Speaking To Your Mountain

In the Bible, the term 'mountain' is usually used to refer to problems encountered in life. And even in our ordinary speech we describe our problems as a 'mountain of problems (or challenges)'. On Sunday Oct 28, Rev Joe Purcell (Director of Rhema Bible Training Centre) preached in New Creation Church in place of Pastor Joseph Prince who is in Canada speaking at a Conference organized by Pastor Peter Yongren.

Rev Joe talked about our righteousness in Christ and why we need to declare aloud our inheritance in Christ and there was a point in the sermon when he was sharing about how Zerubbabel was so discouraged with the opposition that he almost gave up and just at the right moment, the Lord sent an angel to him to encourage him.
Zechariah 4:6-7, v6 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the Lord Almighty. v7 "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbable you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!"'

So the first thing we as children of our Abba Daddy need to recognize is our blessing of righteousness in Christ and because of this righteousness, we have our position in Him and because of our position in Christ, we now can turn around and declare to our 'mountain' that they will become level ground and no longer be a threat to us.

So we need to take ownership of our blessing of righteousness and start to declare our victory. That is our fight of faith; not that we need to fight FOR our faith but that we fight FROM our position of faith and then begin to see our mountain melt away and so what used to be a whole mountain range will become plains stretching for miles around us. Would you not want that to happen? Then start declaring your faith and claiming your blessing of righteousness and then sit back and watch the Lord put everything right for you. I did and I am beginning to see results over the past three days.

How Would You Describe Your Current Situation?

Last week, a friend and former colleague, asked me this question, 'how would you describe your current situation?' as she found that I am in the same setting as her own husband who, like me, left a full-time job to venture out and be an entrepreneur in early March this year.

Man was created with a hunter personality and therefore will always want to be out there scouting for food for his family and himself while the woman was created to care for the family especially the young. And so I basically explained to her that this hunter has now entered a new hunting ground and need to understand what type of animals roam there and what were their feeding habits. Also being in a fresh hunting ground, he will need to spend time to understand the ground - terrain, vegetation, territorial rights, etc.

i know it sounded rather philosophical but she understood what I was aiming at and began to appreciate the challenges ahead for her husband and her family. Of course Abba Daddy can perform miracles and make the humanly impossible situation become possible for His beloved and that is what we all are - beloved of Jesus and therefore of high priority for Abba Daddy. And this drew me back to a comment from one of my former colleagues in Deutsche Bank who commented that she admired my entrepreneural spirit. With Abba Daddy by my side, I believe I will succeed and be super-abundantly blessed beyond what I can ask or dream of.

Can I Talk WIth You About Financial Planning?

On Thursday afternoon I decided to head down to the beach at East Coast Park for a time of meditation. I reached my destination and sat down under one of the sheds on the beach and I began to ask Abba Daddy when my blessings would come. I looked out to the sea in front of me and saw many container ships and oil tankers and I thanked Him for the prosperity of the land but when would be my turn to be prospered?

And just as the words left my tongue, my mobile phone rang and a financial planner from AIA on the other end asked me whether I could spare her 20 minutes for her to explain how I could plan for my future. Imagine here I was asking Abba when my blessings would be given me and there was the agent wanting to show me financial planning! where is the connect I wondered.

And then suddenly I realized that Abba was telling me an important message - there will be such a blessing that I really need to be ready for it. And I saw for the first time how Abraham must have felt when Abba told him that he would be the father of many multitudes and yet he did not have a single heir to his name; it was not an easy road for Abraham especially a finite mind trying to comprehend what the Infinite Abba wanted to bestow upon him.

And so I am encouraged to trust Abba Daddy for my bountiful blessings and I am thankful.

In memory of my mother - the Lord took her home!

My mother started her hospital episodes in 2002 before the Chinese New Year when she had a very severe fever and was rushed to the National University Hospital and immediately warded. From there she suffered a number of multiple strokes while resting in the hospital and her condition did not improve. She was transferred to St Luke's Community Hospital for rehab treatment and hopefully can return home after that (that was the medical plan for her) but the latter did not materialize.

She was to spend the rest of her days in St Luke's despite a number of occasions when the social worker from St Luke's wanted us to take her out since St Luke's policy had never been for long-term care. I recalled the first occasion when the social worker wanted me to transfer her was right in the heat of the SARS outbreak in 2003 and I had to go and scout for alternative home support arrangements. We found one Elders Home in the east and when the transfer was supposed to take place, it was by divine intervention that she could not be moved (remember the time when there was a memorandum from Ministry of Health that stipulated no transfer of patients during the SARS period?) and again after the SARS outbreak was stabilize, the subject was broached again. This time I was more prepared and insisted that the doctors approved her transfer and that it was not just the social welfare department's decision. Of course none of the doctors supported the transfer as my mother was still very weak and therefore could not be moved.

So this request for transfer from St Luke's Social Welfare department became quite frequent but we stayed our ground and insisted a medical signoff be given and it never came. Finally, by the grace of our Abba Daddy, the doctor who was treating my dad's dimentia stepped in and being a member of the St Luke's Hospital Board and being familiar with my mother's case, took a strong stand and recommended to the Board that my mother be granted long-term residency for as long as she is alive. Now that is a very powerful mandate and all discussion of discharge were dropped.

