Children of The Light#58 St Bernard or Sherpa??(28th July 2018)

Dear…

There was a time in the 1970s when snow was a feast for the eyes for the less travelled me, where one gets to see only on the flickering black and white television screen. And one of my favorite images then was that of the St Bernard with a small cask of brandy hung on its neck. A rescue dog that not just digs out the unfortunate victims of an avalanche in the mountains of Switzerland, but provides warmth through the golden liquid held in the cask.

When our Lord moves our heart, He also moves us out of our comfort zone.

Letting go of the familiar, and not really certain of what lies ahead, is part and parcel of every inflexion point of my walk with our Lord. Wherever He has next placed me for His work, He has always brought me to a position of dependency upon Him, yet has always given me the steadfastness of faith to not just sustain, but be a blessing to others He placed in my path.

This new season that I alluded to in June in my sharing #56. It requires the letting go completely of what has defined my ministry life these past 12 years, then can I forge ahead to what our good Lord has prepared.

I have been a dutiful St Bernard these past 12 years. Not offering alcoholic spirits but pointing  brothers whose hearts have been realigned, to the sanctifying healing love of the Holy Spirit.

And once they are up and running, on I move to the next avalanche to do the same.

There lies this question. Would it not be important to ensure that the survivors of the avalanche walk the correct path going forward to avoid the same pitfalls, and also be guided to be the next rescuer of future avalanche victims?

Our Lord wants me to be more than a St Bernard. To be a Sherpa like Tenzing Norgay who guided Edmund Hillary up Mt Everest.

At this point, Festus shouted, Paul you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy

Acts 26:24

I must confess I do feel a little off. Are these thoughts just shared and the  decisions that I am making as I seek to obey our Lord, truly correct and reflective of the will of our good Lord? Or have I gone off centre with the rather radical actions that I have taken? Yet as I reflect in prayer, I take assurance that I have gone down this path twice over since God moved me from an insipid believer to a determined yet imperfect follower of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ 17 years back. If our heart is right with our Lord, He will always make a wrong right.

A recent incident where the possibility of great spiritual distress has taken away a life of a young saint has left me pondering upon our journey as a follower of Christ. The Christian road is one strewn with many challenges. It is difficult for we no longer deal with issues our way, but Godś way. And we often take on the burdens of many, yet we are finite and imperfect humans as well.

I am also reminded of a giant of our faith, who killed himself at a mature age where God has used him powerfully to minister to ex prisoners. Why did he do that? How can we overcome spiritual weariness?

For we are not fighting flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world….

Ephesians 6:12

I Am With You. A best selling modern inspirational classic(by Father John Woolley, former British hospital chaplain)  just gifted to me by a friend whom I have not met for ages. A book meant to help Christians experience the nearness of God,  in this often difficult journey of faith.

A book our dear Father has given me at this appropriate time. Both to assure me even as I struggle a little in this time of transit. And more importantly, pointing me to my new ministry.

To go into deeper relationships, journey together up the Mt Everest of faith, yet like Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, I have walked the path of faith a little earlier, and know the guiding hands of the Holy Spirit a little better. Mentor I am not, but 过来人 I am.

...put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes….

Ephesians 6:11

And together, we can help each other put on the the armour of God. And stand together in prayer and supplication, so that evil will flee from us, because we have learned to submit to the Lord our God.

To be a follower of Christ, we need to take up the cross. And walk down many paths less travelled. It can be exhausting, yet exhilarating but never overwhelming if we ground ourselves upon the Lord our God. And God knows we need fellow journeymen to encourage and be encouraged in this journey of faith, for our minds are also self deceiving.

And God always affirms if we obey His call. And just this early morning, the thought came to me that it was time to leave Blog#9 Children of The Light, and begin a new series Blog#10 The paths less travelled.

And lo and behold, as I did more than my dutiful duty as a father, cleaning my children’s room late this morning, there staring at me was a book that my daughter was reading The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck ( a 10 million bestseller).

