For those of us who are worried for our loved ones, let me share this with you (it is for you as much as it was for me). Our children are as capable as we are in handling life when we were their age. They have the advantage of having us (so-called educated parents) and God. If we had done our best to guide them, and exercised due diligence in praying for them, then we need not worry. Furthermore, they know God. Would God not lead his beloved? If some of us (first generation Christians) fared okay without God, guess what of them who have God on their side? You get the picture.

Having faith in God is not something that comes easy. Most times it is easier said than done, even for priests. It takes a lot of training and resolve to do so. Many of us can have faith in many things, but not in all things. There will always be something that we find more difficulty to have faith because they pull closer to the heart. However, that is precisely the point and place where God wants us to have faith in Him. He trains us in many areas, and He moves from one level to another as we progress. And it is for our good.

I could understand many struggling to trust God in various areas. However, it is not the struggling to trust that we should be afraid of. It is the giving up and not even trying that we must avoid. So let us learn to trust God in all those “difficult to trust God” areas. We walk together in this.

God bless!

Another friend of mine was quite amazing at telling how certain “great” people run their businesses– their sacrifices and their successes. However, when it came to putting all those lessons into practice, it was all talk and no action. It is as good as not learning anything. It would have been better to have saved his time on reading about the pathway of success of all these people.

Our walk with the Lord is one of putting it to work. It is not just lip service, and we all know that. But how often we give excuses that it cannot be done. One common excuse is that it is the ideal and we are slowly going towards it. Great! But is it really the case? More often than not, it is just a bad excuse.
To be frank, if you had been to church for more than a year, you would have heard more than fifty-two sermons. With your quiet time everyday, you would have learnt more than 365 lessons from the Word. If we would have put about ten per cent to work, that would be about forty plus actionable items. That would make any of us a wonderful Christian.

However, it is tough and painful to change. So the average Christian takes the easier way out – become religious but not spiritual. Listen to dozen of sermons within the week, discuss about issues that sound high and mighty but avoid any change in lifestyle.
God will not be mocked nor fooled by our religiosity. He wants to see our lives lived in accordance to the Holy Word. Our rewards in future is based on how we lived that life worthy of the gospel, not how many fantastic sermons we had heard.

God bless!

Do we really need a big dose of poison to kill someone? The answer is no. If it is obvious that it is poison, nobody will drink it. Would a person drink from a cup of water that is tainted with a drop of sewage water? Of course not! (we are not talking about Newater which is processed). One would drink it if he does not know that it is tainted, or refused to believe that it is tainted. So the issue of well-meaning has no bearing on the truth of a message.

I truly believe that the Bible is very clear about staying away from wrong doctrine. A miss by a centimetre is as bad as missing by a kilometre. The fact is you missed. A small deviation from the Bible for personal gains is a dangerous thing. It can send some well meaning people to hell. In the epistles of Paul, the “small” deviation in the early church was that of circumcision. Those “circumcision party” preached for personal gains, not so much for the gospel’s sake. Consider how the apostle Paul condemned them with very strong words.

The book that we should really gain encouragement from is Holy Scripture. We can read the rest of the books in the world as novels, some forms of universal truth, but never as the Word of God. Even commentaries written about the bible should be read with an understanding that they are but feeble attempts to help us understand the Scriptures a little better. They are not the truth itself, the Bible is.

So! Brothers and sisters, read the Scriptures and draw your comfort and encouragements from the Word of God directly.

God bless!

I would say that such teaching comes from an over-zealous charismatic theology, which tends to emphasise on the spirit and negate the flesh. Since a long time ago, philosophers had problems dealing with the concept of the coexistence of both flesh and spirit. For them it is either one or the other. Mostly, they take the spirit as good and the flesh as bad (this teaching is known as Gnosticism).

But that is not the understanding of the Holy Scripture. The Bible upholds the importance of the flesh. Our spirit is important, no doubt about that. However, it is not separated from our flesh. I must draw your attention to the fact that we are given a new body when we resurrect.

Jesus, appearing after His resurrection, came in a body that is capable of being hungry and ate earthly food (fish, bread, wine). We are going to have a body, and not going to be just an energy force. In fact, we will still have free will, one that is not corrupted by sin. The unity of body, mind and spirit is kept intact. We cannot choose one over the other; Otherwise that would cause us to become a lesser being.

Brothers and sisters, do not be mesmerised by those forms of “spiritual” languages. It really does nobody any good. We live in this world, though we are not of this world because of Christ, and that would mean that we still live in the flesh. It is corruptible at the moment, no doubt, but as long as it is one that is surrendered to the Lord, His Spirit will guide us to use this body for the good of everybody and everything. We have the Spirit of God to help us take control of this flesh, and we must give full control to the Holy Spirit. But remember that He still wants us to use the full faculty of our bodies.

God bless!

Also, for the benefit of those who do not know, the numbering of the calendar years is based on the birth of Jesus Christ. That is why it will be 2012 A.D. (Anno Domini – in the year of our Lord).

As we come to the start of the new year, should we not be like the Lord, who made it his goal to ensure that all righteousness was done? It is good to take a little time just to see how far we have come by, and note down thanksgivings and “regrets.” For all that we have to give thanks for, we should go ahead and do so. I am sure that as we give thanks we will come to know the Lord more.

For those “regrets,” it is good to do something about them. If it is to say ‘sorry’ and patch up, one should make the list up and then go about doing it during the year. If it is things left undone, then go get it completed. Those beyond us to do anything about it anymore, we should ask God for forgiveness and leave them to God’s hand.

This is not making resolutions for the year. This is the clearing of accounts and making sure that we do not have “righteousness” left unfinished. It will be regrettable if, at the end of our journey here, we leave with much unfinished matters. Even more so if they are important in any respect.

The year is past, a new one dawns. Let us learn to live it with renewed vigour for the Lord, in the Lord and with the Lord. Have a blessed New Year.

God bless!

Of course, I know now, Christmas is not a Western festival. It is a special day for everybody. John Lennon, an atheist, expressed it well in his song “Happy Christmas (War is over)” that it is for the rich and poor, strong and weak, black and white, yellow and red, the old and the young. In short, it is for everyone.

Indeed, it is for everyone because it is God’s love in action. The Word become flesh is God’s love personified in Christ Jesus. God dwelling among mere mortals, how wonderful is that! How can it not be for everyone? The setting in motion of the salvation process on earth; the first coming of Christ in order that we all can be saved, how can it not be a joyous and happy occasion? It touches everyone regardless whether they know it, whether or not they acknowledge it. Salvation and love, personified in Jesus Christ, was what the first Christmas was all about. Today, it continues to remind us that God’s love is still freely available to us. There is still a window to be saved.

So this being Christmas, what have we done then? No doubt that many will come bearing gifts. The merry-making, the food and drinks, the celebrations…. Are they all there is to Christmas?

Brothers and sisters, I urge all of you to share the gospel message to at least one person every Christmas. Of course, the more the merrier but let’s start with one. Bring the real meaning of Christmas to someone who may well experience a more meaningful Christmas now and in the future. We do not know how they will react, but we know that we tried. That is the important part. So this is Christmas, what have you done?

Have a merry and blessed Christmas.

God bless!

Come to think of it, I am a servant— a servant of Christ. It is not easy for many to think of ourselves as servants as we come from an affluent society. Being “up there” matters. In terms of education and reasonable wealth, we are right there. It is no wonder that many people here treat others with a little bit of “richer than thou” and “serving me is your privilege” attitude.

Christ did say that “the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve.” That would make many Christians here rather uncomfortable. Like I said, to serve is not an easy thing to do. It means that we have to bring down our pride, put aside our “top class” abilities and to count others more significant than we are. For many who are influenced by the material living of the world, these are difficult attributes to live with. “Maybe for a day or two, but for life on earth you must be kidding!”