Mom had a number of close calls with death during nights but I believed that she pulled through simply because there was something that she had not released in her spirit. She was a very traditional woman brought up in very steep Chinese culture where she believed that the wife cannot pass on before her husband (the stubborn nature in her dictated that) and so she would pull out of her fevers within 24 hours. And it was very painful for the family to see her in that vegetating state and much as we believed in her complete healing (which will in and of itself be a miracle) we soon began to feel that it would be better for her to return home to the Lord and end all those suffering. In fact dad was so grieved with the situation that there was an occasion where he tried to pull her out of her bed to bring her home.

But it was not to be so yet as dad was still alive. And when dad went home on April 07, the family made a decision not to break the news to her yet until we were ready for another funeral. Well, I believed she sensed that dad had gone after a while because he had not gone to visit her. It was a daily routine for dad to visit her between 10:30 AM and 02:30 PM with the maid and after his departure, the maid continued alone so that she can help the nursing staff to groom mom and change her. Although mom could not open her eyes to see, we know she still had a keen sense of touch and not being able to feel the hands of dad stroking her or hearing his voice began to set in (there were a few occasions when we visited her and while we talked with her, she would tear in response).

Without any one of the family actually breaking the news to her about dad's passing, she finally decided to release that burden in her spirit and to rest in the Lord and He took her home to end all her suffering. And when we recalled the whole episode, we could not help but see the hand of Abba Daddy in all His mercy assuring us that they are in a better place. 2 evenings before her actual departure, we were called to the hospital because she developed shortness of breath and a fever came on her and we were advised to prepare for the worst and so when she finally gave up her spirit we were more than ready.

But the amazing thing to me is still the timing of both departures - April 7 for dad and Nov 7 for mom (exactly seven months apart) and both were called home between 07:30 PM and 08:30 PM. To me it spoke of the completeness of His rest and that both my parents could not be separated even unto death - a strong reminder of their marriage vow - till death us do part (except that the parting was only a very short one). And that has greatly encouraged us and will always help us to look beyond our circumstances and see Abba Daddy's hand of grace upon our lives. All glory and honor to Him! Hallelujah!

In memory of my mother - a stubborn woman borne out of circumstances

As the children grew and when we started schooling on Christmas Island, I recalled my mother became more and more stubborn almost to the point of being obstinate. When my siblings started to attend Sunday School at the only church on the island, I was not allowed to join them although I did have the opportunity at the initial stage and the reason given by her was that being the youngest in the family, she wanted me to keep her and dad company (could not understand her rationale). Was she paranoid about the children becoming Christians? (she was a Buddhist/ Taoist then) or was she suspicious that dad had a roving eye? (I was even assigned to shadow dad whenever he was not at work and was debriefed after each outing). Of course all her suspicions were baseless and she had to admit 'defeat'.

But that further 'hardened' her resolve to the point where number 'I' took over and got the better of her. On one occasion, she was in the kitchen and wanting to get some pots from the upper shelf of the hanging cupboard, she fell backwards and sustained bruises but she was too stubborn to want to go for medical treatment until the next morning when her whole injured leg was swollen and she in great pain and we had to rush her to NUH A&E Department in an ambulance and she paid a high price for that - her legs were impacted and she subsequently had to walk with a walking frame initially but after a year or two, suffered strokes which finally rendered her immobile and wheelchair bound.

There were a number of incidents where her assertion as number 'I' got the better of her and she paid dearly for the consequences. But I want to praise and thank Abba Daddy that when the time for that crucial moment of decision for salvation, her dutiful nature as a wife took over. That was in June 1987 when my parents attended the evangelistic rally (Reinhard Bonke) and during altar call, when my dad stood up and went forward, she followed him. Inspite of her stubbornness, she still had that softness of a loving wife. She received the Lord Jesus into her heart and she resolved to stand beside my dad in whatever he wanted to do in their twilight years (she was 60 and he was 65 when they recceived the Lord).

In memory of my mother - a dutiful housewife

It is almost a year now since she was taken home to be with Abba Daddy on November 07, 2006 and recently I was talking with a good friend about how we remember our parents after they had left us; what legacy(ies) had they given us to remember them by. Hence the series of posts on my memories of my late earthly father and I am now penning my thoughts on my late mother.

My mother was born in China and as a young girl left China with her parents just after the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China back in 1938. They landed in Malaysia and settled in Selangor State and my mother and maternal grandmother went to work for Bata, the shoe manufacturer while my maternal grandfather was surviving on odd-jobs - small repairs and helping to sharpen tools.

After marriage, my parents moved to Kelang and stayed with an adopted relative n 1948 and my father decided to move the family (wife and two young children) in 1952 to Christmas Island where he found a job as a store-keeper in the supermarket in Christmas Island. After the birth of my elder brother (in early 1953) and I (in late 1954) and as we grew up, my mother started to take on homecooking to supplement the family income. And we siblings were tasked with housework as she busied herself with her 'meals-on-wheels' business and on weekends, it would be helping dad with cleaning up the fishes that he and his friends had caught. In fact mom ran a small scale business - meal-on-wheels, fish-mongering, fruit-selling (homegrown from our garden), eggs (from the family chicken farm) and became a celebrity among the residents in Christmas Island.

