Jesus Came Specifically For A Purpose - To Die For Us!

As we celebrate this Christmas season, let us be reminded of the real reason why Christmas is to be celebrated as what it really is - it is not just about giving of presents but is all about reconciliation of relationships with our Heavenly Father.
On the night that Jesus was born, angels announced His birth to shepherds out in the fields, ¹² "This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12)
Now a 'sign' points to something and this is precisely the message the angels wanted the shepherds to have - that the baby can be found snugly tugged and lying (placed) in a manger. How many newborns are placed in mangers? I submit to you that baby Jesus was the only one to have that unique experience and it is for a reason as well. 
Mangers in Israel are actually carved out of stone and not what we have been so used to seeing in nativity scenes of a wooden box with crossed legs. No, mangers are actually feeding troughs for domesticated animals - cattle, sheep, goats. Hay is usually placed in the manger and the animals are led there to feed. (see picture on left)
Now the shepherds, once they saw the baby lying in the manger, knew the significance of the scene - that the baby is meant to be fed on. Now I am not saying that the shepherds were to be turned into cannibals and start feeding on the helpless baby lying in the manger - far from it. What the Lord wanted to tell the shepherds was that the baby would grow up and one day would be placed in a tomb embalmed just as they saw the baby that evening.
Now we witnessed that prophecy fulfilled on Good Friday when Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (see picture on right). Because Jesus was a much taller man than Joseph, they had to cut a niche so as to place his corpse flat.

So, as we celebrate Christmas at this time, remember the purpose why Jesus was born and why He was given to us - as a Gift of Salvation and of Righteousness through faith - as we feed on Him and His finished work at the cross.

Where Is The Line To See Jesus?

Here’s the story behind the song:

While at the mall a couple of years ago, my then four year old nephew, Spencer, saw kids lined up to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, he asked his mom, "where's the line to see Jesus"?

My sister mentioned this to my dad, who immediately became inspired and jotted words down to a song in just a few minutes. After putting music to the words, and doing a quick recording at home, he received a great response from friends. He sent the song off to Nashville without much response, except for a Christian song writer who suggested adding a bridge at the end of the first chorus.

My dad then asked if I wanted to record the song to see what we could do with it. I listened to the song, made a few changes to the words to make it flow better, and we headed to Shock City Studios. It was at the studio where Chris, owner and producer, rewrote the 2nd verse and part of the chorus... with goosebumps and emotions high, we were all hopeful and felt like we had something special. The demo was recorded in just under 2 hours and sent off again to Nashville... still no response.

Then 2 weeks before Christmas last year, my cousins Greg and Robbie decided to do a video to see what we could accomplish on YouTube. The first day we had 3000 hits and it soared from there. We received e-mails, phone calls, Facebook messages from people all over asking for the music, CD's, iTunes, anything... we had nothin'.

After a couple of meetings with Chris following the amazing response, we got serious. We headed back into the studio this past spring... this time with guitars, drums, bass, pianos, choirs... the real deal.... and here we are today. Getting iTunes set up, a website put together, and loving that thousands upon thousands of Christians have come together... remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults can not understand. Hopefully Spencer's observation will cause people all over to reflect on the love of Jesus, and that one day we will all stand in line to see Him.

We are most thankful to our Heavenly Father to have this chance to share our music with you.

Blessed Christmas everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=pPViKJRHyZo&vq=medium

Home Moving Experience

The last time we moved was back in 1994 August from a 5-room HDB apartment to a 3-storey intermediate terrace house. The attraction was more space for each person and we were also rewarded with a garden in the front and back portion of the house. Our current home is also near a MRT station - Simei - and that made travel much easier whenever I do not feel like driving or paying expensive carpark charges.

With the moving away from home of our two children, there is now a need to down-size and be practical. It is becoming a challenge to clean three floors when in reality we only use 2 (we have to make effort to use the third floor occasionally). Our new home will be a second floor walk-up apartment in a very secluded environment.

Our balcony will face the fence of a huge military camp and with all the lush vegetation lining the fence, we practically have all the privacy we need. In addition we have a generous balcony area where we can place a number of our nice pots of orchids, aloe vera plants and ferns and still have space to dry our clothes.
Having coffee on our balcony will be a very relaxing experience for us and my wife and I are so looking forward to that.
On the other side of the house, our kitchen and the back-room will face the carpark and the service road linking all the carparks. there is a wide expanse of land separating the blocks of apartment unlike the pigeon-hole spaces in most new apartment projects including condominiums.

And when I explained to a dear friend that our apartment measures 1520 sqft, her reaction was that it is a mansion compared to her bird-nest sized apartment of only 700 sqft near the city.

So, bottom line, where is our new apartment? you might ask.  It is in Loyang Valley in the east and very near Changi Village. So for a generously sized apartment, at an extreme affordable price and in an excellent locale, we feel extremely blessed by ABBA God and indeed a neat way to round off an indeed restful year for us.
All glory to Jesus who had done it all for us.

