Is there a Green Pasture for me?

What can I do if one day I am fired from my job?

For the past few months, I was pondering over this question. With each passing months, the D-day get nearer and the thoughts get more intense.

Since last October, there’s a UK company thinking of buying over our company. They carried out due diligence for quite a number of times and basically audit everything. The company also flew in their lawyer, accountant, and a small team of people. My big boss (the president of the company) was very excited and announced in December that they would make a decision by end of March 2010. He sounded very confident that they will buy us over.
(And that will make him very rich!!)

For me, my position as an engineering staff sound precarious. If they were to reduce head-count, engineering / R&D staffs are usually the first to be replaced by their own people. Moreover, my job scope would not fit into their whole company structure.

For the past 10 years, my company has survived economy downturn and 3 companies who we worked for default in payment amounting to million of dollars. We have always been blessed even in difficult times. Though my bosses are not God-believers, yet I see the hand of God leading me here. Just the other day, I heard my boss, the General Manager (who is not a Christian) saying, “We are lucky, God is helping us.” He knows I am a Christian as I used to share the Christian faith with him.

I have been praying about this for quite a long time. Would I need to look for green pasture? Can I say with confident: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lies down in green pasture …” ?

Would this be the last of me here in this company since the day of start-up?

Then the beginning of April 2010 came. The big boss told us that they decided not to buy our company but will continue to just do business with us. He sounded disappointed but he will look for new buyers.

Thank God, I guess HE wants me to stay here a bit longer.

But still I need to prepare for Green Pasture should the day I need to move. Retirement is not the option at this moment as my children are still schooling. And so the question still lingers on …

What can I do if one day I am fired from my job?

Emails - Thanks for replying

I was a bit surprise to receive a reply from my email yesterday :)

Thank you! :)

I know that people from Bethany Church usually don’t bother to acknowledge or even reply email. Last year I sent out my teaching Power Point on Biblical Narratives to some 20 people – Sunday school teachers, Bible Study Leaders and even church leaders. Yet I did not receive a single reply. So I know that people in the church like to remain anonymous – no reply, no comments.

Recently I sent out quite a number of emails weekly. Perhaps I am intruding into others’ privacy? Am I trying to influence others by my thoughts? We usually sent email thinking that by doing so, it may help others. Usually, the recipients see it as intruding or nuisance. So after browsing it, it is then simply discarded and forgotten.


Well, this is my last term as Bible Study ministry co-coordinator. Once this is done and over with. I will not need to bother others with my many emails, and even my blogging.

Cheers!

Be Cheerful! :))

"Why are you so happy today?"

"Is that so?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, you are smiling and singing." A colleague of mine replied.

Hmm, I didn't know that I was smiling. I could not see my face. Maybe I was happy about many things. Even bad things.

But I guess I started the day right. That is the most important thing. Somehow, I just have the urge to listen to the song:

"In Christ Alone, my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song"

And I have replayed it so many times and trying to sing it also.

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

And probably that was reflected on my face that I didn't know - the depths of peace, the anxiousness, striving gone.

Later, the boss saw me and came to me, thinking that I have a new discovery in my work.
I told him, "NO".

"You are smiling, there must be something interesting." He said.

You see, my job as the head of engineering is to solve problems and create new things for the company. Other's people problems become my problems, so to say. Life in the office is always dealing with difficulties and maybe that is why, when my mood change, everybody see it. When I smile, there must be some big invention, new design or idea.

But really:

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand'
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

I can be cheerful inspite of facing problems and difficulty daily, because IN THE POWER OF CHRIST I'LL STAND!

Cheers!

God's Money or Mine?

The most often used item in our daily life is MONEY!

Last Sunday, we had a Church class conducted by the Pastor after worship service, talking about money. The big question of the class is: “God’s money or mine?”

As we broke into groups, I thought everyone wanted to play it safe and since the class was conducted by the pastor, we all unanimously agreed that it’s God’s money and we are his stewards to what He has given us.

Sure enough, the Pastor gave the following verses to support his view that the money we have is God’s money:

Psa 24:1
The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

1Chron 29:11,12
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

One brother also quoted Deut 8:17,18
You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Interestingly though, near the end, one sister, Mrs. Catherine Goh, spoke up: “After I give 10% to God, the money is mine. And I can use the money for shopping!”

Is she wrong?

Did the Bible specifically says that money belong to God even though you have it in your hand?

If you look at the verses – Psa 24:1&2 and 1 Chron 29:11&12 - the psalmist (who is David) is thinking in general terms that everything ultimately comes from God. I don’t think that when they said this, they are thinking about money belongs to God, but that you and I belong to God so He gave us strength to get it.

But there is a clearer verse that talk about God's money:

"The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," says the LORD of hosts (Haggai 2:8)

Jesus Christ has more to say about money (from the earthly perspective):

There’s a story about the Pharisees coming to ask Jesus a question:

Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied.
Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
(Mat 22:17-21)

What do you think Jesus is saying?

Is money belongs to God?
Is money belongs to you and I?
Money belongs to Caesar!! --- the government of the country.

I take out my $50 dollar bill and I see the face of my former president. On it is the signature of the chairman of the monetary authority of Singapore. The dollar bills also stated: “This note is legal tender FIFTY DOLLARS”

So, the money I have belongs to the country of Singapore but given to me for transaction of anything that is legally worth fifty dollars.

Such is the power of money, the more I have, the more I can do anything of that’s worth.

And money has power that can be a god. Jesus Christ goes on to say:

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Mat 6:24)

Here we see that Money is a rival to God for our servanthood. Either you serve God or serve Money. No other option is given to us. Matthew 6:24 makes it very clear that Money does not belong to God. In fact, it is evil (as stated in Richard Foster's book on Money, Sex and Power)and challenges God for our services.

“Fools serve money and leave it all behind. Shrewd believers serve God and invest in eternity.”

Want to know how to invest in eternity?

What is your view about money?

