I go to prepare a place for you

Today's passage

Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you.
I am going to prepare a place for you.
If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
John 14:1 – 3  World English Bible

This post is written in remembrance of the passing away of my mother one and a half years ago on 01Jan2023.

I began writing these notes on Fri 30Dec2022, two days before she died, as I pondered over the Providence of God during difficult and worrisome circumstances, trying to come to terms with the fact that my critically ill mother was near the end of her life, but not knowing that she would breathe her last, two days later.

I go prepare a place for you

As much as our Lord Iesus the Anointed One has gone to his Father's house to prepare a place for us, I have come to realise that the Lord also prepares places for us to take refuge as we sojourn in this world each day of our lives.

Five years ago, my mother broke her legs when she fell down, first her right leg in May2016, then again her left leg in April 2017. She couldn't walk after surgery, had to be wheel chair bound, and cared for in a nursing home.

However, after a few months, the nursing home, Kinta Medical Centre, discharged her with 24 hours notice because of her disruptive behaviour. I was put in a quandary because I was unable to care for her at home.

Thu 26Oct2017

The Lord prepared a place for my mother at a another nursing home, Jln Bunga Raya, just one day after she was kicked out of Kinta Medical Centre.

This new centre, recommended by our visiting psychiatrist, was in an old neighbourhood in Pasir Pinji, along Jln Bunga Raya, a road that we were not familiar with. We would have been lost that Wednesday afternoon under such pressing circumstance, having to look for the nursing home in a strange place at very short notice.

However, the Lord had prepared us beforehand by leading us to Jalan Bunga Raya by chance a few days earlier as we were driving towards Station 18.

The name of the road rang a bell because an old classmate from Form 1, Anglo-Chinese School Lahat Rd, stayed at house no. 151 Jln Bunga Raya in 1972. That day, we drove along the entire stretch of road trying to find my classmates old house but somehow missed it.

So a few days later, when psychiatrist Dr Gurmit asked us to go to the nursing home at Jalan Bunga Raya on Wed 25Oct2017, we already knew the way!

Fast forward — five years have passed, with my wheelchair bound mother under the care of this nursing home, now called Lotus Care Centre

Sat 17Dec22

The Lord prepared a place for my mother in Ward 5B at Ipoh Hospital.

Earlier that Saturday morning, my mother was sent to the Emergency Dept of Ipoh Hospital for severe shortness of breath, gasping for air. She was triaged into the Red Zone as a critical patient.

At that time the Ipoh Hospital Emergency Dept was badly overcrowded and it took a long time for doctors to attend to her.

The next day, her condition being somewhat stabilised, she was transferred to the Enhanced Care Ward in the Yellow Zone. The medical wards upstairs were full and there were no vacant beds to admit my mother.

The Lord sent my classmate's daughter who is a Medical Officer in the hospital to visit my mother and managed to find a bed for her in Ward 5B upstairs.

Thankfully, she was transferred to Ward 5B that night of Sun 18Dec22, where more specific treatment of her condition, initially diagnosed as acute kidney injury and sepsis secondary to pneumonia and dehydration, could be carried out.

She was discharged from Ward 5B on Thu 22Dec22, but admitted to Emergency for shortness of breath again the next day!

Fri 23Dec22

The Lord prepared a place for my mother at Bed 4 of Cardiology Ward.

She was discharged from Cardiology Ward on Tue 27Dec22, but again had to be transported back to Emergency for Shortness Of Breath the next day . . .

Wed 28Dec22

The Lord prepared a place for me at my anxious moments.

• The Lord prepared a place for available time in Pastor's busy schedule to accommodate my sudden and somewhat untimely call for help.
• The Lord prepared a train ticket for her to come over to Ipoh that afternoon when she was unwell and couldn't drive.
• The Lord prepared a vacant parking lot at the busy road outside the Ipoh Railway Station while waiting for Pastor to arrive.
• Later, the Lord prepared a vacant lot for my car at the crowded car park in front of the Emergency Dept.

Thu 29Dec22

The Lord prepared a place for my mother at the Palliative Care Unit.

Finally, the Lord prepared a place for my mother to rest at the Palliative Care Unit where she spent the last four days of her life.

Today, I believe that the Lord has prepared one more place for my mother —

• a place where she no longer has to suffer
• a place where there is neither illness nor hunger nor pain.
• a place where heart soul is free from all troubles

"Let not your hearts be troubled," says our Lord, "you believe in God, believe in also in me, in my Father's house are many mansions, I go to prepare for you"

I believe the Lord Jesus has prepared a final resting place for my mother.

May her soul rest in peace.

Nine days of waiting

Monday 19Sep22 was a happy day.

TM Unifi Optical fibre broadband was installed in my house. I looked forward to using this high speed broadband internet facility with unlimited data.

Over the next couple of days, a TV Box was installed, and I was able to watch online streaming videos and news broadcasts on my old TV.

Then suddenly on Thursday, the Optical fibre cable to the BTU/ONU* was damaged by my shifting the router and ONU nearer to the doorway of the room. Internet was disconnected.

*BTU : Broadband Termination Unit, *ONU: Optical Network Unit

From Thursday to Saturday, I contacted TM Unifi and also the installation contractor several times for repairs.

After repeated delays, finally, five days after initial installation, on *Sat 24Sep22* the installation contractor came to repair broken section of optical cable

Barely a week later, on *Fri 30Sep22*, partly because of my rearranging the coil of optical cable behind the table, and unbeknownst to me at that time, there was also a fault at the external distribution point (a black box fixed on a pole behind my house), internet was disconnected again.

My heart sank.

I couldn't make myself go through the pain of calling the contractor repeatedly all over again, to explain the circumstances leading to this failure so soon after the last repair.

Three days later, it seemed to me that the Lord answered my prayers through an unexpected event.

My car began to overheat while I was driving back from Tg Tualang to Kampar via Malim Nawar. I had to stop at the Petronas Station in Malim Nawar to cool down the engine and to top up the radiator water level. A TM Unifi contractor happened to stop by to use the public toilet. His name was Ah Shen, and seeing me having trouble with my car, he cautioned me about the high steam pressure from the radiator.

I was delighted to meet Ah Shen and immediately asked him if he could come to my house to look into the optical fibre cable fault.

That afternoon, Monday 03Oct22 Ah Shen came to my house, repaired the faulty section of the optical cable leading to the ONU (again), BUT there was still no internet connection! After checking the distribution box behind my house, he told me that there was 'no rating" in the box, and that I must get in touch with the first contractor who installed my broadband set up.

My heart sank again.

It was already 14 days since TM Unifi fibre broadband was installed in my home, and I still did not have internet connection. My prayers to the Lord became increasingly desperate and I asked God for deliverance from this lingering setback.

It would turn out to be nine long days of waiting upon the LORD.

Every morning I would get up to look at the ONU and router in the room where they were set up. Each time I would be disappointed that there was no incoming internet signal.

In the meantime, I had to fly to Singapore to visit my daughter's family and see my grandchildren. Throughout my trip, I continued to pray to God Almighty for his intervention.

Then, one day after my return from Singapore, the first Unifi Fibre Broadband bill arrived in my email inbox. Despite having no internet connection yet, I paid the bill. Little did I know that receiving that first bill was the Lord's answer to my desperate prayers.

Having the first bill with its new account number meant I could create my new online TM Unifi account. After doing so, I found out that I could reach a "Self Troubleshooting" page through my online account.

So on the afternoon of Wednesday 12Oct22, nine days after Ah Shens visit to my house, the hand of the LORD stretched out to deliver me from my despair. I managed to report the internet fauilt to TM Unifi through a few simple steps in the online "Self Troubleshooting" page of my account. Barely half an hour later, a TM Service staff called and told me that their "Care Crew" were on their way to my house.

The Care Crew team came over shortly after, did some tests and concluded that they had to call a "Cable Team" over to repair the distribution box. The Cable Team did their job in less than an hour.

At last, after nine long days of waiting, the optical fibre internet connection to my house was restored.

That evening, I read Psalm 32. My attention was drawn to verse 7 in the World English Bible (British Edition). The Psalmist told the LORD:

"You are my hiding place.
You will preserve me from trouble.
You will surround me with songs of deliverance."
Psalm 32:7  World English Bible

Indeed, the LORD God Almighty, our Father in Heaven, has been my hiding place throughout the nine days of waiting in prayer. God has preserved me from my troubles. He has surrounded me with songs of deliverance.

Praise the LORD, in the Name of Iesus His Anointed One,

Three Spiritual Laws

Sermon notes. I delivered this sermon to the Kampar Chinese Methodist Church on 29Mar2003 and again to the KTAR Christian Fellowship on 27Apr2005. These notes have been in my personal collection all these eighteen years until today when I am reminded of them during my morning devotional reading of Romans chapters 7 and 8.

Three Spiritual Laws

Romans 7: 21 - 8: 13

Thought . . .

" . . . a sermon based on spiritual lessons which took me more than two decades to learn, mostly the hard way.  Of all the sermon notes which I have uploaded to this page, this one appears to be nearest to my heart.  My yearning is for all who read this sermon to be waken up by the same epiphany which I experienced, i.e. no longer to wait passively for some mystical, spectacular or unexplainable "indwelling" power to help them overcome the insurmountable power of sin working in the flesh, but instead, to work actively by the enablement of God's Spirit, to put to death the works of our flesh, to refuse to give in to "what we want" (Gal 5: 17) and to present every member of our body as instruments of righteousness to God. "

Introduction

7:25 "I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

In the 70s, many Christians explained the Gospel of Christ using the Four Spiritual Laws.   After believing in Christ, I came across another set of Laws. These laws were not composed or invented by a human author like the 4SL.  Instead, they are real laws.  They exist in our everyday lives.  They control the way we live.  They are spiritual laws which cannot be changed by man.  Tonight, we can read about these spiritual laws in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome, in Romans 7 and 8. In these two chapters of the New Testament, the Apostle explains to us three spiritual laws that govern our lives.

1.  The Law of God

The law given through Moses in the O.T. It consists of moral laws, ceremonial laws and civil laws.  Altogether there are about 615 commandments, given to the nation of Israel while they were wandering in the desert after the Lord brought them up out of Egypt. Today, they are recorded for us in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Many of these laws are repeated again in the book of Deuteronomy , just before Moses died.

In the NT, The apostle Paul says many good things about the law:

7:7   helps us recognise sin.

7:12 holy, just and good.

7:14 the Law is spiritual

7:16 the Law is good

7:22 I delight in the law of God with the inward man

7:25 I serve the law of God with the mind (note myself i.e. on my own)

However, there is one problem with the law of God. Nobody can obey it perfectly, all the time. Nobody can become righteous in the sight of God by trying to keep the law.  Earlier, in Romans chapter 3, Paul quoted Psalm 14: 1 - 3, "there is none righteous, no not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God . . . ." When expounding on this passage, Paul wrote (Rom 3:20) that by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The apostle James also explained similarly about the law: James 2: 10 - (read) - for whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.  Why is this so?  Why is it impossible for anyone in this world to become righteous before God by keeping the Law?  The answer lies in the next Law - the Law of sin.

2. The Law of Sin

7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; for what I hate, that I do.

. . .

7:18 For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice.

. . .

7:21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

7:22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

The apostle Paul tells us that while our minds delight in the law of God, and while our minds try to obey the law, another law is controlling our flesh. In verse 7:25, this law is called the law of sin. In 8:2 this law is called the law of sin and death.  This law of sin works in our flesh. It prevents us from practising the law of God in our lives.  It makes us disobey the law of God.  In verse 18 and 19 of Romans 7, Paul explains that his mind wants to do good but his flesh does not know how to carry it out.  On the other hand his mind does not want to do evil but his flesh keeps practising evil. These two laws control everyone in this world. These laws tonight also control you and me. We agree with the holy and perfect law of God in our minds, but the law of sin controls us in our flesh. We have to say together with the Apostle Paul, "For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) nothing good dwells…"

And, together with Paul, we also express our despair - 7:24 "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

Praise the Lord! tonight we do not need to remain under the law of sin and death. We do not have to continue as wretched men and women. We do not have to remain prisoners to our flesh. This is because the Lord God has shown his abounding love to us - by giving us a third law - the law of the Spirit of Life.

3. The Law of the Spirit

Romans 8: 1 - 6

1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,

4. that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

5. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

6. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

8:2 says the law of the Spirit of life is found in Christ. This law sets us free from the law of sin and death.

Let me tell you a secret: God has started preparing this law for His people very long ago in the O.T., long before the law of God was given to Moses in the wilderness.  In Genesis chapters 12 - 15 god promised at least three times that He would give the land of Canaan to Abram and to His descendants forever. God promised that through Abraham all other nations on earth shall be blessed. And God told Abram that His descendants will be like the stars in the sky. In Genesis 15: 6, the Bible tells us that Abram believed God, and because of his belief, . . . because of his faith in God's promises, God accepted Abraham as a righteous man. On that same day, God made a covenant with Abraham to give to his descendants the Promised Land.

There is something strange about this incident.  Abraham was made righteous by God just by believing what God promised.  He did not have to obey any of the 615 commandments given in the Law of God through Moses.  In fact, the law of God was only given to Moses 430 years later in the Book of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers!

Another strange thing about God's promise to Abraham is that the word 'descendants' used in Genesis chapters 12 through15 does not refer to many descendants of Abraham. In the Hebrew Old Testament, the word descendants actually mean 'Seed' - one person!

Explain the following teachings of Paul briefly . . .

• Galatians 3: 6 - 8 - just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, " In you all the nations shall be blessed."
• Galatians 3: 13 - 18 - Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree."), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: though it is only a man's covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
• Romans 7:4 - therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another - to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

Conclusion

The Law of God (in our minds) - show us the holiness of God, the perfect righteousness of God and the severe judgement of God.  The Law of Sin and Death (in our flesh) - shows us the sinfulness of all mankind, the wretchedness of our condition and the powerlessness of our own efforts to fulfil the Law of God.   The Law of the Spirit of Life (in Christ) - shows us how to escape from the law of sin.

Like Abraham,  We need to believe in the gospel of Christ, by faith.  We need to set our minds (change our world-view) on the things of the Spirit.  We need to stop setting our minds on the things of the flesh. (Read 8:5)  Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to consider your lives seriously - have you believed in Christ? If so, the Spirit of God dwells in you. The Law of the Spirit of Life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Read Romans 8: 12, 13

"So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh  (for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live."

Compare with Galatians 5: 17 NET

"For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want."

NKJV "for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

Let us make each day of our pilgrimage in this world a day of putting to death the (mis)deeds of our fleshly desires . . .

Through the storm

This testimony was recorded in my notebook back in August 2012 and has remained there all these nine years ago, while I tell myself from time to time to post it in my blog. At last, today I came across the note again and decided that I must post it here and now.

Through the storm, 30Aug2012

This evening I drove into a severe thunderstorm just after leaving the road junction outside Malim Nawar heading towards Kampar at about 7 o'clock. Dark storm clouds descended, there were flashes of lightning and deafening claps of thunder all around us outside. Strong winds and blinding rain made us slow down to a crawl. Branches dropped from trees and littered the road along the way.

It was like the end of the world.

Suddenly, something fell on to the roof of our car with a very loud thud and soon after that we encountered a small tree that had fallen across the road. However, a big lorry that was ahead of us managed to run over some branches of the fallen tree and "opened" a way for traffic to pass in single file.

Thanks be to God who protected us and the motorists in front of us, no one was hurt, our car was not damaged and we reached home safe and sound. Blessed be the Name of YHVH, our God who is our refuge in times of trouble.

Psalm 23: 4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Asking for an electrician

Luke 11:5-6 NKJV

Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

Luke 11:11-12 NKJV

If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

Wednesday 27/2/2019:
I had been praying for a way to call an electrician to repair a faulty backyard light, both yesterday on the long train journey home as well as this morning while driving home after my morning walk at the Rakan Muda Sports Complex.

Then just after I arrived for breakfast at Golden Castle, an acquaintance called Yip, one of the three "Great Wall Band" brothers who performed at my daughter's wedding dinner four years ago, came over to my table to say hello.

I was surprised by that gesture because the brothers usually appear rather quiet and somewhat taciturn at other times.

For a while I wondered whether Yip needed a favour from me, but he didn't. We just exchanged pleasantries, asked about each other, what we're doing etc

Then it occurred to me that he might know an electrician who can come to my house to fix the broken light.

So I asked him if he knew any electrician in town because the one I know is always busy and it's hard for me to get him.

He managed to get a phone number for me from another friend of his

Just now I called the electrician at lunch  after visiting my mother in Ipoh, and he agreed to come over in a day or two.

He told me he is busy today, took down my address and said he'll call me back when he's free. I told him that I'm not in a hurry, that he can calk me back tomorrow.

Hopefully he can get it done soon.

Update, Thursday morning 28/2, the electrician, who introduced himself as Ah Seong, called and subsequently came over to replace the broken light.

The Lord provides again. Thanks be to God through Our Lord Yesu the Anointed One.

Thanksgiving: public toilets at Kampar Railway Station

I had to use the public toilets about 25 minutes before the train arrives, quite reluctantly because it's narrow, dirty and smelly.

Prayed for God's providence as I walked down the corridors leading to the toilet, particularly about finding a space to put my heavy backpack in the damp, narrow cubicle.

Well, I wondered if my prayer would make any difference at all!

On entering the toilet there was a notice pasted on the door of the WC saying "ROSAK. Sila Guna tandas OKU . . ."

At first I was thinking it might be the will of the Lord that I should use the toilet on board the train, which again I'm not too keen about.

Then as I passed by the OKU toilet I noticed that it was clean, dry and very spacious indeed. I could put my bag down safely in a clean place.

Praise the Lord. He has indeed ordered circumstances for me even before I stepped into Kampar Railway Station this morning.

In everything give thanks to our Father in Heaven, throughout Our Lord Iesou the Anointed One.

Our years with Temerloh Gospel Chapel 1983 - 1998

From : Peng You and Chooy Lin

Please allow us to begin the first paragraph in the voice of the third person.

Peng You came to Temerloh in July1983 to teach. He got married to Chooy Lin in December that same year in his home church, a Lutheran Church in Kuala Lumpur. Some of the brothers and sisters of TGC went all the way to KL to attend our wedding. It was our first memorable and a very joyous occasion with TGC that year. By the grace of Our Heavenly Father, despite many obstacles and uncertainties, Chooy Lin managed to get a transfer from the Taiping to join Peng You a month later, in January 1984.

Thus we were able to begin our journey in life together in Temerloh and our fellowship with the brethren in Temerloh Gospel Chapel.

Our eldest son Eng Kiat (荣 杰) was born in December 1984. followed by our second son Eng Chin (荣 晋) in November 1986 and our youngest daughter Keat Hwee (洁 慧) in February 1989.

In April 1998 I was offered a job to teach in a branch campus of TAR College in Kampar, Perak and by the end of that year, our family said farewell to the brothers and sisters of TGC and shifted to Kampar where our children grew up, finished school and got jobs and eventually moved out of home. Chooy Lin became the Senior Assistant of a government school in town.

Eng Kiat got married to Yi Von from Ipoh in 2013, Keat Hwee married Soon Koon from Singapore in 2015 while Eng Chin is not married yet.

Our baby grandson Seng Guan (盛 元), who's not much of a baby now at two years old, was born in March 2016. He's seen here with all of us in his birthday photos.

Today, both of us have retired while our two sons along with daughter-in-law work in KL and our daughter and son-in-law are in Singapore.

On SengGuan;s 1st birthday: L-R: PengYou&ChooyLin, EngKiat&YiVon, KeatHwee(+ SengGuan)&SoonKoon. EngChin

We offer many thanks to Our Father in Heaven, through the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ, for giving to us the friendly fellowship of the assembly of believers in Temerloh Gospel Chapel. And we also thank our brothers and sisters in TGC for all the help, kindness and brotherly affection they have shown to us over the fifteen years we stayed in Temerloh.

We remember vividly, among others, how our elder Dr Liew would hurry out of his house during dinner time to re-open his clinic to attend to Eng Kiat who broke a few teeth after falling from his bicycle. We remember that the late Mrs Liew would always speak kindly to us, and had never had any harsh nor unhappy words towards us.

We remember when our daughter Keat Hwee dislocated her left elbow from a fall, Dr Ang would take time off from her busy tasks as Director of Mentakab Hospital to see us and check on our daughter.

We also remember the warm and generous hospitality received at weekly Bible studies in the homes of each brother and sister, the earnest prayer meetings, and the bubbly Sunday School which all three of our children attended through their childhood years. Our children also received some excellent music education from Sis Alice and the late Sis Agnes, not forgetting to mention also all the photographs that were taken and developed by Bro Albert (at a discount too!).

Time and space, and a deteriorating memory, does not allow us to mention many other brothers and sisters who have been generous, kind and helpful to us through the occasional difficulties and adverse circumstances that we encountered through the years in Temerloh. We'd like to say, "Thank you very much" to all who have given their time and effort to us in various ways.

As we join you all in celebrating this 50th Anniversary, we remember in our hearts that TGC has become a significant part of our journey on earth.

If in this life only we have hope, then we are the most pitiable

Yesterday morning I received news that a dear sister, the wife of the elder of our former church has passed away. In the words of the apostles in the New Testament, she has fallen asleep in the Anointed One (Christos).

My wife and I made the five hour journey to Temerloh in Pahang to be with Dr Liew and his family at the evening funeral wake. While singing the solemn hymns and listening to the heartfelt messages, several verses from the First Epistle to the Corinthians came to mind, with a question:

"When a loved one departs from this world, what hope is left?"

Do we hope that the deceased will somehow come back to us alive and well?

Do we perhaps hope that the departed person will communicate with us? Perhaps, call us and talk to us on the phone? Or appear in a vision or dream?

We know that none of these would be possible.

What then do we hope for? What hope do we hold on to?

This hope is explained by the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15 by way of a strong caution, a warning if you like, against some who deny the resurrection of the dead.

19 "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable,"

It is easy for any Christian to affirm his or her hope in the Anointed One (Christos). If, however, our hope in the Lord is merely for better days in this life, 

if everything ends at the grave, 

if a loved one who dies remains dead forever,

if "in this life only" we have hope

THEN, the Apostle tells us, we are to be the most pitied of all people in this world! For then we have put our hope in vain. We have even become false witnesses, as written in verse 15

15 "Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise."

Dear brothers and sisters, the Apostles in the New Testament testified that God raised up Yeshua His Anointed One (or Iesous Christos in Greek). Likewise, we have been called to bear the same testimony today, that Our Father in Heaven has raised up his Anointed One from death. 

Herein lies our hope. Just as God has raised his Anointed from death, God will also raise us from death. In verses 21 through 23, we read:

21 "For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power."

Yes, our Lord the Anointed One was resurrected, and on the last day, we who belong to him will also be resurrected from the dead. 

Earlier, in verses 17 and 18, it is recorded that if the Anointed is not risen, then our faith is futile. And all who have "fallen asleep" in the Anointed One are as good as perished!

1 Corinthians 1517 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Our Lord was raised from death by God to be the first fruits of many more, including us, to be raised likewise by God on the Last Day, the day of resurrection, when our Lord Yeshua the Anointed One will deliver the Kingdom to God.

Brothers and Sisters in Iesous Christos, our hope does not end at the grave. When a dearly beloved among us departs, we hold on to our hope that God our Father will raise us all from death one day just as he has raised his Son.

Towards the end of 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle presents a contrast of Adam the first Man against our Lord Iesous Christos, the Last Adam, the Second Man.

Adam was the first Man created by God. In Genesis 2:7, we read that God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living being.  

In other words, the first Adam received life and became a living being. In contrast, the last Adam was raised from death and became a life-giving spirit. (v.45)

Also, the first Man came from the dust of the earth. The second Man is the Master who came from Heaven. (v.47)

Finally, while we now bear in our body the image of the first Man, of dust of the earth, one day, at our resurrection, we shall also bear the image of our Master, the heavenly Man. (v.49)

Let us hold on to this hope.

Dedicated to Brothers and Sisters of Temerloh Gospel Chapel who have received us warmly and shown us hospitality generously, particularly, Albert SK Yong, Kim Lee, Cassey and many others.

Lift Jesus higher?

Last week, the song leader in church led the congregation to sing exuberantly, clapping, tapping and swaying along:

"Lift Jesus higher!
Lift Jesus higher!
Lift him up for the world to see!"

What did the Lord Jesus mean when he said "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John12:32,33)? Is it appropriate to sing such a song?

I couldn't join in the lusty and vibrant singing but instead stood quietly with sadness, with regret and with some disgust. I was disheartened.

This is because the expression "to be lifted up" as used in the NT times was a common way to refer to being crucified, i.e. to be lifted and hung high up on a stake / cross.

This expression is used at least three times in the Gospel according to John,

John 3:14, 15 NKJV
(Jesus speaking to Nicodemus, referring to Numbers 21:9)
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 8:28 NKJV
(Jesus replying the Pharisees)
When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught me, I speak these things.

John 12:32,33 NKJV
(Jesus speaking in public)
". . . And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself." This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

If only the song-leader and the congregation realised this morning the meaning of "lifted up", if only they knew the solemn situation conveyed by and signified by this expression, yes, if only they knew. Then they wouldn't be tapping their feet, swaying their bodies and clapping hands to the catchy tune and lyrics of this song.

For in doing so, the members of the congregation were calling on one another to crucify the Anointed One all over again on an even higher stake or cross - higher and higher!

What the congregation thought was a powerful proclamation of Jesus the Christ turned out actually to be a call for painful punishment of Jesus all over again.

Brothers and Sisters in the Anointed One. Let us not call one another to crucify our Master all over again. Instead, let us call one another to a life of obedience to the teachings of our Master.

Galatians 3:27 NASB
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Just believe, and you will receive?

Matthew 21: 18 - 21 NIV
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

This morning, I posted a critical review of Joel Osteen's book, "Break Out", that points out significant twisting and misquoting of scripture and some serious false teachings. A brother who probably felt uncomfortable with the review asked me what was so wrong about Joel's teachings, particularly the one about believing and receiving. He referred to the account in Matthew chapter 21 above and pointed out to me the simple lesson:

If you have faith ---> No doubt ---> Say --->it will be done.

I have read the passage from Matthew 21 many times over the last 30 years, and I have always wondered what our Lord Jesus meant in 21:21, "If you have faith, and not doubt, you can do what was done to the fig tree . . ."

A similar verse is found in Mark 11:24, ". . . whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

I'd like to point out several observations about this verse:

Firstly, this was the only incident recorded in the Gospels ( Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14 and 11:20-25) where our Lord commanded a fig tree never to bear fruit again. He did not go everywhere commanding other trees, mountains, rivers, rocks, to wither, move into the sea, dry up or break open etc throughout the three years of His ministry. It was only that one particular single special incident and I think this special incident was done to teach the disciples one single unique lesson.

Secondly, this unique lesson is found in the last verse of the passage, Matt.21:22 and also in Mark 11: 24. Both of these verses DO NOT say

"If you have faith, say it, it will be done". 

Instead, the verses say,

"If you believe, ask for it in prayer, you will  receive it" 

Many people read this passage and ignore the "prayer" part. Our believing must be carried out as part of our praying, not just believing alone.

Thirdly, there is one more part to this special lesson for the disciples which is not recorded in Matthew 21:22 but is recorded in Mark 11:24, 25. Please let me quote below:

Mark 11: 24, 25
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Yes, believing alone is not enough. We must also forgive others who have done wrong against us. If not, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us. And if God does not forgive us, He will not answer our prayers. In that case our believing will be no use at all.

Fourthly, a similar teaching is also found in the letter of Hebrews. In Hebrews 11:6, we read that anyone who comes to God must believe that God IS (i.e. God exists) and that God rewards those who seek Him earnestly.

