Farewell October

October has just slipped by twenty mins ago.
But what a month! A 'financial crisis' month
globally affecting huge numbers of investors
losing equally huge amount of money, even in
Singapore especially from investments in the
Lehman Brothers'.

A reminder from the Lord in Proverbs 23:4 -5.

"Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it.
When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For riches certainly make themselves wings;
they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."

Then in Proverbs 30:8 -9, my prayer too -

"Two things have I required of thee;
deny me them not before I die.
Remove far from me vanity and lies:
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with food convenient for me:
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say,
Who is the Lord?
or lest I be poor,and steal, and take
the name of my God in vain.

Obedience

In studying Co1.1:9-10 much has been
mentioned about being filled with the
knowledge of God.

But David E. Garland in "The NIV
Application Commentary" has this to
say:

" Unfortunately, Christians do not
always put the truth they believe
into practice. We learn enough to
talk about it intelligently but
never follow through on action."

How very true. It is so much easier
to 'study' the Bible, but how difficult
it is to obey.

But Oswald Chambers said, " Obedience is
the means whereby we show the earnestness
of our desire to do God's will."

And George Washington declared that " the
whole duty of man is summed up in
obedience to God's will."

Most importantly, remember what our Lord
Jesus said in Luke 6:46?
"Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do
not do what I say?"

Jesus went further: " Everyone who comes
to Me and hears My words and acts on
them, I will show you whom he is like."

He is like the man who built his house
on the rock. And when the rains and floods
came, the house was strong and secure.

Before Speaking

Before speaking, THINK.
Ask yourself:

T - is it true?
H - is it helpful?
I - is it inspiring?
N - is it necessary?
K - is it kind?

Wow! Such quotes always sound
nice to the ears. But to put them
into practice?

For people who just shoot off what
is on their minds, these THINK
business can be quite daunting if
not just plain torture.

By the time they go through these
questions, they might not want to
talk.

But I suppose, the way to go about
it is to just keep on working at it until
it becomes second nature.

Tough work,though.

Who's the Baby of the House?

Who's the baby of the house?

It's Lola, our cat!

Two years ago, he was just a stray kitten

which we unwittingly took over from our

neighbour's boy. He found it straying at

the Novena MRT station and brought it

home. Much to his chagrin, he was

forbidden to keep it because they already

had a dog.

Seeing us, he pleaded us to take him in.

We were in two minds. I never wanted

to keep a pet. But Vince and Jayne were

clearly for it.

Then the boy used the formula:

"If no one takes it, then I have to leave

it in the drain."

And we were sure he just might because

he was driven to a corner; he had no choice.

So we took the little thing off his hand.

We tried to get it off ours by bringing him

to church. Surely the kids would fall in

love with this little cute thing.

They did. But their mothers didn't.

They knew better.

"Cute. But not enough for the troubles

that would follow. And kittens would

grow into cat, right? . And keep a pet cat?"

As Adibah Amin (pseudomym Sri Delima)

in her book "As I was Passing II" wrote

about people's perception of cats:

"Cats are often misunderstood because of

their aloof, unfeeling look.

"It is true that they do not have the

uncritical, undying devotion of dogs.

"Once disillusioned they can walk out

on you with their tails in the air, never

letting the world know their heartbreak."

"But if they are sure of your love, how

beautifully they open up!

They perch on your shoulders,

curl up on your lap,

lie on their backs for you to tickle them,

hide behind doors to pounce playfully

on you. "

"They recognize not only your smell,
voice and footsteps but also the sound
of your car, and it is really something
to come home and find twelve loving
cats waiting for you at the gate."

The writer then recounts how they took in a stray cat too.

" I remember particularly my cat Serah, now long dead of

ripe old age. Someone had tied a wire tight around her neck

and she came to me, thin and wretched out of the rain, to untie

it. I was so touched by her faith after having been so ill-used

by human beings that I spent all my time nursing her back to

health. We called her Serah because of her sweet trusting ways."