The Emmaus Experience - Part 2

As you can see, this is a continuation of the previous post. My apologies for the extended gap of time between this and the previous post.

The two disciples were kept from seeing Jesus in the flesh because the Lord wanted them to see Him in all the fullness of scriptures and so their eyes were only opened when they partook of the communion - an act that Jesus Himself encouraged us all to do as often as we can; we need not wait until Sunday or when we are in church to partake of the communion but we can do so as often as we wished.

Pastor Prince of New Creation Church shared an amazing truth a few Sundays ago when he preached on the Emmaus Experience. At the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and immediately their eyes were opened and they saw their nakedness and went to cover themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7) as they heard the Lord approaching. Actually the Lord was there all the time but they did not realized it. Sin came in after Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the very tree that the Lord had told them not to eat of and this resulted in their physical separation from God and eventual demise at age 930 (the Lord had told them that they will die the day they ate of the fruit - a day to the Lord could be taken as 1000 years).

But when Cleopas and his wife partook of the holy communion that evening, something miraculous happened. Their eyes too were opened but instead of seeing themselves condemned, they saw the Lord and what He had accomplished for them (and us) and they believed. Because they saw Jesus in all His loveliness and the perfection of His work for us on the cross, now they began to enjoy a renewal of their bodies. And they decided to go back to Jerusalem (which is about 11 KM away from Emmaus where they stayed) to tell the rest of the disciples of the good news that He had appeared to them even though it was already getting late. I believe that they received supernatural strength as they ate of the bread and drank of the cup. Of course, even as the eyes of Cleopas and his wife were opened, Jesus disappeared from before them and immediately He appeared before His 10 apostles, who were so scared that they bolted the door, to encourage them.

Incidentally, Emmaus in Hebrew means Healing Baths (the Romans of the day actually built bath houses (hot-springs) in that area) and this was exactly what Mr & Mrs Cleopas experienced that day and what a bath it must have been for their lives were radically changed. What an experience they had and I am glad to inform you that this same bath can be yours when you so desire in your hearts. I do believe Jesus wants each and everyone of us to experience that warm bath ourselves at first hand rather than through reading the accounts in the bible.

The Emmaus Experience - Part 1

The Lord, after His resurrection, appeared to two disciples (Mr and Mrs Cleopas) as they were walking home from Jerusalem on Sunday late afternoon. When He joined them in their walk, their conversation piece centered on the events of the day - the reported resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ - and they were excited and yet puzzled as they could not fully understand the implications of the finished work of Christ on the Cross. (read passage attached below). And so, when Jesus asked them what they were discussing, they found it odd that this traveller had not heard the hottest news in Jerusalem over the past three days.

And when they told Him what happened, Jesus began to expound from the Old Testament (starting from Genesis to Malachi) how the entire Old Testament was actually pointing to the coming Messiah and found its complete fulfillment in Him. It was interesting that Jesus rather used the Old Testament to remove the scales from before the eyes of the disciples rather than show them His hands and His side (the very marks left on His body as a result of the crucifixion) because He wanted them to understand how the entire word of God tie in.

Now, that gives us hope; had He just shown them His marks, then you and I will be handicapped because we will not have access to these now as He had ascended into heaven and the only time we will really get to see Him is when He returns for us at the Rapture. But our Lord decided otherwise and clearly showed His disciples (and us) how He can be found in all scriptures when we search them.

Luke 24:13-3613 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
17 And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"
18Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?"
19 And He said to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.
23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.
24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."
25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"
27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.
29 But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them.
30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
34 saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."

Signs From God?

For some time now I have been sharing that time is running out for the world to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and be counted into His family. For the Lord's Return IS IMMINENT. It was, is and will not be 'if' He returns; it is a simple 'when' He returns and recent signs are certainly now pointing to the quickening of pace.
Recently, FOX News of USA produced a program called "Signs From God" in which they filmed a sceptic journalist who travelled to Bolivia to film the phenomenon called 'stigmata'. Here is the URL. Please watch it and decide for yourself and listen to the message.
http://youshallbelieve.com/?page_id=70
After watching all three videos, each of us will form our own opinions. I have and you will too and if you are not already a believer of Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then may I urge you to make the choice and put your trust in Jesus. It is as simple as it gets and to help you to make the decision, I had already planted the New Believer's Prayer at the bottom of my blog here. Be blessed.

ISRAEL - An Inspiration To The World

If the truth had been known, I believe the world would not been misled so negatively towards the nation of Israel. Sure, nations do make mistake but, hey, don't forget they are still a people chosen by God to be called His people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmASijiIVzg&feature=player_embedded
Tell me, after watching the video clip, that you have changed your mind about that nation and is now more appreciative of what they have contributed to the world at large.