She had always been there to support dad in whatever he wanted to do and seldom did I hear them arguing (maybe they did behind closed doors and I might not have heard them). In fact she was so supportive that she had to force herself to make appearances with him at annual functions - my father was the chairman of the Chinese Association for a number of years and it was in that capacity that he had to attend annual cocktail parties at the residence of the general manager of the mining company on Christmas Island. I recalled one such function (it must have been his initial years) where dad came home drunk and threw up and mom spent the whole night cleaning up and telling him not to drink so much in future. Well, it taught dad a valuable lesson and for subsequent years, he knew better and was better prepared - never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!

In memory of my earthly father...he had gone home to Abba Daddy

On the evening of Friday April 7, 2006 I received a call at around 09:45 PM and I noticed that it was from my eldest brother James. Because I was attending the Friday evening bible study, my mobile phone was on silent mode so as not to disturb the preaching and so, as soon as service was over, I rushed out to return his call (James normally does not call me unless it is something important).

And I had the shock when he announced to me, "dad is gone". Initially I did not understand his statement and so asked him what he meant by that as I thought he had gone missing (lost) a number of occasions when he wandered out of his home on 'outings' of his own and due to his dimentia could not remember where he was or even who he was and we had to make a special laminated card with his personal particulars and my brother's home telephone number to wear around his neck so that they could identify him should anyone find him. So my first thought was that it was another one of those episodes. But when James repeated himself and added that dad had passed away that reality set in.

When we arrived at James' apartment, we saw an area that had the phone cordon and a number of officers were carrying out investigations. My father fell out of the service balcony of the 6th floor apartment onto the edge of the carpark. There are two balconies in James' apartment and one of them (the one in the living room) plus all the windows in the house were enclosed with metal grills but the one in his master bedroom did not have those grills because he would normally lock his room door should he or my sister-in-law not be at home. That evening he came home after his usual jog around the estate at around 7PM and headed for the showers.

After his shower he sat down for his dinner and had not locked his room door since he was home. While he was having his dinner, he heard some rushing of leaves and a thud sound but paid no notice of it thinking that it was just windy. He did not realized that his two golden retrievers were whining unnaturally at that moment as dad was very fond of the two pets. What we later pieced together was that dad was napping when James came out of his shower and headed for his dinner but he woke up soon after and wanted to go to the toilet. Thinking that James' room (which is next to the toilet) was the washroom, he stepped in and with the glass sliding door of the balcony wide opened, he saw people walking along the road below and decided to join them for a walk. He climbed over the ledge (quite low in comparison with the other balcony) and plunged six storeys down.

Our Abba Daddy is so merciful that even when he fell, dad did not suffer. I believe He took dad right into His arms midway down. Dad was wearing a white T-shirt and white shorts (his sleeping garments) and the spot where he landed was a miracle in itself. At the edge of the carpark there were some scrubs and these probably broke his fall as he was found lying facing skyward right next to the bushes and his head was only 2cm away from the concrete of the drains lining the edge of the carpark. The police reported later that they examined the bushes and did not find any broken branches or even leaves broken off from the scrubs - now how can one explain what happened except that it was the hand of Abba Daddy!

His clothes were spotlessly clean - there were no chlorofil or blood stains - and there were no external injuries and he had a very sweet peace on his face. Even the Investigating Officer from the Clementi Neighborhood Police Centre commented, "usually cases of people falling from highrise building would be rather gory but your dad's case is an exception. I have never seen a cleaner corpse than this". I can only conclude that it was by the grace of Abba Daddy that He preserved dad's physical body even in his death as a testimony to His goodness and mercy towards him. Dad lying on the ground facing towards Heaven and with a peaceful disposition about him was a statement to us that Abba Daddy's hand of grace had taken dad home and that was very comforting to the family.

And it became a rallying point for all his friends who came to pay their last respect at his memorial services - that dad had indeed gone home to be with Abba Daddy and they too were comforted and encouraged. Indeed, I can almost hear my father uttering the words that the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy in 2Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." All praise and glory to Abba Daddy!

In memory of my earthly father...Keeping him in the Word

When my mother became wheelchair bound in 1999 my father was trying to cope with the setback and at the same time juggle with his commitments in church and it soon became clear that one thing had to give way and he chose the route of stepping down from all his commitments.

Initially he would spend his time reading the word in his room and accompanying my mother around in her wheelchair but soon I noticed that he began to slacken in his spiritual nourishment and not long after he started to experience lapses in memory. I recalled a comment from one of their friends that dad was mom's limbs while mom became his memory bank and the twain complemented each other very well. He would accompany her wherever she wanted to go in her wheelchair while she would remind him of his schedules and even recall incidents for him.

Events took a turn for the worse three years later in 2002 when mom became bed-ridden after a series of severe multiple strokes in her sleep. She lost her voice, could not eat and had to be fed intravenously and she could no longer sit up. Her condition slipped further after yet another series of stokes which would render her literally in a vegetating state. All the muscles on her face became numb and the only way we could see her eyes open was to pull her cheek muscles to reveal her eyeballs.

And mom's condition took a further toll on dad. Already not being able to remember many things and not being able to chat with mom made it even worse for him and in his delicate mental state, he began to drift further and further away from us. I recall five years ago Alice and I decided to set aside time every Saturday to bring him out for dinner with Adrian and Adeline whenever possible and initially he would look forward to the outing but three years ago, these dinners became more difficult for all. He became more recluse and slipped into non-communication mode and towards the end, he would not even recognize where he was (in our home) that he was having dinner. One such occasion he wandered into our front garden thinking it was the toilet and I had to quickly direct him to the correct place for his nature call.

