We are His eyewitnesses!

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

- 2 Peter 1:16-21

The Journey Continues...

It’s been a long while since I last sat down and really wrote down some personal reflections of my journey with God. This spiritual journey goes on. There are still many things to learn and many issues in my own spiritual life which need to be molded and shaped by God’s Guiding Hand. Looking back at these last 6 months, I believe I have gone through the initial excitement of being involved in a loving relationship with someone whom God has brought to my life. The excitement has not diminished but has gone on to the next level where truly I learnt more about my own failures and weaknesses of my soul. God has taught and shown me many things in my spiritual life which needs pruning. The most amazing pruning comes practically through learning how to love someone unconditionally. This comes in a committed relationship leading to a lifelong marriage.

No one can truly know what real love is until one is able to demonstrate through actions about real love. The model of real love is shown to all of us through the death of Christ on the Cross. That’s the scene where unconditional love stands out as an unyielding light to shine into the darkness of human’s heart. This is also where I as a husband-to-be have to reflect constantly on how to love my wife unconditionally as how Christ loves the Church. It is a mystery indeed.

Till the day I see my LORD, this journey of learning from Him continues…

The Great Commission

The Sacredness of Marriage

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

- Matthew 19:4-6

The Need to be Born Again

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

- John 3:3

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

The Oneness of the Trinity

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

- 1 John 5:7-8

Our Father in heaven...

How I Met My Partner?

In Heaven: We believe Our Almighty GOD, the Creator of the heavens & earth (Genesis 1:1) brought us together.

On Earth: We met online (SDN website).

The two of us were waiting for some undocumented period of time for the right person to come along while each of us strives to be the right person.

When we finally met each other, we felt like long lost friends who found each other and have lots to talk about.

The chemistry between us is definitely present and we hope to enjoy each other's presence while we honor Our Beloved GOD together as a couple.

Keep on Relating, Folks

Many Christians often said that Christianity is all about relationships. It is not a religion per se. It is about relating to the One and Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent (John 17:3). This unique relationship is made possible when God sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. Therefore, our eyes are now opened and able to see Him for whom He really is. To some people who are perishing, the cross may be foolishness to them (1 Cor 1:18). However, nothing can be further from the Truth. The Cross is exactly the place where God’s Love is expressed to all of us in the climax.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, life is all about relationships. We are born because of the love relationship between our fathers and mothers. The root of it all is God’s Love. He is the Uncreated One Who created us – Adam’s Race. He breathed into us the breath of life (Gen 2:7). This is our God, let us all behold Him. The One who said to Moses, ‘I Am Who I Am’. The Only True Living God Who has revealed Himself to us and offer us this special, priceless and unique relationship in Christ. He has offered us His Own Son! He now empowers us through His Holy Spirit. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, the Source of All (Rev 4:11).

I thank God for bringing a special person into my life. At this moment of my life, I finally realized the preciousness of a unique relationship which I hold dear to my heart. God works in mysterious ways at times and I can only respond to Him by being amazed at the blessings which He has showered upon me. I do not deserve it at all and echoed with Peter, ‘Go away from me LORD, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). Being a child of God, I am blessed because I am granted this opportunity to seek His Face (Psalm 27:8). By seeking His Face, I can learn directly from the Master of Relationships on how to keep on relating well to this special person and enable every moment which we spend together to be fond memories for the years to come. Keep on relating, folks. God Bless!

As 2014 drifts away…

Each year before Dec 31 comes along, I will try to sit down and think back on the past one year’s happenings. A good opportunity awaits at this moment each year for me to grab for reflection upon the lessons which I have learnt from my LORD. 2014 is a year of adjusting back to the hectic lifestyle in Singapore as I moved back home from the United States since Sep, 2013. Time flies by and each day of my life is given by my LORD as a token of His Grace & Mercy towards me a worthless sinner through and through. My LORD is indeed merciful and patient towards me as He continuously molds me towards the Character of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.

Looking back over these past twelve months, I realized too that I have ran quite a lot. From Green Corridor in May to Army Half Marathon in Aug to POSB Kid’s Run & Straits Time Run in Sep, followed by Presbyterian Run in Nov and ended the year with the Standard Charted Marathon earlier this month. Total mileage covered was 103 km. As I pondered using hindsight wisdom, this sounds really crazy for me! This coming new year 2015, I am also kicking off two different 21km runs (one in Feb, 2015 & another in Mar, 2015) early in the year. Besides running, I realized that this year I started to be really passionate about cycling as well. Did quite a few rounds of cycling from Sengkang to East Coast Park to Changi Village and then back to Sengkang (~46km). Earlier in 2014, I was also very much into swimming due to free admission granted through the ActiveSG program. With that, I thank God that I am able to slim down and remove majority of the fats accumulated through the last 5 years spent in the United States.

