https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/23/how-theyll-know

I recalled that I used to identify myself as a Christian when young because I had a Christian name, or what some will say a Western name to my Chinese name. In fact most of my friends then with such names were usually Christians. I used to justify that by saying that my dad was a Catholic and Catholics were Christians. However, as I seldom go to the Catholic Church and thus was not schooled in Catholicism, I wasn’t sure exactly what it really meant to be a Christian. As I used to study at the Anglo Chinese School, we had religious classes and since I professed to be a Christian, I was placed at those classes and it was there that I first learned about Christ. Later after I moved to the East Coast, a close friend encouraged me by writing to me about Jesus Christ and with the English-Malay New Testament at home, this led me to seek out God and when an outstation teacher in my little town offered to bring me through a Navigators bible study, I jumped at that chance. That was how I accepted Christ and became known as a Christian, who now have had a proper beginning or what we would call a “born again” experience.

Being identified as a Christian may or may not have implications in present day Malaysia as Malaysia is more keen to know whether you are a Malay Muslim or a native of Borneo in terms of your constitutional rights. However, if we are known as strict religious adherents to our faith, there could be issues of practicality and being less street-wise but issues of integrity will be the least of a concern. But as believers, we know that if we have God on our side, we will be better at what we do, at doing our job and the effects of that will be felt as part of our work output and deliverables. So long as we are hardworking, responsible, trustworthy and not calculative, we should be able to be good at what we do and master our job requirements and perform. It is good to work more than others even if we are not paid as much as the more we work, the better we will be and over the years we will be very good at what we do. Doing more is always good although it is not the fairest of situations. But when was life ever fair, right?

The time may come that being identified as a Christian may become a liability. Like during the days of Paul and the Apostles. When Greeks became to be known as Christians and the faith was no longer perceived as a mere sect under Judaism and thus became to be looked upon as a threat to the Roman Empire. A time will come when being a Christian may be perceived as a threat because we are different and are not bowing down to a man-made symbol of humanity and thus perceived as anti humans, as against the human race. We could face a similar situation as that faced by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel Chapter 3. Will we bow down and relent in order to live on or will we plough on holding on to the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord? The time will come when the label Christian may not be something to boast of, to be proud of and may be looked upon like scum, like a criminal, a condemned person as Jesus was – on the cross stripped naked and left hung to die. Where will we be then? Will we still be known as Christians?

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/22/virtual-presence

Covid 19 has changed the face of the earth. At its peak, our carbon footprint reduced tremendously when countries went into lockdown and factories ceased production, in particular in China. CO2 emissions dropped across the globe and global warming was given a reprieve with our ozone layer recovering a little. But it had disastrous economic consequences and one of its aftermath is that the cost of things have gone up across board now. Freight charges have increased even 5 fold, mainly because shippers needed to recoup significant losses suffered in 2020. It is paradoxical, we know we are destroying the environment with the way we are going on as humans and yet when something catastrophic like Covid-19 occurs, we work very hard to get back on track as soon possible so that we can continue to destroy the environment! It is tragic that human activity is such that if we pause even for a few months, it is detrimental to almost everyone, except the animals and trees in the forests and marine life in the oceans.

Some say that Covid-19 is the devil’s plan to destroy the church since nearly everyone was forced online and missed out on the gathering of the brethren, the joy and celebration of worshipping God together physically ushering His presence in our midst. The blessings from the fellowship of congregated believers. But was the church destroyed? It was definitely affected and people could have gone astray or became plain lazy, worshipping God in their pyjamas or skipping church entirely. No, the church survived and adapted. Those of us in the worship and AV ministries worked hard to make the experience as good as it could possibly get and we praise God for the advent of connected technologies like high speed broadband, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet that church and work could continue online from the comforts of our homes. We are only limited by the broadband bandwidth of our homes and with online services, we are now able to tune in to services across the globe, anywhere that we wished as long as the other side lets us in.