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

What would my new season of ministry life be? I have more than an inkling and it will flesh out as He leads. . But for sure, if it is from our Lord, it will always be wonderfully fruitful.

Do pray for me. God Blesses

Children of The Light#57 Knowing YOU, knowing me(15th July 2018)

Dear…

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise.

Psalm 139:1-2

The lyrics of this Abba song ¨Knowing me, knowing you,¨ reminisces about the days of joy of a once loving relationship but now no more. And the need to move on.

Is this a reflection of the relationship many of us have with our Lord Jesus Christ?

As I reflect on my daily behavior, in the presence of our Lord, His Spirit often convicts me of the things that I have done wrong. The anger, the impatience, the lusts, the pride, the envy, the judgement, the self righteousness, the fear and a whole litany of actions, thoughts and attitudes that far from reflect Christ in my life.

Psalm 139:1-2 attests to the omnipresent and Sovereign God.

What then can possibly explain our waywardness?

• We do not believe God really exists?
• We believe He exists but thinks He is not omnipotent, so we can hide our sins from Him.
• We believe He is so loving that He will close an eyes to our transgressions or is ready to forgive without expecting any consequences from our sins
• We are just too distracted to even be concerned about His presence.

If it is none of the above, what then can possibly explain our lukewarm relationship to total disregard for our ever present Lord?

Is it because our hearts are self deceiving, and our enemy, the devil is a master of delusion and deceit.

This is a fact, and much as God recognizes the challenges we face, He has also provided us with the solution to overcome them.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

The Word of God commands us to

• Seek God always
• In His Word, in prayers, with a thankful heart and in His work

As Hebrews 4:11-12 rightly pointed out. Submission is only possible when we enter the rest of our Lord.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the Word of God is living and powerful…

Hebrews 4:11-12

This life of diligent submission of our all in the presence of our Lord brings us out of dependence upon our finite and self deceiving understanding, to one of total dependence upon the leading of the Holy Spirit. We literally spit out the sinful fruit of knowledge that Adam and Eve ate in defiance of the will of God. The hold of the devil upon man is already broken on the cross. Yet many of us cannot step out of the wide open prison gates because of the delusionary hold that the devil has on us the freed man. We can only do so when we allow the light of Godś grace and power to shine upon us by coming into His presence.

….because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

1 Timothy 2:13

Most of us live in the natural world much as there is a spiritual realm.

God is Spirit. We know Him not through the natural senses, but through our spirit man.

The communion with the Lord our God can only come from Him. But that only happens if we are willing to seek Him.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

          1 Timothy 4:1

On a similar vein, what we often attribute as emotional behavior are the undue influence of evil spirits at work. Be it anger, pride, envy, lusts and whatever that moves us away from our Lord.

But the devil will never manifest itself to us in its true form, for such delusions work well when we look upon it with our finite understanding, without realizing the machinations of the evil spiritual forces behind it. The devil only manifest itself in times of desperation, when it knows that its lies and deceit no longer works on us, and a more visual unveiling of its grotesqueness may hopefully bring us back to its fold. And let me share a recent experience a week back.

By the grace of God, at 10.30pm every night,  my senses like clockwork, always start to go into drowse mode, and I have no issue having a peaceful uninterrupted sleep.

But last night was one of those rare occasions that I went to bed a mite later at 11.10pm, having engaged my son on the merits and pitfalls of collecting expensive timepieces, a new interest amongst his friends.

Counting sheep is a myth at least for me. But experiencing manifestations of evil presences is a fact I have had the privilege of, though thankfully from the perspective of a fearful man, its few and far in between.

Last night was one that tried as I would, I could not sleep. And in the midst of a keenly awaken mind, in the still of the night when the rest of the family was fast asleep, I sensed a familiar approaching force, that raises the goose pimples and evokes the foreboding of fear.

