Counting one's blessings this season

“If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.” (Oswald Chambers)

Last night my siblings (some came down from Malaysia) and I had a big gathering at a neighbourhood coffee shop. Though it was not an S$888 per table dinner, we had a wonderful time. I was reminded of Teresa Lim’s article ‘Counting one’s blessings this season’ (ST 15th Dec 2012).Yes, Christmas is about relationships, not presents or indulgence. She wrote, “The Christmases I loved best in Singapore after my father died when I was young, were the ones my mother and I spent on our own with a small roast chicken, a sauce of belacan and asparagus for a tin.”

The expectation from almost everyone during this season of the year is always ‘be happy’ but in reality statistics shows that more people get depressed at Christmas than any other time of the year. People are under great pressure not to show sadness. Let’s be sensitive to those, who for one reason or another, are sad and may we extend God’s grace to them.

This year happened to be the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth who wrote the famous ‘A Christmas Carol’. I hope none of us needs to be jolted by the ‘supernatural visits’ like Scrooge in order to be transformed to a person of kindness, generosity and warmth.

Below is one great Christmas story which I would like to share this Christmas:

 ‘A pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, reopened a church in suburban Brooklyn. Excitedly arriving in early October, they saw the opportunities to accomplish something good before them. When they first laid eyes upon the church, they found it to be very run down and in need of much work. They set a goal, though, to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc., and on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a terrible tempest hit the area, lasting two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed a local business having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in.

One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she said, "where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. To his astonishment, he found that they were. These being the initials of the woman. She had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it, for the pastor told how he had just acquired the tablecloth.

The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighbourhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare at the Tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to the one that his wife had made many years ago in Austria before the war and how could there be two Tablecloths so much alike?

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.’

Living in 2012

Living in 2012 means-

You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave

You have not played solitaire with real cards for years

You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you

Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses

Leaving the home without your mobile phone is now a cause for panic

You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee



(shared by WWY)

Psalm 23 - The Lord is my shepherd

This Christmas season is good for us as Christians to refocus on our relationship with God. It is said that how you view God affect your relationship with Him. If you view Him as a severe judge, you will interpret your problems as God’s judgement rather than an opportunity to experience His tender love and care in moment of troubles.

Psalm 23 undoubtedly is the most famous psalm. We do not know when David wrote it but it was at a time when his son Absalom who tried to become king, pursued after him. He went to a place called Gilead. There he met Barzillai, a shepherd who kept sheep. Barzillai gave David food and shelter. In this psalm, he described his relationship to God using the imagery of the shepherd and his sheep.

God is depicted as a good shepherd who gives tender care, feed and sustain one’s soul. He goes ahead of His sheep, lead them from one good pasture to another. The rod resembles correction and guidance, not to hurt but to direct the sheep back into the right paths. Shepherd is the only profession in this world that uses the staff which is actually a slender pole with a little crook on the end. He uses it to reach out and prod back the sheep in the right direction. Jesus says He is a good shepherd who protects His sheep and lays down his life for them. He is no hired hand who flees when the wolf approaches. Shepherding is not an occupation to look upon with favour. In fact it is a job to be avoided as the work is dirty and hours are long.

Those who belonged to Him are like sheep leading to still water. Still water symbolises quiet waters of spiritual refreshment through His Word as compared to murky pools of the World. The sheep are dumb, dirty and defenceless animals (have you seen them been trained for animal shows?). They are easily go astray and follow their self-determined ways (aren’t we like them?). They do not need to fear evil as the good shepherd is with them, not even death which may appear as a dark valley. The anointing of oil on the heads of His sheep symbolises Him as a generous host, giving His flock comfort, assurance in time of distress. Sheep that are fully satisfied, and at home, will have no desire to part with their shepherd.

Food preferences when one gets old

‘Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.’
(Proverbs 16:31)


The church I am attending has some social outreach programs. One of these is visit an aged home once a month. Recently members are asked to donate some food items to these old folks with Christmas coming soon. There are a dozen food items listed and I am surprised by the ‘high priority’ items listed. Some of us probably labeled them as ‘unhealthy’ foodstuffs: canned braised peanuts, kernel corn, instant noodles and vegetarian Lor Hon Zai.

I guess when one gets old, his food preference changes . Foodstuffs that were previously frown upon now become his preference choices. This was what happened to my mum. Before that, she used to reprimand her children whenever they ate sweet things. However, when she herself grew old, she loved ‘kit-kat’ chocolate waffles and candies. We let her ate what she wanted as it is better to let her enjoy her remaining years.

