Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Psalm 105

 1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; 
       make known among the nations what he has done.

 2 Sing to him, sing praise to him; 
       tell of all his wonderful acts.

 3 Glory in his holy name; 
       let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

 4 Look to the LORD and his strength; 
       seek his face always.

 5 Remember the wonders he has done, 
       his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

 6 O descendants of Abraham his servant, 
       O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

 7 He is the LORD our God; 
       his judgments are in all the earth.

 8 He remembers his covenant forever, 
       the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

 9 the covenant he made with Abraham, 
       the oath he swore to Isaac.

 10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, 
       to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

 11 "To you I will give the land of Canaan 
       as the portion you will inherit."

 12 When they were but few in number, 
       few indeed, and strangers in it,

 13 they wandered from nation to nation, 
       from one kingdom to another.

 14 He allowed no one to oppress them; 
       for their sake he rebuked kings:

 15 "Do not touch my anointed ones; 
       do my prophets no harm."

 16 He called down famine on the land 
       and destroyed all their supplies of food;

 17 and he sent a man before them— 
       Joseph, sold as a slave.

 18 They bruised his feet with shackles, 
       his neck was put in irons,

 19 till what he foretold came to pass, 
       till the word of the LORD proved him true.

 20 The king sent and released him, 
       the ruler of peoples set him free.

 21 He made him master of his household, 
       ruler over all he possessed,

 22 to instruct his princes as he pleased 
       and teach his elders wisdom.

 23 Then Israel entered Egypt; 
       Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

 24 The LORD made his people very fruitful; 
       he made them too numerous for their foes,

 25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people, 
       to conspire against his servants.

 26 He sent Moses his servant, 
       and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

 27 They performed his miraculous signs among them, 
       his wonders in the land of Ham.

 28 He sent darkness and made the land dark— 
       for had they not rebelled against his words?

 29 He turned their waters into blood, 
       causing their fish to die.

 30 Their land teemed with frogs, 
       which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

 31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, 
       and gnats throughout their country.

 32 He turned their rain into hail, 
       with lightning throughout their land;

 33 he struck down their vines and fig trees 
       and shattered the trees of their country.

 34 He spoke, and the locusts came, 
       grasshoppers without number;

 35 they ate up every green thing in their land, 
       ate up the produce of their soil.

 36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, 
       the firstfruits of all their manhood.

 37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, 
       and from among their tribes no one faltered.

 38 Egypt was glad when they left, 
       because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

 39 He spread out a cloud as a covering, 
       and a fire to give light at night.

 40 They asked, and he brought them quail 
       and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; 
       like a river it flowed in the desert.

 42 For he remembered his holy promise 
       given to his servant Abraham.

 43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, 
       his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

 44 he gave them the lands of the nations, 
       and they fell heir to what others had toiled for-

 45 that they might keep his precepts 
       and observe his laws. 
       Praise the LORD.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Bro. Soh & Discouragements

Finally, I managed to make it for Jordan Valley Baptist Church service yesterday before I am flying again. With the previous two weekends at two famous cities of U.S. (Las Vegas and New York City), this time, I am flying back home to Singapore. However, I am not going home permanently. I am only going back to get my clearance done with my current company and apply for a work visa to work in U.S. permanently.

The church service yesterday was great with the guest pastor preaching on discouragements pertaining to the spiritual walk with our LORD. In short, one thing still stands out in the midst of all discouragements faced by the Christian -> God’s Faithfulness. The pastor was preaching on Psalm 105 for our bible class and subsequently on Mark 10:46-52 on Spiritual Blindness.

During my nine months stay in U.S., a friend of mine passed away suddenly in a car accident and the dream team was lost due to the financial meltdown. The series of events turned to a point where I have to work in the U.S. for good now. One may say that all this is fated. Oh yes, I am fated to stay alone, work alone to fight all my discouragements alone in a far away land from home and folks at Jordan Valley Baptist Church are happy that I am staying for good in U.S.

For me, I know that God has intended for me to stay in the U.S. as well because I prayed to Him asking for directions and if either U.S. or Singapore has job positions for me; that will be the place where I will seek His Will and go for it. It turned out that after applying for job positions in both U.S. and Singapore, I was only offered a job in the U.S. Therefore, this land will be the place where I will continue on with my role as the workplace minister.

With the passing away of my friend whom I tried to reach out to her, I realized that I am just like the doctor with no control of Death. I can only share as much as I can on Christ but ultimately it is still God whom saves. It is like the doctor who can only do his best in saving his patient but still it is our God who decides if that patient is going to stay alive or dead in this constraint of time and space.

