Gift Especially For You

This is my last blog entry for this year... and because I really love you, I want to present a gift to you all.

Here you go.... enjoy!

Reflections

As 2006 draws to a close, I want to take some time for reflection.

All in all, I would sum up 2006 as a year of growth for me. It is a year that I had been stretched in numerous ways. It hasn’t been easy but it has been helpful. Growth is like that: we don’t like it but we all need it and we will be glad when we go through it.

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Discipline here does not only refer to punishment for wrong but training for good as well. So, 2006 had been a year of training and growth of me.

I had picked up new skills, learnt to love better and grown in further depth in my relationship with God.

Some of the highlights were attending the Hope Conference in Prague and touring Switzerland. It was one of the most unforgettable conferences because I got to experience the European Christian culture first-hand. That was really invaluable.

Another highlight was also visiting our South African church. Preaching in the slumps to a bunch of mostly Zulu-only-speaking Africans was a new experience for me. The trip to Soweto had enriched my soul in ways that were simply indescribable.

This is also the year that I took up the challenge of discipling 10 guys directly. I did my best to care, to pray and to lead with as much energy and strength that I could garner. It was challenging but it was a definite growth point in my life. In the end, I think they enriched my life much more than I had done to theirs.

Another wonderful experience was also the Adults Camp in Melaka. That was the first time I got the entire Adults group together under one roof. It helped me to envision a lot more of what God wanted and could do through our Adults ministry.

I also enjoyed the WorkLife series tremendously. The more I shared about God’s principles on work, the more I was convicted that we could indeed be the Salt & Light in our workplaces.

Another highlight that just came to mind was also the Hope International Business Life ministry meeting. I was totally bowed over by the vision and passion that our Thai Hope Business people had. One of them even had, in the missions statement for her companies, the plan to provide the retirement fund for all the full time church workers. She said that this would enable to the full time workers to fully focus on church business and not be concerned about their financial needs.

I know that there are probably many many more defining moments in my life in 2006 that I had not penned down.

Whatever the case, as I looked back at the rear view mirror for 2006, I am really thankful and grateful to God all for the necessary experiences that He has brought me through. All the highest highs and lowest lows have helped shaped me to be a bit more like Jesus.

Indeed, God has been good to me…

Thank You!

As I will not be preaching for the next few weeks, I want to take this opportunity to thank many of you who had made God’s Christmas dream come true!

Before we even begin, I want to share a powerful testimony about what God had done. As many of us would have known, it was raining bad last week. Many lives were affected. Two members who worked in the Thomson Road flower shop told me that their year end bonuses were literally washed away.

Then the newspaper reported that it was going to rain big time on the 23rd, 24th and 25th Dec. There will be showers all over the island on the 23rd and 24th while there will be showers and thunder on the 25th Dec.

Many of us prayed for the rain to stop such that people who may not know God as yet can come to many worship services all over Singapore. God held the rain back and it was great weather from the 23rd to the 25th Dec! However, it rained badly again today on the 26th Dec. God is sooooo gooooood!

For our Hope Singapore Christmas Services over the past 2 weekends, my conservative estimation is that there are over 300 people crossing the line of faith! This is fantastic!

Honor must be given to the Christmas team that did a wonderful job for the Christmas Services.

Many were impressed with the production “The Creation Story”. The props were so breath-taking. My favorite is the zebra but I know that many had chosen the giraffes as their fave. Many were taken by awe when the giraffes were wheeled out during the production. Kallang Theatre even asked if we could give them our props after our production!

Many thanks as well to the stage managers, dancers, singers, musicians, choir, technical crew (sound, video, MM, photography), movers and many other supporting people. Please forgive me if I had missed out your role as there are really too many for me to recall. Your hardwork and contribution had changed hundreds of destinies for all of eternity.

I also brought some of my family members to the Mandarin Christmas service as well. I was most impressed and moved by their musical. It was simple and spoke straight to the heart. James' message was full of authority and love. 22 or more salvations took place!

Hong Teck also told me that we had 35 first-timers for our Hope Kids Christmas celebration. Well done Hope Kids! People of all ages are streaming into the Kingdom.

Many thanks as well to all of you who led your groups and invited your friends, relatives, colleagues and schoolmates. You did good.

Special thanks to Shirley Melinda and her team for leading the entire Christmas project. The Kingdom owes you one!

What impressed me greatly was the focus that we had as a church to put the ball into the goal. Whatever role that we may be playing, we all had one common goal. And everyone was looking out for one another as we did our best for our part of the game. We did it together!

From the deepest depth of my heart, I am really proud of all of you.