So we decided to have communion with him after dinner before we sent him home. His attention span was even shorter than a young child and he would complain that he wanted to go home immediately after dinner. Each week as we partook of the elements of communion, we would believe in his healing but our faith was just not there as we could not see the results; the physical symptoms were just too overwhelming.

Next we tried to immerse him in the word. We reckoned that since he probably could not remember how to read, he could still hear the bible read for him in his language and so I visited the Singapore Bible Society and bought the whole New Testament CD series in Cantonese and would instruct the maid to place him one CD per day with the volume turned up so that he could hear. And I remembered even playing about five chapters while he was in the car to and from my home on Saturdays. I do not know what impact it had on him as we could not tell but I believed that it did help.

Indeed I want to praise Abba Daddy for sending my parents two maids from Indonesia (over a period of seven years) who were very patient with them and who took all the challenges in their stride. They would faithfully accompany dad every day in the bus from my brother's condominium in West Coast Road (near Clementi Stadium) to St Luke's Community Hospital in Bukit Batok and back in all weather. So set was his daily schedule because of his dimentia challenges that the doctors and physiotherapists realized that my mom should not be moved out of St Luke's and extended her stay to a 'permanent resident' status which I was told is a rarity. The normal practice is to dscharge the patient after a three-month stay and to send him/ her home to recuperate as the Community Hospital could not accommodate long-term stay but by Abba Daddy's grace, mom stayed in St Luke's for about five years without interruption.

Abba Daddy knew that we simply could not cope if mom had to rest at home - it would have disrupted our lives and we would not be able to cope mentally and emotionally.

In memory of my earthly father...The grace-filled years

My father was a loving husband to my mother; every morning he would read the scriptures to my mother and they would do their own worship and prayer routine in the mornings before they head out for the day either to visit friends, grandchildren or cell-group meetings in church and those were the happiest moments of their lives and I am sure those were the memories they carried with them wherever they went.

They were so full of the joy of the Lord that it became impactful and during their respective memorial services during the wakes, many of the elderly folks whose lives were impacted came up to my brothers and I and shared their testimonies. Never a moment did they complained of being overloaded with responsibilities; in fact my father went all out to play bigger roles as the years went by and up until he was 78 and his health caught up with him.

My mother became wheelchair bound about seven years ago after a severe fall at home and probably some minor stoke which impacted the use of her lower limbs. And it was during this time that it became rather trying on my father being a caregiver and with all those responsibilities in church. His regular schedules had to be adjusted and it was unsettling for him after so many years and I believe it was around this time that he started to develop lapses of memory loss which eventually led to his dimentia sickness.

He started to miss church on Sundays because of his memory challenges and mom's mobility issues and being dry in the Word compounded his sickness. Initially Alice and I made it our Sunday routine to pick him up from my brother's home and send them to church along with their Indonesian maid and the wheelchair and then we would attend 2nd service at New Creation Church while my brother would be responsible to fetch them home after their church service. We wanted to do this so that they could still enjoy their worship with the family of St James Church (Cantonese Congregation).

However, this unfortunately did not last long as my eldest brother was caught up in his church (at Church of Ascension where he was the Vicar's Warden) and could not make it in time to fetch them home and my parents were trying to be creative and started to make their own transport arrangements and almost got lost on the way home (as narrated by their maid). So out of concern for their own safety, we advised them against going to church since no alternatives could be found then.

Of course, the next best thing to do was to get in touch with their pastor and request for home visits with communion but these were only scheduled once a month. Nevertheless, we felt it was better than not at all.

In memory of my earthly father.."I have wasted 65 years of my life"

My father was a very interesting person; when he made up his mind about something, he would go all out to accomplish what he had set his mind on. When he came home that evening from the rally, he was so overjoyed according to my sister-in-law that he wanted to share the joy with all his friends. And so that week, he and my mom went visiting - not for Chinese New Year (not right time in June) but to tell all their friends about their newfound joy in the Lord!

In fact one of his good friends shared with us later that my father made a comment, "I have wasted 65 years of my life, and now I want to put back what I had lost". He was so fervent in his sharing that a number of his friends actually received Christ and joined him at St James' Church (Cantonese Congregation) at Holland Road. And the great change did not end there. In fact he was so full of the Spirit that he wanted to serve in the church and so the pastor appointed him the leader in charge of prayer meeting and he was a cell-group leader. His bible study sessions were all well attended and the amazing thing about the whole experience was that my mother who had very little primary education in China and could hardly read the scriptures for herself, complemented him but taking charge of the refreshment area - she reckoned that since she cannot do anything by way of leadership and yet be able to support dad in his service, the least she could do was to serve in the area of refreshment and she did whip up many great refreshments for the elderly who came for all the bible study and prayer sessions plus the cell-group meetings.

From cell-group leader, my dad was promoted to become the Vicar's Warden; a position in the Anglican Diocese that is meant to assist the pastor/vicar in whatever pastoral duties that he cannot fulfill because of time limitations. I recalled him telling me how he received his Lay Reader licence from the Bishop of Singapore. At age 70 when he was called up by the Diocese Office to present himself for an examination, he told the pastor that he cannot study as he could not memorize certain subject matter and so when the Bishop heard of his case, he was subsequently called up for an interview by the Bishop instead and based on his confession of faith and the recommendation of the pastor, he was presented his licence there and then - signed, sealed and delivered by the Bishop himself. What a testimony!

In memory of my earthly father...The hard shell was breaking slowly

When my father ticked me off after that evangelistic rally, I was disappointed and I told myself not to 'evangelize to him again' especially when I knew how personal that liner was to us; however, I did not give up upholding him in prayer for I believed that he will ONE day come into the family of Abba Daddy.

When my children were growing up, we would make it a family occasion every Sunday evening at my eldest brother's home. From a very young age, we had taught our children to give thanks to Daddy for the food and so every Sunday we would help our children to give thanks as well and this would be right in my father's presence and this upsetted him very much. I recalled one such occasion when he flew into a temper and told us off, "I got all the food and did all the cooking and instead of thanking me, you are getting the children to thank your God."

My children had hardly seen grandpa lose his temper and so they were shocked and at that moment, Alice and I decided to defuse the situation and told the kids that grandpa was not angry with them and that they should not be afraid but to continue with their dinner. And that was in end 1986. Little did we know that the turning point for my parents came in June the following year.

My mother was a Taoist and my father a professed free-thinker and just before Chinese New Year 1987, they made a trip down to Chinatown and decided after their Lunar New Year shopping to stop by the fortune teller and have their future read. Now I am not sure whether this was their annual practice but certainly that year, the fortune teller told my father that he would not be able to live through that year as he would face death. This shocked him as he had no known disease except for diabetes which is under control and mild high blood pressure. He was very unsettled that Lunar New Year when we visited him.

And then the slammer came in June. My niece came home from Religious Emphasis Camp one afternoon during the June school holidays and told him, "grandpa, after we are dead, it will be 'bye-bye' because I will be going to Heaven and you are not." The innocence of a seven-year-old coming home and making that statement out of her enthusiastic heart was a shocker considering his circumstances but I believe that Abba Daddy was setting him up for salvation. That evening after dinner my sister-in-law popped the question to my parents about attending an evangelistic rally at the Stadium and without hesitation, he got up, walked over to mom and together went to their room to change and quietly accompanied her to the rally.

According to my sister-in-law, when the altar call was given, dad stood up and walked ahead with mom following one step behind. They received the Lord as their Savior and embarked on their new journey in the Lord. So looking back, indeed my father did die that year (not a physical death but a spiritual dying to his sin and coming alive in Christ) but he found himself a new person in Christ and that was the turning point in his life. All glory to Jesus Who made everything perfect for my father!

In memory of my earthly father.."I have eaten more salt than you rice"

I grew up in a family with three boys and one girl. In all honesty, I think I know my parents the most; not even my siblings. From a tender age my daily routine would be school -> lunch followed by homework -> housework -> gardening -> homework -> dinner -> helping dad in his mini-department store -> bed. you might say I did not have much of a childhood by comparison with many of my friends and classmates.

And so I spent a lot of my time on my studies and my classmates would testify I even prepared my school work for the next day or even week and my geograpphy teacher knows where to borrow the notes to teach!! how shameless of him (bless his soul). And as a result of all the hardwork I graced the top position of my cohort and was awarded an Australian government scholarship to continue my O levels in St Andrew's Secondary School.

And it was in St Andrew's that the Lord finally found me and I received Him into my life on January 18, 1970 (too long ago to remember but I do keep that date firmly in my mind as I want to testify of His goodness and mercy to me all through these years. And so in August that year, I wrote home to dad to seek his approval (at the time I was only 15+ and needed his approval for the baptism) and blessing. It was not difficult for him to approve my case as my two older brothers had already done so in previous years and I recalled him telling me that I would one day join them and that he would not object but hold me accountable for my own actions.

So my parents 'retired' from Christmas Island (dad was only 47 then) in August 1970 and i lost my scholarship and so the hard road began. With not much on hand to see me through the rest of my studies, they decided to set up a hawker stall in one of the coffeeshops to sell fried kuay teow, fried bee hoon and noodles and pork porrigde and with whatever they could earn, financed my elder brother and I through our A levels and later our university programmes. I could still remember my mother coming home every evening and had to apply ointment on her hands - blisters would form as the skin on her hands would react to the soap suds from washing the dishes, bowls and cutlery. And I would try to put down my books to help him prepare the pork for the next day (all the meat had to be ground for the porridge - Cantonese style).

One evening in December 1978, I came home from work (I was working at the People's Association straight after graduation from Singapore University) and decided to bring my father to the National Stadium for an evangelistic rally by Dr Billy Graham and I strategized by making our way to the Mandarin/ Cantonese section so that he could hear the gospel in his native language (oh my father understands English but I just wanted him not to miss anything hence the language sector was thought to be important). And during the altar call, I recalled nudging him and encouraging him to go forward and receive the Lord into His heart and I even offered to accompany him down those flights of steps onto the pitch.

He just sat there and did not move. So I tried again and still there was no reaction but after a few moments he must have been tired of my peskiness and he turned to me and said, "I have eaten more salt than you rice". Silence! and it was the most odd journey home for both of us that evening - not a word was spoken,

Although I was hoping for his salvation that evening, it did not materialize until much later - 8-1/2 years to be exact - and the circumstances to his salvation were miracles in and of themselves.

In memory of my earthly father... he was a man hardened by experience!

At the last caregroup meeting we were encouraged to share what we felt were memories (good and difficult) of our earthly fathers and I shared with the group how I had learned to catch flying foxes and land crabs from my father. I also picked up some of my gardening habits from him as I watched him churning the vegetable plots behind our house in Christmas Island back in the 60s.