Embrace change and adapt my dear brethren because in the end times, things will not become easier. As congregations, we must support one another that we may all continue in the faith. Covid-19 has changed the world forever. There is the new normal. Perhaps hybrid meetings will be a permanent feature in our church services? Or smaller churches could offer multiple services to cater for more on site services at reduced capacity with SOP and social distancing implemented? Not a question of law but the well being and health of our fellow members.

At the end of the day, we trust and have faith that the Holy Spirit unites us all and we will continue to experience the presence of God despite worshipping alone from the confines of our rooms or living halls. Even as some of us continue to complain about this less than ideal situation, know that just 30 years back before the advent of cellular phones and during the era of tapped fixed lines, believers in the underground church in China relied only on the prompting of the Holy Spirit on where and when to meet! Stop mumbling and do our best now that we have everything at our finger tips virtually! God is good and good all the time!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/21/gods-compass-2

When I was a baby scout (called cub scouts) in primary school in Sitiawan, one of the things I really wanted to have was a nice knife and a compass. It never came to pass as scouting wasn’t active in Pasir Puteh, the East Coast town I moved to at Primary 6 and thus I never got to trek deep into the jungle. So I didn’t really understood the function of the compass then as it can only show north, except to figure out later that if we are ever lost in a jungle, going north means going in one direction and the wisdom of going one direction is that we will not end up in circles. Often people who are lost in a jungle fail to get out because everything looks the same and thus they ended up going round in circles. Of course, even as cub scouts we were taught to leave markings as basics for trekking but never got to practice that then. Nevertheless the basic essential equipment for trekking remains the little compass.

How wonderful an illustration is the little compass to our real life on earth! It is really an excellent picture of what the Word of God is, a compass for us as we thread through life. Like the compass, the bible points us to only one direction and that is to the Almighty God Himself. Whatever we are going through if we stick to God we will not go wrong. We won’t go round in circles whether in our ministry, our career, relationships and our faith.

Stick to one direction, stick to God, stick to the narrow path. Do not waver or let ourselves be distracted or turn to the left or the right. Just go straight ahead. Don’t go on a frolick of our own or become like Alice in the Wonderland as the world can indeed become a Wonderland, drawing us away from God and His purposes for our lives. The world can also be a Wonderland that can ensnare and devour us like the Venus Flytrap. The world entices us, attracts us and then slowly but surely destroys our faith in Jesus, causing us to eventually lose sight of Him.

Like the humble compass, stick to one path, krrp to one direction only as illuminated and lighted up by the Word for us like a lamp unto our feet. Read and meditate upon the Word and we will be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaves will not wither and whatever we do shall proper (see Psalm 1). Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/20/fear-not-2

When I was young and I haven’t yet known Christ then, I was taught a simple ritual to pray from my late mother from the Taoist traditions of her family (my late mum became a fervent Christian after accepting Christ a few years after I accepted Christ). I won’t describe it here but suffice to say it involves a prayer to God in heaven. The prayer was like a call for help but alas I had no assurance then that God in heaven or anyone out there would listen me or pay any attention to my prayer. Mainly, because I didn’t really know this God in heaven or whether I had any standing with Him but I nevertheless prayed to Him for protection.

However I recall that despite this avenue to call for help, I was still afraid of the unknown and the future. I was afraid of darkness and after watching the movie Exorcist between the spaces of my fingers covering my eyes, I remembered that I had nightmares everytime I recollect the terrifying scenes from that movie.