This was also a year of putting down my own personal struggles with habitual sins for good. I believe that it was not possible without God answering my prayers for a soulmate in life. It is true. Truly, I understand now why He made that comment in the Garden of Eden – “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. (Gen 2:18)” I am indeed very, very thankful to God for bringing a special woman into my life. As I looked back to all my struggles in the past, I think that all those struggles to stay pure were worth it. Totally worth it! Praise God for His Grand Plan and continue to be praying that both of us can demonstrate how a godly relationship should be like, according to God’s Perfect Design. I pray that we can both fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2) and finish the race which is set before us well. Therefore in 2015, I want to cherish every moment with this special soulmate whom God has brought into my life.

In summary, God has opened my eyes in 2014 to behold His Character and His Role as my Abba Father. He has indeed allowed me to see the ultimate reality of being in sync with Him according to His Plan (Proverbs 3:5-6). His Timing is always Perfect (Ecc 3:1-8) and who am I to question Him (Job 40:1-2)? Looking back to my past experiences of being frustrated with the single life sounds very silly. The reason is God was using those days to mold me to become a better soulmate to a godly woman whom He has also been molding all this while. My New Year resolution for 2015 is to continue to seek God and observe His Hand at Work so that I can truly be able to convey His Love Message to those who have yet to know Him. In addition, through seeking Him daily, I hope to be the man who is always able to shower the woman whom he loves with the unconditional love which he himself has received from God Who is love (1 John 3:16, 1 John 4:8).

Have a blessed 2015, folks!

No Man is An Island

Really like to give thanks to God for blessing all the TPBC Men with a fantastic weather over last weekend as we gathered for our very first TPBC Men's Ministry Retreat. It was definitely a great time of fellowship and bonding over a short time of 1.5 day. 

We discussed briefly on the importance of how to have a walk with God. This is crucial for building a personal relationship with God. Every true believer in Christ needs that and indeed, no man is an island. Brothers, let's unite in the name of Christ and desire to finish well for His Glory (2 Tim 4:7)!

Walking with God

As Christians, we all have to learn how to walk with God. He has always been with us but sometimes, we ourselves have this problem that we like to do what we want to do. As such, we conveniently tell ourselves that He is not with us. We rationalize our minds that it is okay to slack once in a while because we put a pat on our backs that we have been ‘walking right with Him’ for a season now, right? That’s when we fall and sin against Him (1 Cor 10:12). Next, the guilt feeling sets in. This vicious cycle of events is always happening in my own spiritual walk with Him. I resonate with Paul in Romans 7:24 - Oh what wretched man I am!

This coming November, my church is kicking off the first Men’s Ministry retreat. The theme is “No Man is An Island” and the workshop topic is “Walking with God”. As I reflected on a quote by A. W. Tozer:

A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to “accept” Christ without forsaking the world.

Truly, I need to remember that by accepting Christ, I have turned my back against the world. I cannot hold on to Christ and walk with God on one hand if I am also holding on to the world on my other hand (John 17:16). Please pray along with the men of TPBC that God will speak to all of us at this retreat to be serious in our walk with Him in the years to come.

The Lesson of Life

God depicted in Genesis 1:1 is the Only True Living God Who Alone created the heavens and the earth (Isa 44:24, Isa 45:12). There is no other God besides Him (Isa 45:18). We must all turn to Him and be saved (Isa 45:22).

There is indeed a reason for Him to put all of us through this lesson of life. When He gave us the breath of life (Gen 2:7), I strongly believe that there is a purpose for living. This purpose is for living is to know Him, the only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent. This is Eternal Life (John 17:3).

Life is hard for all of us because we fail to see through our own individual circumstances with a bigger purpose, a bigger story in mind. If we are too focused on our own needs, we will tend to think that our own problems are daunting to solve. However if we are able to look beyond the problems to gaze upon the face of our LORD, we would be able to see that there is a reason for the issues which God has placed in our lives. We must ask Him for wisdom and guidance to learn the lessons which He wants to teach us. God disciplines us because we are His Children (Heb 12:5-7).