As for us, we took in "Lola" because tried as we might, we couldn't

'get rid' of him.

Nobody wanted a kitten, even though he looked cute and pitiful.

The pet shops rejected him the moment they heard he came from

parents who were alley cats.

So Lola stayed.

Jayne presumptously named him "Lola" thinking it was a 'she'.

But as it turned out, Lola was a boy!

And poor boy, we had him splayed/ neutered.

And he stayed and grew..... right into

our hearts.

Today, two years later, he is no

longer 'the little thing.'

But he is still cute in that 5 kg frame.

And his mew as gentle, childlike and

endearing. Used sparingly, he would

usually end up getting what he wanted.

Today, we can't imagine not having our sweet Lola around.
He is the baby of the house and we love him!

Pascal's Prayer

This was taken from Our Daily Bread's devotion
on August 23rd. It was using Blaise Pascal's
prayer as an illustration for the verse:

"Whatever you do, do all
to the glory of God." (1 Cor.10:31).

Apparently Pascal had a prayer along this
vein. He prayed:

"Lord,help me to do great things as
though they were little, since I do
them with Your power;
and little things as though they
were great, since I do them in Your
name."

Was he just playing with words?
"great things as though they were little";
"little things as though they were great".
Sounds very catchy to the ears.

Why " do great things as though they
were little"?

The way I understand it:

Big tasks do overwhelm most of us. Before
we start, we already think of how incapable
we are of succeeding. We want to reject the
jobs. If we can't, we worry over it and get all
stressed out. We lose sleep over them.

But if we turn to God for His power and
depend on Him for wisdom and strength .....
the 'great things' become 'little'. We are not
working alone anymore. God is with us to
help us through.

What we need to get right is to make sure it
is God's work we are doing - whether spiritual
or secular.

Then what about "do little things as though
they were great"?

I understand the 'little things' to be the insignificant
tasks that usually can be done by just anybody.
They don't require special skills, talents or intellect
to carry them out. And precisely because of that,
there is not much reward in doing them. And hardly
anybody clamours or fights to do them.

But they still need to be done.

So the usual attitude is that if we are forced to
do them, we either do them most reluctantly,
grumpily, or badly. Or all three and demand
to be appreciated after that.

Thus Pascal's belief behind his prayer. If we do
them in God's name, then these "little things"
become great.

Seen in that light, we might do them more
cheerfully and well. Because we do them to
please God our Father.

And if we really can't take it anymore, (like
house-keeping), then the duty has become
a 'great' thing. Well, what do we do?

Pray "Lord, help me to do great things as
though they were little, since I do them
with Your power."

What Sustains You

What sustained Eric Liddell to serve in rural
China for some 20 years? Perhaps the answer
lies in what David Roper has to say about serving
people in God's ministry.

This is in Our Daily Bread, 14th August . The text
was taken from John 21:15 - 17 where it talks about
Jesus asking Peter 3 times "Do you love Me?". This
was what Roper had to say:

"Was Jesus unaware of Peter's love? Of course
not. ..He (Jesus) asked His questions to under-
score the essential truth that only love for
Christ would sustain Peter in the work that
lay ahead - that arduous, demanding work of
caring for people's souls ....

Jesus did not ask Peter if he loved His sheep,
but if he loved Him. "

Most of the time, we jump in because we love
the people first. Then we ask God if we can
serve them. But Roper believes that:

"Affection for God's people in itself will
not sustain us."

Why? Isn't love for the people we serve a
powerful motivating force? Perhaps. But -

"His sheep can be unresponsive,
unappreciative, and harshly critical of
our efforts to love and to serve them."

How realistic and true an appraisal of man.
And how real such experiences are in the
ministry. Just ask those who have served
long enough.

So ultimately, it has to come back to the
source - Christ our Lord. Our love for Him.
Otherwise, "In the end, we will find our-
selves defeated and discouraged."

September is here!