From this verse, we can see the complete meaning of Jesus' words in Matt. 21:22, "If you believe . . .". It means our believing is not just about something we want to see happen. Instead, it is about our genuine, honest, sincere trust in God our Father. We Christians are powerful people because we trust in the Only True God who really exists and who really rewards us when we seek him with all our hearts.

Finally, in the letter of James, the brother of our Lord Jesus, we can learn one more teaching that helps us understand Matt.21:21 better. It is the teaching that we must not boast about what we plan to do.

James 4: 13-16 NIV
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

Here, we see that we must be careful not to boast about tomorrow. We must not say "I believe my business will expand, I believe my money will increase, I believe, I believe . . ." After all, our Lord Jesus did not go around believing and saying various things to all kinds of trees, mountains, rivers, stones or sea! He commanded only ONE fig tree to stop bearing fruit in all his years of ministry.

Conclusion:
Our Lord Jesus' teaching in Matthew 21:18-22 is a single special lesson to teach his disciples to believe God when they pray. This believing in prayer can only be carried out if we are willing to forgive others, so that God will also forgive us of our sins. It also requires believing that God really exists, that God really rewards us when we seek him.

Furthermore, we must be careful not to boast about tomorrow. Instead, we must say in our believing hearts, "If it is the will of the LORD, then I will . . ."

Yes, if it is the will of God our Father, then we can move mountains into the sea. Perhaps in our lifetime of 50, 60 or 70 years we may move only one small mountain, or maybe none at all.

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, let us believe God when we pray.

A Lesson from the Wrong Chapter

These notes were written in my shorthand notepad more than a year ago, but it's only tonight that I have found time to post it here in my blog.

Sunday, 03Jun2012, at Ipoh Airport.

I thought I'd read a passage from the book of Proverbs while waiting for a family member to board a Firefly flight to Singapore. The TEV (GNT) Bible's Outline of contents show that the Proverbs of Solomon are recorded in the section from Proverbs 10:1 to 29:27.

So I turned to chapter 10 and began reading.

What I thought was Proverbs 10 turned out to be Ecclesiastes 10, the book after Proverbs! I realised it only after almost reaching the end of chapter 11 where it says in 11:8 that we should be grateful for every year of our lives because no matter how long we live, our days of death will be much longer than our days of life.

Wow, that's astounding.

Well, since nothing happens without the good purpose of our Creator, I think the Lord YHWH our God has allowed me to read from the wrong chapter for his own purpose: that I might learn something from Him this morning.

Here are some observations from Ecclesiastes chapter 10:

• A little stupidity is like a little fly - it makes an entire bottle of perfume smelly.
• By nature (or instinct?), the wise does right while the foolish does wrong.
• An injustice is caused by rulers when stupid people are given high positions, where slaves ride on horseback while noblemen have to go on foot.
• If you dig a pit, you fall in. If you break through a wall, a snake bites you.
• A wise man's words bring him honour. A foolish man's words bring him destruction.
• He who starts silly talk ends up mad. A fool talks on and on.
• A country is in trouble when its king is a youth and its leaders feast all night long.

And last, but not least, 

Ecclesiastes 11: 1 is rendered by the TEV in modern day equivalent terms as

Invest your money in foreign trade and one of these days you will make a profit.

Is YHWH our God a "He" or a "They"?

Here's a typical explanation of the doctrine of Trinity, which I had believed in and upheld steadfastly for more than thirty years of my life:

"What then does it mean that God exists as the Trinity? It is a basic principle of our biblical faith that there is only one God. “Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The unity of the Godhead cannot be questioned. God does not consist of parts. He is one. But Scripture reveals that there are, in that one divine essence, three eternal distinctions. Those distinctions seem best described as Persons, known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three have identical attributes, however, and therefore they are one—not merely one in mind and purpose, but one in substance. To possess all the same attributes is to be one in essential nature. The three Persons of the Godhead possess identical attributes. They are one in substance and one in essence, and therefore they are one God."

Is YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, really made up of three persons?
Is our Abba in Heaven merely one of those three persons, and not YHWH himself?

Can we find "they" are one God in the Torah of Moses?
or in the Prophets?
or in the Writings?
or any where in the Gospel accounts,
the Acts of Apostles,
the Epistles
or even in the Book of Revelations?

Is YHWH our God, a He or a They?

YHWH Elohim is One. Throughout the Torah, the Neviim and the Khetuvim, the entire scriptures refer to our God with one and only one singular pronoun: "He".

Likewise throughout the Gospel accounts, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, right through the end of the book of Revelations, our God is always referred to as "He", never once as "They".

Over the past three years, after I turned away from the man-made traditional doctrine of the trinity to worship our Father in Heaven, the Only True God, through the name of Yshua our Messiah, I have been called a cultist, a heretic, accused of falling away and of having lost my salvation. I have also been accused of twisting the scripture.

Please let me tell you who is twisting the scripture.

(1) Those who twist God into a "Godhead"

(2) Those who twist the One and Only True God into a trinity of three persons.

(3) Those who twist the worship of one God in spirit and in truth, into the worship of three little gods, sometimes praying to the father, sometimes to the son and sometimes even praying to the holy spirit.

(4) And those who twist the praise and thanks and giving of glory to our Father, the One True God, into a cult of praising Jesus, thanking Jesus, glorifying Jesus, blessing Jesus, . . . Jesus, Jesus and just only Jesus.

These people forget that over and over again, the apostles teach us to glorify the Father, give thanks to the Father, praise the Father and bless YHWH, the Name of our Father, God Almighty, creator of heavens and earth.

Ephesians 1:3 NIV
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

1 Peter 1:3 NIV
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

These people also forget that our Father is not only our God, that He is also the God of our Master Yeshua the Messiah (Iesou Christos).

Revelations 3: 11 - 13 NIV
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

How Trinitarians learned trinity.

Everyone who believes in the doctrine of the Trinity, who insists that the Messiah Yeshua (Iesous Christos) is part of a triune God, who vehemently condemns others and ridicule others for not believing the Trinity, yes, virtually every Trinitarian Christian was led into believing this dangerous pagan doctrine by some Trinitarian who in turn were taught by other similar Trinitarian.

Likewise, from the first day I turned to God almighty, I was taught by several dear Christian friends that God is 3-in-1, a triune God. Thus began my journey as a trinitarian believer, a journey which started in the year 1977, lasting right through most of 2009, reinforced by many preachers and Christian books along the way.

For more than three decades, I did not question this doctrine, but instead assumed it must be divine truth. I was also taught to question any individual, church or organisation that did not subscribe to this strange doctrine (which did not seem strange at all to me at that time), regarding them all as heretical cults.

I even went so far as to complain to my pastor about an elderly church member who had told me that he didn't believe in the trinity, leading to this gentleman leaving the church and never coming back.

In fact, the doctrine of the trinity became a basis of my interpretation and understanding of the New Testament. In other words, I did not learn Trinity using the New Testament. Instead, I learned New Testament using the Trinity!

By the grace of God our Father in Heaven, one day in October 2009, I came across a book entitled, "Biblical Monotheism" that pointed out how the New Testament apostles and believer believed in the Only True God, just like the Jews have for thousands of years. I woke up to the fact that our Messiah is a Jew. His disciples and apostles were Jews. The early believers were Jews. Yes, in fact, all their holy scriptures are Jewish scriptures!