PTL

3 type of people

I think you know this - there are 3 types of people in the church (or anywhere else):

1. People who make things happen.
2. People who see things happen.
3. People who don’t know what happen.


Last night, a few of us gather at the church cafeteria and discuss about the coming fellowship outing. These are the people who I call ‘people who make things happen’. And they are the one who are always making things for the church, for the people in the community, for the disinterested. They think how to spice up others’ lives, help the hurtful and suggest ways for improvement even if the suggestions fall on deaf eyes. They are what I call the “Kay Poh” (busybody in Chinese dialect), and I am one of these “Kay Poh”.

Then, there are those who see things happen. Somebody call them Sunday friends. They come on Sunday worship and then off they go with a few friends to catch up with a cup of coffee. They see things happen, decide whether they benefit from it or not. If it benefits them, they join in or contribute to their advantage. Silently they watch or read (what others write/blog) without a comment or involvement. Unless they are touch by the Holy Spirit and being transformed (Rom 12:2), they remains status quo for years.

I shall not write about people who don’t know what happen. You know them better than me.

So, my suggestion during last night meeting to the ‘people who make things happen’ to have a program that can move those ‘people who see things happen’ to be more forthcoming in their Christian faith. I didn’t say this actually as I write here but the intention is clear. (I leave it to imagine how this is to be done).

What type of people are you?

The first wealth is Health

I rather be healthy than be wealthy.

Yesterday, I went for a full body health screening. While talking to the doctor, I asked him about some discomfort at my lower part of my body and sought his advice. His suggestion stroked some fear in me. Perhaps at my age, I should not be exerting too much force and carry heavy load too often. This has weakened my muscles. It may be a warning signs for me.

To be healthy, I have always exercised regularly, careful of my diet, and have adequate rest. Now, I need to add another factor – avoid exerting too much force on my body. In my work, I occasionally have to carry those heavy and bulky equipments around. Perhaps that is the cause of my weaken muscle on the lower part of my body.

I will have my health review with the doctor next week. Pray for God's protection.

It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Being Thankful

It’s amazing how a prayerful and thankful attitude make life all the more different.:)

But it’s not going to be easy especially when facing a seemingly insurmountable task that is beyond our control. After writing my Monday (previous) post I decided to be thankful. What better way to do that than to memorize God’s Word? So I type the verse Phi 4:8 on a small piece of paper:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Let’s face it, my problem is true (real). I need to response fast to the customer’s request for 2 product samples within 2 weeks. Buying the material takes 3 weeks. Would I be able to give them what they want in a short time, knowing that I don’t have the materials to do what they require? Only God is in control. And to get to HIM, I need to pray… (and be thankful)..

While praying, I realized that I needed to tidy up my office. It’s full of junk accumulated over the past 10 years working in this company. It’s like that kind of prompting inside me: “Clean up your room!!”

And guess what? As I was cleaning up the mess, I found materials among the junk that I could use to build one sample!! OK, not exactly what the customer wants, but at least close to their requirement and specifications. :)

That was what happened on Monday when I decided to “Be thankful in all circumstances”. The week kind of went through smoothly and I managed to get the sample built, tested over temperature of -30 degree to +70 degree Celsius. It will be shipped out today. Also, I might be able to complete the other samples as well next week. (God just bring people to help you when you pray!)


God just “open doors” when we pray and be thankful in all circumstances.

Praise the LORD (PTL)

Stress here, stress there... Stress Everywhere!

It has been a tough week. Probably, this week going to be quite stressful.

Finally, I received the crystal oscillators (after 6 months of waiting) from my supplier and continued to work on my project. I tested some and it seemed to work to about -20 degrees. The testing procedure is very tedious and we have to use Liquid Nitrogen to cool the cystal oscillators down to that temperature. Unfortunately, most of the crystal oscillators are not working well at about -15 degrees Celsius even though we specified to the supplier that we wanted the crystal oscillator to function properly to -30 degrees Celsius. As the products are going to the United Kingdom, I am getting very concerned. The thoughts, “Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES” kept appearing in my mind. Perhaps, the LORD wants to teach me to be thankful?

This morning, as I opened my email, my boss forwarded a mail from a potential customer wanting me to send them 2 sample products for their evaluation in 2 or 3 weeks times. Suddenly, my stress level shot up.

My mind shouted: “I don’t have the material to build the samples!”

There you go, any stressful week ahead. How should I answer the boss and the customer? Would I loose a very good business opportunity?

How would I “rejoice always, and give thanks in all circumstances”?

Surely, I will pray continually.

A worship service that is so … different!

“What do you think about today’s worship service?” I casually asked my 16 years old daughter yesterday as we were on our way home.

“Eh, it’s so … different!”

“What’s so different?”

“Just different, lah!” She still couldn’t find the words to describe the experience we had in this church's service.

Yesterday, we had an opportunity to visit a church near our home. My first visit to this church was May last year. The feeling of Spirit’s presence was just as strong as it was then. The worship bulletin did not have any mission statement or purpose, the theme for the year or any announcement. There was no need to remind worshippers to worship God “in spirit and in truth” on paper. It was written in every hearts that are present. The songs still linger in my minds as I am writing this. The whole service ministers to the hearts. Perhaps that was what my daughter meant when she said, “It’s so different”. She was sitting between me and my wife. I could sense her complete attention during the service.

The worship handouts just contained the outline of the sermon, wonderfully and clearly layout. There were also insert of the church mission activities. When I saw the sermon outline, I knew we were going to have a dynamic speaker even before he spoke. The topic was on revival. This grandfatherly preacher was able to swings our mood as he injected humor to make us laugh and illustrations to bring tears to our eyes. At the end, hundreds came down to response to the altar call of re-commitment to Christ.

I left the worship service wondering why I am still staying with my presence church after 24 years there.

The Dark Side of Men

Another big sex scandal has happened, similar to that of Tiger Wood.

Except that it is now in our shore – Singapore. It involved a successful Singapore film- maker who has received many awards from the Singapore government, one equivalent to the UK knighthood title. We would be calling him Sir Jack Neo, except that it is written in a Malay title: PBM. (Why would Singapore want to give a title that nobody understands??). Also, the saga gets juicier because Jack Neo portrays himself as a moralist.