Wow! Another month has just slipped by
and September is here!

For August, here are some devotions from
"Our Daily Bread" that have impressed me.

The first one was August 8th's. The life of
Eric Liddell was given as an illustration of a
man who 'crossed the finish line victorious
through love'.

We are familiar about Eric Liddel as the guy
who made his stand not to compete on an event
during the 1924 Olympic Games because it
took place on a Sunday. Then he went to win
a gold medal in the 400 metres which was on
another day.

Then what happened to him after this feat?
Well, according to the account given in ODB,
Eric Liddell went to China ! a year after his
triumph ; Not for a holiday. But as a missionary,
teacher and rural pastor.

To escape from difficult challenges back home?

To spend 20 years of his life in rural China does
not sound to me like escapism. And apparently
during the Japanese Occupation, he threw his
lot with the local Chinese. He did not take a boat
home.

Eric was together with 1,500 other prisoners
in an internment camp. There, he continued to
serve,whether it be 'carrying water for the elderly
or refereeing games for the teens.'

When he died of a brain tumor in February 1945,
one internee described him as a man 'who lived
better than he preached.'

What a testimony. And God in His time saw it
fit to have Liddell's story told posthumously; and
after so many decades of obscurity. I am sure
there are many more saints like Liddell whom
we do not know and may not know.

But what an encouragement to know saints like
Eric Liddell existed. The encouragement comes
from knowing that there are men and women
who would continue steadfastly in the Lord
through "difficult circumstances, war, uncertainty
and disease" and leave behind a testimony worthy
of their Lord. So that God's name will be glorified.

Today we get more news of 'fallen' saints who
start well but get tripped by riches, success,
fame, etc . It's a breath of fresh air to read of
Christians like Liddell.

Facing Burdens

Here are a few reminders or checklist when you
feel bogged down by difficulties. Don't really know
these ladies whom I'm quoting- whether they are
truly good role models in their personal lives. But
they make sense as far as their quotes below go:

1. "If a care is too small to be turned into a
prayer, it is too small to be made into a
burden." (Unknown)
What a great reminder! If a care bothers me, then
I should talk to God about it ; bring it before Him.
1 Peter 5:7 "casting all your anxiety on Him, because
He cares for you." If not, then it shouldn't bother me.


2. "It's not the load that breaks you down,
it's the way you carry it." - Lena Horne
There is a 'right' way of going through tough times,
isn't there? The negative way is the way that wears
you down. The complaining, unrealistic expectations,
blaming, self-pity .....

3. "The greatest part of our happiness
depends on our dispositions, not our
circumstances." - Martha Washington -
Some people are truly to be admired and emulated.
They carry their load uncomplainingly, quietly and
steadily. How I wish I could do that.

Can this virtue be cultivated, nurtured? Or is it a
natural disposition? I suppose if it' is because of
their disposition, then these people don't know how
to do it any other way. They can't bring themselves
to voice thier frustrations. They 'dare' not point a
finger in case more fingers point back at them.

But whether it comes from disposition or cultivation,
it is a virtue to be able to carry your load well. And if
it doesn't come naturally, it ought to be cultivated.
For your own good.


4. "Only good things come from God's
hands. He never gives you more than
you can bear. Every burden prepares
you for eternity." - Basilea Schlink -
I like that - "Every burden prepares you
for eternity." Somehow it helps you to take
it better, doesn't it? The pain, the struggles,
etc ...they're not in vain but for a purpose,
a purpose that is not temporary but for
eternity.

Giving Advice

Borrowed this book of quotes,
"Bursting at the Seams" by
Killy John and Alie Stibbe.

There is this quote from
Hannah Whitall Smith about
giving advice which caught
my attention:

"The true secret of giving advice is,
after you have honestly given it,
to be perfectly indifferent whether
it is taken or not, and never persist
in trying to set people right."

A great reminder - "be perfectly
indifferent whether it is taken
or not".
Don't take it personally when the
the person doesn't take your advice.
Just give and leave it as that.