Public morality & decency

‘Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.’ (I Corinthians 6:18)

When someone publicized his sexually explicit photos and video through the internet, can he still say that he is doing them at his personal time and as a private individual? Or is it merely a ‘victimless’ crime (since it involves only willing participants) as no one has been harmed or hurt through the process?

We live in an individualistic society to the point we think this is the way that all people should live. The root of individualism is selfishness and self-glorification. Abigail Van Buren once said, “There are two kinds of people, those who walk into a room and say, ‘There you are’, and those who say,’Here I am.’”

The new generation is growing up in a world of advanced technology. It brings both positive and negative influences. In area of values, they are often neutral; what feels good is good and wrong is relative. There is no clear definition of right and wrong.

Our society has to send a very clear signal of disapproval to such actions. History shows that a society that tolerates immorality would eventually lead to its downfall.

Love Language

It is said that the most basic need of any human being is feeling been loved. Love language can be expressed in different forms- physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time and gifts. I think of all, physical touch is the most powerful one and produces the greatest impact.

Studies had shown that those rats that had been licked and groomed by their mothers did better at finding their way through mazes. They were better able to control stress responses. The rats were also found to be more sociable and curious. In fact, they were able to live longer than the rest. When we translate these into human version, which means it makes sense for the mothers to hug, kiss and read to their babies. On the other hand, children from poor households often grow up under constant stress as the families struggle to survive most of the time. This makes them hard to thrive in school or succeed in the workforce.

My tutoring experience seems to support the above observations. Children from dysfunctional homes tend to be quiet, yet snap easily, impatient, lack of discipline, confidence and focus. How can we help these people to break the poverty cycle then? Many governments tend to take the easy ways out, such as giving grocery vouchers or put these people under welfare initiatives. The better ways seem to be providing early childhood education and parenting programs to this group of people.

In praise of Woman (just for laugh)

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging, violent river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed : `God, please give me the strength to cross the river.' God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice.

After witnessing that, the second man prayed: `God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river.' God gave him a rowboat, strong arms and legs,  He was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.

Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed: `God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the river.' Poof!! The man was turned into a woman! She checked the map, hiked 100 yards upstream and walked across the bridge!

(shared by FH)

Halloween

There shall not be found among you anyone...who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who ‘casts a spell, or a medium, or a spirit, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord’ (Deuteronomy 18: 10-13)

Halloween, which was once an almost an exclusively American secular holiday, is gaining popularity in our society. I was in fact surprised that even my constituency’s RC organized such event this year. The last thing I expected from my child last week was when she asked for permission and 70 dollars to join the Halloween party on Sentosa. I gave a firm no and before I could explain my stand, she commented that my response has to do with my faith as a Christian. I was indeed happy to hear that remark for at least my child knows the basis of my life principles.

To me, Halloween is one of those celebrations where pagan cultures and practices been ‘Christianized’. It has its origin in the religious practices of the Romans and the Druids about 600 years ago. The Roman Catholic Church at that time decided to make the changeover from pagan religion to Christianity easier for the new converts, hence, allowed them to maintain some of their pagan feasts by celebrating them as "Christian" festivals. So instead of praying to their heathen gods, they would now pray to, and remember the deaths of saints. For this reason, the church decided to call November 1 the "Day of All Saints". The evening prior to this day was named, "All Hallowed Evening" which subsequently was abbreviated as "Halloween." 

Christian parents ought to see themselves as stewards of their possessions and protectors of their families. Christian young people should stay away from secular Halloween parties since these are breeding grounds for trouble and bring about social problems. I just don’t see how one can derives ‘fun’ from activities like colouring pictures of witches, listening to ghost stories, or wearing costumes associated with fictional characters-demons, monsters, vampires, werewolves, mummies etc. I came from a family deeply exposed to spiritualism because of my mum’s closeness to her childhood friend who is a powerful medium. No one should treat spiritualism lightly. It is real. My past experience makes me very sensitive to it, and embracing Christian faith has liberated me from the fears of such. 

In the book by Peter Wagner, Warfare Prayer, he gives an account of the influence of spiritualism in this city of Resistencia in Argentina. In that city, people all knew the names of the spirits that were ruling over it. San La Muerte, the spirit of death, was the most powerful. A large number of people there were so devoted to this spirit that they had tiny bone images of the idol surgically implanted under their skin or under their nipples, believing that this will assure them of a ‘good death’. There is also the spirit of division who brought terror especially to children at night. Curapi, is a spirit of sexual perversion, and Freemasonry, is the spirit of occult power.