As Christians, we must walk through this lesson of life in the strength of the Spirit which He has given to us as a pledge for our eternal inheritance (Eph 1:14). Personally, I failed Him in many ways because I neglected my time with Him in reading of His Word, in prayers and in worshipping Him by acknowledging Him as the LORD of my life at all times. The moment, I am complacent in walking in the Spirit, I went on to gratify the desires of my flesh (Gal 5:16). LORD, forgive me.

One question which I will like to ask myself daily at every moment of my life is found in Gal 5:7 – “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?”

At this moment, I may not yet see the finish line of my life but I really want to finish well. I hope to really echo Paul’s words in 2 Tim 4:7. Brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s continue to encourage one another in desiring to draw closer to our LORD and Savior of our souls daily, shall we?

Ready for the Life to Come

I have been thinking about this – is praying the Sinners’ Prayer all that one needs to do and once he has gotten his ticket to Heaven, he can live out his life in whatever manner he pleases, waiting to go heaven when he has passed on from this life?

The answer is no because when we look to the Bible, it is actually pointing us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). In essence after we have prayed to receive Christ as our personal LORD and Savior, we all need to continually work towards bearing spiritual fruits for Christ (Gal 5:22). Furthermore, we are to work this out with fear and trembling which is to truly be putting away our own self will of being rooted in our sinfulness and putting on a complete surrender and dependency upon on our LORD Jesus Christ (John 15:5). We are all reminded by Solomon to fear God and keep His commandments (Eccl 12:12-13). We are all taught by Jesus Christ Himself to seek Him first in all righteousness (Matt 6:23). We are all instructed by Paul to die to sin and not live in it any longer (Rom 6:1-2).

Therefore, we definitely cannot think that we are okay so long we have prayed the Sinners’ Prayer (a one-time momentous event) and we can idle spiritually to wait to be ushered into heaven. Fellow Christians, let’s remember that we need to persevere on. We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses before us and let’s all run this race of life with perseverance (Heb 12:1-2).  Let’s continue to be the salt and light for Christ (Matt 5:13-16). Let’s be Christ’s ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20). Let’s be telling people about Christ and the Gospel message which is made possible because of Christ’s Work on the Cross (2 Cor 5:21, 1 Cor 1:18). All of us as Christians need to be involved in the Christ’s ministry of reconciliation.

The Christian must look at this world through the lens of the Gospel. He must be able to see how the Bible is very much applicable to his life on earth. From Genesis to Revelation, the Word of God is conveying to all of mankind one consistent message - there is a grave problem for mankind which is sin and there is only one solution to this grave problem who is Jesus Christ. Bearing the Christian faith is definitely not holding to a ticket to heaven passively and waiting for the trip to heaven to commence. By placing our faith in Jesus Christ, we have declared war against the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). Wake up and arise, O Christian and be ready to fight (Rom 13:11-14)!

One key thought for all of us as Christians is: What does the Christian life entail?

Potential

Potential according to Wikipedia.org, generally refers to a currently unrealized ability. 

All of us as humans have the potential to know the Only, True Living God and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent (John 17:3). All of us have the potential to be filled with His Holy Spirit Who will be our Counsellor to teach us all the things which God the Father wants us to learn from Him (John 14:26).

However, the key question is, “Are we fulfilling this potential?”

This week as my cell group came together to study the book of 1 Peter together, we realized that we were once lost but now found. We were continually straying like sheep, but now we have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (1 Peter 2:25). For non-believers, they are still straying like lost sheep, in urgent need of a Shepherd to lead them to safety. For believers, we may be already safe in Christ’s Hands but we do have to close up the gap to accomplish what God has begun in each of our hearts (Phil 1:6).

Therefore as Christians, although we may have fulfilled the potential to know the Only, True Living God but we still need to fulfill the potential of developing the unique talents which God has given to each one of us. Are we fulfilling the potential which God has called each of us for, based on the gifts which He has given to us? This is a staggering question to me as I know deep down in my own deceitful heart (Jer 17:9); I have also failed Him in many ways and have sinned against Him even as a child of His. I am in constant need of His forgiveness and purification from all unrighteousness in His Sight (1 John 1:9).

Father, You Alone are my Creator and You define what is right and wrong by Your Will. Please forgive me of the sins which I have committed knowingly against You. Please pick me up from where I have fallen again and again. Please change my heart continually to be closer to You and help me to constantly be renewed in my mind with Your Word. Help me, LORD to trust You, obey You and wait upon You daily, moment by moment. Change me and use me as your vessel, as the salt and light which You have called me to be. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.