For the last two and a half years, I have searched the New Testament over and over again, without the predisposition of Trinitarian thinking indoctrinated into me by my early Christian friends. I am convinced, beyond a shadow of doubt, that there is no Trinity in the New Testament.

Until today, I have not come across any trinitarian Christian who believes in the trinity because of his or her own reading of the New Testament. Instead, and my I reiterate, virtually every one of them was led into this belief by some other trinitarian.

My dear Christian brothers and sisters who believe in the Trinity, I urge you to read the New Testament all over again for yourselves.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Master Yeshua the Anointed One (Kurio Iesous Christos).


Ephesians 1:3 NKJV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,


Acts 5:29-31
We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Do you really know him?

Today is the 6th day of the 1st month in the biblical calendar. While sitting in the church hall this morning, I was led to read chapters 7 and 8 of the Gospel according to John and my attention was drawn to the following passages:

John 7: 25-29, cf John 8: 14, 16, 18, 26-28.

The people of Jerusalem are puzzled. They know that this man Yeshua of Nazareth is a wanted man. The religious leaders want to get him executed for his alleged heresies and blasphemies. Yet, they see this man Yeshua preaching boldly in public every day. How come he is not arrested yet? Is he really the Messiah whom they are looking forward to? Is he the promised one, prophesied in the scriptures many years ago?

"No, he can't be", they remarked.

For the ancient scripture tells them that no one will know where the Messiah comes from. This man Yeshua can't be that promised Messiah because they know where he comes from. They all know he comes from Nazareth, of the household of Yosef and Miriam.

The Master Yeshua replies them,

"Do you really know me? Do you know where I come from?"

Yeshua goes on to elaborate:
- that he didn't come on his own authority,
- that God has sent him, and God is faithful,
- that the people of Jerusalem do not know God, but he, Yeshua, knows Him
- that he has come from God and
- that, he reiterated, God has sent him. (John 7:28-29)

Compare the Master's words above with further statements he made in the next chapter (all quotations from the GNT):

John 8:14
I know where I came from and where I am going. You do not know.

John 8:16
the Father who sent me is with me.

John 8:18
I am not alone - the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf.

John 8:26
the One who sent me is truthful and I tell the world only what I have heard from Him.

Of most significance are his words in John 8:27 - 28, where he tells his audience that,

- they do not understand that he was talking about the Father,
- that when he is "lifted up" (euphemism for being crucified), they will know who  he is,
- that they will know he does nothing on his own authority,
- that he says only what God has instructed him to say.

Summary:
The people of Jerusalem did not know two significant facts about Yeshua of Nazareth:

- they did not know where he came from,
- they did not know who he was talking about.

Christian brothers and sisters, Do we really know our Master? Do we know where he came from?

Let us ponder over the accounts of Yeshua Messiah (Iesous Christos) and remind ourselves, that our Master the Anointed One came from God, and that he talked about God.

Let us fix our hope on God.

1 Peter 1:21 GNT
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

The Ten Commandments.

Draft started on Tue 13July2010

The Ten Commandments or the Ten Words (Ex 34:28, Deut. 5:22)
I have been pondering over the well-debated question of whether the Ten Commandments have been ignored, neglected or even, possibly, disobeyed by most of today's Christians. I have not come to a conclusion, and this post merely states my reflections on this matter:

1. Both Gal 5:14 and Rom 13:8-10 assert that having the Love of God in us is the fulfillment of the Torah. The passage in Rom. 13 lists the 6th to 10th commandments as examples. And it is in line with the Lord Jesus' teaching that Lev.19:18 is the second of the two greatest commandments on which "hang all the commandments and the Law". My question is how about the first five commandments? How does Love fulfill them, in particular the fourth?
2. Did Paul and the other Apostles observe the sabbath along with Jewish feasts and holy days? 1 Cor. 16:8 tells of Paul tarrying in Ephesus until Pentecost. Were those the only celebrations observed by Christians in NT times?
3. Ironically the 4th commandment - the least talked about or taught in Church - appears to be the most elaborate of the Ten commandments. It is the longest commandment of all.
4. 1 Cor. 7:19 says that keeping the commandments of God is what matters. This is consistent with all that the Lord Jesus had taught in his sermon on the Mount - "You have heard that it is said . . . . but I tell you . . ." largely elaborates on how to obey the Ten commandments from the heart.
5. The Apostle Paul taught from the Torah of Moses in 1 Cor. 9:9 (Deut 25:4). Similarly, he taught from the Neviim in 1 Cor. 14:21 (Is. 28:11,12). Another significant example is 2Cor. 6:16 where Paul referred to Lev 26:12, Jer 32:38, Ezek 37:27 Isaiah 52;11, Ezek 20:34, 41 and 2Sam 7:14 with the words, "And God has said . . ." The apostle clearly upheld the OT scriptures in his life. (Rom. 3:31)
6. A caution, however, is given in Gal 6:16, which appears to be the epitome of the entire epistle to the Galatians, "walk according to this rule" citing circumcision as the case in hand, v. 15 says,"Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.".
7. What is this "rule"? Many Christians today interpret this to be the abolishment of the Torah, and to imply that we no longer live under any obligation to keep the Torah, including the Ten Commandments? see 2Cor. 3:11, "that which is fading away", Eph 2:15, Christ "abolished in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations"
8. In Acts 15 and the entire epistle to the Galatians, the issue was that some people insisted on circumcision according to the custom of Moses - in order to be saved!
9. Strangely, no such issue was raised by the opponents of Paul regarding the keeping of the Sabbath. Wouldn't they be even more unhappy with Paul's teaching if the Gentile churches did not, perhaps along with Paul himself, observe the seventh day as a day of rest?
10. It may be highly likely that the early Christians who turned to God from idols had also learned from the apostles to observe the sabbath. As such the Judaizers had nothing to say against them on this matter.
11. And how about Paul's arguments in Rom. 14 "4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God."
    
    Was Paul referring to the 4th commandment when he talked about some people esteeming one day as better than another?
12. (To be continued)

The Peace of God, the God of Peace

Saturday, 10April2010, Philippians 4:6-9 YLT

"for nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer, and by supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; " v. 6

About three days ago, I read a heartbreaking news report about a man in the province of Guangdong in Southern China who beat his daughter to death on a street in full view of the public. While beating the child, he scolded her for refusing to attend "night school" - a type of cram school where many students are forced to attend in order to improve their chances of passing university entrance exams in future.

The news report says that students in China face intense pressure to pass such "make or break" entrance exams in order to join the ranks of the educated strata of society. Such competitive pressure leads to very anxious parents who appear to have no choice but to force their children to undergo gruelling hours of study starting from a tender age.

The Chinese girl who died from such cruel treatment by her father was only nine years old!

This makes me think of my own country, even of my town where I have been living and working for the last twelve years, where parents are facing similar anxieties over the future of their children. I've come across many students who have been given no choice at all by their parents, but who instead have been forced to attend a string of tuition classes after school throughout the week, both in the day-time as well as at night.