We Are What Our Thoughts Make Us Out To Be

Recently I was in the mountain town of Shimla, India and I spotted this sign-board above one of the shops in the Mall. Shimla used to be the British colonial seat of government in India and was where Lord Mountbatten spent his summers whenever he was in India. The town also hosts the Viceregal House (which is now a heritage site with invited students and researchers occupying its many halls of learning) where the declaration of independence for India was discussed as well as the partitioning of India and Pakistan.

So I could not help but to ponder on the words on the signage, "What we think, we become". Isn't it true that everything in life is first hatched in the minds of people and then they bring it into fruition by taking action on their thoughts?

No wonder our Lord Jesus Christ kept reminding His disciples to "take no thoughts about tomorrow", "let not your hearts be troubled", "fear not", etc. In fact if you really care to count all the related words spoken by Jesus, you will notice that there are 366 places in the Gospels where the word appear - once for each day of the year (including the leap year - how thoughtful our Lord is, just in case someone entertain the thought the He could not count correctly.
So if one entertains fearful thoughts, he or she will reap the fruits of fear - ulcers, gastritis, high-blood pressure, stress, insomnia, etc (the list goes on).

So my friend, entertain good thoughts and avoid evil ones and you will stay out of trouble. 

Primed For Blessings

It is really awesome to realize that our Lord exceeds our expectations each time we believe on Him to supply all our needs and wants. In my last sharing of September 02, I mentioned that New Creation Church dedicated August 22 as the Miracle Seed Sunday and we were encouraged to sow bountifully believing the Lord for a great harvest.

My wife and I decided to sow a specific amount after we sold our house and have the available funds. Because the sale was legally completed only in the afternoon of Friday August 20 and the proceeds of the sale deposited into our account on Tuesday August 24 at the earliest, we decided to sow only on Sunday August 29 for technical reasons.

Praise Jesus for even before we could physically sow, I already had new enquiries for my business and some of these were very positive (we shall experience the harvest very shortly). You see, the Lord sees our hearts and considers it as done even before the physical act could take place.

Consider James 2:20-26: -
20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
There was a good 25 years gap between Abraham believing God for his miracle son Isaac and the offering of Isaac on Mt Moriah; likewise Rahab first believed the Lord when she heard the reports of how the Lord had delivered the children of Israel as they came out of Egypt and more than 30 years later her action of hiding the spies in her house in Jericho.


The Lord sees the heart and considers it as done and He calls our faith righteousness because the penalty price for all our misdeeds had been crucified with Christ on the cross and what is now left is for Him to lavish us with His love and His superabounding blessings - financial prosperity and health. All glory to Jesus. AMEN.

Sowing For A Miracle

Recently New Creation Church in Singapore carried out its third Miracle Seed Sunday on August 22, 2010 and raised a total of over S$21.1 million in just 24 hours. There were two more such Miracle Seed Sundays prior and these were on February 15, 2009 (S$18.83 million raised) and on April 20, 2008 (S$18.0 million raised).

The congregation was encouraged to sow into the church building project at the Cultural and Civic Hub at One North in Bouna Vista, Singapore. The entire cost of the building (New Creation Church's share of the cost) is just under S$500.0 million and the project is expected to be completed by June 2012 and the congregation will be moving into the new premises in Q3 2012. With the latest collection, the total amount raised would have been about S$260 million - just past the 50 percent mark.

Also interesting observation is that the congregation size is at its highest at that point in time on all three Miracle Seed Sundays and people simply came to sow believing the Lord of the Harvest for their miracle harvest regardless of the external economic situations in the country and the world at large. Another interesting observation is that all the cheques received were not larger than S$1.0 million even though there are many millionaires and multi-millionaires in our midst; every single congregation member sowed and did it in style.

Of course there were detractors who criticized that the members sowed expecting the Lord for a blessing. I think these people are grossly misled because no farmer sows his seeds without expecting a harvest in return. Even the Israelites sowed into the Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Exodus 35) expecting the Lord to bless them on their journey out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Sure, they gave in corporate worship when they brought their tithes and offerings but they also expect the Lord's blessings in return.

Programmed For Blessings

Yesterday was the 14th day of the Chinese Lunar 7th month and I remember as a young boy how my mother would remind me to be extra careful how I behaved and where I would walk at night particularly on that evening. 14th day of the seventh month is what the Taoists and Buddhists would believe is the day when the spirits which had been granted a one-month reprieve to roam the world would be the most active - that night i like their feast day and therefore most active day.

As I was reflecting on this, the Holy Spirit reminded me how much the fallen nature of Man gone gone. Of all the things in this world we can recall from memory quickly, have you noticed that it is these negative thoughts that are uppermost on our minds. The Lord has been generous in His blessings toward us and has been reminding us time and again how good He is and yet so quickly we forget His grace and mercy toward us and we choose to dwell on the negatives.

Oh, how we have been so ingrained to remember what we learnt as children that when we encounter the goodness of the Lord, we doubt Him and miss the treasure by more than a mile. We allow all the negativities to crowd us and block out the blessings that is ours to take but we don't.

