Open Doors

https://odb.org/2024/10/07/bibles-in-the-back-seat

I learnt about Open Doors nearly forty years ago, a year or two after I accepted Christ. At that time, I was attending a Methodist outreach in my small town of Pasir Puteh in the East Coast state of Kelantan. This outreach work was started by a group of outstation Christian teachers, and the amazing thing was that the Methodist church actually sent a fresh seminary graduate to pastor the work full-time. Later, the outreach moved to the neighbouring Trengganu town of Jerteh, and the work that was established 40 years ago stands tall today as the Jerteh Chinese Methodist Church, catering to the needs of local Christians in the small town of Jerteh.

Jerteh Chinese Methodist Church in the midst of a village

Open Doors was an organisation that had left a deep and lasting impression on me, and I distinctly remember them for the work they did for the underground church in closed countries, especially for the house church in China. I would think the availability of the bible is less of an issue nowadays with the proliferation of bible apps on the Internet and mobile phones. I do recall that in those days, believers in closed countries would rejoice in having just a few pages of Scripture, which they treasure like gold, quickly committing to memory all that was written! It was both astonishing and outstanding!

The foundation to organisations such as Open Doors is Scripture like Zechariah 4:6 NIV –

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

It is not by might nor power but by the Spirit of God that countless bibles could cross borders through numerous volunteers who brought along a few when they visited such closed countries. The network ensured that the bibles reached the right people, but it is by the power of God that people who were checking at the borders were blinded or turned the other way. A reverse indeed of Jesus opening the eyes of the blind to see!

If we face seemingly impossible situations in our lives, don’t give up hope. The LORD our God is able to work things out for us through Christ Jesus our Lord. Not by might or by power, but by the Spirit of God indeed! Trust and put our hopes in Him. He is a God of miracles and the supernatural! May He part our Red Sea as we commit our paths and future to Him! Amen!

God and the ordinary

https://odb.org/2024/10/06/no-ordinary-tree

In the world and at the workplace or even in school and university, people always look for extraordinary and exceptional talents. The ordinary are not looked upon because that is the masses. He is the average Joe, or John or Jane Doe, as the average male and female is known in the United States. Thus, in a class action, it is either John Doe or Jane Doe against the state. When we first start out at work, we want to get noticed by senior management so we have better chances to climb the corporate ladder. Or some may just want to break out and try to make it as entrepreneurs in the open market. In which case, you may want to either create your own niche or stand out for the masses to reach out to you.

In the spiritual world, it is slightly different in the sense that God takes the ordinary to make them extraordinary in Him. This means that you don’t have to be an exceptional believer for God to notice you. God actually notices everyone and relates to each and every one of His children directly. Humans can’t do that because we are humans. In the case of Amos, he was not called to be a prophet from birth like Isaiah, Ezekial, or Jeremiah. For example, see Jeremiah 1:5 NIV – “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Amos, as he said, was not born a prophet, and neither was he a son of a prophet. He was just a shepherd who also tended to sycamore trees in Judah, and then the LORD called him to prophesy to the Israelites. See Amos 7:14-15 – Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go,prophesyt to my people Israel.’

God can and will take ordinary people like you and I and make us great in Him, in His Kingdom of Grace. We can do great and mighty exploits in Him as we respond to His calling for our lives. He can and will make us influential in our own corner of the world and give us a sphere of influence utilising our God-given talents and giftings. Jesus taught us before in Matthew 20: 28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” and in Matthew 20:16, “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen“.

Have a good Sunday worship today, everyone! Always remember that in all that we do, God will take the ordinary in us and make us great in Him! Persevere through, and we will find contentment, peace, and joy in Christ Jesus!

Our stories to tell

https://odb.org/2024/10/05/god-uses-our-stories

Psalm 107:1-2 NIV

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe…

Everyone goes through life experiencing some happiness and joy, and yet also tears and heartbreaks. We know from past experience that in a split of a second, our lives may be changed. Like the time my mum passed away, more than 15 years ago, and my dad, who had been with her for more than 45 years at that time, was left to face life without her. But God was gracious. He found my step mum. They married and were together for 13 years before my dad then passed on last year just a few weeks shy of his 80th birthday. It was a story of the goodness of God as my step mum really took good care of him and made him a changed man, in terms of his appearance and also his zest for life! In his last few years with us, he had some medical issues, but I am thankful to God for preserving his life for all those years.

My dad’s story is mine as he was very much part of my life. He and my mum helped raise my children in those 7-8 years they were with us before my mum passed on, and he later married my step mum and moved out. His testimony of God’s goodness and grace is mine, too.

Like everyone else, I have had my own share of God’s goodness facing life’s challenges with my dearest wife and children. As much as we can, we guide our children to meet their aspirations in life and God’s calling for them as we ourselves live out God’s plans and purposes for our own lives. We have our own stories to tell as individuals and as a family. Even the cars that we have owned over the years have their own stories as well as the homes that we have moved on or the pets that we have had and have (Husky, Daisy and now Cotton).

The point is that we must always give thanks to God for His grace and mercy for preserving our lives thus far and bringing us to where we are today. For His goodness, blessings, and providence. None of us know how long we will live as life and death are in the hands of God. In a split second, things may change drastically. There is always a story to tell as the redeemed of the Lord of the goodness and graciousness of God. The challenges we faced, the difficult times we went through; are our life experiences that God uses to inspire and encourage others to trust Him more and to live for Him. We dread those tough times, those complex issues we had to deal with and face, yet we know that our God will somehow use them for His glory! Amen!

Defusing tensions

https://odb.org/2024/10/04/a-hard-day

After a hard and long day at work, we are usually tired and just want to chill. Unless something pleasant had happened during the day, our mood would lilely be bad. So, even a simple neutral gesture or word may irritate us and cause us to react negatively and sometimes harshly. Or we may just want to vent our frustrations on someone. There are two aspects to this. One is to maintain our calm and patience when faced with someone who had a bad day, who is getting all worked up over something small and unprovoked. The other is not to be the person making a big fuss over things just because we have had a bad day.  We should defuse the tension instead of adding fuel to fire, or we should not start the tension in the first place.

This is the aspect of Jesus’s character that we should learn and emulate as despite insults hurled at Him, mocking, and humiliation, Jesus did not retaliate whether verbally or by calling fire from heaven. He had a mission to save mankind from their sins, and nothing was going to distract or prevent Him from fulfilling His destiny.

What’s our mission and destiny in life? In addition to earning a living, we are to live a life that is a living sacrifice unto God, to live at the centre of His will for our lives. Our lives must give a good testimony of our God, of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must live to glorify God. If we are led by the Spirit, will we react by our fleshy and carnal desires and motivations? We may be only human, but we are also born-again spiritual beings. Our spirit should have control over mind and emotion. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Even as the devil uses our situation to provoke us to react in an un-Christ like manner, we must never take the bait.

Be the peacemaker and not the catalyst to tensions. Be like Christ. Don’t add fuel to fire to make things bigger and worse. Tensions will lead to bad situations, and as heated words are exchanged, things may get out of hand. Follow and emulate Christ. He is our mentor and role model to follow. He is, after all, our Lord and Saviour! 

The 10 spies

https://odb.org/2024/10/03/saying-yes

In Numbers 13 and 14, we will find the account of the 12 spies who were sent to Canaan, the Promised Land, to investigate and give an account of what they saw and their assessment of the land. The spies were no ordinary people as each represented a tribe of the Israelites who had just been delivered by Moses and Aaron out of Egypt through the parting of the Red Sea into the wilderness south of Canaan.

10 out of the 12 spies came back with a discouraging report in the sense that although they saw that the land was flowing with milk and honey (meaning fertile and prosperous), it had strong armies, fortified cities and even giants (descendents of the sons of Anak). These were undoubtedly the facts. But it was their assessment and conclusion that was damning as they took the view that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the land. They concluded that they would instead embark on a suicide mission to be brought out of Egypt to die by the sword in Canaan. Only Caleb and Joshua took a contrary view, believing and contending that if God had taken so much trouble to deliver them out of Egypt, why would He not follow through and see them to victory notwithstanding the fortified cities, strong armies and giants? The rest was history as God’s judgment was strong and exacting. All who were 20 years and above when they left Egypt will not set foot on the Promised Land except for Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 32:11-12).

The message this morning is that if the LORD leads us on a mission, whether it is a calling to go full-time or to be a missionary in a far land or to participate in a particular ministry or even to take up a job offer that will uproot us or anything else, He will see us through like He did with Joshua and Caleb. He will be with us even as we respond in faith to His calling. We will face obstacles like fortified cities, strong armies, and giants, but like Joshua and Caleb, we will prevail with God’s help. The rewards will be sweet as the land will be flowing with milk and honey. In our context, it means that we will be living in the centre of His will and enjoy of His goodness and grace and mercy. As David proclaimed in Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy will follow me the rest of my days as I dwell in the House of the LORD forever and ever.

In our life as a redeemed of the Lord, we always need to look beyond the natural into the spiritual realm as we do not live by sight but by faith in the LORD our God, our Lord and Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. Like Elisha’s servant Gehazi in 2 Kings 6:17-20, if we see with our spiritual eyes, we will see the multitudes of angels on our side!

The Law and the Spirit

https://odb.org/2024/10/02/reflecting-the-character-of-jesus

Galatians 5:13-18, 22-23 NIV

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.

In Galatians 5 above, Paul asserts and settles the debate then (and even now in some quarters) that as believers in Christ, we are no longer bound by the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament. This is because when Christ died for our sins, He had fulfilled the law. By giving us the Holy Spirit, we now live by the Spirit and not by our flesh, and if we are led by the Spirit, we are no longer under the Law.

Further, the whole law is fulfilled when we love our neighbour as ourselves. With the fruit of the Spirit, against such things, there is no law. If we have love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, what law can be against us? The background to Galatians 5 was the debate, whether new believers in Christ who were Gentiles need to be circumcised like the Jews. It is obvious that Christians do not practice circumcision. Why is there still a debate by some today that we are still bound by the Mosaic Law?

For our application, it is important to focus on the Holy Spirit. We are not bound by the law because we are led by the Spirit. We must not fulfil or gratify the desires of our flesh and must acquire the fruit of the Spirit. If we are still in the flesh, Christ’s death has not impacted us in the sense that our flesh has not been crucified with Christ. Then, perhaps we can not say that we are freed from the law. How can we be free from the law if we are still led by our flesh? We will be judged by the law based on our flesh as we are not led by the Spirit.

Have a good week ahead (although it is mid week already)! I pray that all of us will have the wisdom and discernment from the Lord as we earn our living in the world and relate to those around us while being led by the Spirit! Loce your neighbour as yourself and the whole law will be fulfilled by us!

Small miracles

https://odb.org/2024/09/30/small-miracles

The guiding principle for serving God can be found in Luke 6:10, which reads as follows and is taught by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself:

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

We start with small things like maybe vacuuming the carpet, washing the toilets, arranging chairs to street evangelism (for example, distributing pamphlets for an evangelistic rally) and maybe progress to bigger things like worship leading and leading a bible study or home fellowship. So, do not despise the smaller things in God as God uses the smaller things to lead us to greater things in Him.

It’s the same principle applied for miracles and signs and wonders. When we pray, we ask God’s help, maybe to help us find a parking spot or bring to rememberance where we left our house keys? Or pray over our fever or an ache in our body before we progress to bigger things like praying for cancer or for the deaf and mute or blind. We always start small and let the Holy Spirit lead us to greater exploits for God. If you are into church planting or outreach work, it usually starts with a house fellowship, and then it progresses to a proper meeting place, but for outreach work, be prepared to do the whole works from praying, worship leading to sharing a sermon. The platform may be smaller and less formal, yet the tasks are the same, just on a reduced scale and intensity.

In my experience serving God, the great thing is that we will experience His love, joy, and peace with full satisfaction, and the Lord never requires more than we can give. He takes us step by step and progresses us as we mature and get better. He always starts small.

Serve God in whatever capacity He has called us. Don’t despise the smaller things in life. Start serving Him from whatever position we are. Over time, He will promote us and lead us to bigger things!

Guard our hearts

https://odb.org/2024/09/29/heart-healthy

Proverbs 4:23 – Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

One of the prayers I always pray for my sons is for God to guard their hearts so that wherever they are, they always remain true and faithful to God in all that they do. They always remember Jesus in all that they do. They do not jeopardise their faith and salvation. They always choose to honour God in all of their decisions.

Thus, I am thankful that my elder son in the UK has found a church where he is able to relate to the people and the pastors, and he is now serving God in music playing either the guitar or piano. He has been serving in music for 3 Sundays consecutively, including today’s Sunday worship! Praise the Lord! Every believer must have a church and a community of believers they can call home, where they may serve and be encouraged in the faith. It is part of the support system for our faith. If we are all alone, especially in a foreign land, it is likely that we will get drawn away by the bright lights of the world and lose our way.