TPBC Retreat

I am excited to be able to get time off from work and be spending the most part of this week at a retreat. This is my first time back with my Singapore church family for a retreat after being away for five years. Please pray with me that it will be a great time of learning from the LORD and also a good break for my mind from my work. Thanks~

Patience is Key

As Christians, being patient is pretty important because it is all about God’s timing. His timing is always right and He is also testing us as we wait for Him. Therefore, I shall continue to wait for Him to provide a family of my own. I will also continue to wait anxiously for the mercy of our LORD Jesus Christ to eternal life (Jude 1:21).

In the meantime while I am waiting, I need to continue to trust in Him, building myself up in the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit and keeping the love of God (Jude 1:20-21). May my spiritual journey with Jesus Christ be bearing fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22-23). I pray that God will continue to strengthen me in obeying His Word fully in my life…

因著信

Reflecting upon Philippians 4:6-7

I labelled this short passage with traffic light colors. Red, Yellow, Green… Stop, Pray, Go…

Red – Stop: Be anxious for nothing… what is the biggest worry of your life? Jesus is telling us not to worry… food, drink, clothing and even death… early in this very book, Philippians, Paul mentioned about Christ being obedient to the point of even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Even the biggest problem / obstacles of our lives is being solved by Christ, what do we have to worry about? Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” All of us who have accepted Christ as our LORD and Savior have a great future in eternity because we know that He is for us all (Philippians 1:6). We are able to cast all our anxiety upon Him alone because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and now He is telling us not to worry… “Who by being worried can add a single hour to his life? (Matt 6:27). “Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:34). In this physical life, normally we will worry when we are uncertain about the future. However, we absolutely have nothing to worry about because we already know about the future. And it is a bright future as described in Revelation 21 and 22. Our future is secure in Christ when He proclaimed, “It is finished.” (John 19:30). Upon knowing all of these, one reflection question for all of us: What is the biggest worry of your life?

Yellow – Pray: In everything, let’s be praying. We are gathered here tonight primarily to be praying. By praying, we are focusing our attention upon our great God. When we pray, we are exercising our faith in Christ. “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Matt 26:41). We are told to be anxious for nothing because God wants us to be praying instead of worrying. We should be praying for God to work and to show us His Will for our lives instead of worrying or thinking we are able to handle life on our own. When we pray, we also acknowledge and thank Him for the way He has watched over us. As we close our eyes, focus upon Christ and begin to pray, the message of His Gospel will being to flow through our minds. Let’s be thanking Jesus for dying on our behalf on the cross. Give thanks with a grateful heart.

“The first ever cordless phone was created by God. He named it “Prayer”… It never loses its signal and you never have to recharge it. Use it anywhere.” 

My 2nd reflection question: How often do you pray to our God?

Green – Go: As we journey with Christ in our spiritual lives, we need His peace to be with us to guard our hearts and minds. The peace of God must be our guardian of our hearts and our minds so that we are placing our confidence in Him alone and we are truly living out this verse “let him who boasts, boast in the LORD.” (1 Cor 1:31). When we place our confidence in Him alone, we are glorifying God for who He really is in our own spiritual lives. In order to be able to experience this peace of God which transcends all comprehension, we need to first stop worrying, be praying and thanking Christ for what He has done for us all. With this peace of God as our personal guard, both of our hearts and our minds will be protected from the world, the devil and the flesh. We need His peace to be our guard so that our hearts (which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked – Jer 17:9) can constantly be in Christ and be sensitive towards the prompting of the Holy Spirit. At one point in our own lives, our hearts were broken before Christ and when our hearts were truly broken, we truly believe with our hearts and committed our lives to Jesus Christ, resulting in righteousness (Romans 10:10). We have put on Christ in order that we make no provision for our flesh in regard to its lusts (Romans 13:14). Therefore now as believers, we need the peace of God to guard our hearts from returning back to the old path where we were before knowing Christ. The world, the devil and the flesh. We need His peace to be our guard so that our minds can be constantly renewed and we can be transformed more and more towards Christ’s likeness (Romans 12:2). Our minds need to be guarded so that we can destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Cor 10:5). Both our hearts and our minds need to be guarded by the peace of God which transcends all comprehension. Only then, we are able to live out the two greatest commandments – to love our LORD, our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Matt 22:37) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:39). My final reflection question: Is the peace of God your personal guard?