Not new, as I have experienced it for a continuous period of 2 weeks while serving in the military years back, and once in my previous abode, after sharing the gospel with a committed non Christian. A force that tries to encapsulate oneś physical being, and pure human efforts on our part to push it away is impossible. Our natural voice emits no sound much as one tries But in that straitjacket oppression, much as I know about Christ yet did not really know Him, in my desperation, in calling upon Him with all my might from the heart, the oppression was lifted as the unseen but very real evil presence left me.

Last night the presence was the same. But my response was different.

When the evil one seeks to manifest itself upon the faithful, it is a sign of desperation on its part.

The subtle undue influences that many of us do not associate with sin and evil spiritual  influences be it the spirit of anger, pride, lusts, fear, impatience, greed….works best on us when we look at it as mere emotional characterization, rather than a devilish leading.

But when the devil knows that we have looked beyond its delusions, in its desperation, it will go on a no holds barred attempt to bring us back into its subjugation.

Christ called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness

Matthew 10:1

With hindsight experience, and imperfect as I am, I know I am a child of God, and I have the power to call on the name of Christ to drive out evil spirits. And this I did and the approaching sense of foreboding left me and the peace of Christ returned to me.

Sleep I still could not but instead of the unsettled tossing, I took the time to pray and reflect upon events of the past few weeks. I asked the Lord to show me my imperfections, and His purposes for me, even as He brings me to a new season in my life. A new season that has unsettled the evil one.

And there is no creature hidden from His sight…….

Hebrews 4:13

Indeed God knows us. And in knowing Him. We learn to come to Him always, no matter how compelling it is for our finite self to want to deal with what is immediate, on our own strength and understanding.

God Blesses

Eng Hieang

Children of The Light#56 This is my Fatherś world (19th June 2018)

Dear…

Last Sunday being Fatherś Day, the hymn sung by the congregation at service that evening was This is my Fatherś World.

What was special for me today was that our good Lord led my fingers to this particular hymn, at the flip of the Hymnal, even before I was aware that it would be the song to be sung.

Indeed God is omnipresent. A truth that all who seek after Him has and continues to experience in our journey on Earth. And how apt the final two lines of this hymn

In the rustling grass, I hear him pass

He speaks to me everywhere

   (Hymn : This is my Fatherś World)

It has been 17 years since I followed our Lordś leading to put in the public forum, my journey of following our Lord Jesus Christ.

Six ring files worth of words that our Lord has authored, using me as His pen.

As I revisited some of the testimonies recorded, as well as events and lives of friends and families documented in the footpaths of faith that God has led us to, beyond the nostalgia was this underlying truth

1. God is faithful, much as we often struggle to be.

     2. The plans of God are always good for us, much as we might not fully comprehend the

seemingly difficult circumstances we often find ourselves in for that moment.

For we are Godś workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God

prepared in advance for us to do.

                 Ephesians 2:10

      3. God never gives up on His love and purpose for our lives(Daily Bread 18June2018)

 

           He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ

Jesus

Philippians 1:6

As of today, I have discarded most of the hard copy record of my past 17 years. Not because I want to forget the past, but rather, I have now put most of it online.

Yet more importantly, the past is an affirmation of the present as well as the future, for God transcends time.

That each and every day of our lives, if we let Him, God will lead us on the wonderful path of life that He has already set for us.

You have made known to me the paths of life, You will fill me with joy in Your presence.

Acts 2:28

And on discards,

Last month was the third time that I found myself involved in an outreach group with the aged.

The previous two were with the recovered patients of leprosy. This time was simply with the aged.

Aging like death is inevitable till Christ returns, but a truth most of us will only acknowledge when circumstances are forced upon us, be it Father Time has caught up with us or an illness or something untoward derail us from our continued pounding on the treadmill of life.

I felt a little troubled during this visit.. Troubled because i met at least 5 men in this Home who by virtue of age should not be there till maybe a decade later at the earliest.