Our hearts are the moral centre of our beings. It is part of our soul and spirit. As much as the physical heart determines the health of our physical body, our other heart determines our spiritual health and maturity. The little organ (weighs only between 200g to 400g) is probably the strongest organ in our body. It beats 100,000 times a day and pumps 7,500 litres of blood through nearly 100,000 km of blood vessels in our body! The whole blood circulation system in our body transporting oxygen, nutrients, and disposing waste is a testament to God’s brilliance! Yet, it is the other heart that determines our destiny for eternity.

Guard our hearts that we always live in the centre of His will, fulfilling His plans and purposes for our lives. Love and serve Him with all our heart, soul, and body. May our lives be a living testament of His glory, wisdom, and goodness!

Have an amazing Sunday worship service today, everyone! May we dwell in the glory of His presence and meet Him face to face as we worship Him in spirit and, in truth!

Reckless and careless

https://odb.org/2024/09/27/reckless-and-careless

Proverbs 14:16 ESV – One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.

I had participated as a note-taker in a domestic enquiry last year, where the prosecution amended the charge to contend that something was done in a reckless manner. It adds a layer of complexity to the company’s case against the employee, but it also means that the employee’s offence or wrongdoing is more serious and grave. It is more difficult to prove, but once proven, it facilitates the justification for termination. In contracting, we add the word “reckless” to impose a higher burden on the counter-party to claim for losses. Thus, in order for us to be liable, they not only need to prove that we were negligent but also reckless. It means that we had acted in a fashion that totally disregarded any form of caution as though we had crossed the street without looking at all. In other words, we acted without giving any thought to any possible consequences, and in the corporate world, that’s a rarity indeed.

In the spiritual sense, we are reckless if we do something without thinking how much it could affect us spiritually. A reckless action is not only irresponsible but also rash. So it’s different from not praying much or not reading the Word. It’s like pursuing a non-believer as a life partner, not with the intention to convert him or her, but due primarily to physical attraction. Thus, we didn’t see beyond the immediate and our own carnal desires. We threw caution to the wind, although we know of the possible long-term consequence to our life in Christ. We may leave the faith. Even if we don’t, it will likely be difficult for us to bring up our children in the faith if our spouse is not of faith. Or just a simple act of picking up josssticks to pray to an idol. It is reckless since that act clearly violates the first commandment of the Mosaic law.

Even if we believe we are called by God to do mission work overseas and quit our jobs in response, it is reckless if we don’t consider the consequences and all possible scenarios. It requires faith and boldness to take the step of faith, but it should be done after much prayer seeking God. Not at the spur of the moment but much prayer and planning.

Don’t be reckless and careless in our actions. Always think and consider the possible consequences to our spiritual lives. Will Jesus be overjoyed by our decision and course of action, or will He be sad and disappointed? Did the Holy Spirit prompt us, or are we just following our fleshy desires? Will we still be on the narrow path, or will we now be charting a course on the broad path that leads to destruction? Pray hard before we make rash, reckless, and careless decisions in life!

Friendships in Christ

https://odb.org/2024/09/26/what-a-friend-2

Friends in Christ

Recently, we met up with two families and a pastor, friends whom we knew since our university days. That was more than 30 years ago, and although we seldom meet face to face, we have kept in touch all these years. There was, however, one major difference with our other childhood friends – we were serving God then, and we are still serving God today. In fact, in those 30+ years, nearly 18 of those years were spent serving God together, first at the varsity work of our previous church, and later, we established a small independent church with others. This is an example of friendships forged in Christ while serving God in ministry – friendships that lasted for many years. Our children also get along very well since they grew up together in Sunday school during their early formative years, and they are all youths and young adults now.

As much as Jesus is our one true friend who laid down His life for us to die for our sins, we need friends in Christ. Yes, we are spirit beings clothe in our earthen vessels. We are still flesh and blood. We therefore need to interact with others in the natural. Others who face the daily struggles of life like us, whose lives inspire and encourage us to preserve on in Christ. We could also be the inspiration for others. What does it mean to live a balanced Christian life in the midst of the world with its temptations and worldly attractions? How we may earn a living while still actively serving God in our own ways?

Cultivate friendships in Christ. Such friendships will last a lifetime. The best way is still to serve God together in church or in missions or doing voluntary work in society. As we serve God, we grow in our maturity in Christ and, most importantly, in our character as children of God. We are, after all, called to be the salt and light to the world, to reflect the glory of God in our midst!