After I knew Christ when I was 14 and started going to church and be involved in ministry from 16 onwards, I recall that the nightmares had sort of miraculously ceased. I was no longer fearful of the dark and the monsters that it could bring. The difference is that I now have Jesus in my life and I could reach out to God the Father, our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord. I realised that there is power in the name of Jesus, that as children of God professing His name, demons will flee, spirits will not be able to make us fearful. I learnt very early that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)! Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

As we usher in the Christmas season and celebrate the symbolic day of Jesus’s birth (we know that the actual day is not 25th December of the gregorian calendar), let us remember the Good News of Jesus’s birth and how He changed our lives from the day we knew Him until today. Remember what He has done for us and our families and how He has seen us through all that we had gone through throughout the years. Be thankful and grateful for the privilege of knowing God the Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit. God’s love and compassion and His abundant grace have been with us through it all and will be with us and our loved ones as we journey on this path of righteousness and faith. His steadfast love never ceases, His fauthfulness endures forever. He is our God and we are His children. As we call upon His name, we know He will answer us. We know our prayers are heard, every single one of our prayers as whatever we bind on earth, will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:29) because we have the name of Jesus with us and in us, the name that is above all names! The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

Have a Blessed Christmas, everyone!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/18/well-done

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith – 2 Timothy 4:7. That’s Paul saying that to Timothy while in prison at the tail end of his life as he knew he will be executed once he appears before Ceasar Nero to argue his case and preach Christ crucified and His resurrection.

Paul’s exaltation in 2 Timothy 4:7 is the inspiration and also the aspiration of every believer. We want to be able to say that before we breathe our last. We want to be able to say that when we appear before our Lord Jesus on that day. Can we say that we have fought the good fight, have finished the race and have kept the faith? Not a question of salvation but a question of whether we were with God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit till the end? There will be no condemnation in Christ. Jesus is not there to shame us and tell us of our shortcomings and weaknesses. He will not harp on the things we did not do, or should have done but didn’t. Instead Jesus will be praising us for the things we have done. The RM1k gift we gave to that missionary. That RM1k contribution to that mission. That RM1k we sent to that charity that feeds the poor. The times we helped the old folks at that home. The prayers we prayed for Christians oppressed all over the world. The things we did in fulfilment of our calling, the things we had done as part of God’s plans and purposes for our lives. Not a question of whether we could have done better, but commendation for having done what we did.

We should try our best to do what God has called us to do and to fulfil His plans and purposes for us. Whether we achieve great success or greatness in doing those things is irrelevant and besides the point. Success is relative and is not something to be measured externally and in the natural alone. What happens in a person’s soul we can’t see with our naked eyes.

I think to have fought the good fight and have finished the race with our faith intact is really about having given it our best shot under the circumstances. We tried our best and didn’t waver. We gave it our all. We had to live life and face its challenges head on and yet we did our best for God. We didn’t run away from our calling. We didn’t turn our backs on His plans and purposes for us. We did all that while still living in the world although we are not of the world. We gave God our best. I think that’s what it’s all about.

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/17/beautifully-broken

If something is broken like a piece of electrical equipment, we will usually not throw it away. We will keep in case we could use its parts as spares for other electrical equipment that breaks down. So we keep screws, wires, cables etc to the extent space permits. However for pottery and cookery, if it’s broken, we usually have no choice but to throw them away as a broken cup or plate is unusable. I know that in Japan they have made it into an art to repair and restore broken pottery but I have not seen this in Malaysia before. However, if broken pottery or artifacts from ancient times are found, the life example in today’s ODB, efforts will be made to restore them – even in Malaysia. That’s because broken pottery from an ancient era is valuable as it gives us an insight to human life of those times. It establishes our history and heritage.

If we are broken vessels (which we know we are), do you think God will keep us because we could be useful to Him like spare parts and thus if we are both broken and useless, God will throw us away like rubbish to be disposed, in the sense, He will not have anything to do with us? Or do you think God will want to restore and repair us to be beautiful again because we are valuable to Him even though we may think we are broken and useless? Of course it is the latter, you will say and that’s true! When we are broken and useless, we have value only because God sees us as valuable and He knows He has the capability to make us whole again, not only through the blood of Christ but through the work that He continually does in our lives through the Holy Spirit. However, the rejuvenation of our soul and the restoration of our spirit can only be done if we are willing. If we are unwilling, God will not force us to change and transform. But the promise is that if we allow the Lord to work in us, He will make something truly beautiful out of us. If we flow with God along the path, one day we will become the man and woman God had always wanted us to be! Remember we are not broken and useless but valuable in the eyes of God!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/16/what-are-you

Born, raised and growing up in Malaysia, most if not all of us would have experienced some form of racism as minorities. In fact, Malaysia is well known for her institutionalised racial discrimination that every Malaysian knows that if a level playing field was established in all economic sectors, we could at least be on par with Singapore in terms of economic and social development. As it is, we are now even trailing behind our other neighbours like Thailand and Vietnam. We are so blessed with a multi ethnic community and an English speaking heritage courtesy of our British colonial masters and yet our politicians managed to squander away that headstart in life.