Over the last three months, I confessed that I am disillusioned with God and was down spiritually. I do not understand why some things happened although Romans 8:28 is still ringing true in my heart. God does cause all things to happen for the good of those who loves Him and called according to His purpose. Maybe it has been God’s will that I should be focusing on Him and be rooted only in His Love. And maybe that’s the reason He is calling me to stay in the U.S. to once again be part of His OVERALL BIG plan to save souls. I may not be able to settle down in this lifetime because He has other plans for me which is first and foremost to serve and glorify Him. Hence for me to do His GREAT WORK, I need to pick myself up quickly, stand up and be strong in His Strength. I am His son, His witness and His ambassador.

Lost my job in Singapore but found another in the U.S., I think God is still right when He first called me out to the workplace instead of full time ministry two years ago at Sentosa. In front of me are still many souls to be saved and to be a witness to. I got lots of work to do and I truly need to be rooted in Christ’s love so as to be able to finish all this work for Him. Amen.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Vocational Nightmare

It has indeed been one long nightmare of eight months for my life in 2008. Hmm, it may be a beautiful dream too. An adventurous, beautiful but yet ‘cancerous’ dream which later became a deadly nightmare. (ABC, this is where the ‘C’ came in). Thinking back through the last eight months of my life spent in the US, I wonder what did I learn out of my life here? The lessons taught to me willingly or unwillingly by God? The soft skills attained through my job training? The technical knowledge gained through on job training? What did I learn? What did I attain? What did I achieve?

Eight months went on and I think I am now back to square one. Back to the crossroads where I first prayed during YA retreat in Sentosa beach, “Oh Father, which vocation do you want me to go into?” before I tossed that Singapore 50 cents coin to cast the vote for my future. (Remembering that Pastor did mention that casting lots is biblical.)

Today, am I still qualified as God’s workplace minister? This is the eventual question which I hope to achieve a positive answer. How did I contribute to God’s kingdom for the past eight months? How did I further God’s kingdom at all? Reflecting upon the time which has passed cruelly before my eyes, I can only say that I have failed in reaching out to my friends. The reason being I was too self-centered upon my own needs that I have neglected the work which the Father has assigned to me when He first called me out to the workplace.

I am completely humbled before Him right now. Having lost almost everything which I have once tried to build in my life, now I have practically no way to recover them back anymore. God has taken everything away from me. No matter how hard I tried to grab them, He has the strength to loosen my grip and take it away from me.

Back to the state which I was in two years back, I realized that I have to look to the LORD. I have to keep praying. I have to keep feeding myself spiritually. I have to keep staying on the course and be His good ambassador. I have to fight the good fight. I have to continue to keep the faith till the day which I will see Him again.

Standing once again at the crossroad of my life, I have additional emotional baggage to carry with me now. The journey in front of me is still long and the light at the end of the tunnel is still yet to be seen. The only way to carry on this journey is to know how to deposit my emotional baggage at the foot of the Cross of Christ, holding onto His hand and walk with Him to the finishing line. Please kindly pray along with me. Amen.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Parents' Debut Trip to USA

San Francisco Full Photo Links:

Yosemite National Park Full Photo Links:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

A MIST in the span of time

That’s us. We are all just a mist in the span of time but thanks be to GOD that this life which we are now living is not all that is to be. People tend to say that life is short, live it as if there is no tomorrow. Or “One Life, Live It.”; “Life is short, eat, drink and be merry.” I even heard such an absurd statement as “Life is short, have an affair.” My dear friends, have you ever wonder if all these above statements are true in any sense?

Let us look to the Bible to hear what GOD (my Father) has to say about life.

Two paths which all of us (be it young or old) will definitely go. Either one of these two paths. Heaven or Hell? Which will you choose? And I am not joking when I am telling you that there is a place called Hell…

Let’s talk about Heaven first. Heaven is not a ghostlike, foggy atmosphere where disembodied spirits float around. Heaven is as real as this earth. Jesus told His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2). Paul taught that Christians would have new imperishable bodies. (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). Heaven is real and I being a Christian know for sure that I am on my way to Heaven day after day, night after night.

How about Hell? Hell is as real as Heaven but there are vast differences. Hell for one is not a place where all the non-Christians gather together. It is a very isolated place with only one soul at an individual particular place. Totally separated from GOD because of sin.

This life which we now see in this span of time is like a mist. It is short with probably about eighty years if you are fortunate. However, it is not all that is to be. There is definitely a life with GOD after we finished the journey with this life on earth. Trust me that by putting your faith in Christ, you will be on your way to Heaven and not lonely in Hell.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Monday, September 15, 2008

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Luke 16:19-31

I was looking at this passage after I received the news that one of my colleagues passed away suddenly in a car accident…
The Rich Man and Lazarus

 19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

 22"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell,[c] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

 25"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

 27"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

 29"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

 30" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

 31"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

I am very sad because I do not know where her soul is right now. Although I do acknowledge that my Father is sovereign and this accident has happened according to His Will, I just cannot accept the fact right now…