A Miraculous Life

I wrote to someone dear to my heart this morning and said, "Call upon Jesus and if your life is right with God, you will see miracles...." And I have more than 30 years of experience to prove this. I remember well when I was pursuing my first theological degree, my New Testament lecturer called me "the miracle man". He repeated that several times in the course of the Semester. I knew he was only half serious and betraying the wry sense of kiwi humour. Even though it was spoken almost in jest I knew that it was not me for there is nothing good in me but that I serve a miracle working God. The NT lecturer was surprised how I managed to convince the Dean to allow me into his Romans class a second year course without first completing introduction to the NT, a first year course. And also how I was exempted from introduction to the Old Testament and substituted that with Hebrew instead.

100 Days & Decision Time

I had a wonderful lunch meeting with a Baptist pastor on 19th January and he was probably the second person whom I told that come June, I will be moving on. When he mentioned to me several ministry opportunities, I told him that I would wait for 40 days before taking action but now after 100 days, I have yet to do anything but still waiting and praying. Anyhow, I know in the spirit that decision time is nigh (Bukit Timah at dawn).

Blown by the Wings of the Wind

I thought perhaps I should use "borne along" but today I was blown by the wings of the wind from early morning to early evening. I did not get much sleep last night not because this morning I delivered my final lectures at TTC to a willing and appreciative audience but because I received an email from a far country that conjured up mixed feelings. "Though I often speak against him yet my heart is turned and my compassion stirred for children bent on going astray yet loved by me, saith the Lord." All 8 students present today except one chose to do the course out of interest and eagerness to learn about Revelation. Even the one MMin student wrote in bahasa the most complimentary remarks in the farewell and thank you card.

The Big Three in New Testament Theology

As soon as I thought of the big 3, tbe number 4 comes to mind. If you have the choice to pick the three most important books of the NT, what would that be? 18 months ago, knowing that my term of service could be ending this June, I had plenty of time to ponder what I wanted to teach for the next 3 Semesters. When I was in New Zealand in Dec 2012 visiting my son, I spent most mornings at Otago University central library reading on monographs and commentaries on John's Gospel which I duly taught from Jan to May 13. Then came the 2nd most important book, Paul's letter to the Romans and I appreciated one student's comment that it got better as the course went on from July to Nov 13. In the last 7 or 8 lectures I wrote Paul's theology every week from ch. 7 onwards. Some notes ran up to 4,000 words, an essay in itself. And finally, it has to be the book of Revelation.

John Sung's Lasting Legacy

If you are in your late forties or early fifties and you are still not thinking about your legacy, you are probably withering away in worldly pursuits that have no lasting impact. This afternoon we had a most enlightening faculty colloquium on John Sung's legacy, especially Sung's emphasis on holiness. It has been a while since I heard a paper or sermon on the topic of holiness, so it was a good reminder that without holiness no one will see the Lord. Personal holiness in terms of confessing of daily sins, repentance, self examination and complete honesty before God are attributes and actions of a disciple of Christ. John Sung attacked sin and hyprocrisy with great severity and many were moved to tears confessing their sins and asking for the filling of the Holy Spirit. John Sung would pray for hours and days before conducting revival meetings and night meetings could last up to the early hours of the morning because Sung would pray for each and everyone who came forward to confess their sins and those who sought after a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.

Mexican Delight & Family Group

Today was a day of good-byes and farewell lunches. I bid farewell to my Family Group with lunch at Chinatown. It was Mexican delight and later we enjoyed more fellowship over latte and cappuccino across the street. My FG members were a supportive lot and a great bunch with much laughter over Bible study on the book of Nehemiah (we only reached ch. 6 after 10 weeks or so).

Teaching New Testament: The Finale

Today was one of those days. I woke up at 1.30 am to thank the Lord. Midnight 23rd April 1982 until the early hours of 24th April 1982 I encountered Jesus Christ in my room at Ilam-flats, University of Canterbury. "At midnight I rise to give thanks to You, O Lord." "Thank you, Jesus" I murmured to myself and fell back to sleep. But at 4.30am I was up again this time to prepare for my last NT 2 class for the Semester, in fact the last lectures of the academic year begun in July 2013. The class took some time to warm up but by the time I surveyed the whole book of Revelation in about 40 minutes, I felt the class warmed to me and numerous questions were asked before we went for the break at 10am. We returned at 10:25am after talking about Hebrew and Greek ancient manuscripts over coffee and I gave them a hand-out of the preface of Nicholas King's The Prophets based on the LXX. By the time I spoke about the 7 churches of Rev 2-3, I had little time left for anything else. A few more questions were raised and the class ended as the bell rang at 11:20am.

"I went in to anoint the city" (LXX Ezek 43:3)

I try reading a passage from the Septuagint everyday and now with the arrival of Nicholas King's The Prophets (2013) based on the Septuagint I have further impetus to read the Greek OT alongside the New English Translation (NET) Greek OT (2007). In Ezekiel 43:3, instead of the Hebrew MT, "he came to destroy the city", we have in the LXX, "I went in to anoint the city".

Preaching Season Ends

I had waited for this day for a long time, almost 7 months ago when I surveyed my preaching schedule for 2013-2014. Since early September last year until today, I had preached about 35 sermons, spoke at a Leaders' Retreat and conducted 3 Revelation seminars in the last 3 months. This load would be more than double I normally do every year but this is my 6th year and in 2 months' time I shall be entering my sabbatical year, 7th year and also my Jubilee, hitting the magical figure of half a century. What a wonderful God. I have managed to preach my last sermon for the season on Ressurection Sunday today!

False Prophets & False Teachers

I lectured on 2 Peter last Thursday and on Rev 13,11-18 yesterday in my Revelation class. As there were false prophets now there are false teachers among you, says apostle Peter. In these Petrine audiences perhaps not many claimed to be prophets or that they had the gift of prophecy but nevertheless false teachers were a problem among them. False teachers are those who falsely interpret traditions or God's Word as Peter claimed that they were those who misinterpreted Paul's teachings as they twisted other Scriptures. It is not surprising today many such false teachings have arisen due to a wrong reading of Paul and other NT texts. Some claim that there is now no need for confession of sins or perhaps even repentance since Christ's death has forgiven us of our sins, past, present and future. There is some truth in this as many errors are a mixture of truth and falsehood. That Christ has died of our sins does not mean that now we are less inclined to sin since we are still living in these fleshly bodies and we are not immune to temptations and if we yield then we sin. Just as John writes, if we sin we have an Advocate and if we confess our sins then he is just and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us of our unrighteousness (1John).

Blessed Passover: Blood Moon Rising

At sunset today we will celebrate the Jewish Feast of Passover. As the Feast days for Passover and Tabernacles fall on the 15th of the month, it will be full moon, only that this year there will be not one but two consecutive lunar eclipses on Passover and later on 8th October, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. There will be a red moon rising (see this article from Melbourne Age here). How tragic and ironic it is that most Christians don't celebrate Passover until this Friday, 18th April. The problem started in the early 3rd century when a part of Church wanted to break away from all things Jewish and began to invent another date for the Passover/Good Friday. Interestingly, Jesus died on the Jewish Feast of the Passover in 29/30 AD and the Holy Spirit was poured on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost 50 days later.