If any one of us do not really know who Jesus Christ is, this passage Philippians 4:6-7 is speaking to you as well. You are able to be secure in your spiritual future and not to worry. You are able to access the very first cordless phone of prayer – unlimited talk time with God to share what you want to tell Him, but first, you need to first acknowledge Him for who He really is, confess your sins before Him and ask Jesus Christ to be the LORD and Savior of your soul. You are able to have the peace of God which transcends all comprehension to be the guard of your heart and your mind. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and nobody comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). 

Do you want to know Him?

You can

Or maybe you do know Jesus Christ but you have walked in your own strength for many years. Tonight is the night for you to recommit yourself to Him. Pick up this very first cordless phone of prayer and update Him on where you have gone all these years. Stop worrying and start praying. You will be amazed by His peace which transcends all comprehension. Let your heart be cut off from the world, the devil and the flesh. Let your mind be renewed and may you resume your spiritual journey of loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Today is John 3:16 Day!

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
- John 3:16

Being Engaged

This month I have been thinking about my spiritual walk with Jesus. Am I always engaged in my fellowship with him? What does being totally engaged with Him look like? Christ is the vine and I am just a branch which needs to abide in Him while our Father is the vinedresser who will prune me if I am bearing fruit. If not, I will be cut off or taken away (John 15:1-2).

Staying engaged with Christ is important in my spiritual walk. One practical way of stay engaged with Christ is spending time in His Word because He is the Word (John 1:14). Living out my engagement with Christ means that I have to believe and obey His Word. To be engaged with Christ also means that I am fully aware of His Presence with me whenever I am and whatever I am doing.

I pray that I can continually stay engaged with Christ because there are too many times where I fail to stay engaged with Him, resulting in sinning against Him and damaging my fellowship with Him. I have to stay sober and alert (1 Peter 5:8) because Christ’s return can happen at any moment.

The Great Commandment

A lawyer from the Pharisees camp questioned Jesus about which is the great commandment in the Law. Jesus’ answer was, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Love is introduced into our sinful world by Jesus Christ when the word became flesh and dwelled among us (John 1:14). We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). God is love and He is asking us to obey His Greatest Commandment by loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27). By relating to Him in obedience and love, I believe all of us can truly know the joy of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

However, loving our neighbors may not be easy at all. Even if he or she is a Christian, it can be tough because we all have turned our backs against God and strayed (Isaiah 53:6). We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23), but listen to what Jesus is telling us – As Christians, we are to extend this love which we have experienced from Him to all of our neighbors. Everyone around us is a neighbor to us. Loving God and loving our neighbors are the foundations for all the Law and the Prophets.

We as fellow believers in Christ still have a long way to go before we can truly live out these two commandments entirely in our spiritual lives. I look back to what King Solomon had concluded in Ecclesiastes – The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

 

Fear God and keep His commandments…

 

Are we really fearing God and keeping these two great commandments which He has articulated clearly for us which are namely, to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves? Knowing these commandments in our heads but not living them through the application from our very own hearts can only demonstrate that we are actually no different from the Pharisees or the Sadducees, isn’t it?

Wrapping Up 2013

Towards the end of this year, I took the courage to quit my job in the United States where I was at for the last five years. Now after slightly more than three months being back home in Singapore, I am glad I did that. I am happy and satisfied with being close to my unsaved parents, although they have compounded five years of nagging and unleashed it all upon me over these last few months.

Another major change is the change of my heart more towards God as I returned home to Singapore this last September. I figure that this change of my heart to desire to be close to Jesus Christ even more comes from the fact that I have to trust in Him to bring me back home safely and in all the transportation of my personal belongings all the way back from the state of Utah. My heart is now made more sensitive towards the Holy Spirit as I have no one else to depend on except Him alone for this major decision made to move back to Singapore.

The trusting in His Word and that He is my sole Provider led me to a new job by His Grace alone. As a Christian, I have never expected my life to be easy and smooth sailing at all. The reason is God the Father never let His Begotten Son, Jesus to have an easy life. Jesus Christ Himself has to drink the cup given to Him by God the Father (John 18:11). However no matter how tough our lives here on earth may be, it is not going to last, folks. That is why we as Christians always have that eternal hope (1 Peter 3:15) which is in Jesus Christ and we all look forward to that day when we will all be ushered into the new heaven and earth (Rev 21:1-4) where sin does not have a foothold and God’s Glory is at the center of it all. Amen!