I would not be writing this, if he did not profess to be attending a Christian church. His whole family is attending City Harvest Church, the largest church in Singapore with a congregation of about 33,000. So, even those who claim to go to church and worship God also fall by this deadly sin.

After so many sex scandals – Tiger Wood, John Terry, Ashley Cole and now Jack Neo, it’s high time we men be honest with ourselves. We all have a dark side inside us. Let’s not pretend. I like Dr. Jason Wolfe’s website cartoon (Humorous but actually true)

http://www.wolfescape.com/Humour/MenWomen.htm




No, I am not blogging to attack any of these people but to reflect as a man, what God is speaking to me about all these sex scandals like I am reading from the Bible in 1Samuel Chapter 11.

First, whatever happened to them can also happen to me when the circumstances are right. Even the most godly man is not exempted from such temptation. King David, the man after God’s heart fell into it. There is another man who also faced the same temptation but overcame it strongly with the strength of God. It is Joseph, the son of Jacob in Gen 39.

The young Joseph of not more than 30 years old, when tempted with sexual sin, replied: “How then could I do this great wickedness and sin against God” (Gen 39:9). Sexual sin is not just a sin against my wife, my family or other girls. It is a sin against God.

So what is the different in circumstances? One has all he can get – a king – rich and powerful and lives only to please himself. Another is a slave, struggling in an alien land, serving to please his master. So the circumstances are when one gets money (lot of it) and fame, then the sexual dark side starts to creep out. Even if we are not rich and famous, this dark side is still in all men.

So what should men do?

Unfortunately, most Christian men avoid talking about it all together. We want to keep secrets. And so our discussions are never personal, always about politics, economy, careers, work, hobbies …, never about our inner self, never transparent. Dr. Larry Crabb, in his book, “The Silence of Adam” calls it the monster lurking inside us, guys. And I fully agree with him that to overcome this monster, men must share secrets. Share it with one person with whom you can trust and uphold in prayer. It sure will break the chain of bondage by this monster.

I like one of his statements:
“Fathers encourage by leading the way, by walking ahead of us on the path. Brothers encourage by sharing our struggles, by walking with us.”

Isaac, our brother-in-Christ, once mentioned about the accountability group that he attended with the missionaries when serving in Yunnan, China. He wondered why our church did not have one. The truth is … we like to keep our privacy and hide our secret and dark side. But those who confess their sins and pray for one another are most often the ones on the path of overcoming this dark side. (read James 5:16)

I have much to share but will just stop here. Any of you guys who are reading this and want to have a personal talk, do feel free to call me :)

Friend No More :(

For some unknown reasons, this facebook friend of mine removes that friendship.

And I am still trying to figure out why and what I did that broke off that facebook friendship. Perhaps it was something I posed that she felt offended? Or was it my reply to her husband's wall-to-wall comment that she disagreed? In the first place, it was she who extended the facebook friendship to me.

Her husband and I have a very close friendship since University days. We were room-mates, Bible study mates, jogging mates, all kind of mates you can think of. And I was his best man during their wedding. Something though, I don’t really know her well to guess why.

It puzzles me what causes friendship to terminate.

I am still trying to figure it all up. This is my very first encounter.

Have you experience situations like this?

Chasing our Dreams & our Happiness

Yesterday, the boss walked into my office to discuss a business opportunity. In the midst of the conversation, he sigh, “I am very stressed up with the company’s businesses”

11 years ago, the boss together with a few of us started this electronic company. We wanted to chase our dream. We believe we have what it takes to compete globally. Life has always been stressful since then. It is difficult to compete with the big multi-national companies. But, thank God, we are never in the red.

But are we happy?

This morning, as I read Our Daily Bread on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 , I feel that true happiness is not self-seeking. The whole passage is about the “I” (mentioned 18 times), “my” and “me”. And at the end of all the achievement,

what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecc 2:11)

I received this story from a colleague:

Some time ago, at the Seattle Olympics,
nine athletes, all mentally or physically challenged,
were standing on the start line for the 100 m race.
The gun fired and the race began.
Not everyone was running, but everyone wanted to participate and win.

They ran in threes, a boy tripped and fell, did a few somersaults and started crying.
The other eight heard him crying.
They slowed down and looked behind them.
They stopped and came back… All of them…

A girl with Down’s Syndrome sat down next to him,
hugged him and asked, “Feeling better now?”

Then, all nine walked shoulder to shoulder to the finish line.

The whole crowd stood up and applauded.
And the applause lasted a very long time…

People who witnessed this still talk about it.
Why? Because deep down inside us, we all know that the most important thing in life is much more than winning for ourselves.

The most important thing in this life is to help others to win.
Even if that means slowing down and changing our own race.

"A candle loses nothing if it is used to light another one.”


One of my most cherished quotations was written in my autograph book by my Primary 6 teacher before I left that school:

Only one life, it will soon be past.
Only what’s done for Christ, will last

Agape :)

Lesson learnt: Be Gracious & Meek

I have a nervous week. Thank and praise the LORD! My Shepherd leaded me through.

Yes, nervous because I needed to account to my customer why I am delaying his project due to the late arrival of the crystal oscillators which I ordered since last September (see post on Feb 19 – Waiting …Hoping … :( or :) ? ).

Also, I was nervous because my team had a presentation on a new design to make to the bosses. It is a sort of an accountability presentation. Will there be fire and storm??

After a long distance call and talking to the supplier of the crystal oscillators, I took a few days to pray for wisdom how I should answer to my UK customer of the frequent delay of the project which we promised to deliver. I also prayed that my customer be gracious to me and not penalize my company for the overdue. After much prayer, I decided to be honest and state the situations, giving them the assurance that I will do my utmost best to expedite the work. God is good, the customer is quite gracious and there is no penalty or cancelation of the project. Now I need to honor my words and praying that my supplier of the crystal oscillators will deliver their goods next week as promised.

Still waiting … and hoping.

