https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/18/lift

I had seen a documentary on aircrafts and aircraft carriers and didn’t quite understand until this morning the concept of the aircraft flying into the wind to achieve lift even as the aircraft is catapulted into the air due to the short runaways. The British resolved this issue by using Harrier jump jets that take off vertically like a helicopter. But even the Harriers (introduced in 1969) are now nearly fully retired having been transitioned to the modern F-35Bs.

Actually the natural logic is that the aircraft should fly with the wind behind it but if you research how boats sail against the wind, you’ll realise that sailing boats can still travel against the wind at 40-45 degree angles. In fact that’s how modern sailing boats travel in all directions, whether with or against the wind. For the aircraft taking off from a carrier, the lift is presented when it is launched against the wind and I guess the logic is that as the wind blows against the aircraft, it is lifted up but as it is jet powered, the wind will not overpower it but instead gives it a lift. The lift is thus caused by going against the wind. If it had been reversed, the wind would have helped the aircraft with some speed which the aircraft doesn’t need since it is jet powered, but there will be no lift. The going against the wind or the challenge itself causes the lift.

The launching of the aircraft against the wind appears illogical and yet it is perfectly logical as we know that faith without works is useless. Life without challenges although peaceful amd serene is boring. How will we ever experience God if we are not challenged? How do we walk by faith if our faith is not tested? The eaglet will never fly if it doesn’t dare to take the first step of faith to launch itself off the cliff and trust on the abilities of its wings to “catch the wind”. The same logic applies to paragliding.

Joshua needs to be strengthened internally – be bold and courageous. Yet externally he needs to face the challenges ahead of him – the strong armies, the fortified cities and the descendants of Anak at the Promised Land. But if he didn’t take the step of faith to cross the Jordan River, he would have remained in the wilderness like Moses and the 600,000 Israelites who fled Egypt, who died there.

Every believer I believe faces this quagmire – remain and rot or move forward and risk certain death. Except that when we have God with us as in the case of Joshua (and Caleb and all those who were born during their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness), we will face our challenges and be victorious! The LORD our God exalted them to be strong and courageous because He the Great I Am will be with them wherever they go. As they face the fortified cities, the strong armies and giants, God will deliver their adversaries into their hands. In fact if we were to read on in the Book of Joshua, we will see that the news and reputation that God was with the Israelites had terrified the communities across the Jordan (see Joshua 2:8-9).

The message today is that we need the challenge to bring the lift from God as we respond to His call and step out in faith. We need to fly into the wind to get that lift. It may look illogical and unnatural but it is actually very logical and natural as without friction, there is no resistance, and without resistance there is no push and without the push there is no lift. Cross our Jordan and face our adversaries and we will conquer our Promised Land, our land that is flowing with milk and honey – with the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/17/being-seen

As leaders or seniors or managers serving or working in teams, we constantly need to be on a lookout for promising people under or around us. This is relevant at work as well as in ministry or church. At work, we call this succession planning, basically, identifying others who may take our place in future. At work, we may want to move on to do other work, leave for another organisation or retire and thus having a replacement is the right and responsible thing to do. Of course, there are some of us who are afraid of losing our place and thus may put others down to show and prove that we are irreplaceable. But we know that at work, no one is indispensable. Just a question of how much stress an unplanned vacancy will cause. Even Apple continued to thrive after the passing of Steve Jobs. I believe it is the same in church and ministry too. No one is indispensable. God will raise us up and God will raise others up. Joshua and Caleb took over from Moses and Aaron. Solomon took over from David. Elisha continued the work of Elijah with a double portion of his anointing.

The stories of Barnabas taking in Saul (as Paul was originally known) and later believing in Mark when Paul himself didn’t are real life biblical examples in the book of Acts on how we should look out for and hone the potential in others. This is pertinent in the church and ministry to ensure that we are not led by old men and women who will eventually become older and slower and thus less agreeable to change. Church and ministry will thus become like a slow moving gargantuan ship either drifting aimlessly or on a collision course to hit a gigantic iceberg one day.

Another reason is that the transitioning from old to new usually takes a long time, even years. Leaders need to be made sub leaders first before becoming true leaders. In church and ministry, the congregation needs time to look up to and accept the new leaders and thus if the fresh blood have been around doing leadership tasks for a long time, the transition will be smooth and without much drama. That is why new and current leaders should serve alongside each other with the current leaders ceding more and more responsibilities over time.