"And never persist in trying
to set people right."
Don't be presumptuous that you are
right and others are wrong. And even
if you are right, why "persist" in
trying to correct them?

I have another to add. A point I have
been made acutely aware of recently
and quite guilty of not practising.
And what is that?

As a German proverb has it:
Never give advice unless asked.

Why?

As Joseph Addison put it:
"There is nothing which we receive
with so much reluctance as advice."

"Everyone likes to give advice, but
no one likes to take it."

And usually the advice that is given
in a talking down, patronising or
didactic tone. Unknowingly.

So remember- Be slow to dish out
unsolicited advice. Be quick to want
to listen with the heart.

Movie Spree

Month of August also sees me going on a movie

spree. Watched 3 movies within 2 weeks!






Started with "The Dark Knight".






Watched it because of curiosity because I'm no fan of such
superhero shows. But "The Dark Knight" was declared the
best of the Batman series. And Heath Ledger was so praised
for his acting as The Joker.

Then soon after the release, he was found dead of "a possible
drug overdose". Not suicide, his family members said, but
accidental. He was prescribed sleeping pills to help him to sleep
but he overdosed himself.

Tragic. Only 28.

With all this background, thought perhaps I would give it a shot.

It was depressing. The plot was truly not your usual kind of
family entertainment where good is strong, clever and can easily
defeat evil.

Here, the evil portrayed by The Joker is just as smart, always
one up. And subtle and slippery.

And good is shown struggling to triumph. And when it finally
succeeds in defeating the wily, evil, devious tactics of The Joker,
it came at such a great cost. There was the death of idealism
portrayed by Harvey Dent also well acted by Aaron Eckhart.
A bitter sweet ending.

Heath Ledger was truly marvelous and brilliant in his acting as
The Joker. His flippant moves, his twisted smiles, teasing and
provoking in clear diction - really very, very impressive acting.
He deserves a posthumous Oscar award.





The second movie was
"Money No Enough II".






I think it deserves more than one and half stars given
by John Liu of ST. He said it was "mawkish" melodrama
and had a "contrived conclusion".

But I remember I enjoyed the first one, "Money No Enough".
So this sequel is that bad, meh? Went to watch it to judge for
myself.

I enjoyed the local jokes especially those in Hokkein. And I
found Henry Thia very entertaining in his role as the eldest
and least capable son trying to be rich so he wouldn't be looked
down on. And as a filial son, he was also good in it.

I would give it a 3.




The third one was
"Mad About English".
Directed by our own
local talent, Lian Pek.






And John Liu gave it 4 and half stars!
He described it as "huge fun from start to finish"
and declared that "You'll be mad to miss this."
There's "crisp editing, clever photography
and perfectly formed soundbites."

I found it similar to "Feet Unbound".
A documentary/drama.
True, it was very well directed.
True, I found it entertaining.
But "huge fun from start to finish"?
Hmmm .... I kind of disagree.
3 - 4 stars maybe. But 4 and half?
A bit too much.

As I Was Passing

Besides fixing jigsaw puzzle, was also reading this

book "As I was Passing". It's actually a compilation

of all the articles she wrote for the Straits Times

back in the 70's under the pseudonym, Sri Delima.

Remembered enjoying them and now they're all in

two books. This one is the first.

Finished - At Last!

At 11pm on 19th August, some 20 or 30 days
of unrelenting work - the Irises was completed!


All 1000 pieces of them, fitted perfectly!


What is left to do? Frame it for the birthday girl.

And no more jigsaw puzzles for some time.
At least not 1000 pieces and of such difficulty like the Irises.

But maybe, just maybe, I might just do the Charlie Brown puzzle that is sitting
quite neglected in the storeroom.
But it's just a maybe.

Beauty

To want to be beautiful and young is innate in the females.
Why? The quote below perhaps explains half of the story:

"The average girl would rather have beauty
than brains because she knows the average
man can see better than he can think."