I grew up in a state with 99% of its population of the majority race and although it is one of the nicest states to live in, I could not have escaped racism one way or another. After so many years I could only recall an incident or two and now in retrospect, it is easy to forgive and forget. But I do know that it was not easy to do so when I first experienced it then. It may look trivial now but it was something big then for a teenager growing up! Now with more maturity and experience in life and in God, I acknowledge the impossibility of people with a different racial, religious and cultural upbringing to fully accept others as one of them.

Fortunately, in Christ, we are all the same and equal before God – whether we are Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, educated or not, Malay or Chinese or Indian or white or black. Our blood is still red and our hearts will all cease to function if we don’t take care of our bodies. We are all equally susceptible to Covid-19 and we all stand an equal chance to get infected if we are not fully vaccinated. There is no discrimination when it comes to cancer or viruses or bacteria.

If we have ever experienced racial discrimination in our lives, forgive and forget and let the past be bygones. We make do with whatever opportunities God had made and will make available to us and do the best under the circumstances. As I have implied before, it is better to be discriminated against and be in Christ than be the one discriminating and live in darkness. It is better to have less opportunities and privileges in life but with Christ than have all the opportunities and wealth in the world but without Christ. Ultimately what we have stored in heaven that counts for eternity. Pride and prejudice are part of life even in homogeneous societies but in God, everyone is a child of God, everyone is a co-heir with Christ and everyone has been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Everyone is equal before God and everyone stands an equal chance to fight the good fight and finish our own race to our own finish line. Make the most of it!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/15/i-am-his-hands

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/regional/2017-07/10/content_30053359.htm

When we start working, we try to learn and master the traits of the trade we are in. We want to be good at what we do, the business we are in; whether it is in legal, accounting, sales, marketing, IT, HR, procurement, corporate finance, logistics, data science, engineering, architecture, teaching, medicine, nursing or whatever field we are in. We start of by being a generalist, but a good one and then slowly over time, we find our niche. What we really like, what we are really good at. So if we are in IT, maybe we have branched into IT auditing as an internal auditor or if we are in corporate finance, we now focus on M&A and IPOs. Or if we are in legal, we are specialised in commercial litigation.

There is a sense that it is similar in the Kingdom of God. As Paul commented in 1 Corinthians 12, the body is not made up of one part but many. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of smell be? The point is there are many parts and each plays a crucial part. The foot cannot say that because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body.

I believe as the body has many parts and every part needs to play its part for the body to function properly, the church needs to embrace diversity and harness the giftings and talents of everyone for the benefit of the whole body. We know how difficult it is to live if just our little toe is hurt or if our kidney is not functioning properly. The church will not be able to fulfil its potential in God if everyone is not given the opportunity to plays his or her God appointed role – the toe needs to be healed so we can walk and run properly.

Everyone has a unique talent and as much as the church needs to identify and harness our unique talents for the sake of the Kingdom of God, we ourselves need to find our own niche in the Kingdom of God. If we want to go on a mission trip with an established preacher, we must find something useful to do to help the mission as not everyone can be the preacher in the team. Maybe we can play the guitar and lead in worship, or be the interpreter or be involved in the audio visual aspects of the trip to record the events and produce a mini documentary. Or if the mission trip is large, we can be the organiser to arrange for transport and accommodation. In the process as we serve, we will find our niche. It can be in the context of a church, a mission organisation or just a single mission trip to the interiors of Borneo. The point is what is our niche in God, where we can and will realise our fullest potential in God. We start at the basics, the fundamentals and then we find our niche and specialise. Everyone cannot be the eye as there are only two in the body. Everyone cannot be the liver as there is only one in the body. Discover our niche and focus on that, there will be much to be done and the time is short as daylight will not always be with us. When night falls, the work becomes ten times more difficult!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/14/what-should-i-say