Then in the mid-week, the presentation wasn’t that smooth as I would hope to. This is a team work project (and is still on going). One of my junior engineers did make an honest mistake and the computer simulation of a part of the design did show some potential problem. Perhaps, he did not realize it. I didn’t spot it either during the preparation of the presentation. But during the presentation, it appeared quite obvious to everyone! (Why is it that when something is not right it seem so obvious :(??)

At that point, one of the Vice-president started to attack the engineer. And it got quite merciless. It was like what Jesus said, when I read today’s devotion on Our Daily Bread Matthew 20:20-28

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,(Mat 20:25,26)

Reflecting back on the week, the LORD seems to speak me to be gracious to people. In life, there will always be mistake, delay and hold-up. How should I response to such situations?

Be gracious when others are at fault.

Be meek when I am at fault.

Sermon thoughts: Submission between spouses!!

OK, I am going to put my head on the chopping board and blog about submission in a marriage! :(

Well, that’s because last Sunday, our worship sermon was on 1Peter 2:12-3:13.

This is by far the most sensitive issue for Christian marriage. I remember way back about 20 plus years ago when I was attending this young adult cell group in San Jose, California. One newly married couple spoke strongly against submission. The wife, a Taiwanese lady but raised in America claimed that the passage was “a mistake” in the Bible. Her American husband smiled and nodded. The discussion centered mostly on cultural issues, where submission was a Middle East ancient culture which women normally submit to men (father, brother, and husband). So, the group unanimously agreed that submission in marriage is subjective to culture and does not apply to Americans. Hooray!!

Back track couples of years when I was student in Polytechnic trained under the para-church, Navigators. In one of the leadership training session, my ministry leader made a profound statement which I still remember till this day. He said, “In any organization, system or animal group, there must only be one head (one leader). If there is no head, it is a demon. If there are 2 or more heads, it is also a demon. There must be only one head.” On reflection, this apply also to a family, there must be one head (one leader). Even in the Trinity Godhead, it is the Son submitting to the Father and never the Father submitting to the Son.

OK, so why can’t wife be the leader at home and husband submit to wife?

I know it is very hard for the sisters to swallow if I said that God told Eve that he (referring to Adam, her husband) will rule over her (Gen 3:16) after they sinned. Before they sinned, Eve is Adam’s helper (Gen 2:18-25). To be able to help someone means that you must be capable in order to be of help. It is only after they sinned that Adam is designated as the ruler of the home.

Frankly, I am ok that my wife wants to be the leader of the house. Since she wants to take leadership and there can be only one leader so that it is not a “demonized” home, I do my part and give love, respect and consideration to her (1Peter 3:7). But, sisters, bear in mind one day, you need to stand before God and answer Him: “Why do you want to be the leader of the home?”

Finally, to sisters who are not yet married: marry only a Christian man whom you can accept him as the leader of the home. If you can’t, he is probably not good for you.

Agape :)

Waiting …Hoping … :( or :) ?

Waiting can be daunting. Even now, I am still anxiously waiting.

I wait because I believe there is hope. Otherwise, there is no point waiting.

You see, I had ordered some crystal oscillators on 3 September 2009 for my project which must be delivered on 8 January 2010. At first, the supplier confirmed his delivery date to be November 27. Then as the day came and gone, I was told that it’s going to be December 18. So there was still hope. Unfortunately, it turned out to be false hope. They delayed the delivery date to 19 February 2010. This set me wondering, is this finally going to be real?

A week before Lunar New Year (14 Feb), I emailed them. Sadly, it was another false hope and they shifted the new date to be the first week of March. I began to get anxious and worried.

And I am still waiting and hoping, hoping and waiting. In the midst of all this kan-chong (anxiousness), I was also praying and seeking God for wisdom. But HE chooses not to speak – silence.

I took leave on 12 Feb and was at the Singapore Bible College Library. As I was browsing through the books for only a short while, one particularly book caught my attention.

WAITING – Finding hope when God seems silent

Yep, this is the book I have read during the last 4 days of this holiday period. Is this what the Almighty is directing me to do? If Abraham has to wait for 25 years to see his child born (at the age of 100!), what does waiting mean to me?

Then yesterday’s devotion from Our Daily Bread passage was on Psalm 62. I was reading from my New Revised Standard Version and verse 5 & 6 just jumped out of the text:

For God alone, my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.


Waits … in silence … hope is from him …He alone … not be shaken.

Mere coincidence?? This verse speaks volume to me today.

Roger, over!!

Moving forward or staying put?

Ever since I read what Dr Albert Ting (Principal of Singapore Bible College) wrote in the Jan-Feb 2010 edition of the SBC newsletter:

"Vision without action is only good intention."

Shall I or shall I not continue with what I have planned to do?

Devotional Thought: Who else are invited?

Whenever I received a wedding dinner invitation from a friend, my mind usually ask: “Who else are invited?”

Also, to be invited to one’s wedding is a show of good friendship and relationship. After all, we want to celebrate our joyous occasion with good friends and relatives only. So, I never, never turn down a wedding invitation unless I am oversea or in army (reservist) training.

Last month, one of my company’s former engineer invited me to his wedding dinner. He did not invite his boss (who is my colleague and peer ) to his wedding. I guess they are not in good working relationship. That is also probably a reason for leaving my company.

In today’s Our Daily Bread, as I read Revelation 19:1-9 , I know one very important day will come where I will be invited to a wedding supper. I am excited about going to this wedding supper. To miss this wedding supper is as important as Heaven and Hell. Are you sure that you will be invited to this wedding supper? And so, I will ask “Who else are not invited?”

This wedding supper is only for those who have received the blood of the Lamb, and have a good relationship with the groom, our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us reach out to those who we know and introduce them to the groom. They will then be invited to this wedding supper.

See you are the wedding supper of the Lamb! :)

'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'

Devotional Thought: Wealth - Sharing or Hogging?

We all like to get rich. And there is nothing wrong with it.

But then, the question is, what do I do with the vast amount of money if I am rich?

As I read Our Daily Bread this morning on Luke 12:13-21 , I can’t help but ask this question to myself. No, I am not rich, just enough to live the day, sufficient to sustain my family of 5 (I am the only bread-winner), and keep some for the children’s university education in the near future.