I also recalled one very scary experience when we went fishing out at sea when the shear pin on the propellor shaft of the outboard motor of the sampan broke and we had no spares and it was getting dark. As I looked around me (I guess I was only eleven or twelve then), I noticed that we were at least five kilometres from the beach where we were to land. Although we were only 200 metres from the cliffs, the very thought of strong undercurrents carrying our drifting sampan and dashing the boat against the rocks was scary and to top it all, we DID NOT have life-jackets and I cannot swim. So scared was I that when the adults decided to pick up the oars and start to row, I joined in and doubled my efforts.

I had always held up my father as a hero figure in my life and that incident had strengthened my impression of him on my mind. To watch him staying calm and collect then was awesome. I guess he could have been through worse situations before when as a teenager of 17 or 18 he decided to run away from the Japanese Imperial Army when they invaded Guangtong Province where he grew up and then again about a year later when he had to flee from Phuket to Sumatra when the Japanese came south into peninsular Malaysia. Eventually he ended up hiding from the Japanese Occupation Forces in a rubber estate in Selangor. Sumatra also was not safe for him as the Japanese Army also invaded the island.

So my father had led a life of struggles to better his lot and those initial years in South-East Asia as a teenager away from his beloved mother were important moulding years in his life and he would tell me many of these stories whenever I was with him. And because of those experiences, it was difficult for him to accept the gospel initially. His life had been one of No. 'I' and to believe that Jesus had died for him and that through faith he can receive eternal life was too simple for him. He could not accept the fact that everything that is needed for salvation had already been DONE on the Cross when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died for us.

Perfect Rest is only found IN Abba Daddy

This morning as I was coming home in the MRT after sending my car to the workshop for the regular half-year service, I was reminded of the anniversaries of my parents' passing last year. My earthly father went home to the Lord on April 7, 2006 after falling off the 6th floor service balcony of my eldest brother's home between 7:30 PM and 8:00 PM and the circumstances of his passing were in themselves a miracle. And my earthly mother went home to be with the Lord on November 7, 2006 after about 5 years 'vegetating' in St. Luke's Community Hospital. Interestingly enough, her passing was also noted by the doctors to be around 7:30 PM.

You might say, 'what a coincidence' but I will be the first to correct you and say that both events were divinely arranged and they cannot be more perfectly timed. Looking at the dates - April 7 and November 7 - both on the seventh of the month and exactly seven months apart and the time of passing - both went home at around 7:30 PM, who could have arranged for that except that Abba Daddy wanted the family to know that they are now resting in Him, not just spiritually but in bodily form.

I always know that my mother would not want to do anything other than with many father but the thought that they went off at the exact time and exactly seven months apart is just too profound. It can only be Abba Daddy. My father suffered from a host of ailments before Daddy took him home - diabetes, high-blood pressure and more recently dimentia. And my mother had multiple strokes in her sleep resulting in the loss of the use of her limbs. And now I am comforted to know that they have now found their perfect rest in Abba Daddy. Soon we will all rise out of these earthly bodies in the Rapture and meet them in Heaven and be reunited and I can almost see the smiles on their faces welcoming me with open arms.

A Time For Reflection

The Lee Family just returned home from a short weekend break at Angsana Reort & Spa on Bintan Island, Indonesia. It was really a time when I did not have access to internet, decided to switch off my mobile phone and to really spend time with my family in bonding. The last time we were supposedly to have done so was during the graduation ceremony for my daughter in Kenningsworth near Coventory in UK but as it turned out, everyone was busy with his/her programmes and we did not really have good time together.

Many things were happening in our individual lives over the past few weeks and we wanted this time together to reflect and take stock of all our blessings.
1. Our daughter Adeline has been blessed with a full time job starting tomorrow.
2. Adrian had been confirmed on the job after a one-year probation.
3. Alice is expecting new challenges in the coming year.
4. I have just received news about one of the jobs the company had tendered for and after a long wait of 7 weeks, news finally came that we were not awarded the tender. Just as this door had closed, Abba Daddy is about to open two new doors and I will be meeting up with 2 friends to discuss these on Wednesday and Thursday to explore the opportunities.

So the way forward is going to be exciting and I am still believing Daddy that the months ahead will be blessed and fruitful as He provides superabundantly above all that I can ask or imagine. Hallelujah!

Jesus came to reveal the Father

Of all the many things that Jesus could have come to give us and show us, He chose to show us the Father. In fact when Philip, one of His disciples asked Him in John 14:8, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us", He responded by telling them that He was the representation of the Father; whoever had seen Him would have seen the Father (verses 9-14).

So if you really want to see how Daddy in Heaven really is like, then set your eyes upon Jesus and you will understand the depth of His compassion for you. In fact Jesus Himself said to the disciples that they should believe what He had told them and if they did not, then they should at least believe because of what they saw Him do in their midst (John 14:11).

Now how is Daddy in Heaven like? When Jesus was on the Earth, how did He showed His love? by feeding, by healing, by comforting, by providing and most importantly by dying so that we need not be separated from Heavenly Daddy; that is the ultimate act of love for us. And it is not that He died begrudingly but He voluntarily went to the Cross. There were a number of occasions when He could have opted out but He stuck in there and paid the ultimate price so that you and I can be eternally forgiven and made righteous through Him forever.