The message today I believe is we should emulate Barnabas to see the potential in those around us and encourage and support them to achieve greater heights in their walk with God and their service in the Kingdom. Their personal testimony is important and that needs to be developed and moulded by God over time as no one can be transformed in a blink of an eye. Everything I believe is work in progress, from the laying down of our lives to serve others to leaving behind our dreams and desires for God’s plans and purposes for us. Spiritual maturity and leadership qualities come over time. But if we don’t start on them now, we cannot expect any one to take our place in future and for that I believe a time horizon of 5 to 10 years is not unreasonable, especially in church and ministry.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/16/wise-advice

I think in life we realise that it is not always what is said but who says it. And it doesn’t matter what is the context – it is quite a similar situation whether at work, in school or in church. Who says what matters more than what was said. I think that is because any idea or suggestion must be carried with credibility and thus the person with a reputation carrying it brings credibility, realibility and a certain standard to the table.

Thus, will we listen to the suggestion or idea of a subordinate or a younger person? Or conversely, as a younger person in position of authority, will we listen to the suggestion or advice of an older subordinate. In today’s ODB’s life example, the Fire General chose to listen to the advice of a firefighter named Remi and as a result saved the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. In 1 King 12:8, Rehoboam, who succeeded Solomon, refused to listen to the counsel of his elders and as a result, he lost most of Israel to Jeroboam.

In the Asian context, if we are in position of authority and we listen to those under us, whether young or old, we may “lose face” as not being a true leader. This is because there is this perception (perhaps a misconception) that the boss knows all, he or she should be the most knowledgeable in the team. Perhaps that is the traditional approach. In the contemporary context, with the younger ones being more exposed through the information highway and they being constantly online, there is likelihood that new and fresh ideas will come from them. Thus it is silly and a waste of resource to disregard the views of those under us, especially the younger ones. Every idea or suggestion should be evaluated on its merit, rather than solely based on the experience or expertise of the person carrying it. There is merit in credibility of the person but it is also right to evaluate an idea on its own strength.

I think the lesson for today is we should learn to take advice, whether from God as we seek Him out or from those around and under us at work or in church or school. The contemporary context is to work as a team although we may be the leader. Take all advice and evaluate each on its merit but in the end, we make the decision and take the responsibility for our decision. We learn as we decide, even if we make mistakes along the way. I take the cue from the billionaire owner of my organisation. I know for a fact that when he needs to make major decisions, he never listens to only one person or one adviser, even if that person is his right hand man. He had multiple advisers and consultants. In the end, the decision is his to make but he listens to advice.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/15/we-are-one

Romans 12:2 is a well known verse that encourages us to not to conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may be able to test and approve the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. It basically means we don’t follow the world, inter alia, in terms of our world view, our value systems, our beliefs, and motivations. We need to transform or change to be like Christ, and one of those changes is to be able to sacrifice our own needs or desires for the sake of others.

In today’s ODB example, the farmers all got together and colluded to allow the farmer who had lost his land due to financial difficulties (the bank foreclosed) to win it back at the auction when every single one of them refrained from bidding. Everyone of them farmers sacrificed the opportunity so that the farmer concerned was able to get back his land. This is definitely not the pattern of the world as the world usually looks to self interest first before that of others. In a queue for food relief, one fills one’s plate first without thinking of whether there are more needy folks behind us. What if the food finishes before the needy people get their turn? Will we think like that? Will we be as considerate as that? If not, isn’t it shameful if we as the redeemed of God behave exactly how others in the world would in self interest and self preservation? It may be natural and justifiable, but it is not necessarily the right way.

Thus, interestingly Romans 12:2 was preceded by Romans 12:1 which speaks of living a life that is a living sacrifice. I have always looked at “living sacrifice” as a concept of personal sacrifice to God, in terms of our own choices ceding to God’s choices for us. As Paul rightly puts it, due to God’s mercy that we should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. More like to reciprocate God’s grace and kindness, and since He had redeemed us, we now belong to Him – thus our bodies are to be lived in sacrifice to Him, to serve Him, to do His work, in denial of our own desires and wants.

However, living sacrifice is also a concept of living a life of sacrifice as I found out today, of putting the interest of others first. Like sacrifice and going the extra mile are prerequisites to love, putting others first is also a prerequisite to a living sacrifice. Christian living is a challenge because it is always going against what’s regarded as normal, as natural or even justifiable by worldly standards. But ours is a life of living sacrifice – rightside up living. We put Christ first and as we put Christ first, we also put others first.