As Christians, let’s continue to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ and run the life’s race with perseverance (Heb 12:1-2). My prayer is that I will always be amazed by the Gospel which is accomplished only by Jesus Christ’s finished work on the Cross. I should never grow weary or fainthearted, noting that I have not yet resisted sin to the point of shredding my blood (Heb 12:3-4).

In 2013, I thank God for allowing me to finish reading through the Bible for the third time. Although I didn’t really complete my 2013 resolution of memorizing a key verse from every book of the Bible, I look forward to completing this resolution in 2014. In this coming new year, I also hope to practice what Pastor A.W. Tozer had mentioned in the concluding chapter of his book, “Experiencing the Presence of God” in order to have a daily personal experience of God’s Presence. They are namely, the discipline of shunning the world, the discipline of mediating of God’s Word, the discipline of solitude, the discipline of the daily expectation of God’s Presence, the discipline of reverential awe, the discipline of obedience and finally, making room for God’s Presence.

Have a blessed New Year, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s continue to journey with our big spiritual Brother who is our LORD, Jesus Christ and strive to know Him deeper with each passing day. 

The Creator of Heaven & Earth

Throughout the entire Bible, we can find numerous verses of the ONLY TRUE GOD telling us that He Only is the Great I Am and He Only is the Creator of Heaven & Earth. This is comforting to me because through this truth, I know He is the ONLY TRUE GOD whom I can trust with all my heart.

Here’s a link which I found online documenting 64 verses from the Bible about God being the Creator of Heaven & Earth. Let us reflect upon them as we prepare our hearts in gratitude for this Same Creator of Heaven & Earth, sending us His Only Begotten Son to redeem us from our sins. As we approach Christmas Day in about a month’s time, let us give thanks for His Grace and Mercy in adopting us into a relationship of spiritual sons and daughters with Him. Amen! 

True Story

In the American culture, it is very prevalent as a group of friends sit down together for a chit-chat and one of them bursts out with a tall tale of something incredible or unbelievable. The storyteller will end off with the phase, “True Story”. This signifies that the tall tale which was shared earlier is true. The audience will normally response with “No Way!”.

We all love true stories and so when we see movies headlined with “Based on a true story”, we are immediately attracted to go and watch them. No wonder, these movies normally had excellent box office sales. There is significance when a story is true, isn’t it? Because if a story isn’t true, no matter how unbelievable or incredible it is, it doesn’t matter anymore. On the contrary, if a story is true, we not only believe in it but also like to share it to as many people as we can. True stories inspire and I have watched many movies which are based on true stories like “The Notebook”, “Catch me if you can” and “Jobs”.

One true story which is very crucial to our human history is God’s redemption story through the person of Jesus Christ. The Bible documents for us this story through forty different men who are inspired by God Himself, the source of Truth, over a period of about fifteen hundred years. The key message is God is Holy (1 Pet 1:16) and He is our Creator (Gen 1:27) but man has disobeyed Him and sinned (Eccl 7:20). Man’s only hope is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 14:6) who redeemed us through the Work on the Cross (2 Cor 5:21). As sinful men, we must respond to His Redemption Plan for us (1 John 5:10-12).

True Story.

A Relationship with God

As followers of Jesus Christ, it is vital that we not only treasure our relationship with God (made possible only by Christ’s work on the Cross), but we also must be willing to give up anything which stands between God and us. God wants us to surrender all aspects of our lives to Him. Therefore, when we do not surrender, He will lead us into difficult situations to bring us into the right perspective of focusing only upon Him. God wants us to go to Him first whenever we are faced with any issues in life.

The Only True God as depicted in the Bible is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last (Isa 44:6, Rev 22:13). He is God and there is none other (Isa 44:6). He is the One who laid the foundation of the earth (Job 38:4, Isa 48:13, Psa 102:25, Heb 1:10). He asks that all of us look to Him and be saved (Isa 45:22).

All of us are like sheep which have turned astray (Isa 53:6) and that is why the Bible states that we have sinned against the Only True God (Rom 3:23).The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) and this is why we find that death comes to all men. No matter who you are, you will die one day. This happens because we all have sinned against God.

The Gospel (Good News) is God did not forsake us but desires that we are reconciled back to Him (2 Cor 5:18-19). God sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to bear all of our sins (Isa 53:4-5).  Being satisfied with Christ’s work on the Cross, God resurrected Him from the dead (1 Cor 15:3-5). Christ has helped us to remove our sin issue which has hindered our relationship with God since ages past once and for all (Heb 10:10)!