So start enjoying your Heavenly Daddy's love for you and stop your doubting because this is the reality of it all. He is no longer angry with us but He demonstrated His love in His own sacrifice. Our new position in Christ had been judicially won for us at the Cross.

Know the Lord is your Heavenly Papa

Someone asked me this question - which is more important
1. Knowing I am a child of our Lord Jesus Christ or
2. Knowing that He is our Heavenly Papa?
Now you may ask me what is the difference in the 2 questions - what difference does it make?

For one it is easy for all of us to associate ourselves as children of our Lord since He had already given us so many promises about our position in Him - as His children. But it takes a bit more understanding to constantly remind ourselves that He is our Heavenly Papa. When we have a good understanding that He is our Papa, we would not feel inhibited to approach Him and to tell Him of our challenges and to receive from Him.

Our Lord Jesus came wth one sole purpose - to show us the Daddy's heart for us. He did not come to reinforce any of the names that God had in the Old Testament but He taught His disciples (and us) to address God as Papa (or Abba in Hebrew). So start addressing Him in more intimate terms and call Him Daddy or Papa or Abba; whichever term you feel very comfortable to use as in an affectionate manner.

Father-Child Relationship

Last evening at the caregroup meetings in New Creation Church, the discussion topic was on the Father-child relationships and members were encouraged to describe what they think are trademarks of a good earthly father and to share happy memories of time they had with their own fathers.

Various thoughts were shared and one connecting thread through all was this point of the earthly father being available for the child to run to and confide/ share emotions with and to receive encouragement and for these to happen, there must be time spent with each other. Giving of gifts can be delegated and some would say may even be through electronic means - transfer of money through the internet; now these are useful and greatly appreciated but most people would agree that nothing beats the Father-Child bonding time spent.

So the point here is - if that is what we view as the hallmark of a healthy father-child relationship, how much more it is true of our Heavenly Father-Earthly child relationship. And the amazing thing about our Daddy (or Papa) in Heaven is that He wants the same relationship with us and He had already made the first move by sending His own Son Jesus Christ to die for us and thus we can righteously become His sons and daughters through faith in what Jesus had done and by receiving Him into our lives. And to add to that, He even gave us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us so that we can commune with Him any time.

The Apostle Paul admonished the Corinthian church in 1Corinthians3:16-17, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple" (NIV). So indeed, the Holy Spirit had taken up residence in your spirit the moment you received Jesus as Lord and Saviour of your life and communion will start immediately.

So know for a sure fact that we have a Daddy or Papa in Heaven and He loves us very much!

How to enjoy your blessing of sonship

Pastor Prince shared on Sunday Oct 7, 2007 2 important keys that we as children of our Daddy God should keep close to our hearts if we want to enjoy the fullness of the blessings of sonship in Him: -

KEY 1 - Learn to say, "I am under grace" and remember we are under a new management - that of GRACE; the old management of Law had been dealt with by Christ when He hung on the cross for us.

KEY 2 - Have a good opinion of God. Even when things around us do not turn out the way we would like to see them, we need to maintain a good opinion of God; that we are still the favoured of our Daddy God. Genesis 39:8-10 gives us the account of Joseph in the house of Potiphar. When Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him, he held on to his good opinion of God that He will take care of him no matter what his outward circumstances were at that moment. Even though he was thrown into the dungeon on the accusation of Potiphar's wife that he raped her, he maintained his faith (good opinion) in God that he will see the light at the end of the long tunnel.

So the test for each one of us daily is to continue to maintain our good opinion of our Daddy God. Each person mentioned in Hebrews 11 had good opinion of God and the Bible calls that FAITH. In spite of the daily challenges they hung on to their faith and overcame the odds at the end and Daddy God calls that FAITH.

So I am going to practise that right now and keep hanging on to my good opinion of Daddy God... see His grace for me - undeserved, unmerited, unearned favour towards me and I will be the most blessed person on planet Earth.. hallelujah!!

Worship belongs to our Daddy God!

Some time back I posted a worship video called "A Soldier's Inspirational Song" - it is still on this site and you can view the video by clicking on the link at the top of the column on your left. I felt that since it is Sunday and time to spend with our Daddy God in worship, it would be great to provide you the lyrics of the video here.

In Christ Alone
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This corner stone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as he stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From Life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till he returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

Who is holding on to whom?

Have you ever wondered which is more powerful - you are holding on to the Lord's hands or the Lord is holding on to your hands? I know some of you will probably tell me they mean one and the same.

Well, not exactly. If we are holding on to the Lord's hands, then the onus lies with us to hang on tight and not let go of His hands and being humans as we are, it is natural at times to relax the grip and that would spell trouble. However, if it is the Lord Who is holding on to our hands, then we can relax and not have to worry that we will lose the grip because His grip is always tight and secure.

An analogy - ever seen a parent holding on to the child's hands when they go walking or crossing the road? observe how relaxed the child is because he/ she knows that his/ her daddy or mommy is holding on ever so tightly and at the slightest hint of danger, will even scoop up the child and carry him/ her out of harm's way. Well, if earthly parents have that sense of love for their children, then how much MORE our Daddy God loves to hold on tightly to our hands and be readyto sweep us off and carry us when danger lurks around.

It is so good to know our Daddy's love for us. AMEN.

Reject all negative inputs!

I had a very long week this week and am I glad that it is not almost over. This week is one where I had many things thrown in - encouraging news as well as negative (discouraging and even obstructing).