It goes against the grain and thus we need to transform our minds. But the end result is we will be able to test and approve the will of God, meaning to say, we will experience God in such a way that we will know that His will is good, pleasing and perfect. In the end, it will all make sense as God will work all things together for good to those who love Him and who are called in accordance with His purposes (Romans 8:28). Putting others first is not a “lose-win” situation but a “win-win”. In the long run, we will not lose out but will instead gain something deeper in God as we all in the faith know; the more we give, the more we will receive. That’s the magic of how the Kingdom of God works. Test it and you will approve of it!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/14/the-power-of-love-4

As Christians, we sometimes think of love as something that is beyond just human love because of Jesus’s love for us. We know that the ultimate love is one that is willing to sacrifice one’s life for another and Jesus died for all humankind so that we may be reconciled back to God. Willingness to die fir another is not a standard that is achievable by many but at the very least introduces the concept of sacrifice as a prerequisite of love. The willingness to sacrifice and go the extra mile. Those are the elements of love. But the agape love of God goes beyond all that as it is unconditional and He loves us despite our iniquities. It is proactive and doesn’t depend on our reaction. God loved us first and called us first to Him. He knocked on the door of our hearts first. He loves us even if we reject Him. His love remains true, faithful and unwavering until the end.

Human love is usually described as eros (erotic love) or philia (brotherly love) but I think what’s more relevant to us as Christians is koinonia love which is the intimate spiritual communion between us as believers and Christ, that we are a community that is also the body of Christ with Christ as head, as Lord and King.

Sharing from my own experience, I knew that I loved my wife the day I was willing to sacrifice for her and go the extra mile. Before that what I had was mine alone but when I loved her, I told myself that what I had was hers as well. We will have a shared life together, a shared destiny, a commitment to support each other in everything until the very end. When I had children, I could see that I was willingly able to sacrifice and go the extra mile for my two boys. They may or nay not be able to do so but by being an example to them, they will learn to reciprocate and to emulate.

I have seen and I know that non-believers can equally love whether in romantic (eros) or platonic (philia) relationships, but perhaps what will distinguish us as people in the faith is the willingness to sacrifice and go the extra mile with one another and others as koinonia love. When Jesus taught us to love our neighbour, it extends beyond those in the faith and thus if we are willing to sacrifice and go the extra mile for people we interact with (not limited to those in our church), we will be reflecting the agape love of God that is in us.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! As the world celebrates the love between couples, let us improve upon our koinonia love within our community of believers and body of Christ, and extend that to others we know and interact with. The more we love others, the more of Christ’s love will be manifested through us.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/13/not-forgotten-3

I have written before in this Blog or perhaps earlier that there are times when we do God’s work that the results are not immediate or apparent. Some results are only seen in the longer term or in years to come or even in next generations as often seen in the work done by missionaries in the past in then closed or dark territories. But a touched local or two and at the next generation, villages and cities are turned to God because that local was a catalyst to the Holy Spirit bringing revival to that land.

Thus, no matter how insignificant our work may look right now, God is able to use us to bless many others now and in time to come. As we respond to God’s call, we just do as called from our own sphere of influence, from our corner of this big, big world, from our home, our desk at work, from our computer screen, from our handphone, from wherever we are – God can and will use our work and reach many, and transform lives! Even if we are just ushering people into the church or cleaning the floors or toilets of our church, God will find a way to bless someone with our work and that someone may be the catalyst to a revival in our church and land.

So never look down on ourselves and say our work for God is insignificant. We don’t need to be Billy Graham and reach millions directly; we just need to be ourselves, be who God made us to be as we are all uniquely made by God – for I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)!

Besides the fact that God can use us no matter how insignificant we think we are or how little we think our work for Him is, it is my belief and confidence that God remembers every single thing that we have done for Him before, no matter how long ago or how recent. Paul exhorts us in Hebrews 6:10 that the God that we serve is not unjust, He will not forget our work and the love we have shown Him as we have helped His people, and continue to help them. God and our Lord Jesus Christ will not forget what we have done for Him. Our work will never ever be in vain. God will use us to turn things around way beyond us and He will not forget what we have done. One day we will receive our crown of glory and one day we will see and get to enjoy our treasure in heaven and remember whatever is ours in heaven is for all eternity! That is why Paul always reminds us that whatever suffering we go through here on earth pales in comparison to the glory that awaits us – our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).