Therefore, as Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Battling the SPAM Challenge

Recently I have been receiving a number of unsolicited SPAM mails from all kinds of senders including many in Chinese which unfortunately (maybe it is fortunate that I don't read Chinese) I had to delete.  Is this a sign of the times? creating disruptions wherever possible? Or is it coincidental that I became a victim because some of my friend's outdated email accounts were corrupted by computer viruses and this resulted in the proliferation of virus-inspired SPAM mails.

Whatever it is, one thing this entire episode has taught me - I need to be more vigilant and not be too flustered with all these minor challenges and continue on with living life the way our Lord wants it done - in a restful mode and not letting my heart become troubled and burdened but believing that He had DONE everything that is needed to be accomplished and to stand on victory ground because what had been achieved by Him needs to resonate in our spirit-man and then this will work itself out in our natural-man and come alive.

Thanks For The Time

A friend sent this to me over the weekend and I found it very touching and I want to share it with you my 'followers' and readers.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. ONCE YOU READ THIS YOU WILL UNDERSTAND!

A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?" 
"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said. "Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him. 
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said. 
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said. "He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important... Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said. 
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture... .Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.  "The box is gone," he said.
"What box?" Mom asked. "There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said. 
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. 
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:  "Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser." 
"The thing he valued most was...my time" 
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days.  "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. 
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away,"

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 6

My latest lesson actually came from my wife and it is on perseverance.
Our pet Scot had been trying to get into the house for many years now and each time he stepped into the living room, he would be chased out as he was never allowed to enter the house; his roaming area would be the car porch and garden area in the front of the intermediate terrace and this had been 'ingrained' in him since his obedience training. Recently because of his  many sicknesses and also because there were no one in the house for extended periods of time, we decided to bend the rules and allow him to rest in the backyard. Also his many adventures of running away from home contributed to the change of our hearts. You might say that his perseverance in trying to come into the house had finally paid off and he is at liberty to walk through the front door and go right to the backyard and we would not shout at him and he knows it well too.


And so the Lord reminded me how when we persevere, after much changing of our character traits through many trials and training, we too would be able to enjoy our benefits. Our benefits have always been there but we may not be ready to receive them and so through much training, our characters change and we are now better equipped to enjoy the goodness of our Lord.

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 5

When Scot was younger and every time there is a heavy thunderstorm, with loud thunders, he would get nervous and would want to run into the house and hide under the table or under the sink in the bathroom or anywhere else where there is an 'overhead' shelter for him.

But over the years on a few of these storms when we were not at home, and we had forgotten to lease him up on the front yard, he would contort his body and slip under the narrow gap of the main gate or in between the bars in the garden fence, reason being that there is no overhead shelter for him in the front yard and plants do not count. I recalled we had great difficulties locating him as the entire neighborhood is very widespread. However, inevitably he would be found and kept by neighbors and strangers alike and they would call us to inform us to collect him home.

Initially we could not understand his strange behavior but over close to seven experiences we introduced new measure to overcome similar situations. What is also amazing is that he could squeeze between the vertical bars of the garden fence which the gap is only about four inches. How could he manage to squeeze his head (which is about 4 inched wide) and his torso (which is slightly more than four inches at his girth) through such a narrow gap?

And does he do that in every thunderstorm? No. Whenever we are home and he knows it, the winds can howl and the sky covered in flashes of thunderbolts, he would be most peaceful and fast asleep as he could have selective hearing. And we have also learnt that his refuge is under the toilet sink and so we would place him there and shut the door and go about our errands and not have to worry about his antics again.

It is very amazing what fear can do to a person. Out of fear, Scot would force his way out of 'danger' to seek 'refuge'. I see a parallel here - humans too have a great propensity to do impossible things out of self-preservation and fear but remove that fear and we will be most calm and collected. Jesus IS our good Shepherd and with Him around we do not need to have fear (Psalm 23 & John 10:14-16).

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 4

Recently we brought Scot to the veterinarian for some sores on his legs which had started to bleed and while we were waiting for the helper to fetch his medication, we chanced upon a chart which lists all the possible ailments that dogs would be susceptible to. The list was a fairly long one and as we read each type of sickness and how it would impact dogs in general, we could not help but noticed that Scot practically had all the symptoms described there.

Now, according to the list, some of the sicknesses are pretty potent and yet, when we look at Scot, his tongue is as healthy as can be - all pinkish and red with good blood circulation. Then the Lord reminded me that Scot is a blessed dog because he belongs to a blessed family and because of his blessedness, he will live a long life.

And so I was immediately arrested to the fact that we, as blessed sons and daughters of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will live up to a good age and we are filled up on health; sometimes symptoms appear on our bodies but the truth of the matter is, we are the Lord's and as His own, divine health is our portion. The moment we realize that and start to declare that over our lives, viruses will have to leave our bodies for where the Temple of the Holy Spirit is, there will be LIFE and health.