They were about my age. But stroke or some other decapacitating illness had befallen them and much as the face might not as yet display the full ravages of natural aging, the bodily functions had a premature shutdown.

How many more walking timebombs are out there, in their 30s to 50s?

Is this preventable?

In Japan, the aged seems pretty sprightly, at least those who do not work in Corporate Japan.

Fairly mobile which is especially needed in the 160 square feet shoebox apartments that houses most of these old folks who in the main live by themselves.

Looking at the rather immobile lot this morning, be it with the aid of walking devices or wheelchairs, I wonder with the trend towards the Singapore version of shoeboxes, albeit 400 sq ft to 600 sq ft, in our general housing, has anyone thought about ease of mobility within such confined spaces using such mobility aids?

He said, If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, Who heals you.

1 Timothy 4:8

An even more fundamental question that crossed my heart is this - can we as a society age gracefully and negate most of the ill health that seems to struck many of the aged in Singapore?

Is this the direct result of living a life that seeks after everything except the One and only Sovereign God?

Must most end up as discarded widgets from the factory of life, a solitary drooping shadow of a once vibrant individual, bedridden or ensconced in a wheelchair staring into nothingness?

And on more discards

As I approach my 57th year on Earth, I know that I am blessed to have a wonderful past 17 years of joy and peace, resting and abiding in the presence of our Lord.

And even more as I believe He is bringing me to a new season in His service, even as I begin to let go of the ministry fields that He has allowed me to serve in all these years.

Much as I know God will continue to provide the same joy and peace till He takes me home or till Christ returns, it is my prayer that you will also partake in this same experience that He has offered to all who believe and are willing to follow.

The seasons of our life will change, but Godś love for us remains steadfast.

God Blesses

Eng Hieang

20 June 2018

Children of The Light#55 Answered Prayers (5th May 2018)

Dear

And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him.

1 John 5:14

Is it not wonderful that God always answers prayers asked in His will.

Unanswered prayers, it is more the norm amongst believers and many suffer a crisis of faith when this happens for God did not grant them their wishes. But will leave this examination of why and why not to another discussion if the Spirit of our good Lord so leads.

The thought just came to me this morning. What about answered prayers?  That we might not be aware that it is and even if we are, we are not exactly over the moon with Godś response.

My dear brother SK and I was mulling over in a lighthearted manner the two purple hearts that I have collected these past 17 years of seeking to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.

Purple Heart is the oldest military honor given to those who dies or is wounded in action while serving in the US military.

Like all who seek to be like Christ, in taking up the cross, bruises and wounds will be part and parcel of our refinement. And with it, God always have a teaching moment for us, as He transforms the imperfect but willing us. But purple hearts, that is a badge we wear on our body permanently. A thorn in the flesh?

Yesterday, I visited the Singapore National Eye Clinic(SNEC) for a more detailed examination.

This was a follow up to the visit the day before at  the Specialist Eye Clinic housed at the Alexandra Hospital(AH).

This in itself the grace of our good Lord is working.  For I had the privilege of being one of AHś last few eye patients, as they are in the midst of shutting down the clinic and moving on to the new Seng Kang Hospital. AH, a place I have never been to, yet very near my neighborhood most of my life. A lovely place. A rare colonial era, but well renovated hospital.

A once in a lifetime opportunity to smell the flowers.

Troubles might not go away, but God is truly always with us.

The diagnosis at AH was mild cataract, a natural result of the aging process.

What worried the doctor, whose surname happens to be the same as mine, was a black spot they saw in the test results. While we might not be grateful for such unknowns, thank God for a concerned doctor. So by His grace, an immediate appointment was arranged for me to see another specialist at the SNEC first thing the next morning.

For those who are well aware, it is near impossible to have such a quick appointment made available in the public sector, nor even in the private medical services.

My wife rightly pointed out that it must be serious for this expedited process.

But rather than focus on this possibility, I thank God for the smoothness of process in this journey.

