A Weekend of Surprises

This weekend began with a slew of nice surprises and ended with my chance meeting with Ravi Zacharias, just this afternoon at Yum Cha, Chinatown. Now for those who have never heard of Zacharias, he is definitely one of the leading apologists of our time and my interest and growth in this particular area began when I started to listen to his sermons every night. I took notes from his books, memorised his arguments and worked them out in the wee hours of university, as Pastor Ravi toured the best universities in US and UK, making the case for Christ.

It was from here that I began to be interested in Chesterton, Muggeridge ... etc and the whole long line of thinkers and theologians who were aggressively involved in this arena. So to stand behind Ravi as I was leaving Yum Cha, was abit of a "Woah man" moment. Maybe that was one of the Birthday Presents the Lord gave to me, an encouragement as one continues in this christian journey, to know that there are those who are fighting in the arena of thought valiently for His name.

Other than that, it was a joy seeing the primers and the year 3s again. As much as I wish that they will draw near to God alot more, I cannot quite express how pleased I was to see them having fun and listening to God's Word. The joy of an officer is to see a Boy or Primer become a man of God. To all the Primers and Year 3s, I would like to say a big thank you. You've given me a weekend to remember.

Which was why I was particularly displeased when I heard someone tell me he wanted to downgrade from the military because he wanted to serve in the BB. Lets be very clear, the BB ministry is not an escape pod, not some convenient reason to justify ones inability to put up with military culture. If you have problems with the military, ask us for prayer, share your problems, and we'll be there to support. Don't use the ministry as a convenient excuse to legitimise not wanting to overcome present circumstances.

Its especially hard to accept because so many of us tried our best and put up with the military. More importantly, many of us who returned to be officers paid high costs, because God called. When the BB becomes a ministry, its no longer about friendships, no comfort zones, its all about God's glory and His will for the ministry. All other reasons for serving in the BB are invalid and if one cannot take the pressure in the army, you think you can take the stress of being an officer in the BB?

Dinner with family was particularly simple and It was with much reading that I close my evenings. My books now include The conservative mind, Democracy in America, Lincoln's sword and a commentary on mattew and the sermon on the mount. With so much joy in life, I cannot but say that God is good at all times, faithful and Loving. In this joyous weekend, I would like to remember that its because Jesus made all the difference and deserves all the glory.

Love

Now life is a rather delightful subject when it is consumed by real, godly Love. I still remember Yasuda telling me that if i read Corinthians 13 carefully, I would realise that Love is character. I thought that was the best answer i'd ever gotten, since prior to that, I had been confused by those few verses because they do not define love, rather they describe it. Whereas the bible defines faith and hope, the startling definition of love is in 1 john, which says "God is Love".

Now I don't think we can ever really define God which makes this biblical definition even more confounding. Therefore, I don't think anyone can make Love understandable within a single blog post, what more a whole thesis on the subject. Yet at once the human being is confronted with something immensely profound, arguably one of the most important revelations in our relationship with God. To better comprehend this, let me put forth a statement which goes like this:

God will never associate Himself with a love that lacks justice, purity, truthfulness, faithfulness, self control and kindness.

Indeed, taken from that perspective, the Love that God associates His person and character with must surely be a Love that encompasses the full attributes of God. This is in sharp contrast to the amorphorous notion of Love that is artificially constructed, which is often characterized as an emotion employed at will, or descending upon two or a single willing party. Rather, as is evidenced in the statement, Love is intensely associated with the character of the person and in this case is synonymous with God's character.

The statement of God being Love, does not seem to try to make God understandable, rather it makes real Love almost unreachable. It does not mean we can associate the love that the world cheaply brandishes as God but that the love that we've so far understood is far inferior to the Love that God wishes to share with us. As God's glory is being declared in creation does not mean that we as men would wish to acknowledge that a God exist , we being in the image of God have an image of Love , yet may never be able to partake in that Love.