If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal LORD and Savior, what is your response to God’s Great Love for you as described above? The Only True God of the Bible, who has created you in His Image and breathed the breath of life into you, has also taken the initiative to make a way out for you in order to be reconciled back to Him and have a relationship with Him. If you still have questions, please feel free to watch this video to learn more about the Gospel.

For those of us who have responded, we have a relationship with the Only True God of the Bible. However, we need to place our relationship with God above all other priorities in our lives. We need to treasure our relationship with God and work at this relationship by ensuring that our hearts are solely belonged to Him. In other words, we should be like King David – a man after God’s Heart.

the number is 2037...

2037 days passed and that's the number of days which I have spent in the "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave". The experience has been phenomenal! I will never forget this chapter of my life and all the true friendships which were built over the course of these 2037 days. 

As I pack my bags to leave the United States of America, I will continue to pray that the Only True God of the Bible will help to ensure a great revival of Americans back to following Jesus Christ as their personal LORD and Savior.

Goodbye, America.

A Direction I Seek

August 2013 marks the completion of my Professional M.B.A. program at the University of Utah. I have finally graduated officially after having spent a period of about two years in the program. All Praise to God! HE alone is the One who has seen me through the program. To think that I almost didn’t make it to the second semester of the program at that time but it is His Grace that has helped me to pull through it all. Although it is indeed a joyous occasion, at the same time, I felt the need to be seeking a new direction in my life. I need a brand new fresh beginning in my life.

At this moment, I intend to spend more time praying and seeking God’s Will for my life as I continue this spiritual journey with Him all the way to the end where I will be seeing Him face to face. Folks, our lives on earth are not all that is to be…

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

- Psalm 119:105

America's Founding Fathers

George Washington

1st U.S. President 

"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." 

_{--The Writings of Washington, pp. 342-343.}

John Adams 

2nd U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence 

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be." 

_{--Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.}

Thomas Jefferson 

3rd U.S. President, Drafter and Signer of the Declaration of Independence 

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event." 

_{--Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237.} 

"I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ." 

_{--The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, p. 385.}

Have a blessed birthday, America!

All We Need is the Bible

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

This very first verse of the Bible tells us a lot. As I mediate on this verse for a few days, it comes across to my mind that if all of us take this verse seriously and really believe in it, what a different world we will live in today!

The Bible does not seek to argue but always present God’s Word to us. God’s Word is true because God never lies (Numbers 23:19). Furthermore, God’s Word will never pass away (Matthew 24:35). I believe that the Bible is true because God Himself is the Author and this explains why His Message is consistent throughout Man’s history. Although the Bible was written over a period of fifteen hundred years by about forty different authors (Top 10 Reasons the Bible is True), God’s Message remains the same – He is always here with us and is at work to bring about a reconciliation of the initial good fellowship with Him back in the Garden of Eden.

God’s Word is extremely powerful because He created everything which we see today just by mere articulation. Starting with Genesis 1:1, He is the Beginning of all things and He is the Uncreated Being. If we really take Genesis 1:1 for what it is saying literally, you will realize that the theory of evolution has absolutely no grounds to stand on. All the other so-called gods which we know and worship does not even come close because none of these gods ever claim about creating the heavens and the earth. Even though Joseph Smith claims that he is the apostle to the restoration of the “true” biblical Christianity, we soon realize that the LDS church holds to a different belief in the origins of the universe. Basically, they do not believe in Genesis 1:1 literally. 

In addition if God’s Word is so powerful, we know that He Himself is even greater than His Word. With this premise, we can be assured that God Himself will protect His True Biblical Christianity to bring about the reconciliation of Mankind back to Him. There is absolutely no need for Joseph Smith, a sinner much like you and me (Romans 3:23) to “restore true biblical Christianity”. Not even God’s Word, the Bible can be removed from this earth (Matthew 24:35, 1 Peter 1:24-25), much less God’s true biblical Christianity. Voltaire, a French Enlightenment writer and deist, once said that within 100 years of his time, Christianity would be swept away from existence and pass into the obscurity of history. Yet 50 years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society used his house and printing press to produce stacks of Bibles. It is now nearly 120 years past his deadline and the Word of God is still going strong.

Folks, we can completely trust the Bible because it is our spiritual food (Matthew 4:4) and we should never allow any other books to replace it.

