Lunar New Year Falling on Valentine's Day 2010

What a day it has been today. It is Valentine's Day and it coincided with the first day of the Lunar New Year celebrated by Chinese all over the world. Our day started with a Sunday service at New Creation Church at 11:30 AM and what a powerful message from one of the pastors, Pastor Lim Lian Neo, who is also the pastor in charge of the Children's Church at New Creation. She challenged each of us on taking hold on our current situations and to see Jesus glorified in our circumstances like Ruth, prophets Daniel and Elijah. All three of them chose not to regret the past and stopped worrying about the future but seize the opportunities as they present themselves and placed their hope in the Lord and great results came forth for them all.

With such a powerful message, that is meat sufficient for the week. But the Lord did not want us to just go away with one blessing - He wanted more for us. And so at the end of the second service, as Pastor Lian was about to pronounce the blessings on the church, the Lord sent Pastor Prince (who sat through the entire service as part of the congregation) to give the blessing for the week and what a blessing the Lord gave us.

According to the Chinese calendar, this year (which started today) marks the beginning of the Year of the Golden Tiger and while listening to the message, the Lord gave Pastor Prince a word for us. Just as the Lord is typified by the Lion (of Judah) and the Lamb (of God), He also wanted us to know that He can also be represented by the Tiger. The lion and the tiger are aggressive animals and the Lord gave three messages on the Tiger: -

1. The tiger is noted for the stripes on its back and so this year will be a year of aggressive healings - the stripes on Jesus' back healed us all from all forms of sicknesses and diseases;
2. It is no coincidence that the first day of Lunar New Year falls on Sunday and since Sunday is a day of rest, this year we will also experience aggressive peace and rest in all areas of our lives;
3. The Lord also wants us to know that this year we will also experience aggressive love (as interpreted with Valentines Day).

So nothing is by chance or coincidence for the Lord planned everything for us and since the tiger is very Asian, the Lord will do that in Asia. The year had already started 45 days ago but for the Chinese, it has just started today and it is therefore most appropriate to have the word on the day itself. What a glorious start for us today and praise the Lord for HIs word for us. Thank you Lord Jesus for your faithfulness to us. AMEN.

Prophetic Word For The Year - 2010

With an expectant heart many of us at New Creation Church attended the services on Sunday January 3rd believing that the Lord indeed has a word of prophecy for us for this year and surely He did not fail to deliver us the word. Through Pastor Joseph Prince, the Lord declared that this year 2010 will be a "Year of Restful Increase".

We will see our increase (especially for those who had not experienced theirs in 2009) but we are to adopt a restful stance as we see our respective increase unfold before our very eyes. We are not to struggle for it or to worry and become agitated over it for surely the Lord WILL provide as He had always done so.

Now, does that mean we are not to do any work? just rest and the results will pop up before us? No, that is not what the Lord meant. For those who want to believe the word given, we are to continue to work at whatever we are doing but ours is not to strive hard for it. We are to adopt the stance that Jesus so often in the gospels had admonished us to do, "let not your hearts be trouble".

So we are not to worry about the outcome when we put in our efforts for the Lord will surely give the increase. Just as the farmer goes out there to till the land and sow the seeds in the ground and God will take care of the growth, likewise He will do the same for our situations for surely we are worth more than the sparrows in the air.

Indeed one month of 2010 had just gone by us and we need to constantly remind ourselves of WHOSE we are; we are children of the MOST HIGH GOD (El Shaddai and El Elyon) and nothing is too small for Him to overlook nor too big for Him to overcome for He is our Creator God and if He cared to give us the Greatest Possession He Had - His Beloved Darling Son to die for us on the cross - how will He withhold from us our requests?

Prophetic Word For The Year - 2008

Back in October 2007, I had a very interesting call from a business acquaintance asking me whether I would like to be part of his business plan from January 2008 onwards and without hesitation, I agreed to take up the offer to be the principal trainer for a professional certification body that wanted to open a license in Singapore. And so, at the end of January 2008, I had the first class with 11 participants and the class attained a perfect score of passes during the qualifying examinations. Subsequent to that, there were many more classes offered through the year (seven to be exact).

Indeed the word from the Lord for 2008 - "Year of Manifested Blessings" - did come true for me. Business transactions began to fall into place and I was kept busy with not just training classes (professional certification plus corporate courses) but consultancy projects started to open up for me. I recalled anointing my home office and praying over my business and almost immediately I saw the manifestation of the Lord. It was through one of the participants of one corporate training classes that the Lord provided inroads to a major consultancy project.

Prophetic Word For The Year - 2007

With the company registered in July 2006 and lying dormant, my plans swung into action in September 2006 with plans for eventual exit from the corporate world to step out in faith and run my own consultancy business. And so it was with a pleasant surprise that on Sunday Dec 31, 2006 my senior pastor announced to the church that the prophetic word for New Creation Church for 2007 was "A Year or New Beginnings".  Immediately on hearing the word, I turned to my wife and we nodded at each other that God had confirmed our plans for me to leave Deutsche Bank at end March 2007 and be my own boss from April.
Indeed, things were slow moving initially as I needed to find my own footing and establish myself. There were much running around to introduce myself to business associates and to explain what had happened and all these times, I began to draw my strength from the Lord.

Even though business volumes were very low, I praise the Lord that He sustained me in more ways than one

1. when I needed finance, He sent projects along my way and with the fees, I could maintain my business as an ongoing concern
2. when I needed ideas and business linkages, He came and gave me business partners that not only encouraged me but also helped me build my circle of business contacts
3. when I needed a long-term business partnership, He sent someone whom I had never met before but have heard of to discuss an instructor position that would eventually tie me over for two years from 2008.

Indeed, in the Year of New Beginnings, I saw myself reaching new heights in my professional career and also in my spiritual life and I praise Jesus for the experiences.  Amen.

Prophetic Word For The Year - 2006

Towards end July 2005, a small group of friends met over coffee one afternoon and the topic of discussion was our plans when we reached 'retirement' and in January 2006 and it was at this meeting that the idea of setting up a consultancy company was mooted.

At the first Sunday service for 2006, January 01, Pastor Prince delivered God's word for the church for 2006 and the word for those who wanted to appropriate it was, "Year of Acceleration". We embraced the word and in July 2006, I registered my company DRBCM Associates Pte Ltd with the ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) Singapore and began the quiet setting up of a dormant company to prepare for my eventual 'retirement'.

Also in July our son graduated from LSE and came home to start his career with the Singapore government. In September my regional boss at the bank decided to leave his post and launch into his long-term plan with emigration for his family and his start-up business from Perth. In fact he beat me to the finishing line by six months as I had already decided by then that I will leave the bank as well but at the end of March 2007. With my departure date fixed in my mind, I embarked on my plan for my colleagues, whom I will leave behind, to prepare them to become independent and able to excel in their respective roles wherever they may be.  The wheels of change had been set in motion.