To know God's love is to share a relationship with God Himself, with the holiness, righteousness and glory of the Deity infused into the relationship. All of that combined within the perfect Deity, bridges a perfect relationship of utter intimacy and releases the true expression of Love. Love like this never fails, never boasts... (1 corintians 13). On the contrary, man's love always fails, always boasts... etc, because its love is based upon the character of the fallen creature. Loves' perfection is because of the perfection of God, and man's depravity is reflected in his confused definition of Love. On our own, we can never Love, never know true Love. No matter how hard we try, its nowhere near the Love that John tells us God associates His full person with.

What that means is that we are utterly lost to the real meaning of love on our own. All the valentine's days and Korean dramas are counterfeit expressions of the real thing. In fact unlike the chinese who do a good job in producing almost- close- to- the- genuine product sort of counterfeit goods, our love is a pale and awful reflection of the real thing. Like depraved man being a poor reflection of his perfect God.

Thus we can only say, because of Jesus! yes only because of Jesus, can a depraved character be brought into a communion where this Love is seen and understood. Though we are often still short because we fail again and again, because it is based upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is the full embodiment of that perfect Love, we can continually enjoy its completeness. Now we can embrace and enter into this real Love because it is based upon the character of Christ. When Paul described Love in 1 Corinthians 13, was Paul not then describing the character of Christ, which love is synonymous with?

The past 3 weeks, I've met friends and family from various parts of my short life, whether they be ex students. old classmates, long missed relatives overseas, university pals and church friends. The list i guess goes longer with the e-mails and messages that I've had the joy of receiving during the festive period. Its wonderful that it came in a torrent, during a time when God has been showing me His love through people. Perhaps for far too long, I'd been in BB, where so many of us committed many a waking moment to the ministry and thus our circle of interaction became naturally confined.

Having finished my time in this ministry, i think my steps are alot more sprighty again and I'm singing longer and more joyful songs in the shower. Its easier to smile these days despite it being terribly busy, because God is brilliantly good. Not that BB was a terrible place no doubt it was tough and wonderful altogether, but I think God is leading me to another stage in life and with it a fresh and greater dose of joy and sorrow.

Today, God showed me that my brothers and sisters loved me deeply. More than ever, I felt very loved by my parents as well. I guess for sometime, I'd forgotten that people around cared. I was not attention seeking or "emoing", it was just very subtle as i turned on task orientated mode and became blind to receiving love. Even for a while, God felt stern and distant. However, while I was going about my day, like a gentle peeling off of blindness, I was led to take notice. I know it sounds self centered to say this but the focus is really on God.... God loves me... God loves you.

man, its so wonderful. I was watching BBC today and a story of 3 Boys in Africa who lost their parents to HIV. The oldest was 9 and the youngest about 6 and watching them attempt to work made me really upset. The young 6 year old was crying for his mother and I was visibly moved. I think my mum saw that and cooked me my favourite "huat quay" (that orange colour chinese potato cake). So i would like to ask everyone who reads this to pray for these 3 kids and the many more in Africa, who have lost their parents and are made to work to live. Pray that they will know someone who loves them, especially Jesus who is there. Really do pray hard.

First Evidence, Second Opinion

For the past few days, I have been wandering the streets of melbourne, enjoying temperate temperatures and the sights of a modern relaxed city. The great ocean road, the museums and the well stocked state library added some spice to what otherwise could have been a tour-lite adventure in down under. Perhaps, the great joy was bumping into a few Singaporean friends, Ivan in particular whom I had not seen for 6 years and Jiahui who had just flown in on the day of departure.

Seeing Ivan again brought many smiles and good memories of a time when Kendrick led a mini evangelistic charge in Hall 6 Boarding school. Then, Ivan came to Christ at a tender 14 years of age and how great a joy it was to see him, a budding worship leader today with a heart for the student ministry. We traded stories and shared about the time he came to Christ. Such memories made my day.