And so I learnt from observing Scot that "as my days, so shall my strength be" Deuteronomy 33:25.

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 3

Jesus told His disciples that His sheep hears His voice and listens to Him (John 10:14-16).
¹⁴"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
It is interesting that our dog can actually differentiate each of our voices and his responses differ based on his opinion of us.  To me, he responses as one who would bring him out of the house for his nature calls and he is usually quick afraid of me as I am usually his disciplinarian.  To my wife, he endears her as he views her as a 'big cookie' because she spoils him with biscuits, cookies and dog-treats.  To our daughter he attributes her as one who would groom him and to our son, he usually bullies him as he knows our son is the master and he is good-natured towards him.
And so, from this I learnt that my response to our Lord will depend on my perception of Him; if I view our Lord as one who punishes me when I do wrong, then I would cower in fear whenever I approach Him (if at all).
Praise the Lord that He is not one who is always looking out to discipline us; in fact He loves us so much that He gave up His life for us and will not hesitate to bless us in more ways than we can ask or even imagine.

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 2

To continue this series, in this post I would like to share a strange habit that Scot (and for that matter, all beagles) had when he was younger. Whenever we took up his dish to fill with his pet-food, he would be twirling with joy (just like how Charles Schultz would draw Snoopy dancing for joy in his Snoopy cartoon strip) and he would not stop until we place his dish right in front of him.

One day, as I was preparing his dinner and I saw his dance of joy, the Lord quizzed me on my attitude towards feeding on His Word. Although Scot received the same food every dinner, he was never tired of eating the pet formula he had since he came home to us and he was ever so cheerful when he would hear us pouring his daily portion into the dish.

I felt a gentle loving reminder from the Lord that I should learn from Scot how I receive His Word daily into my heart:
1. that I should be joyful that I can sit at His feet and draw from Him;
2. that I should not become familiar with His Word but should appreciate Him with thankfulness.

The Lord Works Things Out For Those He Loves

The apostle Paul encouraged the church in Rome as they faced persecutions when he wrote Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Many of his readers were suffering acute persecutions and he urged them to look on the bright side and see the hand of God on their lives and to anticipate deliverance from their sufferings.

On the night of April 16 (early hours of 17th) our son-in-law was scheduled to fly home alone to Birmingham from Singapore via Dubai. However, as we are aware by now, all airports in UK and Europe were closed due to the Icelandic volcano ash clouds hovering about 15 KM above and he had to make alternative arrangements. He spoke with Emirates Airlines and the earliest flight they were able to put him on was for the one that took off last evening (early this morning). And with his flights 'confirmed', he spoke with his superiors at Deloittes PLC to work out his work arrangements and praise the Lord for understanding bosses. He was granted permission to work out of Singapore (clocking in London hours) on his clients' projects and to be prepared to attend teleconference calls should the need arise and so, half of the issues were taken care of.

When my daughter (Adeline) and son-in-law (Joshua) came home from Kuala Lumpur after the wedding dinner, she was scheduled to submit her UK Dependent Visa application to the Visa Consulate at British High Commission in KL via the Singapore office. She submitted her application along with her passport on Tuesday April 13 and according to the norm, the approval process would have taken between 5 to 15 working days and that would have accounted for the reason why my son-in-law could not wait in Singapore but had to leave first to return to work. I know he was very reluctant to fly home alone as he was so longing to go home as a couple. With his original flight schedule, he would have started work in Nottingham for three weeks and during this three weeks, Adeline would have flown into Birmingham but Joshua would not have been able to meet her at the airport and she would have to take a cab from the airport, detour to his office to pick up his house keys from his boss' secretary and go home to an empty house.

The Lord is so gracious and merciful. The visas were approved within 2 working days and she was able to pick up her passport on Friday (the same day as Joshua's original flight day had the ash cloud not surfaced). And so, with the visa in hand, she could then book her flights and praise the Lord, she was able to be on the same flight as Joshua and so they WILL be returning home as a couple as was their desire.

With the new flight schedule, they were able to spend more time in Singapore with us and also with his parents in KL - in the morning they can go shopping or just lazying around and then he starts his work from 4:00 PM and work right through to 01:00 AM the next morning. Also the extended period gave them time to pack everything that they required to bring home to the UK and discard those that they no longer needed. Also, between April 18 and 29, they went home to KL to help out with nursing Joshua's mother who contracted high fever and was confined to bed. Praise the Lord she was tested negative for both dengue and H1N1. And with their return last week, they had an additional round of farewell gatherings over the weekend.

And so I can agreed emphatically with Paul that in all things, God works for the good of those whom He loves and we felt so loved by this incident. The Lord turned what the devil initiated with the volcano eruption into excellent outcomes. In the end, Joshua and Adeline returned home to Birmingham together, had more time with loved ones here in Singapore and KL and pack and ship their belongings. With the extra quality time together, their departure last evening was not so tearsome as we had anticipated. All glory to Jesus for His hand of grace on our situations. AMEN.