Have a good Sunday celebration today whether at home via Zoom or other means or on site! Bless the LORD for His goodness upon our lives! Let our hearts overflow with a good theme as recite our verses for the King as we bow before His throne! Bless the Lord, bless His holy name, forever I will let his praises ring!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/12/living-by-faith

A fundamental aspect of our belief system as a Christian is faith. We are justified by faith, not by works. Our salvation and our place in heaven is a gift from God, made possible only by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection thereafter. Therefore, our faith in Jesus Christ believing that He is the Son of God, the Lamb of God is the basis upon which we will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

It is by faith that Abraham heeded the call of God to depart from the Ur of the Chaldeans to the Promised Land, upon which God made a Covenant with him to make his descendents as numerous as the sands on the seashore or the stars in the sky, that some of his descendents may even be kings.

We believe in God even though we can’t see Him. We believe in Jesus Christ based on what was written in the bible, which we believe is the Word of God and God Himself. All those stories and narratives written in the various books of the bible, we believe every single one of them to be true even though we were not there to witness them when they occurred or there currently might not be available independent coroborative support like the story of creation, the fall of man, the great flood or the parting of the Red Sea.

We heed the voice of the Holy Spirit convicting us of our sins and turning us to God eventhough we can’t see Him. But we know He lives in us, and as we pray He strengthens and empowers us and enables our fullest potential in God to be realised since God raised us up with Christ and we are now seated together with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). We are now partakers of the riches of His glorious inheritance (Ephesians 1:18).

With such fundamentals, therefore, how difficult it is for us as believers to live by faith and not by sight? The very foundation and basis of our belief is faith and faith is believing in the unseen. In Hebrews 11:1, Paul elaborated that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Thus, it is true that living by faith is trusting in God’s character and power. We know that if we live by faith and not by sight, God will be there to support us, to help and guide us. He will not let us rot or die and neither will He allow anyone to throw us under the bus.

I think a good illustration is that of a blind man that is familiar with the surroundings of his home. He knows that as he walks straight from his bed, he will meet the door of his room and a few steps away will be the staircase and as he walks down, he will have his sofa on the right and this dining table on the left. With God, it is more than just that familiarity because as the blind man moves around his house and if someone had repositioned his chair, God is like a person looking after the blind man and will put the chair where it was originally, so that when the blind man reaches out for his chair, it is there. As he reaches out for his mug, God is like the person who will place the mug at his hand. He will not struggle to find the mug as God is like the person who is there for him, constantly watching over him so that he doesn’t stumble or fall and who will watch and guide him as he steps out of his house to the outside world even though he has no sight.

I believe that as we respond in faith to God and His call upon our lives, He will work all things together for good (Romans 8:28). When we move out in faith, we will then be like Abraham who trusted in His power and character. His power that can make all things possible and His character that loves us and will thus protect us. Walk in faith and not by sight, and we will realise our fullest potential in God because by doing so, we will be fully dependent on God and God being God, He will never fail or abandon us for we are all special and precious to Him. He is our God and our Lord and our Heavenly Father.

He who watches over Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The sun shall neither harm you by day nor the moon by night. The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore (Psalm 121:1).

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/11/the-voice-of-the-father

I guess it was necessary for God to proclaim and confirm Jesus as His Son at the start of Jesus’s ministry on earth – so that people will know then and by reading the Gospels, people like you and me will know now too. For the sake of the mission to redeem humanity from sin and for the sake of the ministry of Jesus on earth, which will go against the Jewish religious norms and authorities at that time. Sadly even today, many in Israel still do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, two thousand years later. In fact like during His time on earth, Jesus is vilified by the Jews today.

I recall a close friend of mine who was possibly the smartest person I have ever personally known. Scored full As at SPM and STPM and when he went to law school, he topped his class and graduated with first class and subsequently also topped his class at Cambridge when he did his post graduate studies on a scholarship. Yet despite all that, he still felt his father didn’t think he had achieved much. Or rather there was a lack of affirmation from his father despite his obvious success.

I think if we are fathers, we must always affirm our children whether they are doing well or not. No matter what, they must know that they are our children and we will always love and cherish and tressure them. They will always be the apple of our eye. We may think it is not necessary or that they are already doing so well but the strange thing is the affirmation of their father and mother is something a child will still crave for despite their obvious success and more so if they are not doing so well. They want to see us being proud of them. In fact some children want to do well just so that their parents are proud of them. But if they are not doing so well, they want to know that we still love them. Even Jesus needed that and God did that twice – at the start of His ministry and during the transfiguration. When the Father had to turn away His face at the Cross because Jesus was carrying the sin of humanity upon His shoulders, that was the most heartbreaking moment in Jesus’s life. For once, He lost the affirmation of the Father.