Thanks be to God. The prognosis with the 2nd specialist, turned out to be very acceptable by our finite human understanding. The jelly in my eyes are collapsing, a direct result of aging and my high myopism. That explains it as of now, and the fear that my first doctor had on the possibility of a brain tumor is put to rest, for now.

Would I still be as convicted of my faith if the prognosis had turned out to be a lot worse?

Yes I honestly believe I will, much as being the finite human being, I will struggle with the concerns of what it entails. But I will not doubt the Sovereignty of God nor His plans for me.

And it is not because like Peter who thinks he is prepared on his own strength only to be called short by the crow of the cockerel. But rather I know that God will always prepare us before He brings us to the next level of faith. But we must be prepared to let Him bring us across and move boldly forth the next step.

This confidence stems not from pride but through the experience of collecting my first purple heart  back in September 2011. I now carry with me a more purified heart(prayerfully both spiritual and physical), but one with a 40% blockage at the main artery leading to my left aorta.

A widow maker, this condition is so termed amongst the medical fraternity, for if there is ever a disruption of blood flow, there will be no stroke, but rather, a direct path to Heaven or Hell.

It was by the grace of God that I discovered this roadblock in my heart. And much as I believed I have seek to be a true follower of Christ for the past 11 years before this discovery, there was never a resentment as to why does our good Lord allow this to happen.

But rather a grateful and thankful heart that by His Divine intervention, He alerted me to the situation. And by His grace, it is a fine precarious situation, not suffice to necessitate an operation, but enough to put me in perspective as to what truly matters in oneś finite life.

Three months’ later, our good Lord led me to a new season in my life. A season that is challenging yet wonderful. And having clear cognizance of the brevity of life, truly helps me to look beyond the temporal and help me stay the course in His service. This was my first purple heart.

And so, back to this morning, as I was listening to our esteem speaker share about his journey as a man in Christ, our good Lord gave me clarity as to my second purple heart.

He knows my heart is to live a life that honors Him. But many a time, we do things we should not do, much as we are well aware of the sin.

God has a great sense of prescience and wit. Just this same early morning, the Daily Bread reading was on how the author felt that his imperfections make him reticent about being a good Christian role model. This was exactly the same sense of guilt I felt for doing things I should not do just the night before.

And for double measure, a dear brother who I have not seen for some time admonished with love, my less than Christian like driving habit witnessed by him. Out of Church and the devil seeks to take over.

Just last month, at the Menś Breakthrough Retreat, where men felt comfortable to share their darkest secrets with fellow brothers, for God already knows what they are. But in being honest with each other, it not just brings relationships amongst brothers in Christ to an authentic level, but it removes whatever is hindering us from being fully used by the Spirit of God for His glory.

And for most men, lust of the eyes always rank top of the agenda of inner sins.

Our good Lord reminded me this morning, with the permanent though mild haze on my right eye, it will definitely help ameliorate this habitual old prepondency to gaze after things that one should not. Just like the slowness of my heart(from medication) now has helped me to be slow to anger and lust. What a good man cannot do, God will make possible

And so in closing, God knows our hearts. And imperfect as it will be, He sees the core desire in us to seek to be after Him. And He will answer our prayers. And much as it might not be the way nor timing that we had imagined it will be, do sit back, rest in Him and enjoy this wonderful new journey He has now led you to.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

God Blesses

Eng Hieang

(5th May 2018)

Note

An interestingly, God send an witness to my actual presence in SNEC

A fellow brother who I have never met, but who knew who I was, by virtue of having seen me in Church at the 7.30am service, saw me at SNEC, for he was there for his annual eye checkup.

I have the privilege of meeting this brother this morning, day after my SNEC visit and that is how he told me he saw me, in contemplative prayer at SNEC. Or maybe I was just taking a doze. Coincidences or rather Godś affirmations are the majority of situations in our journey of life, when we follow Christ.