Travel

Over the last few weeks, I have been travelling to Asia from U.S. twice. First time to Singapore for about ten days, then back to U.S. for my graduation walk at the U. Next to Beijing, China for about one week as part of my International Applied Management class and then flew back to U.S. again on May 12. It had been really tiring flying four times over the Pacific Ocean. One can truly appreciate the fact that 70% of our earth is covered by water.

The flights over the Pacific Ocean are normally at least about 12 hours. It is long, boring and tiring being cramped in a little space with at least 80 other people. However when you finally get to your desired destination, life is good. You get to visit the places you want to. You enjoy the beautiful times and create new memories for your trip. You forget the long and tiring flight you took to get to your destination. It is true. You just don’t remember that tiring experience until you are about to board your flight back home…

In some sense, taking a flight to a destination of choice can be like our current life here on earth. It seems to us that our life can be filled with so much suffering, pain and even bored with all our routines. However, I do believe that when we as Christians get to Heaven, it is going to be such a beautiful and amazing experience that we will forget the suffering and pain that we had gone through with our lives on earth.

As mentioned in my April blog post, Revelation 21:1-4 gives us a nice description of what the new heaven and earth will be like. All of us whether we are Christians or not, are travelling right now to our eternal destinations. There are only two eternal destinations which are either Heaven or Hell. These two destinations are different for Christians and non-Christians because it depends on whether we have placed our trust in Jesus Christ to be our personal LORD and Savior.

Jesus Christ is the one and only access to Heaven (John 6:44, Acts 4:12, Acts 16:30-31).  There is no other possible way to get to heaven but by the Son of God Who is Jesus Christ.  Getting to heaven is a one-way trip and so you only get through the travelling part which is your current life here on earth once. If heaven is not your final eternal destination because you did not trust in Jesus Christ, then you are most certainly going to the only other eternal destination which is hell and that also is a one-way trip from which there is no return.

Revelation 21:8 shows the fate of those whose final eternal destination is not heaven:

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

For some, they think that it is okay to choose hell as their final eternal destination because all their friends will be there. I suggest that it is naive to think in this way because if hell is ever going to be a ‘not so bad’ place, we will not get to read the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the Bible (Luke 16:19-31). This parable is a warning to all of us that we should take God’s Word (the Bible) seriously. The rich man was seeking to change his final eternal destination but it is a one-way trip. Once the plane has landed on the airport like once you have reached your final eternal destination, there is no turning back. For those who will like to read more about this topic, The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis is a great book where he described the Christian conception of Heaven and Hell.

Therefore folks, please remember that our lives here on earth are a one-way trip to one of the two eternal destinations (i.e., Heaven or Hell) for mankind. We are all on a journey to either one of these destinations. Please choose wisely, yeah?

Heaven & Hell

The Bible in the 21^st chapter of the book of Revelation gives us some perspective of Heaven. There is no longer any sea (Rev 21:1), no longer any death (Rev 21:4), no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it but only the glory of God (Rev 21:23) and the LORD is making everything new (Rev 21:5). The Bible also talks about the wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food (Isa 65:25).

Being back in Singapore for about ten days, I am still not used to the hot and humid weather. However, if I am not comfortable being in Singapore’s weather, I am pretty sure being burning in hell (Luke 16:24) will be even worse.

A brother in Christ once shared this on his Facebook page,

"Being a true believer in Christ, living on earth is as close to hell as we will ever get. However for the non-believer, living on earth will be the closest to heaven they will ever get."

The LORD’s Plan for all of us is to be reconciled with Him (2 Cor 5:18-19) and spend our eternity in Heaven. Hell is a place which He has designated for the devil (Rev 20:10). It is never a place for all of us who are created in God’s Image. If we reject Jesus Christ’s offer to salvation which is the Only Way back to God (John 14:6), we will be spending our eternity like the devil, burning forever in hell (Rev 20:15). This has never been God’s destiny for us. God has given us eternal life (1 John 5:11) if we only believe and follow His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16)

Let us all ask for His forgiveness of our sins and accept Jesus Christ Whom He has graciously given us to save us from our sins. Friends, if you have never known Jesus Christ; I will like you to go through all the Bible verses which I have referenced in this post. Furthermore if you will like to find out more about how Jesus Christ has died on the cross for you and me, I like to invite you to read this article by Dr. C. Truman Davis, analyzing the anatomical and physiological details of death by crucifixion.

“For the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but for those who are being saved, it is the power of God”

- 1 Cor 1:18