One of the many highlights for me took place during the 10am Sunday morning service. When the pre-believers responded and came to the front for the altar call, I was totally surprised to see a man whom our church had been trying to reach out for the longest time.

His wife and her care group had been trying their best to bring him to know the Lord and it hadn’t been easy. I could see tears of joy streaming down her face and they prayed together for him to make Jesus his Lord and Savior. Now they are not just merely earthly husband and wife but brother and sister for all of eternity!

That scene will be forever etched onto my heart. That scene alone had made all the hardwork and preparation worth the while!





The "PAP" Choir






Metrosexual Guys







Hope Bachelors







The Fishes








Cara, the overseeing stage manager







Some animal parts...








Animals Parking








Margie, the song bird








The powerful vocalists







Part of the team

Jim & Derek Redmond

This is the Barcelona Olympics clip that has inspired me greatly. Hope it will help you to remember the love of God this Christmas...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDsigCRtoyg

God and you are an awesome team!

Happy Christmas & Merry New Year

3 More Days To The Christmas Weekend

It had been raining cats and dogs for the past 2 days. I had planned to exercise yesterday but it was totally rained off. Instead, I took to the stairs and climb around 42 stories in all. It was not fun but I did it in order to prepare myself physically for the coming weekend.

Then I went for the Christmas rehearsal last night and it was great. I am really thankful for the tremendous effort put it by all the different teams.

This morning, I woke up and felt a pain in my throat. I do not recall eating lots of heaty food or chocolate. I had a strange suspicion that something may be amiss with my health. I had not been physically unwell for more than 3 years already and I was not about to let it happened; not especially during this very important seasons of our ministry year.

Anyhow, I had to leave the office earlier today as I could clearly feel the flu bug coming my way. Since prevention is better than cure; I left the office earlier in hope to sleep off my discomfort.

After catching some rest, I am feeling better already. Call it a spiritual battle or whatever you want to; something tells me that this Christmas is going to be a fantastic one!

I am excited over the fact that many destinies would be changed for all eternity during the whole week. I am excited that many families are going to rejoice for all eternity because of what God will be doing in many hearts. I am excited that our church will once again live out her redemptive potential to a much greater degree.

“Father I pray for the many lives that will be touched throughout this entire week. People matter to you and they must matter to us as well. May you take whatever limited abilities and talents that we have to touch the deepest recesses of the pre-believers’ hearts. Speak straight into their hearts in such a way that they would know that it is you calling them back to yourself.

Lord, there is absolutely no fear in love. Help us to be fearless in spreading your grace to as many people as we can. Let your power move through our acts of love and words of love. Please do your works in the lives of many people through us. Amen.”

Please pray along with many of us…

Depleted Yet Filled With Joy!

Last weekend was the most challenging by far. The exhaustion showed after 5-6 weeks of continuous preaching. I was like a walking dead man at the end of yesterday’s Filipino service. Contending for the spiritual eternity for souls is indeed hard work.

On the other hand, I was blessed by the many lives that have been turned around for eternity. My tiredness does not in anyway diminish the transforming power and love of the gospel message. It is indeed good news that Jesus had come to help us live life in all its fullest.

The more I shared it to the people, the greater the message grows in me. I am really glad that Jesus had come for me. I am so thankful that God had spared no effort to reach a sinner like me. I am truly a life that had been transformed! Not just me but many many more around me and in our church too!

There was this particular lady who was so overwhelmed by the love of God that she actually passed out after praying the sinner’s prayer. This is certainly a first for me! Just like how the wise men were overjoyed when they saw the star that led them to Jesus, this lady was so overwhelmed by the goodness of God that she fainted! Not to worry, she did regain her consciousness after some help from the people around her…

For this week, I am pacing myself to be prepared for the harvest in Kallang Theatre on the weekend. I know that it is going to be a fantastic time! I need to prepare myself physically (more act of self mutilation through running again!), spiritually (fasting and praying) and emotionally (resting enough to fill up my emotional tank).

Let’s anticipate a great time of harvest on the weekend. We can all play a part by inviting people to any of possible events and services throughout the week.

I was also at the Mandarin church musical rehearsal yesterday and it was most refreshing for me. Let’s not let Christmas bypass our friends, families and relatives. Let’s allow Christmas to happen in them in 2006!

The Family & The Kids

I was really blessed last Sunday as I attended a talk for the parents-to-be given by our family group.

I was blessed to see our family group giving good practical and biblical advice to the young parents-to-be. The teachings were very real and practical. It would certainly help the younger couple to have a realistic picture of what life with children is really like.