Furthermore, Melbourne gave me the time to do more reading and the collection in the state library reminded one of what it meant to be in a solid library. Somehow, both intellectually and spiritually, Singapore tangles with an introversion that is dehabiliting and frustrating. Not that everyone else doesn't suffer from this(I'm thinking America) but particularly for a city state it can be claustrophobic. I never knew NUS lecturers can get away with so much rubbish and still retain their tenure. Worst of all, I've heard people talk about thinkers in ways one would find unacceptable. More often than not, I've just kept my peace, but honestly, it's not right saying Machiavelli wrote the Prince in his early 20s as a resume and expressing ones' classical education pedigree in the same breath. Early 20s?!

There is something worse than not learning philosophy and theology, it is learning it badly. From meeting people in both secondary school and University in Singapore, I've found generalisations of complex treatises performed clumsily, forcefully subjecting nuanced conclusions to crude structures and opinions. It is very dangerous when one develops an opinion before coming to grips with the subject matter. Even from a christian standpoint, I've heard sharp dennoucements of Dawkins and Darwin, even though the commentators have never read their books, have vague ideas of their arguments or just read that one or two page article on their works. I'm not defending Dawkins, but when opinions are bounded by loyalties that are fostered and expressed on the intellectual level without adequate study and consideration, one can easily duplicate this complacency anywhere. How should one tell a similarly rabid atheist that his views are not grounded when ours aren't either?

You see , the final authority is the Word and the Word alone. The danger of developing opinions without putting great weightage to evidence, is that though the opinion might appear intellectually consistent (in the case of Dawkins, standing up against his views is consistent with the Word), emphasis is placed on opinion that appears logically consistent with our worldview and passions. Subtlely, the authority is no longer the Word, but our intellectual constructs. It is therefore disturbing that in academia today, we are all searching for that splendid new opinion, a reinterpretation of sources rather than a conservative approach to Truth and truths.

It is the same in the christian church where many of us are searching for that new doctrine, that something palpable to the intellectual tongue. I have no idea how sermons are prepared amongst our leaders, but I hope pastors do not develop sermons and then search the bible to support their opinions. I can attest that this temptation is great. Yet one rejoices that of late so many pastors are preaching close to the Word. It's very encouraging :) Itching ears and intellectual complacency have bred a spiritual introversion that fails at once to recognise our core fundamentals of gospel hardened truths and great global purpose of cost laden evangelism and sacrificial unity based upon Christ. It develops human opinions about the Christian faith and defends Christianity through human means. It is neither Spirit Led nor authoritative. It is neither intellectual nor extensive. It is humanity trying to speak for God and who are we to think we have the right to speak for Him in our own way?

If Christian leaders do not guard the study of the Word, like the intellectual World today, we'll be entering a subtle and painful trap.

I woke up this morning to a dark sky and a soothing embrace. The night before, I was working on the testimonials of the Primers and I'd made it a point to be as honest as duty availed me. Finishing up on these final duties, I've noticed that Marc has already taken the mantle and began working hard. He has put hardwork to his bible studies and has proven faithful despite the crunch of medical school. After these near 2 years of serving in the BB, I've known no better officer for this endeavour. Having to bare the weight of an OIC is never easy and without the assistance of the Divine Being, one cannot succeed. With that assistance, one cannot fail.

So often, in our day and time, leadership is synonymous with charisma and earthly power. Yet if we should return to our faithful Word, God places His premium on prayer and humility. Where christian leaders are forged by prayer and the constancy of intimacy in the Spirit. Moses and David, were steeped in worship and fellowship with the almighty Himself, and evidences are recorded in the Psalms and Exodus and despite repeated discord and complaining in the desert, a civil war by David's son, God found these fragile examples worthy of His mercy; worthy of His friendship. Moses and David are great because God made Himself known to them intimately and in that alone became leaders of the highest order. So pray! or we do not deserve to be followed.

And so I woke up in the morning to find that my God had come to visit. God, had come to share His presence with an undeserving gentile. For once, even the crumps of the table I had no share in, now I can enter into His Love forever. As I was led like a sheep to the stream, I could say nothing but enjoy the fresh riches of Christ. Increasingly I've learnt to just shut up and enjoy His presence. In that quiet, in that reassuring love, I'm rather certain that a new journey is about to being.