And to cap the week, there was this call on my mobile while I was about to have my lunch with two former colleagues on Thursday. This lady, who was supposed to have met me some time back in July when i came home after my daughter's graduation, wanted to meet up later that afternoon; so persistent and adamant was she about the same day meeting that when I wanted to fix the appointment for next week, she would give me all kinds of reasons why we needed to meet almost immediately.

And so expecting some form of good news or possibly some business tie-up arrangements or what have you, I dutifully presented myself at the appointed time and venue. However, what I heard that afternoon was a far cry from my initial expectations. In fact she was so negative (critical of many people who were friends of mine) and she was driving certain business partnership that were so skewed in her favour that I felt in my spirit no peace and at many points during the discussion, in the spirit, I had to reject whatever she said and I told the Lord that whatever proposals she had I will have nothing to do with it.

Well, so far she had not sent me her written proposals and I am glad that the Lord had spared me of ugly scenes in the future when things do not work out well for her. One of the most ridiculous things she wanted my assistance was to run training for her for a pittance - literally for a song and I shared with my wife that I would simply reject her proposals on grounds of economic non-viability and she cannot fault me or carry tales later (part of the irksome things she told me were lies and untruths about certain gentlemen in the market) about my not being cooperative or 'playing her out'.

So I learnt a very valuable lesson this week from the Lord - listen to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to stir up my spirit. One of the ways He operates is through having the peace of God in the situation or the lack of it. So learn to walk in the Spirit as our Daddy God is Spirit.

We need to let go and let God!

Do you know what is the most strenous part of a tug-of-war competition? Yes, it is when both teams are straining with all their might (and some would also add the weight) on both ends of their thick rope and each trying to outwit and outlast the other team.

In real life, when I look back at what I had gone through, the toughest times were when I struggled alone with my challenges and never once laid my burdens at the feet of Jesus. Remember, our Daddy God is a Gentleman and He will never want to impose on us to take our burdens upon Himself; He will only do that when we invite Him in and boy, will He come rushing to our aid. He does not like to touch the tug-of-war rope when we have a firm grip on it - He just backs off. He respects our choices in life - with or without Him.

But when we so decide to leg go of the rope and allow Him to do the pulling on our behalf, He will step in and ensure we are on the winning side. With God on our side, even though we may stand alone, we are the majority and we win! Hallelujah!

I CAN do all things through Christ...

You know I went back and search the web again this morning and found more videos of TeamHoyt and after watching some more heartwarming shows, I was reminded of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me (NKJV).

I asked myself what is the best gift that Dick Hoyt gave his son Rick and the answer came back to me -"Love". Do you know that Dick was not an athletic person even though he was a lietenant colonel in the US Army but for the sake of his son Rick, he undertook a total of 25 Boston Marathons and recently he even completed the Ironmen competition; all because he wanted to see the joy on Rick's face.

Where did Dick get his strength? from the Lord Jesus Himself. Knowing that He had died and completed everything for him and it is now all his to benefit, Dick took the step and, like they say, the rest is history. Today, I want to hand my challenges to my Lord and Daddy God and receive from Him everything that I need and to enjoy His blessings over my life.

Amazing Father-and-son Team!

Every time I watch this father and son go down the tracks and run marathons and lately in the Ironman, I cannot help but get touched by the depth of the father's love for his son.

Well, if human fathers can do that for their sons (and I might add even daughters) how much more our Father's love for us.

Shoes Tell A Lot About A Person

Moses was instructed to take off his shoes (or sandals in his day and age) as he approached the burning bush in the wilderness (Exodus3:5) because the ground that he was to stand on was holy ground (where God was). God considered his walk as unholy and therefore he needed to come as he was without his sandals).

Now consider what the father did when the prodigal son came home. The father did not tell the son to go and take a bath first before he came into the father's presence. In fact the father was the one who ran to meet his son while he was still a distance away, hugged and kissed him (who by this time smelled like a pig since he had been working in the pig-pens and probably eating swine food). Now according to Jewish customs, this is utterly unacceptable as no devout Jew would touch a pig or have anything to do with pigs - dead or alive. And I love the next action of the father, "Quick! bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and SANDALS on his feet" (Luke 15:22).

Not only did the wayward son get a new set of clothes, he received from his father his symbol of sonship (authority) in the form of his signet ring and he HAD his sandals. Wait a minute! why did the Holy Spirit record for us this special item - sandals on his feet? Are there not more important things to mention than to say 'sandals on his feet'?

No, it is precisely that the Holy Spirit wants us to know the standing the boy has with his father. Slaves and servants do not wear shoes in those days; only sons and daughters or the wealthy have shoes (or sandals) on their feet to protect them from the harsh elements. So the Father wants us to know that the son in the parable had his sonship restored when he returned that day.

Likewise, my friends, we have our special place with our Heavenly Father the moment we received Jesus into our hearts. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, He bears witness with our spirits that we are His sons and daughers and as a mark of sonship, He shod our feet with the shoes of the gospel of peace - to remind us that we are now on sure foundation and we STAND in the righteousness of God in Christ and this will result in peace all around us. The world can go crazy but we have the assurance of peace with God because of what our Saviour achieved for us on the cross.

Melodious Scriptures

It is amazing what I found on YouTube last evening as I was surfing the net. I came across this wonderful discovery which I think you will agree with me that it is just simply MELODIOUS to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.


Our Daddy God is into music...