At the same time, the commitment to Jesus and His cause remain strong at every station of their lives. They even shared about how they "use" their children to help in reaching pre-believers! This is most commendable and encouraging to hear and to observe.

Since we believe that children are a blessing from God, then it should not detract us from loving Jesus and loving people more. We must love the Giver (God) above the gift (our family).

During one the teaching session, Jimmy Chang shared about how one of his son asked him to explain what loyalty was all about. Jimmy used the story of Judas to share what loyalty is not when he betrayed Jesus for 30 silver coins. This illustration did indeed help the son to understand what loyalty was and wasn't.

But what really amazed me was that the young son actually asked Jimmy why Judas had to betray Jesus for 30 silver coins since God is so rich. Judas could have just asked God for the money!

Jimmy said that he was pleasantly surprised with the response and asked him where he had learnt this lesson that God is rich and that He longs to provide for us. The young boy simply replied that he had learnt in Hope Kids from Uncle Hong Teck. And this was taught many moons ago and not a fresh lesson that was taught on the previous week.

This is amazing to me. Children are learning much more than we even know. They are indeed like wet cement: whatever imprints we made, it would last for a long long time.

I am so thankful for our Hope Kids leaders, teachers and volunteers. All their effort had indeed not been in vain!

Church, when it functions well, is indeed a place where we can grow from the womb to the tomb. I am very glad to be serving in a church like ours. Despite all its flaws, it is still the radiant bride of Christ that Jesus is coming back for!

Some Photos From Malaysia National Convention 2006

Had just received some photos from the Convention Committee...



Pastor Simon, Elder of Hope Of God Movement








A very cheeky looking Pastor Denis (Hope Kuching)









Part of the crowd






Willie & me ministering together








Pastor Kwong Lie (Hope JB)








People Responding To God...

The Theology Of Rest

After the MNC, it was really good to be home. I took leave on Monday to just rest. It was most wonderful for me. I slept in and watch TV. I managed to catch up on some English Premier League action. MU won! It was most refreshing to me. The grass on the pitch had never appeared so green to me.

Then on Monday afternoon, I went for a jog. Although my throat wasn’t feeling all that great, I knew that I needed the exercise. I ran for more than 6 km rather effortlessly.

Believe it or not, I think I actually lost some weight while in the Convention. Those late nights and continuous sessions had actually helped me to reduce my appetite. So beside volunteering for war, attending very “siong” convention is another way for me to lose weight! There is indeed a God!

Then on Tuesday, a whole bunch of us took a little trip to JB. One purpose was to celebrate with Jas for her XX birthday. The other reasons are for the girls to beautify themselves and all to strengthen the Malaysian economy.

We had a great time. Most beautified themselves (I will not tell you who do what… you just have to observant) while others bought clothes and other accessories. I did neither. I was tempted to have my hair cut as the price was very reasonable. But I was reminded that I did not have much hair to be cut, permed, colored, rebounded, curled, highlighted or shaved.

In the evening, I visited my parents for a mostly home-cooked dinner before heading home at around 9pm. I went to bed at around 11pm and slept all the way through like a baby until around 8am in the morning.

It was a great time of rest and relax for me. God rested from His work of creation and I need to rest as well. It is in resting than I am once again primed for greater works ahead.

Christmas is coming. Harvest is here!

Malaysia National Convention 2006

Claudia and I had a fantastic time in Johor Bahru with the rest of our Malaysian churches. I had the privilege of speaking in some of the sessions and the people were really responsive to God’s truth. I was telling them life stories of the wonderful people in Hope Singapore and many were really encouraged. Your life is making more impact than you can ever imagine on this side of heaven. Way to go Hope Singapore!

The highlight for me was the Missions Night. This is the first time that I am given a full comprehensive picture of what God have been doing through Hope Malaysia. We have covered all, but 2 remaining, states in the whole country. There are also preparation works to enter into 8 virgin countries. One team had already landed in a new country and the testimonies were most inspiring. We had also entered into around 30 universities all over the nation. Being given a bird-eye’s view of the work, it was most exciting and encouraging to me.

During the convention, I also had the opportunities to renew many of the friendships that I had made over the years. Many of the pastors and leaders have really helped me so much in my own walk with the Lord. It was most refreshing to me to just hear their experiences with God.

During one the many meal times, Aaron from Melaka came and said hello to me. This is a wonderful friend that I had not met for over 9 years. We were serving in the same care group many years ago. There was so much to say and yet we did not know where to even begin. But the mere presence and hug spoke volumes.

I arrived back in Singapore at around evening time. I was so totally zonked out. Anyhow, I hope to be able to share some photos from the convention with you when I get them.

It is good to be back…