But in the early days, while we don't deny this instinctive
desire, there was also the encouragement to develop inner
beauty. Quotes like this one by Elisabeth Kubler -Ross
reflects the sentiment:

"People are like stained-glass windows. They
sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when
the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed
only if there is a light within."

or this one:
"Some people, no matter how old they
get, never lose their beauty - they merely
move it from their face into their hearts."

or this by Marie Stopes:
"You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen.
But if you are beautiful at sixty,
it will be your own soul's doing."

Sadly this message of inner beauty is no longer
promoted. Just look at the content in the media.

August 1st 2008

Wow, another month has just gone and now
it's August.

And what have I been occupying
myself with?

Besides the usual routine, there is a new 'job' -

to finish this 1000 -piece jigsaw -




-Van Gogh's "Irisis".






Hopefully by 26th.

Bit it ain't easy!
All the blues in different shades;
All the green in different strokes;
And strewn right across from left to right,
right to left.

And what about the orche?
Is this piece top or bottom?
Not only eye straining but also back-breaking.

Ah, but what satisfaction when you put a piece
and it - fits!
Especially after a trying time.

That's how you can get 'addicted'!

Do Not Pray For

Came across this quote from Phillips Brooks,
an American preacher and Episcopal bishop
(1835 - 1893). Sounds very 'nice' -

"Do not pray for easy lives.
Pray to be stronger men and women.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers.
Pray for powers equal to your tasks."

But to live it out? Quite a different story, right?

It's always a temptation to pray for an easy life -
or pray for problems to go away when they come
instead of seeing them as opportunities to grow
in spiritual maturity and character.

It's equally tempting to pray for tasks that do not
stretch us. Why look for trouble and problems?
But that is also missing opportunities to cry to
God for help to see us through and see how God
answers and reveals Himself to us.

And growing in spiritual maturity and a closer
relationship with God is important in life, isn't it?
Important enough to resist praying for 'easy lives'
and 'easy tasks'?

However, it does not mean though, that one will
be purposely praying for a tough life and tough
jobs, does it? I doubt it.

Problems will naturally come to us. The lesson is
not to pray for the easy way out but to pray to be
strong to take the test and pass. And if tough jobs
land on our laps, the lesson is not to elak or pass
the parcel but to pray for power to get the job
done and be stretched.

I think that's what the preacher had in mind and
that's sound advice. But as most advice goes, it's
easier than done. Yet, is there a choice if you
want to grow? And shouldn't you want to grow?

Abraham's Choice

"Most men choose heaven above hell, but
Abraham chose heaven above earth. This
choice gave perspective to the trials of life
and made his life surprisingly and singularly
free of distraction as he steadfastly focused
his gaze on God.

He had much of what the world seeks,yet
none of this diverted him from total commit-
ment to God.

The realization that his home on earth was
temporary didn't demand austerity, but it did
assign value.

He fixed his eyes on eternal realities instead
of searching for the best deal here.

For these faithful ones, nothing here was
good enough to capture their affections or to
divert them from a better country. There was
nothing in this world good enough for them.

That's not true today.

Thoreau lamented,'We no longer camp as
for a night, but have settled down on earth
and forgotten heaven'."

Can't remember from which book this extract came,
maybe Jean Flemings' "The Key to Order in an
Overwhelming World."

Ascertaining the Will of God

This is what Mueller shared about ascertaining the
will of God. The enumerating is mine.

1. "I seek at the beginning to get my
heart in such a state that it has
no will of its own in regard to a
given matter. "

"Nine tenths of the trouble with people generally
is just here. Nine tenths of the difficulties are
overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will,
whatever it may be."


2. "Having done this, I do not leave result to feeling
or simple impression. I seek the will of the Spirit
of God through, or in connection with, the Word
of God. The Spirit and the Word must be
combined."



3. "Next, I take into account
providential circumstances."