One of the first things we learn as a believer is to pray. In fact, our first step towards accepting Christ is to say the sinner’s prayer, by admitting that we are a sinner, asking Father God to forgive us of our sins and to repent from our sins and then accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour of our lives, acknowledging that salvation is a gift from God, freely given by His grace and mercy but cost Him the life of His one and only beloved Son at Calvary. We pray all that in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Over the years we would have learnt about different types of prayers – from intercessory prayer to commanding healing to casting out demons but the simple prayer that we speak in our hearts, perhaps even before we said the sinner’s prayer, is probably still our favourite. Just a still small voice in our heart reaching out to God, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit; knowing that He will hear us and help us through our difficulty, our struggle, our fears, our anxieties, even our tears and sadness as we lose things or people we hold dear in our hearts.

Say a little prayer, before God, before Jesus Christ, before the Holy Spirit. We may have messed up, made a mistake. Ask God to forgive us for the error of our ways, for the hurt and disappointment we caused. Ask God for comfort and strength to carry on our quest for Him, to continue to walk in the faith, always choosing the narrow path. Say a little prayer whenever we feel we are all alone, that no one understands us, that everything around us is too overwhelming, perhaps there is too much on our plate. Say a little prayer if we are anxious for the future, for the future of our children, for the future of our nation. Be like Nehemiah – what should I say? Say a little prayer before we say it. It will do a lot of good to have God on our side, to have God having our backs even if we have messed up. Say a little prayer…

https://odb.org/MY/2021/12/13/a-worthwhile-wait

I think this is one of the major issues those of us in the faith always face – how do we trust God to do what’s best for us? As humans, we have a tendency to take things into our own hands. We are impatient. We want fast resolution. Even in counselling people, we tend to want to step in or advise a quick resolution rather than wait for God to move or let things unfold further. Sometimes time will tell the sincerity of a person but we are quick to jump to conclusions and make impulsive judgments and decisions.

Two classic cases of taking things into our own hands in the bible. The case of the Northern Kingdom Israel’s King Hoshea seeking Egypt’s help to avoid paying a tribute to the Assyrians – see 2 Kings 7:1-4, which is what is alluded to in today’s Scriptural reading in Isaiah 30:15-19. In the end, the Assyrians came in and destroyed them.

The other case is that of Saul who couldn’t wait for Samuel to arrive to offer sacrifices to the LORD before going to battle and instead took the role of the priest and in the process, he lost the battle and later his throne to David.

The principle is clear, we must seek God’s help and wait upon Him – there are just no two ways about it.

Thus God declares in Isaiah 30:18 that the LORD longs to be gracious to you and blessed are those who wait upon Him. In the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus who was dead for 4 days, Jesus took His time to go to Bethany although He was determined to go despite previous threats. See John 11. The thing is Jesus delayed so that everyone could see the glory of God and believe – it can only be a miracle if one is raised from the dead after 4 days! The timing and will of God is perfect and cannot be rushed although He may be determined to intervene and rescue us from our situation. In John 11 we saw that Jesus was deeply moved by the situation and wept. Yet He allowed the timing and sovereign will of God to take precedence.

Trusting in the love and compassion of God is more meaningful as that means God personally and directly helped us. I experienced this when I faced some devastating news four and the half years ago and through it all, I experienced His love and compassion although I didn’t deserve. The Lord literally remade my future in the process and I can truly say that His plans for me is to prosper and not to destroy me because only He could do what He did!

Where does my help come from? My help comes from the maker of heaven and earth, the creator of all things. Those that wait upon the LORD shall indeed mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint!