, "Brother, look at CY is your washpot, being used by God to refine your rough edges and wash you of any dust that may have settled on you.  But hey, similarly God is also using you to be CY's washpot."

Now that was a revelation indeed.  As much as I had to adjust to CY's style, CY also had to adjust to my style.  I tak boleh tahan his controlling ways, he also tak boleh tahan my playful ways.

I sent a message to Dn Doug to thank him yesterday for sowing into my life all those years ago.  Here is an extract of our exchange:

So dearest beloveds, let us thank God for seemingly difficult people and circumstances that come our way, because God is using them to build our character, and moulding us to be more and more Christlike. 

Let's thank God for washpots, Amen?

BBC: Boast and Broadcast about Christ

Wednesday, 4th March 2026

Two days ago, I went up to JB with some "Monday brothers".

It is a term used to describe those who do not need to work on Mondays because they work on Sundays, and typically go to JB on Mondays because traffic is the lightest the day following the weekend. 

One of them is an exemplary team leader in the L&T ministry and yup, his team is thriving under his leadership.  So much so that I personally know of someone who made a special request to transfer into his team :P

[To understand God's principle regarding spiritual leadership, please feel free to read this post]

Rise and Fall: Churches, Ministries and CGs

Anyway, this particular leader likes to do things in the background, his maxim being to "not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing".  This is Biblical and is based on Matt 6:3, viz:

"Let not the left hand know what the right hand is doing" is 

a biblical idiom from Matthew 6:3, instructing that acts of charity and kindness should be done in secret, without seeking recognition or praise. It emphasizes humility, suggesting that giving should be so discreet that even you (symbolized by the left hand) barely acknowledge your own good deeds (right hand)

I respect that in him, so I will not sabo him by mentioning his name nor what he has done quietly for others, lest I jeopardise his effectiveness in the Body of Christ.

I will however offer a clue: he is really Tok Kong: Always Awesome.  He who has ears, let him hear ;-)

I, on the other hand, have been accused even by those close to me of frequently boasting and showing off :-(

In my defence, God has created me very different from that particular brother.

In my younger years, I was not like the other outspoken ACS boys in my cohort.  I was scrawny and pimply, and thus introverted, self-conscious and living very much in the (as well as being a pale) shadow of my illustrious dad.  I recall someone ever commenting that I was always looking on the floor when speaking with people, particular to girls.

BUT GOD (yup that term again haha) had other greater plans for me.  Even today, I might not be totally comfortable speaking in public in front of others, but I am very much at home typing in front of the screen of my laptop.  And blogging is God's perfect gift to people like me!

I am a totally different persona (some would call us "keyboard warriors", and I just love testifying and boasting about God's goodness in my life.

But is this Biblical?  We read in Jn 4 about how that Samaritan woman at the well, after encountering the Lord, left behind her water-pot(!), and went back to her village to become an unashamed evangelist.  Had blogs and the Internet been invented during her time, she would have broadcasted her story not just to her village but to also the whole known world as well.

Which brings me to an incident I want to announce that happened very recently.  Last Thursday (26 Feb), I was seated next to a fellow investor and he told me that he had made some pocket money on Elridge Energy.  He had sold his shares because in his view as a savvy angel investor, it was way overvalued.  

I told him of my plans to sell only at RM1.99.  But after taking into consideration what he said and the fact that I was already sitting on quite a tidy unrealised profit, the very next day, I decided to queue at 9:23:54 am to sell all my shares at RM1.49 for the "fun" of it, not expecting anything to happen.  You can see the screenshot below as to when the "submit time" was.

Then. at 3:47pm, I received the following text message

I was having afternoon tea with another Monday brother of mine (Hei Nick, a shout-out to you!) when I received the text.  I was surprised yet at the same time disappointed because it actually went up further to RM1.51.

Then over the weekend, a black swan event happened that caused the entire stock market to crash on Monday, something not even the smartest analyst would have anticipated. 

It was God and God alone who prompted me to sell before the market crash.  All glory to Him!

And so please allow me to BBC (Boast and Broadcast about Christ) about yet another example of how much Jesus loves ME.  He is not some distant and remote God, but a personal one intimately interested in even the smallest detail in the daily lives of His sons and daughters. Amen?

Back to that outing in JB. Two other brothers had volunteered to pick up the tab.  But in the end, the child whom Jesus loves did ;-)

P.S. Elridge has plunged to 80+ sen because of profit-taking and panic-selling, but its fundamentals remain sound.  May consider going in again to bargain-hunt if so prompted by the Lord.

Whom Jesus Loves

Tuesday, 3rd March 2026 

Yesterday morning, in my enthusiasm to release my blog entry before making my way up to JB, I had made a claim about the word "disciple" not appearing in the epistles without first verifying it.  Had this been shown to be otherwise, I would have lost whatever (little) was left of my credibility haha.

Today, after doing the morning devo, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to do a Google AI search, and voila!

The word "disciple" (mathetes) is absent from the Epistles because it specifically described followers in Jesus’s earthly ministry (Gospels) or early church formation (Acts). Post-resurrection, the church was established, shifting the focus from "learning/following" to being "in Christ," with new covenant identities like "saints," "brethren," and "believers" taking precedence. 

Key reasons for the shift in terminology:

• A New Reality: The Epistles address a post-Pentecost, "in-Christ" reality where believers are joined to Him, making "student/teacher" language (disciple/rabbi) insufficient.
• Identity Shift: The focus moved from followers of a teacher to being members of Christ's body. The term "saint" (holy one) or "brother/sister" (adelphoi) better reflects this new, intimate relationship.
• "Disciple" as Foundational: The term "disciple" was mostly used in the Gospels and Acts to describe those following Jesus or the Apostles, a period when the church was being built on that foundation.
• Synonymous with Christian: In Acts, "disciple" was used interchangeably with "Christian." As the church grew, "Christian" became the more common, widespread identifier. 

While the term is absent, the reality of making followers of Jesus remains in the Epistles through teaching and mentorship. 

Having settled my heart about the above, God then brought to mind the phrase "the disciple whom Jesus loved", and how John was so "thick-skinned" to refer it to himself in his own Gospel.  

Yes, readers, I have verified this :-)

The disciple whom Jesus loved is widely identified by tradition and biblical scholars as the Apostle John, one of the twelve disciples and author of the Gospel of John. He is depicted as having a close, personal relationship with Jesus, reclining next to him at the Last Supper and standing at the foot of the cross.

Key details regarding this title:

Context: The phrase appears only in the Gospel of John (13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20).

Ps Prince has preached a sermon explaining the above by contrasting Peter and John.  Peter boasted about his love for Jesus, even claiming that, as recorded in Mt 26:33, "If all these others fail you, I will not". John, on the other, boasted about Jesus' love for him.   In other words, Peter proclaimed his love for Jesus, John proclaimed Jesus' love for him.  The former's focus was on himself, the latter's focus was on Jesus.

So what lessons can we draw from the above, keeping in mind that we are now "sons and daughters" rather than "disciples"?

We proclaim that we are a child whom Jesus loves :-)

And fellow NewCreationers, we are so very blessed, because every single word of the lyrics of the following song entitled Whom Jesus Loves (hence the title of today's post) is from the very Holy of Holies.

Note how the lyricist uses the word "child" in place of "disciple".  Did he depart from Scripture? Not at all. He had rightly divided the word because John used that phrase containing that word in his gospel, but not once in his 3 epistles nor in the book of Revelations.

In 3 Jn 1:2, he said "Beloved, I pray you to prosper concerning all things and to be in good health, just as your soul prospers."

And the lyricist used that word "beloved" in the song too!

I'm a child, whom Jesus loves
Embraced by God above
In mountains high and valleys deep
I lean upon, Your love for me

On Calvary, You took my sin
My soul, my life, set free
I am the righteousness of God
In Christ, I live forevermore

Your promises are certain
You love me to the end
You're with me in the fire
But You won't leave me there
Your miracles unfolding
And blessings undeserved
'Cause I am Your beloved
The child whom Jesus loves

Speaking of rightly dividing the word, I have lots and lots to share about that, so stay tuned!