One of them, a family friend's daughter, once pleaded with her mother saying, "I can't take it anymore. If you make me attend any more tuition classes, I will die . . ." . My wife tried unsuccessfully to persuade the mother to reduce the number of tuition sessions for her daughter. Her reply was typical, "We are not educated people. If she can't go to good schools and universities in future, will you be responsible?"

It appears that parents everywhere are anxious. So anxious that, they have almost taken over their children's lives "by proxy" - making every decision for the kids, from the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night. I know of another family who even have to feed their primary school child his lunch in the family van each afternoon - in their hurry to bring him to his first tuition class immediately after school dismisses!

I feel sad for the hundreds and hundreds of pitiful school-children who are robbed of their happy childhood solely because their parents are anxious over their future "success in life". In my opinion, these parents have unwittingly destroyed the emotional and mental health of a whole generation of young people.

Such powerful and overwhelming anxiety: it gives parents no time to pause and think of better alternatives. Isn't there a better way of dealing with these "make or break" circumstances? Isn't there some way of having peace of mind, or peace in our hearts over this nagging issue?

Yes, dear Christian parent, there is. The word of God tells us in Philippians 4:6,7:

"for nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer, and by supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, that is surpassing all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." v. 6,7

The answer for us is to make known our requests to our God by our prayers and supplications - with thanksgiving. By doing so, we can have peace in our hearts. Not any kind of short-lived, momentary and fleeting peace, but the peace of God. This peace that is of God is higher than our understanding. It "guards our hearts and thoughts" in Christ.

By having the peace of God guarding our hearst, we Christian parents can escape from the anxieties of this world and avoid falling into the cruel ways of so many parents around us.

And instead of being preoccupied with the anxieties of our children's "make or break" success in exams, there are better things for us to think of and be occupied with. Verses 8 and 9 says:

"As to the rest, brethren, as many things as are true, as many as [are] grave, as many as [are] righteous, as many as [are] pure, as many as [are] lovely, as many as [are] of good report, if any worthiness, and if any praise, these things think upon; the things that also ye did learn, and receive, and hear, and saw in me, those do, and the God of the peace shall be with you." v.8,9

Yes, besides having the peace of God guarding our hearts, we can also have the God of peace being present with us. When we stop getting entangled with being anxious over many things of this world, but instead "think upon" things which are true, upright, pure, lovely and things which are of good report, the God of peace will be with us.

May the peace of God guard your hearts. May the God of peace be with you all.

Jesus, The Son of God

Sunday, 21Feb2010, 11:51pm.

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent John 17: 3

Introduction:
I grew up in a Buddhist/ Taoist family, and in my primary school days I had attended Buddhist Sunday School and read many books on Buddhism. I practised chanting and Buddhist meditation. By the time I was in secondary school, I was already a staunch Buddhist. However, one day, in Nov 1975, after watching a Christian film show at a school evangelistic meeting, I decided to believe in God.

During the first few weeks after I first turned to God from Buddhism, I prayed to God as God Almighty. I just called Him "God". I didn't know much about Jesus Christ yet.

Soon after that, I was taught by two very faithful Christian brothers about the Trinity. From then on, and for the next 33 years until October last year, I believed in the Holy Trinity, and prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ as God very often, and sometimes to God the Father in heaven. All those years, to me, it didn't matter who I prayed to, since the doctrine of the Trinity teaches that the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is also God - three distinct persons, united into one substance called the "Godhead"!

During all those 30 over years, my belief in the Trinity had become a basic assumption - a teaching which, on one hand is so mystifying that nobody can understand it, yet on the other had is so sacred that nobody in my church dares to question or reject it.

Occasional contradictions
However, from time to time, I would come across passages in the NT which didn't make sense because they clearly contradicted the doctrine of the Trinity. Whenever I came across such verses in the NT, I would anxiously look for a way to resolve those contradictions - getting answers from Christian books and magazines, or by asking older Christians or by listening to explanations by preachers during Sunday sermons which occasionally touch on those issues e.g.

(a) Jesus referred to God as his God - John 20:17
(b) Only the Father knows the day and hour when Jesus will return. - Matt.24: 35-37
(c) Jesus is called a man in many parts of the NT - 1Tim.2;5, Rom. 5:15-17, Hebrews 10:12
(d) And in the prophecy of Ps.45:6-7, God is the Messiah's God.
(e) In Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2: 22 - 24 (note especially v36), tells us that Jesus is a man: accredited by God, handed over to the Jews by God's foreknowledge, raised from death by God and made Lord and Christ by God.

A Panacea to the contradictions
Most of the time my anxiety was resolved by the explanation that Jesus was 100% God and also at the same time 100% human (another mystifying belief) - and whenever such verses occur in the NT (there are many more which I can show you later) - they are talking about the "human" part of Jesus, and not the "divine" part of Jesus. Jesus is supposed to be fully divine, he is the second person within the Godhead, he is part of God himself, yet at the same time, he is also fully human.

In other words, he is part of God, who came to this world as a man!

And so for many years I subscribed to this teaching that all these "contradictory" verses in the NT were written by the apostles when they were referring only to the human part of Jesus, i.e. they were referring to Jesus "as a man" - although he is really one of the three persons that make up God. Thus, the phrase "AS A MAN" became the universal answer, the cure all antidote if you like, to my anxiety over the passages which contradict the doctrine of the Trinity.

Over the years, I have become so strong in embracing and upholding the teaching of the trinity that I woul regard any person, or any church or any group that rejects the trinity as a heretic or a cult e.g. an old english friend who has been worshipping in my church for many years one day told me that he agreed with unitarians, and that he didn't believe in the trinity - I asked him why would he want to worship in this church then? I even told my pastor during prayer meeting about his views. He appeared to have left the church soon after that.

An Epiphany - on Easter morning of 2009
Then came April 2009: Easter sunrise service that morning was an unforgettable epiphany for me (from Gr. epiphania meaning "to manifest, to appear", traditionally on Jan 6th to commemorate visit of the three wise men, Christ's baptism, and his first miracle at Cana of turning water into wine), when Acts 10:34 - 43 was read out by the bible reader, my attention was drawn to the words of Peter in his message to the household of Cornelius at Caesarea:

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power (v38a)
God was with Him (v 38b).
After he was killed, God raised him up on the third day (v 39).
God showed the resurrected Lord Jesus openly to selected witnesses (v 41),
witnesses whom God had chosen,
so that they could even eat and drink with Him.
Finally, God who ordained the Lord to be judge of the living and the dead (v 42).

It was so clear that morning when listening to the passage being read out, that Jesus is not God himself, yet I dared not admit it to myself, much less to other church members around me. I was so touched by these words of the apostle Peter that morning that I went home to post an article on my blog entitled, "An Act of God".

From that day on, while I still continued to uphold my trinitarian tradition, I made up my mind to pray only to "God the Father" in the name of "the Son", especially when I was leading prayers in groups or during Sunday worship services.

Class Reunion Oct 2009 - a turning point
Then came September 2009 - I received invitations from several old classmates to attend a class reunion - many of whom I've not met for more than 30 years!