Lessons I Learnt From Observing Our Pet Dog - Part 1

Our pet beagle, Scot, had been with the family for slightly more than 13 years and on reflection, I would say I have learnt many usual lessons on relationships with my Lord and Savior. You will notice from the title of this post that this is only Part 1 and so there will be a continuation as we go along.

As a puppy, Scot was a very playful beagle. As our son Adrian would phrase it, Scot had been redeemed from the cage and having tasted freedom from bondage, he (I use this pronoun as Scot is a male beagle) was pretty wild and for the first three months, managed to 'chew' at least one pair of Alice's (my wife) sandals and was onto her second pair. Not wanting to lose more shoes, we decided to engage the services of a trainer to come and 'discipline' him over ten sessions. This trainer is very experienced as his father used to work for the police dog unit and trained many German shepherds and alsatians.
Indeed, after ten weeks, Scot immediately became better mannered and kind of knew his boundaries.

And this reminded me of how our Lord would allow us His children to be child-trained so as to remove all the bad behaviors and encouraged to pick up good ones. The ten weeks of training reminded me also of the need for a young believer to be discipled (followed up) to ground him/her in the faith of our Lord.
Indeed, the training was at times painful for Scot but the end result speaks for itself - he became a 'domesticated' pet. A believer in Christ, after having been followed up with proper training and guidance would be in a better position to take on the world and prosper.

So the first lesson I learnt was the need for discipleship training for the new believer.

Our Pet Dog - Scot

Back in Dec 1996 my family bought a beagle as a pet but the story behind his adoption is an episode on its own and here is what happened. Our son had a minor accident on his way home from school. As he was crossing the pedestrian crossing on the slip road next to his school (this was at about 4:30 PM?), a lady driver turning the corner and entering the slip road did not notice him and knocked into him. She stopped to help him up and even brought him to the nearest clinic and from there they took a series of x-rays of him to check for broken bones, etc.
Of course he is protected by the precious Blood of Jesus and nothing happened to him other than him being in a slight state of shock from the incident. My wife and I were not aware of the incident because he did not call us to inform of the incident and we had a shock when we reached home - there was a set of x-ray films on the dining table and a short note to say that he had an accident and that he had gone to church for a meeting. We rushed to church and took him out of the meeting and examined him and were very relieved when we found out that he was completely unharmed.

And so we sat him down the next day to talk with him to find out how we could help him and that was when we discovered he wanted to have a pet (there was no mention nor discussion prior to this incident of any pets). And so, we decided that he should get a dog since he was born in the year of the dog (Chinese calendar). We went shopping for a pet that weekend and here were some criteria - a male and not a large dog as large dogs would shed much fur and the dog cannot be of a fierce breed (like dobermann or alsatian or bull-dog, etc).

We visited one petshop and saw a number of puppies but these were all females and so we rejected all the animals there. When the owner asked what we were looking for, we said we were shopping for a small male puppy. And she gave us an address stating that there was an 'about 6-months old' puppy currently owned by a lady living in Tampines and that she was keen to sell the dog since her children had outgrown the craze over the puppy and that the dog was basically bought as a Christmas present for the children. Now we visited the house in December and so we reckoned that the dog would no longer be a puppy (technically) since it is about 15 months old since puppies are only put up for sale when they are around 3 months old and we would be approaching its second Christmas.
The sorry state of the dog touched our son's heart and his whimper for affection melted our son's heart. It was cooped up in a cage that it had outgrown and there was a start of a hunch in its posture and so we decided to save the dog and bought it from the lady. The purchase date was December 22, 1996 and so up to this day, we still celebrate its 'redemption day' as we felt we had redeemed it from its 'bondage' (the cage) and given it a new lease of life.

Gaining A SON

Having walked my daughter down the aisle, I was asked during the wedding lunch how I felt and I remembered telling my friends that it was a mixture of three emotions;

1. Relief as the important day had finally come after almost one year of planning;
2. Sadness as she will be emigrating to live in Birmingham, UK where my son-in-grace works and reside (for the time being);
3. Joy as I know she will be in good hands having picked a man whom she loves and who is a Child of Christ.


Of course, as I turned the corner and proceeded down the centre of the Chamber, my thoughts went to what I would be saving to my son-in-grace as I place my daughter's hand into his at the altar.


Nobody knew what I had planned to say to him - not even my wife - as I wanted to give it to him as a surprise and so I had been allowing the 'speech' simmer in my mind the entire week (we had a rehearsal on Monday March 29).

And so when Pastor Mathews asked me whether I had anything to say to Joshua as I handed my daughter's hand over to him in marriage, my greatest moment had arrived.
With moist eyes from a joyous attitude, I turned to Joshua and told him,
"On behalf of Aunty Alice and I, I entrust this treasure in earthen vessel to you.
Take this jewel and love her, cherish and encourage her and together, build your house in the Lord.
Today your parents receives a daughter and we have gained a son".