But I am not kidding. That is not my teaching; it is the Lord’s. He served with humility and expects all his disciples to do likewise. It is by serving in His name that we glorify Him. It is the ultimate weapon with which to change the world. The world deteriorates because people become self-centred and selfish. When we are released to serve one another, the only way is up and up.

Brothers and sisters, let us take heed of the Word of the Lord. Let us learn to serve one another and glorify God.

God bless!

So often in our journey of faith, we stray. By God’s mercy we would return to the straight and narrow, only to stray again later. Living in a world as such, it is inevitable that we do stray at times. Some of us more and some, less, but we all stray some times. More importantly, we repent and return. Prayerfully, we finish our journey without mishaps or being shipwrecked.

How do we minimise going wayward? The apostle Paul exhorts us to fix our eyes on Jesus and on attaining the goal of our salvation. Do not look to the left or right. Jesus is who we should concentrate our sights on. If we keep our sights on Him alone, then we will not have too many problems staying in the straight and narrow. Jesus did say that anyone who set his hand on the plough and looked back was not worthy of the kingdom. We really have to take such warnings seriously.

Fighting the good fight and completing the race are important. Equally important is helping one another finish the journey well. We never walk alone but as a family. We should look out for one another. On this journey, there will be some who are weaker or may momentarily become weak. At those times, the stronger must “carry” the weaker brothers and sisters. The spiritual journey is not a race where there is only one winner and the rest eat dust. It is a race that we all win together. By helping one another, we all win and complete the race well and rejoice together at the Great Banquet in heaven.

Set our eyes on Jesus resolutely and race on. Together we move ahead as a family.

God bless!

A lot of people have sins that are not obvious to them. In the beginning such sins cause great discomfort and pain. By and by, they go into the background and tolerance for such sins becomes acceptable. They soon become a small nagging discomfort that can be ignored until one day, such sins are exposed under the bright illuminating light of Holy Scripture and Holy Spirit, then only can we see the sin as it is. We repent and seek God’s forgiveness, then we are set free from the bondage once again. Voila, the chains are broken and the pain, gone.

We have to constantly measure our lives against Scripture. That would mean that we read and study Scripture in the first place. It is too easy to underestimate the vices of the world and take it as something that we can overcome easily. Before long, we end up being enslaved by them. We need the Word of God and His Holy Spirit to help us discern what is right and what is wrong. Even more so, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our sin. If it needs to be cut off, it needs to be cut off; do not hold on to it.

Scripture teaches us to “judge ourselves before we are judged”. We will do well to take heed. When we check ourselves, we will not be embarrassed. Otherwise, our glaring sins will put us in the spotlight when we least expect or want it.

God bless!

It is difficult to follow the Lord if one is neither hot nor cold. If the word of the Lord does not stir your heart; or the concern of the Lord is not your concern, then you really have to watch out. Scripture warns us of the danger of being lukewarm — God will cast us out. There is no trying to circumvent the word of God, however good a debater you are. God does not play games. His yes is yes, and no is no.

Believing in Jesus Christ is a love relationship with Him. It is not a religious game where one gains points along the way to make it to heaven. Playing church is the biggest pitfall that will cause many to go to hell. There is no such thing as “once saved always saved” despite the teaching of some pastors. People can lose their salvation. Be warned. Read the Scriptures carefully for yourself. Do not be fooled into thinking that the way of Christ is child’s play. Believing in Jesus is easy, thus gaining salvation is easy. The devil will make it very difficult for one to keep it, he will do everything possible to “help” you lose it.

Being a lukewarm church “player” is one of the easiest ways to lose it. What is worse is that you may not even know it. You will be thinking that you are on the way up but what if the sign was upside down?

Do not be a “zombie” in following Christ. Engage in knowing Him well and serve Him in where you are called. If His word does not move you because your heart is hardened, then repent and come back to Him. Heaven is too precious to lose because of taking Him for granted. Be hot, really hot, for God.

God bless!