I found out from the Internet that one of my long-lost classmates Kwan, is a Pastor of CDC, and subsequently came across his comment posted on a blog page of a monotheistic Christian web-site, introducing P. Eric's book, "The Only True God - a study in Biblical Monotheism". I was very curious to find out what my old long-lost class mate is getting into. To my delight, I found that the book was available for on-line reading free of charge.

So, for the subsequent couple of weeks, I read a lot of P. Eric's arguments and reasoning in making his case for Biblical Monotheism, and in pointing out the errors of the doctrine of Trinity. I also surfed through several other monotheistic websites, some of which do not agree entirely with his views. The more I read, the more enlightening and reasonable those writings came across to me, so much so that for several nights in a row, I read until 2 or 3 a.m.!

I began to realise that my first few weeks of praying to One God Almighty 35 years ago, briefly before I was introduced to the doctrine of trinity by my Christian classmates, was the correct way, although initially I had not yet believed in the name of Jesus. So, a few days before we had to travel down to KL to attend our class reunion, I shared my new realisation with my wife, who didn't take long to see my reasoning and agreed that indeed, the trinity is a confusing and fantastic doctrine, and that monotheism is the right belief, upheld by the early Jewish Christians in the NT.

By the time I met Kwan at the class reunion in Hartamas Heights on 31Oct10, I had covered about 400 pages of "The Only True God" and downloaded and skimmed through various articles from other related websites.

A Pressing Question
At the same time, and almost immediately, a question loomed in my mind

There is the well-known passage in John 20:26-29 where Thomas exclaims to the risen Lord Jesus: "My Lord and my God".

I learned that Thomas, as a Jew, was addressing Jesus as a representative or agent of God himself, a common Jewish practice in OT times, e.g. Jacob addressed the angel at Peniel (Genesis
32:30) as God. We must not ignore the fact that in the very same chapter, just barely 10 verses earlier (v. 17), the resurrected Jesus had told Mary that he was to ascend to "my Father and your Father, my God and your God", while referring to the disciples as "my brothers" clearly distinguishing himself from the Father.

Grace and Peace
I spent the following weeks asking many Christian brothers all kinds of questions, many of them regarding the pre-existence of Christ, partly because I've come across websites of other monotheistic groups which believe that Christ existed together with God before the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Yet, despite my questions, from that time on I started praying again to God our Father in heaven as the One and Only God Almighty, the same God whom I believed in, and to whom I prayed initially back in November 1975 when I turned away from Buddhism.

In fact one of the first things I asked from our One True God was to grant me a safe and successful journey to the class reunion in KL and back to Kampar that same night. The LORD God, YeHoVaH, our loving Father in heaven, gave us that night calm weather, quiet traffic, a clear and alert mind and most of all, a deep peace in my heart - a peace that I had not experienced for many years - and we returned home safely after midnight.

Implications of knowing the Truth about the Only True God
Suddenly all the bible passages about Jesus as the Son of God became very clear and easy to comprehend. The anxiety over various contradictions to the teaching of the trinity had thus disappeared.

It was exciting to know that the God of the NT is the same almighty LORD or Adonai YeHoVaH of the OT. Every time I prayed, I was thrilled by the knowledge of the truth that I was praying to the same God that Abraham prayed to. Our Father in heaven is no longer merely one of the three persons of the trinity. He is no longer one-third, 33.33% of God! He IS YeHoVaH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He IS the God of King David and the prophet Daniel.

No longer did I have to regard YeHoVaH, translated as "the LORD" in our English Bibles (except the Jerusalem Bible) as a somewhat outdated, less informed way of addressing God by the less informed monotheistic Israelites of the OT. And No longer do I have to replace this knowledge of YeHoVaH, the Only True God, with a more modernised, updated version of God comprising three persons. The confusion disappears when I stop worshipping Jesus Christ as one of three persons united into one God.

Instead Jesus, becomes my Example in faith - I shall live just as my Lord had lived his life in this world. He is the author and the finisher of my faith. He sits at the right hand of God. And he intercedes for me.

Other implications - perhaps stronger ones
A less pleasant implication is the likelihood that I will be labelled a heretic, and that my association with monotheistic Christians will be regarded as an association with deviants, if not cults.

The belief in monotheism has long been upheld by cults and deviant groups which consider themselves the only true churches e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses and Herbert Armstrong WCOG

In fact any person, or church or fellowship group that refuses to believe in the trinity is almost always, certainly and immediately, without further reservation, regarded as a cult, or a false church by traditional trinitarian churches.

Ironically, today's protestant churches are considerably more tolerant of a wide range of questionable beliefs and excessive practises from splinter churches and charismatic groups, including even considering Roman Catholics as their brothers, than they would of any unitarian or monotheistic christian church.

This implication is particularly difficult for me and my family - as I have been involved in teaching and preaching in various churches over the past 27 years, particularly the recent 12 years in Kampar, Teluk Intan and quite frequently in Ipoh. Begin with my christian family members, I am now making arrangements to let more and more people around me know of my new awakening.

So then, who is Jesus Christ to us?
All these last five months of serious consideration lead to one question this morning, "So,who is Jesus?". If Jesus is not God the son, who then is the Son of God? Who then is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah?

When we regard our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, our Messiah, we are reminded of at least three things our Lord has done for us:
I Jesus is the Model of our faith
II Jesus is the Mediator of our salvation
III Jesus is the Master of our obedience

I think I'll have time today only to explain the first point: that the Son of God is the Model of our faith:

(1) Firstly, he is the Model for our Empowerment:
Jesus was anointed by the Spirit of God (Acts 10: 38, Luke 3:22). He was led by the Spirit, and he was full of the Spirit (Luke 4:1, 14) - beginning with his ministry in Galilee - after his baptism by John in the Jordan River.

Likewise, beginning with our baptism, we, like our Lord Jesus, also receive the Spirit of God - and like Jesus - we are to be led by the Spirit, and be full of the Spirit. (Rom. 8: 11-14). The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our bodies, by his indwelling in us - and by this Spirit we are to put to death the deeds of the body - and we who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

(2) Secondly, he is the Model for our Endurance:
He is the author and finisher of our faith, and we are to "look unto Jesus" (Heb. 12:2, 3) - who endured the cross, despised shame, and endured such hostilities from sinners - let us make him our model, our example - so that we will not become weary or discouraged in our souls.

(3) Thirdly, he is the Model for our Emulation:
In 1Cor. 11: 1 - the apostle Paul asked the Corinthian Christians to imitate him as he imitated Christ. Let us likewise imitate (follow, exemplify, emulate) our Lord Jesus in our lives.
Phil. 2:8 - Christ became obedient to God, to the point of death, even death on the cross . . .
Four verses later, (after explaining how God has highly exalted Christ and gave him the name which is above every name) - the apostle told the Philippians "Therefore" - they must also obey God (as they had always obeyed) - and work out their own salvation with fear and trembling!

Conclusion
Bro. and Sis. in Christ, let us live like our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us make him the model of our faith - in our endurance, in our empowerment, and in our emulation of him Just as Christ humbled himself and obeyed God to the point of crucifixion, let us also obey God like he did - and work out our salvation.

Continued on my posting of 26April10: Jesus - our Mediator.