Now I understand how God the Father must have felt when He became Father of the Bride (the Church) and the Father of the Groom (our Lord Jesus Christ) all at the same time - such joy and love. No wonder our Lord Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding He was invited to and He blessed them over and above all that they could ever imagine.

Satellite Photo Of Icelandic Volcanoes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1266403/Iceland-volcano-space-The-dramatic-ash-plume-engulfing-Britain-seen-above.html
The recent volcanic eruption in South Iceland had given the airline industry a mega headache as it had grounded more than 80,000 flights around the world in just five days and the ash cloud is simply not showing signs that it is dissipating. In fact what is worrisome is that the two craters next to the one that erupted are now showing signs of activity.

What caused this massive eruption? Recent satellite photos taken of the craters have reviewed a very interesting picture. The three dark holes are the three craters and it really looks evil.
Remember what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24:6-8 - ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.
The devil knows that his time is ending soon and these are just some of the things he is throwing at mankind as a kind of parting shot.
So what should we do? For one thing, we should recognize what is happening and hence quicken the pace of our work in the Lord - Believers, rise up and stand for our Lord and spread the good news that salvation had already been won and is available to all who would take it.

Oil & Gas Found Off Coast Of Israel

Monday, April 12, 2010 Israel Today Staff.
Israel to become center of new 'oil and gas rush'
A top US energy industry expert believes Israel is going to soon experience an "oil and gas rush" by major Western energy development companies. Speaking to the Israeli financial newspaper Globes, Fred Zeidman said the recent discovery of a massive natural gas field off Israel's Mediterranean coast had drawn the attention of every major Western energy company.
Israeli companies Delek and Isramco have already tapped the natural gas field, together with British energy giant Noble Energy. Zeidman noted that quite often, "as soon as Noble goes to a place, many other companies follow in its wake."
That could mean an enormous economic boom for Israel and its transformation overnight into a major international energy exporter. The natural gas field in the Levant Basin (the western Mediterranean) is estimated to hold 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, making it the largest natural gas resource ever found. The area is also believed to contain at least 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Well, God the Father, in these last days, will not abandon His first love - the Children of Israel and He had caused oil and gas to appear in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel and this reminded me of the prophecy that Moses gave to the tribe of Asher in Deuteronomy 33:24-25
v24 And of Asher he said: -- Blessed with sons [is] Asher, Let him be accepted by his brethren, And dipping in oil his foot.
v25 Iron and brass [are] thy shoes, And as thy days -- thy strength.

Great things indeed are happening in the land of Israel and we will soon be witnessing more spectacular event there.God had been faithful to the children of Abraham - both Ishmael and Isaac. The descendants of Ishmael are the people who live in the Middle East while the descendants of Isaac are the Israelis. The Arabs already had their share of the wealth of the land - oil and gas - and I believe the Lord wants to prosper the nation of Israel in these last days to demonstrate to them His grace and mercy and to draw them back to Himself and to Christ.And if we were to examine the maps of ancient Israel and look at how Moses prophetically commanded Joshua to divide the land of Israel into the twelve tribes, we would have no trouble locating where exactly the oil was to be found - off the coast (Moses called it dipping in oil his foot) of Haifa in the region of Mt. Carmel. Notice that the region literally looked like a foot sticking into the sea.

Jesus Gave Us All That He Has

During the signing of the marriage certificate at my daughter's wedding, I was reminded of the marriage vow I made to my wife when we got married almost 30 years ago. The pastor kept reminding my son-in-law (I would rather coin it as son-in-grace because we are all under grace now) that what was to be his will now be hers (his wife's) and what was hers will remain as hers.

I know this sounds strange but that principle is actually very scriptural. In Revelations 21:2, "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband", we know that the apostle John through the Holy Spirit was talking about the Church as the Bride of Christ and that we are joined with Christ when we invited Him into our hearts.
Jesus came to give us life and in the process emptied Himself of all that He had so that He could purchase us for Himself and we the Church (individually as well as corporately) receive His blessings and this is the interesting part - we only receive and we never have to give up anything. Hence the refrain - He gave us all and we gave Him nothing in return.
And to top it all, three times the pastor asked Joshua whether he had any regrets and that he still has the option to say no until he placed his signature on the marriage certificate. Three times he asked the question and each time Joshua said, 'no regrets', 'I am very sure' and this reminded me of the three occasions at the Garden of Gethsemene when the option of passing the cup of God's wrath was giving to Jesus and each time He rejected the offer and said, 'not as I will, but yours be done' and He went to the cross willingly.

