Book Sale: August Special Offer

For today to the end of August 2022 I am offering my books on special price inclusive of postage throughout Malaysia for RM40.00 each. For those in Singapore it will be SGD 15 per copy plus SGD10 postage. Please note postage to Singapore costs more than SGD10 per copy but it is sale and promotion time valid only for the month of August. If you order more than one copy then postage will be reduced accordingly. For my Song of Songs’ commentary, I would say you won’t find in in many commentaries that both Hebrew and Greek LXX are given equal facilitation and exegesis and interpretations are often based on why LXX of the Song differs from the Hebrew and the significance of the Greek text.

Itching for Action: Gospel in Galatians

After the excitement of late June and early July when I preached three times from Sunday to Sunday and taught a 5 day intensive class, I experienced a lull of several weeks of inactivity. Only a few days ago I started again to write the Galatians commentary and when I edited this morning I felt a sense of happiness with what I had written. It is just 43 pages and I hope to reach at least 100 pages in total.

"Preserve me, O Lord" (Psalm 16:1)

"Preserve me, O Lord for in Thee do I put my trust" (Psalm 16:1). Today I want to remember Thy goodness, O Lord. For there is nothing good in me apart from Thee and I know it full well. Only You can preserve me from all harm and prevent me from going into the pit. For You have sent Your Word and healed me and has not allowed my feet to slip but stand in Your grace. Only Your Holy Spirit strengthens me, for I have no strength except in Thee, O Lord.

From Priest to Prophet

Jeremiah and Ezekiel would be among the priests who could not serve in the Temple for one reason or another, but at the end, God called them to be His prophets. They lived in momentous times in the history of Israel. For almost 25 years Jeremiah prophesied of the coming destruction but no one seemed to listen until Babylon arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. Ezekiel was taken into exile and for many years the exiles had their hopes of an early return but to no avail. Ezekiel prophesied to them before, during and after the destruction of the Temple.

A lament: Forging Ahead

The show goes on for most people without asking “is the Lord amongst us?” No wonder Malachi the prophet cried out that the doors of the Temple might be closed! It is religious services aplenty without heart and soul. People’s hearts are far from the Lord and their worship is by rote and man’s commandments but there is little of the love of God. The righteous perishes and no one takes it to heart (Psalm 12). I remember my last acts as pastor last September that I was right in the midst of the Flood story of Genesis 6-10. Twice when Noah was introduced he is said to be the only righteous man living on the earth. The rest ignored God and only Noah walked with God. He was the only righteous man among his contemporaries.

Sickness & Health

I am certainly not a health gospel proponent. With Paul saying how much bodily weaknesses he had had to experience and endure to the chagrin of some of the apostle’s opponents who saw Paul as weak, sickly and one with not a great deal of charisma (2 Cor 12). Yet no one who reads Paul would not think Paul as a healthy and robust person, having to walk hundreds of miles, across mountains and valleys and sailed from sea to sea. My one hour ferry trip to Pulau Banggi in Oct 2019 was enough to give me a few night mares of sea-sickness which I experienced, even a short journey from Singapore to Bintan (1.2 hours).

Who has believed our Report? (Isaiah 53:1)

In 8 minutes before the sermon I had the opportunity to share what God was doing in the world. Remarkably as I experienced two Sundays ago, the elder asked me to give a word of the Lord before he preached. After the sermon I conducted the Lord's communion as an ordained minister of the Gospel. It is better to trust in the Lord than in princes. It seems as the Lord leads I visit churches by the will of the Lord and become a blessing to the church gathered in Jesus' Name.

Publication & Writing

After three weeks of preparation for publication of my revised version of the commentary on the Song of Songs and also lectures on Johannine literature in Ranau the whole of last week and then preaching last Sunday in Kota Kinabalu, I had restarted my writing on the Galatians' commentary. Getting one book out in the market is a Herculean effort with much sweat and hard work. It is like preaching 10 weeks in a row which I don't remember ever doing.

Song of Songs & Wisdom

Jesus said that He would send, "prophets, wise men and scribes" (Matthew 23:34). Sometimes scholars and writers get a bad press among some circles of Christians. There is still an anti-intellectual movement around just as there are groups that are over-intellectual in their approach to faith. 

As in the book of Daniel, it is the "wise men" that would bring many to righteousness and it is the wise ones who will make it through the End-times. God-given wisdom is very much lacking in church today. There are many highly educated people in the non-theological fields as well as many doctorates in theology and ministry. But godly and heavenly wisdom is for those who fear God and truly love His Word. 

A Missional Church

My work is a labour of faith for the edification of the church of Jesus Christ. Yesterday at least 10 people came up to me after the sermon and thanked me. A few more greeted me outside the church doors (the church is located in one of the KK's Malls). I preached on the given text from Acts 11:19-26 on the "Missional Church". It was not just a history lesson of the church in Acts 2,000 years ago, but through the Spirit we could bring to bear what the Lord has to say to his church today for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10). 

"When God Opens the Door, no one can shut"

It's been a whirlwind week, literally and figuratively. I preached two Sundays in a row and taught a 5-day intensive class in between. I drove up to Ranau the Sunday before, hoping to stop by some SIB church for worship before continuing my journey to Namaus, Ranau where the College is located. I stopped just before the ascent to Mount Kinabalu at Tamparuli and it was my first time in the church. Lo and behold, two songs before the sermon, the pastor came over to me and said that I would be taking his place for preaching and with a few seconds' pause I had agreed to his request. So I ascended to the pulpit with about 5 minutes' preparation in my heart and spirit and I preached not a bad sermon given the circumstances. Several church leaders came up to me and said they would like to invite me back for ministry.

Concise Commentary on the Song of Songs

After more than a year of revising the first edition, I am pleased to announce that my commentary on the Song of Songs has been published. I sold 8 copies in Ranau, not a whole lot but I am glad that at least a few of the students knew English and the College also bought several copies for the library. I have added about 20 pages and more than 50 footnotes compared to the first edition with a total of 105 footnotes taking into account a few recent commentaries and monographs on the Song plus the Lexham English Septuagint which I purchased from Amazon early this year. It has been an arduous journey, writing, revising, and re-writing even on a computer I felt I had spent all my energy getting the book out before the first half of the year is up and praise be to God that I was handed the first 30 copies just the day before I left for Ranau last Sunday.

Mission Trip

When the Principal of the Bible College that invited me to teach an intensive course on Johannine literature asked me how I felt about returning to the Campus after 2 years, I told him that I took it as a mission trip. In fact, I stayed in the same house I stayed for two years called the Maroon house, next to the Hostel. But the same problems persisted like there was no running water the next day after my arrival last Sunday until I left this morning. It was a trial but I persevered as someone fighting in a war. When you are on a mission, you make do with what you have and never complained. I only asked the student to fetch me water on the last day of lectures as all my water containers were all dry.