The rich farmer in Jesus’ parable, did nothing wrong actually. He continues to grow his wealth. However, what Jesus says is wrong with him is that he is rich only to himself and not rich towards God (Luke 15:21). How then does one become rich towards God?

Last Saturday, I attended a friend’s daughter wedding dinner. In Singapore, a wedding usually cost a fortune and guests usually give cash gift in the form of Ang Pao (red packet). As I was deciding how much to give, the words “Be a Blessing” kept ringing in my mind. It is good to have money to be able to bless someone. Perhaps, that is what Jesus means when He calls us to be rich towards God – sharing our wealth and not hogging it all for self?

Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)

Dinner @ Crab Party

Last Saturday night, the Young Adult! ministry had a group dinner at this place called Crab Party.

About 14 of us were there. Shannen and her boyfriend came later and left shortly.

Luh Sy came, what a surprise. :) Thank you, we need more of the "older generation" to come. OK, sorry for calling you old. I am just as old (haha!!)

It was just a gathering, nothing much. We have been thinking about how we can improve this group meeting to draw more of the young adult who had left us to come back. It is tough to get them back. Seem like we have been paying the price of not spending time in nurturing them spiritually when they were younger. Now that they have left - Erina, Rachel, Faith, James, Cecilia, Eunice, ... , I wonder the church have realised the mistake some ten years back to just leave the Youth Alive! to be run by the youth themselves.

May be not. We still think we are doing well. .... :(

Devotional Thoughts: The Visible Mind

Imagine what will happen if every human mind is like a visible computer monitor or a television. Other people can see instantly what you are thinking!! Haha! :)

It will be interesting to see what a man is thinking when a skimpily dressed, sexy, gorgeous lady walks by him. Haha! No hypocrisy or pretentiousness is needed in very situations.

In one sense, we do have a visible mind, but only the Omniscient Creator can see.

Well, as you turn to our Daily Bread this morning, http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/11/05/devotion.aspx and read your Bible from Psalm 139: 3

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Today devotion is more of a soul searching and self-evaluation of my life. When I try to see myself as the LORD sees and is honest with myself, then all the good things that I think I have done are really just like filthy rags.

How about you?

And so, like the Psalmist, this is my prayer:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.



Let others see what God can see in you!

Serving with LOVE! :)

Finally, someone prepared my breakfast today!

It’s always the only man of the house that prepares breakfast for the family. No, I am not complaining. :D In fact, it is always nice to serve my family – cleaning and mopping the whole house, whenever it is a public holiday or I am on leave, running around getting things fix, etc.

Yah, my second girl is always the one to volunteer and work with me, whenever I do house chore. She is also the one who will follow her mother and help carry the grocery.

So you can guess who prepares my breakfast. No prizes for that. I actually took a photo of it, but somehow I could not upload into the computer. Will try it sometime. Anyway, you can guess what it is by this google picture, haha!!

Perhaps, it runs in the blood. She is the only person in the family that has the same blood group as me. The only girl who will go jogging with me.

It's great to serve with Love.

Devotional Thoughts: Loosing & Finding Love

We all rejoice when we hear that a couple in the YA! is pairing up. :)




But it saddens me when another couple breaks up after many years of relationship. One choose to remain single, the other moves to a new relationship (seen from the Facebook photo and status). The single remains hurt; the other is probably enjoying the new relationship.

Yah! Can sense it mah! Read and see their FaceBook posting, lah.

We who are friends are still wondering, questioning, and learning from the episode. And praying for them also.

Do you?
Well, at least, I am

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Lost and found … emotions are often triggered when I loose or find something. Just a few days ago, I picked up a ten cents coin early in the morning while walking to the HDB car park. It is not the amount, but the sudden small impulse of hilarious feeling is enough to brighten the outlook of a new day. (naïve feelings?)

As I turn to today’s Daily Bread devotion, http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/10/29/devotion.aspx
(Luke 15:4-24)

my mind just wanders to those couples who have lost or found love, relational love.

In the 3 parables, what cause the shepherd to loose a sheep, the lady to loose a coin, and the father to have a prodigal son? Perhaps they are careless?

But the point of the parables is to rejoice when a sinner repents and come to Heavenly Father, whose name is LOVE.

So when you find something, treasure it and don’t loose it again, especially love.


TREASURE the things that you have found, especially LOVE! :)

Claustrophobia? !#@ :((

It was so cramped!!

Like craps all squeezing inside a basket.

I guess the youth themselves feel it. All 25 of them (or more?) cramp into a room meant for 10!!

This was my first visit to the BCPES youth sing-piration yesterday since they shifted to this place. And got a shock!

Why is it that the youth has never given a proper place to fellowship and run-wild, and be creative with their time together?

If I were to invite my lecturer, Dr. Koh who taught me on Christian Education from SBC to give a talk to these youth, I will surely get a scolding from her.

“Mark, didn’t I teach you that facility and environment is important to learning?”

“The size of the room is inversely proportional to the age of the student.”


Our youth need space!!


OK, just abit Kay-Poh here.

Mask?

It's kind of hard to see through people, ... until the mask is down :(

People see us as goody goody and maybe spiritual when we start serving in church ... BSG leader, Sunday school teacher, committee member, worship leader... but really are we getting right with God?

Serving in church becomes our mask! Recently heard something sad. Had to pray really hard.

If it is true, it is scary.

Very likely, it is true, from my own discovery.

How sad, the mask is there and I miss it.

Devotional Thoughts: Having my Sword ready at all times

“Every good Christians bring along their swords!” My Bible study and follow-up leader used to tell me when I was young.

Indeed, the sword of the Holy Spirit which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17) is the only offensive weapon that Scripture tell us how Jesus Christ defeat the temptations of Satan during his 40days fast in the wilderness. If the LORD uses Bible verses to overcome temptation, how much more I need to follow in HIS steps.


