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.

The Life of Faith

Those with world-class doctorates should be on a trajectory of upward mobility, as one might think. It was Singapore's DPM at TTC's 70th anniversary in 2018 who mentioned my alma mater, Otago University alongside Yale University as world-class institutions with which my former College had links including joint research and doctoral supervision. But I have only experienced downward mobility despite like what Paul (if I wanted to I could boast in the flesh) said he could speak like a fool and boast. But Jesus Christ, who is with God and equal with Him chose to empty himself and became man, not just any man but humbled himself as a slave and suffered and died on the cross. There is no greater downward mobility than what we read at Philippians 2. I chose a life of faith, not just as a pastor or full-time worker but as a Christian and follower of Christ.

The Making of Books

No wonder Solomon said that making of books could be a weariness of the flesh (Eccle 12). The final week of making a book is always the toughest because one has to read the final drafts and prints. My printers had been very helpful and over the past 6 days, they printed three different copies for me until I was fully satisfied with it. Considering the budget that I have, I could do what I could do without hiring proof-readers and cover designers. I did everything myself this time until the 40th draft. Everything has to be as perfect as possible from the margins, the font size, the cover design, the front page, the preface and last but not least the back cover.

The Struggle for Truth & Justice

The struggle in the Church for truth and justice is never greater. Especially so since the pandemic struck and many churches are still slow in welcoming members back to church, vaccinated or unvaccinated. I have a feeling that a majority of vaccinated did not welcome the government's relaxation of SOPs almost two months ago. In fact, the Malaysian government announced in early April 2022 that unvaccinated could return to work with the vaccinated and there would be no restrictions whatsoever. Pastors and church leaders who claim to serve a living God are slow to respond as many unvaccinated pastors are still out of a job and are not welcome in some places. It is a struggle between light and darkness.