The takeaway today I believe is that if we had accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour, God will always accept us as His children after what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary. If we seek hard enough, we will be able to hear that still small voice in our hearts reassuring us as believers that He always love us and will take care of us. If we have drifted away, He is there waiting for us to welcome us back into the fold.

Likewise, let’s affirm our children and our loved ones and the people we interact with that we love them, and care for them and always have their best interests at heart. That God loves and cares for them too and want all of them to have everlasting life for all eternity. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Have a good and fruitful day ahead, everyone!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/10/his-amazing-help

Today’s ODB story is about God intervening with a Godsend snowfall up to a feet thick to slow and in some places stop the 2020 raging fire in Colorado, which by then had burned down to the ground 100,000 acres of forest and 300 houses. The fire was in the fall and the snow came early, thus Godsend – after hundreds of thousands or even millions of prayers were lifted to God for help.

It proves that prayers can move the hand of God as we can see how God had previously intervened in times of famine like how He brought rain down after Elijah prayed when he challenged the prophets of Baal. Or we see how Jesus, being the son of God and part of the Holy Trinity of God, stopped the storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee or how Jesus was moved by compassion to heal the sick and to feed the multitudes.

We were disappointed that despite our ardent prayers, we didn’t see the then all powerful political regime fall in 2008 or 2013. However, they eventually fell in 2018 and now are making a comeback after a betrayal in 2000. Will our continued prayers help? Yes, I believe so! If we continue to pray, I believe that God can intervene and one day enable a just and upright regime be established in our country that will drive our country successfully into the next century, ushering a new era for our children and future generations. An era where everyone will put in their fair share of effort and hardwork into the nation and be commensurately rewarded and recognised.

Pray as much as we can in our quiet time. Pray for the nation, for our city, our community, our church, our family and our cell group. Pray for our loved ones. Fill heaven with our prayers. Prayer can move the hand of God. The Lord our God is compassionate. He loves us. He can and will intervene when necessary as seen in the 2020 Colorado fire. Pray that His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/09/mortality-and-humility

Recently I watched a clip of the TV series Grey’s Anatomy on Facebook. It was about this busy guy who had bought tickets to watch a live baseball game with his son; something they had both been looking forward to as he led a busy life. He was in the hospital with some chest pain, nothing serious but he felt that he should have himself checked. It should be quick. He wanted them to hurry up the tests so he could make the game with his son. He called the son and told him that it will be done in an hour or so and he will be home soon to pick him up for the game.

But the results were not so good and he had to go for a CT scan and further tests and thus had to call to tell his son that they would be a bit late or maybe even need to take a rain check. Unfortunately, quite soon after the scan, his aorta ruptured and the doctors tried but could not save him. The attending doctor now has to call his son to tell him that his dad is not coming home at all. The show ended by saying that in just a matter of a few hours, life changed dramatically and drastically. One moment you are there talking, making plans, looking forward to things – next moment, you are gone, no more breadth, your soul has left your body, you are no longer among the living.

This could happen to any one of us at any moment. During the early days of Covid, we saw how seemingly healthy people got admitted and came out straight to the cemetery or crematorium under strict protocols. Families weren’t given the chance to see them face to face to say their final goodbyes, to hold or touch them. At most the nurses would arrange a video call before they were put in an induced coma for intubation. Many did not make it past that.

It is good that the situation has improved tremendously now with vaccination and boosters and with more practicing face masking and social distancing. But it remains that life is fleeting and frail. We are indeed like mist – here one moment, gone the next.

We don’t determine when we die; it could be the next moment or we could live for many more years to come. Thus it is good to be reminded of our mortality. We are no Highlander immortal. We have a life span and that is in the hands of God, our creator but who is also our Lord and Father in heaven. It is thus good I feel to whisper to ourselves ‘memento mori’ – ‘remember that you will die’, like the servant did to the victorious Roman general basking in the adulation of the public. Always remain grounded even if we are doing well. Always be humble before God and man! Remember God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble! Always remember our days are numbered, so always keep our pride in check. Fulfil God’s plans and purposes for us while we still have breadth. Do the things God wants us to do now, rather than later as tomorrow may never come. As Paul said before – to die is gain but to live is Christ. Live for Jesus and we will not regret our days!