4. "I ask God in prayer to reveal
His will to me aright. "






5. Then comes reflection.

"Thus through prayer to God, the study of the Word,

and reflection, I come to deliberate judgment according

to the best of my ability and knowledge;

and if my mind is thus at peace,

and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly."

"The whole process took time."


Sounds like good advice.

The Weaver's Hand

Went through the 'Blue Book' the other day and
saw this poem. Have a fondness for it.

"My life is like a weaving between my God
and me.
I do not choose the colours He works steadily.

Sometimes He weaves sorrow
and I in foolish pride forget He sees the
upper and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles
cease to fly will God unroll the canvas and
explain the reason why the dark threads are
as needful in the skilful weaver's hand as
the threads of gold and silver in the pattern
He has planned."

Don't know who penned this poem but certain parts
really speak to me like "the dark thread are as
needful as the threads of gold and silver" and the
fact that while we go through the "dark threads"
of sorrow and pain, we don't realise that the it is
part of the beautiful pattern God had in mind.

However, sometimes God does tell us why the
"dark threads " are there. We don't always have
to wait till the work is finished to know the reason.

Another favourite poem is the Serenity Prayer.

There are so many presentations in the web.
Found this one and kind of like it although

most of the words are too small.

Why must we have Moody?

The story is frequently told about a British committee
that was considering inviting evangelist D.L. Moody
to their city for a campaign. When a pastor spoke
glowingly of Moody's ministry, a member of the
committee asked rather flippantly,
"Why must we have Moody? Does he have a monopoly
on the Holy Spirit?"
"No," replied the pastor, "but the Holy Spirit has a
monopoly on him."

Swim, Sam, Swim

Wow, it's now July. We're past the half-year mark.
Here's a tongue twister to start this new month.

When Thomas Wareing's car collided with a trunk
in Preston, England, police arrested him for drink
driving.

"Rubbish," Wareing told the arresting officer.
"Listen to this:
Swim, Sam, swim, Sam, swim. Show them
you are some swimmer. Swim likethe snow
white swan swam. A well swum swim is a
swim well-swum. So swim, Sam, swim."

The policeman was not impressed. He issued
a summons. When Wareing was tried, he recited
the tongue twister for the jury. The verdict?
Innocent.

God is Gracious

Thank God Jayne returned home safely from her
three -week diving holiday at Cebu, Philippines.

Just two days before her arrival, Sat , 11pm, there
was a brief mention, over the radio, of news that
Typhoon Fengshen would attack central Philippines
and the surrounding islands.

When it was time for her and Eleanor to leave Puerto
Princessa, they heard about the typhoon. Thank God
they were not affected because it was no small matter.
It had killed enough lives for our President and PM to
send condolence letters to President Arroyo.

The tragedy was that the typhoon had "flipped" a MV
Princess of the Stars on Sunday, sinking the ferry
and leaving "700 of her passengers feared dead".

By Tuesday, news was that "only 38 out of 800"
reached safety. Today (Wed), the search for bodies
is still going on and that many bodies have been
found inside the ferry, raising fears of a "mass
underwater grave".

Notwithstanding the inaccuracy of the figures, it's a
fact that 'floating coffin' tragedies are not uncommon
in the Philippines given the country's horrendous
track record of ferry tragedies. The fares are cheap
but the condition of the ferries is something else!

And when you hear how Jayne herself described
her banca boat rides - truly, God has been most
gracious to her (and me ) in sparing her from any
accidents, at least this time round because it can
also be reasoned that if God allowed her to go
through any of these harrowing experiences, we
can thank Him all the more for bringing her home
safely ! Or what if ........

I just thank God that He "deemed it best" to bring
her and Eleanor safely from their diving holiday .
It's truly by God's grace that they came back
safe and sound, free from any mishaps or
tragic accidents, enjoying themselves thoroughly,
when those hundreds who had gone for a 'safer one'
in the MV Princess of the Stars didn't even make it.