Policies Are Made In The House

Two days ago, Saturday April 03, 2010, our daughter Adeline was joined in marriage to Joshua Ting at The Chambers of The Arts House, Singapore. The Chambers is the former parliament chambers of the Singapore government and it was a very lovely setting for the wedding ceremony.
As the parliament chambers was the seat of the government, the officiating pastor reminded us the significance the Lord plays in our family as well as individual lives. Ideas and suggestions may be had in our personal lives in various locations but the decisions are made and sealed in the House (of God) and indeed God the Father had indeed cut the Covenant and sealed it in His House and Christ Jesus is the Head of our House.Our Lord is a generous God and because of His great love for mankind, He decided to come down to our level and take on human form so that, being one with us, He could become our Savior when He offered up His life on the Cross for us. And because He died in our place we are no longer under the Law of sin and death but we have entered into life the moment we received Him into our hearts.
And having done that, we have aligned ourselves to receive His blessings as His word confirms it in Hebrews 10:17 and Romans 4:7-8. God is a God of grace and mercy - grace because He has given us everything that we did not deserve to receive and mercy because He chose not to give us what we deserve but took them away from us when His Son died on the cross to save us.
And all these decisions were indeed made in the Chambers of Heaven when God the Father decided to send God His Son as a Substitute for our sin. Hallelujah, all glory to Jesus for His finished work on the cross for all of us.

Jewish Passover and Good Friday

The Jewish Feast of Passover or Pesach      this year will start at sunset on Monday March 29th and stretches over to sunset on Tuesday 30th and during this Feast holiday, the Jewish families will kill a lamb below the age of one-year and roast it in fire and then consume the entire animal in one sitting; nothing is to be left overnight. They would also apply some of the blood of the lamb on the two doorposts and the lentel of the doorway to signify that blood had been shed and a death had occurred.
The Passover lamb signifies to the Jews that someone (in this case the lamb) had died in substitution for the family and because there had been one death in the family, the angel of death would pass over that household and therefore no death of any family member would take place.
God intended the Jewish Feast of Pesach to be a shadow of the real Lamb of God dying for the sins of the entire human race and Jesus is indeed our Passover Lamb. The night that Jesus was captured almost 2000 years ago was exactly the night of the Passover and because the Jews start their day at sunset right through to the next sunset, Jesus WAS crucified on Pesach and it so happened that the day that Jesus died on the cross was a Friday and hence the Christian decided to commemorate that Day as Good Friday - Good because Jesus Who IS God Himself died for us.
However, due to the difference in calendar used, Pesach and Good Friday do not normally coincide on one particular day (the Jews calculate their calendar following the movement of the moon around the Earth while we use the Gregorian calendar which tracks the movement of the Earth around the Sun) and any overlap would therefore be very obscure. And so, it will be very interesting to note that we have both Pesach and Good Friday falling on the same week and so lets believe that the Lord has something great for us and we receive His blessings in faith.
Once again, Pesach is celebrated by the Jews from sunset (6:00 PM Jerusalem time) on March 29th till sunset on March 30th while Good Friday starts at midnight (local time) on April 01 till midnight April 02.

The Chilean Earthquake and Feast of Purim

When the big earthquake measuring 8.8 hit Chile on February 27, 2010 a friend of mine asked me whether I think the earthquake had anything to do with the Feast of Purim celebrated in Israel and among the Jews on that day. My initial reaction was that the two events have no relationship at all.  However, recent research uncovered seems to point to a linkage after all.

The Feast of Purim    is celebrated each year on the 13th day of the 12th month (Adar) - Esther 9 and this year the feast day started at sunset on February 27 and ended at sunset on February 28. The feast was in commemoration of how God rescued the entire Jewish race from extermination at the hands of Haman, a wicked descendent of the Philistines who was the prime minister at that time in the Persian. His evil plot was uncovered by Mordecai, the adopted father of Queen Esther (he was actually an older cousin of hers) who then got the Queen to go to the king to negate the royal decree (the full account of how the plot was overturned is in Esther 9). In the end the tables were turned - Haman was hung and the Jews turned and got rid of all the supported of Haman and they scored a major victory. So the Jews to this day would celebrate the Feast by giving gifts that symbolizes life.

Chile hosts the LARGEST community of Palestinians outside of Israel. This community is located between Concepcion (the epicenter of the Chilean earthquake) and the capital of Chile, Santiago, which lies north of Concepcion. According to wikipedia, Concepcion has a "twin city," which usually means a sister city in some way, such as through trade agreements or partnerships. Concepcion has listed as a "twin city," Bethlehem in Israel.

  
The Chilean earthquake at 8.8 was the 5th strongest on record. THE strongest earthquake ever recorded was in Chile in 1960 and is called the Valdivia earthquake because the epicenter was near Valdivia. Here is an interesting bit of synchronicity: Valdivia was named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and Valdivia also founded Concepcion and Santiago.
And we all know the recent Palestinian riots in the West Bank of Israel arising from the Israeli government declaring the Tomb of Rachel which is in Bethlehem as an Israeli heritage site. Bethlehem is in the West Bank and governed by the Palestinian Authority. And we also know the intent of the Palestinians - to 'wipe out the State of Israel' - as stated by its late leader Yasser Arafat (sounds familiar as similar words were spoken by another leader of Philistine descent).