Today’s Quiet Time from the Daily Bread (Psalm 119:33-40): http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/10/22/devotion.aspx

reminds me again of Scripture Memory and its power to shape my life. I remember when I first started Bible study with my leader, the first thing he did with me was to memorise Bible verses. We did that for one year, covering over more than 60 verses. These verses are the pinnacle of my Christian foundations which become my sword ready for all times of need. Since then, I have moved to keeping important passages like Psalm 1, Psalm 23, Psalm 121 and 1 Cor 13 into memory. They are in my sub-conscious mind. Often times, they surface in my thoughts unknowingly and suddenly to remind me to take a certain cause of action. I take this as the Holy Spirit using His word to prompt me to move towards His direction.

It is a pity that I see the younger generations of Christian not being trained in Scripture memory. In our Singapore education system, every students must memorize the 26 alphabets, the multiplication tables, the periodic tables (Chemistry), and if you are good at mathematics all the differentiation and integration in Calculus. I still remember them till these days.

How much more as Christians, we need to memorise the names and order of the 66 Books, important verses like John 3:16, 1John 1:9, Prov 3:5-6 and many more.

Have your sword ready at all times – in the head and heart!

Are there any Nazirite youth in BPCES (Amos 2:11)?

Does today's sermon speak to you?

Not much. But the sermon passage on Amos 2 showed me that maybe God is still working in Bethany PCES. Or was it just my imagination? Wonder how many of the congregation felt as I did?

When the Scripture reader was reading the passage, a verse seemed like leaping out of the page to me:

"And I raised up some of your children to be prophets and some of your youths to be nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel? Says the LORD" (vs 11, NRSV)

Perhaps the NIV version uses "young men", so those who are reading in NIV may not feel as deeply as I do. I was anticipating that the speaker would speak abit about these nazirites youth that God has raised in Israel and how we Bethany can also raised some nazirites youth. But it was totally pass off :(

You see, for the whole week, I was thinking and praying about why we didn't reproduce our own disciples. I remember when we were studying the book on "Experiencing God" we learnt that God is always at work around you. So shouldn't we be on the look out how God is working at Bethany PCES? My prayer is "Lord, are there any youth who want to give themselves to you?" No answer for the whole week.

Then this morning, this verse in Amos leap out of the page to me. Nazirite (Number chapter 6) is someone who consecrate himself (or herself) to serve God.

Can we find any of our Bethanians who will set apart themselves for God??

Devotional Thoughts: Preparing For Christ’s Returns (1Thess 4:15-18)

“How prepared are you to face Christ Jesus at His 2nd Coming?”

Last Saturday, three of us turned up at the Drifter’s BSG. That was a question in our BSG on 2Timothy chapter 4. Both of them shake their heads.

“I don’t think I am prepared. :( “

As we sit there in silence for a minute or so, my mind was pondering: “How do I measure my preparedness for Christ’s return?”

This morning as I look into the Daily Bread website: http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/10/16/devotion.aspx

The passage is definitely talking about Christ’s return and not about victory in death. (Perhaps the writer of the Daily Bread has gone a bit off tangent, but, never mind.) Christ can come even when we are still alive! Am I ready to meet Him in the air (1Thess 4:17)?

As a Boy Scout, who live by my motto: “Be Prepared”, I know I am ready to meet my master and Lord. I stand free of guilty conscience, doing what I believe a faithful Christian should do – obeying what the Bible commands as sins, helping the need of others, sharing Christ with unbelievers …, Moreover, I strive to live a Christ-like character of love. But I am still a sinner, with occasionally clashes with the old self within me. I believe all Christians face the same struggle. And so, we and I need the prompting of the Holy Spirit day by day in our daily routine, controlling our emotions, creating that awareness that HE is there to counsel us (John 16:7).

This preparedness is never ending.

BE PREPARED for Christ’s Coming!

Devotional Thought: The Handbrake in my Life (Psa 46:10)

I was quite agitated, yesterday.

Max, the new technician seemed hard on learning. I had to repeat a simple instruction a few times. And he showed doubt on my explanations.

“Frequency is inversely proportional to wavelength. This is PHYSICS. IF YOU DON”T KNOW THIS YOU CAN’T BE A MIROWAVE or RADIO FREQUENCY ENGINEER!”

He is on probation. We had a few clashes before and he does not take my instructions easily. Is this an obedient or teachable problem?

As my feeling was boiling inside me, suddenly something within me whisper: “Cool, man!”

Last night, I had a soul-searching time evaluating my emotion and the whole situation. God has gotten my attention. Or was it just my imagination that He is restraining me? Am I just trying to spiritualize the whole incident? Not sure who stop me, but it is good to have a handbrake that when “an accident” is going to happen, someone just pull that handbrake.


This morning, as I turned to the Daily Bread for my quiet time (Psalms 46):

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/10/14/devotion.aspx

The passage just hit right on to my thought that still linger from last night.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."


Thank you, LORD for pulling the handbrake in my life. Amen!

Devotional Thought: Thankful or Complaining?

We Singaporeans like to complain!

Parents are again complaining about the PSLE examinations questions!

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20091010/tap-464-parents-arms-psle-mathematics-pa-231650b.html


And it is usually the top students who are complaining when they stumbled on a few difficult questions for fear that they will miss out the top few position. This is the Singaporean “Kiasu” mentality.

There was this problem sum posed:

According to posts on an online forum for parents, one example of the problem sums given was: "Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim’s sweets to chocolates became 1:7 and the ratio of Ken’s sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?"

I tried solving this question. Usually, it takes a while to understand the question. Once I know what the question is talking about, the solution comes easily.

Top students can solve it easily, lah!

Why Complain ah? If cannot solve, cannot be top students already lah, so no need to complain.

This brings me back to Yesterday Devotion from the Daily Bread on Col 3:12-17.
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/10/11/devotion.aspx

In this passage, I learn about 4 things:

(1) The Love of Christ (vv 12-14)
– my actions and behavior towards others

(2) The Peace of Christ (v15)
– be in harmony and at peace with others.

– BE THANKFUL in all situations.

(3) The Word of Christ (v16)
– dwelling in me richly

(4) The Name of Christ (v17)
– whatever I do, I carry it out in the LORD’s name

Be Thankful, not complain-full.

