Short Stay in Singapore

By the grace of God, I returned to Sabah in good health after a short stay in Singapore. I was entertained by angels, God's messengers who helped his Servant who is devoted to Him. Even to the very last day, friends sought me out and I had an Italian lunch at the Central Business District before heading to the Airport. All in all a worthwhile trip with 12 boxes of books shipped back to Kota Kinabalu. I met a former classmate (Secondary 1) whom I had not seen for 43 years and we were overjoyed to be reconnected and he took me round my former School, St Patrick's Katong.

Rest in the Eye of a Storm

A few of my friends in Malaysia and Singapore were beginning to wonder why I was going to Singapore, as if going into the eye of the storm. I fear not as the Lord promises to be with me when I am on mission (Matt 28:19-20). But above all, I am going to Singapore for a rest, though I may be preaching at a couple of places there as well. Yesterday, I preached twice in consecutive weeks. The former pastor refused to preach in two consecutive services and I can fully understand why. I only had a bun between services and sat in a sofa for about 10 minutes before getting back to the 2nd service which had already started. Most church members only see their pastor during Sunday and I have to make myself available to them despite preaching twice.

Commentary 3 Years in the Making

I just came across my old blogpost dated November 2017 where I wrote about my commentary progress and at that time I had reached John 4 and somewhat delayed as I had to speak in a number of Christmas services throughout the State that December 2017. Not only I flew to LABUAN but also to Sandakan for Christmas but the commentary did not stop but continued until I finished it on New Year’s Day 2020 and last Saturday on the last day of the Lunar New Year (full moon) I received my first copies from my printers with absolute joy to see the actual book in my hand.

John's Gospel, A Commentary (John 1-12)

"A desire fulfilled is a tree of life" (Proverbs). I have not felt such joy for a long time. It was a second Pentecost for me. After 50 days since the publication of my memoirs (19th December 2019), the commentary on the Gospel of John (1-12) is finally here. I have read and proof-read the manuscript countless times in the past months, but it is not the same as looking at it in a book form. What is written stays written and when it is written in a book, it lasts forever, as long as the form of this world remains, though the world (and all books) passes away since only those who do the will of God lasts forever.

Printers & Publishers

God willing, I am going to receive a big Ang Pau in the form of 10 advance copies of my book, Tafsiran Injil Yohanes (John’s Gospel commentary) from my printers tomorrow, being the last day of the Lunar New Year, Chap Goh Mei. I am taking my cousin and her family to dinner to celebrate the end of CNY and hopefully show her my new book. I don’t know whether she remembers much of Malay because she left Malaysia during her Primary school years and now holds a doctorate in French literature. I thought I should reconnect after we met about a year ago before they return to France in July. Publishing a book in Sabah is quite a challenge. My book titled Departure Points which came out just before Christmas 2019 has one of the most reputable publishers in the State but that means it adds costs to the whole process. But to save money on my John’s commentary, I will self publish and engage a printing company that will print 1,000 copies of my book. The formatting and proof-reading process has taken exactly 5 weeks.

Process of Publishing a Book

Brexit is done and my book is done. Altogether it has taken me five months to bring into completion two books which I wrote some years back. For Departure Points I spent about two and a half months editing, arranging the photos, proof-reading (Sept-mid Nov 2019). As soon as I finished that, I moved on to completing the Gospel of John (1-12) in Malay and that took another 2 months and this time in proof-reading as the book is purely text with no photos except the cover. For me, to put the price of my book at RM50.00 is cheap, not just the labour that went into getting it published but the years of writing and the skills and knowledge that go into producing a quality book. But I will let my readers judge except that I am encouraged to note that one reader had given me high marks on my Malay commentary on John.

2 Books in 2 Months in 2020

Would anyone now blame Boris Johnson for not delivering Brexit on 31st October 2019? In fact, it was a mark of his leadership that he insisted that it should not go beyond 31st October to get most things done by such date and at the end, the landslide Election on 12th December delivered Brexit which is now ratified by the European Parliament. As for me, I had planned for my 2nd book to be published by 2nd February which to me is one of the most beautiful dates, however one writes it, 02022020.

Borne by Cherubim & Seraphim

If I ever needed assurance of God's presence, it was yesterday. After 36 hours of extreme pain, I did not think I could even settle myself down to preach yesterday. Thank God that it was a combined service and not two services as some members returned to their villages for the Lunar New Year holidays whether they are ethnic Chinese or not. The Scripture is true that as we are afflicted and as we suffer, we are also comforted and consoled. I did not have a single day break for the Chinese New Year except that I missed the Friday night's prayer meeting for the reunion dinner. The first day of the New Year was given to relaxation and after breakfast I actually bumped into a couple of lion troupes and witnessed some incredible lion dance. I put into my Status Update that at least this kind of lion does not bite, not like some human beings who bite with their tongues filled with deceit, trickery and violence. "Deliver me from lying lips, O Lord".

Year of the Rat

It was deja vu. As I started my pastorate 17 years ago in my church, the SARS epidemic was about to break into the scene and I remembered praying with my church staff for 2 months and SARS never came to Sabah. Now the Year of the Rat ushered in a new virus originated from Wuhan. It was particularly worrying for Sabahans as there are direct flights between KK and Wuhan. Only last Thursday due to the Chinese government action, all flights were stopped. Why did Sabah state government not acted earlier was beyond me? But we prayed from a fortnight ago. Yesterday was prayer meeting but because of the reunion dinner, I skipped the prayer meeting but my spirit was present with the intercessors.

3rd Book in 3 Weeks

I trust in the Lord that in less than 3 weeks’ time, my 3rd book will be out. I plan to launch the book on 02.02.2020 which is rather an auspicious date I reckon, almost a chiastic form with the zeros and twos. It will be a Herculean task to get it done just after Chinese New Year as the printers are working over time to meet deadlines before the Lunar New Year in less than 10 days’ time. Since I am printing this time locally in Kota Kinabalu, there is very chance I can get the books ready on 1st February 2020 for then to be sold on Sunday, 02.02.2020. It will be my first book in Malay after my two books in English.

Ten-Year Vision

This is the beginning of a new decade. Last Sunday I challenged my congregations to set goals or dreams for not only the year, 2020 but the whole decade until the end of 2029 or 2030. I have been thinking and praying myself. What are my goals for 2030? When I watched several of Robert Alter’s lectures and interviews, I have this dream of re-learning Hebrew and I hope to read the entire Hebrew Bible/OT in Hebrew in the next ten years. I can’t wait to have my lexicons and commentaries back with me next month. Most of my Hebrew and Greek texts are in Singapore but I am bringing them back with you in 6 weeks’ time. Then I could start my odyssey of Bible reading, going through the Hebrew text from Genesis to 2Chronicles. I will even follow the Jewish chronology of books, from beginning to end. Is it an end to itself? Yes and no. No, because in my next decade from 2030 to 2040 I will translate the whole Bible into Malay like what Alter did for the Hebrew Bible.