Things don't turn out the way it is!

I woke up early these morning and discovered that my crop in my "farm" in farmville was blue berries instead of tomatoes!! Moreover, they have all withered. Tomotoes take 8 hours to grow but blue berries take only 4. I felt very cheated because farmville changed my crops and killed them all.

In life, there are many instances that things happened to us beyond our control, even though we are very meticulous and do things carefully. I know very clearly I planted tomatoes because tomatoes like grapes, need sticks to support their climbing branches. Also, the coins are doubled - tomoto cost 100 coins each, while blue berry cost only 50 coins.

Even though it is just a game, it reminds me that we cannot be fully in control of our life, the environment can also change our course in life.

Only God is full in control.

Different sexes solve problems differently

When a man encounters a difficult problem, he will analyze and think about how to solve it. When a woman faces the same problem, she will ask for help. In the end, the woman find the solution, while the man is still thinking of the problem!

I see this happen many times in Amplus. I have ladies engineers - Yang Ling and Xu Fan, and guy engineers - Resmond, Andrew, and now Max. All of them do the same thing. The guys will not approach me for help and will always try to show that they can do it. The ladies will almost immediately come to me for help and learn how to solve the problems.

Man has a big ego! He trys to show that he can do it without help :(
This apply also to me. It taught me to ask and be open to discuss. I don't need to show that I know everything and so I usually ask around from those who have done or experiment with certain engineering areas before, to get some knowledge.


Presently, only Max is now working under me. All the other engineers have left the company. After 3 weeks, I still see him struggling with his project. And I am still waiting to see if he will approach me to ask for help. Before him was Xu Fan. The moment she faced some problem, she would ask me for help, just like Yang Ling.

I always tell my engineers - "There is no penalty in askig questions." "Always ask if you don't know." (For those who are Christians, you will know Matt 7:7 - Ask and it will be given to you)


Watch my ego!!

BPCES Church Planning retreat briefing

Does it really make any difference year after year to this church even if we don’t have any planning retreat?

After last Sunday (4 Oct) briefing by Pastor, which was more like assigning what job to which people (hope I am wrong), I feel like “here we go again, looking for people to get things going”. The church is like going on a “maintenance mode”.

We have nearly come to an end of year 2009. But, do we see any transformation of people lives? Do we see more people getting more eager to know God – Bible study, talking about spiritual things, … Do we see more care and concern for one another? Do we see an increase in church attendance? Or do we see more slackers, more people not coming for BSG, same old people doing the “job of the church”?

The answer is - yes, and no to some extent.

Which boil down to one thing more personal to me (since I am being appointed to be the BSG coordinator), have we achieved what we want to see in the BSG in 2009?

Sorry, ah, what is the objective for the BSG in 2009? (forget already lah!)

Ok, in 2008 BSG planning retreat, I talk about this:

It has been said:
A leader is a person with a magnet in his heart and a compass in his head.
- Vance Hainer.

If this is true for a leader, then,
A Christian leader is a person with a Cross in his heart and a Bible in his head.
- Mark Lim

(1) Have our BSG leaders develop the Cross Mentality?
(2) Have they grown in the knowledge and love for the Word of God?
(3) Have we found the “Mary” – who have a heart to learn, the “Martha” – who have a heart to serve, the “Lazarus” – spiritually dead or lethargic but can be made alive ; the “Zacchaeus”, the “Bartimaeus”


Think about these 3 questions as we move into year 2010.

The most difficlut relationship

In life we have many relationship. The most difficult one is the husband and wife relationship. We see each other everyday. We even sleep at the same bed, that is how close the relationship is.

Last night, a relative talked to me about her daughter's Boy-Girl Relationship. This relationship has intertwined to the extend that both the familys are very much closer. They had been receiving gifts like moon-cakes and festive goodies from one another, attending family dinners and special occasions. However, the boy friend is not a Christian, and is just not ready to consider Christ at this moment.

The daughter is talking about breaking up. This hurt her family.

Marriage is like putting two very different people into a burning furnace. Either they slowly burn to ashes or being purified.

Don't rush into it if you are not ready!!

Study in SBC

I really need to seek God's direction whether I should go ahead and apply for the MABS at SBC.

After seeing the application form, I realized that I need to seek approval from my wife and employer. These are the two most difficult criteria for me. Also, I need to get my employer to assess my character. This really put me off.

Today, as I spend time in devotion and reading on Col 4:2, I am somehow led to be more cautious in making decision. Rather, I need to be Prayerful, be Watchful and be Thankful in all situations.

Ok. I will pray about this for 40 days and 40 days whether to pursue my study on MABS in SBC. If the fire is quenched or re-kindled as each passing day, then I will know.

Today is the first day and night praying for this decision. :)

Amplus 10th Anniversary - Family Day

Last Saturday, my company, Amplus Communication Pte Ltd celebrated her 10th Anniversary at the Big Splash Playground at East Coast Park.

We had a good time and fun together. Euodia came along with us and she really gone all out to win prizes and volunteered herself in the magical performance.

Having my portait and shadow traced out. The artist just took about 2 minutes to sketch out my face. He also did paper cutting by tracing my face's profile.

That is Euodia, enjoying her golf at Liliput!

I joined this company since her beginning. Received my gold coin for the 10th Anniversary. This is also the first time I won a lucky draw - 6th prize; Cannon Power Shot Camera. Maybe, it is because my wife is attending this Company Family Day, the first time that family members are invited! :)

It has come a long way for me.... to stay in this company. Not sure how far more I will continue. Must wait for God's timing. :)

Everything has its timing

Yesterday, the boss said, "A date line is a dead line!"

Ok, Actually he meant, "a date line is a date line". But when he said it, it seems to imply that we need complete the work in time, so a date line is like a dead timing for us. When we can't fulfill the schedule,we are dead.

Yes, in life, everything has its timing. Time is Life. Which leads me to think of Ecclesiastes chapter 3. If I learn to walk in HIS time, He will make everything beautiful (verse 11). He controls everything of my life, if only I learn to walk in HIS PRESENCE.

A date line is a .... line.

Why Blog? - Journeying Through Life

It has been a week since I close down this site, and just keep it to myself. No sure when will I open up to others. Maybe, never.

My initial plan to set up this site was to promote interaction and sharing. At least, I start a topic and keep the ball rolling. But it turn out that only one or two are commenting, abate only once in a long while. Others attitudes are just "Great, now I know!" without a single comment on this blog. They take this site as peeping into others lives without sharing or disclosing their thoughts. Such a selfish attitude. That is the last thing I want to avoid. This blog has promote selfishness, so I need to close it.

"Hey, my blog is not for people to come and "know" about things :( " It is about sharing and connectng with one another. Mute readers are not welcome!! :( Go, start your own blog.

But seriously, blogging has taught me to glaze at every moment of life more intimately and reflective. Reflective of what God is doing in my every moments. I became more observant of things around me, more careful in listening to some remarks, more proactive to some actions. All these so that I can blog about it and learn from the journeys through life.

So, blogging will continue. ...

Going back to School!?

After much thoughts and prayers, I sent an email to the School of Theology (English) of the Singapore Bible College to ask for the application form.

I want to apply for the MA (Bible Studies). If I can get into SBC again, I will study Hebrews and learn to read the Bible in Hebrew.

This is still preliminary. Let’s see how things turn out to be.

Closing Blog

Two nights ago, Euodia said to me, “Your blog is very boring!” Looking at her expression, I know she said it from her heart. This is the only feedback I got for my blog. The response and comments are also very few.

I have written about 21 devotion thoughts. Except from Wei Lin's sporadic comments, no reader is interested in devotion, which is my primarily objective of writing this blog - to help people to be more regulare in their devotions. The devotion thoughts are a FAILURE.

I don’t like to do things that continue in failure. I like to win. Everything that I do must have a “winner” feeling. I don’t go for mediocre or lukewarm. It’s either hot or cold. Since the readers decide to let it be “cold”, the blog is now officially closed.

It is now a diary.


PS: A blog has many readers, followers, comments and reactions. A diary has only one reader.

Devotional Thoughts: Lying to the Church

How often do we lie to the church?

In today Daily Bread devotional passages (Acts 5:1-11):

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/09/11/devotion.aspx

We sometimes behave like Ananias and Sapphira, giving a portion of what we have and pretending that we have given our all so as to look good in front of others.

Have you and I done a similar thing like them? Dare to be honest?

I have.

One similar situation would be giving Tithes. A tithe is actually 10% of our incomes. Imagine if the Holy Spirit will to strike down all who offer their money as Tithes that is less than 10% of what they received for that month? I would be long dead. I usually give less than 10% as Tithes and the rest to missions' organizations and missionaries in need, adding up to about 15% on average. That is about the best I can give away each month. I just feel that BPCES is not doing enough for the money collected and so members are talking about putting them into fix deposits instead of investing into lives of missionaries and Kingdom works.

Still, it is not an excuse for me to give less than 10% and write it as "Tithes". As such, I have changed it to "Thanksgiving" instead of "Tithes". Yeah, I think I have again put it as tithes for the past two months. So this devotions is a good reminder for me to put things right as be honest.

Beside money, there are other areas. Our talents, our services ...

Is giving excuses not to do something for the church when we can, considered lying?

Forever Friends

Meeting a long lost friend and having some wonderful time together is always a joy and delight to the soul. All thanks to Facebook.

It was through Facebook that I found my old buddy and room-mate during NTI students’ days. Last Tuesday during lunch, we had a wonderful time talking about those days and how our lives have been.

It’s amazing to know that we remained as room-mate for the whole 3 years, a feat no students would do. Most broke up after a year or two. With him, we can almost talk about anything, no secret! I remember the time when he was interested in another girl in our Christian fellowship group. He told me all about his struggle. People use to say that guys don’t talk about personal feelings. But with him, we talk about almost anything. Best of all, we encourage one another spiritually. We even make a covenant that whoever got married first, the other person would be the best man. Guess who got married first?

Then we got married, have our own family, stayed oversea and slowly we lost contact.

It was through facebook that I found him. Thankfully, his photograph was in it.

Yah! Forever friends.

I am back!

Hi! I am back.

Whether you are a Sunday friend, an acquaintance or even a stranger passing by this blog, feel free to check it out.

And drop a comment, others may like to know your thoughts also.

Adios, amigo! :)

The “Cannot Make It” Kid

Being in the elite group also has its struggle. They measure against one another whether they “make it” or “cannot make it”. Those who can’t are called the CMI kid.


Last Friday night, I had a gathering with 2 of my closest friends in one of their house. We know each other since NUS graduate school days more than 19 years ago. No, we don’t meet every Sunday, only once or twice a year. Still, I consider them best of friends. Even though we rarely meet, I know that I can count on them when I am really in need or help. And they are from the elite group, very successful in their careers and lives. They are also evangelical Christians. However, they see themselves as the “Cannot Make It” - CMI kid.

You see, one of these friends came from the elite schools – RI and ACS. There is a saying among the elite that “The RI boys rule Singapore and the ACS boys own Singapore”. So this elite group measure themselves by whether they rule Singapore – politically successful or own Singapore – successful bankers and wealthy businessmen. This friend has classmates like the Law Minister, the Transport Minister and the Minister in the PM offices to measure and compare to. As such, he sees himself as the CMI kid, even though he has a big house, and is a top civil servant.

I spent the 4 hours listening to their “elite” talk, mostly in silence. The phrase - "CMI kid" kept repeating didn’t know for umpteen times.

As I left the big 5,000 square foot, 3-storey house almost before mid-night, the CMI kid thingy was lingering in my mind. If I were to compare to them, I am nothing, just an alumni of a neighborhood school and living in a HDB flat. Probably worse than a CMI kid.


Driving in the still silence of the night, I heard my serene spirit whispering to me:

“You are a CMI kid – Certainly Make It (to heaven) kid”. What a blessed assurance.